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tyrantisterror · 17 days

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While we’re on the subject of Dungeons & monsters, what are your top ten favorite D&D monsters & why?

I'm going to limit this to monsters that are either original creations of D&D or so divorced from their mythological roots that they might as well be original creations, or else this would just be me listing dragons. This is also in no particular order.

I'm gonna start with the Otyugh, because I think it's a result of D&D creating a very interesting ecosystem to justify its mechanics. You have all these artificial dungeons filled with different man-eating monsters, right? Well, what about the waste products they create? Carrion, yes, but also, you know... poop.

Well, you get Otyughs, a species that, depending on the setting, was either artificially engineered to take care of the waste products of a dungeon, or naturally evolved to clear out the waste of enormous megafauna predators like dragons. Is it mostly just an excuse to introduce yet another weird monster with a unique attack mechanic (say hello to sepsis and other infections, players)? Yeah, but it's a good excuse, it gets the imagination flowing.

I've actually played a lot more Pathfinder than D&D proper, and Pathfinder went out of its way to give Otyughs love by exploring all the aspects of their ecology that were only lightly outlined or implied in D&D, including the fact that they're technically intelligent enough to be capable of speech and reason - and thus, not necessarily a monster you have to deal with using violence alone. It really endeared me to them, to the point where Otyugh characters became something of a trademark of mine when running Pathfinder/D&D campaigns - and to the point where I ended up making up an expy of them for my own fantasy setting.

Bulettes are one of the coolest looking D&D monsters for my money, especially given that their modern designs take two inspiration from two very different animals - sharks and tortoises - and manage to combine them so beautifully to create something at once very cool and yet perfectly plausible as a "real" creature.

I love Rust Monsters for the same reason I love Otyughs - it's a monster that was made to showcase a game mechanic (namely, destroying players' weapons and armor, making sure they know how valuable those things are) and ends up creating a weird but plausible and interesting aspect of the ecology and world-building as a result. Also like Otyughs, they're very cute in a groady monster way.

Not every monster needs to have a big mind-blowing concept for me to be happy, though. Sometimes a creepy guy with a squid for a head who eats brains is enough. Mind Flayers are iconic and often imitated despite/because of being such a simple and easy to grasp concept.

Speaking of iconic monsters, Beholders feel like such an obvious cool concept that is shocking to me that they're more or less an original D&D creation - and it kind of sucks that they are, because a giant monster head with one main eye and several smaller eyes on stalks feels like it should be as ubiquitous in fiction as dragons and unicorns, and yet it can't be without paying Wizards of the Coast a shit-ton of royalties.

I will say that the lore D&D gave Beholders is pretty good, though - namely that each Beholder thinks it is the apex of their kind, and hates all other beholders for their perceived imperfections. Because beauty is in the eye of the beholder, you see. It's great, no notes, but beholders should belong to the people, not copyright holders.

I'm pretty sure Mimics originate from D&D, though I guess they just couldn't keep the idea of "a treasure chest that fucking eats you" from the people, since they appear in a lot of non-licensed stuff. As they should - man-eating treasure chests are another monster concept that should belong to the people.

I was talking about Froghemoths the other day on here but I want to reiterate that I love them despite/because of the fact that there really is no greater concept at play here than "what if there was a big fucking frog freak," and not once in the long history of this game has anyone decided there needed to be more at play than that. A big fucking frog freak is enough for all of us.

I just think this one looks neat.

D&D kobolds are in the category of "so far removed from its mythic roots that it's basically a new monster," and in that case the new monster is "scrabbly little dragon people with extreme anxiety," and I love that. Kobolds are my favorite humanoid species in D&D, and I'm glad 5th edition finally gave them a stat block that's actually playable, as opposed to previous edition's attempts, which made the prospect of being a kobold character the equivalent of having a public humiliation kink.

Finally, and also in the category of "technically named after a mythic monster it no longer resembles in almost any way," we have the Tarrasque, which went from a turtle/lion hybrid dragon in myth to a nigh-indestructible monster that's explicitly compared to natural disasters for its immense size, vast destructive power, and near inability to be harmed thanks to its armored hide and insane healing abilities. Or, in short, D&D lawyer friendly equivalent of Godzilla. How can I not love D&D Godzilla?

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egrets-not-regrets · 2 months

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Snow Sculptures

Lenora builds snow sculptures. Erriox helps. A special guest appearance is made.

Author’s note: Thanks @bleedingichorhearts for lending me Mr. Turtle Thief for this story.

OCs: Lenora, Erriox (Iron Warrior), Hydra (Alpha Legion/@bleedingichorhearts)

Words spoken in Gothic are in bolded italic font.

Tagged: @kit-williams, @bleedingichorhearts, @shadowfirecat

It had snowed significantly since Erriox went to train with his Iron Warrior brothers. The sight of Lenora’s home coming into view was a welcome one after a long march through the snowy roads. His ceramite-covered boots made sharp prints in the powdered snow as he walked up the driveway. He noticed the snow had been shoveled to the side, most of it pushed into a pile around which several snow animals had been built. There was what looked like a large lizard-like creature, two turtles, and a shark.

“Welcome back, Erriox!” Lenora’s voice called out from behind the peak of the largest snowpile.

