#scheming and plotting a secret project :^)

[pobblebonked]

maid becomes cat

[theerurishipper]

Twitter AU Masterpost

I decided to compile a list of my Twitter posts, and just put in a little summary of what goes on in each so anyone who wants to can find whichever one they want.

Now also on AO3:

Part 1

Damian bullies Bruce and Dick messes with him, Bruce simps for Superman on main and Clark and Damian take on a hater in the replies, Jason wants to be verified and his siblings bully him a little.

Part 2

A fan of Nightwing's gets a picture of him and Robin and Red Robin battle it out in the replies while Flash stirs up shit, Donna posts a picture of Dick and the Fab Five take on a hater, Damian texts Dick about his profile picture, a lucky Gothamite snaps not one but two pictures of Batblob.

Part 3

Nightwing posts a picture and the people of Bludhaven take the time to appreciate him, Red Robin reminisces about kicking Red Hood and Red Hood gets bullied some more, Batman posts a picture of baby Robin!Dick and everyone coos over it, Riddler questions how Batman got his Twitter handle.

Part 4

A warning is issued for Gotham vigilantes about Batman and Catwoman getting busy and Nightwing's trauma about this is addressed, the debate over Batman's sex life is put to rest, Talia issues a clarification and sets the record straight, Gotham discusses Bruce's emo era.

Part 5

Lex hateposts about superheroes and Bruce annihilates him in the replies, there's an investigation into the matter of Luthor's handle, a mysterious troll makes an appearance, Dick questions Clark, Bruce reveals his and Clark's shenanigans from Dick's Robin days, and a hater is given even more power.

Part 6

Lex is salty and Lois and Clark tear him apart, Superman posts a picture and is accused of plagiarism, Nightwing starts a trend, Babs takes issue with her overuse of coffee being questioned.

Part 7

Oracle and Red Hood reveal the story of why Joker is banned from Twitter, the people of Gotham reminisce about an old tradition, Bruce gets roasted by Alfred, Damian has a wholesome interaction.

Part 8

Damian bonds with Dick and gets trolled by Steph, Spoiler finally creates an account, Spoiler poses a question to the people of Gotham, Batman is bullied by his kids and a billionaire.

Part 9

Spoiler gets a present, mistakes have consequences, Red Robin questions Nightwing's decisions, a resident of North Dakota has a life changing experience.

Part 10

Some well-meaning Gothamites stand up for Red Hood and Oracle gives a history lesson, an old face makes a less than triumphant return, the fab five have some fun, a relatable photo of Batman reveals something more and a new player enters the picture.

Part 11

Harley Quinn beats up Joker, Flash is disgusted by Nightwing, Batman's hypocrisy is revealed, Superman has some fun at Batman's expense.

Part 12

Black Canary fondly remembers a better time, Green Arrow confronts Batman, Green Arrow issues an apology, Oliver schemes and plots, a well-kept secret is finally revealed.

Part 13

Arsenal reveals a personal secret, the people discuss some new revelations, the fab five weigh in on Arsenal's problems, Nightwing takes a stand.

Part 14

The Gotham villains share some opinions, Two-Face and Riddler have an argument, Flash finally picks a side, Green Arrow evades responsibility.

Part 15

Some observers share some hot takes, the Superfam witnesses a breakdown, Lois asks Bruce for help, Dick puts an end to the ongoing feud, everyone starts to move on.

Part 16

Deathstroke shares a story of a failed assassination, someone loses their Twitter privileges, the Court of Owls tries to recruit Nightwing, Talon gets more than he bargained for, some very recent history repeats itself.

Part 17

Bruce is a meme, The League has some concerns about their monthly budget, Nightwing's personality confuses everyone who knows him.

Part 18

Bruce's mistakes reveal his most defining character trait, an early present for Superman causes chaos in the present, Superman's reactions to the goings on lead to some pleasant destructive results, Bruce's inability to understand memes is discussed

Part 19

Red Hood shares an embarrassing opinion, Red Robin starts an argument, Superman wins massively, the superhero community can agree on one thing.

Part 20

The villains discuss their least favorite Robin, Nightwing defends his pettiness, Red Hood endures some misplaced blame, Tim explains his masterful plan, Jason finally gets a win.

Part 21

The Court of Owls is humbled, Nightwing's friends face a problem, a culprit is found responsible, Arsenal gets in hot water.

Part 22

One of Bruce's childhood obsessions is revealed, Riddler tries to call out Batman and runs his mouth online, Riddler issues an apology, the Wayne kids' comments about Bruce eccentric habits reveals their own inadequacies.

Part 23

A tweet is posted by a concerning individual, the heroes find a surprising ally, Superman is the victim of a prank, Superman fires back.

[psychotrenny]

I really do hate the way people use the phrase "Conspiracy Theory" to refer to everything from "Supernatural Bullshit" to "Technically Possible but all the actual evidence is against it" to "We know for sure that this happened like we have declassified documents and decades of testimony from dozens of people and..."

Like it's just such an actively counterproductive conflation of different phenomenon that mostly serves to discredit actual investigation into the activities of those in power. Because sure, it's stupid to act as though the world is primarily driven by the hidden schemes of the powerful. But it's just as stupid to act as though powerful individuals and institutions don't ever get together and enact hidden schemes. Even though these sorts of entities invariably engage in many more equally bad (if not worse) activities in the open, for certain programmes the maintenance of some sort of secrecy does have worthwhile advantages. The fact of the matter is that high level conspiracies happen and they happen for a reason. Along with all the conspiracy "theories" out there, you'll find plenty of conspiracy facts

And sure, broader structural forces are much much more important than any individual project could be. State and Corporate conspiracies generally serve the ultimate purpose of maintaining or accelerating processes that were happening openly and/or "naturally" (i.e. without large scale co-ordinated planning) anyway. But these sorts of plots are still worth talking about not only because of their direct impacts (the greatest of which can change the fate of entire small countries) but also because of the ways they reflect and reinforce the overarching structures that produced them. At the very least, you shouldn't dismiss them out of hand because you think "A powerful entity did something and tried to keep it a secret" is a claim made only by people who've been watching too much X-Files

[project-sekai-facts]

I'm just gonna leave this here because I feel like I should say something. Mizuki is trans, I still agree with the stuff I said a month ago. Did they say it in the story? No. Were they ever going to say it in the story? Well it seemed like I was but they just pulled the most insane 4 year queerbait.

Did people warn me? Yes, and I probably should've listened more, but from a writer's perspective what happened in Ena5 is very stupid so I had a little bit more hope for clpl. Confining any sort of actual coming out scene to a card story and fading to black over the actual reveal is honestly just cruel. Not to mention that Mizuki's bio is probably locked as "gender: ?".

Mizuki is still a trans character and trans representation, though the lack of actual confirmation really sours her story. Especially since the only indirect confirmation of her identity as a woman comes from student a talking to Ena about Mizuki (the whole Ena is a "normal girl" thing). Having Mizuki being robbed of her chance to come out by transphobes, and never resolving this so her bullies are left as the only credible source of her gender is atrocious. Mizuki being outed was a crucial plot point, to never resolve just leaves a bad taste.

It's still a glaring issue that clpl is trying to play both sides here. Which has always been an issue with things like white day and other marketing featuring Mizuki and the boys together. It's just gross that they're still trying to do it now, cutting off the actual reveal of Mizuki's secret and having the characters say "Mizuki is Mizuki", something that's often used by people who want to deny any trans reading, and a new area conversation about Mizuki's voice. Remember that old area convo about Mizuki having a lower voice. It gets referenced in a new one.

The reveal of the secret itself, transness aside, is comedically bad. Project SEKAI's writing isn't exactly amazing by any means, it's pretty basic in the grand scheme of writing, but this is worse than a lot of their other worst offenders. Building up to this big reveal of a secret that is incredibly important to one character's development, only for it not to actually be revealed, and probably never mentioned again, is ridiculous. It feels like a last minute change to ensure mass appeal but I don't know if it was. If it was, they still failed because some fans are dissatisfied that they never got told what it was, regardless of what they think it was.

