#so vaguely chaotic creator is good enough.

[reborrowing]

Kayla’s so underdeveloped because I keep throwing aus at that cast and she ends up in the most dramatically different roles so her personality keeps shifting bleh

[acerikus]

G o d. All gekkos' outertale posting makes me wanna talk more in depth about the characterisation and plot issues in this game and why they bother me...

(readmore bc holy fuck this got long, it's probably like 5k words. It's also pretty much all salt, categorised by character)

Toriel

Why. Why is she like this. Kinda feels like the creator of the game hates her and if they don't, they have a weird way of showing it. She's treated as overdramatic and unjustified in her anger at asgore despite the fact that he DID declare war on humanity and he DID willingly let the people believe he was killing human children to harvest their souls. Even if he didn't do it for real in this game, she has every right to be angry and to not trust him, and it CERTAINLY doesn't make her undeserving to be a mother or whatever. Idk about you, but I don't think wanting kids to stay away from a man yelling about wanting to kill every child that crosses him makes you a bad parent, even if it turns out he didn't really hurt anyone y'know?

They also REALLY zoned in on 'mother' with her in a way that doesn't really make sense here. I could maybe see her feeling guilty for making a snap judgement but how would that call her motherhood into question?

Sans saying isolation messed with her makes no sense too!!!! The outerlands or whatever they called the ruins isn't sealed off in this game, other monsters seem way less intimidated by her in this game than in undertale (she has friends! She knows sans by name and goes to napstablook's shows and even has their phone number!), and we outright get told she takes the taxi to get her groceries... Meaning she headed off to the rest of the outpost and probably does that often enough.

All things considered, Toriel seems fairly well adjusted in outertale, at least by outertale standards. Kinda then makes it feel like everyone's just trying to convince her she's hysterical and that... Sucks.

Also the fact that they added an ending where you stay with her and framed it as a bad ending that doomed everyone is... Really mean? It sucked ass I'm sorry :/

Sans

... Why is he like this. This take on Sans is absolutely infuriating tbh. The only positive I really have here is that his puns are kinda good, I've seen fangames that fuck up this element massively and it was kinda fun to see his interactions in starton.

Okay, back to salt. His whole 'i became a sentry to help humans' thing is trash. He didn't care about that in ut! He didn't care about that at all! The only reason he looks out for frisk is because he made a promise to toriel, and he hates breaking promises. He didn't want to let down his friend.

...Huh. realising this is yet another case of Toriel disrespect somehow. Yet another thing they took from her, that they then just... Handed over to sans instead. :/

His lack of backstory. Look, I get wanting something silly, but they took almost everything that makes sans interesting away. Not hyperfocusing on sans like certain aus do is nice, but it feels like in a lot of situations in this game they overcompensated by a long shot.

No mysterious past/origins. We know he worked with alphys I guess but???? Honestly I have a LOT to rant about for that part so I'll leave it for twinkly's section. And yet despite all this, Sans inexplicably bleeds in tpe when not even undertale has that happen? Make up your mind!

His role in non Asriel chaotic also... Sucks ass. I'm in a pretty awesome corner of the fandom in terms of the people I follow and the takes I see as a result, so if I'm honest, when I saw all those posts about 2024 fanon sans being indifferent to his brother's murder, I kinda just figured they were vaguing about this game. You're telling me that sans of all people just shrugs off you killing everyone and complains a little bit before letting you pass?! He should know alphys already ran off. He should know the only person left to stop you is asgore, and that it's obvious he won't. Part of this could be connected to how frisk is written perhaps, and much like the twinkly situation, I'll have much more to say on that further down.

I understand the creator didn't wanna have a sans fight in their game - however, if that's the case... Maybe come up with a reason for him to NOT show up in the last corridor, then? Have him busy helping with evacuations or something, or already dead like in the first chaotic ending... This was just sloppy.

Papyrus

Honestly he wasn't... Terrible. The phonecalls were fun even if most were cheap references (though they can be fun in fangames sometimes so I'm not mad at this lol). Him being extremely talented at making spaghetti is just one symptom of one of this game's biggest flaws, however. I really don't like how nobody's really allowed to be bad at anything or have any real struggles in this game - especially when spaghetti in undertale is used to demonstrate his relationship with undyne and the similar wavelength they're on when humans aren't involved. She's the one who started teaching him to cook it, it's deeply intertwined with his desire to be a royal guard, and it's something they suck at together. Him just inexplicably being good at it is... Weird, and feels really disconnected from their friendship and her reluctance to let him in the guard yknow?

Also: his boss final phase. Having the dog NOT take his special attack away this time was really funny admittedly but... Idk? Not only is the fight really unfair for pacifist/neutral and those who aren't as good at the game (ut never gets this hard outside of geno), it feels way too on the nose in terms of insisting he's strong and has powerful attacks. Undertale didn't need to overcompensate to get across that papyrus is strong and disciplined and the way you have to infer that in undertale is way cooler. I might just be nitpicking with this point tbh but it's whatever. Letting myself be a hater for once.

And don't get me started on him getting together with Mettaton. It seemed to come out of absolutely nowhere, the idea that they were already friends in this was glossed over really quickly and no time was really put into developing the relationship save for papyrus commenting on finding him attractive every few minutes.

Gotta be honest, I've never been a fan of this ship nor understood its popularity. Papyrus very briefly mentions thinking he's attractive in undertale, but it doesn't really go anywhere and I'm not even sure mettaton knows he exists. It feels like it was just kinda added because it's a popular ship and that's it, not sure it really contributes much to either of their arcs. It was a light-hearted celebrity crush in canon and never really tried to be more.

Oh, oops. Had more to say here than I thought.

Undyne

Not much to say here... I think she was okay, there's nothing super bad with her. I do think the way gerson kinda downplays her/lacks faith in her in the chaotic route kinda sucks and I think choosing to make her non-undying chaotic bossfight harder sure was A Choice, but it's whatever. Undying was weirdly easy in a way that didn't do her much justice. Honestly they didn't do enough with her for me to have a wall of complaints and I can't tell if that's a good thing or not. Her relationship with alphys didn't really amount to much and her lack of understanding of human culture doesn't really hit as hard when she's just talking about random sci-fi things that we have no way of knowing are real or not in this game's idea of the 2600s ourselves, y'know? Her love of anime (that she mistakenly thinks is human history) is pretty absent here except to validate her relationship with alphys in a very shallow way.

The Ghost Family

Hoo boy... Was gonna make this the mettaton section, but I wanted to talk about napstablook at the same time, so I'm just gonna lump them all together.

What. What the hell was this plotline.

It feels like they tried to go for 'smalltime farmer chases passion for stardom after feeling unfulfilled at home' and as I've seen someone else say, 'shy business owner struggles to talk to their cousin outside of work'. This would've been fine tbh, but... There's a lot of things in the execution of this that kinda grossed me out if I'm honest. I don't think they were intentional, but I think it could've been thought through a lot better to avoid some unfortunate implications - or even lean into them in a respectful way.

Firstly, the ghost family intervention was pretty long, awkward, and didn't feel like it really added much - especially when most people playing would already know mettaton's backstory anyway (and his house is still accessible like in undertale!!!!! What was the point?)

Mettaton airing out his family issues on live TV feels very ooc - he keeps that stuff very close to his chest and I doubt he'd like it getting out. Him entertaining any of that out in the open seems... Weird.

Speaking of the intervention, his cousins' treatment of him was horrifying! Part of it seems intentional and it's nice that there's at least one part in the game where characters are allowed to have flaws and do bad things but... There's also elements that feel like you're meant to agree with them? Their insistence that mettaton just come home and everything they did in the past with constantly badgering him to come and help out on the farm were rightfully treated as something that hurt mettaton's feelings and that gave napstablook and the others pause. That's (mostly, we'll come back to it later) fine. He called them out for it and they reflected on it, cool. The way his ghost form was utilised makes me extremely uncomfortable, however.

Napstablook talks about hearing 'the real [mettaton]' in the recording, right to his face, 'the real mettaton' in this scenario alluding to his ghost form. Considering mettaton is a trans allegory, this feels... Kinda gross? In a similar vein, when passing mettaton's quiz barriers, one of the questions is 'what is mettaton's true identity' and you have the option to deadname him (using a name papyrus literally just made up in undertale rather than having any kind of creativity ofc) Alphys' reaction is simply to ask how you know that which... Doesn't feel great. The correct answer is 'mettaton' ofc thankfully, but everything around this particular plot point feels weird. Maybe don't do that w the most prevalent trans allegory character..?

And ofc, they keep insisting he just come home, go back to working on the farm, go back to his family... Idk, gives me vibes of someone abandoning their shitty transphobic family and then insisting they want to see 'the real [deadname] again' and for them to abandon their new life and just go back to the way things were before. Not good.

All of this would still be okay for the most part since the ghost family are painted as being unfair to mettaton... But in true pacifist, he goes back to helping out with the farm anyway and talks about how he thinks he was probably just being dramatic after all, and how 'blooky didn't do anything that bad'

... What?

It takes me right back to Toriel's treatment. Napstablook, Maddie and lurksalot gave no real thought to mettaton's feelings, made it all about them and showed pretty much no support for his transition nor his career! Fuck those guys! It's funny - mettaton is pretty consistently a pompous asshole (affectionate) in undertale but here, I think all his feelings towards his family were COMPLETELY valid. Mettaton outertale didn't do anything wrong.

Lurksalot didn't feel like they contributed much to the story either, save to be yet another character treating mettaton like shit with zero consequences nor narrative judgement. They just made every ghost family event even more drawn out.

And then ofc!!!! Mettaton and Alphys' friendship is so bland in this game! They're two people who kinda know each other and she says some nice things about him in a letter in chaotic but that's about it. Their friendship and the subsequent conflict frisk's arrival brings to it in undertale is the heart of hotland and the core, but here it's just replaced with unnecessary, hard to watch, boring family drama. The two of them have no issues to work out. She doesn't ask too much of him. There's no funny quips and barely any chemistry at all. God forbid either of them have any real flaws.

One last thing: I'm glad maddie gets her mew mew body, it's nice. Wish it was an on-screen moment or something alluded to more though. Some of that time dragging out the family drama could've been used on that instead, y'know? Especially with napstablook getting the mew mew doll... Genuinely thought they were gonna show it to her when they first got hold of it, rather than dragging Frisk into their intervention. She should've gotten to be more mad, too. Kinda a big part of her identity.

Oh, and mettaton's no-asriel chaotic fight was bullshit. It was a nice spamton reference and the first phase was cool, but the second was utter bullshit and dragged out the fight way too long. Attacking him after snapping all the wires should've killed him im sorry. It's even more of a shame bc I genuinely really liked this game's mettaton neo fight - it was fun and creative and felt possible.

Holding myself back from adding any more to this bc I could go on and on, ugh.

Alphys

Alphys. For a game that tries to make her the star of it, it's actually kinda impressive how much they managed to take away from her and just how uninteresting she is in this game.

At the surface level she's awesome, powerful, and the star of the show. In my first playthrough I was actually pretty happy to see her thriving like this! The more routes I played and the more I thought about it though they just kinda... Declawed her. Took away all her flaws. Made her 'perfect' in a way that I don't think works at all.

The amalgamates never happened. None of her experiments went wrong. She never hid away from her mistakes, or lied to anyone (save for keeping Asgore's secret, which she has no negative feelings about), nor did she over engineer any situations to make herself seem cooler. She doesn't argue with Mettaton! She's confident and assertive! She's Asgore's right hand woman and next in line for the throne! And ofc, the badass final boss! What's not to love?

...But none of this is Alphys, is it?

Her anxiety isnt just because of the determination experiments, it's pretty clear she's always been a pretty shy and nervous person. In fact, based on her entries they were one of the things she was more confident in before it all went wrong. People are hard, but she knows science, y'know?

She doesn't get to be flawed or interesting - despite her presence, she's just a generic cool scientist who's suave with the ladies, I guess..?

She isn't particularly dorky, shes overly confident, she has zero issues to work through. Her relationship with undyne is perfect (derogatory) and her infodumping about anime just before the archive feels very forced, like they remembered last minute that she does that and thought it should be included somehow.

Depicting what she'd be like in a scenario where the determination experiments never happened is a fun and interesting idea! But deltarune demonstrates how to do that well, and I think they completely missed the mark. The way she talks, her body language, the way she acts around others in general... These things are universal constants and yet in outertale, she's basically a different person entirely.

Outertale alphys isn't allowed to lie (save to cover for asgore Secretly Being A Good Person), she isn't allowed to miscalculate, she isn't allowed to mis-speak or make mistakes or do anything she'd regret. She feels like an alphys written by someone who hates her in canon and thinks all her flaws make her terrible and unlikable. I doubt this is the case since I don't think a person like that would've given her such prevalence, but that's the level of love and attention I feel was given to her writing here. It makes me sad.

And, of course... The DT experiments and her fight.

... Why did she have vials of determination if all the humans are alive? Did she take it from them? If so, was this before or after they went into stasis? We know she's not been the royal scientist for long in relation to how long humans have been falling, so did ROMAN take the determination? How much of this did she even DO?

Why did she and sans even DO anything with determination? It... Doesn't really make sense.

Speaking of determination, why did she melt at the end of her fight? I'd assume she's injected herself with determination as one of the vials in her lab is mentioned to be partially used, but I'm pretty sure it's also like this on pacifist. Was that overlooked? Are we just meant to assume it's MORE depleted? Does she just have natural determination now because She's So Cool And Badass? This isn't even really a complaint about the fight, more just how poorly that part of her lab is handled lmao

But getting into her fight... Idk, it didn't really feel like her. A lot of it was just random bullshit that was hard for the sake of being hard, that didn't really seem to be tied to her identity very well at all. People complain a lot about the Zenith Martlet fight in undertale yellow but that's done far better than this, imo. It clearly reflects martlet's character, personality and canonical bullet patterns (we see Alphys' in ut tpe!), there's a genuine feeling of progression in the fight and the act you're given to help with the fight feels more effective - you can still damage her on her turn, so taking a turn to heal act doesn't feel like a waste. The Asriel acts though... They just don't last long enough to feel that worth it? Sure they're okay, but in general, you get a lot less time to breathe. Martlet's fight lets you retry from phase 2 if you die. Sans' in undertale gives you as many turns as you need to heal while he's sparing you. Alphys' fight just feels like it's made to feel un-fun and painful throughout in a way that just isn't worth it, and doesn't really feel like it fits her personality either, y'know? The fight was just a slog and like many others, I had zero motivation to finish it legit. I don't think it helps that the undyne and mettaton fights in this route are fairly easy and simple in comparison.

Tldr: they took away everything that makes alphys endearing, fun and interesting. This isn't alphys at all.

Asgore

A huge chunk of this essay accidentally got deleted, including my first attempt at writing this section. In it, I mentioned that the Asgore apologism went way too far.

This time though, I don't think I'd even call it that. Reflecting on it, it feels less like an attempt to defend him and more like a way to hate on and spite Toriel.

Seriously. So much of his character basically just feels like someone going 'fuck you toriel. I'm giving EVERYTHING to asgore.'

It's... Really weird?

Asgore having a way out of killing humans is an interesting concept! Outertale takes place 500 years in the future compared to undertale, so the idea that they have the resources and technology to do that is kinda cool and in theory, exploring this idea sounds really fun. In practice though, it feels like it was mostly done to make Toriel out to be an asshole for no reason and to laugh at her for ever assuming he would've really killed anyone (despite... Y'know. Telling everyone that's what he was doing.)

He just. Completely moved on from Toriel without a second thought seemingly, and doesn't even look that affected by seeing her turn up again - meanwhile SHE'S got crumpled up tea recipes in the trash and all the Sad Divorced Energy - it doesn't really fit either of them! Toriel wasn't really given a reason to miss him like that, and I think even if he DID fully move on, he'd be way happier to see her than that.

All his leading statements on how she must feel in LV1 pacifist sucked ass also, especially with the way she kinda just agreed that yeah, she feels like shit for not trusting that he'd suddenly do a 180 and not hurt anyone (AGAIN. AFTER HE CONTINUED TO LET EVERYONE BELIEVE THIS) and that she must feel unworthy of being a mother. She hadn't even said half of this in front of him yet! He put words in her mouth! That in itself would be fine (social blunders are pretty normal for asgore after all) but it... Wasn't treated like that. It was handled as if this was a sweet and compassionate thing for him to say which... Yikes.

And ofc he gets to adopt frisk, and monster kid, and get to have Asriel live with him! His fatherhood is never called to question in undertale, but ofc Toriel's motherhood has to be here. Hell, despite their divorced status, if you talk to gerson in tpe it's highly implied frisk asks if asgore would start aging again if he became their dad! Idk, all of this part just reeked of Toriel hate and nothing more. Asgore is just yet another character to get sanded down and de-clawed and it sucks. So much of what makes him interesting is his mistakes and flaws and how they impact him, y'know?

Twinkly

I wanna start this by saying I don't think his writing is too bad. It's not amazing by any means but by outertale standards, he's one of the better written characters. That being said, Flowey is my favourite character of all time so I'm still gonna be critical.

So they did save the goat. Save the goat aus really aren't my thing nowadays - I feel like so often people act like he's a separate person to Flowey entirely and act like the alarm clock app dialogue doesn't exist. Asriel didn't end the story as a doomed tragedy fated to fade away! Flowey ended the story as someone who finally got closure on the loss of his best friend, and can finally learn to move on, even if it takes him a while to adjust. I don't think he needs to be a goat again for that.

