#half battle so should be doable

[jq37]

-You got the timeline of Lucy's death off by a year. She died at the end of Sophomore year. I wonder if the Grinders were trying to keep up with the Bad Kids by also bringing back a god from nameless oblivion.

-I have my own spin on why Ivy's not as good as Aelwynn. Ivy's a too realistically mean bitch, Aelwynn's a CRAZY bitch. One's way more entertaining than the other. Also Ivy's dollar store Garthy O'Brien accent is very off-putting. Stop sounding like a much cooler character, you high school hot girl cliche.

-Is Henry having Gorgug do all three Artificer years at once or one at a time? Cause one's a very logical way to go about it and the other's really not. You know, hyperfocus on finishing Freshman then Sophomore year and then play catch-up on the Junior year material. The smart way to do it. Or is Gorgug having to do Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced course material simultaneously? Cause that's a very dumb way to do it. Whichever way, Gorgug's nailing it, but that second one isn't sustainable.

-At first Fig's whole crisis about her lack of passion for being a Bard struck me as manufactured drama, but I've let it sink in and come to a different take on it. Fig's whole Rebel Punk Girl deal so far was obviously a reaction to the divorce and her life/family kinda falling apart. But now, things are REALLY great for her. Great family, great friends, great girlfriend. Her personal life is goals. So, how much is all that positive change affecting her? Is she over her Punk phase and moving on to something else? Season's not over, let's find out.

-Adaine's starting to use magic means and her connections to make money and I respect it.....BASRAR'S A GENIE! That just sank in right now as I'm typing this. But Brennan's no dummy. He probably set like a hard limit on the value of his wishes to close off that easy solution, but maybe he got sloppy and forgot to do that. Fingers crossed.

-I still don't think Fabian deserves Mazey after his behavior of late, but I'm still pretty into that ship, so whatever happens happens.

-Not much to say about Kristen and Riz. Especially Riz since he's been taking a narrative backseat so far this season. Hopefully that'll change soon. Still, Hi Riz, Hi Kristen :)

Holy shit, this one ran really long. My gift to you, I suppose.

Sorry this is late! Things are crazy! Luckily it's all still relevant. Let me go through point by point.

-You got the timeline of Lucy's death off by a year. She died at the end of Sophomore year. I wonder if the Grinders were trying to keep up with the Bad Kids by also bringing back a god from nameless oblivion.

If I said something other than that then it was a typo! I'll check and edit when I have a chance. But I think the point I was making was that it would make sense that the Rat Grinders never got more ambitious if Lucy had died the first week of school like Kristen and Gorgug. It makes less sense that they wouldn't ever leave the starting area with no dramatic incident to keep them skittish and that happened in Sophomore Year, not right away. And it def feels like they're copying the Bad Kids. The question is whether it's to just score some extra points or if there are also ulterior motives.

-I have my own spin on why Ivy's not as good as Aelwynn. Ivy's a too realistically mean bitch, Aelwynn's a CRAZY bitch. One's way more entertaining than the other. Also Ivy's dollar store Garthy O'Brien accent is very off-putting. Stop sounding like a much cooler character, you high school hot girl cliche.

That's also an excellent point! The ideal bitch character is, to quote Heathers, a "mythic bitch". You want her so crazy she doesn't feel real. You want her doing full ass crimes. Ivy is just like, the run of the mill racist bitch you went to high school with. Too close to home. Not fun at all. The only thing it pings for me is disgust. And Garthy is WAY cooler than her. I hope the Bad Kids grind her into dust.

-Is Henry having Gorgug do all three Artificer years at once or one at a time? Cause one's a very logical way to go about it and the other's really not. You know, hyperfocus on finishing Freshman then Sophomore year and then play catch-up on the Junior year material. The smart way to do it. Or is Gorgug having to do Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced course material simultaneously? Cause that's a very dumb way to do it. Whichever way, Gorgug's nailing it, but that second one isn't sustainable.

There is a split between D&D mechanics and actual in game reality sometimes and I really hope Brennan is just making Zac roll them simultaneously for mechanics reasons and in reality Gorgug is just taking all three years back to back to back and not simultaneously because it would be, as you said, and INSANE way to structure learning.

-At first Fig's whole crisis about her lack of passion for being a Bard struck me as manufactured drama, but I've let it sink in and come to a different take on it. Fig's whole Rebel Punk Girl deal so far was obviously a reaction to the divorce and her life/family kinda falling apart. But now, things are REALLY great for her. Great family, great friends, great girlfriend. Her personal life is goals. So, how much is all that positive change affecting her? Is she over her Punk phase and moving on to something else? Season's not over, let's find out.

I'm kinda curious about where exactly the disconnect is for her because it's not like she needs to even be a musician to be a bard. There are so many different subclasses. Did she get into music just to let out her aggression and now that she doesn't feel so angsty, it's not flowing as well? Would she be feeling this way if she didn't have pressure to put out an album? It's not like she lost her creative spirit in a broad sense--who else but Fig could come up with Wanda Childa? But yeah, it'll be interesting to see where she lands, especially since she has this other stuff in her life going on too that needs to be resolved (curse stuff) and also she is literally the archdevil of rebellion currently which will be hard to pull off is she doesn't feel a connection to it. Which I honestly think she still does because if she didn't, the stuff with Cass wouldn't be working as well (the whole doubt/rebellion tag team and her successful prayer). Anyway, I just think she's in a transitional period. As you said, let's find out where this goes.

-Adaine's starting to use magic means and her connections to make money and I respect it…..BASRAR'S A GENIE! That just sank in right now as I'm typing this. But Brennan's no dummy. He probably set like a hard limit on the value of his wishes to close off that easy solution, but maybe he got sloppy and forgot to do that. Fingers crossed.

There is no way Brennan is gonna let them Basrar-Ex-Machina their way out of their problems without some truly insane rolls but, in character, it wouldn't be out of pocket to ask. Especially since she's the reason he can grant more than just ice cream wishes. But yeah, good on her for using her jacket as a side hustle and I really hope her charging for visions because you know those Falinel elves are sitting on piles of ancestral cash.

-I still don't think Fabian deserves Mazey after his behavior of late, but I'm still pretty into that ship, so whatever happens happens.

I'm not overly invested in Fabian's love life but it is really funny watching him flail so badly in this department even though he's objectively really cool according to the dice. If I was friends with Mazey though I'd be like, "Girl, are you sure?" Just a bit too much of the rich boy arrogance for my tastes.

-Not much to say about Kristen and Riz. Especially Riz since he's been taking a narrative backseat so far this season. Hopefully that'll change soon. Still, Hi Riz, Hi Kristen :)

Kristen is Going Through It and Riz has been great support so they deserve a bit of a break, especially because I feel like things are gonna pop off for them pretty quick.

OK, that's it! I have to lesson plan! I will hopefully have some time to so some recapping soon!

[a-dauntless-daffodil]

pre hotel battle and vaggie wants to round out her gf's stat blocks just a LITTLE bit more

Vaggie: “Okay sweetie, big battle for our lives and hotel coming up.”

Charlie: “Which we are going to WIN and NOT DIE in!”

Vaggie: “Right. First battle you’ve ever been in?”

Charlie: “Technically, yes.”

Vaggie: “Still not vibing with an actual weapon?”

Charlie: “They’re all so…. Pointy and mean looking…?”

Vaggie: “So we’re sticking with the shield plan for you.”

Charlie: “I drew up some designs for one! LOOK! WINGS!!!”

Vaggie: “Really, very cute babe, it’ll look great on you. Very cool thing for any murder angels to smack face first into.”

Charlie: “Thank you!”

Vaggie: “But I’ve been thinking… well no, I’ve been having nightmares-”

Charlie: “OH NO!!!”

Vaggie: “-and if you wanna help with that, maybe you could have, like, just one kinda attack thing?”

Charlie: “Oh.”

Vaggie: “One trick up your sleeve, Charlie. That’s all I’m asking.”

Charlie: “I… I guess… if you’re worried, then…”

Charlie: “…I could… try doing the demon thing… a little…?”

Vaggie: “No you hate that.”

Charlie: (HUGE SIGH) “Okay good! WHEW. So what’s the OTHER attack thing idea??”

Vaggie: “You do have a little of the carnival magic stuff, yeah? Like your dad?”

Charlie: “Oh I love that stuff! YES!”

Vaggie: “I was thinking maybe you could do fireworks.”

Charlie: “FUN!”

Vaggie: “And explode people with them.”

Charlie: “HORRIFYING!!!”

Vaggie: “I know. I know but- just a little, sweetie? For me?”

Charlie: “Explode them, Vaggie? Into, pieces!?”

Vaggie: “I’m picturing globs and chunks actually.”

Charlie: “Vaggie!”

Vaggie: “Sorry, look-” (takes gf’s hands)

Vaggie: “This is gonna be a real battle with a lot of stuff happening. Lots of people. Lots of yelling and people running around. We’re probably gonna get separated at some point-”

Charlie: “No. You’re staying right next to me.”

Vaggie: “Charlie I swear I’m gonna try to, but that's not how big mob fights work out.”

Charlie: “We can MAKE it work like that THIS time!”

Vaggie: “Listen. I really, really want to go into this knowing you’ve got something for crowd control, alright? If a dozen angels swoop down on you and I’m not right there, I wanna know you can give yourself enough breathing space to keep that shield between you and them.”

Charlie: “But- you WILL be there-”

Vaggie: “One hit. That’s all it takes. For me and for them both, and you- please.” (squeezes hands) “They want to kill you. And they can. And they’re gonna try to.”

Charlie: “….”

Charlie: “… I don’t want, to hurt people.”