And no, it's not corporate meddling. Probably. From colopale, maybe, from Sega, honestly probably not. Sega has other franchises and games with queer and specifically trans characters so it's not like Mizuki would be harmful to their brand image. If anyone interfered it was other staff at colopale.

Anyway, I'm not quitting the game and I'll still be running this blog for the time being. Not saying you have to continue playing and I totally understand people who are dropping the game over this. If anyone wants to add their thoughts to this post or send an ask freel free to.

[delawaredetroit]

There's an interesting parallel here between Shinsou and Sports Festival Arc Shouto (Early-roki).

Both started their arc with a challenge to Izuku. In Shinsou's case, it was less direct. Shouto made it clear through his words that he was challenging Izuku specifically. By dialogue alone, Shinsou was challenging the entire hero course, but the paneling makes it clear that he wanted to overcome Izuku in particular.

But both Shouto and Shinsou's challenges were built around a false image of Izuku that corresponded to their individual personal issues. Shouto was born as part of Endeavor's scheme to surpass All Might. The Izuku that Shouto created in his mind was the secret son of the Number One Hero and his destined enemy on his path to anger his father (by still surpassing All Might, but not in the way Endeavor wanted).

Shinsou had a quirk deemed unsuitable for hero work because it was considered a villainous quirk. The structure of the UA entrance exam prevented him from demonstrating any of his skills because it was built for teens with stereotypical flashy hero quirks. Shinsou's version of Izuku was a person who always met the mold of someone destined for the hero course. His Izuku was someone with a strength-based emitter quirk near the top of his class who was always going to succeed in heroics.

But Shinsou's version of this character arc was just not that effective in its application. Shouto realized his fake version of Izuku was wrong during the Sports Festival. He concluded he liked the real Izuku enough to abandon his no friends policy. Shouto learned to truly see Izuku after Izuku helped Shouto start his own path outside of Endeavor's image. Shinsou didn't have some sort of epiphany that he created a false image of Izuku in this arc. If anything, Shinsou doubled down on his insecurities and their projection onto Izuku with Monoma.

This still could have been resolved with some sort of heart to heart between Shinsou and Izuku during Act Three after the One for All reveal. But it never happened. Shinsou appeared when his quirk was needed in Act Three, but he never got any dialogue or introspection on how his entire "rivalry" with Izuku was based on false pretenses, and they were more similar to each other than he ever expected. So Shinsou and Izuku's conflict was a plot thread that was never resolved in a satisfying way.

[snek-panini]

Today I'm sharing my final book of Binderary, the fantastically good, unfinished The Art of Letting Go by Nekhen. I've loved this fic for years, my friends. It's a Good Omens human AU with a lot of very kinky dom/sub things that are actually baked into the worldbuilding (but not as omegaverse. No shade, but this is different). I never thought I'd read a bdsm fic for the worldbuilding but here we are. Mind the tags and author's notes if you do decide to go for it; it gets intense in places. If you're concerned about in being incomplete, know that it does leave some obvious threads hanging but we end in a very soft place.

Not to be totally self-indulgent but oh my god I am so in love with this bind. I keep looking at it and being surprised that it's mine, that I made it. I think it might be the prettiest thing I've done to date. That's black faux leather (ubonga black, from Hollander's) on the cover, and the inset is platinum silk moire with pewter foil htv for the lettering. It's a crisscross binding, also known as a Secret Belgian, and it's my first time doing this style but it definitely won't be my last. This project was a bit of a challenge to myself; I took it from unformatted text document to finished book entirely within the month of February, to see if I could. And I did!

Have a look under the cut for more images and process talk. I went all out on the details with this one.

Close up of the front cover, where it has mitered corners that don't photograph too well because the leather's so shiny. The silk moire I used was a pair of scraps from when I bound Persuasion last Binderary. The border is deeper than I normally go for because the silk pieces were too small and already cut, so I had to have a bigger overlap. I'm a big fan of the finished product though. Absolutely no regrets.

The image on the back was a free image I found at the Noun Project, called "bound eclipse" (sic). I thought it looked a lot like wedding rings, and while there's no wedding in this fic there is an exchange of vows and an intense level of commitment, so it felt appropriate.

The recommended length for a crisscross binding is about 120-150 pages. As you see in these photos, this one does not fall within that range. It's 340, plus front matter, so maybe about 355-ish all told. It's chonky. Crisscrosses are glueless binds and I know gluing and backing would have helped with the swell in this one, but it's bdsm and unfinished. It had to be a crissscross. The spine piece in this style is held in place only be thread tension and that's the most bdsm thing ever. It's book shibari. I didn't trim the pages since there's not much point to it in a glueless bind (they shift too much) and I thought it would bother me but it doesn't. It's too pretty.

Let's open him up, shall we?The doublure is a cream colored lokta printed with metallic gold and silver ferns. Part of the trust-building process between our two leads involves refurbishing a dilapidated conservatory and bringing in new plants, so I thought some flourishing greenery would be appropriate, and it matches the color scheme very well. I also lined my spine with it, though this isn't very visible in the final product. I had a strip of bare board on the inside of the spine and was worried it would show. All you can see is that little peek at the very bottom, but better safe than sorry. Naked board would have made me very sad. The text block is sewn with regular linen thread, but the visible stitching on the cover is platinum embroidery floss. Fiddly to work with, slippery, but worth it for how well it matches the color scheme. It's also a little bit shiny, like the silk. Perfection.

All the interior ornaments are from the Noun Project. On the title page we have a collar (plot relevant. There's quite a bit of discussion and implication in the fic about collars). The scene breaks are all delineated with a little chain, which I thought was appropriate both due to some literal chains in the first chapter and because of the more metaphorical breaking of chains that goes on as our leads grow closer. The widget behind the chapter number is my favorite though. It's from the same set as the back image, but I made it a paler gray and layered it under the chapter numbers so they look like they're tied up. I was worried it would be too busy but it's perfect.

I chose the crisscross style for this fic for a couple of reasons. One is the thematic one about shibari that I mentioned above, and the other has to do with real-world considerations. I always bind unfinished fics as coptics, because they're glueless and have no spine piece, so in theory it would be relatively easy to come back someday and add more pages if the author ever updates again. However, I found out a couple of months ago that Nekhen had passed away unexpectedly in 2022. We didn't know each other, I just read their fics and was sad when there weren't any updates for a long time. I wanted to give some kind of acknowledgement of the fact that this one isn't finished and never will be, and having it be glueless but still have a covered spine felt like the right balance. We would always like more but we have to acknowledge that there's a period at the end of the sentence, you know? I wrote a binder's note about it at the end of the book (clearly marked, so you know it's from me and not the author) where I quoted the note from the Canterbury Tales that I talked about a few weeks ago: "Of this tale Chaucer made no more."

I just. I really love this book. I've loved the fic for years and now I can love it on paper. It's so good. It looks so professional. If I found this in a book store it would be out of my budget. I may never top it.

[bloomeng]

I don’t normally share personal projects here but I'm happy with the art so why not. Anyway these are some character concepts for a game pitch assignment I've been working on. It's still very much in its infancy but the idea is a dating sim/visual novel-style game based around the concept of a support group for the henchmen of supervillains, called "Henchman Anonymous."

You-- the player-- are the familiar to Carmilla de Villeneuve, the Vampire Princess (pictured left). No, she isn't royalty. Yes, you're pretty sure she stole her name from popular vampire media. But yes, she's actually a vampire, a vampire supervillain more specifically, and a very mediocre one at that. After years of thankless work executing her extravagantly stupid schemes (that might also just be a wee bit genius) and styling her finger waves you've about had it. That's what Henchman Anonymous is for, breaking up with your abusive boss! Only one issue you might sort of actually be a bit in love with her... Perhaps what you need is a little help getting over her.

As of right now I only have two main routes planned.

