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All in all, I had a pretty good birthday! Delicious food, great gifts, good family, caring friends. Not much to complain about

Ziun asked how everyone was doing, and Chris was a bit too busy stabilizing himself to answer. He wasn’t even able to thank Ziun properly for giving him that armor he’d mentally asked for, even if he did acknowledge its usefulness. The pain hadn’t exactly subsided, but the existence of the magic armor gave Chris a bit of confidence as he tried to manage the issues in front of him. The first was Lana ducking down and getting grabbed by the hands on the floor again. Chris was already moving in that direction, and now that his vision was clearing up, he could aim properly with his sword swings, making sure not to hit his teammate as he did so. He pulled Lana up again. “Dodge to the side,” he said. “Like this:” He did a little shuffle step, slipping out of the grasp of another set of hands, and hoping that was demonstration enough for in the middle of a dungeon floor fight. He turned to face the cultist who had shot him. Just looking at the hooded figure made his shoulder flare up again, but Chris grit his teeth and tightened his grip on his sword to force it back down. When he moved, he moved almost in an arc, almost sideways to the cultist, but still spiraling inwards, juking the other way every so often just to keep the cultist from being able to lead its shot. It did not take long for him to close the gap and while he wasn’t able to knock the cultist’s crossbow out of its hands with his first swing, he did at least make sure it wasn’t pointing his way as he swung back and cut his sword deep into the cultist’s shoulder. The cultist staggered back, bleeding profusely, but still managing to keep it together enough to raise its crossbow again. But Chris had not stopped moving, and despite the close distance, the injury hampered the cultist’s aim. The crossbow bold ended up glancing off of Chris’ Mage Armor, and such an impact did not stop Chris from stepping in and swinging into the cultist’s other shoulder. Chris exhaled, and, as he made his way around the arms and back to Lana, remembered to respond to Ziun. “Better than I was,” he said.

Dead by Daylight and Persona 4 Arena Ultimax then. DbD cuz spooky month and Ultimax because you only got one other fighting game nominated here afaict.

“The gecko, the monitor lizard, the wall lizard, the skink and the chameleon.” -Leviticus 11:30 (NIV)Trevor had greeted Melissa using half of her name, so Melissa responded in kind with half of a nod, not looking up from her pan full of bread, eggs, and breaded eggs. It wasn’t until Fen showed up that Melissa really allowed her attention to wander beyond cooking, mostly because Fen used a name Melissa did not recognize (and certainly didn’t catch in its entirety -- she had to ask her computer friends to repeat it for her). Once she was more focused and the conversation continued, she was able to grasp the context well enough. Like the wolf from the supermarket, this was another of Fen’s compatriots from her world. Melissa couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy. She still had not figured out -- and had almost accepted that she never would -- Mauvache’s heuristics that somehow landed on her, of all people, to defend the city, but what little she had figured out excluded most anyone she knew back on Ambrosia. Did the person who gave Melissa the Rain Bozu card have more of those? Would other people even bother keeping their card around at all times? Because without that… Okay, Kyoko could handle herself in a fight, sure, but against that sandstorm woman? Frankly, did Melissa even handle that fight all that well? She shook her head. On the other hand, Duel Monsters had somehow made it all the way across the cosmos. Sure, it had a new name, but it was the same old game. With God, anything was possible. And besides, it wouldn’t do to outwardly act in jealousy. She had to play the part of the gracious host. Thankfully, breakfast did not take too long. Melissa slid eggs onto plates just as she heard Fen hovering behind her. “I am just about finished,” she said, also plopping two pieces of lightly browned toast onto both plates. “Let me know when I can come back and help with dishes. I don’t want to leave everything to you.” Melissa set a plate down in front of their new visitor -- Kasayee, right? -- and another across the kitchen table from her so Melissa might get to eat too. But before Melissa had even gotten comfortable in her chair, Kayasee had lifted up her plate and shovelled both sunnyside eggs and both pieces of toast into her mouth and somehow even managed to swallow it all down at once. Melissa was shocked that the lizard woman did not take the plate down with her! And yet, even that was not enough for Kayasee. “Why do people cook eggs? Seems like a waste of time.” Melissa popped her egg yolk and sponged up some of it with her toast. It wasn’t a question she had expected so early in the morning, and she had a sense that whatever answer she gave wouldn’t be good enough to satisfy Kayasee, but she did endeavor to try. “Um, I think it has to do with diseases? Like, there’s a chance that an egg might have salmonella or something, but if you cook it so its insides are hot enough, it kills all the germs… I think.” In any case, she was right. Kayasee shook her head and said, “Humans shouldn't have started cooking if that was how it would turn out,” a statement so oblique that Melissa did not know how to unpack it. For one, she was pretty sure that people started cooking because of the diseases, and not the other way around as Kayasee described. Not to mention demonstrable evidence of all the Ambrosians who insisted on raw food diets falling to completely predictable health issues. But Melissa was also no food scientist, and the social norms of the situation dictated she smile and change the subject anyway, just as soon as she finished chewing and swallowing. “So, um, if we’re all new to Prana still, what’s the one thing we should definitely try and do?” It was a stupid icebreaker question, and yet, the moment the question left Melissa’s lips, her posture shifted. Melissa leaned back like she was already dreading the answer.

