#But I keep summoning mooks

[egg-emperor]

Been rewatching your video breaking down Eggman's relationship with his creations, and I keep thinking about this little-known detail in the first Sonic Riders:

You know the E-10000 robots? Well, according to the Japanese promotional website for Sonic Riders, E-10000R was built by Eggman using parts from Metal Sonic.

Yes, Metal was apparently gutted for parts to make one of Eggman's line of Mook robots. And given that this is post-Heroes (and pre-Rivals), methinks that speaks volumes, don't you?

Oh my god wtf lol. I love how not only is it messed up and cruel to essentially gut Metal for parts some time after his betrayal like "fuck you I don't need you right now but you're a good set of parts to use in my newest creations for increased mobility" and how he used them in a robot for Extreme Gear riding built to look like himself as well. His cruelty in snatching them from Metal and using them in a robot made in his image instead of Sonic's again like Metal. Peak cruelty AND selfishness and self-centeredness 💜

Well no wonder Metal ended up betraying Eggman again later in Free Riders by disguising himself as a E-100000 robot! I was always wondering if another reason could be applied beyond how he's already betrayed him once. I'm going with this now. Makes perfect sense for Metal to be pissed off with Eggman showing how much his value and worth specifically lies in his internal parts and use to Eggman, and how easily he can remove those to use in something else and discard the shell of Metal whenever he wants.

And I bet that with the first time with Heroes, Eggman's terrible treatment of him from the start played a part there too. While there's often never much of a reason for monster of the week villains that Eggman summoned to just suddenly betray, there's always a reason for his own creations/robots and it's always how terribly he treats them, the lack of freedom, and realizing they could have it better. I have no doubt that this applies to Metal too, as much as it does Gamma and others but he can't truly escape Eggman's control.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention, I love how Eggman always just keeps continuing to show how cruel and fucked up of a creator he is that sees his creations as nothing more than their use in serving him and how he'll easily do whatever fucked up shit he pleases to them to get what he wants 🥰💕

[kchasm]

Ryu Number Chart Update: Darksiders

Here's a potential puzzler for you. Is Death death? (Stick with me for a moment here, okay?)

For some context, in the Darksiders franchise, Death—one of the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse—is a major character. Most media where the Horsemen are a Thing tend to have Death (the horsemen) be the same character as the general personification of death, just specifically doing the Horseman thing at the moment. Good Omens goes with this interpretation, if I remember Good Omens right, which I very much might not. It's been a while.

In Darksiders, however, the Four Horsemen are, uh, cosmologically complicated. Specifically, they're Nephilim—fusions of demons and angels yes I know that's not what nephilim are supposed to be I didn't make this game—who rebelled against the Charred Council (a mysterious body who nebulously keep the balance somehow; it's really not clear) and were in turn eradicated by the only four nephilim who sided with the Council. These four became the Horsemen, and were subsequently sent out as the Council's underlings whenever a Real Big Issue required that sort of response. In the four games in the Darksiders series, there's approximately one line that could maybe with some creativity and also if you looked at it sideways be interpreted as the Horseman Death being also Death in general, but... Nah, I dunno, man.

Anyway, that's why "Death/Grim Reaper" and "Death (Horseman)" now have their own respective points in The Chart. Don't at me.

Not being able to use the Grim Reaper skin from Minecraft to hop between Ryu and whichever Darksiders character you want is a bummer, admittedly.

Luckily, Lilith is a Marvel character.

(That's her in the background. That's her at the bar. Side. Losing her religion.)

Funny thing—Usiel (often seen spelled "Uziel" or "Uzziel") is usually depicted as either a fallen angel, or a demon. There are a few sources that put him on the side of being a good'un, though, so this portrayal is cromulent enough. I mean, as cromulent as anything from Darksiders can be in relation to varying and contradictory Judeo-Christian tradition.

(Per game lore, a bunch of pseudo-Celtic-Norsey Old Ones are hanging out in a side dimension or something. I dunno, man. Darksiders II was weird.)

Lilith appears in Darksiders II and Darksiders III, which is nice if you're trying to reach a character from Darksiders II and Darksiders III, but less so if you're working with the original Darksiders or Darksiders Genesis.

That's alright, though. Turns out the Four Horsemen are up and summonable in Scribblenauts Unlimited:

... Y'know, I really do think there ought to be a quicker path to Azrael that exists somewhere in the Wide Wide World Of Video Games, but if there is, it's not on The Chart at the moment, so it doesn't exist. Don't at me.

Or actually, do at me. Then I can put that game on The Chart, too, if it doesn't give my arbitrary taxonomy a tummyache.

Incidentally, because I read up on angels a whole lot going through these games and if I can't Show My Work on my own blog where else am I gonna do it: Here's a Thing.

"Now, hold on a tick," I hear you say. "What are Moloch, Astarte, and Dagon doing in this game as Lucifer's mooks? Astarte wasn't a demon; she was a goddess in Ancient Near East religion, sometimes considered the equivalent of Ishtar! And Dagon wasn't a demon; he was an ancient Syrian god of prosperity! And Moloch... well, actually, nowadays people don't think Moloch was even a Thing, but he was traditionally interpreted to be a Canaanite god associated with child sacrifice! Excuse the pun, but what the Hell's going on?"

You might assume that some Final-Fantasy-style hinkiness is afoot—that the creators of Darksiders Genesis named their characters after mythological figures that are thematically similar but ultimately unrelated (go on, try to convince me that any incarnation of Final Fantasy's Leviathan is the same one from the Book of Job) (Please do not actually do this)—but it turns out we can heap the blame on one dude in particular: John Milton.

That's right, it's all Paradise Lost's fault. Turns out that according to Miltonic lore, Moloch, Astarte, and Dagon were originally angels, but then joined with Satan in his rebellion, fell, and subsequently played as gods to deceive mankind. Now, is it a little iffy that Milton took a bunch of non-Christian deities and went "yeah, these were demons all along"?

Most def. He was following in well-established Christian tradition, though. Ba'al-Zebub was a deity of the Philistines, while Belphegor comes from the deity worshipped by Moabites at the mountain peak of Peor, biblically referred to as "Ba'al-pe'or." Astaroth is another one that comes from Astarte. And of course, the less said about Baphomet, the better.

All of this is a long-winded way of saying that no, I'm not counting this Dagon as the Syrian one. Or the Lovecraftian one, for that matter.

Don't at me.

[mikeyforreal]

time travel is real - peter maximoff

peter maximoff x f!reader

warnings: depictions of violence,

a/n: tysm for the request ! also, while i was writing the ending bit i was thinking of the song dress my wounds by mook

look, i really loved being the infamous dr. strange’s apprentice. him and wong were like the family i never had, and they’ve been there for me for the better years of my life.

but even this would be too much for anyone to handle

i had been trying to get the infinity gauntlet with almost everyone who was fighting thanos while also trying to keep myself alive. “kid, i’m gonna need you to summon a tao mandala to keep yourself safe while i try and take out a few of those soldiers,” strange said to me while generating spells at the speed of light to keep us safe.

i nodded to him, and tony raced over to me as i tried summon a field. “y/n you need to get closer to thanos and try to take him out, i know it’s going to be difficult but i believe you can do it. just remember stephen and wong’s lessons and you can do just about anything. good luck kid.” his words had encouraged me enough and i quickly summoned a portal to where thanos was.

he was fighting off men and women from wankanda left and right, but i created some spells to keep his limbs restricted. he quickly shot me a deadly look. “who the hell are you?” he asked, while trying to get out of the invisible bonds. “just the person who’s gonna kill you and save the universe, y’know? by the crimson bands of cyttorak!”

saying the phrase had made thanos scream in pain and i continued generating spells to use agains him. “REIGN FIRE” he yelled to the squidward looking dude. “but sire, our troops-“ the guy tried to argue. “JUST DO IT!” the blast knocked me off my feet and it broke the spell, leaving thanos free.

he reached for the space stone on his golden gauntlet smiling as he said, “i’m gonna send you to somewhere you can’t cause me any trouble.”

the last thing i heard before i passed out was stephen yelling my name.

_

when i woke up, i found myself in a room i didn’t recognize. there were boxes and boxes of sweets like twinkies and snowballs on an unlimited number of shelves. there were pink floyd, jim croce, and supertramp posters covering the walls of chipped paint. there were a few video games that looked like they were straight out of the 80’s.

i tried to get up, but my whole body felt limp. i checked my arms and they were covered in scrapes and cuts.

“good morning sleepyhead.” i jumped when i heard a voice coming from behind me. quickly turning, i saw a silver headed boy, assumingely around my age with a pink floyd shirt. “who are you? where am i? how did i get here? what year is it? where am i-“

“woah woah woah,” the boy quickly interrupted me. “1. i’m peter, 2. you’re in my room, 3. i found you on the road passed out, 4. it’s 1983, duh, 5. see number 2.” i looked at him incredibly confused and he just laughed.

“okay so i was running from the poli- my friends- and i found you passed out with some battle looking outfit on, which you’re still wearing. i decided to bring you here and ‘nurse you back to health’.” he finished his story with a smile and i rembered what had happened before i blacked out, groaning in pain as i held my head.

“oh yeah i brought you this.” he handed me a ibuprofen and a glass of water. i murmured a small thanks and swallowed the both items. “uh i can bring you some of my mom’s clothes to change into if you want. she’s super small so it’ll probably fit you. but only if you wanna change of course.” i nodded to him and he was gone and back in a flash, but he returned with a pile of clothes in his arms.