Route #1: Amélie is one of Ring Master's many henchmen and she is also her daughter. Let's just say crime runs in the family, as in they're literally a crime family. Amélie is the fourth eldest of eight, meaning her smack dab in the middle and often overlooked. Between the size of her family and her mother's controlling tendencies, Amélie feels more than a little stifled. She hopes that Henchmen Anonymous will help her break free and lead a normal life. It's too bad her boss just happens to be your boss' villain rival— not that Ring Master knows that.

Route #2: Dorian is a man of mystery, well it's more accurate to say he's a stubborn jerk who refuses to share anything, despite being in a support group. You swear he looks familiar though. Little do you know the reason Dorian won't talk is because he's not-so-secretly the sidekick to the Ebony Knight-- your city's resident vigilante-- who's undercover trying to get insider information on supervillains so that maybe his boss will fully take him under his wing. Unfortunately for you, the reason he looks so familiar is that the Ebony Knight might just be Carmilla's nemesis and absolute obsession. (Lego Batman and Lego Joker vibes)

Main Route:

Ideally, I would like to have a non-romance-based route for those who want to explore the plots of both stories. This route would allow players to learn about both Amélie and Dorian's connections to Carmilla and allow you to befriend them. There are also a couple secondary non-romanceable characters that I haven't mentioned because I don't have concepts drawn up for them that would get more emphasis. I haven't decided if it would be something activated by not scoring high enough with either of the romanceable characters or if it's something I would let players choose.

Secret Route:

In my head, I'm calling this the "I can fix her" route, because that's basically what it is. It would focus on getting to know Carmilla. In all versions of the story, there would ideally be a plot about learning to set boundaries with Carmilla, but this secret route would basically allow you to then romance her. Unlike the other routes, Carmilla wouldn't be something you could choose, you'd have to earn it through the main route.

Notes on the designs:

Carmilla died in the 50's and is old Hollywood-inspired, specifically Marilyn Monroe who I used as a clothing reference. Overall I wanted this whole series to read very campy and lean into tropes, so I tried to also capture as many vampire motifs as I could. While she loves to look glamorous she's actually not all that good at styling herself. I sort of based her on the wwdits vampire logic of them being dated but not completely tied down to whatever century they died in. Committing to the aesthetic is the most important factor.

Amélie is based on court jesters and is absolutely supposed to be a Harley Quinn knockoff. I mixed several eras for her clothing. Court jesters are associated mostly with being medieval so I pulled some references there with the headdress, which I heavily stylized to look like devil horns. The ribbons are a call back to the veils women used to wear. The collar and sleeves are more Elizabethan, while the stays are based on 18th century fashion. (I've been drawing too much ofmd fanart my bad everypony) Don't ask me where the chemise is, maybe it's cropped. For the bottom half I referenced DC comics silhouettes. It might also be worth mentioning that I was listening to Chappell Roan while drawing her initial designs, so that really carried over in the make-up, but I swear she was always going to be a redhead!

Dorian's outfit I have to be so real about, I'm not super satisfied with. I wanted to do a more modern, street-wear look. The best way to describe the vibe I wanted to go for is "if DC's Nightwing were to try to style Marvel's Prowler." I wanted this sort of uptight, hyper-serious sidekick to dress like what he thought villains dressed like. So I opted to put him in stereotypical "bad boy" clothing; leather jacket, studded belts, fingerless gloves. I looked at a lot of Shadow the Hedgehog gijinka fanart. I don't hate what I came up with, but I definitely want to push the design more next time, really amp up the emo, bad boy-ness of it all. 

some notes on the design of the game:

Because I'm still very early on in the hypothetical process I don't have backgrounds or specific graphic design elements selected. However, my initial idea would be to use the classic comic book style font with the text bar emulating speech bubbles-- well, closer to the bubbles they use for inner dialogue or establishing shots. I want to play up that comic book vibe.

And for funsies here’s a facial sprite in action:

(ingore her lack of feet it's a sprite draft)

[lostinlovingrevery]

He's a Demon, He's a Devil (He's a Mutant) (Series)

Patch! Logan X F! Curvy Reader/OC

A/N: I got excited about this idea, and decided I wanted to at least get something out for it now! I'm actually not sure how I want to write this, but it'll be 3rd person/alt POV between reader and Logan. This is my attempt at writing an OC sort of reader too. Usually the OC stories I have, I write in 3rd person POV (bc I just love writing everybodys thoughts and feelings down) Reader will be female, and described as curvy with curly hair, and a mutant with "Astral projection" sort of powers. ALSO id imagine Patch!logan being like X movies!Logan, or DOFP! Logan

Story Plot: Madripoor, the city where crime is legal. Logan is sent by the X-men to infiltrate and spy on the largest crime family of the city after intel and suspicion that the family is partaking the illegal auctioning of stolen- and dangerous superhero artifacts. He undertakes the identity of Patch, a poor man with an eye patch who maneuvers his way into the family with ease, earning the trust of the head honcho, Leonardo 'Blue Eyes' Marino and becoming his right hand. He meets you, a beautiful, and alluring resident singer of the Madripoor Daydream Casino, and gets more than he bargains for, as you both discover each others secrets....

Warnings: None! (For the prologue) For the first time I actually wrote something short and sweet...Enjoy!

Word Count: 478

<-Prev Next->

PROLOGUE:

“This will take some time.” 

Charles Xavier was at his desk, his hands clasped together as he looked around at the others in the room. 

���Seeing how long it took Gambit to even discover the possibility of an operation, that tells us that uncovering the plans at whatever scheme is at work will not be easy.” 

Logan sat near the back of the arm, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. He wore a frown on his face, a classic baseline expression of his. Despite his nonchalant demeanor, seeming like he could care less to be there, he listened intently to every word the professor was saying. 

“I believe that it would be worth it to send someone undercover.”

“We can’t use Gambit?” Scott asks, “He’s there already. He knows these people by now, and has their trust.”

“Exactly. He’s already been noticed. He’s built up a reputation that would not suit what we need for someone on the inside. He believes that the family is suspicious of him anyway, and pushing farther would risk his safety.” Charles says. “We need somebody that could fit into a city like Madripoor, someone with a good instinct, and knows how to deal with these people, and could work their way through the chain of power there.” 

The room sat silent. Jean and Ororo glanced at each other. Scott glanced around the room, looking at Hank, Emma, Kurt, and the others. Finally, Charles spoke up.

“Logan.” 

Logan's frown turned deeper. “Me?” He finally speaks. 

“Well,” Scott shrugs a bit. “You were a part of the mafia at one point.”

“Yeah that was 40 years ago Summers” Logan scoffs. “And I was just a bodyguard.” 

“Scott is right Logan.” Charles says. “I believe you are the man best suited for the job. You have a good instinct, you carry confidence and earn respect wherever you go. Your demeanor and experience would be perfect to carry out this mission. Infiltrate the Madripoor Daydream Casino and Hotel, get close to the Marion family, and gain intel that will tell us what we need to know.” 

Everyone in the room turned and looked at Logan, waiting for his answer. He closed his eyes, grimacing a bit. It wasn’t his ideal mission. He was used to the ones where he didn’t have to pretend, he could go in and out, completing the goal, his claws solving any problem that arises during it. This would call for discretion, which he wasn’t exactly known for.

 He couldn’t lie, Charles was right. Out of everyone in the room, he was the best qualified, in multiple ways. He opened his eyes, and looked straight at Charles. Something in his gut told him that maybe this is something he needs to do. Somehow, someway, maybe it’ll lead him to figure himself out, and his place in the world.

“Alright... I’ll do it.”

[kotias]

2024 fic roundup

Thank you @eybefioro for the tag!

Well well well, end-of-year check-up, huh!

What fandoms do you write in?

Oof. I'll do the exhaustive list + the 2024 list specifically.

2024 list:

Good Omens

Deadpool / Marvel

One Piece

Exhaustive list since my beginnings in 2005, in addition to the above:

Dragon Ball

Eyeshield 21

Harry Potter

Naruto

Avatar: the Last Airbender

FFXIV

How many words have you published in 2024?