Bloodborne Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise Yakuza 0

With the group having gotten their questions answered by the buffalo man Enzo, they were free to leave and continue their exploration of the enormous castle town area. Enzo himself closed the door immediately as soon as they had all left and if they were to stay by the door they would hear the same kind of muttering and shuffling, now mixed with gleeful laughter, that they had heard when they first made their way into the house. The path to take was clear, as it was simply a straight road to an incredibly large tower that was visible no matter where one was standing. As the group had made their way through the streets, dealing or not with the drengr however they pleased, they eventually came to a tall and wide collection of stone steps that lead into the tower. The tower itself was unguarded, at least on the outside, and was incredibly simple in design. A giant stone slab of a door stood between them and entering the building, the door itself was largely plain in design though this didn't seem intentional and more of a side effect of whatever adornments or garish design choices merely having worn off with time and weathering of the rough conditions near the building. And hanging above the large stone door was what appeared to be a stone wolf head, half of it seemingly missing from being broken off either intentionally or from similar weathering. All of this, however, was simple flourishing that made no difference to the task ahead. That was opening the door. To the side of the door were two glass orbs that seemed to have a carving in the flooring around them running up to the door, however one of these orbs had long since been shattered and the functions of them were unknown to the party, though perhaps a logical guess could reach them to the proper conclusion. The only answer they had available to them otherwise was to open the door with pure brute force. Thankfully, though they did not have the physique to back this, the party was stronger than the average person with two in particularly being closer to the average bear. And so with some effort they would be able to push the door open. Once they walked inside they would be met with nothing but darkness and the sound of some kind of low growling, the doors behind them closing as soon as they had all crossed the threshold and leaving the room entirely lightless. This did not last long, however. Electricity began to crackle from ahead of them and lines across the room started to glow as if in response to this, revealing all that would be able to be seen. Corpses of long past were strewn across the stone floor, the ground itself being relatively flat. While it looked like this might have been some kind of meeting greeting room or main hall in times long past, most of the furniture had long since been destroyed with the only thing still being intact being several stone columns that supported the ceiling above, and several stone tables and wooden chairs strewn about. And on the other side of the room there seemed to be a door, torn banners overhead it and with a similar wolf headed statue protruding out, likely leading to a staircase to take them higher up. But, beyond everything else the most noticeable room was the nightmarish creature that lied in the center. It's body was easily twice the size of the bear that they had met prior in the plains, coated in fur, yet what specific animal this belonged to would not be known to them. Looking at its tail for confirmation did little to help either, as it simply had five tails each belonging to a different breeds of animals flowing behind it. It had two pawed feet supporting it in the back, and in the front two sets of hooves. To one side was a large bear like arm, far too large even when taking into account the proportion of this monster's body. And to the other, three smaller fur covered arms each equipped with a lightning infused sword. And as if to make cartoonish mockery of this strange chimera's form its head belonged to that of the black tusked elephant that they had seen in the plains. And its second head, growing from out of the neck going into a second neck, was that of the large tusked, lion-maned giraffe like creatures. BGM The giraffe head let out a roar as the elephant's trunk trumpeted, seeing the invaders in the room with it now. It stood motionless where it was, the chimeric giraffe's tusks generating a ball of lightning between them before firing the blast at the entire party.

