#Emerald Weapon was so fucking COOL

[di-writes-stuff]

So It Goes…

Jake “Hangman” Seresin x Reader

Chapter 1

A/N: This Barbie can’t stop thinking about Glen Powell!

TW: Not much, cursing, alcohol, suggestive content. Not quite smut, but close.

It's been a long time since you've been human. Since you've strayed from the well honed weapon you've been so meticulously trained to become. Always ready for the next order, the next mission, ready to die. It's never been more apparent than when you picked up the phone, heard that cold, stern voice on the other end.

"You've been called back to Top Gun."

The readiness with which you accept the order would scare you if it hadn't become so commonplace the second you signed on the dotted line. Married yourself to a military that couldn't care less if you live or die.

After all, there's always gonna be cocky youths from shitty homes eager to prove themselves. Be great, be something for the first time in their life.

You just actually managed to do it. Become great. Incredible, really. One of the most talented pilots in the Navy. So good, in fact, that you're neck and neck with the other best pilot in the Navy.

Jake fucking Seresin.

It's not as if you don't like him. He's horribly arrogant, and quite possibly the most insufferably conceited person you've ever met.

But, he's Jake. And as humiliating, practically degrading as it is, he worked on you. Stupidly well. The grins he'd send your way anytime you dared look at him. The lame one liners he'd try, the ones that'd make you smile even as you gave him endless amounts of shit for it.

The genuine moments, few and far between, when the facade dropped, when he was a person rather than a caricature.

A person who wanted you.

You'd convinced yourself it was just sexual later.

You'd reveled in the idea that it wasn't in the moment.

But it wouldn't work. It couldn't work. Not when your career hung in the balance. The one thing you'd ever built for yourself. The one thing you'd be risking to be with him. It'd be fraternization.

Forbidden.

And really, you couldn't pass it off as just sex, no matter how hard you tried. Not with the way he'd looked at you the first and last time you ever woke up in his bed. And so it ended.

Now you just have to hope to God he won't be there to start it up again.

……………………………………………………………………………………

The steps up to the Hard Deck are almost more familiar than your house's porch at this point. The creaky, aged wood beneath your boots, bowing under your weight after too many years of use.

As you walk in, the atmosphere is busy, but not uncomfortably so. Music floating from a jukebox, Penny at the bar ringing the bell to signal someone breaking one of her beloved rules. And of course, at the back of the bar bent over a pool table.

Jake.

The rest of your squadron is there too, but you couldn't care less. Not when like magnets clicking together, his emerald eyes flash up to meet yours, a grin appearing on his face as he stands up straight, propping his cue against the table.

Damn, he looks good. After years in the military, the whole "men in uniform" thing had become lost on you. Disenchanted. But...wow. His shirt is adorned with different service ribbons, all indicators of his numerous achievements.

You're even with him, something you're sure he'll manage to gripe about later.

"Vulture." He greets you with the call-sign he coined as he walks over, a smirk plastered on his face when he stops in front of you. You still remember how proud he'd been when he came up with that.

He was beside you at this very bar, leaning in as he explained it to Penny like a kid showing off a toy. "If she's in the sky, something's dead below." It was cool, you'd admit. Not to his face, of course.

"Hangman." You respond, trying to keep your voice even, dry, safe, despite the smile fighting its way onto your face.

He gives you an amused look, leaning against the wall beside you and staring down at you, his eyes dancing across your face like they can't pick a feature to focus on. "You know, sweetheart, you could muster up a little more enthusiasm."

You roll your eyes at the pet name, trying to come off annoyed. Yet, the smile wins over, spreading across your face as you look up at him. "Give me a reason to." You quip back, falling into a pattern with him as simple as breathing.

"We're friends, aren't we?" He asks, but he knows that's putting it simply. Overly simply. The layers to your relationship are innumerable, each different, half of them contradicting each other. Friends, co-workers, competitors... and something more. Something you're not sure there's a word for.

You're not willing to use the one that seems to fit. Four letters and dangerous.

"Is that what we're calling it?" You ask before you process that you shouldn't. It's risky to even skirt the subject. Openly discuss what you're both already painfully aware of. Because he'll see it as a green light. A gleaming sign that tells him he has a shot with you.

And that, more than anything, that's what he wants. What he's wanted since he met you.

"Bending the rules?" He asks cockily, ready to swoop in, widen the gray area that you just brought up.

"No." You answer sternly, feeling like a teacher reprimanding your rowdiest student. You walk past him, hoping he doesn't follow. Denying him gets exhausting, especially when deep you, you don't want to.

He trails after you quickly, knowing you're heading to the bar before you even make the turn.

“You know, I’m more stubborn than you are.” He says as he slides into the seat next to you, each move he makes smooth, practiced, even. “I’ll wear you down.” He adds, making you snort.

“Well, since you haven’t yet…” You trail off, knowing exactly what’s coming next. You walked into it, and a small part of you did it on purpose. For the reminder. The flashback to that perfect, drunken night.

You choose not to dwell on the morning that followed.

“Didn’t I?” He asks, lowering his voice, a smirk on his lips that makes shivers run down your spine. You sigh, rolling your eyes.

“That doesn’t count.” You answer just as quietly, stiffening up a little as he leans in even closer to hear.

He just smiles, leaning back a little, shockingly trying not to draw too much attention. “No take-backs, doll.” Every word, every response from his mouth is like he’s reading from a script. Perfectly delivered, perfectly timed.

Perfect.

It’s getting hard to remember why you won’t just give in.

“You’d never let me forget it, anyway.” You grumble back, propping your chin in your hand and making certain not to look at him, not to get caught in those green eyes like a fly in a web.

He scoffs, feigning offense as he leans against the bar top, trying to get you to look at him. And since you can only be strong so long, you give him what he wants. A dazzling smile spreads across his face when you turn to him, the tiniest glimpse of a matching one on yours. “Now why would you want to? You certainly seemed to enjoy yourself.” He’s got a horribly smug look on his face as he watches your eyes widen at the brazen volume he’s speaking at.

“Piss off.” You quip back with no real anger, looking away pointedly to hide the amused smirk on your face, the blush coating your cheeks as you recall that night.

His mouth right by your ear, hot breath fanning over your shoulder as he interlaced your hands, holding you firm as he whispered softly to you.

“That’s it, baby. Let me hear ya.”

A soft kiss to your neck, then a searing one pressed to your parted lips.

“Doing so good for me. Just like that.”

The way his hands roamed over every inch of your body, carding through your hair, pulling your head back and giving him easy access to the sensitive skin of your neck. Then to your waist, like an anchor as a dent began to form where the bed frame was slamming against the wall. Your hips next, his hands staking their claim before his mouth, pressing kisses to each, slowly sinking lower down the length of your body, closer to-

You snap out of it as, similarly to then, his voice sounds close to your ear, his southern drawl more apparent the lower his voice goes.

“Reminiscing?” He asks, and you can practically hear the shit eating grin on his face. You look back to him, your faces impossibly close as he looks down at you, something more than pride glimmering in his eyes.

There’s no point in lying to him, he already knows he’s right. Besides, you’re sure he’s looked back on that night just as much as you have. Barracks get lonely, after all.

“This can’t happen again.” You say softly, hating how serious you have to be. Despising the way his face falls ever so slightly. A fracture in the act. A display of humanity, of proof that there’s something real, something tangible to this game you two play.

“We could make it work.“ He says, and the certainty in his voice isn’t just a byproduct of his ego. No, he really, truly believes it.

God, you wish you could too.

You sigh, the air around you suddenly feeling heavy. “No, we can’t.” Your voice is weak, like you’re begging him to prove you wrong. “We’re colleagues. That’s it.” You say with a finality you hate.