“uh the bathroom’s up the stairs to the left, second door down. you can just call me when you’re done since my sister and my mom are gone.” nodding, i made my way up the stairs with a slight limp.

following his directions, i had found the bathroom and began to peel my grimey clothes off my body. “uh peter do you mind if i shower?” i yelled from inside the bathroom, hoping he would hear me. “yeah go for it!” i turned on the water and began to lather my hair and body in soap. once i finished i rinsed myself and dried off with a towel i found in the cupboard.

after changing into my new clothes, i unlocked the door and went down to peter’s room. “hey i’m done-“ he ran up past me and came back with a box of medical supplies. “you want me to patch you up?” i nodded. “sure that would be nice.”

he guided me down the stairs and we sat down on his couch. he held up a cotton ball with rubbing alcohol on it and pressed it to my cheek. hissing in pain, i swatted his hand away from my vicinity and he had a look that read ‘sorry’ on his face. “sorry! i’ll give you a warning next time.” i nodded as he continued cleaning my wounds.

once he had disinfected them, he brought out some character bandaids such as batman and hello kitty. he peeled off the wrappers and gently applied them to my cuts. “tell me if it hurts alright?” i simply nodded as he finished placing the final bandaids on my hands.

“thanks, really. without you i’d probably still be on the road,” i chuckled as peter smiled. “you’re welcome! how did you get here anyway? i haven’t seen you at school or anything?”

my eyes went wide as i tried to think of an excuse to tell him and not reveal my past, but then i remembered that he used his powers of speed openly. “long story short, it’s the future and i was fighting a bad guy in another universe and i almost killed him so he sent me here. the end,” i finished with a smile. peter looked confused and i started laughing “wait time travel’s real???” i gave him an amused look. “i basically told you that i was fighting a bad guy and he sent me to a whole other universe and you’re amazed that tame travel is real?” he nodded and lightly chuckled

“so uh do you wanna stay here with me? i can hide you here if you want or OH i know this super awesome school for people with powers that you can go to with me. i’ll take you tomorrow and you can meet the professor and all that if you want.”

“okay that sounds awesome and i’ll totally go with you tomorrow. thank you peter,” i said smiling brightly. he nodded and gave me a twinkie.

yep. this is gonna be nice. i wonder if strange if gonna come looking for me…

a/n: i honestly had a lot of fun writing this 😭 thanks again for the request !

tags: @oyasumimosura

[tgrailwar]

Tumblr Holy Grail War: Wave 4 - Day 2 (Team Assassin, Team Caster, and Team Rider)

The announcement had given almost every Servant a clear goal. Caster. If there was one Servant to be left defenseless during such an onslaught, it would be him.

However, the territory belonging to the Servant had grown massive as they took the time to prepare it, with assistance from the Shades of Cleopatra and Semiramis. High church walls, spreading outward as a testament to the Caster's faith, growing higher as long as he himself didn't waver.

But not all Servants needed to burst in through the front door.

If they were all drawn to this place, then even the one Assassin was tasked to hunt down would be around here somewhere.

Slipping into the church under the cover of Berserker's rampage, Assassin readied his blade for the enemy Servant's head. He had to be around here somewhere. Instead of a Servant such as Saber or Caster, however, he found someone who would... settle as a target, at least.

Mandricardo: "You…! Assassin. Remember me?"

The Rider seemed to speak with an amount of confidence normally unlike him.

Okada Izou: "…I remember you. The bastard that was mocking me. You're not the one I'm looking for, but your head will do."

The two of them raised their weapons, ready to fight, before a third voice cut in.

???: "Heh. Servants in the flesh. If mooks like you could become Heroic Spirits, then maybe there is a Heroic Spirit of 'me' up there somewhere… not like it matters much to this 'me', though."

The air grew thick as another Servant approached. A man covered in gold and blood, his muscular frame marred with cuts and lacerations from constant torment. The light in his eyes long gone, left only with a sense of vengeful listlessness. Magical energy swirled around him, as a secondary form manifested. Large. Hulking. Almost divine, though for the Shade to say as such would be blasphemy. To some, this would resemble the Noble Phantasm of the Heroic Spirit this Shade resembled, but that wasn't it. Such a person would not be allowed a 'treasure' like that. This was something rawer. Not the activation of a Noble Phantasm, but the Shade taking advantage of a 'connection' to call upon another. Two men who shared a connection via their travels and connection to the underworld itself.

A 'Chain Summoning'.

The man smiled. A slick, yet charismatic one- the smarmy grin that had landed him within Hell itself.

'Seducer Captain': "Servant, Caster. True Name, Jason. Don't mind me, just keep on destroying yourselves. I'm just here to make sure you don't reach my summoner."

It seems as if all of the Servants had a similar target, so let's call this an event! [ 'Attack on Caster' ] !

If Team Caster gains 1st Place, then they'll gain a +1% bonus to their next round!

Fight, Team Caster, and defend your territory!

Based on skills, the current augmentations to the final results are:

Mandricardo: +4%

Okada Izou: -6%

Shade-Jason: -3%

ACTIVE SKILLS:

Okada Izou (Assassin)

Man-Slayer (A): When fighting a Servant that possesses a wound, gain a +3% boost. When fighting a Servant that possesses 2 wounds, gain +5% instead.

Mandricardo (Rider)

Brigliadoro's Neigh (A): Increases the Rider-class trait to +5% rather than +3% in free-for-all brawls.

Armor of the Nine Worthies (A): When attacked, reduces the amount of the Servant's final combat poll results by 10%.

RIDER-Class Trait: RIDER-classes are competent commanders with great maneuverability. If engaged with 2 Servants, Riders get a +3% to their combat poll results.

Shade Jason and ??? (Shadow of Saber/Shadow of Berserker)

Protection of the Faith (False) (-): When fighting offensively, reduce opponent scores by 1%. Additionally, when fighting a Servant with Divinity, reduce their score by -2%.

BERSERKER-Class Trait: BERSERKER-class Servants are loose cannons that can’t be recklessly fought head-on or easily managed. If engaged in a fight with another Servant, they get +5% to their final combat poll results, and if BERSERKERs are engaged in a fight with 2 Servants, they get +7% to their final combat poll results.

Mandricardo's 'Armor of the Nine Worthies' reduces the strength of his enemies attacks! Jason is considered 'wounded' on top of the 'wound' that Caster possesses! Izou gains the full bonus of his 'Man-Slayer' ability! All Servant scores reduced by 'Protection of the Faith'!

[needle-noggins]

Tell me about your OCs, Sav

And I mean all of them. Or else.

13, 28, 31, A, H

AAAAAH okay i'm gonna go slightly out of order to introduce whoever is reading this to my personal brain blorbos. Fair warning all of these are TTRPG characters, mostly my NPCs save for the first two!

A. Why are you excited about this character?

Fanny Paine - ohhhh my beloved Trigun cowgirl OC. I'm so excited to see how her backstory kicks her in the ass (and by backstory, I DO mean her childhood best friend-turned-EOM member Nova).

Sylvie - my tiefling phantom rogue!! She was a joy to play and an absolute bullet in combat. Lethal and impossible to hit. She also was part of the conflict, being a double agent for the big bad's Vecna cult. I spent so much time texting the DM in secret during our sessions as if the BBEG and Sylvie were sending letters back and forth, telling him our whereabouts, before he'd drop in some cult mooks and we'd knock 'em dead. So fun.

Brie - Shadow Sorcerer and Secret goddess of fire! She's from my first campaign but still relevant because I have two groups playing in that world. In one group we have a ranger who denounced his cult to the fire god, so it'll be really fun to reveal that his god is actually the half-elf barmaid they keep seeing in every tavern, and she's way more chill than he thought.

Iris and Humboldt - ah yes. My older (late 50s) human wizard/leader of the largest adventuring guild in my dnd world and her autistic gnome husband who.... looks like Jack Black in Jumanji and accidentally brought on the apocalypse in our first campaign. They're my light academia escapism blorbos now and all they do is sit around and study magic in the coolest city in my world.

Ron - New NPC the party adopted, and he's an amnesiac, kinda undead paladin with spore druid flavoring. The party recently discovered he's.... well, he's Oberon. Not sure how he got here, but the Warlock's patron is Titania. Of the summer court. Yeah, that one. One of the party's quests right now is to retrieve Ron's memories and return him to Titania, and maybe the warlock will get *her* husband back from the Feywild. However, some mysterious figures want Ron dead....

Oh fuck I could also talk about Keats, Tarovir, Vaemyx... AAH too many. But I'm gonna stick to these big ones, plus Tarovir and Vaemyx have massive spoilers for my players D:

H. What trait do you admire most?

Fanny - girl's got gut. She really is "shoot first, ask questions later."

Sylvie - Resilience? She almost died, admitted she had been a spy, and almost got killed by the party all in one day. And then her best friend, the only one who trusted her, died. Thank god she ended up happy.

Brie - she loves her friends and loves to have fun. She's chaotic good in the funniest ways. When I play her I just get to be stupid.

Iris and Humboldt - THEY LOVE EACH OTHER. SO MUCH. SAVED EACH OTHER BACK TO BACK WHEN THE ALMOST DOOMED THE WORLD. Seriously, I rolled Iris' portent rolls and got an 18 and a 20 the day they summoned the BBEG. If it wasn't for that, Humboldt would have failed his death saves.

Ron - man look, he's just taking it day by day. He's very tired. But at least he has a lot of patience.

13. What color do they think they look best in? Do they actually look best in that color?

Fanny - she wears mostly browns but has a blue undershirt. She looks best in blue!

Sylvie - blue and silver coded. Looks best in black and dark blues.

Brie - wears cream and blues, would look great in green!

Iris and Humboldt - blues/silvers and browns respectively

Ron - this man is covered in dirt. Like he deserves.

28. Would they prefer a lie over an unpleasant truth?

Yes - Sylvie, Iris

No - Fanny, Brie, Humboldt, Ron (he can't lie, doesn't like lies - he's Fey after all)

31. Who are they the most glad to have met?

Fanny - Charlie, her new friend who is an EOM reject. Fanny is a very protective momma bird.

