#( ;; the supernatural exists around him bc i say so. )

[corvuschronicles]

finally gonna make a post better explaining my real fake psychic shawn spencer au so this might be a long one bc in the past it was mostly rambles as i came up with ideas and trying to make them fit together

i am in the process of actually writing a fic for this and it’s looking like it may be the first part of a 3 part series, below the cut are a lot more details to give context to my au

okay! couple of important things for the overarching universe:

the supernatural exists! though the population is not as prominent as it once was, so the supernatural world learned to adapt and stay hidden, basically for every 20 claims of something supernatural only one is real, and obviously some cities have higher populations compared to others

because of the dwindling population of the supernatural and the growing population of the mundane, it is expected that both would intermingle, so it is actually a lot more common than you’d expect for people to have supernatural bloodlines, though it is often insignificant enough that it doesn’t matter. sometimes that is not the case. sometimes people are born into still active bloodlines so they grow up in that world and sometimes people never know that they even had supernatural blood, let alone that the supernatural exists. sometimes, even though someone’s bloodline may be dormant (and they are or are not aware of the supernatural) unforeseen circumstances can sort of jumpstart said bloodline

with or without knowing it, people with supernatural abilities or bloodlines tend to gravitate to each other

there are few rules that the supernatural community follows, the most important being to not expose themselves to the mundane

within the supernatural community there are different categories; creatures/those with creature blood (vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters), those with abilities (psychics, druids, witches), sentries (those tasked with keeping the supernatural hidden, and hunters (mundanes who became aware and choose to fight it)

explaining the name, real fake psychic:

when he first started working for the SBPD shawn faked being a psychic to avoid arrest

after season 4, shawn has an encounter with the supernatural that essentially gives him real psychic abilities

he keeps up his fake psychic charade because he can’t really say ‘hey guys i was faking it before but guess what? it’s real now!’

now i will go a little into some of the changes/headcanon/general facts of some characters in my au, starting with the main man

shawn:

he’s mexican! this is not central to the story really but it’s my headcanon so i will work it in because i can

somewhere down the line there is maybe some kind of long forgotten supernatural family member, meaning shawn has supernatural blood

the combination of his childhood and eidetic memory and genius is all him but it definitely gets a small push from his possible bloodline, especially in how he visualizes

after The Incident™️ shawn gets real psychic abilities, at first it’s vague and he doesn’t know what’s happening, but then things get too weird and even he can’t ignore it

true psychics are rare, a lot of people only have some aspects (like divination, clairaudience, etc) but of course, shawn ends up with more than the usual

his abilities, especially at the beginning and when they develop more, are rather painful because he is receiving so much more input now, leading to headaches at least

shawn getting real powers is the catalyst to those around him awakening as well, and now that he and the others are aware of the supernatural, it seems to be more present than they realized

gus:

he’s an amplifier

his ability is kind of a paradox, on its own it doesn’t do much because it is mostly dormant outside giving him the supersniffer, but once shawn awakens it causes a ripple effect, they are now in the supernatural world and as a result gus in turn awakens as well

he can amplify his and other’s abilities; this helps shawn because gus can help him focus on certain visions or to make sense of some things he sees, this makes shawn claim that his is now literally magic head

it is a paradox because without shawn’s powers gus’ wouldn’t have come through and gotten stronger, but he also helps shawn’s get stronger, it’s a loop

gus gets the dormant bloodline from both his parents

shawn is not the only one gus helps

juliet:

she is an empath

she is naturally an empathetic person but once she awakens it gives her more of an understanding that she never had before

juliet gets her bloodline from her mother’s side

once they all figure it out, juliet can also help shawn in a different way, as she can now feel the emotions coming through his visions

gus is able to help juliet develop her abilities more, and she develops a type of danger sense, which comes in handy in their job

her bloodline is weaker so she’s not the strongest empath, and her prolonged exposure to a shield made it harder for her abilities to develop as well

carlton

he is a nullifier

lassie’s ability is that he is essentially immune to the supernatural to a point, things like curses, jinxes, telepathy, etc do not work at all or barely affect him, most physical attacks would still work because he is still human (like poisons or tactile telepathy)

however, this also affects positive things such as blessings or good luck charms

his ability is like an aura around him, meaning that those close around him may be affected as well, such as o’hara who, as his partner, is often exposed and it put a hamper on her own abilities

shawn is also affected, but in a good way; the constant bombarding of psychic readings stop when he touches lassiter, and even just being around him can ease the headaches

this is eventual shassie

unlike the others, lassie is an anomaly, he has no actual supernatural bloodline, he is the first in his (recent) line

henry

he is a non-believing, non-aware, mundane person

he notices shawn acting stranger than usual, he also avoids coming to the house more than usual

he has his own Incident™️ in which he witnesses something that shows shawn is now telling the truth when he says he’s psychic

madeleine

is a whitexican; not exactly relevant other than the fact if goes with my mexican shawn headcanon

it is her side that had the supernatural bloodline

just like her son, if she were to awaken she would probably develop some minor abilities, most likely clairaudience

SBPD

for the most part, unaware of the supernatural

anyone born into or active in the supernatural community stays away from the police as they tend to live outside mundane laws and prefer to police their own

few key players in charge of or above the police may be aware or are a part of the community

the fact that a psychic and friends with abilities work for the police becomes controversial

chief vick is unaware but someone close to her is not

if anyone wants to add anything or simply ask questions or talk about feel free to do so! i love talking about real psychic shawn <3

[st7arlight]

meet the sims-blackwood family!! this is set post-200 in a new world where the fears are weaker and more hidden in the shadows, but quickly building strength as more avatars and artifacts are born. meet blaire and not-adam, two students in jon’s homeroom and english class!

worldbuilding and brainstorm notes under the cut :D

the student ocs i created here are

-a transfem student who straight up doesnt have a name. you can call her anything but her deadname. its a fun game the class plays. it started as a gag but jon went “yeah okay ive seen weirder and kids deserve a chance to explore” so he comes up with a different name every day during roll call. shes v chaotic and inspired (personality wise, not funky name lore) by an irl friend of mine

-the student she has a crush on and is best friends with, an AP art student who uses they/she pronouns

they both eat lunch in Jon’s classroom, where they eventually notice that he never really eats much? just. reads a book in his free time, maybe has cereal bars occasionally

they form really close bonds with jon and he sponsors their lgbt club,,,, the second student realizes she’s agender when hes explaining the ace spectrum,,,,,, they come across The Horrors that were released when jmart moved on to Somewhere Else and he saves them,,,,,,,,, after they start to understand that “something spooky is here bc of mr sims but he was a victim in it” they sneakily start categorizing what they call “The Horrors” into 9 groups and get into shenanigans. they save jon at some point

their romance follows the plot of jmart’s but jon notices student B treating student A like he did martin at the start of the year and intervenes

so theyre healthier

(maybe jmart adopt student b, as they’re in a rlly unsafe home environment and thats why they started lashing out at their buddy)

at the beginning of the year student A knows shes trans but isnt sure what name to use. her buddy suggests not-adam (as she isnt suuuper uncomfy with her deadname, just that its too masc for her) so they call her that for a good bit and it comes up occasionally until they learn about the fears and the joke kinda. sours.

jon called her anything but that. not-adam thought it was because he didnt want to deadname her (and she insisted she was cool with it and thought it was funny) but she said that he can use a name that isnt adam, just not to stick to one bc she didnt want to feel boxed in

so the joke of her being anything but adam began

!!! WHAT IF NOT ADAM HAS AN ENCOUNTER WITH A STRANGER OBJECT THAT MAKES EVERYONE UNABLE TO SEE OR REMEMBER HER??? AND (character B) IS THE ONLY ONE WHO REMEMBERS HER BUT STILL CANT SEE HER!!!! AND THIS IS HOW JON REVEALS HE KNOWS STUFF ABOUT THE SUPERNATURAL

student b breaks down only a couple days in when she realized something was deeply, truly wrong, earing lunch (seemingly) alone with jon in his classroom. she says something with “not-adam” and “nobody remembers her but me” and jon’s trauma plus eye powers helps break his illusion, even though he doesnt remember her still

WHAT IF THIS IS AROUND WHEN NOT ADAM IS STARTING TO SEE HIM AS A FATHER

he adopts her bc she still legally doesnt exist and her family doesnt remember her , and its not like jmart already have fake identities anyways. they break the curse but everyone but B and Jon are completely wiped of her memory, just can finally see her now. its a mush of stranger, spiral, and lonely bc the horrors work different here

