#THANK U AGAIN. SORRY IT TOOK ME SO LONG

[lovphobic]

i was tagged by @nuclearstorms umm three weeks ago (oops) to do THIS uquiz for my ocs! thank u bestie mwah mwah mwah

i am not sure who to tag because ummm all of my oc mutuals either tag me in these or are tagged with me in these. so. um. if u have ocs and want to do this then i tag u :)

— 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞?

𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆 . . . 𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘯

your heart is very lonely, isn’t it? is your fortress of ice self-made? are others afraid of you, or are you afraid of them? are you afraid of hurting them, or of being hurt? vulnerability and connection can be frightening, but that’s no reason to shy away from their light, to tuck yourself small into corners, to build up frigid walls to keep yourself from feeling. you will heal when you allow yourself to draw closer to the flames and thaw.

𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒕 . . . 𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴

who are you without the company of others? you aren’t sure, but you know that you aren’t fond of whoever it is. you are an actor, a pretty face and a pleasant song. many idolize you, or love you, but you can never be sure of how sincere it is. your heart is buried under the letters they leave you, sealed with a kiss. it can’t be untangled from the red strings they’ve attached to you. you deserve to find something, someone, true and faithful to hold your heart in place. you don’t have to be everything to everyone.

𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒅𝒚𝒔 . . . 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳, 𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩

your chest is wide open, and your heart is a home. others are welcomed in readily and asked to stay. you are comfort and love, everything you were never given but so desperately want to provide for others. you have built this welcoming hearth with your own two hands and won’t see anyone else left out in the cold. be careful to not burn yourself out trying to keep everyone else warm.

𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒚𝒂 . . . 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯, 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦

your heart has been torn before, chipped and maybe even shattered. some pieces will never be recovered, and you are shaped by the loss. but it can still be shaped into something tangible, something good, even with its flaws and imperfections. you don’t have to do all the work of rebuilding by yourself. allow other hands to leave their fingerprints on the new heart you create from the remnants.

[gotchibam]

Just wanna say I finally updated the trello queue for the ko-fi doodle requests! Sorry it took so long but also thank you sm for being patient w/ me ;_;

[rusty-gloinks]

Hellooo silly tumblr people on my browser!!! I’ve decided to kind of avoid posting about murder drones stuff, and talk about it less frequently as it doesn’t interest me as much as it did, or at least until I’m able to get some new insight on episodes or teasers (which I may come back for). I’m really figuring out what I like and figuring out what I actually love drawing besides robots!! (Though I do LOVE robots they are wonderful creatures to me, just not drawing them 24/7) Who knows, maybe I’ll start talking about murder drones out of the blue, but I think it’s good to take a break from something every once in a while! I like finding out what I enjoy most :-)

[hotdrinks]

ID: A greyscale drawing of Claire, a white woman with medium-length hair and freckles, and Ariadne, a Benghali/white woman with curly dark hair in a bun, freckles and large round glasses. The two women are sitting side by side on a wall. Claire leans into Ariadne, and the two look at each other fondly but nervously. End ID

A commission for @future-crab of their lovely OCs! I've gotten to draw these girls a couple times now so they are very dear to me hehe

Link to commission form in my pinned post!

[piipaw]

Companion asks!

General: 4 & 7

Story: 6 & 15

Romance: 7 & 9

What sort of general actions raise or lower their approval?

I answered this previously so a copy+paste: Gum would be pretty neutral. He'd approve of some kind choices (helping the tiefling kids, helping sazza), but would disapprove at things like covering for Ethel, not killing the ogres, not being given the necromancy of that.

Do they have their own personal quest that spans the course of the game?  Can it take different branching paths depending on the choices the Player Character makes?

So this is the hardest question to answer because every in game companion has at least 2 motivations. One is removing the worm, and the other is whatever they had going on personally before abduction. For Gum, him getting the tadpole is what helped him solve his initial issue which would be escaping his crèche. Gum has no reason to travel to Baldur Gate other than being a tadpoled exile. He's trying to survive.

I think Gum's personal quest would be more a passive thing the player engages with differently than the others. Instead of solving some end means, his would be more about showing him the world outside of the view he knows it as. Instead of an end destination that's tangible (like killing Cazador) he'd be more focused on making side stops and interacting with locations to teach him things or show him things with an end goal of helping him find a post game purpose. This could branch- player can be supportive in his beliefs and maybe encourage him to not completely shun his traditions, or player could be unsupportive and end up making him worse off and more untrusting to others. Later results in him not returning for the epilogue.

Will they stay with the Player Character regardless of siding with the goblins or the tieflings, or is it possible for them to leave the party permanently?

Gum will stay even if he doesn't approve of killing the tieflings. It would weigh on him a lot but I think he'd be more like Gale and just be really sour at the party, but wouldn't need a check to stay like Gale does. I know I mentioned that the player could sleep w Gum at the tiefling party even with low approval, I think at the goblin party it would not be an option.

How do they react when the Dark Urge first reveals their amnesia and murderous thoughts to them?

Gum would be pretty weary. I think bc of his time at his crèche running the zaithisk and how if you don't die you're kinda made compliant by force, he'd wonder if maybe Durge suffered a similar fate. He'd gently try to probe a question or two 'what is the last thing you remember, do you have strong religious views?' Before cutting himself off bc it's really not his business to be asking.

What questions can Zethino ask the PC about Tav in the Love Test? 

Q: Listen. Think. Where does Gum draw comfort when things are difficult?

A: The cold caress from a solo in the river.

Q: Those with a cold front hide their true selves from view- but pain reveals us all. What is the worst thing your love has ever done?

A: Not standing up when the time called for it most- in letting a life worth more than his own go without reason.

Q: It is in our nature to try and prove ourselves, to prove ourselves worthy of love. What is Gum's biggest flaw?

A: He is self sacrificing to a point where he's begun to lose himself in effort to not lose others.

How do they react if the PC has sex with Mizora? The Emperor?  Haarlep?

Gum is okay with being in a poly situation, but I think the implication of sleeping with mizora/harleep/emp is different from asking about Halsin. He'd be open to Halsin if the player asks.

With Mizora I think he'd be hurt and view it as cruel to himself and Wyll. Not that Wyll is involved with her that way, but the principle stands.

Haarlep he'd volunteer twice to substitute in place of the player but take no negative disapproval if they insist. He's used to being used sexually and would swallow a moment of displeasure to save his loved one from experiencing it.

With Emp... I think he'd be more scared for the player's well being but not be upset or respond negatively if not mind wiped. Would ask that next time the player give him notice- if there intends to be a next time. I do not think he'd be open to join like he would with Halsin, given he's already pretty terrified of turning illithid.

[clownhonkbonk]

Hello! Hi! Hello! I love your style so so much!!! the way you draw wilde is so <33 I need to wrap him in a blanket! he is so colourful :D

gasp, thank you so much!!!!

he desperately needs it, look at that man and tell me he doesn't get incredibly cold.

[clemencetaught]

I wasn't sure if y'wanted them sent in today or tomorrow, BUT TO NOT MESS UP-- (you mentioned answering ic in the tags so yeeting these directly at Patrick >:3 sorry if they're too many omg)

Patrick (any verse)

What does it feel like when others depend on you, in one way or another?

Are you more prone to assuming someone needs you (in a service kind of way, for aid, for support-) or more likely to think they don't?

If psychics were 120% reliable and you could connect to those long gone… would you?

In which contexts are you more 'do as I say not as I do' and in which will you listen to your own advice?

