#it came out so good but the source material for this game...risky

[mortimemedoodles]

this is the same game where you can fuck strangers on a public bus. god bless.

[folkloreguk]

Colvers Castle (M)

A/N: This one’s for the bisexual horror-obsessed girls (me)!!! Jk anyone can read this, but I had the best time EVER writing this sdfgh also I was gonna post this around Halloween but I couldn’t wait any longer so here you go!!

genre: mystery / creepy? / smut (optional bias (male) x reader (female))

warnings: a little gore (describing (fake) wounds and costumes), unprotected sex, the reader might be a little risky, mentions of murder / suicide

summary: Two girls go to a Halloween party held at an old castle. What kind of creatures will they encounter, and will they ever be the same afterward?

words: ~5.6 k

“Oh my god!! You look so good!” you whisper-yelled towards your friend who was already sitting on the bench at the bus stop. Her blood red dress sparkled and although her red knee-high boots couldn’t have been too comfortable, they sure made her look incredible. On her head sat a pair of light-up horns and silver chains and chokers adorned her neck. She grinned widely upon laying eyes on you. At first, you had planned on wearing the same outfits, but then you had opted for dressing as polar opposites. Where her horns sat, a fluffy halo seemingly floated above your head. Your dress had a similar cut, but was a simple white, satin material and your necklace had a subtle golden heart pendant just between your collar bones.  

“Where’s your trident?” you asked, taking a seat next to her.

“I figured it’s not too safe to dance with an item that could potentially poke out someone’s eye,” she said. “So I left it at home.”

“Fair enough,” you agreed, laughing. “Are you excited?”

“I’ve been freaking out since I got up this morning,” she said, waving her hands in the air dramatically. “A real castle? This has to be fun!”

The two of you were headed to the hottest Halloween party in your city. Usually, you weren’t the biggest fan of parties. But combined with dressing up and going to an old castle outside of the city, this party sounded like it was going to be the best night of the year.

“Finally, the bus is here,” you pointed out. When you stood in line to get on, you noticed how you and your friend weren’t going to be the only party-goers on the vehicle. But then again, there weren’t many bus lines that would bring you to the castle. You spotted a Michael Jackson boarding the bus a few people away from you, followed by a fake-blood-drenched clown. The sight only amped up your enthusiasm. Costumes had always been one of your favorite parts about Halloween. And judging by the scale of the party, you were going to have a lot to observe today. You squeezed past Dracula onto the seat next to your friend and off you went.

The ride to the castle took a while. You had to first ride through almost your whole city and then take a rather abandoned road through the countryside to the site of the party. But you got busy catching up with your friend who you hadn’t seen in a while and time passed quickly. You were in the middle of discussing which was the scariest film you had ever watched, when your eyes locked on a bright light in the otherwise dark scenery outside.

“We’re almost there!” you exclaimed, diverting your friend’s attention to the castle. You had been going through a forest, so when you suddenly exited the tree maze, the bright lit up stone walls of the castle came as an extra-pleasant surprise to you. Only a few minutes later, the voice on the bus announced the stop ‘Colvers Castle’ and soon you pulled up in front of it.

Weakly, you could remember visiting the castle with your school class when you had been a lot younger. You might had grown up since then, but nonetheless the cold, inured stone walls still impressed you. Hadn’t it been for the violet lights shining onto the side of the ancient building, the gaping gate in the battlement would have looked less than uninviting to you. Your friend squeezed your arm in happiness while you approached the entry. From somewhere, music was carried through the air and made you smile.

“Are we allowed to enter all of the castle?” you asked.

“No way! The well-preserved part and the museum will be closed off, I’m pretty sure the party is mainly focused on the inner courtyard,” your friend explained. “They wouldn’t let rowdy teenagers and drunk crazies riot inside such a precious castle.”

Just as she had finished her sentence, your eyes followed the stones in the walls up to where the purple light couldn’t reach. The turrets rose high, and the night was pitch dark. But you could have almost sworn there was a small light coming from the tiny window at the top of one of the turrets. Maybe some party guests had run off after all? There. This time there was no doubt in your mind. There was a man’s expressionless face in a window, looking out at the arriving guests.

“Hey, look up there!” you tugged your friend’s arm. Her eyes followed your finger, but when you looked at where the face had been, it was gone.

“What’s up there?” she asked. Just for a moment, you searched the rows of windows. Maybe you had accidentally lost it. But no matter where your eyes went, all you saw was darkness inside the castle. You mumbled a ‘nevermind’ to your friend and quickly wiped the thought off your brain. This was a Halloween party, and you were ready for it. Along with the familiar faces from the bus ride, the massive gate swallowed you up into the courtyard of the castle.

It was obvious that the major action of the party was going on here. The all-too well known ‘Thriller’ by Michael Jackson was playing from the speakers and you grinned at the young man dressed as the famous singer, who you had already seen on the bus, for a moment.

Party guests were yelling in excitement and singing along, all whilst dancing in a sea of people right in front of you. The main grass area had been transformed into a dance floor. Immediately, your friend pulled you along and into the crowd. In the blink of an eye, the buzz and energy from everyone around you sprung onto you as well, and before you knew it you were moving along to the music. Whoever had managed to throw this event really had an eye for choosing a great venue. Usually, there was something magical and peaceful about the castle. Tonight, however, dunked in red and purple lights and occupied by hundreds of young souls, it made for the perfect backdrop of a legendary Halloween party.

“Welcome to everyone who just got off the bus to join us!” a voice shouted through the speakers, just before the next song started. Your eyes scanned your surroundings. Quickly you had spotted the DJ stand, where a young woman and a man were providing the guests with music. They were wearing matching zombie makeup and outfits and the crowd cheered at their words, an infectious excitement that caught on to you right away.

Time moved differently on a dance floor. Bodies pushed against you, always keeping you moving along. The beat of the music seeped through your skin and into your muscles, almost as if it was your new energy source. It was hard for you to remember how many songs had played since you had arrived. Had it been fifteen minutes or an hour? You could barely hear over the volume intensity, but then again, you didn’t need to. There was no need to talk to your friend right now, who was moving to the rhythm with her hands in the air, grinning at you.

That’s when a figure in a pirate costume pushed themselves between you and her, apparently having taken a liking in your devil-friend. Lazily, she put her arms on the pirate’s shoulders, inviting him to dance with her. You weren’t upset, though. All you wanted was to have fun, and you wished her the same. A girl in a witch costume replaced your friend, and although you had never met her before, there was something about dancing together that made you feel closer to her than you felt to some people you saw every other day. Her hands were on your waist and you shared a moment with your faces close to each other. It was harmless flirting through gazes without either making another move, drawing a smile on your face.

But as soon as she had appeared, she was moving on to the next person. She granted you another toothy smile, like she didn’t have a care in the world, before turning to a vampire girl. You scanned your immediate proximity to check if your friend was anywhere in sight. When you spun around, you spotted the red fabric her dress was similar to, so you squeezed through a few people to get to her. But as you tapped her shoulder and she turned her head it wasn’t your friend. This girl had fake blood smeared across her cheek and looked nowhere like a devil.

Thinking you might have better luck with observing the crowd from an outward perspective, you wriggled yourself through bodies until you reached the edge of the dance area. To your left was a sign saying ���game zone’. Intrigued, you entertained yourself for a minute by watching a boy dunk his head under water whilst bobbing for apples in a barrel. As soon as you would find your friend, you were planning on convincing her to take a shot at some games. But for now, you needed something to drink. Although you were outside, your cheeks still felt warm and your throat was a little dry from the cheering.

So you opted to walk the other way, pursuing the direction of the ‘bar’ sign. As soon as you had located a free seat, you strutted towards the chair. The bartenders were all wearing superheroes’ costumes and you admired the decorations, ranging from pumpkin heads and little ghosts to spider webs, they had put up.

“Can I get you anything?” cat woman asked you. She gave you a grin as she remembered your face. She had once gone to the same school as you. You quickly ordered before spinning around to get a good look at the dancing crowd. The bar was up on a slight hill, so you were seated at a higher level than the dancers. But the darkness made it challenging for you to accurately spot faces and combined with the way everyone was moving, you quickly gave up on your plan of finding your friend this way. Maybe if you waited a while, she would show up by the bar herself.

“Here’s your drink,” you heard a voice from behind you. When you turned your head, the bartender was placing a glass in front of the young woman next to you. She was dressed like a princess, but her face looked nothing like a fancy noble woman. Her eyes were blood shot and two single lines of blood ran down her white-powdered cheeks.

“I believe this is yours,” she said, sliding the drink over to you. “I didn’t order anything.”

“Thank you,” you said, checking the liquid. She was right. The bartender must have gotten you mixed up. “I like your hair, it’s beautifully done.”

She smiled at your compliment. Then she pushed your glass a little closer towards you and bent over to your ear. “Be careful of your drink. Men like to take advantage of women.”

“I won’t let it out of my sight, don’t worry,” you thanked her whilst smiling. Her expression had been dead serious, almost making you feel uneasy. But when she saw the way you smiled, her features softened. Her mouth that had tiny red lips drawn onto them curled into a beautiful, but kind of sad smile.

As you both turned to yourselves again, you decided to appreciate your favorite part about Halloween – the costumes – for a while. The classics were present: Vampires, killer clowns, zombies and the latest horror movie villains. A wildly dancing group of teenagers all disguised in robes from the Hogwarts -houses made you chuckle. And as always, there was a fair share of people who were wearing undefinable costumes that mainly consisted of random fake wounds or fake blood on their faces and clothing but didn’t impress you all that much. And lastly, there were the lazy ones, who settled for hiding their face behind a cheap mask, so they at least appeared to have made an effort.

For a moment, you dug for your phone and checked if your friend might have texted you. But there were no notifications. You quickly typed a text “where are u?” and let your phone disappear in your small bag. Whilst waiting if she would reply, you decided to take a trip to the toilets. As you walked there, you made more costume observations. To your left, next to the bar, a stone wall ran all the way around the courtyard. Party guests were using it as a seating accommodation, as it was a nice way to overlook the whole atmosphere. A realistic looking version of the nun from the Conjuring-movies sitting on the wall impressed you quite a bit. Next to her, a couple was seated. You couldn’t quite figure out what their outfits were supposed to portray, but they surely weren’t modern day clothes. You admired the makeup they had put on their necks. It looked as if they had slashed throats.

After you had arrived at the bathrooms and finished your business, you checked your texts one more time – but still nothing came from it. You were sure she was simply having too much fun to check her phone. As you walked down the hallway to the exit back into the courtyard, you spotted a young man standing at the end of it. Behind him was a ‘no entry’ sign, that had been temporarily installed to keep party-goers out of the castle. The young man was wearing a white button up shirt and pants that made him look a little like a Disney prince – had it not been for the fake blood that soaked the fabric on his chest, which made him appear more like Dracula. He smiled at you shyly, before turning and walking further down the closed off hallway.

“I don’t think people are supposed to go there,” you spoke, glad that you didn’t need to raise your voice as much because the music was drowned out by the thick castle walls.

“No one’s here to stop me,” he said, before climbing over the fence. “Will you join me for some fun?”

You didn’t think you’d find your friend any time soon, and if she was going to run off with some random pirate stranger, maybe you should too? The vampire prince sure was handsome. Carefully, you walked closer to the fence.

“I’m sure those doors are locked,” you said, watching as he approached the door at the end of the hallway.

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” he smirked, and next thing you knew he was opening the door that said ‘staff only’ on it. “Care for a free castle tour?”

“How do I know you’re not a creep?” you asked.

“How do I know you’re not a creep?” he replied, laughing. “I’m just bored of having so many people around, alright? If you don’t come with me, I’ll go by myself.”

Your curiosity took over. And maybe he had a charm about him – a sly smirk, a few buttons on his shirt undone or maybe it was his voice that sounded like honey.

“Fine,” you hurried over the fence and squeezed yourself through the opening in the door after him. “Don’t make me regret this.”

“I plan on not letting you forget me,” he said. “But there’ll be no regrets.”

His words were vague, and there was a strange feeling about him, but you simply couldn’t put your finger on it. You looked around. The only light falling into the hallway came from the party outside. This part of the castle seemed to belong to the museum, but the further you followed him through the corridors, the rougher the stone walls seemed.

“You want to see a nice view?” he asked, and of course you did. So, you took the stairs up to a higher level. The rooms here had neither doors nor glass windows and generally didn’t seem to have been restored like the part of the castle that was open to the public.

“Are you real?” he asked.

Your brows furrowed. “Real?”

“A real angel?” he asked. He was walking ahead of you, so you couldn’t check his face for whether he was joking or waiting to attempt a silly pick up line.

“I’m a human being, just like you,” you said.

“You sure do look like an angel,” he said. The sincerity in his voice surprised you. This guy had a strange way of flirting, but you preferred it over the gross sexual remarks other men considered to be flirting.

“Thank you. And what are you tonight?” you asked. You took a look outside into the courtyard. The scene looked breathtaking from above, and this way you could appreciate the immortal beauty of the castle even better.

“I’m the ruler of this house,” he said, smiling. He was coming closer to you now, and you smirked.

“Oh, a prince?” you asked, returning his smile. “If an angel let someone touch her, I think it would have to be a prince.”

“You’re bold,” he said, but he was grinning. “Suddenly I’m glad they are hosting a damn party here on Halloween. So, would you let me touch you?”

“Please,” you said. His eyes were dark and suddenly filled with lust. When his lips first smashed against yours, they felt a little cold, but the moment your tongue swept over his bottom lip and he parted his mouth, his hot tongue met yours. You felt like he had set you on fire in the best way possible. It had been a while since someone had made you so horny in such a short time. Within seconds your hands were in his hair, tugging softly, and his hands wandered from your neck to the front of your dress. Your back arched against his touch eagerly as he squeezed your boobs through your bra.

You didn’t feel in the mood for long foreplay, and luckily it seemed he thought the same. He grabbed your ass, pushing you against him so you would feel his growing bulge. A moan slipped past your lips and you felt like covering your mouth.

“No one hears us here, don’t worry,” he said.

“Sorry, I’ve just never done it in such a…public setting,” you said. Although you doubted anyone else even knew they could enter the castle this easily. Hungrily, you kissed him again and pulled him towards you with such urge that you stumbled backwards a few steps. Your back touched the wall, sending shivers down your spine from the cold of the stone. Teasingly, he lifted the hem of your dress to the top of your thighs, his fingers playing with the suspenders of your garter.

“You like my lingerie?” you asked.

“Hmm…but I think I’ll like what’s underneath more,” he said, fingers ghosting over your center. Impulsively, your eyes closed at even such a tiny touch.

“Then please hurry up,” you urged him, and he chuckled. Swiftly, he pulled aside your underwear and slid one of his fingers between your soaking folds. You sucked in a breath and leaned your head against the wall behind you. On instinct, your hips moved against his hand for more friction. He added another finger, toying with your clit in rapid movements. How did your legs already feel like jelly? You held onto him for support while his free hand pulled you flush against him. When he pushed his digits past your entrance, you hummed in agreement. Expertly, he curled them inside of you, using his thumb on your clit.

“Am I supposed to find angels sexy?” he asked, gaining your attention.  

“Yes,” you replied. “And I hope they give you a boner because I want you to fuck me.”

At the same time, you ran your hands down his sides and to his hips to the visible tent in his pants. He grunted when you palmed him through the material and probably also at your words from a few seconds ago. Finally, he removed his hands from between your legs, but you weren’t upset because you knew there was more to come.

“If you turn around, you can have what you want,” he said. More than willingly, you did as he said. When you turned your head, you watched him unzip his pants just enough so he could pull down his underwear and expose his hard length. You placed your palms flat against the wall and arched your back a little. When he slowly pulled up your dress to rest the silky material around your waist, you whimpered in impatience. He knew what he was doing, and he loved hearing you as you quietly asked him to speed things up. You felt the sudden urge to press your legs together as he pulled down your underwear, just slightly so it stayed around your thighs and wouldn’t fall on the dirty ground.

