#drifter doesn't like where this is going

[nataliesscatorccio]

Dead cabin guy and his technicolor dreamcoat have haunted me since the wardrobe reveal in season two, and today im going to make it everyone's problem.

Travis wears the coat first. He and Natalie take the blessing and go out to look for Javi. Travis hallucinates (prophesies?) that Javi is dead and buried beneath the snow, but Natalie shows him it's only a fox. Travis finds the strange, mossy tree stump. The next day Travis has strong feelings about which direction is best to search for Javi in, and we don't see more of him until Nat reveals the bloody pants. Not that weird, all things considered. New season, new wardrobe additions. Hiking on a caloric deficit with PTSD, you'll probably hallucinate. Pretty standard stuff.

Then Nat wears the coat. She takes it to lay Jackie's bones to rest at the crash site, and while she wears it she sees (hallucinates? prophesies? I'm not sure!) the white moose that they'll later lose to the lake (ergo the hunt, ergo Javi dies for real but more on that later).

We get to Old Wounds, the hunting competition, and Lottie wears the coat now. You see where I'm going with this but just to be thorough: she enters the realm of death dreams, talks with Laura Lee, almost freezes to death.

Episode five. Melissa wears the coat. Maybe that's not important! Maybe it's just to show that they all share the wardrobe, and that the side characters are as equally All In This Together as the main characters are. Or it could mean something that a peripheral character, wearing important wardrobe, framed in antlers (not unlike Travis in 2.01), has the line "maybe he did die, and that's his ghost." It's a little suspicious, and at this point starts to feel like a pattern.

Who wears it next, who wore it best!? That's right baby, it's Paul! For his dreamworld drifter, hallucination hunk Coach Ben Scott. Nicholas Urfe himself. Ben spends almost all of his time in a dream, until *drumroll please* Paul, very pointedly, takes the coat and walks out the door. "Where do you think you are, Ben?" he puts the coat on. "You had to have known you couldn't stay here forever. [...] What matters now is that you aren't welcome here anymore." Following Paul means committing to death (to dream), and until interruption that's the choice Ben makes. Because letting Paul (and the coat) go would mean committing entirely to reality.

Of course, the pièce de résistance is something I didn't even notice until I went looking for it. The first dozen times I watched, I thought that after Lottie's beating Shauna brought her a blanket. "Lottie's cold." But she doesn't. She brings her the coat. Lottie is laying with it when, in a fever dream, she witnesses/hallucinates/prophesies parts of the hunt.

It's there again (on the back of the chair) when she sits by the fire and speaks for the wilderness, appointing Nat their queen. Ben watches, having woken from the dream himself, as they all bow to Natalie and leave reality behind for good.

Of course, there are a lot of times when characters hallucinate strange things in the cabin while not wearing the coat, because they're all starving to death and traumatized. Mari. Shauna. Akilah. But in addition to that, it seems like a pattern worth noting that in each instance where a character wears the technicolor coat, the line between the real and the imagined seems to blur with more ease. Does dead cabin guy's technicolor dreamcoat help the Yellowjackets connect to the dream realm?

I'll be brief here with the biblical parallel: blah blah Joseph is the favorite son (you were always its favorite), his father gives him a technicolor coat (they're nothing special, they don't change color in the cold or anything). blah blah Joseph starts having prophetic dreams etc etc his jealous brothers throw Joseph down a pit (the wilderness chose) and bring his bloodstained coat back as false proof of his death (hanging on a branch. a couple miles back). You get my drift.

Does it mean anything? Who knows. But in a series where wardrobe is such an integral part of the storytelling, it felt worth paying attention to.

[weirdmarioenemies]

If you're even vaguely familiar with Kirby, there is no doubt in anyone's mind that one of the most iconic abilities is Parasol. It's a unique ability, it gets a ton of merch, and it's cute, to boot!

But when you think about it, there's not a whole lot of enemies for Parasol, is there? There's a lot of enemies that hold Parasols, there's the Parasol itself, which may or may not be sentient, but Parasol doesn't bring a wide variety of enemies to mind like, say, Fire or Spark might.

Believe it or not, there actually are a few enemies that give Parasol that neither HOLD a Parasol nor ARE "just" the Parasol...but they're wholly exclusive to a few games, and have not had a proper reappearance in the games since the SNES era. So, let me introduce you to all of them! Maybe there will even be some you like, or wish would come back!

But first, an honorary mention...

Name: Parasol (Kirby's Dream Land)

Debut: Kirby's Dream Land

You know it, you love it, it's...Parasol?!

That's right! Before it became the ability we all know and love, Parasol actually debuted in the same game Kirby did, which you might note did NOT have copy abilities! Like Waddle Doo and Sir Kibble, this is a classic example of an enemy that had an ability based around it, rather than vice versa.

I want to talk about specifically its iteration in this game, which is a bit different compared to future entries. First off and most noticeably, its appearance is wholly different! The hood is smaller and shaded but with no discernable pattern, the handle is thinner and the hook itself looks more rounded! Secondly, all Waddle Doos and Dees will let go of their parasol once they land, with none spawning while holding them or keeping them when they land anyway.

And another thing: you can't even dang inhale them when they're being held! The Waddler in question will be swallowed, but the Parasol will drift away or, in the Extra Game, even hone in on you! I told you they were debatably sentient! It actually does that in a few future games like Kirby's Adventure, but not nearly as commonly as it did in the original Extra Game. So strange!

OKAY OKAY time for what the post promised you now I promise. Hold my hand (and your Parasol) as I take you through The Parasol Enemies That Time Forgot:

Name: Floaty the Drifter

Debut: Kirby's Dream Land 2

"Floaty the Drifter", not to be confused with Floaty the Cell Core, is such a wonderful name. "Floaty" would already be a sillily obvious name on its own, on par with names like Flamer and Chilly and Cappy, but adding "the Drifter" makes it even moreso. Is that its species? Its title? Is Floaty an individual? Probably not, we see multiple of them in the same level and often, and this is not like Vividria where it's canonically an individual that just so happens to be fought in pairs for gameplay, but it's funny to consider. Imagine if they followed through with other enemies, like "Spikey the Poker", "Burnis the Scorcher", "Elec the Trocuter"…

Floaty the Drifter actually acts as the main provider for Parasol in this game, wholly replacing the titular object itself except for when Kirby uses it. On its own, it doesn't do much floating OR drifting, instead hopping around in its own little world, kind of akin to Cappy, but it lives up to its name when a Waddle Dee holds it, in which...it will just act like a normal Parasol! Wholly and entirely. Even when dropped, it flies off rather than initiate its normal grounded behavior. I think I've heard some of them fly at you when released, but I can't think of any instances of that, and that's still a Parasol behavior anyhow.

As you can tell, Floaty the Drifter's claim to fame is in its unique design, bearing a single mischievous eye and a stark green coloration only seen in artwork. In fact, despite being a one-off mook, this would even grant it its own role in the anime!

Floaty the Drifter, or just "Drifters" as they're called here (I guess it is a species!) are bought by King Dedede in the episode "Escargoon Rules" to attack Escargoon and his mother after presumably being "I'm With Stupid"’d all day. I did not watch the anime! According to the wiki, they're about as fragile as you'd expect a swarm of umbrellas to be, as while they swarm towards and wrap around victims, they are easily KO'd by Fire and knocked away by Kirby's own Parasol ability.

You might be wondering why, exactly, Floaty the Drifter even has one eye in the first place, considering that its role is largely the same as Parasol. To answer that, we'll have to move on to the next creature to feature:

Name: Jumpershoot

Debut: Kirby's Dream Land 2

I bet you never expected an ability like Parasol to have its own, dedicated midboss, did you? And such a sophisticated one, at that! It's even one of the few Kirby characters with toes, for the freaks in the audience!

As you may have guessed, Jumpershoot and, to a lesser extent, Floaty the Drifter are both based on the kasa-obake, perhaps one of the most ubiquitous yokai! And this is despite not really ever having appeared in folktales, if ever. I was always under the assumption that the kasa-obake was a tsukumogami, an umbrella after it had lived for 100 years, but apparently even this isn't set in stone, either!

Jumpershoot first appears in Big Forest, the second world of the game, and guards Coo because...some reason! I don't think it's ever mentioned why the Animal Friends are kidnapped, they kind of just are! And as for Jumpershoot, does he work for King Dedede? Dark Matter? I don't know how employed midbosses are. Mr. Frosty is on the Halberd once.

Our favorite umbrella attacks by jumping and gently falling towards the ground, then makes a rapid, Tornado-like spin around the room that, after a bit, repels attacks! Then, rather than dropping Stars, he throws his own sandal at you that you can shoot back at him! Don't worry, it regenerates, so you don't have to feel guilty for robbing him of footwear!

I really really like Jumpershoot. And apparently, so did Shimomura, because he reappears in Kirby's Dream Land 3, acting much the same but with more detailed sprites! He's such...a cool character, you know? You wouldn't expect a Parasol midboss to be a yokai, of all things, especially one that acts so rowdy! I love him!

Sadly, as much as we'd all love to, there is no game where you can play as Jumpershoot. Tragic, but true! But...you can get a taste, a crumb of its rapid spin attack by having the Parasol ability while riding Coo, which makes Coo spin around invulnerably just as he does! And while he would later find himself joining the foray of midbosses abandoned after Kirby's Dream Land 3, Parasol Coo still appears in Kirby Star Allies, so his soul is still with us...