The Iron Warrior went to where she was hidden. Lenora immediately reached down and wrapped her arms around his neck, not one to deny physical affection to her bonded Astartes when wanted, letting him pull her into his arms. She pressed her forehead against his helmet, sighing contentedly, “It’s good to see you.”

“Same to you.” His deep voice buzzed through his helmet, but it carried a similar feeling of relief. Lenora smiled and gave him a fond squeeze before she pushed off of him and scrambled up the snow pile again.

“What are you making?” Erriox asked, curious.

“A dragon climbing down this snow mountain.” She answered, her hands preoccupied with shaping the snow in front of her. Intrigued with her project, Erriox offered his help which she gladly took.

The sun was starting to set by the time they finished and were back inside for a well-deserved drink. Both of them looked out the window at their snow creation.

“It looks incredible. We should be proud of our work.” Lenora smiled at him, gently tapping her mug of hot chocolate against his. The dragon wasn’t quite as big or as detailed as he would like, but Erriox let himself enjoy the moment, sipping the sweet drink with his bonded human at his side.

The next morning found Lenora sliding out from under her Astartes’ arm as she got out of bed and opened the curtains. To her surprise, there stood another Iron Warrior in what looked like Erriox’s armor by the snow sculptures. But his armor was here in his room… Maybe one of his battle brothers? She thought. That’s strange, what business would he have here if that’s the case? She watched the Iron Warrior walk around the snow turtle and tortoise as if he was inspecting them for something. He then spotted her. Lenora tensed, but nonetheless smiled and waved. He waved back, his action really confusing her.

She jumped when a warm hand grabbed her leg, giving her thigh a light squeeze. Erriox sat up, feeling a bit bereft of the body next to him. He watched Lenora wave to someone outside the house, looking confused. “Who do you see?” he asked.

“One of your brothers. Another Iron Warrior?” she replied without turning. She paused for moment, then continued, “He has similar armor to you. He seems to like the turtle and tortoise very much.” she ended with a bemused chuckle.

The Iron Warrior outside looked back at the window where Lenora was again. Like a sea monster rising up from the depths, Erriox rose to his full height behind her, a stern frown evident on his face. Startled at being caught by the grumpy resident Astartes, the Iron Warrior ran away, a flash of teal showing on the formerly yellow and black striped pauldron for a few seconds. Erriox narrowed his eyes. He recognized that pauldron. Alpha Legion, huh. Wonder what he was doing here? Nothing outside seemed disturbed and from what he could see, it looked like the Alpha Legionnaire had mostly circled around the turtle-like sculptures. The brothers in that legion were rather mysterious and were rumored to be very… ‘odd’ was probably the best word for them. He would go check what’s going on afterwards, considering the Alpha Legionnaire ran away.

She didn’t get a sense that the space marine was being malicious or anything and to be fair, watching him inspecting the snow sculptures had been pretty entertaining. Lenora leaned back casually against her bonded Astartes, chiding him with a laugh, “You scared him away!”

“Good.” Erriox grunted. He then swept her up into a bridal carry, grinning as she let out a surprised yelp. “Breakfast?” He asked.

Lenora playfully nuzzled her nose tip to his, “How about pancakes, hm?” She grinned back as her Iron Warrior carried her into the kitchen.

#space marine husbandry #space marine husbandry sentience #iron warriors #oc: erriox #oc: lenora #oc: hydra #my writing

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tokiro07 · 2 months

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Undead Unluck ch.197 thoughts

[Rider Kick!!!]

(Contents: speculation - Haruka, thematic analysis - life)

Tozuka, we need to talk about your sense for chapter titles. It's "ready, get set, go" not "get set, ready, go." Maybe it's different in Japan?

Anyway

HARUKA DEVELOPMENT!!!

Seeing that Haruka's soul is still her child self from her original backstory, I wonder if we'll be seeing a flashback of how her tragedy was averted. Given Isshin XII's statement that Haruka's heart hasn't matured, my supposition last week that Fuuko's soul resembling her appearance from when she just joined the Union symbolizes that she's the same person at heart seems to have been correct. The shape of a person's soul is a reflection of who they are; Andy is an old soul, Fuuko is a member of the Union, Lucy is a free spirit, and Haruka is a scared child. Cowardice has been a core trait of Haruka's the entire time, and while this arc seemed to suggest that she'd grown out of that between loops, this moment implies that just because she's braver doesn't mean that she isn't scared

Presumably the circumstances of her becoming Unbreakable contributed to her soul taking that shape, a moment in her past that she can't move on from. I doubt her father died the same way this time if at all, but even if it was just the shock of seeing her grandfather die of natural causes, I could see that rooting Haruka's heart in a particular time. It would also be interesting if Tozuka uses that plot point to elaborate on why Haruka got into cobbling, what inspired her to make that choice specifically, and how her relationship with Top developed after she saved his friends. I don't know if that's a story that Tozuka is interested in telling, but it's one I'm interested in reading, for sure!