He hissed a little when he let the tip of his cock run over your center, your wetness covering him. For a few seconds he teased you, drawing out more of your whines. But the teasing only made it feel more rewarding when he eventually entered you. He filled you up all the way, then slowly pulled out almost fully, only to pull your hips against him and quickly thrust into you again. With time, he picked up a steady pace, hips slapping against your ass with every movement. You rested your head against the wall, feeling the rough material against your cheek, but you couldn’t have minded less.

There was something so intimate about hearing someone moan. And it felt especially intimate when it was a person you had just encountered. You realized you hadn’t even bothered asking for his name, but you were confident you would never forget him and the way he felt inside of you. When you’d think back to this, you’d remember his fingers digging into your hips, pulling you against him with ever thrust, and the way your moans mixed with the noise of the party in the background. People were cheering and singing while a famous song was blasting through the speakers, but really all you heard were your own whimpers of pleasure.

The air was cool on your bare skin, giving you goosebumps. Simultaneously, you felt hot all over, every of his touches seemingly leaving a trace of fire wherever he laid his hands on you. Your eyes rolled to the back of your head for a moment when you felt his fingers between your legs.

“I’m so close already,” you said, his new actions only adding to the sensation. He drew random shapes onto your center, clouding your mind with the need to just let go and let your orgasm wash over you. He groaned when you clenched around him, and from the way his thrusts quickened and seemed a lot less controlled, you could tell he was almost there too. His curse words and your moans went well together, and before you knew it you felt him twitch inside of you. His liquid spilled out of your core as he pulled out. He breathed heavily but didn’t stop his touching on your clit.

Your thighs trembled when he rubbed faster, pulling your body close to him. You could feel his breath on the side of your neck, only making you feel dizzier. It could have been the drink from earlier, but you were almost convinced it was him who was making you feel as if you were drunk. Your whimpers sounded longer and more dragged out now, and right before you came, they silenced completely. He didn’t stop while your body arched and shook because of his perfect fingers on you. Tightly, your eyes shut and you clenched your hands to fists. When you felt your knees become especially weak from sensitivity you softly tugged on his wrist, signaling him to stop.

Letting out a sigh of both happiness and exhaustion, you spun around. You blinked at him tiredly and smiled. Your head rested against the wall as you watched him pull his pants back up, so you did the same.

“You were amazing,” you said.

“So were you,” he replied, tilting his head a little when he grinned at you. Meanwhile, you picked your bag off the ground. Just as you did so, you felt a vibration coming from inside. Quickly, you checked your phone. “I’m waiting by the bar”, your friend had finally texted you.

“Do you want to come join me and my friend at the party? I lost her earlier so I should really go and see her now,” you asked the handsome stranger in front of you.

“Oh, no thanks. I’d rather stay here for a while longer,” he declined.

“Alright, whatever you like. Maybe I’ll see you again later?” you said.

“That would be nice,” he smirked. “Do you remember the way out?”

You hummed a yes and said your goodbyes to each other. The empty castle hallways were a lot creepier when you walked them by yourself. You imagined how it must have been back then, walking down this corridor. The light of a candle would have made your shadow dance menacingly on the unwelcoming, cold walls and the sound of your footsteps would have been heard even from far away. But the uneasy atmosphere only lasted until you had reached the familiar door. When you opened it, reality engulfed you again.

Your walk to the bar was hasty, since you hadn’t replied to your friend and you didn’t want her to think you wouldn’t show up. The party was just as energetic as before. You even had the feeling that more people had showed up since you left it a while ago. When you neared the seats, you spotted your friend instantly, this time being sure you weren’t mistaken.

“Where were you?” you asked, slinging your arm around her shoulder and grinning from cheek to cheek.

“I could ask you the same,” she replied, giving you a sly look. “Look at you. Your hair and lipstick’s all messed up.”

You chuckled as she ruffled your hair and put your halo back in place.

“Okay, I’ll go first. I met this guy,” you said. She raised her eyebrows as if she was surprised, but you knew she wasn’t. “We might have sneaked off into the castle.”

“Shut up, no you didn’t!” she almost yelled over the music. “I want every detail tomorrow.”

“Alright, granted. What about you?” you asked. “Was the pirate a good kisser?”

She only laughed and nodded her head yes.

“I saw they had a game area over there,” she pointed out.

“Let’s go, and then you can tell me more about that guy,” you said, pulling her along with you. Happily, you sang along to the song that was playing. You couldn’t wait for the rest of the night. Although neither of you tried your luck in apple bobbing, your precious makeup having been too much work to destroy it this way, you found a bunch of other games to participate in. You made temporary friends with a bunch of drunk girls who were all trying to win the main prize in a game but were simply too intoxicated to knock down some cans with balls. So you and your friend helped them out, to which they seemed to have crowned you their new group members. You danced some more, and time passed way too fast for your liking.

By the time you stepped back onto the bus that would bring you home, it was hard for you to say goodbye to the castle. So, this was Halloween for another year. The party mood hadn’t died down, even on the bus ride home, because it was filled with guests. When you watched the castle become smaller, you noticed the heavy fog that seemed to have appeared from nowhere all of a sudden. It engulfed the ancient building into a cloud of white smoke, the further the bus distanced itself from it. As you entered the woods, the only thing left to be visible were the eerie purple lights shining through the fog.

Tiredness came over you when you finally stepped off the bus at your stop. It was a short walk home and you promised to call your friend first thing in the morning before you said your goodbyes. You could already spot your home when you thought back to the stranger from the castle. He had called himself the ruler of the house. His handsome features and smile were livid in your head, even when you silently entered your room and took off your shoes. As you changed into your sleepwear and got ready for bed, you noticed the forming bruises on your hips, but they only made you grin to yourself.

Yawning, you fell into bed, but not before checking if your friend had texted you. Got home safely, goodnight x, she had sent. You quickly replied to let her know you were at home as well and went to switch off your phone. But then curiosity suddenly came over you. With rapid clicks, you searched for the castle’s museum’s website on the internet. Maybe you could find out who had really lived there, hundreds of years ago.

You clicked the ‘history’ button and began to scan the texts, even though your eyelids felt heavier with each second.

King Walter III and Queen Alice ruled the castle. Their two sons Hugh and Henry and their daughter Beatrice grew up happily in the castle. But starting from year 1568, the lives of the noble family took a drastic downfall. Henry, the younger of the two brothers, had always felt jealousy over his older brother Hugh, who would one day inherit the throne from their father. His greed and envy drove him to great lengths, until one day, Henry took out his anger on his brother directly. He stabbed Hugh in his sleep, in rage so blind that even his father could barely stop him when he fell witness to the dire scene. Distraught and outraged by this event, the older brother was locked away in a tower, threatened to never see another face ever again in punishment for his crime. But the unfortunate events didn’t end there. Princess Beatrice had fallen for a Lord from another kingdom, who took it upon himself to take what she had from her. In their wedding night, he was said to have poisoned her drink. She went to bed and never awoke to see the next day. There is only so much parents can take in one year. So, in utter devastation, the king and the queen made a decision together. After having their favorite red wine and watching their last sunset together, they committed suicide by cutting open their throats and died sad, but together. Prince Henry was said to have been forgotten, locked up in his tower all alone, facing a lonely and slow death on his own. Some say they can still hear the voices of the royal family in the castle halls at night, and if you look close enough, you might find their ghosts haunting the castle to this day. Why don’t you come visit us and find out for yourself?

You shivered and felt a little uneasy at the way the museum was advertising something so horrible. But when you scrolled down the page just a little further, what you saw knocked out the breath from your lungs. It was a picture, an old painting to be exact, of the family. And there he was. The prince was staring at you blankly, and you felt tears well up in your eyes in disbelief. It was the stranger who had taken you into the castle. You thought back to his blood drenched shirt. As if he had been stabbed. You shook your head no when your eyes fell on the rest of the family. You recounted Princess Beatrice from where she had been sitting by the bar next to you, telling you to watch over your drink. You saw the queen and the king, who you had noticed sitting on the stone wall, holding hands, the wounds on their throats having looked almost too realistic to have been fake. And then you remembered your arrival at the castle. You thought back to the face you had definitely seen in the window at the top of one of the towers. This was all just coincidence, right? Your stomach turned in terror. Had someone tried to play a joke? But if so, why had their faces looked so perfectly similar to the family in the painting?

Quickly, you pulled up the social media of the girl, your school friend, who had served you at the bar. ‘Do you remember the girl dressed as a princess with bloody tears who you accidentally gave my drink to? She was sitting next to me at the bar’, you quickly typed and sent.

For at least an hour, you twisted and turned in your bed, going from almost sleeping to nervously checking your phone for a reply. You thought you were going crazy. But sooner or later, you realized she might have had too much to do, cleaning up the party or simply going to sleep herself, and you drifted off to slumber.

When you awoke the next day, the previous night almost felt like it had been a scary dream. But when you checked, your hips were still bruised and you had a new message from the girl who had worked at the bar: As far as I remember, the seat next to you was empty. I gave the drink to you. You were dressed as an angel, right? Why are you asking?

[maniacalmagician]

EVERHOOD: Pinocchio in Psychedelic Purgatory: the Rock Opera Adventure. OR: I walked backwards into hell, and felt euphoria as I became privvy to the Divine Truths

Hello tumblr people. I’ve been Away. I played a game recently and I wanted to talk about it.   damnit i really wanted to put pictures into this mini essay. ive been away from this garbage site for too long, i dont know how to do it lol.  ok anyway    First, I want to say to the developers and anyone else that this has quickly become one of my all time favorite games. Currently writing I have personally never felt a greater emotional attachment to an experience with a piece of software. Perhaps it is the extreme idiosyncratic nature of it, perhaps it is the deeply intriguing storyline, mostly however it is a combination of those in addition to some of the most outstanding psychedelic visuals I have ever seen, particularly in the finale sequence, and a killer soundtrack that combines many genres but focuses mostly to being as bangers as possible. I will be upfront and say this game comes with a boatload of trigger warnings, and thus the aforementioned idiosyncratic nature of it may not appeal to everyone, however I feel it necessary to indicate potential content warnings here as I would hate for people to be triggered: epilepsy is the big one, I myself have mild stutter based epilepsy and it didn't cause health problems or anything but my case is not universal. Anyway. That is a hard warning on epilepsy. I do it because The Incredibles 2 did not, lmao (that's an example of the kind of visuals that trigger me personally. An aside ) Other things include (spoilers): arachnophobia, misophonia (screeches, unsettling sounds), themes of death, immortality, suicide. Some game mechanics are not immediately intuitive and puzzles require some pretty clever but sometimes obtuse solutions. Direction is not always super clear either. People have complained of performance issues but I am leaving this review after playing the switch port, which played smoothly other than some awkwardly long loading times here and there. What I have played of PC so far runs smooth but as of writing, performance for me was fine (my pc is a lowend budget build). There is a difficulty to it. Even playing on easier modes, it can be quite unforgiving. If you're a fan of hard games (I am but I suck at them) and rhythm games (this is, uh, Not? That? Almost functions as half walking sim, half rhythm Game, dodgy shoot em up kinda feels. Truly unique gameplay I think. Constantly switches things up, too. But yes I also adore rhythm games, and yes i also do suck at those too.), half of it is that. The devs troll you with puzzles. It's truly a wild experience as it advertises, one of a kind. And yet, however.... This game wears, much like its heart,, its references, on its sleeve. If you are not into that kind of thing, you will probably be annoyed by this game. It also loves to delv into meta, as many puzzles and interactions are references to the UI of the game itself. Personally, I'm not wild about meta but I appreciate the ernestness here, so I'm willing to roll with whatever this game throws at me because every turn feels unexpected, fresh, funky, somber, and wildly intelligent, with boldly sincere ludonarrative choices, script and art direction. If you like Geno from super Mario Brothers, which, guess what, narrator here LOVES Geno from Super Mario Brothers, this is functionally the game you've always wanted that Nintendo could never make because Square has held Geno hostage in some kind of underground torture facility since 1995. Turns out they were rather right to do so, because when that puppet is out serving a higher authroity, he can be quite dangerous. Narrarively it borrows much from its sources but I would argue there's proof the writers have spent time thinking about the implications of their source materials worlds, and that reflection casts itself back to create this, experience that is wholly unique even if we know Red is Geno and "Gaster" (who was based on Uboa from Yume Nikki or princess mononokes forest spirits), and some kind of disco Marceline character who changes their identity frequently, skeleton brothers- well undead brothers, really - We have to remember in the creation and consumption of media sometimes, influences and archetypes are ever present and Everhood almost itself is a realm that would indulge in the idea of self referential material. It makes for this very Jungian experience of friendly archetypes we're familiar with, which works well with this setting of an immortal realm. Thats not to say the personalities we do meet aren't expounded upon - they are, heavily, and become uniquely their own. (Spoiler) if my theory is to be believed this world is a purgatory where people have made their own artificial vessels and as time has made them bored (though some seem to be having a good time) while typical strains of the Pinocchio myth are thrown in about questions of identity and death - and probably even more so towards Timothy Learys concept of the Ego Death, or the return to the collective soup of unconcious being. Undertale will probably always be a reccomendation even by its own reference to it so comparisons to it will be littered through here. It feels like the developers were emboldened by Toby Foxs spirit in game development (his creative energy is rather infectious) and shared many similar ideas, but this feels far more aimed towards a maturer audience (references to the things I mentioned in the trigger warning list) and focused on achieving this feeling that its predecesors have as well. Yume nikki. Lisa. Earthbound. Toby's games. super Mario rpg in its humor, Cat Soup in its psychedellic depressive vibes, all this cool indie cult classicy kinda mash up soup.  bizarre antics and then these characters who have surprising depth the further you go. It has been 6 years since Undertale came out, and the developers for Everhood have called a lot of the "what ifs" that fans of that game ask, an answer in their own game. (What if No Mercy was forced, for example? What if going against destiny is the wrong thing to do? Why is Death such a Bad Thing? etc!) And the further along you progress, the smarter the story gets, the more complex the narrative threads and characters. This game knows how to write compelling literature and that wasn't an element I expecting but god am I so glad for it. Literally my pea brain saw Red's design flipping around some frets on a streamers videocapture (shoutout to based fellow tampa native Charles White, thank you for being witty and having good taste and your Floridian comisery.) one night and went "oh i like." But the experience I got in exchange was, so, so much more than that (but the tetris effect won't let that image disappear from my eyelids quite yet haha.) I hear there are multiple endings and one requires a 3 hour long trek. I'm not done with the game at the time of reviewing. You bet your sweet ass I am going to find out the Ultimate Truth. I found a way to deal with some of the bullshit in other games, I may not be great at games but I want to see whatever imagery these guys put on screen so it compels me to seek out all the alternative routes. I am going to be following these developers projects very closely. If this is their debut, their next project will be ... ... I would hate to force expectations, like if you just made a magnum opus like this it'd be perfectly alright to retire, but I just once again want to say thank you to the developers for putting your heart on display for the world to see. I see it. I have dealt with struggles similar to the ones in the stories this game articulates about anxiety and depression, existentialism and dread, dissociation and all the heavy themes that were risky to include narratively - I'm certaintly glad you took the risks you did. May update this review as I get further along the story but yeah. Tl;dr: haha pinocchio myth done well make brain go brrr. 9.99999999999998/10. I am taking an infitisimal fraction of a point off because of the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ spider in the monster maze. that thing was abhorrent, but I won't let it deter anyone else who wants to play.

[dicedungeons-and-dragons]

Waylan’s Sabbatical (7/?)

A chunk of writing following our party NPC (and my Son) as he breaks away from the party. Our campaign uses names of places from various fandoms for fun but they have no real relation to the source material. (We also call the Raven Queen Nara because of some hasty Wiki reading) This section contains Terran and Waylan’s first meeting!

