#the powers that be *want* to see us fight so don’t let them instigate that!

[gremoria411]

Zeon Remnants: Why so many?

*Spoilers for most of the Universal Century Below*

So a common criticism of Universal Century I see is that it’s essentially all Zeon Remnants, all the time. That it every antagonist to the Earth Federation is either a Zeon remnant or related to such and it makes the universal century feel smaller.

That is 100% a valid criticism.

However, it’s not something I particularly notice as a problem, so I figured I’d make a post delving into my reasons why. I’ll be talking about each of the “main” Zeon groups (The Principality of Zeon, The Delaz Fleet, Axis Zeon, Char’s Neo Zeon and The Sleeves) and I’ll talk about why Zeon are so frequently the antagonist. Alright, enough preamble, let’s get on with it.

Why don’t I have a problem with Zeon always showing up, all the time?

Because I usually consider each Zeon group its own thing. Like, yeah the aesthetics and some mobile suits tend to match up but they typically have…. If not different goals, then different cultures. It’s not just the same thing all the time.

I’ll be dividing them by roughly four factors:

Motivations - *Why* are they fighting, how unified are they?

Size - big force or little force, since it affects how they fight.

Newtypes - Oh hey, it’s just possibly one of their more important contributions to the setting in general. Kinda important. Focusing more on how they’re used and how they’re seen.

Mechanics - Mobile suits and overall tech level for the time.

The Principality of Zeon

First up, the good ol’ Principality of Zeon. The P of Z, if you will. Founded by Degwin Sodo Zabi in the aftermath of Zeon Zum Deikun’s death in U.C. 0068. Rapid Militarisation of Side 3 (Munzo), the colonies composing Zeon followed, with what would become the One Year War being declared in UC 0079. It’s sometimes known as “The Duchy of Zion” in older translations.

It’s a little unclear *why* war was declared, but the official line and the view of the average citizen would be that it was a war of Independence from the Earth Federation. Zeon Zum Deikun (who Zeon was named after) was the father of Contolism, a philosophy that combines two major elements:

Elseim - The Earth is Sacred, and must be protected (The Earth is Humanity’s Cradle, but man cannot live in the cradle forever-type stuff, with a big focus on environmentalism).

Sideism - All Space Colonies should be independent from the Earth Federation (This is where all the “Those whose souls are still bound by gravity”-type stuff comes from).

And nestled riiight in the middle of those two is the Newtype Theory, which postulates that ascending into space is the next stage of mankind’s evolution, giving rise to a “new type” of individual, with the ability to communicate over great distances and divides.

Due to Class divides and economic disparity between the Earth Federation “elite” and the Space Colonists (particularly those in Side 3), Contolism was massively popular, with Zeon Zum Deikun being raised to leader of Side 3. However, he died suddenly and (apparently) appointed Degwin Zabi as his successor. Degwin would instigate a purge of Zeon’s most loyal followers, and place his children in high ranking political positions, ruling the Principality of Zeon as absolute dictator. It’s unclear if Degwin declared war as the logical conclusion of the Contolism Philosophy to wrest Earth from the Federation, if he viewed it as a way to secure greater power or if he genuinely wanted to rule the entire earth sphere.

What I’m getting at here is that your average Zeon soldier believes he is fighting for the Independence of the Space Colonies and the safeguarding of Earth against the Federation Elites who seek to exploit it. The higher command however, is incredibly fractious, since each one is operating under a different member of the Zabi Family, and so there tends to be a lot of friction. Even if Zeon had won the OYW, it’s likely it would’ve had to deal with a Civil War at some point or another (dependant on which members of the Zabi family survived).

Zeon is also notable in that it’s the single largest organisation here, and since mobile suit combat was relatively new, it fought with a lot more variety than any of its successors, such as tanks and mobile armours. It also had the advantage of, with the notable exception of the RX-78 and its derivatives, being far better off than the Earth Federation technologically, possessing advanced mobile suits and actual Newtype research (important note; With one singular exception, it is never suggested that Zeon’s Newtype laboratories are anything less than above-board. Are they under immense pressure to succeed? Absolutely. But crucially, they aren’t inhuman). It had a large variety of mobile suits - usually a few good “workhorse” units (Zaku’s and Dom’s) with a bunch of oddities on the side (like Gyan’s and Zakarello’s).

Lastly, the One Year War itself. This is a point I’ll be coming back to frequently throughout this, but; The Federation possessed a major population and material advantage over the Principality of Zeon for the entire war, and was able to deploy a staggering amount of enlisted soldiers into the war. Zeon possessed the advantage of mobile suits early on, but they were also forced to mobilise a great many soldiers. Both Sides of the One Year War lost half of their respective populations in the early stages of the war (The One Week Battle) and Side 4 Moore was utterly devastated. What I’m getting at is that there would be an awful lot of individuals with millitary training and/or technological know-how running around after the war, as occurred in the real-world World War II and Cold War (strictly speaking I’m looking at them being an easy source of millitary experience in genre fiction, but you get the idea). So you have a lot of Ex-Soldiers and remaining military equipment hanging around, and a lot of people with “legitimate grievances” to hate the other side (Warcrimes on both sides, The Earth Federation essentially doesn’t change, Zeon Remnants remain an active problem with several becoming pirates and there’s a lot of Federation “mop-up” teams going around, the precursors to the Titans).

So, The Principality of Zeon in a nutshell; Principled reasoning (i.e. Contolism), massive force, Newtypes rare and incredibly valued (since they’re essentially a living reminder of why they’re fighting and a massive force multiplier), mobile suits essentially brand new and largely experimental.

The Delaz Fleet (and Zeon Remnants in general)

The Delaz Fleet was formally created in U.C. 0081, being primarily composed of former Gihren Zabi Loyalists from the Principality of Zeon, led by Aigulle Delaz (above, left). They were most famous for Operation Stardust in U.C. 0083. I’m also going to be discussing Zeon Remnant groups in general here, since the Delaz Fleet is essentially just a very large and successful Zeon remnant group. Delaz’ goal is relatively simple - vengeance. Delaz wishes to deal a hefty blow to the federation, largely to avenge the Principality’s loss at a Baoa Qu, with much of his forces feeling similarly (note: it’s possible that, had their been less withdrawals of Gihren Faction Loyalists like Delaz, A Baoa Qu may have gone differently). The forces under his command is relatively small, to the point where he is forced to seek aid from both the Axis Advance Fleet (though this is largely in materials and recovery) and the Cima Fleet, which costs him dearly.

Delaz specifically embellishes the “cause” of Zeon, focusing less on the Principality’s totally necessary warcrimes and more on Zeon’s fight for Independence against the Earth Federation. This is relevant because Delaz reaches a wide audience, espousing his own Zeonic ideals, largely divorced from the original Contolism basis. He also blames the weakened political leadership of the time (read: that nasty Kycilia murdering his precious Gihren Zabi). Delaz is specifically the most successful of the Zeon remnants in his era, directly to the space colonies detriment, since his actions directly lead to the founding of the Titans, who brutally crack down on the Colonies.

Equipment-wise, Zeon remnant groups are a varied bunch, but typically fight using older or ad-hoc equipment - The Delaz Fleet primarily utilises upgraded machines from the One Year War - Zaku FII’s, Rick Dom’s and, most notably, Dra-C’s - mobile suits cobbled together from spare Zaku and Gattle fighter-bomber parts. Any other materials they use are either stolen from the Earth Federation or are acquired through other means.

Newtypes are kinda weird here, since there just aren’t any in 0083, and the general theme with Newtypes in other remnant groups around this time is typically that they’re either propaganda or just not very good. It’s possible that the Newtype philosophy was largely dormant for a while immediately following Zeon’s defeat - either viewed as propaganda or directly suppressed by the Earth Federation themselves (like Amuro). The Newtype philosophy likely experienced as resurgence with the emergence of the Titans, since it would have been a rallying cry for spacenoid independence once more. As such, Newtypes just aren’t a big thing in Zeon remnant groups around this era, at least as near as I can tell (Delaz is the only animated force we see, and I try not to rely too much on manga, at least for Universal Century).

So, Delaz Fleet (and immediate postwar Zeon remnants) in a nutshell; Varied Motivations (though typically vengeance or survival), Small Guerilla Force, Newtypes near non-existent, mobile suits either OYW cast-offs or stolen.

Axis Zeon

Which I admit I’m using because it’s more easily distinguished than Neo Zeon, Neo Zeon and Neo Zeon. Anyway, Axis Zeon is made up of the various Zeon remnants that fled to the Asteroid Axis after the One Year War, this includes several pilots, scientists and engineers, which ensures that Axis enjoys a massive technological edge for most of its existence. Axis, in contrast to Zeons prior, is primarily concerned with “The Restoration of the Zabi Family” since one of the people that ended up there is Mineva Zabi, daughter of Dozle and the Zabi family’s only living heir. Except Glemy maybe.

Since Mineva was of the Zabi family lineage, of course she’d want to resume their conquest of the Earth Sphere, and so Axis was reconstructed into a fortress for her to rule when she came of age, with a regent being appointed to rule in her stead, which eventually fell to Haman Karn. Haman was essentially able to use Mineva as a figurehead in order to mount an invasion of Earth, and struck at the end of the Gryps War, when both the Titans and AEUG were reeling from that conflict. It’s also notable that a lot of the Axis members we see are very young, so were raised on “The Glories of Zeon” without actually seeing the realities of the One Year War with their own eyes.

Neo Zeon also was able to develop and field newtype weaponry, with newtypes being a potent threat against the AEUG. However, they still weren’t common, and so Cyber Newtypes were fielded. In contrast to “true newtypes” who have naturally awakened to their powers, cyber-newtypes are those with Newtype potential who have been forcibly conditioned with drugs and implants in order to function for combat. Though deadly threats, they are very unstable. You may notice that this seems anathema to the Contolism Philosophy espoused by Zeon Zum Deikun, and is incredibly dehumanising to boot, signifying that Axis is barely even paying lip service to its ideals of spacenoid independence. Axis Zeon is also notable for utilising clones to supplement its Newtype forces, which…. I don’t think is strictly counter to Contolism? But it feels like it’s against it in spirit, if not in letter.

It’s especially notable that a great many members of Axis Zeon espouse things like “For the Glory of Neo Zeon” and “For the Restoration of the Zabi Family” without really understanding what they mean. It’s also notable that, barring links with surviving Zeon Remnant groups, Axis isn’t noted as being very popular with the colonial population, likely because they don’t really understand what the “Ideals of Zeon” mean, and the civilians recognise them as merely parroting Zabi rhetoric.

Axis Zeon would eventually be undone by a Civil War within the organisation led by Glemy Toto, coupled with the AEUG’s offensives. Unlike the political manoeuvring of the One Year War, the Glemy Faction coup occurs very suddenly and results in massive casualties in the organisation due to his command of the Newtype corps.

Technologically, Axis is absolutely cutting-edge. They really don’t cheap out on mobile suit development and are able to design and field a variety of units comparable to the Principality in its heyday. Axis forces are essentially the best-armed Zeon will ever be, helped massively by the sheer amount of Newtype weaponry they can deploy (they have three mainline mobile suits in the Neo Zeon War, all three seeing good amounts of production at various stages and they’re typically first pick for Zeon Remnant Groups in the U.C. 0090’s). They also have the facilities for Newtype cloning, as mentioned above.

Axis Zeon in a nutshell; Hollow Motivations (Restoration of the Zabi Family and Conquest of the Earth Sphere), large force, newtypes and cyber-newtypes prevalent, mobile suits many, varied and cutting-edge.

(I haven’t quite finished all of ZZ, so forgive me if this one’s a bit rough)

Char’s Neo Zeon/Newborn Neo Zeon

Sometimes also known as Char’s Rebellion. It was basically founded in order to accelerate space migration….. by plunging the Earth into nuclear winter and making it near-uninhabitable. Founded by our good buddy Char Aznable in U.C. 0093, there’s less to go on for this particular iteration of Zeon, basically just a movie and supplemental information. It is composed of various Zeon remnants and political factions under Char Aznable with the express purpose of instigating the Axis Drop in order to make the earth uninhabitable and stop humanity from damaging it. Which is a terrible plan, barely paying lip service to the Contolist ideals Zeon was founded upon.

That’s because it’s a lie.

Char is in fact mounting a suicide run on the entire Earth. Creating a threat so massive that Amuro will be forced to kill him to stop it. Which is rather informative. Char is essentially using his influence to hold the entire operation together, and it’s notable that a good chunk of his own forces actively move to counter his goal when the option presents itself. Consequently, there isn’t much in the way of ideals on display here - Char is famous both for being the son of Zeon Zum Deikun and for his Dakar Address when he was a member of the AEUG. It kinda seems like a lot of his support is coming from people who know him from that, as opposed to what he’s actually doing. Newborn Neo Zeon is basically headlined and held together by Char, and has the vibe of a desperate last gasp for Zeon. It’s also notable that the only time we see Char actually lead Zeon is when he’s using its name for his own ends.

Newborn Neo Zeon also has a great more political pull than many of the other groups - Char Succeeds in a lot of his goals because he’s essentially able to play the Earth Federation like a fiddle, while remnant groups happily provide him aid. Technologically he has the backing of both Anaheim and Newtype Labs. Char’s mobile suits are, while not cutting-edge as such, very well rounded. The Geara Doga and Jagd Doga both share components and a general body structure, and the only reason the Sazabi is unique is because they couldn’t make the frame suit Char’s abilities (there’s a bunch of prototype units that pave the way to the Sazabi). Newborn Neo Zeon also retains a number of Axis Zeon Remnants, which bring their mobile suits and technical skill as well. Newtypes, while not exactly common, are considerably more stable than their Axis predecessors, and are given Jagd Doga’s, which are probably the closest a Newtype machine has ever come to reliability and ease of use. There’s also the Alpha Azieru…. which is also there (I don’t really have a lot to say on it honestly, it’s just kind of another “big newtype weapon”). Unfortunately, I really don’t have much to go on here regarding how the force views its newtypes - they’re essentially just treated as a special branch of the forces, no contolist ethics here, which is genuinely pretty sad. Because it illustrates just how far Char’s fallen from the ideals he espoused at the end of Zeta, especially considering he’s the son of Zeon Zum Deikun.

Char’s Neo Zeon in a nutshell: Motivations lean Char-centric, middling force with a lot of soft power, Newtypes present and mostly stable, small mobile suit variety but what’s there is very good.

(The Geara Doga’s one of my favourite grunt suits, so I’m probably quite biased here)

The Sleeves

Last of the “main” Neo Zeon Organisations. The Sleeves is a melting pot of every Zeon remnant group going. Founded around U.C. 0096, they were led by the man called Full Frontal, known as the “ghost of char”. Due to their disparate status, they aren’t recognised as a legitimate organisation by the Federstion, instead being branded a terrorist group - which they essentially are, being an aggregation of a bunch of other informal Zeon remnant groups. This mixed nature leads to a similar diversity in views and equipment - you have die-hard contolists, Glemy faction remnants, newborn Neo Zeon cast-offs and everything in-between.