…she eventually settles on a name because she desperately needs to be reminded that they know her, they remember her, and that they remember all of her. (jon doesnt remember *everything* still, but most. every now and then she or B references something and they pause when they realize it was another memory lost to The Horrors)

oh also jon wears combat boots bc of daisy now. unrelated but important

im realizing my plan of them adopting B is a little funky with them adopting not-adam. however, unconventional found family prevails in tma. B just stays at their house most of the time bc she is neglected a lot at home so it usually isnt noticed when she disappears. theyre both 16 so fighting for custody when they can move out so soon is deemed too much stress on the teens. not-adam’s family actually are v loving and great, they just. dont remember NA. they dont remember how to love her, that they ever did

(thats why B needed to remember her. also, the effect intended of the horror was to torture NA until she died unnoticed and she will either be remembered by everyone when her body is found or will rot unseen until shes gone. or become an avatar, if she chose to embrace it. B was an intended victim of the leitner, the fear of nobody believing you and losing someone you love feed the Horrors)

(jon and his funky eye powers are likely the only reason NA didnt die)

in the end A picks the name astrid, but jon still calls her any name he can think of that starts with A when calling her down for food n stuff

anyways jmart unofficially adopting queer teens bc found family is so themcore but i *know* the fates would never allow them to do anything conventionally or fully legal

(all of this copy-pasted from me infodumping in a tma chat in the past couple hours)

[wigglebox]

tho for real, while talking with folks today, i do believe that’s gabriel and not loki [going off of gabe’s story that loki gave him the disguise at some point] due to language he used. 

the interesting one was the use of ‘samesies’ as a friend said, which came about mostly, according to google, around 2007. which is also, interestingly, is the same year gabe’s/loki’s first episode aired lol. 

but also, i do believe wholeheartedly that it was in fact chuck and not just a rob benedict easter egg, particularly bc this interview with robbie dropped before the episode:

Samuel is a big mythology character to come into the series. What’s the mandate been about how many of these “known characters should be folded into the first season?

You know, our mandate — and that’s a great phrase for it — was: What’s the story? What’s the story we’re trying to tell with these characters? They can’t just be Easter eggs and fun for the fans. We never said “no” to any character. We never said, like, “Absolutely not!” But when we got into the nitty gritty of “if we do bring in that character, what’s the story? What are we saying about Supernatural? And are we breaking anything that we, therefore, have to buy? Any time that was the case, where it felt like there was no more story here, and therefore it was just an Easter egg fun thing, we moved on from it. It’s not like they’re Pokemon and we’ve got to collect all of them. We really wanted to find a way to tell our story, and then how those character could exist within ours. So that was really the mandate.

basically, they’re not throwing in OG SPN characters for shits and giggles, they’re there for a purpose. And they even did a tighter shot on Rob playing the piano, and he was wearing a party city wig, AND he was wearing white. 

you don’t casually throw in a rob benedict reference because for every new fan who won’t understand the significance or may pick up on the fact that it’s him, you have more of us OG SPN fans who would. And yeah, I know it was LS performing, but Rob didn’t say he was going to be there. No one was expecting it. I mean some of us were expecting for a while to see him pop up but there was no expectation that he would this episode. 

and i’m thinking about this TBT he posted a while ago, as chuck, in swan song, wearing white, with an in-universe prequel comic book poster framed behind him of john winchester. 

and another friend pointed out that there were quite a few lens flares during carlos’ singing scene. 

so yeah. 

that was chuck, that was gabe, and no i don’t think gabriel is stuck in a mirror. that’s just what he does to throw people off his trail. and if he is stuck in that mirror, obviously we know he doesn’t stay there. 

and now we obviously know that dean’s in their timeline too 

so — are they really in existence right now? are they in the empty? are they all sharing a mass hallucination? you have gabriel using modern language indicating time travel, you have dean and the car indicating time travel, and you have chuck who should not be having powers now if we are following the story linearly from OG SPN 

Damn I love this show I can’t wait for more. 

[catsconflictscopicsandchamomile]

@kimberleyjean ok, you asked for this, its cursed and I'm sorry.

So first off I'm NOT going to try to explain what Supernatural is. Its a garbage fire, and I am unfortunate enough to be one of the feral, touch-starved gays to live in said garbage fire. Its the best show ever but all of its accidental, its the worst show ever in terms of anything that was done on purpose, etc etc. You're on tumblr you know the drill

Anyway, before GOs2's "Final Fifteen", the ONLY connections between GO and SPN were:

A demon in spn is named Crowley, in an homage to GO Crowley. They are alike, but they are NOT the same character and I don't think it can be argued that they're the same person in different forms (bc with demons that would be possible). They are however both Scottish, greasy and have a deep disrespect for authority. I do HAVE a theory/hc connecting the two Crowleys but that's another post for another day. Weirdly, SPN!Crowley (who I'm going to call Fergus from here on out, bc even though nobody in spn or the fandom calls him that, it is his canonical first name) has very little to do with anything I'm about to say. Just fyi, he exists.

Secondly, The Hillywood show did a Supernatural parody back in 2014-ish. I will link it below if you're curious, but again not much in this video is ACTUALLY RELEVANT to what I'm about to say (however, Fergus is there. He's the Scottish guy)

However, the specific arcs of Supernatural that SURROUND the season/topic this parody is centered on (Mark of Cain arc, ~s9-10) are where the coincidences get weird, and ok now I do have to talk about Supernatural a bit.

mmmfffff. Okay so the Metatron is a greasy, annoying, manipulative, power-hungry bastard who lies every time he speaks, wants full rule over Heaven and will control anyone and wreck anything he can to get there....

...and I'm talking about the version of the Metatron from Supernatural. LONG tldr, Dean (buzz cut, older brother, guy who's in love with an angel, the guy who says the news headlines in the Destiel meme) takes this thing/curse/whole other mess called the "Mark of Cain" to kill this kinda super-powerful arch-demon called Abaddon (more on her later), and blah blah blah Supernatural Happens For A Bit, and due to the Mark's curse making Dean act like a total psycho (and also, its implied, slowly turning him into a demon) they try to get help from the Metatron, who had been locked up after... well.

-when God was no longer contacting heaven, Metatron ran away from Heaven and hid on earth because he thought that the angels would use the Word of God (which the Metatron holds) "wrong" or something

-later, took advantage of strife & power vacuums in Heaven to manipulate Cas (angel, deeply autistic, the guy who says "I love you" in the destiel meme, in love with Dean) into doing a spell that CAUSED ALL OF THE ANGELS IN HEAVEN TO FALL, for no reason other than the Metatron is an actual pissbaby.

anyway, Metatron claims he can help Dean, that was a lie (shocking, I know), Metatron pulls some bs including basically stealing Cas' life-force (a second time. the first time was when he was ALREADY fucking w Cas as mentioned above) and runs off back to heaven... along with Gadreel, who he has manipulated/convinced to help him take power in Heaven.

who's Gadreel?

well. he's the angel who let the Serpent (or in this canon, just Lucifer) into the Garden of Eden, and he was cast into Hell to be tortured forever or something as punishment. However, after Metatron's earlier all-the-angels-falling scheme, Gadreel (for reasons I'm not too sure of tbh) took the name/identity of a VERY highly-regarded and powerful angel named Ezekiel, who died of his injuries during the fall

^this last part is a detail I try hard not to think about. this is because the names and roles are JUST similar enough to GO's Ineffable Husbands for the implications make me very, very sad.

