#and you stop liking the actual character but instead some sort of amalgamation of the character and an OC

[rabbiteclair]

okay let's try this again, this time with my brain plugged in

overall, story-wise I admire the devs' efficiency of storytelling in introducing new groups of characters, giving you a peek at the relationship dynamics between them and what makes them interesting, and then immediately proceeding to 'and now it's time for you to kill them, because you are running an RPG dungeon for hapless adventurers to dive into.' Several groups here feel like they could be the protagonists of a shorter game in their own right. sorry I killed you guys but you know how it is.

Mechanically... not gonna get too deep into the game's overall systems at this point, but I think they did a pretty solid job of making each new story encounter an interesting challenge with something new to deal with. Once I sorted out the whole 'you don't have enough good key pages to outfit the entire library, you've gotta shuffle them around a lot or you're playing on hard mode' thing, nothing has felt ridiculously hard when I first unlocked it, but very few fights have felt all that easy either. (The 'nothing has felt ridiculously hard' part may change soon though, because somebody thought it was a good idea to fight the Red Mist again. goddamn it Angela, I just did that last game. At least dig up the Backward Clock for me to fall back on if you're gonna pull this shit.)

I'm not gonna go into every single reception, but hitting some of the highlights...

Streetlight: Probably the first group I felt really bad about murdering? Sorry Lulu. (Okay these early ones are gonna be kind of short, lbr they have a lot less going on than later stuff.)

Zwei: Whoops felt bad again. This time it was ameliorated by getting Walter's key page and going 'wait you're gonna just... let me do that? Is this actually okay?'

Carnival: is the point that made me stop and go 'oh man these devs know how to do some weird transhumanism stuff,' and that basically doesn't let up for the rest of the game. On the other hand this is also the point where I kinda sighed and started finding all the endless industrial uses for dead humans a bit on-the-nose.

Dawn: well I can see no way that killing these guys could go poorly, not like one of them will have a days/weeks-long breakdown and turn into a swarm of flaming cherubs that kill tens of thousands of people or something haha. Yuna deserved more/cooler mechanics. Solo Fixer who carries her gear around in a guitar case or something and shows up like 'hey I just beat up some crazy stuff by myself.' make Yuna cooler you cowards.

Gaze: Gaze Office is cool as hell. I love them. Love their fucking C memory management joke names. (Which are apparently also Korean puns or something.) Love their weird rainbow camera heads. Too bad that they're kinda mechanically trash. They were one of the easiest fights for me, and I've never found much use for... anything they do, really.

Kurokumo: thus begins the era of Slashing Builds. this era has not yet actually ended for me.

Bremen: I actually felt a bit bad for these guys too. I mean sure they're murderers but they seem so earnest about it, and they did get their heads messed with by supernatural forces. But also why didn't you losers give me blunt power abilities. You should really take after Sayo more. I'm sure she's a fine role model.

Love Town: [banging pots and pans together] LOVE TOWN LOVE TOWN LOVE TOWN. listen the entire story here is so absurdly horrible and over the top that it's almost funny, but I feel like if you're gonna get invested in these games you've gotta be capable of looking at 'so they all spent millennia locked in a train and unable to die until the few who still retained some of their sanity sewed their bodies together into Flesh Amalgam Creatures to fight off their zombified comrades' and pumping your fist instead of pointing out that that all seems like a bit much. Tomerry was an interesting fight but at the same time, never wanna do that again. Some of my well-meaning friends warned me to gird my stomach for this section, unaware of just how much body horror media I've consumed over the years.

Sweepers: On one hand? I kinda came out of this liking the Sweepers themselves, despite everything. Aw, they're just a big happy family, makin' their way in the world. just, Their Way just happens to involve a lot of meathooks and, uh, liquefying people to make special goo or something? On the other hand fuck this fight. Even now that I've beaten it several times, I still hate it. This begins the pattern of 'nothing that is happening here, mechanically, is moral or just.'

Shi: okay look I don't have much to say about Shi itself. this is a basically-unrelated sidebar. You know how Yujin's key page gives you that broken speed die? I am cursed so that every single big attack targets it, and always with a really high speed so I can't intercept. A boss has some once-per-fight attack that's like '8-21 damage, on hit: stagger the target, apply 5 Fragile next round'? it's gonna target Yujin's broken die, with a speed of like 6-7, every single time. My friends assure me that this isn't intentional and I'm just very unlucky, but I'm this close to retiring the page and ripping the good parts off to use elsewhere. I've seriously lost four or five big fights over Yujin suddenly getting ripped in half three rounds in, or getting smacked with a 'if this hits anybody you automatically lose the fight' attack, with no ability to defend.

8 o'clock Circus: fuck this fight. Oswald isn't in it, but I appreciate his whole deal though. Like, he's not a good guy. I'm not even sure I like him. But it takes some skill to be an interesting fucked up clown in 2023, and he manages it.

Smiling Faces: I love how even after you read their books, there's no real explanation of what their deal is. at this point the game's just like 'look, they're weird old folks who chop people up or something and like to take fat bong rips, you can probably name a dozen explanations for all of this at this point.' The fight itself is an absolute pain thanks to Deep Drag, but your reward is... being able to hit enemies with Deep Drag. I don't like smoke builds as much as most people, it seems, but I'll concede that when they do work they're great. And, I mean, I still put a smoker on most teams up until fairly recently.

Crying Children: sometimes a fight is just too fucking long. I'm sorry Phil "the big sad baby" McFixer, but if you want me to get invested in your personal character arc you've gotta limit your boss fight to like five phases tops. (Angela is exempt from this of course.)

WARP Crew: see the Love Town bullet above, but also I felt pretty bad about killing these guys too. Sorry Lesti. Also I find it very funny that part of the reason behind the VIP seats is to make sure that anybody with really expensive combat augs is not waiting for them inside the train after spending about two millennia losing their goddamn mind.

Blue Reverb/Church of Gears: I really expected this fight to be harder but let's be real I haven't seen the last of this asshole.

Cane: I'm just here for Nemo, babey.

R Corp: hhhhh. For one thing, this fight is a fucking slog, and it opens up with possibly the hardest act of its three. For another, you're gonna make me kill Myo? Really? On the upside: Rabbit-based titles for everyone. I haven't beaten this reception yet since I only tried it once so far and went in unprepared for some of the tomfoolery, but I still got within about two hits of winning, so I'm confident I'll get it next time.

Night Awls/Udjat/Kim/Dong-hwan: yesssss give me your stuff. I could've gone without having to fight the Udjat though.

[roobylavender]

hello!! :3

you’ve said how much you really dislike the bruce wayne portrayed nowadays in comics and just in general, cold and unfeeling, but what are your thoughts on how tim drake is shown in fandom (specifically fics?) and could you summarize him in a ‘few’ words(or more👀)? because going back and forth between comics and fic, there seems to be some sort of extreme contrast going on😭

how i feel about tim, in more than a few words (copy pasted from some other asks lol i hope that's okay!):

tim is someone who should never become batman. tim enters the scene when bruce is arguably at his worst: in the wake of jason's death. he emerges out of a lonely childhood where his time was spent following the adventures of batman and robin, so he grows up understanding and aspiring to the ideal. he feels the weight of the symbol and what it means for this city. he knows what has to happen when the symbol's foundations threaten to crumble. he has to find robin. he has to bring batman and robin back together. he has to preserve the ideal. and although dick refuses to return to his childhood mantle, tim somehow ends up in the dead robin's shoes instead, not only trying to preserve the ideal he believes to be so important, but also trying not to be stifled under the weight of jason's death. he more or less begins to operate on autopilot. he lives and breathes robin. he does whatever he believes it is that he has to do to keep the machine running, bc without the machine, gotham dies, and gotham can't die. tim is an amalgamation of bruce's worst autopilot tendencies and coping mechanisms. he's a ticking time bomb waiting to happen, and he's only sixteen years old, and it's brutal

what i love about tim so much despite his solo run being one of the worst reading experiences of my life is he's so obv a teenager. like that sounds stupid but i love seeing him have really warped idealistic notions that are sort of beaten into the ground and him getting angry and him being bad with relationships like he's a Disaster and obv so much of dixon's fixation on straight white males living in suburbia contributes to making him feel not all that unique as a character but i somehow still manage to find him endearing bc it feels like a realistic reaction to being in that position and being that age. with dick's era his robin tenure was a bit idealized and then with jason it was so short but tim gets the full display and trivial repercussions of the circumstances and for all of my qualms with dixon i do think it's an interesting exploration into how this isn't an ideal field for a teenager and navigating it is actually difficult and incredibly debilitating despite all of your hopes and dreams for it to be something meaningful

what makes me love him as a character the most though is definitely young justice bc it grounds and humbles him in a way new teen titans fails to with dick. dick is very much an intimidating force within the titans and even if he loves all of them deeply like family they'll rarely stand up to him or believe themselves to be as capable as him bc of how the narrative is written. but i love that young justice allows the other members of the team to regularly push back and stand on equal footing with tim and that it molds him into a good leader and friend even if there are drawbacks in the sense that losing people he loves near irreparably devastates him bc he grounds his entire world in his friends. tim is bossy and at times obv very arrogant but none of the members really bothers to take his bullshit and gives as much as they get from him in the first place even if they have a certain respect for him, and that's very refreshing to read

wrt fanon i feel like i'm lucky in that i haven't really come across much of it so i don't have a concrete idea of what it's actually like. tim is oddly enough the robin whose writing i have the least amount of problems with bc up until the point where i stopped engaging with batman canon i was pretty much satisfied with how he was written: an idealistic teenager steadily being driven into developing a more realistic picture of the work that he does and maybe teetering on the line between that realism and cynicism but ultimately being kept from falling into darkness bc he has his best friends to ground him. i haven't much looked into fics with him bc idk what else i really want to see done with him as an individual (well. aside from him foraying into crime journalism as a civilian career but that's pretty hard to find using standard fic site filters). i know the general gist of what happens to him in the wake of jack, kon, stephanie, and bruce dying and i think it is fairly realistic for him to descend into a level of neuroticism and paranoia that is more or less a desperate attempt to keep intact the remaining threads of his hope and belief in heroism before he falls into utter despair, but at the same time, idk if i actually want that for him. like you said it kinda falls into the same caveats as bruce where we see canon and fanon writers start to explore and invest in misery to the point that it no longer holds actual meaning and is there simply for the sake of being there like a kind of exploitative genre porn, bc they're more interested in the idea of tim being this beaten down baby bird who will never be happy than the idea of him being confronted with the pitfalls of vigilantism and choosing to hold onto hope anyway

ig that's why for all of my problems with the way his romantic relationship with stephanie is written, i still want their relationship to remain an important part of his life, at least as like best friends or something. i want him to always be surrounded by people who may not necessarily know how to blot out his growing cynicism entirely but nonetheless still inspire him towards seeing the merits of continuing to do good. and maintaining those relationships with not just stephanie but with jack and young justice and bruce is critical to that. rather than killing them off and throwing him haphazardly into this dark black hole i want them to be there as the tethers he holds onto so that he can still believe in something and remember that his civilian life is as much worth keeping as is his vigilante one. so ig from what i have heard of the horrors of tim fanon, that might be what separates me from it. i really want him to realize that he doesn't have to carry these ridiculously life-sized burdens on his shoulders as a teenager but that he's also allowed to express a little negativity bc i mean, who in his position wouldn't. the novelty of tim as a character is that he grows up utterly normal. and i feel like that's where the novelty should stick, that he should believe in heroism, sure, but that he should know he doesn't have to lose his entire life to it and that there are other ways to help that will also alleviate the growing cynicism he experiences wrt the world. yj in general is such a good exploration of the members of the team recognizing that vigilantism is what binds their group of friends together but at the same time is never the end-all, be-all of their lives, nor should it be. and it's a shame that the series got cut off so short bc exploring that mindset within their generation would have been very cool had they actually been allowed to move forward as something more than just plot devices for a geobard jawnes run

[kingofthefayz]

so i have this gone au where it’s the same* but it’s happening in the magnus archives universe (or like an alternate tma universe/wherever the fears went after the season finale) which i’ve been wanting to write for a while but haven’t got round to it so i’ll tell you all a little about it, here we go:

(*note: not exactly the same)

first things first, the fayz happens in a town in england rather than california, so it can fit in somewhat with tma canon and also because it’s easier to write for me.

the gaiaphage is some kind of unholy amalgamation of multiple fears (including the buried, the dark, the web, the flesh, the eye, the spiral, and the corruption) because after thinking about it i came to the conclusion that it cannot fit just one.

mutations are a result of the fears attempting to claim the kids as avatars, and the fears essentially helped create the fayz as some kind of twisted experiment. think of it kind of like the fearpocalypse but condensed into a bubble with a 20-mile diameter.

sam temple has been claimed by the desolation, which granted him his laser light abilities, as well as the ‘sammy suns’ to try to keep the dark from taking him (considering he was scared of the dark). he is not initially aware of this and feels a lot of guilt about the power he feels whenever he accidentally hurts someone with his abilities.

caine soren is a willing avatar of the vast, fitting both his telekinesis power and massive ego, which he joined as a desparate attempt to get away from the lonely. it sort of worked, but not completely. the gaiaphage is able to torment him with buried influences.

diana ladris is an unwilling avatar of the web. she is aware of the fact that she can manipulate to a greater extent than others, but does it solely for self-preservation and resists using it to hurt people. her ‘power reading’ ability is a link to the eye, but isn’t always accurate and instead becomes a way for her entity to present itself.

astrid ellison is not an avatar, but has links to the eye from her little brother. she has tried to investigate in the past, but stopped once it started to put her family in danger.

pretty much every mutant in the fayz is an avatar or servant to one of the entities, whether they know it or not. these include: brianna (the hunt), dekka (the vast), brittney (the end), penny (the spiral), and orsay (the eye). non-mutants are also typically influenced by an entity, but more often as a victim rather than a servant.

drake merwin has ties to multiple entities, including the slaughter and the desolation. he gained ties to the flesh after the gaiaphage gave him his whip arm, and the end as a result of fusing with brittney.

charles ‘orc’ merriman gained ties to the buried when he was attacked by coyotes, and the entity restored his body with gravel.

lana arwen lazar is an unknowing avatar of the flesh with an oddly benevolent ability to heal. when she is forced to meet the gaiaphage she gains ties to the eye, which the gaiaphage uses to enter her mind and try to manipulate. however it also means she has the most knowledge of the gaiaphage due to these ties.

the plan i had for writing this into a fic would essentially be a re-write of the gone series but fitting it into this universe instead. some events would play out differently, some character motivations may be different, investigation of the gaiaphage (inside the fayz) and the barrier (outside the fayz) would differ as well, and if i were to write this, by the time i get to the later books it may have strayed quite far from gone canon anyway. i even had a little idea to fit it into tma canon itself (only early season though) through glimpses of investigations outside the fayz and statements given by victims/family of victims.

i may be taking some creative liberties with how much it actually fits with the tmaverse but this is what i had in mind. not sure if i’d ever actually write it but it would certainly be an interesting idea.

[hawkinsschoolcounselor]

Okay. So I have a tough question. Considering you have a degree in Psychology. I wanted to ask you.

