#obviously there are much more fitting characters for simon. BUT

[sleepii-moth]

sonic adventure time au but i dont think too hard about the implications of these things outside of specific situations

[nobodyinfart]

Is your love as unrequited as you think? Or does the team hide more than you think?

Maybe you’re just a lower rank soldier or just lack the confidence,, but you don’t believe that a love with the main characters of the task force would be possible, even in your daydreams as a hopeless romantic.

Johnny’s achievements are nothing to be humble about, being the youngest candidate to pass the selections process and being deemed a demolitions expert are ever praiseworthy. His cheeky demeanour makes even the quietest soldiers crack a smile, and lights up the base unlike any other. Maybe that’s why you code him as Sunshine in your journals,, scrawling affirmations of adoration between the margins. Coded lines of love decorated your many notebooks, all sealed within the depths of your cabinet to never see the light of day. Of course, you’d know it’s too selfish of you to ever confess, since there is no possible chance. Maybe you would change your mind if you ever caught a glance of how Soap casts his first look at you to see if you laughed at one of his corny jokes. Definitely making notes on what kind of jokes make you smile the brightest, obviously.

Although understated, Gaz is obviously brawns and beauty. Like, was it really necessary for him to have the prettiest eyes you’ve ever seen? You can barely focus, line of sight often slipping down to his lips before moving them back up just to feign ignorance. You saw him as an aspiration at first, viewing his top place on the SAS selection rankings to be a goal to achieve. It wasn’t long for that awe to morph into something more affectionate. Dangerous territory, too dangerous that you decide to bury yourself in your training. Trying to snap yourself out of that lovesick daze, you push yourself to your own limits in the process. Using that pain to distract yourself, you definitely don’t notice Gaz’s worried gaze when you head towards the training grounds once again, his concern evident when he realises your hands are still bruised from the previous day. He’ll have to sneak some ointment into your gym bag again, somehow.

Ghost, who doesn’t know him? The stoic Lieutenant in the task force, prime of his trade in ambush and stealth. It’s tough to even get familiar with him, let alone be in a relationship with the lieutenant. Respecting his quiet demeanour, you have always kept your distance as a form of respect; never pushing more than what you know he can handle. A secret is that you always keep his tea bags in stock, replenishing when stocks go low. Simon hides a secret of his own; sometimes gripping the standard military knife you normally practise with to gauge your hand size,, just for an accurate daydream of how your hands would fit in his own. Would your fingers lace with his just as well as he imagines? Don’t tell anyone, but Simon has been staring at you long enough for Soap to notice, who knew Ghost could be so distracted?

Honestly, Price is the one you have to be the most cautious about. Out of everyone in the force, he is the most observant thanks to his expertise in the military field. Rugged and charming, it is not hard at all for Price to get your attention. His gravely chuckle lights a fire in your stomach, you desperately wishing to be the cause of it someday. Yet, a love between a Captain and his subordinate remains unfeasible on all sorts of levels, especially one as devoted to his job as John Price. Even if your love is impossible, you always try to make his life easier; doing paperwork with both speed and detail. Often, his heart softens when he sees a light peeking from under the door of your office, hoping for an opportunity to get to know the angel who files their reports perfectly. No matter how much he shouldn’t, he sincerely hopes to find a chance to make himself a stable placement in your life soon enough.

[suzannahnatters]

Wellp. The Rings of Power season 2 ep 8 has come. There are many eulogies to deliver in the coming days (and trust me I will) but for now, there is a certain someone who requires a proper sendoff. SPOILERS BELOW

They fulfilled my one true wish: we got to see Fair Form Adar (and my goodness he did not disappoint). And then they exploded my insane crack theory, sunk my ship, and killed him off. Oh well. At the same time, I'm so grateful for what we got. Adar wasn't Celeborn, but they didn't try to make him some other Big Name from the Sil that only 0.04% of the audience would recognise. It was a bit rushed, but the entire episode was sadly rushed and I felt that his sendoff was one of the few moments that did get sufficient screentime. He didn't get the redemption arc I was trying to manifest through sheer willpower, but the way he died fit the story while also extending a moment of grace and hope for the character. This was not Ben Solo in TROS; it was not the Darkling in Shadow and Bone, being gutted as his killer hisses "there is no redemption". And for that, I'll always be grateful. Meanwhile I'm going to spend the next week just staring into the distance, thinking about how the orcs recapture Galadriel and drag her into the presence of their lord, and he's down on his knees giving her his back in a posture of utter vulnerability. I'll be lying on the carpet thinking about how she was the only person he could show his face to. (I may have been wrong on Adarborn but I DID correctly predict that we'd get to see his fair-form). I'll be chewing on broken glass thinking about how when Sauron offered Galadriel a ring and a position healing Middle Earth at his side, she tried to stab him, but when Adar offered Galadriel her ring back and proposed a partnership...she accepted. SHE ACCEPTED. Oh, and? the probability that in all likelihood Sauron saw that happen. (and yep, I also predicted a callback to s1).

*high-pitched fangirl keening*

Anyway, my chums tell me that in the BTS segment for this episode, Adar was originally slated to die much sooner, but Simon Tolkien advocated for the character to be continued. Let's all raise a glass to Simon Tolkien, who is obviously continuing the Lord's work here. And let's admit that even though Galadriel seems to be stuck in the worst possible version of Middle Earth Bachelorette, in which her actual husband is lost and her boyfriends are a hit parade of Middle Earth's Most Wanted (stay tuned for s3, when we all watch in mind-boggled fascination while Galadriel romances Ar-Pharazon!) in hindsight the fact is that this was supposed to be a supporting character who ended up dominating much of the show almost by mistake. I can't imagine how they'll manage to outdo Adar when they bring along Actual Celeborn (unless they cast Dev Patel! I'm sure he's not got anything important scheduled!!!! THE PEOPLE DEMAND A HOT DESI CELEBORN), but if Adar was a mistake, he's a mistake I wish many more shows would make.

In conclusion: yes, I will be writing an Adariel fix fic, filing off the serial numbers, and self-publishing it. It will be titled AUTUMNTHRALL. Stay tuned.

[moonlitlibrarian]

♡·ﾟ𓏸 one piece x bridgerton 𓏸·ﾟ♡

information 

Hiiii my one piece and bridgerton lovers!  This is my first fanfic so plzzz be kind :)  Please read this to help explain some background into the story! This will not be a perfect crossover, obviously, but I am mostly switching characters from Bridgerton and replacing them with one piece characters, not all of them. You’ll see :) Now Luffy is older so he is just a little bit more mature!! I’m not trying to make him ooc!! It fits the vibe. ( I hope?)  Everyone still has their devil fruit powers and abilities!! There won’t be much fighting tho :o and most likely not a Lady Whistledown.. Sorry not sorry :p

Y/N- Daphne Bridgerton (18 years old)

Luffy- Simon Bassett (OBVIOUSLY R U KIDDING ME????!!!!!) ( 21 years old) 

Zoro- y/n oldest Bridgerton brother (21 years old) 

Sanji- y/n second eldest Bridgerton brother (20 years old)

Robin- y/n younger sister (16 years old) 

Nami- y/n’s best friend from another prominent family (18 years old)

Ace-Luffys second oldest brother (22 years old)

Sabo-Luffys oldest brother (23 years old) 

part 1

The time of year was finally upon us. The time when the tons most eligible ladies and gentlemen begin their courtships. 

This time of the season the tons most luxurious balls are held and the Queen shows most interest in finding her diamond each season. 

All the young ladies have spent their entire lives waiting for this moment. The moment where they meet their Prince. Well most.. 

y/n pov

*I know it’s my duty. 

i’ve been filling the mold that was made generations ago for all women of my family’s title.

it is my duty. 

my sisters are counting on me to make this happen. 

it is my duty. 

but… no. 

it is my duty. 

ughh but why. 

it is my duty.*

You thought as you starred up at the ceiling. Today was the day that the eligible ladies of the ton were presented to Her Majesty, The Queen. 

The moment you moved a muscle, three of your lady’s maids entered the room. One opening the drapes, the other drawing a bath and the last, coming to the bed ready to change your linens. 

“Good morning ladies” You said with an exhale, creating a smile on your face. 

“Good morning Lady y/n” they said in unison. 

You got up knowing that your brave face had to be put on now, but didn’t know when you would not need it anymore. The future was clouded with smoke. 

The next few hours were spent meticulously preparing you and your my sisters to be ready for her Majesty. But only you would be noted as eligible to wed this season. 

After being presented to Her Majesty, there would be the first royal ball of the season, tonight. Today is the day your mother has been waiting for. It’s what she’s always wanted for you. 

What you wanted was no longer in question. 

luffy pov 

Luffy hears two horses neigh and is shaken awake as his hand slips from holding his chin. 

“W-what’s going on? Are we there yet?” He utters.

“Sorry buddy! There was a SUPER big hole in the street. We swerved er though! Couldn’t get a scratch on the Mini Mary.” Franky says patting the seat, leading the carriage. 

“We still have a ways to go though, so be quiet so I can get some more sleep.” Yawns Usopp.

“Why did we have to come here again?” Brook asks. 

“My brothers requested my presence this season. Or something like that.” Luffy said nonchalantly. 

“They didn’t say why?” Asked Chopper. 

“Nope. I’m sure I’ll find out when I see them though” Luffy smiles. 

“Besides!!! We get to see the rest of the CRRREEWWWW!!!” Luffy shouted throwing up his hands. 

y/n pov 

You step out of the carriage and behold the Royal palace. You saw it a few years ago and even after some traveling it still took your breath away. The way the flowers and plants intertwined with the stone and up the castle walls was perfectly deranged. You loved it you thought with a smirk. 

“Ahhh finally you decide to join us” your mother says to a green haired man riding up on a horse. 

“Zoro!!” Robin, your younger sister, says and runs to hug him. 

“Baby brother and sister will be so happy to see you back at home!!!” She tells him as he hugs her. 

Zoro walks towards you but gets a swift kick to the head by Sanji, your second eldest brother, who had a cigarette hanging from his mouth. 

“Nice of you to finally join us moss head.” He mentions to Zoro. 

“Seriously Sanji??” He said rubbing his head. “Didn’t know you would be back so soon. How was France?” Zoro asked Sanji. 

“Filled with the most amazing chefs and most beautiful women!! It was possibly the best place in the world!! I learned a lot of skills I’m sure our Captain will be fond of.” Sanji said with heart eyes. “How is our Captain?” He asked. 

*Captain?* you thought. 

“Same as he always is.” Zoro laughed. 

“Waiting for his Chef to return to cook for him?” Sanji asked. 

“What do you think???” Zoro added. 

“Of course. Forgot who I was talking about.” Sanji said then took a drag off his cigarette. 

*What are they talking about? I guess I never really thought about what they were doing since they left a few years ago..” you thought. 

“Hello big brother” you say as Zoro approaches you. 

“Well I am certainly pleased by your company, what are you doing here?” you said sarcastically. 

“What you think your big bro would let his sister out without his guidance? HA! Not happening.” He shouts then laughs. 

You turned to my mother who looked for once that she agreed with him and back to Zoro. He had a satisfied look on his face that made you roll your eyes. 