Sylvie - her best friend, the elven druid Eldrid.... who died. It was really fucking sad, I miss that PC. They were in so many cahoots together.

Brie - the first party I ever DM'd, who adopted her <3

Iris and Humboldt - I could say each other, but really the party was the only reason they got together - they set them up on their first date!

Ron - He knows, like, 3 people.

[callmegkiddo]

Give them a Peace of Mind

Now, I did say that I was trying to work on requests. I AM, don’t worry I am, just, my motivation for requests turned to me wanting to make stuff for my OC’s-

Sentences I thought off that inspired this: “Like the sides of a coin, a simple flip gives you a whole new surface to observe” “Like the flip of a switch, your personalities change” “They are only whole when their souls have been mended back together” “You're only truly whole when you not broken and hurting”

A reflective surface stares back at the world, its cracks glistening in the light, the wooden frame enchanting, but mysterious. A mirror, so simple, but so deflating to see. A simple artifact, from a time in their history. Lying inside that mirror is a void that shifts and changes. Its atmosphere was cold and suffocating, the deep black of its world almost never-ending. Amidst that void, is a manor, big and eye-catching. A garden of soft grass, flowers, bushes, tall trees, and plants, surrounds its surface area.

Characters: Evalyn and the Splits

—-------------------------------------------

How peculiar it was, to see such a thing. A sign of life perhaps? Others have thought that it was abandoned, made by gods that decided to live in that mirror, waiting to be summoned by someone worthy. But no, instead, those living inside that manor, within the mirror, were old friends.

Fractions of various pieces of one's soul, a soul so cracked and broken it caused doubles from numerous dimensions to converge in on that soul and make use of those pieces. Thus, the forms of the splits came to life. And now, all of them reside in the mirror. With all their fates, told through time and time again, from all the loops, and rewinds. Time has become a mystery and an inconvenience to them.

The first split is the co-host and leader of the split. Evan Mook, the District Attorney and right-hand man of Dark. Their way of command, and iron fist around things. His rules were simple but held consequences when broken.

The main host, protector, and the one who roams the outside world the most was Evalyn Mook. They front the most and often have to do most of the work for the DA when the mirrors void prevents them from going out.

CD The Conductor or Casandra is the second in command. And for various reasons too, they are the sort of scientists of the group. And they specialize in the security system, making it easy for both the DA and CD to see if anyone has trespassed. She keeps everyone in line, making sure that nothing is out of place for the DA. She also ensures that all communications are online, and sends out messages for others to follow in case of a break from an “entity.”

Mundy, a former felon, cursed bound to a ring he was accused of stealing, and a formative leader of a group of explorers and archeologists. He is the perfect example of “Think now, talk later.” Thus why the DA chose him to be the next to lead in case CD or the DA are unavailable. His way of command is nearly second to none, and his persuasiveness gets everyone out of a jam. His main weakness, however, is his vulnerability. He prioritizes others first before himself. And that causes weakness, a weakness so severe it cost him his life before the splitting.

Rody is a rooly woman, and despite her slightly manly physique, she is rather feminine. A trans woman with an energetic and lively nature. Her cheery personality rivals Pinkiepie from My Little Pony. However, her high energy is a scary revelation, especially when fighting her. In times when she is angry, her energy becomes unbearably high, to the point, it looks murderous. Her mind is unstable, she thinks dying is a way to be free and escape this cruel world. This is why she is often around the DA, the one person who values life and is far more stable than Rody. A perfect balance to the chaos Rody brings to the table.

Captain Spencer, was a strict ruler, but also a tsundere at best. He hates to admit it, but he’s very affectionate. He’s great at encouragement, and he constantly tries to be at the top. His focus is always to make sure everyone is working as a team, and that no one is against him. He’s the one who gets assigned to be Mundy’s plus one whenever CD or the DA isn’t around. He doesn’t mind it really, quite enjoys it. He often bonds with Mundy over their musical tastes.

But, although Spencer is affectionate, that doesn’t mean he isn’t easy to anger. His patience is slim, but he tries his best to be considerate. He rules with an iron fist alongside Mundy, and he’s extra strict about how things are done. He’s a violent man, and he would resort to violence if the opportunity needed it. Often dubbed as the universe's child, due to his galaxy-colored hair, and his affiliation as Captain.

And finally, the youngest of them all, an android, and one of the first ones created after Bing. The one who makes and fixes the tech used all around the manor. The inventor of the splits, and probably the one who helps form plans with the DA. Firefox, the young feminine lad who was turned into an android at the age of 12.

And Firefox isn’t the only human that got turned into a living machine. CD, a cyborg, her mechanical body, made from spare parts of all the androids in part and service. She was made right after Firefox, many call her the “Creation” or the “Mangel” due to her mangled and spare parts. But thanks to the help and engineering from Firefox, all her parts were repaired and made to good use.

And, that isn’t the only thing that bothers those outside of the mirror. Constant reminders of everyone's deaths replay in their dreams and nightmares. Various things, remind them of what happened that night.

Getting locked up in a mirror, watching what used to be their body, and walking away, that body wearing the same face as someone close. Waiting, cooped up in that dark void, with thoughts and voices scratching at them like desperate claws. Hearing those deprecating thoughts from the “entity”, hearing it reminds them all of what their best friend did to them.

It brings despair to them all, to be reminded of how broken they all are, that their existence is all because of an accident. To be reminded that the “hero” of their story, is the same bastard that caused their demise.

It broke them, but…. They couldn’t help but feel free.

After all, that time stuck cooped inside that maddening prison, they felt free. Free enough to laugh with each other. Free enough to be able to feel compassion again. Free enough…. To feel like themselves.

Despite the broken pieces, despite the fractured soul. They still found a way to feel somewhat whole. Sure, it hurt whenever they switched places to the front. But they could bare it, as long as they get to see those they care about most.

Mundy, switches to be in the spotlight, only whenever Yancy, Illinois, or Magnum are in the room, often even forcing one of the others out of the fronting mind space just to say hi.

Evan, more formerly known as, The DA, fronts whenever Evalyn isn’t needed. But the people who frequently see them. Is Dark, Wilford, Actor, Abe, or anyone who was related to the accident back in 1923.

Rody, fronts whenever the opportunity struck. Most times she fronted if ever the others invited the splits to do anything related to games. Arcades, ice skating, anything. But she noticeably fronts whenever Wilford is involved.

CD, she fronts whenever someone has problems around things, like simple paperwork, security measures, security setups, or just any difficulty with some forms of tech she is familiar with. This is especially true, around Host, Annus, or Eric. Her specialty is equipment for making videos or recording booths. It’s why she was assigned to security.

Spencer, now this man fronts whenever his crew is around, or whenever the DA can’t help Dark with keeping the egos in line. He’s the leader, so of course, he has to help Dark. But, he only wants to appear before his crew. Gunther, Celci, Burt, Mark, Mack, First Mate Tyler… Even Wug is an exception.

Mundy, HO BOY, does this man like shoving Evalyn out of the spotlight-

He appears whenever Yancy is around, he always has ideas up his sleeve to try and get Yancy to make more songs. He adores his singing, and always pushes encouragement onto him, he doesn’t pressure him of course, but his excitement is always appreciated.

Mundy also comes glitching in whenever Illinois comes home, he greets the adventurer with wide open arms and sparkling eyes begging him to tell stories about his latest adventure. On more than one occasion, however, did he not greet Illinois, and he blames the ring he was bound to all for it. How could he not? He hates that thing to bits!

Now, Mundy hates the sea, scared shitless he goes below the waist into the salty waters. Thalassophobia is an intense fear of any natural body of water. But, he still makes an effort to be interested in what Magnum has to tell, even though it would probably give him nightmares, he loves the giant lug, and it hurts not to be interested!

Firefox, god this guy has quite a grudge against Google, but that doesn’t exactly do much from getting him to front. He loves to front whenever Bing wants him to. He is always approachable, especially so if you need something to get fixed. He is the one you should be looking to for devices or gadgets that are broken, especially whenever CD isn’t around.

And now Evalyn, sweet sweet, Evalyn, they front the most out of everyone. Being the main host was difficult, but they got the job done whenever possible. Loyal, and eager to please, they are assigned numerous assignments by Dark to help around the manor.

All of them do, they all have things to do around the manor, and they do it without fail. Always eager to please, always eager to make others proud. They don’t tire of taking anyone's part in the project. Loyalty has no bounds, they do anything asked of them. Whether it be dangerous, or simple.

They always had this problem, of being too loyal to certain people. They all became too eager to please, especially when Actor saved them from their hellish prison. They would all do anything to make him happy.

Their precious Actor… Evans precious and capable Actor…

Their very souls beat for the Actor, their very existence revolves around Actor and his many stories. Whatever that madman asks, they will do or take part in. No ifs, no buts, no coconuts.

And this loyalty, all stemmed from Damien. The glorious Mayor that betrayed the DA. And Evan, still trusts Damien, though a little less now, but he still does. He can’t help it, he practically dedicated his entire life to Damien until his very death.

Doesn’t this sound familiar?

Doesn’t this sound… Rather toxic?

The DA, the splits, all of them are so eager to do anything Actor or Dark asks of them.

Like a puppet on a string, they answer every beck and call.

Like in a trance they cannot break.

It worries me… It worries me that my creations will be hurt again. It hurts me knowing, that there will be a day that damned Actor will just abandon Evan again….

It scares me…. Like a lot….

The holiday is tomorrow, and the Splits are planning on celebrating it with the egos. If all goes well… Maybe, they will be whole again, and merge to form Evalyn Mook…

I can’t do anything to bring Evan back as the former host. But maybe, this Christmas, this holiday, will bring them back. Will give them peace of mind…

And maybe, they will finally get their happy ending.

G out.

12/24/XX

[darkmatter-nebula]

I would like to make a request:

Could you write Hunter and Collin playing RPG, but then they ended up inside the game, and now they will have to pass through the adventure they planned to get out.