He just nods along, watching as you flag down Penny, ordering a drink. He quickly pulls a couple crumpled bills from his pocket, sliding them across the counter, his eyes locked on yours all the while.

“We’ve never just been colleagues, darlin’.” He says confidently. And he’s right.

You can’t take back what you did, and you certainly can’t change how you feel.

“Just…don’t make this harder than it has to be.” You say as you slide off the stool, knowing if you stay here longer, let his words make you dizzier than any liquor here, you’ll wake up in a bed that isn’t your own, and he’ll have won.

The nod he gives you says yes, but the look in his eyes speaks nothing but the truth.

The two of you could never be easy.

[selene-writes]

Please go easy on me guys I'm not the best writer and this is my first fanfiction. Anyways... this is the first installment in my series rewrite. It's going to be a Sam x Reader and possibly Dean x Reader. This is an 18+ series and will include canon level violence, eventual graphic smut, dark, and is a slow burn.

My body trembled and my heart raced as tears streamed down my face, their salty taste filling my mouth. I wanted to kill them. An innocent family. I wanted to kill them. The thought disgusted and delighted me at the same time. The mother clutched her daughter in her arms and whispered that everything would be okay. The father was already dead. I had stabbed him. Again, and again. Now, as I raise my hunter's knife over the two of them, I can't help but look into the mirror on the wall, dark, blood-red eyes staring back at me. I smile at myself and bring the knife down...

You woke up to the sound of your screams. The nightmare and the images of the blood-soaked family burned brightly in your mind. You sighed before turning on the lamp next to you, which dimly lit the crappy motel room. The nightmare had felt so real, so alive. "There's no way I'm going back to sleep now," you mumbled aloud.

After lying in bed for a moment, trying to calm yourself and stop shaking, you got up and went to the small bathroom.  The nightmare had been so real, so vivid. The old faucet made a high-pitched whine, and you flinched before the water started to flow. You leaned down and splashed your face, hoping the cool water would wake you up. Your tank top and shorts cling to your skin, wet with your sweat, making you shiver involuntarily. You look up, part of you expecting to see the same blood red eyes you saw in your dream. But to your relief, you see your normal self, albeit with your tangled hair and the purple bags under your normal blue eyes.

Suddenly you heard the door to your room open.

"Fuck," you muttered, fear clutching at your stomach. You weren't here with anyone or expecting anyone. You grabbed one of your knives from the top of the sink, you were in the habit of keeping a weapon in every room and turned off the light in the bathroom. You decided to hide in the shower, closing the curtain as quietly as possible. You planned to wait until whoever was there entered the bathroom, after all, you did not know who or what was out there, and it was better to be safe than sorry. You listened for a moment and heard heavy footsteps approaching the door. "There's one of them," you thought after hearing the footsteps. The door slowly creaked open and you held your breath, clutching your knife and taking a defensive position. The curtain was suddenly pulled open, and you did not hesitate to lunge forward with the knife. The man grabbed your empty arm and twisted it behind your back, holding my knife-wielding hand in front of him. You quickly pulled his leg out from under him, but his grip on you caused you both to lose your balance and fall through the bathroom door. You landed on top of him and held the knife to his throat. Though the room was dimly lit, you could see that toothy smile and emerald eyes everywhere. Your eyes widened and you quickly pulled the knife away from his throat. 

"What the fuck Dean?!" I yell.

"Hey, sweetheart," he replies, smirking. Only then do you notice the position you're in, practically straddling Dean. You immediately get off of him before offering him your hand, which he gladly accepts. As soon as he stands, he wraps his arms around you. 

"It's good to see you." You smile as you put your arms around him. You pull away and your expression darkens. 

"But I swear to God, Winchester, if you ever scare me like that again, I will cut your dick off." You say sternly. He chuckles at your comment. "Yes ma'am."

You walk over to the mini fridge in the motel room and grab two beers. After twisting off the tops, you hand one to Dean. 

"So, what are you doing here?" You ask, turning to face him.

"I wanted to surprise you." He replies gruffly. "Love the outfit by the way." He adds smirking. My face turns red at his comment as I realize how short my shorts are.

"Shut up." You mutter as he laughs. "How did you find me anyway?" 

"Bobby," he replies, sitting down at the small table in the room.

"Of course," You can't help but snort. As his daughter he was very protective and always knew where you were. 

"Well, I don't suppose you're just dropping by to say hello, are you?" You took a seat across from him, it had been six months since you had last seen him, and he looked different, tired. 

"I wish." He mumbled. "My dad's on a case."

"Oh? The great John Winchester needs backup?" You say sarcastically. You stop when you see his face, something is wrong. "Dean?" 

"He's out on a case and I haven't heard from him in three weeks." 

Next part

[fernsnailz]

goddamn it now you've got me thinking about Sonic Minecraft headcanons and shit lmaoooo lemme like... spout a few: -Tails is the redstone nerd, he's the one who would literally learn to build computers inside of minecraft. The others purposefully ignore redstone in caves purely because they dont want him building massive shit that lags the entire server lmao, if he wants the redstone he has to get it himself. -Amy and Sonic are the two who use shaders, Sonic has a beefy-ass PC that Tails made for him so he likes to use shaders to make the world look as cool as possible, but he's also still a freak for high FPS so he tends to use low-end shaders with very basic texture packs. Amy, however, pushes her own PC to it's limits to make shit look as beautiful as possible, and she has a whole slew of texture packs that she's organized and uses. She's the screenshot lover, and the primary builder of the group. -Omega isn't in the server because he would not stop asking for mods that add explosives so he gets his own modded world where it's just.... always chaos. -Amy is also the primary server moderator, while Tails helps her with the technical stuff. -Rouge has been banned and unbanned like 14 times for stealing so now they shut down the server if Amy or Tails isn't online to make sure she doesn't cause trouble again. -Sonic, as you've mentioned, tends to explore a lot, so the others often find random dirt huts every 1000 blocks or so from when he forgets to take food with him and his sprint runs out at night time lol -Knuckles is the primary mining dude, he also absolutely refuses to give up his emeralds to trade with villagers because he wants to rebuild his home ruins in Minecraft and hopes to use emerald blocks for that. -Shadow is.... a bit of a wildcard??? He just tends to do whatever the hell he feels like, which is either building onto his house made of an assortment of random blocks, or causing absolute fucking mayhem for everyone else. He's also the one who spends his EXP on naming his weapons the most batshit insane stuff. -There was a moment in time when they were all in a VC together that Sonic said "Oh hey I found Shadow!" and not even 5 seconds later the message "SpeedyBoi was slain by XxUltimateShitlordxX" appeared in the in-game chat -Tails most likely helped set up some of their Minecraft accounts so many of them ended up stuck with names they absolutely did not choose

thats all i can think of right now lol, but this is making me wanna make a Shadow skin for MC

these are very fun, i think the only thing i would add is that the one time omega was in the server he downloaded every speedrunning strat known to man and beat the ender dragon in under five minutes

also silver does not play because he thinks herobrine is real <3

[blitheringmcgonagall]

Chapter 4/4

See other chapters 3/4 here

PS this (finally) is for @athenasparrow 🥰🥰🥰

Chapter 4

You can do this, he tells himself firmly, you can do this. Only two hours to go.

He’s avoided looking at her all day. Sat on the opposite side to her during the beautiful ceremony. Avoided eye contact when the grooms kissed (could have been us, Evans). Refused to stand next to her when the photographer pushed them together. Kept a watchful eye to ensure he was nowhere near her all night. At least they had put him at polar opposite ends of the room. He’s hardly touched any alcohol, terrified of what he might do or let slip – contestant vigilance, as Moody would put it.

‘Nice evening, Prongs?’ Marlene looks a bit tipsy as she lifts her glass of champagne in his direction.

