#THAT THE BIG EVILS THAT WE CREATE AREN'T FOREVER

[dorokora]

Chapter 15 Episode 8 Part 3 FINAL

We start with narration from Michael. When he close his eyes, all he remember is the smile his brother gave him that day. He was proud of him. He kept chasing after Shaytan. But now, when he look back on the past, he thinks. If he was in Shaytan’s position, what could he have shown him? He wanted to be Shaytan’s pride. But he’ll never be like him. Back to the battle as MC and Michael continue to fight against Curren. Michael ask MC, You keep going forever into the future, and someday you'll leave behind someone you care about. There may be no paradise beyond that. Aren't you afraid of being all alone there? Maria and the others were able to catch up to help Jacob and Gabriel fight off the missing mobs. Michael thinks to himself that he wasn’t able to apologize to Amaterasu for saying something terrible to her. He says he’s sorry. He was cowardly. Even if it didn't happen for him, it would have been nice if Shaytan had said he wanted Michael to go with him. A single tear spilled from Michael's cheek and flew into the battlefield in the sky at extremely high speed.

Michael spoke with his usual fearless expression on his face. As someone who is entrusted with Eden, he cannot show any shame to someone who is nothing more than a terminal for the Utopia World Rep. Michael use all of his strength to slam against Curren and dealt massive damage. Michael, who has used up all his strength, can't say anything, just looks at MC for a moment and falls forever. MC used a new power and create an X using their two swords. Curren recognize that it’s the Utopia Exiles ability. The ability to Cut Time. Curren tries to active a time ability but the robot’s arm is too damaged from Michael’s attack. MC launched a final attack and Curren and the robot both fell to the garden. Curren calls out for her big brother.

Cut to Michael whose body is disappearing. He was thinking of continuing to fight against MC. Up until now, he would have said, "See you in the next loop." Unfortunately, It seems like this is it for Michael. They do the exception hand kiss ritual and Michael disappears into the light. The exception is still active. Toji shows up next to MC. Toji says, at a time like this, he’s thinking of becoming a police officer in the future. When he realized that he wanted to protect Tokyo, where he has fond memories of MC. Even if he’s separated from them, he will never forget these days for the rest of my life. Final battle starts!

The battle is over and Future City returns to normal. Toji and MC do the kids hand ritual and Sephiroth disappears. Curren retreats with her battered robot. Back in Future City, Arsalan slams Israfil to the ground (Good!). Normally Arsalan would use his sword to exorcised evil spirits but. Arsalan knows that Israfil wanted to go down the same path as Shaytan. He couldn’t do it and neither did Michael. That’s will be his punishment and will walk beside the Missionaries.

Back to MC. The Summoners reunited and MC united all three memory units and Mononobe is resurrected. Mononobe says the person he is now is no longer Solomon's terminal. He’s just Mononobe now. Else where Christine can sense Mononobe’s return. We cut to the Wanderers, where we see Hei Long Yi Quan. He looked up something about a Shibuya redevelopment project. Cut to the tycoons, Takeminakata shamefully returns to them. But Licht welcomes him back with open arms. We cut to the Berserkers, where we see Belphegor welcoming Claude back. Belphegor tells him that the spacecraft development project in Kamata is progressing. We cut to the Future City, where the Exters are giving Gunzo and Kyuma invitations to join their guild from the higher ups. We end the chapter with Kurogane comforting a crying Oz who just lost Amaterasu (poor guy).

Chapter 15 End

[notable-phlyarologist]

ok ok ok Baldur's Gate 3 has made me aware of a certain piece of Faerûn lore which i have been unable to shake so I am screaming it into the tumblr void in the hopes it forever leaves me

In Baldur's Gate 3, explicitly, repeatedly, to the point where it is in fact a plot point, it is stated that illithids do not have souls. A fact which makes me go fucking feral. here we fuuuuckin go

Spoilers for Baldur's Gate 3 under the cut, and also maybe for Curse of Strahd.

Ok so first off souls exist in Faerûn, provably. They can be trapped, used as fuel, shoved back into mortal shells to bring them back to life, all of it. It is impossible, in fact, to bring someone back to life without having access to their soul, meaning that souls umambiguously comprise a fundamental aspect of the self. Additionally, gods specifically derive their power from individuals with souls.

This creates a strict delineation between those with souls and those without. Souls are that which gives the mortal dynamism and identity, and given the way illithids are exclusively referred to with it/its pronouns even when they take on individual identities, it is thus implied that individuals without souls *cannot truly* lay claim to an identity. This is then extended to create the necessary justification for typical adventuring party justified carnage-- illithids do not have souls and are not people, and you do not need to feel sympathy for the ones you kill.

Beings without souls are simply ontologically evil.

And okay, I get that this is Faerûn we're talking about, where the whole setting is awash with sapients who are 'Always Chaotic Evil' and whom can be killed on sight with no greater thought put into it. I get that if you open up a Monster Manual it will happily tell you about all kinds of beings incapable of positive emotion whom you may simply mow down en masse and which reads like a big ream of genocidal propaganda. I get that. I understand. The whole setting was fundamentally founded with some very fucked up ideas and no amount of after-the-fact polish can fully escape them.

But even by Faerûn standards this drives me bonkers. Like, okay. Illithids don't have souls, and can be killed with impunity. But they are also continually under the control of a giant psionic hivemind and are allowed no individuality. We meet two illithids, one very important to the plot, who are in fact free of the brain's control and who are perfectly capable of existing in polite society, given that polite society unpersons criminals which provides an easy source of brains for them to eat.

So illithids don't seem, once freed from an evil alien supercomputer's control, to be any more ontologically evil than, like, a picky carnivore. Hell, they can eat, like, demon and devil brains and be totally chill. And demons and devils are even more ontologically evil. So already we're seeing friction between what we are told and what happens most often (illithids as evil body snatchers who need to die) and what we see (illithids are weird creatures who need to eat brains and who can simply decide to not be evil same as anyone else).

But now it's time for my second question. What happens to a mortal soul when they are transformed into an illithid? Illithids exclusively reproduce by transforming souled creatures, and they thus become unsouled. So what happens to the soul? Does this count as death of the self, thus letting the soul move on into the messy and complicated D&D afterlife? Does the soul just vanish, obliterated? Can you bring someone back to life if they were turned into an illithid and that illithid is still alive? Does the illithid not have the soul, but traps the soul somehow, meaning that they aren't actually using it but the soul can only be released when the illithid is dead? What the fuck does Faerûnian philosophy even look like because I'm going insane and we're not even to the part that drives me the most crazy yet.

Because, spoilers, you can become an Illithid! Or more specifically, any one of the player characters, be they Origin or Original, can. When they do, shielded from the influence of the Evil Lobe, they still possess all their normal personality traits and are basically the same except that now they think brains are yummy, that being an illithid is super cool, can blow stuff up with their brain, and use it/its pronouns. #transitiongoals

But they still do not have souls! They still possess the fundamental identity that they had as a souled person, yet now they are continuing to have it without the soul that makes it possible to have an identity! What the hell is going on? They have all the memories, the mannerisms, the internal perception of self that they did before they became an illithid. Somehow, the illithid version of them is fundamentally false! Despite being functionally indistinguishable from who they were beforehand! If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then where did its soul go?

And that's not even touching whatever the fuck being a half-illithid does to your soul.

Which is where Curse of Strahd enters the field, because my outside experience of Ravenloft further complicates this. See, Ravenloft is a plane of existence magically sequestered from the rest of reality, and souls cannot pass through the barrier between Ravenloft and the rest of the D&D multiverse. No souls out, and no souls in (except for the ones brought in by the stereotype brigade). This means that the whole plane is just recycling the same set of souls, forever, resulting in a perpetual cycle of reincarnation. But the actual population of Ravenloft can grow and shrink, even if the number of souls doesn't change. Meaning, sometimes in Ravenloft, a baby is born *without a soul*.

These soulless people have some common traits. They are quiet, uncreative, boring. They don't seem to have desires or hopes or dreams. They just kind of Exist until eventually they stop doing that. In short, they are the purest form of a video game NPC imaginable.

This implies a whole suite of entirely different things about the presence or absence of souls in Faerûn which makes me froth at the mouth. What the fuck do souls even *mean* in this setting? They definitely exist, and they definitely do Something, but the nature of that something varies wildly. And don't even get me started on at what point souls stop happening with regard to animals, because from what a cursory search tells me 'plants and vermin are typically not sentient enough to have souls' which basically just makes smoke that smells like burning plastic begin leaking from my ears.

I have no answers and I must scream.

[problemnyatic]

man i just cant get over how fuckin distracting the idea of morality is in terms of actually like, trying to create a more ethical status quo. People get so caught up in worrying about whether they're a good person, whether people think they're being good enough, who's good and who's bad, and like, man, fuck!!! Who gives a shit what the fuckin' score is!!! There is so much problems in the world and if we waste all our time trying to figure out all the ~hidden signs~ and ~tells~ of who's predisposed to evil, we're never gonna get around to actually doing anything about the actual evil being committed every day on a systemic level.

If someone hasn't actually hurt someone, lay the fuck off the accusations. If you really want to garner a culture that prevents harm rather than simply reacting to it, you need to make causing harm something that can be recovered from. It can't be fucking shameful, because then people hide it. People will avoid pain, so threats of punishment aren't fucking useful. And if you believe doing The Bad Things will get you a world of hurt, then you're gonna get defensive if someone tries to approach you about your own harmful habits!!

I've seen it so many fuckin times, dude, it's insane. Someone will try to be like "hey, you could do this better" or "hey, the way you x hurts me" and instead of like, having a conversation, that person will get up in arms about how they weren't ~being bad.~ Whether it's trying to avoid blame or minimize how bad people think it is, the end result is that nothing actually gets dealt with because people are too busy trying to avoid being seen as a fuckin' sinner.

Who gives a fuck about being a good person? What does "good personhood" actually do? Best I can tell, it's just this label people get to have that says "Don't come after me, your target is someone else." Because if you ask anyone, being a Good Person is about your actions. So... why not just look at those? Ditch the shorthand that flattens everything, and risk the fucking nuance. If you don't have to worry about maintaining your status as a "good person," then suddenly it stops being so scary to scrutinize the ways in which you can actually improve.

And it's not even like you can just, like, get rid of all "bad people" and solve harm forever. If your solution to the ills of humanity can be boiled down to "if we just point a big enough gun at anyone who Breaks The Good Person Rules, no one will want to break them!" then, sorry to break it to you, but you're a fascist, no matter what values you purport to be championing. You still intend to use force to enforce them, and by enshrining those values as The Good Ones, you blind yourself to your own biases and flaws. You loose sight of the fact that you still have to aim that gun. Best not miss, or you'll take out an innocent- that's bad, right? Hope your aim's perfect- and everyone after you, too.

There's always gonna be pain. Always gonna be conflict. There's just too fuckin' many people out there to force the world to homogenize under a set of values that no one deviates from. So you need to be flexible, and you need to let good and bad exist side by side as shades of gray. You need to think of harm reduction not as a destination you reach by restricting the agency People Who Will Do Harm, but as a complex network of social safety nets that ensure that people who wind up in danger have multiple avenues with which to protect themselves or escape that danger, and ensure that the ones who cause that danger have ways to get help.

The world is more complicated than a binary of who's an abuser and who's a victim. People are more complicated than simple predisposition to hurting others. There will never be a set of values so all-encompassing as to ensure no one ever gets hurt if they're strictly adhered to, and there will never be a person on earth so perfect they never fuck up practicing those values. So you gotta fuckin adapt, man.

No more heroes and villains. No more good and bad people. you're more than that, I'm more than that. There's no shortcuts to heaven, no tickets to hell. You just gotta do the best you can with what you have, and course correct as you learn more stuff. What matters is the impact of our actions- they land how they land and we deal with it after. Quit botherin' with what it means and lets just work with what it is, we'll work towards that intent on the way, yeah?