Greetings! Thank you for the request!

It's up to your interpretation which RPG Colli and Hunter get trapped in.

Bonus Points: The game was a trap, created by an adult member of Colli's species. An adult Collector who strongly dislikes Colli for his pacifistic nature.

Drabble: The Trap

It was a quiet afternoon in Gravesfield as the most inseparable pair of brothers was playing a new RPG. Unfortunately, the young Grimwalker and the small starboy with otherworldly fluffy lavender hair and a heart of gold suddenly were sucked into the game!

Colli immediately tried to use his magic to free Hunter and himself. Even though... "My magic isn't working here!" The kindhearted eternal little boy's lovely voice was filled with panic. Hunter wrapped his arms around Colli and cuddled him close to his chest.

"I'm sure we'll find a way out, my beautiful little Sunshine." The former Golden Guard whispered softly. "Yeah, I guess you're righ-" Colli couldn't end his sentence, a booming voice suddenly was clearly audible. "Hello, Little One. When you and that worthless Grimwalker want to escape, you have to reach the end of the game. The clock is ticking. You only have two hours, or you'll be trapped for all eternity."

The voice went silent. "How mean! You aren't worthless, Hunter! You are amazing." Colli let out some very offended noises as Hunter was called worthless. "I don't care what this person says. I only value your opinion, Colli." The blonde boy chimed in as he took softly Colli's small hand.

Hunter was determined to protect his greatest treasure from any harm! Fortunately, most enemies were harmless mooks. The Bosses were harder, but Hunter's unbreakable and unconditional brotherly love for Colli was enough to give him the strength to keep going.

As soon as Colli and Hunter reached the final level, it finally was revealed who trapped both of them in the game in the first place. It was an adult member of Colli's species. The adult Collector despised Colli's pure heart and his pacifistic nature. "You are a disgrace to our kind, Little One!" The cloaked figure glared at Colli.

Colli summoned his courage to speak up. "I don't care that you view me as a disgrace, you big fat meanie!" The adult Collector was about to attack Colli, Hunter didn't hesitate to protect him. When Colli was in danger, Hunter became a one man army! He managed to defeat the adult Collector for now.

Thankfully, Colli and Hunter finally were back in the real world. Hunter began to shower Colli's adorable multi-colored face with lots of soft and loving brotherly kisses. Colli pressed with infinite tenderness his forehead against Hunter's, while Hunter intertwined his fingers with Colli's.

Hunter had a very long cuddling session with his beloved little brother. Colli was Hunter's whole world and the light of his life. The immortal celestial boy always was and always would be.

The End

[emblemxeno]

Thoughts on Divine Paralogues

Thought I’d do opinions on each of the throwback paralogues as I do them. It’s been a few weeks since I did the DLC ones, so for better or worse I have a more clear head on them.

The Ancestor: Tiki’s I already gave my opinion on months ago, but something to really note: Doing it after you have both Etie and Alcryst is a blessing since they can near one shot the Ice Dragons, and that makes the whole experience much more bearable. In general, the paralogue is still kind of a slog though. Never played Mystery or New Mystery, but just from playing Shadow Dragon I know that Marth’s games were designed around units, y’know, having more than 4-5 movement at a time. Engage tries to circumvent this with the ice tiles but ehhhh. It’s still not the best. Tiki as an Emblem and access to the Silver Card (which I very much love the easter egg of it being where the hidden shop was in the OG map) is definitely worth it though.

The Brash General: I like Hector’s map! Nothing too complicated, and the poison effect being different from how it was in FE7 means it’s not as much of a hassle. I like how it restricts unit amount a la Hector Mode. Wish I had more to say about it lol, it was just fun. Hector’s a great Emblem too, having another tank Emblem alongside Ike (and Tiki I guess) works wonders.

The Radiant Strategist: Loved this one. Never played FE10, though I’ve watched LPs of it, so I don’t quite know how it really stacks up. But I like the challenge, and the smog and meteors serve as a nice incentive to keep moving forward. Soren’s a fun Emblem, and great at working in tandem with others mainly due to Assign Decoy. Manipulating AI is always busted. Bolting is also a baller tome, and Flare is busted as expected.

The Doting Sister: This was a map that really tested my patience the first time I went through it, but changing my team comp helped significantly. I was originally just using the Divine Paralogues to train up weaker units (false sense of security from Hector and Soren’s maps lol) but that makes it exponentially harder, especially if you did it at the point of the game I did. Thankful that Camilla’s Dragon Vein wasn’t the fire attack like it was in Birthright cuz that would’ve made it unbearable, and overall I’m fine enough with how the map played. Not a favorite, but tough and very clear that I need to manage better. Camilla herself is a good Emblem, if only for Soar and her weapons, but I feel they kind of ran out of ideas for her beyond that. Another Dragon Vein user is great, of course, but... her other skills are kinda meh.

The Sheperd Exalt: Fuck this one, lol. Not because of the gimmick of removing the wall of darkness, but because of Robin’s fucking water trap that gets triggered early if you separate your team into groups. I haaaaate shit like that, where the first valid answer to a map’s puzzle fucks over the player because of something they couldn’t really anticipate. Mind you, as a general liker of Revelation’s map design, it just reminded me of the worst aspects of Mikoto’s and Sumeragi’s maps. Blegh. Many rewinds were used due to this, not a fan. Chrom and Robin are a sleeper hit of an Emblem, though. Surprise Attack, Rally Spectrum, and Other Half are great skills. Plus they were super gay together in their gay little bracelet. Love wins.

The Lonely Heir: Toss up between this and Soren’s being my favorite of the Divine Paralogues. Straightforward, Veronica’s reinforcements are a good push forward, and activating the tiles to reach her isn’t a sneak pain in the ass like Chrom and Robin’s map was. What sets it apart from being just ‘good’ like Hector’s is the general design of the map itself. Clever terrain placement and use of open and narrow spaces, which is an ingenious reference to Aether Raids. Veronica herself is fucking busted. Summoning mooks in FE has always been broken, so it wasn’t a surprise that getting to summon a generic or even an Emblem would be nuts. But every other fucking skill she has is just as crazy. Contract speaks for itself, Book of Worlds gives an insane reward for choosing to Wait, Level Boost and SP Conversion are prime grinding skills, and Reprisal is a reliable damage buff. Her weakest aspects are her weapons, and even those are still pretty good.

Music is peak as always. I expect the same tracks to be used for base game trials (haven’t started any of those yet) that correspond to characters from the same games i.e. Corrin’s probably shares the same track as Camilla’s, mostly because Hector having Winds Across the Plains is... a choice. One that can only be explained by sharing tracks. BIG shoutout to Veronica’s though, the Book 6 map theme will always be fucking amazing.

(Sorry for the absence, finals have been kicking my ass lol)

[sepublic]

Did anyone else find themselves getting attached to specific night creatures in Isaac’s army, recognizing members and designs, keeping track of individuals, genuinely cheering and rooting for these night creatures, being amazed at their level of combat skill and efficiency, managing to briefly go toe-to-toe with even Carmilla, working to help defend their master in perfect synergy with him; Before having your heart crushed when they’re inevitably killed?

But seriously, those minions put in work, imagine them going up against the main trio! I love how the monsters in this show can be just as potent as vampires, and I found myself legit rooting for them, loving the horrific, unique, and imaginative designs of the night creatures! And of course, each time one died, a part of my soul felt crushed, kind of like when I see a clone die in Star Wars; They’re just so cool and loyal and have Isaac’s back, interesting lore and implications (like with Flyseyes), while also having the fun of watching the bad guys fight! Which makes it hurt more because you KNOW as minions that they’re disposable, and yet you love them anyway... Seriously, whenever a night creature came into clutch for Isaac I ALWAYS cheered, and every sacrifice and death is well-remembered, honored, and mourned- Not a single one wasted I say!

Also, is it me or was Abel a lot more, well... attractive than he needed to be? I mean if you’re lonely Isaac, I don’t judge nor blame you... And honestly, I loved seeing the night creatures work in loyal tandem with Isaac. Even the Visitor is somewhat devoted to him when separated across continents, being shockingly competent in trying to revive Dracula and even managing to control the Infinite Corridor; It’s like watching someone forming a bond with their incredibly demonic pokemon!

Isaac is such a cool character, the very concept and idea and the execution of his abilities as a summoner/beastkeeper. And the idea of him taking the time to explore the humanity of these monsters, recognizing their origins, letting them experiment with their personal identities as individuals, helping them push boundaries by breaking the roles they were meant for, in a sense freeing them... As someone who LOVES to humanize common mooks and ‘evil’ species, Isaac and everything he does is so damn cathartic. How he basically questions the idea of these creatures as inherently evil, decides to test making a place for them, how Isaac wants to give THEM a second chance and appreciates his monsters... I love him.

[asknarashikari]

Ninnin boys vs Ninnin Girls Minific Idea: Yakumo's mother and Takaharu and Fuuka's mother team up to make another Ninnin Battle come true. This time it’s a swimsuit competition the contestants will dress themselves. Somehow this ended with them fighting in their swimsuits against the mook soldiers/Hitokarage.

You know, I'm getting kinda worried about these prompts I'm getting from you...

"Ah, mou, these guys always ruin the fun!" pouted Fuuka, going back to back with her brother. "Nii-chan, don't think this means I won't beat you eventually!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Takaharu said, equally fond and exasperated. "Just keep the robe on, don't want these things perving on you too."

"Fine by me." The younger sister agreed as they summoned their swords and started slicing the mooks to smithereens.

"Taka! Fuuka! Be careful!" Sakurako screamed after her children. "Tsumuji-"

"Just stay down, dear, the children can handle this," he said, standing guard over his wife and sister.

"My god, these things are persistent!" Kinji exclaimed as one of the hapless mooks managed to grab onto the waistband of his shorts. "Let go you fiend- ack!" he yelped as the creature obliged, slapping the garter against his waist.