Vaggie: “A shield to the face hurts.”

Charlie: “Okay fine- I don’t want to KILL people! Or even get close!”

Vaggie: “That’s fine, that’s the world we’re aiming for.”

Charlie: “But it’s not good enough right now though, is it.”

Vaggie: “… maybe it is.”

Charlie: “You just said…”

Vaggie: “Fuck what I said, you don’t need to detonate anyone for crowd control. You can do lights, right?”

Charlie: “Yes?”

Vaggie: “Bright and flashy ones?”

Charlie: “Obviously, those are the best kinds-”

Vaggie: “So try flashing people.”

Charlie: “Flashing?? Wh- IN THE MIDDLE OF A BATTLE???”

Vaggie: “-blinding, blinding I meant blind them with flashing lights, get them to back off.”

Charlie: “Oh!”

Vaggie: “That a doable thing?”

Charlie: “Yes VERY doable! Like a really amazing sparkler!”

Vaggie: “And they wouldn’t be dead, they just wouldn’t be able to see enough to attack you.”

Charlie: “It wouldn’t even really HURT THEM even!”

Vaggie: “Sure. Unless they trip or fly into something.”

Charlie: “And you’d feel better???”

Vaggie: “Much, much better.”

Charlie: “Enough to sleep?”

Vaggie: “When you’re not keeping me up half the night with kisses, yeah. I think so.”

Charlie: “I’LL DO IT! I’ll practice weaponizing pretty sparkles!”

Vaggie: “Thanks, babe.”

Charlie: “What battle weapon-y things should I be practicing with them, in practice?”

Vaggie: “Uhhh make it a reflex, fine tune your aim…”

Charlie: “Fun!”

Vaggie: “Figuring out how to not blind everyone else too would be good.”

Charlie: “That’s a good point, hmm-”

Charlie: “-Ohhhhh I could make the lights SMALL. Very small, so they don’t do much on their own- then only someone who’s super close and I’m aiming for and who gets a face FULL of them would really be blinded!”

Vaggie: “You’re so smart.”  

Charlie: “OH MY GOSH I COULD THROW GLITTER BOMBS!”

Vaggie: “That honestly sounds terrifying. I love it.”

Charlie: “HEHEHHEHEH.”

Charlie: (smooches her)

Charlie: “We’ll stay together in the fight so you can have front row seats to the light show, okay?”

Vaggie: "... we can try to..."

Charlie: "Will. We will stay together."

Vaggie: “… and, you’ll practice hard until then.”

Charlie: “I will!”

Vaggie: (lets out breath) “Then we’ll be okay. And also sparkly.”

Charlie: “Same thing~”

[dullweapons]

i dont like totk cause it was just botw dlc i had to pay full price for . beyond it fucking directly with rays lore it just ... is the same game again . it also had the skyward sword problem where the sky is so empty . the depths had more so i favor it over the sky but come on ... skyward sword ... fucking skyloft should be up there !! the ooccas from tp !! you do could so much more . i don't know if it was hardwear limitations but ugh . i would have rathered a fuller sky then half empty depths & sky .

beyond that as a story it kinda fucking sucks for princess zelda's character development . i already dislike her as they only made her a nerd girl to be cute and i didnt get to see her actually be passionate about the technology . i wanted more ! and i hoped in totk i can see her geek out about the history of hyrule and stuff but we got one cutscene before she got shoved back to square one . redo her development . why do this all again ? we already had her back .

to make her playable would have been doable . let's say at the end of each temple when we have the flashbacks we are zelda , playing as her discussing the battle and training with the other sages before we , as zelda , ask for their help in the future . then right before we fight ganon -- we fight that battle between ganondorf with the sages to parallel us as link -- we feel their pain and go again for round two 10k years later

regardless i hate totk for such doing oot again but ... worse . i know oot if your golden child nintendo but doing the same thing again is not learning the lesson of what made that game good .

i feel like instead of oot they should have done more with skyward sword . botw zelda was already following in ss zelda's footsteps . i know you had plans for a playable zelda in skyward sword ... thats what those ending cutscenes that play next to the credits show . zelda sneaking around and running with impa from monsters to make it to the shrines . why not just bring that out of ur closet and do it with botw zelda ? ss zelda also time traveled so it's doable. nintendo do you hear me -- NINTENDO --

ps pls stop shoving zelink in my face . i know your doing it on purpose . at least make it canon so i can just denounce it instead of rabid zelink shippers screaming at sentences as facts and twisting words to make it benefit their ship .

[thxrnking]

Imperfect - Chapter 8: Unite

Content Warning: none that I can think of, let me know if there’s something I should put here

[Imperfect Masterlist]

Author’s Note: I won’t go into too much detail about the delay. If you follow me you’ll likely be aware of enough. In either case I thank you all for being so patient with me. If you have any kind of reaction, I would really appreciate hearing what you think, in tags or replies or messages or whatever means. Be safe. Be well. - TK

----

“Congratulations, Jack,” Mother tells him, “You actually managed to prove useful for once.” She isn’t looking at him. There’s a sickening look of satisfaction on her face as she takes in the rampant chaos around them.

Thum thum.

Jack isn’t looking at her either, instead looking across the mass of minions in the throne room. There’s hundreds of them, maybe thousands and it almost feels like Jack’s actually seeing them for the first time.

For as long as Jack can remember, life has been nothing but agony; utter terror at even the thought of defying his Mother. Every day has been focused on survival by taking the path of least resistance. It’s been a miserable existence. Yet Wanderlust has been there.

Not every day; you couldn’t set your watch by him, but he was always going to come. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but he was coming back. Thinking about it, there were many days where Jack only dragged himself out of bed with the thought of ‘maybe today’.

Now, he’s somewhere amongst that writhing mass, but Jack can’t accept that that’s it. It can’t be over, this can’t be the end. Mother’s magic is powerful, but so is Wanderlust. Magically, maybe or maybe not, but the Prince did something Jack didn’t even know was possible.

He gave Jack hope.

Thum thum.

It burns fiercely in his chest as he looks out over the crowd, desperately searching the minions for any sign of who they used to be. They’re identical in every aspect; same heights, same colours, same designs, but there has to be something; some quirk, a birthmark, the way one of them holds themselves. There has to be some way he can figure out which one of them is Wanderlust.

Nothing.

Jack looks to Mother, glaring intensely. Whenever Jack has been unsure and confused she has always been there to tell him the answer. She’s been the one to give him the guidance she’s always insisted he needed, and Jack has never once questioned it. She’s his Mother, there was no reason to.

“I’m sure this must hurt you,” Mother tells him, “but it’s all for the best.”

There was a time Jack would have believed that. Accepted it without question, bowed his head and followed her instruction. Even now, part of him is trying to push him down that road but as he glares at her, it’s like he’s seeing her clearly for the first time.

Thum thum.

It’s not that she’s lying, she really believes this is for the best but Jack doesn’t. It doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t make sense that the strange blue stranger who’s followed Jack for years, showed him kindness he probably doesn’t deserve, is gone. That he’s lost. That just doesn’t make sense.

Wanderlust’s friends are engaged in battle, Dancing with minions, freeing them from Mother’s magic. So it is doable. They’re saving them, slowly but they’re still doing it, they’re still trying. They’re not afraid, not hesitating. It looks hopeless. There are so many minions and so few of them, but they don’t stop trying.

Jack takes a deep breath. It’s weird. Like he’s spent years walking around in a foggy daze, half asleep. Never argued, never fought back, never questioned. He’s always done as he’s told and it’s made it so easy for Mother….Night Swan to mould him to her needs.

Thum thum.

Now though, at long last, it’s like he can finally breathe. Like he can actually see and think and feel for the first time. Her words are just words. Where he used to be afraid, now there’s just...rage.

He turns, stepping purposefully into Night Swan’s eyeline, standing, staring. Fists clenched, brow furrowed, Jack stands in outright defiance of her, something he hasn’t done in a very long time. She doesn’t even blink.

“A little late to grow a conscience.”

She doesn’t even look at him but Jack doesn’t budge. She took his voice in so many ways a long time ago, but he won’t let her dismiss him now.

“Remember your place.”

Seconds slowly tick by until she finally turns to him. Her lips are a thin line, her piercing eyes boring into him. It’s a look Jack has seen many times before and sends a chill through him. Silence, hot pointed silence stretches out between them. Jack doesn’t flinch or move, while Night Swan’s glare silently dares him to give her a reason.

Thum thum.

“Think about this very carefully, Jack.”

A jolt of anger pierces her stern voice. She can feel it too, can’t she? The shift. The change between them. Even as Jack’s every instinct tells him to stop, that defiance will lead to his death, he turns and runs.

The impulse has barely passed by his brain before he bolts, running straight into the mass of minions. None of them move, forcing him to weave and sometimes push his way past. He doesn’t dare to look back to see if she’s following. It’s a question that doesn’t need answering. She doesn’t matter any more.

Thum thum.

Distance. There’s no such thing as too much of it at this point. As he runs, the pounding in his chest matches the sound of his feet. Steady, firm, unwavering, even as he feels wired and frantic, his breathing erratic.

Thum thum

Strong, heavy, sturdy. It pulses up through his feet, shaking his very bones. He begins to slow as it dawns on him. Corrupted strangers surround him. He turns, this way, that way. He comes to a stop. Waiting, heart beating. Come on.

Come on!

Thum thum

There. Something. A firm tug pulling on him, trying to draw him forward. Like a heartbeat played by a bass drum. Constant, unerring, unwavering. And getting stronger.

Slowly he steps through the crowd. While the minions don’t part as they would for the Night Swan, they start to move, stepping out of his way, as he follows the pulse one step at a time.