That being said, I know these kinda aus are a big wish fulfilment thing for a lot of the fandom that aren't even necessarily something people want to be canon as much as they just wanna explore the idea and see him truly happy, so I won't judge that element too harshly. People are allowed to have fun, and I think save the goat can be fine if it respects him as flowey rather than separating them.

I really like that they allow Asriel to be fucked up and an asshole rather than him soft rebooting into some Sweet Perfect Little Prince once he returns to his old form, like so many other save the goat takes. Even in lv0's ending he struggles to bite back insults and mean comments aimed at Monster Kid which is... Admittedly kinda refreshing! There's definitely some flowey (or I guess in this case, twinkly) behaviour that still comes through here and I'm glad. This carried over to chaotic, too. While his characterisation wasn't perfect, this at least felt like twinkly obtaining a few form and continuing to play with the world, rather than your standard Asriel take. I also really liked that he remembers and acknowledges chaotic if done before pacifist, that was neat and adds to his character (as far as this game goes) I think.

However, onto the biggest, glaring issue I have with him.

Why. Why does he exist.

No, seriously.

In its attempt to make the world perfect, a world that blatantly only exists so the creator could make a save the goat ending, mind, there's no reason for the goat to need to be saved at all. Nor for him to exist after dying back when Chara lived with the dreemurrs.

Asgore isn't killing humans, so the souls don't need to be absorbed by anyone. Frisk can just enter the archive and lend their power to destroy the forcefield themselves, so there's no ultimatum like there is in undertale - there's no implied tradeoff of Frisk's life for the freedom of monsters without twinkly's intervention. In undertale, flowey's messing around opened up an ending that would've otherwise been impossible, something that worked for everyone.

Without him existing at all here, frisk could've broken the barrier just fine. All it really added to pacifist was a couple extra boss fights and asgore being dead for two minutes. And him being saved I guess but again, there's no real story justification for him being here EXCEPT to pat yourself on the back for saving him.

Why was he created? In undertale it's pretty clear - they wanted a vessel to hold all the souls in for now during the true lab experiments. He exists because Alphys selected the first flower to ever grow in the garden and injected it with determination that she extracted from the human souls.

... But all the humans are... Alive and well in outertale? They don't need a vessel to contain their souls. They don't need to extract any determination from anyone. Again, why do they HAVE vials of determination? And why did she inject one into a flower?

AND THAT'S THE OTHER BIG THING. It's established she and sans injected a starling flower for... Whatever reason. SO WHY THE HELL IS TWINKLY A CARTOON STAR?!

This point makes absolutely no sense at all. He looks absolutely nothing like a starling flower nor does he behave like a flower at all, which is confusing if that's what he started as. Honestly, I think it would've made more sense to just keep him as Flowey if they were gonna include him at all, and just have his appearance reflect a starling flower instead of a golden flower.

This applies to his fight too. Mechanically I think it's AWESOME, but the visuals are... Just very very boring. A huge part of why his fight in the original is so good it's the bizarre and chaotic nature of it, the horror elements, and the way so much of flowey's trauma in terms of how he was created and the things he finds scary was put on blast for all to see. The combination of mechanical and organic elements, all the plants and insects... Idk, just going 'hmm he's a star. Let's have him go through a star life cycle' is boring, there's no visual appeal.

If his creation is so vague and wishy washy, this would've been a great opportunity to flesh it out more. How was he created? What kinds of technology and machinery did alphys use to put all this together? How did she (or roman????? unclear) get the determination? What does twinkly remember?

That leads me onto a tangentially related topic - his trauma. I... Don't think this was shown very well. He talks a bit about BEING traumatised from the lab, but telling isn't the same as showing and canon flowey is terrible at hiding it, whereas I'd just as easily believe outertale Asriel made it up for sympathy points. He never really projects, he doesn't force anyone else to experience anything like he did, nothing like that. He's just a cocky asshole who likes killing, and who eventually decides to start being nice.

This game constantly seemed to be speedrunning ways to get him from being twinkly to being Asriel as quickly as possible in almost every single route which... Huh???? It's weird. Would've been nice to let him be a star more rather than just Asriel...

(final amendment bc I lost a huge chunk of this essay originally and had to rewrite it, and I'm realising I didn't manage to fit this in this time... How does a single monster soul let him get his Asriel form again? Sure he's still treated as if soulless and it doesn't make him a good person, but if he was 'so tired of being a star', why hadn't he tried doing this sooner? It makes no sense...)

For a game that exists to give him a good ending, it's so ironic how little he needs to exist at all in this world. Just goes to show what it looks like when you go too far with 'fixing' things or removing stuff you seem 'too problematic' for the sake of being wholesome or whatever.

Chara

Speaking of which... Look I'm just gonna say it. This version of Chara sucks so bad.

Chara is one of my favourite characters - they're really interesting, morally grey, and a fascinating way for undertale as a game to interface with us as players.

They're a child who likely saw the worst of humanity, then found themselves in a home with family who genuinely loved them once they fell down and met the monsters. Their intense saviour complex made them feel like the best way to help their family was to sacrifice their own life to get enough souls to break them free (and once they realised they had control, get payback against the humans while they were at it). They could be mean-spirited and a prankster. They valued efficiency HIGHLY. Their favourite number was nine because it's the limit, the absolute, a way to stop hurting and to stop others hurting.

And by doing geno, you can push this fixation on stats further. Max out all your stats. Gain power. Get stronger. Become invincible. Nobody can hurt any more if the world is gone. And ofc, they stand as the final arbiter of consequences for the player. Your punishment for killing everyone and for pushing them into believing it needs to be completed. Chara both IS is and is separate from us in a way that can't really be fully disentangled and it's really, really cool.

Anyway, enough gushing about undertale Chara. What's outertale Chara in comparison?

... Nothing.

They're nothing.

Outertale Chara narrates occasionally. They're a ghost that follows frisk around, but aren't confined to that, and have been actively wandering the underground since their death. They also still have a SOUL for some reason? This part doesn't really make sense at all.

Other than sacrificing themself and maybe wanting to take out a few humans after Asriel absorbs them, they don't do anything that could be considered bad ever. The most devious thing they ever do is snatch Asriel's diary to leave a silly comment in there when they first arrive at the outpost (sans does this with Toriel's phone in undertale tpe for comparison lmao). Despite what Asriel seems to believe, Chara is completely absent from the chaotic route - never getting corrupted, never caring about our stats, never wanting to hurt anyone, never even trying to make us face any consequences. They're just... Not here. For a character so prevalent in the murder based route of undertale this is fucking wild.

They all but vanish if you so much as say something slightly mean to someone, too! It's strange, makes no sense, and just like with sans, it feels like they overcompensated waaaaaaay too much for the people who insist they're evil. On top of that, if you do chaotic before lv0, they don't even remember chaotic happening! They'd may as well have just been a member of the ghost family who likes following Frisk around when they're especially nice. Like Asgore and alphys, they've been sanded down and de-clawed to be 'wholesome' and 'perfect', and it just results in a bland, boring character who loses anything that made them interesting, nuanced and fun.

'Chara wasn't the greatest person'... Why, though? They don't have enough substance in this game for that line to really have as much impact.

Frisk

I'm gonna be honest - I actually ADORED their frisk at first, and I think that's because I started with a neutral run and ended up drawing them a lot. They felt silly and mischievous and interesting, and this continued into chaotic. They seem pretty chill with what's going on but then take that even further by being hilariously affectionate with Asriel and still doing silly things like being up for picking up the electrodampening fluid or drinking directly out of the fountain. They felt like a funny little mini-kris (save for being okay with all the murder ofc).

Then uhhhhhhh... That's when I experienced the second chaotic ending, the one without Asriel, as well as lv0. I feel like they definitely DID try to lean on the Kris angle on purpose in terms of their feelings on being controlled and stuff but it???? Just doesn't work very well? There's no ambiguity to this version of frisk once you've seen all the routes. Just like EVERYONE ELSE, they're just a perfect little angel who would never do anything wrong and anything past lv0 is just the eeeeeevil player influence or whatever. Come on, we have deltarune for that kinda approach to control 😭 (though even then, Kris is a layered and interesting character who isn't goodness and innocence personalised, and that's why they're cool)

In undertale, we have no idea what frisk is like as a person. WOULD they spare everyone without our influence? Would they kill? Would they be a scared child lashing out in self defense? Would they run from everything, then give up and let themselves die permanently somewhere? We just don't know! We're not supposed to know! It feels like it went back to the very early fandom interpretation where frisk is Good And Sweet and Innocent while Chara is evil incarnate - except this time they're BOTH the former.

It's a contradiction too! Why in the Asriel chaotic route are they so down to follow him, and pet him, and hug him every chance they get if they don't like all the stuff we're making them so? The player has no influence over Twinkly. Every single thing he did, he chose to do, and yet even if the only time frisk has seen him was him destroying their mercy button and forcing them to kill for him, they seem to love him to pieces and go along with whatever he says happily. What.

I feel like they didn't know what to do with Frisk here at all and it shows.

Other characters

This has been ridiculously long, but to quickly go over non-major characters... They did very few things to make Roman seem interesting, the amount of stuff hes implied to have helped Asgore with just reduces even further any influence or impact alphys had, and (a smaller nitpick)... Why didn't he use times new roman as a font when we DID see him speak in the archive/on the signal stars? It's such a missed opportunity...

Burgerpants was fun... Kinda. Developing him like this feels like something that should've happened DURING the actual game rather than before it though because it made him feel like a whole other person entirely? The poisoned food was very funny though.

Why is Snowy now Stardrake when his dad hasn't changed at all and Crystal looks like any other snowdrake? That was bizarre.

I actually really liked the humans! Establishing them as actual characters was really fun, and I especially like justice. Justice, at least in my opinion, is probably the most interesting character in this whole game tbh - someone who tried to do good but ultimately caused more harm than good, while NOT downplaying it, showing the consequences directly, and showing them work to try to make things better. The way we don't grab their item like the others in the twinkly fight nor go through an area for them in the archive (and just talk to them instead) really adds to their intrigue - what are they like? Who did they know? Is there something they don't want us to see? How are they strong enough to not need us to grab their weapon at all to lend their help? I think it's get funny that the only character I'm fully praising is the clover-adjacent one. Justice outertale they could never make me hate you

(that being said... seeing the way this game is clearly just supposed to be a 'fix' for undertale does sour my thoughts on the humans a little. did they only do this bc they thought them NOT being full characters in ut was bad/a problem with it? 🥴 This applies to the additional monster kid story focus too).

Speaking of monster kid... Them being an orphan was clearly just a plot device to give asgore more kids and therefore feel like he won more than Toriel. Monster kid in undertale seems like they probably did have real and loving parents, and they have a sister too!!!! Would've been nice if they'd at least done something with their sister :(

This got... Way longer than I expected, so I'll stop here. But outertale definitely gave me an even bigger appreciation for other ut fangames. My gripes with deltatraveler section 3 feel much smaller in comparison now, if tsus misses the mark on Flowey later down the line they've at least already done most characters so much more justice, and it really puts into perspective all the heart and soul that went into kissy cutie, as well as its genuine love got the source material and characters.

Sorry outertale, you weren't for me. That being said, if anyone disagrees with any of this then that's fine! These are all just my opinions and feelings on it after going through all the routes and talking about it with friends. Media is always gonna resonate with different people in different ways and that's a good thing! If your perspective on any of this is different and if you had way more fun with it, I'm glad you did and I genuinely wish I could've felt the same. I feel like at the very least, making it has probably been a great learning experience for the devs and I really hope they carry on making games and improving their skills. Hope y'all are thriving and having fun regardless 💙

[rurus-writing]

A wound to heal (OC writing)

Notes: I made this like a while ago?? I don't even remember butsvsjjdjd take It because I still think it's pretty neat. Made this round 2 am so I'm sorry if there's some mistakes

Genre: Hurt/Comfort

Ocs: Shou/Qiran

Word count: 825 words

Tws: Vague mentions of sh, some swear words but nothing more.

Tags: @a-chaotic-dumbass @mcofthemansion @anonymousgeekhere

╔•══════•༺۝༻•══════•╗

The silence in the room was unbearable. And yet, so many things were happening at once. Qiran stared blankly, as they proceeded to pick another bandage, from the little pile neatby. They couldn't remember for how long they've stayed there, trying to help a fare larger man in the same room.

He was crouching, trying not to hit his head against the ceiling, and as such making himself small. Needless to say, It was near impossibile for the conditions Shou was in. If he could've, he would've returned normal, as a human, taking care of wounds far easier.

Thus, he wouldn't have endured many other pains that came with staying in that Snake form for way too long. Unfortunatly, the greater loss of blood denied that wish completely. It was allarming, even for someone like him.

After brief instances, It was the smaller peer finnaly speaking.

"Ya...still bleeding, ya sure you're breathin correctly?"

They said, as they put yet another bandage on the old one. It easly sucked on blood. It took some seconds before Qiran could get a reply.

"I am."

They stared back at him, who was now looking away. They initially thought It was out of arrogance, but on a greater look, the expression of regret was painted on the snake man's face, just like a lasy piece from his creator.

They wanted to offer help, but opted to still take care of his wounds. Since bandages wouldn't work, Qiran took stricter methods. Thankfully, they'd brought some hydrogen peroxide with them, in case of an emergency.

The time they climbed a little on the man's body, so they could reach his arm better, they could feel him slither away after the first drop. On the second one, a full flintch. They knew It could've hurt much, but It had to be done.

To make Shou stay put, they had to use much strenght, while still making sure It doesn't do a mess. After a while, Qiran noticed a glimpse of Shou's face. As soon as they saw him visibly in pain, they stopped.

After a good 10 seconds, they began again.

"...ya should've told me to stop, I don bite, y'know?"

"It was bereable."

"Didn't look like It."

They said, as they'd now made eye contact with those sharp, emerald eyes. They were much bigger, and that freaked them out for a slight second, but soon adjusted to It.

"I...It wasn't worthy to be talked about."

As soon as Shou finished, he didn't have time to realize how much their expression changed.

"What. Did you just say."

Without too much hesitation, they were both face to face, with Qiran being dangerously close to the teeth right below them. If they didn't find the right Valance, they could've slipped into his mouth-stomach, and only the lord knows what would've happened next. The finger poke from their part wqs enough to bring him into reality.

"Wasn't worthy to be talked about?? WASN'T WORTHY?? WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN. IT'S NOT A MATTER OF WORTH, IT'S A MATTER WITH YOU??"

Shou was quick to look at him back,listening to their words

"Forgive me, I wasn't thinking well-"

"Then why did ya say that in the first place?? This ain't a competition, noone's better than other so, why were ya saying you somehow were lesser?? It just doesn't make sense, yanno."

"I've always been told this. I thought this was the thruth, I apologise."

"Why are ya keep sayin sorry?? i-"

"BECAUSE IT'S THE ONLY THING I CAN DO."

Qiran was taken by surprise by the sudden shift of voice, and got startled.

"WHO'S FAULT WaS TO GET WOUNDS??WHOS FAULT WAS DECIDING TO GO THERE WITH A SHITTY PLAN??WHOS FAULT WAS TO PUNISH THEMSELVES BECAUSE THEY WERE REGARDED AS A PAIN FOR MOST OF THEIR ENTIRE LIFE AND MADE FUN OF WHEN THEY TRIED TO TALK ABOUT THAT??"

Only then, Shou had realize what he'd done. He now saw their face looking from afar, preparring for the worst. He wanted to reach them and reassure Qiran better, but couldn't.

No matter how much he'd try, he could just worsen the situation more. He was close on hiding his filthy face and hoping they'd get away for how bad he'd screwed. And he did just that, faintly speaking afterwards.

"I...i didn't mean.-"

"..Hey, listen it's- it's enough, okay?"

Qiran's words weren't as rough, and rather had a softer tone. He didn't hear them approaching slowly, as Shou would've just hidden. He felt their hand on part of his lower arm, being able to reach only that.

"Ya overwhelmed yourself and now ya need rest, you're gonna be fine for the rest of the night and, tomorrow? Ya gonna turn normal! Guaranteed."

As Qiran was about to talk again, they were stopped by the touch of one of Shou's short claws. And thus, found the strenght to look at them again.

"You've done enough. Take a break."

"I know, I know."

╚•══════•༺۝༻•══════•╝

[astraldrake]

thoughts on elden ring bcs i feel like i have to put them somewhere fair warning for spoilers

- much more colorful than ds3 (low bar i know but goodness the difference is stunning when you go from one to the other) -im so glad they gave us the ability to jump. like wow i can actually go up stuff now?? im not trapped if i fall down a small ledge?? sweet. - the ambient music in caelid makes my skin crawl (complimentary) also they really nailed the vibe of it as this horrible rotting place that wants you dead. also all the giant mushrooms and stuff everywhere, love those. - speaking of, i love the lil wolf howls in the raya lucaria ambient music. (also the overall color palette and aesthetic and stuff 10/10 blue good, sparkly rocks good) - radahn's fight was fun and chaotic (once i had enough health that he wasn't 2 shotting me right as i walked in) i liked that you could just keep summoning backup throughout the fight so you had a near endless stream of cannon fodder help. - rykards fight was a pain in the ass though, idk if it was just me but i struggled to get the timing down on when and how to stun him. (also, i really expected his voice to be more,,, idk intimidating?? he just sounds like he's talking with his mouth full.) - morgott wasn't too bad (although it was also the first fight i did while having a great rune active so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯) (should also note i beat him before i took down rykard) i will say i didn't expect his lore to be so sad. Like shit dude I feel bad about killing you now. - im really enjoying the wide variety of stuff i can do with incantations, i can summon lightning, throw fireballs, temporarily give myself a tail, and turn my head into a dragon's, it's great. - i have no clue what is happening like 60% of the time. i feel like i probably missed some story stuff somewhere down the line. (i spent so much time dicking around with other stuff i would not be surprised) - I kinda miss destiny's more expansive lore entries. I get that that's just not the way these games tend to operate when it comes to story, like i know they like to be vague and leave stuff up to interpretation but sometimes i want more than flavor text yknow? I want to read more about these characters and events. (and yes i know ao3 exists but diving for good fic takes time and trial and error, that and i want a more consistent understanding of canon than what assorted fic would be able to provide. ah well, when there is no canon, you make your own.)

