#MQ AU machine

[masterqwertster]

Because it's been rolling around in my head for a while thanks to the Indigo Disk DLC release...

Bells Hells Pokémon Teams!

These are all vibe based, limited to the six Pokémon teams, and everyone gets at least one Legendary and Shiny. Some will be evolutionary lines because I could see them coming into the campaign unevolved.

Chetney

Stoutland- received as a Lillipup when Chet was a kid, this majestic old dog is his oldest companion. I think Stoutland speaks nicely to Chetney having a pretty normal life before he became a werewolf. Aslo, Chet can ride his Stoutland around, which is fun

Phantump- met as Chet trained in the Bramblewood, this spirit of a child in a tree stump/wood fell in love with Chetney's toy carving. Chet loves the joy this Pokémon feels with every project

Snover/Abamasnow- this tree Pokémon was caught during the Icelost years that Chet was present for in Tal'Dorei

Banette- Chetney is worried about his toycraft becoming obsolete, and this Pokémon is an abandoned toy. Also Chet talked about letting his grudges stew before werewolfdom

Lycanroc (Midnight Form, Shiny)- it's a Pokémon with something like the classical wolfman-werewolf shape, so werewolf vibes, baby! Caught after Chet got lycanthropy, shiny because it matches Chet's original color scheme

Zacian- look, it's a wolf that's set to shank a bitch. Tell me that doesn't vibe with Chetney

Orym

Sirfetch'd- Flying-type with a sword and shield, obviously meant for Mr Sword and Shield of the Air Ashari

Honedge/Doublade/Aegislash- Orym's memento of his husband that always travels with him is Will's sword, so the ghost sword(and later sword/shield combo) makes sense for Oym

Comfey- friendly cute flowers for Mr Druidcraft gifts

Pidgey/Pidgeotto/Pidgeot- the normal-est bird for the normal-est guy. Yet capable and more striking the further down the line they get

Appletun (Shiny)- got it in Byroden as a reminder to enjoy life and pie. Also, little guy solidarity. Shiny because green apple for Orym who wears green

Shaymin- more friendly flowers for Orym, and the Sky Form is a little fighter like him

Fearne

Darumaka- Fearne needs a fire monkey to mirror Little Mister and this is the round fire monkey shaped like the Little Mister plush

Braixen/Delphox- fire Pokémon with a bit of a witch aesthetic for the fire girl of the Witchy Bitches

Impidimp- a Fairy-type with a mischievous streak for our mischievous fey

Skiddo/Gogoat- for the goat-ness of being a faun and a little druidic Grass-type

Gloom/Vileplume (Shiny)- for Fearne's love of poisonous flowers. And shiny because it's green and orange, which are Fearne's colors

Moltres- a burning phoenix Pokémon that Fearne worries will take on the Galarian Form that her Bad Future Self had

Imogen

Mudsdale- workhorse for the farmgirl who loves horses

Ponyta (Galarian)- cute unicorn pony with Psychic typing (not Galarian Rapidash because I think it's ugly)

Blitzle/Zebstrika (Shiny)- the Electric-type "horse" (zebras are close, okay?) Pokémon for our storming electrical Horse Girl. And shiny because Zebstrika is purple when shiny

Hattrem/Hatterene- Imogen's witch Pokémon. It's Psychic-type and sensitive to emotions, making it sort of like her mindreading

Elgyem/Beheeyem- Psychic-type and kind of alien-ish and said to mess with people's heads, this Pokémon showed up to Imogen after her Exaltant powers awakened

Spectrier- Legendary horse that comes in Imogen's two colors: purple and red

Laudna

Rattata (Alolan)- to mirror Pâté. Potentially shiny as the deep red and black are Laudna's colors

Mimikyu (Shiny)- a broken doll-like Pokémon for a person who feels like a broken doll. And shiny makes it a pale black and white like Laudna

Mismagius- Laudna's witch Pokémon, and ghostly of course (Also collar gems like Delilah?)

Leavanny- a bit of a crafter Pokémon and protective of kids

Meowth (Galarian)- the Alolan Meowth and Kantonian Persian are the kind of Pokémon I could see noble ladies having, so Laudna decided to catch her own Meowth... and ended up with a scrungly Galarian one. But she loves them anyways

Marshadow- it's shadow theme matches Laudna's Shadow Sorcerery. And Laudna does spend time trying to copy the Ladies of Whitestone...

FCG

Togepi/Togetic/Togekiss- Pokémon that are about bestowing happiness, because that's all FCG wants for their friends. Possibly not enthused by Togekiss being so bird-like, while Togetic is definitely on the edge of comfortable

Happiny/Chansey/Blissey- classic Pokémon Center helper and healers line for the cleric

Porygon/Porygon 2/Porygon-Z- artificial Pokémon for the artificially made person. The bird-ish shape might weird FCG out a bit

Fidough/Dachsbund- obtained after they got their oven installed, this Pokémon helps FCG with his baking endeavors

Iron Thorns- secret Aeorian rage-mode Pokémon since Future Paradox Pokémon look like robots and Tyranitar, which Iron Thorns is based off of, is known for raging around (also reflects Ashton having a Tyranitar a bit)

Magearna- a man-made clockwork Legendary for the Aeormaton

Ashton

Golett/Golurk (Shiny)- a rock person Pokémon for an actual rock person. And they're also powered by mysterious energies. Probably Ashton's original Pokémon. Shiny for green glow lines

Tyranitar- acquired as a Larvitar in Bassuras and a point of pride to have fully evolved given the reputation of such a Pokémon in that city

Tinkaton- also caught in Bassuras as a Tinkatink. It's a Pokémon with a big hammer and the evolutionary line would probably be semi-common in the scrap heaps of Bassuras (Also the Corviknight hunting as a get rid of birds that FCG fears/hates)

Growlithe/Arcanine(Hisuian)- for Ashton's strong loyalties. Possibly acquired after attempting to absorb the Spark of Rau'shan for the Fire/Rock typing, or just had since a kid from Hishari

Cosmog- suddenly appeared after Ashton got galaxy-brained because it's a little galaxy guy from another (higher?) dimension. It's Ashton's innocent baby who doesn't know how to stay in the damn pokéball and not reveal his soft side

Regigigas- this is the big titan Pokémon, hauling continents and shit. Not to mention that the Slow Start ability reflects how Ashton had a titan shard for twenty years before they really got it to do anything spectacular

#if this gets enough interest I could be convinced to release more thoughts on other pokemon BH would have beyond team limits #MQ AU machine #bells hells pokemon au #bells hells #ashton greymoore #laudna #orym of the air ashari #fearne calloway #imogen temult #fcg #chetney pock o'pea

[nyerus]

Hi, nyerus..How are you? If you don't mind me asking, can I ask your thoughts on ships between: shi qingxuan x he xuan ; feng xin x mu qing ; and quan yizhen x yin yu? Do you think based on their personality that romantic relationship can work for either of them?

Sorry if you've answered this question before....

Hello! I’m alright, thank you for asking! I know I’ve been kinda MIA on tumblr lately (hoping that my queue will let ppl know I’m still alive LOL)! Things are busy for me as of late -- but thank you for sending in the asks! I’ll answer this one first <3

So about these ships, simply put: I like them all in a sort of... dysfunctional way? If that makes sense. xD

For HX and SQX, I actually see them as quite dark paring. HX made a definite effort to get SQX out of the situation between him and SWD -- which is indeed important to note -- but ultimately, he still prioritized his revenge over SQX. After everything that happened between them, it's heartbreakingly doomed. Which is what I like about it haha. However, I also do have to spare a thought to HX's fiancé, who he loved dearly and who died a gruesome death as a result of SWD's machinations. SQX might not be directly responsible for that, but... yeah it's a painful thing. ;v; In AU though, I suppose you could make anything work out!~ Sometimes you gotta just embrace delusion and have fun.

FX and MQ I do like as FWB/f*ckbuddies. I think they have a really interesting dynamic in the sense that their world views are completely incompatible. It's why they fight so much, and especially because neither of them really make the effort (or want to) to meet each other in the middle. However, they do still have a sense of loyalty to each other, purely because of their long and shared history. Another reason for their fighting is also likely because that is what's familiar to them. It’s what they know and are comfortable with. I think that's a really fascinating aspect of their relationship as a whole. But I can definitely see them shacking up every now and then as a "no-strings-but-oops-accidentally-strings-but-neither-of-us-will-acknowledge-ever" type of couple lol!!

And as for QYZ and YY.... I originally did kind of ship them, but the more I thought about it, and about YY specifically, the more I felt bad for him. YY has a lot of trauma that is directly tied to QYZ, and also carries around no small amount of guilt. QYZ means well, but he doesn't really understand YY's boundaries, which can be exhausting to deal with. However, the two of them genuinely do care about each other. Even if YY does say he hates QYZ, I think it's pretty apparent that he does not. That his hatred is actually guilt, and regret/resentment for the deeply unfair situation he was put in. Not necessarily to QYZ himself. Still, sometimes it's not easy to separate the two things practically, and QYZ is not blameless. I also think this relationship hits a little too close to home for me as well lol. But similar to SQX and HX, I think they do have romantic potential in an AU where a lot of those stressors are not present.

Regardless, I have read fic for all 3 pairings before and enjoyed them lots! At the end of the day, I've never really been a sidepair shipper. I know all of these are really popular in fandom and I do enjoy seeing them around if they float along my dash or timeline, but I don't really seek out content for them. I definitely support people going wild and having fun with these characters and various parings though! (E.g. a rarepair I'm actually fond of conceptually is QYZ and MQ, just because I think they would work very well off each other personality-wise!)

#asks #thanad-zid

[rympresse]

DESINTOX │ Cafouillage médiatique autour des hélicoptères Apache destinés au Maroc

Plusieurs médias ont rapporté que des pilotes marocains se préparent à effectuer d’intenses entrainements sur l’hélicoptère AH-64 E dont les forces aériennes royales devraient être dotées dans un avenir proche. Selon ces sources, la formation devant durer de très longs mois est prévue sur une base américaine de l’Utah. En réalité, il y a eu confusion entre deux contrats distincts avec les Etats-Unis. Explications

À L’ORIGINE

Tout est parti d’une discussion lancée sur le forum FAR-Maroc, spécialisé dans la publication d’articles, de vidéos et d’images sur l’armée marocaine. Dans un sujet intitulé “24 (+12 en option) AH-64E Apache Helicopters for Morocco”, un internaute cite la page du Département de la Défense des États-Unis sur les contrats de vente d’armes effectués. La dernière en date est la livraison au Maroc de 36 hélicoptères Apache, d’une valeur de 4.25 milliards de dollars.

Un autre internaute poste alors, deux scans datant de 2006, issus d’un numéro du Utah National Guard Joint Magazine, qui rapporte la visite de membres des Forces Armées Royale à la base militaire de Salt Lake City. Il s’agit du Capitaine Saïd Oubkhane, du Capitaine EI Habib Selmani et du Sergent Major Hamid Idrissi. Sur le document illustré de photos, on lit que les trois militaires se familiarisent avec l’équipement de la Garde Nationale de l’Utah notamment leurs hélicoptères à haute altitude le Blackhawk et le vaisseau de combat AH-64 Apache. Cet évènement qui arrive dans le cadre d’un partenariat entre l'État de l’Utah et le Maroc, marquerait la naissance de l’intérêt de l’armée marocaine pour les hélicoptères de combat Apache.

La discussion sur le post du forum des FAR aborde plusieurs points concernant le contrat d’achat de 36 Apaches. On y débat de leurs spécificités, des radars de contrôle de tir Longbow dont ils seront munis, de la date de livraison des engins, mais aussi de la potentielle formation des pilotes, voire des techniciens des Forces Armées Royales. Quand un internaute poste une brochure des projets en cours du PEO STRI (Bureau exécutif du programme pour la simulation, la formation et l'instrumentation américain), la confusion s’installe.  