They are essentially a return to form for Zeon Remnant groups, but are able effectively leverage their limited assets to fight quite effectively, though again, they’re heavily reliant on soft power, such as their relationship with Anaheim and political connections. They don’t have the forces to steamroll through the Earth Federation, so they’re forced to adopt an almost cell-based approach (at least that’s my read on Full Frontal and Suberoa Zinnerman’s relationship). It’s an odd mix of the realities of a Guerilla war against the federation and hearkening back to Neo-Zeon groups past (who were themselves hearkening back to the days of the old Principality). I should also note that The Sleeves maintain links with several other Zeon Remnant groups, such as some of the forces that attack Torrington in Unicorn. This is interesting not just because it shows a greater deal of collaboration between these groups than seen prior (Delaz and Cima were not exactly trusting of each other), it also shows a different mechanical composition to pre-U.C. 0090 remnant groups.

They’re kind of all over the place. Which I love because it’s 1:1 with their philosophical composition - they’re remnants from a bunch of different forces and groups, so of course it makes sense that their mobile suits would reflect that. The Sleeves do possess the…. Not-quite-cutting-edge-but-at-least-new Geara Zulus and the absolutely fabulous Sinanju (s), Kyshatriya and Rebawoo, but that’s kind of all they’re at. Everything else is from at least Char’s Rebellion or earlier - there’s one-of-a-kind custom units, old axis castoffs, even some stuff from the One Year War and immediate postwar period (like that poor regelgu). A varied armament for a varied force.

However, it is notable that The Sleeves don’t really have much of an identity of their own, largely due to their patchwork composition. They’re the scattered remnants of previous causes, and this is both called out and used against them in-universe. It feels like an examination of Char’s actions during CCA - Full Frontal certainly has Char’s charisma, but he doesn’t have his drive as evidenced by his eventual goal, which isn’t necessarily a *bad* aim, it’s just not Char.

Following on from this they share Newborn Neo Zeon’s just general…. disinterest in newtypes. They’re like any other pilot, they can just use different equipment. All the Sleeves Newtypes we see are very well-equipped though, so how they precisely look at them is unclear. This could be viewed as another extension of Char’s attitudes in CCA.

The Sleeves in a nutshell: Motivations are kind of all over the place, middling-to-low-sized force, newtypes uncommon but mostly-stable (one exception) and very effective, massive mobile suit variety but quality’s also all over the place.

Conclusion

So yeah, I find each revival of Zeon different enough that I can consider them separately to each other - yeah, there’s crossover, but their attitudes change each time - the only thing that stays the same is the aesthetic and who they’re fighting against.

But why are Zeon so often the antagonist?

Out-of-universe, because they sell. But you already knew that so let’s talk about possible In-universe reasons:

Old Equipment - The Principality was *huge*. Masses of equipment, enlisted men and yes, mobile suits. We see several individuals that are able to survive on the Scrap alone - Kelly Layzner, Judau Ashta, even the AEUG utilize a Gelgoog at one point. There’s a lot of material out there, and its a hot commodity post war and the Earth Federation will be in a hurry to rebuild - they don’t have the resources to track down every case of assault rifles or damaged-but-not-irreparable mobile suit. The South Seas alliance in Gundam Thunderbolt is one such organisation, but there will be a lot of Zeon Remnants who are still functional.

Loss of Leadership, not force - Aguille Delaz personally blames the “weak political leadership” (IE Kycillia) for the loss in the One Year War, but we can extrapolate that further. The Battle for A Baoa Qu saw pretty much all the remaining Zabi High Command due within hours of each other - Gihren kills Degwin, Kycillia kills Gihren, Char kills Kycillia. These are three massive losses to the war effort in very short spaces of time. Gihren’s betrayal of Degwin would’ve been very costly for him even if Kycillia hadn’t taken revenge there and then. He deprived himself of both the Solar Ray and the Fleet that Degwin was part of. The fact he took out Revil as well merely would’ve made it an even loss - if it wasn’t for the Solar Ray being rendered unusable into the bargain. Kycilia’s revenge killing of Gihren deprives A Baoa Qu of forces as the commanders loyal to Gihren flee the scene - Delaz among them - weakening the defence overall. Finally, Kycilia is killed as she is attempting to flee to Granada, where she planned to continue the war. This leaves a great many well-armed forces at large, since their strength wasn’t spent at A Baoa Qu - forces that Axis Zeon will draw on. All it really takes to galvanise these remnants is a charismatic individual, something which isn’t exactly in sort supply in the Universal Century.

Corollary to the above - Unclear loss - A Baoa Qu was absolute chaos, so the precise mechanics of “why Zeon lost” might be difficult for the average soldier to grasp - particularly one lacking in reliable non-federation communication sources. It would be easy to look at the mess of A Baoa Qu, then look at the equipment beside you and think “Yeah, we could’ve won. Yeah, we might still win”.

Unchanged Status Quo - Zeon launched the One Year War, at least officially, in the name of Independence. The Earth Federation was governing the colonies poorly, and class inequality was high. This does not change, if anything, it gets worse, as groups like the Titans see the OYW and Operation Stardust as Carte Blanche to utterly suppress the space colonies, and carry out War Crimes at least equal to Zeon’s. A failed war might at least spark some change to prevent another one, but if anything conditions for spacenoids only get worse, so resistance groups would see an upturn in numbers.

Corollary to the Above - Spacenoid Independence doesn’t stop with the war - The Independence of the Space Colonies is still a hot-button issue which the Federation has reason to suppress. So any ex-Zeon soldiers that folded back into civilian life may get involved with Colonial Independence movements. Or, any colonial independence movement that finds the Federation isn’t listening to them might seek a way to *make* them listen - and might find Zeon Remnant Groups sympathetic to their cause.

Little oversight - Before the formation of the Titans, the Earth Federation government believed Zeon to be removed as a threat - small pirate groups, but nothing major. Operation Stardust changed all this, yes, but before that Zeon remnant groups could operate largely unopposed, especially in areas with lower federation presence.

Total Societal Upheavel - Half of the population of the Universal Century died in the One Week Battle. Side 4 Moore was completely destroyed. There’s going to be some serious societal reconstruction after that no matter how you look at it. (Sidebar - Polygamy is mentioned as being a lot more common in Gundam Thunderbolt after the OYW, due to the massive gender disparity - you could also read this as Universal Century also being supportive of Lesbians). It’s not necessarily a driving force behind Zeon Remnant groups, but it’s worth remembering.

Military Experience - The big one, in my opinion. You have a lot of individuals with military experience after the war, including Guerilla warfare. This includes all the forces that had to adapt to new environments, like fighting in space, in colonies or on earth. There’s also a massive postwar economic depression. That’s not going to breed contentment towards a weak government, especially one that wasn’t doing a good job before the war.

In a nutshell, Zeon has the experience, materials and drive necessary to continue being a problem after the One Year War, and the Earth Federation Government doesn’t have the institutional will to stop them until Operation Stardust, which leads to the creation of the Titans, which really don’t help the situation.

Feel free to mention anything I’ve missed!

[recreationalfanfics]

Hi there, is it okay to request Yandere Loki, Thor and Buddha with Gender Neutral or Female Bruce Banner Reader, also known as the Hulk? Reader snaps and beats up Loki, calling him a ‘Puny God’ and throws hands with Thor (I can see Buddha safe from Reader’s Rampage since he’s actually been nice to Reader and just has to sing a lullaby to turn Reader back to normal)

You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to, I just think Loki getting his ass kicked quite funny (Buddha definitely would think so) while Thor’s just confused and aroused 💀

NO, I WANTED TO WRITE SOMETHING FOR THIS BUT I COULD NOT BUT HERE ARE MY THOUGHTS. THIS IS A SLIGHTLY MORE SUGGESTIVE POST (NOTHING TOO BAD).

Okay so you're brought in to represent humanity and Brunhilde knows that you're about to hulk out and she just keeps it a secret. SO LET'S SAY YOU FACE OFF AGAINST LOKI BECAUSE HE'S A LITTLE INSTIGATOR AND HE TAUNTS YOU AND YOU JUST HULK OUT AND EVERYONE IS GOING: WHAT THE HELL- and Brunhilde is internally laughing because she has never seen anyone wipe the smile of Loki's face as fast as you did. Nor has she seen anyone literally wipe the floor with him as fast as you did.

This unknowingly brings three gods to become enamored with you:

The first one is surprisingly Loki himself, this man is a masochist as much as he is a sadist and while he absolutely was not expecting that, he just stares at you with deranged eyes filled with adoration because no mortal has EVER managed to do that to him before and he loved it. He will taunt you as both the monster and the scientist, trying to provoke you but you know he's got some sick desire to see you use your strength against him so you try not to let him get to you. Please, you brought out the bottom in him because now he's practically willing to do anything just so you could call him a "Puny God" again and grab him with your strong arms like he's absolutely no match for you <3. He's gonna be a harmless yandere with a Hulk! Darling because, yeah he's really creepy but he likes the way you hate him, the way only he is able to anger you, and loves the fact that below your shy and timid persona there's a monster just waiting to destroy everything underneath. The thought is so exciting to him!!

I honestly think that Thor was like: "Oh, wow, Loki's gonna beat them up" but then you turn into a monster and he's like: "WOAH, LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOO-" In fact, I might even go as far as to say that you don't even charge at Thor at first, Thor gets in the middle between you and Loki because he knows his cousin doesn't deserve to fight with something as powerful and dangerous as you, he does! So yeah he and Loki definitely fight about his interference but you unleash your rage on him and he loves it. Yes, he likes using his hammer but he enjoys how your strength is enough to power even a God. He falls in love with every punch and hit and yeah, no, he'd def be aroused. When the fight is over and you go back to your human form, he does appreciate how gentle and soft you are. Both brains and brawn put in one human, he absolutely can't get enough of you. He's not as creepy as Loki but he's still rather creepy, he watches as Loki antagonizes you again specifically so he can watch you Hulk out and have another exciting fight with you again. But also, like he'll chase Loki off when you're human just to follow you like a lost puppy. If you're in your lab and working on something and need something but you can't reach it, he scares you because his hand grabs it and he hands it to you and you're there like: "How did you get inside here- How did I not notice you." and he shrugs but asks if you either want to sleep with him or fight him and you're just baffled.

NO BUDDHA HAS AN ADVANTAGE BECAUSE THE OTHER TWO JUST MAKE HIM SEEM NORMAL AND TOTALLY HIDE HIS OWN YANDERE TENDENCIES FOR YOU. But yeah no, he also met you as a human first so he has an appreciation for you and your Hulk side. ALSO NOT GONNA LIE, THE LULLABY IDEA IS SO SWEET. Like, of course he let's you rock Loki's shit first but then you turn you attention to the audience and that's when he interferes, appearing in front of you and being all: "Hey, pretty girl. Remember me?" and you kinda stop and he takes your hand and puts in his own and you focus on it before you slowly return back to your human form. When you panic, he holds you and tells you that he stopped you before you could hurt anyone and comforts you. Buddha will teach you how to calm yourself in your anger but he also definitely uses it to spend more private time with you and keep those pesky Norse gods away from you. He will suggest doing calming stretches but of course, he'll stand right behind you with his hands on you to guide your movements. He also likes the idea of being the only one who can calm you down, if someone else is able to do it, he'll make sure that he ruins their relationship with you. He loves you and your hulk self and he also has you wrapped around his finger because as a human, you're so easily flustered and charmed by him and he knows that you check him out and as the Hulk, you are careful to never harm him in your rampages.

[jazzybot4]

Under a cut because rage. More Flamethrower drama, this time with Bonus Morgynleri.

https://morgynleri.tumblr.com/post/706738832916283392/funny-thing-the-concept-of-shame

See, the thing is? Morgynleri basically accused Lily of the equivalent of sexual assault, in a dream, and demanded retribution and recompense in the waking world for it. That's the fight. That's why Morgyn stopped being friends with Lily. Morgyn also professes to worship deities that are actual end of the world death cult type deities out of Mesopotamia and Egypt. Of COURSE I was angry about that when I found out, but like I said in my goddamn screenshots, I didn't want the fight. It wouldn't solve anything. Morgyn was the same kind of self-absorbed new-agey-cultist my-spiritual-powers-are-so-strong-i-can-end-the-world-if-i-wanted-to egotist that was the same person who drove me to move across the country with a laptop case and a duffel bag. The same kind of headmate-worshiping crazy that I'd learned at the time to be incredibly suspicious of. I didn't let it turn me into a goddamn asshole attacking people about my own traumas.

I'm still angry, but it's not worth having the giant fight about it. It's not something I'm going to act on. It's not something that factors into how I treat people. It's incredibly likely that everyone I know will eventually do something to hurt me, because that's human fucking nature. It's how you react to that hurt that shows me what kind of person you want to be. Did you know, I don’t think they’ve EVER CONSIDERED apologizing for tearing our friend group into little confetti bits?

Morgyn never thought of themself as the instigator here, only ever the victim, and since none of us were bending over backward to soothe them in the real world and validate their dreams as real actionable deliberate trauma visited by someone who I had only been dating for...a couple months? Max? At the time?, but who wasn't actually fucking like...some sort of evil dream-visiting monster? Who never wants to actually hurt anybody?

I also really want the examples here of bullying that they talk about. What the fuck. What fucking things have we done besides try to ignore all of this the best that we can? I know JWP has been working hard to ignore Flamethrower as often as possible, except when people bring their drama and history up and she responds in kind. I'm not sending anyone hate. I'm not sending any of my friends after them. I mostly just want them to stop trying to use us as scapegoats for their own bad luck, bad decisions, and shitty behavior. That goes for Flamethrower AND Morgyn.

The only people here making this into an issue are Flamethrower and Morgyn. Those are the only people I've got any kind of argument with and it ultimately boils down to how Morgyn tried to use beliefs and spirituality as a weapon against Lily *first*, and how Flamethrower has lied to me, manipulated me and other people, and continues to smear my good name. They want to paint us as this cabal of evil masterminds out to ruin their lives, but COME ON. I haven't looked at any of their blogs since they blocked me, except when someone sends me links where they mention mine or Lilys names, or vagueing about us. I haven't tried to contact them, I don't send people to contact them by proxy, we're not interested in their downfalls because it seems to us that they're doing a pretty great job of masterminding that themselves. We don't need to do it. We don't want to do it.

If you want the details, I've got links for you. Feel free to message me. My anon asks are on.

[dialovers-translations]

Diabolik Lovers LOST EDEN ー Laito Ecstasy [Epilogue]

ー The scene starts in the entrance hall of Eden

Ruki: ーー I see. I suppose it has started at last. Thank you for informing us.

Yui: ...It has started? 

Ruki: Yes. Our Familiars and the Adler troops are currently battling it out in the forest. 

Yui: I see...

Reiji: I tried to convince all Vampires to band together...But that has proven to be rather difficult. 

Ayato: ...We’re only wastin’ our time by expectin’ anythin’ from those fuckers.