This would be the end of the road for Jumpershoot, in terms of games, but luckily for Jumpershootheads, he would make one final appearance in a piece of Twitter art, joining a medley of other monsters by spooking Channel PPP! He's still got it!

Sadly, this wraps up the Jumpershoot section of this post, and thusly we have no more Dream Land 2 Parasol enemies to speak of. But don't worry, we still have more parasolic beasts in the next title...

Name: Sasuke

Debut: Kirby's Dream Land 3

Although Floaty had a cute design, it's rather appropriate that the enemy that replaced the Parasol of Kirby's Dream Land would itself get replaced in Kirby's Dream Land 3, isn't it? But Sasuke is no mere living umbrella!

Sasuke's design might bring to mind Bumber for our veteran readers, and its behavior is much the same! It drifts down slowly and steadily, and starts walking back and forth on whatever block it lands on, just like Parasol Waddle Dee, but its hat never detaches, so it will never not give Parasol! Personally speaking, though, I think Bumber is MUCH more cute and memorable...sorry, Sasuke! At least you will always have Naruto to confide in.

Sasuke also made an appearance in the anime, where he's built a lot more like Lololo & Lalala. Here, he draws a gun at King Dedede and Escargoon, an

Name: Klinko

Debut: Kirby's Dream Land 3

The oddest Parasol appearance in both looks and functionality, and our final Parasol giver, is Klinko! It looks like it would give Cleaning if anything, with its hat reminiscent of a besom! It doesn't even drift down slowly like every other Parasol enemy does at some point–in fact, while it hops around, it doesn't share any traits with the Parasol ability at all, and is the only Parasol enemy like that! So, why does it give Parasol, then?!

The answer is: it's not wearing an old broom, but actually a straw umbrella, because it's based on yet ANOTHER yokai! Shimomura seemed to think yokai were the future of the Parasol ability, and who wouldn't!

The amefurikozō, unlike the kasa-obake, has a bit more concrete lore, being children that appear in and sometimes cause rainfall, hence why they wear straw umbrellas. This is true of Klinko, too, as it appears in cloudy stages or stages with heavy snowfall! Its Japanese name, Kinko, might also suggest some relation to the separate yokai Yukinko, a child associated with heavy snow, which could also explain its tendency towards icy levels.

It's easy to see why such an unparasolic enemy would not be used any further, but I kind of like them more for it. They're an anomaly! Sure, this is essentially just Floaty the Drifter's hopping behavior, but the lack of any other Parasol attributes than just wearing an umbrella really make it stand out to me! And that's the beauty of these enemies—the longer Parasol goes without any new enemies, the more these guys will always stand out, and that's wonderful, I think!

What do you guys think? Is the time right for some of these guys to make a comeback? Is Parasol better with the limited enemies they use now? Or should they make new ones? Tell me! I can't do anything with your suggestions but I have nothing better to do than read them!

[chocmoon-latte]

"Hancock has no regrets about becoming a ghoul"??

It baffles me when some people think Hancock has zero regrets about becoming a ghoul. Absolutely none at all apparently. Like yeah, he plays it up when you first meet him before he's a companion, but let's be real he plays up pretty much everything in regards to the whole "sexy king of the zombies" image he projects.

It takes travelling with you away from Goodneighbor to give him some time to be introspective for him to finally realize that him becoming a ghoul was just another escape route from himself again. He's got several lines of dialogue that literally reiterate this. It's a key point of his character:

Hell, running from myself is what made me into… into a damn Ghoul.

Well, I mean, I didn't always look this good. The drug that did this to me, that made me a Ghoul, I knew what it was going to do.

I just couldn't stand looking at the bastard I saw in the mirror anymore.

The coward who'd let all those Ghouls from Diamond City die. Who was too scared to protect his fellow drifters from Vic and his boys.

If I took it, I'd never have to look at him again. I could put that all behind me. I'd be free. Didn't seem like a choice at all. Turns out it was just me running from somethin' else in my life.

I mean, after reaching max affinity with you, he realizes that maybe it wasn't such a bad thing after all (because he's finally got an honest friend he can be open with now). He now feels comfortable where he is - but to imply that he doesn't have at least the tiniest amount of regret? Heck, if you go onto romance him (or attempt to), he stops referring to himself as handsome and literally starts calling himself ugly, which naturally goes entirely against the image he projects:

Why don't we just agree to keep it friendly for now or till they find a cure for ugly? Heh.

You don't want to wake up to this mug every morning. Never wish that on anyone I cared for.

You sure you want to be stuck with this ugly mug?

(You could even say he implies it beforehand with another line of dialogue elsewhere in-game when he says "I'd be mad too if I was that ugly." But that's a stretch I guess.)

Combine that with the fact that 99% of ghouls don’t choose to become ghouls. Hancock did. But he didn't do it for a fun experience. He was already in a bad place when he became a ghoul. He didn't turn to be cool and edgy like he pretended he did when first getting to know him.

He lost his appearance, any connections to his old identity and old friends/people he might’ve been associated with (for better or worse), and in return gained hostility from bigots towards him for merely existing, from an overwhelming majority of the Commonwealth population that hates ghouls. There's the Institute and Brotherhood who want to kill anyone like him on top of that. Plenty of people out there who think he and other ghouls are monsters for just being alive.

Not only that, but something which adds onto this is the fact that he's a client of the Memory Den, and they're very selective with their customers. And what's the whole point of the Memory Den? Reliving past memories. Irma's terminal entry about Hancock, as well as the other two ghoul clients Kent and Daisy, all imply the memories they go back to relive are primarily from their human days. (The one on Hancock straight up says "if you thought he was handsome and dangerous now, you should've seen him before he turned ghoul.")

I genuinely refuse to believe that Hancock has never had any regret whatsoever about becoming a ghoul. The man who's spent a decent chunk of his life running from his own problems instead of confronting them, has NO regrets about taking a drug that alters his entire being and functionality on a biological level and will force him to outlive everyone he knows? This man is FULL of regrets!

[twstfanblog]

Okay okay okay Howd Yuu rob Azul blind? What’d she do

Azul was actually her second choice. She WAS going to rob the royal family of the Coral Sea.

But instead, she met the Merchant of the Deep, The Sea Witch, Azul Ashengrotto. He controls the currents of trading vessels both above and below water. You may have same passage, but normally for a price.

Yuu took a mer potion that lasted a few days to scope out the castle in secret only to meet Azul as he and the tweels were doing their own secret shady dealings. Yuu lies, playing up her act of naive and new in town drifter who just wanted to see the castle. Flirty banter back and forth, and then they part ways.

But during the conversation Yuu manages to get the info that Azul is a merchant, he's much more important to the regions economy than anyone thinks he is, AND he can't hold his wine.

It's a gamble, but Yuu finds out where he stays and taunts a shark into attacking her. Azul hears the commotion and sees the cute woman from a day ago being chased by the local shark. He calls her over and is luckily in a good enough mood to not want his front lawn a blood bath so he lets her in.

Cue Yuu's favored method to rob cute men, seduce them!!! It's lots of sweet talk, Yuu asking so many questions about Azul's hobbies and just genuinely wanting to know about him. Yuu at a point tells Azul that she feels like her life could have been very happy if she had known him earlier.

Azul, now fully swooned by this woman, just asks her if she wants to stay the night. Yuu accepts and they rock the boat so to speak.

Azul wakes up the next day, hungover and has no idea why. The tweels showed up because Azul was hella late to their meeting and they thought he had died. Instead, they find multiple bottles of stolen opened wine under his sleep nook. Azul asks if they've seen a woman and the tweels state he's the only one in the house.

Freaking out, Azul starts checking EVERYTHING until he notices his conch shell necklace, the key to his safe, is GONE.

Yuu fucking cleaned that safe out, it's bare as a bone in there and Azul nearly explodes he's so pissed. But DAMN, she got him GOOD. He needs to fidn that woman for MULTIPLE REASONS NOW.

Azul ends up having to buy back the various treasures over the years, though he never finds the conch again. But then, 12 years later, the tweels tell him that a ship he was counting on delivering goods was sunk by The Sea Witch.

*EDIT*

In the 'Yuu is aware she makes men fall in love with her' version. Azul still doesn't get the conch shell back, BUT the tweels do alert him that a massive treasure chest was delivered to his old hideout (the one that got fucking robbed).

They crack it up and instead of treasure, its two sweet and chubby octo baby girls. Azul freaks out and manages to snatch a note that floats from the open chest that states 'the two babies are theirs and named Charysa and Scylar, pick which is which, take care of them ♡'

Azul is freaking out while his tentacles are already scooping the girls close to protect them.

[cloud-player]

Dates with HSR Men

> Gepard, Dan Heng, Jing Yuan

> Gender Neutral!Reader, non-explicit, canon-compliant

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Gepard

• As captain of the Silvermane Guards, Gepard doesn't have much free time, really. When he's not in the front lines guarding against fragmentum monsters, he's on missions to rescue drifters or settle disputes in the Administrative District. Suffice to say, he doesn't have much time off.

• But when he does get time off, Gepard almost runs towards the Goethe Hotel, where you're staying. He had already passed by the flower shop, a bouquet of expensive hydrangeas in his (clammy) hands. Citizens were looking at him in curiousity and interest because it's so rare to see the esteemed captain bashful and blushing.