LES DÉTAILS

Très vite, cette information fait le tour des médias pour être la source d’articles du Collimateur, de North Africa Post et de Hespress. Il y est alors question d’une formation réalisée par « des instructeurs de l’US Air Force, via des techniques de simulation, avant de bénéficier d’entraînement sur le terrain, à l’État d’Utah, ouest des États-Unis ».

Hespress s’aventure même à citer le forum : « Ces exercices se poursuivront sur le terrain grâce à la collaboration existante entre la Royal Air Force et les forces de L'État de L'Utah pour former des pilotes et des techniciens pour l'une des équipes Apache ». Sur l’article de North Africa Post, la formation est toujours réalisée à Salt Lake City mais ne dure plus que 2 mois.

Après la publication de l’article d’Hespress, relayant la fake-news, une page Facebook auto-proclamée « page non-officielle des FAR » a republié la page de la brochure concernant la formation Aviation TESS en commentant : « Il s'agit d'un contrat de Support de 60 mois et l’information a été relayé il y a des mois, mais il semble que Hespress n'apprend la nouvelle que que maintenant». Le commentaire de la page suggère un contrat de 15 millions de dollars qui comprend, « le soutien et la durabilité des équipements, des services et des simulateurs pour la formation des pilotes de la Royal Air Force dans l'une des bases aériennes du Royaume. »

LES FAITS

Dans un article publié le 17 décembre 2020, sur la page du Département de la Défense des États-Unis, concernant les appels d’offres de l’armée américaine, on apprend que la firme L3 Technologies Inc., basée à Salt Lake City, (Utah), a obtenu un contrat de plus 29 millions de dollars pour livrer un matériel de type MUT (« man/unmanned teaming »), ainsi que pour le support technique et d'ingénierie, relatif aux hélicoptère Apache livrés notamment au Maroc.

Le terme « manned/unmanned teaming » ou MUT, désigne une technologie mise en service pour la première fois en 2009, qui consiste à combiner des forces gérées par l’homme, avec d’autres qui sont autonomes, comme des drones avancés, pour démultiplier la puissance de défense, ou d’attaque des machines. Le Maroc gagne en densité technologique et s’ajoute alors l’aspect d’inter-opérabilité avec des drones et autres systèmes de reconnaissance.

Les travaux relatifs au contrat décroché par L3 Technologies, s’effectueront à Salt Lake City (Utah), et devraient s'achever le 30 juin 2023. On apprend également que les appels d'offres pour ce contrat ont été lancés par Internet et concerne en plus du Maroc, des livraisons à l’étranger, pour les Pays-Bas, Qatar, Émirats arabes unis et le Royaume-Uni.

En septembre dernier, un contrat a été signé avec Longbow Limited, une filiale de Lockheed Martin d’une valeur de 164.6 millions de dollars pour équiper les hélicoptères Apache d’unités radar de contrôle de tir. Aussi, accompagnant la livraison des 36 hélicoptères Apache, la firme DigiFlight basée à Colombia avait obtenu en Mai dernier un contrat de près de 18.2 millions de dollars pour « des services de soutien programmatique», avait annoncé le Pentagon en mai dernier.

En novembre 2019, l’agence américaine chargée des exportations d’équipements militaires américains avait recommandé au Congrès d’autoriser la vente de 36 hélicoptères d’attaque AH-64E Apache au Maroc, pour un montant potentiel de 4,25 milliards de dollars. Outre la livraison des appareils, cette somme couvrait également la fourniture aux Forces royales Air marocaines de 79 moteurs T700-GE-701D, 36 capteurs d’acquisition de cible AN/ASQ-170, des systèmes de vision nocturne, des dispositifs d’auto-protection et plus de 600 missiles air-sol Hellfire.

Un peu plus de six mois plus tard, Boeing a annoncé avoir signé, dans le cadre du dispositif FMS, un contrat portant sur livraison au Maroc de 24 nouveaux AH-64E Apach, (avec une option pour 12 unités supplémentaires), et 79 moteurs T700-GE-701D (72 installés et 6 de rechange) en plus de plusieurs autres équipements. « Il s’agit d’une nouvelle étape dans notre long partenariat avec le Royaume du Maroc », a commenté Jeff Shockey, un haut responsable de l’industriel américain. « La demande mondiale concernant le modèle ‘Apache’ augmente et nous sommes fiers de fournir cette capacité de pointe au Maroc », a-t-il ajouté.

Un article de Defense world publié en juin 2020, informe que suite au contrat Boeing, « l'Agence américaine de coopération en matière de sécurité de défense (DSCA) a donné son feu vert en novembre dernier à un accord Marocain de 4.25 milliards de dollars comprenant 39 kits “manned-unmanned teaming” missiles air-sol ». « Le kit permettrait à un pilote Apache de contrôler les opérations et de recevoir le flux vidéo d'un drone à proximité, faisant des Apaches Marocains l'un des plus meurtriers en dehors des États-Unis. », ajoute le site spécialisé.

D’ailleurs, en juillet dernier, Maghreb Intelligence titrait « L’Espagne s’inquiète de l’acquisition par le Maroc de l’hélicoptère Apache AH-64E Guardian ». Le média rapportait alors, que « La version livrée au Maroc constitue la dernière variante de l’Apache AH-64E et dispose d’un radar AN/APG-78 Longbow, du panier de visée AN/ASQ-170. »

D’autre part, « l’Apache marocain pourra tirer des missiles Hellfire à guidage laser ou radar, des roquettes APKWS (Hydra), de missiles air-air Stinger et du canon de 30mm M230E1 guidé par le casque du tireur. » Mais la grande nouveauté et la force de ces vaisseaux, réside dans le fait qu’ils disposent d’un système de contrôle de drones MUM-T, qui permet de communiquer et guider des drones afin d’augmenter les capacités de reconnaissance de l’appareil.

On sait déjà que l’armée marocaine possède quatre MQ-1 Predator téléguidés dans son inventaire, qui s’y sont ajoutés en mars dernier, trois drones de combat Harfang achetés à la France. Plus récemment, en décembre dernier, l’armée marocaine a réalisé une acquisition de 4 drones MQ-9B SeaGuardian, en marge de de l’accord tripartite avec les États-Unis et Israël, élevant le Maroc au rang de puissance régionale.

VERDICT

Ce cafouillage médiatique est dû à la confusion faite entre le contrat de L3 Technologie basé à Salt Lake City, pour la livraison de matériel de type MUT, de plus de 29 millions dollars et le contrat de l’armée marocaine relatif au programme de formation Aviation TESS de PEO STRI, d’une durée de 60 mois et d’une valeur de 15 millions de dollars.

La récente acquisition par l’armée marocaine de drones Sea Guardian est vraisemblablement liée à l’achat des hélicoptères Apache suréquipés et surtout munis d’une technologie MUM-T. En plus du contrat pour la formation Aviation TESS, le Maroc a également signé avec les américains de PEO STRI, un contrat intitulé JTLS-GO, « Joint Theater Level Simulation Global Operations », pour les simulations d’opérations de combat, l’installation du logiciel simulateur, la formation au traitement de base de données militaires et la maintenance du logiciel de simulation. Ce programme devrait durer 36 mois et a coûté 2.1 millions de dollars

À ce jour, nous n’avons aucune information officielle corroborant la thèse d’une formation spécialisée sur les hélicoptères Apache AH-64E. Nous savons que depuis plusieurs mois, les FAR suivent une formation Aviation TESS délivrée dans le cadre des programmes internationaux de l'armée américaine pour la simulation la formation et l'instrumentation.

Pour rappel, les premiers AH-64E Apache livrés aux Forces royales Air marocaines à l’horizon 2025, feront du Maroc le 17e pays à en être doté et le second en Afrique, après l’Égypte.

[reseau-actu]

Le ministère des Armées a annoncé jeudi 19 décembre le "premier tir d'expérimentation" d'un drone armé. Un nouvel atout dans l'arsenal de la lutte contre les groupes armés terroristes au Sahel. Ces drones, dont la mission première reste le renseignement, vont désormais pourvoir détruire des "cibles d'opportunité". 

A partir de ce jeudi 19 décembre, chaque Reaper MQ-9 décollera armé. Maintenant que le "tir d'expérimentation" est fait, les drones quitteront leur base "chargés", au cas où ils repéreraient une cible. Sur leur base de Niamey, les Reaper ont un traitement de faveur : ils dorment à l'abri, dans de grands hangars de couleur sable, et ils ont la climatisation. Les Mirage 2000, les avions de chasse, installés quelques dizaines de mètres plus loin sur la base aérienne de Niamey, dorment eux dehors. Ce n'est pas une question de fragilité, mais plutôt de discrétion pour ce "système" de trois drones. 

Bombes guidées par laser et GPS

Le Reaper a des ailes de planeur, 20 mètres d'envergure, un fuselage fin de 11, et son hélice est à l'arrière. Jusque-là, rien de nouveau, ce drone acheté aux Américains est en service dans l'armée de l'air depuis 2014. La nouveauté se trouve sous les ailes, avec ces quatre supports métalliques, sous lesquels sont accrochées désormais une ou des bombes guidées laser et GPS. Revers de la médaille : là où un Reaper "nu" peut tenir plus de 12 heures en vol, un Reaper armé voit son autonomie réduite de 20%, à cause de la charge. 

Le drone va rester une plate-forme ISR, renseignement, surveillance et reconnaissance, mais avec la capacité supplémentaire de traiter une cible qui se dévoile brièvement.le colonel Hugues Pointfer, commandant de la base aérienne de Niamey à franceinfo

Au sein de l'Armée de l'air, le discours est clair depuis l'officialisation, en septembre 2017, de l'armement des Reaper : les drones ne sont pas là pour frapper, ils sont là pour recueillir du renseignement. Jusqu'à ce jour, "quand un drone repérait une cible, c'est l'aviation de chasse, ou les hélicoptères qui intervenaient et faisaient feu", explique l'un des pilotes déployés à Niamey, le lieutenant-colonel Matthieu, "avec le Reaper armé, plus besoin d'attendre le soutien, nous pourrons traiter directement une cible fugace". 

Quatre personnes par drone

Entre l'annonce par Florence Parly de l'armement des drones français au Sahel, et la première frappe, deux ans et trois mois se sont écoulés. "Comme ces drones sont américains", détaille le colonel Pointfer; "il a fallu avoir une autorisation, puis créer une chaîne logistique pour acheminer les équipements et les installer sur la machine, et enfin former les pilotes, aux Etats-Unis. Tout ça prend du temps". 

Sur la base aérienne de Niamey, au Niger, la cabine de renseignements d'un drone Reaper MQ-9, le 15 décembre 2019.  (ETAT-MAJOR DES ARMÉES / ARMÉE DE L'AIR)

Cette tutelle américaine n'empêche pourtant pas les français "d'opérer" différemment leurs drones. Les Reaper américains déployés au Sahel sont pilotés depuis une base située dans le Nevada, aux Etats-Unis. Les pilotes français, eux, sont installés à Niamey, dans une sorte de container baptisé Ground Control System, et ils vivent au vrai rythme d'une mission de combat, au milieu des autres militaires. "Les pilotes américains frappent une cible, rentrent chez eux le soir en passant faire les courses, c'est un peu déroutant. En étant sur le terrain, nous sommes dans l'état d'esprit d'une opération extérieure", confiait il y a quelques mois un officier de l'Armée de l'air.

Autre particularité française, les équipages de drones sont constituées de quatre personnes, et non de deux : un pilote, un opérateur-capteur, qui contrôle la caméra, un officier renseignement, et un analyste images, qui est, selon le lieutenant-colonel Matthieu, "les yeux d'or de l'Armée de l'air, comme la Marine a ses oreilles d'or pour identifier les bruits sous-marins". 