Jacklyn's pride continued to swell as Anneliese's cheering persisted. However, as the boy made his comment clear annoyance flashed across her face as she said, "hey! I didn't travel to a whole new region just to get called gross again, especially by some kid who doesn't like water! And Anneliese isn't gross either! But if that's how you want it then, Rus, let's show him a thing or two!" The Lepash was still fired up to keep battling, seeming more determined then ever. As the Thunder shock came towards the fire bunny, Jacklyn shouted, "alright Rus, dodge!" The lepash did not want to get hit, but it could still feel the electricity flowing through his body and preventing from moving as well as he wanted to. So, he didn't bother trying. Instead his fur blazed red as flames stronger than any others before had collected in the Lepash's mouth. Letting loose an ember, being struck hard by the thunder shock and barely able to hold on from it, the flame sailed towards the Elekid and struck true, the Elekid not expecting such a brash retaliation had made no effort to dodge as well. Frowning, Jacklyn admonished, "come on, Rus, you didn't even try there. Oh, well, fine, go and Ember again!" The Lepash started to gather flames in its mouth once again, ready to fire off yet another powerful blast. "Elekid, quick attack." However, Rus was never able to release this strike, as the Elekid had bolted from its original position and slammed its body into the Lepash the pokemon went flying back off its feet. "Alright Rus go on and...Rus?" As Jacklyn called out to her pokemon, she realized he wasn't responding to her. He wasn't even getting back up onto his feet. A concerned look crossed her face as she said, "well you did battle 3 in a row, I guess that was a bit much. Alright Rus, come on back." Returning her pokemon back to his ball she pulled out her second one. "If you think I'm just a one pokemon pokemon trainer than you've got another thing coming. Let's go Cherry, let's finish this off!" "Bu!" As the Buneary came out, confused as ever, it had immediately hyped itself up to get into the fight. "Thunder Shock!" Deciding to try the same thing for the second time Jacklyn shouted, "alright Cherry dodge!" At her trainer's behest, Cherry had swiftly leaped out of the way of the attack, the Thunder Shock striking the ground instead, only to then immediately get ready to hop again as Jacklyn shouted, "side hop!" Moving again immediately as its feet had touched the ground, it had managed to narrowly avoid getting slammed by the speeding Elekid's quick attack. "Now pound!" Once more as soon as it had landed it hopped forward and kicked the Elekid in the chest. As the spark plug pokemon was kicked back, static electricity discharged off of its body and traveled across Cherry's body. Grinning, the Elekid then followed his trainer's next command and unleashed a point blank Thunder Shock, knocking Cherry back with its electrical strike and causing electricity to crackle across the Buneary's body yet again. "Leer!" With the pokemon clearly having been struck by the static of Elekid's body he went to set up before going in for the kill. However the Elekid's nasty look towards the Buneary was interrupted as Jacklyn called out, "Cherry! Pound again!" "Bu bu!" Without any speed missing in its step, Buneary leaped forward yet again and took advantage of the opponent's lapse in judgement to go and kick the Elekid in the face once more. Though static discharged from his body yet again, the cotton fluff of Buneary's body managed to disperse most of it and their body proved too Limber to be bothered by what little remained. At his misreading of his opponent's abilities the boy hastily commanded the Elekid to let loose another Thunder Shock. Jacklyn, seeing the electricity crackle through the two plug like antennae on its head opted to for a follow up attack of her own. "Cherry, kick in its weird plug head!" As the Buneary landed, unable to dodge the Thunder Shock but seeing it coming, it managed to brace itself through the attack before leaping up and slamming both of its feet into the Elekid's head protrusions. Electricity sparked wildly out of the plugs as the attack critically struck its mark, and combined with the injury it had already suffered from Rus, proved enough to bring the pokemon down. Cherry landed back on her feet, though despite not being paralyzed barely seemed able to keep herself standing. "Way to go Cherry!" The girl cheered enthusiastically at her victory, the buneary raising an ear in joy as well, as Jacklyn looked back to the boy. "Now who's gross?"

Happy Spooktober, everyone!

go do your blue archive thread Kami North sons of calydon my beloved Heddy

Not by the poster, but yes.

Kingdom Hearts 3 13 Sentinels Aegis Rim Ghost of Tsushima Spider-man

Being the only ghost they were aware of (human ghost, anyway) came with a certain amount of loneliness, but Quinn so far in its afterlife had been able to swallow that loneliness down, and the present situation was not an exception to that rule. It was good that Nathaniel and Bridget and Alicia were not ghosts. Life was precious enough. Still, Quinn internalized the fact that Bridget was a witch for later use. Surely some obstacle would appear on their journey that could be alleviated by pagan sorcery. Alicia’s claim was similarly impressive, though. Alicia had made a proclamation of her future greatness, and Quinn’s eyes widened even further than they normally were. “Amazing,” Quinn said. “Nathaniel, our bodyguard, is also aiming to become champion of the region. This means either you will succeed him, he you, or you two will become co-champions and be mixed in a torrid love affair that will be the talk of the region for years if not decades to come.” After a moment, they added, “I can see the future, you know.” Unfortunately, Alicia did not seem to share Quinn’s enthusiasm. She looked agog, if that was even the right word, or aghast, even. “I never said I wanted to be champion…” she said, which seemed like a contradiction in terms, but before Quinn could challenge her on the matter, Nathaniel finally stepped in and asked about an earlier statement Alicia had made about a fishing tournament. Alicia righted herself quickly, looking Nathaniel up and down and muttering. “Well, if it looks like a Ducklett…” before responding to his inquiry with, “I’m not an expert on this town, you know. But as far as I know, they hold one each day. There’s some dingy shack by the water where they hold it.” Quinn became very loud all of a sudden. “Yes, of course!” she said. “That sounds like just the sort of opportunity this adventure was made for! Thank you, dear Alicia. I hope you find what you are looking for, whether that is fame, love, or just another granola bar.” Quinn turned to hir compatriots. “Perhaps the dingy shack will also rent dinghies, and we can become truly in tune with our aquatic natures.” And like that, e was off, running down the shore as fast as faer legs could carry him.

