#roles: phobia manager

[headmate-ideas]

🪽 HEADMATE TEMPLATE 💉

[Brought to you by: Mods Klaus, Perzoreth, and Chem!]

✦ Name(s): Arvael, Lukas, Vel ✦ Pronouns: he/him, they/them, vae/vaer/vaers/vaerself, wing/wings/wingself, med/meds/medself, 💉/💉s/💉self ✦ Species: angel ✦ Age: 34 ✦ Role(s): phobia manager, medical headmate, spiritual headmate, masculinity holder, caretaker, chef, manager, assidumate, protector ✦ Labels: transmasc, demiboy, neoboy, spiritine, luxine, abrosexual, torenamoric, gaybian, aceflux ✦ Xenos: angels, plushes, medical ✦ Interests/likes: organization, sweets, soft things ✦ Dislikes: cancelled plans ✦ Music taste: psychedelic folk, jazz, vaporwave ✦ Aesthetic(s): medicalcore, menhera, seapunk ✦ Objectum attraction(s): plushes ✦ Kins: plushes, snails, squids ✦ Emoji proxy: 🪽💉 ✦ Details:

Arvael is an angel who manages the system's needle phobia. He does not mind medical situations and even looks forward to them. He is masculine, but in a gentle and caring way that he sees as removed from conventional masculinity. He follows the system's spiritual beliefs that involve the Sun as a symbol of life and knowledge. Arvael is good at taking care of the system, and he likes cooking food as well. Wing manages the system's schedule and makes sure they do the things they need to do. Vae is objectum for and kin with plushes, and vae considers them a large part of vaer identity.

[These can be edited and changed as needed, and headmates will almost definitely not turn out EXACTLY as described.]

[ix-c-999]

phobia manager

a headmate whose role is to mitigate the symptoms of a phobia for a system. the subjects of phobias other system members have do not bother a phobia manager, and they may even actively enjoy those subjects (such as a system with a phobia of dogs having a member who is interested in dogs). however, all that is required is for them to not have a phobia that the rest of the system does or for a member whose phobia they are managing. this could be considered both a form of symptom neutralizer and/or symptom enjoyer.

simplified flag

this post has no DNI other than not to start discourse on it

[cautious-soup]

Just watched Thunderbolts like 2 hours ago, here are some headcanons because 2012 avengers core is the only good recession indicator we've had so far.

John and Bob both cook, but John cooks like an almond mom whereas Bob cooks like he's making a last meal every single time. John nags at Bob for making the team unhealthy things like triple smash burgers or loaded tater tots. He preps the team acai bowls, detox smoothies, poke, or something of the like--everyone else is just happy to be fed.

Ava loves pink, but feels she doesn't look very good wearing it--too scared to indulge herself. Yelena takes her out shopping and helps her work through her style, reassures her that she looks beautiful no matter what she has on.

Bucky and Alexei are the oldest, but Bucky is the most responsible. Still, they both take on caretaking roles for the others, and each other. Bucky will open the dishwasher to find his arm missing, only to find it propped up and holding granola bars or a bottle of water with notes like "Good super soldiers need energy to stay alert." or "Is no good to neglect your hydration." Bucky will remind Alexei that eating vegetables every once and a while is a good thing. (And John will really drive the point home)

Yelena, John, and Ava are combat weapon nerds, get in a debate about weapons at least once a week. They all geek out when they find an old dent in the tower lounge supposedly left by a dropped Mjolnir.

Bob's hair changes color depending on who's close to fronting. Void's black hair spreads from the tips, Sentry's blond hair spreads from the roots.

Ava phases when she sneezes--has fallen through the back of the couch multiple times because of this.

Yelena is always the one to take care of bugs. Despite the tower's world class security they always manage to find a way inside, much to John's chagrin (he has a phobia of most bugs.)

Bucky prioritizes one on one time with everyone, because everyone on the team tends to isolate themselves whenever something is wrong, or if their moods fluctuate. Talks Void back from shadowing NYC again, reasons with Sentry when his delusions get too steep, reminds Bob to take things one step at a time, tells John he still has plenty to live for, helps Ava remember she's more than her pain, reassures Yelena about her place in the world, indulges Alexie when he talks about his happier days.

Alexei is always making sure nobody is too hard on themselves both physically and mentally. Always makes sure Yelena, John and Ava aren't over-training, and that Bucky isn't burning himself out with PR work. Tells Bob every day that he is doing an astounding job.

Hi I wrote a fic based on the first headcanon

(Polybolts Fluff Fic)

(Polybolts NSFW Fic)

[pali-and-proud]

My finals ended yesterday and I ended up sleeping for 11 hours. I can think again.

I want to take a moment to just talk about perspectives. How Buddy percieves Chase, how Chase percieves Buddy, and how Deacon percieves both.

Buddy's POV of Chase is so beautiful to me because Chase is just such an enigma to him. He's so quick to bicker and insult, and he routinely says the most ridiculous and outlandish things that Buddy can't even respond to, and then he turns around and is so selflessly caring and kind and considerate that it nearly always takes Buddy off-guard. Buddy knows the more about Chase than vice versa, and yet Buddy never seems able to expect what Chase is going to do.

I could be wrong, actually, but I think almost all of their conversations end with or include Buddy being confused by something Chase said, or something Chase did. And Chase is doing it all with a shirt, guys.

Chase's POV of Buddy is nearly the exact opposite. Chase knows NOTHING about Buddy, outside of phobias and fashionware, and Deacon's the one who has to remind him about that. Chase is good at reading people; we already knew that. Chase is GREAT at reading Buddy.

He's aware of Buddy's need for attention. He's aware of Buddy's barbs--knows when Buddy's being mean, and when Buddy's trying to be nice. He's aware that Buddy's situation is concerning enough to warrant outside help, and that Buddy won't ask for it. Buddy isn't really a mystery to him--the only real question is how to get Buddy to trust him. Which is insane, really, since we've seen in the current arc (vampire) that Buddy did genuinely trust Chase.

(I could go so far as to say the only part of Buddy that Chase doesn't easily/accurately understand is how CHASE fits into Buddy's life, but I will digress)

Deacon, though? Ohhhh, Deacon. Deacon's role is SO much more important than I think people give it credit for. Deacon is the only way we get a true outsider's glimpse into Chase (he tells us about Chase's money problems, he explains why Chase loves new stuff, he reminds us that Chase's dream to be a singer/dancer/idol isn't realistic and that Chase logically knows that, and he breaks down some of Chase's quirks.)

Deacon is also, uh, how we see Buddy respond to someone he doesn't have an embarrassingly obvious crush on. It's so easy to forget that Buddy is actively trying to treat Chase better until you see Buddy interact with Deacon for two seconds, in which Buddy's managed to be both smug and/or jealous. Yes I haven't forgotten that Buddy is jealous of Chase's cousin. Yes I do think thats the funniest reoccuring joke.

