#lungmen guard department

[coldgoldlazarus]

How do you feel about the LGBT Guard Department polycule for the ship opinion bingo?

Ooh, this is an interesting one. While they're not my favorite of Rhodes Islands's many polycules, I do still find them pretty interesting on the whole, even if my opinions of them are admittedly not as deep as it prolly could be. It's held back as ever by my progress through the main story being basically at a standstill in Chapter 6, my history with keeping up with Events being just generally really spotty, (the relevant part here being that I've missed out on Dossoles Holiday until it gets added to the permanent sidebar) and my memory of what I have read in either case being a bit fuzzy around the edges.

Still, based on what I have seen of them so far, and bits and bobs I've picked up about where things are heading, I want to see more of them.

Breaking this down into the component ships...

Hoshi/Ch'en: Basically Canon, They're Sweet, Oh The Devotion, They're Exes. I really like Hoshiguma, and while I have to on some level question her taste lol, I mainly want to see this succeed for her sake, because she's very clearly devoted to and into Ch'en. But while I get there is a lot going on with Ms. Cop Supreme that stops her from easily answering in kind, mentally I still just want to shake her by the shoulders and turn her around and politely command her to appreciate the people looking out for her. Also, I hear they basically break up at the end of Chapter 8 so Ch'en can go seek character development elsewhere? Which I do feel is probably good for them in the long run, but still kinda unfortunate in the short-term. :(

Swire/Ch'en: Basically Canon, Fated Enemies, They Enable The Worst, There's No Way This Ends Well, Compatible Brand Of Freaks. Oh, this is the spicy side of the polycule. I've loved their scenes together in Chapter 5, and I've especially enjoyed the fanworks that take that dynamic and just run with it. I'm curious how Ch'en's incoming character development quest may affect those dynamics, but at least as they are presently it's a pretty fun back-and-forth, pretty much the definition of Fight Fight Fight Kiss Kiss Kiss; you just know they've hatefucked in the office more than once. Also seems surprisingly stable despite that intensity, though I'm still sure Hoshi's mediation helps a fair bit.

Hoshi/Swire: Basically Canon, Not Dating Still Married. This side of things I honestly just want to see more of at present. Outside of Hoshi stepping in when she and Ch'en are getting too rowdy, I'm sure there's more to their dynamic, but I just want to see more of what that is before I can really say too much about it. If nothing else, Ch'en's departure seems like it would be good for giving that more of a chance to shine in further Lungmen-focused stories, I just haven't gotten there ^^;

Swire/Lin: Basically Canon, Color Me Intrigued.

Hoshi/Lin and Ch'en/Lin: Not Sure What Relationship But A Relationship For Sure

And then there's the Lin Yushia of it all. Basically, all matters Lin is where my lack of up-to-date-ness really shows, because I know she's an operator on CN now and hopefully soon to be on global, and I think she's been featured in story content leading up to that that I haven't seen. But my knowledge of her is still basically stuck in 2020, where I recall she had a cameo in Code Of Brawl and is the Rat King's daughter, I know she knows the LGD people and Swire in particular, and I think she has a really cool, pretty design.

So, due to that I really don't have as much to say, just that I want to see more of her because she seems neat, and just based on her position at like, the top of Lungmen's bottom, so to speak, I feel like her perspective on things is probably fairly different from the cop trio (In a different way with Hoshi than with Swire and Ch'en) and probably plays off of them in interesting ways.

[druidquest]

honestly impressive that the lungmen guard department ever got anything done when their leadership was just having bitchy gay sex constantly

[armoredisopod]

Arknights Summer Carnival 2023 Event PVs

New Operators

Bryophyta, 5* Welfare Instructor Guard

Maybe i should get coffee mint candies instead, i need to be at my 200%...

Poncirus, 5* Pioneer Vanguard

It's not my bad luck this time, it's their bad luck!

Swire the Elegant Wit, 6* Merchant Specialist

Ahem, let me reintroduce my self, Lungmen Guard Department's "Director-to-be", Beatrix Schwire~

Eyjafjalla the Hvít Aska, 6* Limited Wandering Medic

Ah Professor, give me a minute, i'm changing the batteries on my hearing aid.

I'm wearing brightly-colored charms just like my mom and dad, and i can touch the blazing hot lava with them.

Operator Skins Update

Total of 7 new skins, 6 new additions for the Coral Coast brand, 1 new addition for the Made by 0011 brand

Coral Coast

Gavial the Invincible's Casual Vacation HD26 - L2D Skin

Chestnut's Casual Vacation HDm57 - Login Event Skin

Myrtle's Summer Flowers FA062

Goldenglow's Summer Flowers FA394 - L2D Skin

Minimalist's Casual Vacation HDm74

Ceylon's Casual Vacation HD49 - Event Reward Skin

Made by 0011

Lunacub's Clouds Float Like Ideas of Art

Minimalist's skin will be up for sale during Ideal City Retrospect

Lunacub's skin will be up for sale during Trials for Navigator #3

Ceylon's skin is a reward from Trials for Navigator #3

Announced skins reruns

Ch'en the Holungday's Ten Thousand Mountains

Series V & VI Coral Coast skins

~84 other skins as part of Summer Carnival edition of Rhodes Fashion Review

Operator Modules Update

Swire the Elegant Wit, Poncirus and Bryophyta being part of branches with modules immediately gets their modules

MER-X module base effect reduces the DP penalty of Swire's Merchant trait to 2 DP every 3 seconds

SOL-X module base effect increases Poncirus' ATK and DEF by 8% when blocking

INS-X module base effect increases Bryophyta's damage against enemies he isn't blocking to 130%

Centurion Guard branch gets 2 module types

Module 1 given to Gavial the Invincible, Blaze, Broca, Specter and Savage

Module 2 given to Estelle

Reaper Guard branch gets 1 module type

Events and Stories

So Long, Adele: Home Away From Home, summer 2023 side story event set in the relocated Siesta

Ideal City: Carnival in the Endless Summer Retrospect

Trials for Navigator #3, scheduled after So Long, Adele

Operator Archives update for Saileach, Bryophyta, Myrtle, Humus, Minimalist, Grani, Chestnut and Hibiscus

