#also if they're in the same image i consider them the same 'creature' under that number 30

[chickenmcnuggies]

figured i'd post the full creature list for my bravely default bestiary mod for dwarf fort since the mod is basically finished ignoring my indecisiveness under read more since it's like 50 miles long

chompers of all kinds. and chompettes. and war trained gobblers :)

the first of the sprites i made, and what i consider the mascots of the mod

(BD1+BS)

ratbitt, badbitt, uniconey unibitt (BD2)

alraune, mandragora, and rafflesia (BD1+BS)

green, fire, and ice d'gons (BD1+BS)

brimstone stallion, sagari, and nightmare (BD2)

drake (BS)

land turtle (BD1+BS)

magician, mephisto, and zauberer (BD1+BS)

hybrid (BD1+BS)

catamount, and valtora

killer ant, magic ant, peraponera, and shooterbug (BS, BD2)

anzu, and regulus (BS)

cu sith! technically cheating since it's from final fantasy 4 heroes of light and not BD, but 4hol is bravely adjacent and originally i was going to do cait sith as well, and wanted them to be a pair. in the end i couldn't make a cait sith sprite i was happy with so it ended up just being this guy.

kaiser cobra, sea serpent cobra (BD1+BS)

fungoo (BD2)

rock golem, inferno golem, ice golem (BD1 + BS) and wood golem (BD2)

one golem type assigned to each main race in DF

hellhound. every bravely game has a hellhound in it but in all of them they're just regular wolves recolored red, or blue in BD2. So it's instead based on it's 4HoL design.

imp, teufel (BD1 + BS)

mailed dragon (BD1 + BS)

megalodon (BD1 + BS)

minotaur, and amber horn (BD1 + BS)

ogre (in all 3 games but based on the BD2 design)

orc, orc leader, orc chieftain, orc lord, orc king. (in all 3 games but based on the BD2 designs)

ratatoskr, and frosti (BD1 + BS)

sizzlemoth (BD2)

slime, red flan, and black pudding (BD1 + BS)

soil eater (BD1 + BS)

wiki-wiki, big wiki-wiki, metal wiki-wiki, queen wiki-wiki, and king wiki-wiki (BD2)

behemoth behemouth. renamed since i already did a 'behemoth' for my other mod. still less bad than it's 4HoL name of "bighugemore"

a megabeast with a deafening roar and a lethal bite laced with venom. based on a mix of it's BD1 and BS fights (venom from BD1 and roar from BS)

greaps, the second full creature from 4HoL. put in simply because she's very cool and it felt weird to only have 1 4HoL monster.

a megabeast that specializes on using different forms of magic from her 3 different battles from 4hol.

[luciaintheskyainthi]

Hey I was re-reading ECM and I noticed how awesome your the writing style was and wanted to know if you'd be willing to share how you write like that?

(I've got exams and have to really work on my english lmao)

Thank-you very much! I'm glad you've enjoyed my writing so much!

(I want to preface any notes here by saying I started seriously writing when I was 12 and I am now... not that. So I have almost 20 years of writing under my belt)

I've actually done a post about writing that gives a few pointers so I won't re-hash those points, but will add a few extras about crafting 💖💖

I know I said I wouldn't re-hash things, but this point always bears merit in saying: the first thing you write is the worst thing you write. It's called a first draft for a reason and you shouldn't be precious about it. That means don't go stressing about getting your phrasing perfect. Rewriting your draft can do wonders (and that doesn't mean you have to completely change things on the rewrite!), especially if you're not a confident writer.

Vary the start of your sentences. It's a very easy habit to fall into (I still do it all the dang time); you write sentence after sentence starting the the subject ('It was...'; 'Peter did...'; 'She saw...' etc). It makes your writing feel repetitive. We fall into patterns in our writing and forcing yourself to think about how you can change up the way your sentences begin within a paragraph is an invaluable challenge. Consider your paragraphs too: when I'm on my first edit, I pay close attention to how they start to ensure they don't all begin the same way. That doesn't mean every sentence has to start differently, but keeping things mixed up adds variety.

Avoid info-dumping. Exposition (where you give relevant background information) is a useful feature but it slows the pace of your story significantly. What I see a lot of fanfic writers do is freeze time (quite often at the very start of the story) to give us 500+ words of information that could have been drip fed over the chapter (or several chapters). I'm absolutely not saying I'm innocent of this - I do it all the time, including the opening to ECM! - but something that I find can help is to a) make it interesting by setting up a mystery that the exposition doesn't answer, b) intersperse exposition with description to keep up the pace or c) try to make your exposition feel as authentic as possible to your narrator.

Be decisive: avoid phrases like 'seemed to' and 'felt like' etc. Instead of, "She seemed to glow with happiness' make it 'She glowed with happiness'. Simple changes like this just make you seem more sure of yourself as a writer because you're committing to the image. Again, this kind of indefinite phrasing is an easy habit to fall into but it's a very easy fix! Very often, the sentence will still make perfect sense if you simply delete these phrases (although sometimes it will need a few minor tweaks).

Metaphors, not similes. Honestly this is just a continuation of the previous rule! Rather than, 'It looked like an ocean of silver', 'An ocean of silver swelled before them' is much more interesting and committed to the bit! Again, that's not to say you can't use similes at all! They're great, but you should ask yourself if a metaphor would be better.

Don't be afraid to extend your metaphors. Extended metaphors are such fun. Consider my earlier example : 'An ocean of silver swelled before them'. If I was to extend this, I'd think about other images associated with the ocean. Waves, tides, sea creatures, the scent and sound of the water. And since I've compared it to silver, I'd also consider things that are semantically connected: gold, copper, jewels like emeralds, sapphires, pearls etc. Then I'd start crafting additional clauses/sentences to build upon that original metaphor.

Brush up on a wider range of writer methods. Honestly, teaching English helped me out a bunch here, but here are a few of my faves: polysyndeton: this is where you list with the same coordinating conjunctions (and, but, so, for etc) rather than commas. If you look at my writing you'd see I do this all the damn time. Anaphora: in the typical form I use it, it's where the start of successive clauses begin with the same opening word/phrase (think like MLK's 'I have a dream speech). Best used in a group of three in my experience. Again I use this all the time. The opposite of this (where successive clauses end in the same word/phrase) is called epistrophe. Oxymoron: a fun one. It's a paradoxical phrase (e.g. burning cold, loving hate etc) Hyperbole: an over-exaggeration (e.g. It's boiling hot. I walked a million miles to get here!). Very fun to use with an unreliable narrator or you want to get across just how unbearable/significant something is (but the key here is that it's got to be obvious you're over-exaggerating!) Synaesthesia: where you mix different senses together (e.g. The lights sang in harmony; the room smelled cold).

Planning does wonders for your story structure. For the longest time I was a 'pantster' and would just throw myself in writing on vibes only, but now I find that knowing where I want to take my story makes it much easier to place critical themes and the much loved foreshadowing.

I hope at least some of these can be helpful to you! These are methods that have helped me over the years, but the beauty of writing is of course that all of us over time develop our own 'voice'! Just because I say these are things I do doesn't mean that's what everyone has to do!

Good luck on your exams too!! 💖

[thebroccolination]

CELEBRATE MARRIAGE EQUALITY (AND KEY'S SUPER DIGNIFIED MELTDOWN) WITH KRISTSINGTO

[Okay. Okay. I'm somewhat more emotionally collected now having had a few hours to compose myself. How cute I am when I lie.]

Krist and Singto dedicated a segment in PeBaCa’s concert to celebrating Thailand’s legalization of marriage equality on January 23rd, 2025. Complete with proposal!

[Yes, that's Krist-as-Himself proposing to Singto-as-Himself. No, I'm not the same person I was this morning, and as a matter of fact, I wave goodbye to that Key with nothing but fondness in my heart. I am now Feral Swamp Creature Key who subsists only off rainbows or bloodshed depending on my mood. Thank you for the wellness check.]

In the introduction to their segment, Krist and Singto acted out a reimagined scene from "Love of Siam" (2007), a pinnacle of queer Thai cinema that paved the way for "SOTUS" (2016) to even exist almost ten years afterward, so for KristSingto to show their respect to it was a beautiful way to start things off.

[Do you love the little plush of KingMan over Singto's shoulder as much as I do?]

It should be mentioned that from my passing familiarity with "Love of Siam," KristSingto went with something a touch more melodramatic. Considering how eager they always are to volunteer for the breakup songs and the angry exes series, they're basically theatre kids disguised as economics majors, so it's totally up their alley to take creative liberties with the dialogue and tone.

Of course, I'm also convinced that Krist just wanted an excuse to show off that he can cry on command.

Like, no one dies at the end of "Love of Siam," but Krist apparently decided he needed to for The Drama.

[Yes, your deductive reasoning looking at these two images is correct. Krist did have a heart attack because his boyfriend Singto broke up with him. He did indeed have the spotlight change to red to symbolize his very sad onstage death. I am never, ever exaggerating my love for this ridiculous human, y'all. I would punch a planet into the sun itself for Kit Krist Middle Name Perawat Sangpotirat.]

Granted, this is the same khuujin who put Krist's actual car accident into their meta series about their Extremely Platonic relationship (airing next month). This is very on-brand for them.

Oh, so then they jump into The Future, and yay, Marriage Equality is Legalized Now!

[I’m somehow on my knees screaming into a typhoon near a cliff by the sea while also simultaneously typing this on my phone in a quiet train car.]

I'm only going to get more feral about them from here on out, I'm afraid.

THE PERFORMANCE

Now you're ready to watch The Performance.

Armed with all this context, please go forth into their music number full of every possible fucking rainbow configuration imaginable starting with Krist proposing to Singto (WHAT EVEN HAPPENED TODAY), featuring a walk down the aisle in matching white suits (HELLO???), and ending with them kissing at their wedding (HELP????????):

Also, it cuts off too early in the above video to see the very end of the performance, but if you want to be super unreasonable and unhinged with me for a second, tell me on a scale of yes to obviously how likely it is that they Kissed for Real:

"But Key!" you say, being reasonable and hinged the way I wish you wouldn't be. "They don't kiss for real at these events!"

Maybe yours don't!