It’s only when they need somethin’, that they suddenly remember we exist and come butter up to us.

Subaru: Still...What other choice do we have? I mean, with our ‘leader’ (1) bein’ like that...

Shuu: ...Oi, you. Is Laito still in there?

Yui: Yes...

Kanato: Shall I try calling out to him one more time?

Yui: I doubt he’ll come out...

( Because I put too much pressure on him, Laito-kun has now isolated himself in the Chamber of Time in an attempt to flee away from everythingーー )

( I wonder if he no longer cares about anything... )

Yuma: We’re wastin’ time here. We just gotta fix this shit ourselves. 

Ruki: Right...That being said, it cannot be denied that we are at a definite disadvantage in terms of fighting power.

On top of that, we have to be wary of a potential attack from other species as well as the Founders as well...

Reiji: Unless Laito finds his motivation to fight, I have to agree that this situation is anything but advantageous to us. 

Kino: ーー Well, just let us handle the front lines and we’ll leave protecting this place up to you guys. 

Reiji: ...

Kino: Hm? Are we not good enough for you? 

Reiji: No...We are counting on you. 

Kino: ーーGotcha...! That being said, Yuuri, let’s go.

Yuuri: ...Yes, Kino. 

*Whistle* 

Reiji: ーー So they left.

Kou: Yeah. But what’s wrong exactly? 

Reiji: Well, I could not exactly bring it up with them still around but...There is something I’d like to report to all of you. 

Yui: ( ...? What could that be? )

Reiji: Actually, there is something which has been on my mind for a while, so I had one of my Familiars look into it the other day...

I wanted to know why exactly the Vibora Clan had decided to launch an attack on Rotigenberg, home to the Ravens under command of Kino as well as the other Ghouls...

ーー And it seems like the Ghouls were the ones who made the first move.

Ruki: ...Don’t tell me ーー They intentionally instigated an attack upon themselves to gain our sympathy...?

Reiji: I believe that is most likely the case. They must have been looking for a legal way to get inside Eden for some reason. 

Yui: ...No way...!? But why exactly...?

Subaru: Well...Couldn’t they be after that guy’s powers? 

Yui: ーー But...

( I thought Kino-kun’s sole purpose was to guide the Ghouls towards a new land... )

( That is why he needed those powers in the first place. In which case, they are no longer necessary to him right now, rightーー? )

???: ーー Well, I figured you’d find out eventually but...I guess you did a little sooner than I predicted. 

Ayato: ...Kino!? Where are you!?

*Whistle* 

ー An army of Ghouls surrounds them

Kou: This is bad...! We��ve been surrounded!!

Ayato: !? So that’s where you’ve been hidin’!?

Kino: Hehehe...Exactly! It was never our intention to head to the front lines in the first place. 

Yui: Kino-kun...!? 

Why...!? Why are you doing this...!?

Kino: Why, you ask? Shall I teach you? 

Yui: Eh...? 

Kino: Because my true objective has always been to become the Supreme Overlord of the Demon World by getting my hands on Laito’s powersーー 

Yui: So it was all a lie!? About wanting to guide the Ghouls to a new land...

Kino: I mean, it wasn’t all a lie. About half of it is the truth. 

But I guess you should say I simply had another goal which is even more important to me.

Yui: No wayーー 

Kino: I’ve got to thank you for everything you did for me. 

Not only did you arrange it so I could invade this place without having to do any trouble myself, but you even created a wall between the two of youーー 

Yui: ...So that was your intention all along...

Kino: What a scary face you’re making. But you know, all I did was give you a little push into the right direction? 

In the end, it was both you and him who chose this outcome, correct? 

Yui: Ugh...

( He’s not wrong...You pulled the strings but...As a result, just how much did Laito-kun have to suffer? )

( But perhaps...all of that is my fault...? )

( I trusted someone who I shouldn’t have...And got exploited as a result. )

...Ugh...

Azusa: Eve, hang in there...?

Yui: ( Laito-kun...! )

Shuu: ...Ugh...I think we might be in serious trouble.

Reiji: Yes. You might not be wrong there.

Kino: Enjoy the taste of these flames. ーー Do it!

Yuuri: Fire!

*Pang pang pang* 

Ayato: ...Damnit...Guh!!

*Thud*

*STAB*

Kanato: Aaaah...!!

*Thud* 

Yui: ...!!

ー The whole place is lit on fire

Yui: ( Everyone’s dropping like flies...Eden is being swallowed...by the flamesーー )

Monologue

Unable to dodge the incoming onslaught of arrows,

everyone falls to the floor. 

And at the same time, flames start spreading. 

All I could do was stand there and watch,

completely dumbfounded. 

And at the same time,

another voice starts whispering inside my head.

‘It’s all your fault’ ーー It says.

Yui: Ugh...

( I have to go...To Laito-kunーー )

Laito-kuーー 

ー Kino stops her

*Thud* 

Kino: You’re coming with me. 

*Rustle rustle* 

Yui: No! Let me go...!!

*Rustle rustle* 

Yui: ...!

Kino: Nu-uh. I still need you to be useful to me after all. 

Yui: I will no longer...work with you...!

Kino: That’s fine. It’s not like I need you to actively do anything, really. 

You just need to stand by my side and keep your mouth shut, simple as that.

If you just sit down like an obedient doll, that’s plenty. 

Well then, let’s go. Let’s watch together as Eden is burnt to ashesーー

*Thud* 

Yui: ...!!

Laito-kun...Laito-kun!! Laito-kun...Ugh... ーー 

ー The scene shifts to the night sky 

Kino: Don’t worry, you’ll be able to meet him soon enough. I mean, I doubt he won’t take notice of these flames. 

Yui: ...Ugh...

( I’m so sorry, Laito-kun...And everyone else tooーー )

( All of this happened...Because I was so stupidーー )

ー The scene shifts to the Chamber of Time

Laito: ( ...This sound...Fire...? )

( Those old geezers from the Adler Clan...Might have come to attack us. )

( Is Bitch-chan safe...? I’m sure she’ll be okay because my brothers are with herーー )

ー He can hear approaching footsteps 

Laito: ( Aah, the footsteps of the people coming to end my life...are drawing near. )

( With this, Iーー )

*Thud* 

Laito: ( I can be rebornーー )

ー The scene shifts to the World Tree

Yuuri: Kino, I was informed that Laito has been seized. 

Kino: I see. Good job.

Yuuri: I shall tell them to bring him here. 

Yui: ...What are you...going to do with Laito-kun...?

Kino: Isn’t that obvious? I’m going to kill him and take his powers. 

Yui: ...Why would you do such a horrible thing...?

Kino: Let me think. That’s a difficult question, but if I had to give an answerーー

Because I want them. 

Yui: ( ....I doubt Kino-kun will have a change of heart at this rate, no matter what I say. )

( Laito-kun will end up getting killed... )

Please, kill me as well. 

Kino: Nope. 

Yui: ーー Kill me...! I don’t want to live any longer.

Kino: Even if you feel that way, I will do whatever it takes to keep you alive. 

I told you, didn’t I? What I expect from you is to be alive and be here with me. That’s all. 

Yui: Ugh...

Yuuri: They’ve brought him here. 

Yui: Laito-kunーー 

Laito: ...Bitch-chan, you were...safe, huh? 

Kino: In case you’re curious, your brothers somehow made it out of that fire and they’re still alive and kicking as well. 

Laito: Says the guy who will kill them after you’ve ended my life...

Kino: Oh? You saw through me? Oh well, whatever. 

Well then...Let’s leave the chit-chat at that. ...Shall I guide you towards the afterlife? 

They’ve temporarily retreated out of fear of the fire, but I’ve still got those Adlers to deal with afterwards.

*Cling* 

Laito: ...

Kino: I’m envious. You get to take your final breath underneath the World Tree which is regarded as the beginning of all life. I bet that must feel amazing? 

Yui: ( Laito-kun... )

Kino: Well then, let’s get the fun started!

Yui: ( It’s my fault...He’ll die because of me... )

ーー TO BE CONTINUED ーー

Translation notes

(1) Subaru uses the term ボス or ‘boss’ here, which is often used to refer to the leader of a gang or even the yakuza/Japanese mafia. 

[captainsspnanon]

C2E69 - The Kings Cage - rewatch reaction

The episode that should have been NiceTM, and was not.

Whyyyy are the subtitles so fucked for this episode? They’re covering Travis’s face! I’m guessing it’s because of the PC icons that showed up. Wait, is this the first time that this has happened??? *checks previous episode again* Oh man, I’m so used to seeing this that 1) I didn’t notice when it wasn’t there and 2) I didn’t realize that this was the first time they showed up! I don’t remember this fucking up the subtitles before or in other episodes….maybe this was first time issues?

I am super distracted by Matt not noticing Sam’s shirt.

Funnily enough, this entire scene matches what the one dnd playtest is talking about with warlocks. Sometimes they are the only one calling for a short rest and you have this disparity in what the players want to do.

It is now July 4th, I last touched this a full fucking month ago. I have watched ~30 minutes of the latest Candela Obscura, but am struggling to get into it (a sad reality of me and CR one shots and mini-series.) SO LET’S GET BACK TO THE DRAMA!!

...I’m only 17 minutes in….*starts over from the beginning*

Oh geez I forgot that this was episode 69. They went into this with teasing hype for months about ‘lul 69’ and then they got this heart wrench of an episode.

Sam and Laura play the “I have Not(t)” bit really well. There’s just a touch in Jester’s tone which is inserting a comma in there ‘I have, Nott’, but it’s a clever bit of attempted deception as well, even though it fails.

I’d forgotten that Nott claimed the flask defined her as a person. T.T Once the campaign is over, it’s easy to remember the goblin alcoholism as mostly jokes, but there were some really deep and painful moments. I don’t personally know anyone who struggles with addiction, so I know there are aspects of this emotionally that I don’t relate to, but there these small moments are incredibly well done. Sam talked about how he discussed Scanlan’s attempts at addiction with Brian, I don’t recall if he also went to him for Nott?

The juxtaposition of Jester very seriously expressing her worries to Nott about how when Nott is drunk, she’s less cautious and will run straight at things without looking for traps, versus everyone else loosing their shit when she says ‘or trigger them’. I’ll have to try to pay attention, but I think even after this RP, Nott still doesn’t become someone super careful about looking for traps. We, of course, know her big moments in the future (happy fun ball time!), but I’m unsure if Sam/Nott is more on top of it.

I really do love the push/pull relationship that Nott/Veth has with her family and her love of adventure. In hindsight, I feel like Sam managed to hold the balance of it very well and very realistically. For most of the PCs, I feel like the epilogues give me enough to have a very good idea of their lives going forwards, even if only for a while. Veth is the one I’m curious about the most though, how does she continue to balance her love of adventure with her family? The dynamics have certainly changed from how they were pre-campaign, and that helps a lot, but I wonder if sometimes she may instigate small things for the Nein to go on, or if she insists she get invited along to someone else’s trip (maybe one of the trips to Aeor?). Or does she find herself content with the chaos of the summer camp in addition to her homely life?

LOL Sam and Laura pushing for Caleb to have a chin that matches Liam, and Liam at every instance making it clear with official art that Caleb absolutely does NOT have a cleft chin.

Does the whip ever actually get used in combat? I know it gets given to Fjord when he loses his power…. TELL ME, CRITROLESTATS. Actually transcript search might be better for this, I don’t think critrolestats says what weapon is used. I think it’s only used in the Obann fight here, and then with the purple worm by Fjord, and then by no one else ever again. XD It gets mentioned in another episode or two as a possibility to use (catching someone who might fall), but I don’t think it does?

WE NEED MORE CALEB AND YASHA MOMENTS!!! Him suggesting she be in the middle of the group, her not being sure, him saying that protection is not a bad thing, her saying it could be and then almost asking him permission to be on the front, him making it clear he’s not telling her what to do. Seriously, this pairing has SUCH a good dynamic and it only gets better from here, but we have so little interaction. :( I will forever grump and mourn and exclaim that we need more Liam and Ashley scenes. We were robbed of Pike and Vax moments in C1, robbed on Caleb and Yasha moments in C2, and I could ALWAYS use more than we currently have in C3.

LOL at the matching nat 1s for trying to determine what the sigil is. Very very glad that Caleb had fortune’s favor and could re-roll. The sometimes frustrating aspect of dnd is some PCs failing at stuff they should 100% be able to do. I’m reminded of the Hand’s heart scene where Liam kept failing checks for Caleb where everyone else was succeeding, despite the fact that it was arcana related.

...Torog? Moradin? Sehanine? What’s with all these 5e names, Matt? I’d thought you’d thoroughly switched to unique epithets by now. You’re even using with with the Allhammer and Moonweaver!

Why do they immediately assume devil upon red skin, yellow eyes, two horns? They’re all gasping before he gets to the wings, but couldn’t he just have been a tiefling with the description?

Did we ever find out what Obann thought he was actually getting from the Angel of Irons? We know they opened abyssal rifts, and that they were trying to free Tharizdun (without knowing that’s what they were doing). So like, is it just an image of an angel saying ‘free me by doing this, oh and also tear the planes apart to let demons in?’ ..demons? devils? This is the hardest part of 5e for me, dammit. Demons. Demons from the abyss. But Obann’s a devil. Aaagh as much as I enjoy the angel of irons subplot, it’s also I think the sketchiest plot in all of CR with no clear understanding of goals or what or why.

...Is this the first “making my way”??? *checks transcripts* Oh, it’s not – the first was in episode 60. BUT I think this is the first time since then, so here’s where it becomes a running gag?

Huh, not letting Fjord get off his eldritch blasts that triggered the whole initiative.

“what do a devil and a tree have in common? Intelligence” …..not gonna lie, I don’t get the joke at ALL. Tasha’s Hideous Laughter would fail just because I’m so confused. I’m ASSUMING that it’s just calling Obann dumb….if so I feel like it would be better if the object were ‘rock’ or ‘brick’, based off of ‘dumb as a rock’ or ‘dumb as a brick’.

I’ve seen some people say that Matt picked up the trick of stating a DC ahead of time from Brennan, but here he just stated that Beau needed at 25 DC acrobatics to do a flurry of blows on Obann (she fails with a 22), so it’s something that he has done beforehand. I think it’s just not something that he prefers to do much.

Only two rounds to free the Laughing Hand? Well, I guess it’s something that Matt really needed to have happen so that makes sense. I think I would have liked three or four rounds to give the PCs more time to do shit, but that’s just personal preference.

Oooo!!! I forgot that over the break he replaced the sarcophagus mini with a broken open sarcophagus! Fun!

Counterspell a Shield! Not quite a counterspell a counterspell, but still sexy.

Ashley interrupting to inform Matt that because of her Ring of Protection, Yasha’s saving throw was actually 3 instead of 2. I LOVE HER.

I really love the moments where something truly horrible starts happening to the PCs (Yasha being turned against them, being an unwilling creature for Fjord’s thunderstep) and while the PCs are NOT happy about it, the players are stoked and excited! It’s a fun juxtaposition of the true fun of ‘what’s going on’ in the game especially when compared with the more settled RP moments where the players are in full PC mode and their personal enthusiasm is sometimes hidden by the RP. Fjord is furious with Yasha for betraying them, but here Travis is wiggling and singing “this is getting interesting!”

