#but if that were to happen it'd be a problem with the PEOPLE who chose to use + sell my data not a problem with the existence of AI itself

[lacunazai]

I get that tbh so let me give you this:

Drunk and clingy Chuuya who won't let anyone touch him besides his beloved <3

oh drunk clingy chuuya my roman empire ( while writing this I realised gradually that i was not at all prepared to write this evening. oops. ) (( it's fine the post won't get far I think ))

it's just a port mafia party, some celebratory banquet for completing a rather large tradeoff mission. of course chuuya is the one that cracks open the fanciest bottle. the one with a few too many digits and zeros for any normal person to glance twice at. but he's always been an extravagant guy, and the more expensive it tastes the better quality it is. that's what he thinks, anyway.

he doesn't particularly bother trying to limit the glasses he intakes, why should he? koyo was staying sober, so was hirotsu, enough people that he'd be perfectly fine if anything severe happened. might as well enjoy the night as it lasts.

It's when his vision starts to blur that the first problem arises. his movements are more staggered as he struggles to keep his balance - and he lets out an almost embarassingly high pitched whine of frustration to avoid when koyo reaches out a hand to try and help stabilise him.

chuuyas knees hit the ground, a few heads turn, but its nothing too interesting. the executive had been known for not bring able to handle his alcohol too well, after all. It's when koyo leans down to help him up, and her hand is slapped away - that more people have their eyes on the scene before them.

after all, nobody who'd responded to her with violence was treated kindly in the past.

but she knows different. chuuya wouldn't do that to her - the 15 year old she spent nights trying to teach basic table manners wouldn't hit her with aggression in mind. so it had to be something else.

she let's out a gentle sigh as she calls your cell. if anyone had noticed how chuuya has a painful softspot for you, it was her. if anyone could help with a situation like this, it'd be you.

the conversation doesn't last long. a simple polite request for you to come pick him up, to see if he'll let you pick him up. and when you arrive, he obviously sees you before you spot him, a slurred whiny call of your name cutting through the crowd. one that'd have a sober chuuya breaking brick walls with his skull to forget about it.

you move over to him, listening to his unintelligible blabbers as he clings to your leg. the gentle sobs as he nuzzles into the fabric of the trousers you'd lazily thrown on. the whimpers of "I missed you s'much.." "where were you?.." "my pretty thing.."

it takes a moment to get him onto his feet again, feeling his full weight lean into you as you do so. you call a thanks to koyo, hearing her gentle giggle as you lug your boyfriend out of the party. a response of "good luck with him!" rings past the music on the speakers.

getting him home was an effort. dragging him into bed with his entire damn weight on you should've got you an olympics medal. but seeing his hazy eyes search for you, a blubber of your name as he spots you. and those gloved hands reaching like you're the only thing he'll ever need in life. it's hard to stay mad.

you settle beside him in bed, letting him wrap around you like a koala. chosing to not comment on the smell of his breath as he whispers love to you for the simplest things. he's always been sweet to you like that.

you feel the way his hands still as he drifts to sleep. from idly fiddling with your clothes to completely stone on your side. listening to the way his breathing relaxes. he felt so safe around you. it'd always been you. that's how he liked it.

[beansandsprouts]

I'm Not Jealous

Dean Winchester x fem reader

Fluff with a sprinkling of angst

Summary: While on a hunt, you and the boys bumped into another hunter working the same case. You decide to join forces, but you and this new hunter get along too well for Dean's liking.

Warnings: descriptions of violence, blood, little bit of angst, implication of sex

Dean watched as you giggled at something that hunter, Ian, had said. His jaw clenched when you touched Ian's arm and moved in closer to him.

He huffed as he turned his attention back to his array of weapons as Sam gave him a knowing look.

"You know she wouldn't be flirting with someone else if you'd made a move sooner."

"What the hell are you talkin about?"

"Come on man, it's obvious how you feel about her." Sam pushed.

"She's our friend, Sam. I just don't want her to get taken advantage of."

"Uh huh."

You were hunting a werewolf, it had killed four people in the last few days and you all intended on putting an end to it.

You'd tracked it to an abandoned farmhouse a few miles outside of town, and were preparing to make a move.

"Y/n! You ready?"

You turned to face Dean, giving him a bright smile and a thumbs up.

"Alright, let's move!"

The four of you walked back out to your cars, the werewolf having been taken down without too much trouble. There would definitely be some bruises but nothing too serious.

You were leaning back against Ian's car, chatting. Dean watched, brows furrowed as he put away his weapons. His blood boiled when Ian reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind your ear.

"Dean, you can't keep angrily staring at them."

"I don't know what you're talking about." He grumbled, averting his eyes and slamming the trunk shut.

"Hey! Ian and I are gonna go grab some dinner. I'll see you guys back at the motel, kay?"

"Yeah...whatever." Dean grumbled, not sparing you a glance.

Sam side eyed him before turning to you, "Yeah no problem. Be safe, call if you need anything."

"Will do Sam." You smiled and turned back towards Ian's car.

"You just cannot stand the thought of her with someone else." Sam chuckled.

"I just...shes never been the type. She doesn't do one night stands."

"What makes you think it's a one night stand?" Sam raised a brow.

"You can't have relationships with this job Sammy. It just doesn't work."

"Maybe not with a normal person. But two hunters? That would work better."

"You don't think she's seriously considering dating that...that...prick?"

"Ian's a nice guy Dean."

"He's not good enough for her."

"You don't think anyone's good enough for her." Sam snorted.

Dean glared at him.

"You are seriously oblivious to how much you like her, aren't you?"

"What're you on about?"

"Do you not see the way that you look at her? The way you light up when she walks into the kitchen in the mornings? How she's always the one you check on after a hunt? You've always guarded her against guys at bars. You've always taken care of her Dean."

"She's family Sam. We take care of family." He growled.

Sam sighed, "Whatever you say."

When you returned later that night, Dean was sitting up in bed watching TV next to a sleeping Sam.

"Hey!" You whispered.

Dean glanced at you, "You have fun?"

You smiled, "Yeah, Ian's great."

He grunted in response, shutting off the TV and sliding under the covers. You bit your lip, you'd kinda hoped he'd have more of a reaction to you going out with someone.

You'd had feelings for Dean for years, but either he didn't notice or he chose not to. Eventually you'd resigned yourself to being his friend, his hunting partner. But you'd always wished for me. Maybe that was why you never pursued someone, you'd always kinda hoped something would happen.

But Ian was funny and cute, and you figured maybe it was time to move on. You'd tried to have a good time tonight, but all you could think about was what it'd be like to be with Dean. You'd come clean about it to Ian, not wanting him to get too involved with someone who was in love with another man. But he'd said it was okay, he was willing to wait for you to fall for him instead. He'd even asked you out again next week. It felt good to be wanted, to have someone want to be with you.

A week later and you're getting ready for your date with Ian. He'd invited you out to this nicer restaurant. Definitely a lot nicer than you were used to. You'd put on a form fitting black dress that came down to the mid thigh and accentuated your curves, the neckline plunged, showing off your chest a bit. You'd left your hair down for once, letting it frame your face nicely. And youd put on some nice perfume Mary had gifted you awhile back. You felt good and you looked good.

You walked out into the main room and the boys looked up as you did, Sam and Cas raised their brows and Dean choked on his beer.

"You look nice." Cas said.

"Really nice. I think I've seen your hair down like...twice." Sam said.

You grinned, "Thanks guys. Its definitely a change from what I'm used to but Ian's taking me to some fancy place in town so the usual jeans and t-shirt weren't an option."

Dean was staring at you, looking you up and down, seemingly in shock.

You heard a knock at the door, and shouted for him to come in. Ian came in, a bouquet of flowers in hand. He came down the stairs and his eyes widened when he saw you.

"Wow."

"Thanks." You smiled at him.

He wordlessly handed you the flowers, still staring. You left the room to try and hunt down a vase.

"You better treat her right." Dean said. Not even looking at Ian.

"Oh like you have?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Dean growled, standing and whipping around to face him.

Ian had a look of contempt on his face, like he was disgusted by the mere sight of Dean, "Nothing."

"No what the fuck-"

"I found a vase," You said as you entered the room again, "Put them in my-what's going on in here?"

"Nothing! You ready to go?"

"Uh yeah, sure." You said, eyes on Dean's clearly irritated face.

The evening was wonderful, Ian was lovely to be around. And the food was great. You entered the bunker again later that night with a smile on your face, which was quickly gone when you saw the pissed off look on Dean's.

"Dean? You ok?"

"Why are you going out with him?"

"Because I like him? What do you mean?"

"You've only ever needed us. Why has that suddenly changed? What could he possibly give you that me and Sam and Cas and Jack can't?"

You looked at him, shocked. He had stood and turned to face you.

"You can't have seriously expected this to never happen?"

"Why not? We've given you everything you need. A home, protection, family. What else is there?"

You blinked, "What?"

"What does he give you that we cant?" He growled.

You shook your head, "I want to be loved, Dean. I want to be held and kissed," your voice rising, "I want to be taken on dates and brought flowers. And God damnit I want to have sex!"

He just looked at you in shock.

"Listen," you continued, "I love you guys. You mean the world to me. But you all can't give me that. You can't give me what I want." Your voice broke.

"Why not?"

Your face contorted in confusion, "What do you mean?"

Dean's jaw clenched, "Why cant I be the one to give you that?"

"What?"

"Why not me y/n? I know I'm not the ideal partner, I drink a lot, I'm not the most emotional, and I know I don't deserve you, but I can try. I want to try. I want to give you that. I want you to smile at me the way you smiled at that schmuck."

You took a step back, ran your hands through your hair. You'd wanted this for so long. You'd imagined it, imagined what he'd say, what you'd say. But suddenly it was actually happening and you didn't know what to do.

Dean stepped forward and took your hands into his rough ones.

"Can't you give me a chance to do that for you?" He pleaded.

"God damnit Dean. I finally try to move on from you and you drag me right back in."

He drew in a breath as you looked up at him, teary eyed.

You stepped forward and leaned up, pressing a soft kiss to his lips.

Dean felt his heart flutter at the small action, he stared at you wide eyed.

"You just...you..."

"I kissed you Dean." You said with an amused look on your face.

He broke out in a wide grin, "Wow."

"Wow?" You snorted.

"Shut up." Though you could tell he really didn't mean it.

"So are you gonna just stand there grinning like an idiot or are you gonna kiss me?"

"I'm gonna kiss you." He said as he leaned down, wrapping an arm around your waist and pulling you flush against his body, and kissed you.

You sighed happily, reaching to wrap your arms around his neck, kissing him like you'd been waiting to for thousands of years. And in some ways, it felt like you had.

He pulled back and began pressing kisses to your jaw and neck, you giggled. The feeling of his stubble brushing against your neck sent butterflies fluttering in your stomach. His lips moved down your neck nipping and sucking, leaving marks along the way.