The other major element of this chapter was Isshin XII's advice to Haruka. "Use the power of those who never merely live and die." Therein lies the thesis statement for this arc and possibly the entire series: "[humans] never merely live and die." We aren't alive just because blood pumps through our veins (Victor's original view) or because we have thoughts in our heads (Andy's original view); we're alive because we can form connections, because we can leave an impact on the world, because we can create

A beast lives on instinct. A beast kills and eats to survive and breed, and one day dies so that something else may feed and survive. As UMA Beast said, beasts do not desire coexistence. I would argue that they don't desire anything, their biology simply compels them to eat and procreate, even if they don't have what we would call an "understanding" of the purpose of their actions

A human, though, can eat to survive, but doesn't have to. Eating can be a purely utilitarian experience, just a way to fuel up the body for the next day, but people don't typically do that. People cook, they maximize the taste of the dish as well as the nutritional value if they even pay attention to it in the first place, and they partake of their meals communally. We do understand the purpose of eating, but that purpose is of secondary concern to anyone outside of a life-or-death scenario; instead, the priority is to enjoy our meals, whether it's through the company we keep, the flavor of the dish, or even simply the joy of creation

And that, I think, is where Unbreakable's true power comes from. Unbreakable isn't slapping two scraps of metal together and calling it a shield, it's an artform, a craft that one dedicates their life to, the culmination of skill and pride passed down for generations. It's not enough to simply know how it works; watching a knitting tutorial on youtube isn't enough to create a beautiful quilt, you have to understand the materials and the tools and the techniques intimately

There's no pride or craftsmanship in Beast simply growing Unbreakable armor. Does a tortoise build its own shell and take pride in it, or does it simply happen to grow around an otherwise oblivious reptile? As I've said a thousand times, Undead Unluck is a series about "the proof of a life lived," and the mastering of an art, the inheritance of a legacy, is just another in a long line of angles that Tozuka has chosen to tackle this theme from

Haruka's new Unbreakable, seemingly able to reconfigure her armor to match someone else, suggests that she has achieved that mastery and pride. Unbreakable is not about rigid conformity to one shape, it's about the ability to adapt to the scenario; "the reed which bends in the wind is stronger than the oak which breaks in a storm." Beast has no understanding or appreciation of the effort that forged Unbreakable itself, much less the armor it creates, and thus does not have the pride nor conviction to allow for it to be flexible or adaptable

Beast has Unbreakable, but he does not have the spirit to create. Beast devalues that which proves that one has lived, and that will ultimately be his undoing

Until next time, let's enjoy life!

#undead unluck #fouryearsandananime #4y1a reviews

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anthurak · 2 months

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I know we hype up how satisfying it is when characters get power-ups/transformations/weapons/upgrades that have this strong thematic resonance and are closely tied into, justified by and reflect their personal narratives, arcs and development and all that.

But you know sometimes it’s just really fun when the narrative justification is ‘a bad guy dropped this cool weapon’ and ‘we are in deep shit and need whatever power-ups and upgrades we can get’ and ‘it looks really cool’. Because then you get characters decked out in these hilariously awesome mashups of gear and abilities. Or maybe you really luck out and get BOTH XD

Take this guy for instance:

His name is Leodrake, and for many long years he guarded the great sacred spirit tree at the center of the mystical Naturia Forest. Until one day, that just wasn’t enough.

So with the help of all his forest friends as well as his new buddies the magic gem-powered order of fusion knights and the magitek star fairies from space, Leodrake got an upgrade:

This is Leo, Keeper of the Sacred Tree. He is now super-charged with space-magitek armor that was crafted from the remains of an apocalyptic ice dragon that got possessed by an evil swarm virus. But don’t worry, the space fairies took care of the ‘evil’ part of that.

Unfortunately, Leo’s upgrade wasn’t enough to stop the possessed shadow dolls created by a corrupted reincarnation cycle caused by the Gem Knights and the Star Fairies having to kill God (which isn’t actually as long of a story as you might think).

So Leo got another upgrade, fusing with a gigantic rock tortoise to become Gaiastrio.

And then, Gaiastrio would team up with a powerful druid beast tamer named Lara and her Spirit Beast partner, a giant fire cat named Apelio. Which led to Gaiastrio and Apelio fusing into one, which also super-charged Lara’s own power.

And so, the three would charge off into battle for the fate of the world as Ritual Beast Ultimate Gaiapelio.

Until Leo and Apelio would ultimately fall in battle against basically-Satan, defending their partner Lara and her companions/family.

Though their spirit remains with her.

Yu-Gi-Oh card lore is fun XD

#yugioh #yu-gi-oh #yugioh card lore #yugioh duel terminal #random rambling about yugioh #naturia leodrake #help me i'm posting about yugioh card lore #and i will almost certainly be doing more #ramblings of a casual yugioh fan who has gotten WAY too deep into card lore

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2broschlininahotub · 4 months

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Meet the Ancient warriors.

You will be meeting heroes of old, legends of the past from a battle long ago.

The "Ancient Warriors" are based on the book "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and the era ascosciated with said book. Each of the three Kingdoms are represented by an element. Eastern Wu is represented by water and has a theme of white feathers. Shu Han is represented by wind and has a theme of fur. Cao Wei is ascosciated with fire and has a theme of flaming feathers. Independent is represented by dark and has no theme. All of them have an animal associated with their designs or armor.

Meet the group of Eastern wu

Sun Mou who is based on Sun Quan and the animal tied to him is the turtle and snake or the Chinese black tortoise.

Personality

A strict leader who is an amazing military strategist. A man who is diligent an collectible. He is incredibly strict and a rules lawyer. He also has the ability to read people like a book.

His problem is that he has his head so far up his own butt that it makes him blind to the opinions of other.

He is an anemo character with a unique gimmick he can't use a charge attack and cannot gain energy.

