#speaking of where inspiration was yoinked from

[angeart]

vampire scar ch1 story wip-

The area around them is dangerous; the night is quickly drawing in and the darkness is beginning to wield claws and teeth, bloodlust seeping into the air in sharp howls and snarls. Yet even then, entering unknown structures could be as dooming as staying inside. Four walls could as easily trap as protect. It’s always a gamble.

With that in mind, Grian still leads Mumbo towards the mansion that looms eerie and quiet and foreboding in front of them. With a little bit of luck, it will be abandoned, covered in dust and silence and bones. 

He should’ve known better. They haven’t had luck in a long time.

The hinges creak when they ram into the huge, ornate front door to convince it to open. That’s promising. The grating sound is a song of disuse, and Grian considers it a good sign as they tumble inside and quickly shut the door behind them.

For a little bit, they just breathe and try to get their bearings. The entrance hall is huge, sprawling, running off in all kinds of directions. It’s hard to make out the detail of the interior; the only light is the swiftly dimming light coming in through the windows.

Grian fails to notice that the windows aren’t covered in grime. He fails to notice that the place is not in disarray, covered in spiderwebs. He fails to notice that the air isn’t stale and dusty. 

“I—I think this looks good?” Mumbo looks around cautiously, keeping close to Grian in this unfamiliar space.

Grian breathes out a huff of relief, even though the sound is still coated with tension; his body refuses to relax, too many unknown variables still spinning through his mind. Anything could lurk in the dark corners and dozens of rooms, and they’re aware only of one singular escape route—and even that is slow and uncertain, hanging on rusty, unwilling hinges. 

If he would be easily swayed with any shreds of things that faintly resemble comfort, they wouldn’t have survived this long.

So he doesn’t give in. He looks around, and he wishes it would be as simple as it seems. There’s a desperate yearning in him for something uncomplicated, for one night not filled with threats and dread and fear for their lives. How he wishes to be able to close his eyes and maybe, maybe sink into a soft bed and just sleep without being terrified of the possibility of not waking up in the morning—

This place is bound to have some soft beds.

Grian’s stomach twists at the thought. No, he tells himself. He can’t be stupid here. He can’t give in. They need to remain alert; they know nothing about this place.

“We should look around,” he suggests, voice taut. 

“Yes. Definitely,” Mumbo agrees immediately, his eyes roaming the area. “Do you want to split up?”

Grian swivels on his heels to face him, an indignant scoff on his lips. “Split—Split up?! Mumbo!” he chastises. “You know that—“

Mumbo lifts his hands up defensively. “Alright, alright! I’m just saying, it’s a big place. Lots of ground to cover.”

Grian’s gaze is drawn off to the side, to the doors that line only one side of the room. So many options. So many possible traps. So many places for danger to hide in. “Okay,” he says slowly, trying to swallow the trepidation that grows thick in his throat. “We could—Maybe we could check adjacent rooms, stay near but check multiple places at once?” he suggests, even though everything in him prickles, unease nauseatingly settling over him.

“Yeah, okay,” Mumbo doesn’t sound convinced, but it was his idea in the first place, so he relents. “That sounds reasonable.”

Grian glares at him. It doesn’t sound very reasonable to him. But they’re both tired and searching this place inch by inch is going to take ages as-is. They have to make compromises, Grian knows this, but it doesn’t make it any easier. “Fine,” he sighs. “Which side do you want to start with?” 

“It honestly makes no difference,” Mumbo remarks.

“Fine,” Grian repeats, a tad more irritably now. He’s tired, he’s tense, his danger-senses are tingling. He is high-strung, even though he tries to convince himself that they just found something safe, that they’re not out there without shelter, that this is good. “Here, then.” He walks to his left, towards the first set of rooms, and Mumbo immediately follows without a word.

They both fall into something familiar, something orchestrated and practiced. They move quietly, their steps soft, shoulders slightly hunched, one hand always hovering over a weapon in anticipation of a threat. 

As soon as they reach the two sets of doors, they give each other a look and a small nod. Grian can see Mumbo bracing himself. He knows he’s doing the same thing. 

And then he pushes the door open and steps over the threshold of a dark room.

At first, a feeling that he’s alone now sinks into him, even if Mumbo’s just a shout away. He thinks about how he’s going in blindly—they don’t even have torches or anything. Every shadow will make him jumpy, he fully expects this—

Except the room is not as dark as it should be.

And it certainly isn’t as empty as he’d hoped.

It’s the far end of the room that’s flickering with dim, warm light. There’s a candle burning up, its flame a weak, dying thing. Grian’s eyes snag at it at first, drawn by the light like a moth to a flame. There’s something reassuring in the gentle, hot glow of a fire, just for a split second, until he pushes that instinct down and reminds himself that a fire he himself didn’t set is bound to burn him— 

That’s when his gaze swerves to the side.

There’s a person there.

There’s a person.

Grian’s mind short-circuits for three precious seconds, before he reboots. Immediately, he hunches up more. His fingertips find his daggers, a tool as ready for stabbing as for throwing. The other person didn’t notice him yet—clearly, because they start humming some silly, jaunty, way-too-content melody as they look over what seems to be an old leather journal. The hum is interrupted only by huffs of laughter.

This gives Grian enough time to take the stranger in.

He doesn’t like what he finds.

Even in the candlelight, their skin is pale, and there’s an old, dried spot of blood near the corner of their mouth. They’re dressed up a bit too well for the reality they’re living in. 

The candlelight glimmers, catches on something shiny and sharp.

A canine tooth.

Grian takes in a sharp breath. He straightens up, grabs a proper hold of one of the daggers, and he thinks in alarm of Mumbo in the other room—and sure, Mumbo didn’t call out yet, but if there’s one of these guys, there might be more, and—

And Grian needs to warn him right now, even at the cost of blowing his own stealth.

“Mumbo!” he calls out, and he belatedly wonders if this will just call more trouble to them than they can handle. “There’s a monster here!”

There’s a frightened gasp then, a jump and a thud of a journal that was sent flying and hit the floor.

“What?! Where?” An alarmed yelp that sounds across the space isn’t Mumbo’s voice. It’s the stranger’s voice—startled, deep, but oddly soft. 

For a second, Grian thinks maybe he made a mistake. Maybe this person isn’t a monster, if this is their reaction?

The stranger spins around and his eyes land on Grian’s, their gaze locking. He holds a hand to his chest and he heaves a big breath, before he chuckles quietly, a tense and unsteady sound. “Gosh, you scared me.”

“I—what?” Grian stares uncomprehendingly at the reaction.

The man’s lips curl into a cherubic smile, then—innocent and bright and—

Definitely not harmless, given by the two sharp canines and the dried blood at the corner of his mouth.

This drives it in for Grian, erasing all doubts: this person is a vampire.

“Well hello there,” the man says, seamlessly slipping more confidence and charm into his voice, even if the edges of it still echo startled unease. “I didn’t realise I have guests!” His gaze jumps to somewhere past Grian’s shoulder. “How rude of me. Welcome!”

Something touches Grian’s back and he almost jumps out of his skin, shrieking at the touch.

“No! It’s just me!” Mumbo immediately tries to fix his mistake.

“God,” Grian breathes out deeply, everything in him ready to snap as he turns back towards the enigma of a vampire they’re now facing. At least he’s no longer alone in this. “He’s a vampire,” he murmurs to Mumbo, even though he’s fully aware his voice carries all the way across the room.

“Yeah, I can see that,” Mumbo notes, signs of distress colouring his voice.

“Now, now,” the man in front of them—the monster, the vampire—lifts his hands amicably. “There’s no need for alarm. I’m a vegetarian!” he offers cheerily. 

Even though he says that, his gaze lingers on Grian in a way that makes a chill run down his spine.

“A vegetarian,” Grian repeats flatly. He isn’t sure why he’s even entertaining the idea; it’s completely absurd.

“Yes!” the man nods fervently, his smile spreading, all toothy and sharp. “I don’t eat anything with a face!”

The blood stain at the corner of his mouth says otherwise.

“I didn’t know that’s possible,” Mumbo exclaims from behind Grian, a little bit too naively for Grian’s comfort.

“Mumbo, there’s no way he’s telling the truth,” he grumbles at him, annoyed.

“No! No, I am!” the man insists. “I usually tear the face off first.”

He says it so simply, chuckling a little, it completely flabbergasts Grian.

“A—You what?” the words fall past his lips before he can think better of it.

“I tear the face off,” the man repeats with an unbothered shrug of his shoulder. It seems to take him another moment to register the apprehension of the other two people in the room, because he only belatedly hastily adds: “There’s nothing to worry about, really! I haven’t had guests in ages, I’m so happy to have you over!”

“We’re—“ Grian’s mind spins as he tries to process this. “Guests? Over? What? No!”

“Oh.” The man’s shoulders slump in immense sadness—it reeks of solitude, of disappointment, of such sheer unhappiness that it stabs at Grian’s heart.

He knows this is wrong. He knows vampires are charming and manipulative. He knows they have their ways of pulling in their prey, before they inevitably sink their teeth into flesh and bleed them dry. And yet—

And yet.

Something in his heart can’t bear the look of this stranger looking so small and abandoned. Maybe because he himself knows what it feels like, first-hand. Maybe because he knows that if it wasn’t for Mumbo, he’d be completely lost. He can’t begin to imagine staying in a big, empty, dark place all alone for—how long?

His feelings keep snagging on something hot, like that flickering flame of a candle. Something that burns through his veins, singes his heart. Something unsteady and dangerous.

He didn’t know vampires could look lonely.

He hates himself for that swell of empathy. He hates the momentary loss of control. He knows they’re being played now. 

“Look, pal,” he starts, and it’s cautious. He takes a step back, meets Mumbo’s chest and hopes the man realises this is their cue to retreat. “I appreciate the offer, but we’re not staying. Sorry to intrude, we’ll—uh, we’ll leave you to it.” Whatever the it was.

The man is still looking directly at him. There’s something yearning in his eyes. Something heartbroken. He seems to shrink further as he tears his gaze away. “Okay,” he says in a small voice.

Mumbo makes an unhappy noise in the back of his throat. He’s still blocking Grian’s retreat.

“Mumbo,” Grian hisses at him.

“Yeah, right, I just—“ Mumbo stammers, indecision wild in his veins. He takes a tentative half-step away, feeling Grian immediately crowd his space again, pressing against him to retreat further.

The man—no, not man, the vampire—looks towards the window contemplatively, before his gaze flicks back to them. “You want to leave?”

“Yes,” Grian confirms immediately. “We’re just gonna go—“

“Where?” the vampire asks, an odd, unreadable inflection in his voice as he takes a singular step forward.

Grian twitches. “Out,” he replies, his voice strained. He presses further against Mumbo, and thankfully Mumbo moves, takes three steps, enough to get them out of the room, but not too many to still be able to catch and steady Grian at the unexpected loss of security. 

The vampire’s eyebrows pull to a concerned scowl. “But it’s dangerous.”

He says it so simply. So staggeringly simply. 

The worst thing about it is, he’s not wrong.

Grian pauses and contemplates this for a moment, then. The outside poses a million potential unknown threats. Here, they’re facing a vampire, but they know how to handle vampires. They could handle one of them. They could— This could still be their best option. 

“Are you alone?” he ventures tentatively.

The vampire gives him a look that says it all. “Yes,” he admits, and it’s not charming, it’s not confident. It’s shaky and it’s open and it’s wounded. Maybe a little bit afraid. “I—Is it so bad I don’t want to be, for a little bit? I promise I’m not dangerous,” he slides straight to bargaining. “You can sleep here! I could, I probably have some food you could eat. I won’t do anything to you, I just—I—“

He looks so, so lost.

“Grian?” Mumbo says quietly, and it comes out a bit wobbly and emotional.

That’s the thing that breaks Grian’s own dangerous tilt of judgement. He looks over his shoulder sharply, frowning. “You can’t be serious.”

“W—well, I mean—“ Mumbo fumbles for words, trying to get some rationality out of his heart. “It’s better than the outside?”

Grian side-eyes the vampire. “We should just kill him.”

“Kill?” the vampire repeats in alarm; the word is laced with false laughter, as if he tried to spin it into a joke. It rings hollow, anxious, untrue. “Noooo, no, there’s no need for that! I like living thank-you-very-much!”

“Living,” Grian repeats flatly, challengingly. “You’re not alive.”

“I am!” the vampire protests vehemently. “I breathe and I bleed and I can die.” He pauses, ponders briefly if making that one point in particular was smart. “I—Well. I can starve and all that and, and, I have feelings!”

Grian stares at him blankly. Something in him is unconvinced, but his heart bashes itself against his ribcage in attempted empathy anyway. “This can't be happening,” he mutters dismally.