After everything our characters in ST went through and what they are still going through especially characters like Will, Mike and El. We are in the 80's where growing as a teenager must've been extremely diffucult (though one might say that every generation has a tough time growing up.). We are in a coming of age story very much centered around children and teenagers and whose audience is, for the most part, teenagers or young adults.

I really didn't know how to talk about it as this subject is a very sensitive one and I preferred to chose someone who is, to my knowledge, the most qualified in that field. Sorry if it adds a pressure on you, I really don't want you to have that but I wanted to take it safe as I know it is a difficult subject.

I have wanted the show to go back to it's more mature and raw elements.

Do you think there is a possibilty that Stranger Things might, in season 4 or later, explore the subject of suicide or suicidal tendencies ?

I am sorry, I know it is a tough question but since Stranger Things each season is touching more difficult themes each time. I'd figured that at some point a show like Stranger Things will have to talk about it. Of course it doesn't have to but it's the most logical thing for me. (Also Gaten in an interview said that the characters will deal with more mature subjects.) Especially since a lot of characters do a lot of self-sacrificing actions but it's never really touched upon except maybe Hopper and Billy.

Warning: This post contains discussion of suicide. This is a deep topic, but one worth discussing. I won't pretend to be some all-knowing expert on the topic of suicide, but, as a school counselor, it is something I have to be ready for. I am trained to spot the warning signs and to screen for the need for intervention. I've also personally grappled with this myself. I went through a period where I honestly felt like it was the only thing I could do.

I wish to start by speaking plainly and directly. If you have ever felt like you may wish to take your own life, or know someone who does, please get any available help.

Dealing with a topic like suicide on TV is an extremely delicate undertaking. It's noble to want to address a very real problem, but the last thing that needs to be done is for it to be romanticized. At the same time, it also can't be demonized. Real people grapple with this. It's a real danger to show heartfelt mourning after a suicide, as someone grappling with it may see it as a reason to go ahead with it. "Look how much people will miss me!" At the same time, treating it like some cardinal sin will only make people less likely to share suicidal thoughts with those who may be able to help.

I've written before that Will may consider suicide during the course of Stranger Things, so that’s who I will use for this hypothetical. It could just as easily be another character. The question is how can a fantastical sci-fi show like Stranger Things handle such a real life issue in an appropriate fashion?

I do feel like the show has so far done a very good job working reality into this sort of fantasy story. I can see it working out so long as they are careful to avoid either romanticizing or condemning it.

In my conceptualization, it will be a result of him discovering that he unknowingly created the Upside Down. Will would essentially blame himself for everything that has happened. To him, suicide would be the way to stop it all.

In real life, suicide has been found to have some common elements. I won’t go into an exhaustive list, but these commonalities include enduring psychological pain, looking for a solution to a problem (the solution being suicide), a desire to cease consciousness, and a sense of hopelessness or despair. Essentially, a psychologically tortured individual seeks a solution to their problems, and, since it seems so utterly hopeless, they decide that ending their life is the best solution. Granted, it gets a bit nuanced, but this is what it looks like from a general perspective. In most cases, it’s something an individual has put some thought into. Those thoughts are distorted, though, as an individual will almost tunnel visioned to the point that alternate solutions aren’t even considered, and it becomes more of a necessity than a desire to follow through with it.

In Stranger Things, it’s possible to map these same elements to the story being told. Many fans, such as myself, already see Stranger Things as using the sci-fi and horror elements of the show to illustrate psychological trauma. The threat of the Upside Down has steadily become more insidious and pervasive, growing from a solitary monster threatening the real world, to a possessed child commanding an army of monsters, to many townspeople being used as murderous puppets and parts of a grotesque amalgamation. It’s slowly taking over Hawkins, only ever being temporarily subdued until some new trauma brings it back worse than before. Suppressed trauma is manifesting as a consuming darkness (the Upside Down), which can be seen as a metaphor for depression. Imagine Will finding out it’s all connected to him, a result of him subconsciously trying to bottle up his trauma.

He already has the psychological pain, as it is (in my conceptualization) what’s manifesting all the supernatural horrors his family and friends have to deal with year and year. He’ll want a solution to it, and, in his moment of despair, will think that the only solution is to stop it at the source. Too many people have already died, and he’ll blame himself for all of them. He’ll decide that he needs to die in order to make it all go away. It’s not so much a desire as it is a necessity.

Now, I don’t think they’ll actually kill Will off. That would be an incredibly depressing ending, and it would more or less affirm that suicide is the only answer. I think he may attempt it, and it would take the love of his family and friends, as it always does, to save him. Ultimately, though, I feel it would be far more effective to use the narrative to show Will facing, accepting, and overcoming his past trauma. In doing so, Will would be able to end the threat of the Upside Down by making peace with it, with the help of his loved ones and professional treatment. 

In short, Will might see suicide as the only viable solution to an overwhelming darkness that just keeps getting worse. In the end, though, he’d be able to confront and make peace with that darkness, instead. How the Duffers would go about showing that is a better question for experienced writers.

I must have written and re-written this answer ten times. I’m still not overly thrilled with it, but I can’t keep stressing it. I hope it meets your expectations. This has been a touchy topic, and I tried to treat it with the seriousness it deserves. I hope the care I put into writing it comes across to those who read it.

If anyone out there reading this is currently facing their own darkness, please don’t try to bottle it up or take it on alone. It has a way of making you think you don’t have options, but you do. You just sometimes need other people to remind you of it and help you shine a light again.

[akampana]

im the anon who asked for obscure artoria ships - tysm for answering! i knew you liked kojiro/artoria from early tpof, but ozymandias/artoria was unexpected! ozytoria sounds interesting from the way you describe it - ive always sort of seen it as an almost-giltoria dynamic minus the hostility and antagonism. i think that modern au idea sounds incredibly sweet 😭 honestly i like the idea of them but there is virtually no fancontent OR canon content of them (besides that one lartoria comment in ozy's interlude?) so its a half-built ship for me as of now. and yes, please talk about kojiro/artoria for the ship game! i'd love to see more of your thoughts on them. on nobu/artoria - YES nobu is incredibly beautiful its crazyyy. i got into shipping them because of mastoria/nobu in koha-ace, interactions in fgo and a user's thoughts on them here on tumblr (you can find them if you search up nobutoria).

Hi, @glowingarchive! good to see you in the inbox. :)

Oh, no way, really? Thought I was being subtle with Kojirou apparently not XD. And your thoughts on Ozy and Arturia, I totally agree. If you want, I made art for them a while ago, but didn't end up posting it.

*cracks knuckles* Alright, let's go.

Kojirou Sasaki X Arturia Pendragon - SHIP IT

What made you ship it?

This is gonna sound strange, but do hear me out.

My love for this ship evolved from the first time it caught my attention, but to be completely honest it all started with another ship: Diarturia.

After re-watching and re-reading FZ, FSN, and UBW, something kept coming up for me. We all know FZ is an incredible prequel sequel, created with stunning precision to fit the already existing narrative, which is why, even when consuming the series as a whole based on the timeline of events, Arturia's character still makes sense.

Their expert craftmanship made the fact that the 5th HGW is Saber's second attempt a lot clearer. Why? because it brings to the table a theme that was already there and yet not too fleshed out:

Deja vu. Or, in Saber's case, a double deja vu.

For example, this line:

Before Zero, it only means 'oh cool so she's fought spearmen before.' but after Zero, you finally know exactly who she's talking about.

But why do I say it's a double deja vu for her?

Let's begin with the obvious one. The parallels between Cú and Diarmuid are pretty clear. Like you just know Zero Lancer's character was patterned after the existing Lancer, but given another purpose. There are gifsets all over Tumblr that illustrate their similarity too.

BUT Cú and Arturia (ooh it kills me to say this) only just fall short of the borderline flirtatious "I wanna have a glorious fight to the death with you because you're worthy" energy. Furthermore, they meet only briefly.

So where did they get that?

Kojirou bloody Sasaki

More below the cut.

It's parallel time. (there are a few more but hnggg tumblr limits)

THEY PROTECC. THEY ATTAC. BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY THEY WANNA FIGHT HER BACK.

No, but seriously. I don't think this is a coincidence. Diarmuid must have been some sort of amalgamation of Kojirou and Cú, the best of both. And that is also why the previous deja vu point hits harder.

Honestly, when that realization came, I was totally not expecting it. I was supposed to be looking for Diarturia crumbs and instead I found myself another whole-ass cookie. And one that unjustly has barely anything in the fandom, even if we have more straightforward lines like this:

Which is, by the way, one of the answers to the next question.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

So, now that you know how I got into shipping this, unorthodox as it seems, I think it's time to move past the parallels and into more solid ground.

Unlike other relationships that are more ambiguous and rely on potential, Kojirou's attraction to her is so in your face, it's refreshing.

Their banter is *chef's kiss*

It's only overshadowed because he so quickly became a gag servant, and ofc because the focus of the anime was Shirou. (Why did they do him like that though, he's actually so cool??? I mean, did Saber truly even beat him?? like???)

Saber comments on his skill with the sword, going so far as to say he outclasses him in swordsmanship. bruh, you can't take that lightly

They both see each other as worthy opponents. She literally tells him he's worthy of her full attention.

Kojirou sees her as the fulfillment of his wish, and Saber bloody actually gets to grant him the fight of his 'life' (FSN and UBW, not HF ;n;) when she couldn't do the same for a certain former rival. She even promises their fight's resolution because it is so important to her to see it through (UBW).

Kojirou really wants that fight, and fairly, without interruption. Which is why in FSN he goes as far as to stop the fight before Rider can spy on Saber's sword. And then later on, literally tells Shirou and Rin he doesn't give a shit about them, he just wants to fight Saber.

When he calls her out on holding back, especially since they're both running out of time, she apologizes and reveals Excalibur so they can fully face each other at full strength. UGH THE CHEMISTRY HGNGNGNGNGN. Also, since he knows this is their last fight, he's giving off "look at me, focus on me, don't think about anything else" vibes.

Also, man, Kojirou Sasaki really be out here serving up blatant eye smex every time they share the screen I swear to god.

Like let me give you a line from UBW 23, 19:08, right after Assassin notices she's damaged his katana

Arturia: Our positions...Assassin...are you... (that's what the subs say but Saber says "kisama" so I read it as "you bastard")

Kojirou, smirking: Is it wise to pull your blows? In this position, I could send you flying.

*Kojirou steps forward pressuring their locked swords and causing her to shuffle back a bit*

Arturia: Is that why you deliberately entered my range?

Look, Sasaki, we all see what you're doing, ya ain't slick.

Taken out of context and heck even *in* context that's sexual tension right there.

You better bet if he had the chance he'd be sticking that long-ass sword in-

Is there an unpopular opinion you have about your ship?

It's...baffling how unknown this ship is like...look at all that material. I mean of course it's going to be trounced in popularity by Shirou x Saber, GilArt, and Diarturia , but it should at least have accumulated enough of a following like Cuturia, for example.

Thank you for the ask! Hope you enjoyed the read as much as I enjoyed constructing this. :) feel free to share to gain more fans mwahahahahah join the dark side we have cookiessss

[hopeassassin]

Rally’s Scribbles in the Work

So after that lovely anon blew my mind away with their kind words and wonderful support, and because I keep telling you guys about my writing plans without actually giving you even a teensy little detail, I have decided to stop being coy and actually likely get your hopes up a bit by dilvulging small details and bits of plots of what is currently going on in my G-Drive. 

This will be a brief recount of what I have currently baking in the AoMomo oven, so let’s dive right into it! Please note that the numbers are in no particular order - I just keep revisiting each of these stories and writing a bit more to them whenever I feel like it. So there’s no ranking and no importance, just a number to keep proper count.

1. “Knight of Renown” Dragons and Knighthood AU, based on that one AoMomo pic with Momo ithe Knight and Dragon Aomine that I reblogged a while back and I actually let me imagination go a bit too much in the tags. I ended up actually rather enjoying the premise I set up in the tags so I actually started writing that one out!  Completion rate at about: 5%? I’d say? Less? :D 

2. AoMomo Music AU - a dearly beloved project that I am pouring a lot of love and attentioin to. That’s why it’s coming along super slow. It’s been in the making since November and I chewed it and mulled through it so thoroughly that I’ve grinded to a halt with it. Intending for there to be 2 chapters, and I am at about 25-30% of chapter 1 currently ready currently. At the pace I’m going, it might be another full year before you actually get to see this bad boy up, but when you do, I’m sure you’ll see all the care and effort that went into making it perfect. Honestly, no joke here, I am intending for this to be one of my rare masterpieces in this tag. So I’m not gonna rush it!

3. AoMomo Car Accident AU where Daiki barely manages to save Satsuki from being run over by a hit-and-run and ends up being the one run over instead. This was my first piece of writing after coming back to AoMomo last summer and yet completion rate is a sad thing. I want it to be flawless, a perfectly agonizing, thrilling type of torturous read that gives you a great sense of relief by the end of it. Needless to say, the clusterfuck of negative feelings is a bit difficult to hold onto for a prolonged period of time and the work is coming along slowly. Planned at about 5 chapters, I have 2 complete ones and the 3rd one is at about ... 30%? Hopefully before this year’s whumptober, we’ll have a finished piece!

4. AoMomo bond character study, which went in a direction I did NOT expect nor intend. It was suppsoed to be an idea that you will see also listed below. But I started this one from their early childhood and somehow, instead of focusing on the kids and their bond and their weird interactions with each other and their first moments of realizing they are of opposite genders, it turned into something much too fun to let go of and the ideas for scenes just kept piling. It’s going to be a long one, very explorative and very in-depth character study on the bond between these two and how it changed over the years, and their first encounters with their sexuality inbetween (because that was really the main idea that I started with... xDDD;;;) Currently at 1 chapter complete, chapter 2 somewhere around 50-60% completion, and at least 6-7 chapters to come after that, soooo.... :’DDDD YEAH. THIS ONE AIN’T SEEING THE LIGHT OF DAY ANYTIME SOON.

5. AoMomo deciding to practice stuff on each other, because I am a sucker for this trope.THIS will be what the idea under previous number 4 was SUPPOSED to be like, but it instead spun out of control. So this one, under number 5, is going to be the smutty, idiots bumbling through physicality to discover that they actually have serious feelings for each other kind of piece. Chapters are planned at about at least 6-7 or so, but not my usual monstrocities! :D First we start with practice kissing, and we move our way up from there! 

6. “The Evil of Humanity” AU - a dystopian futuristic kinda mecha AU, sort of an amalgamation of some of my favourite anime in the genre - a bit of NGE, a bit of Gurren-Lagann, a lot of Darling in the Franxx rewrite and improvement, in distinctly AoMomo colors. I poured a lot of thought and love into initial outline of main moments for this one, and I really hope to make it an epic, thrilling action/adventure with a big dash of romance kind of read! Chapters currently not even planned properly, because I need to sit down and consider this seriously. It will definitely be more than 10-15 though, and they will be my usual chapter lengths so.... likely no time soon. :D 

7. Aomine Fanclub - I got a plot bunny some time ago and I shared it here and my friends were spurring me on with it, so I started trying it out a little more. I’ve written out like... maybe 30% of this one as well, but need to re-read and reconceptualize to get it back on track. The issue with this one is that I’m not really sure where I want to take it, thus it’s on the back burner at the moment.