Record Restore update for A Light Spark in Darkness and Dossoles Holiday

Misc Stuff

CN dialect voice for Swire the Elegant Wit

Thorns, Beeswax, Chiave, Andreana and Jaye added to recruitment

Annihilation 21 - "The Special Little Aquapit", Annihilation mission with Ideal City enemies and mechanics

SSS New Season #3, Southern Security Service - Alsterii Bellariorum Manufacture Platform & The Abandoned Lighthouse

Livestream Stuff

Showcased Eyjafjalla the Hvít Aska being a 6* Wandering Medic that provides elemental regen upon healing, increases HP of allies and reduces the amount of elemental damage taken in her range, her S1 being an infinite duration skill that lets her heal an additional target and provides elemental regen for all allies on her range (including normally unhealable units), her S2 immediately heals all allies in her range and creates a protective field that absorbs all elemental damage for a few seconds, her S3 is a global range healing skill that heals multiple times and targets random allies (prioritizes different allies)

Showcased Swire the Elegant Wit being a 6* Merchant Specialist that utilizes her own special resource "gold coins" in her skills (she gains coins when she activates a skill and consume DP during skill duration) and is able to spend DP to keep herself on the field when taking lethal damage (with the cost doubling each time), her S1 spends coins to heal nearby allies, her S2 spends coins to spawn champagne bombs in her skill range that explodes and slows enemies, her S3 makes her attacks hit twice and gives her a coin upon defeating an enemy and then when her skill is deactivated she spends all her coins to attack enemies in her range randomly hitting multiple times equal to the amount of coins spent and pushing them back

Showcased the event mechanic, enemies drop mist that provides damage reduction for other enemies inside it when defeated and fountain tiles that provides damage reduction for operators adjacent to it, when an operator adjacent to a fountain tile attacks an enemy inside mist or when a special device is used, the mist will be cleansed and enemies in it will receive increased damage

Teased a new gamemode Design of Strife, not much was revealed about the gamemode other than that it won't cost sanity

Showed the TFN#3 boss lineup

Announced the first expansion for IS#4

Showcased the ability to change the main menu UI theme, new UI themes include Dark Mode and a Runic theme that can be obtained from IS#4

Teased the next event to take place in Columbia, with the trailer being a promotional video of Blacksteel Worldwide

Announced Main Story Ep13

Announced a rerun of the Nine-Colored Deer collab, bringing a new furniture piece

Announced a collab with Chinese National Geography, bringing new collab skins

[siriannatan]

Empires Arknights AU - Scott fWhip

Is it an excuse to ramble about one of my favourite games? Maybeeeee… {: <3<3<3

Slightly lore-dumpy explanation of stuff (can probably be skipped):

Arknights - tower defence gatcha

Lungmen - mobile, modern Chinese/Japanesee style city

Liberi - bird people {reference}

Lung - asian style dragon {reference} people as oposed to draco {reference}

Ægir - fish people {reference}

Leithanien - Arknights Germany

Victoria - Arknights UK

Wei - leader of Lungmen

Lin's - old Lin, or Rat King is kinda the godfather of Lungmen underworld, his {granddaughter} is to take over after him

Penguin Logistics - a logistics company with an actual penguin for a boss

Siracusa - Arknights Italy, full of wolf-people, minus Vatican, that's Laterano, totally separate place with Sankta - angels with guns

L.G.D. - Lungmen Guard Departmen, kind of Lungmen police

Hoshiguma - member of the Special Service of Lungmen Guard Department {reference}

Ch'en - Special Inspection Unit Chief, L.G.D. {reference}

Scott was having a great day. Yes, he spent most of it in his high-rise office. Taking in appointments, and making phone calls. But at least today no one pulled out a gun on him. Just the thought of the few rude 'customers' was enough to have the Liberi's feathers ruffled. With a sigh, he calmed down and glanced at the clock. Nicely made, imported from Leithanien. He had some fond memories of a brief stay there in his youth. Not that it was that long ago.

He was starting to wonder how long he should stay, waiting for his last guest when his door swung open. An angry Lung, dressed in rather traditional Lungmen garb. Ginger hair tied in a long braid. Scott kind of hated it. Blue eyes narrowed in a glare that the Liberi met with a polite smile.

"Punctual as always, Mr fWhip," he greeted with his best 'Victorian', as fWhip called it, smile.

"Don't give me that, why did you send assassins after me this time?" he asked, taking most of the couch opposite of Scot's desk.

"I simply didn't want you to ignore my invitation, unlike the last time I sent one," Scott's smile faltered slightly. fWhip could be damn annoying. Unfortunately, he was Lungmen's best when it came to explosives and Scott's... business often needed them. "Would you like some tea? I recently received a shipment of Victoria's finest," he offered, the legal part of his business was all about trade. Less legal... also imports but of things Mr Wei would approve. Lin's certainly did like him.

"Sure, why not," the Lung huffed. He did keep his eye on Scott as he made the two cups. "You still insist on dressing like a Victorian," he huffed. For some reason, he was really against Scott's suits.

"Well, that's where I'm from after all," Scott shrugged. And Victorian clothes were comfier for him. He did not mention that.

"What did you get me to come here for? And be glad I didn't report you to Madam Ch'en. She's not let you go no matter how much Lin's like you," he huffed. Ever loyal to Wei. How boring.

"Right to the business," Scott shook his head. "Maybe I just wanted to share a cup of tea with a friend?"

fWhip laughed at that. "Yeah right. What do you want?"

Scott sighed. How Lung of fWhip. "I need help locating a certain box for an acquaintance. Miss Ling brought him here so it's kind of important. But relics are not quite my cup of tea, but then I remembered a friend who has a nice collection," he said, giving up on playing with fWhip.

"Acquaintance? Lin Yühsia? Now that's interesting," fWhip mused. 

"Mhm. I have no idea where she found an Ægir here," not that it was all that interesting to him.

"Why didn't she just go to Penguin Logistics? I'm sure they could find it easily."

"Maybe she needed some more... finesse?" Scott offered with a giggle. "They are certainly fun but I think the Ægir she dragged here would drop dead after just seeing them," he giggled setting a teacup in front of fWhip. Victorian make, of course, just to annoy him further.

"Maybe, but really... Did it have to be damn Siracusans you send? They're a pain to deal with," fWhip huffed, taking a sip. He said nothing so it had to be good.

