#Fake Obelisk

[sailoil]

(via Obelisk #7)

[bastard-loki]

@Green Knight enjoyers I have a question for y’all

my best friend and I have been arguing about it for an hour now

[betweenlands]

i have a really normal base in create: above and beyond

[tesla-rip]

gelly counterpart?

ok. this is just a fucking child

[endorphinentzug]

what if stones could whisper

imagine walls could talk

[humblegoatart]

daily sketch 5/25/24

more shattered obelisk art. kent and syz living in my head rent free. haven’t done a fake screenshot in a hot second, but i always love to!

[skymagpie]

Mists of Pandaria literally took a dwarf character, previously rightfully depicted as a scumbag villain because he wiped out an entire tribe of tauren whilst citing imperialism and racial superiority, and depicted him as a good guy out to protect the pandaren whilst vilifying the tauren for resisting him!

Not to mention that they retconned nearly the entire orc race as evil in that expansion with countless promising orc characters previously depicted as honorable and likable like Zaela, the entire Kor'kron organization, Bloodhilt, ETC becoming Garrosh clones simply because they were orcs and "orcs are inherently bad".

Or that the tie in novels for Mists of Pandaria like Tides of War literally had Baine freaking out and exiling tauren for resisting human and dwarf colonization of their lands.

Vol'jin, one of the only Poc coded monsters to be depicted in a decnet light in MOP, was literally described by the Alliance player as "Disgusting", "savage", and other terms, with the game even adding flies around Vol'jin for this quest.

Before you say thats just the Alliance player's view, white characters never get this description like say human characters when you're playing Horde.

For reference, Shadowlands demonized Dambala, a revered and famous real world loa worshipped in Haiti and many other parts of the World.

The same expansion almost exclusively had PoC coded monsters in the Hell portions, like Zul'jin was in Hell for protecting his lands against colonists that are so proud of their genocide of trolls, their leaders name themselves after it(Trollbanes) the recent Sylvanas novel even clarified that the humans and High Elves knew that it was the Amani's land when they made their homes there from the stone obelisks decorated with troll holy symbols and writing.

It has also been confirmed in recent novels that the tauren gods are fake whilst the night elf gods are real...

And the tauren's oppressor whom had been frequently terrorizing the earth throughout World of Warcraft's history, Magni Bronzebeard, literally got the role of voice of Azeroth like the true Mighty Whitey he is.

Warcraft III for all its racial coding never had anything like this and Warcraft I and II did not have this much racial coding.

So the Doubling down on the racial coding and the "PoC Coded monsters are evil" stuff was done by the modern writers that go "look at how woke we are, two white women are gay an we retconned another white character to be trans, now lets kill some voodoo worshipping savages in the Jungle together!"

Anyhow, sorry I have strong feelings about this as someone whom isn't white myself.

This is sadly a very extensive list and I have no doubt is only part of the problem. I used to play WoW when I was 13 which was 13 years ago and I didn't speak English then so I didn't really know lore. I came back only recently and the few things I played were some BfA (Kul Tiras side), all of Dragonflight and some Legion and a bit of Shadowlands. I haven't touched the other things aside from the vague knowledge of what is going on. I have to keep an eye on these things as I play on because I didn't know most of it.

Hell they do stupid colonialist tropes even with white-coded races, like I am sure the Drust are supposed to be Celtic coded and yet they also have them portrayed as bad for not wanting the Kul Tirans on their land.

I feel like when they do something good for the non-white coded races, it is always played safe for the general playerbase of the cishet white dudes who want their racist stereotypes intact. They always seem to be pussyfooting around the issue without making any meaningful change. They want to make sure they won't offend their biggest racist consumer base and that is so sad. Blizzard has potent racism 10 years behind everyone else.

Also I am sorry you have to write so much, but thank you for sharing this and I hope more people are made aware of it. It's okay to always vent here for anything, and I will eventually catch up with playing the content.

[the-al-chemist]

The Beginning of a Symphony - Chapter 36

A/N: the night of the ball has finally arrived, and Ophelia is determined to make the most of this opportunity.

Warnings: Ophelia’s usual antics, plus fake-dating trope gone wrong.

OCs featured/mentioned: Carolyn Nyberg, Selene Fraser, Alan the ferret and Henry Lovecraft @lifeofkaze, Bradford Pendleton, Ivy Anders, Oliver Gerard and Eliot Gerard @kc-and-co, Adelia Selwyn @thatravenpuffwitch, Marigold Sterling and Cledwyn Ironwood @that-scouse-wizard, Victoria Summer @whatwouldvalerydo, Primrose Gray @endlessly-cursed, William Devlin and Maxwell Pembroke @unfortunate-arrow, Lydia Ellis @mjs-oc-corner

May 1897

The night of the Celestial Ball had arrived at last, and it was everything Ophelia had dreamed it would be. The Great Hall had been transformed into a grand ballroom, with the tables vanished to make enough space for people to dance, and a large obelisk in the very middle. Even the enchanted ceiling appeared more star-filled than usual, as if the very sky knew that this night was going to be one where something magical might happen.

Ophelia observed the scene from one of the seats that lined the walls of the Great Hall. Carolyn, Adelia, and Marigold were all on the dancefloor; Caro with Bradford Pendleton, Adelia with Teddy Ellison, and Marigold with Lydia Ellis. All three of them looked beautiful in their dress robes, and were the very pictures of poise and grace as they danced with their suitors.

The Slytherins were not the only ones who were looking and dancing exquisitely. Hufflepuff’s Ivy Anders flashed Ophelia a wide and friendly smile as she paraded past on the arm of Maxwell Pembroke, while Gryffindor’s Oliver Gerard and Victoria Summer appeared to be saving their smiles for each other. Primrose Grey from Ravenclaw was among the best dressed, smiling as she danced with her fiancé William Devlin. Ophelia felt a pang of jealousy. It was not fair, really. Primrose’s parents had picked out a wealthy suitor for her as a child, and she did not even need one. She clearly had enough money for pretty dresses and dance lessons without one.