So Deacon having a really good view of both characters--where he can trust Chase's judgement while also being the logic that Chase sometimes forgoes AND can be cautious of Buddy due to past actions while also understanding that Buddy is more complicated than initial assumptions--it's important because it helps ground the characters.

And in direct contrast: Buddy's dislike of Deacon is completely rooted in his terrible understanding of Deacon's role to Chase. Buddy's first conversation with Deacon is him telling Deacon he should stop doing the stories because he's in over his head, despite Deacon having prepared more than Chase ever did. Buddy continues to yell and berate Deacon for his choice in book, despite Deacon actively choosing books he/Chase would enjoy, which is what you (according to Buddy, at least, and my inferences) should ideally do.

Chase's POV of Deacon is a bit more convoluted, and this post is already pretty long; I don't know if anyone's actually reading all this. He's just such a younger cousin; he doesn't idolize Deacon, but he does expect Deacon to have the answers. They're such older/younger brother coded. From the beginning, Chase has wanted to hang out with Deacon. It's almost tragic, honestly, that Deacon has such a high opinion of Chase that he never really shares, while Chase shows his high opinion of Deacon so often that a completely separate person was able to get jealous.

I took my psych final yesterday. Surely this is what my professors would want me to use my knowledge on.

[livmightlive]

2 Adventures AU

I think it would be kind of interesting if the chain went on two adventures. What I mean by that is the first one would occur while most of the chain have only been through one or a few of their games. This could also be seen as a childhood friends au? The chain is pulled together when most of them are pretty young.

Time has just finished Majora’s Mask and is in full young teen angst, trauma, mode. He’s extremely mischievous and poorly adjusted. He’s only around 12 or 13 years old.

Wind has just been through the events of Wind Waker. He’s only 12 and is pretty shaken up but still pretty similar I’d say. Maybe even more hyper and desperate to prove himself.

Hyrule has just been through the events of Zelda 1. He’s quiet and jumpy. Dawn has gently been spending the past two years trying to help him adjust to a more social life but it’s been slow going. He’s extremely anxious to be around so many people. I’d say he’s around 14.

Four has only been through the events of Minish Cap so he’s not even Four yet. His age is canonically the most confusing to me but I really like the headcanons that he’s a young adult who has a baby face. In this he’d be a kid though, so maybe around 11?

Legend I can’t decide whether he’d have only been through A Link to the Past and the oracle games or if he’s been through Links Awakening by this point. I think it would be more interesting if he had just been through Link’s Awakening and is severely jaded. He’s 16. (If he had only been thru the oracle games he’d be 14 and a lot more light hearted)

Wild would have gone through the events of Botw being 17. He’d honestly just be pretty baseline with no crazy changes.

Twilight would have also just gone through Twilight Princess being 18. I think he’d be really hung up on Midna. 

Sky has also just completed Skyward Sword, I think he’d also be 18? Pretty similar to canon. 

Warriors was plucked halfway through his game and thrust into this adventure. He’s very stressed, worried he left his people behind when they needed him most. He becomes the group leader being the eldest at 20. 

They come together, pretty much a platoon of child soldiers, defeat the evil, say teary goodbyes, and return home. 

Years later they’re all shocked to be pulled into a second journey across time and get to reunite with their brothers. 

This time Time is his canon Lu age of being somewhere around his early to mid thirties being much more cool and collected than the actual child nightmare he was initially. He falls easily into a leadership role. He seems to have mended many of his mental wounds despite him being prone to grumpiness. This adventure after so many years of peace is pretty triggering though. 

Wind has gone through phantom hour glass and is freshly 15. He’s a little more mature now but very much so the same kid except now he’s like: “I see dead people”

Hyrule is a lot better socialized this time. He’s almost easy going and has a mischievous streak that the chain welcomes. It’s a fine change from the scared scrawny kid he was years ago. He still is exceedingly sweet and has a plethora of new talents to share. He also has crippling paranoid and a blood phobia. He’s around 18. 

Four, despite being the youngest the first mission, is now a young man being in his early twenties. He doesn’t talk much about his last adventure but he’s noticeably scatterbrained. Despite that, he can think outside the box like nobody else. It’s like he can think with the power of four people! He also goes by the name four now. 

Legend who has completed two more quests now is incredibly frustrated to have been yanked out of retirement/his wedding planning. Legend was able to manage a lot of healing over his last two journeys. He got engaged to the one and only Ravio who he was supposed to be working on wedding invitations with. He’s lighter now but still a grouch at times. He’s in his earlier twenties.

Wild has completed his mission from TotK and somehow his iPad can do EVEN MORE now. If lobbing bombs wasn’t enough last time, now he can crawl through walls. He is noticeably shaken in a way he wasn’t last time and has almost an unwilling clarity of the world around him. He’s 21 now. 

I so sorry but I don’t think Twilight would be much different. If anyone has thoughts pls lmk. He’s been able to move on from Midna and has thrown himself into shepherd work. I think he’d be courting Ilia and would be living a good country life while getting to brag about having tea with the princess. He’s fairly okay with being on another mission.

Okay this is totally just a headcanon but I picture Sky as that guy you knew in highschool who gets married really young and starts a family right after school. Sky is stressed after getting sent on another because he’s in the middle of building a kingdom and his wife, Sun, is pregnant. 

Poor Warriors. As mentioned the first journey happened for him when he was halfway through his war. Unlike many of the others, when he returned to his f ‘n c z timeline it was like no time had passed at all. For the second half of his war he met many new people and old friends. Mask (time) joined him, an older, almost grown version of Wind as his best friend and second in command, Ravio, Midna. When the war ends he’s saddened to say goodbye to dear friends once again. Warriors is whisked away to his second journey with the chain the moment his war ends. For him, it’s only been a year or less in some circumstances that he’s seen the chain. For most of them to had aged so much is jarring to him. The last time he saw them all it was him and a mostly non verbal group of children. Now it’s a group of almost all adults bar Wind, who was Warriors’ age last time he saw him. Most shocking of all is to see his baby brother all grown up and older than him. 

I haven’t put much further thought into the AU but I thought the dynamic of splitting the chain up by the amount of adventures they completed would be interesting. Most of the chain also had started their journeys as children so I thought it would be a fun dynamic for them to have all met younger. Poor Warriors though, leading 6 mentally ill teenagers and children was a huge task. And now they’re all either older than him or roughly the same age. I imagine they hit the pubs hard 😭

[squeakadeeks]

Alliacea OCverse Lore

The short of it:

Alliacea is about a magic island resort margaritaville purgatory that over time infuses people with some part of the environment like flowers, birds, trees, etc. This mechanic is fueled by the person's mental and emotional state, worsening the less stable you are.