Basic attack

Scale dust strike

Hits an enemy with two slashes per single attack. The attacks count as separate hits. He has a scaling for basic attack up to 5 clicks from 1st to fifth. 200%,210%,240%, 270, 340%. Mind you he has a very fast attack speed.

Skill

Snake technique: bite

Deals 250% anemo damage and is quick slash. Grants a debuff to an enemy that increases the chance for that enemy to get critical hits by 35% and grants all allies 15% crit rate for ten seconds. It also applies 4 stacks of bleed and grants 6 stacks of blade dance

Cooldown 5 seconds

Burst

Black tortoise blessing: Scale storm dust

Requirement 10 stacks of blade dance

Sun Mou sheds dust of his armor. He then uses his sword to make a whirlwind and those dust particles become miniature needles that cuts the opponent. It hits 20 times. He then switches to another party member and that party member gains a shield whose hp is 500% of Sun Mou's elemental mastery. That party member also gains 50% of Sun Mou's attack, def, crit rate and crit dmg;and 100% of his elemental mastery.

Environment talent. Gain an ability to locate nearby enemies. They will be shown in an aura or be highlighted.

Interactions

Qiqi-with worry and concern about why a jiangshi is walking around and is on guard from first interaction. He is confused why this jiangshi is not attacking people. He thinks because she is a child and negative energy was not able to be built up as she didn't live long enough so what was left was good energy.

Xiangling- Thinks she is some sort of beast tamer.

Yelan and Ninguang- thinks they are sus or have secrets

Meet Zhou gong

His animal is a crane and he is based on Zhou Yu

He is a calm and rational man. Mostly, professional and respectful to his allies. He can be a bit narcissistic and rough around the edges. He has a hatred for betrayal. He is a strategist.

He has this need to rescue women who were kidnapped or taken as that is how he meet his wife Xiao Qiao. He also has fought with his wife in a duel in training and for her hand in marriage. He also has a very keen sense of hearing. He can detect even the smallest of imperfections.

He has a water sword but he has a charged attack that doesn't use stamina

Basic attack

Crane strike

He dashes through an enemy and strikes them from the back

1st attack 200%

Charged 350%

Skill Crane art, Feather dance

Cooldown 9s

He leaps into the air and ground pounds the enemy and that spawns feathers that when enemies touch inflict a bleed status on them when he strike the ground. These can be effected by other anemo skills like succrose or venti's ults.

Energy 4 per enemy hit

Talent effect This skill grants a bonus to allies based or debuff to the enemies depending on what type of swirl this does.

Hydro- gain 40 % elemental mastery of his elemental mastery

Pyro gain 40 % of elemental mastery

Electro enemies defense gets lowered by 40%

Cryo enemies resistance to all elements and physical gets lowered by 40%

Ultimate Whirlpool dance. Maelstrom

Energy cost 90 energy

Cooldown 10s

Ultimate sucks all nearby enemies and objects. He then inflicts bleed onto all enemies. Damage is 500% of his attack multiplied by his elemental mastery.

Talent effect

Gain an buff called blade dance when his ultimate damages an enemy, takes damage from a floating item like klee's flying bombs and feathers or triggers swirl. this buff increases all allies atk speed and lowers characters cooldown by 1% stacks up to 25 times and has duration of ten 10s

Non comabat talent-he can bargain for a lower price to shopkeepers.

Interactions

Likes

Yao yao and Xiangling-likes their energetic personalities as it reminds him of his wife and he knows these two are the honest so he tends to be relaxed around them

XinYan- He doesn't understand rock music and thinks it's too loud but understands it's purpose. He likes the fact that even if it won't be accepted she plays the music she loves. He does want her to be his student as he can sense that she has talent.

Xiao-likes his loyalty to Rex Lapis

Dislikes

Ninguang and yelan as he thinks these two have something suspicious about them.

Baizhu- thinks he is using qiqi for something evil.

Meet the faction of Shu Han.

Meet Guan Yuan

He is the ultimate bro in personality and a tenacious warrior to the people who have earned his trust. He is one of the most loyal people if you can earn his trust.

To most people, he is incredibly prideful and narcissistic. This is is his only weakness.

You can fight him as a world boss like the Regisvine. You have two ways of defeating him. You can stall him without taking any damage until the timer runs out or deal enough damage to defeat him.

There is a special achievement of defeating him solo and with no artifacts. The achievement is called " Let me solo him"

Drops are all the books with a chance to double the drops and a guaranteed chance to drop a billet. The billets are always random on week ends but you can gurantee them based on the weekday.

Monday catalyst Tuesday bow Wednesday sword, Thursday claymore Friday Spear

Meet the duo of Liu Xian and zhuge kong

Zhuge Kong and Liu Xian are based on Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang. The animal tied to them is a dragon.

Zhuge Kong is the strategist

Liu Xian is the leader.

Zhuge Kong is merciful and a hermit. He is incredibly wise. He is incredibly wise for his age to the point people want to look for him for advice. Man is good with words and is incredibly loyal to Liu Xian. There are rumors that he might have feelings for him.

There is a specific achievement if you can convince him to help yanfei win a rap competition called " Ya Boi is back"

His only two weaknesses are physical ability and he cannot be funny for the life of him.

