#Persona 6 Concept

[ryouichiii]

soejima has a point ......... this style is so fun to draw in

[fortesp89]

Persona: Genesta Protagonist

Persona 6 concept ideas

Color Theme: Green Setting: Kita-ku, Sapporo School Setting: College (Hokkaido University) Year: 2021 Themes: Childhood Dreams, Nostalgia, Sickness, Corruption Persona Theme: Fairytales Number of Party Members: 8 Playable Characters: Faculty/Staff of the university Mascot Character: Kikimora

Characters/Arcana Protagonist/Erina Kanokogi (25) - The Fool (Works in Admissions Office) Kyoji Emon (28) - Justice (Works in maintenance) Ageha Domoto (26) - Strength (Works in Admissions Office) Wataru Kuwabara (30) - The Hanged Man (In charge of the Men’s Dormitory) Jushiro Koda (33) - Temperance (Instructor in Veterinary Medicine) Katerina (???) - The Moon (Lives by herself within the Schwartzwald) Wakana Usho (24) - High Priestess (Works as an intern while writing her thesis) Issei Hikawa (51) - The Hierophant (Tenured Professor in Education)

Persona Genesta (Protagonist/Erina): Uses Psy and Dia spells, also buff spells Lambton (Kyoji): Uses Hama spells and debuffs spells David (Ageha): Uses Physical attacks and buff/debuff spells Sinbad (Wataru): Uses Aqua spells and debuff spells Ebony Horse (Jushiro): Uses Garu spells and physical attacks Carland (Katarina): Uses Agi and Bless spells, also buff spells Baba Yaga (Wakana): Uses Bufu and Curse Spells, also debuff spells Seven Dwarfs (Issei): Navigator

Velvet Room Takes the form of a Green House New attendant goes by the name Walton

Schwarzwald

Formed from the Collective Unconscious, created from people’s perceptions of the unknown and repressed ideas of what lies beyond society as seen by children. It contains various different types of forests so thick that light does not reach, but is illuminated by a strange atmosphere and inhabited by Shadows as if they are the Fae, Many parts of Schwarzwald contain either normal but strange foliage or bizarre geometric shapes that can confuse and entrap those who accidentally wander into it. Katerina has been living for an untold amount of time in a small cottage that she built close but hidden near the entrance that acts as a way-point for the group.

Gameplay Story takes place over the course or a year as the protagonist balances work and exploring Schwarzwald. The protagonist lives in an apartment complex near the college grounds and can explore through the city and various other environments around that surround it. The Peer system is similar to the Confidant of Persona 5, involving forming relationships around the campus and city for various benefits in and out of Schwarzwald. The dungeons of the game are called Groves that manifest when someone enters and the location morphs into something from their memories, usually from childhood. They must be completed before the new moon deadline, failure to do so results in a false Game Over. Randomly generated smaller dungeons that can be transversed outside the Groves are called Paimpont where Katerina acts as a guide for the party. Navigating these dungeons the party collect treasures, obtain Persona and complete tasks given by various NPCs in and out of the Schwarzwald.

Combat The party engages in strategic turn-based combat with Shadows and bosses using both melee and ranged weapons, instead of only one type of weapon. The party will use their Personas in battle to combat Shadows. The general aim is to find the enemy's weakness and exploit it in order to knock them down. When a party member has knocked down an enemy, an ability called “Page Turner" appears, where the party member can pass their "1 More" turn to another combatant to boost up their attack and healing power during that turn, which goes higher if the streak is kept going. The maximum is three pages, as the "page" cannot be turned to the same party member twice. When all remaining enemies are knocked down, this will result in a "Bargain." The protagonist can choose to initiate a Pact or an All-out Attack. The UI of Persona 5 is carried over but is now displayed as a wooden art palette to match the more laid-back setting of Sapporo.

Aesthetics When the protagonist makes a Bargain with a Shadow to become a Persona to use, a contract is signed using a pen that forms from a butterfly. This is a reference to Philemon, showing that he is still watching over humanity. When a character awakens to their Persona, they manifest certain accessories that take cues from the persona such as certain articles of clothing/armor similar to Oversouls of Shaman King. (Using different Persona, the protagonist’s accessories don’t change, but changes colors depending on the race the persona comes from) The setting of Sapporo as being more laid back than Tokyo is as shown in Persona 5 gives a motif that’s similar to Inaba but with a modern rustic feel, shown with canvas-like menus that use a water color template.

Voice Actors Protagonist: Masumi Asano/Stephanie Panisello Kyoji: Wataru Hatano/Edward Bosco Ageha: Yumi Hara/Ryan Bartley Wataru: Masaya Matsukaze/Joe Zieja Jushiro: Eiji Takeuchi/Greg Chun Katerina: Chitose Morinaga/Dawn M. Bennett Wakana: MAO/Reba Buhr Issei: Akio Otsuka/David Forseth

[sillyboypersonasixconcept]

whoop whoop, it's the sound of the navigator

Name: Kanade Tenma Nicknames: "Archangel_Kana", "Ghost Girl", "Kitty"

"A poor unfortunate soul, Kanade is usually fine! If you exclude her narcolepsy. She hates any warm drink and any long story, and she'll let you know if she feels like she may need to be taken somewhere to be safe if she falls asleep. Kanade loves money, on the other hand, so she takes tons and tons of odd jobs to keep a decent amount of money on her at any given time."

Arcana: Judgement Persona: Alice

---

I absolutely love how she came out XD

[dreamingeyes]

ref sheet for the protagonist, Keiko Hareto (they/them), of my Persona 6 concept! 💚

[edenfire]

"i promised that i would come wake you"

Shuake Week Day 3: Royalty AU

inspired by @doodleodds comic they drew for shuake week, bc it was so good and so cute, and i just can't get shuake sleeping beauty au out of my head🥺 cursed prince goro with his phantom thief climbing his tower to rescue him,, i can't get over it💕💕

[lecliss]

Wait while I'm here lemme say something that's been on my mind for like 2 weeks at least. So, Yahiko was alive when Obito first came to Ame and talked to Nagato. The canonical ages of Obito and Nagato in shippuden are 31 and 35 respectively. So the ame orphans are all 4 years older than Obito. Considering Yahiko died at 15, the oldest Obito could be when meeting Nagato is..... 11. When did Obito have his death scare and meet Madara before leaving for Ame??? When he was 13. Sooooo... unless I somehow got something wrong, and please correct me if I did, Kishimoto is once again a hack fraud.

[arcsin27]

Funny idea I came up with is the next protag (peroku?) witnessing the persona bullshit and calling the cops but the cop is Zenkichi or makoto or tatsuya etc and they instantly believe them which shocks peroku because the trope is that the cops don’t believe in the supernatural but they’re just

[justpoliteconversations]

Apple Merchant [BOTW!Link x Isekai!Reader] (Part 5)

You spend more money. And Link becomes a local legend.

I was intending on working on a different piece tonight, but the continuous notifications for Apple Merchant keeps reminding me of how much I want to write on it. And then the self-indulgent whispers start seeping into my brain and here we are. Enjoy your ill-gotten gains, Lurkers.

Part 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6

Alternate Extras: Embrace

Masterlist

TW: Choosing not to display warnings. Read at your own discretion.

Disclaimer: Don't own The Legend of Zelda franchise.

---

Lurelin village. A beautiful little coastal town southwest of Hateno with just the right amount of sun and water to make any would-be visitor green with envy. Except no one ever mentioned the humidity (enough to drown someone in their sleep, you swear by it), the lizalfos infestation (something the game got right in concept, but wrong in scale) and the sand. The Goddess forsaken sand. The damned (neverending, grit in your teeth, tears in your eyes, gravel in your lungs) sand that got into everything.