#métiers

[beautifulmiraclepizza-blog]

Pourquoi IBM rachète Red Hat

Adresser enfin la transformation digitale des très grands comptes. Telle semble être la raison principale qui a poussé IBM, à la fin octobre, à annoncer le rachat de Red Hat pour 34 milliards de dollars, soit dix fois le chiffre d’affaires annuel de cet éditeur emblématique de l’open source. Ce rachat succède à un rapprochement déjà opéré en mai dernier lors de l’événement annuel Red Hat Summit, qui se tenait à San Francisco. À cette occasion, les deux fournisseurs amorçaient un programme commercial et technique commun pour que les millions d’applications que les grands comptes ont écrites durant des décennies avec des technologies IBM (Websphere, DB2, MQ…) puissent enfin migrer vers n’importe quel Cloud, grâce à la solution OpenShift de Red Hat. L’accompagnement des entreprises dans le Cloud est le métier principal de la branche IBM Technology Services & Cloud Platforms, laquelle représente environ 43 % des 79 milliards de dollars du chiffre d’affaires annuel d’IBM. Cette activité, outre l’offre d’hébergement IBM Cloud à proprement parler (anciennement SoftLayer, puis Bluemix), repose essentiellement sur des services de consulting, d’architecture et de maintenance. Selon Gartner, le marché global des services liés au Cloud, offres de Cloud comprises, devrait pour la première fois atteindre 1 000 milliards de dollars l’année prochaine, soit 4,7 % de mieux qu’en 2018. Cette dynamique est portée par le phénomène actuel de transformation digitale, qui consiste pour les entreprises à gagner en agilité dans leurs activités et à trouver de nouveaux relais de croissance en s’appuyant sur les toutes dernières technologies, principalement le Cloud. Consolider ses 7 à 8% du marché des services liés au Cloud L’enjeu pour IBM est de maintenir, si ce n’est améliorer, ses 7 à 8 % de part sur ce marché des services liés au Cloud. Selon un rapport trimestriel du Gartner paru avant l’annonce du rachat de Red Hat, ce n’est pas gagné : le CA de la branche Technology Services & Cloud Platforms, soit 8,29 Md$ au dernier trimestre, n’évolue plus depuis l’année dernière. L’offre IBM Cloud n’héberge quant à elle que 2,6 % de la charge applicative mondiale – c’est-à-dire le nombre d’applications comptées en instances virtuelles et non le nombre d’applications différentes –, contre 41,5 % pour AWS, 29,4 % pour Microsoft Azure et 3 % pour Google Engine ; le Cloud d’Alibaba n’est pas comptabilisé dans le document que nous avons consulté, mais les spécialistes se multiplient pour souligner sa montée en puissance. IBM DOIT PROUVER QU’IL PEUT FACILITER LA MIGRATION DES APPLICATIONS EN CLOUD, ALORS QUE SES PROPRES SOLUTIONS COMPLEXIFIENT PARTICULIÈREMENT CETTE TÂCHE. Abolir la dépendance technologique Pour les entreprises, l’enjeu est plutôt de se sortir des technologies propriétaires qui les empêchent de faire héberger leurs applications par qui bon leur semble. Avoir la liberté de déplacer rapidement leurs ressources IT entre des datacenters locaux ou des Clouds, qu’ils soient privés comme publics, leur offrirait l’avantage de mieux répondre à de nouvelles stratégies financières, de réagir au plus vite face à un événement économique, voire de profiter de la bande passante du cloud sur les nouvelles interfaces publiques tout en respectant les réglementations avec des données critiques cantonnées aux datacenter privés. Seulement voilà : passer d’un hébergeur à l’autre nécessite encore aujourd’hui des adaptations qui peuvent durer des mois, si ce n’est des années. Et l’essentiel des déploiements en Cloud est pour l’heure constitué de nouvelles applications spécifiquement conçues pour l’infrastructure de l’hébergeur cible. Il n’y a aucune agilité. Dans un tel contexte, OpenShift tombe à point nommé. Cette solution de Red Hat permet d’exécuter les applications depuis des containers, à savoir des ressources virtuelles dépourvues d’OS qui peuvent indifféremment fonctionner sur site, dans des serveurs propriétaires, ou en ligne, sur n’importe quel Cloud public ou privé. « Grâce aux containers, nous concrétisons le Cloud hybride pour les banques, pour les compagnies aériennes, pour le secteur public. Nous leur permettons de mixer leurs applications historiques avec les services dernier cri du Cloud, comme l’IoT ou le Machine Learning, sans les obliger à choisir entre rester dans leur datacenter et ou tout recommencer dans un Cloud public », avait ainsi déclaré Arvind Krishna, en charge du Cloud hybride chez IBM, lors du Red Hat Summit. « Cette hybridation entre tous les environnements est la clé pour que les entreprises réussissent leur transformation digitale », avait enchéri Paul Cornier, le patron des produits et des technologies chez Red Hat. Un simple partenariat n’était pas suffisant Seulement voilà. Le rapprochement technique et commercial autour d’OpenShift n’a manifestement pas suffit à IBM pour s’assurer la confiance de ses clients et certainement que ceux-ci attendaient du constructeur qu’il s’implique un peu plus pour les garder. Pour le comprendre, il faut savoir que, parmi les sociétés de services qui proposent aux entreprises de les accompagner dans le Cloud (Accentue, Atos…), IBM a une problématique supplémentaire à résoudre : les applications de ses plus gros clients ont le défaut d’avoir été conçues pour s’exécuter sur des infrastructures IBM encore plus difficiles à migrer que le reste : des mainframes, des serveurs Power, qui exécutent les environnements applicatifs d’IBM, WebSphere, DB2, MQ. Ces applications sont par ailleurs des outils métier sur lesquels reposent des activités critiques dans les banques, chez les assureurs, chez les compagnies de transport, dans les chaînes de distribution. Du fait de cette criticité, leur réécriture complète pour les adapter à tel ou tel Cloud est plus risquée, particulièrement coûteuse et crispe les entreprises. Cependant, les clients d’IBM ont le même enjeu de transformation digitale que les autres. Gartner en donne le rythme : à la fin 2016, 60,9 % des applications s’exécutaient encore depuis un datacenter. Un an plus tard, ce taux était tombé à 46,2 %. À l’heure où nous écrivons ces lignes, nous n’avons pas encore les chiffres de 2018, mais le Gartner estime que les entreprises espèrent en moyenne pouvoir migrer 20 % de leurs applications existantes en Cloud pour réussir leur transformation. Jusqu’ici, la seule solution proposée par IBM était de migrer les applications issues de ses technologies dans son propre Cloud, SoftLayer. Cette absence de choix pose un problème économique tel que les entreprises pourraient prendre le risque de réécrire leurs applications en les débarrassant des technologies IBM, afin d’avoir la liberté de les placer sur le Cloud le moins cher. En somme, il suffirait que les clients d’IBM abandonnent ses solutions pour que tout le château de cartes s’écroule. À moins que le fournisseur puisse les garder en leur simplifiant enfin la migration vers n’importe quel Cloud. Mais compter sur un Red Hat indépendant pour l’épauler dans cette tâche était sans doute courir un trop grand risque, d’autant que celui-ci est susceptible de travailler aussi avec d’autres acteurs du service. À la place, racheter l’éditeur au chapeau rouge pour 34 milliards de dollars ne revient finalement qu’à investir moins que ce que rapporteraient les 8 % de part d’IBM sur un marché annuel à 1 000 Md$. VIRGINIA ROMETTY, CEO D’IBM, PROMET QUE L’HÉRITAGE ET LA NEUTRALITÉ DE RED HAT SERONT MAINTENUS. À VOIR… Des applications monolithiques dans des containers De son côté, Red Hat n’est pas seulement le deuxième plus gros contributeur de code Linux au monde après Intel. L’éditeur a su habilement jouer les seconds couteaux dans plusieurs domaines stratégiques : citons le développement d’applications métier avec JBoss, qui revient moins cher aux e-commerçants de taille moyenne que les environnements Java des poids lourds Oracle et IBM, ainsi que la virtualisation, où son offre basée sur des technologies open source (KVM, OpenStack, Kubernetes…) s’attire les faveurs des entreprises technologiques (des opérateurs comme Orange, des industriels comme Airbus, des éditeurs de logiciels comme Amadeus…) alors que VMware s’accapare le gros du marché. Mais c’est surtout avec OpenShift que Red Hat marque les esprits. Ce logiciel, destiné à industrialiser la mise en production des applications (provision de ressources virtuelles, installation des OS et des bibliothèques fonctionnelles, configuration des liens réseaux, lancement de l’applicatif, tests, etc.) n’a initialement que la vocation d’éviter les erreurs humaines et de raccourcir les délais. Il apporte cependant une exclusivité technologique dès mai 2017 lorsqu’il s’étend aux containers : il est le premier à donner aux logiciels métier historiques, écrits traditionnellement de manière monolithique avec des couches Java et une base SQL, la capacité de s’exécuter tels quels par-dessus n’importe quelle infrastructure, alors que cela ne fonctionnait jusqu’à présent qu’avec les microservices. Jusque-là en effet, les containers ne contenaient des codes fonctionnels autonomes – des microservices – et c’est leur assemblage qui faisait l’application. L’idée sous-jacente des containers est de permettre aux développeurs de ne dé-commissioner et redéployer que les ressources virtuelles concernées par des mises à jour, ce qui simplifie la tâche, accélère la mise en production et fait de ces développeurs les opérateurs-mêmes de l’infrastructure – des DevOps. Problème, il restait à découper les applications en microservices, ce qui suppose un effort d’ingénierie difficile à surmonter pour nombre d’entreprises. Grâce à OpenShift, toute la pile applicative peut se trouver dans un seul container, quitte à ce que les informaticiens restent en poste pour se charger des déploiements. « Beaucoup de nos clients n’étaient pas prêts pour ré-architecturer leurs applications sous la forme de microservices. Cela dépasse la question technique, il faut aussi travailler sur la réorganisation des équipes, ce qui n’est pas simple », nous avait alors expliqué Hervé Lemaître, le CTO français de Red Hat. « Avec OCP 3.5, qui exécute les applications traditionnelles en containers comme si elles tournaient en machines virtuelles, nous faisons sauter cette barrière et donnons ainsi aux entreprises une solution plus légère et plus moderne que la pile de virtualisation classique pour produire des applications qui s’exécutent dans le Cloud. » JIM WHITEHURST, ACTUEL CEO DE RED HAT. L'intérêt d’OpenShift : éliminer la complexité et les risques En pratique, OpenShift – en version Container Platform – construit de manière automatique les clusters de containers, chacun n’ayant qu’une copie de l’application, par-dessus sa propre pile système – composée du Linux Red Hat RHEL, du moteur Docker, de l’orchestrateur Kubernetes, du serveur applicatif Red Hat Jboss… –, puis adapte à la volée cette pile à l’infrastructure sous-jacente. Les entreprises n’ont dès lors plus qu’à provisionner des VM OpenShift, là sur un datacenter VMware, là sur AWS, ou là sur Azure, pour multiplier rapidement et facilement les instances de leurs applications selon leurs pics d’activité, leurs besoins géographiques ou leurs contraintes réglementaires. Sans cette solution, il n’est ni facile, ni rapide de déployer sur une autre infrastructure une application conçue pour un serveur physique ou virtuel. Cela demande de réinstaller entièrement l’application et sa couche système dans une nouvelle VM, puis de tester à chaque fois ses performances et sa compatibilité. Ces manipulations prennent du temps et présentent le risque d’introduire des erreurs. OpenShift Container Platform a connu une nouvelle évolution cette année avec l’intégration des technologies de CoreOS, racheté en janvier dernier. Elle adresse nombre de risques que les entreprises doivent habituellement résoudre lorsqu’elles migrent en Cloud. On y trouve notamment la couche Automated Operations (alias Tectonic) pour mettre à jour automatiquement les OS qui exécutent des containers sur chaque nœud d’un cluster, ainsi que Quay, un registe qui catalogue les containers, sait se dupliquer automatiquement sur toutes les copies du cluster situées dans d’autres Cloud, dispose d’un scanner de logiciels malveillants et intègre même un système de sauvegarde temporel qui permet de revenir à un état précédent des containers. La somme de toutes ces fonctions dans OpenShift est une panacée pour un acteur comme IBM qui souhaite vendre du service autour de la migration des applications monolitiques en Cloud. D’autant plus lorsque Red Hat annonce à la mi-2018 avoir validé que cette migration était faisable depuis les applications écrites et exploitées sur les technologies de ce même IBM. Quelles conséquences pour Red Hat ? Ce rachat va permettre à certains produits de Red Hat d’être enfin vendus par les commerciaux d’IBM qui ont leurs entrées aux comités exécutifs des plus grands groupes. Ce qui résout la problématique soulevée jusqu’ici par de nombreux spécialistes qui estimaient que Red Hat, seul, aurait beaucoup de mal à franchir le plafond de verre de sa clientèle très technologique. Romain Danielou, en charge des ventes et des alliances stratégiques au niveau monde chez Devoteam, nous confiait ainsi en mai dernier que « L’achat d’OpenShift se justifie à partir du moment où une entreprise a au moins 300 VM. La clientèle visée est donc celle des très grands comptes, où les technologies sont achetées par les directions générales pour servir une stratégie produits. Red Hat a donc l’enjeu de communiquer sur les bénéfices métier et non plus sur son excellence technique. » Mais pour le reste ? Selon Virginia Rometty, la PDG d’IBM, l’héritage et la neutralité de Red Hat seront maintenus en matière d’open source. Récemment interviewé par Techtarget, l’analyste d’IDC Al Gillen prédit néanmoins des coupes franches dans les équipes qui feront doublon après la fusion. Du côté d’IBM, Cloud Foundry, un produit concurrent d’OpenShift et dans lequel le fournisseur avait investi des ressources humaines il y a quelques années, devrait logiquement disparaître du catalogue. Du côté de Red Hat, la question reste posée pour les activités liées au Java : non seulement le serveur applicatif JBoss de Red Hat entre en concurrence frontale avec WebSphere d’IBM, mais les deux acteurs se retrouvent également avec deux équipes jusqu’ici concurrentes dans la mise au point du Java EE auprès du consortium JCP. ❍

