#...and made even worse by them simply trying to enjoy characters who originally made them feel seen

[neon-moon-beam]

Excuse me, Ingo and Emmet are not "sad train men". They're actually very positive, wholesome, and supportive of everyone they meet. Not sure who needs to hear this or needs to interact with the source material or even just log off and touch some grass, but there it is.

If your first thought about Ingo and Emmet is "how sad can I make the sad train blorbos", you need to realize you either don't know how they actually are as characters, especially if you've only been following fandom interpretations, or else maybe you're just willfully ignoring the actual characterization, in which case you're treating them as though they're your personal OCs which can be alienating to other fans who want to see actual Submas. There's nothing wrong with making an OC if you don't want Ingo and Emmet to be themselves! If the characters are really starting to only be Ingo and Emmet in name and appearance only, you may want to really consider this route (yes, even if they're in an alternate universe).

If your first thought about Ingo and Emmet is "how unhinged can I make the sad train blorbos", you've got some ableist ideas about two autistic-coded characters, and you need to educate yourself and think about how your fan interpretations and headcanons might impact others. Fans of Submas tend to be neurodivergent, and they're especially popular with autistic people. Think about how painting Ingo and Emmet's autistic traits as "unhinged", "feral", "scary", or even singling them out as being not human (not talking about Pokemon Mystery Dungeon aus, or aus where everyone is a Pokemon, etc) because of their autistic traits is going to make autistic people feel. Seriously, think critically about it for two seconds. If you need a hint, the ableism is a huge reason many people have left the fandom, or refuse to engage with it.

[haunted-80s-arcade-game]

I’m realising how much online “criticism” has started to genuinely effect so much media these days. There’s this trend— especially on YouTube— to always consume things purely through a critical lens, and an even worse trend of hate watching things. Because of this, it’s impossible to escape both criticism and hate of various pieces of media before you’ve even watched the piece of media at all, and by that point, your opinions have already been influenced.

I’ve noticed that a lot of shows that are regularly criticised for their writing/animation/character design etc. (High Guardian Spice, Hazbin Hotel etc.) are actually perfectly decent, and even good, as long as you go into them with no prior influence. I went into both shows without knowing anything about them, and I loved both of them (I definitely loved Hazbin Hotel more than HGS, but that’s neither here nor there). I’ve also watched plenty of reactions to HH where the person knows nothing about it prior, and more often than not, they genuinely enjoy the show and have a lot of fun with it, without being influenced by those who want to point out every single flaw for the sake of content. It’s really noticeable how many people actually like these shows when they haven’t been subjected to the visceral online hatred, almost as if our viewing experiences are now being dictated by other people (hint hint).

Overall, I think there’s a clear point to be made that a lot of shows are probably way better than most people realise, but because of this pessimistic trend of hate watching stuff, we’re all living in a world where we feel like we have to watch things just to criticise them, rather than to simply have fun. In my opinion, hate watching is pretty much pointless. Don’t watch something you’re not enjoying, and then proceed to try to influence other people to hate it too. It’s weird, and fandom spaces are suffering because of it. Fandom spaces used to be fun places to hang out it, but now they’re the most exhausting things I’ve ever had to deal with, to the point where I just don’t interact with them anymore.

It’s unfortunate that hating things is more profitable on platforms such as YouTube than enjoying things are, because now there’s a rise of simply shitting on things for the sake of clout. It’s fucking depressing, is what it is. We’re not allowed to experience joy and whimsy anymore because it doesn’t make a goddamn profit.

And if there’s anything to take away from this it’s that: If you’re watching something and your mind is permanently thinking “is this line good? is this storyline developed enough? is this a good character design? could this animation be better?” then that is the devil talking and what you should be asking is “does this make me— the most important person in the world— feel happy?”

(also, at least get your criticism right, because so many people keep criticising rushed storylines or poor writing quality and then blaming the creators for this, when it’s actually the streaming services who trade in quality for efficiency and deliberately strip down their shows into the minimum amount of episodes possible, severely impacting the development that these stories need. Never forget that Viv originally planned out about 20 eps of Hazbin Hotel, but had to squeeze everything down into 8 eps when it got picked up by Amazon).

[wereh0gz]

Answering some questions about Elysium!

Filling out this questionnaire for @sonic-oc-showdown so that everyone can know a little more about Ely!

(Questions under the cut)

✨- How did you come up with the OC’s name?

Chuggaconroy's playthrough of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 was fresh on my mind at the time, so I decided to pull a name from there! I first thought of naming it Aegis, but because I saw another OC who had that name already, I decided on Elysium instead, and I think that's for the better. (Plus I'd end up using the name Aegis for an original project later on, so naming it something else made things less confusing lol)

Elysium is a sort of heaven in Greek mythos, so I think it's pretty fitting for a character who's searching for a purpose as well as inner peace in life.

-

🌼 - How old are they? (Or approximate age range)

He's an android, so he's technically ageless. He's modeled after Shadow, who is 15 years old, so you could consider that his age as well.

If you wanna go chronologically, though, he's only existed for a little less than a year.

-

🌺- Do they have any love interest(s)?

Nope! No interest in romance. They don't really know what that feels like.

-

🍕 - What is their favorite food?

She doesn't have taste receptors or the ability to eat, unfortunately. She wishes she could try flan though, it looks so yummy...

Maybe one day...

-

💼 - What do they do for a living?

Thanks to Sonic's world being the way it is, it doesn't have to worry about working for money in the slightest.👍

It does wander the world and occasionally fight against Eggman, if that counts.

-

🎹 - Do they have any hobbies?

They have quite a few! They take up a lot of different hobbies trying to find what sticks. They like to study a lot of things, mostly culture, biology, astrology, and mythology, as well as travel the world with Livewire. They also really enjoy landscape photography, birdwatching, going to Chao Gardens, literally anything that allows them to study and learn about the nature around them.

-

🎯 -What do they do best?

For a good while, he didn't know what he was good at. Being discarded for his inability to fight like other Shadow Androids (among other imperfections) tore his self-esteem to shreds. It took a long time for him to feel like he could be good at anything.

In spite of that, he's got pretty good aim, even if he's unwilling to shoot anyone or anything. He also has near perfect memory (for better or for worse), and is a pretty good photographer.

-

🥊 -What do they love to do? What do they hate to do?

She loves to wander and explore new places, seeing new sights and listening to the world around her. She could sit outside for hours upon hours simply watching and hearing people pass by, birds fly overhead, plants shifting in the wind, anything she can notice in her environment. It's her favorite thing to do.

She absolutely hates fighting, even against Eggman's forces, though she knows she's doing the right thing by standing up against him. She hates having to draw her weapon against another and wishes she'd never have to. She also hates speaking. Her voicebox is faulty, so most of the time her voice comes out glitchy and wrong, if it comes out at all.

-

❤️ - What is one of your OC’s best memories?

Its best memories are often some of the most mundane. Waking up and stepping outside to a cool morning shower, watching the sunrise or the sunset, spending the day lazing around on the couch with Livewire and Nebula watching movies, traveling to new places...

The best out of all, though, is seeing the night sky for the first time. It had never seen it before during its short time with Eggman, but when it got to see it for the first time, lying on the grass and gazing up to the cosmos above, it was overcome with a feeling of awe, and of relief, too. It was the most beautiful thing it had ever seen.

-

✂️ - What is one of your OC’s worst memories?

Shadow Androids are put through a series of tests before they're considered suitable for deployment. Many of these are combat-based, or speed-based. Defeat a certain amount of enemies under a time limit, reach the goal in a certain amount of time, etc.

Elysium failed all of these.

Those who fail are to be torn apart by the other Shadow Androids, before being thrown out into one of Eggman's personal scrap yards.

They remember all of it, up until the moment their energy reserves ran out, and they completely shut down lying in a pile of scrap metal, completely unable to move.

Good thing Livewire eventually found them, huh?

-

🧊 - Is their current design the first one?

Yup! He hasn't gotten any redesigns yet, and I don't see him getting any in the foreseeable future.

-

🍀 - What originally inspired the OC?

I saw other people's Shadow Android OCs and Ely eventually popped into my head! I wanted to do something a little more unique with her, though. Most of the ones I've seen either still work for Eggman or rebelled against him, so I decide to make her defective from the start instead since I hadn't seen that before.

-

🌂 - What genre do they belong in?

Slice of life :]

-

💚 - What is your OC’s gender identity and sexuality?

It's agender and uses any pronouns! It hasn't figured out what it's sexuality is, though. Probably aroace.

-

🙌 - How many sibling does your OC have?

Do the hundreds of thousands of badniks currently online count as siblings? If so, they're all disowned by him.

-

🍎 - What is the OC’s relationship w/their parents like?

Eggman kiiiiiiinda counts as a parent right?

Yeah they hate him. Also disowned.

-

🧠 - What do you like most about the OC?

Her backstory. I love when robots who typically don't have any autonomy break away from their creators and original programming and find their own purpose <3

-

✏️ - How often do you draw/write about the OC?

