#and a lack of understanding about how these creatures do function

[divin8ion]

sorry for anthropomorphizing insects. as if its my fault

[shiongenkai]

Taiga, Romeo, and Gluttony

NOTE: This post contains spoilers for the entirety of the recently released Auction chapter. Read at your own risk.

So the recent chapter was everything to me. It was the shortest, but in my opinion it showed us a lot about Taiga and Romeo and their relationship to one another, and it also helped me refine a specific thought I had about Taiga and his whole deal he has going on.

To put it shortly; I think Taiga has a gluttony curse, and I think it functions as a mirror to that of Romeo's stigma, and is part of why they had a falling out, and why they can't seem to get away from each other.

To put it horrifically, horribly long....

So what do I mean when I say Taiga is cursed? Well, exactly that. I believe he's cursed in a similar way Rui or the MC are; he has an insatiable need to eat anomalies. I believe that this grants certain side effects like the MC and Rui's curse, and that one of them is a sixth sense for anomalies and anomalous circumstances.

I want to explain this before the Romeo part, because it's the basis for my analysis and thoughts on the two of them.

To start from the very beginning; I think Taiga, during one of his missions, was cursed by something like a jikininki as punishment for his 'gluttony' — the rapid rate at which he completed missions in his first year. This left him with his insatiable need to eat anomalies, but more specifically, is the reason he doesn't seem to want to eat them.

While I'm not certain the anomaly is for certain a jikininki, especially because there's certainly other similar folk legends out there, I chose that one specifically because they are noted for their sharp teeth and for not liking the insatiable need to eat corpses.

Now, what does this mean for Taiga? I think he's stuck between being a ghoul and being a jikininki, or whatever anomaly it ends up being, and I think this has given him a sixth sense that messes with his perception of time, self, and memory. But why would it do that?

Jikininki are immortal creatures, and wish to be freed from the torment they're in for the most part. If one was cursed to be part Jikininki, it would make sense for their existence to be similarly excruciating, with a difference being a lack of full immortality.

Remember the Mortkranken chapter, with the failed mermaid flesh? How their bodies continued even as their minds didn't? Taiga has multiple lines detailing how his 'body' remembers, even if his mind doesn't. Yuri and Jiro also explain that part of the side effects of the reaction are rapid mental deterioration. If Taiga had gone through a similar deterioration, it would explain his seemingly sporadic memory loss (not total blackouts like Jiro, nor specific category based amnesia either, just like. Random shit) and the fact that he doesn't have a concrete sense of identity (showcased through his constantly shifting first-person pronoun choice in Japanese). His cells of his body are reverting to their pre-aged self, and his mind is attempting to do that too, but it's imperfect and messy.

The key to the idea of the sixth sense comes from the fact that he's specifically cursed for anomalous gluttony. I think that he can sense anomalous material or anomalies themselves, and as demonstrated from Ed, this includes some sort of future sense. While we don't know the full specifics of what a sixth sense grants, we can see him utilise it in multiple different places. It's also, in my opinion, why he was sent on the Prologue mission.

Some examples of his supposed sixth sense are how he intuitively understood the anomalous dealer's entire thing, the scenes where he knows the Like Dove will appear before it does, when he senses Romeo approaching (Romeo is carrying an anomaly: his artifact), how he understands the auction is an anomaly, when he gets the mask under unknown circumstances, when he directly knows there's no anomalies... the list honestly could go on forever.

There's one other fact that I personally believe sealed this theory for me; his association with Haku.

In the recent chapter, when the MC is thinking about who to talk to about curses, Taiga instantly knows who we're thinking of, and rejects it on the basis that '[He] can't get rid of curses unless the anomaly that did the deed's right in front of him.' and that he's a 'Simp for the rules anyway.'

... Which is interesting, since it seems like Taiga has tried to ask him about this before. But if you think of this as Haku's stigma, and imagine Taiga trying to get his curse cleansed before, it makes sense! It would also be a good reason to put Haku and Taiga together in the prologue; Taiga can track the anomaly with his sense, and Haku can cleanse whatever curse it gives so long as Taiga manages to capture it or subdue it for long enough.

(Which, side note, is so tragic for the MC...)

Okay, now that the basis of 'Taiga is cursed' is out of the way, how on earth does this relate to Romeo?

Simple. I think Taiga's curse directly mirror's Romeo's stigma, and it's what caused their rift.

Romeo's stigma, as we learn in the new chapter as well, is dependent on his attachment to the items he throws. This, thematically, works with Romeo, who is known to be greedy. Everything he does is motivated by a profit of some kind, whether that profit is social or monetary or whatever. He wants special privileges so he does special missions. He wants money so he raises fees and coerces people to gamble. He wants popularity so he dresses nicely and pampers himself. It doesn't always mean he is money grubbing and stingy (because we see he's willing to spend lavishly on grooming and decor!) but it means that he's attached to what he has. His stigma requires him to give up that attachment. It is a punishment, a sacrifice, as a result of the pact. Similar to how Luca lost his brother (and gained a protective stigma), Romeo has to lose what he feels is worth something in order to fully utilise his ability. Call it a sort of pride.

I think, on the other hand, Taiga's curse is one of envy. He has a desire to eat anomalies, yes, but the desire becomes stronger the more attached someone else is to the anomaly. He doesn't need any interest in it, really. If someone else likes it he will need to eat it.

Taiga covets Haru's Peekaboo to eat instead of the wild one that we also know is in Jabberwock. He's composed about the Like Dove (barely, but he restrains himself!) until Romeo wants it. He steals the plants from Rui's BAR, not the ones in the garden outside (both are Rui's, but his bar is arguably the more loved thing of his since it was fully his choice). He covets Mortkranken's anomalies, and becomes mildly obsessed with the immortal one as soon as it becomes a major research subject. He's also completely fine holding and handling the mask, presumably for a long time, up until Romeo sees it as valuable and worthy.

Now, this doesn't necessarily make them instantly incompatible. But when you take one of Romeo's core traits being 'Greed towards anomalies' (He wants to collect them and frequently complains that other houses are 'stealing' them from under him; he sells them; he gets missions from Hyde to get them; etc), it becomes evidently clear that Taiga's curse is directly oppositional to it.

I think it's pretty obvious by now that Taiga and Romeo have a pretty turbulent relationship now, but were extremely close in the past. Multiple characters state that it would be nice to see them on good terms again, and it's certainly worth mentioning that Romeo is one of the few people Taiga consistently remembers. They both know each other exceptionally well, too. Taiga knows how to get under Romeo's skin and Romeo knows Taiga's habits.

Going back to the idea of this curse causing their rift, if Romeo was constantly on the verge of an important capture, or even if there was just one mission that was important, and Taiga ruined it by eating the anomaly, I doubt Romeo would easily forgive and forget. I think it could very easily cause a massive rift that just kept growing with each new snack Taiga picked up.

I think a moment that gets its nuance overlooked a lot is the scene just before Taiga eats the dove. The Japanese line emphasises that Taiga is referring to HIS heart, that Romeo could shoot through HIS heart, not just a general appraisal of sharpshooting. He even points directly to his heart as he says this, and it makes Romeo hesitate. They're BOTH in pain in this scene. They're both conflicted; this is their ex-partner (which I don't mean in the romantic sense, just in the general sense) who they were very, very close with, and who is now literally at arms length with a loaded gun. Romeo could just shoot him. Romeo could put an end to all of this supposed pain. And Taiga might even let him. And wouldn't that be karma for all he's done? But he can't. He hesitates.

And you know what appears after that? The dove.

This dove that symbolises both general desire (flies over peoples' heads when they're thought about) and Romeo's desire. His desire to escape probation. His desire to make money. His desire to capture, not kill. His desire to reconcile instead of fight. His desire to shoot.

And Taiga kills it. Eats it.

I think this is the most tragic scene between the two of them. This is the crux of it; they both want to reconcile. They want to be friends, to be close, to stop the war raging between the two of them that has done nothing but hurt them both AND hurt the wellbeing of Sinostra, but they can't, because Romeo will ALWAYS desire, and Taiga will ALWAYS take that from him.

It's a cycle they can't escape. The auction chapter shows it too. Taiga is almost disappointed at Romeo's greed. He seems jaded by it, and seems proud and happy when Romeo gives it up for once. Romeo is happy too; MC goes out of her way to say that Taiga handing him the mask makes him look more peaceful than he ever has before. It is quite literally a perfect ending for the two of them and a perfect way to reconcile.

And then Taiga eats it! Again! But I think the most horrifying part of it is that he tries to warn Romeo.

The comic doesn't translate or even transcribe it, so it's so, so easy to miss, especially if you don't speak Japanese, but Taiga grunts out the words 'I', 'Eat', and 'Next' as he approaches Romeo and the mask, and it's the direct reason why Romeo is able to realise that Taiga is about to eat it before it actually happens. He basically just grunts out 'I'm gonna eat that next' as he's fighting against it! But inevitably, neither of them can stop it. The cycle continues.

As long as Romeo is greedy, and as long as Taiga is gluttonous, they will never be able to fully reconcile, no matter how much they both want it. Both of them have to change, but I want to point out that at this moment Romeo is the bigger active obstacle between the two of them. Romeo can't let things go, he holds onto everything and lets it build until it explodes in one way or another. Tiris, his stigma, is symbolic in that sense, that he has to learn to let things go, because if he lets it build too much it will explode spectacularly.

(All of the ghouls have this sort of symbolism with their stigma, so it's not just a Romeo thing, but it's definitely important to his character.)

But Romeo can't get over it yet. He can't get over his greed, he can't let go of things he can't achieve (like getting Kaito's necklace), he can't get over past betrayals (Taiga, what happened with his family, etc)... He's too stuck and stubborn, and his refusal to budge has therefore lead to Taiga's refusal to push. Taiga has stopped caring about getting on good terms because he knows it won't turn out well. He's given up and become cynical, which in turn means that IF Romeo were to change, Taiga... still probably wouldn't. They're cyclical again. Always, always missing each other. So close and yet so far.

I hope the MC can be the catalyst for this cycle to end. Or Ritsu, who is a good equalizer to the two of them. But until she learns to see her own worth in the Academy, and until Ritsu accepts that sometimes he's wrong / he doesn't always know the most out of everyone in the room, I'm afraid Romeo and Taiga will remain stuck in this loop forever...

[luimagines]

Android Au Warrior

Another commission!

They asked for Warrior this time, helping Reader after a nightmare and realizing his purpose for being there after all. It's... not exactly that. But I thought I did a well enough job on it. :)

Masterlist

Content under the cut!

The house in which he was stationed was... strange, to say the least.

The WARLKN model was used for higher security and working with a team of other like-minded WARLNK models who all had the same purpose. 

Given that this house only held one human, he failed to see why his specific role was needed. The human in question already had other androids in their service. One was a child WNDLNK model and the other happened to be a repurposed SKYLNK model for general upkeep around the house.

His charge was also… strange, to say the least.

This whole situation was illogical.

While he could understand the need for multiple androids, it wasn’t as if the human was in need of his specific security skills.

He had been given to you through a friend. It was likely the same friend who had given you the same SKYLNK model and had continuously done maintenance to keep the outdated WNDLNK model functioning despite its decades-old parts. 

You called affectionately called him Warrior, after the first incident when you had encountered a bug and had all but lost it. He charged into the room to defend you from any threats that may have broken into your home but calmly took the poor creature outside to be released onto the nearest tree.