So, no, Lurelin was beautiful and you'd thought once that maybe you'd get a house there (or maybe just plan a vacation). But you'd quickly been rid of the notion the moment you'd stepped foot onto the warm, picturesque beachfront property. Taken a deep, appreciative breath of the fresh, salty air. And then was promptly tackled out of the way of an oncoming spear by Skims (bless that man) as Adino put a pair of arrows into a lizalfos' hissing, gaping maul.

The face full of sand you'd gotten after being pile-driven into the ground just added to the experience. In the worst way possible. It had taken days for your mouth to feel clean of the unpleasant grit of sand grains and your eyes to stop tearing and burning in irritation. If not for Skim's constant care and Adino forcibly holding your hands away from your face when the pain became too much, you could have walked away with far worse than bad memories and a new distaste for sand.

That was the day you decided Lurelin would not be a place you'd be spending any significant amount of time in. No matter how friendly the locals or tasty the food or beautiful the ocean views. It just wasn't worth it. Not to you, at least. Maybe in another lifetime, it would have been a dream to strive towards. But not here. Not now.

You still had moments of unease when you think of what could have happened had Skim's not been so close (as he's always been, and as you'll hopefully always have him). And those moments were more potent when you were in the small village. Keeping you ever on edge and always within sight of your trusted guards.

So, one might ask why you'd chosen to go to that very village when you could go anywhere in southern Hyrule. In fact, (in those whispering moments of weakness) you'd ask yourself that very same question. Especially as you trudged miserably through the thick, muggy afternoon heat with Adino at your back and Skims on point (who knows where Red went. but it wasn't your business and so you dismissed the thought entirely).

The answer? Shock arrows. An unholy amount of shock arrows. Enough to break the purse of the average merchant three times over. And possibly put their children in debt too. And possibly their horse.

It's a good thing you weren't a common merchant.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Mubs." You called in friendly greeting as you set foot onto the dock, casting away your (unease) irritation and slipping into your business persona effortlessly. "Fair weather on the seas I hope?"

Pleasantries were exchanged, the latest information traded (Adino was feigning irritation as he eavesdropped, but you could see the way his eyes and ears flickered with amusement and surprise at the appropriate times. Skims was window shopping, eyeing some of the more exotic fish with open curiosity) and you ended up selling several thousand rupees worth of product to the woman. Fresh produce mostly, but also quite a few ores. Such things were always in high demand in Lurelin. Ores especially, as most coastal deposits were notoriously difficult to mine with the lizalfos infestation so prominent.

More workers died mining along the beach than to storms out at sea. And that's a very unsettling thought, given the ratio of miners to sailors in a seafaring village (of all places). Crunch the numbers, and becoming a miner in Lurelin was equivalent to a death sentence. And the general population knew that.

(It explained why crime rates were so low in Lurelin, when mining was the manual labor criminals were made to do.)

Passing off the last of Mubs' purchase to her, you waited patiently for the woman to finish storing away her newly acquired goods before speaking. "I have a large order request." You said, letting a small, costumer service smile slip onto your lips. And maybe that kind of smile was something that transcended worlds, or maybe Mubs just knew you, but she immediately looked wary (by the way she narrowed her eyes, it was probably the former. maybe).

She gestured for you to continue, and you did with cool (pained) confidence. "I need as many shock arrows as you can afford to part with." She started to gesture towards her arrow display, but you shook your head and she paused. "I need below deck inventory. Everything you've got."

Her brows shot to her hairline, incredulous as she cautioned. "Quite the order. Surely not even The Apple Merchant would part with so much rupee." You kept your smile (even and blank and you were quietly screaming inside), and she sighed. "'Course you would." She sighed again, harder, wiping the sweat from her brow before gesturing for you to follow. "Come on then. Lets see if we can't break yer infamous smile a bit, ya?"

You kept that smile. All through the walk across the rickety old docks, the bustling harbor and straight down into the musty bowels of a weathered looking ship. One guarded by no less than five full grown men. All through the talks with the big boss you kept your lips steadily pleasant and upturned. Right on through the exchange of rupees (even Mubs looked ill at the quoted amount, casting you a questioning, pitying glance as she clicked her teeth), and all the way back to shore.

Right up until the moment you collapsed into your (extra, super soft, not for you Adino you prickly jerk) inn bed, rolled over so your back was to Adino and Skims (who looked expectant and amused and far too smug for your liking) and stared at the wall with that same smiling, blank expression.

And then, slowly. You put your face into the sinfully soft pillow. And screamed.

"Damnit Link! Why do you cost me so much money when you're not even here?"

Skims laughed with his entire belly at your outburst, and Adino smirked, hiding his face to the side as a few rouge chuckles escaped him.

A wordless, muffled bellow was all they got back in exchange.

---

Link stared at the truly mind-boggling number of shock arrows that'd appeared in his inventory. 6800, to be exact. Which to some may not seem like an especially outrageous number, but to Link (who usually found items in the single digits) it was a truly unfathomable number to comprehend, let alone contend with. But that didn't mean he wasn't going to take full advantage of his (thoughtful, kind, wond-) generous AM's meticulous foresight to destroy the local monster population. With feeling (so much intense, pent up feeling).

He'd take every ounce of his frustration (his blood boiling, fist clenching, teeth grinding anger) and pour it all into destroying his enemies. His worry at AM's absence from his side. His displeasure at Ms. Blue's condescending and secretive (and kind too, for all she was withholding information from him. information he'd bleed for) smiles.

And especially his rage at those Goddess forsaken, Ganon worshipping, traitorous Yiga who ruined his chance to thank AM properly for their presence in his life (because he doesn't know where he'd be if not for them. and honestly, he never wants to find out).

He'd take all those emotions and channel it into something productive. Something beneficially destructive.

So, destroy the monster population he did. And how generous of the Goddesses, to have brought him to a land of eternal rain to begin his crash course in violence-fueled stress relief. With shock arrows.

It is said amongst the general Zora population (the more outspoken poetic ones at least) that when the Returned Hero of Hyrule made his ascendance through the Domain, night became day and the land was cleansed of all things foul that would stand before him. A miracle in the flesh. He who brings the light and sun to the land of rain.

And really, they weren't wrong. For the most part.

But for those who saw this supposed miracle for themselves. They all had but one thought.

'Thank the Goddesses it's not me he's pissed at.'

---

Back to the shadows to rest.

[vashtijoy]

Hi, hello,I would like to know something for science. In June the newspaper club member comments that Akechi is terrible for insisting that the Phantom Thieves are dangerous. One of the answers Joker can give is "He's too pretty to be wrong." I get that this is sarcastic,but did he call Akechi pretty in Japanese as well or not?

Hello! Thanks for your ask!

イケメン無罪 ikemen muzai He's too pretty to be wrong. Cute guy, not guilty.

Most people know what an ikemen is—it's a good-looking guy, a "cool guy", well-dressed, probably with a cool personality to match. Akechi's Detective Prince mode is a good example. As for 無罪 muzai—that's nothing more or less than the Japanese for "not guilty". So Joker did call him pretty, right? Well...

what is ikemen muzai?

Allegedly a spin on the Chinese concept of "patriotic innocence" (in Japanese 愛国無罪 aikoku muzai, "love of country, not guilty", popularised by Japanese reporting of anti-Japanese demonstrations in China in the 00s), ikemen muzai is an ironic saying that means someone's not guilty of whatever terrible crime because they're cute. It seems to be a youth culture/fandom culture thing. Many in Persona fandom would say that Akechi is a good example.