As for Ophelia herself, she had managed to magically alter the dress her mother had bought her for birthday so it looked brand new and far fancier and more fashionable than it was in reality. She had arranged her newly blonde hair very prettily and applied a subtle amount of Marigold’s rouge to her cheeks in order to accentuate her newly green eyes. But as of yet, no one had asked her to dance with them.

It was peculiar; she looked as close to being beautiful as she ever would, and the stage had been set perfectly for her to showcase that, but somehow, she still found herself waiting in the wings. She had so many potential leading men, but she had yet to become a leading lady. Sitting to the side of the dance floor next to the wall, she may not have even been part of the ensemble. No, she was merely a piece of the scenery.

She was trying to act as if nothing was vexing her - after all, no gentleman would want to dance with a lady who did not smile nicely - but she was finding it increasingly difficult to not show how disappointed she was by this turn of events. Still, she was able to force a smile as Carolyn approached her, Bradford at her side, the two of them having retired from the dancefloor.

“Ophelia, are you not dancing?” Caro asked her, and Ophelia shook her head. “Why, has no one yet asked you?”

“No, sadly not.”

“Now, that simply will not do. You must have a dance,” said Brady. Ophelia looked at him hopefully, but his eyes had started to scan the dancefloor. “I’m certain that we can find someone to dance with you. Let’s see… Ah, just the person. Jim, old bean!”

At the sound of his name being called out, Jim Hexley walked towards the group. When he reached them, Brady etched around to clap him on the back.

“Jim, my friend, we have a young lady who wishes to dance and has no partner to dance with, and I see that you appear to have misplaced your dance partner.”

“Oh, well, I… I have not misplaced her. That is to say, I am quite certain of where she is. Over there, look.” Jim pointed in the direction of the refreshment table, where his twin sister Ethel was drinking pumpkinade with her own dance partner, Cledwyn Ironwood. On her other side, Selene Fraser was intently listening to something that Eliot Gerard was telling her.

“I take no joy in being the man to deliver this news to you, old chap, but it would appear that there are three of you in this partnership.”

“Yes, but then that… that has been the case since the beginning of the evening.”

As Jim spoke, the small, minky-furred body of a ferret climbed up over Selene’s shoulder and came to rest there, a small bow tie tied around its neck. Brady guffawed, Jim chuckled, and even Carolyn’s lips twitched a little.

“So, what do you say, Jim?” Brady asked, once he had finished laughing. “Fancy a turn about the room with Miss Burke here?”

Jim cleared his throat before nodding his head. “Uh, yes. Of course. It would be my pleasure. An honour. I… Ophelia, would you like to dance?”

Ophelia considered the offer. Jim Hexley was not the sort of wizard she had hoped to dance with. He was a decent enough fellow, but not at all wealthy. Still, one had to start somewhere, and everyone knew that a gentleman showing interest in a woman was sure to garner the interest of other men. So, she took Jim’s proffered hand and accompanied him to the dancefloor, where the couples had just begun to dance along to the polka music being played by an unmanned orchestra.

“I am afraid that I… I am not the best dancer,” Jim apologised. “Ethel and Selene did teach me - or attempted to teach me, I should say - but their efforts, I fear, have been in vain.”

“Do you think that is why Miss Fraser has set her sights on Eliot Gerard?” Ophelia asked. Jim shook his head. His face looked somewhat saddened. “Are you upset by this snub?”

“No. Not at all,” Jim almost smiled. “Selene and I are just friends. Perhaps more like family, with how close she and my sister are.”

“Then why do you seem downhearted?”

“It is nothing. I mean, I am not. I… Well, I had wished to accompany someone else tonight. I am sorry.”

“That is very well. I had wished to accompany someone else, as well.”

“Really? Who?”

“No one in particular. Just someone of status.”

“I see,” Jim nodded slowly, frowning. “I feel that I must be a disappointment.”

“It is better than dancing with no one at all, is it not?” Ophelia asked him.

“I am not certain that I agree. I… It seems to me that the more dances one has with others, the more one misses the company of the one they truly wish to dance with.”

“Well, maybe if the one you wish to dance with sees you dancing with another, she will find herself wishing that it was her you were dancing with and miss you in return.”

Jim looked thoughtful. “That is what my sister said. But so far, Héloïse has barely looked at me.”

“Does she know that you and Selene are only friends, and that Selene has also been accompanied by her ferret?”

“I… I do believe that she does.”

“Then perhaps this is why your sister’s plan has not worked. Say, I have an idea,” said Ophelia, suddenly feeling hopeful again. “A ruse, one which will allow us to help one another. If we each appear to be enjoying the other’s company as we dance, then other wizards shall wish to dance with me, and… Héloïse, did you say? Perhaps Héloïse will take notice of you at last. What say you?”

“It is as good a plan as any, I suppose,” Jim sighed. “How… How should I act towards you.”

“You may start by smiling,” Ophelia told him, and Jim laughed quietly to himself. “See? You are doing quite well already.”

They smiled at one another as they danced, barely talking. Jim did not seem to want to talk much, seeming to be too preoccupied with counting his steps to attempt to hold a conversation. Eventually, though, he asked her:

“Is it working? The ruse?”

“I think it is, yes,” Ophelia said. She looked around her at the boys at the edges of the hall. Several were looking at her, including Henry Lovecraft, who was watching the scene with the little dark-haired, dark-eyed girl at his side. “Héloïse is looking at us.”

“She is?” Jim’s eyes brightened. He cleared his throat. “Is she… What is she doing?”

“At present she is talking with Henry Lovecraft.”

“Ah.”

“He is putting an arm around her shoulders.”

“Oh.”

“I do believe that he is attempting to comfort her,” Ophelia informed Jim, watching as Héloïse took a deep breath and blinked rapidly. “Yes, she looks quite upset.”

“What? Is she-”

“No, don’t look, you’ll ruin the ruse,” said Ophelia. “It is working, is it not?” Jim nodded, but he looked doubtful. Ophelia turned her attention back to Héloïse and Henry Lovecraft. “She is sad, but Henry is saying something to her. She is shaking her head, and has stepped away from him.”