“Come on, let’s go. Wouldn’t want us to be late for Her Majesty, now would we?” He says with a stupid smile. He grabs my mother’s arm and they walk ahead, followed by Sanji and Robin, then you. 

You take one step after another as that is all you can think about at the moment. 

You approach a gigantic room with a number of screeching young ladies, their nerves almost palpable. 

You pause for second. 

Zoro sees this a turns around, having Sanji take your mother’s arm in his place with Robin. He falls back to be in line with you. “Y/n I know how you are feeling..” 

“You don’t” you interrupt. “You absolutely, positively do not know how I am feeling” you add. 

*I’m not even sure* you thought. 

He looked at you almost shocked, which surprised you. Zoro was never shocked. He didn’t say anything after that just grabbed your arm and started walking to find your place. 

“Y/N!!!!” You hear a familiar voice shout your name. 

“Nami!!” You sigh with a slight relief as you see her. 

“You look perfect as always!” You told her. Nami was the picture perfect Lady. She knew exactly how to act in every situation.

“Y/N!? Are you kidding me?? You dress like this once and are almost stealing my thunder” She winked. 

“Nammiiii! Oh Miss Nami!!” Sanji rushed to Nami’s side with beating heart eyes. 

“Hi Sanji” she smiled. “It’s good to see you!” She added. 

“You look like the most beautiful, delicate flower I have ever seen.” He whispered to her. She got a little blushed and gave him a quick kick in the foot, then walked towards you. Sanji was always obsessed with Nami and you always thought she felt the same. 

“Are you ready to be in the presence of Her Majesty?” She asked. You gave her one look and she already knew, regretting asking you that. You know that she has been dreaming of this moment her whole life so didn’t want to ruin her spirits. 

“You know what I am ready for? Seeing Hancock faint when the Queen names you as her diamond.” You said quietly to Nami. 

Hancock was a very beautiful but shallow Lady whom we went to finishing school with. 

Nami laughed. “Y/n don’t you dare jinx me. Let’s just say if she is named the diamond, I will show her coal core.” 

“I don’t doubt it in the slightest!” You laughed. 

“If the eligible ladies would please take their place in line, Her Majesty is ready.” Stated a man in a royal uniform.

“Good luck!!” Nami said to you squeezing your arm as she returned to her family. You nodded and said “You too! Find me later tonight.” 

We were nearly the last in line. You felt every other ladies nerve stick to you as if you were a fly trap over fruit collecting the nerves like flies. You tried to shake them off.

You hear Nami’s name get called. *Good luck girl. Please pick her, Your Majesty* you thought. 

A few moments later you look up and the great doors were in front of you. Zoro gave the man in the royal uniform your name. You felt a ball swell up in your throat. 

*Please y/n just get through this. You know what you need to do.* you told yourself. 

Before they opened the doors, Zoro grabbed my arm and whispered, “Head up. Walk in there like you have owned the building for years. I will be waiting when you are done.” 

You were confused at first but once those ostentatious doors swung open, you understood what he meant. Out of pure instinct, you listened to your brother. 

You make eye contact with Her Majesty and hear your name called. 

“Lady Y/N Bridgerton. Daughter of the Late Viscount Bridgerton and Viscountess Bridgerton.”

You take one step and another not breaking eye contact with the Queen. You reach the end of the carpet, bow and curtsy, just as you were taught. You look up one final time at Her Majesty and she is staring back at you, getting up from her throne. She walked towards you with her hand out and touches your chin. 

“Perfect” she let out in a whisper.

“Ladies and Gentleman, we have this seasons diamond”. She stated. 

*Oh shitttt.* you thought. 

[aq2003]

archive dive #4: love's labour's lost (2008)

love's labour's lost my favorite little disaster of a play that nobody likes but me. this was one of my most anticipated of the recordings i'd booked to watch in stratford firstly because it was my pestering emails that helped it along the "restore it to be accessible to the public again" process but also more importantly because this is one of the few prominent productions of this play to not whitewash rosaline. obviously it isn't the first production to do this, shoutout to the 1984 rsc production (josette simon was the first Black woman to play a leading role for the rsc!), but still it's pretty disappointing how few and far between these are, even if the play is pretty unpopular. the lines about rosaline's "blackness" are pretty unambiguous and imo the story loses an amount of its thematic edge without them... (dishonorable mention to the 2015 rsc production w/ a blonde, white rosaline that cut those lines entirely). anyway this was a really fun watch; the whole vibe of it here was kinda "yeah we have taken great lengths to intimately understand this work and we came away with the conclusion that it's extremely fucking silly". which like. hell yeah, honestly. anyway nina sosanya rosaline your hand in marriage PLEASE

prev / archive dive tag / next

this is something you can kind of tell more in the official photos of this production rather than the recording but the tree is so fucking good. the colorful shapes on the trees just scratches my brain in all the right ways. whoever designed that tree you have my love and my life

i'm not sure how common the "have an actor in character doing something on stage before the show begins" thing is in rsc productions but every time i've seen it it's so much fun. in the twelfth night production i watched feste is up on a ladder layering paint on the walls and here we have berowne, longaville, and dumaine having a little picnic! (berowne is having a nap and is covering his face with his straw hat)

ferdinand YANKED that pillow from berowne. let my man LIVE ferdinand

berowne successfully threw the hat onto the tree branch <33 good for him <33

also: his hat feels so out of place when he actually wears it. it feels like it's an anachronism even though i'm sure straw hats existed in the 16th-17th centuries

haha yeah shakespeare wrote a bunch of characters 400 years ago for dt to play but he is actually Such a good fit for berowne... he has such a natural talent for comedic timing and berowne's whole thing is that he's quick-witted and smart but makes a joke out of everything and can't take things seriously. also i was somewhat expecting him to be way more self-indulgent and overdramatic (a little bit like his romeo) bc that's somewhat how berowne came across in my head when reading LLL but i think dt's berowne is like. more of a lovable flirtatious dork. charming and romantic and more sincere than he thinks. it helps sell a more genuine connection between him and rosaline, for one!

i do think tho compared to dt's benedick his berowne is more serious and grounded and less of a silly clown man. if him and nina had went on to do ""love's labour's won"" (much ado about nothing) together it def would've been VERY different from the dt/ct version

i love this ferdinand so much. there's this kind of straightforwardness and evenness to how edward bennett says his lines like you can REALLY buy that this man would be insane enough to get his three friends to swear to be cooped up with him for 3 years without the touch of a woman and only having 1 meal a day 6 days a week etc

whoever decided to make moth's whole vibe "armado but small and endlessly sassy" your mind is so huge. they're like a "don't talk to me or my son ever again" deal

the portrayal of armado is biblically accurate. which is to say. this man is down horrendously bad and is so annoying and dramatic about it. applause

nina's rosaline is EXACTLY what i had pictured her sounding when i first read the play. i cannot describe it in words other than "she is so perfect for this role and i'm insane"

the ladies all gasp when boyet tells them that ferdinand is gonna make them stay outside on the grass LMAO

sorry for this commentary being text only but i must point out the cunty little cape that berowne is wearing in this scene. ok thank you

i WISHHHHH i could see berowne and rosaline's expressions when they're having their back-and-forths cuz based off of the line delivery and the pixels i think berowne is grinning like a lovesick lunatic at her and i Need it. I Need To See It. Give It To Me

armado dramatically playing the guitar vs moth unenthusiastically shaking a maraca. Yeah

completely my hypothesis also but i think the part where berowne talks about rosaline to costard is where This DT Image comes from. like the way his head is totally in the clouds just saying her name

[berowne voice] The Boy (derogatory)

several things that dt does during the german clock soliloquy that are so much fun. a) when he says "lord of folded arms" he points to someone in the audience with their arms crossed, b) when he says "king of codpieces" he sort of leans over to look Downwards at (presumably) a man in the audience, and c) when he picks out a woman in the audience to compare to the german clock, he makes a big show of winking at her afterwards. i may be screaming. berowne disaster bisexual!

i realize now that a) i have completely forgotten what the hell holofernes' latin phrases mean and b) the regular person in the audience does not know what holofernes' latin phrases mean either. but that's fine because oliver ford davies delivers these lines like something you'd say "okay grandpa let's get you to bed" to

sick and twisted about the bit where everybody reads out berowne's letter to rosaline aloud because IIIIII think what he wrote was very nice, sweet even, but holofernes is like "what is this fucking garbage smh my head"

hard to tell through the recording but i think berowne straight up chucks his draft of a letter at the beginning of 4.3 into the audience when he sees ferdinand coming

WET BEAST EDWARD BENNETT. HE SHOULD PLAY WET BEASTS FOREVER.

also ferdinand pauses in the middle of crying to take out his love letter again bc he forgot the next line he wrote. Amazing

the chemistry between the four guys is incredible. the most "me and the boys" energy of all time. especially when they sing together

"I, THAT AM HONEST" SUREEEEEE BEROWNE. SUREEEEEEEEEEEE

Chomp

and i mean of course david tennant's berowne would try to eat his love letter to destroy the evidence. i hope this makes sense to anyone who is a big fan of david tennant

i have no clue how the other lords are able to make out his handwriting though. i feel like he kinda did a pretty good job of destroying it

the way david delivers the "your mistresses dare never come in rain / for fear their colors should be washed away" line is so good. A+ no notes. also i'm mentioning this so late but i love the costuming of the production being a nod to this line what w/ berowne and rosaline being the only ones in their respective groups not wearing all white

ok so when i was reading the chapter on love's labour's lost in greg doran's book he mentions having discussions about how they would address the other lords' racism towards rosaline, how much would they keep in, how they would frame it, etc. but he never actually elaborates on what approach they actually took so i was curious to see how they did it. and the best way i can describe it is they attempt to keep in tone with the scene being mostly goofy funny but they keep those lines and have berowne fight back against his friends (longaville and dumaine especially). like for example longaville holds up his foot when he compares rosaline's face to his shoe and berowne grabs him by the leg and drags him around when saying (essentially) that rosaline is too good for him, and the audience laughs at longaville (also bc he looks ridiculous hopping around on one foot). i feel like the execution of it is inherently flawed in that it somewhat reads more as "berowne's friends messing with/getting back at him for lying" more than "berowne's friends are terrible people for saying this" (and that's partially just by virtue of how the scene was written, ig at some point it's impossible to reconcile this w/ the emotional beats and tone of the play). but it is keeping with the characterizations and it's made pretty clear who's in the wrong (dumaine/longaville are basically made into the butt of the joke, and letting berowne retaliate and take control of the argument plays a key role in that). however this is why i'd like to see more productions where rosaline is a black/brown woman, i feel like there are more possible interpretations of this bit that can potentially strike a better balance between sensitivity and tone

(tangentially related: in the most recent production of love's labour's lost by the rsc they set it in the modern day and cast an east asian woman as rosaline and, like, as an east asian person i feel like even though she's a woc that's still inaccurate casting. bc dark hair and eye color aren't traits that ppl look down on us for having, meanwhile rosaline's features are subject to ridicule by multiple characters in the play. also there are plenty of lines alluding to rosaline specifically having a darker skin color ("red paints itself black to imitate her brow" "to look like her are chimney sweepers black" "ethiopes of their sweet complexion crack" etc) and i find it weird that no one cottoned onto that, in 2024?)

this production cuts berowne's "she is born to make black fair" line but they keep in "her favor turns the fashion of the days"; i like the tact in that, like it's giving less of the vibe that berowne thinks rosaline is the first woc to ever be pretty and more "he thinks she's so beautiful she'll change all of society's standards"

yes they cut to intermission on david saying "allons! allons!" while they all run off the stage. haha very funny

there's a moment where holofernes thinks for one hot second that armado is making a pass at him and i can tell from this blurry pixelly recording that holofernes looks like he almost has a stroke at this. like the way that he staggers back and tries to process it. okay grandpa gay people are real but armado is very very cishet don't worry let's get you back to bed

text-wise at the beginning of 5.2 katherine and rosaline have a back-and-forth with a lot of wordplay about "light" and "dark" that plays off of their contrasting appearances (katherine is described as having rosy skin and blonde hair). in this production though they cut a few of katherine's meaner lines in that exchange (she's also played by an actress of color so they cut the lines talking abt her appearance) and frame it as more of a friendly banter. tbh understandable given that showing a camaraderie and friendship between the ladies really helps the humor in the later parts of 5.2

the .........the russian disguises 😭 omfghfgdfdsfhfwfwmfwmfwfdw

also is it bad that i think their russian outfits are so much nicer looking than their normal outfits. minus the comically ridiculous fake beards and eyebrows of course

also x2 i'm imagining the lords trying to practice this dance number together and my eyes start to water. whose idea was this.

