#also i have a weapon guarantee on standard i think so hopefully i get another skyward harp cause all my bow characters are fighting over it | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

iturbide · 4 years

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@cianidix replied to your post:

The more you talk about this, the more I want to read it! Edgeworth-centric and also more Edgeworth-Maya interactions, ahhhhh. I’m also sooo interested in reading about how the relationship falls apart and how they (hopefully, maybe, I don’t believe Feenie is actually dead here… right??? Q_Q) eventually make better or move on and just- ahhhh I wish this fic was here already (if you get back to it)

(Trucy still exists, right? Even tho Wright wasn’t disbarred, right???)

Of course Trucy still exists I could never write her out of existence she’s too precious of a child to not be around in some way shape or form (and there’s nothing to say that Nick won’t end up with her at some point in the future, anyway -- he could always use another kid or two, and I think we all know it). Interestingly enough, though, one of my other big works was an AA4-compliant piece, also Edgeworth-centric, that involved a lot of Edgeworth-Trucy interactions because Trucy’s a part of Phoenix’s life now, and if he wants to have any part in it himself Edgeworth has to get along with the adopted daughter. It actually had a decent chunk of words in it, too (around 12k -- it’s the second excerpt from the link in the last post).

But in all honesty people getting excited about my stories gets me excited about those stories and since I still don’t know when I’m going to get around to writing the whole thing out, what’s the harm in dropping the summary?

Gonna give this another shot and Tumblr’s not gonna eat it this time mark my words

A couple notes before we get into things:

OCs are fair game in Ace Attorney as far as I’m concerned, and we’re certainly going to have a host of them. From the prosecutor on the case to all of those involved, I’ll be making a whole cast and crew to back this story up, and if I can manage it there will be absolutely terrible puns, because that just seems to be how AA games operate.

Lana Skye is hands down one of my absolute favorite characters in the series, and it’s a crime that they only put her into one bonus case and put her in prison at the end of it. For all of my continuities, I completely write out SL-9 as a case: Joe Darke never escaped his cell, Lana got into the prosecutor’s office and became chief by virtue of her own talents, and both the prosecutor’s office and the police department have cowboys running around.

I have a fairly non-standard view of Phoenix as a person, just based on everything I remember seeing in fandom back when I was more active. For instance: I love the fact that he was an art student, but I’ve always specifically thought he was aiming to be an actor and had a thing for Shakespeare; frankly, the ad libbing that has to go into acting when something goes wrong explains so much for me where Nick’s bluffing is concerned (when a man interrogates a parrot, you know he has a weird history). Unrelated but still relevant to that point, I think he’s actually a decent pianist and took lessons through most of his childhood and adolescence -- but he’s a classical pianist by training and not great at playing by ear, so people just think he sucks because he botches any modern tunes. So if you see something that seems Weird compared to fandom’s general take, just know that it probably has backstory.

So with all that in mind, let’s dive in.

In true Ace Attorney fashion, the whole thing starts with a cold open. As he finishes up the last of the paperwork associated with the case he wrapped up that afternoon, Phoenix gets a call from a familiar number, and though he dreads the conversation to come he answers anyway, refusing an offer to meet and saying that he can’t do this anymore before someone enters the inner office. He insists that they’re closed as he turns toward the door, and a voice replies that this won’t take long -- and then there’s gunshots. And then nothing.

The next morning, Maya is understandably shocked and horrified to arrive at the office and find that it’s once again a crime scene: bullet holes in the windows, blood on the floor, police everywhere...but no sign of Nick. Gumshoe is on the scene, though, and after a lot of badgering, he reveals that there’s been no sign of Phoenix, but the police are operating under the assumption that he’s dead -- and they’ve already arrested a suspect. Maya can’t imagine who would want to hurt Phoenix, and hearing that it’s Miles Edgeworth they’ve imprisoned just makes the whole thing feel that much more surreal. Sure, Nick and Edgeworth have had their disagreements --- including one the day before, in the recesses of their trial, and Phoenix had seemed really upset after that -- but she didn’t think it was something worth killing over.

But she’s still hurt, and reeling from the morning’s news. So her first order of business is to march down to the Detention Center to confront him. Edgeworth is...not surprised to see her, given the circumstances -- but when she demands to know why he did it, he insists that he’s innocent: he would never harm Wright, no matter the circumstances. As much as Maya wants to believe that, though, the fact that he doesn’t seem upset by Nick’s supposed death so much as the accusation that he had a hand in it rubs her wrong, and despite herself she can’t help but wonder if he did have some role in it; regardless, she still goes everywhere she can think of in hopes that there was a mistake, that Nick is okay after all, collecting evidence with every stop...but as it gets later, when there’s still no sign of him, she and Pearl return to the Detention Center.

With no defense counsel, Edgeworth is almost guaranteed to go to prison...but at Pearl’s urging, Maya steps up and offers to defend him, since she recently passed the bar and got her badge. She spends the rest of the evening doing her best to cobble together a case based on what little information she has, and reports to the courthouse the next morning for her very first trial as a defense attorney.

Her first case, and Nick isn’t even there to see it. She didn’t think it could hurt any worse.

Before they’re called into the courtroom, the defense gets a surprise visitor: chief prosecutor Lana Skye, come to deliver case notes and evidence files. Maya barely gets time enough to leaf through them before they’re called into the courtroom to start the trial, where she finds herself facing the rising star from the prosecutor’s office: Gayle Huntington, a young woman who counts Chief Prosecutor Skye as her inspiration and who is excited to add another guilty verdict to her record, in spite of (or perhaps because of) the fact that one of her fellow prosecutors stands accused.

The prosecution declares it a crime of passion, and presents their theory of the case: following a heated confrontation outside the courtroom, Miles Edgeworth called Phoenix Wright to arrange a meeting. While he may have intended only to put an end to the argument, tempers flared, and in a fit of rage the defendant shot the victim three times before dragging the body down to the street and driving it off to be disposed of at another location. Their evidence includes the blood found at the scene, which matches Phoenix based on forensic testing; three bullet holes in the office window, though no slugs or casings were found at or around the office despite an extensive search with metal detectors; Edgeworth’s phone, which shows that the last call before he contacted 911 was made to Wright’s number; and a handgun found at the scene which shows evidence of recent firing, though no magazine was found in it.

Over the first day of testimony, Maya manages to shred the prosecution’s case based on that chain of events:

The gun, as it happens, belonged to Phoenix himself. One of the documents the chief prosecutor provided to the defense was a photocopy of a sign-in sheet for a local gun range, which not only has Nick’s signature on it, but included a copy of his firearm registration and permit, which was for the exact make, model, and serial number as the purported murder weapon. Lana Skye herself is called to the stand, as her name also appears on the sign-in, and she testifies that after court the previous day she happened across Wright at the range and they talked a bit; he said that he needed to blow off a bit of steam before going back to his paperwork, and she clearly recalls that he did not clean his weapon before leaving, instead saying that he would do so after he went home since his cleaning kit was there. On closer examination, it's discovered that while the weapon has mostly been wiped clean, the trigger was not, and a partial print matching Phoenix is recovered.

On calling Edgeworth himself to the stand, he admits that he did contact Phoenix late in the evening in the hopes of resolving the argument from that afternoon; however, he was across townpicking up his car from the repair shop when he made that call, and when he heard what sounded like a shot before the call cut out he immediately drove to the office where he found the blood trail leading to the curb. Cell tower records do, in fact, confirm that he was far from the defense attorney’s office when the call was made, and based on the time of his calls to both Phoenix and 911, there was far too narrow of a window to dispose of the body.

The next revelation comes with the filing of a new piece of evidence, courtesy of a frantic Gumshoe bursting into court and taking the stand. The police, in their search of likely dumping grounds for a body, dredged something out of the river that seems to confirm that they have a murder on their hands: a blue suit coat with three apparent bullet holes in the back...and Phoenix’s badge still affixed to the lapel. What little blood evidence they were able to collect matches Phoenix, as well.

For all that this is a stunning (and devastating) revelation, it brings with it yet more to undermine the prosecution’s case: namely the bullet evidence. When placed on a mannequin, even coupled with the knowledge that Phoenix left his suit jacket unbuttoned while working in the office, the placement of the bullet holes in the back would require that there be associated entry points in the front -- which do not exist. Maya draws the logical conclusion, then, that the shots must have been fired from outside the office -- through the window, and the reason no slugs or casings were found was because the shots weren’t fired from inside the office, and the bullets were still in the victim.

Despite the upset in court, the prosecution refuses to budge, and the Judge refuses to declare a Not Guilty verdict. Court adjourns for the day instead, and Maya heads out to continue her investigation. Making her way to the Gatewater Hotel, she manages to get information on who was staying in the room across from the office: four members of a jazz band in town for a show, who insist that they’re the only ones who have been in the room and that they were setting up for a performance on the night of the crime. Though she doesn’t know them herself, she hears vague rumors that they have a fifth member who’s been in some ‘legal trouble.’ When Maya relates the name to Edgeworth, he remarks that it seems somehow familiar, though he can’t quite place why. She also gets the prosecutor’s repair records and goes to check out the rental company he used while his car was in the shop, which nets her a copy of the damage and condition checklist the agent filled out when Edgeworth brought the car back.

While Maya has the case to occupy her mind, Miles has no such means of escaping his own thoughts in his prison cell. Between the confirmation that the jacket does, in fact, belong to Phoenix (something he had tried to deny at first, hoping that the coat was a look-alike and the badge stolen, only to have that possibility dashed by the presence of Wright’s initials on the underside of the tag) and the relative isolation in the detention center, he’s had ample time to think over how things had been with Phoenix -- including how he, himself, had been with the defense attorney...and he’s forced to face some very hard truths about his behavior toward someone he cares about far more than he wanted to believe.

With the start of the second day in court, the prosecution has changed its theory of the crime, but not its perpetrator: rather than committing the crime alone, Edgeworth had an accomplice, and his call to Wright was a ploy to get him into firing range while the shooter waited in the hotel for his chance. Leaving his rental car in front of the defense attorney’s office, he picked up his usual vehicle and upon arriving at the crime scene helped his accomplice load the body into the getaway car for disposal while he made a call to police. Their evidence comes from photos of the rental vehicle in question, which show damage not reported on the return checklist, as well as blood evidence taken from the trunk which matches Phoenix.

Once again, Maya tears through the prosecution’s case piece by piece:

The damage in the evidence photos compared to the rental return form make for the first order of business. On calling the man who signed off on Edgeworth’s car to the stand -- an amiable but nervous young Latine by the name of Novi Nada -- they swear up and down that the damage in the photos absolutely was not present when they checked the car in on the night of the crime. (In true Ace Attorney form, this gets somewhat ridiculous, as this witness lapses into Spanish when especially nervous; when pressed, they insist “no vi nada” -- I didn’t see anything -- to which the Judge responds “yes we know your name now what did you see?”)

Sensor data from the rental lot finally confirms the agent’s version of events, where the car is registered as driving onto the lot shortly before the time marked on the inspection form; more importantly, it also recorded the car being driven off the lot and then back on much later. Unfortunately, there is no additional inspection form, nor a record of who rented the car after Edgeworth, and therefore no record of who might have been involved.

Edgeworth is recalled to the stand to revisit his testimony, and he adds another key detail: while it was a sound that he took to be gunfire that sent him to the defense attorney’s office, Wright had said something strange during the call, mentioning that the office was closed -- as though he was speaking to someone else that had just arrived moments before the shots sounded and the call cut out.

Neither the defense’s office complex nor the Gatewater Hotel have video surveillance of the street; however, the Gatewater does take video of the lobby, which shows one of the four band members leaving around an hour before the crime occurred, two more leaving minutes before the shooting, and the last rushing through the lobby with a trombone case under his arm; notably, he’s the only one of the four to actually take his instrument when he left, as the others were all empty-handed. Most importantly, though, the video proves that no one else left the hotel between the time of the shooting and the time that the police started arriving, which calls into question the notion of an accomplice helping Miles dispose of the body.

This, however, provides the prosecution with a shiny new theory: that Miles hired the band to act as hitmen while he kept his hands clean. As it turns out, the reason the band name seemed familiar to him was because he was set to prosecute the fifth member of their group after his case against Phoenix wrapped up; the prosecutor posits that Miles promised to go easy on their incarcerated bandmate if they took out the defense attorney.

This is a damning accusation, and Maya has no ready response. The Judge adjourns the court for the day, and the defense scrambles to come up with a way to prove that Edgeworth had no part in what happened and place the blame on the truly guilty. She returns to the rental company and, while interviewing Novi further, finds out that the fifth bandmate has a sibling that works at the same agency. She also returns to the Gatewater to speak with the band, and notices that the trombone case in the room doesn’t look like the one from the lobby video. When asked, they say that the old case got lost...which seems odd to her, since the trombone itself is still there and doesn’t appear damaged.

While Maya looks deeper into the band, she reaches out to Miles for insight into the case he was supposed to prosecute. The fifth band member had been taken into custody on suspicion of murder, and while he suspected that the man did not commit the crime alone, he hadn’t yet been able to prove that when all this happened. For the first time, though, Maya starts to see real anger in the prosecutor -- not because these people dragged his good name through the mud with this set-up, but apparently because Phoenix’s blood is on their hands, and he can’t abide the thought of them getting away. He readily gives her access to his office for the other case file (which Chief Prosecutor Skye secures for her) so that she can use it in establishing her own case.

Despite her best efforts, though, Maya simply can’t pull together enough solid evidence to prove that Miles didn’t have a hand in the crime -- and without proof of his innocence, the court intends to find him guilty. But before the judge can hand down his verdict, the courtroom doors open, and a strident Objection! rises from the back of the room...and who should come limping up to the witness stand but Phoenix Wright himself.

The courtroom goes absolutely wild about this.

Understandably, the judge calls for a recess, and before the prosecution can drag him off to prep him for testimony Maya and Edgeworth at least get a minute with him. As it turns out, Maya had forgotten her phone that morning, and Pearl grabbed it for her; just as they were called into court, though, it rang, and Pearl stayed behind to answer -- only to be shocked to hear Mister Nick’s voice on the other end, at which point she rushed off to beg Mister Scruffy Detective to take her to get the defense attorney from the hospital where he’d been for the past few days as a ‘John Doe’ (since he had no ID on him when he was brought in). Maya is overwhelmed to see him alive, if worse for the wear, and Edgeworth…

...he can’t even find words for the feeling.

The celebration is shortlived, though, as Phoenix is dragged off to the witness lobby in short order to prep him for testimony. For all that the prosecution seems to believe he’ll help them, though, Nick gives them absolutely nothing, and instead confirms that he received a call from Edgeworth that evening, and while they were on the phone two strangers came into the office just before he was shot. They dragged him down to the street and threw him in the trunk of a car, then drove to the river and threw him in; most importantly, though, he remembers one of them asking what to do with the case, and another saying they would dump it at the club where it would blend right in; police are immediately dispatched there and find a bloody trombone case (since they’d thrown it into the trunk before loading Nick in) with a rifle inside.

The motive? Everyone knows the Demon Prosecutor’s reputation, and they knew that they’d all go down if he tried the case on their buddy. The enmity between prosecutors and defense attorneys is well known, though, and in particular they knew that Wright had broken Edgeworth’s old record and it had never recovered; they figured it would be easy to frame him for the murder with the right set-up. They had a small window of opportunity while Wright and Edgeworth worked through their trial, and they used it to put all their pieces in place, expecting that Edgeworth would go down and they’d all get off when a less competent prosecutor inevitably got their friend’s case. Clearly, though, that backfired on them: they’re all taken away, and Edgeworth is declared Not Guilty. Cue fanfare and confetti!

...and that’s where the fallout begins.

While Miles is taken to get things squared away with his release from detention, Phoenix is taken back to the hospital because honestly he should not have left in the first place. The man was admitted with a collapsed lung. It’s frankly a wonder he even managed to stand, let alone raise that objection. His recovery takes a while, and Maya and Pearl are frequent visitors...but so is Miles, much to his surprise. Only it’s not a good surprise for him, given what he’d been planning to say on the night he got shot. Things feel awkward, and all the more for how Miles is acting...different. Not like his usual self. Phoenix doesn’t know what it is or if he likes it, but he’s too tired to complain since it’s not bothering him, and visiting hours are relatively short since the prosecutor is still working cases.

Given what happened to him, though, the doctor recommends that Phoenix should stay with someone once he’s discharged: his condition, while improved, could deteriorate rapidly if something happens, so it’s imperative to have someone else around in case of an emergency. Maya and Pearl are still going back and forth between the city and Kurain semi-frequently, though, and he wouldn’t want to impose on them, especially since Pearls has been thinking about attending school in the city rather than just getting her medium training...but though he doesn’t even consider Edgeworth as a possibility, the prosecutor immediately volunteers when he hears: he has more than enough vacation time accrued and the chief prosecutor hounds him regularly about needing to take some, so he can be on hand for whatever Wright might need.

This does not, in fact, reassure Phoenix.

It’s okay enough at first, if only because Nick is just too tired and hurts too much to think about it or care about much beyond finding a comfortable position to sleep in and figuring out how to breathe without it making his chest feel like it’s full of broken glass. But as he starts improving, the tension slowly ratchets up, because Phoenix still doesn’t understand why Miles volunteered for this and the only possible explanations he can think of aren’t really good (most involve having him in the prosecutor’s debt, which is not what he wants). Miles, meanwhile, isn’t aware of this tension at first...but gradually he becomes more and more aware of the silence around Phoenix. It was understandable at first, because he was fresh out of the hospital and still recovering, but the longer it goes on the more noticeable it becomes, and he knows it means something but he doesn’t know what to do about it.