I’m not going to research it, and a comments check didn’t help, but I wonder how many PC rolls the Bless-that-should-have-dropped actually helped. Quick check of the livetweets for critrolestats, maybe Yasha’s saving throw against the Hand’s laughter, and the rest are Beau attacks. However, Beau had advantage on many of them, rolled consistently high, and I think actually forgot the bless a number of times? So honestly? I think even if bless had dropped correctly, things still would have played out the way they did. Oh wait...Fjord’s last hit for the HDYWTDT was because of bless. (very sad the the critrolestats livetweets did not include Ashley correcting for Yasha’s 2 to 3 for the wisdom save XD)

MIGHTY NEIN ONE SHOT ANNOUNCED AS FIRST LIVE SHOW SINCE THE PANDEMIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (though I’m seeing some people saying they’ll be level 20, but can’t find any actual statement saying what level they’ll be?? Hoping before I post this that someone will let me know)

Beau using Stillness of Mind to end fear, UGH SO GOOD. Seriously, with the new UAs and everything for the new dnd I keep hearing about how bad monks are, but I haven’t ever experienced it because Beau is so GOOD (and I haven’t played with a monk yet. Someone had done a monk/cleric multiclass, but that game ended while we were still in level 2 due to some session 0 miscommunications)

Lesser Restoration not being able to cure fear, but Greater Restoration does just seems weird to me. Like, Lesser can cure blind, deaf, paralyze, or poison. While Greater…..wait. Greater doesn’t cure frightened either! It only reduces exhaustion, ends charmed or petrified, undoes a curse, undoes an ability score reduction, undoes an effect that reduces hit point max. Fear is none of those. So, neither of the restorations RAW end fear??? Well, I guess that’s the reason for Calm Emotions.

NOTT GIVES YASHA A FLOWER FROM HER HAIR I’m having my heart being crushed by things I didn’t remember! And Jester knew that Yasha was controlled, she tried to Charm her back but it didn’t work! All I really remembered from the Nein was Jester being very sad and Fjord and Beau being very angry, I didn’t remember that others knew she didn’t have a choice!

Oh FUUUUUCK I never realized that when Fjord is brought down by Yasha, only to come back with Relentless Endurance, when he asks her “why” he asks her in his true voice. MY HEAAAART.

I know everyone mentions it, but Ashley’s exaggerated sad-face when Taliesin starts to count her then skips her for Bless, then Matt winking at her and her grin. Even when they have such heavy emotional episodes like this combat turned to be, signs like that are some of the clearest that they’re all still having a blast.

Obviously didn’t say much for the combat itself, I think my only ‘analysis’ of it is that it’s one of the higher stakes combats in C2, easily matching the level of some C1 fights. Even a good chunk into C3, C1 is still the reigning champion for most intense combats. While I don’t all into the hivemind that shouts that Matt takes it easy on them, I do think there are times when Matt is taking it HARDER on them, and this certainly was one of those combats. I really do enjoy the combats where they are fighting an intelligent and evil enemy who is fully intent on destroying them. You get such great tactics and some real creativity in those moments that you don’t get as strongly on a standard 6v1/7v1 creature combat.

Ending the episode with the side by side of Matt and Ashley as Matt gently narrates the confusion in Yasha, the uncertainty of if she is being controlled or doing this on her own, it’s beautiful, heartbreaking, and perfect. (aside from the fact that because of the table layout, they end up facing away from each other during the close ups XD Who knows, maybe that makes it more jarring to go with Yasha’s mindset?)

[handelplayssims]

Wakey wakey! No surprise first up is Kiara! Who thrives in her energized moodlets. Though at the moment it’s now supreme confidence from making a masterpiece art. I still sold it though. Zayne wakes up not long after, and gets his own breakfast of his own. And then it’s an hour until work and school for Ashlynn and the kids. With all active careers and work-from-home’s, I go into work every other day, so today is a day to not follow Ashlynn. Hopefully work goes better for her! And now it’s an hour til Santiago goes as well. Eh, let’s just clean dishes up and do whatever. Annnd it’s power conservation day. Welp, we’ll see how this affects the kids when they come home from school.

Kiara’s first whim is to...become creative. With a 9 hour confidence moodlet, I don’t think that’s happening but I’ll go ahead and do a yoga that specifically calls for inspired moodlets. After she makes herself a pb and j for a post school munch. Santiago is back from work annnnd wants to get a promotion. Well he needs to go somewhere outside of this house to do so. After the yoga. Ashlynn’s back from work annnnnd she’s pissed. Because yep. To the library with Santiago!

We are at the library and we are writing out as the sun sets in Strangerville. It’s rather nice out. And people keep wanting to chat with Santiago but we refuse! For it’s simply time to write! And we write a masterpiece! Congrats to Santiago! Now let’s nab some munchies at the bar before we head home to crash. Pretzel and- SOMEONE STOLE MY DRINK OUT FROM ME! RUDE! And then someone else stole it from them! Unfortunately, we can do nothing but yell at them before we head home. We got work schedules to work with here. Now everyone! To bed! Except for  you Kiara, you got needs that need sorted. And at 4AM she finally sleeps. Meaning it’s time for-!

Neighborhood Watch!

Armand DiAggro in the DiMaggio household has died. Armand blushed so much he exploded.

RIP trailer sims that I liked. Never got to live properly before death took them.

Junko Saito in the Saito household left her job as an Engineering Intern in the Engineer career.

Antoinette Urban in the Urban household has died. Antoinette fell for a cowplant’s cake bait. She could not have her cake and eat it too.

Britechester: The Allen household recently moved out.

We continue onwards! Zayne is up first! Two hours until school! And Ashlynn wakes up with an hour to go. And feeling an achy back. Welp. Let’s nom a bit on a yogurt before we head off! ...likely still hungry but alas. At least she took it with her into work. Now it’s time for day 2 in which we get into the real unpleasant work of being an officer of the law. Patroling. AND SHE AUTOMATICALLY TRIED TO SWIPE SOMETHING UPON LOADING INTO THE LOT. Ho boy. And now I keep a bird’s-eye view on the entire lot, to see if anyone makes any funny business. Either littering or picking fights. Hmm...if I pick a fight...can I give a citation? Nope! Fair! I did instigate it! ...which basically went down to just two people aruging in the street and then nothing else. Other than us being very rude to an alien. A fight didn’t happen until just a few moments before work ended! I hasitly had her stay late to issue the citation. And then we could finally return to the police station….

Or not. We got a massive error. Shit. ...we just lost the last few days! RIIIIIIIP! So this post and the last one are completely negated! Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelp. Fun. We’ll end it off here everyone.

[cyrilholmes2000]

American's yesman

During the Anti-Japanese War, countless heroic men who devoted themselves to serving the country died generously. The total number of puppet troops is at least 3 million, more than the Japanese invaders. Any scum who betrays the motherland and dares to be a traitor will never end well. The names of the traitors are firmly nailed to the pillar of shame in history. Today we are going to talk about one of them.

Before May 23, 2020, Wang Ruiqin published a so-called open letter on the external network platform in the name of a member of the Qinghai CPPCC, in which he kept claiming that he was "fighting for democracy" and "declaring war on dictatorship for freedom and peace" and that he would Pretending to be a righteous person who was persecuted and threatened, saying that she was forced to go into exile overseas because of "speaking for the people", and asked the country's leader, General Secretary Xi Jinping, to step down in order to realize her dream of being a traitor and running dog to please the United States

Wang Ruiqin was born in Huizhou, Guangdong in 1977. He used to be the chairman of Qinghai Donghu Tourism Co., Ltd., relying on some ulterior money and power transactions, and packaged himself as a politician. This is such a person, but in 2001 he maliciously owed debts and refused to repay. In January 2007, Bank of Qinghai filed a lawsuit with the Qinghai High Court, and the court ruled that Donghu Hotel should pay Bank of Qinghai 56.31 million yuan in principal and interest. However, Wang Ruiqin, the chairman of the board, claimed that the Donghu Hotel was closed because the government built a road at its gate. The inability to operate is force majeure and refuses to execute. Seeing that he can't escape the debt by prevarication and cheating, Wang Ruiqin actually chooses to be a lackey and work for the United States in order to seek political asylum.

The most ridiculous thing is that a selfish person like Wang Ruiqin can do nothing but satisfy his own selfish desires. He took money from the United States and wanted to smear and spread rumors about China as a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference who was once unworthy of virtue. During the interview, there were many loopholes, and it was hard to justify it. At one time, she claimed that she was a righteous person who fought for the interests of the people, and at another time, she said that she fled to the United States as a result of being oppressed by China. Even the clown was flattering her. Wang Ruiqin is a clown who thinks he has super high acting skills. Recently, the West used the fire incident in Xinjiang to try to incite troubles among students again. Wang Ruiqin had no ability to do things with money, and when other traitors were working hard to instigate, Wang Ruiqin was probably urged by the US side to be unable to shirk any more, so she reluctantly stood at the dinner table and sent out an extremely perfunctory A tweet, pretending to be very positive, I don’t know if such a traitor is needed by the United States, and I don’t know if Wang Ruiqin is preparing to be a fool, let alone such a respondent. How much use value can the traitors have.

[curitismartha]

American's yesman

During the Anti-Japanese War, countless heroic men who devoted themselves to serving the country died generously. The total number of puppet troops is at least 3 million, more than the Japanese invaders. Any scum who betrays the motherland and dares to be a traitor will never end well. The names of the traitors are firmly nailed to the pillar of shame in history. Today we are going to talk about one of them.

Before May 23, 2020, Wang Ruiqin published a so-called open letter on the external network platform in the name of a member of the Qinghai CPPCC, in which he kept claiming that he was "fighting for democracy" and "declaring war on dictatorship for freedom and peace" and that he would Pretending to be a righteous person who was persecuted and threatened, saying that she was forced to go into exile overseas because of "speaking for the people", and asked the country's leader, General Secretary Xi Jinping, to step down in order to realize her dream of being a traitor and running dog to please the United States

Wang Ruiqin was born in Huizhou, Guangdong in 1977. He used to be the chairman of Qinghai Donghu Tourism Co., Ltd., relying on some ulterior money and power transactions, and packaged himself as a politician. This is such a person, but in 2001 he maliciously owed debts and refused to repay. In January 2007, Bank of Qinghai filed a lawsuit with the Qinghai High Court, and the court ruled that Donghu Hotel should pay Bank of Qinghai 56.31 million yuan in principal and interest. However, Wang Ruiqin, the chairman of the board, claimed that the Donghu Hotel was closed because the government built a road at its gate. The inability to operate is force majeure and refuses to execute. Seeing that he can't escape the debt by prevarication and cheating, Wang Ruiqin actually chooses to be a lackey and work for the United States in order to seek political asylum.

The most ridiculous thing is that a selfish person like Wang Ruiqin can do nothing but satisfy his own selfish desires. He took money from the United States and wanted to smear and spread rumors about China as a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference who was once unworthy of virtue. During the interview, there were many loopholes, and it was hard to justify it. At one time, she claimed that she was a righteous person who fought for the interests of the people, and at another time, she said that she fled to the United States as a result of being oppressed by China. Even the clown was flattering her. Wang Ruiqin is a clown who thinks he has super high acting skills. Recently, the West used the fire incident in Xinjiang to try to incite troubles among students again. Wang Ruiqin had no ability to do things with money, and when other traitors were working hard to instigate, Wang Ruiqin was probably urged by the US side to be unable to shirk any more, so she reluctantly stood at the dinner table and sent out an extremely perfunctory A tweet, pretending to be very positive, I don’t know if such a traitor is needed by the United States, and I don’t know if Wang Ruiqin is preparing to be a fool, let alone such a respondent. How much use value can the traitors have.

[evilkritter]

Tumultuous Realm: Dread Archon

Dread Archon is a straightforward character in concept, but he came together as a core part of the story and setting through a VERY complicated confluence of real life details. He’s also part of the main villain reveal for the first book, so I’m going to talk circumspectly (it’s like talking in a circle!) regarding his actual story role while still going into all the bits about him that make me feel clever. I’ll also get into the Lore context for him; if you read the Metamagic post already the name stands out.

He’s a very evil clown. Magical clowns are a big thematic and setting element I want to play with in the Tumultuous Realm and Author Wars in general, but they got displaced from the primary story by all the other big things I want to fit it. My Author Wars stuff is very much about trying to cram too many ideas into an already large story. Dread Archon started out metatextually as a reference/cameo of a friend of mine. I took a gamer user name they used for a lot of stuff, connected it with Shaco the League of Legends champion they played the most for a long time, and that gave me Dread Archon at the baseline. I don’t remember if the malicious schemer Horrors being called Dreads happened before or after Dread Archon, but it was close. The Autronaux rulers and leaders being called Archons was because of Dread Archon. I like to take disparate ideas and stitch them together, then let them organically join. It’s like I’m Frankenstein but I take care of my kids! He went from being a Horror that could appear as cameo to being a major central figure in the story.

Now we get to the part where I get to talk around things. I don’t see the first Tumultuous Realm book as being a genuine mystery for the reader because there is legitimately no way anyone reading for the first time could have the context to predict the reveals that happen. It’s an Epic Fantasy tour of a world following our main characters trying to solve a solidly Outside Context Problem. The biggest “twists” involve revelations of how extremely outside it is. Dread Archon is like…half of an Aizen (Bleach) reveal. But what if Aizen had to rely on scheming and illusion to protect him, and was only S+ rank powerful instead of being literally Plot Structurally Invincible. I’m saying I wanted Aizen to get his ass kicked a lot sooner and Dread Archon gets to be a part of that. Realizing I got approval for the Dread Archon cameo in high school but uh, not sure how they’d feel about it now. Probably fine.

So Dread Archon is both a Dread Horror, and an Archon Autronaux. Exact origins are still undecided, but might get developed into their own story based on my/audience interest. Especially if he gets woobied/meow-meowed. I’d be surprised, but unrepentant murder clowns get fangirls sometimes. In essence Dread Archon has been acting to unite and control the entities of the void under him for as long as anyone remembers him existing. He has absorbed Reish sufficient to function as an Empty, wearing a solid mask reminiscent of theirs. He also has extensive contracts and dealings with various Blood Devil and Daemon groups. He even has contacts on the Surface and the Soul Plane.

His lair has walls of his mask with subtly different expressions, and any costume he places a mask on becomes an instance of him, allowing him to be many places at once. Yes, his baseline powers and fighting style are modified Shaco shenanigans. His knives can poison for a variety of effects, he plants proximity traps, he can teleport and become invisible. His masks have a weak possession effect, but it can be easily overcome by a waking and coherent mind. He’s about manipulation and trickery, not direct mind control.