8. KagaKuro AoMomo double-date kind of story, where Aomine is asking some curious questions of Taiga about going to America and pondering if any of his immediate friends know what Satsuki wants to do with her life. I’m really invested in this one but haven’t started properly writing it out yet beyond just sketching out the idea so I don’t forget it. (I’d say 1% complete here.) Really looking forward to using the idea of Kagami being super impressed with AoMomo perfect sync when playing as a team in arcade games!

9.Laws of Attraction Chapter 2 - You might be surprised at this, but I’m actually super invested in this one. Likely the reason why I am delaying so much working on it - I feel like all my great scene ideas are just too chaotic and I have a hard time starting the chapter flowing properly. I had like 4-5 false starts already and I’m feeling a bit skittish with picking it up. But I have such AMAZING concepts on where to take it after it revvs up the engine, so... Maybe sometime this year! Completion rate: 0% written, but at least about 30% ideas built up for the installment!

10. AoMomo college rooming together story - sort of an expansion on my fill for one of the prompts way back those years ago in AoMomo week. I really dig the concept and the trope of sharing spaces with someone you consider nothing more than a friend and then gradually learning to appreciate each other for something so much more. I am definitely doing this one some day, but not anytime soon, likely.

11. A random idea bit me the other day (read: a month ago) and I actually wrote out like... maybe 25% of it already as well. A random comment from Wakamatsu miffs Satsuki but then she realizes why he’s asking dumb questions and she comes to realize that something is wrong with the equation: either Dai-chan likes someone really close to them and she hasn’t realized, which is unlikely, or Dai-chan likes HER and is super blase about it in a way that betrays his feelings not at all, which is even more unlikely. Being a curious  individual, she sets out to find which it is! Some hilarity should ensue but mostly just some mess-with-Dai-chan fun!

12. Touou summer training camp at the sea - progress is practically 0, I wanted to write a summery piece and set my mind on this, but nothing beyond has come to me, so I’m not forcing it.

13. AoMomo cultural festival fic in second year of high school (meaning something approx end of Oct -> beginning of Nov.) with Daiki being in a distinctly Haruhu Suzumiya role at that festival (has anyone even seen this anime? I adored that episode to freaking bits, man, it’s engraved upon my soul) and singing Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell” and one more song just like Haruhi did. And Satsuki just beholding the phenomenon he becomes in no time flat while he lays bare his passion for life for all the student body to see. Shippiness will happen in private afterwards!

14. You Can Leave Your Hat On Chapter 2 - Probably like 2-3 years ago while I was still in the damn woodwork and wrestling with real life and adulting being crap, I remembered this AU premise and I got super hyped on the idea of Club Owner Dai-chan being a flirt with innocent Satsuki who got dragged to his joined and fell in love at first sight with his shenanigans. I’ve already played around for like 7k words with the second chapter of this but I’m still not where I want to be at, so it will take a while longer to flesh it out.

15. Idol Worship - a story that I promised my mate aricana some 6 years ago the premise for which I am super hyped for but not quite engaging with it yet. The idea was that Momoi finally starts gettiing the dates she has been pesting Kuroko for for years, and Daiki feeling terrible about beholding that, whilst Kise is being pestered by Horikita Mai for a date and instead ditches her with Daiki because he knows his former Teikou classmate is a huge fan of her. Mai-chan isn’t particularly happy but somehow ends up enjoying her time with Daiki and starts considering actually pursuing him instead of Kise when she sees what an interesting soul he is, with the torch that he’s carrying for some girl in his life he doesn’t really talk about but is evident from the little things he drops off as hits. AoMomo shenanigans will start to ensue properly when Satsuki realizes that Daiki is actually having a close female friend who is not her but is Horikita Mai instead, Dai-chan’s perfect woman, practically. She doesn’t take well to the news and has to grapple with why that is! And what to do with these newfound frustrating emotions!

16. Obstruction of Justice Chapter 3 - MAYBE SOME DAY, I WILL GET TO WRITING THIS. Last summer I inteded to do just that but instead, Wild Side of Justice was born. And it became a spin off of sorts on its own. ORZ. I WILL FINISH THIS SOME DAY, I do have some plans for it and I do have the desire to pursue them. I just need to be in the right headspace for it ahsjkfhkjaf

17. A PWP story of Kagami arriving early for a practice match at Touou and somehow walking in on AoMomo getting busy with each other in very unexpected and explicit ways that Kagami did not see headed his way. Because, we need more PWP in this fandom, honestly.

18. And since we DO need more PWP, recently when checking the 30 lemons community on LJ (shut up, I’m not ancient, YOU’RE ANCIENT) I was wondering how exactly a smut plot around the “Taken by the Faceless Stranger” could work for Aomomo and I came up with this Masquerade ball that they end up both attending because of their friends and meeting each other and hitting off fantastically just chatting the night and then banging in a niche in the long castle-like premise of the ball. :’DDDD Cuz it’s me and if I don’t have something like that in the works, you know i’m likely sick.

ALL OF THESE I am planning on eventually finishing one day. ONE DAY!

For now they are in various states of completion and in various stages of being cared for and improved on with more ideas added and fleshed out.

I am not joking when I say I am very invested in this fandom. I just have difficulty getting to writing out these ideas when I spend like 60% of my free time playing my mobile games. :D 

So there you have it. I didn’t want to say anything about these because 1) I don’t want to get your hopes up. You Can Leave Your Hat On 2, for one, has been in the making for 3 years, very on-again-off-again kind of way, and I just... can’t do that to you guys. I have decided against posting any incomplete fics so I don’t torture you guys and my muse doesn’t abandom me forever for them. So when something is complete, it gets posted promptly for your viewing pleasure!

And 2) If I divulge too much of the story, I feel like my hype of it may disappear completely. Ehh, my muse is a willful creature, what can I tell you... 

So let’s hope at least SOME of these get to see the light of day soon!

[bobbimorses]

I saw you mentioning that Clint's personality/portrayal in more recent works has been done poorly. What sort of things do you want to see acknowledged/come back in the modern Hawkeye portrayal?

ok, i’m gonna refrain from embedding panels since this will be so long. skip to the bold for what i’d like acknowledged again because i first try to analyze what recent misinterpretations stem from before getting to your point. whoops!

currently, people seem to overwhelmingly portray clint in only these terms: coffee, catchphrases, and clueless. now that’s not to say that the man doesn’t drink coffee, or that he’s an omniscient super-genius, but that people have taken traits from one portrayal they recognize and run so far with it that it seems like that’s all he is.

i think this is because a lot of people have either misinterpreted the circumstances at play in fraction’s hawkeye, or only know of clint from fanon or decontextualized panels from that run and subsequent appearances

here’s what was happening in fraction’s hawkeye: clint was in a state of depression. fraction’s run took a lot of inspiration from hawkeye’s first solo series (v1), by gruenwald, where clint’s also shown in a rut. in both runs, his depression partially stemmed from his lack of belief/confidence in himself. in v1, it’s a betrayal that makes him doubt he’s worthy of being loved. in fraction’s hawkeye (v4), it’s the amalgamation of all the beatings he’s recently taken in the avengers that makes him doubt he’s worthy of being an avenger.

v4 immediately follows from clint being burned to an absolute crisp (then healed...but not instantly) in a big event, avengers vs. x-men, while facing the phoenix-possessed x-men, aka god-like powered beings. issue 1 of v4 opens with clint being completely wrecked in a fall while avengering. he’d also been killed and thrown around a lot of other major marvel events in a short time prior to all this. basically, he’s been painfully reminded of just how human he is among a bunch of gods and super soldiers. he can handle the pain, but he can’t handle that all the breaks and burns are reminders of his fragility, his humanness; how was he unable to stop them from happening? he starts to question his place in the avengers.

so what you see in fraction’s hawkeye? the moping, the mess of an apartment, the subsistence on pizza, coffee, beer and cereal, long periods of just being on the couch and wanting to nap, the occasional apathy and bewilderment at things happening around him? that’s depression. clint’s not on his A-game, he’s at a low point. unfortunately, a side-effect of v4′s popularity (it’s a well-made comic!) is a lot of people only know this side of clint; they don’t have the image of clint on a good day to “compare” against, and think “this is it.” but that’s not it; i think v4 is meant to show that even the most heroic can slip into apathy when sinking into depression. v4 is about clint finally accepting help from his friends, his neighbors, overcoming his indifference, and believing that not only is he the one that has to stop the villains, but that he can and will. because he’s hawkeye.

now onto what’s lacking in portrayals that misinterpret/represent clint:

jumping off from that doubt in his capabilities, clint has previously been shown to suffer from insecurities. his outwardly overconfident attitude was, in his beginnings, a mask for his low self-esteem and total self-reliance. of course he knew he was the earth’s greatest marksman, but was this enough to take on all these world-ending threats? eventually, after proving himself time and time again, he shed a lot of these insecurities. his confidence was more than earned. his cockiness also threw enemies for a loop: “look at this dude with a bow saying he’s gonna annihilate us. as if he-OH NO.”

now, he’s being portrayed in an inversion of that same strategy: he’s written as getting enemies to underestimate him by acting dumb, bumbling, a klutz. the problem with writing this as clint’s consistent strategy instead of an occasional usage is uninformed readers, or decontextualization, will have people thinking he’s actually like that. that’s why i miss clint being brash and overly-boastful to throw enemies off. he’s already “just a guy with a bow,” why does he need an extra layer of feigned incompetence if everyone already sees him as that guy?

he does have that lingering thought of “am i really good enough to be an avenger?” but he responds to it by trying to be even better, and that drive is what makes him excel, one of the best, worthy of the rank. that drive should always be present. it also makes him kind of competitive (though that’s also just for fun)

snark & attitude: clint’s also always been snarky. i wouldn’t say he’s at the level of spider-man in terms of constant quipping, but when clint and pete have fought together, they’ve given each other a run for their money. clint’s humor also has a sort of lovable jerk quality to it at times, because he’s very light-hearted about it. he’s got a certain levity about him, because you have to when you’re aiming an arrow at a dude made of steel. i’ve seen this quality slowly return to the comics, i think. on that same note, his belligerence with authority, though obviously now more mellowed, can come in little doses like questioning aspects of a plan/order. clint is a confrontation magnet and can be a real loudmouth, even if he’s fiercely loyal to his team.

street smarts! clint has always been clever and had out-of-the-box thinking because he had to scrap by in an orphanage, then a travelling circus (and have you ever played a carnival game?). he’s used his smarts to gather intel, infiltrate (break into) places, trick people, and defeat many a villain. and he’s not above cheating to do it. he literally defeated an elder of the universe, saving the entire defeated roster of the avengers and the universe, by pulling an old carny trick.

trickshots: the first elder of the universe he defeated was with a combination of his cleverness and a trickshot. i want more trickshots again! ricocheting shots, shots where he’s had to determine all the involved angles almost instantaneously in his head, just ridiculously pulled off shots from a distance or at difficult targets all really demonstrate clint’s skill. he didn’t and doesn’t do all that training to not be the best archer. speaking of...

training: clint regularly trains to maintain and hone his skills daily. this isn’t really an issue with current comics writing per se but some people seem to think he just sits around all day (and not just for a vacation). literally his whole shtick is training a skill so much that he’s on par with superhumans. c’mon, guys. relatedly, he’s also skilled in combat because he trained with cap (ronin skills!)

acrobatics: clint spent his adolescence in a circus and was always trying to get in the show, so you know he brushed up on acrobatics. clint and cap even did some gymnastics training in the early days. i want more flips that clint didn’t necessarily have any business doing when he could’ve just leapt around with much less flare, like the typical showman he is (tales of suspense did have this)

accent: this one’s more nitpicky, but i’d maybe like a return of a little bit of a lilt on his dialogue again. i know marvel phased out overly-phoneticized accents, but clint, orphaned carny that he is, always had a casual way of speaking, and i enjoyed how that was reflected in his written dialogue. dropped g’s in gerunds, d’s in and, shortened word combos, etc. it doesn’t have to be over the top, just touches where needed. this is a thing that was kind of present in fraction’s hawkeye, actually.

leadership: though it’s not like marvel denies clint ever led multiple teams (editorial wouldn’t let that happen), lately he’s sometimes written as if he doesn’t have this experience to draw from, and sometimes not. it’s a bit inconsistent. this isn’t to say clint has to be the leader at all times, he works well in a team in any capacity--just don’t shrug off the development and coordinating abilities he gained from his leadership

disaster?: i don’t fault situations where clint's going about the motions and suddenly everything around him is a disaster because when isn’t it with clint’s luck, dude once got cornered by like 10 supervillains in a sewer. and the man can make some bad decisions. but just remember how he’d respond to a disaster: thinking up a plan (or trying to on the fly), using all the resources at his disposal to conquer the problem, maybe insulting 5 people in the process, trying to wink after he gets stabbed

i’m not trying to disparage some people’s interpretations of certain aspects of clint, i’m just advocating against a misunderstanding or persistent misconceptions of clint as a character. he’s a character rich in development because he’s been kicking around continuity for over 50 years now. he went from screaming at cap like a grounded teenager to being offered the shield and rejecting it out of utter respect. he’s complicated in his experiences, his relationships, and many facets of his character, though his motivations can sometimes be simple (help people, show off, prove i can be be that good by being better). to whittle hawkeye down to one note would be a disservice to clint barton’s journey and evolution.

actually, here’s a panel:

[p1nkwitch]

If I may one last director's cut: And the Nightmare Collapses? 👁️

Ask as many as you want i dont mind.

Oh my monster au, what to say? I had this in the backburner for a few months now. Originally i was going to make a series of one shots from different characters perspectives.

So first it was going to be Jon waking up from the coma and realizing that everyone were monsters but him sort of like a walking dead scenario. I had the clear picture of him seeing Georgie in her hald deaf state being like, what the fuck happened???

Now the entire idea came to mind with how pissed off i was at everyone in season four acting like Jon was the worst for no discernable reason. Like, Melanie, Basira and Georgie, all treated him in different levels rather cruely. Georgie wasnt so mean, but she was playing blind eye to the whole thing being fucked.

So Jon is the only one who remains human because he tries so hard to keep his humanity despite everything. While everyone else becomes more monstruos, Basira and Melanie in particularly were much more affected, i had a clear vision of a slaughter Mel. But had to keep it brief since Georgie wouldnt want to dwell on her becoming a monster, since now she had no way to deny it. Daisy gets a pass because while on the coffin she regains her humanity by her regret of what she became, its why her changes are minimal in the text.

The other one shots were supposed to be from Elias and Peter perspective with the last being them reuniting.

Now my original idea had no reasoning as to why they were monsters all out sudden. Its not until i realized the potential of the entities just dropping in a world similar enough where they already existed and they end up overcharging, while still carrying the vestigies of the apocalipse that i went like-

Hoy fuck.

Ultimately i am happy with the one shot the way it came out, with Elias being able to see, he was capable of tying up those little threads i wanted to make and make the reference to having an anchor. Anchors tie you to humanity, people are fundamentaly capable of good if they wish too, kindness even in the face of despair, destroys the horrors of the world.

The world wont fix itself, but you adapt and grown and try to make it better.

Now as for the story itself? I just wanted to go buck wild with the scenery of reality fracturing itself and Elias just losing it while perceiving the horrors and understanding far more than possible.

