#but some stuff apply to other verses too!

[imprvdente]

Crime Drama Archetype Aesthetics

(Bold what applies to your muse, italics for things that apply situationally and/or only in certain verses. Repost, don't reblog!)

The Hero: a small home full of medals // the scent of justice // the adrenaline rush before busting a crime scene // trusting in the team // sworn oaths // the city's skyline from the roof of the police station // radio chatter // protecting those who can't protect themselves // a last stand // crime scene tape

The Rulebreaker: a revolver resting in the drawer // the taste of cheap whiskey. // constant reminders of past mistakes // a shadowy figure in the alley // being known in every bar // a fight in the backroom // blood on leather gloves // your name whispered in the underworld // broken laws for the greater good // an act of defiance against the system

The Oddball: a drawer full of candy wrappers // an unexpected knack for solving cases // a fascination with the improbable // the comfort in eccentricity // midnight oil burning for a case // chaotic notes leading to the truth // a genius in their own world // the thrill of a new challenge // the final piece of the puzzle falling into place // a colourful scarf among the grey suits

The Bad Tempered: worn out gloves from punching the bag // a growl in the voice // a reputation that precedes you // a fist through the wall // harsh words with a caring undertone // a cigarette burning in the ashtray // the anger that fuels everything // a grudge held too long // begrudging respect from colleagues // an unexpected show of loyalty

The Mourning: working late nights // a plan that doesn't include going home // being unable to return to the way things once were // a whiskey bottle in the bottom drawer // the cold touch of a gravestone // silence in a room once filled with laughter // old photographs gathering dust // the echo of a voice no longer there // a past that refuses to be forgotten // knowing that nobody knows what to say

The World-Weary: a flask of strong coffee // a siren in the distance // the familiar smell of gunpowder // a smoker's cough // secrets buried deep // a sigh of frustration // a heavy sense of cynicism // crime scene photos that haunt dreams // a stare that has seen too much // a cold case reopened

The Doctor: the sharp smell of chemicals // a doctor's coat stained with blood // hands that have tried to mend too many // the solemn silence of the dead // precision in every movement // the precise language of medicine // a race against time // the responsibility of life and death // blood spatters on white walls // an oath never to be broken

tagged by took it from @crownmemes! tagging: @omniishambles (Abel), @uselessdevice (Rufus) @governmentofficial, @imjustanauthor (Charlie), @multipleoccupancy (Edgar), @collidingxworlds (Abigail) @lovepurposed, @batteredoptimist (Muriel), @fantasywritten (Strahm), @dcmur3, @pctioneer, @versin-surfin (Léon)

[meanbossart]

Hey! I was thinking of trying to write something for you about DU Drow but after a trying to gather stuff about him via your page I’m struggling to get something substantial for his personality- like I get it mostly (I think?) but it’s hard to put into words (which makes it easier for me) so if it’s not too much to ask; how would you explain DU Drows personality and maybe some of his values? - if you don’t mind! I love your art BTW!

Man, this is a tough ask and I MADE the guy. The fic is definitely the best place to see his personality in action, but it is also 20 chapters long so far - and I'm a fairly reasonable man.

Before I get to any descriptions, there's two important things to note: A) Overwhelmingly, his looks do not match his demeanor. and B) DU drow is extremely hedonistic in practice. He might claim to have certain beliefs or standards but hardly ever practices them.

Anyways, I present to you: The guy, more-or-less summarized to the best of my abilities.

BEHAVIOR: Purposefully standoffish. He wants to be noticed, but he does not want to be bothered. He's a little bit stiff with his body language and mostly makes use of head/neck gestures to assert his sentences and signal his level of interest. On that note, me makes it extremely obvious for the socially-versed individual to tell what he thinks of them - he hardly ever tries to hide if he's disinterested, annoyed, or having a laugh at your expense. He expresses emotion through his face a normal amount, but his default look is eerily bland, and subtle emotions might go unnoticed because of his eye-color and thin brows.

As it is with most people, the more uncomfortable he is with a situation the more stiff and inexpressive he becomes, and vice versa.

SPEECH: DU drow is very much well spoken, and simultaneously very blunt. He abides by most conversational formalities (definitely more formal than you would assume him to be) and basic etiquette. He will greet you and he will say please and thank you even if clearly not meaning it or feeling like you're unworthy of the gesture. Sometimes, he does it just to be patronizing.

With all of that in mind, he has a tendency to use violent turns of phrase and analogies to express himself, this applies to both negative and positive feelings. That being said he's aware of social norma and knows full well when things are or aren't appropriate, even if sometimes he chooses to ignore that and be weird anyway - usually with the purpose of intimidation.

He is the most earnest and sincere with very close friends (quite literally only Astarion and Shadowheart) and rather curt with everyone else unless you catch him in a particularly good mood. He's a little chummier with dwarves and duergar (he finds them amusing and fun to hang out with) and reserves a slight bit more tenderness and kindness for children and mothers, especially if they're elves. He's also fond of animals. He is dismissive of gnomes, goblins, bugbears, half/full orcs and hobgoblins. He despises githyanki and drow. He treats humans fairly respectfully but thinks they are a far lesser race than pretty much all others.

He has a very dark/offensive sense of humor and a tendency to make well crafted, but cruel jokes or quips about sensitive topics. This goes for everybody, including people he's on good terms with.

VALUES: Here's where things get tricky. DU drow is both a hypocrite and a unreliable narrator of his own story, not to mention deeply unfamiliar with his own inner-workings and feelings. Politically, he would be the guy who doesn't vote, doesn't want to pay taxes and dreams of living off the grid, who thinks everybody should pull themselves up by the bootstraps and that it's a dog-eats-dog world. He hates systems of government, authority figures, hierarchical structures and archaic customs. He believes it would a chaotic but functional world if people governed themselves.

In practice, he doesn't stand for anything and gladly overlooks injustices and things that don't align with his supposed values as long as they favor him, or just don't get in his way, and easily makes exceptions for things on a whim. He's indifferent to slavery; unless it's Astarion's. - He thinks humans are a worthless pet-race, except for his dearest and nearest friend, the half-elf Shadowheart. He thinks Half-orcs are intellectually inferior, but he will gladly be chummy with them if they amuse him and make for good-company during a night-out.

INNER WORLD AND INTIMACY: DU drow is extremely unfamiliar with his own emotions and very often comes up empty when he has to justify or explain anything that is based on feeling, while simultaneously operating on impulse and instinct for the vast majority of the time. He is subject to fear, resentment, and insecurity as much as anyone else, but carries a deep shame in acknowledging his own vulnerability at all. He is very intense when it comes to love, however, and shows no reluctance in expressing it through his words and actions towards the people he cares about. He does care for the levels of comfort of those dearest to him though, and doesn't bombard them with it unless the moment is right, or if overwhelmed into doing so. The same applies to physical affection - he's extremely comfortable with it, but cares deeply for respecting the boundaries of his loved ones. When it comes to strangers, he only touches them outside of combat if there is some kind of power-game at play.

A couple of other things that might be of note:

-He likes creature comforts, but is also fine with going without them and won't ever complain about having to live, sleep, or survive in less-than-ideal circumstances as long as he feels in control of the situation. -He can be enticed by valuables and gold because they make the immediate future easier, but he doesn't seek a life of vast riches. -He is not an alcoholic but probably has a binge-drinking problem. -While he is fond and respectful of animals, he has no issues killing them if the situation calls for it. -He pretty much always believes himself to be the most impressive person in the room. -He is not a vain man, but very much likes the way that he looks and to have it be acknowledged by his partner. -He believes faith, religion, and gods to be a waste of time.

[yesimwriting]

How do you think Felix would react to bestfriend!reader coming out as bi/pan or nonbinary/genderfluid?

Do you think he would view women as much of a threat as men or…? And what do you think he would say if reader went: “OMG FELIX that girl is so hot” or something like that.

Sorry this was kinda long— 😭

i wanted to answer this fully bc it's a good question, and that got a little long so it's below the cut!!

also i analyze felix's sexuality a little just to give some background on my perspective,, but i try not to put my own speculations on felix's sexuality in fics (unless asked to) bc i want the person reading to be able to decide how they see felix

oh!! also! side note! i've mainly written bestfriend! reader with female pronouns,, and some plot stuff in the main fic i'm writing does rely on reader being female, but if anyone ever wants a specific blurb to have reader be gender neutral,, just specify in the ask and i'll make sure to write it that way :)

okay,, i think felix is extremely bi/pan leaning

and by that i mean i don't think he'd label his sexuality,, and not even in a 'too cool' way, he just wouldn't put that much thought into it,, like he probably sees himself eventually settling down/marrying a girl bc that's kind of the default (a tiny bit of comphet lol),, but i think he likes who he likes, he's attracted to who he's attracted to and doesn't pay much mind to their gender

i feel like this applies to most of felix's family/inner circle as well lol,, like attraction is attraction, why get caught up on the details if that makes sense

also no one can convince me felix didn't feel anything for ollie,, they are that romantic coded best friendship that ends dramatically and traumatically for all involved <3 but in bestfriend!felix verse reader will always be his #1, trust

but if we are reading felix as straight,, i still think he'd be super supportive (bi wife energy)

so considering that (and the fact that felix loves reader too much to ever make them feel bad about anything,, especially something like that) he'd be extremely supportive of reader's sexual orientation and/or gender identity,, and if anyone even implies something rude oh!! he's fighting!