“She has?”

“Yes, but he’s taken hold of her hand. Oh, but she’s taken her hand back. She’s taken another step away from him. She… Oh.”

“What?” Jim asked urgently. “What is she doing?”

“I do not know,” said Ophelia. “She has left. She ran that way.” She pointed in the direction of the main doors out of the hall, and Jim turned his head to look, his lips parting and his arms falling to his sides. Ophelia sighed. “You should go after her.”

“Are you… You do not mind my leaving?”

“Of course not. The ruse has served its purpose.”

Jim bowed his head to her, and she curtsied back. And with that they parted ways, their ruse over. And it had worked. For as Jim rushed out of the Great Hall, Ophelia returned to her seat by the wall with more eyes on her than ever, knowing fully well that this time, she would not remain a wallflower for long.

[seekerbr]

So, a while back i wrote some notes for a fanfic idea that I had, about Kaiba adopting Jaden when he was very little; there is a lot of fanart about it and a few fanfics too, but a lot of them focused on ships i don't care a lot about so i wanted to write my own take on it... the only problem being that i haven't watched a lot of GX yet, so I didn't feel that confident on writing it, also don't really have a lot of free time.

So i'm posting my notes on it here! Maybe i finish it someday, i don't know, but here it is:

Plot: Jaden Yuki is actually Seto Kaiba’s adopted son, probably named Jaden Kaiba. His biological parents died when he was very young, and Kaiba at the time wanted to adopt a child (he would not admit it out loud, but he was feeling a bit lonely after Mokuba grew up and started to study a lot more and go out with friends, and so decided to adopt someone).

His personality is still pretty similar to the original, very cheery, lazy and childish, but a little smarter since he studied a lot more when he was younger (not a lot though…).

His relationship with his father is a little… complicated. His father clearly loves him, and wants to protect Jaden of any problem that could happen. Jaden also loves his father, and thinks that he is super cool and talented. But Kaiba can be quite clueless about people’s emotions and needs sometimes, and Jaden is pretty reckless and energetic in a way that frustrates his father quite often.

He also wants him to inherit KaibaCorp one day, something that Jaden really does not want to do (he finds this kind of job very boring) and instead wants to become a professional duelist, and become the next king of games. I imagine that the stuff with Yubel happening with him during his childhood too, and I can’t imagine that Seto would want him to spend a lot of his time dueling after all that.

He met Yugi and friends quite a few times, usually on his birthdays. Kaiba did not invite them, of course, but Mokuba wanted the closest thing he had to friends to meet his son. Jaden loves Joey and Yugi, and imitates them a lot, something that annoys his father quite a bit.

(BTW, Yugi has retired from dueling, and now works making games and in his grandfather’s gameshop. He works for KaibaCorp, and can give advice to Kaiba and Mokuba on how to deal with some of Jaden’s emotions sometimes.)

Besides Yugi’s friends, he also probably met Pegasus before (though I doubt that his father ever told him about the bad things he did in the past), as well as Zigfried and Chazz’s brothers. In fact he probably met Chazz when he was younger, but he would not recognize Jaden now.

That’s because Jaden would not be recognizable as Kaiba’s son for the average person; for one, Kaiba decided to not put the spotlight on his son a lot, especially after his childhood, mostly by the insistence of Mokuba to give him a better life as a teen and also stop him from getting kidnapped a lot. He also usually changes Jaden’s hair with gel when they are together, so people won't really know him by his natural “Kuriboh hair” look.

He ends up going to Duel Academy after fighting with his father about his future, with him initially not wanting his son to go; he creates a fake last name (Yuki, inspired by Yugi) and never tells his friends, other students or teachers about the fact that Seto Kaiba is his father (maybe Shepard knows about it, Crowler definitely does not); his father also does not know initially, but Jaden tells him pretty early on and he begrudgingly accepts it. He calls his father on the phone sometimes, probably lies about being in Obelisk Blue. (maybe his father learns the truth later on, won't tell Jaden though.) 

That means that when he helps people with their family problems (Syrus, Chumley, Chazz, Alexis… a lot of people actually) it feels very strange for him; he does not know how to solve the problems with his own father, and just wants to run away from his problems with him.

Eventually i guess Kaiba would finally visit his own school and finally discuss things with Jaden face to face, probably the two would fight about his choices for his future and the fact he's in Slifer. Jaden's friends would probaby be shocked to say the least

[gamebyle]

AU Concept that’ll go nowhere: Automaton Obelisk

Pizza Tower but machine and space themed (I think someone did this already)

the cast (so far)

Parmigiano (Peppino): Astronaut sent out to investigate a new hospitable planet, ends up getting his spaceship stolen by MoonMan (the Pizzaface)

Asiago and Asphalt (Gustavo and Brick): pretty much just Gustavo and Brick but Automaton Obelisk (the stupid rats are replaced with rabbits)

MoonMan (Pizzaface): stole Parmigiano’s ship for an unknown reason and is now trying to kill him

The Invader (The Noise): basically just The Noise but Invader Zim themed instead of Noid themed

The Bounty-Hunter (Vigilante): the galactic bounty-hunter trope in Astroslime form.

Fake Parmigiano (Fake Peppino): basically the alien doppelgänger trope

[bunnywand]

omg memory unlocked, i found the fake, alternate artwork obelisk that goes w/ the fake slifer and ra i remembered from when i was a kid!! 🥳

unfortunately those are the best 3 pics i've been able to find of them so far, i found a few more of the obelisk but they're either holo (unlike the one i remember), poorly cropped photos, or in german 😅

[coffeeshelves]

ok so im a little under 200 pages into the obelisk gate rn and i have SO many questions. holy shit

but first: SCHAFFAAAAAAAAAAAAA AUUUUUGH IM SO EXCITED

i hope we get. flashbacks to his time w damaya because i am sooooooooooooooo interested in their relationship. i am less interested in the schaffa we have now altho i want to know who (or what) is inhabiting him - is it the kind of consequence alabaster is facing? do guardians have an equivalent to stone eaters like orogenes do? ALSO the fact that it seems that. he needs to "eat" something from orogenes is so interesting. alabaster had essun identify the stuff in him that orogeny (and the obelisks) are made of, so i wonder if guardians can siphon that? is that how they stop orogenes from doing anything?