“Look, I can, I can show you around! You can decide then! It’s just me here, all alone, there’s plenty of space for you even if you want me to stay away! I can go to a different wing or—or something. I’m sure we can come to some sort of arrangement?” he proposes, his voice hasty and desperate. “I just. You don’t have to leave.”

Something about the way he says it chips away at Grian’s resolve, strips his caution, leaves him feeling incredibly human in arguably the worst way possible when confronted with a charming monster. Still, he hears himself say, “Okay.”

The vampire perks up immediately. “Okay!” he echoes.

“Okay?” Mumbo repeats with more alarm and unsteadiness.

Grian shoots him a look. “I thought you wanted to do this?”

“W—Well, yes, I just. I didn’t expect you to agree?” he admits sheepishly.

“Mumbo.” Grian is looking at him with a deep frown. “Do you want to stay or do you want to leave?”

“I—I don’t know!” Mumbo cries, indecisiveness rushing wildly through his veins. More than anything, he doesn’t want to be culpable for this decision and its repercussions. 

Grian sighs and lets his gaze slide away. If Mumbo can’t bear the weight of this decision, it now falls back on Grian. It’s a familiar weight. It’s something he needs to shoulder, their fate, their pitfalls. The inevitable guilt of it all. The feeling that whatever he decides might just guide Mumbo to his demise.

He meets the gaze of the vampire, as steadily as he can manage. “Give us the tour.”

Without hesitation, the vampire moves forward, towards the door, towards the room’s exit, towards the rest of the mansion—

Grian flinches at the sudden approach and stumbles a couple of steps back, pulling Mumbo with him, keeping the taller man protectively behind him. 

It makes the vampire pause. “Okay,” he says slowly. “I think we need to lay some ground rules. First of all, introductions. That always helps! I’m Scar!”

Grian blinks, his throat dry with the abruptness of his panic reaction. With the preposterousness of this situation.

“And you are?” the vampire—Scar—prompts.

“I—I’m Mumbo, and this is Grian,” Mumbo stammers for both of them. 

Scar’s eyes spark up and he gives a big smile. “Wonderful! I’m happy to meet you!” The words are silky, charming in a way that lets them easily burrow underneath skin without notice. They’re honest, too, and maybe that’s where they draw their power from—because Scar truly is lonely, in such a deep, raw way, and there’s nothing if not pure relief that his new guests decided to not immediately leave.

He’s tired of feeling like a monster. He’s tired of being alone, unloved, unwanted.

He’s tired of feeling like these old, cracked, dusty walls—empty and abandoned.

His heart beats in his chest in a wild waltz as he approaches the strangers-no-more again, this time careful about where he steps and how close he gets. He maintains a safe distance, giving a tight smile as he passes them, before taking big steps into the open space.

He spins there, buzzing with theatrics and more than a smidge of showmanship, spreading his arms wide. “This is my mansion.”

It’s very easy, Grian finds, to give in. To let Scar reel him in and pull him along. His body follows unquestioningly, taking in room after room after room, dizzyingly trying to slot the information and not get lost amidst it all—his survival instincts scream at him, but the rest of him is just plain tired and, honestly, a little bit lulled after he watches Scar for a while.

Because Scar isn’t lithe and agile, strong and immovable. He isn’t as charming as one would expect of a vampire, either, even if he’s rambly and his tongue is undeniably tinged with silver. He’s cheerful and he’s giggly and he’s, for the lack of a better word, endearing. But more than that, he’s clumsy and forgetful and edging just on the side of nervous.

It puts Grian ill-at-ease, because this isn't what a vampire should be, and that means Grian can't predict him, doesn't know what to expect. 

And yet he keeps following him, watching him, listening to him. 

He should try to pay more attention to the mansion tour and less to the man, maybe. The layout is important. He needs to know exit routes, and the possible sources of danger.

But isn’t Scar a source of danger? Living—or so he claims—and moving and very much capable of harm?

So what if Grian’s gaze lingers on him a little bit too much? What if he focuses on his body language and his tone more than the walls that surround them? 

He tells himself it’s only because he’s being wary.

“You can sleep here,” Scar finally says in a room that has two huge beds, at the very end of the mansion. The hallway that leads to the room ends with a backdoor exit, an easy way out if they feel trapped or—Scar very much wants to not think about it, even if it’s an option he offers freely—if they decide to sneak out.

Scar walks towards the fireplace and he fiddles for a while, struggling to get it lit.

“Here, I can help,” Mumbo offers, moving forward. He produces flint and steel, reaching for the fireplace.

Grian watches Scar flinch away.

His lips purse, taking in the scene. The beds are a comfort they weren’t able to indulge in for a long time. So is the fire, deep at night. A source of light and warmth. There’s a clear exit. Nobody else is in the building. Nothing about this screams it’s a trap. 

And they know how to kill vampires, if push comes to shove.

But they can’t do it if they’re asleep.

He stares at Scar, his gaze prickling the vampire until he turns around and their gazes meet.

Scar offers a tentative, shy smile.

“If there’s anything else you guys need, just let me know,” Scar says then, the words easy on his tongue, unhesitatingly willing to provide for them.

Grian frowns. “What do you need?” he questions instead. “What do you want from us?”

“Nothing!” Scar says immediately.

Grian dismally thinks that’s the first lie he’s heard from him. It’s so easy to identify, it makes everything else startlingly slot in as truth. The awareness of it makes him feel destabilised at his core. He sways a little in his spot, reaches out for the bed frame for support. “That’s—No,” he says weakly, too aware of the green eyes boring into him. “You definitely want something.”

There it is. That heartbreak.

He didn’t know vampires could project heartbreak so well.

Project? Or feel?

Grian finds with increasing panic that he can no longer tell the difference. None of this makes sense. None of this should be happening.

The fire crackles, strong and alive, lapping at the air and throwing a warm, flickering glow over the room as Mumbo takes a step away from it. 

“Oh, you did it!” Scar perks up, his eyes squinting in a smile he throws Mumbo’s way. “That’s wonderful, thank you for your help!”

“Well, I mean, it’s for us, right?” Mumbo sheepishly rubs the back of his neck. “And it was easy enough.”

“It always gives me trouble,” Scar admits freely, “dealing with fire. A bit scary, if you ask me.”

“You’re a vampire,” Grian notes flatly. It comes out blank and rough, his suspicions warring with his emotions. “Fire harms you.”

“Yes, well,” Scar meets his gaze. “I like how it glows. I like the warmth.”

Grian continues to stare at him, because he isn’t sure how to actually process all of that. Instead, he takes a breath and presses: “You didn’t answer the question.”

Scar blinks. “What question?”

Grian frowns, but doesn’t relent. “What do you want from us?” 

Scar’s gaze shifts to the fireplace. “The fire harms you, too,” he says, and it’s soft and contemplative, but makes everything in Grian prickle with a warning. “You also get hungry,” Scar continues. “And you need rest, and you need—“ he falls quiet.

“We need?” Mumbo prompts, and he sounds so gentle, so careful.

It makes Scar lift his gaze to him, meet his eyes. There’s hesitation in him, some unknown emotions swirling up, raw and threatening. He swallows hard, before prying his gaze away. “You need safety,” Scar continues, even though his voice is clearly strained, “and I can give you that.”

“What for,” Grian insists. “What do you want for it.”

Green eyes shift to him, and somehow Grian’s heart picks up speed, feeling irrationally guilty at having asked.

“I don’t want anything,” Scar repeats, his voice wavering and quiet.

“Surely you must want something out of this,” Grian insists, even though there’s a lump in his throat and he feels terrible.

Scar looks away, then. He severs their connection, making Grian reel at the sudden lack of it.

“I just,” Scar says, and it’s a half-sigh, it’s a half-whisper, it’s a quiet, tentative, cracked confession. “I thought it might be nice to have some company for a little bit.”

It’s so soft, so vulnerable that it makes Grian feel like the ground was pulled from underneath him. Emotions sway him at the sight of the man—the vampire, he reminds himself futilely—so hunched over and sad. 

He knows how feeling alone in a world that no longer wants you feels like.

He just didn’t count on monsters having actual feelings.

He didn’t count on monsters looking so human.

His heart clogs his throat and he finds himself speechless.

“Were you—“ Mumbo tries to say something, but his voice falters as soon as Scar’s gaze lands on him. There’s a moment of silence, before Mumbo regathers his courage and finishes: “Were you alone for long?”

Scar’s shoulders sag at that. He seems to be crushed underneath some invisible weight. “Yeah,” he says, and the word barely manages to make it past his lips, daunted and small. 

Grian feels his heart slam sharply against his ribs at the confession.

“W—well,” Mumbo looks over at Grian, catching his gaze. He’s hesitant and unsure, but clearly willing and wanting to offer something.

Grian’s eyebrows pull into a frown. His emotions scream one thing at him, but every remaining shred of rationality screams something else. It’s an overwhelming cacophony and he knows he’s the one who’s expected to make the decisions—and then bear the weight of them going wrong—yet he finds himself feeling lost and adrift at this.

Mumbo holds his gaze for a moment longer, before he lets it swivel back to Scar. “We’ve actually never really talked to a vampire before.”

“No,” Scar shakes his head in immediate sympathy. “I wouldn’t imagine you would. They’re not a friendly bunch.”

Something about that statement stabs at Grian’s heart, his eyes still locked on Scar. “Then… Why are you talking to us?”

Scar’s gaze meets his and, again, it makes Grian's heart trip over itself. 

“Because I want friends?” he says, and it’s so open and vulnerable and his voice is thick with emotions, cracking and failing him at the end of his miserable sentence.

Grian takes a sharp breath, fumblingly attempting to remind himself that vampires are dangerous and they’re charmers and they’re manipulators and—

“You can’t mean that,” he says in the end, the words a little bit hoarse.

Scar blinks, confused. “What?”

Grian shakes his head vehemently. “You’re a vampire. We’re just food for you.”

Scar’s eyebrows twitch into a frown, before they smooth out and his face stretches into a smirk. “You do have faces, don’t you? I told you I don’t eat anything with a face.”

“But you could, you know,” Mumbo steps in, “rip the face off or something, as you said.”

Scar’s gaze anchors into his, a displeased curl to his mouth. “I don’t eat my friends.”

“But we’re not friends,” Grian chimes in.

“We could be,” Scar suggests easily, unaware of how threatening that sounds.

(... tbc?)

------- as the title states, this is a wip of a potential story that was put on the backburner because my hands are full. if you want to know more about what kind of things are meant to happen in this au (atm it's just a collection of ideas, rather than any specific outline), or are curious about anything else, feel free to ask! and let me know what you think about it so far <3

if you're curious where this au came from, i recommend you to watch random encounter's "resident enis" videos (there are two). i'm sure you'll see my vision. (the line about not eating anything with a face is there kjxnbkj.)

this was written on a whim and for the longest time, i kept calling it "silly vampire scar au" (in the spirits of resident enis), even though i know the au devolves—as per usual—into heavier topics and angst. it's set in a world riddled with monsters, it's a survival story, pretty much.

fun fact: the working title of this au is called "Silly Vampire Mr GoodTimes"

i need a better name for it though, "vampire scar au" is so generic, and sure it does have a vampire scar in it, but it's not exclusively about him... but i have no idea what else to call it/how to title it (rip) (pls help-)

[entity9silvergen]

What if Ingo was an opera singer?

I work at a performing arts center but I'm not really a music guy so I usually just mentally clock out and do fic planning during shows, and submas has been my hyperfixation for most of my time at this job which means I'm basically just thinking about putting Ingo in situations the entire time.

I saw an opera a couple of weeks ago that sparked some ideas for a fic I've been working on. Inspirational stuff. Today though I saw another opera and it had a few different people singing, including some men which I've never heard before, and I thought hey Ingo's a loud boy and proceeded to spent the rest of the time thinking about that.

Fanonically, Ingo's voice is a big part of his character. He's loud where Emmet is not and he's often more comfortable speaking than Emmet is. What if we just took that to a whole 'nother level? I love that Ingo and Emmet both battle and run the subway together but I also like them having lives separate from each other.

I can see Ingo standing atop Mount Coronet and just singing. Absolutely just belting and his voice just ringing across the land. Maybe Meli hears it from afar and bullies him into singing at a clan get together.

Back in Unova, Emmet was never one for music but since Ingo disappeared, he's gone to every opera performance in Nimbassa. Elesa's been trying to get him to stop because it upsets him but Emmet keeps going.

I don't think I'd write this but I like the visual of Ingo signing on the mountain and Emmet watching a show from the audience and a time-space distortion just yoinking Ingo from Hisui and putting Ingo on the stage, only Ingo doesn't notice so everyone is just silently freaking the fuck out while Ingo just keeps singing.

If I do anything with this idea in any way, I'll reblog this post with a link.