depending on how bad it is, felix might just exclude that person socially, and bc of felix's influence, that means everyone starts to shun that person,, if someone was really homophobic towards reader,, felix would cuss them out fr,, might even instinctually get physical depending on how bad it is

as far as reader being like "felix! that girl is so hot" his initial reaction would be to agree/hype you up bc it's instinct to support reader,, but then it'd hit him and he'd be like oh. wait.. :(

true equality and acceptance of reader's sexuality/gender identity is wanting everyone of all genders to realize how wonderful reader is,, but from a distance <3 like yes i have the cutest, most perfect, lovely,, intelligent best friend, i'm glad you noticed,, unfortunately that's all you get to do

i do think that if it was just you two talking while out partying or hanging out and it didn't go further than some comments, felix would be supportive, but he'd be a little extra touchy to prove to himself that reader will let him

i think he'd be more bothered if reader called a guy hot, not bc he's more intimidated, but bc at least when reader finds a girl attractive it's much less of a direct comparison (bc female presenting and masculine presenting are generally hot in different ways) if that makes sense

if it goes any further than that,, felix is equally pouty no matter the person's gender

also we know felix's friends have a habit of hooking up with venetia,, so i could see this making felix more wary of venetia and reader getting along a little too well over the summer lol,, like he wouldn't assume the worst if they started liking each other a little, but he'd be wary

honestly, though,, at the end of the day, as long as it's clear that felix is reader's absolute favorite person of any gender, he'd be chill and even when he's jealous he's supportive

[riveracheron]

eh. might as well post this now. a few of these are wish fulfillment rather than actual theorizing but explanations under the cut

i have an alchemy hyperfixation and all the alchemy stuff in tmagp makes me very excited so a lot of my theories are related to that

spoilers for the pilot btw

main character gets an eye injury - the image will not leave my head. in the magnus institute ruins statement there was this whole thing about redcanary having some kind of encounter with or experience with eye trauma and that feels like something thats just. gonna come up again

another mechanisms va - self explanatory, we need to complete the set. would love to hear kofi or rachel.

gwen has trauma related to something that happened with elias - this is going on the theory that she’s not elias’ counterpart, but a relative of some kind. something spooky happens to him and that pushes gwen to research the paranormal.

character referencing nicholas flamel - all the main characters have names that reference alchemists, and nicholas flamel is probably the most famous alchemist of all time. i doubt he’ll be given the smirke treatment because that kinda already happened with the transphobic wizard books, but someone could be sharing his name.

mag 114 statement is relevant - thats the. hill top road statement that deals with other realities, and anya (the statement giver) could be from the protocol verse. we could totally hear about the aftermath of her departure

alice/sam/gwen = three primes - the three main alchemical symbols on the OIAR crest, and a good sort of symbolic trio sorter. the three peimes are salt, sulphur and mercury, and are the basis for alchemy. the down to earth, reliable salt, the firey, unpredictable sulfur, and the adaptable, easygoing mercury. i think these could apply i just want to have it called out in universe

lena is a good person - i don’t think they’d pull the evil boss thing twice. i just think lena’s weird mannerisms are from her autistic swag

celia is related to or is agnes - (related to as in. her story involves agnes, not that shes like. a sister.) this comes from a theory by @/pinklotjeart, i think. basically: through the way her death was described (spark returned to the lightless flame) and some timeline discrepancies and general avatarness making it weird, agnes might not be Dead dead. and celia’s counterpart, lynne - well, she saw a fire ghost. also, both her and agnes are the only non one-off characters who have shakespeare names afaik. agnes MONTAGUE, celia from as you like it…

annabelle cane is related somehow - self explanatory, she was at hilltop road when everything went down. might have been pulled in.

a famous alchemist is robert smirke’d - self explaining, give me more canon historical figures jonny

another kitty cat - i want more kitty in podcast is that a crime

augustus is not jonah - we hear jonah’s voice as ben meredith in 193, so im skeptical that tim fearon’s character is jonah for that reason.

oiar group has a messy moment that devolves into actual physical violence - mmm angst i think they deserve to smack eachother around a bit

bonzo cult - yeah.

oiar found family - we got the group of coworkers that hate each other angst last time gimme the “hurting one to get to the others” and self sacrifice angst this time

colin dies early - mmmm i cant say much about this bc its based on one throwaway line at the MCM panel where jonny doesn’t mention colin in the main character group. so . death flags.

oiar is containing the entities scp style - this was a super early theory of mine, either this or theyre using them for power or energy in some way. even more heavy handed capitalism metaphors yay

someone gets ushanka’d - its computer horror: the podcast. that’s all

cookbook statement - a few clues in the ARG had to do with cookbooks, and alex and jonny have already said they’re getting weird with the statement formats (they mentioned an insurance report!) so. cookbook doesn’t seem too far-fetched

tiktoker/influencer character - archives was 2010s and they had a podcaster and youtuber, which were like. the big things. whats the hip trend now??? instagram and tiktok baybee

protocol editors va a small role a la mag 100 or the wtgfs cult - those characters were voiced by other rq team members (ie helen as laverne and martyn as robin) and the team has since expanded!! some editors dis stuff for cry havoc, so im guessing nico, annie, april and others will get a small role!

a villain’s goal is creating the philosopher’s stone or other alchemical thing - tmagp is heavily inspired by alchemy, and the philosopher’s stone was the main goal of alchemy!! it would grant you eternal knowledge snd the ability to turn lead into gold- which seems like a good. evil dude’s ambition

the desolation gets more focus - the institute burned down, the oiar crest has a lot of sulfur symbols (the fire element), alchemy as a whole having to do with fire, celia and her connection- it paints a very. lightless flame picture

trip to germany - a lot of the arg was set in and around berlin, and there was that exchange between sam and colin about german in the pilot! i could see a germany trip happening in the same way jon took a trip to china and america.

[ghost-bxrd]

blog guidelines and tags

Hi! I’m GhostBird! This blog is dedicated to any and all things Batman and Robin related featuring copious amounts of fluff and feels 💚

First of all: be kind. Both to me and to each other. If there’s a prompt/opinion you don’t like please keep scrolling or simply block. Rude commentary or harassment of any kind will not be tolerated, and yes that also applies to ships you may find distasteful. If I have too many people going anon to be rude I will be turning that function off. This is a safe space, and I will enforce that with prejudice. 🐍

Second of all: Have Fun. Go wild. And if you have any questions, feel free to send me an ask 🦅

AU GUIDE

Shuck — Church Grimm Jason AU 🐺

what you’re longing for you claim to abhor — for the fic with Jason pretending to be a hallucination where the Bats think Hood was Jason’s boyfriend 🫀

The Antithesis of Magic — for the fic where Jason Todd adopts a young Bruce Wayne from an alternate universe and takes him back to his own and now has to navigate being a dad to a traumatized ten year old who’s hell bent on becoming a vigilante while simultaneously juggling his night job as a crime lord, all while keeping both their identities secret from the Bats 🦇

Fae Dick Grayson — the Fae au with multiple headcanons and little convos without an actual fic (yet) lol 🌲

Court Family — the batfam as part of the Court of Owls AU 🪙

Selkie Au — Selkie Jason 🦭

Owl Song — for the Talon!Dick fic series I’m writing featuring lots of feels 🦉

Mer Au — the batfam as merpeople! Featuring Leviathan Jason and Siren!Dick and researcher Calvin Rose and a lot of mysteries 🌊

Dragon Au — medieval Dragon Rider Au, with the canon vigilante personas as dragons 🐉

TAG GUIDE

prompts — plot bunnies that hit me over the head at random times of the day. If you get inspired, feel free to write something for it. 💚

Digital Art — my art (unless it’s reblogged) ranging from sketches and little comic doodles to full paintings. Usually of the angsty variety ⛈️

ghost talks — responses to asks and suggestions, some general musings, and random thoughts 👻

brainstorming — brainstorming for fic ideas or existing fics

Etsy — updates and stuff for my Etsy store, mostly Batboys related 🦅

Sneak Peek — Drabble previews of upcoming fics ✍️

Scrapbook — scrapbook project for Owl Song, with hidden infos and secret messages for this verse 🦉📖

Mer Au — look up the “blog guide” tag for a guide to mer au tags 🌊

Echoes Zine — a zine project I’m working on that will be featuring mostly Jason with Dick and Tim cameos :)

Some Links 🔗

AO3

And… that’s pretty much it for now. I’ll update this list when or if necessary ✨

[bumblingbabooshka]

I’m fascinated by the previous ask’s mention of anime “or the Vulcan equivalent” since anime is literally just Japanese animation would Vulcan animation have a distinctive enough style to warrant a distinct name? What is the Vulcan cultures’ views on animation as an art form (in your opinion).

I don't know enough about animation or art as like an evolving discipline as it relates to society/culture to say much about it in an intelligent way but the newest Dungeon Meshi Extra makes me think about it in a purely 'what would be fun' way

Vulcans also have an incredibly long lifespan so it'd be funny if Vulcans were used to listening to stories that are much longer than other species. [See: Tuvok singing his children a 348 verse story as a lullaby and his children loving it]

You know those soap operas that go on for like decades? Vulcan soap operas are going on for CENTURIES.

