#multiple polycule routes when

[watercups]

style test: wyll & karlach

[still-a-morosexual-help]

Okay fine Mechat has some actually interesting concepts & stories.......

1. Succubus LI trying desperately to suck out MC's life via sex Vs. Demisexual MC who just wants to eat burgers, go on walks & sleep well at night

2. DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE!!!??

3. Her:

4. Dead guy trying to scam other dead people out of their money and trying his best to seem scary and morbid Vs. MC who lives next to a cemetery, is morbidly fascinated by death, at most thinks he's funny

5. Genius indie game developer escaping an abusive family + MC willing to throw hands with his mother at any given moment

6. Nonbinary mermaid. That's it. (merperson?)

7. Polycule with 4 eldritch horrors. They're personifications like the Sins but they've got 0 control and you get to see what that actually means

8. Sea demon trying desperately to eat MC Vs. MC enjoying making his life living hell and making him flustered by flirting with him - also they have some of the funniest chats

10. Nonbinary dragon with a gem/jewellery making hyperfixation

11. Modern day beauty and the beast retelling except it's VERY CLEAR that if he ever permanently turned into a human MC would ditch him so fast.

LI: I'm a terrible hideous monster, a freak, no one will ever want me, I literally look like if someone stretched a dog's skin over a human's body, you should leave me and never come back

MC: Take off your shirt

12. Overworked barista MC who is just done and dead inside and just begging the man with a gun who just crashed through the cafe's window to shoot them in the face

13. """The stray cat I brought home turned into a hot naked guy who basically called me useless, kicked me out of my own bed and home, then texted me to cry about how I don't care for him because I went to work without leaving any cat toys out for him to play with but I'm going to coo at him and give him anything his little bastard heart desires no matter how much it inconveniences me and no matter how much he flip flops between hating my entire existence and Immediately crying when I leave him alone for longer than five minutes because I'm still a cat owner and this is the type of insanity that consumes every single cat owner ever"""

Also includes:

• They/them gender neutral MC

• Customizable sprites for MC

• Voice messages with amazing voice acting

• You can choose if you want to see 18+ content or not, and the sex scenes can range from being inferred to very explicit

• Dom/sub/top/bottom/switch/vers MCs

• Multiple poly LIs

• Some stories allow you to switch LIs - play the same story with a different character so you can have your preference

• Treasure trove for the monster fuckers ft LIs like;

a.) Mythical beings like Medusa

b.) Extraterrestrials like aliens similar to the ones from Avatar

c.) Straight up furry content - like anthropomorphic animals

d.) Hybrids - humans with animal ears & tails

e.) Eldritch beings like Death

f.) Horror-esque characters like killer (?) clowns & ghouls

g.) Supernatural beings like demons and witches

h.) Not monsters but also: knights & pirates

• Also just normal average sweet LIs too

• My favourite: updated mod for unlimited gems

Part 2 of interesting routes

[msweebyness]

School for Monstrous Youths- Lila Sucks

As the title of this post suggests, Lila Rossi is kind of the worst. Detailed below are some of the things she does to be a bratty nuisance, as well as times she crosses the line into villainy! As always, thanks to @imsparky2002 and @artzychic27!

Purposely trips Marinette to utilize her voodoo powers to injure others

Has paid people to hack Alya’s blog multiple times, posting fake stories and messing with the layout

Purposely drops large objects and slams doors to scare Marc

Broke Simon’s glasses when he wouldn’t help her with hacking Alya’s blog

Has destroyed Reshma and Marinette’s sewing projects on multiple occasions

Once hid a snare with an industrial fishing net in the lake where Ondine likes to swim, trapping her for four hours.

Has spread rumors that Ivan is mentally disabled due to how he talks, and frequently mocks his speech patterns.

Frequently defaces the school and causes fights and general chaos during Nathaniel’s guard shifts. She’s also torn up his sketchbook.

Constantly schemes to break couples in the school up, she hates seeing people happy. (She especially likes to use the ‘falsified evidence of cheating’ route. She’s tried this with Kimdine, Myvan, NathMarc, Jeastin and the Polycule.)

Purposely tampers with Max’s inventions and even his own mechanical components so they malfunction

Has poisoned the plants in Mylene’s greenhouse. Also frequently steps on her vines intentionally.

Frequently harasses Alix’s snakes and incites them to try and bite her so the Gorgon girl gets in trouble.

Hides small objects in Mireille’s path so they will get stuck within her slime. Also leaves drains open so they will be sucked into them.

Frequently steals or hides Nino and Rose’s missing limbs.

Frequently tries to blackmail Sabrina into doing her schoolwork for her

Spread rumors that most of Jean’s music is stolen.

Frequently snatches students into the air to scare them.

Purposely provokes Cosette into charging at her and then letting them take the fall for the damage done.

Once released a jar of fleas into Kim’s dorm, causing him to be out of class for three days while he got them treated.

As promised, here are some of Lila’s truly evil deeds….

Lila is obsessed with Adrien and making him hers, regardless of the fact that he is not interested and is happy with his partners. She constantly corners him and touches him against his will. She’s even attempted to abduct him before.

She will also lash out in a nasty way if anyone tries to keep her from Adrien. In one such instance, when the Buff Squad™️ defended Adrien from her in the gym, she used some images and situations taken out of context as well as some well-placed rumors to convince their fellow students that they were physically hurting their partners.

Once hid garlic in the Couffaine twins’ lunches, causing them both to need hospitalization. She’s also slipped an herbicide into Mylene’s water, inciting the same result, and put chocolate in Kim’s food, causing him to become violently ill.

Started a fire that destroyed the science lab and framed Lacey for it, getting her temporarily expelled. Thankfully, her classmates as well as Mendeliev and Bustier were able to prove she was innocent.

Working with Jack O’ Ripper (Felix’s alter ego, more on him later) to wreak havoc and plan attacks on monsters everywhere.

Falsified evidence that Aurore came to Earth outside of legal means, nearly getting her expelled and deported.

What a bitch! Leave thoughts in the comments and reblogs!

[weedle-testaburger]

Okay, related to the last post of a raceswapped universe, if the show decided to go with Spider-Verse route of introducing us multiple AUs, what are some would you like to see besieds genderswapped and raceswapped? P.S, people are going to draw fanarts especially lewd ones of the Pander-verse versions of the characters when the special is released.

I'm pretty sure they already are lol. And that's an interesting question, some I think would be cool are:

an AU with the boys in another country (ig we kinda got that with Block 13 but you know, in canon)

an AU where Craig's gang or the girls get in the kind of crazy adventures the boys in the regular universe do

one where they're all furries (because why the fuck not)

the 'broship' as a polycule (she said being ridiculously self indulgent)

one where the kids act like they're out of a story-driven kid's cartoon (even better if they're animated like it!)

Pip still being alive and a major character (we know T&M would never do that but idc)

80s AU because we all know how easy it is to take the piss out of 80s nostalgia

AU where they're the kids from Jesus vs Frosty

I feel like there's more of these I'd like but those are just the ones that came to my mind first!

[corinne-eaglebridge-sso]

For the SSO-OC Ask Game:

14, 26, 30, 40

For any OC, or for multiple/all of them!

14: Who’s their best friend? Their worst enemy?

They are eachothers best friends (and more than that, polycule ftw). Corinne is also really good friends with their sibling, and they all also have some friends within their respective organizations; the theater troupe, the Jorvik rangers, moorland stables, the southern Jorvik witch coven, the town of Firgrove as a whole, the [REDACTED]…

(I’ll make a post introducing Feya and her lore soon I promise, though I’ve dropped hints within various posts throughout the years. It’s vaguely deducable but big parts of the lore are like, homebrew (for lack of a better word) so I do feel like I need to make a post about it one of these days).

Alou is best friends with the miscreants stall holder but would like to be more than that.

Worst enemies is hard because I do my best to try to keep them out of the Main main storyline. While they’re all powerful druids (or at the very least druids with a lot of potential) they are not soul riders, which mostly counts out the dark riders and other big figures in the storyline. So you know what, I can go more personal with this.

Corinne’s worst enemies are some of the “friends” she had before that left them with some severe trauma related to friendship and as Corinne is partially a self-insert I’ll keep it at that.

Everlee’s friends are also her worst enemies; the other actors at her theater. They are constantly competing for roles. (Everlee does not have a lot of enemies, none of them ever stoop to sabotage).

Feya has a weird dynamic with most people in her town as fae is considered strange by the village. Depending on the AU they could be enemies or just strained relationships. (With the ghost AU going the enemies route)

Zoe just fucking hates GED man

26: What is their favourite time of the year?

For simplicity I’ll go with seasons here!

Alou likes the summer (the high point of traveling and events), Athena also really likes summer because she has more time to focus on riding!

Zoe does not like summer because it’s the height of tourist and wildfire season meaning that as a Mistfall Ranger they’re basically on call 24/7 (it’s TIRING). They prefer autumn.

Elaina likes spring and autumn!

Corinne and Feya like spring!

Everlee’s favourite season is winter.

30: How did they react when they first met a horse in real life?

All of them grew up around horses! I suppose most of them had the same reaction a tiny child would have to a big horse; intimidated. They quickly got over that though.

Corinne and Feya have never been scared or intimidated by horses, feeling a strong connection to the horse or the horse feeling a strong connection to them respectively.

40: What’s their comfort food?

Answered here!

Also vaguely related but a quick pronoun list since I recently switched those up a bit:

Corinne: she/they

Feya: she/fae

Everlee: she/her

Athena: she/her

Zoe: they/them

Elaina: she/her

Alou: they/them

[waifuoftomonori]

Ooh, boy, how are we defining innocent?

(Regardless of which definition we use, the answer is probably no for Tomonori, but in some cases it's a stronger "no" than others, and in none of them is he absolutely "corrupt". Canon Tomonori is a virgin, but his behavior and some of his dialogue make it clear that he's definitely thought about sex and possesses less-than-chaste desire for Shiki. He's kinky, even if most of the kinks aren't framed sexually. He kills people to protect Shiki, but he gets their consent. He kills Doman nonconsensually, but Doman indisputably deserves it. He stabs his best friend as part of his plan, but he knows Akifusa won't die. He lies and steals and goes on a villain monologue, all for Shiki's sake.)

Of my polycule, the only character I can confidently call innocent in most senses of the word is Akifusa. Even his crush on Shiki has this chivalric undertone, where it's not sexualized and more about the idea of fighting for her even though (in his mind) there's no chance of an actual romantic relationship, and in fact a relationship would be entirely improper.

Akifusa does attempt to leave the castle on an assassination mission because Doman convinces him that it's the only way to save Shiki, but in the end, even in his own route (in which he reaches the Palace and enters the room with sword drawn), he doesn't actually complete the act. (He might have if he hadn't realized the person he was about to kill was actually the Emperor, but I guess we'll never know.) Nor does he kill anyone for the remainder of his route, not even the bad guys. (The Void don't count, they're the mindless reanimated souls of dead people.)

One could make a case for Shiki being innocent, but she doesn't see herself that way for the majority of any of her routes (I'm gonna go out on a limb and say this is probably true even for the routes I haven't played). Overcoming that guilt is a major part of her character arc, so I don't feel right brushing it off. As for sex stuff, well... it's not overt, but in Tomonori's route, when he initially refuses to consume her blood to keep the Sword sealed / his sanity intact, her solution is to suck it into her own mouth and then kiss him. Multiple times. Presumably deep kisses, so she can make sure he swallows. And the whole time she's thinking about how much she loves him and doesn't want him to die.

Also, when he pins her down and straddles her waist while he's possessed by the Sword, her first thought is "maybe being killed by Tomonori isn't such a bad way to go".

Also also, this may not count because she is married to Akifusa here, but in Aki's sequel, when he rolls on top of her at night and she doesn't realize he's asleep, she thinks something like "I've heard about couples doing this, and I'm a little nervous, but if it's with Akifusa I'm all right with it" and starts to tell him as much. Only for him to mumble, "Princess, I wuff you" or something similar that I remember being an instant mood-killer (albeit adorable), and then she realizes he's unconscious and laughs it off.

Shinra... I think his case can be summarized with "no, but he's more innocent than 4/5 of the other love interests". (Kiryu doesn't exist in my mind. I haven't forgiven Voltage Inc. for killing Shinra's route and swapping in some rando and expecting me to be satisfied.) ...Okay, maybe 3/5. I haven't played any of Chikage's route, and he's not a blatant perv, but I have no clue what goes on in his head.

Every poll on this blog is about fictional characters only. This request was sent to us and we made a poll in response to it. Send any Blorbo-related question you want to our inbox and we’ll make a poll on which people can vote with their own Blorbos in minds

[interactivefictionramblings]

[7B spoilers.]

(Vent post. Not angry, just not happy.)

Kinda wishing I did Chloe and Grant’s poly route, but…not…really? Idk. I just wish the trial plotline and scenes had a friendship path?

(edit: also her route seems to be much better for ace MCs; there are exclusive scenes, afaik.)

I’d already been considering if I wanted to do Chloe’s monogamous romance route on a different slot, because I do like her, but…it just kinda sucks that you can’t support her unless you’re in a relationship? Also, since I can be ace in this story—being aspec myself—I wanted to stick to the monogamous routes (since that’s also what I am). I do poly routes like someone shipping TV show characters, so it feels…well, playing it feels like playing an allosexual MC: it takes me out of the story a bit. Doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy the story, but it’s a little…difficult, to play a game where you get reminded a lot that you’re so different from the MC, in key ways that take you out of things. I mean, in other stories, I expect this, so I’ve already put some distance between myself and the MC, and this feeling isn’t as strong—it’s like being mentally prepared to be misgendered and stuff, verses going into a situation not expecting that at all—but I just…had different hopes for 7B, I guess?

Anyway. I wish we had friendship scenes with Chloe this update. I’m starting to feel like you actually do need to be on a poly route to get a full experience with this story. It’s not terrible or anything, but I don’t like that feeling, tbh. I love the polycule in WTC, even if the writing is a bit disappointing at times (which doesn’t have to do with them being a poly ship, tbc), and if I’d gone into 7B with less ‘personal’ hopes, I—well, I wouldn’t even be making this post. 7B was doing a lot of cool things, so I…kinda set myself up for disappointment there, I guess?

*Shrug*

Honestly, it’s kinda like the romancing multiple love-interests issue I have, all over again. You get more content, see more sides to the LIs, and the story feels more properly expanded, when you do that - which makes loyal routes feel…left behind? Idk. Not as fulfilling, maybe?

…Emptier, perhaps.

Well, whatever. So, I decided I’d stop using DR for 7B, since although it made sense when I was getting into the story (which was only recently), it obviously makes more sense to actually support it. Should’ve realized that already, tbh. That’s why I played it now, with my own Diamonds. Still going to do that, btw, I’m just venting my Sad Feels so they…lessen.

(Well, hopefully.)

[the-acid-pear]

well, made a secondary Dialtown sona: regular dude edition (not getting rid of Dandy; they're still here).

so...introducing Kasper [not sure of a last name yet]!!

Kasper's main colors are pastel yellow and blue, as well as just generally being more soft-looking in general. got a yellow head with some stickers on there, and wears a generally masc-looking outfit with a pastel blue cardigan. she also has a knee brace that she usually wears ("Y'never know when physical activity's gonna happen, and I'm not taking that risk."), as well as a cane for balance (i've got a few balance problems irl, and while i don't have a cane yet i'd like to get one mostly for stability reasons, just in cases where i'm worried balance might be a problem). the knee brace is actually based off me irl kinda. basically i've got what my family calls "weak knees" (something related to like this ligament/muscle that's supposed to Not make my kneecap dislocate. and it sucking and Not doing that) and i have dislocated the same knee twice when i was younger. don't really like doing physical activity because of that, because i don't wanna risk it. so y'know!! making Kasper a lot like myself :]

Kasper's generally pretty sweet, and only acts rude when joking around with others they're close to. the one exception to this is when people are being rude to xem and its loved ones. Abel is the very MAJOR exception to this rule as well: Kas doesn't like him, and he doesn't like her. it's practically instant hostility between those two.

Kas knows just about all of the datables (except for Bigfoot, but he's not even really surprised by that one when he discovers he exists, just like "sure, i'll incorporate that into my belief system."), and has been nice to just about all of them. Oliver? she's done her best to give some money to keep the theater open (basically by "overpaying" for a movie and food/drinks and telling Ollie to keep the change), as well as the fact that they are both Very Not Cis and are into horror (something you wouldn't guess from Kas just from appearance alone). Randy? they've given the poor guy some extra money and a shoulder to cry on before. xe has, in fact, said "Can the universe give this poor man a break for one second?" Karen? it goes to talk to her relatively often, just to give her something to smile about. heck, they've even talked to Jerry before! just kinda standing around and giving him someone to talk to.

Kas works at a daycare in town every few days, and gets paid decently well for it. also gives him a lot of free time, as you can imagine.

i feel like the name of Kasper's chapter two section would be "The Friendly (Not Quite) Ghost" ('cause y'know. Kasper). the route itself i feel would go over things like That Very Specific Form of Autistic Trauma That Happens When You Haven't Been Bullied, Necessarily, But You Didn't Really Have A Great Social Life Growing Up Either And It's Affected Your Social Skills In Adulthood. also stuff like masking and (still) feeling alienated from your peers and people around you. so y'know, Fun Stuff (aka I'm Projecting). basically the entire route would just be Kas and Gingi fucking around in town and having a good day.

the World's Weirdest Polycule (Gingi, Olli, Randy, and Kas) still happens, and Randy is still the most normal person here (Kasper's also a monsterfucker).

anyway! dt!Kasper my beloved <3

- dee-in-the-box

I love that you gave him your other name there are many pros to multiple name usage smfbfngb but DT!KASPER MY BELOVED 2 🫡 literally so fun and kind putting her 2 cents (well maybe a little more) onto making Dialtown suck less. Honorable behavior . . . < 3

[whatudottu]

Been thinking randomly about breathing headcanons specifically for Ra’ad and Bivalvan, because unlike Andreas and Galapagus who are based on land animals (ignoring the sea turtle look of galapagus’ arms) and P’andor just being a fucky mess of radiation in a probably plasma state, thinking about how our ‘fish-out-of-water’s can walk and talk without losing ‘breath’.

So… yeah-! I’m gonna talk about that.

I’m going to start with Bivalvan first - mainly because I was inspired to jot this down thanks to him, Water Hazard and Orishan biology as a whole - and I’m going to tie how he breaths with his power; water production. On that note, I’m changing the context a little by now calling it water STORAGE, where Orishan can intake water and hold it in their bodies so they have a built in tank for land living. I suppose the concept there is reverse lungs, though taking inspiration from clams themselves, these water pockets are lined with gills that further filter the water for oxygen sipping. As an added bonus, another carry over from clams, is hairlike cilia that allows for water to flow over gills and compensate for the significant lack of ocean currents helping breathing.

I can see this evolution being initially a passive ability, a uh… utility skill that got folks out of the ocean and onto land, or perhaps off the ocean floor and into drier, predator free sea caves with pockets of air. It IS simply an increased and more importantly improved system (at least for their evolutionary path) of their already existent water lungs, it’s just been further adapted to more effectively store water. Then when push came to shove and other folk took to land, early ancestors of the modern Orishan and a few of their evolutionary cousins (whether close, distant or convergent) may have turned that ability to a natural defence system; outside of just armour of course. The cilia could help - especially if they’ve strengthened from use - in redistribution, though of course muscles would be the primary method of uh… water shooting.

Whether or not this affects the voice at all only really depends where you put the pockets and how the vocal chords get affected by the water, but hearing how Water Hazard seems to talk as if underwater and Bivalvan doesn’t -or at least to a lesser degree - kinda influenced me to take the water storage route, especially since clam gills serve duo purpose as filter feeders thanks once more to the cilia. Being the Omnitrix, Ben gets provided the necessary amount of water to not die as an Orishan, but for Bivalvan who do NOT have a life support AI built into his arm, he needs to hydrate himself.

I’m thinking because, since this is like one of the most important functions of a land dweller - regardless if full-time or not - years of evolution probably means those pockets can house a days worth of land walking. Yes, if not refreshed, ‘air’ quality will reduce - either by use (shooting a motherfucker with a jet or two of water) or just because you’re breathing your own breath - but one won’t die. Drinking (whether with face or with hands, depending on whether it’s a one-way stream or a two-way) water or just soaking in it - that being far more effective - will ensure for consistent quality of breathing water.

Sleeping in water is a MUST, so Bivalvan may have to skip out on polycule snuggles, but he won’t be alone in that regard with Ra’ad around. And, because Orishan gills are heavily based on clam gills, sleeping in a well prepared body of water doesn’t just deal with breathing. Thanks to the cilia, as stated multiple times throughout my headcanoning, is that they serve a dual purpose of creating flow for water to crest along gills AND snag onto foodstuffs (zoo plankton and organic material) within the water itself and filter feed. So essentially- Bivalvan eats when he sleeps, and since they’re already in need of like… setting up a ‘bed’ to sleep in that has special requirements, ‘bed bugs’ are actually kinda wanted??? If an Orishan eats through the day, it’s almost an equivalent to midnight snack even if they’re naturally awake during the day; there’s a lot to eat and little burn to sleep, so the energy is built up and stored for the waking hours.

Now, for Ra’ad, I looked towards squids and - for shits and giggles - amphibians for reference (besides- in ‘escape from aggregor’ it was RA’AD who was complaining about breathing, so i might as well work with that). Squids in real life have gills imbedded within the mantle, their head, but the most interesting thing about amphibians is that there are multiple ways they can breath; through the skin, through their lungs and in some types through gills, as well as a variety of combinations such as one or the other, both lungs and gills, or depending on well… WHAT they’re breathing.

Before I get to my amphibian inspired breathing idea, I will focus on squid gills for the time being. Since squid gills are internal and - unlike clam gills - lack cilia, they have to pump water through their mantle themselves to create the flow most water breathers get from simply moving. This, translating to Amperi biology, would mean that they a more active in breathing than just storing water in reverse lungs since they themselves intake ‘air’ and expel anything unneeded. Gills though, do require water to work because otherwise they dry and stick together, which overall kinda works against the whole ‘large surface area low mass’ benefit needed to filter oxygen out from water, so Amperi need a little alternative for air breathing.

Here’s where the amphibian elements come in. While Amperi are by far more aquatic than amphibious, they still have made adaptations to breath on land. And that adaptation is skin breathing. An element common amongst skin breathing amphibians, notably frogs, is doing so through the moisture on their skin, and frogs themselves do this by being covered in mucous. Many ocean dwellers have adapted to use mucous in their own ways, so even if Amperi still have a significant preference for aquatic life, it’s not an ability at risk of completely devolving. In certain free-floating species, mucous-meshes are used to graze for food, and seeing as though I headcanon that Amperi younglings are rather small - at least in comparison to fully grown adult sizes - it takes away the early stress of ‘getting good’ at hunting for food and just gather plankton, zoo or otherwise, to allow for an easy access meal.

Mucous has also been used in many spaces as a protection from bacteria and such-like, so even when adulthood comes around and oops know you’ve got enough brain to know how to find food, that mucous coating can turn into a natural barrier to opportunistic little microbes - land or sea - as well as a ticket to skin breathing. Sipping air through wet mucous skin helps provide an Amperi’s gills the moistness they need, especially if they’re still running under the need for gills rather than evolving a set of lungs, they are after all more inclined to the water than to land regardless of their adaptations. Of course, Ra’ad would still need a lot of water and other nutrients to keep that mucous coating from drying up, but when you’re an aquatic lifeform that’s just inherent in the job description; hydrate or diedrate in the most literal sense.

Back on the topic of sleeping, Ra’ad also needs to nap in water, even if he’s a little more lenient so long as his skin is damp. Maybe a minor snooze is okay on land, but if he’s spent the entire day up and out and strictly no water time outside of sipping it, yeah go the fuck to the sea bed my dude. I like to imagine that he and Bivalvan get to share a ‘bed’ because they both need the water- but you might remember my headcanon on Orishan needing some zooplankton and organic material to snack on while they sleep, and how a more active breather like Amperi would deal with that. Well, that’s simple, it’s the mucous again. Young Amperi may have used mucous to help them eat zoo/plankton, adults use muscous to help stop the tiny little buggers from getting into their much larger adult gills. Besides, Ra’ad doesn’t have to worry too much ANYWAY because where he breathes is already hidden under his layered mantle, it’s just an extra layer of defence for the determined zoo/plankton.

This is a breathing headcanon thing so I’m not focusing on like- what the dudes need to sleep in and how there’s like different standards of sanitation. Just fucken uh… making them morning showerers and move on- all I’m after here is how they do and technically don’t sip air and stay hydrated while doing so.

And that’s all I have on breathing headcanons. A lot of this was bullshitting with like… constant googling on how clam and squid gills work to like… figure out the logic that I was gonna piece together. Actually looking into amphibians did help with Amperi even if like- they’re not- in any way, shape or form-

Uh…….. thanks for reading :)

[56853]

the characters/routes for each in hypothetical Shard Dating Sim. Scion/Eden: The Old Flames. Older divorcées who will get together again in routes where you don’t date one of them, sources of age gap discourse.

Queen Administration: The Tsundere. Emotionally distant , takes a while to open up, but when you lock in she’s ride or die. Casually reveals she’s rich in the final date sequence and has low key been slumming it so you wouldn’t treat her differently.

Broadcast: the Yandere. Starts blackmailing and murdering people who cause you problems in sequence. Bad end if you try and stop her when you find out.

High Priest: The Chuuni. Sees the world through a lense of fantasy that you have to at least tolerate if you want to date him. Doing so reveals that he’s actually quite insightful about others, albeit through his odd filter. Is the source of Parahumans meta jokes, which turn out to be about the lives of the bugs in his terrarium, all named after capes.

Fragile One: The Troubled. Has inferiority complex as a result of a traumatic incident that left her with a disability. Isn’t sure she’s worthy of the player and unaware that she’s best girl.

Titan Fortuna: The Perfectionist: class president, sports star, envy of everyone. The player isn’t sure they’re worthy of her. Route climaxes in teaching her to accept imperfection in life and find her own happiness.

Teacher Polycule: The Crossovers. Stars of a harem dating sim. Teacher will make multiple passes at the player throughout the game, and is the first to die in the Broadcast route.

Abbadon: the hidden romance. Only accessible through an extremely specific series of steps, that allows you to talk to a background NPC outside of the school. Was not found until Dataminers looked through the game files.

Sting: The Romona Flowers: extremely cool, but a loner. Eventually you learn this is because of a very bad breakup with her ex, whom you will have to deal with to get the good ending.

Shaper: The Trainwreck. You aren’t picking her to make her better, you’re picking her to make both of you worse, and drag anyone in close proximity down with you.

The Slug (‘s shard): The Meme. Fan favorite side character who by popular demand got a route added in the re-release.

[bansheeoftheforest]

Crush AU route where Jekyll does end up in everyone's pairing/polycule tho. Everyone asks who he'll choose, he panics about having to make a choice and points out that they're ALL amazing, when someone suggests, "Wait! Why don't we just.. share him?"

Jekyll trying to keep his massive polyfam hidden from the press. Almost gets caught smoochin' multiple beloveds. He is getting so much love and attention, it is So Good, and he's always getting double kisses even when with one person because Hyde is a big clingy mess who follows him everywhere. The only two still fighting are Hyde and mind!Lanyon because they just despise each other.

Bonus: Everyone finds out about the Jekyll and Hyde thing, but before he can beg them not to send him to Bedlam they all lose their shit like "TWO BOYFRIENDS??? TWO?? THIS IS THE GREATEST DAY OF OUR LIVES!!"

Oo, what if also seperation branch of this route? Now Hyde is able to physically hang off of Jekyll all the time like a koala. What if mind!Lanyon also somehow became physical during the split? Would he still be blue? How would Robert react to now competing with his copy for who gets to take Jekyll on a date tonight? The chaos and fluff of this AU, man.

ABsolutely fuck yes. No angst at all, Henry gets so many lovers and he gets so much love and attention and there is no more fighting. I also love the thought of Henry desperately trying to keep all of it from the press because... Well... Half of his partners are men, some are criminals, one is a goddamn living corpse, not to mention that the look of having more than one partner already is a bad one as is. Henry would be the most loved man and he just would be so happy for once in his life. He would feel so safe and protected because goddamn if not all of his partners are protective of him. One partner catches the fact that Henry has a rough day, suddenly he gets bombarded with treats and sweets and cuddles and all that shebang. Henry just brushing off rumours, like, a newspaper will say that they suspect that the Lodgers and the Society is just a whole disguise for Henry's "harem" or whatever they call it, Henry just goes "pfffttt, really? You think i'd date my own Lodgers? Ha! Get some better theories next time". Henry probably officially marrying Emma to keep the press off of him but him still being happy with his multiple lovers <3

I love the thought of everyone finding out about Hyde and Henry panicking, almost crying begging everyone to please just hear him out, he doesn't want to go to Bethlam please don't send him there-- but all his partners are just going so happily ape-shit over the fact that they get TWO boyfriends now!!! Two boyfriends!!! Especially if Hyde and Henry separate and so their partners can have two boyfriends to put their attention on.

The... The thought of Henry's mind!people separating with Hyde is so funny to me because suddenly both Lanyon, Jasper, and practically anyone else has to compete for his attention with his version of them, jfc, none would be pleased but they certainly would not stop them from being possessive of their Henry. Man... So much fluff. Henry would be the world's most loved man and I absolutely love that. Even better if his little polycule start dating each other too so it's just one giant ship with that expands like a tree <3

[dalek-in-heels]

Hi hello, I have Feelings about some (not all!) of the ways I’ve seen bisexuality and polyamory discussed in Magicians fandom recently, mainly in the context of how queerness is represented in the show / speculating about what’s next. Queerness and polyam are two things that are near and dear to my own lived experiences, so I want to put my voice out there. This turned into a 2k word jumble, but as always I am open to discussion around any of it! My opinions/experiences, not law, I like hearing other viewpoints, etc etc. <3

tl;dr 1) I think it makes narrative sense why Quentin hasn’t explicitly confessed his love for Eliot to his friends yet.

2) I think it’s canon that Quentin and Eliot are each unique representations of people whose bisexuality/queerness/no-label-sexual-fluidity manifests in different ways.

3) I think it’s canon that there is polyamory in A Life in the Day.

—

First, I want to make clear that, after literally decades in fandoms that queerbait (or not even that), I feel passionately about the writers finally giving us more explicit queer love stories. Like, viscerally anxiously needing some emotional resolution for Queliot. I’m not sure I’ve ever been this invested in a ship before tbh.

That said, I won’t be mad about how Quentin & Eliot’s arc has been represented so far, as long as it does continue to develop going forward. Like, if it’s not explicitly addressed at all the rest of this season? That’s an issue. But if it’s only addressed again, like, tonight or even just in the finale, and leaves open the potential for more development in season five while Eliot is actually not possessed? I can see narrative reasons for why that works better.

In large part because of Quentin’s motivations this season. This is key: They are telling a story about a man who has been suppressing his feelings for the man he loves, who he thinks doesn’t love him back, and who is currently possessed by a monster. Quentin’s cautious. He’s depressed. He’s not going around making declarations, precisely because this is a very different love story than the ones we’ve seen between any of the other couples. Not only because they’re two men, but in large part because one of those men is possessed.

Don’t get me wrong (ha)—I am 100% in the camp of people who want Quentin to make some sort of confession despite all of this, and I definitely daydream about there being some sort of extra footage from their 50 years that we’ve never seen. But also? Story-wise? I get why it hasn’t happened yet: The more things that are out there in the open for the Monster to use against Quentin—and against Eliot’s body—the more damage can be done.

I think that’s one of the things that’s so powerful about that scene in 4x06, when the Monster asks, Why do you care about him so much? and Quentin simply says, Because I do. Yes, we know from Eliot’s memory that it’s because Quentin loves him, but like can you imagine Quentin admitting that to the Monster? What shit the Monster would pull with that knowledge?? It’d be horrible. Quentin knows better. He’s keeping details as close to the chest as possible for a damn reason.

—

Which brings me to Quentin’s bisexuality: I don’t think him not talking openly about his feelings for Eliot erases his bisexuality. Yes, arguably he could have a conversation with Julia or Alice or whomever about it, but what purpose would that serve? Him just feeling even worse admitting out loud that he’s trying to save the person he loves who doesn’t even love him back? Much easier to contain if you don’t say it out loud.

One of the things I’ve really loved about Quentin actually is that his bisexuality is a version that’s relatable to me on a personal level. Quentin is a queer man who has mostly dated women (as far as we can tell in canon). I’m a cis woman who has, largely due to circumstance, mostly dated men, despite coming out as bi 17 years ago. There were also long stretches of time where I didn’t date anyone. None of this has made me less queer/bisexual. My sexuality is an undeniable aspect of me, but also, I pass as straight. A lot. Which is frustrating because I never want to pass as straight in straight spaces or queer spaces, but it’s a super common experience for a lot of us. I’ve known so many women who pass, many of us because we date men, and therefore people don’t see our sexuality as valid since it’s ~ not in practice. It is a part of us; it doesn’t matter what we practice or not.

Quentin is bisexual—or whatever label we as fans want to put on it, but he is not straight. He has had queer experiences and expressed queer feelings. That is canon. Honestly, one of the reasons why I’m drawn to him as a queer character is because he hasn’t put a label on it in canon. They are telling the story of a character whose sexuality is not heterosexual, and it is not the most important thing about him. That is valid. That is the underrepresented experience of many of us, and it is satisfying to see someone represented on television who has experiences with people of different and similar genders, and that is not the core of the relationship conflict. He knows who he is. As Jason has put it before, it’s the one thing Quentin isn’t anxious about. I feel that.

But okay, back to trusting if the writers will represent Queliot or not going forward? I think it’s important to remember that this show has always been pretty fluid sexually, so the writers driving down this route with two of their male leads is, while new ground, not an absurd expectation. On a less queer show, I’d be less trusting of how they’ll handle it, but I feel like out of any writers I’ve loved, these might be the ones who get it on some level? Yes, there are still majority heteronormative things going on, but this is not the first queer relationship we’ve seen on the show: We’ve seen Eliot with randos, we’ve seen Eliot with Mike, with Idri—and with Quentin.

Which, while we’re on that—Eliot’s queerness? Should also not be erased. He is not gay. He is somewhere on a fluid queer spectrum. That’s literally canon, so any hand-waving away of that is erasing it. Sexuality is just so much more complex than that, and I think it’s simplistic to say otherwise. There are people who see themselves in Eliot’s version of queerness (mostly men, sometimes women), just the same way so many people see themselves in Quentin’s version of queerness (mostly women, sometimes men). We deserve more explicit text of their past relationship and Quentin’s current feelings, eventually, but tbh I still think how it’s being portrayed is valid and has made sense within the larger narrative so far.

—

Okay, now I really need to talk about how polyamory is portrayed on the show.

I’m not sure how many people active in this fandom are polyamorous or not (please feel free to give me a shout if you are? I’d love to make more polyam friends here), so extremely bare bones crash course here, since it is an often misunderstood, underrepresented, and stigmatized relationship model:

Polyamory is a relationship model that can take many forms (not necessarily marriage, not necessarily hierarchical), and is always rooted in consent, open communication, and building trust between all partners and metamours (your partner’s partners) in a polycule. All polyamorous arrangements and other versions of non-monogamy are consensual—if they’re not, then quite frankly it’s not polyamory; it’s cheating or, at the very least, pretty dang toxic.

For many of us, polyamory tends to be an alternative to the monogamous “relationship escalator”—instead of every relationship we form having the expectation that it’ll lead to marriage (and/or moving in together, having kids, etc), we choose to explore all the different types of relationships that can form organically in our lives: maybe a long-term partner or two, more partners who are casual but no less cared for and respected, etc. Or there’s solo polyamory, where your primary commitment is to yourself, but you have open consensual relationships with multiple other people, short-term or long-term. There are literally endless other possibilities.

As for how this relates to Quentin & Eliot’s time at the Mosaic: I’ve seen the argument that it couldn’t have been a happy polyamorous thing if only Quentin had two partners. I don’t buy that. Sure, it’s common for there to be relationships where two people each have another partner or multiple partners, but that is not the one right way that polyamory is done or that people who practice it can be happy with.

I personally have been practicing polyamory for several years, and there have been long stretches of time where I simply haven’t wanted to be with anyone else besides my primary partner, even when he has had other partners, and vice versa, and I have still lived my damn life with love. Yes there has been jealousy and insecurity to varying degrees, but there is a lot of support to identify their roots and actively work through them, and face fears. “Love isn’t zero sum” is a phrase thrown around a lot in polyamory literature, but it’s true: The partner who’s only with one person isn’t somehow getting less love. They have their partnership, they have a rich, full life outside of any romantic/sexual relationships, and they have the freedom to be open to other relationships should the opportunities come along.

So, anyway, back to the Magicians: Do I care if the writers intended to show a version of polyamory on the screen in 3x05? Not really. Because what happened anyway, is they did.

I don’t think the writers would or even could get away with representing an explicitly polyamorous relationship, mainly because that is still pretty damn stigmatized and rarely out in mainstream culture. But I do think that they did what they could to make Quentin and Eliot be able to build a family together, which I think was a key part of their narrative. How else would they have shown Quentin and Eliot having a kid in that context? In the space of a highlights montage? I’m not saying Arielle was a fully formed character either, or that she wasn’t a pawn of some sort, but I don’t think she was a pawn to somehow prove Quentin and Eliot had any less real of a relationship. I think if she was a pawn, it was so that they could raise a kid together and have a family. (Which isn’t great, but that’s a whole other issue, not a queer erasure issue.)

My personal headcanon for the 3x05 timeline is that Quentin, Eliot, and Arielle had a polycule that was basically Quentin/Arielle and Quentin/Eliot, with Eliot and Arielle as metamours, who also have some level of romance and maybe the occasional sexual relationship. In my headcanon, they were all happy together, raising a kid together, growing up and out of the insecurities and fears that Quentin & Eliot had back in the present-day timeline. Like, I can’t picture a 25 year old having the exact same hang-ups as a 35 to 75 year old, you know? People grow up. They settle into themselves.

I think that kind of happiness is inherent in how Quentin and Eliot talk about it when they come back: it was sort of beautiful, we worked, who gets that kind of proof of concept. So why would Eliot turn down Quentin when they get back, if that life was so good? I think it’s because wow that is a lot to live up to, when he knows they are not the same people now as who they’d turned into in that timeline. They have those memories and some of that wisdom, sure, but also they are the same people they were back in the future. Eliot doesn’t trust Quentin would choose him in this context, so he runs from things he’s afraid of fucking up or not living up to.

Whatever they are or will become now, I really think that the polyamory in that other timeline was real though. Even though nobody was boning or making out, there was a family of people raising a child together. There were people spending their lives together. It’s not as much representation as we (queer people, polyamorous people) deserve, but it’s not erased either. We focus a lot on the fact that Eliot, upon return, brought up You had a wife. But quickly following that was And we had a family. That’s not nothing.

I think I’ll just end on that note. This is already so long. Let’s see what happens tonight!! [screams into the void]

[jinxpantsu]

(View previous reblog's tags for context I'm responding to but you can also take this as a second coming of ramble)

I can understand (not really, polycule is gross to me and dating multiple of the brothers [yes they state over and over- BROTHERS] is just even more gross to me) wanting to date them all. But if we were directly PROMISED routes and this is the best they could do, then they are profiting off doing the least amount of work possible.

A good story has consequences and character growth. A good story makes good on its promises of seeing another side of these characters. I'm completely caught up to date now, and the only characters that have new perspective for me is Solomon and Diavolo. And NOT in a positive light.

Let's face it, Obey Me's writing has always left so much to be desired from it. The concept of angel verses demon and what that fully entails based upon nature is only now being brought up in recent chapters, and with the story moving at a snails pace because we keep rehashing the same point over and over again... I'm sorry but for a first season of the new game, the writing is somehow worse than the first game. Neither writing was good to begin with, and I could and would happily go on all day about why it isn't.

Also what if I just... didn't want to date all of them? Because the ""routes"" the game is promoting is the option to hug, kiss, or plainly reject them. Every single time. If I didn't want Lucifer's advances the first time, I won't want it the next 30 times just because he got more screen time. And GOD does he and Mammon have enough of it already.

It's probably me being short sighted, but when I heard "date them all" all I thought it was just silly marketing stuff. You're right. Dating them all doesn't happen. We just kinda dance around that often... The fact that Mammon flat out says he doesn't want to chase us into Lucifer's arms- even acknowledges that he likes us... but we're supposed to be dating them all? Once again. Ew.

I think the only thing I saw that made me go "oh wow" int he past two lessons was Lucifer saying he'd send everyone back and stay with Satan (or that they all go back and he leaves satan behind? i honestly feel like both were said)

But the characters are written like cake batter. You expect it to rise, but with how little effort that put into making it, the results are horrible. The ONLY reason I've stuck with this game for so long was because it was my roots with so many friendships I made, and because I'm more attached to the version of them I've written rather than how they actually are in game. It's an utter disappointment.

The ONLY joy I received from lessons 1-11 was that the plot was moving... even if it wasn't something I particularly cared about. I'm more than willing to go on and on about this terrible games terrible writing, terrible gameplay, and terribly exploitive and lazy execution of everything it presents.

Its never been more obvious than now that what Solmare meant but having "routes" for the characters in OM Nightbringer, they meant "more opportunities to kiss them" and nothing more. That is not a route. If you're not going to write an interesting story where there ARE actual consequences for actions that happen *in game* as well as actual changes being made that aren't eventually reversed or undo (looking at you Simeon) then commit to having actual routes.

How do you commit to having actual routes? By giving us more content of the character we choose instead of dice-rolling who gets more attention next. If I pick Beel I should have more Beel content. I should be learning more about Beel in depth. I should be learning more about the world I "carelessly stumbled into" while getting to know Beel. Not having one chapter dedicated to him where he STILL Has to share his screentime with the others, and we barely learn anything from him as a result. How is that a proper route?

Again. If your story isn't even going to be GOOD, why commit to it? Chapters 18 and 19 were a total waste of time since we knew from Beel's chapter alone how everyone felt about Satan, save from hearing it word-of-mouth from Lucifer. But even then, were we even going to expect less from Lucifer, granted we went to the past now?

Gods speed over my massive essay, honestly.