• When you finally come down to the lobby, Gepard's breath audibly hitched and you swore he almost looked like a stone statue. A handsome, god-like statue.

• "Where do you want to go?" Gepard asked, even though he already knows the answer and you both are walking towards it: the Belobog Theater. But still, because he's a noble gentleman, Gepard always asks. It's cute.

• The play is enchanting and the entire time, Gepard held your hand. You thought he was paying you more attention than the play, to be honest. You scold him for that, but Gepard just smiles and presses his lips to the back of your hand. He reminds you that he's seen the play before and just wants to see you enjoy it too.

• "Did you have fun today?" He'd ask, walking you back to the Goethe Hotel after a filling dinner at one of the prime restaurants in the Administrative District. Gepard stopped at the entrance, hesitating for a moment before taking a deep breath, as if building up the courage for something.

• Gepard isn't big on public displays of affection, so it was a (welcome) shock when he suddenly pressed his lips against yours. It was a brief, passionate kiss, but it sent shivers through your spine and shot warmth to the very tips of your fingertips.

• With a promise to message you again when he's free for another date, Gepard smiles and bids you goodnight. You spend the rest of the night on cloud nine, reliving the kiss and the day in your mind until you fell asleep.

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Dan Heng

• Dan Heng barely leaves the Archives Room, so when he finally got over his emotional constipation long enough to ask you out properly, you were really expecting the date to take place in his room anyway.

• "I asked Pom-pom to make your favorite food. They don't allow me in the kitchens." He mutters shyly, letting you inside the room. Dan Heng had redecorated a little for the date-- the books and papers were cleared away and there was a soft, fluffy carpet on the floor.

• "March and Himeko also told me I should..." Dan Heng trailed off, blushing. He produced a bunch of origami paper flowers arranged in a bouquet and gave it to you. "A gift for tonight."

• He also said Welt reminded him to be courteous and gentlemanly around you, though Dan Heng grumbled out that he didn't need reminding like a child. You laughed, telling him that it just means everyone on the Astral Express genuinely cares for him.

• Dan Heng then asks if he can show you something. He turns the main lights off and presses a small button on the side. A hologram of all the planets and star systems you have travelled to shoots up above you both.

• "I asked Mr. Yang's help for this." He admitted. You shove him lightly, enthralled by the sight of the cosmos. Dan Heng lays you both down on the carpet so you can stare at his creations.

• You noticed he was looking at you more than the hologram. Dan Heng reddens at being caught, but he resolutely stares at you again until you're also a blushing mess. He reaches out and holds your hand, both of you in silence until sleep comes.

• Of course, Pom-pom disrupts your sleep a while later to remind you to go back to your own cabin. You woke up to find yourself wrapped in Dan Heng's arms, and Pom-pom gives you both a soft look before finally acquiescing and letting you stay in Dan Heng's room for the night.

• You sighed in relief and buried your nose into the crook of Dan Heng's neck, feeling his hold tighten around you. And with that, you drift back to sleep.

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Jing Yuan

• Jing Yuan doesn't let his heavy workload stop him from taking you on a date. In fact, he even disguises your dates as 'civic duty' so he can get away from the older generals trying to get him to stay in the office.

• Still, walking around with the general himself in Central Starskiff Haven just garners so much attention and onlookers. Jing Yuan doesn't seem to mind, just as long as he gets to hold your hand as you stroll along the bridges.

• He rents the best table at the tea store, the one on the second floor overlooking the entirety of the place. It gives the best view and enough privacy for Jing Yuan to rest his chin on his hand and gaze at you while you talk about your insterstellar adventures.

• You're worried you might have bored him, but Jing Yuan placates your fears by saying that he's more than at peace listening to your stories and playing with your fingers as you wait for the rose tea and carrot cake arrive.

• "That reminds me..." Jing Yuan pulls out a small box from his pockets. "This was Yanqing's idea." He tried to downplay his own thoughtfulness as you opened the box to reveal a golden orchid brooch. He smiled at you when you excitedly pinned the flower onto your shirt.

• "It matches your eyes." Jing Yuan never runs out of things to say that make you blush, but before anything else happens, a messenger runs towards your table and hands Jing Yuan a scroll indicating that the Divination Commission was summoning him-- and thus ending your date.

• Deeply regretful, Jing Yuan reluctantly stands up. The messenger then added that you were also being summoned by the commission, and Jing Yuan visibly brightens. He insisted you go together, calling his private starskiff. While waiting, Jing Yuan slips his hand around yours once again.

• He never let go.

[thefirstknife]

i unironically hope Eris stays in her Hive form at least physically bc im already loving how both her & Immaru are pointing out Ikora's (and humanity's) inherent dehumanization of the Hive.

Eris being all "If this form does not leave will you still view me as a friend?"

Immaru when asked where the Experiment Subjects come from and responding with "Don't act like you care."

Honestly, it's so good. I really love the Eris stuff and some of these questions being posed. A lot of people react negatively to Eris doing this, forgetting that Eris has already been part-Hive for a long time. She was just hiding it behind the eye cover.

Technically, nothing inherently changed about Eris; she just embraced that part of her. And that's super important for her arc I think because she's been on a journey of accepting her trauma and her losses for a very long time. We helped her face her fears and traumas in Shadowkeep and she came out of it victorious. And the story never treated it as her traumas being gone; she still has them, but she has the means to tackle them and handle them and live with them. Since we helped her, she became more open and more involved with what we do to save our home, even if it meant tackling dangerous things.

And the thing is, now that her traumas cannot be exploited by Darkness anymore, she's capable of involving herself in these things, knowing that she has friends to fall back to and a support system and better mental fortitude. We've seen it through her endurance beneath the Pyramid on Io, and her grasp of stasis, and her dealing with the Crown of Sorrow and egregore and the Lunar Pyramid nightmares. And now with her embracing her Hive self. It doesn't change anything about her, but people prefer when she hides it so they don't have to see it. And she knows it (Sororicide lore book, page 1):

It's a perfect example of how we inherently view the Hive as untrustworthy. Obviously, there are good reasons for it! The Hive have caused immense pain and trauma to pretty much everyone in the universe, Eris included. It must take an incredible strength of character to embrace the fact that you're physically half-Hive, creatures that traumatised you in the first place. No one else has dealt with anything similar so naturally they're afraid for Eris. But I believe in her strength. And so does Drifter and Drifter is never wrong:

He'd read the reports. He saw the theories on VanNet. He didn't trust them. He trusted her.

There's a cutscene that people skip and can cause people not to see it, I recommend replaying the thing on a different character or seeing it online, but it shows Eris taking off her bandage in front of us:

It's such a powerful image to me. A symbol of her taking off her mask. Not pretending to be the same as us anymore. Because she isn't! The Hive are a part of her and have been for centuries. And she's always been in control. Our mistrust has always hurt her, but before this, we could act with pity towards her. Now that she's fully in Hive form, people's perception of her changed, for really no good reason other than prejudice. She is still Eris.

I definitely think that eventually we will have to reconcile with the idea of the Hive not being inherently evil in totality as a whole group of people. Obviously this is going to be difficult, especially when their leaders act the way they do, but eventually I do believe we will have to accept some of them, even if it's only Eris for a start.

[kage-567]

Sukugo fic recs because it's a scarcity

So I noticed there were a very few sukugo fic recs around here, as a fellow fan myself, this simply cannot stand so I decided to add to the contribution. Here you go folks (for anyone who hasn't read them already).

A funny thing happened on the way to therapy

Satoru Gojo is no stranger to challenge. He’s faced off against hordes of curse users, defeated the strongest of cursed spirits, laughed in the face of reality’s limits and defied even death itself. But this…This new challenge could perhaps be the most difficult yet—infinitely worse than all the others combined:

Couple’s therapy.

——

After a highly experimental cursed technique goes wrong (right?), Satoru and Sukuna become fathers to a miracle child, Yuuji. Of course, the higher-ups in Jujutsu society are not impressed, and in a desperate bid to protect Yuuji from harm, Satoru comes up with a plan so crazy that it just might work: a fake relationship. With Sukuna.

Maybe Satoru should’ve thought this through.

Infinite Nuisance

“I’m blocked from interacting with the world beyond this Domain so I cannot relay any of this to the Brat. Something clearly wants you trapped in here,” Sukuna scoffed. “I cannot fathom why.”

Gojo’s lips quirked up into a smirk.

“Maybe a punishment from the Gods?” he suggested coyly.

Sukuna rolled his eyes.

“I would never punish myself in this way, so I doubt that."

Gojo blinked at him once. Then twice, before a startled laugh escaped him.

“Did you just call yourself God?”

- When a strange incident leads to Gojo being trapped along with the King of Curses in Sukuna's Innate Domain, what everyone assumes would lead to destruction surprisingly grows into something more.

As Sukuna and Gojo are forced to interact and learn more about each other, they realise that hatred isn't the only tie that binds them.

And, as Sukuna quickly realises, he is far from prepared for the unlikely temptation that is Gojo Satoru.

So someone with your eyes might come in time. To hold me like water. Or Christ, hold me like a knife.

Looking into the face of his future opponent, the face of his soulmate, Sukuna was struck by the thought that this moment, this one night of honesty between him and Gojo, was their Goodbye.

Despite what the future might hold, despite who they were and where their respective paths were taking them, they deserved a proper farewell.

Or, at the very least, Gojo did.