"Kasumi-nee, please stay behind me, and keep that coat on!" Yakumo said as he put himself between her and the mooks- then promptly got his lights punched out.

"Yakumo!" Harukaze wailed, nearly charging forward towards her son, only to be stopped by her brother.

"Oh, for the love of- Yakumo-kun, just worry about yourself!" She sighed exasperatedly as she easily dispatched the things herself.

"...We're never doing this again." Nagi deadpanned as he drop-kicked a mook, trying to keep the towel around his waist from getting undone. "You hear me, aunty? We're never doing this again!"

[bluemoonfantasiesiii]

TGCF Visions AU

Part I: HuaLian Visions

((Book IV Spoilers!))

Xie Lian: Dendro

When Xie Lian interrupted the parade procession to catch little Hong Hong-er from falling to his death, he knew in his heart that he was in the right despite everyone telling him he should have stayed in character and let the child fall. His blatant disregard for tradition in favor of looking after the child to make sure he would be okay caught the attention of the Dendro Archon.

That night, Xie Lian took a stroll, only to be visited by the God of Wisdom with a Vision in hand. Xie Lian still remembers what the Archon told him upon offering him the Vision: “Only fools will blindly follow what they’re told, even at the cost of a life. The truly wise understand that sometimes rules must be broken for the greater good and that the wants of the many do not always outweigh the needs of the one.”

With his new ability to sprout flowers from the ground at will and make petals dance around him when he wielded his blade, Xie Lian earned himself the title of the Flower Prince.

Here, Ruoye is a manifestation of Xie Lian’s Dendro energy. He still keeps it wrapped around his wrist beneath his sleeve like a green bandage, but its natural form often gets mistaken for a lasso. Xie Lian never bothers to correct anyone and tell them it’s actually a noose.

Hua Cheng: Electro

Hua Cheng didn’t receive his Vision until after his death, for it was the reason he remained on Earth as a ghost that captured the eye of the Electro Archon. As the God of Eternity, it makes sense to take notice of someone who would deny themselves rest and tether their soul to the living world for one singular, unchanging purpose.

However, unlike his reason for staying, Hua Cheng was unable to immediately activate his Vision. During the time he existed as a formless ghost fire, it just sort of hovered around him, blank and dull. It wasn’t until he was forced to witness his beloved god and Crown Prince be impaled by a sword 100 times that he was able to summon the might of the storm.

And summon it he did. His Vision awoke in a violent storm of purple lightning that instantly killed everyone who dared to harm his love. Using his newfound power, he was finally able to manifest a human form, his Vision now pulsing with violet light and the swirling Electro symbol as it situated itself right above his heart where his pain was the most unbearable.

When he became Wu Ming and stood by Xie Lian’s side even as the fallen god was on the path to becoming a vengeful Calamity, his Vision shifted to dangle over the center of his shoulder blades from a chain between his shoulder guards.

When he meets Xie Lian again 800 years later as San Lang, his Vision is strapped to the belts at his hip. When he finally shows his beloved his true form, his Vision is once again resting over his chest, embedded into the silver butterfly pendant there.

Meeting on Mount Yujun

Having sent everyone away as Ruoye deals with the mooks, Xie Lian waits in the bridal sedan, muscles tense and ready to unleash everything he has at this ghost bridegroom.

He isn’t expecting to feel the very air itself crackling with electricity, making the hairs on his neck stand up, as he hears the sound of bells approaching. If this creature isn’t the Electro Archon, then this is an Electro user whose spirit certainly resonates with their Vision enough to rival her.

When he pretends to trip and fall into this person’s arms, the first thing he notices is that they’re quite clearly male, so he can at least rule out the Electro Archon snatching brides away. The next thing he notices upon opening his eyes is the swirling tri-symbol of the Electro emblem inside a purple glass amulet. So he was right. This is an Electro user. A powerful one.

Really, he should have realized right off the bat that the strange boy he met on the ox cart later was the same person as the stranger who led him in a wedding march through the woods before bursting into a flurry of violet butterflies. After all, Electro Vision holders tend to gravitate towards purple clothes, not red.

[marithlizard]

First Impressions: RWBY v8c9, “Witch”

"Witch", huh?  Presumably Salem.  Are we going to get more backstory lore? Because YES PLEASE.

The Atlas army vs. the whale whose teeth loom like mountains on the horizon.  They look like toys. I can't help thinking these soldier mooks equal any Huntsman in courage, if not in skill.  And this is the first real large-scale action any of them have seen - that anyone in the world has seen in their lifetimes.

eyy Ren has gotten over the snappishness as well as the despairing angst.    Suddenly gaining control of his evolving Semblance must help a lot with the feelings of powerlessness.  (And though we haven't seen him use it on Jaune or Yang, I'm thinking being able to know for certain how much your friends care about you and have your back  is a source of power in itself.)

They're discussing fairy tales MY HEART

Ozpin continuing to confirm he has handed over the reins completely to Oscar.   I don't like this about the accelerating merge, though. It feels like we're going to lose Oz  very soon. And yet,  Jinn's vision definitely showed us Oz and host coexisting in middle age.  Did they not use magic in that lifetime?  Or is the merge somehow not about "losing" either one of them?

Team FNKI in a line of regular soldiers!  They've got to have mobilized all the students, but I wonder if we'll see any others besi-  Neon. Neon you are wearing rollerskates to the apocalypse.  

...well, why not?  

Marrow,  YOU'RE just a kid.  You can't be more than a few years older, and you're not that much more seasoned. Though I understand the feeling.

So, Hazel, you're ready to rejoin fact-based reality?  Or at least listen to someone who pretty much definitionally can't be lying?  

(Actually...the only information we have about Jinn comes from her, and it'd be a hell of an interesting twist if she was editing facts to fit her own agenda.  I don't think it's very likely for meta reasons, but it'd make a great fic premise, wouldn't it?)

Huh.  He sounds much much calmer, and like he's been thinking through everything for the last few hours.  

....what? He's not even going to ask???  THAT is a surprise.  The existence of Jinn and knowing Oscar  gave him the password in good faith  were enough to deradicalize a violent extremist. (Wish it was that easy in RL.)

Oscar's little wave

(You know, now that I think of it,  Ozpin has never interacted with Jinn himself.  She's greeted him twice and he hasn't answered.  Does he resent her for not answering his predecessor's questions more helpfully?  Mistrust her?  )

yes rescue Emerald good

"Just to be  clear" - oh god I thought that was Salem's voice and nearly jumped out of my seat.

"I'll come back for it"  crap crap crap  Hazel's redemption arc is going to be short, painful, and fatal.   And Salem will keep the lamp, if not have the password.

And we'll just all turn our backs on the divine artifact-entity and walk away.  I guess they don't think she's enough of a person to say goodbye to?  

And our eavesdropper is...the one person who CAN'T summon Jinn or ask her a question.  

Oh no. No.  Please don't have the fandom descend into "Jinn is ablist" discourse. (ETA: upon thinking further I take it back,  the gods suck and providing a Relic that not everyone can use is in its way a tiny symbol of their callous attitude to people. ) 

RJY working smoothly together, nice. 

Robyn said people are always suspicious of her, and her truthsense ability has a clearly visible limiting condition.    But Ren can apparently read the emotions of everyone around him all the time without them knowing.  Surely that would make a lot of people uncomfortable.  (Although I expect  the writers to ignore this, and will be pleasantly surprised if they explore it at all.)

That's always the way isn't it, you roll a 4 on your concentration check right when a demonic jellyfish is floating by.

Huh, they separated from Oscar?  And Hazel is worried about him? I'm still dizzy from the speed of this 180.  

uh...hi, Salem.  Nice...weather outside the whale today?  Seen any good dismemberments lately?

Hazel,  you are a terrible liar and you can't bluff.   Admittedly the stakes are a lot  higher here than in the weekly WTCH poker game.

Salem NYOOM

No one can accuse Yang of not understanding the core competencies.

"Juan"???  I did hear that correctly, yes?  Marrow not remembering Jaune's name is hilarious.  And I was about to say understandable, but no, they worked with the Ace Ops for weeks!  Did you just have him mentally filed as "the blond himbo tank"?

O-kayyyyyy.    I can't blame Emerald,  but this could go so horribly wrong so fast. 

Isn't Hazel-disguised-as-Oscar  way too heavy to pick up like tha-  OHHHHHHHHH.  Now things make much more sense.  Oscar was the one worried about Hazel earlier,  and failing utterly to bluff.  Infinitely more in character.

Awkward Semblance is also extremely convenient in short-cutting negotiations. Nice.

I do not, in fact, have any doubt that Winter would blow up her sister.   And in this situation  I can't say it's the wrong thing to do.  As far as they know their bomb is the only hope.

Wow. I really did not think we’d go to toe to toe with Salem herself at this point in the plot.  It's so traditional to save the final boss fight for, well, the final boss.  She's terrifying and unstoppable, but not actually more terrifying than the giant whale.    

Her regen is just like  the Hound's body morphing, but far smoother and faster with a thousand "deaths" of practice.

She sounds more normal right now, oddly.   Her voice is lacking both the measured slowness and the resonance it has when she's making speeches.  I like the idea of that falling away when she's surprised and exasperated.  

Our heroes are very very lucky that RWBY is not a darker show, or those Grimmhand  restraints would be doing a lot of gross agonizing damage with their nails.   There's no reason she'd want to be gentle at this point.

Yeah, there's the sonorous voice again. Although it wavers again with that "Why do you Keep. Coming. Back?"   Does she not know? How can she not know, Jinn's vision said Ozma told her everything.  Perhaps she means: why do you keep fighting  me instead of hiding like the hermit.