I like eldritch horror i just dont use it enough, or horror shorts in general, maybe i should put up the small ones i made in tumblr they are like a paragraph long each.

For realsies, I really like the idea of monster Elias for several reasons and i wanted to go with it. I have another different take on this verse of how things pan out too, but i will see eventually if i want to write it. There is... also the horny aspec of Peter being, as the fic implies, a monster fucker, not really he just loves Elias whatever shape he comes even if its some weird owl spider thing. If i ever feel brave enough to go thought it in an extra will shall see.

Anyways Jonah goes through life replacing people while manipulating them and toying with their sanity like he did to the ogElias in his interview. Despite being beholding, as per the soup theory, at this point he also represents the stranger, web and spiral fairly well. I have a soft soft for him losing the ability to recognize himself after a while. Because as i pointed out? He kept sort of a more or less stable life, sure, but it must be jarring having to go from one face to another, to have to pretend to be someone else, at least enough that its not glaringly obvious that something is wrong.

So he loses it. The fears overcharge and it all stacks up on him, causing his transformation to be so strong, it ends up consuming him. Not only that but he is vain too, so to be changed into something so horryifing it breaks something else in him, it gives him the idea that no one could want him now, he cant make people do as he says like this, he doesnt know himself and now no one would want to know him anyways. The more he changes the more he loses his sense of self, its not only him, he was so many people it feels weird to be just him, it doesnt fit anymore, so through the story he starts to use they until its what he mainly uses at the end, because he grows and its happy with it by the very end.

His body changes when he doubts himself, the more time it passes the more he forgets. Now the main reason he didnt become a puddle of ink and die, was because as i mentioned he thought about being alone, and it made him think of Peter, that was his last connection, the last thread to a humanity he wasnt sure he still had. When he thinks that he loves him, even if a little, its enough to let him move.

That small lifeline is what actually saved him and what kept him more or less stable for longer that he would have otherwise. Same goes to Peter whos last action before becoming one with his siblings was pick up the phone, the same though went through him, its why even if he was already at the brink of being melded he kept himself alive for longer.

Then there was the idea of copies.

Because, eyes? just the eyes?? I know it works with supernatural energy but, the doubt, the idea or posibility that Jonah Magnus actually died the moment he transplanted his eyes the first time and that Beholding merely put the copied memories of Jonah that it reatained into the new body was such a good concept, i have a special love for it, to not be sure if you are you, but ultimately chosing to live your life despite knowing that you may not be the real one.

I like to point out at the end that he does, that he is the original and that he is not a copy but... its not really proof, Jonah wants to believe it is. Wether is true or not? Thats up to anyone.

Also his monster concept, i toyed with a few options, and ended up adding it somewhat in the final product, originally he was going to be sort of an owl monster sort of mixed with a cat, no not for the joke, i saw really nice fanart of owlcats and i was in love. But as it is i went with something similar to his body in the afterlife beach party.

Instead of tar it was the ink of the letters he wrote, the static remains because he doesnt know his face anymore and he wont again. The fur... i just wanted something nice for later when Peter made his appearence, less sticky more fluffy. 8 arms like a spider, more eyes because of beholding- you get it.

Speaking of Peter!!

Here is the deal, i know or at least believe that the curruption? Is the oposite of the lonely and viceversa. Wanting to be alone vs being consumed by what you love? Perfect.

So the Lukases become amalgamations of fog trapped in a hive mind that they cant escape from. Forced to be together and then to be alone once someone manages to impose themselves like Nathaniel did. Peter could have theorically left his siblings become him, after Elias saw them, but in this, the closenes they shared was enought that he could not do it. <3<3

I wanted to play with the fact that being stuck with so many people, mainly his sisters while slowly melding into one, made him switch from pronouns feeling comfortable in all of them. Lydia, Judith and Clara were all nice and accidentaly he wanted to feel that nice, so he switches more often to her. It too, because at one point he was litreally nothing since the rest were rather happy being one.

Reality check comes and they all realize that, oh shit we fucked him up. Hence the road trip, unfortunately the melding was inevitable, either they became one or someone took charge. Still it gives them time to bond too, which adds to the decision to let them stay with him despite everything. Peter plays into a similar idea, but from a different perspective, you lose yoursef but become a different person. Luka is all of them being at peace with being one, being happy and wanting the same thing, but still mantaining some way to be apart. If i was being sappy i would liken it to a fusion in Steven Universe.

It wasnt as such at first, but later once Peter is the main body they can do it with less fear of dissapearing. It is also true that his feelings bleed out onto them and likewise to him. Its hard being a single being while simultaniously be 5 people in one.

They do love Elias, except for Clara who is mostly just enjoying the company while judging everyones tastes. It is also true that if this hadnt happened they would never have tried it. But life works oddly. Plus they are happy.

The world cant be fixed, but life sort of goes on and people adjust as they can.

Final note? I really, reeeeally wanted to have JME corpses just drop and have everyone freak out. There was a brief idea of having them alive and react to what they did to the world, but i did not want to deal with that many explanations. So yeah, they are dead.

AGAIN SORRY FOR GOING OFF!!! I NEED TO BE STOPPED.

D:

If you want to ask something in particular go ahead i have the ideas still fresh for this one in my head.

[musesofolive]

Ahh I have been posting a lot today, I’m sure you’re all waiting for me to shut up lol. But not right now! Now that I think of the multi-muse house in my head and how my beloved oc’s are just like living in the place like they’re all roommates, I wanna explore that a lil bit.

Isla:

She is pretty much the closest thing to the mom of the house. She may not be the oldest, but she is the most emotionally and mentally mature for sure. Which, she constantly finds amusing considering Rowan is there and is her older sibling, but I digress! She’s the one who’s got the house set up on a system that works, who’s cleaning what room, who’s getting the dishes, who’s washing the laundry. She settles any disputes that come up in the house that may lead to violence, and she’s always the best shoulder to lean on when you’re not feeling the greatest.

She’s the natural leader of the house and everyone tends to trust her, there’s no one she really dislikes or doesn’t get along with. She gets along well with everyone, but mostly with Ciri and Rowan since she’s known them the longest. She tends to treat Nova like she’s her daughter, is always glad to have Sahar’s level headedness, and does appreciate Riley’s laidback ways.

Ciri:

She definitely keeps things the most lively in the house. She’s an agent of chaos, what can she say? Once she flies into the room, any hope of the atmosphere staying quiet is completely ruined. But she does have a habit for putting people in a good mood...most of the time, when she’s not pranking them or they’re not next to her room where they can constantly hear her singing. She can be more serious and stick to rules if she sees Isla getting overwhelmed though, but that’s really the only scenario where she loses her goofiness.

Isla and Nova are the ones she sticks by the most, with Rowan falling closely behind those two. She knows that they’ll enable her chaos whenever she decides to cause it. Riley is next after that because he’s just so easy to get with pranks, and it’s super funny teasing him, especially when he thinks his flirting is getting him literally anywhere. Sahar she doesn’t stick around too much, she gets the sense that the soldier can’t tolerate too much of her shenanigans and so for Isla’s sake, she leaves her be for the most part. But Sahar does tend to stop by to listen to Ciri’s songs when they’re not too bombastic.

Nova:

I love my girl, and it’s because I love her that I tend to deem her the emotionally wounded teen of the house. She’s not an actual teenager and she doesn’t act like one really, but Nova has been the most emotionally and physically scarred out of all them and has not had the time to heal any of it over yet, like the other roommates. So, she sticks to herself a lot. She used to only come down for meals and stay holed up in her room, but Ciri eventually wouldn’t have any of that and dragged her out from time to time. That came to the agreement that Nova will spend time with some of them outside of meals so long as Ciri stops busting her door down and dragging her by the arm. But for the most part she just follows the rules set and keeps her head down.

Ciri is the one she hangs around most, not entirely by choice, but she is the one she’s most familiar with so it’s better than a stranger in her opinion. After that is the Comerde siblings. Isla is very comforting, warm and treats her nicely. And she helps in such subtle ways so that Nova doesn’t have to feel embarrassed for asking for help. So when it comes to who she likes Isla actually sorta takes the cake. As for Rowan, they’re quiet and don’t usually ask too many questions. So, when Ciri and the others get way too overbearing, she rolls up to their room and just vibes with them while they read or do work, it’s a very mutually beneficial thing. Sahar’s not too far behind, she’s a bit too intense sometimes for Nova to vibe with her properly like she does with Rowan, but she’s helpful in getting her anger out, and helps her get better at self defense which makes her feel safer and less like she needs to lash out constantly. And then there’s...Riley. She does not like Riley. A. He’s a human man. B. She knows all the charm and flirting is just a facade, and she hates it. She doesn’t like people being fake with her, because then it reminds her of Dorian and makes her wonder what they’re really hiding. Also he’s way too touchy for her liking. Everything about him just rubs her the wrong way so she tends to stay away from him, and if she can’t, then those two are going to get into a fight.

Rowan:

They are simultaneously one of the chillest and one of the strictest in the house. Which makes no sense, but it’s true. Like, no, go ahead, do whatever you want, as long as you’re not bothering them, they really don’t care. But also, if they catch you not doing your chores or not following the rules, they will harp on you subtley like no tomorrow. They helped design the system set up actually, and they tend to supervise how it goes, suggesting different things to try to Isla when they notice something that can be improved. They sorta tried to take over as leader of the house since they believed they could run it better...yeah that lasted about a week before they handed that title back to Isla with a shake of their head. This group is nothing like their tribe, they just can’t. So, instead they’re like Isla’s left hand, enforcing the rules and keeping the peace from the shadows...but also not, because they are an enabler of chaos at their core. Not an agent, but if someone is looking to fix up some good natured mischief, they will gladly help and sit back and watch it all unfold. But usually they’re either in their room or in the library, working on papers for the trading business to send back to their father.

The Skywings are the two they get along with best, but for different reasons. Ciri creates glorious chaos while still following the rules, and they find that absolutely immaculate as they do whatever they feel like to help her. Nova is quiet and precisely what they need when they get into one of their “I’m surrounded by idiots” moods. Isla comes next, there are worse people, and she is still family. When they’re homesick they spend more time than usual with her, just to be reminded that there is still a piece of home with them. Sahar and Riley come afterwards. Not that they really dislike anyone here, if they don’t like them, then they have a neutral disposition at most. Sahar is just neutral territory because they’re very alike in some aspects, but she also shares some of Torin’s traits. It’s like an amalgamation of them and they find it interesting. And Riley is also someone who causes mischief, which they like, but also, they just...cannot deal with the flirtiness. Like at all, it flusters them way too much. If they are with Riley, it has to be in a group setting because otherwise they’ll just be blushing like no tomorrow at Riley’s endless flirting and charm.

Sahar:

If Isla’s the designated mom, Sahar is oddly enough sort of like the dad. She respects Isla and her desicions greatly, and enforces them more directly than Rowan does. She is Isla’s right hand woman for sure. She makes sure everyone is safe physically since that’s her better strong suit as a guard/soldier, she lets Isla handle the emotional aspects. She’s also the one to break up any fights physically, she’s tall and strong, it’s what she’s good at. She usually spends time in the training room, especially when she’s worked up, but honestly she makes her rounds to just about every room in that house that isn’t someone’s bedroom. She likes knowing the layout.

She prefers Isla’s company more than anyone else’s. The elf is just one of the few she doesn’t have to be all soldier-face with (and Isla is 100% teaching her how to dance. Sahar wasn’t convinced she’d be any good at it, but Isla’s proving her wrong.) and genuinely feels like she can be relaxed around. They respect Rowan’s professionalism and regards for the rules, even if they do let mischief happen. She feels both pity and admiration for Nova, she has clearly gone through things that would probably kill weaker people. And she wants to let her know that her battle is over, there’s no more need to keep fighting and it’s time to heal. But, words aren’t always her strong suit, so she tries to express that with how she spends her time with the young elf. She finds Ciri annoying and troublesome, but in a good way, if that makes sense. She’s like both a pesky hummingbird that keeps flitting around her face, but also reminds her of her brothers so she doesn’t mind it. So, she tolerates the Skywing so long as she doesn’t get herself into too much trouble. She tolerates Riley the least. They’re just two very different people. Sahar is about upholding the law and protecting others and being selfless, Riley is a con man who is selfish and literally only thinks about himself. Plus he’s committed crimes in her very country. Safe to say, opposites do not attract this time around. She’s much more no-nonsense with him than anyone else.

Riley:

I feel so bad but this one just like...gets picked on mercilessly. He is constantly bullied in this household, but not in a way that’s genuinely like upsetting just, teased a lot so that he can learn and get character development. And I promise the others aren’t treating him too badly and Isla always steps in if she feels everyone needs to lay off. That woman is basically Riley’s saving grace because she’s the only one who doesn’t pick on him. Not to say others don’t enjoy his presence on occasion, he didn’t learn his people skills for nothing after all, he’s usually one of the bigger talkers at the table and keeps the atmosphere nice and light. Either with his skills, or by being the comic relief. He’s starting to get fond of libraries all things considered, so he does find himself there often. And if he’s not there, he’s usually in the game room fiddling with some pool or playing cards. If he can rope the others into joining him, he’ll play some poker or just generally a game or two. And the bar, that man loves his alcohol.

Isla and Rowan are at the top of his list. Isla, for being the motherly saint she is and constantly getting the others to stop bullying him, plus she’s the only one who can in all actuality, handle him. She plays along with his games without ever actually losing, and she never gets boring to talk to. Which surprised him, because she’s one of the most sentimental, family-oriented people he knows. He didn’t think he’d ever get along with someone like her, but she’s just that inviting. And then there’s Rowan, again another family-oriented type. But he knows he started liking them because they fluster so easily at his flirting. He does love to get under people’s skin and tease them. Plus, for as family-oriented as they seem to be, they care in a very sensible way. And when he’s at the bar, usually drunk, he wonders if he could have ever been like them had he been with a proper family. He doesn’t really dislike Sahar, so much as he is just...frightened of her. Like, every time she looks at him, he can just tell she’s imagining putting his head on a pike or something. He’s very happy there’s a no fighting truce in that house, otherwise he’d have fled that house so fast to avoid getting either murdered or brought to jail for so many years by her. And Ciri and Nova are tied for the ones he dislikes the most. Ciri’s got an annoying habit of pranking him, and it sucks because nothing he ever does seem to get under her skin, he’s tried everything. But there’s nothing that does the trick, but she gets under his skin so easily and it drives him crazy. He only approves of her mischief from afar, and he hates that she constantly makes up little tunes that mock him. And then there’s Nova, and he was a little surprised. He didn’t think he’d ever end up liking her, sure, but like the animosity she shows him for literally no reason just astounds him. There’s nothing he can do to rectify it either. Everytime he tries it just gets worse, and he hates working with people he can’t control at least a little. That, and I mean, the guy is 40, she’s 25, the difference in mentality just makes them even less likely to enjoy the other’s presence. He’s constantly saying “who do you think you’re talking to, little girl? Hasn’t anyone told you to respect your elders?” To which she always snaps back “I’m an elf, you crusty bag of bones! Just because I look younger than you, doesn’t mean I am! And there’s hardly anything to respect from someone who’s an outlaw in every nation they can hide in!” Like just...keep them away from each other. The insults are funny at first, but it’s not long before someone makes a move to attack or say words that are going to cut too deep.