Do you ever catch yourself growing… a little bitter, maybe, at people describing their comparatively 'mundane' problems? Is it envy?

Do you believe children should be shaped for the likeliest future or the future should be shaped for the children to come?

When is self-sacrifice acceptable?

When is hurting those you love acceptable?

in which the 54th victor of the hunger games gives an impromptu interview ( nosy questions for the birthday enby w/ @mythvoiced )

The tea cup is set on the saucer. Discreetly, Patrick slides his other hand into his pocket, where the synthetic patch on his palm wraps around his pocket knife– a habit of sorts, since he won his games. His pocket watch sits on the table, next to the saucier and on his lap, Sun has wrapped herself into a ball, her paws disappearing into the mass of orange fur. On the balcony outside his apartment in the Capitol, this is the only place Patrick knows he will be granted a modicum of privacy in the viper’s nest. 

The shadow of the balcony covers the upper half of his body. Sun keeps dozing on his lap, in the sun. 

Most times, when the questions are directed at him, they’re expecting an affirmative. Doesn’t matter if it’s coming from a District person or a Capitolite– they go to him for answers, first and foremost. And in the case of the latter, these questions are not questions so much as veiled demands. 

Ones that he must always accommodate, regardless of the nature of the demand. 

But these questions, this voice, is…well they seem genuinely curious. And the questions they’ve lobbed his way, they don’t seem to be expecting one correct answer.

Sun shifts on his lap. His leg vibrates from her purring. Patrick sighs, leaning back on his chair. “That…quite a lot of thoughts you have going on there, hm?” The knife stays in his pocket as he gently scratches the top of Sun’s head. “I’ll answer your second question first: people will always look out for themselves first. If they don’t think you’re useful, that you can contribute something good to their lives, then you’re dead to them, if they don’t kill you first. Make yourself indispensable to them and they won’t hurt you.” At least that’s what he tells himself– it’s easier to simply assume anyone who approaches him that they want something he can give them. “The younger victors will need someone to guide them anyway.” 

And even the ones who vehemently deny needing someone, anyone. Patience is always key in those instances– from Taiyang whom it took almost six years and his tribute’s sanity to finally approach Patrick to María, who still slaps away any hands offered, friend or foe. Ironically, he had to approach her first.  

“…I suppose I don’t think too much about that. If someone was asking for your help, you would be more caught up in what they’re asking, more than how you were feeling no?” A Trojan horse, he’s lobbed in their direction although he’s quick to revise: “...It scares me sometimes.” He confides, fingers pausing in their administrations on Sun’s head. Actually it scares him, a lot. “They’re…they’re relying on me to guide them to the best outcome and I want the same thing for them. I promise you, I really, truly do.” Whether it’s Hyuk, Devora, a tribute he’s been assigned to mentor, or any of the victors. And sometimes even the furball in his lap and yet– “But I…I can’t always guarantee that. But they still trust me, especially the younger ones.” The tributes from District Three– his tributes, the ones who take his hand, look up at him with wide eyes, clinging to every word, every gesture he makes as it will guarantee their survival. “Sometimes I think it would be better if they exercised more caution with me.”   

A smile, bittersweet, if not actually just bitter, graces his lips. He shakes his head though, chuckling at the next question. “...Forgive me, that’s quite a question you have there. ‘Psychics’... I don’t believe that’s information that just anyone, district or Capitol, can get ahold of–  although I have heard of some old religions still practiced in the districts so I suppose the knowledge and belief in such mediums is possible to get ahold of.” He stares down at his tea, the steam still rising. Even if it is a hypothetical question on a medium known to be more shoddy than reputable, he can’t help but pause. If they could contact those ‘long gone’; would that mean, if he asked them to, would he be able to speak to her one last time–

He shakes his head, eye catching his pocket watch, metal beaten and faded, the clock face wearing a crack down the right side. Still, it shimmers in the sunlight. “Even if I could, I…I highly doubt she would want to talk to me of all people.” If they hadn’t met, if they hadn’t fallen in love, she probably would still be alive. Tellessa’s family too. 

After all, he was the first person outside of Tellessa who knew about her forbidden books. “Wherever they are, it’s probably better than here.” Or at least he hopes it is for her. A place where life doesn’t have to be perfect, but it is…easier. A place for souls to rest at long last. If such a place even exists in the first place. He picks up his saucer once more, still careful not to jostle Sun on his legs. She’s taken to loafing now– he knows her eyes are closed even if her head dips every few seconds. But make no mistake, that does not mean she is unaware. Trusting of the one asking the questions. If it was just him, she would be stretched out, a white underbelly waiting for his hand to scratch kindly at the ceiling.

Perhaps the saying is true after all: like owner, like pet. Although Patrick would argue she’s more like Hyuk if anything.

“It depends on the circumstances,” he says as neutrally as possible. A vague answer for a hypothetical question, because that is truly it. “I suppose if one’s life was on the line, it would be better if they followed my lead, no?” 

Not that that’s stopped, those with rebellious tendencies from committing treason anyways. ( And unfortunately, he can name more than one. ) It is ironic in that manner– for someone who knows the system, knows how to work within the rules all, has spent years perfecting his craft in survival arts, it would make more sense to invest on those with similar goals. And yet here he is, worrying about the ones who are decided not interested in survival and therefore would spurn his advice at any given moments. “Not that…that following my advice has ever helped them make it through.” 

(His tributes. All thirty nine of them. No two games are ever the same, the gamemakers would never allow that. If the circus known as the Hungers Games must be reborn over and over again if it wishes to continue.)

He takes a sip of his tea, washing down the momentary displeasure. Or at least he thinks it will be only a moment long. “I suppose what a Capitol citizen would consider a ‘mundane issue’, as you put it, would differ from those of someone from the districts. The former does seem more inclined towards complaining if only to build comradery amongst one another. I’m just glad that they have such means to…channel their frustrations.” 

( It’s in times like those, where he wishes his temper could curdle, the way Devora’s does in the face of the Capitol Elite. How he wishes he could simply let her use the knife to silence those idle complaints. )

Patrick takes another sip of his tea. It burns in his throat. It’s bitter too– he must have let the leaves seep for too long. But the asperity doesn’t just settle on his tongue. “Are we talking about an ideal world or the one we live in now? Depending on who you ask this question to, you’re guaranteed to get quite…different answers.” A smile, as frigid as the shaved ice the Capitol serves as a delicacy during the games, crosses his lips. “Our great nation was built to provide safety and prosperity for the children. To serve them. Although whether the truth is actually the other way around will again, depend on who you ask. As a mentor to my tributes, I suppose…we can’t deny the reality in front of us, no?”

Sun yawns. He puts his tea down and idly, he scratches the underside of her chin and he feels her purring against his finger. “Are you sure you should be asking me that question? I would think there are more…suitable candidates for this question.” People like Hyuk, he means. People like María– the kinds who would gladly make sacrifices, give pieces of themselves for a cause. “Self-sacrifice won’t get you where you need to be– there’s a reason martyrs are only known after their death– they’re even given a chance to be known. Anyone who thinks otherwise is a fool. They’re only deluding themselves into believing they can make everything better. A…colleague of mine said it best: ‘a martyr works, a survivor works better’. If you want to truly help the ones around you, self-sacrifice will only get you so far.”