Anyway, Gadreel had been around spn canon before, posing as Ezekiel, possessing Sam blah blah blah shit happened

Anyway this is a whole lot of words to say that the season/s of SPN that The Hillywood Show was parodying were the seasons where the Metatron was a main villain, and attempted/temporarily succeeded in taking power in Heaven BY MANIPULATING THE GUY WHO LET THE DEVIL INTO THE GARDEN OF EDEN

and then The Hillywood Show (who tbh I almost feel bad for lmao like BRUH) got signed to produce the parody/teaser/release date announcement for GOs2. Where the Metatron...

yeah.

yeahhhhhh

I would have LOVED to see the Hillywood Show team's live and immediate reaction to the Final Fifteen because I can't even imagine what must have been going through their heads.

ah yes. the FUCKING Metatron

oh also in spn, the Metatron (its complicated but basically)severely/fatally wounds Cas, and straight-up KILLS Dean, but Dean resurrects as a demon (for a few eps at least), meaning that Metatron DID technically try, and almost succeeded in, killing both members of an angel/demon gay couple, if only bc timing lined up so that Metatron was an antagonist in the arcs where Dean was turning into a demon.

so yeah

anyway I mentioned we'd get back to Abaddon so here's those major spoilers I mentioned. I'm fairly sure these are real spoilers and not theories, since my source is wikipedia

that's the whole article, there's not much else on her on wiki (though I should really do more research on Muriel). I think I heard Neil say somewhere that he created Muriel because "he wanted an angel character, from Heaven, who was 'just nice'" but idk if anything specific has ever been said about her name.

anyway that's why the Metatron gave Muriel that book "The Crow Road" in the Final 15, why he likes her so much, and why he's having her stay on earth

"The Crow Road" is a book about the nature of Death, and Metatron is, for lack of a better/less problematic word, grooming Muriel for the role of angel of Death in the apocalypse (Abaddon being a VERY prominent figure in revelations, for those who weren't aware)

...so on top of all the other Supernatural/Hillywood-Specific coincidences, sure, let's have Abaddon too.

uhhhhh

yeah

[chirpsythismorning]

I haven't been active in the byler fandom, why would redditors be mad at the play being canon?

Most, not all, but most active reddit users on the ST sub have been bombarded with byler evidence for the last year. So to remain sane through it all, they have resorted to insisting that almost every detail fans come across and try to share on the sub, are just mere coincidences.

This is because they've realized that if they are considering other really minor details meaning something bigger, that means they might have to start considering the possibility that the details pointing to byler are also intentional. This is how they cope.

You would think after saying 'it's just a coincidence' for the hundredth time, they might be starting to rethink their position on things, but the reality of the situation just isn't setting in I guess (aka they don't want it to happen so they are refusing to let themselves truly consider it until they have no choice).

The reason I still partake in the reddit sub, despite losing braincells over half the takes on there, is bc there are still a handful of users that are really smart and do great analysis on the supernatural side of the show, in particular things I have no knowledge on at all and would greatly benefit from looking at to expand my understanding of things and different perspectives.

The really smart ones that exist are usually indifferent to the romantic arcs in the show, although they do have a milkvan bias bc the straight bait is straight baiting. And so these are the few posts theorizing, that consider the details meaning something more, that just so happen to get support from the hardcore milkvans on there. And it's bc as long as it's coming from someone who doesn't think byler is going to happen, they will listen.

I will say the one thing that is sort of obnoxious about all of this is that regular fans without any ship bias, will pop on there semi-regularly with a post, accompanied by basic common sense questions like, 'wait this makes no sense...' or 'why did they do this this way?' in many cases, with the confusion surrounding the build up of Mike and El and Will's role in all that. These people aren't milkvans or bylers, they are just fans picking up on obvious subtext and they are looking for insight about it from fans. And every time they get bombarded with condescending and bitter milkvans that are having to defend mike and el's honor, and s4 really made this a full time job for them lmao. That sort of resentment has manifested into hating anything and everything that considers deeper meaning in relation to Will and Mike, but especially in Will's case. Because that's the thing, they have to deny any importance of Will's role bc Will being important fucking terrifies them. It means that everything could be important basically. It's their worst nightmare and they will hound you for even speculating something. It's insufferable to watch unfold honestly.

I say all of this bc it's important in the context of the play, given that there are a lot of theories out there swirly around, theories that mostly reside on Tumblr. Many of those theories are viewed by redditors as being crack theories that have no evidence supporting them (bc they come from bylers), like the weirdness around Alice not being in the play (and potentially connecting to Karen), or the fact that they insisted the silhouette of Henry's actor right before the cast announcement couldn't be him bc he was too old to be Henry (umm time shenanigans, duh), or that the truth about Brenner's involvement runs a lot deeper than everyone assumes.

And so naturally, leading up to the play, a lot of active (very vocal) redditors in both the main sub and the Hawkins AV Club sub, have commented on posts related to the play, trying so hard to convince others (themselves) that this play is not canon and we shouldn't waste our time with it because it wont matter in the context of everything going on in the literal show. They go as far as to insist it's not canon, even though it already was said to be canon.

And now with this post, they are again having to face the reality this show is a lot deeper than they have had to insist it to is combat byler speculation. All byler evidence is seen as reaching to them. And they'll do everything they can to insist anything bylers are speculating is delusional, which includes theories surrounding the play. All of that denial has led us to this moment, which will only hurt their ego as time goes on and they are being hit with sign after sign after sign... that it might just be that deep.

[veryinnovative]

this is about to be a long fucking ask sorry lmao 😭 (but also..not rlly sorry)

james’ shorts have absolutely no chance against his monstrous thighs, they are fighting for their lives truly. i have always said jeg gives very sakuatsu vibes to me, but I think u could combine that a little bit with atsuhina?? james met sirius when he started high school, instantly fell in love with playing for him, and upon hearing about the younger black brother/seeing him play for the first time james instantly knows he wants to play with regulus one day as well. i think there could be a fun combination of that scene where atsumu tells hinata he will set for him one day but it’s the sakuatsu vibes of regulus just beeng entirely unimpressed with him when they first meet and even when they do start playing together. i feel like you can say that setters & liberos are the backbones of the team….james & reg being the ones to keep their teams together !!

also remus!! i vibe with him being a pinch server / middle blocker i think. imo he is very much like yamaguchi where he loves playing but he isn’t a prodigy and has no desire to pursue it beyond high school, he’s just there for the good vibes & to see sirius’ ass in the tiny lil shorts 

also going off topic for a sec here…..skimmed through your prompt list and I can very easily say I am obsessed with most of them!!! the cat cafe? yes. shibari james? need him always & forever. hockey jeg fighting through the penalty boxes?? obsessed. older reg & younger james?? tbh haven’t thought about that much but I am sooo here for it. EROTIC CANNIBALISM!! i’ve always wanted to make an attempt at a vore fic im very happy there are others out there with the same goals as me ;) alpha/alpha jeg! i am…very insane over a/b/o and love everything with them always!

ok I could probably go on forever but I will cut myself off here lol!

u cld literally send me an ask the size of a novella nd id still eat it. cass i wna live inside ur brain. the atsuhina moment never even rly came 2 me. i am so obsessed with james' dramatic point of a finger. even better if one hand is curled into the net. absolute freak behavior when he states 'one day we are going to play together. until then, good luck trying to dig up my serves every game.' nd reg's like ? ok troy bolton.

[this is so fucking random but miya twins moments between regulus nd sirius if they ever did play together. I'm thinking abt sirius going for a serve nd it hits the back of regulus' head and then they're both fist fighting]

middle blocker remus is a fav of mine. even after high school he attends all their games together with the others like the girls (marlene. mary. lily) and he always wears an extra hair tie around his wrist for sirius. like even tho they don't play together anymore remus still has a spare one.

AND THE PROMPT LIST... i genuiinely wrote like 0 </3 mainly bc my laptop died on me and the display needed changing and I'm still waiting for it to come home. BUT YOU GET ME!! YOU GET ME! i need james to be tied up and tied down. arms behind is back or to the headboard. legs bend and rope loops around them. just entirely at regulus' disposal who first edges him to hell and back nd then overstimulates him until he's crying (overstim is my fav thing to write). AND THE OLDER REG & YOUNGER JAMES IS SOMETHING IV BEEN WANTING TO WRITE FOR A WHILE.. i love it when the older one is also the shorter one nd just a grump nd wears the expensive suits nd then u have james who wears the most horrendous time-withered Christmas sweater at home in early autumn nd manages to reduce scary CEO regulus black to a sobbing mess in his bed

vore fic... i've been thinking about one that's a little more hannibal-inspired. but also one a little more supernatural? I don't know. ghoul-esque jegulus or something so that when they vore neither of them has to die. it's just about wanting to consume. to absorb. to want someone so bad you need them to continue existing inside you. like sex doesn't even cut it you NEED to crawl into their ribcage. if u write a vore fic a tag is mandatory. i need to read and eat that shit up like they eat each other. i have this one line in future chapters where james tells regulus something along the lines of 'i am so in love with you it drives me insane i don't know what the insides of your eyelids look like and you do'. it's just about being so obsessed with someone you need them to stop breathing and be the one who does it for them. needing them to have one part of you in their being at all times. then again i just write jegulus crazy like this... woops

and i swear to god last thing bc now I'm also rambling nd gonna be late but alpha/alpha drives me insane. especially if there's a rut. the mild roleplay involved in it. the power play. I had a little excerpt of it written but alas, laptop still sent for repair. a few months ago I did write a little alpha/alpha stsg thing for my best friend nd geto gritted shit out like 'im going to breed you' bc gojo was riling him the fuck up while having his back blown out and it's also just so alpha/alpha jegulus (nd rosekiller) core. i just love alpha/alpha dynamics.