Not enough 😔

-

💎 - Do you ever see yourself killing off the OC?

God no. If I ever do that I, I want you to shoot me in the head.

-

💀 - Does your OC have any phobias?

It has a crippling fear of failure, confrontation, and abandonment, due to its past experiences.

It also hates seeing dismantled robots. That's like gore to it. It begins to panic at the sight of it.

-

🍩 -Who is your OC’s arch-nemesis or rival?

Eggman is definitely their arch-nemesis. He's probably the only person out there they're willing to hurt, given the chance.

As for rivals, they don't have any. They're just not good rival material. They're way too nice and too avoidant of any kind of confrontation.

-

🎓 - How long have you had the OC?

Over a year now! I made him in June 2022 :]

-

🍥 - What age were you when you created the OC?

I made her just before my birthday in 2022, so I was almost 17! Time flies, huh.

-

And that's all! Thanks for reading!

[aspoonofsugar]

Happily Ever After

Probably obvious, but it only hit me yesterday that the latest episode explains why the Ever After is called, well, ever after:

When we break or wear out or simply finish what we were made to do we are called back (...) I know, I know. Where you come from, things die, but we are not like you at all. We ascend. Herb will have his purpose again.

People don't die in the Ever After... it is really happily ever after here...

The whole point of fairy tales (well, one of their many many points) is that they end with a happy ending where the evil characters die and the good characters live. Perfectly content. Forever.

If on were to look at them logically, obviously the protagonists are often bound to die after they live their perfect lives. However, this isn't part of the story usually. It is left out.

Well, the Ever After is built on this idea... How can a fairy tale world really work like a fairy tale? And you have the Ever After's system, which confirms this universe as the product of Creation alone (at least superficially).

So, it is really no surprise it appeals miss Ruby Rose so much:

Ruby: The world isn't like a fairy tale.

But it could absolutely be if Ruby chooses to stay, to be changed and to be reborn...

What I'd give in exchange To be happy without trying

Ruby who fears death and even more so grief more than anything else is given the chance not to engage with these difficult concepts anymore.

Except... things aren't really that simple...

CC: While the Prince may not remember Alix's deceptions after ascending, the heart very rarely forgets.

Fairy tales might be simpler than real life, but they are made to help people deal with reality in a better, wiser way. Not to run from it. So, in this strange realm, where Ruby could easily run away and disappear... she is also challenged to face her interiority in ways she never was in Remnant.

All in all, it is really a great commentary of stories and their roles in our lives. It also ties with the themes of:

Grief

Identity

Clearly the 2 main ideas at the centre of this volume. Their juxtaposition in itself is rather original and deep. It suggests that when we lose people, we also lose and grieve parts of ourselves and of our past. And yet, grief can also mold us and only if we deal with it we can be changed without being undone.

I would also say, I am enjoying the meta-digs CRWBY is doing at their own story and writing in general. Last ep we had CC representing the fandom. This ep they ended up:

Calling out exposition after a whole scene dedicated to exposition

CC: Of course not! The exposition was terribly boring. As this conversation was, on the whole, rather tedious!

Explaining why not all characters can have positive development in a story and that the value of a character doesn't lie in them becoming a better person

Ruby: Fixed up? The Prince was worse! CC: The Prince isn't supposed to be nice. He's meant to play the games and win.

All in all pretty funny stuff :''')

[thattimdrakeguy]

The Stinkyness Of Being In A Specific Fandom - That’s inside another.

It really makes me sad that even though they’ve made an effort to bring the 90s styled Young Justice back (Some what) in what’s supposed to be their proper forms that they really haven’t managed it.

Because like everything else in DC, every single character has been regressed to the quality of a fan fiction. And while every comic past the original creators is technically fan fiction, you still expect to have more of a quality when it’s an official product.

But nah, there’s no fun to be had in seeing every character either turned into a flat caricature, totally out of character, or a joke.

Which isn’t even a problem with the 90s generation living in today’s world specifically. That’s every character now. Even ones that have only showed up within the past 15 years or so. Everyone’s a sitcom character now. And not very good ones. There ones that don’t even try to be good, because they get instant gratification for doing things the easy way.

It’s even worse when people try to excuse it as “character development”, when really it’s just lazy writing they happen to enjoy. There’s no journey, no consistency, no logic, and no sense that it’s even a continuation of what it says it is.

I liked when characters acted like they were real people with multiple dimensions to them. When they had positives and flaws that made sense with their backstories, and ongoing stories. When even when they did something wrong it didn’t feel out of character so you could still enjoy it, and was thrilled to see it as it panned out.

It seemed more natural and better when Tim got yelled at because he didn’t know any better, and was just an innocent, naïve kid, from a sheltered upbringing. It gave him a dynamic, perspective, and story-type no other character really had at the time.

But then they had to do the “OO, BUT WHAT IF HE’S EVIL” storylines about a kid who simply started off as someone who wanted to help. And made him a super genius that looked like anyone else, because superficial traits was seen as better than actually being unique.

And I don’t expect things to stay stationary with how characters act, but there’s good change and bad change. It’s not hard to recognize it once you get a good grip on things either. The character should actually feel like it’s part of a continuation, not a sudden subpar at best reboot every time a new writer pops around.

Back when Bart who’s series was intended to be like a sitcom had moments that felt real, because they weren’t forced out of someone’s ass. But told through enjoyable stories that again had the people being authentic. Back when Bart had an edge, was himself, and was good. Not ruined, infantilized, and used like a cute kitten picture like other ruined characters of todays DC. Back when the characters could be real characters. Back when Bart was actually Bart, and not a phony rip off.

Nowadays I don’t feel like I’m even looking at Bart in new stuff most of the time. If all you knew was modern Bart, I’m not sure you’d even recognize him past the cartoony art of his solo.

Cassie was even allowed to be a unique ‘weird’ tomboy girl. Now...she just looks like any other female young adult character with blonde hair. Her personality often subdued or forgotten about. Often night and day between portrayals.

I’m not even a 90s kid though, I only started reading current ongoing comics in 2016. I started reading comics when Super Sons was starting, Tim was a super genius Red Robin, and Dick was already nothing but a hunky sitcom character. But Super Sons was badly written, forced, out of character, and pandering. Nothing about it felt real, or authentic. It honestly ruined Damian for me who at one point in time WAS my favorite Robin, because his charactization as intended (once he grew past his debut behavior) I thought was really charming in it’s own unique way. Now he’s a parody of himself, an infantilized parody, and it’s really sad. Most don’t give a single f about that. And I quickly found out how badly characterized Tim was at the time as well by going back to read his original comics, because while I had an interest in Tim, it wasn’t ‘til going back I truly found a love for him. Then any feelings I had for morally skewed super genius Red Robin Tim disappeared, it wasn’t Tim, and as I read more of Tim I could just feel there were points where Tim was gone and replaced by someone else. Changed in ways that can’t be described as character development, because it was just suddenly different with no real reason. Some of the time forcing a reason in a way where it felt like they plain didn’t like who he was, because they wanted him to be so different. And well--Dick’s characterization in his current run is only getting worse and worse. He’s the goofy sitcom boyfriend with the fat ass. I’m not sure he’s even a real character at times. Remember when he was a well-respected, complex character? How long ago was he consistently like that again? Sure seems like it’s been a while.

And lots of people care about none of that. The simple writing with simple personalities works for people who don’t really need much else.

I’m not one of those people.

And I’m not asking for people to believe or act like the 90s were perfect. They were written by some horrible people, a lot of the comics were edgy try-hard garbage. And sadly for Tim, he was written by a grumpy middle aged conservative--so figure how that ended up on occasion.

Heck, the Tim page I used here was in 1989 I believe, by a predominately 80s writer, not even 90s. The decade is irrelevant honestly.

These characters that I like the most just had amazing character stories, personalities that were endearing for unique reasons, could carry a series when written well, and were more than just easy humor, and eye-rolling content designed to get easy praise from those that believe in the fanon’s bullshit.

The modern stuff just seems to not be about writing good stuff anymore. They don’t even do the basic stuff a lot of the time. They’ll completely change a character, act like they’re doing it justice, and enough people will believe it so you can barely get a word in else wise.

It really isn’t a surprise that the comic market hasn’t done so well. There’s nothing you can grab onto, and most of the people that stay are people that make their own shit up to begin with, so typical standards of entertainment media don’t really matter to them. They just use it for something to charge up their own memory.

Which can either end up wholesome, or absolutely toxic, because a lot of them will force everyone to try and believe their made up world. Which is...holy shit just fucking obnoxious.

And having to see the current products is even worse.

I don’t love DC. They disappoint me. They make me angry. Sadden me. And their fanbase while having some truly amazing people in it, is also full of toxic assholes that pretend they’re not all at the time.

I just love what they have been before.

Which bums me out, because I can’t go forward with them. Which means it’s hard to talk to anyone about them, because I shouldn’t expect everyone to be like me, that’s silly. If I look at modern updates I end up really upset for a while because I never seem to like most of it. It just stinks.