[revengerevisited]

@noneofthismakessensetome KHUX is really hard to explain, and I don’t really understand it myself despite watching every update, but the most that I can glean from it is that it’s set in the past in a place called Daybreak Town, right before the Keyblade War. (How far in the past is unknown, not helped by the fact that time travels differently in each World, but it was definitely before Xehanort was born).

There was this guy named the Master of Masters, and he’s supposedly been fighting a war against darkness for a very long time. (No idea if that’s the elemental concept of darkness, or Darkness the character). He’s the person who invented Keyblades (or one of the people. KHUX is extremely vague and likes to throw little doubts in just to make you question everything), and he gathered six apprentices (all named after one of the Seven Deadly Sins). Luxu, aka Xigbar, is one of the six. The only other relevant one is Ava. 

Five of these apprentices (not Luxu) become the Foretellers, leaders of these different Unions of ‘Keykids’ (which I don’t think is an official term, but that’s what the fandom calls them so I will too) who wield Keyblades against the Heartless to collect Lux (which is some sort of light energy). Each of them is also given a Chirithy Spirit created by the Master of Masters. 

The Master of Masters, aka MoM, can see into the future, because he put his ‘eye’ into the Keyblade No Name (Master Xehanort’s Keyblade), as well as other Keyblades like Riku’s Way to the Dawn and Vanitas’s Void Gear (if that is the name of Vanitas’s Keyblade...). Because these ‘eyes’ exist in the future, the MoM is able to ‘see’ into the future, and writes all future events down in the Book of Prophecies. He then gives copies of the Book of Prophecies to the Foretellers (not Luxu), but leaves out a certain page. He then sows distrust through the five by telling them one of them is a traitor.

The Foretellers all mistrust each other, and through a chain of events this leads to the Keyblade War, where all the ‘Keykids’ kill each other and the World is rift apart. The only ones who survive are the Dandelions, a special group of ‘Keykids’ the MoM told Ava to form, who hide in a Data version of Daybreak Town. The Dandelions have their minds wiped of the Keyblade War by the Chirithies and believe they are in the real Daybreak Town, except for the five Union Leaders, who were chosen by the MoM and given Books of Prophecy by Ava (more on that in a second...). 

In the latest KHUX update, the MoM says that it will take multiple lifetimes to defeat darkness (or Darkness), and this is probably why Luxu (Xigbar) has been hopping from body to body for all these years (centuries?). The MoM gave Luxu the Black Box (without telling him what’s inside) and No Name (to be passed down through the generations of Keyblade Wielders and eventually wind up with Xehanort before going back to Luxu). By having No Name be passed down into the future, the MoM can see through its ‘eye’ and write down future events.

So about the Union Leaders of the Dandelions, the ones the MoM told Ava to pick were Ephemer, Skuld, Brain, Lauriam (Marluxia), and Strelitzia. However, (as we saw with the most recent update) a shadowy being named Darkness killed Strelitzia and gave Ventus her copy of the Book of Prophecies instead. Ventus was in some kind of trance or had his memory wiped, and didn’t remember Strelitzia’s death until now. 

Darkness has also been helping Maleficent, because for some reason after her defeat in KH1 she wound up in the past in Data Daybreak Town, and Darkness wants to help her get back to the future (KH2) with a time machine. (The time machine, called the Ark or the Lifeboat in different translations, is the same machine used by Terra-Xehanort to send five-year-old Kairi to Destiny Islands, although in that case she was transported through space, not time). It seems that Darkness wants some of the ‘Keykids’ (Ventus, Lauriam (Marluxia), Elrena (Larxene), and Skuld (who is probably Subject X)) to be transported to the future, and somehow Maleficent will serve as their Waypoint. (I don’t understand how time-travel in KH works, nor why Darkness wants to send the ‘Keykids’ to the future, but that’s the best explanation I can give).

Anyway, the whole murder mystery about ‘who killed Strelitzia?’ has been the biggest fandom mystery in KH for a long time (I’m talking like, three years). And unfortunately, it’s still not solved because it’s still not clear just who/what Darkness is. Some believe that Darkness is Ava, who is actually the ‘traitor’ trying to stop the MoM’s plan, because she believes his plan will end in the destruction of the World (which it kinda did). This is because Darkness takes the form of Ava to speak to Ventus after killing Strelitzia, and tells him that he’s a Union Leader (when really he’s the ‘imposter’). Ava is known to have the power of illusion, which is why some fans think she may have taken the form of Darkness to disguise herself. (Just a note on all this, I can’t remember exactly what all the fan-theories about Ava are, and I may have gotten something wrong here. But the basic gist is that some fans believe Ava is Darkness).

Then there’s the second theory, which unfortunately in my opinion is the more likely of the two. We know from Re:Mind that a being calling itself Darkness is hiding within Ven’s heart, and in KHUX Brain says that Darkness (or darkness) can hide inside people. Combine this with Vanitas’s speech to Ventus in Re:Mind, about how he and Ven ‘aren’t the same like he thinks’ and how he was just ‘hidden inside Ven until Xehanort tore him out’, it seems to imply that Vanitas is actually Darkness (or a piece of Darkness) who was hidden inside of Ven, and not the dark half of Ven’s heart like we’ve believed for the past decade. Basically, if this theory is true, it completely re-writes Vanitas’s entire character, motivations, and origins, while also retroactively making him a child-murderer, and I’m sure you all already know how I feel about that.

Now, literally nothing outside of Re:Mind implies that Vanitas is Darkness, and in fact the scene in the Keyblade Graveyard with Vanitas, Ventus, and Sora right after the scene in Re:Mind seems to contradict this theory, as well as every piece of material on Vanitas released both before and after Re:Mind including his character file, so this all may be just one big misunderstanding, but that doesn’t dissuade the fact that there is literally an entity calling itself Darkness inside Ven’s heart. I can’t even begin to imagine how it got there, unless 1. It’s Vanitas after returning to Ven’s heart after his defeat in BBS or 2. Darkness somehow got into Ven’s heart while he was sleeping in Castle Oblivion. 

This is all pure fan-theory, but since the Vanitas in KH3 is a time traveling version of Vanitas from the past, it could be that the ‘real’ Vanitas is still living inside Ven’s heart (like how Roxas was still inside Sora’s heart), and if the ‘real’ Vanitas is now calling himself Darkness, then it’s possible that Vanitas was either lying about being half of Ventus this entire time or is only now just remembering his memories of being Darkness. Either way, if Vanitas really does turn out to be Darkness, then I can only imagine his entire personality will be overwritten by Darkness’s and Vanitas will basically cease to exist as a character. As in, he won’t just be dead, he’ll have never truly existed in the first place. 

And that, my friends, is why I’ve been in a constant state of anxiety, stress, and depression for the past year, and the reason I haven’t updated A Heart and a Half, because I’m having trouble reconciling the Vanitas from the BBS Novel (an abused, neglected child manipulated from birth to be a weapon) with what is potentially his true identity as Darkness (an ancient, child-murdering demonic entity). Once again, it’s still just a fan-theory... But a very plausible fan-theory.

Anyway, the third theory is that Darkness isn’t secretly some other character, but instead is exactly what it says it is— a sapient amalgamation of the elemental force of darkness. Darkness tells Maleficent that she should think of it as an ‘old friend’, leading some to believe it’s someone Maleficent knows from the future. However, it could be that Darkness ‘knows’ Maleficent because it itself is the embodiment of elemental darkness, and Maleficent is a darkness-user. In that case, it could be said Darkness is a ‘friend’ to all people who use darkness. 

Unfortunately, before anyone says this line of dialogue proves that Vanitas can’t be Darkness because Vanitas never met Maleficent, Vanitas did meet Maleficent... in the BBS Novel. In the BBS Novel, Maleficent asks Vanitas if he’s a ‘friend’ of Xehanort’s. Vanitas hesitantly says yes (because his abuser isn’t exactly a friend to him), simply because he and Xehanort are allies. He then asks Maleficent if she’s ‘friends’ with Xehanort, and she says yes (in the sense that they are allies). In this roundabout way, it could be construed that if Vanitas is Xehanort’s friend, and Maleficent is Xehanort’s friend, then that makes Vanitas Maleficent’s friend, which still fits in with the theory that Vanitas is Darkness if Darkness is Maleficent’s friend.

Even if we ignore the (technically non-canon) BBS Novel scenes of Xehanort kicking twelve-year-old Vanitas in the face and beating him with his Keyblade until he cried and leaving him isolated in a wasteland for weeks on end, and just go off of the games’ canon, the story of Ventus and Vanitas can still be seen as both literal and metaphorical child abuse, with Ven being the part of the victim who represses the trauma and Vanitas being the part of the victim who lashes out. Of course, if Vanitas does turn out to be Darkness, then he will be retconned from a victim into a scheming child-murderer just as evil as his abuser and the demon/abomination/empty creature that Xehanort always said he was! (Maybe that’s why Vanitas had such a mental breakdown in Re:Mind... he realized every horrible thing Xehanort ever told him about himself was true...). Which is why, as you can imagine, this theory causes me a lot of stress! 

Anyway, that’s the story of KHUX and the reason why I turn into a big ball of anxiety every time a new update occurs. I literally wouldn’t care about KHUX at all if Ven wasn’t in it, but he is, and everything that happens to Ven in the past is something that will effect him and Vanitas in the future, whether Vanitas is confirmed to be Darkness or not. We now know that Ven has had even more trauma forced upon him than he’d had with Xehanort, and I now have a suspicion that the reason Ven refused to create the X-Blade by using the darkness in his heart in the BBS flashback scenes was because he remembered what darkness and/or Darkness did to Strelitzia.

I really can’t imagine why Ven is in KHUX other than to connect him to this Darkness character in some way. Some fans still claim that Ven is the one who killed Strelitzia because they think he was ‘possessed’ by Darkness, but it seems pretty clear that Darkness was the culprit while Ven just stood there in a trance. Even so, I suspect that Ven blames himself for what happened anyway, even though it wasn’t his fault. I don’t know how this will play out with the future/current Ven. Is he suddenly going to remember his past and think he killed Strelitzia? Why? For the angst? Is he going to realize that Vanitas is (or is a part of) Darkness and therefore the murderer of some random girl Ven barely knows? Is Darkness just going to pop out of Ven when he’s in the Realm of Darkness with Aqua and Terra and... I don’t even know. Fight him? Gloat? Enact his evil scheme of destroying the World because you see, Vanitas never really wanted his light back, he never really wanted friends (page 378 of the BBS Novel), he was lying the entire time! Yes, he’s totally this evil monster who just wants to kill people because he’s evil~!

...Alright, I’ll stop. But seriously, I don’t know where this story is headed, guys. This update basically had the MoM tell us to stop trying to figure things out or theorize and that we shouldn’t want to know everything that’s going to happen, so who knows. Next update might throw us a curveball and reveal Darkness was secretly... idk Pete the entire time. He’s Maleficent’s friend! Or maybe it’s just Xehanort again, who knows. I just feel... really tired of KH, and I don’t really know where I’m going to go from here. Hopefully this is the last time I rant about this subject, though, because I really feel like I’ve already said all there is to say.

I want to finish A Heart and a Half, but I also feel hampered by everything that might happen with Vanitas. I also feel like managing my Tumblr blogs is causing me too much stress and distracting me from doing other things (including writing my fanfics), so I’ve been thinking of putting them both on a more ‘permanent’ hiatus after their queues run out sometime later this month. I dunno how everyone would feel about that, though, nor how long that hiatus would be. I’d certainly miss talking to everyone, and you guys make me smile whenever I get a comment or a question from you all! But I also feel like I need to focus on my health (both physical and mental) and work on things that don’t involve social media. I guess I just need a little more time to think about it.

[theradicalace]

Got any underfell headcanons?

FUCK YEAH I DO, YOU KNOW IT

okay okay, let’s do this in an Organized way, by character. under the cut cause it got crazy long

sans:

doesn’t slouch in public, cause that’s just asking to be attacked

personally i see him as being about an inch or so taller than the other au sanses, but it looks like way more cause he’s the only one who stands up straight other than swap sans

he’s super claustrophobic due to past trauma

his jacket was a gift from papyrus, and he’d be absolutely devastated if anything happened to it. 

it’s also waterproof! cause waterproof jackets are neato

he doesn’t wear a collar in my interpretation of the au, despite that being the popular fanon for him. i just think that all the connotations the fandom has given it are super weird and creepy, so i’ve ditched the collar entirely

he wears sneakers outside, not slippers. he doesn’t want to lose a slipper during a fight or something.

for the same reason, he cuts the ends off his shoelaces to make them short enough that he’ll never step on them

he has a neutral route fight this time, but it’s not super hard. still no pacifist route fight

the geno fight is still an asskicking.

papyrus: 

actually the shortest of all au papyruses by about an inch

wears those belts with the seatbelt buckles on em you know the ones

he’s scared of thunder when they get to the surface, bc it reminds him of the earthquakes underground that could FUCK things up. also it just makes him worry abt the ppl he cares abt

he cares SO MUCH about EVERYTHING and EVERYONE

more than once he pushes himself into a breakdown bc he cant fix all the corruption and problems in the underground

he makes sure the children of the underground are safe and as well fed as possible

he’s actually the older brother, because im a sucker for big bro paps

his scarf was a gift from sans, and he’d be similarly devastated if anything happened to it, the same way sans would be if anything happened to his jacket

he doesn’t wear the battle body in this au

he has real armor for in public, and casual clothes for at home

he hates the armor. 

he has no LV or EXP

he is in the royal guard, at sort of a mid-rank kind of thing.

he just wants to help people

he’s the owner of the mysterious lab and the broken machine inside of it. he built it himself. he’s a skilled engineer, after all.

he was working on it with sans, but eventually they ran out of resources for it, and had no time to work on it.

he’s aware of timelines and resets just as much as sans is. he remembers as much as sans does. they cope together. (i just don’t want either of them to suffer alone.)

he still calls everyone to the barrier in a pacifist route, but he ends up getting there before toriel, so he’s the one to stop asgore from hurting the human.

better friends with flowey in this au. sees flowey taking the souls, and keeps everyone distracted.

still spares the human on a genocide route. he doesn’t die in one hit, though. he takes a couple hits. he spares you the whole time.

toriel:

sad, afraid, angry.

she’s seen what anger has done to the underground, so she tries to keep her own anger in check.

it’s hard, but she tries to show kindness whenever she can.

her clothes still have some of the old purple, but they’re heavily patched with red and black.

it’s harder to get out of the ruins in this au, because if the human’s hp goes too low, she stops the fight entirely.

its similar to what papyrus does.

right down to the player waking up in a new room, except its back in the bedroom toriel tries to provide instead of a shed.

she tells the human they will always have a home in the ruins if they so choose.

she answers her phone ONCE outside the ruins, to tell the human to please not call again. she wont answer after that.

alphys:

owned up to the amalgamates very quickly. secrets that big take too much energy and effort to keep.

the amalgamates still spend a lot of time in the labs, but theyre free to leave if they wish. most of them are still waiting to see what else alphys can do for them. whether that means separation, or something else entirely, no one knows.

alphys has MUCH stricter standards for experiments after the amalgamates and flowey. 

no amount of threats or bribery from the king will change her mind

she doesn’t have much time for anime. she still watches as much as she can, but she’s just so BUSY

mettaton:

relatively the same, actually, just with more limbs

flamethrower instead of a chainsaw tho

napstablook:

didn’t get the memo, so they’re still the same as undertale

undyne:

tall. really tall

frustrated

tries to get the human to understand, and to give up their soul willingly

actually relatively easy to spare in this au

once she finds out that papyrus is on the human’s side, she’s won over pretty quickly after that.

she’s quieter in this au, but not by much. only when she needs to be.

her spears are this really cool green-blue-white mix. i’d have to draw it, but just trust me when i say its really cool

her eye was actually not lost to a fight or infection or anything dramatic, she was just born without it.

monster kid:

skeptical of undyne from the beginning

“yo… undyne is… kinda mean. but i guess she’s just trying to protect us, right?”

doesn’t know how to feel

muffet: 

mostly the same, just Even More goth

her prices are still outrageous, but if you can’t afford it, she has a donation box you can give to instead :)

if you donate, her attacks in battle are much easier, and the fight is shorter, but you still have to fight her

buying a treat from the ruins bake sale is still the only way to skip the fight entirely

asgore:

not afraid to threaten or bribe people to get his way

doesn’t talk much. he prefers to only speak when he has to

he’s angry, not sad. his kindness is greatly subdued.

he is… difficult to win over.