When in Doubt, Buy Him a Brand New Lamborghini

Satoru Gojo had everything he wanted in life.

His father is the CEO of a multi-million dollar company. His face is nothing short of perfection. He's popular and charismatic. Everyone wants a piece of him, whether or not its for his looks and money. He's the perfect man in every sense possible. So why is it that the only light of his life, his precious boyfriend and his one and only lover, decided to dump him without warning and leave him at his best?

Out of misery, Gojo decides to agree when his dear friend Shoko suggests they go to a street takeover. What he doesn't expect is to find unexpected joy in the commotion of it all. And within that commotion emerges Ryomen Sukuna, a racecar drifter who might just turn his entire life around.

You know what they say: When one door closes, another opens.

____

OR: Gojo falls head over heels for street car racer Sukuna after getting dumped in front of his local KFC.

Like Fire and Oil

Now in full view, Satoru could see that the boy had strange black markings on his forehead and cheeks, as well as a second pair of eyes below his normal one. With every approaching step, he was seeming less and less human.

“You’re…”

And while Satoru didn’t know how it could be possible, while he didn’t know what this King of Curses looked like or even quite remembered his name, somehow he just knew. Somehow, everything clicked.

“Sukuna.”

Stopping just a few steps in front of him, Sukuna smirked, baring a set of sharp teeth.

“And what if I am, Six Eyes?”

---

Sometimes the universe makes it so that when a force of great power is born, a force of equal power is created to counter it. This is a story about those two forces colliding more than a decade earlier than intended, and how sometimes unlikely circumstances result in even more unlikely friends.

[NOTE: There won’t be any ships in this fic, with the sole exception being potentially hinted Satoguru. All other benevolent relationships are platonic.]

The Fox Unaware of the Snare

"You intrigue me, sorcerer." Sukuna says. "Let us create a Binding Vow."

Binding Vows were useful as they were deadly. He'd regret it, should he accept to do so. But Gojo has never done anything without knowing he couldn't handle it, so why did it matter?

"Why not? Tell me your terms first."

Considering that, as long as he lived, no mortal force could ever convince Gojo on what to do.

After losing a fight with Sukuna, Gojo fulfills the Binding Vow and becomes his concubine, as odd as it sounds. And maybe it's just the constant dance with death that Gojo ends up falling for someone who is the very epitome of the word itself. Unfortunately, it comes with consequences much worse than teaching a human who's known nothing but the shadows how to love.

(Or, Gojo roamed the earth back during the Heian Era. This changes many courses of events.)

Teachings of love

They say the Reversed Curse Technique works as long as the head isn't severed. Gojo has come back once before, what is to say it wouldn't happen a second time? After all, throughout Heaven and Earth, he alone is the Honored One.

With the Hands of Gold

Satoru survives the Battle of the Strongest; the King of Curses heals him, and as a result, Satoru loses his memories. His survival means many things and causes many things.

|Part 1| |Part 2| |Part 3|

[frnchgirls]

the bikeriders!patrick zweig headcanons

18+, slight nsfw/suggestive content towards the end!

✿ probably met danny in a gen ed class at college and immediately hit it off

✿ "coincidentally" runs into him around campus all the time

✿ but the reality is he probably memorized his entire schedule and purposefully goes to see him cause he has no other friends

✿ when he found out danny was going to chicago to write his book about the vandals, naturally he packed his bags and told him he was coming with

✿ a bit of a drifter like benny, but instead of disappearing and telling no one, he stays within the vandals' circle and goes where he's needed/accepted

✿ he sleeps in his car when he's not couch surfing

✿ stays at cal's and helps him with mechanic stuff as payment, but when cal eventually kicks him out, he sleeps on the floor at kathy's or at yours

✿ the discourse on how to pronounce his last name never ends

✿ cal and zipco pronounce it correctly right away, then kathy gets it

✿ when johnny hears them say it properly for the first time he's like "hold on, the fucker's name is 'zveig'?"

✿ and when johnny gets the hang of it, benny starts saying it right too but not without a lot of conscious effort... definitely does a dramatic little head shake when he says it

✿ sonny chooses to pronounce it wrong even though he knows the correct pronunciation, just to get under pat's skin

✿ patrick just gives up correcting him at some point

✿ he's so nice to you, so sickeningly sweet it's actually pathetic

✿ if you're not already someone's girl, boy are you in for it

✿ and even if you are, he still unabashedly flirts with you cause he sucks :]

✿ "you look hot today." but he says that every day! "that dress makes your eyes pop." but ask him what color your eyes are, and he couldn't tell you! "did you do something new with your hair?" no, you didn't!

✿ literally begs the guys to be his wingmen (they say no)

✿ not a dollar to his name but still tries so hard to give you nice things

✿ surprises you with a bouquet of wildflowers that he picked on the side of the road

✿ folds the bar napkins into little origami animals for you

✿ "buys" you drinks but secretly puts it on johnny's tab

✿ speaking of drinks... when he's drunk, he gets even more embarrassing

✿ drags you to the open space next to the jukebox to dance with him, holding you in his big strong stupid arms

✿ when he's playing darts or pool with the guys he says "this one's for the most beautiful girl in the bar :)" before every shot/throw

✿ but a solid 70% of the time, you're the only girl there...

✿ and he misses <3

✿ patrick agreed to play games that they were betting on despite having no money?? so at the end of the night he owes each of them like 30 bucks

✿ they usually end up forgetting about the money and cut him some slack, because he's patrick, but still

✿ he's so sad and dejected and drunkenly walks over to you with crocodile tears and is like "doll, will you lend me 200 dollars?"

✿ he had no real intention of taking your money so when you refuse, he smirks a little. it's all part of his plan

✿ "ah man, this night sucks. but y'know what would make it better?"

✿ "what would make it better, patrick?"

✿ "a kiss... from a sweet girl."

✿ and he's pouting and looking at you with those big green eyes and a kiss is a lot more reasonable than 200 bucks so how can you say no this time?

✿ grins that signature toothy zweig grin when you kiss him on the cheek, and he leans into you

✿ you drive him home cause no one else will

✿ during the drive he confesses slouched over against the dashboard that he likes you and wants to make love to you and that you're the only person in the group that doesn't treat him like shit

✿ "patrick, you're drunk. we're not havin' this conversation right now." you remind him

✿ but no, he insists, promises that he feels the exact same way even when he's sober

✿ you ignore him and walk him up the stairs to your room, letting him have the bed this time

✿ but he catches your wrist and asks you to stay, says he won't be able to sleep without you under the sheets with him

✿ you begrudgingly oblige, as long as he doesn't try anything

✿ and he doesn't, well... sort of

✿ not unless you count him trapping you under his heavy frame and whispering filthy shit to you in his sleep

✿ "lemme make you feel good, 's all i want. just wanna treat you right. make you cum on my fuckin' cock. please, pretty girl?" he breathes lazily against your ear

✿ try all you might but there's no way you're pushing him off of you, you just have to lay there hot and restless until he eventually shuts up

✿ and oh how the tables turn, cause in the morning when he sobers up, it's you who's asking him to fuck

[leolithe]

this has been sitting in my drafts forever so i'm just gonna post it!!! these are my Plural Lotus headcanons that are Integral to my interpretation of them

Lotus represents balance while Natah and Margulis represent extremes, but she also represents Acceptance in The Sacrifice. So it makes sense that Lotus is the most passive, or "watching and waiting" one of the three

Lotus is also the most withdrawn and cautious one because she's the one who holds the trauma of every event leading to The New War. From her kidnapping in Apostasy Prologue, she was Lotus-turned-Margulis. From the Sacrifice to her death in New War, she was Lotus-turned-Natah.

After holding back Wally, Lotus fainting was a direct result of realising that the war was over. That she was finally free. That she could finally get the rest she desperately needed. And her entire body took that realisation and completely shut down. The need for rest was that dire.

This is when Natah and Margulis start to awaken. In the epilogue, when the Operator and Drifter are asking Lotus Radiant questions, Natah and Margulis also answer at the same time, each with their own insight and inflections. This is what leads to Lotus saying that she hears voices.

Natah was just as dead as Margulis when her body was reprogrammed. (Jovian Concord monologue: "I became a memory, a ghost"). Therefore, Lotus was formed from a blank slate of a (powerful) Sentient husk and Margulis' memory.

Natah, being the Sentient body personified, is able to access everyone's memories at will. She can also read everyone's minds, while still being able to focus perfectly on the present/outer world. She uses this to watch over Lotus and monitor her wellbeing.

Natah hates accessing or reading Margulis' mind though. She does not enjoy the imperfect, inaccurate, messy nature of Human memory. So she leaves Margulis alone for the most part.

Because she sees everyone's memories, Natah is the first to realize that she was formed to protect the Lotus. She takes the role of prosecutor, and she's very fiercely protective. Natah places much more weight in remembering the trauma rather than suppressing it like Margulis did.

Margulis is someone Lotus remembers for caring for and loving the Tenno, so she was formed with the intent of having a caretaker in the Lotus system. She's best at grounding Lotus, whispering soothing words to her and generally being a gentle and comforting presence.

There is very clear friction between the way Natah and Margulis handle their roles. Natah's decisiveness can be pushed into being cutthroat and stubborn, and Margulis' healing can veer into unrealistic idealism. Natah doesn't like how Margulis encourages Lotus to neglect her traumatic memories, and Margulis doesn't like Natah's insistence on forcing her to remember. They both think the other is pushing back Lotus' progress; Natah by intentionally surfacing painful memories and Margulis by exposing Lotus' weak points to the same aggressor again.