TW: Mentions of past torture, general violence, injury.

Part: First | Previous | Next

The Black Knight takes him through the forest. Introduces him to any creature that is sentient enough to understand. He meets a Green Hag who wants to pull out his liver and fill his corpse with frog eggs for whatever reason but she, like Terran, and the forest giants that he meets, seem to follow whatever the lich says. Waylan never sees him threaten them, there is never any animosity. Just short respectful conversations that lead to whatever creature taking a brief interest in him. He wonders if he would be as safe if he ever tried to return without the Knight at his side. These visits go on for weeks, and eventually he finds himself asking, 

“Why do you keep introducing me to, no offense, monsters?” 

“Because you came to the forest to be away from humans.”

“I came here to be away from everyone.” 

“And yet you kept finding your way into my company.” He can’t argue so the Knight continues. “You spoke when you were deep in the fever. You called out for a man and promised him you would not become a monster.”

Waylan bristles. “I wasn’t in my right mind.” 

“Perhaps, but oftentimes people are more honest when they are not. My Queen used to say that when her advisors reprimanded her for getting visiting diplomats thoroughly intoxicated but I believe she was right and the same wisdom can be applied here. You are frightened of becoming a monster, and yet you continue on in my company. Now I am showing you more monsters. Are you frightened of them?”

“Not when you’re around. For whatever reason they listen to you. I don’t think you’d let them kill me.” 

“And if I brought you to them as they were standing over a fresh kill?”

“I’ve seen you standing over a fresh kill.” Adventurers still come and die. Now that he’s staying in the castle he’s bared witness to it. Only once. A small party, four of them, in cheap vestments. When the lich cut the first one down, two immediately turned to run. The third howled, tears streaming down their face. The Knight didn’t leave them in their grief for long. 

“Were you frightened of me then? Did you object to my actions?”

They’re leading questions, but Waylan’s learned that the Knight won’t drop a subject once he becomes interested in it. “I was…” Sad isn’t quite right. He certainly felt something for the group. But it hadn’t been enough for him to step in, it hadn’t stopped him from checking to see if there were any valuable items on them before he left their corpses to mold away on the ground. “I was relieved that I didn’t know them.” He finally says. “This is your home, and whatever you’re planning on doing to the kingdom is your business. If they come here with the intention of doing you harm I understand why you have to defend yourself. But I’m glad I didn’t know them.” Because every adventuring troupe could have been his. And he’s been on the other side of the fight. He’s seen his friends cut down. He’s hated evil creatures. 

But he still doesn’t know what the Knight is doing in the forest.

“If those adventurers knew you were inside, watching as I killed them and their friends, they would believe you are a monster for standing by and doing nothing.” 

“It’s a matter of perspective. That’s what you’re getting at, right?” He rolls his eyes. “Every evil creature I’ve ever heard of, read about, or met has played at that angle.”

“Then perhaps there is some truth to it, Waylan.” 

****

“Can I ask you some questions?”

Terran lounges across the stone floor of his lair, a massive cave that he carved out of the side of a small mountain range that broke up the gently rising and falling hills of the forest. It’s not the first time Waylan has been allowed inside, but it is the first time he’s ventured in alone. The Black Knight had left a few days prior, saying the scouting he needed to do that was too dangerous for the living. Waylan spent the first two days in the Prince’s room reading what he could of the books. But the ticking gears in his arm and the memory of blood dripping onto a stone floor became too much. Seeking out the dragon’s company had been risky. But Terran had looked at him, one massive yellow eye, tucked his leather wings into his body, and taken human form. It had taken him a few minutes, digging through the horde of treasure that he’d warned Waylan would be harder to get to than it first seemed, before coming back with a polished wooden board and two small bowls. 

It’s a game that Gadreel had called Go and that Terran sniffs dismissively and calls Weiqi. The dragon is a more skilled player than him, but after nearly three dozen losses Waylan starts to understand that the dragon is very good at making it look like he’s using one strategy while actually employing another. Waylan thinks he could play with Terran every day until he dies and still lose. 

“You can ask.” But there’s no telling if what the creature says will be true. 

“When I was in the kingdom there were only vague rumors a dragon had come to the forest. Why didn’t you go and seek tribute?”

“Stupid boy, you know of the Goddess’ blessing on the edge of the forest.”

“I know that it’s less a goddess’ blessing that marks the start of the Dark Forest and more the end of the scar that the lich’s ritual made on the land.” The notebook he’d found locked away under the Prince’s desk had extensive notes on the process of becoming a lich and what it would cost. “Which means you’re choosing to stay here hidden away in the forest like a wyrmling instead of claiming Okren for yourself. That seems strange for a creature as powerful as you.”

Terran clicks his tongue and takes seven of Waylan’s pieces in retaliation. “Careful little mage, flattery will get you everywhere.”

“I think there’s already enough dragon blood in my family line, not that it wouldn’t be an honor.” He hates how quickly the response comes from him, hates that the rhythm of their flirtation reminds him of Lugh. “Why don’t you go to the kingdom?” He asks again, setting a piece to block what he hopes is the dragon’s next move. 

He and Terran take another few turns before he speaks again. “My horde is smaller than you expected it to be.” Waylan pauses as he reaches for another stone. “You mentioned it to the lich when you left my domain for the first time. The creatures that serve as my eyes and ears have a farther reach than you assumed. I escaped with my life and only a small amount of what is rightfully mine.”

“Escaped from what?”

“An old rival. While I grew wise over the centuries he grew vicious. He would have razed my forests to the ground and killed all that had offered me tribute in the nearby villages had I not abandoned my lair and left a sizable amount of my treasure. As it is, now he is growing fat and contented while my worshippers continue to pay. My spies tell me that as long as he is given tribute my forest stays intact, as do the villages.” Waylan sighs as Terran takes his last stronghold and effectively ends the game. “And the more contented he grows the easier it will be for me to slither into his misbegotten lair and slit his throat.” The dragon leans back and stretches his arms above his head and Waylan notices for the hundredth time how skinny he is in this form. Wonders how he earned his title. “You lose again, little human. If we were playing for your life I would have already swallowed you whole.”

“Good thing we’re not doing that then. Another round?” Terran shrugs, but he helps Waylan clear the board without protest.  “So you’re just buying time here?”

“I have been around long enough to spot a fisherman even when he does not carry a pole, little human.” 

“I’m just trying to figure out why you’re here.” Terran clicks his tongue derisively. “Why the Black Knight lets you stay here, and why you listen to him. Liches pose no threat to you and he has no tribute to offer. I don’t understand why you’d defer to him.”

“Perhaps I should kill him then? You certainly make a strong case for it.” 

Cold shudders inside of Waylan’s chest. “No. That’s not–”

“Relax, Waylan.” The dragon orders flatly. “I’m well aware of your soft spot for our Knight. A place scarred with the darkness of creating a Lich gives creatures like the ones you’ve found more power. I stay here gathering strength to take back my home. The others come because they are pulled to it. Some creatures even spawn from it. The Lich, as much as he hates the king, feels a noble,” he hisses the word like a curse, “love for the kingdom itself. He will not let any of us stay on this land if we do not abide by his rule. Were the Knight my only opponent I would have claimed this land for my own, taken my tribute from the people. But he has many who would fight alongside him in these woods. And I am not in the habit of pursuing hard fights for few rewards.” 

“I have some friends in Oshime I wished lived by that philosophy.” Waylan considers this information for a moment. It raises more questions than it answers. “Why does the Knight hate the king?”

“That’s not my story to tell, little human, nor one I know every detail of. You’re just going to have to ask him yourself.” Terran’s head then snaps towards the entrance of the cavern, voice easily switching into common. “Are you going to continue to lurk in the shadows, Lich? Or are you going to come collect your pet?” 

“I have no need for pets.” The Knight says as he steps further inside. 

“I’m not a pet.” Waylan snaps in draconic. 

“Only because he has yet to ask you to kneel.” Terran purrs with a smirk. 

“Fuck you.” It occurs to him belatedly that he shouldn’t be rude to a dragon, but, well, he’s always rude. 

“Come get your yapping pup before he pisses on my shoes.” 

“Waylan is not a pet, he is a companion.” The Black Knight says flatly. “And if he were to piss on your shoes I am sure you would deserve it.” 

Terran’s brow quirks before he turns and smirks at Waylan again. “Maybe he’ll ask you to kneel sooner rather than later.” 

Waylan, very maturely, picks up a stone and throws it at the dragon’s head. 

[tea-and-cardigans]

Broken Machine - Hacy - Harry x Macy

Read on Ao3

Summary: Post Episode 2x10. (Harry POV) An alternative version of how the events of episode 2x10 could have gone. Harry leaves the command centre, frustrated, angry and has an invite from Abigael waiting for him. But there is something holding him back.

 Harry braced himself against the door to the command centre as it slammed closed behind him. His body felt as though it was on fire. There was a rage that was building inside of him with nowhere to go. It had been happening more and more frequently and he had continued to try to ignore it.

 He could feel it burning through him when he threw Ray against the wall of the hotel room. A rage burning through him that there were another demon playing games with them. And then when it had turned out to be their actual father, and that he had stolen from a dead woman the rage had built up again.

 There was usually something holding him back, but it was like the lid had been let off and there was nothing to keep this rage in check.

 He could feel it building again when he had seen Macy with that billionaire, laughing, happy. The happiest he had seen her in weeks. And he knew that she deserved this, she deserved to be this happy, but there was that resentment that it wasn’t him that she was smiling at, that made her feel happy and wanted, but some stranger.

 His hand clasped in a fist by his side, released when Mel, pulled on his arm, pulling him out of his own thoughts and back to the matter at hand.

 It wasn’t a date she told him, but he knew better. He could see the way her face lighted up when she looked at the messages on her phone.

 He hadn’t lied to her when he told her that kissing Abigael was ‘a moment’ but nothing more. It felt almost like it was another person who had been down in that library with her. Who had her fingers running against his scalp, lips moving against his own. It felt like a dream.

 Was Abigael what he deserved. A poor copy of what he truly desired. Someone that he could pour all his feeling into, knowing that she would never be enough., not even close.

 He sighed, looking back at the door, wondering whether it was too late to go back inside. But something stopped him. He looked down at his phone, a text from Abigael that had been there for hours unanswered, an invitation, back to her apartment.

 He concentrated on his destination feeling the environment around him start to dissipate as his body was pulled through space. His body jolted as his feet landed on solid ground and he took in his surroundings.

 It was a quiet night, quieter than it usually was. He moved to the bar, signalling to the bartender for a pint of ale, before taking a seat at the bar. He rested his elbows against the bar, his head falling into his hands.

 He felt as though he was starting to lose himself. Something had changed since they had come to Seattle, whether it was the Darklighter, the revelations found in the Book of Elders or something else entirely there was something that didn’t feel right. He had found comfort in the familiar feelings that he had for Macy a remaining constant, something that he could be sure of in this constant state of change.

 “You look like you just got dumped mate,” came the gruff voice of the bartender from behind the bar, as the glass was placed in front of him. He recognised the accent as of the lower class of London, a little too like his doppelganger for his liking.

 “Something like that,” he answered, eyes focused on the frothy liquid in front of him as he took a sip.

 “We get a lot of that in here,” the man answered with a chuckle, before returning to the other patrons of the bar.

 He finished his drink and considered ordering another before deciding against it. Alcohol had the tendency to make his orbing a little wonky and paired with his current state of emotions he could end up anywhere and he did not want to have to send the inevitable text to Mel or Maggie to come and portal to rescue him from his own drunken stupor.

 He looked down at his phone again the message from Abigael remained unanswered, and now had a companion, yet another request for him to come to her and he couldn’t deny that he felt the pull. Deep in his gut. Until Macy’s words resonated within him again. ‘She’s dangerous, Harry. I don’t want you getting hurt.’

 At first, he had thought that perhaps while Macy didn’t want him she didn’t want anyone else to either, but that wasn’t Macy. She had only ever wanted the best for the ones that she loved. He should count himself lucky to be one of those people.

 He put the phone back in his pocket and left the bar, making his way to the alleyway where he could orb without risk of being seen. He appeared back at Safe Space, the office building largely quiet now, except for a few stragglers and he felt some concern about the apparent lack of security that was so plainly absent from the large building. He made he way back to the command centre, slightly relieved to find it empty.

 One blessing since Abigael had taken over as overlord was the dramatic decline in witches in danger, meaning that the vigilance with the map had given way, allowing them to focus their efforts on more pressing matters and looking at the bigger picture. Such as his darklighter’s return, and where Ray was giving all these artefacts to.

 “Harry?” A confused voice called out to him as he turned to see Macy entering from the library, a cup of tea in hand, as well as a book of spells.

 “Macy, I thought you would have-” he was sure that she wouldn’t still be here, that she would have taken the opportunity to go to him. Him and the simplicity that he represented. Whether she would maintain the pretence when she returned about simply ‘distracting’ him.

 “I was going to,” she tells him, placing her cup and book on the table, near the portal and map console.

 There was a thudding in his chest, those emotions and feelings starting to become dominating and powerful. The jealousy rising up in him that she had considered going to him.

 “I wanted to, but something held me back.” She looked up at him, her eyes soft, where he had expected to find a harshness that he deserved, that he had earnt. “You know, you told me that I know how you feel about me,” she said softly, her eyes avoiding his gaze as she looked down, deep breath in before they met his again. “But I have no idea.”

 Her words hit him like a freight train. How could she not? He had worshipped the ground that she walked on, seizing on every moment that allowed him a contact that was beyond what he should, she had even read it in his own mind while consumed by the raw power of the source.

 “You’ve never told me, Harry. How you feel. The only evidence I have ever had of your feelings is you kissing another woman. Someone we don’t trust, that is dangerous, someone who could very well get us killed.” Her head dropped again, “Could get you killed.”

 She shook her head before looking up again, and he could see that she was waiting for him to say something. Those words that had been swirling around in his mind for so long now they had almost become a part of him. She was waiting for him because she was right he hadn’t told her. Hadn’t let loose all those emotions and words that could never even come close to describing what he felt for her. He couldn’t even pinpoint where they had started, whether it had been when he had first accompanied to Galvin’s party, when he was trapped with her in that damn television show, or when he had seen her accept a part of herself that she was terrified of but had the strength to confront it.

 His hand reaches out for hers, his thumb tracing over her knuckles, finding comfort in the warmth of her skin, acutely aware of how distant they have been lately, and how much he has missed the simple touch of her skin against his own.

 “Macy, I care,” he took a deep breath, the words feeling caught in his throat. Even now as she looks up at him expectantly he can’t help the nagging self-doubt that he isn’t good enough for her, that he will never be the man she so deserves. “I care deeply about you. More than I should. More than a friend, or a confidante.”

 He feels her hand tighten around his own as he says the words he has been holding in for so long, worried about how they would be received, that she would be horrified, that she might pity him, reject him, move on to something better and whole.

 “Harry, I have been confused for so long,” she admits, her other hand reaching for his, fingers running across his palm before intertwining with his own. “I was scared, that these,” she pauses and he can see it now the fear in her eyes. That the confessions to each other could turn everything upside down, that there could be so much more to risk. His hand moves to her shoulder, as it has so many times before. His thumb running over the material of her jumper, and instead of turning away, creating distance between them, she leans into his touch.

 “These feelings could change everything between us, and the thought, the simple thought that you might not return them. It was easier, to pretend that they could go somewhere else. That I could feel them for someone easier, less risky, but it didn’t work, because they were less.”

 Her hand moved from his hand, up his forearm, leaving a blazing trail in its wake, and he is captivated. Her fingers move tentatively, brushing against his cheek as if she is testing herself, or him. He’s not sure but it feels more intimate than he could ever have imagined.