"You're still here so not that bad," Scott did not regret sending assassins after fWhip. It always got him to his office. "So how about we leave the box for tomorrow, and spend the rest of today on..." he said as he settled next to fWhip, "...me apologising to you?" he finished, one hand resting on fWhip's thigh.

"Fine, but you have a lot to apologise for, I had to talk to L.G.D.'s  Madam Hoshiguma, I don't want to repeat that anytime soon..." fWhip sighed as he finished his tea. It was always fun to hear him indirectly complain about his height.

[bentosandbox]

Some thoughts on Chen and the summer event story (TL)

(Sees event discourse on TL) oh yeah there was this blog post I translated a while back about Chen’s characterisation in Dossoles and the writer let me share it sooo (you can read a summary here)

Overall the story feels average, there are parts that I like very much and parts that I think could be better. Lungmen group interaction is the biggest bright colour in summer! From their casual clothing to their beauty to dialogue... It's all so cute!

But the failure of Chen's characterisation is obvious. Maybe it doesn't matter to a non-chef(someone who doesn't make fanwork), but I can clearly recognise that the character I like and love is not the Chen here. From the very first time I looked at her file: "When an idealist finds out the world may not be so black and white, "Chen doesn't know? Chen wouldn't know? Chen Hui Chieh, Chen Sir, Chief Lungmen guard Department Special Inspection Unit wouldn't know?! even if you want to express this kind of meaning you shouldn't be using such silly words (not saying hoshiguma but the [copywriting]) you make her look like a hot blooded fool who has yet to experience the world.

And then the event is like this, the art(the whole chen art sucks debacle) made a group of people quit, and the story probably made another group do so. Is Chen's character that hard to grasp, or has HG given up on shaping her character just to make her seem like she's grown?

I remember the Chen from the main story, she clearly knows plenty of evil exists but is not afraid to stain herself with the blood of others, is aware of the blood on her hands, and will adhere to her own bottom line and sense of justice. Her justice is never false and empty. She will treat the infected harshly, while going to the slums to leave them some hope, she will resort to covert operations to achieve her goal, but never involve the innocent. She will firmly enforce the laws of lungmen and procedures that she approves of, and will put up a resistance when wei yanwu does more than what should be done.

"It's because I am like this, that I should see, and must see."

She will not run away or back down.

Which is why I was so dumbfounded when she rebuked Lin for sending people into the residential areas to steal bombs for the fun of it. I felt so powerless in my anger as she repeatedly emphasised her confusion and lack of understanding. I just wanted to sneer when her voice and file implied that she wasn't so sharp anymore.

I'd be disappointed if her epiphany and dissimilarity stemmed from the things she couldn't change in this strange city...were all the cases she worked on before absolutely black? Is lungmen that peaceful? No class conflict at all? Did the conflict between the infected and non infected not cause any tiny ripples in her psyche? If she was really incapable of empathy, how could she have said this line when Amiya faced Misha:

"If you want to hate, then hate me."

She will bear it and take responsibility.

"Fate is unfair."

"Everyone has to bear the consequences of the choices they make.

Infected or not, it makes no difference."

"Make your choice and bear the consequences of it."

Her incisiveness isn't reckless from not understanding the cost, it's not that she has never been in pain and does not know the severity of things, but that she understands she will be bruised and may even be betrayed, but she still wants to reach out to those who ask for help.

She will bear the consequences of her own choice.

Kindness requires a price, she understands this, but she still chooses to be kind.

Return my incisive Chen to me HG.

About the conflict between Chen and Lin. Procedural justice presupposes recognition of the process, and Chen also recognizes Lungmen's system of regulations to work there, but when it comes to Dossoles, these do not apply. They both need to re-adapt, although because of the different positions Yuxia will adapt faster, but their essential conflict has no place to stand, they just want to prop up their biases and give them a reason to be angry at each other. You could say they were trying to explore the concept of "don't follow the ways of the ones before you" But if it's just because of this that they fight, it's really easy to make Chen look quite reckless and unreasonable......

When a modern person meets a feudal society, will they sincerely recognise and adhere to their rules? Will they not live to rebel against the revolutionaries who rise up to say "bloodshed is injustice"? Even if the insurgents may not know what a right path is, or that history proves they won't improve things, it doesn't prevent the rulers from being wrong. Criticism can be more grounded in reality, such as the consequences of resorting to foreign forces, rather than saying that there should not be bloodshed and resistance.

But another thing I appreciate in the story is the portrayal of Candela, who "entertains everything and is under her own rules" (not that I agree with her philosophy), like when DDD woke up and thought it was worth writing a song about their "conversation". Candela is not crazy or absolutely evil, she does it because she believes it is the only way - the way shaped by money and desire. This is her limitation, but instead of giving in to her desire, she wants to control it completely - just as she would not compare herself to the sun. The sun is 'great', and the ideal in her heart is as well, but she maps it out perfectly. From this point of view, she and Wei Yanwu are indeed characters who can stand side by side.

Both of them have a lot to live up to. Young people have to progress and question, but that shouldn't stop us from offering applause for the previous generation that had flawed but worked hard to build the paths that brought us to where we are today. But after the applause, you'll still have to find your own way.

From this point of view, it is not inappropriate to say that this is a supplement to the (Lungmen crew's) main story, the core is very similar and a dedicated event that is not easily dispersed by the huge amount of information. It also puts several of them in a more unfamiliar environment, pulling them out to re-examine their choices and thoughts.

The subject matter and intention is well chosen, but unfortunately, as mentioned earlier, the characters can not stand on their own, the conflict is not sharp enough, a determined but also entitled and powerful person (Candela) versus a confused person (actually tequila's character is written really well), a person who only wants to fight (Pancho), and a person who just wants to follow her dad (la pluma)... and then the outsider (Chen) blanks out for a few times, and then everything is over... (is it not) too much of a farce? How could a combination like this depict a serious ideological tragedy?

My two most favourite lines in the story is what appears to be a hoshiswire interaction on the outside:

"You know what Chen would do."

"Then my answer is the same as hers."

They're the same (kind of) person after all. I love them so much. I love Lungmen.

[guilty-pleasures-and-dead-doves]

Arknights [Free Wolf, She-Wolf]

Chapters post

Chapter 5: Sex and Legacy

[Chapter 6] To have and to hold

After everyone finished eating the breakfast Croissant provided, the Emperor stood up in his chair.