Thum thum

Jack doesn’t know where it’s leading him. Maybe there’s a flicker of a thought somewhere at the back of his mind, but in truth, the adrenaline coursing through him is making it very hard for it to get through.

Thum thum

The minions are shifting around him at this point, guiding him through until he steps into a gap in the crowd. The minions around it are all facing in but Jack’s focus is drawn to the one on the other side of the makeshift clearing.

Thum thum

It’s foot stamps in time with the beat. None of the other minions around the gap move.

Can it…?

Thum thum

They stamp again. They can feel it too.

Wanderlust?

Thum thum

The minion reaches one hand across to his shoulder before throwing it forward, then doing the same with the other.

Jack steps forward, his own arms moving, following the guidance of the beat, joining in the Dance without thinking, without questioning.

Thum thum

They both move, together, though not quite in sync. The minions around them watch in silence, sure to give them space as they move.

The pair of them circle around each other, before reaching, finally moving as one. A hand to one direction, the other to the other, then Jack reaches across himself. It’s his move. One of his favourites from his favourite performances. One he’s used since he was a child. A move of pure self-indulgance, included for him and him alone.

He spins and as he turns, he sees the minion’s hand held out to him, as Wanderlust has always done. Every time, holding a hand out for Jack. To help him up, to invite him in, to let him know he’s seen. No matter how many times the performer ignored it or dismissed it or pretended it wasn’t there, Wanderlust was always reaching out to him.

Jack sees the hand and doesn’t hesitate, grabbing it.

Dark smoke quickly engulfs the minion. Jack tightens his grip, ignoring the numbness and thrusts their hands in the air. The smoke blows away to reveal black, blue, gold, purple, pink and a wide smile.

The Prince, grips Jack’s hand and pulls him in, wrapping his free arm around Jack’s back and holding the performer close, chuckling gently. He mutters something but Jack doesn’t hear it, brain frozen in shock.

He did it.

He actually did it.

[toreii]

✨Book 6 chapters 66-67 tips✨

I keep seeing people worried about this portion of the episode with book 6 coming soon. So, this is how I did it with the bare minimum of effort. Of course, there are better methods out there than my own. But, I went in blindly not knowing what was to come. I realized I had a problem, so what was I to do? Grind. A lot. Every two and a half hours, three rounds of lessons, every day.

Spoilers below the cut!

These are my three teams for chapter 66. I really should have put more thought into the characters I picked. When I realized my mistake, I decided this would be the hill I would die on. Boy, did I suffer. That said, I realized a few things as I was grinding, and then running off to lose against the Titans.

For chapter 66, your cards should at least be around lv 40. As you can see, I didn’t give Azul or Floyd much love, and I definitely ditched Trey after this chapter. But, at the bare minimum, I had my cards in their 30s.

The Titan for tower 3 likes to inflict fire damage to your life during your standbys, so bring someone that can heal. Preferably on all your teams, but definitely on the Riddle/Azul team.

Duo magic✨ Obviously, having SSRs will be a life saver. But, you can also be like me with Leona and use an R card.😂 I tried having at least an SSR that I could duo magic with to deal extra blows.

Max buddy levels. Make sure your buddy levels are as high as they can be. I will say this, Alchemy lessons will be your life if you are unprepared. So, while you grind for those books and notepads, get your buddy levels up.

The most important tip: magic levels need to be at lv5!! Again, you want to deal those extra blows. The sooner, the better.

Groovy all your cards. Even the R cards if you use them. This needs no explanation. You want that extra ATK and HP boost.

Study the phantom titans attack patterns. I eventually caught on as to how each Titan attacked, and it helped tremendously at picking the right attack against them. If you make a mistake, that’s fine. Try to keep it at one. Messing up twice is a bit too much, but still doable. Three, you might want to restart the battle.

I was mostly saying this to amuse myself, but survive. Survive during this chapter, and you will make it through.💖

For chapter 67, I mostly kept the teams the same. As I mentioned before, I dropped Trey and brought Idia on my Azul/Riddle team hoping to make a difference. Ahahaha….no.🥲 The tips for chapter 67 are basically the same. In this round, however, your card levels should at least be between levels 50-55. Preferably in the 60s.

As you can see, I eventually leveled up Silver to 62. I pushed Vil at level 72 at the time because I kind of grew a little desperate.😆 However, Vil only became useful to me when I unlocked his water magic at level 5. This is why I say it’s important that you do this. Aside from these two, you can see who my main twst team is. They were already in their 60s.

I spent a lot of saved resources. Books, notepads, starshards, gems, honeys, waffles, cupcakes, etc. Overall, this took me about two months to beat. It was basically trial and error, but it is doable so long as you put in work. There’s plenty of time before this part of the story comes. So, think about the cards you’d like to use, and work on them.

Remember! You can change your mind about which characters you will use, but if you make any changes in the midst of going through the towers, you will have to start all over again from the beginning. So, pick your characters wisely!!

I hope these tips bring you a little peace of mind. But, you know, twst recently came out with those reset tickets to make things easier. I haven’t used any yet. Maybe because I already beat book 6, so I can’t use them right now. I don’t know if the EN team will implement this feature soon. If they do, you have that option, as well.

Happy reading and good luck!💖

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

The last mini-game is the one that caused me trouble, I got through the first two so quickly, and then that last one I either kept getting hit or running out of time 😭 I haven't been this irritated with a game in years. Now I'm where you have to set up for the three big battles and I am not looking forward to them. I was so focused on leveling up cards that I forgot some of the cards I already had fully leveled up, I didn't level up the spells at all, and I wasted all my notebooks trying to get the newer cards' spell levels as high as possible which is fine!! but I would have liked to at least have the duo unlocked for the others as well haha

[Referencing this post!]

Oh my god, the number of times Star Rogue has fucked me up should qualify it as a rage game 💀

I could consistently clear the actual course with three lives intact (though there was definitely a learning curve). but then THE BOSS got me every time 🤡 and every time it smites you, it resets all your power-ups meaning your shots are weaker it takes more time to kill the fucker…

I found it a lot more difficult to clear the first time I tried it (in JP)! Back then, I died even more than at the cursed boat mini game . _ . But I guess something just clicked when the EN version came out, because I cleared Star Rogue in like… under 5 attempts this time.

What I realized in hindsight is that it’s SO much easier to clear all the mini games when you prioritize just finishing it instead of maximizing your score. For Star Rogue, that means just getting the power-ups and focusing on avoiding things over actively going out of my way to kill everything on screen. Memorizing the bullet patterns also helps you anticipates when to move out of the way!

… Anyway, episode 6 has a ridiculous difficulty spike and I’m convinced that half of it is because of the mini games and the other half is because of the battles.

Even before 6 came out in EN, I know there was a considerable amount of people asking around for advice because they had heard about the restrictive combat from JP players. Now that 6 is out, the struggle is still there 😔 I think it’s because we tend to fixate on our favorite characters and pooling resources towards those cards rather than spreading everything out across a broad range of characters.

I think battles are doable if you have a few OP cards in all 3 teams, supplemented by a few weaker cards with mid level spells. Having Duo Magic unlocked also definitely helps if you want to kill the enemies faster than they can kill you. Do note, however, that most of the battles in episode 6 are “defense” types, meaning that as long as you survive for 5 turns you technically “win” the battle and can advance the story anyway. (I highly recommend taking healers with you! ✨)

[dreamriordanverseunboxings]

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief LEGO set ideas

Our new family tradition is building a LEGO Christmas Village together, so naturally my brain went - Percy Jackson LEGO sets. These are slightly easier to pop out than my dream unboxings, so I'm going to add a couple of these while I work on my annotations.

Fight Scenes

I love the connectivity of some themed LEGO sets, so I'm going to lean into that a little too much.  PJO culminates in a battle on Mount Olympus at the top of the Empire State building.  So I think each battle set should stack to be a floor on a giant Empire State Building (some can combine, think 4 floor tiles wide)

Book 1 gives us a bunch of fun fights.  Spoilers for book 1 and maybe for the series?

Nancy Bobofit and the fountain/Fight with Mrs. Dodds/Fury

Percy in Yancy clothes

Mr Brunner/Chiron in chair (he should have a red umbrella and a book)

Grover in hidden leg form?

Mrs Dodds/Fury (I'm not sure if this is a doable transformation or just two separate minifigs, my lack of LEGO knowledge fails me here)

Nancy Bobofit

Split this - fountain outside on one side, then stairs and a wall to room decorated with big marble frieze of greek gods for the Fury fight.

the fountain should have "grabby" water or moving tentacles of water somehow, the inside should have some sort of moving component - maybe the fury flying with her wings on clear posts

4 tiles wide for the set, 2 for each mini location

Fight with the minotaur 

Sally Jackson, Percy, Grover with satyr feet.  Percy should definitely have a bag with blue candy or cookies in it and his sword

Minotaur with removable horns

The car should be in this, able to be broken by lightning bolt, somehow incorporate the lightning bolt

Thalia's tree, several other trees for Percy to jump off of! Falling tree limbs could be cool.

this could probably be done in 3 tiles.  4th tile for that floor of the building could be the Fruit Stand with the Fates, old ladies in rocking chairs.  Is it a battle? no.  Is it eerie and comes back at the very end?  yes.

Bus fight with the furies - this to me feels like it could jump out of my Empire State Building dream to something separate that is mainly focused on the large bus.  Percy, Annabeth, Grover, 3 furies, a bus driver and 2 random people, luggage, Annabeth's cap.  I'm not going to give it a tile size because it isn't going in my Empire State Building.