 “I thought,”

 “I know, and perhaps I should have said something, but-”

 “Then you saw me. With-”

 “Her,” her hand leaves his cheek and he misses the feel of her palm, the warmth of her skin as he can see her retreating inside herself again. That this could be another moment lost.

 “I didn’t lie, Macy, it was a moment, I, I was an idiot. A scared idiot.” He moves his hand to her waist, memorising each touch just in case he manages to screw this up royally and this is as close as he ever comes.

 Her eyes flit to where his hand rests, and he wonders if her heart is beating just as furiously as his is at the contact.

 “I want you,” he whispers, his other hand moving from her shoulder, where it has continued to trace patterns against the soft material of her jumper, to cup her face. “Only you.”

 Macy is the one to take the final leap, her lips brushing gently against his as she leans into him. A touch so brief it could be barely be called a kiss, but if that was all it ever was he would be grateful for it, have it etched into his memories for a lifetime. But it wouldn’t be enough.

 This is further confirmed when she presses her lips against his again with more pressure, more urgency, and he grips onto her. Sinking everything he had and had been holding onto into the kiss. The rage inside that has been for so long just bubbling under the surface is sated, retreating away from the light that she offers.

 They break apart, and Harry can’t resist, brushing his lips against hers, the temptation to feel the softness of her lips once more too strong to fight against. He doesn’t think now whether it will ever be enough. A smile breaks across her lips, as her arms wrap around him and he feels the overwhelming sensation that this is exactly where he should be.

 And that those messages on his phone will forever remain unanswered.

[anorakofavalon]

Missed Opportunities for Magic: Merlin & Morgana

(AKA: An Open Letter of [Constructive] Criticism to the Writers of Merlin)  

I wrote this essay when I contemplated how much more rich Merlin could have been as a show had the writers decided to romantically involve Merlin and Morgana. I decided to write it as if I was addressing them directly because it was just easier for me to sort through my thoughts and main points that way. Sorry it’s a little long, but I’d love to have a discussion about it!

---

As I did with the last Open Letter I wrote, I’d like to start off by congratulating the writers of Merlin: Julian Murphy and Johnny Capps & Co. I think that they created something truly wonderful in this show, magical even. To me, it’s one of the most charming of all the BBC shows I’ve seen so far, and most definitely one of the most underrated. Not only that, but it has created a truly worthy community. Many years have passed since the show has ended, and still the community is numerous and inviting and incredibly active. Immortal as Merlin himself. I can only hope to create something a fraction as impactful as this someday. And so any criticism I make, any observation I mention, do understand that it comes from a place of complete love.

That said, I think it’s time to get on with this little essay. I really hope I don’t come off as pretentious, but here we go.  I’m here to comment and critique one major lapse in the writing of the show, a major weakness that I find is representative of all the other writing missteps that occur in the story as a whole, though I will of course be going over some notes on how it could have been improved or adapted given the circumstances in-story. But I’m being a bit vague, and perhaps indulgent. Let’s begin with the biggest issue: You, the writers.

Before I scare you off, the issue do not have much to do with your writing per se. Perhaps a better way to state it would be the lack thereof, which is to say, I believe your fatal flaw has been inaction. This is in regard to a missed opportunity, the single biggest missed opportunity I have ever seen. That missed opportunity? Merlin and Morgana. I could not tell you what possibly motivated the exclusion of a romantic subplot between these two characters while you were working on the show. I wasn’t there, I am not you, and thus it is not my place to say. But I can say, from what I have seen, that all the cards were stacked and ready for you, as storytellers, to go in that direction. The actors were quite game, and in fact, Colin and Katie have absolutely wonderful chemistry on-screen and off-screen. Not only that, but they are two of the greatest dramatists ever to have graced the halls of BBC Studios. As is evident by more or less every single scene they’re in, both individually and together, they are beyond talented and able to convey great amounts of emotion with just their eyes. I’m very glad you and the directors chose to have close up shots of their eyes. It worked to great effect.

So why didn’t you take that route with Merlin and Morgana? I can think of a number of solid reasons, but among them I find three to be more prominent. The first possibility is that, as Merlin was a family show, you did not wish to indulge yourselves with a romance that is a little bit darker, perhaps more Shakespearean in nature. That is somewhat fair, but considering that you had Merlin kill very many people and ultimately make some very morally dubious decision throughout the show, including poisoning Morgana, I highly doubt that could be the sole reason.

I think the second reason, though a little bit more cruel of me to remark upon, is perhaps connected to the first. As a family show, maybe you were afraid to include something so risky and unexpected. It would have been a risky play. But you yourselves had eliminated the safe play, Freya, by having her killed off early in the show. I understand why, of course, from a thematic perspective it was important to do so in that episode, but I am obligated to comment on it. If you had wanted a safe story of love for Merlin, you had eliminated that possibility. You could have gone the risky route, but decided to go nowhere instead, in terms of romance.

The third potential reason is that you wanted to keep the general sweeping focus of the show solely on Merlin’s friendship with Arthur. Now this is a much more reasonable justification from a storytelling perspective. You might have considered a romance with Morgana at any point in the show to be, as mentioned earlier, both indulgent and ultimately useless. After all, she would turn evil, but Merlin would be by Arthur’s side at the end, so why not focus entirely on what is firm and stable? A romance with Morgana of any sort would have been, in the long view, futile. And as such you cut it out of the writer’s room. But I have a major contention: a romance between Merlin and Morgana would not have been useless or futile even if it led to the exact same ending.

As it stands, the Arthurian legend is, and always has been (at least since the days of Sir Thomas Malory), a tragedy. There is very little in the legends that is not tragic towards the end. Merlin and Nimueh. Guinevere, Lancelot, and Arthur. Mordred. Morgana herself. The fate of Camelot. In the show you recognized that completely and came through in that regard. But, at least where Gwen and Lancelot are involved, decided to deviate from that direction. You put the value of the tragedy on the fact that Merlin wasn’t able to achieve his destiny, that in spite of everything he had done he still failed and Arthur died. That magic never did return to Albion. That Albion never came to exist at all.

Assuming that this was always the planned ending for the show, that there be tragedy (which is reasonable, given the source material), then what harm could there possibly have been in making it more tragic? A romance wouldn’t have been futile at all. It would have been tragic. And that is exactly what it should have been. Both from a meta storytelling perspective, as well as a character perspective. In not including a romance early in the show, perhaps around season 2, you robbed yourselves of making the ending of the series an even more poignant and emotional one. You robbed yourselves of a subplot that could have multiplied the impact of any episode or decision or scene involving Merlin from season 3, 4, and 5. And all that would have occurred if you simply kept the current plot intact, with only a small subplot for Merlin and Morgana having been added. You tiptoed in that direction during the first episodes involving Mordred, or where Merlin and Morgana teamed up to save innocent people like Tom. And so I conclude this paragraph with some advise: don’t be afraid to do something risky, if you believe it will enhance the story.  Have faith in yourselves!

Now, that said, we ought to discuss the story itself, overall. It’s a great story, and the show is so incredibly compelling, but I have one very big issue with it. It’s nothing in the plot itself, except for an absence of a Merlin / Morgana romance, but something else instead. You did not fulfill your promise.

In every single story, the very first page holds a promise. In every script, the first five minutes. Because, consciously or not, writers have to make a promise to an audience. It’s the only way of grabbing attention in a meaningful way. Let us contemplate Harry Potter for a moment. The first few pages concern themselves with a matter that is absurdly plain and normal and totally boring: The Dursleys. Except… except there’s just one little thing that is off. The cat. The implication is, of course, that by the end of the story, or even earlier, we will have been exposed to something very much not absurdly plain, normal or boring. We will have been introduced to something absurd, and interesting, and compelling.

So what was the promise for Merlin? Given that it’s a character-driven TV drama that started with a scene of a man getting his head lopped off for having magic right in front of a protagonist who has a lot of magic in a city where having magic is a big no-no, I’d say the promise is the following: Merlin has to hide his magic from Arthur and the Court of Camelot. At some point he will reveal his magic to Arthur and the Court of Camelot. That’s the promise.

Whether you meant to or not, this was the wider implication of such a scene. It is what all the viewers waited for with baited breath. Every episode was tense. When will he reveal it? When will the confrontation between him and Arthur occur? Will Arthur turn him in or will friendship prevail?

We waited for a very long time. As a matter of fact, the promise was never delivered upon until the very last episode, but by then it was too late. It didn’t matter. Arthur could have passed away without ever having known that Merlin had magic and it would have made no difference plot-wise. Sure, it hurt to watch that. There was an emotional impact there. And perhaps it is part of the tragedy, that Arthur never understood who Merlin was and what he’d done for him until it was too late for it to make a difference. And while all of that is well and good, it left most fans heavily dissatisfied. We were promised a reveal, and we got nothing instead.  

A Merlin and Morgana romance could have delivered upon the promise and simultaneously multiplied the reveal tension. Not to push the point too hard, but had Merlin revealed his magic to Morgana, the promise would have been somewhat fulfilled. There would be someone in Camelot that knew. It would only be natural, since Morgana herself is magical and would understand. Moreover, she was at the execution as well. It would give Merlin someone to talk to, a way to show his character growth.

But when Morgana would inevitably become impatient and fed up with being on the sidelines of Uther’s actions, when she decides to stop the slaughtering of magic-kind by any means necessary, especially under Morgause’s influence, it would add tension. Would Morgana betray Merlin’s secret to Camelot? Would she tell Arthur? Would she turn away Merlin’s friendship, love, and tutelage for Morgause, her sister?

It’s a similar tension as in season 3, when Morgana holds it over Merlin’s head that he poisoned her. But this time, both of them would have more at stake. They would both be acting against love for one another in the pursuit of peace. Both wanting to succeed but not wanting to hurt. It’d have tied their hands behind their backs, which is the best thing to do for a character. Because it forces them to become better (or worse).

It would have made the characters richer, more interesting to behold. If Merlin and Morgana loved each other but disagreed on such a fundamental level on how best to pursue magical peace, it would simultaneously make their convictions more important and give them both plenty of internal conflict. It would give Merlin pause, cause to doubt Kilgharrah and Gaius. It would make Morgana perhaps doubt Morgause more. It would make it that much more painful when they both decided that their destinies were more important than their own desires. And that much more painful when, at the end, it didn’t even matter. Imagine the very powerful performance McGrath and Morgan could have delivered in a scene like this? Where they both have to choose something greater than themselves over each other.

It’s very easy to forget sometimes that romance isn’t just a plot device reserved for, well, romances. Romance is a very powerful storytelling tool because it has power over character. Romance is a plot device as well as a character device. As in real life, romance makes two characters learn and grow and challenge themselves and each other. It’s not a gimmick to be thrown onto a story, fun as it might be. It’s something that should be impactful. By putting Merlin and Morgana in a relationship, even if only briefly, you would have had the opportunity to raise the stakes further and higher than ever before. It would have pushed their character arcs.

The lesson here is to not be afraid to make characters doubt. Merlin only seemed to have contemplated leaving Camelot behind a handful of times. Often for love. Freya is an example of this -- and that’s considering he only knew her for a small amount of time. I can’t see why the same protective instincts that moved him to protect her didn’t also move him to guide Morgana and her magic. Regardless, imagine the sheer internal conflict you could have created by having him and Morgana fall in love, and then be faced with the ultimate choice. Because, ultimately, Merlin’s entire arc is about how much he is willing and able to sacrifice for Arthur’s sake.

That said, I have more or less exhausted my list of grievances with the writing of the show. There was very little wrong with the writing itself, but there was, at least to me, a very major gap that could’ve been filled with a romantic subplot. That is to say, there is nothing wrong with what is there, but rather what isn’t. In spite of all this, however, I must say that Merlin was a creative and charming and positively wonderful show that has changed my life for the better. And as such, I hope I didn’t come across as too harsh or pretentious. Because what you have managed to craft was nothing at all short of spectacular and I respect it very much. Which is why I wished to convey that having a Merlin / Morgana subplot would have enhanced the existing plot in more or less every single way. They’re mirror characters, and as you two said yourselves, “She is the darkness to your light, the hatred to your love.” Which is why perhaps, I hoped that there would be a little more love and a little less hatred in the show. Just to balance things out.

And with that, I conclude this essay. May destiny lead you to another property worthy of your writing. And in the words of Kilgharrah… your gifts were given to you for a reason.

[shadowron]

Harlequin: The Immortal Elf Metaplot-Railroad Adventure (1st Edition). Part 0: Introduction

Finally, after long last, we arrive at Harlequin. If these early adventures of Shadowrun were a television series, then Harlequin is the two-part season finale.

Wait, not two. Eight. EIGHT.

Figure 1 (above): eight.

There are eight mini-adventures in this one book, consisting of a set of linked adventures about a centuries (millennia?) long feud between 2050’s answer to Richard Dawkins, Ehran the Scribe, and 2050’s answer to The Joker, the eponymous Harlequin.

For those readers about to make a Batman reference, this adventure predates by two years the existence of the character of Harley Quinn, so frag off.

While only danced around in the early material, it was later confirmed that, yes, these two elves are Immortal and were around at the time of FASA’s perpetually underrated yet in some ways superior to D&D game, Earthdawn, set thousands of years in the past.

Do you even quench, bro?

Incorporating metaplot into adventures is always risky, especially in a game like Shadowrun, which has a rich, thick metaplot – like slabs of crunchy peanut butter on freshly baked bread. You cannot write a cyberpunk/fantasy game in the early future without considering the consequences such transformations will have on society, and it’s easier for players to make an instant connection to a known race/culture/profession than it is to absorb such information whole.

Looking at you, Exalted.

Adventures will always have connections to the larger game world, but too much connection and it starts to feel like a Choose Your Own Adventure type story – the players only have the illusion of free will, because in the end, whatever Happens in the world will Happen. This was the route Shadowrun took with many of its later full adventures – publishing a location sourcebook (always good) along with an adventure that requires that sourcebook – and it’s annoying, because if any supplement requires too many other books as prerequisites, that’s going to shut out a huge chunk of players who simply don’t have the money to invest.

The perfect format, I think, was what they did with the Native American Nations Vols. 1 & 2 – each book was half adventure and half sourcebook. Maybe will have to talk about those next.

Lightning bolt! Lightning bolt! Lightning bolt!

But back to Harlequin – which while not having a requisite accompanying sourcebook, does put the players on a Plot Railroad that choo-choos them through eight (EIGHT!)-

Figure 6: Still Eight.

-linked adventures. The overall plot is simple: Harlequin is seeking revenge on Ehran for the former cutting off the latter’s ear several hundred years ago (you know, back when Magic wasn’t present in the world and there shouldn’t be elves in the first place). The connections between them are invisible at first, but by the end, the players are outright TOLD they’re pawns:

"Everything you have been asked to do has struck at some basic part of Ehran's existence. His Past, and Future, Loves and Hates, and Physical and Spiritual selves. By striking at each of these, I have proved his vulnerability to my power.” 

-Harlequin, being kind of a douche

It would be one thing if the players were able to pick up clues along the way, so that they have the chance to piece together the story, but…

This refrigerated container holds the collection of "Elven" ears the runners obtained in the previous adventure, but don't tell them that.

The GM is explicitly told not to do this. And did I mention the railroading?

Without a word of greeting, the man on the other end plunges right in. "You have the flower? That is very good. Mr. Johnson would like to meet with you for one more run…”

You stare at the ceiling as the line goes dead. It looks like you're in this one whether you want to be or not.

Are your players unhappy with this? Too fragging bad!

By now the team may be a little upset with their employer. If they are hesitant to take the job, conspire against them... Make sure the team is hounded, no matter what they do or where they go.

“That's what I love about role-playing games--being told exactly what to do,” Hank Hickey.