[kitkatt0430]

B, N, U and Z for the fandom ask game please 👀

B - A pairing you initially didn’t consider but someone changed your mind

Harrisco actually. Its so obvious to me now, but it was seeing the fandom edits and the like here on tumblr that made me go 'huh, I should check this ship out' and then I went and devoured basically everything for the ship on Ao3 at the time. And then started writing for the ship myself.

N - Name three things you wish you saw more or in your main fandom (or a fandom of choice)

Well, in general terms, I wish I saw more aro headcanons from non-aspec people. I'm starting to see more of that to some degree but when I'm in the mood for aro characters the pickings are slim in fandom even when there's a canonically aro character. Or possibly especially when there's a canonically aro character? It's kinda gotten to where every time we get a canonically aro character in a show I wind up avoiding that fandom for a while because there's an uptick of allos going 'well actually what if i ship them romantically and ignore their queer identity anyway because fandom is boring without shipping' and well how dare I want representation that isn't erased by the fandom huh? (*insert big sigh here*) And that's not even touching what happens if you happen to mention headcanoning as aro a character who is popularly headcanoned as gay/lesbian but doesn't actually have a canonical sexuality mentioned. (Looking straight at Luke Skywalker and Queen Elsa.)

I think another thing I wish I saw more of in fandom was acknowledging character faults without it turning into character bashing. It's something I try to balance out in my fics, making space for character flaws to be called out while still showing them learning and growing from that. But I see a lot of fics out there where a single mistake in canon is the basis for damning that character forever and clearly they're secretly an evil monster. Its a phenomenon that happens more in some fandoms than others, but it does pop up everywhere and can be exhausting to run into. Cobra Kai seems to suffer from character bashing a lot in particular, which made my foray into that fandom rather short lived.

In the Flash fandom in particular, I wish there were more Gideon fights back against Eobard fics. It's a fun premise to write and Gideon deserves more love than canon gives her. So I'm always excited when I find that someone else has written her as more than a passive background character. (And then maybe Ao3 would finally stop conflating tags for Gideon on the Flash and Gideon on Legends as being the same character when they aren't...)

U - 5 favorite characters from 5 different fandoms

Yuri Lowell from Tales of Vesperia - He's a vigilante trouble maker who encourages delinquency in his friend Estelle (the Princess) and helps save the world because he's a good person who just wants to protect the people he loves and the world they live in. He's snarky and probably has a jail cell in Zaphias reserved specifically for him and has canonically shoved knights into the fountain for various reasons that had Karol going O_O why??? upon hearing it recounted later. (Yuri - I forgot about that. Still hilarious. *snicker*)

Cisco Ramon from The Flash - Genius mechanical engineer whose greatest power is his imagination because what else would let him create so many amazing inventions? He's steadfast and loyal, probably the kindest person on the show. His hair is amazing - which he knows quite well - and he gets flustered when complimented on it by cute guys. (Leo - Love the hair. Cisco - *blushes*). It's amazing when oblivious show writers think they've written a straight guy, but it's actually a character who is intensely bisexual.

Atton Rand from Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords - Snarky former Sith accidentally finds atonement and joins the rebooting of the Jedi. Or rejoins the Sith depending on the path you take in the game. Are you good or evil? Atton Rand is ride or die for you either way. Also there's a chance that he'll make fun of the 'are you an angel' line from The Phantom Menace and that cracks me up.

Bastila Shan from Knights of the Old Republic - She's very much the stereotypical uptight Jedi and it's actually no real surprise when she falls to the Dark Side (briefly or not depending on your actions in the game) but she's a lot of fun when she actually lets loose. It's interesting to see her learn to relax and make friends and drop the holier than though attitude the Jedi hammered into her. She just very much wants to be a good person and protect others. And if you play with her as the love interest (default love interest for guys, mods to unlock her for the ladies) then it is absolutely hilarious to hear her say 'shut up and kiss me, you fool'.

Zelos Wilder from Tales of Symphonia - Tragic backstory? Check. Covering his crippling depression with jokes and innuendoes? Check. Struggles to open up to his friends and be honest about his feelings? Check. Triple agent causing headaches for everyone? Triple check. But if you get him the highest relationship values he demonstrates he may actually be gay or bi as he hits on Lloyd ("put on a show that'll make me fall in love" is not a straight thing for him to say to Lloyd... at all) and there a scene that will only change if he has the highest values at that point in the game - the rest of the scenes are different depending on every character, not just him.

Z - Just ramble about something fan-related, go go go (prompts optional but encouraged)

Tales of Symphonia was the first game I played where player choices affected the game itself. While the game's ending doesn't really change, there are scenes in the game itself that are different based on the hidden relationship values system. I had no idea about this first time through and got Colette every time, but I learned about the hidden system as I started branching into fandom spaces and did replays with Raine, Genis, Presea, Kratos... and Zelos (sorry, Regal, I was just... uh, not super interested in you, my dude) and it was really Zelos who captivated me the most. And he's queer coded, heavily so, so I suppose it's really no surprise I adore the redheaded, gender non-conforming menace.

It was really my first real venture into fandom spaces beyond just fanfic too, so Tales of Symphonia is very near and dear to my heart for all sorts of reasons. I read a lot of fan theories about the game, but was still at a point where I was way too timid to really contribute my own too much. High school me was definitely struggling with self confidence at the time.

I've got a lot of headcanons for the game which have changed to some degree or other over time, so with the game's HD re-release happening in, like, three days, I've decided the time has come for a replay and I'm really hoping to see a bit of a fandom boom happening as new players discover this game and people who haven't played in a while rediscovering their love for it. Might be time to dust off my old fics, go on an editing spree, and start posting them on Ao3.

(So if you're reading this and considering picking up a new game to play... Tales of Symphonia. You know you wanna.)

[blookmallow]

ok here we go heres all my fuckign endgame stuff for ruby's main plotline. ive been hoarding screenshots forever i dont even know how long ago this was now

bro holy fuck

i M LOSING MY MIND!!! LOOK AT THIS

i am so fuckening confused

ruby and. her son, i guess,

im putting this post together way way way after the fact so i don't fully remember how i felt when i discovered this but like. i don't. know what to do with this. it isn't that much of a shock that he's become Old since. up until this point its extremely unclear how much time actually passed between freezings (except that it was 200 years from the initial freeze to the escape). so the thought that maybe he was alive somewhere but really old had occurred to me. but how do you even begin to try to have a relationship now. are we even family anymore, really.

skeletons!! i like them

im not sure what the hell Happened with super mutants. i guess they were intended to be. well, super human, but why did the institute just. release them everywhere. i forget if there was stated information about this but like when you encounter hostile synths they're Doing Something for the institute, super mutants are just. being super mutants and killing everything

found a weird floating spark that was just kinda stuck here. no idea why

anyway so. i tried really hard to play this civilly. the institute has done great evil but there's also just. families in here. there's scientists genuinely trying to make worthwhile advances. the big problem with the institute is the lack of regard for anyone else's rights, they have incredible incredible resources and are choosing to use them only for their own purposes. "Father" was intending to hand control over to me. with the right leadership, they could be using these resources to help people. just outright destroying it all and killing everyone inside regardless of anything would be such a loss. they have such potential for positive change in the commonwealth, in the world.

but despite the fact that you are being given control of the institute, despite the fact that the player character depending on your choices can be such a massively influential leader, you just don't get to make that choice. you aren't allowed to create change or negotiate peace. i tried working with them very cautiously up until i hit a wall where i was forced to decide between "destroy the railroad" and "destroy the institute" and i absolutely could not betray the railroad for these people

but before that, i suddenly got raided by the brotherhood out of fucking nowhere, which i understand now that ive started kind of acting as a double agent in the brotherhood on another file and learned they're pretty violently against synths and anyone who wants to help them

but if you don't do any of their quests there's really no buildup to this. i helped danse out that one time and we just never really talked again because i didn't want to join and then suddenly they're marching into my fucking HQ

how fucking dare they. honestly. i am still not over this. i will never be over this

i was really fucking mad about them tearing up HQ and about glory so i stormed into the "take out the prydwen" questline. at first

this was deacon's brilliant disguise for infiltrating the brotherhood. some fucking how this worked. how does he do it

but during the course of the infiltration i did some poking around to see what was in here first. and again i found lots of people believing they're doing the right thing. people who have been brainwashed and manipulated. people who are arrogant and self-righteous, sure, but do they deserve to die for it? there were children in here. i found a note from a child writing home to his parents out there somewhere. that kid is dead now because of me

everyone on that ship is dead. the game plays this as a triumphant victory. i wanted this at first because i was acting on Revenge but watching it all burn down just made me feel sick.

i never found danse again. he's no longer at the police station and i couldn't find him on the ship or in the wreckage. i never did anything with him beyond the first intro quest thing before you get the option to join the brotherhood (and honestly thus far on my other file he barely has a personality. i havent reached full affinity yet though) but the fact that we hung out together that one time and got on pretty well is still in the back of my mind and i really wish i could get the closure of like. finding out if he's dead or not. but since i never recruited him as a companion i can't track him and i don't think i can access like, console commands or w/e on steamdeck so i guess ill just never know

so. then the institute

i dont know why i dont have a screenshot from before things went to shit but anyway i was so fucking excited to see gorillas in here and they all ended up dead during the revolt. i guess i dont know what animals still exist out there in the world but i feel personally responsible for the extinction of the last remaining gorillas as of right now and let me tell you. it doesn't feel good

i didnt want this!! i didnt want any of this!

i dont feel responsible for shaun's death specifically since. he was dying anyway. but it doesn't help to know that technically i probably killed him first.

so. that's two mass murders/at least borderline genocides im now personally responsible for. this, also, was portrayed in game as a victory and a triumph. i just felt empty. we stopped two dangerous forces, but we killed so fucking many people to do it. i want to say the point is war never changes, but it felt like i was supposed to feel like "hooray we won we defeated the evil" rather than feeling like im just continuing the cycle of murder and destruction that brought the world to this state in the first place which seems incredibly against the point. i still feel just as strongly as i ever did that mass murder is not and is never the answer. this feels wrong. this doesn't feel like a win, to me.

sighs. yeah man. we still gotta worry about aliens

i brought synth shaun out with me. he seems to believe he's the original shaun? i don't know what to do with that. i have no difficulty accepting him as my kid, but he's fundamentally not the original shaun. that baby is gone. that baby grew up without me and became a man who is now dead. this is my second child and i feel like it would be better to acknowledge that than to treat him as if he were the child i lost. technically original shaun made him with his own dna and his memories so he's kind of my grandson.

i also don't know what his life is going to be like, it sounds like he was created as specifically a "child synth" - not a baby, and all other synths start as adults, so it seems like they don't age. nick is a prototype so we don't know how he compares to the current generation but he's been around for ages

so presumably synth shaun is going to just be a child forever. he'll have codsworth, curie, nick, and hancock to look after him, though. i think he'll be alright.

mildly concerning meta implications here but sure

i brought him to the castle, it's my most well-established and well defended settlement and it's where preston and curie live when they're not with me, so it felt like a good place for him. i don't usually leave codsworth at the castle but i brought him to see shaun anyway

i built him his own room and everything

[scribeforchrist-blog]

He's Turning It All Around

MEMORY VERSE OF THE WEEK
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+ Psalms 56:3- Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.
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VERSE OF THE DAY
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+ James 5:13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.
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** SAY THIS BEFORE YOU READ; HERE’S SOME CHRISTIAN TRUTHS **
I AM LOVED
I AM COMPLETE
I HAVE PEACE IN GOD
I AM FEARLESS
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THOUGHTS:
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  We like to blame the bad times on God and the good times on him too; I have had moments in my life when I could've thought this is from the enemy, but a of times what happens is in our life, God wills it, and because of our own selfish, foolish ways, we allow our flesh to show us what we think we need to do. 
  We have to always talk to the Lord about how we feel; we can't allow our flesh to lead us down the wrong road; the verse today tells us that God creates the good and the bad. And no one is stopping those two things, and we have to always pray for God's will upon our life and how to handle it, too. That's what's happening today: we aren't prepared; this world is too busy looking for the next big thing, or money, cars, homes, etc, but what about getting prepared for the first home, which is heaven?
  Deuteronomy 8:3 And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord."
  The word of God tells us we don't live by bread alone, but by what comes from the mouth of God; we can think our good fortune is what makes us whole and what makes us better than the rest, but it doesn't, God rains on the justice just like he does the injustice. When the bad comes, we have to look at it as what God is trying to tell us: what does he want me to change, or what did my flesh lead me to? God is such a fantastic God; sometimes bad happens to stop other situations from happening that are far worse than the one we are dealing with!
  James 5:13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.
  It tells us here during the times that we are suffering, we must pray, be cheerful, and sing praises; we can't let what's happening to us cause us to feel differently towards God; we have to praise him when the bad comes and praise him when the good comes, and most importantly pray constantly about your affairs, a lot of us get so upset when we are in the season of suffering, as long we refuse to pray during this time and turn our back on God, the longer we will be in this season, and yes suffering will come my friends, heartache, and sickness all this will happen because it's life but while we are here on this earth Paul says this
 ‭" For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. "2 Corinthians‬ ‭4‬:‭17‬"
 He said it is LIGHT AND MOMENTARY, and our eternal glory outweighs it all; he is saying to stay focused on God and what's ahead, not what's happening! Be it good or evil, God is in control, and that's hard to understand, but as we grow in God, we will start to see that and start to let go and start to change our view.
  Paul isn't saying what we are going through isn't necessary, but he is saying don't allow what's happening to change how you view your relationship with God or how you handle the terrible things that are happening.
  Psalm 30:12 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!
 