BEROWNE WHY DID YOU KICK THAT POOR CHILD OUT OF THE DANCE LINEUP. HE WAS DOING HIS BEST

berowne's fake russian accent is the stupidest thing ive ever heard and i love it so much. he is mangling all his vowels into something vaguely russian sounding but you can hear the scottish fighting to be free and the end result is something you can barely understand. it's so glorious. what the fuck is he saying. also imagine trying to rizz your girl up in the worst most stupid fake accent known to man. you deserve to be single forever. sorry

the boyet hater monologue is so DELIGHTFULLY bitchy. chef's kiss (also this monologue is probably one of my personal favorite shakespeare passages to read to myself. it's just so funny)

the nine worthies bit is very funny but this is another case where i wish the quality of the recording was better because in one of the entries on this blog (by that crazy person that went to see hamlet 27 times and LLL 14 times) they mention how fun it is to watch berowne's expressions/reactions ;___; oh well. i will just have to imagine them in my mind

i really like how berowne and rosaline going off together is juuuuust implied…like they start off following their respective groups off opposite ends of the stage, and then the last image you're left with is how they stop and turn back and look at each other. i don't think they get together in that time (imo the ending of LLL is subversive and interesting bc none of the romantic pursuits are successful despite the men trying so hard. way too hard even. but life goes on anyway) but i do think that rosaline joins berowne in visiting the sick for a year and they begin to form a deeper relationship. (also i'd love to know more of david and nina's thoughts on this and where they imagined the characters would end up)

[dontcallthedoctor]

TEMP CHARACTER THEMES!!!

HIYA, FELLAS!!! This is gonna be a loooong post, so strap in!!! (I've srsly been writing this post for four days end me)

Yesterday, I announced that Kinger had won the music poll and that he shall be next to get his own theme. Sadly, yesterday was also the day I realized I've been hit with musical writer's block, so it might be a short while before I come up with anything good—I REALLY wanna get something out for Halloween tho!!

Since people may be curious abt what's in store for the other characters, I thought it'd be fun to present my ideas to you all, and give u all a little insight as to how my dumb little music brain works lol

Obviously, I haven't written much of anything original for anyone but Pomni yet, so in the meantime, I've picked out some temporary themes for each respective character that I feel fit them well, and hopefully they'll give you all an idea what I wanna achieve with them musically! A lot of thought went into figuring out each character's respective musical identities, so I hope these example pieces resonate with you as much as they did with me!

That said, if you have other ideas as to how these characters' themes might sound, I'd definitely love to hear about them! Feel free to comment em below or DM me if you wish! Feedback is greatly appreciated!!!

Just as a disclaimer, barring ofc Pomni's Theme, NONE OF THESE ARE MINE, NOR DO I CLAIM AUTHERSHIP OF THEM! That out of the way, let's begin with...

Pomni: I briefly explained my process behind this one in the original post, so I'll elaborate a little more here for those unaware, alongside this slightly extended version of it (a whole twenty seconds YIPPEE)

Pomni’s Theme kinda ended up being a homage to the music of Danny Elfman. I came up with the melody one night just by playing around on my piano. It was this weird, off-kilter, sorta sad-sounding tune that really resonated with me, and thought it sounded perfect for Pomni, so it became her motif. My friend @pasta-yy worded it perfectly when they said it sounded like "Pomni-flavored despair" lol

It wasn’t until I decided to make it a full song that I realized “WAIT THIS MAKES ME THINK OF DANNY ELFMAN”, who I’ve always admired, so I took to his early work for inspiration. I’ll cite Simone’s Theme from Peewee’s Big Adventure as the main influence in terms of "musical flavor" for this one. It helped me find / flesh out the circus-y style I was aiming for!

This composition isn’t quite finished yet, but I plan to post updates on it the whole way! I’m really excited for you all to see where this one goes!

Someone said that Pomni’s Theme sounds like the opening theme from Laimin! Anmin! Suya Rhys Seikatsu (Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle), an anime I haven’t seen, but I kinda hear it in some parts, at least in terms of chord progression!

Ragatha: For the rag dolly, I envision a sweet, somewhat-haunting tune. Imagine if a music box melody was arranged for orchestra. Very lush, very beautiful, very mature first and foremost, but with an undercurrent of sadness. Like Ragatha herself, the pathos is well-camouflaged beneath the happiness and the optimism, but is still undeniably there and perfectly in line with what we know about her character so far.

This particular track is led by accordion, which I'm not entirely sure fits Ragatha, but everything else is a pretty good representation of what I hope to achieve with her!

Jax: Prolly my favorite thing about Jax is how differently he carries himself in relation to everyone else. He's maliciously annoying, self-aware, and ironically more of a jester than the character who's avatar is a literal jester. He embraces being stuck in the circus like it's his first choice, instead of something he's settling for. He's an intriguing character and i'm curious to see how he'll evolve (or de-volve if Goose's comments are anything to go by)

In writing this, I'm struggling to put into words how exactly I want his theme to sound, but this track is a pretty good encapsulation of it! There's a sort-of confidence in it it and a jaunty forward-momentum that carries through the whole piece. I think that vibe really suits Jax. There's also an air of non-chalance that parallels how lackadaisical he is with everything. I feel that, since Jax doesn't take much of anything seriously, neither should his music lol

It almost reminds me of the music Vince Guaraldi composed for the Peanuts specials. His character themes always had this hip, carefree vibe to them, especially tracks like Peppermint Patty, which will also be an inspiration on Jax's tune.

Gangle: In case anybody hasn’t caught on, Gangle is my faaavorite character from the show, and I really want to do her justice, so it took me a good while to figure out just what I wanted to do for her.

That being said, the genre I'm gravitating towards most for her (at least while writing this) is gypsy jazz. For those who may not know, gypsy jazz (or jazz manouche) is a French style of jazz that uses solely string instruments; mainly violin, guitar, and double bass. It's a beautiful genre of music, and I think it's a perfect fit for Gangle <3

I imagine something playful, gentle, unassuming, and a tad saucy, at least when she's wearing her comedy mask. For her tragedy mask, I think it'd be fun for the tone to turn dramatically sad, and have the music structure fall apart, much like her mask. I'd really like to integrate piano in some way to highlight her sensitivity.

If anyone has any other ideas, please lemme know in the comments or DM me if u wish! Gods know I could use some inspiration ^^

Kinger: And now we come to Mr. Poll Winner himself! I'm honestly really glad that Kinger won, because I have more confidence in the ideas i've come up with for him than I am for a great majority of the others.

Knowing what we know now, I see Kinger as a very sweet, sentimental, yet ultimately tragic figure, so like with Ragatha, that's definitely something that's going to influence how his theme will sound.

This is probably my favorite of the temp themes, and definitely the one I want to stick closest to when I start writing for him. Everything about it just screams "Kinger" to me and I think is a near-perfect musical summarization of his character; the plodding simplicity, the almost-dreamlike surrealistic quality to the melody, the subtle melancholia, the chord progression, all of it. I think it gels with Kinger exceptionally well, which is why I've included two versions; one light, one dark.

The question is: do u all agree? ovo

Zooble: In searching for the right genre for Zooble, I've settled on what I call “Motown lofi”. Something that gives off swanky 90s “cool” vibes. Funky, mellow, bluesy, with a lil extra punch. Zooble is mostly low-energy but very much a plain-speaker, so I think this kinda music of music pairs nicely with them!

Amon Tobin’s Like Regular Chickens is another good example of what I'm going for. This one's very strange, kinda abstract, and prolly not most people's cup of tea, but I think it's neat and a pretty fitting sound for Zooble (maybe a little less intense in parts lol)

Caine: The logic behind Caine's theme is that it should be "annoying to everyone else, but he would love it". Something that he'd have no problem listening to every day on repeat, but nobody else can stand.

My first idea was really garish, campy carnival attraction music (more generally, Hammond organ music), represented in the first half. That stuck for awhile, but then I thought abt doing a pastiche of 80/90s sitcom intro type music, represented in the second half, which I think also works.

I feel like both could work, maybe even together, but I'm still undecided. I think wacky obnoxious organ music is PERFECTLY in line with Caine as a character, but the 90s route might be the more appropriate way to go, since it would to share some continuity with Digital Days from the credits (one of my fav songs from the soundtrack along with Not Alone and Somebody Real) We'll see what happens LMAO

Bubble: I’d always jokingly entertained the notion of making a theme for Bubble, but never put much serious thought into it until @mikiib asked for it, so here he is on this list.

The idea I settled on was “underwater Mario level?”, and the more I thought about it, i’ve decided that’s the direction i’ll probably go with Bubble’s tune. I imagine it being very "spacey" and floaty. Very peaceful and relaxing, but still rich with untamed weirdness, which is what makes Bubble fun :3

Mik also had the idea of using bubbly noises as percussion, which I DEF want to try! I've never really been experimental with percussion before so this'll be a fun opportunity to branch out!!

Other Characters: Last month I wrote a sweet militaristic-y march song for the Princess and the Candy Canyon Kingdom, but as far as other characters, I can't think of many I'd like to dedicate entire fully-fledged arrangements to, at least not presently. Maybe little ditties tho, that'd be fun!

I kinda wanna write something in tribute to Gummigoo since I really like him and think he deserves it. Something very ethnic and full of fun tribal instruments.

I have one for Baron Mildenhall that I haven't posted yet, and I've got a spooky lullaby I wrote for Ghostly (as well as for @mikiib) that I'll probably post tmrw for Halloween. Martha might get one too, she seems fun :3

[ewingstan]

If you had a chance to recommend (real-world) superhero comics to the Undersiders, which comics would you recommend and why?

Oh, good question. Its been a minute since I was really into comics (I gotta figure out how to reactivate my Marvel Unlimited account), but I think I have enough background to come up with some good picks.