I think a lot of the most popular stories on Vulcan center around enlightment or war. In fact I think a lot of Vulcan is probably dedicated to those topics - I headcanon that there are multiple museums and monuments about the many wars Vulcan fought with a heavy emphasis on the great toll it took on their people and how awful these actions were. They almost blew up everything with nukes! But then logic saved them...I believe this is also a common thread in stories that aren't about war - being saved by logic. A woman almost falls for charlatan...but logic saves her. A man almost kills his brother...but logic stills his hand. Etc Etc. A Vulcan author could probably write thousands of books in their lifetime, depending on the age they started. I think having an author with hundreds of books is fairly common and Vulcans are often a bit anxious about reading very good authors of other species...what if they die before they finish writing?? Television shows having like 40 seasons isn't that rare and I think their method of storytelling would probably have to differ from ours in order to facilitate that. That's interesting, isn't it?? I wonder about Vulcan media that isn't Surak's teachings. Like, Tuvok says he likes to read - what's he read about? In 'Riddles' Neelix mentions a "Proto-Vulcan Drama" called 'Clash on the Fire Plains' which has 23 parts. Tuvok apparently has this in book form in his quarters but he's often reading things off his PADD which I assume are also Vulcan literature. It seems that a lot of Vulcan stories we hear about are meant to teach some sort of lesson even if they are also entertaining. When it comes to ongoing media (EX: Television show) I think they'd probably follow a series of arcs and situations with the same characters learning and growing. If you start watching season 82 of a Vulcan program then go back to season 7 it's like a whole new set of characters but they just changed because of their experiences. (As your Vulcan friend will rant to you). It gets a bit ridiculous but it's a bit fun too~ I headcanon that Vulcans in Starfleet will often get together to watch popular Vulcan tv shows' new episodes...alleviates some missing home. Others join in and soon we're seeing tv shows from all over the universe! Surprisingly, Vulcan and Klingon programs are fairly similar in the aspect of 'a lot of battle focused shows which teach lessons' but the exact lessons differ, of course. Oh I bet Vulcan tv shows would also have so much intrigue and drama about clans and marriage and propriety etc which Klingons would love. Klingon: So T'Eyanra is going off with Sarun? Even though she was made aware that Sertik is ill and might be plagued with fever? Vulcan: Yes. And do not forget - Sarun's clan changed the water rights of her own, though she does not know this yet. Klingon: -settling in- Sarun's clan is without honor! That knave... -gasp- and the Ektinslahrah ritual is tonight! Vulcan: -also settling in- Indeed. Oh god this was about anime wasn't it? Well just apply all that stuff I said to anime somehow...Vulcan anime is like one piece's length and death note's complexity but with a shocking amount of painstaking slice of life. I think animation would be taken as seriously on Vulcan as it is on Earth - I can't think of anything that'd make them take it more or less seriously? I picture Betazoid animation would have a heavy emphasis on showing feeling though - like visibly as an ever present cloud behind the characters' heads and you have to know what all the colors mean.

[tumblweeds-omegaverse]

worldbuilding thing I've been wondering about:

how do you handle gender identity, gender expression, and/or gender stereotypes, within your omegaverse writings?

this goes for ocs and for fanfics!

if alphas are physically male in the way we'd consider a human to be physically male, that's a statement on their sex, yeah? not their gender.

you can have the body parts implied there and still be a gender that is not "man". so how's that work for omegaverse? especially if alphas can be male or female.

how do you describe gender within your omegaverse? is it based more around dynamic / secondary? (alpha/beta/omega) or around sex? (male/female/others if they apply)

do people get gendered expectations assigned to them based on their sex, on their dynamic, on the combination of both?

(ex: is there a difference between the gender roles given to a female omega versus a male omega? are the stereotypes for a male beta like or unlike those of a male omega?)

could there be such a difference between female alphas, female betas, and female omegas, that only some female people are considered women, while others are labeled with some other term due to their dynamic? or are all female people considered to be women? (assuming they're all cisgender...but if you've got trans headcanons I wanna hear those too!)

I'm curious about this because it's reasonable to say something like "our image of what is masculine appearance / behavior is shaped by our society and time period," right? (since male doesn't have to equal man or masculine, but there's often some connection)

but that structure wouldn't be built from the same stuff in omegaverse. since behaviors and such could be associated with different groups.

so...if a male alpha is seen as a feminine presenting person, what does that mean in your verse?

are masculine and feminine less about what exists in your verse and more about the limitations of our own language?

is it something else altogether?

[actiongrrl]

|| GAME CANON

What choices in the game apply to my depiction of Sam? Here's your handy dandy guide!

** Any choices involving Mike apply to @jesvshotsaucechristmascake , were things we plotted out/choices that were played out together and are a part of Sam's main verse canon

We start this in medias res;

Sam agreed with Josh, Chris and Ashley's crushes on each other are sweet! She couldn't help but side-eye his comment about trauma throwing them into each other's arms.

Found the bat and was serious about it. She found out some sweet memories about Josh and his family when they would vacation at the lodge.

Hit that high 5 because of course.

Pranked Josh, and succeeded in convincing him when...

Sam hears a noise. She's freaked out, Josh is freaked out, and she investigates it with Josh, holding onto him until they're chased by a masked Chris. She's greatly annoyed by this moment. ( @joshinyou and I decided this was canon because it's just cute.

Sam has taken her luxurious bath (which is probably like 2 hours tops you have to remember a lot of this game is taking place simultaneously, guys, c'mon.) When she realizes something's amiss. Following the balloons to the theatre room, she's pursued by the psycho

She throws the vase at him (sorry, bud) before jumping over the bed and running into the basement. Here she slips on the broken step and injures herself.

Sam opts to hide from the psycho in the basement, staying put before running- Grabbing the aforementioned baseball bat and hitting the psycho in the head with it. (sorry again about the concussion)

Seeing her chance for escape, she runs down the hallway but soon realizes the door doesn't have a doorknob. After pulling over a rack of wine, she gets the doorknob, opening the door and shutting it barely in time for the psycho to reach through the window for her.

Sam stays in the following room a little too long, feeling as if she's in a semblance of safety. That's when the psycho catches up with her, knocking her out with..... Nitrous oxide?

This is where stuff gets a little canon divergent because Stark and I thought it made for a better story in our opinion;;

Mike finds Sam tied to the chair and frees her before Sam finds a way to let him into the basement.

After Sam changes her clothes, the two of them investigate, finding evidence of Josh's mental health struggles.

When everyone convenes after Chris and the Stranger try to fetch Josh, Sam focuses on Ashley who's freaking out, influencing Mike to turn on Emily. Thankfully, Emily is not hurt.

In her mission to warn Mike about the monsters, Sam breaks off from the group and takes a shortcut through the mines and into the tunnels that connect the sanitarium. She comes across Mike having a little monster issue and bursts in, taking one of the monster's heads off with a solid swing of a shovel.

Mike shoots the oil barrel, blasting both of them out of sanitarium with an explosion and setting the building on fire.

At this point, the duo pair up and try to find their way back through the mines. Sam and Mike align their stories and what they found, as well as stumbling on Josh and other clues in the mine.

Sam leaves Josh to Mike to get him home, making her way to the lodge. She does end up slipping, injuring herself when running from a monster pursuing her.

Once in the lodge, they search for the others, heading to the basement to meet them. That's when Mike and Sam run into Emily, Chris, and Ashley running out of the basement with monsters in hot pursuit. Mike initially leaves after the others exit, not realizing that Sam is rooted to the spot, terrified. Mike realizes that Sam isn't following, and turns back to come help, dragging her out and up to the first story.

Thus we find Sam in the main landing area, staring at various monsters crawling about. She falters slightly, attracting the monster's attention and it comes to attack her when Mike dives to save Sam and gets tossed aside like a doll.

When Mike finally gets himself in order, he and Sam silently make the plan to blow the lodge up.

Sam moves and draws the monsters attention while Mike moves to break the bulb. But they catch sight of him and begin to move to his location when Sam shouts to draw them back to her.

She keeps the monster's attention, gradually moving about and hiding which allows her friends to escape from the lodge one by one.

Mike waits as long as possible, ducking out when Sam makes her way to the switch, leaving and giving Sam the knowledge that everyone else was out.

Sam runs to the switch, hitting it, and blowing up the lodge and herself right out of the building.