Eventually, though, it all does come out, because Miles finally broaches the subject of his own accord by asking Phoenix what he’d been planning to say that night: he’d said he can’t do “this” anymore, but he never said what “this” is. And even though he’s aware that nothing is likely to cme of it, Phoenix explains exactly what his problem is and has been for so long: the one-sided relationship where he’s the one doing all the work and making all the concessions and getting none of his own needs met in return. It’s exhausting, and he can’t do it anymore. And rather than fighting or arguing the point, Miles -- who has never had a relationship like this before -- asks what needs Phoenix has, and how can he meet them. He concedes the point, he admits that he’s been in the wrong and needs to change, and asks for help figuring out where to start -- because he came so close this time to losing Phoenix permanently, and that realization scares him more than he can say.

Phoenix is pretty well dumbstruck. But he recognizes, too, that this isn’t easy for Miles. He’s reaching out, he’s trying...and even though Nick had intended to cut his losses that night in his office before everything went so wrong, he decides to give this one last shot.

And when Miles listens to what he says, and actively responds and adjusts...he can’t help hoping that this turnabout will end up well.

#replies #cianidix #ace attorney #fanfiction #crime of passion #i wrote the whole thing out in a doc this time so there tumblr #only downside is that i had to go through and manually add formatting again #but that's a small price to pay for not losing my whole summary #also yes i promise that things eventually work out with them #communication is good okay and edgeworth learns this lesson the hard way #but he's able to save the ship before it sinks #and slowly he starts to really gain phoenix's trust #the relationship they end up with is so near and dear to my heart #but this is definitely my magnum opus for the ace attorney fandom #i seem to have one for every fandom i engage in #at present i have five total #it'll be six if i can ever figure out which of the 3h ones is my crowning achievement

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otomelavenderhaze · 4 years

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Hi hi Fa! Great day isn't? Did you get some rest and had fun watching the Reputation Tour?

I see what you meant, elemental reactions do play a gigantic part in the game after all. Zhongli is a difficult one to use, right? People have been complaining about his utility in battle, because he is a geo and those are mainly a support, which doesn't fit well in most people's parties, since it's not everyone's cup of tea. It only depends on the approach one takes in battle.

Hmm that's too bad for Xiao, we'll work on the Ayaka agenda from now on! Venti's long gone, but... Doing The Math™ a person would need at least 28800 primogems to secure getting a 5 stars character, hopefully less with luck, but I really want Venti so I'll work my ass off for it!!! :'D

I like anemo too, it's a very fun ability to play with. Not gonna lie, I thought you disliked water because of the aesthetic ahah The other elements I like are ice and fire, even if I can only use fire arrows and I can't aim to save my life ;-;

A weather system? That's intriguing... I tried to search about it and only saw something about the possibility of the characters using snow clothes and I'm all for it!

My excitement only rises with each passing day with these news!! The devs will work on it faster, I suppose; too bad they couldn't release it all at once. We'll survive the wait for sure!

Hey, anon!! Yep, I had some fun today, was your day good too?

Yes, the elements are what makes de combat on Genshin so great. Geo is a complicated element to use, since it’s an element that by nature is very inclined to support, even if Ningguang is actually a very good dps, they all some how have support abilities.

They work well as tanks and assistants for “real” dpss such as Diluc, Razor and such. Personally, I saw ppl running dps Zhongli and blasting with him, but he actually really shines as support.

When I tested him out I really liked his movements, the way his shield is so strong and how his ult is unique but also so powerful. To me, he’s a very good unit, despite everything I’ve said about him. However, I realized that he’s really not what I was needing in my team.

Cuz so far I’ve been running 2 supports as dps and 1 tank/sub-healer and 1 healer, which is fine for running around and doing daily tasks but not very powerful to take out bosses for example. Or to clean the abyss.

I was very unlucky on my first pulls in a sense, because I got a lot of repeated characters and not much differently characters to build in with, of course, the repeated characters became strong because of that, but they didn’t suit my taste, I really need a good dps, one that I can rely on and would make good combos with the characters I intend to use in the future.

That’s why I first thought about Xiao, since he’s so cool and he’s banner is so close too.

My friend tho, told me that Xiao will benefit from support characters, but he didn’t quite get my point of elemental reactions causing a damage chain reaction that is exactly what I’m searching for as a style to play. So in theory, Ayaka is my best shot, until then I will be able to gather enough primals!!

Ah, but I don’t need 20.000 primals actually. There’s a thing about the gatcha.

When you do 90 pulls you get a five star, it can be someone from the standard banner or the limited edition character, you surely know that, however, the pulls are accumulative, they only reset for a five star.

I’m at my 30th pull currently, so theoretically I would need just more 60th to get a guaranteed five-star.

HOWEVER, there’s another mechanic behind it. When you reach those 90th pulls and don’t get the character of the banner (currently, Zhongli) but get another five star (like I got Keqing), in the next 90th I’m guaranteed to get the 5-star character of the current special banner! And this doesn’t reset when they change banners, this is accumulative and stays, so they will give me the next 5-star of the banner that I choose to spend all my primals on.

So, if I went to complete all my 60th pulls on Xiao’s banner, I would get him for sure.

But also, you’re right, if someone started playing right now, they would need the number you said.

I think I can do more 30 pulls before Zhongli’s banner ends, with all the prizes, events and daily quests of this month, I can roughly maybe go for at least 30 pulls. Maybe I will only do 20, who knows. I really want more Xinyans tho. I would love do 40 pulls to at least try my luck!!

The devs didn’t confirm the weather system yet, but the spoilers talk about blizzards and items that give heat!!

Yes, the game would be so much nicer if it was ready, I guess it’s the price to pay (besides buying primals) for a free to play good game kkkkkkk I’m okay with the waiting, I will probably take some breaks from it periodically, I’ve been spending way too much time playing =/

But Dragonspine for sure is something to look forward to, the events too!! It seems like we’re getting more events!! With more free primal gems!!! <3

Btw, which is your type of weapon? Me and my sister like characters with the big sword for the damage, but spear users to me are so cool too (I actually like them better than normal sword users). Ah, and bows are terrible, I can’t aim to save my life either, anon!!

#ask #personal #Fa talking about Genshin Impact #I love how at this point we're basically writing latters to each other through those asks kkkkkk

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enchantment1385 · 5 years

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My most magnificent mega must (have) mods memo.

So, I’ve been putting this off (big surprise!), but the time has come! I am going to try and provide some recommendations of my favorite mods. Mods I will not play the game without, or mods I love so much, I can’t recommend them highly enough! Hopefully some of you will find a new excuse to play one of these games again! I will split the list up into games so you skip if you don’t play a certain game. Again, these are my personal recommendations, so please don’t get all bent out of shape over this people. I also won’t be adding the very amazing utility mods (such as SkyUI or mcm or mod organizers) as I feel these are required mods. Today's installment -

~Skyrim~

VIGILANT + VIGILANT Voiced - English Addon Okay, where do I start with the amazingingness of the mod? It’s massive, compelling, scary (chapter 3 holy fucking shitballs, batman!), and just absolutely perfectly executed on every level horror mod! This is not a mod you complete in a couple of hours, this you need to put aside a day or 2 and go through all 5 chapters! 1 guy made this. 1 awesome japanese dovha, alas it’s not as adored as it should be as, when originally released, the english subtitles (literally translations from Google) didn’t really translate well... or at all at some points. Hence why you need the voiced addon which makes this mod a 15+ hour, fully awesomely voiced adventure to seek out daedra, and be physically, and morally tested by the one and only Daedric Prince of domination, Molag Bal. Your choices WILL affect the outcome. This mod gives you everything you want from a mod. New weapons, new armour, new enemies, dark soul like boss battles, new places, new people, new land. With Halloween quickly approaching, this is the perfect time to give this a shot!

Legacy of the Dragonborn

I stayed away from this mod for SO long thinking it was just a massive oversize player home to put all your crap on display. I was wrong. I was SO wrong. This mod is the ultimate scavenger hunt turned up to 11. It adds some of the best mods out there and puts them all together to make you WANT to go find that bloody staff, or helm, because A, it now looks amazing, and B, there’s a place for EVERYTHING in the museum, it must be filled! It adds old relics, new quests, a very gorgeous fair sized player home, you get to go to Elsweyr, and even get an airship you CAN use later! And trust me when I say, there is nothing that looks quite as impressive as your dovah walking around a city with your massive ass airship looming overhead. The way everything gets placed into the world is fucking flawless, and if you’re bored or just want more out of Skyrim, this is the mod that does that, and WAY more. Also a massive bonus, it has several patches for other mods that didn’t get incorporated (vigilant being among them) to add extra wings for you to display the items from other mods!

Interesting NPCs

Another mod I stupidly avoided to begin with. So as we know, vanilla followers are... meh. But now with all these new battles and exploring you have to do, you might want someone watching your back, right? Forget vanilla, time to go interesting! This mod adds -

• 250+ Voiced NPCs • 25+ Followers with Location Based Commentary • 15+ Marriage NPCs

This mod makes Skyrim feel inhabited, but with REAL people. People who you can, should, and will want to talk to. The voice acting is just fantastic, the characters are an absolute joy, they fit into the world so perfectly you’d never know they weren’t there all along! Well... Except for the fact they’re actually interesting, and have more than 5 things to say! It also has something called ‘Super Followers’. These followers actually comment on what’s happening in your story. Just about to go kill your first dragon? They have something to say about it. Just joined the college of mages? Have a chat to see what they think! I can not express how much this will change your game, but 151% for the fucking better! Oh! And just in case you were running short on things to do, this also adds 50+ more quests! *(footnote) Pleaaassssee go to Soljund's Sinkhole and take Rumarin with you. What he says when you clear that place out has me laughing my ass off every time.

Immersive Citizens - AI Overhaul

Are you tired of being the only one is Skyrim who actually seems to DO anything? Are you weirded out by the fact when you walk into an inn at 4am everyone is doing the same thing as they were at 2pm last week? Confused as hell by the comment ‘Do you hunt? The plains outside Whiterun are ripe with game.’ How the fuck would you know, Anoriath?! You never leave Whiterun, dude! EVER! That ends with this mod. Now people have routines. They sleep, they eat, they walk around, they don’t just stay in one place all the time! It makes the npc’s go from a static feature and changes them into actual people, or goes a long way to help! Even people like carriage drivers now have a lil tent near the carriage, and will even take shelter under cover if it starts raining. (if it’s not too far from the carriage!) Random people will now not try and fight the big dragon who is burning everything to a crisp, but instead run away and take shelter, you know, like a normal person would? Which is helpful, as I tend to hit them with a stray spell then get into shit for accidentally electrocuting the blacksmith or someone who shouldn’t have stood in the way of the MASSIVE FUCKING DRAGON IN THE FIRST PLACE! Anyway... This mod is awesome and makes all the vanilla npc’s less static and weird!

Relationship Dialogue Overhaul - RDO

Don’t know about you but, I’m kinda bored with the dialogue in this game. The same 5 lines on repeat, over and over and OVER again. I want people who hate me to say something a bit more nasty that ‘What do YOU want?’ This mod adds over 5000 lines of dialog that was never used. Braith finally has more insults to throw at you! Which is great, because I hate that kid and now you will too! Your rivals will be rude to you. Your friends will compliment you. And your spouse will finally say more than a handful of lines to you! With this and the AI overhaul Skyrim will finally feel like it’s come alive. It seems like such a small addition, but it makes a huge impact when you hear lines that you’ve never heard before!

PC Head Tracking and Voice Type & Expressive Facial Animation (M) (F)

So we’ve finally got a living breathing Skyrim, and holy shit, it’s a beautiful thing, right? Time to focus on bringing you to life. Don’t know about you, but I found it plain fucking odd that I didn’t ever look at the person who’s talking to me. Like, not even accidently. I also found it creepy the only time I ever made any sound whatsoever was when I shouted. So the first mod is going to fix that shit. You’ll finally look at the person talking to you, or at that dagger you’re just about to steal. What's more, you’ll be able to assign a voice to yourself, so you’ll greet people who talk to you. Fun doesn’t stop there! You can download voice packs such as, Ciri, Yenifer and loads of others! But... What if you know who you want them to sound like and there isn’t a pack for them? Well, make your own! The page is really good and explains how. So we’re not a clueless goon anymore, we look and talk, but that basically makes us no better than the T 800 terminator. The second mod will make you actually have emotions, instead of constant blank face. You’ll smile at friends and loved ones, and scowl at people who you hate, like you Elrindir. For the last time, I didn’t mean to steal the fucking apple pie! But I think me spending HUNDREDS of gold should have made up for that and did NOT warrant you sending a group of thugs to come kick the shit out of me! Sorry. Just... Some unfinished business between me and that bastard bosmer.

Enhanced Lights and FX

I have a potato as a laptop, as such a lot of these amazing ENB’s are totally off the table for me. But... We all deserve a pretty Skyrim, right? Fuck yes we do! And this is the mod that does that for me. So there are two versions of this bad boy, and you will really want to think about which one you want to go for. You’ve got standard, or hardcore. The MAIN difference is, the hardcore version will make dungeons dark. No, I mean pitch black darkness. Really think you know bleak fall barrow? Install hardcore then go run through it. It make sense that it would be dark down in these places, but fuck me dark is now really dark, which I personally love, but you might not. Install at least the main file and the weather mod and I guarantee when you boot your game back up you’ll be saying ‘wow’.

Enhanced Character Edit OR RaceMenu

Okay, first off you only need one or the other NOT both. Here’s the difference. If you want to make a character that looks like they’re from FFXV or korean mmo, you’ll want to get Enhanced character edit. They’re all so damn pretty! Even the men are pretty! If you want something a little less cute looking and maybe more mature, Racemenu is character creator for you. Both give you a TON more customization when creating your new oc, down to finger and toe length and what’s not to love about that??

Enhanced Camera

You finally have a body in first person mode. not just hands when attacking. Which FYI Bethesda, is creepy as fuck. Next mod.

Familiar Faces

Right, last one as we could be here forever, but I need to do more of these things for other games so let's finish with something stupid, but awesome, shall we? You know who’d make the best companion? That spellsword character you made. Or the sneaky archer. Or that tanky as fuck warrior, but they’re on that other save.. No more! When you fire up the game with this mod installed, you get a portal stone placed in your inventory. Use it and get get warped into this empty hall. Go to any of the books on the pedestals and hit yes when prompted. You, your abilities, spells, shouts, game progress and inventory has just been recorded. Load up another save and do the same in a different book, then you can go recruit... you! You can even make yourself marribale! Got that perfect otp? Create them both and have them travel around with you! Want them to use their shouts? No problem! Want them to not use shouts? That’s fine too! Isn’t that overpowered? Who gives a flying fuck?!

Now go have fun in Tamriel, Bahlaan fahdonne!

#skyrim #tesv #skyrim mods #i tried to keep it short #there are so many good mods #but tried to keep it to stuff that will make your game better #and not add things that are really down to personal preference #like body mods #or armour #i may have rambled a bit #all of these mods are available on oldrim and special edition #the links are for oldrim

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crystalelemental · 5 years

Text

Oh cool, a Marth game banner! Now I can save up for the Legendary Banner or try for Tibarn without issue!

Look, all I know of Marth and his games is Shadow Dragon, and I hate that game, so this is like...the least interesting thing in the world to me.

Starting out we have...Phina? Okay. She’s a dancer with a unique weapon that has dual effectiveness. Here’s what drives me a little batty, though: that’s the Rapier. You know. The Lord starting weapon. And it’s given to a dancer? Is she like, super important or something? What an odd choice of who to give it to. I do like that it has built-in Vantage, that seems really appropriate for a Rapier. We get another Form skill, which is neat, I don’t hate those, and...Geyser Dance exists. Neat, moving on.

Oh, hey Camus. Zeke? Oh, Sirius, of course. Does he just change names every game? Lance feels like pretty standard “fights alone” fare, giving a flat +4 across the board buff when alone. Attack/Speed Solo exists again, because I guess that’s the new common 5* skill for anyone who just needs a decent fill-in to have. God I hate that. And Lull Attack/Speed, which...okay, that’s pretty strong. That one in particular is pretty nasty, shutting down any attempts to muscle through or try to compete with his speed. And if he’s going to function like Camus, then yeah, he’s gonna be high power and speed. So that’s a bit scary.

Awww, Norne’s cute! Please demote. Oh wow, you’re SUPER demoted. Look at this. Guard Bow isn’t exactly hard to get, from my understanding. Brazen Speed/Defense is like...look, we already have Tier 4 skills, and that was Attack/Speed, there is no way this skill is coveted despite being new. And Link skills are so unimportant they’re putting them all on grail units for easy access. Norne is going to drop. That or be another Velouria situation, which...god would that be infuriating. But she better drop. I have no colorless units I’m working on, and it’d be great to have a common Colorless that I’m halfway invested in. You know. That isn’t a healer and also a grail unit. WHY ETHLYN?!

And...Nagi. Whoever that is? She’s pretty, though. Tiki’s mom, maybe? Unclear. Anyway, Green armor dragon. So automatically not a fan. I don’t care for armor units, and she’s guaranteed to be 5* locked and probably another fucking 180BST, so let’s just get the horrific powercreep skillset over with, shall we?

