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2016.01.29 01:33 tomheist Audio Plug-in Reviews
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2024.05.14 10:50 KangarooAromatic2139 Looking for some proofreading on a crossover fanfiction.
Hi there everyone, I kind of curious, I have been writing a crossover fanfic in the style of Super Robot Wars storylines. One of the Franchises I want to add is RWBY, however, I never really got into the series until playing Blazblue Cross Tag Battle and during his time I started read up on the series on various wiki pages.
So, if I'm wrong on any details or something does seem to match the character's personalities, please tell me!
In this point of the fanfic, it took place after my idea of an ending to the series, so here goes nothing!
The white haired huntress explained why she feels this is the case, telling them the story of her younger brother and his road for redemption.
For the longest of times, Whitley had nothing but hatred for his older sisters and saw the hunters and huntresses as below him, mocking Weiss every moment he had while she was under house arrest. Escaping from this sham of a home, she swore the boy and their father were nothing but monsters and for their actions were things that she never could forgive. That is until it was after the arrest of their father and their manor being invaded by Grimms that cracks were showing in his facade of pettiness.
"During that fight, Whitley wanted nothing but to run off, until he saw our mother fighting against the Grimm before falling from the underuse of her Semblance when he knew he needed to help."
After saving Willow and learning from their mother that Whitley was as much of a victim as anyone else that the middle child chose to mend their damaged relationship. During the fall of their home Kingdom of Atlas, he continued to help by having all the SDC Saircrafts to save anyone and everyone to relocate the people to Vacuo. When the Team RWBY and Jaune return from Ever After, he became part of the attacking forces as a commander to help defeat Salem's forces.
In the final battle, He was present to witness Ruby Rose and Kairi sparing the now depowered and mortal Salem, who was told to simply live with reminders of her sins haunting her until the day she died, as this was her last life. "While we watch Salem leaving to parts unknown, I thought Whitley was going to say something foolish, but to my surprise, he only watched.
In the four weeks after Salem's defeat, Whitley began his new life but it was something to adjusted to as he worked a part time job and began to start classes in that first week The heir of whatever remained of the SDC let his hair grow out slightly, he may have been inspired by a picture of Jaune's appearance during his time in Mistral but still kept a very clean appearance.
It wasn't until a week ago that there were some Jacques' old associates from Vacuo wanted to give Whitley the position of CEO of a new company, one named Phoenix Ash.
"At first, I thought he just wanted to go back to his old ways of life when he agreed to the deal, Asked from me was to trust him about this..."
Out of the blue, The new CEO of the Phoenix Ash Group called for a Public Announcement. Weiss and Winter were watching on a monitor in an aircraft outside of the city. Fearing for the worst, that he would be making empty promises to make a postive public image, the boy spoke of ending the practices of abusing Fanuas workers. This was a lie that their father made to the press when he was alive, before the young CEO spoke of his new idea.
When questioned by the Press, Whitley told the world that he his idea was to start finding better sources than just Dust to rely on, so he would put his own Lien that he held on since childhood to fund this research. If this research was successful, then he would personally see to the closure of all Dust Mines under the Pheonix Ash banter but threaten that if any of the Fanuas workers were harmed during his time as CEO, that under his leadership that he personally see it that the abusers' paychecks would go to their victims and repeated offenders would be fired as quickly as possible. The two sisters begin to noticed that four of The Board Members who hired him were in shaking in their boots.
"Young Sir, please think of the words you speak..." one of Jacques' remaining associates on the board begged to hopefully conviced the boy to reconsider these ideas
"I am fully aware of the words coming from my mouth as much as you were aware of letting my father's actions slide so you can make more Lien. So, to be quite blunt, SHUT IT OR FIND NEW JOBS!" This wasn't like the boy they once knew while Jacques was thriving, he was a new Whitley Schnee that wouldn't be swayed by the idea of making Lien in dishonest ways and wouldn't allow anyone under his leadership to harm the Faunus workers.
"DAMNED BLEEDING HEART BRAT, YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE LIKE JACQUES, THE REAL HEIR OF THE NAME OF SCHNEE!"
The oldest board member, a muscular bald man of over fourty who was still extremely loyal to the deceased CEO of SDC, charged at the youth with a knife! The youngest of the Schnee clan knew there would be risks, but didn't have any fighting experience to counter this attack.
"WHITLEY!" Weiss cried out as she knew she wouldn't be able to stop the would be killer's attempt of assassination, however, a certain green eyed Faunus, who's loyalites to Robyn Hill last to this day, arrived in enough time to stopped the youth's would be killer.
"You really think that Fiona Thyme would let you kill your new boss? As IF!"
Within a mere set of seconds, the man of three hundred and something pounds was on the ground, each insult that was aimed at the girl was countered with his former boss nodding for the girl to wack the creep across his bald head. This last for a couple of minutes until the police to take his sorry ass to jail as well as charging the Faunus with a minor crime. The girl knew that there would no way to escape but chose not to surrender as she put her hands behind her head much to the cheers of some in the crowd.
However, In those five seconds before the cuffs closed on her hands, The CEO jumped off of the platform and stood in between the messy haired Faunus girl and the arresting officer, slapping the cuff out of the man's hands to the shock of the world. When asked to step aside, the boy's answer to this was something everyone in Remnant, who were either in the crowd or watched from afar from their scrolls, never expected.
"You're really asking me to step aside, so you could take away a war hero's future? I choose to refuse for we all know these charges against her are nothing but baseless. She fought on the side of various heroes! Heroes ] from the Battle of Beacon, like the Teams: RWBY, JNPR, SSSN, FNKI, ABRN and CFVY, the heroes without teams like Lady Kairi, Qrow Branwen, and Taiyang Xiao Long, Heroes like Ilia Amitola and the Belladonna clan who were once White Fang members but left before the assassination of Sienna Khan and return to fight to stop the once peaceful group when they saw what it became under the command of Adam Taurus, heroes like the remaining members of the Ace Operatives, who fought their own feelings of sadness when they lost Clover Ebi and came together after they realized James Ironwood was in the wrong, after the man fell into despair because of how the upper class saw the innocent victims in Remnant and used Atlas as a ram to prevent the Grimm from gaining another advantage point. These groups of heroic and wonderful people came together to save the world from the forces of Salem, so why can't we, the civilains they protected, do the same?!"
There were some mutters from the civilians that watch on the ground level before one of the rich members of the crowd, a man named Harry Marigold, brought up that Weiss may have saved the world but of her crime of summoning the Grimm at the charity event at Schnee Manor should be held accountable before the youth counter with.
"The crime that night was one in justified anger when you, Harry Marigold, who ignored her sadness and only wanted my sister's attention for bragging rights, that damnable trophy wife, her weak minded shell of a husband, the former CEO of the SDC, myself and many others of the Upper Class chose to cruely mocked the recently deceased of Vale and proudly laughing about the deaths of the many innocents of the fallen Kingdom who had nothing to do with the fighting. fates we claimed that civilains deserved!? If anything, she didn't summoned the Grimm to harm anyone but wanted us demons to understand that life is not to be taken as a joke or anything to not to be take lightly. The real crime that night was that the Grimm didn't caused more damages to Schnee manor and not having the monster hurt any of us because of our cruelity to the dead! But because the CEO of SDC cared for nothing but his public image, when she confronted that scumbag for our actions and for using her as a prize toy for everyone to see, his only reaction was to slapped my sister across her face and denied her Birthright!
This made the rich members of the crowd uneasy, as they knew that they were being put in their places. They wanted the youth to be silenced but he continued, angry and filled with something that he should've had a long time ago, a frightful sense of Justice.
"For too damn long, I was blinded by my family's name, not knowing it was nothing but an evil curse and if it wasn't for my sister's actions that night and the night her team and the remaining members of team JNPR saved the lives of my poor mother and the sorry shell of a person. I, too, would've remained under the very same spell of ignorance that the old fool relished in to keep us in line. So, for you to order me around, to use my sister justified attempt on the upper class to see her honorable view on life so who could silence my words, and to force this maiden, who has fought harder than anyone here because fearful paranoia bigots using unjust hatred of every Faunus to make her life a living torture device, for her to rot in a prison cell without a fair trial, just for saving my life? That command is UNFORGIVABLE!" The boy screamed loudly and in pure rage so everyone could hear his plea.
Fiona was in shock, she heard from various communities of the Faunus that the SDC and clan of Schnee were nothing but monsters, worse than any of Salem's Grimms. Even after meeting the huntresses of Team RWBY, she believed Weiss was the only one of the family who wanted to set things right in the world.
Even through she hated the idea to keep an eye on the Schnee heir, even if it was a jobn from her trusted leader. His father and the fellow members of the Board in the SDC saw the Faunus and wanted nothing but for them to be trapped in cages without futures, But to see with her eyes, the very son made to follow in these footsteps of selfish desires, meaning every single word that left his mouth, these words that were filled with a justified desire to save the young girl from an unfair fate, was so unreal.
"If anything, it was the wicked ideas of greed that the deceased CEO held dear tt were one of the many factors that broke our world, Jacques Sc..." The boy stopped for less than a second before continuing in anger.
"....Actually no, I refuse to allow that bastard to my family's name any longer, even in death! Jacques Gélé was never a father, he was nothing but an unredeemable thief without a sense honor, who used dirty lies to trick my dying grandfather into his once humble life, the honorable man that should've had the right to lived long enough to prevent the future Gélé wanted, Nicholas Schnee!"
"Who used my recently deceased mother's, Willow Schnee, love and trust to steal a company he was never worthy to rule over from underneath her. When she learned of his deception and his lies in their sham of a relationship, the once loving and carring mother only means to escape from his wicked virus was to drink her sorrows away and seclude herself from the world!
"His sickness was something that their three children were not immuned to as he saw nothing from us but to be used as pawns so he could gain more power! It wasn't until we learned better ways to live by others, others who actually cared, that we actually became good people!"
"The first of us was to learn this lesson was The Soldier who proven herself time and time again, who enlisted in the Atlas military to get away from the sickness that Gélé took pleasure in, who leaders knocked the views of hatred for the Faunus and the usage of cheap tricks out of her, my oldest sister, Commander Winter Schnee!
"My second oldest sister, Huntress Weiss Schnee, who learn of the shame that her family name carried at her time in Beacon, who was forced to leave after the battle by Gélé for supposed safety only to be paraded around as a prize trophy daughter for his friends in the upper class, who felt the sting of venom when that man refused to accept her heroic heart, forcing her to escape his maddess so she could continued helping those who were suffering!"
"And then there's myself, Whitley Schnee, the boy who was so scared with the various changes to his home life that he chose to follow in that thief's footsteps, who once mocked the dead of Beacon along with the others in the Upper Class, who has never fought for anything and even in that last battle, was so powerless to prevent more tragedies for befall those he commanded to fight on his behalf! The boy who's heart is filled with so much regret because of his idiotic choices in life but is now filled a newly found sense of Justice, who only goal now is to find a cure for the poison, so he could, no! will make our world a better place than it was in the past!"
The crowd was stunned thar they couldn't help but to stay silent.
"Gélé has cause so much suffering to the Faunus and to many other communities. That suffering spread in the Kingdoms like wildfire. When my grandfather died, so did the fairness and honor that the Schnee name held on to....but not anymore! MY DREAM is to stop the suffering that Gélé relished in so he could live like a damn lazy king!
Whitley then put his hands behind his head and told the world.
"So if this girl goes to prison, so will I! All I asked of those listening is not to cheer no matter what the outcome is, not to cry for this foolish boy who has fought for nothing, but to simply think about his words and the weight they pull!" Whitley's blood was boiling as The puppet CEO's bight blue eyes widden to show everyone that his dream was one that the boy will work for through his pain.
After this decree was finished, everything was slient before the officer asked. "Would you die for that dream..?"
Whitley, answered with all seriousness. "If I die, then I would gladly die with a hundred stabs to my heart and soul to make damn sure that my dream becomes reality." The officer waved to another cop to bring in a second set of handcuffs, much to both cops dismay.
"Alright, I'm sorry. Whitley Schnee for disobeying a officer of the law, you have to come with us."
Whitley said not a word as the cuffs latched onto his hands. As if to respect the boy's wishes, There were no one in the crowd, maybe even in Remnant, cheering about the arrest of these two, even though the boy said he had nothing but hatred of those that surround Gélé mocking those that died in Beacon, none of the them wanted nor could cheer, for to celebrate this would be nothing but hallowed.
On route to the department to put the two in the holding cells until they could make bond, the two talked, mostly it was Whitley asking the girl a thousands questions of the culture of the Faunus, the life she lived before becoming a war hero and so on. The poor girl was shaking with overwhelmingness but snapped out of it when Whitley explained something to her.
"This is the second time you saved me from the door of death, thank you, Lady Thyme."
Fiona was slightly confused before slowly piecing together that in the final battle she rushed to the location of downed aircraft, where a gravely injured woman layed under some debris being protected by her white haired son with a mere wooded stick he found on the ground screaming. "GET AWAY! YOU GRIMMS!" before being knocked backwards and then being held by his throat.
"HEY FANG FACES, I'M MORE OF A CHALLENGE THAN THOSE TWO!" The Fanaus screamed while the Grimm let the boy go to blocked her attack.
"KID! TAKE YOUR MOM AND GET OUTTA HERE, I CAN'T HOLD THIS GUY OFF FOREVER!"The boy nodded as he grabbed his mother and ran off, not knowing that he would plan to thank the maiden the next time they meet.
"No freaking way, you're that boy?"
"Yeah...but I'm not proud to admit that I'm not one for fighting." Whitley smiled as this surprised the girl.
To think, the meek boy she saved that one time and the guy who wanted to help others despite his family's reputation were the same person? How would this day become more of a weird fever dream?
"Hey you two, I hate to burst this bubble but ready for a fight, there was another vehicle besides ours that was on their way to the department." A male's voice explained when they noticed a man in a grey cloak sitting in the darkest corner of the vehicle.
"Before you asked, I've been here for the entire trip."
"Why is that important?" The only woman of the three thought while the Schnee youth figured it out.
"That ghoul of a Board Member?"
"'Faid so, he was taken in sometime before your speech and there are only two holding cells in the department, one for men and the other for women." The man explained.
"I could use my semblance to hold him in a..." Fiona was stopped when the mystery man continued.
"...And to prevent any escapes, the cells and those cuffs on your hands are laced with anti-semblance tech."
Fiona screamed. "OH CRAP!"
Whitley was shaken but kept cool as he thought. "I guess as this is a smaller scale city, I should've figured as much."
"Are you actually prepared to die for your ideas?" The man asked the boy, but his answer was simple.
"I'm not planning to back down now, to betray those words I spoke earlier, would be a wicked sin."
Meanwhile in an aircraft a little ways off. Both Weiss and Winter were dumbfounded by their brother's speech and actions. "He has changed so much since weeks ago." The middle child thought before Winter demanded the pilot to land that at the port nearest to the city.
Yang, Kairi, Jaune, Ruby, and Blake were on the aircraft but was confused by the sudden change of directions, before the commander explained. "The Board member that tried to killed our brother was sent to the holding cell in the department before Whitley's speech."
"OH CRAP!" Ruby and Weiss screamed as they thought in dismay that the boy was going to be in an one sided fight against a heavier opponent.
"Please hold on for a bit longer, Younger Brother..." Winter quietly whispered as the Aircraft was going as fast as possible to their destination.
Upon arriving and being settle in the two holding cells, it was when the guards left the redeemer was being used as a punching bag for the man's humiliation.
"DAMN BRATTY ASSED PUNK!"
"UGHHH!" Whitley groaned, being punched for a hour, his clothing became ragged and bloody.
"LEAVE WHITLEY ALONE!" Fiona cried out at the tallest in the men's holding cell, she was in the womens' holding cell that was across the room, luckly for her, she was alone in the women's side but not for Whitley, making things worse is that the guards were sent out on an emergency call, as their thinning numbers were sent out because of a few bomb threats elsewhere in the city.
"SHUT IT, SHEEPIE! I GOING KEEP BEATING THIS BRAT UNTIL HE UNDERSTANDS HIS PLACE IN THE UNIVERSE!"
"..." The man in the hood remained quiet as he watched this uneven fight. "You should stay down..."
"...As if I would..." The Schnee boy rose back to his feet through he knew nothing of throwing punches he refused to surrender just to spite the former Board Member of Phoenix Ash.
"HEH, for a skinny brat, you're stubborn, be a good little boy and admit that you're nothing but a puppet then I'll quit your rightly deserved beatings!"
Whitley regained his balance before flipping a bird claiming. "You...really...think this..puppet would let some smug ass with no respect for anyone but those in the Upper Class to order me around? SCREW....YOU!" The boy yelled spiting blood onto the man's ghoulish face to annoy the monster in human flesh.
"...WHY YOU LITTLE MAGGOT!" The man was even more enraged now, as he punched the stomach of the younger male causing the boy fall onto the cold floor.
Fiona was horrified as she witness the former spoiled prince rose back to his feet.
"Still standing boy?"
The youth was still standing to a point, until the man pulled a dirty shiv he found in the holding cell while waiting for this very moment. The two youths' eyes widden when they saw the makeshift weapon of sharpen hard plastic.
"...A weapon!?" Fiona cried out in dismay.
"Some poor sap must have made this sometime ago, makes me wonder where he could be now, anywho while I am slicing into your flesh, Whitley, I'm going tell what I thought of those pretty little ideas of yours."
The Faunus was in a state of fear for the young puppet CEO as the shiv user quickly sliced into the white haired youth's shoulder, with this the first time being cut, Whitley scream in pain.
"AHHHHGNN!"
"FIRST, YOU WANT TO FREE THE ANIMALS FROM OUR CAGES, THEY HAVE NO RIGHTS TO A FUTURE IN OUR SOCIETY!
The next was a stab on his left upper leg, luckly not hitting anything vitals as makeshift blade of sharp hard plastic was pulled out and blood dripped onto the flooring The boy's screams of pain echoing through the empty department.
"NEXT, WE CAN'T MAKE ANY LIEN IF BLEEDING HEARTS, LIKE WHAT YOU'VE BECOME, ARE IN CHARGE OF THINGS!"
The attacker then sliced the right side of Whitley's face leaving a scar under his eye.
"THE FACE OF THE BOY WITH A NAME THAT NOWS MEANS NOTHING TOTHE WORLD, USING TRUTHS TO PISS ON THE LEGACY THAT JACQUES BUILT, JUST SO HIS SON COULD REBUILD THE HONOR THAT IT HELD WHEN THAT WINDBAG WAS STILL KICKING! WHAT FREAKIN DRIVEL!"
then a slash across his chest.
"THAT BLEEDING HEART OF YOURS WANTING REDEMPTION SO HE COULD HAVE SOME ATTENTION BUT GUESS WHAT THERE'S NO SUCH THING IN THE BUSINESS WORLD OR IN THE REMAINING KINGDOMS OF REMNANT AS REDEMPTION!"
Then the right hand of the boy, the one Whitley pull in front of his body in an poor attempt to grabbed the makeshift Shiv.
"THESE HANDS OF A SOFT SPOILED LITTLE BOY WHO, EVEN IN THE LAST BATTLE AGAINST THE GRIMM FORCES, NEVER THREW A PUNCH OR SLAP ANYONE, ARE SUPPOSED TO CHANGE THE WORLD, ALL YOU HAVE DONE IN THAT BATTLE WERE ORDERING SOLDIERS TO FIGHT FOR YOU, SOLDIERS WHO SHOULD HAVE SEEN WHAT YOU'VE BECOME!"
Finishing this rant with a punch to the gut, and mocking his braverly. "TELL ME THIS, BOY? WHEN THIS SPINE OF YOURS GREW, DID YOUR STUPIDITY DOUBLED, BECAUSE COMPARED TO YOUR DAD, YOU'RE SUCH AN DOLT TO BELIEVE YOUR OWN CRAP!"
"WHITLEY! STOP, YOU'RE KILLING HIM!" Fiona screamed as the man got on top of the boy's body and punch the white haired youth's face twice before the monster yelled at the girl.
"I SAID SHUT IT SHEEP! YOU MAYBE A WAR HERO THAT I CAN'T PUT MY HANDS ON BUT YOU'RE GOING TO WATCH AS THE HOPES OF THIS BOY DIES ALONG WITH HIS BODY!"
Getting off of the beaten body of the Schnee, the man let Whitley try to get up before the boy fell on his stomach and the man grabbed the white hairs of his his head and pulled his face up, so the redeemer would look into Fiona's green eyes for a last time, one filled with tears.
"ACTUALLY, IT'S FUNNY, BECAUSE OF HER STATUS AS A WAR HERO, THE SHEEP WILL GET OUT IN THE END OF THE DAY AND BE ON HER WAY HOME, BUT YOU JUST HAD TO PLAY HERO AND FOR WHAT, WHITLEY SCHNEE?! FOR YOUR REMAINS TO BE MY PUNCHING BAG UNTIL I TRANSFER TO PRISON?....IT'S SO FREAKING SAD THAT I'M LAUGHING MY ASS OFF!"
The redeemer, who's face full of buises, forgotten that this is the case for minor first time offenders but didn't care at all. Ever since Fiona saved his and his mother's lives that day, he would've happily be arrested and be beaten, time after time, so he could thank her. He wanted to smile, to show his savior that he was happy with this outcome, even this meant that his life ended today, but could barely move his face but the only could wheezingly chuckled as tears as swell from his eyes
Before the man could finished Whitley off, a small blackout happened as the doors of the cells opened, Fiona ran to the boy who risked his life just so he could to talk to her. "WHY?!" Fiona cried she held the youth in her arms. "WHY CAN'T MONSTERS LIKE YOU SEE THAT THIS A NEW WORLD, THAT WE CAN BECOME BETTER THAN WE ONCE WERE." The green eyed girl demanded anwers but the man just mocked to anwered the Fuanus.
"Do you think animals like you could understand that only the strong and the Upper Cass are the only ones who have the right to control Remnant. He could have been one of those in control and still have enough Lien to be someone important but he chose to ally with the lower class, and for little lamb he paying for it, dearly."
Putting the boy's head gently on the floor wiping the tears on her sleeve, to hopefully keep friend she made safe for a bit longer, she attempted to use Pocket Demisions to rid the world of this demon, only to realize in the middle of her attack, the power returned and because she ran to help the youth, that she was in the men's holding cell with the real beast.
"....No!" She wimpered.
"Looks like there's some of my fellow board members of Phoenix Ash are still on my side." He smiled wickening as he began to explain their plans. "You see, little Sheep, we figured the boy has a bleeding heart, so to get rid of those childish wishes to loosen our hold, we decided yesterday to make up a plan, the one that you had to prevent. So during that little speech of his, we made a second one on the fly." He continued as he put his hand on an earpiece. "...That one being the threats to distract the guards and that little blackout. Plus thanks to this little device, my semblance to increase my strength with every attack I give, still remains."
"This can't be...." She was scared, as this man that she could taken down a few mere hours ago, was telling the truth when every step he made while approaching Fiona made small cracks in the flooring.
"Damn it, We going need to cause another..." A voice explained though the earpiece before he turned off the equipment's sound option.
"Now, since you annoyed me so much, you're going be my replacement, lamb chops!" The upsuper yelled in bliss as he pulled his fist to punch her small body. She dodged the attack but his second punch connected and sent her flying into the force field door.
"AUHHGGG!" She cried out, recoiling in the pain from her back before noticing the man was coming for her, managing to get up but unable to dodge it completely in this cramped arena. She felt the punch connected with her left arm, braking the bones in the limb, Then a kick to her gut. Knocking her a few inches near Whitley's body.
"....No...."
The youngest of the Schnee clan could only watch in despair through one eye, the two were being broken by a scummy excuse of a human, and the young redeemer of his name could do nothing but watched as his attempt to prove to the world his words were real go down in flames.
"...Leave...her...alone..." These words spit out ignoring the pain as much as he could while rising back to his feet and limping to get in between the Faunus woman and her attacker.
"So, the boy still has some fighting spirit...The boy that has never fought for anything in his life, I am certain that you're doing this for everyone's attention."
The man was right on a few things, Whitley was never a fighter or some ground troop, and it may have been that he wanted attention when he first started to go down this road but Winter quickly knocked that idea out of his head, but the man is wrong on others, for Whitley realize that all he wanted to do in life is to help in anyway, even he'll be happy as a sideliner act to the main heroes.
But one can't always stay in that role and hoped to change the world, for a long time he stood by as a witness to to his father's crimes, for longer his thoughts of heroism being dismissed by that bogus excuse of a father and as far as he remembered, Whitley had others fight for him. But no more!
"In this world, money and power pull the strings, and yet you choose death for a flithy animal? How more times are you going to PISS M-!" The man was interrupted while talking by, to the surprise of all, the white haired boy headbutting his taller foe, knocking the man onto his ass!
"...WHAT!?" The man screamed in horror as he started to bleed from his now broken nose, this was the first time the business man has ever seen his own blood.
"...I've...told...the world...I...would die for my dream....even if I die today....I'll be happy to die...hundred times over again..." The boy's body was mostly broken, each word he spoke caused more pain than his body could stand but the young man still had one part of his body to fight with, his hard head!
The next thing they all knew, Whitley continued headbutting his enemy, causing the man to gain a reality check, his ability were increasing his attacks but at a certain cost, The sole major weak point on his body, the one that held the brain to think of ways to screwed others over, the one with the eyes that saw everyone else as beneath him and the one with the mouth with a booming voice he used to make threats and promises to ruin his foes, his face weaken over time with every punch or kick he gave to the two.
"NONONONONO!" The man screamed with a bloodied and bruised face, before feeling the same despair he installed into his two victims just mere minutes ago. In a desperate attempt to stop these attacks, he grabbed the man in the cloak as a hostage, with the shiv he used on the boy still in his possession.
"You-ou wouldn't w-wan...me to stab some r-random person that had nuthing to do with this, uh?!" These ragged words were like the man himself, desperate and scummy, but was enough to stop the boy from getting closer.
The foe laughed thinking he has the upper hand. "I admired your old man's talent in making a profit, but he was just like you to a certain point, he was no killer, so now I advise we wait until they let us out or I'll be plunging..."
"Tsk...This old fart really been pissing me off since we got here!"
The cloaked man yelled as he stepped on the foot of his captor along with a gunshot ringing though the air. "W-WHAT!?" The man screamed in pain as he released his hold to grabbed his now bleeding foot. "DAMMIT, DAMMIT, DAMMIT!" The larger man screamed before realizing why his leg strength wasn't up to snuff. While being headbutted by his Whitley, the earpiece fell out and was behind his two victims!
"No way this is happening...." He groaned in pain before the cloaked male took off his hood, just to make things worse for the would be assassin.
"...and here I thought I would have a peaceful life in prison..." The man sighed as he revealed himself to be a fomer ally of Salem, one who wanted nothing more but to rot in prisons for the remaining of his life.
"M-Mercury B-B-Black, why is a war criminal here?!" The man screamed, fearing for his life even more than before.
"I was supposed to transfer into the next city, mostly for some good behavior BS..." Mercury turned his attention to the white haired boy.
"Hey kid, you're the brother to that girl Weiss, right?"
"....." Whitley wanted to say something but really couldn't, with those last few headbutts, if he tried to speak now, he will surely faint.
"Man, the geezer really did a number on you, huh?" Mercury asked before = one of the guards and Whitley's sisters ran in.
"Holy...CRAP! WHITLEY!!"
"Why is our brother and Miss Thyme in the same cell as these two?!" Winter demanded answers before Mercury explained for panicing guard while pulling the earpiece from the ground.
"Whitley was being used by lord lard ass as a punching bag until few people from Pheonix Ash caused a short blackout, the girl ran in to stopped the beatings but was attacked as well until your little bro figuring out the buzzard's weakness by headbutting the man in his freakin' face. After that, The creep tried to use me as levelage but yeah, you can see how that worked out."
"DAMNED BRATS...." The man groaned as the two Schnee women got Whitley and Fiona out of this cell but froze in fear when he saw Winter staring down at the man.
"I figured that your group would pulled something like this when Whitley told me of the CEO position, so I looked into yours and the rest of the board's backgrounds...It was just as Black said, You and your three friends in the board of eight have more than just attempted assassination to worry about now."
This decree was worrying enough before Mercury Black turned his attention back to the older man."I guess I'm going to have a kicking dummy for a roommate now!"
"Please have mercy!" The man turned deathly pale before Fiona yelled.
"Like the mercy you shown to me and Whitley because he called out your sorry butt, I would think not!"
Weiss was next to insult the man for his behavior. "...If anything you deserve nothing but a fate in a cage, like the various futures you took away!"
"Looks like you're going to rot in a cell for the rest of your sad existence." Winter finished before the guards were told by the military commander to take her younger brother out of the room and to take his would be assassin to the other cell.
Before leaving, Winter asked the former ally of Salem.
"Mercury Black...Your sentence for your war crimes have been over with for a couple of months now, yet, you still choose to remain in prison, may I ask why?"
"Since Cinder died in the fight against our former partner and Salem's redemption attempt, I really don't have much else left. Besides it's like I've said during that battle with the hammerhead and her pretty boy lover, I have been forced to fight since I was born by a drunk abusive excuse of a dad, so even if I could be let back into society, I don't think I could be happy."
"You could've joined the military..." The eldest member of the Schnee replied before the younger male countered
"Yeah, but I hate following and giving orders, besides you've seen what this old bastard done to your brother, creeps like him and worse are everywhere in prison. So as long as I can beat them senseless, I'm freaking happy to serve more time for each brawl I get my ass into."
This silenced Winter for a couple of seconds before asking for two simple demands. "Just tell Em that I'm okay with how things ended between us, and tell her just to be happy with her new life, if she can do that, then that would give me some sort of peace."
A couple of hours later at the medical bay on the airship.
Kairi used the healing spell Curaga on both the boy and Fiona. "Thank you, Lady Kairi." Fiona bowed while still having her arm in a cast after Whitley opened his eyes, being healed.
"Hey, it's not a problem, but please, just call me Kairi for now on, okay, Fiona?"
"Ughh, what...Fiona..are you alright?" The redeemer asked his friend.
"Yes, but you took the blunt of the beating, please relax, Whitley." The Fanuas explained before the boy asked.
"Who payed for our bails? I doubt it was my sisters, our situation isn't as it once was."
At that moment, Weiss and Blake came in, the disowned heiress of the destroyed SDC was proud at the fact that her former enemy of a brother fought for what's right, explaining. "It those three you poined out from that charity that payed for your and Fiona's bonds."
"Huh?!" Fiona was taken back in surprise by this before the middle child of the Schnee family theorized
"My guess is, either your speech or being outed as horrible people that made those three pay with their own Lien to post bond. I only wished we got there quicker but the airport was on the other side of the city."
"That's good but I can only hope that the others in the crowd took my words to heart and none of the people recording that day alter the video."
...We can check for video or audio interferances later on today but something tells me those who heard your speech that they're going be thinking about it for a long time." Blake's words made the youngest member of the Schnee children a little more eased.
"If only mother lived to see her son became someone to be proud of." Weiss thought to herself that day before their last mission in Remnant before her universe was wiped from existence.
In the Hangar of the doomed Wunder, Weiss had a thought of what could've been the futures of the new CEO of Pheonix Ash and his loyal bodyguard could have been if their universe just lasted a little bit longer.
"Hey, Bozos I'm about to take the Eva-unit 02 F off of the ship, before figuring out a plan to stop Misato."
"Alright.." Aqua answered as the red-head walked towards the console before seeing something strange.
"You guys were here for the last hour right?"
"Yeah?" Duo answered before Asuka added.
"And no one else came in or tried anything funny right?"
"We've been here the entire time, what's with the questions, Langley?" Viral countered.
"...There's two signals of heat in the cockpit...."
"Umm what?" Jaune exclaimed as the console showing the statistics of the bulky armored version of Unit 02, showing two bodies of heat in the entry plug.
Before anything else was said in the group. A young male's voice came through the console. "Umm Hello? Can someone get us out of this thing?"
No one but the Schnee huntress recognize the youth's voice. "Whitley!?"
"Sis, can you hear me?"
Asuka spoke next, "How long were you two in the Evangelion for?"
"I think for three hours, oh right, Fi wanted to asked if there's any males in the area."
"Fiona's in there too?!" Wiess inner thoughts were of panic that were made worse after Jaune's answer.
"Yeah, there's four guys here, why?" Jaunne asked before Fiona screamed in embrassament.
"PLEASE GO TO THE OTHER ROOM OR SOMETHING, I CAN'T GO OUT LIKE THIS!"
"Fi, please relax..."
"RELAX!? YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE IN THIS THING WITH CLOTHES ON!" The girl whined while crying from embarrassment.
"Umm, could anyone bring clothing for Miss Thyme."
Duo began to smirked before being dragged by Viral into the next room. "Keep your dirty thoughts to yourself, Duo Maxwell..."
"Killjoy!" Duo screamed as Jonathan conviced Jaune to followed.
"Sir Arc, we should leave as well, as it is knights' honor to..."
"Already way ahead of you, Mr. Joestar. We'll see you all later when we come up with that plan!"
As this was all happening, an snore echoed out from behind the crates. "Is someone sleeping over there?" Aqua asked while checking to see who it might be.
There, Chibodee Crocket, of all people was in deep slumber, much to everyone's surprise.
"...We should wake him up..." Asuka sighed while Weiss went looking for any of the female members of the crew for some clothing.
But to the surprise of the two, he just walked into the next room while sleeping the entire time. "That...worked out way to well..."
submitted by KangarooAromatic2139 to RWBY [link] [comments]
So, if I'm wrong on any details or something does seem to match the character's personalities, please tell me!
In this point of the fanfic, it took place after my idea of an ending to the series, so here goes nothing!
The white haired huntress explained why she feels this is the case, telling them the story of her younger brother and his road for redemption.
For the longest of times, Whitley had nothing but hatred for his older sisters and saw the hunters and huntresses as below him, mocking Weiss every moment he had while she was under house arrest. Escaping from this sham of a home, she swore the boy and their father were nothing but monsters and for their actions were things that she never could forgive. That is until it was after the arrest of their father and their manor being invaded by Grimms that cracks were showing in his facade of pettiness.
"During that fight, Whitley wanted nothing but to run off, until he saw our mother fighting against the Grimm before falling from the underuse of her Semblance when he knew he needed to help."
After saving Willow and learning from their mother that Whitley was as much of a victim as anyone else that the middle child chose to mend their damaged relationship. During the fall of their home Kingdom of Atlas, he continued to help by having all the SDC Saircrafts to save anyone and everyone to relocate the people to Vacuo. When the Team RWBY and Jaune return from Ever After, he became part of the attacking forces as a commander to help defeat Salem's forces.
In the final battle, He was present to witness Ruby Rose and Kairi sparing the now depowered and mortal Salem, who was told to simply live with reminders of her sins haunting her until the day she died, as this was her last life. "While we watch Salem leaving to parts unknown, I thought Whitley was going to say something foolish, but to my surprise, he only watched.
In the four weeks after Salem's defeat, Whitley began his new life but it was something to adjusted to as he worked a part time job and began to start classes in that first week The heir of whatever remained of the SDC let his hair grow out slightly, he may have been inspired by a picture of Jaune's appearance during his time in Mistral but still kept a very clean appearance.
It wasn't until a week ago that there were some Jacques' old associates from Vacuo wanted to give Whitley the position of CEO of a new company, one named Phoenix Ash.
"At first, I thought he just wanted to go back to his old ways of life when he agreed to the deal, Asked from me was to trust him about this..."
Out of the blue, The new CEO of the Phoenix Ash Group called for a Public Announcement. Weiss and Winter were watching on a monitor in an aircraft outside of the city. Fearing for the worst, that he would be making empty promises to make a postive public image, the boy spoke of ending the practices of abusing Fanuas workers. This was a lie that their father made to the press when he was alive, before the young CEO spoke of his new idea.
When questioned by the Press, Whitley told the world that he his idea was to start finding better sources than just Dust to rely on, so he would put his own Lien that he held on since childhood to fund this research. If this research was successful, then he would personally see to the closure of all Dust Mines under the Pheonix Ash banter but threaten that if any of the Fanuas workers were harmed during his time as CEO, that under his leadership that he personally see it that the abusers' paychecks would go to their victims and repeated offenders would be fired as quickly as possible. The two sisters begin to noticed that four of The Board Members who hired him were in shaking in their boots.
"Young Sir, please think of the words you speak..." one of Jacques' remaining associates on the board begged to hopefully conviced the boy to reconsider these ideas
"I am fully aware of the words coming from my mouth as much as you were aware of letting my father's actions slide so you can make more Lien. So, to be quite blunt, SHUT IT OR FIND NEW JOBS!" This wasn't like the boy they once knew while Jacques was thriving, he was a new Whitley Schnee that wouldn't be swayed by the idea of making Lien in dishonest ways and wouldn't allow anyone under his leadership to harm the Faunus workers.
"DAMNED BLEEDING HEART BRAT, YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE LIKE JACQUES, THE REAL HEIR OF THE NAME OF SCHNEE!"
The oldest board member, a muscular bald man of over fourty who was still extremely loyal to the deceased CEO of SDC, charged at the youth with a knife! The youngest of the Schnee clan knew there would be risks, but didn't have any fighting experience to counter this attack.
"WHITLEY!" Weiss cried out as she knew she wouldn't be able to stop the would be killer's attempt of assassination, however, a certain green eyed Faunus, who's loyalites to Robyn Hill last to this day, arrived in enough time to stopped the youth's would be killer.
"You really think that Fiona Thyme would let you kill your new boss? As IF!"