[ohbo-ohno]

After rotating your non con puppy play ghoap stories in my head non stop, I had a Thought:

There's fleshlights that are short and open ended called quickshots, and maybe Ghost decides one day not to cage his pup for their walk, but instead to be really mean and let Soap get hard, encourage it even, but shame Soap in the process. He slips the quickshot over just the head of Soap's cock where its so sensitive and then uses KT tape to adhere it to Soap's belly. As his pup crawls after him, the stimulation gets him hard and yay he's not caged but oh no now he's hard and his cock is out the end of the toy and on full display and he can't do anything about it and Ghost (or one of the others) comments on how the pup must be enjoying his walk, look his little cock is out of its "sheath". Can't stop crawling after Ghost, can't touch himself, can't stop the stimulation or get soft, just whimpers even more

(If this is too much I'm sorry, please ignore! - 🦨)

this is referencing my lil mini noncon puppy play verse - howling and barking, kinktober 11, kinktober 20, and this oneshot!! go read the triggers of at least one of them, they'll apply to this too :)

okay okay okay hello skunk you've come in with a hell of an ask for your first!!

my day 11 kinktober is (to my knowledge??) my only foray into public sex, and it was smth i did to try and push myself a bit - that day specifically is probably the only piece of my stuff that i felt actually kind of uncomfortable writing, it gets to me for some reason haha. public sex is usually a hard no for me

it also exists in that limbo kind of universe that any heavy bdsm erotica does, which is like "this is not at all realistic or really possible, but we're all horny here so get over it" yknow??

anywayssss

i had to google quickshots (here, for those curious lol) and (1) they will almost definitely be making an appearance in my stuff at some point because you cannot tell me that ghost wouldn't edge soap with that and (2) im obsessed with your vision

smth about soap's dick being taped to his stomach... keeps trying to hump something to get any stimulation but all it does is rub the head of his dick against his abs :( maybe if he works had enough the quickshot will shift just the tiniest bit, but it's never enough to do anything for him

he'll be kneeling beside ghost outside while the other man smokes a cigarette, quivering and just barely shifting his hips, whimpering and whining cause he's so desperate but he doesn't want to humiliate himself further :( inches his hips just a little further up once and yips real loudly, nearly crumples in on himself when he hears laughter

nearly collapses on the walk back to their room because he's so fucking close and ghost just drags him along, nearly strangles him with the leash :( johnny's yipping and barking, trying so hard to crawl fast enough and the way his chest heaves and the way he curls in on himself a bit rubs his cock just right and he's got the really long, really miserable orgasm as ghost drags him along :( hears ghost groan and complain about being tired of having to clean up after his puppy :(

[alwaysbethewest]

Triple Frontier/Narcos fic: Crossing the Streams

This week is @fleetwoodmactshirt's birthday and I knew I wanted to write her something if I could—it was just a question of what. Frankie Morales making ravioli from scratch? An intimate morning spent with Ezra? Or: this? A deeply self-indulgent (and Fleetwood-indulgent) AU of an AU crossed over with another AU from an entirely different piece of media. It made sense in my head.

This concept is something we've jokingly(?) discussed for years but it always felt too outrageous to actually put to words. Until now. Happy birthday, beloved! I hope this makes you smile.

Title: Crossing the Streams Characters/Pairings: Frankie Morales, Benny Miller, Javier Peña, OFC, Baby Morales, ghost!Reader. Nascent Fishben implied; Javi/OFC implied. Rating: Teen (but maybe Gen) Word count: 1.8k Content/warnings: Crossover of my ghost 'verse and @fleetwoodmactshirt's Javier Peña X-Files AU 🙃 Not really exactly officially a part of the ghost 'verse, but could be considered a spin-off chapter of it maybe. I don't think any particular warnings apply. Reader is a ghost. The OFC listed above is the reader from Fleetwood's AU, and I tried to leave her a blank slate. Javi holds the baby a lot. I fudged the timelines so Javi is older but not as much older as he would be. Unbetaed, so let me know if you spot any mistakes.

You can see the family resemblance immediately. The man standing in the foyer isn’t an exact carbon copy of Francisco, but they could easily be mistaken for brothers. Benny had been the one to answer the door and the visitor is sizing him up, friendly but with a hint of narrow-eyed assessment peeking through. Benny senses it and stands a little straighter, calling over his shoulder, “Fish, they’re here!”

The slap-slap-slap sound of the baby’s hands on the hardwood floor announces her arrival even before she rounds the corner into the hallway, crawling rapidly towards the front door while Francisco ambles behind her. Ben scoops her up before she can reach the threshold, easily hefting her up to his shoulder, while the other men greet each other with a hug.

“Ah, mi sobrino!” Francisco’s uncle gives him an affectionate pat on the cheek. “Te ves bien, Francisco.”

“Hola, tío Javi,” he says with a grin. “Come on in. You met Benny?”

Now that they’re standing side by side you’re able to see the similarities and differences between them. Javier is older by fifteen years or so, his dark hair greying at the temples, slim body still fit but gone a little soft around the middle. He’s cleanshaven but for an attractive, full mustache, and his warm brown eyes are shielded by a pair of glasses with dark, slightly rounded plastic frames.

Javier nods. “I haven’t met this one yet, though,” he says, reaching for Francisco’s daughter. She goes to him without hesitation and he has to catch her chubby hands in his before she can drag his glasses down his nose. He pulls a face at her and she giggles.

“And is your…” Francisco pauses, as if searching for the right word. “Partner outside?”

Javi glances out the open door. “She’s getting some equipment out of the trunk. Listen,” he says, lowering his voice a little, “she takes this stuff seriously and she can be a little—excitable, about it. Take it easy on her, okay?”

This stuff, as it turns out, is investigating the world of the paranormal.

After Francisco’s mom had heard about Santiago’s suspicion that the house was haunted, she’d been the one to suggest he invite tío Javier and his… partner, for a visit. (You understand the hesitation before “partner” as soon as you see her; the energy flowing between them is lit up with something far brighter than a pair of regular, platonic co-workers would ever have. And even someone without your vision might notice the way it takes her a moment to recover from the sight of him with the baby in his arms, or how his hand hovers over the small of her back as they make their way down the hall.)

Francisco leads them into the kitchen, where he sets a pot of coffee brewing.

“You can set her down if you want,” he tells Javi, nodding to the baby’s high chair.

“That’s alright,” he says, taking a seat and easily shifting her into the crook of his arm. He crosses his legs so she’s half in his lap and bounces his thigh, just lightly, offering up his free hand for her to pull and pinch and bite at as she likes to keep her entertained.

His partner is watching from the doorway and you observe with interest how her breathing goes almost imperceptibly unsteady before she gathers herself again.

“So which of you saw the ghost?” she asks Francisco and Benny.

Ben’s eyes shift to the corner where you’re perched on the kitchen counter, but Francisco is already answering for the both of them. “Neither of us,” he tells her. “Our friend Santiago is the one who thinks he saw something.”

She’s taking notes in a pocket-sized notebook.

“And what was it that Santiago saw?”

“Socks,” he says, in a tone that indicates he thinks this is just as silly as it sounds.

“Socks,” she echoes, tilting her head inquisitively.

“Floating in the air.” He makes a vague, floaty gesture with one hand while pouring the coffee with the other.

Tío Javi’s partner finally takes a seat at the table, so she’s not stuck juggling her coffee cup and the notebook. The baby leans towards her, curious, and she gives her a polite smile. “Hello.” Then, struck by a thought, she looks to Francisco again.

“Has the baby seen the ghost?” she asks.

Benny’s eyes widen. Francisco just chuckles. “Not that she’s mentioned,” he says dryly. “Look, I don’t want to be wasting your time. You should know that—I’m not suggesting Santi’s making it up or anything but—the guy’s had more than one concussion before. You know what I’m saying?”

“That’s interesting,” she remarks, jotting it down.

Francisco exchanges a glance with Javier.

“Is it?”

“Well, brain injuries, trauma, near-death experiences—they can open a person’s senses to things that others can’t see,” she explains.

He looks skeptical.

“We’ve all had near-death experiences,” he says, gesturing around the room. He says it so matter-of-factly that she looks startled, and maybe a little concerned. “Ben and I were Special Forces. Tío, I’ve heard your stories from Colombia. We’ve all dealt with some dark shit.”

Javi flattens his mouth in a grim line. Ben is rubbing his knuckles over his lips and you can see the anxiety building in him. The room falls silent for a moment.

“I’m sorry if I upset you,” she says. Under the table, Javi shifts his leg to bump his foot with hers reassuringly.

“No.” Francisco frowns. “I’m sorry. You’re just doing your job. You—I know you brought some gear with you. You’re welcome to check the house, or… do whatever you need. I’ll show you where Santi saw the socks in the air.”

She sets down her pen.

“If you don’t mind.”

Francisco leads her upstairs to the nursery. You’re not sure you want to get anywhere near her ghost-hunting equipment, whatever it may be, so you stick to the kitchen and keep Ben company while he attempts to make conversation with Francisco’s uncle.

“So you worked in Colombia,” he tries. Javi gives a quiet grunt to the affirmative. He doesn’t want to talk about that—you can tell, and Benny figures it out pretty quickly, too.

“Do you—” he starts, but Javi’s already speaking.

“What’s the situation here?” he asks.

“What do you mean?”

“Between you and Frankie.”

You can almost feel the heat radiating off him as the air shimmering around Benny turns a deep, blushing pink.

“There’s no situation,” he says.

“You’re roommates?”

“Yeah—I mean, we’ve been friends for a long time. My lease ended a few months ago and he said I could stay here. He has a guest room,” he adds, a touch defensively.

Javi smiles and nods like he hadn’t meant anything by it.

“What about you?” Benny asks. He nods to the ceiling, where Javi’s partner is upstairs. “You guys seem close. Are you dating her?”

Javi’s placid smile doesn’t falter for a moment, but his eyes narrow a little.

“No,” he says. “She has a guest room, too.”

Ben’s mouth opens, then snaps closed, and the men sit in silence for a moment.

“I think she wants to get down,” he says, gesturing to the baby in Javi’s arms, who’s squirming and lunging forward as if to jump to the floor. He sets her down carefully on all fours and she takes off at speed, leaving Ben to scramble behind her. Javier looks around the empty room, eyes skipping right over you, drains his coffee, and follows suit.

You trail behind him to the living room, where Benny has deposited the baby in the middle of the conversation pit with a basket of toys. Javi stops short, taken aback by the sunken couches.

“Holy shit,” he says. “This place hasn’t been remodeled in a while, huh?”