‘Great day,’ he says. It’s not his day. Remus and Sirius haven’t stopped beaming. He means it.

‘You know, you should probably just talk to her,’ Marlene twists the stem of the glass around, contemplatively.

For fuck’s sake.

‘No.’

‘Oh come on, get it over with, for once and for all,’ she insists, sweeping the glass in the air, as though issuing a decree.

‘Marls, you don’t –’

She steps towards him, finger pointed in his direction.

‘Listen, Potter, you arse –’

He moves back, feels himself collide with someone, turns hastily and watches in horror as Lily Evans recoils from him, a patch of red wine down the front of her dress. A Greek goddess in teal - sleeveless, plunging neckline, fluidity of silk, backless. His mouth goes dry.

‘I’m so—’

‘Don’t talk to me!’

Those haunting emerald eyes, fear and anger, mostly fear. She’s scared of him. Something in him, tenuous, that he was trying desperately to hold onto, snaps.

‘I have no intention of talking to you, Evans, for Merlin’s sake! Talking to you of all people is the last thing I want, believe me. It was an accident! What the hell is wrong with—’

‘Out!’

Remus Lupin is standing in front of them, his cane in his hand, waving it at James like a weapon.

‘Moony, for f—’ his temper rising.

‘Do not even attempt to swear at my husband on his wedding day, you tosser. Get outside, both of you, immediately.’

His stupid brother has materialised beside Remus in his impeccable muggle suit – eyes narrowed, straight-backed, hand hovering over his wand – like he’s about to start a duel.

‘Keep out of this, Black,’ she hisses at him, furious.

‘Make me.’

He’s watched them like this so many times in the past – two sparks about to ignite, icy wrath and a smouldering fireball, both unstoppable, both sharp, cutting, intelligent, impulsive. Alike in so many ways. He always thought they had an unusually tight bond, like siblings.

Remus Lupin steps forward and jabs him firmly in the ribs with his cane.

‘I said out.’

There’s a finality about it. It brooks no arguments. Like he’s a fucking professor telling them to—

‘Alright, cool it, Moony,’ he growls, raising his hands in mock defeat.

‘You too, out,’ he says to her.

Their eyes lock and she says nothing, but he can feel the rage emanating from her. She throws a cleaning charm at her dress and nods, wordless.

Finish reading on ao3

[meteor752]

Spent a whole week binging rwby because why not

Here are mah thoughts

Very interesting decision of the show to open on literally the best character, like I’ve heard of peaking early but come on

No but fr Roman is actually so special to me

I just finished volume nine and I broke down crying at his and Neo’s final moments

Thing is, I’m a person with daddy issues and my favorite family member is my uncle so like of course Qrow is second favorite guy

We love us a bisexual subby whore

Ozpin is number three so like guess what my favorite ship is

(Side note, My Own Worst Enemy by Elektric Angel is one of the best fics I have ever read and I cannot recommend it enough)

Why the fuck did this show start out with having one of the four main characters be racist?! What a bold choice

I hate Jaune so fucking much. If you like him, cool, but he’s one my most hated fictional characters ever, not just him but like what he represents

Tho it is worse with Neptune, who’s also like why tf are you here bruv

It’s very funny to have a borderline kinda racist character and a literal meme from 2014 be drafted into war

It took me five days to break and create ocs. They’re called Lemon Lime, Azure, Iris, and Koral. Team LAIK. Maybe I’ll talk about them more at some other point

Listen okay I know that animated shows like to have your hero be depressed in a whole arc, but like god Ruby was kinda grating in season 9.

Blake is kinda rolling with like, one personality trait, but ya know good on her for getting a cool gf

Yang is also the best out of the main four girls

So is Tai, Summer, and Raven’s relationship supposed to be a polycule? That must have been awkward for poor Qrow back in school

Why the fuck is everyone so mad at Ozpin all the time. Like boohoo, daddy didn’t tell you Santa isn’t real, get fucking over yourself Qrow you’re forty three

But fr what is the animosity about. I think Jelloapocalypse summarized it the best in his rwby video

Also did you know the top comment on there is from Technoblade? Check it out, it’s true. No idea he was a rwby fan, but like good for him

Season 6 episode “Alone in the woods” is the best episode by far. I really like when they do more unique stuff with the Grimm, other than just ‘monster’

That being said I’m always a sucker for a space whale

But the line from that episode, “No one was angry or sad or scared. No one was anything. And then, no one was left” is so powerful

Season nine is like fully a fever dream, but it helps with connecting to the main four again, so I like it

Also they need to stop introducing characters we don’t need any more it’s so cluttered

Why the fuck did the tree have Summer’s weapon? What the fuck was she doing there, frolicking in wonderland? Gurl…

I miss Oobleck. He hasn’t been around since like season 4, like what the hell man

What the fuck is Cinder and Emerald’s relationship supposed to be? Are they sisters? Friends? Is Emerald in love with her? Because she seems to be.

Emerald and Mercury are fully siblings tho. Also I love Mercury

Arthur’s monologue to Cinder was one of the best scenes in the show. I loved it, I’m sad he died

The character I relate the most to is little scorpion freak, because honestly dude saaaaaaame

God I want Salem to fuck me

The motivation of the villain being that they’re an immortal being, who wants the world to end because then they can die, is so fucking interesting and I’m surprised I don’t see more of it.

Do you guys think the only reason that Jaune was made leader of team JNPR was because they couldn’t think of a colour with those letters that started with P?

Do you think that’s how they choose all leaders?

How the fuck is Ren supposed to be a version of Mulan? Apart from him being Asian, there’s no correlation. Jesus Christ…

Him and Nora are very t4t tho. Very glad that they established boundaries about their relationship tho, like open communication is all I need

Why is Ambrosius kinda 💅

This isn’t related to rwby but there’s like a bird or smt screaming outside my window and it kinda sounds like a ghost girl and now I’m scared…

I feel like Salem and Ozpin’s relationship is very uncomfortable with Oscar stuck in the middle. Like why did they have to make him fourteen

Pupsicle!!!!

If I had a child in this universe I would absolutely name them something that starts with a vowel. Some of these team names are a fucking stretch, I mean SSSN?!

Another bold move by the creators is having the first few seasons villains be minorities fighting for Justice and equality. Like idk anything about these dudes, but it’s a little yikes

The fact that everyone in this world is an X-men and the show took four seasons to actually explain that is hilarious

Actually the show taking its time to explain anything is hilarious

Like, six seasons in and we find out the villain’s motivations. Hell four seasons in and we find out the villain

The first opening song was easily the best. Like I said, peaked early

The ship names of this fandom are fucking baller dude. Very creative

[chronosprockets]

which archon shard do you think would make the best improvised weapon

like imagine if your warframe had to pull the archon shard out of its chest to use as a sword like weapon, itd be kinda fucked up and could be a cool concept to use across a bunch of characters archon boreal is already a bird character with a shard lodged through his chest, itd just be a step further for him to combine it with korumm imagine a warframe fighting another warframe in the void using archon shards pulled from their chests as they try to destroy the others source of power

imagine if there was a version of lotus out there from another timeline (eternalism) with an archon shard permanently through her chest who was like a fucked up eidolon version of lotus that everyone in universe saw as like less important than the main version of lotus

what if there was a plot point about fusing archon shards to form an alternate flashing amber/emerald archon shard that could be used to beat wally archon shards could be used to resurrect more like dead sentients, pazuul is already this, they used it to bring him back after erra died and combined him with the ram head of pazuul archons could even lose their shards and it could be like a way to show them as new/progressed versions of the characters, or even better they could do like a father-son relationship thing where hunhow and a version of erra/pazuul fight together against a bigger threat! archon shards have so much narrative potential guys ^_^ theyre so cool. i just had these ideas out of nowhere but theyre probably pretty cool itd be great to see some of then done in the narrative!