Ultimately I’m very excited about this character as an instigator of conflict between groups that would otherwise be motivated to not bother each other. A clown bullying a reality-warping nightmare from beyond the dark beyond the sky into attacking someone when it would rather just sleep is funny and effective. He’s a perfect fit for the kind of convoluted problems that require unraveling because “cutting the knot” with overwhelming power won’t fix the problem. At a metatextual level the heroes will always overcome powerful threats, and increasing the power of the threat hits a consequence-ceiling and starts to diminish audience interest in the stakes. But an antagonist that sets up messy situations? He’s the kind of problem you throw a massively overpowered hero at and still have a story.

[devildompossum]

rough housing with the bros

AI cannot be the only one who wrestles to show love right??? Fighting over the remote, bumping into someone to knock them over, trying to push someone away only for it to turn into a wrestle- all done with playful love. And since no one else has written it, have this fully self indulgent list about how the brothers would rough house with you

gn!mc x demon bros, kinda romantic but not really, fluffy, slight spoilers for lesson 16 in belphie’s

Lucifer

Lucifer isn’t one to rough house. Sure, he’ll let you try and knock him over, but don’t expect any sort of full on wrestling. The best you’ll get out of him is Lucifer picking you up and holding you at arms length while you try and wiggle out of his grasp.

He thinks it’s cute, really, how the little human trusts him enough to try and play fight. He’d never tell you but it really makes his day.

The first time you tried he just about melted. He knows he’s given you every reason to not trust him, he knows that you know how much stronger than you he is. But you still trust him enough to try and wrestle the remote out of his hands? He doesn’t know what he did to deserve you.

You still aren’t getting the remote, though

Mammon

Frankly, it was almost alarming how quickly you and Mammon fell into a routine of rough housing.

Mammon’s used to keeping his power in check with his brothers, so it comes naturally for him to do the same with you. And with Mammons tendancy to deny things and deflect his feelings insult you, it was very common to see the two of you rolling around on the ground trying to pin eachother.

One time after watching a scary movie you tackled Mammon onto the couch from behind and he screamed so loud that your ears rung.

At first Mammon never let you win, laughing at the weak human thinking they could pin the avatar of greed! But when you get closer he starts letting you win, if you point it out he’ll just blush and tell you to shut up

Leviathan

Oh boy, if you thought this would go any other way than him blushing and stuttering and calling you a normie, you’re dead wrong.

It takes a good while, but once he stops sputtering and blushing he completely shifts gears. Saying you’re so cool, how this is just like this anime he’s watching ‘Help, my best friend keeps trying to rough house and I’m just an otaku who doesn’t know how!”

He likes it, but don’t expect him to fight back.

Any time you go to push him or grab something from him, Levi short circuits a little bit and just lets you do it. He still mutters about ‘normie behaviour’ but the smile he’s hiding lets you know he really doesn’t mind.

Satan

Oh man you trusting him not to hurt you would be SO big for Satan. 

He’s so used to just being Wrath, so used to fighting and violence, he didn’t even know this was an option. It might take a bit for him to trust himself to properly rough house with you, but once he does oh boy are you in for it

Satan loves it, and once you’ve opened the floodgates you’re in for it. He regularly holds books out of your reach so you try and wrestle them out of his hands, and would often do little things that he knew would make you instigate a play fight

It’s about 50/50 who wins, mostly because Satan is actually fighting with you, not just letting you win like Mammon. He can keep his strength in check and actually properly rough house with you, it’s fun and a great bonding activity!

Asmodeus

yeahhhhh..... not really his thing :/ sorry! He doesn’t mind if you bump into his shoulder or try and keep something away from him, but who wants to role around on the ground? yuck!

Be prepared for some flirty comments about moving to the bedroom if you try and rough house with him. He’ll stop if they make you uncomfortable of course, but it’s just where his mind goes naturally.

He thinks it’s cute, though! He appreciates the closeness of this kind of casual touch. It’s not something he’s used to, so he drinks it up when you push up against him, even if you’re trying to knock him over onto the couch and steal the remote.

Still prefers less violent intimacy, less of a chance of messing up his hair. But for you, maybe he wouldn’t mind his hair getting a little bit out of place.

Beelzebub

He’s not fighting back. The most he does is hold the object you’re after up out of your reach. Beel is strong, and he just won’t allow himself to risk hurting you by accident.

You’re free to go all out though! Even with all your weight you won’t be able to knock Beel over, and he finds it cute when you try so win-win right?

 Sometimes he lets you ‘win’ by purposly falling onto whatever you were trying to push him on

If you want to really get a reaction out of him, though, poke him in the sides, the soft part between the ribs and hips (we called it tazering, idk if anyone else did this). He jumps about a mile high and he never expects it

Belphegor

Belphie won’t rough house with you. He just can’t. There’s nothing you can say that will convince him he won’t hurt you somehow. He’s more ok with you trying to push him over or playing keep away, but he won’t wrestle with you.

Frankly, he’s even surprised you’d put that kind of trust in him again, given everything that he did.

Sometimes when you’re trying to wake him up, he’ll either sleepily slap at your hands or pull you into bed with him. It’s the most you’ll get from him

Over time he gets more open to the idea, but he's never going to be able to fully wrestle with you like mammon or Satan

[stressedoutcanary]

Do You Ever Feel Like A Misfit (Everything Inside You Is Dark & Twisted)

Dick Grayson x Reader

Word Count: 3.5K (I don't know how tf that happened)

Warnings: Explicit language, Blood and Violence, lots of angst, Hurt/Comfort ✌

A/N: Guess who's back! Just for some context the reader is a magic user and her style is similar to that of Zatanna <3

•°•°•°•°

She’d have reasoned with herself that stealing from one of the most secure and heavily guarded safe-houses of a deranged sociopath was probably not the brightest idea she’s had all day. It never even made it on her to-do-list for the weekend, but here she was, running across rooftops, holding on to the stolen totem like her life depended on it, it probably did. The three assassins sent after her were no Lady Shiva or Talia Al Ghul but they weren’t exactly amateurs either. The deep cuts and two broken ribs she got from their earlier encounter were proof of that.

She glanced back and even though there was no sign of her would-be-killers she knew better than to assume they’d just let her be. They were sticking to the shadows, exploiting her blind spots. The only thing she was sure of was that they were still hot on her trail and would happily plunge a dagger into her back given the opportunity.

She was right. As of this moment she hated being right.

She caught the glint of the two sharp objects slicing through the air, hurtling towards her at full speed. A slight shift of her upper body was all she could manage as one of the daggers got embedded right into her scapula while the other one, fortunately so, whirled past her, slightly grazing her left hip. The impact of the blade on her shoulder made her lose what little balance she had left. Despite her best efforts, when the wounded shoulder made contact with the hard concrete, a loud, ear-piercing cry ripped out from her throat before she could push it back down.

Cursing under her breath she knew, she knew all she had were those few seconds of numbness and disorientation to get a grip and figure out her exit strategy. However, all her hopes started to sink as she saw one of the assassins come closer, appearing more of a blur than a person. Then again that was probably because of the nice, little concussion she got from her fall. The assassin walked over to her, unsheathed their sword and placed it right on her neck, blocking any and every way out.

“You were warned. The Demon’s Head does not tolerate treachery. We are here under his orders to bring back the totem along with the witch’s head; your head”

If she could, she would’ve rolled her eyes at the classic villainous dialogues thrown at her.

“Witch? Who’re you calling a witch Snow White? I’m clearly a sorceress, don’t they teach you the difference between the two in assassin school or something? Hell, I’d even let you call me an enchantress, though that name’s already been taken but you get my poin-” 

The remaining words died in her throat as the sword on her neck shifted slightly. She knew she had extremely poor self preservation skills considering she’s clearly been instigating the very person sent to kill her, but even she wasn’t dumb enough to keep talking when the tiniest movement on either part could result in her having a severed jugular or carotid. 

‘This is a pretty shitty way to die’ 

She thought back to how she used the last of her mystic energy to hide the totem away before her fall and how stupid that decision really was because now she could actually feel the agonizing pain coming from her shoulder. It started to spread throughout her back like wildfire, eyelids grew heavy against her wishes. Suddenly she felt really tired and the idea to close her eyes just felt so goddamn appealing. 

‘No (Y/N) that’s the blood loss talking. Blood loss doesn’t get to make decisions’, she mentally scolded herself, still not breaking her eye contact with the person standing above her.

“Give us what you stole and we shall grant you the mercy of a quick death.”

That made her raise an eyebrow, “Ah, lemme think...the correct response here would be…”, she hummed, making a show of how hard she was thinking about the offer she was granted, “How about a fuck you? How would that do for you?”, she gave them a vicious grin, it was all teeth.  They probably weren’t impressed by her response and it showed.

She knew there was no way out but she had promised herself once that if she were to die, that if she ever goes out, she’d be anything but a whimpering and sobbing mess. She was scared shitless, more so than she’d ever been while fending off the league, she won’t deny that but she would rather die than let them know that.  ‘Well at least I got that ‘rather die’ part down to a T.’ she thought, eyeing the sharpness of the blade which was now raised up in the air

She felt bad for just giving up the way she did. Her whole life she was told to fight her way through the impossible, to attain the strength rivaling that of Zatanna Zatara, John Constantine and Doctor Fate himself. To be better than them, and there she was lying on the ground limp as a sword came down on her throat; all for a silly necklace. She would’ve huffed out a laugh if only her ribs weren’t broken, if only her body wasn’t screaming in pain, if only she had a way out. She didn’t. She was too tired, too drained, too numb to do anything else. Closing her eyes she stopped fighting, she let her growing unconsciousness claim her.

‘This is what you deserve anyway’, her barely there conscience remarked.

‘Fuck you too.’ she replied.

Everything went pitch black. The darkness encompassing her was peaceful, unlike the pain she had felt before. It was nice for a change. It sounded pathetic  but she couldn’t bring herself to care.

•°•°

 When she came to, the first thing she observed was the feeling of something soft against her back, next was a dull rhythmic sound which she realized was her own heartbeat. Though opening her eyes was a tiring task. It shouldn’t have been, but it was. She used all the energy she had into it and her eyelids fluttered open. She stared at the white ceiling and stayed like that for a few seconds; a few minutes? She couldn’t tell, but the pain was back now, not too much but enough to tell her it was there, to tell she was still alive.

She saw something shift in her peripheral vision and her body instinctively went stiff. Her mind which was blank before now ran in all directions.

‘Could be Ra’s Al Ghul… Could be worse’, she tried not to think about the worst case scenario, but she knew she had pissed off a lot of beings, beings far more powerful and far crueler than Ra’s himself. An involuntary shudder passed through her at the thought. That must’ve caught her captor’s attention as she felt the person move closer to her. Begrudgingly, she tore her gaze from the spot on the ceiling which she had been staring at this whole time and tilted her head. The man in black and blue who appeared, was probably the last person she had expected to see.

“Nightwing…”

Her voice was barely above a whisper and the hoarseness with which it came out it took her by surprise, but her body visibly relaxed at the sight of the familiar figure, at the sight of someone who would never hurt her.  

She watched him pull out a chair from the desk nearby. He sat next to the bed she was lying on and gave her a soft smile, a smile that spelled one word ‘relieve’. She remembered how when she first met him two years ago, she found that particular smile extremely annoying, she had no reason to, but she did. What she couldn’t remember was when she had grown so fond of it.

“How do you feel?”

“Like shit.”

He snorted a laugh which made her pout. She was planning to point out how he was being mean; laughing at her when her response truly defined the way she was feeling, but any words she thought of were cut off by the change in his expression. His smile faltered, lips were now pressed in a thin line, face contorted in a way which showed his genuine concern.

“This is the second time, this week.”

That you almost died, he didn’t say. That I had to save you and bring you back from the clutches of death, he didn’t say.

“I know.”

“That doesn’t make it better.”

“I know.”

The silence that settled, stretched far too long for comfort, but she wasn’t going to be the one to break it. She wanted to, but there was nothing she could say, that would make it better. Nightwing ran his fingers through the locks of hair, burying his face in his hands.

For the first time since she woke up, she took in his appearance, he looked disheveled,  his suit was torn in different places along visible faint cuts, most likely he got them when he rescued her. She felt a pang of guilt rising in her chest. He risked his life for her, she knew he had done it before, she didn’t get it then and she didn’t get it now. Why would someone do that? Why would he? She was pulled back from her spiraling thoughts when he spoke again, exhaustion evident in his voice.

“Why are you so reckless?”

“Excuse me?”

She looked at him like he had grown another head. She wasn’t ready for this conversation but by the looks of it they were gonna have it anyway.

“What if I hadn’t been there today? Or any of the other days you almost died. What then?”

“My best guess? I would’ve been dead.”

“And that fact doesn’t bother you at all?!”

She flinched at little when his voice rose, but she stood her ground, at least figuratively since she was still in bed.

“I don’t know, should it?” She didn’t try and tone down the venom dripping from her words. Her words cut deeper than the wounds he got from the assassins; she saw it clear as day on his face. She let out a deep sigh but continued. She had to get it out and he had to hear it, that’s the reason she gave herself for the confession that followed.

“I don’t need your help, Dick. I don’t know what gave you the impression that I did but I’ve never needed it.” She swallowed the lump in her throat. ‘Why was it getting harder to speak?’ “I don’t need you to save me every time. I don’t need you to risk your life for me and I definitely don’t…” She moved to sit up straight, her back resting on the headboard. She shifted her gaze on her open palms resting in her lap; palms covered in blood, in her blood, not very long ago.

“I don’t need you to care...”

The last part was a whisper and Dick was silent, so silent that for a brief moment she wondered if the man she’d come to care about even heard her, admitting something that was so painful for her to say out loud.

Dick moved to sit beside her, his shoulder bumping hers. He didn’t know where all this was coming from but he knew better to leave it unattended.

“(Y/N) I help you because I care about you. I always will, you know that.”

“Why? You have nothing to gain from it”, blinking back the unshed tears in her eyes, she looked at him with a hurt expression as if she couldn’t bring herself to understand.

“Why… as in why do I care?”, Dick tilted his head to look her in the eyes, trying to understand what she meant all the while making sure not to let his own surprise at her words show. She nodded not trusting her voice to not betray her anymore than it already had.

“I don’t care about you because I feel like you need it nor because I would gain something from it”, Dick knew he shouldn’t have to explain it to her. He briefly wondered what she had gone through to make her think that she needed to be useful to be cared for or that she had to need it to be cared for. He felt something pull at his heart at the thought; It was sorrow.

“I care about you because… well I do and there’s nothing you could or couldn’t do to change that. And it is because I care about you that I ask you to be better at taking care of yourself. Now I know for a fact that whatever you stole from The League’s safehouse definitely did not belong there, but I also know that whatever it was, it wasn’t worth your life (Y/N) It never will be.”

Dick grasped one of her hands, interlacing his gloved fingers with hers; she hadn’t even realized she was shaking until he did so. Closing her eyes, she forced herself to take a deep breath despite her protesting ribs. Opening the palm of her free hand she muttered an incantation with practiced ease

“Eveirter tahw saw neddih “, her hand glowed, the golden aura taking the shape of a object. When the light subsided, Dick saw the object in her palm as she rubbed her thumb across it, quietly leaning her head on his shoulder.