Benny glances at you, knowing this subject is a sore spot. You’d taken great pride in this house, back when it had belonged just to you, and you’re not sure why everybody keeps wishing to change it now.

“We like it,” he tells him. “It’s got character. Plus, this is like a built-in play pen. She’s too little to climb out.”

Javier sits himself down, spreading his legs comfortably wide in a confident-man sprawl.

“It’s a good house,” he admits. “Quiet neighborhood.”

They watch the baby playing on the floor. You join her there, rolling plastic balls back to her too subtly for Javier to realize they haven’t simply bounced.

“Can I ask you something?” Benny says. Javi raises an eyebrow in assent. “Say there is a ghost—” he starts.

“There isn’t.” Javi narrows his eyes a little, like he’s trying to decide if Benny really believes in something so unfathomable.

Benny is avoiding your gaze.

“But theoretically,” he says. “If there was. What would—I mean—What do you do? Like if the EMF meter or whatever registered something.”

“Well,” Javi replies slowly. “Theoretically, if there was a ghost hanging around I think my partner would tell you there’s something unresolved that they still need. A sense of peace, or…”

He pauses, scratching his chin. Eyes still on the child.

“It’s the same as what anybody wants, right? A sense of fulfillment. So you can move on.”

It makes something feel hollow and fluttery inside your chest, achy like you haven’t felt in a while. Now you’re the one avoiding Ben’s eyes, when he looks at you. You retreat to the corner, wanting to be alone but unwilling to give up eavesdropping on such a rare visit.

Their conversation is cut short by the others’ return. Francisco still looks skeptical and she looks thoughtful. Javi tilts his head back and raises an eyebrow.

“Inconclusive,” she announces. “There were some very interesting readings but nothing concrete. There are some other tests we could—”

“I think this is enough,” Francisco cuts her off gently. “It’s not like any of us have been possessed. If blood starts dripping down the walls, we’ll call you back.”

“Well, for a simple specter I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that,” she assures him. “Blood drips can be indicative of—”

“It was a joke,” he says, and she smiles but she also shrugs like, well, we’ll see.

“Mijo,” Javier says, changing the subject for everyone’s sake. “Pick a restaurant, we’ll go out to dinner, my treat. Your roommate can come too.”

The emphasis he puts on roommate isn’t strong enough for Francisco to pick up on, but Benny does and he shoots Javi a narrow look. Javi gives him an innocent grin and turns back to the baby, who’s been pulling herself up on his pant legs, trying to climb up to her dad since he’d walked in the room. He swings her into his arms and hands her over to Francisco, and after a ten-minute debate over a pizzeria versus a steakhouse, and a five-minute diaper change, the group heads outside.

Alone in the quiet house, you float up to your attic window seat, where you settle in to contemplate tío Javi’s words about things unresolved.

(tiny tag list: @pedrostories, @littlemisspascal, @loversandantiheroes, @by-ilmater, @pettyprocrastination, @littleferal, @pennyserenade)

[putschki1969]

Hello Puts!

I don't think I have seen you share your thoughts about Keiko's latest single. I personally really enjoy this release and I am curious how you feel about it?

Ugh, yeah, you got me there🫣I've been uncharacteristically quiet about Keiko's 「夕闇のうた」. Quite frankly, I've just not had enough positive things to say to warrant a proper review😭. As most of you probably know, I do not get any pleasure from lingering on stuff I don't particularly like, I simply move on and prefer to focus on things I actually enjoy. But hey, since you asked, I might as well write up a few things that have been going through my mind.

Disclaimer: Needless to say, this is all just my personal opinion. I am by no means an expert on music or singing, I am just a fan who is very invested in my girls but due to having a very specific taste, not everything works for me but of course that doesn't mean that it won't work for anyone else.

Let's start with the single's A-Side 「夕闇のうた/Yūyami no Uta」. It's not like I hate the song or anything, objectively it's a decent track, I just can't really get into it. There are some songs and melodies that immediately resonate with me, others grow on me over time and then there are some I need to hear performed live to properly appreciate them. In this case, none of these options apply unfortunately. We got our very first snippet way back at the end of November and to be honest, that didn't do much for me which already kinda tempered my excitement. Ever since then the song has had time to marinate but I haven't been able to warm up to it. Even the live performance at last year's Kaji Fes didn't have a noteworthy effect on me. My last hope was hearing the full studio version but my reaction was once again rather lukewarm. The visuals of the PV helped a bit to get me into a good mood for the song but ultimately, I was pretty much underwhelmed. And the worst thing is, I struggle to pinpoint what exactly is bothering me about the song. One thing I am definitely not a fan of is the overly rushed and repetitive drum-beat in the verses, for some reason I feel like it clashes a bit with Keiko's singing and cheapens the overall vibe of the song but that could just be my personal impression. I prefer a good build-up to a chorus and I don't think we are getting it here. Speaking of the chorus, the structure of the chorus doesn't work for me or maybe it's the melody (lack thereof?) that doesn't appeal to me? Not sure exactly but it's not giving me what I would have liked. The first part starting with "inori" is pretty generic and then we get a sort of crescendo for "utau/fureru" which feels oddly out of place, especially when it transitions right into the scat singing. Maybe there is too much different stuff going on or it's all happening too fast but it doesn't have the impact on me which it probably should have. I am usually a big fan of Keiko's scat singing, I mean, her yay- yay-yay part in YK's "vanity" or Kalafina's "Door" regularly gives me an eargasm so why the hell does it leave me so unimpressed in "Yūyami no Uta"???!!! I guess it's more of a combination of the melodic arrangement and the accompanying scatting which makes songs like "vanity" or "Door" so much more epic for me....? As for the bridge, it's okay I suppose. In her interviews, Keiko has mentioned multiple times how her progress as a vocalist has made it possible to tackle all these high parts and that just a few years ago, Yuki Kajiura would have assigned Yuriko Kaida or one of her other chorus singers to sing those sections. Keiko's higher registers are a hit and miss for me, sometimes they work, other times not so much. Here she sounds perfectly fine and I fully understand why YK would feel confident to let Keiko handle this on her own. But again, the whole part is just meh and by now I am convinced that it is because the song doesn't have a sufficiently nice melody to provide a good base for Keiko's singing.

I want to continue with 「夕闇のうた Special Edit ver.」 because I honestly feel like we have been robbed of something really good here. Whoever decided to bypass this in favour of the normal version should really start questioning their life choices. I am not saying that this version is perfect (we don't even get all that much to form an opinion on it) but from what I hear, it is superior in many ways and would have worked better as an ending (edit: apparently, it has actually been used as ED on the 3rd ep). That gorgeous strings intro alone takes the song to a whole new level, making it so much more melodic. And the somewhat obtrusive drums feel way more toned down here since they are introduced at a later point of the song to create more of a proper build-up towards the chorus. The chorus itself is pretty much the same from what I can tell but I wonder what the bridge and the remainder of the verses would have sounded like in this style. The ending verse of the song also works a lot better for this special edit, wish they had included all of it starting from "itoshii" and then concluded it with another strings section.

Now all that's left to talk about is the single's B-Side, 「燈命/Tōmei」. This song is a big no-go for me so I'll keep it short. The composition, arrangement and lyrics were all done by Saku who has previously worked with Keiko on "Ray" (Lantana), "Sakura wo Goran" (dew) and "YOUR" (CUTLERY). He was only in charge of the arrangement for"Sakura wo Goran" but out of those three songs, "Tōmei" feels closest to this one in terms of vibe and overall blandness. I've come to enjoy "YOUR" quite a bit (even if I am not so happy with some of Keiko's higher notes) and "Ray" is decent too but my entire body outright rejects songs like "Sakura wo Goran" and "Tōmei". Sorry🙈I don't even know what else to say. I listened to it and immediately was like, nope, next one please.

Phew, this turned out longer than expected. I feel shabby for going on and on about all the stuff I didn't like but oh well, what's done is done. Moving on...

[anonymouspuzzler]

today in puzz: i thought really hard about power-scaling and categorizing the different capabilities of psychonauts-verse psychic powers and made charts about it. please click the readmore to see a lot of rambling thoughts and also the charts

first of all i genuinely don't know why you decided to click through but i'm impressed. second of all let's start with the blank template chart i made (feel free to use for your own blorbos and such. i set it free) and touch on the explanations

[Image ID: A chart with seven sections, each with a bolded handwritten section title, a handwritten explanation of the section below, and five outlined star shapes to the right. The stars are labeled, from left to right, in handwritten text: "low", "below avg." (NOTE: "avg." short for "average"), "avg.", "above avg.", and "high". The seven sections and explanations are as follows:

Raw Psychic Power: Raw potential, regardless of application. Specialization: Capability in chosen signature power(s). Adaptability: Ability to learn new powers or apply them in new ways. Stability: Mental soundness and ability to preserve it. Mental Defense: Ability to resist outside psychic forces (ie. projection, Psylirium...). Mental Control: Ability to control their own mindscape. Non-Psychic Abilities: Capability in physical, mental, etc. abilities (ie. acrobatics). (NOTE: In this context I'm considering this specifically in ways the non-psychic abilities can be used in complement with and/or to otherwise enhance otherwise separate psychic abilities.)

End ID.]