AUIUUGH i have sooooooooooooooooooo many thoughts. things r coming together

also literally i think i was right re: the moon getting blasted and that's why there r seasons now (did proto-orogenes do it? was it a mistake? was it on purpose?). it was proposed in one chapter that the obelisks are like. a "fix". so i wonder if they do what the moon is supposed to do? but they also store orogene energy? also i may have missed how many obelisks there actually are but theres been . uh. 4 already? the onyx, the ruby, the topaz, and whatever the pink one that alabaster has is from. unless im forgetting some from the first book

also nassun chapters rahhhhhh

i get like. why essun trained her the way she did but man she def made mistakes as a parent. and i dont even want to talk abt jija. unfortunate for nassun that both of her parents suck ALSO SCHAFFA GET AWAY FROM HER. i know jija heard of "found moon" as a place for her to get "fixed" but im hoping its one of those like fake conversion camps where they ACTUALLY train orogenes but like. not like fulcrum. altho if schaffa is there i have my doubts LMFAOOO why do they need guardians if not to control and dominate orogenes

but also again. schaffa is having some. um. interesting moments

ANYWAY IM SOOOO HYPED FOR THIS im so excited. we r learning so much

[lizardinkart]

Lizard Reads Ward

Arc 1: Daybreak

Lizard’s Cry Counter: 2

TL;DR: A Victoria-focused arc that dragged a bit in places but ultimately felt like everything we needed to know about her (and more). I wished it’d started closer to the fight but having the fight, the trauma, and the family drama laid out felt like the groundwork that was missing from the prologue, especially with the shifted role of Amy. Wish that we had a little more about the other characters introduced in the prologue tho. 8/10 Aight! Let’s get wormin’!

So in my brain I’ve split the arc in to 3 parts, pre-fight, fight, and post-fight, so I’ll talk about the arc in terms of those mini-arcs. Mini-Arc 1: Pre-Fight (Victoria, not Glory Girl)

Ok the fact that the city is Gold colored is hilarious to me. This is Children’s Hospital Red™ levels of awful design choices, somebody really just said color theory in context is fake. I also appreciate the later indications that most of The City is in fact shittily built but hey shitty shelter is better than no shelter I guess (also relatable as someone looking at apartments). Other worldbuilding things I was thinking about since Wildbow really wants us to see the cool world he built (but it’s not really about the world tbh)- the technology of post-GM is so weird. Like you have dial-up internet but it also works perfectly fine and technology works when you need it to. Like I’m sorry but Reddit-AOL would be so much buggier. But all that being said, it’s really funny to see the irl jump in technology from when WB was writing Worm to when he was writing Ward, because Taylor’s flip phone vs smartphone drama was so real and relatable, and now dial-up internet just works on smartphones...I’m baffled. anywho! Onto Victoria lol. So Victoria is working with the new kiddie PRT- awesome, very cool. I appreciate the focus on her wanting to still feel heroic even if she gets that massive body dysmorphic/dysphoric (yes, both) feeling from actually using her powers. Though I also appreciate the small touches we see when she’s on her way to work with a much better mirror scene than the opening of Worm, her interactions with the one hero during the obelisk incident show that she still gets heroes and feels bad for the shit being thrown their way (idk, it gave me big closeted queer energy, queer-to-queer communication in a queerphobic environment one might say). “Nice response time” really is the dorkiest shit to say tho and I appreciate it. Victoria is a dork.  I also appreciate the setup with her parents, laying the groundwork for what’s to come later. Also that she enjoys working with the disillusioned and directionless kids/teens, cause that really is a thing that is the kind of selfless-selfish pull that I think Victoria is shown to be struggling with (finding the balance in the healing process is difficult!). While I felt like this part really did drag the most in the arc, I think there were some really good parts that make it worth it. And it leads into the first Wildbow fight of the story! Woohoo!  Mini Arc 2: The Fight (The Trauma Hammer)

Oh boy I do love me some Wildbow fights. I felt my little storyboarder brain light up because there were some God-tier moments in here that I wanted to draw sooooo bad. But alas, too many, not enough time. 

Crystalclear is cool as hell and I think he may be one of my faves of the new powers so far, he’s a very Wildbow-concept hero and I do really appreciate the man’s flare for the complex and flashy. Tempera is also cool, and Fume Hood is a snarky bitch and I love her. What a queen. She did not deserve to get shot (maybe a little tho).  

But overall there was some great tension in the ticking clock leading up to the fight, and seeing how shit played out was super fun as always, I was not expecting the 18-wheeler to come out of nowhere but it was a very fun time. I gotta say tho, I know Lord of Loss and Snag are important, but I for the life of me could not keep them straight in my brain since Snag made Victoria feel Loss, but like, that’s LoL’s name lmao. 

And on the topic of loss: oof. I did not call this the Trauma Hammer for nothing lol. This is where things went from meh to great for me in this arc, because since Victoria’s story was so ancillary to Worm, I had 1) forgotten how she triggered, and 2) didn’t really remember too much about the specifics of her story outside of the hospital interlude. But god, just sitting in her shoes through falling in love with Dean, losing him, losing her family, feeling inadequate to the rest of her family, and the ever-present looming threat of Her (that we will get to, don’t worry lol), it was just so helpful in really honing in on Victoria’s entire ish that is rattling around in the background. As someone who does characters like this, esp in TTRPGs, having that context of someone’s thought process really is helpful to have in understanding how you’re supposed to interpret the character, even if you’re already in their head (since characters and people lie to themselves, see: Taylor). But yeah, since Victoria avoids those thoughts anyway, it was clever to give them to us up front. And the fact that it happened while she was being a hero again? Kickass. Loved it. 