Yves Pellemans's insight:

Red Hat détient OpenShift, la clé qui doit permettre à IBM de maintenir, voire dépasser ses 8 % de part sur un marché du service cloud qui  représentera en 2019 « mille milliards de dollars ».

[masterqwertster]

Just over here thinking about soul bloom AU and Ashton waking up covered in sunflowers

😭 Noooooooo😭

Sun's gone Down

Ashton wakes to their vision obscured by sunflowers.

When he gets his eyes cleared, he sees they are all covered in sunflowers from head to toe. He sees the crater. He knows what happened.

He wants to fucking scream and rage and bring this whole fucking tunnel down around them because that was his littlest soulmate that blew themself up because they thought that's what they were made for. Because they still thought their life was worth less than everyone else's.

Instead they sink into the ground, let themself flow and rotate and slide through the rock until they're standing upright at the edge of that fucking crater littered with twisted scraps of sunflower-yellow metal. They hadn't noticed before, but gliding through the earth doesn't knock their soul blooms loose. It's a shitty ass fucking consolation prize.

Ashton's eyes roam the wreckage, searching for–

There it is. That stupid fucking Changebringer coin.

He yanks it out of the fucking wall it's wedged in, acting like some fucking stupid sign that they have to keep fucking moving. Like they don't fucking already know that. They can't, won't let FCG have died in vain.

They're also not leaving any piece of FCG behind.

Everyone pitches in to gather up what's left of their soulmate. It's not a proper body, not a whole body, but fuck it. Surely there's some sort of resurrection magic that can make this fucking work. FCG managed to bring Chet back from death during the fight, so even if resurrection magics still aren't working on Exandria, they know where the backdoor between home and the fucking moon is. They can drag someone through to do the spell, bring FCG back.

It's not over. Ashton won't let it be over. Not yet.

On AO3

And I'm gonna stop there and let Taliesin really show us how fucked up Ashton is from loosing FCG and what they're going to do about it. But I will say I choose to believe Bells Hells will at least try to get someone to resurrect FCG. And the most likely candidate to get it done is the Reincarnate spell because it's way, way cheaper than True Resurrection (1,000 gp of rare oils and unguents and a piece of the body vs 25,000 gp of diamonds and a sprinkling of holy water), and thus more likely that allies or Bells Hells can/will bank roll/supply it, and Reincarnate is the only other res spell that doesn't require a full-ish body to work. Now Resurrection "closes all mortal wounds and restores any missing body parts" (and costs 1,000 gp of diamonds). But it isn't clear on how many missing body parts it will restore. Though given FCG is practically scrap metal, I'm gonna guess it's probably more than Resurrection will cover. So again, resurrection options for FCG are True Resurrection and Reincarnate. And Fearne can cast Reincarnate (5th Level spell, babee) as long as they get the components. Whether Sam will allow it to work is another question entirely, but a true blue Pinocchio Arc for FCG could be cool and fun and might convince him to let it happen. We, unfortunately, have to wait and find out.

#MQ&A #MQfic #MQ AU machine #soul bloom au #cr spoilers #fcg #ashton greymoore

[masterqwertster]

Okay, last little list here:

Bells Hells Legendary Pokémon

I already gave everyone a minimum of one Legendary in the original team post, so here's the list of all the Legendaries I think fit each member of Bells Hells (the Legendaries from the set teams will be included)

Chetney

Zacian- look, it's a wolf that's set to shank a bitch. Tell me that doesn't vibe with Chetney

Zeraora (Shiny)- kind of were-beast in shape. Shiny to match Chetney's own white fur

Kubfu/Urshifu (Single Strike Style)- more were-fuzzies for Chet. Single Strike Style because Chetney's the type to one-and-done it if he can

Okidogi- werewolf-ish Pokémon for Chet!

Orym

Shaymin- more friendly flowers for Orym, and the Sky Form is a little fighter like him

Virizion- grass blade Pokémon who protects others

Keldeo (Resolute form, Shiny)- it's a little sword guy (pony) like Orym. And shiny makes it green and Resolute Form because Orym knows what he wants

Kartana- a little blade guy for a little swordsman

Zacian- noble sword Pokémon for a noble little swordsman

Zamazenta- noble shield Pokémon for a protective little guy with a treasured shield

Fearne

Moltres- a burning phoenix Pokémon that Fearne worries will take on the Galarian Form that her Bad Future Self had

Entei- fluffy fire dog Pokémon

Celebi- little onion fairy and that travels through time for a fey that lived in wonky time

Cresselia- Fearne is lightly Ruidusborn and this is a gentler moon Pokémon

Reshiram- fiery semi-wolf Pokémon for our fire faun

Xerneas- it's a Fairy-type, deer are kind of close to goats, and Xerneas has a minor moon motif

Zarude- grass monkey for the druid with a monkey

Munkidori- another monkey to mother for Fearne

Imogen

Spectrier- Legendary horse that comes in Imogen's two colors: purple and red

Raikou- it's a thunderstorm Pokémon for a gal who claims she is the storm

Deoxys- an alien Pokémon for a girl connected to alien moon people

Cresselia (Shiny)- Imogen gets moon Pokémon. Shiny for purple coloration

Thundurus (Shiny)- another lightning Pokémon for our electric sorceress. Shiny for purple coloration

Keldeo (Ordinary Form)- little unicorn for the horse girl

Lunala (Shiny)- literal red moon Pokémon when shiny

Regieleki- more eletrical Pokémon for Imogen

Glastrier- another horse Pokémon for the horse girl

Laudna

Marshadow- it's shadow theme matches Laudna's Shadow Sorcerery. And Laudna does spend time trying to copy the Ladies of Whitestone…

Giratina- considering Delilah took her soul to a reverse/shadow realm, and that's the kind of place Giratina is from, it seems a good fit

Darkrai- a nightmare Pokémon for a woman who loves nightmares

Yveltal- a Pokémon that absorbs life essences, much like Hunger of the Shadows does the same for Laudna and Delilah

Calyrex- because it's the Pokémon that can bring Glastrier and Spectrier under control, much like how Laudna is a great deal of Imogen's control

FCG

Magearna- a man-made clockwork Legendary for the Aeormaton

Genesect- it's ancient and modified by people to be a killing machine, just like FCG

Miraidon- robot-like Legendary for the robit

Ashton

Cosmog- suddenly appeared after Ashton got galaxy-brained because it's a little galaxy guy from another (higher?) dimension. It's Ashton's innocent baby who doesn't know how to stay in the damn pokéball and not reveal his soft side

Regigigas- this is the big titan Pokémon, hauling continents and shit. Not to mention that the Slow Start ability reflects how Ashton had a titan shard for twenty years before they really got it to do anything spectacular

Regirock- if Ashton gets one Regi, it's Regigigas for titan shit. But Regirock is definitely Earth Elemental vibes and so also goes to Ashton

Dialga- one of Ashton's dunamancy domains is time and this is a Pokémon lord of time

Palkia- one of Ashton's dunamancy domains it space and this is a Pokémon lord of space

Terrakion (Shiny)- it's tough and it doesn't like bullies, sounds pretty Ashton to me. Shiny because I think Ashton would like the pop of the shiny palette

Zygarde- Ashton is sort of split into a million pieces by the half-beacon brain, and Zygarde's 100% Form is kind of titan-ish

Diancie- another crystal and rock Pokémon. Also goes a little bit with the Empress of Earth vibes, or rather the Empress's heir

Hoopa- a Pokémon that switches between a Confined and Unbound Form, kind of like Ashton's normal and demi-titan modes. And it messes around with space like Ashton. Also, normal genasi are sometimes/often sired by elemental genies and this Pokémon is based on genies

Koraidon- ancient earth splitter for the earth titan's blood (also mirrors FCG having Miraidon)

#yeah. I know there's a lot of variance in how many Legendaries everyone gets #that's the way the cookie crumbles when you're pulling from a very limited pool #MQ AU machine #bells hells pokemon au #cr spoilers #bells hells #chetney pock o'pea #orym of the air ashari #fearne calloway #imogen temult #laudna #fcg #ashton greymoore

[masterqwertster]

Okay, since my Bells Hells Pokémon Teams were more popular than I expected:

More Bells Hells Pokémon

Pokémon that didn't make the six slot team cut (or possibly didn't occur to me at the time. There's 1,000+ Pokémon now, so it's harder to remember them all) but I think makes sense for Bells Hells to have. Except Legendaries. That will be a different post.

Chetney

Cubchoo/Beartic- another that Chet would have picked up in the Icelost years, or maybe up near Uthodurn. Cubchoo was a cute little kid Chet took in, and Beartic is kind of werewolf-shaped for a bear

Seedot/Nuzleaf/Shiftry- tree Pokémon, need I say more? Might be shiny for that redder wood coloration

Delibird- for the Santa theme. Also, it can just cart around all the toys Chetney carves in its bag tail

Wyrdeer- more Chirstmas theme, but also just majestic old man vibes too

Drampa- old man vibes and it likes kids, so good for an old toymaker

Stufful- it's kind of a toy. I mean, the Pokémon Go version has a tag on its butt

Bonsly/Sudowoodo- thought it was a tree, was disappointed to find out it was rock, but since it wasn't metal, Chetney decided to keep it

Poochyena/Mightyena- more wolf Pokémon

Orym

Falinks (Shiny)- little soldier guys for the little soldier man. Shiny for less gold, more down to earth colors

Rufflet/Braviary- tough bird Pokémon for a tough little Air Ashari. Might be a Hisuian Braviary if Orym's deal with Nana Morri makes him a warlock

Deerling/Sawsbuck (Spring Form) OR Cherubi/Cherrim- for the cherry blossom aesthetic of Zephrah

Petilil/Liligant (Hisuian)- for the dancing fighter from druid town vibes

Pawniard/Bisharp- more soldier vibes. Does not evolve up to Kingambit unless Orym finally feels like a leader instead of a soldier

Treeko/Grovyle/Sceptile- guys with grass blades and Treeko's a little climber too

Shieldon/Bastiodon- shield Pokémon for our boy with a shield

Buneary/Lopunny- bouncing bunnies for a man who bounces and feels he'd be a were-bunny if he got to choose a were-critter

Fearne

Growlithe/Arcanine- fluffy fire "wolves." All things Fearne loves

Purrloin/Liepard- thieving cats for our thieving faun

Klefki- a Fairy-type that's a bit of a collector, just like Fearne, if more focused than her

Chimchar/Monferno/Infernape- more fire monkeys for Fearne

Pansear/Simisear (Shiny)- more fire monkeys for Fearne. Shiny for Pansear's orange coloration

Sprigatito/Floragato/Meowscrada- tricky grass cats with some fluff

Shroomish/Breloom- for her disregard for the danger of mushrooms and because they're cute

Teddiursa/Ursaring/Ursaluna (Shiny)- Teddiursais small cute and fluffy, and up at Ursaluna there's a moon connection for being lightly Ruidusborn. Shiny for the moss-covered look of Teddiursa and Ursaring. Also Sweet Pea reference?