Liu Xian is an honorable man. He is a man of virtue. He shows that even as a warlord. He has honor among them. He has a very close bond with Zhuge Kong like Achilles and Patroclus. He says that Zhuge Kong is the only person he trusts with his will

These two are a pair in combat. They take up two slots but they are treated as anemo. If it's these two by themselves they naturally have anemo resonance.

Talent Strategist's wisdom. He can activate the resonance of all party members.

These two are unique to say the least. When you build one you build the other at the same time.

We have Zhuge first as his is easier. Zhuge has no basic attack. He instead has two skills at a ridiculously short cooldown of 5 sec.

First skill tactician's advice- apply a buff to all allies when activated. Gain 2 times the energy and lower all cooldowns by 15% for 20 secs.

Second skill Snore of the sleeping dragon. All enemies get continuously sucked into circle. (Think like sucrose ult with out launching the enemies into the air) that deals anemo damage equal to 150% of his attack and all enemies within it get 10% of their shield broken no matter the type.

Talent This applies a debuff to all enemies. The debuff makes it so that anyone who has it receives 2.5 times the damage when they get hit with an elemental attack and 5 times the damage from a physical attack.

Energy

Liu Xian

He uses dual swords like Sun Quan

Basic attack Wushu strike.

Hits an enemy with two slashes per single attack. The attacks count as separate hits. He has a scaling for basic attack up to 5 clicks from 1st to fifth. 200%,210%,240%, 270, 340%.

Skill

Dragon style: 16 holes

Cooldown 10 secs

Energy 1 per hit to a singular enemy.

He strikes the enemy sixteen times. Each hit deals Anemo and physical damage equivalent to 169% of his attack. He gains a stack of honor after using this skill.

Talent each honor stack increases his crit rate by 20% and his allies crit rate by 10% max stacks can be gained up to 3 this lasts for 30 secs

These two share an ultimate double dragon lords: howling gale

Zhuge summons a giant tornado and Liu attacks each enemy inside the tornado sixteen times. Each hit does 200 of Liu Xian's damage. The tornado apply a debuff that makes it so during the duration of the tornado being activeevery element inside that tornado is not removed when a reaction is activated. The duration of the tornado being 25 secs. During duration of the tornado being active Liu Xian cannot be switched into.

Energy cost 200

Cooldown 30 secs

Here are some gimmicks both share the same stats and artifacts.

Dislike Yelan, Ninguang as they are incredibly sus.

Likes for Zhuge are

Yanfei and Xin Yan- helps understand liyue culture via music and laws.

Ninguang and Yelan-respect the hustle

Xiangling-Good food.

Dislikes of Zhuge are

None as He has yet to be given a dislike except hu tao who he sees as annoying.

Likes Liu

Xingqiu likes him as a honor but dislikes his treatment of chongyun

Beidou- likes her as drinking buddies.

Yanfei - likes her adherence and willingness to help others with the law.

Dislikes

None as He has not met someone so evil yet.

Sorry for not posting this as I was supposed to post this on Christmas Eve but I got sick and sorry keeping this in hiatus for so long as I was focused on my studies. I will send the next part for this one as later down the line as it has actual story implications and let's just say the reason the flames died was because a man who sought vengeance and become consumed by it out of the death of his beautiful wife. That and also he will become a weekly boss.

#genshin impact #sagau #genshin impact sagau #genshin sagau #yugioh x genshin sagau crossover #sagau cult au #genshin yugioh crossover #yugioh x genshin crossover

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the-monkey-ruler · 4 months

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So immortals can be stronger than some gods and vice versa, but what about demons? Besides Sun Wukong, are there demons that gods or immortals could not defeat or represented a real threat?

There are a good amount of demons that are threats to gods or immortals. But because that is such a wide question I would have to say that it depends on what novel or what mythos you are talking about.

In most cases, demons are never as strong as immortals or gods because of their lack of formal training. It is very hard to cultivate without training and thus most demons just eat humans to gain cultivation, and while still powerful, far sloppier skills than compared to a trained immortal. You would see in a lot more modern literature that demons have communities or clans while in ancient literature that is rarely the case as because demons are all abnormalities and cultivated individually it is hard for them to form clans and create communities.

I asked around and I was nicely told that the Four Perils are considered like progenitors to yaoguai. While they are not quite the same as yaoguai as they are considered either natural disasters or just malicious creatures depending on the context. They are considered the antithesis of the four benevolent creatures that are the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise. But in either case they are to be considered the embodiment of chaos and thus directly oppose heaven which is to symbolize the embodiment of order.

There are other creatures that toe the line between god and yaoguai just depending on different regions, similar to that is Shuimu niang niang who is a water deity but in Suzhou, Anhui she may be a yaoguai, while in Taiyuan, Shanxi it is believed that she was a woman who was gifted a magical whip by an old man. I was also informed that even the Four Perils, the taotie in particular, can be connected with ding due to the idea that taotie collected the offerings in ding for the ancestors and shen, and offered protection to the people.

Wukong in the demon world is very much an outlier when it comes to power scaling, he is like the Sailor Moon to anime of the demon world. There are plenty of strong demons in Xiyouji but there is always a catch, so to speak. Scorpion Demon has a poison strong enough to hurt even the Buddha, but she was taken down by Maori Xingguan who turned into a rooster her natural enemy. That is more like a glass cannon where she can do a lot of damage but not take a lot in return. Demon Bull King was pretty strong, Nezha had to cut his head off like 50 times or something for him to falter and eventually be cornered but he fell as well. Single Horned Rhino King was also super strong in that he was able to take on so many celestial warriors but that was because he had the help of his magic item. Also when they found out his origins he was able to be captured fairly quickly by his owner.