Nate rubbed at his head as they walked into town. Things had been…strange, since the battle with the Malamar. Winning had felt great—the adrenaline rush from defeating such a powerful Pokémon as a team was indescribable—but once they were back on the road, it had been hard to focus. His head hurt, his body felt sluggish, and his eyelids were heavy. He felt like he was stuck in that strange state people were in after just waking up. His brain was functioning, but it hadn’t sent the signals to let the rest of his body know it was time to get a move on. Even the smell of fish, strong enough to be considered a scent-based attack, was barely enough to get a reaction out of him. He dutifully trudged beside them. One foot in front of the other… I’ll be able to rest soon. Maybe a hot shower will help. It felt like a longshot. Nate resolved to see a doctor if he still felt weird after his shower. These thoughts, coupled with his grogginess, were what occupied him for most of the conversation his team had been having with… someone. He had missed their greetings. If they had done any. She seemed to be leaving though. Which was good. He was normally very warm and welcoming, but he desperately wanted to get somewhere to shower and rest. At least until she said something about a competition. Nate’s reaction was visible. He stood up straight for the first time and forced his eyes fully open. There were heavy bags under them, and they were slightly bloodshot. He took a step toward the redheaded girl. “Did you say something about a fishing competition? Today? Where? Can we still sign-up?” He stared at her, waiting for an answer, before suddenly blinking and shaking his head. Having jumpstarted his brain awake for the time being, parts of the exchange he had missed flooded into his brain. "And uhh... I'm not a ghost. By the way. Or their bodyguard. I'm Nate. From Kanto."

With the night having passed without much incident Fen awoke the next morning without incident. She hadn't checked the news but, instead, having been thoroughly trounced last night the girl decided to instead do some morning stretches. Back at the guild, once she had fully started devoting herself to its operations and solving higher end quests, she had started coming up with a workout regimen for herself to stay in shape. After all, her magic was primarily the creation of weapons and armaments so training her physical condition was just as important as training her magic, if not more. Not that she expected a few stretches and some jogging to help her defeat a swarm of exploding skulls, but it was more about getting into the swing of activities that she had slacked off on since coming here. More to the point she knew that there was a ton of different facilities here dedicated to physical activity, recreational or otherwise, so she figured it'd be a good idea to continue checking those out. With her goal in mind, the girl exited her room to begin her day in earnest only to be met with a site so familiar that she couldn't help but recognize it as something bizarre. Staring in surprise at the naked lizard girl being offered a blanket right in front of her, Fen stammered out a, "K-Kasayee? Is that, well, I mean, there's no one else it could be, really." Fen made her way over to the girl. Kasayee, for her part, had taken the blanket that Trevor had offered only to gnaw on it for a few moments before giving up and tossing it to the ground, an annoyed expression on her face. Then she looked over to Fen upon hearing her voice, thought for a moment and then pointed to her. "The cook." "Aha, that's definitely you alright." A smile crossed her face at her guildmate before saying, "I knew Percival was here but I didn't expect someone else to show up so soon too. Or, um, is that you've been here, er been in this world for awhile too, already?" She looked to be trying to remember. "Oh him. He was first. But I wasn't last." "Well, I uh, think last is me. Oh, does that uh, mean others from the guild are here too?" "Maybe, haven't met everyone. Too many people." "Ah...that makes sense..." After a moment of pondering she looked at the girl and asked, "do you uh, also live in this building? Actually, um, how're you doing with this place. Not like, this room or anything, but like the whole city." "I think so." She looked around, as if for the first time. "but someone changed the insides...." She tilted her head. "The city is big. The people are weird." "Ah, I see..." Fen had a good idea of what had happened and realized that perhaps the appearance, both inside and outside, had saved Kasayee far more trouble then she had realized. "Well, you're here now so feel free to join us for breakfast." With a wave, the girl left to go to the kitchen pausing for a moment before looking back saying, "oh, good morning Trevor I almost forgot." And then moved to the kitchen. Getting in she saw her other teammate in there, prompting her to say, "oh, good morning Melissa you're up too." Fen went to grab an apple, washing it off and started cutting it, setting it to the side once she was finished. "I see that you're already making breakfast. If you uh, need any help or anything I'd be glad to assist." Despite how she spoke, it would be clear to Melissa that Fen was eager to get to work.

