#sparsely it's highly effective .

[hazeism]

Hiii @cringe-but-freee thank you for your permission to test some of your designs :D they are so fun and unique (both between themselves and amongst other interpretations)

since there's like four of us who still care about these novels we all have to make an olive wreath or something else equally lovely together <3

#i admire how much you let your lines speak for themselves they're so alive it's really pleasant : ) and you can convey so much really #sparsely it's highly effective . #your Mule next to mine is so funny btw they're so Tragicomedy. full of whimsy versus literal intergalactic gas station denizen #sorry i'm markedly asocial but I had to make some sort of gesture of goodwill because I'm just so pleased when I view your art. do hope it #was okay ': ) #queue #visual #doodle #asimov chronology #tag later #ALSO YOUR PRITCHER AUGH i need to keep ironing mine out (does the ironing ever end) but I'll have to try my hand at yours eventually omg.

[rinneroraito]

it could be the alcohoL

Maybe I deserve a break. Maybe, just maybe, I need to loosen up, because things had gone painfully awry when we started putting up cameras and wiretaps in Light Yagami’s room only for them to be removed shortly.

I was so sure we’d at least get something out of it, just something to move the investigation along. First it was the FBI agents, and now this. We were at a dead end again and it just stressed me out. Every waking moment that Kira was out there sowed fear deeper into the hearts of concerned citizens, and also a cult following of people who thought he was a god.

Staring up at the off-white ceiling, mulling over the events that transpired throughout the whole investigation, I sighed. It was all that consumed me for a while, every bit of energy I had had been directed towards this case. The mattress felt comforting, but I needed something else to take the edge off just a little bit, so I got up and grabbed the telephone by the bedside table, dialing Room Service.

“Hi, do you happen to have alcohol?”

—-

L was typing away at his computer when I shuffled into his room with a can of beer. The reason why I came here is lost to me now, only remembering that I wanted to see him. I’ve already finished 3 cans and was obviously inebriated at this moment and I figured if I had a drink then I might as well just enjoy myself. An aspirin, loads of cold water, a carbonated drink and some hot broth in the morning would fix me up.

The screens glowed in his dark office, and I could see his back as he crouched on his seat, the keyboard clicking as he continued to type. His head slightly bobs up and down, left and right as he looked at his screens. I drag my feet to him.

I stood there right behind L, looking at the screens first, then down at him, or at least down at the back of his head and the nape of his neck covered sparsely by his dark hair.

“Miss Uehara, I can smell the alcohol from here,” L says, not looking up at me.

“I’m off duty at the moment, aren’t I? Don’t worry, I’ll be alright in the morning, I have a regimen for this.” I replied, putting an arm on the back of the chair he was sitting on and leaning towards the back of his head. Reaching the other hand holding the beer out to him, I asked. 

“You want some?”

“No thank you, I’d like to keep a clear head while working.”

“I figured. You’re such a workaholic, Detective. Such a workaholic.”

“Your speech isn’t slurring yet so I assume you’re just buzzed. Were you pressured by the events as of late? I didn’t expect you to be the type to drink alcohol, actually.”

“Oh, you didn’t, did you? Well, it has been stressful, but I can manage. This helps.” I brought the can to my mouth and took a long swig from it, exhaling after. “And I guess, in some way, you’re helping me, too.”

L was very much aware of the effects of alcohol and how it lowers down a person’s inhibitions significantly. The way I was approaching him right now was more daring than usual and he knew it. I drank down what was left of the drink in the can. “Would you please elaborate on that, Miss Uehara? Besides helping out with the Kira case and that small encouragement I gave you some time ago, I don’t suppose I’ve done anything of significant help towards you.”

A small chuckle escaped me as I leaned closer towards him, resting my forehead on the back of his head. I felt him shift slightly as I made contact with him, but I could still hear the keyboard clicking so he didn’t seem too distracted at all by what I did.

“Because you’re an inspiration to me and well, I like that you’re here, World’s Greatest Detective. It’s like, a biiiig deal to me that I get to work with you, you know?” I ramble.

“You speak rather highly of me, Miss Uehara, I’m touched, thank you.” He speaks in his usual monotone voice and in my inebriation and the fact that I couldn't see his face, it was hard for me to  tell if he was actually flattered or was just responding out of courtesy.

“Also, I think I actually like you, L...”

The keyboard’s clacking stopped as the words escaped my mouth. I dropped the usual honorific I called him by, likely influenced by the alcohol. He was still, and I continued to ramble on in my intoxication.

“I like the way you stare at things like you’re trying to dissect them before you, your piercing glare so intense that I feel like if you had lasers in your eyes I’d be bisected right in front of you. I like the way you daintily hold things with your thumb and forefinger, and it makes me wonder just how strong your digits are.”

He shifted slightly forwards, and I brought the arm that I had resting on the back of his chair around to rest on his shoulder.

“I like the way you eat your sweets, it’s nice to see you enjoy them. I like how I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or you’re just being blunt at times, and it sends the rest of the Task Force in a state of confusion whenever you say something.” I chuckled, pressing my cheek on the top of his head.

“I like your face, the seemingly permanent shadows under your eyes, your sharp jawlines and how long your neck is, your lanky frame… I like how you’re so smart and you know that you’re the smartest guy in the room but you give everyone the benefit of the doubt because of the way you look.”

“Miss Uehara…”

“I don’t know, Detective, maybe I do like you or maybe it’s the alcohol.” Hair strands fell off my shoulders, caressing the nape of his neck as I lowered my face on the back of his head, his hair  brushing against my cheeks. “Your hair smells nice.” I say, feeling my breath bounce off of the nape of his neck and I felt him bend forward away from me just a little.

“While I am flattered by your words, Miss Uehara, I have my reservations over accepting them due to your current state. Were the things you just said truthful and you’ve been harboring a fondness for me for a while or were they just a product of the mock confidence induced by alcohol?”

My eyelids fluttered as I listened to him and I tilted my head so my cheek was pressed into the back of his head again.

“If I remember all of this in the morning and start acting awkward around you, then you’ll know..”

“Would you kindly stand up so I can move away, please? I’ll have Watari assist you back to your room.” Exhaling slowly I did as he requested and leaned away from him. “Can I sleep on the couch over there? I don’t..” I swayed slightly on my feet.

He turns around and looks up at me, his wide eyes illuminated by the electric lighting of the monitors before us. I could swear there was a gentleness in it, but it could be the alcohol. “I don’t want to be alone tonight. I just want to know that there’s someone else within the 4 walls of the room I’m in.”

“Very well. I’ll have a blanket brought up here for you.” He gets out of his seat and walks around his chair to my side.

“Thanks, Detective.” I stepped back so I could walk to where the couch was when the rest of the alcohol I just drank suddenly hit me and I stumbled backwards. L, who had been perceptive of the entire situation, was able to grab me by my shoulders before I could lose my balance even more.

“Easy. It seems like the rest of the alcohol you drank is starting to run its course, please hold on to me and I’ll walk you to the couch.”

His grip on my shoulders was firm and secure. I leaned into him and he brought one of his arms around my back as he walked me to the couch by the other end of the room where I promptly dropped myself onto. The couch felt more comfortable than my hotel room’s bed for some reason.

My voice comes out a little ragged as I pull my feet up onto the couch.

“Hey, Detective..?” 

“Yes, Miss Uehara?”

“I still have the lollipop stick from that day we met.”

If he ever replied, I couldn’t hear it anymore as my eyes swam and sleep took over me.

#l lawliet #death note #death note l #l death note #l lawliet x reader #l lawliet x y/n #l lawliet x you #oc x canon

[sexy-sea-basss]

Ghouls & Space, pt.2

Ghouls & Space

@sovaghoul slid into my DMs asking if I had any more ghoul nebula thoughts, specifically the other three quints, Ifrit, and Zephyr.

Originally, no. BUT, then I was like, y'know what? Yeah. I do. And so, here's this. Little blurbs, some well thought out, others not so much. It got sillier towards the end bc exhaustion and sleep deprivation.

Aether Soul Nebula (Westerhout 5, LBN 667)

Heart (bottom) and Soul (top) nebula together.

The Soul Nebula is next to the Heart Nebula, this cluster often referred to as the “Heart and Soul." Dew’s fire particles came from the Heart Nebula. It was written in the stars that they were destined to be together. They’re meant for each other.

W5 carves out cavities by pushing gas together which then ignites into successive generations of new stars. Aether left a cavity in the band that needed to be filled, opening a spot for Phantom/Aeon to come in and shine. While Aether isn't in the band, he is still part of the pack and is there to support and guide the new and future generations of Quintessence ghouls.

Delta Trifid Nebula (Messier 20, NGC 6514) 

Named Trifid because it is overlain by three bands obscuring interstellar dust, giving it a trisected appearance as seen in small telescopes.

A group of recently formed stars are visible towards the center. They're massive and bright, and they're relaxing a flood of ultraviolet radiation that's dramatically influencing the structure and evolution of the nebula.

This pairing was more-so name related. The sign for delta (in the sciences) is usually a triangle, tri meaning three, Trifid meaning divided into three. Delta also means a change in. Just like this nebula is being changed by its stars at the center, Delta also underwent a change from water to quintessence, damaging his body in the change (or so it's headcanoned by some).

Zephyr Witch Head Nebula (IC 2118) 

The wind blown appearance and cometary shape of the nebula means that it may have been formed from the stellar winds of a nearby highly luminous star. While the wind that shaped IC 2118 is not from the west, it's still a suitable nebula as Zephyr also means a gentle breeze.

The northwest side of the nebula is thinning out and sparse like Zephyr. He is tired, he’s been stretched to thin. He hurts. He just needs to rest and smoke weed and get all the cuddles and love. Tend to his plants, pet his cat, take naps. Walk the gardens. Just the silly little things in life. He's just vibing.

Ifrit Bubble Nebula (NGC 7635)

The bubble of the Bubble Nebula was formed by solar winds from a massive and very hot near by star. Ifrit is fire. He is the embodiment of fire. His core burns hot and it's forming this bubble around him. This bubble is made of the different ghouls that have entered his life and are drawn to him. His 'family' keeps growing.

Also, Ifrit is just... hot. and, like...bubbles... titties?

Omega Cat's Eye Nebula (NGC 6543)

The Cat's Eye Nebula is shows to have a bull's eye pattern of eleven or more concentric rings. Each ring is actually, a spherical bubble projected onto the sky. These rings give it a layered effect. The nebula is said to pulse at 1,500-year intervals, just like Omega's heart beats 1500 times per minute when he's around Terzo.

Cats are assholes most of the time, but they all have their loveydovey moments. Omega always keeps a harsh exterior, but when he’s with his loved ones, he’s a big softie. He loves caring for them. But if someone messes with anyone he loves, he’ll go on a murder spree.

#omega ghoul #ifrit ghoul #zephyr ghoul #aether ghoul #delta ghoul #nameless ghouls #headcanons #ghost headcanons #the band ghost #luci writes #the redbull did not hit fyi #you can definitely tell when i started to feel the exhaustion #dewdrop ghoul

[harlequinchaos]

Tears of the Kingdom tips for surviving the new economy and whatnot, under the cut (in case of spoilers)

Adventuring Tip: STEALTH IS YOUR FRIEND

Once you get to Kakariko Village you can buy the Stealth Suit (Highly recommend doing the connected sidequest to bring the cost of the shop down). This makes it so you can walk up to fish, bugs, and creatures without them running away (if you sprint they'll still run) this is AMAZING for collecting these things as everything seems way more sparse in totk. No more chasing frogs for you my friend.

Food Tip: Critical Meals

Cooking between 11:30pm-12:00pm on the night of a blood moon gives you:

+3 hearts recovered to your dish

+1 level to whatever effect is present in your dish

+5:00 duration to the effect

Rupee Tip: Go Spelunking!