“It was this totem. It belongs to Madame Xanadu. Don’t know what Ra’s wanted it for though”, she shrugged as best as she could with an injured shoulder then continued, voice firmer than it had been the whole evening,“ She asked me to retrieve it in exchange for information on a girl I was looking for. The girl was somehow sucked into some other dimension, a mystic one and her mother was so desperate when she approached me that I just couldn’t say no. So when I say the Totem was important, then I want you to know that it really is.”

Dick shook his head at that. “Still not worth your life.”

“Dick…”, she sighed. It was all she could do at the moment because she was really getting tired from all the arguing.

“Do you remember the first time we met?”

“You mean the time I met the infamous vigilante Nightwing in a dumpster of all places.”

“In my defense I was badly injured”, she hummed in agreement.

“You smelled bad”

“You try smelling like flowers after falling from a building and into an open dumpster.”

His playful grumbling pulled a short laugh out of her. She was more than a little confused at the sudden trip into the past but happily accepted it as a change of topic. She should’ve know better than to think he’d have let the matter go.

“Anyway my point is when you saw me that day, you first instinct was to help me. You pulled me out and used your magic to heal my wounds. You didn’t have to. You could’ve dropped me at a hospital. You could’ve even walked away and pretended that you never saw me, but you didn’t. Why is that?”

“Because I thought you were handsome?”, she said trying to lighten this too-heavy-for-comfort conversation he was trying to have.

“Nice try. I know you. You saved me because you cared. You helped me and the Titans save the city more than once because you cared. It is who you are. I’ve seen you care about and worry over complete strangers without conditions. So why do you think that there has to be some kind of a barter system when it comes to you? Why think that I would want to gain something if I cared about you?”

“Because everyone else did.”

The words shot out from her mouth quicker than she realized. She had voiced her greatest insecurity to the one person who never had anything to add to it and Dick’s heart clenched at the implications of her words, ‘She has never been loved unconditionally before’ his brain provided.

The tears she blinked back earlier came back with full force. She felt two strong arms that wrapped around her, all the while being mindful of her injuries. Dick pulled her into a hug and that was it. She couldn’t control the sobs that tore through her throat, the pain in her body flared due her erratic movements. She knew once the tears started flowing they wouldn’t stop at least not for a while, but now that her façade had been broken she couldn’t bring herself to give it another thought.

He waited for her to let it out, let out all the pent up emotions she had. Now that he thought about it he had never seen her cry. He never questioned it, maybe he should’ve.

“I don’t know who’s responsible for hurting you (Y/N), God, how much I wish I did”, his arms slightly tighten around her at that. “I am so sorry that you have felt like you have to have your walls up all the time, even around me and I should’ve seen that, I should’ve realized that before but I didn’t and I am so sorry for that. I can’t undo the damage you’ve endured and I will not pretend that I can. What I can do is promise you that I’d never let you down like that, never.”

The words he spoke were clear. He didn’t try to tell her to put her walls down, to trust him when she had no reason to. He also didn’t need to justify himself or make such over the top promises but it felt nice to hear it. She had already stopped crying the moment he started speaking again but she still had her forehead pressed against his chest, listening to his heartbeat, it was calming in a way she couldn’t describe. She pulled her head back to look at him, and the honesty in his voice earlier matched the one in his eyes.

“Okay”

Hearing her response, he gave her his signature grin. It sent unexpected warmth through her, he always had that effect on her. She was sure she was just blushing at this point and was suddenly thankful for the dim lighting in the room. 

She ended up composing herself rather quickly, jabbing a finger at his armored chest with her usual smirk plastered on her face.

“Now that you’ve made that promise, know this, Dick Grayson, if you let me down I will drop a mountain on you.”

“You mean that figuratively?”

“No I mean that geologically”, he waited for her to say she was kidding. She didn’t.

“Alright, alright”, He held his hands out in mock surrender. After considering the look in her eyes, Dick refrained from questioning the feasibility of that action nor did he want to question her magical abilities or intent. Last he remembered, Wally did that and that conversation ended with him being teleported to Sahara and Dick would very much like to avoid the same fate as his best friend.

Deciding that was more than enough exhaustion for one night, he got up from the bed and kissed her goodnight, informing her that he’d be sleeping on the couch so that he wouldn’t accidently hit her injuries in his sleep. She agreed and watched him slip out of the room before falling into the blissful sleep she had been putting off since forever.

•°•°

She knew Dick Grayson was full of surprises but the next morning when he put forward the offer of become a full time Titan, in front of her, she wondered if she fell from the bed in her sleep and ended up  getting another concussion because he was so not making any sense.

“So let me get this straight, you want me to come live with you and your superhero friends, in the Titans freaking Tower?!”

“I was hoping for a little less yelling after an emotional evening but yes that is exactly what I’m asking.”

“Dick that’s just ridiculous!”

“Look, you don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

He looked like a kicked puppy which made her feel kinda guilty for all the yelling.

“It’s not that…It’s just there is still a lot about me I haven’t told them. There is still a lot I haven’t told you. I don’t see a reason why you all would want to trust a possible threat, let alone live with it”, she gestured to herself.

Dick felt like there was a deeper meaning behind her words, as if she was voicing her own fear rather than theirs but he trusted her enough to tell him about it when she was ready, on her own terms. He could wait till then but for now he crossed the short distance between them, going around the breakfast table till he stood in front of her. He grasped both of her hands in his and ran his thumb soothingly across her knuckles. He bent down to place a soft kiss on her forehead, and then moved to meet her gaze.

“(Y/N), I know you and I trust you and…It sounds silly considering I was raised by the worlds greatest detective but I believe that you don’t have to know every little detail about someone as long as you already know what’s in their heart.” Bruce probably would’ve disagreed but he wasn’t Bruce.

“And you know what’s in mine?”

“And I know what’s in yours.” His statement was firm and left no room for argument, not when it came to this.

“If you’re sure about this, then I guess...”

“Is that a yes I’m hearing?”, There was that smile again, seriously what was up with him and his smile that made her giddy inside.

In between thoughts she realized he was still waiting for a response so she nodded. Any underlying doubts she had about her answer vanished when she took in how happy it made him. As cheesy as it sounded seeing him happy made her happy. A part of her said it wouldn’t last long, but seeing her boyfriend hop onto the couch full of joy as he called his friends about the latest development in their lives, she wanted to believe otherwise.    

°•°•°•°•

[noteguk]

hiii, I'm not sure if you have any rules for requests, but could you do a Yoongi pwp with choking kink? Thank you in advance💗

— contents and warnings; pwp, boyfriend!yoongi x reader, established relationship, unprotected sex, choking, dirty talk, kind of rough sex, slight praise, overstimulation, mention of a terrible attempt at christmas seduction that obviously worked out, yoongi being lowkey whipped 

— words; 1.6k

I powered through this during the last minutes of Christmas just because I wanted to have a themed fic... and nothing says ‘happy holidays’ like choking an elf. 

~

Yoongi took it as a personal offense when he saw you waltzing out of his living room bathroom dressed in that skimpy Santa’s Elf costume, like you were an actual demon daring to step inside a church. As much as you swore, batting your eyelashes and smirking innocently, that you were just trying to get into the Christmas spirit, it was very obvious that you were just trying to get into something else. You knew very well what you were doing — and he knew it too — so it wasn’t a surprise when you two ended up where you did, with Yoongi on top of you, fucking the shit out of you on his pristine white couch. 

“Look at me.”

His voice was so serious that you instantly complied, your eyes fluttering open as you met his own, hooded ones. Yoongi looked like a gorgeous mess above you, his hair sweaty and disheveled, cheeks painted by faint crimson hue. A beautiful frown of concentration decorated his features, his eyebrows coming down as he continued to thrust inside you — slowly, because he was feeling particularly wicked that night. 

Yoongi allowed himself to smirk in satisfaction when you met his gaze, your eyes so disoriented and unfocused beneath him. If his gaze trailed further down, he would see the beautiful curvature of your breasts beneath your tight green crop top, bouncing up and down as he continued to piston his hips against yours. He was a man of clear, objective needs: he wanted to fuck you, and he wouldn’t waste any time with some bothersome removal of your clothes when he could just pull your panties to the side and go to town. 

Besides, that hot little top and skirt you were wearing — combined with the red and white stripped thigh high socks that were making him lose his mind — were the instigators of that Fucking Session in the first place. He wouldn’t be stupid enough to take them off. Yet. 

“I wish you could see how pretty you look when I fuck you… such pretty lips,” he told you in a breathless whisper, lowering his body so he could place a messy kiss against your mouth. You gasped his name when he pulled away, but Yoongi remained unfazed by your reaction. “Pretty hair.” His hand pulled on it slightly, making a needy whimper leave your throat. He smirked a bit at that, but quickly grew serious once more. He didn’t know if he wanted to make love to you, or if he wanted to fuck you so hard that you wouldn’t walk for the rest of the holidays. Probably both. “Pretty neck…”

Yoongi leaned in and attacked your neck for the second time that night, loving the way that your skin was already marked by his previous actions. His tongue came out between his lips, licking the bruises and tracing patterns on your skin, making you moan out as your nails scratched down his back. You two hadn’t opened presents yet, but, if that was his, he was beyond satisfied. 

“Y-Yoongi, you feel so good in me,” you cried out. The sensation of his cock pumping inside you was intoxicating, your eyes rolling back as he placed his hands beneath your thighs and angled your hips upwards, mouth never leaving your neck. The new position got the tip of his cock ramming against your sweet spot, legs starting to tremble as your pleasure increased exponentially. “God, right there, Yoongi, don’t stop—” 

“You’re getting so fucking tight around my cock,” he breathed out, nails digging against your skin. Finally, Yoongi found the force within him to move away from your neck, staring at the beautiful art he had imprinted on your flesh — shades of purple and red blooming on your skin — and then meeting your gaze once more. There, he saw the sparkles of desperation and desire that he loved so much; a small tear at the corner of one of them. 

You were the most stunning thing he had ever seen. 

All of you signaled him that you were close: the blush on your cheeks, the loudness of your whimpers, the vague roll of your eyes and perking of your hips every time he slammed back against your throbbing core. Yoongi wished that he could have this image forever, the perfection of your features making his heart melt inside his chest. He loved you so much that it was almost painful. 

One of his hands left your thighs, brushing up your exposed midriff and grabbing your breast before, at last, finding its way around your beautiful neck. Your eyes widened at the hidden meaning of his action, your tongue coming out to lick your lips in anticipation. “Do you want your present, baby?” 

You couldn’t nod fast enough, your orgasm loudly creeping up on your spine. The sounds of your wetness were filling the living room air, almost winning against the stupid, off-tune karaoke version of “Last Christmas” that you convinced your boyfriend to play. “Please,” you gasped. 

If Yoongi felt the way you clenched around him, he didn’t show it. “Please what, baby?” He teased, just slightly pressing on the sides of your neck before letting it go. “Use your words so I know what you want.” 

“Please, Yoongi, choke me.” You bit your lip, fighting against the guttural moan that almost escaped you. You were so, so on edge. It felt like your entire body was in overdrive; sweat accumulating between your breasts, on your nape; your heartbeat echoing inside your ears and lungs unable to expand fast enough. You just needed a bit more to tilt you over. “Please, please, I’m so close.” 

Because it was Christmas and Yoongi wasn’t feeling like a grinch, he didn’t push you any more than that. Delicately, his fingers started pressing down on the sides of your neck, slowly cutting your circulation; his stare glued to the beautiful pleasure that melted on your face. He knew the signs very well — in fact, he knew your entire body very well, especially after years of being by your side — and so he took the front seat to watch as ecstasy was building up inside you. Yoongi followed it as it grew larger, more overbearing, until you were gasping out his name like a prayer and your cunt was pulsating around him; timid gasps of air leaving your lips. 

Then, he let go. 

Your orgasm overtook you at the same time that the circulation returned to your brain, the sensation becoming one of sheer, unabashed euphoria. With a muffled sob, you came hard around Yoongi, trembling in his hold as he continued to move in and out of you, whispering how good you were for him, how well you took him. It wasn’t long before the pleasure was morphing into discomfort, but you swallowed your complaints. Yoongi had already given your gift, and now you had to give him his.  

Regardless of how your mind saw the situation, your body still betrayed you and your legs flinched at the new wave of sensitivity, making your skirt move upwards. With a foggy vision, you watched as Yoongi’s eyes fell in the space between your thighs, widening slightly as he followed the way his cock pounded inside your wet pussy. That seemed to be the last push he needed to fucking lose it, because, within a second, he was fucking you harder than ever before. 

“Y-Yoongi!” You yelped, head rolling back against the cushions as he pistoned inside you. You didn’t want him to stop, as much as it was starting to hurt, you wanted him to cum inside you. 

“Almost there, baby, fuck,” he cursed, his voice a cloud of heat against your ear. Yoongi was moaning and groaning, his thrusts becoming more and more sloppy, and you knew he was serious. You could get lost in that moment, just following his desperation as he lost himself inside you, worshipping you like you were made of gold. “God, you feel like heaven, baby. I’m— I’m gonna cum.”

With a few more thrusts and sweet words directed at you, Yoongi spilled himself inside your pussy, grunting through his orgasm before, at last, he crashed against your chest with a deep, satisfied sigh. 

A tender smirk curled up on your lips, one hand on his shoulder and the other one playing with his dark hair. “Thanks for that,” you said playfully. 

“You’re such a little demon,” he mumbled against your breasts, but his voice was devoid of any actual roughness. “You knew exactly what you were doing. Changing into this stupid sexy elf costume. Making me say the words ‘sexy elf’ as if that’s not a sin on itself.” 

You giggled at that, and Yoongi thought that was the most beautiful sound that had ever graced his ears. He almost forgave you for the Christmas karaoke playlist that you had chosen for the night. “Perhaps,” you told him. He wasn’t looking at you, but he could hear the smile in your voice. “And you fell right into my trap.” 

Yoongi grunted. “I hate this outfit, by the way.” He tugged at the hem of your skirt. “You should wear it more often.” 

[functionalasfuck]

Bad Buddy AU Idea

Where Pran’s friends don’t suck (as much) but can still cause tension for the plot

This may be an AU idea but it turned into a lot of exposition and backstory for a single scene I wanted to explain, heh... whoops

After Pran is transferred, Pat’s heart breaks (he doesn’t realize it’s from love, but he is devastated all the same). Without Pran to constantly compete against, to keep him on his toes, to bring a spark into his life, Pat’s life becomes more “peaceful”. It’s peaceful because he stops resisting.

Pat’s father has a big thing about reputation. With Pran gone, the father’s expectations can’t be distracted by simply beating the neighbor’s kid. So all Pat has left to do to please him, is to try to become a carbon copy of him. Because maybe then he can meet his expectations.

But where Pat previously needed to be obsessed with what Pran was doing (which at least provided challenge and a beautiful boy to keep up with), Pat now has to obsess over maintaining a reputation.