Auntie M's and the fight with Medusa

This one is getting a full 4 tiles/entire floor.  all sorts of statues, a place to eat, a place to take a group "picture", the flying shoes, the reflective shield, a way to make Grover fly, INVISIBLE ANNABETH/clear minifig Annabeth.

St Louis Arch with Echidna and Chimera

The little kid who saw the monster has to be a minifig.  And the guide.  Probably no Annabeth or Grover here.  

Plus if the wall of windows can spin or break or something to launch Percy out of it. I really want this to be a full floor/4 tiles, but also that the back half of one of the tiles is an elevator tile that WORKS and can be rigged to create an elevator that goes through to other floors, because elevators show up in other areas too.  one of the tiles on each build would also have to be removable or not feature a bunch of items on it to make this possible... but it would be quite the feature, let's be real.

Waterland Tunnel of Love ride

obviously, the trap feature, the webbing covering it, the boat and then a ramp and a tunnel leading to a jump.  Grover being able to fly again (this feature comes up a lot).  The scarf, the cameras and creepy Cupids, the screen.

Our main three are now decked out in Waterland merch

Lotus Hotel

2 tiles, bright Vegas colors, lots of flowers and games.  Some lights or slides or something should happen here.  LEGO does some really cool "retro" mini builds of their historical sets that would be fun to incorporate here.  Also historical games and minifigs

Crusty's Water Bed Palace

lots of weird beds.  2 tiles.  Crusty and the main 3.  maybe some beds that can flip to have skeletons.  Idk, this one is less fun.

Fight with Ares on the beach.

Full 4 tiles, a giant wave for Percy to ride on, Ares's motorcycle, the helm of darkness, the master bolt, police and exploding police cars.

I skipped a lot there to get to the end battle, I know... but wait, there's more.

The Underworld

Obviously the Underworld is kinda its own thing, but has some parallels to Mount Olympus.  One might even say it is like... the basement of Mount Olympus.  We see more of the Underworld in other parts of the series, but here we do get some epic introductions. The color of the bricks should shift to reflect the underworldliness.

DOA Recordings and the barge/river

This deserves to be two levels and I'm going to make it two levels in this plan here, but I'm going to say that it is only 3 tiles wide.  One tile is an elevator tile that goes down to the river underworld area on the second level.  

Entrance to the Underworld - airport security level and Cerberus

another 3 tile wide - lines and security minifigs.  Could probably get away with just Annabeth, and then Cerberus. Obviously need to add the EZ death lane too.

Cannon launcher for the ball Annabeth throws to Cerberus.

Hades' throne room

the imprisoned Sally Jackson, Hades, the backpack and the masterbolt and the pearls - some sort of lifting/rising feature would be cool here. The three in their pearl bubbles would look really cool

this would be 3 tiles and could attach to...

The chasm to Tartarus

a small set with just one tile in width, but 2 levels high.  The chasm has a trap door feature that would actually swallow a minifig.

Just Grover and the shoes?  His face should show terror.

I really wanted to include the garden of Persephone, but I want that to be special much later in Nico's story.

Camp Half-Blood.

The Big House has some sectional qualities to it.  Percy wakes up in the infirmary, they play pinochle with Dionysus and Chiron on the porch, and there is the attic and the Oracle.  Later on the counselors have a meeting space and Chiron's room is mentioned.

The forest would also have its own theme to it.  There are a lot of battles and skirmishes that take place within it, the entrance to the labyrinth, etc.  Percy's first capture the flag game and the fight with the the black Hellhound near the river would be a great set.  And of course... the claiming of Percy by Poseidon.  All could be part of the same set or broken up.

As far as the rest of camp goes - the bathroom fight with Clarisse could be a cool smaller set with all the toilets exploding.

And finally - the cabins!  I really like how they have LEGO builds where a book folds out to a playscape, and I think there is a lot of opportunity there to mix in different parts of the books and of the camp training with the living situation of the campers with minifigs to match the characters of each.  So a Hermes cabin with plenty of space for an abundance of demigods, with spots to stow smuggled items and the Poseidon cabin with an ocean theme, and possibly having training items to pull out like the lava climbing wall or archery range (from Apollo or Artemis, obviously)

Anyways, that's where I am currently at with my LEGO dreaming. Looking back at this I want to amend my "4 tiles" thought for the size of each floor to a 6 tile thought. I think I have some LEGO building software on my ancient laptop, I might play around with that a bit. OH... or 6 tiles and it FOLDS. Now I want to decorate the outside with stickers of what is happening throughout the books.

[aptericia]

Ughhhh ok so the thing about the True Vide bonus battle is not only that it’s really hard, but it’s also really boring. Each tentacle has like 1 move they do every single action, and Vide only has either 2 or 3 different moves. There’s hardly any strategy because there are so few variables to consider.

Hopefully the second half will be more interesting but I can’t even beat the first stage… someone said they did it without too much trouble at level 80 and my party is around 75 so it should be doable right? 😭 idk maybe I’m just missing something obvious

[quillheel]

@icyexecutioner // x.

he doesn't like it here. ━ this realization comes as irrelevant. expected to him; no one likes it here, and he on some level knew what to expect, but it's a unique kind of dread that pools in the pit of his stomach as they traverse the endless passages, one that makes him antsier than he should be when not distracted by battle; tuning out his teammate's chatter with disregard on the inbetweens; and it's not to say he can't handle it, he can, but...

... his eyes flick off from their upwards stare, half mesmerized for a fleeting moment by the endless movement of the ceiling above them as rooms aligned themselves in impossibly different ways with every moment, but they lock to Mitsuru the moment she speaks, half disoriented & half like the child that got caught distracted in class. they only break off to peer around at an additional sound from far off as their leader scouts ahead that he knows always sounds closer than it is, shakes off the feeling of snippy tension, takes some comfort in Makoto and Mitsuru's unshakable natures...

" I know. " Ken nods, tries to use the comment to settle his nerves that despite how it felt, this was fine; better than fine, even, it was manageable. doable. ━ it's undercut, he quietly curses, by the part of him that insists the council president only notes it because he's young, and needs the reassurance, and a thousand other reasons he desperately seeks to prove wrong. ━━ ( he clutches his spear a little tighter. ) " I'm okay for now. Thanks. " his voice is a mumble as, perhaps paranoid just for now, his eyes catch the ridges of black shapes in the dark.

... it's a few minutes before he continues,, an endless hustle of movement as Makoto drives them forward, evasive & smooth, and Ken glances towards Mitsuru once more, cautiously, attentively. he feels the need to say something, and feels his throat dry up.

it's minor, but half of Ken's mind picks & paces an anxiety something about it being unwise not to break the cotton-mouth, lest he be unable to raise his voice in battle, so he does speak, peeking up at Mitsuru from beneath his bangs.

━ " S-so, how long have you been doing this, Mitsuru-san..? From what I've heard, it sounds like you've been coming here a lot longer than most of us... " ( one hell of a headstart for him to match... )

[newsworld-nw]

Cursed by hope

"In darkish instances, will it's sung too?"Bertolt BrechtLike most of us, I did not know what to say, to not my household, to not my colleagues, to not myself. So early Monday (after the Hamas assault in Israel) I despatched a textual content message to my associates Bassam Armin and Rami Ilhanan, who I wrote about in my novel. EpiragonHe asks them how they're doing amid the horrible turmoil of the weekend.A Palestinian. The opposite is Israeli. One at Jericho. The opposite is in Haifa. Each have misplaced their daughters to violence and dwell within the holy land of ache.I instructed them in a WhatsApp chat that I believed my silence was a press release in itself. Clearly, this was an oversight on my half. And I knew it. I requested them how they had been dealing with it on a private degree.Bassam replied to me after half an hour. He quoted a poem by Mahmud Darwish: “Tomorrow, the warfare will finish. / The leaders will shake fingers. / The previous lady will watch for her martyred son. / The lady will watch for her beloved husband. / And people youngsters shall wait for his or her valiant father. / I do not know who offered our nation. / However I noticed who paid the value."Extra infoHe went on to say: “We all know that in the future it is going to occur, however the query is when; You can't occupy hundreds of thousands of individuals with out resistance, that's the root of the issue and it should be solved. "We are going to proceed to lift our voices as loudly as doable to make our future higher and safer for ourselves and our youngsters." To this point over 1,400 individuals have been killed and over 4,000 injured; We are going to see extra bloodshed and extra loss of life earlier than we see the top. Lastly peace and justice for all on this world.”Lower than a minute later, Rami, his Israeli buddy, despatched a tragic tear emoji.Their solutions impressed me deeply. They had been easy. In fact, on this specific battle, simplicity is an achievement.Bassam was saying that the warfare would finish. In line with him, peace is inevitable. Time adjustments every part. It's not true that solely the useless know the top of warfare. Who would have believed that, 20 years after the Holocaust, there can be an Israeli embassy in Berlin and a German embassy in Tel Aviv? Who dreamed that the wall would fall? Who would have thought the streets of Belfast can be comparatively quiet?Bassam isn't emotional. He spent seven years in an Israeli jail. He misplaced his beloved daughter to Israeli bullets. Nonetheless, he's a person who suits the Gramscian assemble of pessimism of the mind and optimism of the need. In different phrases, these are the darkest of instances, however Basam's obligation is to imagine that there are potential adjustments lurking within the afterlife. To refuse to imagine can be loss of life.In a manner he's cursed with hope.Rami can also be cursed for his sense of hope. As an Israeli he's conscious that the occupation has corrupted the soul of his nation. "Nothing is over," says Rami, "till the career is over." He is not stunned by what occurred final weekend. He is stunned it did not occur sooner. That does not imply it will not break your coronary heart. He broke it. His coronary heart breaks for Israelis or Palestinians or others who're compelled to go to his nation in ache.HG Wells as soon as mentioned: "The previous is the start of a starting, and all that's and all that's is the twilight of the morning." This may be interpreted in two methods, as an optimist or a pessimist. Or maybe it's higher to elucidate it as a combination of those two issues, a peso-optimistic Or perhaps a pessimistic.It definitely reminds one which the opposite facet of desolation is a type of comfort.The place does one discover consolation on this second? There aren't any short-term solutions wherever. There's nothing – completely nothing – that may be mentioned about battle that doesn't inflame one facet or the opposite.Language is ineffective.And but, it is the one factor we've got.Prior to now, Israeli strategists considered their incursion into Gaza as "mowing the grass." You go in, weed, lower and watch for it to develop again. However this time the grass determined to insurgent. He snuck beneath the fence. The fence did not work. And it by no means will.Do you've a concrete resolution? No. Federation, confederation, one state, eight states, 12 states, who is aware of? Possibly take down the financial institution, they are saying. Or discover a method to approve the hate. Hitting individuals the place it hurts essentially the most: within the pocket. Possibly, simply perhaps, you possibly can even hit their pocket which is typically above the guts.One thinks of the Nick Lowe tune that requested us: "What's so humorous about peace, love and understanding?"is correctly heard sometimes.Colum McCann He's an creator of non-fiction books American MomForthcoming (February 2024, Bloomsbury). Translated information clips.Observe all worldwide info Fb And Xor between Our weekly publication._ #Cursed #hope Read the full article