[genericpuff]

I think what gets me the most annoyed about LO currently is how I just don't care about Rachel's attempts to make the story seem more high-stakes than it really is. Apollo has no real power, Kronos was defeated by bees so why should I care about him now, everyone is instantly on Persades' side, Persephone will get any excuse to not hold her accountable for her mistakes, and Ouranos is simply too late-stage and underdeveloped for me to take them seriously. If this is Rachel's attempts to bring people back or keep them around, she's vastly unaware of what her readers actually want and want she's capable of writing. None of this is compelling, it's just frustrating.

You didn't mention it but even the fact that we as readers know now that Apollo can't use Persephone's powers without her actually being in love with him... it's such a narrative buzzkill?? So now we're spending all this time on some "Apollo twist villain" plotline that we know won't lead to him winning because we already know it won't work. IDK if this was Rachel attempting some sort of dramatic irony thing - when audience members are aware of something the characters aren't, ex. the complete misunderstanding that was Juliet's "death" that resulted in Romeo actually dying - then she completely misunderstood how dramatic irony actually works, you can't inform the audience of something the characters don't know if it's something that removes any and all tension. There are no stakes now. We know Apollo can't use Persephone's powers. So we're either gonna get Apollo realizing he can't do it and have that just be his downfall (predictable) OR we're gonna get some sudden retconned plot point that technically Apollo can use her powers because of the assault (big yikes). Or some other third thing that Rachel will inevitably pull out of thin air to write herself out of a corner.

Overall it speaks to her lack of actual storytelling skills - she's alright at coming up with neat standalone ideas, but she's not good at weaving them into a story, and she's especially not good at actually coming up with organic re-interpretations of things that inspire her; rather she often just rips whatever she likes from things she's watched and throws them into LO without any understanding of why those things were actually well written, she puts them in because "well I liked the scene where the Beast got bathed by his house servants so I'm gonna put the same thing in LO!"

It's very much like - dare I say it and possibly invoke many more asks in my inbox - a certain indie production you may have heard of called RWBY. Constantly yoinking elements out of other shows and movies to put into the show, while not understanding why those elements worked so they come across as flat first steps rather than fully developed ideas.

[therummesoccupied]

FANG THE HUNTER: ISSUE #4 - THOUGHTS

I know! I'm very late! I'm sorry!

It's just... I can't think of a ton to say about this one that I didn't already say about the other three.

The writing is good, there are lots of neat character moments, art is stretchy and fun with plenty of visual inspiration from the games... yeah, it's cool!

Some specific points I'd like to note, though...

I do really love this scene where Fang just straight-up yoinks the Heavy Shinobi's katana and KO's him with it. It's the kind of thing I wouldn't normally think SEGA would allow, since we haven't really seen any character use a sword in canon since Black Knight (if Black Knight is even canon, for that matter).

Perhaps its the anime kid in me, but that was rad as hell.

I've seen a few folks complain about this moment - namely after Fang's proclamation that "Nobody takes what's mine" back in Issue 2, but... I dunno, I think it's fine.

Firstly, the situations are not equivalent. This isn't really a case of somebody "taking" Bark from him as much as him choosing to leave Bark behind.

Secondly, a big part of this comic's story has been the growing strain on the Hooligans' relationship as the story has gone on. His feelings about the other two have certainly changed since then.

Thirdly, I think he pretty clearly... doesn't mean it?? Like, all it takes is Bean looking at him funny and he decides to go help Bark out.

I dunno, this does not seem like a huge deal to me.

I also really like the fight between Bark and the Heavy King.

With the detail they add to Bark accruing damage over the course of their brawl and the little bits of lighting and shadow they add to him, they manage to make Bark look... kinda badass?

Like, I get he was always meant to be a cool fighty guy, but he's also always had that Silly Classic Sonic verneer over him that keeps him from seeming too... I dunno, COOL!

I'm just glad they even went the length to add this little bit of visual intensity.

Speaking of Bean and Bark, though, I must regretfully acknowledge that what I predicted did ultimately come to pass...

The Hooligans have broken up.

(Also I keep seeing Sonic YouTubers refer to them as the "Hoodlums?" That's... not their name? Whatever, it's just weird.)

Anyway, I actually really enjoy this move. It's not often in IDW we get to have a tale end in tragedy, so it's nice to see the conclusion here be so bitter. These are three characters we've been used to seeing together for YEARS, even before IDW Sonic began, and now, they're no more.

Maybe they'll have a heartwarming reunion someday, but thus far, this split has even carried over into the games, as we've seen in Sonic Superstars.

Speaking of Superstars...

That's how our comic ends - with Fang setting off for Northstar Island to begin the plot of Sonic Superstars!

In the time since this issue came out, I've learned this move was fairly controversial, but I dunno, I found it neat! This is the first time I can think of that we've had the plot of IDW play directly into a specific game!

They haven't firmly established if or when stuff like Team Sonic Racing or Sonic Frontiers happens within the comic yet (my personal headcanon is that neither have occured up to this point) so it's cool to see the IDW story so clearly connect itself to the games this way.

It's also neat to see IDW's Classic Era link itself to the Modern Era with Fang ending up in possession of the Warp Topaz, which of course, we will later see appear in the hands of Dr. Starline. I already did my big rant about how much I LOVE the Warp Topaz being here and how it has firmly gotten me onboard the Unified Timeline now, but it's still a very cool note to end on.

It does leave me asking a few questions, though?

Firstly, if Fang has the Warp Topaz at the beginning of Superstars' plot... why doesn't he... use it? I can't think of a single time he teleports or warps around in that game. Heck, his ace in the hole is a big mech of himself that doesn't appear to do anything of the sort.

Then... how does it end up in the cave where Starline finds it? Was there some form of confrontation between Starline and Fang we'll never get to see?

And wouldn't that be SICK??

As weird as the choice to end the story with Fang in possession of the Warp Topaz was, I'm pretty happy with how this miniseries came out! I really hope that, in the future, we get more arcs like this centered around specific members of the games cast.

I like the IDW cast just fine, but... c'mon. You KNOW that's not who we're picking up the comic to see.

The book tells me everything I need to know about them just by the way it puts them in the story.

The reason I love arcs like this and Scrapnik Island is because they take the characters I'm already familiar with from my time with the games - Fang and Mecha Sonic - and tells me things I didn't know about them, puts them in situations I've never seen them in before. Takes stuff I know from the games and EXPANDS upon it!

All in all, this is up there with Scrapnik Island and Chao Races & Badnik Bases as my favorite arcs in the series.

With Fang in the rear view, we head back to the Modern era for the Phantom Riders arc, the first issue of which is already out, and I hope to talk about it before the next one is released this time.

Thanks for reading!

[sybilius]

1, 4, 13, and 15 for the fic writer asks?

What’s something new that you tried in a fic this year? How did it turn out and would you do it again?

Shadow Gimmick is I think, my first intentional, permanent break-up fic. I’ve written other stories where characters have broken up, but I always intended to patch them back up (whether I actually got to that is another matter). I thought it turned out fantastic– one of my favourite parts of the fic is the way dramatic irony seeps in to all of David Finlay’s good intentions. I’m not sure I would try that again though. Part of me has no stomach for that kind of finality (even though I understand how necessary it is sometimes!). I think the specific circumstances of being able to write the soft-ish breakup and know that the narrative speaks for itself on why they never reconciled– that was a nice middle ground for me. 

4. What piece of media inspired you the most?

I’ll get a little more specific than “all of pro wrestling” and say “all of Jay White’s exile arc” (ie. WK17 Okada vs. White, Loser leaves Japan White vs. Hikuleo, Loser Leaves NJPW White vs. Kingston). Getting interested in that is what set me on the Jay obsession, as well as getting me into Okada and yoinking me into Finlay’s story. 

13. What fic was the easiest to write?

Probably tell me you're the rest of it – that one had a narrow scope when I thought it up. I liked the idea of there being a quiet intimacy in the differences between Ren and Yota’s sleeping patterns. Since that was the whole concept of the story, capturing that liminality of waking up at 3am with a new lover in your bed, thinking of what comes next – I was able to get in and out in a small word count and not feel bereft about it. 

15. Rec a fic you wrote or posted in 2023. I’m very very proud of Shadow Gimmick, my Young Lion era Finlay/Jay White fic focused on how David Finlay decides to become who he is. Though the original concept was focused on exploring baby Jay’s fucked up kink boundaries (which was so fun to do!), I just had this sense that I could make it a lot more than that if I really immersed myself in the lore and stakes of early Finlay and Jay’s story. I feel like it really succeeded in being a pro wrestling story about the stakes of pro wrestling, as well as being a shippy story and a bit of a mindfuck (two of my favourite flavors). And I learned a lot from my tape study too, which is something I’ve come to find very satisfying!

[pierswife]

you want more poketeddy lore, you GOT IT

so. funny you should mention the virbank area, cuz their dad does a lot of work in the virbank complex 👀 and at the cold storage in driftveil b4 it became the pwt. so sadly since their dad worked all over the region they didn’t see him a whole lot as a kid. luckily their mom’s a poke mart employee so they see her all the time, and once they were able to journey on their own you bet one of the first things they did was figure out where their dad was working and go visit him

their family has a pet growlithe :) so that’s technically their first pokemon? kinda? their actual first pokemon is a rowlet they were given on a trip to alola, and the first pokemon they caught themselves was a stufful!

and one last thing before i stop rambling, remember the battle institute in nimbasa city? i was never any good at it in the games. but what if it was an actual university? and teddy graduated from it as an amazing pokemon trainer? i really wanna give them a unova battle institute letterman jacket cuz i love letterman jackets. varsity single and double battler babyyyyyyyyyy. and their senior thesis so to speak was on pokemon natures and how their personalities affect their stats. which Then inspired them to become a professor in that field!

In the most loving and positive way possible, I am shoving this in my mouth and eating it-- I love ALL of this. I love how you turned the Battle Institute into an actual university like??? Seriously it is always SO good when people take a small bit from Pokemon and make it their own (kinda like how I said fuck it and yoinked Floccesy Ranch and said "mine now" /j). And the research topic!!!! It's so good!!!! Pokemon natures professor!!!

[fereldanwench]

I saw @inquisitor-julia do this 15-question survey thing and thought it looked like fun, so I'm yoinking it! 💙

1. Are you named after anyone? My middle name was loosely inspired by an actress, but otherwise, nope.

2. When was the last time you cried? Like full-blown unhappy tears? I think last October. I got kind of teary-eyed on Tuesday though because someone sent me a nice thank-you email at work, lmao. (Luckily it was a WFH day.)

3. Do you have kids? Nope, nor will I.

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot? Only around people who I know will understand it's sarcasm

5. What’s the first thing you notice about people? I guess it depends on the context/setting. Physically, in person, probably eyes or mouth since that's where I tend to look if we're talking. But more broadly, it's kind of just... their vibes, for lack of a better word, lmao.

6. What’s your eye colour? Dark brown

7. Scary movies or happy endings? Depends on my mood! Normally gravitate toward happy endings, though, because I am a sap.

8. Any special talents? I wouldn't say anything I do is particularly "special." Although my family jokes that I'm a cat whisperer because I can get my brother's grumpy cat to cuddle with me, but that's just persistence and having no fear of claws, lmao.

9. Where were you born? California, near San Diego

10. What are your hobbies? Ogling old men, playing the vidya games, making stuff for my favorite pixel people, reading less frequently than I should, rewatching comfort shows from the 90s/00s, overanalyzing everything, complaining about my job but also complaining about what I have to do to get another job, hoarding scented candles

11. Have you any pets? Two cats! Ares, a red color point who is about 15 years old, and Athena, a tortie who is about 10 years old. My babies are getting old and it makes me sad.

12. What sports do you play/have played? I ran track and played volleyball when I was a kid, but never really got into sports in an official capacity, so to speak. I liked playing casual football games with my brother and our neighborhood friends, though.

13. How tall are you? 5'8"/173 cm

14. Favourite subject in school? I liked most subjects, really. It was more about the class and teacher than the topic, I think. I was always partial to things that were more lecture-based than discussion-based--Any class where I could just take out a notebook and doodle while I listened to a lecture was 10/10.

15. Dream job? Not needing one, lmao.

Tagging @lizzy--wizzy, @theharlotofferelden, @miss--river, @arborstone, and @commander-krios (no pressure, as always 💙)

[primordyalsoul]

SONGS TO WRITE REI !

whether  it  be  melodies  that  give  you  inspiration  for  your  muse  or  songs  that  get  you  into  the  writing  mood   —   pick  10  songs  you  find  that  give  you  the  urge,   the  drive,   or  the  creativity  to  write  your  muse   !!