Pacific is imbued with the tide as a result of being a shrinking violet, Bohai is associated with the open ocean due to his brash and loud personality, and Mansoa has been able to avoid the process all together by clinging to a superficial identity as "the outsider". Mansoa's identity clash causes the island to start coming apart at the seams and they have to figure out how to stop it.

Setting/overview:

Alliacea is about a magicly constructed resort island in an oceanic pocket realm inhabited by islanders that embody characteristic parts of the environment. The resort takes care of all of your physical needs, theres always fully stocked kitchens, bars, hotel rooms, etc that seem to spawn spontaneously and are upkept inexplicably. Both the island and the resort are infinitely sprawling and nonphysical in their layout.

The idea is the island looks after all your basic needs on a physical level, allowing you to move past basic struggles and wrestle with deeper psychological conflicts.

If you end up on Alliacea and you cant make peace with your deeper psychological struggles, the island finds a place for you by converting you into a part of it, such as morphing you slowly into a rock, fruit tree, flock of birds, etc, forcing you to find peace. This process is nearly inevitable and happens to virtually everyone. This as played as a horror angle trying to critique the idea of forced positivity and the rejection of any part of ourselves that isnt palatable.

Along with trying to avoid assimilation, the island begins to sink as a response to Mansoa's presence and the tension between what the magic wanted to do (help people) and what its actually doing (forcing people to reject any negative emotion). Pacific mansoa and bohai are trying to find a way out of the resort as it begins to crumble and before the assimilation process is completed.

The main three characters worth knowing are Mansoa, Pacific and Bohai.

Mansoa, ends up on the island as an early teen. Now in her 20’s, she remains a regular human, unclaimed by any part of the island. Mansoa found a way to stay on the island by making her own role as the outsider. Her custom ecological niche as an odd man out worked for years, but over time it causes progressive problems. Namely as Mansoa shifts out of adolescence and into her full adulthood, she has to confront the long term sustainability of her sense of self being defined solely as “different”/"not like the others". You know those guys you sometimes come across that are like: "I'm cool and awesome because I'm an outsider. I'm totally not at all like you sheeple because I'm different." Yeah. Thats mansoa.

She has a carefree, hedonistic, individualistic personality (she behaves like a mash between Adora and early Korra).

Pacific has been on the island the longest (time doesn't flow linearly so that means like. decades and decades) and his element is the tide. Pacific struggled to fit in with the community and often preferred isolation. This was a behavior he adapted to manage his intense fear of other people. He had a number of very bad things happen to him that instills a strong phobia reaction. This is analogous to severe traumatic events but the specifics are never delved into. The main idea is he's had many situations where there was life threatening danger, he asked for help and was rejected, and had to defend himself against unreasonable threats. All of this caused him to develop intense avoidant and protective tendencies. This serves twofold to explain why he is afraid of people and why people have a hard time socializing with him as a result of his background.

Anything that happens that's slightly negative he uses as justification for his idea that world = bad. Pacific kept to himself in the shallow waters for decades making peace with the low thrumb of loneliness as the lesser of the two evils until Bohai and Mansoa came around. He has a meek, contemplative, avoidant personality.

Bohai represents the open oceans/seasonal storms. He's deeply dependent on being around other people and doesnt like being alone. On the outside he can seem calm, stable, and relaxed but internally he worries about everything 24/7. He likes being in a support and protector role.

Bohai and Mansoa are quite social and integrate often with the other inhabitants. However Bohai's natural personality can be loud and obnoxious, or otherwise off putting. He feels the need to corral his personality to seem more acceptable. Nothing "bad" happens to him nearly on the scale of what happened to Pacific, but years of social rejection and alienation has warped his sense of self into one that struggles with shame and accepting the parts of himself that arnt "palatable". This can manifest as compulsively seeking company 24/7 and trying to fix everything to make up for shortcomings.

Bohai can be very insecure, he feels emotions to the fullest, and is constantly doing mental calculus trying to make everything better, leading to oscillating periods of burn out and obsessive focusing. (not that it matters but I creator-headcanon him with bipolar II). He and pacific have a very stable relationship that works well with Pacific's ingrained fears -> Bohai's desire to help, and Bohai's internal shame -> Pacific trusting and accepting him.

fun fact Pacific and mansoa actually have a pretty rocky relationship since mansoa cant wrap her head around why pacific is such a weenie, and pacific cant understand why shes so rash and caliver about her effects on others. Bohai has to be the peacemaker to keep their trio functional.

Manosa, Bohai and pacific are not the only inhabitants, theres also Lamerei and Begonia, two other resort "guests". Lamerei struggles with being overbearing and caring too much. Shes represents the dense, at times smothering, forest floor. Begonia can be flighty and perfectionistic, and is represented by wildflowers.

[blueikeproductions]

Sentinel Prime also has an interesting conceptual history.

Also interesting is how he managed to be the main villain of two movies in the film series.

His origins lie in the Marvel comics, simply being the name of the guy who was in charge before Optimus, when the comics took the lead set by Rodimus in the original movie, and started setting up a proto-Prime lineage.

For the most part, Sentinel remained a comics only character, as the 80’s cartoon never had a Sentinel, instead using its own lineage consisting of various nameless generics.

Though modern material has retroactively declared this fella is the cartoon Sentinel.

Sadly this design and his rad space rhino truck mode has yet to be immortalized in toy form.

Sentinel’s personality didn’t start getting fleshed out until the Dreamwave era, where most material painted him as powerful, kind and a revered figure among the Autobots. Like Rodimus in the cartoon, Optimus felt inadequate stepping into the role Sentinel left behind.

Sentinel’s more pompous arrogance didn’t become common place until Animated’s version.

Originally more of a goofy friendly jock in his boot camp days, but after a falling out with Optimus during an off the books trip for treasure hunting that saw Elita lost and Optimus take responsibility for Sentinel’s stupidity, the big chinned bot became more entitled and bullheaded, unwilling to accept his own mistakes to look bad in front of Ultra Magnus. Developing a phobia of organics from the giant spider aliens, Sentinel isn’t exactly a people person, not winning over the citizens of Detroit like Optimus did during his time in Earth. This Sentinel would get increasingly desperate trying to make himself look better over Optimus who had won over Ultra Magnus, but usually this wound up backfiring for him like when the Headmaster cut his head off and took over his body. Sentinel got a bit lucky when Shockwave attacked Ultra Magnus, allowing Sentinel to become acting Magnus to lead Cybertron. This saw strict curfews and fear mongering propaganda, mostly about organics and Decepticons to Ratchet and Alpha Trion’s annoyance. In Sentinel’s brashness, he almost unwittingly destroyed Cybertron when attempting to shoot down an unstable Omega Supreme controlled by Megatron, leaking Transwarp energy that’d fry the planet if attacked. When Optimus’ crew came back to Cybertron with Megatron, the missing Protoforms, the Allspark and Omega Supreme they were regarded as heroes, but Sentinel wasn’t impressed, doubling down on how HE was Magnus over Optimus. In the semi but not totally official Trial of Megatron script reading years after the finale though, a dying Ultra Magnus officially appointed Optimus as the true Magnus, which only made Sentinel more desperate, getting fooled by Megatron into being put on a trial that ultimately ended in the Decepticon’s favor.