One of the biggest features in totk are the new caves systems that are literally everywhere. Oftentimes you'll find ore deposits and rare ore deposits and find Amber, Opal, Rubies, Sapphires and Topazes. Sell them for cash (I recommend saving sapphires, see below). If you see a wall of breakable rocks, usually it will drop rusty claymores and rocks for you to make more crude hammers. But a bomb flower or zonai time bomb work too (DON'T BLOW YOURSELF UP). Additionally, a cave will be marked with a ✔️ once you kill the bubblfrog inside.

Battle tip: Ice is OP.

Frozen enemies take double damage from your next hit, so try to always have a Magic Rod/Scepter with a sapphire fused to it, fusing a sapphire to a regular weapon works as well, but you're not aiming to hit the enemy with the source of the ice. Freeze > pause and switch to your strongest weapon> hit the enemy > switch back to your ice weapon > repeat to stunlock the enemy, works on everything that isn't a Lynel or Boss. Using Ice Fruit or Blue Chuchu jelly works too, but stuff is more rare in this game.

Relatively Easy Rupees:

You'll need:

-Bow & arrows (the stronger the bow the better)

-Sheild (for sheild surfing)

-Cold Resistance Armor (to survive)

-Speedy Elixir (optional, but it'll REALLY help)

-Access to Snowfield Stable (Hebra Region)

What you're gonna be doing is big game hunting in the snowy field north of the stable. All winter animals are capable of dropping Raw Gourmet Meat which is the best quality, including moose, the bears and the wolves. Sheild surf to get around quicker and then go for headshots with a bow and just hunt the animals for their meat. You'll want the speedy Elixir because you have to be pretty quick between the meat dropping and freezing. Once it's frozen it counts as a meal, but you literally get hundreds of rupees by selling 5 Raw Gourmet Meats cooked together.

Item Management: Brightbloom Mushrooms are the new Apples:

Going off of the previous tip of exploring the cave systems, you'll find Brightbloom Mushrooms almost more than anything else. Eventually you'll want to stop collecting them, but they're the perfect source of quick food fodder. Just cook a bunch together for quick hearts (and the glow effect which is nice in caves).

Advanced Combat Tip: Muddlebuds

If you've been to The Depths, one of the native plants are the Muddlebuds. These make it so enemies will attack each other when thrown (or attached to an arrow). I recommend wearing the stealth gear, sneaking up to a pack or finding a vantage point, and hitting the strongest enemy in the group with a muddlebud arrow. It'll start to attack it's allies, allowing you to sit back and enjoy the show. Note: enemies will still target you if they see you (hence the stealth/vantage point)

These are just a few tips, feel free to add more, and try not to be too spoilery for people who haven't played or haven't gotten far yet!

#totk #tears of the kingdom #zelda totk #zelda tears of the kingdom #zelda #totk tips

[outofangband]

I’m writing more of my series of healers notes of Maedhros post Angband but I wanted to share some thoughts first!

Elven and human healing practices and treatment of survivors post Angband are (as is probably obvious) some of my favorite topics to write about! As are medicinal plants but as always please feel free to ask more!

As this is for my post on Mithrim healers of the Noldor (with some Sindar allies, this focuses mainly on their practices but feel free to ask about any others for elves or other peoples!)

Healers from most cultures, elven, human and dwarven kept records of injuries and treatments. These were often written in an equivalent of shorthand in their languages and then later transcribed for preservation. Healers of nobility and in more prosperous communities might have their own scribes however 

These records often include an extensive visual component. Among the Noldor, training in anatomical drawing and medical drawings is a highly revered skill. Some even travel, visiting healers throughout their regions to make illustrations for their records. Records among the Sindar also include visual elements, some of them are primarily visual especially in areas without a common language. 

Pursuit and preservation of knowledge is especially valued by the Noldor though many elven cultures kept records of injuries and treatments for practical reasons; as a guide for future treatments 

The Helcaraxë saw the first of their kind for many types of injuries among the returned Noldor and as soon as it was possible these were recorded. These and the injuries suffered in the first siege at Angband became the first tomes of Noldorin healers in Beleriand.  My recent post on mobility aids goes into some early Noldor in Beleriand healing practices specifically with regard to limb damage and amputation!

Topics regarding Angband and former prisoners were certainly a sort of taboo throughout many cultures in Beleriand but records were still kept of the few survivors known to be treated by healers, this is partly why brands on Maedhros were recognized by some of the Northern Sindar who were in Mithrim. 

Records of the treatment of Maedhros, of some treatment Gwindor received in Nargothrond for long term effects of starvation, exposure to noxious substances, and poorly healed breaks, as well as sparse other survivors who made it back to encampments and allowed treatment* become some important records regarding former prisoners in Angband. Though many are purely analytical and some contain obvious bias, some contain vital compassion and humanization of these 

*many former prisoners never allowed themselves to be examined for a variety of reasons 

#the silmarillion #maedhros #noldor #sindar #hithlum #mithrim #musing and meta #post Angband #beleriand #but ever the noldor feared

[utilitycaster]

Unpopular opinion:

I have a lot of fondness for the live format of fhsy, and highly prefer the more "minimalist" editing and production styles of of seasons like acoc and starstruck. Neverafter has some really great production and some that totally takes me out of the incredible talents of the cast just acting on their own (like, you don't need to mirror Brennan in scenes to make it clear which NPC is talking, it's kind of a disservice to his years of skill in making distinguishable characters). That being said, I have a lot of fondness for how Mentopolis was handled (particularly the office lighting for Hunch omg), I think it's one of the seasons that managed its aesthetic without getting bogged down by it.

If it was logistically possible (highly unlikely), I would love another live season of d20.

Strong agree with "I'd love a new live season" and "minimalist editing is better" and "Mentopolis did manage to do more involved editing and aesthetic choices in an effective and smart way that was intelligent about its noir influences." I would go so far as to say I actively disliked the editing of Neverafter and felt it was try-hard and excessive and further muddled a season that was badly overstuffed. I think that's over (hopefully); the editing on Dungeons and Drag Queens and Burrow's End has been much more sparse and the budget instead put into where I think it should be: cool dome projections and battle maps instead of whatever Powerpoint Transition Shit was going on with Neverafter.

#answered #thespoonisvictory #opinions rating ask meme

[bearificationtransformations]

To: Énorme Inc. Research Department

CC: [REDACTED}

From: [REDACTED}

Subject: Trial 23 of Beard Hair Growth Supplement - Male Test Subject

Our team conducted the study on the effectiveness of your recently developed beard hair growth supplement on a male test subject, age 28 (Subject 23 B) . The subject showed initially a sparse beard growth pattern.  As is typical [REDACTED] used a combination of visual observation and measuring tools to track the growth of the subject 23 B’s beard. After the supplement was administered,  [REDACTED] used a digital camera to take photographs of the subject's beard before and after the administration of the supplement. This allowed for a more detailed analysis of the subject's beard growth over the period of the experiment, as well as a more accurate comparison of the before and after results. As the beard grew remarkably fast,  [REDACTED] continued to measure using the  [REDACTED]  to observe and measure the extremely rapid growth of the hair. [REDACTED]  also noted the density and thickness of the beard as it grew, and documented any changes in texture or quality. Throughout the study, [REDACTED] maintained detailed records of the subject's beard growth, including the length and thickness of the beard hairs, the rate of growth, and any other notable changes.

Results of the study indicate that the beard hair growth supplement was highly effective. Within minutes of taking the supplement, the subject's beard started to grow rapidly, resulting in a large, dense beard. The subject's beard growth was remarkable, with an increase in length of approximately 4 inches, and a significant increase in thickness and density. Additionally, the subject noted that the hairs were growing at a faster rate than normal and were of a stronger, healthier quality.  [REDACTED] also observed an increase and growth of a significant amount of body hair. New, thick, vigorous androgenic hair sprouted all over Subject 23 B’s stomach, chest, shoulders and arms.  Subject 23 B showed surprise and alarm at these changes, the subject ultimately appeared to be satisfied with the results once the growth appeared to stop. In addition,  [REDACTED] noted that head hair as well as eyebrows also appeared to grow during the duration of the study.

The subject reported feeling “confident” with his new beard, and stated that he had always been self-conscious about his sparse beard growth  However, he was also alarmed by the dense new hair covering his body. Subject told  [REDACTED] :“I’m hairy as hell!” and “I never imagined I’d be a hairy guy like this.” Following the experiment Subject 23 B also noted that his peers were shocked by his appearance but commented positively on his new beard. While Subject 23 B was initially surprised by the extensive new growth of body hair,  he reports that he is now happy with the extensive and thick coverage of androgenic body hair.  Overall, Subject 23 B reported that he is grateful for the opportunity to participate in the study. CONCLUSION:

While the rapid and noticeable effects of the supplement are impressive, we recommend that additional study is needed to assess the long-term effects of the supplement on the subject's beard growth and overall health. It is also essential to test the supplement on a larger and more diverse group of individuals to confirm its effectiveness and ensure its safety for use. The additional and very significant increase in androgenic body hair may pose some concern to marketability.

Overall, the results of this study are promising, and we look forward to further research on this supplement to better understand its potential benefits for individuals seeking to stimulate hair growth.

Sincerely,

[REDACTED] _______________ To: Énorme Inc. Research Department

CC: [REDACTED}

From: [REDACTED}

Subject: Follow-up on Effectiveness of Beard Hair Growth Supplement on Male Test Subject

I am writing to follow up on our previous study on the effectiveness of your beard hair growth supplement on a male test subject, age 28. While the results of the study are promising in terms of beard growth stimulation, Subject 23 B has recently noted some unexpected side-effects.

Several days after our experiment Subject 23 B wrote to us to report, the subject  experiencing weight gain and an increased libido. The subject reports that he has gained approximately 10 pounds since the experiment concluded late last week and noted an increased desire for sexual activity. The subject reports feeling concerned about these side effects. While we are currently investigating the potential cause of these unexpected side effects, we recommend that further research is necessary to determine the safety and efficacy of this supplement for use. [REDACTED]  We look forward to further collaboration to better understand the potential benefits and risks associated with this supplement. Sincerely, [REDACTED] _______ To: [REDACTED]

From: [REDACTED].Research Team Lead

Subject: Cease Communication with Subject 23B

Thank you  [REDACTED]  for your email regarding the unexpected side effects reported by Subject 23B. We take these reports very seriously and are initiating an investigation into these potential side effects. In the meantime, we ask that you cease all communication with Subject 23B to avoid any further potential bias or influence on the subject's reporting of symptoms. We will follow up with the subject directly to gather additional information regarding the reported weight gain and increased libido.

We appreciate your dedication to this project and your commitment to ensuring the safety and efficacy of our products. Best regards,

 [REDACTED]

__________________ (Story and Art created in part with AI, but were heavily modified by author)

[tepot]

During pregnancy, fetal cells migrate out of the womb and into a mother’s heart, liver, lung, kidney, brain, and more. They could shape moms’ health for a lifetime, Katherine J. Wu reports. The presence of these cells, known as microchimerism, is thought to affect every person who has carried an embryo, even if briefly, and anyone who has ever inhabited a womb. The cross-generational transfers are bidirectional—as fetal cells cross the placenta into maternal tissues, a small number of maternal cells migrate into fetal tissues, where they can persist into adulthood. ⁠

Genetic swaps, then, might occur several times throughout a life. Some researchers believe that people may be miniature mosaics of many of their relatives, via chains of pregnancy: their older siblings, perhaps, or their maternal grandmother, or any aunts and uncles their grandmother might have conceived before their mother was born. “It’s like you carry your entire family inside of you,” Francisco Úbeda de Torres, an evolutionary biologist at the Royal Holloway University of London, told Wu.⁠ Some scientists have argued that cells so sparse and inconsistent couldn’t possibly have meaningful effects. Even among microchimerism researchers, hypotheses about what these cells do—if anything at all—remain “highly controversial,” Sing Sing Way, an immunologist and a pediatrician at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, told Wu. But many experts contend that microchimeric cells aren’t just passive passengers. They are genetically distinct entities. And they might hold sway over many aspects of health: our susceptibility to infectious or autoimmune disease, the success of pregnancies, maybe even behavior. ⁠ If these cells turn out to be as important as some scientists believe they are, they might be one of the most underappreciated architects of human life, Wu writes. ⁠

#genetics #microchimerism #biology #pregnancy #science

[unknowablecore]

Im gonna make my single negative post about Greywaren...