[constantvariations]

"Why do you like Adam Taurus when Cinder is right there" is a sentiment that's been popping up lately and it's so fucking stupid. The two have a lot of similarities, but only on the surface

Both Adam and Cinder were abused during their childhoods, but Cinder was bought by a business woman who enforced servitude via a shock necklace while Adam was forced into hard manual labor due to his race by a powerful, far-reaching company and permanently disfigured while under its thumb

Both have hurt the people they've worked with, but the dynamics are completely different. Adam and Blake were presented as equals while from the start Emerald and Mercury have been Cinder's underlings. While it's unclear how Adam and Blake's relationship started, we know for certain that Cinder found E&M while they were desperate and vulnerable and made them an offer they couldn't refuse, thus creating a power imbalance. In the voiceover in The Beginning of the End, we hear her slap Emerald for speaking out of turn. When Adam slaps Blake, it's for her perceived naiveté about a peaceful path to equality

Both use violence to gain influence, but only one is a proper terrorist. While the definition of terrorism isn't entirely agreed upon, one of its main hallmarks is the targeting of civilian spaces. The White Fang were explicitly said to go after businesses that refused to service Faunus and people associated with the Schnee Dust Company. It's more akin to assassination than terrorism. Cinder, on the other hand, targeted a school during a major event that was being broadcasted live across the world with the express purpose of spreading fear. She even blackmailed Adam into assisting her

Both have lost an eye, but while the source of Cinder's wound is unknown, Adam is branded with the initials of the company that stole his childhood

Both present themselves as cool and collected to cover up short tempers, but Cinder is clad in Femme Fatale while Adam is more Gentleman Criminal

One thing Adam has that Cinder doesn't is the fact that, at one point in the writing time, Adam did fight for a noble cause. "We are a force of revolution," he'd once said. "You're asking my men to die for a human cause. That's not an idea I'm willing to entertain." He clearly cared about his people, even agreeing to work for Cinder to stop her from harming them more. At no point has Cinder ever indicated she cared about any of the people around her

Yet Cinder is the one that gets both narrative and audience support. She's the one that gets a whole flashback to her sad childhood. She's the one that has a moment of vulnerability to endear her to the audience. She's the one that gets to live despite impossible wounds and falls. People look forward to a potential redemption arc despite her never once showing any remorse over her actions and actively fucking over every person unlucky enough to be in her path, like the woman she robbed and potentially killed at the beginning of V6. She does the same thing over and over again - uses brute force to plow through obstacles, mistreats her allies until they leave or die, does whatever she wants even against orders - and somehow fails upward

In a word, she's boring. It's boring for her to have no real consequences, no arc, no unique characteristics, and no real endgame

Compare that to Adam. His goals are tangible: uplift the Faunus by any means necessary and fuck over the partner who betrayed them all for human favor. Even as atrociously shitty as the writing is, his negative arc is still interesting. After his failure at Haven, he's lost his respect and standing within the Fang. Everyone turns against him, so he fights like he always had to. It's all he knows, all he can do. But the game has changed, the new rules are constraining, and he can only ever lose

There's plenty of other reasons folks might like Adam more than Cinder. He's got a cooler design, his weapon and semblance are badass, Cinder's voice is annoying, etc. I'm personally drawn to characters that get fucked over by the narrative and misconstrued by the audience. I didn't like Adam any more or less than other background characters until I saw the constant vitriol against him and now he's my poor little meow meow

Also, it's not cute or progressive to suggest people like one character over another because they're sexist or an abuse apologist. Y’all are just drinking the radfem "all men are evil"/white liberal "violence is uwu bad" propaganda koolaid cocktail

[hologramblue]

god but i'm wheezing a bit at the realization that aramitama suited this writer's dramatic inclinations perfectly and then they literally just tried to do that again but with robots and ghost legati. i. god. what the fuck

resisting the urge to "actually four lords was bad all along". i have to own it. i loved four lords and i still do. i already gave this writer one thing (good at extremely dramatic ~cinematography~ and also machine porn in cutscenes), i suppose i will now give them a second thing (good at premises for trials that act out massive character drama), since i also have thought the trials themselves in sorrow of werlyt were pretty good and if they also did four lords then i guess that points to a running theme there rather than the werlyt trials being other people's work entirely.

(although maybe they didn't even realize that the emerald weapon trial portrayed gaius in such a grotesque light? like did they think it was cool?? man i don't know my brain is fried)

so i guess my stance on this idiot working on dawntrail is that if they're writing more talking animal stuff and machine porn then we're fine but if they're playing around with historical allegories or political aesops it's going to suck shit enormously.

[metawatts]

What are your thoughts about the fight of Ironwood vs everyone in vol. 8? I was so annoyed by it. I felt like they nerfed Ironwood so hard. Oh, and the writers decided to NOW use Marrow's semblance to stop characters before they can start fighting (the Ace Ops). Would have been nice to have consistent writing and have Marrow use that in the fight against RWBY. (Loved your review of JLxRWBY, btw. You put exactly how I felt into words.)

Well the reason you feel like Ironwood was nerfed was, in fact, because he WAS. I pulled this fact from the rwby wikia because I don’t have it in me to actually hunt down the quote, but, according to the Director’s commentary on episode 12, ‘the reason that Ironwood lost was because the writers felt that Team ORNJ deserved a win after losing to Neopolitan in Volume 7.’

So don’t worry, you’re not crazy. Ironwood absolutely got nerfed so MKEK could make sure JNR didn’t look like the jobbers we know they are. That’s plot armour, deus ex machina, and hand of the author at work, straight from the horse’s mouth. No one is allowed call MKEK good writers ever again, do the words 'kill your darlings' mean nothing anymore?

Anyway, this fight. It’s crap. Honestly a lot of the fights in vol8 are just really bad, that volume was just a disgrace in every way. Personal gripe: the song that plays over it, ‘Be Strong and Hit Stuff’, is probably my least favourite song on the entire vol8 album and considering all of them on the whole suck except for the one that was not written for the show, that’s a low bar. Most of why I hate this song is because Nora is without a doubt my absolute least favourite character in the whole show, but it’s also just. I’ll do song rankings one day.

It's just the same style of formulaic combat that rwby does in every fight of the entire volume. It’s just JNROW mashing their attack buttons until they get a decent combo. And the qrow and robyn and marrow vs the other ace ops scene? Don’t even talk to me about that, so Marrow suddenly has the guts to stop fighters in their tracks when it’s his old team? Vol8 really took every character I vaguely liked and put a gun to their likability (except you Watts you kept slaying, I named this blog for YOU).

I mean, real quick combat breakdown: Emerald rips off Mercury’s kick and then does nothing for the rest of the fight. Jaune and Oscar trade off ‘whack ironwood with my bladed weapon/cane’ before Ren does his stupid rope trick and decides he wants to try whack at Ironwood. Ironwood is doing great here honestly, he’s just in full boxer mode, his guard’s consistently up, he recovers quickly and adapts, he lands some good blows. Jaune and Ren also quietly drop out of the fight here, because Nora is getting powered up by Winter, somehow, even though she’s never been shown to use dust ever she suddenly uses it all the time even though her weapon lacks the same sort of dust casing as Weiss so where’s this come from you’d think she’d have used it against Cinder when she was literally getting killed but WHATEVER-

Anyway Nora gets the first major relevant hit on Ironwood because literally of course she does, we cut off to Marrow being a turncoat, and then cut back to Winter and Oscar riding a Manticore while Nora joins Jaune and Ren and Emerald in ‘not existing in this fight sequence anymore’ land, and apparently they just decided after getting one hit in they’d pause to get on an animal instead of continuing attacking, this fight makes no sense.