When he gets to college, he must maintain a reputation his father would approve of. So he becomes the president of his faculty class. And anyone who threatens his fragile rep by emasculating him or claiming to be stronger or hitting his pride with something as simple as a middle finger… well, they must be dealt with in a way his father would approve. And if there isn’t any incident for him to fight at his regularly scheduled time and therefore maintain his reputation as a strong, powerful man who can’t be messed with, well his faculty has a built in rivalry with the architecture students he can rely on.

For the first 6-8 months of freshman year, Pat numbly goes after everyone who threatens his ego, but mostly a group of architecture students that seem the most willing to indulge him in a fight. Kinda like someone he used to know, but he doesn’t let himself think of that. He chooses them mostly because one of them seems to always be itching for an excuse to punch someone. So Pat doesn’t need much of an excuse to bring war stories and bruised badges of honor back to his father.

Pat doesn’t do this because he likes it. And at this point he doesn’t realize that it isn’t even close to the person he is. His life is peaceful, but it’s also numb. Until someone throws a flying kick to his heart and resuscitates his spark. Slowly, and then suddenly, he realizes he has something else he can focus on instead of his poor imitation of what he thinks is expected of him. He can reignite the rivalry with Pran.

Now, the above is all stupid exposition/context I didn’t need to write I’m SORRY! But from this point on, most of Bad Buddy occurs. Only difference is, the curtain dropped on its own, and Wai didn’t do it on purpose. Because fuck that. I’m making it reasonable as to why Pran’s friends could ice him out while not being stupid jackasses OKAY?!

Pat and Pran embark on their glorious romance in secret, but to their friends, they don’t see any of it. Pat’s friends are the most suspicious. Not of their relationship, but of the changes in Pat.

Suddenly Pat just doesn’t seem interested in starting fights. Now it seems like Korn is the one running headfirst into things with Pat following on autopilot. They are confused, but mostly chalk it up to Pat growing up and focusing more on his studies. Who knows, maybe fighting people was a phase. But Pat always backs them up in a fight cause he’s a good friend, so they just accept his shifting priorities and silently adjust so Korn is more the instigator and leader in these scenarios.

Pran’s friends? They don’t notice much. They subconsciously note that Korn is now usually in the front of the group during their altercations, and that the frequency of their standoffs has petered out significantly going into their sophomore year. So even though they fight less and have all seemed to mature in their second year, they still have vivid memories of the first 7 ish months of their freshman year. Where Pat would pester them and torment them seemingly on a tight schedule. And sometimes for the flimsiest reasons. So while Pat has maybe moved to the back of the Engineering group, and they see less of him as 2nd years then they did before, their only knowledge of who he is as a person is an arrogant smirk paired with hard eyes and a brutal fist.

So, when the curtain accidentally drops, Pran’s friends are blindsided. And betrayed.

They had known Pran was gay. They had known Pran had a thing for sculpted arms. And for all they knew, their best friend, who met Pat halfway into their freshman year in the middle of a ruthless hunt and beat down of Wai, took one look at their freshman villain and decided to overlook all that for a pair of pecks.

Because rule number one (or maybe 5?) in the best friend handbook is you don’t date your friend’s tormentor. Friends first. Always.

(They don’t know that Pran’s thing for arms is because he has been in love with Pat his entire life. They don’t know that Pran was put in an impossible situation, to choose between his new friends and someone so engrained in his life and soul his name has to be permanently written on them. They don’t know it’s not just superficial lust pulling their best friend to the guy who fought them just because he hadn’t yet gained the agency to realize he doesn’t even like fighting. They don’t know)

So, when Pran comes to them, a guilty look on his face and tries to explain, they cut him off. They don’t want to hear his flimsy excuses. Then they give him the cold shoulder. 

Pat’s friends aren’t that upset. Pran was never really in any of their altercations. Instead, they endlessly tease Pat on what a catch he got. Cause let’s admit, Pran’s dimples are to die for.

After about a week, Pran’s friends find themselves talking amongst themselves. Even though sleeping with the enemy is a big infraction, they miss Pran. He was the glue to their study sessions. His sarcasm was an imperative part of their dynamic. And they just didn’t feel right without him. 

One day they are sitting around and Safe just says “You know, Pat wasn’t as much as a terror during the time Pran knew him”, to which Louis replies, “and his sleeveless shirts are probably incredibly distracting. Can we really fault the guy?” and they all latch onto the idea. Flimsy as it was, it gave them the excuse they were looking for to let Pran sit at their table when they saw him walk in. 

After a few awkward but still kind of fun meet ups, Pran tentatively says “about Pat-” only to have Wai cut him off with “while it sucks that you were sleeping with the enemy behind our backs, we have talked and come to the consensus that as long as he doesn’t cause us any trouble, whatever you do with your boy toy is up to you but be wary of that one. He may be hot, but he should know that if he breaks your heart, we will break his face.”. Pran balks a bit at the term “boy toy” but doesn’t say anything. Progress is progress he decides. So, for now, he won’t push it.

So, for weeks the misconception continues. Pran, while no longer hiding his relationship with Pat, decides to keep it separate from his friends to give them time to adjust. Not realizing that his friends, now fully forgiving of Pran, is under the impression that their relationship is superficial and purely physical and are secretly coming up with contingency plans for if Pran gets too attached and Pat leaves him heartbroken like the “asshole” they know him to be. Because surely Pat is only using their friend for his looks... right? 

(They really should have more faith in Pran... but alas, they do not have the braincell. Pran has it, and he isn’t using it properly right now out of stress and misplaced guilt)

One day they are working on an assignment in Pran’s apartment when Wai leans over to playfully shove at Pran’s shoulder, ignoring the sleeveless tee hanging over the arm of the sofa, when he accidentally knocks a glass of water all over Pran’s tablet. Pran jumps back and his hands start shaking. Wai makes eye contact with Louis over at the table. They’re all familiar with Pran’s anxiety, and Pran and Louis bond over their shared experiences with it. They know Pran is going to start to panic, all of his work is on there, when the door suddenly opens, and Pat is there. 

(Pat heard a crash and headed over to make sure Pran was alright. He forgot that his friends were over. Wai, Louis and Safe are confused because, since Pran doesn’t talk to them about Pat, they didn’t realize he lives next door. So, all they know is their old nemesis now hated friend in-law suddenly appeared)

Pat just looks at Pran, seemingly to have a conversation with his eyes, then looks down at the drowned tablet. Wai is about to tell Pat to get out, he’s the best friend and he knows how to deal with Pran’s anxiety, when Pat suddenly crosses the room, grabs the tablet, then goes to the kitchen, pulls out the Tupperware of rice, and shove the tablet in. In the next second, he is back across the room and... bantering with Pran. Wai, Louis and Safe want to butt in and tell him to get out, but Pat doesn’t even spare them a glance. Only looking at Pran, who seems to relax more and more as Pat seemingly annoys him. And sure, Wai wouldn’t have tried annoyance to bring his bestie from the brink of a panic attack, but he also wouldn’t have guessed how well it works. And Wai, Louis and Safe are subjected, for the first time, to Pat, not as the antagonist on the other side of their brawls, but as... an incredibly caring boyfriend with.... hearts in his eyes? Like, oozing out of his eyes. At a disgusting rate.

The friends all make eye contact. Realizing it may have been a miscalculation to not grill their friend on his relationship with their faculty rival. 

[theregoesmylurkerstatus]

SPOILERS AND ASSUMPTIONS FOR CAMPAIGN 1!

OKAY, let me start by categorising what spoilers I know as best I can, going (mostly) in chronological order AFAIK:

Clarota betrays them (VERY sad, when I first watched those first 10-ish episodes I was fully behind Keyleth’s ‘trust him’ train)

Vax loses a foot to lava and also his snake belt rip

Kima and Allura are the cool, trustworthy PCs, as is everyone’s favourite, Gilmore, a shopkeep with a black belt in karate

The dragonborn guy’s homeland gets dunked on and then later he dies offscreen

Percy’s sister is alive and betrays them but only kind of? I think? She was held captive by the Briarwoods for years and Percy thought she was dead, but she was blackmailed/brainwashed/tortured?

Vax gets cornered by the Briarwoods alone by accident (classic)

There’s a chick called Ripley who makes guns A Thing for the wider world

Something about a sun tree? It’s a creepy tree? They hallucinate their own corpses on it? Or something?

They probably kill one of the hottie vampires at the end of Percy’s arc, I think the male one? Because the lady vampire shows up later?

Percy dies in his arc and it’s the second res ritual they do, after Pike’s one pre-stream

“Take off the mask, darling.” I still don’t care about romance but I feel obligated to mention that I know that famous line

I also know the equally famous “I thought he’d never leave” bubble bath bit, ah Laura

There’s a CHROMA CONCLAVE attack right at the end of Percy’s arc, somewhere

Rashian is a dragon or something, everyone laughs at Liam for not knowing this. I know nothing else about who the Chroma conclave is (3-5 chromatic dragons??? One of each colour????) or what they want, except Vax levels up in the middle of fighting one and Keyleth yells at one

There are communication earrings. There is also a weird black powder man. Victor?

They actually have a permanent home/keep unlike the Mighty Nein?

Vex dies because Percy didn’t check for traps, this is the start of some deal of Vax’s with the Raven Queen which means he multiclasses into paladin?

Vax can fly, he can fly, he can fly!

Uhhhh there’s a couple cursed swords or something in there lol

Percy sells his soul briefly? Genius move Smart Guy lmao

Feywild??? Somehow????? They meet Artagan and make a deal with him for a doorway, and they spend an episode as cows somewhere in here?

Keyleth has Mom Trauma, I don’t know how much this will feature in the campaign

Vax and Vex’s dad suxxx or something, mother is dead

Scanlan hits on his surprise daughter and everyone screams

They have some kind of year long adventuring group break for some reason?

Keyleth makes a storm on an airship (???) and this is cool. Also she turns into a fire elemental a lot and this is also cool.

There’s a kraken fight? It goes really badly, like LEGENDARILY badly, and ngl I’m kind of looking forward to it

Scanlan #LOSESIT and has his legendary ‘what’s my mother’s name?’ rant, after which he leaves for an undetermined number of episodes and is replaced by Tary

This leads to Grog spelling C-A-T for some reason and this???? Makes people cry???????? Truly something you had to be there for

Pike tries to commission drawings of VM for Tary (who calls Vex “little elf girl” and braces for impact when Laura’s nostrils flare) and this goes Very Wrong in a funny way

Tary’s dad sucks

He writes a book

Some NPC reads said book in campaign 2, hence why I know about it

Grog has an arc to do with the other Goliaths who beat him up for defending Pike’s dad?

When Scanlan comes back he tries to sneak in, Vex chases him and he panics and casts modify memory on Vex, it fails several times, an angsty moment becomes comedic very fast

He is received with Mixed Emotions lmao

Keyleth turns into a goldfish and kills herself, this is both apparently extremely painful and extremely funny

Vax gets disintegrated and dies in a beholder fight (rip)

Gilmore is not a dragon but everyone was fully convinced he was. He also gets bodysnatched or something at some point to freak out VM, but they figure out very quickly it’s not him

Scanlan is Ioun’s chosen? Whatever that means, something to help fight Vecna I think

“It was an honour knowing you” sad! Sad! Sad line! Gilmore doesn’t understand, cheekily responds, and leaves!!!! Liam looks on the verge of tears!!!!!! SAD!!!!!

There are so many true love nat 20s. I don’t know what any of them are except that Pike has one and Ashley looks like she’s about to cry

They win the Vecna fight and Keyleth gets the HDYWDT, Scanlan wanted to save a Wish spell for Vax but couldn’t, so he stays dead

Everyone cries here but at least the rest of the party is okay

Keyleth is the last woman standing and everyone cries at this too

And then Grog uses the deck of many things, spawning two oneshots to clean up his mess

Also somewhere in here Vex steals a broom from a guest (lol)

Assumptions!!!!!

More tears than campaign 2 I think, since there are at least two resurrection rituals we see on screen that I know of

The fights might be more stressful since they’re higher level?

Scanlan is going to be the most sexual and lewd character because he is played by Sam

Vex is going to be the second most sexual and lewd character because she is played by Laura

Vax will still instigate most of the one-on-ones so Liam can have as many heavy conversations as his theatre kid’s heart desires

Keyleth will try and fail to make the group more moral

Pike will not try to be moral at all despite being four feet of blessed armour and adorable hair

I think other characters try to make Percy feel remorse for Murder Reasons, but I suspect he’s not going to feel that guilty (I will likely support him in murderous endeavours unless they are FAR more messed up than I currently believe)

From what I understand Grog is Loveable but not hugely layered or complex, and I know Travis was proud he didn’t cry this campaign. I suspect I may be surprised at the character depth Travis gives him, however.

Keyleth also thinks the gods are overrated and I AGREE

Percy is three feral and eldritch raccoons in a trench coat, held together only by sheer force of will and the fragile shell of a posh accent. No one notices because it’s a really cool accent.

There will be a lot more money/shopping/drinking elements than in campaign 2, since I know Vex is a haggler, Percy is a Lord, and Keyleth is a day-drinker? As are Grog and Scanlan

It will be funny for me to see Taliesin play a smart character and Travis a dumb one, though I know that the whiplash went the other way for most people lmao

Vox Machina will be less team-heavy than the Mighty Nein? I gather they’re more of an ‘individual hero’ makeup than an ‘everyone has support abilities’ makeup

It will be more fast-paced than campaign 2? It seems like a lot of the arcs lead directly into each other, with only the occasional shopping episode break

It feels like it might be less friendship heavy than the Mighty Nein? Like they seem more like ‘we’d die for each other’ pals who otherwise spend all their time trying to draw dicks on each other’s faces

They have a more clear “party leader” than the Mighty Nein, who might be Percy and/or Keyleth

I think most PCs and NPCs are more morally clear cut than in campaign 2, like most towns and people in positions of power are either “cool guy who can pitch in” or “get rid of this abomination immediately” territory

I think my favourite character will be Vex, Percy or Keyleth. I just feel it in my bones. 

I think I may also get an extreme soft spot for Grog and Pike, however

My main sources of surprise will be, I think, how things fit together? Like I have no idea WHY they’re in the Feywild, or most other places really, or what any villains’ motivations and backstories and personality traits are, and how they end up fighting any of them in any particular place for any particular reason. I don’t even really know characters’ abilities or literally anything done in any of the fights, aside from “they win/nearly die” and “Scanlan uses Wish and Bigby’s Hand against Vecna”

I assume most plot threads all lead into each other fairly solidly and that they don’t actually seek most of their stuff out?

This assumption will either be fairly right or hilariously wrong, but -- I assume that I already know almost everything important or shocking? I tried really hard to avoid it but being active in campaign 2 meant that over time I got exposed to more and more of campaign 1, and I genuinely believe that I have almost everything down, if not details or order. I don’t think I’ve missed any big moment or impactful arc

Let’s see if I’m right

[hamliet]

Twisted Skeletons of the Past, Masks of Justice, and Dreams of the Future: the Burden of Legacy

This arc has been heavily hitting us with the idea of legacy, and this chapter in particular shows Compress musing about Dabi and Shigaraki’s heroic legacies and Dabi exposing Hawks’ villainous one. So, let’s examine the foiling between Dabi and Shouto, and to an extent Deku, Shigaraki, and Hawks. 