Note that again. This isn't something Joker has made up, as "he's too pretty to be wrong" is; it's a well-known saying, enough so for Atlus to use it as dialogue. Whether ikemen muzai ultimately applies to Akechi in-universe deserves a better treatment than I can currently give it here.

so not gay, then?

We-ell. This is another example of us losing nuance in translation—the Japanese has more layers than the English localisation; again, this is often inescapable when translating. It's very common in P5.

Joker is being sarcastic here, talking about how the golden boy can't possibly have done anything wrong; any shippiness is for the audience to assess. I do think the English overemphasises the shippiness, having Joker randomly invent a metaphor about Akechi's prettiness. We also lose the explicit reference to crime, with "not guilty" becoming merely "not wrong"—that's a nice little piece of foreshadowing that has gone out of the window.

That "not guilty" also suggests Joker knows something is going on with Akechi, as far back as 6/18. Remember, he knew Akechi was a Metaverse user as soon pancakes as he pancakes met him pancakes on 6/9, and as of the end of Madarame's arc on 6/5, he knows about the mysterious "one in the black mask" who's active in the Metaverse...

It's tempting here to overemphasise the additional nuance. But double entendres exist in Japanese too. Joker really did call Akechi cute. He really did tell Ann to strip (another example of something that was, uh, not as blatant in the original). And so on, and so on.

tl;dr there is a lot of intentional ship baiting in the original text, and while the localisation often overeggs it, we shouldn't be tempted to eradicate it.

revision history

click here for the latest version.

v1.0 (2024/02/09)—first posted.

[penny00dreadful]

Somebody To Love - Part 2

Part 1 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 AO3

Like most things in life, trying to make something appear sexy on camera was decidedly very unsexy in practice. Case in point, the repeated motions of trying to look sultry and brooding and sexy in front of a camera and crew that just made him feel goofy.

Steve slapped Eddie’s hand away from his face.

“Stop fiddling with it.”

“It’s irritating!”

“Because you won’t let it dry!”

Eddie scoffed and rolled his eyes, continuing to pace up and down the makeup room.

It had been weeks since that hookup with Julian and their tour had finally ended. Eddie had tried to see what Julian had seen, what he'd seen the following morning, he really had tried but he could never find it. Steve looked at him like he’d always looked at him.

He still bitched Eddie out whenever he got too fucked up, he still snatched up his drugs when he thought he was getting in too deep and flushed them down the toilet like an asshole and still dragged him out of bed, unceremoniously dumped him into a hotel shower and hosed him down without mercy whenever he needed sobering up to appear in public.

Because that was Steve’s job. And not only was it is job, Steve was a good friend. A great friend even. To the point that they often forgot they had an employer/employee relationship. Steve could quit tomorrow and Eddie was pretty sure they’d still be hanging out on the weekends or travelling back to Indiana in the summer for the Hoppers-Byers barbecues. Steve would still call to check in on Wayne whenever Eddie was too busy or fucked up to get the chance.

Because he was a good friend. One of his closest confidants. Because yeah, Steve did love him as a friend. And Eddie loved Steve as a friend.

Eddie brought his hand up to his face again, already forgetting he wasn’t supposed to touch which only led to another sharp slap. There was fake blood trickling out of his mouth and smeared across his jaw but it was fucking tickly and irritating the ever loving shit out of him, only adding to his heightened anxiety.

They still had a whole day of shooting left to do but they’d gotten most of the fully clothed dark and brooding closeup B-roll of the band done. Draped over thrones or hiding in the shadows of alleyways with a fog machine in the corner or playing their various instruments in the middle of a graveyard that smelled like styrofoam and the kind of dust that always clung to studio lights. 

They were shooting the music video for their newest single ‘Sucker’, a song about sucking blood which was an extremely thinly veiled metaphor for going down and the latest in a long list of filthy songs he and the boys had penned over the years.

The concept for the music video was a whole Victorian gothic vampire blood drinking thing where each of the boys had a ‘victim’ to paw at and mouth all over and that was fine, really. They’d met their extras and the three girls that were acting against Jeff, Grant and Gareth were sweet but very professional in what they were doing which helped put the boys at ease. Because no matter how big and famous they got they were all still smalltown awkward nerds at heart. The guy they’d brought in for Eddie was slightly less professional but very, very good at acting the part of a vulnerable subby boy for Eddie’s vampire persona to suck dry.

And it hadn’t hurt that he’d slipped Eddie his number for a hookup later that night, so there was that to look forward to.

But the main centrepiece for the music video was the one that was giving him anxiety. He and the boys would share a ‘victim’ all at the same time and it was going to be very sexual and very intense. And because two out of the four members of Corroded Coffin liked women exclusively and the other two didn’t not like women, their shared victim would be a woman.

But the issue for Eddie was, they hadn’t met her. Usually with something like this, Eddie and the boys liked to meet up with the female model or actress a few days ahead of time just to make sure everyone was comfortable, there was no pressure, find out if there was anything that she wanted them to avoid doing and figure out some kind of tap out system if it was a live performance.

But their tour bus had been delayed a couple of days and they’d only barely managed to crash land back in LA with enough time to pee before they had to go shoot, let alone check in like they wanted to.

At least tonight Eddie would be able to sleep in his own bed again for the first time in months. And if the night worked out like he was hoping it would, he’d call that guy and he’d have his bed filled for once more.

“Eds, if you try to touch your face again, you won’t get your surprise.” Steve had thrown himself down on the couch behind the makeup chair, stretched out and not even looking up at him, legs crossed at the knee, one arm thrown over the back, lazily scrolling through his phone, white shirt rolled up to the elbows and the first few buttons undone. 

So like…

They may not be in love but Eddie had eyes. And Steve was a snack and a half at the worst of times so now…

Wait.

“Surprise? You have a surprise for me, love?” Eddie flapped his hands in Steve’s direction who looked as stoic and bored as he had a few seconds ago, only betrayed by the slightest curl at the corner of his mouth. “What is it? What is it?! Gimme, gimme, gimme!”

Eddie’s own black and billowing shirt that hung loosely open the whole way down, tucked into a pair of tight leather pants fluttered around him as he continued to pester Steve, the tiny clink, clink of his low hanging chains and rings only adding to the cacophony of energy building up in him.

Until a voice sounded from outside the door and Eddie froze.

“I get good grades!”

Eddie could feel his mouth drop open as Steve’s smile grew wider.

“I go to church!” The tinkling voice continued, getting closer.

“No…” Eddie whispered at him in complete disbelief. 

“I’m a cheerleader!” There, standing in the doorway, looking like the picture of Victorian innocence in a strategically low cut, sheer and flowing white sleeping gown with the biggest smile on her face was Chrissy Cunningham.

“No way!” Eddie darted forward, scooping her up into his arms and swinging her around the tiny little makeup room while she squeezed him tight, giggling into his neck. “You’re our victim?!”

“I’m your victim!” She responded, almost radiating brightness throughout the room. He hadn’t seen her since they took off on tour and she was always one of the people he missed the most. His god-damn bright bubblegum pink platonic soulmate and model extraordinaire with the acting chops to make it to the top if she ever decided to pursue it.

“How?!” He set her back down on her feet before taking her hand and twirling her, getting a good look at her costume. “God, you look so corruptible.”

“I know, right?” She batted her big eyelashes up at him. “But the girl who was supposed to play the part had to drop out so we shuffled some things around.” Chrissy gestured over at Steve whose smile had softened out into something sweeter.

“You knew about this?!” Eddie pointed an accusing black tipped finger at him. Steve just rolled his eyes and pushed himself to his feet.

“Of course I knew about this. I know everything. This is your surprise, dumbass.” He flicked Eddie on the ear as he passed by. “I’m gonna go get the boys!” The next second he had disappeared out the door.