Given a new designation was no easy thing to assimilate into his programming. There was no space in his code for any personalization or any domestic nomenclature. He was built and designed for professionalism and maximized security risks. The lack of any nefarious activity in his current protectorate was grating on his nerofibers, the very biocomponents to be likened to stainless steel mesh.

But never let it be said that the WARLNK model as a whole was known for their flexibility and ability to work beyond the parameters of their mission.

And right now?

There were a lot of things beyond his mission that ‘Warrior’ found himself needing to learn to adapt to his current assignment.

The beginning challenges were nothing short of brain-breaking, such as getting used to his new name. Not to mention getting used to the names of the other androids within the premises.

In his previous deployment, he was supposed to refer to each and every model by their serial number and post. However, seeing that he was the only android in charge of security, that was no longer an option. Not that they seemed to know what their serial number was, to begin with.

‘Warrior’ couldn’t get over how… lax the procedures seemed to be in this two-bedroom studio apartment. There was no set morning shift, no set time off- actually, retract that earlier statement. There weren’t any shifts at all.

Not that he expected much from a busted-up domestic android and what was clearly a child’s sentimental attachment to an out-of-style, breaking down, obsolete droid that was working well enough beyond its years. ‘Warrior’ didn’t expect those two to be able to stop a break-in from happening should the issue arise. This meant that any and all security would have to be left up to him to take into account and hold up the standards his protocol deemed necessary.

As an android, this wasn’t a problem.

The problem was that his chief and commander seemed to be purposefully getting his way from doing his job!

It didn’t matter what he did or at what time. The chief always had something to say about the execution of his protocol. He was constantly being called ‘overbearing’, ‘dramatic,’ and what was more insulting- ‘extra’.

He was not extra! 

Nor was he overbearing!

Granted, his model had the tendency to overindulge in performance and to exaggerate in the more comical sense for the sake of a human’s nerves, so perhaps by definition he was ‘dramatic.’ Not that he was ever going to agree with the charges, but ‘Warrior’ was well-versed enough in his model to know better than to open his mouth in that regard.

His commander and chief had made it abundantly clear that ‘Warrior’ was not needed. They refused to rehouse or relocate him to be put to better use, but they didn’t hesitate to outwardly tell him that he had no purpose within the apartment.

‘Warrior’ had half the mind to agree, as damaging to his code and sense of accomplishment that would be. The parameters where he worked were small enough as it was, and he was mostly confined to the inside of the apartment. Checking the perimeter was an easy and fruitless endeavor when he could have done a quick scan with his visual biocomponents and gotten the same results.

The neighborhood was quiet and there were mostly elderly living in the complex. The streets hardly had anyone on them at any given point in time and the most activity ‘Warrior’ could say that he witnessed was when the mailmen would come to drop off the archaic paper mail still in circulation. 

There was that one time that a dog had escaped one of the apartments through a door with a faulty lock and began to chase after the mailman. ‘Warrior’ had acted quickly to defend the droid and had returned the dog to its proper place. If it was within his programming, he would have deemed it humorous to think that a tiny cocker spaniel had attempted to defend its home from an LGNLNK model droid.

That was the first time ‘Warrior’ had completed any sort of security task outside of the house.

It was after that event that multiple elders had gone to his commander and chief, thanking them for his presence. The elderly had felt more at ease knowing that a capable droid, designed to serve and protect was nearby on the off chance should anything happen to the neighbors. ‘Warrior’ felt his biomechanical component swell with the closest thing to pride that he was able to duplicate.

After that, he was given permission and the privilege to expand his duties from apartment 231 to the entire complex on Baker Street.

“Back already?” The commander and chief chirped when he had finished his rounds around the apartment complex. He had gone around the perimeter three times and had checked every individual floor for any suspicious activity before returning to his duties within his docking suite.

The commander hadn’t even turned to see him enter the apartment. They were too busy finishing a marathon of horror games that they had started by the time he left.

“Yes,” He nodded toward them. “I have returned. Everything is in the clear and in working order. The grass appears to have grown a millimeter taller already. I planned to contact management and inform them to call a set of TWILNK models to do the landscaping of the complex.”

“Yeah, yeah- that’s great.” They said, eyes glued to the screen. “I already had dinner so need to wait up.”

He nodded.

He was made of metal and silicone substrates. Unlike them, he had no need to consume energy. Even if they seemed to forget that more often than any of the other models seemed to mention. ‘Warrior’ wasn’t about to go out of his way to remind them though.

He entered further into the apartment and saluted the SKYLNK model who smiled in that awkward still-learning phase that most non-adjusted android tend to do when they’ve been socially stunted. ‘Warrior’ passes the WNDLNK model next.

“Hi, Warrior!” His voice is strained and the speaker will need to be replaced soon if he’s not careful with his volume.

“Hello… Wind.” ‘Warrior’ says pleasantly. The nomenclature was foreign but he found that it rolled off his artificial easier and easier than before. His own voice was new and undamaged. It was designed to be pleasant to the human ear if he ever needed to placate or seduce, depending on the mission he had been given. “Have you behaved yourself today?”

“I did my homework and now Sky says that he’s going to let me make dessert.” ‘Wind’ cheered. ‘Warrior’ smiled at his enthusiasm. Whoever had programmed him had done extensive research on the behaviors and mannerisms of children because it was uncanny how his programming reacted to the smaller android in front of him.

The urge to protect and defend until his ‘dying breath’ was a core part of his ultimate purpose.

“Don’t burn down the kitchen,” ‘Warrior’ told him in jest. The smaller droid laughed and ran off to join the chief and commander in front of the television to backseat game during their marathon.

With his duties and obligations done for the day, ‘Warrior’ retreated to his post next to the coat closet, beside the front door, where he could watch all points of entry to the apartment and keep an eye on all the individuals under his care.

A small blue dot appeared on the side of his vision, an icon meant to inform him that he was in need of a proper recharge if he intended to continue with his duties and shift.

The idea sets him on edge.

‘Warrior’ knew better than to ignore the necessary protocols on his upkeep, but he was in charge of all safety measurements and was the only one capable of carrying them out. In order to fully recharge his energy banks, he’d need to be offline for a total of seven hours, 46 minutes, and 12 seconds and counting. 

He ran the numbers of the off chance of intrusion or structural collapse. He knew the building was up to code with the current safety measures that the modern age could offer. The apartment was high enough in the complex and furthest from all entry points so an intruder wouldn’t likely come inside without serious intervention. Chances of a fire or any medical emergency were unlikely but possible. However, in such cases, ‘Sky’ was equipped to deal with first responders and likely had the appropriate coding to assist the commanding chief in a practical sense. ‘Wind’ was likely to be more of a moral support player to keep them calm enough for ‘Sky’ to handle it if such an event were to occur.

With that in mind, ‘Warrior’ moved from his post by the door and went into the docking room. It was a space that he and the other androids had shared. There was only one bed, but it had been agreed upon by the droids that ‘Wind’ should receive it, seeing that the other two had no need for such concepts whatsoever.

He walked over to the furthest wall and stood by the charging dock. Unlocking a latch in the palm of his synthetic skin, he steps onto the platform and presses his hand to the exposed outlet. It’s always felt a bit strange to be charged this way. The sensation was cold and he was never able to stay online continuously while he charged.

It was one of the many reasons he was discharged from his original post.

They called him faulty.

Still, as his body and circuitry began to settle and go into sleep mode, he didn’t feel the usual concern with losing consciousness. ‘Wind’ and ‘Sky’ could be heard in the kitchen, using multiple power tools for whatever food they were trying out this time. The Commander was in the living room and he could hear the muffled curses and shouts of concern for whatever game they had decided to play this time.

He found it in himself to smile and his mind turned off.

After the needed time had come and gone for him to fully recharge his energy bank, ‘Warrior’ came to consciousness in a dark and silent house. It was jarring. The silence wouldn’t have been unwarranted if it hadn’t been for the noise he had fallen into sleep mode with.

He undocks from the charging station, fixing the panel on his palm and stepping away from the wall. ‘Sky’ had stepped into the second change station beside him, likely also in sleep mode given the lack of reaction and closed eyes from his fellow android. ‘Wind’ was lying down in the bed, likewise also being charged for the next day. He had a cord that had to be plugged into an outlet that connected to the back of his head, hidden from human eyes with his synthetic hair.

Unlike him, they had the option to be offline while charging. They claimed that it helped the time go by faster while The Commander was sleeping. They claimed that it helped them feel more human.

‘Warrior’ had no need to feel human. He wasn’t one. And he wasn’t going to pretend now.

However, despite knowing this ‘Warrior’ had half the mind to be annoyed with them.

He had trusted them with the safety of the Commander. And they abandon their posts with such ease.

He steps out of the room post haste.

A single glance at a nearby clock informs him that the hour is promptly 4:30 am. A rather unfortunate time for him to return online. His charging had taken him longer than the timer had told him. Something he would have to mention to The Doctor next time she visits. His meticulous examination of the apartment started at once, checking for anything suspicious or faulty that might have taken place while he was offline.

It was in the middle of this inspection there a sudden scream from The Commander’s room that captured his attention at once.

He rushed to the room with no time to waste. Without knocking, he opens the door with a hand on his utility belt to reach for his mandated baton. 

…There was nobody in the room.

Aside from the commander and chief.

‘Warrior’ however, took pride in his work ethic and quickly did a scan of the room regardless. His sudden bulldozing of the door hadn’t gone unnoticed by you. You had nearly screamed again when he entered.

The sight of him was enough to get you to calm down. ‘Warrior’ noticed it, but didn’t call attention to it. The last thing he needed was The Commander thinking that he didn’t trust their judgment. 

Nothing.

There was no appearance of even a bug in the room like the last time this had happened.

Satisfied with the lack of results but confused with the need for intervention, ‘Warrior’ turned to you. You were obviously shaken. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have screamed the way you did. The sheer terror in your voice had never been heard before.

Moving slowly to not startle you further, ‘Warrior’ stepped closer to your bed and sat on the far edge. “Are you alright?”

You were shaking and breathing heavier than the normal pace that would be considered normal for a human. A quick scan told him that your heart rate was higher than normal as well, not to mention the subtle sweat that lined your brow and neck.

Panic.

Pure unadulterated panic.

You couldn’t even answer him. You were too focused on the nightmare still lingering in your mind.

‘Warrior’, not about to leave you to your horrors, scooted closer and pulled you close to his body. Surprisingly, you latched on without a second thought. You shuddered and began to cry quietly on his shoulder.

“Warrior.” You whimpered. “There- There were so many of them. They were all chasing me- I couldn’t run fast enough-”

“Shhh…” He says softly. “My job is to protect you. To protect this family. I won’t let anything hurt you. They have to go through me first.”

You gulped but didn’t refute his claim.

The silence stretched for a moment before he decided to run his hand through your hair. “I’m not the type to give orders to my Commander but don’t play those games so late into the day. No more horror games after dark.”

“...They’re in the shadows…” You whispered. “They’re everywhere.”

‘Warrior’ didn’t know what they were, but he wasn’t about to let a threat enter this apartment or your mind. “Show me,” He says firmly, leaving no room for argument. “Point them out, Chief. I’ll take care of it.”

You shook your head and took in a shuddering breath. The sound ricocheted through the room, breaking the delicate silence behind the force of his words. 

“You can’t fight these demons, Warrior Mine.” You shook your head.