- I wish id gotten more time to talk w/ melina before she died. the cutscene was really nice and it felt like it implied a lot but i just didn't get to hang out with her enough for it to hit as hard as i think the creators intended it to. (or maybe im just more emotionally numb in general these days idk.) - that said, i really like the conversation you can have with her if you beat the boss at the end of the shunning grounds. "however ruined this world has become, however mired in torment and despair... life endures. births continue. There is beauty in that, is there not?" like fuck dude!! you're right!! there is beauty in that!! ( i then proceeded not to go looking for the frenzied flame, and instead just took the item in the chest and the incantation i got off the boss and left. ) - also i did some pvp invasion stuff for varre's questline since i wanted to see if anything in or around that area would have more fun blood flame incantations. (I have found none so far but i did find mohg!! who i have not fought yet.) Given my experience with pvp being primarily overwatch and destiny ( very different genre i know, but still) i kind of expected to just get repeatedly curbstomped by tryhards, but i actually didn't have too bad a time. I even manged to kill a person (or three. look three out of five is a pretty good track record for me ok??).

anyways i think that's all i have to say about that.

[yoichichi]

Pretty People Supremacy Playlist 🖤

for my angel @1010andneji , I hope you love it 🖤

disclaimers: fem!reader, because this a request for someone with she/her pronouns, I believe the reader is referred to as she/her a few times, Kenma is aged up and this is based in him attending University just to be clear‼️

warning: it gets a little saucy in the make out department ?

gif not mine, credit to owner

a/n: ahhhhh!!! I’m sorry this took so long and I really hope you like it and you felt like it was worth the wait! Please let me know if you need me to change anything ‼️ i luv you bae 😔✊🏼 also thank you to my wife @ikigaitooru for helping me choose your matchup here! I was stuck between one other person but we ultimately decided on Kenma, we both believe he exhibits prime quiet himbo energy :) also I kind of went off and wrote a lot on this one 😶 sorry I think? Regardless, I hope you enjoy!!!

Relationship Headcannons

Ok so ultimately, I paired you together NOT just cause you thinks he’s pretty but I think you guys would be so good together!! Like you would be so good for him

You guys would balance each other out socially and just be the best pair to hang out with pleaseee

He knows he can be stupid and chaotic with you and you know you can let yourself wind down with him!!

Kenma CAN be blunt sometimes so I’m sure he’d have to catch onto your sensitivity at first, but he’d be so sincere if he ever accidentally said or did anything that made you feel some type of way

And once he is aware of your sensitivity he’s constantly reassuring you in little ways, not only that he understands and is trying to comfort you but just to reassure you he loves you, for example :

HAND SQUEEZES

I know some people have mentioned that he wouldn’t be into PDA but I disagree! It’s just not in the conventional let me be all over you types of PDA

I feel like it’s just not a big deal to him cause he’s like 🤨 what do I have to be embarrassed for?? This my mf baby and I’m gonna hold her hand if I want to ??

Like, I see him as a big hand holder frfr

He would just see it as such an easy way to be physically close to you and even if that’s just holding pinky’s he’s down!

It would also help him if he’s feeling anxious!

Like he’d fiddle with your hands and fingers if he’s feeling particularly antsy or nervous

OH

You guys are out and he wants to go in a different direction? He’s definitely bringing your hand to his lips to give a quick peck and pull you along

“C’mon, let’s look over here”

AND HES SO NONCHALANT ABOUT IT TOO LIKE HE JUST DOESNT QUITE REALIZE THE EFFECT HE HAS ON YOU WHEN HE DOES THAT (he totally does but he likes to be slick and act like he doesn’t 🙄)

He would also DEFINITELY let you play with his hands if you’re nervous or bored or whatever reason honestly, he’d find it soothing and knows it occupies you or fills a need (and you get to look at pretty Kenma hands c’mon now)

ANYWAYS there are other little ways he’d reassure you too besides hand squeezes and holding

Definitely the type to leave you little notes in places for you to find them and they’d always say such simple things like “hi- kenma <3” LMAOOOO PLS HES TRYING HIS BEST

I think the final biggest way he’d love to reassure you would be words of affirmation (this is definitely a private thing)

I think he’d still deliver them in a blunt manner but that’s how you know he’s sincere!

You two would just be chilling at his place and you’d do something simple like, ask how much water he’s drank today or play with his hair and tell him he shouldn’t overwork himself and he’d just look at you so seriously and be like, “I really appreciate you, you know that?”

And it’d be sort of deadpan but like !!!

And he’d just kiss your hand after - always the palm - and then he’d just press his cheek into your hand before kissing it one more time and moving on like that literally just didn’t happen KENMA KING OF HAND KISSES

Okok moving on before I get stuck on his hands again anskdkdksiaj

So we don’t talk about himbo Kenma enough!!!! Like ok

He’s NOT big and ripped like ya know Bokuto and he seems super smart but I’m telling you this man is a quiet clueless himbo ‼️

You can’t tell me you’d be talking on and on about biology or something and he’d just have this little lost look in his eye while he’s nodding along and smiling softly listening to you talk and you’re like ,,??

“Wait, do you even understand what I’m saying?”

And he’d really just be like no :)

“but your eyes are really pretty and I like watching your lips move while you talk :) (this man is also a king of innocent flirting and you can’t tell me otherwise!!!)

OMG and if you’re even the slightest bit flustered by his comment he WILL notice and he’ll do his best to hide his sly little smile and just grab one of your hands and squeeze it and be like, “keep going, I’m listening”

KENMA HIMBO NATION RISE

Ok ALSO you two would literally just be such a pretty couple? Just like so pleasing to look at????? Like you’re both so pretty it’s unfair! And your style OMG

Like you’re just so soft like the epitome of 🦋✨👼☁️☺️ girl and 🎮🎱🖤👾🌙 boy ykwim???

and his long hair PLS Kenma man bun supremacy 🙌🏼

I can’t stress enough how pretty you two would be it would just make sense seeing you two together ugh

UGH you dying Kenmas hair for him?? And he’d just sit cross legged in a chair while you do it and he keeps leaning and moving to wherever you are around him cause your hands are in his hair and it’s so soothing!! What’s he supposed to do??

“Kenma, stay still you’re gonna bet bleach on my shirt!”

“But didn’t you wear that in case bleach did get on it?”

“Kenma-“

“I’m just saying if that’s the case then I don’t understand why I can’t hug you while you bleach my hair? 🤨”

“😐”

“Ok so-“

“Kenma.”

“😒”

Yeah queue pouty Kenma acting indifferent 🙄✋🏼

Just give him a kiss on his nose and he’ll get over it even though he’ll feign his grumpiness to get treated like a baby a little bit longer

UGH PLS I GOTTA STOP I COULD GO ON FOREVER

Bottom line, Kenma’s your quiet little himbo and you’re his loud soft girlfriend, and it’s one of the most adorable things ever

Ok, so we’re finally to what you came for LMAO, your playlist!

OKOK so similar to the first one I made, there’s no theme besides music taste so I tried to make this like a soundtrack of your guys relationship if that makes sense?

I really hope you enjoy and please let me know if you need any changes or would like to be paired up with someone else 🖤‼️ Without further ado, your songs and explanations!

1. Siren - Kailee Morgue: ok I think this one still kind of fits the vibe you’re looking for but you can’t tell me Kenma didn’t see you as some bewitching vixen who’s caught his attention LMAO like he’s just like 👁👄👁 she’s so pretty and entrancing help me! and he’d try to be like haha I’m cool I’m cool I’m fine 😎🥴😎 but it’s so obvious he likes you too (you’d kind of be able to tell with the way he looks at you and how it took so long for the blush to leave his neck and ears whenever he’d talk to you) but he just really decides he has no choice in the matter, he wants you so bad LMAO

2. Juice - iyla: more off the first one, the way you just appeared into Kenmas life LMAO like he saw you and just 😳🥴😍‼️ and once he started to feel real feelings he’d be so 🏃‍♂️💨 WHERE THE FUCK DID SHE COME FROM??? But he wants you so BAD he can’t do anything about it, and now not only does he just want you 😳 but he wants you and he wants to be yours , pls he has it hard

3. See You Again (feat. Kali Uchis) - Tyler, The Creator: ok this is like THE song to your guys relationship just UGH I know you two would have such pining. Kenma would DEFINITELY be nervous to even talk to you at first cause he’s definitely like 🥴 she’s prettt hhng and he’s so shy and you just have such HEART EYES over him and you don’t even hide it that well LMAO (“it’s them rose colored cheeks yeah it’s them dirt colored eyes 😔😩”- u @ him) and it just makes him so NERVOUS!! But you two would definitely dance around it for a bit like you’d just be so 😍‼️ He’s pretty and shy hehe I like him gimme gimme 😍 and he’d be so flustered by it at first until you guys FINALLY get over yourselves (when kenma stops being a baby LMAO) like you guys jus wanna kiss so bad and literally everyone’s like JUST FUCKING DO IT, SHIT it’s adorable really

4. Doves In The Wind (feat. Kendrick Lamar) - SZA: ok I know this song is kinda saucy an idk if it’s overplayed but listen YOU CANT TELL ME THIS ISNT KENMAS FUCKING ANTHEM!! like he jus absolutely jams to this song definitely a sza stan and loves playing vibey music like hers during his gaming sessions but like the way he would worship the ground you walk on and be like mf im HERS do not get it twisted, in no way does she belong to me buT THE WAY I BELONG TO HER WHEW ‼️

5. Moment - Victoria Monét: ok why do I feel like most of the songs I added on here are vaguely steamy LMAO but ok this song? Yeah whew 💨 this is definitely one of those songs that play while you two would be lazily making out with those little led lights on (you just know kenma has those) and you two would just be laying there and know this is one of those moments you guys are never gonna forget. Your hands are just roaming and caressing each other while your lips are locked and you guys are so breathless and it’s just wow, you guys must have manifested each other cause this moment is so perfect between you two. And even though it’s a little sloppy it’s so intimate and you both feel like you’re living in a dream. messy hair flushed Kenma whos breathing heavy? Yeah I think so

6. Deep Cuts - Healy: Kenma is always trying his hardest to be the best he can when he loves something. We know this we’ve all seen him and Tora when it comes to volleyball and the way he gets with Hinata. And this wouldn’t change when it comes to your guys relationship, he is constantly going to be putting in his best effort to get to know you better, be the best boyfriend he can be to you and make you feel as loved as he can. He’s memorized everything there is to know about you and sometimes he gets lost in that and it makes him insecure about himself from his overthinking (you can’t tell me he’s not a chronic overthinker) and he’d forget to just enjoy himself sometimes. Like Kenma stop stressing, you can relax when you hold her hand. But he’d reach this point with you when he’d probably be being a bit difficult and you’d just make him feel so loved. He had been overworking himself again, which you HATED. You could tell from the bags under his eyes and the way his hair was messily pulled back into a low bun and the way the neckline of his hoodie showed he wasn’t even wearing a shirt underneath. But it was date night!! So what if he was tired and overworked quality time is important to you!!! I mean, that’s what he’s thinking. But you would just pull him into a hug and kiss his forehead and start to undress into comfy clothes and he’d be so confused like ?? Uhm, date night?? And you’d just pull him to your shared bed by his sleeve and under the covers and into your arms while you just kissed the top of his head. You’d take his hair out of his bun and run your fingers through it getting rid of some of the tangles and just be so CARING to him. “Let’s just stay in, you’re tired and I’d rather lay with you while you get some sleep, we can always go out another time.” Yeah he’s in love that’s it ‼️ you make him feel like he’s exactly enough for you as he is and that’s all he wants pls tbis is so long and for what??? Like this could be a Drabble in itself??? Anyways

7. Easy - DaniLeigh: you guys are definitely an exclusive couple but you really show Kenma what it means to just take it slow and relax! After the date night (deep cuts) he knows it’s ok to just relax into your guys love and he doesn’t have to force or rush anything cause it all comes naturally. Secondly , the WAY THIS BOY MAKES YOU FEEL - he just always looks at you with these deep eyes that hold so much love and it makes you feel so exposed every time cause he just loves you so much and it’s so intense l. It makes your face heat up cause he so clearly thinks your perfect. Also, this just gives total late night ride vibes. Kenma would definitely be driving on the freeway and this song comes on and he just places his hand on your thigh while he’s driving and he’s humming along to this song and he can feel you staring at him so he just casts you a quick side glance and goes “hmmm?” And you’re like 👁👄👁 nothing (Kenma is the king of late night car ride music fr)

8. CPR - Summer Walker: ok I don’t even need to explain myself with this one, the song is so self explanatory! You just make each other feel so at home. Point blank ‼️ like Kenma will just think back like 😇 where would I be without this bitch the thought makes him truly sad and he likes to avoid it at all costs

9. Rain - Lucy Park: pls this song is so soft (I hope it fits the vibe ahhh!!) but this is just more of kenma being an absolute softy for you LMAO. He’s not very good at taking care of himself sometimes and you’re always there to be like 😡‼️ NO‼️ and it makes him so soft he can’t help it, it’s not that he does it on purpose cause that’s insane but the fact you know his limits when even he doesn’t sometimes blows his mind and he’s never felt more loved than in those moments (let’s bring up Deep Cuts again 🙄✋🏼 pls this boy just needs someone soft to put him in his place LOL)

10. moonlight - dhruv: ok but when Kenma knows he’s in love with you, he has to tell you. And what better way to tell you than, well, tell you. He’d definitely try to plan it in his head to be perfect like ok what’s her favorite place? Where’d we first meet? Should I tell her there? Should our song be playing in the background? Kenma, your himbo and over thinker tendencies are showing, just tell her already! It’d be early in the morning, and you two are making breakfast together while he’s listening to you ramble on about the recent events of your favorite show and he’s just smiling and nodding, doing his best to recall the other plot points that have happened. And you, distracted with your ranting, go to take a bite of your freshly made breakfast- which is still scalding hot. You IMMEDIATELY start panting and drop your fork, running over to the faucet and shoving your head under it doing your best to soothe your mouth with the cold water. And Kenma feels awful, but this is fucking hilarious. So sure he’s holding your hair back so you can really get that water but he’s dying in the process. Almost keeled over and gripping at his stomach type laughter and you’re swatting at him to no avail and he just can’t help himself, “oh, fuck I love you.” He said it between his gasps of air from laughing and didn’t even realize it. Not until you stood up fully with water still dripping off your chin just looking at him. This idiot immediately started apologizing like omg this isn’t how I wanted to say it ahhhh but you assure him this was perfect, and that you love him too (pls love this man he can’t help but love you too)

11. Easily - Bruno Major: does this count as angst? ok call back to Kenma being an overthinker who overworks himself and probably overlooks his own needs at times, there’s bound to be some tension between you two at times. You’re concerned about his health and he insists he’s fine but you know he’s not, and while I don’t ever see him blowing up on you I could see little arguments about his self-care habits. Sometimes he stays up too late, or he’s stressing himself over something that doesn’t need that much thought! Regardless, he knows you just love him and he does the same thing for you and he just needs to get better at not being so stubborn when it comes to taking care of himself. And he just hopes that you know he loves you and appreciates what you do for him even though it doesn’t seem like it all the time, and that hopefully you won’t give up on him.

12. Streets - Doja Cat: ok I added this one mainly for the vibes but like you can’t tell me Kenma isn’t pined over in university LMAO. Like he’s pretty and polite but also indifferent, mentally ill bitches eat that shit UP; and there’s PLENTY of those in university LMAO. And like you aren’t a toxic possessive person don’t worry but MAN he’s fighting these girls off with a stick at this point LMAO and he just doesn’t get it pls, like he’d definitely be the partner in an assignment who just comes prepared and is kind of quiet to a fault but is so nice and just gets his shit done. Would also offer a pencil if you forgot one and maybe I’m just a whore but that gets me everytime 😌

13. Kiss U Right Now - Duckwrth: ok mainly for the vibes but !!! You and Kenma in the kitchen cooking and this song comes on and he comes up behind you and turns you around and your faces are all close and he keeps singing “I think I wanna kiss u” and smirking but he’s just ghosting his lips over yours instead and moving his head back every time you try to kiss him and giggling before doing it all over again! giggly Kenma supremacy

14. Butterfly - UMI: ok we been talking about how much Kenma would be devoted to you, but like you wouldn’t be the same!!!! Kenma means so much to you and you do your best to show your care and all you wanna do is see him happy as much as he wants the same for you, omg you guys are so in love it’s gross 🤢

15. Pick Up Your Phone - Hojean: what more can I say!!! You guys just love each other and love spending as much time together as you can!! (I like ending these playlists with a really happy mood :) )

——————

Here it is! Thank you for being so patient and I really hope you like this! I always get nervous posting for my baby’s 🖤 love you cutie!