JESUS CHRIST THAT WEAPON. Faster special, effective against dragons because that’s the default at this point, Raven tome effect (and yet we STILL cannot refine basic Raven tomes? Fuck that), AND she negates AoE damage by 80%, making her the strongest check in the game to ranged Aether Raids cheese. Seriously, this is a one-person answer to every ranged threat in AR. If her Res is low, Lilina might be able to handle her, but how common is Lilina, really? Good lord. And of course she comes with DC and Special Fighter, so expecting a really, really fast armor unit. Probably akin to Fallen Tiki. At least Dragon Valor is absolute shit. Honestly, Fallen Tiki is still top meta armor dragon, because of her ridiculous buff and ability to automatically move herself two spaces just for existing. But Nagi here is one hell of a contender. It’s really just the myriad effects on that weapon that scare me. Adaptive damage, strong against dragons, faster special activation, Raven tome effect, and shutting down AoE damage is, frankly, outright ridiculous.

Well that’s a fun banner, I guess we-WHAT’S THIS?! Oh hey, Bantu! He’s automatically added to the super common pool! That’s...uh. Hmm. Yeah, okay. I was not expecting that, but this is interesting. We can get the whole Tiki family involved now. Bantu is Red, L!Tiki is Blue, Nagi is Green. That’s solid coverage.

As for our new free unit, it’s...Astram? Okay, what’s his deal? Oh he’s just fierce loyalty sword guy. Neato. Well buddy, it’s been nice knowing you, but have fun being thrown into the same level of forgotten as Rutger.

Overall, this banner feels...really skippable. I know people like Camus/Sirius and all, and Nagi is gonna be a pretty significant player for Armor and Dragon Emblem, but...there’s nothing too meta-defining here. Sirius will be powerful, sure, but we also just got Brave Eliwood who, I feel, has a way better kit to work with. Nagi is definitely the prize here, but I don’t think she’s quite as strong as Fallen Tiki, who’s going to continue to dominate. Phina is a dancer who has decent tools, but also came out right after the introduction of Reinhardt and Ishtar with their Brave tomes and ridiculous offensive spreads, so like...good luck, kiddo. And Norne...hoo boy. Hopefully your stats are decently placed, girl, because that’s one hell of an obvious demote. And the showcase of your attacks ain’t doing you any favors either, considering you were dealing all of 24 damage in that shot. I just hope your attack stat isn’t too low. That would be devastating.

#fire emblem heroes

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chancellormatt · 5 years

Text

Voltron Rewrite Episode Ten - Defenders of Earth

Hunk tentatively walks up to where Keith stands, on the field outside the Garrison base. The Paladin of the Black Lion has his back to Hunk, as he is currently overseeing the transport of the Balmeran crystals.

"Hey man." Hunk says, stepping up beside him.

"Hey Hunk. You talk to Sanda?"

"Yeah I...wait how'd you know?"

Keith shrugs, smiling.

"Dang you're getting good at this stuff...so you aren't mad?"

"No." Keith shakes his head. "I already got that out of my system, and besides, it wouldn't really be fair to you. It doesn't help anyone trying to keep someone here if they don't want to be."

Hunk nods slowly. He lets out a long breath. He glances down at the line of Lions beside them.

"Gonna miss it?" Keith asks.

"Yeah. A lot of it, I think. Maybe more than I expected."

"Well if it's any consolation, you'll be missed too. We'll never forget-"

"Hey I'm not dying!" Hunk objects.

"All right, all right." Keith chuckles. "But whatever you do after this, I guarantee it won't be as fun as being in Voltron."

"Sure, just as long as almost being blow up every other day your kind of fun..."

"What other kind of fun is there?"

They share a long laugh at that.

***

Admiral Sanda stands besides Shiro, Matt, and Sam, watching the large balmeran crystals be transported via large transport vehicles. One was being taken inside the base, while the other was moving to the partially build Castle of Lions.

"And you're certain that one of these crystals will be able to power it?" Sanda asks.

"I did all the math. I'm sure." Sam nods.

"What's wrong Sanda? Don't trust us?" Matt says with a coy smile.

Shiro shoots him an exasperated look, but Sanda ignores the comment. As the second crystal finishes being loaded onto the transport, Keith approaches the group.

"Alright, that about wraps up our side of things with the crystals, your guys should be able to take care of the rest."

"I appreciate it." Sanda said simply.

The rest of them star at her. After a moment, Sanda sighs.

"...very well. As thanks for your efforts, I will show you all something. It's about time you saw it anyway..."

***

Sanda, Shiro, Matt, Sam and Keith stand inside a descending elevator.

"Gonna show us all the bodies you got hidden down here?" Matt asks jokingly.

"No but I'm considering leaving yours." Sanda replies, deadpan.

Matt smirks at the comment and Shiro lets out a sigh.

The elevator returns to silence until it finally reaches its destination. THere is a ping, and the doors pull open. The occupants step out, getting a good look at the place the now stand inside.

It is huge warehouse, but different from the one that the Castle preparations were done in. This warehouse is actually taller than it is wide, which is to admit it's primary subject: A gigantic mecha suit, easily twice as tall as Voltron, and then some. The mecha has white and yellow armor, with a solid and thick frame. Workers and instruments surround the mecha on various levels of scaffolding.

"Woah." Matt says with awe. "That's one big robot."

"Did you think I was going to make a small one?" Sam says with a self satisfied smile. "It might not be Voltron, but it'll sure give the galra a run for their money."

"The Atlas, is for use in the defense of earth." Sanda says curtly. "Ideally it won't ever have to be used."

"Really showing that space explorer spirit Sanda." Matt prods.

She ignores the jab.

"...who's going to pilot it?" Shiro eventually asks. "I assume you've already got someone picked out?"

"I do." Sanda nods. "You."

Shiro's eyes widen in surprise. "Me?"

"Oh get that look off your face, lieutenant. You were one of our best pilots before you got kidnapped by aliens and became leader of another giant robot. You are quite simply the most qualified person in the Garrison to pilot this thing."

"I'm...gonna have to side with the admiral on this one." Keith says, looking up at Shiro hopefully.

Shiro looks hesitant. "...and my arm? Dunno how well I can pilot a robot with only one."

"I think we both know that will hardly be an issue." Sanda says flatly.

"I...don't know. I just need some time to think on it. Not sure I'm ready to just jump right back into all this..."

Keith looks at Shiro concerned. His former mentor does not meet his gaze.

"Take your time..." Sanda stares up at the giant robot looming over them. "...just not too much time. That's something we're in awfully short supply of lately."

***

Sparks of light flicker off the dark goggles on Hunk's face, from the plasma torch he uses. The large engineer is sitting at a work table welding something metal. Two separate plates are seated together by the concentrated flame. Hunk turns off the torch, and pulls off his goggles.

"Done?" Pidge askes, peeking over his shoulder.

"Yep, I think that should do it." Hunk nods, looking satisfied.

"Great! Thanks for the help, I pack it up, and let Keith know."

Hunk nods and gets up from his seat. "Alright, just make sure you let me know when he's going to get it. I wanna see the look on his face. See you then."

"You got somewhere to be?" Pidge asks, curious.

"Uh, yeah...I'm gonna oversee those new test pilots. To see if any can pilot the Yellow Lion."

"...oh. Right."

Silence hangs between them at that. Both get distant looks, and shift uncomfortably.

"...you know I'll always be your friend, right" Hunk says eventually.

"Yeah." Pidge says, not meeting his eyes. She instead looks at the device Hunk just finished working on.

After a moment Hunk turns to go.

"For what it's worth." Pidge says, before he has a chance to leave. "No matter how good those pilots are, I don't think there's anyone that would be a better Paladin for the Yellow Lion than you."

Hunk hesitates, but doesn't reply. Instead he continues and walks out the door.

***

The Yellow Lion sits inside the Garrison warehouse. A small crowd of young cadets stand lined up in rows, in front of the Lion. Hunk walks in, eyes lowered as he moved to stand between the Lion and the prospective pilots. He looks up at the Yellow Lion, and looks torn. He continues to stare for several long moments. Then, finally, he closes his eyes and sighs.

Hunk turns around to face the cadets. "Who's first?"

***

Prince Lotor stalks down a hallway with two alteans just a step behind. They are both tall blond alteans with green eyes. Their faces are identical, only differentiated by the direction they part their hair.

"Lagmor, Dramor, you two are among the most skilled of the altean pilots we have." The Prince says, not slowing in his march.

"Thank you sir!" They say in unison.

"As such, I've decided that the pair of you would be the perfect choice for the pilots of my mother's newest robeast models. The power of these ones should dwarf the abilities of the machines you are used to. As soon as you are accustomed to the new robeasts you will be sent out to battle, along with an three standard robeasts, and an accompaniment of galra warships."

"...sir, might I ask who we are to be fighting?" One of the twins asks.

"The enemy's Voltron, Lagmor. You will be taking this fight to those pretender's homeworld. You will crush their defenses, then raze the world until there is nothing left."

"We will not fail." The other one, says.

"Overconfident Dramor?" Prince Lotor asks.

"No. Just determined. I lost...a friend after the last robeast that were sent out."

"Then I will trust that you can avenge them. All of your fellow fallen alteans."

"We will!" The twins say.

Lotor nods curtly. The hallway ends in a doorway that opens at the trio's approach. Inside is the robeast factory. Honerva stands on the platform, in front of two new robeasts.

These robeast feature shiny black armor, rather than the usual silver. They also sport long curved swords hanging from their waists, instead of the usual staff weapons.

"Are they ready?" Lotor asks.

"Yes." Honvera turns to face her son. "I am still unsure that this attack is wise. Even with these new suits, If it fails..."

"It will not." Lotor replies quickly.

She studies him for a moment, then nods. "I see. You may begin, then."

The Prince turns back to the twins. "Do not stop until the fight is one. You fight for me, you fight for your fallen comrades, you fight for ourselves, but you also fight for the altean as a people. Do not let your ancestors down on this day. Do not let their sacrifices be for nothing. When you meet that false Voltron on the fields of war, destroy them, leaving no trace."

"Yes sir!" They both salute.

The Prince looks down, nodding. "Go then. Take the power you've earned..."

***

A cadet sits in the cockpit of the Yellow Lion, pumping the throttles forward and back straining. After a moment he sits back and sighs.

"It ain't happening." The cadet says over the radio.

"Roger that, come back out then." Hunk says with a nod. "Next!"

The previous cadet exits the Lion, and another steps up to try. Hunk waits in anticipation.

"...not working sir." That cadet says finally.

"Understood." Hunk says sighing. "Next!"

"Careful there Hunk. If I squint you start to look a little like Ol' Iverson." A voice says from behind.

Hunk spins around to see Lance standing there with a smirk.

"Iverson?" Hunk shivers. "Lance you're too cruel."

"Not as cruel as you leaving us without your awesome cooling skills."

"Hey I said no matter what happens I'd make you guys tasty stuff no matter what and I meant it!"

Alright, alright." Lance says chuckling.

They watch another cadet walk up to try their hands as the Lion.

"Sure brings back memories doesn't it?" Lance says nodding to the group of cadets.

"Yep." Hunk smiles. "You me and Pidge. We were quite the trio huh?"

"Well...when someone wasn't throwing up in the gearbox."

"I seem to remember a certain 'tailor' crashing the simulator."

"Nope, not ringing any bells..."

Hunk only smiles and shakes his head. Another cadet signals their failure, and leaves the Lion. Yet another takes their place. Hunk frowns.

"...do you really have to go?" Lance asks after a moment.

"I think so." Hunk says with a sigh.

"We'll miss you buddy."

"I know..." Hunk watches another cadet leave the Lion. "...thanks."

Lance shrugs.

Both of their comms begin to ping. They share a look and both answer them.

"Guys this is Keith. I'm outside, near the Lions. I need to talk about Shiro..."

***

Shiro walks across the cracked ground, approaching the group of Paladins standing along a ridge. They turn to see Shiro walking up.

"What's going on guys? If this is a strategy meeting, you know we should bring the other members of the Coalition."

"That's not it." Keith shakes his head. He holds a long box under one arm. Shiro notes it but doesn't ask.

"You remember this place?" Keith asks, nodding down to the bottom of the ridge, where there is a crater.

"Is that..."

"The place where you crashed back down to earth, two years ago." Keith nods. "The place where we all found you."

"Wow." Shiro says, staring down at the crater.

"Feels like ages ago."

"A lifetime in some ways..." Shiro says distantly.

"A lot's changed." Keith agrees. "But I hope you know we still count on you to this day, for a lot of things Shiro."

Shiro winces. "Is this about the Atlas?"

"Kind of. I think Sanda's right. You should be the pilot."

Shiro shifts uncomfortably. "I dunno Keith, there's a lot to consider. For one there's my arm-"

"Funny you should mention that." Keith hands Shiro the box he'd been holding.

Shiro takes it. curious.

"Open it." Keith prods.

Shiro does so, and his eyes widen. Inside the box is a metal arm. It is very similar to the one he had up until recently. Shiro swallows hard.

"It seemed like you were missing having two arms." Keith smirks. "So I asked Pidge to take care of that."

"Ohhh!" Lance says with realization. "That's what you were working on."

Pidge shrugs. "Hunk helped too."

"What!? You knew about this too Hunk?" Lance says with surprise.

"Yeah I guess so." Hunk confirms.

"Wait, so the only people that didn't know about the secret robot arm thing are me and Allura!?"

"Actually..." Allura says, hesitantly. "...keith sort of let it slip..."

"What!? So literally just me? Man this is finding out Pidge is a girl all over again..."

Shiro chuckles at the display. He looks back down at the arm, uncertain.

"We could really use you back up there." Keith says suddenly. "I know you probably feel like we don't need you anymore, but that isn't true. We do need you Shiro, and not just here on Earth, but up there in the middle of it. When we finally go to take on Darktron again, I want you there, by our side."

Shiro stares at his former protege for several long moments. Finally, with a smile he says: "I guess I've got no excuses left, then. Now someone show me how to put this dang thing on."

Pidge walks over and takes the arm from him. "Here, you just put it up to your stump and it should affix..."

The base of the arm suddenly clamps down on Shiro's stump arm.

"Ow!" He jumps.

"...like so." Pidge finishes.

Shiro gives her a look, but then glances down at his arm. Slowly, carefully he lifts his new hand upwards, the robot arm, responding fluidly. Shiro flexes the fingers experimentally, then balls the hand into a fist and throws a experimental punch. He seems to be satisfied with the results.

"Try focusing on the wrist." Pidge advises.

Shiro squints down at the arm. Suddenly a glowing green blade slides out from the arm's wrist.

"Woah."

"I took some inspiration from the bayards." Pidge says adjusting her glasses. "It's got a few other modes too. Should be an even better weapon than your old one."

"Good work Pidge. Real good work." Shiro says smiling. "Now how much weight can this thing support..."

Hunk smiles as he watches Shiro try out his new arm. But after a moment his face falls. He turns and starts to walk away from the group. Focused on Shiro as the group is, Hunk manages to slip away, unnoticed.

***

The Twins fly their new black robeasts in orbit above the colony. They are not alone. They are joined by three other robeasts, of the standard class. The entire group flies up to large group of galra cruisers and fighters.

"Attention galra fighters!" Lagmor bellows. "Identify your commander."

"...this is Commander A'nok." A reluctant voice says over the comm.

"I am Lagmor."

"And I am Dramor."

"We are leading this assault on the enemy, so you will respect our authority." Lagmor says.

"And you will follow our every command, of swift punishment will be executed!" Dramor continues.

"Is that understood!?" They ask in unison.

"...yes." The galra commander replies, not sounding particularly pleased.

"Then onward to Earth we go..."

***

Admiral Sanda walks inside the warehouse where Hunk is conducting the testing for the Yellow Lion.

"Next!" He yells out.

"How are things progressing?" Sand asks, stepping up beside him.

"Honestly? They aren't. So far no one's managed to get ol' Yellow to power up."

"I see..." Sanda says thoughtfully. "Well, there's no shortage where those ones come from. We can always bring in more cadets."

"I guess so..." Hunk sighs. "I just didn't think it would take this long."

Another cadet leaves the Yellow Lion, looking defeated.

"Alright guys, that's enough for now! Lunch break, then we're back at it!"

***

Hunk strolls through the mess hall with a plate of food, looking for a place to sit. He spots Allura sitting across from Coran a few tables over. He hesitates at first, but walks over.

"This seat taken?" Hunk asks.

"Not at all." Allura motions to the seat beside her.

Hunk nods gratefully and sits down. He looks at his food, but doesn't start eating.

"Is....everything alright Hunk?" Allura asks carefully.

"Yeah it's not like you to turn down a free meal." Coran points out.

Allura shoots him a glare, but he only shrugs.

Hunk takes several moments to respond. "...Yellow Lion hasn't accepted any other pilots yet. Part of me wants to think that's just because the right one hasn't come along yet. But deep down, I think the big guy hasn't let go of me yet."

He let's that sit for a long moment. Allura doesn't look certain about how to reply.

"...do you think I'm doing the right thing?" He finally asks. "I know how much Voltron and duty means to you. Do you think I'm dishonoring your people, and all your father's work by leaving Voltron? Am I just being a coward?"

Allura considers his words. "...if you'd asked me that question when we first met, I'd probably have said yes. I'd probably be offended that anyone would turn down such a great honor as being a Paladin of Voltron. But Hunk, having come to know you, I am certain of one thing: You are no coward. I've come to realize what a burden it can be, to be a Paladin of Voltron. I don't think I could ever hold it against you to just want to finally be done with this war, done with all the fighting. I think you've only done what you feel is right, and that's all anyone can ask."