Within a mere set of seconds, the man of three hundred and something pounds was on the ground, each insult that was aimed at the girl was countered with his former boss nodding for the girl to wack the creep across his bald head. This last for a couple of minutes until the police to take his sorry ass to jail as well as charging the Faunus with a minor crime. The girl knew that there would no way to escape but chose not to surrender as she put her hands behind her head much to the cheers of some in the crowd.
However, In those five seconds before the cuffs closed on her hands, The CEO jumped off of the platform and stood in between the messy haired Faunus girl and the arresting officer, slapping the cuff out of the man's hands to the shock of the world. When asked to step aside, the boy's answer to this was something everyone in Remnant, who were either in the crowd or watched from afar from their scrolls, never expected.
"You're really asking me to step aside, so you could take away a war hero's future? I choose to refuse for we all know these charges against her are nothing but baseless. She fought on the side of various heroes! Heroes ] from the Battle of Beacon, like the Teams: RWBY, JNPR, SSSN, FNKI, ABRN and CFVY, the heroes without teams like Lady Kairi, Qrow Branwen, and Taiyang Xiao Long, Heroes like Ilia Amitola and the Belladonna clan who were once White Fang members but left before the assassination of Sienna Khan and return to fight to stop the once peaceful group when they saw what it became under the command of Adam Taurus, heroes like the remaining members of the Ace Operatives, who fought their own feelings of sadness when they lost Clover Ebi and came together after they realized James Ironwood was in the wrong, after the man fell into despair because of how the upper class saw the innocent victims in Remnant and used Atlas as a ram to prevent the Grimm from gaining another advantage point. These groups of heroic and wonderful people came together to save the world from the forces of Salem, so why can't we, the civilains they protected, do the same?!"
There were some mutters from the civilians that watch on the ground level before one of the rich members of the crowd, a man named Harry Marigold, brought up that Weiss may have saved the world but of her crime of summoning the Grimm at the charity event at Schnee Manor should be held accountable before the youth counter with.
"The crime that night was one in justified anger when you, Harry Marigold, who ignored her sadness and only wanted my sister's attention for bragging rights, that damnable trophy wife, her weak minded shell of a husband, the former CEO of the SDC, myself and many others of the Upper Class chose to cruely mocked the recently deceased of Vale and proudly laughing about the deaths of the many innocents of the fallen Kingdom who had nothing to do with the fighting. fates we claimed that civilains deserved!? If anything, she didn't summoned the Grimm to harm anyone but wanted us demons to understand that life is not to be taken as a joke or anything to not to be take lightly. The real crime that night was that the Grimm didn't caused more damages to Schnee manor and not having the monster hurt any of us because of our cruelity to the dead! But because the CEO of SDC cared for nothing but his public image, when she confronted that scumbag for our actions and for using her as a prize toy for everyone to see, his only reaction was to slapped my sister across her face and denied her Birthright!
This made the rich members of the crowd uneasy, as they knew that they were being put in their places. They wanted the youth to be silenced but he continued, angry and filled with something that he should've had a long time ago, a frightful sense of Justice.
"For too damn long, I was blinded by my family's name, not knowing it was nothing but an evil curse and if it wasn't for my sister's actions that night and the night her team and the remaining members of team JNPR saved the lives of my poor mother and the sorry shell of a person. I, too, would've remained under the very same spell of ignorance that the old fool relished in to keep us in line. So, for you to order me around, to use my sister justified attempt on the upper class to see her honorable view on life so who could silence my words, and to force this maiden, who has fought harder than anyone here because fearful paranoia bigots using unjust hatred of every Faunus to make her life a living torture device, for her to rot in a prison cell without a fair trial, just for saving my life? That command is UNFORGIVABLE!" The boy screamed loudly and in pure rage so everyone could hear his plea.
Fiona was in shock, she heard from various communities of the Faunus that the SDC and clan of Schnee were nothing but monsters, worse than any of Salem's Grimms. Even after meeting the huntresses of Team RWBY, she believed Weiss was the only one of the family who wanted to set things right in the world.
Even through she hated the idea to keep an eye on the Schnee heir, even if it was a jobn from her trusted leader. His father and the fellow members of the Board in the SDC saw the Faunus and wanted nothing but for them to be trapped in cages without futures, But to see with her eyes, the very son made to follow in these footsteps of selfish desires, meaning every single word that left his mouth, these words that were filled with a justified desire to save the young girl from an unfair fate, was so unreal.
"If anything, it was the wicked ideas of greed that the deceased CEO held dear tt were one of the many factors that broke our world, Jacques Sc..." The boy stopped for less than a second before continuing in anger.
"....Actually no, I refuse to allow that bastard to my family's name any longer, even in death! Jacques Gélé was never a father, he was nothing but an unredeemable thief without a sense honor, who used dirty lies to trick my dying grandfather into his once humble life, the honorable man that should've had the right to lived long enough to prevent the future Gélé wanted, Nicholas Schnee!"
"Who used my recently deceased mother's, Willow Schnee, love and trust to steal a company he was never worthy to rule over from underneath her. When she learned of his deception and his lies in their sham of a relationship, the once loving and carring mother only means to escape from his wicked virus was to drink her sorrows away and seclude herself from the world!
"His sickness was something that their three children were not immuned to as he saw nothing from us but to be used as pawns so he could gain more power! It wasn't until we learned better ways to live by others, others who actually cared, that we actually became good people!"
"The first of us was to learn this lesson was The Soldier who proven herself time and time again, who enlisted in the Atlas military to get away from the sickness that Gélé took pleasure in, who leaders knocked the views of hatred for the Faunus and the usage of cheap tricks out of her, my oldest sister, Commander Winter Schnee!
"My second oldest sister, Huntress Weiss Schnee, who learn of the shame that her family name carried at her time in Beacon, who was forced to leave after the battle by Gélé for supposed safety only to be paraded around as a prize trophy daughter for his friends in the upper class, who felt the sting of venom when that man refused to accept her heroic heart, forcing her to escape his maddess so she could continued helping those who were suffering!"
"And then there's myself, Whitley Schnee, the boy who was so scared with the various changes to his home life that he chose to follow in that thief's footsteps, who once mocked the dead of Beacon along with the others in the Upper Class, who has never fought for anything and even in that last battle, was so powerless to prevent more tragedies for befall those he commanded to fight on his behalf! The boy who's heart is filled with so much regret because of his idiotic choices in life but is now filled a newly found sense of Justice, who only goal now is to find a cure for the poison, so he could, no! will make our world a better place than it was in the past!"
The crowd was stunned thar they couldn't help but to stay silent.
"Gélé has cause so much suffering to the Faunus and to many other communities. That suffering spread in the Kingdoms like wildfire. When my grandfather died, so did the fairness and honor that the Schnee name held on to....but not anymore! MY DREAM is to stop the suffering that Gélé relished in so he could live like a damn lazy king!
Whitley then put his hands behind his head and told the world.
"So if this girl goes to prison, so will I! All I asked of those listening is not to cheer no matter what the outcome is, not to cry for this foolish boy who has fought for nothing, but to simply think about his words and the weight they pull!" Whitley's blood was boiling as The puppet CEO's bight blue eyes widden to show everyone that his dream was one that the boy will work for through his pain.
After this decree was finished, everything was slient before the officer asked. "Would you die for that dream..?"
Whitley, answered with all seriousness. "If I die, then I would gladly die with a hundred stabs to my heart and soul to make damn sure that my dream becomes reality." The officer waved to another cop to bring in a second set of handcuffs, much to both cops dismay.
"Alright, I'm sorry. Whitley Schnee for disobeying a officer of the law, you have to come with us."
Whitley said not a word as the cuffs latched onto his hands. As if to respect the boy's wishes, There were no one in the crowd, maybe even in Remnant, cheering about the arrest of these two, even though the boy said he had nothing but hatred of those that surround Gélé mocking those that died in Beacon, none of the them wanted nor could cheer, for to celebrate this would be nothing but hallowed.
On route to the department to put the two in the holding cells until they could make bond, the two talked, mostly it was Whitley asking the girl a thousands questions of the culture of the Faunus, the life she lived before becoming a war hero and so on. The poor girl was shaking with overwhelmingness but snapped out of it when Whitley explained something to her.
"This is the second time you saved me from the door of death, thank you, Lady Thyme."
Fiona was slightly confused before slowly piecing together that in the final battle she rushed to the location of downed aircraft, where a gravely injured woman layed under some debris being protected by her white haired son with a mere wooded stick he found on the ground screaming. "GET AWAY! YOU GRIMMS!" before being knocked backwards and then being held by his throat.
"HEY FANG FACES, I'M MORE OF A CHALLENGE THAN THOSE TWO!" The Fanaus screamed while the Grimm let the boy go to blocked her attack.
"KID! TAKE YOUR MOM AND GET OUTTA HERE, I CAN'T HOLD THIS GUY OFF FOREVER!"The boy nodded as he grabbed his mother and ran off, not knowing that he would plan to thank the maiden the next time they meet.
"No freaking way, you're that boy?"
"Yeah...but I'm not proud to admit that I'm not one for fighting." Whitley smiled as this surprised the girl.
To think, the meek boy she saved that one time and the guy who wanted to help others despite his family's reputation were the same person? How would this day become more of a weird fever dream?
"Hey you two, I hate to burst this bubble but ready for a fight, there was another vehicle besides ours that was on their way to the department." A male's voice explained when they noticed a man in a grey cloak sitting in the darkest corner of the vehicle.
"Before you asked, I've been here for the entire trip."
"Why is that important?" The only woman of the three thought while the Schnee youth figured it out.
"That ghoul of a Board Member?"
"'Faid so, he was taken in sometime before your speech and there are only two holding cells in the department, one for men and the other for women." The man explained.
"I could use my semblance to hold him in a..." Fiona was stopped when the mystery man continued.
"...And to prevent any escapes, the cells and those cuffs on your hands are laced with anti-semblance tech."
Fiona screamed. "OH CRAP!"
Whitley was shaken but kept cool as he thought. "I guess as this is a smaller scale city, I should've figured as much."
"Are you actually prepared to die for your ideas?" The man asked the boy, but his answer was simple.
"I'm not planning to back down now, to betray those words I spoke earlier, would be a wicked sin."
Meanwhile in an aircraft a little ways off. Both Weiss and Winter were dumbfounded by their brother's speech and actions. "He has changed so much since weeks ago." The middle child thought before Winter demanded the pilot to land that at the port nearest to the city.
Yang, Kairi, Jaune, Ruby, and Blake were on the aircraft but was confused by the sudden change of directions, before the commander explained. "The Board member that tried to killed our brother was sent to the holding cell in the department before Whitley's speech."
"OH CRAP!" Ruby and Weiss screamed as they thought in dismay that the boy was going to be in an one sided fight against a heavier opponent.
"Please hold on for a bit longer, Younger Brother..." Winter quietly whispered as the Aircraft was going as fast as possible to their destination.
Upon arriving and being settle in the two holding cells, it was when the guards left the redeemer was being used as a punching bag for the man's humiliation.
"DAMN BRATTY ASSED PUNK!"
"UGHHH!" Whitley groaned, being punched for a hour, his clothing became ragged and bloody.
"LEAVE WHITLEY ALONE!" Fiona cried out at the tallest in the men's holding cell, she was in the womens' holding cell that was across the room, luckly for her, she was alone in the women's side but not for Whitley, making things worse is that the guards were sent out on an emergency call, as their thinning numbers were sent out because of a few bomb threats elsewhere in the city.
"SHUT IT, SHEEPIE! I GOING KEEP BEATING THIS BRAT UNTIL HE UNDERSTANDS HIS PLACE IN THE UNIVERSE!"
"..." The man in the hood remained quiet as he watched this uneven fight. "You should stay down..."
"...As if I would..." The Schnee boy rose back to his feet through he knew nothing of throwing punches he refused to surrender just to spite the former Board Member of Phoenix Ash.
"HEH, for a skinny brat, you're stubborn, be a good little boy and admit that you're nothing but a puppet then I'll quit your rightly deserved beatings!"
Whitley regained his balance before flipping a bird claiming. "You...really...think this..puppet would let some smug ass with no respect for anyone but those in the Upper Class to order me around? SCREW....YOU!" The boy yelled spiting blood onto the man's ghoulish face to annoy the monster in human flesh.
"...WHY YOU LITTLE MAGGOT!" The man was even more enraged now, as he punched the stomach of the younger male causing the boy fall onto the cold floor.
Fiona was horrified as she witness the former spoiled prince rose back to his feet.
"Still standing boy?"
The youth was still standing to a point, until the man pulled a dirty shiv he found in the holding cell while waiting for this very moment. The two youths' eyes widden when they saw the makeshift weapon of sharpen hard plastic.
"...A weapon!?" Fiona cried out in dismay.
"Some poor sap must have made this sometime ago, makes me wonder where he could be now, anywho while I am slicing into your flesh, Whitley, I'm going tell what I thought of those pretty little ideas of yours."
The Faunus was in a state of fear for the young puppet CEO as the shiv user quickly sliced into the white haired youth's shoulder, with this the first time being cut, Whitley scream in pain.
"AHHHHGNN!"
"FIRST, YOU WANT TO FREE THE ANIMALS FROM OUR CAGES, THEY HAVE NO RIGHTS TO A FUTURE IN OUR SOCIETY!
The next was a stab on his left upper leg, luckly not hitting anything vitals as makeshift blade of sharp hard plastic was pulled out and blood dripped onto the flooring The boy's screams of pain echoing through the empty department.
"NEXT, WE CAN'T MAKE ANY LIEN IF BLEEDING HEARTS, LIKE WHAT YOU'VE BECOME, ARE IN CHARGE OF THINGS!"
The attacker then sliced the right side of Whitley's face leaving a scar under his eye.
"THE FACE OF THE BOY WITH A NAME THAT NOWS MEANS NOTHING TOTHE WORLD, USING TRUTHS TO PISS ON THE LEGACY THAT JACQUES BUILT, JUST SO HIS SON COULD REBUILD THE HONOR THAT IT HELD WHEN THAT WINDBAG WAS STILL KICKING! WHAT FREAKIN DRIVEL!"
then a slash across his chest.
"THAT BLEEDING HEART OF YOURS WANTING REDEMPTION SO HE COULD HAVE SOME ATTENTION BUT GUESS WHAT THERE'S NO SUCH THING IN THE BUSINESS WORLD OR IN THE REMAINING KINGDOMS OF REMNANT AS REDEMPTION!"
Then the right hand of the boy, the one Whitley pull in front of his body in an poor attempt to grabbed the makeshift Shiv.
"THESE HANDS OF A SOFT SPOILED LITTLE BOY WHO, EVEN IN THE LAST BATTLE AGAINST THE GRIMM FORCES, NEVER THREW A PUNCH OR SLAP ANYONE, ARE SUPPOSED TO CHANGE THE WORLD, ALL YOU HAVE DONE IN THAT BATTLE WERE ORDERING SOLDIERS TO FIGHT FOR YOU, SOLDIERS WHO SHOULD HAVE SEEN WHAT YOU'VE BECOME!"
Finishing this rant with a punch to the gut, and mocking his braverly. "TELL ME THIS, BOY? WHEN THIS SPINE OF YOURS GREW, DID YOUR STUPIDITY DOUBLED, BECAUSE COMPARED TO YOUR DAD, YOU'RE SUCH AN DOLT TO BELIEVE YOUR OWN CRAP!"
"WHITLEY! STOP, YOU'RE KILLING HIM!" Fiona screamed as the man got on top of the boy's body and punch the white haired youth's face twice before the monster yelled at the girl.
"I SAID SHUT IT SHEEP! YOU MAYBE A WAR HERO THAT I CAN'T PUT MY HANDS ON BUT YOU'RE GOING TO WATCH AS THE HOPES OF THIS BOY DIES ALONG WITH HIS BODY!"
Getting off of the beaten body of the Schnee, the man let Whitley try to get up before the boy fell on his stomach and the man grabbed the white hairs of his his head and pulled his face up, so the redeemer would look into Fiona's green eyes for a last time, one filled with tears.
"ACTUALLY, IT'S FUNNY, BECAUSE OF HER STATUS AS A WAR HERO, THE SHEEP WILL GET OUT IN THE END OF THE DAY AND BE ON HER WAY HOME, BUT YOU JUST HAD TO PLAY HERO AND FOR WHAT, WHITLEY SCHNEE?! FOR YOUR REMAINS TO BE MY PUNCHING BAG UNTIL I TRANSFER TO PRISON?....IT'S SO FREAKING SAD THAT I'M LAUGHING MY ASS OFF!"
The redeemer, who's face full of buises, forgotten that this is the case for minor first time offenders but didn't care at all. Ever since Fiona saved his and his mother's lives that day, he would've happily be arrested and be beaten, time after time, so he could thank her. He wanted to smile, to show his savior that he was happy with this outcome, even this meant that his life ended today, but could barely move his face but the only could wheezingly chuckled as tears as swell from his eyes
Before the man could finished Whitley off, a small blackout happened as the doors of the cells opened, Fiona ran to the boy who risked his life just so he could to talk to her. "WHY?!" Fiona cried she held the youth in her arms. "WHY CAN'T MONSTERS LIKE YOU SEE THAT THIS A NEW WORLD, THAT WE CAN BECOME BETTER THAN WE ONCE WERE." The green eyed girl demanded anwers but the man just mocked to anwered the Fuanus.
"Do you think animals like you could understand that only the strong and the Upper Cass are the only ones who have the right to control Remnant. He could have been one of those in control and still have enough Lien to be someone important but he chose to ally with the lower class, and for little lamb he paying for it, dearly."
Putting the boy's head gently on the floor wiping the tears on her sleeve, to hopefully keep friend she made safe for a bit longer, she attempted to use Pocket Demisions to rid the world of this demon, only to realize in the middle of her attack, the power returned and because she ran to help the youth, that she was in the men's holding cell with the real beast.
"....No!" She wimpered.
"Looks like there's some of my fellow board members of Phoenix Ash are still on my side." He smiled wickening as he began to explain their plans. "You see, little Sheep, we figured the boy has a bleeding heart, so to get rid of those childish wishes to loosen our hold, we decided yesterday to make up a plan, the one that you had to prevent. So during that little speech of his, we made a second one on the fly." He continued as he put his hand on an earpiece. "...That one being the threats to distract the guards and that little blackout. Plus thanks to this little device, my semblance to increase my strength with every attack I give, still remains."
"This can't be...." She was scared, as this man that she could taken down a few mere hours ago, was telling the truth when every step he made while approaching Fiona made small cracks in the flooring.
"Damn it, We going need to cause another..." A voice explained though the earpiece before he turned off the equipment's sound option.
"Now, since you annoyed me so much, you're going be my replacement, lamb chops!" The upsuper yelled in bliss as he pulled his fist to punch her small body. She dodged the attack but his second punch connected and sent her flying into the force field door.
"AUHHGGG!" She cried out, recoiling in the pain from her back before noticing the man was coming for her, managing to get up but unable to dodge it completely in this cramped arena. She felt the punch connected with her left arm, braking the bones in the limb, Then a kick to her gut. Knocking her a few inches near Whitley's body.
"....No...."
The youngest of the Schnee clan could only watch in despair through one eye, the two were being broken by a scummy excuse of a human, and the young redeemer of his name could do nothing but watched as his attempt to prove to the world his words were real go down in flames.
"...Leave...her...alone..." These words spit out ignoring the pain as much as he could while rising back to his feet and limping to get in between the Faunus woman and her attacker.
"So, the boy still has some fighting spirit...The boy that has never fought for anything in his life, I am certain that you're doing this for everyone's attention."
The man was right on a few things, Whitley was never a fighter or some ground troop, and it may have been that he wanted attention when he first started to go down this road but Winter quickly knocked that idea out of his head, but the man is wrong on others, for Whitley realize that all he wanted to do in life is to help in anyway, even he'll be happy as a sideliner act to the main heroes.
But one can't always stay in that role and hoped to change the world, for a long time he stood by as a witness to to his father's crimes, for longer his thoughts of heroism being dismissed by that bogus excuse of a father and as far as he remembered, Whitley had others fight for him. But no more!
"In this world, money and power pull the strings, and yet you choose death for a flithy animal? How more times are you going to PISS M-!" The man was interrupted while talking by, to the surprise of all, the white haired boy headbutting his taller foe, knocking the man onto his ass!
"...WHAT!?" The man screamed in horror as he started to bleed from his now broken nose, this was the first time the business man has ever seen his own blood.
"...I've...told...the world...I...would die for my dream....even if I die today....I'll be happy to die...hundred times over again..." The boy's body was mostly broken, each word he spoke caused more pain than his body could stand but the young man still had one part of his body to fight with, his hard head!
The next thing they all knew, Whitley continued headbutting his enemy, causing the man to gain a reality check, his ability were increasing his attacks but at a certain cost, The sole major weak point on his body, the one that held the brain to think of ways to screwed others over, the one with the eyes that saw everyone else as beneath him and the one with the mouth with a booming voice he used to make threats and promises to ruin his foes, his face weaken over time with every punch or kick he gave to the two.
"NONONONONO!" The man screamed with a bloodied and bruised face, before feeling the same despair he installed into his two victims just mere minutes ago. In a desperate attempt to stop these attacks, he grabbed the man in the cloak as a hostage, with the shiv he used on the boy still in his possession.
"You-ou wouldn't w-wan...me to stab some r-random person that had nuthing to do with this, uh?!" These ragged words were like the man himself, desperate and scummy, but was enough to stop the boy from getting closer.
The foe laughed thinking he has the upper hand. "I admired your old man's talent in making a profit, but he was just like you to a certain point, he was no killer, so now I advise we wait until they let us out or I'll be plunging..."
"Tsk...This old fart really been pissing me off since we got here!"
The cloaked man yelled as he stepped on the foot of his captor along with a gunshot ringing though the air. "W-WHAT!?" The man screamed in pain as he released his hold to grabbed his now bleeding foot. "DAMMIT, DAMMIT, DAMMIT!" The larger man screamed before realizing why his leg strength wasn't up to snuff. While being headbutted by his Whitley, the earpiece fell out and was behind his two victims!
"No way this is happening...." He groaned in pain before the cloaked male took off his hood, just to make things worse for the would be assassin.
"...and here I thought I would have a peaceful life in prison..." The man sighed as he revealed himself to be a fomer ally of Salem, one who wanted nothing more but to rot in prisons for the remaining of his life.
"M-Mercury B-B-Black, why is a war criminal here?!" The man screamed, fearing for his life even more than before.
"I was supposed to transfer into the next city, mostly for some good behavior BS..." Mercury turned his attention to the white haired boy.
"Hey kid, you're the brother to that girl Weiss, right?"
"....." Whitley wanted to say something but really couldn't, with those last few headbutts, if he tried to speak now, he will surely faint.
"Man, the geezer really did a number on you, huh?" Mercury asked before = one of the guards and Whitley's sisters ran in.
"Holy...CRAP! WHITLEY!!"
"Why is our brother and Miss Thyme in the same cell as these two?!" Winter demanded answers before Mercury explained for panicing guard while pulling the earpiece from the ground.
"Whitley was being used by lord lard ass as a punching bag until few people from Pheonix Ash caused a short blackout, the girl ran in to stopped the beatings but was attacked as well until your little bro figuring out the buzzard's weakness by headbutting the man in his freakin' face. After that, The creep tried to use me as levelage but yeah, you can see how that worked out."
"DAMNED BRATS...." The man groaned as the two Schnee women got Whitley and Fiona out of this cell but froze in fear when he saw Winter staring down at the man.
"I figured that your group would pulled something like this when Whitley told me of the CEO position, so I looked into yours and the rest of the board's backgrounds...It was just as Black said, You and your three friends in the board of eight have more than just attempted assassination to worry about now."
This decree was worrying enough before Mercury Black turned his attention back to the older man."I guess I'm going to have a kicking dummy for a roommate now!"
"Please have mercy!" The man turned deathly pale before Fiona yelled.
"Like the mercy you shown to me and Whitley because he called out your sorry butt, I would think not!"
Weiss was next to insult the man for his behavior. "...If anything you deserve nothing but a fate in a cage, like the various futures you took away!"
"Looks like you're going to rot in a cell for the rest of your sad existence." Winter finished before the guards were told by the military commander to take her younger brother out of the room and to take his would be assassin to the other cell.
Before leaving, Winter asked the former ally of Salem.
"Mercury Black...Your sentence for your war crimes have been over with for a couple of months now, yet, you still choose to remain in prison, may I ask why?"
"Since Cinder died in the fight against our former partner and Salem's redemption attempt, I really don't have much else left. Besides it's like I've said during that battle with the hammerhead and her pretty boy lover, I have been forced to fight since I was born by a drunk abusive excuse of a dad, so even if I could be let back into society, I don't think I could be happy."
"You could've joined the military..." The eldest member of the Schnee replied before the younger male countered
"Yeah, but I hate following and giving orders, besides you've seen what this old bastard done to your brother, creeps like him and worse are everywhere in prison. So as long as I can beat them senseless, I'm freaking happy to serve more time for each brawl I get my ass into."
This silenced Winter for a couple of seconds before asking for two simple demands. "Just tell Em that I'm okay with how things ended between us, and tell her just to be happy with her new life, if she can do that, then that would give me some sort of peace."
A couple of hours later at the medical bay on the airship.
Kairi used the healing spell Curaga on both the boy and Fiona. "Thank you, Lady Kairi." Fiona bowed while still having her arm in a cast after Whitley opened his eyes, being healed.
"Hey, it's not a problem, but please, just call me Kairi for now on, okay, Fiona?"
"Ughh, what...Fiona..are you alright?" The redeemer asked his friend.
"Yes, but you took the blunt of the beating, please relax, Whitley." The Fanuas explained before the boy asked.
"Who payed for our bails? I doubt it was my sisters, our situation isn't as it once was."
At that moment, Weiss and Blake came in, the disowned heiress of the destroyed SDC was proud at the fact that her former enemy of a brother fought for what's right, explaining. "It those three you poined out from that charity that payed for your and Fiona's bonds."
"Huh?!" Fiona was taken back in surprise by this before the middle child of the Schnee family theorized
"My guess is, either your speech or being outed as horrible people that made those three pay with their own Lien to post bond. I only wished we got there quicker but the airport was on the other side of the city."
"That's good but I can only hope that the others in the crowd took my words to heart and none of the people recording that day alter the video."
...We can check for video or audio interferances later on today but something tells me those who heard your speech that they're going be thinking about it for a long time." Blake's words made the youngest member of the Schnee children a little more eased.
"If only mother lived to see her son became someone to be proud of." Weiss thought to herself that day before their last mission in Remnant before her universe was wiped from existence.
In the Hangar of the doomed Wunder, Weiss had a thought of what could've been the futures of the new CEO of Pheonix Ash and his loyal bodyguard could have been if their universe just lasted a little bit longer.
"Hey, Bozos I'm about to take the Eva-unit 02 F off of the ship, before figuring out a plan to stop Misato."
"Alright.." Aqua answered as the red-head walked towards the console before seeing something strange.
"You guys were here for the last hour right?"
"Yeah?" Duo answered before Asuka added.
"And no one else came in or tried anything funny right?"
"We've been here the entire time, what's with the questions, Langley?" Viral countered.
"...There's two signals of heat in the cockpit...."
"Umm what?" Jaune exclaimed as the console showing the statistics of the bulky armored version of Unit 02, showing two bodies of heat in the entry plug.
Before anything else was said in the group. A young male's voice came through the console. "Umm Hello? Can someone get us out of this thing?"
No one but the Schnee huntress recognize the youth's voice. "Whitley!?"
"Sis, can you hear me?"
Asuka spoke next, "How long were you two in the Evangelion for?"
"I think for three hours, oh right, Fi wanted to asked if there's any males in the area."
"Fiona's in there too?!" Wiess inner thoughts were of panic that were made worse after Jaune's answer.
"Yeah, there's four guys here, why?" Jaunne asked before Fiona screamed in embrassament.
"PLEASE GO TO THE OTHER ROOM OR SOMETHING, I CAN'T GO OUT LIKE THIS!"
"Fi, please relax..."
"RELAX!? YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE IN THIS THING WITH CLOTHES ON!" The girl whined while crying from embarrassment.
"Umm, could anyone bring clothing for Miss Thyme."
Duo began to smirked before being dragged by Viral into the next room. "Keep your dirty thoughts to yourself, Duo Maxwell..."
"Killjoy!" Duo screamed as Jonathan conviced Jaune to followed.
"Sir Arc, we should leave as well, as it is knights' honor to..."
"Already way ahead of you, Mr. Joestar. We'll see you all later when we come up with that plan!"
As this was all happening, an snore echoed out from behind the crates. "Is someone sleeping over there?" Aqua asked while checking to see who it might be.
There, Chibodee Crocket, of all people was in deep slumber, much to everyone's surprise.
"...We should wake him up..." Asuka sighed while Weiss went looking for any of the female members of the crew for some clothing.
But to the surprise of the two, he just walked into the next room while sleeping the entire time. "That...worked out way to well..."
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| 400I | < | CONSTELLATION ANDROMEDA | $15 | |
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2024.05.13 19:48 UnpopularBloom0 Would like some advice for upgrading build in the future, and opinion on current build
*A warning in advance, i am a complete noob when it comes to building pcs or PC parts so excuse any stupid statements.
I got the PC I have rn built by a local company for me in ~june 2022, since i just wasn't confident enough to do it myself. I wanted to know how long would it be before I need to start worrying about upgrades or changing / maintenance maybe of any parts, or if I would have to build a new PC instead as well as some opinions on the build itself. At the time of purchase i was just really excited to finally be able to build a PC and may have gone overboard with just blindly purchasing what seemed like the highest end parts. I worry that i may have picked some really inefficient parts in terms of value for money and since it costed a lot for me i would at least like to know if it ended up decent or if i scammed myself.
here is the the build with the amts i paid for it. *amounts are in INR
Total for the build: 4,54,830.00 + Output CGST @ 9% + Output SGST @ 9% = 5,36,700.00
submitted by UnpopularBloom0 to buildapc [link] [comments]
I got the PC I have rn built by a local company for me in ~june 2022, since i just wasn't confident enough to do it myself. I wanted to know how long would it be before I need to start worrying about upgrades or changing / maintenance maybe of any parts, or if I would have to build a new PC instead as well as some opinions on the build itself. At the time of purchase i was just really excited to finally be able to build a PC and may have gone overboard with just blindly purchasing what seemed like the highest end parts. I worry that i may have picked some really inefficient parts in terms of value for money and since it costed a lot for me i would at least like to know if it ended up decent or if i scammed myself.
here is the the build with the amts i paid for it. *amounts are in INR
| Part | Cost |
|---|---|
| Intel Core I9 12900ks Cpu | 57,500.00 |
| ASUS ROG MAXIMUS Z690 HERO WIFI INTEL | 46,500.00 |
| CORSAIR VENGEANCEfi 64GB (2x32GB) DDR5 DRAM 5200MHz | 38,500.00 |
| CORSAIR H170I ELITE CAPELLIX RGB LIQUID COOLER | 17,500.00 |
| MSI RTX 3090TI SUPRIM X | 1,81,000.00 |
| WD 1TB SN850 BLACK SSD | 12,000.00 |
| WD SN850 2TB SSD | 25,000.00 |
| EVGA 1300 GT PSU | 19,500.00 |
| FRACTAL DESIGN TORRENT FD-C-TOR1A-06 | 19,400.00 |
| WINDOWS 10 PRO | 5,180.00 |
| WD 2TB Ext Hdd | 4,650.00 |
| Razer Viper Ultimate Wirless WITH CHARGING DOCK-MERCURY | 12,200.00 |
| RAZER BLACK SHARK V2 WHS+USB SC (SPECIAL EDN) | 11,000.00 |
| RAZER GIGANTUS V2-SOFT GAMING MOUSE MAT -3XL | 4,900.00 |
2024.05.13 18:52 sissyboisub333 Fun times with Daddy
It was a blistering hot and sunny summer day as I lay out on the back deck tanning myself while naked except for the tiny thong bikini bottoms that Daddy insisted I wear, he likes the tanlines they provide and anything Daddy wants he gets.
My skin was glistening from lotion and sweat as my hair free and slim body basked in the brilliant sunshine. Moments later I heard Daddy return from the gym, he and his friends had gotten together for some basketball and then he was going to jog the mile back to home where he would find me eagerly waiting.
As the sliding door opened I glanced at my Daddy and smiled, his muscular body glistening with sweat as he stripped off his tank top and shorts, remaining in his jock as he leered at me and grinned. No words were needed, I was too well trained for that and I slid onto my knees as Daddy approached, his black skin gloriously exposed to my ravenous eyes.
Daddy stopped right in front of me, towering over me as he grabbed my head and pulled my face straight into his still jock covered manhood, I moaned as I inhaled his manly musk, savoring the aroma of a real man as Daddy spread his legs apart and forced my face forward until my nose nestled between his balls and asshole. His sweaty scent now flooding my nostrils with deliciousness as I rubbed his thick muscular thighs. Mmmmmmmm!! GOD!! I love his musky scent and would have been content to stay there longer but knew I had other tasks to perform.
Pulling my face from between his legs I reached up and slowly pulled his jock down, a fresh wave of his aroma filling my senses as his glorious black cock popped up in front of my eyes, his large balls dangling beneath as I took a moment to press his jock over my nose and mouth to inhale his scent deeply once more before I cast it aside and scooted forward slightly.
I looked Daddy directly into his eyes as I wrapped my hand around his now semi hard cock, enjoying the feel as I stroked it gently while now leaning forward and licking his sack, swirling my tongue around it before gently sucking on his testicles, engulfing first one and then the other in my mouth as his meat grew rock hard on my hand. I pulled back to gaze at Daddy's giant cock, this BBC had transformed my life and every time I had the honor of pleasing this 9 inch monster I tried to savor every sensation and moment.
Daddy groaned, a sign he was growing impatient so I pressed the tip of his cock to my lips, darting my tongue along the slit before swirling it all over and around its fat head as Daddy now groaned in pleasure. His cock was at its thickest point now, my hand no longer able to close around it as I parted my lips and sucked in the first half of this majestic cock. My mouth stretched wide as my tongue bathed Daddy's fleshy delight, my head bobbing up and down its length, sucking it deeper and deeper, the shaft glistening with my saliva as Daddy grabbed my head firmly.
Experience told me what was coming next and I relaxed my throat completely as Daddy shoved every inch of his fat cock straight into my mouth and down my throat, holding it inside as I began to choke a bit, the thick member wedged down my throat with my lips stretched wide and my nosed pressed firmly against Daddy's pubic area.
Even though it was only seconds, it felt longer but Daddy soon wrenched his cock out of my throat, strands of spittle clung to it and my lips, connecting us together as Daddy now slapped his cock across my face, while saying "Thats right bitch! Choke on my cock you dirty slut.!"
The assault on my throat continued for 10 minutes or more, Daddy brutally fucking my throat, gagging me with his cock while calling me his faggot slut and bitch and to be quite honest I loved every minute of it. Daddy had long ago shown me that I was not an Alpha man at all, I was a subservient beta bitch whose place was at an Alphas beck and call, fulfilling all his wants and wishes no matter how kinky or extreme they may be. This was something I had been trained and groomed for by Daddy and I never disappointed him in any way.
Soon the throat fucking ended as Daddy pulled me up and pushed me over to the deck railing, bending me over it and yanking my bikini bottom off, my little clit dick hanging limply as Daddy reached between my cheeks and grabbed hold of the plug nestled between and yanked it out with an audible pop. My hole was left gaping and dripping with lube, having a 8 inch long and 6 inches around plug buried in my hole for hours tends to leave you gaping.
That of course was part of the plan for the day as we both knew how horny Daddy would be when he got home. Too horny to want to engage in any foreplay, he would want to fuck and I best be prepared properly. I gasped as Daddy pulled my hops back and spread my feet apart while lining his still saliva soaked cock up to my pouting boy pussy.
I groaned in need as he pressed the tip to my eager hole, savoring this moment of pleasure before screaming loudly as Daddy jammed all 9 of his fat thickness deep inside me in on brutal thrust. My legs twitched as I moaned and squealed loudly, loud enough for our neighbors to no doubt hear as Daddy continued hammering inside me. His cock balls deep and then pulled completely free before pounding back inside my boy pussy. The depth and ferocity of his thrusts causing my clitty to drip as Daddy now spanked and verbally abused me while relentlessly pounding into my guts.
"You fucking love this you dirty bitch whiteboi. You love being pounded by a real dick, by a big black dick don't you faggot?" "YES DADDY! YES!! I love being your dirty bitch Daddy! Fuck me Daddy please!"
Daddy continued pounding my hole, my ass burning with pleasure as he once again asserted his dominance over me. I was his slut, bitch, whore or any number of other words for a submissive bottom bitch boy and I loved every minute of it. Our bodies were dipping with sweat, the Sun beating down on us as Daddy enjoyed using my hole for his pleasure. It was easily 30 minutes or more of deep fucking before with one more mighty thrust, Daddy sank balls deep and groaned out loud as his cock swelled and emptied a torrent of cum into my greedy boipussy.
I moaned and my body twitched in pleasure as I was bred by my Daddy, his load of juice flooding my guts as I took pleasure in the knowledge that I had pleased him. I sighed and outed as Daddy slid his cock out, my hole left gaping and leaking as I spun around and licked Daddy's cock clean, my tongue bathing every inch, the taste of my ass and his cum quite intoxicating to me.
"You were such a good slut for Daddy little sweetie!" Daddy smiled at me and pulled me to my feet while stroking my ass. "Its time that we get you cleaned up, I invited some of the guys over for a cookout and they'll be here shortly. Can't have you looking like a cum soaked sweaty whore when they arrive."
I smiled and giggled as Daddy led me to the shower, my thoughts racing ahead to the cookout activities that would be occurring later. Afterall, this wasn't the first time Daddy and I had a "cookout" with his friends but thats a story for perhaps another day!!
submitted by sissyboisub333 to u/sissyboisub333 [link] [comments]
My skin was glistening from lotion and sweat as my hair free and slim body basked in the brilliant sunshine. Moments later I heard Daddy return from the gym, he and his friends had gotten together for some basketball and then he was going to jog the mile back to home where he would find me eagerly waiting.
As the sliding door opened I glanced at my Daddy and smiled, his muscular body glistening with sweat as he stripped off his tank top and shorts, remaining in his jock as he leered at me and grinned. No words were needed, I was too well trained for that and I slid onto my knees as Daddy approached, his black skin gloriously exposed to my ravenous eyes.
Daddy stopped right in front of me, towering over me as he grabbed my head and pulled my face straight into his still jock covered manhood, I moaned as I inhaled his manly musk, savoring the aroma of a real man as Daddy spread his legs apart and forced my face forward until my nose nestled between his balls and asshole. His sweaty scent now flooding my nostrils with deliciousness as I rubbed his thick muscular thighs. Mmmmmmmm!! GOD!! I love his musky scent and would have been content to stay there longer but knew I had other tasks to perform.
Pulling my face from between his legs I reached up and slowly pulled his jock down, a fresh wave of his aroma filling my senses as his glorious black cock popped up in front of my eyes, his large balls dangling beneath as I took a moment to press his jock over my nose and mouth to inhale his scent deeply once more before I cast it aside and scooted forward slightly.
I looked Daddy directly into his eyes as I wrapped my hand around his now semi hard cock, enjoying the feel as I stroked it gently while now leaning forward and licking his sack, swirling my tongue around it before gently sucking on his testicles, engulfing first one and then the other in my mouth as his meat grew rock hard on my hand. I pulled back to gaze at Daddy's giant cock, this BBC had transformed my life and every time I had the honor of pleasing this 9 inch monster I tried to savor every sensation and moment.
Daddy groaned, a sign he was growing impatient so I pressed the tip of his cock to my lips, darting my tongue along the slit before swirling it all over and around its fat head as Daddy now groaned in pleasure. His cock was at its thickest point now, my hand no longer able to close around it as I parted my lips and sucked in the first half of this majestic cock. My mouth stretched wide as my tongue bathed Daddy's fleshy delight, my head bobbing up and down its length, sucking it deeper and deeper, the shaft glistening with my saliva as Daddy grabbed my head firmly.
Experience told me what was coming next and I relaxed my throat completely as Daddy shoved every inch of his fat cock straight into my mouth and down my throat, holding it inside as I began to choke a bit, the thick member wedged down my throat with my lips stretched wide and my nosed pressed firmly against Daddy's pubic area.
Even though it was only seconds, it felt longer but Daddy soon wrenched his cock out of my throat, strands of spittle clung to it and my lips, connecting us together as Daddy now slapped his cock across my face, while saying "Thats right bitch! Choke on my cock you dirty slut.!"
The assault on my throat continued for 10 minutes or more, Daddy brutally fucking my throat, gagging me with his cock while calling me his faggot slut and bitch and to be quite honest I loved every minute of it. Daddy had long ago shown me that I was not an Alpha man at all, I was a subservient beta bitch whose place was at an Alphas beck and call, fulfilling all his wants and wishes no matter how kinky or extreme they may be. This was something I had been trained and groomed for by Daddy and I never disappointed him in any way.
Soon the throat fucking ended as Daddy pulled me up and pushed me over to the deck railing, bending me over it and yanking my bikini bottom off, my little clit dick hanging limply as Daddy reached between my cheeks and grabbed hold of the plug nestled between and yanked it out with an audible pop. My hole was left gaping and dripping with lube, having a 8 inch long and 6 inches around plug buried in my hole for hours tends to leave you gaping.
That of course was part of the plan for the day as we both knew how horny Daddy would be when he got home. Too horny to want to engage in any foreplay, he would want to fuck and I best be prepared properly. I gasped as Daddy pulled my hops back and spread my feet apart while lining his still saliva soaked cock up to my pouting boy pussy.
I groaned in need as he pressed the tip to my eager hole, savoring this moment of pleasure before screaming loudly as Daddy jammed all 9 of his fat thickness deep inside me in on brutal thrust. My legs twitched as I moaned and squealed loudly, loud enough for our neighbors to no doubt hear as Daddy continued hammering inside me. His cock balls deep and then pulled completely free before pounding back inside my boy pussy. The depth and ferocity of his thrusts causing my clitty to drip as Daddy now spanked and verbally abused me while relentlessly pounding into my guts.
"You fucking love this you dirty bitch whiteboi. You love being pounded by a real dick, by a big black dick don't you faggot?" "YES DADDY! YES!! I love being your dirty bitch Daddy! Fuck me Daddy please!"
Daddy continued pounding my hole, my ass burning with pleasure as he once again asserted his dominance over me. I was his slut, bitch, whore or any number of other words for a submissive bottom bitch boy and I loved every minute of it. Our bodies were dipping with sweat, the Sun beating down on us as Daddy enjoyed using my hole for his pleasure. It was easily 30 minutes or more of deep fucking before with one more mighty thrust, Daddy sank balls deep and groaned out loud as his cock swelled and emptied a torrent of cum into my greedy boipussy.
I moaned and my body twitched in pleasure as I was bred by my Daddy, his load of juice flooding my guts as I took pleasure in the knowledge that I had pleased him. I sighed and outed as Daddy slid his cock out, my hole left gaping and leaking as I spun around and licked Daddy's cock clean, my tongue bathing every inch, the taste of my ass and his cum quite intoxicating to me.
"You were such a good slut for Daddy little sweetie!" Daddy smiled at me and pulled me to my feet while stroking my ass. "Its time that we get you cleaned up, I invited some of the guys over for a cookout and they'll be here shortly. Can't have you looking like a cum soaked sweaty whore when they arrive."
I smiled and giggled as Daddy led me to the shower, my thoughts racing ahead to the cookout activities that would be occurring later. Afterall, this wasn't the first time Daddy and I had a "cookout" with his friends but thats a story for perhaps another day!!
2024.05.13 01:59 ShakerEntree Looks like we’re getting a partner marked Quaxly make sure you get your Gyarados GYARAD0S2023SG this one is longer got info from Serbii
 | submitted by ShakerEntree to pokemonribbons [link] [comments] |
2024.05.13 00:45 Urimulini Eagle Nebula glows fiercely
 | Appearing like a winged fairy-tale creature poised on a pedestal, this object is actually a billowing tower of cold gas and dust rising from a stellar nursery called the Eagle Nebula. The soaring tower is 9.5 light-years or about 90 trillion kilometres high, about twice the distance from our Sun to the next nearest star. submitted by Urimulini to spaceporn [link] [comments] Stars in the Eagle Nebula are born in clouds of cold hydrogen gas that reside in chaotic neighbourhoods, where energy from young stars sculpts fantasy-like landscapes in the gas. The tower may be a giant incubator for those newborn stars. A torrent of ultraviolet light from a band of massive, hot, young stars [off the top of the image] is eroding the pillar. The starlight also is responsible for illuminating the tower's rough surface. Ghostly streamers of gas can be seen boiling off this surface, creating the haze around the structure and highlighting its three-dimensional shape. The column is silhouetted against the background glow of more distant gas. The edge of the dark hydrogen cloud at the top of the tower is resisting erosion, in a manner similar to that of brush among a field of prairie grass that is being swept up by fire. The fire quickly burns the grass but slows down when it encounters the dense brush. In this celestial case, thick clouds of hydrogen gas and dust have survived longer than their surroundings in the face of a blast of ultraviolet light from the hot, young stars. Inside the gaseous tower, stars may be forming. Some of those stars may have been created by dense gas collapsing under gravity. Other stars may be forming due to pressure from gas that has been heated by the neighbouring hot stars. The first wave of stars may have started forming before the massive star cluster began venting its scorching light. The star birth may have begun when denser regions of cold gas within the tower started collapsing under their own weight to make stars. The bumps and fingers of material in the centre of the tower are examples of these stellar birthing areas. These regions may look small but they are roughly the size of our solar system. The fledgling stars continued to grow as they fed off the surrounding gas cloud. They abruptly stopped growing when light from the star cluster uncovered their gaseous cradles, separating them from their gas supply. Ironically, the young cluster's intense starlight may be inducing star formation in some regions of the tower. Examples can be seen in the large, glowing clumps and finger-shaped protrusions at the top of the structure. The stars may be heating the gas at the top of the tower and creating a shock front, as seen by the bright rim of material tracing the edge of the nebula at top, left. As the heated gas expands, it acts like a battering ram, pushing against the darker cold gas. The intense pressure compresses the gas, making it easier for stars to form. This scenario may continue as the shock front moves slowly down the tower. The dominant colours in the image were produced by gas energized by the star cluster's powerful ultraviolet light. The blue colour at the top is from glowing oxygen. The red colon in the lower region is from glowing hydrogen. The Eagle Nebula image was taken in November 2004 with the Advanced Camera for Surveys aboard the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) |
2024.05.12 22:00 Freeman_Alex [WTS] ⚜️⚜️⚜️Freeman Shipyard Store vol.4⚜️⚜️⚜️ OC LTI Pulse/LX +Dominion Paint $25 ⚜️Prowler to Hull D CCU $45 ⚜️Hull D to Orion CCU $50 ⚜️CHEAP WARBOND CCU ⚜️QuickSALE ⚜️Open24/7 ⚜️Good Prices&Trade History ⚜️Original LTI Concepts ⚜️Subscribers Exclusive Items ⚜️Rare Paints ⚜️JUST WRITE ME
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| Add-Ons - Endeavor Telescope Pod | 10y | $135 |
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| 400I | ||||
| 400I | < | CONSTELLATION ANDROMEDA | $15 | |
| 600I EXPLORER | ||||
| 600I EXPLORER | < | PROWLER | $70 | |
| ARGO MOLE | ||||
| ARGO MOLE | < | CONSTELLATION AQUILA | $7 | |
| ARGO MOLE | < | MERCURY STAR RUNNER | $59 | |
| ARGO MOLE | < | VANGUARD WARDEN | $59 | |
| ARGO MOLE | < | RETALIATOR BOMBER | $43 | |
| ARGO MOLE | < | VANGUARD SENTINEL | $43 | |
| ARGO MOLE | < | APOLLO MEDIVAC | $43 | |
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| ARGO MOLE | < | VANGUARD HARBINGER | $27 | |
| ARGO MOLE | < | REDEEMER | $70 | |
| ARGO MOLE | < | HULL C | $70 | |
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2024.05.12 06:47 PianistRight Continuing revising ID songs this fall / my updated revised discography
So, back in August 2022, I started revising ID songs, with only 2 breaks. The first one being from October-November 2022 because I wasn’t feeling motivated to make more revisions, and the second time after Christmas in 2022, when my current depression struggle that I’ve had for 17 months straight started happening, but I continued in January 2023, and my revisions temporarily concluded in February 2023 because everything was revised… but not for long!
Since Loom is releasing in June, I’m going to have some time to think through every chord and beat. So I added Season 8 and Season 9 for my revisions series. But since Loom is a short album, I didn’t want those seasons to feature just one album. So I decided to add the 2008 demos, Dan’s Twitch demos, my solo version of Sucker for Pain (using Dan’s voice using AI) and many more. Since I revised Curtain Call (in place of Clouds, since revising the 2010 version of it was hard), I’m going to add the 2008 version of Clouds to Night Visions. Some songs will be added to Evolve and Origins, Children of the Sky will be on my revised LOOM, and Dan’s Twitch demos I put into a new revised EP, serving as an interlude between Mercury - Act 1 and Act 2. Enough blabber, here’s the new discography for my revisions series
SPEAK TO ME
submitted by PianistRight to imaginedragons [link] [comments]
Since Loom is releasing in June, I’m going to have some time to think through every chord and beat. So I added Season 8 and Season 9 for my revisions series. But since Loom is a short album, I didn’t want those seasons to feature just one album. So I decided to add the 2008 demos, Dan’s Twitch demos, my solo version of Sucker for Pain (using Dan’s voice using AI) and many more. Since I revised Curtain Call (in place of Clouds, since revising the 2010 version of it was hard), I’m going to add the 2008 version of Clouds to Night Visions. Some songs will be added to Evolve and Origins, Children of the Sky will be on my revised LOOM, and Dan’s Twitch demos I put into a new revised EP, serving as an interlude between Mercury - Act 1 and Act 2. Enough blabber, here’s the new discography for my revisions series
SPEAK TO ME
- Speak to Me
- Volume Drops
- Boots
- Pistol Whip
- Off to War
- The Pit
- Living Musical
- Bottle of Coke
- Clouds
- Curtain Call
- February
- Unseen
- I Need a Minute
- Uptight
- Cover Up
- Curse
- Drive
- Hole Inside Our Chests
- All Eyes
- I Don’t Mind
- Hear Me
- Selene
- Emma
- Easy
- It’s Time
- Amsterdam
- Tokyo
- The River
- Leave Me
- Pantomime
- Look How Far We’ve Come
- America
- Dolphins
- Radioactive
- Demons
- On Top of the World
- Round and Round
- It’s Time
- My Fault
- Radioactive
- Tiptoe
- It’s Time
- Demons
- On Top of the World
- Amsterdam
- Hear Me
- Every Night
- Bleeding Out
- Underdog
- Nothing Left to Say
- Rocks
- Cha-Ching (Till We Grow Older)
- Working Man
- My Fault
- Round and Round
- The River
- America
- Selene
- Fallen
- Cover Up
- I Don’t Mind
- Tokyo
- Love of Mine
- Bubble
- Destination
- 30 Lives
- Darkness
- Curtain Call
- Clouds
- Shots
- Gold
- Smoke and Mirrors
- I’m So Sorry
- I Bet My Life
- Polaroid
- Friction
- It Comes Back to You
- Dream
- Trouble
- Summer
- Hopeless Opus
- The Fall
- Thief
- The Unknown
- Second Chances
- Release
- Warriors
- Battle Cry
- Monster
- Who We Are
- All for You
- Lost Cause
- Ready Aim Fire
- Next to Me
- I Don’t Know Why
- Whatever it Takes
- Believer
- Walking the Wire
- Rise Up
- I’ll Make it Up to You
- Yesterday
- Mouth of the River
- Thunder
- Start Over
- Dancing in the Dark
- Levitate
- Not Today
- Roots
- Sucker for Pain (Solo)
- I Was Me
- Skipping Stones
- Natural
- Boomerang
- Machine
- Cool Out
- Bad Liar
- West Coast
- Zero
- Bullet in A Gun
- Digital
- Only
- Stuck
- Love
- Birds
- Burn Out
- Real Life
- Born to Be Yours
- Heart Upon My Sleeve
- Enemy
- My Life
- Lonely
- Wrecked
- Monday
- #1
- Easy Come Easy Go
- Giants
- It’s Ok
- Dull Knives
- Follow You
- Cutthroat
- No Time for Toxic People
- One Day
- Take My Heart Away
- Speechless
- So Many Voices
- Man in The Moon
- Imagine Dragons (Ragged Insomnia)
- Hole in My Heart
- Caught Up in My Feelings
- Bones
- Symphony
- Sharks
- I Don’t Like Myself
- Blur
- Higher Ground
- Crushed
- Take it Easy
- Waves
- I’m Happy
- Ferris Wheel
- Peace of Mind
- Sirens
- Tied
- Younger
- I Wish
- Continual
- They Don’t Know You Like I Do
- Wake Up
- Nice to Meet You
- Eyes Closed
- Take Me to The Beach
- In Your Corner
- Gods Don’t Pray
- Don’t Forget Me
- Kid
- Fire in These Hills
- Children of the Sky
2024.05.12 02:41 ZeroCentsMade Entropy Will Take Us All – Logopolis Review
This post is part of a series of reviews. To see them all, click here.
Historical information found on Shannon O'Sullivan's Doctor Who website (relevant page here and the TARDIS Wiki (relevant page here). Primary/secondary source material can be found in the source sections of O'Sullivan's website, and rarely as inline citations on the TARDIS Wiki.
Logopolis is, on paper at least, a very busy story. You've got a new companion to introduce, a new incarnation of the Master to establish, a plot about the universe ending, another new companion to establish after being introduced but not really made into a companion last story and, oh yeah, a regeneration. That's a lot.
So why does the story feel so stretched out?
Don't get me wrong, once it gets going, Logopolis is honestly a great story. The final episode and a half are genuinely engrossing television, some of the best material of the whole season (though admittedly there are even some caveats to that). But getting there…hoo boy.
What's funny is that I don't think cutting Logopolis down an episode or two solves the problem. The pacing issue here isn't length, it's something a bit more basic than that. See there's actually a lot happening in the first two and a half episodes, it just all takes the form of moving the characters into the positions that they need to be in for the climax. If not for the Master killing Tegan's Aunt Vanessa in episode 1 and the cloister bell ringing a bunch throughout the same episode, there would be no sense of danger in that episode, but you couldn't really cut much of it out. Because it's all important. It's just that there's no actual peril associated with it. It's moving around characters like pieces on a chessboard so that we can get to the good stuff.
The story opens with the Doctor deciding to go to Earth so that he can measure a police box. He wants to do this so that he can get exact measurements of the thing. And why does he want to do that? Well, simply put, if he does that, he can then go to Logopolis so that the Logopolitans can fix the chameleon circuit. Which is interesting, but doesn't really feel like the setup to a grand adventure. And yet there is a, quite effective, sense of foreboding that builds up behind all of this. This is the first time we hear the cloister bell, and, as a surprisingly late addition to Doctor Who's standard sound effects, it's pretty effective. It doesn't sound like your standard alarm noise, yet it perfectly encapsulates the idea of something dangerous happening – perfect for the idiosyncratic TARDIS. And of course there's the looming presence of the Watcher. A silent figure always just barely in frame, the Watcher is perfectly set up as the harbinger of something bad.
What he is though…is another matter entirely, but we're not there yet.
After a lot of time spent getting Tegan on the TARDIS, getting her Aunt Vanessa killed by the Master and various other shenanigans we finally arrive on the titular planet of Logopolis. That planet's society is so devoted to the study of mathematics that they can execute something called "block transfer computation" which allows for the creation of actual matter by reciting what is effectively a computer program. This is essentially a magic spell, though the story does a lot of work trying to present it as something more scientific. The way the Monitor – the Logopolitan leader – describes it, Logopolis essentially acts as a living computer. They could build actual computers, but the calculations they do are so subtle and complex that they would actually alter the computers themselves, rendering the programs useless.
And then writeScript Editor Christopher H. Bidmead does something clever. He makes Logopolis a culmination of the big arc that dominated much of the season.
It's often said that "entropy" is the main theme of Season 18. That's true…to an extent. The reality is that a lot of the time it's not entropy that's presented as the main theme, but rather it's more generic cousin decay. Much of E-Space was in various states of decay (including the vampire planet in…State of Decay) but this was more of an overarching aesthetic than actually hitting on the idea of entropy. But Logopolis finds a way of retroactively making the theme of all three E-Space stories entropy.
When the Master destabilizes Logopolis (he wants to take control of the planet, naturally) that's when the Monitor has to explain what Logopolis has been doing all this time. Their main work has been a desperate fight against entropy. See, without Logopolis, the universe would have succumbed to entropy long ago. Logopolis has kept entropy at bay by opening up Charged Vacuum Emboitments (CVEs) into other universes to siphon off energy from them. That CVE that the Doctor and Romana fell into back in Full Circle? That was one of them. It's a really clever way of tying the E-Space trilogy into the finale. And since Keeper of Traken was all about the Master's return and introducing Nyssa, that essentially makes Logopolis the culmination of the prior four stories of buildup.
As a concept, it's not without flaws though – well one in particular. The CVE that opened into E-Space was created by the Logopolitans to slow down entropy in our universe, but surely that means entropy would increase entropy in E-Space, causing that universe – that as a reminder is inhabited – to die more quickly (I am aware that there is a Big Finish trilogy that deals with exactly this). Isn't that pretty cruel of the Logopolitans? And how many of the other universes that the CVEs open into are populated? See when I noted the large amounts of decay occurring in E-Space, this story sort of retroactively implies that it's because of the Logopolitans. That's not even the only time the Logopolitans come across as morally dubious, although the other time at least feels intentional.
As mentioned before, we find out about the whole entropy thing because the Master starts messing with the Logopolitans, thus nearly causing the destruction of the entire universe via entropy. While technically appearing last story, this is the first time we really get a look at Anthony Ainley's version of the Master. I've never been a fan. Anthony Ainley will be appearing as The Master on and off for the remainder of the Classic Series' run and his performance does settle down somewhat by the end of the show, but I never really could get into his take on the character. It comes off as Roger Delgado with all the subtlety taken away. Delgado's Master was never the deepest character (well, maybe once or twice), but Delgado was always able to imbue him with a sense of restrained menace. Ainley just sort of attacks every line with pure malice in a way that just does not work for me.
Mind you, this is kind of what John Nathan-Turner wanted. The producer had intended for the new Master to be more like Delgado's Master than the decayed version seen in the last story and The Deadly Assassin but more malevolent and less humorous than Delgado's version. It's just that doing that really does take away from what made Delgado's Master work in the first place. The restraint, the "gentleman villain" persona was so captivating, and now we've absolutely lost that. It's not to say that there's no other way to make the Master work but this is just a poor man's Delgado.
And that's not the only odd choice made with the Master in this story. The Master's face is kept out of sight for most of the first two episodes of the story. This was done, apparently, to make it seem plausible that the Watcher was in fact the Master. Now the restraint shown in keeping the villain limited to a few offscreen laughs for the majority of the first two episodes does create some buildup. But…we saw the Master's new face at the end of the last story. And under different circumstances maybe you could argue that not everyone watching Logopolis necessarily saw Keeper, but if you were trying to build in a twist for those who hadn't watched the prior story, perhaps Logopolis shouldn't have been so much of a direct sequel to the Keeper.
Which isn't to say that Logopolis gets nothing to due with the Master right. In fact, the Master's actual plan is a well-conceived plot. Actually, this story largely takes the same the same basic plot structure as many of the 3rd Doctor era stories featuring the Master. The Master comes up with a plan for conquest, but his arrogance causes him to overlook how it would go wrong. Ultimately, the Master and the Doctor have to work together to stop the threat that the Master has accidentally unleashed. There are two things that make this different from the 3rd Doctor stories of this ilk (eg Terror of the Autons). First, in most of those 3rd Doctor stories, it was some alien menace that the Master had allied himself with before it all would go wrong for him. But in this story, he just happens to fail to realize that Logopolis is the glue that's keeping the universe together. It allows him to take a central role as villain, but we still get those great scenes where the Doctor and the Master are suddenly working together.
But that's the other big change to the formula here. In the past, typically the Master has collaborated in relative good faith with the Doctor when the two are forced to work together. The Master would always make sure he had an escape route before UNIT (or whoever) could arrest him. But aside from that by the end of the story the Master would just be trying to survive the mess he'd made. But here, the Master is continuing to further his plans for universal conquest. And he nearly pulls it off. We'll talk more about the Doctor later, but suffice to say the Master has never been quite so successful in manipulating his arch-rival than in the final moments of this story. It's actually well-done, where we see the that the Master is up to something whenever the Doctor isn't looking, and the Doctor is, of course, suspicious, but it's he doesn't quite have the information to put together what the Master is actually doing. It works quite well.
And speaking of characters first introduced in the last story, Nyssa's back. Apparently brought to Logopolis by the Watcher at first she just wants to find him. And then she does! Looking about twenty years younger and strangely malicious. I've seen people complain that Nyssa comes off looking stupid here. Personally I can buy that, desperate to find her father, she just accepts that he's been de-aged. At bare minimum her trust in the man who looks like a younger version of her father is more excusable than Kassia's trust in the Melkur last story – the fact that both turn out to be the Master notwithstanding. She also gets a really good moment in episode 4, where she realizes that the Master has, in order, killed her step-mother, her father and then destroyed her world, "blotted out forever". Good acting from Sarah Sutton and a genuinely moving scene. But Nyssa's involvement in this story feels a lot more perfunctory than her fairly strong debut. While normally I wouldn't necessarily mind. Logopolis has a lot on its plate after all, and after giving the character a strong debut we can theoretically afford Nyssa taking a more secondary role in this story. But, considering this is actually the story that establishes Nyssa as a companion, it would be nice if she had a little more to do.
Then again, a lot of Bidmead's time was clearly spent trying to establish Tegan. Here we're a lot more successful. Tegan instantly works in this story. The basic idea of the character was a loudmouth Australian (as to why it was decided that new companion should be Australian, see the "Stray Observations" section) whose shouty demeanor was used to cover up her insecurities. We see this playing out nicely through episode 1. Tegan is a flight attendant, or at least about to become one, apparently visiting England and her Aunt before taking her first job starting at Heathrow. We see her insist on taking care of her aunt's car when it breaks down herself – she doesn't trust mechanics and, as she puts it, "It's the 1980s Aunt Vanessa. No knight errants."
Eventually, Tegan accidentally wanders onto the TARDIS out of mixture of curiosity and confusion and gets lost in its corridors – and if Logopolis ever does feel like it's just marking time, it's in these scenes. Tegan does discover the Master's TARDIS within the Doctor's but nothing really comes of that. Once she gets involved in the action properly though, Tegan does something she'll be doing a lot over the course of the next season – complaining to the Doctor. It does work, and to her credit in other moments she shows a degree of interest and curiosity, in spite of being annoyed. And one scene in particular stands out. When she sees how the Logopolitans work she pretty much immediately takes issue with it, telling the Monitor to his face that it looks like a sweatshop. This sets up a pretty interesting discussion between the two, though it's sadly never really resolved. On the whole, while not the best companion introduction of the 4th Doctor era (it's really hard to beat either The Face of Evil or Ribos Operation) it's a strong one all the same.
I should quickly touch on Adric here, although he doesn't do much. In the first episode, when it's just him and the Doctor he does surprisingly little. Later on, he seems quite pleased to see Nyssa again, the first signs of him having a bit of a crush on the Trakenite princess. He takes the most intellectual interest of our characters in the Logopolitan mathematics, and in particular in block transfer computation, something that will pay off next story. Otherwise he's kind of in the background for much of this. This will be a recurring problem for much of the 5th Doctor era, where having 3 companions will force one into the background.
And then, there's the Doctor. I've often remarked that Tom Baker can, by this point, pull off a compelling performance as the Doctor in his sleep. So the question, I suppose, is, does he wake up for this, his final story? Eh…sometimes. Again, Baker's never bad in this story, because he's just not capable of that at this point, and he's definitely more lively than he was in some earlier stories (presumably no longer feeling ill helps out a lot in that department), but he's had way better performances earlier the 4th Doctor era. In spite of the fact that it was ultimately his decision, Tom Baker was not happy to be leaving Doctor Who, and apparently made life difficult for everyone on set as a result (which is not particularly out of character). According to himself, Baker was not taking direction, Janet Fielding recalls him being angry at everyone, and John Nathan-Turner remembers that after he filmed his final scene, Baker simply left without a word.
As for the Doctor's actual characterization in his final story, there are a few moments worth highlighting. When the Logopolitan formulas for fixing the chameleon circuit are inputted into the TARDIS, the Doctor insists on his companions remaining outside the TARDIS. Given that the Master corrupted the calculations, this turns out to be a good thing, but it does raise the question of why the Doctor thought something might go wrong. I think that, given the presence of the Watcher, we can assume the Doctor knew his regeneration was coming soon, and didn't want to take any unnecessary risks.
Also we see the return of some of the 4th Doctor's most notable characteristics. The first, and something I've talked about a lot, is his fallibility. When the Doctor realizes that the Master is still alive after the events on Traken, he naturally assumes that the Master is after him. But this turns out to be wrong, and a pretty grave error. As the Doctor puts it, "And I was vain enough to think it was me he was after." As for the other, it's the 4th Doctor's more mercurial nature. To some extent in the latter half of the 4th Doctor era, he's become a cuddlier version of himself. But as he makes a deal with the Master, his companion object, only for the Doctor to run them each down. Pointing out how none of them were invited to travel with him. This actually serves as the perfect set up for each of them to provide some crucial help the Doctor in the final scenes of the story.
And of course, there's the regeneration. And with it…we have to talk about the Watcher. In principle, this is fine. Sure it's different from any other regeneration we've seen to this point, but there's not a set way for these things to go. And it isn't entirely unprecedented. After all, the Abbot regenerated into Cho-Je who was just a mental projection of the Abbot back in Planet of the Spiders. This ends up working a little differently – Tom Baker doesn't finish his regeneration as a creepy man with entirely white skin – but the idea feels similar enough that, while probably accidental, the parallel still holds up. The Watcher being more ethereal than Cho-Je can be put down to the Doctor's lack of control over his regenerations when compared to Time Lords – as seen with Romana's regeneration back in Destiny of the Daleks. And, you know, it's all fiction at the end of the day. As long as it's possible for the audience to follow what's going on, you can get away with a lot.
My issue is that everything feels kind of underexplained. Hell, we don't even really explain what regeneration is, and sure anyone watching knows that there have been multiple Doctors, but it still feels like the sort of thing that someone, maybe Adric who has been traveling with the Doctor for a bit, could explain. And for that matter, the one line of explanation we do get is baffling for it's own reasons. "He [The Watcher] was the Doctor all along" says Nyssa, knowing this…somehow. Sure, she's right, but that it's Nyssa saying this, who knows basically nothing about the Doctor or Time Lords just doesn't track. Her only experience with Time Lords changing bodies is the Master taking over her father's body, something which she only found out about later. And that gets to my main problem with this regeneration – it all feels very ad hoc.
Which isn't to say there's nothing good about it. The Doctor seeing hallucinations, first of former villains as he's about to fall to his (temporary) death and then of all his old companions works really well. It's the first instance of this, and it's something that works well enough that we'll see it get repeated a couple of times. And I do think his last line, as aggravating as how the whole regeneration is handled, "It's the end, but the moment has been prepared for", is a good line. And that ending shot of Peter Davison as the Doctor smiling then sitting up works really well.
On a technical level, this story is a strong one. The Logopolitans initially look just like humans but have these enlarged backs of their skulls, presumably meant to emphasize their intelligence. Logopolis itself is a very impressive set. It's one of the few alien city sets to this point that genuinely feels like an actual location on not just a few corridors. The Watcher looks very appropriately mysterious and creepy. And the music is some of the absolute best work from this era. Paddy Kingsland, who probably should have become the show's permanent composer based on his work at this time, but sadly only ever got to work on a handful of stories from Seasons 18-21, does a remarkable job backing up the mood and style of the piece. Logopolis gets a a memorable theme that feels tinkly yet serious, the Watcher of course gets some creepy music, the Master gets a sinister sting for a lot of his actions, and so on. The story really is fun to just listen to for its music.
And that's a solid note to end on, because, while I do have some very major complaints, I do like Logopolis. There's a pacing issue early on, probably too many moving parts and that regeneration is mishandled, but once it gets going it's genuinely engrossing stuff. Logopolis is an inherently interesting setting, while I take some issues with how the Master is portrayed, I do like the effect he has on the plot, and the foreboding atmosphere is played perfectly. And hell, even in that first half, Tegan gets a solid enough intro. A pretty good sendoff to the 4th Doctor on the whole, though not without reservations.
Score: 7/10
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Historical information found on Shannon O'Sullivan's Doctor Who website (relevant page here and the TARDIS Wiki (relevant page here). Primary/secondary source material can be found in the source sections of O'Sullivan's website, and rarely as inline citations on the TARDIS Wiki.
Serial Information
- Episodes: Season 18, Episodes 25-28
- Airdates: 28th February - 21st March 1981
- Doctor: 4th
- Companions: Adric, Nyssa (Episodes 2-4), Tegan (Janet Fielding)
- Other Notable Characters: The Tremas Master
- Writer: Christopher H. Bidmead
- Director: Peter Grimwade
- Producer: John Nathan-Turner
- Script Editor: Christopher H. Bidmead
Review
Logopolis is the keystone. If you destroy Logopolis, you unravel the whole Causal Nexus. – The MonitorLogopolis is, on paper at least, a very busy story. You've got a new companion to introduce, a new incarnation of the Master to establish, a plot about the universe ending, another new companion to establish after being introduced but not really made into a companion last story and, oh yeah, a regeneration. That's a lot.
So why does the story feel so stretched out?
Don't get me wrong, once it gets going, Logopolis is honestly a great story. The final episode and a half are genuinely engrossing television, some of the best material of the whole season (though admittedly there are even some caveats to that). But getting there…hoo boy.
What's funny is that I don't think cutting Logopolis down an episode or two solves the problem. The pacing issue here isn't length, it's something a bit more basic than that. See there's actually a lot happening in the first two and a half episodes, it just all takes the form of moving the characters into the positions that they need to be in for the climax. If not for the Master killing Tegan's Aunt Vanessa in episode 1 and the cloister bell ringing a bunch throughout the same episode, there would be no sense of danger in that episode, but you couldn't really cut much of it out. Because it's all important. It's just that there's no actual peril associated with it. It's moving around characters like pieces on a chessboard so that we can get to the good stuff.
The story opens with the Doctor deciding to go to Earth so that he can measure a police box. He wants to do this so that he can get exact measurements of the thing. And why does he want to do that? Well, simply put, if he does that, he can then go to Logopolis so that the Logopolitans can fix the chameleon circuit. Which is interesting, but doesn't really feel like the setup to a grand adventure. And yet there is a, quite effective, sense of foreboding that builds up behind all of this. This is the first time we hear the cloister bell, and, as a surprisingly late addition to Doctor Who's standard sound effects, it's pretty effective. It doesn't sound like your standard alarm noise, yet it perfectly encapsulates the idea of something dangerous happening – perfect for the idiosyncratic TARDIS. And of course there's the looming presence of the Watcher. A silent figure always just barely in frame, the Watcher is perfectly set up as the harbinger of something bad.
What he is though…is another matter entirely, but we're not there yet.
After a lot of time spent getting Tegan on the TARDIS, getting her Aunt Vanessa killed by the Master and various other shenanigans we finally arrive on the titular planet of Logopolis. That planet's society is so devoted to the study of mathematics that they can execute something called "block transfer computation" which allows for the creation of actual matter by reciting what is effectively a computer program. This is essentially a magic spell, though the story does a lot of work trying to present it as something more scientific. The way the Monitor – the Logopolitan leader – describes it, Logopolis essentially acts as a living computer. They could build actual computers, but the calculations they do are so subtle and complex that they would actually alter the computers themselves, rendering the programs useless.
And then writeScript Editor Christopher H. Bidmead does something clever. He makes Logopolis a culmination of the big arc that dominated much of the season.
It's often said that "entropy" is the main theme of Season 18. That's true…to an extent. The reality is that a lot of the time it's not entropy that's presented as the main theme, but rather it's more generic cousin decay. Much of E-Space was in various states of decay (including the vampire planet in…State of Decay) but this was more of an overarching aesthetic than actually hitting on the idea of entropy. But Logopolis finds a way of retroactively making the theme of all three E-Space stories entropy.
When the Master destabilizes Logopolis (he wants to take control of the planet, naturally) that's when the Monitor has to explain what Logopolis has been doing all this time. Their main work has been a desperate fight against entropy. See, without Logopolis, the universe would have succumbed to entropy long ago. Logopolis has kept entropy at bay by opening up Charged Vacuum Emboitments (CVEs) into other universes to siphon off energy from them. That CVE that the Doctor and Romana fell into back in Full Circle? That was one of them. It's a really clever way of tying the E-Space trilogy into the finale. And since Keeper of Traken was all about the Master's return and introducing Nyssa, that essentially makes Logopolis the culmination of the prior four stories of buildup.
As a concept, it's not without flaws though – well one in particular. The CVE that opened into E-Space was created by the Logopolitans to slow down entropy in our universe, but surely that means entropy would increase entropy in E-Space, causing that universe – that as a reminder is inhabited – to die more quickly (I am aware that there is a Big Finish trilogy that deals with exactly this). Isn't that pretty cruel of the Logopolitans? And how many of the other universes that the CVEs open into are populated? See when I noted the large amounts of decay occurring in E-Space, this story sort of retroactively implies that it's because of the Logopolitans. That's not even the only time the Logopolitans come across as morally dubious, although the other time at least feels intentional.
As mentioned before, we find out about the whole entropy thing because the Master starts messing with the Logopolitans, thus nearly causing the destruction of the entire universe via entropy. While technically appearing last story, this is the first time we really get a look at Anthony Ainley's version of the Master. I've never been a fan. Anthony Ainley will be appearing as The Master on and off for the remainder of the Classic Series' run and his performance does settle down somewhat by the end of the show, but I never really could get into his take on the character. It comes off as Roger Delgado with all the subtlety taken away. Delgado's Master was never the deepest character (well, maybe once or twice), but Delgado was always able to imbue him with a sense of restrained menace. Ainley just sort of attacks every line with pure malice in a way that just does not work for me.
Mind you, this is kind of what John Nathan-Turner wanted. The producer had intended for the new Master to be more like Delgado's Master than the decayed version seen in the last story and The Deadly Assassin but more malevolent and less humorous than Delgado's version. It's just that doing that really does take away from what made Delgado's Master work in the first place. The restraint, the "gentleman villain" persona was so captivating, and now we've absolutely lost that. It's not to say that there's no other way to make the Master work but this is just a poor man's Delgado.
And that's not the only odd choice made with the Master in this story. The Master's face is kept out of sight for most of the first two episodes of the story. This was done, apparently, to make it seem plausible that the Watcher was in fact the Master. Now the restraint shown in keeping the villain limited to a few offscreen laughs for the majority of the first two episodes does create some buildup. But…we saw the Master's new face at the end of the last story. And under different circumstances maybe you could argue that not everyone watching Logopolis necessarily saw Keeper, but if you were trying to build in a twist for those who hadn't watched the prior story, perhaps Logopolis shouldn't have been so much of a direct sequel to the Keeper.
Which isn't to say that Logopolis gets nothing to due with the Master right. In fact, the Master's actual plan is a well-conceived plot. Actually, this story largely takes the same the same basic plot structure as many of the 3rd Doctor era stories featuring the Master. The Master comes up with a plan for conquest, but his arrogance causes him to overlook how it would go wrong. Ultimately, the Master and the Doctor have to work together to stop the threat that the Master has accidentally unleashed. There are two things that make this different from the 3rd Doctor stories of this ilk (eg Terror of the Autons). First, in most of those 3rd Doctor stories, it was some alien menace that the Master had allied himself with before it all would go wrong for him. But in this story, he just happens to fail to realize that Logopolis is the glue that's keeping the universe together. It allows him to take a central role as villain, but we still get those great scenes where the Doctor and the Master are suddenly working together.
But that's the other big change to the formula here. In the past, typically the Master has collaborated in relative good faith with the Doctor when the two are forced to work together. The Master would always make sure he had an escape route before UNIT (or whoever) could arrest him. But aside from that by the end of the story the Master would just be trying to survive the mess he'd made. But here, the Master is continuing to further his plans for universal conquest. And he nearly pulls it off. We'll talk more about the Doctor later, but suffice to say the Master has never been quite so successful in manipulating his arch-rival than in the final moments of this story. It's actually well-done, where we see the that the Master is up to something whenever the Doctor isn't looking, and the Doctor is, of course, suspicious, but it's he doesn't quite have the information to put together what the Master is actually doing. It works quite well.
And speaking of characters first introduced in the last story, Nyssa's back. Apparently brought to Logopolis by the Watcher at first she just wants to find him. And then she does! Looking about twenty years younger and strangely malicious. I've seen people complain that Nyssa comes off looking stupid here. Personally I can buy that, desperate to find her father, she just accepts that he's been de-aged. At bare minimum her trust in the man who looks like a younger version of her father is more excusable than Kassia's trust in the Melkur last story – the fact that both turn out to be the Master notwithstanding. She also gets a really good moment in episode 4, where she realizes that the Master has, in order, killed her step-mother, her father and then destroyed her world, "blotted out forever". Good acting from Sarah Sutton and a genuinely moving scene. But Nyssa's involvement in this story feels a lot more perfunctory than her fairly strong debut. While normally I wouldn't necessarily mind. Logopolis has a lot on its plate after all, and after giving the character a strong debut we can theoretically afford Nyssa taking a more secondary role in this story. But, considering this is actually the story that establishes Nyssa as a companion, it would be nice if she had a little more to do.
Then again, a lot of Bidmead's time was clearly spent trying to establish Tegan. Here we're a lot more successful. Tegan instantly works in this story. The basic idea of the character was a loudmouth Australian (as to why it was decided that new companion should be Australian, see the "Stray Observations" section) whose shouty demeanor was used to cover up her insecurities. We see this playing out nicely through episode 1. Tegan is a flight attendant, or at least about to become one, apparently visiting England and her Aunt before taking her first job starting at Heathrow. We see her insist on taking care of her aunt's car when it breaks down herself – she doesn't trust mechanics and, as she puts it, "It's the 1980s Aunt Vanessa. No knight errants."
Eventually, Tegan accidentally wanders onto the TARDIS out of mixture of curiosity and confusion and gets lost in its corridors – and if Logopolis ever does feel like it's just marking time, it's in these scenes. Tegan does discover the Master's TARDIS within the Doctor's but nothing really comes of that. Once she gets involved in the action properly though, Tegan does something she'll be doing a lot over the course of the next season – complaining to the Doctor. It does work, and to her credit in other moments she shows a degree of interest and curiosity, in spite of being annoyed. And one scene in particular stands out. When she sees how the Logopolitans work she pretty much immediately takes issue with it, telling the Monitor to his face that it looks like a sweatshop. This sets up a pretty interesting discussion between the two, though it's sadly never really resolved. On the whole, while not the best companion introduction of the 4th Doctor era (it's really hard to beat either The Face of Evil or Ribos Operation) it's a strong one all the same.
I should quickly touch on Adric here, although he doesn't do much. In the first episode, when it's just him and the Doctor he does surprisingly little. Later on, he seems quite pleased to see Nyssa again, the first signs of him having a bit of a crush on the Trakenite princess. He takes the most intellectual interest of our characters in the Logopolitan mathematics, and in particular in block transfer computation, something that will pay off next story. Otherwise he's kind of in the background for much of this. This will be a recurring problem for much of the 5th Doctor era, where having 3 companions will force one into the background.
And then, there's the Doctor. I've often remarked that Tom Baker can, by this point, pull off a compelling performance as the Doctor in his sleep. So the question, I suppose, is, does he wake up for this, his final story? Eh…sometimes. Again, Baker's never bad in this story, because he's just not capable of that at this point, and he's definitely more lively than he was in some earlier stories (presumably no longer feeling ill helps out a lot in that department), but he's had way better performances earlier the 4th Doctor era. In spite of the fact that it was ultimately his decision, Tom Baker was not happy to be leaving Doctor Who, and apparently made life difficult for everyone on set as a result (which is not particularly out of character). According to himself, Baker was not taking direction, Janet Fielding recalls him being angry at everyone, and John Nathan-Turner remembers that after he filmed his final scene, Baker simply left without a word.
As for the Doctor's actual characterization in his final story, there are a few moments worth highlighting. When the Logopolitan formulas for fixing the chameleon circuit are inputted into the TARDIS, the Doctor insists on his companions remaining outside the TARDIS. Given that the Master corrupted the calculations, this turns out to be a good thing, but it does raise the question of why the Doctor thought something might go wrong. I think that, given the presence of the Watcher, we can assume the Doctor knew his regeneration was coming soon, and didn't want to take any unnecessary risks.
Also we see the return of some of the 4th Doctor's most notable characteristics. The first, and something I've talked about a lot, is his fallibility. When the Doctor realizes that the Master is still alive after the events on Traken, he naturally assumes that the Master is after him. But this turns out to be wrong, and a pretty grave error. As the Doctor puts it, "And I was vain enough to think it was me he was after." As for the other, it's the 4th Doctor's more mercurial nature. To some extent in the latter half of the 4th Doctor era, he's become a cuddlier version of himself. But as he makes a deal with the Master, his companion object, only for the Doctor to run them each down. Pointing out how none of them were invited to travel with him. This actually serves as the perfect set up for each of them to provide some crucial help the Doctor in the final scenes of the story.
And of course, there's the regeneration. And with it…we have to talk about the Watcher. In principle, this is fine. Sure it's different from any other regeneration we've seen to this point, but there's not a set way for these things to go. And it isn't entirely unprecedented. After all, the Abbot regenerated into Cho-Je who was just a mental projection of the Abbot back in Planet of the Spiders. This ends up working a little differently – Tom Baker doesn't finish his regeneration as a creepy man with entirely white skin – but the idea feels similar enough that, while probably accidental, the parallel still holds up. The Watcher being more ethereal than Cho-Je can be put down to the Doctor's lack of control over his regenerations when compared to Time Lords – as seen with Romana's regeneration back in Destiny of the Daleks. And, you know, it's all fiction at the end of the day. As long as it's possible for the audience to follow what's going on, you can get away with a lot.
My issue is that everything feels kind of underexplained. Hell, we don't even really explain what regeneration is, and sure anyone watching knows that there have been multiple Doctors, but it still feels like the sort of thing that someone, maybe Adric who has been traveling with the Doctor for a bit, could explain. And for that matter, the one line of explanation we do get is baffling for it's own reasons. "He [The Watcher] was the Doctor all along" says Nyssa, knowing this…somehow. Sure, she's right, but that it's Nyssa saying this, who knows basically nothing about the Doctor or Time Lords just doesn't track. Her only experience with Time Lords changing bodies is the Master taking over her father's body, something which she only found out about later. And that gets to my main problem with this regeneration – it all feels very ad hoc.
Which isn't to say there's nothing good about it. The Doctor seeing hallucinations, first of former villains as he's about to fall to his (temporary) death and then of all his old companions works really well. It's the first instance of this, and it's something that works well enough that we'll see it get repeated a couple of times. And I do think his last line, as aggravating as how the whole regeneration is handled, "It's the end, but the moment has been prepared for", is a good line. And that ending shot of Peter Davison as the Doctor smiling then sitting up works really well.
On a technical level, this story is a strong one. The Logopolitans initially look just like humans but have these enlarged backs of their skulls, presumably meant to emphasize their intelligence. Logopolis itself is a very impressive set. It's one of the few alien city sets to this point that genuinely feels like an actual location on not just a few corridors. The Watcher looks very appropriately mysterious and creepy. And the music is some of the absolute best work from this era. Paddy Kingsland, who probably should have become the show's permanent composer based on his work at this time, but sadly only ever got to work on a handful of stories from Seasons 18-21, does a remarkable job backing up the mood and style of the piece. Logopolis gets a a memorable theme that feels tinkly yet serious, the Watcher of course gets some creepy music, the Master gets a sinister sting for a lot of his actions, and so on. The story really is fun to just listen to for its music.
And that's a solid note to end on, because, while I do have some very major complaints, I do like Logopolis. There's a pacing issue early on, probably too many moving parts and that regeneration is mishandled, but once it gets going it's genuinely engrossing stuff. Logopolis is an inherently interesting setting, while I take some issues with how the Master is portrayed, I do like the effect he has on the plot, and the foreboding atmosphere is played perfectly. And hell, even in that first half, Tegan gets a solid enough intro. A pretty good sendoff to the 4th Doctor on the whole, though not without reservations.
Score: 7/10
Stray Observations
- This was Christopher H. Bidmead's final story as Script Editor, having grown frustrated with a job he felt he wasn't getting enough credit for, and having dealt with a very rough shoot for Warriors' Gate. He would be replaced by, essentially, both Eric Seward and Antony Root who would split script editing duties for Season 19. Root would leave the show after Season 19, while Seward would stick around until Season 23.
- Like Douglas Adams in Season 18, Christopher Bidemad wrote the finale for the season he script edited. Like Adams before him, he didn't particularly want to, but couldn't find a writer to do the story in time.
- WriteScript Editor Chrisopher H. Bidmead was a computer enthusiast (at a time when that was still somewhat rare) and the ideas behind Logopolis drew heavily from his interest in computers.
- Tegan was created after the production team was unable to get Louise Jameson (Leela) or Elizabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane) to return to the show. There were other motivations though. Specifically, the BBC's Head of Serials Graeme MacDonald was trying to get additional funding from the Australian government. This came somewhat close to happening even before Tegan was proposed as character, but the BBC and ABC (Australia's equivalent to the BBC) couldn't come together on filming dates for Doctor Who in Australia for Season 19. Tegan was then created to make the show more appealing to the Australian viewers and ABC. Ultimately the plan failed, and the BBC and ABC were never able to come together on a production deal.
- Jovanka was not supposed to be Tegan's last name, but was rather suggested as an alternate name for the character. However Christopher Bidmead misread a document from JNT identifying her as "Tegan (Jovanka)" to mean that her name was meant to be "Tegan Jovanka" and the name stuck.
- Janet Fielding probably shouldn't have been cast as Tegan Jovanka as she lied to the production team twice. JNT wanted an Australian actor for the part and Fielding was recommended to him as being ideal for the part of, as it was described, "bossy Australian". Fielding's first lie was about her age, claiming to be three years younger than she actually was. Her second lie came about because there was concern that Fielding was too short to play someone who was supposed to be a flight attendant. Fielding told the production team that in Australia height requirements for flight attendants were shorter than in the UK because Australians were shorter. Of course that wasn't true, and I'm kind of shocked that JNT believed her.
- Amusingly, Tom Baker was once asked why he left Doctor Who and replied that he was pushed off…by Anthony Ainley.
- The first episode starts with a policeman making a call on an actual Police Telephone Box, and I think it's pretty funny that it's kind of a twist that we can show one of these things and it's not actually a time machine in disguise.
- After that the Master's TARDIS lands in the exact spot occupied by said police box, disguised, naturally, as a police box.
- The Doctor refers to Earth as his "home away from home".
- The Doctor says he left with the TARDIS before its "chameleon conversion" was completed because there were "other pressing reasons at the time". How wonderfully vague!
- Episode 1 has the Doctor making a serious attempt at fixing the chameleon circuit, pretty much the only time the idea is seriously considered on the show.
- It's much better done here, but I appreciate the parallel where in last story Nyssa's stepmother was fooled by the Master and given a piece of jewelry (a necklace in that case) to ensure her obedience, and in this story the same thing happens to Nyssa (only it's a bracelet).
- In episode 4 the Doctor lays his scarf across a narrow walkway so that it acts as a tripwire for the Master, who dutifully trips on it. His scarf is long enough that, even though he's standing a good 4 feet away from the "tripwire" portion of the scarf, he's still wearing the rest of the thing.
- In episode 4, as he's hanging by an electrical cable, the Doctor sees images of his enemies threatening him. The obvious suspects are all there, the Decayed Master, a Dalek, a Cyberman, the Black Guardian, and a Sontaran but also some less obvious choices. A Zygon from Terror of the Zygons (bear in mind the Zygons wouldn't have their second appearance on the show for over 30 years) and the Captain from The Pirate Planet are certainly unusual choices for this part, although both good villains in their own right.
2024.05.11 20:22 Duke_Jamhalo From the Fog - Bannerlord Calradic Campaign #35
Lore
Amongst the thick fog, a disgraced man drifts ever closer to sleep whilst on watch.Once an honoured Jarl of Jumne, the winds of change have not been kind. Forced from his home due to the petty politicking of his warriors, fortune found its way to the ex-Jarl when he heard of Sturgia’s planned conquest of Seonon. Quickly gathering his ax and shield, he had arrived at the war camp just in time for the campaign.
The battle was glorious. By right, he had taken his fair share of pillage and loot after the city fell. The Sturgians, of course, were looking for able warriors to keep the peace in the looted villages outside the walls of Seonon. Being promised an estate in the city itself and a hefty wage, the man quickly found himself a guard for the meagre village of Mag Arba.
Even in the war-torn Battania, information travels with peasants and traders rather quickly. Only rumours kept the disgraced Jarl informed. The capture of Car Banseth by the Vlandians and the assassination of the Battanian High King made his post seem pointless. How could the Battanians ever hope to reclaim what they lost without leadership?
How the tides ever change, though. The rise of High King Robert had brought too much joy to the peasantry. More than that, waves of battles won by the High King against the Basilieus and Senate only brought more fervour to the village. One particularly brave fool even tried to spread rumours of an incoming “liberation” led by the High King to reclaim Seonon. The fool lost his tongue for such idiocy.
The fog today wasn’t great, though. The greenery of the woods blends everything together, and the village itself almost seems isolated from the rest of the world. In this island of misery, he was once again a Jarl in all but name.
Perhaps while Seonon is without a lord, he could redeem his lost honour? By the might of his ax, the city and its inhabitants could be his. No warrior in all of Sturgia would dare oppose him in single combat. By warrior’s rights, he knew he was practically untouchable, and yet…
Before he could register the slightest sound, a burning pain filled his throat and red poured down upon his chainmail. Gasping for air amidst a gurgling torrent of his own blood, he stumbled, collapsing to the ground. The shaft of an arrow protruding from his neck.
As eternal darkness replaced the greenery, figures emerged from the fog. Countless Battanian warriors marched straight past him, with only a bearded man adorned by a spiked crown giving a passing glance.
Oh Sad Seonon… the time has come.
In Meta Terms
Welcome to the thirty-fifth Bannerlord Calradic Campaign! This event will feature the Battanians marching against the Sturgians to reclaim Seonon.If the Battanians can defeat the Sturgians on the battlefield, they will attempt to siege Seonon. Should their siege fail, they will send some daring riders to claim Nevyansk Castle without a fight. If the Sturgians can once again send the wolves of Battania fleeing their forests, Utheliam Castle will fall to them. From there, the Sturgians will attempt to siege Pendraic Castle.
Unfamiliar with the Calradic Campaign? Have no fear! The Calradic Campaign is a casual, player driven, story based event. There are no strict rules or signups, and players of all skill levels often come! If you've never tried multiplayer, now is your best chance to experience large scale formations and battles without the overly strict practices typically found in line battle/clan style events.
Victories in our flagship monthly events are represented on the overall campaign map, while roleplay surrounding the events and their consequences takes place both during said events and on the community Discord. Joining the Discord allows you to communicate with your fellow faction members, trash talk others, and rise through the ranks to one day become lord of a village, castle, city, or if you're particularly successful, an entire kingdom!
To join the event, you will need our Calradic Campaign Module. This module contains all of the custom battle and siege scenes used, as well as many stability fixes and balance changes. Most importantly, the module features three distinct empire factions in multiplayer, each with their own unique perks and cosmetics to lean into the different situations of the three!
There will be a manual installation of the module available for those not playing on Steam. Check the Nexus mods page no sooner than the Friday before the event for the correct download. You will need the CalradicCampaign#35 file.
As a general rule of thumb, the Calradic Campaign module should be the only one enabled in your launcher! If you have any crashes or issues trying to launch the game / join the server, unsubscribing and resubscribing to the module on workshop will often fix any issues.
Note to clans: While the Calradic Campaign is a public event open to all, clans will not be allowed to organize their own formations and must spread out between teams. Failure to follow these guidelines will result in suspension from the event.
Server Info
- Game: Mount and Blade II: Bannerlord
- When: Saturday, May 18th, 4pm EDT.
- Server: Calradic_Campaign
- REQUIRED Module Download: Calradic Campaign Module
- Voice chat: Mount & Blade Community Discord
- Calradic Campaign Map
It is highly recommended you join our community Discord, as half the fun of the persistent campaign takes place outside of events. Meet fellow Mount and Blade fans, find new friends to queue with, and make fun of Battanians together in our community of 25,000+.
Leave any question, complaints, observations, memes and faction based riffing in the comments below!
2024.05.11 19:59 grierks Hedge Knight, Chapter 69
First / Previous
The hairs on Leon’s neck rose as the snap of power brushed against him. Before he can focus anymore on the sensation, however, he catches Erik’s sword in a bind before it lands a clean blow against him. There is a twitch in the Shade’s eyebrow that told Leon that Erik sensed the same thing, but their eyes focus almost immediately. Neither one could afford to lose concentration in a confrontation like this.
The dance continued.
Leon flicked his wrist, sending a surge of Ether into his sword. The burst of energy knocked Erik’s sword astray, but as the Black Cloak tries to exploit the created opening with a Fang in his opposite hand, it is caught by the Shade’s forearm. The attack only leaves a scratch on the surface of Erik’s skin, and before Leon can react his legs are kicked from under him from a sweep of Erik’s leg, his opponent then follows the blow with a flick of his cragged blade at the Black Cloak’s head. Leon twisted his hand, catching the blow with his sword, but the lack of leverage from his imbalanced stance becomes apparent as the attack knocks him off of his feet. His back slammed against the tree behind him, and he could do nothing as he slid against it and onto the ground. However, Erik does not pursue
The Shade instead jumped back to avoid multiple bolts of Aether launched from Ren. The projectiles struck where Erik’s feet were, and when their opponent made his temporary retreat the Cleric stepped in front of Leon. The Black Cloak stood to his feet and joined his companion at his side.
“You felt it too, right?” Ren muttered towards him.
Leon nodded.
“It wasn’t Aria as far as I could tell, but we can’t allow whatever is happening to her to continue,” Ren said.
Leon eyed Erik in the distance. The Shade’s eyes studied them as he paced back and forth, but he did not press the attack. A tension was building in the air, ready to burst at any moment.
“I’ll handle him,” the Black Cloak said.
Ren cut him an uncertain look, “Are you certain?”
“No,” Leon admitted, “but we are scarce on options,” he let his Fang dissipate and switched his stance, keeping one hand free while he held his sword in a neutral guard, “when I give the signal, unleash as much as you can then run.”
The Cleric nodded, but said nothing.
Leon leaned in, closing his mind to all else but his opponent. He would not best the Shade with power alone, that much was clear. He hoped technique would make up the difference.
Erik struck first.
The Shade kicked off the ground, the Ether running through him granting him a speed that Leon could barely follow with his eyes. Ren was quicker to react, unleashing a large wave of golden light as he thrust his staff in front of him. Leon followed the surge of power close behind.
“Go!” he yelled, hoping that his companion was already on his way towards the others.
Erik crossed his arms as the wave of energy struck him, but the force behind it knocked the Shade off of his feet. Leon focused his Ether at his legs, feeling his heart drum against his chest as he let the energy burst when he kicked the ground. The earth cracked beneath his feet, and the Black Cloak leapt to Erik’s side. The Shade was unable to get his feet under him before Leon struck, but intercepted the attack with his arm. The Black Cloak’s blade bit into his arm, leaving only a shallow cut before Leon leaned into the attack, slamming Erik into the ground. Before the Shade could recover, a Fang of golden light appeared above Leon’s head and flung itself towards Erik like an arrow.
He twisted his body to avoid a direct hit, but hissed as the Fang left a glancing blow at his side. Leon pressed the assault, his sword swinging down in a relentless tide of steel that Erik could only manage to barely deflect with his cragged blade. Between each attack, a Fang slipped through Erik’s defenses just enough to leave another cut across his skin. Blood trickled down from each wound, spotting the Shade’s clothes in a deep red, and Leon could now see Erik’s eyes starting to widen; he searched for an opening to the onslaught.
One Leon never intended to give.
Finding his rhythm, the Black Cloak produced another Fang in his free hand and sped the assault. The Core at his center grew hotter with each new Fang that Leon produced, a fire that was spreading slowly across the entirety of his body. He grit his teeth and pressed the attack, raining his blows against Erik’s blade as the Shade kept avoiding any debilitating blows. Growling, Leon forced Ether into his sword and hit the Shade’s stone blade at its side. It landed with a burst of golden light, knocking the cragged sword to the side. Leon thrusted with the Fang in his opposite hand, aiming towards the Shade’s chest, but before the attack landed Erik slammed his foot against the Black Cloak’s chest.
A burst of energy escaped from Erik’s foot as his heel dug into Leon’s breastplate, giving nothing away aside from the air bursting around the blow itself. The Black Cloak was kicked into the air, but before he was knocked away he drove the Fang into Erik’s thigh. The Shade roared in pain as the sword of gilded energy pierced through the leg and out the otherside, but still managed to kick Leon back enough to be able to get to his feet. The Fang faded from Erik’s thigh, but he moved with a clear limp as he tried to create more distance between him and Leon. His cuts already started to heal, but there was a sluggishness to his movements now.
Leon leapt back into the fray, feeling as if pins were stabbing him all over as he drew upon his Core once more. He pushed the feeling to the back of his mind as Erik caught his blade in a bind with his own. The Black Cloak pushed the exchange down and cleaved into the Shade’s exposed arm with a Fang from his opposite hand. Erik roared as it cut deep into his skin, forcing the locked weapons back up. As he felt his blade rise, Leon maintained the bind until the swords reached the level of his chest, allowing the Shade to generate the momentum of the movement. Before Erik could take advantage of this, however, Leon shifted his arm and manipulated the bind upwards, exposing the Shade’s chest. The Black Cloak’s Fang struck again, giving Erik a gash across his chest. His opponent tried to break the engagement, but his movements were still hindered by the still healing wound on his thigh, and Leon fell into another rhythm as he pressed the assault.
His sword served as his guard, catching Erik’s swings before they could reach their apex and creating openings that he could strike at with his Fang. While the Shade was able to block most strikes with his arm, it was becoming increasingly clear that his Ether was starting to run thin. Leon’s attacks would cut deeper with each strike, forcing Erik to eventually switch to avoiding them entirely, which pressed him on the back foot. The fire that seared through Leon was dulled by the rush of battle, but even then he could tell that his limits had been reached and long surpassed. Still, he pressed on.
The Black Cloak pressued Erik back into a tree, keeping his strikes constant to force the Shade to keep his guard up. Any attempts to slow down Leon were met with failure as he started to once again slip Fangs between each strike. The Fang he grasped felt like lead, and his sword even heavier with that, but each new cut across Erik’s body only spurred him to carry on. The Shade attempted to kick Leon away, but the Black Cloak countered by slamming his elbow into his opponent’s shin, knocking the leg back down. The battle high kept darkness from encroaching upon his vision, but he could feel the Fang in his hand start to grow unstable.
His Ether was nearly spent.
Erik moved to resume his guard, the cracks across his cragged sword clear to see. Gritting his teeth, Leon brought the Fang back and forced the last of his Ether into it, setting its flickering form ablaze with golden light. He struck the rocky sword and let the blade of the Fang burst, shattering Leon’s weapon. It's shrapnel bounced off of the Black Cloak’s armor, but scratched across Erik’s skin as he tried to cover himself with his arms. Leon slipped a fist between his opponent’s defenses, striking him in the jaw and sending him stumbling to the side. In his battle driven rush the Black Cloak felt the impulse to drive the sword into Erik’s side, but he stopped himself. Instead, he dropped the blade and grasped the sealing cuffs attached to his waist.
Before the Shade could recover, Leon grabbed his wrist and clasped one of the cuffs around it. The effect is felt instantly as Erik falls to one knee, the Ether that sustained him withered to embers. The Shade swung his fist at Leon in a desperate attempt to repel him, but his hand was instead caught by the Black Cloak as he clasped the second cuff around his wrist. His abilities fully sealed, Erik fell to the ground.
Leon loomed over his defeated opponent, chest heaving as he took breaths that refused to fill his lungs. Though the Shade was mired in countless cuts, the constant rush of Ether that Erik maintained throughout the fight reduced their damage to surface level only. Such use of power most likely contributed to Leon’s opponent burning through it so quickly. Had the Shade been properly equipped, the outcome of the battle would have been far different.
Erik looked up at him, eyes still resolute even in defeat, “Mercy? From a hound?”
“We have questions,” Leon responded, “And you’re going to give us answers.”
He struck the Shade across his jaw, and Erik fell limp against the forest floor. Leon knelt down next to his opponent and pulled a small length of rope from his waist before binding Erik’s legs with it. The moment that he tightened the knot, his fatigue struck all at once.
The Black Cloak fell back, feeling the trembles that started from his fingers and toes, trailing up his limbs until the entirety of his body started to shake. He tried to move in such a state, but his legs refused to obey. The twitch in his fingers told him that he retained some measure of mobility, but it took all of his will to lift them and pull back his hood. As his helmet faded, the cold air stabbed at his exposed, sweat covered skin like daggers. He grew confused as the chill felt more like a steady burn, but could only attribute that to the stress that he’d subjected his body to during the battle. He’d held so many advantages in that exchange, and still he was reduced to his. He was weak.
Just as he’d always been.
A memory of Astraeus flashes into his mind. His brother stood strong, stance immaculate as he readied himself against an unknown opponent. Rather than push the image away, Leon embraced it and closed his eyes. He calmed his breathing, and after a few moments could feel some feeling in his legs start to return. All of him still shook, but he regained just enough strength to push himself to his feet. With a final deep breath, he pulled his hood back over his head.
The fight was not over.
___
Leaf could only watch as the storm unfolded in front of him. Jahora stood firm, the light the newly formed Aetheric ring around her head flaring with a brilliant white light as the Mage forms a glyph of red energy in her hands. Cora, who still maintained a hold on his restraints, raised the arm of hers that was not clasped by a sealing cuff, forming a barrier of rock and energy in front of her. It proved to be a futile gesture, for as Jahora’s fireball struck the shield it shattered, the force of the explosion knocking Cora back into a tree.
The rocks that dug into Leaf’s skin fell as the Shade hit the ground. With his restraints gone, the archer caught himself on his feet and picked up his shortsword. He moved to aid Jahora, but as he took a step a wave of fatigue struck him, forcing him to his knee. His Ether was already nearly spent by the time the others arrived, and it was only through sheer stubbornness that he’d been able to force anymore out of his Core during the fight and in trying to break the crushing hold of Cora’s restraints. Now though, he could feel knives stabbing at him across his body, a backlash of pushing himself too far.
Yet he knew it wasn’t far enough.
Jahora readied another spell, the glyph in her hands a pale blue as Aether surged around her. Cora pushed herself to her feet, the manic look in her eyes only growing as she glared at the Mage.
“You will not take her from me…” the Shade muttered. Even with her abilities partially sealed, the ground at her heels started to crack as yellow Aether hummed around her feet.
Jahora said nothing and gathered more power into her spell.
“You will not take her!”
Cora slammed her heel into the forest floor, sending a wave of earthen spikes towards Jahora. The Mage remained steady as she unleashed her spell, countering the tide of earth with a surge of ice. The spells collide, kicking up a cloud of frost and dirt as they shattered against each other. Jahora pulled her hand back as the ice faded, her fingers blazing with red Aether as she pulled the little heat that was in the air into her fingers, molding it into a glyph at the back of her palm. Another symbol formed in her free hand at the same time, this one made of a deeper blue energy.
Before the dust settled, a series of yellow flashes burst through. Jahora lifted the blue glyph in front of her, projecting a barrier that deflected the rocks that crashed against her. The form of Cora started to become more visible, but she’d long revealed her position from the wild screams she let out with every new spell. There was a desperation to the Shade’s voice, one that Leaf could not understand.
One that Jahora did not care to listen to.
The Mage pressed forward, maintaining her barrier as she twisted its position with small flicks of her wrist. Between each projectile blocked, she swept the hand holding the red glyph forward, generating small bolts of fire that struck the bits of earth that Cora raised in a desperate defense, slowly reducing it to dust as the Shade was too manic to move. Jahora continued her steady advance, but Leaf could see the tremble that took hold over her hands. Though the boons of the Third Circle appeared to have granted her spells increased control and power, it did nothing to resolve the fact that the Mage had spent all her strength and more in the battle prior.
Leaf grit his teeth and pushed himself to his feet. Each step he took felt as if he were carrying a mountain as his back, but he continued to press on. He looked towards the side, seeing that Elly had started to stir, but was in no shape to assist. His eyes fell to Helbram, not knowing if it was instinct or consciousness that made the man dig his fingers into the ground, clawing himself slowly towards Cora. Finally, his gaze drifted to Aria, who remained suspended in the air, the woman of ice’s fingers digging deeper into the seal at her back. Ren was now at the girl’s side, the Cleric shimmering with golden energy as he fed the light into the seal. There was a newfound sheen trailing down Aria’s cheeks.
Tears that had frozen against her skin.
Leaf growled and slammed his fist into his leg. The dull rush of pain pulsed through them, but they did not become any easier to move. Jahora continued to advance upon Cora, but though the Shade was steadily losing ground the Mage’s own steps had started to slow. The archer struck his legs repeatedly, practically throwing his feet in front of him as he forced himself into a charge. Pain filled every one of his senses as a rush overtook him, and everything turned into a blur as he continued to run towards the battling spellcasters.
Cora flung another stone at Jahora, who deflected it and countered with a bolt of fire. The spell struck the Shade in her chest, slamming her back into the tree, but as she fell Cora drove her hand into the cracked earth. A pulse of yellow Aether surged through the fractured ground, trailing towards Jahora. The Mage dropped her spells and started to gather yellow Aether of her own into her hands, but before a spell could form the energy sputtered and she fell to a knee. Cora’s spell condensed at Jahora’s feet.
And Leaf rammed into the Mage in desperation.
His companion is knocked to the side as they collide, the archer taking her place in her stead. As Cora’s spell completed, the ground under him exploded, knocking him into the air as he felt the weight of a sledgehammer strike into his side. His strength left him as he struck the ground, barely able to keep a hold on his consciousness. He saw Jahora looking towards him, but before the Mage could show any concern he summoned all he had to yell.
“Go!”
Jahora nodded and pushed herself to her feet, a glyph of green Aether forming at her back. Before Cora could ready another spell, the Mage finished the cast of her own, unleashing a burst of wind that threw her forward. Jahora crossed her arms as she struck Cora in the stomach, doubling the Shade over. Before she had to recover, the Mage took hold of the loose end of the sealing cuffs and clasped it over Cora's once free wrist.
The Shade fell to her knees right after, putting her at eye level with Jahora. She bored a hateful look into the Mage as Jahora gathered green energy into the small glyph at her hand.
“Monsters, all of you,” the Shade spat, “trying to take a daughter away from her mother.”
Jahora opened her mouth to say something, but closed it. Any anger that burned in the Mage’s eyes faded to pity as she looked upon Cora.
“Do not give me that look!” the Shade screamed, “I saw the hate in your eyes just moments before. I know what you truly wish to do.”
Jahora raised her spell towards Cora, “You are not wrong. A large part of me wishes to do nothing more than snuff out your life, but I won’t.”
She casted her spell, triggering a blast of air that knocked the Shade’s head back into the tree. Cora goes still and falls to the ground, unconscious.
“There is a child present.”
___
Leon emerged from the trees, dragging an unconscious Erik behind him. As he entered the clearing he left the Shade on the ground and continued to walk forward. Every part of him wished for him to stop, but he couldn’t, not until he knew that everything was dealt with. The distant part of the clearing was a broken mess of shattered earth and ice, and amongst the rubble he could see Helbram and his companions littered throughout.
Elly had started to push herself up, blood trailing down her face as her eyes blinked away her once unconscious state. Helbram himself appeared to still be moving, though just barely as he scraped himself along the ground. Leaf lay further amongst the rubble, leaned against a jagged piece of rock as he clutched his side. Jahora stood not too far off from him.
An unconscious Cora at her side.
Relief started to flood through him, but stopped as his gaze drifted towards Aria, towards the remaining Shade.
The frost coated every part of the girl’s exposed skin, which had grown even paler since he first saw her. Her hair was also a more stark white, and a faint, wispy blue glow bleeding from her eyes. Though she displayed no emotion on her vacant face, tears trailed down and froze against her cheeks.
Just like Astraeus had looked all those years ago.
Leon shook his head, looking towards the icy woman that hovered behind Aria. Beyond her physical beauty, there was little else that he could tell about the frozen figure, all except the fingers that pressed against the seal at Aria’s back. A crack had spread across all symbols of the gods that lined the glyph, all except for the Eye of Velendel, which was due to Ren’s current efforts.
The Cleric forced a torrent of Aether into the seal, but it showed no signs of repairing itself. It was all that his companion could do to prevent it from breaking further, and Leon knew that striking at the figure formed behind Aria would result in nothing.
It hadn’t with Astraeus.
He looked at the girl, saw the sadness that was frozen across her face, saw the same as he did all those years ago when he gazed into his brother’s eyes.
And drew his sword.
First / Previous
Author's note: Just gonna keep the commentary to a minimum until things are concluded. I was going to try and finish everything with this chapter, but there are way too many threads I want to make sure have the time they deserve, so I expanded on events here instead. More is still to come! We're not off this ride yet folks.
The arc is now officially finished on my Patreon, and I’m going to be taking a break next week to cool down. I’ll be back soon enough, till next time everyone!
If you wish to read ahead and gain access to the audiobook version of this story, consider supporting me on Patreon (https://patreon.com/criticalscribe). If you want to leave a donation, here is my Ko-fi (https://ko-fi.com/criticalscribe).
submitted by grierks to HFY [link] [comments]
The hairs on Leon’s neck rose as the snap of power brushed against him. Before he can focus anymore on the sensation, however, he catches Erik’s sword in a bind before it lands a clean blow against him. There is a twitch in the Shade’s eyebrow that told Leon that Erik sensed the same thing, but their eyes focus almost immediately. Neither one could afford to lose concentration in a confrontation like this.
The dance continued.
Leon flicked his wrist, sending a surge of Ether into his sword. The burst of energy knocked Erik’s sword astray, but as the Black Cloak tries to exploit the created opening with a Fang in his opposite hand, it is caught by the Shade’s forearm. The attack only leaves a scratch on the surface of Erik’s skin, and before Leon can react his legs are kicked from under him from a sweep of Erik’s leg, his opponent then follows the blow with a flick of his cragged blade at the Black Cloak’s head. Leon twisted his hand, catching the blow with his sword, but the lack of leverage from his imbalanced stance becomes apparent as the attack knocks him off of his feet. His back slammed against the tree behind him, and he could do nothing as he slid against it and onto the ground. However, Erik does not pursue
The Shade instead jumped back to avoid multiple bolts of Aether launched from Ren. The projectiles struck where Erik’s feet were, and when their opponent made his temporary retreat the Cleric stepped in front of Leon. The Black Cloak stood to his feet and joined his companion at his side.
“You felt it too, right?” Ren muttered towards him.
Leon nodded.
“It wasn’t Aria as far as I could tell, but we can’t allow whatever is happening to her to continue,” Ren said.
Leon eyed Erik in the distance. The Shade’s eyes studied them as he paced back and forth, but he did not press the attack. A tension was building in the air, ready to burst at any moment.
“I’ll handle him,” the Black Cloak said.
Ren cut him an uncertain look, “Are you certain?”
“No,” Leon admitted, “but we are scarce on options,” he let his Fang dissipate and switched his stance, keeping one hand free while he held his sword in a neutral guard, “when I give the signal, unleash as much as you can then run.”
The Cleric nodded, but said nothing.
Leon leaned in, closing his mind to all else but his opponent. He would not best the Shade with power alone, that much was clear. He hoped technique would make up the difference.
Erik struck first.
The Shade kicked off the ground, the Ether running through him granting him a speed that Leon could barely follow with his eyes. Ren was quicker to react, unleashing a large wave of golden light as he thrust his staff in front of him. Leon followed the surge of power close behind.
“Go!” he yelled, hoping that his companion was already on his way towards the others.
Erik crossed his arms as the wave of energy struck him, but the force behind it knocked the Shade off of his feet. Leon focused his Ether at his legs, feeling his heart drum against his chest as he let the energy burst when he kicked the ground. The earth cracked beneath his feet, and the Black Cloak leapt to Erik’s side. The Shade was unable to get his feet under him before Leon struck, but intercepted the attack with his arm. The Black Cloak’s blade bit into his arm, leaving only a shallow cut before Leon leaned into the attack, slamming Erik into the ground. Before the Shade could recover, a Fang of golden light appeared above Leon’s head and flung itself towards Erik like an arrow.
He twisted his body to avoid a direct hit, but hissed as the Fang left a glancing blow at his side. Leon pressed the assault, his sword swinging down in a relentless tide of steel that Erik could only manage to barely deflect with his cragged blade. Between each attack, a Fang slipped through Erik’s defenses just enough to leave another cut across his skin. Blood trickled down from each wound, spotting the Shade’s clothes in a deep red, and Leon could now see Erik’s eyes starting to widen; he searched for an opening to the onslaught.
One Leon never intended to give.
Finding his rhythm, the Black Cloak produced another Fang in his free hand and sped the assault. The Core at his center grew hotter with each new Fang that Leon produced, a fire that was spreading slowly across the entirety of his body. He grit his teeth and pressed the attack, raining his blows against Erik’s blade as the Shade kept avoiding any debilitating blows. Growling, Leon forced Ether into his sword and hit the Shade’s stone blade at its side. It landed with a burst of golden light, knocking the cragged sword to the side. Leon thrusted with the Fang in his opposite hand, aiming towards the Shade’s chest, but before the attack landed Erik slammed his foot against the Black Cloak’s chest.
A burst of energy escaped from Erik’s foot as his heel dug into Leon’s breastplate, giving nothing away aside from the air bursting around the blow itself. The Black Cloak was kicked into the air, but before he was knocked away he drove the Fang into Erik’s thigh. The Shade roared in pain as the sword of gilded energy pierced through the leg and out the otherside, but still managed to kick Leon back enough to be able to get to his feet. The Fang faded from Erik’s thigh, but he moved with a clear limp as he tried to create more distance between him and Leon. His cuts already started to heal, but there was a sluggishness to his movements now.
Leon leapt back into the fray, feeling as if pins were stabbing him all over as he drew upon his Core once more. He pushed the feeling to the back of his mind as Erik caught his blade in a bind with his own. The Black Cloak pushed the exchange down and cleaved into the Shade’s exposed arm with a Fang from his opposite hand. Erik roared as it cut deep into his skin, forcing the locked weapons back up. As he felt his blade rise, Leon maintained the bind until the swords reached the level of his chest, allowing the Shade to generate the momentum of the movement. Before Erik could take advantage of this, however, Leon shifted his arm and manipulated the bind upwards, exposing the Shade’s chest. The Black Cloak’s Fang struck again, giving Erik a gash across his chest. His opponent tried to break the engagement, but his movements were still hindered by the still healing wound on his thigh, and Leon fell into another rhythm as he pressed the assault.
His sword served as his guard, catching Erik’s swings before they could reach their apex and creating openings that he could strike at with his Fang. While the Shade was able to block most strikes with his arm, it was becoming increasingly clear that his Ether was starting to run thin. Leon’s attacks would cut deeper with each strike, forcing Erik to eventually switch to avoiding them entirely, which pressed him on the back foot. The fire that seared through Leon was dulled by the rush of battle, but even then he could tell that his limits had been reached and long surpassed. Still, he pressed on.
The Black Cloak pressued Erik back into a tree, keeping his strikes constant to force the Shade to keep his guard up. Any attempts to slow down Leon were met with failure as he started to once again slip Fangs between each strike. The Fang he grasped felt like lead, and his sword even heavier with that, but each new cut across Erik’s body only spurred him to carry on. The Shade attempted to kick Leon away, but the Black Cloak countered by slamming his elbow into his opponent’s shin, knocking the leg back down. The battle high kept darkness from encroaching upon his vision, but he could feel the Fang in his hand start to grow unstable.
His Ether was nearly spent.
Erik moved to resume his guard, the cracks across his cragged sword clear to see. Gritting his teeth, Leon brought the Fang back and forced the last of his Ether into it, setting its flickering form ablaze with golden light. He struck the rocky sword and let the blade of the Fang burst, shattering Leon’s weapon. It's shrapnel bounced off of the Black Cloak’s armor, but scratched across Erik’s skin as he tried to cover himself with his arms. Leon slipped a fist between his opponent’s defenses, striking him in the jaw and sending him stumbling to the side. In his battle driven rush the Black Cloak felt the impulse to drive the sword into Erik’s side, but he stopped himself. Instead, he dropped the blade and grasped the sealing cuffs attached to his waist.
Before the Shade could recover, Leon grabbed his wrist and clasped one of the cuffs around it. The effect is felt instantly as Erik falls to one knee, the Ether that sustained him withered to embers. The Shade swung his fist at Leon in a desperate attempt to repel him, but his hand was instead caught by the Black Cloak as he clasped the second cuff around his wrist. His abilities fully sealed, Erik fell to the ground.
Leon loomed over his defeated opponent, chest heaving as he took breaths that refused to fill his lungs. Though the Shade was mired in countless cuts, the constant rush of Ether that Erik maintained throughout the fight reduced their damage to surface level only. Such use of power most likely contributed to Leon’s opponent burning through it so quickly. Had the Shade been properly equipped, the outcome of the battle would have been far different.
Erik looked up at him, eyes still resolute even in defeat, “Mercy? From a hound?”
“We have questions,” Leon responded, “And you’re going to give us answers.”
He struck the Shade across his jaw, and Erik fell limp against the forest floor. Leon knelt down next to his opponent and pulled a small length of rope from his waist before binding Erik’s legs with it. The moment that he tightened the knot, his fatigue struck all at once.
The Black Cloak fell back, feeling the trembles that started from his fingers and toes, trailing up his limbs until the entirety of his body started to shake. He tried to move in such a state, but his legs refused to obey. The twitch in his fingers told him that he retained some measure of mobility, but it took all of his will to lift them and pull back his hood. As his helmet faded, the cold air stabbed at his exposed, sweat covered skin like daggers. He grew confused as the chill felt more like a steady burn, but could only attribute that to the stress that he’d subjected his body to during the battle. He’d held so many advantages in that exchange, and still he was reduced to his. He was weak.
Just as he’d always been.
A memory of Astraeus flashes into his mind. His brother stood strong, stance immaculate as he readied himself against an unknown opponent. Rather than push the image away, Leon embraced it and closed his eyes. He calmed his breathing, and after a few moments could feel some feeling in his legs start to return. All of him still shook, but he regained just enough strength to push himself to his feet. With a final deep breath, he pulled his hood back over his head.
The fight was not over.
___
Leaf could only watch as the storm unfolded in front of him. Jahora stood firm, the light the newly formed Aetheric ring around her head flaring with a brilliant white light as the Mage forms a glyph of red energy in her hands. Cora, who still maintained a hold on his restraints, raised the arm of hers that was not clasped by a sealing cuff, forming a barrier of rock and energy in front of her. It proved to be a futile gesture, for as Jahora’s fireball struck the shield it shattered, the force of the explosion knocking Cora back into a tree.
The rocks that dug into Leaf’s skin fell as the Shade hit the ground. With his restraints gone, the archer caught himself on his feet and picked up his shortsword. He moved to aid Jahora, but as he took a step a wave of fatigue struck him, forcing him to his knee. His Ether was already nearly spent by the time the others arrived, and it was only through sheer stubbornness that he’d been able to force anymore out of his Core during the fight and in trying to break the crushing hold of Cora’s restraints. Now though, he could feel knives stabbing at him across his body, a backlash of pushing himself too far.
Yet he knew it wasn’t far enough.
Jahora readied another spell, the glyph in her hands a pale blue as Aether surged around her. Cora pushed herself to her feet, the manic look in her eyes only growing as she glared at the Mage.
“You will not take her from me…” the Shade muttered. Even with her abilities partially sealed, the ground at her heels started to crack as yellow Aether hummed around her feet.
Jahora said nothing and gathered more power into her spell.
“You will not take her!”
Cora slammed her heel into the forest floor, sending a wave of earthen spikes towards Jahora. The Mage remained steady as she unleashed her spell, countering the tide of earth with a surge of ice. The spells collide, kicking up a cloud of frost and dirt as they shattered against each other. Jahora pulled her hand back as the ice faded, her fingers blazing with red Aether as she pulled the little heat that was in the air into her fingers, molding it into a glyph at the back of her palm. Another symbol formed in her free hand at the same time, this one made of a deeper blue energy.
Before the dust settled, a series of yellow flashes burst through. Jahora lifted the blue glyph in front of her, projecting a barrier that deflected the rocks that crashed against her. The form of Cora started to become more visible, but she’d long revealed her position from the wild screams she let out with every new spell. There was a desperation to the Shade’s voice, one that Leaf could not understand.
One that Jahora did not care to listen to.
The Mage pressed forward, maintaining her barrier as she twisted its position with small flicks of her wrist. Between each projectile blocked, she swept the hand holding the red glyph forward, generating small bolts of fire that struck the bits of earth that Cora raised in a desperate defense, slowly reducing it to dust as the Shade was too manic to move. Jahora continued her steady advance, but Leaf could see the tremble that took hold over her hands. Though the boons of the Third Circle appeared to have granted her spells increased control and power, it did nothing to resolve the fact that the Mage had spent all her strength and more in the battle prior.
Leaf grit his teeth and pushed himself to his feet. Each step he took felt as if he were carrying a mountain as his back, but he continued to press on. He looked towards the side, seeing that Elly had started to stir, but was in no shape to assist. His eyes fell to Helbram, not knowing if it was instinct or consciousness that made the man dig his fingers into the ground, clawing himself slowly towards Cora. Finally, his gaze drifted to Aria, who remained suspended in the air, the woman of ice’s fingers digging deeper into the seal at her back. Ren was now at the girl’s side, the Cleric shimmering with golden energy as he fed the light into the seal. There was a newfound sheen trailing down Aria’s cheeks.
Tears that had frozen against her skin.
Leaf growled and slammed his fist into his leg. The dull rush of pain pulsed through them, but they did not become any easier to move. Jahora continued to advance upon Cora, but though the Shade was steadily losing ground the Mage’s own steps had started to slow. The archer struck his legs repeatedly, practically throwing his feet in front of him as he forced himself into a charge. Pain filled every one of his senses as a rush overtook him, and everything turned into a blur as he continued to run towards the battling spellcasters.
Cora flung another stone at Jahora, who deflected it and countered with a bolt of fire. The spell struck the Shade in her chest, slamming her back into the tree, but as she fell Cora drove her hand into the cracked earth. A pulse of yellow Aether surged through the fractured ground, trailing towards Jahora. The Mage dropped her spells and started to gather yellow Aether of her own into her hands, but before a spell could form the energy sputtered and she fell to a knee. Cora’s spell condensed at Jahora’s feet.
And Leaf rammed into the Mage in desperation.
His companion is knocked to the side as they collide, the archer taking her place in her stead. As Cora’s spell completed, the ground under him exploded, knocking him into the air as he felt the weight of a sledgehammer strike into his side. His strength left him as he struck the ground, barely able to keep a hold on his consciousness. He saw Jahora looking towards him, but before the Mage could show any concern he summoned all he had to yell.
“Go!”
Jahora nodded and pushed herself to her feet, a glyph of green Aether forming at her back. Before Cora could ready another spell, the Mage finished the cast of her own, unleashing a burst of wind that threw her forward. Jahora crossed her arms as she struck Cora in the stomach, doubling the Shade over. Before she had to recover, the Mage took hold of the loose end of the sealing cuffs and clasped it over Cora's once free wrist.
The Shade fell to her knees right after, putting her at eye level with Jahora. She bored a hateful look into the Mage as Jahora gathered green energy into the small glyph at her hand.
“Monsters, all of you,” the Shade spat, “trying to take a daughter away from her mother.”
Jahora opened her mouth to say something, but closed it. Any anger that burned in the Mage’s eyes faded to pity as she looked upon Cora.
“Do not give me that look!” the Shade screamed, “I saw the hate in your eyes just moments before. I know what you truly wish to do.”
Jahora raised her spell towards Cora, “You are not wrong. A large part of me wishes to do nothing more than snuff out your life, but I won’t.”
She casted her spell, triggering a blast of air that knocked the Shade’s head back into the tree. Cora goes still and falls to the ground, unconscious.
“There is a child present.”
___
Leon emerged from the trees, dragging an unconscious Erik behind him. As he entered the clearing he left the Shade on the ground and continued to walk forward. Every part of him wished for him to stop, but he couldn’t, not until he knew that everything was dealt with. The distant part of the clearing was a broken mess of shattered earth and ice, and amongst the rubble he could see Helbram and his companions littered throughout.
Elly had started to push herself up, blood trailing down her face as her eyes blinked away her once unconscious state. Helbram himself appeared to still be moving, though just barely as he scraped himself along the ground. Leaf lay further amongst the rubble, leaned against a jagged piece of rock as he clutched his side. Jahora stood not too far off from him.
An unconscious Cora at her side.
Relief started to flood through him, but stopped as his gaze drifted towards Aria, towards the remaining Shade.
The frost coated every part of the girl’s exposed skin, which had grown even paler since he first saw her. Her hair was also a more stark white, and a faint, wispy blue glow bleeding from her eyes. Though she displayed no emotion on her vacant face, tears trailed down and froze against her cheeks.
Just like Astraeus had looked all those years ago.
Leon shook his head, looking towards the icy woman that hovered behind Aria. Beyond her physical beauty, there was little else that he could tell about the frozen figure, all except the fingers that pressed against the seal at Aria’s back. A crack had spread across all symbols of the gods that lined the glyph, all except for the Eye of Velendel, which was due to Ren’s current efforts.
The Cleric forced a torrent of Aether into the seal, but it showed no signs of repairing itself. It was all that his companion could do to prevent it from breaking further, and Leon knew that striking at the figure formed behind Aria would result in nothing.
It hadn’t with Astraeus.
He looked at the girl, saw the sadness that was frozen across her face, saw the same as he did all those years ago when he gazed into his brother’s eyes.
And drew his sword.
First / Previous
Author's note: Just gonna keep the commentary to a minimum until things are concluded. I was going to try and finish everything with this chapter, but there are way too many threads I want to make sure have the time they deserve, so I expanded on events here instead. More is still to come! We're not off this ride yet folks.
The arc is now officially finished on my Patreon, and I’m going to be taking a break next week to cool down. I’ll be back soon enough, till next time everyone!
If you wish to read ahead and gain access to the audiobook version of this story, consider supporting me on Patreon (https://patreon.com/criticalscribe). If you want to leave a donation, here is my Ko-fi (https://ko-fi.com/criticalscribe).
2024.05.11 19:32 Secsidar KIϟϟography, pt. 27
 | KIϟϟ Unplugged, March 1996, Mercury Records submitted by Secsidar to KISS [link] [comments] I know in the beginning of this all I said I wouldn't review live albums because it would like reviewing the sane songs multiple times. However, I feel this album is an exception. This may be a one-off review, or it may inspire me to review the Alive! albums. That all depends on your feedback, so be honest. I've already reviewed every studio album, the 4 solo albums, and a few bonus tracks, so if y'all would like reviews on the band's main live catalog, let me know. Let's kick of KIϟϟography part 27. Background: During the early 1990's, a wave of nostalgia prompted the band to put on a live acoustic set for MTV's Unplugged sessions that other popular bands at the time had made appearances including Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Alice in Chains. KIϟϟ' session brought something to the table that those other bands didn't: over 20 years of preaching rock and roll. The set list the band chose for their sessions touched briefly on every era of the band's history up to that point. Disclaimer: I know for the video release of this session there were songs that were ultimately cut from the album release. For the sake of consistency, I will only be reviewing the album version, not the video release. 1.) "Comin' Home" - Opening the set with a song from Hotter than Hell, this version is, I think, far superior. The acoustic quality of it makes sound almost like a country song, but in all the best ways possible. The whole band sounds incredible here. This version just blows the original studio version out of the water. 2.) "Plaster Caster" - I feel about this version as I do the original, in that it's a good song that lends itself very well to being played acoustically. Bruce plays the solo incredibly, and I'd say his solo is a touch above Ace's original. 3.) "Goin' Blind" - Lyrically, I can't stand this song. It's creepy and sleazy in the worst way possible. That being said, it's never sounded better than it does here. There's something about KIϟϟ being played acoustically that just makes song work in a way that playing them plugged in doesn't. Maybe it's the intimacy of a live set that does it, but this version is leagues ahead of its studio counterpart. Gene's vocals are a highlight here. 4.) "Do You Love Me?" - A bit of an unexpected choice considering its native album, but it was a good choice nonetheless. I'd say the highlights of this version are Paul's vocals and Bruce's playing. In my original review, y'all commented that as good of an album as Destroyer is, it's very dated. I'll concede to that because somehow, despite the fact that the band is playing a song from the '70s, in the '90s, with '90s production and sound quality, the song still sounds very dated. It's astonishing to me how they managed to pull that off, whether intentional or not, but that doesn't disparage the song in any way or take away from it. It's just very dated, no matter what time period it's played in. 5.) "Domino" - Though my complaints about this song are the same as "Goin' Blind," this is a good song, and this version really highlights Bruce's chops as a guitarist, as any self-respecting guitarist knows that playing acoustically is much more difficult than playing plugged in. Bruce's playing here is impeccable and you can almost hear the distortion from the original track. 6.) "Sure Know Something" - Something from Dynasty that surprisingly isn't IWMFLY, this version is far superior to its studio counterpart. This is hands down my favorite version of this song much in the same way as "Creatures of the Night" from Alive III. I've highlighted Paul's vocals before, but it would be criminal to overlook the absolutely tight musicianship on display here. Everybody shines and they deliver the best performance that this song has ever had. Bruce's improvised solo at the end is my favorite part of it and makes me wonder why the original version didn't have it. Absolutely incredible performance, and hands down one of the band's best of all time. 7.) "A World Without Heroes" - This is one of the few acknowledgements the band has made of The Elder. That being said, this version isn't too different from its original incarnation, with the only difference being Paul's solo being played acoustically, which is fantastic and gives a long way to show how skilled of a soloist Paul is. I can't say which version of this one I prefer, so I'll take the easy way out and say I like them both equally. 8.) "Rock Bottom" - This is a short and sweet powerhouse of a performance. Paul rocks here, and it's clear that his voice here was the best it ever sounded, and Bruce plays it so effortlessly it's like he played on the original recording. 9.) "See You Tonight" - My opinion on this one is no different than my original review of it; it's not a bad song, but it works better acoustically. 10.) "I Still Love You" - This is the performance most people think of when they think of this album, and for good reason. It's enough to give you chills, if for any other reason than Paul's vocals. They're just incredible, and this is probably Paul's best vocal performance of his entire career. Needless to say, this is superior to the version of this song that appeared on Creatures, to the point that this works much better acoustically, and this is how it should've been recorded in the first place. 11.) "Everytime I Look At You" - A recent entry for the time, it doesn't sound much different than how it did when it appeared on Revenge. This version doesn't really add anything different to it. 12.) "2,000 Man" - At this point, Ace and Peter have joined Paul and Gene on stage for the first time in 15 and 13 years, respectively. I still don't like this song, acoustic or not, and this performance doesn't change that. 13.) "Beth" - It's good to hear Peter back on vocals. That being said, I don't hold this version that much higher than the original in that I like them both equally. Ace's solo is a definite highlight, though. He killed it. 14.) "Nothin' to Lose" - Bruce and Eric are back onstage now, with Eric and Peter handling vocal duties. That's what makes this version better than the original. Other than that, it's not that remarkable. 15.) "Rock 'N' Roll All Nite" - True to form, the session closes with the rock and roll national anthem. I actually prefer this one to any other performance because of the shared vocal duties between Gene, Ace, and Peter, as well as the shared solo between Ace and Bruce. This song is all around just a good time, and I enjoy this version a lot. Final thoughts: This was the session that prompted the reunion of the original lineup. Whether that's good or bad, it's undeniable that this is a great show and showcased the band at their best musically. It's unfortunate that this was one of the final albums released with Bruce and Eric, as I feel they were unfairly booted out of the band for a reunion that was doomed to fail from the start, but that's neither here nor there. This is a great album, and I wish it would've included some of the songs that were featured on the video release, such as "Hard Luck Woman" (with Paul on vocals) and "Got to Choose." I think this album is worth diving into for the first time and revisting if it's been a while. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ |
2024.05.11 18:31 relishboi Predator's Disease Chapter 30
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Memory transcription subject: Jakiv, arxur scientist
Date [Standardized human time]: August 31st, 2148
[Day 24]
I woke up on the couch swaddled in a soft blanket. The light filtering through the windows illuminated and highlighted the red in Nuri’s fur. She was sleeping soundly on a pillow on the carpet. We were up late last night watching more movies and just talking about anything and everything.
For once I wasn’t feeling held down by sleep as I stood up from the couch. The yotul barely stirred. I went to the kitchen to make some coffee and eat breakfast. She’d ordered some food last night that I finished quickly because the time was 10 am and I was late for work.
I hastily swept up the folder with my report in it and headed for the door, my claws loudly clicking on the floor.
As I gripped the door handle, I heard Nuri call out, “Jaki?”
I turned around to see the yotul, draped in her blanket and smiling warmly. She approached and hugged me, “Have a good day at work,” she patted my back.
“Thank you, Nuri. I’ll see you later, okay?”
She nodded and waved as I stepped out into the warm sunlight. Today was going to be a good day.
~~~
Memory transcription subject: Daniel Stat, human virologist
Date [Standardized human time]: August 31st, 2148
[Day 24]
Jakiv should’ve been in by now. I figured it didn’t matter too much, today we were going to be testing the vaccine and seeing how it interacted with the venlil body. He’d have loved to take notes, but a man like him would have a reason to call out of work, so I didn’t bother dwelling on it.
I stayed by Silvon’s side as we worked. I knew she still wasn’t feeling great after the email, and I was pretty on edge at the thought of Humanity First tracking us down. I promised her nonstop last night that I’d keep her safe.
“Danny?” she spoke softly.
“What’s up?”
“Can you pass me that sample there?” I handed her a vial of spliced cells and watched her drip them onto a slide with a myriad of other venlil cells. Various tissue cells, brain cells, and a couple of miscellaneous things like bone marrow and a tuft of fur. “Thanks, hon,” she smiled.
I felt giddy watching the cells harmlessly coexist. Then, she dripped a sample of the rhinovirus. Immediately the spliced cells got to work destroying the virus and protecting the other samples in the dish. “That’s looking really promising,” I observed.
She nodded, “I think it’s ready for the real test.”
“Got it. I’ll run these to the infirmary then. Be back in a sec, hon,” I promised, blowing a kiss since I was still suited in PPE.
I went through the decontamination cycle feeling like I was on cloud nine. Today was going to be a good day! As I started for the infirmary, sounds right out of my worst nightmares echoed down the corridor. Gunshots and screaming.
~~~
Memory transcription subject: Aaron Clemont, Humanity First rallier
Date [Standardized human time]: August 31st, 2148
[Day 24]
Today was going to be a good day. Jatsen Labs was almost completely unguarded. The UN only sent two armed guards to stand outside the door, which were dispatched so easily, that they might as well have sent nobody at all.
While the peacekeepers were staining the sidewalk outside, I entered the building flanked by Landen and Vernon. We were immediately met with a pencil pushing yotul manning the front desk. Before she could even look up, a bullet blasted through her skull from my rifle. Landen and Vernon only had handguns, unfortunately. The local HF branch was rather poor. But they made do by squeezing off rounds into the panicked scientists who desperately ran down the halls to escape us.
Sprays of green soaked the walls and floors. I reloaded my rifle after eviscerating a Xeno and motioned forward. There was a map of the building on the wall that I scanned. We were pretty close to the virus lab, just a few short turns and Stat was at our mercy.
As I finished registering the info, the lights overhead dimmed and flashed red. “Good mood lighting,” I mused. As a trio we moved down the hall, leaving no survivors in our wake. We got to the door labeled ‘virus lab’ and used a keycard ripped from a corpse to unlock it.
“Let’s fucking do this,” I growled.
~~~
Memory transcription subject: Daniel Stat, human virologist
Date [Standardized human time]: August 31st, 2148
[Day 24]
The gunshots were growing louder outside as the decontamination cycle came to an end. I threw myself inside the lab. Silvon looked panicked and was pressed against the far wall. Those plexiglass windows wouldn’t survive a bullet, and my love wasn’t making herself less of a target.
“Silvvy,” I spat hastily, “C’mere!” she hustled toward me as I threw open a cabinet beneath the lab and moved aside enough equipment for her to squeeze inside. “Get in here. Don’t even think of coming out. Whatever you hear, whatever you see, keep quiet,” I breathed.
“Danny-?”
“Now!” I roared.
“I love you,” she said. I could see her goggles fogging.
“I love you too,” I said, closing the cabinet door. I ducked beneath the wall under the plexiglass. The other yotul seemed to have run out. I was thankful Tinasi wasn’t at work today. I heard the sound of the decontamination cycle going on and steeled myself for the worst.
The door swished open slowly. The barrel of a rifle extended through the doorway first, followed by 3 humans. The one with the rifle scanned the room, finding me immediately. “Dr. Stat,” he smiled. “It’s a pleasure to meet you in person.” I stood, ready to fight for me and Silvon’s life. Then, for whatever reason, the man set down his rifle. “Where’s your Xeno, Danny?” he growled.
“Her name is Silvon,” I spat, “And she’s far, far away from her.”
I cracked my knuckles. “Y’know Doc, you’re pretty infamous among Humanity First. Killing one of our own, undermining all our efforts at every turn, fucking the locals, it’s awful,” his voice was suave and matter-of-fact, but filled with the kind of vitriol only a terrorist could muster.
“Is that so?” He asked, then chuckled. “Guess she won’t know she’s a widow for a while.”
I raised my fists, and one of the other humans chimed in, “Aaron, what are you doing?”
“Quiet!” he barked, reaching into his pocket and procuring a switchblade. “I’m doing good on Stephan’s name.”
He clicked the blade and lunged toward me. I quickly grabbed his wrist and tried to wrestle the blade from his hand. He slammed his fist into my face and I lost my grip on him. He fell to his knees on my chest, putting his full weight on my ribcage, and tried to slam the knife down on me. I took both his wrists in my hands, desperately pushing him back as the blade got nearer and nearer to my throat.
I simultaneously released on hand and moved my head aside, the knife clattered next to my ear as I punched him in the stomach and pushed him off of me.
“Do you need help?” The other human called.
“No!” He barked as I crushed his nose with my fist. “Watch the fuckin’ doors!”
He grabbed the knife and slammed it into my arm. I howled in pain as blood spurted from the wound. He laughed maniacally, his crushed nose seeping crimson. He ripped the knife from my arm and swung again, cutting me up further. I got a grasp on his wrist again, continuing to pummel him. We rolled over, he was once again on top, each punch made me see stars.
“It’s the end of the fucking line, Stat,” he coughed. Aaron punched full force into my throat, and I struggled to breathe. He got up, towering over me with a sadistic grin.
“DANNY!” a shrill voice screeched. There was a flash of auburn fur and a scream as Silvon jammed a partially shattered test tube deep into Aaron’s back. He whipped around, catching the venlil across the snout. Under the PPE I could see blood.
“Silvon,” I gasped, “What- are… you- doing?”
Aaron stamped down on my hand as I reached for her, the bones snapped beneath his heavy footfall and I cried out.
“I knew she wouldn’t be far,” the human growled.
“No-” I wheezed as he ripped the mask off Silvon’s face. We locked eyes. “I’m sorry, Danny,” she whispered.
“Boys,” Aaron chuckled heartily. “Grab me one of the samples.”
One of the humans by the door reached into a handheld cooler, withdrawing a small orange vial I knew all too well. “NO!” I screamed as Aaron knelt by Silvon. I tried to stand. One of the humans by the door swiftly raised his handgun and fired into my leg. The hot lead seared my flesh and my pantleg grew warm and wet.
“Sweet dreams, Xeno,” he laughed, forcing open her mouth and forcing the sample’s contents down her throat. He threw her aside while she tried fruitlessly to cough out the blood, then returned to me.
“There’s no way out for any of us now, Stat,” the knife gleamed, covered in my blood. He held it to my throat, I could feel the blade cutting in, then-
“HOLY SHIT!” The other Humanity First members screamed in unison. The plexiglass shattered, there was a blurry gray mass that landed with a heavy thud. The human who shot me turned his gun on the imposing figure of the arxur and popped off several shots.
Jakiv staggered, clutching his chest, but no blood pooled around the holes in his hoodie. “Stupid human,” he growled, slashing his throat in one smooth motion. He turned to the other terrorist, shakily holding his handgun out. He fired, striking Jakiv on the arm, but the arxur literally shrugged it off, clawing the human’s face.
Aaron was pale and stood, knife in hand, to face the arxur. “B-back off, gray!” he spat. He dove for his rifle, but Jakiv was faster, grabbing the gun and chucking it through the broken window. He stomped Aaron’s hand, his claws impaling the appendage. The terrorist groaned in pain as the arxur slowly bent over and slammed his jaws shut around Aaron’s windpipe. The human’s movements halted with the sickening crunch of bone.
I caught my breath, and leaned against the wall, pain shooting through every limb. “Silvon,” I reached my non-broken hand toward the venlil, who ran over to me.
“Danny, oh stars,” she examined the wounds on my leg and arm.
“Are you two okay?” Jakiv asked, catching his breath and wiping the blood from his lips. He approached slowly, I could tell he was worried about scaring Silvon, but she ran to him and threw her arms around him.
“Thank you,” she sobbed, “Thank you, Jakiv.”
He awkwardly patted her back, “You’re welcome?”
She broke away, getting back to me, “Help me lift him, we need to get out of here.”
“On the count of 3,” the arxur said. “1, 2, 3!”
“Aaaugh! God!” I cried out as they helped me up.
“We’re getting you out of here, Danny. You’re gonna be just fine,” the venlil said half pleading. The edges of my vision began to blur and distort as my legs threatened to give out. Jakiv steadied me with his tail as we began walking toward the decontamination hall.
“Silvon,” I groaned, suddenly remembering the sample. “Silvon,” I tugged her arm.
“Yeah?” she asked.
“You’re sick,” I wheezed, stumbling slightly. “You need the- the-” I pointed frantically toward the container full of the vaccine I was supposed to run to the infirmary.
Silvon left my side only long enough to secure the case. “We need to leave now, Danny,” she told me.
I pressed myself against the wall as the decontamination cycle completed, then Jakiv helped me down the main hall. My legs were getting weaker with each step, and I could no longer feel my injuries. I felt lightheaded, and put more and more of my weight on the arxur, who eventually just threw me over his shoulders.
I heard voices up ahead, but the world around faded to black before I could see their sources. My last conscious thoughts were Silvon.
~~~
Memory transcription subject: Jakiv, arxur scientist
Date [Standardized human time]: August 31st, 2148
[Day 24]
Dr. Silvon was great at keeping pace as we raced down the bloody corridors. At the entrance, there were several yotul police officers and zurulian doctors filing in.
“HELP!” I screamed at them, rushing toward one of the stretchers.
“Stand down, gray!” An officer barked, pointing his gun at me.
“Help me, please, get these two to safety. The venlil is infected with the flu, the human is critically injured. Please,” I urged.
The yotul eyed me suspiciously, I figured it was 50/50 whether or not he’d pull the trigger. “Listen to him officer,” Silvon begged, “He saved our lives.”
Two zurulians rushed over, I carefully lowered Dr. Stat into a stretcher. My claws and hoodie were soaked in blood, hardly any of it mine. “Please help him,” I begged. The zurulians exchanged nervous glances before hurriedly hauling the human off.
“You say you were… saved by this arxur?” The officer asked Silvon as another pair of medics rushed to her aid.
She coughed a bit, “Yes sir. He’s a hero…” she trailed off, noticeably growing weaker. “Where’s… my husband?” she groaned, falling into the stretcher and knocking out cold. Poor venlil overexerted herself running. Before they could wheel her off, I stopped one of the zurulians.
“Please, take this,” I said, handing the doctor the case we recovered. “It’s for the flu,” I explained as the zurulian took the vaccines and escorted Stat and Silvon through the lab doors. I registered my burning lungs at last, and leaned up against a wall for support, suddenly feeling weak in the legs.
I sighed heavily and let myself slip down to the floor where I could more easily catch my breath. The six shots to my chest stung badly, but a quick glance over told me they didn’t break the skin. Suddenly, the door swung open, and someone far off shouted “You can’t be here!”
In a flash of red fur, Nuri was at my side. “Jaki?!” she cried, her voice wrought with concern.
“Hey, Nuri,” I waved a claw, “What’re you doing-?” She wordlessly began running her paws along my chest, unzipping my hoodie and feeling the dents in my scales. “Nuri?” she looked up at me, there was fear in her eyes.
“Are you okay?” she asked frantically.
“Yeah, I’m just fine,” I answered. She threw her arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug that almost hurt. I didn’t know how to react besides returning the gesture, leaning into the marsupial.
“I thought-” Nuri’s voice broke, “I thought I-”
“Hey, hey,” I cooed, “Everything’s fine, I’m okay, Nuri,” I reassured the yotul. She sniffled, but said nothing, just pulled me tighter. We stayed like that for a while before she finally broke away. She sat down next to me and leaned her head against my arm.
“I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you,” she confessed.
“Oh please, have some faith,” I smiled. “I’m a big strong arxur, I can handle a little tussle.”
The marsupial perked up slightly at my words. “You know you’re a hero now, right?”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” I dismissed.
“You saved a bunch of people today,” Nuri said. “What about that isn’t heroic?”
“I guess that’s true. Fuck,” I chuckled, “I need a drink.”
Nuri stood and extended a paw to help me up. “Let’s get outta here, Jaki,” she smiled.
~~~
Memory transcription subject: Daniel Stat, human virologist
Date [Standardized human time]: September 1st, 2148
[Day 25]
My head spun as I came to. I was in a hospital bed, hooked up to all those wires, with a cast on my shattered hand and nose. Directly across from me was Silvon, typing away on her holopad. The second she saw I was awake, a smile crossed her features.
“Good morning, Danny,” she greeted.
“Hey,” I groaned. Speaking hurt. I rubbed my eyes, and yawned, then instantly snapped up, “Holy shit, Silvon,” I cried, “Aaron he- you’re sick!”
Silvon seemed unbothered, I couldn’t keep the confusion off my face. “I was,” she smiled.
“What?”
“I was sick, Danny. But they administered the vaccine, and it worked,” she explained.
“It did?!” I laughed in disbelief, clutching my sides as the pain hit, but smiled regardless. “Oh thank god,” I cried. “I was so scared,” I breathed.
“You’re not losing me that easily,” Silvon giggled.
“Good,” I sighed, suddenly feeling overwhelmed. “Good,” I muttered. A tear rolled down my cheek that I hastily wiped away.
“Danny?” My breathing hastened, and it was suddenly hard to breathe. “Danny, are you okay?”
Silvon’s words echoed, drowned out by the beeping heart monitor. I failed to hide the torrent of sobs that escaped me as I buried my face in my hands. “I thought it was over for us-” I choked out, “I don’t want to lose you.”
A paw found its way around my neck. I ran my fingers through Silvon’s soft fur. “You won’t,” she promised.
“I’ve been having so many nightmares,” I sobbed, “I’m so afraid,” I confessed. She sat on the edge of the bed next to me and wiped the tears from my eyes.
“Nothing can tear us apart,” she said, “Nothing.”
“I-” I gesticulated, every emotion possible swirled in my chest.
“Shhh,” she cooed, “You don’t have to speak.” Silvon hugged me, and planted a kiss on my cheek.
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Memory transcription subject: Jakiv, arxur scientist
Date [Standardized human time]: August 31st, 2148
[Day 24]
I woke up on the couch swaddled in a soft blanket. The light filtering through the windows illuminated and highlighted the red in Nuri’s fur. She was sleeping soundly on a pillow on the carpet. We were up late last night watching more movies and just talking about anything and everything.
For once I wasn’t feeling held down by sleep as I stood up from the couch. The yotul barely stirred. I went to the kitchen to make some coffee and eat breakfast. She’d ordered some food last night that I finished quickly because the time was 10 am and I was late for work.
I hastily swept up the folder with my report in it and headed for the door, my claws loudly clicking on the floor.
As I gripped the door handle, I heard Nuri call out, “Jaki?”
I turned around to see the yotul, draped in her blanket and smiling warmly. She approached and hugged me, “Have a good day at work,” she patted my back.
“Thank you, Nuri. I’ll see you later, okay?”
She nodded and waved as I stepped out into the warm sunlight. Today was going to be a good day.
~~~
Memory transcription subject: Daniel Stat, human virologist
Date [Standardized human time]: August 31st, 2148
[Day 24]
Jakiv should’ve been in by now. I figured it didn’t matter too much, today we were going to be testing the vaccine and seeing how it interacted with the venlil body. He’d have loved to take notes, but a man like him would have a reason to call out of work, so I didn’t bother dwelling on it.
I stayed by Silvon’s side as we worked. I knew she still wasn’t feeling great after the email, and I was pretty on edge at the thought of Humanity First tracking us down. I promised her nonstop last night that I’d keep her safe.
“Danny?” she spoke softly.
“What’s up?”
“Can you pass me that sample there?” I handed her a vial of spliced cells and watched her drip them onto a slide with a myriad of other venlil cells. Various tissue cells, brain cells, and a couple of miscellaneous things like bone marrow and a tuft of fur. “Thanks, hon,” she smiled.
I felt giddy watching the cells harmlessly coexist. Then, she dripped a sample of the rhinovirus. Immediately the spliced cells got to work destroying the virus and protecting the other samples in the dish. “That’s looking really promising,” I observed.
She nodded, “I think it’s ready for the real test.”
“Got it. I’ll run these to the infirmary then. Be back in a sec, hon,” I promised, blowing a kiss since I was still suited in PPE.
I went through the decontamination cycle feeling like I was on cloud nine. Today was going to be a good day! As I started for the infirmary, sounds right out of my worst nightmares echoed down the corridor. Gunshots and screaming.
~~~
Memory transcription subject: Aaron Clemont, Humanity First rallier
Date [Standardized human time]: August 31st, 2148
[Day 24]
Today was going to be a good day. Jatsen Labs was almost completely unguarded. The UN only sent two armed guards to stand outside the door, which were dispatched so easily, that they might as well have sent nobody at all.
While the peacekeepers were staining the sidewalk outside, I entered the building flanked by Landen and Vernon. We were immediately met with a pencil pushing yotul manning the front desk. Before she could even look up, a bullet blasted through her skull from my rifle. Landen and Vernon only had handguns, unfortunately. The local HF branch was rather poor. But they made do by squeezing off rounds into the panicked scientists who desperately ran down the halls to escape us.
Sprays of green soaked the walls and floors. I reloaded my rifle after eviscerating a Xeno and motioned forward. There was a map of the building on the wall that I scanned. We were pretty close to the virus lab, just a few short turns and Stat was at our mercy.
As I finished registering the info, the lights overhead dimmed and flashed red. “Good mood lighting,” I mused. As a trio we moved down the hall, leaving no survivors in our wake. We got to the door labeled ‘virus lab’ and used a keycard ripped from a corpse to unlock it.
“Let’s fucking do this,” I growled.
~~~
Memory transcription subject: Daniel Stat, human virologist
Date [Standardized human time]: August 31st, 2148
[Day 24]
The gunshots were growing louder outside as the decontamination cycle came to an end. I threw myself inside the lab. Silvon looked panicked and was pressed against the far wall. Those plexiglass windows wouldn’t survive a bullet, and my love wasn’t making herself less of a target.
“Silvvy,” I spat hastily, “C’mere!” she hustled toward me as I threw open a cabinet beneath the lab and moved aside enough equipment for her to squeeze inside. “Get in here. Don’t even think of coming out. Whatever you hear, whatever you see, keep quiet,” I breathed.
“Danny-?”
“Now!” I roared.
“I love you,” she said. I could see her goggles fogging.
“I love you too,” I said, closing the cabinet door. I ducked beneath the wall under the plexiglass. The other yotul seemed to have run out. I was thankful Tinasi wasn’t at work today. I heard the sound of the decontamination cycle going on and steeled myself for the worst.
The door swished open slowly. The barrel of a rifle extended through the doorway first, followed by 3 humans. The one with the rifle scanned the room, finding me immediately. “Dr. Stat,” he smiled. “It’s a pleasure to meet you in person.” I stood, ready to fight for me and Silvon’s life. Then, for whatever reason, the man set down his rifle. “Where’s your Xeno, Danny?” he growled.
“Her name is Silvon,” I spat, “And she’s far, far away from her.”
I cracked my knuckles. “Y’know Doc, you’re pretty infamous among Humanity First. Killing one of our own, undermining all our efforts at every turn, fucking the locals, it’s awful,” his voice was suave and matter-of-fact, but filled with the kind of vitriol only a terrorist could muster.
“Is that so?” He asked, then chuckled. “Guess she won’t know she’s a widow for a while.”
I raised my fists, and one of the other humans chimed in, “Aaron, what are you doing?”
“Quiet!” he barked, reaching into his pocket and procuring a switchblade. “I’m doing good on Stephan’s name.”
He clicked the blade and lunged toward me. I quickly grabbed his wrist and tried to wrestle the blade from his hand. He slammed his fist into my face and I lost my grip on him. He fell to his knees on my chest, putting his full weight on my ribcage, and tried to slam the knife down on me. I took both his wrists in my hands, desperately pushing him back as the blade got nearer and nearer to my throat.
I simultaneously released on hand and moved my head aside, the knife clattered next to my ear as I punched him in the stomach and pushed him off of me.
“Do you need help?” The other human called.
“No!” He barked as I crushed his nose with my fist. “Watch the fuckin’ doors!”
He grabbed the knife and slammed it into my arm. I howled in pain as blood spurted from the wound. He laughed maniacally, his crushed nose seeping crimson. He ripped the knife from my arm and swung again, cutting me up further. I got a grasp on his wrist again, continuing to pummel him. We rolled over, he was once again on top, each punch made me see stars.
“It’s the end of the fucking line, Stat,” he coughed. Aaron punched full force into my throat, and I struggled to breathe. He got up, towering over me with a sadistic grin.
“DANNY!” a shrill voice screeched. There was a flash of auburn fur and a scream as Silvon jammed a partially shattered test tube deep into Aaron’s back. He whipped around, catching the venlil across the snout. Under the PPE I could see blood.
“Silvon,” I gasped, “What- are… you- doing?”
Aaron stamped down on my hand as I reached for her, the bones snapped beneath his heavy footfall and I cried out.
“I knew she wouldn’t be far,” the human growled.
“No-” I wheezed as he ripped the mask off Silvon’s face. We locked eyes. “I’m sorry, Danny,” she whispered.
“Boys,” Aaron chuckled heartily. “Grab me one of the samples.”
One of the humans by the door reached into a handheld cooler, withdrawing a small orange vial I knew all too well. “NO!” I screamed as Aaron knelt by Silvon. I tried to stand. One of the humans by the door swiftly raised his handgun and fired into my leg. The hot lead seared my flesh and my pantleg grew warm and wet.
“Sweet dreams, Xeno,” he laughed, forcing open her mouth and forcing the sample’s contents down her throat. He threw her aside while she tried fruitlessly to cough out the blood, then returned to me.
“There’s no way out for any of us now, Stat,” the knife gleamed, covered in my blood. He held it to my throat, I could feel the blade cutting in, then-
“HOLY SHIT!” The other Humanity First members screamed in unison. The plexiglass shattered, there was a blurry gray mass that landed with a heavy thud. The human who shot me turned his gun on the imposing figure of the arxur and popped off several shots.
Jakiv staggered, clutching his chest, but no blood pooled around the holes in his hoodie. “Stupid human,” he growled, slashing his throat in one smooth motion. He turned to the other terrorist, shakily holding his handgun out. He fired, striking Jakiv on the arm, but the arxur literally shrugged it off, clawing the human’s face.
Aaron was pale and stood, knife in hand, to face the arxur. “B-back off, gray!” he spat. He dove for his rifle, but Jakiv was faster, grabbing the gun and chucking it through the broken window. He stomped Aaron’s hand, his claws impaling the appendage. The terrorist groaned in pain as the arxur slowly bent over and slammed his jaws shut around Aaron’s windpipe. The human’s movements halted with the sickening crunch of bone.
I caught my breath, and leaned against the wall, pain shooting through every limb. “Silvon,” I reached my non-broken hand toward the venlil, who ran over to me.
“Danny, oh stars,” she examined the wounds on my leg and arm.
“Are you two okay?” Jakiv asked, catching his breath and wiping the blood from his lips. He approached slowly, I could tell he was worried about scaring Silvon, but she ran to him and threw her arms around him.
“Thank you,” she sobbed, “Thank you, Jakiv.”
He awkwardly patted her back, “You’re welcome?”
She broke away, getting back to me, “Help me lift him, we need to get out of here.”
“On the count of 3,” the arxur said. “1, 2, 3!”
“Aaaugh! God!” I cried out as they helped me up.
“We’re getting you out of here, Danny. You’re gonna be just fine,” the venlil said half pleading. The edges of my vision began to blur and distort as my legs threatened to give out. Jakiv steadied me with his tail as we began walking toward the decontamination hall.
“Silvon,” I groaned, suddenly remembering the sample. “Silvon,” I tugged her arm.
“Yeah?” she asked.
“You’re sick,” I wheezed, stumbling slightly. “You need the- the-” I pointed frantically toward the container full of the vaccine I was supposed to run to the infirmary.
Silvon left my side only long enough to secure the case. “We need to leave now, Danny,” she told me.
I pressed myself against the wall as the decontamination cycle completed, then Jakiv helped me down the main hall. My legs were getting weaker with each step, and I could no longer feel my injuries. I felt lightheaded, and put more and more of my weight on the arxur, who eventually just threw me over his shoulders.
I heard voices up ahead, but the world around faded to black before I could see their sources. My last conscious thoughts were Silvon.
~~~
Memory transcription subject: Jakiv, arxur scientist
Date [Standardized human time]: August 31st, 2148
[Day 24]
Dr. Silvon was great at keeping pace as we raced down the bloody corridors. At the entrance, there were several yotul police officers and zurulian doctors filing in.
“HELP!” I screamed at them, rushing toward one of the stretchers.
“Stand down, gray!” An officer barked, pointing his gun at me.
“Help me, please, get these two to safety. The venlil is infected with the flu, the human is critically injured. Please,” I urged.
The yotul eyed me suspiciously, I figured it was 50/50 whether or not he’d pull the trigger. “Listen to him officer,” Silvon begged, “He saved our lives.”
Two zurulians rushed over, I carefully lowered Dr. Stat into a stretcher. My claws and hoodie were soaked in blood, hardly any of it mine. “Please help him,” I begged. The zurulians exchanged nervous glances before hurriedly hauling the human off.
“You say you were… saved by this arxur?” The officer asked Silvon as another pair of medics rushed to her aid.
She coughed a bit, “Yes sir. He’s a hero…” she trailed off, noticeably growing weaker. “Where’s… my husband?” she groaned, falling into the stretcher and knocking out cold. Poor venlil overexerted herself running. Before they could wheel her off, I stopped one of the zurulians.
“Please, take this,” I said, handing the doctor the case we recovered. “It’s for the flu,” I explained as the zurulian took the vaccines and escorted Stat and Silvon through the lab doors. I registered my burning lungs at last, and leaned up against a wall for support, suddenly feeling weak in the legs.
I sighed heavily and let myself slip down to the floor where I could more easily catch my breath. The six shots to my chest stung badly, but a quick glance over told me they didn’t break the skin. Suddenly, the door swung open, and someone far off shouted “You can’t be here!”
In a flash of red fur, Nuri was at my side. “Jaki?!” she cried, her voice wrought with concern.
“Hey, Nuri,” I waved a claw, “What’re you doing-?” She wordlessly began running her paws along my chest, unzipping my hoodie and feeling the dents in my scales. “Nuri?” she looked up at me, there was fear in her eyes.
“Are you okay?” she asked frantically.
“Yeah, I’m just fine,” I answered. She threw her arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug that almost hurt. I didn’t know how to react besides returning the gesture, leaning into the marsupial.
“I thought-” Nuri’s voice broke, “I thought I-”
“Hey, hey,” I cooed, “Everything’s fine, I’m okay, Nuri,” I reassured the yotul. She sniffled, but said nothing, just pulled me tighter. We stayed like that for a while before she finally broke away. She sat down next to me and leaned her head against my arm.
“I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you,” she confessed.
“Oh please, have some faith,” I smiled. “I’m a big strong arxur, I can handle a little tussle.”
The marsupial perked up slightly at my words. “You know you’re a hero now, right?”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” I dismissed.
“You saved a bunch of people today,” Nuri said. “What about that isn’t heroic?”
“I guess that’s true. Fuck,” I chuckled, “I need a drink.”
Nuri stood and extended a paw to help me up. “Let’s get outta here, Jaki,” she smiled.
~~~
Memory transcription subject: Daniel Stat, human virologist
Date [Standardized human time]: September 1st, 2148
[Day 25]
My head spun as I came to. I was in a hospital bed, hooked up to all those wires, with a cast on my shattered hand and nose. Directly across from me was Silvon, typing away on her holopad. The second she saw I was awake, a smile crossed her features.
“Good morning, Danny,” she greeted.
“Hey,” I groaned. Speaking hurt. I rubbed my eyes, and yawned, then instantly snapped up, “Holy shit, Silvon,” I cried, “Aaron he- you’re sick!”
Silvon seemed unbothered, I couldn’t keep the confusion off my face. “I was,” she smiled.
“What?”
“I was sick, Danny. But they administered the vaccine, and it worked,” she explained.
“It did?!” I laughed in disbelief, clutching my sides as the pain hit, but smiled regardless. “Oh thank god,” I cried. “I was so scared,” I breathed.
“You’re not losing me that easily,” Silvon giggled.
“Good,” I sighed, suddenly feeling overwhelmed. “Good,” I muttered. A tear rolled down my cheek that I hastily wiped away.
“Danny?” My breathing hastened, and it was suddenly hard to breathe. “Danny, are you okay?”
Silvon’s words echoed, drowned out by the beeping heart monitor. I failed to hide the torrent of sobs that escaped me as I buried my face in my hands. “I thought it was over for us-” I choked out, “I don’t want to lose you.”
A paw found its way around my neck. I ran my fingers through Silvon’s soft fur. “You won’t,” she promised.
“I’ve been having so many nightmares,” I sobbed, “I’m so afraid,” I confessed. She sat on the edge of the bed next to me and wiped the tears from my eyes.
“Nothing can tear us apart,” she said, “Nothing.”
“I-” I gesticulated, every emotion possible swirled in my chest.
“Shhh,” she cooed, “You don’t have to speak.” Silvon hugged me, and planted a kiss on my cheek.
2024.05.11 17:34 blackthorn_orion The Nintendo Breakdown 2: An updated overview of confirmed, leaked, and rumored projects from Nintendo and its close partners
Hello again! About 6 months ago, I put together a Nintendo roundup that got some positive feedback, and with this week’s double-whammy of the Switch successor kinda being announced and a direct being confirmed for June, I figured now was as good a time as any to put out an updated version so folks can know where things stand and have something to chew on while they wait. My intent is to update this post after the June direct with any new information. Please let me know if anything's borked, as formatting big posts on reddit can get a bit wonky and some of these links are getting old
Nintendo Entertainment Planning and Development (EPD): Formed in 2015 as part of a restructuring that unified Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development (EAD) and Nintendo Software Planning and Development (SPD). When people talk about “in-house Nintendo”, this is usually what they mean. EPD groups are primarily small producedirector-led teams that then scale up and pull from a shared “pool” of developers as projects get further into development. EPD’s many sub-groups can essentially be divided into those that primarily develop their own games and those focused more on overseeing/collaborating with other studios (both non-EPD Nintendo studios as well as fully external developers), though there are exceptions and gray areas
Development-focused groups
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Nintendo Entertainment Planning and Development (EPD): Formed in 2015 as part of a restructuring that unified Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development (EAD) and Nintendo Software Planning and Development (SPD). When people talk about “in-house Nintendo”, this is usually what they mean. EPD groups are primarily small producedirector-led teams that then scale up and pull from a shared “pool” of developers as projects get further into development. EPD’s many sub-groups can essentially be divided into those that primarily develop their own games and those focused more on overseeing/collaborating with other studios (both non-EPD Nintendo studios as well as fully external developers), though there are exceptions and gray areas
Development-focused groups
- EPD 3: The Zelda team; with Tears of the Kingdom DLC stated to be off the table, they are presumed to have moved onto the next major Zelda title
- Nate the Hate and Eurogamer both reported that a build of Breath of the Wild running on Switch 2-comparable hardware was shown behind closed doors at Gamescom 2023 featuring 4K60fps and “erased” load times; however, these reports also stressed that this was intended primarily as a tech demo and isn’t necessarily indicative of a next-gen update or remaster being planned for release
- Papagenos: “Tears of the kingdom Had a great zelda design I think we are Severely overdue for a game where zelda Is the main character. Seems to me A Hyrule adventure like that Is something fans want, Nows The time.
- capitalized letters spell out “This is a hint”
- Jeff Grubb, Nate the Hate, Imran Khan, and Andy Robinson have all previously claimed or alluded to the WiiU versions of Wind Waker and Twilight Princess coming to Switch (often speculated/reported as being a double-pack); nobody's gotten the timing right on this, but these are often framed as finished ports that Nintendo is sitting on for one reason or another.
- Nate the Hate: "They exist but knowing when they'll come out is a different matter. It's why they are often used in speculation as a schedule filler"
- Grubb: "I've always heard they're ready, they're sitting there, we're just waiting for Nintendo to pull the trigger. When they will, why they will, who knows?"
- Kit&Krysta: Krysta: “I know they exist, they’re in, they’re, uh, they’re, they, they’re done I think they’re just gonna sit on it. But I do not think they’re gonna talk about this at all, for a while”
- EPD 4: The “experimental” team behind games such as Labo, Ring Fit Adventure, and Nintendo Switch Sports. Typically their games feature bespoke peripherals or prioritize using a system's hardware features for novel gameplay. Most recently released Everybody 1-2 Switch (co-developed with NDcube) in June 2023.
- EPD 5: Animal Crossing and Splatoon. Most recently released Side Order, a roguelike DLC mode for Splatoon 3, in February 2024
- Pre-release, Splatoon 3 was confirmed to get 2 years of support; barring a content extension, the game should get its final content update this year around September
- Should note that while the two series typically share a producer, there’s historically been little to no overlap in directors, so it’s not impossible for both Animal Crossing and Splatoon to have games in active development at once
- EPD 8: Also known as EPD Tokyo since the rest of EPD is based out of Nintendo’s Kyoto HQ, this is the 3D Mario team (also Donkey Kong Jungle Beat and Captain Toad; co-developed the NES Remix games with indieszero)
- 2020 hiring call for a “level designer for new 2D action game (working in Tokyo)”
- 2020 job listing for a "level designer for new 3D action game” in Tokyo
- Rumors of an EPD 8 Donkey Kong game:
- LonelyGoomba “I heard an unlikely rumour that the Mario Odyssey team are working on a 3D Donkey Kong game.”
- Nintendo Life: “Nintendo Life can confirm that it has heard the same rumour [as LonelyGoomba] from an independent (and very trusted) source, which would appear to lend this report some degree of legitimacy. However, our source claims that the game will be 2D (or 2.5D, if you prefer) and not 3D.
- Professor Chops on Famiboards: VV were working on open world 3D DK game since 2016, project was shelved and moved to EPD 8 in 2018
- DK Vine: A DK game had been in development at an external studio before Nintendo decided to bring the series in-house; “I've been led to believe that this is a new EPD team that has formed from other teams specifically for the purpose of creating Donkey Kong games.”
- Liam Robertson: Full documentary about Vicarious Visions’ DK project (and other things) on DidYouKnowGaming: Refutes the notion that Miyamoto was heavily contributing design ideas. A DK game codenamed “Freedom” was a demo made by VV and pitched to Nintendo, worked on for “a little over 6 months starting from the end development of on Skylanders Superchargers in September 2015”; “A throughline between the conversations I had with former workers was that they had all heard that Nintendo had given them some positive feedback on their demo”. Ultimately killed by Activision higher-ups, who felt VV’s resources were better spent on franchises such as Call of Duty and Destiny, in spring 2016
- on the subject of Vicarious Visions’ project potentially being moved to EPD: “It was an unsolicited pitch from VV that was never picked up. Zero proof that it was continued elsewhere. If Nintendo is doing DK, it’s something else.”; [“Nintendo] hadn’t made a decision either way on funding it when it was shut down.”
- EPD 9: Mario Kart, ARMS (and Nintendogs once upon a time).
- With Mario Kart Tour and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s Booster Course Pass both receiving their final content updates towards the end of 2023, they’ve probably been working on the next Mario Kart game (either that or LEGS)
- EPD 10: Pikmin and 2D Mario (including Mario Maker). Launched both Pikmin 4 (co-developed with Eighting) and Super Mario Bros. Wonder in 2023.
- Unclear if there are any plans for either Pikmin 4 or Mario Wonder to get DLC (on WiiU, both Pikmin 3 and New Super Mario Bros. U received paid DLC)
- speculation that the Pikmin 4 Japanese website possibly hinted at DLC via pictures not currently in the game: https://famiboards.com/threads/nintendo-first-party-software-development-st-nintendo-party-superstars.114/post-897523
- EPD 2 has the broadest responsibilities of these groups, through which EPD gets a hand in projects including Kirby, Mario Party, Smash, Fire Emblem, Bayonetta, Xenoblade, and Pokemon, and others
- EPD 6 generally sticks to to overseeing Intelligent Systems’ non-Fire Emblem games (i.e. Paper Mario, WarioWare) as well as all games developed by Retro Studios and Next Level Games.
- EPD 7 is a bit hard to place, but for simplicity’s sake I’m putting it here; as SPD 1 they developed multiple games on their own (notably the Rhythm Heaven and Tomodachi games), but after Nintendo shook up its internal structure in the late WiiU era and SPD 1 became EPD 7, they appear not to have the capacity for solo projects. Instead, all their projects as EPD 7 have been in collaboration with external studios and include the Famicom Detective Club remakes developed with MAGES as well as MercurySteam’s recent Metroid games
- MercurySteam is currently rumored to be working on a 2D Metroid game targeting 2025 in addition to their confirmed “Project Iron” (a 3rd person action-RPG in partnership with 505 Games); MercurySteam put out 2 games in 2017 (Samus Returns and Spacelords) and 2021 (Metroid Dread and American McGee Presents: Scrapland Remastered), so it’s very possible for them to have two projects in development at once
- EPD 1 stands as something of a mystery, as just about every series it would previously have managed and overseen has seemingly been moved under EPD 2 in recent years; its current status and possible projects are unclear
- 1-Up Studio (formerly Brownie Brown):
- As Brownie Brown, developed games such as Magical Vacation, Sword of Mana, and A Kappa’s Trail; co-developed Mother 3 with HAL Laboratory
- As 1-Up, acts as a support studio primarily for Nintendo EPD titles (most frequently EPD 8 projects, though also credited in occasional non-EPD 8 games like Tri-Force Heroes, Ring Fit Adventure, and Animal Crossing New Horizons)
- iQue: Previously distributed Nintendo games and consoles in China under the iQue Player branding; with Tencent now acting as Nintendo’s official distributor in the region, iQue’s primary role has been Chinese localization
- developed the N64 emulator used for WiiU Virtual Console, Super Mario 3D All-Stars, and NSO
- began hiring game programmers and testers around 2019, suggesting an expanded role in game development (presumably as a support studio)
- Monolith Soft: Tokyo studio handles the Xenoblade series, Kyoto studio does support for EPD 3/EPD 5 projects; most recent solo release was 2023’s Future Redeemed, the DLC story expansion to Xenoblade Chronicles 3
- 2017 job listing for “an ambitious project that differs from Monolith Soft’s brand image”
- 2023 job listing for UI designer in “action game development”; February 2024 update to recruitment page still looking for developers with experience making 3D action games
- Possible evidence of a Xenoblade X remaster from Future Redeemed
- NDcube: Mario Party (from 9 onwards), Clubhouse Games, various other party game/mini game titles (also F-Zero Maximum Velocity on GBA)
- Most recently released 2023’s Everybody 1-2 Switch (co-developed with EPD 4)
- Next Level Games: Luigi’s Mansion 2 and 3, Mario Strikers series, Punch-Out Wii, Metroid Prime Federation Force
- Since 2013’s Luigi’s Mansion 2, Next Level has released a new game every 3 years; With Mario Strikers Battle League releasing and wrapping support in 2022, they should have a new game in 2025 (assuming they stick to this 3 year cycle)
- Possibly working on the Luigi’s Mansion 2 remaster scheduled for late June 2024
- Nintendo Prime in March 2023: An F-Zero GX remaster is one of two projects in development at Next Level Games
- Nate the Hate on Twitter when asked if the F-Zero project he heard about was F-Zero 99: “I believe it was a different F-Zero project from F-Zero 99.”
- Nintendo European Research and Development (NERD) (Formerly Mobiclip/Actimagine): Primarily handles most of Nintendo’s emulation needs (NES/SNES emulators in the mini consoles and NSO, GB/GBA for NSO, and the Gamecube/Wii emulator used in Mario 3D All-Stars/Pikmin 1+2). Frequently credited in “novel technology”-heavy titles such as EPD 4 projects and Velan Studios’ Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit
- In addition to ongoing NSO work, served as a support studio for Tears of the Kingdom
- Most recently developed Pikmin 1+2 along with the Porting Technology Development Team (part of Nintendo Platform Technology Development, Nintendo’s hardware&tech division)
- Nintendo Pictures (formerly Dynamo Pictures): Animation and motion capture studio
- As Dynamo Pictures, credited on games and media such as Metroid Other M, Monster Hunter Stories, Persona 5, and the Pikmin shorts
- As Nintendo Pictures, credited on Tears of the Kingdom (special thanks), Pikmin 4 (very special thanks), Mario Wonder (character design/character action design/field design/cinematic design/technical support/project management/special thanks), Super Mario RPG remake (character art/animation art/technical art), and Another Code Recollection (very special thanks)
- Nintendo Software Technology (NST): Ridge Racer 64, Pokemon Puzzle League (a reskin of Intelligent Systems’ shelved Panel de Pon 64), Wave Race Blue Storm, 1080 Avalanche, Mario vs DK series, Metroid Prime Hunters, F-Zero 99, support work for indie publishing partnerships (Snipperclips, The Stretchers, Good Job), port work+new content for EPD games (Mario Maker 3DS, Captain Toad Switch/3DS, 3D World+Bowser’s Fury)
- most recently put out a remake of the original Mario vs Donkey Kong in February 2024
- Upon F-Zero 99’s launch, dataminers found evidence of additional game modes
- Retro Studios: Metroid Prime series, Donkey Kong Country Returns & Tropical Freeze, support for Mario Kart 7
- Retro took over development of a rebooted Metroid Prime 4 about 5 years ago
- PapaGenos: “The thing is I’ve heard Prime 4 is basically done and has been done for a while, but the cutscenes are apparently really bad (or were a few months ago) so that’s what was delaying the game.”; believes it is still “a Switch title and not specifically made for the Switch 2”
- Jeff Grubb has heard (from a source that also told him about the Epic Mickey Remaster) that as of sometime last year, Retro was planning to have Prime 4 assets prepared by May 2024, would likely include a CGI trailer and gameplay footage; stresses that plans may have changed and having assets prepared for May isn’t the same as “something happens in May”
- Brazil, talking about the June Direct: “My educated guess is that MP4 is showing up as a late 2024 title as well”
- XboxEra’s Nick Baker had a source describe Metroid Prime 4 to him, emphasized it was graphically impressive and featured big areas
- Jeff Grubb has previously reported that Prime 2 and 3 would also get remasters, but isn’t expecting Prime 1-level “big boy remasters” (as he’s phrased it); “Metroid Prime 2 and Metroid Prime 3 are sorta getting, they’ll probably get, like, the updated controls and things like that, but they’re not getting quite the same overhaul that Metroid Prime 1 is getting”.
- He also said that “Metroid Prime 2 remaster probably is coming out relatively soon-ish” back in July 2023 (fortunately he did not bet his hair on this one)
- reddit user Ncleknows: "Prime 2 has sat in waiting for a while and they're polishing prime 3"
- Retro took over development of a rebooted Metroid Prime 4 about 5 years ago
- Systems Research and Development (SRD): Programming assistance on many Nintendo games dating back as far as the Famicom/NES port of Donkey Kong in 1983 before eventually being acquired by Nintendo in 2022
- Arika: Endless Ocean series, several Dr. Mario installments, Tetris 99/Mario 35/Pac-Man 99
- Most recently released Endless Ocean Luminous in May 2024
- Bandai Namco: As Namco, developed Starfox Assault, the Donkey Konga series, and the Mario baseball games; As Bandai Namco, responsible for Smash games starting with Smash for WiiU and 3DS, asset creation for EPD 9 games starting with Mario Kart 8 (technically had been involved with Kart since the arcade entries in the mid-2000s), and various Pokemon spin-offs such as Pokken Tournament and New Pokemon Snap
- Studio 2/Studio S: “Specializing in commissioned development projects within the company”
- A Bandai Namco studio seemingly dedicated solely to Nintendo co-development projects Looks to comprise both the Smash team as well as the EPD 9 support team (not confirmed: the Pokken/New Pokemon Snap team)
- Going off the interview section of their website, people at Studio S have worked on Smash games, while those at Studio 2 have worked on EPD 9 games
- A Bandai Namco studio seemingly dedicated solely to Nintendo co-development projects Looks to comprise both the Smash team as well as the EPD 9 support team (not confirmed: the Pokken/New Pokemon Snap team)
- Hiring for two projects: A 3D action game (possibly a remaster, going off of an older job listing )and a 2D action game
- Studio 2/Studio S: “Specializing in commissioned development projects within the company”
- Camelot: Mario Tennis and Mario Golf games, Golden Sun series
- Game Freak/Creatures Inc./The Pokemon Company:
- Game Freak is currently working on Pokemon Legends Z-A, an action-RPG set in Lumiose City from Pokemon XY, scheduled to release in 2025
- Pokemon TCG Pocket, developed by Creatures Inc. and DeNA, is scheduled to release on Android and iOS in 2024
- Game Freak is also making an action-adventure game codenamed Project Bloom with Take-Two label Private Division; expected to launch “during Take-Two’s fiscal year 2026”, no platforms have been announced
- Game Freak trademarked “Pand Land” in late 2023
- 4Chan post claiming there will be a Scarlet/Violet graphics enhancement patch for “the new Nintendo Switch models that will be released alongside DLC2”
- Creatures employee's LinkedIn mentioned working on "one unannounced game" in 2022 in addition to the then-unreleased Detective Pikachu Returns
- Pokemon Works founded in early 2024 as a joint venture between The Pokemon Company and ILCA (Pokemon Home, Pokemon Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl, support for Pokemon Scarlet/Violet) for “contracted development of games related to Pokemon” (presumably will be roughly analogous to Bandai Namco Aces, a joint venture between Bandai Namco and ILCA related to the Ace Combat series)
- Pyoro: “Idk anything about the Pokémon Presents, while heard of an outsourced unova-related game. The info was from last year so it may turn out to be inaccurate.; “This is not a leak and should be taken with a grain of salt. I’m just sharing something i’m aware of.”
- Good-Feel: Wario Land Shake It, Kirby’s Epic Yarn, Yoshi’s Wooly World/Crafted World
- most recently released Princess Peach Showtime in March 2024
- Grezzo: Ocarina of Time 3D and Majora’s Mask 3D, Luigi’s Mansion 3D, Link’s Awakening remake, Miitopia remaster; co-developed Triforce Heroes with EPD 3
- Released Jet Dragon for Apple Arcade in 2023
- 2021 job listings for battle planneboss designer, character control engineer, and UI designer for a "medieval", "stylish", “not photorealistic” game
- Koichi Ishii (Grezzo founder and president, Mana series creator, Chocobo/Moogle creator) is currently attached to Square Enix’s Visions of Mana as a series monster design supervisor, no indication of Grezzo as a whole being involved in its development
- HAL Laboratory: Known primarily for Kirby; in recent years, they’ve also made the Boxboy games and Part-Time UFO. Prior to roughly the mid-2000s, their output was a bit more varied, including titles such as the first Pokemon Snap and Pokemon Ranger, the first two Smash Bros., and co-developing Earthbound and Mother 3
- Warpstar Inc. is responsible for managing the Kirby IP specifically (essentially, it’s The Pokemon Company but for Kirby); HAL owns 50% of its shares while Nintendo owns the other 50%
- Kirby series director Shinya Kumazaki called Kirby and the Forgotten Land “the first step in our kind of ongoing moving forward challenge of now also creating 3D Kirby games”, indicating they intend to follow up the now best-selling Kirby game with another 3D entry
- multiple job listings specifically for developing (pretend to be shocked) Kirby games; presumably looking to fill the gap left by external developer Vanpool, which worked with HAL on several Kirby spin-offs as well as Forgotten Land and Return to Dreamland Deluxe before shutting down in May 2023
- indieszero: Electroplankton, NES Remix series (with EPD 8), Sushi Striker, Brain Training for Nintendo Switch (with EPD 4), Big Brain Academy Brain vs Brain (with EPD 4)
- While not confirmed to be involved in the recently-announced Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition, Masanobu Suzui (founder of indieszero) retweeted the game’s official announcement
- Intelligent Systems: Fire Emblem, Panel de Pon/Tetris Attack/Puzzle League, Paper Mario, WarioWare, Advance Wars, Pushmo/Pullblox
- Developing the upcoming Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door remake
- rumored Fire Emblem Genealogy of the Holy War remake:
- Imran Khan in 2019: “I know there was another Fire Emblem remake in the works for 3DS and that was one of the things that they shuttered. So maybe that’s one of the things they do bring forward [to the Switch] in the future.”
- Brazil teasing upcoming Switch games in late 2020, includes picture of FE4 boxart
- MarkoMaro in 2022: “Also Fire Emblem has not one, or two, but 3 games in development at this moment...with a spinoff, a remake and a new game, some of them almost finished.”
- claimed to be in development by same person who leaked photos of Fire Emblem Engage in June 2022 (who also claimed Engage had been finished “for quite some time now”)
- Nate the Hate: It “has been remade for the Nintendo Switch, it’s simply waiting for Nintendo to announce it”; Again in Feb 2024: "It's just waiting for Nintendo to announce it."
- Datamined codename evidence: Datamining indicates that Three Houses had the codename Iron17 while Engage had the codename Iron19 but contains references in its code to an Iron 18; Three Hopes (the Warriors game that released in between them) was codenamed Seasons, so Iron18 remains unaccounted for
- Koei Tecmo: Pokemon Conquest, Metroid Other M, Hyrule Warriors games, Fire Emblem Warriors games, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3, Buddy Mission Bond (Japan-exclusive), Fire Emblem Three Houses (co-developed with Intelligent Systems)
- PlatinumGames: developer of the Bayonetta games and Astral Chain, co-developed Star Fox Zero with EPD
- Nash Weedle (via Google Translate): “Bayonetta will receive a trilogy edition with its three main games in one pack for the Switch 2. The games will bring visual improvements (HDR confirmed) and performance. Due to backwards compatibility, it can also be played on Switch 2 with improvements”
- Prior to Astral Chain’s release, director Takahisa Taura talked about having ideas of how to expand it into a trilogy or more
- In a 2021 interview, PlatinumGames studio head Atsushi Inaba said that Taura was "working on something, but we can't say what it is" and that there were "a lot" of things that Platinum wanted him to do. "It could be him wanting to do his own thing, something like Astral Chain again, or it could be somebody coming to us and saying 'we really like Taura and want to do something with him' like what we did with Nier.".
- Taura has since been credited on Bayonetta 3 (special thanks), Bayonetta Origins (game design advice), and Final Fantasy 16 (game designer)
- In a 2021 interview, PlatinumGames studio head Atsushi Inaba said that Taura was "working on something, but we can't say what it is" and that there were "a lot" of things that Platinum wanted him to do. "It could be him wanting to do his own thing, something like Astral Chain again, or it could be somebody coming to us and saying 'we really like Taura and want to do something with him' like what we did with Nier.".
- Ubisoft: Mario+Rabbids games, Starlink Battle for Atlus (featured Starfox content in the Switch version)
- Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot seemingly confirms a next-gen update/rerelease of Mario+Rabbids 2: Nintendo [has advised] that it's better to do one iteration on each machine. We were a bit too early, we should have waited for [the next console]. Because you could play a great game. And we think it will last for ten years, because we will update it for the new machine that will come in the future."
- references to Star Fox objects found in code for Switch Sports (the first released game to use EPD’s newest engine, ModuleSystem)
- In 2015, Miyamoto indicated that Star Fox is something Nintendo experiments with internally whenever they begin working with new hardware: "I work very closely with the programmer of Star Fox 64. Basically, every time we get new hardware, we do a Star Fox prototype."
- new international trademark for Star Fox filed in late 2023
- PapaGenos claimed in August 2023 that he’d heard rumors of Smash Bros. Ultimate getting some kind of update in the future
- may have been referring to Smash Ultimate celebrating its 5th anniversary with the addition of new spirits earlier this year; final event was in late March
- Masahiro Sakurai says a console port of Kid Icarus Uprising “sure would be nice” but notes that “without a team around to work on it, crafting a follow-up seems difficult”
- Hobonichi (MotheEarthbound creator Shigesato Itoi’s company) celebrating 30th anniversary of Earthbound/Mother 2: “To commemorate the 30th anniversary of MOTHER 2 ... we are planning a lot of fun in 2024” (almost certainly just merch, but noting it here just in case it’s something more)
- Mother 3 was re-released this year … on Japanese NSO
- Mike Takagi (artist behind Earthbound’s American cover art) on Instagram reminiscing about Earthbound, late February 2024: “The 30th anniversary is coming up in Nov and I hear Nintendo is planning something…where my invite??”
