#third colossus

[comicwaren]

From Wolverine Vol. 7 #048, “Alone Together”

Art by Cory Smith, Oren Junior and Alex Sinclair

Written by Benjamin Percy and Victor LaValle

[donnatroyprincessofthemyscira]

Art Credit to Lukas Werneck

[thisvisionofmyspirit]

one of my favorite sensations in the world is seeing someone live for the first time and realizing how fucking tall they are so let's just say my first sleep token ritual, whenever that is, is going to be An Experience™

[flowerkidlove]

waaaa I really wanna play Ico but it's only on older consoles I don't have

Isn't That Just Great???!!!!! wanna hear something even better??!!!! you can play ico on ps5 but only if you give them $130 for a years membership X3c (sarcasm)

i would recommend an emulator, but i don't know enough about emulators to do that, ps3 ico games are about 10-20 dollars and ps3's go for around $100-$200!!!!! so cool so cool so cool so cool so cool so cool :( (even better news! ps5's are backwards compatible, i think all consoles should be that, but greedy bitches don't see the point of that)

i would also recommend a walk through, doesn't matter which one! but of course you don't get the anxiety of Local Little Shithead Yorda (affectionate) following you while you're trying to get rid of the shadow creatures trying to grab her like a 1 pound dog getting grabbed by an american eagle 👍🏻

you also miss pressing the ZR button so you can hold her hand

[g4zdtechtv]

FULL EPISODE: X-Play - Trouble in Tokyo, Part III: TGS 2004

Sony and SEGA and Square, Oh My!

[facts-i-just-made-up]

Elden Ring DLC Bosses Revealed!

From Software has released a guide to all the bosses of the upcoming Elden Ring DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree! Here are the ten great monsters you'll fight in the Shadow Lands:

Messmer The Impaler

Messmer is the third triplet with Malenia and Miquella, banished to the shadow lands because for liking snakes and impaling people. Mostly for impaling people, but the snakes didn't help.

The Burning Colossus

A big heap of flaming bodies used as a weapon of war in the rival kingdom of Nausicuu, this massive beast has to be scaled and slain because that's what you do with colossi in games.

Albinauric Orphan Tear

The missing link between mimics and albinaurics, this monster throws his "husk" at the player like a boomerang. The first boss of the DLC, it guards the cave that leads to the Shadow Tree.

Godskin Brigade

The Gloam-Eyed Queen is guarded by an army of her progeny, the godskins. They bear her most fearsome weapon, the Incantation of Ganqskwa-Darengi, which makes them act unpredictably and never need to stop to let the player get in a single stab or arrow.

Godlion Dancer, Firstborn of the Gods

The murdered soul of Godwyn, son of Godfrey and brother to Godrick, Godrranq's lover. This guy has God written all over him. He also has 30 legs so he's good at dancing.

Birdmaster Tonguay, Slayer of Literally Everyone

Ever wonder who tied all those knives to all the bird feet? Ever wonder why there are so few people in the Lands Between? Meet Tonguay, murderer of all those people at the claws of his bird-knives.

Ribbitus, Priestess of the Frog Cult

Elden Ring's new gimmick boss can only be defeated by jumping from platform to tiny platform to poison the flies she likes to eat. She randomly kills the player without warning or opportunity to recover. She sings to you in French the whole time.

Metalgiir, Armored Gandamu

An occult robot constructed by Robot-Master Iji Jr., Metalgiir demands an entirely different kind of gameplay that doesn't fit or scale to anything else in the game, yet is not optional so you have to learn to beat him or you get nothing.

Ouchlord Vivaldi

Just... Don't fight this guy, he clearly has enough problems going on.

Daniel R. Clarksen

Little is known of Daniel Clarksen or why the Tarnished must fight him. He seems like a decent guy, but he probably like turns into a giant demon thing with boobs. These games have lots of those.

[yuurei20]

Continuing from a previous ask: what are easier / harder / Malleus-level magics? (easier / vague magics listed here) Part 2/4

Harder Magics: Barriers/Deflection, Complex Construction, Cleaning, Clothing, Light

Barriers/deflection:

Leona says that second-year students should know how to insta-cast barriers. The only characters who have mentioned casting barriers thus far have been the second- and -third-year students of Riddle, Azul, Jamil, Trey and Rook.

Concealment

In his third birthday vignette Vil says that, "Nowadays, of course, (he) could simply conceal (himself) with magic," but back when he first enrolled at NRC his "skills just weren't on that level," so it is possible that concealing oneself is too complex for first-year students.

Complex Construction:

When Idia sees Savanaclaw's Halloween set his first question is if Leona used his magic for it. Leona is well known for being extremely powerful, so this may be insinuating that constructing something of that scale and quality can only be done by a particularly adept mage.

Floyd, Riddle and Stitch build an entire cottage together out of magic (with Stitch's engineering skills) during the Stitch event, impressing Ace, Azul and even Lilia.

Cleaning:

Lilia says that Sebek has yet to learn cleaning magic, so it is possibly a form of magic reserved for older students. Jamil talks about using magic for cleaning in his third birthday interview.

Cater struggles with "autocleaning via implement magic infusion" in a vignette, but his issue seems to be less so with cleaning itself and moreso with "the spell formula structure" of setting up the "auto" part of the spell. Riddle says that, as a 2nd-year student, he has yet to learn it in class.

Clothing:

Crewel modifies the Halloween costumes for the students in Spectral Soiree, saying that "it's quicker to modify something that's already made than whip up a whole new outfit," so creating an outfit from scratch may be more difficult (we see Malleus do so for Lilia).

Cater uses magic to change both his own clothes and clothes for Ace and Deuce (and Grim's ribbon), and Leona mentions a spell for button repair (that he might not have actually used, but it seems that such a thing exists).

In Tamashina-Mina Jack's outfit is magically resized to fit Kalim, but in Firelit Sky Jamil explains that he "couldn't just conjure an outfit in (Grim's) size with only a day's notice," so it is possible that outfit resizing is fairly high-level magic.

Light:

Jamil, Riddle and Vil may be the only characters we have seen magically conjure lights.

Other magic types of magic we have seen in the game include: ・Water magic (unnamed students) ・Crowley's vaguely defined "tough love" (might require a magic item) ・Electricity-based magic is insinuated in Book 3 but not technically specified (Azul) ・Magic that brings stuffed animals to life (Epel, Sebek, Jade, Idia) ・Magic for braiding hair (Jamil) ・A "bubble colossus" spell (Grim) ・Lighting Magic (Sebek--thank you so much @sorrygotthesesacks !!) ・Magic to silence noises like doors closing and footsteps (Ace) ・Magic that paralyzes with a poke/slap (Eliza)

[hurglewurm]

hello basilosaurid nation i have been thinking about the perucetus colossus and his tiny little legs !

[id: three drawings of a whale-like animal. they are roughly seal-shaped in terms of body, with a round flat tail and a small protruding oval head. all three have small back legs and feet. the first, coloured purplish, has flipper-like anterior appendages. the second, coloured blue, has big hands at the end of long, wide arms. the third is greenish, and has traditional finger-less whale fins. end id]

[effervescentha]

I think I made this post before on a different account, but I cant find it anymore- maybe I deleted it since I moved?- so im putting it here :3

Made a reference a WHILE ago of all the titles Gundham has for people in UTDP/DRS! If I ever write something gundham-centric, I'm absolutely coming back to this >:3

Celeste: Ebon Witch Gonta: Colossus Of The Gods Hajime: The Singularity Hifumi: The Alpha And The Omega Himiko: Crimson Mage Kaito: Comet Racing Through the Dark of Night Kiibo: Full Metal Kicker (in the context of soccer) Kirumi: Omnipotent Servant/Avatar Of Servitude Kokichi: Clown Prince Of Lies Kyoko: Heir To The Hyperborean Third Eye Leon: Guardian with Hair of Flames Miu: Enchantress Peko: Swordsmaster of Asura’s Spirit Sakura: She Who Reigns Shuichi: Shepherd of the Morning Star Sonia: Dark Queen/O Madonna Of Darkness Yasuhiro: Charlatan/Epitome of Charlatanry

[honey-minded-hivemind]

The 🌊H2-Oh No🐠 AU has some fun dynamics, in my opinion. You have Reader, Kurt, Kitty, Todd, and Evan as the teens who end up in the moon pool, and honestly, I think they'd be a pretty chaotic friend group. You have fun-loving, food-obsessed Kurt who likes to make people smile, you have super-smart and sassy Kitty who is knowledgeable about different fish types, you have chill, laid-back Todd who is good at swimming, you have cheeky yet protective Evan who is good at surfing, and then you have Reader, who's a bit closed-off, but offers sound advice and helps keep everyone's ducks in a row...

This doesn't even begin to go into the adults and other teens dynamics, as you have old friends/possible mates? Magneto and Xavier, both who have their own pods... Best friends and co-parents Storm, Beast, Wolverine, and Xavier... Sabretooth as Wolverine's older brother who wants him to join his pod... Mystique and Magneto and Sabretooth weird friendship/co-parents situation... Then you have best friends Scott and Jean, plus Rogue, who becomes their third member and makes them a trio... You have Gambit, Pyro, and Colossus as older friends/guppies who try to babysit the younger teens... You have Pietro and Wanda being twins, who gladly drag Lance and Fred into their weird friendship...

Reader and their friends have to keep up with the attempts to either separate them or to capture them, all while hiding amongst humans and trying not to let anyone die or get eaten. It doesn't help when the adults realize they're not even 20 years old (which is 2 year old for mers/sirens), and they up their efforts to sway the others to join them. When the full moon comes around, Reader is left as the last teen standing, because the others were either forced to look at the moonlight or ended up in the moon pool, so they're all in their baby siren/mer instincts and starting to see the adults and other teens as podmates/caretakers/hatchmates... Reader doesn't want to fall prey to the moonlight or the siren/mer part of them that begs for care and love and safety... But it gets harder and harder to fight it... It doesn't help when the adults try to force them to look as well, nudging them and coaxing at them to open their eyes, to relax and let themself be cared for...

All in all, this will be fun...

[sapper-in-the-wire-old]

METI’S SWORD MANUAL

Argument

1. Glory to the Divine Corpse, o breaker of infinities.

2. I am Meti, of no house but myself. In my 108th year I am surrounded by fools. My compatriots cling obsessively to their destiny, and my only apprentice is an idiot speck of a girl with more talent for eating than skill with the blade. Therefore I have decided to die drowning in the boiling gore of my enemies, of which there are many.

3. My master was the greatest lord general to the king Au Vam, Ryo-ten-Ryam, who first coaxed me into learning the ways of turning men into ghosts. As his interest quickly turned to the wholly uninteresting and most useless parts of my body, I returned the favor and relieved him of his.

4. It is my personal opinion the straight sword is best if you can obtain one, but I also favor the sabre. The spear, stave, or club are peasant's weapons of which I am wholly unfamiliar and so will not speak on them.

5. Upon meeting me, you might find that my appearance is quite dreadful and unkempt. I have been spat upon by priest, king, and merchant alike. I have no retainers, and possess nothing except a straight sword six hand spans (five and a half kret) long (this is the proper length). This is because I am Royalty and the undisputed master of the principal art of Cutting. I will fight naked with ten-thousand men.

6. From the age of thirteen I practiced every day with the straight sword. I followed a strict vegetarian regimen, and harsh training of barefoot sprints (five) between cities, squats and breathing exercises (two bells), and sword drills and resistance training (three bells).

7. By the age of sixteen, my body was a steel edifice. I was so often mistaken for a man I began to wear my hair long with no pins and unbind my breasts. I could break stone with my hands with no effort, I could sprint between the Yellow City and the Lunar dominions in a day or less and barely strain my breath. My mastery of the sword complete, I enlisted in the Middle Army's third legion, where I was widely respected as a swordswoman of incredible power.

8. When it came time to face my first real opponent, the Colossus of Pardos, in my youthful pride and immense skill, I brought all my training and mastery to bear. Scarcely half a day passed before my sword was shattered into thirty pieces, my right leg was almost torn from its socket, and my honed body was broken pathetically in a hundred and forty places. I defeated him by gouging his brains out through his breathing valves. My thumbs, in this case, proved far more useful.

9. At that moment, with my thumbs in his brains, I had a revelation. I had trained far too broadly. Existence and the act of combat are absolutely no different, and the essence of both, the purity of both, is a singular action, which is Cutting Down Your Opponent. You must resolve to train this action. You must become this action. Truly, there is very little else that will serve you as well in this entire cursed world.

10. I hope that by reading this manual, you will be thoroughly encouraged to become a farmer.

Mastering the Sword

1. YISUN's glory is great, and you may know this by two paths, the sanctioned words, and the sanctioned action.

2. The sanctioned words are YS ATN VARAMA PRESH. The meaning of these words is YISUN and their attainment is Royalty.

3. The sanctioned action is to Cut.

4. To Cut means division by the blade of Want, that parer of potentials that excises infinities.

5. To train with the sword, first master sweeping. When you have mastered sweeping, you must master the way of drawing water. Once you have learned how to draw water, you must split wood. Once you have split wood, you must learn the arts of finding the fine herbs in the forest, the arts of writing, the arts of paper making, and poetry writing. You must become familiar with the awl and the pen in equal measure. When you have mastered all these things you must master building a house. Once your house is built, you have no further need for a sword, since it is an ugly piece of metal and its adherents idiots.

The 18 Precepts

1. Consider: there is no such thing as a sword.

2. Your stance must be wide. You must not be spare with the fluidity of your wrists or shoulders. You must have grip on the handle that is loose and unstrained. I heard it said you must be tender with your sword grip, as though with a lover. This is patently false. A sword is not your lover. It is a hideous tool for separating men from their vital fluids.

3. Going onwards, you must adjust hands as needed, do not keep the blade close to your body, keep your breathing steady. This is the life cut. You must watch your footwork. Your feet must be controlled whether planted on fire, air, water, or earth in equal measure.

4. Breathing is very important! Is the violent breath of life in you not hot? Exhale! Exult!

5. You must strive for attachment-non-attachment when cutting. Your cut must be sticky and resolute. A weak, listless cut is a despicable thing. But you must also not cling to your action, or its result. Clinging is the great error of men. A man who strikes without thought of his action can cut God.

6. To cut properly, you must continually self-annihilate when cutting. Your hand must become a hand that is cutting, your body a body that is cutting, your mind, a mind that is cutting. You must instantaneously destroy your fake pre-present self. It is a useless hanger on.

7. A brain is useful only up until the point when you are faced with your enemy. Then it is useless. The only truly useful thing in this cursed world is will. You must suffuse your worthless body with its terrible heat. You must be so hot that even if your enemy should strike your head off, you shall continue to decapitate ten more men. Your boiling blood must spring forth from your neck and mutilate the survivors!

8. You must never make 'multiple' cuts. Each must be singular in its beauty, no matter how many precede it. You must make your enemies weep with admiration, and likewise should your head be shorn off by such an object of beauty, you must do your best to shed tears of respect.

9. When decapitating an enemy, it is severe impoliteness to use more than one blow.

10. A man who finds pleasure in the result of cutting is the most hateful, crawling creature there is. A man who finds pleasure in the act of cutting is an artisan.

11. Man always strives to cut man. Therefore he who draws his sword the fastest is the survivor. To pre-empt this, you must live, eat, and shit as a person who has their sword drawn. It doesn't matter whether your blade, in actuality, is always out of its sheathe, though you will look like an idiot if it is.

12. Consider: The undefeated swordsman must be exceptionally poor.

13. The weak swordsman reserves his sword strokes. He clings excessively to his blade. His footwork is unsteady. His grip is too hard and he is afraid to crack the earth with his step. He has a shallow and wandering gaze, his tongue is sluggish and pale. He refuses to exhale the hot breath of the Flame Immortal.

14. The weak swordsman clings to victory. He thinks of his life, his obligations, the outcome of the battle, his hatred for his opponent, his training, his pride in his mastery. By doing so, he is an imperfect vessel for the terrible fires of Will. He will surely crack. He will not laugh uproariously if he is cleft in two by his opponent’s blade. When his sword is shattered, his hands will be too reserved to tear his enemies’ flesh.

15. The weak swordsman strikes his enemy down and thinks his task done. He relishes in victory. He casts away his sword and returns to his lover. Little does he know his single cut will encircle the world five times and strike him down fifty-fold.

16. The weak swordsman clings to his instrument. It is better you have a sword, but death must lie under your fingernails, if need be. Learn death with your elbows, death with your knees, and death with your thumbs and fingertips. It is said death with the tongue is useful, but I find words too soft an instrument to smash a man’s skull.

17. In manners of terrain, you must learn to cut yourself from it. You must cut even your footprints from it, if need be. Have complete awareness of each crawling thing and each precious flower, each blade of sweet grass and each clod of bitter earth, each beating heart and each being that thrums with love, hope, and admiration. Only then are you qualified to be their annihilator.

18. Excess heat and excess coldness are undesirable. Learn to read the weather.

Closing

1. It is said the greatest warrior-kings may sublime violence and forget all they learn about the sword. This is true. But the only true path to kingship lies through regicide.

2. Moreover, only the worst kind of idiot strives to be king.

3. My extreme hope is that some measure of wisdom will penetrate the thick skull of my apprentice. If not, may reading this manual demonstrate your powerful disinterest in it, and may its true value die with me.

4. Reach heaven by violence.

[pontevoix]

dear @chaoslulled, in response to : desperate  creatures  make  for  stronger  fighters.  marley  had  known  this  &  used  it  to  their  advantage.  the  warrior  candidates  had  been  selected,  they  were  told,  for  their  promise  on  written  exams  &  individual  assets  that  they  had  proven  -  at  the  gun  range,  on  the  training  grounds,  in  footraces,  in  nationalism.  they  were  told  that  they  were  the  best  of  the  best.  even  if  they  later  achieved  this  as  truth,  it  had  never  been  guaranteed.

the  warrior  candidates  were  selected  because  they  had  been  vulnerable  children.  because  they  had  to  protect  someone,  had  to  protect  themselves,  because  they  needed  to  prove  themselves  or  be  abandoned.  the  warrior  candidates  were  selected  because  they  had  the  ability  to  rot  fast,  to  turn  into  something  lethal  because  they  wanted  survival  &  they  wanted.

desperation,  rot,  survival,  want:  they  color  schoolyard  fights  &  cheers  &  jokes  that  aren't  funny  but  that  stuck  around  too  long.  things  that  make  childhood  friends  &  memories  &  all  that  noise.  they  color  the  interactions  that  they  steal,  the  allegiances  they  form.  it  just  laces  everything  good  with  layers  of  resentment  &  fear.  it  brings  a  note  of  panic  into  everything.

even  when  bertolt  finds  resolve  &  calm,  he  can  still  feel  panic  ringing.

panic  sits  in  him  -  manic  &  peaceful.  first  in  marley.  second  in  paradis.  marcel  is  dead,  bertolt  was  living  a  lie  that  he  has  to  maintain.  he  worries  constantly  that  he  won’t  be  able  to  maintain  his  false  story,  false  new  experiences.  when  he  sparred  with  the  devils,  it  felt  devastating  because  it  felt  like  the  possibility  that  something  would  slip.  that  even  thought  bertolt  remembers  everything,  he  might  be  more  prone  to  showing  it  through  muscle  memory  -  to  showing  something  that  does  not  fit  with  the  lies  he  tells,  with  what  types  of  combat  experience  he  has  reported  having.

then  there's  reiner.  he  doesn’t  seem  to  worry.  he’s  thriving  &  bringing  in  annie  to  spar  &  to  teach.

bertolt  understands  the  temptation.  he  worries  constantly.  at  the  same  time,  he  still  finds  himself  giving  quiet  feedback  &  notes  &  help  as  though  maybe  it  would  help  someone  survive  for  a  moment  longer.  as  though  maybe  no  one  would  notice,  as  though  it  wouldn’t  matter  who  he  helps  if  he  keeps  his  voice  quiet  enough.

first  in  marley.  second  in  paradis.  third  in  paradis  again.  this  time  as  captive  &  asset.

he  &  his  experience  with  marley  combat  is  something  that  he  (traitor)  brings  to  the  scouts.  they  don’t  often  use  him  as  colossus  because  it's  uncertain  how  helpful  it  would  be  -  colossus  gives  his  threats  in  steam,  in  strength,  in  destruction.  these  are  things  difficult  to  practice  against.  these  are  things  to  avoid.

however,  he  helps  build  obstacles  &  scenarios  for  the  scouts  to  train  with.  he  makes  himself  an  obstacle.

he  still  hears  panic  ringing  in  his  ears,  but  it’s  something.  it  makes  him  keep  life  as  soldier.  it's  not  the  worst  thing  in  the  world  to  help  someone  survive.  maybe  no  one  would  notice.  maybe  it  doesn’t  matter  who  he  helps  if  he  keeps  his  voice  quiet  enough.

first  in  marley.  second  in  paradis.  third  in  paradis.  fourth  in  paradis  again,  when  reiner  surrenders.

weeks  collapse  into  each  other,  &  reiner  starts  help  with  the  training  too.  bertolt  makes  himself  busy.  he  trains  new  soldiers  on  swordwork.  from  the  corner  of  his  eye,  he  watches  reiner.  it  feels  natural  to  watch  him,  the  way  that  the  armored  has  continued  growing  into  reiner.  it  feels  like  lost  years  to  watch  him.  it's  soothing  &  damning  &  worthwhile.  reiner  manages  to  pinch  wire  lines  through  the  air  as  though  he  were  picking  a  fallen  eyelash  &  making  a  wish.

make  a  wish:it  starts  to  feel  like  maybe  a  decision  was  made.  maybe  that  they  haven't  just  become  captives,  maybe  they  are  evolving  to  be  contributors.  even  if  that's  not  how  things  are,  &  even  if  it's  playpretend,  maybe  it's  still  nice.

some  of  the  tension  that  has  made  a  perpetual  home  at  bertolt's  shoulders  starts  to  ease.  it’s  a  relief  to  feel  like  everything  is  out  in  the  open.

after  reiner  has  detatched  himself  from  armored,  he  challenges  him  to  spar.  it’s  all  good  natured,  good  intent,  good  practice.  bertolt  stands  with  his  guard  up,  light  on  the  balls  of  his  feet,  trading  treacheries  &  blows  &  old  weaknesses.

even  when  a  reiner's  fist  manages  to  catch  him,  he  feels  almost  startled  into  a  laugh  &  wonders  if  reiner  feels  the  same  way  when  his  own  fist  catches  at  reiner's  kidney.

it  startles  him  to  realize  that  for  a  moment  his  ears  aren’t  ringing.  the  panic  isn’t  ringing.

bertolt's  strength  has  always  been  in  his  mobility  &  his  energy.  reiner  's  in  his  stamina  &  his  hardiness.  it  makes  it  easier  (  in  human  form  )  for  bertolt  to  drop  into  different  angles,  to  answer  different  blows  with  with  things  that  no  longer  have  had  the  chance  to  be  familiar.

he  feels  the  heat  of  steam  &  healing  at  his  jaw,  tastes  blood  on  his  cheek.  he  watches  reiner’s  split  lip  heal,  &  still  :  reiner  looks  lighter.  a  little  more  certain  of  himself.  it's  enough  good  that  bertolt  feels  childish  satisfaction  when  he  wins  -  grappling  in  the  dirt,  kicking  up  dust,  finessing  reiner  into  a  chokehold.

reiner  taps  his  surrender  &  it's  only  then  that  bertolt  lets  a  breath  of  laughter  escape  him  -  a  private  thing  that  puffs  against  the  skin  at  the  back  of  reiner's  neck.  still,  he  respects  the  surrender.  he  stands  &  makes  for  his  canteen  of  water.

except  :  reiner  cheats.

bertolt  doesn't  remember  reiner’s  cheating,  doesn't  remember  if  he  had  ever  cheated  a  day  in  his  life.  the  laugh  that  had  been  a  private  thing  startles  from  him  something  louder,  something  sudden  &  short.  dust  stains  his  hair  when  reiner  pins  him,  &  he  wastes  seconds  trying  to  determine  whether  he  can  still  find  enough  motion  or  freedom  in  his  legs  to  try  to  dislodge  reiner  once  more  but

maybe  not.  it's  his  turn  to  tap  out.  he  doesn't.

reiner  seems  lighter.  settled  with  himself.  there's  an  old  smile  at  his  lips  teasing  his  victory  &  reveling  in  what  it  means  to  be  seen  with  all  cards  on  the  table.  there’s  the  weight  of  him  against  his  hips  &  his  shoulders  &  everything  that  reiner  has  taken  from  him  &  given  back  ten-gold..

it's  a  little  overwhelming.  it’s  adrenaline  that  doesn’t  mean  panic  ringing.  it's  tempting  proximity.  his  eyes  involuntarily  flick  downwards  ,  settle  at  proximity,  the  flush  of  reiner's  skin,  the  curve  of  his  cheek,  transference  of  life  -

it's  a  little  overwhelming.  makes  him  think  of  dust  blooming  around  him,  makes  him  think  that  they  are  exposed.

but  they've  been  nothing  but  exposed.  for  years   they  have  only  been  exposed.

reiner's  nose  brushes  his  &  he  thinks  that  he  might  forget  to  breathe.  there's  some  kind  of  stick  or  root  digging  at  his  shoulder  blade  from  the  dust.

it's  too  visible.  everything  is  too  hot,  too  much  sun,  too  built  on  metal  screams  &  war  screams  &  devil  screams  &  everything.

&  even  on  all  of  that,  it  still  doesn't  feel  like  a  decision  that  bertolt  has  to  make.  it  can’t  be  a  decision.  because  there  isn't  a  single  good  reason  not  to.  that's  as  petrifying  as  it  may  be,  it’s  not  panic.

reiner  seems  lighter,  settled,  knitted  together  in  the  way  he  can  come  to  peace  with  himself.  bertolt  too  remembers  that  everything  good  is  laced  with  layers  of  resentment  &  fear.  &  that  even  despite  that,  they  emerge  from  shared  space,  shared  histories,  shared  tents,  shared  fractured  things.  bertolt's  not  sure  what  any  of  it  means.  but  it  takes  away  the  decision.  he  has  to  arch  a  little  a  bit,  just  enough  to  redistribute  their  weight.

the  cut  at  reiner's  lip  has  started  to  heal,  is  mostly  healed.  there's  steam,  there's  dust,  there  is  dry,  &  still  bertolt  (  survivor,  warrior,  traitor,  survivor  )  breathes  something  '  okay  '  into  the  space  between  them,  into  the  press  of  his  lips  against  reiner's  ,  &  it's  still  somewhat  overwhelming.

an  easy  touch,  dry.  something  to  be  savored,  something  slow.  he  draws  back  a  little,  nods  into  the  space  that  they  share;  his  skin  drags  just  slightly  against  reiner's  when  he  pulls  away.

'  let  me  up,  yeah  ?  '  he  murmurs  too  close,  shifts  so  that  maybe  their  touch  doesn’t  look  like  what  it  is  —  so  that  maybe  they’re  a  little  less  visible.  they’re  always  visible.  he  hates  being  visible.

he  thinks  of  his  water  canteen.  he  thinks  of  the  way  that  this  reiner  cheats  at  old  games.  he  thinks  things  of  on  the  table.  he  thinks  of  things  that  were  not  decisions.  he's  not  sure  what  any  of  it  means.

[howlingday]

Extinct?Faunus Jaune

Idea is courtesy of @unknowdude34

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Kasai Rex!Faunus Jaune

Jaune: I'll see you guys later.

Ruby: Huh? Where are you going?

Jaune: I'm gonna go eat in my room.

Nora: We can do that?

Weiss: Sit down and eat, you antisocial buffoon!

Jaune: ...Okay.

Cardin: I'm telling you, I know what I saw! There was something by the pool last night, tearing apart something huge!

Russel: Cardin, I normally believe ya, but it just sounds too weird.

Dove: Yeah, like, a deer carcass in the pool? Pretty sure we'd get an announcement about that.

Lark: Not to mention the crocodile you saw eating it.

Cardin: That wasn't a crocodile! It was... It was something else! Something out of a horror film!

Jaune: (Cutting off the legs on his nuggies, Wishing he could eat in private)

Fun Fact! In 1933, in the African Kasai Valley, a hunter named John Johnson took a photo of an alleged dinosaur while hunting elephants. The elephants he intended to shoot were in fact hunted by a bipedal creature with red scales and black stripes. He shot this creature, but it retreated. On his return to camp, he found the creature again eating a rhinoceros near the water.

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Percetus Colossus!Faunus Jaune

Nora: WOW! You are HUGE!

Jaune: Um, h-hi... I'm Jaune.

Nora: Where were you on the bullhead?! How'd you even fit?!

Ren: Nora, please.

Jaune: They, uh... They had to call in another bullhead for me.

Fun Fact! A recently discovered early whale, the basilosaurid Perucetus Colossus has the heaviest animal bone mass to have ever been discovered, even outsizing the giant Blue Whale.

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Sperm Whale!Faunus Jaune Arc & Shark!Faunus Yang Xiao Long & Leviathan Melvillei!Faunus Papa Arc & Otodus Megalodon!Faunus Raven Branwen

Jaune: Just you and me, Yang.

Yang: Yeah... Only one of us can be the top fighter in this ring, and it's gonna be me.

Pyrrha: Why are those two always fighting?

Blake: For as long as I've known Yang, she and Jaune have always been fighting. It might even date back to their ancestors.

Meanwhile...

Papa Arc: Make the first move, Branwen...

Raven: Hmph! Ladies first, Arc...

Fun Fact! Leviathan Melvillei is an ancient ancestor of the sperm whale, equipped with teeth on it's top AND bottom jaw. It is argued whether it hunted Megalodon, were hunted by it, or simply competed would attack the other given the opportunity. The third is the often agreed upon consensus.

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Giganotosaurus!Faunus Jaune & Tyrannosaurus!Faunus Saphron

Saphron: I took a test today! I aced it!

Mama Arc: Well done, Saphron! And how did you do, Jaune?

Jaune: Uh... W-Well, I think I'm improving, but-

Mama Arc: Jaune...

Jaune: ...I got a D+.

Fun Fact! Giganotosaurus is thought to be the largest theropod dinosaur discovered. However, despite have a much larger skull, and internal model of the brain casing shows that it may have had a smaller brain than the Tyrannosaurus.

[pocket-ozwynn]

✨Blog Status Update✨

Hi folks 💜

Getting this out of the way now: this blog isn't going anywhere, don't worry 😭 but I do know it's been a while, and with a recent influx of support for my writing and new followers I'd like to fill people in on what's going on a bit

In about a month or so I plan to slowly coming off my 18 month posting hiatus. Mutuals know I haven't abandoned my stories nor have I stopped thinking about these characters, but due to IRL circumstances the hiatus was good so I could focus on myself for a bit. That being said, I'll hopefully start posting one-shots, AUs, and chapters come June or July. My goal is to get the Genesis Day full reboot and Offline Valor soft reboot started this summer and regularly post those (on top of my sci-fi space opera with my new THIRD OC couple coming sometime in the winter, possibly 👀). Some more in depth AUs like Knightsona x Princess Peach, Knight Colossus, Werekaiju, and Shrunken Soldier x Archfey Princess (tentatively named All Who Wander or Dawnward) -- not to mention all the hundreds of one-shot ideas for various other more minor AUs -- will also get some love too if time, energy, and health permitting. Anyways, that's all ✨ it's been so much fun to see the community flourish, I'm so excited to get back into it soon

[vintagerpg]

The Goodman Games OAR of X2: Castle Amber (2020) fits the same basic bill as Lost City, but seems a slightly more off-beat choice. Again, it offers a central adventure that is an under-appreciated classic and a large area for new material to be developed — the countryside and settlements of Averoigne. But…

Castle Amber, the original, is a strange module to begin with. It strikes me as a sort of massive correction by author Tom Moldvay to include the work of Clark Ashton Smith (particularly his medieval Averoigne stories, particularly particularly “The Colossus of Ylourgne”) in the growing tapestry of D&D (Gygax, somewhat bizarrely, overlooked Smith in Appendix N). The thing is, there is a lot of identifiably Smith stuff in the module, but I don’t think it feels particularly Smithy. It feels like Moldvay doing a weird haunted house. Which is fine, because I really like that tone on its own merits — it is one of my favorite modules and pretty unique in all of TSR’s output.

The Goodman material neither feels particularly Smithy to me, nor does it match the odd Moldvay tone. It’s a third flavor. And while I don’t dislike it, I find it hard to reconcile it all as a whole. This applies primarily to the fortyish new entries for the castle. The details on the environs are a welcome treat — since there wasn’t much there to begin with, I don’t feel so jarred when Goodman sets the pace there. The art throughout is delightful though.

[bestepisode]

Vote on more episodes here!

Find the full list of round 3 polls here.

Venom of the Red Lotus

The Red Lotus tortures a chained Korra by poisoning her with mercury, in order to force her to the point of death, triggering the Avatar State before they kill her, which would end the cycle of the Avatar's rebirth. However, a wrathful Korra overpowers her captors and fights Zaheer in the skies. Meanwhile, her friends find and rescue the airbenders. After Mako electrocutes Ming-Hua, he and Bolin narrowly escape Ghazan's collapsing the Red Lotus's lair on top of himself. As Korra is about to succumb to the poison, Jinora leads the airbenders to pull Zaheer out of the sky with a massive air vortex formed from their combined bending. Zaheer is captured, and Suyin metalbends the poison out of Korra. Two weeks later, in Republic City, a weakened, wheelchair-bound Korra watches as Tenzin anoints Jinora as an airbending master and rededicates the Air Nomads to a nomadic life of service to the world, following Korra's example.

The Last Stand

In the mech's control room, Korra and Kuvira fight one another. Meanwhile, Team Avatar begin to take the giant apart from the inside. Suyin and Lin disable its arm and weapon, and Bolin and Mako detonate its power source, with Mako risking and nearly losing his life to blow the colossus into several pieces. Korra and Kuvira crash-land in the city's spirit wilds, and Kuvira activates the discarded cannon, triggering a staggering and self-sustaining release of energy powered by the vines surrounding them. Leaping to block the beam of the weapon from annihilating Kuvira, Korra enters the Avatar State and channels the massive outpouring of spirit energy, redirecting it and miraculously creating a third portal into the Spirit World. Emerging into the spirit world, Kuvira and Korra commiserate over their hardships and the mistakes they have made, and Kuvira concedes defeat and is arrested upon returning to the physical world. Weeks later, at Zhu Li and Varrick's wedding, Wu announces his intent to abdicate in favor of democratic Earth states. Korra and Asami plan a trip together to the spirit world; in the last scene of the series, the two walk hand-in-hand into the new spirit portal.