Mini Arc 3: Post- Fight (Her)

Oh my god this family is messy. I have essays I could write on Carol Dallon and just the Dallons in general but I think I’ll get the chance to eventually cause this is already too long lol. But oh my GOD I truly was thinking “yeah this is gonna go poorly, maybe some passive-aggressive family stuff, getting overwhelmed, getting pie and then leaving”, but holy SHIT the fact that Carol really just ambushed Victoria with lawyer speak and finessed the entire narrative of what was going on- jesus. Manipulative ass snake, but in such a relatable way. 

Once again, have been in that situation before and the way that Victoria goes from like a 2 to 1000 in 0.2 seconds when all the pieces come together- holy shit if that is not the exact feeling of trauma. I know the “#triggered” discourse is old hat at this point, but man I could feel myself get short of breath and panicky when Vicky got trauma triggered in this chapter (this is the spiritual Cry Point). It was so convincingly written that I wanna hold Wildbow in my hands to make sure he’s good.

But I’m proud of how Victoria handled herself, definitely snaps for that therapy working its magic, but man. The Amy Ambush (an Am(y)bush if you will, yes haha joke away), was so something I did not see coming this early, but I’m glad that it did because holy fuck. Victoria talking about moving on and then her family (mom) “moving on” but in a “forgive with an emphasis on forget” kinda way really does leave Victoria in a place that proves all that feeling of inadequacy right, and it’s crushing. But it provides that big stumbling block for her to overcome esp when she finds her new group. 

And seeing how many times she was forced to confront her worst moments and she still actively avoided Amy... oh baby. As an Amy Enjoyer (less “condoning her actions” more “study her like a bug”) I am highly intrigued in how this is gonna go. This is 7 levels of Fucked Up. 

I screamed with joy when Dr. Yamada showed up, I am in love with her and think she is wonderful, and also a great addition to the central cast of this story (esp in a story about healing from trauma? YES get the therapist in there). Also Crystal is wonderful and a good ally for Victoria, and I appreciate Victoria’s need to scrutinize both public and private Aesthetic (shoutout to me and Crystal vibing as 2 fun ADHD individuals). 

Also a shoutout for Gilpatrick because he’s cool and funky and a good boss. Get u someone like Gilpatrick. 

Bonus: The Interlude!

I would give my left kidney for Moose. I’m kicking Prancer’s ass, and I hope Velvet keeps her truck forever and ever. A better love story than her and Prancer tbfh. Also Nursery is so cool guys, she’s so neat. I love the weird shit being done with powers so far in Ward. 

AND A MARQUIS CAMEO HELLO???? HUSBAND?????? Sorry I really like Marquis lol. 

Final Thoughts

The only things I would criticize this arc for that lowered it a bit in my eyes is that the prologue really didn’t do a fantastic job of prepping us to only focus on Victoria. I wished we had sped things along a bit with getting to the others from PHO, even with little PHO interludes interspersed in to let us know what these guys were up to. Bc like, this really did feel like 3 arcs so I feel like we could have used another interlude or 2, just for spice and to break things up a little. Like a commercial break!

The other thing is Wildbow’s uh... underlying ish breaking through. I know Ward was written in the shadow of Worm for him, but there are some parts of these chapters that just feel very mean-spirited and pointed towards people who enjoyed certain parts of Worm. Mainly stuff that could be construed as “fandom” things, or things that fandom would like, that Wildbow seems to be very overt in saying “hey, fuck you for liking/engaging with this.” I dunno, it may just be me, but that kinda attitude cropping up often enough for me to notice the pissed-off hand of the author was off-putting and distracting from I think the greatest parts of this arc. Because it is a good story, it just feels like the occasional potshots WB takes are more coming from his own bitterness than Victoria’s, and are ultimately detrimental to the story as a whole. Idk, I will try not to bring it up so often, but it’s definitely something that’s running in the back of my head and I hope that it subsides soon-ish. 

But all of that to say, I enjoyed the arc! It was a solid opening that’s got me really excited to read more (which by this point, I have, and I will be writing up my arc 2 thoughts shortly lol), and the Trauma Hammer really hit home in a way that felt earnest and really earned. 

That’s all for now tho! As always, I’m happy to discuss stuff wherever, so let me know what you thought of the arc if you’ve read Ward! 

Until next time: Ward out ✨

[onslaughtsixdotcom]

My Wilderness Hexcrawl Rules

This post began life as an attempt to redesign the Ranger for 5e. I'm still going to do that, but it diverted to an explanation of my wilderness hexcrawl procedure, which I don't believe I've ever shared online in full.

I am on record as saying "exploration" is everything the players do that isn't talking to people or fighting monsters, but for the sake of this, we're going to focus on wilderness "exploration" and parts of the game that use that.

So to do that, we need to talk about what this looks like in my game and at my table. All overland travel in a dangerous area is on a 6 mile hex grid, and we engage in the "gritty realism" rest variant when we use it. This means a short rest is 8 hours overnight, and a long rest is every 7 days/short rests or if the party spends 24 hours within the same hex (which also puts them back on "normal" resting; unless, of course, they travel outside that hex again). Again, this is a "dangerous area," which is most of the parts of the world that adventure takes place in. If the players are travelling a long distance that isn't the focus of the adventure (for example, they travel weeks from the city of Dawnharbour to the city of Steelhaven) then that can be handwaved; they're sticking to roads and not worrying about it, because the Adventure is not The Travel.

When the party travels through hexes, we determine their planned route and weather. This determines how many hexes they can go through. The party can travel 24 miles per day through normal terrain, which equals 4 hexes; difficult terrain like swamps, deep forest or mountains may reduce this to 3 or even 2 hexes.