“Watch me,” He challenged. He hugged you a little tighter. “I’ll protect you. That’s my purpose. That’s why I’m here.”

You fall silent.

‘Warrior’ kept running his hand over your head, using the other one to rub soothing circles onto your back. “I’ll protect you,” He repeated. “You don’t have to be afraid. Nothing is going to get to you while I’m here. I’ve always done my job. And I’m very good at my job. I will protect you.”

You nodded and eventually relaxed in his arms.

‘Warrior’ had assumed that was the cue to let go of you and return to his surveillance, but at the very instant he lessened the pressure on you, you had latched back on. You whimpered again, burying your face deeper into the crook of his neck. “Don’t. Don’t leave.”

“I won’t,” He said at once. “Never. I’ll stay all night if I have to.”

Another small beat of silence on your part.

“...Promise?”

“It is my duty and purpose to ensure your safety.” He said again. “Do you trust me to do my job?”

You didn’t lift your head. Your voice was a wisp of a whisper against his audio receptors. “Yes… You’re borderline obsessive with your protocols.”

“They are to ensure your well-being and safety-”

“Yes, yes, yes…” You cut him off, relaxing once more in his arms. “...Stay anyway? Just until I fall asleep?”

“I will stay by your side until you wake up again, Chief.” He says softly, adjusting your position o rest more comfortably against him. “I will fight for you. Forever and always.”

“I named you appropriately.” You mumbled. 

“I am Warrior after all.”

[barbwritesstuff]

Pls don't feel bad about the time skips! I read ppl complaining on the forum but I think they miss the point of TT.

It's meant to show how much of a curse vampirism actually is. Like no matter how much you try to keep your humanity, you are functioning on a completely different wavelength as humans and one thing that encapsulates it are the time skips. You can't have a non vampire partner or child and expect a happy ending, one distraction or something gone wrong and you lose a decent chunk out of their lives without realizing. It's a story meant to lack agency! Being a vampire in your world is only meant to end three ways: being hunted, starved, or walking into the sun. And most probably utterly alone.

Writing is a learning curve that never stops curvin'. And, to be clear, that's something I really like about writing. I really enjoy trying new things and getting feedback on readers on whether or not those things worked.

I didn't expect the time skips to be contentious, but I can understand why some people don't like them.

They feel like they remove agency in a choice based game. That's a very real critique that I totally understand.

Unfortunately, they've been baked into the narrative from the start. I always planned on Thicker Than to take place over a decade (actually, originally it was 13 years, but I shortened it to a decade to show a tiny wee bit of mercy to the human ROs) and the time skips are the only real way to do that.

The time skips make sense for me because they show how vampires change over time. The player gets to level up their powers and becomes more a part of the undead world.

A just resurrected fledgling is not going to be the same creature as a ten-years-dead vampire. And while you're still very young, it makes the final showdowns a little more probable.

The player's character isn't a total noob by the end of the game.

I've tried to brainstorm some ways to smooth over the transitions, but the truth is, they're already pretty much as good as I can make them. So I hope those that don't like the time skips aren't too put off by them.

[kafkaoftherubble]

聊聊俺另个冷圈子漫画《AFTER GOD》: 解析、猜测、评论（暂至第58话，英译版为准）

An analysis/speculation/ramble of the manga, After God.

Edit: Upon re-reading some previous chapters for my next ramble, I realized that Yako's name isn't actually "Furuya Yako," but "Furuya Rin" (C56). I'd like to change it accordingly.

The sort of things I'll do for you, @orange-peel-candy, man. Yes, this could have been our Discord conversation, but it’s been a long time since I contributed something to this garden, and the After God appreciator circle is once again, a cold circle (冷圈子) that I thought hey, Future Lyns will enjoy reading. Maybe someone else other than you will, too?

This is up to Chapter 58, "They Don’t Understand."

I’m gonna reiterate some of the interesting things we mentioned back in Discord.

The latest chapter is cool because it showcases how Yako sees the word. “No colors; just lines. Faces are blocked out.”

Apropos of that, I’m personally stoked to see the mangaka spending time establishing the different kinds of visual impairment that might get someone to be legally or functionally declared “blind.” Then, via the elimination method, we get to see just why Yako stood out even within the community she is easily a member of owing to her congenital blindness.

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

Blind Perspectives

In the first part of C58, we see the Outsider Auntie describing how much of a stand-offish creep Yako was. Her opinion is likely similar to what readers might have felt about Yako since she appeared in the story.

But, in the second part of the chapter, we got to see Yako reminiscing about her dad’s funeral, her mother, and—we soon find out—the first time she met Chicken (“Rooster,” this distinction is actually important, but I think I’ll make a separate post about it) God. In that flashback, she’s still a little peculiar... but is largely a quiet girl with pretty normal sensibilities. She was defensive of her mother’s character and questioned—but not disparaging of—her long-absent father. She even displayed kindness to a creature she identified as a “parakeet” found near her dad’s coffin.

Little thought that goes nowhere: Child Yako reminded me of a live-action character we really like: India Stoker, from the movie Stoker. They both elicit a peculiar bearing partially from their atypical sensory experiences, are seen as “unsettling,” and are left alone. Man, I dig characters like these. So ghostly.

This is why I’m very interested in C59: it will be a continuation of Yako’s memories of how the Chicken God and her life entwined. Sure, we’ll also get to her reputation as a butcher of eighty lives, but I’m at least 80% sure that the slaughter is related to Chicken God. How the slaughter happened (was it via her new power? Poisoning? etc..), though, is a lot less clear.

Juxtaposing Yako and Outsider Auntie’s perspectives like these made me wonder if Yako had always been as off-putting as the latter claimed. Could it be that, at first, Yako seemed weird because of her nigh-superhuman way of navigating through her blindness with an accuracy other peers like Outsider Auntie could only dream of? Did jealousy introduce a distortion to the Outsider Auntie’s assessment of Yako’s character?

As you pointed out: both narrators are unreliable.

I think that’s a good reminder. So here’s the follow-up:

Is the answer to who Yako is somewhere in between these two perspectives, or does it lie in a third position?

In other words: will Chicken God’s account of Yako’s personality end up being the most accurate version of who she is?

It won’t be surprising if the last part turns out to be true. Alula and Orokapi, who are both IPO/gods, seem to have the most accurate perspectives on Tokinaga compared to any other humans in the story—possibly including Tokinaga himself. Alula also seemed to have understood the sides of Shion that had eluded Waka until the time of their closure.  

I think the gods’ impoverished understanding of humanity, plus their lack of emotional and experiential biases, actually gives the gods a clearer, fresher grip on the humans they are interacting with.

However, there’s a downside to learning about humanity with a blank slate. If you dip a piece of white paper into, say, a bucket of blue dye, you’ll get deep-blue paper. Then, no matter what color you try to paint on it later, the blue dye will influence how these colors present themselves on that paper, right?

That’s the second point—and hypothesis—I want to lead to.

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

Formative Experience

You observed that it’s strange that Chicken God relied heavily on others to do its bidding while Orokappi (and presumably others) show no such reliance. You’re right, and as always, you give me one really important lead-up to this hypothesis!

The gods described humanity as an infection, yea? We’re their Covid-19, monkeypox—you get the idea. Getting close to humanity, to them, risks being infected by our behaviors and ways of thinking.

In other words, the gods’ first and sustained interaction with one or more, humans greatly influences much of their personality development.

Orokapi

Orokapi’s first sustained interaction is with Tokinaga, who—due to knowing his OG’s sob story about being a loner with bad decisions and no friends (unless he wanted to include debt-collectors or whatever as “friends”)—offered Orokapi friendship with as little prejudice as possible. Even when Orokapi exhibited behaviors considered offensive, repulsive, or even disgusting, Tokinaga simply—persistently—corrected him and took care of him. Orokapi is Stitch to Tokinaga’s Lilo, y’all.

It’s pretty strange especially after we learned who Tokinaga actually is and what he really thinks of the gods.

But the main point stands: Tokinaga teaches Orokapi about friendship. The human notion of it, with all its complexities.

I argue that this is, therefore, Orokapi’s formative experience of humanity. This is his version of the humanity infection.

Orokapi is also notable among the gods for being one who embodies a human being. That is, he borrows a human body and lives like one—likely similarly to Allula. That affords him more formative experience with a human’s spectrum of emotional complexities—which again, because of Tokinaga, is related to the concept of friendship.

All of this culminated in his last run-in with the Rabbit God, Vollof.  They had been dear friends before Tokinaga was a thing in Orokappi’s life, and yet Orokappi voiced vexation on how to help his dearest bunny-eared friend. Rabbit God was important to him, but Orokappi didn’t know how to be a friend. In the past, he could only provide surface-level help like alleviating Rabbit God’s drug withdrawal symptoms with his toxins.

However, in their last encounter, Orokappi demonstrated emotional intelligence and sentiments paralleling Tokinaga’s treatment of him. The Snake God had used what he had learned and finally gave Vollof the peace and comfort it didn’t even know it wanted.

This was Orokappi’s humanity infection, manifesting. And it looks a whole lot like platonic love.

Orokappi ate Vollof and subsumed Vollof as part of his “self”—this seems to be a property of these gods, as Allula also seemed to have gained her chimeric form this way (hers is characterized more as “lust” than love though if I remember correctly). Interestingly, he expressed similar sentiments toward Tokinaga and wanted to eat him too.

The intrigue posed by Orokappi’s desire to eat Tokinaga and the latter’s own profound suicidal ideation is better discussed in another post that talks more about my mate’s psychology. So I won’t continue beyond this point!

-----

This is the basis for my hypothesis as to why Chicken God relies so much on cult followers. I’m about 75% confident of it.

Chicken God Ahu'az

Here’s what we know:

Chicken God was found by Yako in her own house, near her dad’s coffin.

Yako’s mother founded an abacus school.

She had quite a significant number of students, who seemed less interested in abacus and more in her charisma (and beauty). After all, Yako’s mom “talked a lot” after teaching for a bit, basically making her more of an orator than a teacher.

Her school fees were cheap.

Outsiders characterized the school as “a suspicious group of people,” stopping shy of outright calling it “a cult.”

Here’s what we know about Chicken God:

Bruh is the god of a cult.

Bruh doesn’t kill all humans—it lets those who are sickly or weak live. Could this be pragmatic—giving these desperate human powers and a second chance will strengthen their faith in it? Or did it actually possess a soft spot for the marginalized and/or variously disabled?

Bruh relies heavily on its followers to do its bidding.

For a time, bruh lived in a pond near the Furuya’s house.

Chicken God seems to be the closest to Yako despite proclaiming its contempt for humans.

Chicken God presents itself to humanity instead of embodying a human form.

The lowered fees, and the stated purpose of her starting such a school in the first place, suggested that there’s a chance the school attracted marginalized people. People who may live on the fringes and were forgotten by society.

At this point of the flashback, all of the attendees were male. But that doesn’t mean this won’t change in the future. Perhaps following Yako’s murder, the school became an actual starting point of a cult.

Either way, going from what the rumors said, Yako’s mom’s abacus school likely showed a fervor toward her in ways comparable to a following. Chicken God was already living in proximity to a dedicated group as soon as it regained power and sentience.

This backdrop was Chicken God’s formative experience of humanity.

If Orokappi’s formative experience centers around friendship—what if Chicken God’s centers around worship?