Or so Patrick claims. He can hear it though– the sound of Hyuk shouting at him to stop lying. The truth is, self-sacrifice, if it is for a tangible reason, is…well maybe it is not worthwhile, but it can be certainly respected, especially if this tangible reason is a human life. The Capitol will always wonder what spurred Patrick to hold his district partner’s hand even if it burned a hole through his skin, will always wonder why Taiyang insisted on protecting Link in the arena, will always wonder why, why, why would Devora so willingly serve as President Snow’s puppet even if it further severs her ties to the districts despite everything the games took from her.

They would never understand compassion in a dog-eat-dog world– self sacrifice.

“...However, I suppose, if there was truly a good reason to do so…well, I have yet to see it.”

( Like the promise of a better world. If there is even one that exists. )

His hand stops. Sun turns her head towards him, copper eyes watching him. “When do we not hurt the ones we love?” Perhaps the better question for him is: when is he not hurting the ones he loves? He saw it in her eyes and Hyuk’s too. And yet they forgave him, somehow, every time. If not for that, well…would there even be a reason to keep going? “That’s part of caring for someone, no? You are preparing for them to hurt you without retaliation.” He shakes his head, snorting. “I think the answer should be obvious, if it guarantees their well-being in the long run, I think that is a gamble to be considered. That being said–” 

Sun jumps off his lap and stretches, paws facing this curious passerby. Patrick crosses his legs, hands resting on his lap. A veneer, similar to the one he dons in the Capitol flashes through, even if he is not currently in his usual suit. “You wouldn’t want to be close with someone like me. I’ve been known to have…a reputation of sorts. One of burning and you could…no, you would most definitely get hurt, one way or another and we wouldn’t want that happening, no? Just a thought for you to consider.”

He watches Sun make her way to the sliding glass door in the shade. Her tails whips side to side as she looks up at the handle. Then she looks at him and meows. 

Patrick glances at his pocket watch. “It’s feeding time for Sun.” Well, sort of– it’s more like it’s half an hour before her feeding time, but he knows gets antsy the closer meal time gets around. But this person doesn’t have to know that. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be taking care of business now. If you need anything more, you know where to find me.”

Or better yet, he’ll know where to find them.

[rexscanonwife]

I am not exactly a newcomer, but I still enjoy giving people opportunities to talk about their OCs. So, please take this as a space to talk about Kepler as much as you would like to, if that's alright!! I may not be 1000% familiar with the intricacies of Star Wars, but I'd still be happy to hear ^-^

Hiii omg thank you so much for asking! 😭💖🫶💖 I really appreciate it! And tbh even a basic understanding of star wars is enough to get u thru most of it, what I love about the universe in general is that yes there are lots of rules but at the same time there's no rules at all?? You can do whatever you want as a fan and there's not rly anything ppl can do to stop you 😂

but for people who ARE seeing this for the first time, my star wars s/i is a Jedi Knight and my bff and I worked together to basically make an oc to be her Padawan! his name is Kepler Quinn and he's my perfect beautiful boy that I love 🥺

a lot of his character development comes from both coming into his own as a person through his training and through his relationships to others. He's been through a lot of rejection in his life already, so he kind of put up walls and has to learn to let people through them! Especially my s/i, who decides to dedicate herself to training him and making him see himself the way she sees him: as amazing! He's got a lot of really impressive skills, he's very in tune with the force when it comes to listening to it for insight, he's just not naturally a good fighter. That doesn't get you very far during a war 😅 but she thinks he's perfect! and she, and the other friends he makes are all part of his story.

(ps. here's some drawings of him made by my bff @star-whores69)

[answermywearyquery]

Hi! So I was tagged by both @a-trick-or-two-with-lepers and @gyunikum to do this! Thanks, both of you!

rules: put your music on shuffle and list the first 10 songs that come up

Ivan & The Parazol - GTH

X Ambassadors, K.Flay, grandson - Zen

Dominic Lewis - Fate

Lana Del Rey - A&W

Peter Gabriel - My Body Is A Cage

Dominic Lewis - You’re the Diesel

Dan Navarro - This Is the End

Carson Coma - BANKRABLÁS ATIVAL

Galaxisok - Vakáció!

Carson Coma - FELDOBOM A KÖVET

I’m tagging @sophieistrashaf, @iamanonniemouse and @stillqueerstillhere, if you feel like up to doing it!

[violixs]

hello..

[winterinthetardis]

Hi! Where is your queue tag from?

Hi! My queue tag "I'm still just a queue. No touch." is a play off of a line from Doctor Who, s2e13 Doomsday, where the Doctor projects himself to Bad Wolf Bay to say goodbye to Rose:

This gif is from this amazing gifset, btw. It has the entire scene!!

[xumoonhao]

top5 fav kpop choreographies?

ANON....finally ive answered all your asks from last year omg...i hope you see them!!!

5 - rocking by teen top!!! i dont listen to them at all but their footwork in that song is INSANE omg

4 - fallin' flower by svt and like…i know it technically isnt kpop bc its a japanese cb bt thats alright…its some of the most beautiful choreo ive ever seen

3 - my i by junhao!!! this song and video will always have a special place in my heart that ill never, ever let go of <3

2 - lucifer by shinee….if this isnt in everyones top 5 then i dont know what to say 😔 if youre not in that dance practise room with the blue sky wallpaper i dont even wanna hear it!!!

1 - step by kara!!! this song and choreo literally changed who i was when i was a teen. like there are two times in my life that are pre- and post- this song coming out. literally it means so much to me!!! kara i will always love you, my women <<<333

[paralysingpentagram]

Hello, you have a great taste in media! what's your top 5-10 films that people should watch?

HI!!!!! woah this is one of the biggest compliments i could get, thank you so much 🥹💕

i'm gonna try and narrow it down to more recent movies, otherwise this would be very tough.

annihilation (2018)

thelma (2017)

border (2018)

arrival (2016)

suspiria (2018)

under the skin (2013)

nope (2022)

ex machina (2014)

this is more of a "i think everyone should experience but not everyone will get or like" list but yeah!

[poptartmochi]

13, 18, and 25 for year end asks!

13. How was your birthday this year?

Ohh man, truly I don't remember my birthday at all.. ^^; I looked through my gallery and Snapchat, and all I have is one photo of the mannequin at work after some kid pulled its arm out of the socket, making it look like Slenderman 😆 my birthday is during school season at work, so I was busy!

18. A memorable meal this year?

the Airport Qdoba... it will haunt me forever <3 </3 When I went to visit my sister, one of my layovers was in Atlanta and I was sooooo certain the airport there had a Cinnabon. I had work before I flew out and i'm notoriously bad at Not Eating when I'm working, so I think I'd only had like. half a bagel from my manager when I went to the airport? but I was convinced I would be fine Because I Was Going to Feast At the Cinnabon in the Atlanta Airport <3

I WAS SO WRONG LMAOOOO. Atlanta does not. in fact. have a Cinnabon inside its airport (although i think at one point it Did?? there's a cinnabon facebook with its location inside one of the terminals.. but iirc it hadn't posted in a Long Time), which I realized after traveling between terminals like a chicken with its head cut off.. my denial was real, I must have spent at least 45 minutes trying to find it.. T o T

Once I caved and admitted defeat, I ran into a huge issue because most airport restaurants actually close at like. 8 or 9!! So I was suddenly faced not only with Defeat but like bone deep hunger, I remember this vividly! iirc I found a buffalo wild wings or something similar that was seating people, but there was a line in front of me so I put my name on their waitlist and plopped down at a gate for like 30 minutes.. and then they closed... and i was like Oh. FUCK!