For each hex, the players roll what I call "Advancing d6s." This means they roll, in order: 1d6, 2d6, 3d6, and finally 4d6. This produces several results, between 1-6, 2-12, 3-18 and finally 4-24. This corresponds with this simple table:

The d6 table is landmarks such as burial mounds, obelisks, etc. The d8 table is several encounters that are not necessarily combat related, such as a group of fake adventurers, a Peryton that attempts to capture a player, or a golden Fey steed appearing on the horizon. It also contains an entry called "Character Event," which is a series of encounters built around the PCs. (I'll go more into Character Events in a later post.) The d12 table is larger landmarks and mini-dungeons or lairs, including things like wild magic zones, dead magic zones, etc. Finally I have lists of combat encounters. Embphyrkhaksis is the BBEG of the campaign this particular table is taken from; an adult red dragon who can appear any time all four players roll 6s. (For each encounter with Embphyrkhaksis, I raise the threshold for him to abandon the encounter by 10hp; initially they just had to deal 10 damage to the dragon for him to flee, but after 4 or 5 encounters they need to do 40 or 50 damage for him to leave. Exciting!) I then arrange the encounters we rolled into the best narratively cohesive order, based on my judgement as a DM and my absolute, flawless, omniscient knowledge of what is Actually in the hexes ahead of them; I ignore results that are boring or have been used recently if there is a legitimate feature in a hex that I've previously determined. At a later time, I'll update this post with a formatted PDF of my table so you can alter it and make your own.

When the party spends the night in the wilderness, they need to set up watches. My rules assume a 4 person party using 2 hour watches. (Elves can take 2 watches and still gain the benefits of a short rest.) During a watch, they roll 1d6; on a 6, an encounter happens. The character makes a Perception check to see if they notice the encounter; this is contested against a DC equal to a passive stealth check made by the monster. (If there are multiple monsters, I use the monster with the highest bonus.) If they fail, they are Surprised, which can be really dangerous with 3/4 of the party still sleeping, outside of their armour. If they pass, the party member has the opportunity to wake up the other players and put on their armour. (Realistically, this takes 10 minutes, but the start of the encounter is a little abstracted in this case.)

This is the core of my wilderness overland travel system. It's easy to see, when it's laid out like this, that there are several "hooks" by which the Ranger can key into to make them feel very useful in this style of campaign.

Next time: We fix the Ranger.

[chibi-taylormoon]

For the prompt thingy, I have an interesting one - ✊🏽 Yusaku and Yuri. (I have no idea why this came into my head, but it did)

Oh!! Interesting indeed!

✊🏽 Protecting

Danger lurked around every corner of link vrains, lately there was a group of duelists trapping the souls of users into cards that left the duelists not only unable to leave link vrains but also left their real bodies unconscious out in the real world. Yusaku, or Playmaker rather had to put a stop to this attack.

From a top of the tall building, Playmaker watched as a group of duelists in unfamiliar uniforms on their d-boards chased after a kid running on foot. From his view, all Playmaker could see was purple and pink hair and a purple cape billowing behind the kid as he ran into an alley. Playmaker knew his way around this area of link vrains and knew well that path lead to a dead end. The kid was now trapped and the duelists chased after him in dark alley, Playmaker couldn't stand back and do nothing. He stepped up on the edge of the building and jumped down, his d-board appearing under his feet and he dived down towards where the younger boy disappeared.

Backed against the wall, Yuri was outnumbered 1 to 5, the members of the obelisk force that went rouge and ignored their mission had turned on him and wanted to card him rather than listen to his orders. Fools, Yuri thought to himself with but feigned fear and weakness to play along with their little game. Yuri could make these losers feel pain and regret easily, but he could enjoy himself and play victim if they wanted to treat him like one. With fake hesitation, Yuri raised his arm and fake a fearful expression. The obelisk force were idiot, and they all smirked confidently like they could actually beat Yuri. Maybe he should just stop acting and card them already, but where was the fun in that?

Yuri's parted, he was about to initiate the duel, but then an unfamiliar face appeared ahead of him. Confidence and anger burned into this strangers green eyes, Yuri peaked around this stranger who's d-board vanished from under his feet so he stood on the ground. Yuri pouted, why is he ruining his fun?

Playmaker looked down and offered Yuri a smile.

"Don't worry, i'll get ride of them quickly. There are people that need to be turned back to normal." Playmaker spoke confidently, he could let the people who were turned into cards be unconscious any longer. People were worried and scared to go into link vrains.

"Hmph, fine...I hope you at least make things interesting." Yuri said with a pout and stood back.

He didn't actually need any protecting, but Yuri liked that fire burning in this strangers eyes. He seemed exciting, if Playmaker dueled well...Yuri will challenge him next.

[iviarellereads]

Nona the Ninth, Chapter 23

(Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For detail on The Locked Tomb coverage and the index, read this one! Like what you see? Send me a Ko-Fi.)

(Sixth House icon) In which Crown has a point: aesthetics are important, dangit!

Nona takes a few steps toward the dais, and Ianthe comes down the rest of the way, to examine her. Ianthe declares there's no way this should be working, and asks Crown if Harrow's been blind the whole time. Crown says she left out some details, but she doesn't see what the big deal is. Ianthe says she's having feelings in two separate nervous systems and it's not making her feel less intensely.(1)

Ianthe asks Harrow (Nona) if she has anything to say for herself. Nona replies simply "No". Ianthe remarks that Cam's glasses don't belong to her, and Cam says, "Noted". Ianthe says it's just rather curious, and taunts Cam and Harrow both, then asks if Harrow has a comeback. Nona says "No" again and Ianthe says she rather expected for Harrow to march in here demanding the return of her cavalier's body. Nona remains silent.

Ianthe gets impatient and asks Cam if she knows why they're there. Cam says she doesn't play guessing games. Ianthe taunts her again.

Crown said quickly, “Camilla, don’t bother. Everything’s going to be fine,” and Ianthe said pettishly, “Honey, stop telling people things are going to be fine. Things are, I promise you, not going to be fine. Things are, frankly, going to be antonyms of fine.”

Cam suggests Ianthe wants the Sixth House back. Ianthe says, not herself, but God does, and badly. At first when the facility went missing(2) he thought it was his temper and the resulting solar flare(3) that had destroyed it. They were very surprised to find that it was proper missing, and Ianthe asks how they moved it. Cam admits they used 532 obelisks together. They discuss the relative details until Cam withholds an answer, and Ianthe says she'll just ask one of the Oversight Body for it.

Nona's eyes start to itch from the fake cataracts.