[meganuzlockediary]

Heart Gold! Gym 2!

November 28th

Being ill and off work has its perks figured I'd shoot for the next gym while I have time.

After Violet city and the last gym I decide a sturdy rock type is going to be useful for both Bugsy and Whitney. So I Catch a bellsprout and trade it in with the kid in Violet city to get a Hasty Onix named Rocky.

The journey to Azalea town takes next to no time and there are no issues. I simply focus on training and trying to get as much xp before Azalea town.

Slowpoke well also goes fine with Onix as a stong defensive wall. When it finally learns rock throw it becomes even easier to take down the zubats and such.

Bugsy I am not too worried about with Onix on the team. Scyther is the only threat and it should be totally walled by onic the rest is exp fodder. So I do start with Onix and it couldn't go better as Scyther simply goes for quick attack and 2 rock throws take scyther down. Metapod and Kakuna really are exp fodder for both Hoothoot and my newly evolved quilava.

The tougher fight that I am more afraid of is the rival fight before the forest. Gastly and Zubat arent a worry but I have no good counters to crocanaw yet. I start with Onix and use a rock throw to take gastly to half health. His curse finishes gastly and forces me to switch out to wooper as Crocanaw comes out. Forunately Crocanaw seems to love using scary face. I use slam which does very little and I quickly realise I am going to have to lower some defences. I use tail whip twice as crocanaw continues to use scary face and on the first water gun which does a decent third btw! Not wanting to take another or a crit I swap into hoothoot who manges to take a water gun. I then use hypnosis and continue to chip away with peck then switching to uproar which does do more damage. I forget that Uproar locks your pokemon in but fortunately it only lasts 3 turns, finishing crocanaw and doing a bit of damage to zubat. Hoothoot is getting low though so I switch into Onix to finish the zubat and win the battle. Tougher but doable. Tbh I think I got quite lucky to not lose any. Hopefully the luck continues to hold up.

Gym badges won: 18

Pokemon Caught: 48

Pokemon down: 11

[designstudiotonki]

Party panic review

You probably won't be able to go from bottom to top in one go without being killed by an enemy, so just make small shapes from the bottom and gradually add more and more onto it until you reach the top, then do the same across the remaining 50% and you'll finish each level pretty easily. You should always be trying to work your way through the middle of the level. I'm not entirely sure what this does to help you, perhaps gives you more starting lives for each level, but there's no penalty for doing it so it'll make the Platinum slightly easier. Set the difficulty to Easy in the options before you begin. Helpful Tips / Bugs / Glitches / Exploits Some of the later levels in each section are harder as they have more enemies on screen, some of which can shoot at you, but ultimately none of them are too challenging if you take your time. You'll complete 50 levels with pretty much identical gameplay which can get a bit grindy, but thankfully the levels are all quite short.The controls sometimes feel a bit awkward and you might end up dying when your shape cutting character goes straight on instead of left or right to join up a shape.Increasing difficulty as you progress through the levels which keeps the game slightly challenging.Very short levels which can be finished in under a minute.For the Platinum you'll need to complete all 50 levels and each one is easily doable in under a minute meaning the Platinum should be yours within an hour. Some levels have a spider enemy which walks around the solid objects, so don't let it touch you, or try to remove it by trapping it in a shape, but otherwise just carefully and slowly aim to cut the level in half piece by piece. The game isn't very difficult at all and you can take each level as slowly as you want, within reason. Yellow arrows will make you move much faster making it easy to slice the level in half, the stopwatch will freeze all enemies also meaning you can usually cross the level and avoid them and the pink star provides invincibility for more than enough time to cross the level. Grabbing a power-up inside your shape will give you a boost which will massively improve your completion time for a level. If you're able to trap an enemy inside a shape that you cut, they'll be removed from the level which makes things much easier, and the same can be said about power-ups which will randomly appear across the background. This is where some of the challenge comes in, as the enemies often move erratically making it tricky to move too far at once. You're safe while attached to a solid object but as soon as you start cutting you become vulnerable. If an enemy touches your character or the line you're drawing, you'll lose a life. However, there are a variety of enemies on each level which aim to prevent you from your objective. Your primary aim should be to cut the level in half once, then halve what's left to make 75%. You'll need to uncover 75% of each level in order to complete it, so if you were to cut directly from the bottom center to the top, you'd unlock 50% of the level for example. As you successfully join a shape, the background will be revealed and become solid meaning you can cut shapes and join it onto your new shape too. In Bishoujo Battle Cyber Panic! you'll start each level with a silhouette of a female character holding a weapon and your objective is to cut shapes into the background by moving your character across the background and joining it back up with one of the sides of the level. To save reinventing the wheel, some of the relevant parts of that post are also included here. Bishoujo Battle Cyber Panic! is a simple puzzle game where you cut slices out of the background to display pictures of gun-wielding girls.īishoujo Battle Cyber Panic! is a very similar game to Pretty Girls Panic! which I reviewed a few months back.

[kaijutegu]

hey, im asking this again as im not sure if my ask was eaten or not! never got a notification saying it was answered. if it was answered then just message me with the link because my scatterbrain probably missed it.

I was wondering about the proper way to look after a tegu. ive heard you're supposed to have a separate room for them that has substrate, UVB, hides, etc., and that although they can roam they cant live like a dog or a cat does in a house. what's your wisdom on this? if the internet is correct im interested in the setup you have for kaiju!!

I REMEMBER YOU the original answer is buried in half-finished drafts! This is the problem with me: i want to talk about tegus all of the time but my ADHD says “yes but what if you talked about A MILLION OTHER THINGS” and unfortunately sometimes that means I have… look, my drafts are a hot mess. Let’s leave it at that. But now it’s almost 5 am and I have BOUNDLESS ENERGY so let’s! do! the basics!

So! Tegus should not have their own room. They should not free roam full time in your house. Here is why:

You are a human being and you cannot maintain 80% humidity and 120 degree surface temperatures in your human house. If you try this, you will have severe rot. The portion of the house you attempt to keep that humid will fall apart. You MIGHT be able to do this in a basement with a drain, but honestly even then it’s just not worth it because you are still going to have hella lighting problems. See, rooms are built for humans, meaning high ceilings. But to properly use a UV light for reptiles, it’s got to be much closer to them so they can actually absorb the UV! more on that in a sec.

Tegus need an enclosure. You can do a big ol’ melamine/pvc one, or you can use a grow tent. I use a grow tent. I HIGHLY recommend grow tents for tegus because grow tents were designed to keep heat and humidity in. They weigh less than pvc/melamine and they come in lots of different sizes. You will not be fighting a losing battle to keep the substrate damp in a grow tent. And you must have substrate! (Another thing you… probably don’t have in your human house is a foot-deep floor of mulch.) Reason for this: Tegus burrow and they sleep in those burrows. They need to be breathing warm, wet air at night. It’s how their lungs stay healthy.

(Now: if you live in, say, Fl- no wait they’re illegal there

California, southern California. If you live there, you could do an outdoor enclosure OR if you had a porch, you could basically give over the porch to the tegu… provided it’s the kind of porch with waist-high wood paneling, because they will bust RIGHT through window screening. You’ll still need to give them a giant pile of dirt in which to burrow, but if the climate is right, this sort of thing is doable.)

Tegus also need access to UV lighting for several hours a day! This is so that they can properly digest their food. But tegus are often stealthy animals who want to hide under your bookcase, so even if you HAVE a hot spot with a UV lamp set up, you cannot guarantee that they will use it- and you cannot explain to them that they need to sit under this specific light or else they will die. So you gotta contain them! It’s for their own good!

And no, putting UV lights in all your fixtures won’t work. The light can only be 12-18 inches away max from the lizard, otherwise the rays are too weak.

That said: your tegu will be so, SO much happier if you let them out to explore and to hang out with you. Tegus are not social like we think of social mammals but they benefit enormously from spending time with people they trust. It helps fulfill their intellectual needs- they need to have things to get into! There’s a huge evolutionary benefit for curiosity in tegus because they are omnivorous scavengers, and an innate willingness to try new things often means they can access food sources other animals cannot. And it helps them feel secure, and that’s a big deal. Tegus aren’t domesticated. We didn’t selectively breed them for friendliness, and so every interaction we have with them can be an opportunity to help build trust. At this point, I can do virtually anything with Kaiju because she’s learned that she can trust me. That’s a big deal, and it couldn’t have happened if I didn’t let her out and interact with her a lot.

