#If anyone has any lore docs of them

[voidshrub]

Hiii hello first art post!!! I hope you guys like addi fanart :D

Woag wow they kiss,, Context? Backstory?? Sorry this is all for the aesthetic I dunno how they got like this :3

Click (pink) belongs to @brightgoat and Link (green) belongs to @e40536 :D

This is the only post I’ll ever be brave enough (and proud enough of) to tag them on probably because I am an anxious coward. Also expect me to draw them a bunch. I might be late to the hype but the brainrot is still strong (Help)

[calder]

hello! i stumbled across your blog very recently and am curious as to what the tag v13 means- sorry if you’ve answered this before, i’m on mobile!

fallout is based on wasteland. wasteland is based on a canticle for liebowitz. a canticle for liebowitz is about catholics bickering about fiction in the dust of america for hundreds and hundreds of years. it is about religion and the concept of a dark age

VAULT 13: A GURPS Post-Nuclear Adventure was the ip's name in the conceptual phase. the very first VAULT 13 worldbuilding pitch doc--a timeline--spoke of a Dark God, a term deployed throughout Fallout but only contextualized in the fallout bible, which does not actually use the term. Laura has a special voiced line just for Tell Me About: Dark,God: "The what?"

Project V-13 was interplay's original Fallout Online, which was cancelled by the publisher bethesda like fifteen years ago now.

pylon v-13 is a location at the end of Fallout 76's map where a character from Project V-13 built a time portal and disappeared. it is the most cursed location in the game

by accepting its premise, we arrive at v13 lore, the rejection of canon in light of canonical time travel and multiverse, which has always been a thing, and is also literally a joke. it's the realization that fallout is defined by creativity, interpretation, expression, and argument. it is the understanding that non-canon lore and controversial lore are basic and vital pieces of the history of the setting. and it's the begrudging admission that fallout is a cultural legend, irreplaceable and beyond anyone's control. fallout makes sense to everyone and demands our imagination. it always will

enabled by all the most hated and rejected lore, my characters are time-travelling supervillains who know the things i know, and scour the wastelands endlessly to expand their knowledge. this diegetic headspace and cosmology is a lens i use to explore the concepts of conspiracy theory, paranormal thought, religion, and occultism, all of which i am deeply critical of. i have learned a lot about these matters because i was able to fully engage with them in the context of fallout.

also the talking deathclaws lived in vault 13 and the courier carries the vault 13 canteen. there's also some esoteric shit about 13 high priests, 13 ghouls, and 13 landmarks. it's a pretty specific throughline. it's there if you're mad enough to look for it. and we'll never really know what it means if anything

thats what it means. to me

another thing i always say is. any setting where humans don't see ghosts is a strange fantasy. humans have always seen ghosts. don't mean ghosts are real. just means folks see ghosts. and at some point you gotta talk about it

hope this isnt complete nonsense

[edens-passing-if]

Eden's Passing is a 16+ game made in Twine by me, Doc, and is my first attempt at making an interactive fiction game!

Genre: Primarily Fantasy and Comedy focused with a smidge of Mystery and Horror elements. Do tell me if a separate catagory fits, please!

Warnings: Trauma, Bodily Injury without feeling it, Body Horror in general (more will be added as time goes on, these are what I'm currently certain off)

Demo: In the works!

Alone in a land you can't recall and stuck at the bottom of a seemingly endless ravine, the start of your journey isn't a pleasant one. Body slowly crumbling away, memory missing, and seemingly stuck with a stranger intent on calling you a name you can't remember, your attempts to leave seem fruitless until they finally offer a helping hand. Hopefully with no strings attached.

Set in the world of Nyr, you're just a lost soul trying to figure out who you are and what happened to you.

Features, added or intended:

☆ Fully customizable MC (name, hair, skin color, personality, etc.)

☆ Romantic or Platonic routes, Poly included.

☆ Long Crocodile. You'll see. ♡

☆ Learn more about the world and maybe save it, maybe launch a salamander at someone.

☆ Diverse cast of characters, ethnicities, religions, etc! (Please do tell me if anything's not accurate enough, it's fantasy, yes, but I am using some real-life ethnicities and such as basis!)

☆ A lot of lore. A lot. I made a map. I will do more than just a map. It's inevitable.

Eden's Passing isn't romance focused but, those inclined towards it, does have multiple routes with it.

Zacharie, M, 36(RO)

A 4'11" man with spiky green hair and red tinted glasses. Adventurers clothing, torn at the edges and taped to his body on his limbs, cover most of his skin. What you can see of his skin, primarily his face, has stitches spanning the length and width. No one is allowed to touch them. Beyond that, he seems nice, even when he mutters insults at passing plants or argues with books. But his skittishness towards others is concerning, especially the glint of pure terror he sometimes shows. It's typical to see him hovering around Cassian, primarily either hiding behind him or riding his shoulders.

Solo OR Poly route with Cassian or Florian.

Cassian, M, 29 (RO)

At 6'6, he's the tallest of the group. Long black hair drapes down well past his hips, sometimes being used to hide his eyes from others. Old yet well cared for armor is his ordinary choice of clothing, no matter the situation. Quiet and melancholic, it's hard to catch him smiling at much of anything. Despite that, he's the first to jump into a fight to protect his friends. One of the few people to understand Zacharie, he keeps a firm eye on anyone that might pose a threat to the smaller man. A bit of an enabler, he will turn a blind eye to the more playful deeds his companions wish to take.

Solo OR Poly route with Zacharie.

Florian, Gender Selectable (M/F/NB), 25 (RO)

At 5'3", they're the second shortest of the group. Blond curly and short hair, styled like an odd pixie cut, clashes against the bright red coat they drap over themself. Two antennae stick out from their scalp, twitching at any stimulus. A butterfly bow, which sometimes flaps on its own when Florians distressed, keeps it from falling off. When they're not being pestered by Zacharie or Wynn, they're actually the most sensible of the group. A bit of a motherhen, they do their best to prevent the others from getting into trouble. It's a thankless job, and they aren't even getting paid for it.

Solo OR Poly routes with Wynn or Zacharie.

Wynn, Gender Selectable (M/F/NB), 23 (RO)

A 5'9" elf that's joined the group alongside Florian. Long, pointed, and pierced ears flick every so often, parting their short, light purple hair. Clad in a cape that trails in the air and an outfit that shows off a concerning amount of chest, they aren't the shyest with showing skin. Long pants that hide even their boots cover their legs, yet never get dirty as they drag across the ground. A bit of a flirt, they aren't the type to take much seriously. It's common to see them, Zacharie, and Twig up to no good, typically with Wynn at the lead. A natural born leader, one might be confused why they follow MC's lead, even they seem at odds with that fact.

Solo OR Poly route with Florian.

Twig, NB, 26 (RO)

Looming over at 6'4", they tend to forget just how tall they are. Long purple hair ends as their tail begins, the fluff at the end matching their hair. Thick and curly when short, it covers up their eyes from the view of others. 5 horns sprout up from their scalp, imitating a crown of sorts, and range in size from a few inches to just two. Clad in purple and blue robes that are breathable yet skin-tight, they've had Zacharie modify it to properly accommodate their tail. Out of the group, they remain the friendliest even in the face of adversity. It's... hard for others to tell whether they're simply naive or just too forgiving, but regardless of that, they remain the first to lend their hand when others need it. A bit of a goofball as well, it's easy to catch them trying to pick the funnest option first. Quick to trust and quicker to befriend, one might wish to spare them from the cruelty of the world.

Solo route

???, NB, ??? (RO?)

A figure that stands at 5'10, they're your savior from the pit you woke up in. Long hair, starting black and quickly fading to a bright red, flows from their scalp like tendrils. It flows as if hit by a breeze constantly, regardless of airflow. Clad in only a white robe tied shut at the waist by a sash, it's easy to notice the gaps in their skin. They never answer when it's brought up, leaving you wondering just what has saved you from the ravine. Quick to anger, you'd almost think they're unpredictable if not for the consistent causes and phrases. Regardless of who you are, they insist your name is Eden. Regardless of their affection towards you, they refuse to tell you who they are. They insist you'll figure it out.

Solo route.

[persefida]

(Wow, that's a long post)

I see so many people who like creating explanations about Hermitcraft/Life series, creating tons of lore and interpret relationships. Especially with Life series, because it's half roleplay server and has a lot of plot and stories potential. Do people remember their previous life? Do they die and reborn? Do they remember each other, do they have scars from previous death? All that lore stuff.

I'm just.. I don't know. I guess I'm not a big fan of more serious roleplay and don't really think about relationships between characters, or the world of Life series itself.

For me it's all just minecraft servers where friends can play and talk and laugh. When I watch Life series, I imagine not characters, but real people. When Scar is talking, I imagine actual irl Scar, sitting on the computer with microphone and talking with his salesman grin. They remember previous seasons and don't think about it as lore, they just remember good times from the past. And after an end of the season they all are in one big group in discord discussing, laughing and talking how they will edit the episode.

Basically, that's the reason, why I animate only funny moments and often draw the irl side of hermits. I would love to draw something more "serious" or create a dramatic amv and be a part of this fandom community, but sadly it's not really my vibe.

In their videos hermits talk a lot about their life and wifes and maybe children.

I remember when Scar wanted to ask something to Xisuma who was afk, Xisuma said, he heard Scar through the headphones across the room. And I imagine actual human Xisuma, his room, microphone, how he rushes through that said room to quickly join the game.

I actually think a lot about irl side of hermits.

I imagine Grian sitting in the living room and doing taxes. Impulse loads the dishwasher. Doc plays with Doccy and teach them about pigeons and sparrows. Joel's in a grocery store decides if he should buy more expensive cheese this time or buy the usual. Mumbo watching videos and procrastinating to go do laundry. Xisuma writes articles about new songs and having a little art block while creating his own music.

I drew irl Grian so many times lol. I really like the irl side of youtubers, they feel more alive.

I don't really know how some hermits (and other people) look, but I still try to imagine them.

So that's why I won't do any lore or angsty animatics. But I still like a lot of AU fanarts, if they are drawn really good or interesting.

So because of all that I feel a little bit outside of the fandom... Like, everyone are having fun, sharing theories, fascinating AUs, drawing cool fanarts for each others. And I'm like.. not into that, I'm sorry. I still want to talk to all of you! I just can't really contribute. So here are my lighthearted funny animatics with 0% angst and where people are nothing more than just good friends on minecraft server.

I believe, people like me don't really watch fanarts or animatics and don't actually know about this whole side of the fandom. I wonder how many of them are here on tumblr ot twitter.

Is there anyone here who thinks the same way?