Okay, so I probably need to change the tone of this post right now, because you’re probably getting the impression that I don’t like the adventure – which is FALSE! I had a BLAST going through this as a player (in a previous cycle of magic), and think it stands up well. While being honest about its above faults, let’s talk about what it does well:

Mini-adventures

Some places have called Harlequin a “mini-campaign” since the included mini-adventures (as they are called in the book) are not meant to be all run back to back, but instead interspersed with other missions, so that the tenuous connections there are between them are that much harder to pick up on. If you were to run the other published adventures that came before, supplemented with a few scenarios from Sprawl Sites (which contained, using this scale, micro-adventures), you easily could run for months before reaching the conclusion.

The mini-adventures are good for another reason: they’re necessarily short, so that they hopefully could be completed in a single gaming session, as opposed to many for a full-blown adventure. They also contain what should be at the heart of Shadowrun anyway: complete and self-contained jobs that aren’t (at first glance) connected to anything else. They get hired to steal a rare flower, they steal the rare flower, deliver the rare flower to Mr. Johnson, end of mission. No one double-crosses them, the Mr. Johnson isn’t killed, the flower doesn’t animate and eat them Little Shop of Horrors style. Do the job, move on to the next one.

Getting out of Seattle

Seattle is my favorite city that I’ve never actually visited, thanks to Shadowrun. The first adventures were wise to stick to that locale, to establish a place that feels like home, but eventually you’re going to want to go out and visit the rest of the Sixth World. By Third Edition there were “Shadows of (insert place here)” books for most of the globe (notably absent: Africa and Central/South America. There was a mostly written Shadows of Latin America that was never officially published, so that’s something), but this was the first exposure to rest of the world, where the players get to jet off to…

…the castle of a mad troll noble in Bavaria, Germany!

…the deep dark darkness of the Awakened Amazonian rain forest!

And…

Columbia, Missouri!

Fraggin’ exotic, the Show Me State is.

Honestly, more exciting than any of those places is just the idea of the Street Samurai trying to sneak his Uzi onto the plane. Because you know one of the players will try.

Multiple Writers and Artists

In keeping with trying to throw the players off the scent of how these mini-adventures are connected, they were written by 8 different writers and 7 different artists, so that even if you needed to copy some artwork to show the players, there would be no reason to suspect they were from a single source.

Each mini-adventure was based upon a particular Theme, as alluded to in Harlequin’s douchey description above, so let’s get through them…

[thejiaqiverse-planniverse]

3. The wild-card prediction (HAPPY\BAD ENDING)

Analysis source material: 20% | My own imagination: 80%

Check these approaches out too if you’d like: approach 1 | approach 2

Ok ok, let’s all take a deep breath after surfacing from the deep dive of approach 2 shall we? Be relieved because we are NOT diving back down there again!!! YAY!!! This approach is also a villain perspective approach, so what exactly were King Dice and the Devil up to in this version of the story? And how will this tie to the Cuphead DLC or more?

The conclusion is: in reality it makes not much sense for the Devil and King Dice to end up in a fight for life or death. To expand, they could even be a true “power couple”.

From King Dice’s POV, it seemed all he stood for was literally loyalty to his boss and his job. Although he would portray himself as someone so powerful that no one was allowed to “mess with”, never once did he isolate himself from or place himself above the Devil. Needless to say there was no sign of King Dice being defiant here, certainly nothing for the Devil to be paranoid of!

Now from the Devil’s POV, it only makes sense that he would from the very beginning let someone not just capable, but also he’d trust completely run any of his major establishments, share access to the earnings and be his right hand man (if King Dice did not exaggerate his role in his song). A trusted employee or partner can take care of the Devil’s weak spots and save him tons of time, and they’d unquestioningly have his back whenever he was weak and in need of help (no bribe or manipulation needed). King Dice in fact was this ideal loyal and powerful candidate. Let’s bring up the soul contracts again! Both their names were on there, I mean, King Dice must be very trusted right? (Thinking again, why would the Devil agree to let King Dice know of or put his name on something with such power if he wasn’t trusted to begin with? To give him very good arsenal to defend himself or perhaps fight the Devil off?) this quite solidly disproves the theory that the Devil plotted so carefully to cut off then end King Dice.

Besides, if we toss away the reasons listed under both of their perspectives and even more, which means, somehow the Devil did end up following the long six-step plan in approach 2, shouldn’t this plan in reality be no longer necessary if the first step is to work together and build a stable, intimate, trustful, and mutually beneficial relationship?

King Dice and the Devil made a great team too, they probably had the same interests in mind; we can see from the start of Cuphead: Don’t Deal with the Devil, they flawlessly joined efforts to lure Cuphead and Mugman into their trap;

King Dice set up the risky scenario and the Devil came in at the end to seal the deal. From the looks of it they’ve likely done this a lot before: they’ve probably joined forces to trick other Inkwell residents into signing soul contracts or doing something else too.

From looking at the DLC trailers we learn that Inkwell is not just limited to isles 1 to 4, which means there’s more space for our protagonists to explore and vice versa, more areas King Dice and the Devil would like to claim or maintain in the future. For this purpose King Dice and the Devil’s masterplans will be directed toward the outside world rather than each other.

With that in mind, all the cutscenes and in game information will be here looked at in a completely different way than in approach 2.

Plus I’ve been thinking of the HAPPY ENDING, the cups easily freed everybody just by throwing soul contracts into the hell fire? I mean, it just appears the Devil was too careless, losing a large sum of his resources gathered throughout years of work in a blink, poor guy—mindlessly putting hard earned stuff at high risk, thinking he’d manage to keep everything under control all the time—he lost oh so badly!

Now we almost covered where this wild-card theory stems from, we need to bring up the soul contracts yet again! This time however we bring the BAD & HAPPY ENDING of Cuphead: Don’t Deal with the Devil along with these contracts to explore the possible true nature and purpose of these papers.

Here’s where my wild guesses kicks in. Keep in mind there’s little evidence for or against these guesses that I’ve known of.

Why didn’t the Devil himself pay these debtors a little visit and get the contracts right from the start? Is he that incapable? How would him agreeing to send someone like the cups out for the job make sense in another way? Well, let me resume a familiar writing structure here shall we: the Devil and King Dice’s five-step plan to train some good fighters for their use in the future.

Step one (we can say it’s slightly “evident” in the game?), get as many people to sign away their souls as possible, once they signed their soul contracts immediately have everyone working at the casino pounce on them to take their souls. Once the debtors realized that they were losing their souls for what they wished for they’ll be fighting for their lives. They would either win and flee with their contract, or lose and perhaps be transformed into one of these purple minion demons.

Step two, note down the escaped debtors and start the game! Now the Devil and King Dice would send sometimes some random run-and-gunners or sometimes their own employees to “retrieve the contracts”. Cue the death battles! Only the fittest would survive these battles, with all this going on, whoever survived would live in fear thus try to grow their powers further to avoid their souls being collected as long as possible. This is exactly what the Devil and King Dice would like to see!

Step three, the tricky multiple-possibilities step. At this point the debtors whom lost will already be in the Devil’s possession; with their contracts still existing, the Devil could either go and claim the remaining debtors as soon as he saw them as being ready or keep going with the death battles for training purposes. However, the innocent good fighters Cuphead and Mugman became the game changers. What the Devil expected was probably them bringing back some or all of the soul contracts they were tasked to retrieve. He would then send King Dice in their way to raid all the contracts out of their hands, now Cuphead and Mugman would have no choice but to give their souls up and become his minions. He did not see King Dice failing to defeat these two! Mission: “making the cups feel good about themselves winning all this time” would then be a go, as the last resort to try and get them to join the Devil’s club. Well all would be fine if the cups gave in and joined the Devil after that (BAD ENDING)! In the worst case scenario for both King Dice and the Devil, they not only beat both of them but also destroyed all the contracts (HAPPY ENDING)! No! The plan to train fighters and force them to serve the Devil in the future blew apart completely!! Or did it?

Step four, carrying on or temporary retreat. If the cups joined the Devil (BAD ENDING) and the Devil had all the contracts, he would carry on, sealing new contracts, collecting the fallen and/or souls deemed ready to do his bidding and preparing for the next round of death battles, just casually repeating steps one and two. And now the plan B if the soul contracts were no more (HAPPY ENDING), which consisted of King Dice and the Devil slowing the casino business and the Devil moving/hiding away with their money they still had to heal and rehabilitate.

Step five, finally putting their collection of trained fighters to use! So now here are the two main ways of doing so: the regular way according to plan and then the plan B way. When would they need these trained fighters? Remember when I mentioned there might be more areas than Inkwell isles 1 to 4? King Dice and the Devil could have planned to concur these new areas, or maybe others whom were formerly friendly with them/formerly not a threat would try to attack them whenever they were weakened. Therefore King Dice and the Devil would need troops. If all goes as planned (BAD ENDING and similar), with their money plus army of good fighters, they would win and then possibly gain power over new areas. Repeating steps one and two again, King Dice would continue to get them money or something, meanwhile the Devil could grow his power and when someone else dared to fight them again, he’d be ready. However, if the cups had destroyed the contracts they brought back (HAPPY ENDING, the cups burning the soul contracts had loosened the Devil’s grip on the debtors completely), what could the Devil do then? Well, the Devil already owned a sizable army of fighters by then, he could just admit defeat then go on to defend themselves\invade other areas like nothing happened after his recovery; but, what if the Devil felt his current army was not enough, he could really use King Dice’s help for this one. See the next few paragraphs.

Marvel at how deep King Dice and the Devil’s plan went—calling King Dice his “good-for-nothing lackey” was probably just the right thing to do after they’d discussed about it. Being all beaten, King Dice and the Devil would split up—the Devil would go into hiding. Quite the opposite, King Dice would openly portray this loyal, betrayed, and now heartbroken man with nowhere else to go as the Devil “abused his trust”, “never valued or respected him”, had “been disappointed with his defeat” and “officially chased him out”. Cuphead and Mugman being his witnesses would confirm the Devil’s “ill treatment” of King Dice they’d seen, unknowingly aiding King Dice and the Devil’s plan. With all the sympathy he’d get, King Dice, during his recovery from the fight with the cups could maybe get a ordinary job and new home within Inkwell isles 1 to 3 to patiently wait for an opportunity—catching the eye of their target group or individual, interested in not only his skills of earning/scamming away money, but also his experience of working alongside the Devil.

So who would be interested in that way? Someone or groups like the snow monsters. They could be the Devil’s relatives, minions or simply someone competing with the Devil, wishing to grow their own reign, and perhaps already seeing this as an ideal opportunity to get rid of the Devil when he was weak and take the resources he had. King Dice would join them when he was asked to, maybe he’d also fake reminiscent a bit saying how he thought he was so close to and so trusted by the Devil as he had an important role next to him, learnt so much about him, etc. King Dice would possibly even hire new people and reemploy his gang to assist him, too. Thrilled they now had King Dice on their side, they would listen to him when he convinced them to get the Devil’s big loot—firstly looking all around Inkwell isles 1 to 4 to find the Devil, as the last King Dice knew, he was still in bad shape and in hiding somewhere there.

Greed driven and/or eager to win, these new monsters would tear apart the town convinced they’d find evidence of the Devil’s location. When they still didn’t find the Devil they would terrorize the residents for clues. With their now supposed-to-be peaceful lives severely disturbed, the isle 1 to 3 residents would join forces to get the snow monsters away from their homes. The monsters would fight to keep their investigation going. (Well, this could be a plausible reason for the cups and Chalice venturing out to fight the snow monsters in the DLC as so little info is given in the trailers; or I may have over-imagined as they could’ve just wanted a tasty meal and/or some tales from Chef Saltbaker) Now if the residents couldn’t defeat the snow monsters, King Dice or even better, one of the workers King Dice recruited would suddenly break down and say something along the lines of “when I started work with you guys I didn’t expect your ways to be worse than the Devil’s!” (King Dice would have driven this idea so deep into the minds of whoever he recruited by then) Pouncing on his new employers, King Dice would help the Inkwell residents defeat them.

Remember the Devil could shape shift? So where can he possibly be all this time according to this wild guess? King Dice did make a notion to employ more workers, the Devil could totally disguise as someone looking for work and be invited to the snowy lands with no one suspecting at all (meaning the info that the Devil was still in bad shape and In isles 1 to 3 was falsely provided)! Now with most of the snow monsters gone to look for him in isles 1 to 4, the Devil could finally get rid of the remaining guards that opposed him and claim these lands for himself. (Well I mentioned in approach 1 that the Devil might be in these snowy lands; only in this case he could appear as a possible ally of the cups and Chalice’s in defeating the snow monsters if the isles 1 to 3 were indeed invaded by them. Or entirely not...) After King Dice played hero and returned, he would start fresh with the Devil, with their new areas. Well, there was one last thing King Dice must do: making peace! Now being more of a friend to the Inkwell isles 1 to 3 residents, simply reflecting on the Devil’s past mistakes for him, then promising to never let him sign a soul contract again if he resurfaced would be sufficient. After all the idea of King Dice keeping the Devil in check from then on would sound appealing. So you point out that King Dice and the Devil gave up a lot not being able to sign new souls contracts? I don’t think so, because this did not forbid King Dice the Devil from training/tricking others into joining their operation/reign (kinda the same as what the contracts were intended for in this approach), they’d still find a way. With a little cooperation, planning and patience, all would lead to a win-win situation for King Dice and the Devil!

Is there room for even more wild guesses? Oh yes there is!

This time they stem from the Devil’s identity; if the Devil is meant to be a biblical reference, which means someone directly opposite from the Devil may exist as well—yes I’m talking about God. I’m just not sure if we are already introduced to God in Inkwell at this point, either as an actual character, or as the ideology of love, innocence and good within the cups, elder kettle and other Inkwell residents (reminder, this could be why the cups were able to defeat the Devil as good will always be more powerful than evil, as stated in approach 1). If we weren’t introduced to this God character before, I’m also not sure if we will be introduced to them in the future.

If a God did exist in Inkwell, the Devil gathering souls and trying to collect and train an army would make even more sense, as this would be not just for taking over the world of Inkwell, but also to one day face off God. If it does come to this, I wonder what will happen. How do the Inkwell residents react to the introduction of God and possibly his angels? Will King Dice and the Devil have the opportunity to spin lies and stuff to turn the entirety of Inkwell against them? And a more pressing thought, will King Dice and the Devil eventually get away with it, because if there was good within the Inkwell residents, there would also be a dark side, which can be victorious at times? Or will they just fail and get their butts handed to them? Can’t say for sure, all this is nothing but a wild guess for fun and games!

You know what’s fascinating after making two opposite theories?—one of King Dice and the Devil fighting each other to the death and one of them cooperating ever so smoothly—if we do see King Dice around in the DLC without context (from the cups and Chalice’s perspective), and if he says nothing or delivers a hate speech against the Devil, we can only wonder if he’s really traumatized and telling the truth (approach 2 when the Devil tried to kill him) or if it’s just part of their plan (according to this approach).

So... that was the wild-card prediction; and please let me mention this one more time, parts of this prediction and the approaches before are also the basis of the Jiaqiverse fancanon (The Inkwell Paradox, my long, outlandish fanfic, which I’ll write a summary for soon after). Stay here with me if you’re also interested in that, and thanks again for reading XD

[geek-gem]

You know ever since yesterday or whatever. But also today after finally watching the 2002 Resident Evil movie fully. Because me and my friend(Who had seen the video twice he told me) watched the, “Making Sonic Forces Again” a great video I watched yesterday which I’ll share later. One of the thoughts that came to my mind that Sonic Forces in some way seems like if Paul WS Anderson was handling the Sonic franchise or like a movie.

Again I don’t dislike Paul WS Anderson. Yet the idea and concept of, “If Paul WS Anderson made a Sonic movie” is seriously intriguing. I will say I have thought of making the joke of he makes his own character and the other characters aren’t the stars. Similar to how Alice is in the Resident Evil movies despite the first film I understand his reasons of why he went with the direction he went. 