"Dean..." You breathed, your hands gently tugging at his hair.

"You're mine now. And I'm gonna make sure everyone knows it. Especially that wussy little prick you went out with tonight."

"He's not wussy and hes not a prick." You snorted.

"Seriously?"

"At least he was open about his feelings from the beginning. It didn't take him years to realize how much of a catch I am." You grinned.

Dean groaned, "You're not gonna let that go are you?"

"Oh definitely not. It took you three years to finally tell me you wanted me. Three years and me dressing up to go out with someone else."

"God when you walked in...I just couldn't believe it. I'd never seen you like that. Most beautiful woman I've ever seen. And then when I realized it was for that pr-" He paused when you gave him a look, "For that man. It pissed me off. I wanted you to dress like that for me."

"Oh Dean, you lovely oblivious idiot." You cooed.

"An oblivious idiot that you fell for." He teased.

"Damn right I did." You said and pulled him down to press little kisses all over his face.

As you moved to kiss his cheek he turned his head to catch your lips.

"Now, let me show you something Ian definitely can't do." He grinned, picking you up and carrying you off to his room.

The next morning you wandered out sleepily in one of Dean's t-shirts. Sam looked up at you, taking in the way you looked before grinning.

"Finally figured out his feelings huh?"

"Took him long enough." You laughed.

"Damn right it did. I've been watching you two pine after each other for way too long."

"It only took that long because he's an idiot."

"Who's an idiot?" Dean asked, walking into the kitchen and pressing a kiss to the top of your head.

"No one." You said as you and Sam shared a knowing look.

Dean narrowed his eyes, "Uh huh."

"Nothing to worry about love, eat your bacon." You chuckled.

Dean shrugged and sat at the table, loading his plate with eggs and bacon.

You smiled, a cup of coffee in your hand. You felt satisfied. And happy, and you knew you'd only feel happier as time went on.

[mareastrorum]

if essek did it, why do you think he did? i'm at a loss as to how it would benefit him to give her a shiv. (hope my tone doesn't read hostile, i'm genuinely confused)

I haven't taken any of the asks as hostile, so no worries!

The short answer is that Essek would have benefited whether the Scourger succeeded in killing Caleb or not. Longer answer:

To begin with, let's set the stage. In episode 56, the Nein had handed over the beacon, and in 57, the Bright Queen awarded them with emblems that represented their status as heroes of the Dynasty. It was only after the Bright Queen elevated their status in front of the entire court that she assigned Essek (without asking first) to be their "steward" for the time being, including the responsibility of seeing as to their lodgings.

The Bright Queen is clever. She certainly considered that maybe this was a ploy from the Empire to insert spies into her midst, especially because only one of two beacons was returned. From her perspective, assigning her most trusted spymaster to keep an eye on these idiots is exactly what she should do. If they're plants, Essek would sort it out. If not, they were highly valuable assets that could be used against the Empire or as liaisons.

So, let's orient this from Essek's POV. This bunch of chucklefucks that don't know court decorum came into the queen's throne room, intending to ask a favor in exchange for ridding Asarius of a demon infestation. Then a rival noble calls them out for attacking him and other Kryn outside of Asarius. Just before they're arrested, the human (ginger with blue eyes, a Zemnian) pulls out a beacon of the Luxon, announces that he and his friends are not friends of the Empire, and then offers it to the Bright Queen. Now they're the queen's favored, and out of all the people at court that day, she chose Essek Thelyss, the Shadowhand, in charge of the Dungeon of Penance, to keep an eye on them.

But Essek is the one that stole the beacons. He realizes the same possibilities (spies or well-intentioned rubes), but if anyone in the Dynasty knew about the Volstrucker, it'd be Essek. There is no reason whatsoever for Essek to trust the Nein because those beacons were supposed to stay in the Empire. The reason he handed them over in the first place was that he was supposed to share in the research done by incredibly powerful wizards who did not care about the religious significance. Whether Essek knew or not that one had been lost by the Assembly, the Nein's act of returning one negatively impacted the deal he made. There's the possibilities that Ikithon and the other Assembly members betrayed Essek by lying or hiding information, or perhaps they sent the Nein to expose Essek as the traitor to remove a loose end, or perhaps the Nein really are ignorant and they could gum everything up. Regardless of which situation this is, the best outcome for Essek would be neutralizing the interlopers before they come upon, intentionally or not, his involvement in the theft of the beacons.

The problem, of course, is that the Nein are Heroes of the Dynasty, and since Essek is responsible for their care in the Dynasty, failure to safeguard them would also reflect badly upon him. That could also sabotage his position and ability to do the research he pleases. So he can't just kill them. He has to get them killed in a way that would not make him look bad, preferably in a way that scapegoats someone else for the inevitable blame at failing to protect them.

The condemned Scourger attacked Caleb in episode 77. None of the events between Essek's introduction and that point provide a reason for Essek to trust the Nein regarding his personal risk as a traitor to the Dynasty. Here are his subsequent appearances and what happened:

Episode 57: Essek lets Yeza out of his prison after the interrogation yields information on DeRogna's research of the beacons (the potions Yeza made) and that she took the beacon back two days before the attack, which was shortly before the Nein arrived in Felderwin and began heading to the Dynasty. Because of the timeline of events, Essek realizes that must be the second beacon, so now both are accounted for. This also lets him know what sort of research they did with that beacon, and since Yeza only saw one, the one the Nein returned must have been used for something else. This is great intel for Essek, but not a reason to trust the Nein--only to find them useful.

Episode 61: After the Nein report back to Professor Waccoh of their completion of her mission, Essek arrives at the Inn where he lodged the Nein and escorts them to the Thelyss estate that his den has secured for them. Notably, the work they did was not for Essek; they worked for Waccoh and were paid for the trouble. That just proved they're capable mercenaries.

Episode 62: Essek visits the Xhorhaus after the Nein have settled a bit. He's rather cold: declines offer to join for dinner, declines a drink, has to be persuaded to answer why he isn't familiar with the neighborhood, doesn't want to say where he lives, repeatedly says he wants to get back to his research, etc. It's only once Caleb starts discussing magic and how he wants to learn that Essek starts the game they play about trying to get info from the other without divulging anything useful. Essek requests something impressive for the chance he might teach Caleb something. He then asks questions when Caleb shows off his familiar and giant earthen cat paw:

Essek was flat out rude to Beau, and this was before the whole "White Xhorhasian" drink faux pas. But even with an unimpressive persuasion roll, he offers Caleb a choice of the types of spells he could learn and even lets Caleb handle and read the book himself. Again, Essek has no reason to trust the Nein at this point. This wasn't because he believed or trusted Caleb--Caleb didn't persuade Essek of shit. Essek was fishing for information. He was already going to teach Caleb something, and the persuasion roll was probably to see how many spell levels he'd get. What spells does this Zemnian that stole a beacon from the Empire want to know? Would he give into the temptation to read elsewhere in the book? Caleb chose "the bending of fate, destiny" and learned Fortune's Favor and Gift of Alaracity. Essek is slightly less rude to the Nein as he leaves, probably pleased that he learned something useful in exchange for low-level dunamancy spells, plus now Caleb owes him a favor. Favors are a great way to set up the Nein for whatever scheme he intends later.

Episode 63: Essek is present in the Bright Queen's throne room when the Nein report their findings from the Overcrow Apothecary to her. During this conversation, Caleb admits to the Bright Queen that he had received some training to become a Scourger, though he did not complete it. When Essek is asked if he believes them about the cult of the Angel of Irons, he says he does, and even says he trusts them, though he declines to join them on this quest. Essek has not had any reason to trust the Nein by this point. He flat out lied. Even Fjord commented "'Cause he's been checking on that shit," because he and the others felt Essek was likely keeping an eye on them via Scrying (since they discovered hovering orbs in the Xhorhaus). Maybe their strangeness and civility (even if a little racist) made them endearing, but that's a different issue from trust. Essek wants them to chase down this cult precisely because it is dangerous and could get them killed. All the better that they die in service of the Dynasty, because then he won't be blamed for something sanctioned by the Bright Queen herself.

Episode 65: Jester sends to Essek asking about the Arbor Exemplar in the Barbed Fields, and while she asked for more, he only provides the name, notes it's dangerous terrain, and says they're doing him proud.

Episode 70: When the Nein return to Rosohna and report to the Bright Queen, Essek is again in the throne room. Before Essek is singled out, Caleb requests from the Bright Queen more training from Essek and info on the newly captured Scourger (which they just learned about, and Caleb suspects is Astrid). The Bright Queen says that the Nein haven't quite earned that much trust yet. Once Caduceus explains that the Nein want to fast and safe travel to the Flotket Alps, Essek makes himself known and offers to take them there, again declining to do more than transport them. Essek does not accompany the Nein to see the Scourger, but considering it's his dungeon and he is a spymaster, he was probably Scrying or otherwise tracking what transpired. Of course, it turns out that she isn't Astrid. Later, Caleb returns to the Lucid Bastion and waits to speak to Essek. Caleb confirms he was not actually a Scourger, but knows some about them. Caleb also requests a chance to speak to the Scourger again, even if Essek is there, and that they not accelerate the execution. (He didn't even ask for a delay.) Essek says he'll see and leaves.

Sidebar: Essek absolutely wants intel from this Scourger. He would know they report to the Assembly, and he would not know whether they are aware of his deal with the Assembly. As a condemned captive, her word against his isn't going to mean anything anyway, so the potential of the Scourger outing Essek is practically nil. Thus, there isn't any real risk at letting the Scourger say whatever she wants to say to Caleb. If anything, observing undetected meant better intel.

Episode 71: Jester sends to Essek, who arrives with an armed guard (weird) to teleport the Nein to the Flotket Alps. Before they go, the Nein left ball bearings on the ground to see if Essek floats (he does) and then pretend to berate Dairon, their "housekeeper", for leaving them out. Essek seems to find the whole thing amusing, then teleports them. They got a mishap because of the roll, but then arrive in the mountains. Again, stuff that could be endearing, but why did Essek have an armed guard...? That's so weird.

Episode 72: The Nein poke a little fun at Essek for the mishap, but he leaves via a Teleportation Circle.

Episode 73: Caleb asks Jester to Send to Essek to ask about the status of the Scourger's execution date, but Jester instead requests a delay. Remember how Caleb didn't request a delay before? Now he's requesting a delay indirectly; he didn't even ask Essek himself. (Man, that would seem rude from Essek's POV.) Essek responds that he'll try, but notes his den has no further interest in keeping the Scourger alive. When Caleb asks Jester to pass on that he might be able to help because of his history, Essek responds the same, but cracks a joke since Jester ended with "You pooping?" Essek's trying to endear himself to Jester, but we can't conclude whether it's sincere or subterfuge. After all, if she told anyone he joked, he could easily deny it. That was specifically for her.