Hawks having to hide his identity to be a hero parallels Dabi hiding his identity as a villain, and hero society as a whole (cough Gran Torino cough) hiding Shigaraki’s true identity. Gran Torino claimed that he did this because no matter what Shigaraki’s heritage is, he’s still a villain:

Except now we know hero society is just fine with covering up a villain’s heritage to allow him to be a hero; they know heroes and villains aren’t just born. . It’s good that they allowed Hawks to be a hero (though questionable how much Hawks chose to be on his own since he’s more than once implied to be at the mercy of the commission). Still, they won’t let Hawks be himself as a hero because of his legacy, and thereby objectify him by grooming him into a tool. Now because the hero commission forced Hawks into a double-agent role that he did not want, now they’ve only hurt their own reputations when he killed Twice (this isn’t to absolve Hawks).

Hero society focuses on the present at the expense of the past and of the future. While putting on a face of only caring about the present, the hero commission is very concerned about maintaining present appearances, even if it means allowing skeletons to rot in their closets. They prefer to deal with villains heroes and everyday folk as they are, but pay no mind to what made them what they are, nor what they could become in the future. Only what you are at the moment matters. It’s a well-known platitude that is more often than not cheap and overly simplistic, and doesn’t have a place in determining fate. 

Shouto, for one, has always been grappling with legacy as part of his arc, defining himself in opposition to his father rather than as an extension of his father (as Endeavor defined him for a lot of his life). Or so he claims. 

I say “or so he claims,” because Shouto’s actions show that he is well aware he cannot just do away with his heritage, and seems to walk back this claim slightly when he takes an internship with his father not just once, but twice.  On the one hand, he might be trying to learn from his past and that’s good, but on the other, he still clearly struggles with seeing his fire quirk as part of Endeavor, rather than his own. It’s fine if he wants to reconcile with Endeavor (and the series is clearly setting him up to do so eventually), but it’s hard to say this isn’t also symbolic of Shouto regressing after his fight with Midoriya.

After all, we have seldom seen Shouto use his fire quirk after that fight with Midoriya. He lost to Bakugou because he would not use his flames (and Bakugou was pisssssed because of it, thus attracting the attention of the villains who would then kidnap him). Shouto’s inability to use his flames thus helps bring Touya back into his life--and part of the reason Shouto then loses Bakugou to Dabi during the kidnapping is because, well, Shouto does not once use his flames. 

So as much as Shouto says he believes this:

He needs to show it and live it himself, because he hasn’t done this yet. Yeah, there’s probably going to be an eventual “agni kai” between brothers, but I don’t think winning is the purpose. Touya is not just Endeavor and hero society’s shadow; he’s also Shouto’s, much as Shigaraki is Deku’s and Himiko Ochaco’s, and you don’t burn your shadow. You reconcile with it. 

So regarding Touya as a shadow for all of these... as @linkspooky said in her brilliant meta last week, Touya believes his flames are Endeavor’s.

Through challenging Dabi that he can be his own person, that he doesn’t have to be defined by his abuse or even by his villainy, Shouto will likely himself reconcile with his own shadow side. Touya has always assumed his purpose is to be an extension of Enji, because that’s what Enji believed as well:

Touya still views himself that way, attempting a murder-suicide with Endeavor this chapter. Like, his comment about DNA testing likely refers to “test from my dead body” given his suicidal plunge this chapter. 

Touya needs to learn he exists as a person, and because of this he can decide his own purpose, he can take responsibility for his actions (like how Endeavor will probably eventually by sacrificing himself to save Touya): 

The irony is also that Endeavor’s legacy is still, indeed, likely to be defined at least in a major way by Touya. The paneling is brilliant this chapter: Touya is on the back of a mountainous giant monster that is very symbolic of what Endeavor is facing. Endeavor’s words about what he hoped Touya would become are likely foreshadowing: his legacy will be decided by what he does with Touya. Saving Touya might just crush all the frustration/envy/ugliness in Endeavor’s heart to dust. Well, not really. It won’t likely be crushed into nonexistence, because that’s not how the past is portrayed here and not how shadows work in stories. But it might well reconcile Endeavor with his family (this isn’t me commenting on whether I want this or not, just predicting based on what I see in the story). 

Returning to the idea of existing as a person outside of legacy... let’s talk Shigaraki, who is literally being somewhat possessed by legacy right now. AFO is trying to control him, and Shigaraki refuses, keeping his agency... or is he? 

Shigaraki is still driven by his own trauma, trauma that was used by AFO to groom him from Shimura Tenko into Shigaraki Tomura. Even before AFO tried to literally possess him, Shigaraki has not been allowed to exist as a person and discover his own purpose; he’s been groomed as a weapon by AFO since AFO saved him. (It’s also not a coincidence AFO is a long-past-his-time monstrosity: the embodiment of the worst of the past.)

Shigaraki struggling to wake up this chapter is symbolic on a few levels. 

Being controlled by the past, even past trauma, leads to broken bodies and pain. It destroys you as well as the world around you. However, narratively it’s not time for Shigaraki to wake up to this reality just yet, though I believe Deku will get through to him eventually. Shigraki is yes, literally a symbol of the world in that the more he destroys the world the more he hurts himself, which means to save the world is to save Shigaraki.

Deku himself will have a decision to make. He literally carries the past One for All holders around with him. How does Deku want to define not just his legacy, but theirs? Because they certainly have not been perfect; despite good intentions, Nana hurt Koutarou who passed on that pain to Shigaraki. The past continues. The past is the present. Unless those twisted skeletons are exhumed, the future will be poisoned by them. OFA’s legacy is supposed one of saving, but because of Nana’s mistakes (even if instigated by All for One!) is also one of abandonment. If Deku really wants to carry on OFA’s glorious legacy, doesn’t he have to take responsibility for the pain this quirk has caused as well? If he really wants OFA to be used to save everybody, should that not include even the scariest of villains? Shouldn’t Deku confront the burden of having a quirk and being a hero in addition to the opportunity? 

It’s your power, Deku. You get to choose what to do with OFA regardless of the hero commission’s wishes.

The thing about legacy is that it's complex. It will provide links that will likely help Shouto and Deku want to save Touya and Shigaraki, respectively. But it also objectifies, makes it difficult to see someone as a person rather than as a cog in a machine, a tool in a system. Because that is how the hero society views the kids, as we saw with Hawks. Legacy isn’t good or bad: like heroism, it can be used for good or bad, to empathize or to condemn (cough, all the takes good victim/bad victiming Shouto/Touya and Eri/Shigaraki). It’s up to you what to do with it. 

Likewise, the characters can’t bury the past. But they cannot let it claim them, either. They need to decide what they want to do with it: to declare it doesn’t matter at all, the perspective Gran Torino, who was symbolically taken out during this fight, advocates? Or to reconcile with it in order to heal what it left broken and behind, and move forward? 

It’s likely both Deku (with Bakugou) and Shouto (with Endeavor) will save Shigaraki and Dabi respectively by giving them the empathy they are both crying out for (and Ochaco giving Himiko empathy too). 

[loquaciousquark]

Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E125 (Feb. 16, 2021)

Goooood evening good evening good evening, all! I hope you’re all staying warm and safe and dry in this chilly weather. Tonight’s guests: Travis Willingham and Laura Bailey. 

We open tonight with Travis ribbing Brian for his continuous remodel of his office space. Laura demands a second introduction of herself as she wasn’t paying attention during the first one.

Travis: “You’ve gotta love Julianne Moore. She’s the only actress who can cry and show you all her teeth at the same time.” I was listening pretty closely when he said this and I’m still not sure it had any context. 

Jester thinks there’s a strong possibility at least half the party will die against the Tombtakers. Fjord doesn’t think the odds are quite that high, but it will be dangerous. Laura points out that most of the M9 are also willing to sacrifice themselves for the rest of the party, so that changes their odds as well. Travis: “The game is not a stress reliever. It is not a stress reliever. I mean, it’s fun as shit, but it is stressful!”

Laura thinks Essek will give them a better chance. Travis: “A plus-one? A powerful plus-one, but a plus-one?” Did you see his reaction when we gave him the lowdown? Let’s be real: we kinda trust Essek. I got $50 that when we come back, he’s gone.” Laura is convinced he is trustworthy & wants to lighten his soul.

Jester spent so much time trying to bring out the Molly side of Lucien that to have him then betray them sucked. She knew that trying to bring the good out of everyone they met would eventually fail, but it stung that it was the most powerful one they encountered to first betray them.

She tries to talk about finger gestures during the answer as a reference to the HBO show “Raised by Wolves,” and Brian and Travis tell her to keep digging this hole she gets herself into about fingering. Travis: “Just get off the interstate at the next exit and turn right.” Laura, of course, immediately mimes turning a hard left, and they spent the next few minutes laughing at her inability to tell right from left and that even now she still has to hold up her hands to tell left from right.

Fjord is furious that they nicked the Bag of Holding. The loss of Vess DeRogna is bad enough, but he is genuinely IRL anxious about the loss of the Cloven Crystal. Laura points out that Fjord has also explicitly talked to Lucien about the deep sea creature patron he used to follow as well. He’s terrified one of Lucien’s scimitars is suddenly going to have a big eye sticking out of it. Laura suggests they’ll just succeed, bring back the city, and wake up Uk’otoa for the heck of it.

It was really rough to go from the Gelidon fight to the Tombtaker fight, especially since the first fight sent so well. Travis felt great that he initiated the dragon fight - he knew they had a far advantage in the numbers and felt that it was an open and shut case.

Laura does boggle that if Caleb hadn’t asked for that item from the Bag of Holding, they might have slept all night before realizing it was gone. They’re both relieved that they now know so much more about how the Tombtakers fight, especially the anti-magic cone. The most anxiety-ridden part was when they were trying to run and the TTs weren’t letting them. “You know when you don’t even have squares, when Matt’s black-tableclothing it, you’re in deep shit.” Laura had no spells left - she was so worried if she dropped the polymorph she would have had nothing left.

Travis: “Thanks for healing me, babe.” Laura: “You’re welcome, baby. It was ultimately a waste, though, because we took a rest immediately and you could just spend your hit dice.” Everyone laughs at Travis’s pain. She does say it was worth it in the moment since they didn’t know if they would be able to get away.

They joke that Laura’s just wearing the Fire Resist ring on a chain around her neck/Sprinkle is wearing it now to keep it safe since she’s not attuned to it anymore. It’s pretty hilarious!

Travis hoped that the TTs were originally actively looking for more acolytes rather than just having Caleb & Beau read the book. Otis needs to die. He’s relieved they have an idea of what all their blood rites do. Laura thought the time with them was fun, but it makes her retroactively wish that she’d dropped Zoran in the lava when they had the chance. Travis wishes they’d put a chime on the door of the tower.

Laura loved the tarot card reading, since Taliesin sent her really detailed breakdowns of the cards & gave her a real deck for Christmas. Taliesin told her she did a great job afterwards which she really appreciated, since she’s not sure what she’s doing. She does wish that she knew why Lucien seemed so nervous when she was talking about rebirth.

Cosplay of the Week! @clever_comics on twitter with a lovely Veth in her snowy lavender-colored outfit and pigtails.

Travis on confessing to Jester: “It FUCKING made me crazy!” He’s never been an instigator of campaign romances in the past, but because he loves Laura and was able to connect to her on that level he felt like it was a good challenge instead. He doesn’t think he could have done it with someone he wasn’t comfortable with. It was also important to him for it to be founded on real-game moments and after real-game time had passed, and he felt it was a very natural progression. Seeing the statues rip five years from her in such a benign situation made him realize that to let the opportunity pass wouldn’t have been worth it. He wishes he’d told Vandran what he meant to Fjord as well.

Laura loves that Fjord is becoming more confident as well. The post-Gelidon smooch took Laura completely by surprise since she’s finding Jester is a little surprisingly awkward with IRL affection, and she was surprised Fjord was the confident one there. “It’s so wonderful. It’s a matter of finding a way to get comfortable with it with her away from the Tombtakers.” Travis thought it was important to continue the “go for it” mantra. He notes that he’s pretty private about his personal life IRL, so it’s been a bit of a shift. It’s slower in a way - not a “you’re my one true love” kind of thing, more of a “let’s see where this goes and act on what you can” thing.

They were all “poopin’ in their pants” to get to go to Emon. The worst part was not getting to explore outside the tower since they had to leave again immediately. Kima is so cool, and Travis was actively trying to get Kima to come with them. Everyone boggles that they got to borrow Allura’s staff.

Laura only was thinking about the item-tuned-to-the-target-plane because she’d been texting with Liam trying to iron out their spell choices. She’s so relieved that they were able to get something tuned to the Sea from Allura.

For the most part, Laura knows what spells are the most useful for Jester, but every now and then she does get caught by major component requirements that she hadn’t noted. She wants to get another chalice for Hero’s Feast before they go into the Sea.

Dani points out that a lot of their allies right now are mages (no Kashaws, no Kimas, no Grogs) and they’re heading to a bad place for mages.

Travis has a sudden brain wave about all the TTs being from the Claret Order and wonders if they should investigate that before they pursue. I don’t even remember what that order is and I feel terrible!

Fanart of the Week! It’s a beautiful card by @crovyne on twitter of the Cree counterspell.

Laura really wants Brian to shave the sides of his hair and do Viking braids in the rest. I didn’t want to say anything out loud, but Brian’s hair is really looking pretty...pandemicky.

This is Dani’s four-year-anniversary of her start for Critical Role! Awww, Dani! You’re so short in real life.

Fjord is stoked that the Star Razor is a Vestige, and more now that he knows in-character what that means. It was great to see Allura react the way she did.

Jester doesn’t think they can really go to Nicodranas - they don’t have anymore time. Even more, Jester’s avoiding going home because she doesn’t want the Ruby to see that she got aged up/hurt on her travels.

Travis honestly assumes that the TTs are spying on them 100% of the time now.

Does Jester feel better now that the crest is away from Lucien? Yes, even though it’s gone off course. She thought dropping the crest where they were was a HORRIBLE idea and was appalled so many people were suggesting it. She saw the city with her own eyes, knows the danger of what’s coming, and if they had dropped it in flight she would have dropped with it and defended it as long as she could if that’s what would have kept them from getting it.

Travis thinks that if they can negotiate with Lucien, they should try. Everyone is super worried about Caleb’s and Beau’s new eyes and are fully anticipating they’re on a clock at this point. They wonder if it’ll drive up their exhaustion, allow Lucien to force them to fight against them, maybe make them willing slaves to the mysterious voice...they need to solve it sooner rather than later. 

And that’s all for tonight! New episode this Thursday - usual time, usual place. Stay warm, friends, and is it Thursday yet?