While a blowhard from top to bottom, TFA Sentinel was still trying to do what he felt was right to protect Cybertron, something that would influence his movie counterparts.

Pry the most well known version besides Animated Sentinel, the DotM version was initially a mix of his Dreamwave version and Star Trek Spock (cuz he’s voiced by Leonard Nimoy).

The IDW movie comics fill in some extra gaps, as Sentinel was a direct descendant of the Primes, and supposedly the last. Leading Cybertron into a prosperous age alongside his “sons” Optimus and Megatron.

Sentinel also fixed an issue that was never fully resolved from ROTF, where special technology was developed with Wheeljack in order to tether a sun to Cybertron, re-energizing the Allspark without needing to destroy it, and powering the planet. Turns out solar power was the answer still, the original Primes just… misunderstood it. The seeds of the eventual Great War were planted however when Megatron overheard Sentinel and Optimus talking, and grew jealous, as Sentinel revealed to Optimus he too was a descendant of the Primes, and is set to take over when Sentinel steps down.

Although it seemed Sentinel had died when the Ark seemingly exploded, he survived and his ship crashed on the Moon of Earth, kick starting the movie. While the Autobots were thrilled to see their old leader back, hoping the tech the Ark held could stop the war, their joy turned to horror when Sentinel Prime revealed he intended to bleed Earth dry, having made a pact with Megatron to save Cybertron in this way. The comics fill in the gaps by better tying it with RotF, where Sentinel and Megatron’s interests aligned, and they decided to go to Earth, the site of the final Star Harvester to complete The Fallen’s goals to save Cybertron.

DotM Sentinel was a noble being and a strong patriot of Cybertron. Like TFA Sentinel, he did what he felt was right, but unlike TFA Sentinel, he employed a form of tough love towards the end, realizing Optimus didn’t have the ball bearings to do what was necessary to win the war. Only too late did Sentinel realize Optimus actually DID when the Prime was pushed too far and shot his former teacher and beheaded his opportunistic brother.

Sentinel falls further in IDW, where due to a lot of retcons and current political events at the time, the orange and red IDW Sentinel Prime was the first instance of a false Prime. Originally an opportunistic Titan Master called Infinitus, he served the ancient Primes and vowed to keep their teachings alive: by keeping the weak in their place with the “good” insuring it. He took on the alias Sentinel and slowly rose to Prime rank, ensuring Cybertron kept its suffocating limitations like the Clampdown and Functionism in place. After being beaten by Megatron, and left for dead, Infinitus merely abandoned his old Transtector in secret (leading the Autobots to be confused how Sentinel was beheaded), and sought to build a new one to continue his plans. Disgusted at post war Cybertron, where the Transformers were slowly unifying with each other and the “disgusting” Colonists and aliens, Sentinel decided to make Cybertron great again by tearing it all down using the power of the Metrotitans. This didn’t go as intended and saw Sentinel die for good, but it did indirectly see the release of Liege Maximo Prime, who had been sealed away in his own MetroTitan that was needed to stop the lobotomized Citybots that Sentinel managed to send to Cybertron.

There was a brief reprieve in IDW’s poorly received reboot, where its Sentinel returned to the just but firm DOTM Sentinel prewar, with the impatience and boldness of TFA Sentinel. This Sentinel wasn’t a racist nitwit, as he led a cultural potluck on Cybertron consisting of other colonists both Transformer and organic aliens. Optimus worked as a political aide alongside Sentinel, and ultimately inherited the Matrix when the big guy was killed by the Rainmaker Decepticons.

Aligned Sentinel is a bit of a mess, because he was originally called Zeta Prime, but they wound up trying to have it both ways calling him Sentinel Zeta, with his younger self looking like TFA Sentinel, but his WFC design being completely unrelated. I’m saving him for Zeta Prime’s entry, but the main thing inherited from this version was being installed as a Prime by the Quintessons.

But now via, TFONE, Sentinel has fully embraced his villainous heritage. A blend of all the major Sentinels, DOTM and TFA visually and IDW personality wise, he inherits his Prime role from the Quints like Aligned. The main difference is Aligned Sentinel Zeta wised up and chased off the Quintessons, TFONE Sentinel sought to bargain with them for personal gain.

A former aide to the Primes similar to IDW, he instead grew jealous of their glory and power, wanting it for himself. He got his wish when the Quintessons invaded, secretly working for them to destroy the Primes and steal the Matrix. Once the deed was done, Sentinel instead took Megatronus’ T-Cog as a trophy as the Matrix spirited itself away from the unworthy blowhard. Creating an elaborate lie to the clueless populace, Sentinel painted himself as a hero who chased off the Quints and ushered in a new era for Cybertron, creating a new generation of diligent (Cogless) wokers to mine Energon, while he “led” expeditions to find the Matrix that was “lost” in the fight. In truth, he was paying off the Quintessons in Energon, though even Sentinel was forced to admit the arrangement was barely leaving the Transformers with anything.

His downfall came when the main heroes witnessed his dirty dealings, and heard the truth from a still alive Alpha Trion, with D-16 out for mech fluid. While Orion succeeded in showing the populace the lies Sentinel told Cybertron, that wasn’t enough for D-16, who first hand witnessed Sentinel’s mask coming off, his true cruel nature exposed at last. Sentinel was perfectly content in wanting to murder the rebellious High Guard and naughty Miners that fell out of line, wanting to use them as an example by massaging the truth. After all, the truth on Cybertron has always been what Sentinel wanted it to be.

While Orion didn’t want a murder (I assume Orion figured Sentinel would just be thrown in jail while Cybertron restructured itself), and took a shot for Sentinel, it was all for naught, as D-16 killed Sentinel anyway, and took back Meg Prime’s Cog, installing it in himself to fully evolve into Megatron.

TFONE Sentinel took the worst traits of his predecessors, becoming the embodiment of what a truly bad Prime looks like. Notably, Sentinel’s actions absolve Megatronus and Liege Maximo of their own counterparts’ misdeeds, putting all of Cybertron’s problems on Sentinel Prime only (barring any retcons in future sequels). Depending on what future stuff may do, perhaps Sentinel Prime is now the defacto bad Prime over Megs and Liege. What Sentinel Prime Transforms into varies, though with the inclusion of the cartoon “U-Haul Robot”, he tends to be a truck to mirror Optimus, but the truck differs depending on the character.