Side note: this will once again pit the Snake God and the Rooster God as foils, especially considering how much the two seemed to hate each other’s guts. Friendship denotes equality between all parties, but worship demands a designation of the superior and its inferiors.

It wouldn’t be hard for Chicken God to assume the role of a god, either. The IPOs’ eyes already have a hypnotic quality inducing religious-like devotion toward them. The questions I can ask, therefore, are:

What happened to Yako’s mom? Was she eaten by Chicken God, and so come to assume a womanly form if it so wished? If this was true, then Yako’s feelings for the Chicken God could very well be mixed with a child’s affection towards her mother.

Or did Yako’s mom perish in the clash occurring between this cult and the government when they found out about Chicken God?

Who were those 80 students, and to what purpose were they killed? How did Chicken God factor into this?

Was the Chicken God’s habit of granting favors to the weak, disabled, and marginalized a pragmatic preference, or a result of its formative experience with humanity?

What was Yako’s mom’s role in all of this? Was she the first follower, and therefore the first priestess? Or was she horrified by the abomination her daughter had awakened (though hinted to be her husband’s finding; more on that later)?

The last question concerns the origin of the Chicken God. If I recall correctly, all IPOs used to live scattered across the globe, until for some reason, they began to gather in Japan. Correct me if I misremembered about this one.

This is where the little tidbit of Furuya Shigetoshi’s scholarly pursuit comes in.

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

“We joined him to take part in the excavation of Uruk.”

My neural network remembered Uruk enough to immediately think, “Mesopotamia?” So I went to double-confirm.

Yes, Uruk was an important city for Sumerian urbanization. It’s so ancient that it has multiple layers of cities built on top of an older city. It had seen quite a lot of rise and fall in its lifetime, including its annexation by the Neo-Assyrian Empire around 850 BCE[1].

The actual name of the Chicken God, Ahu'az, seems fictional. But the word “Nirosca” reminded me of yet another thing I read before, so I went to check. Again. Well, the only thing that I found closest to it was “Nisroch,” which was some god of Assyria[2].  

There had been a scholarly effort in trying to ascertain what kind of god Nisroch was supposed to be.  Apparently, in the 1840s, a British archeologist had mistakenly identified “winged, eagle-headed genii[2]” figures as “Nisroch.” Near Eastern scholars nowadays refer to them simply as “griffin-demons.”

There are two points here that converge to one specific ancient Mesopotamian civilization: Assyria. I don’t know if this is the period Chicken God would reveal to have gained its first sentience, but I do wanna show you this Neo-Assyrian ivory sculpture[3][4].

Assyrian winged Sphinx, excavated from Kalhku (now Nimrud).

From Yako’s memory, we learn that Chicken God wasn’t always a bundle of wings and some occasional chicken feet. It could even possess long, silky hair—one Yako compared to her mother’s.

Could our Chicken God originate from the Neo-Assyrian period of the Mesopotamian civilization, within the context of After God’s universe?

I’m 90% sure that it came with Professor Shigetoshi and somehow fell out of his person near his own coffin, which Yako picked up. After all, before these gods were “gods,” they seemed to be very microscopic—almost like bacteriophages, or something similar. It wouldn’t be surprising if micro-Ahu'az hitched a ride on a certain Japanese man—or if captured by him—and came here.

But of course, there’s this talk about how the IPOs had been moving to Japan despite their places of origin. Who’s to say that this wasn’t the directed work of someone, which would have allowed his job of exterminating these gods easier if they were all in one place? Perhaps someone even more ancient than the gods are supposed to be—and an enemy of them, no less...

---

Well! How the fuck did I get here?

And this isn’t the only After God hypothesis we have. There’s the one about the animal representations of each god which could lead to a full-blown essay about Tokinaga, your (unexpected) favorite character (thanks to me! Ahahahhaha!). Not that I mind. I really like Tokinaga too. He’s so juicy and interesting—and Orokapi is just as intriguing too.

Hopefully, other fans of this manga will find this an entertaining read. If you’ve stuck out here for this long—

Thank you for reading my ramble!

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

Citations:

“Uruk” in Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruk

“Nisroch” in Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nisroch

“عاجية اشورية تظهر طائر برأس انسان من كالخو ( النمرود حالياً ) القرن التاسع ق.م” in History of Mesopotamia. Twitter. https://x.com/GilgameshIQ/status/1537489293500899329

Nimrud Ivories عاجيات النمرود in Iraq In History. https://www.abualsoof.com/61-assyrian/detail/8604-assyrian-empire-age?tmpl=component

[sophieinwonderland]

your theory about proxy bypassing as it currently stands seems to anthropomorphize brain functions, which is to say it is lacking a lot of steps and explanation.

Anthropomorphize? The human brain?

Isn't the human brain inherently anthropomorphic? 🤔

But I think I get your meaning. I'm explaining in a way that makes subconscious processes sound more conscious than they are in the same way someone might describe natural selection as creatures "deciding" to grow wings or better brains or opposable thumbs. It's obviously a simplification.

I'm not a neurologist. And even if I was, I'm not sure how much insight could be drawn from our current understanding of the brain.

What we do know for certain is that plurality exists. And in these groups of plurals, there's an incredibly common phenomenon where when a headamate is fronting and starts acting for the non-fronting headmate, the fronter commonly sort of goes blank while the nonfronter gains more control, even if it feels like the fronter is still in front.

The existence of this phenomenon is without question.

So the question we're left with is why this happens?

I personally believe it has to do with keeping the organism running efficiently and cutting out the middleman, because typing would be much slower if everything you want to type has to be told to the fronter.

...

But actually, since you bring it up, there's another interesting thing about all of this that's been on my mind

Whatever mechanisms cause proxy bypassing... they didn't evolve for writing. Aside from proxying for headmates not really having much benefit at an evolutionary level, the oldest written language is only about 3000 years old.

So it's not like humans evolved specifically to let headmates write for themselves.

So the reasons we evolved in a way for proxy bypassing to work is a mystery.

If I were to speculate, I might suggest that proxy bypassing also could work for other automatic responses. Perhaps in the distant past, our ancestors relied on a sort of "combat bypassing" with more combat-oriented headmates being able to control the body during battle without actually taking front.

In that case, maybe a full switch would be too disorienting, but trying to tell the fronter what to do would cost too much reaction time in a life-or-death situation.

Allowing the combat-headmate to control their actions quicker than the fronter could react if simply relaying advice could be a survival trait.

But this is all just speculative.

We sadly don't have any way of knowing what plurality was like or how it may have manifested in hunter-gatherer cultures millennia before the first written language.

And another possibility is that this mechanism isn't even for headmates, and is more for other types of non-sentient "parts" influencing the body's actions; and we're just sort of piggy-backing off of those mechanisms.

[shaotie]

What D.I.D I Do Wrong? - Facts Sheet

Once again this is something I'm just throwing up here to have an online backup copy because of my irrational fear of losing all my hard work on the world building for this au (that might never get finished), enjoy or feel free to ignore 🙂🐢💚

When different personas share control with Leo or take control it won't always be directly mentioned, instead it will be hinted as to who is in the front based on Leo's words, actions, preferences, and such. So here is a list of some facts about each aspect of his shattered mind.

Orado

favorite color: blue

favorite food: pizza

favorite animal: elephant (they're big, strong, formidable creatures with tusks who are able to throw their weight around to protect themselves and their families)

favorite siblings: April and Raph (Raph is big, strong, and Leo's main external protector, April regularly provides Leo with a safe space where he can be himself)

least-favorite siblings: Mikey and Donnie (Mikey's too emotion-led - Orado doesn't understand him - and although Donnie is more factual he makes 'scary' tech that Orado doesn't understand, which makes him a potential threat to Leo in his eyes)

favorite activity: likes sitting back and watching the world around him as Leo goes about his day. Gains comfort from predictable routines.

biggest fear: someone manipulating/controlling/hurting Leo like what Krang Prime did to him.

Nutritional Requirements: Orado can function just fine on any sort of diet and doesn't have any specific nutritional needs.

biggest weakness: His smug over-confidence, his limited understanding of emotional needs, and his distrustful nature combine with his need for control and his desire to protect Leo, which means he sometimes ends up hurting Leo without realizing it by putting up walls between him and the people in his life who are trying to help him. Although he possess book smarts he is very lacking in street smarts which makes him susceptible to Leon's manipulation. As as result he allows Leon to behave in ways he convinces Orado are logically beneficial but are actually to Leo's detriment.

Origins: Originally Orado, Cleo, and Penelope were all one, but when Leo's mind shattered it broke that section into his logical/protective side (Orado), his emotional/anxious/fearful side (Cleo), and his tender loving side (Penelope). Orado doesn't know any of this, he only knows that both he and Cleo feel soothed when Leo is healing and Cleo flows into him.

Cleo

favorite color: bright green

favorite food: sushi (especially salmon and tuna) and sugary junk

favorite animal: unicorn (the sparklier and more colorful the better!)

favorite sibling: Mikey and Raph (she loves Mikey's creative, emotional, huggy side and Raph's protective, tender loving side)

least favorite sibling: Donnie (he's all facts and logic like Orado and doesn't have a good understanding of how to care for Leo's emotional needs)

favorite activity: exploration, learning about the world directly around her (in a safe setting), coloring (especially with Mikey), and watching action movies with Leo's family or laying in bed and doom scrolling through shorts (both things which often over-stimulate her).

biggest fear: afraid that Leo's really still in the prison dimension, so anything that reminds her of that place or challenges the reality that he escaped sends her for a loop.

nutritional requirements: because of the intensity and wildly unpredictable nature of her emotions she needs quick sources of energy so often encourages Leo to reach for sugary junk food instead of healthy options. She also requires lots of access to healthy fats to keep her grounded (fish, nuts, avocado, etc). If Leo neglects this need she becomes overstimulated much easier which makes Leo himself feel more physical pain and become more emotional; and it may lead to her becoming wired so she can't sleep or in any way regulate herself.

biggest weakness: Cleo's lack of self-control, lack of a logical side to balance out her intense emotions, lack of understanding of consequences, and poor memory means she more often than not hurts Leo's healing process with her emotional outbursts that she believes are actually protecting him because they quickly and effectively push away whatever problem made fear spike in Leo's heart.

Origin: Originally Cleo, Orado, and Penelope were all one, but when Leo's mind shattered it broke that section into his logical/protective side (Orado), his emotional/anxious/fearful side (Cleo), and his tender loving side (Penelope). Like Orado, Cleo doesn't know any of this, she only knows that her raw nerves and intense emotions are soothed when parts of her flows into Orado; only she doesn't comprehend that is happening because Leo is healing, nor does she understand that her angry outbursts are counterproductive to his long term healing and are often a direct reason why she is drained out of Orado.