But I’ll be honest, and considering in those old leaked Sony emails talking about the idea of a Sonic movie franchise being successful like their Resident Evil movies. This was mentioned in the 4 Cancelled Sonic The Hedgehog Movies by PatMac. Also remembering back to that fake leaked movie info from Reddit of the Sonic movie. That contained Perfect Chaos, Rouge, Madonna, and other stuff. Along with my ideas which I realized why the actual movie we are getting is going in the direction it’s in....I’ve rambled on too much yet I hope you understand. Yet I think this joke may not make sense. But I’m gonna try it anyway.

Paul WS Anderson: Okay I just wrote a script for the Sonic movie. 

Sega: Woah woah.....a loose Sonic Adventure adaption, Rouge is in there, along with GUN too, Madonna is a character too, no Knuckles....I take your taking some liberties with the source material Paul.

Paul WS Anderson: Yes I know that. But if dealt with right, it can probably be a good movie. It respects the source material as well.

Sega: I mean...it’s risky...

Paul WS Anderson: Also there is this other one but it wasn’t made by me, but it’s not a script.

Sega: What...I think someone liked your script and ideas. It’s another loose Sonic Adventure adaption, Rouge is in there. But Tikal is in there actually. Also the human character is a GUN soldier played by Chris Pratt, and not a journalist named Grant. 

Paul WS Anderson: Yeah he also made another one that’s not a script, but a first draft in a way that had Metal Sonic and Silver Sonic. Yet he really liked my ideas.

Sega: Okay Paul I get it, I appreciate the ideas. But I don’t know if a 2 hour movie can handle a lot of this? We are introducing Sonic to a new audience. We are worried this would be too much. Besides your reception with films like the Mortal Kombat movies, and the Resident Evil films don’t help ease a lot of people’s worries.

Paul WS Anderson: Yes I know of my reception. But hey at least it’s not Uwe Boll, besides I don’t what critics say about me. Along with the fact you have to trust me this will work.

Sega: I mean you seem like the kind of guy who wants to respect the source material. But I mean...this is still risky. Also the other guy with his ideas who was clearly inspired by your work. Who casts four actors from Steven Universe? Especially one of them voicing Rouge? Who does that? Especially to have Brad Peyton or Jordan Vogt-Roberts as the director for his movie ideas?

GeekGem:

Paul WS Anderson: Guess he really likes Steven Universe and wants to make some little refences by using actors from the show.

Sega: Yeah most likely. But I wanna ask you an important question about your adaption.

Paul WS Anderson: Yes what it is?

Sega: Would your wife Mila Jovovich be in your movie? Maybe Madonna? 

Paul WS Anderson:...….maybe. :)

So yeah I forgot the funny idea his wife would probably be in a film like this. Also I’m on Wikipedia, I found out that Paul considers himself a, “populist filmmaker”, who only cares if his movies entertain people and not, and doesn’t care of what critics say. Honestly this speaks volumes and explains a number of reasons why those Resident Evil films kept getting made. I mean the box office returns make sense. Originally I was gonna have him in the part where he doesn’t care what critics think, I was gonna have him say he takes pride in his work. I was kind of right or guessed it some what.

Besides I haven’t played any Monster Hunter games if I recall. But hopefully his Monster Hunter film will be enjoyable, and maybe good. I saw the teaser online months ago or so. Including I feel like maybe getting Monster Hunter World just to have some experience with the franchise. Yet also it could be a good game I could check out. Also to just be in preparation for that film despite it will be released September 4th 2020. I’m rambling on too much. Edit so considering I reblogged the trailer, found out it was from June. So I was correct on the months thing.

I just wanna make sure people know what I’m speaking about. This was the fake leaked movie info of the Sonic movie.  https://www.reddit.com/r/SonicTheHedgehog/comments/7e8a15/some_info_about_the_upcoming_sonic_film/ Turns out it was posted by someone named, “Sonicfilmanon”...so my joke of Paul making the movie his script can be a realistic joke. I’m sounding stupid, besides whoever made that leak was detailed and I liked what they did. Alright so I put the tags down, I don’t wanna forget. I did think when making this it could be Sonic Team would be talking to. But they would be working on a game or whatever, or it’s just easy to make it Sega. Besides I put Sega’s name already. I’m sorry this went on too long. Well my third edit because the second I put a new tag which was the W.S. and considering I just looked at the tag. Hopefully this gets more attention. Especially when making this I realized it was spelt that way.

[laurelsofhighever]

The Falcon and the Rose Ch. 19 - Shadows on the Mind

It is the spring of 9:32 Dragon, and Ferelden is gripped in the midst of a bloody civil war. Driven by fear of an old enemy, the traitorous Loghain Mac Tir has stirred the people against the king, and every day new factions vie for power, waiting to take advantage of the chaos now that it is certain a new peace can only be won with swords.

In the north, Arl Howe of Amaranthine has seized control of Highever, and only Rosslyn Cousland, last scion of a slaughtered noble house, stands in the way of his greed. Aided by King Cailan’s uncle and his bastard half-brother, Alistair, she is determined to seek justice for her family’s murder and right the wrongs done to her people.

But politics is a complicated game. War has a cost; nobility comes with obligation; and beneath the machinations on both sides of the conflict, an even deeper threat stirs, biding its time to come into the light and bring Ferelden to its knees.

Words: 2837

Chapter summary: His plans outmatched for the time being, Loghain plots his next move in Denerim.

CW: violent death (no gore)

Chapter 1 on AO3 This chapter on AO3 Masterpost here

Twenty-seventh day of Drakonis, 9:32 Dragon

The large window in the king’s study had been installed during the rebuilding of Denerim, as the last black marks of the Occupation were being washed away. It offered an unparalleled view of the city, which Maric said was the point. He had once asked, rhetorically, what kind of king he would be if all he did was sit behind a desk making writs without seeing how they affected his people. The fact that many of these writs had been delayed over the years because of His Majesty’s tendency to be distracted by the goings-on in the streets below had been an endless source of frustration for his advisors.

Despite the tendency to let his mind wander, Maric’s dedication to his people could not be denied. In the years following the Orlesian retreat, trade deals with the Free Marches and Antiva had swelled the size of the capital’s harbour district, bringing in exotic goods, raw materials, and investment, and now the deep water port could accommodate even a Qunari dreadnought, should one ever deign to come so far south. With the increased shipping came the markets and the merchants and the bustle of dockworkers making their daily living. On an ordinary day, the streets would be busy with fishermen and hawkers lauding the goods they had for sale, and with them, sailors waiting for the tide to turn, and sometimes the more brazen madams trying to win their coin and their attention for an hour or two.

Loghain could see no loiterers today. He scowled out at the drizzle, one hand clutched reflexively at the heavy pendant hanging around his neck, stroking it with his thumb. The curious green crystal at its centre caught the light and made for an annoying reflection in the glass, but he barely noticed it. The last of his ships were making port, unscathed by the winter storms. In addition to the troops he had originally meant as a reserve, the three-masted vessels carried much needed supplies and equipment from the winter stores in Gwaren, and their addition to his rations would greatly ease the strain on the soldiers and on the general populace, who had so far taken to his presence with the equanimity to be expected of commoners. So long as they were left alone without privation, they would be unlikely to cause trouble.

Still, no need to be complacent. Even though he had outed Cailan as a traitor to his people, there were still those among the guard and the nobility whose loyalty remained steadfast to their monarch. An admirable quality, to be sure, but a dangerous one for a man whose success depended on his enemy not knowing his next move. Even now, the gates to the city were shut to all those without official business, and the massive netted chain that guarded the harbour against piracy was drawn in so that not even the smallest boat could pass and send word to the loyalists.

The sight ought to be easing his mind. Setting sail from Gwaren in the middle of winter with all of Cailan’s forces blocking the Brecilian Passage was a gamble a lesser man wouldn’t have risked, but he had seen the opportunity for a swift end to the conflict, and had taken his chance when the Southron Hills became clogged with snow. He had left port ahead of the storm, satisfied in the knowledge that Arl Leonas and others of his ilk would rest on their certainty, think him trapped by the southern winter. While they had hung their cloaks and settled by their fires to wait for the thaw, he had rounded the peninsular unmolested, with his soldiers safe from every enemy but the sea.

And yet, when he had pulled into port on that overcast, blustery morning a week ago, it was only to find his ultimate prize had slipped his grasp.

I underestimated him.

The capital hadn’t so much fallen to him as noticed the new pennants on the city gates, then shrugged and resumed its winter torpor. Loghain had the palace, and the royal guard, and control of shipping all along the northern coast, but without Cailan, the victory was a hollow one. The plan had been to curtail the king’s movements, to make him see reason or act for the greater good if he did not, and either way to end the war before the toll of innocent lives became too great. Instead, he had escaped, and taken his legitimacy with him. Although untested in open battle, the young man was skilled with a blade, and worse, he was likeable, sure to rouse support among banns easily swayed by pretty words. The loyalty Loghain himself had to fight for with threats and grim debate, Cailan managed with an easy smile and a witticism or two. No doubt it was such radiant charm that had ensnared Anora’s feelings, too – and those of that thrice-damned Orlesian harpy eager to supplant her.

A movement in the courtyard below caught Loghain’s eye. It was the wind, brushing against the limp body swinging by the neck in the courtyard, purpled and starting to swell from exposure. The sight calmed him. When he had led his troops onto the dock to find only the wizened Arl of Denerim waiting for him, in the depth of his anger he knew he had been betrayed, because how else would Cailan have known to flee? The purge of his ranks had been swift, the punishment meted out to the conspirators harsh but necessary.

The wind tugged again, and the dead soldier twisted on the end of his rope, so that the empty face turned upwards to the king’s window, staring at Loghain from dark eye sockets, tongue blue and bloated where it poked between his teeth.

Yes. A necessary sacrifice. A traitor. It was always I who made the harsh decisions to ensure victory. Maric, at least, understood that.

Loghain turned his attention back to the ships. The question before him was what to do now. Summer was swiftly on the march, and with it, the long, hot days traditionally given over to campaigning; the forces currently held at bay by freak snowstorms and boggy roads would soon be on the move, and without a clear advantage of numbers, open warfare would be risky.

And then there was the Cousland girl, this ‘Falcon of Highever’ as she styled herself. He should have known better than to trust Howe to take care of the teyrn and his family. The man’s avarice was outstripped only by his hubris, and the combination had allowed the chit to escape and raise a war across the North. Twice now he had read reports of her victories, and just last week a snivelling message from Howe saying his forces had been driven back by raids from ambush soldiers wearing the blazon of the Laurels. She had the makings of a formidable opponent – in some ways, one more dangerous to his plans than Cailan. Her style was reckless, her limited experience compensated for by the spur of revenge, the same knowledge of righteousness against cruelty that had pressed all the old guard to victory during the Occupation. Loghain knew that feeling well; he might have admired her in different circumstances.

Yes, it had been a mistake to let Howe have the Couslands. Bryce had been an honourable man, a fellow warrior, and a veteran of the Rebellion, always a level head in the Landsmeet unlikely to fall for rhetoric. In truth, he was one of the few who could be called noble without any sense of irony, but the loyalty commanded in Highever had made it necessary to remove him from the field before Cailan’s quarrel led to open war. If there had been time, he would have tried harder to persuade the teyrn to part ways with the king, even knowing it would never have worked. The Couslands were too loyal, too traditional, and proud to a fault. Loghain’s lip curled in a faint sneer at this thought, wondering if Bryce would have been so quick to dismiss this new threat from Orlais if it had been his daughter set up as the laughingstock of Ferelden.

And now she’s running loose, garnering sympathy and likely making eyes at that fool boy, looking to usurp my daughter’s place as Queen.

Behind him on the other side of the king’s desk, the members of his senior staff shifted nervously as his mumblings took on the timbre of a growl. He had always been a strict commander, demanding the best from those who served him, and their loyalty was rewarded in kind – as was disloyalty. The stresses of the past few weeks seemed to finally be catching up to the old general, however. He suffered from headaches, and this in turn made him more taciturn, less predictable, and catching his ire these days was dangerous. More than one mind veered to the body slowly turning in the courtyard. Loyalty held sway, but their respect was now edged by a creeping sense of dread.

Only the tall young woman stood at the centre of the knot of advisors seemed eager to draw Loghain’s attention rather than deflect it. Ser Cauthrien stood polished in full armour, clunky layers of plate and mail that were not quite padded enough to hide her narrow frame, her hands held stiff at her sides, a rapt expression on her thin face. Her shoulders ached from the strain of keeping her spine straight, her feet were numb, and a wisp of mud-dark hair fell into her eyes, but she made no move to brush it away. Since losing King Cailan, the worsening news about the rebellions in the north and west meant the way forward was now unclear, and there was much to consider before deciding on the best course. Would it be more reassuring to have a commander who made snap decisions without thinking through every eventuality caused by his actions? She felt a spike of contempt for those who shrank away from her master. After all, he had brought them all safe across the winter sea, caused the king himself to flee in fear, and now stood in Denerim’s palace, having won the city with minimal losses. She could not judge his actions executing the supposed traitor. The decision had been swift, for sure, and shocking to all those who had witnessed the man’s final pleas as he stood on the scaffold, but Loghain’s face had been grim as he passed the sentence, and in all her years of service, Cauthrien had never known him to be unnecessarily cruel. And what other reason could there be for the king’s conveniently-timed escape?

She licked chapped lips and waited.

“We cannot allow ourselves to grow careless,” Loghain said eventually. He still faced the window, and it was unclear whether or not he was speaking to the other people in the room.

“The weather is already improving,” Cauthrien offered. “We can be on the road in two days, if you wish it.”

He turned, his thick brows drawn down over his eyes in a dark scowl. “My wish is to see the people of Ferelden free of those who enslaved us for a century, and of those who would hand this country back to Orlais like a trussed boar on a platter.”

He stroked his thumb over the green jewelled pendant as he spoke, distracted. She tried to suppress the tiny shiver that trailed up her spine when his eyes locked on hers – it was the weight of expectation she saw in them, that was all.

“What is your command, You Lordship?” she asked.

“Everything I have done has been to secure Ferelden’s independence, and I will not see my efforts go to waste because of Cailan’s vanity and his foolish refusal to listen to reason. Rendon Howe’s ineptitude has cost us support, and I do not trust his loyalty to our cause. He will be dealt with, but not while his actions provide a distraction for our enemy.” He sighed, the corners of his mouth pulling down in a grimace. “So now I look to you, Ser Cauthrien. The nobility must be brought into line so that we may stand united against the Orlesian threat.”

“I will see it done, Your Lordship,” she answered.

Loghain nodded. “Our scouts report that the king’s army suffered heavy losses at West Roth, and because of that were unable to press north and retake Highever. Instead, they have retreated. If his commanders have any sense, they’ll go to Redcliffe to try and rebuild their forces in safety, but Cailan himself is reckless. His designs on Empress Celene are proof enough of that. Now is the time to strike.”

A ripple of anticipation wove through the officers behind Cauthrien.

“You will lead our forces south, and cut him off from his sanctuary at Redcliffe with whatever force you deem necessary,” Loghain continued. “Defeat his army, kill this upstart scion of Highever.”

“And the king himself?”

“Bring him back alive, if you can. I am not yet such a villain to want him dead, and I would spare my daughter more pain.”

“I understand, your lordship.” She bowed and turned to leave, but his voice called her back.

“You have come a long way, Cauthrien, and I trust your judgement in the field.” His eyes met hers again, pale and uncanny in the backlight from the window as he reached forward and offered her a packet sealed with the embossed image of the Drake in black wax. “Do not disappoint me.”

She nodded again and swallowed back the dread that chilled her bones as she took her orders. It wasn’t fear of him that made her pause – it wasn’t – it was fear of failure. If not for his generosity, she would be nothing more than another browbeaten farmwife with a clutch of bawling infants at her hip and no chance to better herself, to make a name based on her merit as a warrior. The other captains parted for her, scuttling back out of reach with envious looks.