Episode 74: The Nein send to Essek and ask him to come to the Xhorhaus so he can teleport them and meet someone. They briefly discuss the Scourger, and while Essek managed to get an extension of 2 weeks on the execution, he needs more of a heads up for Caleb to visit the Scourger again. Caleb then says here is a formal request, and Essek says he'll deal with that arrangement then. They introduce him to Reani, he dispels an enchantment on a paper hiding some items, then he teleports them to Mythburrow. At the end of the episode, Matt notes they're racking up quite a debt to Essek.

Let's pause there.

Each prior time the Nein went to the Dungeon of Penance, it was impromptu. They had just been announced as Heroes of the Dynasty when Essek personally took them to the dungeon to see Yeza as their first stop. The Nein were permitted to visit the Scourger unescorted as soon as they learned about her. Now there needs to be notice? It couldn't be because of the execution because the Bright Queen mentioned to begin with that the Scourger would be executed. There was no change of plan other than the extension that the Nein requested only a day prior. Why would Essek need to give anyone notice about someone visiting a condemned prisoner held in the prison that he manages?

Probably to make sure that Scourger has a fucking shiv.

Episode 75: At the beginning of the episode, before returning to Rosohna, Essek notes the Nein are ridiculous, tells them to have fun, and even calls them "friends." Again, that makes him seem endearing and less formal, but it's done out in the boonies. If any of them tried to tell someone from the Dynasty that he had done any of those things, he could probably deny it. So his reputation is safe, and it makes it seem like he likes them.

That's twice now he's been nice without any reason to trust them. Hmmm, sure seems like building some plausible deniability to me.

Episode 77: Jester summons Essek to the Xhorhaus. They discuss that the Bright Queen would like the Nein to find where the remaining beacon is in the Empire. Caleb attempts to fish for whether any particular Assembly members come to mind that Essek wants investigated, but he replies that he could list all of them if Caleb likes. Beau's insight check to see if Essek is sincere about ending the conflict fails. Caleb attempts to fish for a last known location of the beacon, and Essek gives an unhelpful answer that it must certainly be moved frequently. That's Essek being rude; they already know the beacon was last seen in Felderwin because Yeza said DeRogna took it from there 2 days before his capture by the Kryn. Essek is being intentionally and obviously obtuse. Fjord asks if others are on this quest, and Essek answers yes, but declines to give the Nein a way to identify them. Then they bring up the condemned Scourger, and Essek only recommends speaking to her soon; no specified date. Caleb asks if that day works, then Essek assents and offers to escort him.

That sure is a suspicious moment to suddenly decide to be helpful, isn't it? Sure is weird that he went back to being rude after being openly amiable and even joking with them, isn't it?

Then, when they arrive at the prison:

That is a really weird thing to say after the Nein were permitted to visit this same prisoner unescorted without notice as soon as they learned about her. Of course, then the attack happens. Matt doesn't mention whether Essek entered the cell before, during, or after Caleb starts talking to the Scourger, but Essek kills the Scourger after the attack.

Looking back at all the events that occurred leading to this point, Essek has not had any reason not to think that the Nein are somehow working for the Assembly or otherwise would expose him to the Bright Queen if they discovered what he had done. The key issue is that if the Nein placed their loyalties to either the Empire or the Dynasty over their loyalty to him, they could ruin him. That circumstance hasn't changed by this point, so the only reason to keep any of them alive is that they're cute. There's his entire life in the balance if he keeps letting them run around, especially if they search for the other beacon.

With that in mind, setting up the Scourger to be able to attack Caleb only puts his reputation at risk, and Essek has already taken steps to minimize that problem. Caleb was the one that requested a delay. Caleb was the one that wanted to speak to the Scourger. Caleb was the one that volunteered he had been training to be one. Caleb was the one that offered to fish for information useful to the Dynasty. Each was a push on the Dynasty's normal procedure and/or a personal risk to himself.

And what does Essek have to gain? It would be easy for Essek to frame this as the Assembly's pet Zemnians putting themselves at risk for small gains, and they're so devious even the best prison in the Dynasty was not enough to secure them perfectly. All the more reason to demonize the Empire and the Scourgers. It wouldn't matter if Caleb died or not; the attack was simply fuel for propaganda. Remember, Essek did not want peace. He wanted war. That bolstered his position as a spymaster, distracted the Dynasty from anything he was up to, and provided cover for the Assembly's research. In the long-term, it would just be one more incident to point to if Essek ever needed to sow dissent about Caleb's mental or emotional stability or the risk posed to the Dynasty by the Assembly.

And if Caleb died? One less member of the Nein to worry about. They'd gotten Essek some decent intel about the beacons, about DeRogna's research, and about the Scourgers. But that's it. They've done him no favors, they aren't directly useful for his research, and they're a massive liability.

Either of those outcomes specifically required violence. It wouldn't be enough for the Scourger to just rage in her chains. She needed to somehow get loose and have a weapon. Spells wouldn't have been a sufficient/sensible threat; she wouldn't have possibly been able to prepare spells from a book, and cantrips wouldn't have done much on their own against someone as strong as Caleb. But getting the Empire-trained assassin a shiv sure would have been a threat to a wizard made of soggy paper, and no matter how it played out, it only made the Empire look more monstrous.

So, yeah, I absolutely believe Essek went out of his way to make sure the Scourger would have an opportunity and weapon to attack Caleb. Risking some human's life for one more justification to prolong a war he started? That's the sort of shit I would expect from a neutral evil Shadowhand.

[ikamigami]

I don't think that many people realized what actually happened at the second therapy episode Sun had with Earth..

Sun was even more quiet than in the previous therapy episode. His responses were.. actually they weren't even full sentences.. He was just saying "I don't know" and "yeah" or "uhh" most of the time..

And whenever he was talking he tried to give Earth hints to how he actually feels.. he was silently asking for help.. but unfortunately Earth didn't pick on any of those hints..

Cause first thing that Sun said was that he feels stuck.. and I think that he meant that he feels like that in general.. he's just stuck his whole life.. as an evil one.. unable to change..

Later he said that he feels like he should feel more about Solar's death.. that hit too close to home ಥ⁠‿⁠ಥ It's not that Sun wasn't upset about Solar's death but he feels like he doesn't feel as upset as he supposed.. He saw how much everyone was upset about Solar's death and he realized that his reaction just doesn't fit.. that maybe he wasn't actually upset..

It happened to me too many times.. I often felt that if I wasn't shooketh by bad and upsetting things.. that means that I just don't care.. which only fuelled my delusions more..

And later what Earth said sounded as if she was implying that maybe Sun didn't like Solar that much.. as if it was Sun that chose not to hang out with Solar and not the other way around.. this part upsetted me slightly :/

Sun saying that Solar's death just just happened so suddenly.. he wasn't prepared for it.. and later saying that Solar and Moon were doing things cause they were smarter than him.. confirms to me that Sun wasn't expecting that someone will die because Solar and Moon are smart so that shouldn't happen.. Sun wasn't involved this time and yet someone still died.. and like always it wasn't him even though he's the one who should've been dead..

And ofc Sun felt useless and bad that he can't do anything to help..

Later Sun brought up a topic of drinking.. and like always he said that he doesn't have any problem and that he doesn't drink that much.. and even if alcohol doesn't affect Sun that much.. how Earth reacted to this didn't sit right with me.. Why she completely dimissed that Sun most definitely is drinking as the way to cope.. like come on she can't be that dense?! But you know what he's drinking to relax! Which isn't a good reason to drink especially if you have mental disorder..

And she said that Sun seems the happiest now.. What?! Did you see Sun's reaction? That silence and "yeah" like.. it had to hurt him so badly.. like Earth, you can't be serious.. And when was talking about his dumb cat trying to get his head to a glass of wine.. he sounded like he covered his mouth.. as if he was embarrassed about something or maybe lying..

Also dumb cat trying to get to glass of wine seems weird.. especially if you realize that dumb cat is some sort of representation of Sun..

Before I went to the last thing that Sun told Earth, he like always said that he's worried about Moon.. because Moon is working non-stop.. hmmm.. Doesn't that sound familiar? And when Earth proposed that she'll help Sun talking with Moon.. Sun was awkwardly silent once again.. I bet that it reminded Sun of the last time Earth made them a family therapy.. We all know how poorly it went..

And Sun tried to redirect conversation onto talking about Earth's situation..

And he also said that he appreciates that everyone is there for him.. but he said that almost as if he felt bad about something.. maybe that he isn't as much helpful to others as they are to him?

And the last thing that Sun told Earth was that he wonders if it'd be better if he and Moon never separated.. which means that Sun thinks that it'd be better if he was dead.. that if he died at the beginning none of this.. these bad things would happen.. Sun hinted here that he's suicidal.. but Earth's response shows that Earth didn't pick on that something is wrong.. and Sun's reaction is so heartbreaking.. because you can feel how his "yeah" sounds defeated.. because he realized that no one will help him.. because no one sees how much he suffers..

Sun seems to be the most comfortable around Foxy. And that's why he so openly drinks wine in his presence.. and that's why he's swearing a lot, saying some awfully horny shit around him.. he can basically say anything around Foxy. And that's why he said those things to Foxy sounding as if he tried to flirt with him.. He feels like he can say and do any shit when he's Foxy because Foxy won't judge him cause they both very similar in their misery..

Sun seems to hang out with Foxy more than with others and he's doing it more as of recent because I think that he just tries to not think about anything. He just tries to be in the moment and I think that Foxy is able to give him that. That blissful "living in the moment"..

I often did the same.. and even more when my mental issues were getting worse. I was spending time on playing games and laughing at stupid shit with my sisters as an escape from my awful reality.. and I see that with Sun as well..

Unfortunately Foxy also doesn't see that there's something wrong with Sun.. I mean that he also doesn't see the hinted Sun gives..

Now Sun knows that he's completely alone with all of this.. he's alone with suicidal thoughts that plague him.. he's alone with his suffering.. Like Earth said to her and everyone else Sun seems the happiest now.. while Sun is dying inside without anyone realizing that..

That's why I'm 100% sure that Sun will try to kill himself.. I'm not sure though how he'll try to do it exactly.. hang himself, drown himself, jump off the roof.. or maybe something else..

I can only hope that someone will try to stop him.. or at least someone will find him on time..

[perpetualexistence]

Alley Cats AU: What Izzy Did

Ditzy Izzy was her first nickname.

She got it in elementary school. Her teachers would call her in from recess and she'd have to be dragged back to school each time. They put her in the front of the line every year when the school nurse held the listening test.

She kicked her legs as she tapped the headphones each time.

Listening wasn't her problem. Her problem was that her teachers never had enough to say.

Why bother listening to people who would go on and on and on about the same thing over and over when she got it on the first try? It was much more fun to play around. Learn from the trees instead. Let loose all that energy they were trying to stifle. Climb up and watch people. Much more fun to watch than to listen. She learned a lot that way.