So, with time quickly dwindling before my plane arrived, I started Fucking Walking like a crazed dog, true majimacore, trying to find a Restaurant, any restaurant 😭😭 I was so hungry at this point.. the promise of food from buffalo wild wings had kept me going but that was gone now! T_T so I hopped on the tram between concourses one final time because everything in my concourse was Now Closed, in the hopes that something would be open in another terminal..

when I got off the tram and started walking in the new terminal, I encountered a Chick Fil A and i really was about to break my boycott because i STILL remember how good their food smelled, it was like a remy the rat Moment.. but the line was so long and I was running out of time to get back to my terminal in time for my plane, so I hurried along in the hopes anywhere else was open.. luckily for me, this terminal had a proper food court and !!! qdoba!!

I wanted to sit and eat it in that terminal because I was Truly Starving at this point (i found my liveblog of it and. funny story. the day before i posted abt how i hadn't eaten all day 😳😳 so i was on like hour 38 of Hunger), but time was getting iffy now and I was worried I'd be late so I went back to my gate and, funnily enough I had a Fair Bit of Time Until My Plane Came.. it's the time hunger dilation ykwim T_T. anyhow I scarfed that Qdoba down in like 3 minutes flat and felt sick because I ate it so fast lol 🙈🙈

imo qdoba is okay, and it was still true in this situation, but ouugh I will NEVER forget it because. that is a height of drama, despair, and desperation I have not experienced in Some Time.. to top the entire thing off, I learned that Cinnabon was in Charlotte's airport.. i will never make the mistake of thinking it's in Atlanta again lol!

25. Did you create any characters (in games, art, or writing) this year? Describe one

This gave me a miniature crisis because it made me confront the fact that 2022 was not, in fact, 2021... everything I've attributed to 2022 happened in 2021 and this was actually somewhat unsettling to realize.. idk WHAT i got up to this year lol!! 🤪🤪😳🆘🆘🆘

upon reflection, I didn't actually make many new characters this year! It was a lot of refining Gioia and fleshing out the supporting characters for her narrative better.... you know who WAS created this year... miss gioier... (around valentines day, apparently! which is so funny because if her narrative isn't 39% Love Loses than idk What it is lol!)

i already wrote paragraphs about the Cinnabon-Qdboba incident and that was small bananas SO. Miss Gioier is going into scp containment beneath the readmore because we all know it's about to get long and rambly <3

Edit: I finally finished writing the readmore... yeah it's super fucking long <3 If you don't want to read it all, here's a SparkNotes of her character: longtime friend of Vergil + a spy for the Order's underground movement against the demons. Gets abducted and basically turned into a metaphysical demon mole, which inadvertently leads to the murders of the Order's members. Her guilt over this leads to her becoming Vergil's lackey after the events of the game, in which many memory-erasing hijinks ensue. Eventually she and the metaphysical demon break free of Vergil's clutches and help Dante and Kat to oppose him. Her metaphysical demon mole powers accidentally grant her the ability to warp reality, which is a big facet of both her boss battles.

ahh the girlie that was Never Meant to Be.. when I first replayed the reboot, I was pretty far down the Gioia hole already but I disliked the reboot so much that I Swore i would never make a reboot edition of her.. and for like two months I held true to that promise! but then i made the mistake of listening to poppy and looking at this exact photo:

and something spawned in my mind that i have YET to be rid of </3

i always call her Gioier to differentiate her from the original timeline, but I recently Officially Named her Magdalena, so that's what she'll be called henceforth! <3 I won't delve too far into her development because truthfully I don't remember most of it and also it is a rollercoaster of abandoned ideas and retcons lol!

So! for context. The DMC Reboot is set in a city called Limbo that's basically a surveillance state ran by demons masquerading around as humans (important time to mention that the final boss pretends to be a guy named Kyle.. i'm still unwell over this 🤓). Most people are unaware of this due to a variety of reasons, but there is a n underground cell of people working to overthrow the state- they're called the Order! This group is lead by a guy named Vergil, who is actually dun dun dun, the child of a demon and an angel and thus the only thing strong enough to defeat the aforementioned Kyle, who we'll henceforth refer to by his serious name Mundus... anyhow there's rituals to reaching the core of Mundus or something like that- in any case, he can't do it alone and needs the help (read: power) of his long lost twin brother Dante to do so. Dante is in and out of the system and altogether a mystery girl, so Vergil uses the help of a human psychic named Kat to track him down and bring him into the Order's fold. The plot follows their adventures in basically kicking the legs out from under the powers that be and toppling the system, yay!! But in doing so, they kind of shatter the barrier between the human and demon worlds... yay?... boo?.... And plot twist, Vergil doesn't even care for humanity Like That, he just wants to be the one in control of everything! tragic 😞

so where does Magdalena fit into all of this? well. She was one of the first members of the Order, and she's been spying on the demons for them all this time. On the surface, she's a musician/DJ/singer/?? that regularly performs at the nightclub owned by Mundus' right hand woman, Lilith. I have yet to figure out the extent of how she gets her information, sometimes it's just her eavesdropping + observing the crowd between sets and sometimes it's her engaging in Britney Spears Break the Ice-style mania... In any case, Magdalena is nestled deep in lion's den, but it's this risky position that allows her to feed a lot of crucial information back to the Order.

Before the events of the game, the Order is focused on finding Dante so that Vergil can proceed with his plans of overthrowing Mundus, and this is something of particular importance to Magdalena as well. When Magdalena was young, her parents were (gasp) murdered for running an undercover radio network criticizing the demons and she was sent to an orphanage. This orphanage is incidentally the same on Dante ended up at once the demons found him after his father's betrayal of Mundus, and they struck up a really tight friendship... Originally it was because Dante stuck up for her, but considering the positions they were in when they met, maybe it was the other way around! :O In any case, the situation is very fucked up because everyone at the orphanage is tied to dissidence and, were it not for their usefulness, should be dead. Anyhow, Magdalena doesn't spend a ton of time there before her much older brother, coincidentally aided by Vergil's adoptive parents, was able to find her and assume guardianship of her. The fact that she abandoned Dante there is something that lingered heavily over her 12-year old mind after returning to the 'normal' world, and became a heavier thought still once she encountered Vergil at one of his parents' / her brother's events and went 😨😨😨😨😱, because who the fuck is this dude who looks just like the bestie she abandoned to fend for himself in hell!! wtf!!!

iirc, the game pushes the idea that A Long Time Ago, Kat was the one who helped Vergil recover his memories of his childhood + learn of his true nature, but the comic directly contradicts this? In the comic, Vergil already has a solid grasp of his abilities and knows Way More about limbo/ hell? than Kat does. Normally, I disregard stuff presented in side material that doesn't fit what I'm working with, BUT.. This contradiction paired with the twist at the end of the comic is unsettling enough that I decided to roll with it.

So! After so many instances where Magdalena and Vergil are forced to be in the same space because their adults have a close work relationship, Vergil finally confronts her about why she always looks so horrified at the sight of him, and so begins an incredibly long and ill-fated friendship... Magdalena explains herself and Vergil doesn't believe it, but then he begins questioning his memories and The Disillusionment Begins. Magdalena shares what she knows of demons with Vergil, and over the years the two secretly begin to build up the Order.