- Nintendo investing up to approx. $880 million to “organically expand” its game development assets and creative culture, up to approx. $2.64 billion into Nintendo accounts and infrastructure; also constructing new 12-floor building for game production, expected to be completed by end of 2027
- reddit user lineup-leak: Gamecube classics will be available at launch of next console (specifically mentions Mario Kart Double Dash, Smash Melee, Metroid Prime 2 as launch titles, with Pokemon Colosseum, FE Path of Radiance, and Mario Party 4 also being tested for NSO)
- claims next Mario Kart will not be a launch title but will release within the first 6-12 months, describes next Mario as being “in final testing phase”
- Nintendo to give Forever Entertainment “significant financial support” in new publishing deal “to release several titles on Nintendo Switch”: This is from a while ago but (and someone can correct me if I’m wrong) I don’t think anything’s come of this yet
- Chris Dring/GamesIndustry.biz: ”Nintendo is actively meeting with independent developers to find new partners. Some of that is around publishing indie games, … but it’s also seeking studios that could work on some of its IP.”; “Nintendo regularly works with third-party teams, … But the company is looking to add to that roster, and I know of three studios that are deep in conversation around making games based on Nintendo brands”
- Nintendo survey asking about different Mario RPG games, including Mario&Luigi
- reddit user Advanced-Ad7780: Project X Zone 3 is currently in development (leak didn’t specify a developer, but the first two games were developed by Monolith Soft for the 3DS)
- Nintendo secures new trademarks for Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush and Fullblox (also known as Kirby and the Rainbow Curse, and Stretchmo) in Australia
- Doctre: Notes that Velan Studios (Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, started by Vicarious Visions founders Guha and Karthik Bala) is looking for people with AAA experience to work on a “cherished and widely adored IP”, speculates it could be a reboot of VV’s DK project
- Midori: “A game is in development at Nintendo with the codename Banquet”
- (personal conjecture: Some of NDcube’s previous codenames include using BBQ for Animal Crossing Amiibo Festival and Buffet for Super Mario Party, so they feel like the closest style-fit for something codenamed Banquet)
- Brazil: “The June Direct should be the last "main one" focused on Switch 1; more remasters will be announced during the show (and my educated guess is that MP4 is showing up as a late 2024 title as well)”
- LunchPack
- Version 1: Nintendo Land, Mario Maker, Splatoon
- Version 2: Splatoon 2, Mario Maker 2, ARMS, Labo, Ring Fit Adventure, Game Builder Garage, Animal Crossing New Horizons
- ActionLibrary: 3D Land, 3D World, Mario Odyssey, menus/”wrapper” for 3D All-Stars, Bowser’s Fury, Captain Toad, F-Zero 99 (elements possibly can be traced back as far as Sunshine or Galaxy)
- KingSystem: Breath of the Wild
- ModuleSystem: Switch Sports, Splatoon 3, Tears of the Kingdom, Mario Wonder, Mario vs Donkey Kong remake
- Nintendoware Bezel engine: Tetris 99/Pac-Man 99/Mario 35, WarioWare Get It TogetheWarioWare Move It, Super Mario Party/Mario Party Superstars, Clubhouse Games 51 Classics, Big Brain Academy Brain vs Brain, Everybody 1-2 Switch, Brain Training for Nintendo Switch, Endless Ocean Luminous
- (also available for use by 3rd parties; known to have been used for Vroom in the Night Sky and Sumikko Gurashi: Sumikko Park e Youkoso)
- Datamines of Endless Ocean Luminous show the latest version of Bezel includes references to a variable frame rate mode with support for up to 240fps
- RUDE (Retro Universal Design Engine or Retro Unified Development Environment, depending on which former dev you ask): all Retro Studios games
- Mint: most (all?) HAL Laboratory games since 2011's Return to Dreamland; upgraded and renamed Basil for Forgotten Land
- Unreal Engine 4: Yoshi's Crafted World, Pikmin 4, Princess Peach Showtime
- Unity: Jump Rope Challenge, Pokemon BDSP, Fire Emblem Engage, Super Mario RPG remake, Another Code Recollection
2024.05.11 00:34 lbabinz [Best Buy] Weekly Top Deals Sale at Best Buy: May 10 - 16 (EA, WB Games, more)
Top Deals Sale
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Outlet Sale
submitted by lbabinz to VideoGameDealsCanada [link] [comments]
Top Deals Video Games
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| Item | Sale Price | MSRP | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ea Sports Fc 24 (ps4) | $39.99 | $69.99 | $30.00 |
| Ea Sports Fc 24 (ps5) | $39.99 | $54.99 | $15.00 |
| Ea Sports Fc 24 (switch) | $39.99 | $39.99 | $0.00 |
| Ea Sports Fc 24 (xbox Series X / Xbox One) | $39.99 | $69.99 | $30.00 |
| Red Dead Redemption 2 (ps4) | $19.99 | $19.99 | $0.00 |
| Seagate 1tb Storage Expansion Card For Xbox Series X And Series S | $194.99 | $204.99 | $10.00 |
| Soundcore By Anker Vr P10 In-ear Noise Cancelling True Wireless Earbuds - White | $89.97 | $129.97 | $40.00 |
| Surge Grips For Meta Quest 2 Controllers - Black | $14.99 | $19.99 | $5.00 |
| Surge Livewire Microwatt Controller For Xbox Series X/S / Xbox One - Black | $39.99 | $49.99 | $10.00 |
| Surge Livewire Microwatt Controller For Xbox Series X/S / Xbox One - Blue | $39.99 | $49.99 | $10.00 |
| Wwe 2k24 (ps5) | $69.99 | $89.99 | $20.00 |
| Wwe 2k24 (xbox Series X) | $69.99 | $89.99 | $20.00 |
Video Game Deals
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2024.05.10 21:54 MingusTheClown The Jazz Mafia Celebrate the Music of Prince - Friday, June 7, 2024 at The Sound Room, Oakland
The Jazz Mafia Celebrate the Music of Prince - Friday, June 7, 2024 at The Sound Room, Oakland
Jazz Mafia, the dynamic musical collective hailing from Oakland, California, mesmerizes audiences with their eclectic fusion of jazz, hip-hop, funk, and beyond. Led by composer and trombonist Adam Theis, Jazz Mafia captivates listeners with their innovative arrangements and infectious energy.
For this event, they will be honoring Prince on his birthday! Prince Rogers Nelson (June 7, 1958 – April 21, 2016) was an American singer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, record producer, and actor. The recipient of numerous awards and nominations, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest musicians of his generation. His wide vocal range, and his skill as a multi-instrumentalist, along with a love for a wide variety of styles, including funk, R&B, rock, new wave, jazz, blues, and soul will make him a revered musician for decades to come.
Featured vocalist Kate Lamont is a UK born and USA raised vocalist with roots R&B and Jazz and is gearing up to bring Prince's music to life on stage with an incredible ensemble of Jazz Mafia core member including Adam Theis, Ian McArdle, Joshua Thurston-Milgrom, and Henry Plumb .
“As an organization governed by a radically embracing ethos, the Jazz Mafia is the antithesis of a criminal enterprise. A trombonist, bassist, arranger, composer and inveterate band-builder, Theis seeks to welcome all comers stylistically and demographically, while the band makes the most of whatever it has to offer. It’s a conspiracy of generosity.”
— Andrew Gilbert, The Mercury News
Tickets - https://www.eventbrite.com/e/893989074387?aff=oddtdtcreator
submitted by MingusTheClown to BayAreaJazz [link] [comments]
Jazz Mafia, the dynamic musical collective hailing from Oakland, California, mesmerizes audiences with their eclectic fusion of jazz, hip-hop, funk, and beyond. Led by composer and trombonist Adam Theis, Jazz Mafia captivates listeners with their innovative arrangements and infectious energy.
For this event, they will be honoring Prince on his birthday! Prince Rogers Nelson (June 7, 1958 – April 21, 2016) was an American singer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, record producer, and actor. The recipient of numerous awards and nominations, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest musicians of his generation. His wide vocal range, and his skill as a multi-instrumentalist, along with a love for a wide variety of styles, including funk, R&B, rock, new wave, jazz, blues, and soul will make him a revered musician for decades to come.
Featured vocalist Kate Lamont is a UK born and USA raised vocalist with roots R&B and Jazz and is gearing up to bring Prince's music to life on stage with an incredible ensemble of Jazz Mafia core member including Adam Theis, Ian McArdle, Joshua Thurston-Milgrom, and Henry Plumb .
“As an organization governed by a radically embracing ethos, the Jazz Mafia is the antithesis of a criminal enterprise. A trombonist, bassist, arranger, composer and inveterate band-builder, Theis seeks to welcome all comers stylistically and demographically, while the band makes the most of whatever it has to offer. It’s a conspiracy of generosity.”
— Andrew Gilbert, The Mercury News
Tickets - https://www.eventbrite.com/e/893989074387?aff=oddtdtcreator
2024.05.10 21:49 Infinite_Analysis_97 An Unknown Factor
In an undisclosed government research facility, scientists have created a new form of warfare. What they created were soulless troops with the hopes of building an undying army. Automatons or warforged as they came to be called. It was fairly new tech after all and no one knew how well they worked. The soulless automaton was put to training for 1 year. It was taught hand to hand, sword play, and athletics. After the basics were concluded, it was made to fight real opponents, slaves scrounge from war torn towns or bought off black markets. With a promise that they'll get riches for defeating this mindless bot.
For an entire year this went on, not one bested the automaton, some came close but none succeeded. By it's metal hands countless people were sent to an early grave. None deserving of the savagery displayed. One day a young man is sent in to duel. Couldn't have been more than 17. They entered the arena and awaiting the buzzer to start. BZZZZT The alarm rings. The bot doesn't hesitate, neither the teen. They go after each other and though the kid did get some lucky strikes. Showing promise and talent for the sword. It only lasted for so long before the bots wrath reached him and plunged its sword through his chest. Staring down at the teen who laid there sucking air thru the hole in his chest. The teen cried for someone until life finally left him. The bot never showed remorse for these unfortunate souls. But this time for some reason or jostled wire. Felt the start of something in it chest. A tightness but it only lasted a second before the cold logic and programming kicked back.
This continued to happen, the tightness in it's chest growing. The more it fought in these duells, the more the tightness grew. A new day, another session. A child not more than 5 years old was thrown into the arena with the bot. Not with weapon, shield or cloths. Just a battered and bruised child. Defenseless. The researchers told the bot to exterminate the child. For reasons unknown to the bot but it didn't care. It had it's orders. As the bot readied it's sword and began unto to the child. The tighteness in it's chest came again. Stronger than ever. Freezing it's swing inches from the child's head. Programming trying for control to continue the swing, the tightness fighting against it. The researches baffled as this never happened.
This automaton for an entire year has fought without relent, without mercy. So why now. They didn't know, the data was perfect. No issues, no faults no nothing. But yet in front of them, this machine frozen in place. . They instucted the machine to finish the task. The machines hands trembled, it's programming jarring for control. The tightness in his chest compounding and crashing like a wave against rock. Slowly eroding the hard set programming. The machine shut down. Frozen in place. Sword in hand and just above the now unconscious child.
The researchers confused, not sure what just happened. Came into the arena to diagnose the bot. Two of them in white coats. One carrying diagnostic tools and the other a data sheet from the duel. As they got to the machine, one of them spoke "well ain't that something, worked perfectly for an entire year and then it just shuts down" the other researcher responds "maybe it's battery finally ran out, we never did get concrete data on how long the battery can last". Both now in front of the machine. One says "well what do we do with the kid?" The other researcher scratched the back of his head "the runt is out cold and will probably refuse to come back in here. Better just get rid of him. Get a guard in here to haul him away."
The bot while frozen can hear, he knows what happens to lab rats who aren't useful. He knows what going to happen to that kid. A voice in his head starts to shout " GET A MOVE ON, MOVE YOU FUCKER" but his legs won't move, his servos locked on place, "COME ON, MOVE IF YOU DONT THAT KID WILL DIE AND ITLL BE YOUR FAULT" his hands start to tremble."YOUVE DONE ENOUGH KILLING, SAVE ONE, JUST SAVE HIM" while the bots head is full of shouting, from an unknown voice and programming holding control. Armed guards come in to haul the boy away. As they step past the bot and reach for the boy. Once more the voice shouts now with anger and rage "SAVE HIM YOU FUCKING USELESS BUCKETS OF BOOOOLTS". This last command forces the bots hand, cutting the guard closest to him in two, rotating his sword to the other and lops the guards head off.
The researchers terrified start to run away while one tries to order the machine to shut down. As he issued commands, the bots steps became heavy. " YOURE GONNA LISTEN TO HIM? WHAT FOR?" the bot moves closer, each step a resounding thud as this hulking mass inching ever closer to the one shouting at him. "GO ON KILL HIM, THESE ARE THE ONES WHO DESERVE YOUR BLADE" The researcher now slumped on his ass scared shitless as this machine encroaches on him with cold lifeless eyes fixed on him. The researcher screamed for mercy but yet none was there for him.
The bot walked back over to the kid. Nudging him to wake him but he didnt wake. The bot scanned the boy. The bots sensors telling him that the kids heart stopped. "this is your fault, he died cause of you" the voice in it's head said, in a sad somber tone. The bot put both hands in his head covering his audio sensors to shut the voice out " ITS YOUR FAULT, ITS ALL MY FAULT" the bot roared in pitiful agony, falling to its knees. The alarm rang, snapping the bot out of it's crumbling. He stood up slowly and stood over the boy. He turned and ran away.
Pushing past any one in his way. Some tried to stop him but who can stop a 6'7" metal man weighing in at 405lbs running at full speed. No one can. They'll either be forced aside or turned into paste. It found an exit broke through the door and it was all woods. It was a rainy night, no stars or moon. Just darkness. He chose a random direction and ran. Ran through the night and away from the nightmare. As the bot ran he tripped and tumbled. It pushed itself up and over onto its back. Laying in the mud the voice started "What will you do now, where can you go? No where obviously, you got no home. You can't go back either theyll scrap me the second I walk inside. So what now. You can't go to a village. I don't deserve to be in a village anyways, all the people I've killed" suddenly a torrent of memories, a memory of each person he slayed in combat. How he cut and ripped them all apart. The bot now breathing heavily "I'm too dangerous anyways" more memories of people slain. Raising his hands in front for his face. His hands stained with blood. "I'll stay in these woods, it'll be safer for everyone" he looked up to the night sky and for the first time he realized it. He was truly alone and he deserved to be alone. He broke down crying and weeping. Not understanding what the voice in his head, or what this feeling is. He just knows that he's blibbering like that teen he ran his sword thru. He's now howling in whatever feeling this is. The bot now broken and the programming now relented all control to whatever this is. The bot screamed until it was morning, howling like a mad broken man.
For the next few weeks, it walked these woods. No place to go, no final Destination. Just walked. All the while the memories of those he killed, that boy who he frightened enough to drive his heart still. All in his head. An entire year of carnage. "What even is this. Why now do i think? Why now do i feel? Whatever feeling this is. I dont like it. Like a bag of stone, sitting heavy on my chest" He rested against a thick dead tree. It's branches thick yet broken. The trunk burnt and scarred. Yet standing strong even if it's dead. "well at least youll have a companion for the coming years, sorry it ain't good one tho" The bot unsheathed it's sword, and looked at the blood stained blade. "Ya know, i wish that kid would've lived, I could've taken him somewhere. Maybe a village. I could've protected him till he was safe" he looked up to the sky. "But no, I'm such a menace that I've killed him without even touching him." It looks back down to his sword once more. "I just hope those people can find peace". He turns the swords point towards his gut. He sadly whispers "this is all i can do to atone for them, one less evil" at that he thrusts his sword into himself. Expecting pain and anguish yet there was none. If anything it felt a thud and tugging. Like his sword wouldnt do his own master in, resisting its masters hand. A root from the tree had sprouted and grabbed hold of the sword. Making him miss his mark and striked just beside him into the trees blackened bark.
A voice called out but not his "I've watched you child. Since you came into these woods, I've followed you. Heard your anguish, heard your tears and suffering. The sins you've committed are not yours solely". The bot shouts back " WHO ARE YOU! WHY STOP ME! MY EXISTANCE DOESNT BENEFIT THIS WORLD. NOT AFTER ALL IVE DONE". The bot struggled against the roots now determined to yank the sword free and continue its path to its own metal. "Child" the mystic voice spoke quietly "What you seek is repentance, if you truly want to make the world better. Killing yourself won't change anything, but going into the world and fighting against the injustices will." The bot stopped struggling at that "but how, all I can do is wield a sword, all I can do is kill." the mystic voice chuckled " oh don't worry plenty of injustice can be righted by your sword but not every problem can be fixed with a sword. Become my champion and i shall show you the path." The bot blinked "champion? What is that and who are you?" the disembodied voice once again chuckled a hearty laugh "oh child they truly didn't teach anything at the facility you came from".
"I am Beory the goddess of nature and you shall be my champion. Youll spread my word and protect the innocent, just as you wished to do in the final moments with that child." The bot now looking down contemplating for a few seconds and then looking towards the sky "alright Beory, this machine will be your champion. On one condition." the goddess laughed " oh what may that be? " Bot responds "the people who've done this, the people who do things like this. They all die. No mercy or sanction for them." The bot hissed in a low tone. Beory is quiet for a few seconds "I dont see a problem with that, they are enemies of the light after all." "right then, this machine will be your champion from now on!" Bot exclaimed.
"Oh wonderful but we can't have you calling yourself machine. Would you like me to name you? " Bot now confused "what's a name? They'll always called machine." Beory replied " I'll name you them, mmm. Let's see... ah I got it! Rayard! It's a fitting name. A strong name for a strong machine!" Bo...Rayard now struck in silence. A feeling welling up inside him, it was warm. "Thats happiness by the way, you'll have plenty of time to understand your new consciousness and soul now that you gripped reality for yourself" Beory whispered as she released the roots entangling Rayards sword.
Rayard sheathing his sword "I just hope I can make whatever this is worth it to those I've felled." " then follow my path and you will. There's a village a few months walk south of here. I'll have you go there, there's something there you must do" beory remarked. Rayard still shaken and full of mixed unknowns. Still grappling with his memories. Had now a path, what that entails shall soon be found out.
submitted by Infinite_Analysis_97 to u/Infinite_Analysis_97 [link] [comments]
For an entire year this went on, not one bested the automaton, some came close but none succeeded. By it's metal hands countless people were sent to an early grave. None deserving of the savagery displayed. One day a young man is sent in to duel. Couldn't have been more than 17. They entered the arena and awaiting the buzzer to start. BZZZZT The alarm rings. The bot doesn't hesitate, neither the teen. They go after each other and though the kid did get some lucky strikes. Showing promise and talent for the sword. It only lasted for so long before the bots wrath reached him and plunged its sword through his chest. Staring down at the teen who laid there sucking air thru the hole in his chest. The teen cried for someone until life finally left him. The bot never showed remorse for these unfortunate souls. But this time for some reason or jostled wire. Felt the start of something in it chest. A tightness but it only lasted a second before the cold logic and programming kicked back.
This continued to happen, the tightness in it's chest growing. The more it fought in these duells, the more the tightness grew. A new day, another session. A child not more than 5 years old was thrown into the arena with the bot. Not with weapon, shield or cloths. Just a battered and bruised child. Defenseless. The researchers told the bot to exterminate the child. For reasons unknown to the bot but it didn't care. It had it's orders. As the bot readied it's sword and began unto to the child. The tighteness in it's chest came again. Stronger than ever. Freezing it's swing inches from the child's head. Programming trying for control to continue the swing, the tightness fighting against it. The researches baffled as this never happened.
This automaton for an entire year has fought without relent, without mercy. So why now. They didn't know, the data was perfect. No issues, no faults no nothing. But yet in front of them, this machine frozen in place. . They instucted the machine to finish the task. The machines hands trembled, it's programming jarring for control. The tightness in his chest compounding and crashing like a wave against rock. Slowly eroding the hard set programming. The machine shut down. Frozen in place. Sword in hand and just above the now unconscious child.
The researchers confused, not sure what just happened. Came into the arena to diagnose the bot. Two of them in white coats. One carrying diagnostic tools and the other a data sheet from the duel. As they got to the machine, one of them spoke "well ain't that something, worked perfectly for an entire year and then it just shuts down" the other researcher responds "maybe it's battery finally ran out, we never did get concrete data on how long the battery can last". Both now in front of the machine. One says "well what do we do with the kid?" The other researcher scratched the back of his head "the runt is out cold and will probably refuse to come back in here. Better just get rid of him. Get a guard in here to haul him away."
The bot while frozen can hear, he knows what happens to lab rats who aren't useful. He knows what going to happen to that kid. A voice in his head starts to shout " GET A MOVE ON, MOVE YOU FUCKER" but his legs won't move, his servos locked on place, "COME ON, MOVE IF YOU DONT THAT KID WILL DIE AND ITLL BE YOUR FAULT" his hands start to tremble."YOUVE DONE ENOUGH KILLING, SAVE ONE, JUST SAVE HIM" while the bots head is full of shouting, from an unknown voice and programming holding control. Armed guards come in to haul the boy away. As they step past the bot and reach for the boy. Once more the voice shouts now with anger and rage "SAVE HIM YOU FUCKING USELESS BUCKETS OF BOOOOLTS". This last command forces the bots hand, cutting the guard closest to him in two, rotating his sword to the other and lops the guards head off.
The researchers terrified start to run away while one tries to order the machine to shut down. As he issued commands, the bots steps became heavy. " YOURE GONNA LISTEN TO HIM? WHAT FOR?" the bot moves closer, each step a resounding thud as this hulking mass inching ever closer to the one shouting at him. "GO ON KILL HIM, THESE ARE THE ONES WHO DESERVE YOUR BLADE" The researcher now slumped on his ass scared shitless as this machine encroaches on him with cold lifeless eyes fixed on him. The researcher screamed for mercy but yet none was there for him.
The bot walked back over to the kid. Nudging him to wake him but he didnt wake. The bot scanned the boy. The bots sensors telling him that the kids heart stopped. "this is your fault, he died cause of you" the voice in it's head said, in a sad somber tone. The bot put both hands in his head covering his audio sensors to shut the voice out " ITS YOUR FAULT, ITS ALL MY FAULT" the bot roared in pitiful agony, falling to its knees. The alarm rang, snapping the bot out of it's crumbling. He stood up slowly and stood over the boy. He turned and ran away.
Pushing past any one in his way. Some tried to stop him but who can stop a 6'7" metal man weighing in at 405lbs running at full speed. No one can. They'll either be forced aside or turned into paste. It found an exit broke through the door and it was all woods. It was a rainy night, no stars or moon. Just darkness. He chose a random direction and ran. Ran through the night and away from the nightmare. As the bot ran he tripped and tumbled. It pushed itself up and over onto its back. Laying in the mud the voice started "What will you do now, where can you go? No where obviously, you got no home. You can't go back either theyll scrap me the second I walk inside. So what now. You can't go to a village. I don't deserve to be in a village anyways, all the people I've killed" suddenly a torrent of memories, a memory of each person he slayed in combat. How he cut and ripped them all apart. The bot now breathing heavily "I'm too dangerous anyways" more memories of people slain. Raising his hands in front for his face. His hands stained with blood. "I'll stay in these woods, it'll be safer for everyone" he looked up to the night sky and for the first time he realized it. He was truly alone and he deserved to be alone. He broke down crying and weeping. Not understanding what the voice in his head, or what this feeling is. He just knows that he's blibbering like that teen he ran his sword thru. He's now howling in whatever feeling this is. The bot now broken and the programming now relented all control to whatever this is. The bot screamed until it was morning, howling like a mad broken man.
For the next few weeks, it walked these woods. No place to go, no final Destination. Just walked. All the while the memories of those he killed, that boy who he frightened enough to drive his heart still. All in his head. An entire year of carnage. "What even is this. Why now do i think? Why now do i feel? Whatever feeling this is. I dont like it. Like a bag of stone, sitting heavy on my chest" He rested against a thick dead tree. It's branches thick yet broken. The trunk burnt and scarred. Yet standing strong even if it's dead. "well at least youll have a companion for the coming years, sorry it ain't good one tho" The bot unsheathed it's sword, and looked at the blood stained blade. "Ya know, i wish that kid would've lived, I could've taken him somewhere. Maybe a village. I could've protected him till he was safe" he looked up to the sky. "But no, I'm such a menace that I've killed him without even touching him." It looks back down to his sword once more. "I just hope those people can find peace". He turns the swords point towards his gut. He sadly whispers "this is all i can do to atone for them, one less evil" at that he thrusts his sword into himself. Expecting pain and anguish yet there was none. If anything it felt a thud and tugging. Like his sword wouldnt do his own master in, resisting its masters hand. A root from the tree had sprouted and grabbed hold of the sword. Making him miss his mark and striked just beside him into the trees blackened bark.
A voice called out but not his "I've watched you child. Since you came into these woods, I've followed you. Heard your anguish, heard your tears and suffering. The sins you've committed are not yours solely". The bot shouts back " WHO ARE YOU! WHY STOP ME! MY EXISTANCE DOESNT BENEFIT THIS WORLD. NOT AFTER ALL IVE DONE". The bot struggled against the roots now determined to yank the sword free and continue its path to its own metal. "Child" the mystic voice spoke quietly "What you seek is repentance, if you truly want to make the world better. Killing yourself won't change anything, but going into the world and fighting against the injustices will." The bot stopped struggling at that "but how, all I can do is wield a sword, all I can do is kill." the mystic voice chuckled " oh don't worry plenty of injustice can be righted by your sword but not every problem can be fixed with a sword. Become my champion and i shall show you the path." The bot blinked "champion? What is that and who are you?" the disembodied voice once again chuckled a hearty laugh "oh child they truly didn't teach anything at the facility you came from".
"I am Beory the goddess of nature and you shall be my champion. Youll spread my word and protect the innocent, just as you wished to do in the final moments with that child." The bot now looking down contemplating for a few seconds and then looking towards the sky "alright Beory, this machine will be your champion. On one condition." the goddess laughed " oh what may that be? " Bot responds "the people who've done this, the people who do things like this. They all die. No mercy or sanction for them." The bot hissed in a low tone. Beory is quiet for a few seconds "I dont see a problem with that, they are enemies of the light after all." "right then, this machine will be your champion from now on!" Bot exclaimed.
"Oh wonderful but we can't have you calling yourself machine. Would you like me to name you? " Bot now confused "what's a name? They'll always called machine." Beory replied " I'll name you them, mmm. Let's see... ah I got it! Rayard! It's a fitting name. A strong name for a strong machine!" Bo...Rayard now struck in silence. A feeling welling up inside him, it was warm. "Thats happiness by the way, you'll have plenty of time to understand your new consciousness and soul now that you gripped reality for yourself" Beory whispered as she released the roots entangling Rayards sword.
Rayard sheathing his sword "I just hope I can make whatever this is worth it to those I've felled." " then follow my path and you will. There's a village a few months walk south of here. I'll have you go there, there's something there you must do" beory remarked. Rayard still shaken and full of mixed unknowns. Still grappling with his memories. Had now a path, what that entails shall soon be found out.
2024.05.10 18:05 ConsciousRun6137 The Plasma Event
 | https://preview.redd.it/8uhsrzg4fmzc1.png?width=1500&format=png&auto=webp&s=c3d8b4a622004102a2a7ada070efd3dd794b79cc submitted by ConsciousRun6137 to u/ConsciousRun6137 [link] [comments] The Plasma Event (aka EMPCOE) is a cataclysm theory. Perhaps its most vocal proponent was Brian Austin Lambert (aka. “BAL33”). Brian and his partner, Kimberley (aka. “Mia”), were found dead 10 March 2021. His death was ruled as a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. Mia’s cause of death has not been disclosed, but she may have been suffocated with a towel. The global psyop functions by corralling mainstream detractors into identity and belief cults. These identity groups provide a false sense of security and validation for the vast and growing number of people who know, at some level, that they have been betrayed, and they’re instinctively seeking what the parasitic class have been destroying for decades – community. Perhaps the Brian Lambert story is an example of this. Lambert was (I think) active in the flat earth community for some time before he integrated EMPCOE theory. Was he perhaps a surveillance-state operative tasked with ‘grooming’ the FE movement, and then went rogue by revealing something he shouldn’t have? ..brought himself a full metal jacket retirement package. Doesn’t seem too unlikely. https://preview.redd.it/39dh8ikhfmzc1.png?width=705&format=png&auto=webp&s=4cf14af1e836386d3e1eed95f4a50d710fb2046b https://preview.redd.it/v4v0bickfmzc1.png?width=701&format=png&auto=webp&s=b89e791831f837641c1706bfae2d77f77309d735 The EMPCOE theory shares elements with Dr. Chan Thomas’ 1963 heliocentric cataclysm theory, specifically historic periodicity, magneto-hydrodynamics as part of the mechanism, and plasma as the possible trigger. The summary is followed by one of Brian Lambert’s last videos, published shortly before his death. There have been many plasma events or resets during our history, many of which we know little or nothing about, putting into question many of our currently taught historical narratives. Some resets are minor or shorter while others are longer or major. The Great Flood of Noah (Moon), The Tower of Babel (Mercury), The Hebrew Exodus (Venus), the Assyrian Captivity (Mars), The Christian Epoch (Jupiter), the Industrial Revolution (Saturn), The American Revolution (Uranus), the Mud Flood (Neptune), and World Wars I and II (Pluto) are all major resets in our history. The book of Revelation is a synopsis or script for these resets. The last one now coming to light seems to have occurred 1n the early to mid 1800’s and is known as the “Mud Flood” which supposedly buried Tartaria (the last great world empire). Russian-based Tartaria was the foundation upon which our current world civilization was rebuilt. All of the old buildings, many with domes and spires belong to Tartaria and were simply dug out and reused by most of our leading modern institutions. The next coming reset may be the largest and most important of all and is often referred to as the Plasma Apocalypse or Pole Shift. Plasma is the fourth state of matter which is the basis for the other three states -gas (air), liquid, and solid. It is found in its pure state between worlds or creations, and has the nature of gas or water, but is electromagnetic in nature. It is the force that creates and destroys worlds (Shiva), and will play a key role in these End Times (end of Kali Yuga), when this world or age is dissolved and a new one created. Our dome protects us from the dangers of pure plasma. Only the light gets through. This swirling light is focused (by the dome lens) as our Sun, midway between the dome and our flat Earth surface. The swirling produces day and night and the seasons. Our dome also protects us from alien invasion, and its electromagnetic composition (layered with ice), also creates and holds our atmosphere or firmament which keeps the waters above (in “outer space”) separated from the waters below (oceans, lakes, and rivers). Our Moon is either a projection or the dome of another Earth neighbouring us. The dome is not only above us, but below us as well (like a bubble). Beneath our flat plane is Tartarus (not Tartaria) or Hell, with its various levels or planes. This is also known as the Inner Earth, and there is a reddish or pinkish Sun at the centre, often described as Apollon, The Black Sun, The Anomaly, and even Mercury (Martin Kenney). Olaf Janssen in his book The Smoky God says this is the throne of Jehovah or Yahweh, who is also known as Yaldabaoth, the Demiurge, or the King of this World. Jehovah exited the Inner Earth (by ship?) thousands of years ago and led the Hebrews out of Egypt and back into the Inner Earth Promised Land. Jehovah will once again leave his throne to gather more followers during the coming Plasma Event or Great Reset. This may also be or coincide with Great the Day of the Lord spoken of in the the Bible. Is Jehovah the true God -or His counterfeit? This is the great question many will have to grapple with (there is strong evidence for the latter). According to Jesus in the New Testament, the End may well occur in the winter and/or on a Sabbath. More precisely, it may be just after the winter solstice (Dec.21st). From Dec.25 to Dec.31 (seven days) is the actual Plasma event when part of the dome opens (the Galactic Rift?), possibly revealing Nibiru (see my aticle “Is Nibiru the Galactic Center” in the Astro Articles section). The opening or portal allows plasma to come in and air to go out causing depressurization of our atmosphere. That’s when all hell breaks loose and the different worlds or dimensions mix. That’s also when the stars appear to fall, the Sun goes black and the Moon blood red, the 3 days of darkness, the coming in of aliens and strange creatures, the going out of humans (being sucked out), the fog or mist, the earthquakes and tidal waves, the ice and snow, the great fires, the red skies, the blending of dimensions, people going insane, etc. The plagues during the Hebrew Exodus were a type of what’s coming in the plasma event or great changeover. The elites know all about the coming plasma Apocalypse and intend to use the temporary Rift or portal opening to escape this plane and go on to others. They have built underground bunkers in case their plan fails but the bunkers will not save them. Plasma incinerates all metal and wiring and high tech which their bunkers depend on. Do NOT go in your car (metal) or be around wiring or electrical equipment during this time. Stay indoors with provisions until the plasma event passes. Cities and houses on shaky foundations will be hit hard. People in rural or warm environments will fare better. Fasting, prayer, and a pure diet will help. Be right with God. After the seven days, after the Rift or portal closes again (beginning around Jan.1st) there will be a 3-month recovery period. The Earth will be very different now. The magnetic poles will have reversed so that the Sun will now rise in the West instead of the East. The evaporated ocean water will form a canopy over the Earth equalizing the climate throughout (mid-seventies Fahrenheit). Because of the cloud or ice canopy it will neither be too dark nor too bright. There will be no seasons or night or day as we know them. Also, no strong winds, and a stable climate, with refreshed oxygen levels leading to a garden paradise and greater health and longevity. The survivors of the plasma event will begin a new age or epoch guided by the lords of heaven. There are several warnings here that were such an event to occur, it would be safest to be as far away from conductive materials such as metals as possible. Are the symptoms of “COVID” actually the effects of cyclic electromagnetic changes in our terrain? Have the controllers decided to profit from this event rather than inform us of it? What role do intravenous electromagnetic adjuvants and microwave frequencies have to play? Is there a link to graphene? Production of graphene oxide relies largely upon plasma production processes. Would there be any effect or interaction between a widespread plasma discharge and graphene in vivo https://preview.redd.it/y5o22sv7gmzc1.png?width=520&format=png&auto=webp&s=158853ba9717d1726aa0fc4c06d4ff74f874393f Corona Dischargehttps://preview.redd.it/6tjmoxodgmzc1.png?width=1129&format=png&auto=webp&s=94e2f06ac6f39a4b906647019662491d6271cb53The synopsis of this very long and scientific article is this. I believe I have figured out what is really going on in our world and what the Karona Vye Russ (code for you-know-what) really is. I believe I know what’s coming to kill a third of mankind as prophesied. First I thought it was a weapon like DEW or 5g and believe me the elite use many weapons and poisons to cull the heard. But this time there is a natural event at play. This is why all the elite organic food stores have closed (Earth Fare, Lucky’s) where I used to shop. They closed BEFORE the C. Vye Russ out break. Therefore I surmise the elite are eating their meals somewhere else. I am guessing they are in their bunkers snug and waiting for the danger to pass. Below are many examples of “Corona Discharge” a very well documented electrical occurrence I just discovered. The discharges cause the same symptoms as the Karona Vye Russ is said to cause. The worst to the mildest. Same scope, same symptoms. I am led to believe that the Corona discharges are beginning to happen to our electrical grid due to a change in atmospheric natural electricity called the global atmospheric electric circuit. I will be covering research on the atmospheric changes in my next article to prove my theories. And if the changes to global atmospheric electric circuit are severe enough the entire grid that was once created explicitly with preventing Corona Discharges from happening is quickly becoming vulnerable to their occurrence because the very air is changing. And in the air is where the corona discharge phenomena happens. I think there is no contagion. Not only is the electric grid becoming vulnerable to C.D.’s but many devices like air purifiers, and industrial grade air scrubbers in hospitals and other huge buildings, including the many uses for electrostatic precipitators at power plants and coal factories are now vulnerable to C.D.’s. Youtuber Jaydreamerz does talk on this, he only pirated the information, offers nothing new, & is a dispicable individual. https://nobulart.com/the-plasma-event/ |
2024.05.10 18:00 LabB0T Weekly r/homelabsales Summary - 2024-05-10
The last weeks [For Sale] posts in homelabsales
Posts that have not met the rules of HLS or have completed are not shown.
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ON
IN
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MN
MO
TX
TX-DFW
WI
CT
DE
FL
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AZ
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submitted by LabB0T to homelab [link] [comments]
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CAN-ANY-
ON
EUEU/IT
US-C-ANY-
- Micron 16GB DDR4 3200 ECC RDIMMs
- Batch2 Modern Super Micro Servers (for a homelab)
- Several Modern Servers Super Micro Dell HP Synology
IN
LA
MI
MN
MO
- Dell Optiplex 5055 with AMD Ryzen 5 Pro 2400G CPUs
- Cisco Access Points
- AUDHEID K7 8 Bay NAS Case + SilverStone FX600 Platinum 600W FlexATX Power Supply (SST-FX600-PT)
TX
- 2x Meraki MR36 & 4x Meraki MR33 (original boxes included)
- GeForce GTX 1650 D6 Ventus XS OC 4GB GDDR6 Graphics Card
- Lots of 2.5" NVME SAS SATA SSD 400-960GB, 1.6-3TB DDR3 DDR4 ECC DIMMS
- UniFi Express (UX)
- Cisco CBS-350-24p-4X 10 gigabit SFP+ and Fanless!
- Edgerouter 12P, 2x Lenovo m715Q, ICX Switches, SFP+ modules, box o' crap
TX-DFW
WI
- Stelpro Ki Z-Wave/Zigbee Thermostats for Electric Baseboard Heaters
- Synology DX517, Synology 16TB HDDs, Ubiquiti USW-Aggregation, Supermicro X11DPH-T, Xeon 6138's, DDR4 ECC, and more!
US-E-ANY-
- Mikrotik RB5009, Ryzen 5 3600, 16 port switches, PoE injectors
- 2x Dell U2.nvme 800gb drives in Dell cages
- HP EliteBook 830 G8
- Alienware x17 r2
- Aruba 2930F
- Alienware x17 R2
- EliteBook 830 G8
CT
DE
FL
- D-Link 48-Port Gigabit Stackable Smart Managed PoE+ Switch (DGS-1510-52XMP) / Dlink 5-Port Gigabit PoE-Powered Smart Managed Switches (DGS-1100-05PD) / Razer Keyboards, Headsets, Mice, & Mousepads
- Unifi UDM SE
- Netgate 1100, Unifi nanoHD, Unifi 8 Port POE, Unifi G3-Micro, Gigabyte Brix Mini PC
- Ubiquiti US-24, TP-Link & Netgear Switches, Corsair Water Cooling parts, & more
- IotaWatt Energy Monitor
- Unifi Switch & APs
- NetApp DS2246 Expansion Shelf
- Dell R630 8Bay
- Ubiquiti Edgeswitch/UAP-AC-M/Seasonic PSU/ASUS AIO/Z390 & X470 Mobo
- Lenovo M90q mini pc (with PCIe riser), 2x Quadro P620s with M90q / P340 bracket, 64GB DDR4 SO-DIMM, 64GB DDR4 ECC, 2TB Micron NVMe, FREE 2.5in Caddy for HP Mini PC, 7x Cisco 10Gb DACs
- 2023 Mac Studio M2 Max 36 core gpu 96gb/512gb
- SuperMicro CSE-745 Case │ Supermicro CSE-M35S Mobile Rack (5 HDD) │ ASRock EP2C612D8-2T8R Motherboard │ Samsung PC4-2133P Memory │ NH-U9S CPU Cooler with NF-B9-1600 92mm Fan
- QNAP TS-832PX-4G NAS with upgrades │QNAP HS-453DX-8G Multimedia NAS (10GbE HDMI 2.0 4K) │ QNAP QM2-2P10G1TA PCIe Expansion Card (2 x PCIe 2280 M.2 SSD Slots & 1x 10Gbe port)
- Cyberpower, Amazon Basics & Oviitech long surge protectors power strips
- SuperMicro CSE-745 Case │ Supermicro CSE-M35S Mobile Rack (5 HDD) │ ASRock EP2C612D8-2T8R Motherboard │ Samsung PC4-2133P Memory │ NH-U9S CPU Cooler with NF-B9-1600 92mm Fan
MI
NC
- Dell R430, R630, 2x SC4020, 2x SC200, Rails, Surface Duo 2, Various
- Dell R430, R630, 2x SC4020, 2x SC200, Rails, Surface Duo 2, Various
- IBM SAN - 2 X 2667 V4 3.2Ghz BASE 256GB 2400T ECC RAM 2 X SSD --$400--
- HP Z840 Tower Workstations- Dual 2697V4 36 Core 72 Threads 192GB DDR4 ECC RAM 1TB SSD X540-T2 Networking!
- Tripp Lite by Eaton 2400W 120V 3U Rack-Mount Power Conditioner
- Open Box Crucial MX500 1TB SSD, 2x M.2 SSD to PCIE 3.0 x4 Adapter, 6x Dell Savvio 300GB SAS HDD
- Repost - Ubiquiti / Unifi gear and Other stuff
- 2 n95 miniPCs kitted out for cluster work
- Dell Precision 5820 (Xeon W-2133 6 Core, 64GB ECC DDR4, Quardo RTX 4000 8GB)
- Lenovo/HP SFF & Mini PCs, NetgeaTP Link Switches, Random homelab hardware
- Supermicro 836 Chassis
- Supermicro 6048R-E1CR60N 4U Storage Server, Dual Xeon E5-2620V4, 128GB DDR4, 2x10Gbe, 60x 3.5" HDD, 6x NVMe 2.5" Bays, 2x 2.5" SATA Bays, Dual 2000W PS
- SABRENT Q4 2230 NVMe 2TB / Kingston 32GB DDR5 For Laptop / Glyph 4TB Atom RAID Portable SSD
- Multiple Hard Drives; 4, 6, 8, 12, and 16TB, Used & New. 3x Lightly Used Samsung 870 EVO 2TB 2.5" SATA SSD. OWC Mercury Elite Pro Quad Enclosure
- DELL R730s & R720xds
- Ubiquiti USG-Pro-4
- Jonsbo N1 NAS/Server, Intel i5-11400, 32GB RAM
- Ubiquiti gear - US-24-250W, 3x ES-48-500W, and USG-PRO-4
- Tyan B7079F77CV10HR-N (8x dual slot GPU 4U server), Random 2.5" SAS SSDs and 2.5" 10K RPM HDDs, 8GB ECC DDR4-2666 DIMMs, 90-99% 4TB 3.5" SAS HDDs
- Prodesk g4 SFF, Elitedesk 800 G4 micro
- Laptops (Starting @ $50) - Free Shipping!
- 17 Sticks of Kingston ValueRAM 16GB 3200MT/s DDR4 CL22 SODIMM 1Rx8 1.2V KVR32S22S8/16
TN
VA
US-W-ANY-
AZ
CA
- Dell PowerEdge R730xd
- 4u tower server and M720q
- Ubiquiti Unifi UXG Lite Gateway, USW Lite 8 PoE Switch
- 2x 12TB drives, USW-16-POE, U6-Lite, Pi 4b, DDR5 SODIMMs, Lenovo M920q
- Synology DS920+ / HP ProDesk 405 G4 / Custom Home Server
- HP Elitedesk Minis
- USW-Pro-48-POE and USW-24
- Beelink GTR 7 Mini PC, 7840HS, 32GB RAM, 1TB NVME SSD w/ Extra Mag. Power Cable
- ThinkPad P50/P51/P52 Dell Latitude 7320
- DDR4 ECC 16GB 2933, R6415 NVMe, 2x R640, R730xd, 2x R630, 2x DL360p G8
- Synology DS1821+, 10TB Exos HDD x4
- 10G SuperMicro X9DRH-iF in CSE-826 Chassis
NM
OR
WA
- Ubiquiti UXG-Pro / Gateway Pro
- Brocade Switch 6450-24p, 6450-48p, and 6400 External PSU Full Set up!
- Ubiquiti Networking + HP Networking
- Lot Of 84 Samsung 8GB PC3-10600R ECC Server Memory RAM M393B1K70DH0-YH9/YH9Q8
- 400G AOC, 100G module
- Brocade Switch 6450-24p, 6450-48p, and 6400 External PSU Full Set up!
- APC AP9560 1U Rack mount PDU
2024.05.10 00:28 Oogalyboogalyer Gabriel Profile
 | Gabriel submitted by Oogalyboogalyer to ShuumatsuNoValkyrie [link] [comments] Record of Ragnarok Profile: Gabriel Titles/Aliases: 1. Priest of Chastity 2. Gabe (By his brothers) 3. The Messenger Of The Divine 4. Angel Of Revelation 5. Prince Of Justice Race: Angel Gender: Male Pantheon/Nationality: Abrahamic Age: Unknown Authority: Second in command of the Angels Appearance: Gabriel's imposing figure stands tall and muscular, a testament to his divine heritage. His countenance exudes an aura of nobility and strength, with striking features and piercing blue eyes that seem to hold the wisdom of ages. His lustrous brown hair cascades in waves, framing his face and lending an air of ethereal grace. Clad in a resplendent ensemble, Gabriel dons a tight-fitting black shirt beneath an open, intricately designed white and gold angelic garment, fastened with ornate chains on either side. His attire is completed by flowing white pants, sturdy black boots, and a regal demeanor befitting his celestial status. Though he possesses six majestic wings, Gabriel often conceals two, opting to display his primary pair with pride and humility. Personality: Gabriel's charismatic demeanor belies a depth of character shaped by eons of divine service and introspection. He exudes charm and grace in his interactions, effortlessly commanding the respect and admiration of those around him. Beneath his affable exterior lies a profound sense of duty and purpose, driving him to uphold the principles of justice and righteousness at all costs. Despite his lofty station, Gabriel remains grounded and empathetic, harboring a genuine concern for the plight of humanity and a fervent desire to guide them towards the path of enlightenment. However, he harbors a deep-seated disdain for the rampant sin and moral decay that plagues mortal souls, viewing it as a blight in need of purification. While he maintains a strict adherence to his principles of chastity and virtue, Gabriel is not without compassion, extending his divine grace to those who seek redemption and absolution. Backstory: Gabriel's origin is shrouded in myth and legend, his celestial lineage tracing back to the dawn of Humanity itself. Born amidst the celestial realm of angels, he ascended to prominence as a paragon of virtue and righteousness, earning the esteemed title of the Prince of Justice. However, his ascent was not without its trials and tribulations, as he grappled with the weight of divine responsibility and the burden of leadership. Despite facing numerous challenges and adversaries, Gabriel remained steadfast in his devotion to his divine duties, serving as a beacon of hope and inspiration to his celestial brethren. Yet, beneath his unyielding resolve lay a profound sense of solitude and introspection, a longing for companionship and understanding that eluded even the most discerning eyes. As the ages passed and civilizations rose and fell, Gabriel watched over the mortal realm with vigilance, his unwavering gaze piercing the veil of darkness that threatened to engulf humanity in its grasp. Now, as the fates converge upon the arena of Ragnarok, Gabriel stands ready to fulfill his sacred duty once more, wielding the might of the divine to vanquish all who dare oppose the forces of righteousness. Fighting Style: Gabriel's martial prowess is a testament to centuries of rigorous training and divine empowerment. His combat style seamlessly blends grace and precision with overwhelming force, embodying the principles of justice and virtue in every strike. Utilizing his innate abilities to manipulate light, Gabriel infuses his attacks with radiant energy, unleashing devastating shockwaves and blinding bursts of brilliance upon his adversaries. His movements are a symphony of fluidity and power, each strike a testament to his unwavering dedication to the cause of righteousness. While he prefers to engage foes head-on, Gabriel is not above employing cunning tactics and strategic maneuvers to gain the upper hand in battle, always striving to outmaneuver and outwit his opponents with divine grace and finesse. Supernatural Power: As an angelic being, Gabriel wields the power of light with unparalleled mastery, harnessing its radiant energy to augment his physical abilities and vanquish darkness wherever it may lurk. By enveloping his body parts in luminous brilliance, Gabriel can enhance his speed, strength, and agility to superhuman levels, enabling him to deliver devastating blows and swift counterattacks with unparalleled precision. His control over light extends beyond mere physical augmentation, allowing him to manipulate its properties to create blinding flashes, impenetrable barriers, and scintillating projectiles capable of incapacitating even the most formidable adversaries. Volund/Divine Weapon: Gabriel does not rely on a conventional divine weapon, instead wielding the power of light itself as his primary means of offense and defense. Through his mastery of celestial energy, he can shape and manipulate light to form devastating weapons and defensive barriers, channeling the radiant power of the divine to smite his foes and shield himself from harm. Named Techniques:
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2024.05.09 21:38 marmotsarefat How would my fanmade starters fair in competetive(t
The first ones are from an australia based region they go:
Forestodon Grass/Normal
Ability:overgrow/fluffy
Stats: 130 90 110 80 70 50
Moves:harmonious chord(heals itself and its allies by 25% and cures their status condition),wood hammer,grass whistle,yawn,rest,syntheis,bpfy slam,double edge,work up,trick room,harmonise(sketch but for sound moves only),curse,earthquake,stomping tantrum,ancient power,stone edge,shadow claw,thunder fang etc
Analysis: I can see it being a bulky support in doubles and vgc with acces to a normal lunar blessing great hp and defense boosted by fluffy too
Taiprowl Fire/poison
Ability:blaze/multiscale
Stats 90 60 90 90 90 110
Moves:toxic noise(80 bp 30% to poison and confuse),coil,recover,flamethrower,fire blast dragon pulse dragon dance,thunderbolt,glare,mortal spin,pounce,sludge wave,burning bulwark,shed tail,temper flare,harmonise,dark pulse,weather ball,taunt Toxic spiles
Analysis: A bulky annoying mon to deal in ou has acces to burn poison sleep para and confusin and while its bulk seems mediocre it makes up with multiscale
Electreef Wateelectric
Ability: torrent/punk rock
Stats: 74 74 70 122 75 115
Moves:water solo(water lumina crash but only minus 1 and 80 bp),ice beam,thunder,thunderbolt,tase(special 60 bp nuzzle),morning chirp(flying uproap 75 bp that wakes up every one on the field)harmonise,roost,scald,hydro pump,flip turn,boomburst,overdrive,aludge bomb,sludge wave,muddy water,knock off,
Analysis: Fast wall breaker with throat spray and water solo it can get to what is essentialy plus 3
submitted by marmotsarefat to stunfisk [link] [comments]
Forestodon Grass/Normal
Ability:overgrow/fluffy
Stats: 130 90 110 80 70 50
Moves:harmonious chord(heals itself and its allies by 25% and cures their status condition),wood hammer,grass whistle,yawn,rest,syntheis,bpfy slam,double edge,work up,trick room,harmonise(sketch but for sound moves only),curse,earthquake,stomping tantrum,ancient power,stone edge,shadow claw,thunder fang etc
Analysis: I can see it being a bulky support in doubles and vgc with acces to a normal lunar blessing great hp and defense boosted by fluffy too
Taiprowl Fire/poison
Ability:blaze/multiscale
Stats 90 60 90 90 90 110
Moves:toxic noise(80 bp 30% to poison and confuse),coil,recover,flamethrower,fire blast dragon pulse dragon dance,thunderbolt,glare,mortal spin,pounce,sludge wave,burning bulwark,shed tail,temper flare,harmonise,dark pulse,weather ball,taunt Toxic spiles
Analysis: A bulky annoying mon to deal in ou has acces to burn poison sleep para and confusin and while its bulk seems mediocre it makes up with multiscale
Electreef Wateelectric
Ability: torrent/punk rock
Stats: 74 74 70 122 75 115
Moves:water solo(water lumina crash but only minus 1 and 80 bp),ice beam,thunder,thunderbolt,tase(special 60 bp nuzzle),morning chirp(flying uproap 75 bp that wakes up every one on the field)harmonise,roost,scald,hydro pump,flip turn,boomburst,overdrive,aludge bomb,sludge wave,muddy water,knock off,
Analysis: Fast wall breaker with throat spray and water solo it can get to what is essentialy plus 3
2024.05.09 21:37 hoggersbridge Engines of Arachnea: A Science Fantasy Epic [Chapter 7: Divine Engine]
The Amits had taken their time. They knew that victory was assured, and so had set about feasting. But eventually they had worked up enough of an appetite to make the final push.
Once more they rushed through a storm of bullets. They disintegrated as the twelve-pounder discharged a cluster of grapeshot, faltered, then charged again. Claws ripped at the broken stone, reaching and grasping. A man was seized by his locks of hair and pulled through the gap; his screams cut short as his body toppled backwards, missing its head. Bayonets jostled and found their mark in pale flesh as pistols rang out in the tight confines and set Rene’s ears ringing.
“Get back!” shouted the engineers, “You’ve done your best! We’ll take it from here!”
The wall of detritus had begun to buckle beneath the weight of the enemy. The engineers brought out the red plunger and ran the wire to the final batch of charges. These were strapped to every major column and support in the room. They were to be buried alive, to deny the enemy their final victory.
The first Amit clawed its head through. It was impaled on half a dozen blades and hurled back. Then the second burst in and bathed a man head to toe in its corrosive juices, melting him down to bare red musculature in seconds. The monsters scrambled into the breach with reckless abandon, and the slaughter began.
The engineer was killed, brained by an axe before he could blow the charges. Crawling across the floor, battered and bruised by the trampling feet of the melee, Rene found the box and pried it from his dead hands. With a final whimper he closed his eyes and depressed the plunger.
Sometime later Rene awoke with a throbbing head. Absently he wondered if the afterlife was supposed to hurt this much, but then he felt a cold film of cave water touch the side of his face, and reluctantly accepted the fact that he was alive.
The chamber was gone. All about him were strewn great slabs of ceiling, under which various limbs protruded. Beside him, Prota had been buried beneath wreckage, her pendant flung clear. Absently he reached over and pocketed it.
His pants were wet; water was streaming through from somewhere. Through a gap in the huge slump of debris at the entrance he made out shadows moving against the torchlight, and heard sounds of them doing unspeakable things.
He dragged himself upright and cried out a second time in misery and pain. Immediately he regretted that action, as a milky white eye came up to the gap and looked about hungrily. It spotted him and tapped its feet against the stone in excitement. A horde of scuttling figures flitted into view. There was a scuffling sound as they began to dig at the obstruction. He groaned, and looked about him for a weapon, anything with which to end his life quickly and in relatively less anguish. Then he saw it.
The chamber had collapsed, and in doing so a broken pillar several tons heavy had knocked against the impenetrable eastern wall, the one that Admiral Prota’s workmen had been chipping carefully at for a year. It had smashed through the obstruction, and now its great bulk held up the fragile archway. More importantly, an opening had appeared. One that looked just the right size for a child to crawl through. Cave water streamed from the rent, lapping at the bodies of the slain. Behind him the Amit shuddered with delight, spitting torrents of acid against the stone in order to get through to him faster.
He went into the crawlspace and found it was a tight fit. He tried flattening his belly. When that didn’t work, he removed the tattered remnants of his sealant suit, and barely managed to squeeze inside.
He emerged into a cool tunnel. Motes of dust millennia old swirled placidly in the still air, lit by glowing phosphorescent mushrooms that lined the damp walls. Water wet his toes as he stumbled painfully along.
The floor was even and polished to a mirror sheen. Across the chamber was an odd doorway, ovoid in shape. He went over to it, searched in vain for a doorknob, then chuckled and gave up. He felt an absence of fear and knew that his lifting spirits had something to do with this place being exposed to the outside atmosphere. He had at best a few hours left to live. He shrugged and peered about him in the murk.
These tunnels sloped down below the open eastern section. If he could reach a ventilation shaft, there was a chance he could live. Assuming of course that he found a mask sometime soon. He had lost his at some point in the brawl. Thankfully he still had the compass. He took it out but watched in disbelief as the needle began to spin like a top. Cleary whatever magnetic anomaly that had plagued the expedition had returned with a vengeance. Shaking his head, uncertain now of everything, Rene wandered aimlessly, a pale and bloodied specter haunting the alien hallways.
Graceful alcoves surrounded him, with effigies sheltered beneath them and primitive paintings upon their curved surfaces. He looked at the closest one. Though the style was surreal and the language foreign, he understood the symbols well enough.
For they were those of ancient scripture.
The war in heaven. Two great armadas clashed in the depths of the void, lances of searing red heat and spheres of anti-matter dancing between their silver prows. The battle raged the length of an entire wall, a lurid display of mythical carnage. He saw a thousand worlds set alight by the conflagration, whole systems burning like tinder, fuel to the madness and the pain.
In its wake, emptiness. The next alcove showed a galaxy bereft of life, the charred husks of planets circling their dying suns, drained of energy in the apocalyptic conflict.
He saw the Fleet emerge, three small ships, together containing all that remained from the great dying: the ancestor--gods of the primordial dawn. They searched long and hard, travelling from one blasted hellscape to the next in search of lasting refuge.
And so at long last they found Arachnea, a virgin planet untouched by strife. They came to sow life in its bleak hollows, to make a home for their children, a peaceful place far from the ravages of a war so ancient they themselves had forgotten its cause. Then they set their Divine Engines to work. The Amit had carved effigies of these machines out of lumps of azure marble. Rene touched their smooth flanks, admiring at the workmanship. They were shaped like squat little men, with massive hands and domelike heads. Where they had walked, the earth had moved aside for them. They carved the channels with their feet, flattened the hills with blows from their fists. They dredged up fountains of molten lava and shaped them into a thousand bejeweled islands. They wove giant webs of glass as strong as the pillars of the earth and stretched them out across the sky to shield the world from the jealous eyes of the twin suns, Raelu and Sardec.
It was in the course of their work the Divine Engines shattered a mountain and unearthed the Amit, the first true inhabitants of Arachnea. They had arrived centuries before the ancestor—gods. The painting showed the Amit stumbling out of a rent in their tunnels, hands held up against the sunlight that no longer scorched their pale, waxen skin. The first thing they saw in their brave new world was a towering behemoth of burnished metal, wreathed in fire and smoke. In terror they had fallen to their knees before it, begging for their lives.
Rene nodded. All of this was familiar. He walked over to the next depiction, expecting to see the ancestor--gods recoiling in disgust, then swiftly recovering and obliterating the insectoid creatures with deadly rays of light, driving them scuttling back into their foul hollows beneath the earth. For it was written that the Amits were the offspring of vague, unholy sorceries, and could only know evil. Indeed, the war in heaven had been fought over similar themes. They could not be suffered to live. But what he saw instead shook him to his very core.
The ancestors came down from their mighty steeds, lifted the Amit to their feet, and embraced them. Quickly Rene ran through the rest of the alcoves, mind raging against the truths he now saw before him. From then on, the work deviated from scripture so much so that he could only piece together their meaning with difficulty.
The ancestor--gods debated among themselves as to what to do with the Amits. This was not the first time they had come across life other than their own, and it was clear that this time they were cautious in their approach. Some advocated for bringing the race to total extinction, but most agreed that best way forward was a peaceful coexistence, reasoning that they had much to learn from the Amits, who had survived the conditions of Arachnea for millennia without the need for terraforming. The ancestor--gods felt guilt over stealing Arachnea from its original inhabitants and wished to make amends. And so a bargain was struck between the races.
The Amits would allow the ancestor--gods to make changes to the world. To correct the tilt of its wayward axis, to vent huge plumes of inert gases from the hot womb of the earth and to seed life forms from long-dead Terra. In return, Man would change the Amit as well. They would grant them strength and cunning, broods beyond number, and bodies hardened against pain and suffering so they too could be as the gods were.
The plan proceeded towards fruition. Both sides were content as the final pieces of the great work fell into place. But unknown to Man and Amit alike, the specter of war had never really left the Fleet. It had hidden away in dark holds within the hearts of men, and there it had whispered of want and of desire, of the beauty of the virgin world and the lust to claim it.
Some of the ancestor--gods resented their share in the great work. They chafed at the fact that they, the superior beings, had to deal with their vassal Amits like equals, exchanging their powers for the mere right to live on the planet that they had rightfully settled.
And so they began to snuff out the Amit in their millions, burning them out of their homes with heat rays that swept clean entire colonies.
Soon two sides were at each other’s throats. The honorable ancestors who had kept to their word fought a bitter war against their prideful kin amidst the ruin of their unfinished works. In the skies at night, the Amit watched as the madness unfolded, as stars appeared and vanished overnight, and great balls of flame came bursting down through the void to crash into the broken earth. At last, as their weapons lay spent and broken, they then turned the Divine Engines against one another. Once the instruments of peace and creation, they soon tore the landscape apart with the fury of their duels, trading blows that sent impacts shuddering deep into the scorched earth.
The Amit were afraid, and betook themselves to the deep places, where the wrath of the gods could not find them. But this was to be their doom. Eventually the changes wrought in the bodies of the Amit made them strong and durable enough the endure the apocalyptic conditions of the surface. But as the ancestor--gods fought and died on the surface in cataclysmic struggle, their magic died with them. The Amit themselves became trapped, betrayed by their own changing flesh. They became unable to revert to their previous forms, and so were forevermore consigned to lives of darkness in their lairs beneath the earth.
Now, Arachnea was unsuitable for both man and Amit alike. The ancestor--gods had become madmen, so overtaken by their hatred for each other that they had cast themselves back into a dark age from which there would be no return.
The Amits emerged into the gloomy wreckage of their planet and starved. Until, that is, they came upon the remnants of a battleground. Huge forces of men had clashed and died, leaving their bodies to rot upon the cold ground. In their desperate hunger, the Amits began to eat.
And they found the meat of the gods to be good. That war, a holy act most strange and terrible, had filled their bellies with meat, this they understood. That gods themselves judged war to be a just course of action was evident. And since all that remained of the gods were a race of thieves and murderers, it was judged that to make war upon them was both just and good.
Rene came to the last alcove. It depicted the final resting place of the Divine Engines, whom the Amit had buried beneath the mountains out of fear, sealing them away from the surface so that they would never again walk the earth.
A great square plaque of shining steel and copper was laid into the stone. To the Amit it was only a mark of some kind, a symbol whose meaning was long forgotten, but Rene felt an odd connection to it. He traced its edges with a blood-stained hand, and realized it was not a square, but a rectangle, and one whose dimensions he faintly recognized.
He took out Prota’s pendant and pressed it into the crevice.
There was a hiss of pneumatics as the great square door to his side gave way. Light fixtures hummed into life through powers unknown. He stepped gingerly into the soft glow.
“Greetings Ensign,” came a disembodied female voice, “Welcome to the Topographical Oversight and Reconstruction Unit (T.O.R.U.). What are your commands?”
A Divine Engine. The Amit had found it and built an entire civilization around it. This behemoth, this secret mountain of metal was what his compass had been steering towards all this time. A giddy sensation flowed through him. In his stupor he passed his hands in front of his face, examining the lines of his palms and the action of his fingers.
A nimbus of light played over him, reading his gestures.
“Command noted. Activating neural pairing.”
The door closed shut with a creak behind him. Steel pinions reached out and wire nodules grasped him, ran painlessly through his eye sockets and into his brain. All at once he could feel the machine coming to life after its long dormancy, reactors coils thrumming with an ancient power that would not be denied.
He straightened his back.
The outpost fell away from him in a cloud of dust and rubble. He strode forward, kilometers tall, a shining colossus of star-metal. He glanced down, saw the multitudes of the Amit streaming about the shattered mound. He watched them for a moment, saw them waving their arms in speechless terror at the sudden apparition.
For the first time, he pitied them. They were unaware of their own savagery, of their own hideousness, even. They did not know the doom that awaited them, of the lengths the Fleet was prepared to go in order to secure its final victory.
But there was nothing that could be done. Mankind could no more change themselves than could the Amit. Rene felt the weight of history bearing down upon his shoulders. Though a different world and a separate time, the same inexorable force drove them towards the same tired conclusion.
But perhaps the sooner it was over, the better. He lifted his foot and brought it down. Once, twice, three times until nothing was left moving below. Then he swung away, the ground quaking beneath him.
So, it was through humanity that the Amits had come to know of war? Well then, today he would show them that they had much left to learn. He turned northward, a god astride the earth, and lumbered towards Mound Euler.
Link to 1st chapter here: 1st chapter on HFY
Link for all the chapters available here: Engines of Arachnea on Royal Road
submitted by hoggersbridge to HFY [link] [comments]
Once more they rushed through a storm of bullets. They disintegrated as the twelve-pounder discharged a cluster of grapeshot, faltered, then charged again. Claws ripped at the broken stone, reaching and grasping. A man was seized by his locks of hair and pulled through the gap; his screams cut short as his body toppled backwards, missing its head. Bayonets jostled and found their mark in pale flesh as pistols rang out in the tight confines and set Rene’s ears ringing.
“Get back!” shouted the engineers, “You’ve done your best! We’ll take it from here!”
The wall of detritus had begun to buckle beneath the weight of the enemy. The engineers brought out the red plunger and ran the wire to the final batch of charges. These were strapped to every major column and support in the room. They were to be buried alive, to deny the enemy their final victory.
The first Amit clawed its head through. It was impaled on half a dozen blades and hurled back. Then the second burst in and bathed a man head to toe in its corrosive juices, melting him down to bare red musculature in seconds. The monsters scrambled into the breach with reckless abandon, and the slaughter began.
The engineer was killed, brained by an axe before he could blow the charges. Crawling across the floor, battered and bruised by the trampling feet of the melee, Rene found the box and pried it from his dead hands. With a final whimper he closed his eyes and depressed the plunger.
Sometime later Rene awoke with a throbbing head. Absently he wondered if the afterlife was supposed to hurt this much, but then he felt a cold film of cave water touch the side of his face, and reluctantly accepted the fact that he was alive.
The chamber was gone. All about him were strewn great slabs of ceiling, under which various limbs protruded. Beside him, Prota had been buried beneath wreckage, her pendant flung clear. Absently he reached over and pocketed it.
His pants were wet; water was streaming through from somewhere. Through a gap in the huge slump of debris at the entrance he made out shadows moving against the torchlight, and heard sounds of them doing unspeakable things.
He dragged himself upright and cried out a second time in misery and pain. Immediately he regretted that action, as a milky white eye came up to the gap and looked about hungrily. It spotted him and tapped its feet against the stone in excitement. A horde of scuttling figures flitted into view. There was a scuffling sound as they began to dig at the obstruction. He groaned, and looked about him for a weapon, anything with which to end his life quickly and in relatively less anguish. Then he saw it.
The chamber had collapsed, and in doing so a broken pillar several tons heavy had knocked against the impenetrable eastern wall, the one that Admiral Prota’s workmen had been chipping carefully at for a year. It had smashed through the obstruction, and now its great bulk held up the fragile archway. More importantly, an opening had appeared. One that looked just the right size for a child to crawl through. Cave water streamed from the rent, lapping at the bodies of the slain. Behind him the Amit shuddered with delight, spitting torrents of acid against the stone in order to get through to him faster.
He went into the crawlspace and found it was a tight fit. He tried flattening his belly. When that didn’t work, he removed the tattered remnants of his sealant suit, and barely managed to squeeze inside.
He emerged into a cool tunnel. Motes of dust millennia old swirled placidly in the still air, lit by glowing phosphorescent mushrooms that lined the damp walls. Water wet his toes as he stumbled painfully along.
The floor was even and polished to a mirror sheen. Across the chamber was an odd doorway, ovoid in shape. He went over to it, searched in vain for a doorknob, then chuckled and gave up. He felt an absence of fear and knew that his lifting spirits had something to do with this place being exposed to the outside atmosphere. He had at best a few hours left to live. He shrugged and peered about him in the murk.
These tunnels sloped down below the open eastern section. If he could reach a ventilation shaft, there was a chance he could live. Assuming of course that he found a mask sometime soon. He had lost his at some point in the brawl. Thankfully he still had the compass. He took it out but watched in disbelief as the needle began to spin like a top. Cleary whatever magnetic anomaly that had plagued the expedition had returned with a vengeance. Shaking his head, uncertain now of everything, Rene wandered aimlessly, a pale and bloodied specter haunting the alien hallways.
Graceful alcoves surrounded him, with effigies sheltered beneath them and primitive paintings upon their curved surfaces. He looked at the closest one. Though the style was surreal and the language foreign, he understood the symbols well enough.
For they were those of ancient scripture.
The war in heaven. Two great armadas clashed in the depths of the void, lances of searing red heat and spheres of anti-matter dancing between their silver prows. The battle raged the length of an entire wall, a lurid display of mythical carnage. He saw a thousand worlds set alight by the conflagration, whole systems burning like tinder, fuel to the madness and the pain.
In its wake, emptiness. The next alcove showed a galaxy bereft of life, the charred husks of planets circling their dying suns, drained of energy in the apocalyptic conflict.
He saw the Fleet emerge, three small ships, together containing all that remained from the great dying: the ancestor--gods of the primordial dawn. They searched long and hard, travelling from one blasted hellscape to the next in search of lasting refuge.
And so at long last they found Arachnea, a virgin planet untouched by strife. They came to sow life in its bleak hollows, to make a home for their children, a peaceful place far from the ravages of a war so ancient they themselves had forgotten its cause. Then they set their Divine Engines to work. The Amit had carved effigies of these machines out of lumps of azure marble. Rene touched their smooth flanks, admiring at the workmanship. They were shaped like squat little men, with massive hands and domelike heads. Where they had walked, the earth had moved aside for them. They carved the channels with their feet, flattened the hills with blows from their fists. They dredged up fountains of molten lava and shaped them into a thousand bejeweled islands. They wove giant webs of glass as strong as the pillars of the earth and stretched them out across the sky to shield the world from the jealous eyes of the twin suns, Raelu and Sardec.
It was in the course of their work the Divine Engines shattered a mountain and unearthed the Amit, the first true inhabitants of Arachnea. They had arrived centuries before the ancestor—gods. The painting showed the Amit stumbling out of a rent in their tunnels, hands held up against the sunlight that no longer scorched their pale, waxen skin. The first thing they saw in their brave new world was a towering behemoth of burnished metal, wreathed in fire and smoke. In terror they had fallen to their knees before it, begging for their lives.
Rene nodded. All of this was familiar. He walked over to the next depiction, expecting to see the ancestor--gods recoiling in disgust, then swiftly recovering and obliterating the insectoid creatures with deadly rays of light, driving them scuttling back into their foul hollows beneath the earth. For it was written that the Amits were the offspring of vague, unholy sorceries, and could only know evil. Indeed, the war in heaven had been fought over similar themes. They could not be suffered to live. But what he saw instead shook him to his very core.
The ancestors came down from their mighty steeds, lifted the Amit to their feet, and embraced them. Quickly Rene ran through the rest of the alcoves, mind raging against the truths he now saw before him. From then on, the work deviated from scripture so much so that he could only piece together their meaning with difficulty.
The ancestor--gods debated among themselves as to what to do with the Amits. This was not the first time they had come across life other than their own, and it was clear that this time they were cautious in their approach. Some advocated for bringing the race to total extinction, but most agreed that best way forward was a peaceful coexistence, reasoning that they had much to learn from the Amits, who had survived the conditions of Arachnea for millennia without the need for terraforming. The ancestor--gods felt guilt over stealing Arachnea from its original inhabitants and wished to make amends. And so a bargain was struck between the races.
The Amits would allow the ancestor--gods to make changes to the world. To correct the tilt of its wayward axis, to vent huge plumes of inert gases from the hot womb of the earth and to seed life forms from long-dead Terra. In return, Man would change the Amit as well. They would grant them strength and cunning, broods beyond number, and bodies hardened against pain and suffering so they too could be as the gods were.
The plan proceeded towards fruition. Both sides were content as the final pieces of the great work fell into place. But unknown to Man and Amit alike, the specter of war had never really left the Fleet. It had hidden away in dark holds within the hearts of men, and there it had whispered of want and of desire, of the beauty of the virgin world and the lust to claim it.
Some of the ancestor--gods resented their share in the great work. They chafed at the fact that they, the superior beings, had to deal with their vassal Amits like equals, exchanging their powers for the mere right to live on the planet that they had rightfully settled.
And so they began to snuff out the Amit in their millions, burning them out of their homes with heat rays that swept clean entire colonies.
Soon two sides were at each other’s throats. The honorable ancestors who had kept to their word fought a bitter war against their prideful kin amidst the ruin of their unfinished works. In the skies at night, the Amit watched as the madness unfolded, as stars appeared and vanished overnight, and great balls of flame came bursting down through the void to crash into the broken earth. At last, as their weapons lay spent and broken, they then turned the Divine Engines against one another. Once the instruments of peace and creation, they soon tore the landscape apart with the fury of their duels, trading blows that sent impacts shuddering deep into the scorched earth.
The Amit were afraid, and betook themselves to the deep places, where the wrath of the gods could not find them. But this was to be their doom. Eventually the changes wrought in the bodies of the Amit made them strong and durable enough the endure the apocalyptic conditions of the surface. But as the ancestor--gods fought and died on the surface in cataclysmic struggle, their magic died with them. The Amit themselves became trapped, betrayed by their own changing flesh. They became unable to revert to their previous forms, and so were forevermore consigned to lives of darkness in their lairs beneath the earth.
Now, Arachnea was unsuitable for both man and Amit alike. The ancestor--gods had become madmen, so overtaken by their hatred for each other that they had cast themselves back into a dark age from which there would be no return.
The Amits emerged into the gloomy wreckage of their planet and starved. Until, that is, they came upon the remnants of a battleground. Huge forces of men had clashed and died, leaving their bodies to rot upon the cold ground. In their desperate hunger, the Amits began to eat.
And they found the meat of the gods to be good. That war, a holy act most strange and terrible, had filled their bellies with meat, this they understood. That gods themselves judged war to be a just course of action was evident. And since all that remained of the gods were a race of thieves and murderers, it was judged that to make war upon them was both just and good.
Rene came to the last alcove. It depicted the final resting place of the Divine Engines, whom the Amit had buried beneath the mountains out of fear, sealing them away from the surface so that they would never again walk the earth.
A great square plaque of shining steel and copper was laid into the stone. To the Amit it was only a mark of some kind, a symbol whose meaning was long forgotten, but Rene felt an odd connection to it. He traced its edges with a blood-stained hand, and realized it was not a square, but a rectangle, and one whose dimensions he faintly recognized.
He took out Prota’s pendant and pressed it into the crevice.
There was a hiss of pneumatics as the great square door to his side gave way. Light fixtures hummed into life through powers unknown. He stepped gingerly into the soft glow.
“Greetings Ensign,” came a disembodied female voice, “Welcome to the Topographical Oversight and Reconstruction Unit (T.O.R.U.). What are your commands?”
A Divine Engine. The Amit had found it and built an entire civilization around it. This behemoth, this secret mountain of metal was what his compass had been steering towards all this time. A giddy sensation flowed through him. In his stupor he passed his hands in front of his face, examining the lines of his palms and the action of his fingers.
A nimbus of light played over him, reading his gestures.
“Command noted. Activating neural pairing.”
The door closed shut with a creak behind him. Steel pinions reached out and wire nodules grasped him, ran painlessly through his eye sockets and into his brain. All at once he could feel the machine coming to life after its long dormancy, reactors coils thrumming with an ancient power that would not be denied.
He straightened his back.
The outpost fell away from him in a cloud of dust and rubble. He strode forward, kilometers tall, a shining colossus of star-metal. He glanced down, saw the multitudes of the Amit streaming about the shattered mound. He watched them for a moment, saw them waving their arms in speechless terror at the sudden apparition.
For the first time, he pitied them. They were unaware of their own savagery, of their own hideousness, even. They did not know the doom that awaited them, of the lengths the Fleet was prepared to go in order to secure its final victory.
But there was nothing that could be done. Mankind could no more change themselves than could the Amit. Rene felt the weight of history bearing down upon his shoulders. Though a different world and a separate time, the same inexorable force drove them towards the same tired conclusion.
But perhaps the sooner it was over, the better. He lifted his foot and brought it down. Once, twice, three times until nothing was left moving below. Then he swung away, the ground quaking beneath him.
So, it was through humanity that the Amits had come to know of war? Well then, today he would show them that they had much left to learn. He turned northward, a god astride the earth, and lumbered towards Mound Euler.
Link to 1st chapter here: 1st chapter on HFY
Link for all the chapters available here: Engines of Arachnea on Royal Road