Published? Damn it xD

Okay, so, I'm going to gratuitously add the words for an epic secret project, as those will be published for 2024 hehehe.

I will not count the CYOA into the mix, as it is not representative of the actual amount I wrote; I did write a few bits, but in the grand scheme of that collab, I pretty much wrote nothing.

96,881 words!

To which I'm adding around 20k words for the epic secret project, so this leads us to a total of... 116,881 words!

Well, fuck, that's a lot.

/oggles at her WIP folder with 200k+ words of WIPs

I'll also link this slightly different count I did in September.

Hum. Guess I know how much I'll have for 2025 huh :D

What is your greatest achievement this year?

Second greatest: getting properly back into writing.

After 8 years of writing slump keeping me at a tiny 3k words a year, this is simply unbelievable to me that I'm sometimes able to churn out that much in a single day.

First greatest achievement:

The epic secret project that you will hear all about very soon. I loved working on it and seeing it take such vibrant colours and life. It is my baby, and I am feeling genuinely sad that we are reaching the end of this project.

What are your favourite top three fics you wrote this year?

Warzone , a Poolverine fic (Marvel, Deadpool & Wolverine). Summary:

Being a mutant sucks, sometimes. Sometimes, your cells will battle one another to the death, leaving you sobbing in your bed. Or out of it. Fully naked, in the middle of Blind Al's living room.

I really had a lot of fun working on it; this is the ultimate fic format to me, it has hurt/comfort, fluff, domestic bliss, smut, and becomes a songfic. If you want to read something that has my writing identity all over it, this is the one.

Dance Our Night Away , an Ineffable Husbands fic (Good Omens), inspired by @gleafer 's art. Summary:

1944, 29th of February - leap year. Crowley and Aziraphale are invited to a ballroom dance party, and will dance- but angels don't dance, do they?

A light fic, just dancing together in a ballroom on some Frank Sinatra, was is there not to like?

My Arum Lily , an Ineffable Husbands fic (Good Omens), written for gcaledonian on the @goodomensafterdark subreddit. Summary:

Hoowee, laudanum! Last time Crowley does that!

This is 8k words of indulgent porn, I cannot say more than that, because the plot does not exist. This was written for gcaledonian over 2 months in a group chat we shared, advancing with each new prompt she gave me, until I decided I was done.

I then decided to do her a surprise: I had it beta'd, and had 7 remarkable artists do art to illustrate it.

This is The Cemetery Porn. If you like muttonchops, wings, cemetery sex, this is the fic for you.

What was your biggest pit of despair moment?

The goddamn epic secret project that I can say nothing about yet!! It has been so important to this year to me that I simply cannot not talk about it in every way. This is a crazy adventure that brought me to the greatest highs and weirdest lows, but holy shit you guys, it is gorgeous.

What have you learned?

I have learned that by being indulgent, I get other people to be indulgent with me. /whispers epic secret project

It is crazy what I managed to do, genuinely, and I still have a very hard time processing the fact that I managed to pull so many crazy people in my crazy projects. It's just... wow. Thank you, whoever is reading this and recognising yourself. I love you so much.

What fic did you want to do but never made it off the ground?

Pièce Montée, a Sanji/Pudding (One Piece) fic. I'm not letting it go, it's kinda taking the dust here but I'm keeping it alive with some strong CPR, don't worry, it's alive, I'll do something with it hahahahahahahaha

Did you beta any fics? Any favs you want to shout out?

I'm not the best at doing it; after a while, I just... lose concentration and forget to continue.

But, I beta'd for a while this fic: What Have I Lost? it is very good, very worth the read if you haven't!

What ideas are percolating for next year?

Oh wait, let me pull out my fic folder spreadsheet...

Okay, let's go.

Continuing Sheltered Scars, a tattoo AU for the Ineffable Husbands (Good Omens), where Crowley is a new tattoo artist arriving in London, and Aziraphale is an art gallery holder who is a war veteran. I'm very happy with the concept, but have a hard time concentrating long enough to continue, I have to get back to it.

Continuing the edits on Down the Path of Sin, co-written with @daneecastle in a huge-ass RP and that will be added to the multiverse of her Reversed Veil of Worlds. So proud of what we did with it, it's an epic story deserving to be out there.

Writing the Ineffable Rockstars AU fic planned out with @daneecastle , @elenthyaolyenths , @vavoom-sorted-art ; expect around 15k words of it, and it's going to be so great :D

According to my spreadsheet, I should get back to Pièce Montée (see above) and to Tanabata, an Eyeshield 21 fic project that is set 10 years after the end of the story of the manga.

Those are the active WIPs. Now for the plot bunnies running havoc in my brain and waiting for an out...

Miscellaneous fandom (whichever will inspire me to make it happen): University AU - outgoing student officer x professor. This is a pure catharsis fic idea, as I'm an outgoing student officer in a university and sometimes I just need the out.

Deadpool & Wolverine fandom: Streamers AU - Logan with his headset that has like cat ears on it, his streamer name is LHowlett, but his gaming name on any platform is Wolverine. Has a daughter (Laura) who helps him out on raids, but despite his older age, he's clearly an absolute beast at gaming. People follow him because he's got a foul mouth, an absolute jerk to his friends but somehow the sweetest sweetheart when they pick up a new one on party finder- so basically, a golden mentor to new people. The X-Men are his raid party. One day, somebody is missing and they go on Party Finder to get somebody for the empty slot, and stumble on Wade. Logan complains the entire time because Wade isn't a very good listener (annoying for a raid lead) and an absolute chaos gremlin during the raid, but the stream watchers see him chuckle silently and grin for the entire session and soon enough start demanding to see that Dead Pool guy again.

Deadpool & Wolverine fandom: Consequences of the Time Ripper, they swapped and regenerated from the time ripper into each other's bodies, then swapped back pretty quickly but that was weird huh. And then it happens again. And again. And again. And they're very confused as to why, especially as it feels like random times, like they're just watching a movie and Wade bumps a foot against Logan and SWAP - I can imagine the thing feeling like a hiccup that continues for too long and after the 6-7th swap they're just "OH COME ON"! And like any good soulmate story, this finally stops when they get their shit together and finally become a couple and put the label on it. Aka: a 5 times/1 time, like "Five times Wade and Logan body swap, and one time they understand why"

Deadpool & Wolverine fandom, longfic, outlined: Baby Mine, Wade and Logan are looking to adopt; but with their situation and appearances (gay mutant couple, with strange schedules and Wade looking scary to humans), no agency really gives them a chance. One day however, Vanessa calls them, asking if they're still looking to adopt. One of her friends was found dead in her apartment, leaving behind her young baby. They do adopt the girl, and call her Ellie. Fic centered around Ellie's birthdays and other big life events as she grows up.

I... I think that should make up for most of my 2025 year.

Who do you want to thank?

Damn. Where do I even start?

First, thank you to @daneecastle for bringing me into a community that allowed me to meet so many people it was almost overwhelming. I never had so much of a feeling of a community, never met so many fandom people and I have you to thank for it, love.

Then of course comes @goodomensafterdark that brought so many good things to me, such a vibrant and beautiful and gorgeous community, I love seeing it thrive like it is. As a result, thank you to @vavoom-sorted-art for yelling loud enough in my ears about that community to push me to slide into it during the angst war.

I also have to thank all my fellow writers and artists working so hard and so diligently on that project. Thank you all so much, you do not realise how honoured I am that you all trusted me with it. Thus, as the representatives of that joyous bunch... enormous thank you to: @theravenmuse , @eybefioro , @whatareyou42 , @gaiaseyes451 , @theonewiththeshippinggoogles , @quona for being fantastic wranglers with me. Thank you. Thank you so much.

More exhaustive thanks for this crazy team will come in due time. I have feelings, alright?

[liar-after-all-v3]

Starter for @ahogedetective !!

Hope's Peak Academy. The best of the best. Top of it's kind, the kind of school that only lets the most Ultimate of gifted students in the world attend it. The academy was always known for it's air of sophistication and class for the kind of hyper-talented rosters of students they accept there.