Budew/Roselia/Roserade- more pretty, poisonous flowers

Salazzle- hot fire mama Pokémon for a hot fire druid with a baby boy/fire monkey

Imogen

Ponyta/Rapidash- more horses for Imogen. Also, Kantonian Rapidash looks better than Galarian (in my opinion)

Raichu (Alolan)- Psychic and Electric-type, need I say more?

Espurr/Meowstic (Female, Shiny)- a Pokémon with psychic control issues as Espurr and a ruthless streak as Meowstic. Shiny for a more pinkish Espurr and yellow-scarfed Meowstic

Cleffa/Clefairy/Clefable- moon Pokémon with psychic powers

Lunatone- more psychic moon Pokémon

Mareep/Flaffy/Ampharos- more Electric-types for Imogen, and also sort of farm-related to reflect her roots

Munna/Munsharna- psychic dream Pokémon with a better aesthetic for Imogen than Drowzee/Hypno

Psyduck- psychic headaches, just like Imogen

Gothita/Gothorita/Gothitelle- another Psychic-type, except this one's aesthetic reminds Imogen of Laudna

Laudna

Zorua/Zoroak (Hisuian)- ghostly Pokémon of the north, fitting for a ghost of Whitestone. Also the cuddliness of Zorua calls to Laudna

Froslass- more northern ice ghosts. And a little witchy too

Vullaby/Mandibuzz- wears bones and Mandibuzz takes care of little vullaby babies/kids

Cubone/Marowak (Alolan)- Cubone mourn their lost mother, like Laudna (maybe?) misses hers. And set it on fire as Marowak for the Fireball spell. Also, bone Pokémon

Sinistea/Polteageist OR Polchageist/Sinistcha- Sinistea line definitely has that Ladies of Whitestone vibe, but Polchageist has the fix-it folklore. Definitely lean more toward Sinsitea line though

Joltik/Galvantula- spiders for Mis Creepy and a little Shocking Grasp electricity

Spinarak/Ariados- more creepy spiders

Phantump/Trevenant (Shiny)- for the tree-like Form of Dread. Shiny for pale wood and red leaves which are Laudna colors

Paras/Parasect- for the mindcontrol by something parasitizing off of them mushrooms, much like how Delilah parasitizes her

Greavard/Houndstone- ghost doggo!

Absol- a "hound" of ill omen, it probably warns Laudna to skip town before the mobs come

FCG

Rotom- ghost in the machine for a soul in a machine. Also, can you imagine it possessing FCG's oven? And the pun for Mow Rotom

Raltz/Kirlia/Gardevoir (Shiny)- empath Pokémon with psychic powers who dislikes conflict. Shiny to match FCG's coat being blue

Klink/Klang/Klinklang- gear Pokémon for the little machine boi

Audino- another Pokémon center helper and healer from the anime

Indeedee (Male)- another empath Pokémon

Bronzor- it's a coin! From the Changebringer!

Iron Valient- robot-like Gardevoir/Gallade mix for a robit that has a Gardevoir

Morpeko- it's cute and switches to a rage mode if it doesn't take care of itself (disregarding game mechanic of constant switch for flavor text of only when not properly fed)

Meltan- little metal buddies for the little metal boi

Ashton

Roggenrola/Boldore/Gigalith- rocks and crystals Pokémon for the rocks and crystals boi

Grotle/Torterra- would receive as a child in Hishari. Turtwig being a Grass-type is a nod to the druidic leanings of Hishari, while Torterra's "tortise with the world on its back" leans a bit more titans as rulers/guardians/makers of the world

Nacli/Naclstack/Garganacl (Shiny)- salty, as Ashton's attitude is sometimes. Also very sandstone strata in looks as a shiny

Sableye- attracted to Ashton's crystal hair and they just never could get rid of it. At least it's good for helping with stealing stuff

Obstagoon- it's one of the punk-est Pokémon aesthetically

Gible/Gabite/Garchomp- bitey dragon landshark, especially now that Ashton can Earth Glide

Great Tusk- ancient, a little earthy, and the predecessor to rolling wheel Pokémon Donphan, which is probably a not unpopular Pokémon in Bassuras

Rhyhorn/Rhydon/Rhyperior- mostly for Rhyhorn's "keep charging forward" attitude that Ashton tries to do emotionally

Deino/Zweilous/Hydreigon (Shiny)- another angry rampager Pokémon. Shiny so it's green like Ashton

#MQ AU machine #bells hells pokemon au #cr spoilers #bells hells #chetney pock o'pea #orym of the air ashari #fearne calloway #imogen temult #laudna #fcg #ashton greymoore

[masterqwertster]

For the AU game: how about, the earth shard gives Ashton the ability to fuse with members of the Hells into one superpowered being, like with fusion in Steven Universe? The 'wrong way to multiclass' AU

An interesting idea!

I'll admit, I never really watched Steven Universe (or got into Dragon Ball Whatever-Era-Introduced-Fusion-Ha!), but it's thankfully an easy enough idea to follow.

Anyways:

Wrong Way to Multiclass AU

Fusing with Laudna gets weird because Delilah is there too. And honestly, it kind of freaks Delilah out a little bit because she's pretty sure a barely creative use of that ability could allow the definitely-not-a-genasi-because-they-can't-do-this-shit to separate her from Laudna by taking her into themself, then unfuse her from themself, then have the little cleric robit (or some other holy person) exorcise her vulnerable spirit, thus severing her last tether to the living world. Also, the Laudna-Ashton fusion is able to draw on Delilah's spells because she is technically part of that mess (super wild wizard-warlock-sorcerer-barbarian multiclass)

Even when fusing with the small folk of Bells Hells, the new form doesn't lose any of Ashton's height because titan enormity overrules their shortness. Also, while on the subject of titan=enormous, all Fearne-Ashton Wild Shape forms are super-sized specimens

Bells Hells probably notices Ashton's self-worth issues sooner thanks to the FCG-Ashton fusion being way too self-depreciating and eager to please for that to belong to just one or the other

The Imogen-Ashton fusion is pretty ruthless (see Imogen and Ashton's thoughts on an appropriate approach to Dancer in ep70). Anyone who threatens Bells Hells is in for it when faced with this fusion

Chetney is probably the most eager to participate in the fusions because he gets to feel young again and stronger than ever. Chet-Ash is definitely the fusion with the most raw physical strength

Send me a potential AU and I’ll tell you five fun facts that would happen in a story.

#MQ&A #MQ AU machine #wrong way to multiclass au #ashton greymoore #bells hells

[masterqwertster]

Been thinking about it, so:

Bells Hells C1 Class Swap AU and the Spark of Rau'shan

The fun of AUs is at times taking the paths canon didn't...

Also this is really long so I put it under the cut.

So! Bells Hells still makes the trip through the Shattered Teeth, meets Evontra'vir, gets sent after the Spark, successfully retrieves it, goes back to Whitestone for the Quintessence Array.

Things go a little different in that when talking dunamancy with Allura, she does recognize the Echo Knight powers as such, though obviously different since Ashton's come in different forms. And still takes a look at the half-beacon brain and titan shard.

The big change though, comes later that night, when Fearne brings the group together to declare that she can't take the Spark, despite everyone else pushing for her to do it.

See, Fearne's power, her fire, comes from the Moonweaver in this AU, a Prime Deity who stood against the Primordial Titans, helping destroy and seal them. When Fearne held the Spark, she could feel Rau'shan's dislike for the gods, for those who serve them. So she knows the Spark won't accept her as its vessel.

Fearne also points out that this disqualifies Orym for the Spark as well, seeing as the little paladin is also devoted to a goddess.

Ashton volunteers themself in the ensuing silence of realization and states an unwillingness to back down unless someone else truly wants to have their life changed like that. No volunteering someone else for it anymore. He also points out that someone has to take it, otherwise Ludinus Da'leth is going to send someone to collect it for him, and that would be really fucking bad.

Imogen, as the first person to volunteer Fearne, thinking she had the perfect solution to bestowing the Spark, looks around to everyone else, hoping someone will step up and stop Ashton's bad idea.

No dice.

Chetney thinks Fire Titan powers would be cool as shit... but doesn't want to be constantly risking burning his carving projects to ash. ...And secretly worries that his limited time left among the living would leave the group in lurch on such an amazing (and likely necessary) power. If trying to take it doesn't make his old ticker give out.

Laudna won't take it on the grounds that she's kind of a mushroom colony and fire would burn her out. She doesn't want to burn, to die (again). (Yes, Delilah would still like it. Especially as All Minds Burn's influence is pushing her out and breaking her tether)

Laudna's rejection helps Imogen not want the Spark. She doesn't want things that will hurt Laudna or put distance between them. (Even if Imogen is starting to long for a power she doesn't have to worry about disappearing if they stop all this Moon Bullshit)

And while FCG is willing to try, they don't actually want it. ...And he has some concerns about his constructed nature meaning that trying to add a great power like the Spark to him without making adjustments to his built-in parameters might just overload his power-core and explode him. Or cause a critical (literal) meltdown.

So by default and desire, it's agreed that Ashton gets the Spark.

Now, because they have lots of warnings that this could kill Ashton and yet they're trying it anyways, things become a planning session for "What can we do to give Ashton the best odds of surviving this?"

Which is actually quite a bit given their party composition, as:

Paladin (Level 8 or less) Orym has:

Bless: 1st Level. 1 minute Concentration. Component of A Sprinkling of Holy Water. +1d4 to Attack Rolls and Saving Throws. I would guess they didn't try this in canon since Ashton's Probability Matrix didn't help and is basically the same thing. Though whether that failure was because it was Ashton's thing or just no boosts to Saving Throws in general… only Matt knows. Also, the Component being holy water... it might evaporate and negate the spell depending on if the holy water needs to touch the targets rather than be in the caster's hands

Cure Wounds: 1st Level. Restore 1d8+Your Spellcasting Modifier HP, +1d8 per level cast above 1st. Raw healing with the drawback of burning the caster

Heroism: 1st Level. 1 minute Concentration. At the start of its turn, the target gains Temporary HP equal to your Spellcasting Modifier. Kind of functions like Fearne's canon Aura of Life in that it would bounce Ashton up with each turn, though with Temp HP instead of the real deal. But that does provide time for real healing

Warding Bond: 2nd Level. Components of 2 Platinum Rings worth 50 gp each that must be worn by you and the target for the duration. +1 to AC and Saving Throws, and Resistance to all Damage. Drawback of taking equal damage yourself when the target does. Lasts for 1 hour, until you drop, or you and the target are separated by more than 60 feet. Or the spell is cast again on you or the target, or voluntarily ended by you as an Action. This could definitely help keep Ashton up, though there is a risk of Orym going down as well. And the Platinum Ring Components get tricky if the wrong arm/hand crumbles off of Ashton

Lay on Hands: Paladin healing pool of 5×Your Paladin Level HP that can be parceled out via touch with an Action. This can be used to either help keep Orym up for Warding Bond or just on Ashton in general. Though best not combined with Heroism or Bless since they're touch-based and touch burns, forcing a Concentration Check

Cleric (Level 11) Fearne has:

Aura of Life: 4th level. 10 minutes Concentration. Any ally in 30 foot radius regains 1 HP at the start of their turn if they are at 0. Fearne's canon MVP for keeping Ashton up

Aura of Vitality: 3rd Level. 1 minute Concentration. Restore 2d6 HP to one creature in a 30 foot radius of you with a Bonus Action. FCG's canon MVP for pumping extra health into Ashton. Also, since it's a Bonus Action to pump healing with this, it leaves room for a Spell Action to do even more healing

Beacon of Hope: 3rd Level. 1 minute Concentration. Affected creatures regain max HP possible from healing. Runs support for everyone else healing if Heroism is used to cover the role of Aura of Life

Bless: Possible boost to Saving Throws

Cure Wounds: Raw healing with the drawback of burning the caster

Death Ward: 4th Level. Drop to 1 HP instead of 0 from Damage the first time. Negates instant death effects that don't deal Damage. One Get Out of Jail Free card, though less useful with an Up Every Turn spell going on

Heal: 6th Level. Restore 70 HP. Good for one big burst of healing.