Very much a fight between, "If you don't remember how it damaged you, it will always happen again" vs "It will never happen again, you're safe and free to live like it never did"

Natah vs Margulis isn't only about Power vs Healing/Destroying the enemy vs Protecting your allies... it's about Remembrance vs Oblivion in regards to distress and trauma.

Lotus gets intermittently pulled around by these two for a while, until Margulis' comforting lies become unignorable and Natah's ruthlessness becomes unbearable. And when Lotus finally snaps and asserts herself to them... it's a wake up slap to both Natah and Margulis. This marks the point where they start quietly trying to work together... pushing past their rivalry to then FINALLY. Explore each other's bodies. Sentient-Human headmate style.

Thank you for reading. I can go on and on but I'm just gonna leave u with the mental image of Lotus walking in on Natah and Margulis having ravenous floor sex because they've actually never fucked a woman in their lives and they're not normal about it

[synnthamonsugar]

Sending an ask instead of commenting because I prefer to keep discourse away from my blog. but, I have to get some of this off my chest. it's bound to be lengthy, so don't feel like you have to read/respond. you just seem like maybe you'll get my point. Read this as one big I statement because of course it's my opinion and I'm not out here reading everyone's minds.

On that last post. I think a lot of people have gone and manic-pixie-dream-girl'd Eris beyond recognition, and that some of shippers (not all, ofc) have spent so much time with their own headcanons & fanfic that they've forgotten how their real dynamic is. It's easy to project a relationship onto them if you're already looking for one. People see them bicker and go "aw, they're arguing like an old married couple!" when, no. They're just arguing.

Drifter definitely flirts with her, but she doesn't reciprocate and I don't even think that it's necessarily serious. That man would flirt with a wall if he thought it would be funny. He seems like the type to tease people that way regardless of gender or attraction to them.

I don't deny that there's something between them. knowing the lore as I do I think it's safe to say that they're somewhat close, whatever that can even mean for either of them, but for fucks sake close isn't always romantic. Are they friends? Maybe. Can either of them have friends at their level of stability? I genuinely don't know. I don't think that we've been given enough to go off of, honestly. I don't like the idea that they're going to magically have their trauma cured by dating each other. She doesn't need him to "file down her teeth", and I don't think that he would. He definitely seems to benefit from her input, though. I don't feel like their relationship is very balanced in that. There's plenty of lore to back up him getting and using advice from her, and it being helpful to him, but I haven't seen much the other way around. He's immature in a way that she isn't, and people seem to think she's going to settle for that.

I don't care who people ship or what their headcanons are, that's all their own business. If I don't like it, it's not like I'm going off on their blogs in the space they've made themselves about why I don't agree with them. I prefer to just back off a bit, let them have their space and I'll have mine. But I don't always see that respect going both ways, and it starts to really bother me when people try to project their headcanons onto other blogs and onto the developers. Almost anything I see of them independently, it seems someone has to show up with "but where's [the other one]", and I've seen shippers go after multiple people for asking that their fanart of the two isn't tagged as ship art. It's just overstepping at that point.

Of course, I don't like lumping a bunch of people under the single label of drifteris shippers and calling them all a problem, I'm well aware that it's probably a loud minority silent majority type situation and I'm not going to assume someone's like that just because that's their content. But a lot (that I've seen) are.

On the misogyny part, I've definitely seen it in some. I'm a guy, so I'm probably not going to have the world's best explanation of why, but what gets to me is mostly the over-romanticism of Eris as his quirky goth gf. It's dumb and often comes off as objectifying. Sometimes it's like people think she's some edgy egirl twitch streamer. I find it strange how much fanart of her changes her appearance too, given we can barely actually see her. And sometimes it winds up painting Drifter as this douchy dudebro that he just isn't. One of the best things about his character to me is that he has his attitude without the shit treatment of women that comes along with it with most similar characters in games. I don't understand the need to turn around and twist him into someone that pushes her boundaries, which is pretty necessary to read their arguments as flirting.

I don't know what else to say, it's late and I'm tired and I'll probably feel stupid for letting myself get wrapped up in fandom discourse but I might as well say it while the conversation is happening.

(adding in case you do post this) v

No shade to shippers that don't fit the description I've put here. If you're reading this and go "Hey! I don't do that!" then obviously I don't mean you. You're all just doing what makes you happy and, hey, go for it. Tumblr is a great place for that. It's only an issue (imo) when that crosses the line into expecting everyone else to have the same headcanons or ignore what is canon. Go make art and fanfic and whatever you want, there's plenty of people who will appreciate it. I'm glad the positive side of the ship fanbase helps boost both of their stories, I hope it winds up driving Bungie to put more content in of them, together or apart.

Thank you for the thoughtful message Anon. Honestly I cosign all of this and wish I could respond to each of your points, but will at least try to cover a few of the ones that hit most with me.

Replies under the cut, since this is a long one ...

I think a lot of people have gone and manic-pixie-dream-girl’d Eris beyond recognition

I've thought about this for awhile. Eris is frequently written as a Manic Pixie Dream Girl insofar as being the offbeat catalyst for a jaded man's journey to a better version of himself.

He seems like the type to tease people that way regardless of gender or attraction to them.

Whether you ship them or not, it's odd seeing Drifter's canon characterization as a recklessly charismatic flirt lost in fanon. That special significance is placed on his flirtation with Eris, and not with the Guardian, Orin, Efrideet, or Rahool, or the others I'm probably forgetting.

Of course, the Guardian is a blank slate the player can project motives onto, and the others are characters whose interactions with Drifter are limited to lore. His & Eris' interactions stand out. That still doesn't mean it's inherently romantic; I've platonically flirted, held hands, snuggled, danced, bed-shared, and other things fans would dedicate thousands of words of shipfic to were I a fictional character.

Though reading it as such is fine (and I'll concede, probably lines up with the authors' intent, since we know some of them are shippers), nothing in the lore is explicitly romantic. Note, authorial intent, word-of-god and canon are all separate things, as much as fandom conflates them.

An aside, it's interesting how fanon surrounding Drifter paints him as socially anxious, touch starved, romantically awkward ... until he meets Eris. While I understand the utility in shipping — to emphasize the One True Love aspect since serial monogamy, much less polyamory, is unknown to most, especially F/M, shippers — it also comes off as "did not read the lore" at best, and "perpetuating negative stereotypes about Asian men" at worst.

Can either of them have friends at their level of stability? I genuinely don’t know.

This is why Eris' and Drifter's dynamic peaked in Arrivals & Beyond Light. The tenuousness of their alliance, the acceptance and rejection of each other's flaws, the trust between them that wasn't earned but necessary to survive. It was fun, tense and compelling and I wish more of the fandom focused on this era of their relationship.

I don’t like the idea that they’re going to magically have their trauma cured by dating each other.

Cosigned. The idea that love can mend any wound, heal any trauma, or fix any flaw is textbook amatonormativity, and has unfortunate implications when applied to Eris' story. I shouldn't have to detail why "woman overcomes trauma with the affection of a man" leaves a bad taste in my and many other fans' mouths, especially when it's favored over her longer-standing relationships with other characters. Why is her bond with Ikora ignored? Zavala? Asher? Mara? Why is so much of her growth pinned on one man, when there are other, deeper relationships that have existed since practically the beginning of Destiny's narrative? Why is there so little shipping surrounding Eris and these other characters?

Almost anything I see of them independently, it seems someone has to show up with “but where’s [the other one]”, and I’ve seen shippers go after multiple people for asking that their fanart of the two isn’t tagged as ship art.

I don't typically engage with popular Destiny ships, but I draw Mara Sov frequently. By herself, and, frequently, in non-Marasjur pairings. Not once have I gotten a "Where's Sjur?" comment, or even a "Where's Shaxx?" for that matter, as pushy as the "helmet stayed on" bros are. Meanwhile, I expect these comments when posting Eris art, particularly Eris F/F. I've had this happen in art I've drawn of her and Drifter with a disclaimer that the art is platonic/not to tag as ship! At that point it's not misunderstanding, it's entitlement.

I don’t like lumping a bunch of people under the single label of drifteris shippers and calling them all a problem

Agreed. I'm technically an Eris/Drifter shipper in the sense of consuming and producing art & fic for them, though I've pulled back from interacting with that part of the fandom because [waves hands generally]. I have no issues with drifteris as a ship, nor enmity drifteris shippers as a whole, but the individuals who engage in rude behavior.

what gets to me is mostly the over-romanticism of Eris as his quirky goth gf.

I'm going to repost what @/unsaelig said, since it's a salient point:

"I have no actual way of proving this, but given how much it’s been a staple, for the past 9 years, to speak of Eris as an unpleasant, unstable, worrying, suspicious individual, and given how much people like to fixate on how Eris & Drifter’s dynamic “softens” her and makes her more palatable and conventional, I do strongly feel Drifter is probably brought up with her as a “package deal” so often because in their eyes he “defangs” her & makes her much easier to take."

I do think there's a popular fandom read on Drifter as a funny, quirky guy who's a little out-of-pocket, an edgier fandomified-and-flanderized Cayde-6, if you will, and that Eris has to naturally follow by being an inoffensively gothy dommy mommy. It's perplexing, it's objectifying, and it makes me wonder what people are actually shipping them for if they sand down their characterization so much.