That was, until they scouted and enrolled one Kokichi Ouma.

"Let's see... how am I going to take over the school toady?" Kokichi hums. It's a rhetorical question; one he asks himself every day since he started coming here, like he's that big headed mouse from the Animaniacs.

But, it's not just out of sheer boredom that he does this. No, something is fishy with this school. VERY fishy. Secret talent development projects, experimentation with the Reserve Course, that strange dude he saw with the flowing long hair during one of the school events...

Plotting and scheming as usual, Kokichi is out in the courtyard, unaware that a certain detective might be overhearing his plans to rule this school.

[chil-aglia]

I've got Caden brainrot, here's my thoughts!

Idk if you've talked abt it yet but in the DILLH au what's everyone's ninpo/mystics like? Did Leo lose his at any point, did Caden get Leo's portal abilities? Does Caden even get/have ninpo since in a weird way he could be considered a Hamato? If he does, does he have his AND Leo's?!?

BUT OHHHH, don't think you've actually confirmed it but DOES ANYONE but Caden know that his body is home to two people??? Does everyone think Caden is ACTUALLY Leo, and not know that Caden and Leo are two seperate entities possessing the same body????? Because that would be such an interesting plot.

Caden is all like "stfu I'm not Leo >:(" when everyone else is like "but U are??? Mikey accidentally put Ur spirit into that body so who else would U be?" And everyone just goes along with it thinking Leo renamed himself Caden or something and not knowing that the body already had someone else in it before Leo arrived who is ACTUALLY Caden ykyk?? That would be wild, and even more so chaotic for Caden's daily identity crisis >;)

⬆️ furthermore would Caden try to explain and tell people that Leo's just a ghost in his head and that Caden is seperate from Leo?? And better yet... Would they even believe him? It would be so evil if no one believed Caden was real... Like if everyone thought Caden was the one hijacking the body and not the other way around...... Mmmmmmm, I could even imagine the brothers hypothesizing that Caden could be some new krang trick/scheme to infiltrate the resistance or something and try to get rid of him.

Procrastinating rn, Draxum made a backup stasis turtle... I imagine he would've improved the Empyrean formula or whatever that he used to make the original guys. I highly doubt he would have just simply cloned someone, no way could he resist the mad scientist streak and perform a few tests and experiments and improvements along the way over a whole 17 years??

Caden could possibly have an even better immune system than the rest, be more powerful physically/mystically (well, eventually, I doubt someone fresh out of status for 17 years would be coordinated enough to do much yet lmao) but there's a ton of ideas I have rattling around about this, Draxum's had 17 years to work on a secret project and who knows what he might have done to Caden.

He could have gotten his hands on better materials, since laws in a apocalypse are kinda null and void and who's left to stop him >:) he could use illegal ingredients, maybe some krang technology... Who knows?

With training and all that, when he eventually gets the hang of existing I think some people would probably only see him as an incredibly powerful weapon of sorts...... Hmmmm... You got master Leonardo in the body of a fit, brand new and healthy 17 year old body. Reckon he'd get pressured into fighting against the Krang too early because of that?

And if the krang found out about Caden, I feel like they'd be intrigued at how their enemy discovered a way to circumvent death, maybe theyed want to capture Caden or something to figure it all out, maybe dissect him or infect him to create an even stronger weapon (...I sense this is simultaneously a great plot idea but ohhh crap the angst/torture Ive unknowingly come up with for Caden, OOPS?? Sorry Caden)

Hey... what kind of memories does Caden even have? Where in earth did he get an education xD was Draxum just hiding in his lab, sitting in front of a tank every few days with like an old scrappy kids book teaching him stuff? (Assuming he possibly could have been awoken periodically or something over the years, idk how else Caden would already be sentient/intelligent by the time F!Leo hijacks the body if the first time he wakes is when that happens 🤔)

I think you can guess who my favourite of your ocs is.

The more I think about it the more Caden gives of Casey junior vibes (specifically from the movie, being dropped into a whole new world -> kinda like learning about the world after being in stasis for years) Caden would probably get a bit of deja vu when he gets sent into the future with CJ, at least he'd actually have someone to relate to now this time about all the new weird things to learn about in the future.

Ripe backstory potential right there and these ideas r all for u, I love this au too much. If you ever need a beta reader for DILLH, I'll be there.

My dude. My bro. I just….you have no idea how happy I am with getting this kind of question in my inbox. I live for long questions cause I can yap more. ALSO YIPPEE CADEN IS YOUR FAVOURITE OC OF MINE!! He’s honestly my favourite too, or at least top 3.

Oh boy…lets get to answering these *rubs hands together like a fly*

JUST LIKE A WARNING/REMINDER OF THIS AU. I haven’t actually figured everything out plot wise and whatnot, so honestly some things could possibly change when I actually get to writing this series.

——————————————————————————————————

1) SO! Leo actually lost his ninpo during the Krang war, due to idk, stress or something (haven’t figured out what yet tbh) but anyways, he lost it only recently, maybe like 2-3 months before he was even transferred to Caden’s body. Everyone else, like Raph, Donnie and Mikey still have their ninpo intact, so they’re all good. Caden on the other hand, doesn’t have ninpo, at least not at the start! It's a high possibility that Caden actually does get ninpo (not sure if he’ll have his own ninpo or not, still figuring that out) but he does have Leo’s abilities on making portals, but he’ll get that later on.

2) So, with his body situation and the whole Leo living inside him thing. At the start, no one thinks Leo is actually in there. Except for Mikey. Well, Mikey isn’t 100% sure, but he has a feeling that Leo is still around. But because of hour similar Leo and Caden look (with slight differences obviously) and with the whole being told that Leo’s soul was transferred over to Caden, they just mistake him for Leo. A lot.

But later down the line of the story, they’ll eventually know. Whether it’s by Leo possessing Caden for the first time and spilling secrets that only he knows about his brothers or something, or by Donnie doing some kind of test on Caden and somehow confirming that, hey, Leo’s actually been here the whole time.

3) Caden’s identity crisis…oh boy, so, he is always telling people that he’s not Leo. Has been from day 1. And the brothers mostly just wave it off and not really listen. They do or possibly will have moments where they think that Caden is actually Leo, but it’s just Leo is de-aged and has trouble remembering things. If anything they’re confused by Caden’s identity as well since sometimes they believe he’s actually Leo and sometimes they rethink that and think that Caden is just Caden.

4) With the creation of Caden. I feel like, since it is the apocalypse, they didn’t have many resources to be making new beings. So Draxum had to do what he could with whatever he had left over. He probably did try to perfect it to some level, and that being Caden is I suppose more resilient to some things, maybe just a tad faster than they is. Just little things like that. Not sure about his immune system though 😅.

Would he have used Krang technology? Hm…I’m not 100% sure if Caden is gonna have Krang DNA or whatever in him. So let’s just say for now, he doesn’t have their DNA.

5) Dude, this boy is gonna go through all kinds of problems. With both Krang and human ‘allies’. Like say, TCRI or EPF. Cause, it is as you said, with some training, and with Master Leonardo inside the body of a perfectly fit, younger mutant, they would definitely want to weaponize him for the war. That’s the human side of his issues with what they want to use him for. With Krang, it’s similar but they also want their revenge on Leo, especially upon learning more about the situation of Caden.

6) The Krang would definitely want to capture Caden, learn all the secrets of the Resistance and its members. Possibly idk, brainwash him or something into being their soldier. Prime however would also definitely want to destroy Caden. Cause like, hello? Leonardo who had been a pain in Prime’s side for years is trapped inside Caden's body? The leader of the resistance? Oh, he could just so easily kill him off then and there and the war is basically theirs for the win.

7) Caden’s memories. He doesn’t actually have much. Since, while he was in stasis, he’s been mostly asleep. But the reason why he can talk and has some kind of form of education/intelligence is simply because there were times where he did wake up at random times and Draxum would always be there and just teach him a few things. How to talk and what things are.