Unrelated to her 💃🏻💃🏻 with Vergil, she also builds up a musical identity as the years go on. At the beginning, this was because she was too scared and hurt to talk about what happened to her after her parents' death, and it was easier to convey herself through sound. As she became older and felt safer in her situation, she still used it to comment on things she couldn't speak about literally; this and her banger production skills 🤪 drew a lot of people to her, which she eventually used to guide people towards the Order. In time, her popularity caught the attention of Lilith, who invited her to perform at the Devil's Dalliance partially because her music was so captivating and partially because Lilith remembered who she was and wanted to keep tabs on her. In a DMC3 Vergil-esque delusion of grandeur, Magdalena thought she had one up on the demons and dove into the deep! Beyond being able to spy on the demons from her new position, I think Magdalena's role here is also beneficial to the Order because it gets them a lot of ins that they wouldn't have access to normally- I like to imagine the festival (?) at the beginning of the comic is like this. In any case, this drives her away from Vergil- partially by necessity and partially because Magdalena is just a very dedicated individual lol. This also brings us back around to the comic- she's not there to crowd Kat because she's doing her own things in service of the Order.

Anyways! Circling back around to the hunt for Dante! fuck the vergil's downfall dlc, THIS is Magdalena's downfall man 😭😭😭 between the very old guilt about abandoning dante + the newfound knowledge that he is a key part of achieving Magdalena's core goal of overthrowing the demons' rule over humanity, Magdalena is Incredibly devoted to finding Dante. By the end of the comic, the Order has stepped back from finding Dante because he's basically gone off the radar after breaking out of a prison- it'd be easier for the demons to guide the Order to him, iirc. At some point before the start of the game, Dante starts frequenting the Devil's Dalliance- enough for the girls that work there to be decently familiar with him. One of them mentions him around Magdalena, and she basically gets the metal gear ❗ above her head lol. They start talking about him, and Magdalena's ready to run on home and have a MOM HOLY FUCK moment, BUT.... either the girl snitches to Lilith or Lilith happens to overhear their conversation (she is a demon and the nightclub Is her domain after all...), but. to say the least, Magdalena does Not Run On Home 💘😨

instead... she's yagga'd and brought to. Honestly Probably Some Room in the Club, but does Magdalena know this? no ❤ anyhow, she comes to and is interrogated about Dante. This is pretty brutal because Lilith circles back on her childhood friendship with Dante, trying to get Magdalena to reveal that they've somehow been in contact and Conspiring Together all this time. Magdalena has five seconds of terror about this before she realizes Lilith Doesn't Know About the Order and starts playing 5D chess not just for her life, but for the Order's too. Magdalena, steel-willed as ever, manages to keep the facade up but after all the interrogation and torture, Lilith isn't convinced that Magdalena and Dante aren't connected somehow. If Lilith was wrong about this, it would mean that most of her interactions + her entire business relationship with Magdalena would have been a huge waste of time... Speaking of huge wastes of time, Magdalena is still in the chair and Lilith is still no closer to figuring out why she was asking about Dante. If she isn't going to get the bottom of this, she might as well ensure that something fruitful comes of the interrogation, so she does something unorthodox...

In the game, there's a class of demons that look like normal humans called spotters/lookers- I always forget this and imo they are swagless names SO. I will be referring to them as seekers because that's essentially what they do anyways :O But, so the seekers. You never encounter one in actual gameplay, only cutscenes, and their only purpose is to drag Dante into Limbo and into a fighting sequence. When they spot Dante, this black liquid called Malice starts pouring out of their eyes and mouth, and then he's ferried into the other world. They are incredibly weak, capable of being handled by a single knife to the head- the one that's taken out this way makes no attempt to dodge the knife, either. My take on this is that the Seekers are just vessels for Malice that use human corpses as conduits. I think the Malice preserves the corpse so that the Seeker can blend in with regular society (the last one we see is at the club lol!) until it finds its target. The most important thing is the Malice, which serves as an anchor point for Limbo to overtake the waking world once it's out of the Seeker...

For me, there is no soul beneath the Seeker's influence. The way they move is so sluggish and they don't seem super aware of their surroundings beyond their target's presence. That, their robotic pursuit of their target, and the fact that we encounter plenty of disembodied souls throughout the game brought me to that conclusion. So! The unorthodox thing that Lilith does is turn Magdalena into a Seeker, but retain her soul. This way, Magdalena can go about her business as usual, none the wiser that she's a walking time bomb. She can keep searching for Dante, and when she does, he'll be dragged off into Limbo as easy pickings for the demons. Plus, in the meantime, Lilith gets to keep the DJ that draws people to her club like moths to a flame. It's an easy win-win for her.

So the seekerization begins.. dun dun dun. I don't really have a solid idea for what this actually means, but it involves something like in Death Stranding where the BTs drag Sam through the tar and into the Seam.. I like to think there is a psychological battle here too, while Magdalena's fighting for her life, but after everything Lilith's put her through, she loses 😞🤘🏻 Magdalena drowns in the Malice, and as she does so the Seeker overtakes her body, corroding the insides to make room for the tar. At the end, Lilith puts her soul back into her body and wipes her memories of the interrogation. Now she's like Danny Phantom!

When Magdalena later comes to, it's to the girls at the club worriedly checking on her because she "fell asleep at the booth!", or something of that nature. They urge her to go home- she's been working too much and tonight was a split stage so the other act could take over or something. Magdalena feels super hazy, on account of dying and being shoved back into her own corpse, so she obliges and goes to change out into her civvies. She misses some key things as she does so- the numbness, the light handprints around her limbs...

I forget how long there is between the seekerization and the kickoff of the game, but it can't be super long because Dante's presence at the club is already known to Lilith when she interrogates Magdalena. In any case, she's able to go for a little while without realizing something has happened to her, and the Order is safe in the meantime because the Malice can only alert the demons to her location if she sees Dante.

The passage of time between her transformation and the beginning of the game is a Trial for Magdalena- anytime Dante's name is brought up, mainly at the Order, pressure from the Malice builds up in anticipation of seeing him and bridging the waking world and Limbo. Magdalena writes this off as anxiety about crossing the threshold from the Order's present to their future, and carries on as best as she can until the morning the game begins... The discovery of Dante and the tipping of Limbo has the Malice in a silly goofy state that finally sets the alarms off in Magdalena's mind, so she sets out to find Kat because Kat, with all her psychic powers, is probably the only person who could figure out what's happening to her. The television broadcasts of the pier getting fucked up because of Dante stoke the Malice further, and by the time she reaches the Order, she's on the brink of like.. sensory overload? For lack of word?

All I've really got for the next bit is that she runs into Vergil, because Vergil needs to remember in the future that something was Off about her here. The interaction is inconsequential- I think Vergil is excited that Kat has retrieved Dante, and Magdalena is just *TV STATIC* 👁👁🤘🏻 *TV STATIC*. They watch Kat and Dante pull up to the Order together on the cameras, and then Vergil leaves to go greet them while Magdalena stays behind? And then she sees Dante on the cameras and it's game over for her as the Seeker overtakes her consciousness because finally, finally it's time to drag Dante into Limbo!!! Except. Dante is no longer on the camera she's watching, and also they aren't even in the same room together.... he has unknowingly checkmated the Seeker lol

I have no idea what happens to Magdalena after this moment, but she's taken off the board for the literal rest of the game. <3 😅 I feel like a logical conclusion would be that she's fighting for her life through Limbo, which is incredibly alien to her because She Is Not a Demon.. it removes her from the picture until the end of the game, when the seal between Limbo and the waking world is broken, but I truly don't know what I want to happen 😫 In any case, the little ping she created when she saw Dante on the camera proves to be consequential, as it provides the location of the Order to the demons, which is precisely how they're able to storm it later in the game.