ANY neutral route ends with him sacrificing his own soul so you can leave. flowey wont kill him in this au, so he must take matters into his own hands.

flowey:

very sad.

doesn’t have a lot of hope

goes along with the human just to see what happens.

doesn’t have the motivation to directly mess with anyone.

doesn’t follow the “kill or be killed” motto here.

doesn’t really do much of anything until he sees where asgore keeps the human souls for the first time.

suddenly, he feels like maybe…. maybe it can be different.

if it’s a neutral route, asgore sacrifices his soul before he can gather the courage to make the choice he needs to.

if it’s a pacifist route, he manages to snag the souls while papyrus has everyone distracted

the pre battle scene goes a LOT differently.

he doesnt sit around monologuing, he gets right down to business, takes the human souls, and takes the monster souls right afterwards.

“i’m sorry, but this is for the good of all monsterkind”

asriel (before dying)

he was alive when everything was happy.

basically the same

asriel (beginning of battle)

“you look so much like chara…”

“but you aren’t them, are you?”

asriel (first phase)

“you’re not like chara at all!”

“you’re just a cheap ripoff!”

absolutely FURIOUS

HATES the human.

asriel (second phase)

even angrier

“why won’t you just give up and DIE already?!”

lost souls:

sans:

talks about frustration

papyrus:

talks about not being able to fix anything

talks about unfairness and injustice

undyne

talks about her mixed feelings about humanity

alphys

talks about how she will never make the same mistakes again

toriel

doesn’t speak

asgore

talks about how this is for the goof of all monsterkind (similar to flowey, but not quite)

asriel (post battle)

“…you’re more like chara than i was willing to admit.”

“just go. i’m not worth talking to like this.”

“but hey. take care of flowey for me, yeah?”

chara (before death):

mostly the same, but probably could have been talked out of the buttercup plan if asriel had pushed just a little bit harder

chara (narrator):

horrified at what the underground has become

urges the human/player to try and help

mostly quiet during boss fights.

almost silent for a majority of the geno route

as a rule of thumb, the more the player kills, the less chara speaks

chara (genocide encounter)

“…i do not understand.”

“is humanity truly that twisted?”

“or have the new rules of the underground simply infected your head?”

“…your soul.”

“give it to me.”

“i will stop you from ever hurting anyone again.”

(this ends up not being true, but damn if they dont try.)

it takes a lot longer for them to even consider resetting the world.

they want you to sit with what youve done.

it takes an hour for them to come back after you sell your soul.

if you do a second genocide run, you’re fucked. they’re not coming back, and you’ll have to fuck with the game code to reset again.

frisk:

not in control

can sometimes resist the player’s actions, but mostly just getting tugged along through the underground.

on a pacifist route, they’ll happily go along. 

on a geno route, they try so hard to resist, but they truly don’t have a choice.

after the game is over, they live their own life.

theyre a good kid.

none of this is their fault.

largely the same as undertale frisk, if a bit more tired.

theyre like 12 leave them alone

general headcanons:

hurting/killing a child is punishable by death

people mostly arent as murdery as youd think.

there’s a lot of fights, but asgore has put in a few regulations to prevent TOO much death.

dont want the underground tearing itself apart, right?

so mostly it’s just brawls and petty crimes. not a whole lot of straight up murder

still, you can never be too careful.

the “welcome to snowdin” and “welcome to hotland” signs now simply read “snowdin” and “hotland”

[wayward-styxxx]

Autism/ADHD/Anxiety things from my childhood

- I was quite sensory seeking (I loved car rides, rolling down hills, jumping off my dresser onto my bed, spinning in chairs, staring at sparkly things, etc). I was probably more sensory seeking than sensory avoidant.

- I toe walked and never grew out of that.

- I developed trichotillomania and trichophagia in 3rd grade. I went from having eyebrows to not having eyebrows. Kids thought I shaved my eyebrows.

- I had a habit of running away in stressful situations.

- I was pretty decent in school. I got awards for being nice(it’s not hard to be nice) and for excelling in reading. I read at my grade level and beyond(adult books)

- I loved to read and I actually got in trouble often for reading in class instead of listening to the lesson

- I was pretty crap at subjects that were not language arts.

- My mom said that I got along with kids and played with anyone willing to play with me, but I was shy around adults. She thought that was interesting since I was an only child. She said that she couldn’t keep me from playing.

- That’s pretty true. I loved to play especially if I got my way.

- Even though I played with others I had like one actual best friend(I think) that I was always attached to and through her I had other friends. I considered me and this girl best friends even though our friendship pretty much stayed at school(like most of my friendships).

- The thing is that even though I considered this girl my best friend, I’m not so sure she totally considered me her best friend. She had other friends and when she would want to play with them I was basically like “well who do I have then?” I would insert myself into their little friendship even if they kinda wanted their own thing.

- I never actually had any friends over to my place.I only had cousins (1 cousin really) over to my place.

- I don’t have any photos with friends outside of a school setting and the photos that I do have with friends in a school setting are class photos.

- My birthday parties (that my mom planned) only had my cousins and no friends. I don’t think I ever actually invited any of my friends. I do know that I only had cousins and their parents there. I pretty much just liked getting gifts and having my parents wish me happy birthday. That was enough for me.

- I think I was only ever invited to one birthday party in elementary school. No, it was not my best friend’s birthday party lol

- I think in all of my years of elementary school I’ve called like one friend and it wasn’t the girl who was my best friend. I called this girl one time and never again. I never liked talking on the phone.It was like pulling teeth. My parents always had to remind me to call my grandparents or whoever.

- Years later when I would notice friends that I went to elementary school with, I would remember them, but they would either not remember me or they would just keep it to “hey, cool bye”. This even happened with my best friend from elementary school when I saw her outside of my high school. So sometimes I feel like maybe I didn’t actually have friends in elementary school. I was most likely just tolerated because I was nice lol 😂

- In elementary school I was called “mean” by other kids and even my friends before for having an opinion or for saying “no”. I never understood this, but I do know that I was so desperate for folks to like me and be my friend that I just ended up giving in or changing my opinion.

- I was very talkative. The teacher would tell the class to be quiet and I would still be trying to have conversations about my favorite book or something. I would literally be the only one still talking so I got in trouble for that quite often. Even though people were ignoring me because they were supposed to be quiet, I was still talking to them. Literally everyone got the cue except me.

- I talked to myself a lot especially when I was at home. I had whole conversations with myself and my mom would always ask who I was talking to. I would respond with “nobody” to not seem super weird. Sometimes I was honest and would say “myself”.

- I never had imaginary friends though because they just didn’t make sense to me. I always knew I was talking to myself and not a invisible friend.

- In elementary school some of my special interests gave me anxiety. For example, I got into tornadoes and hurricanes so I was constantly on the look out for signs of them. Those tornado watch alerts literally made my heart race. I also had a safety plan for if a tornado were to ever touch down. I read every book in my library on tornadoes and extreme weather.

- I was always sensitive to certain smells and foods and they would make me gag. I remember when I did a children’s summer program the smell of the food made me so sick and light headed that often times I decided to just go hungry. It was like a smell that nobody else could smell.

- I think I can remember everything that I ate as a kid because I pretty much ate the same thing.

- I was also very particular about how my food was prepared and the ratios. I always had to have the correct amount of peanut butter to jelly on my sandwich or the correct amount of skin to chicken with my chicken tenders. My parents don’t know this but if the foods were not the correct ratios or textures or if they made me sick then I would wrap them in toilet paper/paper towel and throw them in the trash can. I got that idea from a tv show.

- As you can see I kept a lot of things from my mom and grandma.

- I also watched the same tv shows/movies over and over again in the same sitting for hours. I remember I couldn’t find my incredibles movie dvd, but I had the behind the scenes dvd, so I spent hours going through every option on that behind the scenes disk. None of my tapes/DVDs play all the way through because I have rewound them so much.

- When blockbuster still existed I rented the same 4 sailor moon tapes and justice league movie every time.

- I learned a lot from tv and took the story lines quite seriously and tried to mesh them with everyday life. That didn’t always work out and sometimes got me in trouble with students/friends.

- I imitated characters. I am most likely an amalgamation of every character I’ve ever watched.

- I have this stim where I smell and rub my face across my arm. I’ve had that one since forever.

-I have a lot of tactile/vestibular/olfactory stims.

- I don’t think I’ve ever had a real sense of danger because my mom has complained that I’ve put myself in dangerous situations and was completely oblivious to them.

- Inappropriate giggling/smiling

- I’ve always had sort of a hard time seeing things from others perspectives.

- I cried a lot especially when I was away from my mom and grandma. I cried when I went to pre-school which is fine because it’s a new environment, but I also cried when I was left with family members as well. I would literally cry until my body just gave out.

- My mom said that I was very observant and at 5 years old I asked her why all of my toys were made in China. I also asked if most things we had were made in China. I examined my toys a lot.

-I loved the way my toys looked and felt

- I didn’t have the best tone control. I was always told to speak up. The funny thing is I could also be extremely loud especially when excited. I would scream if I was excited or even spooked(?) and I was so loud that teachers would literally come to the area and be like “yo who is that screaming ? I can hear this person all the way down the hall”

- I constantly ruined my clothes and things at school( not on purpose) and my mom would be upset but I could never see why she was upset even after she explained to me why she was upset. I also could never remember how my clothes ended up so dirty or how I lost jackets because there was just so much going on and the day moved so fast.

- I constantly misheard things as a child. I could be at a movie or have my tv all the way up and I could hear what people were saying but not comprehend it. It sounded like another language sometimes. I hated when people would whisper from the across the room so I would say “I can’t understand what you’re saying”. I think I was shouting that because I would get weird looks or people would just say “nevermind”.

- My mom brought me expensive gold lockets, but I broke every last one because I couldn’t stop myself from chewing on the chain and the actual locket. I pretty much wanted the locket because tigger had one in the tigger movie lol

- I chewed on my erasers and pen grips.

- I loved collecting things like rocks(geodes) and stationary and so I was kind of a pack rat lol

- My mom was happy to have a girl because that meant we could go shopping. Unfortunately I was not that interested in shopping for clothes when I was younger. When my mom would get excited about shopping for clothes for the both of us I would be like “can I buy books?” The only times I really cared about clothes and purses was if I saw the main character in a movie I was currently cared about clothes and purses. My mom enjoyed dressing me while she could though.

- When I was in elementary school I was going to a wedding and my mom said that I needed to dress up. I wanted to wear my new comfortable tracksuit so that’s what I wore. I was comfortable but extremely underdressed. I had a good time but felt out of place lol

- When I played with dolls I pretty much just set up scenes with very little dialogue. I did play teacher and I used my moms lottery tickets as scantron sheets. Sometimes I played teacher with my dolls, but dolls can’t write so i usually ended up being the teacher and the student.

-I was always hard on myself in elementary school. I started having negative thoughts starting in like 4th or 5th grade.

- I remember in 4th(?) grade being obsessed with ophelias suicide that was in a Shakespeare poem book. I didn’t have the most normal interests. My mom was always confused as to why I was into such dark themed subjects as a kid.

- I hated when my clothes would bunch up under my arms from too many layers and I still can’t stand that.

- my skin also seemed to be super sensitive and it’s almost like I could feel it moving which caused me to itch and I had to scratch myself extremely hard to get the itch to go away. I still have this problem today.

- I was and still am violently ticklish.

- I have never had good handwriting and a lot of my papers had words scribbled out and arrow marks where words should be. My written papers did and still do look horrible. Either you want me to write fast and have my paper be a complete mess or give me enough time to write slow and have a semi-neat paper. Thank god for computers.

- my mom tried her best to get me to learn cursive. I tried at school, my mom got me a cursive book and she tried to practice with me. I never learned proper cursive and I never completed that cursive book which frustrated my mom when I was younger. I would literally just sit there sometimes and stare at the book.

- I hated learning time on a analog clock, that was tough. It really took me a while to totally get it and I’m so glad my grandma always had a digital clock when I was younger. I relied on other kids who got it to help me. Still to this day I have to remind myself which hand is which and I’m 21. At 21 years old I’m still like “okay the small hand is the hour hand and it’s on the 3, the big hand is the minute hand and it’s on the 9”. Lol

- I would daydream and doodle especially in math class and so I got in trouble for not paying attention.

-I am happy that my mom and grandma were very hands on with me because if she wasn’t, I don’t think I would’ve gotten anything done tbh lol

[bearpillowmonster]

Persona 5 Review (Palaces)

Now I think it’s be interesting to split up each villain and review their arcs. First is Kamoshida, I like the layout of his palace. Sneaking along the walls and such and they really give you the drive to get rid of him. This is one of the only ones I actually got all the will seeds, I found that you only get the accessory if you collect the three, I don’t think there’s any bonus for collecting ALL of them from ALL the palaces though.

After that, they introduce something called Mementos which is basically everybody’s palace, a compilative place of where small distortions go that aren’t big enough for their own palace. This is kind of used for side missions, it’s not that bad though, the dark sections can be annoying but I see why they were put in there. You visit it throughout the game and after each boss, a new section gets added, going farther down. This is also one of the places to grind and a quick way to grind is to mow down enemies with your van using the dash button, rather than going through the trouble of battling, you even get their mask. That’s only if they’re not too far down though because the farther down you go, the tougher the enemies. It’s funny because once you get tough enough, going to the higher entrances, making enemies RUN from you while you’re mowing them down, it’s a blast. I will recommend though that you don’t piss off too many and get alarmed because they’ll come in waves, one battle after another and if you’re deep in Mementos, it can be scary.

Next is Madarame, I like the setting of a museum and the boss (better than Kamo) but I will also say that it was annoying to traverse, it built upon the urgency by adding legal action into the mix. This is probably in my top 3 palaces, I just don’t have a whole lot to say about it.