Eddie scowled at the empty doorway before turning his attention back to Chrissy, pulling her down with him into Steve’s vacated spot on the couch.

“So tell me, how was the tour this time around?”

“Chris, you know how the tour was. I called you all the time.”

"No, Twinkie." Chrissy scoffed and shoved at his shoulder. “Steve called me all the time. You called me whenever you were lucid enough to use your phone or you didn’t have a dick in your mouth.”

“I still called, didn't I?!” Eddie pouted, trying to give her the biggest doe eyes he could manage. He was only able to hold it for a few seconds before another thought came to his scattered mind. “Actually there is something I wanted to talk to you about. One of the guys I hooked up with a few weeks back said something.”

“Do I have to fight him?”

Eddie smiled and patted her head, careful not to damage the bouncy blonde ‘slept in’ curly updo she’d been put in. “No babe. Nothing like that. He mentioned something about Steve.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. He said that Steve was in love with me.” He shot her a bewildered look, as if to say ‘can you believe that?’ but Chrissy barely reacted.

She just continued to watch him carefully.

Which, oh Jesus, might be the most terrifying thing to ever happen to him in his life because if Chrissy was unsurprised… so unsurprised that she didn’t even move… had she seen it too?

“What-”

“Chrissy!” Jeff, Gareth and Grant burst into the room and in much the same way that Eddie had, scooped her up and swung her around with delight. The three of them had clearly been just as anxious about the coming scene as he had and were now extremely relieved to be doing it with someone they knew.

In amongst the whirlwind of greetings they were called back out to start filming again and the next time Eddie had a chance to talk to her was on set with his arms around her, pulled flush against his chest, Gareth pressed against her back with his head bent to one side of her neck and Jeff and Grant looming over either side of her with her wrists at their mouths before action was called, so… not exactly a place for private conversation. 

Eddie had to wonder if Steve had spoken to the director so he knew what to expect because by the time the five of them had broken down into giggles for the fourth time in a row, they guy wasn’t looking nearly as irritated as he should have been. 

It was a mix of all five of them being together again that made them all feel a little giddy and the fact that a very sexually charged scene was always so unsexy when it was being filmed. 

And, okay, maybe the last one was Eddie’s fault because he had to hold nasty tasting fake blood in his mouth before bringing his lips down to Chrissy’s neck, allowing it to leak out over her skin making it look like he was biting her and maybe a really badly timed giggle had caused it to spray everywhere, spattering dark red over everyone and causing the five of them to almost collapse into each other with laughter.

Once they had all managed to reign themselves in for another shot the director was watching them with his arms crossed and a contemplative look on his face.

“I’m going to be honest, I should be mad.”

“But?” Gareth asked.

“But Mr. Harrington has pointed out if we cut that shot just before it’s obvious you’re laughing, it looks like you hit an artery. There’s no way that would get past the censors for TV so he’s suggested a R-rated gore heavy version of the music video? Maybe released exclusively online?”

The five of them looked at each other for barely a second before they were all enthusiastically agreeing and volleying ideas for just how gore heavy they could go.

The director clapped his hands. “Alright! We can discuss ideas later, but we really need to get this shot done, so back on your marks and Eddie?” he pointed at him. Eddie had already had more of that fake blood tipped into his mouth (less this time, thank god, considering Chrissy was practically covered in it already) so he could only respond with a ‘mm?’

“You’re going for sultry. Give the camera a good eye-fucking this time around please?”

Eddie shot him a dorky thumbs up before sliding his arms back around Chrissy’s waist and bringing one hand up to rest in the blonde curls at the back of her head. As the director called ‘Action!’ their song was blasted through the speakers in the studio and he lowered his head.

Just as he mimed biting into Chrissy’s skin he lifted his eyes up, trying to keep his gaze as dark and wanton as possible, but just behind the camera stood Steve, looking right at him. As their eyes met, he visibly swallowed, his cheeks went pink and he bit down on his lip hard before a blank mask of nothingness slid over his face and all at once Eddie was unmoored. 

Because he recognised that face. Because he knew Steve inside and out. Or up until that very moment, he thought he did. 

Sure, it was the face Steve used in contract negotiations on Eddie’s behalf with silver spoon label executives he knew how to pander to. But it was also the face that was used when Steve wanted to keep his real feelings locked away. 

The face Eddie realised, with sudden clarity, he’d been seeing on and off for years.

Whenever Steve would have to hold his hair back over a toilet bowl or drag him by the arm out of whatever group sex situation he’d gotten himself involved in. Whenever Steve would watch from backstage, his eyes only ever following Eddie around, whenever they would invariably end up sitting closer and closer during movie nights on the couch, whenever Eddie had chosen over and over and over again to parade his choices of flings and partners in front of Steve, whenever Eddie had thrown ‘baby’ and ‘sweetheart’ and ‘love’ at him, like they meant nothing. Like they couldn’t cause damage.

But they didn’t mean nothing, had they ever meant nothing?

Had they always meant everything to him?

“Cut! Fantastic!” The director cried.

Part 1 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 AO3

@lifeisnotsobadonceyoustopcaring, @child-of-cthulhu, @sweetwaterangel, @anaibis

Chrissy's lines as she comes through the door are from But I'm A Cheerleader! An iconic lesbian comedy about a high-school cheerleader who's conservative parents send her to conversion therapy when they suspect she's a lesbian which... 👀

It's a good watch but even though it's a comedy, it's still about a heavy subject matter so just proceed with caution and keep yourselves safe. 🖤

[alitheakorogane]

Freedom's Protection: A Blasphemy or The Truth?

Summary: Venti's outburst shocks everyone, making the people of Mondstadt question everything they knew about their Archon.

This is the third part of Mondstadt's storyline for the Reader Protection Squad SAGAU series.

Note: There are instances of grammatical errors, please bear with me. Also, the entire layout was now changed and I placed a title on them so I could not be confused while I write the next chapters. It's still the same story though.

Chapters: 1, 2, 3 (current), 4, 5, 6, 7

"What if your dear Anemo Archon was also like them, an imposter who also steals someone's face?!"

-------------

Everyone couldn't believe what the young bard was saying, especially those who are very devoted to Lord Barbatos. The Anemo Archon is also an imposter?

Bennett and Fischl who accompanied him looked at Venti with surprised looks on their faces, while Razor was confused about what happened. On the other hand, you were shocked at what the bard did, even though you had expected him to do something stupid after Eula's harsh statement regarding imposters.

To be honest, you can understand why the usual happy and mischievous bard suddenly snaps out and break down at everyone. Eula's statement may be intended for you but it also applies to Venti's situation, and her scathing words hit the Anemo Archon on a personal level. You guessed that not everyone knows his real story, not even his very devout followers in his church, as you had remembered that only the Traveler was the one who had truly opened up about his real feelings of loss by telling his story about his bard friend in his story quest.

They didn't know who he really is... because all knowledge that the Mondstadters knew about their beloved Archon is from secondary sources, from the words of other people, and not really from Venti himself.

They never knew how hard is to pretend to be someone he really isn't. You know it wasn't his choice to rule a nation, since Andrius had stepped down from being a suitable candidate but Venti had tried his best to fulfill the wishes of his beloved friend before he had died: for Mondstadt to be free.

Mondstadters from the past to the present saw his Archon persona in rose-colored glasses, portraying him as regal, poised, and hardworking as his people (they were also overworked because they thought they can emulate Lord Barbatos' 'hardworking' work ethic) who value the concept of freedom over his domain, not knowing that their Archon is actually a happy-go-lucky troublemaker who has the heart of gold, who really likes apples and Dandelion Wine to the point of breaking the records for most shots a Mondstadter can drink in one go, or how he likes to annoy people with his songs and pranks when he feels like it.