So. Compromise! Make time each day to hang out with your tegu, but make sure that they’re sleeping in their cage, and that they’re in their cage after they eat. Also make sure they don’t get cold. I’ve found that it’s better to have multiple short outings each day rather than one big long one.

Does that cover it? Lemme know, I can answer more!

[saphirered]

Ah I just read like 5 of your head cannons they're amazing! Could you write about the M9 reacting to a fighter s/o using magic for the fist time, and the s/o explaining that they haven't used it cause it scares them?

Thank you so much ☺️! It turned out a bit longer than I intended but more content is good right? I tried to get some variety in the types of magic users to kudos to anyone who figures out the (sub)classes. Thank you for requesting and I hope you enjoy this one 😘

Caleb:

Caleb, observant as he is caught on the fact you had more knowledge of the arcane than you let people believe. You knew things someone not schooled in some kind of magic wouldn’t have the faintest clue about. It may have left him a bit suspicious of you in the beginning but over time he saw no malicious intent or a connection to the people he’d rather distance himself from.

The first time Caleb noticed you cast a spell, you spoke the familiar words combined with the motions to deflect a hit from an enemy mid battle that otherwise might have been the death of you. You thought no one had noticed but Caleb had, and he recognised the shield spell you used. He saw you flinch the moment you cast it and fear in your eyes as if you were waiting for an aftermath. It never came but you were on edge for the next few hours.

Approaching you after noticing you were still on edge, nervously fidgeting with a coin in your hand to get rid of the more obvious jitters, you denied all claims. If Caleb is good at anything it’s providing a verbal slap in the face through reality check and calling out your bullshit. He wouldn’t press for answers because your past is your past and he had no right to demand it if you were not willingly offering it.

It took you some time but you came clean. You told him how your relationship with practical magics is destructive and hurts people. Because of that you vowed to distance yourself from magic altogether but sometimes you slip and hope no one notices and no ill effects follow you casting any spell. Caleb understands, better than anyone perhaps. He admires your restraint and capability of stepping away from the thing that causes you so much pain; something he never could.

If you’re able to and with your consent Caleb would help you work through your fears, only for your own wellbeing because one thing is undeniable; your magic is part of you and if you never learn to live with it, that it is part of you, you might never be able to accept it. What happens when you’re unable to fear the magic? Will you instead turn to fear yourself like he had himself for so long? No, if he can spare you a fate like that he’d do anything.

Beau:

You never hid the fact you were schooled in the arcane. It just never clicked you are actually a very capable spellcaster especially donned in battle worn armour and your tastes for sharp edged pointy things, and a ‘will cut a bitch’ attitude whenever someone comes for you or those close to you.

Perhaps a little ashamed to admit the first time Beau actually saw you cast a spell it was a simple mage hand cantrip. You couldn’t reach a book on a high shelf at the Archive and you thought it disrespectful to physically climb the bookcases to get it. Beau may or may not have been watching you, more like admiring your muscle. Nothing better than a strong, gorgeous ripped bookworm. Mouth agape you caught Beau staring. You had to snap her out of it. Beau had a million questions, maybe half of them flirty. You answered her questions best you could, even the flirty ones but when it got to where you learned magic you sort of just shut down so she dropped the subject. Beau knows how to read the room no matter how much she might want to press for answers. She’ll refrain. For now.

This doesn’t mean Beau drops the subject entirely for all future reference though. She’d leave hooks for you in case you’d be in a more talkative mood and grow frustrated when you ignored or brushed off the so-many-eth attempt to get you to spill some beans. One day she sat you down, giving you one more chance to tell her what’s going on. If you wanted to tell her, you could. If not, she’d never ask again or try to get you to talk about it.

That’s when you broke down, explaining all the terrible memories of your ‘studies’. You were the only child in a long line of powerful mages to barely be able to cast a cantrip growing up. You were a disappointment and disgrace to your family. Rigorous hours practicing and studying from dawn til dusk without breaks. Not being allowed to go outside and play with friends until you got this one thing right. Nevermind the fact that your family let it be known you were a disappointment.

You’d been working hard already to break the circle but couldn’t prevent the bad memories haunting you every time you felt like you had to cast a spell. No matter how far you ran, whenever you reached for the components, spoke the words or performed the somatics, you were hit with a sense of incompetence. Beau’s not unfamiliar to the need of living up to the expectations of family. She’d be there for you if you wanted to take up magic on your own terms or distance yourself from magic entirely.

Fjord:

Didn’t have a single clue you were magically inclined. But to be fair you never gave anyone a reason to believe you were. You were born with magic and you had seen what developing those abilities had done to others like you. You like yourself the way you are and would very much prefer not to fall into the servitude of some evil entity in the hunger for more power.

You’d seen Fjord spiral into the clutches of his patron and saw him struggle to get away from the leviathan. Ritualistically you tapped into the power bestowed upon you to search for a way to break the pact between warlock and patron. Of course it was doable and your powers could show you the way but you needed to get stronger first…

Fjord grew worried. You’d begun talking to yourself, spending nights awake and an odd sense of paranoia had grasped you. A storm hit once and you had nowhere to shelter. The little voice in your head came back. You could stop that storm. All it would take is a little tiny taste. When you agreed you had no control over yourself. Hand held up to the sky, eyes white and skin ashen, a bright light emitted and the clouds disappeared. Needless to say this did not go unnoticed by anyone.

Obligatory endless questions. Obligatory none answered. You retreated within your shell choosing to ignore your surroundings and feeling the nagging in the back of your head. Fjord heard you speaking to yourself at night. Asking the skies if it was worth it. Worth what? You heard him and just because the voice in the back of your head told you not to, you told Fjord everything; how you had been trying to find a way to keep Uk’otoa at bay, how to break his connection with his patron and give him freedom and what would happen to you if you couldn’t stop yourself from reaching for more after completing that goal.

Fjord refuses to let you sacrifice yourself for his freedom. He’d rather have you fighting the evils of the world at his side than end up fighting you in an attempt to save yourself from what you might become. The two of you would work together to repress the inkling for more power and keep your powers at bay and under control. While you might want to see it differently, for the good of everything you’d stay far away from any magical forces seeking to awaken the power you were born with.

Veth:

Veth made it clear she would not understand why anyone would pass on the opportunity to learn or develop magical abilities should they be available to them. She literally spoke those words and you just nodded along changing the subject. You’d rather not lie but is this lie by omission?

It was an emergency. A fight had gone south and you were losing quickly. Clerics on their last legs, a wizard down being dragged away by the monk and Veth running in arrows blazing and screaming to protect her friends. You had to get out and none of you were quick enough at this point to all get out. So you did what you had to do. A quick expeditious retreat resulted in conveniently released magic missiles at your enemies, grabbing the halfling who got out some last shots you misty stepped your way to safety. You shouted to the others you were safe immediately knowing to keep your mouth shut for the next minute. Bless the gods the surges weren’t that bad this time.

Safely returned Veth commented on what you did. Did you take those scrolls? Did you buy that misty step enchanted item after all? Those were the only logical explanations right? Yes but they weren’t true. So you told Veth the truth. No scrolls or enchanted items were involved. Why didn’t you tell anyone you could do that?! It would have been so helpful in the past! Look how many buttons you could have helped her get!

You calmly explained her you could cast spells and were actually quite good at it one point your magic is dangerous, and the surges uncontrollable the state you’re at. While this time the reward by far exceeded the risks in this situation, you’d rather prevent killing those around you in a blaze of glory if you can. Wild magic surges are no joke and you’re so afraid of hurting the people you care about you’d rather step away from magic completely than live with the knowledge you could be the end of your friends and family.

Veth still has a hard time understanding your reasoning being prone to risky behaviour herself but accepts your views and respects your decisions. While you may not practice magic you still know it and after some persuasion, the woman gets you to teach her a thing or two. Of course all used for the good of mankind of course…. She just failed to specify who’s.

Jester:

You’re a special one. The Traveler told her so after all! He just didn’t tell her in what way specifically but you are special! That Traveler of hers may know a bit more than you’re comfortable with so you’ve been wary of the green cloak should he see the need to reveal your secrets. Luckily he cares about Jester and revealing your secrets would hurt you and you being hurt makes Jester upset so you can take comfort in the Traveler’s attachment to the tiefling.

Pixies came to haunt you in the night. They were meant to send you a message. Someone wanted you to stop running and accept your fate. Pissed off as you were you fought them off but when some tried to get away and your bow out of reach you were forced to release the bursts of bright green energy. Regret hit followed by fear. What if your patron could find you now? What if they came to get you or tried to hurt your friends to get you to cooperate? You will never be a puppet again and if a cantrip screwed this up for you….

“Oh. My. Gosh. Why did you never tell me you could do magic?” Jester exclaimed waking up Fjord just to tell him your eldritch blasts looked so much cooler than his. Guess the cat’s out of the bag… You had to prevent Jester from waking up the others to tell them you’d just gotten even cooler than you already were.

Successfully sending the others back to sleep you took Jester aside. Your hands still shaking, you asked her to talk to her god and ask him if he knew someone might be looking for you and getting close. The Traveler obliged but he wanted to hear the story behind your predicament. You told Jester everything ignoring the green hooded figure. How a being from another realm tricked you into an agreement. From then on you became a warlock.