God will turn our tears into dancing, and he will turn our sackcloth into gladness; when something happened in the days that this was written they would often time seen a person with sackcloth on, they were mourning, they were upset, but God will turn every bit of that into praise when we walk with him. It's easy to turn around; anyone can get ready to leave doing a rough time , but a well-disciplined man or woman of God walks with him through the valley of shadow death. Will you walk with him? Will you continue to hold on ??
 ‭‭ ***Today, we learn that what we are dealing with and what we are going through, God can turn it all around. Sometimes, that's hard to believe, but it's possible. We must never forget that whatever situation we are in, no matter what we feel, we must trust God. We must hold on to the promises that God has given us. The enemy wants us to think that God has deserted us and that we are alone, but we aren't. God wants us to stick with him and, most importantly, lean on him. Don't be afraid, and don't allow fear to overshadow you; allow God to protect and guide you through everything; he will turn it around. ©Seer~ Prophetess Lee
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PRAYER
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Heavenly Father, help us stay strong despite pain, sickness, and situations. It helps us not to give up but to believe you will turn it all around for our good. Lord, we trust and rely on you for everything. Forgive us if the sins we have done help us to be more like you, Lord. The enemy may come, but we know you're there, and you care for us! The enemy might attack, but we know you will protect us. Lord, give us strength to push forward and comfort so we know you there in Jesus' Name, Amen.
========================
REFERENCES
========================

+ Psalm 34:19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.

+ John 16:33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world

+ 2 Timothy 3:12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted

========================
FURTHER READINGS
=========================

PROVERBS 6

JUDGES 7

JOHN 12

HOSEA 5

=======================

[tommyssupercoolblog]

10 characters 10 fandoms - tagged by @kiki-strike

this is rlly hard actually oof help me,,, some of these aren't gonna be actual fandoms just things I like because I NEED TO HAVE TEN. No particular order. 1 - Jackieboyman from ALTRVERSE because he's so blorbo LOOK AT HIM GOOOOO also he reminds me of me and also he reminds me of Seán and also he reminds me of spiderman and I like all of those things. He's so silly too!!! silly little man!!! silly littyle guy!!!!!

2 -Zim from invader zim :p funny little guy yells a lot. also though so fucked up mentally like oh my god. something is so wrong with him /pos

3 - Pomni from the Amazing Digital Circus because she's so panicy and blorbo and I want to help her and give her a hug. She's so wet dog you know? She's so big sad eyed. She's so.... just..... *sqeezes her like a stress toy and hugs her and does a little spin going "wheeeee" and wraps her in a towl because she's sopping wet* you knOW??????!!!!

4 - AUDIE FROM ANIMAL CROSSING. SHE'S AN ICON SHE'S A LEGEND SHE'S A BADASS SHE'S A GIRLBOSS SHE'S A POPSTAR SHE'S A TAX FRAUD COMMITING QUEEN WITH A QURKY PERSONALITY AND SHE'S MY BESTIE OF ALL TIME!!!!!!!!!!!! we commit crimes together we slay together we're so alike and we're so in sync and we're ready to rule the fucking world and do a million concerts forever

5. Karkat from homestuck because he's angey and his name rhymes with kitkat- I can't eat kitkats because of allergies so I live vicariously through his name. and I like his hair and his overal design. Also I like how he's actually v supportive of his friends and smart. short king

6. Rarity from My Little Pony because while Pinkie Pie is defenitely who I'd pick if I was choosing who like, represents me or who I gell with, or maybe rainbow dash & fluttershy for the gelling with/getting along thing (stares at Seán <3), I also rlly appreciate rarity's drama and her artistry and how she's glamorous. I guess there's just a lot of media demonizing femininity and as much as she comes off as prissy to people I've grown to realize that a lot of that is just that she's easily frustrated/upset/angered and also like cares about her appearance, neither of which is like evil or anything. She's actually reminds me of me in that way because I have a short fuse both for crying and deciding to like bite people so like. same girl. She gets a bad rep and I don't think she deserves it. we stan her for that reason. support ur local diva

7. Fizarolli from Helluva Boss because he's the next thing came to my head. don't interact with the fandom at all actually!!! but we watch the show and Fizz is like, pretty pog. he's poggers. I like his design and I like that he's blorbo.

8. Bocchi from bocchi the rock. MECOREMECOREMECORE because of the spiraling and "the world is ending" but then SEÁNCORE SEÁNCORE SO HIMCORE because she's socially anxious and can't talk to people. Both of us see her and go "wow me". our shared kin if we had a kinlist. Holding hands over her.

9. Yui from K-ON. Listen to me listen to me shakes you by the shoulders LISTEN. Literally me. me. ME.

10. OH MY GOD VIRGIL??? ANXIETY???? FROM SANDERS SIDES???? He reminds me of Seán and also he has so much character growth and development over time and I just rlly feel like we as an audience get to know and understand him better than anyone else really so it creates a sense of closeness with the character that like. Of course he's the fan favourite!! not just because he's edgy but also because he's someone people know and can understand as a character really well, can write fics well and make comics well, can see themselves talking to or hanging out with. or arguing with if they wouldn't get along IRL. It's a stacked deck right now I feel like. although,,, roman is so close in that #2 spot so he might just overtake asuming he can both get an actual episode where he breaks down finally and also that I don't end up still picking virgil because "my husband is an anxious emo boy too omg!!!"

yeah um. um. anyway tags are hard and I don't wanna annoy anyone so um I will jus end here :3 but if you WANT to do it and no one's tagged you just say I tagged you and do it, I'll help u out girliepop bestie pogchamp slay king

[violet-dragongirl]

I do want more stories where like...a character just goes fucking berserk without remorse or consequence and just ends the Big Problem the world has to face.

I want to see the consequences of that and hear about the beginnings of the after effects of that towards something better even though the main character created so much destruction and collateral damage in their wake

I also want stories where a character goes fucking berserk but is precise, calculative, and cautious and careful but will still end the Big Fucking Problem that plagues everyone.

I want to, again, see the consequences of that and hear about the beginnings of the after effects of that towards something better even though the main character created so much destruction and collateral damage even though they were meaningful, precise, compassionate, and thoughtful, and killed and destroyed exactly what needed to be killed and destroyed by any fucking means necessary after their cautionary strategy

I'm so fucking tired of having the Big Problem being named again and again and again and again and again, and WE DON'T GET TO THE POINT WHERE THAT PROBLEM FACES ITS FUCKING CONSEQUENCES THEY JUST CONTINUE TO EXIST I FUCKING HATE THAT GIVE ME FUCKING CLOSURE ALREADY

[theshy1sout]

Six Eared Shadow

Do you remember the analysis about Mei and Red Son? That was me, and I'm doing this again, but now about Macaque and Sun Wukong

Because what the heck why do they hate each other so much

Ok, so this... This is such a messy chaotic really chaotic mix of a few headcanons and theories I made up and it SOMEHOW turned into a fanfic that I wrote so long that other people made many similar things in meanwhile and now this sounds not original at all, but I wrote it not to keep it in my deep hidden shelf so here we go

(It's based on what I know from the lmk series. I've started to read JTTW, but I'm still not so far to get to know anything about Macaque, but I won't change anything about this theory from now on)

Let's gather some basic information for the start.

-> Macaque is made with a shadow or even he is a shadow (kinda shadow demon, the demon of shadow). I mean, shadow is not only his power, he literally is made with shadow matter. We know that because he can not only manipulate shadows but also go through walls and turn yourself into a shadow.

-> I'm not sure if someone made him or he just "poof" out of nowhere just like Sun Wukong, but according to the story he told about how close he and Monkey King used to be, there's no doubt they had some master/student relationship which later turned into almost equal partnership. What is said, Macaque followed Sun Wukong for a long time, learning a lot from him, 'being his shadow'. They grew in power together, fought together, and (as it is said) Macaque started casting as Sun Wukong shadow, which (surprisingly) looks like he did willingly. Just look at the picture - the shadow is big and bright, it’s powerful and smiling, proud of his strength. He doesn’t look like someone forced to be Sun Wukong’s shadow. It shows how much Macaque admired Monkey King, that he wasn't just a friend for him, he was his idol.

-> We all know Macaque is a shadow demon, he can easily change his appearance, he does not have to look like an evil clone of Monkey King, especially if he hates him now or something, SO even if he used to look up at Sun as his ex-student or ex-partner, and now we know he is NOT, he would prefer to not look so similar any more.

He can choose any other look, but he doesn't. Why? Well, maybe he actually cannot. Maybe this isn't an appearance he has specifically chosen, maybe this is his 'basic' comfy form and any other form would just take too much energy to keep up. And looking at the really tiny probability of two very similar monkeys just "poofing" out of nowhere, I dare to say, Macaque wasn't born (I mean like Sun Wukong or any other demon), but he was specifically created. And here is a question: on someone's purpose or not? Maybe the power of great Monkey King was so strong so the part of it just jumped from him and formed into another similar creature, but let me say it's just weird and I prefer the theory of Sun Wukong being so bored and lonely after his master's (Tripitaka) death, and he created a brother for himself from his own shadow. Just to have someone, anyone.

So Wukong created Macaque and then what? He trained him, he taught him everything he knew, maybe even he shared his powers with him. Some great great bonding time. But as Macaque said, something drew them apart. It is visible that Macaque blamed Monkey King for this, for 'forgetting him'. Before speculation of what happened then between them, let's focus on what Macaque showed us what he wants now.

We have two episodes, both show different sides of him. In season 1, Macaque's main goal is to steal Monkey King's power from Mk, and then to very specifically revenge. He visibly does not want to defeat Sun Wukong, he wants to hurt him as much as possible. Look: when Monkey King showed up, Macaque totally forgot about Mk. And then, when he's so close to defeat him, instead of that he turned to Mk and tried to kill the teenager. Mk is just a tool to hurt Sun Wukong.

And we can't forget how Macaque constantly pointed out all the weak sides of Sun, he's basically just saying on and on "you're weak, you're weak, you're so weak, I'm so strong, I'm strong, you are so weak". Which really fits the feeling of being forgotten because he was weaker and Monkey King was stronger, better, glorious and famous. Macaque really feels like that, he really tried to make Sun Wukong feel his pain by dominating him.

On the other hand, we see that Sun constantly striked off him. He said almost nothing to him, just "Aren't you bored of keep being in my shadow? It's time to give back what you've stolen" and that was fricking all. For Monkey King, Macaque is a just shadow, always behind him, something you turn around and leave behind to not see it and to forget, like an unwanted past. An unnecessary problem, that irritatingly keeps returning to him. He does not want to interact to not make even a slight more bond between them, he wants to delete him from his life forever, and omg WHY. At this end of the ep, Sun Wukong did not even mention Macaque. He really doesn't care at all (or extremely tries to not care). His HATE is almost touchable, ouch.