-🐇out

[maxmagi]

A List of My OTPs

because it's 11 and I can't sleep.

Enjolras x Grantaire a.k.a. Enjoltaire a.k.a. ExR- Les Mis

How I fell into this I don't remember now. I vaguely remember reading a crackfic of this and then everything just went sideways.

This was also the fandom that helped me realize that I wasn't exactly straight and that it's okay to not be loud about my sexuality, that I can just be.

I think that explains my attachment to this ship, not to mention just the movie's Grantaire (played by George Blagden) also shipped the characters and played his character like how he thought it should be, Grantaire loving and pining after Enjolras without the revolutionary knowing it.

Except in the fan fics, Enjolras returns his feelings and they work it out, even though it's not easy because they're both stubborn as mules. Ah, ultimate fantasy I guess. And the number of great fics here, *whistle*

Also, the Les Amis? Is amazing? Especially in the modern AUs? Like they're great friends? I love this fandom so much! Permets-tu!

Shen Wei x Zhao Yunlan - Guardian / Zhen Hun

C'mon, Zhu Yilong & Bai Yu's performance and emotions? Plus just the fact the fanfic writers of this ship are absolutely amazing? Please, escape from this pairing is impossible!

Best opposites attract trope for me. An academic by day, superhero by night in love with a roguish police chief who has no powers but whose charisma, wit, and heart can get him to toe to toe with the legends.

Also, Professor Shen Wei constantly acting like an innocent civilian and lying badly? Gold!

Loki x Tony Stark a.k.a. FrostIron - Avengers

How did I honestly get to this ship? I really can't remember what started it all. I think it must have been a Loki redemption fic where Tony Stark and Pepper broke up and something something happened. Let me tell you, the writers of this ship have written sagas and ballads of epic and sometimes confusing proportions, and that is why I fell deeper into the pit. I mean, they gotta give justice to two brilliant but chaotic characters, right? Angst. This ship has sooooooooo much angst.

Eiji x Ash - Banana Fish

My god, if you want to keep your heart intact and not be reminded of all that's ugly in the world, DON'T WATCH OR READ BANANA FISH. YOUR HEART WILL NEVER HEAL!

If you're gonna watch/read it anyway, make sure to watch something fluffy and sweet after. There's a reason that people from this fandom go, "If you've seen Banana Fish's ending, then you can handle whatever angsty show you're watching now." ~ or something to that effect. Another thing we like to say in this fandom is, "Other fandoms: Let's write a Mafia AU! Banana Fish fandom: We are the Mafia AU." Yes, all of us in this fandom is dramatic af.

Yuuri x Viktor - Yuuri!!! on Ice

Uh, does this really need an explanation? Aside from the fact that you will surprisingly find a lot of Mafia AUs here because we all know that hiding behind that beautiful face of Viktor Nikiforov is a devil capable of... tearing down your self-confidence, like WTF Viktor, don't make Yuuri cry! Also, their dance together at the end, such beautiful love.

Magnus Bane x Alec Lightwood aka Malec - Shadowhunters

I never read the books and have no plans to in the near future. I just saw a video on Youtube about why Malec is life and now here I am, still reading some Malec fics from time to time.

Some stuff on the show were WTF but overall they were a really good couple who supported each other. Plus, they're a Power Couple.

Erwin x Levi aka Eruri - Attack on Titan / Shingeki no Kyojin

Not to be confused with Ereri, which is Eren x Levi, which I don't generally ship except for that one time when a writer wrote an epic fanfic series with Eren in his mid 20s and Levi in his late 20s/early 30s, reincarnation AU. Boy was that one a surprise. I did not expect that.

Anyway, I'm an Eruri fan through and through. Especially with that promise that Levi made to Erwin. And the reason he gave the serum to Armin. HE DIDN'T DO IT FOR THE KIDS YKNOW. HE DID IT FOR ERWIN. Plus, Levi, Erwin, and Hange are my special trio. Erwin's batch was really amazing.

Also, I really like the fact that the shorter and slighter person is the more badass fighter while the taller, bigger one is the more calculating and strategic one. Rocks the boat of stereotypes and all that. Bonus: how these two met. My god, what a meet-cute! 😂

Dani x Jamie aka The Au Pair and the Gardener - The Haunting of Bly Manor

It really is more of a love story than a ghost story. I dunno how to feel about this. I loved these two characters so much and I wished they had a better ending but I wasn't SO surprised because it was a horror series (Like, I was still hoping at the end that they'd be together forever but yknow...). In any case, Jamie was just awesome. And her nickname for Dani? Poppins?! God, what a lover and fighter. She was not afraid to cock a gun in a ghost's face.

... and now for my flexible BROTPs

Merlin x Arthur aka Merthur - BBC Merlin

Yeah, my brain is so chaotic multiple OTPs and BROTPs of the same pairing exist at the same time without clashing with one another or having major identity crises.

I actually really like BROTP Merlin and Arthur and also like reading OTP Merthur.

And when Merlin is paired with Morgana or Freya or sometimes even Gwaine, that's fine with me too. As long as his bromance with Arthur stays intact, because that's what drew me to the show in the first place. Personal preference. I see them as platonic soulmates.

*Shout-out to the Merthur writers though, you kept me sane during my "Post-Merlin Depression," which is actually a term thrown around in the fandom because of that horrid final season (not saying it's a good term but it's what it was called). A lot of amazing fics here, too, both Magic Reveal and Modern AU ones. Full of action and adventure too! I mean, there are boy-band-looking Knights and magic-wielding badasses!

Tim Drake x Conner Kent/Kon-El aka Red Robin x Super Boy - DC Comics

More like flexible otp. I dig Stephanie Brown and Tim Drake BUT I really really also dig Tim Drake and Conner Kent. When they're TimKon, it's like an entirely different entity from TimSteph. Ugh, hard to explain.

I mean, Kon telling Tim, "You'll always be my Robin" and Tim telling Kon, "And you'll always be my clone boy" is the shit. Also when Kon could pick out/recognize Tim's heartbeat. And when Tim nearly went mad scientist trying to bring his bestie back. Like, dudes, wtf. And at the same time, hell yeah.

Liu Kang x Kung Lao aka LiuLao - Mortal Kombat

- I see these two as more like ride or die best friends connected by fate/platonic soulmates. But also like their dynamic is so awesome, cute, sweet, badass, can't-live-without-you vibes.

Basically the same way I feel about Merthur. I like reading both romantic and platonic relationships between these two characters. Like, the LiuLao fan creators peeling off the layers of this relationship and exposing every raw nerve is beautiful.

They love diving into the characters' psyche, emotions, motivations, fears, and doubts and you get really amazed because... Aren't they just characters from a video game, you ask? Well yeah, but MK video game has several interesting storylines and the Mortal Kombat 2021 movie was just the perfect jumpstarter to this beautiful blaze.

I mean, "We swore that if we were to die, it would be together"? Hell no, you're not dropping that on us and not expecting us to create our very own spin-offs and 12-page essays on that shit. That's what we fans do, baby. And also, really, we need a shaolin monks/white lotus spin-off/prequel. We're starving here.

As this ship is the newest one on my list, it's the one I'm looking forward to the most. Not enough fan content, I tell you. Not enough. One of these days, I just might add my own.

But right now, it's past 1 and so I shall attempt to sleep.

***No images for TimKon and LiuLao coz apparently I've gone past my 10-images allowance 😤

[nobodyfamousposts]

Dolls AU: Mama

Well, it’s been a year since “Mama’s Day” and it seems prudent to answer the as of yet unasked question of just how Chaton started calling Marinette “Mama”.

Enjoy!

____________________

Chaton liked his Creator. He liked her more than he could really explain.

She was nice and kind and cared about him lots. She made things for him to have for his very own. She talked to him and hugged him every day. She made him a little bed of his own. And the Box—which was both a blessing and curse sometimes.

She let him take naps on her. She recognized his preferences and adjusted to them, making a floor pillow in a sunny spot when he wanted to nap in a sunbeam or a place for a little blanket nest in a dark corner of his Box when he didn’t feel up for anything. She seemed to read his moods. Not perfectly, of course. It’s taking time for them to be able to communicate properly.

She couldn’t always take him with her, which made him sad, but she found ways around it. She sometimes took him to the Guardian to look after him (who was nice even if he kept asking Chaton questions he didn’t understand and wanting him to try yucky drinks). And when the Guardian wasn’t available and she had to leave Chaton in her room, she went out of her way to make sure he had things to entertain himself with when he was alone.

But he always liked it best when she was there. Even if she admonished him or didn’t let him touch something.

She was the best Creator he could ever want. And he cared about her lots, too. He was always happier when she was around.

His feelings for her felt bigger than his whole body, and he wished he could put a name to them. He wanted to, though.

But what name would fit? Was there a single word that could indicate all of his feelings? The joy of hearing her call out a greeting to him when she was returning after a long day at school? The satisfaction at seeing the pride in her eyes when he learned something new? The relief of her holding him and reassuring him of her safety after an akuma attack? The way her hands seemed to mesmerize him as he watched her work. The simple feeling of contentedness of sitting with her as she rubbed a hand across his head. The desire above all to see her happy.

What word could say all of that?

He decided to search for the words so he could share them with her. Mostly through the “enter-net” in her “compute-her” since he was still too new to go out alone and he didn’t want her to know what he was doing.

He found a lot of words.

“Thank you” and “Gratitude” for appreciation for her kindness.

“Care” and “Concern” for her wellbeing and wanting to see her healthy and happy.

“Happiness” when she was there. “Lonely” when she wasn’t.

Then there was the big one. “Love”.

Did he love his Creator?

Looking up more on the subject, he felt he did. But it was too big. Too vast. Too vague to really hit upon his feelings for her.

He learned that he could love someone. He learned he could love many people. He learned he could love in different ways.

But how?

He didn’t understand it. His only examples were from the “enter-net” and from the Creator herself.

The Creator, who loved everyone, it seemed. She loved her friends. She loved the people downstairs. She loved the pink floaty thing he had to share her with. And she certainly seemed to love the boy whose pictures she kept on her walls.

That’s a lot of love. But she was big, so it makes sense she has a lot more love in her than he did. Because right now, he only loved her, and he didn’t even know how to explain that. He couldn’t find the answer, no matter how many days he spent thinking about it.

If the Creator noticed, she didn’t pry. She simply assured him that he could talk to her if he needed anything.

Everything came to a head one particular day when he’d had enough of thinking and decided he needed to go out and actually find the answer.

He made it about as far as downstairs where the Creator and the two other people were making something that smelled good and he got distracted.

It wasn’t his fault! The cookies were so big and tasty-looking! And they smelled delicious! It was too tempting! And it was only one. It wasn’t like they would miss it, right?

He had made his way onto the counter and over to the pan where the items of ooey gooey goodness were. But he was only limitedly aware of the change in temperature the closer he got to the pan. And even less aware of what that change meant.

Not until he touched the pan and a burning pain lanced through his hand.

Without thinking, he cried out in hurt and alarm. His “voice” wasn’t like his Creator’s or the floaty thing’s or even any of the other people he had observed. It was more of a feeling, a pulse of alarm spread empathetically. So fortunately, those who lacked magic or a strong empathic ability couldn’t feel him, so he remained undetected by the big man or the small lady.

Unfortunately, both the Creator and the floating thing were nearby and fully felt his cry.

Within seconds, there was a thunder of footsteps as the Creator rushed into the room.

“Chaton!” She gasped, reaching out and taking him into her arms. She checked him for any injuries, whispering to him and questioning what happened.

He raised up his hand to her, showing the spot where he touched the hot pan.

She looked over the spot he showed her, frowning in consideration. “It’s not burned at least, and no lasting damage from what I can see. But I bet that hurt, huh?”

He nodded, gazing up at her with little tears of magic pooling in his eyes.

“No no, none of that!” She said, wiping away the magic with a piece of cloth she grabbed from nearby. “You need that magic to keep yourself sustained.”

Finding out he cried magic was….not a pleasant experience. And certainly not something he wanted to repeat. He had certainly worried Creator as she stayed by him for hours trying to replenish what he had lost.

But it hurt though!

“I know it hurts. But I’ll take you upstairs and heal your hand.” She assured him as she stuck the cloth in her pocket for safe retraction and disposal later.

It wouldn’t hurt for long then, at least. And it was already helping just to be this close to her.

“Marinette? Did something happen?” The other woman asked, entering the room.

“It’s nothing! I just…uh…” She glanced around and then down at Chaton who was now trying very hard not to move like she’d instructed him to do when someone else was around. “I just accidentally left Chaton downstairs and he ended up a little too close to the pans.”

The woman frowned at that. “You know that isn’t safe! You need to make sure to leave your projects upstairs or at the very least away from the stove. They could catch on fire!”

“I know, Mom! And I’m really sorry. I just got caught up in helping and misplaced him. So I’m going to take him upstairs right now!”

With that, Creator held Chaton carefully in her arms as she made her way upstairs. Both leaving before they could hear the woman’s questions of when the doll had gotten there as she hadn’t recalled seeing him when she had taken the pans out of the oven…

Once in the safety of her room, Creator set Chaton down on the desk where they could see each other on an even level as she checked over his hand.

“You can’t touch the stove or pans when they’re hot or this happens, Chaton. You could have been hurt worse.”

He lowered his head. He hadn’t meant to get burned. He just hadn’t known it could do that. He would bear that in mind for next time. And be more careful.

“I was really worried about you. Mom was right that it could have been worse.”

…Mom?

“I’m just really glad it you’re safe. I’m still new at using magic to heal, but I can fix this up at least.” She said as she allowed her magic to spread over the cloth of his hand where he had touched the pan, numbing the pain as well as repairing and restrengthening the threads.

Her magic was still inexperienced, but she was getting better with the help of the pink floating thing talking her through it.

Soon enough, Creator was wrapping a cloth bandage around his hand.

“It’s probably unnecessary since you don’t bleed, but it’ll help it heal faster.” She explained, finishing the wrapping. “All done!”

And then she kissed the top of his head.

“I’m glad you’re okay, Chaton.”

He felt the warmth flooding through him once more.

“You’re getting better, Marinette! He should be well and healed by tomorrow!”

“Thanks, Tikki.” She said with a smile before dealing with the residual magic still in the cloth she had wiped Chaton’s tears with from earlier.

Really, tomorrow may be too much, because it already felt better. She really was strong.

Chaton barely gave notice though, too lost in thought.

It was the second time he heard that word. It stuck out to him.

___________________

Dealing with leaked magic was never easy, but it was necessary. The last thing they needed was another incident like a magic-induced trash kraken or a spillage of chaotic-based luck.

But Chaton had been pretty quiet afterwards…

She turned back to her desk, seeing the doll still sitting on the desk where she’d left him. He appeared to be looking rather subdued. She hoped he wasn’t still upset or hurt by what happened earlier.

“You okay, Chaton? Is something bothering you?” She asked.

He looked up at her, frowning uncertainly.

“Mom? What Mom?”

She blinked in surprise. “What?”

“You call ‘Mom’. What Mom mean?”

Was that was he was so concerned about?

“Well, a Mom is…” She frowned, thinking. “A…a female parent. They can also be called ‘Mother’ or ‘Mama’ or some other variant depending on the language.”

“Mama?” He tilted his head in curiosity, listening carefully.

“Like—like my Mom! She made me. She’s raised me.” Marinette smiled as she thought of her. “She’s been looking after me as I grow up. She’s taught me things—supported me when I was right and corrected me when I was wrong. She’s looked out for me and helped to protect me. She’s someone I love dearly because she loves me.”

He stared at her, his eyes wide in awe as he seemed to be absorbing everything she said. After a few seconds, he suddenly nodded.

“Like you to me?”

That got her attention.

“WHAT?!”

For Chaton, it couldn’t have made more sense.

Creator was talking to him like her Mama had talked to her.

Creator protected him. She made sure he was safe and healed his injuries.

Creator gave him kisses and hugs.

Creator made him happy.

“Are you…my Mama?”

And Marinette….

Marinette was at a loss.

Because she wasn’t! After all, she was still a teenager! And Chaton was magic! And she had no idea what she was doing!

“But…I’m not…that isn’t…I can’t be…”

“If you think about it, you kind of are.” Tikki interjected, cutting off her spiraling thoughts. “You made Chaton. You’ve been taking care of him—at least as well as you can given the circumstances. And he is in a lot of ways like an actual child. One you’ve been helping to grow.”

The kwami giggled.

“In a way, you are his mother.”

Marinette looked back and forth between Tikki’s knowing look and Chaton’s hopeful gaze.

“But…is it okay?”

What rules were there about this sort of thing? What made someone a mother anyway? Marinette hadn’t done anything to actually become a mother, so having it suddenly brought up to her felt like it was coming from out of left field.

She knew she was a caretaker for Chaton. But a Mother…?

Except…

When it came down to it, whose call was it, really?

“Do you…want me to be your mother?”

Chaton smiled, bouncing slightly.

“Give hugs and kisses! Pet me and make me things! Keep me safe and happy! Love you lots! Good Mama! Happy with Mama!”

Tikki giggled again. “I think it’s been decided, Marinette.”