I can’t help but love what I love, though. It’s just awful lonely is all.

But I do love what I love.

[artist-issues]

I get what your trying to say with changing tastes, and I agree with you. It just sometimes feels hard for me because while I'm trying my hand at enjoying some tragic things, in the past its because fandoms pressured me into doing so or else I got labeled or got some passive aggressive comments which basically boiled down to "its okay, but not really. and you should kinda feel bad"

now I'm not blaming you for that nor I am I saying everyone who's trying to help me is a bully but what want me to try was a friend I met

for example, I had hated RWBY's story as much as I loved the characters, and certain concepts and ships I wanted but dropped it due to V3 and onward with Pyrrha Nikos being tragic and put a bitter taste in my mouth for tragic things onward, my friend although fine with it, made sure I was aware my reasons were subjective which I agreed, but he didn't demonize subjective feelings and in fact related to me with a similar scenario in his personal life and how he'd learned to deal with it and tried to help me understand.

He gave me judgement whatsoever and gave me support with what I did like as much as he didn't like it. So while I no longer like RWBY, I get the point of those stories and try my luck elsewhere. But it was when someone treated me like a person and didn't wag the finger at me was what allowed me to give these sorts of things another chance.

But my experience with fandoms, at least The RWBY fandom, is that there's very little of that and mostly a superiority contest. And I don't understand why its so hard for certain people on the internet be the same as my friend.

Sorry to rant, and you don't need to answer, I just want to give my opinion on this

I'm going to answer because I appreciate your thoughts! I think the problem you're pointing out is valid: even if someone has something constructive to say, they don't always say it in a constructive way, or out of selfless motives.

Modern fandoms (which is the same thing as "modern audiences") are, in large majority, the kind of people who are watching something to be entertained, not watching it to be edified.

When you stop thinking of a story as "just entertainment" and start thinking of it as "a lesson someone is trying to teach me," then things take a different turn. Audiences can suddenly try to change their tastes based on that, like I said. They say to themselves "this is a lesson someone's trying to teach me; I might not be used to or comfortable with how they're saying it, but the lesson might be worth it, so I'll GET used to how they're saying it."

OR, audiences can stop finding their "sense of self" in a story, and therefore get wayyy less offended when someone doesn't like the same thing they like, or worse, when someone claims to like it more than they do! 😱

I think you're right about that. The point I'm making is, modern fandom doesn't even really like the stories they claim to like--they just like themselves, and the things that make them feel entertained, distracted, uplifted, knowledgeable, or cool. That's why you get fanfiction where authors write their "favorite" character completely out-of-character from the original material--because they never really liked that character for what it was, they just liked the tiny pieces of themselves that they could associate with that character, and re-wrote that character to only be those things.

That's why "comfort characters" are a thing. That's why "ship wars" are a thing. It's all self-focused. And there's a place for some of that. It's okay to go to a movie because you know it'll make you feel hopeful or happy. But you'll get even more benefit out of analyzing those feelings and why the movie makes you feel that way. Is it because you were beginning to think about the world in a dark, wrong way and the movie gently corrected you with its message? (Like Mary Poppins Returns does for me!)

Or do you simply feel hopeful because...maybe a character in the movie does something wrong, but the movie rewards them for it instead of punishing them, and you want to be able to relate to that? Or are you just distracted? After all, Rome invented panem et circus for entertain the people...so they could mistreat the people while they were "distracted."

Anyway. I wanted to keep it brief but I'm not that disciplined in my own style of communication yet! 😅 I think your friend did you a good turn! I've only seen a bit of RWBY, but if it helped you to think more clearly about a part of life that you maybe weren't thinking clearly about before, awesome--it did what stories are meant to do.

P.S. People like me can fall into the same trap that I just accused "fandom" people of doing. We can feel so good about ourselves for having the "correct" analysis or view of a story that we mistreat other people. Which basically hamstrings our goal of "changing people's minds about stories." Because we accidentally let "make people think we're smart and right" become the goal. So this is a good reminder for me, too!

[smol-tired-binch-blog]

Smol's Demonverse: How The Hell Does Hell Work?

Hello, this is the post with my outline of different demon types in my Demonverse plus a basic idea on how Hell works! Now admittedly, it may not be the most original or polished thing; this is basically my playground where I plonk any OC designs that aren't fandom related or connected to my Big Project/any potential projects in the future. Edits may be made, but for now, this is the basic gist of it. Should also give you an idea for what I mean when I talk about Viceroys and stuff in my OC ref sheets! It's going under a read more because fuck me there's a lot to get through. Enjoy <3

How The Hell Does Hell Work?

Hell is where sinners go when they die. That much is obvious. But what constitutes a “sinner”? There’s a surprising amount of wiggle room in terms of how much ‘sin’ someone can commit and still go to Heaven. It’s a matter of a) intention, and b) consequence. How much malice is behind an action and how large the impact of the action all adds up in the end. So, say someone found the cure for syphilis and pancreatic cancer, should be a one way ticket to Heaven, right? However, if they found these cures whilst trying to find a way to eradicate autism and gay people or then patented their treatments to sell them at extortionate prices, then you’re headed Down There. Similarly, someone who ends up poisoning a bunch of children because they, say, tried to make some delicious cakes and sweets for the kids and had no idea that a certain ingredient was toxic or something the kids were allergic to, and felt genuine remorse for their actions, it’s not actually a guaranteed trip to Hell (although those consequences must be paid for. Maybe some Celestial Community Service).

Even then, there’s some confusion. If Hell is meant to punish sinners, then does that make demons good? Again, not so simple. Lest we forget, temptation is a big part of things. It’s easy to be good if the option to be bad has simply never presented itself in your life, so a true test of character is to be presented with the sinful option, and see how one handles it. Again, does this make the demon offering temptation a good person who wants to aid in your personal growth? Not necessarily. 

There are several types of residents in Hell, which can be classified as follows:

Sinners

Sinners are people from Earth who have died and gone to Hell. Mortal souls. When one arrives in Hell, most tend to experience some change in their appearance, influenced by their life, their reason for being here, and their beliefs. One thing that always happens for some reason, is that they end up with three fingers as opposed to the normal four. No one is entirely sure why this happens. Other changes often involve skin changing to pure white, black, or some other colour, changes in eye and hair colour, as well as hair length. Some people gain wings, tails, horns are also incredibly common but a rare few end up without. Some gain more animalistic qualities such as claws, fangs, tails, animal legs, even full anthropomorphisation. 

When a Sinner arrives in Hell, they are often brought to a Higher Demon and assigned living space. Life in Hell is similar to life on Earth, in that there are cities and towns full of businesses and restaurants and the like, but everything is run by the worst people humanity has witnessed. It’s a tough life to be certain, made even worse by the assigned torture. The Boss quite quickly figured out that torture is much more effective when the victims are given a break. So, a schedule is laid out; sinners are allowed time to settle into their new life, until at some point another demon will come and collect them for a certain amount of torturing, before being let go, and the process repeats itself. Some of the Higher Ups have found that they needn’t bother torturing everyone, as it turns out a lot of Sinners will gladly hurt each other for free. However, nothing quite beats a paid professional, and so, certain Sinners are offered official work in Hell, either paperwork and classification, or torture, or temptation.

They’ve also been placed into different Districts, usually based around their main Sin/crime, although there can be some overlap as people are rarely guilty of just one Sin. Another method, therefore, is to place them in a neighbourhood surrounded by fellow Sinners, say, those who mostly committed Greed, but then a professional from the Lust district will come collect them for torture at some point. Honestly, just living another life surrounded by reminders of yourself is hell enough for some.

Embodiments/Overlords

Embodiments are Hell-born demons or spirits that were incarnated as mortals to become the embodiment of a certain sin. These are the ones who get to run their own little areas in their Districts, similar to a crime family (except for Narcolep, he has others do it for him). They don’t run the entire area, they report to Higher Ups, but they hold a lot of power over the lower demons. Funnily enough, in the Lust District, more Succubi, aka Tempters, are Overlords than Embodiments (I guess people respond better to a sexy demon than a slobbering incel who’s never seen a tit that wasn’t from anime)

Tempters

Tempters are often Hell-born demons whose purpose is to tempt mortals into sin and see if they can bring them over to the Dark Side, but mortal souls can also apply for such a role. They’re similar to Embodiments as chances are, they indulged in a particular Sin so much that they’d love to do it as their job. These have their own subroles, the most well-known being Succubi/Incubi and Dealmakers.