[ty-bayonet-betteridge]

requesting assistance with something

i have an idea for an AU where all the hermits are gods for various reasons but i dont have enough experience with the past work and lore of most of them to have good reasons in mind for the majority of them

what ive got so far:

Watcher!Grian

Joel and Pearl both maintain their ascension to godhood from Empires

Doc stealing Dinnerbone's dominion over code after killing him in the UHC

Iskall isn't a god, but she is immortal and has been hopping between various universes gaining more and more power since the birth of the world (as he was part of the initial minecraft test group.)

i dont have a good godly origin for Xisuma but i also think it would be hillarious if him and only him was just a normal guy

if anyone can help me out with godly origins for any of the other hermits id really appreciate that <3

[vylad243]

OG Starlet!Vox anon back at it again- at this point I'm going to need to come up with a name so it gets easier to tell everyone apart, lol. Anyway, I did see the art and it's amazing! It was part of the reason I came back with more lore. Which I have some more of this time too!

Uhhh I think Vox would've been in his early twenties/late teens around the time he faked his death, actually. Maybe 19-22 age range, but seeing as Arrax anon mentioned it being one of his first productions I could definitely see his first acting role being in a show like that! Imagine young Vox speaking with a trans-atlantic accent (the same that Al has) and his own mannerisms because Vox grew up listening to his radio show... precious baby

Speaking of his "retirement" / fake death, I think that would have happened in a 'Gone Girl' sort of fashion: Vox suddenly goes missing one day, police and other Hollywood stars show up to his home and start to investigate it, finding signs of a struggle and bloodstains along with other incriminating evidence that suggest he might have been murdered or otherwise disposed of. This is of course before Vox's parents, sensing that their kid's 'dramatic exit' from the scene has gone too far, pays off the police to keep their mouths shut before Vox's father debuts his new heir to the business, who he refuses to show the face of. So Vox goes on like this for at least a decade or so without showing his face to anyone in the company until he's *actually* murdered by someone scheming to steal his image and company... at which point the public makes the connection between the missing starlet years back and the murdered company boss.

I also think it'd be a cool coincidence if the person wanting to murder him had also been a fan of his starlet self... though I guess that would land them in quite a bit of trouble once they made it down to Hell, what with Vox's new companions lol

(Also, I feel like Evelyn would be a good name for Vox's starlet self. Not really for any specific reason, but I just always think of the Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo when I think of Hollywood.)

Hello OG! All my anons need names, y'all should come up with them, or I'm gonna start naming you all and if you've seen my google docs names- no one wants me to name anything lol

The conspiracy theorists when Vox was alive would have gone savage trying to figure out the death case, especially with how good Vox played it off. I imagine someone found out the truth and was just passed on as 'an idiotic crackhead,' and I can just imagine how smug they were when the truth came out

Evelyn is a nice name. I used to call him Valentine and said he was born on Valentine's day then I remwmber Valentino's name and haven't thought of a new one since

[cerastes]

I love that unless you are Doctor, Platinum is so utterly uncooperative that her Files mention that Kal’tsit herself took over making her internal RI profile,

and even then she couldn’t get her to actually say anything.

This is funny in and of itself, but it becomes doubly hilarious when you consider that Kal’tsit IS incredibly charismatic and persuasive. She has the tacit respect of Gladiia, Ascalon, and numerous other very proud, very imposing figures. Even the members of Alive Until Sunset seek her out specifically to have Incredibly Important Conversations Regarding Lore. We see various characters, playable and otherwise, be smitten by her charisma or at the very least have nothing but respect for her. Even Lucid!Specter/Laurentina, known troublemaker and rowdy swashbuckler, will graciously comply if it’s Kal’tsit asking.

But what is a god, or a supersoldier, or a veteran Sarkazian general, to a very tired office lady-slash-assassin who hasn’t had a day off in months and who hates her job and her superiors?

Try as she might, Kal’tsit could not get a single truth out of Platinum. 

And what’s Platinum’s next move, after Kal’tsit tries and fails to get ANYTHING out of her, even mundane info like weight or other such sundry morsel of information?

Platinum opts to work closely with Kal’tsit after giving her this much trouble. The absolute balls on this horse.

Kal’tsit put it down on paper: “I have no fucking clue how to reign this horse in the long term besides to bank on her being besties with Doctor, because she sure as shit doesn’t really care about Rhodes Island in general”. And, should it surprise anyone? By chance, Platinum, who had been running like two or three days nonstop from the assassins sent to kill her, comes across Doc and company, bracing herself for a really, really unfortunate end, and Doctor, who did end up not only having dealings with the Armorless Union but also having some tea with Platinum prior to this, instead says “alright team, impromptu overtime, but we’re getting this horse OUT of here and to RI” and this was pretty much the first time in forever since anyone treated her in any way more dignified than “disposable tissue” plus so of course she’s gonna put her trust on the hooded hero that saved her life twice over instead of anyone else, let alone the weird green cat that hates their guts. Platinum’s Operator Files even confirms that she really wants to go on a vacation with Doc somewhere, and also to get paid leave, and her Potential tokens are tickets for the amusement park for herself and Doc.

I don’t know about you, mate, but Platinum and Doc being super besties not only makes sense, it’s about the only way I can see them. Putting aside the fact that Doc has an incredible talent to earn the trust and friendship of assassins (Phantom, Schwarz, Manticore, Gravel), it’s funny that Doctor went to Kazimierz this one time for Actual Rhodes Island Business and to support their pal Margaret Nearl with her things, and came back home with one retired decorated knight (Whislash), one very enthusiastic mechanic (Blemishine), and two assassins that REALLY like him (Platinum and Gravel).

[salmonthaart]

hihi uhhm. sorry if this comes off as creepy but i scoured both your blogs for info on pop and lock but unless i suck at looking for stuff i didtnt find much. you should totes tell me more about them

that's not creepy at all don't worry!!! i've never really posted any oc lore publicly because i'm not sure if people care, and boy do i apologize you having to look through my sideblog because Wow Is There Nothing Important On It, but i'm BEYOND elated to answer any questions about them!!! literally thank you so much for asking, you made my day 😭

i have a looooot of stuff about them written down on places like google docs, a discord server i infodump in, and also In My Head so there's a HUGE amount of previously untapped info about them just around, but i'll stick to their main things for now :)

(i also have a toyhouse, but i never finished setting it up, so i'll also probably post more oc stuff on that when it's done)

pINK Lemonade Official Lore Post™ under the cut!

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POP:

Pop is an Octoling based on the Flapjack octopus. They are genderfluid, and thanks to the benefits of the cephalopod form, change their physical appearance regularly just for the hell of it. They vary between masc-leaning and femme-leaning, but usually look some flavor of GNC. (Their physical build remains the same, think of it like how the player characters in Splatoon change their gender and hairstyle. Pop just does that whenever they feel like it.)

They are fruitily charming, outgoing, unserious to a fault, and smug. Pop is a lot more sociable than Lock, often chatting people up or making friends at unexpected times. They are well aware of their charm, but make an effort to be the more likable of the two. They like to introduce themselves first, leading to many close relationships with a lot of people that otherwise would never have talked to them. However, when they dislike someone, they make it VERY known. They are unable to hide their distaste towards anyone they regard as too annoying. They can get aloof at times, but are generally a very peppy and easy-going person.

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LOCK:

Lock is an Inkling based on the Whiplash squid. He is the composer and instrumentalist of the duo, and is very talented on the keyboard.

He likes to put on an off-puttingly brooding, "cool guy" persona, but when you get to know him, it becomes clear he is often neurotic and overly sensitive. He can be very visibly depressed, though he tries to play off his inability to take care of himself as part of his uncaring attitude. He pushes people away instinctively, but gets very attached to the people who love him despite this. Unfortunately, he doesn't know how to healthily express his emotions and can get rather sulky and mean, leading his closest personal relationships to be... rather strained at times.

He also has a toxic and ultimately doomed relationship with Tide of Suit-Nami that both Shlubby and I have agreed is very fun to watch as it slowly burns. Sorry Lock, you're fated to lose the best boyfriend you'll ever have :')

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There's a lot more to both of their backstories, but for the sake of keeping things simple, here's a condensed version.

Lock was a trust fund baby pushed into idol culture that got shunted off to boarding school once he was deemed more trouble than he was worth by his parents. In a petulant attempt to be acknowledged by them, he regularly commits petty crimes and acts of vandalism, but is bailed out from afar every time to avoid his family name getting bad press. It's a real sore spot for him.

Pop had loving parents who encouraged them to explore their love for music, but after they got older and started posting their music to HueTube, they got relentlessly mocked for being cringe and were devastated. They went to boarding school in an attempt to escape their reputation and worked past their trauma by pouring it into their work and reclaiming their identity.

Pop and Lock were placed together as part of an idol internship program during their last year of school. Pop felt bad for Lock, and specifically requested him as means of lending a hand. Lock had previously avoided them for quite some time, but once they were forced to pair up he realized he had found his first genuine friend.

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and, special one-time deal, two extra characters! i literally have never posted (or. ahem. finished) any art of these two, but they fill out the gang behind the scenes and they occupy my brainspace just as much as pop and lock do :)

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MONA:

Mona is a halfmoon betta fish and handler-turned-posse-member of the group. She's an underpaid and overworked employee of the idol agency Pop and Lock are employed at, and was assigned to pINK Lemonade to keep them in check after they were involved in one too many incidents (read: PR nightmares)

She has a bit of a temper, as most bettas do, but over time has formed a real relationship with Pop and Lock and does not blow up at them as much as she does others. Their friendship has also helped her loosen up and not let her job consume her soul.

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CILAN:

Cilan is a calm, easygoing, tall inkling and the oldest of the four. He has long purple hair and seemingly permanently closed eyes. He's the group's resident eye-candy and secretary/flunky. There isn't a whole lot to his personality that I can say right now. He's just hot... sue me...

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Thank you so much for asking about my ocs!!

[cryptidclaw]

Blog Info!

I go by Cryptid or Sam! and I use they/he/she pronouns!

My Carrd (Abt Me + Socials)

My Ko-fi!

My main blog is @clowncryptids!

this blog is a safe place for everyone! as long as you are not hurting anyone I love you <3

....

This is my Warrior Cats centric blog!

(Tho I do post about other xenofiction and such sometimes)

I have a Warriors fix-it au called Rise of Change! It is on -HIATUS- but will be back!

Rise of Change: Warriors AU! Drive! 

this drive is a collection of all the properly written lore, world building, allegiances, etc.

....

Link to my Warrior Cats Drive!

(has all my designs, my docs for general WC, and the RoC drive folder)

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More blog info below!

Warriors designs info:

My designs are all for my main warriors au, a sort of rewrite/fix-it! but most are still canon compliant (a few are wildly non-compliant though)

My designs are all free to use as long as you credit me! 

All designs are tagged under #warriors designs

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Cryptid’s Prefix and Suffix lists:

I made rather large lists for possible prefixes and suffixes! here’s the links!

Prefixes |  Suffixes

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Clangen game info:

I post updates for my clans in Clangen, just for funsies! I post about clangen under the #cryptid plays clangen tag! 

My main clan I post about right now is Whisperingclan! they are tagged under #Whisperingclan 

Here is where you can download Clangen!

Clangen Game Website

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My Bases!

Base requests are CLOSED! any requests will not be responded to, Sorry! 

