Thar

I've never not played Pokemon casually. I'll just plow through it just to move the story along, then once I'm done, I'll do some side stuff and that's it.

Love it to death. I've watched a good chunk of both campaigns and they're both great. Orion's departure was indeed awkward, though I don't hold that against him. Shit happens. But in any case, the Whitestone arc was indeed pretty fantastic. Percy's gotta be my favorite of Vox Machina in terms of character development, if not just for that. Mighty Nein obviously doesn't have as much weight as the former, but after so much history with the previous group, new characters were pretty hype. I will say though, while I miss Travis playing a dumb brute, hearing him talk like a desperado who's seen some shit is pretty damn hot. Might try to catch up one of these days, but knowing me it's probably not gonna happen. Might just watch a tl;dr thing for it if they end up making one (or two.)

Been addicted to this all weekend.

Welcome back! What have you been up to?

The next week came by much quicker than Lesnar was prepared for. With his new family, his days were spent watching movies, running errands, and avoiding his sponsor father, Sora. After soaking in the fact that that was his name, he was sure that someday, if Lesnar crossed the line, that he would whip out his keyblade stowed away in his closet and start swinging. Lesnar would've never joked about it around them, though. One thing for sure was that despite his hostility and protectiveness for his family, Lesnar felt something that he never felt while with his aunt: acknowledgment and respect. Sora would involve him whenever he could and he was never forgotten, which was more than he could ask for in this new life of his. The following day of class began as he, once again, nearly got lost trying to find the room. It has been a few days and he's only been in it once since he got here, so the location wasn't quite ingrained in his memory yet. He was able to make it on time, though, as he could tell by the other students still mingling and not sat at their desks. He was able to seat himself just in time for Ms. Hitotsume to barge in like before. "Claaaass~!" Considering Lesnar was right next to the door, he took the full brunt of the volume that she projected from herself, causing him to vibrate intensely in his seat and make her following statement sound muffled, "Before your introduction into real Hero work, we're going to do something real fun today!" Because of the tinnitus, there was little context to seeing her rip off her clothes. Lesnar stiffened, suddenly feeling rather warm in the face before realizing that she had gym clothes underneath. There was no kidding himself; Lesnar was low-key expecting a wardrobe malfunction to take place, if not just to make this day more interesting, but he was humiliated all the same. "We're having Quirk Evaluations today! Not everyone in the class knows the extent of each other's quirks are, and I only know the Quirk itself! But I want to see you push it in today's exam!" Evaluations? Another exam? Lesnar beamed. He loved exams. He loved testing himself. Granted it wasn't a written one, but he now had the opportunity to start working on his quirk and apply it better. Maybe he'll find a way to control the effects that this force has on his body. Perhaps through a suit? All sorts of things jumped around in his mind, all of which made him more excited. It felt as if he had just sat down before Lesnar was already walking to the gymnasium, where he changed into his gym clothes. It was rather embarrassing, knowing how lanky he was and how loose they were on him, making him look like one of those gangsters in Brooklyn with their low-riding pants and XXL shirts. He certainly didn't want to feel like one of those guys, let alone in this country. All the same, he went with the rest of the class to a full set-up of what you would expect from a physical examination course: a punching bag, a shooting gallery, and an obstacle course. "So who's up first?" Lesnar swallowed. More of this presenting yourself to the class bullshit. Oh well, he figured, might as well get it out of the w- "I'll set the bar for you all!" "Oh, thank god..." Lesnar sighed, remaining where he stood. He looked up, recognizing the voice as Valerie. Of course, she would go first. Why wouldn't she? And of course it was a sight to behold. Seeing her stretch, working up a sweat with the determination