Marinette rolled her eyes at Tikki but didn’t argue. She looked down at Chaton fondly.

Chaton merely smiled back up at her.

This…certainly changed things.

But then again, Marinette reasoned as she hugged Chaton close, maybe it was only putting a name to what was already there.

[crash-cinematic-universe]

Skeleton Party

pairing: Peter Maximoff/witch!reader

summary/request:  Heyo! Just saw Ur recent post and was wondering what was happening with the super powerful witch so that saves singlehandedly Xavier's School and Peter works at it and she's badass and then sees Peter and runs to him and is like omg r U ok bby? And everyone's like how do you have such a powerful so and can she be super famous and is like a really popular super hero and everything? Thanks! Love ya! ♥️♥️♥️ - @oxbunnehxo 

warnings: a lot of dying

notes: its done. it has a dumb fucking ending but i think it’s kinda funny so uh that’s that. 

taglist: @creator-appreciator​ @simonsbluee

           Usually, having Peter appear in your classroom was lovely, because he usually came with a smile on his face and open arms. This time was different, though. Peter’s smile was replaced by a worried frown, his eyes darting around and his voice low. He’s panicking, a rare sight in Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. His hair is messy and his hands are shaking.

          “Peter? Are you alright?” You ask, concern lacing your words. He is absolutely not alright-- you can tell the moment he begins speaking. 

          “Uh, someone is c-coming,” His voice is rushed and uneven and he sounds as if he’s going to cry.

          “Who?” You’re quick to grab his forearms in order to calm him down. He seems settled but still panicked.

          “The, uh,” He stutters. “The entire U.S. military.” The silence that consumed the room was deafening, the cold claws of shock holding your mouth shut. Hundreds of questions raced through your head at once, but one stuck out in specific.

          “Why?” Your breath gets heavier and your heart rate increases as your mind races through thousands of thoughts. Peter can only shake his head as he sits on your desk.

          “Because this just happens to be one of the largest, most condensed mutant hotspots in America-- the government isn’t exactly thrilled by our existence.” He chuckles dryly, obviously trying to calm his nerves. It doesn’t work. 

          “We’re gonna be okay, right? I mean, I’m sure Charles, Logan, Hank and Erik will handle this.” You’re not sure whether you're trying to convince Peter or yourself with your words. Peter’s eyes refuse to meet yours. “Right, Peter?”

          “Uhm, actually…” He trails off. “Charles and Hank left last night for some big conference in LA, Logan has been MIA for the past week and Erik left me in charge of the mansion until he gets back from his revenge mission.” Your heart practically stops and your stomach drops to your feet. Dread fills your body as you process the information you were just gifted.

          “So… you’re in charge of an entire mansion full of mutant children… that’s about to be attacked by the entire U.S. military.” You state flatly. Peter nods, panicked tears brimming his eyes.

          “I don’t know what to do.” He whispered. You managed to toughen up, formulating a plan in your head.

          “It’s okay, uhm, we’re gonna be okay. Just-- uh-- get Ororo and round up all the kids. Tell Jean and Scott to try and help the younger kids. I’ll scope out the attackers and see what I can do.” Peter nods, a gust of wind blowing your hair back as Peter runs out of the room. He quickly returns, though, and hugs you tightly.

          “Thank you,” He’s gone as quickly as he arrived, speeding down the hallway. You wipe your palms on your jeans, a nervous sweat coating your hands. Stress is pumping through your veins as you sprint through the hallways to the highest balcony you can find. On the horizon you can see a large mass of people, two tanks on the flank of the group. Toughen up. You need to toughen up. They need you-- everyone needs you. You huff before whipping around and making your way to the common room. Peter is beside you within seconds, the panic in his eyes swirling around like waves in a storm. 

          “Ok, Jean and Scott are with the kids in the library, Ororo and Kurt are on their way-- how are our odds?” As much as you wanted to, you couldn’t exactly tell Peter that it wasn’t looking good.

          “Uh, they’ve been better,” You laughed uncomfortably. He grabbed your hand before speaking.

          “I guess we’ll just have to, uh, do our best,” You fought the urge to point out the fact that ‘our best’ probably won’t be enough. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

__

          Okay, yeah, this is definitely the worst-case scenario. The few X-Men present at the scene were quickly overwhelmed by the sheer force of their attackers. It was a quick overtaking, a few mutation-suppressing blasts sent most of your defense flying. It was chaotic and stressful and you soon found yourself reaching a limit. Someone grabbed you from behind, their arms looping under yours before they pulled you backwards. You screamed and kicked your legs, but it was no use. 

          One glance in the eyes of the young children watching you get dragged away ignited something inside of you. Your fists clenched, a bright green glow appearing in the palms of your hands. A white-hot rage pumped through your veins, a feeling that you didn’t recognize gripping your bones as a blast of energy exploded out of you. 

          For a moment, everything was still. The grip on your arms loosened before disappearing completely, a thud sounding behind you. Horrified, you turned around and gazed upon the sea of skeletons you created. The blast seemingly stripped each soldier of their… body. The skin, the muscle, the organs-- they were all gone. Disintegrated. You didn’t really care, though, you just spin around to check on your peers. Thankfully, they were all left unscathed. 

          “Hey, uh, are you okay?” Storm looks at you with a vague, scared gaze. She nods slowly. 

          “I’m fine, how did you…?” She trails off. Peter is by your side within seconds, an amused tone in his voice.

          “How the fuck did you do that?” Peter gushed. “Could you always do that? Like, you can just dissolve people? That’s cool as hell!” 

          “Woah, Peter, slow down,” You laugh. The mood changed quickly, the image of the hundreds of corpses behind you fading away. It was gruesome. “I, uh, I think I could always do that. I guess I just needed the correct circumstances to trigger it.” You didn’t turn around to face the consequences of your actions, you just basked in the benefits. 

          “We need to clean up the bodies,” Storm adds. You nod slowly. 

          “Yeah, uh, they’re probably going to send more people because of all this,” The reality of the situation sets in slowly. “We’re not safe here anymore. I-- I ruined it, didn’t I? I made it all worse, didn’t I? I did! I’m just proving their point that mutants are violent monsters,” 

          “Hey, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” Peter reassures. “Sure, yeah, we’re kinda royally fucked, but you did what you needed to do. They attacked us first, ya know,”

          “I guess you’re right…” You sighed. Peter smiled before turning you around.

          “Now, we have some corpses to collect!”

[thecreaturecodex]

Daemonic Harbinger, Shagrath

Image © @tredlocity​

[Commissioned by @crazytrain48​. Shagrath the Red Moon Spyder was first mentioned in the original Arduin Grimoire but never got much elaboration, beyond being Chaotic and Evil and having a holiday devoted to him. The 90s “Compleat Arduin” edition misspelled his name with 2 Gs, and that’s what I have used previously in the spiga entry. The Arduin Eternal version from the 2000s made him a creator god, but that information never made it into any of their published books, and their website is only available via Wayback Machine. So this version merges him with another spider-themed archfiend from Arduin, Calyandagg, but incorporates some of my own personal interests in making evil deities based on real-world evils. The idea that conspiracy theories are authored by a giant spider who lives on the moon sounds like a conspiracy theory in and of itself.]

Daemonic Harbinger, Shagrath CR 22 NE Outsider (extraplanar) This immense creature looks vaguely arachnid, with thirteen legs and thirteen eyes. Its carapace is a metallic red, with a mantle of bristling fur on it. Alien runes decorate its legs and abdomen.

Shagrath The Red Moon Spider, The Second Opinion Concerns alternate history, misinformation, torture Domains Darkness, Destruction, Evil, Knowledge Subdomains Daemon, Moon, Thought, Torture Worshipers conspiracy theorists, interrogators, spiga Minions crucidaemons, fiendish giant spiders, piscodaemons Unholy Symbol a ring of twelve red moons showing the lunar cycle Favored Weapon heavy pick Devotion Spend one hour promulgating an alternative version of a commonly held idea or belief. It does not matter whether you believe what you say, or if it is true, only that the information is spread. Gain a +4 profane bonus to saving throws against confusion effects and mind-influencing effects that deal damage (such as mind thrust). Boons: 1: web 2/day; 2: freedom of movement 2/day; 3: extended true seeing 2/day

Shagrath the Red Moon Spider is an ancient being, the first of the race of fiends known as spiga. When first formed, Shagrath lacked magical power, but he realized that belief was a strong enough force to shape the cosmos. By viewing himself as a god, he gained the ability to cast divine spells, and eventually forced his way into the courts of the daemonic harbingers through sheer force of will. His ultimate goal is to achieve full divinity, and his primary means to accomplish this is to expand his cult—if enough mortals believe him to become a god, he will be one.

As part of this agenda of apotheosis, Shagrath tells outrageous falsehoods: that he wove a planet out of his webs; that he can see everything that transpires in moonlight; that he knows literally everything. It matters not to him that the majority of his lies do not stick. If repeated forcefully enough, to enough people, they will take root and become history. His worshipers gleefully create and distribute “alternate facts”, particularly those that demonize a vulnerable group or that promote selfishness and disunity. Of course, Shagrath does enjoy inflicting pain in a more direct sense as well. He is a master of torture, and is especially interested at how the application of pain can cause mortals to weave extravagant falsehoods or completely change their beliefs.

Shagrath has all of the abilities of a spiga, and uses them in similar fashion in combat. He enhances his combat prowess with divine magic, entraps foes in his webs, and then paralyzes them with his claws and venomous bite. Shagrath can create new spiga by implanting eggs inside of paralyzed victims, which he keeps helpless but alive long enough for the spiga to grow inside them. Shagrath has access to many powerful clerical abilities, which he uses in combat as much to impress upon enemies his divine powers as much as to injure and kill.

Shagrath is about thirty feet long and weighs ten tons. He spends little time in Abaddon, perhaps because his interests in divinity make him distrusted by the Horsemen.  He typically lairs on a moon of the planet in the Material Plane he is currently interested in. From this vantage point, he descends earthward to spread lies and torture, and returns to his airless abode to avoid retribution.

Shagrath                CR 22 XP 615,000 NE Gargantuan outsider (daemon, evil, extraplanar) Init +11; Senses darkvision 60 ft., Perception +39, tremorsense 120 ft., true seeing Aura fear (30 ft., Will DC 33), unholy (DC 29) Defense AC 38, touch 18, flat-footed 30 (-4 size, +7 Dex, +20 natural, +1 dodge, +4 deflection) hp 420 (24d10+288); fast healing 10 Fort +30, Ref +21, Will +30 DR 20/good; Immune acid, death effects, disease, electricity, fire, mind-influencing effects, paralysis poison; Resist cold 30; SR 33; Weakness vulnerable to cold Defensive Abilities freedom of movement Offense Speed 50 ft., climb 40 ft.; air walk Melee bite +33 (2d12+13 plus poison), 3 claws +33 (4d6+13 plus paralysis) Space 20 ft.; Reach 15 ft. Special Attacks breath weapon (80 ft. cone, Ref DC 34, 20d10 piercing plus entrap, 1d4 round), entrap (hardness 10, 30 hp, 1 hour), implant, paralysis (DC 34, 1 round), rend (2 claws, 4d6+19), tortuous rend Spell-like Abilities CL 24th, concentration +35 (+39 casting defensively) Constant—air walk, true seeing, unholy aura (DC 29) At will—greater scrying (DC 28), greater teleport (self plus 50 lbs. objects only), harm (DC 27) 3/day—glibness, empowered greater shadow evocation (DC 29), plane shift (DC 28) 1/day—interplanetary teleport, mind blank, power word kill, summon (9th, 100%, any CR 20 or lower daemon) Spells CL 20th, concentration +32 9th—energy drain (DC 31, x2), mass heal (DC 31), shades (DC 31)D, quickened slay living (DC 27), quickened wall of stone 8th—quickened blessing of fervor, quickened cure critical wounds (DC 26), demand (DC 30)D, discern location, quickened divine power, fire storm (DC 30) greater spell immunity 7th—blasphemy (DC 29), quickened blindness/deafness (DC 24), destruction (DC 29, x2), disintegrate (DC 29)D, greater restoration, repulsion (DC 29) 6th—banishment (DC 28), blade barrier (DC 28), dreamD, greater dispel magic (x2), heal, quickened owl’s wisdom 5th—cleanse, quickened divine favor, dispel good (DC 27), quickened entropic shield, flame strike (DC 27), greater command (DC 27), shout (DC 27)D  4th—cure critical wounds (DC 26), death ward, dimensional anchor (x2), moonstruck (DC 26)D, sending, spiritual ally (+36/+31/+26/+21, 1d10+5 force), tongues 3rd—bestow curse (DC 25), contagion (DC 25), cure serious wounds (DC 25), deeper darkness, prayer, protection from elements, seek thoughts (DC 25)D, stone shape 2nd—bear’s endurance, bull’s strength, death knell (DC 24, x2), make whole, pain strike (DC 24)D, silence (DC 24), spiritual weapon (+36/+31/+26/+21, 1d8+5) 1st—cure light wounds (DC 23, x3), detect good (x3), faerie fireD, sanctuary (DC 23) 0th—detect magic, guidance, read magic, stabilize D = domain spell Statistics Str 36, Dex 25, Con 35, Int 35, Wis 34, Cha 32 Base Atk +24; CMB +41; CMD 63 (73 vs. trip) Feats Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Empower SLA (greater shadow evocation) Improved Critical (claw), Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Mobility, Quicken Spell, Spring Attack, Stand Still, Whirlwind Attack Skills Acrobatics +34 (+42 when jumping), Bluff +38, Climb +53, Diplomacy +38, Intimidate +38, Knowledge (arcana, dungeoneering, engineering, geography +, history, local, nature, nobility) +31, Knowledge (planes, religion) +35, Perception +39, Sense Motive +39, Spellcraft +36, Stealth +22, Use Magic Device +35 Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Common, Draconic, Infernal, telepathy 300 ft. SQ daemonic harbinger traits, expert climber, no breath Ecology Environment any land or underground (Abaddon) Organization unique Treasure double standard Special Abilities Aura of Fear (Su) A creature that fails its save against Shagrath’s aura of fear is panicked for 1 minute. A creature that succeeds its save is immune to Shagrath’s aura of fear for the next 24 hours. The save DC is Charisma based. Daemonic Harbinger Traits (Ex/Su) Shagrath is a daemonic harbinger, a powerful unique fiend. This grants him the following traits:

Immunity to acid, charm and compulsion effects, death effects, disease and poison

Resistance to cold, electricity and fire 30

Telepathy 300 ft.

Shagrath’s natural weapons, as well as any weapons he wields, count as evil and epic weapons for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction

Shagrath can grant spells to his worshippers.

Expert Climber (Ex) Shagrath can climb on any surface. Treat this as a non-magical spider climb effect, and this ability doubles its racial bonus on Climb checks to +16. Freedom of Movement (Su) Shagrath is constantly protected by a freedom of movement effect as a supernatural ability. Implant (Ex) As a standard action, Shagrath can implant an egg inside a helpless or paralyzed creature. This creature must succeed a DC 34 Fortitude save or the egg begins to grow inside its body for 1d4+1 days. Every day a creature has an egg incubating inside it, it takes 2 points of Constitution drain. Attempts to remove this larva require a DC 30 Heal check, or any magic that removes disease with a successful DC 34 caster level check. Once the duration elapses, the egg bursts free as a squirming larva, dealing 10d10 points of damage as it goes (Fortitude DC 34 halves). The larva is treated as a giant maggot with a spiga’s immunities, spell resistance and defensive abilities. It grows into a full-sized spiga in 13 days. The save DC is Constitution based. Poison (Ex) Bite—injury; save Fort DC 34; duration 1/round for 6 rounds; effect 1d6 Dex damage; cure 2 consecutive saves. The save DC is Constitution based. Spells Shagrath casts spells as a 20th level cleric. Shagrath gets a bonus spell prepared each day for his domains, and can choose between all of his domains and subdomains for that spell. He does not gain the ability to spontaneously cast inflict spells. He treats his own body as a holy symbol for the purposes of spell components. Torturous Rend (Su) A creature affected by Shagrath’s rend ability must succeed a DC 33 Fortitude save or be overcome with intense pain, suffering a -4 penalty to attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, skill and ability checks for the next 1d4+1 rounds. Multiple failed saves cause the duration to stack. The save DC is Charisma based.

[captain-s-rogers]

Have A Little Faith In Me

(gif credit to the creator)

Part Three

Master List

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC // Clint Barton x OFC Word Count: 2,527 Warnings: none? A/N: Here’s the third part of the rewrite of my first ever Marvel series! Special thanks to the best bestie in the world, @arrowsandmixtapes​​ , for making sure all of my work isn’t absolute garbage! If you want to be added to my tag list please let me know! Feedback is cool :)

Sophia lost track of how many times she listened to Steve’s message over the next few days as her head and heart battled each other. Though she wanted to call him back, at least hear out his explanation, she refused to return the phone call and be the girl who caves to a guy only because he’s good-looking. 

“You could just call him back, ya know,” Lucy mentioned, as casually as possible, while the two women were having lunch.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Sophia speared a cucumber in her salad and crunched into it, pretending to be innocent of the subject at hand while also trying to convince herself that good looks was all she had seen in Steve the night of the public event. 

Lucy reached across the table and snatched Sophia’s phone. Sophia tried to stop her, but she wasn’t quite quick enough. 