Hunk smiles slightly. "I don't know if I deserve that, but thanks."

"Thank you Hunk." Allura replies. "For being a Paladins for as long as you were. For helping to defeat by Zarkon and Lotor. You've done plenty."

He nods, but still seems unconvinced. Suddenly a ping comes from Hunk's communicator. He answers it and his mother's voice immediately crackles over the communicator.

"Hunk, dearie, aren't you coming for lunch?"

"Well to save time, and get back to work, I was actually just going to have lunch here in the mess-"

"Oh nonsense! I'm making a feast over here, so you better come around right this moment young man!"

"Alright alright." Hunk chuckles. "See you guys, duty calls."

Allura and Coran nod, and watch him go.

***

Prince Lotor swings the staff against Luca's. There is a clang as the two metal rods meet, and Luca is forced back.

"Do not meet my blows, deflect them." Lotor orders. "You're smaller than me, so you have to conserve your energy as much as you can."

"Understood!" Luca replies, pulling her staff back up into a guard position.

Lotor advances throwing a series of strikes against her. Rather than directly block them, Luca shaves the blows to either side of her, before replying with her own swing. Lotor blocks and dances back, nodding with approval.

"Very good, now attack."

Luca does so, throwing a hesitant thrust. Lotor knocks it aside with such force that she is thrown off balance. Lotor steps in swinging his staff, and stopping it just an inch from her neck.

Luca sighs and steps back, accepting his victory.

"You did not commit enough to your attack. It was easy for me to capitalize on your hesitance."

"Understood." She nods. "I know I could never beat you...but I at least hope I can start to last a while longer before losing."

"Give it time. You'll get there."

"Thank you for these lessons. I feel that my skills as a robeast improve as well after sparring with you."

"It's the duty of any commander to ensure his soldiers are properly trained." Lotor says dismissively. "Besides, sparring has a way of getting the mind off certain things."

"...are you worried about the attack on the enemy's homeworld?" Luca asks.

Lotor hesitates. "...yes I suppose I am."

"The Twins are the very best we have. I am sure they will prove victorious."

"Perhaps. But they face Voltron..." He pauses. "A false one of course, but it's power is still significant."

"Are they really so strong? You were able to beat them, were you not?"

"I suppose. But you still fear a wolf even if it is not as strong as a Lion."

"I see."

"At the end of the day, I suppose I simply must hope that this time I committed enough to my attack."

"Well whatever may happen, you will win in the end. Of that we are all certain."

"I suppose." Lotor shrugs. "...but how much is it going to cost me?" He adds the last to himself, in a voice quiet enough that Luca does not hear.

***

"Alright everyone, I think we've done enough for today. We'll try again tomorrow." Hunk says, dismissing the cadets.

The group breaks up and they begin to shuffle out of the room. Hunk stays for a while, staring up at the Yellow Lion.

"What do I do big guy?"

The Lion does not reply. Hunk sighs and turns, walking out of the room. He does not get far before running into Shiro.

"Hey Hunk, been working with the fresh cadets?"

"Yeah. Bunch of no goes today. But maybe we'll have more luck tomorrow."

Shiro studies Hunk for what seems like a very long time. "...you really intend to leave Voltron." It comes out more as a statement than a question.

"Yeah I guess so...it's just...I don't think I can do it forever."

Shiro nods. "And you talked to everyone else?"

"Yeah."

"And what'd they all say?"

"They were really supportive, actually. They all pretty much said they understood if that I wanted to leave, and wouldn't hold it against me." Hunk smiles wistfully.

"Yeah." Shiro says, also smiling. "They've grown a lot. Seems like they all learned how to respect each other's choices, and not take this personally. Good on them. It'll help their teamwork. But technically I'm no longer part of the team. I'm not the leader of Voltron anymore. So, for once, I think I can be blunt: I think you're making a mistake, in leaving Voltron. I think you're abandoning your friends, and unfortunately, they care about you too much to see it."

Hunk looks taken aback. "But I-"

"But what Hunk? You're tired of fighting? Who isn't? You wish this would all be over so you can be with your family? Some of your teammates don't have much family left because of this war. We all want this to be over. But it doesn't work like that. The world doesn't stop spinning just because you need a moment to catch your breath. The universe doesn't stop burning because you don't want to feel the flames. You're the leg Hunk, you hold up the team. But if you fail at that job...the whole body falls."

"I..." Hunk looks lost. "...I just don't want to die out in space, and leave everyone I love alone. Is that so wrong? Is that so selfish? Even if it is, I think I've earned it a little! I went through a lot as a Paladin, and you know what I don't regret it, but I didn't sign up for this space war! I didn't sign up to see that look in my mom's eye every time I barely make it back to Earth with my life!"

Hunk pauses as if realizing how loud he'd been shouting. If it bothers Shiro, he doesn't show.

"...I'm not telling you this to make you feel bad Hunk. I understand your decision, I really do. Probably better than anyone else here. To be honest..." Shiro looks down at his new robotic arm and flexes the fingertips. "...I almost made the same choice."

"You...what?" Hunk says, with disbelief.

Shiro smiles but there is little mirth in it. "Hunk I've had just about everything you can do to someone be done to me. I lost friends. Lost my arm. Got torn apart and stitched back together. Had to fight for my life, to entertain my own captors. Then to top it all off, I pretty much died, only to have my soul torn out and put back into the body of my evil clone..."

Hunk's expression falls with each word.

"...so when we finally got back to Earth, I was finished with all of this on pretty much every level. The universe had chewed me up and spit me out, and I wasn't exactly eager to go back for more. With you guys managing Voltron without me, It seemed like the perfect time for me to step back. I could still help you, but back down here, out of the action, away from all the madness I had to go through. I used lots of excuses like my arm, or that I could do more down here, but really I was just scared. Scared to go back."

"What...what made you change your mind?" Hunk asks hesitantly.

Shiro closes his robotic hand into a fist.

"...because I realized that you're all still fighting. Sam, Matt, Coran, Kolivan and the blades, and of course, Keith, Pidge, Lance, Allura and you. I've been through a lot, suffered a lot, but so has everyone else. Maybe no one would blame me if I gave up. Maybe I'm right to want to leave all this behind. But...well I'm just not sure I'd be able to sleep at night if I gave up now. There's still people out there, Hunk. People suffering from this war. People that I could help."

Hunk doesn't say anything to that. Shiro sighs.

"But like I said, I'm not your leader anymore. Not your teammate, either. All I am is a friend, here to ask you a question: can you really leave all this behind knowing the work isn't done yet? If you truly think that you're done, and you can't go on any further, then I won't hold it against you. Really I won't. But to be honest, If you really were that kind of man...I don't think you ever would have stepped inside the Yellow Lion."

"...I don't...know." Hunk finally admits.

Shiro nods understandingly. "I get it. Sorry for being so harsh."

Hunk shakes his head. "You were just being honest. Really didn't pull any punches though..."

Shiro smiles slightly. "I'm afraid that's all i know how to fight. Have a good night Hunk."

"Yeah...you too."

Shiro walks away, leaving Hunk to stand alone in the hallway. He glances back the way he came for a moment. He turns, and walks back inside the hangar. He walks right up to the Yellow Lion and puts his hand up to the surface. His hand hovers there, almost but not quite touching the metal.

Then, the hand drops back down to his side. Hunk sighs, then turns around and leaves.

***

The next morning, Shiro walks down a corridor, with Matt by his side.

"Ready to fire the big thing up?" Matt asks.

"Did...Sanda give you permission to be here for this?" Shiro asks, as they reach the end of the hall, and step inside the elevator.

"Hm? Oh no of course not. That's why I didn't ask." The elevator closes and begins to decend.

"Of course..." Shiro sighs. "Well regardless, I guess it'll be good to have a top grade science officer nearby. Who knows what an experimental mecha like this one will do? And with a pilot that's rusty at best too..."

"Oh stop worrying. You're leagues better a pilot than any of the guys around here, it'll be fine."

"Maybe." Shiro says unconvinced. He opens and closes his new robotic hand, unconsciously.

"I'm still surprised you thought they'd choose someone else to do it? I mean who else is there? Iverson? Now that would have been a good laugh. Maybe if Sanda were a decade younger she'd want to do it herself..."

"Actually Matt, when I was first told about all this, I thought that the best person for the job would be you."

Matt blinks. "...come again?"

"You're a good pilot, and one of the few that knows their way around both earth, and alien tech. Not to mention your father built the dang thing, so out of all the people here, you'd probably know how to work it better than anyone save him."

"Shiro, I happen to think you're pretty smart most of the time."

"I'm sensing a but-"

"-but you say the dumbest things sometimes!" Matt lets out a chuckle. "As if Sanda would let me anywhere near that thing's controls."

"You know if you weren't antagonizing her all the time, she might actually be more agreeable."

"Now where's the fun in that?"

The elevator slides open, to reveal the deep hangar that houses the Atlas. Matt whistles. "That sure don't get old."

Shiro only shakes his head and starts walking. After taking a lift up several levels of scaffolding, they finally reached the level holding the access hatch on the back of the neck. The hatch is big enough to drive a car through.

They step through, onto the bridge of the Atlas.

The bridge is lined by seats for engineers and science officers, and other operators. The far end of the bridge is covered by a massive display screen, showing what the Atlas 'sees.'

In the exact middle of the room, there is a framework hanging from the ceiling, that looks as if it it's meant to wrap around the human body.

"Guessing that's where the pilot goes..." Shiro says.

"Sure is." Iverson says, stepping onto the bridge next to them. "Whole dang robot is supposed to mirror the pilot's movements."

"What were they planning to do before I got the new arm?"

"They'd have figured somethin' out." Iverson shrugs. "Matt." He nods.

"Iverson." Matt nods back.

"You supposed to be here?"

"Probably not."

"Ha! Well I'm not gonna be the one to tell the Admiral." He walks past to take a seat at one of the operator chairs. Several of the other operators turn to look at Shiro. He returns their stares with a reassuring look. However, his expression goes uncertain after his gaze shifts to the pilot's framework.

"Here we go..." He mutters to himself, walking over to the framework. After a moment of looking it over he slips into the framework, putting it on like a jacket.

"Alright. Let's start this baby out." He says projecting confidence.

"Begin power up sequence!" Iverson order. The crew of the bridge begin working animatedly on their displays.

An image of Admiral Sanda's face appears in the top left corner of the bridge's display.

"Lieutenant Shirogane, i see you're getting acquainted with the Atlas."

"Well nothing's blow up so far."

"That must be a new record for you." She replies deadpan.

Another image appears on the opposite side of the display, this one of Sam Holt. "Be careful with the Atlas Shiro, it's my finest work."

"We'll be careful." Shiro smiles.

"Yeah and don't worry, just in case we got another Holt onboard to keep things running!" Matt pipes in.

Sanda's eyes narrow at that. "...am I getting senile or is that Matt Holt onboard the Atlas?"

"Who me?" Matt replies coyly. "Don't mind me, I'm just a stowaway."

"I'd have you thrown out if I didn't want this all to get started already. Just sit there and don't cause any trouble. You touch anything and I'll have you court martialed."

"I'm not Garrison anymore, you can't court martial me, remember?"

Sanda, to Matt's discomfort, smiles. "Well then I guess we'll have to treat you like a hostile invader, caught trespassing on a classified vehicle, and toss you down the darkest cell we have."

Matt swallows, and shuffles away from the nearest crewman's chair.

"Good. You may proceed Lieutenant."

"Understood." Shiro says, narrowing his eyes. The atlas begins to emit an electric hum.

"Engines at ten percent, sir." The chief science officer reports.

"I think that should be sufficient for a test drive." Shiro nods. "Iverson?"

"Scaffolding has been retracted, and the checklist is complete. We're good to go."

Shiro glances down at the framework. On the side of the handpiece there is a small blue button. He presses down on it.

The framework lights up. Slowly, Shiro begins to raise his arms. Outside, the atlas' massive robotic arms follow the motion. Shiro brings his arms all the way up, curling his hands into fists. Again the Atlas mirrors. Then Shiro steps forward and throws a punch. There is a loud thump as the Atlas' foot moves and and mechanical whine as its immense arm is swung in a near-perfect replica of Shiro's own punch.

"...oh yeah, this'll do just fine." Shiro says, grinning.

***

Hunk watches as the last in a long line of cadets steps out of the Yellow Lion, having failed to make it work.

"Alright guys...take five...or ten." Hunk eventually says, looking worn down.

The cadets disperse, leaving Hunk to stand alone. He chews on the insides of his lip, thinking. He looks up and starts moving towards the Yellow Lion. He hesitates, but steps inside, and crawls up to the pilot's seat, where he sits down. He stares at the controls for what seems like an eternity. Then slowly he reaches out and wraps his fingers around them. Hunk pushes the throttles forward.

Nothing happens.

Hunk sits back stunned. Then slowly, he releases the throttles, and sits back.

"I'm no good anymore huh? I guess...I guess I deserve that." Hunk gets up from the seat, and leaves the Yellow Lion.

Hunk is surprised to see his mother standing outside.

"Mom, what are you doing here?"

"Oh I was just going to ask you what you wanted for lunch, and i was nearby so I figured I'd drop in and see how you're doing."

"I'm..." Hunk doesn't finish the sentence.

"Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, just...let's walk alright? I'm a little tired of this room."

"Oh okay...on we go then!"

***

Hunk and his mother step outside the Garrison base, and begin to walk across the field there. His mother stares at him, evidently waiting for him to speak. He does not.

"So...how's your day been?" She asks eventually.

"Not great." Hunk admits.

"Oh. Is this about that Voltron thing?"

Hunk looks up at the sky. "...Mom you never wanted me joining the Galaxy Garrison did you?"

"...no. I don't suppose I did." She admits. "Even before all this space war nonsense, it still seemed way too dangerous. It's space Hunk! Terrible, dark, cold scary space."

"It's also really beautiful sometimes..." He says more to himself than her.

"Well, I for one think it's much better down here on Earth. Where it's safe."

"Maybe you're right." Hunk sighs. "I just-"

Hunk is cut off when his communicator squaks to life. "Everyone, we have trouble." Ryner says. "Our scanners just picked up galra activity, headed towards our location."

Hunk immediately replies. "This is Hunk, you wanna run that by me again?"

"The galra." she repeats. "They're coming here. To Earth. And fast."

Hunk steps back as if struck. "...hey mom?"

"Y-yes?" She says, voice trembling.

"I think we better head inside."

They start to run.

"The galra are what?" Sanda exclaims over the comms.

"About to attack us, here on Earth." Keith says quickly.

Sanda swears. "I should have never let you make base here!"

Hunk and his mother dash inside the Garrison base as alarms begin to ring through the halls.

"Well it's too late now! Instead of arguing we need to work together to stop these guys. Everyone head to their Lion! Hunk, I know you're trying to find a new pilot but right now-"

"I can't." Hunk cuts in.

"But-"

"I tried earlier today. The Yellow Lion doesn't work for me anymore. I...I'm sorry."

There is silence on the line.

"...are you telling me that your enemies are bringing their forces to bear on our planet, and you can't for the one weapon that's been known to stop them?"

The lack of reply is the only answer Sand needs.

"...Shiro?" She asks carefully.

"We've barely got this thing walking." He objects.

"Well it's going to need to do a whole lot more than that. Get that weapon in the air. If Voltron isn't coming to save us, Earth will just have to protect itself."

"...understood." Shiro says reluctantly.

"The rest of your...I don't know make yourself useful. Those Lions ought to be good for something besides turning into a giant robot."

"...alright guys you heard her." Keith says after a pause. "To your Lions, we'll do our best to support the Atlas."

"What about me?" hunk says stopping up short.

"...get to safety with the other non-essential personnel."

Hunk looks struck by the words. His mother begins to tug on his arm.

"Hunk we've got to get to the bunkers!" She urges.

"...roger that." Hunk says over the comm. eventually."I'll...get to safety."

***

The massive bay doors above the Atlas pull open, and sunlight begins to stream down into the hangar.

"Alright now how do we get this quiznaking thing off the ground?" Shiro demands.

"Working on it now sir! It'll be a moment before the boosters can start." An officer reports.

"We've got to bring engines up to one hundred percent first, which is a little hazy to put it generously." Iverson explains.

The hum of the Atlas' engines grows in noise as the power levels continue to rise. The hum turns into a wine as the energy levels reach their peak.

"All full!" Iverson reports.

Shiro takes a breath. "...fire boosters."

The boosters on the Atlas' back begin to glow, then sputter. There is a shudder throughout the mecha.

"Is it supposed to do that?" Shiro asks.

"She's just clearing her throat..." Iverson reassures. "...I hope."

The boosters seem to get past the sputtering, and fire in full. A jet of blue flame erupt from them, and the Atlas suddenly lurches into the air.

Everyone on the bridge is nearly thrown from their seat from the sudden motion. Matt has to cling to a display table so he isn't thrown across the room.

The Atlas continues to jet upwards, easily clearing the top of the hangar.

"Reduce thrust a bit, I don't want us to end up on mars before we can gain our bearings." Shiro instructs.

The booster power is reduced and the atlas' ascent slows.

"Bring it down some more." Shiro says, altering the mecha's trajectory, with movements of his body. The boosters reduce more until the atlas is hovering over the Garrison base.