In other works like FSYY we have Daji who is more known for her cunning and manipulation than power itself but she is still considered one of the most dangerous demons to have ever lived just by how much damage she caused an entire dynasty. It is noted that in Xiyouji the more powerful demons are from heaven as they were able to get some kind of information or training while up there, but they also have the great weakness that they are still submissive to their owners when they are found out. This is the usual chip in the stronger demons armor as while more earth-demons like Red Boy or Demon Bull King must be overtaken with force.

There have been PLENTY of powerful demons that have given the gods trouble, but in most if not all mythos, they were able to be defeated by the end through some kind of chip in their armor or loophole in their magic. While there are legendary demons of great feats and fight other legendary heroes like Nezha, Jiang Ziya, Erlang Shen, there aren't any demons that like... defeated them. At least not enough that cannot come back with stronger forces and eventually overrun the demon in question. Demons can be very powerful but they always have some kind of weakness whether in their cultivation, or in their origins as depending on the demon's original species helps in determining how to stop them a lot.

Wukong doesn't have that.

Wukong is the strongest, smartest, most powerful, most skilled, most clever, most cunning demon to have ever lived and is the only one I can think of that has gone to the heavens, defeated everyone, almost defeated the Jade Emporer and just before about to kill him needed Buddha ALL THE WAY from Eastern Heaven, a completely DIFFERENT heaven, needed to step in to stop him. He is to be considered an outlier of demon kind really. And I think that is because of his creation as the Monkey Mind. He isn't a being of havoc and destruction and that is what makes him separate from more demons at the start, rather he is intelligent, can learn, can adapt, and thus we see that he can bring order to the world. The whole point of the journey is how Wukong is able to overcome his own base desires and learn how to discipline himself to be more in control of his actions. Wukong is able to be seen as a person that provides and protects, very different from most yaoguai that reek chaos, and it could be that because of this Wukong was able to match to the gods just because it is so similar to them from the start.

#anon ask #anonymous #anon #jttw #journey to the west #sun wukong #xiyouji #ask #monkey king #he just built different #I mean that literally

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omvimo · 1 year

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now that both shelby and katherine’s episodes are out its time to share my amazing headcannons that half of them have zero proof

everyone is under here if you want to read it’s probably long though lol

shelby

-started working out only because she saw katherine do it

-is besties with sausage and oli

-first started dying her hair all different colors and even had orange for a while before just letting it stay white

-has ptsd dreams about the fog and sculck

-she has a little garden for flowers at her house

-sometimes she calls joel to ask how to use her powers

-she is biromantic with preference for women

-at first she thought she had a crush on joey but nope she just really wanted to be friends (100% not me)

-every so while, her grandmother has to replace tortoise with a frog that looks exactly the same and she never knows (this was inspired by shelby’s qna and how she accidentally killed tortoise then replaced him)

-she loves reading so much that she would just stay up reading

-as a kid, she was bullied up into witch high school where she basically just beat them up and nobody bothered her since

-She is genderqueer and uses she/they pronouns

katherine

-she is 100% transfem and you cannot tell me other wise

-she tried to be goth in princess high school but just couldn’t get rid of the pink

-she can do eyeliner in one fast swoop

-shes trying to get into making her own armor but keeps burning herself

-She is a horse girl

-she really wants to get into painting but isn’t very good

-she is demiromantic lesbian

-she is 5’11 but wears like 4 inch heels anyway

-she still sleeps with her stuffed animals

-she is only productive at night

-the curse represents depression (i could write so many essays about that)

-She is best friends with Lizzie

Both!

-Katherine has to pick Shelby up so they can kiss

-Shelby took Katherine to a flower garden for their second date

-Shelby will stop at nothing to sit in Katherine’s lap

-Katherine makes Shelby watch sitcoms and Shelbt doesn’t have the heart to say no

-One time, Shelby was on Katherine’s shoulder and everything was great and then Katherine walked through a doorway and Shelby hit her forhead

-Lizzie and Oli are the biggest shippers of them

-During witchcraft they are dating and Shelby proposes when she comes back

-Shelby often falls asleep at her telescope and Katherine carries her to bed

-Neither one of them is the big spoon, Shelby just uses Katherine’s chest as a pillow

-Katherine often surprises Shelby with her favorite flowers

-Sausage started asking “whens the wedding?” just after their second date

-Joel married them in the cathedral of Saint Pearl

#hope you enjoyed!#i know i did ;)#anyway nature wives won #the gay people are happy now #empires smp #shubble #katherine elizabeth #nature wives #empires headcanon

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commonguttersnipe · 2 months

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Elf, Armor, Phoenix, Axe, Crown for the asks 💚 (if it's too much or you don't want to answer a question, just skip it!) :)

Elf- I speak five languages/ I have a pet tortoise/ I have no siblings

Armor- To be kind is the strongest thing you can be

Phoenix- I really love folk horror!

Axe- Pisces

Crown- It's something my friend called me!

#personal

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rggtattoos · 1 year

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Hypothetical tats for Akiyama, Tanimura, and Shinada?