Leo had also significantly helped him when they conjoined souls and share a body. I don’t know how to describe it exactly but Leo’s mentality and what he already knows just kinda naturally affects Caden, making him just be quicker at understanding things, talking, walking. Like their minds just connected and since Leo has been alive for a while, sharing a body with Caden, he can just go around and control Caden like it was his own body too. (That probs make no sense, but trust me on this when I say to not think to hard about it)

8) Ooh, he is kinda like Casey Jr with the whole “hey, you’re in a brand new world now” not only that, CADEN WILL HAVE SUFFER THROUGH THAT TWICE WHEN HE IS SENT BACK IN TIME WITH CASEY 😭 this dude cannot catch a break fr.

Caden is def being awkward when he meets the younger versions of the brothers. Especially with Leo, but they also get into a lot of shenanigans with each other, so that’s going to be fun—

——————————————————————————————————

and I think that answers everything. Also, OMG BETA READER? Never had one of those, I have no clue how to even go about that, but when I do make this story, I’ll happily let you know if I’m searching for beta readers! And if I am, I’ll def let you become one if you’re still interested!

[keiiaq]

⋮ NERV in my dr ₊˚🎧⊹

⋆✴︎˚｡⋆ 　 anyone can start again.

not through love, but through revenge. 　 †

────────────────────

⌗ they hate when you serve conditioned to be a weapon who acts like it.

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hey guys! im sosososo sorry that I havent posted in ages.. I do want to cram in something this week atleast. I'll try make another post this week too aside from this one. im currently working on my nge dr intro too, i've uploded it a few times but keep deleting it since I dont think its good enough 😖😖 anyways, lets start!

evangelion depicts a lot of religion and psychology, so I didn’t want to sugarcoat it to be a better place, because I feel like making it seem better just takes away what makes nerv nerv. so I decided to rewrite some of it, a lot less suffering but it still has the flair to it :)

I was inspired by abandoned airports, liminal spaces, alba aero and whatever aesthetic im using for this post - I have no clue what the name is but it captures perfectly what my nge dr is like. it’s not a lot but I pray I cooked in this as i've been trying to figure out how to go about it without making it too traumatizing.🤞🏻

† NERV

NERV is really mysterious, to put it lightly. the rabbit hole seems almost impossible to find the end of. its almost like theres no light at the end of the tunnel when there should be.

gendo and SEELE are pure evil, but I did make sure to script the second impact is the last impact to happen and that the instrumentality project never happens too - even though it is a huge plot point. no way am I experiencing that.

but just like the rabbit hole, the building seems to have no end. the more you walk around, the more bleak and empty everything is. when you think you've reached the other end, you're only a quarter through. the air is always heavy, sterile and its always cold. when you work as as a pilot, you know more happens in NERV than they let onto.

NERV is government funded by international bodies like UN. however, the money and power are being used for secretive, morally questionable ends that the public and many governments have no idea about - clones of rei, experimenting on both adam and lilith, and the dummy plug system.

sometimes when the pilots are required to come to NERV instead of school, I tend to use up my free time in NERV walking as far as possible and listening to music simultaneously. it definitely wouldnt help if my brain starts convincing me momo is behind me or something cause i'd likely take off running and hide in a corner. 😭😭

† EVA'S

as a quick summary of eva's, they're basically a giant, cybernetically modified humanoid entities created by the organizations gehirn and its successor nerv. they're used to fight angels and to protect humankind!!

they're kept pretty deep in nerv. they're also insanely tall too so its pretty daunting. I didnt change much here aside from the colour scheme, instead of reis being more blue than white I just swapped that around. mine eva is just beige, white, and black.

† OTHER

I dont know where to put other details of nerv so i'll add it here :)

— I didnt want to live with misato, shinji nd asuka so I just scripted that I get a penthouse to stay in thats near my school while having bills funded by nerv. because of this, I get paid by nerv so im able to afford trivial things so I can pay for food, clothes, furniture etc. (I scripted that my monthly salary is around ¥31,572,166 cause im not fighting angels for a measly 10k euros)

— I scripted that im not scared of the angels. i've minishifted to evangelion but havent managed to fight any angels. im assuming that they look like the biblically accurate angels so im gonna script they arent terrifying.

— the pilot list is confidential to the public, however it'll only be revealed if you tell someone. so through word of mouth essentially. nerv does have a strict qualification when it comes to recruiting pilots - 4 pilot slots, have to be 14, need to be born after the second impact, and to not have a biological mother.

— since juggling nerv and going to school is pretty difficult since you'll be in nerv 35% of the time doing tests, fighting angels, etcetc. I scripted that the pilots have tutors funded by nerv so we dont catch up on schoolwork and whatnot.

— I also did script that aside from having a funded private tutor, we also get a therapist too that come over nce a week and they do their job properly too !!

────────────────────

thanks for reading if you've made it down here !! im so sorry if this genuinely feels much more deeper than my other dr's i've mentioned. im just itching to have a psychological dr ^^ I do have a few parts of my nge dr I will share at some point too.

I also love this aesthetic too, if anyones seen my former nge drself design in december. this is such a stark contrast but I feel like this fits so much better. I love having drs like this so much.

thanks for reading my lovelies and happy shifting !! ♡♡

[evolutionsvoid]

Harpies are known for their smarts, though this can be a good or bad thing depending on who you are talking to. They are capable of memorizing patterns, using tools, recognizing faces and performing multi-step problem solving. On top of that, they are incredible vocal mimics, able to perfectly copy those they hear and repeat it even weeks afterwards. While this creates a clever bird that some admire for their craftiness, others despise them when they use these powers for mischief. Depending on their environment and how they are treated, harpies can either be reliable allies to kind friends or ceaseless terrors to those who hurt them. Tales of wild harpies leading villagers to the site of an accident, so they can help those who couldn't call for help. Stories of folk being lured away by cries and sounds of distress, only to find nothing and return to a looted home or market stall. Regardless in how one views them, harpies are incredible creatures with a vast potential dwelling within them. And that is what one warlock realized on a fateful day...

Some time ago, a warlock who hid himself and his evil schemes away from the world decided that he needed some company. Long days and night working away without anyone to talk to was growing tiresome, so he sought to fix this by getting a pet. There were plenty of options, but he decided upon taking a wild harpy as his own. Their ability to mimic voices and learn patterns seemed like a good set up for a fake conversation partner. They could play the role and give him someone to talk to, even though he knew well that what was squawked back was simple mimicry. Regardless, it seemed like a good idea. He caught a young one out in the wild and spent weeks getting her used to living in this hidden lair and adapting to this new secretive life. Though there were some rough patches here and there, enough treats, pettings and enrichment got her to get comfortable. He gave her the name Celaeno, and set up her space right in his personal workshop. And so now the warlock had a companion as he toiled over his books, cauldron and runes, talking to her as if she was a minion scheming alongside him. In time, her responses back to him grew more life-like, as if she was truly holding a conversation with him. And there would be moments when he heard his own words thrown back at him in such perfect mimicry that it startled him. It seemed she was absorbing far more then he expected. All the rites, spells and plots he spoke aloud, she took in and memorized. One day, while working with some scrolls, his companion grew irritated with an empty food bowl and barked out a spell. The magical blast only singed his robes, but the weight of what he witnessed blew his mind.

It was then he realized the potential he had in his hand. He honestly cursed himself for not seeing it sooner. Magic, when you boiled it down to its basics, was nothing but simple patterns and repeated phrases. Concepts easily mastered by a harpy. Celaeno had witnessed and heard so much, that she could regurgitate complex commands perfectly. After all, as long as he said it correctly in front of her enough times, she could just mimic him and get the same result. What happened in the workshop that one day was a simple pulse of magic, created by a mimicked spell with not enough juice. Harpies didn't have mana to draw from to fuel such magics, but if he could fix that...