Yang, don't give her information,  gah!   "Her again."  She sounds pleased.  I think we are going to find out Summer's fate this volume after all.  Salem will reveal it to break Ruby’s spirit.  Prediction: it will work. 

(EDIT: I completely missed the significance of Yang calling Summer “my mom”.  Wow.)

She definitely intends to turn Emerald into something like the Hound.

"No more Gretchens."   Oh, of course that's what Oscar said he needed before they could leave, the cane.

Hazel's life expectancy is minutes long but at least it included a satisfying KAPOW.   And every single sparkly crystal he owns.  Somehow he seems smaller here, less bulky than he did at Haven.  Less a titan and more a man.

yigh he's pounding her into mush.  Which he has several times before, apparently.  This is all to buy you time, Emerald, why are you not running.   (I know, I know.   She's never had someone actually help her and care about her, only scraps of affection to establish control.    At this moment Cinder's hold on her is breaking forever.)

(Neo, on the other hand.  Will she bring the lamp to Cinder, who frankly has been a totally crap partner and deserves no loyalty?    Is she still after revenge?   My bet is still firmly on her planning to backstab Cinder as soon as Ruby is gone.  But beyond that, we don't know her thoughts at all.  She might join the heroes, or disappear like Raven to hide while the apocalypse works itself out.)

That's true, Oscar, but what can you do to stop her?  

Hah!  Clever,  Hazel.  And she's actually screaming in pain from the fire, whereas she didn't make a sound when being pulverized.

What does the cane DO?  It's impressive as heck, but I can't tell.  Channeling his magic, certainly.  Are we going to lose Oz  right now?  With no chance to talk to Ruby or Qrow or anyone, to reconcile?  It seems all too likely, and such a waste.

Which makes me think, in turn, that perhaps we will lose Oscar too in a way.  Unexpected - I have always thought the merge would end with Oscar holding all the memories.  But maybe he won't be quite either of them anymore, even if he remembers both and the others still call him Oscar.  And that thought also makes me sad.

Anyway,  good episode, though now the title doesn’t seem particularly relevant. Hazel was much more the focus. 

[matt0044]

Jason’s epic Power Coin flip.

Reblog if you agree.

Keeper comes to Grid Battleforce via his ship in order to bring bad tidings of a vision that the Morphing Grid had sent him. One of many Rangers falling to many foes as well as Devon being hit by a meteor. I think I recall that this was the original plan for Troy’s arc in Megaforce where he was connected to the Grid itself. Nice to see that idea being put to better use in a similar crossover.

Devon is skeptical about the vague visions and decides to hit up a video game tournament with Cruise until further notice. Said notice comes sooner than expected as Tyler contacts GB Command on Snide and Goldar Maximus’s invasion of the Dino Dimension. I definitely love how the video call is shot as if being found footage from a war zone. The action in the background sells it well.

Cruise gets Devon lost on the road only for a meteorite to actually strike and nearly take them out. Weirdest Deus Ex Machina ever. Meanwhile, the Beast Rangers arrive to face Goldar Maximus only for Dino Charge to lose four Energems. As I said, I love that this has been a five parter rather than a self-contained special. This episode really feels the culmination of something huge.

Devon reports the meteorite to GB Command and shows that it seems to have electromagnetic properties that nearly disrupt the HQ’s systems. With Ravi’s distress signal received, the Red Rangers gets the bold idea to call for help via the Morph-X Towers and across the Grid itself. He even used the Meteorite to help shield himself from the intensity of the energy itself. That... makes sense?

The meteorite somehow “morphs” into the Tyrannosaurs Power Coin and gets the Grid to summon Jason, played once more by Austin St. John. All the while, the Rangers spy on Evox and discover that they’re creating a Zord from six types of dinosaur DNA along with their Energems. The same method that Shelby did in creating the Spino Zord. Cross-series continuity. Ain’t it a beaut?

Jason and Devon reconvene with the Rangers just in time to give out a plan that’ll draw their enemies away with one party while the Beast Rangers stop Evox from creating a Chimera Zord. Jason leads Dino Charge to face Goldar Maximus and Snide before giving the signal for the rest of his team to burst onto the scene along with Dino Thunder. As Tyler often declares, it gets wild.

The battle benefits from being adapted from Kyoryuger Vs. Go-Busters since specials and movie go all out on the effects. You go Ivan and Kira taking out mooks by gliding Jetman style. Riley and Trini get up close with their melee weapons. Zack and Koda bring on some prehistoric power side by side. Dino Thunder even busts out the gold old Z Rex Blaster to take Snide out for good.

Robo-Roxy is taken out by Ivan, leaving Robo-Blaze to warn Evox. All the while, Goldar Maximus makes his last stand when all the Dino Rangers bring their combining weapons together and blast him to Kingdom Come. Meanwhile, the Beast Rangers are too late to stop the Chimera Zord from burrowing into the Earth but still manage to take Robo-Blaze out of the picture with the King Bow.

The Chimera Zord bursts onto the scene in all its CGI glory with Jason comparing it to Serpenterra. I’m guessing that they used portals to bring out their Zords from points in time where they hadn’t been destroyed. We even get breif footage of the Dino Megazord and Thundersaurus Megazord’s cockpits along the way. Now I can seeing why Hasbro had pushed to adapt this team up.

Devon joins in on the fun with the Beast X King Zord and combines it with the Dino Charge Megazord to deliver the finisher. I wish they had that announcer belt out, “Dino Charge Megazord Beast King Formation.” All the same, Evox flies the coup before his Chimera Zord is completely destroyed. Virus Extinct!

The teams say their goodbyes as Dino Thunder returns to Reefside. I wish they mentioned to Jason that they’ll say, “Hi,” to Tommy for him. They’re clearly from during their season with their Dino Gems powering their suits. Speaking of suits, I don’t think there’s much in-universe reasoning to keep Shelby and Riley morphed. What are they hiding? Embarrassing hair-cuts? At least joke about it.

Even so, the Beast vs. Dino team up comes to a close. I’ll say that it’s only weakness is the emphasis on the Dino Rangers towards the end since they were adapting a Kyoryuger team up with Go Busters. Even so, they did pretty well in weaving the story across five whole episode rather than dump it all one single special. I can see newer fans getting interested in previous season too.

Now we enter the real endgame for Evox. The gloves are about to come off.

[girl-in-the-library]

I had a really complicated dream last night.

So I dreamed that I was lying in bed at the house I grew up in, trying to get to sleep, when something weird started happening.

At first, I thought it was just the Under-the-bed monster trying to eat my blankets again, so I pulled up my blankets - but there was no resistance, meaning it wasn’t the under-the-bed monster. Then, my plushies, particularly my Pokemon plushies (this will be important later), started floating.

I realized quickly that it was vampires! So I had to stop them. But they were invisible, and also trying to turn my plushies into vampires. I managed to eventually stop them by turning them visible and banishing them, but that was only the beginning of the problem.

My house was being haunted by spirits that were a combination of the seven deadly sins and the four horsemen of the apocalypse. They were possessing my family members, friends, and all the other miscellaneous people who happened to be in my house. It’s terrifying to have to fight your sister when she’s possessed by a puppet-mime version of Death, or your mother by a gluttonous pestilence. I kept half absorbing the spirits of these monsters into my own body in order to destroy them, because I had some sort of power that didn’t allow them to take control of my body when they were possessing it - I remained in control, even as my physical body changed forms with their possession. However, sometimes it was hard to banish them from other people’s bodies. When I couldn’t absorb them - which I was able to do to all the “bosses” but not the little mooks - I had to banish them by destroying them. As it turned out, when you popped the balloon-possessed form of a person whose body was lying elsewhere, the spirit that inhabited the balloon did not return to its body, but instead was sent off to the aether. It took a while to realize that we (those of us who weren’t possessed and were fighting the monsters) were actually killing some people, and that was horrifying.

At some point, I think my mother died, but she also might not have. It was confusing and upsetting.

Ultimately, after several long battles throughout the house, we defeated all these spirit monsters - and all those who died came back to life. But then, we were attacked by several legendary Pokemon. I remember Articuno and Kyogre, but there were lots of attacks on the house.

I walked out the front door, through the crowd of people, to see Ash Ketchum giving a speech about how he was the Pokemon Master, and all would bow to him. He seemed to believe that this was his childhood home, and we had taken it over.

I pushed through the front of the crowd and confronted him. I said, in unison with him, that “This is /my/ childhood home and I will not let you take it!”

Then we started fighting. It was not a Pokemon battle (at first) - we were literally shooting magic spells at each other, and trying to physically fight. He was glowing with a green electric energy, and was very, very angry and volatile.

He started attacking me again with his team of legendary pokemon. He set the street and the woods on fire with a Moltres. But I was dodging and keeping pace - until he sent out his final clincher - his Pikachu.

At that point, I sent out my Pikachu too. His was wearing a red hat, mine a green hat. The Pikachus fought - mine powered by the love I gave it, and his, once powered by his love, now powered by his hate. Ash did something and his Pikachu grew a Heracross horn that was also spiked and sharp. But that Pikachu was collapsing, looking for acknowledgement, care, and love, which Ash was no longer giving it. My Pikachu reached out to his Pikachu in comfort, and the two stopped fighting. Ash fell to the ground and ROARED - fire coming out of his eyes and mouth.

Suddenly, a song started playing and I knew beyond any doubt that Ash just needed love. So I ran to him, through the fire, and tackle hugged him. Soon, everyone who was still there/alive had grouped all around us, enveloping Ash in a group hug. He started sobbing, and I realized he was being controlled by his hat.

I ripped the hat off his head and it tried to possess me, but again, even when I wore it on my head for a brief period of time, my power that allowed me to resist losing control of my body kept me from succumbing to its siren song of power. I took the hat off my head and started talking to it. It was really an evil hat, and it started summoning vampires again! But everyone else was able to take care of the vampires while I talked to the hat, holding it by practically crushing it in my hands, lest it fly off and possess someone else. And somehow, I managed to convince it to be a sort of antagonist that wasn’t a villain, someone kinda jackass-y, but not outright evil.

