#he is definitely not heavily based on a character from a game or anything

[echosartandshit]

Naotec Tavios, and a lil sussy lad

He

[sweet-herbal-peach-tea]

TKATB Theories

Evidently spoilers ahead for chapters 1 and 2!!

This is my analysis and theories based on 3 character's we got intense lore drops for including Sol, Crowe, and Hyugo.

CW: mentions of drugs, and implied abuse,

SPOILERS UTC!

Credit for header goes to the wonderful @arklayraven

HYUGO

So, the recent lore drop for Hyugo was crazyyyy. The whole thing about him and Geo being brothers was implied especially with Geo's introduction on Fantasia's twt where he talks about disliking Hyugo. There definitely has to be a reason beyond sibling bickering to why Geo dislikes Hyugo. Whether it's Hyugo's vigilante tendencies or his connection with a potential crime syndicate.

One of my theories is that possibility Geo and Hyugo's father are a part of the syndicate or some kind of organizer. The reason Geo possibly despises Hyugo so much could be due to the fact he believes Hyugo is so heavily intertwined in the world of crime? I guess we'll find out in the next few chapters??

SPEAKING OF HYUGO'S CONNECTIONS TO CRIME?? THE SECRET ENDING??

Okay so idk if Hyugo is skipping town in both endings but I think regardless of what choices we've made he'll be skipping town bc of the events that took place in the theatre. Whether we were present or not. What I think hints towards this is the particular ending we get when we go to the arcade and when Hyugo asks us to "take care of Sol". Then he smiles and leaves. It may not be as obvious at face value, but I do think we won’t see him for a good while.

ALSO, the deal he made with Sol??

I think it has to do something with definitely gathering information on us, or it could be as someone else said supplying Sol with sleeping pills. However, I think it's implied that Sol does unfortunately missuses them, but they are intended for Sol to be able to get sleep.

More than likely I think the simpler version of their deal would consist of Hyugo keeping quiet of Sol's list of many many crimes, and Sol doing the same for him.

CROWE

I think will generally be the shortest, however I think my theories for him are more based on context clues and reading between the lines rather than baseless conjecture.

As we know literature and double meanings play an extremely important role in this visual novel. We see this in reference to Anabel Lee and the constant references between our past and the poem and how each verse links each chapter.

Where getting to in this is during Crowe's route when he asks for the MC's opinion on Marie Antionette. In the answers we give he seems to take them to heart, and when a negative opinion of her is brought up he seems to take them strangely to heart.

It is clearly evident is some way shape or form Crowe is somehow connected to the man that took our farm away. I think it is most likely that he is Crowe's father. Crowe evidently feels guilty about the place he takes and the role that he is forced into in regard to our debt. He more than likely can’t say anything either out of guilt or second party purposes. Regardless he is obviously trying his best to support the MC from the sidelines in any way he can.

I love Crowe… :( My sweetybear snookums pie…

SOL

ughhhh this man.

I love him but he's clearly insane. Okay let's talk about him bc I have so much to say.

My first theory unfortunately is my least favorite, and it is that potentially MC is not Sol's first soulmate, and he is projecting an image of someone else long gone onto us as the MC.

My reasoning behind this theory is because of his views of rebirth, death, and life. Specifically on two occasions that really made me think of this.

During the conversation you have with him in the library after making the decision to sit on his lap you ask him about his interpretation of the poem Annabel Lee, which the game takes heavy inspiration from. During this conversation Sol speaks of "being separated by death" and it's followed by Sol's responds in a fast dialogue something along the lines of "I won’t. it won’t happen again." Which leads me to believe we may potentially remind him of someone in his life that has passed.

There's also a second dialogue during day 02 which sparked this idea, in which based on the player's pronoun options Hyugo says something along the lines of "you remind me of her/him/them." It's unknown if Hyugo and Sol are childhood friends, but if it is likely then it may confirm that we remind Hyugo and Sol of an entirely separate person.

The only thing that sways me away from this theory other than the fact I detest the idea of it is during Crowe's route on day 02 when Sol mentions something about how…

"It has always been you, Ichabod."

This line could imply a multitude of things really. This could also imply that he generally detests the family due to the fact that they play a role in the MC's suffering. However, for now, I'll diverge into a separate theory that definitely more likely being Sol somehow knows us from childhood.

I like the theory that a fanfiction author pointed out that our farm may have been near the sea, and the reason why Sol detests it so much is due to the fact we the MC were separated from him, and the sea may remind him of that.

There are also these implications of the flowers in his hair in Fantasia's braiding hair post with the "forget me nots" in his hair.

I also believe the key carries around him has something to do with our past as well. Given that in fantasia ask box when someone asked about how Sol and MC first met, he actively fiddles and plays with the key that he wears? Where does it unlock? Where does it go to?? Only the lord knows.

BUT ALSO?? SEPERATE NOTE?? FINAL THEORY AND IMPLICATION?? THE NSFW ENDING ON DAY 02??

Seeing Sol's back in the last CG absolutely broke my heart. It's clear that his back is riddled with bruises and burn scars clearly from recent abuse. (after my second check I also noticed his stomach with bruises??)

Obviously out of respect for fantasia's terms I will not link it nor post it, but it's there in game and I recommend other theorists checking it out.

The reason why I say recent is due to the fact that if they were just scars, we most likely would have seen the marks features in Day 01's NSFW art, seeing as it also has his stomach exposed.

Again, this all conjecture, and they could be in places we couldn’t have seen.

On the subject of scars, I think it's also evident that Sol is more than likely hiding a scar on his neck or some sort of burn scar behind it. He's extremely self-conscious about his looks, and Fantasia has stated that his choker will more than likely stay on at all times when he's with his soulmate.

The side however, and its coverage eludes me considering the only time we've seen Sol's neck is in art Fantasia has given us (but his neck is covered with a scarf or ribbon). The only time we see a little smidgen of his neck is in the Day 01 NSFW ending, but it's barely anything to form a for sure statement on!

I think here is where I'll wrap up my theories for now!! Thank for reading this extremely long yap fest! Fantasia if you are reading this I just wanted to say I love your game and I love Sol!! Hope he knows this very much! Thank you for your hard work and I hope your internship goes well!

Very excited for the future of this wonderful game! I will now go lock in for finals season! This is peach signing off!

[dotster001]

Omg, I'm in love with Twisted Earth, can you please do Scarabia and Pomefiore next?

Hello may i also request a Twisted earth story but with the savanaclaw and scarabia dorm please 🥺requested by @magicalsweetsyouth

Twisted Earth Part Four

Summary:Scarabia and Epel x gn!reader You are the game, they are real. Vil and Rook HC's here. Savannaclaw HC's here.

A/N:Omg some of y'all are starting to get ahead of me with your requests. I have some places I'll take this once I finish off everybody's initial HC's. I'm so happy you guys are enjoying these 🥺

Part One Part Two Part Three Part Five Part Six

He was drawn in by the advertising. The colors, the designs, the music, the voices? Oh he was so excited to start playing! When he chose his initial character …it actually wasn't you. And he feels so bad about it now 🥺  You're his squishy baby, please forgive him, he'll make up for lost time.

Probably first was drawn in to you because of how drastically different your life is from his. Then he fell for you as he got more and more invested in your character's story.

As I said…you're his squishy baby. If you were real…Oh he gets so excited thinking about all the parties he'd throw for you, all the gifts he'd buy for you, all the CUDDLES HE'D GIVE YOU! (He has made Jamil bang his head against a wall multiple times when talking about you) he dreams of the two of you dancing together. That's what he'd do for a first date with you. He's already decided.

He has all your base cards, but none of your event cards. But he's not deterred! He WILL get one of your event cards one day, he's sure of it.

Kalim's parents don't need parental blocks on Kalim. They have Jamil. Jamil saw Kalim playing the game and downloaded it to make sure it was appropriate, and that it wasn't giving him any weird ideas. 

It's now his guilty pleasure. He plays it right before bed since he never has any other time for it. He always sighs heavily like it's a chore to play right before he opens it, but he definitely enjoys it. 

You….he has a complicated relationship with you. In game he adores you. He thinks you're perfect, and you'd be perfect together. Irl, he knows you two might not get along as well, with you being, well, you, and him making…questionable… decisions sometimes. You'd get on like oil and water….but if he had the chance, he'd be willing to try.

He has every. Single. One. Of. Your. Cards. Everyone of them is at their max levels. Every one of them has been groovified. He is almost psychotic about it. 

Your crush is the only card he has that he doesn't take care of. Again, to a psychotic degree. Your cards are the only ones he's maxed out, but he generally takes care of most of his cards. Not your in game crush. Despite his realistic take on how you two would be irl, he for some reason can't look at them without his brows furrowing and his teeth gnawing on his bottom lip.