You didn’t like being a warlock and you being stuck in such a binding deal lead to a very abusive relation between you and your patron so you did everything in your power to get away from them. Luckily crossing the planes is a lot more difficult and limits their capabilities quite a bit. Jester promised she’d protect you and of course the Traveler can be your new god so he’ll protect you too. Both you and the Traveler might not have been in full agreement with this statement. Jester understands you wanting to be far away and never see your patron again. She’s seen her mom get rid of the people getting a little too close for comfort or too attached and possessive so she knows how to deal with them.

Caduceus:

From the beginning you knew you couldn’t hide anything from Caduceus no matter how hard you tried. This lead you to just never specify anything. If he picked up on thing and asked about them then you’d answer, if not, you weren’t just going to say anything. Not even to explain yourself. Let him draw his own conclusions.

You may once have been a devout follower of your god, the one who bestowed upon you the powers you’d need to uphold their tenets but you veered from that path. Not everything is as black and white as some people claim it to be. You learned the hard way afraid of repeating your mistakes you’d only revert to your old habits in the most dire situations.

Caduceus had gone down. Jester was too far away and you were the only one able to get to him in time but you were out of healing potions. A quick lay on hands later and Caduceus was back on his feet albeit a bit confused about how you had managed to get him back to the land of the living. Talk later, he told you after seeing you mortified of what you had just done through the relief of seeing Caduceus alive.

Talk later you did. You couldn’t run away from your problems. Caduceus wouldn’t let you. You told him how you had done terrible things, hurt people because your god willed it so. You thought you were doing the right thing until you were faced with the truth and consequences. That’s when you stepped away from your life as a paladin; a vessel for your god.

You kept the sword but refused to use the magic; proof of your ability to hurt people who were worthy of redemption. Over many months Caduceus would help you see that your magic is nothing to be afraid of as long as you wield it with a good conscious and to protect instead of seek vengeance. There’s a fine line between being righteous and being just. The Wildmother taught him as much. Maybe she could through him, show you the same?

Yasha:

Whenever someone played a happy tune or began singing you’d retreat and block out your surroundings or find anything you could to distract you from the sound. Yasha just thought music’s not for everyone and maybe these songs and melodies just were’t your style. However when you asked her to please stop humming a tune while you had watch together she became a bit suspicious.

Spending some downtime at a tavern, deep in your cups Yasha was being bothered by a rather persistent asshole. On the verge of a fight breaking out you stepped in front of the barbarian and in a singsong voice told the asshole to kindly piss off and find company elsewhere with someone actually interested. The act alone made your stomach churn so you ran off.

You didn’t like controlling people. It didn’t even take a rhyme or proper verse. All it took was some booze and a melody in your head. This couldn’t happen again. Yasha had come after you to check on you and when you told her to stop, she stopped, frozen in place unable to move. You immediately dropped the accidental spell you cast putting distance between you and Yasha.

Yasha assured her it was fine and with your permission approached. A hug from the gentle goth was all it took for you to turn into a sobbing mess. When the sobs calmed down you told Yasha how you were cursed with your voice. Song and rhymes, tunes and melodies constantly plagued you afraid you’d go along with them and people got hurt because you couldn’t control your voice.

For the longest time you were uncomfortable using your voice but with your permission Yasha would help you practice. She can take a hit if you lose control badly but this fear is no good for you. She’ll play sweet serenades, some prettier than others as she too needs practice, the both of you can practice together learning and relearning the things you grew to love together.

Mollymauk:

Mollymauk doesn’t care about your shit. Everyone hides something and as long as those secrets aren’t a danger to those around you it’s all fine. Though he can’t deny being a bit curious when you snuck off to burn a suspicious stack of paper…. lighting the flame without tinder, flint and steel, or anything.

The next few weeks involved Molly trying to get you to use magic again, asking you to do small tasks much easier to complete with magic than they would be manually. You didn’t budge. Somehow he couldn’t get you to do anything. You’d complete the task the hard way each and every time. He began to wonder if he might have imagined the whole thing.

He spent the whole night tossing and turning until he decided to give up on sleep and just face you with the question to be done with it. You were gone, the light of a fire a bit away from the rest of the group. He found you watching the flames, tears in your eyes and devoid of all emotion. He’d seen Caleb in a similar state before. That’s when it hit him. This was pain, fear and trauma and you’re disassociating to get through this.

Sitting down next to you he’d place a hand on your shoulder, when you don’t stop him he’d wrap it around your shoulder letting you know he’s here for you when you need him. His views don’t change. Everyone is entitled to their secrets and keeping their lives to themselves. If you want to talk, he’s here but he’d accept your silence too despite his curiosity. Luckily for his curiosity, you told him everything. The torments of the past and the family you lost, the pain you’ve caused countless others and how you’re trying to pay your penance and make right your wrongs.

You’re glad to have Molly at your side be that to cheer you up or listen to you. He’s there whenever you need him and will take no for an answer when you don’t want to talk about something. He won’t ask for further details but will do anything to show you you’re on the right path and leaving a place better than you found it when you can’t see it.

[lananiscorner]

The Felannie Playthrough Part 16 - Anti-Magic Armor Should Count As Cheating

The Felix & Annette Only playthrough continues, with chapter 15, in which I finish another paralogue that was not doable solo.

On the first day, I had two teas with Annette and one with Felix (his birthday is later that month, so no need to waste an exploration point here), had lunch with people who still needed training and some couples I want to get paired endings for, then got some flying and lance practice.

In week 2 I finally tackled Dividing the World, Cyril and Hilda’s paralogue. This one is undoable solo. You must defend at least one of four AI allies AND a conquest zone in the Battle at the Border map, which seems designed to waste your time trying to get literally anywhere. This, time, I did manage to complete it, but three of the four allies died. RIP generic Armored Knights. I sent Annette to the left where she dealt with all those enemies that would try sneak up on the conquest zone, while Felix killed the group ahead, then went to the right to save the allied knight there. At least one of the two knights in the far center *might* have survived, if he hadn’t been stupid enough to leave his forest tile just before the enemy wyverns advanced. Also, turns out I didn’t need Cyril and Hilda in flying classes, but oh well--they make good Wyvern Riders anyway.

That same week, I also did The Face Beneath and Foreign Land and Sky. The former is doable solo so long as you get Mercedes/Caspar into mounted classes, and I got Mercedes and Caspar into flying classes specifically for this paralogue, so it was no problem. Felix got the Death Knight with a Smash axe crit. For the 5th time. The latter was fairly easy solo and is even easier with two fliers. That said, that commander rush to the exit is no joke and I ended up parking Annette on the exit tile to make sure none of the enemies could capture it.

In week 3 I completed Weathervanes of Fodlan, before I forget about it again like during my Dimitri solo run. I was half-tempted to use Crusher for leveling Annette's axe rank, so she could finally get into Wyvern Lord (she was level 41 by this point). My second paralogue for this week was Forgotten Hero. I have a  love/hate relationship with this paralogue. Love the lore, hate the fog, but that's what guides are for. Marianne thankfully became a flier, so she just chilled in the fort in the north. I ran through all of Annette's spells, one of Felix's swords and almost all of his axe on this map, before I finally got Maurice with a double activation of Felix’s crest. Speaking of Maurice, words cannot describe the horror this ability sends through me:

I am only allowed to use two characters in this run. One of them is a magic user. Anti-Magic Armor can duck itself.

My third battle that week was a DLC auxiliary battle with Leonie, to level her up a bit. I am not going to do her paralogue until both she and Linhardt are in classes with more move. Also, Anna and Ingrid became my first bench/adjutant characters to reach master classes (both Falcon Knights).

Finally, there was the battle at Ailell, another battle I hate, because:

You can't rout the map because of constant reinforcements and the map ending when you kill Gwendal.

Gwendal moves kind of erratically. Sometimes he’ll ride straight for where Rodrigue spawns, sometimes he’ll go for whoever is approaching the chest near his starting position.

The two chests are on opposing sides of the map and one of them is within spitting distance of Gwendal.

You need to talk to Rodrigue with Byleth to get a special sword. Send somebody else to get that chest near Gwendal--you won’t make it back to Rodrigue in time if you try to get Byleth there.

Hilariously one of the chests had a Bolt Axe, so Annette got help with her axe rank. That said, she only had 65% hit chance, so that sucked. Now I remember why I wanted to use swords for both Felix and Annette, even as Wyvern Lords, and why I am planning to get Hit +20 for her.

[ackercrushing]

A Little Wager

Ok, I don't usually write. If I do, I rarely complete it. I either have grand ideas that just don't come out or I read something similar that scratches that itch and I don't have to write anymore. But this little fluff nugget has been my constant daydream for a while. There are no warnings for this. It's lighthearted and fun. I suck at writing smut so I doubt I'll continue it. If someone wanted to pick up where I left off and do a shower scene, I would LOVE that! Anyway, here it is. Be gentle :)

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

It was mid afternoon when you and your squad made it to the training grounds.  Captain Levi’s squad was supposed to be done in the next half hour. You like to get your squad there early when the special forces are training to provide a little inspiration.

You choose Emily to lead the squad in stretches before they hit the course.  All the while, they’re watching Levi’s soldiers expertly soar through the air completing maneuvers it will take years for your squad to accomplish. While stretching, you hear the oohs and aaahs, sometimes shocked gasps as another soldier completes in flight stunts that look impossible.  You notice Levi, arms crossed, watching them intently.  He never has to yell out instruction or commands.  His squad is a well-oiled machine.

“Alright guys, what’s the bet today?” you ask your team, breaking their reverie.

“Isn’t it your turn to pick, Captain (y/l/n)?” asks the unofficial leader of the squad, Leo. “Besides, every time we come up with a bet, it’s almost guaranteed defeat.”