▶ TRACK 01. PRIDE - KENDRICK LAMAR

I know the walls, they can listen, I wish they could talk back/ The hurt becomes repetition, the love almost lost that/ Sick venom in men and women overcome with pride/ A perfect world is never perfect, only filled with lies

▶ TRACK 02. VALLEY OF THE DOLLS - MARINA

In the valley of the dolls we sleep, got a hole inside of me/ Living with identities that do not belong to me/ In my life, I got this far, now I'm ready for the last hoorah/ Dying like a shooting star in the valley, in the valley, in the valley

Back to zero, here we go again, again/ Racing down into oblivion/ Back to zero, here we go/ I can feel it coming to the end, the end

▶ TRACK 03. VIVA LA VIDA - COLDPLAY

I used to rule the world/ Seas would rise when I gave the word/ Now in the morning I sleep alone/ Sweep the streets I used to own

▶ TRACK 04. WHY DO I CRY - MARGO GURYAN

Why do I cry?/ On a Sunday morning/ After Saturday night, was such a wonderful night/ I should be glad/ Be glad that I could spend one night a week with you

▶TRACK 05. ELEANOR RIGBY - THE BEATLES

Eleanor Rigby/ Died in the church and was buried along with her name/ Nobody came Father McKenzie/ Wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave/ No one was saved

All the lonely people (ah, look at all the lonely people)/ Where do they all come from?/ All the lonely people (ah, look at all the lonely people)/ Where do they all belong?

▶TRACK 06. ME AND MY HUSBAND - MITSKI

I steal a few breaths from the world for a minute/ And then I'll be nothing forever/ And all of my memories/ And all of the things I have seen/ Will be gone/ With my eyes with my body with me

▶TRACK 07. GOODBYE TO LOVE - CARPENTERS

I'll say goodbye to love/ No one ever cared if I should live or die/ Time and time again the chance for love has passed me by/ And all I know of love/ Is how to live without it/ I just can't seem to find it

So I've made my mind up/ I must live my life alone/ And though it's not the easy way/ I guess I've always known/ I'd say goodbye to love

▶TRACK 08. STICK FIGURE - RADWIMPS

しかしまったくもってその甲斐もなく　結局モノマネはモノマネでしかなく 一人、また一人と去ってゆき　人間が剥がれ落ちるのです

(But even with all that, in reality it doesn’t make a difference… in the end, an imitation’s nothing more than just that/ People leave me, one by one… And my humanity starts to slough off)

▶TRACK 09. BLUE MONDAY - NEW ORDER

I see a ship in the harbor/ I can and shall obey/ But if it wasn't for your misfortunes/ I'd be a heavenly person today/ And I thought I was mistaken/ And I thought I heard you speak/ Tell me how do I feel?/ Tell me now, how should I feel?

Now I stand here waiting.

▶TRACK 10. AFTER THE STORM - KALI UCHIS

So if you need a hero (if you need a hero)/ Just look in the mirror (just look in the mirror)/ No one's gonna save you now/ So you better save yourself/ And everybody's hurting/ Everybody's going through it/ But you just can't give up now/ 'Cause you gotta save yourself (Yeah, I gotta hang on)

yoinked from: @slayersaided tagging: @nuiruk , @madeimpact (muse of your choice!) , @zhonde (muse of your choice!) , @sorrowmarked (muse of your choice!), @sincrcwn​  (muse of your choice!), @autopsyd , @civara , @decievres , @namidabashibridge​ and anyone else who wants to, say i tagged you <3​

[spearxwind]

choose whoever you want for this but here are my questions >:) 💤🌌📣(specifically the voice claim one)📎🚆

💤 SLEEPING - do they fall asleep easily? what helps them sleep?

You know for all the times I think about my ocs sleeping I can barely come up with an answer. All of them like napping!! Just lie down on the ground curled up with a friend and a loved one and pass the fuck out!!

🌌 MILKY WAY - what was the inspiration behind your oc? what was the first thing you decided about them?

Adri was a dream :) I was a fucked up guy and I killed my peers and then got hunted for it. One of the first things I decided for him tho was that he had the confidence and ego of a God (which I had never done before with a character) and uh. You see where he's come to now

Siege was also a monster I saw in my dream and he fucking ate me it was horrible <3 and the first thing i did when i woke up was yoink the design and decide he eats people (as one does)

📣 MEGAPHONE - how loud are they? what do they speak like? got a voice claim?

Gonna answer for adri it's Essenger's voice bc i have no self control but also this song makes me terminally crazy in the head bc it's rly himcore. And I can't really imagine him with another voice now (except for adri it sounds mega fucked up rather than normal but u know how it goes)

Also for talas, his voice is super deep so it's probably something like this song (specifically the chorus but ESPECIALLY the bridge at the end where the music just fades to a guitar and you hear the deepest voice. i know songs arent really good references. but im fucking sorry i dont know actors and i refuse to acknowledge them)

However octane is voiced by Critikal :) thanks for coming to my TED talk

I don't really have voice claims for anyone else bc I'm very bad for that :')

📎 PAPERCLIP - a random fact.

Knife used to be a street cage fighter before she got literally kidnapped and turned into a weapon!

Siege IS canonically referred to as a 'grandpa' by the locals and its the best decision ive ever made

Connon's ship is called "Fate" because you cannot run from it :)

🚆 TRAIN - what is their answer to the trolley problem?

ADRI WOULD BE THE TROLLEY ITSELF, AND BABY HE IS MULTI TRACK DRIFTING!!!

[ihaveatypeanditstrickstergods]

I posted 425 times in 2022

110 posts created (26%)

315 posts reblogged (74%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@phoenixyfriend

@consultingcriminalatyourservice

@shenanigans-and-imagines

@occidentalavian

@wrenhyperfixates

I tagged 326 of my posts in 2022

Only 23% of my posts had no tags

#i need a queue tag - 141 posts

#exu calamity - 55 posts

#critical role - 41 posts

#final fantasy xiv - 26 posts

#kitty! - 26 posts

#exandria unlimited - 19 posts

#exandria unlimited calamity - 19 posts

#ffxiv - 16 posts

#ruins of avalir - 15 posts

#acofaf - 14 posts

Longest Tag: 125 characters

#or unsleeping city but that's the only dimension 20 i've watched a significant amount of so don't expect anything beyond that

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

246 notes - Posted December 6, 2022

#4

Y'all talking about Caleb being lonely is introvert erasure

351 notes - Posted November 18, 2022

#3

Dumb Theory: Wanessa is actually named Vanessa. She just remembered that you're not supposed to tell fey your name and panicked.

440 notes - Posted August 26, 2022

#2

Nasty Ends I want to see the Exandria Unlimited: Calamity cast come to:

- Zerxus is clearly a Fallen Paladin waiting to happen, so I really want him to get yoinked by a Betrayer God (Asmodeus seems likely, given the dream at the beginning) and be responsible for the death of at least one of the party members

- Loquacious and Laerryn are clearly not over each other, so I want them to reconcile just before the end (or one to die when the other is just about to confess that they still love them)

- I want Nydas to go out in an ultimately futile blaze of glory, ideally protecting some children (if, for example, he goes out trying to keep a corrupted Zerxus away from his (Zerxus's) son, I will weep in the best way possible)

- Cerrit has big "discovered an awful truth that could change everything but gets killed on the way to reveal it" energy. I really can't imagine him going out any other way.

- As for Patia, I just really want her to die at the foot of her grandfather's statue.

442 notes - Posted May 27, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

There is an old folk song that is sung in Exandria.  It goes by a lot of titles--In Marquet it’s commonly known as The Liar’s Love, while natives of Xhorhas would know it as The Fey Groom, and the elves of Syngorn’s version has a title that translates to “The Sacrifice of Truth for Love.”

It is a story ballad that tells the story of a fey who journeyed to the Material Plane in search of stories (interestingly, the Dwarvish version here uses a word that translates closer to “truth” than “story” and shares a root with their word for “news”).  While there, the fey meets and falls in love with a brilliant woman from a city in the clouds.  The two are happy together, until a day that the woman’s brilliance backfires, and the fey, who had left his home out of admiration for the stories created by mortals living their lives, chooses to forge false stories of his own to protect her.  The two are driven apart by this deception, until one day the city in the clouds begins to fall.  In her brilliance, the woman is able to save it, but nearly falls in the process--until the fey speaks one last truth to inspire her to finish (the version from the Dwendalian Empire has an extra verse where while the fey is able to help the brilliant woman save the city, the two still die shortly after).

The origin of the song is unknown--there are variations from all over the world, and no one has ever been able to determine which version came first.  The lyrics’ reference to a city in the clouds has led some scholars to speculate that the song may be referencing events of the Age of Arcanum, but most consider that unlikely.  After all, there are many stories in Exandria of a mortal stumbling into the Feywild and falling in love with some enchanting faerie they met there, but there are almost no stories of a fey who came to the Material Plane and fell in love.

1,935 notes - Posted September 16, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[chocoenvy]

"i hate that i still care for you" part 2

part one part three

please i was listening to a song and it was such bomb inspiration for this. i just NEED this kind of angst in my life okay? It's fun. it highkey doesn't feel like a part two but it's set in the same timeline, universe, etc. so it fits it's fine

Warnings: Gore (not that hardcore or in-depth but g o r e), cult behaviors, slight platonic yandere behavior, cursing, angst

"I thought I loved you but then I saw the rain. I blinked, you were not the same."

You had caught wind of something odd happening. The sky was odd, darker than usual in the bright Mondstat. The birds worriedly fluttered around you before flying away. Young animals sought sanctuary around you. The wind had picked up speed, and the earth was worried (it was an odd thing to say but when you had described the feeling to Zhongli he seemed to understand).

You followed the wind and asked the animals where the problem was, "I'll take care of it." You comfortingly pet the young boars and foxes.

You rushed there, the worry from the passing wildlife making you nervous. You could hear the commotion from afar and you ran to find out what was happening. You arrived and found three angry archons standing over a poor soul on the ground.

"Imposter!" Zhongli rumbled, the earth shaking with him. His shout made you flinch hard. Covering your head with your hands and ducking under cover. "How dare you impersonate our god!"

"I'm not-!"

"Quiet!" Venti shouted.

That's not my windborne bard. You shivered, That's not the archon of freedom.

"You will not defame our god this way." The sky blackened with Ei's voice.

The anger, the fury in their voices sent shivers down your spine. You were frozen behind your cover, hiding from the archons like you had to do so many times before. Your breathing and heart rate rapidly picked up pace, begging you to run, but you were frozen.

They're going to kill me. They're gonna find me. They're gonna kill me. Run run run run run! Your legs were useless though, you merely gripped onto your head desperately. Wishing you would just dissapear.

"Stop-!" A voice cried desperately, a sob choking them.

This isn't about me. You whipped your head around, peaking out to see red blood staining the ground. The poor person clutching an arm they no longer had. Their eyes were wild with fear and the same color as yours.

Zhongli's spear was coated in blood.

Anger sparked in your chest, quickly catching fire and spreading to every corner of your body until you were shaking from rage.

You stood up, confidence in your godly abilites making you unafriad (how quick you could open up the character screen and yoink their five star weapons and artifacts for yourself).

"Stop!" You screamed. They froze. Their eyes almost as afraid as the poor writhing person on the ground.

You immediately ran to their side, you frankly didn't know jack shit about healing but your inventory was stock full of healing items. You opened it up and pulled out what you could, praying it would be enough.

"Shh, shh," You cooed, "It's hard but can you please eat this for me? It'll make you feel better, I promise."

They sniffled, taking a hesitant bite out of it. They didn't look in the mood to eat, in fact they looked ready to throw up, but they obeyed you anyways.

They immediately looked relieved, and their bleeding slowed down a bit.

"Can you take another bite? Please?" You pratically begged, holding it up to their lips.

They shakily did so.

"Your-"

"Shut. Up." You growled, refusing to look at them, "I'll deal with you three later."

It took all of your will to not tighten your grip on the food or the poor person, but you continued to feed them until the food was gone and they were completely healed. Sadly, you didn't think you'd be able to get them their left arm back.

"You're-" They hiccuped, "Thank-thank you." They sniffled, their breathing so erratic they could barely speak, "I'm- so-sorry-"

"No, you have nothing to apologize for." Your gaze softened, "I'm sorry I let this happen to you. Please. Breath with me okay?"

"O-okay."

You used all the techniques you knew and could think of the calm the person down, ordering the archons to go away, you'd talk to them later.

Once they were calm, they pratically passed out in your arms. You sighed in relief, they seemed okay to you at least but you needed to get them a doctor. You pursed your lips and closed your eyes, holding onto the person tight. When you opened your eyes, you were at your teapot realm, Albedo and Sucrose sitting near where you had teleported to.

"Albedo!" You called, "Sucrose!" The two perked up and looked at you, "Come here I need your help!" At the panic in your tone, the two rushed as quickly as they could to your side.

"Your grace? What's-?"