Please don't use my bases for adopts/for profit thank you !

I have a collection of cat/ warriors bases! They are free to use with credit! and you can edit them to more match your character if you wish!

They are all tagged under #Cryptidclaw’s Bases !

they are also all in a folder on my drive!

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Redbubble!

I have a Redbubble with my warriors art as designs on there, along with some other art!  If any of yall want to support me by buying some cute Leafpool stickers I will be forever grateful!!! 

Check out my shop ClownCryptids to see all my designs!

[fbj723]

certified delulu post about nocti

a.n. this'll be a compilation of thoughts from my initial reactions to sands of wrath to his voicelines to literally everything about him. THIS WILL HEAVILY BE A NOCTI X SKK!READER KIND OF THING because i'm all in for a lil self insert to feed my delulu visions. also as a heads up i did read the story using google translate so if i quote anything it's basically what google translate told me but i edited it to make some grammatical sense. and yes there will be spoilers

a lot of context will be left out so if you don't wanna be confused by names check out this lore doc that gives a summary of er-5 or pgr lore in general, this post just talks about er-5 lol

EXHIBIT A: TRIGUN AU

have you seen trigun (ESPECIALLY trimax) cause if you have this makes so much more sense

noctis is vash and nigel is knives

both are brothers and have almost opposite ideologies

i did think of wolfwood and livio as another option but nigel does fit a bit closer to resembling knives

VASHWOOD (where nocti is vash and skk is ww (or the other way round, honestly either still works)

nocti: but you must promise me that you won’t die before i come back! no…. you’re not allowed to die even after i come back! i will definitely find a way to save you!

skk: of course, partner…..

this had me in TEARS I WAS NOT READY

nocti fist bumping you just made me think of this scene with vash and meryl

HE ALSO CALLS YOU PARTNER AS HE FIST BUMPS YOU the way i had this realization so late into writing all this

sands of wrath setting literally looks like a place you’d find in no man’s land

nocti’s voiceline telling you to smile more, similar to ww telling vash to smile more (and i mean their genuine smile, not the fake one they use in front of people)

EXHIBIT B: NOCTI AND SKK ARE MARRIED

they are married and own a bar together hear me out—

you two enter a town in which neither of you are welcome because you’re both from babylonia, the mayor decides to put you two in a hotel room till the harvest festival is over

you two are in separate beds, but neither of you can sleep, so you two do what any pair of roommates would do—

—have a 6 hr "light conversation" :D

first actual convo with nocti, you both take turns to ask questions about why they’re here, what’s going on, etc

nocti asks why you trust him so easily, you respond with “it’s intuition” which is a response nocti seemed to like

you also state how you hope he returns to cerberus and fall asleep. nocti in a way states he also wishes to go back to cerberus and sleeps as well

at some point nocti leaves the hotel room to find demont, who is the reason you two ended up working together in the first place, but there was an attack by hetero creatures and nocti swiftly got rid of them

after talking to the mayor, max, about wanting to be just a resident in town, he takes you to a bar, in which that’s where you find nocti

ya know he could’ve talked about ANYTHING and his drunk ass decided to talk about HOW HE PROTECTED YOU??? COINCIDENCE??? I THINK NOT

you find nocti and he offers his hand out to you to dance with him, you reluctantly agreed and you two end up break dancing together

this was him proposing to you i’m just sayin—

the night passes and you two begin living your lives as residents of new oakley

when he first calls you partner, it was originally solely because temporarily they’re no longer considered members of babylonia, and so to fit in with the whole wild west type style, nocti refers to you as “partner” and you agree to do the same to him

first time it’s used outside your interaction with him was when nocti has small talk with vann

vann: you’ll only obey orders from that commandant, right? these are the rules of the sky garden

nocti: i don’t listen to anyone’s orders, but if it’s a request from my partner, that’s a different matter

NOCTI WHY ARE YOU SAYING THAT LIKE WE’RE ROMANTICALLY PARTNERS?????

this isn’t the first time he does something like that he’s very consistent about it

truly a devoted man

also “MY partner” ????? he also pretty much refers to you as his partner throughout the whole story i got whiplashed when we were back to being called skk in his affection story

after you and nocti find demont there’s a small good cop bad cop scene (which i found hilarious), but at the end demont couldn’t reveal much vital information due to dying from poison

nocti realizes this poison is something only nigel can control, and stormed out into the center of town in a fit of rage trying to find nigel

calming him down and telling him to retreat to not make a big scene was practically impossible, that is till you shout “trust me— partner!!” and nocti finally calms down and retreats

HELLO??? CALLING HIS NAME HE DIDN'T BAT AN EYE BUT BEING CALLED PARTNER MADE HIM ACTUALLY LISTEN??

i'm absolutely speechless

you two cook up a plan to find out what’s really going on +bonus hand holding at the end

your part was to just do your job as a bartender while nocti handles the investigating, and eventually nigel shows up

nigel asks what’s the difference between a human and a construct, you respond in a way a bartender would explain it, but nigel wants an answer from you as a commandant rather than a bartender

he ends up poisoning you and leaves, nocti arrives a little while later after discovering what the plan is for this town in the next few days

i remembered that before we split up i told him not to be reckless, but in the end i was the one that was careless and ended up in this miserable condition. i no longer had the strength to stand, so i could only slide down to the edge of the bar. at the beginning, i said big words that would make nocti return to cerberus in an honored manner… i didn’t expect to be the one to make him sad for his companions

skk: i'm sorry…. nocti….

nocti: HEY! don’t say such depressing things to me so quickly

nocti then enters a panicked state of not knowing what to do cause skk is poisoned and there's no known cure for it

nocti gritted his teeth. he didn't even know how to give first aid. he regretted not learning more about first aid from vera before

GOT ME SOBBING, EMOTIONALLY DAMAGED, SHATTERED INTO PIECES

you tell nocti to go help the mayor cause if the mayor dies the town will fall

nocti is in pure disbelief that at a time like this you're more worried about someone else and he refused to leave you here

after some reassuring nocti goes ahead and takes care of what's going on in town and immediately after checks if you’re still ok

he hears a painful scream in his communication device and he SPRINTS back to where you are and finds both vera and 21 there attempting to take care of you

21 comments on how nocti is a lot more powerful ITS BECAUSE HIS LOVER IS DYING RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM AND HE WANTS TO SAVE THEM BUT DOESN'T KNOW HOW

there’s an encounter with the purifying force, wanting nocti dead since they believe he’s the cause of their aircraft crashing

you tell them that it isn’t his fault and after essentially a stare down between the purifying force and cerberus, the purifying force leaves you all alone since they trust you (thank the overlords for you working with them before and gaining a good work relationship)

you, cerberus, max, and vann think of a plan on what to do next now that you all know where nigel might be located

nocti will go and fight nigel alone since it’s the reason he even came here in the first place while the rest defend the town

you establish a m.i.n.d. connection with nocti, which in turn gives him the poison as well since you’re basically almost a walking corpse at this point

the fact that nocti, with NO hesitation, established a connection with you makes it LOUD AND CLEAR that he will stick with you no matter what even if it leads to his death

cue another hand holding scene, and nocti leaves

vera and 21 get very VERY concerned over your health, yet you’re still adamant about keeping the connection with nocti

21: they want to keep a deep m.i.n.d connection w nocti

vera: DO YOU WANT TO DIE?! if you're deeply connected, your consciousness will be completely bound to him…. if he dies, you also die

skk: he… needs….. me…..

this is LITERALLY a moment where one cares more about their partner THAN THEIR OWN WELL-BEING ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

transitioning over to nocti’s side, he finally confronts nigel

nigel mentions that in order to cure the commandant he needs to be killed, but just HEARING that name come out of his mouth made nocti more full of rage than he’s ever had

this part alone SCREAMED nocti being like "you do NOT have the right to say my partner's name after what you did to them, i am no longer doing this for myself, i'm doing this FOR THEM"

so anyways nocti gets his ass beat 💀💀, nigel lecturing him that he’s still confused and is only driven by anger

the cutscene if you wanna watch it

"commandant… you must be disappointed with me…. damn it… are you mad at me? haha.. me too…. leave everything to me from now on. let’s make that bastard taste our true wrath, partner..."

“i can’t die here yet…. my partner is still waiting for me to come back.”

similar to 21's comment earlier, nigel notices how nocti's steps aren't noisy and chaotic anymore, but steady, firm, and powerful now BECAUSE HIS PARTNER IS ROOTING FOR HIM TO WIN AND HE NEEDED THAT BOOST OF ENCOURAGEMENT... THAT'S WHY YOU WERE SO ADAMANT WITH KEEPING A M.I.N.D. CONNECTION WITH NOCTI

this whole fight scene had me SCREAMING

“my partner and i will use all our strength… to beat you to pieces”

if you still haven’t gotten it DO YOU SEE IT NOW??? HIS MAN IS FULLY DRIVEN TO HIS FULL POTENTIAL BECAUSE HE LOVES YOU AND WANTS TO.. NO... NEEDS TO COME BACK TO YOU

nocti wins and nigel essentially retreats but with a new found respect for his brother

but before he retreats he asks nocti the same question he asked you: what’s the difference between humans and constructs

he gives his own answer and guesses yours (since he was rather confident enough with knowing a lot on how you think) and it boils down to them having the same answer but different font

the place nocti and nigel were fighting in collapses, forcing nocti to leave and never see nigel again

you and nocti are back in the hotel room recovering, and a few locals come in to beg nocti to stay and not go back to babylonia

“but i made a promise with my partner, i want to return to cerberus in a dignified manner…”

after more silly banter everyone leaves you and nocti alone to rest, but neither of you can sleep

nocti brings up the question nigel asked him, and you gave him your actual answer, which is pretty close to what he guessed

nocti: haha… just as i thought, i know you better

skk: but maybe i know you better. for example, what you look like when you’re drunk

nocti: WHAT?! DID I DO ANYTHING WEIRD WHEN I WAS DRUNK???

skk: forget it, stop talking, i’m sleepy

nocti: HEY!! TELL ME NOW!!!!

he’s a literal blushing mess after you told him you saw him drunk

your honor this is literally a newly wed couple

gotta of course mention his affection story so read here for a summary of that as well

the way he ONLY uses the best quality and probably most expensive ingredients to make your food

nocti giving a damn about this whole pancake thing only because YOU care

LIKE HE'S PUTTING HIS PREFERENCES ASIDE TO MAKE YOU HAPPY

MORE HAND HOLDINGGG this time in the form of you helping him mold the pancake shape +bonus nocti blushing

both literally wanting to do the whole working at a bar thing together again in the future that is like PEAK ENDGAME for their marriage

+bonus boss being supportive and naming the new drink and dish that was made after you and nocti

the whole affection story just very clearly and vividly plays out nocti and skk working together flawlessly at the bar like their chemistry was SO GOOD !!!!

very sorry for any grammar errors i'm very hyperfixated on him rn and i needed to scream about it somewhere

anyways thank you for coming to my ted talk i will now think of nocti in a wedding dress /hj

[lostkidmustnotdie]

In case anyone needs in-depth revenge lore here’s my masterpost:

Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge by American rock band My Chemical Romance is a concept album, following the Demolition Man, the Demolition Woman, the Devil, and a thousand evil men. The story begins in the last song, Demolition Lovers, of the prior album, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love.