Kaneshiro (sounds like Kamoshida) I feel like his character is very one way, an easy prey, I’m fine with that but I’m just saying that the depth was better for the previous two. The boss isn’t exactly my favorite, it’s a little different between 5 and Royal so I looked it up and am accounting for both of them. I do however like the style of the bank and the vault is one giant lock, the enemies are probably some of the most annoying though with the introduction of the dogs.

Alibaba. Now this palace is actually pretty cool because it changes the context and way you do things, again with the real life interference as well. What I really like are the little hieroglyphics puzzles at the end of each section, those things are my jam but while I appreciate the variety and setup, this was one of the weaker palaces. The boss was weak as well, more of just a sponge unless I didn’t play it right (maybe I was underleveled? I mean I don’t think I even died tbh though) because it was really cool when you used the arrows but really dragging when she was in the air.

I will say that I took a break after this arc (about 35-40 hours in) not because I was tired of it, far from it actually, I was having tons of fun but traversing the palaces just seemed off to me at this point so I thought if I took a break and got a fresh perspective when I came back, it would be better. It was hard to detach myself from it because I really enjoyed what I had played thus far but it felt good to get back into the groove of it after a break. This was both a good place to take the break given the hours spent and what the next palace is, and kind of a weird place because after Alibaba you take the field trip but I would still recommend you take a decent break at some point because...

The next palace is Okumura. Now I’ve seen some flack about this one, saying it’s the least favorite of the bunch, so you don’t want to have the previous build up of hours hamper your experience since it’s considered the worse. Honestly I don’t think it’s that bad (the palace!) now the boss on the other hand is a different story, I understand that a CEO is only as good as their employees and the idea to use them is pretty reflective of the palace itself but it’s annoying because if you don’t have the right type of persona then you’re screwed because they just flee or blow themselves up, it’s just left to chance sometimes. I think it would be cool to have a race against him with the timer rather than a battle. It made me so stressed, not because of the timer but because of the stupid robots, it was easily the battle I spent the most tries on, I even had to go back and grind and fuse a new persona to finally beat him. (I was almost level 40 so you might have an easier time if you did more persona work than I did) but you don’t get any All Out Attacks either apparently. Also the story (though a bit nit picky) is easy to complain about but it’s not as bad as they say imo especially since the characters explain themselves afterwards.

Casino Master. This was probably the only spoiler I got for this game but I feel I would’ve figured it out anyway and it didn’t even turn out to be that big of a spoiler. Also the addition of the “Crow” should’ve been the “Raven” as an Edgar Allen Poe reference, it would’ve fit the character better in my opinion. I don’t like that they use the same card mechanic from the last palace, it makes more sense with this one but still. There’s an enemy in this palace that was bugged for my play through and it was only that specific enemy whenever I encountered them, it would say something like “it’s groaning” (which it sometimes does with enemies such as Regent) but for this one it just kept doing it and would get stuck, I just had to button mash a bit and then they would attack normally but just a small stain I’ll point out, easily patchable I’m sure. As for the story, I’m not quite sure what makes the palace in the first place, what is the distortion exactly? Other than that, another in the top 3.

The boss is actually kind of cool, in a way it’s the opposite of Okumura but an actual boss instead of enemies. It’s probably my favorite because of the design and style. I’m not done yet but honestly when I got about 1/3 of the way through this game, I thought it was a 5/5 but I re-evaluated and the one thing that I want is a bit of gameplay variety even if it’s just the bosses. I’ve talked about this before but it makes everything feel samey and while I know more or less all turn based RPGs are guilty of the same thing (so I can’t really hold that against this game) this one just seems so different. It doesn’t wear itself out, for turn based, it’s not so bad but it just leaves you desiring one extra step, an extra something everytime to say “This is the fourth-fifth-sixth boss!” rather than just chip damage with no weaknesses, some kind of reward for playing the way you do perhaps.

Armstrong from MGS Rising (yeah I didn’t have a codename for this one). I really like the setup, probably the best palace to be honest, in a way it’s sort of a compilation. I could see where people could complain about it even if I haven’t seen anything. This palace also has the best music, it’s very fitting and stylistic. There’s a little bit of a barrage of mini bosses throughout, I kind of like it but the last one before the big boss is tough because it’s 3 different sections, one after the other but it’s kind of a tease/warning to say “Are you really ready for the real boss? If you had trouble with this, then you’ll have trouble with him.” 

Let's talk about the final final boss (for what’s known as the ‘true’ ending route) because I apparently did the ‘true’ ending after looking into it, it doesn't matter who you picked for a romantic route, it matters what choices you made at certain points in the game, the ‘true’ ending is just the longest, there are different points in the game where it could end and be the other good/bad endings so yeah. Let me talk about it without spoiling anything, Notice I said ‘true’ with quotes. I'm going to summarize this reddit post I saw, justifying it, out of context. The boss is idolized, he's made by the people, he didn't make the people and because he's pretending, we were sent to destroy him. (In the grand scheme of things (story-wise)) because it bothers me that they make him out to be almighty. It is a persona and personas are figments of imagination, they're amalgamations of how the characters perceive their desire/distortion, not the real thing therefore it shouldn't be blasphemous right? That thin line is what's making me knock this game a little more because its material is so concerning. Also you’re stopping people from doing bad things, that’s ‘just’, correct? You’re defeating the seven sins, that’s ‘just’ (at least that’s what the will seeds are called). I guess they wanted to try and make it a true question “Are the Phantom Thieves ‘Just’?” They ask it over and over and in reality, I ask myself the same thing.

You can buy as seen on tv stuff, the big thing I’ll say helped me was the cleaning spray so snatch that up when it becomes available, I think it’s also available in Kichijoji but it lowers your enemy’s defense and I didn’t have that move for any of my characters. Make sure you have everything done that you want done by the time you reach the final date after sending the calling card and beat the boss such as confidants, a proper persona, side quests and a good amount of stat boosters and stuff. I can't say too many specifics on what to bring because you're going to play different than I did so just fill in the blanks, have cans of whatever you don't have as a move because it's going to be a stretch of fights and there really isn't room to turn back.

[picrewing]

Hi! I was the one who asked about Ring and Arkan’s relationship a while back. I would like to learn a bit about Frost. (Also, congrats on getting 1,000 followers! 🥳)

Hello! :) Thank you.

Frost has an interesting creation story.

She was actually someone else’s OC to start with - her name was Janie. She was the OC to my best friend at the time and she appeared in my murder/mystery website A Dinner Game. The person and I became close friends and began doing side-roleplays together, the most major of which was a cop/killer AU featuring Janie and my character Yasuhiro. Janie had the curse that Ring does - she was reborn over and over again. At the age 10, she regained all of her old lives. She connected deeply to Yasuhiro, who had a connection to the fourth dimension which allowed him to know all possible timelines for himself.

But we also did another roleplay, a nonary game (from the video game 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors). Yasuhiro was the mastermind behind this game, with Janie serving as the main character. The climax of the roleplay featured Janie having to use her rebirth ability to enter a higher dimension, where she found Yasuhiro’s friend Takehiko stuck. She rescued him and returned back to the nonary game. Yasuhiro rejoiced... but was promptly erased from existence due to angering the time god (Nightmare).

Janie was very hurt by this and decided she wanted to find and save him, so we led into our next roleplay: an AB Game (from Virtue’s Last Reward, a sequel to 999). It featured our characters from the first game several years later, as well as some new faces. I don’t remember this very well, but the ultimate end is that Janie managed to find where Yasuhiro was in the multiverse and traveled there to get him out.

Now. I... can’t really say where he was because I try to keep this blog relatively SFW. Around this time I had discovered a pornographic game that, while yes it had porn, it also had a very compelling plot to me and interesting gameplay. So I just kind of ignored the boobs and played it. So anyway, I joked that Yasuhiro was put in the world of that game, because it was funny to imagine and worked for the lore that he was stuck somewhere. So, he was. Janie arrived at the planet, where she learned Yasuhiro had lost his connection to the fourth dimension but had instead gained a level of rebirth memory (though he couldn’t remember more than a few years, instead of everything). However, Yasuhiro was pretty satisfied with his life and didn’t want to leave, so they spent a long, long time playing cat and mouse. On a side note, my friend was asexual and disinterested in sex, so there wasn’t any of that in the roleplay. We played it completely serious. And honestly? Iconic.

So, anyway. Eventually, Janie and Yasuhiro entered a bet. Yasuhiro was frequently a demon in his lives, while Janie was the opposite. They decided that life to switch - Janie would be a demon, while Yasuhiro was not, and they’d see who’d break first. But during this time, Yasuhiro was vulnerable and naive, and the residing king of the area. Not a good combination. So for drama, I had him be attacked and taken prisoner.

Sounding familiar? Yeah, this was the invention of Arkan, Wortel, and that entire saga, haha. Forbidden lore, Wortel was originally from this weird pornographic world. It... probably still kind of reflects but oh well.

Well, anyway, Janie eventually invaded the castle and rescued Yasuhiro, who had suffered greatly. His body was also changed. Janie tried to talk to him and rekindle a form of connection, but flubbed at one point and caused him to get afraid of her and act submissive and scared. Ashamed of that, she fled, and Yasuhiro vanished into the wild. Janie took up an isolationist life in the woods. She found it pretty healing, actually - she was away from all of the stresses that’d plagued her very, very long life and just spent this time relaxing. About 16 or 17 years later though, a young dragon-humanoid (Umeji) found her hideout and befriended her. This eventually led to her and Yasuhiro meeting again, though Yasuhiro still refused to go home, not wanting to abandon his son. Janie’s own daughter from her home had arrived to the planet as well, and was pressuring Janie to leave. Janie ultimately decided to and left Yasuhiro behind, so long as he promised to come home one day.

It was a bitter goodbye, having to leave her friend (and by this point, love) behind, but it happened. Janie woke up in the AB Game and went with everyone to escape. But upon arriving at the exit door, she found Yasuhiro sitting outside of it, holding a baby Umeji in his arms. They left, and spent the rest of their life together.

... Phew! That was a long long ramble, but I promise it adds context. Also I just wanted to write that up.

So, Frost! Her backstory has changed a lot, but she’s an angel of Xefaa. As of current edition: She was originally born into the Terrakin valley a long time ago. A stranger once came to her town though, who brought with them modern technologies. Frost was very interested and ended up making a lot of expeditions to the city, where she became enraptured by all these advancements they didn’t have back home. So, she decided to bring them there. She became a mechanic and nearly single-handedly brought Terrakin valley to a more modern era. Unfortunately, not everyone was as gung-ho about this all, and also a lot of people didn’t understand it. When she was a young adult, a fire broke out that almost destroyed the entire valley. Frost took lead to evacuate people, as well as rising massive earthen walls to contain the fire. This plus her original decision to modernise the valley caught the attention of Xefaa, who asked her to become an angel. It... took a good while to convince her, but she eventually agreed. She now lives in the northern forest as a bit of a cryptid, maintaining a natural garden and keeping an eye on the demonic activity in the Meletta government. When Arkan seizes power, Frost rescues Ring and leaves him to trusted people to take care of (though he runs away). Umeji eventually finds her in his many expeditions and she teaches him magic.

“That doesn’t sound anything like what you just said.” Because her backstory has changed a lot. She used to have a partial rebirth curse like Yasuhiro had, and was tasked by Nightmare to keep an eye on Ring. Janie as her original self was replaced with my character Misa Takeda - they had similar appearances and personalities, and when my friend and I stopped being friends, I needed to replace Janie. Frost by this point was too integrated into Ring’s story for me to just drop her, so I didn’t just remove her. Misa’s backstory is being part of a traditional mountain village, where Yasuhiro sought her out and showed her city life. She fell in love with it and moved out, working for him instead. Though in original drafts of the story, she was trying to bring modern life to the village.

Frost is now sort of an amalgamation of Misa, Janie, those roleplays, and my own tweaking to fit her with current Wortel lore.

By the way, the name Frost comes from the nonary game. Janie had the number 6, so she chose her nickname to be Frost, because snowflakes have 6 points. Yasuhiro was number 5. He chose the nickname Ring, because of the 5 Olympic rings. Though my friend had thought it was because of “5 golden rings”... Actually, it was also just short of ringmaster and the Olympic rings thing was a panic-induced explanation Yasuhiro gave >:3 Before I decided to fully axe Janie, I called her Frost so it felt less like stealing. Also because I was putting Ring and Frost into a mod of the original game that inspired Wortel (this was dropped, sorry if you wanted to play it).

That was probably nothing of what you asked, but I hope you enjoyed the lore anyway.

[robot-unicorn-attack]

CHAPTER 01 - SUPERNOVA

(written by @interluxetumbra)

... CHAPTER 01

The benefit of being a goddess, ergo an immortal being, could supposedly be boundless patience, which Supernova had as a heavenly entity.

Assana, however, as a mere mortal with fraying nerves, did not.

And she was reaching her limit with ruffles.

Standing stock still on a tailor’s stool in the centre of her (low-luxury almost) penthouse apartment, As stood awkwardly as two girls, probably no older than her eldest daughter, flitted about the voluminous skirts of her cloud-like dress for the evening’s event, fitting and tucking and readjusting to an exhaustive point. Experience told her not to move a hair, although these two didn’t seem as vindictive as the old harpy who had once been part of her team when she first started racing. (The vicious older woman – although now that As thought about it, she was probably now the same age as her former dressmaker – never hesitated to stab young Assana with pins if she even dared breathe during a fitting.) Even more awkwardly still was the arm stretched out and away clutching an untouched glass of somesuchsort (she hadn’t been paying attention) pressed into her hand the moment her agents and publicists invaded her home. Whatever current brand of alcohol RISE was courting was likely to be in that cup trying to lure her away while everyone was casually “forgetting” that she would imbibe no such thing these days.

And that bastard Atraxys let her stand there like that, fully aware of her feelings on the matter idly scrolling away on his holopad, his boredom making itself more important than her discomfort.

Blowing away the ruffle closest to her face for the umpteenth time, Assana decided she had had it.

“Okay that’s it, I need some air,” she declared, stepping down from the dais, waving the young stylists away from her as she moved. They looked at her in surprise, near frozen on the spot until Atraxys’ deep baritone flowed from his place on the couch: “Give us the room.” Assana struggled to storm for the kitchen gathering her dress up roughly as the stylists scuttled out, their heels scuffling the floors, and one whispered, “She’s kinda old. Does she like … need a break or something?” as they disappeared out the door.

Biting down to stop herself from screaming in frustration, As dumped the contents of her crystal cup into the sink, rinsed it out, and filled it with cool water. She drained the cup greedily, not realizing how hard her other hand was gripping the edge of the counter until she released, the tension crabbing her hand for a moment. 

“Are we having fun yet?” 

As looked up and gave her manager a withering glare that would never see the outside of that apartment before softening with resign as she took a deep breath.

“It’s just a lot to take in,” she replied. “There’s so much more to wrap my head around - especially all this media and appearance making. The body mods - who’s idea was that?”

“The business is evolving,” Atraxys shrugged.