"They're hurt! Bad! They didn't do anything wrong and need help please!" You passed the person to Albedo, who cautiously carried them.

"Your grace, we don't have all the supplies here-" Albedo muttered.

"I can get us to your lab, please, we just need to make sure they're okay."

They couldn't say no to you, especially with how desperate you looked. You left the person with Albedo and Sucrose, albeit reluctently, but they were loyal. They would listen to you.

Your fists clenched.

The archons didn't.

You summoned the archons to your throne room where Khaenri'ah was being rebuilt as extra salt in the wound. You had dissmissed everyone else, so it was only the four of you.

They begged immediately. Squabbling words like fucking rats.

"What had I told you?" You gritted your teeth.

They hesitated, and you wanted to throw something.

"To not hurt someone that looked like you." They muttered.

It made your stomach squirm and heart palpitate in rage at how much they looked like children being scolded. They weren't children, they had almost murdered someone for looking like you.

You opened your mouth but then it hit you.

They weren't scared of you.

You should've been glad, you wanted to be glad.

They were supposed to be your lovely friends. Softly playing the lyre, amazing tea reccomendations, beautiful jewelery, flowers, gliding together, stories from centuries ago, calming rain, playing in the rain, trips to the sacred sakura.

They were supposed to be how the game depicted. When you were just friends with them and not a god, they were amazing. But their devotion was too powerful.

They weren't friends anymore, they were out of line worshipers.

"I had told you that if there was somebody purposefully trying to impersonate me then I would deal with it." You growled, "Does my word mean nothing to you?"

"No! Your grace it's just..." Venti protested, "We didn't want them to have any priveledge of seeing you. Of being in your presence. We wanted them to be hurt so they'd never even think of doing it again."

There was a sadistic gleam in Venti's eyes. You couldn't shake it. There was no sign of that in the game, or whenever he talked to or about anyone else.

You glared down at them, "The amount of faith the three of you have in me is disspointing and damn near insulting. I can take care of this problem without nearly murdering someone. It shouldn't even be a problem!" You threw your hands in the air, your vision colored red, "You treated me the same way! I never wanted to see that again and yet you refused to listen to me!" Tears pricked the back of your eyes threateningly, "That person now has to live with the same fear I do for something they can't change! I have the power to stop unecessary violence and yet when I tell you to do something! You refused to listen!"

You were breathing heavily, your vision and fists shaking. The three archons were on their knees, their tears dripping on the floor, and their limbs shaking from fear and shame.

No, not fear. They still don't fear me.

The anger dissipated, just a bit, replaced with indifference and dissapointment. "How many chances have I given you three? With how much you've hurt me." You muttered more to yourself, but they still heard.

They stayed silent.

You sighed, leanded back in your throne, and hummed, "Do you archons have regeneration abilities?" You smiled. It was empty and didn't reach your eyes.

[doodler-jpeg]

Life [Wilbur Soot/Fundy]

BOOOM HI HELLO HOW ARE YOU UH UM SO I WAS INSPIRED WHILE I WAS BORED AND THEN THIS IS HOW THIS ONESHOT CAME TO BE. ITS NOT GOOD, BUT ITS DECENT. You’re gonna be taking Sally’s place so, uh, I’m sorry, Sally, you’re just another salmon. Still love you though  THIS TOOK SO LONG TO MAKE DEAR GOD ITS BEEN IN THE WORKS FOR LIKE A MONTH LMAO

ALSO, KEEP IN MIND THIS IS C!WILBUR/SMP!WILBUR

⚠️CUSSING, AFAB READER, PREGNANCY, THIS IS A REALLY LONG ONE SHOT OH MY GOD, PLATONIC FUNDY RELATIONSHIP SO YEAH⚠️

Pronouns: she/her or they/them [you’re referred to as wife, mom,, that stuff, but you can change those if you want]

You hummed as you strained out your clothing beside the river near your home. A smile graced your face, [Eye Colour] eyes glinting happily in the warm sunlight of that fine summer day. Autumn would soon turn the land into a seemingly barren wasteland, though, so you decided to savor every last bit of happiness the hot days brought you. 

Hanging the large amount of clothing upon thin clothing lines, you dumped out your bucket and made sure nothing got in the lake. Walking back inside of your home, you set the buckets in the corner of the cozy cottage and walked back outside. Your brown boots thudded quietly against the cobblestone path that lead into the woods around your home that would eventually be covered in snow.

A sudden childish giggle made you turn to the fields that were a ways away from your house, right in front of the sparsely scattered trees to the right of your little house. You furrowed your brows in confusion as a blur of yellow, white, and red rushed over to you.

“Hello there.” You couldn’t help but stare as the child looked up at you silently. “What are you doing here, little one?” He only blushed, his face flushing a vivid red before he ran off. You shrugged and continued your trek into the forest.

//

You watched as flakes of snow fell delicately onto the muted green coloured grass, bundled tightly in a burrito of quilts that you and your mother has made together. You shuffled slightly from your position on your warm bed, closing your eyes as you waited for sleep to consume you.

It seemed life had other plans, though, as a faint light came toward your home, edging closer and closer until you could make out a figure, their clothing a great contrast to the paw snow. They were shivering visibly, clutching their arms as their lantern shook in their hand.

You frowned as you peeled your blankets off of you, pulling your boots on quickly. Grabbing a lantern cage, you lit the candle inside of it and hurried outside, feeling nervous as the figure hurried over to you.

Soon enough, they were standing in front of you, a miserable look on their face, their eyes red and puffy as their teeth chattered together.

“Come inside,” you didn’t care for introductions or your safety. This person seemed nice. “I’ll start a fire. Uh- there should be a few blankets on the sofa. Would you like anything to drink? Warm milk, tea? I’m not gonna offer coffee because it’s late, so I’m sorry about that.”

“Just water, please,” they croaked out. “I’m sorry for the intrusion. I was headed off in search of territory to claim. Turns out I chose the wrong day. God, it’s cold.” You let out a quiet laugh as you carefully tossed some wood into your fireplace, lighting the material on fire. Almost immediately, the flames grew and you sat up, placing your flint and steel on the fireplace mantle.

“I’ll go get you your water. Go warm up.” You urged before you walked into the kitchen to get the brunet some water.

//

““And then Tommy ran off!” Wilbur howled with laughter as he told the story of how he managed to lose his father in the forest close to his family home. ““Phil was looking for us for hours!” You smiled at the story as you carefully sewed up your friend’s heavy coat, making sure the patches were relatively the same colour as the rest of the jacket.

“You never really tell me about your family, so why are you telling stories now?” You commented, threading the needle in your hand through the fabric and back out of it, pulling the thread tightly. You snipped it with your scissors, placing the needle down to look for any other holes as Wilbur flushed a bright red.

“W-well— one day, I want you to meet my family, so- this sounds so fucking stupid. Never mind, forget about it.” He covered his face in his hands as you bummed, picking up a patch and laying it out on the brown fabric.

“What you’re saying is that you would introduce me to your family because you like me that much, huh?” No answer came from Wilbur, though he did let out a flustered groan as you chortled.

//

You placed a kiss upon your new boyfriend’s cheek, causing the brunet to laugh as he shrunk away from your lips

“Stop it,” you only grinned at the man, kissing various areas of his face in retaliation. Wilbur laughed harder, pushing you away gently as his face scrunched. ““It tickles!”

You grabbed his face in your hands and he looked into your eyes for a moment before you began attacking his face with kisses. When you pulled back for a break, Wilbur copied your actions from earlier and rubbed his thumb across your cheeks with a smile. He leaned his forehead on yours and let out a breathy sigh, closing his eyes as he basked in the moment.

“I love you so fucking much, [Y/N].”

//

““Dont be scared, darling,” Wilbur mused as he gently rubbed his thumb in circles on the back of your hand, lightly squeezing every few rotations. “Techno’s made sure to keep any weapons away and Tommy might be a little less wreckless. I’ll make sure to tell them during dinner.” You nodded uncertainly, playing nervously with the bracelet Wilbur had made you way back when the two of you first started as friends.

Wilbur rapped his knuckles on the door, his other hand never once letting go of yours as the two of you waited. A bit of shouting was heard through the door, slightly muffled, though it was evident that it was coming closer.

The door was flung open by a blond boy, his blue eyes shooting us to meet Wil’s not even a second after he opened the door. A grin was on the boys face as he turned and shouted for Phil [who Wilbur had told you was his father]. Soon enough, a blond man with a bucket hat trodden over, frowning at Tommy.

“Listen, motherfucker, you may be living here, but I’m not gonna fucking let you live if you keep fuckin shoutin.” You froze nervously and glanced over at your boyfriend. He just sent a small, awkward smile onto reassure you before he turned to look down at the two.

“Are you really gonna argue in front of my wife?” Wilbur piped in, feeling himself become giddy as Tommy and Phil shot their heads over to look at you.

“You brought a girl over?!” Tommy yelled in surprise as he stumbled back, eyes wide as he observed your movements skeptically.

“Wil? Can you come over here real quick? I just need to talk to you.” Phil forced a smile as he grabbed the taller man’s ear and yoinked him over to a different room, leaving Tommy and you alone.

“Hi,” you smiled nervously, raising a hand in a half assed wave.

“Do you happen to be American?” The blond asked, leaning his face over to stare at you.

“I mean- I’m a water nymph. I don’t really know if that counts because we usually just have different accents, but we never take into account where anyone’s from.” You laughed, scratching your cheek.

“Well where are you from?” Tommy urged, crossing his arms.

“To be specific, I came from the North Sea right by the Netherlands. I don’t really think that’s important though.” You shrugged.

“So you’re Dutch? Speak it.”

“Im not necessarily Dutch, I was just born in the North Sea, Tommy- I think you’re a Tommy. You seem like a Tommy.” You cleared up, ““The only reason I learned English was to communicate with certain humans.”

“Okay.” The boy sighed, shoulders slumping forward as you let out an amused chortle, “I’ll leave you alone. For now.” Tommy backed up, turning into a room while a big, burly pig person ducked under the doorway, a large sword in hand and an uninterested expression on his face. As he turned to the door, he spotted you and his eyes widened momentarily before going back to their half lidded position.

“Who’re you? Phil didn’t- oh. Oh, today was that day. Oh my god, how could I forget it?” The hybrid smacked his forehead harshly, ““I’m so sorry.”

You laughed, waving your hand dismissively as the pig moved to the side to let you in. You carefully stepped into the warm house and the tall hybrid closed the door behind you.

“Dinner’s nearly done, so you can go sit down in the living room. If you need anything, Phil has ears all over the place. Just look at those crows.” Techno motioned over to the few crows that perched themselves on the window, letting out quiet caws. You waved at the birds and they flapped their wings in response.

“They seem nice.”

//

You sat next to your husband, hand intertwined with his as Phil smiled over at the two of you.

“So, anything new happening with you two?” The blond man inquired, placing his hands on the table. 

““I mean,” Wilbur laughed, turning over to look at you. “Would you like to tell them, dear?” You nodded, a grin on your face as you sat as straight as you could.

“I’m pregnant,” you said, your voice surprisingly calm. Tommy let out a shocked ‘‘what the fuck??’, while Techno choked on his food, slamming a fist onto his chest.

Phil was quiet, eyes wide in shock as he took in the information.

“Pregnant? With Wilbur’s kid?” You nodded, swinging Wilbur’s hand as Tommy cheered.

“Im gonna be a fuckin uncle! Yeah! I’ll be the best damn uncle ever!” He cackled, leaning back as Techno snorted.

““Can I teach them PvP?” You and your husband glanced over at each other before shaking your head.

“Maybe when they’re old enough to know what they’re doing.”

//

““Hello, my precious baby,” you cooed gently, holding the newborn as they let out a quiet sigh. ““My baby. You look just like your father.” A warm but tired smile was on your face as your baby opened their eyes, brown meeting [Eye Colour].

“Love, is the baby okay? Is she doing alright?” Wilbur called nervously through the door, to which you laughed.

“Yes, they’re doing great,” placing a gentle kiss on the baby’s nose, they brought a hand up and lightly tapped their nose.

//

““Fundy! Come here!” You cheered, reaching your arms out to the toddler. They giggled, waddling over to you. Their scab covered knees were littered with bandages and the red overalls they wore were much unlike what Wilburs would have wanted your child to wear, but it was your kid! They deserved the best!

““My precious baby,” you placed a kiss on their cheek, causing the brown haired child to giggle and wipe the kiss from their cheek. You grinned, littering their face in kisses as they squirmed, ““My little champion!”

“Yah! Cham-champion!” They babbled, bringing up a finger to chew on as you set them down and smoothed out your dress. 

““Alright, sweetheart, papa will be here soon, so make sure to tell him what you want to tell him, alright?” Your boy nodded, a goofy grin on his face as he reached over to one of the toys you had brought.