Context and Controversy: There is some explaining needed before we get into the plot of Revenge. Gerard Way says in an interview that “Revenge is the story of a man and a woman who are separated by death in a gunfight. And he goes to hell, only to realize by the devil telling him that she’s still alive (There is debate on this, it will be discussed). The devil says he can be with her again if he brings the devil the souls of a thousand evil men, and the man agrees to do it, and so the devil hands him a gun and says ‘go do it.’” (Gerard Way, AOL Sessions Interview, 2004) “So obviously he kills 999 evil men, and then he realizes that the last evil man he has to kill is himself.” (Gerard Way). There is some debate, however, on the actual whereabouts of the Demolition Woman. There are no completely clear answers, it really is all up to interpretation. One theory is that the Demolition Woman is in Heaven, another is that she has survived the shootout on the highway and is alive somewhere on earth, and another theory is that the Devil has lied to the Demolition man and told him that the woman has died and gone to heaven when really, she has survived the shootout or vice versa. There are lines to prove and disprove each theory, so it really is up to interpretation.

Gerard did a drawing of the Demolition Woman on what could either be an operating table or an autopsy table (see right). There is blood on the blanket or sheet that covers her below the shoulders, which could mean she’s dead or could mean she has survived, there’s really no way to tell. Either way, in any of the three theories, they are separated, and the man has agreed to kill a thousand evil men to get back to his lover. Another source of controversy or debate is track order. In My Chemical Romance’s third album, The Black Parade, which is also a concept album, the tracks are chronologically out of order. Lastly, it is also debated whether songs Helena and I’m Not Okay (I Promise) belong in the story canonically. These topics will all be discussed as I go through the story.

Act One

Demolition Lovers: This song serves as essentially a prologue to the story of Revenge. We are introduced to the Demolition Lovers (debatably, depending on your analysis of bullets. However, I’m choosing to ignore any events that happened in bullets aside from Demolition Lovers because that’s not what this master doc is about). All we know about them is that the Demolition Man is wearing a suit, the Demolition Woman’s outfit, though unclear, may be some sort of wedding dress (see right), and they have been shot to death on a highway.

“Hand in mine, into your icy blues / and then I’d say to you, ‘we could take to the highway’... / I’d end my days with you in a hail of bullets... / and we grow cold.” (Demolition Lovers). This sets up the beginning of the plot. We know the characters have died, and we know they died from bullets. Other lines throughout the song, however, introduce us to the relationship between our characters, which is obviously romantic. “...I’m trying / to let you know how much you mean ... / Know how much I want to show you [that] you’re the only one / and as we’re falling down, and in this pool of blood / and as we’re touching hands... / I'll see your eyes, and in this pool of blood, I’ll meet your eyes / I mean this forever.” (Demolition Lovers). This clarifies, even though it was obvious, that our characters are lovers and they obviously mean quite a lot to each other.

Importantly, the setup for the plot of Revenge is mentioned a lot in this song. “But this time, I mean it, I’ll let you know just how much you mean to me / but this time we’ll show them... all how much we mean / like a bed of roses, there’s a dozen reasons in this gun.” (Demolition Lovers). This really begins to bring up the idea of revenge and avenging their own deaths, which is exactly what the Demolition Man does in the album.

Give Em’ Hell Kid: This is the second track on the album. I believe that Helena, the first track, comes later in the story if it’s even canonically involved at all.

And so it begins. This song takes place right after the Demolition Man has agreed to this mission, this quest to kill a thousand evil men. He leaves from New Orleans, takes a dose of ephedrine (a stimulant used to increase alertness), and starts his life on the run. “Took a train outta New Orleans, and they shot me full of ephedrine / this is how we like to do it in the murder scene, can we settle up the score?” He has taken on this brand new role of mass murderer, taken stimulatory drugs to increase his efficiency, and declared that that is how it rolls for a life like this.

Despite this determination, he also talks about missing his lover. “If you were here, I’d never have a fear / so go on, live your life / but I miss you more than I did yesterday / you’re beautiful... / you’re so far away...” (Give Em’ Hell Kid). The second stanza is a line that contributes to the debate of whether the Demolition Woman is actually dead. If you choose to take it literally, he assumes she is alive. If you think she’s in heaven, or you think the devil lied about the man to her location, the line can be interpreted more among the lines of the Demolition Woman being happy in paradise (Heaven), which is mentioned a few more times throughout the album. It could go either way.

The Demolition Man, while steadfast, still doesn’t feel great about this deal. Who would? He experiences moral debates on it throughout the album, but very early on we can see him wondering if it’s worth it and if the Demolition Woman would do the same for him. “Well, I'm a total wreck and almost every day / like the firing squad or the mess you made... / We never wanted it to be this way / for all our lives / do you care at all?” (Give Em’ Hell Kid)

Lastly, there is the line: “Well, don’t I look pretty looking down the street in the best damn dress I own?” This could be taken metaphorically, the dress being some sort of determination-related confidence, but I see it more literally. I think he could have been in drag. There are a few things that lead me to believe this is true: both the fact that Gerard used to crossdress throughout college, and the line “What did you call me?” which leads me to believe the Demolition Man could have been called some sort of homophobic slur, which I can conclude from the next line, “Well, there’s no way I’m kissing that guy.” This take on it is interesting, because we see the Demolition Man struggle with a question of sexuality throughout the album as well, first explored in the next track on the album, To The End.

To The End: This song was originally based on William Faulkner’s short story A Rose for Emily. In this story, a woman, abandoned by her husband, lives a reclusive life in a house with her father. When her father dies, the coroners have to convince her to let them bury the body, which she has been keeping in the house for 3 days. After this, she rarely goes out, until years later when she meets Homer, a northerner, who is said to “like men” which could either be taken as homosexuality or that he likes to remain a bachelor. The story is from 1930, so it’s likely that it could have been phrased so vaguely on purpose, as Faulkner would have been arrested had it been a direct allusion to homosexuality. Rumors spread that Emily and Homer have married, and no one sees either of them for a long time, shut up inside the house together.

Until Emily goes out to buy poison, “for rats.”

When Emily dies, they break open a part of the house that has been shut off for years and find Homer’s long-decayed body in a bed. On the pillow next to him is a strand of Emily’s hair, implying that she was in the habit of sleeping next to the decomposed body.

The main takeaway of why this story is important, is Emily is upset that her husband did not love her, either due to the fact that he was gay or that he was simply not interested in marriage.

This same double meaning is exhibited in To The End, in which the Demolition Man murders an entire wedding reception.

It’s clear in this song that the Demolition Man is getting a little out of control with this killing spree, maybe even beginning to enjoy himself. He goes to this mansion where a wedding is taking place and kills every person inside. Certainly, not all of these people were “evil men,” which means that the Demolition Man is on some sort of power high. “He calls the mansion, not a house, but a tomb / He's always choking from the stench and the fumes / The wedding party all collapsed in the room / So send my resignation to the bride and the groom.” (To The End). We can see that it's still in the beginning of his quest, though, because he is still not used to the smell of corpses or blood. Even though he has killed probably hundreds by now, that’s still out of a thousand. He’s got a long way to go.

He thinks of the house as “not a house, but a tomb,” implying that he does in fact plan to kill every person inside. This also can refer to A Rose for Emily, in that multiple people have died and decomposed in that house. Everyone is “collapsed,” either in that they are dead or they are on the ground begging him not to shoot. He’s gotten snarky with it, too, “send my resignation to the bride and the groom,” proof of this confidence that he’s good at his job, and he’s getting it done.

Here’s where the first hint at the sexuality crisis the Demolition Man experiences comes into play, with that same vague, double meaning as the one in A Rose for Emily. “He's not around, he's always looking at men / Down by the pool, he doesn't have many friends, as they are

/ Face down and bloated, snap a shot with the lens.” (To The End). This line could either mean he’s not present in his life, because he’s so focused on finding and hunting down all these evil men that it’s all he can think about, or that he’s not around his lover and he’s now made a habit of checking out other dudes. I personally think it means both, that this double meaning exists for a reason. It’s the same as A Rose For Emily- either meaning that you choose to accept means that the man is not present with his lover because of something in the way.

The second part of the line refers to him having no friends- understandably because he kills most of the people he interacts with.

The pre-chorus is him wondering again if the Demolition Woman would do this for him as well.

“If you marry me / Would you bury me? / Would you carry me to the end?” (To The End)

The chorus really confuses me. “(Say goodbye) to the vows you take / (And say goodbye) to the life you make / (And say goodbye) to the heart you break / And all the cyanide you drank.” (To the End). I really have no idea what’s going on here. “Say goodbye to the vows you take” could either be about him defying his morals and ethical values because he’s murdering all these people, or it could have something to do with marriage vows, which could be in relation to the Demolition Lovers or the people who were getting married that he murdered. The cyanide bit also confuses me; in A Rose For Emily, Emily uses arsenic to poison her husband. I don’t know. The chorus is up to interpretation.

“She keeps a picture of the body she lends / Got nasty blisters from the money she spends / She's got a life of her own and it shows by the Benz / She drives at 90 by the Barbie's and Ken's.” (To The End). I think this line is what the Demolition Man thinks the Demolition Woman is up to in heaven. Heaven is supposed to be paradise, so he thinks she’s having the time of her life (no pun intended) up there while he’s doing all this work to get her back. He shows bitterness about this topic multiple times throughout the album.

“If you ever say never, too late / I'll forget all the diamonds you ate / Lost in coma and covered in cake / Increase the medication / Share the vows at the wake (kiss the bride).” (To the End). This continues the bitterness, the Demolition Man saying he’ll forgive her for having fun up in heaven while he’s suffering down here if she marries him. This whole song, I think, speaking of weddings, is about the Demolition Man wanting to marry the woman. The song starts by taking place during a wedding, so it’s not unusual that the Demolition Man would be thinking about it. “If you ever say [it’s] never too late” is probably about her commitment, and so is the chorus, along with “share the vows at the wake,” which I think means he wants to get married as soon as he dies again to go back to the afterlife to be with her. While we can’t see much of the demolition woman’s outfit on the album cover, (See paragraph on Demolition Lovers) I believe it could be a wedding dress. It has sort of a lacy neckline and appears to be white, so it’s possible. The man is also wearing a suit, and they look like they're about to kiss, so it's entirely plausible.

You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us in Prison: Featuring vocals of The Used’s Bert McCracken, is when the Demolition Man, with a hit to his belief that he is invincible, is caught by authorities and sent to prison.

“In the middle of a gunfight / In the center of a restaurant / They say, "Come with your arms raised high" / Well, they're never gonna get me / Like a bullet through a flock of doves.”