I do think Greywaren suffered from Maggie kind of just wanting to be done with it. I am satisfied with Ronan/Adam's relationship personally (they got theirs) and Hennessey's arc, but otherwise it was the least successful book I think in terms of doing what I love about a Raven Cycle book. The character interactions that we got were good but a lot of it felt sparse. Unlike in The Raven King where I loved the parts that were left open or unexplained (I know this is kind of an unpopular opinion), in Greywaren it felt more skipped over than intentionally open ended and for me and quite a few things feel less fun to speculate on unlike TRK. The Lynch brothers needed more page time together, especially to reckon with all the new information we got. Mor didn't quite work for me, she was to amorphous, why is she at the barns. They kinda forgot about the question of Aurora. Declan's needed to find more of a middle ground. Ronan needed more pov time at the end. Maggie is only human and it's obvious online highly effected her writing of this book. it's mostly just too bad. I don't want to be overly negative about it or sound like I didn't like the book because I did really enjoy it and loved a lot of what we got but, yeah.

I'm just gonna try and hc around what didn't work for me and imagine all their futures sentimental and mushy going forward! :')

#greywaren spoilers #hennessey was tbh perfect #wanted more matthew at the end but.. #the epilouge was a little bit too sentimental even for my taste #but ronan/adam engagement I will take it honestly #they were always going to get married eventually

[patchun]

It's that time of year again. Yes, the time for a highly unnecessary but very detailed tier list for an obscure game that no one plays anymore. Today I bring you: the Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime CREW TIER LIST!

First of all, if you haven't played this game, let me explain some basics.

Rocket Slime is kind of in its own genre. You explore these levels where you find slimes to save and materials to gather, and eventually you get a tank, which you can use in tank battles. The stuff you found out in the levels can then be used to improve stuff like your tank HP and ammo, and eventually you unlock the ability to add more crew members to the tank to help with operations. Generally, each crew member will have a two "Tactics" to choose from, which you can switch between at any time in combat. Something like "Infiltrate and sabotage" will have the crew member try to break into the enemy tank and cause chaos, sometimes causing the ammo dispensaries to malfunction if they are successful. Or something like "Use the lower cannon" will have the crew member go around your tank and gather ammo, and then... throw it in the lower cannon. But, there is a lot of diversity in exactly how effective each crew member is within a given Tactic. And that's what I'll be exploring today.

As usual, I meticulously tested every crew member, generally comparing it against other crew members with the same tactics. My wife and I made "best of"s of each Tactic, making notes of everyone's performance, and then put everything together to create an ultimate overall tier list. Without further ado, here it is.

I'll start at the bottom.

Absolute Garbage: These crew members either have Tactics that are completely useless or are so bad at doing their job that you may as well not have them at all!

Mother Glooperior - She's the best of these, as she at least has the option to "Use the lower cannon"... she's just... incredibly... slow... at doing it. Her other tactic, "Keep everyone alive", is entirely useless, as she can only cast Miniheal on crew members that are inside your tank. The amount of times where enemies can actually successfully infiltrate your tank is so sparse, and her usefulness in those specific situations still so little, that I sadly couldn't justify putting her even in the Extremely Niche Use Tier. She does get points for cuteness, at least.

Bunicorn - It can fire itself out of a cannon for a whopping 15 damage!!(?) or it can attempt to Infiltrate and Sabotage... and probably not break down the wall of the enemy tank by the time you've passed of old age. I should probably go into how we tested Infiltrate and sabotage to explain. Infiltrate and sabotage has a crew member leave the tank, walk across that entire field, and enter the enemy tank from the front. There, they will be confronted with a wall.

This wall. They will attack this wall over. And over. And over. For some crew members, it takes maybe thirty seconds. Others, I dunno, about a minute? But for Bunicorn, this takes an ENORMOUS amount of time, because every single time it attacks, it gets its horn stuck in the wall, and has to do a whole recovery animation. If you can't even Infiltrate in the first place, then you can't really Sabotage, can you?But in Bunicorn's case, it doesn't matter. Tired of waiting, I broke down the wall for it, and it proceeded to go in and maybe destroy one panel (seen at the top right of the image above, they control various mechanisms of the tank and provide advantages for you if they're broken), then died to enemies without getting a single hit in. Bunicorn cannot Infiltrate OR sabotage, and for that reason, it is Absolute Garbage. At least it's also cute.

Curate Rollo - If you really needed to be kept alive in the tank, Curate Rollo would be the dude. He can also accompany you and keep you alive in the enemy tank. But like, the only times you would ever possibly even need this, aka the battles against Flucifer and Hooly, he can't be used. So yeah, useless.

Restless Armor - They have two options, "Infiltrate and sabotage" and "Guard your commander". Huge problem with both - this thing is super, super slow. While it may be faster at breaking the wall than Bunicorn, it takes ages for this dude to walk across that field, and once they're in, chances are they'll die before they're able to do anything, also due to their slowness. Guard your commander is a useless Tactic in general, as most of the time they'll get in your way more than protect you, seems like more often than not they'll accidentally attack you (which does damage) rather than the enemy, lol. But for Restless Armor in particular, it can't guard Rocket effectively at all, because it can't keep up with him! It's too slow!

Living Statue - Like Mother Glooperior, Living Statue has the option to use one of the cannons, but like Mother Glooperior, it is incredibly slow in doing so. Its other option is "Keep baddies out", which is probably the worst Tactic in the game ever. It sounds like it could be useful, even if just for those rare instances where the enemy team is dedicated to breaking into your tank... but ironically, that seems to be where it is most useless! I tested Big Daddy, Blubba, and Living Statue, and every time I set these guys to "Keep baddies out", and allowed baddies in... they just wandered around aimlessly doing absolutely nothing at the back of the tank! Like, what? You'd think "Keep baddies out" would have the crew members programmed to stay near the front of the tank for protection, but it almost seems as if they were programmed specifically to not work! So yes, this is a useless tactic, but it gets worse - eventually I got tired of waiting and having my tank destroyed, so I pushed my Living Statue into sight of the baddies, which finally triggered him to fight... one of them. And what did he do? Well... nothing. His attacks are so slow and have such short reach that he was unable to Keep baddies out at all. And here's the real kicker about Living Statue - it's not cute. And why would you use a crew member that isn't cute? Think about that.

EXTREMELY Niche Use: These crew members are really... not that much better than the useless members, but in very rare circumstances, they can actually do something, and do it well. Or, in one case, they provide such great comedic value that it's worth looking past their flaws. Here we go.

Mimic - Mimic's first Tactic is "Bring ammo", which, other than being not a very good tactic in the first place, it completely sucks at, because it's very slow. The interesting one is its second tactic, "Mimic a chest". Mimic will slowly hop across the field and into the enemy tank, get to the wall, and then... sit there. It doesn't even break the wall, so it can't really count as an Infiltrate and sabotage or anything. But, say somehow the wall is already broken, perhaps by you or a different crew member, then the Mimic will enter further into the tank and lie in wait. When an enemy approaches, Mimic will pounce. And the reason Mimic can be good in niche circumstances is because when it pounces, it does not stop. It keeps biting, and biting, and biting, and unless an outside force stops it, it will get at least a few kills. If it can get inside the enemy tank, it's fairly good at what it does. Might be worth shooting it out of your cannon to get it there.

Golem - It does nothing, it just provides you with a Golem that you can hop in and ride. Once in, you have a high movement speed and can easily break into and destroy the inside of the enemy tank. Once that's done, it returns to being completely useless for the rest of the battle.

Flabbot Flancisco - He has one tactic, and that's to stand there and sing, healing your tank for 20hp every 20-30 seconds. Basically deadweight, but not completely useless, as he is doing... something.

Bo - Bo is a very funny crew member. Her options are "Bring ammo" and "Follow the leader". Bring ammo is not very good, but at bringing ammo, she is the best (along with Tokyo Tom). Meanwhile, "Follow the leader" has her shadow you, napping or singing every once in a while along the way. She doesn't pick up ammo, BUT! She will attack the wall with you if you're trying to break in, and she's actually one of the strongest crew members at fighting enemies, as she has an attack with a large hitbox and very quick windup time. I never tried, but shooting her directly at the enemy might not be a bad way of using her, when she isn't supplying ammo.

Tokyo Tom - A similar story to Bo, but Tokyo Tom also has the option of “Goonin Cammoflauge” where he turns himself into a pebble, bullet or medicinal herb and hops over to the enemy tank. Once he gets to the wall, he really struggles, constantly firing off shurikens in the complete wrong direction (why?), but he did manage to break the wall down at an average speed nonetheless. Once inside, he isn’t as sneaky as he thinks he is, and performs somewhat average compared to other Infiltrate and sabotagers. Imp - This dude sucks. He can Fire Like Crazy (basically meaning he can use the upper and lower cannons) or Bring ammo, but is terrible at both of them because he CONSTANTLY trips and falls, dropping whatever ammo he was holding, and usually just leaving it there. So, why is he not in the Absolute Garbage Tier? Because he’s fucking hilarious. Every time he falls he says “Thon of a thlime, I dropped what I wath carrying!” and it’s just gold. He sucks but we love him.

Below Average: These guys are like… the RU tier of Pokemon. They can do their jobs and do it fine. But there are just, generally, much better options Swotsy - Swotsy has the options to use the lower or upper cannon. Relative to other viable cannon users, Swotsy is fairly slow at loading, and speed was generally how we judged our cannon-user viability. Somehow, the most notable thing about Swotsy is that they are really, really talented at… sabotaging our own teammates. Swotsy CONSTANTLY accidentally throws teammates into the cannon, and depending on the teammate, that can either be kind of situationally beneficial, or most commonly very detrimental to our tank’s DPS! I don’t know why it’s just Swotsy that we noticed this most with, perhaps it’s because of Blubba being one of the first teammates we use?

Baron Blubba - He can carry three pieces of ammo, which is really nice, as most crew members save for god himself and Rocket can only carry one. The problem is that he’s so slow at moving that chances are, other crew members will have already picked up the ammo he was moving towards by the time he gets there, so the amount of times he’ll actually come with three pieces of ammo when you’re using other genuinely good teammates is really low. Additionally, due to his enormous hitbox, Blubba is VERY prone to being accidentally knocked into your cannon. Thankfully, it’s not the worst thing in the world, as Blubba isn’t that bad at fighting enemies, so he can do some damage if he ends up making it to the enemy tank… but if he’s disrupted mid-flight, he’ll have to do his very very slow wobble of shame back home. We made a note that, evidently, Blubba just has a very throwable face.

Picksy - The worst of the viable “Use upper or lower cannon” users. Picksy moves very slowly until it has picked up ammo, then it moves quickly - the opposite of Swotsy, who moves quickly until they pick up ammo. But Swotsy seemed to be faster overall via testing, along with the other viable “Use upper or lower cannon” user Dracky.

Ghost - My wife and I heavily debated Ghost’s position, but I definitely think it belongs here in “”C”” tier. It can either “Steal ammo” or “Hamper their commander”, which is basically “Target their commander” by a different name. With regards to Steal Ammo, there are three crew members who can do this, and of them, Ghost is arguably the worst. Though enemy ghosts are very annoying to deal with because they’re invisible, Baddies seem to be able to sense the ghosts through this and hit them anyways. It’s still effective, just, not very. Like the others on this list. Hamper their commander meanwhile has one perk over the other “Target their commander” options (which is more or less Infiltrate and sabotage, but instead of focusing on destroying the enemy ship, the crew member will try to kill the enemy commander, possibly destroying some stuff along the way), which is that Ghost can go through the wall, making it a non issue. We tested Ghost twice with different results, but our conclusion was that Hamper their commander is effective. Honestly, Ghost may warrant further investigation.