Lotta good options for Taylor. My first thought is to give her Ewing's X-Men Red (aka "the main reason I need to catch up on Marvel comics"), since a superhero story that focuses a lot on gaining and maintaining societal power and the work of governing as a leader in a super-community seems like it would appeal to the Warlord of the Boardwalk. Plus a lot of it is "kill the previous leader in a way that ensures you have a popular mandate," which I'm sure she'd be a fan of.

If we're talking Taylor at the start of the story or younger—well, I don't know if it makes sense to give her runs of the character she's most a pastiche of, but maybe something that fits the Spider-Man niche could still be appealing for a young down-on-her-luck aspiring hero? I could see her getting something out of the Simone or Ahmed Ms. Marvel runs, for instance.

(While Watchmen might seem like the natural pick, I'm pretty sure she'd lose a lot of enjoyment just from picking out all the ways Veidt's plan was obviously gonna fail for x y z reasons. Also dark deconstructions of superhero worlds would probably seem too familiar to her world for her to enjoy it.)

If Taylor would be interested in comics statecraft, Lisa would probably be more interested in comics spycraft and intrigue. Ewing's S.W.O.R.D. would probably scratch the same itch for her that X-Men Red would for Taylor (and Storm dramatically blowing off Doom would probably satisfy her after all the ulcer-inducing negotiations with Accord.) I might also give her Ewings New Avengers and USAvengers runs (look this is gonna include a lot of Al Ewing recs, get used to it early) if only because I feel like she'd enjoy how Roberto gets characterized in those comics. Magnificent bastard solidarity.

If we're giving comics to Brian, we already need to work past his defensive avoidance of anything that seems too childish, so I don't think we're getting anything pre-dark ages. That said, he famously thinks "looking mature" means "sick-ass skulls and leather jackets," so his idea of maturity might skew a bit into McFarlane territory. Ultimately though I think he'd be most comfortable with something where he could plausibly say "this isn't just a comic, it's actually a well-respected piece of literature." I'd want that to mean Moore's Saga of the Swamp Thing, but it'd probably actually mean The Dark Knight Returns.

As a dark horse pick, I'd give Brian some early New Warriors or Ewing's Contest of Champions, if only because Night Thrasher feels so close to what he wants his vibe to be (dramatic black leather ensemble with a very 90's idea of cool, unflappable expert strategist who pulls his weight despite a powerset with limited applicability, died horribly and came back much later for weirdly impersonal reasons) while also being just ridiculous enough to make me want to see his reaction.

Given Iota's commentary on Alec's pizza habits, I'd think Alec would most be a fan of something intense and bombastic and not mind if its often repetitive. I'd almost say Berserk would be a good match for him, but parts of that that might actually be triggering for him. Maybe some other ultra-violent longrunning work; I haven't read Fist of the North Star but it seems like a safe recommendation; various X-Force runs could work if we're sticking with Western comics.

Rachel really doesn't seem like someone who'd have much appreciation for any aspect of comics. The best bet would be something visually spectacular in a way that could be appreciated on its own, and a plot that's interesting taking issues on their own and not just as part of ongoing runs. I could see Ewing's Immortal Hulk as fitting those criteria; her power gives her an artist's appreciation for Bennett's horrific depictions of the Hulk's transformations (even if praising Bennett for anything feels in poor taste).

Ewing's scripts for each issue of Hulk are clever in a way that I feel Rachel could find entertaining; they don't require an attention she couldn't keep up, but also aren't simple to the point of being condescending. Plus, the thematic focus on "what can and can't be solved through unspeakable acts of destruction" would feel familiar in a way that's less frustrating than normal comic tut-tutting about how obviously we can't attack these guys (plus the greater willingness to say "oh yeah unspeakable destruction definitely is the best way forwards here" would be pretty satisfying).

I feel like Aisha would have more patience for comic tropes than a lot of the other undersiders, (I could see her enjoying the original Fantastic Four run), but at the same time she'd probably enjoy something a bit more complicated and out-there. Ewing's Rocket might be appealing as heist-focused mini, and I feel like the mix of melancholy and absurdity would appeal to her. Rosenberg's Hawkeye: Freefall would work for similar reasons, though replace "melancholy" with "simmering rage."

Morrison's Doom Patrol and The Invisibles both have characters Aisha might relate to for the whole "society largely ignoring or wanting to go away" thing. Plus they both have big weird ideas she'd appreciate, Richard Case's art works well with her aesthetics, and they're both seen as "respectable" series to the point that she might like peppering in references to them in alongside Jules Verne jokes.

Huh, I just realized that Aisha and Brian both ended up chasing an appearance of being mature and somewhat surface-level and off-putting ways. Brian "trust me I'm a normal adult man" and Aisha "I've compiled spider-man quips for every work in the Western Canon and will get frustrated when you don't get them" Laborn, the "something ain't right about that kid" siblings.

(I will say that Morrison's Doom Patrol has some weird black stereotypes so if anyone wants to pitch me on a similar work without Morrison's occasional racism I'd be curious).

I'd give Rowell's run on Runaways to Sabah, if only because "somewhat antivillanous found family group of teens that mostly don't have to worry about anything besides relationship drama" sounds like a nice escape for her. Closer to what she wants the Undersiders to be like. Also, I feel she'd enjoy Kris Anka's focus on fashion in his art.

I don't have a lot to go off for Lily. I could see some of the more recent Captain Marvel runs appealing to her sense of true-blue militant heroism. Ayala's New Mutants or Ahmed's Black Bolt might help combat her whole "villains are ontologically evil" thing, at least to a certain extent.

[storygremlin]

I have just discovered the offensive reality of straight people A/B/O through Bridgerton fanfics—truly a misogynistic patriarchal reinforcement of gender stereotypes that horrifies me to my soul.

Straight people should not have access to this trope, they have no concept of how to use it. Like, if you’re determined to do a “family legacy” thing for the Bridgertons, they’re all horny Omegas looking for love.

However, if we’re being more INTERESTING with it:

Simon/Daphne should be Beta/Omega, and you could use Simon being a Beta to play into his daddy issues.

Kate/Anthony is Alpha/Alpha, anyone who tries to make Kate an Omega is out of their fucking minds. Also, that is a woman who wants to fuck her husband, let’s be so for real.

Penelope/Colin would be the actual Alpha/Omega dynamic but Pen is obviously the Alpha. Colin wants to be good for her SO BAD. I don’t make the rules. (Except I DO and I’M RIGHT).

John/Francesca are a couple of autistic Betas who just want the crazy Alphas and Omegas to leave them out of their messy drama so they can be quiet nerds together.

As for Eloise and Benedict, there’s a few options.

Eloise as an Alpha or Omega can be used to explore how that effects her as a woman in 19th century regency who feels like she SHOULD be able to do the same things as her brothers but is restricted either bc she’s a girl (Alpha) or bc she’s an Omega, and how that’s affected by her internalized misogyny (against omega girls for example). Could also contribute to her and Pen’s friendship dynamics��if she’s an Alpha, as a bonding point for not quite fitting, but if she’s an Omega you can make it a like she thinks Pen being an Alpha is cool/is envious of her.

Benedict I feel like you could argue for any secondary gender and make it interesting, cause that’s the kind of character he is. But I think most interesting would be making him a Beta to really play into the way he’s trying to find his place without having a set role in his family.

Have I put way to much thought into this? No, I literally came up with this as soon as I thought about it, it’s so easy and way more interesting than “the boys are alphas and the girls are good little omegas bc i hate queer people and prefer to write boring uninteresting worlds and dynamics and fetishize terrible gender stereotypes”.

The only way ur allowed to use A/B/O for het couples is if ur messing with the secondary gender shit. Otherwise it just feels inherently misogynistic and homo-and-transphobic to me.

[kingdom-stars]

Something, something, throwing up 'bout my AU all over the page, something, something(?).

Wright & Co. Family bussines

So, this past year I've been thinking about an Ace Attorney AU. Nothing original, just the tri-color trio (Apollo, Athena and Trucy) in the original trilogy

You'd think it'd be the most common AU, but I've seen surprisingly few of them

(Unless I haven't searched well, in which case, post links👀)

So I gave myself the task of making one, because if you want something to go well you do it yourself :V

Clarifications before starting:

This OBVIOUSLY has spoilers for both trilogies, so I'll put a cut here

I decided to move some important moments to fit into the AU, such as:

The trial where Trucy's father disappears was taken by Mia and was for the accidental "death" of Thalassa, he is declared innocent but leaves Trucy because he does'nt think he's a good father to her. Phoenix's last case will still pass and Shadi will still be accused of murdering Magnify Graymare, but Trucy will not be the one to give Phoenix the note and she'll not recognize her father (but Phoenix will)

Simon's trial will pass two years before canon. Phoenix, blessed be his heart, adopts Athena because she has no one else and her relatives in Europe have not been brought up yet

Apollo will be found by Mia while she searches for some other relative of Trucy's and tells Phoenix, who immediately contacts child services to make the adoption

Apollo and Athena decide to keep their last names, Trucy is the only one to change it to Wright, but the three are comfortable with being called by Phoenix's last name

Nothing related to the newly formed Wright Family, Edgeworth decides to adopt Kay after Turnabout Reminiscences, just as he adopts Sebastian after Turnabout for the ages (I just saw that's the official name for The Grand Turnabout and it's DOPE AS FUCK)

Some other things:

Apollo will be 12 in this AU, as that would be the age calculated for this point in the series, Athena would follow with 7 and Trucy with 5

The three of them will reference their respective backstories, Apollo having knowledge about the spiritual channeling thanks to his time in Khura'in, Athena missing her mother and paying attention to Phoenix to become a lawyer and save Simon and Trucy having vague memories of when her mother was still with her

Apollo will have a tendency to use his Chords of Steel™ when he gets nervous and will switch to Khura'ines

Athena would still use the sound canceling headphones (or emotions, whatever) but as the story progresses she will take them off more and more

By the end of the second case, Trucy will start wearing the blue cape

Maya will be a kind of aunt/older sister, Pearl will be the cousin that no one can get angry with and Kay the bad influence gremling cousin(?)

Larry, Gumshoe and Edgeworth will be the ✨Cool Uncles✨. Gumshoe and Edgeworth will take a while to get there for obvious reasons, but they will

Each final case will be in some way related to the three children. This would be with Athena

Without further ado, let's go to the first game!