that she wore so well, and the awe-striking glow of her quirk in action could be felt even as far away from it as he was. Finally, she walloped the punching bag for the strength test. "Top that!" Lesnar was about to applaud before stopping himself while looking around, humiliated that he would even do such a thing. "Apologies, Ms. Hitotsume. But I wanted to show the others what my Quirk is...and I had to remove the shirt in order for them to see it first hand." Yuudai was next, immediately taking his shirt off to reveal what was beneath. Lesnar was speechless. This guy was built like a machine. Literally. As if his limbs were built out of chains, the anatomy of this individual was a sight to behold. Like Valerie's run, Lesnar watched, taking note of these people's quirks and seeing how they applied them in this course. As if it wasn't interesting enough, he saw how the boy's arms began to whirl like tires as he unloaded on the bag. The rest was just as interesting. "Alright, I guess I'll go next," Itsuki went after, not exceeding the bar that was set for the strength test. It was rather underwhelming, but Lesnar imagined that'd be the case with a few people in here. However, he realized that that wasn't it. With a second glance towards the target, he noticed a strange green force was blocking the bag from hitting the sensor, and with each rebound, his punches kept swinging it more and more until the last one let the bag hit it, bringing up that score that would once again set a new bar. Lesnar was impressed. While Itsuki wasn't necessarily physically strong, he used his quirk quite cleverly to compensate for it. He noted this as he did with the others, watching as Itsuki seemed to struggle in the obstacle course. Nonetheless, it was interesting watching how he used these green "barriers" to maneuver around it as Lesnar began to strategize his own approach. As Itsuki's run was coming to a close, Lesnar looked around to see if anyone was willing to go next. Just like other incidents, Lesnar would've just wanted to get it over with as he stepped forth. "Alright, guess it's my turn..." his tone was passive in its delivery as he made his way to the obstacle course. He would wait until Itsuki was done before going up to the large ramp. The course was like any typical parkour for him. Any gaps that were too far for a normal jump was cleared with a short burst of force that spurted out of his palms, giving him the extra boost that he needed. After multiple albeit small uses that led him to the end, the tinnitus started to kick in, but he knew it wasn't over yet. The target practice was next. Lesnar knew he'd have to use more bursts for ranged attacks, but he let that thought blow aside as he positioned himself to get a good look at the array in front of him. Targets that looked like villains decorated his view, though what struck Lesnar most was what they were made of. Knowing that, he wouldn't need much to register a hit, however he knew that real villains would require more than just accuracy. Lesnar tuned in for another surge that he gathered in his palms, releasing it in the form of several bursts that fired at each of the targets. Some missed, others hit but only barely. These ones he aimed to actually hit like the rest before moving on to the strength test. The vibrations and ringing in his ears were getting quite bad, but now was time for the final push. Lensar would line himself up, leaving some distance for a sprinting shot. He turned up the volume for his music, letting one final surge of force swell in him before taking a deep breath and releasing everything in the form of a massively boosted run. With everything going quiet around him, only the force of his speed could be felt as the bag grew rapidly closer. Lesnar hadn't decided how to hit it. Punch it? No, his arm would be decimated. Kick it? Kick it. His legs were a bit more in shape, so he let his lower body flip over to position his feet for a double-footed flying kick, which landed with devastating impact. Not having planned for the aftermath, Lesnar's body felt crushed as he fell practically limp, the bag swinging ferociously over him. He groaned, but he wasn't severely injured as he stood up and dusted himself. Everything around him was muffled and blurry now, but he could still walk, albeit sorely. The numbers on the meter would have to show just how hard he had hit that bag. For now, Lesnar was done for the night... at least he hoped.