"Aight, time to talk strategy for bagging Bison the bachelor. Texas, didja have a plan of attack?"

Texas tried to not let her discomfort show. "Have you ever asked me to handle contract negotiations?"

"Not your best strength," he agreed kindly. "But hey; you got the right idea. Sora?"

The idol fiddled with the hem of her skirt. "I've always been happy when you, Yith, and Croissant helped with my contract negotiations."

"Welcome," he replied magnanimously. "So, you two want me to lead you to victory?"

Texas and Sora looked at each other to gauge the other's opinion. Neither felt entirely comfortable handing over their agency in this particular matter, but neither felt confident handling it themselves. If nothing else, listening to the Emperor's plan might give them some ideas.

They nodded to their benefactor.

"Aight then: To war." He held up his pocket-terminal and keyed in a call. "Yith, deliver the message."

The Emperor hung up faster than the girls could ask, "What message?"

Their boss projected calm surety. "I sent Bison an invitation for a casual meeting with us here, in our home turf, tomorrow. He's gonna think it's a new development in our cooperation to set up the new trade-route with Nuova Volsinii."

He managed to smirk without lips. "Of course, it's actually a trap."

"Wait!" Exusiai said in delight, rocking back and forth in her backwards chair. "We're actually just going to kidnap him after all?"

The Emperor squawked a laugh. "I wish! That would have been a lot of fun. But for this, we're not playing pranks. We're playing for keeps.

"Texas don't need anyone's help to grab Bison. She could punch his V-Card before he knows what hit him."

He paused to let the girls giggle. Texas hid her face behind her hands, but allowed herself a secret, microscopic, nervous smile.

"Nah, the trick is keeping Bison. Which Eurill and the Lungmen Guard Department would have some opinions about. Even the rat and Wei would step in for such a foul play.

"Texas and Sora need to grab Bison so's that he wants to stay kept. Even if it means standing against his old man. Convincing him to do that is gonna be easier if we can get him away from Eurill and their butler, first."

In the adjacent kitchen, Croissant looked up from the dirty dishes and asked, "Might'n't they suspect us?"

The Emperor snorted in annoyance. "I cain't tell you if Eurill suspects something like this or hopes for it. One way or the other, he didn't nix any of the previous meetings, and we didn't jump his kid before. Unless Texas told him about this idea before any of you, he's not gonna know anything's changed."

"An' iffin the butler follows him this time?" Croissant asked, having put the last of the dishes in the washing machine.

The Emperor waved dismissively. "If Yith cain't distract him, worst case is we wait to spring the trap another day."

Exusiai rocked her backwards-facing chair again. "Okay, so what kind of trap is it?"

The Emperor didn't answer right away, and the girls watched his nonchalance crack in the way he crossed his flippers over his chest and turned ever-so-slightly away.

"Aight. Down to brass tacks." He didn't relax, but he at least straightened up.

"But I cain't sugarcoat it. This ain't gonna be polite or pretty." He looked around the table at all of them. "Any of you can leave at any time, but if you" — he looked pointedly at Texas and Sora — "leave every time you get uncomfortable, you're getting nowhere. Ya dig me?"

They nodded again.

Croissant spoke up, "Iffin it comes to that, Exusiai an' I can step out instead, if it'll help."

Exusiai nodded.

"Sure," the Emperor said, "But if you're smart, you're gonna stay. I'm gonna be dropping pearls of wisdom, and best to snatch 'em up now."

No one left. Croissant took her seat at the table.

"Aight. Lemme start by ripping off the bandage that hurts the worst. Croissant, Exusiai, listen up.

"Texas, you're a Christmas Cake, and Sora ain't far behind. Your best time to marry was yesterday and your second best time is ASAP."

All of them flinched to some degree. Croissant opened her mouth, but he waved her to silence and continued.

"If Bison don't want to marry soon, he can wait at least another 10 years. By then you're in your thirties or worse, and he's looking for younger women. He's got all the leverage there, and you've got none. So this is only gonna work if you can make him hot to get married right now."

He waited a moment for that to sink in, and then somehow smiled grimly. "Good news: This is the easy part.

"You're in that sweet spot of still being young but also older than Bison. You've got that 'older sister-figure' or 'upperclassman' appeal. Different blokes have different strokes, but most boys Bison's age lose their minds when older girls like you show them any interest."

The Emperor watched Texas silently relax at this.

Sora saw an opportunity to offer potentially useful information: "I think he had a crush on Mostima."

Exusiai whipped around to stare at her, shocked.

The Emperor nodded his head and then shook his head. "A little 'yes', a lot 'no'. Big difference between wanting to bone someone and wanting to 'be' someone. Bison wanted to prove himself as a transporter who could go anywhere, and Mostima had already been everywhere. He did find her attractive, but trust me, he was thinking 'role-model' more than 'wife-material'."

Exusiai found herself nodding to that, and settled down.

The Emperor pressed on. "Y'all didn't make the same impression on him, but he still does think you're role-models, too.

"Pay attention, because this'll be on the test: The same man can look up to you and want to go down on you, but no man can do both at the same time. A man's got to cage the beast to remain professional.

"That's why sexual interest from an 'older sister' hits boys so hard. They get trapped between deference and desire. Got no idea how to handle it.

"You can totally abuse this. If you two want your boytoy to touch you as little as possible, while you just use him for his money, make sure to keep him stuck in 'deference' for the rest of your lives together. Keep him timid enough and he might never dare try a divorce."

Texas and Sora started protesting, but he raised his flippers and wagged the tips up and down in a calming gesture. He then hopped down from his chair to the floor, and waddled over to the windowed wall overlooking the city. There, he could fully disassociate and pretend he was talking to the air, or perhaps his own reflection.

"If you do want Bison to give you everything he's got, at some point you've got to hand him the reigns and let him take over. Invite the beast out of the cage."

He threw both flippers up in a gesture of surrender, wavering them towards his ears like he was prepared to block out their voices at any moment. "Now, however much either of you want to bang Bison is none of my business. I don't need to know, and I don't wanna know.

"But I'm telling you that if you want the best shot at winning, you had better promise him all of the sex. Keep the promise or not, right now he needs to think that you will give him as much as he wants, in whatever way he wants, whenever he wants it.