Penelope

favorite color: pink

favorite food: a variety of fruits, especially exotic ones

favorite item: Leo's soft, plushy stuffed unicorn and his hoodie

favorite animal: cats (especially kittens)

favorite siblings: Mikey, and Raph (Mikey is loving, fun, and creative, and Raph shows his love through his protective nature and can be surprisingly tender)

least favorite siblings: none, she loves them all - including Casey, who Leo's other personas don't really give much thought to as a part of the family.

favorite activity: hugging and interacting with Leo's loved ones - it doesn't matter what they do as long as they do it together.

nutritional requirements: a variety of nutrients that can only be obtained through a healthy diet full of fresh fruits and vegetables.

biggest fear: Krang Prime

biggest weakness: If Leo isn't getting his needs for attention/touch met a part of her will bleed into Cleo, throwing her rational, logical side out of whack. She will seek the attention and touch she needs in passive aggressive ways: taking partial control to make Leo cry or make passive-aggressive comments when he's in hearing range of his family to get their attention; squatting his finger in the drawers, making him walk into the corners of walls or bite his tongue to get his needs for touch met in other (unhealthy) ways; and making activities Leo does alone difficult by affecting his vision or motor skills in the hopes he'll put that activity aside and seek out attention (ex. she can distort his vision so it appears as though he has dyslexia so he can't read the words in his comics, and she can make him twitch or make random, jerky hand movements when he's trying to paint)

origin: Originally Penelope, Orado, and Cleo were all one, but when Leo's mind shattered it broke that section into his logical/protective side (Orado), his emotional/anxious/fearful side (Cleo), and his tender loving side (Penelope). Unlike Orado and Cleo, Penelope remembers everything that happened. She was the very first distinct persona to separate from Leo's intact mind before it shattered into pieces and she remembers everything that happened from that day on. She is also the only one who knows that she, Orado, and Cleo are supposed to be one; and she is the only one who understands where Shadow and Boo came from and how important their work is in repairing the damage Krang Prime did to Leo's subconscious.

Boo/Boo-Goo

favorite color: yellow

favorite food: cheese (all types but especially swiss, yummy!)

favorite item: the old stuffed teddy bear with one eye missing that Raph sleeps with

favorite animal: dogs

favorite sibling: Donnie (he lets Boo hang out with him in his fancy lab and lets him either play quietly or talk on and on for hours about any silly little thing he wants without interrupting him)

least favorite sibling: Raph (he provides rules that Boo doesn't always like and keeps looking at him and checking that Leo's ok, which makes Boo feel uncomfortable because he feels insecure when he's looked at just wants to be allowed to play)

favorite activity: playing with toys (especially in Donnie's lab), cuddling with Raph's teddy bear, cuddling with Splinter and listening to him tell stories

nutritional requirements: He doesn't know, he's just a little kid! Leo's other personas make sure he gets what he needs, especially Shadow.

biggest fear: Let's just say he's afraid of a lot of things

biggest weakness: He feels insecure and unloved. That combined with the fact he's basically the cumulative total of Leo's insecurities as an emotionally neglected turtle tot and presents as a young child means that his sometimes mistakes innocent comments from Leo's family to mean they don't want him/love him and his feelings are hurt easily, provoking Cleo's wrath.

origin: Originally Boo/Boo-Goo was combined with Shadow, but when she couldn't hold Leo's mind together anymore they were separated into two parts. Boo floated around inside Leo's mindscape in his vapor-like state for a few days before clinging to the insecure child-like side of Leo's personality that never grew up, thus providing him with his own distinct personality and giving birth to the silly, fun Boo-Goo side of his persona.

Shadow

favorite color: deep, dark, blackish purple

favorite food: none

favorite item: none

favorite animal: octopus, because of their ability to change shape and color to blend seamlessly into their environment

favorite sibling: Shadow doesn't have any favorite/least favorite siblings because she never ventures to the outside world and never explores inside Leo's mindscape, so she knows very little about them

favorite activity: none, she's too busy working hard around the clock to keep Leo's mind from completely separating to take the time needed to develope a complete, distinct, individual personality. But if she had to pick one it would be flying a kite because of the way it flies high in the big, open expanse of the sky and flows with the wind

nutritional requirements: she needs dense nutrients like Penelope and healthy fats like Cleo. Because her work is so vitally important to Leo's brain function and neural connectivity she is the first to get these nutrients before they are distributed to other parts of his mindscape.

biggest fear: not being up to the task of keeping Leo from slipping into total insanity.

biggest weakness: unknown, but she is very, very shy.

origin: She and Boo were originally combined as the part of Leo's mind that flowed through his neurons, ensuring healthy connections were maintained and keeping his personality intact. When Leo's mind shattered she was forced apart from Boo into the back right corner of his mindscape. Even though she isn't a complete, distinct persona on her own her work is too vital to allow her to combine with any of Leo's other personalities like Boo did, so although she is aware of her surroundings and possesses a degree of sentience she is mostly like a busy, functioning computer deep inside Leo's brain (or perhaps that's because her work is so vital to Leo's sanity she can't take any time out to figure out exactly who she is).

Leonardo:

favorite color: deep, dark blue

favorite food: unknown

favorite item: unknown; although he likes the ocean

favorite animal: unknown

favorite sibling: unknown

least-favorite sibling: unknown

favorite activity: unknown

nutritional requirements: unknown

biggest fear: unknown

biggest weakness: unknown

origin: Leonardo is a personification of the cumulative total of Leo's good memories of his dad - especially the times his dad taught him and his brothers and was a strength for them.

Leon

favorite color: black

favorite food: black caviar

favorite item: anything luxurious and expensive

favorite animal: who cares about animals?

favorite sibling: he's chill with April

least-favorite sibling (in descending order): Raph, Donnie, Mikey (Raph tries to spoil his fun, Donnie makes tech that lets them find Leo when he convinces Orado to portal them away to somewhere tropical, and Mikey is just plain annoying)

favorite activity: lounging around in silk robes, smoking cigars (not that he can anymore because Orado stopped him early on after Leo got exceptionally sick from his first cigar), and eating expensive delicacies in the lap of luxury in some tropical resort (it doesn't matter to him if he's a mutant turtle in a human resort - the only thing that matters is that it's one of the best resorts around with the best food; after all he'll be long gone and on to another resort in a different part of the world before the cops or Earth's Protection Force officers show up). Did I mention he also loves causing conflicts, starting figurative fires to sit back and watch them burn, and enjoys the choas when he provokes Cleo and sets her lose on the world (plus he has an unhealthy interest in real fires)?

nutritional requirements: what's nutrition?

biggest fear: fear? I'm not following you

biggest weakness: According to Leon he has no weaknesses, and no one better try to tell him any different! (Although his selfish persona often harms Leo's sensitive emotional balance and drives him into the void) Who said that!?

origin: Unknown, however he has some connection to Leo's heart despite the fact he presents as a selfish persona who has no understanding of other people's emotions.

🔹🔹🔹

🔹What D.I.D I Do Wrong? Masterpost

🔹My Main Masterpost

[lutawolf]

The Sign Commentary Review Ep 5

I'm going to link to my episode 3 commentary because I gave a lot of Thailand mythology information. While I will be watching the show for the first time now and giving you my commentary. I've been Ask a question that gave me heads up that a lot of mythology will show up in this episode. So let's go!

We start the series off with this guy who has a Naga back tat. Then we see the front with him dripping water down himself. I got to hand it to Saint, he really knows how to visually stimulate. Is he the killer?

Are we really gonna ignore that Tharn sees visions? 2. Phaya has gotten his period. I mean, I get it. Nobody wants the love of their life thinking they're crazy, but this has the hallmark of hormonal rage versus righteous anger. Maybe the lack of sleep is starting to get to him. 3. Where do we stand with the physical assault? Do we label this domestic or everyone else feeling that maybe something is off here? Like when a werewolf gets all testosterone before their first change. I mean, you can literally see the freak-out in his face after he realized he has hit Tharn. Which honestly makes me feel better.

Oh, so we now understand why Tharn saw the female and how she relates. And Yai proves once again just how special he is. He really put on that clown mask. That's just wrong.

There are two! Honestly, didn't see that coming. Ahh, well now it's more understandable why they were getting their ass kicked. It's Wit.

I mean, I'm having a hard time caring that he might be killed. Just go ahead and let him go. Tharn sees him getting hit by a truck. I'm so okay with that.

I mean, I get the logic of no vigilante justice. But... People who sexually assault rarely deal with serious consequences. Only about 6% of Sexual Offenders ever serve a day in jail. If an assault is reported (this is rare due to fear factors), there is a 50% chance of an arrest. If an arrest is made, there is an 80% chance of prosecution. If there is a prosecution, there is only a 58% chance of conviction. If convicted, there is only a 16% chance that they will go to prison.

Well, that was therapeutic. The parental guidance warning made me chuckle.

They found him! Now I'm nervous! Ahhh, don't save him Tharn, go save Phaya. Don't judge me, people. I'm a little blood thirty when it comes to this.

A Naga. Not good. He is using his power for the fight, and it looks like it's overpowering Tharn's. Surprisingly, Phaya is keeping pace though, despite the break out of power. Well, until he gets a rope wrapped around him, that is. I was in full support of you dude until you started hurting Phaya and Tharn. Now ya gotta go.

Shit! A lot happened fast!

Tharn steps in front of Phaya and gets stabbed. You can tell from home dudes face that he had never meant to actually hurt Tharn. Which means he knows he is a fellow Naga. Then why is he okay with hurting Phaya? Then we see combined powers. Both Phaya's and Tharn, with Tharn's being green, which is Naga colors. Golden red is a distinct color clue.

Garuda: Is a mythical bird-man creature that is the half sibling to the nage, but they are sworn enemies. The feud started when both he Garuda's mother and Nagas' mother married the same husband. The husband gave each wife one wish. The Nagas' mother asked for a thousand children, while Garuda's mother wished for two children superior to the Naga. The feud grew until Garuda's mother lost a bet ad became the servant of the Nagas' mother. Eventually she was freed, but her children swore vengeance.

The Garuda represents royalty, strength, and divine knowledge. With its fierce loyalty and warrior nature, the Garuda serves a protective function. It adorns shields, swords, and armor as a guardian symbol. The Garuda’s golden wings are believed to shine light on the darkness of evil and ignorance.

Soooo, right now I'm thinking our Phaya is a Garuda. It also explains why in their past life he rejected Tharn for being a Naga. There are some stories of Naga and Garuda that aren't enemy, though. These few stories are about devote Buddhist Nagas and as protectors of the faith, Garudas are unable to kill these particular Nagas.

Poor Phaya is flipping out while Tharn is very calm. You can literally watch Phaya's brain go into a "does not compute point." All because Tharn is glad his is safe and gently wipes his face. It's a stark contrast to the violence that Phaya has been giving him. This whole thing cools him down in the same way that a bucket of cold water would. Despite others showing up, they cling to each other.

Tharn is now cleaned up and very calm. Meanwhile, his other half is losing his shit. Dragging him away to try and get some answers. Finally, some much-needed communication and touchy-feely. I love the way Tharn looks at Phaya when he asks him not to leave him.

Look, he is all soft and gooey like a chocolate chip cookie. He might be talking about work, but his body language is saying something else. This boy is clearly touched, starved. Ahhh, I'm getting all the feels with this scene.

The nurses pausing and kind of turning back to them and then them breaking apart. Hahahaha!

This cute little micro smile. It means everything to have cleared things up with Phaya.

Guys... Someone on this show is an actual survivor. Cause this shit is too accurate. Yeah, they could have talked to a survivor but add it with other things, it's there. This is someone's therapeutic art. The writer? The scriptwriter? I haven't read the book, so I don't know.

Ohhhh, we're digging into his parent's case now.

Phaya staying the night with Tharn again. Slumber party! Yes, you absolutely should play a game of Doctor. Silly boy, he is cute though.

Oh! Another dream. Damn it! I want the real deal but... I mean, at least they are feeding us something. At least the dreams tell us that these boys clearly want each other. Oh, a daydream. Damn boy. Keep it together 🤣🤣🤣 He's trying so hard. I'm dead. I love these two. He is planning ahead, telling Yai to bring him lots of clothes. He'll probably have to crash there more in the future.