I don’t understand the need to turn around and twist him into someone that pushes her boundaries, which is pretty necessary to read their arguments as flirting.

The misogyny - amatonormativity combo again. Before anyone comes for me because I like enemies-to-lovers: sword-fighting your beloved to the death over a pit of lava isn't normalized, but saying that boys who bully girls are "just flirting" is. "I hate my wife", "I wish my husband was dead" and "ol' ball and chain" 'jokes' are. The patriarchy instructs men to disrespect women, and tells women to be flattered by the disrespect of men because at least you're receiving a man's attention. It's neither cute nor funny, and I equally dislike it when empoweringly reversed so that the man is the target of the insult.

No shade to shippers that don't fit the description I've put here. If you're reading this and go "Hey! I don't do that!" then obviously I don't mean you.

Cosigned completely. I know I have reputation as an arch-hater, but I have nothing but respect for people who are shipping them in ways that don't play into tired stereotypes of M/F relationships. (Or misogyny, or racism, or...)

Sometimes I wonder if I should try to put more good Eris/Drifter out there, but most of the time I fear I would only be stemming the tide; I am just one person with limited resources, and there is so much out there that my work will go unnoticed and my time is better spent boosting small ships that need the help.

Mostly I wish there was more focus on Eris and Drifter as individuals, in the game and in the fandom, further exploration of their bonds with other characters, and an environment where a wider range of gen and ship fic/art could flourish.

[blacksuppository]

Anyways, after a day of processing it, my thoughts on Jade Shadows are somewhat mixed, it was an alright quest, not really awful but I think that it was flawed in certain parts, under the break I will elaborate

*** Fair Spoiler Warning for the Jade Shadows quest ahead ***

WHAT I ENDED UP LIKING:

The cutscene near the end of the quest, where Xeto calls for the Corpus squad to stop firing on the Stalker because she heard the cooing of the baby cradled in his arm. It felt pretty powerful and some people think this is kind of a plothole but I would have to disagree. I personally read the scene like this: Despite how we often see the Corpus - cannon fodder, money-worshipping taxmen who would do anything for a few credits - the Corpus, as individuals, are still ultimately human. Especially Captain Xeto. She realizes the gravity of the situation - they were firing at a father who was trying to protect his newborn son.

How a lot of the quest doesn't explicitly answer questions, but confirms them through subtext. Big brain stuff

Jade's pregnancy being a significant part of her visual design. I rewrote my explanation twice for this while drafting this post and I couldn't get it on point - I can't really explain it, but it just feels oddly poetic/beautiful

Not reallt about the quest itself, but the little detail that they added where if the Stalker invades you with Jade equipped, he will say something like "Never" and then disappear (still dropping some items). I like that detail.

The warframe baby that Jade gave birth to. It raises a LOT of questions that can be really interesting. Is it a warframe, or something else entirely? How will the baby grow? How will DE go forth with this? How will this affect the Stalker (And other characters)?

WHAT I DISLIKED:

Jade doesn't seem to have much of a character herself and didn't have much screentime before she died giving birth, I think that a little more expansion on that would probably help a little - it sort of felt like she was fridged, this would probably alleviate that feeling?

^ Kind of related to this, it sorta sucked that the quest was a little short. I understand that the team is allocating lots of resources to stuff like Tennocon 2024 and Warframe 1999, but I would like if the quest ended up being a little longer.

The sequence where the Operator (and explicitly the operator, you cannot play as the drifter in this quest) performs transference on Jade to help her give birth. I didn't even realize it at first but now that I do, it definitely feels a little weird. It was PROBABLY meant to be more like the Operator being like a midwife, but... still doesn't sit quite right with me. Would that not be like, traumatizing, to posess someone's body to give birth to a child that was fermenting there for god knows how long? Idk

Nobody having any shock at the fact that a WARFRAME gave birth? This is kind of a weird complaint but it felt odd, this is literally not something that happens every day

There's probably something I liked that I forgot to put (Or something I disliked) but thats all my main concerns. I considered putting that the quest felt a tiny bit underwhelming according to my expectations but I kinda got over it. Also I quite literally have no comment on the childbirth qte.

[imonthemoonitsmadeofcheese]

Hello! Me again, back to pester you about lore.

So what's going on with The Drifter? For once I know a little about the character, I read 'A Man With No Name', but I still have questions. From how the book read, Drifter convinced Felwinter to get revenge for the destruction of the village. Did that go anywhere? And what did Drifter get up to for the (unspecified very long) timeskip between the book and the game?

And with the modern day, does the Vanguard know he's running a fighting ring out of the basement? Or does every single guardian look away when Zavala tries figuring out where people keep getting these weapons? I guess first rule of fight club and all that. What's he even trying to do? He seems to be pretty against most of the Vanguard's leadership.

Anyway, another invitation to infodump about your other blorbo. I hope you don't mind XD

If you thought I was long-winded about Eris... She's maybe 400 years old whereas the Drifter may be 900... get comfy... this will not be quick.

"Dark Age was wild times."

I adore the Drifter and a good chunk of how and why I adore him is his voice - both the voice acting and the syntax/diction/phrasing used in the writing, but voice alone does not cover why I find his character so utterly enthralling and fantastic.

I wrote a short piece consisting of Eris telling Ikora what she sees in him in my story Finders Keepers. It's basically a personality analysis and some people have (I think probably accurately) accused it of being a love letter to that character. (Reminder: that link is fanfiction - I wrote it - it is not lore, but it is based on lore. However, everything else I list after this is actual lore.)

But, personality aside, ultimately the Drifter's story is what I find most compelling about him and makes him so empathetic. You mentioned you've read A Man with No Name, but there's more. A lot more.

To start, the Drifter is D2's most violent pacifist.

He doesn't want to fight and when he does, it's vicious. The Emissary of the Nine, formerly Orin (his ex-best friend and/or ex-lover, depending upon how you read it) aptly says "He hates violence. He hates it so much he'll murder anyone who tries to inflict it on him."

In A Man with No Name, we see him go from hiding in a town and having it obliterated by warlords, to running a bar at the bottom of Felwinter peak, to getting Lord Felwinter himself to avenge the town. Drifter doesn't fight anywhere in there and gets other people to do his fighting for him, which is a pretty standard tactic for him. And yes, it is strongly implied that Felwinter does indeed murder the fuck out of Lord Dryden when he says "Call Lord Dryden. Prepare my Iron Banner arsenal."

But then we get Dark Age Drifter entries where he's gunning down Fallen attackers with quotes like "He had never brought himself to shoot a human. Or anything even resembling a human. Risen included." (Bonus mention: notice "Alright" repeated here and compare to his standard Gambit opening of Alright, alright, alright...") Where he's slipping away from non-violence, specifying, in particular, that he won't shoot a human but will defend himself from aliens.

And then he becomes something else entirely in these amazing entries with what I've been calling his Breakneck crew:

Now Otto's a Sword man. He's all about "craft." Technique. Precision. It's disgusting, but I don't care how he does it, as long as it gets done, so I just let him do it. And Otto does it so beautifully that, when he's done, you're standing there holding your guts in your hands and thanking him for the show.

Never touches a gun, that girl. She likes to get close. Likes to look right in their eyes and be the last thing they see.

The chumps that run out to stop us are babies. That's the kicker with Warlords—other than ours, there's not a Ghost in sight here. Just civilians who can barely hold their guns without wetting their pants, who can't aim worth a damn, who stick their necks out for the bad guys with eternal life. Real geniuses.

Cenric stood up. That vein of his looked about ready to pop. Drifter let his feet down as he reached for his rifle, asp-quick. "And you know what we do with rats, don't you, brother."

And the thing I love about this is the character development this speaks to where he goes from pacifist who won't fight at all... to someone who will use a machine gun competently, repeating "Alright" and getting himself used to killing, but not humans, never humans... to stone cold vicious murder-Drifter talking about the lightless who die to his crew in ways that make them (and himself) seem no longer human, to gunning down his own crew, people he felt were a perfect team, when they make deals with warlords behind his back and lie to him about it.

The Drifter started out adhering to an ideal of nonviolence and it destroyed him and everyone he cared for. His sense of self, his principles, everything he believed in is eroded until he completely loses all hope and in order to survive the cruelty of the world he lives in he becomes a ruthless monster.

Either before or after his Breakneck-era crew (it's not clear), the Drifter (under the name Eli) joins the Pilgrim Guard, a group of Titans protecting lightless people as they travel to the Last City. He does this out of a desire/need to be near Orin, a Titan with a complicated past and strong ties to both Queen Mara and the Nine. But then after spending time with Eli/Drifter and the Pilgrim Guard, Orin, the one person Drifter's ever had a deep human connection with, the person he considers his best friend, leaves without a word.

It's very telling that the green snakes, the jade coin, and the red string on those same coins that form such profound parts of the Drifter's symbolism and identity all come from Orin. When the Drifter truly cares for someone, he incorporates part of them into himself, into his identity, making them part of who he becomes, so they live on inside of him.

After his time with Orin, we get into the extremely confusing, contradictory mess that is the Drifter's intersection with Shin Malfur-related Rose/Thorn/Lumina lore. And by this I mean that the Drifter, after fighting alongside people doing genuinely noble good work, in the wake of losing Orin, leaves the Pilgrim Guard and eventually ends up joining the evil cult of evil: following in the footsteps of one of the most reviled risen to ever exist - the guardian-killer: Dredgen Yor.