Crown says Ianthe can't get away with killing off the Sixth House's governance. Ianthe remains confident, but Crown says the way to deal with a morale failure is to leave them in place, even under arrest. Ianthe says the Houses will just be happy to get any of the Sixth back, Crown protests that the Sixth will never be loyal again, and Ianthe says she'll teach God to apply the boot(4) after being so hands-off for so long.

Ianthe breaks off her fanatic rant to observe that Hect is smiling.

Nona, astonished, turned to Camilla without thinking; she tilted her head back immediately, afraid of being caught out, but by then she had seen Camilla’s face. Camilla was smiling: an easy, loose little smile, as though she were listening to a story. She said, “Yes.”

Ianthe demands she explain. Cam asks if God knows why the Sixth left. Ianthe assumed some moral reason. Cam says the Sixth "doesn't move for moral philosophy." Ianthe asks, what then? Cam says Cassiopeia left them instructions many years ago. Their founding Lyctor told them to.

Ianthe yells at Duty (Pyrrha), demanding an explanation. Pyrrha confirms she died, but can say no more.

“Then how?” But Camilla and Pyrrha didn’t answer. The Prince passed one hand over her dead blue-and-brown-spattered eyes and said, “Oh my God. This is the last thing we need. If he hears that yet another one of his duplicitous sluts(5) betrayed him, he’s never going to come back from it. He’s so fragile right now. Not even if we scourge Antioch and fly the First flag from the tallest tower.”

Pyrrha says Cassy liked long games. Ianthe gets very frustrated, and Crown throws herself at Ianthe's feet, wrapping her arms around Babs's legs.

When Crown spoke her voice was low and tender, the lowest and tenderest voice Nona had ever heard: “Baby, it sounds awful.”

Crown suggests Ianthe abandon her post and come with her. Nona would have done it immediately, but Ianthe is harder to move, and calls Crown ridiculous. Crown says they've been apart so long, screw the system, they can go off on their own, be together, start over.(6) It's not until Crown says she knows people who need them that her grasp on Ianthe really slips, and Ianthe laughs coldly.

“‘People.’ Oh, darling, you’re always everyone else’s girl. Don’t worry … I fully intend for us to be us, together, now … but I have the framework for it and you, my poor dummy, do not.(7) Don’t worry about anything. Seriously, you need to relax. And to moisturise. And to cut your hair,” the Prince added critically, moving to stand. “I’m hagged as hell … believe me, you’ll know that when you see me … but you need some serious triage before I can do anything with you. I doubt you even have a skincare routine right now.”

She removes herself from Crown's embrace, leaving Crown looking hurt. Ianthe asks Pyrrha where the other live ones are. They discuss troop positions inside the building, and Crown starts laughing at Ianthe for "talking military."

Ianthe comes to stand in front of Nona again, and comments that Harrow is never this quiet. She outlines what happened when Harrow was last seen, ponders aloud how Harrow can stand beneath Varun's presence, and suggests she might be addressing someone else.

The fist tightened. No would not do; Yes was worse; Cam had told her to pretend to be the Captain. Nona decided to pretend to be the Captain, and opened her mouth, and screamed like the Captain had screamed. She had never been good at coming up with conversations. Nona simply made her mouth go as the Captain’s had gone—she could remember the movement, it was easy—and she screamed, “Help! Help! Help!” for want of anything better to say. The scream moved through her chest and up her throat and out of her nose. When she let it out, it did not at all sound like when she had heard the Captain do it. The scream somehow seemed to take all the lining of her throat with it.(8) It was like the scream was made of her insides—her insides dissolved and resolved themselves by coming out her lips as a vocal bomb. The electric light sizzled in its housing. The room went dark. Prince Ianthe Naberius dropped her and staggered back, and Nona completed her Captain impression by pitching forward, onto the carpet, facedown, practically senseless, aware of nothing but the scream—a noise that seemed to keep coming out of her nose and ears and mouth. She went away from herself briefly.

When she regains consciousness, she worries she'd vomited or something, but has only coughed up some water.(9) Her surroundings, however, are chaos. Ianthe has drawn a rapier, which is bloodied at the tip. Pyrrha is on her hands and knees, with a gun nearby, knocked from her hands. Crown is flanked but not held by two dead soldiers. Cam is held and pinned immobile by four of the dead guards, though her knives are still in her hands. Some of the dead are on the floor, unmoving.

Honesty and Hot Sauce and the others had been right. She didn’t like this zombie stuff at all.

Nona worries she's ruined the plan. Ianthe stands and points at her, and some of the dead soldiers seize her.

“You,” said the Prince, “are coming home to the Emperor tied and gagged, and not as a sex thing. You”—this was to Pyrrha—“prep to leave. This is over. I’m not wasting any more time here. Ready the shuttle to get us out in an hour. We have too much to lose. Duty, are you alive?” Pyrrha said, with difficulty— “Yes.” And: “Everyone with a necromantic body is down.”(10) Pyrrha said, “The Sixth House—” “Oh, fuck the Sixth House! Daddy(11) can have you three safe and sound … well, soundish … and like it. I’m extracting my sister before anything else happens.”

She tells Crown she'll get her wish, and Ianthe will even take the rap about the whole becoming an Edenite thing. Then she addresses Cam, who Nona notices has a long, freely-bleeding gash down her chest. Cam asks if she ever intended to emancipate the city. Ianthe says, no, she just wanted the Sixth back "as a goodwill gift for God." She's not staying anywhere there's a Resurrection Beast. But the Sixth isn't a priority, so Cam isn't needed.

At this, Nona notices Pyrrha has stood back up, and Crown has taken a step toward Ianthe.(12)

Ianthe offers to kill Cam here, or remove her limbs and kill her after interrogation. She adds that Cam saved Ianthe's other arm and her legs, but she wasn't good enough to save the first arm, so Ianthe's still holding a bit of a grudge. Cam offers an apology, but Ianthe cheerfully does not accept it, and offers again, death now or deferred?

Crown says she'll never forgive Ianthe if she kills Cam. Ianthe says they're traitors, and she has to pick her battles. She'll save Crown, even save Judith, but she has no reason to save Cam. She offers, one last time.