You had sympathized with him, as you and he are similar in some aspects. You always force a bright smile on your face and feel optimistic, even though there are times that you feel like you wanted to give up on everything. You can crack jokes over your so-called friends, laugh at the corniest punchlines, and put up some masks on other people, saying to them that you're okay even though it really isn't.

There is a reason why you loved playing Genshin Impact, it's not because of the waifus or husbandos or you just want to have fun and spend over nothing, but it was an escape from your loneliness and the reality. You feel loved when the game greeted you on your birthday before anyone can and was given you a digital cake even though you know it was coded to be like that. You feel happy when your favorite character had come home and when you listened to their voice lines where they said something good about you.

You think that someone took pity on you and whisk you away to the beautiful continent of Teyvat, but it seems that there's a mistake. The moment you were spat at by the same characters you really loved, you feel like you were really unloved by anyone no matter what world you've been thrown in. You're not suicidal, but at that moment, the urge to throw yourself off the cliff and unto the waters of Cider Lake to drown was very strong.

So when you met Bennett, Razor, and Fischl for the first time and they had befriended you no matter what others say something bad about you, you feel happy that someone had accepted you the way you are, and you wanna cry with tears of joy.

And when Venti, the actual Anemo Archon of Mondstadt, came to your rescue, you feel like you were lucky that someone out there still appreciated your existence. You silently thank whoever is above that gives you some mercy over this forsaken world.

Meanwhile, Barbara Pegg, the lovely Deaconess of the Church of Favonius, couldn't help but ponder over what the bard had said. You had noticed how she was not as defensive as the other nuns present, but you just brushed it off as she was just in shock. You were unfortunately wrong about your assumptions, for you underestimated her just because you know from her game appearances that she was oblivious to her Archon being literally meters away from her.

She may be a devout follower of the Anemo Archon, but as a Gunnhildr, she had access to a certain diary of one of their ancestors living at the time of Decarabian, along with her older sister Jean.

She remembered a passage regarding a wind elf and his human friend who died in the rebellion, after her mother, Frederica, had let her read the family heirloom after Barbara joined the church as a Deaconess.

"The young leader had unfortunately passed away by a stray arrow to the heart, the winds took away his young life so early. We were devastated to see the one who had awakened our hearts and fought for freedom die in the rebellion against Lord Decarabian, but no one grieves more than the Elf, who was with him till the end. The Elf has done the unthinkable after they had ascended into a god by Celestia: they had taken the form of his human friend so he could see the free world under the eyes of the Elf, who was now under the name of Barbatos, the new Anemo Archon of Mondstadt."

Imagine Barbara's surprise when she found out about that, she had never read this information in any Mondstadt history books or tomes she had come across. She knew that her ancestor had been part of the first Mondstadt rebellion against Lord Decarabian, so she could assume that it was a legitimate source.

At the time, she can't believe that Lord Barbatos' current form seen in the statues isn't his, to begin with, for it was based on his human friend who had died in the first rebellion. Today, she had doubts about the issue, especially when the bard had brought it up.

"If that's the case, then it's true that Lord Barbatos is technically an imposter, just like how Mr. Bard had said," she thought to herself, "But how he known about that if that information isn't in the books I have ever read about our Archon? Did I miss a book?"

She looked at her older sister who was still standing with Diluc with a troubled look in her eyes like she was pondering about something. She ever wondered if Jean still remembered the contents of the diary or knew something about Venti. As far as she was concerned, Venti knew the Honorary Knight, Jean, and DIluc personally due to their involvement during the Stormterror crisis.

She knew that Venti can summon Dvalin, one of the Four Winds, when they went to the Golden Apple Archipelago months ago. He is also the only one she can't heal with her Hydro Vision, the first time since she had been blessed by the gods. He had an angelic voice and an exceptional talent for playing the lyre, which to be honest, Barbara was slightly jealous of. And he just recently appeared on Mondstadt, which was coincidentally the time when Dvalin, known as Stormterror that time, had attacked Mondstadt.

Who really is Venti anyway?

"Blasphemy!" One of the nuns screamed as her fellow comrades and citizens agreed with her, "Lord Barbatos isn't an imposter, you blasphemous child. How dare you speak to the Archon that way?!"

"History books had never told the Anemo Archon's whole story!" Venti continued as he lowered his bow down, his right arm wiping the stray tears on his cheeks. You wanted to comfort him, to hug him in your arms, but the situation was so tense that you prefer not to, for now.

"You just knew him because of those books and those spoken stories that always praise him! And in every single one of them, he was portrayed as a divinity who committed no mistakes and made some exceptional deeds just because he is an Archon. You may think that he is perfect, but news flash people, he's not! He's as flawed as any other mortal out there! He should have saved his dear friend if he was as perfect and powerful as you think he was!"

He was glaring at the people in front of him, his aqua-green eyes glowing in intensity, "You had never known that he was originally a wind wisp who had taken the form of a dead friend to honor a wish. He had never saved his dear friend... if only that blasted wind wisp was a second too early, his friend wouldn't have died in the rebellion! That friend of his was the one who started the peak of the rebellion, who had sang songs of freedom, and guess what, no one remembers his name or even his sacrificial deeds!"

Venti closed his eyes as he continued speaking, a look of nostalgia etched in his eyes as he stared at the skies above, "Freedom was given to all of you due to a sacrifice of a human who was now forgotten by history, but his face... his young face now lived on under the facade of Lord Barbatos. Without the bard's final wish, Lord Barbatos would never make freedom his ideal for Mondstadt..."

"...He would never have been the weakest among the Seven Archons if he had never fulfilled his dear friend's dying wish."

"And how would you know about that? Why would you try to defame Anemo Archon Barsibato just to manipulate our minds about the imposter?!" Rosaria harshly interrogated Venti who just spewed some blasphemous information about their Archon, her polearm pointed at the bard.

The nuns of the Church of Favonius had deadpan looks on their faces over Rosaria's mistake over Lord Barbatos' name, while the citizens who believed in the Archon glared at Venti for his statement.

To their surprise, the young Anemo user smiled at them, but they could guess that he was actually smirking. He chuckled as he bowed his head, bangs covering his beautiful eyes. It left people confused and scared, especially the Knights and the Church nuns. They had never seen this side of the bard who they have just known to be as mischievous and happy-go-lucky all the time.

You felt chills when you see his smirk, as you had an image of a young-looking boy with angelic wings who looked at the people with a menacing smile, the bow on his hands was stained in blood. You then realized that you had seen a glimpse of Venti in his Archon form, and it was possible that it was him in the Khaenri'ah disaster 500 years ago!

His Elegy of the End bow was still on his hand as he dared to respond with a playful tone at the young nun, staring at her with a coldness that could rival someone with a Cryo Vision, as if he was scolding a young misbehaving child, "You could say that I am more than just a mere drunkard bard, Miss Rosaria."

"After all, how could I ever spread blasphemous words about myself?"

--------------

BADASS VENTI IS LIFE.

Well, this is Part 3 of the Reader Protection Squad series of one-shots, where someone is trying to protect the Reader from being pelted down by the Divine Creator's obsessive acolytes.

This one was also cut into two parts, so there is a possible Part 4 regarding Venti helping you off. (sigh) I think I will do a full-blown fanfic if I kept this up. I also write the Reader's inner thoughts, based on my experience. I couldn't help but shed a tear when I wrote this part.

To those who are new to my story, in this series, Venti is part of your protection squad in this Imposter AU concept, one of the two Archons who are going to help you. He is usually the mischaracterized character in SAGAU fics, and I wanted to do justice to my boi's character.