Succubi

Followers of Lust, these Hellborn demons rely on either being summoned to Earth by mortals messing with dark magic for a quick lay, or make their way to Earth to tempt mortals personally, getting them to sign over the soul in exchange for carnal pleasure. The latter is more challenging but therefore sometimes seen as more ‘fun’. The most powerful Succubus is known as Demistress, with her six daughters destined to follow in her steps. Succubi feed upon the carnal energy of their claims, but when it’s time to collect the soul, it’s either a matter of the mortal dying naturally or having agreed upon a certain timeframe for their soul to be collected, at which point, the soul descends to Hell, and the Succubus who claimed it has personal control/say over it. This often amounts to being the one to torture their claim, or continue their carnal relationship in Hell. Many Succubi and Incubi have gotten themselves some nice little harems from this.

Dealmakers

These demons have the qualifications to go to Earth and forge contracts with mortals and claim a soul for their District. They’re often independent contractors, and set up shop on Earth rather than residing in Hell, though some don’t mind the commute. They’re often known as Crossroads Demons, but can decide their base of operations for themselves, so long as they report to their Viceroy or Overlord. They often vary in power levels, with former mortal souls starting out naturally weaker than Hellborn Dealmakers, but build their way up by claiming and punishing souls (and making some deals with demons more powerful than themselves).

Summonables

These are demons who have a licence to respond to summons from humans. They tend to pay a fee to trademark their own sigil/ritual which can then be published in books by professionals. Summonables tend to have specialised in a type of magic to fill their own niche gaps in the markets. Many Succubi are unsurprisingly Summonables.

Haunters

These are what you likely think of when you hear the word ‘demon’. Hellborn creatures more beast-like than other Hellborns, they do not want to punish the truly evil or lure people into temptation out of spite or fun, they’re much simpler than that; they are evil. They’re bound by certain rules like all demons, but for the most part, these are the monsters mortals tell stories about. Creatures that simply want to kill and maim because they want to kill and maim, they tend not to even care where their murdered souls end up or even having control over them. Mischievous, cruel, and bloodthirsty, other demons prefer to keep their distance, and the Haunters are fine with this.

Tormentors

These are the demons who are tasked with torturing Sinners. Either Hell-born or hired Sinners who torment others to avoid it happening to themselves, and are often also Dealmakers or Succubi. They are given a select number of souls they are tasked with punishing to meet a quota. Honestly, it’s half torture but also half paperwork describing how/why they’ve punished a soul a certain way. These are smaller in number and often directly serve Overlords and Viceroys, and are therefore some of the most feared demons in Hell. In terms of political power however, they rank quite lowly, as they are pretty much thugs and secretaries.

The Viceroys

These are the Higher Ups who carry out the orders and wishes of the Deadly Sins. They allow the Overlords their territories within their own, truly ruling their District Sections. They keep the denizens of Hell in line, therefore hold the most power behind the Sins and Lucifer himself. The Viceroys are a mix of demons who want to build up their District populations and those who want humans to stop sinning and see those down in Hell as truly deserving of punishment. This can lead to disputes amongst themselves and their Overlords, although the most common point of contention is whose boss has more claim over a soul (as in, what was their main sin)

The Gula Five

The most powerful of the Viceroys. The five forms of Gluttony with the most control over their District, all of them working together better than the other Viceroys, although they do get along with a fair few of them as well as the Sins themselves.

[tobiltopart]

The Great and Mighty Ivos Aurum, Demon Lord of Decadence and Debauchery

He/she/they/lord/master

Typically around 15 feet tall, can change form to any size and shape of any person, being, or creature at will.

This is a character I made several years ago, as I do, and ended up doing a good bit more lore than I do for the vast majority of my OCs.

Ivos Aurum is an example of the very rare occasion where a demon who's never seen heaven became a titled lord. He was born directly in hell, once a tiny imp, and rapidly grew his power by any means necessary. Once they climbed to rank of Lord, they were given a choice of domain, so long as she didn't cross into the domains of other lords.

Ivos chose decadence and debauchery. The two overlap so much it's almost the same thing, but he insists that both words must be used. And while there are many demons dedicated to every domain, and even a handful of lords in this very same domain, Ivos maintains that she is the highest authority in the field.

Ivos, usually referred to at the very least as Lord Aurum, has a moderate battalion of sexy demons who stalk Limbo/Purgatory looking for souls just bad enough that they could potentially be sentenced to one of the hells, making deals to the tune of being the most benevolent of the demon domains and Lord Aurum themself being a comparably benevolent master. Those that are afraid of the idea of being sentenced to hell to someone worse will usually take the deal, immediately condemning themselves before even being judged. They seek out the most beautiful and unique souls for Lord Aurum's collection.

Some in that particular hell might agree that Lord Aurum is likely one of the more benevolent demon lords you could come across, probably top five, but he is far from a saint. Disobedient souls of hell still get tortured. Obedience is praised and sometimes rewarded. Her favorite pets seem to rotate depending on how she's feeling that century, or what flavor of servant she's most interested, but her favorites always get extra privileges.

Though their domain might lend to a more lax and sedentary life, Lord Aurum takes holding his seat very seriously. With shapeshifting, she will deter her enemies with trickery and seduction. With colossal might, they can easily beat their enemies into submission. With superior wit, he can scheme out the best course of action for undermining any demon that dares to try and usurp him.

Because of this, however, imps will often flock to them in servitude, adamant that they simply want to serve The Benevolent King. Those formed in the domain of Decadence and Debauchery are less likely to try to betray such a "kind" lord for the sake of having a relatively easy life. Those that arrive from other domains, however, risk being outed to their own lords of origin if they step out of line even once.

If she travels to the mortal plane, one of the most common forms he takes is that of a black goat. They find it hilarious.

Mortal souls that end up in the domain of Decadence and Debauchery are free to participate in all the realm has to offer, so long as they never refuse or disobey Lord Aurum. They more or less enjoy an afterlife with little pain and torture due to the nature of Lord Aurum's desires being less about punishing the souls of the damned and more about pleasure for the demons that serve her.

[silvysartfulness]

I posted 7,130 times in 2022

That's 205 more posts than 2021!

149 posts created (2%)

6,981 posts reblogged (98%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@ebonykain

@chigrima

@cryptidsamoyed

@nientedal

@veliseraptor

I tagged 2,361 of my posts in 2022

#the untamed - 516 posts

#smile with tear emoji - 120 posts

#asksilvy - 105 posts

#refs - 99 posts

#i laughed - 89 posts

#note to self - 69 posts

#the happy songxuexiao roadtrip story - 68 posts

#blorbo from my shows - 52 posts

#beautiful - 45 posts

#oh tumblr... - 37 posts

Longest Tag: 104 characters

#you are in fact autistic please try to get help so just trying to live won't leave you disabled for life

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Chapter 48 - As The Waters Flow of Heaven Has A Road But No One Walks It is up! :D

The rains caught up with them at last, and any hope that it might ease the sweltering heat was thoroughly dashed – the air was so thick with humidity, it was worse than the mists back in Yi City, thick and heavy and hot.

And yet, despite the discomfort of damp, clinging robes and the relentless heat... there was a comfortable familiarity, a sense of peace to simply walking.

“I have been thinking, lately, about the flow of water,” Xiao Xingchen mused out loud, unthinkingly letting a nudge from Xue Yang's elbow steer him around yet some other puddle or muddy patch. “And I've realized that by setting my heart so firmly on what we hoped to achieve in Jinlintai, making it the one goal above all others... I blinded myself to the greater truth of what it is I – we - actually hope to do.”

“Of course,” Xue Yang amiably agreed, and he really should have seen the bad joke coming, he should have, “you are blind, Daozhang.”

—————————

Things are heating up, and it's not just the weather. 💚

I'm having a rough time with my creativity lately - please know that your comments and asks and fun tags are literally what keeps me going. If you enjoy this story and want more of it, please tell me so..? 🥺

Maybe even come hang out in my discord server? 💚

113 notes - Posted October 21, 2022

#4

See the full post

134 notes - Posted August 23, 2022

#3

Can't help but oblige and ask about your hc for the origins of Song Lan's mysophobia👀

I know I outright encouraged the question, but wow. 😂

So this was a headcanon I picked up for Heaven Has A Road after actually writing the events that partially gave rise to it.

When I was on vacation a couple of months back, I found myself without hand sanitizer after visiting a store, and after the last two years of pandemic and the super-strict regulations at that particular location, being unable to sanitize my hands for those few minutes before I got back to the hotel really made my skin crawl. Like there were potential pathogens all over them, to the point I could almost feel it.

And so logically, I thought to myself "Wow, this must be how Song Lan feels at all times."

And then my next thought was "Huh, and he was the one who immediately picked up on the abandoned zombie village having been devastated by a plague..."

So, a Song Lan who knows to spot the aftermath of a plague, a Song Lan obsessed with staying clean, avoiding closeness and touch... A Song Lan raised by a temple, because he had no family of his own...

Maybe the first plague he saw was his home village. Maybe toddler Song Lan was told by terrified relatives not to approach strangers, not to touch, wash your hands, keep clean - or the sickness will get you, will get us all...

And then it did.

Maybe Song Lan was taken in by Baixue because everyone else was gone. Dead. Their bodies twisted and swollen and festering, ruined and tainted by sickness. Uncleanness. And if you touch, if you get dirty, if you don't stay clean... It will get you too. Get you, and all those you care about.