But nope, it's the stupid doctor. Who is clearly some kind of naga since Phaya's touch bothers him. He gives a strong kickback. So as I mentioned earlier, Garuda can't harm followers of Buddhism, but they can and will harm those that worship the serpent.

Nobody is buying your shit Phaya, but I'm with you on saying what ever you got to. This dude is creepy. He feels like he owns Tharn and I wanna know why. And we're playing doctor again! Which ends in cuddle time. OMG, I love Phaya so much. That is the fastest count to three that I've ever heard. Love it! Touch starved, Tharn is very handsy when he is sleeping. Phaya does not appear to mind.

Too cute!!!

Apparently, all that love goes out the window when he wakes up. 🤣🤣🤣

Ummm, home dude might be your adoptive dad, but he isn't a cop. Stop talking shop!

The precepts are rules or guidelines to develop mind and character to make progress on the path to enlightenment… The first precept consists of a prohibition of killing, both humans and all animals. The second precept prohibits theft and related activities such as fraud and forgery. The third precept refers to sexual misconduct, and has been defined with terms such as sexual responsibility and long-term commitment. The fourth precept involves falsehood spoken or committed to by action, as well as malicious speech, harsh speech and gossip. The fifth precept prohibits intoxication through alcohol, drugs, or other means.

Damn, Phaya over here tattling. Oh, no! Grandma is sick! Ha, he was tricked.

He is a cop. Of course, it's dangerous. This is why I'm oh so excited that two of my kids want to go into law enforcement. (said in complete sarcasm.) We do a tight focus of the eagle, he has wings on his back. I'm really thinking I'm right here. Damn, he is obsessed.

There is past life Tharn. Water and sky, the places where their other half reside. And there he is. Ahh, I get more and more excited with each one. I can't wait. 💜💜💜

[danmei-confessions]

I truly think SVSSS deserves a revision more than any of MXTX's other novels.

I love the novel, yes, but it is poorly written. MXTX rushed the chapters after Bbingqiu's reunion due to using VIP lock for the first time and it makes the writing distinctly worse. I understand that she was young while writing it, which is the whole reason why it deserves a revision. The novel could have so much more potential than it currently does and it's no wonder that it's her least popular when even fans of her other novels choose to not read it due to being uninterested.

So much more story could be added, or just minor details. For example, we barely know anything about the 12 peaks all together, and unless you make up facts, there's practically nothing on their peak lords too. I see complaints about the SVSSS wiki being empty regarding the peak lords and I hate to say it, but that's NOT due to the moderators but rather pure lack of content. Hell, most of the facts that do existed were only in the light novel and not in the web novel at all. There's such little information it's really not shocking that the fandom runs on head-canons. In all 100 chapters of her novel, half of it in slightly plot, while the other is SQQ being... SQQ.

I have so many thoughts on the potential SVSSS has:

Despite it being mentioned that there are 'plenty of minor sects' we only hear the name of one.

Despite sects like Tian Yi or Zhao Hua being a part of the main 4, we know almost nothing about them, how they run, or their disciples/sect lead (literally the only named Tian Yi disciples are the 3 nuns). We also don't know their locations, what locations they control, or their history

The past events of SVSSS (before SY transmigrated) are so messy. Theres only 2 timelines I've found here on tumblr and even those are so different from each other. Theres no clear years compared to TGCF or MDZS and its so frustrating. This also leaves characters practically age-less (other than like. Binghe) unlike her other characters.

Almost none of the side-characters grow development with anyone other than Shen Qingqiu. I say 'almost' but I can not name any off the top of my head. There are characters that have/had such interesting relationships that were completely thrown out the window For The Plot. This is so.... disappointing, considering other character's relationships make up the plot! It's not only the MC!

Everything being rushed is heartbreaking, and with a re-write I think arcs such as the Holy Mausoleum, Jin Lan, Borderlands, etc could become SO much more interesting. Alongside that, the Mai Gu Ridge situation was blown off so fast?? Like, it was mentioned that the Endless Abyss was breaking through CCM, then just never mentioned again...

Power Scaling. Fights. Actual fights between people who aren't LGQ or LBH. We only really got NYY/LPM, MBJ/his uncle, and TLJ/LBH. Most of those were ALSO rushed.

The System's appearance was reduced LARGELY in the later chapters-almost like MXTX forgot about them. The whole first 2 volumes include The System so much, and its unique! functions! all for it to be disregarded and those functions to never be used other than the jade necklace.

Actually going into the wonderous world of PIDW that is claimed to have interesting weapons (only Xin Mo was shown), locations, plants (only Qingsi and that one thats too long for me to feel like typing shown), and creatures (only rly ZZL and Madam Meiyin shown).

That's all I really have right now. I'm not trying to be an anti of MXTX's other novels. I just think that SVSSS has so much potential that she could have brought out if she had chosen to revise it. I love TGCF and MDZS very much, they have great scaling, brought-out potential, and relationships that SVSSS so could have.

I do want to exclaim that out of all her 3 novels SVSSS has been my favorite for years. I genuinely feel upset that it was not the one picked despite how obvious it is that it has barely any NEW content. Or at the least, confirmed facts. In her QNA's most of the questions are purely MDZS/TGCF while there's maybe 2 SVSSS ones. Those few questions answered by her are literally lifelines for some fans. (Such as heights and Moshang) The novel could become popular just if the criticisms/potential of it were actually addressed. I'm not saying that casually but I am very sure of it as MXTX is a freakishly great writer and she COULD take the novel to the same heights as TGCF/MDZS if she truly wanted to.

.

[laughatlocksmiths]

so here's my take on something no one asked for my opinion on: vampires do not need circulation for sex or for brain function or to avoid blood pooling in their lower bodies or for any other purpose. vampires do not need an explicable bodily process for how they generate fluids other than blood in order to cry, spit, sweat, etc onscreen. vampires do not need a process for excreting the blood they feed on.

like, if you just enjoy speculative biology and want to come up with a vampire design that explains how they function then that's awesome, you guys are cool as hell. but other authors/artists that create biologically-unrealistic vampires are not doing that because they don't know enough about science to understand that living creatures need to excrete waste. like, come on.

most vampires are anatomically unrealistic because most vampire stories are not about anatomy, you know? vampires drink blood because they steal and consume human life. vampires can have sex (or can't have sex, depending on the story) because the author wants to talk about the relationship between sex and death. vampires have hypnotic/mind control powers because they represent anxiety regarding power or bodily autonomy. vampires can turn into animals because the Other is often animalistic and wild. these reasons among other reasons, of course. i just don't think it's a plot hole for these tropes to lack a biological explanation. i think that in many cases, the story would be weaker if there was such an explanation.

[laugtherhyena]

Speaking of her i might as well post these random facts comps of the part 1 girlies, not sure when my unfocused ass will finish the new refs lmao

-The time period in which she was the strongest was during the middle ages, back then her devil form used to be three times as big with 13 heads.

-She exists in a paradox of sorts(? Unsure if that's the right term); Wolves are social creatures who function within groups whereas Devils are solitary and tend to fight or control one another whenever they meet. Being the Wolf Devil, her biggest dream was to have a companion by her side but that's not something she couldn't achive for the longest time due to the nature of devil relationships. When she found said companionship in Hina, she was willing to give up her devil form so that as a fiend they could be together in public safety.

-Which is a big deal because Mayura really likes her devil form! She like being wild and huge and powerful. Tho at the same time she doesn't really mind being a fiend, or acting like a human, in fact, Mayura goes out of her way to have her ears pinned down when not in her battle or devil form so that they blend in with her hair and give her a less outright-fiend-looking appearance.

-The body she took over to become a fiend was of a girl in her 20s whose body was hastily hidden in the forest Mayura used to live in while still in her devil form. She was eating the body when Hina first bumped into her and after their fight she sorta left the body in he cave to finish later, a couple years went by and when she settled on becoming a fiend she used the decaying body to do so, which is why she has no memories or personality traits from whoever that human was.

-Mayura showers once a day and brushes her teeth every other day, which is surprisingly clean for a fiend!

-Mayura is one of the few fiends at public safety who can read! It's something Hina taught her back when they would meet at the forest or the Akiyama estate and she brags about it a lot.

-She prefers eating raw meat over cooked dishes.

-She keeps the upper part of her shirt unbuttoned so that it won't rip when she transforms into her battle form, this has led to a handful of people staring at her cleavage but since Mayura lacks understanding on what humans deem inappropriate or sexual she genuinely just thinks those people are trying to read her collar/tag. (Even if she did know why they were staring, i doubt she would care)

-On a similar(?) vein, she couldn't understand why Hina was so upset after Himeno kissed because she just assumed it was a human thing and that's all, it was only after Hina explained to her why she was so uncomfortable that she got it and started hating Himeno for making her feel so awful. She was happy when she heard Himeno had died and didn't even want to come to the hospital to see Aki.

-She worries much more about Hina dying in missions than Hina herself. Hina is absolutely terrified of dying, but she's so overconfident in her abilites that she hardly believes she can really die until the point she's at death's door. On that note, he kinda prefers the role they have in part 2 since Hina isn't going in as many dangerous missions anymore and he like bossing people around.

-Still on part 2 shenanigans, Mayura isn't friends or close at all to any of the new fiends, devils and hybrids working at public safety. After losing Cherry and Beam she sorta does that as a way to not get attached and suffer again.

-Since she had never been close to anyone before Hina and public safety she had never experienced loss either before those two died in the International assassin's arc, so it was pretty bad for her and it led to Mayura hating Denji after the fact since she blames him for not doing more to save Cherry and Beam when they were his biggest supporters/fans. (Mayura didn't went to hell in that arc so she has no idea of how bad things were there with the Darkness devil)

-Back in part 1, other than Hina, Cherry and Beam were her closests friends in public safety and she didn't get along that well with anyone else really. She found Galgali, Angel and Spider to be a bore, thought Power and Denji were annoying and didn't really interact much with the other humans (she did enjoy scarring Kobeni tho).

-Friends? Partners? Girlfriends? I genuinely have no idea what she and Hina are and I don't think they know either (nor do they care much I'm certain)

[emi-irl]

taking care of yourself 101

here is a (mostly) comprehensive list of things that I have learned within my past 3 (almost 4) years now of being independent.

PART 1 : physical health

1.) get your basics down. drink water, eat good food with nutrients, get quality sleep, and move your body in some way. these are the building blocks of a pleasant existence, the bare minimum required to feel at peace in your flesh suit.

1.a) drink water. this is important because you need it to survive and for your brain to function properly. dehydration has negative effects on vigor, esteem-related affect, short-term memory, and attention. I've noticed within myself that when I'm dehydrated, my drive to get things done tanks, and I feel like I've failed everyone I've ever loved. so, add your MIO if you have to, but drink it.

1.b) eat good food with nutrients. do this in any way that works for you. blend your veggies into a pasta sauce, drink smoothies, eat and entire spinach salad, etc. and also make sure you're getting adequate protein intake. aim for whole food sources as much as possible to ease any tummy trouble, but do what works for you. whole food sources typically make me feel the best, and actually feel fueled for my day, so I tend to aim for 80% whole food, 20% processed.