Walking Corpse - It can “Fire Like Crazy” and has average speed doing so. The gimmick of the Walking Corpse is that when it dies, it is instantly resurrected… but the only way for it to happen is if an enemy is in the ship, and it’s not great at defending, so why does it even matter? That said, it’s definitely not the worst in the world. Problem is it gets no points for cuteness.

Average: UU Tier of Pokemon. These guys are all pretty good at doing what they need to do. Some may have useless secondary tactics, but it doesn’t really matter if they can accomplish at least one of their tactics well. Because it’s so populated, I’ll try to be brief about these. Jinkster - Zooms around the tank with magic. Small and quick, has Fire like crazy so it can use both cannons. It’s small, so it’s unlikely to be knocked into the cannon by accident, but if it is, it does have the Infiltrate and sabotage tactic. With that, it’s very squishy and dies fast, but it’s also focused. It uses magic and targets specific areas. B+ tier.

Cactiball - Has “Fire like crazy”. Most Fire like crazy crew members are minimally slowed down when they’re holding ammo, Cactiball is not. Sometimes it will dance with maracas which is a plus. “Target their commander” is its other option. It struggles against The Wall, but once in, can do quite a bit of destruction, as it basically makes its entire body into an attack.

Gooshido - Steals ammo. Fun to use, but very squishy, dies quickly, and is bound to jump into enemy fire accidentally.

Big Daddy - Very fast, good at Infiltrate and sabotage. Can break down The Wall pretty quickly, and is really good at destroying the inside of the tank as well as fighting enemies. Other option is Keep baddies out, which we’ve discussed is terrible.

Hooly - Basically the same as Big Daddy, but with a smaller hurtbox and hitbox. Other option is firing himself out of a cannon… which does 15 damage. No thanks.

Mama Mia - She has Fire like crazy, which is good. Her other option is “Mum Missile”, where she charges up and then tells you to shoot her into a cannon, lol. At maximum charge, Mama Mia does 125 damage, which is big. But… she’s locked behind postgame, where you’ll likely have items that can do similar damage AND crew members doing other important things.

Wyrtle - Can Use the upper cannon or fire itself out of a cannon. When using the upper cannon, it’s pretty quick. When firing out of a cannon, it does thirty damage, which isn’t that good - but on the plus side, it has a little bit of super armor so it won’t immediately be knocked out of the sky. This would be really good if it wasn’t able to be accidentally knocked into the cannons, but for some reason, it can be.

Mischievous Mole - Can Use the upper cannon or Bring ammo. As fast as Wyrtle. When bringing ammo, it’s the third best.

Jailcat - Has “Fire like crazy” and “Infiltrate and sabotage”. It’s amazing at infiltrating, as it will always immediately jump over The Wall, completely bypassing it, and then attack the panel that controls it, thus allowing anyone else to come over. But at sabotaging? It’s really bad. It attacks slowly and dies quickly. Still, being able to bypass The Wall is more than a lot of Infiltrate and sabotage users can do. So basically it’s a good support member.

Dracky - Use upper or lower cannon. It’s not that much better than Swotsy, but it’s very cute and is trying its best. Points for cuteness put it in low B tier.

Platypunk - It has Fire like crazy and Infiltrate and sabotage. It really struggles to get past The Wall.

BEST IN CLASS: These are the best at what they do, and probably the best crew members in the game.

Goodybag - “Steal ammo” is its only ability. But god damn can it steal ammo. My wife and I created a competition between Goodybag, Gooshido, and Ghost. To do so, we stood in the upper room of our tank and allowed all three of them to act on their own, then we tallied each time one shot stolen ammo out of the tank. Here’s what that looked like: Goodybag: IIIIIIIII Gooshido:  IIII Ghost:        III …Yeah. Goodybag can instantly Zoom into the enemy tank, grab ammo extremely quickly, and carry it all the way back extremely quickly. It’s probably about as fast as one of the C tiers… while grabbing ammo from ANOTHER tank. It’s genuinely crazy. Not only that, but because Goodybag can Zoom into the other tank, you can use it to enter the enemy tank without worrying about The Wall. Goodybag will run away from Baddies, which can sometimes complicate its speed, but it also doesn’t die as easily as Gooshido and doesn’t risk being hit by enemy ammo. Of course, the effectiveness of Goodybag also depends on the ammo used by the enemy tank. Against powerful lategame enemies, Goodybag will be stealing Kafrizzles and Metal King Swords, but against early game enemies, it’ll be stealing pompoms. Also, if you’ve played Rocket Slime, you’ll understand that Goodybag isn’t exactly fun to recruit.

Killing Machine - Extremely fast movement and ammo-loading, which is made even faster if it gets hurt at all. It uses the upper cannon,but it can also Infiltrate and sabotage. Against the wall, it has average performance, it’s not great at it, but chances are if your Killing Machine makes it to the enemy tank, it’s because it was accidentally knocked into a cannon in the first place, so the wall isn't a huge issue. Not only that, but as far as “Keep baddies out”, Killing Machine is probably your best bet, even though that isn’t even one of its tactics. It will drop what it’s doing and defend your tank against stuff like invisible Ghosts, Dancing Flames, et cetera. It’s a case where an awesome design does awesome things, and ya love to see it.

Goosashi - Goosashi is interesting because he basically has three tactics. The two listed are “Goonin Ammo Strike” and “Goonin Bodyguard”. For Goonin Ammo Strike, it’s a unique ability that allows Goosashi to catch enemy ammo in the air if he’s thrown out of a cannon. A very cool ability that can really come in clutch if used well. Goonin Bodyguard is probably (?) the second best bodyguard skill after Bo’s, but as I’ve mentioned, the guard skills aren’t very good - though, it can be fun to use it at the end of the battle. What the game doesn’t tell you is that while Goonin Ammo Strike is selected, Goosashi will be set to “Fire like crazy”, and his speed and ammo-loading speed are very, very quick. So essentially what you have is a crew member that is by default, very good, but then has some pretty useful circumstantial abilities to boot.

Dancing Flame - Dancing Flame is THE Infiltrate and Sabotaguer… well, other than god. It can break down The Wall in a meager two attacks, barely any time at all, and then is quite good at combat and destruction once inside the enemy tank. If you want someone to Infiltrate and sabotage, Dancing Flame is your dude. Notably, like Hooly, Killing Machine and Big Daddy, the Dancing Flame has a higher movement speed than Rocket. The other tactic for Dancing Flame is bodyguard, once again, something that can be used at the end of battles to take down the core easier,... depending on your RNG, of course.

GOD: Reserved for the best team member in every way.

Hammerhood - I don’t know who on the Rocket Slime dev team just REALLY liked Hammerhood, but there was definitely someone like that. Hammerhood has “Fire like crazy”, where it moves very quickly and does not slow down when carrying ammo… but the crazy thing is, Hammerhood can hold TWO pieces of ammo at a time. Unlike Blubba, however, Hammerhood is just as quick-moving as the other top tiers! But it doesn’t stop there! Hammerhood’s other option is “Target their commander”. In this mode, he handles The Wall above average, and will start causing havoc. But the real kicker about Hammerhood is that when he is damaged a single time, possibly even by being accidentally (((or deliberately))) bumped into by Rocket, he will lose his hammer and go berserk, running towards the enemy ship, absolutely decimating The Wall, and being near unkillable inside. It runs around crying and flailing its arms, destroying everything in its path, be it panels or enemies. The only chance enemies have against it is to team up, and chances are by that point there will have been severe losses already. So basically, Hammerhood is the best cannon user and the best at causing destruction in the enemy tank. It’s just the best crew member. My wife theorized that Hammerhood would be able to hold three pieces of ammo… if it wasn’t already carrying its hammer. If you’ve played Rocket Slime but have never got around to trying out Hammerhood, I highly encourage it, or if this tier list has motivated you to try Rocket Slime, you know exactly who you need to collect 30 of. He can basically solo some fights.

#tumblr killed this post halfway through me making it so i had to retype all of it :d #dragon quest #dragon quest rocket slime #rocket slime #slime #hammerhood

[puellamagi101]

Introduction to Puella Magi 101- A Guide for Prospective Magical Girls.

I am well aware that Pop-culture Witchcraft and Paganism are incredibly niche topics. And in my findings, PC based practices surrounding an anime well over ten years old are even more so. But, still I find myself deeply drawn to the idea. But unlike other fandoms with luckily some semblance of practitioners and sparse information surrounding the witchy application of the ideas of the original work, I've only been able to dig up only a few posts on specifically Madoka Magica based paganism/witchcraft.

Some of this information relates to the worship of Madoka and Homura as the cyclic beings of balance, but this intends to be a much more practical guide. Outlining how one can become a magical girl, as well as touching on the paradigm I use in this pursuit. But even those posts are lacking in any real substance, I find. They're good, sure but that's an issue I often come across- with so little to go on, building a religious practice around something becomes harder and less profound.

So, I hope to rectify this lack of information as I recount my own journey to become a magical girl, and provide a guide for you all on how to do the same, as well as hopefully opening up a place for real world Puella Magi to communicate. 

Now, I know you're probably thinking- Why on earth would being a magical girl be at all alluring to you or anybody else? The entire show was about how awful and tragic it is to become one. How despair and pain is not just expected, but fated for those who undertake this path, What sane person would be creating instruction for that kind of process, or seeking to become a magical girl at all? To which I respond, what sane person would be worshiping marvel's Loki on a pillar candle with a shrine in their closet. 

We're all a little mad in this sphere, and it's okay to be a little nuts, life would be far less interesting otherwise. 

But, so more sincerely answer that question without being a snide ass, the monkey’s paw effect of contracts is exactly what intrigues me and drives me to make this guide. A form of harm reduction, if you will. To rectify a long line of stories where the girls are uninformed as to the process and that itself leads them to despair. While the forces of hope and despair must be kept in balance, which will incur a toll for any miracle you decide to bring about with your wish, at least part of your suffering won’t be because you were uninformed about what you were signing with the incubator.  The promise of a wish is a very powerful thing, and while the idea might be a foreign uncertainty to you, for others even the opportunity is incredibly hopeful.

So, if you like me, want to become a magical girl, I highly recommend you follow me here and check back from time to time to see resources posted. 

#pop culture paganism #madoka magica #pmmm #pmmm kyubey #magical girl #pcp #Pop culture witchcraft #witchcraft #chaos magic #puella magi magia record #puella magi madoka magica #chaos magick #witchblr #witches of tumblr

[cyberpunk-20xx]

about masc!V's VA

cw for general spoilers and mentions of typical-canon violence

I always find it strange that people find masc!V's VA emotionless, or even annoying or plain bad. I'm not gonna say anything about fem!V's VA because I don't pay attention at all to it cus if I do it gives me dysphoria.

I don't, on the other end, find it that strange that most people I've seen with this opinion are in fact cis men.

To me masc!V's VA is actually super emotional, but not in the conventional likeable, heroic way. Jaded and reserved at the same time. I like the VA a lot for doing what I consider great work at presenting us a character who has lived from 2050 to 2077 in a deeply fucked up world where hope is so sparse. A world that we have no idea how fucked up is, even reading about the ttrpg because to me Cyberpunk Red is much less fucked up even if it is already a dystopia.

Just as a reminder, in CP77's NC society:

Amputation without actual health concern is highly encouraged all for the sake of pure performance. And nothing else. Your physical body is socially just disposable. The only way to keep up with the world that keeps eating itself is just to upgrade, and if you don't have the money for it? Fuck you, fuck your ideals, fuck your dreams.