As I said, Magdalena only comes back to herself after the game is finished. The world around her is in ruins, and she is! horrified by this! The Seeker, which she's now aware of, has also been corrupted because of the nature of the world- the metaphysical gap it was meant to bridge no longer exists in a stable state, so it in and of itself is like a glitched entity now. Once again, Magdalena decides to go to the Order in the hopes of finding Kat. When she reaches the Order, she finds it in ruins, with the bodies of her old friends and comrades piled up from the raid earlier. This sight proves to be too much for her, and her brain jumps 15 steps and concludes that she and her earlier episode with Dante and the Malice are to blame for the state of things around her. She is to blame for the collapse of the Order and the death of her friends.

As she's having a proper menty b over this, two things happen. Since she doesn't have a proper body, she starts crying Malice instead of tears- the Malice interacts with the environment and tries to warp into Limbo, but this isn't a really a thing that can happen anymore. Weird metaphysical effects occur, which Magdalena misses because she is deep in her breakdown... but that's okay, because Vergil (who is in the area for. Reasons?) notices! :] 😨😨😨😬

now mind you, this is the Vergil that's gone through the whole game and ALSO his evil girl DLC. So, when he sees his best friend who'd been assumed dead crying over the corpses of everyone they'd created their underground movement with, what he really sees is the odd ways reality warps around her. He sees an opportunity! 😈😰 so begins Magdalena's downfall pt. 2!

In an evil nod to the way Vergil grounds Gioia during a moment of extreme grief in the main universe, Vergil draws her back to reality here. Magdalena is overwhelmed with relief to see that at least Vergil has survived the Everything, but the sight of him also twists the knife in her heart because she was the one who caused him all this loss. Her guilt is subtly tangible, thanks to the Malice, so Vergil puts it to work and begins The Manipulations. He paints a false picture of what happened in the aftermath of Magdalena's blackout, one that makes her think Kat and Dante died so she doesn't go off looking for them and risk being swayed away from him. Her powers could be useful to him.

Magdalena has no reason to question anything Vergil says, so she believes him blindly. In my head there's a lot of gravity to this for her- if she helps him, she can atone for the death of the Order. I think she's also able to rationalize What He Does in a post-DLC setting with the same logic he tried to levy against Kat and Dante- this is for humanity's own good! Her own fuckening supports this logic- if someone is ruling over the demons, it prevents more amalgamations like her from being created.

I don't really know what Vergil's motivations would be in a theoretical DmC2, nor what the conflict would be. For me, it would pick up very shortly after the finale of the first game and deal with the fallout of Vergil and Dante's actions, namely the shattering of the veil between Limbo and the waking world. I like to imagine that the world would take on some Death Stranding-esque characteristics!

Magdalena would fill in as Vergil's right hand man, since Kat is now lost to him. Beyond the whole savior and sinner thing they have going on, Vergil also helps Magdalena develop a symbiosis with the Seeker and harness its mutated powers. I think Magdalena reads more into it because she is seeing him through... highly saturated rose-tinted glasses lol! But this is solely for Vergil's own benefit, and he doesn't hesitate to dispose of her once she becomes more trouble than she's worth.

But how does she do that! 😯 So at some point it is not only natural but Fair that, after both catastrophically failed attempts, Magdalena finally runs into Kat. This is a crazygirl reunion, because Magdalena thought Kat was dead! She grieved her! And Kat thought Magdalena had died a long time ago, during the raid! so it's a very spiderman meme moment, but then Dante shows up and things go awry because the Seeker has yet to overcome its initial programming. idk what happens after this, but when she comes across Vergil again, she excitedly tells him he was wrong about Kat and Dante dying, unaware of The Fallout... Vergil wipes her memories of Kat altogether, and with a portion of Magdalena's psyche gone, the Seeker takes over more of her consciousness. The symbiosis deepens!

This second iteration of Magdalena is Golden for some time, until she runs into Kat again and comes back to him with a myriad of questions. He overwrites her one more time, so that all that's left of her is her devotion to him? Consequently, the Seeker takes over more of the mindscape, but the Seeker is automatically loyal to Vergil's power so it might as well be the same thing. Some Final Line is Crossed, maybe the Seeker falls short of his expectations or has a Cringefail Henchman Moment that gives Dante a leg up over them or something, and as stated above, Vergil decides it's outlived its usefulness to him. He goes to town on it with the Yamato and leaves it for dead, which probably would have been fine for him If the seeker was not some weird fucked up mutation with properties tied directly to reality 😔

This is a turning point for the Seeker, because... you KICK MIETTE? YOU SLICE ITS BODY LIKE THE HAM!! Magdalena's body is a conduit for the Seeker, and without it, the Seeker probably cannot exist. It begins to warp reality to meld her back together, fighting tooth and nail against the brink of both their deaths. As it does this, it mulls over Things and realizes the symbiosis between them was not just physical and mental, but emotional too! It's been through all sorts of madness with Magdalena, and it is afraid to go on without her. Even in their final iteration together, where things were more Seeker than Magdalena, it was Magdalena's power of will that put the fuel in the Seeker's tank. The Seeker is a simplistic demon, one that was never meant to have its own will. It is afraid of trying to survive this alien world without Magdalena guiding it. Thus, its driving motivation is to keep them alive and bring Magdalena back from the brink.

Dante coincidentally strolls in to the place where the Seeker is trying to reconnect everything- I like to imagine this is a very eerie moment of gameplay, trudging through pools of Malice with fragments of Magdalena's memories playing, sometimes looping, overhead as the Seeker pores through her mind and tries to restore it from Vergil's influence. Once it realizes Dante is literally tromping through its efforts, it becomes hostile and a fun boss fight begins, one that leans heavily into the "your environment Actively Hates You" angle from the first game. Lots of tricky platforming/maneuvering- the Seeker blames Dante for it and Magdalena's entire situation (I like to imagine it has some very Choice things to say to him during the fight lol!), and his presence is exacerbating things again. In trying to protect Magdalena from him, the Seeker defines its own purpose and finally breaks out from its programming! Dante concedes the fight when he understands what is happening, and decides to help the Seeker because hey, Magdalena was once his friend a long time ago. In a similar way to her obsession with finding him because she'd abandoned him long ago, Dante is dedicated to helping Magdalena because he and Kat didn't try to wrench her away from Vergil, despite all the red flags around her situation.

Strengthened by its newfound purpose, the Seeker is able to mend their body back into one functional piece. It and Dante are like 👁👁❗❗❗ because Magdalena should come to, now that her body's reassembled, right! Right?....... right? Wrong! 😭 Magdalena had already been greatly diminished by the memory wipes, but Vergil's final betrayal of her was the straw that broke the camel's back. It ran counter to the truths she'd understood, to the world he'd painted for her. The Seeker and Dante are stumped by this, so Dante takes them back to his and Kat's hideout.

I think Kat is. unnerved. lol. Here is the corpse of her good friend, and it talks in her friend's voice! but now it is explaining how she is functionally six feet under. and the corpse is afraid of living life without her. the corpse does not know how to coax magdalena back to the surface. and again, the corpse speaks in magdalena's voice. Also, the corpse is a demon that until three hours ago swore obsessive fealty to Vergil. hm. Kat and Dante have an aside about the situation and the viability of trying to save Magdalena from mental limbo, but Kat folds for similar reasons to Dante. She and Magdalena had been friends for....... a while? And Magdalena had been one of the first and friendliest faces she'd met after joining the Order.. so long ago. She didn't want to leave Magdalena on her own again- the first time she'd done that, Magdalena had disappeared for weeks on end and Kat hadn't even considered it because of Everything going on. The second time, she'd let Magdalena go back to Vergil, and then Magdalena didn't remember her when they met again afterwards. Kat wouldn't forego her a third time, lest Magdalena be lost to her completely. Plus... something was off. There was an itch in Kat's mind, one that she hoped retrieving Magdalena would scratch.