Cute batgirl. About all I really know so far. We haven't really interacted yet, so development has yet to occur for a more in-depth opinion.

She hot. Literally. In all seriousness though, she's pretty straightforward. Optimistic, strong, and determined to make the best of herself. MC material, if I do say so myself.

Opinions on anything and not just you or other members.

Don't worry mate, you're not the only one. Anyway, if there were 3 things that you could get away with in an RP, what would they be?

Making a character that I'll enjoy playing, let alone at all. Once that's out of the way, the posts basically write themselves. Commitment can be rather difficult as well, but that's just a matter of pacing and your character's awareness and utilization of their surroundings.

I remember a while ago my parents saw me watching this and my mom was like "I expected you to have better taste." Pretty sure my dad didn't say anything because he didn't wanna side with me in front of her, but I knew he also liked similar music back in the day. But still, since then I've kept my music taste reserved for people who aren't so judgemental. Going further down the rabbit hole, stuff like this: I tend to keep for a more select group of people.

Lesnar knew he would have to get it over with. Form in hand, he watched as the class stayed behind to socialize, which did not interest him. Instead, he simply left for the day to return to the place he would call home for his new life here. His headphones were put back on as he had no reason to listen to another teacher, letting another somber tune (TBD) signify that it was time to unwind after a hard day's work. More attentiveness to his surroundings were instinctual at this point, as he had found out the hard way that people here were actually somewhat active and civilized. These streets were not like the ones he grew up in, which were mostly deserted and the people that were there didn't care about you. His apartment was just down the street, but something felt off. There was a vehicle parked where he remembered wasn't occupied the first couple of days he was here. Considering there was no direct connection between parking and housing, he let the idea blow by that he may have accidentally gotten the key to someone else's place. Nonetheless, he was rather tired, and home was the only thing on his mind as he made for the door, unlocking it with the key... only to realize the door was already unlatched. "Did I forget to lock it?" he muttered, "No that can't be right, I remember clearly..." he shrugged it off as he walked in, noticing a row of shoes in the entryway. Someone was indeed in here. Lesnar would only put this together just before looking up to see a woman look back from the kitchen. "Oh, he's here!" she sang, dropping whatever utensils she was holding as she sped towards the door with open arms, "You must be Lesnar! Oh, so good to finally meet you!" Without consent, she embraced him, quickly retracting to look at him from top to bottom, "So skinny, my word! We're just about to have dinner! Join us, please!" As she went back to the kitchen, Lesnar's bewildered and wandering eyes found purchase with two others in the room; a man sat on the sofa just to Lesnar's left and a young boy was seen standing on one of the chairs placed by the table just a few feet from the couch. In the boy's hand was a toy airplane that he flew around over the table, making engine sounds by motorboating his lips. As soon as Lesnar saw him, the boy looked back with beaming eyes. "Lesbian!" he shouted as he jumped off the chair to run towards him. Lesnar let out a sudden chuckle from the shock of hearing this boy say such a word, which caused the man to lower his newspaper and look back. Lesnar immediately noticed disappointment on the man's face as he could feel the boy wrap around his legs. "U-uh, it's... it's LesNER, ummm..." Lesnar corrected the boy but since no introductions were made yet, he no knowledge of their names. "Oh, where are my manners!" the woman shouted over a steaming tray of food straight out of the oven, "I am Hana Oshiro, that's Kaito hugging you," Kaito soon let go to run back to the table, "and on the couch is my husband, Sora." "H-hello," Lesnar clumsily greeted, "Um, if I may ask..." "Oh yes, I'm so sorry, I meant to call you! We were on vacation, so we just had the key sent to you. We'll be your sponsor family while you're in school!" "Sponsor family?" Lesnar cocked his head slightly. "Yes, dear! You really expect to live alone in another country at your age? Until you're old enough, you need someone to take care of you." She paused a moment with a puzzled look on her face, "You... didn't know that?" "Well... no, not really," Lesnar softly responded. At this point he was already removing his shoes and making his way toward the table, "I expected to... you know, live alone like I've felt like I've been doing before coming here." "Oh my dear boy, you