“Sophia, it’s Steve. Steve Rogers. I’m so sorry about not making our date tonight. Something important came up and I couldn’t get out --” 

Sophia ignored Lucy’s knowing look, set down her fork and leaned over the table to snatch her phone back. She cut off the message and shoved the phone back in her purse. She went back to her salad as though she hadn’t practically crawled over the table in a public place. 

“I can’t call him back,” Sophia stated. “In case you forgot, Luce, he stood me up, then gave a vague, thoughtless excuse. Aren’t you the one who told me that men are only vague when they’re lying?”

Lucy rolled her eyes. “I said most guys. And anyway, is sitting here, repeatedly listening to the message and driving yourself absolutely insane, really any better than calling the guy back and going on one little date?” 

“Yes.” 

Lucy shook her head, taking a bite of her own salad. Since Sophia had apparently dug her heels in on the matter, she took the conversation in a slightly different direction. 

“You know, Colin in marketing has had his eye on you for a while. Why don’t you accept his offer?” 

“Because I’m not looking for a date,” Sophia replied. “It’s not like I’m lonely and looking for someone to save me from my misery. Steve just so happened to ask me out in a moment of weakness -- I was in the mood to go out, that’s all.”

Lucy took the last bite of her salad before wiping her mouth. “I’m not saying you have to marry Colin or even accept more than one date with him. But, Colin doesn’t seem like he’s looking for anything super serious, either. Maybe going out with him will at least get you to delete Steve’s voicemail so you can move on with your life.”

Sophia leaned back in her chair and huffed. Lucy always had her best intentions at heart, and that motivated Sophia to give what her friend was saying a moment of real consideration. Maybe Lucy was right; maybe Sophia needed to go out with someone else to get over the nothing she’d had with Steve. 

“Fine, I’ll go out with Colin,” Sophia relented, drawing a grin from Lucy across the table, “Next time he asks me out, I’ll say yes, but I am not going to seek him out.” 

“That’s fair. I do really think it will be good for you.” Lucy leaned forward and gave her friend a comforting smile. 

Sophia assured Lucy that she knew her friend had good intentions. With a plan in place, Sophia was able to finish her lunch without Lucy pressing any more on the subject of men and dating.

Steve couldn’t think of anything or anyone else except for Sophia and the fact that she hadn’t returned his call. He threw himself into work, even going so far as to ask Director Fury for extra missions with S.H.I.E.L.D -- ones he really wasn’t needed on -- but the distraction failed. Though he knew that she had to be upset about being stood up, and rightfully so, he had been so sure that she would call back. 

Calling again crossed his mind, but he didn’t want to bother her or press the issue if she didn’t want to call him back. Their time together at the public event had been short, but Steve knew that they could be a good thing. Missing his date with her had left him missing out on a good thing, which was another thing he couldn’t stop his mind from reminding him throughout the day.

“Just like Peggy, all over again,” Steve sighed to himself. 

His work with S.H.I.E.L.D was important. Steve knew that. If he hadn’t known that from the beginning, he never would have agreed to be part of the supersoldier program in the first place. His need to serve his country, to live up to the duty he had been called to fulfill, did not escape his knowledge, either. But, he was realizing the cost of service and duty now: his personal life was being greatly affected by this work he had been called to do. 

The walls of his apartment were closing in on him, and his mind was only racing faster by the minute. He needed to clear his head, to get out and find something else to think about. After pushing his arms into the sleeves of his worn, brown leather jacket, Steve double-checked that he had his keys and his wallet, and walked out the door, making sure to lock it before he walked away. 

Present day New York City was still a sight Steve was getting used to. The buildings were far more numerous, not to mention taller. Traffic was more dense and faster and -- well, chaotic, really. Out of all the things he had to adjust to in this new time period, the city traffic was something Steve wasn’t so sure that he would ever be able to wrap his mind around. 

There was a coffee shop a few blocks down from his apartment building; Steve decided on a whim to stop there for a cup of coffee. Starbucks was all right, and maybe it was the old-timer in him, but he preferred these little local places. So that he could remember it for next time, he looked up, trying to read the name on the building as he pulled on the door handle. Still trying to commit the name to memory, he wasn’t quite paying attention when he stepped into the shop -- and abruptly bumped into someone preparing to walk out of the shop. The woman he bumped into dropped the small purse in her hand as a result of the interaction. 

“I am so sorry,” he quickly apologized, feeling a little ridiculous for not having his head on straight. He picked up the purse and handed it to her. “Sophia?”

“Steve?” She looked just as surprised to see him as he was to see her. 

Steve thought his mind had been racing before, but now it was reeling out of control. Sophia was standing right in front of him, looking more beautiful than he even remembered. He stared for a bit too long before registering that her arm was hooked through that of the man standing next to her. He was tall, with dark hair and blue eyes. Steve’s heart dropped, followed quickly by his stomach. No wonder Sophia had never called him back; for all he knew, she hadn’t shown up that night at the restaurant, either. 

“Sorry, didn’t mean to knock into you,” Steve apologized. His voice was trembling a bit, so he cleared his throat. “Good to see you again, Ms. Hawkins.”

“Yeah, you too, St -- Mr. Rogers.” Sophia seemed confused, and Steve wondered if he hadn’t also imagined the tremble in her voice.  

Steve walked past her quickly and joined the line to order. So much for making sure he remembered the name of the shop. He’d never visit here again, if only to avoid the possibility of seeing Sophia with another man again. 

He ordered his coffee to go and went straight back to his apartment. As he walked, his mind slowed -- not that that meant much as it only returned to its normal racing speed from the last few days. The slow down helped him think things through. That man with Sophia wasn’t necessarily a boyfriend, he could have been someone else she was on a date with. Maybe it was serious, maybe it wasn’t. 

“You’re going to drive yourself crazy,” he muttered. 

The walk and the coffee had indeed helped to clear Steve’s mind. By the time he reached his apartment door, he had decided to give Sophia another call and ask her one more time to go out with him.

Sophia surprised herself by enjoying her lunchtime coffee date with Colin, and quite a bit at that. 

Until she ran into Steve. 

Seeing him standing right there, within inches of her, in the coffee shop had sent her directly back to square one. Do not pass go, do not collect a fresh outlook, do not move on. Fortunately, she didn’t have time to dwell on the unexpected meeting, as swamped as she was when she returned to work. There were messages to return and vendors to secure, reservations to take for the latest benefit hosted by the firm. 

On top of all of that, her desk phone had been ringing off the hook since she had sat back down at her desk. Making a note to talk to someone about maybe hiring an assistant or receptionist, she rejoiced when things finally calmed down. The lull allowed her to finalize the seating chart for the guest list. She forwarded the chart over to Lucy for a second look, to be sure, and then, inevitably, the phone rang again. 

“Son of a bitch,” she mumbled under her breath. She allowed herself a frustrated groan and considered letting the call go to voicemail. She didn’t recognize the number anyway, and calls could always be returned. Then, she remembered that a couple of new vendors had been hired for the event. With the most upbeat voice she could manage, and even going so far as to plaster a smile on her face, Sophia picked up the receiver and greeted the caller. “Thank you for calling Rockefeller PR, Sophia Hawkins speaking.”

“Sophia? It’s Steve. Uh, Rogers. Steve Rogers.  

The phone slipped from her hand, but she caught it before her shocked reaction could be detected from the other end of the telephone line. “Steve. How did you get this number? And why are you calling me at work?”

“I looked the number up,” he replied simply, leaving out the fact that he’d had to track down a phone book to do so because the internet had been too complicated in his worked up state. “And, I’m calling you at work because I want to ask you again if you would consider having dinner with me. Before you say no or anything else, you have to understand, I know that I messed up last time. I should have called you before our scheduled meeting time. But, I swear to you, I really could not get away from the important thing that came up. I hope I can tell you about it someday, but we can’t get to know each other better and get to that point if you don’t go out with me.”

“Generally, I won’t and don’t get myself all dolled up again for a guy who stood me up, regardless of the circumstances.”

“Sophia --” He started to protest, ready to give another amazing speech, but Sophia interrupted him.  

“But for you I will consider it. Give me some time, and I promise to let you know whatever I decide. How does that sound?” 

“Much better than a flat-out no,” Steve answered, releasing a sigh of relief. “I’ll wait for your call.” 

Sophia promised Steve she wouldn’t let too much time pass before she called him with an answer, and they ended their phone call. Ironically enough, the phone call with Steve helped to calm her nerves and Sophia found the remaining hours of her work day flew by. After setting the phone to go directly to voicemail, she gathered her things and met Lucy in the hallway for the short walk to the subway. 

On the ride home, Sophia filled Lucy in on her lunch date with Colin, and then continued on into the phone call with Steve. Lucy listened intently, allowing Sophia to tell her everything before replying. For once, Lucy’s tone was rational and calm and, before Sophia knew what had happened, Lucy had managed to convince her to agree to the second-chance date with Steve. 

Sophia waited until they were in the quiet of their apartment to make the phone call. She dropped the couch, not even taking her jacket off, if only to get the phone call done with before she changed her mind. Steve answered on the second ring. 

“Hey Steve, it’s Sophia.”

The smile in his voice was evident, though it was fringed with hesitancy. “I wasn’t expecting to hear back from you so soon.” 

“Yeah, I wasn’t expecting to call so soon,” she admitted with a chuckle. “Listen, here’s the deal. I will go out with you, on one condition.” 

“And what would that condition be?” Steve asked.

“We make it a double and you find someone to set my friend Lucy up with,” Sophia replied, stifling her laughter at Lucy’s shocked expression. “This way, if some important circumstance comes up again, I won’t be all alone.” 

Sophia thought she might have sounded a little harsh and hoped Steve would understand that was not her intention -- 

“I think that’s more than fair,” he ceded, “I can find someone for Lucy, no problem.”

Shaking her head, Lucy disappeared into the kitchen while Sophia finalized the plans for the double-date with Steve. Once off the phone, Sophia went to the kitchen where Lucy was waiting at the bar with a glass of wine. 

“I didn’t know that I was going to be punished for encouraging you to go on a date with this guy,” Lucy commented through gritted teeth. 

“I need you to help me feel this situation out, Luce! You have to be there with me to do that. And, if he doesn’t show, I don’t want to sit there alone, drinking away my humiliation like last time.” Sophia took the wine glass from Lucy’s hand and drank down most of what was left. “You hungry?”

Lucy nodded. “Starving, actually.”

“Oh good,” Sophia grinned, corking the wine bottle and putting it back in its proper place on the counter. “Because we’re meeting Steve and his friend downtown in an hour.”

Lucy finished off the contents of the wine glass and set it in the sink, then headed to her room to freshen up and change her clothes for an evening she hadn’t planned on. Sophia kept grinning as she followed, but Lucy narrowed her eyes at her friend. 

“You are so lucky you’re my best friend, you know that?”

@arrowsandmixtapes​​​ @the-murder-strut-murdered-me​​​ @growningupgeek​​​ @star-spangled-man-with-a-plan​​​ @captain-rogers-beard​​​ @kitkatd7​​​ @patzammit​​​ @sagechanoafterdark​​​ @what-is-your-plan-today​​​

[sagevalleymusings]

BreadTube so White Because the Viewers are White and Other Hot Takes

I have a playlist of long-form video essays that I created for work about a month ago. I often find that a person talking in my vicinity but not to me helps me stay focused, and video essays because they’re academic are often better for that because the topic is vague enough and the tone even enough to ride the line between “boring enough to fade into the background” and “fun enough to not be annoying.” And they have the added benefit of being very long for YouTube standards, so the transition isn’t distracting. 

There is a fine line for the criteria to make this playlist, which vaguely nebulates to “something I enjoyed enough to watch multiple times, by a creator I’ve followed long enough to have formed a parasocial relationship with, whose content is both vague but relatable in a way that I won’t feel the need to form a separate opinion or contribute to the dialog in some way.” And ultimately that’s very personal and very specific! Rowan Ellis’ “definitive proof that captain marvel is gay (spoilers)” got cut from the list for being too chaotic, but Hbomberguy’s “Flat Earth: A Measured Response” got to stay despite also being quite chaotic. And even though I have a lot of Lindsay Ellis on the playlist, I often wind up having to skip them because, since they’re essays about a specific movie, they wind up being too niche and draw my focus away from work. And yet I also have Folding Ideas’ “A Lukewarm Defence of Fifty Shades” with no issue.

The best videos tend to be by Contrapoints or PhilosophyTube, because both creators speak in soothing tones with vague but relatable content. It’s practically ASMR for academics. 

But there’s something interesting about all the names so far. They’re almost entirely people branded as BreadTube. And they’re entirely… all white. 

Naturally I am fixing this bias. There are creators I listen to on repeat who are not white. I listen to CJ the X’s videos three times in a row when they release and often go back to the archives again when Melina Pendulum aka Princess Weekes uploads a new video. But they didn’t make the first pass when I was putting this playlist together. Why?

For a lot of the artists I didn’t include, there were perfectly valid reasons. CJ the X is too chaotic, Princess Weekes is too niche. Khadija Mbowe’s videos are both vague enough and relatable enough that they should have been included, but I found out about them relatively recently, and their voice doesn’t fade into the background for me the way a more familiar voice would. T1J meanwhile I have the opposite problem with. He speaks so calmly and gently that his voice doesn’t give me enough focus to stay alert at work, and I get distracted. I had perfectly valid reasons for not reaching for those creators first in every instance. 

But… these issues were present in white creators too. I just made allowances. Lindsay Ellis is as niche as Princess Weekes, but rather than not include Lindsay, I just skip it if it’s not helpful. Hbomberguy is… Well, not *as* chaotic as CJ because no one is as chaotic as CJ. But if Harry’s work is too chaotic for me that day I just skip it. Why include Folding Ideas’ Fifty Shades videos, but not Kat Blaque’s? 

I mean, I know why. It’s because I am a white person, so I subconsciously relate better to other white people, and have to consciously think about that in order to avoid doing it. I know all that. But I still wanted to bring it up, partly to just advertise some cool, under-subscribed Black and POC creators, many of whom are trans or non-binary. In fact I think T1J is the only video essayist I follow who isn’t in some way queer. But I also think it’s important to talk about this issue not just from the creator standpoint, but also from the viewer standpoint. Yes, I have to go out of my way to seek out creators of color lest the default BreadTube white aesthetic overtake my YouTube recommends. So I do that. And you should too. 

BreadTube is white because the people who decided what BreadTube is are the viewers, and the viewers who decided that were predominantly white people viewing content by people who looked like them. And although this is partly because if Contrapoints name drops Lindsay Ellis, that’s a way to discover a new creator and BreadTube does tend to reference each other, this isn’t entirely a failure on the creator’s part. 

I think for me the person with whom this is the most obvious is Princess. Princess and Lindsay work together on the PBS series “It’s Lit.” They have similar talking styles, similar production quality, similar professional experience, and talk about similar subjects. I went to a book talk for Lindsay’s book, and Princess was there (if I recall correctly as a moderator). They advertise for each other. And yet, Lindsay Ellis has 1.1 million subscribers, and Princess has 120,000. 

I think it’s safe to say that most of the people subscribed to Princess are probably also subscribed to Lindsay, but that clearly doesn’t go both ways. Most of the people subscribed to Lindsay are NOT subscribed to Princess, and that was, at the very least, a subconscious choice, because Lindsay has advocated for Princess specifically by name on more than one occasion. I can hazard a guess that most people would have a reason why Princess’ content didn’t catch them the same way, and I’m sure it would even be a reason that made sense. But the reason on its own is not enough to hold something as being removed from any underlying racial biases. If I am saying “well this person’s content is too niche for this playlist” but making that allowance for someone else, then there’s still an underlying bias at play, even if only on a subconscious level. 

This is something that comes up all the time when liberal-minded white people are grappling with racial justice. I see it happen over and over again in hiring committees that a diverse pool gets slimmed down to the most qualified white men in the pool. And you could absolutely justify that by saying that the most qualified candidates rose to the top. But when one of those qualifiers is “a good fit” and other ambiguous language, people are encouraged to go with their gut feeling about a person, which often when no other information is present defaults to “people who look like me.”

I have heard activists claim that anti-racism at times goes too far, because it creates such a fixation on race that it feels like that’s the only thing you’re talking about. It makes more of a big deal about race than was there previously, and surely that’s a bad thing. 

But the thing is… had I not been paying attention, and in the habit of questioning my own behavior, my playlist would have continued to be devoid of any people of color, purely on vibes alone. Race wasn’t a big deal because all of that was going on subconsciously. By thinking about it and talking about it, all we’re doing is bringing an existing problem into light. 

Anyway none of this is new news and I’m ultimately procrastinating on a Monday like always so if you want more leftist long-form video essays in your feed by trans and non-binary people of color go subscribe to Xiran Jay Zhao or Khadija Mbowe or Kat Blaque or CJ the X.

[nyerus]

MDZS  vs.  The Untamed

Differences between “Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation” (Mó Dào Zǔ Shī - 魔道祖师) and its live drama adaptation “The Untamed” (Chén Qíng Lìng - 陈情令)

(If you want to skip right to the differences, please see below the cut!)