Mine do! \:D/

(Are we all fully understanding at this point why I've spent years so fixated on trying to show other interfans that they've been completely brainwashed and fooled by slander of my beloved biological son Krist? Look at that guy in the video who probably planned and staged the whole performance like he always does wearing a THOUSAND RAINBOW RIBBONS UNDER A RAINBOW DECKED IN RAINBOWS. At this point, Krist could marry Singto in a church and there would be three thousand English-speaking interfans commenting on the video going, "Okay, look, I admit he's committed to the bit, but I'm still not convinced." But that's why we block people. <3)

Ooh, fun tidbit for the road: see that place in the background swathed in all the rainbows? That's the area between Siam Center and Siam Paragon, two shopping malls adjacent to Siam Station. "Cutie Pie" (2022) also included this spot in its final scene along with a message of support for marriage equality:

The other fun bit is that that area is considered to be the center of Bangkok, so I've been told that using it as the backdrop for content supporting marriage equality is fairly symbolic.

KEY HAS A LOT OF EMOTIONS INSTEAD OF GOING TO SLEEP

This was going to be more structured but I'm sleepy and emotional and probably going to cry again so let's jump to the sloppy weeping in text.

This performance feels to me like KristSingto have come full circle from their SOTUS era while raising the standard for their next lap together.

Because in many ways, KristSingto will always be associated with beginnings. Their legacy is “SOTUS,” which wasn’t the first Thai BL but the first to gain widespread recognition and signal to the people with money that they could make more money by endorsing more series like it.

[If you've ever complained about the temperature and lack of tongue-inclusion during kiss scenes in early series, know that we have footage of a different KongArt kiss that had to be cut because it got too involved for what TV was allowed to show in 2016. Not just for queer couples. Anyone. It was a big deal that their lips were moving at all.]

They were also the first established khuujin at GMMTV—with all the pros and cons and psychological challenges that have come with it. They celebrated the establishment of the Peraya fanclub on April 19th, 2017 by exchanging rings given to them by their fans.

[Please explain to me how I'm meant to look at any of this and think Krist hasn't been nursing a crush on Singto since his past life. Look at his face. Look at it.]

They were also the first male-male pair to win KAZZ’s Best Couple Award in 2017, then they proceeded to win it three consecutive more times.

[Singto wasn't present for the 2020 ceremony because he was off kissing another man for "Friendzone." Choose your fighter: legend or scandal. (There's a correct answer and it's the first one.)]

And finally, if KristSingto weren’t the first to have an implied same-sex engagement scene in Kongphob and Arthit’s “Our Skyy” episode from 2018, they were among the first.

[Almost no one outside the KristSingto fandom ever includes this scene in the proposal scene compilations but it deserves to be.]

There are only so many firsts one can have in any given industry, and I think it's time KristSingto got to enjoy some of the established comforts available to them now considering how much trauma they both went through to carve the path for themselves and others.

[For one thing, let them kiss with tongue! (I think we can all agree it's an important one. They both kiss well and I would like them to get the credit they deserve for it.)]

Because the thing is, a lot of the really risqué, envelope-pushing, flagrantly queer series we’ve gotten in the years since 2016 were made partially thanks to these two. GMMTV really didn’t seem to want to give KristSingto anything but money-sucking top spender events and concerts because they had little to no faith in BL making substantial money. So they kept Krist doing lakorn series and they, in my opinion, cast Singto aside and let him do whatever he wanted because colorism. By the time GMMTV offered KristSingto “Be My Favorite” presumably in early-mid 2021, Singto was already looking for other opportunities outside the company, which left Krist to create the masterpiece BMF would become with a temporary partner.

So, see, one of the cons of KristSingto's path has been that because they were first, nothing has ever been certain for them, and almost everything has been a struggle until now rather than a guarantee. They were hit with widespread condescension as BL actors when "SOTUS" aired, then split up for profit, brought back together for cash-only events, and never got the second series they were asking for all along. Krist said it himself recently: their last full BL series together was "SOTUS S" which aired in 2017, so their fans have been waiting to see another series from them for seven years.

And yet, in all that time, even when Singto left to find different opportunities, they never gave up on each other or left each other behind. They stayed friends, part of the same group, and their friendship grew and matured. They didn't have to talk about work anymore, so they didn't.

Since they're a year apart, they'd never been equals as students, and at work they'd been colleagues. But when Singto left GMMTV, they became adults who stayed at each other's side by choice. And now that he's back, they're more settled than they were before, and, I think, happier for the years of separation from work stress and the constant spotlights on their relationship.

KristSingto were GMMTV’s faithless gamble, surprise success, and subsequent experiment, and only now are they being allowed relative security and opportunities they should have had all along.

That said, tune into their comeback series "The Ex-Morning" (2025) next month! \:D/

The whole post was an ad for their new series. Mwahahaha.

[freshlybakedspiderbread]

here to ramble about touhous who are super old. I know even in a lot of other fiction, non-human ages are often arbitrary, but i usually, at least in touhou, dont just shrug them off with random numbers ⏳

Well to start I do think just general personality and self-image plays into how young or old a character might act or present themselves, and the changing nature of youkai means that even you're a being who is technically thousands of years old, your 'current' self is a lot younger than that.

Anyhow with that in mind, my personal thoughts in general re: how age affects thier personality, is that a being who is a few hundred years old is probably still not That different in thinking from a human. But starting at like 500 is when you can say they're a long-lived being and already qualify as a living piece of history and will likely act appropriately experienced and say stock lines like "human, your life is but a drop in a puddle next to mine" or something like that

then you get to close to or over 1000 years and that's considered Old old even by youkai standards. in my head, most characters that falls under this should always give off a sort of weary, fifties or above vibe no matter how they otherwise try to act. Like Aya whose usually complaining about how things were better in her days, or Kanako and Suwako who aim to reinvent themselves but still hold on to some old ways of theirs.

side note but related to my headcanon of exceptions because of personality/self-image: Mamizou isnt that old by youkai standards but her experiences have 'aged' her a lot so thats why she's more of an old aunt/grandma type than most older youkai. Inversely, Nue's some super ancient creature, but she's also really quick to adapt to her surroundings and circumstances so thats why she looks and acts like a 'modern' youkai.

also eirin and kaguya are ancient too but the way i see it, the static nature of eternity and whatnot means that they only started experiencing true change and growth as people when they each arrived on earth.

Anyhow the reason for this whole post is is because i was thinking about how the whole myouren crew are over a century old. The fact that most of them were sealed away and/or holding on to the same baggage during that whole time is what i see as the reason why none of them would have changed much at all during that time. So that all applies to byakuren/shou/ichirin/murasa...

...and then I have to remind myself that also applies to Nazrin, and I go 'wow nazrin is over a thousand years old?'

really??! yeah 🐭

Surprise. this entire post was about nazrin to begin with

and so i think a lot about what was she like when she was first assigned to stick close to shou? during that long span of time where shou alone was watching over a temple that was eroding away, how close did nazrin stick to her during all that time??

maybe she *started* out as an all serious type who only cared about fulfilling bishamonten's duties but after enough time with people she's grown to care about, eventually mellowed out to become closer to what you'd expect from a cute mouse girl who likes cheese 🥺

[felassan]

let's talk a lil bit about the new Thedas Calls teaser and the new blog post, in relation to revisiting the DA:D leaks from around 10 months ago (potential DA:D spoiler warning for those last 2 links, as well as for under the cut below):

(I won't be posting the images and gif themselves from that leak here, not directly. here and here are some previous posts of mine talking/speculating about those leaks so that I don't repeat myself too much. and here is my DA:D spoiler tag in general in case it's of interest to anyone to browse or anyone wishes to blacklist it. also, the usual set of disclaimers that accompany all leaks applies - might not be real, unable to verify, games change a fair bit between development phases and final release, take with grain of salt etc).

okay, so really in this post I am just looking to tie the new teaser&blog info with that leak.

the new teaser indicates Weisshaupt as a location we'll be visiting in DA:D, seeming to confirm the leak, which shows the possible Player Character, Rook, and their companions including Davrin fighting through Weisshaupt ("Weisshaupt" can be seen in the top right text).

the new teaser implies something bad has happened to Weisshaupt (see bottom paragraph in that post) and when the 'Speaker 2' Warden character speaks their line, we hear the roar of battle, a battle cry, the clang of weapons etc. I wrote elsewhere that Speaker 2 (who insists that Wardens don't hide in their castle, they fight)

sounds like a hardened fighter, a seasoned commander. he is speaking when he’s about to be attacked, or in a pause in battle

and in the leak, text shows that Rook has the objective "Defeat the darkspawn", and shows them fighting through Weisshaupt in combat with darkspawn. this is not the worst of it however - per the dialogue there's "worse than darkspawn on the way", and the walls won't hold it back. we see Rook fighting what looks like those red lyrium-affected darkspawn creatures. Could the thing that is worse and on the way be the cause of the "tremors in the Anderfels" described in the blog post, or one of the "risen gods" mentioned in the teaser? I feel like if you squint, in some of the images from the leak, there looks to be the silhouette of a great beast in the background, maybe a dragon.

this location in the leak, also noted as Weisshaupt, looks to be this location from the teaser, just from a different angle/position on that 'level'. it has the same night-time, lighting, dark atmosphere, rocky cliffs, cloudyness, ruined buildings/structures, ominous feel, vaguely green tint etc.

the blue dome in that location also seems to show up as an asset in the Rivain segment of the teaser.

apart from the red lyrium darkspawn, the red lighting here in the leak (and potentially the reference to "Spawn Boils"), as well as the ominous spreading tendrils in the leak images in general, bring to mind the red lyrium-esque glow in part of this shot from the teaser.

the leak describes Rook as a "Level [x] Grey Warden" - interesting considering the prominence of Grey Wardens as a highlighted faction, locale (via Anderfels and their HQ), 'Warden Speaker' in the teaser and all. (remembering also the speculation that Warden is a potential background of some kind for the PC)

I also wonder if the big door with griffons on it in the leak is what looks to me like a door/gateway covered by the suggestion of red lyrium in the teaser. I feel like if you squint you can just about make out the pattern of the engraved griffons' wings on it, or those rayed lines from the bottom half of the door. (or is this just me seeing things hh?) in the leak the characters are trying to hold the door shut and there's no red lyrium on it. I guess they fail and it becomes tainted by red lyrium and destroyed/grown over or something, or the dragon etc that I presume they're trying to keep out, does end up busting through, with the walls around it becoming destroyed too. (easily done by a dragon, magic, red lyrium or stuff magic-warping bc of Fade shenanigans etc)