It’s a common pattern throughout the album; the Demolition Man starts to believe he is untouchable, godly almost, and then something sets him back and he completely breaks down. This is the first time his invincibility gets shattered, when he becomes incarcerated and it slows down his mission. “To wage this war against your faith in me.” (Prison). He’s had this huge halt in his progress, and he’s afraid Demolition Womanis losing hope that he’ll see her again (even though she doesn’t know he’s doing this in the first place), and that she’ll stay loyal to him. We see the first mentions of religious belief sprinkled throughout the song as well: “On your mother's eyes, say a prayer / Say a prayer / …as God had made us.” (Prison). This theme is explored more in coming tracks Interlude and Thank You For The Venom.

It is also the track that really begins to explore this sexuality crisis the Demolition Man is having. Let’s be real: Gay sex is not new for prisons. It’s really not. And we know he’s been questioning this identity for a while now (See Paragraph on To The End), so it was bound to happen sometime, especially when he’s trapped with only a bunch of other men in the same situation for an undetermined amount of time… “Now, but I can't, and I don't know / How we're just two men as God had made us / Well, I can't, well, I can, yeah.” (Prison). Forgive me but I cannot think of a heterosexual explanation for this. I really can’t. The last stanza is the Demolition Man having some sort of inner conflict with himself about morals, like, should I really be doing this? And while he feels guilty, he decides he clearly doesn't feel guilty enough because he keeps on doing it. “Too much, too late / Or just not enough of this pain in my heart for your dying wish / I'll kiss your lips again.” (Prison). In the last stanza, he could be talking either about the Demolition Woman or some guy that he’s formed some sort of sexual and/or romantic bond with inside the prison.

Unfortunately, while consensual sex is not new for prison, neither is non-consensual. It can be inferred that the Demolition Man experienced this during his incarceration with these lines: “My cellmate's a killer, they make me do push-ups in drag / …What they ask of you will make you want to say, "So long" / Well, I don't remember / Why remember you?” (Prison). Something else common in prison is trying to effeminate one partner- to pretend like what they’re doing isn’t gay (it’s gay), which could explain the drag bit. We also see him mention a little bit of memory repression from this trauma that has been induced upon him.

Prison is also where he starts having his first mental decline, understandably. He’s become a mass murderer, he’s struggling with his identity, he’s away from everything he knows and loves, and it’s taking a toll on him mentally; he’s even beginning to toy with the notion of his own death, whether sentenced by law or by suicide. “But nobody cares if you're losing yourself / Am I losing myself? / Well, I miss my mom / Will they give me the chair? / Or lethal injection, or swing from a rope, if you dare? / Nobody knows all the trouble I've seen / …Life is but a dream for the dead.” (Prison). The last stanza has a double meaning: It could continue the theme of wishing he were dead, or it could continue the theme of bitterness toward his lover, who to his knowledge, is having a great time in heaven.

At the end of the song, the Demolition Man and presumably some of his prison friends break out of the jail. “Do you have the keys to the hotel? 'Cause I'm gonna string this motherfucker on fire / …And well, I, I won't go down by myself / But I'll go down with my friends.” (Prison). “The hotel” could be referring to where he’ll stay when he gets out of the prison, referenced later in the album: “Check into the hotel Bella Muerte…” (The Jetset Life is Gonna Kill You) (which may also be a metaphor, more on that when we get to Jetset Life.) So it can be assumed that there was a breakout, the fire being literal or metaphorical, either way meaning they’re leaving the place in shambles. The last stanza may also have a double meaning, potentially being a sexual innuendo as well as a declaration of camaraderie.

Interlude: This track on the album actually comes after The Jetset Life is Gonna Kill You, but I think it makes more sense after Prison. A very climactic, high-intensity part of the story has just occurred, everything’s a mess, he’s just broken out of prison, what’s going on with the Demolition Woman… leaving us wondering what will happen next, which seems like the perfect time for an intermission. Yes, I agree that typically, the intermission is more toward the middle or ⅔ mark, but to me this is the best placement for it.

Interlude only has three lines: “Saints protect her now / Come angels of the Lord / Come angels of unknown.” (Interlude). This is the Demolition Man praying to any higher being that he can think of to protect his lover and keep her safe. Thus, the end of Act One.

Act Two

The Ghost of You: This song is sort of a duet between the Demolition Lovers, the lines changing perspective from the woman and from the man. Gerard has done this in other songs as well, such as Famous Last Words, where there is a conversation happening between two different people, but the switches between speakers are unmarked. I’ll mark who I think said what for each mentioned line.

DW: “I never said I'd lie and wait forever.”

DM: “If I died / We'd be together / I can't always just forget her / But she could try.”

DW “At the end of the world / Or the last thing I see / You are never coming home, never coming home / Could I? Should I?”

I think the last line from the Demolition Woman is her wondering if it’s okay for her to let the man go. To reach some sort of acceptance that she’s never going to see him again.

DM: “Ever get the feeling that you're never all alone? / And I remember now / At the top of my lungs in my arms, she dies.” This, to some, is confirmation that the Demolition Woman is in fact dead. It could also be argued, however, that the line “If I died, we’d be together” could have come from the woman and not the man, which contradicts itself with the “she dies” lyric. These contradicting lines can be placed into either the alive or heaven theory by rearranging who said what, or it can be placed in the category of “the devil lied to the demolition man” if you say the woman said “If I died we’d be together.” Any of them work for the story; the point is, she misses him and wonders if it's messed up of her to try and accept the loss of him.

Throughout the album, the Demolition Man has this constant fear of “falling,” which I think means dying or failing his mission. “If I fall…” It’s mentioned more later on in the album, but it brings up the point that he still could fail the mission. He could still die. This is not a guaranteed win for him, so maybe it’s not all that bad of an idea for the Demolition Woman to reach some type of acceptance…

The Jetset Life is Gonna Kill You: Back to the story. The last song was more just about emotions and how everyone is feeling and how things are going up in Heaven but now we’re getting back into the plot, shortly after the Demolition Man has escaped prison and checked into a hotel somewhere, called the hotel Bella Muerte (Beautiful Death in original Spanish). This hotel could also be metaphorical… more when we get to that line. The song starts with him missing her and looking at how much longer he has to go before he’ll complete this mission. “Gaze into her killing jar I'd sometimes stare for hours… / And for the last night I lie / Could I lie with you?” (Jetset Life). While he’s missing her, though, he’s also starting to resent her just the tiniest bit for making him (even though she didn’t make him) do all of this miserable awful stuff to get back to her when he doesn’t even know if she still believes in him anymore. “When holding on / Oh, I hope you do the same / Aww, sugar / Slip into the tragedy / You've spun this chamber dry.”

This song is also when the Demolition Man starts turning to drugs to numb the pain of everything going on. “I'm lost in the prescription / …It gives the weak flight / It gives the blind sight / Until the cops come.” His drug use is making him sloppy with his work and it’s almost getting him caught. (Side note, these are probably expensive drugs he’s using. The word Jetset means basically “rich and fancy” and he says the jetset life will kill you, (as drugs can)). This is where the potential metaphor of “Hotel Bella Muerte” comes into play- it’s mentioned right after the “lost in the prescription” line, and “checking into the hotel Beautiful Death” could represent actually dying due to this drug use. It could get him caught, it could kill him through an overdose. This metaphor could be continued (well, started) in Prison too, when Bert yells the line “Do you have the keys to the hotel? 'Cause I'm gonna string this motherfucker on fire!” (Prison) it could have meant “are you ready to die?”

Cemetery Drive: So, the Demolition Man is taking a break and recovering from prison. He’s visiting presumably his hometown, feeling, not gonna lie, a little suicidal. “Back home, off the run / Singing songs that make you slit your wrists / It isn't that much fun / Staring down a loaded gun.” (Cemetery Drive).

He then makes the very bad decision to go find his lover’s grave. “This night, walk the dead in a solitary style / And crash the cemetery gates.” (Cemetery Drive). He starts getting really sad because of this and starts reminiscing and just talking about how much he misses the woman. “I miss you / I miss you, so far / And the collision of your kiss / That made it so hard.” (Cemetery Drive). He also has another one of those moments of “is it worth it?” when he says “So, I won't stop dying, won't stop lying / If you want, I'll keep on crying / Did you get what you deserve? / Is this what you always want me for?” (Cemetery Drive). The rest of the song is very repetitive, but the line “way down” is repeated many many times. It could be talking about hell, it could be talking about the woman under the ground, it could be talking about this “fall” he’s constantly afraid of, it could be anything, really. The main important part of this song is that it leads to another change in identity: in religion.

Thank You For The Venom: This is when things mentally really start to go downhill for the Demolition Lover. He has just visited his dead lover’s grave, he’s by himself, and this is when he decides, ultimately: Fuck God. He’s given up on religion. He knows it’s real, because he’s literally on a quest from Satan himself, but he has no faith in it anymore. “Sister, I'm not much a poet, but a criminal / And you never had a chance / Love it, or leave it, you can't understand / …Preach all you want but who's gonna save me? / I keep a gun on the book you gave me, hallelujah, lock and load” (Venom).

I think maybe a nun has tried to “save” him; he could also be talking about religious people in general, but for story’s sake we’ll say a nun tried to “save” him. We know he’s had religious beliefs in the past, like when he says he was how God made him, or when he prayed to the angels to protect his lover, but he’s done. He’s like, “fuck God, fuck religion, fuck this nun.” (He does end up killing the nun: “Love is the red of the rose on your coffin door / What's life like, bleeding on the floor?”) He really doesn't care at all if people know about this aversion to religion: “I wear this on my sleeve / Give me a reason to believe.” He even contradicts his line from earlier in the album: “We’re just two men as God had made us” (Prison), with “I'm just the way that the doctor made me.” (Venom).

His drug use has gotten worse since Jetset Life: “So give me all your poison / And give me all your pills / And give me all your hopeless hearts / And make me ill.” (Venom). And the man still thinks he’s untouchable too, whether that means they can't convert him or he can’t be stopped in his mission or both. “You're running after something / That you'll never kill / If this is what you want / Then fire at will.” (Venom) This is also where he really starts to not give a shit if he even finishes out the mission: he’s like, fine, kill me, I don’t even know if this is worth it anyway. This attitude only gets stronger in our next track: Hang Em’ High.

Hang Em’ High: The Demolition Lover, with this new “Fuck It” mindset, is now picking up speed on his killing spree, barely caring if he gets killed himself in the process. This entire song is basically about him hunting down the men on the list and killing like a machine, a ruthless rampage that takes on the sound of an old western. “Grab your six-gun from your back / Throttle the ignition / Would I die for you? / Well, here's your answer in spades / Shotgun sinners / Wild-eyed jokers / Got you in my sights / Gun it while I'm holding on.” (Hang Em’ High). You can note the tone of resentment toward the Demolition Woman as well. There’s sort of been this underlying question of “will she still love me after what I’ve done?” and this song really hits the point of “I don’t care what she thinks I’m doing it the fuck anyway.” He’s real sarcastic about it too, but that’s nothing new: “After all is said and done / Climb out from the pine box / Well, I'm asking you / 'Cause she's got nothing to say / …She won't stop me, put it down / So get your gun and meet me by the door.” (Hang em’ High.) This song is also where that theme of “falling” comes again. In this song, he sort of says “If I die, I die, and we’ll both move on.” “If I fall and don't look back / Oh, baby, don't stop / Bury me and fade to black.” (Hang em’ High). This is very different from The Ghost of You, where he’s a little more afraid of this “fall.” It’s really better explained in the tone of the song. In The Ghost of You, the line about falling is very isolated, warningly ominous, and is followed by a heavy chorus of basically just wailing, so it seems like a big fear of his. In Hang ‘Em High, the “fall” is much more casually mentioned and is followed by “don’t stop and bury me,” AKA, “get over it.”