If you're gonna hang with me, you need to know about the Shadows of Yor. They follow the edicts of a very bad man named Dredgen Yor. And what're his Shadows after? Everything the Light can't provide. I thought they could help me find an answer to the battles of Light versus Light that raged during the Dark Age. But the longer I flew with them, the more I saw they're blind as all those who follow the Traveler. One albatross for another. I was done with 'em.

And while in the cult, in some sort of ritual, he communes with the Darkness directly and gets some sort of Darkness powers (possibly Stasis, possibly something else - it's super unclear) and the Darkness whispers to him his Dredgen name: Dredgen Hope, which is particularly brutal in context with this quote from Dredgen Yor himself:

I care only to give hope to the frightened, huddled masses so that when I come upon them they will have more to lose. Their pain will be greater. Their screams more pure… Nothing dies like hope. I cherish it.

But it is also particularly pointed because hope is the thing the Drifter doesn't have. Trust is the thing he doesn't have the ability to do any more because of his experiences (and is also the name of the hand cannon he wears shoved into his pants). He is the most jaded (literally - constantly fidgeting with a jade coin) character in the D2 universe. He loses everything and leans in on it and follows that path to full evil.

And then he walks away. Because evil doesn't work for him either.

But also (either before or after he's completely left the cult - it's ambiguous, but possibly when he's still entangled but it's already fracturing and falling apart) he finds Orin again (he's using the name Wu Ming at this point - either having returned to it, or because he hasn't changed it yet from Felwinter Peak, or perhaps this happens before Felwinter Peak - the order and timeline is somewhat fuzzy).

Orin does not remember who he is when he finds her the second time (she's pretty nuts at this point - her story is filled with madness and tragedy), and is going insane with grief over losing Namqi (the person she left with when she disappeared the first time) as well as her obsession with the Nine. And the Drifter is once more drawn to her and once more connects deeply with her:

Wu Ming leaves his questions by the wayside as he is drawn inexorably into the gravity well of her desperate honesty. Her confessions lower his defenses. He talks of himself. Of his fear. Of his loneliness. How he feels he is one fingernail away from plummeting into an abyss. How he feels vicious resentment every time he is brought back from the dead: He never asked for the gift of the Light... They make excuse after excuse to meet again. Every conversation is colored by excavated truths; every day they feel they will reach some bedrock that will break them to pieces. It is as frightening as it is intoxicating.

But then Orin finds out about him being a Dredgen, terminates their relationship, goes off to become the Emissary of the Nine and, as someone I was talking with once referred to it: 'it was a breakup so bad he had to leave the solar system.'

Things go very poorly the first time the Drifter loses Orin but the second time is far worse. He has a full-on Lovecraftian 'At the Mountains of Madness' style horror-movie-plot experience with a crew he calls his 'best friends' (which may or may not be all ex-Dredgens but there's at least evidence they might be) out on a frozen planet being stalked and driven to insane levels of paranoia by Darkness creatures able to snuff out their light:

I think I mentioned we're all raving psychos at this point. Well, we did what all measured raving psychos would do. We thought we each had been betrayed by the others. We drew on each other.

The Drifter kills them all to keep them from killing him (at least, that's what he says - no one else is alive to argue). Then his ghost, who up until now has been kind of a moralistic asshole, suggests he hunt down the ghosts of his former crew and Frankenstein them together in order to survive:

And the craziest thing happened. My Ghost snapped... But we would need parts. Ghost parts. And we knew where we could get some... The Ghosts of my former crew all fled as soon as their charges hit the dirt. So me'n mine, we hunted them... "Hey. There's always hope. For what it's worth, I'm proud of you." It was the last thing my Ghost ever said, and the last lie it ever told.

The Drifter's ghost is rendered mute from the experience (either mechanically or due to the trauma of hunting down and murdering other ghosts - it's not clear) but the plan works, they survive, and the Drifter builds the Derelict out of scrap, returning to the Tower where he sets up Gambit.

It's super unclear (again, the Shin-related lore is just a mess and deliberately confusing) but it turns out that Drifter going on about how the Man with the Golden Gun is out to get him is actually a deal he made with Shin to set up Gambit (because, spoiler: the leader of the entire Dredgen cult, Dredgen Vale, turns out to be none other than Shin Malphur, the Man with the Golden Gun, who hunts Dredgens and who the Drifter has been saying is out to get him this entire time) to draw out the truly Darkness-corrupted guardians so Shin can kill them. (And this is ultimately why the Vanguard lets him run a fighting ring in the basement - because Shin convinces them it will help find the truly bad guardians so they can be eliminated).

If you find that confusing, that's because it is. Anything to do with Shin Malphur/Dredgen Yor/Rose/Thorn/Lumnia is pretty much an acid-trip, continuity-wise. It hurts my brain.

As for where the Drifter gets the weapons he gives us for Gambit? To the surprise of no one, he's stealing them. Because of course he is. It's him.

While running Gambit, he ends up visited by the Emissary of the Nine (formerly Orin - same body, different person) and has the Haul attached to the Derelict as a 'gift' in this amazing cutscene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFtmr___dSw

And he pretty much stays in "shifty morally ambiguous guy in the basement" mode until Arrivals when the pyramids show up on Io and we get one of my favourite lore tabs in all of D2: Whispering slab.

The two sit. They speak. They listen. Linkages forged in Light and Dark of traded secrets as the Derelict hangs in orbit around the Earth. Pacts are made. Soon, there is only the silence of knowing left between them.

"Next time you fly over the Moon, dust your boots. Tracking that crap all over my floors."

Both of the Drifter's deep emotional entanglements with Orin happen when he really genuinely talks to her, and now in Whispering Slab, he's genuinely talking to someone else, plus we get the origin of why he calls that someone else Moondust.

Then, during Arrivals, we get the amazing banter between him and Eris, and in Beyond Light they learn to control Stasis together with the result being (in my highly subjective opinion) the best cutscene in all of D2 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQAB-sSi6P0

At the end of Haunted we get Eris' message to him about healing and finding joy , he has this line in Plunder "What we do now matters more than who we were", we end up with the Kept Confidence lore tab during Season of the Witch where the person who previously insisted he trusted no one now is saying: "He didn't trust them. He trusted her" and then in the Gloaming Journeyer tab, he pulls her into a hug and reminds her of what she told him once (in the Prophesy dungeon dialogue): "That we'll live in the night if we have to. We do it for what comes after." (What comes after is dawn, hope, the continuance of existence after the darkest point.)

Someone in a chat I was in once summed up the core dynamic of the Drifter and Eris' relationship perfectly as "He gives her trust. She gives him hope."

There are people online who are very frustrated with the Drifter's character development, feeling that the Drifter has 'had his teeth filed off' and that he 'got his depression cured by getting a goth girlfriend' but I feel that's just people who don't like change. The Drifter has, throughout his entire storyline been constantly changing who he is. Change is part of his many self-constructed identities which he re-creates over and over as his old sense of self is destroyed and remade. Gritty vicious Drifter is still in there and he will be just as brutal as ever if he needs to be.

He doesn't want to be, though. He never has. And as someone who deals with medical-grade depression and who found themselves in a situation where they needed to reconstruct a sense of self to replace the one that was lost, the Drifter finding a way to hope and trust again after all he's been through is an extremely powerful and poignant narrative which speaks to me on many levels.

It's not trite, thoughtless happy fluffy rainbows, friendship-fixes-everything-whee! It's painful and slow and beautiful as the Drifter learns to have healthy relationships with other people. We need stories like this to speak to us at an unconscious level and tell us that even if you're not Eris Morn and you failed, and you gave up, and you didn't make it out of the Hellmouth, and you in fact gave in to despair and completely lost all hope, your experience erasing who it was you were and having that old you replaced with someone else, you can still find hope again. Even if you've been burned so severely by so many, many, negative human interactions that you cannot trust anyone, if you find the right people, you can slowly learn how to trust again.

The Drifter's story has been called a redemption arc, and I guess in a way it is that too but, for me, the essential quality of the Drifter's narrative isn't redemption: it's healing.

Stories have power. We incorporate them into who we are. Dredgen Hope ultimately does live up to his name. Within D2 he is finally starting to heal. I find that idea, of healing in spite of being so altered by one's experiences as to have had to become an entirely different person in order to survive, of being unable to trust and still finding a way to learn how to trust again, to be important and beautiful to have in my subconscious as something to draw from. It is a story that is very much needed by a lot of people. We need to be reminded that we can be irrevocably changed and have everything taken from us and still find a way to trust and hope and love again. That might seem a bit much for a shooty game, but I maintain this is why D2 has some of the best storytelling of any game I've ever played and that the character of the Drifter is a huge part of what makes that storytelling so compelling.

Sorry this took so long to answer. This seriously was as short as I could make it and still say everything that I felt needed to be said. There's more, and more detail, of course, but this is my treatise on why the Drifter is as awesome as I think he is.

That is all.