Hilariously, a new 40th anniversary Missing Link toy repaints the old Optimus toy into G1 Marvel Sentinel.

The modern G1 & TFONE Sentinel are the only deviations, opting for planes, and a space train that’s never really used.

Given the series’ habit of making most flyers villains, and ONE Sentinel’s quite literally being above the miners, maybe future versions of Sentinel will be arrogant jets instead.

[fuck-i-like-too-much-stuff]

Ive just seen all the Mark Birthday Event stuff about STGD and honestly, im not surprised that they had higher expectations.

The show could've been a lot had they actually executed the script to be cohesive and sensible. I love the characters they made for Jway and Sant, and even Captain, Gugg and Yada... because Jway being the slightly narcissistic, entitled but caring clown would've worked very well with self depreciating, insecure and abandoned babyboy Sant. Even Yada being the Girl Best Friend could have added a lot of depth to Jway's character being capable of maintaining frienships + she could've been an actual aid to the relationship. Captain could've had Jway get jealous and realise that he needs to stop being so full off himself, instead of making the insecure Sant feel even worse and add to Jway's ego simultaneously. We also never really worked on their split, or if Jway's tendencies to be overcompensatingly clownish was because he didn't have enough fun with Captain. Not to add the outright bi-phobia, heteronormativity and stereotyping of queer women with Yada and Gugg's relationship where Gugg actively feels insecure of Yada being stronger or "more manly" (she is literally femme i dont even know what these people were on) than him.

Then, i haven't seen the last two episodes but i know for a fact that they did not utilize Khao's cameo as P'Jeng well enough in the first episode. Which is yet again, because the script doesn't really let us get attached and invested in particular characters or their behaviors. If everything keeps changing so frequently, we will just give up on the feeling because we are trying to not miss anything.

The problem with this show lies least with the actors and their efforts. I might go as much to say that i have not seen Mark this happy to play a role, ever. This being Ohm's first show as an actual lead is insane because he has managed to capture every emotion with utmost sincerity, especially the crying. All of the cameos and side actors have been actively involved in promotions and the PR team has tried what they could. The truth is that these actors just straight up deserved a better script and a better post production than what was given to them.

So help me god if GMMTV tries even a little to blame MarkOhm for this or continues to not give them the scripts they necessarily need now, they will find me infront of the building with certain inflamable materials that i will have to illegally smuggle into the country. Also stop using JittiRain fuckery.

[yourtinybook]

welcome to yourtinybook! this account is owned by myself— alune, and our little— mea. we make activity templates, stimboards, and advice/idea sheets for regressors, dreamers, system littles/kids. this blog is strictly sfw. art comms are open!

content-specific tags?

activity templates — #yourtinybooktemplates

advice/inspo — #yourtinybookhelp

stimboards — #yourtinybookboard

blog relevant discussions — #yourtinybooktalk

we cannot monitor or manage these tags as they are public, we cannot prevent people posting inappropriate or irrelevant things, if there’s a post there that isn’t ours, we will do our most to get it removed from the tag asap.

requests?

if you have any requests, you're super welcome to submit them via our inbox— anon is on if you are shy! we do not respond to discourse, nsfw, or inappropriate submissions.

content warnings?

any typically upsetting discussions will be tagged, as well as any discussions regarding nsfw content, kink, or severe mental health crisis/discussions. we will also tag common phobias such as blood, bugs, spiders, ect.

we will not tag mentions of medication or food due to our personal recovery.

if we forget to tag something, please let us know respectfully in the replies to the specific post.

rules?

this blog is strictly for sfw regressors/systems only and is not linked to, involved with, or consenting of any interaction from nsfw sub-communities.

spam liking/reblogging is not a bother at all.

please visit the linked posts below for our rules regarding interaction (or therefore lack of) from these communities:

‘endogenic/non-traumagenic’ systems

diapers

reporting nsfw blogs

weed usage during regression

permissions?

you have complete permission to save or post any of these templates in sfw discord regression servers or personal groups/chats, but please don't post blank or cropped templates on your own pages or to other sites like pinterest, twitter, ect.

reblogging with your complete template is encouraged! we love to see your picks!

this blog is 13+ as personal interaction with us is minimal, we want this to operate as a tool for comfort rather than a personal page, however, as we are bodily 20, dms are open to 18+ only.

about us?

we are both members of the same DID system. we are bodily 20 living in australia with asd, ocd, anxiety, depression, and cptsd.

we're also dyslexic, please don't mind or mock any spelling errors.

our caregiver, alune

age: 29

pronouns: she/her

role: caregiver, soother, spiritual protector, mostly an ANP

loves: the moon, poetry, wicca, meditation, painting, baking, rodents, trinkets, collaging, hypothetical discussions, candles, perfume, tea, flowers, and sea animals.

personal blog: @alunari (18+ due to personal interaction level, read pinned)

makes most of the posts here!

our little, mea

age: 0-3 years old

pronouns: they/them

role: little, age-slider, ANP, voluntary pet-regressor

loves: pochacco, youtube, colouring books, lullabies, plushies, ghibli, pokémon, anime, baked goods, farm animals, crinkle toys, sanrio, fluffy blankets, yummy smells, napping, and mindless lighthearted gaming.

personal blog: @meameaonthewall (18+ due to personal interaction level, read pinned)

mea is the expert behind what little ones like and what people wanna see, truly the creative director of this generation!

activity changes?

we'd also like to add that neither of us are the host of our system, therefore, activity may vary depending on when we are fronting and our entire systems respective emotions, motivation, interest, and schedules.

our hosts blog is @giverforthelonely (18+ due to personal interaction level, read pinned)

[lilolilyr]

For May Trope Mayhem day 17: Time Loop, for Stucky (MCU)! @duckprintspress

I spent most of today helping out at an event for the international day against homo- bi- & trans- phobia and I didn't have much time for writing, so this is more fic ideas than actual fic, but here goes:

I read a post about the horror of time loops spanning months or years, and thought, why not make it a whole century?

Steve Rogers almost dies so many times as a sickly little child, is turned into a supersoldiers strong and tall, fights in a horrible war, loses his friend (or lover), commits suicide to save the world (and maybe he doesn't think that he has much reason left to live. maybe he doesn't try that hard to find a way to survive). And then he's alive after all, and it's been seventy years and the world is changed, and he manages to make a new place for himself - and learns that Bucky is alive after all, and has suffered unimaginable things in the time since they last saw each other, and neither of them is the same person they once were but they are still each other's -

And then he blinks, or goes to sleep one night, and wakes up and it's 1935 all over again. Did he just dream it all, a fever dream of an entire lifetime? He doesn't believe it, especially not when things happen exactly as he remembers, and once he's sure what's going on, he tries to fix things, not just personal but to stop the war, but how can one person change the fate of the world, no matter that he knows what's going to happen? He doesn't have a chance, not really, but he still feels so responsible for it.