“You challenged the Sixth for its keys,” she said eventually. “You named the time. You backed down, but I had right of reply. We didn’t consent. Or reject. I accept the challenge of the Third.” Prince Ianthe Naberius looked at her. The expression was—strange.(13) “That was a lifetime ago,” she said. “Over a year.” “The challenge is valid.”

Ianthe asks what the stakes would be now, then. Cam offers, if she loses, she dies now. If she wins, she walks away. She won't even ask to take Harrow. Ianthe says Hect can't kill or disable her in Babs's body, and she's taken away the weaknesses that once existed between them.

Cam says she wants to die on her feet. Ah, at this, Ianthe refuses. The setup is too suspicious, Cam can't be doing it without an ulterior motive. She has the dead soldiers force Cam to kneel, but movement catches Ianthe's eye, and her head turns to see that Pyrrha has gotten her gun back, and tossed it to Corona, who points it at her own throat and demands that Ianthe free Cam. Ianthe says to stop this, she wouldn't want Corona to get hurt when Ianthe's soldiers take the gun from her.

“I wouldn’t get hurt. I’d just die,” said Crown, her bronzed throat working against the barrel. “You’re not all-powerful here. All you have are wards and puppets. I shoot, the bullet goes through my palate and into the brain, and then you’re the Crown Princess of Ida … like you never wanted.” “Stop being so fucking dramatic—” “Staaahp being so fucking dramahhhtic,” Crown mimicked, in a high-pitched voice. “This isn’t the time, you dumb, hilarious bitch!” “You don’t even know how to fix Naberius’s hair! He needs it done pompadour! He looks awful!” “That’s your opposition? Seriously?”

Regardless, Crown says she'll do it, for real this time. Ianthe doesn't think she has it in her. Crown closes her eyes, and Ianthe says urgently that she really can't save both Cam and Judith. Crown says Ianthe should duel Cam, then. Ianthe says Crown will be mad at her when she kills Cam, but Crown promises she won't, as long as the fight is fair. Ianthe protests, you can't get a fair fight between a Lyctor and a human.

Crown was pleading, “One fight … one last duel. You challenged her with Babs, you know, back on Canaan House. I didn’t do it. So follow through, for me. You always do things for me, don’t you? My heart’s own … my necromancer.” Prince Ianthe Naberius shuddered.

Ianthe says she'll do it if Crown drops the gun. Crown hesitates, but does so. Ianthe doesn't go back on her word, and tells Crown to arbitrate. Crown declares "Parietal(14) to calcaneus,(15) I suppose" and sets the remaining conditions, such as no active necromancy. When Cam asks, what about her, Ianthe offers that if Cam can get Ianthe's handkerchief out of her shirt, Ianthe will consider Cam the winner. Cam doesn't seem to take this very seriously.

The dead soldiers release Cam, and she straightens herself up, picks up her knives. Nona almost wants to scream again, but she's dizzy and nauseous.(16) She can see clearly, so she thinks she's blinked out the dye and lens inserts. She thinks back to the only other fight she's ever been invited to watch, between Hot Sauce and Honesty and some bigger kids who don't go to school, but that one didn't go on after Hot Sauce drove(17) a car and hit one of the other kids beforehand.

The fight begins, and Ianthe and Cam banter a bit, and the fight goes on. Nona tries to take slow breaths, despite the smelly hand over her mouth. If she can just stay calm, maybe it will help Cam. Eventually, Cam does something rather spectacular and flashy that I hesitate to try to describe here, go read it yourself again, and ends up with Ianthe's right wrist in Cam's right hand, and Ianthe's sword in Cam's belly.(18)

“You really don’t know when to throw those things, do you,” said the Prince a little sadly. Camilla said, “Match to the Sixth.” Ianthe said, “What?” and then her eyes rolled backward in her head and she fell.(19)

=====

(1) I'd like to think that doubling of perception and feeling is why Ianthe doesn't seem to really catch on that Harrow isn't Harrow, even though Nona is doing a very poor job of being Harrow even for a little while. (2) I don't think it was made clear earlier that they literally unmoored the entire complex from Mercury and flew it off to BOE territory. (3) Ah yes, the one when Mercy vaporized him. (4) The jackboot of totalitarianism, of course. (5) This is one of the main fandom names for the Lyctors these days. Can't argue with it. (6) This and the glove kiss and all the embracing… these two aren't carrying on like any twins I've ever known. More like the Hitachiin twins from the Ouran High School Host Club manga. (7) Personally, I read this as that Ianthe wants to incorporate Crown's soul now that she's had practice eating Babs's. It would be much more convenient to know that your twin is forever a part of you and can't disappoint or upstage you with her caring about people and being a better leader. (8) Sounds a lot like what she was doing when she had her tantrum. (9) That's an awfully strange thing to cough up after a scream like that. In her tantrum she'd been screaming blood and the lining of her throat. I suppose the "her insides dissolved" line wasn't a complete exaggeration? Also, interesting how often Nona's relationship to water comes up, isn't it? (10) Something about the cry took out everyone who could use necromancy. Judith's screaming didn't take Pal out, though. Why would Nona's use of it be more powerful? Or is it just that Pal was protected by the same means as from Varun's light, because he stays so short a time in Cam's body? (11) She really just called Jod "daddy". (12) Neither is going to let her go without a fight. (13) What would Ianthe be thinking, in that big ol' brain of hers, inside Babs's emotions as well? What would the reminder of Canaan House do to her? Or is it the thought of dueling Cam? (14) The parietal bones are part of the skull, which stitch together to form the main of the sides and top. The… crown, if you will. (15) The calcaneus is one of the bones in the heel of the foot. So, the fight is fair hits from head to toe. (16) From fear for Cam, or aftershocks of her screaming? (17) Let's be honest, stole. (18) It's a classic move to take a deathblow to issue one yourself, but I am once again forced to wonder if Muir has read the Wheel of Time, because a particular sword move that results in just this situation in that series is a major plot point. (19) What did Cam do? How am I supposed to stop reading right now? (Oh right, I don't have to, I can just write the next post!)