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

The first Turnabout:

There's not much to change here. Character introductions, dynamic statements, the odd clue about the children's talents and little triggers for Phoenix, but small ones, small ones

Turnabout Sisters:

Slight changes but nothing significant. Apollo's discomfort with the Kurain channeling technique is mentioned for being similar to those of Khura'in, Trucy is the one who notices the butler's lies, Athena hears April May's fear of Red White, Red White attempts to blackmail Phoenix out of the case by threatening to take the children away from him, and Apollo testify on Phoenix's behalf, Phoenix has major triggers here

Turnabout Samurai:

I don't know what I would change here. Gumshoe being rude to Phoenix and Trucy defending him, Maya dragging poor Apollo into fan conversations with Cody and Phoenix bringing up the issue of Dee Vazques' threat at trial, on a separate note, Edgeworth finds Trucy in the prosecution lobby and returns her to Phoenix

Turnabout Goodbyes:

Ohhhh boy, this is the one. Kay makes her debut introducing herself as Edgeworth's daughter/assistant, she is the one who asks them to represent him to Edgeworth's mortification and will help in the investigation with Gumshoe, the three children catch Edgeworth's desperation for this case which makes Phoenix more determined to help him. This is practically the final case for Athena, she sympathizes with Edgeworth's earthquake phobia, she hears von Karma's true intentions but doesn't know how to explain them, she is inspired by Phoenix's story of how Edgeworth and Larry defended him as a child and how that act made him become a defense attorney and decides to do the same for Simon, she feels a strange understanding in not wanting to believe that she killed his her father mother (the black psycholocks sound), she stays by his side when he makes the last testimony and explains his nightmare, even going so far as to grab his hand to give him strength and shout at Von Karma in the face when he tries to ridicule them, when Von Karma's breakdown occurs he tries to attack Athena in the purest Tronchatoro style and then she is saved by Edgeworth. In the end she starts calling him Uncle Edgeworth

Rise from the ashes:

Oh yes, the DLC case, I almost forgot. Apollo and Trucy go full on Gant and his tics, Ema and Apollo bond (no Ship here, just friendship), Athena jumps into full scolding when she sees that Edgeworth wants to resign as a prosecutor because "they didn't spend three days stressing for you to then throw it overboard" or something like that, everyone gets scared by the Blue Badger and everyone wants to kill(?) Meckins

Ahhhhh, finally, I took it off my chest

I have olabs for Justice for all and Trials & Tribulation, but I'll make separate posts for those, you say if you want to hear it or not

Byee~!

[beevean]

So some recent... discourse put into my mind the concept of "power fantasy", and how people relate to it in different ways. Of course, I'm talking about Hector :P

Is Hector, in the games, a power fantasy? I think the answer is "yes but actually no but actually yes it's complicated".

Let's be honest, first: Hector is a product of his time. He is, in many aspects, Castlevania's response to the wave of edginess that was en vogue in the mid-2000s - I don't compare CoD to ShTH for no reason lol. Hector was always meant to be an anti-hero contrasting the pure heroes the games always starred before him:

—Why did you choose the theme of "revenge" for this game? Iga: Up to now, the Belmonts have been seen as the good guys. I thought it'd be nice to do something other than a moralistic "good triumps over evil" theme sometime. After all, Castlevania has always had an excellent world for telling a "dark hero" story. Alucard would be one such character… though even he is fighting for a just cause: "I've got to stop my Father!" So he's still kind of a good guy. This time, though, I wanted the motivation itself to be impure. So this theme is what I came up with, and then I thought it would be even more interesting if each side was out for revenge on the other.

Hector has "impure" motivations. His quest is completely selfish: while all the other protagonists want to face Dracula (or others in his place) because it's the right thing to do, Hector is just in to kill the man who ruined his life. In fact, he really couldn't care less about the Curse, and multiple times in the game he asks why can't Trevor just deal with the issues he doesn't want to deal with lol. This is in line with other characters of the same caliber, such as Shadow sneering at a city being invaded by aliens until there is something in for him, or Guts who declares that he's willing to let a whole town fall prey to demons, as long as Casca is safe. However, this is not a detriment to Hector's character like it would be nowadays, as he's also very much mean to be "cool": while obviously every protagonist has his cool factor, even going back to Simon in the first games who defeated Dracula all by himself and then had to heroically struggle with the Curse, Hector is cool in that, well, deliciously over-the-top way that was all the rage back then. He can ride wyverns as he slashes them, he can go toe to toe with Trevor himself to the point that even he is impressed, he can forge a gun and an electric guitar, cutscenes show him punching a stone devil with his bare first, he gloats in Dracula's face that he can nullify his Curse... yeah, he's a gigachad lol. The flaws are only meant to make him cooler and not "boring", as paragon heroes were seen at the time.

I, personally, never cared about this part. I'm not the target audience for this kind of power fantasy. Sure, I like that Hector is over-the-top cool and I will always joke about his most outlandish feats, but I'm not so keen on reducing him to those alone. I couldn't even explain why avenging your dead lover counts as part of a power fantasy lol.

This is why I latched on so much on the first half of his story, the one where Hector deals with Dracula, and why I insist that Hector is much more than his admittedly cliché archetype of "angry man on a revenge quest".

Calling Hector "stoic" is not even knowing the meaning of the word. Calling pretty much any CV protagonist "stoic" is factually wrong, as even the more serious ones like Alucard and Shanoa have other depths to them (Alucard is still grieving for his mother and we see it in a nightmare, Shanoa was deliberately made stoic and she subtly longs to feel again), but Hector doesn't even begin to fit the definition of "One who is seemingly indifferent to or unaffected by joy, grief, pleasure, or pain". The whole point of CoD is that Hector was left so emotionally vulnerable by his grief that both Isaac and Zead used him as a puppet. Anger is the complete antithesis of stoicism. "well anger is still a toxically masculine emotion" - memes aside, Hector shows other emotions too, most notably around Julia, the only person with which we see how actually gentle and polite he is when he doesn't have Dracula's influence scrambling his brain. By the way, you cannot ignore the effects of the Curse on both Hector and Isaac when you analyze them, especially the former:

It can't be plainer than this.

And it doesn't come out of nowhere, because not only Julia herself tries to warn Hector that Devil Forgemasters are susceptible to the Curse, he acts vulnerable around her. He apologizes for his unjust outbursts, sympathizes with her plight, is visibly affected by her grief when Isaac dies... sure, it might be all because he's lowkey crushing on her, if you want to see it that way (and I do have my words over the plot point of Julia looking like Rosaly: I would have preferred if the game had more time to show that Hector grew to see Julia as her own person beyond her appearance), but the point is that this behavior highly contrasts with how angry and aggressive he is to everyone else, which the reveal of the Curse recontextualizes.

Also, just saying, while anger can be toxic, the point of these storylines is usually precisely that revenge is bad. Unchecked anger is bad for you, and you shouldn't let yourself fall down that spiral, lest you lose yourself. Isaac got consumed by his own hatred and died as a tool; Hector realized in time that he should snap out of it and survives, also because he was nice to Julia and so she grew to care about him and saved him when he tried to kill himself <- a reaction that is very unmasculine, might I add, as toxic masculinity dictates that men should make other people pay for their pain. bro. bro this is the complete antithesis of "toxic masculinity". Again, this is really not knowing the meaning of the word.

I don't even need to pull examples from the manga, but just for completion's sake:

iunno about you chief, but someone who bursts into tears just because wifey told him that she's happy he was born isn't exactly the portrayal of toxic masculinity to me.

Which makes me segue into the next point!

Hector and Isaac are victims of abuse, and this is another very important angle to understand them. And I'm not just talking about their childhoods, of which we only get hints, although of course it does matter that the two experienced so much hatred and rejection in their youth that Dracula was the better option for them.

We don't see the details, but Dracula affected both of them deeply. He put them in a competitive dynamic, favoring Hector over Isaac: Isaac grew bitter with resentment, which made him double down on his loyalty to Dracula, while Hector only got the appreciation he craved at the price of his very humanity and morals, which weighed on him. The point of this favoritism is not really the core of their rivalry in game, as that one was caused by Hector's betrayal, but it gives a different dimension to the character. It would have been easy to have the mistreated guy the one who decided to turn his back to Dracula, but no, it was the golden child. Isaac was so entrenched in this dynamic that he never broke free, choosing instead to blame Hector and do everything in his power to prove himself to an uncaring Lord, including (in the manga) killing his own underlings so that he would be free to face Hector by himself. From PtR:

"My own body is proof of Your expectations for him" is such a hard-hitting line. Isaac fears that he didn't even disappoint his Lord, because his Lord didn't have expectations for him in the first place. It's Hector the one he's so proud of.

And Hector hates it. By all means, he should be happy to have a home, to be respected and appreciated and free to use his powers. And he used to be!

"Lord Dracula... You once accepted and needed my powers. There was a time when such a thing gave me joy..."

Hector was grateful for his Lord, but he couldn't live anymore in the safety of the castle, if the price was committing indiscriminate murder for the sake of a senseless revenge, going against his morals and being used as a weapon. Hector had to make a choice: keep living under Lord Dracula's protection, but losing his humanity piece by piece, or breaking free and facing the world that hated him, but as a free man?

Hector chose freedom over conditional safety and love. He was ready to die, as long as he died a free man. He put himself first, he turned his back against people who did not truly appreciate him, and despite the mess he left behind it was the right decision. And that's the power fantasy I adore, and that is what makes him a strong character in my opinion. It's the embodiment of achieving self-confidence, the healthy selfishness, the affirmation of the self when everyone else around you only sees you as an object or a prize, the reassurance that even if you fall, you can always get up and try again and become a person you can be proud of.

And Hector, after breaking free, very much acts like a victim of abuse. I spent countless words over how he displays the belief that he needs to do something to earn the right to be loved by Rosaly, unaccepting of the fact that she simply does because, well, he likes him and sees the good in him, and that's it. I wrote a whole analysis on how this belief stems from a sad naiveté on how the world works, because Hector is naive underneath the aloof exterior, and it's not something to make fun of him for, but a tragic result of living under Dracula for so long. I'll also point again to him having breakdowns because he hates himself and sees himself as inherently unlovable.

I could also spend all the words about the parallels about how Hector loves Dracula and how he loves Rosaly:

In both cases, he latches onto the only person who has showed him a modicum of kindness. He wants to give his life for them. The difference being, of course, that Dracula only appreciates Hector for what he does (and I could also go into a whole tangent on how Hector was personally raised by Dracula to be his knight and he has a piece of his essence inside him which parallels how abusive parents see their children as an extension of themselves), while Rosaly for who he is. With Dracula, Hector understands that all the shallow care in the world doesn't matter if he isn't also respected as a person: he still cares about him, in some fashion, but not the point of clinging.

And if Hector is ready to lay down his life for Rosaly because she finally showed him what real love looks like, is it any wonder that seeing her die would spark such a fury in him that it makes him prey to the Curse and to being once again twisted into a tool?

The power fantasy comes from the part where Hector breaks free of the abuse and manipulation - twice over. But he is also relatable, with all of his flaws, weaknesses, and mistakes he makes. The whole point of Hector's journey in the first half of his story is that he feels the need to atone for his sins, and the consequences of his actions all catch up to him in the worst of ways. Ignoring this to reduce Hector to an edgelord who only spends his life angry and then hooks up with a Rosaly replacement (which incidentally also ignores Julia's personality and agency and I might even call as misogynist as the plot point itself) is a huge disservice to the thought and care put into him to make him stand out from his own archetype.

Power fantasies are not inherently bad. Depending on the fantasy, they can be inspirational. Hector is inspirational to me, if that wasn't clear, I see part of me in his circumstances and I admire his arc: it tells you, "you can break free too, you have the strength to do so, and you will find people who will love you without reason". And I just generally speaking find him a very well written character despite stemming from a rather outdated context, because all the details come together to make him fleshed out and tridimensional.

[feuerscram]

I'm still obsessed with Jekyll & Hyde and since I have no one irl to speak about it, I'm coming back to ramble way too much about it here.

(Warning: I wrote it at least a month ago, for several days and I literally wrote everything that went through my head because I thought it was funny. It may not be, idk, anyway you have been warned now.)