Bucky realizes that he has changed, and Steve doesn't know what to tell him - how do you tell your best friend that you are decades older than you look and that you knew him when he was a brainwashed assassin and that you shared war forged trauma with each other that you are now completely alone with? Of course he doesn't wish for Bucky to do through any of it again (especially not the winter soldier bit, oh god he so hopes he can avoid that), but maybe Steve feels a little guilty relief once Bucky goes to war because finally they will be on more even ground with each other again.

And how does someone from the 1930s who has just gotten used to the 21st century fare back in the past? I'm sure there are things he is happy to have back, people of course but also food he is used to and the culture he grew up in, but on the other hand it must be yet another culture shock, to be back with so much discrimination and poverty and much stricter societal roles... If he were to think about it at all, Steve might consider it a good thing that he's so busy trying to figure out how to change the timeline in ways he wants without risking a future that's even worse, how to save Bucky without endangering the war effort... At least, during the first couple loops he'll be too busy to think of it...

...because naturally, I'm not trapping Steve in the loop just the once, that wouldn't be a time loop yet, that's just plain time travel. No, he loops again and again, sometimes he saves Bucky and it doesn't change the course of the war that much, and sometimes he doesn't go to the future (because he never became Captain America, or because he didn't land the plane in the Arctic, or because he told them in advance where to look for him), and they live normal lives and die and he wakes up at the beginning all over again. Sometimes he fails and sometimes he lives his first live again nearly to the letter, sometimes he gives up and ends his life to start over (and is it really suicide, when you're near convinced you'll wake up a teenager again?), and one time he jumps after Bucky and both survive it and he never gains his mind back from the winter soldier program until the time loops again and he is left with horrid, terrifying memories of what he has done.

How will he get out of the loop? And more interestingly, how does he deal with being stuck in the loop? If he ever does get out of the loop, would he even know?

~

If anyone else wants to use these ideas for fic, feel free!

I don't have a Stucky tag list yet, lmk if you want to be notified when I post more! I already have tag lists for Gunpowder Milkshake, HacksHBO, Holby City, Leverage, Star Trek, Star Wars, The Old Guard and Warehouse 13 :)

more Marvel content by me • web link • Ao3

[castletowne-bah]

Hired by: Anon !

➜ ﹒✶﹒ Names : Ranma . Hero . Bane . Marth . Rory . Cassidy

➜ ﹒✶﹒ Gender(s) : Bigender Boy

➜ ﹒✶﹒ Xenogenders : Artificigirl . Pincusmic .

➜ ﹒✶﹒ Pronouns : He/Him . She/Her . Hx/Hxr . Zen/Zens . Curse/Cursed . Com/Combat .

➜ ﹒✶﹒ Age Range : 16 - 19 Years

➜ ﹒✶﹒ Sourced From : Ranma / Ranma 1/2

➜ ﹒✶﹒ Associated With : Martial arts . Bamboo . Chinese attire . Enemies to lovers trope . Natural springs . Dojos . Rivalry . Slice of Life genre

➜ ﹒✶﹒ Front Triggers : Getting stuck in the rain . Stray cats (phobia) . Hot baths . Misgendering . Alters feeling uncomfortable in the body .

➜ ﹒✶﹒ Role Ideas : Dysphoria Protector

Protects the system from gender related distress, he helps manage dysphoria through their own gender fluidity. He’s skilled at handling situations where the body’s perceived gender doesnt match the current fronters gender identity

⠀⏆ art 1 . ⠀⏆ art 2 . ⠀⏆ art 3 .

[headmate-ideas]

a headmate pack for a werewolf cowboy protector, ty!

emojis: 🔪🐺🩸🥩💀🌕

[Brought to you by: Mods Chem and Zosken!]

🐺 HEADMATE TEMPLATE 🥩

✦ Name(s): Caleb, Wyatt, Smokey ✦ Pronouns: he/him, it/its, e/em/eir/eirs/emself, howl/howls/howlself ✦ Species: werewolf ✦ Age: 36 ✦ Role(s): protector, chef, phobia manager ✦ Labels: bisexual, solarian, xenogender ✦ Xenos: nature, meat, the moon ✦ Interests/likes: farm animals, the desert, rodeos ✦ Dislikes: being inside for too long ✦ Music taste: country music, folk punk, power metal ✦ Aesthetic(s): desert aesthetic, Americana, coffinwood ✦ Kins: cacti, vultures, moonlight ✦ Emoji proxy: 🐺🥩 ✦ Details:

Caleb is a werewolf who worked as a cowboy in New Mexico in the 1870s. He is brave and protective, and he fronts during high stress situations to keep the system safe. He is not hesitant to show aggression when the system are threatened, and he isn't quick to trust people. Caleb loves food, especially anything eaten in the American Southwest, and he especially enjoys cooking meat dishes. E tends not to experience much fear, and e is much more comfortable around the subjects of the system's phobias than other members of the system tend to be.

[These can be edited and changed as needed, and headmates will almost definitely not turn out EXACTLY as described.]

[abovedivinity]

CHARACTER SHEET ! ( repost, don’t reblog ).

basics.

full name: Victor Von Doom

nickname: Doctor Doom

titles: Supreme Monarch, God-Emperor, Iron Man, Sorcerer Supreme (eventually)

other names/aliases: Rabum Alal

height: 6'5 / 6'7 (armored)

weight: 225 / 415lbs (armored)

age: Physically appears as a man in his 40s, chronologically he's over 100 (Creation and the existence of the Time Platform has made him immune to the sliding timeline of Marvel)

zodiac: He doesn't care, nor does he have a concrete day of birth. Probably Capricorn though.

spoken languages: Latverian, Romany, English, Hungarian, Romanian, French, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese (and more)

physical characteristics.

hair color: Brown

eye color: Hazel

skin tone: On the paler side since he is behind a metal armor most of the time. Fair when he's out of it.

body type: Mesomorph. Strong wide shoulders.

accent: Latverian, sounds 'vaguely Eastern Eurpoean' to those who can't tell the difference, it is neither overbearing nor hard to notice, it laces his words with beauty and grace.

voice: Authoritive and even, measured. Does not rush through his words. He knows he holds all the cards in every conversation he partakes in, and speaks accordingly. When he shouts, it is a thunder, like the word of god, amplified by the mask.

dominant hand: ambidextrous. Favors his right hand.