So begins Kat's adventures through Magdalena's psyche! I have no idea how this would fit in to the pacing of a game, because the narrative has been. a little too focused on Magdalena for my liking. But there's many starts and stops here, many attempts that the Seeker aborts because it feels like pouring salt on a wound. Eventually Kat is able to dive deep enough into the metaphysical space between Magdalena and the Seeker to find her, but Magdalena does not take well to Kat's intrusion. She doesn't remember Kat. This was unsettling enough when Kat first ran into it, but now that the interaction is drawn out, it's even worse. Kat tries to explain who she is, how she and Magdalena were friends, but Magdalena isn't having it. Magdalena simply doesn't remember Kat, and the way Kat explains their connections through Vergil doesn't align with what she knows to be true- after all, Vergil hadn't fiddled with her memories of their friendship. Magdalena ejects Kat, berating her for spouting lies to try and earn her trust.

When Kat comes to... girl she is CONFUSED LOL!!! There's still the issue of Nagdalena not remembering her, but now?? she's calling her a liar?? girl what.. girl how.. Kat consults with Dante about this, but Dante knows even less about the situation than her- he only knew Magdalena from before she met Vergil, and Kat after she met Vergil. Anything between these events are a mystery to him! 😭 Kat talks about it with the Seeker one singular time, when it informs her that it came into Magdalena's psyche after Kat was an established part of the Order... BUT... What it did know is that Magdalena felt threatened by Kat, that she was nervous Vergil was going to replace her with Kat so quickly. Kat goes wha huh??? at the "quickly" and stews over this. Quickly??? Maybe Magdalena and Vergil had created the Order years ago, but Kat had been around Vergil for some time, too! It wasn't a friendship that had happened overnight.

Kat is stumped by this, and the more she thinks about it, the less sense it makes unless Magdalena was just possessive of him, but that doesn't align with things either. SO, methinks in between missions or what have you (how does DmC2 play?.. your honor I have no fucking idea lol. Maybe like 5 but with an interact-able home base.. as if Nero had been able to walk through his van and do little things here and there between levels ykwim?), Kat dives back in and tries to make sense of it all with Magdalena.

This is a significant development between the two of them, even though I think it's happening in the background for Dante? Anyhow, the stars finally align for them to realize that Kat has rewritten memories TOO- there Is a spiderman pikachu meme moment here lol. So then I think Magdalena starts coming back into her own body again, because this revelation has re-dawned on her the fact that Vergil is. a bit of a cunt lol 😭, and now she's invested in figuring out the blanks in Kat's memory. The two and the Seeker go back and forth, helping each other parse out the things Vergil had erased... Dante is probably involved in this to some degree, because he is no stranger to this? But idk. Eventually, Kat remembers the vortex explosion, which.. keep a pin in this, it will come in handy later harharhar. With the full truth of their relationships with Vergil and each other out in the air, die girlies are like 😐😐 god damn we were played like fiddles huh!!

This next part is far less fleshed out than the previous stuff, which is obvi very loosely laid out as well. But! At some point, the girlies recreate the vortex moment but it's a lot more potent because reality and Limbo shift in and out of each other like fluids now. This throws Vergil off his villainous plans, and gives the group a leg up over him in ??? The Struggle??? . At a later point, Magdalena reaches full symbiosis with the Seeker and the two have a boss fight against Vergil where they take out all their grievances against him. This is ultimately a distraction so Dante and Kat can do ?? things ??, but I like to imagine there's a Sonic Adventure 2 kind of thing where you can play through the game as Vergil, and then the boss fight is against Maggie + the Seeker. In either case, it is a difficult and gritty vengeance battle.... It's kind of like the DM3 Vergil-Dante fight, their philosophies cannot coexist and so they MUST battle. Also it's a quasi-breakup fight lol.

No idea what happens in the end.. I've also skipped over Isaac's role in the story (he's supposed to be crucial to bringing Magdalena back into her own), as well as the Seeker's greater importance to Maggie. and THEIR relationship bc there's a Whole Thing going on there...... anyways I have a whole lot of reading and research to do before I'd ever be comfortable fully tackling this.. Characters like Magdalena, who deal with possession, require more care because I don't want them to come off as caricatures of DID. The setting also calls for more imaginative work than I am currently capable of putting in! So Magdalena and her universe are currently things for me to just gnaw on and continually return to as I learn and read more hehe. :] Hopefully one day I'll be able to give it and the reboot the treatment they deserve lol!

[existentialismee]

@leafslash​​ said:

*↪              "Kimihiro, come here a moment," he beckons softly, in hopes to draw him out from kitchen and into the soft glow of their fireplace lit living room. It was like Kimihiro to thrust himself into a task for the sake of others, and Christmas dinner was certainly no exception to this rule. They had cooked together, standing elbow to elbow at the counter while covered in flour, weightless with laughter and high spirits. It was some time ago that Ashton had excused himself for just a moment, and it's now that he leads him to their couch where a lovingly wrapped gift awaits him.

"I have something for you," Ashton begins, his brows pinching together with a sheepish smile. "Or... I guess you can already see that, can't you. But it's something I wanted you to have. You can open it, if you like."

Should Kimihiro undo its delicate twine and lift open the box... He would be met with Spirale's finest silk. Unfurling the garment reveals a single silk kimono, a deep and rich midnight black. One could almost overlook the subtly embroidered cherry blossom branches laid upon its sleeves, but Kimihiro, the caring and attentive eye that he was, Ashton trusted would notice it. "I saw it, and... wanted to see what you'd look like in it. I knew it would amaze me."

He reaches forward, running an admiring thumb over the embroidered design.

"Why this pattern, well... It reminded me of certain place that's special to me—and you, too. It's a memory I don't think I'll ever forget." Ashton pauses, eyes a gentle green. They seek out Kimihiro's over the leaping light of the fireplace. "What do you think of it?"

The gentle call of his name interrupts a sigh from Watanuki's lips, exhaling a breath of air to try and move a single strand of hair from his eyes whilst his hands remained busy preparing dinner for himself and Ashton. He thought nothing of the other excusing himself for a moment, continuing on with the task of cleaning the playful mess they'd created-- but as soon as he heard the other's voice, Watanuki made motion to wash his hands; drying them off with a towel before rounding the corner into the living room.

And before a question could even form on his lips, they were immediately silenced by the sight before him; surprise lighting his features only momentarily until they eased into gentle wonderment. It was difficult to prevent the smile slowly tugging at the corners of his mouth, but Watanuki felt it unnecessary to even try; eventually finding his place next to Ashton's side as he sat next to him on their couch.

"Was this your plan all along for tonight, then?" but there is no accusatory tone to his voice-- only adoration in the form of a tease as the shopkeeper chuckles, almost gingerly taking the package from Ashton as he ran his fingers over the simple, yet well-meaning wrapping. "You're becoming more and more sneaky as the years go by, Ashton.. though, of course, I would be more than happy to open it."

The twine is undone with a gentle pull, smoothing his hands past the paper to lift the lid of the box-- and as soon as he does, Watanuki immediately stills, the sight of its contents silencing him almost completely.