So this is the chart! While it wasn't my explicit aim, I kind of focused on something, like, the Psychonauts as an organization might use to assess potential or existing agents - categories that would be useful to measure and consider in the field and such. I did three quick off-the-cuff samples with specific characters too, ranging from stuff we know pretty darn well to more speculative, but I tried to stick to "things we see fairly explicitly and unarguably in canon", which is why you'll see a couple things marked "insufficient data" - I'll explain my reasoning there and for everything below.

[Image ID: The previous chart with a picture of Raz from Psychonauts 2 pasted to the left, and the stars for each section colored in to represent "score" in the given category. These "scores" are as follows:

Raw Psychic Power: 3 stars (average) Specialization: All stars colored grey, with an asterisk noting "insufficient data". Adaptability: 5 stars (high) Stability: 4 stars (above average) Mental Defense: 4 stars (above average) Mental Control: All stars colored grey, with an asterisk noting "insufficient data". Non-Psychic Abilities: 5 stars (high)

End ID.]

So here's our favorite little guy Raz! He seemed like an obvious candidate to assess with this chart since we see so much of his powers in action in a close-up, extensive way. The "raw psychic power" is admittedly debatable - you could probably argue for it to be above average and I'd be like "yeah". I mostly set it as average because some dialogue implies his use of his powers isn't particularly refined/spectacular, and comparing to say, the other campers or interns suggests as such as well. (For the record, for comparison, I'd consider the likes of Sasha, Milla and Oleander above-average in terms of raw power, and the likes of Ford, Maligula and Bob Zanotto on the high end.)

Where Raz really shines is his adaptability, which I set to the max rank accordingly - he picks up powers super fast and utilizes more distinct, unique psychic abilities than pretty much any other character we see. The next closest are the likes of Sasha, Milla, and Oleander, who seem to all use the "basic" suite of powers (TK, shielding, levitation, and PSI-blasts) at a high level with ease, on top of their specializations and/or more advanced capabilities. It's also implied that Raz is using the powers he picks up in unexpected and interesting ways, too, most notably in how the others react when he starts using Mental Connection. At least part of this is because of his other big high point, non-Psychic abilities - it's very clear and textual that Raz being an accomplished acrobat is a huge part of his success and plays a large part in how he approaches and uses his powers.

The other few categories... specialization, I'd argue we don't really see any concrete evidence of him "specializing" in a particular power or powers; in a lot of ways he's such a capable jack-of-all-trades because he doesn't seem to have any particular standout specializations. It's entirely possible he just hasn't had a moment of "clicking" with a particular power in the Three Whole Days we see him learning, though, so I've marked it "insufficient data" rather than low. The stability rating should probably also be "insufficient data", but like. The fact that the kid's still smiling after the Fucking Three Days he had is enough evidence for me to earn that 4-star stability rating. Mental defense, we see at the very start of the first game that he's able to resist Oleander's mental probing, and he's the least effected by the Psilirium in RoR outside Coach, so I think it's safe to say he's a bit of a standout there. Mental control, "insufficient data" again because we never actually see his mental world without external influences - first the interference from Coach/Loboto/Linda in the brain tumbler, then the Meat Circus when he and Oleander get their mindscapes all tangled. As such, I don't think we can make any kind of fair assessment of Raz's control of her his own mental world.

speaking of Oleander, though...

[Image ID: The previous chart with a picture of Coach Oleander from Psychonauts 2 pasted to the left, and the stars for each section colored in to represent "score" in the given category. These "scores" are as follows:

Raw Psychic Power: 4 stars (above average) Specialization: All stars colored grey, with an asterisk noting "insufficient data". Adaptability: All stars colored grey, with an asterisk noting "insufficient data". Stability: 1 star (below average) Mental Defense: 5 stars (high) Mental Control: 5 stars (high) Non-Psychic Abilities: 2 stars (below average)

End ID.]

aw yeah baby it's Morry Time. let me explain my Visions. Raw psychic power - as mentioned earlier, I'd consider him above average, alongside Sasha and Milla. alongside just what we see of his powers in-game, I'd argue for the three of them to have the kind of separation they do from the rank-and-file Psychonauts agents, they must be a bit outside the norm power-wise as well. (yeah you could argue that they're separated from Motherlobe NPC #5 because they're main characters but whatever i'm approaching this in-universe it's more fun.)

as you can see we've got two sections for Morry that are marked "insufficient data", both of which probably require some explanation from me. Specialization I marked as this because I think the info we get here is conflicting and circumstantial - the first game doesn't really suggest Coach has any particular psychic specialty (you could argue maybe PSI-shield based on how you get it and some other circumstantial stuff about Oleander - it's what I like to imagine is his specialty - but it's hardly super foundational evidence), and the second game kind of retroactively implies it's PSI-punch (or at least that Coach signed off on Raz's merit badge for it), but we literally never see him use it. As such, insufficient data, I says! Adaptability, you might be able to argue it's low or below average since all the powers we see him use are pretty in line with the "standard" we see for everyone, but we also don't see him use a lot of his powers nor where or how he picked them up, and as I argued above for Raz, just the fact that he can use multiple powers capably at all is noteworthy. So, "insufficient data" seems most fair.

Now let's look at where Morry really shines - Mental Defense and Mental Control! Everything we see suggests he's really exceptional in both these regards. On mental defense, he's literally the only character we see resisting Psilirium to such an extreme degree, and even outside of that we see circumstantial evidence of him being able to keep folks out of his head - the two times Raz gets in, the first time he's explicitly invited in, and the second Morry's a disembodied brain stalling out by the side of the road. Mental control, similarly, he stands out - he, Sasha, and Milla I would argue are all above average on that front, being able to partition their minds and memories enough to create safe training grounds for the campers, but Oleander's also actively creating false memories to be discovered and passively maintaining his mental construct for the campers even when he's actively doing other shit (compare and contrast the vast majority of people basically going temporarily comatose when their mind is entered and like. damn morry).

On the flip side, the places where Coach really falters. Stability - This One Is Obvious I Think. the man processed his trauma so bad he kidnapped a lot of people about it and even after addressing that his solution was to keep doing the same exact thing but kidnap people less. That man aint well. Non-psychic abilities, well - take your pick. This is a himbo who can't swim. He doesn't know shit and he's a coward and he's bad at talking to people. Ironically, I genuinely think he's in the best possible place could be as head of Whispering Rock - he's genuinely protective and seems all right with kids, so he seems much better placed as a coach than as an agent.

anyway now that I've laid all that out perhaps you will allow me a more Speculative Argument.

[Image ID: The previous chart with a picture of Doctor Loboto from Psychonauts 2 pasted to the left, and the stars for each section colored in to represent "score" in the given category. These "scores" are as follows:

Raw Psychic Power: 5 stars (high) Specialization: All stars colored grey, with an asterisk noting "insufficient data". Adaptability: All stars colored grey, with an asterisk noting "insufficient data". Stability: 1 star (below average) Mental Defense: 4 stars (above average) Mental Control: 4 stars (above average) Non-Psychic Abilities: 4 stars (below average)

End ID.]

if you're here, I assume you follow my blog. you knew this was coming.

ANYWAY! My Argument: Specialization and Adaptability, not enough data to say anything. We literally see him actively using powers for like, 30 seconds tops, which isn't enough to say if he has a particular specialization or if he's picking up multiple powers/using them in interesting ways. (You might be able to argue he's a TK specialist based on circumstantial evidence, but that's not particularly foundational, so I won't be arguing it as fact.) Stability, just like Oleander, obvious - he's not, like, well. At all. (I could argue, funny enough, that he's actually less stable post-Raz's interference in RoR, but that's a whole 'nother post.) Non-psychic abilities, again obvious, in the absence of access to his powers they're the only abilities he's been able to develop, and they're nothing to sneeze at! unstable though he be, he's an undeniably accomplished bio-mechanical engineer, and there's enough circumstantial evidence to indicate he's pretty physically capable as well (he survived the fall from the tower in the first game, for one, and need I mention the implication that he swam to the Rhombus of Ruin at least in part. fully clothed. carrying a suitcase)

Raw psychic power - and again I emphasize that this is raw potential, whether it's utilized or not - I think Loboto is really exceptional there just based on what little we see of his powers. Like, he's using telekinesis in a natural and fairly refined way as an infant, and there's enough circumstantial evidence on the level of his mental control and defenses (which I'll get into), as well as stuff like "whatever the Hell he did with Linda and Crispin and the like" that even without any conscious access to his powers, he's still using them pretty effectively. I genuinely think Loboto would be on the level of some of the strongest psychics we've seen if he could still use his powers.

and speaking of "I'll Get Into That", Mental Defense and Mental Control! this is where we see the most substantial evidence of loboto's powers, IMO - you'll see I marked him one down from oleander on both, who, as I detailed above, I think is very exceptional on both fronts. we see Loboto being very mentally defended in the first game, with Raz totally unable to get into his head, and if we take his words as truth Loboto somehow protected Crispin from psychic projection as well. Raz isn't able to get in his head alone until RoR (during which time he is Literally Surrounded By Psilirium, The Rock Which Dampens Psychic Abilities, Which Literally Only Oleander Has Been Shown Able To Resist In Full), and in Psychonauts 2's version of his mind it takes the efforts of Five Trained Psychics, who are also functionally hypnotizing him with a false mental construct, and even then it takes Literal Minutes for him to notice the ruse and start circumventing and ejecting them. this guy's got something going on and Sasha's theory that it's the fault of Loboto's employer doesn't hold much water because Loboto's employer is a complete non-psychic.

on the same front, mental control! this one's a little shakier, because in some respects it seems like the lobotomy has had a significant impact on this for Loboto (obviously in him being unable to use his powers anymore, at least consciously, but also in things like him being unable to access his mental compass and recognize right from wrong until Raz interferes). but at the same time, even with that, he's able to exude enough mental control to fight back against Sasha's construct and impose his own version of his mind over it, not to mention we him construct a false memory similar to Oleander (I personally believe Gristol at least partially had something to do with that, but that's, again, a whole other post, and the point is Loboto's still able to create and maintain a false memory for others to find in his own mind). given all that, I think we have enough evidence to conclude that Loboto's pretty capable on this front, and would probably be on Oleander's level if he weren't Actually Literally Physically Brain Damaged.

anyway. I don't actually have a nice clever ending to this rambling. I'm just Like This

[arceespinkgun]

Thanks for doing that Jazz post. I've only been in the fandom for about a year ands ive been a bit slow chewing through all the media. Im still trying to detangle whats canon and fanon right now(litterally thought ex-con jazz was canon in a verse from how it was explained to me). And your post definitely helped point out some of the stuff i fell for.