posture: Tall and proud. He does not slouch, unless he is sitting atop his throne, then it is as if he and the throne are one; He, the physical embodiment of the will of Latveria.

scars: Mutilated nose and upper lip, burns and slashes across his face; other various scars throughout his body.

tattoos: none.

birthmarks: none.

most noticeable features: His eyes. Cold, piercing, otherworldly. He looks upon you, and a part of you knows dread.

childhood.

place of birth: Outside Hassenstadt, Latveria

hometown: Latveria

manner of birth: natural birth.

first words: mama

siblings: None.

parents: Cynthia von Doom, Werner von Doom

parental involvement: They tried their best to be good people in a cruel world. They paid for it accordingly.

adult life.

occupation: Supreme Monarch of Latveria, Sorcerer Supreme (eventually)

current residence: Latveria

close friends: Doom is beyond such things.

relationship status: single.

financial status: Royal Rich.

driver's license: none.

criminal record: [POLITICAL IMMUNITY]

vices: Doom is beyond the petty urges of the common man.

sex & romance.

sexual orientation: Heterosexual, bordering on ace.

romantic orientation: Demi

preferred emotional role: provider, challenger, supporter, idk the rest of the terms

preferred sexual role: Top.

turn ons: Intelligence, power, Wanda Maximoff, Susan Storm

turn offs: boring, predictable types, routine, safe choices. (keeping this tbh)

love language: acts of service, words of affirmation, spending time together

relationship tendencies: Emotionally avoidant to the nth degree. Takes a lot of work to break through his exterior, if you can manage that feat you will have a place in his heart forever and he will burn the world to keep you safe.

miscellaneous.

character's theme song: Mozart's Dies Irae, probably, or Beethoven's 7th Symphony, second movement.

hobbies to pass time: Tinkering, painting, playing the piano, fencing, cooking, gardening

mental disorders: Some degree of disassociative disorder, megalomania

mental illnesses ( sx ): hypervigilance, dissociation, depersonalization, easily angered depending on the topic, probably more if I knew my terms

physical illnesses: none.

left or right brained: Left

phobias: Satanaphobia (initially. Before he kicked Mephisto's ass with his bare hands.), Atychiphobia, scopophobia ( in a more metaphorical sense)

self confidence level: Doom level

vulnerabilities: deep - rooted abandonment issues, chronic need for validation, emotional dysregulation, codependency, unresolved trauma.

tagged by: @madpractique mWAH tagging: uhhhh @mamidearcst @wrldofhassle (any muse you want) @wid0wd @ataviisms @am4zon @belayadeaths @magnetic-regent-magneto and whoever else that wants it to steal it from me!

[forsakenheadmates]

HELLO HI can we get. a level 3 robloxian. can be brainmade or fictive it does not matter just include faceclaims if u can pretty pls. also a hybrid between that and some kind of creature (preferrably non-mammal)

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE WE'RE HAPPY UR ALIVE o7

- @hazermates

Your request is finished, hopefully Ix is to your liking!

⌣⌣ 🔪 Kurohane, 天使の闇, Akutsukai, Yamishi, Akuryuu, Kurataka, Raigami, Tenbatsu, 討伐の羽, Meiun !

🩸 Ix/Ixs, It/Its, They/Them, Ve/Ver, Ang/gel, Angel/Angels, Hol/Holy, blight/blights, kage/kages, Dec/Decay, Sera/Seraph, Myth/Myths, Sin/Sins

✧ about.. ✧

▹age: Ageless

▹gender: Nonbinary, Agender, Angelgoric, Transgore

▹sexuality: Asexual, aromantic (Really only uses s3x and romance as a manipulation tactic.)

▹role: persecutor, Phobia manager, Prophetmate, NPD holder

▹source: Robloxian OC

▹sign off: 🪽,🐠,🕊️,🐦‍⬛,👺,🧿, 🏯,🎎

▹typing quirk: Replaces C with <, all red text

▹likes: Violence, Sleeping, hearing other people cry

▹dislikes: Being teased, Being treated as lower than someone else

▹ID(s): Cisangel, Cisjapanese, TransYokai, Transharmful, Transcultleader, Triskiller, TrisNPD

▹paras: 🔷

▹aesthetic:

[liesmyth]

@takiki16 tags on my post are too good not to be shared! The context is wild shit that legit happened in IRL football ⚽ that I need the Ted Lasso fandom to be aware of, because it'd make for excellent fic material:

the MANAGERS #the PERSONAL DRAMA#I KNOW that ted lasso is not designed to be an actual realistic show #I KNOW that this whole thing did in fact begin as a way to soft trap Americans into watching the Prem #to the point that JOSE FUCKING MOURINHO ACTUALLY HAD A PART IN THE ORIGINAL NBC AD #I do NOT want to change the vibe of the show at all #(but like…a dramedy about the EPL that REALLY wanted to roast some fuckers would perhaps…NOT look like ted lasso #if they wanted to start with the managers it would just be two middle aged idiots with BOILING beef #who had to be physically restrained from throwing hands every other game and have personally destroyed each others’ marriages

Okay WHO would Roy have managerial beef with. I vote Arteta. Actually as @elizabear suggests, it's funnier if it's one sided

He would also instinctively dislike Rob Edwards of Luton because Jamie once said he's the hottest manager in the EPL. Roy's annoyed and he doesn't know why. (Rob Edwards is very hot)

For an example of managers throwing hands... the Tuchel/Conte handshake

In fact here's a whole compilation of managers throwing hands.

Thank you for bringing up Mourinho! This is his ad, btw. "What do you WANT Ted?" lives in my mind rent-free

After much soul-searching I've decided Roy likes Mou a lot among all the managers he's played for. YES, he is a total cunt BUT

he's really fucking funny about it. Like, really.

he's never met a referee he didn't have beef with but most of all Anthony Taylor (as a Roma fan I have to agree with him on that)

the entire 2005 Chelsea team would've died for him. I've said this before, but there can't be a Frank Lampard in TL if Roy plays the box-to-box midfielder role, so this quote about Mourinho walking into Lampard naked in the shower to give him a pep talk? That's Roy. To me.

I can't even pick a quote among all the shit he's said about all the managers he's played against, but I especially enjoy when he used to be a bitch about Pep and Pep was like "I don't know her." It was like a one-sided crush dating back from their Barca days

#if they wanted it to be about the players the literal sky is the limit. WHATEVER the writers room can come up with#it cannot come CLOSE to the batshit drama that real Sockckckckcer Playahs have amongst each other#also intricate rituals. NOT ENOUGH INTRICATE RITUALS#when Jamie scored that free kick after getting permission to be a prick Dani should have kissed him with tongue

Here's some homoeroticism:

#but TO COME BACK TO OP’S POINT ABOUT ACTUAL GAMEPLAY#I want to see Coach Roy get red carded and have to sit in the stands for the next game cursing and swearing

He'd get, like, 3 red cards a season MINIMUM. Mourinho who. Here's Klopp losing it a bit. Here's Pep being passive aggressive as fuck. Pochettino from 2 days ago. Also from last weekend: De Zerbi's "I don't like 80% of referees in England" he's so right for this.