1.c) quality sleep. this one is difficult for a lot of us, seeing as 1 in three adults suffer with insomnia, but do what you can. magnesium glycinate has done wonders for me, as well as sticking to consistent sleep/wake times when possible, and sleeping in a slightly cool room. getting sunlight in my eyes in the mornings is also great, but this winter I've been doing that less because of the cold, so don't stress too much about it. sleep is so important for brain and body recovery, and for overall health. lacking sleep can make overall existence feel bleh and you won't even know why.

1.d) moving your body. you do not have to be a gym goer who lifts weights, (although it is great for your health,) and you don't have to be an olympic level athlete in whatever sport. moving your body is a necessity, just like breathing. humans are active creatures, its a requirement! so, do whatever movement feels best for you and that you enjoy doing. yoga, walking, swimming, ice skating, pilates, stretching, soccer, volleyball, running, playing just dance, as long as you like it, do it!! the endorphins released in your brain when you participate in physical activity do wonders for your mood and mental health, and having a well functioning cardiovascular system and any sort of muscle mass will help you tons as you age.

PART 2 : mental health

2.) let the things that hurt you, hurt. relax around your pain as much as possible. feel its weight. only then can you let it go. for years, I repressed my trauma. I kept it in its little box, I refused to bat an eye at the horrors laid within it, I made myself guarded and "strong" in the face of it. after doing this for over a decade, it manifested into physical ailments that no doctor could figure out, and an inner turmoil that soiled relationships and made me feel like a horrid no good person. I didn't understand why someone yelling made me want to sob, I didn't get why slammed doors made my chest sink to the bottom of the ocean, and I didn't know why I continued to hurt the people I cared most about. only once I opened there box did it all start to unfold.

2.b) let the things that hurt you, hurt. the more you try and shift away from the pain that is settled deep within you, the more it appears in your day to day life. the more you try and repress tears and keep yourself from thinking about it, the worse it will be when its finally time to face it. if you feel the need to cry, cry. if you feel the need to rant, or yell or scream, to wallow in misery, or sob about how its unfair and life is hard, don't keep yourself from it. let the emotion have its moments. only then may it pass.

2.c) relax around your pain as much as possible. babies can survive tumbles down stairs, and people who are intoxicated are more likely to survive a car crash, and the more you tense in the face of your pain, the more it will hurt you. practice Yoga Nidra, deep breathing exercises, and learn what being relaxed feels like in your body. anything else will work its way out from there.

2.d) some more practical tips. get your thoughts out, talk to people, or put it on paper. learn your triggers and start to understand their root. practice mediation and breathing exercises. if you're a menstruating person, learn and understand the different phases of your cycle. stay off a screen as much as possible, and instead indulge in hobbies. get as much sunlight as you possibly can. get outdoors and interacting with nature as much as humanly possible. sit quietly with yourself frequently.

PART 3 : environmental health

3.) keep your space clean. do your laundry. weed out unhelpful relationships. create a routine for yourself. your environment effects you in more ways than you probably realize, and once you start to fine tune it, the better you will feel.

3.a) keep your space clean. I can admit, this one is still a major work in progress for me. it's probably the aspect I currently struggle with the most. my advice is to start small, and really take note of your habits. always have dirty clothes on the bathroom floor? put a basket in there. have trouble keeping things tidy? figure out your most relocated items and give them homes. trouble doing maintenance cleaning? give yourself small rewards whenever you complete difficult tasks. don't feel the need to completely overhaul-Marie-Kondo your life if that's not your thing. start small. go from there.

3.b) do your laundry. this one is probably my second biggest struggle. but, knowing I have clothes clean gives me a peace of mind like no other. figure out what aspect you hate the most and try and hack it. hate bending down to fold laundry? do it standing up at a table. have trouble getting yourself to switch it? take it to a second location (laundromat, partner or parents home, etc.) so you are forced to do it within a certain time frame. then, sit back and enjoy clean socks and underwear.

3.c) weed out unhelpful relationships. have people in your life who constantly make you doubt the person you are, who have bad habits you don't want to associate yourself with, or who keep you in the box of the person you've always been? its time to reevaluate. the people you spend your time around have an effect on you whether you like it or not, so filling your circle with people who uplift and support you, who help you to push through rough patches, and you can feel overall good around is essential. remember you don't owe anyone anything. block the number. remove the friend. do what you have to do for your best version of self, and better people will start to fill those gaps.

3.d) create a routine. if you're a human, your brain loves predictability. it loves having a pattern. even if its something as simple as you wake up in the morning and drink tea, your mind will thank you for it. plus, being on a consistent routine makes your day to day life easier. you don't have to think about what you're going to do, you just do it. start by making a morning and a night routine for yourself, and make two versions. one is the bare minimum required on any given day, and the other if for when you're feeling great and have the time for some extras. and remember to revisit the drawing board frequently to adjust it to work best for yourself.

PART 4 : general life advice

4.) do things that bring you genuine joy. eat warm bread, sit in a sunny windowsill, compliment a stranger, play video games, draw silly little guys, take a million MacBook selfies, whatever puts a smile on your face. don't keep yourself from life's subtle pleasantries. relish in the fact that you are alive with a heart that beats and a mouth that can smile. take note of the small joys you experience in your day to day. within such lies life's meaning.

5.) keep hygienic. brush your teeth, wash your face, shower frequently, wear deodorant, etc. you don't have to do anything super crazy for this one, but keeping up on hygiene is a good way to build self confidence and overall honor yourself. you are a person worthy of care. remember to treat yourself like it.

6.) listen to your intuition. this one takes a good amount of practice, but learn to differentiate good vs bad feelings in your body, and use that signal to guide you. take a lot of time in silence with yourself, learn to hold your opinions sacred, and get to know yourself. ask yourself questions like its a first date, and take note of your answers.

THATS ALL FOR NOW FOLKS!! I may make a part two depending on how I'm feeling, and feel free to ask any questions! my ask box is open. love y'all, and have a great day <3

[birdhouseblog25]

Why Berserkers are weak to the Foreigner Class (kinda sorta theory but here me out).

(This was a post originally submitted in my old account, but I want to bring it back because I saved it on my docs. )

Do you know what took me the longest time to realize playing Fate/Grand Order for at least 4-6 years now? 

That Berserkers are weak to Foreigner servants because of their lack of sanity. 

When you think about it, for a heroic spirit to become a berserker class servant, they got rid of any sanity left in them to gain the power to defeat their enemies in the Holy Grail War.

 In some cases, a berserker class can be the weakest and strongest class because they are a power balance to weigh out the war from any other servants that might get a head start to fight them. In FGO, Berserker servants and enemies gain a 2.0x double attacking power against any class of servant..

It’s crazy how the most cracked-out class unit of the game, let alone the Fate franchise, could be the most balanced by just selling the sanity for corn chip and power.

 But then Hercules exists.

To this very day, I am baffled that Hercules in his Berserker form is his WEAKEST form. It melts my brain just thinking about it because even in his weakest class, he is a literal war machine, let alone a straight-up beast doing unimaginable feats that question how insane the Greek servants are in Fate.

(Don’t get me started on his list of noble phantasms like his 12 labors, God's Hand, and Maine of the Nameaon Lion because we would be here all day.)

Long story short, the Berserker class is insane (pun intended), which brings us to the Foreigner class and why they upset the power balance of the Berserker class.

Foreigners at the time were a class of servants that made contracts with beings beyond the fabric of reality. They are what we know are the Outer Gods and Elder Gods from the stories of H.P. Lovecraft. These are creatures that no mortal human can comprehend. Just trying to understand the nature of these beings can burn your brain to mush and cause you to lose your mind. 

Berserkers are no exception. The Elder Gods, Outer Gods, and The Old Ones all consume chaos and insanity as their drive, berserkers barely lack enough sanity to fight a foreigner. If we’re going by not only the lore of H.P. Lovecraft and Fate lore, chances are the berserkers have a fighting chance, but then lies the problem.

While half of the roasters of berserkers do have sanity left in them to function freely, they are limited by their madness enhancement. Even some of the Foreigner-class servants currently in the fgo roaster are alien life forms from our solar system and universes that aren’t in contact with any Outer God.

MHX, MHX Alter, Mysterious Ranmaru X, Ciel- Servantverse

Voyager- Satellite of Pan-Human History

The Types/Ultimate One, Wandajin, Koyanskya- Alien Life Forms

The Olympians- Gundams

Mesoamerican Gods- Gundams, but if they were spiders

Now we do have the Salem manga in the Epic of Remnant manga series being published, so we might have a chance to see a berserker and a foreigner fight each other. Unfortunately, I don’t know where to read the translated manga online, so I don’t mind waiting for the pages to be translated into English. Let's hope for the best!

(I would also add in the Mooncell since it is also alien in origin, but my brain cells aren’t ready to go back to the Extra lore. I don’t wanna go back, please; it’s too much sometimes.)

[dross-the-fish]

Can you write an Adam x reader piece where it’s that part of the book where he was lost in the woods and starving for 3 days but then the reader finds him and helps him out pls?

yup, one quick drabble for you.

It was an unexpected find to be sure and not at all what Anon had anticipated on their weekly wander through the wood. There, in the clearing where Anon liked to birdwatch was a creature unlike any they had ever seen before. It was and wasn’t a man, for it was eight feet tall, yellow skinned and appeared to be struggling to walk. Anon watched as the being rose to its, well his. by the look of his nude form, feet and take uncertain steps, as though he were unfamiliar with the act of walking. He stumbled once or twice and made a guttural noise of frustration. After some effort he paused and seemed to take stock of his parts, examining arms and legs, tugging at the flowing black hair, as though his body were as alien to him as it was to the person watching him.

Anon wondered if he was perhaps, a mad man. It was clear he was possibly very ill, injured, or deformed, given his appearance. Perhaps he’d been abandoned? It seemed cruel, to abandon someone naked in a forest and moved by pity but not brave enough to reveal themselves Anon called out. “Excuse me!”

The creature’s head whipped in the direction of the tree Anon was hiding behind. He made a sound, a garbled utterance as though trying to call back. Was he foreign? No that was not the confusion of a man who was unfamiliar with a language, it was the bewilderment of a man who was unfamiliar with speech.

Curiouser and curiouser. Anon ventured outside of the tree and the creature approached with the fearless curiosity of a child who has not yet known to be wary of strangers. Not that an 8 foot tall creature like this need have much to fear. Anon on the other hand could not help but take a step back. Their hesitation seemed to register as such for the creature halted, hand outstretched. They made the sound again, garbled and pleading, an almost babble that seemed to mimic the cadence of words but lacked the knowledge, or perhaps the memory, of what words were. Anon recalled a boy from the village who had hit his head and forgotten everything, his name, how to speak, how to walk and even the faces of his family. They wondered if such a fate had befallen this poor soul. The hand remained outstretched. It was then that Anon looked properly to the creature’s face and couldn’t help but let out a cry of horror. Twisted black lips, pulled by coarse stitching on a face with withered yellow skin…and then his eyes. Yellow and lit with a strange reflective light. Anon had seen such eyes before, when they’d wandered late through the wood and watched wolves dart through the trees, circling like spirits in the moonlight. They rubbed at the scar of a wolf bite on their arm, a hard lesson learned about straying too far from the path…

This thing was not a wolf, but he was also not human. They very nearly turned around ran but at the look of horror on their face the creature, man? Fell to his knees and let out such a desperate sob that they couldn’t help but be moved to stay.  Whatever he was, this man was not hostile, he was lost, perhaps in pain. It was clear he was suffering either way. Anon knew not what else to do save step forward and take the hand. Instantly they were pulled forward, the creature rubbed his wet cheek against Anon’s hand as though he were starved of the kindness of human touch. Anon ventured to pet the other hand over the man’s flowing black hair. Thick, long arms circled their waist and a tear-streaked face burrowed into the material of their cloak, seeking warmth and security.