OH MAN IM SORRY FOR THE SPAM LMAOO. it's like a morning paper to trudge through. either way ty for the ask love <3 I hope u have a nice day/evening/ night

[themarginalthinker]

OK I'm pretty sure this has already been asked, but I haven't read far enough into the book to see if it's been explained, so I hope you don't mind the ask!

Are there specific clans of vampires in VTM? Or different breeds?

*slowly spins around so you can see the absolutely MANIACAL, UNHINGED grin on my face*

OHHHHHH BABY, HERE WE FUCKIN GOOOOOOOO

So, Vampire: The Masquerade is a ttrpg system first released in the 90s about vampires, part of a larger overworld called The World of Darkness, or just commonly called the 'WoD' - this, as well as vampires, includes werewolves, changeleings (faeries), Mages (magic people), demons, as well as other creatures, all of which have their own games under this system, but the one that I play (and the only one I'm interested in playing tbh bc the it's the oldest, most popular and best developed of the games) us Vampire: The Masquerade.

-

SO Thw World of Darkness is a grittier, slightly more grim-dark version of our reality. People are a bit less kinder, the shadows are a bit darker. And in those shadows, lurk vampires.

Now, in the official canon lore of the WoD, vampires are all descended from Caine - yes, that Caine. The Bible dude. As punishment for his transgression again God, God cursed him to shun the sun and forever walk the Earth. Being lonely, Caine sired three 'childer', three vampires, who then also sired more, who became the 13 Antedeluvians ('those who survived the flood') and THOSE 13 became the founders of the 13 Clans of Vampire.

The Masquerade: The one rule almost all vampires everywhere follow. The Masquerade is the deception of vampire existence to humankind, and maintaining it is paramount to everything you do AS a vampire. Humans must never, ever, ever know.

Each Clan has their own unique powers, and like. Vibe to them. (As they are the types of vampire you can choose to play in your games.)

When you are Embraced (turned into a vampire), you become the Clan you were Embrace by, ie, a Nosferatu will make another Nosferatu, a Gangrel a Gangrel. So yes, it IS a breed of vampire.

The Clans are as follows (to the best of my description lol):

Ventrue: The powerful lords of vampires, bluebloods, they desire power and to dominate others. They're behind CEOs and polititians, controlling a lot of the vampire political landscape. Their Thing is that they can only drink specific kinds of blood, a blood restriction, say, only the blood of blue eyed men, or something. you can choose what that restriction is with your character. (also this is Berd's least favorite, and I'll go into detail why further down)

Toreador: The Clan of the Rose, ie, the pretty ones. Toreador are the cultural influencers of the vampire world, and while not exclusive to, they ARE incredibly dug into the arts. Typically associated with fashion as they want to keep up with and make the latest trends in the world. Their powers are...literally being so fucking pretty. A siren-like ability, which goes just as much for the men, too.

Brujah: The Clan of the rebels! The Brujah are a clan of rabble-rouses who hate the system and want to see the world into a utopia of humans and vampires, but getting there is gonna be a chore. The Brujah's deal is that they're punks, and that means supernatural anger to go with it. They rage. Hard.

Malkavian: The Clan of the Moon, they get literal visions and whispers of the Beyond, information from outside of what any person can pick up on the street. They're literally a clan of mad oracles, driven to their derangement by the vampiric blood. A Malk's particular way of receiving this information can range from perceiving the reporter on tv telling them so, to getting flashes of visions from reading a newspaper.

Gangrel: A Clan where you kinda wanted to play a werewolf, but also a vampire. Gangrel lean into the beastial side of vampire lore, being able to best control and even transform into animals. I don't have a lot to say about Gangrel, they're a pretty straightforward clan as far as things go.

Nosferatu: The Clan of the Hidden. As the name implies, the curse of vampirism affects them by twisting their bodies into hideous forms they cannot undo or reverse with any kind of magic. Named so bc a lot of them end up looking like Max Schreck's Count Orloc. Most Nosferatu cannot participate in the wider world because of their looks endangering vampirekind, so they form large networks below cities, occupying old sewer and tram systems, forming 'Warrens'. Their Thing is that they possess very powerful invisibility powers, and have set up large subinternet networks, making them master spies and information farmers. The Nosferatu know everything about everything...as long a you're willing to trade a secret for a secret. (This is my favorite clan, if you can't tell :>)

Tremere: Nobody likes Tremere. Ok, that's not true, bad me. But they are...standouts in the vampire world (ask me about their lore, it's...wild). Tremere are blood mages, using Thaumaturgy (blood magic) to do dark rituals and keep their magic knowledge in the clan. They're essentially your 'casting class' in the game.

Ok, so, that's not even half of them, as you can count, but this is getting long, and these are all the 'major' clans that most people tend to play. I will be passing off this post to @berd-alert to tell you about the other smaller but JUST as interesting clans, but here is also a short overview of the world the WoD vampires exist in:

The clans all belong to larger political 'factions'. (Again, ask me more about the lore if you want a more in-depth explantion). These factions are based on ideologies of how vampires should interact with the human world

The Camarilla: what's considered 'mainstream' vampire, or 'Kindred' society. Every city will have an Elysium, where the Prince (can be a person of any gender, that's just the title) will preside over their court, being whatever vampires claim allegence with the Camarilla in that particular city, or, 'domain.' The Cam rule their worlds with very firm rules about interacting with humans, or 'kine'. You're expected to follow these rules and receive protection and order....or face severe and swift consequences should you put a toe out of line and someone hears about it.

The Anarchs: pretty much what it says on the box. The Anarchs oppose the Camarilla and their deadly rules, the only one they want to follow being 'don't break the Masquerade'. Full of the young, the boisterous, the new, hot blood eager to destroy the old system and build something new.

The Sabbat: these vampires say hang the rules all together, fuck the Masquerade, humans are prey or playthings, and vampires being stronger and immortal should rule the world. pretty much, if you want to play a vampire who loves blood and destruction, ie an evil player game (bc those are always fun heheh) this is the faction for you.

WOOF, OK, I THINK THAT'S ABOUT IT. Again, if you have specific questions, just ask me or Berd bc they're just as deep into this as I am, and knows lots of cool, intricate lore. But that's about it for right now! I highly reccomed looking up some youtube videos about this, as there is a TON of supplementary and educational videos out there for it! And also a video game, Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines, which is from 2004 and an INCREDIBLE cult-classic, to match the Lost Boys in terms of iconic vampire media.

Love you Cherry!!!

[darklordazalin]

Azalin Reviews Darklord Adam

Domain: Lamordia Formation: 575 BC (the actual date various in different sources, but I was there to witness its formation, so take this date to be the most accurate) Power Level: 💀💀💀⚫⚫ Sources: Ravenloft Gazetteer Vol 2 (3e); Domains of Dread (2e); I, Strahd the War Against Azalin (Novel).

Based on rumors, Lamordia went through significant changes in its latest rendition, but this week I shall review it as it once was and tell the tale of Darklord Adam and the constant harsh weather that plagues “his” domain. The settlements of this land are constantly assaulted by deadly blizzards and frigid air coming from the Sea of Sorrows in the winter and infestation of insects and insufferable heat in the summer. I do not recommend visiting, especially given how adverse the entire populace is to magic. I am positive my late father would thoroughly enjoy it, however.

Everything about Lamordia is based upon structure and scientific reasoning set within a utilitarian society. The people have a scientific explanation for everything despite the obvious supernatural phenomena that occurs all around them. They are adverse to any type of magic - whether it be the far more superior arcane arts or the divine. This disbelief is so tightly held that the land itself is known to suppress those that attempt any form of casting. Though, I have it on first hand accounts that this effect does not always occur.

It is highly dangerous for those who deny the existence in the arcane to essentially practice it. I’m surprised Lamorida hasn’t imploded in on itself yet, for Dr. Victor Mordenheim’s science clearly surpasses the realm of the supernatural. Given the nature of the domain, you would think Mordenheim would be its Darklord, but he is not. His creation, a flesh golem of rare independence, is the true Darklord of Lamordia.

Let’s dive in a bit to the tale of these two idiots. When Mordenheim and his wife, Elise, were unable to conceive a child, he devoted himself to the study of life and death; above all, other ways in which life could be created. I can...understand that inclination. It is important one has an heir to carry out one's legacy and rule. Of course, he went about it like a blind fool with no sense of the magics he was tapping into for he denied their very existence.