“But so quickly? I know I retired, but I wasn’t gone that long.” Assana picked up her personal holopad from the counter where it had been abandoned when the stylists descended. “And the fanbase - it spreads much further than I ever thought.” She flipped through open tabs to find what she was looking for. “It used to just be magazines and videos, minor promotional things. But now the collective is filled with pockets of fans talking, arguing, and creating things - all dedicated to their adoration of racers. There’s fan-made art -” She held up the holopad to show him an image of a hyper-stylized version of Supernova and MK II as a goddess and pegasus heading to war against a brilliant sunset sky, other racers somewhat identifiable in the background. “- this looks like it could be a RISE promotion, but it’s not - someone just made it in their home on their own time for their own amusement. There’s even someone who composed an entire symphony - a symphony, Trax - devoted entirely to Flower,” she told him, flicking through saved pages. “You should give it a listen - I actually broke down in tears when I listened to it, the whole thing was so moving and beautiful. It’s unbelievable, the amount of talent and obsession out there in the collective, just being shared between groups of fans.”

Atraxys looked somewhat amused, which was not quite the reaction she had hoped for ... although, if she was honest, she wasn’t sure what she thought his reaction would be.

“Creative expression is quite the highest compliment, especially from other worlders,” he mused, looking over Assana’s shoulders as she flicked through even more. 

“This is nothing, there’s someone who has designed and is selling figurines of all racers, past and present, and they look stunning - I was even tempted to order one.”

“Really? Who? Supernova past?”

“No, gods no.” Assana bit down on her lip to prevent herself from supplying an answer. “The thing is the level of consumption is much bigger than I expected. It’s insane and awing at the same time.”

“It is impressive. But, people will always create devotional items to their idols.”

“True. It’s not just visual art, though.” She looked up from the holopad and grinned lopsidedly. “Have you ever heard of fan-fiction?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spending the past decade on a private spacious estate had not done well to help her re-adjust to the claustrophobic nature of Unicorn City and the celebrity lifestyle. Surrounded by an entire retinue of people she barely recognized, As straightened out her posture, held her head high, and became Supernova as she glided through the front doors of the Neon Demon. Trying not to flinch at the constant flashing of camera drones and her name being shouting over like waves crashing over one another as people tried to touch any small part of her as reverent fingers reached out to touch her, to lovingly graze a fragment of her dress, upturned eyes all eagerly roving her face - or rather the hologrammed amalgamation -  as if the barest contact or look from Supernova would grant them some celestial blessing. Those of her retinue even adjusted their positions ever so slightly, allowing fans through, gently jostling aside only those who overstayed their welcome. She tried not to cringe as hundreds of fingers reached out and sought flesh, not having been touched so much in awe since she had carried Indigo, the sheer memory of the constant onslaught of people touching her pregnant body as if they could draw energy from the extra life she bore repulsed Assana, but Supernova could not feel as such. Although she wanted nothing more than to fold into herself, to shrink away from the awed masses, the most serene and benevolent smile she could summon spread across her lips, eyes meeting with as many worshippers as she could, accepting their devotion and repaying them with nothing but her presence, which would sate them for days. 

This was far worse than the fan-works on the collective - at least those could be separated, the safety of the screen providing a protective barrier. Do you not have real gods to devote to? she wondered, overlooking the zealots with gold painted into their hair, angelic wings painted around their eyes in honour of Supernova’s grand circuit win almost 15 years ago. They called her name like a prayer, brushing her arms as she ascended the dais at the back of the club to join the other gods racers, repressing the desire to find a quiet corner to clean herself off. Instead, her beglittered arms were now smudged with track marks from adoring fingers. She looked quickly over her shoulder to see through the crowds now filling in the space that had been parted for her, a group of younger girls: one held her hand aloft and was crying with hysteric joy as her friends clung to her, all either crying as well or on the verge of some sort of actual ecstasy. They all looked to be Jaina’s age, which would have bothered her more if the girls hadn’t made such a display of tears. 

Things are much different now, everything is in extremes, she thought, turning her focus away from her congregation to the other racers and their entourages. As she passed by some crystal curtains, she spotted Flower sitting on a couch, her ever-present tattooed shadow nearby. It was a relief to see a teammate, almost grounding her after what had happened moments ago, a reminder that it was all a façade. Breaking stride momentarily, she nodded her head and gave a small wave to the younger racer. As she did, Flower spat out her drink - in surprise? Assana flashed a goofy grin before it collapsed back into a goddess’s smile for the people, trying not to reveal an honest personality. Aura was so odd, but endearingly so. Even the fact that she had puked on As during Supernova’s first official outing after the announcement of her comeback hadn’t diminished this feeling. 

Sunbeam, on the other hand, she felt strange being around. Sometimes it seemed like she was looking into a mirror directly linked to the past, like the character of Sunbeam was Supernova in her early years, but almost heightened in a way. She was what Assana had strove to be, the true daughter of Sky World, representative of all the morals and values her people prided themselves on … but she had always felt she failed that image somehow, and now Sunbeam was there as a tangible reminder. She didn’t dislike or begrudge Sunbeam for it, the girl was the embodiment of Sky World values both as a caricature and as herself it seemed, and As didn’t have it in her to hold it against the girl.

Finding herself with yet another drink placed into her hand, Assana settled in to watch the other racers. Snow Princess - or, Snow, rather - was there, listening to an overly animated woman. Diamond eyes caught As staring at her, mid-sip, and As could only nod in acknowledgement to her, the only other racer outside of RISE that she knew from before. As had watched Snow’s reemergence onscreen like most others, wondering what had happened to her in truth, not the Twilight version of it. Snow gave a curt nod in reply before returning to her companion. Assana’s attention drifted between whatever inane conversation was happening around her to the surrounding activities. She spotted Nyx across the dais, her molten eyes blazing like twin suns from the darkness. Assana found it hard to look away, observing the dark girl as she spoke with those around her, as if her eyes had a magnetic quality that meant to pull you in before destroying you. They suddenly turned in her direction, and within seconds As looked away, embarrassed to be staring for too long whether Nyx noticed or not ... someone else probably did.

Masking her embarrassment, she tried to focus on the discussion before her, something about trying to get back a contract with Alix Estelle’s fashion house, one that had been a late sponsor just before Supernova’s retirement, when Glimmer touched her arm lightly, startling Assana. Without speaking, her PA showed her her holopalm, which glowed a soft blue with an incoming call - the kids. Assana took the holopalm and turned to leave, pausing only when Atraxys snagged her arm.

“You’re not leaving right now, are you?” he asked, golden eyes glowing with disapproval. Assana pulled her arm out of his reach. 

“I am. You’ve got a handle on this,” she replied dismissively. She tore away from the group, seeking a quieter space to take the call, heart racing, worrying that Draca would have something to say if she missed it, worrying that her children might be disappointed in her for not talking to them. Desperate anxiety carried her to a small corridor near the bathrooms, the music muffling slightly as she rounded the corner. Frantic, she punched in the call while tucking herself into a tight alcove and fumbling with the switch for her holocollar (she couldn't bear to have them see that face). Immediately the crowded faces of her three children appeared, a faint blu-ish pallor to them from the holographic light as they excitedly shouted their hellos.

“Mummy, you look so pretty!” cooed Indigo, his face growing larger as he leaned closer, inspecting the screen back home.

“Thank you, baby,” As replied, trying not to cry with relief at seeing their faces. “Did you guys have a good day? Jain - how was your first day at the Lyceum? Indi, sweetheart, can you move back, your sisters can’t see … Xan - what’s that, did you paint that?”

Assana grinned broadly, laughing with them as they recounted their days and doled out advice when needed. You could call her a lot of things, but As would be damned if anyone tried to say she wasn’t present - or as present as she could be while off-world. Making sure she spoke to her kids every night was the most important thing in her life and no amount of public appearances was going to stop her. 

“Mum - where are you?” asked Jaina, cutting through Indigo and Xanthippe chattering about something trivial between the two of them.

“Um, just a club, it’s a promotional thing.”

“Mum.”

“I know, I know! But I can take a break to call you guys, it’s not a big deal.”

“You sure?”

“Of course! Anyway, I’d rather be back home with you guys.” Assana immediately clamped her mouth shut, realizing her mistake. The happy chattering stopped immediately as the three faces sobered.

“I wish you were here too, mummy,” replied Indigo. “Mom can’t sing me to sleep like you could.”

“Mom can’t sing - it’s pure torture listening to it,” quipped Xanthippe. 

“Mom’s trying, and that’s the main thing,” As replied, fighting down a smile. Draca was probably the most tone-deaf person in the galaxy, but it had never stopped her before. “I love you all, and I’d be there if I could. Maybe in a couple weeks we can ask mom if you guys can come for a visit - how’s that sound?” The holograms erupted with excited chattering before they exchanged farewells and good-nights, the hologram fizzling out as the call ended. The sudden silence in the hall was deafening and isolating. It was her own fault, this exile, she knew. Scuffling a few stray tears out of her eyes without a care for her make-up, Assana straightened up, forced her mind clear, and breezed back out into the main hall of the club, the pulsing music dragging her back in.

Taglist: @ayzrules @bebemoon @jay-swagsby @filthysoulls @shiftyprincess @kzombi3 @now-on-elissastillstands 

[u23art]

A Look At Kingdom Hearts 3.

Kingdom Hearts 3 is an epilogue. 

         Kingdom Hearts 3, is sadly not the resolution we, or at least I, had hoped for. I wanted this to be a celebration of all the things that made Kingdom Hearts great, instead we got a Kingdom Hearts title that frankly is missing a few pieces.  Though there were elements in this game that I adored, it sadly doesn’t overtake Kingdom Hearts 2 in terms of the quality the best titles of the series can achieve. 

         The wait was long, the wait was arduous while fans of the series were drip fed morsels of information about the game. I counted down the days until the day of release, and on the day of release I counted the seconds until Gamestop open while I waited beside the door in below zero temperatures. My excitement didn’t cease as in addition my preorder for the limited edition PS4 Pro arrived the very same day, and since I had no internet due to extreme cold conditions I sat myself down for 3 days and played through Kingdom Hearts 3.

The gameplay, is smooth, I had my worries after 0.2 with its overly speedy movement through stages and at times “lumpy” action, but in 3 though Sora moves fast but the stages are wide and vast, and action inputs are responsive and attacks can be sequenced together with ease from keyblade swings, magic and shot lock commands. My only complaint was that I wasn’t given an option like in Kingdom Hearts 2 to turn off some of these activation commands, cause I could have done without Attraction Flow attacks popping up as often as they did.

  One cool additional feature however, was the ability to upgrade keyblades, rather than just switching to the next new keyblade after each world, each keyblade has a unique play style and you can power it up if it suits your approach to combat. I primarily found myself switching between the Shooting Star and Favorite Deputy keyblades.

The best stages to me, were Olympus, Toy Box and Monstropolous, they were wonderful to look at with tons of spaces to explore. The weakest worlds on the other hand, were Arrendale and San Fransokyo. Arrendale is white, Arrendale is covered in Snow, this is annoying when trying to differentiate areas and either find your way or find lucky emblems. San Fransokyo, is a city block, with grey buildings the blur into one another and it’s ESPECIALLY hard to find things like treasure chests. And then there’s Twilight Town, we are allowed ONE area of Twilight Town to mingle about in. Perhaps they should have put resources into making Twilight Town bigger instead of rendering music videos for "Let It Go" and......"Do You Want To Build A Snowman"......

Story wise, Sora is tasked by Yen Sid to achieve the power of waking in order to bring back Ven. Instead of being a teacher, he sends Sora out guided by his heart to various Disney worlds to get stronger and get the power of waking. Riku and Mickey on the other hand, are tasked with dropping into the world of Darkness to find Aqua.

Addressing this first, I was disappointed with the Riku segments, I expected brief adventures but instead we get two fights. I would have accepted reusing stages and assets from 0.2, we’re looking for Aqua anyway, why not go through places she did as we retrace our steps.

Going back to Sora’s story, it feels far too much like a straight line though points A through B and ect. Kingdom Hearts 2 worked as well as it did thanks in part to Hollow Bastion, a world with an expanding narrative to unravel after beating certain numbers of Disney worlds. On top of not having Radiant Gardens available to visit here, there wasn’t a single Final Fantasy character to drive its plot anyway.

I mentioned earlier that this game felt like it was missing pieces, there were signs that this would be the case when it was evident the first world would be Olympus and not an original world for the narrative to revolve around like Traverse Town, Twilight Town or Radiant Gardens. Upon starting up the game, my fears were further affirmed when I played through the entirety of Olympus’s narrative and Phil hadn’t said a single word. After visiting Olympus a second time, I was further saddened that there was no Hades cup or tournament. There are multiple instances of this throughout the game, this gnawing feeling that something is missing. Kingdom Hearts has always been known as an amalgamation of Final Fantasy and Disney, and to not have an FF character beyond some mentions of Cloud and Auron makes the whole experience feel disingenuous to what Kingdom Hearts is instead of celebrating what makes it great. There are MENTIONS of FF things, like some of the gummi ships, a cactuar and Leviathan from Final Fantasy V, but sadly the restoration committee is a no show.

One of the main selling points of this game was that the worlds are vast and seamlessly interconnected with the exception of a few points. This is cool, however without having separate areas and no brief pauses and transitions between them, the campaigns feel like they just breeze on by despite the fact that each one is a little under 2 hours. This creates a similar sort of problem that Final Fantasy XV had, where there was a focus on making vast open areas but sadly there’s no meaty substance to fill them with.

On a personal note, this game could have been fantastic-ish had they just replaced the shallow Frozen and BH6 worlds with worlds from Pocahontas and Treasure Planet.

The story should have enforced the story of Kingdom Hearts 2, which was immensely fun to play, INSTEAD it enforces THE MOBILE game which is not fun to play and personally I had quit after being sick of road blocks that kept me from progressing. Heck, this game actually undoes a lot of good KH2 did for the overall narrative. Union X stopped being especially fun since it had a habit of creating more and more questions without providing answers, a quality that has been passed on to Kingdom Hearts 3. 

Here is a list of questions that this game created without answering them.

What keyblade information did Larxene, Luxord, Demyx and Marluxia divulge to Saix?

Luxord and Demyx had Keyblades?

Axel and Saix became apprentices to Ansem to Wise to find and save a girl? 

Who is this girl, WHO are they talking about?

If Riku’s inner Riku whisked away Replica Riku to heart heaven, how could Xehanort still have the right amount of Darknesses.

When did Roxas leave Sora’s body to enter the replica body?

How did Roxas fly into battle from the sky?

How did the Norts get Xion’s heart from heart heaven to put into a replica?

How did Ansem the Wise get Namine from heart heaven into a replica?

How did Ansem the Wise conduct experiments on children and keep that hidden? That happened?

Where did Xehanort learn about the stupid requirements of 7 lights and 13 darkness to make Kingdom Hearts appear?

Where the H did Demyx go after he dropped off a replica and Ansem the Wise?

Why did Kairi shatter from Xehanort’s strike?

How did Sora save Kairi?

Where is Sora?

What rock are the Final Fantasy characters hiding under?

And most importantly, why was Phil not allowed to utter a SINGLE words the whole 2 or so hours I was at Olympus?

Ultimately I am happy that I finally got Kingdom Hearts 3, but I have a theory that higher interference kept this game hindered from being truly great.

Consider for a moment, have you notice that Kingdom Hearts 3 was announced in 2013 yet Big Hero 6 didn’t come out until 2014? 

HMMMMMMMMMMMMM.