According to sources that spoke to Tom Henderson's Insider Gaming, "It’s understood that you’ll be able to move from your hub to missions by passing through a mirrored portal." I know the games have always had Fast Travel all over Ferelden as in DA:O or all over Ferelden and Orlais as in DA:I etc. and it's a game, so you don't really need an explanation for jumping around travel-wise due to gameplay-story segregation. the mirrored portal obviously sounds like an eluvian though and to tie this to the new teaser, with so many different locales shown across vast swathes of northern Thedas - Anderfels, Tevinter, Antiva and Rivain at least - I have to wonder again if the PC and their companions are travelling around these many different countries and across such distances via eluvians. I wrote elsewhere,

moving from a hub to missions through eluvians was exactly what we did in Trespasser from the Winter Palace, and it worked really well. Trespasser’s setup was really enjoyable. it was a fun mechanic that helped explain fast travel and apparent teleportation. it also allowed for travelling to places all over, from the Deep Roads to ancient elven ruins to places in-between the waking world and the Fade - a variety of handcrafted places to explore still but with a tighter storyline threading through them, as opposed to open-world that felt like it was probably mandatory to include during development because of other games on the market like Skyrim and AC, but which then struggled to be filled with meaningful content to fill the space and in which that struggle was apparent. I’d be down for that. I’m just daydreaming and speculating wildly now for real (bc it’s fun) but we could travel all over Thedas that way. We did that in [previous DA games] I know but you know what I mean?

at the very least from the new teaser we now know we're travelling to at least 4 different nations in DA:D. :>

Some leak-text on Reddit also accompanied the gif and screenshots from the leak. it again mentioned the darkspawn attacking Weisshaupt. as I wrote at the time, this "explains why Weisshaupt looks wrecked", now it seems like we are also seeing this in the new teaser (wrecked Weisshaupt). it seemed to confirm the influence of red lyrium also, mentioning that some of the enemy darkspawn "have red lyrium attacks", and confirmed the attacking dragon. I wrote at the time

The dragon is also Concerning.. like. Darkspawn attacking, with a dragon involved. That sounds like a Blight and an Archdemon. Is this the Sixth Blight? is it a Red Lyrium Blight? I'm reminded of this concept art. also HELLO?

not sure about a 'red lyrium Blight' / 'sixth Blight' exactly per se, but what it reminds me of again is the Anderfels blurb from the new blog,

ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ꜰᴀʀ ᴡᴇꜱᴛ, ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ ɢʀᴇʏ ᴡᴀʀᴅᴇɴꜱ ᴘᴀᴛʀᴏʟ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀɴᴅᴇʀꜰᴇʟꜱ. ᴛʀᴇᴍᴏʀꜱ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ʙᴇᴇɴ ᴄʀᴇᴀᴛɪɴɢ ᴅɪꜱᴛᴜʀʙᴀɴᴄᴇꜱ ᴏꜰ ʟᴀᴛᴇ. ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ᴄᴀᴜꜱᴇ ɪꜱ ᴜɴᴋɴᴏᴡɴ. ᴜᴘᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅɪꜱᴛᴀɴᴛ ʜᴏʀɪᴢᴏɴ, ᴀ ꜱᴛᴏʀᴍ ᴏꜰ ᴏᴍɪɴᴏᴜꜱ ɪɴᴛᴇɴᴛ ʙʀᴇᴡꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴀʀᴋᴇɴꜱ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴋɪᴇꜱ.

as in, the contents of the leaks sure sounds like this 'storm of ominous intent that darkened the Anderfels skies' has now struck, and hit Weisshaupt.

In the leak it was noted that

"The objective is to fight through the Darkspawn to get to the library, but as you are doing so there is also a big ass dragon attacking from above. And the dragon creates occasional environmental and traversal hazards. It ends once you reach the library, close the gates, "and then come face to face with the dragon. It appears you are then supposed to try and chain the dragon up, but it ends before the player completes that."

(I said of this, "I guess the big lever we see has something to do with trying to chain the dragon up.") I feel like here in the new teaser we can see some hints of occasional environmental and traversal hazards, like lightning strikes (some dragons have lightning / electricity abilities right? like Vinsomer from the DA:D codex they shared with us), broken bridges and different places where we might have to jump to, hang from, or climb onto etc (and the leak had also mentioned that jumping returns). I also feel like, perhaps the ring-things in that shot from the new teaser have something to do with the chain-system mentioned in the leak, where it seems that you're supposed to then try and chain the dragon up. the leak also said that

"Basically, buildings and whatnot are all modeled and textured but the skybox itself is very dark and makes it seem as though the entire fortress is underground, although it is clearly not. I suspect the skybox could contain some giant world event, similar to the Breach, they hadn't finished."

given that in the new teaser Weisshaupt still looks dark, it seems like this was intentional? and likely due to the attack on the fortress and whatever giant world event may be appearing in the sky[box] that was theorized to being something similar to the Breach (and in that concept art of Weisshaupt).

[stormbreaker101]

Humans are hard to draw so I made the Color Gang + Purple from AvM in Wizard101 instead.

No actual gender headcanons for any of them, I just wanted to mess with the different models. Making them all the same gender in-game would be boring to me. plus, I havent messed around with the masc models as much, since all the characters I play on are girls.

I did put thought into their schools, names, and outfits though :3 All under the cut

Second's ability to make living drawings instantly led me to either Life or Myth for them. I chose Life for them because they have a rather chill disposition and is often the one cleaning up or otherwise dealing with the shenanigans that their more energetic friends get into. Also their supersaiyan powers in are consistently green, and green is the main color of the Life school. Lastly, Second is the first one to use music as a way to communicate with others (in the Warden EP), and Life magic is closely tied to the concepts of music, as it was canonically derived from the Song of Creation that made the Spiral. "Seth" as a name is really close to Second while also being a regular name, and "Museborn" is a reference to the fact that they were hand-drawn as c!Alan's character, AND that they were made in the image of another muse of his, Chosen.

Red strikes me as someone who was originally a conjurer (Myth), but later their magic shifted to necromancy (Death). Red's primary interest is in animals and creatures, often spawning them in with spawn eggs. This ties very closely to one of Myth magic's primary mechanics, summoning minions. Their magic became Death after being possessed by Herobrine multiple times, because I for one love when a person's magic changes thanks to the trauma they endure. Both the schools of Myth and Death are rather tanky but hard-hitting schools that can opt for an all-offensive playstyle rather easily, which fits Red's combat. "Beastwhisper" is a reference to their aptitude for working with mobs, and I just picked "Aidan" as a firstname because it sounded cool. The yellow band on their hat is for the headband they got in the Monster School episode, and the blue trim on their robe is to represent Herobrine, and the continued influence he has on them even when not in Minecraft.

Yellow reads peak Balance wizard to me. Balance is in-canon considered to be one of the more advanced schools of magic, and was intended by the developers to be one of the best support schools, able to buff any of their teammates. The "technical difficulty" aspect of Balance fits Yellow's expertise in tech, coding, & command blocks, and I've noticed that while Yellow certainly is a competent fighter on their own, they tend to use their command block staff to support others and not just themself. "Amber" as their firstname for the color, and "Copperweave" for their surname as a reference to actual computers being made with copper wires. The red on their robe is for redstone, I imagine their clothes are often stained with it.

Green is quintessential Diviner (Storm wizard). Like, they're not just a Stormie, but a Wolf Stormblade at that. Storm is THE glass cannon of Wizard101: strong and bright and flashy and the center of attention, but also fragile and flighty and prone to be blindsided. Additionally, Storm is seen as the magic of creativity, which perfectly fits with Green's skill in buildbattles and their musical interest. Their surname "Goldensong" represents this musicality, but also their constant struggle for perfection. "Jaden" as their first name because it sounds close to the color jade. (There really aren't any good masc firstnames in Wiz that start with G, sorry guys). Their robe is green and yellow because that was a preset outfit, but also it fits their name well.

Blue reads as a pyromancer (Fire wizard) to me primarily because of how Fire magic works in-game. Fire's primary mechanic is dealing gradual damage over time, which is the best way I can translate Blue's tendency to fight at a distance into Wizard101 logic. Additionally there is a Fire school spell that features a magical archer, a Fire Elf in particular. Fire magic also has the connotations of crafting and cooking, which fits Blue's expertise as the potionsmaster and chef of the group. I chose "Chelsea" as their firstname because the sea is blue (I first made these sticks while farming a boss over and over, slowly falling asleep and losing my mind :p), and "Glassarrow" to represent the two main ways they fight (potions in glass bottles & archery). Also, I enjoy playing around with connotations and expectations. Glass is fragile, but its shards are sharp and dangerous. Blue is definitely the most sensitive and emotional of the Color Gang, but they can certainly whoop ass. Don't underestimate them.

Purple is a character who is above all else resilient and a survivor by any means necessary, which I read as being very Ice. Ice is meant to be the tankiest school, able to withstand everything that's thrown its way, but it struggles with dishing damage back. This makes many people who play Wizard101 consider it a "weak" school and turn a blind eye to its best attributes. This fits Purple's arc to a T to me: someone who could never fulfil Navy's standards of being 'strong', but survives regardless and finds a new group of friends who can begin to appreciate them for them (yknow, once they start to be honest). Plus, in old Wizard101 lore, Ice magic was made by the Giants who ruled the skies, and Purple is an incredibly skilled flier. I picked the firstname "Patrick" because it was the best P name out there, and "Steelwing" for their steel-gray elytra and because steel carries the connotation of strength and resilience. They're primarily in the lighter shade of purple available in Wizard101 to represent their closeness to Rose/Orchid/Pink, and the dark orange band on their hat represents their closeness to Mango Tango.

[levy120]

Tit for Tat

[PART 1: Foreign]

[PART 2: Advertisement]

[PART 3: Blood Money]

Rating: M

Words: 2850

Genre: Introspection, Character Deconstruction/Analysis, Speculation, AU, Whump

Lore: Rayman 2, Captain Laserhawk speculation

Characters: Rayman, the manager, the boss, the clan shows up again

Summary: Baby's first murder

Warnings: Major Character Death, Blood & Gore, Murder

AN: Welcome to the M rating folks! Just gonna embrace everyone's Bobbypill-gore-fears a little with this one :') See also on: [dA] | now also on [ao3] ❗❗❗

See also: [Part 1] | [Part 2] | [Part 3] | [You are here] | [Part 5]

More like this: [Rayman Oneshots Masterpost]

After Rayman's emotional breakdown on live TV, Chief brings him a package the next day.

He lies on his bed, bags under his eyes when she dumps the box right on his midsection, eliciting a grunt.

"I got something for you, to cheer you up," she says.

The lesson, she agrees, had to be learned. But Rayman looks a mess. Makeup can cover his poor constitution but that won't help them if his voice keeps cracking and his acting fails him.

"What's that?" he asks as he sits up.

"Fanmail," Chief says, "Your unprofessional stunt yesterday was - for some reason - received well by the public."

Rayman starts sifting through the box. It's indeed letters. A lot of condolences for 'his' loss, partly to blame on how openly Chief had communicated his involvement with the shelter to the public.

He sifts through the box with shaking hands, card after card. There are long letters and rough drawings from children. 'Thank You's from facilities he's been supporting and photos of teams showing off what his donated money went into.

She watches his breath even out and his posture become a little less tense.

It's… a mystery to the manager how even when Rayman fucks up he winds up endearing to the crowd. He's established himself as the face of the people in what little time he's been here. Mistakes are 'charming' or 'make him human' despite him very clearly being anything BUT. Maybe some folks just consider him the same way they'd look upon a puppy and figure he's some sort of mascot. 

Whatever the case, he's weaseled himself into the hearts of Eden's citizens to a point that makes him a liability even more so than his ignorant volatility had made him before. 

He’s prolific in a way that would spark outcry if he were to disappear suddenly. Eden’s advantage has turned into a risk. 

She used to be the boss's assistant, now relegated to being this creature's personal babysitter.

But that's fair, she supposes. His impact on Eden’s image has been massive. Playing the job of his supervisor might as well be the most important task in this company right now. 

The faintest of smiles has returned on Rayman's face and he wipes his eyes with the heel of his hands before - completely unbidden - he moves in to hug the Chief.

It startles her.

She’s not getting paid enough to put up with all of his crap, but - she supposes - at least when it comes to the Limbless himself, it’s not as thankless a task as it could be. 

---

Rayman agrees to doing the second show, and while he's reluctant to talk to him again, Chief says the boss is gracious enough to grant him that second chance.

It's… easier he thinks. The format is supposed to be more lighthearted than the news, and Rayman figures that might make it just what he needs.

So he's hopeful.

Until the night of the premier. That has him nervous. And scared. And frantic. And everything in between. Why did he agree to this?

There’s a live audience waiting outside, which is so strikingly different from just reporting the news. His heart flutters from stage fright. 

Chief stands next to him with her arms crossed. Her stoic presence is a crutch. 

“You look nervous,” she observes.

“That’s because I am,” Rayman replies and chuckles in a way that almost sounds like a sob. 

"You'll do great," Chief comments like it doesn't matter, "Those people out there, they're here for you."

Rayman takes another glimpse from behind the curtain.

"Isn't that the part where you tell me to act natural?"

"You?! Hell no!"

Rayman makes a sound of acknowledgment somewhere between amusement and disappointment.

"That's the part where I tell you to put on a smile. Unless you insist on sabotaging yourself, you couldn't possibly mess this up."

She hunkers down to adjust his bowtie.

"Now get out there, and make me proud."

---

"See?" the manager says. Rayman thinks it's the first time he sees her smile, "I knew you could do it."

"Thanks, Ly."

"Who?" she asks and Rayman stiffens, suddenly realizing what he'd said.

"Oh, I…" he fumbles and backs off. He looks flustered. And a little bit sad. "Sorry. Just… you… sounded like an old friend, for a second there."

Shit. This is embarrassing. Rayman buries his face in his hands, but luckily Chief doesn't seem to mind.

"Were they a good friend?"

He collects himself. Sighs.

"Very," he replies, his entire posture sagging, "She was my mentor."

"I see," his manager replies with a sense of amusement and Rayman is so relieved she's not holding it against him.

“I guess what I meant to say is… Thank you for having my back." he tries again.

"Come on," she says and easily ruffles his hair just standing next to him. She can't stand it when he's moping and he sounds like he needs some cheery thoughts.

"I think we should celebrate this premiere with a drink."

"Yeah," Rayman agrees, "That sounds like an excellent idea. What would I ever do without your guidance?"

---

Chief has a gun to her head.

"We can talk about this," Rayman pleads with their assailant, "Let's be reasonable."

The guy had just come out of nowhere. Hijacked the car of their driver and kidnapped them into an abandoned parking facility. 

He’s rough and violent. Through it all, his manager is trying really hard to remain calm, but Rayman has seen calm on her. And anger. And right now he knows she's very much scared.

Rayman isn’t sure what’s up with the guy. Whether he’s a small fish with a small mind or if he has ulterior motives. Then he catches a glimpse of a tattoo he recognizes from the news on the dude’s neck. 

“What do you want?” 

Rayman tries to offer, his hands held up placatingly. 

Wasn’t the attack on the homeless shelter enough already?! 

“I could ask you the same thing!” the guy spits as he jostles the manager.

“Since your mug is on TV suddenly the Eden assholes look like the good guys, while poor people still starve!” 

“Is this about money again?” Rayman asks, confused, panicked. “You can have it, okay? Just let her go first.” 

“Money won't save you!” the guy yells and presses the gun against the manager’s temple. She flinches back with grit teeth. It makes her look so unusually small. 

Rayman’s hands go limp. 

“I’m here for you little Eden shits!" the man snarls.

"Did this bitch tell you the shelter raid was an inside job?"

“That’s not-”

“SHUT UP!” 

He angrily flails his gun at her. Rayman is slowly lowering his stance. He’s barely listening, too busy by now keeping his eyes on that twitching trigger finger. 

“You don’t ever wonder why there are people in need of your donations to begin with?! Have they brainwashed you this badly? I’ll tell you why! It’s because this entire system is broken!” 

He spits. Rayman has barely time to take a breath before the gun goes off. 

As Chief clatters to the ground Rayman’s world stands still. There’s evidently no helping her, she’s just… dead. Immediately. 

His posture goes lax as his breath leaves him.

“This mess can only be fixed from the ground up,” the voice echoes in the parking lot, but Rayman’s ears are still ringing from the gunshot. 

“You’re next.” 

When his weapon moves to take aim at Rayman his instincts kick in. The Limbless throws his fist at the firearm and breaks the attacker's hand. The gun clatters to the ground but the sound is drowned by a blood-curdling scream. 

Humans are just so incredibly fragile when Rayman's hands are used to breaking apart metal. For just having taken someone else's life with that silly weapon of his the dirty crook is nothing without it.

As the criminal clutches his wrist, screaming and crying - look at him, all tears and snot - Rayman approaches him.

His left hand is still squeezing down on the mess of bones, keeping the man pinned to the ground.

Rayman is small, likely a third of this guy’s statures, but he towers above the asshole by the time he's eye to eye with him. And the look on his face spells bloody murder.

A younger version of him would have stopped there. The threat was disarmed, had learned its lesson, could grow from that.

But that version is gone. He left it in the Glade. And without Chief, there's no one to hold him back.

A well-aimed punch makes sure that the bastard stays down. Rayman is upon him before he can get back on his feet.

Blood sprays and teeth go flying as Rayman beats the monster's face to a pulp.

The screaming stops, but his punches don't, even when splintered bones become crumbs of asphalt and his own knuckles break open.

When he does stop eventually, with a breathless sob and a wail, he glances down on a mess of flesh - a human body that no longer has a face to speak of.

And he feels nothing.

His thoughts are with Chief, who lies behind him, her scattered brains exposed on the asphalt. It's an image in his mind he can't bear.

But the bastard beneath him?

Rayman gets up and nudges the body with his foot. 

Didn't even put up a fight.

Rayman spits the taste of blood from his mouth. Fuck.

"Guess no one ever taught you, you need to be careful of who you choose to make an enemy of here."

---

HQ is spinning out of control when the manager's call arrives but it's Rayman speaking on the other end asking to be picked up.

Even so, his driver isn't prepared for what awaits him at the parking facility.

Rayman himself hunkers on the hood of their car, just drenched in blood, with two bodies lining the asphalt behind him.

"Finally," he says. His voice is alarmingly calm and timid. Something about it doesn't sit right with the cabby; it doesn’t fit with the rest of the picture. 

"Please, can we go home?"

"Yeah. Sure," the escort says as he unlocks the car. Rayman drudges past him. The wet squelching of his shoes haunts every step as he slinks into the car to ruin the interior with the stain of blood and stench of iron.

Slowly the driver makes out the details of the crime scene. The puddle of blood, the giant hole in the manager's skull… the… no-longer-a-skull of the other body. 

He stumbles to a nearby beam and starts throwing up.

---

"Shit. You did this?"

The boss is examining one of the victim's photos from the crime scene.

"Guess Razorbeard wasn't kidding when he said you had violent tendencies. Well, now…"

he folds the evidence into a neat stack before igniting a lighter and setting the polaroids ablaze.

"The public can't know about this," the boss orders as he gets up from his seat to bear down on Rayman. 

The Limbless is fresh out of the shower, his hair still dripping wet, but his nose is still clogged with the smell of iron. He hunches on his chair, fists tightly interlocked as he presses his forehead against them like it could make the memory vanish.

"I dispatched a team to remove the bodies and clean the site. I don't want you to mention this to anyone. Surely I don’t have to remind you what that would do to your image."

They seem oddly prepared, Rayman can’t help but think in the light of what the perpetrator had been spitting. Maybe the Limbless would have been more inclined to listen if the asshole hadn’t decided to choose murder first. 

"Did he spill anything about his motive before you broke his jaw?"

The mere memory of the boss flying off the handle at Rayman suggesting he'd bring to light just one of his dirty secrets makes the Limbless shake his head no.

He doesn't want to find out what the consequences would be if Boss were to learn of him knowing yet another of his misdeeds.

What would he target next? The food-bank? The hospital? Perish the thought he'd go for the childcare.

Rayman's foot is tapping relentlessly before his posture straightens and he dares to look the boss in the eyes. Here they are face to face finally - Rayman wishes the circumstances could have been different.  

Once upon a time, he’d toyed with the idea of giving the boss a good wallop in the face if they ever were to meet.

Right now, that very thought leaves a sour taste in his mouth. 

"What about Chief?" he asks.

"Of course, you'll be appointed a new assistant."

"Sir," Rayman tries to find his voice, "That's not-"

But Boss flicks his wrist to silence him, and Rayman goes quiet.

"You can make your own decisions for one day and NOT cause a mess, can't you?" 

Rayman's alert posture wilts until he hunkers. He’s not sure if what he’s feeling is regret. 

It's only for Chief that he feels bad.

Not for the bastard that killed her, he doesn’t. 

That one got what he deserved. 

…But it still doesn't bring back his friend.

If anything, Rayman thinks it's a shame that by hiding the evidence under a rug, the rest of the clan will just proceed as usual. They need to be sent a message. 

Damn, he just wants to be left alone. But he's very high profile. Boss has his name plastered all over town.

He knows today won't have been his last brush with extremists.

---

Rayman's perceived calm lasts up until he's led back to his room, when he's supposed to sleep and the hectic world around him slows down.