In a flash, all his previous projects were pushed aside, as he now had a new vision to follow. If he could provide Celaeno with enough magical trinkets and mana-infused items, she could draw from them. And with careful training and cues, he could make her spit out specific spells and commands. If all this could be made to work, he would have a magical companion that would rival any familiar. Imagine! A pet bird that could fire magic bolts with their voice, or even summon the dead! She would hardly be a pet anymore, more like a pupil! And what if he were to train other harpies? The vision was too great to pass up. Flocks of magic wielding harpies, raining spells upon his foes and allowing him to pull off schemes in impossible ways. He would be unstoppable, a pioneer in a whole new realm of magic! So he got straight to work on this vision, teaching Celaeno more and more phrases and finding ways to add mana-filled baubles to her body. Magic alteration came into play, and she appeared to grow larger and smarter with each passing week. When she raised a rat skeleton that she puked up with necrotic energy, the warlock nearly burst with excitement. It wouldn't be long now.

But as his experiments continued and Celaeno became more and more infused with the dark arts, a crucial fact vanished from the warlock's mind. When he first got her, he knew this quite well and worked with it in his training. However, his excitement over his progress and the developing powers of Celaeno caused him to grow blind to it. The simple fact was: no matter how much she sounded like one or acted like one, Celaeno wasn't a human. She was a harpy, an animal. Though it certainly felt like it at times, she did not think like a human. The way she perceived the world, handled her emotions and understood the words spoken to her was through the lens of a harpy. There were great differences between the two species, but the eager warlock allowed himself to be overtaken by the fantasy that she was his equal. And with that came the failure to understand the dangers inherent to this plan, and what would happen if things went wrong. Sure, she could summon a horde of rodent skeletons to serve as her own minions, but was she truly understanding this action? They were tied to her emotions and thus reacted as she would to a situation, but did she know that? The warlock would love to believe the answer was "yes," but that was his fatal mistake...

Though training and magical experimentation, Celaeno has become a potent wielder of the dark arts, specifically necromancer. With mana-filled jewelry and talismans added to her body, she has an incredible supply of fuel for her spells, specially designed to slowly refill over time by drawing from her environment. She has memorized a great number of magic rites and spells, which she can regurgitate on command or when she feels like it. A particular favorite of hers is reanimating the skeletons of the rats eats, gaining new minions each time she pukes up a pellet. She can even use her magic to raise human undead and other piles of flesh. However, commanding them is not something she can really do. She doesn't understand the idea of ordering around these shambling creatures. Instead, all her creations are tied to her emotions and current state of mind. Thus, if she feels threatened by an individual, her minions will see them as an enemy too and swarm. The same goes for any other complex spells in her arsenal. She just knows how to say them and the basics of what happens after. She does not understand the gravity behind them or what really goes down with these spells. One phrase creates "loud light" to her mind, when it is actually a magic explosion of necrotic energy that can easily blow a man to pieces.

And though Celaeno is able to wield the dark arts, there is not a trace of evil to be found. Words that summon the dead and commands that unleash eldritch energy are said with the same tone and purpose as when she squawks for a treat. She doesn't know that raising the dead is a cardinal sin in many kingdoms, she doesn't grasp the vile reputation of the powers she has. Celaeno has no moral compass, she is a bird. All she knows is that repeating certain words makes funny things happen, and if she can make her puke pellets move than she earns a treat! All that complicated stuff is beyond her, she just follows her cues and says what she remembers. And some times, she'll say those things when she gets angry, as that gets her master to move. If she is hungry, or he is stressing her out with all that noise and orders, she will yell the words that she knows. That always garners a reaction, and soon food will follow! Or at least, that is what usually happens...

When shambling undead began to emerge across the countryside, the Knights of the Wrong Table took notice. Used to tangling with Ver'Rahl the Necromancer, the knights were quick to suspect him as the one responsible. So they wasted no time in heading out to face this undead threat, but soon found this situation a bit odd. The zombies certainly didn't look like Ver'Rahl's usual monstrosities, and they seemed to lurch about aimlessly. The only time they reacted was when food or flesh was very close by, and then they attacked. But once shoved away, they resumed their idle wandering til they were triggered again. Their investigation would eventually lead them to a secret lair, one that reeked of the dark arts. No doubt a horrible necromancer or warlock awaited them deep within, and thus they prepared for battle. Little did they know what they would find locked away down there...

----------------------------------

"Celaeno"

This was originally going to be a harpy deviant, but I wound up liking her too much for her to be a simple one-off beast. Enough time and thought passed, that I felt she would make a fun character.

[camcat1320]

How do you envision Jet becoming the "Winter Soldier" in your AU?

After the events of Lake Laogi, the Dai Li capture Jet, Longshot, and Smellerbee. They heal Jet using their top secret well of spirit water**. The Dai Li then puts the trio into a secret mind control program without them knowing. The project is under the guise of a mental health institution operated by the university. Cactus juice and buzzard wasp honey will be used in these experiments as well. This whole plot would be inspired by Project MK Ultra from the dark side of US history.

In chapter 8, a mysterious masked figure infiltrates Omashu and assassinates King Bumi. Katara and Aang are by Bumi's side while Zuko and Toph chase after the culprit. They fight and tussle which results in the culprit's mask falling off. Zuko is stunned to see Jet.

😧"Jet?"

😠"Who's Jet?"

(debating whether or not Toph should be there for the reveal or if I need to incapacitate her somehow so it's only Zuko & Jet in that moment.)

Jet would then escape capture. Katara was unable to heal Bumi due to the poison used in the dagger. When Zuko and Toph return empty handed, Aang grills them, fuming and asks if they found out who it was.

Zuko: No, they were wearing a mask and they escaped. [lying]

Aang: [angry] Toph, is he telling the truth?

[pause for dramatic tension]

Toph: Yeah, he's telling the truth. [lying]

This would be a moral question for the audience. If someone is under mind control, are they to blame for their actions? Is it ever okay to lie or withhold information?

I also want to make a chapter where Jet and Azula must interact. Jet then gets activated by a string of words and he betrays Azula, resulting in her being imprisoned in Ba Sing Se.

Several chapters later in Ba Sing Se, the truth will be revealed that Zuko knew that it was Jet who assassinated Bumi and didn't tell Aang. Aang would attack Jet and Zuko would get in the middle. Zuko and Jet walk away as criminals and fugitives.

Katara would do some waterbending healing on Jet's mind to try and undo the brainwashing. Jet is reunited with his father, Jeong Jeong, and must grapple with that strained relationship. Jet and Jin will have a complicated romance. Jet is getting a lot of therapy to say the least. His arc is going to start in chapter 8 and go thru chapter 18.

There's a lot going on here that is hard to put in a single post. Aang would be spiraling downward in his fall arc hence why he is acting OOC in these scenarios. I need to show his gradual descent down the slippery slope. Aang will also have a false understanding of the world because he is young and naive. This makes him align himself with the antagonists of Book 4 though he believes he's on the side of good.

On top of it, Emperor Kuei is holding Fire Nationals prisoner and subjecting them to the same experiments Jet went through, creating a secret army of Firebenders to be used as puppets. But Aang, not knowing of this nefarious scheme, would align himself with Emperor Kuei. This is similar to how Bolin follows Kuvira in TLOK.

Can you believe this all started as a Zutara fanfic?

**The magic involved with spirit water is that it reverses time, returning the injured person back to a state before the injury occurred. Spirits are 4th dimensional beings hence the time manipulation involved with spirit water. But this also erases any memories between the mortal injury and the spirit water healing. So in the case of Aang, he was returned to a state before he was killed by Azula but not prior to the injury itself, leaving the scar on him. If Zuko wants his facial scar healed, he would lose all memories between the agni kai and the spirit water healing. Zuko would choose to keep his scar, not wanting to forget anything; the lessons he's learned, his friends, and definitely not Katara.

[ultraericthered]

The Average Piece Of Junk: Code Geass Lelouch Of The Rebellion

Had some Pizza Hut earlier, and it put me in the mood for this.