You get suicide baited on the regular by the fucking street advertisements.

Violence against marginalised people is at an all-time all. Sex workers have it even worse than in the real world and that's saying something on how women and queer people are treated in general.

Acid rain is normal.

The majority of the animal population is extinct in the whole world. The cattle industry has collapsed and unless you're Kerry Eurodyne levels of rich, meat is either made of worms or insects and it's not even something hidden or taboo. In fact, it's shown explicitly in ads. Real vegetables and organic food in general is scarce as well. We might, irl 2023, start to be desensitized about it because we're on the brink of the ultraliberal hell that the game is portraying, but human's civilisation started with agriculture, and cattle culture was a big fucking part of that, regardless of one's ethics and morals about meat consumption (do not clown about veganism on this post, people are allowed to value animal life regardless of this video game blurb). In various quests, namely Panam's and River's, we can see firsthand how the collapse of that industry has rotten individuals and left the land in ruins.

Even a mondial star like Kerry or a fixer queen like Rogue are just, in the end, the bitches of the corps they sold out to, and unable to fight back. In fact, they've both given up entirely until V comes crashing into their life, with Johnny in tow. The fandom paints them as charismatic individuals but I really just think that's the rose-tinted glasses effect of us knowing what they used to be, when they tried, and them just being... Pretty conventionally attractive, quippy and sarcastic. But really even those two people who we are presented with as Succesful Individuals TM just... Man they just fucking suck, okay? They're miserable, they don't like themselves, they don't like who they are anymore, they don't have any speck of joy left in their lives, they're both estranged from their kids, alone, and just going on because death is scary. They're so human. They're at the top of the world and in the end they're still nothing in the face of it. Love them both so much but they're heartbreaking.

V always starts the game after having lost everything. Any other fucker in their place would have most likely finished just like a certain Heywood kid with spikey brunette hair. V is an exceptional individual for even having a chance at a second life.

V pretty much has brain cancer and is promised a painful, slow agonising death unless they basically kill themselves, and the less painful way to go is to gobble down medication but then that means giving the body up to Johnny. Johnny's first interaction with them is: violent physical assault and suicide baiting. It's hell. V is in hell. It could not be me if I were honest, I would not bother fighting it and I would not only alt+F4 from life, I would do as Johnny wishes at this point and erase us both at once.

V's so traumatized that when they lose Jackie, they're still able to function, but not enough to see a blatant trap coming. And when they have to carry Evelyn's corpse out of that tub, they don't have a breakdown, they just tank it. Which is not badass by the way, if you frame this as anything positive you need therapy yourself tbh boo you deserve better.

V's also a cold blooded murderer very easily if you want to take that path, and I'd even argue that the game makes it very hard for them to not be a killer honestly. Even the "non-lethal" optic mod doesn't work that well past a certain point. I've yet to try my hand at a pacifist run.

If you want V to be a good person, a hopeful person, someone who does not sound deeply suicidal and terribly fucked up, someone who's not used to death and treason as their daily lot, someone who's going to make you feel good about yourself when interacting with the world... I don't think you understood the game you were buying, nor that you were paying much attention while you were playing.

I'll be the first to admit have my own biases and gripes with the game's bleak looks on life, at its pretense at being "cyberpunk" when it truly only has the "cyber" part down, but at the same time I gotta give it to it, it's cohesive within its own universe and tone. V's canon, vanilla character makes perfect sense in the settings we are presented with. Masc!V's VA just does a good job of translating that.

But I guess that's not all of it, the difference between my interpretation and the one I made this post about makes sense because it is true that masc!V's VA does not act like the normal hero archetype at all, but like an anti-hero, except without the whole "charismatic leader" bullshit tone and bravado, unlike… Well, Johnny himself.

Masc!V's voice is not only not the voice of a good guy, it also fails to be the voice of a leader, of someone who's got it all figured out, of, well, the alpha male. It commits the crime of not being Good and not being Manly, at once! It even dares to be human and vulnerable at times! No wonder it gets haters lmao.

And the people I see bashing on masc!V's VA are always fucking kissing Johnny's ass for being who he is in the flashbacks, in the legends and at the beginning of the game. And that, to me, is pretty self-explanatory why I cannot relate with their opinion on masc!V's VA.

#cyberpunk v #cp77 v #v cp77 #thoughts #cyberpunk 2077 johnny silverhand #cyberpunk 2077 johnny #masc!V's VA does a good job acting someone guarded but aching for a better life #honestly I gotta check out Gavin Drea's stuff sometimes. #lotsa words to say it's a typical gamergate dudebro mentality problem i know i know #not every video game exist to make you feel like you're THE hero and THE good guy and HOW DARE THEY not cater to that! #like i get being upset about not being able to be kind. but that's not what these people are upset about #they're fussy about not *feeling good about themselves* #that's different from not wanting to be cruel. cus they don't mind being cruel these fuckers are real quick to hate on evelyn and judy #and it's NOT an accident

[coochiequeens]

First it’s baby formula and now tampons. What will the next shortage that impacts women and girls be?

People who menstruate are saying it's hard to find tampons on store shelves across the U.S. right now, as supply chain upsets reach the feminine care aisle.

"I just went to 5 different Walgreens [and] the shelves are CLEARED," said one Twitter user this past week, while people on Reddit have posted about empty shelves going back months.

The shortage stems from a combination of factory staffing challenges, transportation bottlenecks, and the rising costs of key raw materials used to make the products, tampon makers say.

CVS, Target and Walgreens said in statements to NPR that they were aware of a limited tampon supply at some stores. A spokesperson for CVS said that, in recent weeks, suppliers haven't been able to fulfill the full orders placed by the company. Both companies said they're working with tampon makers to replenish store inventory as soon as possible.

Walgreens said its shortages "may only be in specific brands while we navigate the supply disruption," but that its website is updated with the latest store-level inventory.

Dana Marlowe, the founder of I Support the Girls, an organization that provides menstrual products for people with economic hardship, says the shortage has been happening for longer than most people realize.

Marlowe says her group has seen a large drop in tampon donations in recent months. The organization received half as many tampons this year compared to the same time last year and over 60% less than in 2020.

"Our shelves our bare," Marlowe told NPR.

Procter & Gamble, makers of Tampax products, told NPR the supply problem is temporary and that "the Tampax team is producing tampons 24/7 to meet the increased demand."

P&G, which owns the biggest market share of menstrual products, said in an April earnings call that sourcing and transporting raw materials for menstrual products, as well as getting products on trucks to retailers, "continues to be costly and highly volatile."

It's another supply chain issue affecting women

It's another supply chain problem where women are bearing the brunt of the cost, as mothers struggle to feed their babies during the baby formula shortage. 

Time first reported on the tampon shortage last week, noting that it's lasted longer than other shortages, like toilet paper and cleaning supplies, early on in the pandemic. Decision-makers in the supply chain and CEOs of manufacturers are mostly men, the magazine reported.

Tampons are also getting more expensive due to inflation. A year after announcing increased prices on feminine care products, P&G said in the April earnings call that ongoing supply chain constraints led to another price hike on the products, which will go into effect in mid-July.

The average price for tampons rose by nearly 10% in the year through last month, Bloomberg reported citing NielsenIQ data, because of rising costs of the materials used. The materials that make up tampons, including cotton, rayon, fluff pulp and plastic, have been in high demand for use in masks and other medical products during the pandemic. Extreme drought in Texas, diesel prices and Russia's invasion of Ukraine also tightened the supply of those goods.

I Support The Girls founder Marlowe said that existing stigmas and taboos around menstruation make it difficult to garner national attention and action needed to solve the scarcity problem. It's one that affects vulnerable groups the most, she said.

She's met women who don't have the resources to make multiple trips to the store, she said, and have resorted to unsafe methods. "They're using cardboard and duct tape, ripped up sheets," and other unsanitary items, she said.

#Tampon #supply chain shortage #Just say woman

[imsoquarky]

Making design notes is one of my favorite things ever. I don't know why but making a list of them brings me so much joy.

I made one for MK awhile back and I'm getting the itch to do some for my own original characters. Sure my ocs do have set designs, but writing them down feels good.

Anyways. If you've never written a list of design notes, highly recommend. They don't have to be in-depth but here's some I wrote for a post-s4 MK design I haven't made yet

(Below the cut just to make sure I don't flood y'all's page or whatever)

Bodily Changes:

- Spread vitiligo to reflect new monkey markings (Dot on each upper cheek, patch covering the bottom lip to chin)

- Mullet hair

- Sideburns now reach lower and there is now sparse facial hair on his chin alongside the facial hair that was already on the edges of his jaw

-Fur covering his arms and back

- Striped gradient monkey tail

- Forehead scar running from hairline to a little below his eyebrows

- Fangsssss (Not as prominent as SWK or Macaque, more like Pigsy or Sandy's)

Wardrobe Changes:

- Sleeveless blue hoodie with one big white stripe and one small one

- Yellow Monkey King themed leather jacket (usually sensory hell, but he's got furry arms now)

- Still has the baggy, red cargo pants, but add on the overall straps that aren't being used like they should. Just decoration

- Cargo pants also have a tail hole now

- Headband is stitched up down the center, got damaged in the fight with Azure.

- Now wears sandals and goes barefoot during training

Other changes:

- His ears can twitch now, tho they still appear human. Hearing is also more sensitive, but not anything like Wukong and obviously nowhere near Macaque's

- Nose is also more sensitive, again, not quite like Wukong or Mac

- Is actually a bit faster than Wukong now, though SWK still far surpasses him in sheer strength and stamina

- Deals with migraines and meltdowns more often due to the higher senses and after effects of fucking HEADBUTTING A SWORD

- Still has human feet, but they're slightly bigger and he's more in control of their movement and can pretty reliably pick stuff up. This makes close-toed shoes very uncomfortable now

A few extra MK hcs that aren't listed here and didn't really change:

Transgender FtM (He/Him)

AuDHD

Pansexual

(All subject to changes or additions as I see fit)

Tbh, if enough people find this interesting I'll do them for all the characters. Even ones I may never draw, like Sandy (I LOVE him, but he's such an intimidating character to draw, muscles are strange and I still struggle with drawing my Red Son design.)

I'll also do non LMK characters, from basically any of my fandoms. These are so fun to me. It's my happiest form of feeding my hyperfixations when Im dealing with art block or just a lack of time.

#lego monkie kid #lmk #lego monkie kid mk #lmk mk #qi xiaotian #lmk qi xiaotian #clem's rambles

[fantasy-things-and-such]

Kingdoms and Nations: Tarn and The Cradle

this is a nation from my WIP, sunset. i thought I'd post about something while i procrastinate on chapter one so here's this.

Tarn(The Queendom of Tarn)

Tarn is a large nation located in the northeast section of Cirra. the largest of the three human nations, Tarn boasts a powerful military and rich culture among its five provinces, spread across the vast hills and valleys of northern Cirra. Primary religion: Wendarran Primary dialect: Tarran Currency: Coin(known as Chits) population: ~150k Tarn is well known for its military might. their infantry battalions are highly effective and efficient, and the elite Ahri Knights are aided by Spirit Reliquaries on the battlefield. Tarn has a healthy alliance with its neighbor Kingdom of Kjer'ag and is at war with the Fae.

The Ahri Knights

the Ahri knights are the Elite force of tarn. undergoing four years of military training(compared to the infantry's three), the Ahri are the wielders of powerful Reliquaries forged between them and a Spirit During the Lantern Rite. the Spirit becomes a weapon or another piece of equipment that is best suited for the Knight. Additionally, Reliquaries grant them power. the most common example is Elemental control(ie fire, water, ice, metal, etc), although most Knights gain a unique ability or a variation of known ability. for example, *picks side character at random* Cherevouse's Reliquary grants her sound control. sometimes these abilities

The Cradle and Spirits

The Cradle is a canyon near Central Tarn that spans roughly twenty miles, through which a Leyline passes. surrounded by sparse woodlands, the Cradle is home to a race known as Spirits, humanoid creatures who naturally absorb magic around them(like photosynthesizing, but with Magic instead of sunlight.) Spirits value companionship and loyalty over material wealth. Spirits(sometimes known as Fairies) are, for the most part, shorter than humans, standing at an average height of 5 feet.