Anyway, Ironwood destroys the Manticore barehanded, king shit, Winter hits him with the ice dust she suddenly uses, Oscar poke attacks, and right when ironwood’s about to knock this kid out of the stratosphere, Winter uses some sort of flashy finishing move that is literally ripped from Kill La Kill I see those studio trigger sparkles. Again, also makes no fucking sense either, what even is this, and don’t tell me ‘rule of cool’ because it wasn’t cool, it was lame. And also, so much for ‘give JNRO a win’, they can’t even stick to their own favouritism because Winter does all the actual fuckin work here.

Overall scores

Story Context: 4/10

Fight Choreography: 1/10

Authorial Bullshit Intervention (Plot Armour, this time admitted to): 10/10

Emotional Investment: 4/10 (but only because I wanted Ironwood to at least megaton punch Jaune or Nora into outer space)

Deserved Outcome: 1/10

Also, thank you!! I ended up having a lot of fun writing out my JLxRWBY review, even if a lot of it was tempered by Seething Rage. Being a miserly grump sometimes is good for the soul, after all.

[foxingpeculiar]

FF7 R&R: I am currently hanging out in Rebirth chapter 9, in Gongana. Potential spoilers up to that point.

Okay, I think I left off in Costa del Sol. So picking up from there:

The minigames are fucking insane in this game. There are SO MANY. And some of them--Queen's Blood, for example--are great. Others are ridiculous, but still kind of engaging (the piano--fuck Cinco de Chocobo; I got A's on the three previous pieces but I dunno if I can do this one). But man, some of 'em. The whole pirate shooter thing? Nah, terrible at that. And fuck Run Wild so hard. Like, the base game isn't so bad, but the time-trial thing you have to do as part of the date with Aerith? That took SO MANY tries to get past.

On that note, the whole Johnny subplot took... an interesting turn. How there were 7 of them him for a while. That was a lot to take in. But I did that quest and got his hotel looking all nice and now he's back to being just one person. I think you can get a trophy for getting all the collectibles in the hotel now, but that means S-ranking all the minigames and fuck that. I'm already 48 hours into this thing. Ain't nobody got that kind of time.

In both the Mount Corel region and the Gongana Jungle, I remember being specifically impressed with the music in this game. Might have to crack out that soundtrack CD.

I really like the depiction of Elena here--her snottyness and everything. That she calls Rude when out looking for Dyne demanding ice cream and, the next time we see her in the helicopter, she has a popsicle? Love that for her. There's a point where she just yells "Ugh!" and like, that's her, that's the character.

So we finally get an encounter (not a fight, but an encounter) with a WEAPON, which is pretty cool. That's something I've been wondering--WTF are Emerald and Ruby WEAPONS gonna look like in game 3? Cos like... you can't not include them, right?

Learned a little more about the situation in Wutai from Yuffie here, which is nice. The provisional government for whom she works is a resistance against the leaders that capitulated to Shinra to achieve the ceasefire. That makes sense (and I bet her dad was one of those--they mentioned at some point either earlier in this game or in Intergrade that he's imprisoned, currently).

I get a more detailed sense, also, about the sickness that is slowly becoming more and more of a problem for Cloud as he gets closer to the reunion. It's interesting to me how everyone else--especially Tifa, but everyone--sees it happening too, but no one understands the problem enough to know what to do about it yet.

Find it interesting how they're gatekeeping party selection in different spots and generally managing that balance. There're 7 of us now, at the point I'm at, and I think at least one more is coming (Vincent is in this game, right? He'd have to be. Although I guess they could do like they did with Nanaki in the first one, where he's there but not playable. Cid, I dunno.) But then, for story reasons, they'll have to have to use certain characters in certain encounters and stuff. But even when you have full party selection, everyone's there, even if they're not actively part of the battle--they're still around, you can see and hear them. It's a nice touch.

So, the whole North Corel and Corel Prison sections--the Dyne storyline--was handled pretty well. Barrett's reception in the town worked well, Dyne's madness was both sympathetic and apparent (and that was a helluva boss fight, also--which I remember it being in the original too).

The Gold Saucer was... whoo. Basically what I'd hoped it'd be. Dio was spot-the-fuck-on, and the whole environment was glitzy and neon in exactly the way it was supposed to be. I like the updates they did to certain things--the Speed Square, notably, but also the Mario-Kart-ness of Chocobo racing, etc. I did NOT, however, trigger a play sequence in the Event Square. The date ended up being with Tifa (which I'm fine with--she is my OG, I suppose), and there was a whole scene where she reacts to a poster of Jessie. I wonder if the play is an Aerith-specific event? Or if there's some other way to trigger it? Or if it just doesn't happen in this one.

Cait Sith. Okay. Was really curious how they were gonna handle this character cos he's... weird. But, y'know, it works. I love that he's Scottish, and I'm intrigued that they're not really hiding the fact that he's a Shinra spy (he outright admits it in party dialogue at one point), and pointing pretty clearly at who's actually running him behind the scenes (his model appears on Reeve's desk, the depressed way he reacts to the loss of the dustbowl: "The place it could've been. Tears me up inside"--Reeve runs Urban Planning, remember). I remember that point of the plot being kind of underdeveloped in the original--curious to see how it plays out here. I also love Tifa's reaction on meeting him: "Is... that a cat?"

Palmer is also getting a lot more characterization in this one, and damn, he sucks. That boss fight on the back of the truck was pretty cool, though.

Some of the new/outside characters are interesting too. Glenn shows up again, and the way he's talking to Rufus... I also do not know what it is he truly wants here. Cisseni showing up in Gongana was interesting--never played her game either, but I generally know who she is. (And I like the touch that she and Cait clearly know each other, and she obviously mistakes Cloud for Zack, but she rolls with the cat's encouragement to play along). Gus was kind of fun--the gold teeth were a nice touch. Not sure what I think of "Kid G" yet, but also not done with that quest--he said he'd call me.

Ok, WTF is the deal with Queen's Blood and this Lindehl Balmon business? Who is the Shadow Queen? Why is she killing off card players and what is the game to her? I must know.

As a final note--driving the buggy around the desert, just kind of the physics of it, was giving me serious original Mass Effect vibes. And then I remembered that the buggy in that game was called the Mako, and I suddenly wonder if that's an intentional nod.

[eatommo]

Wins and losses [l.l]{kd7}

Bath/shower sex/sensory deprivation/temperature play

Summary: After a tense moment with a foe, you find yourself seeking comfort in the unlikeliest of places.

CW: mentions of sex, nudity, use of blindfolds, hall have a history, magic, a smidge of frost giant Loki, bad jokes, I think y’all are in love with each other tbh so I admitted feelings, Loki is a boob guy

The healing waters on this realm were temperate, but not up to par. You scrubbed the grime from under your fingernails vigorously, wanting to tend to your wounds with clean hands, but the feeling of blood running over your open eyeball was not so comfortable.

By the grace of the gods you had escaped with your life and slipped out of the hands of the frost giants with nothing but a split brow. Nice work.

“Alright Heimdall, bring me back.” You stand still, arms at your side and stare at the top of the cavern, expecting the kaleidoscope of colors and furious winds.

Nothing.

Not even a glimmer of light reflects off the water.

You swear to yourself, fine. This will have to do.

Slowly you drop chunks of armor and weapons into a heap at the edge of the pool, trying to keep them somewhat tidy incase of a rushed exit.

You poke your toe into the water this time, feeling for its depth. You’re met with a steep bank, and you begin to go down into the water carefully, so as not to slip.

You make it as far as your pelvis by the time he lets you know he’s there by clearing his throat. “You know that’s just a pond right?”