I’ve recently fallen into the MXTX fandom by crying through TGCF and I’ve been delighted to see that I’m not the only one who’s been newly inducted. I've been seeing so much of the live action adaptation of MDZS, i.e. CQL, on my dash, and I'm so happy about it. After watching it, I thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to make a post cataloging the differences between CQL and MDZS for those interested.  (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ*: ･ﾟ The goal of this post is for two reasons: First, to help people who are totally new to MDZS and are starting out with CQL as their entry, and then reading the novel (or going to the donghua/manhua). This will hopefully help them get their bearings in regards to the fandom, so that they won't be confused when coming across certain content that isn't in the live drama. Second, this is to help folks who have already read the novel/etc to understand what's different in the live action, so when/if they choose to watch CQL, they aren't caught off-guard by any changes. (I won't get into the manhua/donghua in this post because it's already too long as it is.) Hopefully, this will also help bridge the gap between fans, so that we can have a fun and shared experienced over this incredible world brought to us by MXTX! This post is split into two distinct sections: one without any major spoilers, and one with spoilers. If you want to be as unspoiled as possible and just want to know the big differences between the novel and drama, please read only the first portion. The second //spoiler-filled// portion is divided into other major and minor differences, and is mainly intended for people who have experienced at least one version already. Additionally, if you are completely new to MDZS, there are things which may seem like spoilers to you, but happen in like the first page of the novel/in the summary itself (or in the first 10mins of the first episode), and will not be treated as such. I will do what I can to keep actual spoilers out of the first section….

Before jumping right into it though, I think it’s time to say that many of the differences in CQL are in large part due to the strict censorship laws that China has. Unfortunately, we just have to live with this fact. Thankfully for us, the creators of CQL have earnestly tried their best in keeping the major points and themes of MDZS in tact, and have really stuck to the spirit of the series. Kudos to them and the actors for their hard work!

SPOILER-FREE DIFFERENCES

There is no explicit romance between Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji in CQL. They are literally called soulmates right in the CQL summary, and there are very obvious romantic undertones to their relationship in the drama—but there is nothing explicit on-screen. Naturally, due to censorship. While the novel has the two in an intimate (and very explicit) relationship where they end up literally married, the show tones this down to something more subtle. It’s still pretty obvious that they’re in love though. (Especially in the 20-episode wangxian special edition.) Also, they always seem to be sharing a room with one bed….

The plot is modified for CQL. In the novel, the plot revolves around Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji following an aggrieved spirit as they uncover the truth of what’s going on. In CQL, this was changed from the dismembered arm of said spirit to a sword, but it serves virtually the same purpose as it does in the novel. The other real major difference with the plot is that something known as “Yin Iron” is what drives a majority of the past’s plot. It has its origins tied to demonic cultivation, which I will explain more below. It doesn’t drastically change the actual plot itself, but does change some motivations, etc. This is not present in the novel.

Wei Wuxian is not the founder of demonic cultivation in the drama. Yes I know this seems whack. After all, the original novel is literally called Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation/Founder of Diabolism. But due to censorship laws, they had to change this. Wei Wuxian still uses demonic cultivation, and still invents many things (the compass, the spirit flags, the amulet, etc). He’s still shown as a prodigy—but demonic cultivation is a thing that’s been around long before the story takes place; it’s just that no one uses it except Wei Wuxian. The reason is the existence of the Yin Iron. It was something that was found and revered long ago, and is a source of dark power. Hence, why demonic cultivation already exists, but also why no one follows that path. The necromancy angle is also downplayed in CQL.

Wei Wuxian’s morality is somewhat different. Again, due to censorship restrictions. In the novel, Wei Wuxian is far more of a gray character who does some questionable things. He makes mistakes, there are things which are definitely his fault, and he has many things which he regrets. However in CQL, he is shown more as a victim of circumstance. He’s portrayed as a much more innocent character, who happens to be doing what’s right, and is just continually fucked over. He still does plenty of questionable things, but it’s less so than in the novel. In both versions, he is still Chaotic Good, just the novel emphasizes chaotic, and the drama emphasizes good. Also, CQL doesn’t really portray Wei Wuxian’s breakdown or deteriorating mental health before his death too deeply.

Wei Wuxian’s death in the beginning of the story is different. The novel is much more vague in this regard, and it is more drawn-out. I will return to this point later as well, in regards to spoilers. The live drama has a more… “peaceful” and quick type of death for Wei Wuxian, and given how it’s the very first scene that you see in the show, it may catch novel fans off guard. Still absolutely heart-wrenching though, especially when you see it play out in full later on.

The structure of the live drama’s narrative is different. While MDZS intersperses its main story in the present timeline with flashbacks (as do the donghua and manhua), CQL goes about it differently. After episode 2, CQL takes the viewer all the way to the past and goes through the entire timeline of events which happen leading up to Wei Wuxian’s death as seen in the first few scenes. From episode 3 to episode 33, you are firmly in the past only. Novel readers may find that this causes many things to be revealed quite early on. The change in structure is probably the biggest difference. From episode 33 and onwards, you are back to the present.

Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji’s relationship in the present timeline is different to start out with. The novel has Wei Wuxian first operating under the assumption that Lan Wangji doesn’t like him. This eventually turns around, and deepens into a romantic relationship between the two. CQL on the other hand, has present-timeline!Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji having a much more tender relationship from the moment they meet again.

Wei Wuxian’s appearance remains the same after he is resurrected in the drama. While in the novel and other adaptations, Wei Wuxian takes on the appearance of Mo Xuanyu (who happens to look similar to a younger him, luckily enough), this does not happen in the drama. Probably done for convenience’s sake. It is never properly explained other than the fact that along with the soul-summoning spell, Mo Xuanyu did some other things to ensure that Wei Wuxian returned to what looked like his old body. (Some body parts snatching might’ve been involved.) Thus, Wei Wuxian hides his identity by wearing a mask.

Everyone looks the same as they did when they were teenagers. Again, probably just for convenience’s sake. They spend a lot of time in the flashbacks so getting viewers used to one set of faces, and then changing everything would be jarring—and also expensive to swap out actors. So despite a 16 year gap, everyone looks the same with no aging. #cultivatingimmortality

The time gap between Wei Wuxian’s death and resurrection is slightly longer in the drama. It’s 16 years versus 13 years in the novel. Unsure of why the change, as it doesn’t change much apart from serving to make some of the kids older. Some kids’ ages are also slightly altered. It’s not a huge difference and it plays virtually no difference in plot. Also, I can’t confirm it, but everyone seems to start out older as well.

Xiao Xingchen, Song Lan, and Xue Yang are encountered much earlier in the drama. Before Wei Wuxian’s death, the three of them are encountered in Yueyang before the start of the Sunshot Campaign. The rest of their story plays out after Wei Wuxian’s resurrection.

Jiang Yanli, Wen Qing, and Wen Ning attend the classes at Cloud Recesses. This gives them a lot more screen time. Elaborated in spoilers below.

Wen Qing’s relationship with Wen Ruohan is more antagonistic from the start. Just like how Wei Wuxian is shown more as a victim of circumstance, so is Wen Qing (and by extension Wen Ning). Elaborated below.

The next section is spoiler-filled. It’s divided into two parts: major and minor differences. Turn back now if you don’t want serious spoilers for either CQL or MDZS!!!

SPOILER-FILLED MAJOR DIFFERENCES

After the dancing statue/Dafan Mountain incident — Wei Wuxian passed out, and wakes up in Cloud Recesses in Lan Wangji’s room. Both of them know™ already. Thus, Wei Wuxian doesn’t even try to pretend that he’s Mo Xuanyu in front of Lan Wangji, but he keeps up the appearance for other people until he’s figured out. This allows the two of them to have a very private relationship with each other.

Also lending to this, Wei Wuxian dies in a much different way in the drama, and dies knowing that Lan Wangji cares deeply about him. Thus why their relationship on his resurrection is so soft. He knew that Lan Wangji protected him and tried to save him until the very end, and is far more affectionate as a result.

Speaking of his death…. In CQL, Wei Wuxian chooses to basically swan dive off a cliff after seeing the horrors in front of him. It has a very lucid finality to it, and feels as though he has decided that only his death can bring peace, and so he falls back off a cliff—only to be caught momentarily by Lan Wangji. He eventually wrests himself from Lan Wangji’s grasp and falls to his death as Lan Wangji (and Jiang Cheng) watches in horror. The novel is far more vague and hints that he met a more gruesome end.

Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian essentially make up at the end of the drama—or at least end on decent terms by agreeing to put their past behind them and move on. Wei Wuxian wipes away a stray tear as Jiang Cheng cries in front of him in the temple. After everything is said and done, Jiang Cheng privately and quietly wishes Wei Wuxian well as he leaves with Lan Wangji.

Lan Xichen does not go into seclusion at the end of the drama. Despite his trauma, he’s relatively okay as compared to the novel. The drama doesn’t really comment on this aspect, to be honest.

In CQL, Jiang Yanli attends the classes at Cloud Recesses with her brothers. She is given extra interaction with Jin Zixuan during this. Yanli is in general given way more screen time in CQL. She is present during the destruction of Lotus Pier (she appears with Jiang Fengmian), and escapes with Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng to Yiling.

Similarly, Wen Ning and Wen Qing are also present for the classes at Cloud Recesses. This is where they first meet Wei Wuxian (and Jiang Cheng), instead of Wen Ning and Wei Wuxian meeting in Qishan later. This gives all of them a pre-existing relationship before the events at Lotus Pier. Jiang Cheng also harbors a tiny crush on Wen Qing for a little bit. #same

Wen Qing is handled with much more suspicion by Wen Ruohan and Wen Chao, and during the Sunshot Campaign, she is even locked up. She’s saved by Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng, but goes her separate way until Wei Wuxian encounters her again after becoming the Yiling Patriarch proper.

Mianmian is shown to be a part of the Jin sect in CQL, and is close to Jin Zixuan. She renounces her ties to Lanling Jin after everyone starts hating on Wei Wuxian.

Mianmian is also encountered in episode 1. She and her family replace the random farmer family they meet once they leave Gusu (for the second time) on their way to the Burial Mounds. The timing of this may also be different. This is because there is no real “epilogue” that takes 3 months later, like the final chapter of MDZS.

Mo Xuanyu was not ostracized for the same reasons as in the novel. In the novel, he’s also thought to be insane, but was thrown out because he supposedly “harassed” Meng Yao (i.e. had romantic feelings for him which were found out and he was driven out of Lanling). In CQL, he was thrown out for “harassing” Qin Su, but in actuality was only trying to reveal the truth about her husband, and was thrown out as an excuse to get rid of him before he became troublesome.

During the hunt in Phoenix Mountain, Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian have a heart-to-heart, and establish that they do, in fact, care for one another. (I’m pretty sure they use the word soulmate here, but the subs are like “lifelong confidante” lol.)

The origins of the bunnies is different in CQL, and is tied to Lan Yi—an ancestor of the Lan clan (the one who invented Cord Assassination). Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji find a cave in Gusu during their classmate days, which holds the spirit of Lan Yi. There, she reveals information about the Yin Iron and that she is guarding one piece of it. After all this, Wei Wuxian looks after the bunnies after taking them out of the cave, and as he leaves Cloud Recesses, he leaves them in the care of Lan Wangji.

The Gusu Lan sect is less rekt in CQL, as many of them are able to hide away in the aforementioned cave during the destruction of Cloud Recesses. Su She, then a disciple of Gusu Lan, betrays them by telling Wen Chao that the others are hiding in the cave. He’s summarily kicked out. In the novel, he’s the one that tries to rat out Mianmian when they’re facing the Tortoise of Slaughter. (He is still the one who casts the hundred holes spell on Jin Zixun.)

SPOILER-FILLED MINOR DIFFERENCES

In CQL, after his 33 lashes, Lan Wangji goes into forced seclusion for 3 years first. And then his 13 years of playing Inquiry start. Extra depressing, but it doesn’t change anything else.

The ghost baby that Wang LingJiao sees is replaced with a dismembered eye. Still gory. Don’t really know which one is worse…….. Her death is definitely less gory in CQL, though.

The Stygian Tiger Amulet was made of the strange weapon found in the Tortoise of Slaughter in both the novel and drama, but in CQL, said weapon was actually a fragment of the Yin Iron.

CQL shows a few scenes of Wei Wuxian when he first gets tossed into the Burial Mounds.

Lan Qiren is the head of the Gusu Lan sect, all the way through the story in CQL, including the end. Lan Xichen is never referred to as the sect leader.

Gusu Lan's rules are a little less strict in CQL. And co-ed classmates and cultivators seem to be the norm.

This post is certainly not 100% complete, as it’s just what I managed to pick up as I watched/read and remembered to note down. But if you have questions or comments, please reach out to me and I’ll do my best to answer! I hope this is as accurate as possible, but since I’m flying off memory...  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Take care, all! Feel free to drop into my DMs and scream with me!  ଘ(੭ˊᵕˋ)੭* ੈ✩‧₊˚

[arttheclown]

[Chanting] Freddy Krueger Freddy Krueger Freddy Krueger

   for the character meme!!

how i feel about this character: oh, i’ve come to fucking adore him after a long period of time of not liking him at all. my change of heart is partially headcanon-driven — I randomly sat down one day and thought “what if freddy’s character was approached like This instead of what canon did with him?” — and partially just. accepting that freddy has Always been a really fun character. i realized that most of the disgusting shit the writers tacked onto him was unnecessary. it didn’t have to be there, it didn’t alter his character in any way other than being there to make the audience uncomfortable. and once i began rejecting that, i began to look at freddy in a different light while still acknowledging he’s a villain. and you know what? his villainy is why i like him. he’s just so… dementedly, cartoonishly evil, and i can’t get enough of that.

all the people I ship romantically with this character: i’m a filthy frason shipper at heart, but i’m picky about how it’s approached. i acknowledge it’s a problematic ship and a deeply unhealthy one in the beginning, but with time and extensive character development, i really think freddy — or at least, My freddy — could come to respect jason, which would eventually lead to Other Things. he admits at the beginning of freddy vs jason that there are things about jason he admires, and you KNOW his chaotic bisexual ass was lusting even though he was a complete dick about it. but really, can ANYONE see freddy expressing feelings in a way that ISN’T totally fucked up? i sure as hell can’t. additionally, i ship freddy with @antlercrack’s lovely oc bart — they have a lot of tasty parallels between them, and a begrudging respect for each other — and in a three-way poly relationship with jason and bubba sawyer. just because i love leatherjase too and want a world where jason can have both boys. i also ship freddy/michael to an extent… just because ruben also writes mike and we came to a mutual agreement they’d be into each other. i may also have some thoughts brewing about a freddy/donald thompson crackship, so stay tuned for that.

my non-romantic otp for this character: probably freddy and my own version of loretta krueger, tbh! i have some fanfic in the works for those two and i’m super excited to share it. the way i approach the relationship is pretty different than what most of the fandom is used to, i think, but then again my freddy himself is a very different animal than canon!fred. not so different that he’s unrecognizable (hopefully!) or doesn’t feel like himself anymore, but slightly different in terms of his backstory and how he ended up the way he did. i don’t want to spoil too much, but loretta is someone who’s extremely important to him, and continues to be important to him long after he dies. she’s a driving force in his life and afterlife, and while i stop shipping them romantically after a Certain Point in their arc (more on that in a separate post, one day), it’s still a character dynamic that means a lot to me. i know i’m being kind of vague right now but i promise it’ll make more sense later down the line!

my unpopular opinion about this character: oh boy, this is a tough one, since opinions on freddy are already so divided and varied throughout the horror fandom as is. again, i don’t want to give away any spoilers for upcoming fanfic, nor do i want to delve too deeply into really serious subject matter in any otherwise lighthearted character meme… so for now, all i’m going to say is, i think freddy is a lot more complicated than a lot of his canon writers give him credit for. make no mistake, he’s still a terrible, godawful fucking person — he’s a sadistic, twisted piece of shit — but i think he has certain limitations. i think he sincerely does love his wife and child, and i think he feels a lot of remorse towards his mother and what happened to her, even if he doesn’t handle it very well. freddy may be a cartoonish villain, but i really dislike when people write him as a one-dimensional villain. i think there could be a lot more to him than that, and i hope i do it justice when i explore the meatier parts of him in my writing.

one thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: some sort of resolution with englund’s version of the character would’ve been nice! part of me likes how open-ended FVJ is — the implication that freddy, jason and their rivalry will continue to go on off-camera, which gives plenty of fuel for us content creators — but at the same time, the movie wasn’t written to be The End of those respective canons, you know? i would’ve liked a sense of finality for the OG freddy, whether it’s the implication that he’s going to continue the resurrection-murder-death cycle for the rest of eternity, or that he’s finally going to be put down for good. FVJ is a very fun movie, albeit a deeply flawed one, but it definitely shouldn’t have been robert’s swan song. it would’ve been nice to have gotten an official good-bye for his version of the character before the torch got passed to someone else. i feel like he deserved to have at least one, maybe two or three more films under his belt before putting the claw away for good — and we were supposed to get them! thanks a lot, studio meddling…

[thankchaosforspellcheck]

Genius omens au

(aka a Girl Genius/Good Omens crossover because I’m not gonna stop being on this kick until something better comes out.  Which nothing has yet.)

So I’ve got at least 2 ideas for this AU, first one goes like this:

Crowley and Aziraphale are both low-rung minions for competing families.  Neither are from canon, and while one of them prides themselves on the “help” they spread to the local commoners, the other on the chaos. (they are both pretty chaotic, honestly).

Gabriel and Beelzebub are top-ranked minions who mostly handle all the paperwork.