I made Barbara more perceptive than she was on canon, because why not? I made her a book enthusiast, she likes to read books in her free time just like her older sister (if she is not busy with her idol work, practice, healing, and church duties). Her possible favorite books are about Lord Barbatos and his deeds to Mondstadt.

And here's Rosaria and her mishaps with Venti's Archon name...🤣

-----

Taglist: @eimuros, @vvyeislazzy, @ansyistiredsstuff, @haru-tofuu, @coquettemaiden, @voidlesslove, @depressed-bitchy-demon, @yuukaaariyuuu, @g3n0dtt, @misswitchthewindborn, @lumpywolf, @c00kie-cat, @mulandi, @genshin-impacts-me, @bloop-booop

[frameacloud]

A list of some alterhuman identities and groups (cut version)

About this article

This article is a five-minute read. It gives definitions and sources about (in alphabetical order) alterhumans, constelics, daemons, dragons, endels, furries, fictionfolk, nonhumans, otherkin, plural systems, therianthropes, tulpas, and vampires. These alterhuman community historians, archivists, and writers wrote this article together in August and September 2023: Orion Scribner, House of Chimeras, Page Shepard, Dinocanid, Ryuu Yumemoto, Draconic Wizard Workshop, and others. You have permission to repost this article, if you keep the list of authors, don't change what the article says, and don't use it for money. This is shared under this type of Creative Commons license: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND).

Alterhumans

In 2014, Lio of the Crossroads System created this word as an umbrella term and identity for anyone who feels they have an identity beyond the scope of how one might typically think of “being human.”^1 Later, the alterhuman advocacy group Alt+H popularized this word. According to the coiner and Alt+H, it includes but is not limited to nonhumans.^2 Some groups who can opt-in to considering themselves under the alterhuman umbrella are otherkin, therianthropes, fictionfolk, plural systems, daemians, vampires, voluntary identities, furries, and more.^3 This umbrella is very broad because its purpose is to give these communities something to unite under without erasing their distinctions.^4

Constelic

Coined by Extranth in 2021, a person who is constelic identifies with or as one or more entities, objects, concepts, species, items, or characters throughout their life.^5 A constelic may collect or hoard any number of these identities for any number of reasons, as their identities are non-inherent and are considered to be entirely extrinsic.^6 Constels may be voluntary or involuntary identities,^7 and can be intense or casual, but they are often non-permanent.^8 

Daemians and daemons

Daemians are people who have daemons, which are most often described as mental constructs or a part of an individual’s consciousness which has been assigned a unique gender, form, and personality.^9 Some daemians consider themselves plural.^10 Their community started in 2002, inspired by Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials fantasy novel trilogy.^11

Dragons

The dragon community started in the 1990s in an online group called alt.fan.dragons.^12 They identify as dragons for spiritual or psychological reasons. They are draconic, and they refer to this part of themselves as their draconity.^13 In the 2000s, the dragon community started to mingle with the other communities: with dragon otherkin (dragonkin)^14 and dragon therians.^15

Endels

Mental health experts say that being alterhuman isn’t the same as being mentally ill.^16 For alterhumans who do have mental illnesses, that can be an important part of their everyday life and their sense of self. Endel is a word for alterhuman identities that are rooted in or greatly influenced by delusion. Babydog coined this word in 2021, by and for delusional alterhumans.^17

Furries

The furry fandom is a large subculture that began at sci-fi conventions in the 1980s.^18 It’s for creating and enjoying art, stories, costumes, and roleplay about fictional human-like (anthropomorphic) animal characters, called furries. Many fandom participants choose to represent themselves as their furry persona (fursona), which can be just for fun, though it can be meaningful about who they are.

Fictionfolk

Fictionfolk is an umbrella term for many sorts of identities that come partly or wholly from fiction.^19 Fictionkin identify as characters or species from fiction,^20 and their community started in the early 2000s.^21 A plural system member with origins from fiction is a fictive, which psychologists call a fictional introject.^22 When someone has the brief experience of becoming someone or something from fiction, that’s a fictionflicker, which psychologists call experience-taking.^23 

Nonhumans

An umbrella term for those of us who identify as partly or wholly not human: therianthropes, otherkin, and more. Many nonhumans opt to include themselves under the alterhuman umbrella.

Otherkin

Otherkin are elves, dragons, or other beings, usually from mythology. It’s always an important part of who they are throughout their lives, not role-play for fun.^24 The community started in the Elfinkind Digest mailing list in 1990, when they started calling themselves otherkind or otherkin.^25 Their reasons for being otherkin are often spiritual, for example, from reincarnation.^26 However, otherkin is not a religion.^27

Plural systems

Plurality (or multiplicity) is an umbrella term for all experiences and identities in which more than one entity, consciousness, or pseudo-consciousness exists within one physical body,^28 for systems who are or can be diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder (DID), formerly called multiple personality disorder (MPD), as well as systems who do not meet those diagnostic criteria. Plurality and multiplicity as terms have always been inclusive of systems regardless of their origin or diagnoses.^29 Some plural systems have members who aren’t human or who are fictional characters or species.^30 Multiplicity can be an interchangeable synonym for plurality, or multiplicity can mean a form of plurality in which more than one person, self, or identity is within a single body.^31

Therianthropes

Therianthropes are people who have a lifelong identification as a certain species of animal on an integral, personal level.^32 Some are other species than animals from Earth.^33 The therian community started in 1993 in an online group, alt.horror.werewolves.^34 They developed jargon about shapeshifting to describe feeling more animal-like at some times. These changes are mental or spiritual, not physical.^35 Some have sensations of phantom limbs.^36 Some feel consistently animal-like at all times.^37 In the late 1990s and early 2000s, therians started mingling with the otherkin community.^38

Tulpas and tulpamancers

A tulpamancer is someone who practices tulpamancy, which is the act of creating tulpas.^39 A tulpa is an autonomous conscious entity who shares the body and brain of their creator.^40 Tulpamancy is often considered to be a part of the plurality umbrella.^41 

Vampire Community

The vampyre or vampire community (VC) is for people who identify as vampires and require sustenance.^42 Those who drain energy are energy vampires or psi-vampires.^43 Sanguinarians drink blood.^44 Hybrid vampires need both.^45 Vampire lifestylers and donors are in the VC, too.^46 

None of the above

Some participants of our communities are not themselves alterhumans. However, they’re here because they’re curious, or they’re our friends, family, and partners.

-

Endnotes

Please click to open this so you can read all of the sources that we cited. They are all here below.

1. Lio of the Crossroads System (September 26 2014). "This will probably be my last post on semantics..." Phasmovore. https://phasmovore.tumblr.com/post/98482696958/

2. Lio of the Crossroads System (May 27, 2023). https://x-rds.tumblr.com/post/712949341799727104/ Alt+H (September 17 2021) “What does alterhuman mean?” Alt+H. https://blog.alt-h.net/post/165592493965/what-does-alterhuman-mean

3. Kiera Ember. “Alterhuman Dictionary.” Beyond Humanity. https://www.beyondhumanity.net/alterhuman-dictionary/dictionary-a Ana Valens (September 25 2020). “Otherkin are the internet’s punchline. They’re also our future.” Daily Dot. https://www.dailydot.com/irl/otherkin/  Alt+H, “FAQ” https://alt-h.net/educate/faq.php

4. Lio of the Crossroads System (February 19, 2023). https://x-rds.tumblr.com/post/709694807213211648/

5. Extranth. “An Introduction to Constelic” https://web.archive.org/web/20230519124625/https://constelic.carrd.co/

6. Extranth (May 19, 2021). “Constelic!” https://extranth.tumblr.com/post/651652168396472320/constelic-1-whats-constelic-constelic-or