Healing Word: 1st Level. Bonus Action. Restore 1d4+Your Spellcasting Modifier HP, +1d4 per level cast above 1st. Raw healing without touch, so no threat to maintaining Concentration while throwing on more healing, but doesn't jive with Aura of Vitality Bonus Action healing

Druid (Level 11) Laudna has:

Aura of Vitality: Bonus Action for decent healing as long as Concentration is maintained

Cure Wounds: Raw healing with the drawback of burning the caster

Goodberry?: 1st Level. Component of A Sprig of Mistletoe. Produces 10 berries, eating one restores 1 HP and enough nourishment for 1 day. I think the berry would burn like the potion did, but it is potential to pop Ashton back up.

Heal: Good for one big burst of healing

Healing Word: Raw healing without touch, so no threat to Concentration, but is also a Bonus Action vs Aura of Vitality

Ranger (Level 8 or less) Imogen has:

Cure Wounds: Raw healing with the drawback of burning the caster

Goodberry?: potential to restore 1 HP in a pinch

Bard (Level 7 or 8)/Artificer (Level 3 or 4) FCG has:

Cure Wounds: Raw healing with the drawback of burning the caster

Healing Word: Raw healing without touch

Heroism: Temporary HP to bounce Ashton up every round

Boldness Elixir?: Alchemist Artificer's get Experimental Elixir, which allows for the random creation of one of six mini-potions. Boldness works like Bless, plus 1d4 to Attack Rolls and Saving Throws for 1 minute. Best to take that before they start absorbing the Spark, otherwise evaporation. If it works at all

Honestly, the only ones who can't contribute any healing or help? Ashton and Chetney (which also says something about the healing game of Vox Machina. It's likely part of how they managed so well without their cleric Pike most of the time). So really, having Ashton or Chetney take the Spark gives them the best odds for keeping the absorber up.

Bells Hells meets with Percy and Allura the next day and declare their intent for the insane and a need to delay the Moon Scouting Mission for another day. So hey, you've got more prep time for these awesome plans you've come up with!

It's stupid and crazy... and the only option they've really got at this time, unfortunately. And well... Percy and Allura have seen crazy and stupid work, so might as well let them try. While hoping for the best and preparing for the worst.

Percy takes them all down to the Ziggurat as both a place of power to help the ritual and somewhere mostly isolated to keep the damage away from his people and city. Allura throws up the Magic Shield Bubble.

Bells Hells readies their spells, throws down what they can beforehand, and get Ashton hooked up in the Quintessence Array (in their skivvies to spare what's left of their clothes after the lava bath).

The ritual begins, with Ashton expanding and breaking and burning like canon.

Except when they fail a Save and explode, Ashton tries to Echo out of the explosion. Though instead of creating a single Echo to uselessly swap places with, Ashton accidentally splits themself into three bodies, three vessels, for the powers he contains:

A burning efreeti-like fire genasi Ashton, Vessel of the Spark of Rau'shan. Basically what Ashton would be like if he were still soft with canon!Fearne's Demi-titan style and a general fire genasi aesthetic layered over it.

A hulking, more Elemental earth genasi Ashton, Vessel of the Shard of Ka'Mort. Ashton's canon Demi-titan Form. Maybe a little bigger and more jagged. Also, the glass in their head is dark, no firework lights, though still an opal brain under there.

And a galaxy-winged aasimar Ashton, Vessel of Dunamancy. Basically what Ashton would have been without the Shard of Ka'Mort but still influenced by his half-beacon brain. Also, the gold scars and glass are still there, which looks odd on "human" flesh, but does help Bells Hells know that these are all Ashton.

The three Ashton Vessels are also connected by tethers of power, similar in appearance to a Twinned Witch Bolt, though with dunamantic flavoring as the Dunamancy Ashton is putting them out to the Titan Twins.

It is not, however, a Witch Bolt, but rather Ashton's will keeping the two Titan Fragments from running wild and attacking and/or exploding while also trying to draw them all back together into one being. But the Fragments have a bit of will of their own that latched on to similar sentiments in Ashton and are resisting him. Duna-Ashton is holding the Titan Vessels still for now, but that's not going to last and they still have to finish the absorption process/ritual.

So Bells Hells (who loaded up healing and support spells) has to protect Duna-Ashton from the Titan Vessels for the remainder of the minute (might be most of the minute, might be only a few Rounds) or the Titan Vessels will break free and try to escape the Magic Shield Bubble to go out into the world to instigate the Elemental Chaos that the titans ruled over before. Keeping Duna-Ashton up isn't easy as the Titan Vessels are pretty strong and HP heavy while Duna-Ashton does sort of try to fight and protect Bells Hells too while not being super buff. On the plus side, there's no range on the Will Tethers and there's a chance each Round that Duna-Ashton can Stun one or both of the Titan Vessels (I'm thinking WIS Save for the Vessels or Contested WIS Checks, Disadvantage for the Titan Vessel if Duna-Ashton is focused on only stilling one of them instead of both).

Eventually the absorption ritual ends and out of an immense cloud of steam emerges Ashton's new volcano Demi-titan Form (no rejection this time as there's no one else to really take it anyways). Basically his canon Demi-titan Form except that the jade is darkened and the amethyst turned to citrine as pointed out could happen with all that heat in this cool post, with lava fissures across them and the gold glowing hot. Also maybe bump the height up another foot or two for the colossus of two Titan Fragments.

Nobody can believe that fucking worked. What the hell have they just helped bring into existence?

Anyways, once Allura is reassured that Ashton isn't about to explode again to much more disastrous effect, she brings the Magic Shield Bubble down so Ashton and Bells Hells can go experiment with his new form a bit on the backside of the Ziggurat. (Ashton thinks they could have forced their way out of the bubble if they had to, but that would have been bad and dangerous) Mostly it's playing with Earth Glide and a few really basic fire spells as taught by Professor Fearne Calloway with assistance from TA Laudna. Ashton even pops off an Echo of his new form, which is just as capable of moving through earth as him (he doesn't mention bringing out the Echo felt like he might split into pieces again. He's sure that'll go away with time, right?).

Eventually, the Demi-titan Form ends, reverting Ashton back to his normal form, including coloring, with volcanic replacements for anything that broke off with still glowing lava veins and maybe a few random citrine crystals among the amethyst of their hair, or a citrine streak or undercut could be cool too. And hot sunny day beating down on a rock heat from his skin.`

Exhausted but generally satisfied with the outcome, Bells Hells totters off for bed.

But that night, either the Moonweaver or Nana Morri contacts Fearne and beckons her to return to Ligament Manor to receive the power of her heritage, just as her friend has.

So Fearne brings it up the next morning, setting off a debate of More Power vs Do the Mission. Which ends in her favor because Nana Morri can fuck with time so they don't loose any and might actually gain some (104 years from Fearne's perspective vs 6 years from her parents' perspective. Fearne is 112, Ollie thought she was 14 when reunited, 14-6=8 years with her parents, 112-8= 104 years with Nana), Laudna would like more time to get into her All Minds Burn shit, and Ashton fesses up about their Echo ability feeling unstable while hoping a bit more time will let everything settle right. Also, it's a training opportunity in general. Time to heal, time to focus, time to ponder and think. A moment to fucking breathe that they haven't really had since Bassuras the first time around.

Allura agrees to cart them to and from the Fey Realm (and gather information on an Archfey for the Arcana Pansophical on the side) given time shouldn't be an issue of more than one more day's worth of delay (which isn't great, but hopefully shouldn't be catastrophic).

They arrive, Morri agrees to make the Manor their training/general retreat, and sends Fearne on her way to talk with Birdie.

So hey, Fearne's got the blood of a minor archfey/fey lord in her veins. Plus she was raised by an Archfey. That has to count for something, right? I'm thinking either Fearne gets some fey or Bearer of the Lightless Flame('s kid) type of personal upgrade, or Birdie stole something powerful from Zathuda (besides the Moontide Crown that Ira still has) or Morri has a weapon/tool that Fearne is now ready for that requires some fraction of inherited power/ability from one like Zathuda.

(Honestly, I would have loved for Fearne to get cool fey stuff for her upgrades, really explore that background, and let Ashton keep all the titan stuff that fits into their background in canon. So I'm doing it here)

Nana helps Orym set up some cool (likely quite dangerous because it's Nana Morri) training stuff for Bells Hells. Probably with a focus on stealth and teamwork given the mission ahead of them where they will be sneaking and relying on each other more than ever.

Chetney makes his deal with Morri.

Ashton's shit does settle down in the couple of days Bells Hells takes there (it's only a few hours in Exandria since 104:6=17.3:1). Though there's probably some close calls at first, maybe even an Ashton Vessels rematch. His Echo patterns are slightly different now. There's (Perfect Copy) Volcano Genasi with Swords, (Mirrored Damage) Earth Genasi with Hammer, (No Damage) Fire Genasi with Pistols, and (Same Damage) Hishari Aasimar with Spear/Glaive. And the Demi-titan Form Echoes are Volcano Titan, Earth Titan, Fire Titan, and Lava Titan. Difference between Volcano and Lava is: Volcano is solid rock with lava veins, Lava is all liquid rock and goopy.

Laudna... might have trouble with connecting to All Minds Burn? Cross-dimensional communication can be tricky at the best of times. But if cut off from the hive, she does get to work on cultivating the psychic abilities it grants without a thousand other voices in her head by using her own strain of it.

Not entirely sure if Orym makes his deal here. Paladin is definitely less Just a Guy than Fighter, even if some of his levels are also in Inquisitive Rogue. On the other hand: Baby Dunamantic Volcano Titan, Baby Archfey of Fire, Exaltant Ruidusborn, Undead Member of a Psychic Fungal Hivemind, Old Man Werewolf, and Ancient Murderbot vs Halfling with a Little Faith Magic (Mostly Smite). Though I will say: Insightful Fighting's Sneak Attack without Advantage+Smite would absolutely wreck house. Sneak Attack+Smite on a Crit? Devastating.

So I think any further decision on Orym's deal is going to have to wait until we see what Orym actually got from his canon deal: spells/abilities(warlock level?) or a free Call Nana card (or like, a general immortality for the group).

And of course, there's room for inter-party drama during their break/training montage.

Then it's back to Exandria for the Moon Scouting Mission!

#MQ AU machine #bells hells c1 class swap au #ashton greymoore #fearne calloway #laudna #imogen temult #orym of the air ashari #chetney pock o'pea #fcg

[masterqwertster]

would love to see your take on a BH modern au!

Honestly, I'm not great at Modern AUs and generally don't go for them. I like the fantasy too much.

But some thoughts anyways:

Ashton is the preferred driver of the group when they're all loaded in one vehicle. Orym, Imogen, and FCG are too cautious, granny drivers. Fearne, Chetney, and Laudna drive like they've got nothing to lose and it's a gran prix to the grocery store. Ashton hits the middle of "not going to get risky if I don't have to, but perfectly capable of aggression should the situation call for it"

Laudna and Chetney are so into coffee. Fearne will not drink anything with coffee in it because she hates the taste. Orym and FCG occasionally have coffee. Imogen and Ashton avoid coffee because head/brain issues are not helped by it

Mobile Game Apps! Ashton and FCG love to play critter collector games. Laudna loves the dress-up doll/romance type games. Imogen likes war strategy games. Orym likes the coloring book apps. Fearne likes anything with a weird aesthetic/premise. Chetney claims he doesn't play phone games, but is a Candy Crush menace

A group activity that can always be agreed on is going to the zoo or aquarium

In addition to matching tattoos (like canon), they also have matching keyrings carved by Chetney

Send me a potential AU and I’ll tell you five fun facts that would happen in a story.