"Remember, you need to convince him to rush into this. Overwhelming sex appeal is not only your surest method to do that, it's also exactly what you have to expect your competition to offer.

"And you two cain't think that offering a two-for-one deal will be enough." He waved a flipper at the city outside the windows. "For all we know, there's some gal out there willing to let Bison sleep with any number of other women, as long as she gets to be the first and only wife."

He waited a bit, but heard nothing but chairs creaking.

"Is that it?" Sora asked, unhappily.

====

Chapter 7: To love and to cherish

[chiemyu]

[▷ Hey, Doctor.] ////// So Arknights basically owns me at this point and I had to draw my waifu Hoshiguma... T/////T) Her voice is so soothing and I love her... despite that her aethetics usually not being my type? But I TOTALLY fell in love omg ////// My heart skips a beat when she greets me as my assistant //cri

[madexinxheaven]

@whoxyouxhate said: 💊 - Is your character on medication? If so, why? @ the mains

"In this line of work and after everything we've been through? How could I NOT?"

Seriously, no one saw the kind of things Caitlyn had seen without developing serious cases of PTSD, SEPARATION ANXIETY & PARANOIA. She couldn't even HUNT these days without being hopped up on meds. After all, the last time she went out on the hunt, she'd come back to a BLOODBATH; With every last servant DEAD and her parents MISSING. Since then she'd risen up the ranks of the L.G.D as far and the way most prolific SNIPER they had. And from INFECTED to MURDER to RAPE to THIS VERY WAR, well... They hadn't made the nightmares any easier... The meds did, though. (Kinda...)

"This world breaks people. One way or the other."

"I, uhh... Texas says I SHOULD..."

Hyperactivity, blunt impulsion and a struggle with maintaining her own attention had LONG been problems that had cast Exusiai into danger TIME & TIME AGAIN. The youthful Sankta had a whole list of bad run-ins, mistakes, REGRETS, to her record. Yet, still, for the most part, she remained UNBOTHERED -- UNBURDENED. Fact also remained that she'd grown RECKLESS, CARELESS & IMPULSIVE in many things. Definitely didn't get enough sleep at night. And had a tendency for getting herself KNEE DEEP IN SHIT. But she meant well, and had fun, and only hurt the BAD PEOPLE, right? So it couldn't have been THAT IMPORTANT... -- RIIIGHT??

"But... What's the WORST that could happen?"

"I... What exactly are we counting as medication here?"

Did they count the CANDIES & TREATMENTS that protected against FROSTBITE? Did they count the various ways she'd tried over the years to actually feel some level of WARMTH? To warm the CHILL that was in her deathly rattling bones? Or were they just talking about the medications that Rhodes Island filled Infection with to pretend like they were actually making a DIFFERENCE. Then again, maybe they WERE making a difference... And it was all just so much harder for FrostNova to see from so far away. Irregardless, the answer was: No. she DIDN'T take any official medications. But she had her own self-medications. For what they counted for. 

"I make do."

"Mmh? Oh, no..."

Shake of her accompanied her simple answer. Sometimes she wondered if she should have. Mostly whenever her personality PISSED OFF Blaze, but in truth she spent more time ADMINISTERING medication than TAKING IT. After all, she may have been a designated SNIPER, but she still was an operator working for Rhodes Island. And every last INFECTED in the world NEEDED medication. In fact, the more she thought about it... Maybe they should've been screening people more closely on a PSYCHOLOGICAL basis rather than observing their levels of ORIGINUM CRYSTALIZATION, no? Not to say they didn’t. They absolutely did. PRTS was surprisingly adept at it. But... But just like with treating the Infected, couldn’t they always do a better job at that, too?

"It's surprising, really. Or... Or maybe we're just not thinking about that kinda stuff? Maybe it's just become the new normal, y'know?"

"Medication? Me? Oh, no. I'm not any medication."

Granted, for every pill Makoto DIDN'T take she had a line in her contract with JOHANNA that all but unshackled her from the constraints of her greatest mental battles. Including her OBSESSIVE COMPULSION, PERFECTIONISM, CODEPENDENCY & INABILITY TO SAY NO BORN OF NO SMALL AMOUNT OF SELF-DEPRECATION. But then, didn't Johanna make everything in Makoto's life turn monochrome? Flirting in that moral grey area, caught between her duty as a Lungmen Guard and her own INFECTED VIGILANCE. In many ways, she supposed she was LUCKY for that. Every last inch of that self-deprecation came with another inch of herself she GENUINELY didn't like. And since Johanna had come into her life, Makoto had step-for-step came closer & closer to someone she could be PROUD OF.

"But I don't blame people if they need it. This... This world is... It's hard... So very hard..."

"Huh? Medication? What on Terra possessed you to ask a question like that?"

For once, Swire was NOT acting out of self-defence but, rather, asking very genuine questions. Albeit... She still didn't exactly ask them WELL. Confrontation was Swire's life. The bitch wore her heart on her sleeve, and her heart was big but easily wounded. To answer: Swire was not presently on any medication. She'd had her BOUTS of issues and therapies, usually when those insecurities ADDED UP, and she stopped being able to SIT ON HER FEELINGS, but largely she remained clean. At her standard, she liked to think she was HANDLING IT WELL... ALL THINGS CONSIDERED... But deep down? Well... Her episodes DID speak for themselves. (And it was usually Ch'en picking up the pieces.)

"Not right now. But sometimes life just gets to ya, y'know?"

"Medication? Hm. Sounds almost novel at this point, in all honesty. One might say, NAIVE."

If ANYONE was a poster-child for SHOULD BE ON MEDICATION, it was far and away TALULAH ARTORIUS. The girl had been broken for one or two decades far too long. & now she was FAR TOO FAR GONE. Pretty sure anyone who rallies together a radicalized group of freedom fighters to take over Lungmen & Ursus through TERROR TACTICS with a central goal of enacting revenge on the friends and family that HURT THEM as a child most certainly qualified for needing therapy. (Or maybe an ASYLUM.) Maybe if people had cared back when she was still BREAKING, all of this coud've been avoid. And, no, Ch'en DIDN'T count. How could she? What was her baby sister SUPPOSED to do about her abused sister who had been driven to psychosis by their very own family?