Adam was the result of 13 years of labor which he spent away from Elise. Moredenheim created Adam to appear as a perfect physical specimen. And upon first blush, I suppose one could say that is true. He is muscular yet lean with long black hair and I am told that sort of thing is appealing to some. However, close up he is a mockery of beauty like a horrible painting gifted to a King by a so-called artist.

Made up of pulsating arteries and tendons seen just beneath the thin bits of grey flesh, Adam is disgusted by his own appearance. Interestingly, when my little scholar interviewed Adam he told her that Mordenheim made him but another source provided him with his “soul”. So, it seems that Mordenheim’s science only brought him so far and it was likely the powers he denied that truly brought life into Adam.

Elise was unsettled by Adam’s appearance and despite her discomfort her husband decided to adopt a girl to act as a playmate for Adam. That seems like a very bad parenting decision and coming from me...well, that says something, doesn’t it?

Adam became obsessed with Elise and wanted nothing more than her acceptance and approval. Accounts of what transpired on the night Lamordia appeared on the border of Barovia differs between Adam and his maker. They both blame the other, but in the end whether Adam was a murderous villain or a victim attempting to gain acceptance, his adopted sister fell to her death after an encounter with him and Elise was mutilated.

Death would have been kinder for Elise, but Mordenheim keeps her alive through “scientific” means. Her heart beats through the working of machinery alone and he constantly switches her limbs and skin out in attempts to receive her, but only accomplishes keeping her in constant pain. If the foolish man believed in Divine or even the Arcane and not dismissed those practitioners of both, he could have healed her condition. I myself have been known to use such magics to prolong my own life when I was a mortal man.

Mordenheim’s monstrous creations roam Lamordia, but despite the obvious arcane nature of these creations, the people and the Doctor himself still dismiss the arcane. They will not accept it, just as they will not accept Adam. And this is the curse the Dark Powers bestowed upon Adam, to never find the acceptance he so hopelessly craves. To live alone on an island, over-dramatically named “The Isle of Agony” as he plots against his creator. When my little scholar interviewed Adam he said that Lamordia was Mordenheim’s even though it shouldn’t be and that they were “all his children”.

Adam is tied to Mordenheim and devotes his existence to making the Doctor’s life as miserable as possible, like the overgrown rebellious teenager that he is. Though, this is quite easy seeing as the Dark Powers bond the two together so that Adam experiences Mordenheim’s physical pain and the doctor experiences his creation’s angsty teenage ways.

As flesh golems go, Adam is one of a kind with many immunities to mundane weapons and certain magical energies. Still, without any arcane mastery of his own, a skilled wizard could make quick work of him. Though his curse is interesting, it makes his tie and rule over his own realm obsolete. As such, I will give Adam 3 skulls for this review and Mordenheim does not even get a skull. I despise those that practice the art without respecting it and those who do so without realizing it? Utter fools.

[gothamslostboy]

Paul w/ a Werewolf Mate

MICHAEL DAVID MARKO DWAYNE

He’s lived a long time, done many things, but this is new for him

He doesn’t experience new things often anymore

So he’s super fucking stoked when he catches your scent on the boardwalk

Even though the other 3 seem on edge about a werewolf on their turf, Paul immediately tries to find you

He only gets even happier when he realizes your his mate

He literally tramples ppl in his path on the way to you

Comes up to you and very excitedly introduces himself, unaware that you seem kind of scared to have a vampire so close

Not scared of him, but werewolves are told stories about vamps killing them on sight since they’re pups

Vampires are told the same things about werewolves when they turn

Neither side actually does it unless they think the other will

But Paul seems nice enough, and there’s so many ppl nearby that you feel comfortable saying hello

‘Hello’ turns into hanging out together for the rest of the night and making plans to do the same tomorrow

When he shows up tomorrow, Marko is with him, trying not so subtly to figure out if you’re here to kill his boyfriend

Both a little scared of each other, Paul does most the talking until Marko determines you not a threat and loosens up

He can smell that you’ve been a lone wolf for at least 3 months

You seem nice and Paul already told him about you being one of his mates

He leaves a bit later, wanting to annoy David

Now that you’ve established trust, Paul takes you to a quiet part of the beach

You both ask each other questions about what it’s like being your respective supernatural beings

You tell him about how you left your pack bc it felt too serious and stressful

Now you’ve been traveling town to town for almost 6 months trying to figure out life

Paul, w/o asking permission, offers for you to stay at the cave

You say as long as Marko and the others would allow it you’d love to

Paul snatches you up and takes you to David and Dwayne begging them to let you stay

After a bit David agrees bc like Marko, he can tell you’re a loner

He also knows you’re not an alpha so he doesn’t have to worry about that

You and Paul start dating very quickly and life is good

You use your advanced smell to help him pick ppl who nobody would miss or ppl who just suck in general

On full moons you get hyper and, let’s say more excited, so you and Paul go run around in the woods and have fun

You don’t fully transform on full moons, but it’s enough that Paul eats the ppl who spot you those nights

You have dog-like tendencies, but Paul himself is basically a puppy so it matches

Human form is less comfortable for you, so during the day you hang around the cave in full wolf form

One day you fell asleep like that long enough for the boys to wake up and find you

Paul thinks it’s awesome

After the other boys tease you for a bit, mostly David and Marko Paul ask if you can cuddle like that

It’s his new favorite activity on nights in

He loves dogs

Dogs don’t love vampires

So it’s nice to pretend he can have one for at least a small moment

He figured out that getting pet feels very calming

Even when you’re in human form

He uses this to get you to relax after fighting with David

Tbf David deserved the anger

He bought you a collar the little shit

Paul, sometime the other boys too, will howl at the moon with you

I mean they already do it on the motorcycles

Speaking of, paul teaches you to ride a bike if you don’t already know

You prefer riding with him tho

Occasionally you’ll curl up in his lap and try to ride as a wolf

This stopped when you went flying off once

You were ok bc of super healing, but it still scared the shit out of him when he heard you yelp and whimper in pain

“Sorry sugar, but the last time we did it you got hurt, and those aren’t the kind of whimpers I like to hear.”

Eventually the topic of aging comes up

Neither of you know what to do

You don’t even know if it’s possible for a were-vamp hybrid could exist

One day Dwayne comes rushing out of his nest with a book on werewolves

He showed you a page talking about if you did a very specific set of rituals and trials then you’d, as the book said, “exist for as long as the moon exist”

It was a hard couple of months

Eventually you finish all the rituals

Ta Da! Immortal wolf boyfriend for Paul!

With that solved, all you two have to worry about now is loving eachother and being a family with the others

You end up saving all the boys lives a few years later in 1987 when you heard the frog brothers coming into the cave

You went all hound of hell and chased them outside, where you told them about max

They left w/o killing the boys

Michael, Star, and laddie got to live human lives

The boys were a little pissed you ratted out Max at first, but only bc of the sire bond

After he was dead they didn’t care bc, well, they didn’t even like him

Paul was sure to show you in many, many ways just how thankful he was for being saved

[chayannecraft]

hey the last drawing will probably be uploaded tomorrow!! i know you'll understand but i've been very busy today :)

anyway i'm curious about if the other eggs have any sort of role in your au??

OH and if you want to talk abt what chayanne and phil's relationship is like, i've been very curious about that lol bc it seems like phil's both very protective of him and doesn't care about him that much. not saying you haven't thought it out i'm just eager to look more into his character!

Hello!! Yeah no I understand I’ve been super busy too. Finals season and everythang. It’s a curse. Oh my god. (Which is why im so late answering this ask hello omg!!!) But anyways yes hello oh my god questions!!!! 💖💖💖!!!!! YES!!! I WILL ANSWER

The other eggs have very loose roles but they do exist!! They sort of take up the space of the descendants-of-the-champions roles that Sidon and the others fill (although I’m not sure who is who at the moment, would have to think about that a little more!!) (I have no idea what role Tallulah plays, but I think she might be traveling around with Wilbur, more info on that later) but sometimes they’re also just like, normal random kids. They are all friends I promise. I don’t have a lot on them though so this is not that coherent.

CHAYANNE AND PHIL. WOUGH BOY. THIS IS A LONG ONE

You were right in that Phil is very protective of Chayanne!! I think a part of him knew Chayanne was The Chosen Hero, but when faced with the decision to send him off to what very well could have been his sons death, if not horrific trauma he was like um. No lol. Not doing that.