will never be alone here!" Hana's voice grew determined like a woman on a mission, "We're practically family now. Now take a seat, we're about to eat!" Hesitating only for a moment, Lesnar pulled out the nearest chair to seat himself for the meal to come. Only at the last second did Sora seat himself as far as possible from Lesnar, refusing to make eye contact. At that point, dinner was served. Lesnar was blown away. He hadn't eaten this good since... well, ever. His aunt could cook, but he would only get the cheap stuff. Moments passed as the feast disappeared from the trays that they were placed on. With full bellies, Lesnar let the fact that he was full process in his mind. The feeling was foreign to him. He had never felt this full in his life. He wiped his face with a napkin, catching a cold glimpse from Sora at the end of the table. He could feel the scorn on his expression, which Lesnar sensed as the man got up and walked down the hallways which led to what Lesnar assumed were the bedrooms. There was a brief pause, and Lesnar had a feeling what for. "T-th-thank you so much for dinner, Mrs. Oshiro," Lesnar let roll out, as holding in the praise was too much for his conscience to handle, "I haven't eaten that well since-" "Oh no need to thank me, dear, it's the least I can do! Also, you can just call me Hana!" Hana was practically glowing as she spoke with such glee in her voice. The aura faded slightly as she noticed Lesnar turning his head to look down the hallway, "...and don't mind him. He never really enjoyed company. He'll warm up to you though." With that, Hana rose up to begin gathering plates, "You should know where your room is though, right?" "Oh, yes," Lesnar replied, "In fact, I'm surprised I didn't accidentally put my stuff in the wrong one." "It's fine, you thought you had the whole place to yourself, right?" she let out a hearty and joyful laugh, causing whatever tension Lesnar felt to release all at once as he laughed with her. At that moment Lesnar realized he had a form to be signed. "Oh, I almost forgot! Since you're... my guardian, I guess, can you sign this form for me?" "Oh, of course, dear! What for?" "It's... for early hero licenses. They're in need of more people, so..." "Ah, I see." Hana's voice began to wane, "so they're throwing you in danger right away, is that right?" "I... guess that's one way of putting it." "Well..." she hesitated, "well alright, no better way to learn than with real experience, but darn it you better be careful!" Lesnar was shocked by this woman starting to sound frustrated as she gingerly took the form that he had handed out, placing it on the table to sign her name on the line that prompted it. Handing it back, she gave him a wink, presumably of good luck, and she went back to the kitchen with a stack of plates in hand. With a stretch, Lesnar went to his bedroom to retire for the evening, not expecting a certain someone to be sitting on his bed, waiting for him. "Close the door," Sora muttered, with an obvious tinge of hostility. Lesnar quietly did so as Sora got up and walked up to him, "Tell me... how is it that you speak Japanese so well?" "W-well, I-I-I-" "C'mon, spit it out!" "M-mostly from anime, sir..." Lesnar swallowed, beginning to sweat at the intimidating presence of his new father figure. "Ha! Anime. Of course it's anime." he huffed, putting his hands in his pockets as he leaned up to him, "Let me just set something straight with you, boy. My wife and son may have accepted you with open arms, but I haven't. This is my family. My place. To me, you're not family. You're just a stranger in this household and you're not welcome." "I-I-I'm sorry sir, but-" "But nothing." Sora snapped, "Now, as reluctant as I am to accept you, this is just the way things are going to be from now on. Clearly, you don't have a source of income and you won't have time for work anyway with your current schedule, so you won't be able to pay rent. So because of that, you will be earning your stay by not being a freeloaning lazybody. You will help around the house. You will help with cooking. Whatever help we need that we can't do on our own, we will turn to you, and most importantly..." his lips curled to hold back a curse, "...you will set a good example for my son. I will not tolerate a bad influence for him to grow up on. You would do well to watch yourself around him. You hear me?" "Y-y-yes sir!" Lesnar swallowed again, eyeing the finger that was pointed inches from his face. "I'll be watching you. Be a good boy and don't cause trouble for my family." Without another word, he stormed past Lesnar to fling the door open and slam it shut again, which cause a severe wave of vibrations to cascade through him. A few minutes of pure white noise followed as he made his way to his bed and plopped down onto it. With a full belly, a signed form, and something he's never truly had his whole life... a family... Lesnar's new life had officially begun.