It's like all of the memories culminate and flood him like a torrent that threatens to take him under.

He lies in bed curled up and bawling, as the pain in his knuckles reaches a new boiling point.

---

Of course, it's on the news.

No one comes to pick him up the following day (obviously he can't expect Chief to suddenly show up at his door), so Rayman has no choice but to watch the news from his dorm. He's seen the guy standing in for him on set before.

They call it an 'attempt on his life' and say that the 'culprit has been apprehended' (that's cute) and that 'he'll be back as soon as possible'.

Not a single word about Chief.

It's funny - he thinks now - how he's never bothered to fact-check his own reports. It's all on the teleprompter. The only thing they need him to do is read.

But he doesn't want to acknowledge that the guy he killed might have been right.

Not when his solution to the problem was pointing a gun at Rayman when he'd already been trying so hard to offer help wherever he could. 

---

"Another job?" Rayman asks. He's so tired already. It's been nearly a month since the incident and Rayman is still trying to find his footing back with his old schedule. But here he's been pulled from prepping tonight's moderation to meet with the boss.

Truth be told though, he appreciates anything that keeps his mind from wandering. But this might be a bit excessive.

"One of our Nightclubs reports unruly customers. We thought maybe you'd be interested in a leading position?"

His face draws into a frown.

"Unruly customers, huh?"

"Violent Costumers. Drunkards who don't pay their tab. Brutes looking for a fight. Perverts who harass the female staff," The boss points at him with a dry laugh when he sees the angry frown increase steadily on Rayman's face.

"I thought that'd be up your alley!"

"Don't you have bouncers for that?" Rayman deadpans.

"That's not the point," the boss says and leans back in his seat.

"Your patronage would repel those folk, you know, make people feel safe. And possibly draw an all-new crowd."

Rayman hums to himself. How bold does he dare to be today?

"And you're offering - let me guess - more money."

The boss sighs to himself.

"I expected as much," he drawls. Rayman takes curious note of his calm demeanor. He's not disappointed. Or angry.

"No," the boss says, and Rayman raises an inquiring eyebrow, leans in a little so he can hear what the boss is going to say next.

"If you could pick any citizen from your home…" he says, and Rayman's heart begins to race.

"Just one!" the boss points out with a warning finger-

Rayman wants to fly from his seat and get up to that desk. 'Just one' means 'one for now'. If Rayman puts in even more work after-

"Yes!" he blurts before he can second-guess himself or the boss changes his mind.

"Very good."

A satisfied grin grows on the man's face as he reaches his hand out over the desk for a shake. The limbless fool doesn't even realize he's picking his own leverage.

"I'm expecting a choice by tomorrow."

[littlekennycantplaypoker]

You can't stand me? Sucks to be you, I guess

I tried this once and apparently making a draft is harder than I thought (it didnt save), so bear with me

Also, watch out for ooc Sebek because I'm not great at writing actual characters rip

☆You can't stand me? Sucks to be you, I guess☆

A small story where a normal person gets isekai'd into another world, a fun classic plot.

This causes them some struggles, though, considering how they are a magicless human in a world full of magic-wielding people, other humans and creatures alike.

Despite this trouble they need to overcome, they don't seem to care very much about their situation. They acted quite the same as they did in their own world, just as irresponsible as always, and such a troublemaker.

And troublemakers catch certain people's attention.

So, one fateful day, after already being deemed Prefect of one of the old abandoned dorms and doing their usual shenanigans, they ended up getting lectured by Sebek Zigvolt, the man himself, for "being rude to Malleus", which was actually just play-fighting.

"‐and it's completely disrespectful to taint Waka-sama's image with this play-fighting, even if it isn't actually hurting him!" Sebek continued lecturing the Prefect, who wasn't really listening. They just stared at him blankly, empty thoughts running through an empty mind.

Sebek (miraculously) noticed their internal absence, and his expression twisted once again into his look of irritation.

"Are you even listening to me, Human?!" He shouted, leaning in a bit to try and match their height, or just to catch their attention.

The Prefect blinked, snapping out of their daze only to find Sebek much closer than he had been when the lecturing started. Their eyes widened, and they moved back ever so slightly.

"Well, Human? Are you listening? I can't believe you would-"

"You're really pretty."

Sebek's aggravated sentence was cut short by the Prefect's words, which caught him off guard, making him pause for a moment before flushing bright red.

"Wh-wha- you- H-Human! That is completely unacceptable and inappropriate to say under such circumstances!" He stumbled over his words, louder than before but significantly less confident.

The Prefect shrugged in response to his statement, still not having a care in the world.

As Sebek continued yelling, though now red-faced, the Prefect tuned out once again, thinking about... whatever.

"Ah, I don't have time for this. I gotta go find Grim." They remembered conveniently, perking up at the thought. "Gotta run! See you later, Seb!"

Even the nickname made Sebek embarrassed, so, as the Prefect ran off to find their cat-like companion, his eyes reluctantly followed, his heart still racing.

"...What is wrong with that human?" Sebek managed to mutter out, though he wasn't entirely opposed to their little show toward him.

Maybe liking a mere human wouldn't be so bad? Oh, but they're a troublemaker! Well... breaking the rules every so-often isn't too terrible...

End?

[red-the-dragon-writes]

Today's post is not on the usual "writer blog fare" side. Instead I am going to introduce you to several fun facts about various animals on our planet and then talk about worldbuilding.

1. Lampreys are a kind of "living fossil"- a not-really-so-scientific term for a creature that has lived unchanged for a very long time, so long that we have fossils of them looking the same way they do now. They don't have proper jaws, just a circular sucking mouth with teeth set into it and a tongue designed to strip flesh off of what it touches. They're finless fish, look quite a bit like eels, and have this really alien, uncanny vibe to them.

[id: a long, slender bluish-silver lamprey sitting among rocks. It has a long snout, an eye, and then six small perforations in its side arranged at an even interval sitting behind the eye. The environment it is sitting in is very yellow and green in comparison. end id]

[id: an image of a lamprey from below. The snout ends in a round, flat mouth which is studded with teeth in four concentric circles. The teeth are smallest near the outer edge and largest in the middle, and look like very sharp round points. In the center of this ring is another, smaller circle, where the pointed, tooth-like tongue can be seen, as well as a hole for the lamprey to actually ingest food with. Its eye is visible, as are some of the perforations on its side. This one is a more mottled gray than the first one was, and less shiny. end id]

Sea lampreys, which are the kind i've sort of not really kinda researched, are a major pest in the Great Lakes, where they regularly attack fish. They can get up to two feet in length. Despite this, they are not particularly dangerous towards humans.

2. Horseshoe crabs are also "living fossils." They've been around and virtually unchanged for millions of years. They're not true crabs, and are more closely related to chelicerata species, like spiders and scorpions (and many more). There are a lot of cool features of horseshoe crabs, but one of their most extremely cool, to me, is their blood.

I'm not going to post any images of what I consider to be animal cruelty, so you'll have to take me at my word here, but this is a bottle of horseshoe crab blood. If you're sensitive to images of animal cruelty, I don't recommend looking for proof, but if you aren't, there are plenty of images of the blood coming out of the creature for you to verify this with.

E[id: a bottle of slightly frothy, opaque blue liquid. It is sitting in a row with several other bottles of the same material. end id]

I am a sucker for blue blood, I just think it's neat, so that's all I'd need as an excuse to slam some horseshoe-crab-inspired nonsense in my exceptionally gory and fucked up wips, and if you've been reading along with WiB you may have noticed that blue blood does come into play at some point! But that's not all that's neat about horseshoe crab blood. Unfortunately for the horseshoe crabs, but fortunately for us, their blood is literally the only source of an important compound used for detecting the presence of dangerous bacteria in certain pharmaceutical drugs. (Fortunately, there are replacements that will hopefully become more popular in coming years.)

Now that we've gone over all that, onto the worldbuilding!

I worldbuild by Rule of Cool. Let's just get that out of the way. Every so often people will ask me how my worlds get so expansive (not WiB, WiB i made up on the fly by cribbing from fanfic and like... BBC Merlin. Assume very little of this holds true for WiB) and the answer is largely that I take every interest I have ever had in anything and smash it all together and throw it at my wip to see what sticks. and then I just... like... reasonably attempt to figure out what the natural conclusions will be.

So: we have lampreys. We have blue-blooded ancient sea creatures with spectacularly important and valueable blood. We are writing this into a story that takes place on land, somehow.

- The first option, and the one I'm going to talk about most because I did it, is just to rule-of-cool it into a character. (Or a place, or an item, or whatever, but largely I do rule-of-cool on living creatures and think harder about the world around them.) If you've been keeping up with WiB, you may have noticed that (spoilers) Zero Point is some kind of fucked up magician with a lamprey mouth in their hand who shapeshifts and bleeds blue. This is where I got those inspirations from (along with, like, some other stuff. I promise there are no lamprey assassins, but- continuing in the trend of stealing from sea creatures- the bobbin worm is a spectacularly beautiful, spectacularly deadly creature if you're within its weight range. which is like, goldfish size, but. And cuttlefish are known to disguise themselves as other animals, and can change sexes if the male:female ratio where they are isn't ideal.)

So you can take the elements you like, and just kind of slam them together haphazardly, which is what I did with Zero Point. The trick to this kind of worldbuilding is just to avoid looking too closely at it. The magical assassin has a fucked up mouth in their hand? Yeah, okay, that seems kind of fucked up and creepy. What do they do at all times? They hide it under a glove. So the protags Just Straight Up Never Ask. And voila; it never gets explained, and it never has to.

Same with the blue blood. It shows up, it functions as a plot device because only Zero Point has blue blood; it is never explained or even delved into with much detail. And if it were, it would fall apart instantly, because the justification is literally just "i thought it was neat. No, no one else is like that. I don't even know why they are. i just felt like it"

- The second option is to consider the effects of the things that you're working with, and then work off of that.

Let's take Zero Point again. Strip them of their context (weird assassin with magical powers) and just like, consider the fact that this is a creature with blood that regularly retails for over $10,000 USD, is intelligent as fuck, shapeshifts, has a mouth in their hand that may or may not be their actual mouth, and can exist on land so long as they have suitable access to water. What does that mean for our setting? Surely they're not the only person like that; so you have a whole species of people who are sort of but not really amphibious, shapeshift, and maybe have magical powers, who knows. They can't shapeshift their fucked up lamprey mouths, maybe. That seems like a reasonable limit. So their blood is highly valuable- what does that mean for their relations with other people, or their culture? What kind of foods do they eat? How do they create a sense of culture as shapeshifters; is there even a way that they represent themselves in art? How do they interact with the world? Do they have a "true form" or not? Every one of these questions will spawn new questions. If you answer all of them you'll lose your mind, but if you answer at least ten you'll spawn a much more background-heavy world that can help to shape your story much more effectively than trying to just craft a narrative will. Sometimes it works very well for a story. Sometimes it gets you lost in the weeds.