He simply sits, staring at the kimono as Ashton explains his reasoning for buying it; as his calloused fingers run over the beautiful design adorning the sleeves, his voice full of the love he showed to Watanuki each day that they spent together. Lips parted ever so slightly, the expression on Watanuki's face remained soft.. but his throat felt tight, as the corners of his eyes threatened to grow damp; remaining quiet as his own hands eventually traced along the silk he could almost see his reflection in.

".. it's beautiful."

They moved further, finding the outlines of the cherry blossoms-- the ones that held such similarity to the park where the two of them had admitted their feelings for one another. Ashton had put so much thought into this, and it was evident without him even having to explain; but Watanuki remained speechless, his head dipping downwards ever so slightly.

"Of course.. I could never forget it, either. That place.. even if it is no longer here, it's something I think of often.. and when I wear this, I'll continue to even moreso."

Eventually, his hand shifted, finding Ashton's to weave their fingers together.

"When I arrived here.. I could have never known how much this world would come to mean to me-- but it is something so incredibly precious, something I hold dear.. all because you are by my side."

When his head raised again, Watanuki could no longer hide the misty look in his eyes; leaning forward to capture Ashton's lips in a gentle, chaste kiss. His free hand raised, brushing gently against the warmth of Ashton's cheek.. until he parted, revealing a small smile that had returned to his features.

".. my gift.. pales in comparison to yours. If I could give you the world, free of consequence.. I hope you know that I would do so. Without question."

".. but even if that is not within my power.. you will still always hold all of me. No matter if it is here, or in a place I cannot reach you-- you are apart of my life that cannot be changed.. and I will be grateful for that for the rest of my life."

"Thank you, Ashton."

"I love you."

[evintide]

Some headcanon questions for you!!

1- what is the diet of the Twili? Carnivorous? Herbivores? Omnivorous? A secret fourth option?

2- can Midna understand other languages beyond Twili and Hylian?

3- Do the Twili have livestock? What about other animals? I know they have big fuckoff birds but what else?

first of all THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE QUESTIONS !! ;0; i appreciate the curiosity and your time! these are all, like, a mish-mash of stuff i've considered over the years along with ideas that i've thrown together during the past few days. so if it seems all over the place... that's why, LMAO. and this is going to be LONG on top of all that too, sooooo... a read more is in order! also, as a forewarning, a lot of this stuff is not wholly set in stone as i'm always working on new ideas and finding new inspiration for things. i believe the twilight realm is just as vast as any other realm, and what we see and experience in game is not even a teaspoon as to how much is in there. so just like any world, variety is OUT there, just. not all seen within one place. thus a lot of the stuff i'm about to talk about will mainly be concentrated on what has been generally seen from a game perspective. but, like. expounded on. ANYWAY I'M ALREADY BABBBLING HERE. TO RAMBLES !!

» LANGUAGES !!

Midna is fluent in twili and an archaic version of hylian, and can read ancient zoran and gerudo. she wasn’t very interested in learning languages as a child, but because using relics and certain magicks requires an understanding of them, she had to try to learn them eventually. they aren't her strongest subjects, but thanks to becoming queen she has greater access to relics that have even older texts and hieroglyphics, thus her need to learn even more has increased.

since hylian was the predominant language of the interlopers ( but not the only )  it remained that way until it developed into twili over the years. Twili in itself is an amalgamation of all of the above languages that transformed over time thanks to an exposure of all sorts of influences. modern twili trends towards a more singsong like cadence, while older versions have a choppier, brusque intonation.

her archaic language proficiency is mainly text and phonetic. she is wholly fluent in both old and modern twili along with archaic hylian, though her time in the light realm exposed her to modern hylian, which has come to reflect itself in her current speech patterns.

» DIET !!

the twili diet predominantly consists of grains mixed with nuts and vegetables. proteins come in the form of mushrooms and eggs, the latter of which is their main consumable animal product. fruits are also a treat, but are not main courses in any meal, as they tend to be small but very flavorful. spices take center stage when it comes to all meals, and instead of a singular plate where all the food is served, their meals will be one main dish with some sort of grain set alongside several smaller dishes with pickled foods, dried and curried spices and saucers for dips and sauces.

while the original interlopers were banished with an assortment of things ( whatever they were wearing, tools they were using, animal companions, etc. ) very few actually survived their first century there. they had to rely on magic to transform what little wildlife already existed in the realm to sustain themselves, and due to their outside influence many different types of animals and vegetation were able to come into fruition. these new species needed almost constant assistance however, which made for a very narrow amount of variety to be had within their original stocks.

now that the twili people have grown accustomed to their home and environment, better sustainability has been achieved and they now have a broader selection of things to choose from — though eating meat is still seen as something of a delicacy. not many of the creatures that they have are suitable for consumption, and even more tend to return to the twilight not unlike the twili people do, so having any meat with which to consume afterward can be difficult to even obtain. this is why eggs are the most common and accessible animal product.

» WILDLIFE !!

the original flora and fauna of the twilight realm are still present in the world, but it is not as commonly seen or experienced by those who reside in the capital. however, given that the twili people have assimilated to their realm compared to their ancestors, they can safely recognize, traverse and consume whatever natural wildlife is in the realm before their influence. twili that live outside of the capital often bring in wares to trade and sell biannually, though there are travelers who can be sent out to pick up items from these merchants throughout the rest of the year if more supplies are needed.

some merchants travel with vehicles powered by magics, but those leaning towards more traditional methods have access to horse-like creatures to help carry their wares. in a traditional sense they’re like a combination of a camel and a horse, though they have a wider, stockier physique. they were specifically domesticated to help traverse wide landscapes with few pit stops for food and water, though they have to consume large amounts of both before and after their trips.

dometic animals are fairly similar to those seen in the light realm. this is not limited to livestock either, as house pets of all different types and sizes have either been domesticated or crossbred over time to serve as companions or pest control. the most common of which is a small creature that has developed a method of flight with it's ears.

indigenous animals have a thinner and more angular body type that requires small amounts of food sustained over longer periods of time. natural bioluminescence is present in almost all life there, as it is needed to see and communicate in their environment of perpetual low light. many, if not almost all wildlife is smaller than that of any found within the light realm, but they have… for lack of a better word, a denser quality to them. they are, essentially, their own diet, as they are made of shadow and must also consume what is made of shadow. not entirely carnivorous, but not wholly herbivorous either.

animals often seen and used within the capitol are small deer like creatures with two predominant teeth that curve out and backwards towards their ears. their wild cousins have shorter sets that look more like fangs, but the domesticated breeds have been kept so that their teeth serve for ornamental purposes. all species have a pelt that has reflective spots towards their sides and flanks, and tails with a pale underside that can be raised to alert their herd of any dangers.

avians of all types are helpful in transporting goods and people across all surfaces, but namely those in height. while technology and magic is a predominant proponent for all life within the twili realm, many still rely on their birds to travel to and from places, and some even own creatures that have been in their family for almost a century. these larger birds have crossbred naturally with wild ones over the years, which have since become something of a nuisance when in close proximity with domesticated animals.

certain creatures hold high respect in twilight culture as well, as it is said that every monarch has a divine beast that watches over them during their rule. you can actually tell who held the throne and for how long thanks to any iconography on pottery, clothing and other items that show a certain animal or beast.

again, as stated above, the interlopers who originally settled within the capital crossbred and raised their own animals with the native wildlife to reflect creatures and comforts they originally had from the light realm, but over time everything was influenced and altered to best suit a lifestyle within the twilight.