Let's talk about Lisa/Emma from the musical! (I call her Lisa for the rest of the post.)

Firstly, I find extremely funny that the musical's creators decided to make Jekyll marry the daughter of the only man Hyde killed in the book, and also their decision to make Hyde kill a whole lot of people, but not this one who is canonically killed, is hilarious.

In my other Jekyll & Hyde post, I said that Lisa is a queen, and I will die on that hill, even if at the time I hadn't exactly listened closely to her songs's lyrics. Now I have, so I hope what I say will be more accurate!

Let's get the obvious out the way: yes, Lisa's whole character has been created to be one of Jekyll's love interest. Yes, that restrain her possible evolution. Yes, it can make her character seem dull and flat, especially considering Lucy, another original character of the musical and also love interest of Jekyll, whose backstory is way more complex (at first glance at least).

But you guessed it, I really like Lisa, Carolee Carmello has the voice of an angel, and thus I won't let her be a dull and flat character.

To get started, I think Lisa Carrew is a really interesting figure of a woman from the upper class of the 19th century (although probably not an accurate one). She fit perfectly in the picture we have of the perfect woman: she's kind, patient and supportive of her husband-to-be's dream. At first, we could have expect her to not have any dream herself, which is proven wrong in her very first song the show : she says herself in Possessed "But I, too, have dreams! Maybe not as grand as yours or hard to understand as yours but nonetheless my dreams!". The problem here is that we don't know what these dreams are, and a way to fill the blank could be to say that she want to be married to Jekyll and to found a family with him. The foremost is clearly right, but the later we can't be sure of. Frankly we can make imagine everything: maybe she wants to travel the world, maybe she wants to be rich, maybe she wants a good reputation, maybe she wants to work with Jekyll, maye she wants to take care of a houshold, maybe she wants to become a lawyer or anything really. (Most of these possibilities are trash, I know, don't worry). What I mean is, we have almost no way to know more about Lisa's expectation in life when only listening to the Original Concept Recording (like me).

But there's one song that is enough to brought this almost bland character we know nothing about to a whole other level: and this song my friends, is Lisa Carew.

(Surprising that we learn the most about her in the song that bears her name, isn't it?)

In this song, Lisa is discussing with Simon Stride, who is obviously in love with Lisa (or at least want to have her for himself) and hates Jekyll with his whole heart. Not so surprinsingly, he tries to convince her that she is wasting her life and that she really shouldn't marry Jekyll, because 'he's not right for you, you can do so much better than that (me for example)' and yada yada.

Lisa's first answers as his little tantrum is to say that she is an adult woman who makes her own choice freely and thus he has no say to what she does. (To which I would say: Go for it girl! You tell him!) We also learn that she has lost her mother at a young age and that her father would rather keep her safe with him all his life. At which she says, 'nope! I'll go live my life, dad'. Also she tells Stride that he is certainly not her father and that she won't accept his patronizing, because she doesn't need him, thank you very much.

Let's talk about how she puts Stride in his place now! Man, the gut she's got for turning him off like that! She's very clear: no means no Sir. And the coldness with she address him! She couldn't have been more obvious when she pushes him away. At the end of the song, it's not even 'Simon' like in her first verse, it's only 'Sir', and frankly Simon, you're dense if you don't understand that she doesn't want you. And he is, of course he is. Or he just doesn't care. Which isn't better, let's admit it.

We have two important ideas here: Lisa wants to be free, she wants to do what she wants to do, and she doesn't depend on anyone to make her own choices. And that's where she is really interesting for an upper class woman of the 19th century: for a woman, being able to choose what life she will have and with who isn't a given. (That's probably where you see that Sire Carew is a good dad.)

Also in this song she says "In Henry's eyes, I see what I am meant to be", which is probably a forshadowing of the song In His Eyes, and we love foreshadowing here, so let me tell what I want even if it's completely unrelated with the topic. That's my post, no one will read it, I'm saying what I want. Na.

But this verse is also interesting, because she seems to find a meaning in life in Henry, which is probably something I have to dwell on.

I should really start to stop writing this in several days and write in one go instead because the more I think, the more I realise that I may be wrong on a lot of things about Lisa. Which is fine! She's still a character I love.

Because now, after literally three days of writing this post instead of writing something about my Gravity Falls AU, I have something to say about Lisa's love for Jekyll, rather than just "yes, Lisa really loves Jekyll, and that's really sweet but I have nothing to say about that." Which is sad considering I'm actively trying to write a whole ass essay about her character.

I have realised that she is just as obsessed as her dear Jekyll. Only, she isn't obsessed with a project, with a dream, she's obsessed with Jekyll. Which is obvious, probably.

I won't make a review of all her songs, because they are without a doubt all about her love for Henry Jekyll, and maybe that's enough to prove she's obsessed, but like I said before, her character has been created to be in love with Jekyll. What's interest me now is how it can be read as an obsession. So let's see the lyrics that tends to show this obsession:

‌In Possessed, she says "I live to see that dream come true, My world consists of it and you". So yes, in this song she tries to make Jekyll see that she has needs too (and that's something she's right to do and that he needs to hear), but she also says that her whole world turns around Jekyll.

‌In Lisa Carew of course, she says "In Henry's eyes, I see what I am meant to be!", so she finds a meaning of life in Jekyll, in Jekyll love for her and in her love for him.

‌Okay, there's less line like these one than I though. Maybe she isn't so obsessed. But still, in the song In his eyes, we learn that she is well aware that Jekyll can be dangerous, that he can lie to her, that she should probably turn away and find someone else. But she doesn't, because she loves him. "Everything worth living for Is there, in his eyes!" For me that sounds like someone who is aware of their obsession and who willingly chooses to ignore that it could very well not be pretty in the end.

She is less obsessed than Jekyll, that's for sure. She can still have an obsession for him. But that's also because her obsession is less powerful that she survives at the end, even if it's Jekyll who gives her a reason to live.

But that's also support my original idea, the very reason I wanted to write this post: Lisa may be in love with Jekyll because of the freedom he gives her.

Remember, in Lisa Carew, she somehow describes her father like an overprotective one, and Mr. Carew admit himself in Letting Go that letting her go is "the last thing in life [he]'ll ever want[s] to do". Getting married is a way for her to become free, and she can't stress enough to Stride that she's not a "weak young thing" nor "someone seventeen, obedient and sweet".  Jekyll in this aspect is the perfect opposite of Stride: he have absolutely no interest in controlling Lisa, honestly he just wants her to let him pursuing his experiments. And if Lisa wasn't so in love with him, she could see how much time and freedom he would let her have! I think he would give her the attention she seeks too (when he's not absorbed by his research), but he won't be breathing behind her back and spying on everything she does like Stride would probably have.

That's probably cruel of me to say that, but at the end of the show, she is married, so she isn't under her father's guardiandship, and since Jekyll just died, she isn't under his guardianship either. She is as free as a woman from the 19th century can be. Her dream to live with her loved one is now inacheavable, but she is finally free. And I headcanon that having this freedom is one of the dreams she's talking about in Possessed.

This could be the end of my little meaningless essay. But no! There's always more to say.

In term of symbolism, I think Lisa is the only character of the whole show who doesn't wear a façade.

And when you think ot it, it's probably what makes her character so interesting. In this society, appearance are everything, no one can show their true self without being immediatly eaten by other, people are divided into two side of the same coin, their true selves and the persona they have created for everyone else to see. It's the very theme of the show, the very thing that Jekyll is trying to destroy. And yet, even he wears a façade, even he doesn't say what he thinks of people like Stride when in public (as we can see in The Engagement Party).

Maybe Utterson doesn't wear a façade either, but we know too little about him to know for sure. At least, dealing with hypocrites doesn't seem to set him off. In The Engagement Party again, he seems like a fisch in water (or at least he's not the one who brings about a dramatic change in the music.)

Lisa on the other hand, is always very clear about what she wants and about what she thinks of people's actions. She says repeatedly that she wants to marry Jekyll, that she loves him and that she will defend him until the end. She says very clearly that she won't change her mind and that nobody, not even her father, can make her. She doesn't sugarcoat Stride when she pushes him away: she finds him boring, and she tells him. She finds her father unjust with Jekyll in Your work and nothing more and she calls him unkind. Not once in the whole show she appears like something she's not. Even in The Wedding Reception she doesn't hide her fears, and she stays true to her conviction that Jekyll is here and that he wouldn't hurt her, that he wouldn't kill her.

In the end of the day, Lisa is a strong woman who seeks freedom, love and belongong. She thought she had found it in the person of Jekyll, which explains her unwavering faith in him. And until the very end, she is the only one who stays true to her faith, and to herself in the process.

I can know say that I have said everything I could think of about Lisa, and if someone read this, well, congratulations for coming this far! Here, have a cookie 🍪. I hope you'll have a good day/night, bye-bye!

[beefblizzard]

I’ve been thinking about simon a lot, and I’ve been getting really confused when people call him “insane” and “deranged”… I get why, I guess, but it always felt like a major stretch to me… AHHFRH like I don’t mean to sound dumb or ignorant so im overexplaining it under the cut mkay

I see a lot of claims that are like “he would just follow orders blindly and ignorantly” and I totally agree that it was weird that he did what he was told without thought… however… isn’t that just what kids do? Isn’t it just what everybody else did? In the choir?

And shouldn’t that apply to Simon even more when we take his issues (social anxiety, fainting) into account?

A person who is ‘outcasted’ is more likely to follow orders from a model of authority (or a person in power that everybody else looks up to) to fit in. Does that make it a good thing/justify that? No. But I think we should definitely keep that in mind… Idk I just feel… weird when I see people say that Simon was nearly as insane as like. Idk say Jack or smth. That just feels weird. Idk I might be dumb and I will be humiliated if proven wrong. And I could definitely be just saying this because I see myself in Simon so much.

(Oh and let it be known that I don’t think we should baby him either. We can have ‘sensible’, shy characters without them being dumbed down to “baby”)

but it’s also clear that Simon isn’t truly a ‘sheep’ that automatically agrees with everything authorities say just to fit in. That’s pretty obviously shown when he goes up to the mountain when nobody even told him to, to check if there really is a beast. And he is more than able to form his own opinions, you know, the whole “maybe the beast is us” thing.

and. you know. people can just be odd without them being labeled as insane. am I. Liek. Wrong. Does this make me sound dumb and ignorant.

Like I get it to an extent, but, I think that calling him completely deranged is a stretch and misjudgment of his character. He did things he definitely shouldn’t have done though.

[islandtarochips]

Harry Potter x COD

I REALLY love watching the Harry Potter Movie! Trying to read books about it but we don’t have it and I can’t order it because shipping from off-island to here is EXPENSIVE these days so I have to live off of the movies…

And also, I JUST remembered about an artist putting the COD characters into that AU! And I will show the list of those characters! (I only remembered SOME since I saw it like...last year? I think. And I forgot the name of the artist too...)

So here is what I remembered for the COD Characters being in Harry Potter AU:

Soap - Gryffindor/Senior (7th Year) Gaz - Hufflepuff/Senior (7th Year) Ghost (or Simon) - Ravenclaw/Senior (7th Year) Farah - Gryffindor/Senior (7th Year) Alex - Hufflepuff/Senior (7th Year) Price - Slytherin/Professor (Defense Against the Dark Arts) Graves - Slytherin/Senior (7th Year)

And…that’s about it. That’s who I just remembered. I’ll let you guys know if there’s more!