The actual sparks never appear.  The spark for Aziraphale’s family (who is essentially god) is too busy producing brilliant inventions to help the world... and then forgetting to include any instructions or telling anyone how they work.  (She actually does this on purpose, as a bit of an experiment to see if anyone will ever actually ask her how they work & to see if they can work it out on their own)  Meanwhile, the spark for Crowley’s family (Lucifer) creates horrific inventions meant to insight chaos and disaster on all those who are within it’s aim!  ...Which would be a lot easier to do if he had neater handwriting.  Or used less obscure scientific terminology.  Or didn’t spill coffee on half of it!

So Aziraphale & Crowley’s jobs are essentially to go out and try to figure out how the inventions work without getting themselves killed (the latter bit’s more for Aziraphale for Crowley, honestly.  And even then they only say that because they’re the “good guys”, not because they actually mean it), as well as to try to prevent the neighboring family from using their’s.

They are surprisingly good at their jobs though.  

Like, weirdly so.  

Everyone kind of assumed they were gonna be dead within the first week like all the past minions were.

(what they don’t know, is that they have 2 advantages on everyone else: 

1. they met almost immediately and both went “oh shit he’s hot, hEY WHY DON’T I HELP YOU WITH THAT” and not only figured out how each other’s devices worked, but also realized that they negate each other (ex: one is meant to end world hunger, the other is meant to cause massive famines, together they make all the farms have solidly mediocre years)

2. they are actually both minor sparks, not that either has realized it yet.  See, Aziraphale’s breakthrough was probably the quietest breakthrough in the history of the world and Crowley just kinda vaguely sauntered his way through a breakthrough, and everyone else was too distracted by the latest disaster to notice (Aziraphale’s breakthrough sparkwork was a quick fix he did on the flaming sword he was given by the family spark (It was so easy, I hardly needed to be a spark to do it) which he immediately gave away to the Spark’s daughter (who’s as mundane as you get) since she’s going to be traveling through the wilderness with her husband. Crowley’s was the Bentley, which is a horseless carriage he bought off a passing spark and fixed up in his spare time (look, there was barely anything wrong with it.  I just did a bit of tinkering here, welded a few wires together there, and after some polishing and a good wax she was good as new!  Took me forever to finish ‘er anyways, a spark’d hardly take an hour to do what I did).  

Both of them have noticed that the other is a spark and revert to minioning when the other gets in a fugue.  Neither notices when the other is minioning while in said fugue, and they never actually bring the sparking out up.  Because they’re idiots.

Now, The second idea (under the cut because boy howdy did this get long!):

They are both still oblivious minor spark minions (because I just think think this fits them really well)  But this time it’s with some known families

Crowley is a Heterodyne Jager, though not one of the ones that’s particularly noticed by people (not one of the oldest, but not young enough for, say, Bill or Barry to have seen him take the Draught)

You know how 99.9% of Jagers take the draught because they are just so devoted to the cause and want to serve the Heterodynes for the rest of eternity?  Well Crowley’s that .1% that did it because everyone else was chanting “DO IT DO IT” at the time and he was just like “Welp, it’s not like I have anything else to do” and downed it.

(He’s possibly the only spark to take and survive the drought, no one has any fucking idea so he’s just considered as one of the minor foot soldiers.  Which is probably all the better for him, since he would have been on a dissection table in 5 seconds flat otherwise)

He looks more or less like he does in the show, just with scales under his clothes, black claws on his hands (which he generally hides with gloves, and some fairly small (for a Jager) fangs.  He definitely still has sunglasses, and if asked claims either “they look cool” or “I’ve got an eye condition and I don’t want a spark to make it worse or put lasers in” depending on who he’s talking to and how much they’ve annoyed him.  He also grew some black wings some time after he drank the draught (which, if the Heterodyne knew about, they would be extremely interested in) which he keeps under his clothes and extremely close to his back.

He also doesn’t have too much of a Mechanicsburg accent since he kinda just fucked off on the first mission out of town and away from the Heterodyne that he could get (look he loves his master and thinks they’re creations are fascinating but that doesn’t mean he actually wants their attention)

he’s also part of the same batch that Beelzebub, Hastur, and Ligur came from and hates all of them.

Meanwhile, Aziraphale is a minion of the House of Valois, and has been for quite some time.

See, around the same time as Crowley was made a Jager, someone from the Storm King’s line (probably a von Blitzengaard)  Decided that enough was enough and they were going to make their own Super soldiers (but prettier! and with wings and a melodious voice like an angelic choir and-!)

Aziraphale was the only survivor.

(He was not what the creator was aiming for.)

He also looks more or less like he does in canon, with beautiful white wings and white curly hair.  He looks strangely normal for someone who went through a version of the draught, honestly.  He does, however, still have the increased strength, durability, stamina, and whatever else the brau includes.  It just showed up at a much slower rate, so it was put down as a bad job and discarded.

(the reason he survived is because he was the only one out of all the subjects who had even the vaguest of sparks.  I think the duality of this is nice.  One survives in spite of his spark, the other survives because of it)

So when he fails to be Angel Incarnate he gets a disappointed dismissal from his creator and gets sent out on some away mission he’s meant to never come back from

(he doesn’t, but it’s only because he met Crowley on the way there)

Several Generations later, they are wandering around the wastelands, vaguely hear about the Heterodyne boys recalling all their Jagers and turning over a new leaf, shrug, and disguise themselves so that they can follow the kids from a distance (because they’re still his Heterodynes dammit).

(or at least that’s Crowley’s reason.  Aziraphale’s reason is that Crowley’s there and that’s good enough for him at this point)

They keep this up on-and-off for a good while whole events with the other and the attack at the castle happen and they lose track of them.

Crowley’s a bit worried, but figures he might as well just wander around the Wastelands like the others are and if he finds them, he finds them.

He was not actually expecting to find either of them

So you can imagine his surprise when Barry shows up near him one day with a toddler following him like a lost duckling.

So he does what any reasonable Jager would never do, and immediately goes up to the two and introduces himself and his husband TRAVELING COMPANION as everything but a Jager and Jager-knockoff.

Barry is, of course, paranoid at these complete strangers that seem vaguely familiar in the weirdest of ways, but they both seem genuinely nice and they both hate the other with a passion so he settles into an uneasy trust.

They both end up showing him their wings and explaining that they’re constructs who were made in such a way that they are immune to wasps.

(Crowley offers to demonstrate by eating one.  Barry hastily declines)

They start traveling together and, after that uneasy trust settles into an easy one, he asks if he gets whatever signal that made him decide to start tracking down the Other solo

But Punch and Judy aren’t there.  He never managed to run into them at all,

Crowley and Aziraphale, however, are.

Part 2:

Agatha Crowley-Fell has had a very normal, if interesting, life.

She’s raised by her two fathers (uncles, they insisted for a good long while until she points out that they’ve officially adopted her and they’re as much her parents as her biological ones are, and that she doesn’t think they’re replacing them, just adding to them (to which the respond with hugging and crying)) in Beetleburg. 

one of which works as a librarian at the local college (where he is more then happy to help anyone who needs anything besides books.)

an unofficial elective is “how to borrow a book from Mr. Fell”.  Everyone who passes gets hired by the university on the spot.

Crowley, meanwhile, owns a flower shop where all of the plants are guaranteed to be vibrant and spotless! (or else)

Occasionally, they’ll come to her right before bed and ask to see her locket, “to keep it in the best shape possible” they say.  One will take it to another room, while the other sits with her and sings a lullaby until she falls asleep

it’s always back on her neck come morning.

As time goes on, her headaches slowly get better.  She’s still never able to finish a project, but it pops up less during mild excitement or frustration.

They’re still incredibly annoying though

And then comes the day when her locket is broken and the Baron comes to town, and her life goes from tame to disastrous in a matter of hours.

[wurdulac]

ok so here’s bria! i kept postponing it because i wanted to include a doodle illustrating her but failed miserably at creating a good enough pic so it’s only text for now.

bullet points because they’re easier to handle and digest (but looking at how long each point got i wonder if they’re easy to read):

her name is bria and she’s a revisited version of my main character whom i played as all these years ago. my memory is blurry but i’m pretty sure she wasn’t the first nwn 2 oc; probably third so i already had a somewhat solid picture of who i wanted to play as when i invented her.

she’s a half-elf, and more specifically part drow, part wild elf and part human. not that she’d know, given how her mother just decided to crash at her old friends house one day, never said anything about whoever was the other parent of her yet to be born child and then fucking died in that horrible battle that left daeghun too traumatized to ever speak about her or his wife or anything to bria.

goes by only her first name. her foster father’s last name is farlong and in west harbor they’re sometimes collectively referred to as “the farlongs” (if the context makes sense), but she doesn’t think of it as her own name and doesn’t adopt it in her travels outside of the mere

she’s a ranger and has a habit of disappearing into the mere of the dead men for weeks or even months at time

doesn’t really have any strong relationships with people and feels much safer doing her own solitary activities. 

when she was a kid she sometimes hung out with bevil and amie, the three of them being the weird outsiders in the village. as they got older they spent less time together, as bevil had more responsibilities at home and got involved in the local militia.

on the topic of homes, daeghun really let her do whatever she wanted

she never really experienced any warmth from daeghun and believes he doesn’t give a fuck about her. as a kid she tried to get attention from him but it never worked. he never followed her when she would go hide somewhere, never comforted her if something happened to her, only explained to her consequences of her actions. he taught her how to use a bow and other survival skills though and that’s the extent of their father-daughter bonding activities.

she’s not very connected to her feelings, she believes she’s undeserving of any affection and she expects a lot from her performance

she worships eilistraee (not that i could pick her as a deity in game, but i think that choice is fitting, as eilistraee’s portfolio iirc are hunters, outcasts, moonlight, dancing, all of which thematically suits bria)

she’s mistrustful and critical of the power structures, especially as someone who comes from a small, self-governing community and has an outsider’s perspective on the city and everything that happens there. she just thinks it’s bullshit.

yeah in terms of dnd alignment that makes her chaotic.

in conversations she’s rather blunt, direct and humorless. she’s not especially witty and she’s bad at coming up with retorts.

she has no romantic experiences

she likes knives

she doesn’t know how to act when someone gives her attention or affection

she’s also quite competitive and likes being in control or to have a vantage point and be left unaffected

her face isn’t pretty. most prominent features are her large nose and narrow eyes. her face has a soft oval shape. she’s kinda short, small but compact, with a strong back and muscular arms, her skin is of greenish-brown color, her hair is brownish-black, mid-length, unevenly cut and messy, her eyes are dark brown. she wears layered, comfortable and durable clothes in a colors that make her blend easily with the environment. doesn’t really own anything fancy. spends her money on knives and well-made bows whenever a merchant arrives in town.

she feels rather neutral about her appearence, because she’s brought up in a culture that doesn’t really care that much about physical beauty (i vaguely recall a quote from one of Pratchett’s witches books where a woman in Lancre is expected to be able to kill a wolf with her apron and it would be kinda like that in West Harbor i guess) and she’s not surrounded by visual depictions of beauty standards. there’s no instagram in faerun and thanks god for that.

her, morrigan and shrek make up the holy trinity of “get out of me swamp”

she has a magical girl moment when she reforges the sword of gith

oh and nwn 2 kc is supposed to be a young hero, so she’s 21, as the character creator suggested

i don’t have a playlist for her (yet?) but i have three songs that i started associating with her: nobody, a pearl (both by mitski) and king of swords (by king woman)

[thesinglesjukebox]

100 GECS FT. CHARLI XCX, RICO NASTY & KERO KERO BONITO - RINGTONE (REMIX)

[6.00]

At last, something we can all agree on...

Wayne Weizhen Zhang: Chaotic Evil ft. Chaotic Good, Lawful Evil & Lawful Good. [8]

Brad Shoup: Please know that, due to my age and disorder in which everything sounds like pop-punk, I'm treating my delight in 100 gecs with extreme suspicion. The worried bruise of the original "Ringtone"'s bridge finds its double in Rico Nasty's gleefully conflicted verse. Sarah Bonito tries to sneak in a horror short, Charli chirps like a phone that's never going to voicemail. I feel like I'm listening to The Geometrid. I keep waiting for T-Pain, the human ringtone, to show up. [8]

Oliver Maier: I am slightly self-conscious about how much I like this, given that it is such blatant fan service for a) 20-somethings who frequent the main trifecta of [x]heads music subreddits b) Twitter stans who rabidly demand "COLLAB"s from their faves c) Anthony Fantano (only one of these applies to me). If the existence of this remix somehow precedes an uptick in collaborations between Extremely Online™ musicians then I can only hope that they all be so well-executed. The "Ringtone" remix is both wilder than the original and shockingly coherent, I think because all three performers tap into the most elemental versions of themselves. Charli's verse and perfect delivery of an already-great hook would be at home on the cartoonish Number 1 Angel, less so on her moodier self-titled. Sarah from KKB revisits the uncanny children's-show-presenter flow that characterised the group's breakout project and then subsequently vanished. Rico is just as berserk as one would hope. 100 gecs is objectively a very silly project, but the care with which this remix -- a clusterfuck on paper -- is structured into something both logical and extremely listenable only demonstrates how seriously Brady and Les take their tomfoolery. The gecs are among the best to emerge from the post-PC Music boom because they so firmly reject the parameters of good taste and make redundant the tiresome question of whether their intentions are cynical or sincere. You don't make pop music this brilliant and unselfconscious without pouring your heart into it. [9]

Katherine St Asaph: The other day I read a thinkpiece about, among dozens of other things, how Billie Eilish was corporate bullshit and 100 gecs were wholesome DIY outsiders, despite the gecs at that point having already signed to Mad Decent, producing tracks by the likes of Slayyyter and LIZ, and playing ukelele for an America's Got Talent winner. There is so much Discourse like this, and it all makes me so, so exhausted. What about one collection of sound waves (or Bacon-Sheeran number, or accumulated total of bar hangs with hypebeasts) makes it morally bankrupt, while a near-identical collection of sound waves remains morally acceptable? The rapping sounds like Lady Gaga's "Christmas Tree." [2]

Leah Isobel: Making actual pop music demands legibility and the sacrifice of gecs' usual chaos, but this remix manages to keep their interplay of melodic sweetness and noisy menace intact -- see Laura's charmingly polite request for Charli to sing the chorus again before the song nosedives into the "Click" outro. It's like Owl City corrupted with a virus, and it slaps. [9]

Vikram Joseph: I have some questions for the girl asking Charli to sing the chorus again, because we did *not* need that chorus again. "Ringtone" was a pleasant bit of nonsense at 2:20, but padding it out to almost four minutes with guest vocalists (of whom only Rico Nasty sounds vaguely engaged) is a good way to siphon away whatever charm it had to begin with. Sometimes... things that are expensive... are worse. [4]

Jibril Yassin: The rare example of a posse track that succeeds without removing what made the original so great. Let's put 100 gecs in charge of pop posse tracks from now till infinity. [8]

Alfred Soto: Despite the riot of credits, "Ringtone" is closer to a poor 2010 Ke$ha album track. Ringtones? A decade later? The beat sounds like the creators stole it from a Bush-era Nokia. [4]

Alex Clifton: Our featured players here are the highlight of the song, bringing liveliness to a beat that would otherwise be too glitchy for me. And yet after a while it has the same effect that a phone ringing for two minutes does: slightly annoying, loud enough that you can't ignore it, but too muffled in your bag to find where it could be. Please note my score is expressed in gecs instead of points. [5]

Joshua Minsoo Kim: It's too long and labored over, lacking the giddy charm of the original because the voices are too straightforward. It's fun seeing all these artists on the same track, but all this does is prove that 100 gecs is even more singular than we may have initially thought. [3]

Tim de Reuse: 100 gecs don't work nearly as well for me on such low energy, and their usual reckless abandon appears to have been reined in here so as to elevate the presence of their high-profile features. That, along with the nearly four-minute runtime (about twice as long as a 100 gecs track ought to be, by my measure) gives this the character of a listen-once joke. To be clear, it's a delightful joke. [6]

Ian Mathers: Absolutely better than the original (and "Money Machine" for that matter), mostly because it no longer sounds like Big Dumb Face trying to adapt to modern trends. But it does make me wonder if this is what the people who didn't like Charli's work with PC Music felt like they were hearing. [5]

Jonathan Bradley: 100 gecs let the lil homies ride on us; it's like showing up to gecsCon -- surely a real thing that could exist -- with a grocery bag full of Monster, weed and money, and discovering in astonishment that other people like this band too. (One infamous afternoon, I played 1000 gecs for my office; they were distraught, but I since found out I converted at least one co-worker.) So everyone in this PC Music Khaled lineup tries hard to do their best gecs, with Charli leaning into the lovestruck cutesiness, Sarah Bonito trying to channel the uneasy relationship with technology, and Rico summoning the unearned confidence. But although the elements that original gecs Dylan and Laura stick together sound familiar, their sound is a singular one: A.G. Cook and co. are too deliberate; Black Dresses too consumed by the horror and anxiety around them; Ayesha Erotica too singleminded; Brokencyde too scene. The best part in the remix is when Laura Les asks Charli to sing the chorus again, doing more gecs in one line than anyone else could in three verses. It turns out there's something particular to this mish-mash of pop enthusiasm, hypermodern tension, and shitposting that is not easily replicable. "You just copy everything we do," Laura once chirped, prophetically. "If I wasn't me, I'd copy me too." There's only one gec, even when there's 100 of them. [7]

Kylo Nocom: You know, all that matters is that they had fun. [6]