"Good. Now we just have to-"

"Sir! Enemy fighters Incoming!"

Looking up Shiro watches as the skies above the Garrison base, the skies of Earth, begin to fill with Galra fighters.

"What kind of weapons do we got on this thing?" Shiro demands.

"We have a particle beam that can fire from the arms-"

"Engage!" Shiro orders throwing up both of the Atlas' arms.

The particle beams fire. And explosion of light bursts from arms of the Atlas. The entire machine nearly crashes back to the ground from the force of the blast, with Shiro only barely managing to stabilize the flights in time.

"Sorry sir! The compensators weren't calibrated right!" An engineer calls out.

"Get those right, and let's see what we actually did..." After he rights the Atlas' flight Shiro looks up to see the damage the Atlas did on the enemy.

Two gaping holes, rimmed by explosions, have opened up in the enemy's swarm, where the enemy fighters were completely obliterated.

"Well at least we're doing fine on power." Shiro remarks.

"New enemies incoming sir! And they aren't fighters!" The science officer calls out.

The display magnified to show five robeasts approaching, two of which are of a deep black color and are carrying long, curved swords.

"Five of them..." Shiro says barely masking his concern. He raises the Atlas' fists in preparation.

Suddenly stream of Coalition fighters fly out to meet the Galra fighters, engaging them in dogfighting. Cruisers on the Coalition also ride up to meet their galra equivalent that are beginning to descend into the atmosphere.

Finally the Black, Red, Green and Blue Lions fly up besides the Atlas.

"You'll have to take point on this one, with those robeasts, Shiro." Keith says. "We'll back you up."

"Fine by me." Shiro says allowing a slim smile. "Let's show them what Earth is made of."

With that, the Atlas and the Lions burst forward to meet the opposing robeasts.

***

Hunk and his mother dash down the halls of the base, with dozens of other personnel running alongside them. As he runs, Hunk holds up his communicator, listening to the sounds of explosions and battle.

"Watch your six you've got a fighter tailing you!"

"I can' shake-"

There is the sound of an explosion. Hunk cringes.

"Hunk turn that off we've got to focus on getting to the bunkers!" His mother urges.

Hunk continues to run but does not turn off the comm. Their group runs down a hallway, coming to an intersection. As they do, the group meets another group of personnel. In that group, Hunk sees his father.

"Dad!" Hunk calls over.

His father runs over to meet them.

"Hunk Maria, thank God!"

"Glad to see you safe too Dad, but we really gotta get to the bunkers!"

"Right you are son!"

The three of them continue running. In Hunk's hand the communicator continues to squak out the sounds of battle. Hunk's eyes' continue to flicker down to it, looking pained.

***

The twin black robeast surge forward each swinging with their curved blades. The Atlas tries to dodge, but is not fast enough and each glowing sword slices across it's chest. The Atlas is fling backwards, to slam down into the ground. A crater is torn up into the hardened earth where the Atlas hits.

"St...status?" Shiro manages to get out, shaking off the shock of the hit."

"Armor holding for now, but I don't know how many of hits like those we can take!" Iverson calls out.

"Incoming!" An officer shouts.

The two robeasts advance on the fallen Atlas.

The Lions dash forward, firing their mouth cannons full force. The robeasts shrug off the blasts, and crash into Lions scattering them.

The Atlas pushes itself back to its feet, and throws forward both arms, particle beams erupting. A flash of blinding white light seems to engulf the two robeasts.

Shiro looks on hopefully as the light dies down, and they regain visuals. He is met with the unwelcome sight of the two black robeasts, unharmed. Both hold out their sword in defensive grips, the blades glowing more brightly now.

"They...blocked it." The science officer says, shocked.

Before any of them can react, the Atlas is struck from behind. Two of the other robeasts, had used the commotion to sneak behind and blast the larger robot with their chest beams.

The Atlas falls to its knees just in time to be struck by the twins' blades. The Atlas tumbles across the ground, smashing a trail into the earth as it does. Explosions rock the inside of the Atlas, and the science officer is thrown from his chair. The rest of the crew only barely managed to stay in their seats even with their restraints.

Shiro groans, shaking off the effects of the blast. "...someone wanna check on that guy?"

"I got him." Matt says, climbing over to where the man fell. He checks the man over. "Unconscious."

Shiron nods, then takes a look at the empty seat. "Go on then."

Matt looks up. "Huh?"

"That was our chief science officer. Sit down Matt. That's an order."

"Sanda's gonna kill me..." Reluctantly Matt walks over and takes a seat.

Shiro smiles and nods. Then, he pushes the Atlas back up to its feet.

The five robeasts surround it. The Lions swoop in, blasting with everything they have. Allura hits the two black robeasts stunning them. Keith blasts past those two, slicing them with his jaw blades. Pidge blasts two other of the robeasts, causing vines to grow around them. Lance erupts a blast of fire at the remaining one.

The distraction gives the Atlas to jump forward, body slamming the two black robeast. The larger Atlas sends the two flying through the air. Before they can right themselves the Atlas throws up both arms and blasts the two in mid air. The robeasts crash back down to the Earth, and lay there for a moment.

The Atlas tries to push the attack, but the other three robeast break free from the Lion's assaults and attack the Atlas with their blades. The Lions try to intervene but are unable to dissuade the much larger machines.

"Dad!" Matt calls out.

"Yes!?" His father replies over the viewport.

"Is this thing's armor enhanced by particle barrier technology?"

"Of course! What are you-"

Matt's fingers turn into a blur as he types furiously on his keypad.

"Whatever you're doing-" The Atlas is rocked by another blow. "-Do it fast."

Matt makes one fine keystroke, and smiles. "Chew on this!"

The armor on the Atlas begins to glow, then suddenly, a wave of energy bursts out from it, hitting the robeasts, and sending them flying.

"Yeah! How do you like an overcharged reversed shield!"

"Nice work Matt!" Shiro commends.

"Yeah! We...we uh can't do that again, by the way. Burned up too much energy."

"Understood." Shiro narrows his eyes, and brings the Atlas' fists up.

The two black robeast rise up from where they fell. The other robeasts also recover and start to move in but are halted when the twins each raise one arm.

"Stop." One says over open comms.

"Attack what they are defending." The other adds, pointing.

"No..." Shiro says.

The three standard robeast turn and race towards the Garrison base, and begin to open fire.

***

Hunk, his parents, and the rest of the group are running down the halls, when the blast begin to hit. There is the sound of explosions, followed by the entire base trembling. Dust begins to fall from the ceiling.

"Guys! Look out in there, they're starting to attack the base!" Keith yells over the comm.

Hunk glances up as a tremor causes more dust to fall from cracks in the ceiling.

"Yeah...I kinda figured..."

"We'll...buy you as much time as possible."

There is the sound of explosions over the comm, followed by cries of pain. Hunk's hands tighten into fists. He keeps running.

The group comes to an open industrial sized elevator.

"This will take us down to the bunker! Everyone inside!" Hunk calls out, ushering the other in.

His parents are the last in. Hunk lingers outside, listening to the Paladins fight without him. His mother looks confused.

"Hunk?"

He ignores her.

"Pidge try to use you're vines!" Keith yells over the comm.

"I'm trying but they just-AH!"

"Pidge!" Lance yells out.

More explosions, followed by the sound of Blue's sonar blast.

"I...can only...hold them...so...long-"

There is another blast, followed by more shaking in the base.

"Hunk!" His mother cries out more urgently.

He keeps listening, but the comm seems to have gone mostly silent besides the sound of the occasional explosion. Then, a ragged, but determined sounding, Keith speaks:

"...I...will not...let you hurt them!"

Hunk's eyes widen.

"HUNK!" His mother shouts.

Hunk looks at her for several seconds. Then, he turns around, and starts sprinting back the way he came.

***

Keith in the Black Lion stands alone against the three robeasts. The other Lions are down, trying to recover. For the moment, he is the only one still in the air, a blade in the jaws of his Lion.

"...I...will not...let you hurt them!" Keith drives both throttles forward, with all his power. The booster wings erupt from the Lion's back, and it rockets forward with blinding speed. The robeasts try to hit him, but Keith's Lion is a blur. It swirls around the robeast, slicing them with precise blade strikes. He hits the joints, heads, lower chests and backs. The robeast are struck from every angle and struggle to resist the onslaught.

One of them, however manages to break away, and flies upward, until a good distance away. Then, it's chest component opens and a ball of energy starts to form there. It takes aim at the Garrison base.

Keith straining to keep up his speed, looks between his two targets. The one preparing the devastating blast, and the two he is keeping on the defensive. Keith only hesitates a moment, before turning his Lion up, and blasting for the lone robeast. The robeast is and instant away from firing.

Keith is faster. He zooms up right in front of the robeasts chest, and fires his mouth blast full force into the open panel. The gathering energy releases through the rest of the machine, and the robeast explodes. An escape pod flies off as the shards of armor fall down to the earth.

"Heh." got one." Keith says, looking exhausted.

The other two robeasts blast him out of the sky.

***

Hunk dashes down the hall, looking determined. He rounds a corner, but finds the rest of the hallway collapsed under fallen rubble. He curses then doubles back and takes an alternate route.

"Hunk!" A voice calls from behind.

Hunk looks over his shoulder to see his parents running after him.

"What are you doing?Get to the bunker guys!"

"I should say the same to you! What are you doing Hunk!?"

"Getting to the Yellow Lion!"

"I thought you said that wasn't working anymore!"

"I know..." Hunk grits his teeth. "But I've got to try!"

"It's too dangerous!"

"Just get back to the bunker guys, I'm serious!"

Hunk runs through a doorway, into the hangar. The Yellow Lion sits in the middle. Hunk runs up, but hesitates before touching it.

Hunk's parents run into the room. "Hunk, that's enough, we need to-"

There is another explosion, but this one is much closer. Part of the roof collapses. The part that Hunk's parents are standing under.

"MOM! DAD!"

Two sections smash together, trapping them under the stones. THey aren't crushed, but neither can they get out. The pieces of rubble do look stable.

Hunk dashes over, trying to reach under the rubble.

"Guys take my hand!"

"I...can't reach!" Hunk's mother exclaimes.

"Me either." Hunk's father shakes his head.

Hunk gets a grip on the rubble and tries to lift it.

"It's too heavy Hunk!" His mother says with panic.

"I've...got...to try!" Hunk says, lifting even harder.

The rubble doesn't budge.

"...hunk. You've got to go." Hunk's mother says in a much quieter voice.

"Wh...what?" Hunk says, faltering.

"She's right." Hunk's father says, sadly. "It's too heavy. The rest of this roof will come down in a minute anyway. Go on Hunk. Get to safety."

"No! I can't leave you!"

"Go Hunk!" His mother urges. "We don't want to see you die!"

"...and you think I want to!?" Hunk starts pushing against the rubble again, trying with all his might to move the rubble. "I don't wanna see you guys die either! I don't want to see anyone die! And I'm not going to just run and hide and hope I stay safe! I'm not going to stop fighting, Mom, Dad! Not ever!"

Hunk's parents look shocked. Hunk continues to Push, summoning the last vestiges of strength.

Shockingly, the rubble begins to move upwards, the n is lifted entirely off the floor, into the air.

Hunk blinks, looking up. There, he sees the yellow Lion, holding the piece of rubble in its jaws.

Hunk grins. "Thanks Yellow."

The Lion tosses the piece of rubble aside. Hunk moves over to his parents, and helps them up. He brings the two of them into an embrace. Then, he steps away and turns around.

The Yellow Lion leans down, so Hunk can enter.

"Hunk..." His mother reaches out towards him. "...please we should go."

Hunk shakes his head. "I'm sorry Mom, but that's not the kind of man I am. I don't think it ever was."

With that, Hunk steps back inside the Yellow Lion.

***

All of the Paladins lay in their Lions, groaning. Unimpeded, the robeasts fire upon the Garrison base.

"...we've got to...get up." Keith says, trying to push the Black Lion back up.

"Tr...trying." Lance replies.

Keith manages to get his Lion onto its feet. He looks up to see a robeast hovering above him. It has it's spear out, held to strike down. Keith tries to dodge, but he's too beat up.

The spear falls. The Yellow Lion crashes into robeast, throwing it off balance. With the robeast, stumbling, the Yellow Lion opens its mouth and blows it's mouth blast, point blank, forcing the robeast back.

"Hey guys...sorry it took so long." Hunk's voice comes over the comm.

"HUNK!" The other Paladins collectively cry out.

Keith grins. "Just glad you're here...everyone? Can you get up?"

In answer, one by one, the Lions rise into the air. Keith's grin widens.

"Everyone...form Voltron!"

The Lions fly in in formation, then combine.

Voltron, stands against the two robeasts.

"You guys are in trouble now!" Lance warns.

Voltron tears out it's sword, and launches forward. The robeasts try to attack, but are met with a flurry of sword strikes. They try to split up and attack Voltron on either side, but Allura slams in her bayard, shooting out a harpoon, spearing one. Voltron then pivolts, slamming the speared robeast into the other. As soon as they hit the ground, Pidge activates her bayard ability, and the two are blasted by an arm cannon, driving the two further into the dirt.

Just as the two are beginning to rise Voltron slams into one again, driving it down with both feet, and raising the sword to plunge downward. The other robeast dashes forward, thrusting with it's spear. Pidge throws up the shield, diverting the spearblade, while Lance drives the sword home.

The robeast's head shears off. An escape pod flies out as the armor goes dead. The remaining robeast, apparently infuriated, breaks it's weapon into two blades and launches itself at Voltron.

"I've got this one guys!" Hunk says, activating his bayard ability.

The moment before the robeast can strike home, the shoulder cannon appears and fires.

***

The Atlas is getting hit from both sides, with the two black robeasts hitting the mecha between them. The two move as if mirrored, attacking at the same time, in the same move, on either side of the Atlas.

Shiro can only divert some of the force of the blow, unable to dodge or retreat.

"Give me something guys!" Shiro yells.

"Maybe if we bypassed the- nope that just broke!" Matt says shaking his head.

"We need a miracle." Shiro says. "We need-"

One of the twin robeasts is suddenly struck, when one of the standard robeast smashes into it, flung there by an energy blast.

Shiro turns to see Voltron standing there. He grins.

"It's about time."

"We uh...had an issue." Hunk admits.

"I take it that's taken care of?" Shiro asks.

"Sure is. For good, this time."

"Good." Shiro nods.

The other black robeast moves to strike, but Voltron starts peppering it with energy shots, so it is distracted long enough to pull back.

Voltron and the Atlas pull up side by side. Both black robeast stand up together, the third standard one, a step behind.

"Stay back for now." One of the twins orders, waving off the standard robeast.

"Strike only when you can get a clear hit. Besides that, we will handle these two." The other adds.

"I think we'll be a bit harder to 'handle' than you think." Keith says.

"We shall see..."

The Black robeasts spin their blades, in challenge. Voltron and the Atlas burst forward.

Voltron tears out it's sword, locking blades with it's robeast. The two spin their swords in wide arcs, clashing blades again and again in a lighting quick duel between giant robots.

The Altas takes a much more bruteish approach, running up and trying to punch the other robeast in the face. The robeast is too quick, dancing out of the way, then stepping back in to take a slice out of the Atlas' armor. A chunk of metal flies off.

"Matt, tell me you got a plan." Shiro says, hopefully.

"Working on it, keep him busy." Matt says, typing furiously.

"Easier said than done!"

Despite this, Shiro takes another swing, which of course, is far too slow for the robeast. The Atlas takes another slice for the effort. Shiro tries blasing the machine again, but the robeast diverts the Atlas' hand, and delivers a thrust to it's chest. The Atlas stumbles back, reeling from the blow.

"Alright done!" Matt says.

"What'd you do?" Shiro ask.

"Watch."

The robeast starts to move. On the display, a transparent double of the robeast appears, showing it dodging a phantom punch from the Atlas, then striking home with it's sword. Shiro smiles.

The robeast does exactly as the double showed, dodging, the Atlas' apparent punch. But Shiro pulls back, the punch being a feint, and hits with his true attack, a kick to the beast's midsection.

Frustrated, the robeast tries to attack again. Once again it's transparent double shows it's every future move, and Shiro is able to counter, and smash it to the ground with a punch.

"Worked out the thing's fight patterns." Matt explains. "Doesn't matter how fast he is if we can see what he's gonna do."

"Nice work Matt." Shiro nods. "Forgot how fun being on a crew with you is."

"Well, I do have a reputation to uphold..."

Meanwhile, Voltron continue duel the other black robeast, neither seeming to gain the upperhand. But then the robeast manages to duck beneath one of Voltron's sword swings and moves in to gut the other machine. But Voltorn is ready for this, and has the arm cannon out, to blast the robeast back.

Both of the black robeasts, struggle to rise back up.

"These two are quite strong." One twin notes.

"Very."

"Shall we show them what these suits are really for?"

"Indeed."

Suddenly the two robeasts fly towards each other. Voltron and the Atlas try to stop them but are too slow. The robeast meet hands, and there is a flash of light. The two robeasts begin to disassemble, then reassemble. When it is over, the two machines have melded into one, their two swords, joined into one massive, wickedly curved one.

You will now feel the justice of our Midknight!" the twins say in unison."

"So...guess they can combine too huh?" Lance says.

The Midknight bursts forward, swinging it's wicked blade. Voltron throws up it's shield, in vain. The blade shears the two shield halves apart, slicing Voltron across the chest, in a burst of violet light.