- The third option is to reference something else, and build off that. Again, let's use Zero Point as the example.

In the original story that the WiB ensemble is from, Closerverse, which may have some mentions on this blog but honestly I have no idea, there is a city that I've done quite a bit of worldbuilding on. This city is called Hudson, and one of the major important features of it is that it is partially underground. (This is a reference to the DFZ of Rachel Aaron's Heartstrikers series). Hudson is intentionally run to be the worst, most unpleasant city in the world, and one of its features are its wildly intelligent, dangerous forms of aquatic life. The lowest level of this city is partially submerged, and all of these creatures plague the people who live down there.

Closerverse was also set during a period of early industrialization, and Hudson heavily referenced US history, especially 1900s-1920s labor history. Tenements, pollution, zero protections for workers, et cetera. Hudson is a nasty, miserable place, and everyone who lives there can feel the jaws closing in on them.

Anyway, in Closerverse you got these fucked up massive eel-like creatures (lampreys, but with extra features) that due to some rather significant meddling wound up growing legs and then got really massive and started eating people. They have blue blood, glow in the dark, and make fairly decent eating as long as they aren't eating you. And they're intelligent. Given the whole "mutual eating each other" thing, the eels and the people of Hudson have some pretty major animosity going on.

Most of Zero Point's stuff is really just me referencing the Hudson Eels, because I fucking love those. They're some of my favorite worldbuilding elements ever. But given that no one else in WiB has ever seen a Hudson Eel, let alone seen their blood get dry on things, or whatever, everything about Zero Point is wildly out of context. And that almost makes it better, because the whole deal with them is that they're mysterious and weird, and having them be a mysterious and weird reference to something no one but I know about most likely is like, fun and neat.

There are, of course, other modes of worldbuilding as well, but I typically aim to stick to the first two as much as possible. The cooler you make something, the more possible questions it raises; the more questions something raises, the deeper your world gets.

Although, a word of advice: sometimes animals just do things. Sometimes bodies just have features. Who would invent fingernails? But having them is mighty convenient, isn't it? For that matter, who would come up with a deeply logical and reasoned explanation for eyebrows- but not having those would be very strange, to us. You can get away with doing a lot by just having that be how it is, and not having the characters comment on it.

Also, the more "shaped" a thing should be, the more you'll want to take the second approach. For house design, something intentionally built, you'll want to know why it was built, and what purpose is this and that room, and why is it painted such and such colors. But if you're talking about adding a second moon, like... fuck dude, who needs to know why there's a second moon? Maybe if you have sailors you have to know what it'll do to your oceans, but that's the kind of thing you can kind of just say exists and move on. You'll figure it out; it gets pretty intuitive.

Anyway, happy worldbuilding!

[bottlecaprabbitgames]

February 3rd, 2020 Scenario: Vacation (Adontis)

I am using @ducky-writez prompt list as I said, and I did the one for February 3rd with Adontis and an ungendered MC! I may go back and do #1 and #2 today too.

[[MORE]]

You could really use a vacation. Even if it's just one day away from the hell your life has been for the last two years and running. Some get away where the only stress you have is nothing. And, lucky for you, Adontis agrees. 

"Yes, I think given everything that has happened… you need one. Hell, I think we both do." When you look over to him, there's a little secretive smile on his lips as he cleans up his alchemy station, and you can tell by his body language he is more than aware you are looking at him.

"You saying you want to go on a vacation with me?" you ask, an excited flutter starting in your stomach and chest. You look forward to any alone time you get with him, honestly; the team has been growing on you as a whole, but… you're not exactly in love with all of them. Adontis, though…

He laughs, a low, seductive sound that sends electricity skittering over your skin. "Yes. I was considering talking to you about one soon anyhow, so I'm glad you brought it up." He clasps his ingredient case close, then turns to look at you, leaning against the case with his elbow and against the desk with his hip. "Have you considered where you want to go?"

"Well… no," you answer honestly. "Just… away from so much noise. So many people. No offense to the team, but-"

"They can be a bit much, and without us taking Telalyse anymore, it's even louder," he finishes, a knowing grin on his lips, showing his double set of fangs. "Believe me, I know." He hums thoughtfully, one hand rubbing the other's wrist as he stares at his desk. After a few beats, he speaks. "Well, if you want near-total privacy, I own a home in the middle of a beautiful, magical forest, accompanied by the caregivers, their home, a garden, and a few farm animals." His hands dance as he talks, and voice takes on a dreamy falsetto tone. You raise a brow, liking the image he paints.

"Adontis?"

"Hmm?"

"Why do you own a house in the middle of the forest?"

"Oh, well, you see, the colony of Undine in the nearby river had a problem from Super hunters, so I got rid of their problem. They had me a home created in their forest as a thank you." He shrugs. You give a thoughtful frown. 

"I mean… fair enough." You tap a finger on your chair for a second to help find your words. "When can we go?"

"Whenever you are ready, of course, darling."

"How about, like, now?" His chuckle is answer enough.

==========

You take in a deep breath of the forest's fresh air. It looked like a fairytale, Adontis's home. A mid-sized mansion made of white, living trees with a roof slated with paneling the same bluish purple of the surrounding flora. The door has intricately made detailing of swirls and spherical imagery, and the vertical center shows a river with beings dancing inside. 

The caregivers turned out to be dryads, humanoids that look like humans crossed with plants (one seemed to be crossed with a fern, while the other was wild pink roses). Both women were incredibly friendly, with one teasing Adontis relentlessly over finally bringing someone here for them to meet. He actually even blushed, something you have still rarely seen him do. It was pretty cute to see, and even cuter when he tried to hide his face in your hair. 

And, maybe it made your heart squee a little when he pressed a kiss into it. 

You shiver happily at the memory of it, now examining the odd coloration and movement of the forest's plants as Adontis gets everything set up in his room. Some of the ferns wrap around your legs and squeeze for a second, softly, then release, seeming to wave. It almost feels like… they are welcoming you. Little animals are also beginning to peek out at you, some looking like odd versions of "normal" animals like squirrels and rabbits and deer, while others… you can't even describe. A particularly chubby, round… bird-thing bumbles out beside you, its four small, corgi-like legs seeming to struggle to carry it. It cheeps at you, and for some unknown reason, you feel the need to pet it, so you do, earning more cheeps. You begin to feel like this is the only thing you need to do, ever, as if nothing else is ever as important as this, and you can't find a reason to disagree. 

Or, at least not until your hand is wrenched away. Your immediate thought is to fight, but after a few seconds, Adontis's voice breaks through the cloud in your mind and you stop. "${Name}! ${Name}! Calm down, it's me! Stop fighting me!" 

"Adontis? Wh… what's happening?" you slur stupidly, confused. 

"It's a oricanle, they're bird-like creatures that can entice you to pet them until you die," he informs. The bird hisses at him and attempts to peck at where his hands hold you. He hisses back, his face shifting and morphing into its… less-pleasant form. The bird squeaks in fright and tumbles off. 

"My hero," you say dramatically, still feeling weird. He lets out a chuckle, but you can hear his nerves and concern in it.

"Always. Now, let's get you inside where you can rest." He easily picks you up bridal style and carries you to his home. 

"First day of vacation and some bird thing tries to steal my soul, don't that beat all," you mumble, nuzzling into his warm shoulder. His chest rumbles with another laugh.

"Oh, come on darling, even on vacation you have to have a little fun." 

"Oh, yeah, sure, it's all fun if it's not your soul tryin' to be gobbled." 

"Ah, well," he shrugs, "I get to play hero so what's not to like about such a situation?" He lets out a loud "ow!" when you punch his chest. 

"Your caregivers will have to save you when I'm not too dizzy to stand," you grumble threateningly, but are cut off when he dips you over the threshold and presses his lips passionately against yours, making you lose your entire line of thought. When he pulls away after a few seconds, he gives you a bright smile. 

"I'll trust you to save me from whatever you have planned," he replies cheekily, before pulling you out of his dip and setting you down on the couch, tucking a very soft pillow under your head. You can't answer as your brain still tries to process what he just did.

Some goddamn vacation, alright. 

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Thank you for your reply! What does it mean for you for john and Sherlock to be in character precisely? I always get the feeling that we all have different opinions on that, as sometimes I read fic recs saying J/S are in character and when I read them, to me, they're not.

(referencing this post)

Mmm. This is tough to say, because like you said, everyone reads the characters differently. Here's my thoughts / headcanon:

For me, John is a grumpy bisexual. He's soft but firm, cares a great deal about Sherlock’s well being and happiness and would risk his life for Sherlock over all others. But he's stubborn and closed off from the world because he doesn't trust anyone; the war has changed him. He’s also a bit of a trash heap, as in he will inevitably ditch all his dates to be with Sherlock (but he will put up a half-hearted fight about it... can't let Sherlock think John WILLINGLY goes...); never makes the tea (but I let this one slide because it's cute in fics that he's obsessed with tea); he's jealous if Sherlock flirts or breathes the same air with anyone that’s not John; and is grumpy and is a bit finickety about the most ridiculous things (he still has the military engrained into him and likes things a certain way). John is also "scary calm": he can keep his head together in any situation, but don't let it fool you because there's probably a lot of danger under his false smile.

John loves being a doctor but loves the danger as well. Bit of a low self esteem, and in his "bad moments" doesn’t think he’s really all that important to Sherlock... which is odd because I think that he knows just how much Sherlock really does need him. He’s just really soft with Sherlock, because he knows what Sherlock is really like, knows that Sherlock really does just need a steady presence in his life to calm him. He is constantly amazed at how intelligent Sherlock is, and thinks there’s no way that Sherlock finds him at all interesting. He's terrified to confess his feelings for Sherlock because he’s never really quite sure what Sherlock is really thinking and Sherlock is the one friend in his life he is scared of losing... He and Sherlock have a sort of co-dependent relationship, and he knows it before Sherlock does (Sherlock realizes by S3 that they really were very co-dependent). John's dumb about communication, and would rather bottle up his feelings than deal with them, so "everything's fine"...  unfortunately that doesn’t help his trust or anger issues at all. A bit closeted in civilian life (but wasn't in the army) and thinks he wants to fit into society but really he just wants to fit into Sherlock’s life forever. All of that aside, John is a loyal and loveable asshole and pretty much revolves his life around Sherlock.