He was playing it before the devs reached out to Vil for a review. It was his freedom away from his lessons where, playing as a peer named Yuu, he could interact with people who didn't care about his looks or behaviors. He could be as "masculine" as he wanted. (In quotation marks because Epel has some iffy views on what being a man means. I love him anyway 🥺)

Despite hating other people calling him cute…he thinks you are very cute. He is also certain you wouldn't call him cute, but "handsome" and "man of your dreams". He also just genuinely finds you to be a soothing presence. While some of your friends and coworkers cause chaos and various antics that move the plot along…you're just kind of there. A constant light. (You're the Silver, at least in his mind 😂)

He dreams of meeting you irl. He'd have you on his arm, and even Vil would be in awe of him. No one could call him cute with the cutest person ever on his arm. In exchange, he'd treat you like the deity you are. He'd get you anything you wanted and pamper you constantly.

He has three of your cards; a bunny cafe SSR, your casual R card, and your SR work outfit. He is so proud of these cards. Brags to anyone he finds who plays the game. Once Vil started playing, it was all he would talk about whenever he got mad at him.

[inbarfink]

Apparently some Ace Attorney fans don’t like this Plot Beat in the PLVSAA game? Like, they feel that it disrespects Phoenix or puts in on a lower rung of importance compared to Layton? But I really disagree, I have some other issues with PLVSAA, but this moment? That’s a perfect Phoenix Wright moment that shows a real understanding of his character and his appeal.

Because Phoenix Wright always shoves his nose right into the center of stories where he was not supposed to be in. That’s what he’s been doing since the beginning. 

Just look at the plot of the very first game! It’s all about Manfred von Karma and his Big Ass Weirdo Grudge against the whole Edgeworth family all two of them. In many ways, even if the AA narrative doesn’t typically use that framing - Manfred is kind of a Storyteller in a way, creating the Story of Miles Edgeworth’s tragedy and patricide. 

And in that ‘Story’, Phoenix was a minor character at best. He was just an ordinary kid who knew Miles for a few months in fourth grade, He’s not tied in with the Family Drama, he doesn't have any obvious special talents or anything. From any outsider's perspective on Miles' whole life, there's no reason to think his 4th Grade Best Friend would by in any way Important for anything but Tragic Flasbacks. But Phoenix put himself into that narrative. For him, Miles’ kindness and friendship for these few months of childhood are just as important as anything in Manfred’s Story.

He got himself into law and shoved himself right into Miles Edgeworth’s story despite how ridiculous it all is. And so, even as Manfred disregarded him as just yet another unimportant interchangeable Defense Attorney to be crashed under his heel - didn’t even remember his name and face- Phoenix was still the one to defeat him. Even as Manfred left the courtroom still cursing Edgeworth’s name - Phoenix has made himself, by choice, into the Hero of that Story. 

Miles and Maya would be Main Characters in anything related to the DL-6 mess whatever they’d like to or not, it’s just tied-up so heavily into their life and their traumas. Phoenix is the one who chose to be a Main Character in that Story. 

And that’s something that kind of repeats with a lot of the narratives Phoenix gets into. Because he’s, like, the one AA character without a Dramatic Backstory outside of the Class Trial, Phoenix is usually either playing backup to the real main characters of the narrative - or once again, making himself the Main Character out of sheer determination and love and desire to help others and choice. 

And doing it again in PLvsPW, establishing that he and Maya butted into both the Storyteller and Darklaw’d Stories just because they were both driven and curious and kind and wanted to help Espella so bad… that’s just perfect, especially for a story all about Stories that’s just perfect.

The thing that I keep thinking about is the few times AA has Stories that are definitively about Phoenix without him butting in or stumbling into someone else’s Story. ‘Justice for All’ is one, but it doesn’t really have a Grand Overarching Narrative. It’s more of a Phoenix Wright Character Study via a series of vignettes. The AA game that really has Phoenix at the center of a Story is ‘Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney’.

To continue the PLvsPW metaphor, AJAA is really the game between a bunch of rival Storytellers - PLvsPW had Arthur Vs. Evelyn, AJAA has Kristoph Vs Phoenix. Kristoph weaved a Story with Phoenix’s downfall at its center - and Phoenix waited until he had the chance to return the favor. I mean, I dunno, maybe my metaphor is a touch stretched but… Hobonick really is the closest thing to the Storyteller in the mainline AA games. The final AJAA case is almost literally him ‘designing’ a trial for his own purposes.

And the interesting thing is how controlling and railroading he is as a Storyteller figure. For someone who’s based his own entire damn life on defying the Stories and plans of others, he really does not let his own ‘Main Characters’ - least of all Apollo - that same sort of metanarrative agency. 

[shrimpys-log]

Shrimpy's Log 002: New Year Schemes

✎ Ficlet ✎ Characters: Azul, Cater, Floyd, Jade, Ruggie ✎ Gender-neutral ✎ Slight use of swear words ✎ Tagged as x reader but can be platonic, it's just a funny little scenario ✎ Based on the current New Year event on the English server, on Octavinelle's day (feat. Cater, Ruggie)

Cater and Ruggie knew that Azul, Jade and Floyd would return for another match, and the dread outweighed the celebration of their most recent victory.

Seeing you in the crowd came as a huge relief. You were even-tempered and sweet, and even if it would be hard to convince you to spend more money than necessary (managing Ramshackle meant you had to be a practical spender, after all), talking to you would undoubtedly ease the nerves. Especially since you knew the horrors of Octavinelle all too well, and could easily sympathize with their plight.

"Hi Cater, hi Ruggie! Having a pleasant shift, I hope?"

It didn't take long to figure out that they were not, in fact, having a pleasant shift--at least not with the fish mafia prowling about. You seemed to catch on to their source of anxiety a little too quickly.

"It's that game Sam's introduced this year, isn't it?" You deduce. "Three versus two... that's not very fair, especially when Floyd's practically two people on his own."

"That's not our only concern," Ruggie replies, tactfully keeping his voice out of earshot from the nearby merpeople. "Jade and Azul keep coming back with better and better strategies, and Floyd's accumulating more skill with each round, even if he isn't abiding by anything the other two have to say. We've managed to come through a few times so far, but..."

"...but Azul's relentless," You nod. "Yeah, I know. So, what about your strategy?"

"Not exactly my strong suit," Cater chimes in. "Ruggie's doing fine on that end, but there's not much to strategize. We already studied all the tips and tricks before this whole thing started."

"Of course there's plenty to strategize. Those three aren't infallible, you know," you reply, eyes sparkling. Your cheerful expression was far too innocent for the blunt analysis that followed. "Floyd's definitely the best athlete, but he's also the easiest to take down. It's not hard to put him in a bad mood--the most surefire way to do that would be to get Azul to berate him, and if you want to get Azul to berate Floyd, you just have to make Floyd so excited that he starts tuning Azul out. Not even Jade and Azul can control Floyd's mood."

...fair enough, Ruggie and Cater supposed. They weren't expecting that to be the 'strategy' you had in mind, but in all fairness, you were around the Octa-trio more than the rest of them.

"The second biggest weakness to exploit is Azul," you say. "I'm sure you remember from Beanfest, Cater--Azul's not exactly the most enthusiastic when it comes to... well... physical fitness as we experience it on land. He's crazy strong, but his speed and agility aren't there. He thinks strategy is enough to compensate for it--and ordinarily, it is--but if you target him over Jade, that's where you'll get the slip-up you need. Jade's the most composed and, like Floyd, he's pretty competent with all land games that aren't heavily reliant on flying, so to throw him off, your best bet is to convince him that it would be more fun to see Azul frustrated than it would be to receive the prize of victory. He's a sucker for all things entertaining."

Cater and Ruggie blink at you with wide eyes, but you don't seem to even notice.

"Say, do you guys have spackle for sale? Ramshackle's crumbling again, I have some walls I need to patch up," you say nonchalantly, completely moving on from your strategic tirade as if it'd never happened in the first place.

It was a fortunate outcome--once Ruggie and Cater helped you find all the things you needed to find (you'd already planned to shop in bulk, since Ramshackle had a lot of unmet needs and the New Year prices were extremely generous), you owed enough to earn yourself a few rounds of hanetsuki. Cater and Ruggie didn't seem particularly threatened by the idea of taking you on, which was kind of offensive, but you understood. You didn't seem as threatening without your usual crew (Ace, Deuce, Grim) around for backup.

Less fortunately, at least for Cater and Ruggie, was that Azul, Jade and Floyd were back to play, and the two had nowhere to hide. Floyd greeted you with a hug while Jade curiously poked at all the stuff you bought, but Azul's sharp blue eyes were focused on the prize.

"I believe we're due for another round," he remarks confidently.

"Coincidentally, I've earned myself a round as well," you chime in, turning to Ruggie and Cater. "Though I suppose three versus two is rather uneven. Can I join your side?"

Immediately your friends--on both sides--began to sputter at you.

"T-That's not the rules!" Azul accuses. Clearly, you joining Cater and Ruggie would completely wipe his strategy. Jade, however, seems greatly amused by the prospect.

"What a wonderful idea," he chuckles. "After all, you shouldn't have to fight this battle alone, you poor, unfortunate thing."

"The prefect could be on our side," Azul snaps. "Why should they join the enemy--ahem, the employees?"

"Hate to break it to ya, hon, but Zulie's right," Cater notes. "It's so totally cute you wanna be all even and all, but the game is that you challenge us."

"I'll pay double," you counter simply. "I need 50 for a round, right? Well, how about 100 lets me play with you? I'm not gonna win on my own anyway, I've seen Ruggie play spelldrive and you, Cater, were a little too competent during Beanfest. Since it's more profitable for you guys that way, I'm sure Sam wouldn't oppose."

Ruggie raises his eyebrows, but after some thinking, grins.

"We do have to win against Vil and Sebek," he reminds Cater. "And there's no rules saying we can't do that. Gotta take the opportunity when it's handed to us, right? No holding back."

"Now hold on!" Azul snaps again, before turning to you. "Why do you wanna join their side? Are you plotting against me?"

You raise your hands in mock innocence. "I'd rather play a fun game with my friends than suffer a crushing defeat by my lonesome. Besides, I know you have a strategy in mind, Azul--one that doesn't accommodate me joining your team. Do you really see me as that much of a threat?"

In the end, only Azul protests the decision, though Floyd and Jade are so enthusiastic about 'playing against Shrimpy' that Azul's protests fade to the background. He ends up agreeing, only after you put on a show of apologizing to Ruggie and Cater for having no experience in the game whatsoever, and after Cater had to thoroughly explain to you how to handle the hagoita. With that settled, the games begin.

...your strategy works like a charm of course. Floyd was so, so excited to 'play with Shrimpy' that he was entirely distracted throughout the first half of the game, causing Azul to snap at him and put Floyd in a terrible mood. Jade was so amused by the disaster that he purposefully half-assed the rest of the game, driving Azul even more up a wall, and eventually Azul slipped up, causing the Octavinelle team to lose once again.

"Bah! We could've had that!" He growls. "One more time. I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to spend another 50 thaumarks..."

He and Jade make their tactical retreat, with Jade grinning like it was the best day of his life. Floyd lingers behind, his foul mood still written over his face.

Luckily, he was just as easy to cheer up as he was to upset. You approach your friend with a peace offering and a hug, shoving a small box in his hands from the stack of items you'd purchased earlier.

"I bought that for you. You mentioned wanting to try new candy a while back, so when I saw all those weird candies on sale, I figured you'd wanna try 'em." That much was true. You'd intended to save that candy for a more special occasion, but it was a worthy sacrifice.

Floyd perks right up, returning the hug and thanking you before returning to his twin and his housewarden as if the last match hadn't happened at all. Then you turn to Cater and Ruggie, smiling innocently.

"Thanks for that," says Cater with a smile. "You really are one clever little prefect. We owe you one."

"You do, in fact," you reply in that sweet tone of yours. "One golden ticket, to be exact. I was on the winning team of hanetsuki, after all. The rules were explicitly clear that the winning team earns a ticket."

"Huh? I don't follow."

"Wait..." Ruggie trails, a horrified look appearing on his face as he starts to piece it together. "You didn't... you didn't join us to help us out against Octavinelle, did you?"

"Well, of course I did," you say, your tone as sweet and charismatic as ever. "I know those three like the back of my hand. I've found myself on the receiving end of their tireless ambition and relentless schemes too many times to count. If Azul got his hand on that ticket, he'd use it to its fullest value, you know that."

"You tricked us!" Ruggie replies, scowling. "Ugh, I should've known better than to trust that innocent act of yours."

"Hehe--awe, don't be so upset Ruggie. I learned from the best. You can thank yourself--and Leona--for teaching me how to think strategically," you wink. "Aren't you proud? I've come so far from being that unassuming prefect who signs contracts blindly, don't you think?"

Cater hands you a golden ticket, which you hold with visible awe and excitement. Ruggie shoots Cater a look, as if he might've been able to bend the rules and keep you from cashing in on your prize--but the Heartslabyul junior didn't seem too bothered about being outsmarted.

"You're a smart little freshman cookie, Prefect. I suppose you no longer need Cay-Cay to look out for you," He teases. "Here's your prize. Got anything in mind you want to spend it on? Something cammable, perhaps?"

"Hmm... I don't know..." you muse. You catch the look on Ruggie's face--a look of masked anxiety--and you decide to offer some consolation. "Awe, Rug-Bug, relax. The most expensive items in the store are magical--items I have very little use for. Of course, I could go through the trouble of selling said items and making a profit, but I won't do that to you. There are a lot of practical items I need--items to improve the quality of life at Ramshackle--so I'll stick down that lane. This ticket isn't such a major loss for you."

You pause, taking some time to read the text on the ticket.

"And besides," you add cheerfully. "As much as I love Vil and Sebek, I'm not gonna let you guys lose your little competition against them. You helped me, now I help you. I'll be sure to send a lot of people your way, people you could easily beat in hanetsuki, yeah? I do have quite the influence, after all."

With that said, you spun on your heel and disappeared into the shop, looking for something to spend your ticket on. Cater and Ruggie watched you go, still shocked by your tactical move.

You weren't the same naive freshman you were last year, that's for sure.

[and-a-pidgey-in-a-wepear-tree]

good [insert time of day here] i realised i never thought to ask you amid my delight of you being the most interactive follower i have that isnt an irl friend do YOU have ocs or blorbos. i wish to know. for reasons.

OH hello yes thank you for asking!!! I have several OCs but most of the time I simply Do Not Explain on here; I have lots of ideas and doodles but I make it mostly for myself and don't think to share — doesn't mean I don't want to tho! exhibit A: this absolutely massive post I'm about to make lmao. putting it under a read more bc Oh Boy, the floodgates have been opened

most of my OCs are for two different projects I have: The Visitors and my D&D Dark Star Campaign.

The Visitors is just a lil worldbuilding project I've been chewing on for.... oh wow, over a decade at this point??? I love all the OCs I have in there very very much, but they're definitely never intended to go in an actual story, I just enjoy the speculative biology and character / world building process.

Val is one of my oldest OCs, and she's changed SO MUCH over the years! nowadays, she's a sort of insect/dinosaur mashup alien who uses gravity warping magic and a very large axe to hunt demons. a huge issue for magic users of her species is keeping cool, as magic generates heat and can literally cook you from the inside out, so you'll notice the multiple vent-like spiracles across her body for this purpose. she was born blind and so relies heavily on her best friend, Django, to be her eyes and keep her safe. fortunately, Django has Too Many Eyes. he's a dragon genetically engineered by those in Val's species to be the perfect vessel for storing and releasing massive amounts of mirror-based magic. this kind of magic gives him many abilities, including seeing around corners, creating illusions, or multiplying attacks when applied in different ways, and he acts as Val's seeing-eye dragon. in battle, she likes to get up in the action while he holds back and gives her cues on what's happening, only jumping in himself if she's in major trouble. she's very friendly and excitable, and loves to get into the culture of whatever planet they're visiting, while he's more interested in observing and snooping. there's a lot of espionage and hijinks.

these are some of my most recent sketches of them, tho I'm sure the designs will changes in the future. specific colors don't matter at all, it's all about vibes! not pictured in the halfway colored one is Val's big iridescent black cape thing that has a slit down the middle for her rigid tail, nor her weird arms since I wanted to figure out where the torso vents could go.

Duke is another Visitor who visits planets and solves problems, but his path to get there was a whole lot different! I made him up as a coping mechanism when I was 12, and I'm still very fond of him.

he started life as a human video game speedrunner and modder prodigy. in a "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" situation, a devil (very distinct from demons!) struck a deal with him, challenging his gaming abilities with his soul as the stakes. he won despite the devil's cheating, but that's where the resemblance to the song ends. in this world, a devil winning your soul allows them to fuse with you and gain total control over your body, mind, and actions; but if YOU win, the control is reversed! and like any 14 year old who suddenly has the power to rival minor gods and a chaotic creature living in their head.... he goes off the rails for a while. Val and Django eventually find him and help him cope. his powers include electricity, glitching reality, flailing his glaive around, and being a menace to evil overlords.

you can't see it very well in this picture, but his eyes and the segments between his tail glow lime green! I'm not a fan of drawing clothes, but in my head he's relatively fashionable for a teenager and refuses to wear anything other than black. also, he decided to tell me he was trans a couple years ago, thanks for letting me know buddy 😂

my other project does actually get to see the light of day, if very slowly — I'm running a homebrew D&D campaign for my irl friends called the Dark Star Campaign! none of em use tumblr so WHEEEE I get to post all the spoilers I want! there's a kinda staggering amount of lore behind it and a ton of minor OCs, but the two I rotate in my head the most are Anya the Timekeeper and The Master, aka Armageddon.

Anya the Timekeeper is a chronomancy lich from an alternate universe! she used to help Armageddon travel the multiverse and gain power, but she's decided she's tired of being evil, and now hides in a mansion on a tropical island where she breeds dinosaurs for fun. though she's now very determined to help the party, they'll eventually have to kill her past self to prevent a paradox. her familiar is a little archaeopteryx named Trix who steals hats!

(I commissioned this art from @/goodlouse a while ago! highly recommend checking out his blog!!)

Armageddon is the BBEG and he's SO EVIL and SO MUCH FUN. he's an ancient amethyst dragon who, up until a while before the campaign's beginning, was steadily finding alternate universe versions of himself, killing them, and eating their souls to gain Unlimited Power™. unfortunately, his partner in time (hah) Anya told him to fuck off, so the quest for Unlimited Power™ has been kinda slow lately. fortunately, a D&D campaign started, and he cheated his way into existing at the players' table as The Master! my players can ask to talk to him sometimes, and I'll put on a mask of his head I made specifically for this purpose — very useful for not breaking character when the character is supposed to literally be the one sitting at the table talking to the players. I don't try to hide the fact that he's evil and they all know it, the fun is in giving them little hints and tidbits of lore to munch on. right now he's being very docile and helpful but things will get very very interesting eventually as more of his nature and plan is revealed..... =)

I'm still playing around with what he looks like as The Master, but I really like this recent design I did. his eye glows dark and menacing. I haven't found a design for his dragon form I'm really pleased with yet tho :/

okay wow thanks again for the ask, I have many many ideas in my head and it felt pretty nice to get em out!!

[friendlyfatbee]

You know what? Headcanons of what each character smells like from Satsuriku no Tenshi (heavily based off of their floors)

🕊️ Rachel 🕊️

Fresh laundry, subtle-scented flowers (like watered down orange blossom), grass, and unused yarn. If you’ve ever smelled unused yarn, you know what I’m talking about. I can definitely see her smelling a bit like a hot glue gun, she definitely seems like the crafty type (aside from the… obvious sewing.)

⚠️ Zack ⚠️

I’ll be the one to say it, this man SMELLS if everything. Zack, I love you, but PLEASE take a bath. Or change clothes. Or wash clothes. If the body odor wasn’t enough, there’s the decay of blood that has been ENCRUSTED on his jacket.

Please I beg of you Zack, wash yourself.

If theres any sort of redemption with smell, maybe he smells like some sort of ungodly sweet sticky soda? But that’s easily overpowered by the scent of decay and sweat.

👓 Danny 👓

Danny… Danny, Danny, Danny… you my sir smell of formaldehyde :( you can’t look at this man and tell me he doesn’t smell like some sort of preservation fluid. Absolutely drenched in scents of cleaning products and other pristine smells. I can also see him using relaxing scents to subconsciously make his victims feel safe and secure, like lavender and orchid.

🪦 Eddie 🪦

My son. I am so glad you don’t smell as horrific as the previous two. Obviously he’s gonna smell more organic, like dirt, flowers, dust from stones, etc. He’s not working in heavy lights where he would sweat while doing his work, and considering his background from the manga and the Eddie side game, he knows how to keep a work space tidy and do laundry most likely.

🧨 Cathy 🧨

THIS WOMAN DOESN’T KNOW HOW TO STOP USING EXPENSIVE PERFUMES. The really overpowering ones that don’t smell of anything specific at all and aren’t organic in scent. I can also see her slightly smelling of rubber and oiled up metal, but thats subtle in comparison to the branded perfumes she most likely uses.

📖 Gray 📖

The best way to describe this guy’s smell first of all would be sickeningly sweet, mainly from the hallucinogenic airborne drugs he uses. I’m even intrigued by how his drug is described as sweet when Rachel is on his floor, considering how most hallucinogenic gases are odorless like LSD, and the only common sweet smelling gas I can think of would be Nitrous Oxide (laughing gas, used as sedative in dentistry.) Aside from his weapon of choice, definitely smells like a mix of cheap soap old people use, old books, aged wooden furniture, and incense.

I can always make a second part to this if anyone wants it for characters from the manga and prequel series!

[bluegekk0]

🎶

ooh i love thinking about their different tastes in music, so this is going to be fun. similarly to the hand gestures ask, i'll go with the idea that the music they would listen to sounds just like ours. i definitely think hallownest and other places in their world would have their own kind of music which is likely very different to ours, but that is the level of worldbuilding i haven't gotten into, at least just yet. also, i'll touch on modern music that realistically they wouldn't have access to, but it would make it easier to drive the point across and show their personalities better

fpk's brain gets very easily overwhelmed post-hibernation - loud noises and lots of stimuli significantly stress him out. and for that reason, his favorite kind of music would be something in the ambient music territory, or perhaps some calm, slightly monotone songs with more gradual build up. in a modern setting, he would without a doubt have a playlist with relaxing video game and movie soundtracks. his ideal way to chill would be to wrap himself in a warm blanket on the bed or in the corner of the room, and listen to calm tunes at low volume. similarly as with jokes, some more elaborate word-play and symbolism often escape him, but he does still enjoy lyric heavy songs. as long as they're calm, that is

grimm enjoys music of all kinds, he can find good qualities in pretty much every genre. you could say his music taste is very chaotic - if you gave him access to spotify, it would be filled in equal amounts with classical music, lady gaga songs and the strangest, most obscure songs available. he would have a playlist for every mood, without a doubt. if i had to think of a favorite for him, though, it would be melancholic love songs. the kind he would listen to and then immediately go hug fpk and tell him he loves him. no one said the troupe master can't be the cheesy type haha

hornet, on the other hand, would like aggressive music, very different to what you'd expect based on her in-game theme. whenever i think of the kind of music she would enjoy, the soundtrack from devil may cry comes to mind. i know for a fact she would blast "devil trigger" at full volume on her headphones if she was feeling even a little bit angry at the world. that's not to say she wouldn't like calmer tunes, i think similarly to grimm she's open to all kinds of music, but the louder type is what she tends to gravitate towards. of course, she would also absolutely make fun of grimm for the music he listens to, especially if it's one of those soppy love songs. just a little bit of father figure bullying to spice things up haha

holly is more similar to fpk in regards to music, they lean more heavily towards ambient-like music, or classical. with ambience, they would like anything from relaxing music to tracks that are pretty much just noises. i like the idea that they can find melodies in tracks which, to others, are just background sounds. perhaps it has something to do with the void rumbling sounds from the abyss, which they often replicate whenever they try to mimic humming. maybe it's how the void "sings", which would open up some interesting possibilities for void-to-void communication

lewk is kind of a wild card. it's always hard to discuss his taste, in any context, since he's still young and figuring things oit about himself. but since he tends to hang out with hornet, i could see him enjoying the aggressive music she listens to. but aside from that, he would just listen through all the playlists grimm made, and slowly figure out what genre is his favorite

i can't decide what music zote would listen to, all i know is that he would criticize everyone else's taste. perhaps it's to cover up how embarrassing his favorite genre is? that would be very in-character. but what genre that would be, i don't know. maybe something like country music? lmao

[tenebraevesper]

Locke’s Mistreatment of Shadow & The Shadow Android Theory

So, welcome back to yet another analysis of the Sonic media, featuring Shadow the Hedgehog. I wasn’t really planning on this, but after reading Issue #145 of Sonic Archie, I realized there was something I wanted to address. Now, just as a note, if you guys like my Sonic Analyzers/Posts, you’re free to suggest which topic I should tackle next (I had been partial to addressing the fact that some people claim Lanolin is Sally 2.0. and why that’s disrespectful to both characters).

In any case, let’s go back to our actual story, Issue #145: Shadows of Hope. There are two particular topics I want to talk about here, first being that Locke the Echidna is an awful person and the second being that the writer of this Issue is either a believer of the “Shadow is an Android” Theory or he, as usual, didn’t care to do proper research.

Before I start, I’ll do a quick recap. This story features the return of Shadow the Hedgehog in the story after a lengthy absence, and from my understanding, the focus on him in this and future Issues was an editorial mandate due to his popularity and attempt to increase comic sales, as well as the fact that the year this Issue came out was also the year Shadow the Hedgehog (2005) came out. With that said, note that SEGA wasn’t heavily involved with the Sonic Archie comics, sharing only minimal information about the video games they were developing with the writers whenever they needed a promotion. There was also no way of getting a faithful adaptation of the video game since their attempts at adapting Sonic Adventure 2 proved that the comics cannot serve nor bend to the video games they are based on.

Also, trigger warning, this was written by Ken Penders, so be prepared for the mess he wrote. Things will get really disturbing.

So, not even a whole page in, and there is already a problem with this narration.

“Shadow was created onboard a lab located in geosynch orbit over the planet Mobius, and originally considered a product, a construction, a weapon, anything but what it truly was, a biomechanical lifeform!”

Biomechanical lifeform... are you serious?!

Now, now, I won’t be flying into another rant yet, because Sonic Heroes had come out by this point, and we know that Team Dark came across the Shadow Androids, robots that Eggman had created in Shadow’s image in that game.

Sonic Heroes implied that the real Shadow had died in Sonic Adventure 2 and that the Shadow in Sonic Heroes was just an amnesiac android. Shadow the Hedgehog (2005) later debunks this theory by having Eggman tell Super Shadow as he fights Devil Doom that he is the real deal and that Eggman had saved him when he fell after the battle with Finalhazard.

So, perhaps I should ignore this one as this may have been the lead theory at the time, right? Well, I would, except this is Penders we’re talking about. This guy prides himself in never having played the Sonic games nor knowing anything about the Sonic lore aside from the stuff SEGA tells him to write.

Oh, but it gets even worse, because Penders proceeds to basically dehumanize Shadow:

“By every known definition, it was sentient! It could think, reason... and feel!”

I don’t know what was even going through Penders’ head when he wrote this, but why is he writing Shadow as if he wasn’t even a living being?! Why is he acting as if Shadow is a mindless tool/weapon and not his own person?! Hell, this is just the tip of the iceberg.

The story starts in typical Penders’ fashion, with Shadow spying on Hope Kintobor. Note, her resemblance to Maria Robotnik is purely accidental, as she appeared in the comic before Sonic Adventure 2 came out, but the writers certainly milked this coincidence for all its worth. We also get a more wholesome interaction between the two once Ian Flynn takes over.

So, Shadow is spying on Hope, when suddenly, a hooded figure appears and... you know what, I’ll just transcribe the description from Sonic_Speed because their take on what happens in this story (you can find the timestamp in the comments of their video, just click on the link here) is hilarious:

Speed: “...until a hooded figure comes behind him and asks him for help. Shadow’s like ‘The fuc- No! Who are you?’

Aaron: *laughs* “Shadow’s being like ‘Aaah, I see, an Agent of Penders... Fuck off! I will not be tainted by your bad writing!’”

Speed: *laughs* And one of... You know what, that’s actually a pretty apt analogy, because the figure says ‘I respect your choice, Shadow, but I cannot accept it!’ and hog ties him!

Aaron: “You’re gonna get dragged into this plot whether you want it or not!”

So, yeah, our mysterious figure and narrator is Locke the Echidna, probably the most hated character in this comic besides Geoffrey St. John and King Max. Some of his crimes include microwaving Knuckles as an egg in Chaos Energy, then later on lie and manipulate him, faking suicide in front of his young son and making him believe for 10 years that he was the only echidna left alive. Even after their reunion, he keeps being emotionally abusive and lying father towards Knuckles and trying to control his life, all under the guise of “I’m your father, I know better”.

I’m not gonna lie, I legit cheered when Locke finally died.

Good riddance and no tears were shed, now Knuckles is finally allowed to be his own person.

Anyways, back to the current story, which is currently being hijacked by Penders’ OC. Note how Locke addresses Shadow in the narration, calling him a “creature”. This is their first (and only) interaction they have, and this is foreshadowing of how Locke sees Shadow.

Shadow has none of this nonsense, attempting to punch him, but Locke presses a button on his belt and envelops them in a blue light, with Hope running into it and being transported to somewhere else (speculated to be Haven, headquarters of the Brotherhood of Guardians, by Speed in his video).

There, Shadow proceeds to continue attacking Locke (YAY!!!), but Locke manages him to throw over his shoulder (BOOOO!!) and then proceeds to trap Shadow inside a glass tube, while still calling him an “It”. Unless we’re talking about Pennywise, this is just plain rude.

The situation Shadow finds himself in basically triggers his memories of what happened on the Space Colony ARK, of his awakening and Maria’s death (just ignore the thoughts in the second panel above, it’s just bad). I’m just gonna add “kidnapping Shadow and triggering his traumatic memories” to Locke’s growing list of “Reasons why Locke’s an awful person”.

Snapping out of the flashback, Shadow confronts Locke, demanding to state his intentions.

Okay, I will have to dissect this particular dialogue between Shadow and Locke, because it’s just that awful and incredibly infuriating.

Locke dares to ask Shadow: “Have you any idea what it’s like to lose everything?”

And Ken Penders (yes, I’m putting the blame on him) has the audacity to have Shadow respond: “I wouldn’t know! I’ve never had anything!”

How?! HOW CAN YOU EVEN WRITE SOMETHING LIKE THIS?! HOW CAN YOU HAVE A CHARACTER WHO LOST HIS ENTIRE FAMILY, HIS SISTER, SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT?! THE SOLE REASON HE WANTED TO DESTROY HUMANITY?!

This is disrespect to Shadow’s whole backstory on a whole another level! And no, you cannot pretend that Shadow forgot the events of Sonic Adventure 2 because he never suffered from amnesia in the comics. He remembers everything that happened!

Ken Penders should know this! He could’ve had Shadow tell Locke that “Yes, I too have lost everything”, but he didn’t. I don’t know why, but I believe that this was so Locke would come off less as an asshole. We are supposed to sympathize with Locke here, not Shadow.

I hate this so much!!

...

Oh, but it gets even better.

“That’s not surprising! From what I can tell, you’re neither biological, mineral, nor vegetable.”

Okay, let’s first address Locke’s (and Penders) IQ level here, because it’s that of a potato (I apologize to all the potatoes in the world). What the hell do you mean by “neither biological, mineral nor vegetable”?! So vegetables are now artificial constructs?! And you call yourself a scientist, Locke?!

*shakes head*

Oh, who am I kidding... We’re talking about a guy who thought microwaving his unborn son because of a dream was a good idea.

What I should be talking about is the fact that according to Locke, Shadow is not a biological lifeform... completely ignoring the fact that Penders wrote in the recap that Shadow is supposedly a “biomechanical lifeform”.

*calmly*

Penders, what exactly do you think the bio in biomechanical stands for? *scoffs* Yeah, I rest my case.

It also doesn’t help that this belief that Shadow is more synthetic than biological is reinforced in further Issues. Thank goodness it gets dropped soon, because I swear, I couldn’t read more of this nonsense.

Lastly, Locke tells Shadow that he believes Shadow is the key to helping him find the Brotherhood he’s been searching for.

Uh, Locke? SHADOW IS NOT OBLIGATED TO FIND YOUR GODDAMN FAMILY!! YOU KIDNAPPED HIM, TRAUMATIZED HIM, DEHUMANIZED HIM AND NOW YOU’RE DEMANDING HE DOES YOUR JOB!!! SCREW YOU!!

Anger aside, this interaction also implies something very disturbing, which had been addressed in another post (I just realized something kinda creepy) and you can click on the link presented, but to summarize, this person asked what exactly was Locke planning to do with Shadow and how was he going to use him to find the Brotherhood?

They noted how Locke (and Penders’) interpretation of Shadow was that of a violent creature with identity issues (or rather a self-aware android) and how Locke had been observing Shadow for a while. It isn’t explained whether Locke even knows that Shadow is the Ultimate Lifeform, and with Locke being able to use Chaos Energy, why would he need Shadow?

To quote the poster:

See, for all Locke should have feasibly known, Shadow would have been just another hedgehog. While it could be argued that Locke sensed immense Chaos potential in Shadow, that still wouldn’t have made much sense, because if Gerald had done his job and properly limited Shadow’s power, as well as have created a fully “sentient” squishy hedgehog being, as Penders specifically wrote in issue 145′s prologue:

“ … it could think, reason … and feel!”

… Locke shouldn’t have felt that power … and there shouldn’t really be any reason for Locke to think of him as anything but the real deal as a natural-born hedgehog.

Why would he have questioned what his make-up was? And yes, I do realize “Locke’s Gary-Stu status makes him l33t” is a possible explanation, but I’m speaking in terms of in-universe.

Plus, he must have seen Sonic in action at least once—which once more begs the question of why Shadow specifically. And why now.

Unless Locke knew something.

The poster suggests Locke did dig into the archives of the Space Colony ARK in search of other beings able to use Chaos Control and learned about Shadow, believing he could override Shadow’s original programming:

Here’s when I realized that not only did Penders probably intend to use Shadow as a tool, but if left to his own devices, Locke would have performed another Chaos energy experiment on Shadow.

Think about it. Nuking Knuckles didn’t go so well, what with him effin’ dying, so who better to subsequently do a follow-up experiment on than an “immortal” being who, per Locke’s twisted perceptions, may or may not even be sentient or real? If Shadow suffered ill effects, well, no harm, no foul—seeing how he couldn’t feel like other anthros, right?

“Do you know what it’s like to lose everything?” Locke asks, almost as if he doesn’t expect a response; and indeed, he even looks surprised when Shadow gives one: “I wouldn’t know; I’ve never had anything!”

Consider that Locke lures Shadow into an abandoned lab complex, and traps him inside a capsule “unlike any that have held me before” — paraphrasing Shadow here.

Consider that Locke calls Shadow “creature,” and even puts his biological status into question. That in subsequent issues, Shadow speaks robotically and bonds with a fellow droid, Isaac. That Isaac, Wiki Robot Extraordinaire, can’t ascertain whether or not Shadow is biological.

This is stretching the memory banks a little bit, but does anyone remember that one moment in issue 158 where, right before going into Rosie’s hut, Shadow repelled some oncoming Metal Sonic troopers with a shield he didn’t even know how he generated? IIRC, there was a display of Chaos energy in the following issue that Shadow was also at a loss to explain.

I’d wager that had this story played out, the temporary shield would have been a foreshadowing, maybe a byproduct of Locke’s tinkering, of the echidna’s effort to turn him into a supersoldier of some sort. Same as what Hunter turned into for Eggman.

tl;dr … I would have punched Locke into next Tuesday, Penders

Yeah, I did say that things would get disturbing. If this theory was correct (or if anyone else wrote this story but Penders), this would be horrifying. Not to mention the fact that Locke would’ve performed all those experiments on Shadow and be portrayed as being in the right. After all, Shadow couldn’t possibly be a real living being with feelings and wants and dreams and hopes, right? Even then, all this torture would’ve been waved off as being done for the greater good (aka for stupid echidna agendas).

Honestly, the way Locke/Penders dehumanizes Shadow is disgusting. It also shows just how much of a self-righteous monster Locke is.

Fortunately for everyone, Hope approaches the two, telling Locke to let Shadow go. He appearance triggers another flashback in Shadow’s mind... oh, and Locke continues calling Shadow “the creature” and an “it”.

Fortunately for us, Shadow breaks out of the glass tube and is about to beat Locke up (GET HIS ASS, SHADOW!).

Unfortunately for us, the next panel has Locke use his Chaos Powers, but Shadow still fights back (you’re doing great, sweetie!). Also, Locke, would you stop pretending like you don’t know why Shadow is trying to kill you?!

Sadly, before Shadow has the chance to kill Locke, Hope interrupts them, saying how she’s now afraid more of Shadow than of Locke... Yeah, of course Penders had to write that. He just had to put all the blame on Shadow, even though Locke literally kidnapped him!

Shadow snaps out of beating up Locke, yells at Hope how she isn’t Maria and how he doesn’t need any friends, and leaves.

While Penders will continue to write Shadow as if he was an self-aware android and dangerous weapon in the next few Issues, this interaction will never be brought up again. I believe there are several reasons for this, one being that Penders at the time was trying to return the story to status quo after Karl Bollers shook things up in his The Return to Angel Island Arc (the link presented leads to the Sonic_Speed video, with Speed and Aaron having covered the whole arc), hence why Locke is searching for the Brotherhood. Add in the editorial demands of promoting Shadow more because of his popularity and the fact that Penders is leaving after Issue #159 (they even called in Ian Flynn to edit the last Issue Penders wrote before him taking over in Issue #160 as lead writer), and his dislike for writing any story that doesn’t involve his OCs hogging the spotlight, it’s clear why this was never addressed in any form.

Frankly, it’s for the better, and while I do know the real reasons why Penders left, I love to think that Shadow was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

#Sonic the Hedgehog Analyzer (Masterlist)

[bardic-inspo]

Okay so I also happen to know nothing about BG3, other than what several characters look like and sorta...general D&D knowledge? if that counts?

but "Blood in the Mortar" sounds veeeerrrryyyy interesting 😗

@krokaxe Thank you both! <3 <3 I think general D&D knowledge definitely counts!!

[Ask me about a fic on my WIP List]

This fic features an Vampire Ascendant Astarion (a powered up vampire lord is the short of it) with a vampire bride Tav. The Tav I'm using (Naomi, a bard) is the same main OC from my multichapter with her and Astarion, Midnight Chimes, but this fic is very much a standalone and a sort of "what if they both ended up evil" AU occurring post-game. It's just a smutty one-shot for now, but I might end up writing more of their "evil" versions at some point if I have enough fun with it.

There's a lot of different interpretations of Ascended Astarion out there, but some concepts I'm playing with in Blood in the Mortar are:

Tav has been made into his bride and not just his spawn. This is a concept a lot of folks have played with and is based heavily off this excerpt from what I think is an old monster manual talking about vampire bride/groom rituals.

In the rendition of this I'm playing with, a bride and a spawn is really similar. Astarion could compel Tav if he wanted to. But, they have a really intense/intimate mental/telepathic link and he's gonna take a buttload of psychic damage if he did anything to hurt or really upset her.

It also works as a sort of perpetual feedback loop. They feel each other's happiness and affection for the other as if it was their own (and other, less pleasant feelings, too). Who the emotion originally started with starts to get a little blurry. Their individual wellbeing is really tied up in the other's happiness. It's intense and probably toxic but for the most part, they're both happy about it. (As Wyll comments in-game, they are the "unholiest union")

I wanted to toy with the protective/possessive streak in Ascended Astarion, but also, some text I saw in an epilogue that I think was ultimately unused in the game. Something about him hosting grand masquerades at his palace while Tav bolts the doors behind the party guests.

So, some uppity nobleman (or maybe another true vampire, I haven't decided yet) starts talking shit about Tav at one of Astarion's masquerades. It's clearly an effort to get a rise out of him, or to poke at what this nobleman perceives as Astarion's only weakness (Tav). But instead of getting the desired result, Astarion takes the "have you met my wife?" angle:

“Do you know what they call her? Other than mine, of course?” “The hero of Baldur’s Gate." Astarion waves a manicured hand irritably, as if swatting away a stray fly. “One of them, true, but isn’t there another name that comes to mind?” The man swallows thickly. “The Siren of the Sword Coast.” "And yet here you are," Astarion sneers with a curled lip, "ready to dash yourself upon the rocks like a little wayward ship blown astray. I can hardly blame you." His eyes soften, just past the shoulder of the lordling's gaudy doublet. In the low flutter of candlelight, he spies the sheen of sapphires set amongst delicate feathers wrought from silver. He'd had the mask made for her, with the likeness of a swan in mind. Still, as pretty as it is, his favorite gleam is those eyes, set between the glittering finery. She still kept the kiss of violet in them, even in death. It mingles with the red in her irises, like a rich, deep wine. "She is captivating, isn’t she?," Astarion sighs, a faint smile grazing his lips. "My beautiful bride." At long last, it seems, lord what's-his-name has found the decency to shut up. Astarion draws a long draught from his goblet, drawing a dark glare over the sheen of sweat that's started on the other man's brow. “You see," Astarion drawls, as the vintage seeps sweetly down his throat, "my beloved, oh, she’s a monster too. She so does love the taste of blood in her mouth, now that she’s supped of mine.”

And then they do murder and steamy (if wildly impractical) sex together. I think there's a grand piano involved. 👀

[bleaksqueak]

Would any of the characters like anime? Or viddy games? If so what genre's and kinds

Maia would! And did! Before she came to the veil, she was the perfect age for stuff like (pokemon, cartoons/anime relating to such). She probably still has her old handheld in the backpack she ran away with... though by now the batteries have likely worn down, and it was already a second hand item when it was new. She hasn't opened that backpack in years now, though, so I assume it's something of a time capsule. Though I gave pokemon as an example, Maia would be a huge Mahou Shoujo fan, esp anything with fun transformation sequences and magic. Lyra definitely wuold have as well, though before she came to the veil, she would have still been in the era where anime were heavily heavily edited and localized, renamed, or cut up and mashed up into new shows. Still, she liked them, and she used to make plenty of outveil trips back home, so I'm sure she checked new things out even if for a second just out of nostalgia. I think she'd be a Giant Robo fan most of all (and with what I said earlier, seems like she'd have loved Robotech) Audun would watch whatever Lyra asked to watch, so (if she wanted to binge watch Robotech, he'd join her and let her infodump everything she ever knew [and wrote... like. fanfic style] about it.) I can't much see him looking at videogames on his own accord, but hypothetically, if one of the boys had wanted dad to play with them, he would have. and what a boon to a kid's confidence/ego that would have been since they would have easily beat dad. Audric's interests rest elsewhere, but I think, if someone *else* wanted to watch or do something, he'd also be okay with giving it a go... though he's likely to have something else to work at while doing so. But when he was a kid, he did really enjoy Journey to the West and any story based off of it/like it. To be honest, if he *were* to play a game, I think he'd benefit from something like a calm farm/life sim game. Elias hasn't given things like that much thought for a long while now, which isn't to say he doesn't care for them, and with Lyra having such a fondness for tech and entertainment, he enjoyed them a lot when younger... he's just busy with other things now. Still, if that weren't the case, I think he'd still enjoy it. He'd probably like animal collecting games... and horror. anything strange and fantastical would be up his alley. Wait. tho.

uh. wait a

oh.

[sailforvalinor]

I saw you post on seasons 1 through 4 of Dr. Who and I wanted to know more about your accidentally Christian pile. What are some other works do think unintentionally emphasized Christian doctrines or morals?

Ooooooh, really good question!!