#MQ&A #MQ AU machine #bells hells

[masterqwertster]

#31. "You came back for me" from the vague angst meme. For Ashton, naturally. ❤

Prompt Yeah. Figured someone would ask that one for Ashton "I have abandonment issues" Greymoore 😋 I'm gonna take this to the C2 Class Swap Resurrection, because I've been thinking about it on and off since I came up with it. 31 "You came back for me."

They all wait with baited breath after the offerings are made to see if Pike's resurrection spell will take.

Well, those of them that breathe. Fresh Cut Grass doesn't, and it's rather debatable if Laudna needs to or not with as far between breaths as she'll go at times.

Still, the feeling is there.

One second. Two sec-

Ashton's glass explodes with light and color as he gasps in a new breath, body bowing with the force of restored life. And everyone in the room can feel reality bend just the slightest bit from what the members of Bells Hells recognize as Ashton's strange and unique brand of magic.

That's as long as FCG waits to scoot forward to hover over Ashton's head so they can see a friend when they first open their eyes again. It's only a moment of waiting, watching their nostrils flare, catching their chest rise and fall out of the corner of his vision, alive alive alive, before Ashton's eyes flutter open.

"...Hey, Letters," Ashton softly says, voice raw from disuse in death.

"S-smiley day to ya, Ashton," Fresh Cut Grass replies, voice quavering with emotion. "I'm real glad you're back with us. Real glad."

Ashton hums in agreement as he sits up with a grunt. "Me too-"

He freezes, taking in that it's not just Fresh Cut Grass here. It's all of Bells Hells, standing around some magic circle he's in the middle of in what looks like a living room with happy smiles aimed at him. Maybe even for him.

And it seems that sitting up and getting eyes on them is all the waiting the rest of the Hells are willing to do, as Ashton finds himself buried under a pile of bodies all hugging him. Finds his ears filled with overlapping voices calling his name, expressing joy at his presence.

It's a lot.

A lot of good that Ashton never expected to have in their life, not after The Fall. They never expected to have people again, a family to call their own. Not when they'd been left behind again and again. They'd been shown how broken, how unwanted they are time after time. Then these chucklefucks fucking wormed their way into Ashton's life and just... didn't leave. And they didn't let him leave either. They fucking chased down his broken pieces, put him back together. They hadn't flinched, hadn't pulled away from what he was and is. How-? Why-?

What the fuck is up with these people?

"Oh! Don't cry! Is it too much? We can back off. Everyone-"

Ashton doesn't let them pull away. Instead he lets those overwhelming feelings fuel his tired body to shift and expand so he can hug all of his people at once. Hold them close.

Their laughing admonishments as he squeezes them tighter brings a pleased rumble out of his chest. Fuck, it's been so long since Ashton's had this.

What a fucking time to be alive.

#MQ&A #MQfic #MQ AU machine #bells hells c2 class swap au #critical role #ashton greymoore #fcg #bells hells #vague angst quote prompt

[masterqwertster]

From the "comfortable displays of intimacy" prompt list, the back hugs and "chin resting on the shoulder" prompts immediately made me think of Ashton giving one of their shorter friends or party members a piggyback ride (out of fun or an emergency situation) and the shorter character enjoying the taller view (and the comfort ofc). If that's something that sounds fun to write for you? 👀

Going Ashton of the Ashari AU, and teenage stupidity with an earthboard joyride with Will and Orym. Ashton’s 13-ish, Orym and Will are 18-ish.

Okay, so here’s the thing: earthboards are nine fucking feet long, which is plenty of room for three teenagers to stand on. Especially when one of them is a halfling.

Can they really be blamed for nicking one and taking it for a joyride? It’s not like the skysails of Zephrah where if you fuck up a joyride you’re going to be falling from a hundred feet up or some shit and possibly die.

But, well… Will is pretty scraped up from falling off a few times and Orym’s leg is broken from how he fell off when they tried a slam jump. And while Ashton is unhurt, that’s only because they are the one attuned to the earthboard, so it’s not going to fly out from under their feet unless they want off.

The Earthriders aren’t too pleased when they finally catch up to the trio of teenagers. Partly because they stole the earthboard, partly because they got themselves hurt using the stolen earthboard.

“What were you kids even thinking?!” Lo’fan demands.

“That earthboards are cool and not as likely to kill us as a skysail?” Will tries with a nervous grin. He doesn’t mention that the other reason they haven’t tried this with a skysail in Zephrah is that Ashton is getting too heavy to ride with another person, much less two other people. And the kid is just not interested in flying like that.

Lo’fan gives Will an unimpressed stare. Then they let out a put-upon sigh.

“At least no one’s dead,” Lo’fan murmurs to themself. They turn sharp eyes on the boys. “Your parents will be hearing about this.”

That statement is met with wide-eyed horror from Will and groans from Ashton and Orym (though Orym’s groan may be more about the pain of his broken leg).

“Now off to the healers with you,” Lo’fan instructs.

They turn to do that–

“And leave the earthboard,” Lo'fan sternly instructs them.

“Orym’s leg is broken. Can’t we at least give him a ride over to the healers?” Ashton tries, still not dismounting from the board.

“Your legs are fine. And I've got a feeling two skinny junior Tempest Blades, one of whom is a halfling, wouldn't have been strong enough to sneak away with an unattuned earthboard on their own,” Lo'fan dryly points out. When you’re a part of the guard of Terrah, you learn pretty quick that entities of earth are most often stronger than their size would suggest.

Ashton grumbles about Lo'fan’s stern logic, even as they do as told, dismounting from the earthboard and getting help from Will to comfortably settle Orym on their back, before trudging off to the healers under the watchful gaze of the Earthriders.

“...Sorry you two got so beat up,” Ashton mumbles as they draw closer to the healers' house.

“Hey, not your fault,” Will says, poking a stony cheek.

“Kind of is. I was the one driving,” they argue back.

“Yeah, well, we're the idiots who decided we had good enough balance to ride with you anyways,” Orym argues from where his chin is hooked over their shoulder. 

“And the idiots that kept getting back on the board,” Will adds.

“Should have learned our lesson after the first few tumbles,” Orym comments with dry humor, followed by a flinching wince, small hands tightening on Ashton’s shoulders as his broken leg is jostled just a little too much.

Ashton slowly nods along, and bites his tongue. The older boys may not blame him for their injuries, but Ashton still blames himself. He’s the one that pushed for “borrowing” an earthboard. He’s the one that couldn’t keep the ride smooth enough the other two didn’t fall off. How is it not his fault?

But arguing the point is obviously going to go nowhere. So he holds his silence and takes them to the healers to undo the damage he’s done. Ashton’s at least good for that.

“Hey,” Orym pipes up, possibly noticing the continued distressed look on his ride’s face. “The broken leg sucks, but that was pretty fun while it lasted. So maybe next time, we ask for supervised rides?”

“Oh, yeah. That could be fun. I did want to try driving,” Will quickly chimes in.

Ashton feels a smile start to tug at their lips. That really doesn’t sound bad at all. It probably isn’t going to happen after this fuck up, but it’s still a nice idea.

(Even if they do think stealing the earthboard was part of the fun too)

#MQ&A #snuggles and hugs prompt #MQfic #MQ AU machine #ashton of the ashari au #ashton greymoore #orym of the air ashari #will of the air ashari

[masterqwertster]

Got to thinking about it in this AU too, so...

Bells Hells C2 Class Swap AU and Titan Shit

Sometimes AUs walk slightly to the left of canon's path, and sometimes they run off into the bushes for a little while...

Also this is long, so it’s beneath the cut.

So, I don’t think Bells Hells ever even learns about the Spark of Rau'shan in this AU since Keyleth (and Pike) tag Ashton as titan-blooded about one month before the Apogee Solstice begins.

Because while Kiki is busy as fuck prepping for the Solstice and putting out Ludinus's Distractions For People of Importance and Power fires, I'm pretty sure she could put aside thirty minutes to Scry on Evontra'vir, Transport Via Plants through to him, and ask him "What the fuck did you tell/give to Efterin of the Hishari?" and get her answer before teleporting back to business. Or she could send a lackey to interrogate the tree, or Pike could go if she feels like it (get back to some of her sailing roots travelling the Shattered Teeth). Because there's no way they're letting a titan-blooded kid run around getting tangled up in Big World-Ending Problems without knowing what that means, if there's more titan blood to be found, and if more can be made any time soon because the last thing they need is another titan blood except they're batting for the other side.

Happily for Keyleth, the answer from Evontra'vir was "fulfilling Destiny" ...by sending Efterin after an artifact he knew the cultist would misuse and accidentally (but in accordance with Destiny) implant in his kid. Yeah, Keyleth's not impressed. But it is nice to know what exactly she sensed in Ashton: a Shard of Ka'Mort, Empress of Earth.

Also, no mention is made of the Spark of Rau'shan, as Evontra'vir is Destined to guide Ashton to that, so he's not telling anyone else. Though Keyleth suspects that if a fragment of Ka'Mort survived, there's also a piece of Rau'shan out there. But best to let sleeping dogs lie if it's gone unclaimed this long and getting the Shard of Ka'Mort took a Destiny Tree's instructions to retrieve.

Which is fine. There's a reason canon!Bells Hells found crispy skeletons in the spelunking nightmare but didn't get crisped themselves: the Spark wasn't willing to be moved without the Shard nearby. As evidenced by the roiling lava calming at Ashton's approach vs the Doompa Loompa report of Big Boom when someone upset the Spark (likely trying to take it away).

Anyways! What this means is that once Bells Hells has retrieved Blue-Butt Flowers (sorry, Matt) to help Keyleth recover, part of their Questions on What To Do Next is "Can we get Ashton more Titan Powers for their power-up? The [Hybrid Form] is cool and all, but kind of lame for a Titan Shard when you can go Earth Elemental better than him."

And Keyleth has been thinking about this. What she sensed in Ashton is immensely powerful, and the boi only seems to ever use an itty bitty fraction of that might, instead relying more on the strange other power that he's now religiously(?) tied to as well.

Her answer on the Titan Power-up front is two-fold:

1) Bells Hells can go to Vasselheim to see if the Stone Titan's corpse nudges anything, and potentially, probably, meet with Grog, who's still got the Titanstone Knuckles.

Keyleth kind of doubts the Stone Titan Corpse will do anything, being long dead and divorced of its elemental might beyond the continued existence of the body (otherwise the Whispered One was wasting a free Super Earthquake Machine). But it did make the Titanstone Knuckles react (because they were forged from that particular titan's heartstone), so it's not a 0% chance. Probably.

But Kiki does think the Titanstone Knuckles might do something for Ashton, since they are, in a way, an inanimate version of him.

...If Grog is still in town. Kiki may have lost track of her friend in all the Solstice hubbub.

2) Keyleth can send Bells Hells to Terrah, village of the Earth Ashari. The abundant elemental earth energy there might jumpstart Ashton's earth titan shit. And if that's not enough, they could try taking a few steps through the Rift to the Elemental Plane of Earth and see if that intensity of earth energies does the trick.

The problems with these ideas are:

Vasselheim will likely react poorly if they find out Keyleth sent a baby titan their way to do some teething on the titan corpse stuck in the middle of their city.

Keyleth definitely needs to talk to Pa'tice about sending a baby earth titan to Terrah for teething, because who knows what that will do to the energies and Elementals in the area and the Rift.

Now Chetney, FCG, and Imogen are all interested in going to Vasselheim, for different reasons. Chetney wants to check Issylra off his List of Continents He's Been To. FCG would like to visit a big Changebringer Temple for advice/guidance (yes, they still picked up religion. It just doesn't fuel his powers this time). And Imogen wants to visit the Stormlord's big temple to further pursue the challenge of following him that she started during the Party Split.

Of course, Team Issylra is wary of going to Vasselheim considering they helped kill part of a missionary group from Vasselheim.

Fearne is neutral and goes where Orym goes.

Well, since it's going to take Keyleth a little while to talk with Pa'tice and get the okay for Bells Hells to visit, she was thinking Maeve could take them to Vasselheim for a day or two while she does that.

...With a quick, initial detour to get Dancer (and crew) on fixing the Quintessence Array. Just in case Bells Hells finds anything of interest to slurp up. (Also because I'd like FCG and Dancer to find their closure still. And don't want to have to worry about the logistics of failing to stop Ratanish's Joe-assisted sabotage before they start making skyships drop out of the sky...)

So, Vasselheim!

Yeah, they can see the titan corpse from where they arrive in the Abundant Terrance. Which is a completely different district than where its feet are planted.

First stop though, ends up being the Changebringer Temple (which I don't see an official location for on the wiki, but think makes sense to be placed in the Quadroads as a crossroads of sorts for the goddess of roads). Partially because it's on the way and partially because FCG is getting a lot of looks of dislike from the locals, so Temple approval for the robit should help. Hopefully.

Keyleth did not think through sending a soul in an arcane machine to a city that severely distrusts the arcane. Thankfully, he's got friends to phalanx around him and stare down the glares. ...And Laudna may have to go inside the phalanx too, as undead.

So! FCG gets to talk to more holy people who follow the same goddess as him. And maybe gets to meet a therapist-type, to replace the meeting with Jirana, so they get that realization too.

Next stop: the Braving Grounds. Which has all of the other attractions Bells Hells is interested in.

Ashton, Chetney, and Fearne (as she is a barbarian in this AU) are all super interested in The Crucible fighting pit when they come across it. So probably some matches to roll there. ...Though Fearne may be more interested in picking gambler pockets than fighting herself. Laudna is welcome to try too as a monk/frontliner. And so is Imogen, as an attempt to further impress the Stormlord into being the new juice behind her cleric abilities.

When they drop by the Trial Forge (Stormlord's Temple), after talking with Groon's apprentice(? whatever you want to call the person being trained to take over after him because monks age super well but don't live forever and Groon is old. Also, for extra trouble, they could be a really buff older woman, to mess with Imogen's taste in women) who's currently running the place since the Earthbreaker himself is at the Red Center Resistance camp, the Stormlord does present Imogen with a challenge. But not his usual "Where does your strength come from?" question. Because let's be real: Imogen would immediately and without hesitation answer "Laudna," which is generally the correct answer, even if it's not the whole "My friends are my strength" answer he's usually searching for. So I think the Stormlord should challenge Imogen to not use her mindreading on others (or at least the party) for a while, to make her actually communicate with the group instead of brain-checking when she gets impatient. Make her learn that while her mind powers are a strength, there's more to be found in trusting her friends, in having faith in them.

Then it's off to actually get a close up look at the titan corpse. Which, hot damn is it huge. Like, they knew that already since they could see it the whole time they've walked around the city, but it's even more mind-boggling up close.

And then they have a moment of realization that what's inside Ashton was probably bigger and even more badass. After all, no one remembers this one's name or any titles it might have held, but Ashton's got a piece of Ka'Mort, Empress of Earth.

Also, like, what the fuck has Vasselheim done with the titan corpse parked in the middle of their city? Is it now a giant condo complex (that slowly drives people cambial insane like the dwarves of Thomara)? Is it a shopping mall? Is it a new skyport? A challenging free-climbing "mountain"? Just a tourist attraction? Seriously, what did they do with this giant obstruction in the middle of their city over the past thirty years? Tell us, Matt!

Anyways, they sidle on up to one of the titan's feet so Ashton can touch it (He touched the butt foot). This may include sneaking past guards to keep people from doing exactly that.

It doesn't awaken any powers in Ashton, but they do get a use of Grim Psychometry on it. Which Ashton technically shouldn't really have yet, as Bells Hells probably needs to go through one more big fight before reaching Level 11 (canon level up was after getting on the ghost ship), allowing for 2 Cleric/9 Blood Hunter, but I'm giving it to him just this once anyways for Titan Shit.

Ashton gets to see flashes of the Stone Titan living its life in the primordial chaos of early, early Exandria, and the death of the Stone Titan (which made a mountain range with the impact of its body being thrust into the ground). Maybe a bit of its zombie march on Vasselheim via the Whispered One's power. He just gains a bit of understanding of what the titans were.

That's about all I have planned for Vasselheim. Of course, there's room to get in trouble, visit the Slayer's Take, talk with Maeve (try to get childhood blackmail on Orym), let paladin Chet visit the All-Hammer Temple, have Delilah stir to cause trouble at the site of her most recent defeat (or close enough to it), and do other stuff for the day or two they're there.

I should also mention that Bells Hells has been asking about Grog while they've been running around, but they don't get anything recent or distinct enough to follow to find him. Mostly because I'd love to know where Grog is in canon ...and also really kind of love the moon-greeter Grog that came up on 4-Sided Dive ep18.

Or Bells Hells does locate the Grand Poobah, and have to bail Grog out of jail. And deal with Ashton trying to steal or fleece Grog out of the Titanstone Knuckles. The Knuckles call to them and seem so... tasty.

Adventures in Vasselheim done (or they can be skipped in exchange for hanging out in Zephrah, but I do like the opportunities it provides for other party members to achieve stuff), it's back to Zephrah to see if Keyleth has gotten Bells Hells the okay to go to Terrah.

She has, so off they go through a tree! ...to an hour or two out of town so that Bells Hells has the (escorted) hike towards Terrah and its Rift to see how Ashton reacts to that energy and that energy reacts to him. With plenty of time to back out or be sent away.

Ashton is definitely feeling more energetic the closer they get to town and the Rift. And having to fight off the growing urge to take on their Hybrid Form. Meanwhile, the local earth elementals/eidolons are clearly taking notice of the baby titan coming into town. They are not being terribly subtle about following Ashton around and/or wanting a bit of attention from him while doing whatever he asks of them.

Once they get to Terrah proper, Bells Hells spends some time helping around under Pa'tice's supervision (the place was recently in trouble with a cult trying to destabilize the Rift, I'm sure there's some cleanup Bells Hell can creatively help with) and poking at Ashton to see if his powers have upgraded yet. And while I'd say that the earth energy there gives an extension to Ashton's time in their Hybrid Form, it's just not quite enough to really wake up the Shard.

Which mean field trip time!

Bells Hells take what is meant to be a trip to loiter around the Rift until something happens for Ashton, but ends up being more of an adventure because Reasons.

Reasons could be Cult of the Dark Heart people still hanging around on the Earth Plane side of the Rift that Bells Hells chases down for potential info or because they kidnap someone (from the party or an Earth Ashari guide/guard). Could be a bunch of Earth Elementals cart Ashton away to be worshipped as the Empress returned and now Bells Hells has to get them back. Or it could be that Bells Hells thought they spotted something interesting and ended up running after it like they do (see rabbit with a Feywild Shard back in the Heartmoore).

Any which way Bells Hells gets dragged into exploring the Plane a little bit, they do manage to awaken Ashton's Shard. Which shifts his Hybrid Form to something closer to the canon Demi-titan Form, the differences being that it's crystal clusters/spikes instead of rock, they keep the crystal claw/fingers, and the light from the cracked cat's-eyes is purple-silver where if you stare deep enough into them, you see the dunamancy galaxy swirl inside, sort of like a geode.

Ashton also gets a Second-phase Form in place of the canon Demi-titan one which comes with the super awesome bells and whistles plus penalty costs. Second-phase is taller (10' instead of 8') and bulkier. And maybe gets a second set of arms? The Stone Titan had four arms and all, and it would further differentiate a full-on Titan Mode from his Hybrid Form. Also more punching power and being able to pick up and carry the whole party under his arms if the short kings are doubled up with other people. Also, Second-phase can be used separate from Hybrid Form.

I also think it would be fun for Bells Hells to pick up some treasures to slurp up with the Quintessence Array, or just use as is, possibly by trading with a Dao (earth genie) or raiding one's treasury. Or like, offerings/congratulatory gifts for "newborn" baby titan from the locals.

After getting back to Terrah, goals achieved, Bells Hells is off to Whitestone to pick up the Quintessence Array, possibly use it, and get their next assignment/mission.

They get to meet Allura, receive a dunamancy identification from her, maybe show off Ashton's new Hybrid Form (but not Second-phase because penalties) just to say "Look what we got!", and attend the war meeting where they volunteer for Moon Scouting.

Also squeeze in that visit to Nana Morri for Fearne's heritage because going to a different Plane made Fearne miss home and they didn't get anything interesting for her from the Earth Plane but surely Nana has something cool and powerful and useful for her granddaughter.

It would be kind of funny if Grovelthrash, an Arms of the Betrayers, is sitting in Nana's storage and she gives it to Fearne. The spirit of the hammer does like when its wielder claims treasures (Fearne is a consummate knickknack thief) and Fearne is so go with the flow that she'd breeze right past it liking to cause pain, warhammers work for barbarian aesthetic, and it allows her to be a little bit twinnie with Ashton since this weapon grants some earth-based abilities. Also, bringing in some Betrayer God stuff for funsies (and adding even more trouble besides Grazzt'char, assuming that it wasn't traded in the Earth Plane. ...Yeah, I forgot they lost it on the ghost ship they did not ride in this AU until this point).

But really, any sufficiently powerful weapon or (custom) Feat for Fearne is good enough.

Chetney makes his deal, of course.

Orym... most probably not. Wizards take the "slow" way to power by learning, and learning a lot, that allows them to bend the world to their will. And like, he can probably squeeze in a quick lesson from Allura while Fearne is dealing with her family instead of bargaining with Morri.

...Though I think Laudna might try to make canon!Orym's deal instead. Monks are great, but they're also more "normal" like Fighters, and she wants to be able to protect Imogen, no matter the cost. And the others to a less intense degree. Also, it is a chance to get rid of the threat of Delilah too, who is less relied on in this AU since she's not a Warlock Patron for Laudna and Laudna does have other people who care about her now. It's time to let go of her murderer who has kind of Stockholm Syndromed her with her possession.

All that done, and they're off to the Red Center for Moon Scouting Mission.

#MQ AU machine #bells hells c2 class swap au #ashton greymoore #imogen temult #laudna #fcg #chetney pock o'pea #orym of the air ashari #fearne calloway

[masterqwertster]

Can you please do 31. (doing a pinky swear) with FCG and your choice for the other person?

I'm always a sucker for writing FCG with Ashton. This one is geared towards my Accidental Ascension AU, but honestly half-fits canon given Ashton does have (currently) unawakened titan powers and their barely understood half-beacon brain.

“Promise me you won’t go tryin’ to continue the titan’s fight with the gods now that you’ve got more power,” Fresh Cut Grass begs their best friend.

“Wasn’t even on my mind,” Ashton reassures them.

“Pinky promise?” FCG asks, metal digit extended.

“Sure. I promise I won’t fight a god unless they try to fuck us over first,” Ashton agrees, stone rattling against steel as he hooks the aeormaton’s pinky with his own.

The little robit pumps their connected hands. 

“And don’t you dare forget,” FCG says with a satisfied nod.

“I won’t,” Ashton grins back.

#MQ&A #touch prompt #MQfic #MQ AU machine #accidental ascension au #fcg #ashton greymoore

[masterqwertster]

Realized for my C1 Class Swap AU that Fearne being a cleric of the Moonweaver is a giant fuck you to her sire, Sorrowlord Zathuda. The man hates the Moonweaver, and here's his daughter, one of her devote followers.

Like, Nana Morri must have gone, "What can I do to make sure he can't get anywhere with my Fearne? Hmmm... Hey, Fearne, have you ever heard of the Moonweaver?"

#MQ AU machine #bells hells c1 class swap au #fearne calloway