//

You cradled your son’s head as he sobbed, shaking his head in denial as to what had just happened.

“He-he’s gone, mama!” He choked out, wrapping his arms around you tightly. His tears stained your shirt, though the feeling didn’t bother you as you rocked your son back and forth, combing your fingers through his hair.

“Fundy, it’s okay,” you cooed, ““He doesn’t have to live with all the mistakes he made in the past anymore. Who knows, maybe he’ll come back?” 

““But what if he doesn’t? That was his last life and- and it’s gone! My dad’s gone!” Letting out a pained wail, he continued to sob. And you let him.

He had gone through so much.

//

““Who the hell are you and what are you doing around my son?” You sneered, standing in front of your son as the transparent figure stared at you curiously.

“You don’t remember me?” They asked, voice echoing as they tilted your head. “I- [Y/N], it’s me! Your husband! I- I am your husband, right?”

“My husband didn’t push away his son and focus on a failed country more than his own fucking family.” You loaded your crossbow, aiming it at the ghost. ““You didn’t come to his birthday parties, didn’t get him anything, you barely paid attention to him when your country was in the spotlight! You’re no husband to me.”

“Mama-” Fundy gulped nervously, ““Mama, please.”

“You know what, whoever the fuck you are? You’re no damn husband to me and you never will be. Now leave me and my son alone, for fuck’s sake.”

The ghost was silent as you turned, leading the man beside you toward the house at the top of the hill, though a small smile made its way onto his face.

“She’s the one I married?” He murmured, moving his hand to where his heart was, “Was she really the love of my life?”

[wolf-zer0]

Ya want some WORLD-BUILDING????

Have some world-building!

*REMINDER* This is based on characters, not real people.  I’m not going to be writing any shipping/smut content, especially involving minors.  Please be respectful of content creators’ boundaries!

The Crystallos Empire (AKA the Antarctic Empire)

Largest the countries (takes up most of the southern half of the map) but agreed to stop expansion after a bloody battle with Valeriana 

Centered on a large snowy mountain in the middle of the tundra 

Mostly stays out of other countries’ business, but will step in as a last resort 

Has some of the most well-known citizens in the world because… they’re pure chaos 

Attack at your own peril 

Has vast deposits of ores and gemstones, and the metalwork from Crystallos (mainly weaponry, armor, and jewelry) is highly sought after 

The only known food export is potatoes.  Wonder why… 

Associated Colors: Royal blue, light blue, crimson, gold 

Aesthetic/Vibes: gothic vibes, white stone and large stain glass windows, not particularly opulent or extravagant but still impressively royal looking, think catholic cathedral but brighter and with less Jesus (can you tell I’m a recovering catholic yet?), spires shooting into the sky that’s visible even during a blizzard, cavernous halls full of sunlight and echoes, snow that can comfort and kill in equal measure

Notable Members:

Philza Minecraft:

Angel

Visible wings look like a harpy eagle

Probably the most powerful person in the world

Didn’t mean to start an empire it kinda just happened

Also didn’t mean to adopt kids but his Dadza alarm went off

Usually kind but will not hesitate to use violence when necessary

Technoblade: 

Is pig.  

With braid.  

At least 8 feet all

Extremely adept fighter, skilled in almost every form of combat.  

Not a people pig, prefers his potato farm to being a prince

Hella protective of his family but will not hesitate to bully when given the opportunity

Wilbur Soot: 

Muse who can influence people through song

Can’t totally control people (yet) but can subtly push them in a certain direction

The public face of the imperial family

Would rather insult than fight but can and will cut a bitch if he needs to

Because inspiration is fickle he’ll have some … strange episodes (see: the Sand Incident)

Tommy Innit: 

Child.  

Chaos incarnate.

Is he human?  Is he not?  No one’s sure yet.  

But he’s a gremlin and a hellion and willing to throw down at any moment.  

Has a surprisingly caring side, but no one outside his immediate circle has ever really seen it.  

The Kingdom of Valeriana (aka Dream SMP)

Oldest of the countries 

Located in the middle of a massive forest at the center of the main continent 

Home of the Fae Courts

Ruled by a single king who is chosen by a tournament held every 100 years 

Known for causing chaos in other countries, but after an Incident with Crystallos they have kept their meddling to annoyances rather than outright declarations of war 

Considered the most magical of all the countries, and traditional enchantments almost all come from Valeriana 

Associated Colors: neon green (duh), bright yellow, forest green, light brown, blood red (more saturated than Crystallos), rose gold 

Aesthetic/Vibes: spooky art nouveau (idk what else to call it), lots of plants and nature but with an edge of danger, poison gardens and carnivorous plants, hedge mazes that lead everywhere and nowhere, laughter deep in the forest, deer with eyes just a hair too human, Alice in Wonderland on steroids 

Notable Members: 

Dream: 

Current king of the Fae

As long as he’s touching the ground, he knows where everything and everyone is

Can terraform

Unlimited in the boundaries of his kingdom

Much more limited outside of his realm

No one has ever seen what he really looks like, even before he took the throne

Since people outside the kingdom don’t know who he is, he’ll wander the outside world and challenge random people to fights

Never says what happens to the losers

Only one person has ever beaten him: Technoblade

He might have a lil obsession around Techno, but it’s fine.  

A little competition is healthy.

Sapnap:  

High Lord of the Summer Court

Dream’s right hand man

Likes fire a little too much probably

George: 

Human that Dream took a liking too and yoinked from the mortal world

Dream and Sapnap made him immortal but he hasn’t realized it yet.  

Skeppy: 

Changeling who started growing diamond-like scales across his body

Is vaguely allied with Dream simply because he’s Fae, but is more loyal to BBH

Like a lot of other Fae, likes to make challenges but he makes them less deadly.  Not totally safe, just less deadly.

Badboyhalo: 

Demon who was kicked out of hell because he was too nice

Found Skeppy in the Overworld and the rest is history

Cursed by the Demon King that the moment he says a swear word, the entire world would end, but can never tell anyone that he is cursed

The Merchant’s Guild

Not quite a country, more of a international power 

Oversees the largest and most important businesses in the world 

Makes sure that no laws are broken between different countries and everyone gets a fair shake 

Has a very large reach, so some members have dabbled in espionage for various groups 

From the outside it looks like the whole thing is kept together with duct tape and hope, but its actually pretty functional

The main members are just… a lot. 

More concerned with keeping things working than influencing other nations (although there are still jokes about it) 

The most valuable thing they trade in is information

They have a lot of fingers in a lot of pots, but are trusted with their information 

Associated Colors: dark blue, teal, deep yellow, burnt orange, copper

Aesthetic/Vibes: art deco babie, angles and lines, very modern and streamlined, sleek suits instead of armor or robes, whiskey in a crystal glass, wars won by words not weapons, knowing when someone’s lying without them saying a word

Notable Members:

Schlatt: 

Ram-man with a plan

Not that bad of a dude, but is in a position where he is constantly in possession of highly sensitive information and that does things to someone’s mental state

Drinks pretty regularly but not a full blown alcoholic

Trying his best

Can be a snarky asshole sometimes

Quackity: 

Lucky duck.  literally.  

Duck man with an uncanny ability to absorb good luck from people (typically Fundy) and apply it to himself

No one knows when or why he joined the guild, but now he’s there

Pretty damn smart, but hides it behind humor

Fundy: 

FOX!  

With BEANS!

Trying his goddamn best but life (and Quackity) make it very difficult

Usually is stuck with the shit end of the stick when getting jobs/contracts/etc. 

Wilbur being his dad is an inside joke that’s gotten a life of its own.  

(No Fishfuckers Allowed!!!)

Puffy: 

Badass sheep lady who captains a ship and commands her own armada

Schlatt’s sister

Also part of Storm’s Landing’s council and acts as the main liaison between them 

Do not fuck with her she will kick your ass.

Storm’s Landing

Port city that became a country after becoming a safe-haven for seafarers

Led by a council of important people, with the head of the council known as the Admiral 

Closest ties to Crystallos and the Merchant’s guild because: 

1) Clingy supremacy!!!!

2) it’s a good idea for a guild to have good ties with a large sea power

3) all the dads for Tubbo

Associated Colors: navy blue, scarlet, white, brass 

Aesthetic/Vibes: Nautical (obviously) with heavy “Age of Exploration” vibes, barnacles crusted on treasure chests, think tall ships and pirates and shit, respecting the ocean because holy shit she’s gonna smash your boat to pieces on a whim because she can, has an edge of darkness because when you go deep enough who knows what you’ll find down there (maybe mermaids???) 

Notable Members:

CaptainSparklez: 

elected to Admiral after the previous Admiral went missing on a routine voyage 

(idk who it used to be, I just wanted to make him new at leading)

not 100% sure about the whole thing, but handling it pretty okay

still answers to “Captain” instead of “Admiral”.  

Niki:

If Storm’s Landing had a queen, would be it unquestionably

Never gets robbed even though there’s a well known “underbelly” in town

Could probably end wars with her croissants

Has a significant history of empathic abilities in her family, so she can tell how people are feeling at all times

Eret: 

Owns a magic store in town that really only shows itself to people who need it.  

Having a bad mental health day?  

He’s got a warm blanket and a cup of your favorite warm beverage waiting.  

Dysphoric?  

She’s got the perfect outfit and affirming words already prepared.  

Trying to find that specific book but can’t remember the title or plot, only vaguely know the color of the cover?  

They’ve got it.  

Ranboo:  

Not sure why he decided to move to a seaside city when he’s not chill with water, but now he’s here and he’s too anxious to leave

Known for teleporting around town randomly when nervous, and the people who find him are always willing to let a hand if he gets lost

Tubbo: 

This boi!  Has so many dads!  

Epitome of “Kindness does not equal weakness.”  

While a lot of people underestimate him, he’s not some fragile little flower

He hasn’t fully grown into his ability to speak to animals (he can only understand bees right now)

He’s just as much of a shit stirrer as Tommy.  

When they meet up, look out.  Something’s getting destroyed.

The Astral Academy

An independent university focused on advancing knowledge in the arcane arts and engineering 

Not a country, but has the political power of one due to their vast resources and building prowess 

People can’t enter unless they are invited or have been given entry as a student 

There are a bunch of potential doors scattered around the continent that could lead to the Academy, but no one is sure where the real entrance is 

Associated Colors: royal purple, lilac, sepia, sky blue, silver, bronze Aesthetic/Vibes: bright academia, massive libraries with bookshelves stuffed to bursting, workshop benches covered in scrap and prototypes, open air observatories, runes waiting to be translated, the crackling energy that comes from successful collaboration, falling down a research rabbit hole, bursting with pride after a project is a success

Notable Members: 

Sam

Purpled

Ponk

Punz

Antfrost

Jack Manifold

I don’t know much about these characters, so if you have any ideas please let me know!

Zero’s OC Land - The North Haven

Smallest and newest country 

Recently gained independence from under a cruel dictator (not schlatt lol)

Located in a pine forest at the base of a huge mountain range 

Has pretty good relations with the other countries, but outsiders don’t know much about them 

Main exports are wood carvings and leather goods 

Associated Colors: Maroon, dark brown, black, pewter 

Aesthetic/Vibes: medieval but with a modern twist, dark wood lit by a roaring fireplace, snow-covered woods without a living soul in sight, half timber houses and detailed wood carving, no outrageous ornamentation or extravagance 

Notable Members:

Tyr: 

Lord of the North Haven

trying to keep his people safe and protected

one of the few remaining Spirits (higher in power than the Fae, but lower than angels)

Spirit of Justice

lost a hand in the war for North Haven’s independence

didn’t want to become the leader but does a pretty good job at it

Adopted 5 kids and is trying his best

Bragi: 

Heir Apparent

24 year old human

can influence the world by speaking (not singing) but has to be careful about which words he uses

has a book full of phrases that have proven effects (a spellbook of sorts)

has a friendly rivalry with Wilbur

Freya: 

Spymaster

actually the oldest but abdicated because she feels she’s not the right person to lead a country

age unknown because she’s the last known [REDACTED] (it’ll be revealed, but I wanna build suspense)

has gyrfalcon wings and heightened senses

chronic insomniac

Forseti: 

Official Librarian

20 years old

hybrid with an unknown entity

has black fingers with sharp claws

always wears gloves to hide them

can create portals to places he’s been or to people he knows (the second is much riskier, but not impossible)

knowledge sponge

wants to join the Astral Academy but is too nervous to apply

Odin: 

Older Twin

The “Sensible One”

17 years old

Has an uncanny sense of direction

Can’t get lost no matter what

Can manipulate magnetic fields

Loki:

Younger Twin

The “Hot Headed One”

17 years old

can manipulate fire

idolizes his older siblings, particularly Freya

The Institute

Creeping around in the background

Up to bad things

Something’s going on in the world, but no one’s noticed yet

They will though… soon

Aesthetic/Vibes: minimalism (the worst kind of vibes imo), think laboratories or empty hospitals, harsh artificial lights and cold floors, labyrinths of monotonous hallways with no doors

[ato-matsuri]

On Agartha

Been a while since I’ve written a long text post, most of all one about Fate. It honestly inspires a lot of rambling in me, after all. But I don’t think, this time, it’s due to its good writing, the emotions it makes me feel, or anything good. This, my friend, is about Agartha. I should probably prelude that this contains a metric shit ton of Agartha spoilers. If you haven’t seen Agartha, and you’re actually wanting to see the story -- scroll past. But, having played through Agartha completely and rested on the story for a bit, I think I want to repeat what everyone else has for ages lol.