Carmen felt very bad about following a luminary dog through the woods at night, especially one that had just tried to eat her! But she didn't have much else of a choice but to follow along as Brian had dragged her. Constantly looking every which way, it was clear that she was paranoid about something happening. Whether it be some kind of secondary monster jumping out from the woods at night, a pack of bioluminescent dogs surrounding them and mauling them to death, or just the notion that maybe by following this dog they were actually stepping into some gate into the afterlife or something. To say nothing, still, of the spontaneous dirt to quick mud that she had been so worried about earlier. Of course, this was Carmen's natural state so it was hardly worth noting to anyone who may have been looking at her. As they finally got to their destination, Brian had mentioned their deal from earlier and how it was now her job to hold up her end of it. Gripping tightly onto her only measure of self defense, the girl made her way over to the tree and sunk the head of the spade into the ground. It didn't take a whole lot of digging before her shovel had hit something. Looking down after tossing the dirt away she noticed that there was something covered in a blue tarp where she had dug and so naturally she had bent down, trying to pick up whatever was in the tarp only to find it surprisingly heavy. Unable to lift it as it was, the girl began to toss more dirt off the tarp covered object, a creeping sense of dread coming over her with every single movement of her shovel. After she had finally uncovered the entirety of it, an entity six feet long and and a one and a half feet wide, Carmen took an audible gulp as she had a very good idea as to what it was she was looking at. With morbid curiosity and a need to confirm her suspicion, Carmen bent down, ready to unveil the tarped entity. However as the dog let out a sudden bark, the girl let out a "waah!" And fell backwards, an arrow burying itself in the tree she had been standing near as she did. "Ah- ah...B-Brian..." The girl, stunned that she could've just been shot, could only think that she had indeed been right about this place the whole time and looked to Brian for confirmation that something that bizarre just happened.

With the first pokemon down, Jacklyn puffed her chest in pride as Anneliese had called her "the boss." Giving a confident smile to the boy she was facing she said, "you're gonna learn here and now just who the real boss is! Let's go Rus!" The Lepash let out a huff, smoke coming from its mouth, as it glared at the Pichu and got ready to attack. As the Pichu looked at Rus with large, round, beady eyes, the Lepash cocked its head curiously towards the pokemon only to then move as Jacklyn shouted, "use Ember!" Letting out a burst of fire, the Pichu was taken off guard by the sudden attack, the fire lightly hitting it. "Alright Rus, now go in for a tackle!" Wanting to press the advantage Jacklyn had Rus close in on the Pichu. The Lepash stood still for a moment, trying to make sense of their trainer's order, before finally rushing forward. Unfortunately with ample time to dodge the Pichu had jumped to the side, whipping its tail around at the same time only causing Rus to become even more off guard then it already had been. "Tsk, oh well. Keep it up and tackle again!" As she shouted this, the boy had commanded his Pichu to charm once more but rather than Tackle this time Rus decided to meet the gaze of the Pichu head on. However as opposed to pitying, concerned or infatuated by the charming stare as one might have thought, Rus was leering with intensity at their opponent. Jacklyn frowned and once more shouted, "come on Rus, tackle!" "Pichu, dodge and thundershock!" The Pichu was ready to dodge, even if off kilter by the leer of its opponent, but found itself surprised as the Lepash went for an ember once again. The Pichu didn't have time to dodge the attack it wasn't expecting and so, in a panic, let out the thundershock early. The two attacks passed by each other, each one finding their mark. Rus grimaced as the second bolt had struck it and the Pichu was no longer steady on its feet after having taken two small bursts of fire directly either. However, seeing that the Lepash had more of a reaction to this thundershock then the last one, the boy decided to press his luck and go for yet another Thundershock. "Alright Rus, dodge and then Ember again!" Rus, this time, decided to listen to his trainer however his body did not. As he attempted to side step the thundershock, a jolt of electricity coursed through its body, causing it lock up and slow his reactions. Rus, noting that his legs wouldn't listen to him in time, opted to for yet another Ember. Before it could let out yet another blast of fire, though, the thunder from the Pichu had struck true. As it was the third hit, on an already battered body that didn't seem to move anymore, the Pichu had thought its victory all but assured. However its power still paled in comparison to that of an actual Pikachu, and it had not accounted for the natural bulk of the Lepash against such attacks. As such it had made no effort to dodge as Rus, who had managed to hold on through the attack, let out yet one more Ember and struck the Pichu dead on. As soon as the fire had hit, the Pichu fell to the ground, unconscious. With a big smile on her face Jacklyn shouted, "see! We're still the boss." A frown crossed her face though as she looked down at Rus saying, "but what's with you?" Though she wondered why her pokemon was being so disobedient, these thoughts didn't last long as she shrugged it off and counted a win as a win. Confident in her position now Jacklyn said, "so, got anything else?"