In season 2, Sun Wukong LEFT US ALL ALONE. Macaque showed up again, he played with Mk a bit, and... Left? That's the thing, you see, he doesn't need to hurt or kill Mk. All we see is Macaque talking about his past and then letting Mk experience something the 'hero' in the story should have felt. The guilt. When Mk interpreted his story differently, seeing himself as the warrior, Macaque corrected him. Cause he doesn't care about Mk at all. He heard how Mk told him about what hurt him, and here is a funny point, because if Macaque needs to be understood, listening to Mk and talking with him (such a simple act of empathy, they both needed it then, guh) should have been enough. Mk really felt the 'warrior' character in the story, so he understood what Macaque felt. But surprisingly, that was not what the demon carved.

Macaque chose to make Mk feel like Monkey King at the moment something drew the demons apart. He wanted to force Mk to be sorry, to apologize, to regret his mistakes, cause he failed with forcing Monkey King to feel that. But! Maybe he is not as purely innocent and poorly forlorn. We see the flashback for a half of second before Mk hit him with Staff:

We see Sun Wukong attacking Macaque who's in his demon (true) form.

Let's repeat this: Macaque felt as if a friend left him in the past. He said a friend did this to have all the "hero's glory" for themselves. We know Sun Wukong could do such a thing, especially before he met Tripitaka, but 1. In my theory Macaque is created after Tripitaka's death and 2. If (as my theory said) Sun created Macaque to not feel so lonely, he would never leave him for such a thing. So Macaque hides something for sure, something he did, something so terrible that made Sun Wukong attack him and not want to know him anymore. How horrendous thing Macaque did that made Sun Wukong choose to be alone again and to forget his dear brother he created by himself?

Back to the great bonding time, repeating speculation of "oh maybe they even share the powers" and comparing it to Macaque wanting to steal Mk's power, my theory here is saying:

Sun Wukong taught Macaque the technique of the same powers as he knew, but Macaque overused it (probably wanting to see how powerful he is, probably showing off and killing so many harmless people) doing terrible terrible things. So Monkey King took all of the powers from him and left him alone, powerless, with the last painful words: "Dont you dare to show in front of my eyes ever again". Of course Macaque was hurt, of course he didn't see why he's the bad guy, because he did not care about people at all. And of course Sun Wukong was hurt too.

Maybe he came back to the village Macaque had destroyed and following a quiet crying he found a little baby with a heart so clear and he put into him all Macaque's powers, making them sleep until the time will be right... But back to the series!

Yes exactly. Why did he destroy the lantern and leave? Why did he suddenly lose interest in teasing Mk and stop forcing him to feel guilty?

First thing, he saw Mk is ready to fight for his friends seriously. He still cared so much about them, not like Monkey King about Macaque. That was hard to swallow, that was hard to watch for the demon. That was't the thing he wanted to see. And second, the flashback. Maybe the sudden realization that he actually did something bad. Cause Sun Wukong didn’t just leave him, he cast him out. It was hard to admit that he actually deserved this (or maybe much more), it’s much easier to blame others, not yourself. So Macaque felt “that’s enough” and left. Mk brought him to this uncomfortable point of admitting the truth. Which he didn’t want to. Maybe in the following eps, he will see it, but now Macaque just isn’t ready yet. But the last talk with Mk gives me a little hope. He stopped treating him like a tool or toy, he was actually talking with him like with a person, he even warned him about Lady Bone Demon.

Maybe (maybe) one day he'll see that humans aren't just useless creatures he can carelessly kill, maybe Mk will make him care and realize what he's done, but that's just speculation in speculation, he could die before he reaches that point, maybe he is already dead....

And that's it. That is all I wrote on ao3, but in the fanfic I put much more details and I build those characters up much more than here. This is only rough rough short-saying, I'm really sorry if you read it all

Oh and here is a link if you liked this above i'd love if you read the fanfic thank you

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #200

Wow, what a milestone, huh? It feels like only yesterday we were building Mash. Didn't even know you could grab multiple fighting styles back then. We were also one person back then. Things change. Things change even faster when you have magic eyes that let you bend anything you can see, so let's hurry up and build Asagami Fujino already. She is a Quandrix Sorcerer to tear apart anything she lays eyes on, as well as expand her field of vision beyond what her eyes can see. Dangerous combination, that.

Check out her build breakdown below the cut, or her character sheet over here!

Next up: In the dark of the night, evil will find you! (If Rasputin ever become a playable character I am really going to regret using that one here.)

Wait, what's that...

Race and Background

No surprises here, Fujino is a Variant Human, because normal humans can't tear people apart with their mind. That means she gets +1 Dexterity and Charisma, as well as proficiency with Perception (kind of her deal) and the Tough feat. HP isn't just how much body you have to get hurt, it's also how badly getting hurt affects you. Fujino's deadened sense of pain means she can take hits and keep going, purely due to the fact that she doesn't realize she should stop. That means you're getting an extra 2 HP each level.

Fujino is a schoolgirl, so the closest thing we have is the Cloistered Scholar background. That gives you History and Nature proficiency.

Ability Scores

Your highest score should be Charisma. Your magic eyes are an innate part of you, and it's really easy to be frightening when you can tear a bridge down around you. Second highest should be Constitution, for the reasons we outlined in your background feat. Your Dexterity should probably be pretty high, you fight in clothing, and you fought against Shiki for more than five seconds without dying. That's impressive. Your Intelligence isn't that bad, though you're still going through school. We aren't dumping Strength, it's alright, but we are dumping Wisdom. You have a hard time feeling yourself and feeling connected to other people.

Class Levels

You're a Sorcerer, giving you proficiency with Constitution and Charisma saves, as well as proficiency with the Intimidation and Arcana skills. You've got magic implanted in your face, and again, bridge. As a Sorcerer, you can cast spells using your Charisma. Blade Ward deadens your senses further, giving you resistance to physical damage types for a round. Mending lets you twist a small item back together, instead of tearing it apart. Sword Burst is a short range bending... sorta. Force damage is hard to quantify. But it's free, so that's nice. You can also Shape Water to bend liquids to your will. For first level spells, Mage Armor helps you not die, and Magic Missile lets you shoot little bursts of twistiness that'll never miss. You also join the school of Quandrix, which gives you the starting gift of the spells Guidance and Guiding Bolt. They aren't super in character, but they're free, so suck it up. More Importantly, you learn Functions of Probability, helping you bend luck in your favor. When you cast a leveled spell targeting a creature, you can add an effect to a nearby creature (yourself included). A Diminishing Function forces a wisdom save (DC 8 + Chr mod + proficiency), and if it fails it subtracts 1d6 from the next attack roll it makes this round. Turns out swordfighting is hard when your sword is a corkscrew. Alternatively, a Supplemental Function lets a creature add a d6 to an attack or save made in the next round. This part is less believable, but if you're creative I'm sure it'll look good.

Second level sorcerers are a Font of Magic, giving you sorcery points equal to your level per long rest. You can turn them into slots, or turn slots into points. Eventually you can do other things. Also, you can cast Thunderwave now. It destroys objects, you destroy objects, it's a match made in heaven.

Now that you're a third level sorcerer, you can make your spells truly your own thanks to Metamagic! If you cast a Heightened spell, one creature in its effect has disadvantage on their save against it. If you cast an Empowered spell, you can re-roll a couple damage dice. Tearing people in half is generally hard to avoid, and kind of damaging. You can also bend the air itself by casting Dust Devil, creating a Medium sized tornado, dealing damage to creatures nearby and pushing them around. It'll even pick up dust and make things hard to see, though that's kind of a drawback for you.

Use your very first Ability Score Improvement to bump up your Charisma. Kind of a spell-based build, to be honest. Speaking of, Mage Hand probably doesn't have much tearing force behind it, but it's free. You can also cast Shatter for more indiscriminate destruction.

Fifth level sorcerers gain third level spells like Clairvoyance! Now you can see a bird's eye view of the battlefield, tearing your way through it like, well, you.

At sixth level it's about time you started bending the earth to your will. You can Velocity Shift nearby creatures if they start their turn or move within 30' of you. If they fail a charisma save you can shove them to any other point within 30' of you. You can react this way 30' per long rest. Twist debris at people and watch them scatter, it's fun. To help with that, you can also cast Erupting Earth, bending the ground in a 20' cube. This forces dex saves on creatures in the cube, dealing damage and making the area difficult terrain until it's cleaned up.

Seventh level sorcerers get fourth level spells like Stoneskin for even more deadened senses. Now you resist physical damage without having to waste your action every turn. It does use your concentration, but it lasts an hour.

Another ASI! Max out your Charisma for super special eyes. You can also Control Water to create truly damaging whirlpools. There's other options, but whirlpools! Who'd want anything else?

Oh hey, I found something you might want else. It's fifth level spell Bigby's Hand! You can grab people and play with them like a stress ball. Technically there isn't a twisting option, but a Grasping Hand is probably the best you'll do. It'll grapple a huge or smaller creature, and if it successfully does so you can Crush it as a bonus action for damage.

Another Metamagic option! Technically these spells are all just you looking at things, so grab Subtle Spell so you don't have to yell out all your attack names. You can also Mold Earth. It's not that powerful, but it's free twisting. You also get Telekinesis! Again, no "twisting" in the rules, but it's strong enough to lift an object of 1000 pounds, and fine enough to open a door. Their heads should be popping off here.

Sixth level spells! Here are the big boys of the spell world. If you twist anything enough, eventually it'll Disintegrate, dealing plenty of force damage and leaving behind a mess you can't even revive. A little too clean for Fujino, but it's destructive enough.

ASI time. Bump up Constitution for a thicker skin and more HP. HP changes retroactively, so you get an extra 12 HP here.

Did you know turning into rotini is painful? Your enemies certainly know that, thanks to Power Word Pain. If a charmable creature has 100 HP or less, their speed drops to 10', and it gets disadvantage on all attacks, checks, and saves, aside from constitution saves. If it tries to cast a spell, it'll be wasted if it can't pass a constitution save. The target stays in pain forever until it can pass a constitution save.

Cool, so fun thing about these Multi Class Subclasses! As long as you're the correct level, you can take any one feature they have each time you hit the appropriate level in your main class. Since the highest requirement is 14, we're taking Quantum Tunneling now, and we'll pop back to the other one later. Your senses permanently deaden, giving you complete resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage. You can also bend your way through any physical objects, as long as you're willing to deal with a halved movement speed and 1d10 damage each square you move. You also have to end your turn in an empty spot. Playing to character this should leave a huge hole behind you, but maybe you're conscientious? You weren't raised in a barn, after all.

Your eighth level spell is Earthquake. Now no structure in your view is safe from your destructive powers. Tear open the earth, shatter structures, and interrupt concentration, there's nothing you can't do!

Bump up your Dexterity this ASI. Not getting hit is still pretty useful, even if you can't feel it.

Remember when I said turning into rotini hurts? I was wrong. Actually, it kills you. Please grab Power Word Kill to reflect these changes. You have become death, destroyer of mages. You also learn how to cast Distant Spells, doubling your spell's range. Your range should be "anywhere in sight", so this is a step in the right direction.

Okay, I guess we'll grab Null Equation. Once per turn you can twist up a creature you damaged. If they fail a constitution save, they get disadvantage on strength and dexterity saves, and they only deal half damage with weapon attacks, all for a round. You can do this Proficiency times per long rest. Again, real hard to hit people when your femurs are spring shaped.

Use your last ASI for more Constitution for more HP and better concentration.

We've finally done it, we've made a pure sorcerer build! It's time to finally learn the dark secret of the Sorcerer capstone. What feature could be so powerful we've completely avoided it for 200 builds? It's Sorcerous Restoration. You get 4 sorcery points per short rest. It's not good. Sorry.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

You're good at dealing damage, and your most powerful spells deal Force damage, which almost nothing blocks against. That means you're consistent and deadly, a solid combination.