Manager Roy would get himself red carded the week before Richmond play Chelsea away. Totally accidental. So he doesn't have to have a lil cry about it.

#I want to see what it would take to get Zoreaux sent off#and then they have to stick Bumbercatch in goal and it turns out he has some Hyper Specific Phobia about the situation#he manages to save the team but his coping mechanisms for dealing with Forcible Keeper Phobia make up the comedy B-plot of the episode#

I want CLUB RIVALRY. dunno where Richmond actually physically is but imagine if they had derbies#Ted has to be made to understand that no coach - for THIS game we will not stop till we see BLOOD#Richmond wins but bc they are playing away the home fans actively are tossing crap at them as they celebrate on the pitch#also the sprinklers come on and it’s a bus full of soaked greyhounds on the ride home

They're in West London! Maybe they just fucking hate Fulham. Or Brentford.

Actually, I've thought long and hard about Richmond's derby rivalries. Semi-canon sources say they have a bit of a West London rivalry with Brentford BUT to me it doesn't make much sense because Richmond are supposed to have been mid-table in the Prem for years, top-flight but mediocre. Brentford only made it to the Prem in 2021.

Actually, I've decided that Richmond kind of take the place of QPR for most of their history, except they didn't get relegated when QPR did. This is because 1) it'd be too many London-based clubs otherwise but, more importantly, 2) when Man City won their first title in 2012 with Agueeeeeero!!! that was against Richmond. It's funny, To Me.

Also you know Roy still fucking hates Newcastle from his Sunderland academy days. If his pundit career had lasted longer he'd be having top tier shithousery with Alan Shearer every week about it.

Anyway here's a whole youtube playlist about WILD derbies.

#ALSO BC SUAREZ IS COMING TO MIAMI - BITING INCIDENTS CAN THEY DO THAT

As an Italian I am legally obliged to SAY that if Suarez hadn't bitten Chiellini at the World Cup we would have gone past the group stage because Uruguay scored off a corner they won while Italy were all busy telling the ref that there was a fucking cannibal on the pitch. I don't forgive and I don't forget.

Anyway for context: cannibal Luis Suarez. He's a repeat offender. Someone at Richmond would think it was very funny

[lancrewizzard]

Please tell me you’re not a gaiman fan because it seems like you have issues with him and goddd me too

Okay this is a complicated question to answer and has got both more and less so in the last couple of weeks. Since there's still information coming out about the sexual assault allegations, I don't want to say too much now and then have to backtrack hugely, but even the very best case scenario makes his behaviour scummy as all hell. And I don't believe it will turn out to have been the best case scenario. So we'll just bundle the whole thing up with "yikes" and move on to things I've had a long enough time to think about and put proper thoughts around.

A month ago I'd have said that he seems like a decent bloke, but seems to have real trouble understanding experiences he can't relate to. The foreword to his short story collection Trigger Warning is a great example of this. He spent a while wittering on about his misgivings about trigger warnings as a concept, then remembered he knew someone with a severe phobia of tentacles and conceded that they had their place. He then proceeded to give a very dumb non-warning which completely failed to mention how something like one in three of the collected stories involved sexual violence. Great job Neil.

I already mentioned in the tags of that previous post my issues with his obvious lies to TV Omens fans who don't know any better. It's just annoying and stupid to lie about something that unimportant, unless it was actually an attempt to get disillusioned Book Omens fans back on side (in which case, wow that failed spectacularly).

And now I realise that everything else is about specific works of his, so I've stuck it under a cut if you don't want to see me bitch about Good Omens adaptational changes changes for the umpteenth time or go on a short heartfelt ramble about what was almost a perfectly crafted short story.

I'll be blunt, I only saw S1 of Good Omens, and while I enjoyed it, it was an incompetent adaptation. The fucking radio play managed to tell the same story with greater faithfulness and more elegance without a 3rd person narrator (and had the brilliant idea of having the opening and closing credits performed by Agnes Nutter's voice actress). Compare and contrast the show making God the 3rd person narrator and exposition dump, and how that changes the whole story from a humanist tale where people are all people and whose choices matter, where God's grand plan night not even exist, to a story where everything implicitly or explicitly is going to God's plan under God's watchful eye.

And I will never comprehend how Gaiman successfully argued to have a whole set built to film Agnes Nutter's death, but then said that for practical reasons they couldn't have Crowley revive the dove. The angel accidentally killed a dove and the demon intentionally revived it! It's so thematically important! Neil why are you like this? Do you understand your own works or was Pterry the only one of you who put actual thought into things' meanings?! HOW DO YOU FUCK THIS UP NEIL? I UNDERSTOOD ITS IMPORTANCE WHEN I WAS 15 NEIL!

Ahem. Moving on.

Neverwhere is the most recent Gaiman book I've read and it's a good showcase of all the issues I have with his writing. The protagonists are dragged along by the plot, they're Special TM by birth or fate, not by the choices they make. The world they inhabit is wonderful, detailed, and vibrant, but I found that far more interesting than the protagonists inhabiting it. We got a random rape backstory for a girl whose main role was to die so the male protagonist feels bad. The way Gaiman described every female character bar one in terms of their attractiveness made me unsure if it was him or the protagonist who was weird about women (although I guess I have the answer to that now). Funny how Gaiman didn't shy away from things and people smelling bad right up until a hot woman who had been fighting, running, and falling over in a swamp apparently smelled not of sweat and stagnant water, but "musk". Really normal, that. There were wonderful descriptions and great moments, but after that first SA moment I couldn't relax and enjoy the ride because I was always on edge waiting for the next time Neil felt the need to be Like That.

Then there's my beloved, hated The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains. It's almost the perfect neat fairy-fable where every little detail is paid off later. It's a story of grief and vengeance and greed. It's about the price of fairy magic. And it has a pointless scene stuck in of marital rape. It has no purpose. It does nothing for the pacing or themes or characters. It never comes up again. I hate it.

Stuff can be horny or harrowing or both, I don't care, but Gaiman just drops SA into things for no clear reason as a generic Bad Thing Happen, Make Tone Dark. It's distasteful and inelegant. It cheapens the rest of the writing by its presence.

The simple truth is that Neil Gaiman seems to have a near pathological urge to shove sexual violence into places it has no need or right to be. It's disgusting but sadly not shocking that this apparently includes his personal life.