You’ll admit he catches you off guard, but you won’t admit to being happy about it. “There you are your majesty, I was beginning to hope you got lost.”

Avoiding his fixed stare, you let yourself fall backwards into the water slightly, allowing you to sink above your waist as the water laps at the bottom of your breasts.

“No,” he laughs as confidently as ever, “I think you’d miss me too much.”

You watch intently as he begins to take his gear off, starting with the ornate helm on his head. “You know sometimes I think of those horns as the biggest most obnoxious thing on Asgard, and then I remember your ego.”

He laughs again, as maniacally as if you’ve fallen into a trap he laid. “Obnoxious maybe, not the biggest.”

You scoff, turning your back and descend further into the water. You hear a light splash behind you and peer over your shoulder to hopefully feign disinterest.

Ever since a drunken game of cards turned into and argument, he’s been playing to get under your skin. I mean sure the argument turned into a fight, the fight turned into a kiss… and the kiss turned into hateful fucking each other over and over again in the span of two days.

Gods above, if that wasn’t some of the most satisfying moments of your entire existence, you probably would have already run away in shame.

Your shutter a single drop of cold water runs down your back, you look up to the ceiling expecting to see stalactites or a crack in the wall. You go to take a step backwards and collide with the cool body of your prince.

“Subtle,” he chides, “I would’ve opted for a game of hide and seek.”

There’s a tug in your belly as he sidles closer to your skin, dipping his hands into the water and cooling it with magic before he lets it trickle over your breasts until your nipples seize. Your breath going with it.

“Better yet, I think we should always start with a game.” His hands come up to your face and suddenly are holding an emerald green piece of silk. He tilts your head to the side, laying a soft kiss to your head wound, the skin prickles while it heals itself.

Teasing. Deviltry. Lewdness. Those were all words that could describe the moments you found best with your prince. But by far? The favorite was mischief.

[mandysxmuses]

😞 can i get sad (or perhaps mildly irritated) warverse bois

Todlich didn't know how to respond to the news of what Jemand had been sending him all this time... all he really knew was that he wanted to react violently. That was the typical plan when he was wronged, and vice versa, so there was no reason not to go for that now.

Homicide would have been the ideal option, but given the anti-magic cuffs, he couldn't guarantee it wouldn't be a complete death sentence... but he had one other idea that would probably teach the same lesson.

He encountered Jemand in the bathroom, having just finished a shower, currently looking with disgust at the clothing he had to wear.

"... It's all black and white, y'know, but it doesn't have any style to it. I want to go back to making my own clothes already. These are so boring, I'm gonna look like some average Joe... I don't do average Joe..." He complained idly, glancing at Todlich before directing his attention at the mirror again.

The taller man stared down at him, inhaled slowly, and then gave a slow and deliberate nod. "Yeah. That sucks. Anyway, I need your help with something."

"Mhm?"

"... You sent me a text earlier, but-- you know, I can't read and I don't really know what it actually says..." He muttered, and couldn't contain himself from scowling when he heard Jemand snicker. "Yeah, that's funny, I know."

"Relax, relaaaaaax... can't read, no biggie." Jemand turned and pretty much laid out the trap for himself before Todd even brought it up. "Did you want me to read it for you? I didn't want to spoil the surprise completely, is all."

Perfectly manicured fingers gestured to the message on the screen.

"I was just saying that things have been going surprisingly well, you were doing most of the work, and I was thinking of getting you a new cat when we got back to the Void to make up for it."

... It was stunning, how easily and shamelessly he could lie. Straight to people's faces, all the time. Straight to his. But there was a satisfying hint of fear in those emerald eyes when he noticed Todd's expression hadn't changed at all.

When he realized he wasn't buying it.

"I'm serious, one of those Sphynx cats you love so much, y'know? Eesh, if you want it to be orange and fluffy instead, that's cool, hip, down with the..."

Nothing was changing. Attempting to sweeten the deal did nothing to lower his skepticism.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

He saw Todd's thumb lift over the message, and tap it. ... Then, he heard it read aloud by an automated voice, and felt the color drain from his face.

This was normally around the time Jemand would try thinking of some sort of defenses aside from more lies -- weapons, portals out, escape routes anywhere he could get them... but with no magic on his side to help with that, it was just him and a considerably stronger man who had already been violent countless times before staring him down.

And he just now realized he'd had his other arm behind his back the entire time, likely concealing some form of weapon.

Great.

"O-kay... I... see where you're coming from, you're... probably a little upset." He mumbled, taking a step -- and then two -- back. There was barely any distance made. Where could he actually go, in the bathroom? "I'm serious about the cat thing, though, I just... sent that text when I was a little upset and frustrated and I-I figured you wouldn't read it, so..."

Todlich sighed. Even now, with evidence clearly spelled out, he was doubling down. 'Serious about the cat thing'. Holy shit.

"Yeah. A new friend of mine showed me how to do that. A better friend. But I'm sure you when you sent that you definitely had making a kitty for me in mind. ... Look, even if I did eat that bullshit up, it wouldn't explain some other shit you sent me."

".. You-- you don't want to do anything crazy, here, this isn't the Void, you'd-- you'd get in actual trouble for hurting me. Nobody wants you freaking the fuck out and attacking me. So just... chill, and--"

"When the fuck did I ever care about what would keep me in these cuffs, Jemand? ... I'm not gonna kill you. I won't even cut you, probably, but ..."

Jemand jumped as he heard something click and begin to buzz loudly from behind him.

"I think I'm gonna make you a Sphynx."

[styrmwb]

Favorite Final Fantasy Music (FFXIV - Shadowbringers)

It is finally time for the best expansion. From the moment the first trailer dropped, to logging into the expansion for the first time, you know this part of the soundtrack is different. A lot of heavy songs, both in genre and in meaning, for an amazing combination of bangers and tearjerkers that I'm sure everyone who has played this expansion appreciates.

Like Stormblood, I would regret putting in any of the past game/other game remixes in here in lieu of XIV original tracks, but know they're all amazing (that fucking cover of Force Your Way dude. Holy shit)

5. Knowledge Never Sleeps In a way, this is kinda also a spot for Tomorrow and Tomorrow, but I just personally really like this version specifically. This is the music for the Crystarium, but only during night time (which is a big thing for the story so it has like, significance, rather than just being a nice night time theme). The song starts with a really nice piano/orchestra version of the Shadowbringers theme, but then once the actual Tomorrow and Tomorrow motif comes in, that's when I really love it. The violins playing it up, then the song getting more lighthearted with the harpsichord and other strings, and finally the ghostly, yet beautiful choir. The song is already really emotional, but this version gets to play a lot more frequently, and so is like a reminder of your journey, as well as still being a great theme for the city it plays in.

4. The Black Wolf Stalks Again This is a really interesting song. The previous weapon fight was hard rock into choir of death, and now here, against Emerald Weapon, it starts again with the Primals cover of Ultima, but then in the second phase, you get something a lot more subdued. A slower tempo, yet still a song that goes hard. That intro guitar on top of the reveal that "Oh shit it's installed with Gaius" gives you that chill down your spine, and then it goes into the empire theme to really create that menacing aura. The song overall is not AS in your face as some songs are, but give you a heavy beat to bop your head to during the fight. I love that really cool metallic bouncing sound that plays, that to me sounds like echoing metal in the water, perfect for a fight against Emerald which originally was in the water (I choose to believe this was on purpose). I also love the more bitcrushed sounds as well. Finally, that fucking final guitar feature where it just SHREDS on you, is just beautiful. The last point I want to give to this song, is the title. The Black Wolf Stalks Again is so fucking raw, that even just reading it alone gives me chills.