No one else got it. They'd call her a ditz and move on.

It wasn't until she bit her first kid that her parents bothered to show up at school.

It wasn't her fault, of course. No matter how he tried to whine that he was just trying to get his ball back. She'd been playing a Warrior guarding the Moonstone. It wasn't fun always by herself, so she jumped at the chance to play when he approached. Then he tried to steal it away from her. What other choice did she have?

Her parents didn't see it that way. Which wasn't fair, because they never saw much of her anyways. They left her to be raised by her mom. Her real mom. The one who was actually grandma. She was too old to do much of anything besides watching her. But she was the one taking care of her while her parents were away and telling her to keep them being away the family secret. So grandma was Mom, her parents were Her Parents, her dad was That Guy (whoever he happened to be that week), and her mom was A Good Mom if Anyone Asked.

It led to the creation of Flee the Freak. Izzy chased, and they ran. She didn't see much difference between her laughter and their screaming. The other kids liked it a lot too. They must have. They never stopped playing.

Even when she wasn't chasing.

This continued into middle school. Same students, same games. But now there were more options. Electives were a thing now!

She chose marching band. It'd surely be the most fun. She'd get to walk around, make noise, AND no one would get mad at her for it? A bonus! Sure she had to do things like 'follow the sheet music'. And she did, because you can't really get kicked out of recess but you can get kicked out of band.

But there was still room for more excitement.

With a baton from cheerleading tryouts (their loss, she would have totally killed nationals), and a stolen lighter from her Dad of the Week, she had everything she needed.

One burned living room later, Izzy was starting to regret something for the first time in her life.

She didn't even know her mom could still scream that loud. Didn't know she could move that fast. So much still left in that frail body.

They were okay. The old woman made sure of that.

Until Izzy shared how fun it'd been to see her still have that fire in her. The same as the fire that had been around her.

That earned her a trip to fire setter school, to work that habit out of her.

Which. Was fine, she guessed.

They went on and on about how fire was bad. Which wasn't true, because fire wasn't good or bad. It just was, and wanted to do its best to keep going.

They tried to get at 'the root of her love for arson'. Asking so many personal questions and clearly fishing for answers. If they weren't going to respect her, then she wouldn't respect them.

Like always, no one ever wanted to listen to Izzy. Except this time they really could keep her forever if she didn't behave.

So, fine.

She could play at being normal.

Her sob story was about a family who didn't love her and a fire that did. How she longed to see the world burn because deep down she was just a sad, miserable angel.

They bought it. Hook, line, and sinker.

There were only two things she learned from that program:

How to rig a proper explosive.

She really loved acting.

And, then, finally high school hit.

Everything was new, and bright, and vast. She could lose herself here. Not that she would ever want to. Everything was different.

She didn't stick with the normal schtick for too long. Not that she couldn't have. She was an expert when she wanted to be. It'd just be for too long, be too boring.

Anything had to be better than boring.

Flee the Freak looked different this time. No more running and screaming. It was whispers, this time. From teens older and teens her age who knew her in middle school. The stories spread like fire.

Izzy, the feral. Izzy, the arsonist. Izzy, the psycho hosebeast.

She could laugh it off. She always did. Words only mean as much as you let them. She wouldn't let these words break her.

Wherever she went, conversation stopped. She'd fill up the void. She did enjoy going on and on, even if the looks on their faces meant no one else did. She'd throw herself into a group if no groups would let her in.

It was fun to see which response she'd get this time.

There were the ones who nodded along and squirmed the whole time.

The ones who talked without saying anything.

The ones who had the guts to say they didn't want her around to her face. Those she respected the most. They would bite with words to make her go away. Not that it'd ever work, but she appreciated their effort.

The worst ones were the polite ones. They had advice to grow up, be more mature.

Grow older? No, duh. Grow wiser? Every day. Grow up? Ha!

Izzy would make a perfect friend without doing that.

Despite popular belief, there was nothing wrong with Izzy.

She just wished that belief wasn't so popular.

But oh well, there wasn't much to be done about it. Not without changing. And she's not doing that.

If nothing new was happening outwards, then it was time to focus inwards.

She wanted to take up baton twirling again. Personally, she thought it'd be sick to be in the mascot costume juggling fire. REALLY get the crowds pumping.

Still, she needed more practice. Safer practice. She didn't want to ever see that look on her mom's face again.

So she found an alley behind the school.

It looked all nice and decrepit, only garbage to burn back here. That's what she assumed at least. Until she heard the voices coming from deeper in.

She followed the voices until she saw two people who she didn't think even knew each other. Eva and Noah. Noah and Eva. It made sense the more she talked and laughed and poked.

Their experiences showed in the ways their body spoke. She looked for tension first. That was the easiest to spot when Izzy joined a conversation. Disgusted and annoyed tense came hand to hand with other people.

Angry and scared and worried and trying to hide it tense? That one was new. They could hide it all they liked. Izzy always saw through everything.

It was just them here. Not really much of a group.

Not yet. She thought as she hatched a plan so great she couldn't believe she hadn't thought of it before.

She's always tried to jump into groups that were already together. Cliques formed quick if you weren't paying enough attention.

But these guys had been kicked out of their cliques. Lost to the wind without any purpose.

So why not give them one? These guys were outcasts from everyone else, just like she'd been for as long as she could remember. They got it. Or could get it. They just needed someone to show them the ropes to being a screwup! Might as well be her since they clearly weren't doing anything about it.

Izzy dubbed them all Alley Cats, and she was ecstatic to have a group of her own.

Even more so when their group grew.

<- What Eva Did | AU Masterpost | What Owen Did -> (Coming...eventually)

[tiredlilguy]

The Flags Origin's HC's

because I think about them a lot. there's probably some things that don't make sense here, or rather "out there" takes, but since the Flags are all squished into 70 pages let me have this... also it's hc's, so all in good fun ^^ (chew on this while i continue working on requests in the mean time), also sorry this is kinda angsty

also if you want to see my other hc's then look here

Pianoman (my beloved):

came from a family who was already Mafia, his parents and the generation before them and so on so forth, were Mafia

wore a family ring that the oldest child wears as a symbol of his families dedication to the Mafia

sort of think of it like a generation by generation kind of deal: the oldest has to take up the "family business"

his family had different specialties in what they did, Pianoman specifically became an artisan in crafting supernotes, but his family all had their own different talents

because of his success of almost becoming a mafia executive, his parents chose to retire peacefully and take care of all of his younger siblings

his parents can retire peacefully out of respect with no harm because their legacy is so well-respected

he's the oldest in his family, since birth had to deal with the pressures of "being the oldest", which made him a perfectionist in his own craft

100% Japanese, mainly because the family just deals with generational upbringing; though if he married someone of a different ethnicity that was in the Port Mafia, then that wouldn't be a problem so long as his spouse is PM

when he died, the second oldest took his place, but not for a while because his family heavily grieved his death (but because of their legacy, still tried to make up for their loss)

Lippman:

was a child actor, spent a lot of time away from his family to do films/work on sets/etc.

his affiliation with the Mafia didn't happen until way later in his acting career

had a back alley deal with a man that involved blackmail in order for his cooperation - was saught out because he was so good with words (the Mafia found out he wrote a few of the screenplays himself)

could not hold a gun up until after his first year of being with the Mafia, was Pianoman's partner until The Flags were formed

half European, has an older sister; when his family found out he was Mafia, they sort of distanced themselves from him

often treats Chuuya like his own brother sometimes because of his situation with his family

when he died, his family didn't bother to attend the funeral; but one day upon visiting Japan, his older sister visited his grave and left a note

the clean up after his death was a mess... the Port Mafia was accused of killing him and Chuuya had to witness crowds of people false-blaming him for his own friends death

Iceman:

Italian, grew up in a Mafia family in Italy (his father was the don), but was considered the weakest link

still though, his family cared for him very deeply, and despite being Mafia, he always tried to do the right thing (didn't kill until he was with the PM)

at a younger age, he was more of an observer; would witness how his family/the people that worked for his family worked technique wise

his family actually didn't want him to be a mafioso, and was glad to know that he didn't have any particular interest in it either (they wanted him to live a normal life as a citizen)

one night, his home was bombed and his family, friends, coworkers all died in the explosion; he was the only survivor

was being hunted down because he was the only survivor, snuck into Yokohama and made a deal with a man to join the Port Mafia

(this is already in my previous hc's but) after the explosion, his ears were permanently damaged and he's slowly growing deaf: was teaching the flags sign language

he was really happy with The Flags, and at that point when they were fully established, he knew that if he was going to die, it'd be around them

Albatross:

Blasian; grew up in an average family, but he himself got interested in mechanics at a young age

his family didn't approve of his interests, saying that it was rather dangerous, but his father always indulged him

dad is a retired air-pilot and used to teach Alb a lot of what he now knows

in high school, had a job as a mechanic, but told his parents he worked in a library (they did not believe him, but they also didn't bother to check either); he also had pretty bad grades

the mechanic he was working for happened to be with the PM and offered Alb a job as his apprentice for a much higher pay

his mentor was getting quite old and wanted to retire, offered the job to Alb because he saw the potential that Alb had and wanted him to succeed

his mentor was sadly assassinated during a job, and so Alb became the Mafia's wheelman

Alb covered all of this up by confessing that he was a mechanic (but didn't tell them he was with the Mafia) and then got promoted to working for the government

when he died, his parents had to sort of bit by bit discover everything that was going on behind their backs (but they couldn't be mad)

Doc:

grew up in an orphanage and is completely unaware of his own family origins, but he's Japanese

was the orphanage nurses assistant and would often observe how injuries worked; eventually started taking care of his peers injuries himself

did quite well in the schooling that the orphanage taught, and they offered for him to take a test to go to med school (he succeeded)

had his normal doctor school in Japan at age 18, then after that was offered a full scholarship in North America to get his doctorate (we already know he graduated top of his class)

is not actually interested in God and if anything, wants to spite him: that stared his need to save people, but somehow ended up killing a few on the way (though not being caught)

when he came back to Japan to go find a job, he got a deal with the Mafia and took it because he thought "well, there's a lot of death in the criminal underground... so, yeah"

when he died, Chuuya didn't think anyone would come to visit, but upon visiting their graves the next day: he found piles of bouquets of flowers from the orphanage and his fellow classmates from the US

[kaibutsushidousha]

How would you rewrite your three least favorite story sections of London, Spetem, and Shimosa? Not a complete rewrite from the ground up, but reimagining/using the components that were already there or just some small pointers you beleive that would've improve the story by a decent margin that is within reason.

Septem

The original plot of Septem is that Goetia failed to find anyone who would want to destroy the world during Nero's reign, so he personally stay there and summoned a bunch of past emperors to overthrow her. Hard premise to believe, but Sakurai's constant habit of introducing logistic difficulties for her villains is one of my favorite things about her writing. Evil doesn't need to be easy. Keep this part. The prompt is asking to work with what's there anyways.