Something that's been on my mind recently... what positive experiences from your childhood were thrown on their head when you found out the truths behind them? If you ask me, I don't really like the phrase because it implies that nostalgia justifies quality in past experiences, but seeing as it often comes up (most prominently in social media), I'm just curious. I wouldn't say anything was "ruined" per se in my experience because usually when I learn something about what I used to enjoy, then if anything I'm just glad I was able to enjoy it back then while I was still pretty naive and obvious to certain things. One thing that stands out is Bill Cosby, as I used to be a fan of his work. Finding out he was a rapist kinda made me realize just how much the media didn't tell us, so it's really just a testament to how they'd rather leave us ignorant and occupied, but only cautious and informed about a select group of things that don't ruin their image. All derailing aside, what are some similar things that y'all have discovered at some point?

ooh baby that pleather is so fiiiine

There was a period of peace after the ship cleared the asteroid field, as Julian could see. Just as he got his bearings after the initial rocking of the ship, a streak of light was seen to have come out of the void that stretched to infinity. Impact followed. "Enemy mecha detected. Military response required." Sure enough, this wasn't just a straight flight to whatever base they were going to. The ship was being attacked. Pirates? Terrorists? Whatever it was, it was a threat that needed attention. "Damn... couldn't they have waited until we got there?" He groaned. Hesitating only slightly to figure out where to go, Julian redonned the mask and triggered another hit of painkillers, gaining enough focus to calmly run to the hangar. Other students clamored along the same path, but Julian's mission was his own as he opened the doors to the large open space that housed the giant war machines that they would be using. Julian's recognized his right away; a slim build with extravagant aerial maneuverability components that roughly took the shape of wings, like a skinny and devious devil. That being said, the most important thing was the weapon at its side... the rifle. Similar to the one he used at home for hunting, it was simply a matter of using it like he would normally, this time being bigger, badder, and far more advanced. He watched as a few other students had already boarded and exited through the doors that were damaged by the impact, immediately recognizing the limited space around the ship where there was artificial gravity. He'd have to fly as if he was falling at first. He thought this as he was already running to his mech as the alarm kept blazing. He couldn't hesitate. It may just be a measly pirate, but they were only students and so was he. Despite his doubts, his initiative was to respond as a soldier would despite his lack of training. This was the first test. He boarded PA-NS (Penetrating Angel - Nefarious Sniper), at first off-put by the fact that he was no longer just walking and using a gun with his fingers. This time he would be remotely operating a machine to use a larger version, but he got the hang of it later as the controls kicked in. Artificial intelligence guided him through the process as the machine grabbed the rifle, literally latching to it. It would need to, especially now with space being the occasional culprit of losing things forever. With everything being accounted for, Julian followed the others, immediately finding a place on top of the ship, specifically the highest point. He would find his perch, look through the scope, and activate his scanners on these incoming enemies. As expected, the hostile units were that of typical pirates. Their armor was rather weak, but all the same Julian picked up the general anatomy of one of the units that Erica had begun to rush towards, which was highlighted on his HUD, followed by a name revealing the unit to be called "Bandito." Julian let out a light chuckle as he noticed a red and blinking portion of the unit on his HUD locating the area where the laser was, indicating that it was vulnerable and unstable. In other words, if he could hit it, it would most certainly be catastrophic for the unit. As he lined up the shot, he realized that Erica would be too close to the target should any explosion happen. He also realized that she was going out rather far against multiple enemies. He cursed softly as he aimed for another target (#5), displaying the same unit with the same weakness which he aimed for. Setting the sights for any lead-ins, the system locked onto the weak point and Julian pulled the trigger, firing a fast, sharp, and precise piercing shot that would go through said area.

"My name is Xa'tok, and to answer the other questions, I am of the Xul-Tuk tribe, whose fleet travels through the void of River of the Gods- that is to say, the Orion Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy." "Ah yes, Orion. I remember that being quite the popular observation where I'm from." Julian was just looking for reasons to keep the conversation at this point, even if it was little things he remembered from his childhood. Meaningless things, but worth bringing up, even if it was a tad forward and forced. "Role-what?" Sammi responded to Julian's question just as Xa'tok finished giving his brief introduction. Julian was almost puzzled until he realized that it must not be something she's heard of where she's from. "I'm from a dismal little planet way off on the rim of the galaxy. The population over there is very low these days, but that's fine. I would advise against vacationing there." There it was, the answer to the question he was asking himself as if knowledge was served daily on a platter by a responsive butler. "Roleplay. It's rather silly, but it was a way to pass the time... at least where I'm from." There it was again; where he was from. "You act like someone else. That's it. You talk like them, you walk like them, and sometimes you even dress like them. Like I said, it's rather silly. It got quite boring back then." Julian felt like he was getting into too much detail for the first couple days. Already he could feel his throat drying up and making his speech sound raspier. Unfortunately, he didn't have any vaporized lozenges to soothe it. With some introductions out of the way, Julian was one step closer to feeling more at home in this new home away from home. Things seemed to be going rather well until the rocking of the ship started once again, this time more severe and frequent. He saw as people started leaving the library, be it for safety or to look outside to see what was causing the commotion. He couldn't tell, seeing as he was too busy with the conversation to notice as lesser shakes that might have happened beforehand. Julian would later get up from his seat, leaving the book to lie next to the imprint where he sat. Sure enough, he saw from the window that he went towards that there was an asteroid field that was getting denser. As more shakes came, Julian began to feel queasy, which made him regret not packing any nausea-treating vapor. All he had medication for was pain, which he did feel from the trauma of impacts but not enough to require a hit. "Of all the things I saw myself doing, I never thought it'd be on a spaceship that's crashing through asteroids..." he grumbled.

Also a good contender: though I'd say my favorite cover art would be this: