#how does it feel knowing you have the impulses and frankly general personality of a fourteen-year-old tumblr user from 2015...

[indooroutdoorboyfriend]

why is rogue trader reddit ~50% just "ugh I HATE marazhai so much 😡 I kill him every time 😡 it's UNJUSTIFIABLE to like him 😡 if you keep him alive in your playthrough you should be shot on sight 😡"

[suzukiblu]

WIP excerpt for qwertynerd97 behind the cut; “but it’s weird that it happened twice”. (( chrono || non-chrono ))

“The lab dangerous to use right now?” Tucker asks, because he seriously never knows when the Fentons have put in some new security systems or booby traps, though usually the answer is “always”. Which, welllll . . . 

“The lab is literally always dangerous, man,” Danny says, so yeah, that’s still a thing. “Probably won’t kill us right now, though, so it’s our best option. C’mon, let’s get going, just in case Mom and Dad actually do find something. Like, it’s Amity, I’m not gonna assume they aren’t gonna actually find a ghost out there.” 

“Yeah, point,” Tucker agrees with a grimace, tucking his PDA away again and pushing his glasses up his nose. Badly-timed ghosts are very much a recurring theme in their lives. Actually they’re a major recurring theme in their lives, even these days. Heck, for a while in there, they just were their lives. 

Tucker is so, so glad they’re gotten genre-savvy in their own lives, but man was it a process. 

Jazz leads the way down to the lab while Danny texts Sam and Val, and Tucker brings up the rear just in case Dani stumbles on the steps or anything. Superboy falls in step beside her, his posture lazy and his walk more a saunter than anything else, and Tucker suffers about it. It does not make it easy to concentrate on Dani, is all he’s gonna say. Like, he’s doing it, but it is frankly painful. 

God, why is this dude so pretty. Why is that a thing? Tucker really did not realize he was into dudes, much less this into dudes. 

Okay, well, technically so far it’s just been this one specific dude, and to be fair Superboy is a pretty impressive one specific dude, but seriously, he is this into the guy? Just–seriously? 

Tucker is going to have to reexamine so many things about himself after this bullshit gets fixed. Like, just so, so many. 

“So like what kinda lab we talkin’ here, am I gonna feel right at home or am I gonna feel like I’m there to punch a bad guy?” Superboy asks Dani, cocking an eyebrow curiously. “Which admittedly those lines are a little blurred for me personally, but just like the general vibes.” 

“I dunno, it’s a lab?” Dani wrinkles her nose, then just shrugs. “Lotta chrome, never heard of OSHA, better-lit than Vlad’s.” 

“Who’s Vlad?” Superboy asks. 

“A very punchable dude,” Dani snorts, rolling her eyes, and Superboy laughs. 

“Oh, you the punchin’ type, boo?” he asks, draping an arm across her shoulders and tugging down his glasses to shoot her a flirty leer over the top of them. “‘Cuz I could get behind that, personally, that’s right up my alley.” 

Dani looks briefly bemused, then incredibly delighted, and cackles gleefully. Possibly over the promise of future punching or possibly over getting called “boo”; situation unclear there. Tucker has some maybe-weird feelings about the flirting thing despite being perfectly aware of both who Superboy very unsubtly is as a person and of Dani’s total disinterest in ever developing impulse control and both of their very loud and enthusiastic attention-seeking tendencies.

Maybe it’s just that it might be weird to solve a problem for Danny via bringing over a dude who’s gonna hit on his clone/daughter/sister/cousin while they’re trying to save her life? Because that would maybe be weird, Tucker can admit how that would maybe be weird. 

Though he hasn’t really heard Dani laugh in a while, so . . . yeah, that could be worse, for sure. 

“Like I’m gonna share the punching, please,” Dani scoffs, flipping her mussed ponytail over her shoulder. “Punching’s all mine, Superfly, I got dibs.” 

“I dunno, how fast you get, boo?” Superboy teases, and she laughs again. “We can work it out the old-fashioned way if you wanna just race it.” 

“You can try, if you think you can keep up,” Dani replies smugly, making a show of examining her nails. Superboy laughs too, and she grins up at him, and Tucker maybe feels like–

Then Dani’s mouth tightens, and her eyes flare, and she–flickers. 

Crap, Tucker thinks, and Superboy’s arm sinks a few inches into Dani’s shoulders as her tangibility stutters, and he yanks it back, and her face goes dead-white and her eyes glow, and Tucker curses and Danny whips around and Jazz whips around a beat slower than him as her hand snaps reflexively to the pocket she’s been keeping the Ecto-Dejecto in and–

Dani makes a choking sound, and it’s probably just as reflexive when she reaches out with a fumbling, halfway phased-out hand, and she’s probably meaning to reach for Danny, but her legs and feet go just intangible enough to drop her into the stairs and she goes straight down. Danny lunges down for her, not even taking the instant it’d take him to transform but already phasing to try and match her tangibility. 

And Superboy snaps out his own hand and catches hers, and it–doesn’t slip. 

Tucker–blinks. 

Wait. What–? 

Then Dani’s intangibility phases Superboy, and they both fall straight down. Dani shrieks and Superboy yells, and they both disappear through the steps as Danny throws himself after them. Jazz is already whipping back around to barrel down the stairs, the epi-pen full of Ecto-Dejecto already clutched in her fist. Tucker runs after her so fast he nearly ends up falling down them face-first, his heart in his throat as he thinks–is Dani destabilizing again or was that just a flicker, is she already melting, is she already melted, is she– 

And he thinks, in a more pragmatic and matter-of-fact and genre-savvy part of his brain: how the frick did Superboy catch Dani’s hand? 

He also has some really complicated and unnecessary feelings about how Superboy didn’t let go of Dani’s hand when she phased him out and dragged him down with her. Like–that is standard superhero shit, Tucker reminds himself. Like–yeah. That’s standard. Fully normal and typical. 

But he’s definitely still having some weird feelings about watching the guy go right through the stairs with Dani without knowing jack shit about what was happening and not even hesitating. 

Okay, well . . . at least he picked a real ride-or-die type for this, Tucker guesses.

[choking-on-ice]

exactly 1 person asked, so here's 30 minutes worth of reasons why Silco x Viktor is my Arcane OTP and more people should open themselves to it's glory

and yes, I did format it a little like an oral presentation, what of it

General Compatibility

Both of them have a dry wit and unique outlook on life

People who don't know them well might find them very blasé but in truth they're both very caring and passionate people

Their banter would be top tier, frankly it's hard to picture anyone would be able to match Viktor’s quips as well as Silco could (Jayce understands the jokes and teasing ofc, but I just don't see him being able to bounce back the same energy. Though Mel could probably keep up just as well as Silco, but in a more light hearted way)

Silco wouldn't struggle with pitying or underestimating Viktor for his disability, nor would he ignore it and be all “it doesn't matter, it's what makes you, you” (as a disabled crutch user, ppl pretending ur disability doesn't exist and just expecting you to act able bodied is wayyy more common than people being over the top “worried”)

Viktor would very much be the angel on Silco’s shoulder, while Silco would be a bit of the devil on his

Silco is arguably the angel on other people's shoulders at times, given that he gives ppl who would be in senseless gang wars a real goal and drive towards progress for Zaun

Viktor could be considered the devil on Jayce’s shoulder sometimes, tempting him to push against authority for sake of technological advancement

Silco needs someone who has the mind for tech, strategy, politics, and philosophy at his side, since he's in a position of power with no advisors

Viktor needs someone who values him for his mind, body, and heart, but also his background. He's seen as “one of the good ones” and this never really gets a seat at the table, he needs someone who genuinely trusts in his input that would put his advice to work

They're both men of action, sitting on their hands and twiddling their thumbs doesn't suit them. There wouldn't be a “will they won't they” and the chances of them getting together in the spur of the moment only to realize there are real feelings there much later are pretty high

Similarities

Disabled men from the undercity who are driven by their desire to prevent anyone else from having to suffer the way they have at the hands of a corrupt system (in a non "gotta cure all the poor cripples way" cuz that shit is as uninspired as it is insulting)

Have dedicated their life to improving the living conditions of their people

Very intelligent and clearly brilliant in their professions, despite how different they may be

Both their altruistic goals come to ruin because power, whether they wanted that power or not, blinded and corrupted those goals

Impulsive as hell, Silco in his personal life but Viktor in his personal and professional

Differences

Silco is disillusioned and doesn't see a path to freedom for his people that doesn't involve bloodshed

Viktor is an idealist who might understand the necessity for violence in certain instances but would never seek, encourage, or enact it

Silco is a strategist, and a very good one at that, who uses the genius of others to gain and hold power via technology

Viktor is an inventor, and the most brilliant one we see in their world, who yes pushes boundaries of authority but never seeks power over others (from his perspective, his Messiah era was meant to be a chance at freedom for people who had been denied it, not authority over them)

Viktor is deeply trusting, he doesn't plot or scheme and barely ever lies

Silco trusts very little, we even his moment of doubt that Sevika might kill him that one time, his greatest skill is his ability to scheme and cheat others

Viktor doesn't believe in “the sacrifice of the few to save the many” but would commit the personal sacrifice of those he holds most dear to achieve his dream of helping Zaun and the world

Silco does believe that the death of a hundred to save a thousand is worth it, but he would never allow a personal sacrifice of the person he holds most dear even when it would mean Zaun becoming a free nation

Potential Dynamics

Disappointed Leader and Follower

Silco thinks Viktor is a class traitor, who abandoned his people as soon as the wealthy Pilties showed him an ounce of approval

Viktor thinks Silco is brilliant, and was an eager follower of his when he was younger, but now thinks he's abandoned his goals of freeing Zaun from Piltover and is just replacing the subjection of their people by Pilties with his own.

As they get to know eachother they come to understand better that their goals are the same, the only difference is how the world allowed them the chance to pursue it.

Is this fighting or making out?

Silco likes the power of putting “Piltover’s Brightest” in his place

Viktor is even more stubborn than he is smart, and maybe has a bit of a thing for humiliation

Who's worshipping who?

Silco is in secret awe of enlightened Viktor, but is overwhelmed by the idea of putting his hope and heart in someone else's control

Viktor is putty in the hands of his childhood hero, but can't shake the feeling that even now with the Arcane flowing through him, he isn't strong enough to stay afloat in the storm that is Silco

(Would happen in a version where Silco is revived by Viktor, but in this one the ppl saved by Viktor retain their personalities)

Scenarios / AUs

Early enlightenment Viktor being sought out by Silco who at first is worried about him being a threat, but then seeing the vision Viktor has for Zaun and the things he's capable of deciding he is an asset. Silco providing protectors of their sanctuary, under the guise that he’s “planning how to use Viktor as a pawn” when in reality this commune is the first sign of hope he's seen for Zaun in a long time.

Viktor seeking out shimmer from Silco, because he recognizes the ingenuity behind the drug even if he doesn't approve of it. Silco distrusts him and will only sell to him if he conducts his experiments on it down in the undercity. Viktor starts pulling double duty, working both in Piltover and in Zaun and they become closer and begin to collaborate on the creation and distribution of a new strain of shimmer, not meant to be used as a recreational drug but instead as an affordable, accessible medication for those affected by the toxic fumes from the mines. Viktor is reminded of his roots, and realizes how distant from his culture he's become. Silco is reminded that his dream for Zaun doesn't mean anything if the generation of those he wants to build it for are dead. (Also a great opportunity for some Jayce/Viktor Silco/Viktor love triangle jealousy nonsense hehehe)

Silco succeeds in his negotiations for Zaun freedom before he can become a chembaron, Viktor ends up becoming an ambassador for Zaun. Specifically dealing with education and technology as Zaun would have limited resources, so he is one of the people overseeing the building of the educational system and helping to fix the pollution from the mines with Hextech (he and Jayce would obviously be able to recreate Hextech, but the existence of a free Zaun means that the property of it is shared by both nations)

Viktor loses his benefactor when they discover something from his past that the Pilties deem “unfit of an Academy member” and must return to the fissures, this time as the right hand man of Silco who would never be stupid enough to let his talents go to waste.

Silco replaces Sky as Viktor's astral guide (because let's be real Sky was just thrown in there bc Arcane was queerbaiting the fuck outta Jayce and Viktor for some reason so they needed a random woman who had barely ever spoken on screen before) and their astral conversations go a little differently

Honourable mentions to: Viktor doing that shimmer painting stuff for Silco or vice versa, Speakeasy AU where there's a Zaunite run speakeasy topside that both Viktor and Silco frequent, Altered Timeline AU where Viktor seeks Silco out just before he becomes a chembaron to bring him to the Council as a temp member while they consider his proposition for Zaun's independance, Viktor must form an allyship with Silco so he can work on reducing the toxic gases in the fissures without being arrested by enforcers as he's going against council orders, or being killed by the other chembaron who runs that section of the city, Viktor joins the Firelights after Jayce threatens war on Zaun and begins brokering deals with other smaller gangs until Silco hears word and is interested in forming an alliance.

I hope you enjoyed this ted talk, please feel free to share with your friends and to tag me in any fanart / fanfics you see out there because I'm rabid for these fellas

thank you @orionchildofhades for the opportunity to go apeshit on main about these two

And big shout out to @blueberrymffn who's fanfiction The Things We Do For Progress got me hooked on this ship

[thecatundertheladder]

So fsm really likes Kai, how does he feel about the other ninja, especially since Cole and Zane are a like Wu(especially Zane), also I’m curious does fsm have a favorite of the ninja(besides Lloyd of course)

The FSM: Of course I don't have a favourite, I love all Lloyds and non-Lloyds equally

Context: FSM only really starts to observe the Ninja when they show up to the Monastery, prior to that he just checks in every few years to make sure they're all still healthy. They meet properly in between seasons 5-6

He/they/she pronouns for FSM

Nyad has her memories

First of all it goes without saying that the FSM likes all the Ninja, he hand-picked them all for a reason. But I'll go into the specifics.

Jay: When Jay first showed up to the Monastery, he didn't have a lot of self confidence, and would try to hide it through jokes and just generally being loud. This wasn't a bad thing, FSM had had many times over the years where their self-confidence was pretty low, their main concern was that it would affect his training (and it did for a time) so they made sure to mention it to Wu so he could start working on it.

FSM really enjoys Jay's varying interests and liked that despite his lack of self esteem, he still tried everything he could. When Jay and FSM finally met in person they started having long (and I mean long) conversations about almost everything under the sun.

Overall all she finds Jay a very interesting person, and is proud to see how far he's come both as a ninja and a person in general.

Cole: He was the first person to arrive at the Monastery, and quite frankly, FSM was glad it was him. He was calm but lively and it was great to have him to be the one to introduce ninja training to the other's rather than just Morro (who was temporarily kicked out by FSM when Cole arrived).

It wasn't until Cole and Wu got closer that FSM started to see similarities. Both were generally disapproving impulsiveness but still impulsive themselves, caring and mostly calm people. Cole, at times, acts like a mini Wu, and she finds that very adorable.

Nya: The FSM wasn't entirely sure about Nya when she first arrived at the Monastery, mostly because he hadn't chosen her like he did the others. Don't get me wrong she still plays a vital role but it was less a part of the prophecy and more that Nyad saw that Kai was going to have a sister and took the opportunity to get a water elemental in the game as well. This meant that while FSM was mostly sure Nya was going to be a good match he didn't know a lot about her.

But he was pleasantly surprised by her. She was caring, confident, and determined, and reminded FSM of her namesake. When she became a ninja she fit well into the team. Of course he's aware that she has her flaws, they all do. But she learns to overcome them (eventually)

Lloyd: The favourite, the precious grandson. FSM absolutely adores Lloyd and would defend him at all costs. Lloyd, particularly when he was younger, reminded FSM a lot of herself, you know, causing problems and chaos while really just wanting a family.

FSM is very proud of how Lloyd stepped into his position as green ninja despite how difficult it was. Later when they actually met, FSM realises just how little Lloyd thinks of himself, and sets about to change that.

Kai: Unlike with Cole, it was immediately after seeing Kai and Garmadon next to each other that FSM realises how similar they are, and it amuses them to no end. Both are brash and argumentative, but when it comes down to it, they will always stick to their morals and do what is best for Ninjago. So yeah, FSM quite likes Kai, even if they think he needs some more character development when he first starts to train as a ninja.

Zane: Now this is very interesting, because when he was first writing the prophecy and foresaw Zane, he was very confused. Zane was the first of his kind after all, and while FSM had seen some stuff, he hadn't seen this. Nevertheless he still picked him as the EM of ice.

FSM actually relates to Zane a lot, not fitting in or understanding how other people work (autistic spinjitzu fam for the W) only to discover just how different you are (well, it's pretty obvious from the get go for FSM but same thing) and then learning to accept that.

And, as you mentioned he is also quite similar to Wu, both eccentric, calm and with a strong moral compass. So, if FSM had to pick one

Pixal: She was completely unexpected. FSM hadn't seen into the future past the Final Battle which meant they were completely blindsided when they first actually met by Zane having two souls in his body. After learning about Pixal they offer to create a new body for her but she declines, saying she would rather do it herself, which gained her the instant respect of FSM.

They only really start talking once she gains a new body but they hit it off immediately. FSM loves her attitude and ability to learn and accept new things.

Thank you so much for the ask! This one made me think a lot and was an opportunity to work out some more in-depth stuff for this au! If you have anymore questions don’t hesitate to ask!

[poisonousquinzel]

also clarifier skdjsksks regardless of how I'm currently feeling about the relationship writing for Harley and Ivy, it changes nothing when it comes to me shipping them in general.

I don't think they're being super well written when it comes to their relationship side plots as of this moment. I think a lot of narrative steps have been skipped or ignored, and in Ivy's case my issue is primarily with Janet, how Janet is written and how others are written specifically when in a scene with her.

@harlivycentral has a really really great post about Ivy's characterization, in gen and in these situations. It's a good read! The bit about the stuff with Bella really makes sense and personally I could definitely believe that, I just struggle to fully believe it's an intentional writing decision. 😭 (But as we all know there's a lot of great comic bits that're definitely not intentionally written skdjdkks)

So regardless of the creative intentions, it does make digesting and even understanding why Ivy may be reacting in certain ways a lot easier. so like truly, ty

Creative intentions wise though, it never feels like the narrative treats the "romance" infidelity side plot in her comic with the severity the actions would realistically cause. Harley doesn't react in character most of the time and frankly she's not really well written in #14/#17.

And personally for me Janet comes off as having a lot of biphobic stereotypes in her characterization thus far, characteristics that gww has had sole control over since her creation, Janet is her original character. And it makes enjoying her overwhelming presence more and more agitating to experience the longer I think about the fact that she's perpetuating harmful stereotypes about my sexuality, and no one seems to give a damn outside of folks here.

The way gww has decided to write her up until this time (regardless if she fully realizes it or not) is that of an irrational, pushy, promiscuous and impulsive bisexual woman who continues to romantically pursue and kiss the people around her without them giving any indication that they want her to and being self-assured that these mostly nonconsensual encounters were legit Romantic Moments between herself and these people. (this view is not challenged by the narrative)

She has described herself as a seductress, a femme fatale and a homewrecker. And apparently believes her relationship with Ivy can be partly summed up with "person you sleep with when you're bored".

This line from the chapter released a few days ago continues to give me no hope that the writing is ever gonna acknowledge or have Janet acknowledge that nothing that's happened between her and Ivy (or her and Harley) have been real Moments in the published product we have been presented. This was an issue in #23 when Janet said as much, to Harley's confusion.

Ivy did not sleep with Janet because "she was bored". She was High. She unknowingly consumed drugs and said herself that she "stopped resisting" the hallucinogens and JANET. the idea that what happened in #10 was because of boredom is actually absurd tbf.

the next kiss in #11 is unsolicited. her kiss with Harley in #14 is unsolicited, one that she does after immediately insulting Harley. and Harley makes it clear in #17 that that is exactly how she views the interaction.

but even that rude, unsolicited moment in #14 was mentioned in the summary with the statement that it was potential cheating.

BACK IN GOTHAM CITY! As Poison Ivy investigates the inner workings of a strange new skyscraper in Gotham, she finds herself up to her neck in a surreal and slimy mystery. And at its center? A brand-new villain in the Poison Ivy pantheon of rogues! Plus…is Janet-from-HR cheating on Ivy?!

even her kiss with Croc was unsolicited, and I'm glad they seem happy and all, but Janet is acting like she's gotta hide this from Ivy as if they're not just friends. Why the hell would Ivy care 😭

The overall idea from the post linked above about Ivy potentially self sabotaging after the reunion and thats why she slept with Janet is a really good one that I think could have worked in the published product if the narrative was treating the encounter as just that. If it spent more time with Ivy's personal inner workings, feelings and thoughts about the situations, and less time focusing on Janet and attempting to legitimize her factually incorrect takes about them having a Thing when Ivy told her minutes after their hook up that it was a mistake sjdjjdksksk 😭😭

I also don't think that this thing between Janet and Croc is going to end happily :(( given the way gww has talked about it on her bluesky. she's also kept silent on anything about Ivy's relationship with Harley despite people asking.

So I wouldn't be surprised if DC is pushing to have them in a very separated, "open relationship" again.

Thankfully comic characters and ships always tend to have great highs and low lows, unfortunately I think we're just dipping down again.

And, remember it's been a very good few years for them, having their relationship be made more public and irrefutably Romantic. they've been allowed to kiss on the lips countless times now and be openly gay and in love on comic covers. Harley has said the actual word bisexual in reference to herself!!! We've had a lot of incredible progress.

The main timeline harlivy is also not the only one that's canon, so while this may be coming into an arc / few years we're not gonna particularly enjoy writing wise, there's still numerous other universe harlivy's to appreciate and latch onto in the meantime if the current writing is making enjoying the harlivy ship difficult for you. ❤️

BTAS, DCeased, Injustice (comic) Bombshells, DC Superhero Girls, The Strange Case Of Harleen & Harley, Wayne Family Adventures, etc. I'm sure I'm forgetting some skdjsksks

[viscerawrites]

syselli || fact sheet // lessons in letting go

(lessons in letting go taglist: none yet!)

~~~

Syselli.

Once a child soldier, now the right-hand woman of the Mercenary Prince. Not fond of most people, and very few are fond of her.

Full name is Syselli (pronounced suh-sell-ee). May be called Selli, S, or Sy by those closer to her, but doesn't feel any particular attachment to nicknames in general.

Born a woman and identifies as a woman, though she doesn't particularly care or put much weight in it.

Approximately 28 years old, but doesn't know her exact date of birth.

5'8". Fair white skin. Straight black hair that reaches her lower back; blunt fringe. Hooded, dark brown eyes with thick brows. A strong nose. Curvier in build, with some fat gathering on her stomach, thighs, and hips — but still athletic and more muscled. A body covered with scars. One birthmark above her lip, to the right side of her nose. Slender hands that are actually quite strong. Long fingers with long but blunt nails.

Often dresses in dark tunics and trousers. Known for the frequent appearance of big (and frankly excessive) boots. Typically wears leather armor.

Had neither a family nor childhood. Was raised as a child soldier by an assassins' cult.

Taken in by the Underworld Court around the age of 14, when the child soldiers were liberated from their commanders. Subsequently became a close companion to the Mercenary Prince, Katalan Harkenios.

Sexually, does not take gender or sex into account. Somewhere on the aromantic spectrum.

Doesn't take gender or sex into account in.. any case really. It means nothing to her.

Doesn't care much for most people, but does attach strongly to those she chooses to care for. Very loyal and protective, in her way.

Neither loving nor affectionate. Doesn't know how to be and has never had reason to try.

Simultaneously touch-starved and touch-repulsed.

Not a gentle person in any way. She's only mildly frustrated by this, and only sometimes.

Easily jealous, and very possessive of other people. Gets frustrated when her attachments have other people in their lives. Never got to have anything that was hers and has a bad habit of viewing other people as belongings and/or prizes to be won.

Experiences boredom easily, and is prone to impulsive and destructive behavior when too bored for too long. Being a mercenary has certainly given her an outlet!

Hates experiencing strong emotions, regardless of what emotion it is. Finds it deeply uncomfortable and is incapable of sitting in it.

Though easily frustrated, she finds true anger to be a disabling emotion.

Not well in control of herself and probably shouldn't be dominating anyone, but is doing it anyway.

Rarely feels guilt or remorse on a strong level, and isn't usually one to offer a sincere apology even when she does.

On the occasion that she does feel guilt, she most often just pretends she doesn't.

Hoards food, eats extremely fast, and gets extremely angry when people take from her plate.

Generally indifferent to animals, but has a fondness for cats.

Love is a weakness, but thankfully she doesn't have to worry about that! (for now :])

More than willing to play dirty.

Low in empathy, can't quite put herself in others' shoes.

Sadistic and proud of it.

Masochistic but will only hurt herself for gratification. If anyone else tries, they'll regret it.

Collects knives & such; she has some for battle, some for play, and some just to have.

Chronic biter; will use her teeth on anyone, whether it's for pleasure or to hurt someone who has the upper hand.

Would kill for some certain people, though that isn't really saying much; she would kill in general.

Blunt and insensitive. Will tell you to shut the fuck up and won't feel bad about it.

Predator who loves her prey (though she won't admit it).

Oftentimes viewed as a bad person. Has no opinion on the concept of goodness herself.

---

fact sheet last updated 03.31.25.

[backjustforberena]

I saw your post about Addam and alyn. How do you feel like rhaenys would have reacted to the rest of the season? Like to ulf and Hugh and rhaenyra’s weird religious stuff.

THIS GOT LONG, I'M SO SORRY BUT PLEASE FOLLOW UP IF YOU WANT TO TALK MORE X

I'll be honest, it's something that I've been thinking about A LOT and it's actually really, really tricky for me to pin anything down. And, frankly, that's because although it doesn't feel like it (for various reasons) a lot of the things happen only because she's dead. And because they lost Meleys. So there's this whole argument you could have about how none of this would have happened at all if Meleys and Rhaenys hadn't have died because the motivator that Rhaenyra has to try this desperate act and gain more dragon-riders is gone.

The only thing that can't be changed, in my mind, is Addam being claimed by Seasmoke. But even Corlys being Hand, or Mysaria's growing influence, or Rhaenyra's isolation and pulling away from her council is all up in flux if you have Rhaenys around.

And I think all that is not only a really straightforward fall of the dominoes but it's also just because of the space and the role that Rhaenys played. She was the only character that sort of existed in all of these spaces: she's in the Council Chamber as an advocate but also able to take charge of them (without the aid of a pin), she's a dragon-rider out on patrol and in battle, she's able to have these private conferences with Rhaenyra, she's also on Driftmark and has a connection to that side of things with Corlys as well, and (though it's not utilised in the series) she has a connection and access to the younger brood as well. She's fulfilling, and able to fill, all of these roles and be everything to everyone.

When considering this sort of AU, I'm trying to figure out where Rhaenys would sit on the scale objectively, and also where Rhaenys would falter. On a general level, she's super cautious. She's advocated, time after time, to not go in blindly, to not send in dragons until you have to, to be smart and not impulsive. The Sowing represents a significant escalation. I don't imagine she'd take kindly to the idea, especially if Addam comes to them. Then, I think, she'd be thinking: leave it. They've got enough firepower to challenge Vhagar. Just leave it. It's too dangerous. It's too much.

I also think she'd be thinking about the other things that need to be solved prior to going down this route. The glaring issue is Daemon. It doesn't matter your personal feelings, if he's turning against you, if you can't rely on Caraxes, then you need to know. And if you can rely on Caraxes, then you don't need to go down this incredibly risky path of "handing out" dragons. I can see Rhaenys advocating going herself to Harrenhal. She'd be quicker than Alfred Broome and more likely to slap Daemon around the head to get some sense into him - and Daemon can't fool her. She can leave Corlys to take her place in the politics, and she'd make it a swift trip.

But, she would need Rhaenyra's permission and that's where things could go a little unstuck. I can see Rhaenys lose access to Rhaenyra and once that happens, you're in a pretty dangerous spot because the Sowing then becomes inevitable. You mentioned Rhaenyra's religious stuff? I'm not sure it's all that obvious to anyone who isn't the audience. It's hinted at but I don't know that the depths of that would be apparent. Maybe little warning bells go off in Rhaenys's head but it could also seem like Rhaenyra is just growing into her role. This is also more likely as the religious leader stuff is essentially walked back in the next episode. So, it's in flux, rather than a marked personality change. If Rhaenys doesn't have the context, she can't see the bigger picture.

I've got two bigger questions that generally might impact how Rhaenys would respond to the Series 2 events following her death. The first is: how does she view the dragons? That's a tricky one because we don't really get her speaking about dragons very much or about Targaryen power and exceptionalism and all these themes that are knotted and tied together which inform the characters who do have strong opinions on not only what being "blood of the dragon" means but how they should be treated and what it means to ride one. Characters like Viserys, Aemond, Daemon, Rhaenyra and even Jace are much easier to pin down in that regard.

The only thing I personally feel that I have to go off of is her relationship with Meleys (her oldest and surest friend, her other self, her companion of over 40 years, who she has a love and responsibility and care for) and her position as the most experienced and eldest character around especially when it comes to riding a dragon. I naturally want to associate her more with the Dragon Keepers because of that. The idea that the dragons are a blessing and not a weapon. That they stand apart, that they should not be dragged into a conflict that will give them harm. I don't think it's a case of blood purity. She's never given off those vibes, as much as she's superior - that often comes from rank, not blood.

I don't think she buys into the idea of signs of the Gods or blessings or the things that Rhaenyra is clinging to. She's been scorned so much and whilst she does believe in the Gods and in their divinity, I don't think she thinks the gods care (see her lines over Vaemond's body). Certainly not enough to lay a path or favour one side over the other or to get involved so blatantly. Rhaenys is a woman led by reason and a keen awareness of human nature and power corrupting. Something else that also informs opinion is her line:

[War]’ll be savage beyond all compare. There is no war so hateful to the gods as a war between kin. And no war so bloody as a war between dragons.

That's a quote that goes against the Sowing and against Rhaenyra's logic behind it, if ever I heard one. So, whatever the circumstances, she'll dislike it. It's too uncontrollable, too unknown, too unpredictable and it's something, once done, that cannot be undone. She'll be against it. Whether she is enough to stop it, I don't know. Because then we come to my second question: where's her breaking point?

I'm not suggesting for a moment that Rhaenys is about to go to pieces and be useless and otherwise fumble or falter. She's so strong and so aware that she can't falter. However, events beyond Rhaenyra hatching the Dragonseed plot will have put pressure on Rhaenys in a way that needs addressing and a way that she didn't have in the previous 4 episodes.

We don't know, for example, how the events of Rook's Rest may have changed her. Whatever this conflict now is, she is the one who has opened the floodgates of dragon war. She brought a dragon onto the battlefield and so everything now stems from that. She's also gone against kin, gone against all principles she may have held on to. She's done a big thing and she knows it's a big thing. That's going to change her, I would say. Whether it's to make her more ruthless or closed off to get her through the horrors that will come or whether, in fact, it makes her sick, I'm not sure. But the battle, for those that survived it, was a crucible. Rhaenys wouldn't be exempt from that. It could even have broader implications for her movements - Rhaenyra could be happier to send Rhaenys and Meleys against a foe and so she's being sent out again and again.

The other, major, thing is Corlys. That whole mess. It needs addressing. It would very much need addressing even more after Addam claims Seasmoke. That's a whole kettle of fish. That would take her focus away from the Black Council and has the potential to really destabilise her. She's come face to face with Alyn, she's broached the topic for the first time after knowing for years and met resistance from Corlys. Now one of his sons has claimed her son's dragon? It's a lot. And it's something she will have to probably deal with on her own. Does she have enough in her to keep rising above everything? Does she have enough control over it all? What the hell is her self-worth like, if there's the implication that she wasn't even unique enough to give Corlys dragon-riders?

Especially as, and I've mentioned this in other asks, she would be so close to it all. She'd be helping to teach the Dragonseeds. She'd be recreating lessons she taught her son on that same dragon to the son of her husband, a product of an affair that she has very limited knowledge of. If Rhaenys is so emotionally compromised, she cannot be impartial. And she cannot be across everything and solving everything and being there for everyone.

She takes her eye off the ball and people will be chaotic. We saw that basically as soon as Rhaenys died: people were falling apart! Corlys was getting drunk and angry, Daemon was going insane, Jace was lashing out, Rhaenyra was going haywire; seeking comfort in people and physically attacking others. That's not good!