Ive always focused really heavily on the musical side of his character and how he has an almost constant jovial tone. I imagined that from the first time he heard music, he knew that's what he wanted to do. Then the war happened, and he wanted to be useful. He's good at what he does, but he doesn't like it. He wants to go back to music. I imagine that as soon as the wars over, hes not going to take one glance back at the military and go back to what he likes. I also feel like i think alot about how he wants people to perceive him. That hes really conscious about how emotions. Hes the moral support, good guy Jazz! The mech anyone can depend on! So he doesn't let himself feel much of those negative emotions brought on by the situation.

Didnt meant to ramble but you get my idea I hope. Thanks again

You're very welcome! I'm happy to receive this ask because people who are newer to the fandom getting mislead by fanon based on racist tropes is one of my most hated things, and I see it happen constantly. I can really relate too because I haven't been active in the fandom too long either! I didn't make that post any earlier because for a long time, I had no way of knowing if these fanon portrayals were based in something I just hadn't seen yet. This is a big reason why I think that when fans have seen a lot of the canon, they need to not mislead people and should also let people know what comes from where and what is made up. Here's another link to my post of my favorite canon media featuring Jazz, and if there's any specific thing you or anyone else is confused about I'll try to help sort out canon from fanon. How is any new fan supposed to know that Jazz has never actually called Prowl "Prowler" (also I hate that nickname so much lol) and that Jazz being from Polyhex isn't real?

Your interpretation of Jazz is a really valid one based on his canon traits! I also think a lot about how Jazz really wants to cultivate and live up to a specific image, and about how he is always supporting everyone but very rarely gets to accepts others' support. I also think it's so lazy and offensive how soooo much fanmade content has Jazz enjoy killing people and stuff because that feels like such a slight to the canon character in all continuities. Though that being said, I do also like the idea that perhaps long ago, Jazz did enjoy fighting more and didn't realize how horrible war really is, only to become traumatized and that feeding into a current sense of guilt, fear, shame, and a desire to be perceived a certain way.

This fandom/community is really big, and there are so many different series and communities, and it's really easy for echo chambers that reinforce racist ideas to form practically unchecked. Fanon is basically its own separate fandom TBH, one that's especially dangerous for new fans to end up trusting when it comes to women and/or people of color, and I think fans need to remember to be honest about this. In the discussion that's come after that first post I've made (it's been very valuable!) it's actually been a little scary to me to see how divorced many people on here are from who Jazz is, what his relationships are, or why certain tropes constantly being applied to a Black-coded hero is the fandom being racist.

[bxtonpxss]

SHIPPING INFO. answer the following for your muse(s) so people know how shipping works on your blog.

what’s your OTP for your muse(s)?

Neya & Thor are the only two applicable options here when it comes to things outside platonic/familial relationships. Opacho is 5 and Jack is also just a baby, but she's like best frienemies with Faolan. I know when you hear OTP its usually referring to romance but I'm super big on platonic relationships being OTPs!

That being said Neya x chemistry, she's not overly complex but Neya is a kind-hearted and deeply supportive type of character who despite often being in situations where she's in way over her head, is willing to persevere and overcome whatever obstacle that may be, especially when it involves people she cares about! If our characters build a relationship through our writing then I will never say no to it! This also applies to Thor! They have a good relationship built through us writing together and/or chatting about stuff via messages I'll never say no.

what are you willing to RP when it comes to shipping?

Pretty much anything, except you know the obvious and universal no no's.

how large does the age gap have to be to make it uncomfortable?

Hoo boy ok. So, Neya, for her era (and the author even states this in the manga) at 16 she's considered an adult. On that alone I'd do 2 years younger and 4 years older cause I'm just trying to think of how it'd be from her time period. Now, this ONLY applies specifically for [main verse || itsuwaribito] when she's in her canon universe or some other feudal-era settings. I understand she's still 16 and other people don't vibe with that, I don't force anything on people (at least not intentionally, if you ever feel like I write something that makes you uncomfortable please tell me!) and romance is never my first or main priority, I like crushes/gradual friends to dating/lovers etc when writing anyway. This also obvi needs to be discussed first cause duh. Also, I'm fine with like 'x character looks 16/17 but is actually 100+ years old' (I’m an Inuyasha girly uwu, so we love a good demon/immortal s/o pairing).

For the verse where she's stuck in the future, [verse || under a rock] she is by modern-day laws legally underage. I'd go for 2 at most maybe 3 years older, 1 year younger. For the sub-main verse set at the end of the series with her running her village [verse || nanushi] she's canonically an adult there so I can deal with 10 years older or whatever and when it comes to the monsters/demons/immortal characters, so long as both parties are consenting adults it's cool!

Thor's a talking rodent. He's adult age and would be considered a young adult by human standards I suppose. So as long as the other creature is adult-aged it wouldn't matter to him. I can't put too much thought into this one, trying to make the math make sense is gonna hurt my brain, but obviously NO child-age creatures.

are you selective when shipping?

Can't really say, like excluding Coschu x Surgechu, which happened gradually through jubilantsparks and I's constant gushing about our chus via DMs I've never really shipped seriously with anyone else before so I can't really give an honest opinion about it *kanye shrug*

how far do steamy moments have to go before they’re considered NSFW?

When they start undressing and getting real handsy, but none of that will ever be happening here so no need to worry!

Who are other muses you ship your muse with?

For Thor, specifically in his Lt. Surge Raichu verse (affectionately shortened to Surgechu) I shipped him with jubilantsparks' Fem!Pikachu OC Elysia who had a Cosplay Pikachu verse (affectionately shortened to Coschu). Coschu x Surgechu was fun and I miss them :') Also, Thor and Elysia in general were my favorite platonic OTP that could have easily become romantic cause they loved and cared for each other so much as best friends who could have just as easily become something more if they wanted to </3

NeRiya with Jade's Iriya . We've had many discussions about this enemies-to-friends/maybe more slow burn/redemption arc for Iriya. I cherish it deeply and Iriya deserved better than what he got in canon ; n ;

does one have to ask to ship with you?

Hmm, not really? I have a very chill and go-with-the-flow type of mindset when it comes to building relationships and shipping in general. The more our characters interact, get to know each other and the closer they become the better! If there's ever a certain aspect of their relationship you wanna discuss with me privately or plot, then just shoot me a message!

Also, I never assume anything so if you're invested off the rip in wanting to pursue the ship beyond them being friends then once again just message me. I'm here to have fun and write with folks, so go for it I will most likely never say no lmao. Crushes on Neya or Thor are also 100% ok, even if it's one-sided I have no problems with it, you don't even gotta ask me for that.

how often do you like to ship?

I've only had two (2) actual ships during my entire time here on this site. I have a bad case of anxiety brain when it actually comes to shipping and I never wanna assume or push anyone into doing anything so it's rare I ever approach. I'll just sit and vibe and settle with my time in the friendzone while making up scenarios in my head like the dork I am.

are you multiship?

Ok, after getting some answers on what multishipping is from an RP standpoint, I want to say yes I am. I'd have no issues with having multiple ship partners. Every character interaction is like in their own separate universes so like I can't understand limiting myself as a single ship. This is subject to change but like I said, I barely have any shipping experience.

are you ship obsessed or ship more-or-less?

More-or-less! As stated above I don't really ask or approach first for ships soooo if it happens it happens. I'm down for shipping off of chemistry through a gradually built relationship!

what is your favorite ship in your current fandom?

ooh chile I'm in a bunch of fandoms lol so I'll just go with the fandoms for my muses specifically. For Pkmn it'll always be ShinHika/Paul x Dawn/ Ikarishipping. Pokeani can pry that dynamic from my cold dead hands.

I like all the potential pairings within Utsuho's group, but that'd be too much to list. Gin x Kin, Neya x Uzume, Neya x Hikae, Hikae x Iwashi.

For SK I was a sucker for Hao x Tamao back in the day. It still could've been cute if Takei didn't turn Tamao into Anna 2.0. I find her whole personality shift weird.

finally, how does one ship with you?

Just write with me! I don't care how many asks or threads we end up having. I cannot reiterate how much I adore relationship building in writing. We write enough threads together and our characters grow to like each other or something I'm 100% down to clown! Also, If you don't suffer from perpetual cold feet like me, just shoot me an IM and let's talk about it! Easy peasy, promise I don't bite!