Agartha, on paper, is incredible. A subterranean world built off fantastical story off fantastical story, made by a woman known for her ability to weave story after story, within stories, on the fly, and from a database of every possible Arabian Nights tale. Where the fear Scheherazade has due to Shahryar's endless abuse and fearmongering has stretched even to men as a whole due to literal years of having to survive Shahryar. Where the only leaders were queens, where the only rebellion force was a man so horrifically corrupt that he'd easily fall for the tricks she played. Her intent -- to reveal magecraft forever, removing any power magecraft has, saving her from ever having to fight and face kings -- and die -- ever again. That... sounds pretty good when I describe it that way, huh? Now if only it were executed with any modicum of sense.

From the beginning, Agartha's writing struck me as remarkably odd. It was like I was watching someone desperately try to emulate Nasu's writing style -- but had absolutely no idea what made Nasu's writing so good. Its exposition dumps, rather than being interesting, ended up being thoroughly boring -- as they focused on the mundane, like the fact that moss glows to light up the landscape -- instead of the magical implications of a world like Agartha even existing to begin with. Albeit, with the mystery of Agartha at that time, we can safely assume that there wasn't much to focus on, but then why spend so damned long talking about this stuff?

The worldbuilding, while passable, feels fairly flawed in execution. The idea of a world made the way Agartha was could've made for some interesting commentary about the way men treated (and still do treat) women in modern society, but Agartha not only misses the point, but tumbles head-over-ass into the uncanny valley and makes the whole thing sound like a continent-wide BDSM session. There's barely any actual subtle or well-done symbolism to showcase misogyny in this way -- and while hyperbole can serve a good point at times, the hyperbole combined with the strangely sexual writing of these segments makes it feel less like commentary and more like a badly-done doujin.

For example -- El Dorado was as simple as it gets. Men are slaves/breeding machines/whatever. The whole 'breeding machine' thing is played off extensively, even with Penth -- a minor at this stage, mind you -- comments on using the protagonists as such breeding machines. I'll come back to this later, because this serves as another point.

Ys was a fucking cool concept -- a world ruled entirely by rampant consumerism and chaos. Men, in this world, are still second-class citizens, pretty much the playthings of the women around them. I say that Ys is the best kingdom comparatively, as it was at least more bearable than its other kingdoms, but it still felt weirdly sexual in its writing tone. Of course, following tone, Dahut (who I'll get back to later) smashes men constantly, and is very keen on fucking Guda as well, following a trend. It's played for comedy, mostly, but it's still uncomfortable as all hell. Even so, I note it's more bearable because it's a very slightly more subtle take on the whole 'misogyny' allegory -- these people are using men for basically whatever they want, and tossing them away after. I'd compare it to a few true crime cases of people who murdered, or assaulted women for no good reason at all, purely out of a want that was either denied (for good reason), or that the want itself was to inflict harm. While the allegory still does feel unintentional here, it's at least slightly less unintentional. It was probably mostly just by accident due to Agartha's generally uncomfortable writing style, but the allegory here feels a little more potent when it's not so blatantly a BDSM fic.

I hate the Nightless City, despite it again being a cool concept. A 'utopia' where speaking out at all means death -- where men are in concept free citizens, but in practice fall victim to the law if they look at someone funny. Again, in concept, great allegory. The law does not treat men and women the same -- and while it differs depending on the case which is preferred, the vast majority of the time, women are pretty much shafted by the legal system (see Brock Turner), especially in very conservative areas. Cases can be made for both genders being shafted, of course -- but for the purpose of this allegory, picking out the prejudices of the legal system against gender is a fair critique. But, like everything else Agartha does, these neat ideas fall flat in practice.

They barely touch at all on the allegory, and nobody seems to even realize it in the cast, making me further believe the allegories aren't intentional at all. In due fact, it's as if the writer didn't even realize that this could be read as an allegory. The men's plights make some sense, as they were yoinked out of nowhere into a world that hates them. But the Servants and Guda don't think about it at all past the 'wow men are slaves that sucks' -- barely even considering that this could be an allegory the world's creator made due to their own horrific circumstances. They do point this out, but to my knowledge, it's very late -- when Scheherazade's called on her bluff, only then is it ever mentioned, and only in passing at that. If anything, the fact they point this out so close to the ending makes the ending itself that much more insulting. But before I get to the ending, I think there's something else about Agartha that sets the scene for just how awful it is -- and that's the way the characters are written, and the dialogue that comes of it. For this, I'll split it up into the characters who portray this the most. I'll even describe their personalities in Agartha's context.

Guda: Crouching pervert, hidden Mash stan. A few non-sequiturs of Guda complimenting Mash despite the mood being completely broken by it. Guda's incapable of taking a situation seriously in Agartha, even when the world's basically due to be changed forever. They keep cracking jokes, creeping on Astolfo/d'Eon, and other such things even when people are literally dying all around him. For that matter, I clearly recall the scene where -- for no real reason -- Guda just changes gears with Mash in tow, and starts trying to decipher d'Eon's gender. There's absolutely no real context to this, nor any reason for Guda to do this. Further noted is the fact Guda has worked with d'Eon before, and should've probably realized d'Eon's situation by this point. The Nasuverse has always been a bit, er, behind on gender norms and such, but it's so prevalent in any scene with d'Eon it hurts -- especially in that particular scene.

Astolfo: Oddly enough, the most tolerable person here (sans one other person). Agartha's refusal to take itself seriously works remarkably well for Astolfo. And while Astolfo isn't exactly written well here either, the fact that Astolfo's always been a bit loopy makes them seem, well, more in character. They're responsible for some of the funnier moments in Agartha, with their input composing approximately 3/4 of the, like, seven or eight funny moments in Agartha proper. Even so, Astolfo's appearance sometimes hurts Agartha as much as they help it, probably since Astolfo is a bit of the reason Agartha won't take itself seriously.

d'Eon: Deserved fucking better. The previously mentioned scene was the worst offender by far in my eyes, with it coming out of fucking nowhere. d'Eon's paired with Astolfo as a buddy and fighting partner, which itself could've made for good material -- instead, d'Eon is constantly dragged into Astolfo's fanservice-y gimmicks, and d'Eon themselves are pretty often creeped on by Guda. I'd go out on a limb to say that d'Eon's implied dislike of gendered clothing (see the maid outfit) made their scenes wearing such outfits far more uncomfortable, especially with how distinctly sexual the Agartha humour is. I just hated it.

Columbus: I can't fucking believe I'm saying this, but Columbus was the funniest character in Agartha. And I don't even think that was intentional. Something about how unabashedly horrible he was caught me completely off guard -- I thought he'd end up sort of like Napoleon at a glance, someone whose Spirit Origin was completely changed due to Europe's collective worship of the dude -- but holy FUCK was I wrong. Something about the hilariously cursed faces Columbus pulls, combined with his loud-and-proud irredeemable evilness, made him a blast to watch -- and an even bigger blast to beat the shit out of. His, uh, toothy grin still cracks me up even a few weeks after playing it.

Penthesilea: One of a very large amount of people who really deserved better. She barely ever shows up -- and when she does, she voices her desire to turn Guda and co. into a breeding machine/slave (recall she's like. 16?), and pretty much throws the whole 'reasonable-ish zerk' thing out the window instantly, because Agartha decided to forego decent writing in favour of 'funny berserker hates achilles haha brrrrrr,' therefore losing pretty much all the characterization they could've given her. The lack of 'alternate views' that show her in greater detail make this far worse, which I'll go into later.

Dahut: God, wasted potential out the asshole! A woman who made an entire world that fucked around and needlessly consumed stuff, she's the epitome of such a belief. But that's all she is. I'd be able to forgive this awful writing if Scheherazade, who 'implanted' Drake onto Dahut, was a bad writer -- but she's fucking Scheherazade! Dahut's a completely flat character, who constantly tries to bed (and kill) Guda, and generally likes the idea of needless consumption. That's literally it. Again, could be explained if Dahut had difficulty keeping control of Drake's body and conscience -- but this isn't explored either! She's just a walking, talking missed opportunity.

Wu: God, look at her design. Do I even need to say more?! She falls under the same problem that the other rulers do -- shallow characterization, no opportunities to flesh them out, etc.

Scheherazade: She could've been so fucking amazing. Scheherazade's story is one ripe with interpretations the Fate series so loves to utilize -- and on paper, her character is amazing. It'd only be natural for someone like Schez to be this deeply traumatized after so many days on death's door -- not many could really get through that okay. The incredible storyteller who fears death, kings, and unconsciously, men as a whole -- creating Agartha as a subtle way of ensuring none of them harm her while she prepares her ultimate plan of revealing magecraft to the entire world. However, as with the other Agartha characters, she becomes cripplingly one-note. Bringing her fear of death above all else, she comes off as an unreasonable asshole, constantly freaking out about death and preserving exclusively herself to a fault. While one could argue it's partially due to a Pillar's influence, Phenex doesn't seem to have a hold on her at all -- it's a basic alliance, and nothing more, as the ending shows us. It just leaves her as a one-note death avoider, with no other character traits at all. I'd go into further detail, but I'm saving that for later.

Fergus: God fucking damnit, man. A literal child version of Fergus, who the entire cast constantly expects to sexually harass every woman in sight. He's a one-note flanderization of Fergus, just without the one character trait Agartha gave Fergus. It just makes him... boring, a character whose only character trait is his refusal to hit a woman. Like... Come on. The fact the entire team is so sure this literal child will start trying to hit on women is just uncomfortable to witness, and the fact he slowly starts gaining these traits feels less like him 'meeting his fate' as Fergus, and more like Agartha wants an excuse to sexually harass more of the cast.

The Fucking Ending I'm giving this its own category, because of just how much of a punch to the face it was. In short -- the plan to reveal magecraft is revealed, more jokes are made, bla bla bla. Agartha can't keep a serious mood at all. ...But the final few scenes take it to a whole other extreme.

Wu Zetian comes out of nowhere despite being squashed by Megalos earlier, stuffing Phenex into a pit of her weird water shit, placing Phenex in a state of 'life and death.' Child Fergus then sac's his own Spirit Origin to summon Fergus inside himself(???), thus gaining the power of Caladbolg to weaken Phenex enough for the player to destroy. ...However, Child Fergus just summoned Fergus inside his own body. So, what happens when you put Agartha!Fergus, a one-note sexual harasser, into the body of a child? You get the final scene of Agartha. For some reason, I guess you need more help from others to take out Phenex. To this end, Fergus decides to convince Schez to join their side. I'd like you to recall that FGO!Scheherazade is implied to have the trauma of Shahryar's abuse, sexual and physical, burned into her memory -- not just the whole death thing. In every form of the story, Shahryar abuses her in such a fashion almost nightly. It's to the point where Schez' first line of defence, and much of her skills, are as much oriented around storytelling as they are charm and seduction (moreso the former than the latter, albeit), because her defence mechanism was that as much as it was storytelling, to keep her abuser happy. This is a part of why Agartha is the way it is -- to keep such men away from her. Hell, there's not a single King in sight, save technically Fergus, and Chaldea's d'Eon and Astolfo. Fergus knows this. Hell, he heard this being called out. He's well aware how terrified she is. So, what does he do?

SEXUALLY HARASS HER. He claims she has to live to have kids. That men and women have to live to have kids. He claims that she should live, because he'd smash her. ...Now, that's insulting enough -- moreso, that it's played dead serious. Nobody even as much as calls him on such a shitty persuasion tactic, and nobody even mentions how awful it is to sexually harass a woman who'd been sexually assaulted at best for the better part of almost three straight years. AND IT. FUCKING. WORKS.

SCHEHERAZADE. IS IMPLIED. TO BE INTO IT.