A consequence of the storyline in general is Phil isn’t very mentioned a lot, so it gives off the idea that he’s uncaring towards Chayanne, but I promise you that’s not the case!! (Not to make fun of you or call you out of course). Phil is actually very loving towards his son, and was devastated when he ran away with the Master Sword.

Then (for reasons I haven’t thought up yet) he’s pretty distracted but desperately trying to get his kid back. Until the calamity happens and they fail. Then he’s under the impression his son is just dead and he’s in mourning for the next 100 years (Why is he still alive in 100 years, you ask! Well! I took everything from these kids and I think taking their parents is a little bit too cruel so everybody is blessed by some sort of god that expands their lifespan a couple hundred ok :D!!!)

And then a little bit after botw someone goes to Philza and is like hey. The hero is back. He’s hanging out with Princess Pomme. He looks a lot like the missing hero from 100 years ago. Your son. Might be your son Phil. And Phil basically takes 3 seconds to process this before clawing himself up from his depression and being like OK. WE’RE GONNA GO GET HIM!!! AND IF ANYBODY TRIES TO STOP ME IM MAULING THEM. Of course he gets to hyrule RIGHT as totk plot starts and Chayanne goes missing so kind of an L BUT THEY DO REUNITE!!!

They get their moments. They also get a really tearful reunion where Chayanne is like dad im so sorry for running off oh my god :( I forgot you for a hundred years you must be so upset with me. And Philza is hugging him like oh my god my kid is ok. Oh my god. YOU’RE GROUNDED FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE WHAT THE FUCK. And then just caries him around. And probably has some sort of beef with Missa because that’s Chayanne’s Hyrule-Dad. Meanwhile Pomme stands in the back ready to kill him if he makes one wrong move.

There’s a side story kind of sequel relating to that where Pomme and Chayanne have to grapple with the fact that Chay is also a prince and his dad misses him dearly and wants him to come home but they don’t want to be separated ever for the rest of their lives. Maybe even some parent bonding. Like a little family-person drama to contrast the cursed-destiny-supernatural-calamity drama and probably some Death Family Bonding.

[blackbutler-readerinsertsandjunk]

AYYY it’s open! Ok so I have this funny little request,headcanons of the reactions on ciel,Alois and Sebastian on the situation that a modern looking person shows up in front Of there manor with there dead sibling who is now revived and has there souls back ((luka for Alois,real ciel for our ciel)),the person is like “Heh I found this outside your house.does this belong to u?” ((Luckily real ciel knows what happend and understand his brother,even helping him by switching also his identity with his original identity in his case-,Ik this messes up the manga timeline and I’m sorry if you can’t write this! )) Sebastian feels also strangely more hungry ((bc ya know soul is back somehow))

me, smacking Sebastian's hands away from real!Ciel like a scolding mother smacks a child's hand away from a tray of freshly baked cookies: THAT'S NOT FOR YOU!!!

Really, can’t people ever leave him alone?! Whatever it is they’re selling, he doesn’t want — uh. Wait… wait, what’s going on? Is that…? No… no, it can’t be. It’s some sort of trick, isn’t it? But… but it looks just like Luka. It’s him, all grown up, although when Alois looks at him, all he sees is the small, round-faced, bright-eyed little brother he lost so long ago. He doesn’t even really have words; it’s like his mind can’t make his mouth say anything at all, despite the fact that there are a million and one things running through his head. He just… takes a step forward, and his voice comes out in a whisper when he can finally speak: “Is it… is it really you, Luka?” When he receives confirmation that this is his brother, all Alois does is throw his arms around Luka, sobbing, and saying how much he loves him and that he’s sorry. Even when Luka tells him he has nothing to be sorry for, he keeps crying. It’s debatable whether or not Alois is ever going to let go again. He can barely get himself together enough to look up at this mysterious person and thank them for giving Luka back to him. Though he’s not sure if this person wants any kind of reward, they’re welcome in the manor at least for the night. If they do need anything, Alois is so grateful that as long as it’s possible, he’ll make it happen. He has his brother back. He doesn’t need anything else.

Lovely — can he not have a peaceful evening to himself? Whatever business this person has here, he suggests that they finish it quickly. Before he can inquire about their business, however, he sees the man they have with them. It’s… it’s his brother. The one that he knows died back when the two of them were put through that horrible cult. He saw the life fade from his twin’s eyes, and now here he is in front of Ciel, just as real as the earl is. He’s seen plenty of supernatural bullshit in his time, but… this is different. It’s not the same. His twin has come back to life, and he has so many questions. How? Why? Is he… he’s got his soul back, too? This is so mind-blowing, he almost feels the need to sit down. Instead he takes his brother’s hands, and in short order the twins are hugging each other tightly. Ciel cries on his elder brother’s shoulder, murmuring that he thought the only time they’d see each other again is when he dies. Once they’ve had their moment and he’s assured that they can both assume their original identities again, he visibly relaxes. It’s been… hard, existing the way he has, with so many secrets and so much weight on his back. The both of them don’t hesitate in inviting the oddly-dressed person in, if only for the night. The former earl is particularly thankful, because although it’s going to be an adjustment, he can have a little peace back. He doesn’t have to be Ciel anymore. He gets to be Astre again.

Well, well… isn’t this a strange turn of events? Just as well, the earl’s life has been strange enough that nothing really seems strange anymore. Anything is possible, he supposes. He’s quietly curious about the whole thing, mainly because it should be impossible. There are so many factors here that should have halted something like this from happening — the Grim Reapers, for example. When the original Ciel died as a child, should a Reaper not have come to collect his tortured little soul? That’s the order of things. So, what did this bizarre person do, steal the soul back from wherever the Reapers keep them once they’re collected? … Steal it from heaven or hell? Is such a thing even feasible to do? Or is something else going on? He has endless questions, none of which he will voice until this person gives up some information themself or until his master starts asking. And of course he’s twice as hungry now. He guesses that he’s expressly forbidden from forming a contract with the other twin… but he can’t stop thinking about just how much a once in a lifetime meal it would be. A soul which has been ‘dead’ for some time, only to suddenly burst back into life and be thrust into their restored body, and the soul was beautifully tormented and deliciously dark in the first place? He’ll have to exercise some absolutely monstrous restraint to keep himself from doing something… unwise.

[rowanlight]

stranger things dream demon au ✨

so uh in this world all the stranger things ppl who are of legal age to get down with are sex demons. yay! but that means you have to be 18+ to look at this bc sexy stuff.

sorry 💋

characters: robin, jonathan, steve, eddie, nancy warnings: might be shades of fem!reader and oc!reader but this is largely just basic fun worldbuildy stuff. might get a bit suggestive.

okay so!

they’re not all true demony-demons in that they want your soul and/or are trying to corrupt you, most of them are just creatures that subsist on sexual energy. they live outside of regular reality in a place that humans can sometimes access when they dream. some rare humans are dream walkers, who can travel there freely.

all the demons have the same baseline powers: when they are physically touching you, they can hear or feel your thoughts. they can put magic in their voice to soothe you into a hypnotic state. they can pass for completely human, but they have inhuman forms/traits that are unique to them. they all have demon magic and can perform spells in their language (that their names/ritual summons are in) and it manifests visually in different ways, but they’ve all got unique supernatural abilities too. they can teleport, but they have to be invited to the human world by a summons. one summons is enough to consider a demon invited—after that, they can come to you if they want (you are their access point to the human world), and you have to specifically banish them again if you don’t want to see them anymore. most demons don’t take advantage of this.

just to get it out of the way—billy basically only exists in this universe as an example of a “bad” demon. i just don’t like him, so he doesn’t get the full treatment. (you know, name, ritual ingredients, powers, interesting tidbits, etc)

robin’s name is blunt-sounding but sweet, with a tricky staccato cadence that almost always ends in giggles because of how it tickles the throat, and hearing it tends to leave your fingertips tingling, or your feet tapping restlessly. her ritual is best performed with a bit of milk chocolate melting on your tongue, and involves burning tea bags and candied lemon peels. she’s a good listener and that comes out in her powers—telepathy, even over distances, a complete mastery of languages, being able to tell when you’re lying, an ability to hear through what you’re saying to what’s really bothering you. anyone sharing her recipe will also share that she has a love of m&ms and brews the best coffee in the known universe.

jonathan’s ritual is a little more involved. he wants you to burn a picture of something, preferably a photo you took, over a handful of your favorite sweet-smelling herbs. if you include a little, uh, special herbs, all the better. his name is more forgiving than others’, mumbled and low, and it leaves your lips and tongue feeling a little sticky and sweet with the taste of maple, and your ears feeling warm like someone has gently cupped them for a couple seconds. with his powers, he can get pictures of anything he wants, even if a photo should have been impossible to take or develop. he has an ability to see right through you, and because it’s in his nature to be nurturing he can pinpoint the exact things you need to feel taken care of. he likes to make an entrance sometimes by making your radio turn on by itself before he appears.

the proper way to call steve would involve a few candles, cinnamon sticks, and flower petals in a circle around you. his name is a bit tricky like robins, sharper, and makes your nose tingle and your ears ring, but it tastes sweet and tart on the tongue when you can get it right, like the burst of fresh berries. his powers are mainly connected to the heart—he’s very, very empathetic and he’ll hear what your heart is crying out to say even when you could never verbalize it, and he has the ability to project feelings to try to offer you comfort. steve has been resisting being summoned for a little while now because he was assaulted the last time he answered a summons, though robin warned him that the day would come where he wouldn’t be able to resist anymore.

eddie’s the most elaborate, both in ritual and name. his name is a tongue twister, forcing you to smile and stick your tongue out at points to get the correct pronunciation, and both saying it and hearing it make you feel the slightest bit lightheaded (as though you’ve just been headbanging, perhaps). for his ritual, in addition to burning some tobacco and cardamom, you need to roll a die. any kind will do, though a d20 will make him especially happy, and how he behaves when he arrives depends on how well you rolled… (burning some special herbs gets you a +2 modifier) his powers are much showier than the others, telekinesis that allows him to move things around like a proper wizard, and he learns the most about your feelings through touch—both physically touching you, and feeling you out with his mind.

nancy’s name is short and sharp, like the crack of a gunshot, and it hits you in the chest with a kickback, leaving a coffee-and-almonds taste in the back of your throat. the spice blend you’re recommended to burn to summon her stings your throat something fierce, but it dissipates almost immediately on arrival because she smells of vanilla and something sweet and clean and floral, with just a hint of smoke underneath it. she's incredibly observant, but she has a very, very keen sense of smell and will be able to pick out your emotions and state of mind based on that, as well as a few other things... she uses her demon magic more freely than the others, performing more spells and rituals because she has the most expertise.

[that-thing-that-feeling]

So Shawn really said he related to Steve the most. Interesting.

What I find funny is that there’s still certain subsets of stans that genuinely act like Jonathan is nothing but a self-insert and is therefore just SO privileged as a character… when he’s literally one of the most sidelined and underwritten mains of the show. While Steve gets like so much screentime in comparison and a lion’s share of the marketing and content and recognition.

Like you’re telling me that Jonathan “gets antagonized every season and not listed on the Netflix tudum” Byers is the obvious Creator’s Pet and not Steve “gets his own Wikipedia page and a massive ‘protect Steve’ billboard” Harrington isn’t. I wasnt even a stan of anyone, let alone a Jonathan stan, starting the series five years ago but I still noticed this disparity in treatment. Lol

I have loved and enjoyed Steve as a character where he fits in the show, but the cognitive dissonance from his fans is so annoying. Even if he’s as prone to poor and shallow writing as much as the rest of the mains (and I feel for him just as much as the others in that sense), he still has it easier than half the main characters, maybe more, and he likely always will.

Which is fine and dandy, but makes it all the more obnoxious when I see people who would throw other characters under the bus to always put him in the better light no matter what, or people who act like Steve is just SO hated by the writers—at least the writers remember him as a character. Jonathan is what, hanging on by the skin of his teeth? Considering his most lauded moment of the season was apparently only conjured as a lucky afterthought of the writers in the middle of filming.

If you ask me, Steve seems like he’s one of the most traditionally heroic-protagonist type of characters and treated as such outside the show. He is set up perfectly for escapism, he’s given all these fanservicey and heroic moments, and for that I can understand why people are led to root for Steve (the writers even admitted writing S2 Nancy this way, to boot) and hell, I would go so far as to say they want to be Steve.

But then you have the Byers, who especially in S1, feel rooted in the kinds of realistic and depressing situations people would want to escape from, even if you take away all the supernatural elements. And you’d think they’re just as subject to the same “underdog” treatment that Steve gets, but then you get people—in 2023, mind you—who are antagonizing them (which reeks of classism btw; “Joyce is a bad mom compared to Karen”, “Jonathan is selfish for worrying about his college issues and just wants a sympathy card lying to Nancy”, “Will is too much of a crybaby who hasnt been through as much as X person”) coupled with the way they are sidelined in the show. Just annoying treatment all around. I do hope S5 fares better compared to the past two seasons, but most of my expectations are on the wrapping up of the supernatural plot at this point.

Yeah the whole Jonathan as a self insert thing makes little sense when they’ve totally underwritten and sidelined him; it’s always a way people try to hate on Jonathan as a character for shipping reasons usually.

And agreed there’s a clear disparity in how Steve is treated and given heroic moments and a lot of screentime. But I still think his writing isn’t as good as it should have been bc once they landed on the popular thing with him, they backed away from all other layers (note this interview from between s2 and s3):

Also a lot of their sympathy/empathy in s2 is all around him and they clearly see him as a victim (of Nancy smh, of “circumstance”???) and have tried to erase his privilege:

Here’s the original thing on Shawn being like Steve and the Duffers relating to Mike (from July 2016, and idk why there’s weird formatting):

The irony though that Shawn talks about Jonathan and Steve co-existing and collaborating (like Shawn and the Duffers?) and then Jonathan and Steve basically never spoke again SMH

I also agree with you w the Byers and classicism; you def see that with fans in how they view them and I wonder w the sidelining on the show. Anyhow it’s baffling to have so sidelined the Byers. I think it’s as they moved away from more realism into what was just funny and popular and memeable.

[tiredstressedemotionalmess]

pleaseee talk abt Frankenstein I'd love to hear what u have to say!! 🥰🥰

JUST REMEMBERED IVE HAD THIS ASK SITTING IN MY INBOX FOR A BIT I WAS SAVING IT FOR A RAINY DAY WHEN I NEEDED AN EXCUSE TO LET THE THOUGHTS OUT OHHHHH OKAY

so i saw a post on here a long fucking time ago essentially saying "stop saying something defies nature when you really mean it defies god" and for some reason i have not been able to stop thinking abt it lately bc like. okay.

when we read Frankenstein in class a few months ago, my teacher asked us the question after we'd finished the book: "should victor have created the monster?" and the general consensus was "no, because he was defying nature and creating an abomination- it was a mistake on his part, an act of ignorance and hubris." and like. even then i was of the opinion that victor shouldnt have made the creature, but that doesnt mean the creature shouldnt have been made, yknow? just that victor should not have been the one to do it because he was incapable of taking responsibility of it

and now i just cant stop thinking about the almost cycle of like. what nature says and how this plays into its creation because heres the thing. it was possible. if something truly defied the natural order, it wouldnt be possible right?? change is nature- evolution and progress is nature. the fact that it was possible for the creature to be made means its within the realm of nature right? like there was no magic involved, nothing supernatural- it was literally all natural science that victor applied to discover the secret of life and shit. so if you look at it through this lens then it totally follows my original thought, theres no reason that the creature shouldnt exist, but victor should not have been the one to create him

EXCEPT FOR THE FACT THAT ONE OF THE CORE TRUTHS OF THE NOVEL AND ONE OF THE REASONS I RESONATE WITH THE STORY SO MUCH IS THAT THE CREATURE AT A FUNDAMENTAL LEVEL IS INCAPABLE OF BEING ACCEPTED BY SOCIETY. thats why he begs victor for a companion, he knows he will always be alone and no one will ever truly empathize with him. his entire life story sees him attempting to fit in with the beauty of the world, and only finding pain and suffering. and so now im stuck with this eternal debate in my mind, is this because he actually is an unnatural creation that he is unable to find a home? or is his being deemed unnatural a symptom of the very thing preventing him from being accepted by the world: humanity's fear/hatred of that which is different. and i just. im so stuck with this concept, this back and forth of nature vs the unnatural and where the creature falls in this spectrum; how much of nature is determined by us? im gay as fuck and incredibly transgender; people scream abomination at me all the time and that makes me more inclined to say unnatural is a meaningless word in this context. hes unnatural the same way i am, that is to say not at all because we both fucking exist. but then my brother brought up the fact that he is made up of corpses and theres the issue with desecration of the dead and lack of consent with ones body parts being reanimated but thats less unnatural to me and more unethical. and maybe thats the reason this is sticking with me so much because everyone around me was acting like this was a question of nature when really its a question of ethics. and maybe thats what my teacher meant and was trying to get at, but my classmates took it the nature route because everyone takes it the nature route (with good reason i think for how much they bring up the same topics in the text itself). but i really dont think nature matters in this context, so much as the ethics behinds victors actions before and after creating the creature

this is barely a conclusion and yet its the one ive arrived to so. thanks for the excuse to ramble, hopefully these thoughts make more sense written out than they do in my head

[hrokkall]

How about Kaycee for the ask game?

KAYCEE I love her let’s go

Favorite thing about them: I love how blatant it is that Kaycee just says “wouldn’t it be cool if—“ before everything she does. In the base game, all of Leshy’s cards (barring the rare cards) are based upon Canadian wildlife you’d realistically find around the BC area… not Kaycee’s additions. She adds a Central American mud turtle, a European lammergeier, and not one, but TWO extinct animals (the wild bull and dire wolf), not to mention the challenges themselves. She’s very clearly just shoving some of her favorite things into the game to say “look! I think you’ll like this too” and it’s so fun to me.

Least favorite thing about them: I love Kaycee. She’s wonderful. But holy shit does some of the lore in KMod fuck everything up. Inscryption was developed in the 90s but KMod seems to imply it was developed in the 2000s where she would’ve met Luke? Not to MENTION the partial retcon of the Scrybes fighting each other for control for years (granted that can be chalked up to an oversight on Kaycee’s part wherein Leshy’s takeover was just the first takeover she noticed, but still).

Favorite line: Kaycee being pissed that Leshy beheaded her self-insert will never not be funny.

brOTP: This is such an “I’m sure everyone is going to answer with this” type of answer, but Kaycee and Leshy’s friendship means so much to me. Inscryption really said “here is a person who has dedicated his entire purpose to the existence of someone doomed to never see his work and here is another person who sees why he was doomed to never be seen by human eyes and she indulges anyway out of love for what he has created and out of love for their shared company” and then just subtly put it in the background of the narrative. Leshy just wanted to play his game and Kaycee wholeheartedly wanted to play with him, listening to his suggestions and using her own skills to add things she thought he’d like (in addition to the challenges that were just for her let’s be real). The game really stresses that Leshy—despite, by design, not really caring for anything outside of the game—saw her not just as the challenger he’d hoped for but, above all else, a friend and that means so much.

Having said that, I do dunk on Kaycee a little bit for not destroying a malevolent supernatural force trapped inside a floppy disk because her best friend was also on it but then again I think that would’ve been even worse if she destroyed it and then died anyway. Inscryption isn’t a game where anyone wins but that definitely would’ve been even more of a loss for everyone involved.

OTP: As per usual in this category I don’t really ship Kaycee with anyone.

nOTP: I’m not a fan of Kaycee and Leshy in a romantic sense. Them being friends just means a lot more to me.

Random headcanon: I mentioned with Luke that proximity to the old_data (filtered via Inscryption) sort of messes with the human body after a while and that’s… much more true for Kaycee than it is for Luke. Normally the old_data is a corrupting force that would want to turn whatever’s closest to it into a suitable host should it have to jump ship, but Leshy’s takeover of the game sort of interrupts that process and instead causes any changes to reflect his version of the game instead. It gets to a point where she actually has to wear her glasses to work otherwise she’s certain her coworkers will notice that her eyes have begun to shine in the dark like those of a wild animal.

(Worth noting there’s Zero canon basis for any of this; normally I try to keep my headcanons pretty grounded in canon but I hate the ARG as a whole and also how it explains it instead of keeping it as something undefinable so I’m doing whatever I want with the concept of the OLD_DATA. It’s the haunted cartridge equivalent of an eldritch horror to me. The Scrybes are all sending out fishing lines and hacking off pieces of it to use for their own means, not because it’s corrupted them but because they feel they have to. It is still alive. Hope this helps.)

Unpopular opinion: This isn’t an unpopular opinion in the slightest, I’m just pretty sure I’m the only person who gives Kaycee glasses. Probably because she pretty visibly doesn’t have them in her portrait, but she just seems like she’d be someone who needs glasses and Never Wears Them—she’s nearsighted and she’s a programmer, she doesn’t need to see far away (read: yes she does).

Song I associate with them: I have a lot of Kaycee songs (I have playlists for a lot of these characters admittedly but I’m just bad at picking songs to share from them) but my go-tos are Flight of the Crows by Jhariah (just general energy idk), The Most Peculiar Day of Your Life by The Hoosiers (works for any of the protagonists but I feel it aligns especially well with some of Kaycee’s entries), and Frozen Pines by Lord Huron. As a bonus, I associate Betrayed by Bones by Hellogoodbye with her, but I don’t really have an explanation for that one.

Favorite picture of them: There’s technically only one picture of Kaycee in-game (and I don’t even know if it’s canonically confirmed to be Kaycee… then again, who else could it possibly be). But I’m counting her Deathcard in this too. The head it uses is also called “the wildling” which is so fun

[edoro]

Caleb and his wife (and if you're up for it, Belord). ☕️

under a cut bc it got long!

Caleb and his wife: i am sooo fascinated with them. i want to know everything. Caleb is really just the character of all time, he's this ghost haunting the narrative whose death led directly to the entire story we see, but we know virtually nothing about him.

i'm very fond of my characterization of Caleb as a person who, as a survival mechanism, developed the ability to just Choose Not To See things that were threatening or painful, which came to include "every single one of the five billion red flags that Philip was waving all the time." i enjoy more complex takes on him that explore what his personal role in the absolute nightmare dumpster fire his and Philip's relationship clearly became might have been, and dislike the tendency to treat him as a precious cinnamon roll golden retriever boy (outside of like, obvious jokes/shitposts.)

i'm less firm on my mental characterization for his wife... she's fun to think about but exists as far more of like, an accessory to a plot device (Caleb being the plot device, LOVE his fridged anime mom energy) to me.

i like imagining her as someone who was really interested in the human realm, kind of similarly to the way Gus is, except she actually got to go there sometimes! it's really fun to think about the culture shock she experienced meeting Caleb and gradually finding out how fucking bonkers the culture he comes from is - like imagine your first introduction to Christianity being a seventeenth century literal Puritan.

the two of them are some really fertile ground for like, trauma recovery hurt/comfort - Caleb finding out how harmful and abnormal his upbringing was, getting to experience someone being like "wow none of that should have happened."

i also really enjoy imagining scenarios where like, the two of them end up spending time around or even living with Philip for a while, and he becomes a huge source of friction in their marriage, because Caleb's always overlooking his shitty behavior and making excuses for him, but witchwife doesn't have the same attachment.

(also interesting to consider that Caleb seems to have been willing to finally stand up to Philip and say enough when it came to protecting his wife, so, there IS a line Pip could cross...)

Belord: i love it so much. makes a terrifying amount of sense? like it's such a crackship but at the same time... there's genuinely a lot of intense emotional potential there. i can so easily see it actually happening, they would go together so well and have SUCH a bad breakup.

it's just so... it's such a relationship where both of them are using each other as stand-ins, basically. Philip of course just projects like hell onto Ford, sees him as basically another version of himself, and is so desperate for another human to be around that he'll completely forgive and excuse things totally antithetical to his own worldview.

and Ford does have a fundamentally opposed worldview! Ford loves the strange, paranormal, supernatural, occult, etc - he finds it fascinating and worthy of study, he finds it marvelous. he doesn't see it as something threatening which needs to be stamped out, he sees it as beautiful and relates to it.

Ford sees himself as a person rejected by and outside of typical society, and spitefully embraces that; at his worst he considers himself better than the people who reject him, at his best he's got a supreme sense of self-confidence and understanding of who he is and what his place in the world is.

Philip meanwhile is someone who i think has also been rejected and feels outside of typical society, and also looks down on those who have rejected him, but also tries incredibly hard to fit in and earn their respect. like, Ford knows nobody respects his study of the supernatural, but it means the world to him; Philip's whole thing here revolves around trying to gain status for himself and be the best and gain the regard of his community, a community i sincerely doubt was ever kind to him.

and Ford of course... is someone who is very vulnerable to flattery and having his ego stroked and also very lonely, and i think he would be really prone to ignoring Philip's red flags. they both project onto each other about their respective brother experiences, they both want to see each other as Just What They've Been Looking For, and for a time at least they both are able to be that for each other... but of course it can't last.