You're so good at damage that it isn't just limited to creatures. Use telekinesis, mold earth, and shatter to tear apart structures that are getting in your way. Walls? Torn down. Steel Beams? Melted. Bridges? Falling down.

Despite spending your entire time in a class with the worst hit dice imaginable, you're pretty tough to kill, with just over 200 HP, a decent AC for a spellcaster, and permanent resistance to physical damage types. To make things worse for fighters, it's also a pain to get near you, since you can tear up the area around you and shunt melee fighters away as a reaction.

Cons:

While you do have magic missile, a lot of your spells deal damage in wide areas, so your party might have words with you about using earthquake one too many times.

While you're good at tearing things up, that's just about all your magic can do. There's the occasional Clairvoyance and some defensive spells, but by and large you're either dealing damage or doing nothing.

Despite your great physical defense, you struggle a bit more against other damage types. If you end up fighting someone who can turn their knife into psychic damage, you might have a problem on your hands.

[corysmiles]

Oh ok! Didnt expect such excitement lol. Its not to deep of an idea, but it centers around Phil and Ranboo mostly, but we can absolutely involve the others in the shinanigens in the future. ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

Heres the set up:

In Phils season 2 hardcore world he throws a trident into the void not knowing loyalty wouldnt save it from that, and in S4 hardcore world he builds a giant trident in endlantis with the lore that what happened was the void warped the trident he threw in and made it giant.

Then in S3 he looses his world really fast because a glitch happens when he goes to the end, where he looses control of his character and is pushed into the void.

Also a lot of the builds in S4 involve giant deities or giant structres along side regular sized things.

Its a "minecraft is real life with respawns and stuff" but when a player makes a "new world" they arent creating it, theyre just getting sent to a random location thats supposed to be uninhabited but on rare occasions they end up in a strange place with signs of previous life beyond the usual.

If a player does "hardcore" world they will either be sent to a new world or spat back out to the hub between worlds if they die and try to respawn

So heres the idea,

Phil does his usual hardcore world stuff, he stays in touch with his friends with communicators, texting and voice calls and stuff. He can leave and visit them, but he often gets really focused in hardcore worlds and spends extended amounts of time in them.

When he throws his trident into the void he doesnt think anything of it when it doesnt return. He just thinks its gone forever. But when he falls into the void in his next world, he "dies" and respawns, but instead of being given the choice to go to the hub or a new world the void isnt gonna let him go so simply. He feels it effect him to his very core, unaware how long hes falling for, before it spits him back out into a new world. He checks himself over and finds nothing different, and he still has access to the hub, so he just treats it as he usually would and goes back to getting set up in the new world.

This world is weird, he keeps stumbling across things that dont belong in a "new" world. Like endlantis, the void cube, etc. The blaze empress and the skeleton of the ender king are bigger then any creature hes ever seen but the blaze empress's guards are him sized so he doesnt think anything of it. But they arent the only thing that are weird, he tells the others like Techno and Will about how strange everything else here is. Some plant life is normal, but a lot is as giant as the deities to. And theres also just random giant structures that normally would be him sized are the exact same level of giant. He even found the trident he thought was lost forever in endlantis, but now its HUGE! The void must have done that to it. Luckily the void didnt do anything to him, other then kill and force him to respawn here.

But then after a couple of months Techno asks him to come visit, he wants to catch up in person. So Phil prepares to leave to the hub where his piglin friend will he waiting for him. And when whats outside his world waiting for him?

A gigantic hub.

Phil freaks out, all those things in his world werent big, he was tiny!! The void did change him after all! After barley managing to catch a giant Technos attention and he helps Phil calm down, they realize that the void must have done that to the rest of the things in Phils hardcore world that didnt line up in size. Phil was just the first player to fall into that world. They end up going back to Phils world to try and figure out how to fix him, but Techno remains his full size and cant hope to fit into Phils tiny base. So he heads back to try and find awnsers elsewhere, and Phils just kinda stuck tiny now.

But I did say Ranboo was involved didnt I? >:)

Phil tries to go back to normal life after failing to find awnsers on his own, but he cant stop looking at the world with new eyes. These aren't giant, hes tiny. Him, that tree, that cow, all small enough to sit in Technos hand. When Wilbur and Tommy hear about this they try and visit but encounter the same problem of being too big for any of Phils spaces and usually go home before long. Phil meanwhile starts searching Endlantis for any possible answers. The End is the place closest to the void, it should help him, right?

And after venturing deeper into endlantis farther then hes ever gone, he meets a giant ender creature. No like, actually giant. This ones big enough that hed be able to pick a regular human child up like a teddy bear, Phils only the size of his pinky. Hes scared of him at first but it turns out hes actually friendly! His name is Ranboo, he wears a crown, and is a prince. The son of the late Ender King and this destroyed kingdom. His father was evil so he doesnt really feel loss that hes dead, but he has been lonely ever since he hid deep enough into the end that the water wouldnt reach him. Phil promises to come back to visit him, quickly growing fond of the young giant prince.

After visiting enough times Ranboo asks if he can come back with Phil. He doesnt like it in the deep corners of the end, its too lonely. Phil tries to explain to him that his base will be far too small. But Ranboo assures him that will be fine. And then right in front of his eyes, Ranboo shrinks down to Phils size.

Ranboo explains he prefers his full height, but has been able to size shift for as long as he can remember. Phil comes to the conclusion this must be because as the prince of the realm, hes closely enough tied to the void that he can control its effects on him. But he cant do it for other things. So he agrees to help Phil try and learn out how control the voids powers to so he can get back to his regular size to.

-❤ anon

Oh yes!! This au idea is so cool :0

I love the idea of Ranboo just going around with Phil to figure out how to fix his size. And also it would be pretty useful for Phil to have a giant friend who can get into all the huge buildings that spawned around the world (and get the trident)

Question though, would Ranboo be able to visit the hub with Phil? Or is he stuck in this specific world because he was born there???

(Also any name ideas for this new au?) :] 💙

[jacscorner]

Pokemon All-Stars: A Fan Region/Game/Alternate Universe Idea

I like watching and rewatching Original Pokemon Game/Region videos. Like Mr. Buddy's "What if X was a Pokemon Region" and stuff like that. I wanna make-or, I guess, write-my own. Since Regions are kind of a character all their own and I'm a Wannabe Character Artist, I wanted to try and make one my own.

I've got no skills in coding, pixel arts, or anything, so this will forever be just some kind of dumb fanfic that sometimes incorporates Game Mechanics to justify things if it were able, for some Godforsaken reason, 'stolen' for a game. Cause, in 2021, no idea feels too big or too dumb. And, uh, trust me, this'll be a dumb fanfic of an idea. So be aware for the subpar writing talents of some wannabe writer who doesn't know shit.

Small disclaimer though:

>This region is being made with the intention that every extra feature will be available in it. Z-Moves, Regional Variants, Gygantamax, Mega Evolutions, and maybe some things I've forgotten. This probably won't matter cause it's just a dumb fanfic plot bible with mechanics peppered in. Competitive balancing be damn! Pokemon Fans can create their own balance! That's what the Battle Simulator is for! In fact, if this was a real game, then it'd have a Battle Simulator like Showdown built into it.

>This is an open source Fanfic Bible. You can take this idea and run with it if you want. You can omit all my bad ideas even!

>I won't be making my own Fakemon. I don't like a lot of Fakemon that exists out there and, trust me when I say this: I am no better than them. In fact, I'm fucking worse.

>If this WERE a game, it probably WOULD still have to cut some Pokemon. I doubt that kinda, and I won't get into why I think dexit was dumb personally, cause it doesn't really matter. But, like, my fan game/fanfic will have a lot of shit going on in it. So, like, realistically, there would probably need to be a cut, if not for data, than just cause there's a lot of work to do as is. But, like, again, under the context of a fic, this wouldn't be an issue.

>With THAT said, I'd want this game to have a Gen 2 Sprite aesthetic. My fangame, don't care if ya'll don't like that.

>I'm probably gonna copy a LOT of stuff from other Fangames I've played. My shit memory probably won't allow me to remember what I'm biting from what, so be free to call me out whenever. Cause if I stole the mechanic, I probably liked it the game. And if not, well, I'd like the recommendation.

Fuck, this was long already. The rest is under the cut, so, like, if you're already turned off, you can stop reading. I understand. I'm kind of a windbag.

Okay, so how many of you guys have seen this picture on the internet? It's a picture of a ton of Pokemon regions all...basically stitched together, since not only could this never be canon, but this goes beyond the size of even most open world games today. But this was the inspiration for this project. The map probably wouldn't, and probably couldn't, look like this, but it perfectly sums up what I'd want out of this game. Thus, it'll be our placeholder.

Our hometown of Capricorn Town is home to Professor Chestnut, and you, her faithful assistant, are about to set off on a Pokemon adventure of your own! The Professor is encouraging you to see the region of Sidus for yourself and is even willing to give you a Starting Pokemon!

Starting Pokemon

Now, if I'm not making new Pokemon, which Starter will it be? Well, the game will have the data for all the starters and will randomly select a Grass, Fire, and Water Type for you to choose from. Those will be your starters, with the option of also choosing Pikachu, Eevee, and Riolu, the two mascot mons...and Riolu, who is kind of a mascot mon, but a lesser one.

Let's say for this example, your options are Torchic, Piplup, Rowlet, Pikachu, Eevee, and Riolu. And, uh, get used to the words 'random' and 'generator', those are our keywords.

Anyway, once you get your pick, there'll be some kind of tutorial mission the Professor will send you on. This will introduce you to two very important things;

1. One of your Rival.

2. An Evil Team Grunt.

Rivals?!

Now to start getting into why this game might still be pretty big still be big despite the sprites on modern consoles.

Each of your Rivals would be one kid from each region of the 8 Mainline Games from Kanto to Kalos. How this'll be decided is that each pair of kids will be plugging into a generator and will pick between either the boy or girl version.

Ex. Brendan and May both cannot be in the game. Instead, they'll be plugged into this generator. Let's say the generator fell onto May. She'll be one of your Rival. Repeat this process 7 more times until you have 8 Rivals sprinkled throughout the world, each one given a defined personality and better AI to make them harder trainers to fight.

May will have one of the Hoenn Starters, sans Torchic. Regardless of whether or not Protagonist-San picked Torchic, May will either have a Treecko or Mudkip, again, chosen at random per kid. Whichever Starter you picked, your first rival will have a starter that beats yours. So, let's say moving forward, May has a Mudkip and you a Torchic. The other kids will have random starters of the various regions they originally hail from.

Anyway, your rivals will wander the overworld. If they see you, they'll battle you on sight. If they lose, they'll be gone after the next time you turn the game off. They won't battle you again until they respawn, but you can hang out with them. In fact, you can even recruit them to be in your party for a few days and they'll follow you around and just generally be your friend. It'll make every battle a double battle, but they'll battle you again before their timer runs out, so be prepared!

BANG! BANG! ENTER! Team Wild!

The two of you will have to face off against Team Wild! They have a Cowboy theme to them, using a mix of Ground and Steel-Types, with a few Pokemon being added in for good measure like the Ponyta Lines, Cacnea Line, and Remoraid. Cause...it's a gun.

They're an outlaw gang, they're rough and tough (or, at least, a mild threat) and will always throw down when they spot ya. Something I'm just sniping from JelloApocalypse is that they'll appear sporadically and act as Timed Events across the map.

You and your new Rival beat them and send you packing. I'd imagine May and the other Rivals would mostly be friendly, but I'm sure there's one or two that'll just be jerks to you. Regardless of personality, they'll be pretty tough and programmed to skill with you. Your strongest mon you have on hand when you fight them will be the level their entire team.

With your tutorial done, the world is opened up! Your mom gives you your running shoes, some Pokeballs, and your...I don't know, PokeCelular or something, just the regional gadget that does a bunch of stuff. From holding your map to holding your VS Seeker.

The PokeCelular will also give you notifications on where Team Wild are! You can choose to ignore the events, but if you do, then they'll start to appear in the overworld know and will get progressively stronger.

A Balancing Act

This game will be an open world, 8-Bit Sprite Game for you to explore after you leave Capricorn!