As Voltron is flung backwards, the Atlas steps in, swinging. The Midknight knocks the blow aside with a swing of it's blade, slicing away the armor it contacts. It follows up with flurry of attacks, that are seen as more of a blur than anything else. The Atlas falls to the ground.

"Matt?"

"This thing's way faster and it's fightin completely different! I can't track it!"

"Good thing they aren't the only fast one, then!" Keith says.

Voltron launches itself back up, and activates its wings, and sword. The mechas, fly towards each other, each becoming glowing blurs. There are flashes of energy as their swords meet at incredible speeds. The clashes continue, increasing in speed. The clashes finally meet in one great flash and both machines fall back down to the each, in crouches.

"Can't...hold that up...for long." Keith pants out.

"Looks like they can't either." Shiro notes, nodding to the Midknight, which has yet to rise from it's crouch.

Suddenly the other, standar robeast rises up into the air, a ball of energy charging up at it's chest.

"Stand down!" The twins order.

But the robeast continues to charge. It seems to look back and forth between Voltron and the twins. Then it fires.

It fires at the Midknight. The twins throw up the machine's sword, absorbing the energy. The blast continues, growing even brighter. Then it stops.

The robeast drops from the sky, completely devoid of energy. It crashes into the ground. Dead. No escape pod flies out.

The twins are silent for a long moment. Their sword is held downward, blazing bright with the energy absorbed.

"...thank you." One says. "Your sacrifice..."

"...will not be in vain." The other finishes.

The Midknight turns, raising it's blazing sword. Shiro throws the Atlas forward, trying to get the jump on the other mecha.

No one sees the sword move. There is simply a flash of light, and the Atlas goes flying in one direction, one of it's arm flying in the other.

"Shiro!" Keith cries out.

The Midknight turns to Voltron, sword still blazing. Keith swallows, staring down that violet blade. "Guys..."

"Pidge!" Hunk calls out. "Use your shield!"

"What? Theres not way it'll-"

"Just do it!" Hunk says, looking down at his glowing bayard port.

The Midknight rips through the air, blade swinging. Cursing, Pidge throws up the shield. Hunk slams in his bayard.

The shield, doubles in size, and glowings a bright light. The sword it's. The two forces meet in a clash of violet and blue light. For a moment the two forces seem equal.

"We will have our vengeance!" The twins cry out, throwing all their force into their throttles. The Midkight pushes it's blade harder onto the shield and then...

It breaks.

In an explosion of glowing shards the sword is obliterated, blowing all that energy back onto the Midknight. The mecha itself is torn in two, with boths halves crumbling, and two escape pods flying off.

Voltron deactivates it's shield.

"...good to have you back Hunk." Keith says eventually,

"I never should have tried to leave." Hunk replies.

***

Admiral Sanda marches up to where the Paladins stand outside their Lions. With the robeasts destroyed the Galra forces have all retreated. This does not seem to improve her mood at all.

"This has gone far enough!" She shouts. "You have brought enemies to our doorstep, half of my base is in ruins, and the Atlas is in desperate need of repairs! You all-"

"We what!? Defended your base? " Hunk cuts in. "Gave you all the technology you needed to defend yourselves from the Galra? Offered you chance after chance to join the coalition!? Look around you Sanda! This fight is here now! YOu can't run from it, you can't hide from it, and you shouldn't want to!"

Everyone stares at him. Hunk seems to realize what he said and shrinks back a little, but does not give up his ground completely.

"You brought them here..." Sanda says weakly.

"With respect," Keith says. "You knew that was a risk when you took us in. You can stand here all day blaming us, but the fact is, you're a part of this war now. So what are you going to do? Sit here and try to hide?"

"Or Stand up and fight?" Hunk asks.

Sanda looks down. "The council..."

"You tell the council whatever the need to hear." Hunk says. "Earth is in danger now, my home is in danger now. They only way to protect it is to stop Zarkon. For good."

Slowly, Sanda begins to nos. "I'll...do it. God help me, but I'll find a way to convince them."

Keith nods to Hunk in appreciation. "Alright them. As far as I'm concerned, as of today, Earth now Joins the coalition. Welcome aboard Sanda. " Keith offers his hand.

Reluctantly, Sanda takes it.

Author's Note: Wow did this one take a while to finish. Sorry guys, I have been extremely short on time lately, and as a result have had little time to work on this story. Life stuff, original works, and even a D&D campaign I started for some reason, all contributed. I have no idea if that will change, but I will at least, try to get the next one out quicker. Thanks all for reading, see ya next time.

#hunk #hunk garrett #voltron #voltron season 8 #voltron season eight #shiro #atlas #plance #kallura #fix it fic

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bestfriendforhire · 4 years

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Children of BFFH, Entry 73

“Care if I do some scouting now that we’re away from Ashengarde City?” asked Rona hopefully. Having a character name that matched her actual name was convenient, but I still had her on my list. When she had asked me to join her and some friends on a quest, I didn’t really expect anything as grandiose as this, nor as time-consuming.

“Good plan. I’ll cover the ground.” replied Holly Wood, who appeared to be a River Elf. She had a bow and several types of swords. Though Forest Elves were constantly fighting my people for land, River Elves were too far away to care about Muckbluck Goblins.

I scanned my list for the player name that Rona had provided me. “Doc” was what she had told me. Was she actually named that? If not, why would they call her a doc?

“Anyone willing to carry my pack?” questioned Rona. “Gets in the way if something attacks me.”

“I’ll take it. Perseverance can carry a lot.” I told her, having my character accept the moment she offered. On one hand, a Paladin was guaranteed to be the most trustworthy ally, but handing over these ridiculously expensive packs with their even more expensive contents was insane. Though Rona and I have been texting, we only met two days ago.

My jaw dropped open as Rona changed into a black bird and flew away. I’d have never guessed that her character was a shapeshifter. Was that racial or a spell she knew? Actually, I didn’t have a clue what any of these people could do.

“Where’s Holly?” I questioned, realizing I couldn’t see her. “I was going to assist her, since my stealth is decent, despite my armor.”

Damien’s laughter was easy to recognize, despite being muffled from the coffin he was in. “You’d never keep up.” he insisted. I certainly hadn’t expected several characters to be vampires. They all had very stereotypical coffins, hauled in a wagon covered by a canvas.

“What Greythorn is trying to tell you is that Holly is a Ranger, as in the title. She’s the best tracker and scout among us in the wilds.” explained Peredur, a tall fairy-like boy brown hair and gossamer wings. He looked like a type of melee combatant with several weapons strapped to him.

According to my list, that was… Four? I really hoped his parents hadn’t numbered him. I was fairly sure my clan had a NPC Ranger, but I didn’t have a clue what a player had to go through to get the title.

“That does sound advantageous.” I admitted, wishing I knew more than that these were Four’s friends. None of them sounded like adults, but did they all know Damien in person? “If you don’t mind my asking, how did all of you meet?” I questioned.

There was a brief pause before anyone replied. Then Anima said, “Excluding Rona, we’re the children of Best Friend For Hire. We all grew up playing this together where our parents work. Since you’re going to see some strange things from my character anyway, I might as well tell you that my mom is the game’s developer, giving my character a unique inheritance.”

Anima looked like a human priest. She wore a perfectly white robe with silver trim and a black belt that held her morningstar and a dagger, so I assumed she was a healer, though most people focused on healing also carried a shield.

“She means to say we inherited some admin-like abilities.” asserted Justine, sounding giddy. Justine was probably human, though her skin and hair were perfectly white. She wore a short skirt and a tight-fitting top, both in black. The gold stripes on them made her look like some sort of superhero. Lifting the enormous hammer strapped to her back would take inhuman strength outside of the game.

Messy and Crazy were the supposed names of these two. Was Rona just messing with me, or did they really call one another that?

“So you’re sisters?” I asked, trying not to say anything embarrassing as my brain struggled with the idea that I was playing Ancient Tribes of Earth with the creator’s daughters.

As Justine laughed, Anima said, “No. Technically, she’s my niece, but we’re about the same age. My sister is older.”

“When you say admin-like, what sort of abilities do you have?” I asked hopefully. Realizing she might not want to tell me, I quickly said, “Sorry. I am curious, but you don’t have to say, though knowing what all of you can do might help if we get into a fight.”

“Just listen to Ella or Four. Ella probably remembers you exist by now. She’s our de facto battle master when Four doesn’t take charge. He’s our leader.” explained Kyduan, whom Rona named Aid.

“Remembers I exist?” I prodded, not sure what to think of that.

“Ella has very poor short-term memory.” explained Anima. “As for my abilities, I can do things like this.” she stated just as an elephant appeared next to me. “I ran into some trouble a few months ago, so I’ve been working at leveling my unique skills. I can summon a large variety of the game’s creatures now.”

“I spawn weapons, not creatures.” asserted Justine, using the shrug emote.

“Okay… so Anima is a healer with beast summoning, and Justine is a fighter?” I asked to confirm.

“Yes, I primarily heal, so good way to think of us.” replied Anima.

“I’m working on a Wizard title, so I have a very large number of diverse spells.” supplied Kyduan.

“What’s that one give you?” I asked, feeling curious.

“A flat twenty-five percent off on spell cost, twenty-five percent increased effect, and a number of unique spells. The real trick to getting it is keeping all spell skills balanced for an extended period. I have to do non-combat spells constantly to keep them on par with my other spells.” he explained.

“If we explain what we can do, will you be able to remember which is which?” questioned Ada, who was walking by Adele, Adeline, and Adelaide. The only distinct difference between the Elven girls were their weapons.

I wasn’t even certain what type of Elves they were. “I’ll certainly try, but… why did you make your characters so similar?”

“We’re quadruplets.” stated Adeline, though she sounded exactly the same to me.

Then Adelaide said, “Identical quadruplets.”

“We’re used to matching.” added Adele.

“I go to school with identical twins, but I haven’t met quadruplets before.” I admitted.

Before I could say more, Holly came running toward us, calling “Hármann raiding party coming our way on blighthounds.”

“How many?” asked Peredur immediately.

“Around thirty. I didn’t take the time for an accurate count, but I didn’t see any Pride Marks.” she replied.

If I remembered right, Hármann painted their bodies as displays of their previous victories.

“I took count!” exclaimed Rona as she came swooping down to land on Peredur’s shoulder. “Thirty-three of them.”

“Can you control your minions from the air?” asked Four.

“You bet!” she exclaimed.

“Try to get them around to flank while flying circles over the Hármann party.” ordered Four. “We’ll move to intercept, so Megwrn can see what we can do. Ella, ambush plan.”

Seemingly without even needing time to think, Ella said, “Right. Mounted Hármann. Aid stay with the cart and give the vampires cover on my mark. They’ll charge in from the side after we engage. Doc will create a trench in front of their charge, aiming to trip their mounts. Then standard wall and assault formation. Rona, use your magic to keep them funneled after the trench is deployed. Some might try to escape the open side of our formation. Messy, summon something ferocious if any get through the walls. Layla, you’re part of the wall, so front line on the left, please.”

“Wait. My duty is to first try to make peace first. As violent as they are, Hármann are intelligent.” I explained, knowing my new friends weren’t experienced at playing with a Paladin in their party. “Also, what minions?”

“Rona’s a Necromancer. Don’t worry. They’re not inherently evil.” supplied Justine.

I had no experience with necromancers at all, so I had to take her word for it. I was a little disturbed that I missed the fact we had Undead following us somewhere nearby.

“In that case, hurry off to meet them. When diplomacy fails, charge toward that thicket.” ordered Ella as she made her character point. “We’ll reach there in time to hide.”

I replied with the nod emote and hurried off. This wasn’t how I was used to playing, but the experience would be good. Small parties of my Goblin brethren rarely accomplished much compared with guilds like The Garde, and my solo play was largely just role-playing with the game’s NPCs.

Spotting the raiding party, I rode out toward them, reigning Perseverance in a good fifty meters from them and casting Divine Presence to make me more noticeable while increasing my voice range. Then I activated diplomacy and called “Please, stop and speak with me!”

The riders turned as a group toward me and started speeding up.

“If you do not slow yourselves, I’ll take that as a sign that you’re looking to fight.” I told them, frowning when there wasn’t a reaction. With a sigh, I charged toward the thicket. Diplomacy rarely worked on raiding parties, but I still hoped to pull it off eventually. As I rode, careful not to outpace the raiders by too much, I pulled Hamchopper to the ready.

When my mom decided to retire from the game, she had gifted me her giant cleaver, Hamchopper, as well as her armor and other gear. Nekopawpaw had made Hamchopper a couple years ago as a special order through Uncle Mick, and the cleaver had proven its worth through countless fights. Without the great gear, I probably wouldn’t have managed becoming a Paladin.

Hearing the sounds of Hármann screaming behind me, I glanced back to see the back lines crashing into the front as a large pit opened in the ground. By the time I was looking ahead again, spells and arrows were flying past me. I hurried around to take my place, jumping off Perseverance as I reached the end of the line.

A moving cloud of darkness charged into the Hármann raiders from the side, and the screams intensified. When a zombie leaped onto the back of a Hármann who had attempted to flee, I realized that the fight wouldn’t even reach me. I had seen some similar one-sided victories from the great warriors of my clan, but I never expected such a feat from other kids.

#Children of BFFH #Children #of #BFFH #Jovial Times #Jovial #Times #Fantasy #Fiction #Story

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ebonwinged-nova · 6 years

Text

It’s a very real possibility that Rex and Pyra/Mythra will be in the next Smash, so I thought I’d speculate a little about a possible moveset and more. Warning, contains endgame spoilers about Pyra and Mythra.

Basic properties: Like Shulk he has a sword with significant reach, so his attacks will likely be on the slower side (...but hopefully not as bad as Shulk). He might have a Blade switch mechanic, where he can swap between Pyra/Mythra and two other Blades. If they do go there, they might pick Roc, since Rex is guaranteed to have him, and then one of the rare Blades. No idea which one they'd go with, though. If he can switch between Blades his entire moveset would change. I'll stick to describing Pyra's/Mythra's; feel free to add ideas for other Blades if you want. For anything else too.

Neutral b: Anchor shot as a mid range-ish attack causing forced tripping, as well as a tether.

Up b: Also uses his grappling hook, but unlike neutral b he fires it upwards to pull himself up. Only works if he connects with something (either the stage or another character), but he doesn’t just pull himself up to that point. Think the way he comes up again after salvaging; he does this extra hop movement that I currently do not have the words to describe. You know what I mean.

Side b: Probably Rolling Smash or Sword Bash. Double Spinning Edge would be tricky to implement because side attacks aren’t really feasible in Smash.

Down b: If they do give him other Blades, this might be a Blade switch, akin to the transformation down b Zelda used to have. Otherwise I'm not sure, maybe whichever attack didn't go to side b.

Neutral a: Should be a combo based on his auto attacks. The other A moves as well as aerials I think they'll just have to make up.

Smash attacks: I'd like to see the Blade specials for those. While there's a pretty significant delay in handing the weapon back and forth in Xenoblade 2, you can easily tweak that for reasonable startup and end lag. You'd have to lose one of them since you can only have three Smash attacks, unfortunately. I'm not sure which special would be best for which off the top of my head.

Ultra smash: I'd like to see Pyra transform into Mythra who then uses Siren to rain down destruction on the opponent. It could either be the kind where you have to hit the enemy with the initial attack and then you see a cutscene attack, or it could be a real time ultra smash where the light arrows happen for a while. They could also go with Pneuma using the beefed up sword from the final boss cutscene, but as cool as that might be, that seems like too much of a spoiler to do.

Also, I'd like to see his shield looking like the shield Blades use in the game, instead of the standard Smash shield. I think that would be a cool touch.

Alt costumes would be his suit in different colours, obviously. It'd be fun if Pyra and Mythra get different colours too.

#Xenoblade 2 #Xenoblade Chronicles 2 #super smash bros

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miniatureclover · 4 years

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Faraway Wanderers Reading Blog: Chapters 06-10

I AM BACK! Maybe I’ll be able to finish this live blog series before the live action comes out? Hopefully?

Chapter 6: The Beauty

Gu Xiang and Zhou Zishu are way too much together, ha. They also make a good team, surprisingly, even with Zhou Zishu having to bow out of the fight part way (throwing the same “poor fragile me” excuse Gu Xiang used right back at her…except he actually means it since the fool is literally dying a slow death by nails). He’s also a good teacher, and her a good student, and this really isn’t helping him lay low but ah well, I guess that flew out of the window once this whole mess started.

The fight scenes are pretty good, too. Gu Xiang is young and confident, but absolutely brutal and not afraid to use hidden weapons. She has good reflexes and instincts, though she is still young, and that’s reflected in her panic when she loses her weapon and getting overconfident. Contrast that with Zhou Zishu who is very observant and picks up some stones to help her out when he has to rest, and you can see the clear difference between them as people with two different experience levels. It’s really neat how the narrative manages to mix the characters’ life experiences, personality, and age into the way they fight without giving it away explicitly.

She blinked in astonishment — this ragged man’s ramblings worth diddlysquat, but his execution in battle was one of the cleanest and cruelest she had ever seen. It really made one wonder who he was.

Really throwing that image out the window. Guess it’s lucky he was nerfed by the nails, huh. And it turns out that our main character is also a rather brutal fighter, when he can fight without collapsing.

And here enters Wen Kexing, finally with a proper name! What an entrance. He’s already kind of a creep with no sense of personal boundaries, ha. He’s also really, really perceptive though. In a creepy way (who says “your shoulder blades are beautiful, therefore your face must also be beautiful”?? he’s such a ridiculous flirt).