When the door slammed closed, they shuffled forward, passing glances between each other, as if seeing who would dare to break the silence first. Loghain had turned back to the window.

“Well?” he demanded, when the silence stretched. “What have you to say – or are you all content to stand about like partlets waiting for wheat to rain from the sky?”

“Your Lordship,” said one, the oldest and most confident of the four. “I have reports here on the garrison, and on your proposal to –”

“Leave it here,” Loghain snapped. “I will read it later.”

“Yes, Your Lordship.”

“There was one matter that requires discussion,” interrupted another, who bore the rank insignia of a guard-captain. “It’s an issue of some delicacy.” He paused, trying to frame his words. “It has been wondered by some what your intentions are regarding the… the queen.”

Loghain turned at that, his eyes softening for a moment. “Anora is safe in Gwaren, where she will stay,” he said. “Did you think I would risk her in this venture?”

“Uh, no, Your Lordship,” the young man replied. “But the concern among some of the men is more that she…”

“Spit it out.”

The officer gulped. “There is nobody to watch over her in Gwaren, save her women. The worry is she may do something rash, may warn the king about –”

“You dare suggest my own daughter would betray me?”

“W-well, I…”

“Anora is loyal to me!” Loghain thundered, his lips peeling back from his teeth. “I would sooner trust her than any of you. Is that clear? If I so much as hear a whisper about this matter after today, the consequences for the one uttering them will be severe.”

The captains looked at each other, quailed, and mumbled their assent. A knock on the door disturbed the fraught atmosphere of the study, drawing Loghain’s scowl away from the faces of his officers.

“Come!”

“Good day, Your Lordship,” the messenger said as she poked her head around the door. “You told me to inform you when that magister arrived. He’s waiting out in the corridor, Ser. There’s another one with ‘im. Name of Erimond.”

“Very good,” Loghain replied. “The rest of you are dismissed. Send him in,” he added to the messenger, who nodded and retreated to carry out her duty. He glanced at the garrison report left on the very edge of his desk, but did not reach for it. Instead, he waited for the magisters. The chaos in Highever had forced his hand. Doing business with the Imperium was something Maric had always baulked at – a price costed too high, he said – but then Maric had never faced a threat quite like this one, and to lose his advantage now would be to lose the whole of Ferelden to its oldest enemy.

He would not let that happen.

[onetoomanysteps]

TWST Boys and MBTI HCs Part 1: Heartslabyul

Hey there! First time trying writing this headcanon stuff series. Differing opinions and discussions are welcome since this is only a HC (nice words though, I don’t condone senseless bashing here), and if there is someone already posted MBTI, just think of this as my hot take on the stuff.

While MBTI’s reliability is debatable when used in real world context, I find it a really interesting and neat way to navigate character traits and personalities in fiction. Thus, while I procrastinate on WIP fics and undergrad thesis try to flex my writing muscles, this immediately came to my mind. And here we are.

No need for permission and disclaimer to use this HC in your fan works whatsoever. However, if you happened to enjoy this do consider to leave a trace behind :3

In this HC series, I’m going to use the Introduction, Strength, And Weakness section of the personality overview for the sake of brevity and not use a few points that I deemed inapplicable (and even then I think it’s already quite long).

Mostly canon-compliant, aside from some of my personal interpretations here and there (expect personal story and main story references up to chapter 3).

For those interested in an overview of MBTI, check this link: https://www.16personalities.com/articles/our-theory. You can also check each personality type overview on the same website if you’re curious.

Since this is going to be quite long, if you’re interested, click below:

Riddle Rosehearts-ENTJ (Commander)

Out of all Heartslabyul boys, this one gave me quite some difficulty hence the long introductory part . First, regarding the Extrovert vs. Introvert debate, while on the surface Riddle is not as flashy or outgoing as the traditional portrayal of Extrovert, I think that his goal to direct Heartslabyul and all of its residents to achieve his ideal level of excellence shows enough of his outward-focused thinking.

Second, it also took me a while since his rule-abiding trait is also prevalent in a number of Sentinels personality type group. However, he also shows a lot of curiosity and very eager to learn new things just for the sake of understanding how the world works, a trait especially prevalent in Analyst personality type group in which ENTJ is a part of.

Strengths

Efficient – Unless explicitly demanded by the rules, his first concern is how to make things work, with little to no care about any kind of flairs that have no correlation on efficiency.

Energetic – Always puts 100% energy into his works, be it individual or group activities. Cue the other more relaxed people struggling to follow...

Self-Confident – Deliberately not checking on his test results because he already knew that it would be perfect score? That’s some level of confidence he has over there. Also, consider his SR Robe story where his confidence in his own skills immediately convinced Sebek to register into horse riding club despite his initial dismay because of Silver’s presence in the club.

Strong-Willed – Disagreed with how the previous dorm head managed the dorm? Duel him and take charge of the dorm just after your first week in school, of course. Really, the iron will this boy has is no joke...

Strategic Thinker – Less apparent than say, Azul, but I do believe he does have this trait. One of the most apparent example of this trait is the way he tackles his studies. Not only he makes notes from class lecture, he also thinks ahead and prepare material from outside sources that no one else bothered to look up for such as the latest scientific journal articles (Riddle school uniform R).

Charismatic and Inspiring –  When he let himself forget about those pesky rules, he actually has this... thing that kinda spurs people to become the best version of themselves; an inspiration, I daresay. This is especially apparent in his interactions with individual members of Dumbass Squad so far, that either portrayed him as an overall competent and admirable senpai that you can look up to (Jack robe SR, Deuce dorm SSR).

Weaknesses

Stubborn and Dominant – Goes hand-in-hand with his general strongheaded character. One interesting example of this trait is his conversation with Azul in prologue’s first rythmic game, in which he outright demanded Azul to follow his lead and adjust to his pace in capturing Grim. Very telling since technically Azul is supposedly someone with the same standing as a fellow dorm head that you can’t just order around...

Intolerant – Has an extremely poor tolerance for error in other people. Self-explanatory, really, goes hand-in-hand with rule-abiding tendencies.

Impatient – When the underclassmen didn’t bring the tarts for Unbirthday Party fast enough, he was already so close to exploding, only managed to narrowly avoiding it thanks to Trey’s intervention (Trey dorm SSR).

Arrogant – Nurtured to the extreme by his own mother to believe in the innate superiority of people with high magical power. He ended up adopting the ‘might equals right’ mindset to the extreme, believing that he had proven himself as the most competent person in Heartslabyul on the basis of his. Remember that time in chapter 1 when took a jab at Ace and Deuce’s presumed less-than-ideal parentage and basically went ‘lower magical power = no rights for you’...

Poor Handling of Emotions – Guy overblotted because he couldn’t identify his neglected emotional need of companionship, and subconsciously tried to cope by enforcing his ideals towards others...

Cold and Ruthless –  The number of people he had ‘beheaded’ for the slightest rule violations speaks for themselves for this behavior, honestly...

Trey Clover-ESFJ (Consul)

An expected result for Heartslabyul’s resident Team Mom. An S-ranking team player that everyone relies on, I think that it’s kind of no-brainer to put him in this category. While the prevalence of his people skill is usually a specialty of Diplomat personality type group, his inclination to value stability above all else puts him firmly in this Sentinel personality type.

Strengths

Strong Practical Skills – Day-to-day dorm management, cooking, dealing with students’ concerns and worries, just all around being a dependable senpai... this guy’s got you covered. We can certainly thank Riddle’s demon temper and borderline impossible standard leadership and his kouhai’s stupidity cluelessness for letting us see this trait appear from time to time...

Strong Sense of Duty – “Knight of the Rose” is no joke indeed: in spite of all the sh*t he has to deal with on daily basis, we seldom hear him to voice even a word of complaint , be it in serious or joking context (for good comparison check on how Cater handles it). A true ‘grit your teeth and bear with it’ guy.

Very Loyal – While this is self-explanatory when it comes to Cater as his fellow long-time suffering underling, he arguably also shows this to Riddle (or maybe more accurate to say, to the ‘Riddle’ of his past memories)... while he low key took a jab at Riddle’s temper in his lab coat SR story, he never really plots something against him, for better or worse unlike that certain snake vice dorm head.  

Sensitive and Warm – As everyone’s fave senpai this is a given. This particular trait of his really is a refuge for Heartslabyul students from their demon strict dorm head...

Good at Connecting with Others – Connected to above point. Really good at empathizing with most people’s pain, making him indispensable as buffer to Riddle’s crippling weakness in this aspect.

Weaknesses

Worried about Their Social Status – Arguably, this is one of the main reasons why he never bothered to do anything in regards to mama Rosehearts’ helicopter parenting that caused Riddle so much suffering. Like it or not, she is an influential citizen in his homeland, and maybe after witnessing her unleashed rage at his family, he was not very keen on trying anything risky...

Inflexible – Very, very reluctant to oppose Riddle in chapter 1, despite the clear evidence that his non-action did more harm than good. he tried to convince himself and others that any kind of resistance would be futile.

Reluctant to Innovate or Improvise – While he’s indispensable for the task of keeping day-to-day operation proceeding smoothly, he also has the tendency to keep doing things the same way, for a very long time. This is apparent in his dorm SSR story, where he was not really welcoming to the underclassmen’s suggestion to change their Unbirthday Party’s cake type.

Vulnerable to Criticism – A bit of a hot take, I HC that after mama Rosehearts chewed him and his family out for feeding poor Riddle strawberry tart, he developed a different take from Che’nya on what should he do as Riddle’s friend, and both of them failed to reconcile their views. The prospect of criticism was appalling enough to him that when Dumbass Squad brought up about Che’nya in chapter 1 he got his rare sour face...

Too Selfless – As pictured above in his own robe SR personal story, he tends to take on so many responsibilities from other people and ended up forgetting his own physical and psychological limits. Another prominent example of this trait is his behavior in Riddle’s lab coat SR, in which he was downplaying his light cold and ended up bedridden because he refused to delegate his responsibilities to take more rest.

Cater Diamond-ESFP (Entertainer)

For me, this one needed quite a bit of contemplating, for two reasons: 1) I’m personally not really focused on him; 2) There’s so little info on him (perhaps this is a sign for something big, perhaps not, only time can tell). Like Trey, I initially also wanted to categorize Cater into a personality type in Diplomat group due to his prominent people skill. However, after reading more into the personalities in Explorer group, I found out that he lacks the usual idealism that embodies personality types from that particular group.

Strengths

Bold – Rarely holds back when it comes to experiencing pleasures of life when the opportunity presents itself. Just look at Idia’s uniform R personal story, in which he decided on a whim to whisk off to Kalim’s banquet without so much of a thought, and even forcibly brought a very reluctant Idia along because it would be more fun that way.

Aesthetics and Showmanship – This is very clear from his day-to-day mannerism, that tends to give off the ‘bubbly and trendy’ feel: his default cheerful and open gestures and words, his everyday up-to-date fashion items, you name it. Flat is most probably one of the furthest thing you would associate with this SNS-loving guy.

Practical – So far, he seems like the type of guy that doesn’t really adhere to a big, overarching ideology that underlies his every actions; he is, after all, the best when doing whatever suits his convenience at that exact moment as demonstrated in his own dorm SSR personal story. A good way to understand this trait of his is to compare him to the more idealistic characters like Riddle, that will most certainly hold onto his personal convictions even when it’s not beneficial.

Observant – Really sharp when it comes to identifying what people really want from him and then acts accordingly, as noticed by Trey multiple times (chapter 1, Cater dorm SSR).

Excellent People Skills – Plays the role of resident social butterfly really well... not much to explain here, really...

Weaknesses

Sensitive – Despite his best efforts to gives off the impression that nothing can really hurt his feeling, both his robe and lab coat SR showed us that he does feel things, and they greatly affect his psychological state (sad mandrake, I’m looking at you).

Conflict-Averse – Desperately tried to persuade Dumbass Squad to not butt heads with Riddle in chapter 1. Also has the tendency to bury his negative feelings behind his smiles and cheery attitude.

Easily Bored – Hops in and out of trends constantly, not much to explain here really... he vibes really well with trend-based Magicam for a reason after all...

Poor Long-Term Planners – Admitted to Riddle and Trey that while he is an excellent multi-tasker, he severely lacks the ability to plan and strategize for long-term goal (Riddle dorm SSR).

Unfocused – Strongly related to above point, he also has a considerable difficulty to tackle subjects that need long-term, regimented effort to master such as Practical Magic (Riddle dorm SSR).

Ace Trappola-ENTP (Debater)

Arguably the first non-Ramshackle member of Dumbass Squad, this boy, indeed, lives and breathes the phrase “Bold and Brash” in his every single endeavors in life. Unlike the other boys in this post, deciding on which personality type most suited for him was so damn easy that I felt a bit insulted (heck, even easier than Trey): his cheekiness and motor mouth were quite were like highlights that pointed out to this personality type’s direction. And, ho boy, the second I read ENTP’s overview, I instantly knew that I already hit the mark this time...

Strengths

Knowledgeable – Not of the useful, practical kind of knowledge, but he does have a fondness to learn various amusing little tricks for the fun of it and for bragging material.

Quick Thinker – This boy seriously has a talent to bullshit his way out of trouble in the last second... This trait is basically the entire plot of his SSR dorm story, in which he showcased his ability to use half-lies and misdirection to avoid disadvantaging himself in unforeseeable situations...

Original – This trait is basically his whole stand off with Riddle in chapter 1. Not only using his own very personal opinion, he also linked it to other Heartslabyul students’ various expressions of discontent and made the initially generic and powerless words into a very distinct, powerful argument that basically screamed ‘you and your rules suck’ to Riddle. Add in a very ingenious touch of physical punch to the face that nobody else dared to try, which made the message even more powerful.

Excellent Brainstormer – Considering his extraordinary bullshitting skill, he must be quite sharp in this department... Also, there’s also the fact that the subject that he performs best at is Magic Analysis...

Charismatic – Only shown subtly so far, but combined with his bullshitting skill he does show a knack to influence people’s opinion from time to time. One example is shown when he influenced Heartslabyul students to demand Trey to make different cakes for their Unbirthday Party (Trey dorm SSR).

Energetic – A given trait when you’re a member of the Dumbass Squad, with how much shenanigans that you’re going to face...

Weaknesses

Very Argumentative – Has the tendency to pick a fight with people, arguably just for kicks. One of the example of this trait is his admission of having the thrill out of the possibility getting your neck ‘cut’ constantly as one of the reason that he finds the thought of changing dorm is unthinkable (Ace dorm SSR voice line).

Insensitive – Lacks the ability to read the atmosphere, or possibly just straight out ignoring it. Cue frequent troubles with Deuce and Riddle...

Intolerant – Has shown quite a bit of pre-concieved prejudices to something he’s not familiar with. Combined with his lack of delicacy, this could turn nasty very fast, just look back at his first meeting with magicless MC and monster Grim...

Can Find It Difficult to Focus – This trait is the main culprit for his bad affinity with traditional text-based learning methods and subjects that make use of said methods, such as Magic History.

Dislike Practical Matters – His general dismay to even try memorizing and implementing written, word-by-word rules that Riddle force feeds to Heartslabyul people everyday is rooted on how boring they are. He fully understands why rules are important, but chooses not to obey it because the prospect of just obeying is not very thrilling to him...

Deuce Spade-ISFJ (Defender)

And, last but not least, here comes our egg boy! This Dumbass #2 of Heartslabyul is one of the more difficult one to assign, and my decision to put him in this personality type didn’t really come that easy. While reading through Defender’s personality overview, at first I thought that “Whoa, maybe this one is too soft for this ex-yankee...” and I had intended to put him into something from the Explorer group due to his dumbass shenanigans general spontaneity, but hey, actually, this boy is soft.