What can be said about Code Geass? Well, quite a lot, but the stuff I'd like to say about it focus squarely on the initial series that was rolled out, Lelouch Of The Rebellion. The nature of this series is utterly paradoxical. It's 50% mecha anime camp, but 50% sincerely trying to be a serious drama About Important Stuff. Its narrative is deeply thought through and intricately played out, except for when it just goes "Hey, y'know what'd be freakin' cool? Yeah, throw that in there somewhere!" like Monty Oum working on RWBY, and revels in style and spectacle over substance. It throws lore, worldbuilding, character drama, politics, war, racial prejudice, and high stakes melodrama to engage the viewer and take it completely seriously, then will throw the cheesiest, goofiest shit at the screen as if to tell the viewer "lighten the fuck up and don't take this so seriously!". It embeds much foreshadowing into its events and scenes between characters to build anticipation, then will pull twists and turns derived from literally nothing, making them effectively surprising to the audience but also confounding and rage-inducingly stupid. As another post on the series put it, "Code Geass is Japanese nationalist propaganda disguised as a global political drama, disguised as a military mecha show, disguised as yaoibait, disguised as a teen melodrama, disguised as a high school romcom, disguised as a Pizza Hut commercial, except those layers aren't layers at all, but are instead comingled in a giant snake ball of insanity."

Quite accurate, but in the show's debut season prior to the off-the-rails rancid shitshow quality of the R2 season, there was some genuine substance and solid writing quality worth appreciating. Sunrise Studio had some lofty aspirations to create this sort of mangnum opus anime that could appeal to every sort of anime fan ever, and they didn't quite make that but the narrative in the first season did follow a solidly structured road map and there was a sense of the people writing for it actually trying to service the plot and characters with just enough weight to keep it afloat as an engrossing and entertaining property rather than allowing it to drown in its most shallow and hackneyed qualities like what befell R2. The setup with the world, the politics, and the warfare between factions involved in the central ongoing conflict is likely what has best stood the test of time and is still genuinely compelling. It's got a corrupt monarchy and aristocracy turned into a full-on evil empire expanding its reach and setting an imperial settler-colonial project in Japan, with what was once the Japanese mainland becoming "Area 11", and naturally this comes with oppression, racial discrimination, armed revolution, terrorism, political disputes, machivellian schemes, battefield tactics and counter-tactics, media manipulation, religious nationalism, ancient orders, shadowy conspiracies, secrets to be uncovered, deceptions and ruses masking ulterior agendas, and a deep look at just how all this effects the everyday lives of the people living around the events of this story and those who drive it. Most central in all this is our protagonist Lelouch Vi Britannia, who is ready and willing to bloody his hands and taint his soul in order to gain what he wants most and reshape the world according to his desires.

The conflicts between the Britannian characters and the Japanese characters (or "Elevens" as they're derogatorily called) is interesting. The main state of Britannia and the majority of the Britannian population, especially the non-involved civillians, are not terrible people, even while the Holy Britannian Empire that provides their livelihood and keeps them under its protective rule is unquestionably evil. The vast majority of the Japanese characters are sympathetic, but there's some nuance in the depiction of their freedom fighters and resistance groups, where the line between noble rebel warriors for justice and callous, hateful, homicidal and wantonly destructive terriorsts is so thin as to be a slippery slope, as we're shown clearly with Zero's Black Knights. But by far the biggest highlight (aside from C.C in general) is the dramatic tension, moral and ethical dilemmas, and character arcs of Lelouch, a Britannian prince turned champion of the Japanese resistance, and Suzaku, a Japanese Prime Minister's son turned champion of the Britannian forces. The two childhood friends have a dynamic not too unlike Elphaba and Glinda in Wicked, where they both see very clearly the horrors and corruption rotting within the existing system and want to bring change from the way things are, but they both approach it from two different not entirely invalid but not without flaws angles. Lelouch places most of his focus on himself and his ability to bring about great change and prioritizes that end result above thinking through all the details of it and what costs would need to be paid or not, while Suzaku puts his focus on making great change from within the currently standing system without putting enough focus or value on himself and what HE could do to push those changes, being more content with indirect outreach via small good deeds, guiding others to reconsider things and being the stepping stone for those others to do the heavy lifting for him. Both of them have half of the big picture, and had they worked together from the start, they could’ve gotten it down. It's thus the epitome of tragedy that the two come to be at odds, and when they finally do join together, too much damage had already been done, much of it by their hands, and all they can do is act as a unified force for futher evil, terror and violence until all their wrongs can be set right through an unsettlingly bleak, machiavellian, authoritarian act of penance that offers their blood and very lives as sacrifices. These two characters, who are really the core of the whole story, play out their dynamic sort of like a twisted, subversive, nuanced take on Saturday Morning Cartoon good guys VS bad guys, where the "good guy" is actually servicing the status quo and institutional power of a despotic, bigoted imperial regime and spirals into becoming an Anti-Hero who's jaded by all sides of the conflict and acts only for his own wants and beliefs, and the "bad guy" is, from the offset, an Anti-Hero who wants to bring down the imperial regime for his own byronic reason and spirals into becoming every bit a supervillain and just as monstrous a menace to the world as the enemy he looks to destroy. (This is one area that R2 blundered up spectacularly, which is especially galling since the conclusive points of their character arcs are still so perfect, with them both becoming their own former enemies - the Emperor of Britannia and Zero respectively - and Lelouch dies vilified to the world while Suzaku lives on as a famed Anti-Hero, giving up his right to live as his true identity, who is also vilified to the world and believed to be dead on top of that.)

And yes, in this same show we get Pizza Hut product placement everywhere, an anime-exclusive Pizza Hut mascot, nonsensical approximations of European names for characters, outlandish Chinese stereotypes, free-form jazz music, bad Chess symbolism, a roller-skating mech suit in white knightly armor called the Lancelot, characters with dignified titles such as "Earl of Pudding", Zero and his Black Knights being super performative and Extra as fuck, a secret Illuminati-like doomsday cult that holds influence all over the world, and an episode in which a giant mech tosses a giant pizza. It is absolutely ridiculous, flashy and inane as all get-out, and so up its own ass that it crosses the line into being brilliant, and so much fun to watch. It may be 75% junk food anime, but it's dear to so many of us all the same, and would not have caught on without that value.

Too bad that subsequent Code Geass anime, regardless of their individual quality, could never measure up to this initial outing. I still stand by my belief that it should've been an anthology series with four or five different seasons total that all tell different stories from the POV of different characters all set in the same world against the backdrop of the same larger conflict with the Holy Britannian Empire, with the biggest constants in all the seasons being C.C, the larger Myth Arc about C’s World and the Geass itself, and the arc between Lelouch and Suzaku. Would've given the anime that much more staying power, as something other than an anime project that didn't live up to its fullest potential and recieves glow ups in other mediums like manga and video games.

[darkmaga-returns]

Leaked files reviewed by The Grayzone expose the covert war waged by British intelligence against Russia in the Black Sea, outlining Ukrainian “honey trap” plots along with blueprints for blowing up the Kerch Bridge.

Sensitive documents reviewed by The Grayzone indicate that the United Kingdom is the central architect behind Ukrainian military operations targeting Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. Among other explosive findings, the files reveal high-ranking British military and intelligence figures drew up detailed plans to “maximize attrition of [Moscow’s] Black Sea Fleet,” plotted to blow up the Kerch Bridge connecting Crimea to mainland Russia with fertilizer bombs, and even devised blueprints for a series of submersibles which would allow Ukrainian divers to plant mines on Russian ships and infrastructure.

Further machinations include an explicit “honey trap” plan which called for establishing a brothel secretly run by British intelligence in Crimea. There, Russian-speaking female Ukrainian agents would ply “drunken sailors” from the Russian navy for information.

The schemes were assembled by Project Alchemy, a secret British military planning cell whose existence was first exposed by The Grayzone.

Alchemy’s intelligence-aligned director, Dominic Morris, once embedded with British special forces in Afghanistan while serving as a “political officer” for the UK embassy. The first of the relevant files was sent on April 14, 2022 — the same day Ukraine achieved its most spectacular naval success of the war when it sank Russia’s flagship in the region, the Moskva.