It’s Not A Fashion Statement, It’s A Fucking Deathwish: This song is very important to the story because it exhibits a large change in character. This song is about the Demolition Man hunting down one or more of the people who murdered him. “For what you did to me / And what I'll do to you / You get, what everyone else gets / You get a lifetime / …I'm coming back from the dead / And I'll take you home with me / I'm taking back the life you stole / …I will avenge my ghost with every breath I take / …This hole that you put me in / Wasn't deep enough / And I'm climbing out right now / You’re running out of places to hide from me.” (Fashion Statement).

This song contains a very crucial part in the album. This is the song where he fully accepts that he may fail his mission by dying. In Ghost of You it was his greatest fear, in Hang Em’ High it was maybe-a-thing-that-could-happen-but-I’m-not-going-to-think-about-it-right-now-just-gonna -kill-a-bunch-of-people. In this song, he knows it’s possible. He’s reached full acceptance that he may never see his lover again. This, right here, is one of the most important lines in the album: “I lost my fear of falling.” (Fashion Statement)

Obviously, he’s going to keep trying, though. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still very determined to be with the woman again, but he’s setting his bar realistically in that he may not make it. “If living was the hardest part / We'll then one day be together / …When you go / Just know that I will remember you / I lost my fear of falling / I will be with you, I will be with you.”

And thus, with his determination and preparation in his mind, we arrive at the finale.

I Never Told You What I Do For A Living:

This is the last song in the story of the Demolition Lovers. The Demolition has almost made it to the end of the mission, and he is absolutely ready to kill the last person and see his lover again. “Another night and I'll see you / Another night and I'll be you.” (Never Told You). He is going down the list, going on this rampant spree trying to hunt down the last men on the list. “Another knife in my hands /…I keep a book of the names and those / Only go so far 'til you bury them / So deep and down we go.” (Never Told You).

The only thing he’s worried about is if, one: the woman will still love him after what he’s done, and two: how he’ll deal with the guilt. He’s hoping getting into heaven and seeing the woman will cleanse him of his sins: “Another knife in my hands / A stain that never comes off the sheets / Clean me off / I'm so dirty babe / The kind of dirty where the water never cleans off the clothes

/…Touched by angels, though I fall out of grace / I did it all so maybe I'd live this every day.” (Never Told You). The first five stanzas are about the “seeing the woman will cleanse him” thing. The rest is about his guilt. If he’ll think about it day after day once he’s in heaven, and if he’s ruined his chance at religion because he’s fallen “out of grace.” The part about the woman not loving him anymore is a valid concern, really. I mean, think about it. He’s not the same guy anymore. He has killed one thousand people. That’s too large of a number for us to even comprehend in this context, but try. That shit would change you, for sure.

We have another chorus, after which he simply says the word “down,” which I have to assume means he has just killed the 999th person.

And here’s where everything falls apart.

The devil has just told the Demolition Man that the last evil man he must kill is himself.

He’s been hunting down man after man making kill after kill for at least a year in completely dismal conditions, dirtying his conscience and completely uprooting his life and mind as he knows it. He’s suffered through this all just to get back to the Demolition Woman… and now he can’t. It was all for nothing.

“And we all fall down / I tried /I tried.”

I strongly suggest you actually listen to this part, because just the quote definitely does not get the tone across. It’s at about 1:40 in the song. Gerard is screaming and wailing, really capturing the anguish that his character is feeling, knowing his work was for nothing and knowing that he’ll never see the Demolition Woman again.

However, he does accept this fate.

“And we'll all dance alone to the tune of your death / We'll love again, we'll laugh again / and it's better off this way.” (Never Told You)

Those worries of guilt, the worries that he’s changed too much as a person, the worries that the woman won’t love him anymore, are released. The fact that he says “we’ll all” instead of just “I’ll” is really interesting. He does it in other places throughout the song as well. I have to assume he’s referring to the other 999 people he’s killed, which is a very cool image, all of these people that have died because the Demolition Woman has died, the man soon to join them. It’s an image Gerard creates in the third album as well, an army of ghosts rallying for a final hurrah: “We're damned after all / Through fortune and flame we fall.” (Mama).

He says it’s “better off this way” which is an interesting choice in wording because it’s the same phrase he uses in I’m Not Okay (I Promise), which is not a song I’ve talked about yet. “I never want to let you down / Or have you go, it's better off this way.” (I’m Not Okay).

The second stanza I suppose means that they’ll move on. They’ll learn to “live” without each other in the afterlife.

However, this acceptance comes very quickly after the breakdown, which implies that it was sort of that “quick fix reasoning” we tend to do- something bad happens and we instantly try to reassure ourselves that it’s going to be okay by conjuring up the first solution or remedy we can think of.

I can infer this because the Demolition Man starts reminiscing about the day they were shot, repeating these lines: “And never again, and never again / They gave us two shots to the back of the head / And we're all dead now,” twice, increasing in desperation and emotion the second time around, and then he starts wailing again. “Well I tried / One more night / One more night / Well I'm laughin' out, cryin' out, laughin' out loud / I tried, well I tried, well I tried / 'Cause I tried, but I lied.” (Never Told You)

He’s losing his mind. He’s freaking the fuck out, the whole impact of what has happened is hitting him, and he’s no longer trying to quickly reassure himself, but just insisting that he “tried” over and over again, even to the point of laughing, he’s so far out of it. He just keeps saying “One more night,” knowing he was that close to seeing the woman again.

He repeats “I tried” a few more times, and then he tries to assure himself again with the lines about it being “better off.” He’s jumping back and forth, his touch on what he knows loosening. He does understand one thing, though. This guilt will haunt him, Demolition Woman or not. “And it's better off this way / So much better off this way / I can't clean the blood off the sheets in my bed!” (Never Told You.) I feel like it’s important to note that during these shifts in thoughts, Gerard switches between more calmly singing and completely screaming which probably accurately represents this complete breakdown the Demolition Man is having.

The song ends with a final reminiscence of the night of the Demolition Lovers’ death, as the Demolition Man does what the devil has asked of him and joins his list of the dead.

“And never again, and never again / They gave us two shots to the back of the head / And we're all… dead… now.”

***

The End? Not quite. You may have noticed that I’ve neglected I’m Not Okay (I Promise), Helena, and the bonus tracks from the live recording collection: Life on the Murder Scene.

Helena: Helena was written following the death of the Grandmother of Gerard and Mikey Way (Bassist). Gerard has described this song as “an angry, open letter to himself.” The lyrics are more than anything about the Ways’ Grandmother, Elena, than the story, but if we must find a way to connect it, I believe it would be from the Demolition Woman’s perspective (It could also be about what the Demolition Man thinks the woman is thinking). “What's the worst that I can say? / Things are better if I stay / So long and goodnight / …Well, if you carry on this way / Things are better if I stay / So long and goodnight/” (Helena). This can be the Demolition Woman saying she’s better off in heaven after she’s seen what the Demolition Man has done and who he’s become.

The whole song is about grief, which means it could take place pretty much anywhere in the timeline, that is, if the song fits with the story at all.

I’m Not Okay (I Promise): I’m pretty sure this song takes place before they die. I think it’s about both of them having some mental health issues and problems with each other, which means their relationship was a little rocky. Don’t get me wrong, they were still totally in love with each other, I mean, obviously, he killed 1000 men for her, but they had some issues. This can also be concluded from some lines in Demolition Lovers: “And after all the things we put each other through…” (Demolition Lovers). It’s largely unimportant, I think. The lyrics are not really of substance, except that neither of them are okay and they kind of fought sometimes, but they won’t break up because being a little bit unhappy with each other is better than not being with each other at all: ““I never want to let you down / Or have you go, it's better off this way.” (I’m Not Okay). That’s about all I could take away from this track.

Desert Song: One of the two bonus tracks from this album, found on the live recording collection Life on the Murder Scene. I’m not gonna lie, the analysis of this song is very simple: We died, that’s sad, I miss you.

It’s pretty much the entire story’s plot (feelings-wise) in one song. There’s an allusion to I Never Told You What I Do For a Living: “And did you come to stare or wash away the blood?” (Like the line “Clean me off / I'm so dirty babe / The kind of dirty where the water never cleans off the clothes” (Never Told You)). It details the journey of their bodies: “From the earth to the morgue /

Morgue, morgue, morgue!” (Desert Song) and talks about the woman living in heaven or mourning him or both: “Spend the rest of your days rockin' out / Just for the dead.” It’s not a very eventful song, and I have to assume that much of it is written about Gerard Way’s real life more than the Demolition Lovers.

Bury Me in Black: My personal favorite. Also found on Life on the Murder Scene, this song has got to be the angriest on the album.

There’s proof that it could be directed toward the Demolition Woman, and theories that it could be directed toward the devil, but I think it’s both. It takes place sometime during his mission, I assume around the 400 mark where he’s probably extremely fed up with this mission and just angry as hell. “I wanna see what your insides look like (I wanna see what your insides look like)/ I bet you're not fucking pretty on the inside (not so pretty) / I wanna see what your insides look like (not so pretty, baby)” (Bury Me in Black). Yeah, he’s mad. He’s extremely violent, either toward his lover or toward the devil, we don’t know. But he’s been killing for so long now that violence is all he knows…

There’s some maybe-proof that it’s toward the woman: “I said, ‘We'll drown ourselves in misery tonight’ / White lies, you've worn out all your dancing shoes this time,” which I think is bitterness that the woman is in heaven. He’s completely miserable, and he wants her to be miserable too, not having fun in paradise.

The part that makes me think it’s the devil is here: “I've been calling you all week for my

Shotgun / Pick up the phone / Pick up the phone, fucker.” He has to be in some sort of communication with the devil to let him know what’s going on, which makes me think he doesn’t have the materials or information he needs, which is halting his mission, AKA frustrating him enough that he wants to literally gut Satan.

This is also another look at just how miserable he is. He’s drinking to numb the pain: “These eyes have had too much to drink again tonight,” He’s feeling suicidal: ‘Black skies, we'll douse ourselves in high explosive light,” He’s physically injured from fights: “And well, I can't explain / What happened to my face / Late last night,” He’s homeless: “I sleep in empty pools, and vacant alleyways,” and he’s having a sexuality crisis: “And what I'm going through / Shot lip gloss through my veins.” (Bury Me in Black). It is another song that fits pretty much anywhere in the timeline.