And because of this, she's swayed to join the heroes and seal Phenex away for good -- giggling about how Fergus' worldview was partially correct even as she fades away. The epilogue features Fergus, sexually harassing Scheherazade ON SIGHT -- calling out 'tits on my 12:00' or whatever, as Scheherazade darts off. However, Schez isn't avoiding him due to trauma. She's avoiding it because, while she's into it, she doesn't want to 'die' so fast. This fucking ending highlights among the biggest issues with this damned Singularity. Even Blavatsky coming out of fucking nowhere to Deus Ex Machina a grail and help into Guda's hands -- despite seemingly being slaughtered by Columbus in a (admittedly a bit funny) way to get the base of the Resistance -- means nothing to me compared to the blatant slaughter of two characters at once. Fergus is a total horndog even outside of Agartha's reach, but he even notes he respects his partners' consent, and doesn't overstep his bounds if he makes them uncomfortable. Scheherazade isn't exactly trusting in the slightest, least of all in Agartha - she barely even begins trusting Guda due to Guda treating her with actual respect. Even then, she isn't actively prostrating herself for Guda in that sense, very likely due to the fact that's more of a defence mechanism to her rather than something she'd enjoy, due to extreme trauma. Albeit, Fate writing does leave the possibility in the air for Guda specifically, but that's very likely just due to Guda being Guda and being careful to treat her properly and help her than anything else (and also the whole 'self insert harem' thing, I guess, but that's a hell of a lot easier to ignore esp in contrast to Agartha) And yet, we see that epilogue, that butchers both of them in one fell swoop so badly that I almost ended up hating both of them. Agartha's biggest problem is that it tried to be deep and intriguing, while having the writing quality of the goddamned Valentine's events. It picked all the right characters to have an incredibly intriguing storyline, and fell flat because the author decided that playing sexual harassment, d'Eon's everything, and even the most serious scenes for comedy was more important than telling a story even half as meaningful as the chapters before it. Lo and behold -- to my knowledge, Minase wrote it. Of course he did. He chose the best, the most interesting characters he could find, and made them so fucking one-note that the story lost all its charm in moments. He chose to emulate Nasu without understanding what made Nasu's writing so good. He chose to make Agartha a laugh fest despite simultaneously trying to make it 'deep.' He chose to fall head-over-ass over a possibly interesting allegory into misogyny and fall right into sexualizing it to the point of feeling like a femdom BDSM fic. And go figure the only character he did decently was Christopher fucking Columbus. I have a hatred for Agartha I can't reasonably place anywhere else. Prillya was just as shitty, but I ignored it, because Prillya itself wasn't great, so of course the crossover sucks too. Valentine's events written by him weren't great, but whatever, it's a Valentine's event. Septem, written by someone else, was similarly not great. But it wasn't insulting. It simply wasn't great, and had a lot of wasted potential. But its ending wasn't out of character to the point of being insulting. Its story didn't make incredible mythological and historical figures too infuriating to like anymore. It didn't almost ruin entire Fate characters for me. Not the way Agartha did. I should probably contextualize that Scheherazade is among my favourite mythological figures. I introduced myself to her through Magi (lmao) due to further research into the base stories -- as well as a favourite Magic: The Gathering card, Shahrazad, which forced you to play a game within your game, like how Arabian Nights featured stories within stories.

Even in Fate outside of Agartha, I liked her. Her design didn't make much sense to me considering her character, but whatever, I didn't need to think too hard of it. It's just a design, and despite my hatred of Penth's design, I still love Penth as a character, so I can handle Schez. But Agartha painted her in such a way that all the subtlety and interesting parts of Schez went completely out the window. No longer was there any hidden references to the aftereffects of her life beyond 'i dun wan die,' and there was hardly an ounce of sympathy or kindness in her bones at all. While her being an anti-hero made some sense, especially as she was only a normal person with far above-average storytelling prowess, there was a point when she stopped being a 'good, but terrified person' and started being a complete asshole. And Agartha was that time. If it weren't for her Interlude, which redeemed her considerably, and Ooku, which did wonders for her character despite being written by Minase (as I believe Nasu was overseeing him at that point), I very likely would've never gone for her at all, despite my love of the myth. In Conclusion This rant is just to say that Agartha is bad. Horrific. Insulting, even. At every step where it could've been good, it tumbled head-over-ass into the most insulting, uncomfortable shit you could imagine. It failed to take itself seriously, and paced itself like a comedy event, but simultaneously acted as if it expected its audience to take it seriously. Like a clown brigade deciding to take on Les Mis, it loses all of its punch when every few lines is interrupted by a jab at Fergus, sexual harassment, or something that comes close to being cool before suddenly turning into a badly-timed joke, or suddenly becoming laden with dialogue so sexual it feels straight out of a porno. It's aggravating, awful, and with only brief reprieves of bareable comedy in between long, long lengths of hellish text and awful characterization. The only good part was the gameplay -- which, laden with interesting mechanics not seen elsewhere, was legitimately fun. My take? Avoid all Agartha cutscenes and plot, and just play the gameplay. The gameplay's fun, and if enjoyed on its own, would probably make for a far better experience than observing the story surrounding it. But good gameplay doesn't make up for a horrible story, especially in a game where plot is as important as it is in F/GO. Agartha's a pile of shit in my eyes, but that's ultimately only my opinion, and nothing more. If others have an opinion counter to mine, that's completely fine -- and don't let this analysis ruin your fun with Agartha if you enjoyed its plot. To be frank, I'd be happy if you enjoyed it where I could not. And if you think my takes are misinformed, or if I missed a spot (or overreacted to a spot), that's what the reblogs and comments are for! I'm definitely not the kind of dude who has the final say in matters like this -- this is only what I picked up. Thank you for reading!

[ccchaoscompendium]

actually i could go on abt our oc creation process (long rambles below)

oc!Rosie's sibs were created bc 10-11 yr old us was like "what if Rosie but evil :)" and that's how Alexander was born. Janus came a bit after. for the longest time tho Alexander was legit just Rosie but evil™ like think of sonic and shadow? yeah like that.

Janus was made to balance them out and their parents are vaguely based off my parents irl. fun fact Alex and Janus were originally called Darkness and Twilight bc i was uncreative and like 11

Allan became a thing bc of system bullshit, uhhhh. Like a LOT of our main ocs are just rehashes of our OG sysmates bc we were like "we can't write stories abt characters tht already exist in fiction that's FANfiction and it'd be crossover fanfic at that no." also bc of The Shitfuck Of April '19 (iykyk) caused the OG crew to go from fictive to post-fictive and we based the oc designs off them. But it was Allan who kickstarted it by literally dying in-sys JSJEJDFJFJ

I think my favourite oc design tht we have based off of That Mess Up There ^ is Midas simply bc his hair is g'envy as fuck NFJDKSKFK

And like I said in the tags we hallucinated a handful of our OCs too. not many but yeah.

A few of them are redesigns of childhood OCs. Ticky Tacky fr example is a redesign of our first ever OC/Fan character who was Also named Rosie and her gist was that she had a collar that let her use transform (she was a shiny Espeon for clarification sjakdkdkf) and Whoops she formed as a sysmate! And then! I (Rosie) split off her! And then ofc we had to create oc!Rosie and Welp! NFKFKSKDMFFK but yeah Ticky Tacky now is just a neon green fox thing. not a sparkledog as valid as they are tho they're just Like That™

A lot of our other ocs we adopted/got through design trades/etc. But if we're sticking to ocs we did design thennnnn hmm

My inspiration for Lennox was seeing a cool design fr sale on Amino that I couldn't afford fjekslwoeof so I was like. *yoinks the idea of a red demon with weird floppy ears*. My inspiration for his dad, Ziggy, was based mainly on my IRL dad lmao.

hmmmb. We got the design for Limbo down years ago back when we were active on C!3D. Their design was based off how we dressed at the time (striped long shirt, lots of bracelets) and the angel wings were added bc of kin reasonsKDNFKDKSKDFKFKFK. the horns were added bc Fun To Draw, same w the tail. Not sure where the idea for the glowy ahoge came from tho i think tht was added to make our artstyle unique ajskaksodof. We wanna remake our sona ofc but that takes,,, spoons </3 we have a design in mind tho we just gotta draw what Eureka looks like and we're done ajskakdkfk

And then there's,,, Ciar.... Who, get this,,,, was a sysmate first <3 Cir a fusion of me, Allan, and Eureka. Very alarming time that was cuz we worried it'd be permanent but nope JFKFFKDLFOG we need t draw them again honestly but their design is wack. Ce settled on it though bc Cir an ink demon with vague hints of royalty thus the fur-cape thing. But mainly they're just. an ink imp

SPEAKING OF IMPS I got the inspiration for our Dream Imps bc of @demonsthorn Necromites I saw she had a fuckton of cool demon ocs and I was like *gently holds*. I wanna make a species of demon ocs NDNDKSKSKEKRTK our Imps still have a fuckton of work to go into em tho rip

I THINK THAT'S ALL TBH bc the rest of our characters r again either adopted designs or designs we got thru trades n shit,

[artisticcrow]

Alrighty time for another Art Breakdown yo

This time it’s of my design for Mumza: Because love is not dead, and I refuse to just leave Ghostbur hanging like he is in canon

Art Break down blow

I already had an Idea of how to turn our Lady Death’s Onesie skin into something a bit more of a loose interpterion of her MC Skin (I’m praying to God that I’m not having bad memory/the post I yooinked the ref imagine on was right

I knew wanted to up the grim reaper vibes, so I looked at Bleach’s Shinigami and yoinked their designs with out care or too much thought. (rather than thinking hmmm dose this make any sense story wise when considering both the popular headcanons and the straight up canon of Mumza and Bleach. There was no consideration for the Bleach characters as characters which is why I’m using Baraggan as Design inspo despite the fact that said former God-King doesn’t match best Lady’s vibes) I haven’t watched Bleach in over eight years so I knew better than to try and make some really cool or thematic reference. This is just not my area. 

Sorry real Bleach fan’s, you’re gonna have to deal with my ignorance and bastardization of your passion.

But before I get into that I’m gonna start of with her eyes:

She has a dark socket with a Hardcore Health Heart(Hx3) for an eye(Whether is is mirrored in her other eye or if she even has a other eyes is left up to the viewer).

She has a dark cloak with some fethery poofs that match the darker colors I use for Crow!Chat. The Cloak is clasped together by a crown piece that seems to have separated Yin and Yangs on it instead of gems. Too keep up with the panda theme.

Speaking of Crowns, she’s of course wearing one that pokes out of her hood! It has one large grain looking gem and four tiny circle gems visible. They’re all using the colors both from her eye as well as the darker color being the color that I didn’t use as much from HX

I gave her black gloves to keep with her skins coloration there, and yoinked  Baraggan’s fashion sense again and gave her bracelets. I also gave her a ton of rings because my brain was on autopilot, so instead of giving her her wedding ring I just gave her a hand full of rings and that “choice” just sort of stuck.

She has a Red Halo behind her which was suppose to be for power but then I colored it in so she’s also an Arch Angel now I guess. XD

Speaking of Halos; It’s the first Friend.

Glowing eyes of the dead and all!

I don’t know why I made him so small, but honestly? She could just be tall or he could’ve just shrunk in the after life. But either way, Friend like the other animals in this picture have glowing eyes.

They’re dead in a way but they do have some ability to go to the world of the living, thus giving their eyes a magical tint to them.

Hi Chat!!!

Okay but I love this Headcanon by @indecisiveaesthetic where Philza’s Murder of Crows started bringing offering to summon Kristen so Phil could her more. Which got me thinking what if they found a way to travel between worlds to feliver messages. So I headcanon’ed so the in lore reason for when she’s talking to him in chat is she’s talking to him via chat’s letters.

To travel between the world(s) of the living and dead the crows go through a familiar purple and green spiraled portal...

The two the letter’s have little wax seal roses, Green from Dadza, Red From Momza.

Alright back to making Bleach fan’s Cringe at my ignorance XD

So I ripped her scythes from Shūhei Hisagi though the ending have a golden bent and red ribbon more familiar to a certain Philza Minecraft Cosplayer /J

Speaking of whom...

Her coat here is inspired from ya boi, Kisuke Urahara, though her’s is from a time long past. 

Obviously to keep with the panda theme I had to do a little bit of color swapping but hey it makes the design her own.

Also once again I’m letting it up to interpataion on whether she has poofy pants or a plated skirt. Either way coming from the bottom of it is more sway-ier fabrics ripped from Baraggan. I just think his God-King design is Neat.

The Green and what was suppose to be Purple but became Pink because of lighting, shading, and color theory corner rose are on the nose but I like them.

I just wanted something nice to tie everything together and got this from a tarot card design for well, Death. I can’t remember where I saw the card design but that’s not the only one I need to keep an eye out for because it’s the same way with the pile of skulls. I want to credit even Tarrot Card’s in these breakdowns because Idk, over explaining things is a passion of mine. Last but not least is the background, which of course a reference art to the YCGMA album art because she’s coming to pick up her son, and they’re gonna have cool adventures together.