Primary religion: Velaran Primary language: Faen currency: none Every year, the Spirits, as part of an agreement with Tarn, allow Tarran Knights into the forest and prove their worth to the Spirits. Ahri Knights will take up a Faelantern, a magic flame that can part the mists around the Cradle. All spirits willing to bond are attracted to the flame and will attempt to take the Lantern from the knight by any means. Knights will bond if they survive until dawn, where a Spirit will choose a present Knight.

That's a little bit of information on Tarn and The Cradle. i know its not the most detailed, but i can't add *too* many details without spoiling some things. Feel free to ask me any questions you may have and ill do my best to answer. Cheers!

#oc #oc wip #writing #writeblr #writers on tumblr #writerscommunity #writers of tumblr #writers #worldbuilding

[lublas1138-blog]

The Star Wars

The following is the first chapter of a novel I wrote based on the original treatment of Star Wars in 1973 by George Lucas. Though the synopsis was vague, the novel was fun to write and I think it came out quite well. I submit it here because there is no way Disney will allow me to publish this. So, enjoy and tell me what you thought? I will be publishing a chapter each week.

In the 33rd century.

the Jedi-Bendu were the most feared warriors in the galaxy. For over one thousand years, generations of Jedi-Bendu perfected their art as personal bodyguards of the emperor. they were the chief architects of the invincible imperial space force that expanded the galactic empire across all known worlds, from the celestial equator to the farthest reaches of the great rift.

Over time, ruthless trader barons, aided by crime syndicates driven by greed and lust for power, replaced enlightenment with oppression and ‘rule by the people’ with brutality and domination.

it is now a period of civil wars. The Empire is crumbling into chaos and lawless barbarism expands throughout the million worlds of the galaxy. seventy small solar systems have united in a common war against the tyranny of the Empire. The Emperor realizes one more such defeat will bring a thousand more solar systems into the rebellion and imperial control of the Outlands could be lost forever…

From The Journal of the Whills, vol. 5

CHAPTER ONE

A PLANET IN PERIL

In the cold and airless void of sidereal space orbited a spherical planetesimal nestled within an asteroid belt of the binary star system Kepler-427. The celestial body, designated as Aquilae, attained a diameter of slightly over 2,370 kilometers. Aquilae was the belt’s fourth-largest asteroid by both volume and mass.

   Its rotation was slow, taking nearly twenty-seven hours to complete in a single day. Though the asteroid’s journey around its twin suns was less circular, its perihelion remained at a similar longitude with an orbit reaching out to the extreme edge of the asteroid belt; nearly crossing the path of Guataubá, the systems gas giant.

   Aquilae orbited an average distance of eight million kilometers from a set of yellow binary G1 and G2 stars. Both colossal suns orbited a common center with peculiar regularity and Aquilae circled them far enough out to permit the development of a stable, if rather arid, climate.

   Long terraformed before the Great Revolution, Aquilae attained a rugged, if sparse, ecosystem of vast prairies and low rolling hills consisting of resilient steppes of needlegrass, wild asters, coneflowers, clovers, and wild indigos.

   Outfitted with an atmosphere factory and gravity bell, the asteroid maintained a parched climate colonized by stalwart farmers and ranchers.

   Though mundane in its appearance, Aquilae was known more for its production of a psychotropic narcotic. An exceptionally addictive hallucinogen manufactured from the esoteric fungi labeled sphongos azul – commonly referred throughout the galaxy as Aura Spice or simply Aura.

   The benefits of Aura consumption increased the efficiency of human metabolism and streamlined the consumption of energy from food. Bulky supplies normally required for long space voyages could now be reduced to a container or two, permitting cargo holds to be used for other base necessities.

   On settlements struggling to provide agricultural goods to an ever-demanding population, the dietetic effects of the narcotic were a welcomed relief.

   Found and harvested only on Aquilae, the fungus was a commodity in great demand. A demand the emperor highly desired to control and extort.

   Following the failed attempts at several diplomatic negotiations, the emperor considered it necessary to take spice production by force. By imperial decree, he ordered a blockade of the planetary system by use of a T-67 Battlestar.

   Orbiting the asteroid, the looming station was an impressive metal sphere measuring one hundred kilometers in diameter with three hundred and forty-two internal levels and a surface area of over 650 square kilometers.

   The station’s command bridge, the Combat Information Center, was located above the Northern Polar Command Sector, a series of towers and antennae array that jutted up out of the station’s northernmost point.

   The equator housed docking and hangar bays, tractor-beam generators, turbo laser emplacements, and mooring platforms for ships of the fleet. Magnetic seals and an atmosphere-containment projector kept the station’s internal atmosphere in and the vacuum of space out.

   The outer hull was made of quadanium steel plates. A habitable crust several kilometers thick featured an entirely man-made atmosphere composed of command centers, armories, maintenance blocks, and other requirements for a fully operational space station. With the exception of the crust, the interior space was largely uninhabited and housed the hypermatter reactor, hyperdrive, and the Hubble Drive Yards sublight engines.

   The station was equipped to easily house a crew of fifty thousand personnel along with ten legions of Imperial stormtroopers.

   On the asteroid, from its capital city of Utapau, the ruling government of the independent system, the noble House Organa, retaliated by launching an aerial fleet of deadly Y-wing fighters.

   The Cantwell-74 Y-wing consisted of a wedge-shaped cockpit connected to a reinforced central section fitted with strong pylons that extended to the long and powerful engine nacelles on either side of the craft. The pressurized cockpit seated a pilot and a gunner. The gunner, who manned the rotating blaster cannon, sat protected by a transparisteel bubbled canopy directly behind the pilot.

   The aerodynamic craft was heavily armored with a titanium-reinforced hull. For weaponry, the starfighter craft was fitted with two forward-firing laser cannons. These weapons, designed to penetrate battle cruiser hulls, could inflict devastating effects.

   The Y-wing was capable of unleashing a tremendous amount of firepower, especially when attacking in groups.

   Fifty of these sleek spaceships soared up over the curving horizon of the rust-colored asteroid in v-formations of five each.

   In an orange flight suit and black oxygen mask, the squadron commander sat behind the cramped controls of his space fighter.

   “Lt. Pyter Barnell – GHOST RIDER” had been stenciled on the side of his space helmet. The commander was lean, hard, athletic. The archetype space fighter pilot. His stern face was obscured by a space helmet, the lights of the complicated control board reflected off his visor.

   Directly in front of the fighter’s control stick, two CRT screens displayed data. The bottom screen revealed a radar sweep. Wedged between the instruments was a snapshot of a pretty young woman with a two-month-old baby.

   The tense apprehension of the looming battle was shrouded by the silence of space. Only the muffled whine of rocket engine sounds could be heard in the tight cockpit. The squadron commander – with the call sign Ghost Rider - remained calm. Cowboy, his ventral gunner in the bubbled turret, sat behind him.

   With a thick gloved hand, Ghost Rider turned the dial on the interplanetary radio and the cramped cockpit was filled with static followed by an elderly voice.

   “…we will not yield! Aquilae is a member of the Alliance of Independent Star Systems. Imperial occupation of our space is a violation of General Order 329 subsection twelve of the Intergalactic Edict. Withdraw that battle station from our air space or House Organa will be forced to retali-…”

   The voice suddenly fell silent and the speakers filled with static.

   Ghost Rider flipped another switch and said, “They cut off all interplanetary communications. All right, boys, that’s our cue. Squadrons five, nine, and three, follow me across the station’s axis and take out as many turrets as possible. Greyhound, ward off any bogies dropping planet side.”

   The squadron commander glanced out his cockpit window and called back to the gunner sitting behind him at his bubbled turret, “Activate targeting computer.”

   Cowboy answered with a thumbs up and, “I got your six.”

   As the small and sleek Y-shaped fighters darted toward the ominous Battlestar, the cockpit of the squadron commander became a static cacophony of UHF transmissions from the other pilots.

   “Ghost Rider, this is Greyhound, continue your vector zero niner zero five alpha.”

   A young voice crackled over the speakers, “Ghost Rider, this is Fahrenheit, we have unknown contact inbound. Vector zero three zero for bogey.”

   Almost immediately behind Ghost Rider, he heard the targeting computer beep and Cowboy’s response, “Contact. Multiple bogies at one-fifty. Forty-five hundred knots closure.”

   Ghost Rider glanced out the cockpit and saw one hundred tiny objects swarm out of the equatorial docking ports like wasps from a nest.

   “TIE fighters!”

   The P-s4 Twin Ion Engine fighter was one of the most recognizable symbols of the power of the Galactic Empire and was at the forefront of modern Imperial technology. A small, two-man craft, the cockpit was a blue, metal sphere attached to two large and black solar sails mounted on either side of the cockpit sphere.

   Within the cramped cockpit, the pilot and gunner sat back to back surrounded by a myriad of intricate technology.

   Due to the lack of life-support systems, each TIE pilot had a fully sealed flight suit superior to any space suit on the market.

   The fighter ships were cheap to produce and therefore manufactured in large numbers by the Empire. Their far superior performance made them adversaries to be reckoned with by any starfighter.

   The absence of a hyperdrive rendered the fighter dependent on carrier ships when deployed in enemy systems. TIE fighters lacked landing gear, another mass-reducing measure.

   The primary armament was a pair of L-S1 laser cannons and a powerful sensor suite. The cannons were formidable, and a well-placed hit on a starfighter or medium-sized transport could damage or destroy it.

   The silent darkness of space was lit up by the incandescent flak fire of battle as the two opposing fighter crafts soared headlong into one another. Within a matter of seconds, the battlefield was spotted with puffs of smoke, blazing fireballs, whirling spark showers, fiery spinning debris, rumbling implosions, shafts of light, tumbling machinery, and space frozen corpses.

   In the cockpit of Ghost Rider, the console lights glowed dimly on the windscreen as his ship rocked and shuddered by the flashes of exploding blaster fire.

   Unknown to his fellow squadron pilots, Ghost Rider realized this was deemed a suicide mission from the start. The goal was not to win, but to stall for enough time for the royal house of Organa to escape and seek safety elsewhere. As he watched his squadron picked off one by one, he only hoped old General Skywalker could safely deliver the young princess along with her mother and father to their hidden fortress.

In a monolithic tower located at the very north pole of the station, the main Combat Information Center was a drone of scurrying activity. Long rows of monitors and wall-sized viewscreens displayed the chaotic battle outside and scrolled statistics on how to attain the best and most effective victory.

   Lights blinked and beeped on consoles as officers sat hunched over their stations observing the space battle in a cavernous chamber of grey metal and titanic power conduits.

   Admiral Wilhelm Tarkin, Governor of numerous outlying Imperial territories and commander of this particular T-67 Battlestar, stood at the large, circular viewport with hands behind his back.

   In his late sixties, Tarkin was a tall cadaverous man with a form borrowed from an old broom and the expression of a quiescent piranha. His lanky torso was meticulously fitted into a fascist military uniform of jet black. The only color on his uniform was the assortment of war medals pinned to his chest. With a furrow of arched brows, he scrutinized the spectacular aerial battle several kilometers away with intense interest.

   His complete attention focused on the space battle outside, Tarkin nonchalantly raised a small plastic inhaler to his thin and chapped lips and, with a slight click of the mechanism, injected an aerosol puff of Aura into his lungs. Instantly, every object snapped into focus. For a brief second, he was one with the universe. Everything was as clear as glycerin.