What's lacking there is simply direction. If Caesar, Caligula, or Romulus replaces Nero as the Emperor, what happens? Would it be any different at all? Septem doesn't establish what its antagonists want, so any goal would already make a huge difference.

I don't have concrete ideas for what the goal should be nor do I think that's a question I need to answer in this thought experiment. But one thing there are a few things I want this to do:

1) The goal must be an ideal that Nero wholeheartedly agrees with. The main conflict of the original Septem is that Caesar and Romulus are objectively better emperors than Nero, but Nero opposes them because she believes she deserves her chance even if she 100% agrees the others are better options. This is a core theme I want expanded rather than discarded.

FGO at this point wasn't too preoccupied to characterize Fujimaru yet at this point, but Septem is actually a golden opportunity to start working on that because at this point Fujimaru is nothing more than a replacement for 47 people objectively better than them. We can't let the Nero parallel pass unaddressed here again.

2) The goal must be an ideal that Boudicca and Spartacus violently disagree with. A problem with Septem is that their allegiance to Nero was too flimsy and easy, so it's important for them to consider the threat so big that they'd rather take Nero's side than risk losing as an independent faction. Draw some from Boudicca's characterization in Quirinus's interlude.

Jing Ke obviously also needs to disagree, although not as intensely. Pull some random Romulus/Shi Huang comparisons for this one. Both are into the same "unified world" shit, even if Shi Huang's vision of it is extra awful.

3) It's absolutely essential for the story that Romulus and Flauros have more presence as the chapter villains and debating the goal is the perfect way to provide that. Doubles as a solution to the major problem of Septem being a Nero solo show.

Quirinus and Goetia are two characters I love, so if a revised Septem manages to deliver an intriguing outline of the future characterization these two will get in these more complete forms, I don't think I can ask for much more. It'd be genuinely great to get shades of Goetia's more sympathetic side this early, and even greater for it to come through Lev's face.

Also, remove Altera. That was a really shameless piece of Extella cross-promotion that didn't do anyone any favors.

London

The plot on this one is that, again, Goetia failed to find anyone who would want to destroy the world during the Industrial Revolution, so he coerced the first big powerful mage he found to do it in his stead. Again, Sakurai villain logistic troubles are cool and we keep that.

Our chapter antagonist in London is Makiri Zolgen, the unfortunate mage saddled with the mission to destroy the world. Makiri obviously would rather not die, but when pressed with the choice of die now or die later when you destroyed the world, he chose die later. As such Makiri planned out his operation: he made a Grail-powered machine that covers London in a toxicly dense mana fog, and the excess mana in the air would randomly spawn Servants. Makiri would then wait on his random Servant generator until an electricity-based Servant came out, and that Servant would discharge at the center of London, causing all the fog to explode and vaporize the British Isles, or something.

Anyways, yeah, our chapter villain is in the plot due to a death threat and chose the route of actively stalling Goetia with the slowest and most unreliable doomsday project he could come up with, hoping that the random Servant generator would produce a hero that would non-lethally take him out of the game because his only wish in all this is to survive. The only thing preventing him from being a super likable and sympathetic character is that Makiri Zolgen is Matou Zouken, so he has hefty negative baggage that this showing absolutely can't compensate for.

So, the first order of priority in improving London is making the enemy Master not Zouken. Make a new character for that. The story needs to be a powerful mage from one of 72 Solomonic families, so just call them Lord Solonea or something like that if you don't want to bother giving the new character a full name.

Does that mean I want Zouken removed from the story? No, he's essential. The chapter is named City of Magical Mist precisely for the "magical mist in Japanese is read makiri" pun that defines the whole setting. But I think the pun would have been a lot more clever as a red herring to direct suspicion at him before Chaldea can figure out the real culprit.

Besides, I don't want to mess with greater lore, so Barbatos still has to be the Pillar of the Zolgen family and the one Fujimaru kills in battle. Babylonia established that Singularity victims soon die in different ways in the fixed history. FGO's timeline only had its 1st Holy Grail War in 2004 and Zouken dying in 1888 can't be totally unrelated to that (even though the 4th Singularity is already supposed to be after at least 2 Fuyuki Grail Wars).

Now with the elephant out of the room... what else did London do again? Chaldea just went there, chased some empty red herring because the fog randomly generated Servants, then we found and beat Zouken. The characters may or may not have done cool things but none did memorable things. It's Septem's problem of Nero being the only character, except there's not even a Nero here.

Since we are already majorly shaking up the cast, I'll just say who I think should stay. Jack is a very aesthetically relevant red herring in a foggy London. I still want Zouken to stay as the main red herring, but Jack can keep her role as the first red herring. Fran and Mephi are relevant in a mage conflict because they're products of magecraft. They only need something done with it. Paracelsus and Babbage are perfectly appropriate picks for their roles as the two Servants working directly as Makiri's (here Solonea's) partners. Just expand their scenes a lot because Solonea needs their characterization built from scratch.

Mordred is the main character of the chapter and thus can't be kicked out despite having nothing to do with the plot. We need something more personal and engaging than "I have connections to this city's past". Anything. All the original London has to offer with Mordred is

Teaching Mash to take initiative and aggressively pursue her ambitions, resulting in a new Taunt Skill where Mash rushes to take a bullet for the ones she wants to protect.

A battle against last-minute-spawned Lalter because that is personal closure, Sakurai guesses????

Lastly, we have Tesla. With Zouken/Barbatos killed, he forces the summon of the electric Servant needed to blow London up, and this Servant's bombastic personality and unique circumstances made him the only memorable Servant in London. I love the plot point that he can fly to the center of London and nuke the mist but instead he power walks and gets side-tracked by the Servants he meets because he was summoned by Makiri's will to stall out the Singularity as much as possible. Keep that as is.

I won't waste too much time coming up with things to replace London's nothingburger adventure with, but I have to say one of London's biggest sins is being set in London during the Industrial Revolution, one of the most important moments in the Clock Tower's history and doing nothing about it. We could have more direct and involved glimpse at that than anything Case Files could have offered. The Solonea version of London certainly would have at least one Solonea/Makiri conversation about it using their views on the forming factions as a characterization piece to define the core differences between two enemy Master suspects.

Shimousa

This one is a lot more complicated. It's not because Shimousa has a bigger number of decisions I hate (it does) but because I'm interpreting the prompt as "change this chapter without changing the rest of FGO" and Shimousa is just far too linked to Heian. Every good idea Douman has in Heian can be linked to a lesson he learned from a bad idea backfiring in Shimousa. Douman sucking complete ass in Shimousa is not negotiable.

[UPDATE: Samurai Remnant is coming to complicate this section even further, so I'm making the executive decision to call it quits on this ask instead of continuing to wait for inspiration after 5 months of not having it]

[httyddragonfox]

The Hexsquad in Nightmares

I read this fanfic where Amity was put in the Nightmare instead of Luz, so I got to thinking...what would be the the rest of the Hexsquad in nightmares? Let's take a look at this:

For Luz:

Amity tells her she's just like Belos and basically helped him win, Willow says she has no future now, Gus says because of her he'll never see his dad again, and hunter says Flapjack is gone because of her.

Amity says 'Witches battle' and that's where Luz is clued in.

For Amity (in the fanfic):

Willow comments on how Amity abandoned her, Gus mentions how he's constantly overlooked or lumped in with other people, Hunter comments on how they're a lot alike but he had it worse and she didn't care about the consequences for him, and Luz says because of her she became a villain like Belos, like she used to be.

Luz says 'Pictoglyphs' which cues Amity in.

Now how about the rest;

For Willow:

Amity or Luz would be first, Amity would say she was abandoned because she was weak and her parents were right because she's still weak, Luz would say she only helped her and called her strong because she pitied her, Gus would be second and say if she was a better friend they wouldn't suffer in the first place like what happened in Labyrinth runners and then he then hints at Hunter, 'Neither would him.' Hunter would mention how close they've gotten, but then he'd mention that if she was a better friend then she would have gone all out to save Flapjack, she would have noticed something was wrong with him before it was too late, but she didn't do enough.

She'd be cued in by Hunter saying she did 'everything' wrong. Hunter told her recently that she didn't do anything wrong.

For Gus:

Willow would be first, she'd comment on how he was so wrapped up in his own problems he didn't notice anything was wrong with her. Luz would be next, she'd mention that she taught him the fire glyph because she knew how powerless he actually was. Amity would follow, she would say he's not really her friend because he's practically nonexistent, everyone else in their group is more substantial than him, makes more of a difference. She would then hint to Hunter saying 'He'd know more than anymore.' Hunter would point out how Gus knew Hunter was a Grimwalker, and Hunter was obviously struggling with that info, who his original was, if he was good or not, but Gus knew the whole time and said nothing. It would have made him feel a lot better, he wouldn't have wanted to prove himself by going on his own, someone could have noticed before it was too late, heck if Gus did more than make Belos mad, Flapjack might still be alive. Everyone would show up then, berating Gus for being weak.

Willow would be the one to cue him in, I'm not sure what she'd said but I'm pretty sure it'd be her. This would show some growth because he didn't recognize it was fake last time, he'd say 'I'm not being fooled a second time, you're not her. None of you are you."

For Hunter:

Willow would probably be first, commenting on how his original was a witch hunter, Belos' number 2, that's his destiny so he'll always hurt others, even her, for added points he'd be in his Golden Guard garb. Next would be Amity, she'd point out she reached out a hand to him at eclipse because they were similar, but instead of being good he just chose to run back to Belos, he chose to be the bad guy, so why should they ever give him a chance. For Gus, he'd point out Chief Engineer O'Bailey is a fictional character, his immediate goal was to turn on Captain Avery, and because it's fiction Captain Avery showed him the light, Gus questions if he was ever really their friend, did he ever see himself as one of them. Hunter would retort, 'Of course, I'd never hurt anyone." Gus would say, "Oh really, then what about them?" Hunter would be shifted to see Luz. She'd talk about how she was there when he dragged her into the mess with Belos. She thought he was like family, but he dragged her away from the group to confront Belos alone with no magic, not considering what could have happened. Sure he had a palisman, Flapjack, but look where that got him. He knew Belos liked killing palisman and had a grudge, but he still brought them alone. If he pushed back sooner, Flapjack wouldn't have died. Hunter would start crying then, saying that he knows. The whole group would show up, Willow would say he's the golden guard, he hurts people, it's what he does, it's what he was made to be, and he's not one of them and never will be.

Hunter will remember that Willow told him that it didn't matter who he was because he was one of them now, and Willow is too kind to lie about something like that. He knows Willow and this isn't her, none of them are them.

[tamelee]

Hi Tamelee,

Love your blog and thanks so much for the meta, these are a gold mine!