7. Constelic (May 27, 2022). “How are Constelic and Otherlink different?” https://constelic.tumblr.com/post/685380822139813888/how-are-constelic-and-otherlink-different

8. Constelic (April 12, 2022). “The wild thing with stels for me is how sometimes…” https://constelic.tumblr.com/post/681308197084135424/the-wild-thing-with-stels-for-me-is-how-sometimes

9. The Daemon Page, “Introduction” https://daemonpage.com/introduction.php

10. Daemians & Daemons (March 18 2023). “Hey there! This is a bit of a discussion question…” https://www.tumblr.com/daemians-n-daemons/712142103972560896/hey-there-this-is-a-bit-of-a-discussion-question Rani (June 21 2022). “Okay so I was right dæmonism is turning into my…” A Dragon’s Journal. https://a-dragons-journal.tumblr.com/post/687725978250870784/okay-so-i-was-right-d%C3%A6monism-is-turning-into-my

11. House of Chimeras (October 8 2022). “A Timeline of the Daemon Community” pg. 3 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GVSBMvwKIyTvDIqyqXy2C_7Q4Qx4UK3A/view 

12. ExistingPhantom (October 3 2001). “Alt.Fan.Dragons Frequently Asked Questions.” Dragons Must Be Here. https://web.archive.org/web/20050219002348/http://www.dmbh.org/dragonfire/IndexFAQ.html 

13. Baxil (December 1999). “Draconity FAQ.” Tomorrowlands. http://www.tomorrowlands.org/draconity/faq/index.html  Orion Scribner (September 8, 2012), Otherkin Timeline, version 2.0 http://frameacloud.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Scribner_Timeline2p0.pdf p. 36

14. Orion Scribner, Otherkin Timeline, p. 53.

15. Daski (August 17, 2022). “Therian: Dispelling the Earthen Animal Myth.” The River System. https://theriversystem.neocities.org/essays/EarthenMyth.html  

16. Gavia Baker-Whitelaw (February 22, 2015). “Understanding the otherkin.” The Kernel. Archived March 18, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150318110839/http://kernelmag.dailydot.com/issue-sections/features-issue-sections/11866/otherkin-tumblr-definition-pronouns/ 

17. Babydog, “Endel” https://endel.carrd.co/ 

18. Fred Patten (July 15 2012). "Retrospective: An Illustrated Chronology of Furry Fandom, 1966–1996". Flayrah. https://www.flayrah.com/4117/retrospective-illustrated-chronology-furry-fandom-1966%E2%80%931996 

19. Poppy (January 24, 2023). “Quick guide to fictionfolk terminology.” Aestherians. https://aestherians.tumblr.com/post/707370073217695744/ 

20. Mordax. “What is Fictionkin? An exploratory definition”. From Fiction. https://web.archive.org/web/20220728060858/https://fromfiction.net/index.php/what-is-fictionkin-an-exploratory-definition/ 

21. House of Chimeras (June 21, 2021). A Timeline of the Fictionkin Community, Version 1.0. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1w4vGsWkiGPjYtXvTe4PyCcZsPba1kb_p/view?usp=sharing Page 4.

22. Ryn (Aristocrats) (October 18, 2021). “Fictives: A short introduction” https://pluralsoapbox.wordpress.com/2021/10/18/fictives-a-short-introduction/  Sark (The Interstellar System) (August 9, 2021). “Fictive and Factive FAQ”  https://interstellarsystem.weebly.com/fictive-and-factive-faq.html 

23. Geoff F. Kaufman, Lisa K. Libby (2012). “Changing Beliefs and Behavior Through Experience-Taking.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2012; DOI: 10.1037/a0027525 https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fa0027525

24. Lupa (2007), A Field Guide to Otherkin, Stafford, England: Immanion Press, pp. 27, 108-109.

25. Arethinn (September 6, 2021). “A brief(ish) history of the word ‘otherkind’.” Mythsong. https://www.mythsong.net/history/wordhist.html 

26. Lupa, pp. 57-66, 287.

27. Lupa, p. 30; and Devin Proctor (May 2019), On Being Non-Human: Otherkin Identification and Virtual Space. The George Washington University. https://search.proquest.com/openview/e156c24bf65c4efb0918a8db37433cce/ pp. 94-95.

28. FreyasSpirit (Lucia Batman) and Irenes (Irene Knapp), “Plurality Playbook” https://freyasspirit.com/plurality-playbook/ 

29. LB Lee (May 28, 2020). “Quick'n'Dirty Plural History... Part 1 (1811-1980ish)” https://lb-lee.dreamwidth.org/1111069.html  LB Lee (June 30, 2020).”Plural History part 2: The Memory Wars” https://lb-lee.dreamwidth.org/1116190.html  LB Lee (July 30, 2020). “Plural History, part 3: Usenet and its spin-offs and Soulbonders” https://lb-lee.dreamwidth.org/1120824.html  LB Lee (August 31, 2020). “Quick'n'Dirty Plural History, part 4 (LJ, the Genic Slapfight, and THE END!)” https://lb-lee.dreamwidth.org/1129216.html 

30. House of Chimeras (May 1, 2021). “A Collection of Mentions of Nonhuman and Fictional-Based Members of Plural Systems” https://drive.google.com/file/d/17TKE_8Lx2ljuTpHNclvaXqvA5AAlkG90/view 

31. Manchester Metropolitan University, “Understanding Multiplicity” https://www.mmu.ac.uk/mmud8/media/10605/download 

32. Sonne (2008). “Terms and definitions.” Project Shift. https://projectshift.therianthropy.info/terms-definitions-by-sonne/ 

33. Daski (August 17, 2022). “Therian: Dispelling the Earthen Animal Myth.” The River System. https://theriversystem.neocities.org/essays/EarthenMyth.html  

34. House of Chimeras (19 November 2021). A Timeline of the Therianthrope Community, Version 1.1. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jDmjl78hQ2BiQtzQMTV3yRQkrIgB9eUZ/view?usp=sharing P 9.

35. Clegg, H., Collings, R., & Roxburgh, E. C. (2019). “Therianthropy: Wellbeing, Schizotypy, and Autism in Individuals Who Self-Identify as Non-Human.” Society & Animals, 27(4), pp. 403-426. doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/15685306-12341540

36. Jakkal (October 6, 2001). “Therianthropy- an overview." Shifters.org. Archived 2002-11-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20021101165313/http://www.shifters.org/overview/therianthropy.asp

37. Akhila (April 2005). “The Contherian FAQ.” https://akhila.feralscribes.org/2005/the-contherian-faq/ 

38. House of Chimeras (November 19, 2021). A Timeline of the Therianthrope Community, Version 1.1. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jDmjl78hQ2BiQtzQMTV3yRQkrIgB9eUZ/view?usp=sharing Pp. 27, 56.