3. To The Edge The only reason this song isn't higher is because I was the last person in my raid group to get the Gwiber of Light and NO I'M NOT STILL SALTY ABOUT IT. That aside, this song is beautiful. The fight is beautiful. my fucking reaction when I saw we were facing off against the actual original FFI box art Warrior of Light? aaaaaaaaaaaaa! The clock ticking in the background echoing Amaurot? AAAAAAAAAAA! The percussion in this entire song is so good, I love how it's really subtle compared to some of the other rock songs, but unique enough to bring attention to itself. The way the vocals start with a whisper and the main Shadowbringers theme, into a sort of low quality radio sound, feels like it's supposed to represent Elidibus's fading memories. Also, you gotta love the Riding Home sound whenever it comes in. All of this leading up to the build up to the chorus and the actual chorus itself, giving you this hard rock version of the Amaurot theme is enough to make the screen somehow really wet and blurry and I don't know why I can't see the boss guys??? This song is a perfect end to the overall Shadowbringers story, and it just gives you that Little Extra Gutpunch when you find out it was written when Soken was at the peak of fighting off his cancer. Shit man. (DEEP INSIDE, WE'RE NOTHING MORE, THAN SCIONS AND SINNERS!!!!!!!!)

2. Shadowbringers Like I said at the start, the moment that first trailer dropped, you know this soundtrack was gonna be something else. This was my first expansion release for FFXIV, and I craved the longer and longer versions more and more (Dawntrail's doing that to me right now goddammit). That solemn intro with the visuals of death and darkness and fire, the Exarch's words playing in your head whenever you listen, but also this part of the song used for a lot of the heavier parts of this story has its own legendary energy... but then the guitar starts. The guitar and the rising orchestra. Those whispery vocals. It sounds like a barren desert, perfect for the WoL walking forward, exhausted. The vocals in general alone make this song addictive, Jason Charles Miller fucking slays this whole song. The band getting more involved, which can I just say is VERY unlike the previous trailers, hypes you up like no other, especially with this losing battle on the screen as the WoL goes through all of his previous jobs. Then the song reaches its peak. The whole section starting with "AUTHORS OF OUR FATES" is so hype, but then that fucking CHOIR. HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOME! RIDING HOOOOOOOOOOOOME! SHIT MAN! THAT'S MY GODDAMN FAVORITE PART. I MISS LOGGING ONTO THE GAME EVERY DAY AND HAVING THAT HEAVENLY CHORUS BLAST INTO MY FACE, IT'S LIKE THAT GIF OF LOUISOIX GETTING BAHAMUTED. IN THE PRIMALS VERSION THEY ADD THIS SICK GUITAR SHREDDING IN THE BACK WHICH JUST LIKE, HOW DID YOU MAKE IT EVEN BETTER?????? Then the song goes into Eternal Wind???? OH SHIT IT'S FFIII TIME! I stand by what I said when I said Eternal Wind is the greatest thing FFIII did for the world, and this is the peak of that point. I also still get shivers, again, the Exarch's lines always playing in my head when I hear it. That finale, the WE FAAAAAAAALL, with the sight of the light sky being cut in half showing the dark, and the reveal of the Dark Knight? Dude. This was as much of a "I love this song" as it was an "I love this trailer", because the two are intertwined.

1. A Long Fall This song, is the pinnacle of "What the fuck." Because, this is the song, for just a Random Dungeon. Like we've had dungeons go hard before! But this is another level. That intro beat goes absolutely insane, and the song does not chill out at any point, you are bopping and banging 100% of the time. It's also like, absolutely perfect for what this dungeon is??? It's a combination of eScape, Omega's battle theme, representing the Garlond Ironworks, and the Crystal Tower theme, cause duh, you're in the Crystal Tower (also a little bit of the Prelude cause why fucking not???), and it's all just expertly weaved together to make an amazing song and an amazing storytelling device. I know I'm not ranting and raving about it as much as Shadowbringers, which might seem weird that it's a place higher, but I truly do not have more to say about this song. You can listen to it, you'll probably fucking understand! I can listen to this song on repeat for hours, and I still won't sick of it. It also gets bonus points for the meme (shoutouts to TheTwinning.mp4) and it getting official fucking recognition in the actual Primals music video. This song is legendary, and again, it's just for a random fucking dungeon. Soken who LET YOU COOK BECAUSE THEY SHOULD LET YOU DO IT AGAIN

Honorable mentions go to: Four-fold Knowing, Rencounter, Insatiable, What Angel Wakes Me, In The Belly of the Beast, Full Fathom Five, Neath Dark Waters, Mortal Instants, Tomorrow and Tomorrow, Blinding Indigo, Landslide, Floundering in the Depths, Primal Angel, Return to Oblivion, The Queen Awakens, Wrath of the Harrier, and Seven Flames, as well as all of the FFVIII and NieR remixes.

[burdenedreverence]

November 20th, 1866 Richmond, Virginia Hanover Tavern, Late Evening.

"I demand satisfaction, sirrah!"

Hayden looks up from his card game to be greeted by the angry red face of what he can only presume to be a southern gentleman. The bulging vein on the side of their neck indicated he seemed to be in a great amount of distress, much to the amusement of Hayden.

"And pray tell, sir, what I may have done to offend you?"

Hayden replies in a relaxed tone, his eyes focused back onto his cards as he raises by pot a nickel.

"You have slandered me! Dishonored my good name, denounce your lies or meet me outside!"

A tsking side leaves Hayden's mouth.

"If you are referring to, Mr. Jenkins, when I called you slaving murderous bastard who ought' to be hung for cowardice, then I am afraid I cannot." He throws his cards on the table, going to stand upwards. He cranes his neck down to look at the man, furious emerald eyes meeting Mr. Jenkins own pale grey ones.

"For I have not told a lie."

A furious snarl leaves the man's mouth.

"Then to arms."

"So be it."

The tavern has grown silent as the two men make their way outside, Hayden pointing to a man in the Union uniform. It was his Sergeant Major, a broad shoulder man with mutton chops for facial hair.

"Sergeant Major, you are my second and witness."

"Yes, sir. But sir, I must-"

"Very good that will be all."

Hayden was not known, in his youth, for his patience. Even with the War over with, he didn't well to confederates former or not. Especially those rich bastards whom got to keep their property. It should have been seized. Traitors deserved to be hung, and Alfred Jenkins was just another bastard who needed to be shot.

The entire process of the duel, was quickly done. Seconds spoke, neither Hayden nor Jenkins refused to apologize. A doctor was brought.

It was at this moment, the prospect of death became quite real to Jenkins. The earlier anger that led to this conflict was beginning to be replaced by the knowledge he had challenge an Officer of the Union to a duel. And not just any officer, a fighting man.

It was well known that Hayden had rose to prominence because he was a fighting officer. A killing man who had seen some of the bloodiest conflicts of the Civil War. And right now, he looked cool at the prospect of shooting a man to death.

But the time for apology had passed.

Ten paces.

They turned.

The sound of a single boom would be heard, Jenkin's pistol firing. A ball of lead would whiz past Hayden, striking a wooden cart some distance away. The shaking hand of Jenkins would tremble, smoking exiting the barrel of his firearm.

Hayden had not moved an inch, the barrel of his weapon pointed squarely at the chest of Jenkins. His hand steady.

He pulled the trigger, a loud boom echoing.

Jenkins screamed as his heart was struck, falling onto the ground.

He was dead in less than a minute

...

"You're fucking idiot, Hayden. I ought to strip you of your god damned rank for this!"

Hayden stood at attention in front of his commanding officer, his stony face blank.

"The fucking sheriff wants a warrant for your arrest. I ought' to let 'em take you. Godbedamned. You're lucky, you're a good soldier. I pulled some strings with the State Department. Pack your bags, you're becoming the new security of the Japan-e-neesee Amabassador. Only way to keep this from becoming a real mess."