Nabbed from: @gamenu initially, but I've been seeing other moots do it too! Tagging: @sillymuses, @lostusagis, @museguided, @despairforme, + anyone who sees this!

[gravesung]

quick and dirty bios for the unseen's inner circle (the sanctum)!

bc i just remembered sage and fletch are the only unseen creatures i actually have bios for.

*note — by default, these descriptions apply to the unseen as they are in shelter island. some details are subject to change based on verse. *note 2 — each member of the sanctum has a self-chosen tarot card that's left behind as a "calling card" at a particular job they claim responsibility for. in place of a stolen bounty, on top of a body, etc.

acheron ??? (he/him) — the poisoner

the emperor

dilf

calm, collected, honest but in a kind way. pretty emotionally intelligent.

as a rule, never pries into other people's business. lane = stayed in.

has a son who's in college rn! on good terms with his ex-wife.

ex-safecracker/bank robber

he makes poisons! has a little lab and everything

occasionally fletch will pull him out of retirement and make him go crack a safe. he complains about his knees

norah suman (she/her) — the engineer

the sun

lesbiab

has had a secret crush on seph for a couple years. designed her arms from the ground up, and the first point of contact when something goes wrong or seph needs a redesign/upgrade

dry humor, very blunt and often sarcastic

eyebrow piercing

habit of chopping off her hair when she's sad

makes the gadgets. makes explosives, modifies weapons, invents new shit, always thinking about new ways to do stuff. engineering as an art and a science at the same time.

also an up-and-coming tattoo artist!

orion aisa (he/they) — the forger

the moon

seph's twin brother

not a great fighter, hates using guns

eyepatch over his right eye. fletch took it when he and seph tried to escape as teenagers, along with ripping seph's arms off, which is a very normal and cool and chill reaction to have

trans lad. top surgery, took testosterone for a few years but then stopped. pretty satisfied with where he's at right now

excellent painter

suffers from hand tremors, though they fade when he paints

hector dionísio (he/him) — the muscle

the wheel of fortune

unpredictable and violent. unhinged.

will be having a drink with you and then at a hair-trigger provocation, he'll just turn around and start kicking the shit out of someone

scarily good fighter, way too fast for his muscular build

no one knows why fletch trusts him to be in the inner circle and not rat on them

unexpectedly very reliable as a teammate. he does his job very well

fixated on seph in a "constantly riling her so that she'll fight him whenever he wants" way

fixated on edith in a "why can't i land a hit on you. come here" way

pit fighter. so far undefeated

cody shimura (he/him) — the accountant

justice

the most guy ever

he's so tired.

retired hedge fund manager, went into crime because he did some digging, realized the finance industry was already in fletch's pocket anyway, and his ability to stealthily uncover those secrets impressed fletch enough to hire him on.

tries to be a plant dad but he keeps killing them

surprisingly well-trained with a gun

occasionally pulls out the most scathing one-liners in the quietest and calmest voice imaginable

sage / VECTOR (she/her) — the driver

the world

technomancer (arcane hacker)

pokemon superfan

harvard dropout

a pretty normal person, generally, probably the least traumatized out of the crew

can summon cars / motorcycles made of, essentially, compressed/hardened demon souls sourced straight from hell

also has normal, non-summonable cars / motorcycles that she likes to augment and fix up with norah's help

has a giant fluffy dog named Baby

fucking Maniac behind the wheel. the dog's name is a reference to baby driver for a reason.

if she knew about @tewwor's vector alias, she would make them matching shirts

edith winter (she/they) — the thief

the hermit

sneaky. quiet. wow shocker

fey changeling who's lived on earth their whole life, but is in contact with the human child they replaced

raised by wolves a gang, sort of collectively alongside her parents. it takes a village yaknow. they all had a hand in training her to be the insanely skilled thief she is — edith was probably the most valuable piece on their board, even at a young age

said gang was absorbed by the unseen and scattered across the world for resisting said absorption. one of edith's parents was killed in the conflict, the other was sent across the world but she doesn't know where

no one knows if they're bitter about it or not. they don't talk about it

acheron taught her how to crack safes

caro vitale / deadfall (he/him) — the fence

the hanged man

owner of the black stag, a bar and antique shop just at the northern edge of the city where metropolis meets highway meets forest.

can sell anything to anyone

no one knows a single thing about this man except for the fact that he's fluent in italian. he WILL lie if you ask him anything else. caro vitale is also not his real name

he got that thang on him (a club)

tattoos everywhere

ishal king (they/them) — the doctor

death

fae nephilim (an angel fucked an archfey and produced a very strange kid), exiled from the autumn court for death crimes before going into the human medical field as a surgeon.

nearly got arrested for experimenting with nephilim blood (their own, but whatever guys), faked their death, joined the unseen. now works happily and privately for fletch in their silly little lab.

mushroom garden

medicinal plant expert alongside their knowledge of modern medicine

ominous positivity

anah tannar (she/her) — the spy

the lovers, reversed

you know her! you love her! she's probably broken your heart!

local celebrity influencer

resident honeypot for any woman-attracted target

prefers to be flashy and stand out, but also insanely good at blending in and being invisible when need be

serial dater. never lets anyone too close, but loves to have a web of one-way connections to people who think they're her best friend or favorite ex, and/or owe her a favor (she has a book of debts)

a genuinely compassionate person underneath it all, she just leaned hard into her manipulative side after being used one too many times

persephone aisa (they/she) — the assassin

judgement

first lieutenant/right hand to amari fletch, and thus second-in-command to the unseen itself

sharpshooter, beat-upper, gunfighter, knife-swinger. if john wick can do it, so can they

cold, aggressive, hostile. deadly as fuck. if you follow this blog you probably came from hers so i won't go into too much detail SJDKHJKSD

amari fletch (they/he) — the leader

the tower (also the name they're publicly known by)

i swear they're not secretly thousands of years old i swearrrrr (yes they are) (they cheated death in a game of dice and bear the mark of cain for it)

think gus fring, netflix wilson fisk, silco — that type of person

spidery motherfucker, aka has connections eeeeverywhere. so many judges, cops, government officials in their pocket.

for the most part, fletch is satisfied with the world the way that it is. the unseen profits nicely, they have as much power as they need, and no one fucks with them (if they even know it exists)

if someone does fuck with him and his, however, he will not hesitate to make a violent and chaotic example of them for the rest of the world to see.

calm and levelheaded 99% of the time. 1% of the time, off-the-wall destructive

will take risks if they can see a benefit and the consequence of failure won't fuck up their plans.

extremely powerful in a fight (is not human) with enough raw strength to fully charge straight through a building wall by wall if they wanted to. but they don't. lmao

seph is their protegé (????) (i genuinely don't have a term for their relationship it's so fucked up and hard to describe), & they are very very possessive about it

[yesimwriting]

Hi! Currently on my period and horny as sin. When does reader get double stuffed by our boys? I need to know, for science and stuff

ahh bc i'm at this exact same stage in my period, i'm bumping everything else i'm working on down by one so i can talk about this 😭 we're twinning

since you said it's for science, i can give you a scientific breakdown of my thought process (bc nothing in the final girl universe is unplanned, i love them too much 😭)

okay so i've thought about this a lot for a few reasons:

I love slowburns!

i'm a little crazy when it comes to the final girl fic verse and am so actively aware of all their actions and want everything they do to feel like it fits with the way their character has developed throughout the story, so i just want the first time they hook up to feel fitting, y'know?

I think it would realistically take some time for billy and stu to come to terms with the tragic fact that they like someone else. I know hooking up doesn't have to involve feelings, but in my head, they'd be subconsciously aware of their potential feelings enough that they wouldn't want to rush into it bc of "practicality" (they can't be distracted right now, they've been planning out mass murder for a year)

Y/n is friends with Sidney and Tatum! I can't see her casually hooking up with their boyfriends (or anyone's boyfriend), even if they made the first move.

Okay, now here's where it gets a little complicated and where i am willing to take in other people's opinions, I know it's hard to apply ethicalness to this situation and it is a fictional story, but i don't want the boys doing anything too unforgivable on top of the whole murder and trauma thing (and i feel like billy would kind of be aware of this and not want to cross that line and risk losing y/n in the future until he feels a little more sure, stu could probably see the logic in this but is still willing to hook up with y/n at any place and time 😭)

i think y/n would have a lot harder time getting past/accepting everything if they hooked up before she knows the ghostface secret, soooo as of rn, any hooking up that's canonical in the final girl fic-verse is sadly a little far away in my current planning 😭

BUT! i don't think it'd be extremely out of character to have it happen sooner and i'm on the fence a little bc at the end of the day they're still teenagers that are touchy and always around each other and a little impulsive, so if anyone wants to share their opinions on when these three should finally hook up i am wiling to listen and take all thoughts/wants/perspectives into consideration!!

that doesn't mean i'll for sure move up my current plans but i'd love to know what you guys think. Also, if you just want billy, stu, and y/n smut i could write like a final girl alternate universe thing or just a smutty one-shot

but seriously! genuinely so curious if you think the tension would break sooner rather than later!

but! i will throw you this! while sex with y/n is one of the few times they exhibit any kind of restraint for the sake of another person's feelings, they are aware that it's going to happen eventually, so they are going to move to be progressively more touchy and more suggestive, kind of see how far they can go and how much influence they can have over Y/n. I think I might have to write a blurb about this.