And I know I'm rambling but yeah, I can all too see a situation in which Rhaenys loses her grip of control and is forced to feel things and show things that she wouldn't ordinarily. I can see her isolate herself as much as others could start isolating from her, which makes for a situation in which the Sowing happens as we see it on-screen. Which, finally, gets to the other part of your question, and I'm just going to go with personality rather than the ins and outs of it all:

Hugh: Decent, I think. Nothing massively objectionable or an idea that they'd clash. He's respectful, and honest. My opinion on all the Dragonseeds is she'd want to talk to them (light interrogation under piercing pleasantries). She'd be quick to figure out what he wanted or he expected from such an arrangement, and be curious about his family and what he left behind. It would be interesting if Hugh told her of his mother - Rhaenys would have known all about that. And he does look remarkably like her/their grandfather.

Ulf: No patience. No time. Much side-eye. I think she'd size him up very quickly and be extremely cautious. I also think there's something interesting about him having claimed Silverwing. That was the dragon of her beloved grandmother. The dragon that Alysanne wept over flying for the final time. I also think pairing Ulf up with a woman a bit like SIlverwing (a regal older lady) would be a fascinating dynamic. I'd love it if we got to the point where he kind of wanted to impress Rhaenys. Like, was attracted to and yet ultimately fears her. Fun!

[prince-liest]

Since Vox is trans in Once Bitten too, I'm a bit curious about one thing: would you say that the way he's currently treating Alastor is close to the way he himself was treated as a "woman" back in the day, by his boss or other men? I have a feeling that one of the reasons he thinks he's not disrespecting Alastor is because on top of having spent ~70 years in Hell already, and being so self-centered, he's intimately familiar with that one specific type of patronization and it reinforces the idea that he couldn't possibly be a perpetrator of that himself if he only has the "best" intentions for Bambi and actually values him and his work (the irony)

2/ Vox (gatekeep, mansplain, manwhore): me? Patronizing? Condescending?? Baby it's cute you think you know what those words mean haha don't frown you're so sexy

PFFT, love that quote. I honestly would attribute Vox's attitude mostly to his shitty personality and the way it's been enabled over the years. His backstory in this verse is exactly the same as it was in 666, and he absolutely did face a lot of the attitude you might imagine someone seen a beautiful woman in his position would face, but he also was a very self-indulgent, go-getting, driven person even in life and occasional shittiness and glass ceiling aside, very much used what he had to get what he wanted.

He absolutely holds patronizing and sexist views despite all of that, and they are definitely sourced from his background, but the greater impact I personally think is from the fact that he came into power as the Media Overlord in a world with no Radio Demon to keep him humbled. The Vees are irreverent as hell (pun intended) even in canon, and that was with them being fundamentally incapable of being top dog. While we don't know how they compare to Carmilla and Zestial in terms of power and influence, I think it's also pretty clear that Carmilla and Zestial don't really have much interest in interfering with them, unlike Alastor, who Valentino mentions Vox has outright fought with.

So: Vox has been running utterly unchecked for decades, supported and enabled both by the other Vees and also his enormous, rabid audience. He's a narcissist who's not prone to seeing other people as people (and this was a problem he had in 666 as well, especially at first), in general and as a whole. His respect and appreciation for others is couched in how he experiences them.

Also, frankly? If you sat him down in a therapist seat, pointed a bright light in his face, and made him answer whether or not he really thought he was being respectful to Alastor in this fic, he would arrive at "no." After all, he does stop himself from doing things he knows would send Alastor running, and while he's pushing the envelope, he's doing so in (relatively) covert ways that he's hoping will get Alastor entrenched and codependent.

But nobody's sitting him down like that, nobody can make him sit down like that, and he doesn't care enough to think past the surface-level justifications he uses for acting on his impulses rather than restraining them.

[dcwnthercbbithcle]

“plots please” 👀

send me “plots please” and I’ll respond with 3 (or more) interesting plots / relationships / connections I can think of for our muses! | ACCEPTING

HIIIIII BROZI 👀👀👀 Thank you for sending this in! I won't lie to you when I saw this was so hard to narrow down based on the sheer number of compatible interactions we would have for our characters!!

BECAUSE LIKE, the impulse monkey on my shoulder is telling me to throw EVERYTHING down to see which one of our blorbos maul each other like rabid animals and which ones get along nicely! Haha

ALSO SORRY IN ADVANCE FOR THE WALL OF TEXT, I don't know how it got this long and frankly I'm a little terrified!

POTENTIAL INTERACTION COMBINATIONS / INTERESTING DYNAMIC IDEAS

I spent a long time trying to hash out how to rank these, but please bare with me! I think ANY combination of muses could be fascinating to analyze given the sheer personality differences between muses.

In total my muses that have DBD centered AUs are: Sally Smithson / The Nurse (default verse), Evan Macmillan / The Trapper (default verse), Doe (default verse, original character), The Green Maiden (AU verse, original character), Jesse Cromeans / Chromeskull (AU verse)

So any of them would work with most of your muses! Though I will say Doe, my original character, additionally has verses for the TCM franchise, F13 & more general horror which could be fun to play with for your Thomas Hewitt, Bubba and or Jason muses!

It all, ultimately, depends on the sort of thread you're going for/dynamics you want to play with!

Sally is dread, she is sardonic, powerful and hateful. She's EXACTLY who you picture when you think of a 100+ year old ghost sealed away in the tomb of an old asylum that was host to insurmountable pain and exploitation. She's kind of death embodied to an extent, but that's a different conversation! There are moments of intense apathy, cruelty and hatred, it's not sadism but its more a thing she feels is justice. But there are equally moments of intense kindness and compassion as well.

Think of it like this, let's say Bubba got completely overwhelmed after a trial, snowballs thrown at him, stabbed by the survivors, flashbanged, just completely attacked on all angles. Sally would be a killer who would stop in an attempt to help him ground himself and calm down without hurting him any further. BUT at the same time, Sally is the sort of woman who would realize Dwight is hiding in a locker, and strangle one of his teammates outside of the door in his line of sight as a direct 'you deserve to see what your cowardice caused, I gave this one a clean death, I won't give you that,'

As a person, I would recommend Sally in threads with characters like Frank, Dwight, the Chainsaw bros or Mikey. I think she could be kind to Bubba and Tommy, but like, enemy on first sight with Michael and with Dwight and Frank, let's just say her bitterness would shiiiiine baybeee.

Evan, he's a funny guy, kind of an inverse of a character like Jason. He's big, strong, caked up brick wall of a man who is extremely intimidating. Rough, a bit coarse, abrupt and to the point, and aggressive but he's one of my more lighthearted characters. He really doesn't give a single solitary shit about the Entity and playing by her games, he's out here for him, so he's doing what he must to survive and overcome the trauma that's left him a shell of a person. He's good in action and aggression threads, he's not INSANELY powerful, but he's more willing to goof around than Sally with the big caveat that he's unwilling/unable to give those brief moments of intense compassion and care that Sally is.

Evan is a guy I would recommend for a thread with Frank, Mike, maybe Tommy and/or Jason. A thread between them could be a bit chaotic with the differing personalities but that's not a bad thing! It's interesting! Even though I think Evan may end up throwing Frank through a window at some point! Haha

And Doe, well, she's my token survivor character, but don't take that to mean she isn't developed and doesn't have a full personality of her own! Haha. Doe excels in many things, she's resourceful, clever, fox-like, sly & sweet. She wears her heart on her sleeve and feels with every fiber of her person. Really she's a scream queen in every respect. But her big thing is that she is COWARDLY, she is cowardly, shaped by her fear and all of her perks and even her backstory hinged on this.

She was relatively normal growing, born into a small family in Vancouver, but faced terrifying visions of her many, many gruesome deaths from an early age. Traumatized her, anxiety disorder, but as always she ran away from it mentally, repressing it. Grew up, aspirations to be one of the big names on the cusp of the computer age. Extremely into programming and engineering, wanted to be a pioneer and a business woman but you need money to do that. Got a dead end job at a mall and finished one evening, went outside, became involved in a murder. Saw everything, cowardice took over and she left the victim to their fate and fled. Victim went missing, her trying to tell authorities did nothing, guilt and a mental breakdown from the repressed trauma came back. She ran away, terrified she would be killed next. Got killed, lost her name, most of her memories & in a cosmic punishment is now trapped in the hell she witnessed premonitions of throughout her childhood. Now forever running in place, fighting to survive, not knowing she's already dead, nameless and largely forgotten and facing all the deaths that kept her up at night.

Despite this doom and gloom, she's actually one of my lightest, funnest characters! She's a freak (affectionate) and a weirdo (loving), she's eccentric and a little off center but she hates her cowardice. She wants to live not shaped by her terror and to OWN her deaths, y'know? Like, she'll die anyways, she wants to be in control of the show and when she bows out. For this reason I consider her a bit more of a long haul / plot driven character that's great for slow burn character changing plot! But given she's 80s, bubbly, scream queen weirdo, she'd be just as fun in one offs too!

I also have like,,, 500 different verses for her too, so she could easily be slotted in ANYWHERE with any of your characters, but she is, uhhh, she is a lot and a bit more sad than my other characters!

PLOTS

I WON'T LIE TO YOU BROZI, there are so many potential plots it's not even funny. Modern AU for Sally has a bit of a crossover with Frank (albeit centered around Frank when I played him) WHICH I WOULD LOVE TO EXPLORE. Something about Sally and Mikey as they have very similar yet such very very different backgrounds, etc. Evan and Jason forming the 'complex feelings about all feelings of friendship being corrupted by cruelty and weird feelings about not having present familial figures' etc etc.

It might be a bit better to message me directly about certain character combinations for ideas! Haha. I'd feel terrible if I dumped more walls of text on top of you! OH ALSO!! Even though it's unpolished, I'd love to burst out Doe's carrd so you could look over the different verses to see if you'd like to play around with any of them!! Either way, don't hesitate to hit me up and don't be a stranger! I am bursting with ideas!!

RELATIONSHIPS + CONNECTIONS

OOOOOOOH, not to be too presumptuous but I've love to play with some of the canon dynamics, if it'd be alright with you!

For instance, Trapper and the dislike of all Dwights, which was made canon in the Hooked On You game which is allowed... sometimes! It's hit and miss with me and I can't forgive the fact they haven't given us the swimsuit skin for Trapper yet! Haha.

But also some more theoretical ones, things like potential uneasiness on Dwight's account given the fact Doe spent so long as a theoretical person, running from the other survivors as though they were killers. Stuff like that!! You certainly don't have to BUT I LIVE FOR PRIOR CONNECTIONS AND PLOTTED SHIPS, romantic and otherwise!

[bluebaric]

just finished what i (for some reason) thought was the last chapter of all your blood and was temporarily gutted thinking that was how it ended… turns out that was not the last chapter but i am still gutted! big props to your writing man!!! i love lottienat but i have a hard time finding fics that feel true to their actual characters, so naturally when i found this i spent the entire night speed reading it. id love to know more about your mindset when writing them, their motivations in both happiness and the wide range of sadness between both of them and stuff like that. again big compliments to you!

ah dude thank you so much! i'm really glad u like it. and of course i can tell you about my mindset! i'm so glad you asked! (putting self aggrandizing explanations beneath the cut)

honestly, i struggle with these girls a lot. I'm a real stickler on characterization—my general philosophy on fanfic is that fic is really a sort argument one is making about the text that one is writing fic for: that argument being, under these circumstances, these characters would think/feel/act this way, and you need to have evidence from the original text to back up the thoughts/feelings/actions you put in your writing. I know, that sounds like an insane and not fun way to write! But i like it :) having canonical validation of my writing choices makes brain go burr :)

so the real issue i run up against in yj fic is that i'm writing abt a scenario in which they were never in the plane crash, and the plane crash is so vital to who these characters are and how they act in canon that i can really only pull from like, the pilot and flashbacks for the basis to my characterization. lottie esp is very difficult, because we have essentially no idea what she was like pre-crash and fully medicated. so on one hand that's fun, i get to have my own little ideas :D on the other hand it's rough, bc need everything to seem canonical and perfect >:(

in any case! the characterization i settled upon!

i feel like one of natalie's primary character traits is that she thinks she's inherently a bad person incapable of achieving anything worthwhile in her life or experiencing any happiness that will not inevitably be ripped from her grasp or held against her in someway—poor baby, she's traumatized :( so she has a hard time connecting with people, because she trusts no one and hates herself. she wants to be loved like everyone else does, but she constantly gets in her own way without necessarily even knowing why. she has no healthy frame of reference for what love is supposed to look like, so she feels like she's bound to fuck it up eventually if she ever does accept love from someone. and on some level she does not think she deserves to be happy or loved, because of how inherently bad a person she is. GOD that's depressing. also she has no impulse control, perhaps due to the insatiable void of repressed longing within her.

lottie, on the other hand, is so openly and ardently desperate to give and receive love. she's been lonely for so much of her life and she really isn't ashamed of the fact that she wants to be connected with other people (unlike some natalies i could name...). she's deeply empathetic, very charismatic, honestly great at the whole human connection deal. her largest hang up is her mental health, which she feels is the main thing that keeps her from being able to love and be loved the way she's always wanted. she hides her struggles and performs normalcy in order to gain access to the friendship and love she thinks she will be denied if she were to be entirely honest about who she is. her parents were really the biggest factor in instilling that mindset into her. fuck those guys.

so how does that create the dynamic that plays out between them? lottie ends up making a lot of the first moves, not because natalie doesn't feel just as strongly about their relationship, but because natalie is scared and lottie is frankly a bit impatient. she sees through nat's bs, loves her anyway, and wants to get this fucking show on the road. natalie does not know how to deal with being cared for so strongly, so honestly. it's never happened before, she was pretty sure it was impossible. lottie's love sort of destablizes nat's personal perspective, leading to a very tumultuous emotional state wherein to accept being loved is much, much harder and scarier than to insist upon being hated. oof.

lottie, for her part, admires how nat refuses to change herself for other people—not that natalie doesn't care what other people think. she absolutely cares about and internalizes what other people think of her. but she keeps going anyway, doesn't make any attempt to appease those who disapprove. lottie, as a person who keeps a lot inside in order to be liked by other people, sees in natalie the possibility of being yourself—a self that the world doesn't particularly care for—and being good, being loved anyway. if lottie can love nat, and nat can love lottie, then lottie can love herself. it's like a lil math problem or smthn.

idk man, it's so complicated. there's so much i could say—we haven't even mentioned the side characters, nor did i break down the exact moments in canon i use to validate all my writing choices! i think it would perhaps be slightly unhinged for me to do that! i spend a lot of time thinking about this stuff. i guess it's worth it if it's leading to a fic that people enjoy lol?

anyway, if you made it this far into my self indulgent rant, you deserve a cookie. hopefully this is what you wanted, anon? thanks for the ask, i clearly had some stuff i needed to spill out onto the keyboard. and thanks again for reading my lil fic! hope you're having a good one :D

[aberrational]

It's nice to see someone unravel in response to the Perfect Person's actions, to see someone fess up immediately and give up on trying to hide anything from it. It's known a maddening amount of people who would continue to lie to it despite knowing that it can read the narration that explicitly says 'Character lies', though its satisfaction on being received by Envy is short lived- all happiness the Perfect Person is experiencing in this interaction is coming out in tiny little peaks and immediately being snuffed out, and dramatically so, because the Perfect Person hates this, badly.

Sweetie. My kitty. Pet owner. Realistically, the Perfect Person opened this can of worms by using the word 'play' offhandedly to communicate the childish manner by which it wanted to bother Lark, but hearing someone else say it about a man who it does not particularly hate just yet is honestly horrifying.

This is a man who simply does not respect other people on a fundamental level, who does not consider other written characters as fully realized people and thus categorically deserving of sincere consideration. This is a man who has objectified may other men and specifically treated his own favored individuals as pets of his own, going so far as to kidnap and forcibly house those he liked. This is a man who has ripped out the spines of children and sent innocents into torture based time loops, and still the smarminess of this interaction jumping out at him with no warning is making it disgustingly rattled. Really, when it's approaching grossness or expects it, it's totally fine if not enjoyed, especially when coming from itself, but quite frankly it had no clue coming into this that this would be the relationship at play and it was not prepared whatsoever.

All the fun emotionality of the Perfect Person washes out near immediately, a brush of purple donning coloring its cheeks and between its eyes, its ears pinning back and its eye widened and eyebrow lowered to scrutinize the figure before it. With mentioning the color on its face, it must be clarified that this is not an abashed blush but instead the equivalent of a cartoon character getting a bit green to indicate nausea. "... Ew," it says dryly, voice only tinged with a very frank revulsion as it stared back at Lark. "I'm, like... Hey. My thing is being incapable of sincerity and I came out the gate to fuck with you, but that was really, genuinely very gross. And I didn't like it."

Generally, the Perfect Person would hate to make any of its feelings known- and rarely does it ever have many strong, sincere feelings- but this is a very smooth sort of distaste that it is not really ashamed to be feeling right now. Anyways, it doesn't believe this could be used against it; the second time this happens it wouldn't be surprising and it would not particularly care, but right now, it just feels bad for Lark. And the Perfect Person is perfectly capable of feeling softness towards other people, even if he doesn't usually respect them and in fact usually torments them! He was supposed to be the pinnacle of morality, and this is certainly an injustice.

"Do you, like... Do you need anything...?" It asks Lark carefully, internally toiling now over the option mentioned in the preceding reply. In a literal sense, it could spirit Lark away just like it had many others, to "save" them from whatever ailed them in the moment. He could deliver the man to a wonderful paradise of some manner, or his favored line of suburbs, and no one else would ever bother him again, and maybe it would still be able to haunt him and glue all his items down to his furniture or whatever impulse might possess it in the moment. But realistically, how interesting could or would that be? He couldn't do anything lame or narratively uninteresting- he was a tool for good storytelling, he couldn't do what he would have liked, ripping Lark's characterization out from under him- though would the Perfect Person even like that? And doom him to a life of obscurity where he would never be able to speak to him again? This mental back and forth is just reminding it of its central angst, which is something that would personally upset it in a manner it wouldn't want anyone to know about, so it does all it can to just drop it- the interaction is over, just stop, tag and trim and post, please!

It took a little bit of that tantrum before Envy figured out they were being called out. They quickly dropped Lark's mannerisms from there, relaxing into a half-lidded gaze, crossing their arms as they gave the other a look up and down, skeptical and almost bored.

Of course, while Envy truly is a low-key and somewhat hard to impress character, they are nearly always acting. Acting less interested than they are, less worried than they are, more on top of things. In reality, they had a background buzz of caution with this apparent living cartoon character. Very difficult to say whether it was just some low-level trickster, or so much as a proper deity. Envy had met some deities from other dimensions; they always had to be cautious and ready in case they were outranked.

"Sorry sweetie, I can't just let you play with my kitty without supervision. What kind of pet owner would I be?" Their voice took on a lilt, and they gave an exaggerated (facetious) pout. Lark cringed in the background. Envy hadn't been this bold about saying that kind of shit about their relationship before. But things were kind of different now. Lark had miscalculated while trying to break out of Envy's hold, and wound up further snared. Envy essentially owned him now.

"How's this; just don't make him question his sanity too much, or crave death more than he already does, and we shouldn't have too much of a problem." Extending an olive branch, because again, Envy could be in over their head here, they don't know. They'd let Lark back into the driver's seat, although Lark's whole disposition had already fallen to pretty damn depressed, ears dropped and looking anywhere but at the creature he'd find delightfully exciting (and/or terrifying) in other circumstances.

Lark didn't even know what to say after Envy just dumped on him like that. He didn't even particularly appreciate Envy "rescuing" him. What's a little existential terror compared to being possessed by a sin that made him treat his friends like shit?

Of course, the Perfect Person COULD in theory whisk Lark away from Envy's grasp anyways. Envy is a cardinal sin, and that's not nothing, but their power rather pales in comparison to extradimensional beings.

[give-grian-rights]

Hermitcraft Fic Rec!

HELLO. i have hundreds, HUNDREDS of hermitcraft fanfiction bookmarked and living in my brain without rent. Breaking this up into categories for some of my PERSONAL favorite fics in the fandom- including categories for shipping, crossover, and worldbuilding.

Some of these fics are from 2019 but generally speaking you don't need knowledge of past seasons you should be able to pick up on just about all of them. a lot of these are mostly included BECAUSE they're older and therefore, harder to accidentally stumble upon. put in no particular order.

If your fic is on here and you'd like it removed, send an Ask with the fic, a dm, etc

World Building

The Parting Glass / To Pass The Jungle You Have To Go All The Way Around - Sekrap.

Doc has been trying to forget. He has done everything everyone told him he should do to make the memories go away. And still the jungle calls for him. / He was a monster. Then, a man. Now, a machine. Doc, once a normal Creeper, was not meant to live. Let alone become a Player. He learned to speak, he learned to fight, he learned to build. Some things stayed the same. aka- the Domestic Creeper au.

____

Carpet Trick - CrazyCatMeow

You all know the double carpet trick right? What happens when that joint with a tired mad scientist meet.

Mob hybrids can't see carpets <3 extra silly and very lighthearted

____

Window Pane - blueticked

Tango and Impulse discuss the brand new presence of Helsknight.

It's not a coincidence that all the evil personas have red eyes.

Tango is a Hels, struggling with self-acceptance and his place in Hermitcraft, which was never meant to be for him. in my head ALL THE TIME

____

"I know" - KindaJustHere

Bdubs was used to death. He was used to being killed by his fellow hermits. He was very used to being killed by Grian. Maybe a little too much.

(This is based off Grian’s episode 61 of hermitcraft season 7 where Bdubs says “I know” and shoots himself) BDUBS SELF ESTEEM ANGST!! Griangst !!!! Emotionally fucked up Grian from YHS !!

____

Hiss and Scratch - TheNerdyTurtle96

Doc is a mad scientist who isn't afraid of anything. Actually, that's not true. His only weakness is cats.

exactly like it said it is . SO GOOD AND CUTE

____

For the Record - Anonymous

Tango shrugged. “Yeah, I guess I did. Xisuma’s teaching Impulse some Galactic Standard so he can cheat at enchanting or something. Apparently Xelqua’s, like, some sort of god in Xisuma’s culture? It was kind of unclear, I wasn’t paying attention when Impulse told me.”

“Huh,” Grian said vacantly. “How about that.”

oops! Grian is Xisuma's god. amazing

____ GrianMC - SixteenthDays

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Techno says frankly.

“You know,” Grian says again. “Your- Watchers.”

Techno squints for a moment before understanding visibly dawns behind his eyes. “Ohhh, you mean Chat?”

(On watchers, and Watchers.)

This IS technically a crossover but its more worldbuilding than anything else. its literally so funny. i love it

Crossover

These Days I Don't Feel Like Myself At All / Mercury (No One Can Unring This Bell) (Series Ongoing) - RoguishOne (DarkWolfMoon)

TommyInnit had died. Again. To Dream. Again. And it sucked exactly as much as he thought it would because he'd wanted to move on and have a chance to actually live this time. Seems he won't be getting that.

Then he gets pulled out of Limbo, but he doesn't wake up back in the cell with Dream or next to his bed on the server. He doesn't wake up on the Dream SMP at all.

Little does he know that this is the least of his worries.

i want to scream and cry and hypervenilate thinking about this fic series. literally cannot recommend it enough. your life will be ROCKED. THE WRITING IS SOOOOO OGOOOD . i just want to shake. i cannot put into words what this fic makes me feel.

____

Shells in the Foam (a Hermit!Tommy fanfic) - Cedarwhisp21

When Dream attacks Tommy in Logestshire, Tommy runs. Badly injured, he somehow manages to slip between worlds and wakes up in a badlands biome, on a server far from home, with no other players in sight.

The Hermits are surprised when a new player logs in, and confused when no-one's at spawn. Five days later, after waiting for the new player to introduce themselves, Xisuma uses his admin abilities to access their coordinates. He takes Impulse with him to welcome the new player to Hermitcraft, but instead of the beginnings of a base, they find something a lot more concerning.

NEEDS NO INTRODUCTION. the NUMBER ONE kudo-ed hermit fic . by my beloved. and using the one of the beloved au by pertrichormeraki . its so good and im sooo glad i was here for the ride of seeing it unfold <3

____

let me give you a piece of my mind - Interjection

Dream and Grian practice building for MCC, and hold a conversation in the process.

Or,

Grian gives an outside perspective on Dream’s actions. Dream is having none of it.

Grian is a fucked up lil guy <3 Dream is a piece of shit

____

He would not die - Nicoforlife

If phil could save only one person from this place, that would be enough.

Tldr I made phil a watcher :)

Watcher Phil and Grian !! ! !!

____

Scared as hell - Nhi_theuserof_this

Grian was one of the closest people to Fundy at this point. He wants to be honest, really, but with the rest of his family history being a total train wreck, he spends an awkwardly long time dancing around what he wants to say.

Tldr; Grian is Fundy’s uncle, Fundy comes out to him

OK SO THIS ONE. WAS BASED OFF ONE OF MY AUS but i had to include it. ok .short and sweet

It was just a game - QuasarsFaults (UNFINISHED)

Taurtis Has been on the server awhile now, he's made new friends, a really tasty toritos shop, a new job working with Concorp, and he's even made this really cool pirate rollercoaster. So why did his and Scar's idea go so wrong?

OK. so i honest to god cannot remember if this is my au or if i just partook in it. i think its my au. who knows. either way seeing this again makes me want to work on my own Taurtis-Became-a-Hermit-Instead-of-Grian fic

Shipping

heartfelt confession - mysteryguest

it shouldn't come as a surprise to iskall, he thinks, when he finally settles on a term that feels just right. and yet, it is. and it's dreadful, feeling that urge, that need to tell someone, without knowing if they would accept you or not.

at least he knows the person he can trust the most with this info is his boyfriend, mumbo.

non-binary and bigender Mumskull !!! coming out. finding identity. finding pronouns.

____

I Hate You (I Promise I Don't) - BewitchingNotes

If someone asked Grian why he was relentlessly pranking Etho now that he was finally back in Hermitland, he'd say it was just for pure fun.

To Etho, it meant Grian was mad at him.

To everyone else, Grian had a huge crush on the redstone user and obviously didn't know how to communicate it.

OR: Grian just wants Etho's attention, Etho misreads this as Grian being mad at him, Grian thinks Etho hates him because of his pranks and everyone else just wants these boys to communicate properly already. Grian's love language is pranks...i love it

____ A Study Of Love in the Universe Itself - 2point5

Love had a strange meaning on Hermitcraft, where everyone loved each other. 

OR

Joe looks into the different ways he loves some of his fellow members, and what that means for him as a human.

ITS A SERIES TOO AND ITS SOOOO GOOD i love it . Joe x Cleo x Bdubs x Etho . what more could you want. and their sexualities and how they perceive love is . OAUGHHGHGGHHGHGHBHGHFHHVIJXFSHDF IUSDHIUSAHDUIA

[misschifuyu]

hii <3

i would like to request a headcanon with kazutora, chifuyu mitsuya having sex with their s/o please? if it's too much feel free to ignore it :)

thanks <33 have a nice day/night

- hi there my love !! don’t worry, this request is absolutely fine, and it’s actually the first full nsfw one so I do hope you like it

Kazutora, Chifuyu and Mitsuya general n/sfw headcanons

genre: smut. the characters are depicted as their present selves

warnings: explicit content & language.

Kazutora

jumping right into it, i feel that kazutora is more on the make love side rather than blowing your back out. sure, if you asked him to be rough on an odd day, he'd happily comply. he's just more on the softer side

this is mostly due to his past; he knows what he's capable of, even after all those years since his toman days, so he'd be very precautious not to hurt you in any way

you'll know when he's needy, like you just will. kazutora will turn ever to touchy and try to remain as close to you as possible when he's trying to get you into bed

he doesn't really need words, but he'll speak if you ask him to

"i...really need to be inside you"

don't think this translates as skipping foreplay, though

very much the opposite. kazutora loves feeling up on your soft skin, leaving faint marks with his teeth that would gradually turn into darker shades of purple

he quite likes marking you up, it's really the only thing that could be mildly classed as rough, as he'd frequently leave teeth marks. he adores hearing your voice when he'd catch you off guard with a particularly harsh bite, squirming beneath him

this man is an avid lover of giving oral

he won't turn down a blowjob, but he'd sometimes feel a little awkward whenever you did. he'd ease into it after a few minutes, but he still preferred pleasuring you instead

between your thighs is his favourite place to be, no matter the time of the day. whether you're laying on your back or hovering over his face, kazutora will keep you there for a good while, voicing out praises at you as he basked in your reactions

if his tongue wasn't too occupied, of course

"god, i just can't get enough of you"

make sure to praise him just as much. he absolutely loves hearing loving nicknames from you whenever you tell him how much of a good job he's doing

it gets him even more riled up, and would frequently grind himself against whatever surface you were on

speaking of surfaces, though the bed is the most convenient place to indulge in you, kazutora isn't picky about the location, so long as it's somewhere inside

he's been known to take you whilst you watched a movie, on a counter as you waited for food to cook, even up against a wall when he couldn't be bothered to make it all the way to the bed

as long as he gets to watch your face twist into one of pleasure, he really couldn't care less where it was

a key point when having sex with kazutora: pull his hair

it can be in a ponytail or loose, doesn't matter; he will let out the prettiest moans ever if you just so tugged gently on his locks

it's a sensitive spot of his, so be sure to use it wisely. it'll take him some self control to not go absolutely feral on you if you do, so its best you tell him it's okay to let go before you play with his hair

whenever you start reaching your high, no matter if he's over or behind you, he will bury his face into your neck and suck on the skin, emphasising the already noticeable marks

during aftercare - because this man will pamper you after a session, no matter how long or short it was - he will trace over the marks with light kisses, asking if any of them were still sore

and, of course, a shower will be waiting for you as soon as he's done with that. it's a perfect excuse to spend so more time pressed up against you; a double win, in his eyes

Chifuyu

let's get one thing straight: chifuyu is ready to get it on with you whenever and, frankly wherever. it doesn't take much to get him all needy and, more times that not, he will approach you with the intention of getting in your pants, no matter what you were doing

of course, he will ask if you're up for it, too - consent is key, people

see, he's a very touchy, affectionate person. he loves being around you and will take up any chance to be near you. sometimes, though, this need to be close to you will escalated into something more. even if you were simply cuddling, chifuyu will, occasionally, start to feel his pants getting a little too tight for comfort

when things get going, he is an absolute sweetheart. treating you with care, he will melt into your lips, hands roaming around your body. he's not very talkative during foreplay, but that's mostly because his mouth is usually occupied

however, once your clothes have been discarded, something with click inside of him, making his only goal to leave you in an absolute mess by the time he was done with you

littering your skin with kisses and subtle bites, he will run his hands along your sides, causing goosebumps on your skin that he'd always notice, a sly smile on his lips whenever he did

he's a tease. whilst you try and push your hips towards him, he will simply place kisses on your skin near the area you most needed him to touch

you're going to actually have to tell him what you want before you loose sight of the playful smile that hung on his lips

"that's it...wasn't that hard to ask, now was it?"

chifuyu will get right to the point once he drops his teasing act, though, and expect a good two to three orgasms before he decides he's done with you

when it comes to positions, he likes those in which he can be closest to you. skin on skin is his favourite feeling, and the closer his face can be to yours, the better

when he's pounding into you, he'll bring a hand up to your face. he'd hold it softly, contrasting from his rough pace, and whisper out a series of praises

"you look so pretty like this...does it feel that good? tell me, i want to hear your voice"

a fun thing about chifuyu is that he's a switch, a big one at that. if you find the impulse to flip him onto his back, or simply take over, he will automatically slip out of his position in charge

this is when you'll be able to hear his pretty voice. although he will start with small whimpers here and there, by the time he's edging towards his orgasm he will let out a string of soft moans, grabbing onto you in any way he can as he does

when he reaches his orgasm, his grip will keep you in the position you were in, his body stiffening up as his eyes would close shut

this will be applied whether he's in control or not, honestly. chifuyu loses most of his focus when he's nearing his high, only having enough to call out your name

he may be shorter than most of the guys, but he has one hell of a stamina. one round will never be sufficient for him, and he'd certainly be up to waiting for you to calm down until the next one if it meant he could make you - and himself - see stars again

this will be when, as well as during aftercare, he will give you soft kisses against your skin, massaging areas such as your stomach and thighs as he'd let out hums of happiness

as said before, he's a sweetheart. sure, sometimes you'd be sore after being with him, but he'd always make it up to you with the most perfect cuddling session afterwards

Mitsuya

mitsuya is very skilled with his hands, as shown by his talent when it comes to designing and creating magnificent fashion pieces

watching him work is quite the sight, and even more so if you're familiar with other wonders he's able to do with those fingers of his

but, to start off, know that it will take him some determination to start anything up with you

he's a busy man with a lot on his mind, so it would take him a bit to hold himself back from just jumping on you because of the growing stress that had built up throughout the day

he's a respectful man and, therefore, will take his time and look for subtle hints to see if perhaps you'd follow his lead

when you catch his drift, though, he will be all hands on you

sex is a perfect way to wind down from his hectic schedule, and he couldn't ask for anyone else better to do it with rather than you

oral is key during foreplay. he will start by making his way down on you, his voice speaking words of appreciation between the kisses he'd place on your skin

watching you writhe from the position between your legs was something he thoroughly adored, your body jerking with every skilled move from both his mouth and his fingers

after a good few minutes of pulling his hair and high pitched moans from your behalf, he will lift himself away from you. this will be your turn to switch up places

and also when you'd see the truly, needy mitsuya

you see, he has very, very sensitive skin. his neck, his chest, his waist...with simple touches of your hand, you can reduce him to a squirming mess

when he's the one receiving oral, he will absolutely lose any sense of straightforward thinking, especially if you run your hands on his thighs whilst you peer up at him through your lashes

his moans are like music to your ears. he won't speak much, unable to actually form words as he shivers from the feeling of you between his legs, but his hand on your head will be enough to tell you that you're doing a good job

if he's sat up whilst you give him the blowjob, expect to be pushed down as soon as he reaches his orgasm. he tends to curl over when he does, his whole body turning into a trembling mess

he will make up for accidentally making you gag, though. in the sense that you won't be able to walk straight for the next few days

he may be sensitive, but he also isn't one to go slow when it comes to intercourse. he will also go for a few rounds, loving how you'd come undone before him every time

hold on to him when he does: the feeling of your nails digging into his back whenever he's on top of you always makes him pick up his speed, and he loves the marks that would appear afterwards

it was a way to know that he was taking good care of you

mitsuya isn't one to talk dirty, but he will shower you with loving comments during aftercare. he'd trace your skin with his fingers as you lay on his chest, both equally as tired and worn out

his sex drive is high, but so is his love for you

so he'd always prepare a bath for you afterwards, where he'd try and keep you awake with soft kisses and talking to you whilst you enjoyed the warm water

[animeyanderelover]

11/25 for my 25 Anime celebration. This character was suggested.

Tw: Yandere themes, unhealthy mindset, unhealthy relationship, possessive behavior, protective behavior, violence, intimidation, threats, abduction, death

Yandere Shinazugawa Sanemi Hc’s

🌪Sanemi is extremely possessive and protective, fiercely much to the point where he is extremely scary. Imagine him like a aggressive guard dog but way worse. Due to his abrasive behavior and his impulsive side, he tends to lash out easily on others. Frankly spoken, he knows that his appearance alone will have people run away and he is manipulative enough to use that often to his advantage to scare others away from you just to be able to spend more time with you. Whilst not a bad case of clingy, he requires a certain time where he can be alone with you and turn touchy when he feels especially possessive and/or passionate. When something ruins that time that is supposed to just be for the two of you, the Pillar finds himself lashing out and being overly mad. Family of yours is probably the only exception where he tries to tame his temper.

🌪He harbors both, aware and delusional traits inside of him. The white-haired male is aware that his behavior counts as toxic since he isolates you quite a bit by scaring others and actually feels guilty, especially when he sees that you are upset. On the other hand he also deludes himself into thinking that he is also one of the very few people who can provide you and probably also your family with the needed protection since he's the Wind Hashira. Many of the newcomers are weak and losers anyways. He's protective enough to live by that belief of his since he has lost enough people in his life already. So he ends up either keeping you closer by his side or he stalks you as good as he can in the shadows. He knows that he can't stalk you in a crowd of people though since he sticks out too much.

🌪Sanemi is a proud and arrogant individual though he is incredibly possessive. In general he tends to be less jealous than he is possessive most of the time. His looks are most of the time more than enough to scare the living shit out of someone, especially when he gives that hot-blooded and mildly crazed grin of his. Anyone who tries to woo you secretively is discovered very soon by him since he is decent in stalking as long as he does it from the shadows. He is only seriously bothered when his s/o shows interest in someone since he is at least humble enough to know that his appearance and his behavior can be rather extreme. He insults and threatens persons you are interested in since he views them as too weak and cowardly to protect you. He's rather dismissive about how the person he bullies feels.

🌪Since Sanemi is such a hot-blooded man who is highly possessive and protective, he is very willing to use intimidation and violence against people surrounding you. Killing demons should be not even a question since he loathes them for what they've done to the people he loved and because they might hurt you as well. From all Hashira one who goes extremely intense against even humans though. He spits threats in their faces, towers over them, pushes them around and will go even further. The Wind Hashira has even played around with the thought of using demons to get rid of someone in his way and killing two birds with one stone, refrains himself though since he hates demons way too much. But who knows how far he'd be willing to go? He feels rather indifferent when it comes to letting a weak body feed a bit from a corpse before he decapitates them as well.

🌪He'd be willing to kidnap his s/o since he is one to act on his emotions and instincts quicker than his thoughts in the heat of a moment. His priorities are to keep you safe and protect you, followed secondly by his possessive wish to keep you as his lover. Your own comfort is surely important as well and he does feel guilty if you are upset and sad because of something he caused directly or indirectly. Sanemi can bear with that though if it means that his main priorities are still fulfilled. It is important to mention that he actually keeps a tight leash on himself when he is with you which means that he controls himself rather good around you.

🌪It is not completely out of the realm of possibilities that he can get a bit rougher or let his temper flare out of control for a moment but he is quicker to snap back and apologize to you than to really just anyone else. He mellows out when he is around you which should be considered as something special and it is the most obvious sign that he is very fond of you. Since ohagi is pretty much his favorite food, he cooks it frequently for the two of you and if you enjoy it, he will be very happy and pleased. Really, he isn't all that much of a scary psycho when he is alone with you. The problem comes when other people are with you, your family has the luxury to be spared from that particular part of Sanemi since he respects them.

[dracotheocracy]

i'm glad anime protagonist comes across in their design too i was going for that. now. the inner machinations of jade's mind... it's an interesting place.

they're something of a moral nihilist. they don't have much in the way of opinions on matters of "right" and "wrong" other than "well, when you think about it it's all kind of made up anyway!" this is partly responsible for them being a generally chill and very open-minded person, but it's also in their case indicative of a pretty cynical view of civilization. there's a certain clarity to all the observations they make about the world and they like to challenge people (particularly those who adhere to some moral code) on their view of the human condition just for the love of the game. so they, too, really enjoy asking questions like "when is killing people justified." thanksgiving dinner with jade would be a living nightmare. now of course. chill and detached people who ask all the questions in a conversation and never seem to let a conversation flow towards themselves usually have an emotions problem and jade is no different <3 like yeah man it's cool i really don't care that i got murdered or whatever. i Have To find out who did it though. no i'm not mad i don't even really care. i just Have To, lol. no i'm serious it's totally cool i'm fine it's chill man i'm just vibing. i'm gonna beat whoever did me in to a second de i mean get some ice cream. Right Now, yeah. listen no worries no hard feelings it's all good ^_^ not my circus not my monkeys, am i right?

now i'm still sorting out all the details with the rest of the cast's backstories and character designs and this is all subject to change but right now the group is:

neon azure: the culprit! he killed all these motherfuckers and some of them don't even know (like jade! jade doesn't know). he's like if john wick was catholic- best in the business, tried to retire but the ghosts of his past went and (from his perspective) murdered his future. You See, i think one of the missed opportunities of neon white is no characters are overtly religious, and i think a "real christian," or at least someone who thinks of themselves as one, would have a looooooooot to say about neon white's heaven and literally none of it would be good. he seems very cold and calculating and aloof, and he is, but that cold ruthlessness that at this point he's kind of known for is only ever motivated at its roots by stupid and impulsive decision-making.

neon amber: she's ex-military. after serving in the army she went into private security, in particular working as part of the protection detail for a notable crime family somewhere on earth. those details don't matter very much. oh also that crime family killed azure's wife. that was before amber was there, it didn't really involve her at all. she's a stoic and she truly does not care about any of this bullshit. she thinks about things but she's never thought too hard about it- just give her a gun and tell her where to point it and put a little bit of effort into your excuse for why. first it was protecting the country, then it was protecting people directly, now it's protecting heaven from demons. frankly she's pretty happy about this turn of events because of all the reasons she's been given for violence this is the one that makes the most intuitive sense. i wouldn't say she was happy about who she was working for in the last half of her career but she does only do things she sincerely believes are more good than bad, and she wanted the opportunity to save people after doing decidedly the opposite as a soldier

neon mauve: she has a pretty classic black widow style backstory. trained to be an assassin from a very young age. she's a red herring for a femme fatale cause she's conventionally attractive but she doesn't really fuck with the whole manipulating the male ego thing (doesn't know how to talk to men). she just kind of kills you. mauve is socially a little awkward and might even come across as weirdly naive at times, but damn good at what she does. even in death it has never once occurred to her that it was possible to live a normal, non-murderous life. she's not really hung up on it. that's just what life is like! everyone has skeletons in their closet! literally, sometimes! mauve operates under a completely different moral paradigm to virtually everyone else in the cast because she truly genuinely believes that murder is okay. it's what she was taught and she never encountered much evidence to the contrary because the world she lived in was full of it, and rewarded her for being good at it

neon rose: rose is like if jade figured out they had a talent for murder while they were still alive. sort of. he had a comfortable enough childhood and very little proximity to the criminal underworld, he just found his way into it naturally as he aged. rose was a contract killer for love of the game, and at least to himself he doesn't really have any qualms admitting it. it was always about power. the feeling of control you get from knowing you're the most dangerous person in the room. so, you know, there's actually a lot of bad blood in the water between him and azure and mauve, because people being on his level of skill threatens that illusion of control. he has a tendency to turn everything into a competition in order to affirm his own competency to himself and while he got subtler about it as he got older by the time he got killed everyone was sick of that shit. fwiw he was azure's first victim because azure figured rose was the type to kill his wife in order to goad him back into the business. this is not true. rose has his limits, and one of them is respecting it when people make the decision to make the journey back across the river styx

took me like a week to get back to this but. i've been busy :) musescore 4 my new beloved

mars hiiii while I work on telling you about MY blorbo.... who've you been rotating around in YOUR head? sharing the love.... now it's your turn to inform me about a little guy >:3

cracking my knuckles.

so i beat neon white recently. it's a really good game everyone says the dialogue and the story is cringe and they're right (about the dialogue) but this game truly understands and embraces loserhood so me personally i don't cringe. i think it's fucking awesome. to summarize the plot or whatever basically it takes place in heaven, a bunch of people who were professional killers while they were alive get summoned from hell once a year for 10 days to rid heaven of demons invading from a crack in. idk the barrier between heaven and hell. they turn it into a whole competition where whoever kills the most demons gets to stay in heaven for the year and defend their position in the next year's competition. it's actually a pretty compelling story about forgiveness, very anime-y but like. "pog" as in poggers as in pogchamp is used in the dialogue unironically. these people knew exactly what they were doing. it's camp.

there's a throwaway line of dialogue from an unnamed NPC in the hubworld in one of the early chapters where they say something along the lines of "i don't even know why i'm here man i'm not an assassin just one of their accountants!"

and i'm studying accounting, so, i saw free real estate and i started squatting

NEON JADE!!!! they were a tax accountant whose main clientele during their life were assassins until they got murdered! due to what they've decided to write off as a clerical error, they got summoned to heaven for the 10 days of judgement and upon being informed that it was an opportunity to stay out of hell, decided "well hell. i guess i'll start killing demons. i got nothing better to do right? i think i know how to use a gun i read a wikihow article on it once" and quickly discovered they've actually always had a natural talent for ultraviolence

one thing led to another and i decided to populate jade's story with more characters and now i'm actually just planning a neon white side story. an unusual number of jade's clients also ended up being participants in the 10 days of judgement (implying they all died within the year if they weren't already dead by the time jade got killed) and jade begins to suspect that the person who killed them was in fact. one of those clients. so they have to get to the bottom of that mystery and in the process get to know a group of people whose finances they knew forwards and backwards but whose actual, real personal lives they made an explicit point to never inquire about in life because of plausible deniability and all. thematically speaking it's gonna be a whole thing about human connection and sin- all of these characters' relationships start the story nonexistent at best and circumstances force them to resolve their differences, plus i want to explore a couple different perspectives on how variably sympathetic people cope with or justify making a living off of spilling the blood of innocents (and what does it mean to be innocent, really?)

it's a whole thing

[bleachbleachbleach]

For the anniversary ask: how do you think the aging of Shinigami works?

@jiyle asked a variation of the same, so I will count this answer for both!

As you both know, there are lots of different shinigami aging theories out there, which I think is fabulous. Here’s mine!

I. BIOLOGY

How does shinigami aging work? My first impulse was not to try too hard to analogize it to human aging. I mean, how old is Lightning McQueen in human years? He’s a car, so why not just imagine him in car years? As someone who owns a car that is the same age as the cinematic masterpiece, Pixar's Cars, "16-year old car" carries a lot of meaning that is untranslatable to an approximate human age.

But maybe shinigami aging is more similar to human aging than it first appears. Sure, shinigami aging is wacky and non-linear, but so is human aging. Human aging sees periods of rapid development, and also periods of (seeming) stasis. Aging approximates different mathematical functions at different points in a person’s life.

Generally speaking, that seems to describe what we see of shinigami aging pretty decently, too. It seems like the three main distinctions between shinigami and human aging are:

Shinigami live longer lol.

Shinigami periods of development and stasis are more pronounced. Rather than just having their aging streeeeetched to fit the length of their lifespan, their periods of development are more acute/extreme.

Human aging is more readily generalizable to a population, whereas shinigami seem more variable. We have the Academy Kids + Hitsugaya more or less getting older at some kind of regular interval, even if maybe they are not quite exactly the same interval. But we also have Unohana. And Shinji, for that matter, lopsided man of mystery.

As for more specifics? Meh. People in Seireitei probably age differently than those in Rukongai. Shinigami probably age differently than non-shinigami souls. (Which I imagine could make for some interesting family dynamics!) The reiryoku you possess probably plays a role here, and perhaps even its expression as reiatsu plays a separate one. I think there are a lot of variables to play with here and I take a plot of pleasure in that. To add to the variables, I’m frankly not convinced that time is even linear in Soul Society, nor am I convinced that time (and space) are uniform ACROSS Soul Society.

One last thought to close this section: If we want to imagine the biological age of a shinigami, particularly a Captain-class shinigami, what analogy is most appropriate? Do we analogize age in terms of humanity? That thing shinigami echo/ghost? Or is it more appropriate to imagine their life milestones like those of a star, a ball of incredible and otherworldly energy?

The Hell Arc seems to strongly imply that the Gotei did not think about this. Or at least, possibly not enough.

--

Below the cut: Shinigami theories of development, age as an identity category and its relative importance (or lack thereof), and how human interaction might impact these ideas.

--

II. CULTURE

Because their biological age is harder to meaningfully quantify, I feel like it’s probably even less important, culturally, to shinigami than it is to us. As age approaches infinity, what is one millennium, or two? Things like your class/rank/reiatsu classification seem like they would be infinitely more relevant for anyone trying to figure out who you are, or how to interact with you. (Imagine GoteiMingle… instead of A/S/L you give your rank/gender/division. What a miserable little website, LOL.)

I think it’s also worth thinking about what Soul Society’s conceptions of these different, less culturally relevant life stages would be, since for humans, the concept of "childhood" (what it is, what ages it covers, why it matters) is already historically variable. Soul Society does seem to mostly acknowledge that children are different than adults, so there’s that. (Maybe because of the preponderance of ghost children they deal with?). Yoruichi understands Byakuya as an adolescent in TBTP, and Kyouraku and Ukitake express similar sensibilities in the Beast Swords arc.

But it also seems like Soi Fon is Yoruichi’s vassal before she’s understood is a child, and I imagine Byakuya is family head-in-training before he is a child, too.

This is an oversimplification, but in the Edo period, childhood/adulthood were understood as particular social stages demarcated by coming-of-age ceremonies. These did roughly align with biological age, though children transitioned into "adulthood" somewhere between ages 13 and 20 (in the scheme of things, a pretty broad range). As a child, you got to play and socialize. But you were also already understood to be in-training to become a samurai, or a merchant, or a priest, or family head, or marriageable, or whatever; and then you became that thing. You weren’t an adult because you turned 18, or 20, but because you acquired the ability to do adult work. (And/or your paranoid family really needed you, at age 3, to be family head, LOL. But let’s ignore those cases.)

This seems to track with Soul Society’s sensibilities, in the sense that shinigami adulthood would be less about your biological age than about having completed training (e.g. Academy). I’m not saying that this is how you *should* see things; I just think it’s likely that this is how they do. In a world where rank and/or class supersedes all, and adulthood is defined as the ability to do adult work, if you’re employed then you’re an adult. 

Like, I don’t think shinigami by and large see Hitsugaya as a child. We don't generally tend to see his authority questioned (at least in formal situations; antics happen in a different register). He probably did intentional work for this, yeah, but it’s not as though his youth were this insurmountable obstacle to achieving respect as a captain. I feel like most shinigami probably don’t go around thinking "what is this child doing here"; and moreover, they also probably don’t even think, even in a neutral way, "that one is a child." He's a captain.

Ironically, the two people who don’t ever seem to get on board with this* are Ichigo and Aizen, with Ichigo calling him "Toushirou" and Aizen calling him "Hitsugaya-kun" (both when they are celebrating birthdays AND when Aizen is repainting the Council of 46 chambers with fresh blood). Because, well, Aizen is an asshole, and Ichigo is on his own planet and has clear ideas about how that planet works, LOL. Which is fine because it’s a great planet.

And I think all of this can be true without having to be completely blind to Hitsugaya’s biological age, whatever it may be. He knows he’s young, and tends to be upfront about that as long as that’s not taken to be synonymous with not being an adult.

In Chapter 80 Renji refers to him as 例の天才児 (rei no tensaiji), or "the model child prodigy." Mildly derisive, but I’m pretty sure it’s the "model" part rather than the "child" part that Renji finds annoying. (Though the Viz omits both of these, so perhaps they had a different opinion, XD.)

In Chapter 208, Shawlong Qufong also describes Hitsugaya as 幼い (osanai), "young," in the sense of not being fully-developed, which he links grammatically to a description of Hitsugaya’s bankai. I think it’s intended more a statement of fact than it is an insult—osanai doesn’t have an inherently negative connotation, though maybe it’s worth mentioning that it appears to evoke the idea of literal babies more than say, a young man or even a young boy.

AND SURE, what does Shawlong know about shinigami. What does Shawlong know about anything? But I think we can throw Shawlong a bone and take this to mean that Hitsugaya’s biological age is unambiguously young. But in spite of this, it may not be functionally relevant or "read" socially in shinigami day-to-day.

* NB: Hinamori is in her own category!! And omake Ukitake, who I'll reference later. There’s also the bathhouse lady from Shinigami Cup 74, who reads Hitsugaya as a child in spite of the fact that they are in the Seireitei (I assume—how far would Hitsugaya have agreed to walk with all their paperwork in hand??) and he is literally wearing his Captain’s haori. I think about her all the time. She keeps me up at night. 

III. HUMANITY

This isn’t to say that referencing someone’s youth can’t be done derogatorily. Byakuya shouts at Ichigo during their big pre-execution fight, and called him 小僧 (kozou), "boy." Which I mean, Ichigo is literally… 15… And Byakuya is what, more than 10x that?

More to the point, I think it’s really interesting to think about how shinigami specifically think about human age, too. All humans are younger than anyone in the main cast, and the Karakura Kids are BABIES. But they are also human adolescents, on the cusp of childhood and adulthood at once, and I imagine that’s often baffling and/or fascinating to the shinigami. I mean, I think Ichigo is baffling to Soul Society for a lot of reasons, LOL, but this would be another one for the bingo card.

Additionally, during the Edo period, the concept of adolescence as a "thing" was kind of on-again, off-again, and inasmuch as we can play with Soul Society’s Edo references that one seems fun to me, in terms of whether or not a shinigami believes that there’s anything between childhood and adulthood. Especially when you think about what the modern vs. Edo expectations of different biological ages and their relationship to adulthood might be. And ESPECIALLY ESPECIALLY when you think about the ways those differences are countered by the fact that they are living a manga series, and fifteen-year olds in manga series are a whole other Thing. I mean, even in the most slice-of-life corner of Bleach, half of Ichigo’s friends are living independently at 15!

I’m also interested in shifting ideas of childhood in Soul Society as a result of ongoing contact with the human world. Being a shinigami is by and large defined by services rendered. It’s in the name! And if you’re not doing that, then what are you doing. But if you’re an "adult" after six measly years of Academy, potentially for thousands of years, and being an adult is defined by doing work, I imagine it’s difficult to remember what childhood even is, or what forms of play/pleasure/curiosity were part of it (and perhaps should still be cultivated, even on the other side of the divide). I know they have clubs and whatnot, but I don’t think that means this difficulty does not exist. Does contact with the human world help? (Or do they just end up ferrying a bunch of extremely sad overworked salarymen ghosts across like, "That’s rough, buddy.")

Did the development of children’s literature as a form inspire Ukitake’s "Sougyo’s Refusal!" serialization? What about his (somewhat haphazard) gifts of candy? The fact that he actually knows everyone’s birthdays and puts them into the SC? Is this the way Ukitake, as a thousanty-something year-old shinigami, courts modernity?