Well, she had at least made Anneliese’s day; that was… Something, to be sure, but the question which followed was one which caught Anima off guard for a moment; even as she tightened her hold on Confi, and earned herself an unhappy chirrumph from the little ghost. She opened her mouth then, to reply, and then… Closed it, trying to think of a good way to reply to it. She paused again, as if trying to find the right words, and by the time she felt as if she had almost found them-- She was interrupted, once again, by another question from Anneliese; though, this one was a lot easier for her to answer. “Ah, um, right,” Anima nodded, and knelt down, leaning the rod against a nearby surface, should there have been one, and placing Confi down to toddle around her legs as she spoke. “Well, setting up tents in the middle of a city or town is… Generally, um, frowned upon, as far as I am aware,” Anima gestured with her hands, then, towards the buildings around them. “But, this being a port city, and a bit larger and more full of life than the last one we set foot in, they should have an Inn-- And as far as I remember, Inns generally run specials for trainers who are passing through, so we should, potentially, be able to find a room to stay in; you know, with a bath, a shower, perhaps even a washing machines and dryer to do some laundry, and just all around relax a little, ‘fore we move on,” Anima explained; gesturing as she spoke, a good deal more… Lively, as she adjusted her bag, and then began to gesture again; this time with her palms outwards, as if trying to soothe some sort of… Beast, as she spoke; though it would become increasingly clear the only thing she was trying to soothe was her growing discontent, with the question that came before. “But-- But, but,” Anima began, a bit of an… Accent, creeping around the edges of her voice; as if, in this moment of… Not annoyance, but something approaching it, she found that speaking clearly, and quickly, was more important than speaking in a way that wouldn’t link her dialect more forcefully to where she had been raised. “‘s less of an affliction, an’ more of a preference, to be honest,” she did her best to begin, gesturing… As she began to pace a bit, mid-speech. “Right, Confi? Yeah, ‘s more like a preference,” she nodded, smiling as she knelt down, and held out a hand for the little ghost to bump into. “All my life, I ‘ad been told how heartless an’ soulless the Corsola of Galar were; vengeful spirits, drains on life-- But this l’il bugger here’s the only reason I’m standin’ here yappin’ away, so I… Want to try an’ find other Pokémon, on this journey, who’re subject to the same stigma, an’ show the world what all we can do,” she explained, reaching over and lightly scritching Confi on the noggin, before pausing. “...Not t’mention th’fact that I tend t’push myself an’ those I work with hard when I actually focus on a battle; almost worry tha’ ghost types are the only ones that’d be able to keep up with me,” she grinned, almost goofily; as if she was finally relaxing… Before clearing her throat, and rising back up to her full height, dusting herself off, and clearing her throat. “Ah-- But, um,” she cleared her throat a couple of times; the lack of an easily placeable accent, which veered off towards something approaching - but not quite - middle-Unova kicking in as she cleared her voice, and slowed her speech. “That- That is to say, it doesn’t bother me that you’re not using Ghost-type Pokémon! I just, um…” she fidgeted, with the bag-strap around her shoulder. “...Like them. It wouldn’t even just have to be a ghost, after all! There are a lot of Dark types that I’d be curious to see if they’re as, um, ‘evil’, as people claim,” she explained, nodding her head a bit. "Oh, I get it! It's like how mother only likes to eat food from the gold trimmed dinner plates." “That’s…” Anima scrunched her nose a bit at the concept, of what Anneliese had said. “Well that’s not completely the same now is it?” she asked, a small bit of that accent cracking through again as she brought a hand up to her chin. “One’s a preference for how to eat dinner in the... Flashiest manner, an’ the other is…” she trailed off. “Just how I plan best to work with what I know; playing to my strengths,” she explained, clearing her throat a bit as she tried her best to quantify it in a way Anneliese might understand. “It’s like-- Think of it like, you’ve got two pairs of shoes, right? An’ one pair is the best looking pair you’ve ever worn; can go with just about any outfit an’ you’ve got everyone dead to rights on who’s wearin’ the best pair of kicks, but it isn't your most comfortable,” she explained, gesturing. “Yeah, your most comfortable is a pair that doesn’t look quite as nice, really they're a bit beat up, but they’re as comfortable as can be, an’ you can move better in them than any other set. A nice broken in pair of sneakers, or tennis shoes,” she continued, pausing her gesturing, as she simply held two hands out, raising them in time to try and emphasize what she was saying as she did so. “So, when you’ve got to run a race, or when you need t’beat everyone else in a dead-heat sprint, which pair are you going to choose, eh?” she paused for a moment; this time, not giving Anneliese the chance to reply. “You’re going to choose the more comfortable pair, that you can move in easier-- Because it doesn’t matter how good they look if you’re not able to keep up a nice sprint, or jog innit? All that matters is that you keep one foot in front’a the other, and keep up your pace at that point,” Anima paused, waggling her finger a bit as she spoke… And as she finally noticed that she had clearly lost Anneliese. Likely, when she had implied that someone could only have two pairs of shoes, she imagined. She wrinkled her nose, again, and… Winced slightly, as she adjusted her bag, and knelt down again to pick her Fishing Rod, and Confi up. “...Right, well…” she cleared her throat again, doing her best to slip back into that mid-unovan accent she had spent so long perfecting. “I’m… Um… Going to go find an Inn for us to stay in. You should keep an eye on Jacklyn here, and cheer her on, though,” she smiled as gently as she could, as she slowly did her best to try, try so hard, to make her exit in a diplomatic fashion.