Anyway! I am DYING to share these ideas with you about this one! Let me list down my COD OCs in this Universe!

Tiala - Student/Senior (7th Year)/Ravenclaw: Because of her smartness of planning something ahead. I think that Tiala will likely be fitting in the Ravenclaw house! She also plays quidditch for the Ravenclaw! Which I know we didn't SEE one of the Students from that house actually PLAY but I'm gonna put Tiala in there anyway. She'll be playing as a Chaser or a Beater!

Kanoa - Professor (Defense Against the Dark Arts)/Gryffindor: I see Kanoa being: 1) VERY confident 2)Wants to protect his friends and 3) Causes ALL the problems (Well...most of it). And I know that teaching that kind of subject is...kind of dangerous to learn but when you have Kanoa around! He'll make it somehow...FUN??? I don't know how this man got the students attention of teaching these subject. I'm sure if Hogwarts are doing the "Teacher of the Month". Kanoa will be taking the spotlights! HA!

Agnes - Student/Junior (6th Year)/Gryffindor: As always, Agnes being a chaotic girl and getting into trouble. Causing some explosions during Potions Class (Trying to make something explosive with it). But she will help and protect her friends from dangers. With her BOMBS!

Nigel - Student/Junior (6th Year)/Hufflepuff: I was thinking that Nigel has that LOYAL personality and since Hufflepuff is loyal. Why not put him there? I know he worked hard to help others as much as he can! Wanting to satisfy them! He plays in Quidditch as being the Chasers or the Seekers!

Aelan - Nurse: Aelan is a smart gal and she knows what she is doing. She used to be in the Ravenclaw House. And when she graduated, she decided to be in the nursing office to help and heal the students.

Callie - Student/Senior (7th Year)/Slytherin: I know she got that attitude from Graves and Graves IS a Slytherin too. So you bet that these two will be annoying ANYONE to death. (Her rivalry is with Tiala while Graves' rivalry is with Soap in this AU)

Rosa - Professor (Potions)/Ravenclaw: I believe Rosa will be fitting for Ravenclaw. Think of her as a smart gal with charms. Always a quick-thinker of going against her opponent! And also quite creative while teaching her students to get their attention!

Alana - School Counselor/Gryffindor: Making sure to help students and getting them out of trouble. AHEM- Agnes and Nigel- AHEM- 

Koa - Professor (Flying lesson)/Coach for the Gryffindor/Gryffindor: I see this hunk of a man being the coach. And I know he's brave enough to face anyone or any creatures to make sure that anyone is safe. So Gryffindor for him! And oh! He's also the coach for the Gryffindor House obviously! Lol.

And now! For my mutuals OCs that I have been asking them! And I’m also still waiting for my other mutuals to respond so I’ll reblogged this post once they send it to me!

@revnah1406 OCs in Harry Potter AU:

Sparrow - Student/Senior (7th Year)/Gryffindor: I see this hunk of a woman is a Senior student. And knows how to play quidditch! I don't know if Rev will agree for her to be a BEATER because seeing how strong she looks. I KNOW she'll knock those chasers DOWN with one throw!

Amara - Student/Senior (7th Year)/Hufflepuff: I most definitely see it! Amara being a hard working student and always be fair with others! And I KNOW she's loyal to her best Girlfriend! Sparrow! You could see her cheering her lover on during the Quidditch match!

Abby - Student/5th Year/Slytherin: Abby is a smart gal for a Slytherin and I KNOW she'll be sassy towards others. She's also confident! Which I like it! So I guessed this DOES fits her!

Now for @alypink OCs in Harry Potter AU:

Aly - Professor/Gryffindor: I could DEFINITELY see Aly being in that house! She's a very brave one! I know she is! And has that determination sparks inside of her! But haven't decided of which subjects she'll teach.

Aleks - Student/7th Year/Ravenclaw: I could see it so CLEARLY! This smart gal being part of the Ravenclaw house? Fits pretty well! With her smartness and great ideas. She's gonna knock the house's roof off with it! Lol.

@deeptrashwitch OCs in the Harry Potter AU:

Alicia - Professor (Defense Against the Dark Arts)/Gryffindor: YES! YES! Both her and Kanoa teaching the SAME subjects and is in the SAME house?! No wonder they're both BEST of FRIENDS! Hahaha! And I could definitely see it and I LOVE it!

Luke - Professor (Muggle Studdies)/Slytherin: I don't know if there IS a subject about teaching Muggle. It's been a long time that I've watched Harry Potter so I don't know much. But for this AU! We'll pretend that existed! And I would LOVE to know more about Luke being a Slytherin! This is getting too much fun! Lol.

And lastly that I got respond from. Is @welldonekhushi OCs:

Arjun - Professors (Transfiguration)/Gryffindor: Since I JUST remembered that @welldonekhushi did draw Arjun as being no a PROFESSOR. Soooo….thinking that he’ll be teaching Transfiguration. Doing something to change objects like that. Him being a professor is a WIN-WIN🥴AHEM- Anyway, I could see him teaching that subject!

Scarlet - Student/7th Year/Hufflepuff: This is really sweet to see Scarlet being a Hufflepuff! I wonder if she likes animals. And being a hard worker is her style if she wants to get the job done! Loving it!

And I think that's about it! But for my mutuals! If you are interested to join in, you can DM me! And for those who already ANSWERED the ask the I sent in your inbox and I didn't add it in here. Do let me know in my DM as well! Thank you all and I MIGHT write a fic about this AU too! But maybe later on after me writing the OTHER stories! Ok! Thank you for reading this far and I love ya, peles! 😚❤️

[sansaorgana]

Don't get me wrong because I enjoy Bridgerton even though it's objectively not a good period drama show but it also doesn't aspire to be and I respect that.

But my problem with Bridgerton is that... the main family of the show are The Bridgertons. They lack some sort of depth that other characters have. The struggles of The Featheringtons, The Cowpers, the backstory of Duke Simon or The Sharmas – they are all more interesting to me than a story of a spoiled family, who seem to never have any real struggles and always support each other no matter what, which makes them too idyllic to be taken seriously and to be perceived as realistic.

I would enjoy the show so much more if they either had more interesting plotlines with more depth or they weren't the main characters because many times they simply annoy me with how they never seem to have any real struggles that other characters or real people have. They were oh so lucky to have a good father who was also a good husband, they all were oh so lucky to get married happily, they are oh so lucky that they don't have debts or any serious financial struggles, they are oh so respected in the society even after a few scandals... blah blah blah...

The Bridgerton I like the most is Francesca I think because she seems to not fit in with the rest and she so obviously avoids all the useless noise they all create around themselves and I can relate to that. They argue about cookies – Benedict in the middle of it like he was a child himself – meanwhile other characters like Cressida or Portia have to face the real, harsh struggles of the real, adult world and the fact they are powerless women in the male dominated world. How am I supposed to take The Bridgertons seriously?

[monodramatic-cannibal]

Renegade au world information

All this info is subject to change.

This is just some info on undertale (Sans) au I've been working on. I don't mind questions about the world, but bear with me I'm not that good at world building lmaoo. So if things don't make sense just let me know and I will try to fix it or explain it lol.

This au is also self indulguent, orignally I was going to keep it to myself, but since I've made a ut blog, may as well share the utau content I'm making since I don't know how much of my ut art is gonna be the renegade au.

Also Characters won't be following their canon personalities, there will be a lot of fandom interpritations and my own head canons.

Also a bit of info on the name, originally the au was going to be something different (plot/world wise) its originally name was "Reject/|Renegade", which then got shortened to Renedage. Then I changed the plot/world and since I was so used to calling it the Renegade au I never changed the name. So the name might not make sense for this world, but thats why lol.

Asks about the world/characters will be open, or just doodle ideas/requests for them too. I'd also love to hear peoples thoughts/interpretations on this au lol.

Also when sending asks for the characters: The asks will be like voices that can't directly/physically interact with characters. (Thought maybe on special occasions I may let askers appear as animals or something else to interact physically with characters) If your going to send in an ask make sure to specify that its for the Renegade au somewhere in the ask and also make sure to specify which character the ask is for.

(there's also sans shippings in this au, so if thats not something you like this au may not be for you.)

More info under the cut

World inspo (just so u know when I reference things in me trying to explain my aus setting): -Obviously undertale and all of its au's is an inspo for me lol -Stray (Cat game), For the world and its environments. As well as the horror inspo. -The artist Simon Stålenhag (https://www.instagram.com/simon_stalenhag/), Specifically their work on the artbooks “The eclectic state”, “The tales from the loop” and “The Labyrinth”. The world design is amazing and a huge inspo. (the inspo for me comes from the world not so much the story) -The game Wuthering Waves, specifically it’s world design. -Also some inspo came from me hearing about the place Kowloon city. (There's more inspo, but I'll save that unless I'm asked lmaoo)

-----

World/au takes place on the surface. The tree of emotions is in this world (tree from Dream and Nightmare's story).

Where it takes place:

The story also takes place in a world sort of like our own, in terms of there's a ton of wars of counties going on, and most likely a lot of conflict with monsters/humans as well. Leading to the incident which put the world into an apocalypse, which the au takes place a little bit after that situation, so weaker buildings are starting to crumble, and some plant life is starting to over grow in places.

The tree of emotions is also in this world, due to it being around for a long time (it’s older than Dream/Nightmare) its roots are deep, it’s a giant tree (It’s around the size of the giant tree in Wuthering Waves that's in the Violet Banyan area).

The tree of emotions is so in tune with the world, that if there were to be any problems with it, it can affect the world and the laws of the world. The tree still does have apples (both the golden and obsidian apples) on it, but it doesn’t look like an apple tree it looks like a mix of a weeping willow tree and wisteria tree (with both purple and yellow flowers yellow on Dream’s side, purple on Nightmare’s side). The tree on both sides also has little nooks and places for the twins to be, either it be a place in the tree to hide or sit, or places in the middle of the tree for both of them. The tree can grow and shift to fit the twin's needs.

The world has been deeply effected by the tree of emotions (see the paragraph above). When the apocalypse hit it wasn’t long before the land/environment itself was effected, things started appearing where they shouldn’t be e.g. trains in the middle of fields, or a patch of a flower field being placed into the 3rd floor of a large building. It started to affect the gravity of things as well, leaving cars suspended in the air, not really floating away but not coming down either. Roads and buildings been pulled up into the sky left floating. Glowing orbs of all colours randomly (normally its only one or two just randomly around theres never really a lot of them). Impossible machinery just placed at random (look at Simon Stålenhag art books “The eclectic state”, “The tales from the loop” and “The Labyrinth” for inspo, though the renegade world doesn’t have things nearly as drastic in them.) The rapid growth and decay of plant-life. Either plants taking a hold of buildings within a year, or whole forests dying leaving barren lands. Cracks forming in the earth revealing cave systems that weren’t there before, showing extensive environments that shouldn’t exist, like a portal to another world almost. (e.g. these environments can look like undertale underground, as the underground doesn’t exist in this world. Or can even look like other things like bioluminescent caves). Or glowing white cracks in the earth that decay the world around them turning the ground black becoming spawn points for Wraiths.