The End: Thank you for reading this stupid bullshit if you made it this far. Yes, I wrote all of this and if you are for some reason crazy enough to use it for anything please credit me; I spent far too long working on this to get robbed. It is December 25, 2022, 12:52 am, thus concluding my first completed masterdoc: The Story Behind My Chemical Romance’s: Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge. Thanks for reading.

[ofmistandmire]

Proposed revised Trial of Roots

It was rightfully pointed out to us that our original description of the Trial of Roots bore uncomfortable similarity to the indigenous practice of Vision Quests. As such, we've come up with a new concept for the Trial, and are seeking feedback before officially updating the lore docs to make sure our community feels the issue has been appropriately resolved. Thank you again to the anon who brought the issue to our attention, as well as to those of you who suggested ways we could alter the Trial. The proposed new description is included below the cut, and we would greatly appreciate any and all comments on the concept. As always, feel free to reply, DM, or send an ask on or off anon if you would like to share your thoughts.

The last step to becoming a fully graduated Kith member is the Trial of Roots, which is designed to test one's dedication to the Kith. Once a Sapling has learned all there is to know of their Trade, their mentor will recommend them for the Trial of Roots. At this point, preparations for a Sapling’s complete Token will begin in the days leading up to the Trial. On the Eve of the Trial, there is a celebratory send off from anyone who would like to attend, before the Sapling sets out at moonhigh. Each Path has a corresponding landmark, which is considered to heighten one's connection to the Deities that oversee them, and the Sapling must travel alone to this location.  They are not permitted to speak to any other cat once the Trial has begun.

Upon arriving at their Path’s designated landmark, the Sapling is to address their patron deity directly, and must swear a vow to uphold their Path and serve the Kith, thus setting their ‘roots’ as a full member of the Kith and their chosen Trade. After this promise has been spoken, the Sapling must remain at the Trial location until sunrise, at which point they may return to camp and break their vow of silence. If a Sapling’s Trial is interrupted, they cannot reach their Trial site, they return to camp before sunrise, or their vow of silence is broken prematurely, this is considered failing the Trial and is viewed as a highly negative omen.

Once they have returned to camp, the Sapling, their mentor, the Head of their Path, and the Voice will enter the Whispering Grove to locate the seedling that was planted prior to the Sapling’s birth. Here the Sapling is to declare their Minor Deity - many report having a ‘gut feeling’ that informs which deity they would like to forge this bond with, though the choice may also be made for other reasons that may be of personal significance, such as wishing to feel close to the patron deity of a lost loved one. The Sapling’s mentor, Path Head, and the Voice will then return to camp, where they will discuss what Calling the Sapling will receive in preparation for the ceremony. Meanwhile, the Sapling bestows their seedling with a blessing corresponding to their chosen Minor Deity, much as their parents did upon planting the seedling, thus officially concluding their Trial.

After the completion of the Trial of Roots, the Calling Ceremony will take place, at which one drops the title of Sapling and receives their finished Token and Calling officially, thus earning their full name and status as a member of the Kith.

[xxk3vonicaxx]

... Here we go againn

So Blurry made a doc about me and posted it through a friend of his aandd... Oh boy is it somethingg, it's basically full of already resolved issues (only showing what I did to him and not what he did to mee), out of context screenshotss (as usuall), aand just blatant liess. He tried to claim I was his "abuser" as well 'cause I had held him accountable for his behaviorr (Whichh... Is absolutely crazyy, buut okk)

The only good thing about this was that Blurry referenced my special interest in the titlee, like yess, thank youu✨

Anywayy, onto discussing the docc:

First of alll, I never drew the art to "get back at him" or whateverr, like he so claimss, those aren't my words like he's claiming they aree, I never said I wanted to get back at himm, that's not what it waas:

It was for two reasonss, though the main one is the firstt:

It was meant as a warning for Blurry to try and stop stealing designs from my bestiee

Also I thought it would be a funny warningg (a jokee)

I've literally stated this several timess, how hard is it for someone to understandd? Not to mention I apologized for itt

Just 'cause something is a warning doesn't make it be out of revengee, Doing something as an act to warn someone not to do what they're doing isn't revengefull, don't know why he keeps trying to think it's out of revenge when it's nott

Likee, it's literally stated heree, by my bestiee, that it's a warningg. Neither of us would do this kind of thing to anyone elsee (unless you steal our designss/pass them off as your ownn, this is also a warning for those kind of peoplee), this was solely directed at Blurryy:

Alsoo, why are you calling nudity pornn? You show the dakimakura my bestie drew as one of your exampless, buut that's... Not pornn?

It's literally nudityy, why are you calling it porn when it's nott? What is your logicc?

Anywayy, continuing onn:

The "several userss" Blurry mentioned is his friend Cultc0ree (who has stolen 5 of my OCs aand has tried to slander my name beforee), aand his fans that contacted mee, who were either proshipperss, nsfw accounts that posted clopping (MLP Nsfww)/irl nsfww/yiff (furry nsfww), or bothh. One of which had reposted/supported bad dragonn, a zoophilic companyy... That kind of stuff makes me uncomfyy, of course I'd block those kind of people who post that stufff:

Due to the bad experiences I had with his fanss, I'm not in the furry fandom anymoree. I don't like drawing furries much unless it's my comfort characterr (more on that laterr). I still draw furries/anthro from time to timee, just not as much as I used tooo

Alsoo, Blurry fails to mention what happened after the callout post was madee, that being his father had threatened to dox me and a minor just 'cause I called him outt (shown heree and heree), aand he did nothing about itt, nor does he ever mention his own behavior towards mee

It's also ironic that Blurry says I stalk himm, when he's stalked both me and Mobcrit beforee. Blurry wouldn't know about this blog if he hadn't stalked my following on my alt accountt (which was privatee, my followingg, not my altt), as the blog isn't searchablee:

This is a blog made by the two authors of the Blurry docc, the blog isn't complete yett (as you can seee), buut it's a critique blog for Blurry's loree, like Mobcrit iss

Basicallyy, tumblr had a glitch that had marked your followers private for you in your settingss, buut had made them public on your profilee, aand that's how Blurry had found itt. It's not searchablee, he wouldn't have found it any other wayy

Anywayy, Blurry claims that me holding him accountable for his behavior (referring to my response post from the Blurry docc) is gaslighting according to himm, whichh... Holding someone accountable for their behavior isn't gaslightingg? Huhh??:

As welll, recentlyy, after Cags on Mobcrit posted an ask with someone saying people should rewrite Mob's FON loree, Blurry came into my DMs threatening su*cide and saying Cagney was attacking him 'cause the people on Mobcrit don't like his workk (He thinks I run Mobcrit when I'm just their archivistt, this has been stated multiple times on the blog itselff) ... He conveniently left this out of his docc:

What prompted that convoo, was that Blurry got mad that Cagney on Mobcrit proposed an idea to rewrite Mob's FON loree... Notice how I said MOB'S and not Blurry'ss, completely missing the meaning of the postt:

Cagney's talking about Mob's lore heree, not Blurry'ss. Blurry just can't understand that some people don't like his workk. You have to expect that kind of thing when you post your work so that people can see itt (Oh yeahh, he also calls that "bullyingg" sooo-)

Blurry had also accused me of gaslighting 'cause I had responded to a joke Cagney made (that Blurry gets no maidenss) by joking about it furtherr, whichh... The fact that you're getting upset over a stupid meme kind of confirms that at this pointt-

Anywayy, here was the response to the joke Cags made in questionn:

Aaand here was Blurry calling it gaslightingg:

Alsoo, he had lied to me about him not following NSFW accountss, aand I had called him out on it in that same convoo, as he was following Mob's NSFW account on twitter with his rebranded accountt, which he conveniently left out of his docc. He tried to lie and say that he had followed aand unfollowedd, buut that's a total liee, 'cause the screenshot shown was taken just before Mob deleted the account due to minors following itt:

Heree, he was acting like he was the main victimm, which he also left out of his docc:

Throughout this conversation there were multiple times in which Blurry was saying I was gaslighting himm... When I was holding him accountable for his behaviorr (aand noo, he hadn't apologized for making fun of my typing quirkk, he had lied in his "apologyy", as you guys already knoww:

Another thing to add onn, Blurry claimed I had "stolen an OC", when I actually hadn'tt:

(Notee, I was mad that Mob sold the original Deramu and other Sassy's Palace characters behind people's backss, lying to me that she said she wouldn't sell them at the timee. The new owner is a supporter/friend of Mob's and compared Mobcrit's critiques to school shooterss. This is also literally public infoo)

Also nooo, I never talked to him about this characterr, don't know where he got that fromm:

Mob had actually given me the OC during the recent chat she had with me when I got the rights to use the plants for Plantae backk (this is also public infoo, it's literally in the Mobcrit archivee), aand Mob had approved of the changes I had made to him after she gave him to mee:

Original design on the leftt, my redesign on the rightt, I liked it 'cause I thought it looked like my comfort characterr, hence the namee:

Anywayy, yeahh, that's not theftt, I literally got this OC for free along with my rights for the plantss. This is literally public infoo, I don't know why it was even mentioned in the doc in the first place since it has nothing to do with Blurry at alll

Mobcrit's probably gonna reblog this anywayy, buut there was some blatant lies that Blurry had said about them that just aren't truee (claiming the admins of Mobcrit were transphobic when in reality they were calling out people for their transphobia/using xenogenderss), also Blurry defends Mob in this specific part of the document as welll, mmm

[slightecho]

Ooooo boy I got tagged by @childlikegoblinqueen and @fynn-arcana thank y’all 🥰

RULES: make a new post with the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! and then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

Ashes: just posted chapter 36! We’re coming up on the beginning of the end and I think I’m still on track to have about 45 or 46 chapters total at the end of it all. Also one more major interlude left to go! 👀

The Caleb Files: The prequel story to Ashes. The story of Caleb, Evelyn, growing up too fast, and the lie that burned everything down. There’s only one thing written for this so far and a playlist started

Halloween Pt. 3: lmao I had more ideas of random funny shenanigans after returning to Willow’s sleepover in Ashes that didn’t end up making it into the Final Cut bc it was already such a beast. I might release it as a silly one shot bonus later

Untitled Bungo Stray Dogs Heathers AU: uhhhhh toxic af soukoku fic where Chuuya is Veronica and Dazai is JD. I killed off Kouyou. Probably perpetually unfinished tbh. Wasn’t posted anywhere so it lives in my google docs forever

Ellie/Elowyn AU: my girlfriend and i made up a Grimwalker OC that was accidentally made from Evelyn instead of Caleb, and was one of the unfinished grims left behind in the mud by Belos. Hunter finds her when helping Darius catalogue palistrom wood left behind in the lab and now Huntlow has a grimwalker child! And boy she is FULL Clawthorne 😳