Sherlock, oh gosh. Very gay but hides it under his public image. A bit of a peacock, as in he likes to show off ALL the time, and ever since John landed in his life, he's always super extra when John is watching. He constantly seeks John’s approval because he has a praise kink and loves John's attention on him. He loves John more than anything else in the world, and needs him by his side, or he gets stroppy. He's jealous of anyone taking John’s attentions off of him, and will do ridiculous things to keep John interested (he thinks John only likes him because of the adrenaline rush he gives him). Very low self-esteem hidden under his aloof exterior, but can’t hide his kind-heartedness or when he’s been hurt emotionally. He's very soft and smol and a bit more eccentric around John in private, and drops a lot of his shields and his public image. Always concerned about John’s well-being, and chooses his cases based on how much he thinks John will enjoy them. But he’s a bit of a dork too; whines when his experiments get ruined, kind of a slob, likes being silly, and loves that he and John have their own little world that no one else can understand. Thinks John is achingly beautiful, special, the best thing that has ever happened to him and is terrified to confess his feelings because he doesn’t want to lose John. Loves the dichotomy of John’s self and very being and is always surprised when John does something unremarkable but totally unexpected (basically, he thinks John is the one puzzle he never wants to solve). Terrible at communication and a very emotionally driven creature.

Essentially, his entire universe revolves around John and his happiness. But he’s secretly terrified he will do something wrong and John will leave him alone forever.

This is totally headcanon territory now: as a couple, Sherlock is an "extra" romantic (wants to plan big extravagant things, or considers going on a case a date, or sees a sunflower and gives it to John, telling him it reminded him of John) but will deny any claims that he is a romantic though he secretly is tickled pink that people notice. He constantly wants to be in John’s orbit…. a bit clingy because he has anxiety that he is going to screw up. Very tactile; always wants to hold hands or cuddle or touch John or let people know he found a John (he preens whenever he mentions John is his Partner / Boyfriend / Husband) and likes to show John off to people who think Sherlock is unlovable. When they fight, Sherlock is ALWAYS terrified he said / did the wrong thing, and John will leave him, so he gets depressed or will think of ways to make it up to John.

John is the rock in the relationship, and loves all of Sherlock’s little foibles, eccentricities and anxieties, and always ensures Sherlock is okay and knows that John loves him (he can tell when Sherlock starts to worry and question the state of their relationship, so John always makes sure Sherlock knows, especially after a fight). He’s also a romantic, though his idea of romance is just spending the day together. They love to cuddle and hug and tell each other they love each other every day.

Basically, they’re so sappily in love in makes your teeth rot and your heart do backflips endlessly.

That’s just the basics of my thoughts on them; there’s plenty more that I cannot think of right now, but really, as long as they don’t stray too far from canon, I will read it. Like... I can't read "dark!John / Sherlock" fics because it's not how I see them at all.

Again, as I stated in the linked post above, these are MY personal thoughts on the characters; not everyone reads them the same.

[articskele]

EHEHEHEEEE :D!!!!!!

Here's a closeup of my pfp!! And one without the background ouo. The design is a little outdated but I'm so proud of this drawing :D

Also here's one of my favorite doodles of her ouo

—

There's this one scene where Artic freezes up and then it cuts to someone thawing her out with a hairdryer-

I could totally see her getting caught in a loop where she freezes -> thaws out -> "Wait what was I so worried about?" -> suddenly Remembers -> somebody has to step in so she doesn't freeze up again-

Honestly I never considered how her other emotions would play into it! Though there are little things like when she sneezes it's just a puff of snow ouo

Or how her bones are always cold, so during the summer everybody's hugging her or asking her to cool their drinks, and Ink has to bundle up before snuggling with her- And sometimes flowers just naturally grow in Artic's hair ouo

—

I imagine the Essence of Winter itself is this light blue liquid that shimmers in the light, it's about the same consistency as blood, and it's probably the reason why Artic has ice powers and why they're contact-based!

Essences can be of pretty much anything! You're basically harvesting the sheer vibes, so I imagine different ones would affect you in different ways!

Like the essence of wood would probably turn all your organs into wood if you drank it, meanwhile essence of zonked would make you higher than a darn kite and sitting in the floor of your bathroom inventing new shapes aksjfhds-

—

It's not at all normal for essences to be naturally occurring, much less for them to just be in someone's system- And a big part of Artic in general is that nobody quite knows What She Is

While the bones have a similar look and feel and density to regular bones, the outside can be cut through like you can with skin. And her cheeks are squishy bc it's cute ouo

And they look similar to regular bones under a microscope, but something's inexplicably off. The bones themselves aren't quite bone, but they're not just made of ice, it's some kinda strange inbetween.

I don't think she has a circulatory system per se, the stuff is just chillin out in the bones ouo. She does have a heartbeat, though nobody knows how or why. Something something love and friendship ouo

ALSO the mental image of Artic being stopped by TSA bc "miss you literally have an illegal substance throughout your entire body" is really funny to me-

—

But there is one other creature that just naturally has essences in it: the Alatreon.

Basically its whole deal is that it can use every element in Monster Hunter (fire, ice, electricity, etc), making it super unstable and overall a calamity-level threat to any ecosystem it happens upon.

And I headcanon it's Like That bc it has multiple elemental essences in its blood, which is just too much for any one creature to handle, so it's just overcharged all the time-

I have yet to fight the thing since it's basically the endgame monster of MH3U, but it makes for some neat similarities to Artic, and I can only imagine how cool the fight would be :D

—

AAAA YES it's so fun imagining Artic's fighting style and sneaking around and!!!!

Wait did I mention she has a big ol journal full of notes and sketches and stuff of various monsters and everything she's learned about them- She just feels at home out in the wilds studying creatures!!

Lately I've been thinking about her washing dragons and other various monsters, like those pet grooming videos- Inspired by this!!!

There's a scene where she's washing a Zinogre, which is basically a giant wolf that can fight with electricity bc it has a symbiotic relationship with the Fulgurbugs living in its fur!!

So Artic finds the queen Fulgurbug and puts her in a clip, so the rest of the bugs follow just like bees do, so they're safety out of the way for her to wash and brush through the Zinogre's thick fur ouo

—

And the funny thing is that while she's all graceful and dancelike in combat, she struggles to dance normally bc "aaa people are here and what if I mess up-"

There's this REALLY pretty scene where it's got this song playing, and Ink and Artic are at some kind of town festival.

Colorful pennant flags strewn about, really good street food, people dancing in the town square. At some point they get lost in the crowds and get pushed into the center of where everyone is dancing

Artic's lowkey panicking bc now they're being Watched, but Ink gets an idea and does like an easy-to-dodge jab at her. She dodges, and there's that moment of realization like "ohh just treat like a fight!" and they're so in sync and OUGHHHH IT'S SO GOOD

AND it was inspired by this scene from Avatar: The Last Airbender!!!! The episode is titled The Headband btw, it's great ouo

—

MONSTER HUNTER MY BELOVED-

Basically the story of Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate is that the seaside Moga Village is experiencing earthquakes. And it's assumed that Lagiacrus, dubbed Lord of the Seas, is the cause.

(Btw I just ADORE Lagiacrus, it's one of my favorite monsters of all time!! The design is PEAK, the fight is incredible, it generates electricity using the spikes on its back, I love it so so much-)

(THERE'S AN EARLY-GAME QUEST WHERE IT JUST APPEARS OUT OF NOWHERE SO YOU HAVE TO RUN FOR YOUR LIFE AND IT JUST PERFECTLY ESTABLISHES THIS THING AS A THREAT AND. OUGHHHHH)

But once you do fight it, the earthquakes don't go away. If anything, they get worse.

It turns out that the cause is this giant whale-like creature called Ceadeus. One of its horns has grown so big that it's covering one of its eyes and causing pain, so it tries to relieve that by scraping its horns against the seafloor.

Or in this case, the bottom of the island that the village was built on.

But once you notify the Hunter's Guild, they say that you're not qualified enough to fight this thing, so you and the rest of the village are told to wait as the Guild sends in higher ranking hunters.

But time is running out. Who's to say that the village will still be around by the time help arrives?

I can't find a clip of it for the life of me, but at one point Aisha has this little speech saying that we can't just wait around like sitting ducks, hyping you up to save the day! And I think she says something along the lines of "If they fire you for this then I'm quitting in solidarity" akjsfkdsf-

So you go down into the depths, and once the Ceadeus's horn is broken off, it's no longer hurting and leaves.

It has such a folklore feel to it that's just magical to me, and it fits Artic's character really well methinks!!

Also this is what Aisha looks like! And a really old doodle of Ink and Artic that's just so soft and sweet and awbawbabwba <3

—

YESSSSSJHFJKSFHSF I LOVE LOVE LOVE putting in little references to other stories and iterations of Artic it's so fun!!!!!!

And the title of IDPS refers to Kat, which is my friend's character!

Long story short, Kat's the princess of this sci-fi kingdom of shadow people. As one of the few remaining people with the ability to travel between dimentions, she's tasked with taking care of them and making sure they don't get corrupted.

But between the rising expectations of her family, her kingdom, disability, etc, she needs an outlet. A way to get away from it all.

So, she sells pizzas out of her van and works as a mercenary! If Artic's thing is swords and strategy, then Kat's bread and butter is guns and being as flashy and reckless as possible-

I was told to use this image as a way of summing her up akjfskdjf

Ok so the aforementioned OC universe is known as IDPS, short for Interdimentional Pizza Shop (and Mercenary Work)! There is literal YEARS worth of lore and ideas put into this thing I love it so much :D

This version of Artic is the one in my pfp, and who the oc: artic tag refers to lol- Basically she's embodiment of the season of winter, a huge dragon enthusiast, and the much-needed voice of reason!!

She's not a "true" skeleton per se, like she's not undead, she's just kinda in the shape of one- Though she can disconnect and reattach her bones like a cartoon ouo

She has ice powers, but not in a "shooting ice beams out of your hands" kinda way, it's very contact based!

She can freeze things by touching them, she can make a layer of ice under her feet to sliiide around super fast, and sometimes she physically freezes up under stress so you have to wait for her to thaw out akjfds

She can pick up your drink and little ice cubes form in it, in whatever shape she wants! And when she cries the tears freeze up so there's just little bits of ice on her face you gotta wipe off

In IDPS there are these things called essences, which are the super concentrated (and super illegal) form of a concept, usually in liquid form like a potion. Like if you poured a drop of Essence of Princess onto an apple, it would turn all sparkly and have a big bow on it!