He was too young to consciously remember any of it. In his mind, there's nothing before Baixue.

But after that, he never stopped compulsively washing his hands.

And he still can't make himself touch.

230 notes - Posted February 24, 2022

#2

Happy birthday, Xue Yang!

There will be happy endings in your future yet! ♥♥♥

253 notes - Posted July 23, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Just your casual reminder that when faced with an enemy knocked flat on his back, Xiao Xingchen’s reaction was to go straight for the heart.

No demanding he surrender. No using the spirit-trapping rope he carries in his sleeve to restrain him. No hesitation, no quarter.

In that moment, beautiful Bright Moon Xiao Xingchen was 100% down for ice cold murder, and you can’t tell me Xue Yang didn’t fall in love then and there. ♥

512 notes - Posted April 18, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[messinwitheddie]

I know it's a bit early to make another ask since I asked that hypothetical, but I'm honestly surprised that out of all three of them, that it's Soxx who's the most remorseful! I would've expected it to be Kii, since she had some moral compass in her early life unlike those two. I'm not trying to criticize your answer of course, It genuinely caught me off-guard. Your AU enthralls me to the point I made up my own character for it, I just hope I don't come off as too weird/obsessive.

Technically, Soxx takes the most responsibility (As he should; after all Soxx was the one who created the control brains. He simply "perfected the system of life for the new era" by combining his mind control capabilities/ artificial brain technology with Hitz's PAK upgrades and Kii's smeetery). He's not necessarily the most remorseful.

No one really expected him, Hitz or Kii to show a shred of remorse for all the damage they've done over the eons. For most of the people they directly or indirectly hurt, their apologies are a hollow sentiment. They are shown little to no mercy for what feels like an eternity.

In all fairness to the control brains, they "didn't start the fire". It's been burning since their world's been turning; excuse the Billy Joel reference. They just fanned the flames to record breaking high.

I would like to believe eventually they atone for the horrors they committed. It took a LONG time for them to do the damage they did and it will take even longer to make up for it in their victims' eyes, but eventually all is forgiven and healed for both parties. Their spirits can be purified and reincarnated into our known reality again. Hopefully they can be better if given a second chance. (Hitz's upgraded flesh vessel actually survives the last battle for the empire and leads a relatively good life in comparison to the original Hitz, but that's another story within a story altogether).

Meanwhile in the living reality,

Little by little, life in the former Irken empire improves over time. Sadly the death of the control brains is not an instant fix for most. The revolution is messy and bloody as political revolutions tend to be.

Power struggles tear the Irken species and the greater galaxies apart for thousands of years. Star maps are redrawn. Planets die. New ones form. New generations face new conflicts and challenges, the likes of which the current generation can barely fathom. The Irken race and all the species impacted over the years are affected by the control brain era longer than anyone would care to acknowledge. Ultimate peace may never take place in the multiverse. The Irkens believe conflict is just a natural part of existence and maybe they're right.

BUT progress is made with effort. Things do change and will get better.

Never be afraid to criticize my writing (constructive criticism I can recognize and welcome). This au is a WIP that might never really be finished. It's all in good fun. Worse comes to worse you point out something I didn't think through very well and rework the lore.

I'm glad you enjoy my Irken lore posts and I would love to hear about your oc :D. (I know I say this almost every time I answer a question, but anyone who sends me asks, please excuse the slow response and the poor quality of my sketches. Squeezing out answers as I can).

[the-oletus-parlor]

I see a little silhouette of a man || AU Prompts

BOO jump scaring you with more of these ╰[✿•̀o•́✿]╯

These are based on specific AU prompts that I think ships would be cute in,,, most of them are story based, but I’ll try and include some silly ship interactions in there (^∇^) maybe I’ll even throw in some quotes for interaction prompts (✿ ◕ᗜ◕)━♫.*･｡ﾟ

More of me being completely useless on main/j

And You’re the Prettiest Flower Of Them All || Assorted Wonderland AU Prompts

You wake up in a different world, a strange strange world unlike any you’ve ever seen before.

In this AU, your ship partner can be on one of 4 sides. The Mad Hatter Side, the Red Queen of Hearts Side, the White Queen of Hearts Side and the Anomaly’s Side (such as the Cheshire Cat or the Blue Caterpillar) they are descendants from the original AiW characters… so take that as you will!

Alice Friendship for the Win!! » You’re simply having a picnic when you fall asleep. It’s only for a moment, you swear. When you wake up, you find yourself being shaken by a blonde girl named Alice. What’s your response?

» That’s odd. You finally noticed you’re not wearing your picnic outfit anymore. What are you wearing now?

Mad Hatter Side » You follow Curious Alice until you come across a tea party. There’s an odd ginger fellow with several hats, another rabbit, and a sleepy mouse. Also there, is a small group of people, sharing similar characteristics to the three people in the group. Who is catching your eye?

» They are all having an unbirthday party, but the topic positively confuses you. Nonetheless, the Madder Hatter offers you a sweet treat or a calming drink. Which one are you taking?

» Your partner offers to share their cake with you! They think you’re funny they enjoy your vibes! What do you say to their request?

» You’re talking to them when you notice the oddest thing about them! What is it? Is it their eyes? Their hair? Is it something off about their ears?

» You come across a pack of singing flowers! What flower is the prettiest of them all?

Red Queen of Hearts Side » You've finally made it to the Red Queen of Heart's castle, when you spot the most striking card soldier! What’s the first thing about them that you notice?

» But before you can say anything, they apprehend you! Yeah they may have tackled you... but they’re kind of hot though. What the hotter than being tackled tbh/j

» They take you to the Red Queen's dungeon, where they lock you up until judgment! But, guarding you all is your one and only partner! Do you try and convince them to let you go? How?

» You've finally met the Red Queen, and oh boy, they're frightening! So mean and rough, you wonder how anyone can be so cruel, beheading all of those who get in their path... what do you say to the queen? Do you have some... choice words for her lmao?

Anamoly's Side » You're lost in the forest, and just when you think it can't get any worse... you start to see things! One eye... and then another eye... and then the wide, odd smile! Oh, silly Cheshire! "My my, the little adventurers have gotten lost once again. Whatever am I going to do with you~?" How do you respond?

» You come across a baker within the entrance room, holding a jar of cookies titled "Eat Me!" and a bottle that says "Drink Me!". The strange baker offers you one, do you take it? Be sure to give your compliments to the chef!

» You come across a blue caterpillar sitting in a flower, smoking something from an odd pipe. You call out, but you are ignored. What do you do now? Surely you won't let yourself be ignored, not in a situation as odd as this!

White Queen of Hearts Side » After escaping execution, you run into a stranger in the forest! They say they're with the White Queen, and take you to see her! What do you say to them?

» You see another set of card soldiers! Although... maybe you should keep your distance. You don't fancy getting tackled. Oh, but they're nice. One of them even serves you a warm cup of tea! What do you say to them?

» You finally meet the White Queen of Hearts!! She is nothing like the Red Queen... but this is good. Maybe she can help you out? What do you say to her? Don't ask her on a date right away, be classy lol

Returning Home » You've successfully survived wonderland, but now you're presented with two choices...

» Do you leave? Leaving wonderland all behind, your friends and your partner? How do you plan to memorialize the experience?

» Or do you stay, and become a part of the madness? What faction would you belong to? Is it the same as your partner... or different?

» You run into someone on the surface world who reminds you of the love you left behind... how do you introduce yourself? What do you say?

Scaramouche? I know no one by that name! I wonder if he'll do the fandango though... || Gamer + Streamer AU

» You've finally convinced your partner to play a video game with you! What's your video game of choice? Are you willing to carry them in the game... or are they on their own?

» You're playing Genshin Impact together when you hear them ask you "why's the wish turning gold? Babeee-" You look over and see they got a double 5-star, both the event banner character! What are the odds? What is your reaction?

» You're playing in coop when you notice your partner is low on HP! The boss is about to do a crazy move that can kill them, but you have a healing skill! You can't use it for a few more moments, because of the cooldown. What do you tell them to keep them alive?

» You're playing Among Us on proximity chat when you hear your partner faintly going "taking out the trash like a good crewmate la dee daa". You're one of the imposters, and you know they're alone, and you only need 1 more kill to win the game. What's your game plan?

» You're playing Just Dance with your partner and all your friends! How do you make this session special? Character costumes based on the coaches? Baked goods? Karaoke?

» You're still playing Just Dance when someone mentions that you should all play for prizes. The loser has to do whatever the winner says. You play a round with your partner, and you come out as the winner of this song! What are you going to make them do?

» You're playing monopoly when you land on your partner's property, but you don't have enough to pay the fee! What do you do to get out of paying them? Don't say bankruptcy, don't be cheap smh/ih

» You're playing Phasmophobia! You're in the truck when you notice the activity starting to spike! Oh no! You and your partner go to try and warn the person in the house... but it's too late. As you reach the house, you can faintly hear them screaming in terror through the walls! Your partner busts out laughing! How do you react?