I am not sure if it was your blog or another that pointed out how jarring it is that Naruto would choose to get a new arm without Sasuke, since both of them are in agreement that they would share each other's burdens. And that it seems inherently a selfish choice for him to choose it while Sasuke refused.

I honestly never thought of it, because I assumed that since both of them were without arms for some time during the blank period and they discussed it and Sasuke chose not to since he didn't trust it would not fail in battle and Naruto agreed with him.

It's more of a realisation for me, since I just thought that they were both in agreement, but this other take made me wonder and hence I decided to send you this ask.

Long post:

Hi @helenarasmussen87 ,

Thankyou! I'm glad to read that ♡!

Oh, that would not have been me for sure. As you say, it was "a take" from someone because I can't think of a moment (at least in canon) where they.. discuss this matter. (Perhaps in 'Boruto'? If so then ignore the rest 😆)

And if they haven't discussed it, then don't you think that all talk regarding this are theories? We don't really know why Sasuke chose to not get a new arm. That's not to say that some theories are more probable than others but Naruto making a decision while disregarding Sasuke? That didn't happen whether we saw it or not because it wouldn't make sense for their characters. In their case, they've developed too much for it to be a possibility.

There are many in-character theories though, things that would make sense too.. but the problem with those as well is that it's just that: theories. Or, headcanons. E.g. Naruto never said that he'd get an arm because it'd be irresponsible otherwise as Hokage and Sasuke never mentioned that a missing arm would remind him of VotE2. (I'm saying it simply, the original theories go deeper than that, but you get what I mean..)

Naruto-Reddit is all in agreement with each other that Sasuke didn't get a new arm "to atone for his sins" and that it is "explicitly stated somewhere". On Twitter they even bring up Sakura and that it is to punish himself for her sake.. *insert major eyeroll* Although they can't tell you where any of this was stated. Of course, this also isn't true and don't mind the lack of reading comprehension..

Now what I think..

Well…

I like that our sub fandom, or the people who understand Sasuke's character can somewhat understand that Sasuke wouldn't necessarily want a new arm, need it to battle or feel the need to receive this.. "gift" from Konoha/Tsunade- or whatever.

As a SNS-fan I certainly enjoy many of the headcanons about this subject because most of them are based on canon material. Canon as in: the removal of it holds a lot of meaning, as much as the entirety of the story itself almost as it serves as a conclusion and beginning at the same time:

And yeah, there they were, finally.

This visual is incredible and I do think it is a reminder of sorts, but (I'm sorry..) I think the choice to not get the prosthetic has less to do with Naruto alone personally. Although he is part of it. Sasuke without Naruto is a practical character and given the entire story and the fact that they're separating at the end of the Manga.. (temporarily but also in preparation for its sequel :/ they ((shueisha)) tried at least ykwim) don't you think that suddenly receiving an arm from Konoha after they wanted to put him in jail and punish him for changing a corrupt system after they've failed him first, seems kind of like he'd be indebted to them? Like, "we're letting you go free because we've pardoned you and giving you an arm out of the kindness~ of our hearts.. so…." Yeah, no. And isn't is also true (not sure, because this was mentioned in 'Boruto' right?) that if something happened to it he'd need a new one? Meaning: he'd be depending on Konoha for an arm as they constantly are doing research on it and improving the thing.. so don't you think that Sasuke would be the type of character to just learn how to use his powers/weapons/Jutsu with one arm- if he could?

*gasp*

Which he can now? Instead of depending and being "sorta but not really" indebted to Konoha who then so kindly provided this new arm for him? "Despite him having been a rogue Shinobi who went against them"? < general narrative.

Yeah.

Which one sounds like a burden to you?? Seems like an easy choice to me.

But having said that, I don't think Sasuke minds it because of the way it happened and with who. He had no reaction to having lost his own arm, but when he saw Naruto lost his as well..

He looks shocked, defeated, turns away and then Kishimoto decides to cover his eyes and make Sasuke question Naruto again more out of desperation than anything else.. several times. It hurts and not just because he's bleeding to death.

There is so much meaning and symbolism behind the missing arm.

And that's the big difference. Not minding and holding the meaning/history closely as a personal matter or "resenting Naruto for getting an arm without him" as some posts here make it sound like is something else entirely. There is sort of a… jealous/bitter(?) tone to that which isn't necessary and doesn't suit him/them. There are things bigger than them and the fact that there are proves how important they are to each other. Growth in contrast as shown to the audience (us). Sasuke understands Naruto's connections as much as he does his own (including lack thereof) and the one they have with each other. If there wasn't they wouldn't have developed as much.

So I understand it, but there is one thing I dislike. The general fandom, without explanation is holding onto this idea of "Sasuke sinning" all because of one panel and seeing him without an arm is validation for them as if to say "see? He's feeling guilty, as he should! And that's why he doesn't have an arm." As I said before, they even make up entire theories relating this to.. Sakura? Who especially has nothing to do with it as Sasuke even says himself. (IN THE SAME PANEL LMAO!) It's depressing. Which, sort of fits the Shinobi life I guess. One who doesn't live for themselves.. that's the burden here. Not the missing arm. Apparently for this audience it is necessary to give it a panel or two because they take most things at face value or grab things out of context.

Sasuke did leave Konoha before the arm that was made for him was finished and Kishimoto did mention that notably because people would otherwise question it. This however, I find interesting because the question actually still remains.. "why?"

He simply says that he can't "miss this chance" to go travel, to see the world, go on a journey by himself and although that's true, that doesn't seem like the sole reason for rushing his leave, not staying in Konoha any longer and therefore not getting the arm that's almost finished. Sakura also says the arm is made out of Hashirama's cells- which is where things could get complicated.

And I believe, although I'm not sure about this, this is currently completely retconned in 'Boruto'. The whole "using of Hashirama's cells" is confusing to me because I've been reading theories and everyone is saying different things and 'Boruto' makes no sense anymore. I'd have to study it.. For now I'd say that Kishimoto deliberately chose to leave it and not go the route of figuring out how to work with it and what it would mean if Naruto/Sasuke have an arm made up of Hashirama's cells which they could potentially use for other things.

Why does he suddenly have an elbow?

And why does it look like that under the bandages?? 😆 (So natural, I mean) Why use bandages in the first place then? This is some BS!!

Also:

"Boruto" everyone. I don't know much about it yet but I'll read the damn thing when I get back from my travel, hence these screenshots- these are not my opinions/observations.

I think in conclusion that's why Sasuke refused the arm, but the reason for Kishimoto was much simpler and dismissive as it wasn't for him to deal with (he thought). And now 'Boruto' doesn't really know how to handle the lore regarding power dynamics at all, changing it to all kinds of scientific stuff to make it easier on them I guess.

But admittedly, I do like some of the SNS-headcanons.. *shrug*. I just take them for what they are.

[mdhwrites]

What Would Corrupting Die (up to the end of character creation) Look Like Without Input?

Someone suggested that I potentially do a rewrite of the whole story that was my take if it weren't a Choices story once I was done. That is actually a compelling question though, uh, looks at how long the story already is Yeah, that'd be a lot of work for not a lot of point sadly. It did make me want to talk about how making it comment driven like this does change things. After all, while these sorts of stories absolutely exist, they're the minority for a lot of reasons. So, how much would change?

A lot. Like... A LOOOOOOOT.

Or maybe not?

If that sounds weird, it maybe shouldn't. A comment driven story is something you genuinely have to treat as different than a regular story. That malleability and openness to being influenced is going to inherently change a lot of things you do so even if two stories follow a similar concept and structure, there will be marked differences just by the fact that how the two are setup. The demands of one sort of story versus another.

As an example: I probably wouldn't have done these character creation chapters. Or they would have been a lot more awkward. Jacob still needs those early, corrupting roles to prepare him for play after all but I've used the structure of Choices to get around a LOOOOOT of talking. Jacob doesn't have to tell each girl about the races, classes, etc. because those happen between chapter/choice breaks essentially. You see the outcome, not the setup because then choice is the setup. I can have them have an idea before coming and that's what they discuss but then they focus more on the upcoming character rather than revealing more about themselves and who they are. I can of course mix the two but it also could become even more routine than these character creation chapters already were without a hook of the different decisions being made to keep people invested.

It'd be a problem I'd have had to tackle in a vastly different way just because the inherent pacing of the story is different. Because my tools and needs are different. After all, the choices on the characters here allow for a cascade effect into the game itself. What situations any character gets into is going to be dependent on the character they're playing. That makes it so that these early chapters will be all the more satisfying for the audience in a way that is just not a thing in a traditional story because you know I chose all the classes, races, etc. It's less important so spending THIRTY THOUSAND WORDS on this makes literally no sense. Ten thousand at most would be right for my style so as to get to the real meat of things.

And mind you, even with these justifications, I have been SWEATING BULLETS about these chapters. That they are causing too much focus on this element and the core thrust of the story might be lost. That it's maybe too much time gamifying things. That it's too much build up so the payoff can never measure up to it. Etc. Etc. People seem to be enjoying the pacing, especially helped by me using the time to present compelling characters who interact with Jacob in different ways, but will that make the transition to the smuttier, sillier times of the actual game harder because it's no longer what people want from this story?

This is why this question is hard for me to answer without just doing the original version. These are things I could only figure out by feeling out each potential option and seeing what feels natural or satisfying. It'd be a rare time where I could easily see myself having to rewrite a large swathe because whatever direction I take just doesn't cohere into anything that makes sense. It's almost like writing stories, and especially ensemble stories like these, are hard and so many choices you make about them affect just the inherent pacing required for your story at a fundamental level.

It's a mess, just like this blog is. Sorry about that. See you all next tale and I hope you all enjoy Corrupting Die as we finally get to begin the game.

=======+++++======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[alharringtonfan]

hey it’s that anon again! Oh I definitely agree, even thought I myself ain’t a huge Urban fan or anti or whatever ppl call it like say whatever the fuck you want about him but like He was kinda right, he knows not to get “buddy buddy” with certain or just online horror creators in general or act like the second coming of Jesus.

Maybe urban is the embodiment of karma /j

Hey, anon! I'm happy to see you again <3

Hahah definitely. Urban's a very authentic guy. He may not be the person people want him to be, but that just makes him more genuine in my book. Urban knows who he is. Martin, Chezz and Pastra don't know who they are. Not even Alex does. They just know what to say to keep their audience around. It's not healthy to be this worried about voicing your true opinions out loud, it's just cowardice. Sure, the masses may not like it and they WILL confront you about it; but what's better, to have a big audience that will eat you alive when the clock strikes midnight (and one that you didn't even want to in the first place); or a small but loyal audience made up of thoughtful watchers? Urban took the risk, got bit, and came around with the people he didn't want to appease hating on him (and consequently not being part of his community), and with his intended target audience gladly following along on his endeavors. Urban has fans and friends that are like him and who will think twice before believing any statement made against him; Alex's audience is nothing like that. He tried to pander to so many people at once that his fandom was always like a pressurized pot just waiting to explode. It'd happen eventually. The people he chose, or didn't, are fake and gullible. They thirst for drama. They aren't genuine or 1/10th of the person they try to make themselves out to be. Again, good people don't have to pretend to be good. All these people have are words, but no actions. Urban didn't choose his words and to them he was done because that's all they care about. Words.