The protagonists of 4 each have strong theming around the Celestial Symbols. Kiryu is the dragon, and Saejima is the tiger, as made clear by their respective tattoos. However, the VR game in 4 makes it clear who the others are supposed to be.

Akiyama Shun

Akiyama is the vermillion bird, though he is specifically more associated with phoenix imagery. The explosion of the Millennium Tower in 1 acted as the fire that allowed him to rise from the ashes and build the fortune he used to create Sky Finance. He also has a lot of sky/air association with the name "Sky Finance" coming from the very literal windfall of money that fell from the sky from the exploded 10 billion yen. So a phoenix with clouds to represent the sky would work well.

For a plant motif I went with Kane no Naruki or the "money plant".In Japanese flower language Kane no Naruki means "inviting good luck", "wealth", and "get rich quick", all of which reflects not only his enormous fortune which he uses to run Sky Finance, but his incredible luck that helped him build that fortune, and even dodge death a few times.

Tanimura Masayoshi

Tanimura is Genbu, the Black Tortoise. Genbu represents darkness and shadow, which could be seen as a reflection of Tanimura's association with the fringes of Japanese society, including Kamurocho's immigrant population, as well as his dealings with minor criminal organizations. The tortoise is also considered to be a warrior because of its shell "armor." Tanimura is a member of the police force, and the parry move signature to his fighting style makes him the one of the most defense-centered fighters in the series.

Genbu is said to have been created when a warrior went to wash earthly sin from his stomach and intestines. His stomach became a monstrous turtle and his intestines became the snake wrapped around Genbu’s shell. The warrior subdued the monster and it instead became a protector to work off its sins. Tanimura is a gambler and a corrupt cop who takes bribes, all of which are rooted in earthly desires. However, he also has a strong sense of justice and works to better the lives of others.

For Tanimura's flower I chose the spotted bellflower, which represents faithfulness and justice. In Japanese they are called "firefly bags". In Japanese folklore fireflies are said to be the souls of dead warriors. I thought this could also allude to Tanimura chasing his father's memory.

Shinada Tatsuo

Shinada replaces Tanimura as the Black Tortoise in 5. This is lampshaded during the Amon substory where it is outright stated that the rest of the crew consider Shinada as Tanimura's replacement. This ends up being fitting, as Genbu is actually a double entity, being depicted as a tortoise with a snake wrapped around it. This is because of the belief that all tortoises were female and thus had to mate with a snake in order to reproduce.

Genbu being a warrior serving penance for their sins fits several aspects of Shinada's character: his current destitute state resulting from (supposedly) cheating during a baseball game and getting banned from the league, as well as his focus on carnal pleasure over steady employment or career. Eventually he "redeems" himself by helping unwind Kurosawa's plot and officially becomes a member of the celestial symbols

Changing the orientation of the Genbu so there is more focus on the snake would make Shinada decidedly different from Tanimura, and encourage comparison between the two. Tanimura is driven by his desire to investigate his father's past, while Shinada is content to drift through life. Shinada doesn't seem to have any goals until a conspiracy targets him for unknown reasons.

Snakes also symbolize fertility, which I thought was fun, given Shinada's intimate knowledge of Nagoya's nightlife and adult entertainment scenes. They also are messengers of the gods and protectors of sacred places. Shinada is sent by Daigo and later Kiryu in order to protect Haruka at the concert, with the performance acting as a sacred place.

For Shinada's flower I chose the trailing ice plant. In Japanese flower language they represent laziness, but conversely also "achievement". Seemed to fit someone who was once a great athlete who is now a washed-up loser.

#akiyama shun #ryu ga gotoku #yakuza #rgg #yakuza games #tattoos #irezumi #like a dragon #askrggt #yakuza 5 #yakuza 6 #shinada tatsuo #masayoshi tanimura

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urmomsstressreliever · 2 years

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“The Duffer Brothers have major plot armor for the main characters. They’re too pussy to kill any off, that’s why we keep getting attached to likeable side characters only to have them die near the end of the season,” I say into the mic.

The crowd boos loudly. My eyes start to water as I slowly walk off stage, ashamed, when I hear loud and commanding voices, silencing the audience of their boos.

“No, no, she’s got a point.” “She’s right.” “It took you guys this long to figure it out?” I look out into the audience to look for the strange voices when I spot three men standing in the back row.

I come closer to the edge of the stage to catch a glimpse of who these three men are, when lo and behold, it’s Joseph Quinn, Jamie Bower Campbell, and Gaten Matarazzo, coming to my rescue.

When I realize it’s them I look at Jamie, my eyebrows furrowed, “Aren’t you the reason the characters are dying?”

The crowd slowly looks at Jamie with death glares that could kill 1,000 tortoises. He freezes up and looks to Joseph and Gaten for help, but they slowly back away from him, leaving him vulnerable and alone.

“… uhm, would it help if I say I was caught in the cross fires?”

The audience starts to creep towards him, anger beyond imaginable. Jamie tries to escape, slithering his lanky man-child body throughout the attendees. But, alas, the poor guy wasn’t slithery enough.

I don’t exactly know what happened to him because I was already making out with Joseph Quinn, but I do know Gaten watched the whole thing and cheered on the crowd.

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poisonheadcrabsalesman · 1 year

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Quick prompt for a friend - Master Chief finds a tiny cat

The second mission to secure supplies from a civilian depot had gone much better than his first attempt. This time John had been prepared for the onslaught of sights and sounds, the sheer number of people around him while out of his armor, and for the staring.