Artic just naturally has the Essence of Winter in her bones instead of blood or marrow! So she doesn't have to worry about vampires bc they'd just get a really bad brainfreeze lol

She mainly fights with dual blades made of ice, inspired by Monster Hunter's dual blades! She's a very strategic and speedy fighter, her movements almost dancelike in combat, and she likes to use the terrain to her advantage!

And since this is a multiverse story, she actually goes through the story mode of Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, saving a village from a giant sea monster! The gal who gives out quests in that game, Aisha, is like an older sister to her hehe ouo

So Artic is a licensed monster hunter, and she is absolutely FASCINATED with these creatures and how they work. And after some shenanigans in her childhood town in the mountains, she even starts her own sanctuary to educate people and care for dragons that wouldn't make it in the wild!

Here she's shipped with Ink Sans, and they live together with her dragon pet / companion Blizzard ouo!

It's this really sweet little story about Ink showing this really anxious and sheltered girl the world, seeing all the potential and life in her eyes and wanting to see her blossom.

And there's a scene where Ink is trying to hide his condition (basically he's undead and needs to drink magic paints in order to feel and regulate emotions), bc so many people have left him after finding out. But Artic doesn't mind at all, after all it's still him and she likes him for who he is ouo

The two are basically opposites, but they work well together and they're just silly little guys in love ouo

Artic's main arc is about identity and archetypes. Like how winter is often portrayed as this harbinger of death that needs to be driven away, but Artic is really soft and sweet-

She wants so desperately to be a hero, but the archetypal hero is confident and charming and brave and super strong; everything she thinks she isn't. But in reality, she's the most heroic of her peers because of her kindness!

There's a whole theme of knights and dragons and legends, realizing that those notions of what she should or shouldn't be don't define her, because people are more complex and nuanced than that ouo

THIS IS SO COOL OUGHHHH I LOVE IT I LOVE IT

My FAVORITE part is that there's literal years of lore built into this thing. Clearly it has been crafted with nothing but love and care in mind and I think that's beautiful.

I didn't even realize that was Artic in your pfp?? That's so cute I love it so so much :DD (Is there a high definition version I can look at? I wanna see her clearer!)

ARTIC'S POWERS ARE SO NEAT IN THIS!!!! I want heart shaped ice cubes that's actually so cute. And the way her abilities affect the way she experiences stress and cries? Chef's kiss. Do her ice powers affect her whenever she experiences other intense emotions? And also can the thawing out process be helped by blankets and stuff or does she just stay frozen? Oooh or does she just continuously keep refreezing bc of the stress? Like trying to thaw her out helps a little but not for long and not much? SORRY I'M JUST SO CURIOUS I REALLY LIKE THE CONCEPT OF HER POWERS AFFECT HER BASED ON EMOTIONS THAT'S SO FREAKING COOL-

And essences!!!!!! Oughhh I really like the concept (pun intended)!!!!! Is there an essence for every concept or just certain ones? And vampires getting brainfreeze LMFAO. Can you drink an essence or does that turn your organs into the concept? And is Artic the only person with an essence in her bones or do other people have it?

THE COMBAT YES OMFG I CAN SEE IT SO CLEARLY,,, STRATEGIC AND SPEEDY AND DANCELIKE I LOVE IT!!! She's so intelligent using the terrain!!! I can see her in my head looking around, eyes darting quickly to survey the area as she narrowly avoids an attack before making her next move!! Effortlessly she slashes her opponent when they're not looking due to her adaptability and quick thinking.

And I'm so sorry I don't know anything about Monster Hunter whatsoever </3 BUT I DID SOME RESEARCH FOR YOU OFC AND IT LOOKS LIKE SM FUN???? I didn't get much of the story aspect of it but it seems great omg. Anyways Artic's curiosity is always something I love seeing!! I can see her killing this giant sea monster (Lagiacrus, I presume?) and then being like "wait a moment- I know this thing was terrorizing you all but I want a closer look at it-" AND FOUND FAMILY MY BELOVED OUGHHH ARTIC AND AISHA <333 THAT'S SO CUTE,,, and the sanctuary <33. Artic is so caring it's so sweet!! It's completely refected in her character and everything she does, I think. Not just in IDPS but across the board! Like. She saves this village from a sea monster and she wants dragons to be taken care of because she's just like that natrually. And even in like Buttermilk Daydreams she just wants to take care of The Onceler as best as she can!!!! And in the Biggering AU even though she's MAD at this man she's STILL telling him that they'll figure something out (they always do). Sorry I'm literally IN LOVE with the threads that stitch your AUs together I got so sidetracked LMFAO-

But anyways Artic and Ink Sans being opposites is SO GOOD AAAAAA- Artic feels so deeply and Ink doesn't feel at all without the paints. Artic has been sheltered and Ink has seen too much. And there's Artic's sweet and caring side coming out again!! Ink is afraid to tell Artic about his condition, but Artic could care less.

ARTIC SELF DISCOVERY YES YES YES YES YES!!!! SHE DOESN'T NEED TO GIVE INTO THE STEREOTYPES!!!!!! She's not winter even though she has its essence flowing within her. She's a hero even though she doesn't look like it. And her kindness being the thing that makes her most heroic?? I'M IN LOVE. This is what I was talking about earlier!!!! She's just so caring and sweet!!! It's something she uses to her advantage!!!!

[alpinechamomile]

Short version: cute domestic romance, then MC pisses off some forest creatures and gets the same forget-me spell that Muriel had, then things get fixed and there's more cute domestic romance to close it off. (Not perfect, but definitely a cute tale imo)

Long version: Putting it under a read more here!

So you start out the tale super cute and domestic with Muriel. There's little glowing forest sprites that live near you guys and they're a little annoying, playing pranks on the MC. They like Muriel a little more, and he names them after the other LIs and it's cute. I believe they might resemble fairies from the Legend of Zelda, the small round glowing creatures. That's how I envisioned them, anyway :3

MC tries making breakfast, but the sprites messing with the ingredients ruins the breakfast. MC is annoyed at the sprites, since this isn't the first time they've messed with them. Afterwards, there's a paid option to have a picnic with Muriel to make up for the lost breakfast. It's extremely wholesome. (You can make flower crowns with him!!)

After you come back to the hut (or after breakfast if you don't choose the extra paid scene), MC and Muriel talk about the crops they're growing by the hut. Winter is coming soon and there's been weeds popping up all over the crops, so they're both worried about losing them. You both start to pull the weeds, but the forest sprites come and ask you two to leave them be, since it hurts them when you hurt the forest, and the weeds are part of the forest.

MC gets worried about food supply for the coming winter (which is gonna be harsher than usual), and goes to remove the weeds anyway. Muriel doesn't like it and warns them against it, but MC insists and he relents and doesn't stop them. There's also a choice to remove them behind his back after he falls asleep, but you're not given the choice to leave the weeds like you were asked.

The sprites are angry from this. The next morning, you wake up with Muriel in bed, but he freaks out, because he has no memory of the MC anymore. The sprites, in their anger, gave the MC the same spell that Muriel had.

As a result, everyone's forgotten them, including Asra, who couldn't be contacted through the water magic like usual. Muriel is scared because to him, there's a random stranger in his home. He eventually catches on that MC is someone he knew, based on their items in the hut and them waking up next to him, not to mention that he knows about forget-me spells.

It's an interesting moment, because you can tell that Muriel has still developed and recovered from his anxiety, he's reacting more relaxed than at his start, less jumpy and less nervous. Still cautious, but that's natural considering the situation.

MC becomes upset at the realization of what happened, and Muriel still feels an instinctual trust and comfort from them, so offers to travel to the Hermit's realm and ask him for help or advice for them.

They create a circle to astral travel while Inanna watches them in the physical world, and go to the Hermit's realm. It's very pretty, it's like a comforting forest at night with warm light scattered along a path. (Sorry it's a screenshot! The full image hasn't been released yet as far as I know.) ↓

The Hermit comes out and is very sweet and friendly, asks them if things are well.

The situation is explained to him, and he says that what's probably the best way to help is to try and appeal to the forest sprites that MC angered, to see if they'll undo the spell and to be on better terms with them.

Muriel is upset at this, not remembering everything from before, including the crop situation, he is just now learning about the weeds. He doesn't like that MC hurt something native to the forest directly against what was asked. MC feels guilty about it and is still very overwhelmed by everything, and Muriel sees this and feels less angry.

He feels the urge to comfort them, despite still not having his memories of them. The Hermit offers to give them a limited time where Muriel can have his memories restored, and they can spend time in his realm. (This is a paid option.)

Picking yes, Muriel has his memories restored, does a bit of a double-take, then turns to MC. This is where we get the new CG, he's turning towards you now remembering everything and looking at you with love in his eyes. We don't have the full CG yet, but I did take screenshots during the stream. ↓

You both share a moment, and MC feels comforted again, even if it's just for now. There's either an option to explore the realm more, or just have you two hold each other and savor the moment.

You both end up finding bunnies around the realm, holding and petting them. Very cute.

After some time, the hourglass timing them finishes and Muriel goes back to lost memories. They go back home and Muriel calls the sprites to him, knowing they probably won't come if MC calls them.

If you're kind to them, MC will apologize for hurting them, and one of the sprites apologizes themself and says that they should've explained more WHY they wanted the weeds left alone. It was because the hardy plants were supposed to help them bear the winter easier, since they're connected to the plant life. Both parties agree to be more considerate of one another.

If you're mean to them, they'll fix things but let you off with a warning.

The sprites remove the spell on MC, so Muriel and everyone else now remember them again.

If you were kind before: After a time skip where the winter passes, MC and the sprites are a lot more friendly, they're helping them make breakfast. Very disney princess-like. After breakfast, Muriel, MC, and the sprites go to swim and wash themselves in a nearby river (or stream/lake, something like that). Everything wraps up and the tale ends there.

If you were rude before: The time skip still happens, and apparently the sprites are still playing tricks on you, getting in your way often whenever possible. Muriel can tell that they didn't appreciate the half assed apology you gave and says that you should try to be kinder to them.

I personally enjoyed the tale a lot! I went in with very low expectations, since I heard a lot of criticism about the other new tales, but I think it was fine. There's definitely issues with it, don't get me wrong, but nothing that makes it completely unenjoyable. I know there's a few tumblr users who've been working to get the tales archived for people who can't spend money on the paid options or simply don't want to download Dorian (understandable), so once that's out, it'll be more accessible.

Can someone please give me a summary of the new Muriel tale so I can decide if I feel like reading it or not