And that's how the utmost importance of trimming down your audience comes into place. To some people it may seem extreme for him to have called Pastra an autistic furry and a pussy, but that's because people are against what's different and thrive on puppeteering others. It makes me sick just how common that's become nowadays. They want everyone to be just like themselves. Besides, Urban didn't even say anything bad. He called the guy autistic, a furry, and a pussy (which he is, at least these last two). Big effing deal. First world problems at their finest.

People only see his exterior. Edgy, mean, grrr how dare he say these words I don't like!!! — but they fail to understand that by wanting to control people into being something they deem is good, they are inherently cooperating on this endless cycle of harassment and cancel culture. It's trying to put others into a box, shaping HOW they want him to be like, WHAT he should say and HOW he should act. This is not diversity, it's the opposite of being diverse. THEY are the authorities they claim to be so much against.

Urban had all the reasons in the world to be upset at Pastra and everyone else. ALL of their arguments were in bad faith. They went into The Painter EXPECTING it to be bad. People like Chezz leap into drama already choosing sides (always the most popular one) while ravenous for the opposition's blood. Not even bothering to hear the other side of the story or the context around it. It always comes down to ego or the belief that many people backing up a claim must mean that it's true/false. Kaizo himself fell for it, arguing "BUT THERE'S SO MANY DOCUMEEEEEEENTSSS!!!!" and being too much of a fat slob to read such artifacts of slander; because all they see are numbers. Bigger numbers good = many subscribers good. Many subscribers.... have to say good take!!!!! Many likes in post = true = good.

The cancelers always get canceled because they surround themselves with people who want to control others just like them. Urban was smart enough not to do that. He knows who he is, and saved himself from the burden of being part of this "friend" group of illiterate slop content creators. I'm positive Alex has learned this since he spoke about meeting people in real life and giving up on making internet friends. That's great and I hope he goes forward with this, as his fans are more unstable than Moscovium and break down at the smallest gust of air being blown their way. I can see Urban hooking up with one of his fans — Martin, not in a trillion years.

And I'm not even a fan of the series! Urban is talented, but I just think that the writing of it is lacking. It DID make me scared, which is more than I can say about TMC itself.

In short, Urbanspook is this image in flesh and blood. I think you can already guess what category Martin Walls and Chezzkids belong to.

(not trying to change your mind about urban. just stating my own thoughts on him :^))

[nemesis-is-my-middle-name]

I never noticed until now that Lian, Ingo, Melli, and arguably Sabi all have type advantages over their nobles. Huh. In which case, yeah, giving Arezu the cyndaquil would be the best lol! My best guess as to how it happened is that Laventon tried to plead with Cyllene to take one because she doesn't have a pokemon other than abra who isn't a fighter, and eventually she gave in and chose the oshawott because Ingo offhandly remembered and mentioned that they turn out to be good sword fighters like her, after she's like why do I even need a baby pokemon when I have a sword. Then I guess cyndaquil didn't want to be left behind and just kinda left with them where it then bonded with Arezu. Good idea with Laventon just switching out with Cyllene though! That does make the most logistical sense.

Ingo is polite and friendly, but on the long term he's exhausted and a bit checked out so he's kind of the middle ground between Arezu and Cyllene. I bet he could turn them all into crazy strong trainers too, although I'm not sure how into it Arezu would be since she's got a strong passion for being a hair dresser. Then again, Ingo has a strong passion for trains and he just combined the two lol. Maybe she becomes the first person in Hisui who professionally grooms pokemon on top of giving people hair cuts, since you can find people to do that in other games and it raises friendship.

One of my favorite tropes is Sneasler following Ingo back to Unova, so yes, I am all for this interpretation of her lol. It'd be an interesting dynamic if both her and the more responsible Lilligant were on the team together. I could see her being kind of like Ingo before the fall; responsible, well-mannered, energetic, and talkative.

Huh, I suppose if we wanted to keep kinda close to canon, they all get frenzied from the start but it doesn't originally seem like every area had a noble that got hit? Coastlands clearly didn't get one, Arezu was hiding Lilligant's, and Melli didn't think it was a problem so he didn't report it right away. That'd leave just the fieldlands and the icelands as ones they knew about. So Arezu sits on it the whole way through Kleavor, which would probably make her feel worse and worse the longer she does, because she was only just handed this big important duty, Adaman trusts her, and she doesn't like lying to him or her new friends even if it's just by omission. But once they get Kleavor back to normal she realizes that she kind of has to speak up now. And afterward maybe Lilligant joins them, if not to other areas then at least every time they're in the mirelands doing survey work.

The other idea is interesting too though. With so many of them they might be able to stop the growlithe from getting kidnapped too, which would stop both Lilligant and Arcanine from getting frenzied, though it'd make going through the highlands a nightmare if they can't use Sneasler. I'm not sure if stopping them from hit would actually change anything. Although, it'd also be kind of interesting if they were playing with fire, and being so close to Lilligant when she was hit while they were traveling together set off Sneasler getting frenzied too. It wasn't a direct hit, but if she was close enough it could branch off to her or travel as a ground current into her or another of their pokemon.

also calaba has a bibarel, which is a water type and so SE against ursaluna, and if you think that iscan has a qwilfish/overqwil, which is something that's been thrown around before, that also beats his ghost fish noble. AND palina has a growlithe as a partner, and technically that's SE against itself and arcanine by extension, though that's more of a wash since they're... the same species. AND if you fight her in the path of tenacity (which i think those pokemon are dubiously canon, but anyway) arezu herself gets a bronzor, which beats lilligant! i think the only two with partners you fight that aren't effective against their nobles are mai and gaeric. it's a really funny trend lmao. and aww, yeah, laventon talked cyllene into taking at least one of them, and ingo mentioned the oshawott thing so she was like fine i guess that works, and then cyndaquil just didn't want to get left behind while its starter buddies had adventures. also, arezu's lived her whole life in the mirelands, the warmest region in hisui, so when their group starts going up to the colder areas she is going to be Suffering. so having a portable heater partner will def help there, too

arezu as the first ever pokemon salon... i love that SO MUCH omg. i mean, there are probably others in the world who've done something similar maybe, but she'd def be the earliest in the game timeline. that's SO perfect. she starts by branching out from hairstyling to attempt to give ingo a hand combing out lady sneasler's winter coat once spring comes around (which is really a two and a half person job and results in a mountain of undercoat big enough to make another sneasler out of) and that's the gateway, now she's off. she's doing pokemon spas, massages, fertilizer for grass types, you name it, she's trying it. between the salon, the move tutor, and the totally-not-a-battle-facility ingo's running, jubilife is gonna be the top destination for people trying out this new "training" thing within the year (much to kamado's endless torment)

oh no lilligant being really similar to pre-fall ingo is too good... that's so cute and such an unlikely duo i love it. meanwhile arezu and sneasler are more different but sympathize with each others' desires to just kind of, like, Not. they have a big job and they don't rrreally want to do it that much but they gotta, the other two are herding them. Bonding. plus as mentioned above arezu gives really good brushies and sneasler is a noble of simple wants

yeah they're both really good and fun options is the thing. the idea of frenzy being, like... contagious is REALLY interesting though. like, not even as part of this au, just like... in general. the idea of it behaving less like a magic switch-flip and more like some kind of gradual disease? i mean, i've already made the comparison between the alpha frenzy and a cognitive-affecting disease, but i don't think i ever went quite that step. that's really interesting. it opens up the possibility for the frenzy as a whole to be like this, zombie virus type of thing, that volo unleashed on hisui entirely by accident and now can't stop. but now we're getting off topic shksjhsjkh

but anyway. where were we. yes. i almost feel like we could take the opportunity of having two wardens accompanying the protag and do something really different from canon? like, flip the entire game order on its head. plus there's the added complication of whatever ingo's potentially seeing, if he at any point gains extra insight into what's causing this, or predicts something like the red sky. though i think his predictions are extremely scattershot on account of being entirely incidental and not actually targeted at anything. so maybe instead of, or in addition to, curing the frenzy, they're also working on some other mission? to hunt down information, or seal the distortions as they open or something? idk, i'm thinking out loud

[bonesandthebees]

Some random questions xd (optional dw)

do you like hermitcraft? cause im brainrotting abt it lmao

what is your fav color? mines green!

if you could pick any power in the clinic!universe what would you pick and why? personally i would pick Phils powers cause i want to flyyyyy

What DND moral alightment are you? if u dont know what this is dw, im a true neutral

what is your answer to the trolley problem? i think i would move the lever but idk

If you had to pick one persons lore on dsmp whos would you pick and why? i think i would chose quackity's

What is a fic idea you have but dont think would do well/ isnt something you feel like writing?

what is a comfort movie/show/video? mine isnt a movie but its a 3 hour long techno vid haha

given the chance to be in MCC who would you pick for your team?

i just felt like this btw:) you dont have to answer any of them btw^^

-👑 (king)

oooo these are fun questions!!!

no I don't watch hermitcraft, but I hear bits and pieces from the people on my tumblr dash and my twitter tl who do watch it. also, I've watched 3rd life and last life (and part of double life) which have a lot of the hermits in them, so I'm mostly familiar with the hermits through that (I will say that I am not immune to good times)

yellow is my fav color!

oooo I'd probably pick wilbur's power. siren abilities hello?? insanely powerful man. if not his then I'd go with niki's because I always wanted to be a waterbender like katara when i was a little kid

uhh I'm either neutral good or true neutral, not exactly sure which

I have no idea what my answer would be tbh

if you mean pick someone's lore as in my favorite lore, it'd be wilbur's hands down. he created such a complex and fascinating character who was incredibly consistent in his characterization, I brainrot over c!wilbur so often so everything from him is my favorite

oh god most of my google drive is full of fic ideas that either wouldn't do well or I just don't feel like writing lmao. one example is that I love coming up with aus of movies but rarely do I actually wanna write them out entirely. one movie au I think about so often but would never get around to writing is an au of the movie Push. Push is not a very good film. it's fun! but it's not good lmao. the concept was SUPER cool to me though. it's a movie about people who have psychic powers that are hunted down by an evil government organization yknow the drill, but the plot is about a guy in his 20s who is a 'mover' (has telekinesis) that's kind of down on his luck and doesn't have much of a life. he gets dragged into a plot to steal a metal briefcase because a 13 year old 'watcher' (sees the future) shows up on his doorstep and tells him she sees the two of them teaming up to find this case and she's convinced it has a shit ton of money in it. a lot of other stuff happens but the main two characters have such older brother/little sister energy that i literally can't stop thinking about crimeboysing it. it would be so fun but I'll never write it unfortunately.

hmm... one of my favorite self indulgent movies to rewatch just for fun is a super cheesy 90s film called hackers. the fashion is peak bad 90s fashion and the plot is so stupid, it's so much fun I adore it. I love rewatching it to cheer myself up

OOOOO GOOD QUESTION! ok i'm assuming you mean cc's I can pick. now the thing is, I suck at minecraft. so while I'd love to give myself a goated team so i can win, I don't think I'd have much of a chance of winning either way. but I'll give two teams anyway, one for a chance at the win, one just for fun content. so for a chance to win: tommy, phil, and shubble. for content: wilbur, wisp, and jack manifold. it'd be terrifying but also hilarious.

thank you for the questions these were really fun!!