He even had a team specifically picked for the endeavor; the most leveled headed marines he had worked with recently made up the team that loaded into the road-approved warthog for a "grocery run". They stuck to the plan, loaded the cart with Spartan-like efficiency, and were in and out in under half an hour.

Exiting the structure, he relaxes as he finishes his headcount and they make their way to the car unscathed. John won't chalk this one up to a success until they're back on base, but he's pleased at how well he navigated the trip so far.

Kelly's sitting at the wheel of the vehicle, head bobbing to the radio as she scans the parking lot and waits for them to load the supplies.

John was just about to climb in when he hears it. A strange high pitched whine, short and clipped, but repeating frequently enough he can locate the source in the hedges surrounding the store's eastern side. It was distinct, different from the whistling of projectiles or humming whirs of alien weapons.

A signal to Kelly informing her to hold position and he walks towards it - hand hovering near his concealed MK50 Sidekick.

The sound gets louder and more frantic at his approach until he kneels a few meters away, body at an angle to become a smaller target. Cocking his head he narrows in on the source.

A tiny fuzzy creature about the size of his fist and covered in dirt mews at him as it waddles closer, meowing and hissing in tandem. Its eyes are unfocused and blue. John doesn't know anything about cats but he's never seen one with blue eyes, not in any of the pictures that have been shared with him. In recent months he's found out he's the namesake of a lot of pets; cats, dogs, and even a very stubborn tortoise.

The tiny thing must be a young kitten, too young to survive on its own, especially in a busy parking lot.

The choice is easy. John doesn't leave anyone behind.

The kitten hisses as he cups it in gun-calloused hands, fingers gently supporting fragile bones and fur. Tentatively he pets it, scratching under its chin and it vibrates - purrs - shaking its tiny frame.

He walks back to the warthog and the look Kelly gives him is as smug as he's seen her. Her eyebrow's raised and she appears to be biting the inside of her mouth while she turns down the music.

The marines are less reserved and clamor to see what the Chief picked up. He silences them with a hand while the other one is occupied. Their newest addition mews and one marine can't help but "aww" at the kitten before he's elbowed by his seatmate.

Kelly, nonplussed and more pleased than she should be, side-eyes him as he slides into the passenger seat and the warthog suspension shifts. "What are you going to call it?"

"Naming it would look like we're keeping it." He says, petting the kitten and plucking debris from its fur. He turns and hands a marine the card preloaded with credits and nods from the kitten to the store, and three of them are out of the car nearly as fast as Kelly.

She huffs a breath into the steering wheel, content to wait a bit longer.

"Thinking about 'Frederic'." John replies after a moment. The kitten is falling asleep in his hands and he shifts to tuck it against his jacket.

"Oh he would hate that." Kelly doesn't hide her smile now, a slight upturn of her mouth with a bright spark in her eyes.

"I know." John allows himself to slouch in the seat and watch the small ball of fur nap against him.

Edit: This fic now has fanart by the lovely fablepatron - link here

#my writing #John 117 #Kelly 087 #chief and his chieflings #this is not a halo blog #Master Chief is a few things. kind. a good teammate. and a shithead brother.

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cathumanthing2 · 8 months

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The alliance meeting went... well enough, Shelby supposed.

The king seemed mostly disinterested in what she had to say, and the queen seemwd flat-out distrustful, but...

The princess was nice. No, not just nice, wonderful. She was so kind and sweet, and oh.

oh.

Well, leave it to Shelby to meet and fall for two different beautiful women in the same day. Sheesh, what was with GlimmerGrove and having beautiful muscular women with dark eyes and raven black hair. She was beginning to think she had a type.

Anyways, she was currently staying in a room in the palace, as she was tired and it was considered rude in GlimmerGrove to leave after nightfall. Something about superstition with bringing in the darkness.

Not that she was complaining, as there was now a beautiful princess who had come to say hi and introduce herself better without the presence of the king and queen. Sitting on the bed she was going to sleep in that night and brushing through her raven locks. Smiling up at her brightly while rambling about sheep and why they were the best.

....That's it. Shelby was going to melt into a puddle on the floor.

...

In the last 24 hours Katherine had met one of the most beautiful women she has ever seen.

And she is now speaking to said woman as Princess Katherine Elizabeth of GlimmerGrove.

She would say she was just as calm internally as she was outwardly but that would be a lie. Katherine is a mess and really ought to be focusing on calming her rushing thoughts, but instead...

She's focused on her, so focused she feels her hands start to phase through the hairbrush she's holding. Her hair is a warm brown, her eyes are a bright gold, her face is dotted with freckles, her hands are fidgeting on the sleeves of her sweatshirt, and her voice is one of the most adorable things Katherine has heard in her life.

And she had a pet toad named Tortoise, lived with her grandma, couldn't sew and couldn't cook and wished her magic was better.

And soon, it was midnight and Katherine had to go, to change into her monster hunting armor and fight to protect her kingdom.

~~And if she took advantage of the second identity and popped into Shelby's window to flirt with the witch for a bit, knowing how recklessly dangerous it was, well, who would be there to tell her off?~~

~~And if Shelby had flirted back as well as she could, flustered as she was, who would know?~~

#glitching shadows au #nature wives #fanfiction

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