   Behind him, a uniformed officer stood from his console and, with a slight bow at the hips, said, “Admiral Tarkin, I just received a short wave radio transmission. King Bail Organa has ordered for the entire House to evacuate to their hidden fortress. He is estimating the plan one hour for completion.”

   Enraged, Tarkin spun and pointed a gnarled and twig-like finger, “Deploy all bombers!” He ordered in crimson-faced fury. “Lay waste to every capital city! Let nothing survive!”

   “Gen-genocide, s-sir?” The officer meekly stammered.

   “Everything!” Tarkin screamed, spittle flinging from his insipid slit of a mouth. “I want that asteroid reduced to a burned-out cinder! It will serve as a deterrent to other star systems who dare oppose the emperor!”

As the chaos of battle echoed throughout the void, the pilot to Y-Wing 5, young Lt. Joffry Santos – call sign Fahrenheit – piloted his fighter through a wall of orange blaster flak just in time to glance fifty TIE bombers roar out of the station’s equatorial hangar bays and, in tight formation, nosedive toward Aquilae.

   “Ghost Rider, this is Fahrenheit. Ghost Rider, one one seven. Contact off port multiple bogeys, zero zero niner at fifteen hundred kilometers, seventeen hundred knots.”

   “Maintain position.” Ghost Rider ordered.

   “Chief, their calculated trajectory is the palace at Utapau!” Answered a voice.

   “Surface artillery will do their job so we can do ours,” was Ghost Rider’s calm response. “Keep those TIE’s off our tails. We are making our power dive. Concentrate firepower onto the station’s reactor conduits. Watch our six, Fahrenheit.”

   “Copy that,” was the static-infused reply.

   With TIE fighters and florescent bursts of flak zipping past, Ghost Rider and ten of his squadron plowed through the blasting Imperial fighters and soared downward, skimming along the industrial complex of the massive space station.

   Powerful blaster cannons mounted on towers rained deadly laser bolts onto the zig-zagging craft.

   “Cowboy! Take out that cannon at four o’clock!” Ghost Rider ordered through gritted teeth. Out of his peripheral, he saw two more of his wing disintegrate into fireballs.

   Three cannons to his right exploded into a spectacular display of incandescent fire. Ghost Rider skillfully piloted his sleek fighter past floating debris, shrapnel, and bodies.

   “There’s too many of them!” Said a static voice over the intercom. “We’re sitting targets with these guys! They’re killing us!”

   “What are your orders, chief?”

   “We’re no match for this kind of firepower!”

   “We won’t last much longer. Squad is down to thirty percent and rapidly dropping!”, blurted another voice, it was Fahrenheit.

   “Issue a retreat, sir! We must retreat!” Cried another voice.

   “Remain vigilant!” Barked Ghost Rider, “We must hold our positions to allow the King and Queen time to evacuate! The empire wants to take our home! Take our way of life! Take away our freedom!” He glanced at the photograph on his console, “We must win for our families, for our children! With me, men! For House Organa!”

   “For House Organa!” Came the response of the remaining pilots.

   With that, the Y-Wing squadron flew low over the infrastructure of the immense battle station releasing a barrage of blaster bolts across its hull. As the pilots skillfully flew through the fire storm they created, the very base of the station shuddered in the volley of enormous explosions that tore open its keel.

Down below on the arid surface of Aquilae, a stout farmer stood next to his silo scrutinizing the stars with his electro-binoculars. With intense wonder, he watched as vivid flashes erupted around the glinting, metal sphere that hung suspended far up in the night sky.

   A battle? Way out here? He thought to himself. Who are they fighting?

   Suddenly, the night was lit by the blinding flare of several atomic mushroom clouds sprouting across the landscape.

   In a flash of complete shock, the farmer froze in astonished horror as his shadow was burned into the side of the concrete silo and the farmer was reduced to ashes.

   Like the Valkyrie of old, TIE bombers soared across the night sky, illuminated by the orange burst of over one hundred atomic bombs dropped across the craggy landscape.

General Luke Skywalker stood on a low bluff under a sea of stars looking out into the arid prairies of Aquilae. Amid the dull and distant booming on the horizon, with sad resignation, he sighed. He was feeling his age. Though, even at sixty, he retained the vigor and strength of his youth.

   The general was a tall and powerful-looking man with ruggedly handsome features. He wasn’t muscular but held the bulky physique of a seasoned prizefighter.

   On an angular head was strapped a leather flight cap open at the top that exposed a shock of silver hair parted on the side and a white, close-cropped beard covering his stern jaw.

   He was outfitted in the uniform of the Jedi Bendu – an ancient warrior class who protected the royal clans of the galaxy through a code of honor and justice. Over a dark blue shirt, he bore a chest plate of chrome that bore the heraldry of House Organa: a crescent moon with two stars. A pair of khaki jodhpurs ended in knee-high black leather boots. Attached around his waist was a leather scabbard that held both blaster pistol and a cylindrical baton a little over thirty centimeters in length that consisted primarily of a short, thick handgrip with a couple of small switches set into the grip. Above this small post was a circular metal disk barely larger in diameter than a spread palm. The reverse side of the disk was polished to mirror brightness.

   The laser sword was his father’s, killed in battle defending House Organa during the early Revolution. His father and his grandfathers had served House Organa for over eighty generations.

   He was the first to fail.

   With pained trepidation, he slowly pulled his thick blue cloak around his torso. Once pristine, it was now tattered and singed.

   The general adjusted his dark goggles over steel blue eyes as the far horizon was lit up by a blinding flash of an atomic detonation to the southwest.

   Five, he said to himself, that was five within the last half hour.

   Around him at every point of the darkened horizon, the tell-tale remnant of an atomic mushroom cloud dissipated into the tepid night.

   He swallowed in a dry mouth. His face, though weathered and lined from being subjected to a myriad of exotic climates, remained stoic. His lined face revealed the thoughts of the sixty-year-old Jedi Bendu: broken, hopeless, and beaten.

   He recalled how he entered the cavernous throne room in Utapau less than two hours prior. He hurriedly marched along the red velvet carpet past monumental marble columns of white to the grand steps that led to a great throne cut from a single emerald.

   King Bail Organa sat on his throne surrounded by twenty of his retainers. A strong-looking man in blue and black robes of velvet and silk. A crown of gold sat atop a square head of black hair with grey on the sides. He sported a trimmed goatee on a handsome face.

   The king rose as the general was striding across the throne room. Extending his bejeweled hand, an elegant and matronly woman in fine silks took the king’s lead as they began to descend the stairs. The beautiful woman was his loving wife, Queen Breha Organa.

   Skywalker stopped and bowed curtly at the hip, “My grace, you ordered the evacuation of the city?”

   At the base of the steps, the king said as he met Skywalker’s stern gaze, “General, my SkyHopper is awaiting you on the landing pad.” Skywalker noticed the look of absolute tense horror on his wife’s face as the king continued in a voice laced with grief, “Retrieve my daughter and safely escort her to our hidden fortress beneath the palace.”

   A platoon of armored Aquilian Rangers marched in and stood at attention to the left of the king. It was at that moment Skywalker understood the severity of the situation.

   Skywalker stood immobile and said, “My King, you are my responsibility. I will first see that you and Queen Breha make it to the safety of the hidden fortress. Afterward, I will then…”

   Outside the palace, the klaxon of an air raid siren began to wail. The knot of terrified retainers huddled together behind their king and queen nervously glancing toward the domed ceiling.

   “No!” The king stated curtly; his eyes moist in tears. “My daughter is your only responsibility! Now, go! That is a direct order, General!”

   With a bow at the hip, the general raced out of the throne room to a small landing pad adjacent to the palace tower. The SkyHopper was a two-seater pod with two fins, a dorsal wing, and a single rear rocket. The king generally used the craft for quick trips between outlying settlements or for holiday diversions. The maintenance crew barely had time to get their distance before Skywalker lept into the cockpit and rocketed east toward the Royal University campus.

   The moment Skywalker landed his craft on the palm tree lined square outside the Great Hall of the ancient Academy; the air raid sirens began to wail. Students and faculty flooded out of the antiquated halls. Amid the confused throng, the general spotted the princess.

   “Your Highness!” The general called. He approached the princess, “We must return to Utapau immediately. Your father has ordered you to join him and your mother in the hidden fortress.”

   Princess Leia Organa, at sixteen years old, retained a form both slender and delicate. Every graceful movement and every knowing glance revealed her royal upbringing. Without question, she was noble born.

   “What seems to be amiss, General Skywalker?” She asked in well-educated and enunciated tones. Her voice was smooth and comforting.

   “Your father believes the empire is about to attack Aquilae, Your Highness.”

   Still clothed in a nightgown of white whisper-lace and silk, the sixteen-year-old princess said with discerning anxiety mounting her delicate features, “Then let us make haste to the palace, General Skywalker.”

   Secured in the SkyHopper, the general and the princess rocketed west toward Utapau.

   Suddenly, to their right on the horizon, an atomic explosion lit up the night sky. To their west was another and then directly ahead an atomic blast disintegrated the Royal Palace and much of the sprawling capital. A powerful EMP pulse washed over the tiny SkyHopper.

   The princess screamed as the general grasped the SkyHopper’s control stick. The control board blinked off as the craft fell toward the craggy surface of the asteroid.

   The general’s thoughts returned to the immediate situation as he stood silent on the edge of the bluff. They had lost. The aerial fleet was no match for a T-67 Battlestar, that much was certain. The palace, the fortress beneath Utapau, along with every living person within, had been reduced to charred ash. His wide shoulders sunk. House Organa had fallen. They had lost.

   He heard her muffled sobbing behind him. The general turned and saw the princess sitting against a boulder, her delicate hand up to her mouth and grieving the death of her mother and father.

   How he pitied her. A great wave of sadness rushed over him as he scrutinized this tormented and grieving young girl. He walked over to her and knelt on one knee with head bowed.

   “I am sorry, Your Highness,” Skywalker said, the sadness apparent in his gruff voice. “I have failed House Organa. I have failed you.”

   The young princess turned her tear-streaked face to the melancholy general, “No, my chieftain, you have not. There was nothing you could have done to save my mother and father. They foresaw this attack and prepared for it.”

   “Prepared? For what? Look out there!” He extended an arm out into the persecuted night. “There is nothing left!”

   She placed a delicate hand upon his scruffy chin, causing the general to meet her gaze.

   She said, comforting, “There is hope, General.”

   Tears began to run down his rugged, soot-covered face, “Hope? How is there hope, Your Grace? All is gone. The Empire had taken House Organa by surprise and dealt its death blow. How is there hope?”

   She gently smiled a warm smile that reminded him of her mother. “You served my father and his clan for so long and, at this most catastrophic of times, doubt his resourceful intelligence, my chieftain? My father suspected of this treachery from his last transmission with the emperor.  You will find one kilo of raw Aura Spice in the back of that fallen SkyHopper. I noticed the micropack when we fled the University.”

   The general rose and walked over to the wrecked SkyHopper. Leaving a long skid in the sand, the craft was a twisted and torn wreck. It lay on its side against a rising bluff, one tattered wing pointed toward the clear and starry night.

   Behind the passenger seat was indeed one chrome canister. Skywalker opened the lid to reveal it packed with the incandescent blue of the unrefined mushroom. An overpowering musky scent assailed his nostrils.

   He retrieved a leather satchel that lay next to the canister and opened it. In the bag were one hundred ampules of refined spice. Small, chrome aerosol injectors ready for consumption. A fortune on the black market.

   He grabbed the satchel and the small harness attached to the canister, holding them up to the princess, “This is enough to purchase an entire moon. Why? Why did your father leave you this?”

   The princess continued, “It just may be the last living Aura on the entire asteroid. The emperor has long threatened Aquilae to rob her of her spice. The scientists in my father’s employ had designed a virus that would kill all fungus on the asteroid if the empire should attack. They did and forced the hand of my father. He ordered all spice crops across Aquilae to be destroyed. Our clan may be in ruin, but there is hope, General. If we can get to Ophuchi, my uncle there will help us.”