Then I was back in my bedroom with my stuffed animals, and they were no longer vampires. I then was waiting outside a building at school for my friends, so I could ask them about the monster attack. I said, “Did anyone else have a vampire problem last night or was it just me?” No one knew what I was talking about, so I assumed it had been a dream.

We sat in the cafeteria and I was explaining the whole situation to some people - some who thought it was a dream, and some who thought it was AWESOME, when it was time to listen to the student council election speeches.

People went up and gave speeches. Then it was time for a special guest speech...from a guy who looked just like Ash Ketchum, but without the hat!

I was suspicious. He started talking and giving inspirational quotes, but would occasionally reference pokemon. I was sitting in the front row, so when he asked a question about one of the pokemon movies, I was able to answer. He called me “Green.”

He asked for volunteers and tried to get me on the stage to lead one of the teams of volunteers, but I said I was suspicious of him. When he looked at me and asked why, I told him he was the villain in my dream last night. Then he winked at me and said to everyone else, “I guess Green won’t be participating.”

I knew that everything that had happened was real...

and then my alarm went off in real life and I woke up.

[paperanddice]

Tears of the Crocodile God 12

Now it’s time for the last big post of this conversion as I build the encounters for the 13th Age version of the adventure. Unlike the 5e one, I actually really like the encounter building rules for 13th Age, and with a system much more focused on balanced combat based on group size I’ll actually build versions of the encounters for groups with 3 to 6 characters. Some will be more straightforward than others, and some of the big boss fights like the Crocodile God itself will be quite a bit tougher for smaller groups, but those groups should have better odds of going in fully stocked thanks to plenty of uses of the Crocodile Fonts to heal, regain recoveries, and possibly recharge daily powers and spells.

Drowning Vault (Monster, Hazard)

With only the one type of monster in this, the drugged up manticores, this is an easy one to set up. I don’t even need a chart or special modifications. Simply use one manticore for every two players (round up), and you’ve got your encounter.

Howling Hunt (Monsters, Shields)

3 Players: 1 tanarukk steel cavalry, 5 howler dread hounds 4 Players: 1 tanarukk steel cavalry, 10 howler dread hounds 5 Players: 2 tanarukk steel cavalry, 5 howler dread hounds 6 Players: 2 tanarukk steel cavalry, 10 howler dread hounds

An easy enough setup regardless of which version of the encounter you run. If you choose to use the Howling Hunt as a result of a campaign loss or characters taking a full heal, if there’s multiple tanarukk have them split up and approach the party from different directions wherever they’ve settled down for a bit more fun. If they’re in the room with the Spellsplinter Shields, have the cavalry use quick actions to switch their shields with the magic shields and encourage players to do so as well. Otherwise just play up the howlers closing in and hunting the party down easily thanks to using the runewheels and any sacrifices the party’s collected.

Statues in Stasis (Monsters, Shields)

3 Players: 5 child statues, 1 empowered child statue 4 Players: 6 child statues, 2 empowered child statues 5 Players: 5 child statues, 2 empowered child statues, 1 teenager statue 6 Players: 5 child statues, 3 empowered child statues, 1 teenager statue

Scatter the animated statues among the places on the map with the shields. Make sure to use shields such as the Fool, Dungeon Door and Mind Flayer on the stronger statues, while the weaker ones start with the Black Dragon and Umber Hulk. Don’t double up on any statues until you’ve got one of each in the encounter, then start repeating the weaker ones. Keep the other statues around for them to pick up during the encounter and for the players to take action to either take them or to just deny the statues from getting them.

Hag’s Lair (Monsters, Hazard)

This one doesn’t require a complicated setup. Simply make use of Old Beshebra the hag, then enough Filth Hag Sons so that there’s one opponent per character. Three characters requires 2 sons, 4 has 3 sons, and so on. Old Beshebra and her sons will take advantage of the movement risks in this move to ensure that vulnerable targets have trouble escaping them and keeping the more dangerous opponents away from Beshebra as much as possible.

Mold King’s Throne (Monsters, Hazards)

This encounter is going to be a mess no matter what, with the 40 crocodiles dropping in slowly, with a bunch of them turning into death mold crocodiles, the death mold itself, the goal of collecting the scroll cases without getting hit by the death mold. I’ll indicate the number of death mold zombies that seems reasonable to include depending on the number of players, but with the constant mooks and environmental threats it’s hard to say exactly how the encounter will play. Do your best.

3 Players: 4 death mold zombies 4 Players: 6 death mold zombies 5 Players: 8 death mold zombies 6 Players: 8 death mold zombies, and adjust the death mold’s action to function up to 3 times per round.

Chained Hydra (Monster)

The hydra should be able to face off against a party on its own. For a group of 3 or 4, just include the one 7 headed venom maw hydra, while a party with 5 or 6 characters can face off against one that’s been bumped up by 1 level. Increases its initiative, attack bonuses, and defenses by 1 each, increase its hit points to 280, adjust its additional head sprouting to give 55 hp each, and increase its damage so that each gnashing teeth attack deals 16 damage on a hit and 8 on a miss, while the venomous spit increases to 8 damage per attack. If you choose to use the nastier special instead, the damage should still be fine for an 8th level hydra.

Mimic’s Parlor (Monster, Brand)

3 Players: 1 impersonator mimic, 5 mimic spawn 4 Players: 1 impersonator mimic, 1 cloaker, 5 mimic spawn 5 Players: 1 impersonator mimic, 1 cloaker, 10 mimic spawn 6 Players: 1 impersonator mimic, 2 cloakers, 10 mimic spawn

Most of the enemies start this fight hiding. If a player willingly sits down, they get stuck and the fight likely starts as soon as they realize they can’t stand up again. Start the battle with that character already grabbed by a mimic spawn, rather than having it use its ambusher ability.

For this encounter, adjust the description of the room a little to stick a whole bunch of additional furniture and debris in the room so that when the mimics use their vanishing trick there’s more things for them to hide among.

As with the 5e version of this encounter, I think that this room can be given an additional fun role play scene where the impersonator mimic offers a dice game to determine if it gives over the hidden brand in the room. If someone sits down to play, it will throw a d6 and add one for each lotus garland the player has. On a result of 7 or higher, the player gets the brand, while anything else results in their death. Of course, anyone who doesn’t have a lotus garland can’t be allowed to leave the room alive, but the mimic won’t reveal that until it’s gathered as much information on who these intruders are as it can.

Guardian’s Run (Monster)

The mummified cyclops on its own is an “even” fight for 8 characters of this level, so pretty much all groups won’t want to tangle with it. It’s not meant to be an actual battle, simply something the characters flee from and avoid by other means. Don’t worry about how unbeatable it is, that’s entirely on purpose.

Crocodile Tears (Monster, Hazard)

Unleash 1 mummified crocodile on groups of 3 or 4, and two of them on groups of 5 or 6. Since this will happen alongside the rising sand trap, things will be interesting enough to be enough of a challenge even for the larger groups in each of those situations.

Crocodile God’s Lair (Monster, Environment)

This one is a bit of a challenge for me. The Crocodile God is a good boss for a group of 3, but for groups above that level it immediately isn’t quite as imposing and dangerous. A group of 4 is technically even with the Crocodile God, and once you get more than that the party now has the advantage. So the God will need some assistance with any group above the minimum. This was something I did not consider in the initial plan, so I am lacking a great instant substitute.

Here’s my solution: Last minute stat block! If facing larger groups, the Crocodile God summons up a few giant crocodiles to help it:

Giant Crocodile Large 7th level mook [beast] Initiative: +9 Clamping jaws +12 vs. AC - 30 damage Natural 14+: The target is also grabbed. It takes 5 ongoing damage as long as this grab lasts. AC 22 PD 21 MD 15 HP 50 (mook) Mook:Kill one giant crocodile mook for every 50 damage you deal to the mob.

3 Players: The Crocodile God 4 Players: The Crocodile God, 2 giant crocodiles 5 Players: The Crocodile God, 3 giant crocodiles 6 Players: The Crocodile God, 5 giant crocodiles

Nephalot’s Quarters (Monsters, Hazard)

Nephalot is not meant to be an easy fight, but the surprise round the characters get help make a huge difference. This will be a test of the player’s ability to focus fire and get the hell out before getting overwhelmed, and so the additional reinforcements will quickly be overwhelming even against a larger group. Each row will have the creatures in the room initially, and then the main round of reinforcements. No matter the size of the group, have 8 crocodile cult acolytes swarm in every round after the reinforcements arrive, just swamping the room and driving players away with an overwhelming number of attacks.

3 Players: Nephalot. Reinforcements: 1 crocodile cult priest. 4 Players: Nephalot. Reinforcements: 1 crocodile cult priest, 2 crocodile cult enforcer. 5 Players: Nephalot, 1 crocodile cult priest. Reinforcements: 3 crocodile cult enforcers. 6 Players: Nephalot, 1 crocodile cult priest. Reinforcements: 1 crocodile cult priest, 3 crocodile cult enforcers.

And with this, I’ve finished my 13th Age conversion of Tears of the Crocodile God. Thanks for following along, and I hope you’ve enjoyed this. If you make use of anything from this conversion at all, even just a monster stat block or a hazard, please let me know! I love to hear whenever someone uses my material.

[yfere]

M9 Signature Combat Moves (and what they say about them)

AKA, I nerd out over battle strategies and patterns.