So the first thing that comes to mind here is Marvel’s Agents of Shield--each season has it's own story arc and themes, so it's hard to pin down just one thing here, so I'll just talk about a few. I'll talk about the obvious one first: Season 3 in particular has a lot of Christian imagery (though in this case, it's definitely on purpose). You see a flash-forward of a cross necklace at the beginning of the season floating in a spaceship in space right before it blows up, and then you watch as that necklace get passed around from person to person, knowing that whoever ends up with it at the end of the season is going to die. I won't spoil anything more, other than to say that it results in quite a bit of Christ/crucifixion imagery and themes.

Other than this, there's a lot about the redemptive power of love (Fitzsimmons my beloved), individual guilt and how to handle it, how to let go of shame, the inevitable defeat of evil--I know there's more, but that's all I can think of off the top of my head. (AOS girlies/gents, feel free to chime in!) Additionally, one of the main characters explicitly a Christian, and while he's not portrayed perfectly, he's never ridiculed for it by the other characters or the narrative, which is a breath of fresh air. There are of course some things I don't approve of (prepare to have your skip button ready once or twice in the earlier seasons), but it's still a fantastic show, and by far the best show Marvel has ever come out with.

Harry Potter’s a pretty obvious one—Harry has to sacrifice himself and be fully willing to die to kill Voldemort, the fight with the basilisk in Chamber of Secrets has some Biblical parallels—but I’m fairly certain that these themes were deliberate, so I suppose they don’t really count. But they do to me, so 😂

Star Wars is another big one for me—of course, a la George Lucas’s original vision, SW is much more directly influenced by Buddhism, but I find that it often can’t help dipping into Christian themes. I find this is especially true with anything that has Dave Filoni’s name attached, likely because he in turn is pretty influenced by Tolkien and Lewis (Ahsoka is meant to parallel Gandalf, the World Between Worlds in Rebels was inspired by The Magician’s Nephew’s Wood Between Worlds, etc). Mandalorian season 3 in particular blew me away—baptism! Redemption! Rebirth! Mandalorian denominations/sects! Seriously, I was expecting them to come down hard on the strange rules that sect holds themselves to and for Mando to completely reject them—but they didn’t?? It was SO fascinating.

Kingdom Hearts is probably one of my favorite demonstrations of John 15:13: “greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Otherwise, I can’t really think of any super prevalent Christian themes I noticed, but that one is just so strong and so important to the themes of the series, I couldn’t not mention it.

Final Fantasy XV has something similar going for it—although what I’m going to say has MAJOR spoilers, so if don’t want to be spoiled, go ahead and skip this (and play the game because it’s great—but Noctis having to willingly sacrifice himself by sitting on a throne in order to purify his kingdom is as blatant as you get. For crying out loud, he’s called the One True King. However this only holds true for the base game—the dlc’s (except for Episode Prompto, but that’s just because it doesn’t really apply to that plotline, also it’s incredible) and the novel in my opinion kind of ruin it.

Legend of Zelda is an interesting one, because it is of course heavily inspired by Shinto, but a few Christian themes sort of snuck their way in there. In Skyward Sword (oh and spoilers for Skyward Sword). Hylia, though certainly not meant to be a direct Christ figure, chooses to be reborn as a Hylian (basically a human) in order to save her people. The difference here is that Zelda does not know that she’s Hylia, and she never regains her goddess status (at least presumably until she dies of old age), but it’s an interesting parallel nonetheless. Also, there’s a famously creepy cutscene in Twilight Princess where we get the story of how the Twili were banished from Hyrule for dabbling in dark magic, and the sequence has always reminded me of the Fall.

Those were just a few that I thought of off the top of my head—I’m sure there are more, but that’s all that’s coming to me at the moment 😂

[archduke-enver-gortash]

Ven, Eros 1, 3, 5 :)

first off sorry that this is so late; an irl thing came up unexpectedly, but here you go!

Eros 1: Is your OC romantic in the traditional sense? Do they enjoy giving or receiving gifts of flowers or confectionery? Or are there other courtship traditions from their culture of origin that are important to them?

she’s definitely not a traditional romantic, because she’s not even a romantic at all. love is something that suddenly happened to her and completely shook her world. she never really courted (in a romantic way) anyone because she expects nothing more than for them to just be a one night thing that gets rid of her boredom temporarily. so, regongar was mainly the one courting her and that’s also pretty much what happens in the game so it fits i guess. it’s still not really traditional; he invites her regularly to drinking nights/evenings/days, he pretty much glues himself to her whenever they’re traveling; meaning that they spend almost of their time together shortly after meeting. and they just get up to so much bullshit. oh my god so fucking much. dangerous bullshit? absolutely. dangerous for others? stronger absolutely. regongar wants to rob someone? ven lets him do it. they buy a massive steak at oleg’s later for both of them. regongar wants to kill someone? ven lets him do it. she laughs heartily as he makes one of his stupid lightning puns while electrocuting someone to death. yeah the only traditionally romantic thing reg does is making so many shitty puns. (he canonically does it for the baron/ess sometimes actually! don’t know if this was romance locked, but one time when i misclicked and didn’t react to his pun, the game said that he looked over at your pc to see if they’re laughing and spat on the ground when he realized they weren’t) while there’s definitely romance happening during that stuff (even if ven tries to deny it at first) it’s not traditional at all. the rest of his courting is just really. uhm. sexual. (this is all for before they actually got together, while nothing changes too much, this is already too long lol, so maybe i’ll make a part 2 to this and tag you if you want)

Eros 3: How do they feel about public displays of romantic affection? Does it make them uncomfortable? How do they feel if a romantic partner kisses them in public?

ven lives for the thrills! she doesn’t care about almost anything! she is very fine with it. reg’s a pda machine; always has an arm around her as soon as they meet, even before they get together. he kisses and touches her a lot in public (yes it’s extremely annoying for everyone else) and she does not mind. (in the game it’s even heavily implied that reg wants to fuck your character in public. sorry if you didn’t want to know this lol) but funny thing: while ven is fine with all this, she becomes very awkward in the beginning of their relationship when he tells her that he loves her in public. like it takes her 3 months after they started fucking to finally tell him that she loves him too. it’s very much reg being like “oh i want to do all of these nasty things to you” while others can hear them, and ven is like “hell yeah tell me more” but when he’s like “i love you so much baby” she’s like “OH MY GOD YOU CAN’T SAY THAT!!!!!!!” it’s very stupid. and funny. this changes after a couple years tho, when she fully embraces that she loves him.

Eros 5: How closely is their opinion of their own beauty (or lack thereof) linked to their confidence? Do they see themselves as more or less worthy of love or sex based on how attractive they feel?

ven’s relationship with her body is very complicated. i mentioned before in some post that ven basically sees everyone (before she met reg) as puppets that she toys with for her own amusement. you might think that she would be the puppeteer in this scenario, but i’d say she thinks of herself as the biggest puppet of them all. she gets into all sorts of life threatening situations for fun and doesn’t care what happens to her body. doesn’t care if she lives or dies. i think she can’t perceive herself as unattractive or attractive, because her body is nothing but another plaything for her to use and eventually self-destruct if no one intervenes (thanks regongar pfkm. being an insanely overprotective shithead is normally. y’know shit. but this time it’s actually a bit useful)

[kitkatt0430]

4, 8, and 30?

4.) Do you have any OCs? Do you have a story for them?

I don't have a whole lot of OCs, and they do tend to be more supporting characters than main when I write them.

Jay Garrick, from Complicated and Messy, is an OC (if based loosely off the canon Jay Garrick from the comics to some degree) and I will get back to him eventually. The real Flash of Earth 2, twin brother of the villainous Hunter Zolomon, and rather traumatized from the time he spent in the iron mask while trapped in his brother's lair. He's currently depowered, but I do have plans to fix that. He's gay, unlike the canon Jay Garrick of both the show and the comics, and used to have his own small lab where he managed to do science impressive enough that STAR Labs - and thus Harrison Wells - was quite interested.

I've actually got another story in mind for him, entirely unrelated to Complicated and Messy, where Jay ended up working at STAR Labs because Harry didn't give a damn about him having an evil twin. He and Harry wind up friends and Harry is who Jay goes to when he discovers his speed post accelerator incident. It'd be a Jay/Harry fic, where Harry realizes pretty much immediately that the Jay he meets on E1 is damn well not his Jay, but actually Hunter in disguise. But I've really only got broad strokes ideas for this fic, so it remains unwritten for now. (Alternatively Ronnie lives in this fic and proceeds to fix-it a few things... or they could be two separate fics, I'm still work shopping this a lot.)

I've also got Dawn and Jay Allen from Homeward, who'll eventually get more fics written about them. They're identical twins and the Earth-90 versions of the Tornado Twins, the children of Barry Allen and Tina McGee. In this 'verse their dad (not the E3 Jay Garrick) was who Hunter had kidnapped and imprisoned behind the iron mask and Barry of E1 helps him get home. Dawn is trans - something that wasn't directly mentioned in Homeward though I did try to hint at it a bit - and both she and her brother do hold a strong resemblance to E1 Barry, whom they've both will come to see as a sort of older brother figure pretty quick.

Herobard probably counts as an OC too. The Eobard Thawne of the new timeline created when Wellsobard messed too hard with the timeline. He's well adjusted, is at times more father than brother to his sibling Robern (after their parents died when Eo was 16 and Robern was 6), and perhaps a little too eager to time travel to meet his heroes... thought at least he did intend to meet them from a distance to prevent any interference. Intentions that did not last, but only because he wants to protect the timeline. And, well, Barry's pretty cute, kind of hard for any version of Eobard Thawne to stay away.

8.) How slow is a slow burn?

Slow enough to feel natural without dragging anything down. I do enjoy a well paced slow burn, but go too slow and it starts to feel like it's being slow for the sake of dragging things out and not because it actually makes sense. So depending on the fic this could be the entire story or just part of it, but as long as it doesn't feel like characterization or plot are being sacrificed on the slow burn alter...

I'm more likely to read slow burns than write them, but they can definitely be fun to write when the mood strikes me.

30.) Describe a fic that almost happened, but then it didn't.

I had a fic idea for KotOR/KotOR 2 that heavily remixed both games up into a single plot. The Exile and Atton were a smuggling duo, Revan still had amnesia but no false memories like in the game (instead found wandering the lowest levels of Kashyyyk and semi-adopted by Jolee afterwards), and lots of other changes. I really liked the concept for it, but I think it was too ambitious for me at the time. I ended up dumping the file - something I perhaps regret a bit now, but it was frustrating me a lot to the point I did need to let it go. I still remember enough about what I was considering for it that I could bring it back as a fic series one day, but my interest in writing for that fandom comes and goes a lot so I doubt I'll be interested in it enough to do so.

[hopeymchope]

i agree with your opinions about mikan and hyoko, but would you also agree with me about mikan being kinda poorly written? in my opinion it wasn't written with the victims in mind and they just tried to fit it into a trope (kinda like yandere) instead of showing a person victim of abuse and bullying and how that can affect our view of everything, the fanservice scenes reinforce my point of view. Anyway, I would like to know your opinion about it! :)

I don't really think she's that badly written, but then I'm a HUGE mark for Kodaka's writing (or the collaborative result of the DR Team's writing, if you prefer) in general. Just... a total goddamn sucker. And I own that. :P In fact, I've written before about how she's more complex a character than people often give her credit for being. Which is something DR generally excels at; Ibuki is another great example of being more than what she first comes off as.

But I concede the point that you're likely correct about Mikan not being written with the victims of such bullying in mind. She's just another in the genre of "weird, quirky, layered" characters without really considering how such a person would come off in similar, real-life circumstances. That's not how I myself would've handled such a character, but... I also know that bullying is a much bigger issue to me than it is for many people. And I ALSO-also know I couldn't have written any of these Danganronpa games. Not even a single goddamn chapter. So I kinda feel like I don't have much right to complain when I love what they do so much AND know I couldn't do better? :)

The biggest issue I have with Mikan's overall writing/narrative is one that's come up from other Asks on this blog: It's that when she blames the others for not ever giving a shit about her suffering in the third trial... she's right? And nobody really reacts to that or seems to feel guilty, either? It comes off to me as though maybe we're NOT supposed to think she's correct (although I can't really be sure, ofc). Which seems... pretty off-base.

And although I admit that it's a little insensitive to make a recurring gag out of how Mikan is the anti-fanservice, I gotta respect the hustle. I'm not really a fan of fanservice images/scenes, so the fact that Mikan is just... constantly falling into fanservice-with-no-fanservice feels like a playful 🖕 to how commonplace panty-shots-and-whatnot are in Japanese media, frankly. I've never seen another anime or manga or visual novel or game do ANYTHING like Mikan, which to me makes it very much The Point (TM).

....which in turn makes the sexualized portrayal of her execution feel tone-deaf. That's probably my second and final major complaint with Mikan's portrayal. YES, I know the backstory: The team at Spike Chunsoft infamously "outsourced" the execution concepts and animations for DR2 and were not totally satisfied with the results, yet also felt they couldn't justify the time/expense of having them redone. With that knowledge in mind, maybe I can't/shouldn't pin the blame for that scene (and DR2's executions as a whole) entirely on the DR Team. But... Kodaka and Company still ultimately chose to sign off on it and run with it, so I kinda-sorta CAN still blame them for it, too. You feel?

(P.S. Furthermore, I sadly can't say the series as a whole is consistently anti-fanservice. Because that's... clearly not the case. But at least they chose to playfully avert making the character who is heavily implied victim to be of sexual abuse be the target of any such scenes, because..... that'd be fucked up.)

I definitely never blame Kazuichi for not standing up on Mikan's behalf. That's just not in his character. We know well how his own experience led him to do everything he could to avoid being targeted by bullies. He's not someone who'd put himself directly in the path of more bullying/abuse if he could help it. He'll keep his head down and only speak up if it's to defend someone he either A) deeply cares about or B) is unhealthily fixated upon for other reasons. And he never really gets to know/bonds with Mikan during before she's executed, so... yeah.

[pokerninja2]

King K. Rool and his crazy croc army are setting sail, and charting a course for Super Mario Spikers! I thought it would be cool to do a breakdown on all the Kremlings in the roster (so far), including their king. Their designs and personality are a bit grungy compared to the typical Mario fare, so their representation here leans a bit more into the "hardcore" territory, having real dangerous and painful armor and weapons. These are crocodiles you don't wanna mess with!

The king himself is who we'll cover first, of course! Design-wise, he's heavily inspired by his look in Smash Ultimate, which has always been my favorite design of his as it blends everything good about his Rare and "modern" designs seamlessly. For his outfit, he's got body paint and a nice monarch-like collar around his neck. His belly already makes him quite armored, so he doesn't need much protection; he can take on everyone just how he is.

Krown Throw is based on, what else, his boomerang crown move from the first Donkey Kong Country. It's arguably his most iconic move, so why wouldn't it be here? Krazed Kroc, on the other hand, is mostly original, although his stomach glowing green was based on his Gut Check counter in Ultimate.

If there's one thing I'm not 100% on it's the posing. I think it fits him well, but he was made pretty early on in this project, and it looks a little stiff. Plus he's at a weird angle that no other character is, which makes it a little off when put next to them. Maybe if I ever go back and redo some of my older characters I can make him better. Aside from that though, I'm pretty happy with how he turned out.

-

Kritter takes what I said earlier about "hardcore" designs and amps it to 11. He's covered from head to toe in armor, and those claw extensions look fierce! There was actually an origin for this armor - concept art for Mario Strikers Charged of all things! I took inspiration mostly from the first design, but I made it a little more "exposed" - both to give this outfit more its own identity, and to fit the Kremlings' aesthetic a bit better. I also took the bigger claws on the feet and put it on the hands, which also looks like Bowser's armor in Charged.

Outside of that though, there's not a ton I sourced from Kritter's game appearances. Kremling Klobber is a fully original move where he piledrives opponents he's close to, it's not from anything, but it's definitely something Kritters would do in a competition like this. Their stats also give them "mobile powerhouse" vibes, which I think suits them well.

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Next is Klaptrap, probably the second most recognizable Kremling outside of Kritter. The idea behind its design here is obvious - maximize it's biting power! Klaptraps already have strong jaws, so making them much bigger and much more sharp makes them way more dangerous. Killer Klamp makes them bite down on enemies and swing them like a dog - Klaptraps seem a lot more like feral animals than the other Kremlings that walk on two legs, so making them animalistic works out pretty well for them.

It's hard to tell with the metal jaws blocking it, but the design was based on Klaptrap's Assist Trophy in Ultimate, which in turn is pretty much just its Rare design in HD.

And... that's it. Not a lot to talk about Klaptrap. Just a really cool design with some cool abilities. Nice and simple.

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Klinger stands out among these guys as having the funniest design. Mainly being that he's hitching a ride on those weird blue machines that move on rails from Super Mario World. This wasn't something I initially planned for, because Klingers in DKC2 always move on ropes, so I wanted to find a way to make a moving rope work. At first I thought they could be carried by some unseen flying Kremling and the rope just extends off-screen, but then I thought of these things from SMW and thought these would be a perfect fit.

Kind of goes against the whole "emphasize the Kremlings' badass-ery and hardcore-ness" thing I had going on with them but I don't really care, it's funny lol

That doesn't mean Klinger isn't threatening even with this silly rope though. For one, he still has that big sword of his. I'm pretty sure Klingers carry them in their mouths as they climb, but this time they're slashing enemies with it. Swinging Slasher, like most of the other moves thus far, is pretty much original, but imagine how cool it'd be if a Klinger swung from its ropes and tried to slice the apes in half?

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And that's about all I have to say about these guys. Kremlings are one of the most unique characters among the extended Mario-verse, and I really wanted to do them justice. I definitely have ideas for more Kremlings, but that's for another day. Overall, I'm really happy with how they turned out.