» You're playing Identity V! You're an A badge hunter, and you're playing matches in quick match mode when you finally get a match! You look at the usernames, you realize your partner is one of the survivors in game! They're pretty new to the game, and therefore, not the best survivor... what do you do?

» On the other end... you are a new survivor and you run into your partner in quick match, an A badge hunter! They spare you in match! What do you do? How do you express your love :)

» Your partner just got Final Fantasy VII, and they've been playing it nonstop! You come to check on them, and find they've fallen asleep with the control in their hands... what do you do now?

» Your partner has invited YOU to play Roblox Doors! You've never played it before, and you've just encountered your first jumpscare by Dupe! But your partner can't stop laughing... what's your response? They led you straight to it! Menace!

» You, a couple of friends and your partner are all playing Omori/Undertale! You're having fun with it, and voicing all the characters to the best of your abilities when you enter your first boss battle! What's the first thing you do? Attack? Retreat?

» And the classic truth or dare game... Your partner chooses dare! What's the wildest dare you can think of? Don't be shy hehe

---

» You're a new streamer! You're streaming your activity of choice when you get your first viewer and future significant other! They say "hii" in the chat! How do you respond? What are you streaming?

» You're streaming something when they return back home. You can hear them yell that they're home. The chats' asking who that was! What do you say?

» Your streaming career has taken you to an exciting event, and you want to bring your partner! Where are you guys going?

» You're a sewing/cosplaying streamer, and your partner is on stream as you use them as a mannequin! They ask you what you're making! What are you making? Tell them about it!

» You're a baking/cooking streamer, and your partner is helping you mix/cut things! But, mischief arises as your partner attacks you with frosting! Oh, that's it! How are you getting back at them?

» You're a gaming streamer, but you just can't seem to get past this boss... so you can in your backup! Your partner beats it in one try, and you're shocked! What do you say?

» Alternatively, your partner comes in and roasts your character builds! How does your gamer ego take the blows/j

» You're a streamer who works with machines! Your partner comes in and asks what you're doing! Do you give them the simple version, or do you do into depth about it?

» Your partner is a dancing streamer! You're watching them dance when they fall! Oh no! What do you do?

» Your partner is a streamer who plays some form of music! You want to be funny, but also support them by making a donation! By donating, you also get to request a song! What are you requesting?

» Your partner is an artist streamer, and you're watching one of their streams when you notice who they're drawing!! They're drawing... you! What's your reaction?

Hey, do you hear something odd? Could've sworn it sounds like a guy screaming. || Magic Academy Mystery AU

» You are a new student at this magical academy! There are a bunch of different students here, but one catches your eye! What do they look like, what's their vibes? Can you tell anything about them based on their mannerisms? What dorm do you think they're in? Researcher's Block? Summoner's Block? Mystical Abilities' Block? Exorcist's Block? Creator's Block? Give us your best guesses! [if you send this ask, you can always reblog it with the OC's school information! See how well the ships know one another/ih]

» You're eating lunch when you run into your crush, covered in food... someone accidentally spilled their lunch on them :( [whether it was accidental on purpose, you decide :)] What do you do?

» Oh man, class was hard! But you're finally out for the weekend, yay! On your way back to your assigned dorm, you run into your crush, sitting on a nearby bench, absorbed in their craft/research/game. You want to say hi, how do you do it?

» You're going to the library to go study when you hear someone scream! Do you go investigate what happened?

» Nonetheless, you discover your crush unconscious in a corner of the library! It looks like they were attacked, and their shirt was torn in the process... what do you do now?

Researcher's Block Interaction Prompts » Your crush asks for your help with their project! What do you say? Do you want to help them? Do you want to know more before making a decision?

» Alternatively, you're the researcher who has to go d a project, and you want to recruit your crush's help! What do you say to convince them?

Summoner's Block Interaction Prompts » Your crush is a summoner who's trying their best to summon something... but it just isn't working out. So you offer to observe them! They manage to finally summon something... a bunch of stuffed animals! But... they accidentally dropped them all on you. What's your reaction?

» Alternatively, you're practicing your summoning skills, when your crush walks by! But, in that brief moment... you accidentally summon an angelmon, and drop it on your crush. How embarrassing! What you do say to them?

Mystical Abilities' Block Interaction Prompts » Your crush is preparing for midterms... which means they need the upmost energy and concentration! So you bring them a nice homecooked lunch :)

» Alternatively, you're out there practicing your abilities when your crush sees you! They don't approach you, but you can see them, watching in awe. You're planning on scaring/surprising them! How do you use your abilities to do it? Gotta get that practice in somehow!

Exorcist's Block Interaction Prompts » Your crush is going to exorcise their first demon today! They did it... but they got injured in the process. You have a bit of first-aid knowledge, what do you do? Should you help?

» Alternatively, you're about to got exorcise your first demon, but you're a bit nervous. Your crush tries to cheer you up! How do they try and cheer you up? Does it work?

Creator's Block Interaction Prompts » Your crush is working on their next creation, one that's going to help the outer world a lot! And you're in charge of making sure they eat! What are you making them for lunch?

» You need a muse for your creative projects. You're going through the different people volunteering when you see them. Your crush. What about them is so alluring to you?

Hey look! We're matching!! || Actor Essence/Package AU

» You and your partner get matching A tiers in an upcoming package! You guys get to brainstorm ideas! What ideas do you have for the matching elements?

» You've finally settled on a theme for your package, and now it's time to try them on! What's your favorite part of the costume? What bits match with your partner?

» It's time to film the trailer/teaser for the package! Isn't that exciting? Tell us your favorite moment from filming!

» Did you have a favorite blooper from the recording sessions??? What was the most memorable thing your partner did on set?

» Be honest... did you try on each other's outfits? Did they fit???

» What was the story of the package skins? Be creative! Is it a love story? A tragedy? Is it inspired by something? *making grabby hands rn*

» Did you thank the designers, Miss Tomie and Miss Nikki? You gotta make sure to say thank you, you guys ╰[✿•̀o•́✿]╯can't let Angel do all the hard work smh/ih [don't ask anyone this i put it in as a joke/lh]

» Do you think you'd do another set of matching costumes with your partner? If so, what?

What in the world is this?! || Miscellaneous Prompts + Quotes

» "Dude, I think I'm dying." "You're not dying." "How? You're so cute, it's killing me!"

» "I love the way you smile. It's warmer than the sun."

» *insert beach episode here*

» cosplaying as your favorite video game ship together

» feeding the ducks, again. it never gets old.

» playing hide and seek together

» baking a cake together

» watching a horror movie together

» you are watching Uncle Roger together. that's it. that is the whole prompt lol

» getting a puppy together!

» getting married [but for real!]

» modern au

» an idol meeting their shyest fan!!

» an artist finally finding their muse after years of searching.

» adopting a kid together!!

» your partner is a children's show animator and you hear them yell that they're going to animate god into an early grave. You have o idea what that means but you are... confused.

» you're a popular creator of some kind, and you meet your partner because a 'submit your own design' event.

» you're a doll customizer and you have to explain the benefits of putting the headless doll body outside on a hanger to dry and why you're not just secretly just a doll serial killer.

» you're bored so you and your partner go through reddit. have fun

[checkoutmyflow]

Star Elite: Archetypes They Hate

I recently made a Star Elite: Food Pet Peeves if you wanna go check that one out! This post is basically about the type of people they hate the most. Disclaimer: If you don't know Star Elite is my Blue Lock AU with my original characters. Here's the link so you can read up on it if you're interested.

Now onto the post!

•───────•°•❀•°•───────•

Fiorello Dal Lago: People who brag about being toxic. Are you proud of yourself? Honestly if you brag about doing awful shit or overall being a bitch, or try to justify it, he's never going to associate with you. Being mean as a joke is fine but being flat out toxic is where he crosses the line.

De'Andre Wilde: People who manipulate and try to make themselves the victim. He hates people like this so much. They know better than to try their mind games with him though, they know better.

Amari Wilde: People who shame others for having anxiety, or a certain disorder. Sometimes things happen to people that they can't just recover from. It's not so easy to forget the past, or just get over something as serious as a disorder. Yes, people with disorders should still be held accountable when they do something wrong, but if they need help then they shouldn't be chastised for needing help.

Xaivier Johnson: People who are super clingy. He likes his privacy, space, and overall antisocial. To add onto this, he has trust issues when it comes to people. He's not at all a people person. So it takes time for him to trust and actually open up, and he's not gonna do that if you're constantly trying to force him to talk about his feelings and invade his space and privacy.

Enkai Nakajima: Controlling parents. Let your kids have their own social life and interest. They're not your pets, they're human beings. If they're not doing anything incredibly weird and fucked up, why must you hover over them 24/7?? They're gonna go through phases and make mistakes, that's apart of life and growing.