Don’t Form Voltron Under the Bed: (retches) I hate how this ended up. I cringe. I don’t want to look at it. (Markiplier voice) “If i could kill it, I would. But legally I cant.” I never wrote the last chapter and I’m sorry but idk if I ever will because I have a visceral reaction to any mention of Voltron now

The First Golden Guard: concept only. based on the route I thought the Golden Guard and Caleb/Evelyn Lore would take. Involves mindscape and time pool shenanigans and would actually take place post-finale

Tagging other fic writerssss okkkk @silvvergears @oh-cramity-its-amity @moroser @unniebeans @rfswitchart @willowsz-plantsz and if there’s anyone I forgot 😅

[dykeferatu]

hi... i hope you dont mind this but u should talk about taeho and parker.... deathly curious. what're both of their general deals? ik taeho is a tzimisce but not much else otherwise :^)

OF COURSE I DON'T MIND!! i dont think anyones ever just asked me to explain my ocs i usually just babble about them and i assume everyone just goes "who the hell are they talking about" and moves on. unless they are my fwiends who i'm insane abt ocs with on the reg. anyway, thank u so so much for asking!! infodump commences

i'll start with parker because she hasn't had any session yet so her lore is not deep, and since at least one other player will likely read this i can't quite reveal all the fun bits yet! here's the only drawing i have atm. subject to change but this is the vibe

parker (she/her) is a 21 year old skater chick (and lesbian) in the year 2007. she recently had an experience that turned her onto the path of a hunter. one of her friends was attacked by Something a few nights ago. she hit the thing with a bat (she used to play softball :D) but it didn't seem to phase it. at one point when she was checking out the crime scene, she ran into... her old high school english teacher. the victim was 18 and a current student of his, and he was curious about the incident too.

the two teamed up on their investigation and met an occult bookstore owner who took interest and told them she might know a guy who can help. all 4 of them will meet up for the first time in the first session on saturday :>

----

now, taeho..... taeho taeho. shim taeho (he/she) is a south korean cybernetics expert in the year 2077 (so many sevens in these years. that's a coincidence). she was a cybernetic designer/engineer i guess? i don't really know cyberpunk i'll be honest with u. she was also a back-alley ripperdoc. you can only understand so much about cybernetics without installing them yourself :)

(art courtesy of @cradlingsongs)

she made some great achievements in her field, which attracted the attention of a tzimisce, jaeyoon (they/them). jaeyoon was interested in figuring out the mechanics of cybernetics on kindred, so they embraced taeho to be both a lab partner and a guinea pig. they also didn't let taeho leave the haven often because the camarilla was not welcoming to them. he'd only ever fed on their vitae until recently. no hard feelings, though! taeho loves her sire (why yes, he is Mega Blood Bonded, why do you ask?).

their main project together has been developing some sick doc ock tentacles by combining vicissitude and cybernetics. taeho has 2 currently installed. she's a beast with them in combat and it's a delight (when the dice don't hate me...)

anyway, after about 8 years of being holed up with his sire, the city they reside in was attacked by the SI. jaeyoon didn't come home, and taeho was left all alone. she waited, but eventually he knew he had to leave. she fled to the nearby city of seoul.

since it was his understanding that a tzimisce weren't really allowed in the camarilla, taeho decided to masquerade as another clan. and what other clan should she choose but the fucking tremere? look. he knows he has very nerdy energy so she figured she could blend in. plus, he was very curious about blood sorcery. could never quite figure out all that koldunic stuff.

since then she's been eating shit as a cammie scrub in a coterie of other scrubs (or, originally other scrubs. some players have rotated out and now half the coterie is much better off than taeho and the other refugee in the coterie). shenanigans have ensued, most notably for him when he got trapped into a marriage with a changeling that ended in a very messy divorce. uh. taeho may have been marked by the changeling relative that escaped the blood bath. it's fine.

i also have to include that this particular chronicle is, honestly, very horny. which is a lot of taeho's fault (but not entirely... *side-eyes lavender and her regnant*). for some reason his autistic swag is so strong that she has gotten laid THRICE since we started playing. none of the other pcs have done that even once... you'd probably expect the mafia girlboss or the sexy lasombra who takes every opportunity to take his shirt off to be pulling more, but you'd be wrong.

in recent events: a couple sessions ago taeho reunited with her sire! he cried like a baby, finally got to do some fleshcrafting (she had been feeling very trapped in this form... had a bit of a gender crisis. he's still figuring out exactly what's going on in that regard but hey the egg has definitely cracked, hence the new set of pronouns), and then had some. fun times. with her beloved sire. unfortunately, due to reasons, he can't stay with them. also they've been cursed somehow so taeho has to figure that out now. it's fine.

more recent events: taeho's regent/mentor seems to be reaching his limit on tolerating taeho's secretiveness. he's known that taeho has been lying about her clan since, like, almost the start. this regent is a very unusual tremere, and didn't immediately reveal taeho. in fact, he didn't even force taeho to tell him anything. he had already decided to take him under his wing, so that was that.

last session though he got a little fed up with the lack of trust. taeho tried to counter with some rumors he'd heard about the regent, expecting to weasel out, but instead the regent just laid out his whole tragic backstory to her. taeho didn't know how to respond to this, and also still couldn't tell the tremere regent that he was a tzimisce while they were in the middle of a chantry. she felt really bad about not telling the truth, which is weird and fucked up. why does he feel so bad about hurting this tremere??

i think i've said all the important stuff and then some, so i'll wrap it up. ahh.. taeho.... i love her. he's so fun to play. her game has already been going for over a year i think but only recently did he really click in my head. and boy. boy oh boy did he click. dug her cybernetic claws into the folds of my brain. i'm in pain. anyway i have some more art and posts in her tag if u want to check that out wehehehe

[girl4music]

Another thing that Wynonna gets right that Buffy didn’t. I say “right”. What I mean is it’s what I prefer to see. Moral greyness. Without stipulations. Just the simple “I’m a better person than I was before” even when they’re not technically a “person” anymore.

“I do what needs to be done ‘cause I’m a hero. And you know what, yeah, sometimes that makes me a killer.”

“‘Cause I would die to save my sister. Or kill. Anyone. Everyone… I just want to keep my family safe.”

“You can't keep doing this. Killing people and pretending like it doesn't affect you.”

“Right would’ve been shooting that thing and us running for it!”

“He wasn't always a thing, Doc. And if I'm gonna keep killing them and not go crazy, then I need more than revenge!”

“God damn it, Wynonna, they’re bad people!”

“So I’m just supposed to ignore that they’re people at all?”

“You would be dead before you drew.”

“This whole ‘fastest gunslinger in the west,’ that something you proud of? Shooting people who don’t have a chance to fight back?”

“Some people deserve to be shot.”

“Who decides that? ‘Cause the history books say one thing; my family says another. So you tell me, do you deserve a bullet or do I? Maybe, I’ll let fate decide.”

“Whatever side we fight on, the blood we shed to win the war, will damn us all.”

“It’s not a war, Holliday. It’s just a town filled with women who would have us both fight to the death.”

Moral high ground is annoying and preachy. And there’s nothing really to learn from it other than good vs evil. But real people who have experienced both sides know that it’s not that simple or easy. Not at all.

Buffy touches on this a few times. But the problem is they don’t really explore it properly. And they keep to the moral high ground of a hero is always the law. And what that does is it prevents any real moral greyness because the heroes are always the heroes and the villains are always the villains: it’s not how it works.

So in this way - I actually prefer ‘Wynonna Earp’ because they properly explore what should have been explored in ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ but never is. They have the conversations - the conflicts - but they don’t have the “am I really a hero for killing them”? And the reason why they don’t is because the canon lore is “demonic possession” rather than demonic corruption. Yet the arcs themselves show otherwise.

Wynonna leans into what is shown in the arcs.

They don’t reinforce the canon lore when the canon lore no longer makes any sense because of the arcs.

With Wynonna I get good AND evil and the fluctuation and the questioning of which side is which…

With Buffy I get “I am the Law and that’s that” when the other characters are challenging the hero on this. But the hero doesn’t learn anything from that conflict.

Because the hero always has to be the hero in the end.

There’s a mountain of war veterans that will say this isn’t realistic. It’s not the way any of that ever works.

So in this way - yes, Wynonna is better than Buffy. And I would even say Wynonna is a better lead protagonist because her flaws are on display and are addressed as flaws rather than just qualities and skills that she has to have to win a supernatural war that she never really gave any true consent to be the collateral damage for. I don’t think anyone realizes that Buffy isn’t a militant. She’s not a trained professional like Riley and Sam are. And she gets a Watcher to “train” her who isn’t either. She pretty much learns to deal all on her own which is inspiring but isn’t realistic. And is - in reality - illegal.

And I don’t know. Maybe there’s some kind of appeal in watching that very nihilistic point of view. But I would have preferred it if this woman got to retire and let everyone else that could and would fight take over. And I would have preferred it if they addressed that maybe not everyone on the side of “evil” had to die ‘cause if you make that damning call then you’re not really on the side of “good” either. You just play god. And I’m not saying Buffy did that but there was no real exploration of whether that is how she’s ending up even when it was revealed that she was part demon. Made from a demon. Whatever. You know what I mean. Belonging to the dark as much as the light.

And so Wynonna did what Buffy was too afraid to do.

And in the end - for me - it just leaves it all empty.

The Chosen One is a difficult concept to work with. But it’s compelling to watch because it’s difficult.

And I just think ‘Wynonna Earp’ did it better in the end. I think it ended the “right” way that it should.

I think it comes down to the differences in the creators/showrunners. Joss Whedon VS Emily Andras. Whedon took the nihilistic approach because he is nihilistic man. Andras took the realistic approach.

So the point I’m making is nihilism is not realistic. And it’s not realistic because there is meaning in the world. It’s just that you have to be brave enough to make that meaning. To determine that reality for yourself without being the arbiter of everyone else’s fate or destiny. Otherwise you just end up being what did that to you. And in all honesty I just think Joss Whedon gave up. You can say that he was always a monster anyway - and obviously cast confessions have testified to this - but I think it’s more likely that he just turned into one because he stopped believing that heroes are corruptible and villains are redeemable eventually - which is the reality of real people. Real human people. And then you have Emily Andras writing the complete opposite to that. Showing the complete opposite of it. That morally grey is the nature of everything that exists. It is only our choices that define who we are. And we step into the role of either hero or villain depending on which it is we choose to do in the moment. It is never inherently the only way to be. And this same philosophy goes for whether human/mortal or not because conscious beings are still real people.

Good VS evil isn’t a good story to tell if there’s no point to it that is actually relatable to real people. Everybody loves the metaphorical unpinnings of Buffy. There’s been books and thesis after thesis written on the cleverness of the metaphors used to tell the story. The deeper aspects to the teen supernatural concept. And it is clever. Absolutely. I’m not denying that at all. But I just think it fell flat as far as the final season goes because Whedon and Co just seemed to stop caring. And it’s just sad to say that others have done it better precisely because it ended better because they cared.

Maybe Whedon drove himself to nihilism in the end 😔