"Yes, sir. Right away sir."

[mylittlerwde]

TBH the gank-from-behind threat Neo posed to Ruby at V8's end seemed reasonable since (a) Emerald cold-cocked her that way at Haven-maybe aura shielding's a bit less effective against total surprises; (b) Cinder's ginormous flame pillar right in front; and (c) extreme likelihood Ruby gets smacked off the platform, possibly stunned & wide open for Cindy to freeze/zap/roast her in midair. All told I can't blame Yang there (it's V9 where their bond really frays).

I wasn't the one who wrote that post, so I'm not the one you should be saying this to. I did tried to answer this but halfway through writing it I realized I don't give a fuck about this scene. I felt nothing then and still nothing now.

I'm sure talking to the person who made the original post could give you the answer you want but personally I just don’t care.

To me, Yang running to her death is fine. Yang being told she should be smart and still doing the same action is a cool character trait. What I hate is the fact they didn’t keep the same energy in vol 9.

You want to write Yang as someone who repeats past mistakes, fine, but don't switch up the next season.

I will say this, though. You're giving the writers too much credit. Yang ain't real. She wasn't panicking for any of the excuses you just gave she did it because the writer wanted to create tension, and they failed because they could not build shit.

Below is what I was writing before realizing I didn't care if you wanted to read it. Go ahead.

...

I disagree with your points since it gives too much credit to writers.

First Emerald knocking out Ruby has never been brought up. If that moment was supposed to be something important, the show should bring that up. We shouldn’t have to give reason to Yang throwing herself in front of Ruby when she didn't need to. Also, if aura is weak to sneak attack, we need to be told so that we can be worried for Ruby's well-being along with the rest of the characters.

Second Cinder fire wall (I wouldn't call it a fire wall) is nowhere close to Ruby. Look how far from it Ruby is in this shot.

Here is another picture after the strike.

The spot Neo is in is where Ruby should have previously been. So that's how close to the wall Ruby was.

If Ruby was face to face with the wall, sure, I could see why Yang could panicked, but Ruby wasn't close to the wall, so Yang panicking still doesn't make no sense. Especially since Yang could have easily shot at her. What is the point in having a range weapon if you don’t use it.

Third, giving too much credit to the writers. It's not that it isn't a good point. But it is more like,

...

Wow you you made it to the end. Yeah, I gave up there. Hope you find the answer you're looking for, anon.

[scumbag-the-hedgehog]

Fuck it, big thread for the Alternate Scourge concept (VERY long post):

So, Eggman Nega, by virtue of being Eggman's descendant, would have definitely known about Project Shadow? And part of his whole thing is one-upsmanship: he hates his ancestor for being incompetent so he tries to replace him in his schemes, he makes a "superior" Metal Sonic, etc. In addition to one-upsmanship, he also has a sort of "Order vs. Chaos" thing going on with Eggman. Eggman wants to create an organized world - he might want a theme park but a theme park has lines and regulations and all these intricate mechanisms which keep everything in order. He'll threaten the world, bring about the apocalypse, but he'll at least do so with the intent of stitching it back together into something habitable and under scientific management. Nega though? His idea of a "playground" is a world in flames. He's almost like Sonic in that he wants to be able to do whatever he wants, except he has no moral compunctions to hold back his actions. Now combining this whole "chaotic eggman" concept with the one-upsmanship, let's say (ignoring how complicated timeline stuff is) he knew about Surge and Neo Metal in addition to Shadow. All these attempts at perfection using mixed up biodata - Gerald, Eggman, that one platypus imitator, they all failed. Of course they did - but he can do better! And his living weapon, awakened in the future long after he is trapped in the Inferno, will reflect his own desires. So, Eggman Nega would probably just make a whole stew of every major enemy he's faced prior to the events of Rivals 2 but the main figures I see him using as his template are Sonic, the pest that his ancestor never could conquer, Shadow, the "failed weapon" created by another ancestor, and Surge, that creation of his lousy sycophant imitator. Now with all this mixed-together biodata, made with the intent to be a perfect weapon, superior to his predecessors, I can already hear you saying "OP!" and... yeah, fair. So there's some serious drawbacks. First of all, he's not as powerful as any of his main bases. Under normal circumstances he's just a fast hedgehog - Sonic could out speed him if he pushed himself, Shadow is more skilled at using Chaos powers, and he can't use electricity like Surge. The only major advantage he has is he's good at taking a beating , heals a bit faster and all that, as long as he has enough chaos energy.

And if he doesn't have a Chaos Emerald on him, then he needs Chaos Drives or some other source bad, because otherwise his body starts to break down. Unfinished project - he was never intended to exist without the Chaos Emeralds gathered together, so without at least one to stabilize him, he's nowhere near as strong as he is when he's supposed to be the "Ultimate Weapon." But he can absorb chaos energy in a lot of ways, and fighting someone who produces it is a good way to do it. The more effort his opponent puts into fighting him, the more he gets out of it. Creates some skewed incentives.... So, who's overflowing with Chaos Energy? Well, Sonic of course - (Shadow as well, but... Nega was just more familiar with Sonic. Don't worry, Shadow can get targeted too). So what's a hungry hedgehog to do to get a meal, to become stronger, other than provoking them into going all-out against him? If he doesn't have a chaos emerald, it can help recharge his metaphorical batteries long enough for him to keep going for a while once he escapes and if he does have a chaos emerald, he's a serious threat who will only become more dangerous as the fight goes on. And he'll do some pretty messed things to get those chaos emeralds. Like the original, this Scourge is egotistical, cruel, and violent. He has an inflated sense of self-perception and is often dismissive of others. But he's not really a flirt, he's a lot more calculating and pragmatic in how he handles a fight, and in a lot of situations where Archie!Scourge would be distressed, he can keep his cool... until he faces an obstacle which he doesn't know how to overcome, and he completely loses his mind. He is Nega's creation, after all, and it's pretty clear his personality is based on his but with an adolescent inflection, a parody based on how Nega views Sonic.

So Scourge, awakening in a future where Sonic's presumably no longer alive, Shadow's near impossible to find, and not a lot in terms of means to collect the emeralds, Still, he has access to all of the doctor's data and facilities, and travels to the past to track down those hedgehogs and use them to become stronger - finish the project and make himself powerful enough to do whatever he wants. His plans are to find ways to torment Sonic or Shadow, to provoke them into going all out in fights, hit him as hard as he can, to become stronger, all while gathering the chaos emeralds, so he can achieve his desire of turning the world into his playground: a wasteland of suffering where he can do whatever he wants. And sure, the doctor made him this way, gave him no empathy, instilled a desire to destroy and hurt other people... but he likes that.

I also like the idea that this is someone Sonic has just... no chance of saving. Like Surge and Kit are both just wounded and need help even as they reject it, and as awful as Eggman is he's human, he's got people he cares about in a self-centered way and could conceivably stop being a threat if he just... realizes he's never going to stop the hedgehog. Even the original Scourge could have turned things around because decency is something he can choose to do. However remote, there's the possibility of becoming better. Not this guy though. He's here to try Sonic's principles however he can. "Oh, you just want to be friendly rivals? Well, which one of your friends should I throw into this pit of spikes to convince you to just go apeshit on me? The two-tailed fox or the girl with the hammer?" He might even pretend he's redeemable just to lure someone in to trying to fix them just to use it as a means to hurt them more. He's the "Sonic, I think we're going to have to kill this guy" character.

So yeah, sort of a combination of Cell from Dragon Ball Z - a bio-machine from the future who starts out weak and has to be clever in order to become a real threat, and the Reverse Flash - evil doppelganger from the future whose life revolves around torturing the original. Last Note, I also like to think that he still has sunglasses and a jacket, but... they're modeled after Nega's: