#not the smartest so take this with a grain of salt as i could also just be slow and everyone already realized this before hand

[sakura-chandaneko]

Random Deltarune theory(That I'm sure someone has pointed out already):

The reason Queen knows King and the reason Spamton might know Jevil is simply because of Solitaire/card games in general being a thing on computers

[stardustgates]

Author’s Notes: Possibly OOC behaviour? I’ve done my best to stick by Canon as much as I can, but given I’m a newer player, I don’t know the relationship between Kafka and Silver Wolf or the characters individually as well I’d like to. Though I did do my best, please be aware that I may have taken some creative liberties in their characterisation and inner thoughts regarding each other. Also I am aware that this may just be 5.5k words of nonsensical BS but I haven’t written proper fanfiction in a hot minute so take it with a grain of salt. Not so much of a reader/canon thing and more like a reader AND canon thing currently. Perhaps that will change in future works, who’s to say? Oh yeah this is a SAGAU.

Warnings: Canonical In-game violence, references and descriptions of dissociation via player-induced body possession, references to drug use (one sentence), yandere tones if you squint really hard (shes a slowburner ya’ll), and a single swear word :3

Beyond the mind, within your body.

Description: Unaware that your presence has been made apparent to the eccentric duo during your first run through of Honkai Star Rail, you happily indulge yourself in the immersive (tutorial) world before your eyes. Kafka and Silver Wolf attempt to adjust to the feeling it brings, which leaves their minds constantly switching between distrust and euphoria, and all the things in between.

Word Count: 5.5k

Hoyoverse’s newest game hadn’t seemed much to your liking when you’d first heard the announcement. For one thing, you weren’t particularly pleased with the constant stream of ‘HONKAI STAR RAIL - PLAY NOW’ interrupting your YouTube doom-scrolling every other ad; Not to mention, you weren’t very keen on the gacha aspect. 

Within your small circle of friends, you’d been known to cave easily when attractive anime characters were involved and you weren’t planning on another hyperfiction to solidify your position as the group’s resident simp. That being said, with such a title swaying above your head like a shiny silver dagger, you’d held a metaphorical death grip on your wallet, solemnly swearing that you’d keep your distance from the game for as long you were able.

Ultimately that so-called iron will of yours didn’t last so much as a year, as just seven months after its release a simple character trailer was enough to break your steadfast resilience. Well, it wasn’t ‘simple’, if you were being honest with yourself- It was a brilliantly unique masterpiece, tailored to the exact essence and spirit of his character. You were sure Argenti wouldn’t be released for a good while, so you decided to pick up the game and grind what you could before his arrival.

That was your plan at least. Your friend had warned you a few months prior (Though admittedly, you hadn’t been paying much attention at the time.) that the download and installation would take an exhaustingly long time. Well, it was better than Genshin Impact had been- but still, you were getting bored and subsequently decided to fetch yourself something to drink in the meantime.

With your back turned to the loading screen, you waltzed out of your bedroom with little care in the world- oblivious to the ominous glowing cracks slowly sprawling across the screen of your device.

As you returned a few moments later, you found that it had finally finished installing! You’d certainly waited long enough. Sure, it wasn’t as soul-sucking as Genshin had been but your patience wasn't that of a saint’s either. With a renewed sense of anticipation, you hit start and breezed through the usual terms and conditions without reading anything and let out a sigh at the beautiful change in scenery.

It perhaps wasn't the smartest idea to skip it completely- but you had spent so long waiting already that you weren’t going to bother wasting time reading a document filled with dolled-up words you could barely pronounce.

✄————————————————

 Herta’s Space Station’s defences hadn't been particularly difficult to slip past surprisingly, though Kafka didn’t recall any mention of difficulty regarding entry in Elio’s script, so she supposed the lack of security wasn’t of any particular importance.

Despite the calm confidence that usually accompanied her on these little operations, Kafka couldn’t shake the strange feeling of being watched. It wasn’t the usual sort of lingering gaze or sharpened stare, but a vague pulsating heartbeat that faded in and out, as though blinking through blurry vision. 

Needless to say, she kept her guard up. Playing none the wiser and bowing mid-air to the tempo of a rather graceful tune. She forced her shoulders to relax and gently swayed her body, controlling her every little move with practised ease- even as that strange pulsating presence slowly sped up and stroked the fires of an oncoming headache- as the elevator descended to the station’s ‘ground’ floor.

 (You remained none the wiser to her sudden awareness, the rapidly changing scenes flashing past your eyes far too quickly to pick up on a single, brief second of stillness in her body.) 

A sudden explosion reverberates across the station's cold, metallic body and brings Kafka’s impromptu air-violin session to a screeching halt. Simultaneously, that presence settles over her body like a thick blanket of fog. That ‘gaze’ she had felt becoming so vivid she could feel its weight pressing down on her tongue.

She has little time to process the feeling before the usual blueish glow of Silver Wolf’s communications screen flickers into existence before her very eyes. 

“... Seems I came at a bad time.”

“No, No – I think you couldn’t’ve timed it better. Twenty-three-fourty-seven-fifteen system time. Very punctual, Kafka.” Silver Wolf almost sounds impressed, though Kafka suspects she’s only trying to butter her up so she’ll let the girl go off task again. Perhaps, under different circumstances, she would have been kind enough to allow it, but with the nature of their current mission and this inexplicable presence, Kafka doesn't find herself in a very generous mood. 

Kafka merely hums in response and ignores the empty praise.

“Elio always tells the exact future. So What’s with the explosion just now? Was that part of his script?” Silver Wolf picks up on her cue to focus without any fuss.

“Twenty-three-four-four-fifty-nine system time: The pulses from the explosion cause a massive breakdown from the master control system.”

Pulses. Perhaps it’s linked to the feeling curling itself around her senses?

“You did that?” Kafka doubts that Silver Wolf would waste effort on something so minor.

“No, the antimatter legion did it. They completely invaded the space station two system hours ago.” She whistles in response and glances down the glass panelling to the approaching ground floor. A small group… annoying, but manageable.

“Alright, so do we need to fight the legion?”

“Dunno, Elio didn’t say anything about it, so it doesn’t matter.” Hmm. Silver Wolf made a good point. 

“Got it. So from now on, I'll be in charge of this operation.” She feels that tingle of a smirk reach the corner of her mouth, and smiles a little wider in anticipation.

“Copy. Can you let me have some fun this time? Our last few operations turned out to be pretty dull.” Kafka lets out a playful hum as she ponders over her colleague’s request with faux consideration. She can practically hear Silver Wolf’s stifled groan in the second of silence that passes.

“...Sorry~ I’m afraid there’s not much I can do for you- our task this time is just to ‘place’ the target properly.” 

Her choice of words is careful, though not enough to cause any alert in potential eavesdroppers. The feeling still hasn’t left. 

“But if you wanna go look for some fun yourself, I won’t stop you.”

“I mean… after all…” she chuckles lightly as the blue hologram blips out of her vision, and reaches for the holsters tucked into her lower back. “After all…” Kafka readjusts her footing just in time to watch the elevator’s doors slide open, the sound of metal dragging against metal pinching at her ears.

“Elio didn’t put it in the script… Why would it matter?” 

Just as the impact from her gunshots flitters across her skin, Kafka feels her mind being pulled back to the edge of her skull. 

The group of voidrangers in front of her feel distant and smudged, the sockets of her eyes creating a blurred tunnel of vision that refuse adjust no matter how much she tries to blink it away. Their dark forms bleed into black speckles that crowd her already limited vision until she’s staring directly into the singed edges of the universe.

Kafka’s body… is no longer hers to command.

✄————————————————

She returns to her mind with startling swiftness. Her memories of the brief battle suddenly bubbling up as though pushing themselves through a thick soup of aether. She feels disconnected from the memory but can at least recall that she’d lost control of her body before blacking out. 

She attempts to think back on that burnt, golden memory but is stopped by a sudden wave of nausea. She opts to set that aside for another time and refocus on the operation. Elio had not mentioned this happening anywhere in the script- so either this had no significance or… 

Still, those Voidrangers hadn’t proved to be much trouble- in fact, they’d been less of an annoyance than she had prepared for. Either she’d been far more ruthless than intended or the antimatter legion had lost its touch.

“When did the anti-matter legion become so weak?” She asks out loud.

“I could only attract this much. Did you really want the entire legion to come here?” Silver Wolf speaks in feigned annoyance, her usual behaviour. 

She hadn’t even realised. Kafka chooses not to mention anything for the moment, instead opting to subtly gauge the extent of control this presence… or rather... Entity, seems to have over her. 

“This lot won’t be able to slow down the Astral Express crew.” Silver Wolf sighs in response on the other end of the device.

“Relax, a doomsday beast is also here.”

As she approaches one of the station’s automatic doors, Kafka feels it slip back into her body as if wearing her like a coat. Its influence feels… less heavy than it previously had been a few moments ago.  At the very least she remains conscious this time; A strange lightness in her feet as she feels herself stealth towards a lone voidranger lounging about the area.

Her movements come to her now like instinct, striking down enemies with admittedly far more efficiency than she was naturally capable of. If it weren’t for her body being strung along like a puppet against her will, she’d almost be grateful for the power and resiliency it granted her. 

Kafka has barely had her fill before a euphoric sense of power seems to swell up all at once; Killer instinct pumping through her veins like a well-oiled machine. 

Ahh. Now this… this particular feeling wasn’t so bad.

Truthfully she’d liked to have toyed with this one a bit longer, but she knew all too well that it wouldn't manage to survive her next attack. She chatters to no one in particular, the ecstasy in her mind clouding whatever decorum she would have usually displayed. 

“Good times never last… time to say bye.” 

“Ah- She’s so cool…”

Kafka tenses up at the stranger’s voice, just as the swirling dark mass in front of her collapses into itself. 

She sheathes her sword and adjusts her gloves, ignoring the voidranger approaching her from behind. Just before its darkened claws reach her, Silver Wolf’s ability activates no more than a hands-width from her shoulder blades.

“Cleaning up other people’s mess isn’t in my job description… y’know Kafka?” Silver Wolf huffs out, but her voice has no real bite in it. Was it her? She wasn’t usually one to doubt herself, but that fog of exhilaration certainly could have played with her mind. 

“Yeah, yeah. Where did you send it Silver Wolf?”

Kafka turns in time to hear the gooey pop of the silver-haired girl’s bubblegum as she hops to her feet. She isn’t sure if it's Strawberry or Grape, but the artificial sweetness and scent of no-fruit-in-particular is so strong it actually grounds her mind for a moment. 

She sighs for no real reason, but it brings her relief regardless. 

Oh.

She hadn’t realised how bad her headache was. 

“Some random Co-ordinates, not important.” She avoids Kafka’s gaze for a reason she couldn’t care to name before taking on an adorably defiant stance, her hands placed at her hips as though it would help her short stature in any way. 

“You care about where that voidranger ended up?” She doesn’t. But she’d rather think about that than, well… She didn’t know what to call it at this point. But it was distracting and she needed to focus on literally anything else for the sake of what sanity she had left. 

Though some could argue that she wasn’t sane at all- which was only half true because most people’s definition of sanity varied greatly from her own. 

Oh, Silver Wolf was still blinking up at her expectantly.

“Of course not- I’m just amazed at this fancy technique of yours, as usual.” she smiles down at her colleague, who only rolls her eyes in response. To the girl’s credit, she’d been dealing with Kafka’s empty flattery for quite a long time.

“Just a little trick of tampering with the data of reality, I wouldn't call it fancy.” Kafka smiles a little wider, following behind as Silver Wolf strolls down the hallway. Her tells were always so obvious.

“What were you looking at just now? Let me see.” Silver Wolf huffs a bit as she settles herself onto a desk and faces her.

“Herta’s toys,” she begins in an almost mocking tone 

“A catalogue featuring the space station’s collection of rare items.” Her fingers briefly tug on the white fluff of her jacket as she speaks “They’ve got quite a looot of interesting gadgets~”

Kafka’s previous interest (however feigned it may have been) dies down a little at the prospect of these ‘gadgets’ but nonetheless she indulges Silver Wolf’s unspoken desire to share what information she’d dug up.

“Like what?” 

“There’s this gun, it can rate any creature within its crosshair as a score from 0 to 100.”

“... Doesn't sound very interesting.” Her brows pinch together and her mouth stretches into a thin line of clear disappointment. Not one to be disheartened so easily, Silver Wolf continues on

“Aren’t you curious how much you would score? I kinda wanna know mine.” 

So this is what she’d been hinting at since earlier. Kafka crosses her arms and takes on the tone of an exasperated mother having finally given up after being nagged at for far, far longer than the reality of it. 

“Fine. I guess we can swing by and play with it, if it’s not too far. What’s our destination?” She redirects Silver Wolf’s distractable attention onto their current objective with practised ease. 

Hmm. 

She feels a little cold for some reason… and those watchful eyes haven't left during the entirety of their conversation. Kafka’s guard raises a little further than before.

Her colleague’s eyes flit down to a small blue hologram, her fingers swiping past various screens until arriving at what Kafka could only presume was a list of directions given to her by Elio.

“Go down the corridor, behind the door… ooon the left. There’s a room where some kind of rare item is stored.” 

Kafka feels the entity strongly now, she stares just beyond Silver Wolf’s shoulders where it feels most concentrated. The feeling she is met with is a dense smouldering hotness. It’s like melting iron dripping down her throat and burning it in the process. It feels almost itchy.

She redirects her gaze back to Silver Wolf far quicker than she’d intended to and resists the urge to scratch at her throat.

“So that’s where the Stellaron is?” Kafka is somewhat relieved when the feeling seems to simmer down. She once again debates speaking on the sensation during the slightest lull in their conversation but when Silverwolf turns her head back to face her, she finds the girl’s gaze to be much sharper than before.

“That's where we can find out where the Stellaron is.” 

Kafka immediately knows that Silverwolf has finally caught on to this feeling and says nothing as she readies herself for the next half of their mission. Almost instantly, she feels the presence shift and roll over her shoulders, like a cat stretching out its limbs. 

It's languid and smooth and she feels her tense- She had been tense this whole time?- muscles slowly relax until she finally feels that usual calm focus she’s so intimately familiar with. She hadn’t realised the extent of how cold she’d felt when it had stepped- strange, it feels like a person?-  away.

Kafka decides that her feelings towards this... Being- She isn’t totally sure if it feels sapient, but it certainly has some form of will… That much she can tell- are mixed, to say the least. She wonders one more why Elio hadn’t mentioned anything about something so foreign and strange but sets the thought aside and refocuses on the task at hand. 

She locks eyes with Silverwolf briefly, and just as she thought, Silverwolf is most definitely aware of it at this point. 

“The central area of the space station is up ahead. There’ll be loads of Legion Void rangers there.” Silver Wolf hops to her feet and saunters toward the door’s control panel. A bit too casual to be natural, but it doesn't cause the feeling to stir, so she says nothing. 

“Okay.” Kafka breathes out. 

Then that feeling of puppeteering seems to stitch itself into her mind once more, albeit in a much more faded sense- it feels more like muscle memory than it does being pulled from her own body. She allows it to pull her along and lead her toward whatever it wants. As her fingers glide over the room’s control panels and her heels click against the cold steel of the station, she feels that fog of exhilaration settle over her again- that almost euphoric surge of strength from earlier suddenly vivid and fresh in her mind. 

Silverwolf seems to feel the building strength in her own body too, as she quickens her pace when they turn the corner to find themselves at the back of a particularly strong-looking voidranger. She huffs out in bemusement and half-heartedly mutters out some encouragement to her colleague.

“May as well kill them all.” 

Not needing much more encouragement than that, Silverwolf leaps forward with as much grace as her short form can allow her and drags her digitally enhanced blade across the muscles and sinew of its chest. She leaps back beside Kafka as it staggers on its feet and tries to regain its footing. Kafka’s arm pulls itself up, gun in hand, and fires out a cascade of bullets that each burrow and pierce into its flesh. 

“This… seems a lot easier than it should be.” Silverwolf comments under her breath quietly. 

“Well, let’s count our blessings–” Kafka is cut off as her arm is singed by the blast of the voidranger’s fire canon. 

“Tch. Didn’t hurt.”

Silverwolf pulls out her holographic system at such speed that Kafka feels the static waft across her skin.

“Hmph, still. This combat needs optimising.” Just as the creature aims its weapon once more, it’s hit with a blast pulled from the loosened strands of reality itself. 

“At that speed? Too slow!” 

Kafka almost feels sorry for it, as she watches its body disintegrate while collapsing into itself.

Unfortunately, the girls are not left with time to bask in their victory- Silver Wolf lets out a small yelp- the entity has left its place on Kafka’s shoulders and draped itself over her companion it  would seem. Her short colleague adjusts to the sensation of its guiding hand far better than she had, if her losing conscious was anything to go by.

Kafka follows behind silently, eyes trained intently on the girl in front of her for any indication of danger.

“Hold it. Someone.. Or something is up ahead.” she warns quietly, arm extended out to her side like a makeshift barrier. They both come to a sudden halt as the entity violently rips itself from their bodies and settles just beyond their skin. 

Goosebumps this time. 

The cold seems to get worse and worse each time it separates from them… well, her. Silver Wolf grits her teeth. Kafka notes the tiny pearl of sweat rolling down the side of her face. Still a shock to the system then. 

“Looks like we’re the ones getting ambushed.”

“...But they’re the ones getting besieged.” 

✄————————————————

The game has felt pretty cool so far, and you quite like this Kafka woman. You don’t recall her being part of the main cast your friend had rambled about however many months ago it was, but you hoped you’d get to see a lot more of her. 

Her design was really nice- though strangely familiar?- and her voice was pretty too! Silver Wolf was alright, but she hadn’t really caught your interest so far, so you werent sure what to make of her yet. 

They did seem to be close though, but less like friends and more like tired workmates who’d been stuck in the same dead end job for a decade- that is to say, it definitely felt like they were used to dealing with each other’s nonsense. 

Were they a ship? You could see it. Ah, another battle, sweet!

The combat system Star Rail used wasnt particularly innovative or anything, but it’s playstyle was strangely addictive- especially the Ult animations! Kafka’s especially had you nearly squealing with how badass it was. Did the MC have a cool one too? You could hardly wait to see. 

✄————————————————

The mood is light despite the circumstances, they both feel a sense of safety and confidence while the presence pulls them along, as though leading them in a dance. The Voidranger’s movements stand out like a pindrop in an empty room. Predictable, and delectably so. 

Silver Wolf barks out a short, quick laugh- a taunting thing that aggravates the musclehead stomping around in front of her- before decapitating the creature in a single, swift move.

“You took the bait, just like that?” Her jubilance is cut short by an attack from her blindspot, it isnt fatal- hell it barely counts as a battle wound- but its enough to flip her mood in the opposite direction. “Tch.”

Kafka laughs lightly at her, amused with her momentary lapse in spacial awareness. Silver Wolf scoffs and scowls lightly at her. Really, like she hadn’t gotten hit before? 

Just as she opens her mouth to hurl a barely-an-insult-but-im-still-annoyed-with-you comment towards the magenta haired woman next to her, Kafka’s aura shifts somewhat. Time seems to slow down for a second as Silver Wolf watches the woman’s pupils dilate in slow motion. 

Had she appeared like this? When that wave of energy had swelled within her?

She receives no answer to her unvoiced question, and instead hears Kafka’s voice ring through out her ears.

“That breathing sensation. Remember it.” Silver Wolf gulps in a breath of blood-scented air and breathes out a sickly, golden-sweet taste. As Kafka’s bullets rain down upon the bodies of their would-be-ambushers she can't help but feel pure ecstasy in the moment. Truly…if this was a drug she’d be hooked like a fish to water. 

Even just being near it is enough to cloud her mind.

“Alright, now that that’s over with…” Silver Wolf’s body relaxes significantly as Kafka speaks, the strength of whatever had possessed them slowing dripping out from their bodies like tree sap. She feels like she just got a massage. 

“I could get used to that.” She isn’t sure who she’s talking to, but it feels appropriate to voice. Kafka ignores her and spins her around to face the door, and Silver Wolf seems to go into auto pilot as she unlocks the control panel blocking their path, stepping lightly as her taller colleague gently pushes her forward without a word.

 The monitoring room is completley empty. Nothing but the quiet beeping of a few monitors and the rustling of swaying leaves, courtesy of the air conditioning unit humming softly above them. 

“Huh. not a single soul here. Impressive evacuation work. Did herta organise it herself?” Kafka seems mildly impressed- and entirely unaffected by the sensation Silver Wolf is still trying to shake from her skin. 

“According to the access history, she hasnt logged in her for over six months. The evacuation was directed by the acting lead researcher - a girl named Asta.” 

“Doesn’t ring a bell. Oh, right. Elio said we wouldn’t run into herta. It seems she really isnt here.” Though something else definitely was, but Silver Wolf supposed they weren’t going to be making any conversation on that topic.

She sighs, and scrolls through her holograms nonchalantly.

“Elio’s Script doesnt include any info about the location of the stellaron. Which means in the future he foresees…”

“... we would find the stellaron in a non-physical way?” Kafka crosses her arms, easily having picked up on her train of thought and already dipping her metaphorical toes into several different plans of action. She was always efficient like that. Silver Wolf strolls over to the water cooler and pours herself a cold cup. She gestures to Kafka who only shakes her head in response.

“This space station is packed with extraordinary objects, I wouldnt be surprised if theres one that can make it happen.” She takes a long sip, the cooling sensation bringing relief to her sweltering body. The combat efficiency was nice, but she was left feeling like an overheating graphics disk everytime it took control of her. She idles on a page in her hologram briefly before continuing on her scroll-fest.

“Hiding something extraordinary with something extraordinary… this is pretty Herta. I assume you know what to do? I mean, You’ve been reading that cataogue for a while?” Ah. Perseptive as ever, Kafka never changes. She ignores the heat building in her ears at the prospect of being caught slacking-off, and bins the styrofoam cup as she turns to the older woman.

“Hmph. I’ve got all the clues we need. The only piece missing is a simple trick- maybe this entity thats been stringing us along could lend a hand? After all, it doesnt have a physical form.” 

(You didn’t expect them to involve the player like this! What an awesome storytelling device, and it would hopefully grant a lot more player agency too! Hoyoverse had truly out done themselves this time. Feeling a surge of excitement at being learning you’ll be able to lend a helping hand ‘directly’, you decide that Silver Wolf is also really cool.)

Kafka says nothing in response, only staring down at Silver Wolf in consideration.

“Why dont we have it help us investigate the terminals around here, that item we’re looking for may be inside.” The magenta haired woman only sighs, internally cursing the girl’s lack of caution. Though… she couldnt deny that it had only been helping them so far. 

“Alright, lets give it the spotlight.” 

“Oh god, I hope I don’t fuck this up…” Kafka stills. The same voice from before. So it can speak? She tucks the information away in her mind for later.

She watches it guide her along the messily arranged desks and flickering monitors. Stopping at a memory storage cart- which is, of course, missing its memory. Not useful for her current objective, but it at least told her that whatever it was could see the same things she could.

“...I cant see the memory storage for this terminal.” Her body shifts slightly.

“This is the monitoring room, the must have deleted the records and made a run for it. Classic.” Silver Wolf is still scrolling through the holographic catalogue, idling against a desk in the middle of the room. She doesn’t look up, even as Kafka is strung along past her towards a monitor on the other side of the room. 

“You don’t seem to be very affected by it? Its control over you, I mean.”

“And you? You seemed a little weary earlier.”

“I wouldn’t say that. It’s just new, thats all.”

Kafka’s hand reaches out to flick through various active surveillance cameras, interesting but ultimately fruitless. 

“Hmmm… I can see the whole space station on the surveillance screen. But not the Stellaron.” Silver Wolf scoffs indignantly behind her, she almost sounds offended.

“Even if you could it’d be a trap. Herta doesn’t display her collections.” She turns to her hologram once more.

“This thing isnt very good with investigating, is it?”

Kafka expects some form of insulted rage to squeak in her mind’s ear, but she hears nothing. Though faintly she imagines a rather adorable ‘Hey! I’m trying my best!’ echoing in her skull.

Kafka staves off the sudden urge to get defensive in response and clamps her mouth shut.

Silver Wolf sighs at her lack of response and shifts onto her feet. 

“Make your way over here then. There’s no point in trying to search like this.”

“So? Got a master plan? I’m all ears.”

Kafka’s tone takes on a slightly irritated edge, for a reason she herself doesn’t quite understand. If Silver Wolf picked up on it, she chooses not to say anything and instead gestures to the warping static of the holographic screens lining the walls of the office.

“Its a matter of hacking the surveillance system directly.” She says matter-of-factly, smirking playfully as her iconic vandalism plasters itself onto every screen in sight. 

“Aha, I see. Herta’s collections aren’t in the system so anything unaffected should be our target.”

Their heads are guided to turn and face the back of a lone monitor by the main desk. Ah. that one then. As they both stroll over to investigate, Kafka feels a strange sense of pride bubble in the back of her mind. Not for Silver Wolf’s accomplishment- that much would be expected from the shorter girl- but for the entity curling along the edge of her mind. What exactly she was supposed to be proud of she couldnt tell, but the feeling was pleasant regardless.

Silver Wolf slips into a chair and slides forward to the desk, cracking her knuckles and wiggling her fingers as she readies herself for some data mining. 

“Crude, simple, but effective. Look, found it.” The computer’s cursor circles a line of code tauntingly. Kafka doesn’t understand what any of the values mean.

“Item number two-eleven, ‘Blind Spot’ : a simple light-deflecting field. It allows an object in its field to pass unnoticed, but if a different item ceases to be obvious, the object gets revealed.” 

She isn’t sure which set of numbers.. Or letters? That item is supposed be, but it does seem like a very… uncomplicated form of security for someone like Herta. 

“So, Herta the genius… hides her collection with something as simple as this?”

“the simplest method is the hardest to spot, isnt that our motto?” 

“Huh? How is that simple?” Kafka nearly chokes on her saliva while trying to hold back a bark of laughter and wonders why she’d kept her guard up for this thing. She follows Silver Wolf towards the glitching hole in the wall and sighs bemusedly. 

“The data suggests its just an ordinary hologram. But it has an added layer… “ Silver Wolf eyes the frayed edges of the hologram cautiously, despite the confidence in her voice.

“Lets take a look. Dont worry, this place wont be our grave.” The girl only puffs her cheeks and steps forward, ignoring Kafka’s words of comfort completely. Well, she’d expected that much at least.

As she follows behind, her vision melts into a stark change of scenery. 

The bright, ethereal glow of the Stellaron coating the walls of the closed off room in a golden-blue light. A strange combination, but one that was all too familiar; the everchanging strands of reality warping and stretching around itself, as the Stellaron sat patiently- sealed away- in the center of the room. Such an otherworldly treasure was exactly what all Stellaron hunters across the universe strove for. Though admittedly it was a mere front for their true purpose, a fact that Kafka was intimately aware of. 

Their true goal would see this stellaron- sealed away, courtesy of Herta- to another use. Once said seal was removed by Silver Wolf, all Kafka would need to do was take hold of it and place it inside that vessel. 

It had been laying in wait for this exact occasion…Kafka smiles fondly at the memory of it. Silver Wolf makes a small noise of surprise, catching her attention. She steps over towards the girl and the control panel, asking a question without speaking.

“It has its own security system… I guess even for herta, a Stellaron is no ordinary rarity.” Silver Wolf sounds genuinely surprised at this fact, though Kafka feels this was a rather likely outcome.

“Can you get it?”

“Of course, even the genius Herta cant compete with me when it comes to hacking.”

“Good. Then I’ll also count on you for the preparation of the receptacle.” Not to mention, she was quite sure this being wouldn’t be able to provide much help if Silver Wolf couldn’t figure it out herself. Speak of the devil, she feels the entity waft away like smoke in the wind and settle in the air around them as she lifts the Stellaron from its prison. She turns to her Silver haired companion and unspoken words flicker between their eyes.

This is Kafka’s decision.

Or perhaps it isn’t, she corrects herself over the distant sound of Silver Wolf’s voice.

 When it enters her body, it no longer feels like being puppeteered or controlled. 

She recalls that first feeling of possession, and the bleeding darkness making way for glowing golden edges of a burnt milky way. Her mind is dipped like an apple into the thick syruppy taste of synethesia. The amber eyes of the vessel- piercing into her soul and leaving her tongue sizzling in an almost addictive sort of pain- briefly flash open before collapsing to the floor in Kafka’s arms. 

The Stellaron has found its place. And something else entirely has made its home there too.

(What an amazing tutorial and intro! You get the feeling you’ll be playing this game for a very long while!)

[genshinology]

SIMON SAYS. alhaitham

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ pairing : alhaitham x gn!reader

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ genre : borderline platonic relationship and fluff.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ word count : 0.9k

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ summary : as a professional procrastinator, alhaitham thought he needed to remind you that this bad habit of yours shouldn’t be a thing for your future assignment under his supervision.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ content : akademiya student!reader, the setting is at the library in the middle of the night, reader is alhaitham’s student/apprentice (idk anymore), nothing too vague except that alhaitham is quite bold near the end.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ notes : a lil’ something since i have TONS of assignments and i need some motivations to continue. i am fully aware that simon says is technically a children game but, i (or any other students would) just need a small push from external things HAHA. anyways, first time writing for this sumeru man!!

disclaimer: some things from the scenario aren’t aligned with the real lore alhaitham has in-game, so please, take this with a grain of salt!

“simon says do not procrastinate.”

“excuse me?” you halted whatever the things your hands were currently on, before alhaitham quietly sat in front of you, body facing directly at your side, all papers were scattered throughout the table. even when it was already dark outside, this was the consequence you had to face; staying up late to finish your report.

beside the dimmed light coming from the lantern to illuminate his strikingly built figure, one thing was clear enough to you. he was scolding you behind those childish words.

“you’re so... unbelievable,” you sighed. “if i must say so myself.”

“oh?” alhaitham seemed to find joy in your reaction. he knew that you tended to do things in the very last minutes. contrary to popular belief that alhaitham hated handling those kind of students, surprisingly, he ended up going along well with one student from that trope in the akademiya; you.

sometimes, over the past few years, he more often left with how did you even manage to enter the prestigious academy, but he saw how quick you were in doing things efficiently—now that he thought of it, it was definitely his bad to think quite lowly of you in the first place—but as someone who was quite an excellent student himself, he scared that the harsh world of knowledge at the akademiya might result in a more devastating ending for you and your study.

it just happened that alhaitham also cared about you more than he thought he would. the sheer thought of you couldn’t further your study at the akademiya gave him slight chills and fear. no, for him to see and supervise you everyday as his ‘student’, he needed to remind you that this bad habit couldn’t last long, especially when everyone around you was greedy enough to obtain new knowledge everyday.

he had already seen worst, of course he didn’t want all bad things happened to you.

“see?” he didn’t move an inch from his position, and god, he was actually distracting you. “this is what i have told you,” he tapped his index finger onto the paper you were currently writing. “—that if you actually followed my instructions and follow my guidelines, you wouldn’t be here until 4 a.m. just to end the report,” you hated how accurate he was, and you admitted that it was your fault for not listening attentively to his briefing about the year-end report he had kindly taught the format last month.

some newer students were complaining about how senior graduates weren’t that much of a help, but you, you were actually so lucky to have alhaitham as the person who took you under his wing. (of course, the first few days weren’t going well due to how you could sense his distaste about all this stupid system of senior-junior thing the akademiya recently incorporated, but literally everyone said you should be thankful to whoever that put you under one of the smartest people in the recent years of akademiya.)

“then why did you insist to join me? i know you’re exhausted and all, you scoffed. “..and it is nearing 4 a.m.” you didn’t dare to look up once again and met his orange pupils—sometimes, you shrugged off the fact that you might be crushing on him but his eyes were definitely the most beautiful ones you’d ever seen coming from someone else’s—but instead continued to pretend that you were busy thinking to form extensive sentences in your report.

“angel, you need to submit this report tomorrow, isn’t it?” you almost coughed at the sudden name he called you, and almost dropping your pen right then and there, but you fortunately knew how to contain it well and acted like you didn’t bother by how smooth the word slipped past his throat when he said that. “so, tell me, when should i check your final draft? you need to have my approval first, or the sages will come for you.”

“the most rational timing would be after i have finished my report..” you slapped away all the coming thoughts mentally when you found yourself stuck with him for the past few hours in the library and how suffocating the air was now that you just realised that he did shift his seat to see your progress clearer.

and of course, the manly heat radiating off of him was becoming more evident.

“yes,” he nodded, fully unaware at how even the closeness ticked you off so bad. you were already consumed with guilt, but your brain seemed to stop working because of him, or, because of your exhaustion state. and you needed to act out fast for this report to finish because you didn’t want to burden him with your presence or, wait, was it because you didn’t want to stay with him any longer?

“now that you figured it out,” alhaitham finally stood up straight, but your stomach ultimately dropped when he walked agonizingly slow, seemed like he didn’t feel sleepy as much as you did. “next year, for your thesis, let’s end it in a more systematic way, hm?” 

his lips brushed your flaming cheeks ever so slightly as he whispered those words, but maybe it was just your own delusional thoughts. “because angel, you seem so out of place with me all this time,” he redacted all his body away from you, but maybe you were just imagining things because of how dizzy you’d gotten. but his words made you felt like hiding underneath the table because he knew. oh, how unprofessional of you.

he knew. of course he knew all this time. about you, about the report. it was the alhaitham after all.

all rights reserved © genshinology 2022 strictly on tumblr only. any form of wrongdoings under the copyright law is strictly prohibited.

[xiaoriae]

SIMON SAYS.

— PAIRING ; alhaitham x gn!reader

— GENRE ; borderline platonic relationship and fluff.

— WORD COUNT ; 0.9k

— SUMMARY ; alhaitham thought he needed to remind you that this one bad habit of yours should not be a thing for your future assignment under his supervision.

— CONTENT ; akademiya student!reader, the setting is at the library in the middle of the night, reader is alhaitham’s student/apprentice (idk anymore), alhaitham calls reader as angel twice, nothing too vague except that alhaitham is quite bold near the end.

— NOTES ; this is a repost from my old blog! i am quite sorry if alhaitham is slightly ooc, i wrote this piece way before he was officially playable, or that i wrote this when he was like just out in the game.

disclaimer: some things from the scenario aren’t aligned with the real lore alhaitham has in-game, so please, take this with a grain of salt!

“simon says do not procrastinate.”

“excuse me?” you halted whatever things your hands were currently doing, before alhaitham quietly sat in front of you, body facing directly at your side, all papers were scattered throughout the table. even when it was already dark outside, this was the consequence you had to face; staying up late to finish your report.

beside the dimmed light coming from the lantern to illuminate his strikingly built figure, one thing was clear enough to you. he was scolding you behind those childish words.

“you’re so... unbelievable,” you sighed. “if i must say so myself.”

“oh?” alhaitham seemed to find joy in your reaction. he knew that you tended to do things in the very last minutes. contrary to popular belief that alhaitham hated handling those kind of students, surprisingly, he ended up going along well with one student from that trope in the akademiya; you.

sometimes, over the past few years, he more often left with how did you even manage to enter the prestigious academy, but he saw how quick you were in doing things efficiently at the very last few minutes—now that he thought of it, it was definitely his bad to think quite lowly of you in the first place—but as someone who was quite an excellent student himself, he scared that the harsh world of knowledge at the akademiya might result in a more devastating ending for you and your study.

it just happened that alhaitham also cared about you more than he thought he would. the sheer thought of you couldn’t further your study at the akademiya gave him slight chills and fear. no, for him to see and supervise you everyday as his ‘student’, he needed to remind you that this bad habit couldn’t last long, especially when everyone around you was greedy enough to obtain new knowledge everyday.

he had already seen worst, of course he didn’t want all bad things happened to you.

“see?” he didn’t move an inch from his position, and god, he was actually distracting you. “this is what i have told you,” he tapped his index finger onto the paper you were currently writing. “—that if you actually followed my instructions and the guidelines, you would not be here until 4 a.m. just to end the report,” you hated how accurate he was, and you admitted that it was your fault for not listening attentively to his briefing about the year-end report he had kindly taught the format last month.

some newer students were complaining about how senior graduates weren’t that much of a help, but you, you were actually so lucky to have alhaitham as the person who took you under his wing. (of course, the first few days weren’t going well due to how you could sense his distaste about all this stupid system of senior-junior thing the akademiya recently incorporated, but literally everyone said you should be thankful to whoever that put you under one of the smartest people in the recent years of akademiya.)

“then why did you insist to join me? i know you’re exhausted and all,” you scoffed. “..and it is nearing 4 a.m,” you didn’t dare to look up once again and met his orange pupils—sometimes, you shrugged off the fact that you might be crushing on him but his eyes were definitely the most beautiful ones you’d ever seen coming from someone else’s—but instead continued to pretend that you were busy thinking to form extensive sentences in your report.

“angel, you need to submit this report by tomorrow, isn’t it?” you almost coughed at the sudden name he called you, and almost dropping your pen right then and there, but you fortunately knew how to contain it well and acted like you didn’t bother by how smooth the word slipped past his throat when he said that. “so, tell me, when should i check your final draft? you need to have my approval first, or the sages will come for you.”

“the most rational timing would be after i have finished my report..” you slapped away all the coming thoughts mentally when you found yourself stuck with him for the past few hours in the library and how suffocating the air was now that you just realised that he did shift his seat to see your progress clearer.

and of course, the manly heat radiating off of him was becoming more evident.

“yes,” he nodded, fully unaware at how even the closeness ticked you off so bad. you were already consumed with guilt, but your brain seemed to stop working because of him, or, because of your exhaustion state. and you needed to act out fast for this report to finish because you didn’t want to burden him with your presence or, wait, was it because you didn’t want to stay with him any longer?

“now that you figured it out,” alhaitham finally stood up straight, but your stomach ultimately dropped when he walked agonizingly slow, seemed like he didn’t feel sleepy as much as you did. “next year, for your thesis, let’s end it in a more systematic way, hm?” 

his lips brushed your flaming cheeks ever so slightly as he whispered those words, but maybe it was just your own illogical thoughts. “because angel, you seem so out of place with me all this time,” he redacted his body away from you, but maybe you were just imagining things because of how dizzy you’d gotten. but his words made you felt like hiding underneath the table because he knew. oh, how unprofessional of you.

he knew. of course he knew all this time. about you, and the report. it was the alhaitham after all.

all rights reserved © berrywoo 2023 strictly on tumblr only. any form of wrongdoings under the copyright law is strictly prohibited.

[tkblythofficial]

hello, tarot red here. i find funny that everyone says poor T when i find him a little bit annoying when i read him lmaooo. like his almost in his 30s and he’s so avoidant and immature at least to me. he runs away from things. like i understand R if she doesn’t want to be involved with him bc from what i’ve seen on the readings she thinks he is a red flag, she’s just following her intuition (might be right? who knows).

R feels normal for her age, she’s 22. she has a lot of things to learn and she seems to be dramatic, yes, but i also think she’s very smart (at least emotionally). she has been hurt a lot in the past and has always felt rejected by other people, like they think she’s too much. so she feels real bad and self conscious about it. i think some of you see her as immature or intense bc she isn’t doing what you want her to do. she’s in love with that other man (sadly, he sucks) and she’s doing everything to keep that relationship. i think she’s the type of person that dates to marry, very serious and doesn’t give her energy and time to everyone. while T seems a little bit hoeish. so that’s a red flag. i don’t think he wants serious commitment for now. and she does. so they don’t want the same. that’s why for now i don’t see something going on or happening between them. they don’t have the same goals at all, besides career i think.

this is what i’ve seen while doing readings. i think R seems to be a serious person when she’s in love and T doesn’t seem to be like that, he gives his energy to everyone. so yeah. remember to take everything with a grain of salt lol <3

BOOOO!

Jk jk! Hello Tarot Red :) missed you!

Tarot 2.0 feels the same way about him lowkey which is why Zeglyth shouldn’t be together now. I don’t think he takes BB seriously. If Zeglyth dated, he would have no choice but to take R seriously because of the reasons you listed. To me that’s why he runs away from her because he doesn’t want a serious commitment now.

I have to disagree with you on her maturity. I think she’s very mature except for when it comes to relationships. She was the smartest on the cast imo during interviews and I loved her analysis on Lucy Gray/THG. And she is very intense lol. It has nothing to do with her immaturity though. She’s just a theater kid and is very passionate which can be scary and a major turn off to people. Not saying to be mean or cruel but it’s true. I also think that’s why J tunes her out sometimes.

T does have flirty energy but I genuinely think he’s nice to everyone. If he was more a hoe, he could have went after Ashley L but *shrugs*

Thanks for sharing :)

[welcome-to-green-hills]

Hey mystery I have a question. While trapped in the tube frozen, do you think that Shadow could dream or anything? Do you think that he had a level of awareness of what was going on? Asking for research for a fanfic I’m writing. Also, you’re the smartest person I know so I wanted to ask.

Hello, my dear!❤️✨

This is a very interesting question. To be honest, I feel that it really depends on Shadow’s situation. I’m not entirely sure as to what direction you’re writing Shadow’s experience in for your project. (When you’ve finished, please send it to me. I wanna read it). It kinda factors into what answer I give you in the long run. For this ask, I feel that it would be safer to supply more than one potential scenario so that you have that information in hand.

Let’s make a little disclaimer first: most of what I’m sharing with you are hypothetical scenarios. As much as I would love to delve deep into this topic, I find that my answers might be… hmm… taken with a grain of salt. I express this because this is a developing field. There either isn’t much research to it, or existing case studies haven’t been updated since the early-to-mid 2000’s. Research of the topic barely have much to contribute to it for multiple reasons (I.E., finding volunteers, researchers, funding. You know, fun stuff). While these ideas and concepts are fantastic, the best I can offer are educated guessed with some research that brings some support to a claim.

It’s also important to keep in mind that this is a fictional character. Not everything needs a scientific explanation. Sometimes it’s just fun to bend the rules a little bit and let your imagination run wild! You can take all of my ideas to heart and use them, or you can throw them away in the trash. It’s not gonna hurt my feelings, Let Shadow be whatever you want him to be in your project, okay?

Alright, now for the fun stuff. Here we go!

What is REM Sleep?

To put simply, REM (rapid eye movement) sleep is the state of consciousness in which an individual experiences low function of the body to gain full rest. This is the state of sleep in which people experience dreams from as well. With this rapid eye movement, we can infer that a person is engaging with either a memory or a dream! It’s a form of memory that allows an individual to remember muscle spasms, movements, sights, smells, sounds, etc., and process nearly everything that was absorbed through an engaging environment (NSF, 2020). REM sleep play a crucial part in development of the mind. Having that down time to experience dreams and memories allows for a sense of mental and emotional maturity of past/current situations.

Infant-Like Slumber:

If the question in mind is geared towards him being created, then possibly? More than likely not. We run into a couple of problems when exploring this topic:

A). We don’t have enough information on fetal and infant development to make a logical conclusion.

B). We don’t have enough technological advances and volunteers to make this happen.

The best that I could describe is this: he would have lots of muscle spasms, but he’s dream with select sound and no pictures. His form of “dreaming” would be sensory-based and how he engaged with his environment. “Environment” being him in his stasis pod. This is the same way that newborn infants engage with their REM sleep (American Institute of Physics, 2009).

Let’s create a hypothetical scenario for you here: If Shadow’s stasis pod was built to be interactive, then I think that he would be able to hear and sense touch pretty well! His little pod could allow him to hear Maria, Gerald, and all of the other scientists in the lab while he’s still “cooking.” If touch was implied as well, then he could reflect on that physical contact. It could help create an emotional connection and recognition of safety establish with everyone even before opening his eyes (Harmon, 2010). Anthropologist like myself make it a point to share that physical touch is important through cultural and social teachings. When I mean “physical touch,” I mean along the lines of hand holding, high five, hugging, kissing, anything! Not only does it help create of safety and familiarity, it helps individuals recognize and distinguish people to form inner circles. Individuals need physical touch for emotional development and a boost in physiological development (Cekaite et Al., 2011).

Again, this is hypothetical scenario. I did not find any indication through Gerald’s journals (SA2, Sonic Battles), Rouge’s field report, and trivia from his creators on Twitter that he was able to hear things around him while he was in his stasis pod.

Cryogenic Hypothesis:

Cryogenically freezing—otherwise known as Cryopreservation—is another iffy scenario to explore as well. Traditionally, cryogenically suspended individuals are deceased… and have bee deceased for mere minutes. Cryopreservation is not flash freezing an individual like a popsicle, these are individuals that are kept in a temperature controlled environment for extended periods of time in a liquid nitrogen temperature (Paulo, 2012).

This is a topic in the scientific community that is considered a bit controversial. Some believe that it can be real and life saving, others believe that it’s completely a pseudoscience. And then there’s a small cluster of scientists who don’t really have an opinion on it because there isn’t a lot of information on it. If there was more funding and willingness to explore this topic, then sure! I’m positive that there will be more researchers out there that would like to explore cryopreservation on human and their mental state more.

What I can tell you is that there can’t be any form of dreaming in cryopreservation. There would be cellular damage. There isn’t a trace of brainwave activity that could display REM from cryopreservation individuals. This would not be plausible for Shadow if you’d like for him to dream in your fanfic.

Comatose Hypothesis:

My final thought would be to portray him as if he were in a coma-like state for there to be a form of dreaming.

Medical research has strongly indicated that a patient’s brain does not show signs of normal sleep and wakefulness cycles, meaning that they more than likely cannot dream in a coma (Blackburn, 2023). However, it depends on the state in which the coma is caused (I.E., if the visual context of the brain is damaged or medically induced to help patients heal). Some patients that have awaken from their comas shared that they’ve felt as if they were in a dream-like state/nightmare loop. J. Schradar, a psychologist reporter for Psychology Today, shared that when she was in a coma it felt as if she viewed “memories upon memories and violently ripped away from them (Schradar, 2021).

It’s like being trapped in a maze with fuzzy feelings. You’re aware that you lived a life, but you can’t make out what you did and what happened. There would be speech and compression problems with retaining new memory. We do know that coma patients can respond to select sound as well (Blackburn, 2023). As stated in a previous section, sound plays a vital role in creating a memory. With sound—as well as following under the idea that Shadow’s in the process of being sealed away by GUN after the raid on the ARK—Shadow can build upon that and form dreams. He can form memories and emotional responses to them.

Discussion:

We know that Shadow was created with the intentions of being a cure for illness, as well as a cure for immortality (Sonic Heroes game manual). However, there are some limitations. We don’t know the true extent of his immortality. He could easily die depending on the extremity of the situation. All that we know about our ageless hedgehog-alien hybrid is that he’s got kickass air shoes and a sense of immortality.

I am much more inclined to believe that Shadow was put into an induced coma before being sealed away. Dreams and memories that Shadow had experienced in the past are behind metaphorical doors and locked away. His subconscious walks around through an endless maze of distorted images of what he engaged with in the past. He—supposedly—can hear sounds, but we’re not entirely certain of his surroundings and mental state of mind. He could absolutely have an idea of him being trapped in the fog of his mind. The only thing that he could do is relive memories of the past and be haunted by nightmares. I’m also willing to believe that he had a state of conscious (to a certain degree) while being created aboard the ARK. We’ve seen through the games that each time Shadow awakens from stasis, he already has a knowing. He displays the ability to react quickly and speak by the time his eyes open. He already has a stream of consciousness.

I feel that either of these would be an interesting approach to your personal project to explore. I’d like to share one more with you for your story. One that is a bit more of a stretch, but would be interesting to explore.

As soon as Shadow awakens by Dr. Robotnik in SA2, Shadow says the line “my name is Shadow. Since you’ve been so kind as to release me, my master, I will grant you ONE wish.” I feel that this line has a lot more meaning to it than what fans give it credit for. I don’t believe that this line was put in the game for the sake of the scene being cool and relatively cheesy. Of all the things that Shadow could have said when he was awaken, why that line? I feel that this particular line strengthens the idea that Shadow had dreams as if he were in a coma-like state. This one line could indicate that he just awoke from a revisited memory of him and Maria having philosophical talks about fulfilling their wish to go to Earth. This one line foreshadows that both Shadow and Maria had wishes. And maybe, just maybe, that would be his “dream.”

Anyways. I hope that this helps with your research for your fanfic. These are my thoughts on the subject. I’ve made sure to put sources to my thoughts for you to read further if you’re interested. Again, you don’t have to use these ideas if you don’t want to, or you can 100% use them to your full advantage. I don’t necessarily believe that we’re supposed to be thinking that hard when it comes to Shadow being awaken from his 50+ year sleep, but I can completely understand the need to question. If you have any further questions or thoughts, please feel free to ask! I’m more than happy to help! Best wishes❤️✨

[thehollowprince]

I'd like your thoughts on the casting of Victor von Doom as a variant of Tony Stark. It is actually sort of brilliant, in my opinion. The way that the MCU characterized Tony, he was not that far from Doom's incredible ego, his rejection of boundaries, and his overwhelming desire to be the smartest man in the room. Without Yinsen, a Tony who survived the Ten Rings would be ... Victor Von Doom.

Is that the plan? That Doom is a variant of Tony Stark? Or is RDJ just playing a variant of Doom from one of these divergent timelines? I fully admit that I didn't watch the panel and only saw a quick video of many "Dooms" on stage before the mask came off to reveal RDJ.

I also admit that I got swept up in my own immediate knee-jerk reaction to seeing him in the MCU again that I never stopped to consider the angle that you mentioned, how the only difference between how Tony was presented in the MCU from who we know Doom to be was the fact that the former was forced to face the consequences of his actions. It could be done really well if effort was put into it to tell a convincing story that sometimes the difference between being a hero and being a villain is just one small moment. Had their roles been reversed in the comics, say switched at birth or something, would Doom be the heroic Iron Man and Stark be the tyrannical king of Latveria? There is a good concept there.

That being said, this is the MCU, and I don't have much faith they'll be able to pull something like that off. This, at least to me, comes off as more of a publicity stunt. Something to pull crowds back in because the MCU isn't doing as well as it used to, so they bring back their "star player" to reinvigorate the franchise.

This has massive potential, but they'll squander it to simply create Tony Statk, but more morally ambiguous if not outright evil.

Disclaimer, of course, but have been known to be a bit of a "Negative Nathan", so please take my opinion with a grain of salt. Maybe they'll prove me wrong, and I'm just being pessimistic. Only time will tell.

Closing note, as a massive fan of Marvel Comics, even if not a big fan of Doom himself, I'm not crazy about them once again casting a white actor to play a character of color. It's 2024, and despite people making a big (rightful) stink over studios casting white people to play characters of color, I can already see how this one will be illicit nothing but a few grumbles from the wider fandom.

[purrincess-chat]

I must admit that the idea of prpr is so deeply ingrained in the fandom culture that it's hard to give up on it. I saw lots of old fanarts of Adrienette, and they all are supposed to be post-reveal. I remember reading a reddit post saying that Adrienette basically cannot happen pre-reveal. Even when S5 has started airing, fans speculated that if they dated pre-reveal, there wouldn't be more than one date, and then they would inevitably break up. I think those who are upset about pre-reveal Adrienette, are mostly upset about the fact that they couldn't foresee that.

I've talked about this a little before, but fandom is a double edged sword. It's perfectly fine to speculate about what you think is going to happen or to come up with headcanons or AUs or silly ideas that are fun, but that's all they are. Speculation and fun. You have to draw a line between canon and fanon and also recognize that all of these analysis posts (even mine) while they may sound smart and true, we are all operating off of limited information, and therefore none of our takes are 100% accurate. People get stuff wrong all the time because new episodes come out that completely change the game. The analysis I wrote yesterday could be completely uprooted by a single episode if canon so decided. That's why I tell people to take everything you read in fandom with a grain of salt. Because even the "smartest" and most well thought out takes can be wrong because we don't have all of the episodes. I'm not an authority on this show by any means, nor is any other fan. Even the fans that got hired by Zag aren't privy to every single detail about the show. They know what they're told, and even then, stuff can change last minute. It's fine to speculate about what we think is going to happen, but if we're wrong, that's not canon's fault.

And look, prpr is a fun idea in fanon, but I never foresaw it being canon. Look at the what if episodes, those two jumped immediately to being a couple, so I never had a reason to think the actual reveal would be any different. The thing about building up these fanon ideas in your head is it sets an unrealistic expectation for canon, and you're setting yourself up for disappointment. You have to separate the two. Keep fanon in fandom, and let canon tell the story it intends to. Because the thing is, we aren't the ones in the writing room. We don't know all of their plans or what things need to happen in order for the plot to work. We can speculate all day long based on the little clues we have, but canon can still throw a curve ball. I mean, after the s4 finale, did we expect to get reverse love square and canon Adrinette midway through s5? Clearly not 😂 But here we are. Canon is going to do what canon is going to do whether we like it or not. It's fine to not particularly like some decisions canon makes, everyone has preferences, but to say canon is ruined or bad or should have done some popular fan idea instead is not only entitled behavior it's also childish lol. Canon is ruined for you. And that's fine. But it doesn't mean canon is inherently bad just because you didn't care for the direction it's going in. A lot of people would do well to remember they are one person, and no one is making them watch. If they don't like canon anymore, don't watch it anymore. 🤷‍♀️ As some have pointed out, there are tons of shows that do high school romance better, so go watch one of those.

Idk, I think people are crossing too many lines and blurring fanon with canon. Fan ideas are meant to be fun for fans, not to influence and predict canon. If something makes it into the show or we guess something correctly, great, but that's not guaranteed or owed to us. There also isn't a rule that says if canon contradicts your fan idea that you have to stop doing it in fandom? Fans can still write, draw, and make headcanons for prpr or romantic LadyNoir if they want, but like it or not, Adrinette is still canon, yall. Even all the way up to episode 20, and I doubt it's going to change in the last few episodes. Get used to it. Or go watch something else idc 🤷‍♀️

[hashtagloveloses]

Hi! I figured this was more practical to ask on Tumblr in case you wanted to go off, but on your twitter you mentioned that you disagreed with the way the Death Note musical changed the politics of the original, and I'll admit I didn't really notice it since I was busy being enthralled by the performance of Rem's actress, but since you often have really good takes, I was wondering if you'd be okay with elaborating on this? I hope it's okay to ask, please and thank you!

ok so take this with a grain of salt bc it has been a VERY long time since i watched death note but the TLDR is that light is very much libertarian incel pilled. he's like oh yes i am doing good! yes i am!! but he's like when someone thinks they are so far to the left that they're actually just on the right. but worse. would become a dictator if he could. bc he's an antihero. he's not supposed to be seen as sympathetic he's a warning of if that kind of person gained that kind of power and thought they could play god and play at justice you know?

but the american musical version makes him distinctly anticapitalist, even leftist leaning, which i guess mainstream american media sees as "bad" and "radical". they are two very different light yagamis!!! and i guess bc his main "antagonists" are the police, an american adaptation would put him against the police state, but light is never concerned with that in the way that say, like the punisher would be. the punisher hates the system that created him. he fucking hates cops and the military and shit. light yagami thinks he's GOD and is the smartest little shit on the planet. one could argue his character is kind of like an anakin skywalker, an analysis of what happens when young men are radicalized to do terrible things out of a genuine but twisted desire to do good, and how they are both victims and perpetrators. but the american musical doesnt have any of this nuance and is like "see!! he's against corporations!!"

*** please take a lot of this with a grain of salt bc it's been a very long time since i've listened to the death note musical in full and also watched the show (and i never read the manga only read about it), so correct me if i am wrong

[whoopsieintheuniverse]

Dinner or Disaster?

Illumi x Reader (part 3)

AN: ITS HERE! It’s finally here and hopefully it won’t take me that long to update ever again. Also, I tried my best to really capture the emotional whiplash the Zoldycks undoubtedly put each other and and outsiders through, and it was really fun. Hope yall enjoy it. 

Silva drummed his fingers on his lap. In front of him stood his wife, Kikyo, in her usual huffed up state. By her side clung Kalluto, and Silva made a point of darting his eyes in greeting to his youngest. Kalluto seemed off put by his father’s action, and quickly averted his eyes to the floor. 

‘Need to do better about that,’ Silva thought to himself. 

“Honestly, Silva! It’s ridiculous! Do you even hear me?” Kikyo squawked above Silva’s head, drawing him back to the “discussion” at hand. 

“Yes, Kikyo. I hear you.” 

“Then intervene! This is completely unacceptable! First, I just thought it was simple infatuation, an innocent little thing that all boys do, but now? It’s gotten out of hand! Our son, Silva, with a member of the help!” Kikyo was all but yelling, cheeks puffed and red. 

Silva sighed and stretched out his arms before placing them on his head. Kalluto peeked from behind his mother, tilting his head at the gesture he had only seen Killua do. He cracked a small smile at his father’s reclining figure. Silva cut his eyes to the side, making eye contact with his son again. Kalluto tilted his head, wanting to speak, only to be cut off by his mother again.  

“Silva!” Kikyo stomped her foot. “That is it. I want to meet them. Y/N wants to be a part of the family, so be it! We’re having a family dinner tonight.” 

“Now Kikyo, are you sure about this? It might not be the smartest-” Silva was cut off by the thwack of his wife’s fan splaying out in front of her face. Silva watched as Kikyo turned on her heel and scooped up Kalluto all at once, exiting the room. 

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Illumi swore he would never give himself over to anger, but now, he felt his blood start to boil. Silva looked at his son and down at his father, who wanted to be present when Silva gave his son the news of his mother’s decision. 

“Illumi. You seem...tense. Surely you’re not stressed over dinner,” Zeno said. Illumi cut his eyes at his grandfather, who chuckled in response. 

“Now Dad, give him a break. I’m not so sure about this either,” Silva rumbled behind them. The three men were sitting at the dining room table, waiting for the rest of the family to arrive. 

“You have told Y/N, correct?” Silva asked Illumi. Illumi nodded. 

“They weren’t amused. I’m not amused either,” Illumi said. 

“Oh, now what’s the trouble? I’m excited for the opportunity to meet whoever’s had the luck to be inducted into the family next,” Zeno said. Silva looked down at his father and rolled his eyes. 

“Take what he’s saying with a grain of salt, Illumi,” Silva said. Suddenly, the door to the room creaked open, drawing the attention of the men. 

“I’m terribly sorry!” Y/N bowed low and averted their eyes from the three Zoldycks. A scoff was heard from Illumi and his chair scraped against the floor as he stood. 

“I’ve already told you, stop that. Stand up straight,” Illumi said. Zeno chuckled as Illumi grabbed Y/N by the arm and sat her down at the table. Y/N shifted in their seat as Silva and Zeno’s eyes bored down at them. 

“So you’re the one stirring up all this commotion in the family, hm? I’ve seen you around the grounds, haven’t I?” Zeno asked. 

Y/N nodded. 

“Yes sir. I’ve worked on the estate for a short time now.” 

“You know, we don’t let our butlers have personal relationships,” Silva rumbled. Y/N closed their eyes as the weight of that rule came crashing down on them again.

 Illumi huffed. 

“I’ve already told you all. Y/N’s contract has been terminated. Their contract was terminated once I decided I wanted to court them. It’s simple,” Illumi said. Y/N looked over at Illumi, who had his arms crossed. Silence fell over the room, only to be broken by Zeno’s cackle. 

“Well, isn’t this grand? Tell me, Y/N, is it? Do you think you’re ready to join the family? I don’t think you will be after this dinner,” Zeno said. 

Y/N sighed. 

“I think that this whole chain of events is a bit asinine, but I don’t have much of a choice, do I?” Y/N crossed their arms. Silva’s eyes glinted from Illumi to Y/N in amusement, and Zeno cackled again. 

“I think I like you already,” the old man said. Suddenly, the door leading to the kitchen slammed open, revealing a slightly stressed butler. 

“The lady of the house is here. Dinner will start momentarily.” 

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Y/N shifted in their seat, listening to silverware clang against priceless plates. Silva was seated at the head of the table, with Zeno on his left. Then Milluki, and across from Milluki sat Kalluto. On Silva’s right sat Kikyo. Y/N felt the light of Kikyo’s visor bore into their forehead. 

‘If looks could kill,’ Y/N thought. ‘I’d be face down in the appetizer.’ 

Illumi seemed to sense Y/N’s discomfort. Y/N felt a graze on their thigh, but when they turned their head to look at Illumi, they were met with a stony expression. 

“Y/N,” Kikyo said. 

At once, Y/N sat up straight. They turned their attention to the matriarch, and the rest of the table turned their attention to Y/N. 

“So. What are you after?” 

Y/N blanched. Zeno started to chuckle into his soup.

“I’m sorry ma’am, I don-”

“Don’t be silly,  of course you know what I’m talking about! What do you want? Power, money? What is it? Were you not satisfied being a member of the help? Had to get ahead, didn’t you?” Kikyo questioned. Y/N looked around the room for help. Zeno was extremely amused, and Silva seemed used to his wife’s antics. Milluki was scrolling on his phone and poor Kalluto was staring wide-eyed ahead of him. 

“With all due respect, Mistress Zoldyck, I’m not after anything. In fact, if I may say, Illumi pursued me,” Y/N explained. 

That did it. 

Kikyo squawked and stood, knocking a glass of wine over. Silva started to pat his father on the back, as Zeno laughed and subsequently snorted up his soup down into his lungs. Kalluto was now hurriedly trying to eat his meal, and judging from the light on the back of his phone, Milluki had started to record the situation. 

“Illumi! What is the meaning of this? Were the suitors I personally picked out not good enough?” 

“No,” Illumi said. Kikyo all but wailed. 

“What are you trying to do to this family? Our bloodline? Illumi, haven’t I raised you better than this?” 

Y/N looked at Illumi, who was slowly chewing on a piece of steak. Illumi slid his eyes back to Y/N, and once again, Y/N felt a hand graze their thigh. 

“Mother, you and Father have raised us to trust our instincts since birth. My instincts told me that it would be in my best interests to court and marry Y/N. There is a list of reasons as to why we are compatible, and that is the trajectory I am on,” Illumi said. 

The silence in the room was deafening. Y/N gasped as Kikyo started to sniff. 

“Oh, my boy! How far you’ve come. Just a model of what a man and a Zoldyck should be! I’m so proud of you!” Kikyo said. 

Y/N’s head started to pound, and the headache was exacerbated as Kikyo turned her attention back to them. 

“You should be honored. Overjoyed, even! We’ll start planning the wedding at once, and I’ll be conducting some of my own tests to make sure you don’t shame us, do you understand?” Kikyo said. Y/n nodded vigorously. Their eyes caught another butler, who was wheeling in the next course from the kitchen. 

When no one moved, Kikyo huffed once again. 

“Well? What are you all gawking at? Dig in!” 

Part Four: complicated-conversation

Enjoy my work? Consider supporting me on ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/whoopsieintheuniverse

[titan-fodder]

this writing talk reminded me of a while back when you answered an ask asking for tips for new writers and you mentioned if the anon wanted technical tips instead of general ones to send another ask

well i'm not that anon but would love to hear about that if you have the time

hooo, i remember that.

so, keep in mind, i am by no means a professional. i've been writing for a stupid long time, yeah, but i've never had any formal training. like, i took one creative writing class, but COVID hit right in the middle of it, and we just didn't get everything out of it that we could have.

so i will do my best, but remember when writing fiction, it's up to you. things differ from one style to another (and also from one language to another).

like the advice ask you mentioned, a lot of this is still personal preference, things that make reading easier for me. so, take it with a grain of salt.

just off the top of my head...

*clears throat*

1) check for grammar. make sure you're using the right words (your/you're, lose/loose, there/their/they're, etc.). Not everyone will notice, but many, many people will.

2) the comma dilemma: too many or not enough? i, myself, am a little comma happy, ngl. obviously i use them to separate clauses or whatever (___ never was the smartest, but he wasn't nearly as dumb as everyone believed him to be.) i try to remember the other rules as best i can (like, if you start a sentence with if and hit the end of that first clause, you're supposed to separate dependent from independent. (it doesn't work the opposite way 'cause english is dumb). but, i sprinkle them in other places too. if I'm not using commas, then I'm using...

3) the em dash. — one of my favorite games to play with myself is "how many em dashes can mel fit in one story?" i'm about to expose myself, but i just looked it up, and Prima Vista has nearly 500 of them. i mean, it's 95k words, but still. it's fucking excessive. but i love them so much! i use them in dialogue more than anything because, in my opinion, it makes conversation seem more realistic. people often cut others off or even cut themselves off. they suddenly have a new train of thought. people don't talk like robots (most of the time). i try to make dialogue sound as real as i can, and my little em dashes help me with that. they can also replace commas, colons, and semicolons, so yeah. handy little fuckers.

4) it's okay to use fragments sometimes (in fiction anyway. i do not recommend you do this in academic writing). some lines just need to be delivered by themselves to drive the point home. fuck, give it an entirely new paragraph if you need to.

... of course he’d recognize it.

Recognize you.

kinda like that. just oof. right there. hard to miss. don't make your entire story like this unless it's, like, a stylistic choice in which case, uh, more power to you.

5) start. a. new. paragraph. whenever. someone. new. starts. talking. that's it. that's the tip.

6) this last one is 100% preference! i'm only putting this here because i know there are some other people who feel the same, but a lot of people will completely disagree!

try to break things up a little. i personally find it hard to read a piece that has no dialogue, that's just complete description. again, some people really like it, but i lose interest if something is, like, way way too flowery. on that same note, i don't recommend writing a piece that's entirely dialogue because that also gets tiresome. just find a nice balance. my friend lauren (@pleasantanathema is incredible at writing beautiful paragraphs of imagery then sprinkling in just enough dialogue to really push the scene forward. love it).

and uh, yeah! that's all i got right now. i'm gonna reiterate once more because i have not forgotten the butthead who called me an elitist for being a picky reader a while ago—these aren't rules. you can absolutely ignore them if you don't vibe with them. it's just what i like to see in stories, what makes it easier to digest in my opinion.

hope this helped some.

[soyouareandrewdobson]

The good, the bad and... SYAC: The Master Review 3

Not gonna lie, writing out this and the next part of my Master Review was more of a chore than the one before or even after (yes, certain later parts are almost wrapped up)

The reason is, that as of now the only thing I can really talk about is the quality of the average SYAC strip pre-Dobbear and quite frankly, most of them are just rather dull in one way or another.

See, here is the thing with Andrew Dobson in general: When you ignore his opinions outside of comics and assume that his works are not meant to be on a level equal to certain professional work, his stuff is rather harmless and to a certain extend enjoyable.

For example, I think Formera is in terms of pacing all over the place and Alex is “at best” on the same level as Garfield in terms of depth. Which would be okay if you look for something shallow to just distract yourself from boredom.

In fact, I find Formera, despite its flaws and blatant rip off of “wacky” anime aesthetics, rather admirable in a way.

But then you remember, that Dobson is a professionally trained comic artist and animator who aspired to be published at least in the same way as “Cleopatra in Space” or “Hilda”, while also throwing shade at many professionally released works and those behind it, as if to imply he is better than them.

So with that in mind and his art at display, his work gets obviously judged on another level than certain other stuff online would likely be judged.

For example, as far as things go, this strip would be “passable” as a stupid joke that references Inspector Gadget, if just drawn by some hobby artist.

But as something from a “professional”? It’s rather underwhelming, even in something that is not meant to be the biggest selling point of him at the time it came out (serious sidenote: SYAC was essentially just a side project next to Alex ze Pirate and Dobson doing comics in collaboration with Brentalfloss. It was only after the collaboration ended and Dobson essentially put Formera and Alex into indefinite hiatus, that SYAC became his main comic)

It also doesn’t help (and sorry for repeating myself) that as far as his intentions go to make a comic about “silly problems” cartoonists face in creating their work, it still is filled with strips like these

Like, what is the point of a comic showing you as a kid getting scared by the intro tune to the Ghostbusters theme on a shitty computer game? The only thing I can think of when it comes to the “magical changing tv” is that your lol face looks stupid and slightly punchable (like your cheeks are falling in) and what the joke about the Minecraft comic is supposed to be I have no freaking idea. I know that those green penises tend to explode, but what does that have to do with making a comic?

Now to be fair, there are some comics about the subject of creating comics…

And Dobson even has done some “tutorials” and q&a to teach people about his comic creating process.

Tutorials whose advice I myself can not really judge, because frankly I am not an artist myself. I judge Dobson’s strips/comics primarily on execution of jokes, writing and intend. And frankly, as long as the final result looks good, I myself do not really care how it is achieved. The problem is, that the final results just tends to look kinda like this on average, so…

Yeah. And don’t get me even started on his “advice” to writing

 As such, I would take ANY art advice by Dobson with a huge grain of salt

 That said, I will give Dobson the following: This q&a strip here e.g. where he more or less talks about the nature of backgrounds in what seems to be a way more sincere tone than I see in his stuff on average?

I think it is kinda adorable and shows that he actually can draw more than just a self insert in front of a green void, if he just wants to.

Plus, I think there are actually some solid strips in SYAC. Not artistically, but I will admit that strips like this

This…

And these…

182, 118 and 119, 120

 And these...

Are actually kinda fitting and situations I can imagine people to deal with when creating a comic. To me they are relatable, and the later got a chuckle out of me.

 Even some strips of Dobson’s persona just at his booth or having his own “hilarious” moments in life are at least passable to some degree.

So shock of all shocks, not everything about SYAC, even at that time in Dobson’s life, was that bad. Like I give him credit, at least once upon a time he was able to make fun of himself…

Heck, I give that copy pasta comic at least that as obvious as the joke is, it is a bit clever. Not the smartest joke, but it could be worse. At least here Dobson kinda admits he will do copy paste. Unlike when he whines about “sexist crap”

 But then there are certain strips that at least are worth to raise an eyebrow. Like the anime related strips in the previous post or this bizarre confession in relation to one of his q&As.

Okay, I was thankfully saved from ever watching the atrocity known as Barney, so just let me check on google who the heck Baby Bop is to understand what… oh. And he drew artwork of Barney killing her. … that sounds kinda worrysome.

Then there is how Dobson e.g. decided to “address” his infamy regarding his opinion on Zelda-Ocarina of Time…

“hich involves a critic of his being portrayed as an ugly basement dweller. Or this comic, which got rather infamous once it got linked to Brianna Wu and Dobson would most likely want to forget nowadays, as it portrays him, the ally of the LGBT community as someone who actually is rather freaked out at men comfortable with a more feminine side/attire.

So now we have more or less covered some good and some bad ones. But what about the “ugly” ones? Yeah, that is going to be a quick skim through the archives with showing some strips that are going to stand out, because they give a first insight in how Dobson deals with criticism, perceives people (or rather stand ins for them) and their opinions, as well as how he tries and fails to catch up on certain trends.

[minshinxx]

Sorry if this is a bad question or if you don’t know but when Scott was talking abt mcc 15 and saying only certain ppl could stream was there more info on that? It was vague on the mcc updates acc but do you think that means they’re trying to have only lgbtq+ ccs streaming or am I getting something wrong? Again sorry if this was a dumb question and I know you probably don’t know any more than I do lol but I was wondering if that was clarified on stream

you’re good don’t worry! And you’re right, i don’t know much more so i can only speculate :/

From what i could gather noxcrew is gonna partner with youtube gaming for mcc 15 because scott mentioned he was gonna stream from the mcc youtube channel for that. So if they partnered with youtube i’m pretty sure that would mean mcc 15 can only be broadcasted on youtube. Many twitch partners, which are most of the minecraft streamers we watch, have an exclusivity contract with twitch that prohibits them from streaming on rival platforms (not all of them tho, some have their contract altered a little so they’re still allowed to stream elsewhere) while twitch affiliates (dream for example) can still stream freely as long as the same content has not been shown on twitch in the last 24 hours !!

It could also be, as you mentioned, that only lgbtq+ streamers are gonna stream the event. If i’m being honest, i didn’t even think of that because i was busy thinking who i was gonna watch if dream wasn’t gonna stream oops 😬 It would make sense that only lgbtq+ streamers stream a pride themed mcc, that’s true. But i’m not sure if that would be the smartest move especially if there’s a chance techno and/or dream could stream on youtube, because i can imagine many people exclusively watch them and would not be convinced to watch someone else :/ like, i want more lgbtq+ streamers to be promoted of course but i’m not sure if it would make sense that way :( and mcc will raise money for the trevor project, so i’m sure they would like as many people to watch the event as possible

Also scott mentioned there’s gonna be some well-known faces for mcc 15. They’re gonna be one-timers so i can imagine youtube gaming may or may not put up some HUGE personalities. I think mcc’s probably gonna look quite different for june. I’ve seen some very mixed opinions on twitter about this, because so many of the normal participants are not gonna be able to stream it. But honestly, i think a huge chunk might not even participate for mcc 15 at all because we already know that there’s gonna be around 10-15 one-timers, so if they keep the 10 teams (which they most likely will because otherwise the event would have to be recoded which is way too time consuming) we’re only going to see 25-30 of the usual players. A good point i’ve seen as well is that it’s kinda wack that the sadly already pretty small amount of lgbtq+ twitch streamers are not gonna be able to stream this, so it feels kinda counter-productive. 

I’m pretty sure the reason so many people will not be able to stream is gonna be the fact that it will be partnered with youtube for that specific mcc but who knows

All of this is just speculation on my part btw, please take all of that with a grain of salt. I could literally be absolutely wrong lmao

[otonymous]

We all know all the MLQC guys radiate BDE (big dick energy lmao). Ranked from the otome games you played, top 5 BIGGEST BDE? LOL

First of all, a giant thank you to @lin-ful​! 💖 I know I can always count on you to ask the really important questions in life 🙌🏼🤣This somehow turned out to be a lot longer than I intended, but I guess that’s what happens when the thirst is real LOL.

To start, let’s delve into an exploration of what Big Dick Energy (BDE) actually is.  According to an article in Vox*, BDE is “the self-confidence to know that a colossal endowment isn’t a measurement of one’s value…(it may) stem from having a literal BD, but it’s not dependent upon any sort of genitalia.  And in fact, perhaps the epitome of BDE is the complete security of not needing other people’s benchmarks — wealth, intelligence, beauty, or a BD — to know one’s own worth.  Any suspicion of try hard vibes kills BDE, as does the kind of cockiness that speaks of insecurity: the true BDE-haver is respectful to those around them, but with swagger….”

That being said, here are my top 5 picks for the biggest radiators of BDE, in no particular order (please take this with a grain of salt, seeing as I’m really only playing four otome games at the moment LOL):

n.b. SPOILERS - SO PLEASE READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

[* “How Big Dick Energy explains modern masculinity” by Alex Abad-Santos and Constance Grady (Jun 27, 2018 @ vox.com)]

OTONYMOUS’ BIG DICK ENERGY LIST 🍆

1. Oda Nobunaga (Ikemen Sengoku)

It doesn’t matter whose route I'm playing, as soon as Nobubu hits the screen, a bitch is weak, and as unscientific as it is, that physical reaction is one of the ways by which I assess BDE.  I mean, just look at this face:

This is the face of one who exudes confidence, a man who finds himself in life-threatening situations and has the gall to laugh because he sees them as opportunities to dispose of yet another obstacle in the way of realizing Tenka Fubu — unification by force of arms.  Call him the “Fool of Owari” all you want, he truly believes he will have the last laugh.

Strong with a sword but stronger in mind, Nobunaga is actually the smartest character in the game, outranking even Mitsuhide imho in being able to keep two steps ahead of everyone else.  That’s why this guy remains cool as a cucumber even when Hideyoshi is losing his shit and everyone is weary of his left-hand man plotting some nefarious scheme.  Nobu is an impeccable judge of character.  He has confidence in his ability to find the diamonds in the rough and this, in turn, earns him the loyalty of others.

Plus, y’all can’t tell me you weren’t biting your lips when he basically worked out the mechanics of wormholes in his head when MC told him she came from the future.

2. Akechi Mitsuhide (Ikemen Sengoku) - *SPOILERS*

This bad boy of Azuchi has BDE for days in that he gives zero fucks about what anyone thinks of him, friend or foe — be it about his intentions or his humble origins, both of which others have tried to use against him.  But the sexiest thing about Mitsuhide is the fact that he isn’t a blind follower.  This man thinks for himself and is loyal to his own ideals, not any given head of a clan, per se.

BDE also abounds in the way he carries himself: this guy is the ultimate Slick Rick in how he can mess you up in the worst of ways without even drawing his sword (or loading his rifle).  This kitsune is adept at verbal runarounds and capable of snuffing out uprisings with humiliation alone.

3. Lucien (MLQC) - *SPOILERS*

Now I know you're gonna think I’m biased here, but I’m being completely real when I tell you that Lucien exudes not just BDE, but GARGANTUAN DICK ENERGY.  I’ve been a hot mess for this man ever since he kabedoned me in his office and whispered “trust your instincts” in my ear.  But don’t take my word for it, just ask Hades.  This man is so desperate to align himself with Ares that one couldn’t help but feel secondhand embarrassment on his behalf during this little exchange:

Lucien is brilliant and he knows it.  Highly intelligent, self-aware and powerful, he likely has faith in his self-sufficiency when it comes to carrying out his plans.  At the same time, he is very subtle about his abilities except when that confidence comes out like the crack of a whip to exert his will on those who would deter him, whether they’re the Black Swan minions sent to capture MC or the mysterious head honcho who injures his eye as punishment:

This comes after Ares has the chutzpah to chastise the man for being hasty.  And he even smiles while being blinded.  Clearly, this is a man for whom the usual fear tactics fail.  The only thing he fears is losing his girl.  And if that isn’t an example of colossal dick energy, I don’t know what is. 🤷🏻‍♀️

4. Luke Foster (Kissed By The Baddest Bidder)

Ok, ok, just hear me out on this one.  The source of Luke Foster’s BDE stems from the fact that he literally doesn’t give a fuck about what people think about him aside from his MC.  Others could call him every name under the sun, poke fun at his unusual ways, and it would just be in one ear and out the other for the good doctor.  There have been several instances where he’s walked away from Eisuke mid-lecture, and he is the only bidder that I know of who can get Eisuke to do his bidding (haha!).  Case in point:

5. Le Comte de Saint-Germaine (Ikemen Vampire)

Am I still stuck on my second route in IkeVamp?  Yes. Do I know much about le Comte as a character?  No. Do I still have an intense need for this beautiful, classy man to radiate that BDE?  HELL YES. So please…please…just let me have this one. 🙏🏻😆

[sinful-imagines]

"Tell your stand to stop cuddling me, I'm trying to do homework" with Okuyasu if you're able?? I love him and his stand and there's not enough of them 😭💖 (I also love your writing, you're amazing! 💖)

Aahh omg yes!!! I really wish The Hand got more screen time but I’m just glad that Okuyasu didn’t get the Fugo treatment of getting yeeted out of the series for being too strong. I hope you like this, I think I’m proud of it but it’s also 5:14am and I feel high so take that with a grain of salt

Algebra- Okuyasu

Time was going incredibly slowly yet incredibly fast at the same time. Your overdue algebra homework all blended together into one mindless mush, and there was no point in asking your boyfriend to help. He was the sweetest angel but he wasn’t exactly the smartest person, so you were stuck doing the algebra all by yourself. “Wait, i remember this part!” You muttered excitedly to yourself as you sped through the first question that you’d been stuck on for so long. You scribbled down your answer and eagerly checked the choices to see if it was there. It wasn’t.

The closest answer choice was several numbers off and had a variable in it unlike your answer. You felt the confidence you had fade away as you stared blankly at the piece of paper in front of you. You didn’t get angry like you’d expected to, you just sat there as tears began to form in your eyes. Just as you were about to erase and rewrite the problem for the millionth time, you felt two warm yet familiar arms wrap around your neck. It was very clearly your boyfriend’s Stand; it had a very unique feeling and texture on it’s hands. You turned around quickly and looked to see Okuyasu in your doorway smiling. Just that sight alone made you feel quite a bit better about the algebra situation, but you still needed to finish the assignment. “Baby, could you tell The Hand to stop cuddling me? I gotta finish my homework..” you mumbled, frowning a bit as you reluctantly started to erase your work once again.

“I know..but you looked all sad and stuff so I thought I’d come in here to check on you.” Okuyasu said as he practically ran over toupie bed and put his head on your shoulder. He didn’t call back his Stand either, so you were being cuddled by your favorite person and the manifestation of his soul. It felt amazing, and that feeling showed in the form of your face turning a tomato red. You attempted to hide it, but it was no use. Your boyfriend’s face lit up immediately once he noticed your blush and it caused his already huge grin to get even wider. Before you could even open your mouth, both Okuyasu and The Hand tackled you onto your bed and grabbed your waist. “You work too much.. ‘s not fair,” he mumbled as he spooned you gently.

“Yeah, but this was due a week ago. Tomorrow’s the last day I can turn it in and- ah, who cares? This is more important,” you exclaimed happily as you threw your worksheet and pencil onto the floor.

This was worth a missing assignment.

[razorblade180]

Does the card mechanic in KH: chain of memories gets better with time or it will keep being the same annyoing stuff for the rest of the game? (It's really annoying to spend almost all my cards just for one or two connect before i need to reload them)

Inhales....

That’s entirely dependent on how much time you are willing to put into creating a deck. I used all three deck sets when I played. One for regular fights, one for bosses, and last for experimenting.

Get sleights! I can’t remember the exact worlds or numbers anymore but I remember neat tricks.

Make at least two treasure rooms per floor. The first one will give you something you haven’t gotten before which is typically a sleight or magic card. The second one is just hoping you get something good.

Lethal Frame is broken against most bosses. It has a slow startup and mid/close range. It also gives you time to scroll to what ever card you wanna use next

Put cards that trigger sleights next to each other. If you do it well enough then even when the first card from each on vanishes, the remaining card probably end up creating sleights in your deck you didn’t even realize you had.

If you make a False Bounty room and don’t open the chest that has the actual prize in it, the other two chests will always close back up if you enter the room, but remain in the same spot. So you can grind for levels as long as you want until you open the right chest

[Take this one with a grain of salt.] For me, I find it easiest to the the Key to Rewards cars in the first room of every new floor. You can only hold one of those cards at a time though so once you get it, find the door to spend it on

Moogle rooms have a lot of moogle points in them and the moogle will always give you free cards the first time you shop in that room. Sometimes he gives really good stuff, or something you’ll immediately sell.

Premium cards are dumb unless it is on an item card.

Make rooms that play to your strengths as much as possible.

There are random chances you will kill an enemy and get them as a card. Some are really good. Always check to see what they do

The jafar card is really good when you have low number attack cards or sleights because as long as you send your attack out first then it can’t be canceled by higher cards or a zero

Shortcut your deck to your zero cards

This goes without saying but increasing deck capacity is the smartest investment almost always.

Each keyblade card will perform a different amount of damage depending on what part of the combo they are used in so place them accordingly

Goofy smash

Donald is risky all the time in elemental fights. It’s a gamble but it could be worth it.

Random joker cards can do almost anything. A door need 99 cards? Random joker. Don’t have a 25 blue cards? Random Joker.

The map will tell you what card value you need one room ahead of time I think

Mega flare, raging storm, tornado, earthquake and freeze are handy

Freeze and do earthquake. It’s really satisfying

You can never go wrong with a Cloud card.

You can never go wrong with two cloud cards

You can never go wrong with three cloud cards

Three tinker bell cards are handy in a pinch.

Strike raid stuns!!! Perfect for follow up sleights that have start up times.

Neoshadow cards can be found near the end of the game. You can cheat that final floor if you are talented enough to use it and not reload your deck for as long as possible.

Watch the 358 days movie before hand and the the key to rewards room will have bonus chests.

So yeah....I like Chain of Memories 😅 [I have every card💀] You just gotta learn how to abuse the resources you have at the time.