“I’m not stupid guys. The tasks get harder depending on what we bet.  If you bet I walk topless through the mess hall at dinner time, Malcolm (glancing over to the brave boy who dared make that wager), you better believe I’m giving you a nearly impossible task.” Malcolm blushes.

“It was worth a shot.” He says sheepishly. Amelia punches his arm playfully saying “That’s gross Malcolm, she’s our squad leader.”

“Anyway, I think you’ll like this offer.  How about you nail all your maneuvers I assigned last week and two more surprise tasks, and I’ll do all your laundry for a week?”  While this bet wasn’t as exciting as a topless Captain at dinnertime, it did get the squad’s full attention.  You knew some of them were wearing clothing for the second, maybe third time between washes and they stunk!  This bet was more for you than anyone.

The slight turn and side eye from Levi let you know he wasn’t watching his squad as intently as you thought. He was eavesdropping.

“But you have to land properly.  No biffing the landings!” You add, hearing groans from some of your soldiers.  More groans when you tell them the surprise maneuvers they are to complete.  They’re difficult but not impossible for their skill level.

“All right guys, I think this is doable.” Leo chimes in, pumping up his squad mates.  Some were already looking defeated, having the most difficulty with their landings. They all circled up and started motivating each other.  Levi might have the elite group, but no one could rival your squad in the heart department. These guys gave it their all every time, training or battle.

You had a way with these “kids” as you called them that few squad leaders did.  They loved your inclusiveness and your no-blame leadership style.  You made sure they knew they were a team.  Mistakes were learning opportunities, even the fatal ones. Those most of all.  And they did happen to all Scout squads.  It was just the nature of the job.

“OK Captain (y/l/n), we accept the bet!  Get the soap ready!  Let’s do this!”  The whole squad was pumped and ready.  You couldn’t help but grin and hope that you had a lot of laundry to do this week.

“Alright, it’s on.  Keep stretching and warming up!” you say as you walk over to join Levi and watch the last of his team’s maneuvers.

“Well, your team is certainly inspiring some young ones today.” You grin and bump his shoulder.

“Is that why you’re always early?”

“Yes sir, I’ll take all the motivation we can get.”

“So what’s up with that bet? Sounds like a recurring thing with you.” He asks, never taking his gaze from his flyers.

“All the motivation I can get, right?  They really respond well to the bets we make.”

“Did I hear mention of a bet that would have had you walk topless through the mess hall at dinner time?” This question did pull his gaze to you with raised eyebrows. You couldn't help the blush that stained your cheeks.

“That was never going to happen.” You outline the tasks you gave your squad that day.

“Yeah, that would be hard for my group to accomplish.” Levi smirks. “Would you like to join us during our next training session? Maybe my squad would like to try betting on something.”

“That would be amazing! Thank you!” You are beaming. Training with the elites will certainly boost your squad’s morale.

“Alright, day after tomorrow at 1pm.”

“It’s a date.” tumbles out of your mouth.  Levi briefly side eyes you with a slightly scrunched brow at your choice of phrase but continues walking to his squad for their debrief.  You are blushing thinking he might have taken that the wrong way.  Oh well, nothing to do now but show up at 1pm in two days.  Your squad was going to freak out!

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

The joint training sessions became a regular once a week thing with the two squads.  The bets initially started out pretty tame.  Levi and you lost several but when they were “Do 100 push ups” or “Clean all the floors in the barracks”, it was ok.  Neither of you minded losing those.  But the soldiers started getting braver with their wagers.

You knew something interesting was in the works when you see Sasha Braus bouncing on her heels and clapping her hands before you both even make it over to them.

“Alright Sasha, what do you have for us today?” Asks Levi, arms crossed and one eyebrow raised.

“Ohhhh, this is a goooood one!”  Her voice quivers with excitement.  “If we complete all our maneuvers flawlessly, landings included, Captain (y/l/n) has to do 10 push ups.”  She’s so excited, she can hardly continue.

“Sasha, that’s not a challenge.” You add, knowing there has to be more to it. You notice Jean, Conny, and Eren look slightly uncomfortable.

“That’s not all!  With every push up, you and Captain Levi have to KISS!”  She literally squeals. Your eyes grow large.

“Sasha, that only works if both parties are consensual.”  You roll your eyes, knowing Levi will not agree to this.

“What do you mean Captain (y/l/n)?  You wouldn’t consent to that?”

The phrase you could hear a pin drop is very apropos in this moment as all eyes are on Levi with gaping mouths.  You could swear you heard the wind of heads turning.

“You mean to tell me YOU consent to that?” You ask incredulously.

Levi takes your arm and pulls you aside.  “The task fits the bet, right?  Here’s what we’ll have them do.”  He outlines his plan and the butterflies in your stomach still. But you’re not sure if you’re relived or disappointed knowing your squad will definitely not be able to pull this off. Were you hoping to lose this one?

“Perfect. Let’s tell them.” You grin.

You both walk back over, and Levi lays out the maneuvers they’ll have to perform in order to win the bet.

They are obviously shaken but the elites take the young ones aside, and after a 10-minute pep talk and possible strategy session, they return and accept your conditions. Is this task as difficult as Levi thought? They seem pretty confident. "We accept!" Sasha yells.

Levi looks at you and winks. “Alright, get going then.”  In pairs, the two squads enthusiastically enter the training arena.

The last teams are nearly finished.  You look over at Levi nervously.  All the pairs assigned to you were flawless.  How could that be?  The elites really were inspiring, but you realized you might have been going a little too easy on your team.  What a sight to behold.  And your squad was so proud of themselves.  You would have made a bet to kiss a titan for this!

Levi’s mouth is agape as he slowly turns his head to look at you.  You both just stare at each other in disbelief, his expression saying everything you needed to know.  His group was flawless as well.

“Holy shit.” You mumble under your breath, heat now creeping up your neck, your palms sweaty already.

Levi regains his composure, that cool mask of confidence back on his face and in his stance.  He strides toward you looking way more collected than you feel.

“Alright, new strategy.” He says, a sneaky glimmer in his eye. “They didn’t say what kind of kiss, right?”

You pause for a second, realizing what he’s saying and your breath that you didn’t know you were holding is released in a relieved sigh. Is relieved the right word?

“I know where you’re going with this.” You say shaking your head.

“Every time you lower yourself, I’ll turn my head and you kiss somewhere on my face.  Forehead, cheeks, nose.  We’ll keep them guessing.”

“They’re going to be so mad!”

“They should have thought of all the loopholes before they finalized the deal.” Levi stated coolly with a shrug.

Sasha, back to bouncing and clapping, yells “Ok you two!  Assume the position!”

"This is stupid.”-Conny

“I don’t think I can watch this.”-Eren

"Why does Captain Levi get to do the kissing?" -Jean

Meanwhile the girls are giggling messes of anticipation.

Levi lies on the ground, hands casually behind his head like he’s relaxed and getting ready for an afternoon nap. Huh, to feel that relaxed right now. You crawl up his body, your knees straddling his hips and your hands to either side of his neck. Hoots and hollers from the two squads do not help the blush on your face. You raise to plank position, then slowly lower yourself.

Levi’s head remains still until the last second, then turns to the right, offering his cheek for the first kiss.  You lightly feather his skin with your lips before returning to plank.

“Hey, that’s cheating!” Sasha sounds so defeated.

“You didn’t specify what kind of kiss Sasha.  Let this be a lesson to you.  Negotiate better next time.” Levi says smugly. “I want to hear you count!  That was 1, 9 to go!”

The next 4 kisses were met with increasingly under enthused counting as the cheek, nose, and forehead barely-there-pecks were administered.

At the start of the 6th, Levi says to you “My turn.”  Your eyes narrow in confusion and he clarifies “I’m going to kiss you now. Move however you prefer.”  You nod, really just wanting this to be over with. You agree with the squad that this is underwhelming.

You move your head so kisses land on both cheeks, your forehead, and your nose.  Time for the final kiss.  As you start to lower your body, Levi removes his hands from behind his head and places them on either side of your face.  Your eyes widen when he says “Let’s give them a little something more, huh?” You feel those butterflies again as you nod your head in agreement.  And time passes in slow motion.  You continue lowering until your lips meet Levi’s.  At first, the kiss is just a brushing of your lips together.  Levi gently pulls your face away just a bit to look you in the eyes, then lowers you again, this time kissing you properly.  You can’t feel anything else.  Your body feels weightless.  His lips part and his tongue grazes your bottom lip.  You open your lips to him and the kiss deepens, tongues swirling and gliding together.  There’s no one else here but the two of you.  The gasps and cheers from the combined squads don’t reach your ears. You have no idea how long this kiss lasts but you can honestly say you don’t want it to end.

The only thing to break the spell is Eren saying “Geez, are they going to come up for air?”  Levi reluctantly pulls away after a few more brief kisses.  You slowly raise your body, as your eyes open and lock with Levi’s.  “Damn” he mutters softly.  You can’t help but grin a little as you complete your final plank.  You blink your eyes a few times, trying to rid yourself of the spell Levi’s put you under.  You push up to your feet, face flushed and lips swollen.  You offer a hand to Levi, who takes it, even though he doesn’t really need it to get off the ground.  Once vertical, you expect him to release your hand, but instead, he intertwines his fingers with yours and says “Ok kids, show’s over.  Hit the showers.”  The soldiers don’t miss the fact that you’re still holding hands as they depart.  Sasha and Mikasa keep looking over their shoulders, hoping they won’t miss anything else.

Levi whispers in your ear “What do you say Captain?  Ready to hit the shower too?”