When I factor in the fact that NRC is basically a school that consists of talented but egoistical problem kids, this boy quite distinguishes himself with his fierce loyalty to his loved ones and the general earnest vibe that he exudes, that really vibe with this personality type. Also, something about Introvert vs. Extrovert debate, I HC Deuce as more of an introvert because, while outwardly he is no less rowdy than Ace being a pair of dumbasses that they are, he is way more inward-focused in his way of thinking, focusing on his few beloved ones instead of the larger populace.  

Strengths

Supportive – A great deal more honest and sincere than Ace in his approach of friendship, think of him as that openly supportive friend that doesn’t hide how he values his friends and always tries his best to support them in any way he can.

Reliable and Patient – In line with point above, he’s that type of friend that you can safely depend on, the type that would always be there when you need him.

Imaginative and Observant – Despite appearances, Deuce is actually quite adept at empathy (especially when compared to his fellow Heartslabyul dumbass Ace), being able to sympathize with people’s feeling. One of the best example of this is Deuce’s response to Azul’s insecurity in chapter 3, in which Deuce pretended that he never saw the childhood photo that Azul was so adamant on hiding because of his inferiority issues.

Enthusiastic – He’s really passionate about the things that he has set on to do; you can practically feel it in most of his dialogue lines...

Loyal and Hard-Working – He’s willing to bend back-and-forth for the sake of his loved ones. Hell, the main reason that he tries his hardest to become a great magician in the future is so that he can make his mother happy...

Good Practical Skills – This is moving more to the headcanon side, but I think as an only child that lives only with his mother he ended up developing this trait, whether he likes it or not...

Weaknesses

Humble and Shy – Might be the influence of his yankee past, he’s rather low key when it comes to his personal achievements. Compare that to Ace’s constant bragging...

Take Things Too Personally – Self-explanatory, when you look at his hands-on approach on things... one of the example of this trait is his robe SR story (pictured above), in which he was about to physically fight a student that underplayed his achievement as a first year.

Overload Themselves – ‘Chill’ is not really the word that could be attributed to this boy, he takes everything he does too seriously. Although right now the effects are not really apparent, but it does make me wonder whether this will pose a problem later on...

Reluctant to Change – Very visible when compared side-by-side to the more mercurial fellow dumbass Ace, overall Deuce has more respect to the existing order in his environment, and he also shows more respect towards authority figures. I HC that this trait is what makes him tried to restrain Ace from punching Riddle in their chapter 1 showdown.

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Uribe customized the suit Floral I try to be good but I take after my grandma shirt . to Freedia’s size and exaggerated the silhouette to make it a bit campier. he said, making the shoulders slightly boxier, and he carefully planned out the embellishments for maximum effect. “We added the bottlecaps in a very symmetrical but also over-the-top embellishment, so it creates these large concentric circles over her shoulders, breast, and butt, basically. She’s going to be doing some dancing so I wanted her motions to look a little more exaggerated because of the print of the suit.”Gypsy Sport designs always incorporate upcycled materials, whether they be soda pop tabs or safety pins, and this Met Gala creation is no different—it’s 90 percent sustainable, according to the designer.

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Aside from the lining and shoulder pads, the rest is upcycled, including nearly 1,000 bottlecaps pinned onto the suit, of course, which Uribe sourced from one of his interns who also works at a restaurant Floral I try to be good but I take after my grandma shirt . “We have everything from Coca-Cola to Budweiser caps on there, so we painted them white,” he said. “We didn’t want to advertise other brands.”It’s been a whirlwind two weeks for Uribe—he and his team made the tuxedo over the course of a few days flat—but it will be worth all of the hard work once he sees Freedia hit the red carpet in his sustainable design. “Being able to sell stuff at the gift shop and being able to dress someone for the red carpet, someone who’s queer and amazing like Big Freedia, now I feel like I’m two feet in the door at the Met Gala,” Uribe said. “Next year I’ll be all the way in.”As one of three co-chairs for the Met Gala this year, Harry Styles was tasked with bringing his fashion A-game on the red carpet—and tonight the singer certainly did not disappoint. Dressing for the camp theme, he wore a design by Gucci’s Alessandro Michele, a designer who has dressed Styles in his fabulously flamboyant suits many times before. Styles walked the pink carpet with the designer, and took the evening as an opportunity to jam-pack three risky menswear trends into one ensemble. (Gucci, after all, loves to push boundaries.)Styles wore a sheer top—which showed off his tattoos underneath (hot)!—that had a big bow tied at the chest. It was all about freeing the nipple. The frilly, lacy men’s top has also been having a huge moment as of late, and Styles proved the trend isn’t going anywhere yet. He paired the piece with classic black trousers, and when it came to footwear, he experimented yet again, slipping on a chunky pair of men’s heels—a style he’s dared to wear before. Finishing touches like a pearl earring—call him “the boy with the pearl earring”—and a fistful of silver rings proved he wasn’t afraid of approaching the night’s maximalist aesthetic with total style. You Can See More Product: https://kingteeshops.com/product-category/trending/

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Three ideas to create a high-converting product page

Tough competition on the ecommerce market makes retailers continuously search for new ideas to improve web stores’ UX. Optimizing the product page is one of the key areas in this quest for enhancements.

We reviewed the best practices of ecommerce leaders and success stories of smaller merchants, and came up with three hacks that make any product page convert more visitors into customers.

1. Optimize product descriptions

A good product description is a top factor influencing customers’ desire to purchase. The problem is customers want to get answers to their questions, but they don’t want to read a lot. Average web-surfers give a web page no more than 15 seconds to capture their attention. If a product description fails to meet this deadline, it fails to convert.

Customers think about different aspects of a product: Some are interested in materials, some are more concerned about durability. To make a product page convert well, you have to strike a balance between being informative and brief. Here are the best practices in product description derived from the success of market leaders:

Start with a unique value proposition: A brief product description that welcomes a potential shopper must clearly explain what is so special about this item. A selling product page doesn’t speak about features, it shows what particular benefits customers get when they buy the item.

Avoid visual overload: Structure key information using headers and collapsible sections to save space on the page. This makes product pages more transparent and interactive, as well as minimizes the time required to get the key ideas.

The screenshot below shows how Oliver implements these principles on their product pages. They hide the detailed information about product features, materials and delivery options in expandable sections.

Mulberry went a step further and combined tabs for Description, Details, Material, and Size Charts with pop-ups for Delivery and Returns. The result? All types of customers get excessive information about the product without reloads and scrolling.

The case of The Sims 3 manufacturers also proved that clarity and order drive conversion. They tested six versions of the “game launcher,” all of which had particular benefits, simpler design, and lesser information. As a result, conversion increased up to 128%.

2. Give people more images to describe items

Human beings are very good at processing visual information, much better than at reading. This means pictures and colors on product pages create the first impression of items and thus are even more important than descriptions.

Size matters: A product image is the only way for a customer to feel the product. So make sure that shoppers can zoom in to examine the product in detail (its fabric and tiny parts). These are not just words. Larger images helped Skinner Auctions by 63%. Skinner Auctions scaled their catalog images from 250 pixels to 350 pixels. And what’s even better? The amount of bidding visitors who actually filled out all the online forms required to place a bid rose to a huge 329%.

Angles matter as well: Surprisingly, it is a common mistake to show the product only facing forward. Customers want to see the interior pockets of a purse, the back of a dress, and the outsole of a shoe. A well-selling page features the product from different angles or even provides a video showing how it looks in motion. Look at ASOS, they allow you both to inspect the skirt’s texture and buttons and to watch a short video clip.

Customers want to try on items: Online shoppers are concerned about how items will suit real them rather than professional models. Many successful web stores show their products on people with different body shapes. This helps customers imagine themselves with items and make purchase decisions easier and faster.

We believe people more than models: Amazon and ModCloth ask their customers to share personal photos in the product reviews. Such a gallery is included in the product description to show customers how items look in everyday life and make the product page more trustworthy.

3. Dialog with customers

Do online retailers have fewer opportunities to talk to their customers than brick-and-mortar do? Not really. Though communication between web stores and shoppers doesn’t happen face to face, merchants can still say everything customers want to hear and ask for everything they need to know.

Add an FAQ and tips to the description to clarify any doubts. An FAQ has several benefits as it:

Answers the questions of the customers that are already on the page.

Attracts new visitors to product pages from the browser’s search results.

Helps keep product descriptions short.

Apart from a full-fledged FAQ, you can try short tips as RollerSkateNation.com did. Their sincere advice was not oriented on increasing sales directly. In fact, it showed customers how to replace roller states for kids less frequently by buying larger items and wearing double socks. Customers felt taken care of and increased purchases by 69%.

The position of the tips and the FAQ section is also important. In the above case study, RollerSkateNation managed to further boost revenue by 99% by placing their hint below the product description. Customers had enough time to process key details and then got really useful advice as a surprise.

Use reviews to build trust. When it comes to making a purchase decision, reviews are almost as important as product descriptions and prices. Most shoppers look for reviews and, at best, they can read credible feedback right on the product page. This way customers don’t have to leave the web store and are less likely to choose another vendor. The case study of Express Watches proves that a well-designed Reviews section can increase conversion by 59%.What does this “well-designed” mean? The product page should let shoppers sort and rate reviews, add images and stars. To show even more credibility, you can pick some reviews and put them forward as testimonials.

And for sure be careful with negative reviews. Try to express your professionalism and care. In fact, a well-processed negative review can be even more convincing than a dozen positive ones.

Ask customers how to improve conversion. Small details, like words and button colors, influence the success of product pages. Though A/B tests make attempts to polish the web store less risky, don’t be shy to ask customers directly about their impression. For example, Amazon introduced a new feedback feature that shows how shoppers rate the size of the item.

By the way, this is a great CX feature per se that allows customers to quickly understand which size to take without exploring the size guide. But now pay extra attention to their poll about the utility of the feature. Why not ask customers if you can do it?

What’s next?

However good best practices are, they work well nine times out of ten. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that your case isn’t the tenth one. Trust seals normally improve conversion as they make the website look trustworthy. But Icouponblog managed to increase their conversion by 400% by removing a security badge. What does this mean for you? The theory is worth reading, but real results appear only after you test and try. Devote enough time to validate your ideas, and you will definitely find the way to a high-converting product page.

Maria Marinina is a Digital Marketing Manager at Iflexion.

The post Three ideas to create a high-converting product page appeared first on Search Engine Watch.

source https://searchenginewatch.com/2019/04/24/3-ideas-to-create-a-high-converting-product-page/ from Rising Phoenix SEO http://risingphoenixseo.blogspot.com/2019/04/three-ideas-to-create-high-converting.html

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Uribe customized the suit to Freedia’s size and exaggerated the silhouette to make it a bit campier Damn I make 54 look good shirt . he said, making the shoulders slightly boxier, and he carefully planned out the embellishments for maximum effect. “We added the bottlecaps in a very symmetrical but also over-the-top embellishment, so it creates these large concentric circles over her shoulders, breast, and butt, basically. She’s going to be doing some dancing so I wanted her motions to look a little more exaggerated because of the print of the suit.”Gypsy Sport designs always incorporate upcycled materials, whether they be soda pop tabs or safety pins, and this Met Gala creation is no different—it’s 90 percent sustainable, according to the designer.

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Aside from the lining and shoulder pads, the rest is upcycled, including nearly 1,000 bottlecaps pinned onto the suit, of course, which Uribe sourced from one of his interns who also works at a restaurant Damn I make 54 look good shirt . “We have everything from Coca-Cola to Budweiser caps on there, so we painted them white,” he said. “We didn’t want to advertise other brands.”It’s been a whirlwind two weeks for Uribe—he and his team made the tuxedo over the course of a few days flat—but it will be worth all of the hard work once he sees Freedia hit the red carpet in his sustainable design. “Being able to sell stuff at the gift shop and being able to dress someone for the red carpet, someone who’s queer and amazing like Big Freedia, now I feel like I’m two feet in the door at the Met Gala,” Uribe said. “Next year I’ll be all the way in.”As one of three co-chairs for the Met Gala this year, Harry Styles was tasked with bringing his fashion A-game on the red carpet—and tonight the singer certainly did not disappoint. Dressing for the camp theme, he wore a design by Gucci’s Alessandro Michele, a designer who has dressed Styles in his fabulously flamboyant suits many times before. Styles walked the pink carpet with the designer, and took the evening as an opportunity to jam-pack three risky menswear trends into one ensemble. (Gucci, after all, loves to push boundaries.)Styles wore a sheer top—which showed off his tattoos underneath (hot)!—that had a big bow tied at the chest. It was all about freeing the nipple. The frilly, lacy men’s top has also been having a huge moment as of late, and Styles proved the trend isn’t going anywhere yet. He paired the piece with classic black trousers, and when it came to footwear, he experimented yet again, slipping on a chunky pair of men’s heels—a style he’s dared to wear before. Finishing touches like a pearl earring—call him “the boy with the pearl earring”—and a fistful of silver rings proved he wasn’t afraid of approaching the night’s maximalist aesthetic with total style. You Can See More Product: https://kingteeshops.com/product-category/trending/

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Uribe customized the suit to Freedia’s size and exaggerated the silhouette to make it a bit campier Damn I make 54 look good shirt . he said, making the shoulders slightly boxier, and he carefully planned out the embellishments for maximum effect. “We added the bottlecaps in a very symmetrical but also over-the-top embellishment, so it creates these large concentric circles over her shoulders, breast, and butt, basically. She’s going to be doing some dancing so I wanted her motions to look a little more exaggerated because of the print of the suit.”Gypsy Sport designs always incorporate upcycled materials, whether they be soda pop tabs or safety pins, and this Met Gala creation is no different—it’s 90 percent sustainable, according to the designer.

Damn I make 54 look good shirt, hoodie, sweater, longsleeve and ladies t-shirt

Damn I make 54 look good Classic Ladies

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Damn I make 54 look good LongSleeve

Damn I make 54 look good Sweatshirt

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Aside from the lining and shoulder pads, the rest is upcycled, including nearly 1,000 bottlecaps pinned onto the suit, of course, which Uribe sourced from one of his interns who also works at a restaurant Damn I make 54 look good shirt . “We have everything from Coca-Cola to Budweiser caps on there, so we painted them white,” he said. “We didn’t want to advertise other brands.”It’s been a whirlwind two weeks for Uribe—he and his team made the tuxedo over the course of a few days flat—but it will be worth all of the hard work once he sees Freedia hit the red carpet in his sustainable design. “Being able to sell stuff at the gift shop and being able to dress someone for the red carpet, someone who’s queer and amazing like Big Freedia, now I feel like I’m two feet in the door at the Met Gala,” Uribe said. “Next year I’ll be all the way in.”As one of three co-chairs for the Met Gala this year, Harry Styles was tasked with bringing his fashion A-game on the red carpet—and tonight the singer certainly did not disappoint. Dressing for the camp theme, he wore a design by Gucci’s Alessandro Michele, a designer who has dressed Styles in his fabulously flamboyant suits many times before. Styles walked the pink carpet with the designer, and took the evening as an opportunity to jam-pack three risky menswear trends into one ensemble. (Gucci, after all, loves to push boundaries.)Styles wore a sheer top—which showed off his tattoos underneath (hot)!—that had a big bow tied at the chest. It was all about freeing the nipple. The frilly, lacy men’s top has also been having a huge moment as of late, and Styles proved the trend isn’t going anywhere yet. He paired the piece with classic black trousers, and when it came to footwear, he experimented yet again, slipping on a chunky pair of men’s heels—a style he’s dared to wear before. Finishing touches like a pearl earring—call him “the boy with the pearl earring”—and a fistful of silver rings proved he wasn’t afraid of approaching the night’s maximalist aesthetic with total style. You Can See More Product: https://kingteeshops.com/product-category/trending/