Fjord: Fjord is lovely and my favorite person to watch in battle, because his main combat strategy is, get out of dodge, then distract the enemy away from your friends, then get out of dodge, get your friends out of dodge, shove a healing potion down your unconscious friend’s throat while you’re getting them out of dodge. He’s all for the guerilla warfare, and is understandably upset whenever someone implies that it’s not super noble and heroic looking, because it works, right? Keeps him and everyone alive. So among his signature moves are:

Thunderstep. Which he uses to a) bampf himself and his friends (but mostly his friends) out of harms’ way or b) bampf some help to his friends. And by friends we mostly mean “Caleb” because this poor man needs everyone he can looking after him so he isn’t ground into meat paste in .02 seconds. Routinely holds the spell while Bad Shit Is Happening so that he can use it at the exact right moment.

Major Image. For those times you really want the enemy to be looking the other direction while you get out of dodge, or, to encourage them to massacre the group that is not you (an effective distraction!)

Misty Step. Getting some distance, like a hero.

Summon Greater Demon. For chewing spellcasters he doesn’t like to bits, but mostly for absorbing damage from all the mooks that might otherwise be targeting his squishy friends. 

Beau: Beau is also lovely, so lovely that she takes precisely the opposite approach to Fjord in battle. The nature of what she does means she is in the enemy’s face. Grappled in every other fight (3/4 of fights?) and on the main? Thinks escaping from the grapple is a fuckin’ waste of time. She’s right where she wants to be, punching your lights out, and learning how better to destroy you all the while. And sure, it might be dangerous, especially when the creature holding your limp unconscious body splashes acid whenever it’s damaged, but hey. The logical upgrade to punching ghosts is to be a punching ghost. So for this violent, curious bean, you have:

Sentinel. I’m sorry, did you forget who you were fighting? You’re fighting Beau. You’re not fighting anyone else. And she is going to stay in your face, whether you like it or not.

Step of the Wind. Used less often for running away from things than running towards things, like things she wants to punch. But also for running towards other goals--like the Plank King who can put an end to the fighting on the docks, like her friend who is burning in lava and needs to be rescued. The reason she has so much movement, you see, is so she can drag your sorry ass out of trouble.

Stun. And that’s why she’s not leaving your space. The power that gets all of the worst creatures completely destroyed. Bye bye giants, bye bye Lorenzo, bye bye Krynn warrior--no, fuck! Well, whoever was responsible for offing the spellcaster is responsible for that, not Beau.

Extract Aspects. Wherein her punches and curious nature help her friends fight more effectively. Hey--hey CALEB! They’re not super wise! Wait--is Caleb down again? Fuck! JESTER! They’re not super wise!

Caleb: The easiest way to describe Caleb is to say that he has two battle modes. By and large, he is the nice and helpful support caster, making his friends more powerful and his foes a lot weaker while he ducks as much as he can out of the line of fire. But there’s another side to Caleb....when things truly go to hell, he brings hellfire raining down upon you, giving no fucks about anything but death. Leaves scores of incinerated bodies in his wake. Makes Fjord do a happy jig. So for him, you have:

Haste. Along with expeditious retreat, this is the spell that leads the whole party to just take it as gospel that Caleb is “as fast as balls.” In general, Caleb casts Haste on people less as a kind of strategy and more to display in his kooky way his love or favoritism or Desire for Friendship. Wants to get on Beau’s good side after telling her his secrets? She gets all the hastes. Feels guilty about leaving Nott to nearly get mauled to death by a dragon? She gets Haste. Needs to demonstrate to a stressed-out Fjord that he supports him in these trying times? Haste. And even if it’s not combat, we should never forget Hasted chopsticks to show love and friendship for Jester. Caleb....maybe you should use your words instead of your spell components, yeah?

Slow. Fuck you, you are not attacking his friends. Bye bye multiattack, bye bye, crazy AC. He’s so keen on saving his friends that he never even manages to wait for Caduceus to make landing the spell easier for him. It’s like a debuffing race between those two.

Fireball. From Caleb, fireball is a death sentence. You have the fleeing giant, but also...........all those pirates. All those gnolls. When Caleb casts Fireball, chances are it’s when he’s passed the point of caring about his own well-being and is only interested in fucking up other people. Downed with a crossbow bolt and just barely revived by Fjord, his only thought is to stumble forward, bleeding profusely, and finish what he started--make everything blow up.

Counterspell/Wall of Fire. So far, used in tandem, and to accomplish the same purpose--to put a big middle finger up at other spellcasters. His goal is to block their line of sight to his important people, bonus points if he can also light some people on fire, and if you even think about fucking with his spell he will smack whatever you try to the ground. Even half dead from exhaustion, he’s just better than you, and he’ll let you know it.

Nott: Like Fjord, she is all about guerilla tactics, about distracting and attacking, and hiding to attack again. She really likes attacking, and has the kill count to prove it. Also like Fjord, Nott is invested in the purchase and dispersal of healing potions--to the point where she annoyed him by buying the potions he requested (so that he could give them to people in trouble) only to keep them herself (so that she could give them to people in trouble). But unlike Fjord, she utilizes the running strategy not to get herself or others to safety necessarily, but rather as another form of distraction, to draw attention to herself and away from the others. For her, you have:

Phantasmal Force. The spell most likely to make her turn up her nose at Fjord and say, “but do you need me to make the illusion even more realistic?” She takes a great deal of pride and joy in it. Absolutely wonderful--a spell to distract in creative ways, to control other people to “thinking things that aren’t real,” the targets justify the illusion, and it deals damage! While Nott uses it for distraction, she also employs it for more creative purposes, like making Avantika relax and change priorities by thinking her journal was recovered.

Bonus Action Disengage. Or more strikingly, not disengaging. Nott will run like hell, and she will take the hit so that the people she loves won’t.

Bonus Action Hide. When the going gets tough, crawl behind something and wait it out, or wait for a good shot. Sometimes works brilliantly--other times what you’re hiding in is a burning building or beneath a bridge actively being collapsed on top of you. The moral of the story Nott takes from this is, running is probably better. At which point you do what you’re more used to--dashing. 

Fury of the Small. "That’s my secret. I’m always small.” There’s an interesting commentary to this being a goblin racial trait, because in Nott’s case it probably isn’t fury at things bigger than her so much as fury at being made a goblin, a fury that only grows more potent with time, and more deadly.

Jester: Imagination that kills you, with humor and cuteness! You have to wonder if the pink bits on her dress are floral designs or blood splatters. This woman is a terror, and a person who loves to enter the fray--to the point of picking bar fights with her friends for the thrill of it! You might think, “oh, the cleric wants to get in my face to hurt me, I’ll just make her suffer” but the truth is, the one suffering is going to be you. 

Spiritual Weapon. As Iconic a weapon as Fjord’s falchion, and used a lot more frequently. Bludgeons people until they’re nothing more than bloodstains on the ground. Other clerics wish they were as good. Especially Shakaste. Poor Shakaste.

Invoke Duplicity. There to help her friends whenever Jester can’t--or shouldn’t--get somewhere herself. Will fight furniture when Jester needs to look around for a way to help Fjord. Will walk over lava to harm a giant as a distraction. Will, sometimes, be sent over to heal someone who needs it. The beauty of it is that, besides distracting and protecting, it allows her to be wherever she is most needed for a spell.

Inflict Wounds. Jester likes one thing above all, and it is to fuck people up. She’ll do it through her duplicate or she’ll do it herself, but one way or the other she’s going to wind her hands around you and make you bleed through your eyeballs. She’ll cast it on hydras. She’ll cast it on dragons. She’ll cast it on fire giants. She’ll cast it on her best friend who thought that this was a friendly brawl. And it is. Jester is nearly always friendly when she’s destroying you.

Hellish Rebuke. Unless she’s not being friendly. Once upon a time, she had a quip for when she was attacked. Now she will scream and cry out, and just the sound of it will send icy pain to whoever dared to hurt her.

Caduceus: Of everyone in the M9, the most averse to close combat, or more broadly to making a target of himself, ever. Is surprised and upset whenever creatures get close to him, or get it into their heads to attack him. He’s the support. You shouldn’t even notice he’s there. Here are some bugs--how about you attack those? What do you mean he has to get close to do touch-based healing--nope, nope, healing word it is, and only after people are unconscious to maximize its usefulness.

Hidden Step. He really doesn’t want you to notice that he’s here. If he doesn’t do this, he might try literally sinking into the ground to avoid you.

Bane. The quintessential Caduceus spell. Aptly named for how miserable it makes all his enemies. Works beautifully both for protecting those who are close to the enemy, and gels very nicely with Jester fucking shit up and Fjord distracting the enemy and whatever the hell Caleb is planning to do if....if they fucking wait for him to cast it..............

Sentinel at Death’s Door. He really doesn’t want his friends to die. It’s expensive. And there’s a certain impatient ass of a wizard who just might have died instantly if he hadn’t been hovering around him at the time. Sigh.

Path to the Grave. Caduceus is not one to get his hands dirty. Well, dirt is fine, but not so much the living blood of his foes. No, he likes to deal his damage by proxy, through his bug swarm but especially through Yasha. She already deals so much damage, and isn’t it beautiful to watch her deal twice as much of it? Bonus points if it makes Yasha look like the big scary target, and not him.

Yasha: As always, Yasha is a hard one for me, because I want to distinguish Travis-Yasha from Ashley-Yasha, but the fact of it is I haven’t seen much of Ashley-Yasha for a while. So it’s hard. But there’s one thing in particular that has stood out to me about Yasha and the way she works, and that is 

Rage. Or rather, her hesitation to rage. She’s a fighting machine who isn’t happy being a fighting machine, and there are so many times she chooses not to fly into a rage and start hitting things when she thinks being calm and talking things out is an option. She asks the lightning-creature a question, asks if it was sent from the Stormlord. “Yeah...he’s going to attack you,” Matt says. But that’s the important thing--she didn’t instigate. Ever. She didn’t get angry first. She waits, and tries everything other than the killing, until she’s provoked past the point of reason. You could even argue this as a story justification for her low initiative rolls--she just doesn’t want to get angry and attack. Not unless she has to.