[angellic-critique]

Honestly my biggest fear is to end up writing my characters the same way vivzie does, I feel like she doesn't even try on certain characters(female characters and literally any other that isn't her "uwu baby boi must be protected at all costs" characters like stolas, angel dust). Like imagine completely missing the point of your own character/srs

to everyone pre-release worries and anxieties just as much as I have-- Please take this time to read or explore different interests of books or authors of subjects and genres you like ! In the era of internet where the golden age of information is rusting into brainrot, the less time online anymore the better. I've been taking javascript/python tutorials for myself attempting to make a dating simulator for literal years at this point and its bounced around to the point of where I branched off to develop my own murder mystery 2-d sidescroller !

I wish for this to be a farewell letter to the crushed hopes and dreams I had for the original hazbin pilot and crew has moved on to other things whereas viv attempted to spitefully keep a story she clearly doesn't have any passion over- it is very evident over her lack of care for her own characters purely for the monetary gains of attempting and sadly wriggling her way into industry the way she did is so abhorrent to the world of genuine art and animation I grew up with.

Has Vivzie ever read a Felix the Cat comic strip or Dilbert even Hägar The Horrible? Does she even know about the history and strive of depth that animation has been at for hundreds of years? Does she even like comics, clearly not if she doesn't even have the patience to write her own and horribly rush whichever story she's interested in that day. I've never seen a careless writer be this selfishly unashamed to write literal garbage and surface level 'intrigue' of design and then falling flat face first at EVERY step. Hope she becomes as unbearable of a director as John K. is because honestly even though I'm cringing making that comparison, it's pretty fair in my book considering the outright ABUSE she has always trying to talk or hoard artists into her 'pet project' I recommend above anything else to watch Dan Stamanolous' 'Moral Orel' if you want an actually funny dark comedy or Christy Karacas' fast paced dark horror comic-come-to-life Superjail! for good animattion that doesn't belittle its audience... *[Trigger Warnings for Adult Swim-esque outdated 2007 humor and light transphobia, read for your own triggers if you dont want to though, please!]

The fact that Stollitz is written so flimsily like a wattpad fanficiton of tropes rolled into one is astounding to me, I used to like the dynamic pre-season 2 as I've mentioned on here and @tired-hellowl so I really don't want to get a headache going into how I USED to like it-Realizing the problematic consent issues all of STOLASS is, I physically cannot watch another Helluva or Hazbin promo anymore without rolling my eyes into the back of my head.

To the anons and people who used to also enjoy vivs work, there are other artists and there are other stories to tell. If you wish to be inspired from Dante's Inferno/Hell or WESTERN CHRISTIAN BASED RELIGION keep in mind what source material you're doing because I don't even think vivzie has picked up the bible once in her life.... And I say this as a drifter in the world who believes in reincarnation I don't really vibe with the athiest stereotypes however, I don't believe in most religion but more power to people that do get hope and love from their teachings and cultures.

She entirely missed the mark for several years, nearly a decade. Viv has had time and time again chance and opportunity to give a chance of storytelling with demons and what does she do? Adult Cartoon that has the demons scream 'FUCK SHIT DAMNIT DAMNIT LOOK IM SO HORNY AND SILLY AND WACKY WOAHH THE SCREEN IS CONSTANTLY MOVING YOU CAN NEVER HAVE A SECOND TO BREATH IN ANY AMOUNT OF WORLBUILDING OR SETTING BECAUSE FUCK. YOU.'--

I have said this time and time again- there is no substance or worth about Helluva Bosses or Hazbins writing, even without the show not being released because Amazon seems ashamed about it, I know it'll be a shitshow.

Honestly at this point I agree with the redesign community, take any character you used to like and rewrite them until it's unrecognizable from the original source material, let those fuckers in space fight alien pirates or hell take them out of the heaven and hell trope and just flip it on it's head entirely out of earth or wherever you want to set your story! I'm personally redesigning angel to be a slight aid to my addiction help via rewriting him into my murder mystery heheh while keeping the sexual abuse and recovery in mind because woah that shit happened to me too man !!!

I wish the best to any future writers, animators, programmers, lovers of animation or art, you can do what you put your mind and hands to! Spread more positivity and love then hate in this world please guys, this'll be the last time I pop in I promise I'm trying to get a better job and hopefully get accepted in a community college that i've been on the fence over trying to do more online coding ! The sky is the limit!<3

[bellamer]

Punkflower where they're literally just Snufkin and Moomin, the gay Disaster Moominvalley Snufkin and Moomin to be specific and the distance between them when Hobie goes away being that more drastic because they're literally from different universes and Hobie, even though he values companionship more than anything, is still a drifter and likes to be by himself and probably has a fucking flip phone he and Riri made from spare parts which makes interdimensional communication even more difficult so Miles never knows when Hobie is coming, he just drops in randomly and Miles is always happy when he's there but is immensely saddened when he goes because he doesn't know when he's going to see him again.

[sombritas-des]

Here sit with me, I apologize this one is rushed, my head is a mess and but this is bouncing in it

Days like these are unusual, the winds seem to carry all the troubles away leaving only the calm sounds of the leaves.

The drifter sighs as they lay flat back on the grass stretching out his arms and leaving the helmet to the side. A pair of stomping feet stops by his side as the drifter just smiles and looks up.

- "Don't be a menace let's rest a bit, is safe" - drifter let out a soft chuckle as the beheaded sits cross legged on the ground, the flame looking towards him as a hand reaches for his attention.

- "how can you be so calm about?" - the beheaded sign in the way of the drifter keeping his hand on a questioning gesture.

The drifter looks up at him and questions - "what do you mean?, don't over react" - the drifters waves the gestures and closes his eyes.

The beheaded in annoyance slides closer to the drifter in order to poke his forehead with his index , demanding the other to open his eyes and look at him, flames swaying in annoyance.

- "over react?! You're dying and instead of finding something else to aid you,you just accept the fate like it doesn't matt-" - the beheaded gestures angrily and hurries as the drifter catches his hand on a firm grip ,both eyes now on him with a sight of hurt and comfort.

-"have you ever just stoped and enjoy something a little? "- the drifter spoke keeping the beheaded hand on his -" just stop a bit"

The beheaded flinch as the drifter pulls his hand over his head letting his fingers fiddle with the drifters hair, the beheaded feels unnatural almost conflicted uncertain of the actions, his mind going down a whirlpool of thoughts of salvations, alternatives to stop the sickens, his posture turning hard as the hand of the drifter lays over his.

-"my hair is not a weapon you don't need to be afraid of it" - the drifter chuckles as the grip of the beheaded loosens, he gently pokes his forehead making him look at the beheaded.

-"why are you doing this?"- the beheaded hand moves to gesture everything - "this is pointless we're losing time, we could keep searching,do something" -his shoulders up in annoyance hands spelling things as fast as his mind can think.

-"no we're not, I'm the only one losing it"- the drifter stretches before lifting himself to lay his head on the beheaded lap making him flinch and letting a soft puff from his flamable head - "besides I don't see it as wasting my time in fact, I'm sharing time with you"- the drifter smiles once more and closes his eyes

The beheaded exhales in sight of defeat before gently resting his hand on drifters hair. At first the touch is careful and afraid to hurt,then it relaxes as the body seems to remember the softness of life and somehow the time seems to run slow.

-"I'm aware you're afraid of me dying, we know it would come….but at least I can leave as a good memory"- the drifter lets his body relax under the beheaded touch almost lost in it his soft breathing almost mirroring the cracking sound of the beheaded flame.

Is now that the beheaded wishes the time could stop, to enjoy and to live once again,or at least live knowing things would go differently or die in a world where he won't be alone…again.

As if that could happen….

Time is a cruel weapon

[reachexceedinggrasp]

One lorewise thing that's important about the Ghoul is that he miraculously hasn't gone feral. He's kept his humanity, despite the fact he has become disillusioned and morally fallen. I really like the way they explore feral vs. nonferal Ghouls in the show because they're leaning really hard into metaphor as opposed to it just being arbitrary worldbuilding.

I don't know if his death would make sense as an ending because I think they would make him feral if they really wanted to give him tragedy. Except there are spoiler reasons why I don't think they would retread this particular idea.

I still don't think they'll end up exploring Lucy/Ghoul but I'm not totally certain where he will end up. It's been surprisingly compassionate. But we know how that goes, don't we...

I never played a lot, but I seem to remember there's ghoul characters still rational just as old and cynical as him? I didn't think that was exceptional, at least in terms of the games, though it could be different in the show.

I worry their thing will be that it's his purpose which keeps him sane and at some point he subconsciously started avoiding the end of his quest because on some level he knows he won't survive getting answers. The positive spin on that concept would be if his daughter is still alive, his purpose could become being there for her or helping make a world fit for her to live in (honestly that could be a motive to keep living even if she's not), which would then allow for an optimistic ending for him. But, you know, how much do I like my odds of a non-'bittersweet' optimistic ending these days?

If they pulled a High Plains Drifter type deal for his arc and he wanders off into the wasteland alone in the end, going feral would be implied as his fate, suggesting that he was essentially dead all along. I wouldn't like that, but it's probably thematically valid.

I mean, it's the same diff imo. If he goes feral on screen he'd definitely also die.

On the one hand I'm like, 'it's full delulu to even entertain the idea they're going to go there' but on the other hand I'm like [insert my character design tag ramble from a few days ago] and I really do think if this show is carefully made and thought out enough that everything is intentional storytelling, the 'but who is he hot for?' question is a compelling argument they want the possibility to exist. Even if they do, that doesn't necessarily mean it'll be more than subtext to add tension to that relationship without ever coming to anything explicit, but it feeds the Hope Gremlin in my brain nevertheless.