So how do we balance that?

Well, we got our Rival out of the way already, so let's move on. Gym Leaders will have a pretty linear progression. However, regardless of which Gym you tackle first, they'll all be at the same level.

It doesn't matter if you decide to go across the map and battle the Bug Gym, he'll stay at Level 10, just like the Normal Gym. Whe you get the second badge, they'll all jump to Level 15. NPC Trainers will follow the same progression; the higher your badge number, the stronger the number of Pokemon they'll be.

Wild Pokemon will also get stronger. The more badges you get, it'll attract stronger wild Pokemon because they'll see you're stronger and will come out more.

The overworld will also have various dungeons in them that'll be Level Locked. Say, you go through a forest and you're just trying to reach the end of a maze. The Trainers and Pokemon will function the same as I've mentioned before. But, you can decide to go deeper into the dungeon. These Pokemon will be level locked, usually something of a high level, because this is a more dangerous part of the dungeon. But, there'll be some goodies down there, like rarer Pokemon and some kind of really rare and good item like a TM or something.

How will you traverse? Well, first of all, HMs? They're semi-back. BUT, instead of having to deal with teaching Cut to a Pokemon, you just need the move Cut and a Pokemon that can use the move and you'll be able to use Cut. A few other Pokemon that are reasonable candidates, but don't get cut, will be allowed to do this too. Like, Gallade can use Cut. It can't learn the move, but just holding the HM will get the job done.

Controversial opinion, but I think I've always liked the idea of HMs. On paper, they give you a reason to explore the world and go back to areas you couldn't before for goodies and make for a good way to get off dungeons until you get the needed item. Even something like Cut can be used to open up new areas for exploration for your squad of mons.

BUT, well, HMs suck. As moves, they suck save for, like, 2...MAYBE and they're only for, like, a handful of areas. You either hand them out as evenly as possible, forcing mons to take moves you don't wanna use, or you just get an HM Slave or two to use 'em all. But like they, they serve their function and all you need is the Pokemon in question and NOT teach them the move. If you need a Move Deleter just so people aren't stuck having to use Rock Smash for three towns, then there's a problem with your RPG. Imagine playing Final Fantasy and you had to give your Fighter the Bronze Axe to get through a forest and still had to fight with it, even though you got a +12 Silver Sword! It's no wonder people hated these things! But I don't think getting rid of them and introducing Rental Pokemon was a good solution either and adds a different, albeit less intrusive problem.

Gym Leaders

So, how do Gym Leaders work?

Much like your rivals, they'll be randomly generated. Let's say, hypothetically, there's a pool of 60 Gym Leaders and Elite Four members. The game will randomly generate 16 to be Gym Leaders. The generator will have some kind of complicated math (at least, too complicated for me) so that you don't have more than 2 gyms of the same type. (Example: Misty and Nessa might be Active Gyms, Siebold can't be selected for a Gym cause the Water Slots are taken).

As a trade off, some Gyms might have special conditions before you can challenge them. Like, if you got stuck with Koga as a Gym Leader, than he'll only let you in if you complete a nearby dungeon and help his daughter out cause he doesn't trust her to make it back on her own. Or, like, Claire's a Gym Leader, but she won't battle you unless you've collected 7 Gym Badges prior at least.

The Gym Leaders, as mentioned before, will get progressively stronger with each badge obtained. After the 8th badge, you can go and climb Victory Road, face the E4 and confront the Champion! You can keep hunting Gym Leaders, but just remember that the E4 will always be 10 Levels above the strongest gym you beat. And they'll just get stronger with every one you beat until all 16 are slain.

Another handful, let's say 8, Gym Leaders/E4 Members will be wondering around as NPC Trainers. The justification is that this big super region is in some Alternate Universe Pokemon Game that has all the Pokemon and other important trainers in it, hence why we can have a game where Roxanne and Lenora are hanging out at a coffee shop. They're not Rivals, more like stronger NPCs you can rematch and wonder the map. They're not here to be the very best like no one ever was.

I mean, I'd like, like, 10-20 instead of 8 extras, but let's not get TOO greedy...yet...

Elite Four

And now, it's time to flip the script. Cause if E4 members can be Gym Leaders, then who are the Elite Four?

Easy. The Rivals.

All the Rival characters will be put in a random generator as well. The four that are chosen. You can have an Elite Four made up of Wally, Marnie, Hau, and Barry and you gotta deal with it.

This is excluding Brendan and May, Blue, and Calem and Serena. Anyone else is fair game.

Champion

So, the Champion. Who would it be in this? There was a funny idea I had, but this is a Pokemon Game. So there would be two versions. We'll call them Pokemon Dawn & Dusk. The difference between these games is the game Champion!

Benga would be the Champion of Pokemon Dusk, the grandson of Alder! His final Team will include Volcarona, Garchomp, and Dragonite, Pokemon he used in Black and White. I'd also include Scrafty, Rampardos, and Golurk, Pokemon used against you in White Treehollow and Black Tower areas.

Meanwhile, the Champion of Pokemon Dusk will be Zinnia, the Lorekeeper! Her team would include the Goodra, Tyrantrum, Altaria, Noivern, and Salamence she used in her original team, with her plucky Whismur sidekick becoming an Exploud and her ace.

You would've met them in the beginning of the game and would've showed off a bit by helping you with Team Wild before. They'll pop in and out throughout the game, at first amused by your tenacity, but not wanting a rookie like you to get hurt. But if you keep bonking Team Wild, they'll be impressed with how strong you are.

The show up to chat again when you beat 8 Gym Leaders, and will pop in if you White Out to give you some advice. White Out three times and they'll feel bad for you and give you an egg. Benga will give you a Larvesta Egg and Zinnia a Bagon Egg.

EXTRAS

So I don't got a lot of ideas for the Post Game, but there is one idea I thought would be cool if, if after you defeat the champion, they give you a call. They'll tell you that there are strong trainers wondering the Overworld and to be careful.

Because dotting the overworld will be Champions passed and proper! Cynthia, Blue, Lance; all of them are rocking Lv 100 Teams and are out for blood. They won't challenge you, but if you talk to them, there will be no backing out of the battle! You come with your A-Game!

sI'm not exactly in love with the idea of Team Wild. Maybe the Evil Team should go full fanservice and just be Team Rainbow Rocket. Or maybe go half-and-half; having past Evil Team members and leaders walk around in cowboy gear and acting as Team Wild executives.

I'd also would love Tournaments. Like, maybe that could be a weekly event in some town, they'll how tournaments and the characters that aren't designated as Gym Leaders and such will attend. Maybe there's a cash prize, maybe you'll win Pokemon Eggs of rare, guaranteed shines, or maybe you'll get some kind of important quest items.

Yeah, I want quests! All sorts of side quests! And can't forget what I'd do with Legendairs;

If you know Bengal's team, you'll know he's got the Lati Twins. I don't like that personally and would prefer Legendaries to be Super Bosses. Like, you gotta do a lot to find them. And when you do, their stats are boosted and they become an Uber Boss! You catch them in a cutscene after you beat them!

There's also just a ton of characters I didn't get around to or really have a place for. Emma, Looker, N, and the Stat Trainers all come to mind. Overall, I'd want them to pepper the world as well, but don't have anything to say except this: Pokemon has made a lot of memorable characters. Both good and bad. And this is probably my dream Pokemon Game; one where you can hang out with your favorites

[zoffra]

Chapter 2 - Wedy

'You're angry?' Sharnalk asked in a soft voice. He leaned over Kortopi's shoulder as this once watched clouds from the window of their hotel room.

The latter nodded timidly, 'I wanted to go with Shizu and Franky.'

The young blond pated his head, 'They left to join Bono at the play circle. You're too young at the moment, but when you're older we'll go together and rob the slot machines! '

In front of Kortopi's pout who woudn't open one's mouth, he sighed and knelt front of him 'Listen, if you stop sulking I take you out to dinner and then we'll go to the cinema, what do you say that?'

This time Shalnark's words had hit the mark and Kortopi cheerfully looked up.

Of all the members, Shalnark was the one who best knew Kortopi. Sharnalk took care of him when Chrollo wasn't available. Brigade leader had taken the child under his wing by bringing him into the spider, and when the troupe wasn't on mission, they lived together. He had taught him the four main Nen principles, but it was with Sharnalk that he'd developed his Hatsu.

* BZZZ BZZZZ BZZZ *

Sharnalk was interrupted by his phone ringing, he locked himself in the bathroom to take the call. 'I listening to you Shizuku... I see... He gave you an address?.. What, so far?!... I'm not screaming! I'm just surprised that...'

Behind the door, Kortopi who listened attentively to the conversation, watched helpless his evening with his friend soar.

The young manipulator came out of the bathroom, scratching his head uncomfortably 'Topi, I'm sorry but we'll have to postpone our evening until later.' He rummaged in his pocket and handed him his wallet, 'Take my card and make deliver you what you want.'

Before slamming the door, he gave him a last wave, 'Be a good boy until I get back, okay? I don't be long.'

Over three hours had passed and Kortopi was fuming.

'I dOn'T bE LoNg', shitty liar

At this thought, a new motivation spread in Kortopi who felt even more frustrated and upset. In answer, he looked for bars, clubs, and other places not recommended for a child his age, when he came across an advert that caught his attention.

Thrilled, he quickly folded down PC screen, put on the brand new trench coat that Shizuku'd bought him the day before and took care to create a copy of himself which he placed under his duvet.

---------------------------------------------

After taking wrong bus route and making the wrong path twice, Kortopi finally arrived across from what should have been a bar. He approached storefront and tiptoed, sticking his little hands against the glass to inspect interior. He took the piece of paper from his pocket, on which he'd scribbled address. Apprehensively, he decided to push the door open when a young woman about to go out pushed him.

She was tall, her blond hair down to her shoulders. She wore a pencil skirt split on the side and an elegant black suit which let glimpse her generous chest. A fur cap finalized her outfit which suited her wonderfully.

Pretty

'It's not a place for brats. Clear out.' She closed the door behind her, spitting that stinging reply Kortopi's face.

As the mortified child walked away from the bar, he heard the young woman shout to him, an amusement's hint in her voice, 'Materialization?'

The fact that she guessed his aura's type at one glance put him on guard. He quickly turned around, activated his Ren and positioned himself in front of her. She roared with laughter and activated her Nen in turn, 'Come on kid, stop it'.

At her aura's sight, Kortopi'd immediately knew that she'd have upper hand if she attacked him. He was several tens of meters away, but he could feel her aura's pressure, it was as if thousands of needles hit his face.

She walked slowly towards him, two hands raised to the sky showing she'd no evil intentions, and took out a cigarette from her package with her teeth. She stopped at his height and scanned the child from head to toe, 'There are bouncers in the basement. I suggest you a deal. You give me a hand and I'll get you in. '

Kortopi still listened her suspiciously.

The young woman lit her cigarette, 'I need this key's copy, you can do it, don't you?'

it's not just intuition, it's bad...

In front of a more powerful adversary who knew his abilities, Kortopi's victory chances just gone up in smoke. Having one's back to the wall, he choosed the wisest decision and complied.

'Up to fifty no problem. My copies aren't forever but I guess you already know that.' He replied bitterly.

Young woman noded, notifiying him he'd made the right decision, and blew smoke into his face. Kortopi wanted to make eat her cig.

'I only need one copy.' She handed him the key, and the child sat cross-legged out of sight.

Left hand of God, right hand of Devil

A small key appeared in his right hand, he returned the original to the young woman and put the copy in his pocket, 'Let me get in first.'

'A promise is a promise,' she smiled to him, 'by the way, I'm Wedy.'

Wedy had kept her promise. They'd discreetly entered through a small emergency door, leading them to the room's back, close to the stage.

'I held my promise. The key.' Wedy held out her hand, palm in the air towards Kortopi. She observed the key from all angles with meticulousness and invited him to dinner as a thank you, 'Good job, the copy is perfect'.

Kortopi ordered a plate of homemade fries and Wedy a lobster bisque as a starter. The waiter put down the dishes, served in a magnificent fine porcelain with gold leaf patterns.