There was a newness about this man. His body was that of an adult and from what little Anon could tell he seemed to have an instinctive understanding of his own strength for he did not squeeze so tightly as to hurt the other but he possessed no apparent knowledge. He comprehended the function of speech and knew how to use his own mouth to form sounds but did not have a concept of language. He appeared to understand the mechanics of walking but was unpracticed. The arms clinging to Anon were chilled, the stitching on his flesh was fresh, as though it had been recently sewn together. There was a cadaverous quality to this creature that Anon found repulsive but they ignored it for now and tried to soothe the weeping being. They couldn’t leave him here. It would be hard to explain to the rest of the village what Anon had found but they felt a need to help their foundling, this bizarre changeling that was and wasn’t a man. After some failed attempts Anon managed to make him understand that he needed to follow them back to their home. He rose and towered over them, they wrapped their cloak around his waist to conceal him, a gesture that he seemed fascinated by. Taking him by the hand they lead him back, he stumbled a little on long, coltish, legs and then seemed to find the knack of walking and began to move with more grace and ease. Anon realized he’d been watching how they walked and begun to mimic their gait to correct his own. He was clever, he learned quickly. That would be a blessing for he seemed to have much to learn, it also gave credence to the theory that whatever he was, he was not yet very old, perhaps only a few days if the freshness of the stitching was any indication. A few times Anon had to stop him from scratching at them or tugging them. To their relief he seemed docile and eager to please so he was not difficult to instruct. Halfway through their walk Anon decided to see if he could be taught to speak. They pointed at themselves, “Anon.” A head tilt. Confusion. “Anon!” they said more firmly, thumping their chest with their hand. “Annnn!” He copied the gesture and tried to mimic the sound, scrunching his face in confusion. “Anon!” “Aah?” “Ah-non”

“Ann-on.”

“Yes! Very good! That’s my name,” they replied, “I supposed we’ll need to give you one eventually.”

Black lips pulled thin and the creature put a hand to Anon’s mouth and felt their throat. A look of curiosity and deep concentration on his face.

“Oh, that’s right you can’t understand me yet,” they held still for him and let him observe while they spoke. “My name is Anon.” Mmmm, ah-non.” This wasn’t working. Anon sighed and then had an idea. They walked over to a nearby pine, “Tree!” “Tr…tree.”

“Yes! Tree!” “Stone” they picked up a rock and handed it to him. He looked perplexed, weighed the stone in his hand a moment, “Ah-non?” he seemed to be asking them a question. “No. Stone.”

“S..Stone.” “Yes! Stone.” They took his hand and placed it on their head, “Anon!” Comprehension dawned and Anon knew that he was a creature of intelligence when he softly stroked their head and said in a pleased voice, “Anon!” “Good! Now,” they placed his hand on his own chest and waited, wondering if he’d understand what they wanted. He did, but he had nothing to offer. He picked up the stone again, “Stone?” he touched the tree, “Tree?” he touched Anon, “Anon?” then he returned his hand to himself and made a gesture, displaying his empty palm. Nothing. No name.

“That won’t do,” said Anon, “We’ll think of something, for now let’s go home.” “Home?”

“Yes,” anon replied, they took his hand in theirs and began to lead him, pointing down the path, “We’re going home.”

“Going…home…” he grew timid and looked to Anon for guidance.

“Yes, going home,” they replied giving his hand a gentle squeeze and leading him forward. He followed, even with his limited knowledge he seemed to know that what waited for him at “home” was better than staying lost in this forest. Anon could only hope that they were both right.

[midnightshard06]

Fictober Day 6: "I'm not giving up"

You can check it out on ao3 here if you prefer.

Summary: The Black Arms return to earth in order to take it over. Shadow finds himself feeling conflicted about the whole situation.

Set in my Lost and Found AU

Warnings: None

Word Count: ~850 words

Shadow sucked in a deep breath as his head was filled with a familiar chatter. Something he hadn’t heard for a long time. It was overwhelming in a way. Around him the Black Arms swarmed the city yet he was frozen in place. Somewhere out there Sonic and Tails were no doubt fighting off the invasion but Shadow felt rooted to the spot.

“How does it feel to finally see these pathetic creatures getting what they deserve Shadow?” Black Doom asked from somewhere behind him. Shadow’s ear twitched at the familiar voice, he felt conflicted about the relief that washed over him at hearing it. “Speechless I see. I imagine you’ve waited a long time for this.” 

Shadow’s mind brought up memories from the few times Black Doom had managed to bring him to the Black Comet when he was still living on the Ark. Those were memories that had always held a special place for him. They were some of the few happy memories he had about his time on the Ark. Those and every time Maria managed to visit him. Looking at the destruction the Black Arms were wreaking though truly had him feeling conflicted. Black Doom had never told him the Black Arms’ goals all those years ago, but now that he knew he wasn’t sure what to think. He also hated to think that perhaps back then he would have agreed with them.

He raised his hands to speak but quickly put them down. There was no point when he both didn’t know if Black Doom would even understand him, and when there was a much more convenient mode of communication that didn’t need him to speak out loud. “Is this all necessary?” Shadow looked back finally as he asked the question through the Black Arms’ hive mind. It felt odd to access it directly like this after how long it had been and how used to functioning without it he’d grown to be.

“The humans must be properly subjugated.” Black Doom folded his arms behind his back. “That requires them to be properly crushed.”

Part of Shadow wanted to agree, but he wasn't sure how much of that was due to his own feelings and how much was due to influence from Black Doom. There was only ever one human that had been kind to him. Well at least on the Ark. Sure Sonic wasn’t a human but he’d shown Shadow that people could be kind and accepting. Ever since the blue hedgehog had found him Shadow had been learning that not everyone was like the people on the Ark. Did the whole of humanity really deserve to pay for the sins of a few no matter how much he may want to take revenge? 

Shadow flicked his tail in annoyance. “No…” He spoke out loud, his voice rough from general lack of use.

“What do you mean?” Black Doom mostly sounded curious but there was an edge to his voice.

It was in that moment Shadow realized just how much he’d changed, how much he’d really let Sonic and the others into his life. He turned to Black Doom, standing tall and face set into a defiant frown. “I’m not giving up on this world.” He snarled. “I’m not giving up on all the people who’ve given me a chance.” He allowed chaos energy to crackle around his hands dangerously.

Black Doom’s eyes narrowed. “Do not defy me Shadow. You are one of us, you have no need for these lower creatures.”

“I may be one of you, but that doesn’t mean I have the same goals.” Shadow felt anger rise in him. Red hot and sudden. “You failed your end of the deal that day. Why should I listen to you!?” He’d not spoken this much possibly ever at one time, but the anger in his system had overridden any hesitation he may have had in that moment. “You’ve had your chance, but now I have something to protect.”

“Shadow-” There was a warning tone in Black Doom’s voice but Shadow didn’t let him finish. He chaos controlled away, somewhere deeper into the city. He needed to find Sonic and help fight off the Black Arms. Luckily the background chatter of the hivemind came in handy as Shadow followed the reports of a “blue blur”. He sped through the city, grateful he’d elected to use his air shoes today. Once he found Sonic they’d figure this out together.

Black Doom stared at the spot Shadow had been a moment ago in mild bewilderment. Just what had happened? Last Black Doom had seen the little hybrid he’d been completely on his side. Now he suddenly wanted to defy the only people which had shown him kindness? “How unexpected…” Black Doom hummed. While he’d been rather certain Shadow would still be on the Black Arm’s side by the time they returned, perhaps he’d underestimated the influence from the hybrid’s other DNA. Luckily he had someone who just might be able to appeal to Shadow’s more… emotionally driven side. “Eclipse?” He reached out through the hive mind. “I have a mission for you…”

[nb-n0v4]

was lookin at @charseraph 's crowns and remembered an alien I made ages ago called Seraphs! long ramble about these guys under the cut lmao

mmm okie so the seraphs have a hive mind similar to the mercane from dnd, all connected but still sporting individual personalities, with the Arch or "Arch-seraph" as a "mother" to the species that spawns more through asexual reproduction. Seraphs are essentially made of stardust and their internal composition is similar to that of a plant or fungus, lacking any kind of skeletal structure and instead having incredibly tough skin covering a network of simple muscles and a complex neural network that spans their entire bodies.

The little nodes on their cap don't function as normal eyes but instead see auras and act as powerful sensory organs that detect minute changes in atmosphere and the composition of the environment around them. They are capable of surviving in a total vacuum, since this is where they are born and they are in fact made for interstellar existence. Their main goal is to collect knowledge to further the intelligence of the collective consciousness held within the Arch and bring intellectual enlightenment to species they perceive as worthy.

They have no spoken or written language and instead communicate through complex telepathy. they range in color from void black to bright white and always have a vaguely pearlescent sheen to them. Their "eyes" are a nebulae of colors that shift with the electromagnetic currents that pulse through their bodies. They're graceful creatures, and surprisingly agile and strong.

If a seraph dies, which is a rarity, it's a somewhat common practice for another seraph close to them to fully assimilate the deceased seraph's consciousness and live as a combination of the two, meaning seraphs will occasionally house multiple sets of memories. If the memories are not assimilated then eventually that seraph is reborn through the Arch, with a fledgling occasionally choosing to take on the life of a deceased seraph instead of gaining one through their own interactions with the universe.

they don't have a concept of family unit structure within their society beyond existing as a collective, and are largely solitary or pairs, with no need or desire to reproduce and physical distance being immaterial to their interaction with others of their kind. Seraphs also don't have a concept of age, since they receive a wealth of knowledge about existence in general from the moment of their conception, and emerge fully developed. "Young" serpahs only exist in a chronological sense, but a seraph always remains with the Arch for around 70 years communing within the knowledge of the collective before venturing out, regardless of how they chose to assimilate, in order to be properly knowledgeable and suited to bringing enlightenment.

Older seraphs will often pose as what could be likened to psuedo-religious figures, imparting the secrets of the universe onto planet-bound species and encouraging them to interstellar travel. The Seraphs will then travel with these races to gain their unique perspective on the universe around them. They have no culture of their own, and instead strive to understand the universe through all of its infinite lenses.

They hold no regard to morals, good or otherwise, and are an utterly unbiased and mostly passive race. Not to say that you couldn't get them to help you out with something, after all, their own interaction with the universe and the races in it is part of the knowledge they strive to collect, it would just take a lot of convincing as they largely prefer to simply observe.

the oldest recorded seraph (outside of the Arch, who's age is indeterminable despite best efforts, and is even theorized to be a remnant of existence from a previous universe,) is roughly 24 billion years old, as Seraphs do not die naturally. This seraph, unlike it's bretheren, has actually begun to show what could only be called signs of aging, bearing small under-developed growths reminiscent to that of the Arch.

It is theorized that this seraph is in the very beginning stages of growing into an Arch itself, and grants a mind-boggling look at the time scale necessary to create one of these beings. This seraph is also capable of creating primitive proto-seraphs that are colloquially known as "cherubs" that resemble small earth jellyfish both in appearance and level of conciousness.