Anselmo Espinoza: People who just disregard other people's feelings or straight up ignore them. If someone opens up about something and you ignore them or worse, make fun of them, you're a dickhead. Plain and simple. At least in his eyes you are.

Isaac Espinoza: People who try and one up everyone. Like we get it, you did this, you did xy and z... we don't care. Not everything has to be about you.

Vespa Richelieu: People who bring politics into everything. You can't have fun at all around them without them bringing up SOMETHING to do with politics. Literally he just wants to enjoy his day in peace chaos he does not want hear about global warming or elections or racism or sexism or whatever the fuck it is you want to talk about. There's a time and a place for this, and it's not around him.

Deong Daon: People who fake/lie about disorders. It's hard enough for people to take disorders seriously as is. Now you're making it harder for people to actually come out about this because you wanted attention. Also people who lie about traumatic experiences.

Elio Rossi: People who chastise other's dreams or your occupation. He himself is a streamer and has been told multiple times that it's a childish hobby and not a real job. For him it's a side job from his soccer career, but this still annoys him because many people have become extremely successful and influential in good ways by doing things like streaming. Or hell, just simply doing things they love. Even if said thing is weird, they're still making money, so why dictate them?

Alexander Bennett: People who make one thing their entire personality. Whether it's politics, mental illness, being LGBT+, feminism, being a vaper/smoker, being a certain person's fan, etc. People like this are insufferable to him. You couldn't make any friends or have a decent personality so instead you base it off of one thing and just revolve around that??

Lixue Bai: People who over-sexualize things that don't need to be sexualized. Examples being: women, gay men, certain body parts, breast feeding, ethnicities such as Japanese people, eating popsicles, etc. Literally not everything a person does is for your fucking satisfaction. Get a grip.

Axel Hart: People who have zero self awareness. Yes, Axel can be a energetic, loud, blunt, and teasing. The only difference is that he can admit that and knows when to tone it down. He can't understand how some people are so blind to how they act and think they're this perfect person.

Seia Morikawa: People who take advantage of other's generousity. People wonder why he has trust issues, it's because of shit like this. Other's decide to be kind and the world has to ruin it for their own gratification.

Carnell Reid: People who think they're entitled for something. How he was raised, you had to work for what you wanted. So when he sees someone who acts like they don't have to work for something or always expect something for free, it irks him.

Bruce Matthews: People who complain about every. Little. Fucking, Thing. Like you could easily fix this but instead you just continue to bitch and moan about it. Shut up, if it's fixable then fucking fix it, stop whining about it in hopes that it gets better. That helps literally NO ONE.

Amador Shimizu: People who are inconsiderate. He's not an aggressive person but please believe he'll actually gut check you if you do shit like leave your trash everywhere, being late to everything, or put very little to zero effort into anything. Like did your mother not teach you manners!?? Also FYI: BEING LATE TO EVERYTHING IS NOT A PERSONALITY TRAIT.

Omair Rosario: People who can't put themselves in other people's shoes. Sometimes people aren't blessed with the opportunities you have. It doesn't give you the right to ridicule them because of it.

Emeterio Narvaez: People who ruin the fun for everyone. He can understand if you're going through something, hell, he'll try and take you out to make you feel better even if you don't want to (It doesn't have to be somewhere public. Movie nights at home exist for a reason). But people who just.. fuck up stuff for everyone and kill the vibe. Especially if they're just overall bitchy.

Y'all tell me your pet peeves if you wanna, or if you agree with any of the character's pet peeves. I hope y'all are having a good night. Bye now :)

[sadculturee]

AINUN'S FILM REVIEW

THE MARVELS

Ratings: 6/10

Rating an MCU film, especially one with some of my favorite characters, a 6 felt personally painful to me. I didn’t have grand expectations coming into the theaters, knowing how poorly Marvel had executed their 4th phase, but 30 minutes in I knew I had to make my peace with the fact that “The Marvels” was simply badly written and poorly executed. An opinion that remains standing until the very end of the story. Iman Vellani aka Ms Marvel was the only good thing about the whole film, she delivered her character with her own unique pizzazz. Ms Marvel was a joy to watch and I truly hope to see her more in future MCU projects. 

Disclaimer: Minor spoiler alert and a sort of brutally honest rant from a Captain Marvel fan.

My first “umm?” moments came really early in the film, just when they were building up the story background. Our heroes were forcefully intertwined with each other, resulting in them having to overcome their differences and work out their powers in synergy. Watching this from an MCU-fan point of view, someone who has watched nearly all of MCU films/shows, I really did not get the tension they were trying to establish. I was still trying to grasp what was going on when the fight scenes and body swaps started.

I understand that they were trying to make it vague and mysterious for a “grand reveal” right before the climax, but it didn’t exactly do what it was supposed to. All it felt was: chaotic, incoherent, rushed in some parts yet too dragged down in others. I felt bamboozled by the constant light blasts and awkward attempts at comedy relief, not able to savor and enjoy any part of it. The music and soundtracks even felt weird, out-of-place and forced. It adds nothing to the story or the characters. 

There’s honestly not much to say about “The Marvels”. Random droppings of fan-favorite characters and a tease of a couple highly anticipated future projects were supposed to be a nice bonus on the side, not the sole highlight of the story (at least for me). Cameos and easter eggs used to be nice little bonuses fans got, but this time it's the only good thing we got.

I wished they raveled more about Carol and Monica’s relationship, instead of having them say a few emotionless lines, non-consensual memory evasion and then hug it out in a Disney fashion. This devoids all emotion and empathy from the audience, shrugging off the issue as meaningless, and the characters as hollow. The same case with Carol's relationship with Prince Yan, I imagine, was written as an attempt to add dimension to her character, to provide a human sense to her all-mighty powers. It felt more like a filler plot that adds nothing of value to the story. This, combined with the messy pacing, made the film even worse. 

I wish Carol showed more compassion for the people around her, actually thinking about what she’s doing and the impacts of her actions. A bare minimum quality ANY heroes should inhibit. Her initial reaction upon meeting Kamala for the first time felt out of character. I understand heroes have to make hard decisions during a crisis, but snapping at a literal child who simply wants to save people gave me the ick. It felt wrong in so many ways. And this is coming from a (self-proclaimed) hard-core Captain Marvel defender. These micro-interactions of her with Kamala felt like a complete butchery of her character for me. SOUNDS EXTREME I KNOW, but I’m actually pissed. This is not the Captain Marvel they introduced to us in 2019. This is not the badass superhero I fell in love with and rooted for. 

Iman Vellani's love and respect for her character and the original source materials (the comics) truly shows. Even with a bad script, a story struggling to build a clear foundation and failing to deliver a coherent climax, she managed to be the only main character who made the movie watchable. 

To sum up, did "The Marvels" deliver an enjoyable experience? To some extent, yes. Would I recommend this film to people who haven't seen it yet? No, even if you're curious, just wait until it's Disney+ release, it's not worth your money. If you're intrigued by the main characters, I implore you to watch "Ms Marvel" instead. It's unlike any other superhero series Marvel has ever done, so do not expect it to be in the same format as the superhero stories you grew up with, but it is really good. It explores Kamala Khan's origin story, her struggle with being a Muslim, brown, 1st generation immigrant teenager with reasonably high expectations from her parents and her new-found superpowers.  She's not depicted as the perfect, mighty hero we're accustomed to, and her flaws were actual flaws and not some weird exaggerations I’ve seen in others (for example: Loki/Sylvie Season 1) which makes her all the more interesting. Despite her weaknesses and teenage clumsiness, she always tried her best to help. Which, in the grand scale of things, is the core essence of being a hero. It felt personal and relatable. Like I’m living through her adventures.

PS: there's one after-credit clip you'd regret to miss, so stay put in your seat.

[lordofthestrix]

💗

SEND ME A 💗 AND I’LL TALK ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP OUR MUSES HAVE.

I'm going to bend the rules of the meme just a little for this one (Undoubtedly an unexpected shock to all of those familiar with my usual, dogmatic loyalty to the norms) and talk about one specific, nostalgic thread between these two. Because I believe it to be the one that helped us discover the way they interact with each other after Juliette joins The Sisters.

I'm referring to the peculiar slice of life we could call: The night of the spider lady.

The premise is functionally simple. Occurring not long after Finn's first death and the unpleasant discovery of any vampire's demise following the death of their corresponding Original, Tristan assigns her to look into other potential instances of witches trying to perform immortality spells outside of the incident that originated vampirism to gather as much information and understanding of them as possible. I believe it was one of mine? Its...Fine. It does its job getting them to the scene.

But what I really enjoy about this one is the ambiance and all the unexpected character work we got out of it.

First of all it is probably the most horror-themed thread I collaborated in during all of my role-playing excursions. There is a lot of classic terror in themes, the setting of the ruined manor and their antagonist for the piece. But at the same time is shows a very unique personality because...It isn't horror. Not truly. It can't be. Because our protagonists are still an ancient vampire with more than a couple of wicked dispositions and an obsessive witch who knows enough dark magic to fill her own library. So the first time they encounter this crawling monstrosity passing by the window they don't react to it as your everyday human would. There is a very interesting sense during the role of..."We are all monsters here."