The young woman devoured her dish with appetite, 'I'm looking for a book which contains a special power. When a person's name is written inside, that person dies.'

Kortopi smirked before bust of laughing, 'Don't make fun of me, it's impossible. Even a Nen Master could'nt obtain such an ability.'

'That's right, it's something else. This book contains a visibly less restrictive power than Nen, the user doesn't seem to need oaths and conditions to use it.'

The waiter came back with Wedy's truffle veal, she brought her nose to few inches to smell the scent, 'A few years ago, a Treasure-hunter brought this notebook from the dark continent. Three months later, this asshole got caught. I'll pass details but during his interrogation he admitted writing nearly 50 names a day. Only women, regardless of age. '

Her eyes flashed, 'He committed suicide just before his judgment.' She grabbed her glass and took a big sip, 'Unfortunately, the notebook wasn't found, he apparently would have given it to someone else, just before his arrest.'

'So you're looking for the new owner, do you have any leads? '

'Not on his identity, but his motivations are clearer. More than 10,000 criminals have been killed in Jappon since the notebook changed hands. Apparently, the new owner doesn't really like villains,' she pours herself a glass of wine, 'He has a lot of fans among the population, to the point that the Jappanese have given him the Kira's nickname.'

Wedy smiles mischievously, 'Class A bandits would have reason to worry, for example.' She rummaged through her bag and handed him a piece of paper, 'Look.'

Kortopi felt himself melt in his chair when he saw the photo, 'Ah, it's the phantom troupe. I heard a little about it, they got killed by the York-Shin Mafia, I saw it on TV.'

Wedy laughed loudly, 'Bullshits. Corpses were false. York-Shin Mafia has a good intelligence service but they can't work miracles,' She paused, probing the child's gaze, 'For example, if in administration eyes people doesn't exist, they'll not be able to find data concerning them.'

Korutopi felt a sweat drop bead on his forehead.

'I'm 99% sure they're alive. And I know names of 7 of them.' Wedy soaking up sauce from her plate. 'I plan to sell their identity to the press. If they're dead as everyone thinks, they'll just stay in the ground.' Her lips curved in a carnivorous smile. 'But, if they're living somewhere in this world, it will only be a matter of time before Kira writes their names in his little notebook.'

On the verge of faint, Kortopi asked in a weak voice, 'Why haven't you done it already?'

Wedy's eyes shone like sapphires, 'I figured maybe we could do another deal.'

Korutopi didn't reply. Tears began to bead in his eyes corner uncontrollably, he knew she wasn't bluffing.

Front of the child crestfallen looks, Wedy felt a little remorse, 'Listen, little brat. If you'll do what I tell you, we'll leave you alone.

[dukereviewsxtra]

Duke Reviews Extra: Duke's Top 15 Favorite TV Christmas Episodes

Hi, Everyone, I'm Andrew Leduc And Welcome To Another Duke Reviews Xtra Where Today We Continue Duke's Yultide Reviews...

And As You Know We're Reviewing Christmas Movies And Specials Every Sunday In November And December But There's One Thing That I'm Unable To Review Without Looking At A Series First On Duke Reviews Tv And That's Christmas Episodes And On Today's Top 15 I'm Counting Down My Top 15 Favorites..

With A Few Rules For Myself And My Audience With The First Being One Christmas Episode Per Show Otherwise I'd Be Talking About Every Home Improvement Christmas Episode And Every Glee Christmas Episode Because They're That Good Of Episodes And I Watch Them Every Year During The Holidays But I Might Merit A Mention Or 2 Throughout The Countdown...

Also No Bad Comments Please, This Is My List And It's What I Like, So If You Don't Have Anything Nice To Say, Just Don't Say It At All. Now, On With The Countdown...

15. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers "I'm Dreaming Of A White Ranger"

Go Ahead, I'm Ready...

This Episode Sees The Power Rangers Celebrating Christmas At Ernie's But Lord Zedd And Rita Repulsa Have Evil Plans For The Holidays As They Send Goldar And Rito Revolto To Kidnap Santa And Take Over His Workshop So They Can Have The Elves Mass Produce Lord Zedd's Evil Christmas Toy That Will Enslave The Minds Of All The Children Of The World...

This Episode Has Gotten Alot Of Flack As One Of The Series Worst Episodes But Unlike The Power Rangers Zeo Christmas Episode, I Kind Of Like This One...

It Captures The Right Amount Of Christmas Spirit For Kids While Also Keeping Some Of That Power Ranger Magic Even Without The Suits Which Leads Me To Say See It...

14 Smallville "Lexmas"

This Episode Sees Lex Considering Whether To Have Someone He Knows Get Fake Or Damaging Information On Jonathan Kent In An Attempt To Ruin His Campaign For Senator But When Lex Is Shot By The Navy Thunder Ranger (Seriously It's The Same Actor Who Played That) He Falls Into A Coma And Is Visited By The Ghost Of His Mother Who Shows Lex What His Life Would Be Like If He Frees Himself From His Father. Meanwhile, Clark Helps Chloe Deliver Presents For The Daily Planet..

This Episode Is An Interesting What If Episode...

It's Shows Us What Lex's Life Could Be Even If He Makes The Wrong Choice In The End Either Way I Say See It...

13 The Brady Bunch "The Voice Of Christmas"

In This Classic Episode Of The Brady Bunch, Carol Gets A Case Of Laryngitis, And May Not Be Able To Sing At The Holiday Service This Year But When Cindy Goes To Ask Santa To Give Her Mom Her Voice Back For Christmas...

(Start At 1:47, End At 2:37)

Carol Gets Her Voice Back Via Christmas Miracle And Manages To Sing For The Christmas Service...

(Start At 0:33, End At 2:12)

It Was Hard Placing This So Low But That's Mainly Because There Are So Much Better Christmas Episodes Than This Now...

But It Is A Very Memorable Episode Of The Series And I Can't Help But Remember It When I Look Back At The Brady Bunch And I Definitely Say Give It A Watch...

12. Family Guy "Road To The North Pole"

This Episode Sees The Griffins And All Of Quahog Getting Ready For Christmas, But When A Mall Santa Blows Off Stewie, He Makes It His Mission To Kill Santa Claus. Going To The North Pole With Brian The Dog, They Discover That All The Years Of Lists And Demands From Us Have Practically Killed Santa Claus And If Something Isn't Done, Christmas As We Know It Will Be Gone Forever...

This Episode Has A Great Storyline...

The Songs Are Great And I Can't Help But Sing Along With It Every Year But Despite Some Scenes Being Funny Others Aren't But Either Way It's Still A Fun Christmas Episode And I Say See It...

11. Glee "Extraordinary Merry Christmas"

This Was A Hard Decision To Make As This And The Season 2 Episode "A Very Glee Christmas" Are Both Good Episodes, But This Is Mainly On The List Because Of It's Storyline...

This Episode Sees Sue Recruiting New Directions To Perform For A Bunch Of Homeless People At Homeless Shelter Where She'll Be Volunteering, But When The Glee Club Gets An Opportunity To Create A Holiday Special For PBS With The Paraplegic Artie As Director, The Glee Club Jumps At The Opportunity To Do It To Sue's Dismay...

With Artie Making The Special As A Homage To The Judy Garland Christmas Special And (Sighs) The Star Wars Holiday Special, It Leads To A Special With An Interesting Storyline And Great Songs And I Can't Help But Say See It...

10. Full House "Our First Christmas Show"

I Realize That There Are Some People (Namely The Nostalgia Critic) Who Hate The Tanners But I Can't Help But Love This Episode...

This Episode Sees The Tanner Family Headed To Colorado For The Holidays But When Their Flight Is Forced To Land Until Tomorrow (Which Is Christmas Day) It Has Stephanie Upset That Santa Won't Find Her And It Has DJ Upset When Danny Tells Her That The Presents Are Missing...

But When Jessie Makes A Speech That Unites Everyone Together...

(Start At 1:27, End At 2:39)

They Just May Have The Merriest Christmas Ever...

This Is A Fantastic Christmas Episode With A Great Message That's Definitely Worth A Watch...

09.Friends "The One With The Holiday Armidillo"

While This Is More Of A Hanukkah Episode, It's One Of My Favorites To Watch During The Holidays...

This Episode Sees Ross Wanting To Introduce His Son Ben (Played By Riverdale's Jughead) To Hanukkah But Ben Loves Christmas So Much That It Botches All Of His Attempts But When He Tries One More Time It Leads To A Funny Scene...

This Episode May Be Friends Only Memorable Christmas Episode But It's One Of Their Best And I Can't Help But Say See It...

08. The Flash "Running To Stand Still"

While The Arrowverse Uses Their Christmas Episodes To Introduce The Big Bad Of The Seasons, This One Doesn't And Is Just Focuses Something That Happens Around The Holidays In Central City...

This Episode Sees Weather Wizard Busting Out Captain Cold And The Trickster (Played By Mark Hamill) Out Of Jail So They Can Finish Off The Flash After He Was Nearly Beaten To Death By The Big Bad Of That Season, Zoom. With Captain Cold Passing On The Offer (Only To Go To Legends Of Tomorrow Which Premiered The Following Year) Weather Wizard And The Trickster Team Up To Fight The Flash With The Trickster Going All Out For The Holidays...

This Episode Is Full Of Both Action And Comedy From Both Hamill's Trickster And Miller's Captain Cold, Who Gets Kind Of A Precursor To His Role On Legends In This Episode When He Talks With Barry About Weather Wizard And Trickster And Barry Tells Cold To Help Him Stop Them Only For Cold To Tell Barry That He's Not Interested In Being A Hero When That's What He Ends Up Becoming On Legends Because Barry Inspired Him. Also This Episode Introduces Wally West To The Series Who Would Eventually Become Kid Flash Either Way It's A Great Episode And I Say See It...

07. Doctor Who "The Snowman"

This Episode Sees The 11th Doctor Mourning The Loss Of His 2 Companions, Amy Pond And Rory Williams To Both The Marvel Cinematic Universe And The CW's Arrowverse

But He Is Soon Forced Into Action When A Governess Named Clara Oswin Oswald Investigates Living Snowmen Who Are Being Brought To Life By The Great Intelligence (Voiced By Sir Ian Mckellan) With The Help Of A Man Named Dr. Simeon...

What Can I Say About This Episode? It's The Doctor Vs. An Army Of Snowmen And It's Just Awesome, Plus The Acting In It Is Fantastic, You Can Honestly Feel The Doctor's Pain Over Losing Rory And Amy But When Clara Comes In, It's Like He's A New Man Plus In This Episode We Get A New Interior For The Tardis That Would Soon End Up Belonging To The 12th Doctor As Matt Smith Was Leaving Soon And They Would Find A Replacement In Peter Capaldi, Still It's A Fantastic Episode And I Say See It...

06. Everybody Loves Raymond "The Toaster"

This Was A Hard Decision To Make As Most Of The Everybody Loves Raymond Christmas Episodes Are Pretty Good But I Felt That What Happens In This Episode Happens More Often To Some People...

In This Episode, Ray And Debra Get Personalized Toasters For Their Family And Friends For Christmas, But Despite Ray's Brother, Robert And Debra's Parents Loving The Toasters, Ray's Parents, Frank And Marie, End Up Taking It Back To The Store And Switch It Out For A Coffee Machine...

Realizing That Their Son Is Upset With Them, They Return To The Store To Try To Get It Back...

This Episode Is Funny, What Happens When Ray Finds Out That Marie And Frank Traded In The Toaster For A Coffee Machine Is Freaking Hysterical And That Scene Where Marie Tells Frank That She's Not Just A Trophy Wife Is Also Funny And I Say See It...

05. Batman: The Animated Series "Christmas With The Joker"

This Episode Sees The Joker Escaping From Arkham Asylum To Pirate The TV Airwaves With His Own Christmas Special...

(Start At 1:27, End At 2:06)

Where He Causes Trouble Not Just For Batman And Robin But All Of Gotham As He Kidnaps Commissioner Gordon, Detective Bullock And News Reporter Summer Gleason...

While This Is The First Appearance Of The Best Joker Of All Time, This Episode Is Filled With Action, Christmas Cheer, And Comedy That's Mainly Done By Hamill's Joker And I Definitely Say See It...

04. Two And A Half Men "Walnuts And Demerol"

This Episode Has Charlie About To Have Sex With A Girl Named Gloria But When All Of His Family And Friends Come Over It Goes From A Date Which Is Leading To Coitus To A Funny Christmas Party Despite Charlie Telling Everyone That It's Not A Christmas Party...

Between This And The Episode "Santa's Village Of The Damned" This Was Another Hard Decision...

This Episode Is Funny, With The Stuff Berta Says In This Episode, Candy Playing The Piano And The Surprise Twist In The Episode (Yes, There's A Surprise Twist) It's A Good Episode And I Say See It...

03. Frasier "Frasier Grinch"

This Episode Sees Frasier Crane Preparing To Spend The Holidays With His Father And His Son Fredrick, But When He Wrong Box Of Toys Him And Niles Have To Get Fredrick The Presents He Ordered On Christmas Eve At A Toy Store...

This Episode Is Very Funny I Absolutely Love The Scenes Where Fraiser Is Trying To Tell His Annual Christmas Story To His Viewers Only To Be Interrupted By "Bulldog" Briscoe And Gil Chesterton Who Bring In A Stripper To Distract Frasier From Telling His Boring Story And When Frasier Comes Home To His Penthouse Apartment To See That His Father Has Turned His Apartment Into Santa's Winter Wonderland For Fredrick, Either Way, It's A Good Episode And I Say See It...

02. Home Improvement "Twas The Night Before Chaos"

Again With Alot Of Good Home Improvement Christmas Episodes This Was A Hard Decision To Make...

The Taylor Family Spend Christmas With Tim's Brother, Marty, His Wife And Their Newborn Babies But When Jill's Parents Also Come Over For The Holidays, Jill Notices That They're Defiantly Not Getting Along As Ever Since Her Father, The Colonel (Played By The Same Guy Who Was Tim's Older Neighbor In Christmas With The Kranks) Retired From The Army, He Hasn't Done Anything Except Watch Patton In His Den Over And Over Again

And Jill's Mom Thought That Once He Retired That They Would See The World...

If Roseanne Was Good At Halloween, Then Home Improvement Did Christmas Just As Good, From Tim's Lighting Contest Fights With Their Proctologist Neighbor, Doc Johnson To Tool Time Around The Holidays These Episodes Are Funny And This One Is No Exception And I Definitely Say See It...

Before We Get To Our Number One Let's Look At The Top 5 Runners Up That We Wanted To Add But Just Couldn't...

05. X-Men "Have Yourself A Morlock Little X-Mas

The X-Men Celebrate Christmas Together However When The Morlocks Ask The X-Men To Save Their Youngest Member, Wolverine Has To Make A Decision Whether To Use His Blood To Save Him Or Not...

04. Mystery Science Theatre 3000 "The Christmas That Almost Wasn't"

Between This And The Santa Claus Conquers The Martians Episode, This Was A Hard Decision To Make...

The Team Aboard The Satellite Of Love Is Forced By KInga Forrester And Her Partner Max, Tv's Son Of Tv's Frank To Watch A Movie Called The Christmas That Almost Wasn't Which Sees Santa Claus Asking A Lawyer To Help Him Deal With A Miserly Land Owner Named Prune, Who Will Own Santa's Home Unless He Pays Him Back His Entire Debt He Owes By Christmas Eve Or Gives Him All Of The Christmas Presents As Collateral Which Would Destroy Christmas As We Know It...

03. The Monkees "Our Christmas Show"

The Monkees Look After A Rich Kid (Played By Eddie Munster) Who Believes Christmas Is A Waste Of Time So, The Group Tries To Get The Kid Into The Christmas Spirit...

02. The Real Ghostbusters "X-Mas Marks The Spot"

The Ghostbusters Accidentally Go Into A Time Portal To Victorian England And Accidentally Capture The Ghosts Of Past, Present And Future Which In Turn Creates A Grim Future Where Christmas No Longer Exists And Everyone Acts Like Ebenezer Scrooge And The Only Way To Fix This Is To Get The Ghosts Out Of The Containment Grid And Place Them Back Where They Were With Scrooge...

01. Kim Possible "A Very Possible Christmas"

As Kim Spends Christmas With Her Family And Her Grandma, Ron And Rufus Take An Assignment To Deal With Dr. Drakken's Latest Attempt To Take Over The World As A Secret Santa Gift For Kim, But When The Mission Goes Wrong With Ron, Rufus And Drakken Stranded At The North Pole, It's Up To Kim And Her Family To Rescue Them Before Shego Gets There...

And Now Onto Our Number One Favorite Christmas TV Episode...

01. The Big Bang Theory "The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis"

This Episode Sees Penny Getting Sheldon A Christmas Present Which Forces Him To Get A Christmas Gift For Penny With The Help Of Raj And Howard, Stopping By Bed Bath And Beyond, Sheldon Decides To Get Penny A Gift Basket Of Bath Items But Not Knowing What Size, Sheldon Decides To Buy A Boatload Of Them And Give Penny The Correct Basket Depending On The Size Of The Gift, So, When Christmas Morning Comes Around This Happens...

#1 (Start At 0:41, End At 1:54) #2 (Start At 2:38, End At 3:19)

This Episode Is The Most Hilarious Christmas Episode I Have Ever Seen And That Is Because Of Jim Parsons' Sheldon Cooper And How He Handles Christmas Or Saturnalia....

(Start At 0:08, End At 0:40)

And Because Of That, I Say See It...

Till Next Time, This Is Duke, Signing Off...

[project-sour-grapes]

Falling Into the Same Mental Trap

I was just at a small party at my friend's house, and this girl I know happened to bring up that she went to EMT school several years ago. I told her about my new part-time job, and we talked about the ins and outs of emergencies and wondering whether we're the type of people to freeze in an emergency or rise to the occasion. Good conversation overall.

Anyway, later in the night, she asked me a simple question about CPR as a kind of joke, but I couldn't answer. I have barely studied over the past 4 months since I took the NREMT. I blanked and went "Uhhhhh" like a dumbass.

Here I am, approaching things the way I always have: talk a big talk and focus on the big picture, but ignore the fundamentals and basic facts. This is a root cause of my "sour grapes" issue. I skip so many important "beginner" steps, because I feel entitled to a certain status or outcome. "Screw all those folks doing the Level 1 stuff. I'm above that," I think to myself. While shortcuts are a tool for achieving tough goals, defaulting to it every time is maladaptive. I'm not respecting my patients, my coworkers, or myself by approaching the work this way.

There are going to be patients in front of me and paramedics grilling me on medicine and hard facts, and my typical mode of taking shortcuts isn't going to cut it. If somebody asks me what the hell the respiratory rate for a healthy kid is, I should know that. If they ask me about CPR, I should know all of the 6 or so key points on what to do. These facts aren't hard to know. They're just numbers. Yet they're each as valuable as a human life. If I can't remember a couple of tables of numbers to save somebody's life, I'm a chump.

Need to get my shit together. Approaching EMT work the same way I've approached all my other work will make this all a waste of time.

The mode of thinking necessary to be successful here includes:

Learn the fundamentals until you know them cold

Go above and beyond to learn the rest and know it before you're asked to

That's it. It's simple. It's just work. It's not evil to not care to do it, but signing up for a job that requires it yet not caring is. If I want to go back to my uber-intellectual desk job and just do that forever then cool, I can. But I don't want to. So my option is to suck it up and learn the fundamentals.

Dear Self, do the work. Not having a concrete, tangible reason in front of you right this second is not a good excuse to not do it. You will wish you had done it, because you've experienced this disappointment 1000 times. You know the drop in respect you have for yourself when you don't do the work and don't learn the fundamentals and don't have an answer for basic questions about CPR. A 1000 "future yous" will feel this disappointment again if you continue to act entitled rather than doing the work. Even 20% of the work would be good, and you're barely even doing that. Have some respect for yourself, your profession, and the other people you arrogantly expect to benefit from it. Really, do the work or fuck back off to your old job. You can make up intellectual gobbledigook there until you die, if that's so important to you. Otherwise, fucking carry the boats and the logs, and stop acting like you're owed shit. Create real, tangible value with your own mind and hands. Sincerely, PSG.

[simsforeveryoung]

Gen 4 Part 15: Two Dynasties Both Alike In Dignity

In the village of Henford-on-Bagley, there lived a reluctant heiress.

Rashidah Watson wants more from her life among the livestock in this quaint, idyllic village. Although her father's family owns the town, she has no desire to inherit it.

Rashidah had heard of the Young legacy: famous arts advocate Cali <3, daughter of famous party girl Mimi Landgraab Caliente Young. According to the rumours, Cali turned down the Newcrest crown to create a dazzling life for herself in San Myshuno. Perhaps it was part of Rashidah's reason for attending private school in this particular district.

But she was just as surprised as anyone when her classmate, Ever Young, invited her to the Love Day School Party.

They have the whole family dynasty thing in common, yes. But Rashidah also has this is-it-or-isn't-it thing with the local delivery boy. But the postie didn't invite her to a Love Day party, did he?

She says yes to Ever's last-minute invite. They get cookies and punch, and make small talk around the music. Rashidah likes romantic music. Just not pop. Especially tween pop. YUCK. heh.

It's an awkward school thing, but she nonetheless warms up to him. He walks her to the bus stop, and she's about to say actually she wants to stay in the city a little longer when --

"Ever?" It's Cierra, Ever's friend from primary school. "I haven't seen you in...forever! We should catch up!"

"Well hey, I'm free now. Wanna go for karaoke? The bar has a Love Day sale on drinks."

Uh I guess that's it for Rashidah.

As Cierra and Ever walk across town to the Honey Pop, Ever realises how stupid he's been. He asked out a girl on LOVE DAY. That means it's a date! And he asked her out in front of HIS ACTUAL DATE. uhhhh

But he's also kind of enjoying himself. He feels cool and grown up, ordering drinks for the group.

But also... he's not grown up.

And Cierra is.

"So you're a Young Adult."

"Yeah, so? Aren't you?"

"No....I thought we were the same age!"

"Oh I literally just aged up." (Literally. Like, as soon as the date started.)

"Cool."

Double stupid.

Back home, Cali has done it at last! She has sold her final painting to buy her final painting to complete her 100K home gallery wall to support the arts!

It's a joyous day - in fact, it is Hadley's Day! The holiday in memory of the founder of the Young Legacy: mischievous, playful Hadley Young.

Hadley... Cali remembers what this legacy is all about. While Mimi devoted her life to Newcrest and Cali devoted hers to the San Myshuno arts community, her family history began with a simple desire to have a loving family. Sure, Mina's generation went down a certain criminal path that got riches and land-grabbing into the mix, but the point is family!

Cali is determined to spend the rest of her days with her family, raising her wee daughter Alwys, always. With some help from immortal Nanny Valentin of course.

Ever texts Rashidah. u still here? i screwed up!!

Rashidah had decided to stay in the Arts Quarter, not for no man, but to turn the evening around for herself. But she is a hopeless romantic, and will not turn down a Boy With Luv if one happens to come begging.

They talk about their dreams. "I'm gonna get out of here soon," says Ever, "and go to the BIG city. To really make it as an Actor, there's only one place to be." Wow, Ever grew up in one city and wants to move to an even BIGGER one? Rashidah is entranced.

The future is near. Ever ages up (...just not in time for that date with Cierra), and guess what? Evil Mina's genes have surfaced. Ever is an Outgoing Evil Genius, with a practical Nerd Brain aspiration, and a laser sharp focus on being a world famous Actor. He's willing to do what it takes. There's no stopping him.

As per Hadley Day tradition, everyone's out streaking in the Arts Quarter. Ah, Hadley loved streaking.

"Thanks mom," says Ever, "for surrounding my childhood with art. I'm ready to go make my own now."

Cali's work is done.

But Ever has only just begun. And he's willing to do whatever it takes.

TO BE CONTINUED...

...IN GENERATION 5