i don't think there's a faster way to lower my opinion of someone than the usage of slurs. i could be getting along fine with someone and then they'll drop an r-slur, for example, and i immediately feel myself drop to standoffish at best. and yeah, some of them might have an air of reclamation to them and i open myself to that discussion, but yeah. fastest i've become friends with people is through music. it doesn't have to even be music i like (though it helps when someone says "king gizzard and the lizard wizard" and you can point at each other from across the room), but it's a common enough shared experience that you can get people talking about recommendations even when they're otherwise antisocial. in high school i met one of my best friends because they were humming jonathan coulton songs in math class. i got a handle on another person's personality by finding out they liked hyperpop fine but not 100 gecs. the list goes on.

1. Now this is an interesting question, as each one has their own quirks and ups and downs. But honestly, between the two...I prefer the Spider-Man villains. My reasoning is that while the Batman Rogue's Gallery has heavy hitters within the mob families (Falcones, Maroni, the Sionis Crime Family, etc) you also have the psychotic killers (Joker, Professor Pyg), immortal warrior (Ra's Al Ghul), a steroid user an assassins (Bane technically and Deathstroke), and then some of the more...outlandish ones (Poison Ivy, Clayface, Man-bat). On the other hand, the Spider-Man Rogue's Gallery has almost everything from every walk of life: many people in tech suits (Scorpion, Vulture, Rhino, Doc Ock), the outlandish ones (Morbius, Sandman, the Lizard, Electro), various machinery out to squash the spider (the Spider-Slayers), "mystic ones" (Inheritors, Mysterio...cause there are ones where he actually does get mystic arts)... Those galleries of villains from both sides are memorable in their own rights and give both characters various challenges that they need to navigate through. Personally for me, it's Spider-Man's gallery of villains that I prefer more. Maybe it has something to Spider-Man relating to me somewhat (honestly, I've always sort of gravitated towards this series of comics more than any other ever since I was young, so perhaps there's truth to this but I digress), or maybe it's the overall design of the villains, but they've always been a favorite of mine. 2. Now, as to favorites of each, I can work with this, I'll at least give a few favorites of each: Joker & Green Goblin: The most obvious of the two for sure, yes I'm aware. But lets be honest, these two are the heroes arch-nemesis. They're the two sides of the same coin, as it were. Both can be incredibly psychotic, both are the initial go to villains for these respective heroes, you get the gist of it. Now both have seen their shares of a Face Turn (Joker with the White Knight series and Osborn with his current run as the Gold Goblin...after his time as Red Goblin...I swear he needs to go back to normal), but honestly these both are better as villains. Mr. Freeze & Dr. Otto Octavius: Contrary to popular belief, I adore these two as well. For Freeze, it's the human aspect of it all. He did everything he could for his sick and dying wife, even after his heart grew cold (literally) and kept doing what he could to save her. One of the more relatable and most human Batman villains for sure. On the other hand, Otto has been a genius, only to be rivaled by Parker's genius. Same time, Otto is one of the few villains who understands what Parker has going for him. The man took over Parker's body and learned that indeed, great power = great responsibility and that the man has actually held his punches back. It gave him a bit of insight into things and even as Parker, he did his best to be a superior Spider-Man (title drop).

What were these alternate formats that you created?