I will never stop being proud of Amaris and the backstory we crafted for her. I enjoy how much of a challenge she proved to be for Juliette and Tristan and the way she managed to surprise them more than once. When seeing this semi-rotting, macabre shell of a girl crawling by the window of the second floor Tristan most certainly doesn't expect her to be faster than him. And the fact that the kind of predator she became was able to move around with so much stealth not even he could hear her movements made her a very particular challenge for his senses. And then of course the eventual revelation that it is even worse. That this ghoulish creature isn't at all like vampires and, even almost entirely feral as she is, she still retains her capacity to use magic.

You talked to me about how Juliette can be naturally perceived as simply a bit quirky and the way she realizes and plays into it for her advantage but this one is to my understanding the quintessential role that demonstrates that beyond superficial outlandishness...No. It isn't all of that sacrificial magic she so passionately used to play with. It isn't Tristan's influence. Juliette is, all on her own, the young doctor Frankenstein of the witchcraft world and she will see or cause your suffering with a heartfelt giggle and a smile on her lips as long as it serves to quench her curiosity.

And finally there was the attic. Expectantly waiting to see if their combined strategy succeeded against their opponent while letting those tense minutes pass by interviewing each other.

I liked the contrast between their assumptions. Tristan theorizing she must have collected those corpses there inspired by love for her sister because that's what he knows against Juliette just as quickly assuming she must be motivated by hatred for the memory of her sister because that's what she relates to. I equally like that we left the point ambiguous and easily interpreted either way.

Tristan asking her about her curious loathing for all other fellow witches who aren't her in light of the way she constantly studies and collects not only the spells of those who came before her but all kind of anecdotes from their personal lives as well. Tristan interrogating her about her peculiar selection of name. And this was a particular point of interest for him since he experienced losing his real name for a century. Juliette interrogating him in return. Asking him about his real and complete view of the Strix. Asking him for all of his thoughts on Aurora.

It was all fun. Speaking of...A question probably only Juliette knows the answer to since Tristan gifted her the creature for her experiments: Where is Amaris nowadays? Still locked up in some old, enchanted chest under seven keys when not needed?

...Because we could always improvise ourselves a sequel one of these days if you are interested. @julincantations

[adamwatchesmovies]

Exterminators of the Year 3000 (1983)

While I didn't enjoy this film, that doesn't mean you won't. No matter what I say, the people involved in this project did it: they actually made a movie. That's something to be applauded. With that established...

There are many Mad Max ripoffs and the most ripoff-iest of them all must be Exterminators of the Year 3000. The few original ideas contained within feel like asterisks, tiny details thrown in to “prove” this cheapo action adventure isn’t simply The Road Warrior on shuffle mode.

It's the year 3000. Nuclear war has destroyed the ozone belt. It hasn’t rained for years and the remnants of humanity battle on the roads for every remaining drop of water. When lone marauder Alien (Robert Iannucci) stumbles upon young Tommy (Luca Vennantini), he agrees to bring the boy to the source of water his tribe was desperately trying to reach. But even with the demented Crazy Bull (Fernando Bilbao) and his raving gang of lunatics forcing them to work in unison, Tommy can't trust his new partner.

You’ll immediately notice the Italian cast and the dubbed dialogue; dialogue so poorly written it confirms director Giuliano Carnimeo (as Jules Harrison) only had a tenuous understanding of the English language. It’s hard to determine if the villains’ constant references to “mother-grabbers” or “lousy splots of aberration” are attempts to self-censor and make the film available to those under 18 (they failed, it’s still rated R) or some of the weakest bits of world-building you’ve ever seen. Generally, I’d call the film tedious, but the dialogue is full of gems: bits of random words strung together that’ll make you laugh out loud. “Nothing is impossible with faith and prayer; even miracles!” indeed. Characters frequently tell you how they feel instead of letting their words, inflections or actions do so. Even if they were given brilliant lines to barf out, it wouldn't have matted. The people chosen to read the script are dreadful.

Giuliano Carnimeo makes you appreciate the skill and artistry of George miller. In this picture, there’s no escalation in the action, whatsoever. The climax has a big body count, but it’s nothing compared to a big sequence about 20-minutes in - a scene shamelessly lifted from the climax of The Road Warrior. It’s a pool of quicksand you’re only barely making your way through when finally, we’re properly introduced to this film’s Max Rockatansky: Alien. While Mel Gibson's character has charm and you can sense a heart beating beneath his bitter exterior, Robert Iannucci is like an unwrapped chocolate bar that’s been sitting on the pavement on a hot summer day. Even if you wanted to dig in, he wouldn’t be worth the effort. The guy’s just a jerk with no bargaining skills, and he’s not even good at what he does! Sculpting an anti-hero is delicate work and Exterminators of the Year 3000 is not up to the task at all.

Plot points frequently come out of nowhere, characters act illogically, their dialogue feels like a crossbow bolt through the palm and their performances are worse. Don’t even get me started on the scenes that demand they shed tears. You’d think the Italian movie people could at least get the stunts right, but they can’t. The gore isn’t convincing, and neither are any of the punches or kicks thrown. It then makes the fatal mistake of showing every explosion and crash in slow-motion. Now you'll definitely spot the helmet-wearing stunt drivers who have replaced the actors and their cheap costumes.

Exterminators of the Year 3000 (a title that is neither memorable nor appropriate for this film) is amusing for a while but sitting through the entire thing is a bore. You can have fun at its expense but eventually, the overwhelming, ever-pervasive shoddiness gets to you and you simply want it to end. (On Blu-ray, June 15, 2018)

[fandom-rants]

@mywitchcultblr said: "I can understand her background but i cannot agree with her politics, an ex mutual blocked me simply because I'm critical of her lmao

"I love dragon age and all of my fave, im still passionate but it's just i have no interest to interact with the fandom too much"

--

I feel the exact same! Dragon Age is my favorite game series, and yet the fandom is hands-down one of the most toxic I've ever had the displeasure of interacting with. Don't like Sera? Lesbophobe. Don't like Vivienne? Racist. Don't like Solas? Misogynist, for some reason. Don't like fandom's favorite fanons because they go directly against known lore? Gatekeeper. What's that? Fandom can enjoy fanon, but you dislike it and block any mention of it from your eyesight because you love the original world and lore of DA? Still a gatekeeper, apparently.

Worse, the fandom has a handful of favorite blogs that are Always Right And Best, and everyone else had better toe the line while also being forced into obscurity. This is something I've always seen, both in fandoms and in life - the popular people are right, always, and the unpopular people need to be quiet "and let people enjoy things" (by not speaking about what they enjoy, of course). But it's the demanded silence that really does it to me. The Dragon Age fandom barks and howls about inclusivity, but the instant you don't fall in line with their reinvented fanon DA, you get attacked as if by rabid wolves.

Have you ever mentioned that, while the fics and pics to the contrary are fun and interesting, Solas made it clear in Trespasser that he was never one of the Evanuris, so he was never considered a god before he started the war? I don't recommend it; Solas stans get really upset when you point it out.

Hell, I remember someone posting about how Solas' eyes are canonically brown, not blue, and someone telling them they don't want to know that. Like???? The fandom is INSANE.

It's the height of the "woke" crowd, and I put "woke" in quotation marks because they aren't woke so much as they try to make everything about marginalization and demand everyone agree with them, even if it means deliberately ignoring canon. The creators who wrote Orlais and Ferelden are racist against the French-speaking people in Canada. Making a corrupt Chantry led by women is misogynistic. Cullen getting an okay ending is abuser/racist apologism. Vivienne is a black woman girlboss with no bad features hated simply for being black. The Ancient Elves are evil and selfish like boomers. And on and on!

It's exhausting. If these people want to enjoy Dragon Age in this way, even though I can't imagine how, they are free to do so. But anyone who wants to enjoy it in any other way - by reading the side books and knowing Vivienne is a corrupt liar, by learning the history and cultures of the games and knowing the plight of the Ancient Elves is far more complex than boomer rhetoric, by enjoying the complexity of characters enough to say Cullen and Solas are morally grey, by tackling the complex political world of Thedas and seeing how religious extremism is the problem with the Chantry and would be the problem no matter who led it... all of these are unacceptable interpretations by 99% of the fandom, and any time a person sticks their neck out to say something that goes against the status quo, fandom will jump them like slavering beasts in an effort to shut them up.

If ever there was a fandom that I never, ever wish to interact with again, despite how much I love the original source and have even created art and fic, it would be the Dragon Age fandom. I have written several stories and drawn countless art pieces that will never be seen online, because I don't want to hear these people praise my works - nor do I think they deserve to enjoy them - while waiting in the wings to jump my shit because I mentioned that the vallaslin was unwittingly culturally stolen by modern elves from the Ancient elves.