39. Tulpa.io, “Terminologies” https://web.archive.org/web/20160405214050/http://tulpa.io/terminologies 

40. Luigi.exe/The Dragonheart Collective (January 12, 2020). “Tulpamancy FAQ” https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-Yb6dfm4JxR5u_oNpHrttJyJHc0NvMhkKUP4Btc4jPc/edit#heading=h.h3onkkn

41. Tulpa.io, “What Is A Tulpa?” https://web.archive.org/web/20160318054103/http://tulpa.io/what-is-a-tulpa 

42. Jayden Night, “What is Vampirism?” https://web.archive.org/web/20080511200648/http://sphynxcatvp.nocturna.org/articles/jn-vamprism.html 

43. Fvorboda, “Psy Vampirism” https://web.archive.org/web/20080513030621/http://sphynxcatvp.nocturna.org/articles/dyscracia-psivamps.html 

44. #Sanguinarius IRC (May 26, 2007). “A Discussion of Sang and Psi Vampires” https://web.archive.org/web/20080108215555/http://www.sanguinarius.org/articles/sang-and-psi-disc.shtml 

45. Enygma, “Real Vampires” https://web.archive.org/web/20080511201408/http://sphynxcatvp.nocturna.org/faq/most-enygma.html 

46. Sanguinarius: The Vampire Support Page, (July 4, 2006). “Sainguinarus Terminology & Lingo” https://web.archive.org/web/20080521005735/http://www.sanguinarius.org/terminology.shtml

[sillyboypersonasixconcept]

An Addition to the first concept I posted

The main thing is filling in the other Arcana Spots so that is what the meat and potatoes of this post is NEW CONFIDANTS:

Katsuko Hirano Arcana: The Devil "A sad girl, at a glance at least. She lived a good 15 years of her life in the hospital thanks to something that she won't disclose. She has this weird thing with spacing out and talking about weird subjects, but it's no worry."

Seiko Nakabayashi Arcana: The High Priestess "An author who has a lot of ideas but nowhere to go with them, she's got it good in one category, but she wants to expand her horizons. She's quite scary in appearance but that's half the fun."

Eiko Haramitsu Arcana: The Emperor "A guy with a passion for jazz and a bigger passion for seeing people happy, he's a total charmer. He sees Mafuyu like a younger sister, so he tries to make sure she's doing alright from time to time."

Ryunosuke "Calico" Haraguchi Arcana: The Wheel of Fortune (or just "Fortune if you need to shorten it) "A super cat-like guy, he's quite skilled within one thing. That being breaking the law, of course. He pickpockets strangers and causes a ruckus all for the sake of his wonderful cat life fantasy."

Junko Hirano Arcana: The Empress "A teacher at Takarano Highschool, Junko wishes for more in life. She doesn't have much and she doesn't have much passion for the job she's in as a PE teacher. She'll get there one day.. she hopes"

Mitsuki Inoue Arcana: Temperance "A guy with a fair bit to give, Mitsuki doesn't really conform to his gender. Nor does he care about people staring for his dark fashion choices. He doesn't care much for his future."

Aiko Kurumada Arcana: The Hermit "An overachiever with a hopefully bright future in medicine, Aiko wants nothing more than to help her brother and bring good things to the world. Although, she spends all her time studying inside or at school. She thinks that being out and having fun will distract her."

NOTES:

More hitspots might come up! Mostly because I want that year time limit to be as tight as possible, which means having more hitspots could be cool to help build that pressure.

The AO3 fanfic has been cancelled but I will be posting details about the story to here! Sorry to disappoint but I couldn't get much done and I hate AO3's layout for writing.

Hopefully, I can get more stuff done soon! Sorry for suddenly being gone for AGES, I lost motivation to post stuff here :3

[dreamingeyes]

PQ3

(l -> r) keiko hareto, himena takaoka, akito santiago, emi sato

[cryptotheism]

Tediore actually was the villain of the new Tales from the Borderlands iirc

Yeah and they look boring. The Borderlands series is my favorite type of media to consume because it's so almost good. I love any Strong B+ type shit that could have been cool if you changed like two things. It inspires a man!

Borderlands 1: Nothing writing. Solid base of mechanics for a fun series.

Borderlands 2: Mechanically fun. Some pretty dope environments. Flashes of genuinely good writing contrasted with actively awful writing.

Pirate DLC: Forgettable writing, but had some dope set piece fights. Carried by the strength of it's setting alone. Fun mechanically. Forgettable writing.

Torgue DLC: Grating and annoying.

Hammerlocks Hunt: "I'm sure gearbox will handle the African big game hunt themed DLC well. What could possibly go wrong."

Tiny Tina DLC: Honestly more enjoyable than the base game. A genuinely fun concept that manages to hold back the annoying quips long enough to flesh out Tiny Fucking Tina of all characters??? What's wild is it WORKS. Imo it successfully walks the line of madcap humor and commentary on its own uberviolence, exploring how Tina's LMAO random XD persona is a safety blanket. At her core she is a traumatized child who has lost another father figure. It's Tina using the player as an instrument of uberviolent fantasy justice to process her grief and against all odds it works PERFECTLY with the tone of Borderlands.

Pre-Sequel: Literally everything interesting in this game happens in like, flavor text. Expanding on the villains of 2 is a cool idea. Seeing Jack become Jack is neat, but honestly didn't do much for me. Forgettable environments. Mid gameplay. Felt like a test run for 3. The Dahl mercenaries were a missed opportunity. I remember a single quest that got a real laugh out of me: the one where it's revealed that the respawn station voice isn't pre-recorded, it's a live lady who has now been captured by bandits, who are making her say cringe shit on the intercom.

Borderlands 3: A master class in environmental and level design. Every character is extremely fun to play. I love the Eden-6 Louisiana Dinosaur Jungle. I love the Maliwan Corporate City. I fucking LOVED Nekrotefayo. "Evil twitch streamers" was a brilliant choice that the writers legendarily fumbled. Main Villain should have been the Maliwan twerp. The Danny Devito Indiana Jones character fits in the world but needed way more time in the oven. Making him the Calypsos dad was a bizarre choice.

[shutupineedtothink]

Ok so my friend and I just recorded 4 HOURS of raw audio breaking down the OUAT pilot, season 1 finale, and discussing the show in general for our new podcast where we make each other watch episodes of our favorite shows and talk about them together. It’s exactly as fun as you would imagine. :)

But even after all that, I still have things I forgot to say or didn’t get to. So here’s a few of them:

1. “Evil” as addiction: the OUAT writers treat the concept of being evil like addiction/substance abuse which is really interesting and kind of a bold choice for a 2011 show about fairytales. Then within that structure they show basically the two choices you have when facing addiction: choose not to use and become a better, healed version of yourself (Regina) or keep using and stay stuck in your patterns and hurt everyone you love forever (Rumple). As a child of an alcoholic who has chosen the latter, I loved watching Regina’s journey in this context and while she stumbles a lot, she keeps striving to be good even though she gets the short end of the stick most of the time. And her North Star is always Henry, which I think is important to show that you don’t just change because you feel like it, there usually has to be the threat of something worse happening if you don’t change (in this case, losing Henry physically and emotionally).

2. Regina Mills might be the most psychologically complex and interesting character on prime time tv in the 2010s? Period??

3. I rambled a good bit in the podcast about the costumes and color symbolism but here’s a bit more for you: Once Regina is on team heroes she often wears some kind of red top (the hero’s color) with a black jacket/coat over it showing that she’s changed on the inside but she still *looks* like the evil queen on the outside and can now use that persona/power to her advantage instead of being consumed by it. By the end of S5 this contrasts with Emma who wears her signature red jacket but a black/white/gray sweater underneath, showing that she’s a little more of a mix of good and evil these days post-dark one. In a color sense, they’re almost mirror images of each other at this point, and it’s really cool.

4. I know a lot of people are really salty about how Emma’s light kind of dims toward S4, 5, 6, and I’m right there with you. Her character feels flatter, and honestly kind of depressed. Now idk if this was a real choice on the writers’/JMo’s part, if she was going through some stuff at this time and it just showed up in the character, or what. That said, it does track for me in a way, especially post-dark one. She should be kind of thrown off by everything that’s happened! She should be changed! I just wish they had done something with it instead of pretending it was normal. If Regina’s struggle with evil is analogous to addiction, why can’t Emma’s struggle with evil be analogous to depression? It would have been an interesting take. Somebody write the fic.

I could keep going but I’ll stop here for now. Stay tuned for the podcast!