After helping Chris up and getting to the door, Lana made her way into the next floor of the dungeon. The floor itself was a large corridor that seemed incredibly wide for how entirely featureless and straightforward the room itself was. A frown immediately formed on Lana's face as she was, at this point, savvy enough to know that there was nothing as generous as a monsterless floor in this nightmarish dungeon. Keeping her axe at the ready she looked to the others and asked, "so uh, who wants to go first?" Though, based on who she was with she didn't even bother waiting for a response and just said, "right." Taking a step forward, nothing immediately happened. Lana couldn't help but feel like the floor was going to collapse with every step she took but more than that decided to keep her eyes to the ceiling. After all, last time she was in such a straight forward room she had perhaps the worst experience with a monster that had tried to eat her face. So, prepping for any more face eaters, the girl continued forward with the others of her party lagging only slightly behind her. The room seemed to still be vacant, even about halfway through the trek into the room. She was certain by now something would have - "Ahhhh!" Lana yelped as a cluster of arms suddenly burst out from both the floor and ceiling every which way she looked, writhing around and trying to grab anything that was nearest to them. Then, looking to the end of the hallway the previously unbarred path now had a collection of cultists - three with daggers and two with crossbows - seemingly pop out of the wall. Looking behind her it had appeared to be more of the same. After getting over her initial shock and disgust - a task she could not fully accomplish with zombie arms trying to grab her at every which direction - she shouted, "ugh, I knew it!" Her emotions had already shifted back to their usually annoyed state, and angrily the girl started hacking away at the arms near her to clear them out. The zombie arms themselves didn't seem particularly sturdy, her axe being able to make quick work of them. However, before she could enjoy any form of respite from these arms she groaned in annoyance once more as new arms had burst out from the ground to take the previous one's place. "Fine!" With standing still not being an option and the cultists with the daggers slowly advancing at them from both sides, Lana decided it was time for her to bring the fight to them. Moving forward, trying not to be grabbed or trip over the sea of arms, the girl made her way towards the cultists. The two that had crossbows already had them trained on the girl, however, and fired it at her. Not wanting to get speared by the bolts, the girl quickly ducked only to find that this solution had its own problems. While she had managed to avoid being shot at, the arms that littered the grounds found her an easy target and grabbed onto her, pulling her as if trying to sink her into the ground. "Ahhhh, get off, get off, get off!" The girl struggled against them for a moment, not wanting to use her large axe this close to her own legs and looked back. "Chris help me out - uh Ziun, armor!" The girl figured if she had a suit of armor like last time she wouldn't need to do this whole dodging thing as much but more than anything else she really just wanted to be able to run as fast as possible to the exit.

As the team trekked up the rest of the way along the route, they found themselves in a cute little town called Islebury. As Bridget took her first steps into town, she could immediately tell something was fishy around here. The smell. The whole place smelled strongly of fish. She for one didn't mind the smell of fish, but she couldn't help but wonder if the other two were of the same mind. As she opened her mouth to ask about that, the door of some kind of diner swung open, and out stormed some girl she'd never seen before. It didn't take a detective to tell she was unhappy, all the more so because she was quite vocal about what was bothering her. Seafood was a personal favorite of Bridget's, but she could easily imagine even her fine self getting tired of it if she had nothing else to eat for long enough. Luckily, Quinn - the friendly ghost they were - was ready to help, with a granola bar from inside her bag. Which in turn led to a brief and quite frankly adorable conversation between the two of them. Which, in its own turn, prompted a question Bridget never imagined she'd be asked. “What about them? Are they ghosts too? Is this city not only full of fish but haunted as well?” “That is a good question! I have not asked them,” Quinn said. It turned around and waved at their companions as they wandered the harbor. “Hey!” Quinn called out. “This woman wants to know if you are also ghosts! You have to say if you are, you know. That is part of the Ghost Law!” "Uhh, no, I'm still alive 'n' well, pichure of healf I am," Bridget smiled, briefly taken aback by the question. "I 'ave been called a witch in the past, but never a ghost." Actually, if this girl had been here before the team's arrival, she probably had a better lay of the land. It would probably be wise to get some directions from her, that everyone would appreciate. "Acshally, while we got you, d'you know anyplace we could do a bit of shoppin'? The talk 'bout food made me realize I should prolly stock up on stuff to eat on the road. Fish is fine too, if noffin else is in stock 'ere." Oh, it was probably smart to see how the others felt about fish too. Glancing back and forth between Nathan and Quinn, Bridget further asked "D'you two like fish?" Quinn frowned. "I do not especially care for fish -- it is often, in my experience, more than my ethereal stomach can handle," it said. But he quickly brightened back up. "All the more reason that I am now acquainted with my new friend here." Quinn gestured to the new, increasingly mortified woman. "It is another shared trait of ours and I am excited to discover more commonalities." "I do not know where you got the idea that I am some tour guide but I can assure you I am not. I'm sure you can find shops somewhere if you really want something that likely smells like fish..." "A simple "no" would've sufficed," Bridget huffed. She'd just have to go looking for some canned fish for the road on her own, then.