Alas, we are left wondering whether Wen Kexing is really blinded by good looks or just very perceptive after Gu Xiang says that he has a tendency to exaggerate.

Chapter 7: Setting Off

Oh gosh, this poor boy. Protect him, he is precious. I’m talking about Zhang Chengling of course, who starts the chapter off crying because he has seen a lot of stuff go down, like his entire family dying to start things off, followed by people coming to kill him and a seemingly random beggar agreeing to deliver him somewhere safe? But, alas, might as well cry yourself a river while you’re at it, kid. It’s going to be a rough ride now that he’s stuck with this ragtag group.

Wen Kexing is such a clown. He has his wits about him, but he is such a clown with a punchable face. Zhou Zishu isn’t actually much better in terms of acting like a normal human being interacting with smaller human beings. At least Zhang Chengling is resilient. He bounces back quickly and continues to pester Zhou Zishu to become his teacher. He does still have nightmares, which makes sense after all he’s been through.

But he seems to remind Zhou Zishu of someone from his past, which is interesting.

Back to why Zhang Chengling is a precious bun and must be protected: after having nightmares and believing he’s woken his savior up, he says things like “I can…I can stop sleeping if it’s a problem?” That is not actually a legitimate solution to the problem, believe it or not.

Then some enemies arrive with a superpowered guqin/zither, which is hilarious no matter how many novels or dramas I encounter considering traditional guqin with silk strings aren’t very loud instruments (the description from the first sentence of the next chapter is right in that it’s more of a “thin” sound than other instruments).

Chapter 8: Moonshade

Wen Kexing is indeed an enigma, the perfect match for Zhou Zishu who is undoubtedly one himself. In between his moments of eccentricity, he provides a lot of insight to the martial arts world, the way he conveys the harshness of life in it striking a rather eerie note (Wen Kexing’s voice was gentle, “Even if he’s still alive, all of his meridians have been broken; he’s useless now. Death would be a happier fate for him.”) and slides right out of it a moment later.

This match also speaks to Zhou Zishu’s capabilities: injured, he managed to beat Qin Song who is apparently well-known for his ability to kill people with that zither, and with a crudely constructed flute at that.

He felt a particular aura from this man that suggested they might be birds of a feather, the other would definitely not do something if it didn’t benefit him. […] After lots of thoughts without any solid conclusions, he scoffed at himself — old habits died hard.

You two are indeed birds of a feather, glad you noticed. I do like how he slips back into old habits, after all, he only recently stepped away from his former life as a spymaster, it’d be difficult to put a stop to all of his old tendencies.

They even proceed to exchange a few moves, presumably to figure each other out, until the pesky nails driven into Zhou Zishu’s torso act up, which gives Wen Kexing an opportunity to be a creep and touch his face. Half of it makes sense, since he’s convinced Zhou Zishu is “a beauty” and hiding it somehow, but he seems the type to have done such a thing even without that reason.

This exchange is hilarious though:

-What’s my face made of? -Human skin. -It feels like it’s one with your body… -Well, I was born with it, so.

…I should hope so. These two are a comedy duo in their own right.

Gu Xiang continues to be a delight, in any case. She has no reserve about making smart comments as soon as Wen Kexing’s back is turned, probably knowing he can still hear her at a distance.

Finally, three days later, their little party manages to make it to Zhang Chengling’s father’s friend, but we’re only on chapter 8, which means there’s much more chaos to be had in their future. For now, Zhou Zishu is relieved he finished his self-imposed mission and gained some “merits”, but muses on how it’s exhausting to be good person, haha. Indeed, the world doesn’t make it easy sometimes, especially not the crazy martial arts world they live in.

Chapter 9: In the Woods

Name info-dump, I guarantee I will remember none of them. It does fill out the world and fits with Zhou Zishu’s character, since his job required him to know all the nitty-gritty details of the major players in the martial arts world.

Ultimately, the exposition serves to let us know why he decides stay in the manor for a bit, as he’s well aware that Zhao Jing and the rest of the people grouping up at his place aren’t as glamorous and gallant as they seem. Also, he’s already weak to Zhang Chengling’s puppy eyes, apparently.

Zhao Jing is catching onto the glaringly obvious hints at Zhou Zishu being far more than a random beggar, and his manipulation of Zhang Chengling’s eager to please nature might be a bad sign of what’s to come. Zhou Zishu is more than prepared for a little investigating into his real identity, and the deception runs deep enough that he has a whole fake history and job to go along with his name.

Zhou Zishu endures a round of social BS-ing, aka attempts to dig for information on him, which is explained in a really succinct manner: although the greetings and false praise are absolute bullshit and not genuine in the least, they do serve a purpose, which is to sort out who has relations with who, and who is an outsider to be wary of. It’s a good point. The boot-licking is a standard in the genre that emphasizes the importance of saving face and social relations. The author summed it up well.

After sitting through all that, Zhou Zishu decides he has stayed long enough and departs under the cover of night, except he can’t shake Wen Kexing off his tail, much to his annoyance.

I’ll admit, these two characters don’t draw me in quite as much as some of priest’s other protagonists, but their dialogue is a goldmine:

-“Escorting the young master Zhang is purely for gathering merits, so that I won’t have to endure any tortures in the Underworld after death. -“Correct, Brother Zhou truly shares the same mind with me; and as only beautiful people can do that, it is clear-” -“See, my dear soulmate, another chance for merit gathering has appeared.”

They continue bickering until they find a corpse in the forest, aaand this is where our plot kicks off!

Chapter 10: Netherworld

“Someone killed the Lord of Duan Jian Manor, and I’m a charitable person who wants to gather merits, so why not. And I’m bored anyway.”

Ha. And Zhou Zishu catches onto his BS right away, suggesting he might want to chase after Sun Ding because he’s the most powerful of the culprits who ran off. It’s hilarious how well-matched these two are, and how they just roll with each other’s ridiculous commentary.

Despite not wanting to get involved, Zhou Zishu can’t help it. His detective senses are tingling and he figures there’s nothing to lose since he’s a dead man walking.

However, their pursuit leads them to another dead body, and they take off after the person fleeing the crime scene until they reach a cemetery. Of course it’s a cemetery, haha. The person they were pursuing also disappears mysteriously. The whole scene is fit for a horror movie, complete with laughing animals.

Now, to be fair, and I’m not sure if this applies to owls, but some animals like foxes have truly terrifying vocalizations (one variation sounds like a screaming woman, for one). It’s no wonder people used to think demons and spirits existed. Unlike western depictions of the owl as a symbol of wisdom, among other things, in Chinese culture they’re apparently bad omens, at most used to ward off evil spirits.

Wen Kexing is so random and dramatic and loves to talk, haha. He tells a short story about owls being omens of death, then about locust trees being considered the door to the underworld. They really do find an underground cavern and river beneath the tombstone.

So! We have met our two main characters, become well-acquainted with their propensity to hide their true identities and incessant bickering when they’re together, and set the stage for solving a murder mystery. Decent progression for 10/78 chapters. I really love priest’s writing, which is always a delightful balance of pleasant and poetic description between good, distinctive dialogue and forward action to progress the story.

#faraway wanderers #tianyake #reading blog

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yuudetama · 7 years

Text

Goodbye, Peter Pan [Chapter 6]

All that we know will someday fall with the crescendo.

CSI!Bangtan AU. Chapter 5 → Chapter 6 → Chapter 7

If it goes boom, burn all evidence and find a new room, is the weaponry division’s unofficial and only marginally macabre motto. The entire department has always struck you as somewhat of an amusement land, filled with exotic contraptions and rows of blank shooting targets and armament specialists who shoot at said targets with far too much enthusiasm than needed. If the Seoul branch was headed by a director of any other name they would likely be put on probation for their “rampant and disorderly conduct,” but Min Yoongi, to put it eloquently, does not give a flying rat’s ass about professional standards and upholding the rules, so long as they get him the results he needs.

The soft tunes of Vivaldi float throughout the room, at utter odds with the array of ammunition scattered over a large table. A single man is seated there, head bent over bullets as he examines them carefully for defects. His left hand is encased in a sleek leather glove, but the form-fitting article does nothing to inhibit his ease as he picks up pellets one after another. The corner of your lip twitches. Of course, classy and conscientious as always. “If that’s how you practice your stealth tactics, I can guarantee you’ll be the first to get killed in battle. I could hear you stomping from down the hall.” The man doesn’t look up as you and Hoseok approach but the grin is as clear as crystal in his voice. “Then it’s a good thing we’ve put the wars behind us, isn’t it?” You come to a halt directly in front of the otherwise preoccupied male, with Hoseok observing just a few steps to the side. “Where’s your team today, Nams?”

Kim Namjoon finally lifts his chin and sends you a closed-eye smile. He’s an impressively lanky man, who, at first glance, appears to be more limb than anything else, with an ever-present twinkle in his eyes and hair that gleams the colour of dusty moonlight. You’re convinced that at least half of his paycheck goes towards hair maintenance, but he continuously insists that he’s never touched a box of dye before in his life. “They’re all off in the shooting range. We just got a new shipment of Springfield XDs and they’ve been making bets all morning about who has the better aim. Apparently the first to get ten bulls-eyes in a row will be exempted from cleaning duty for a week.” “And what, you didn’t want in on the action?” “I am the leader of the weaponry unit,” he says, straightening his spine in a dignified manner. “It wouldn’t do for me to engage in horseplay when there are dangerous criminals to be found. Besides, we all know who really possess the best aim here.” He places the shell down and stands at his full height. “Am I correct in guessing that this is our friend from the head office?” You make the necessary introductions as Namjoon offers his concealed hand. Hoseok looks at it briefly before accepting the handshake. “The gunpowder will stain your glove if you’re not careful,” Hoseok says dryly, but Namjoon only chuckles before turning back to you. “Now, I suppose you’re here about the distillery district corpse? Unless my favourite detective has finally decided to take me out to lunch as promised?” “Okay, one, I never agreed to take you out to anything, and two, favourite detective? Yoongi would be heartbroken if he heard you say that,” you laugh. Next to you Hoseok tilts his head, watching with an air of barely concealed boredom. “Oh please, that man wouldn’t know heartbreak if it shot him in the leg with a Beretta M9,” Namjoon dismisses. He sets the ammunition down and nods at the folder in your hand. “Alright, let’s see it, then. Judging from what I’ve been told I can already guess as to what we’re looking at, and frankly speaking, I’m surprised you even bothered with coming here. You already knew before you came to see me, didn’t you?” “Well, yes,” you admit, “But you know that we always need to confirm it with an expert before we can say for certain.” You flip open the file and set it on the empty space beside the piles of bullets. Photographs begin to appear one by one: detailed eight by twelve prints of limbs resting perfectly still on a stainless steel surface, pale, porcelain skin which lacks the lustre of pumping blood and oxygen. You imagine that if the killer had chosen to leave the head intact, you would perhaps see a picture of listless eyes staring at something that is no longer there. The purpose of cameras is to immortalize moments in life, you think, yet all that this one has managed to capture is an immortality of death instead. You tap on the photograph nearest to you. “Since you know all of the details I’ll get right to it. Look at these marks here, on the neck. I’ve already spoken to our pathologist friend but I’d like to hear your opinion on it, as well. Can you tell me what sort of weapon was used for the strangling?” “I’ll do you one better, I can show you instead what caused it.” The ballistics specialist lopes towards his office, a room strategically hidden in the far corner of the room, leaving you and Hoseok to stand together in silence. Hoseok examines the photos with renewed interest. He’s also been gifted with the endowment of height, you notice, so he chooses to pick them up individually rather than bend down and break his neck. You watch him for a moment and remember that he hasn’t had a chance to read the post-mortem report yet. Recalling the initial conversation you’d had in your office prior, you decide to take a shot at- what will hopefully be- a civil conversation. He’s ‘one of the top,’ was what Yoongi had grudgingly relayed to you. You try to keep this in mind as you point to the photo suspended in mid-air. “What do you think, then?” He doesn’t bother looking up as he answers, “Seeing as we’re about to get the expert’s opinion, I don’t really see the point in asking for mine, do you?” Well, it was a valiant attempt anyway. Thankfully, you’re spared from having to respond as Namjoon reemerges from his office. He rejoins you and the increasingly exasperating man at the table, holding what appears to be a sheet of paper and a twiny rope in his grasp. You do your best to hold back a smile. “Don’t tell me you still air out your pants in there?” During your first month at the station, there had been a time when you’d witnessed the weapons expert hanging up a pair of wet boxers to dry, following an unfortunate but highly entertaining incident that had involved three full water bottles and an overly confident new recruit. “A man must take whatever steps necessary to keep his clothes in a presentable state,” Namjoon answers in a voice that leaves no room for further questions or jests. With mismatching hands he arranges the rope so that it lies in a neat, orderly line. “As you’re both aware, the diagnosis was that the victim was strangled before death occurred,” he begins. “The bruises are fairly difficult to make out, but if you look closely at this picture here you can see that they form a thin, slightly ridged pattern.” He traces the cord with his ungloved hand. “That pattern is consistent with the one we’d get from this piece. You’re looking at a laundry rope, similar to what I have here, or possibly one of those cables used to hold up camping tents.” “Those kinds of ropes are sold and thrown away like lemon candy,” you contemplate aloud. Next to you Hoseok has fallen silent once more, arms folded, eyes boring into the rope with the same indecipherable stare as before. “I wouldn’t bet on finding it, would you? It’s about as traceable as the blade will be.” “More specifically, the hand saw,” Namjoon corrects, pointing to another photograph. “You can tell from the tearings in the flesh. The edges aren’t consistent with a chainsaw’s markings, and a serrated kitchen knife- maybe one used for cutting bread- wouldn’t be strong enough to cut through the bone.” “And hand saws are especially easy to dispose of,” you finish for him. “Throw one into a junkyard and nobody will look twice at it. Almost every hardware store will have them for sale, so it’ll be hard to follow up on this lead.” “If you can even call it a lead at all,” Hoseok finally says. He meets your gaze and jerks his head towards the forensic shots. “I doubt anything useful will come out of tracing the weapons. You said it yourself, Inspector; laundry ropes are common and hand saws are everywhere. Unless we somehow find the original ones used by the killer, how likely are we to get any useful information?” “You’d be surprised at what you can find if you’re thorough enough,” you shrug, although a part of you reluctantly agrees. It’s not as though you’re dealing with highly specialized weapons here. It’s a laundry rope. And a hand saw. Ordinary objects that anybody would have in their basement or garage. As if offering a gesture of consolation, Namjoon holds up a hand. “There may be a chance we can track down the purchase of the saw. Yes, they’re very common but their prints are much more distinct than that of the ropes.” He hands you the paper which he’d retrieved earlier from his office. “I cross-checked the tool imports and distributions records, and there are sixteen types of saws that are available in Korea,” he explains as you scan the paper. True to his word, it contains a list of manufacturers and addresses, all annotated with product names and identification numbers. “Of the sixteen, twelve are capable of cutting through human bone and muscle mass. If I can match the markings on our victim to a specific type of saw, then I can narrow the focus down to a smaller list of manufacturers. Hardware stores rarely carry all twelve types at once. If anything, I may be able to track down the store where the murder weapon was bought.” Hoseok's lips quirk slightly in a caustic grin. “And if the killer happened to pick it up somewhere off the ground?” “Then at least we’ll be more informed, won’t we?” Namjoon laughs. You mirror his satisfied expression. “Now see, this-” you give the paper a little shake “- this is why we came here. If you can actually get something out of this, Nams, then lunch really will be on me.” “Two lunches,” Namjoon corrects. “Don’t think I’m letting you off the hook for the first one.” He takes the list back from you with his gloved hand, but not before giving the fingers a subtle flex. Most people would politely ignore the gesture or simply fail to notice it, but you immediately recognize the telltale signs of twitching leather and stiff wrist movements. “Are your joints bothering you again?” you ask, nodding at his arm. Namjoon knows the meaning behind your question and smiles ruefully. “Unfortunately, yes. I had a checkup yesterday and my doctor insisted we try yet another new gear adjustment. I keep telling him that the old method works perfectly fine, but does he listen?“ As he speaks he tugs off the offending leather garment, exposing five fingers and a palm that are made entirely of polished steel. Hoseok doesn’t say anything but you can see his eyes flicker towards the silver palm. You can only guess as to what he thinks of Namjoon’s hidden prosthetic hand. Most offer immediate sympathy, undisguised curiosity, but in Hoseok’s case, you have absolutely no clue. The armament specialist had lost it twelve years ago, he’d once confided to you during a night at the bar, back when he and Yoongi had been partners out in the field. It had been during an investigation of a toddler’s death (too young to be taken by death, he’d said, knocking back a shot of gin in her memory), eventually leading to a violent altercation between said detective and near-insane murderer. “Don’t worry about me.” Namjoon bends his fingers experimentally before slipping the glove back on. “The pain is nothing I can’t handle, and anyway, you should be more concerned about yourself. From the way I see it, there are two ways that this case will play out- as one, extremely difficult, or two, extremely dangerous. Or perhaps even both. I’m sure you don’t need me to say it, but do be sure to keep an eye out at all times, Detective.” “Whatever you say, Iron Man,” you hum. Namjoon rolls his eyes good-naturedly. “Just once,” he sighs as a phone begins to ring in his office, “I’d like for us to have a meaningful conversation without you referring to me as some kind of robot.” “Now where would be the fun in that?” You smile faintly when he excuses himself to answer the call. He leaves, and for a second time you’re left alone with Hoseok, the man whom you hardly know anything about and don’t even know where to begin studying. The Four Seasons continues to play from the speakers, permeating the silence with violin music that strangely fills you with a sense of sudden inexplicable weariness. “Four years ago, a married couple was found crucified in their bedroom,” you say after a while. Hoseok folds his arms across his chest, but you can tell he’s listening from the way his head tilts slightly at the sound of your voice. “No trace of the killer was found, and there were no distinctive weapons used, either. Just a hammer and a pile of nails. After five months we’d gone through every lead possible, and by then we were almost ready to give up. But then Namjoon noticed that one of the screws was different from the others- it was a tiny, tiny manufacturing difference that the rest of us would have never noticed, but thanks to him we were able to track down the killer before he left the city.” You look at him and soften your voice. “This may seem like a waste of time to you, and you might not agree with my decisions, but I wouldn’t have brought you here if there wasn’t the slightest chance that he could help.” If the two of you are expected to work together, you decide, then the least you can do is have at least a little bit of faith in each other. Hoseok returns your stare without saying a word, and for a minute you think that he’s going to challenge you again. But then he seems to reach a decision of his own, because he merely shrugs and turns away in time with the crash of turbulent crescendo notes. “It’s your call. Like I said before, I’m only here to do my job.”