   General Skywalker remained silent, pensive. His mind reeled. Was all spice on the asteroid gone? He inspected the satchel. He found a holodisc. It displayed the royal crest and was addressed to him. He approached the princess holding the bag and canister in his arms. She stood. Her white, tattered gown blew in the gritty and dusty breeze.

   “You, my princess, you are our last hope,” Skywalker said with finality.

   Leia clasped her thin white veil of satin about her small frame. With head held high, she stated in formal tones that belonged to her father, “Once again, my General, House Organa calls upon you for assistance. We must find a way off-world if our clan is to survive.”

   Placing a gloved fist to his heart, General Skywalker bowed and stated in earnest, “Princess Leia Organa, from this time forward, my existence is the sole safety of you and the continuation of House Organa.”

Far above, the battle in space raged. Admiral Tarkin stood at the large viewport. Flashes of yellow and orange danced across his bony face as he scrutinized the systematic destruction of House Organa and its pathetic areal fleet. Across the surface of Aquilae blossomed the atomic destruction he had ordered.

   A sly smirk crossed his cadaverous face, “Lieutenant?”

   An officer approached and bowed at the hip.

   Tarkin took a shot from his inhaler then continued, “I wish to see the look on King Bail Organa’s face when our occupational forces take siege of Utapau and the palace. Deploy the stormtroopers. Prepare my shuttle. I shall lead them when they march onto the palace.”

   The officer bowed, “By your command, Admiral Tarkin.”

Near the equator of the space station, the metal hallways buckled and twisted as the battle outside raged. Repair crews scrambled to extinguish fires and fortify girders as platoons of white armored stormtroopers hurried to their waiting transports.

   Another distant explosion shook the station – certainly not distant enough for the two maintenance robots assigned to prep Admiral Tarkin’s shuttle.

   Designated as R2-D2 and C-3PO, the rumbling concussion bounced them around the narrow corridor like bearings in an old motor.

   R2-D2 was a short, cylindrical robot with three, squat and thick legs. His legs ended in stabilized treads that allowed him to scurry about with easy headway. On both sides of his torso jutted two clawed arms as well as two more tucked away at the front of his chassis. Atop a dull chrome dome, the robot’s face was a mass of computer lights, surrounding a radar eye.

   In contrast, C-3PO was a tall slender robot of burnished copper. Attaining a human-like framework, his metal casings were crafted with a distinct art-deco design.

   Glancing at these two, one would suppose the tall, humanlike machine, C-3PO, was the master and the stubby, tripodal robot, R2-D2, an inferior. While C-3PO may have scoffed at the suggestion, they were equal in everything save mobility. Here C-3PO was clearly superior.

   Another fiery explosion rattled the corridor, throwing C-3PO off balance. His shorter companion had the better of it with his squat, cylindrical body’s low center of gravity well balanced on thick treadmill feet.

   R2-D2 glanced up at C-3PO, who was steadying himself against a corridor wall. Lights blinked enigmatically around a single mechanical eye as the smaller robot studied the battered casing of his friend. A patina of metal and fibrous dust coated the usually gleaming copper finish, and there were some visible dents - all the result of the pounding the battle station they were on had been taking.

   Accompanying the last attack was a persistent deep hum that even the loudest explosion had not been able to drown out. Then for no apparent reason, the basso thrumming abruptly ceased, and the only sounds in the otherwise deserted corridor came from the eerie dry-twig crackle of shorting relays or the pops of dying circuitry.

   Explosions began to echo through the battle station once more, but they were far away from the corridor.

   C-3PO cocked his smooth, humanlike head to one side. The imitation of a human pose was hardly necessary - C-3PO’s auditory sensors were fully omnidirectional - but the slim robot had been programmed to blend perfectly among human company.

   This programming extended even to mimicry of human gestures. In which he did as he flailed his metal arms as he followed his smaller companion down the smoky corridor.

   “This is crazy! We have to get off this station before we are reduced to atoms!” C-3PO declared in a panic.

   “You are the one who’s crazy!” R2-D2 shot back. “You want to jump ship and evacuate? We have a mission to do! You are in violation!”

   “What’s the point of threatening me with violation when no one will be around to enforce it, you short-circuiting bucket of scrap!”

   “No need for unpleasantries! Let us complete our mission and worry about what is next afterwards!”

   “How did I get stuck with you?” The slender robot uttered, shaking his head.

   R2-D2 stopped at the entrance to Admiral Tarkin’s hanger. He turned and faced C-3PO, “Feeling is mutual. You complain too much. Always have. Go back to command and tell them you weren’t in the mood to prepare Admiral Tarkin’s shuttle. Go ahead. I’ll wait.”

   Without allowing C-3PO time to retort, the little robot spun on its treads and darted uncaringly into the hangar.

   “You’re going to cause me to bust a fuse! Switch off! I can do this on my own! Why do I need a servomech’s assistance, anyway?” The copper robot asked.

   “I can prime the fusion cells, you are programmed to not.”

   “Fair enough!” C-3PO shot back, “But do not think a minute I will not report you for malfunction the moment we return to automaton maintenance when our mission is done.”

   “Whatever, buzz rod.”

   “The audacity!”

   The two bickering robots entered the cavernous hangar and made their way to Admiral Tarkin’s streamlined personal shuttle. Several maintenance crews dashed about attaching fuel lines and power cables. Two armored stormtroopers stood guard at the ship’s hatch.

   The commanding stormtrooper curtly nodded approval at the two robots as they hurried past and up the ramp into the shuttle’s two-seated cockpit. R2-D2 plugged a clawed arm into the command console as he began to switch levers and turn dials with his other three arms.

   Sitting in the pilot’s seat, C-3PO pushed several buttons as the ion reactor began its deep hum. He looked at his counterpart, “You know, we should just hijack this ship and get as far from this madness as possible.”

   R2-D2 made a noise that sounded like a popping breaker, “They will melt you down to slag if anyone heard you uttering such traitorous nonsense! I certainly do not wish…”

   At that moment, a fiery explosion tore across the hangar. The two robots stared in horror as the electromagnetic field shut off and personnel and debris were sucked out into space. Another large explosion ripped through the hanger, violently knocking the shuttle across the deck, and tearing the small craft from its moors.

   “We have to get out of here! We’ll be blasted to atoms!” C-3PO yelled.

   “No! If they catch us they’ll render us down to spare parts!” R2-D2 shot back as he desperately clung to a support frame.

   “I personally do not wish to be around when this station explodes!” The copper robot grabbed the control stick to the spacecraft and, flicking several switches, shot the shuttle out of the demolished hangar and into space directly into the middle of the space battle.

   “Oh, no! It’s worse out here!” C-3PO said as he desperately piloted the craft through the chaos of exploding shrapnel.

   Without warning, a Y-Wing swooped past and shot the shuttle across its dorsal solar fin. The broken shuttle dived down toward the surface of the asteroid, trailing a spiral stream of gray smoke in its wake.

   “This is it! We’re meeting our end!” The smaller robot cried.

   “This is all your fault! Complete felonious intent!” C-3PO retorted in despair.

In the CIC of the battle station, Admiral Tarkin leered with a coy smirk outside the viewport as he watched the futile attack on his station.

   An officer adjusted his headset and listened intently to an incoming message, “Admiral Tarkin, we are receiving word that the capital city Utapau lays in ruin. A ground assault had been issued and is now en route to the Royal Genetics laboratories.”

   His unwavering attention remained on the space battle, “Issue general order 527, lieutenant. Begin a planet-wide sweep to all farms and commandeer all spice production. If any of the local farmers retaliate, kill them.”

   “Just a moment, Admiral Tarkin…” The lieutenant bent over his console, head tilted in attention, hand clasping the left headset, “We are receiving reports that the corpses of King Bail Organa and Queen Breha Organa were found amid the rubble of the palace. One servant had been captured and confessed that Princess Leia Organa was spirited away from the city by General Luke Skywalker and is now hiding in the surrounding wasteland. Their whereabouts are unknown.”

   Tarkin spun, his face crimson in rage, “Dispatch all land personnel to locate that insufferable brat immediately! I want a garrison of stormtroopers in every standing village and the remaining spaceport! Report any…”

   With a low, ominous hum, a hologram of a scowling man’s face three meters tall appeared between Tarkin and the cowering lieutenant. The man’s face was thin and lined with advanced age, made pale by the flickering cathode image. He had a predominant nose, heavy-lidded eyes, and a wispy goatee that hung limply over insipid lips. A crown of jewel-encrusted gold was perched atop a bald head.

   Instantly, all personnel, stormtrooper, and flight officers alike, dropped to their knees, placing their foreheads onto the deck with arms outstretched and palms flat on the ground. This was the custom when in the presence of the Galactic Emperor Ford Alejandro Xerxes the XII. Tarkin merely huffed a quick shot from another inhaler, snapped his booted heels together, and bowed curtly at the hip.

   “Your majesty,” Admiral Tarkin said.

   Emperor Xerxes sneered, “This campaign has floundered over budget by sixty-three percent, Admiral!”

   “We have captured the asteroid and commandeered the capital, my emp…”

   “Do not ever contradict me, Admiral! I will see to it personally you spend your remaining years in a pain amplifier!”

   Tarkin kowtowed and simply nodded.

   “I’ve been monitoring your transmissions. What is this that the Princess Leia Organa has escaped? Aided by a Jedi-Bendu?”

   “She will be found, my emperor.”

   “Indeed she will!” The Galactic Emperor snarled, “I have sent a Knight of the Sith to assist you in your efforts. He will locate your missing princess.”

   Admiral Tarkin heard him before he saw him. The raspy breathing was made even more sinister as the sound had been distorted electronically.

   The image of the emperor dissipated as Tarkin saw the knight stride onto the command center opposite of him.

   Over two meters tall. At first glance, Tarkin thought the figure was a malicious looking robot. No, the character strode on his two legs far too eloquently, like gliding across ice.

   A flowing black cape trailed from the individual with a face forever masked by a functional, if peculiar, black metal breath screen. The imposing figure was completely encased in a suit of black armor which, though black as it was, was not nearly as dark as the thoughts drifting through the mind of Darth Vader as he approached the grave figure of Admiral Tarkin.

   Fear followed the footsteps of all the Dark Knights. The cloud of evil that clung about this particular one was intense enough to cause hardened stormtroopers to back away, menacing enough to set officers muttering nervously among themselves.

   Issuing a discomforting mechanical gasp followed by a click, repetitive and unnerving from his suit, the Dark Knight halted his stride a meter in front of the Admiral.

   Tarkin was familiar with the history of the Sith Knights. During the reign of the previous emperor, he solicited their aid in exterminating the Jedi-Bendu after an unsuccessful coup. But, this particular one? He heard whispers, rumors. This Vader held the reputation of being the worst.

   Tarkin distrusted every one of them. A group of warrior fanatics consumed by a forgotten and twisted religion.

   “By Imperial decree of Emperor Ford Xerxes the Twelfth, I am here to commandeer your effort in locating Princess Leia Organa and the traitor General Luke Skywalker,” Vader said with deep and condescending tones. The Dark Knight turned to the trembling lieutenant, “Inform the public on the asteroid below that criminal insurgents move amongst them. Lockdown the spaceport. Broadcast on all frequencies any citizen assisting in locating the princess will be financially compensated.”

   With a flow of black robes, the Dark Knight turned and exited the command center. He trailed a smell in his wake like that of burnt oil and sulfur.

   With a rudimentary puff from another inhaler, Tarkin’s bloodshot eyes narrowed as he observed the armored knight and thought, How dare the emperor! We certainly do not need scum like the Sith to assist us.

to be continued...

#writers on tumblr #sci fi writing #my writing #creative writing #scifi character #novel writing #star wars