"We're far beyond the point of no return by now. Sometimes tells me I'm going to die before even taking one pill."

"Kee-Ahaha... Haha... Ahahahahahaha... Oh... That's cute."

Holy. Fucking. Shit. They really had to ASK that question? No. Of course she wasn 't on MEDICATION. The psychotic bitch didn't even let Rhodes Island treat her for Oripathy and she'd SIGNED ON AS THEIR MERCENARY. Of course, being feared by every last motherfucker in the galaxy kinda had some BENEFITS in that sense. Now, should she have been? Of course she should have been. Girl had one of the highest Originum densities in all of Rhodes Island. Oh, and there was the little tid bit of her being a PYROMANIACAL, MURDEROUS LITTLE PSYCHO. Yeah, that level of destructive psychotic mania PROBABLY needed a maximum security INSANE ASYLUM, let alone anti-psychotics and sedatives. But as they say somewhere else in the world: Y.O.L.O!!

"I'd like to meet the doctor that can actually make me take my pills~~!!"

"..."

Silence spoke louder than words, as they always say. And the truth was... Yuhsia was on SEVERAL medications as a result of the youth she spent alone in Lungmen after the disappearance of TALULAH and the abandonment of CH'EN & SWIRE. Would anyone really be surprised to learn that? Probably NOT, in all honesty. Mafia girl was left alone with some of the corrupt narcissist this side of the Ursus border and later forced to do all of the Rat King & Wei Yenwu's DIRTY WORK. Not to mention the sting of BROKEN PROMISES. To this day, Yuhsia had never EVER let anyone get remotely close to her. Most of all, Ch'en & Swire. Though they persisted like nagging little GNATS. But back to the question at hand... Yuhsia had developed a certain... TEMPERAMENT that she liked to keep on top of. The Rat King saw the worst of it. But she'd be damned if she EVER let Ch'en and Swire see it in the slightest. Meds HELPED with that.

"You should be careful asking questions like that to people like me. Who knows what might happen to you..."

[cerastes]

why exactly is jaye not just a normal guy? are his fish filleting skills actually signs of being a genetic freak and i'm not normal or something?

Jaye has connections to the deep criminal underbelly of Lungmen, and by deep I mean almost familial, but the thing is, he doesn't really know it. He is the disciple-slash-adopted son of Uncle Tung, a famous chef who happens to also be deeply involved with several of the most powerful figures of Lungmen's criminal world. Tung taught him how to cook, particularly sushi, but also taught him how to fight, just in case, which Jaye considers "oh, you know, the basics, just in case someone tries to start something, to defend myself" when in fact Tung taught him Ultimate Knifefighting 30000 and built his already naturally strong and sturdy Ursus body into a machine of pure shredded muscle, which is why he can just actually shove his arm up the ass of pretty much anybody and wear them like Kermit the Frog if he wants. But as far as he's concerned, he's just "good for self-defense". He has no idea he's as strong and skilled as he is.

Through Uncle Tung he is also close to Lin Kojui AKA the Rat Freaking King, the giant rat that makes all of the rules in said criminal underworld, except he doesn't know that his kind, nice, old uncle Kojui is actually the Rat King, just that he is an old friend and frequent customer of Tung's.

On the other side of the coin, he is also related to Lee's Detective Agency, as he is good friends with Waai Fu and apparently also friend or at least close enough to the agency as a whole (his own Files state that Lee's agency are regulars of his) that it was due to Jaye "disappearing" from his usual spot in Lungmen for three days in a row that got Mr. Lee himself curious about where he could've gone, getting concerned that something might have happened to him. It's THIS event that directly resulted, as per Lee's Files, in Lee calling up the Rat freaking King himself, asking "hey man, where's our collective son?" and Kojui pointing at Rhodes Island. So, it is directly because of Jaye's connection to Lee that the agency's partnership with Rhodes Island exists in the first place, after Lee went to check with his own eyes if he was alright.

Besides all of this, because of his extremely intimidating appearance -- mean looking resting face, ripped, skilled with knives -- people often mistook him for a triad, which got him in trouble here and there when other triads thought he was an outsider trying to stir up trouble, or simply, with normal citizens who simply thought he was a bad guy to be avoided. Jaye is apparently notorious enough that Hoshiguma looked into him, and what did Hoshiguma find? Well, that Jaye really, really is just a normal ass guy who happens to have every underworld connection ever, but is not even remotely aware of it. His friend, Waai Fu, being an actual vigilante that beats the shit out of triads on sight at night on Lungmen, being seen with him, only reinforces people's judgment of him, as apparently many people think he is the leader of maybe several gangs and that Waai Fu is a martial arts master under his employ, when the reality is, Waai Fu is just bros with this dude and happens to enjoy one inch punching criminals in her free time. All he knows is that she's a vigilante but that's fine.

All of this made Hoshiguma think "holy shit" and referred him to Rhodes Island not because she thought he'd make a good combatant, but rather, out of concern for the guy.

There's a bit more to him as a whole, but to summarize:

Jaye has deep, personal connections to the Rat King.

Jaye has deep, personal connections to Lee's Detective Agency.

Jaye has connections to the Lungmen Guard Department.

Jaye was taught to fight (and cook) by a personal friend and enforcer of the Rat King.

Jaye does not realize any of this.

Unlike Mr. Nothing or Shalem, who are very well aware of how very not normal they are, Jaye really thinks he's just an average cook and sushi chef, and has no idea that his incredible fighting skill (rated "Excellent" by Rhodes Island standards) is not normal citizen-grade, nor that he actually can get in contact, if he so wished and knew, with virtually the highest echelons of power on both ends of the table in Lungmen as a whole. Jaye could potentially literally just call up the Rat King if he wanted, he just doesn't know he can, and even if he did, it's likely he wouldn't, as his Files and Waai Fu both state that despite looking the way he does, he's actually a really nice guy who likes to read books and practice his cooking, and who really thinks he's just doing his 9 to 5 nowadays, except for some reason Hoshiguma referred him to a god damn Private Military Company that cosplays as a pharmaceuticals company, so now he has less time to cook in between clashing blades with Sarkaz Swordmasters and soloing Big Bob in the creepy fucked up castle that Phantom decided to go crazy inside of.