#bts #bts scenarios #bts fanfiction #reader x bts #namjoon #hoseok #seokjin #yoongi #taehyung #jimin #jungkook #goodbye peter pan

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lostsolsdestinyblog · 6 years

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Destiny 2 is dead! Long live Destiny 2! A 6 months look at where the game has been, is and still needs to go (PvE)

April 4, 2018

Destiny 2 has been out for 6 months and so I think it's a good time to talk about the experience so far, where the game has been, is and still needs to go. Let me first say that I've played a lot of D2. I'm well over 500 hours already and I've leveled 6 characters to endgame (by comparison, in 3 years of D1 I played just under 2200 hours). I have differing views of PvE from launch to character number 6 and I'm going to start there with the campaign. D2 has a very good campaign and it's probably one of my favorite from Bungie ever, but I think it was mishandled and largely undermined. I was very disappointed and vocal before release that I thought the content release schedule post-launch was wrong and I believe looking back (especially after leveling later characters) that was 100% correct. What the campaign got right with a real story, truly beautiful worlds to explore and levels of epic scale and design like The Almighty were by and large hugely undermined by Bungie's decision to release both the raid and Trials within the first week. Neither needed to happen and it led to the inevitable rush to endgame power level to be endgame ready. One of the biggest issues D1 had over 3 years was content pacing and Activision had stated at their pre-release earning call that they along with Bungie had a plan in place to keep content flowing in D2. That ended up coming back to haunt them (more on that later) but it was exacerbated by the initial release schedule. Destiny 2 should have released with the story, worlds and base PvP the focal points for the first 3-4 weeks. Along with that, all the Adventures that were part of the original campaign should have been left in. I know the reasoning was that there was too much content to level up over and to that I say, why make leveling last until the final level? I think it would have been fine to hit max level before ever setting foot on The Almighty and going after Ghaul at our full power. This would have changed the dynamic of early D2 in so many ways, not the least of which being that 3-4 weeks in, Bungie could have been releasing the Leviathan Raid and Trials instead of fielding the first barrage of “ok, what now?’’ I understand the coolness of the raids and the desire to get into them immediately, but I just feel that just moving them back a little would really give not only the campaigns and new areas time to shine, but the buildup of anticipation for the raids would not be a bad thing either. Also, with the way EoW Prestige ended up being moved back, in hindsight it probably would have been better to stagger its release a couple weeks into CoO as well to better pace things.

The campaign and strikes

The campaign also should have been fully replayable and this is the first point I will make for where I believe the game needs to still improve. One of the things that always gave Halo longevity for my friends and I was going back and replaying the campaigns at higher difficulties. Hell, I used to do the same in GoldenEye back in the day and I'm not sure why Bungie got away from that with Destiny... I believe that not only should we be able to fully replay the campaign whenever we want, but I think there should be difficulty levels for doing so ranging from normal to insane (or prestige if you want). Where the majority of players burned through the Campaign as released, those who weren't raiders were suddenly left with an endgame vastly different from D1 without endless weapon variations to chase or materials to grind to level everything and I think this is where finishing the story and suddenly having it locked away outside of Ikora's 3 random missions really came back to haunt because the Lost Sectors, much improved public events and unique planetary gear sets weren't enough to give players the fix they needed after 3 years of D1 grind. Had the Campaign been the initial endgame and setup as a way to really gear up for eventually going to The Leviathan and Trials, I think the first month and reactions would have played out a lot differently, particularly if there were unique gear sets and weapon variants available for completing various targets within the different difficulty tiers. I'm not going to go too deep into loot as it is something Bungie has addressed and know needs to be better and more meaningful, but I will say a couple things. 1) There needs to be just so much more. The fact that the planetary vendors still have the same weapons and armor as at launch is a problem. The fact that they all shared the generic alternate drops to begin with was also a problem 2) Strikes are not rewarding enough and have not been since launch. This is both true in regular play and during events like faction rallies were by far the quickest and most efficient way to rank up is to just farm Lost Sectors. That's a huge issue in my opinion and makes no sense for trying to keep players logged in and engaged in the game. Why not give 20 faction tokens and a guaranteed rank up from each strike? Beyond that, with the advent of Masterworks, I find it mind-boggling that Heroic strikes aren't a guaranteed drop for Masterworks cores. I can understand that maybe Bungie want them to be limited and not just pile up like Legendary Shards, but at the cost per re-roll and the huge cost to swap PvE/PvP... Who cares if they pile up? Players want to set up their characters how they want and min/max whatever they can and this is an opportunity to really add that back to the game and at the current pretty standard 1 core per dismantle, it's really not realistic to do right now. Give Heroic Strikes a guaranteed drop of 3 cores and I think suddenly there's a huge reason to run them (particularly the deeper the MW system gets) Also, strike specific loot. Game needs more loot.

Gear, weapons and mods

Speaking of loot, let’s talk about it. I still like the new weapon system. I know some still hate it and want D1's back and I respect that, but I find far more variety in my play and arsenals through 6 months of D2 than I had in 3 years of D1. I love that I can use a Hand Cannon and still have an AR. I love the dynamic in say this week’s NF of running Nameless Midnight with Perseverance. I don't miss the primary, special, heavy setup, but I say that with the caveat that power weapons just are not in a great place. I know changes are coming, but still not what I would like to see which is 1) Swords that aren't from the raid having any use (and the return of exotics. Where is anything remotely on par with Boltcaster, et al?) 2) Grenade Launchers need to do significantly more damage or have deeper magazines. A GL like Wicked Sister is actually fun, but its damage output over just shooting a primary is awful. 3) Snipers, Shotguns and Fusion rifles need MUCH deeper ammo reserves. They should be in the range of 21-25 in reserve. I've stated this since launch and still believe this would instantly give them definitive advantages over RL's in many situations <coughPrestigeLeviathancough>. Rockets and Grenade Launchers should be about big impact and high burst damage, but the other power weapons should be about sustained damage and the ability to take out more mid-tier enemies. Armor has been much more diverse to this point in D2 than initially in D1, but I still don't think it's been enough. Yes the addition of ornaments has helped (particularly to breathe life back into Faction Rallies), but in all honesty, there should be new gear sets at least every other season. This game is a looter shooter and the loot is too stagnant. I do not know what it entails to create all that gear and get it into the game, but for me it would be a priority and would also serve another function of giving players those badges to show they were there. Seasons 1 and 2 have their gear sets and once they are gone, they are gone. Again, incentive to play and get sets you love and a way to show you "were there" beyond the catch-all emblems. Obviously there's a huge road-block there with storage space and there's nothing left to beat on that horse, Bungie know they need to come up with a legitimate and fully up to par system and hopefully we see it sooner than later, but... to that end, Bungie hasn't done itself any favors with the current mod system. The regular mod system (not masterworks) is a nightmare. I know mods 2.0 is in the works, but I can say (particularly from 4 current endgame characters) that the system is not good. How would I fix it? 1) BLUE MODS NEED TO GO AWAY. They are a waste in every regard. They are worthless as individual drops. They take up inventory space that could better be used by literally everything else and there's literally no reason to ever want to equip one and feel good about doing so. Then there's the cost to actually covert them into legendary mods. I found on toon #6 that I really like the Crucible armor set for the Hunter. In a month since leveling it, I have not hit 335 on that armor set because I can't get purple mods to drop that I want and that is despite spending hella glimmer trying. I dropped 80K glimmer the other day and got 4 legendary mods out of it and not one I needed. That isn't a way to keep players invested and it doesn't respect our time investment. So I'm wearing blues and don't feel good about it especially when I still don't even have a full blue set of what I really want. This locks us into holding onto armor sets that already have the mods we want on them which by proxy adds more to the storage issue. This has been exacerbated by recent changes as well with the raid armor mods. Yes it's been a fun addition and made the gear meaningful, but it's another set that we have to hold onto and use and that means another set to have to get all the regular mods for and hey, yeah... storage. So... 2) All legendary normal mods should be available at any time on every single legendary armor piece and build in a healthy cost of 10-15 legendary shards to swap them (just like the raid mods are infinitely swap-able now). This suddenly eliminates having to have a PvE set and a PvP set when we can just swap out mods if we want or even from having to have a set for a particular subclass (''I need Arc, but my gear is all set up Void... F***''). It also gives the min/maxers who were so disappointed is the simplification of D2s class setups something to really get into and play around with on even an encounter to encounter basis (again I can just spend some shards to swap my Nightstalker set to Pole Dancer) There is so much win in making that change it would instantly change the dynamic of every single encounter in the game and how we approach them. 3) just better and more interesting mods (in the works). Combine better mods with a way to really use the system and play around with different builds and again… Win. Win. Win.

The Raids/Future expansions

The Raids Leviathan was a very good raid that suffered from sub-par rewards. Eater of Worlds is maybe the single best piece of PvE content Bungie has ever produced and in and of itself is worth running all the time just because it’s so fun, but going forward raids need to have the drop incentives too. The ghost helped both raids in that regard, but there needs to be more and particularly with weapons. Future Expansions Curse of Osiris got a lot of flack, but I think did do a lot right. The Verses for the weapon forge and that grind that ended with the Sagira shell was really well done and brought back some of what D1 had with things like the Exotic sword and class item quests/grinds. The raid Lair is second to none. Past Mercury is crazy beautiful. But for all that, Mercury as a whole missed the mark. The infinite forest is cool looking, but until NF scoring was completely pointless. It should have been a patrol zone and I’m guessing was originally intended to be. Why it didn’t make it? Who knows, but it’s a shame. There should have been random section spawns with their own Lost Sectors or even world bosses with unique loot drops. There’s so much potential there that could be really developed into something cool. Same goes for past-Mercury. As for the patrol zone itself, it is still a fun place to patrol, but really could have been more and again very easily. When we first go to Mercury we traverse an area on our way to the Lighthouse that we never go back to again and it’s filled with moving platforms of immune Vex patrolling off. That entire area could have and should have been much like outside of Felwinter’s Peak and not only open to exploration, but filled with hidden secrets for those who took the time. There could even have been a puzzle similar to climbing Felwinter’s, but with moving/disappearing Vex platforms instead. The good news is that, that is something that could still be done to build onto and extend life into the area. Beyond that, once again I think pulling from the campaign and giving us parts as adventures really hurt the expansion. I can tell you that of the 5 characters I took through it, I did the Adventures on all of one of them. There just wasn’t the incentive for me to go back and yes they add to the story, but they should have been there to begin with and experienced as we played the campaign. So going forward and maybe this is too late for the next expansion, I would really like to see Bungie rethink not just adventures, but again, had CoO’s campaign been fully replayable at higher difficulty levels with rewards worthy of the effort, I think it changes the response and overall view of the campaign. I know it sold well and I’ve enjoyed it, but the potential for so much more is right there just waiting to be let loose. Also if not building the adventures back in, just again pushing the raid back a few weeks to give the campaign/strikes time to be the focus would be a better way forward.

More on Strikes and weapon-play and the value of fast ability cooldowns I've had a lot of thoughts on various things that are not on the list of incoming or being worked on improvements and another aspect I didn't get to is the actual play of strikes beyond the rewards. The week of Crimson Doubles was in my opinion maybe one of the best weeks there's ever been to log in and play Destiny and that includes all 3 years of D1. There were a few reasons for this and I know this post is PvE related, but I will say that it was easily the best Destiny PvP I've played since House of Wolves. Weapons mattered still (they didn't really in the last year of D1), but we had our abilities back and it completely changed the dynamic of play. Yes they were maybe a tad fast, but we went back and played D1 PvP the other day and even with the Crimson Doubles ability to spam, it was nothing like D1 because the abilities on their own are weaker and still needed to be supplemented by weapon play vs D1 where every grenade and shoulder charge are just death. It's the first time I wanted to just log in and keep playing solo since HoW and if that can be translated to the rest of PvP (along with a few other fixes), I think it honestly could be the best it's ever been. But beyond PvP, Crimson Days was incredible for PvE as well and that's because not only did we have the 2 Raids to run and the EoW as still the most fun you can have playing PvE in Destiny, but the Nightfall was as good as it got (with timers) that week and again it was for the same reason that PvP was so good, faster ability cooldowns. I know that there is the thought process that we need Special and Heavy weapons back to feel like badasses or supers more often and I know more power weapon play is coming, but honestly for me it's the ability to fully use my class more often and use snares, dodge and grenades and not be so dependent on just the kinetic/energy combo that overall I still like better than D1, but D2 is just too over-dependant on. I think the changes to the NF with the optional score challenge has been really good and I haven't really given it a full go for score yet (just completion) but my friends have spent hours running and I know they've had fun and been challenged. That said I've run the new NF twice, once solo, once in a fireteam and have a couple takaways. Solo, it was literally the most fun I had as a solo Destiny player since year one of D1. I've posted a million times on here how the first thing I used to do each week was solo the NF on all 3 characters and I hadn't done one since TTK dropped. Going through without a timer and actually having to fight my way across the Infinite Forest was fun and challenging (particularly just getting in to begin) and I was able to get to the boss and push him out of the first room once before eventually giving up 2 hours into trying. What I found is that, although it was fun, ammo and the reliance on kinetic/energy was too heavy. I had 4 Power ammo bricks drop in the entirety of crossing the Forest and with D2's diminished ability cooldowns I was running out of ammo consistently on both my kinetic and energy weapons and having the game have to auto-fill them. I think this is tantamount to the issues people have with the new system because again, I LOVE the weapon choices I have now and I'll use more combos in a weeks play than I would in a year of D1, but as great as Nameless Midnight combined with Pleiades (crossing forest) or Perseverance (boss rooms) was, ultimately they just weren't powerful enough when it really mattered and without abilities or power bricks dropping, I just couldn't take down adds fast enough to have a legitimate chance. Players want to feel powerful and badass and that doesn't mean having to super every 5 seconds or kill everything with Power weapons. They certainly help, but for me again it's having that full suite of ways to kill, stun, kite, evade, heal, shield, etc. Especially in a fireteam that coordinates. Look at how the masterworks orb generation has helped make the raids even more fun with more supers. It doesn't have to be Mayhem or whatever the Strikes were called in D1 and I understand the need to still have it a challenge and the balance there, but if Bungie want to really bring people back that have left, I think there is a middle ground there and that not being so focused on just the kinetic/energy combo is key. Edit: one more note on soloing the Nightfalls. I know that Bungie hated that players could go to cheese spots to make some boss fights easier and others guaranteed, but much like the loot cave, it was fun for players and they loved logging in and playing. I think it goes hand in hand with Josh Hamrick's comments on Shoulder Charge being reverted because the devs realize that sometimes unintended things that players end up loving isn't a bad thing and I think that fully applies here. Sure you don't want everyone cheesing everything and particularly Raids, but that said there is a line and things like making all boss rooms locked in affairs with no ability for respite, recovery or even to just hide for a minute I think can be argued hasn't really made play more fun to where it's made more people want to play them more. The loot cave was fun and what did it give away? I never got anything better than blues and it helped unlock my Grimoire bonuses. Why take things like that away if it brings players in and together? Hopefully what Josh said is an ethos that will apply game-wide and not just within balancing PvP.

TLDR

In 500 hours of D2 PvE, I’ve done and experienced probably as much meaningful content (read: not running circles farming) than I did in twice that time playing D1. The campaign needs to be replayable in full when we want. Content needs to be better spaced. Had it been paced at launch, a month in Bungie could have been releasing the Leviathan instead of fielding the initial wave of “what do we do now?’’ Certainly that would have come and we all know the issues that followed, but they’ve by-and-large been addressed and D2 PvE today is in my opinion as good as PvE has been in the life of the game with maybe TTK still holding a slight edge. D2 is not the game we expected, but it’s also not the game it is painted to be on the forums and in the media. It is still the best way I know to spend 500+ hours with people you care about and it is consistently improving. In D1 any changes we wanted went onto a wish list to sit for 3 years and die. In D2 not only are they being heard and talked about, they are being actively worked on and implemented and it’s sad that more people aren’t taking the opportunity to really give feedback on what else could make the game better instead of trashing it with no real message to better anything. Thank you

#destinytruthcast #bungie #destiny #destiny 2

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