The specific area the story takes place in is a big city area, the group have made a small settlement within the higher floors of buildings that have bridges connecting them together. They've cut off most of the lower floors of the buildings to keep the Wraiths away from their living spaces. But have kept a few exits to get up and down from the buildings. They often use roofs for gardens and stuff, and fire escapes for movement around floors as well. Each character has a different mental map of both the living area and the city around. E.g. Night’s view of the city is going down all the nooks or walking along places that the average sized person cannot or using underground tunnels that he squeezed into. Where as someone like Error has a different view of the city, mainly viewing it from above, being able to use his strings to swing around to to launch himself building to building. This is to say each character has a different story when it comes to the city and their view of it. (Inspo for this is when people talk about “Kowloon city”)

The group try to give out roles to everyone, trying to cater to everyone's skills, but some people hang around without doing too much for the group, just as long as the rest of the group can rely on them when they need it then they're fine with it.

Wraiths:

The Wraiths look both human and monsters, they look like the Amalgamates (from UT), but come across as slightly more blob like, these creatures sort of look like tar. They're beings of negativity. They're often violent towards anything that isn't a Wraith, though they do tend to leave most animals alone, but do attack when they get too close. They possess a bit of magic abilities, some maybe more than others.

They can travel alone or in large groups. For people with no magic or limited magic, it's best to stay away from them.

People can't really turn into Wraiths (only the tree can turn people). But the Wraiths can spawn back after a while, often 'spawn points' will be littered amongst the land, being hot spots for Wraiths to be. Though on rare occasions the tree may turn people to Wraiths, mainly it’s when some is abusing the fact the world is in an apocalypse with no rules to do bad things, due to the build up of negative energy around them, it can cause them to get turned into a Wraith.

Wraiths aren't really that intelligent, some may have the intelligence of animals, but the most intelligent tend to have the brains of 7-year-olds. So they are capable of makings some sort of attack plans, but often lack the knowledge to fully cooperate with one another effectively. Though some rare few may have more intelligence than others.

Some Wraiths have been show to be evolving in ways, e.g. if someone specifically kills the same Wraith over and over, the Wraith may start developing features to combat that person's attack style. Some people think the Wraiths may be getting more intelligent, when in reality it may be a Wraith having a moment of clarity, as they did use to be a sentient being, they may try to do things that they used to do in life, e.g. returning to a building where they lived or worked. Wraiths magic is partly based on what they were before, either that be human or monster, and what magic capabilities they had, or could grow to have. Some Wraiths are a lot stronger than others, able to use their magic effectively.

Wraith growths are normally found around ‘spawn points’ for the Wraiths. It’s like a mold looking flesh that covers the ground and buildings (think of the sort of things in Stray ((the cat game))). Though it’s started to spread out past the spawn points. The ‘mold’ itself isn’t much of a threat, but Wraiths camp out in areas that have these Wraith growths covering them. Which can lead to dangerous situations if effort isn’t taken to make sure the growth doesn't spread any further.

Cause of apocalypse:

The tree of emotions is in this world (tree from Dream and Nm's story), and is the cause of the apocalypse. Due to all the negativity in the world, the tree without the input from its guardians (Nm and Dream) decided to cause a 'world reset'. The tree corrupted half of the population in the world (think of the Thanos snap but instead of disappearing it turns people to Wraiths). Due to all the negative emotions, the tree saw it best fit to start completely over in terms of the world's creatures that are capable of emotions. Most of the beings left alive blamed Nightmare for what happened, thinking this came from his side of the tree. When in reality it was a sort of man made issue that a higher being decided to sort out. The tree until it sees more of a balance of the negative/positive emotions will continue to keep the Wraiths around, either that means society finding a way of living in this world peacefully or everyone dies out from the Wraiths. Due to the build up of negative energy people would have thought Night would have gotten more powerful, but instead his power manifested in an alter self which looks a lot like the Wraiths but less drippy goo like, though he still looks like tar and such.

Powers/Magic:

In this au a lot of the powers/magic is a lot more toned down. Monsters are closer to humans in terms of the fact they don’t have a lot of magic. Monsters magic has dulled over time with being on the surface with humans, leading to monsters having more convenient powers that might help in day to day life, rather than having combat magic. Some monsters still have combat magic and some monsters may be born with more magic than others. Humans can also learn magic due to spending a lot of time with the monsters. But humans don’t have a lot of magic, and can only do basic things, sort of like the monsters of the modern-day.

When talking about the Skele's: When it comes to teleporting they can only do it very small distances, normally the length of a bus, but a few can train themselves to teleport a little bit further than that. They can also only teleport to places they’ve either already stood or straight ahead (almost like a dash when they do it ahead of themselves) (they can’t teleport through walls unless they’ve already been on the other side)

Being able to summon bones is a lot more limited in this au compared to the game. (They can still summon quite a lot of them, but they can’t spam it compared to the games).

They still have gaster blasters but they’re a lot smaller. A few may have slightly bigger gaster blasters, but normally they’re the side of a large dog.

They’re able to assign weapons to themselves, which allows them to summon/dismiss their weapons at will, they can have up to 4 weapons they can summon. (Their magic doesn’t count towards their weapons, it’s more of a physical weapon, such as Horror’s axe)

Some of them can have specific abilities that only they (or a few others) can use. E.g. Ink being able to use paint as his magic/power ability, or Error and his strings.

Original team/group and what order people joined it after that:

Og group: -Ink -Blue -Outer -Sci

What order the rest joined the group (same point = joined at the same time): -Horror / Error (Joined around 3 weeks into the apocalypse) -Fell (Joined just over a month) -Dream / Nightmare (Joined 3 months into the apocalypse) -Dust / Killer (Joined 4 and a half months into the apocalypse) -Lust (Joined 6 months into the apocalypse) -Geno / Echo / Edge (Joined 7 and a half months into the apocalypse) -Cross (Joined 9 months into the apocalypse) -Death (? didn't exactly join, followed Geno) -Fresh (? didn't exactly join, appeared shortly after Lust joined)

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Ships that are in this Au: (will be adding more ships as it goes along)(also even thou I say these ships are in here, feel free to ship what you want lol)

-Crossmare (Nightmare X Cross) (Both Night and Mare are apart of this)

-Afterdeath (Geno X Reaper)

-Horrorlust (? idk what it's called) (Horror X Lust)

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As mentioned a lot of this is subject to change. So Will be adding to this as I go along. I will try to let people know as I update this and whats changed so people don't have to read through all of it again. I'm looking to improve the world building, so if you have any suggestions I'm open to listen lol.

Some extra stuff :D :

When I talk about things like "living area" it means the collections of buildings/etc that the group is living in. And when I call something someones "room" it actually means a whole apartment, or in the case of Echo's (Radio room) and Error's (Storage room) rooms its an office floor that has been cleared out.

playlist I made with a few inspo videos for renegade, has world building shit, trailers, and music. Will be adding to this whenever I can be assed too.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsOp1NNY64Q34UJs-FRLTbqoqhLymApfI&si=VN3GkrjQyF8yawOr

Some more info on the character designs

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Links to character refs:

Nightmare (Night and Mare's ref)

Dream

Cross

Blue

Ink

Dust

Horror

Killer

Error

Lust

Fell/Edge

Geno

Outer

Sci

Reaper/Death

Fresh

Gans/Echo

Chief

(The refs posted in bulk with no info)

Refs 1

Refs 2

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Credits:

Nightmare/Dream belong to Jokublog Cross belongs to Jakei95 Blue (underswap!Sans) belongs to P0pcornPr1nce Ink belongs to Myebi/comyet Dust (Dusttale!Sans?) belongs to ask-dusttale Horror (Horrortale!Sans) belongs to sour-apple-studios Killer belongs to rahafwabas Error/Fresh/Geno belong to loverofpiggies Lust (Lusttale!Sans) belongs to NSFWShamecave Fell (Underfell!Sans) belongs to underfell/Fella/Vic (???) Outer (Outertale!Sans) belongs to 2mi127 Sci belongs to (???) Reaper (Reapertale!Sans?) belongs to renrink Gans (Echotale!Sans?) belongs to Yoralim (???) Chief (Swapfell Purple) belongs to (???) (Let me know if I need to change any of these, cuz a few I was unsure about)

[ultimate-blorbo-collector]

may I order a toxic winter king x reader. Preferably sfw

Okay, I was a little too excited to get this one, and I basically turned it into a list of ideas that could be possibly used for angst. Hope you enjoy.

There is also a good amount of Princess Bubblegum slander because of how the Winter King is meant to parallel PB. I love her and know she's grown, but I have to bring up her crimes and flaws here. It’s so hard not to.

Warnings: Overall toxicity. Toxic positivity. Boundaries aren’t understood and respected. Mentioning some of the things Princess Bubblegum did in Adventure Time (I just list some of the worse stuff. Everything else fits into another warning). Mention of manipulation and stringing someone along at the end.

I mostly write him as pretty wholesome in headcanons because of his charming persona, but the Winter King is not the best partner in Ooo for sure, and there are a lot of possible avenues for angst.

He showers you in attention and whatever you want, but he can very draining to be around.

He has the same issues our Simon does, for starters, but he’s also the definition of toxic positivity

He never wants to do what you want to do, but he so subtly talks you into it so that you might not even question it.

If you point it out, he genuinely doesn’t believe you. You wanted to go on the last adventures you two went on, right? Why didn’t you say so if you didn’t?

If you’re a magic user or have any kind of curse, he’s going to want you to just put it onto someone else like Candy Queen. He obviously won’t tell you that because he knows you’d hate the idea.

If he could, he’d do it himself even if you didn’t want him to, especially if your madness or curse gets in the way of his whole charming, fairytale king persona.

Even if you felt like you had a good balance with the madness or that the madness was a big part of you, he wouldn’t have any issue taking that away.

And he has good intentions. Even if you tell him why you’d want to keep the madness and why it’s important for you to have it, he genuinely thinks it’s better for you to not have it.

His cheerfulness can also be a bit much as well, especially if you feel bad. You could feel overwhelmed or just like you need to stop being sad around him.

He’d dismiss those feelings as well as whatever else you’re feeling.

I also think that since he’s meant to parallel Princess Bubblegum, he probably has a lot of the same issues she does, especially considering his lack of “bad feelings.”

I could easily see the Winter King doing more of the stuff PB had done in Adventure Time. Torture, genocide, spying on citizens, creating life without any thought into it, creating life that either is stupid or has no free will, etc. is fair game.

Unlike PB, I don’t see him going through the character growth she went through though.

PB and Simon both can be so goal-oriented and single-minded that they both forget to take other people’s feelings into account, so I imagine Winter King would also struggle with that as well.

The best case scenario for a difficult problem is also the most common: He either ignores it or pushes it onto someone else. He may even try to distract you so you can ignore it together

Worst case scenario for a difficult problem: He gets so into solving it that he ignores your feelings on how to solve it and goes in a selfish or less ethical direction.

And again with the PB parallels, I could absolutely see the Winter King stringing along someone so they would do what he wanted like how PB arguably did with Finn. You could argue that’s what he was doing with Fionna as well.