[aiglesperch]

Go Out With a Fight

Fandom : Project Zomboid

Word count :

Summary : As the zombie population swells to its peak, Jean decides to go down with a final fight after a helicopter descends down Arizona.

Content warnings : Apocalypse, zombie, blood, burning inside a car, death

*-_-*-_-*-_-*-_-*-_-*-_-*-_-*-_-*-_-*-_-*-_-*-_-*-_-*-_-*-_-*-_-*-_-*-_

The days run by, the nights are spent with chill in one's spine and in a half-awake state as one awaits zombies to ambush at any given point. More people are turning day-by-day.

The morning news is getting worser and worser. Well, it'd be damn a surprise if they were still alive and breathing with the turmoil taking place in the USA.

And Jean?

Let's go back to Jean. What does he do when such a world-wide crisis takes place? He sits in his home and reads. He learns a lot about driving a vehicle and making emergency rations.

Wounds are no longer a problem for him provided he blindfolds himself when it bleeds. Well, what could a hemophobic do otherwise? The zombie crisis is a nightmare, indeed.

Hemophobic : Someone who has an abnormal and persistent fear of blood

He partakes in the duties of a ranger - chopping down branches, clearing out alternate routes for him to dash into when the shamblers come onward to the highway road, striking flint together to create a billowing fire.

His heart is steeled in resolve of surviving this horror. Him being an introvert would advantage him by a large margin.

At times, zombies do come. All sorts of them. Florists and hairdressers from the shopping strip, prison wardens from the bashed-open prison entrance, police all around the highway road, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters - all united in this perverse relationship fulfilled solely by a hunger for human flesh.

The books left behind by his beloved did prove useful enough to teach him jiu-jitsu, moreover his axe-wielding skills weren't rusty yet. He continued staying alive as the lone human wanderer for a few days.

When he was hungry, he raided the abandoned kitchens barring the zombies. Canned food was a luxury during these times. He had to store cooked meat and lentils in the ground, salt chicken, pickle the vegetables. It seems the world's gone back a few centuries behind with the death of electricity and water supply.

Then he did remember

It was the year 1982. Kentucky was a pleasant place to live in. Jean, born to a Québécois father and a Irish mother, was brought up in rural Rosewood. Being the child of mixed parents ensured that he was bullied frequently at his school.

He also did recall his parents' insults when he was rumoured to have kissed a boy, such was the thinking back then (and even now in 1993). Ah, the joy of having to hide bits-and-pieces of yourself until you are but a false image to please one's own loved ones. Such was life...

...Until it wasn't. He went to serve as a ranger. Wasn't a honourable job given the amount of people who'd purposefully dump waste on the shrubs and let their pets poop everywhere. Not to mention the children screaming, adults getting themselves in danger for a mere selfie.

He then met this man at a bar. Unlike the others, he didn't drink and rather chose to busy himself in strumming an ukelele.

It didn't take much for Jean to be interested in him, though it did take long for him to date and eventually marry him.

A thudding sound fills the air

It attracts the zombies from all around Arizona. Brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers - all formerly unrelated, now lumped into a single category called 'zombies' - shamble onward to find the source of this noise.

Jean peeps from the heavily covered window.

A helicopter.

And it's attracting everyone close-by, okay, zombies close-by.

This was bad news to Jean. Oh dear, he can already here a couple of hands banging on the doors and windows in desperation. The helicopter has the gall to lower to his location, shine the brightest light available on his house, and leave as if nothing happened.

Wait. If there was someone operating it, it would mean there still are humans!

Rescue, or was it?

Everything's going to be okay

The helicopter was fluttering over like a dragonfly

"YAAAAAAA"

Then the vehicle hit a few gasoline drums on the way. Sparks ensued and soon the whole vehicle was on fire. Jean bit his bottom lip as he steered clear of more obstacles that may disturb his movement. His lip was bleeding and fire is catching up to his seat quick.

Arizona's heat wasn't helping it. It spread its fiery tentacles into the backseat, the bonnet, etc.

"Everything's going to be okay" he whispered to himself repeatedly as flame licks the back of his seat.

"Everything's going to be okay, indeed" he whimpered. At least, the zombies won't get him now.

--- THE END ---

[surohsopsisofclouds]

hiiii i did think of some questions about your art piece if you don't mind answering! also feel free to not answer or basically do whatever you want tbh

did you use any refrences for the poses? and how did you choose the poses (with or without refrences)

who (specifically, if you don't mind me asking) do the colors represent?

also does the font/handwriting style represent anything?

(also the vent art you did a couple days ago about people just kinda being mad in your general vicinity is so real and it sucks that it happened to you)

Thanks for asking! I love a chance to ramble <3

1. Nope! We don't use pose references super often, though we do spend time studying poses occasionally. We chose them based on vibes, tried to go with poses that would get the feel of how we were in those times across, you know?

Highschool -> subconsciously hiding from people & then towards the end closing ourself off from a lot of people. (did... not really realize we were traumatized at that point in time. When hindsight hit us it hit us with a BAT)

Just Moved Out -> Had just had some of the worst 4 months of our life + just moved out & had A Lot to learn about adult life, so we were super stressed and jittery while trying to cheer ourselves on through it and actually figure out who we wanted to be. (still kind of a doormat, but a self-aware one that was trying to change)

2024 -> More settled in our skin, more familiar with adult life with fewer Immediate problems to solve, and a better relationship with our immediate family, a lot more relaxed with healthier coping mechanisms even if there's still a lot to be stressed over. (successfully far less of a doormat, reveling in how far we've come)

2. The colors represent as follows! Dark Blue = Moon, Yellow = Sun, Light Pink = Estrellum, Green = Dream, and Blue = Remy!

Just Moved Out also has tints of Sun's colors in them, to show that towards the end of that whole era Remy stepped down as temp-host and Sun reclaimed her title as host. I think it was earlier this year/late last year that Moon also reclaimed heir title? Bringing us back to the original two hosts after about 3 years break for them!

3. The font/handwriting didn't represent much when we were drawing, mostly just the handwriting styles of each host, but if I were to ascribe any meaning to them it'd be:

High school: We had a bad habit of always putting way more effort into everything than we needed to, that included our handwriting/writing in general! We got bad anxiety even just from small accidental typos or improper grammar.

Just Moved Out: We noticed that habit and started trying to break away from it. Baby steps and purposefully mistyping things occasionally were key! It honestly helps that some of our littles have a hard time typing, it added a positive association with messing up!

2024: We've successfully broken the habit! To the point where sometimes we won't even notice we messed up a word till we already sent it, and even then we'll just shrug it off instead of worrying over it!

(also thanks for the sympathy on that /gen, it means a lot. sometimes art's a good way to work through that stuff, you know?)

[nmojello260cmu]

Blog #2

9/25/2022

A lot has happened these past few weeks. To begin, our professor assigned us a task in which we had to propose an original product that could benefit the market that we chose. In addition, it had to be within our budget, creative, yet readily accessible to our target mass.

For this, our group met up and brainstormed throughout the afternoon. First thing that we did was to choose our target market, and this was one thing that we unanimously agreed on. It had to be people that were easily reachable to us. Most importantly: it had to be people that we could relate to. And so we chose the students of our university.

We had thought of it as a daunting task and truly, it was. Not because of the lack of ideas, there were a few that we had initially thought of; a few problems that stood out to us and our peers.

Bike for rent - Allows for easy access to transpo inside the campus aside from riding motorela; rejected because of high costs.

Scooter for rent - Same reasons as the above.

Hulog-hulog na water (Water Refilling Machine) - Allows for students to be able to drink mineral water in specific location; rejected because of inability to program the machine or know someone to do so.

Vendo Cafe - Vending Machine But With School Supplies; rejected for high costs.

Paypay na payong or Paypayong - A 2-in-1 combo of an umbrella with a fan attached to its handle, allows for bringing wind whike holding the umbrella; rejected because of complications of creating the product. Our TOTGA.

(Paypayong sketch by Angela)

Ikaw na mag print - some sort of printing vendo machine; scrapped for the same reasons as vendo cafe

Durag - Our last idea, but not original enough.

All our ideas had potential, yet there were several factors holding us back. Few of which are: accessibility to the materials, the (in)ability to make the product or find someone in time to do so which would mean more costs which would mean it'd be more expensive, and money. We didn't have much of it.

Dreaming big was too costly, so we had to think small first---nearer and more reasonable. Something a little closer to home.

It was another brainstorming session later, and our group mate Angela had the idea of taking inspiration from Durags, which was a close-fitting headscarf, worn especially by African-American men. As a nursing student, she explained that she has always experienced the inconvenience with keeping her hair in the proper way it's supposed to be arranged, that is, with not a single strand astray. Travelling by jeep or rela was especially difficult since her baby hairs would start rebelling with the wind even after being gelled thoroughly.

So what was the solution for this? She had expressed how good it would be if there was something that could keep her hair in place yet not violate the dress code of our college.

The remaining four of us, as fellow students of the same course, had agreed with her sentiments. But we had to make sure it wasn't just the five of us who had this issue. So we conducted an online survey through Google Forms to see what other nursing students might think.

How convenient would it be to have something like that?

And there, the barebones of our product begun to form.

(Screenshots of Medical Caps for reference.)

Angela was tasked with the designs so she made the tentative design for our product.

All was looking good so far and as we straightened out the details, we decided to name our product 'Hawid', a Bisaya word meaning 'to hold' which make sense since it was supposed to hold hair neatly.

(Initial sketches of Hawid)

Venture Proposal Day had come.

Our professor had a lot of questions for us, but ultimately, she instructed us on where to improve and how to improve it. How to market it properly, and making sure target mass was really interested in our product.

Thankfully, our proposal was accepted. Shortly after that, we had a meeting online in order to discuss the improvements we had to make.

(Photo below of the tasks assigned.)

This proposal has been fun and nerve-racking at the same time, with creative groupmates all tossing their lot and brainstorming for ideas. I hope we all get to see the fruit of our hard work soon!