[waheelawhisperer]

Kal'tsit (visibly trying to stave off a migraine): When Catapult said "Fuck The Police", this was not what she meant.

Doctor (snuggling beneath the covers with three prominent members of the Lungmen Guard Department): ...It wasn't?

[shuttershocky]

the truth has come out, ch'en is using her policial powers to edit her own wikipedia page (operator records) to make it seem like she can get laid

Right after Talulah promises Ch'en she'll find her a girlfriend and Ch'en leaves the room in near-tears, the wikipedia page for Ch'en Hui-chieh (Former Head of Lungmen Guard Department) had its "Controversies" section updated with

"Beyond the L.G.D's human rights abuses under her tenure, Ch'en herself drew complaints from the public for her rampant sexual exploits and insatiable appetite.

One inspector wrote 'Every night it was a different woman, but when she'd come in the next day, her escort would be someone else entirely. It was terrifying.'

Chief of Lungmen Wei Yenwu, himself a highly controversial figure, wrote in his memoirs 'Never have I seen someone come close to quite literally drowning in pussy. I have no idea where she learned that from, I have always remained a man of unshakable faith when it comes to my wife.'

It is currently unknown where officer Ch'en is after her violent confrontation with Wei and the L.G.D at the height of the Chernobog incident."

[unit-zero-two]

Yesterday was a good day for staffing of my personal Lungmen Guard Department. Got Summer Ch’en to E2 as fast as I could once I got her. Swire’s swimsuit event appearance bumped her up on my list for operators to E2 so I just decided to get it over with and use her during the event. Also spurred on by the new module system. Not pictured I also got her to lvl 50, because why not?

With regular Ch’en and Hoshiguma both also at E2 lvl 50 I’ve got a fully staffed department.

[leftxtoxthexwolves]

I still remember that one kidnapping case. It must've been before the Guard Department was founded, and Wei Yenwu had decided to clean up Lungmen. This kidnapping was the big thing in that campaign. The kidnappers were really something. They had serious firepower, enough to wipe out all our detectives. If we screwed up, they would've killed the hostage and all our effort would've been for nothing. The hostage's grandfather was a tough old man who seemed to be Victorian nobility. I think the kidnappers had some reason to go after this kid and it wasn't ransom. They wanted their story to be streamed to the public so Wei Yenwu would look weak. They weren't just ordinary kidnappers. It wasn't that simple. The rescue mission was planned by Wei Yenwu and this kid's grandfather. They used a secret special ops team. It's beside the point, but that team was the prototype for the Guard Department's Special Inspection Unit. There were a lot of tabloids and novels written about them. Anyway, they pulled it off. The ringleader was executed and most of his accomplices were killed on the spot. The hostage? She was just a little girl. The kidnappers clearly didn't think about how traumatic the experience would be for her. She didn't end up seeing anything gruesome. She saw a Lungmen police officer rushing out. She saw the heavy Christmas snowfall. She saw the street lamps and the Christmas tree outside the abandoned building. That's pretty good. I hope the officers left a good impression on her. How do I know all this? Some old police officers told me about it. Everyone's really proud of that mission! Hey, don't ask me! I got nothing to hide. --A Lungmen Guard Department supervisor

[zorkaya-moved]

“I trust you.”

@nosheath 

The woman continues to work on documents, despite her laid-back and silly outer personality, Doctor continues to take over several department at Rhodes Island. Several medical check ups with Kal’tsit continue to be the obvious reason for her to try and see if her memory was recovering or if it was something that she was imagining with everyone loving to remind her how she was before. Was it her imagination, was she shaping herself to be who she wanted or who others wanted, and what was the ultimate truth? Her memory of these days continues to be present, she wonders over some questions that do not leave her mind ever since everything that transpired. Theresa, Priestess, Kal’tsit, Amiya, Rhodes Island, Babel... The list could go on and Doctor Sokolova could easily get swept away, but she wonders if others truly believe her or if they remain here because of their own agenda. It was everything, everyone was here for their own reason. She did not believe even one bit that some figures were here out of trust and genuine interest. There were politics, there were deals, there were those who were here because they were noble than others or there were those who had nowhere to go. 

This is why Ch’en’s words make the pen stop and Zarina look up at the other. Their discussions were taking over the last few hours, working with documents and discussing the current state of Lungmen, infected, and those who affected by the recent events. From work louds to now more emotional conversations. The jaded inquiry over who would trust an amnesiac doctor was surprising to hear in such earnest and serious tone. Golden eyes gleam with a genuine surprise as they look up at the operator. Ch’en was not one to joke around about these things and it made the answer all the heavier. Zarina opened her mouth to speak but closed it immediately, looking down at her final signed document. The coffee mug next to her was already empty. Wht a shame, she could’ve used it to extend the silence as her brain was trying to come up with an answer to this declaration. Would words of gratitude be enough? Are they even needed? They went out to battle together enough to build this trust, but it still made the doctor feel sudden heaviness. 

“ If you say so, ” she replies curtly, smiling without knowing it as she looks down back at her documents. It feels heavy, but it also feels nice. To be trusted for her skills and for her knowledge, even if her memory was not there. Ch’en did not push the image from the past that others had seen. If anything, she continued to be the same hard-headed and straightforward guard from Lungmen that never lost her spike and her sharpness. It made the declaration that more important for Sokolova. “ I’m glad to hear that, Ch’en. Genuinely so. ”

Despite the laid-back nature, she was still as sharp as before. No, perhaps, not as she was before her memories were till there, but it was enough to sense mercenaries when Amiya did not. It was enough brain power to figure out a complicated formula that got them out of the catastrophe. It was enough to continue fighting. It was enough to find a cure with enough time. She was sure of it. The survival of Rhodes Island and everyone here, it all rested on everyone’s shoulders, but she took particular attention to everything as this was the only place she knew and remembered now. Was this why Ch’en would trust her as well? Because it was so important to Doctor’s mind and heart? 

“ I trust in your skills and your leadership to continue to help everyone here improve and remain organized, Ch’en. And I trust in your judgement, it means a lot to me that I have your trust despite my occasional tomfoolery. Shall we get out of this office for a bit? We’ve finished with our current work. Let’s check out how the training is going, ” she says before gathering all documents in one pile and getting up. Kal’tsit will need these, they must move quickly. Ch’en would notice the small smile still playing on the Doctor’s face as she walks past the other, it’s the evident of how nice the words still ring in the woman’s head. Trust was hard to achieve from someone like Ch’en, it felt like a reward for all hard work. It was acknowledgement. 

[johannstutt413]

(based on this image)

Midnight - a dangerous time of night in Lungmen, truth be told; the gangs came out in force, the shopkeepers that stayed open went back to selling goods at full price for a last-minute scalp off the top, the good restaurants closed and left the fast food shops to rule the night. It was a lawless time, barring those shining pinnacles of order, the Lungmen Guard Department, who fought for what peace on the streets that could be found there...Now that she was a full-time Operator with Rhodes Island, however, midnight was Hoshiguma’s me-time.

After Ch’en had left the force to pursue Tallulah personally, it’d been tough to choose between sticking it out, hoping she would return, or leaving the Department and its deep-set disorders for the greener pastures of the PharMaCeutical company she’d been cooperating with while engaging the Reunion threat to the city. A couple of things had led her to choose the latter: better benefits, more kinship with her fellow shield-wielding Defenders than the average Lungmen security forces with their batons, massively discounted booze on tap at any hour of the day or night for when she was getting off a patrol shift at an awkward time, and a personal request from the Doctor for her to consider staying on with them after they met at one of RI’s 24-hour diners. It’d been a few weeks, give or take, and so far she wasn’t regretting that decision. Of course, there were one or two things she’d taken for granted about the streets that were rearing their ugly heads again.

“Come on, you’re sure you’re not interested?” A heavily-intoxicated Forte, having just lost a drinking contest with the Oni, had also just finished making a fool of himself by asking her to spend the night with him. “They don’t call me the Iron Bull because I’m rusty under covers, ya know.”

“I’ll pass, thanks. Someone take him to the dunk tank for me?” A couple of her other admirers, not a single one lighter than 200 pounds, took on the task. She sighed before returning to the barrel of whiskey she was nursing and the steadily-mounting annoyance with these strongmen she kept attracting.

Was it so hard to ask for someone dainty? Ch’en was better, at least, because you’d never guess how strong she actually was with her build, but all these muscleheads wanted a girl who’d compete with them, and frankly, that just wasn’t her scene. Hoshiguma wanted someone light on their feet, someone she could carry around when she wanted to, someone whom she could protect even if they weren’t exactly a terrible fighter themselves.

Someone, as she realized, like the white-haired Anaty who tapped her on the shoulder not too long after that brief altercation. “They’re bothering you?” ShiraYuki asked, her voice reaching the Oni’s ears as if carried on a light breeze. Her arrival alone was enough for the goon squad to leave.

“Enough to say yes, not enough to leave without finishing my drink.” Hoshi gestured to the stool next to her. “Mind sitting down for a chat?”

“...” She sat down.

A woman of few words. That was more than alright with her. “What’re you drinking? I’ll buy.”

“Miiju, warm, shallow.” ShiraYuki caught the bartender’s eye as she said this, and they immediately set to work. “Transfer from LGD?”

“Yeah. Never thought I’d be the first to make the switch, but Swire has a few things she wants to do, and Ch’en...I don’t know her as well as I’d thought, I guess.” The Oni filled her glass from the barrel on her left and downed it in one long gulp.

Her guest nodded. “Fair. Enjoying it?”

“Mostly.” She glanced at the knuckleheads moping in a corner. “A couple complaints, but nothing new to RI.”

“They admire your strength.”

Hoshiguma nodded with a sigh. “That they do. Not my type, though.”

“Hmm...all muscle, no brain.” The Anaty looked into her eyes for a moment, reading the soul behind them. “One with both seeking one to offer them to.”

“Well said, but it’s a bit more simple than that.” It was good to know she was following, though.

The ninja looked to the side before her soul-searching gaze returned. “Little spoon?”

“There ya go.” The Oni chuckled. “Always thought you were the perceptive type, even for a ninja.”

“Much to see,” she replied, her eyes wandering...Wait a minute.

The smile stayed even as the laughter faded. “Busy tonight?”

“No.” Her drink arrived, and ShiraYuki slipped her mask up just enough for her bottom lip to catch the shallow dish and slip the miiju down her throat. “You?”

“Anything but.” Hoshi finished one last glass before reaching for her wallet.

The Anaty, also finished, set her ‘cup’ down and slid it forward. “90 LMD.”

“We’ll make it an even 100 then.” She stood up from her stool and stretched. “Only the one, though?”

“Much more and amnesia sets in...I want to remember tonight.”

A light danced behind Hoshiguma’s eyes that she’d thought had died some time ago. “Me, too. Yours or mine?”

“Mine.” ShiraYuki hopped off her stool and held both hands out at her sides. “Lift?”

“I would’ve asked if you didn’t.” The Oni delicately plucked the ninja from the ground before whisking her away to the Anaty’s own apartment.

As they arrived at the door, though, a thought struck her, something she’d always wondered about but never dared to ask. “Your oath to Princess Fumizuki wouldn’t interfere with this being a regular thing, would it?”

“...It shouldn’t,” the Anaty replied after a moment’s deliberation. “She desires a strong bond with RI, and you’re now an Operator of theirs.”

“And if I wasn’t?”

ShiraYuki pulled her mask down as she answered with, “Ninja are trained to be discrete.”

[madharemuses]

“Now, naturally Penguin Logistics has associations with Rhodes Island, but who are their other associates? Let’s see...”

“MountainDash Logisitcs? Okay, that seems normal enough. One of their couriers is an intern with them and is acting as an operator at Rhodes Island. I’ll have to speak with him later then.”

“The Lungmen Guard Department... Lady Ch’en? That’s a pretty high profile association. Might be hard to get an interview with them.”

“The Rat King... I have no idea who this is, but apparently they’re affiliated with Lungmen. Perhaps a club owner of some kind?”

“The Laterano... parole office? What? This doesn’t seem like it has anything to do with Exusiai, she’s a model citizen most of the time... wait, wasn’t there another on their payroll? I’ll have to look into that.”

“And...”

“...the Syracusan Mafia? Ah... oh dear. That... well this just got complicated. And this last association from Syracuse...”

“Wait, this person is a serial killer! And they’re a Rhodes Island operator?! What the hell?!”