#unless it's like... Psychic or Ghost who can have fun with it

[terashards]

They really gave my man Sand Veil and put him in the desert with an active sandstorm and then made him Electric/Normal instead of Electric/Ground

[mvshr00m-1]

NEW ROTTMNT AU IM MAKING!!!

Okay so hear me out yall... What if the rottmnt turtles were in Pokémon? Had their own Pokémon teams? Etc etc.

Over the past week or so I've been doing a bunnnch of posts on tiktok abt it, and finally have sat down to post the drawings I've done so far here as well!

Designs:

Through these designs I wanted to practice the way I draw clothes, do designs, and ofc colours! Also backgrounds ofc- just everywhere I've been lacking

Also wanted the turtles to all have their own personality and style, while also having small themes and details connecting em together

Even made silly lil designs with the turts with some Pokémon:

Very silly indeed

Never draw like that, nor have drawn Pokémon in ages, but I feel like it turns out alr lol-

In addition I also made full teams for each of the lads! With some little bits of context as to why aswell

(the highlighted names are the mains)

For Mikey it was just mostly food themed Pokémon + electric, cause yellow/orange lol- but at the same time I feel like he would have just a tank of a main, that he would train like fuck (with the help of raph) and the rest of his team, tho not the weakest, is mostly for fun.

Raph would be far have the best trained team, and these would be made of mostly rly big Pokémon, a lot of fire, ground, rock, dragon, fighting, all that sorta stuff- and then he just has one small Pokémon breloom who was probably one of his first Pokémon, and he got attached too and couldn't take out of his team :3

Leo's team, like Mikey, would be mostly for the look- with him having some of the 'prettier' Pokémon, or just blue Pokémon- he would 100% main the big gay looking duck (aka quaquaversal), with the Pokémon colours being simular to Leo's, and just both having a similar vibe- he would also have a abra who is known for their teleportation ability! Also just being really small and cute- (not sure if mystic would exist in this au, but for now I'll say it doesn't unless I state likewise)

Donnies team would, like raph, also be on the stronger side, with his being a lot of psychic, dark, ghost, steel, electric, etc- bro would have one scary ass team lmao. In addition this au's Sheldon would be his shiny rotom, who Donnie would even make little bits of techs and even a robot body Sheldon can possess

Design/drawing of that shown below:

Overall have A LOT of ideas for this au, and I don't think I've ever made a crossover au like this before- always being none for my bad future content/au's lol

[ghostinthelibrarywrites]

Came up from that lake of fire

The first chapter of my first Dead Boy Detectives fic is up! You can find it here or read an excerpt under the cut.

Rating: M for canon-typical violence

Relationships: Edwin/Charles; Edwin & Niko; Edwin & Crystal; minor Crystal/Charles

Summary: When they’re caught during their escape from Hell, Charles and Edwin have no choice but to make a deal: they have one hundred days or find and entrap a powerful, malevolent spirit, or both of their souls are forfeit. But when they’re both temporarily restored to living bodies to aid in their search, being alive brings with it a host of new feelings, which neither of them know how to cope with, especially as their deadline looms closer and their quarry proves increasingly dangerous.

Charles scruffs Edwin by the back of the shirt and drags him backwards, pivoting so he’s the one directly in front of the demon, staring down those horrible little doll leg mandibles. Fuck, he’s never going to be able to look at a baby doll again. “You deal in souls, do you?”

The demon stops, its mandibles only inches from Charles’s face. He resists the urge to step back, staring directly into the empty eyes of the closest doll’s face. His hand is still gripping Edwin by the back of the shirt, keeping him close, and he can feel his friend pressed against his side, rigid with tension.

“Charles,” Edwin says in a low, warning voice.

“Deals?” the demon asks as the dolls’ laughter shrieks. “What do you think you can offer me? Your soul in exchange for his?”

“No,” Edwin snaps. “No, he is absolutely not offering that.”

“Your soul is already mine,” the demon continues, as if Edwin hasn’t spoken. “You’re in my territory. What, will you tell me that if I let him go, you won’t hit me with that cricket bat in your bag? You couldn’t protect yourself from schoolyard bullies . Do you think you can protect him from me?”

Charles smiles without humor. “Only one way to find out, mate.”

“Charles,” Edwin hisses again.

"Charles,” the demon echoes mockingly. “So, what deal are you offering me, little ghost? What can you give me in exchange for two souls that are rightfully mine?”

“Why don’t you tell me?” Charles asks. “Tell me what you want and it’s yours. Anything, so long as you let me walk out of here with him.”

He knows it’s a stupid thing to say to a demon, even before he hears Edwin’s dismayed little groan. It would be a stupid thing to say to anyone. You don’t make promises like that in their line of work, especially not to someone who makes a game out of letting his pet monster tear spirits apart for fun.

The doll-spider shifts from leg to leg and Charles doesn’t think he imagines the sense of satisfaction that permeates the air, like he’s done exactly what the demon planned from the moment the staircase dumped them back into Hell. “You call yourself the Dead Boy Detectives, do you not?”

“That’s right,” Charles says. “We help spirits move on. Got a few ideas about where you could move on to, if you want suggestions.”

“And you find wayward spirits?”

“We are not hunting anyone for you.” Edwin tries to step forward, but Charles doesn’t release his grip on his shirt. “I will not buy my freedom with that of another spirit.”

“I wouldn’t be so hasty. Unless you want to watch what my pet will do to him, Edwin? Will that be your revenge for him paying too much attention to the pretty psychic?” It laughs at the look on Edwin's face, the sound made eerier when the doll-spider's childlike laughter joins in. “I’m not asking you to bring me another wayward schoolboy. No, you’re one of a kind in that regard, Edwin Payne. No one quite like you has ever escaped from Hell.”

Charles takes a moment to be proud of that. He’s always known Edwin is one-of-a-kind. “Then who do you want us to bring you?”

It’s disconcerting to feel the weight of all those glassy little eyes on him, to know that there are at least two entities watching him. “A spirit that escaped from me centuries before your little friend was a twinkle in his father’s eye.” A nasty pause. “Not that his father’s eyes ever twinkled for his disappointment of a son.”

Edwin doesn’t even flinch at the barb. “I already told you, we won’t be bringing any spirits to you.”

“And I told you, this was no innocent schoolboy. It can barely be called a spirit at this point. It calls itself the Deathless. It didn’t escape with wiles, it escaped by devouring its fellow spirits and absorbing their energy, until it was finally strong enough to consume a demon and use its powers to escape Hell. Now the Deathless wanders the earth, absorbing the energies of whatever wayward spirits that wander across its path.”

“And you want us to stop it?” Charles asks. “Because you care about the poor wayward spirits it eats, yeah? Real humanitarian you are.”

“No, I care about the power it’s consumed,” the demon says. “Enough power to practically make it a demon itself. I want the Deathless for myself.”

Of course it does. “Getting tired of terrorizing schoolboys with dolls? Ready to level up?”

As one, the dolls tilt their heads to the side in an inquisitive way. “You still have vocal cords because you’re mildly amusing, Charles Rowland. Don’t try my patience.”

Right. Charles swallows around a throat that feels dry for the first time in thirty years. “And you think we can bring it to you without getting devoured?”

“Oh, I’m not promising that,” the demon says. “I can send you back to your pretty psychic and her charming friend with tools that will aid your success, but it will be up to you to protect yourselves.”

Part of Charles hates that the demon knows of Crystal and Niko’s existence and has been paying enough attention to have opinions about how pretty and charming they are. Another part of him remembers Crystal kicking the shit out of Esther Finch and kind of wants to see what would happen to the demon if it was dumb enough to call her “the pretty psychic” to her face.

“So that’s it then,” Charles says carefully. “We find the Deathless and bring it to you and then Edwin’s in the clear? You give up whatever claim you think you have on his soul? Actually give it up, not just sell it to someone else as soon as we hand over the Deathless?”

“Exactly,” the demon says.

***

Read the rest here!

[prism-forgone]

So how long till you drop the Deltarune Classpect expansion featuring the secret bosses? Haha just kidding. Unless... But anyway having not thought about classpects in like half a decade that post was a fun read.

i'm so glad you enjoyed it! ^^ it's nice to know there's a demographic for stuff like that still sksjsjk

the post in question for those out of loop here : x

and now.....

It appears my work is not yet done.

Jevil // Bard of Breath

So this is a bit irregular.

Since classpects are not only an allegory for a place in the narrative but also for character growth and progression, it can sometimes be hard to pin down a title of a character who had already gone through their arc. Jevil is someone like that - he's just hanging out. He fights you because it's fun and he's bored and won't you come outside? Let yourself be free?

Jevil screams Bard from miles away and his theme of freedom couldn't be more blatant but the problem I encountered was pinning down which aspect he was ghosting and which was his own. Bards usually experience a psychic break of sorts - we call it a crisis of aspect - that causes them to stop acting aggressively like they're bound to the opposite aspect. But the problem is - I would describe his encounter with 'a strange someone' as something exactly like that. So is he a Bard of Blood that is still in a way ghosting his opposite aspect, destroying the concept of imprisonment by calling being locked up as being truly free? Or is he a Bard of Breath that destroys through Breath by getting himself imprisoned and twisting the definition of freedom?

I decided to go with the latter because not only do I see his encounter with that strange someone being his aspect crisis as non-negotiable, this is not the only clue we have (even if it's the most crucial one). The way Bards operate before their aspect crisis is destroying their aspect through embracing the opposite one. Being a court jester is a very social role that I would say fits someone who is Bloodbound or ghosting the hell out of Blood well. Blood heroes are leaders, confidants and advisors and I think this fits well pre-crisis of Breath. He realized he's not truly free and never will be so he simply smashed his definition of freedom and remade it.

Spamton G. Spamton // Mage of Life (Kind of.)

So, hear me out. I promise it adds up.

Spamton has clear marks of someone Lifebound. This clingy attitude towards success, recognition and money is a very clear mark of that. Another one is how Life heroes are laughably susceptible to contact or persuasion by some kind of dark forces. His separation from other Addisons to become a big deal on his own has connections to a theme of rebellion, and his subsequent rise to the top of the social ladder is emblematic of the theme of authority, both of which being something that very up Life's alley. ...Also, he can literally heal. There's that.

Mages, as I've discussed in Noelle's case, experience the good and the bad of their aspect and can even experience harm because of it. And the cycle of Life says what rises up must fall down. In fact, I believe that what we're dealing with is Spamton's experience with the one who stopped calling him pulling him to the bottom and straight through, leading to him inverting to being the opposite of his title.

Spamton G. Spamton // ↺ Heir of Doom

Sometimes characters can experience a switch to the opposite title. That is called an inversion. It won't make sense for those who are reading this just for character deconstruction and have no knowledge of HS but think of how Rose acted like a Witch of Void, the inverse or her Seer of Light title, when she went grimdark. This isn't ghosting - it happens when a character actively rejects not only their aspect but their whole title.

This leaves Spamton acting in a way that is contrary to his nature - something isn't quite right. We get a feeling this isn't how he should operate but something happened and left him like this. For all intents and purposes, the narrative treats him like an Heir of Doom now, bringing about all things that have to do with being Doombound - this means he attracts the worst parts of the narrative, acts bitter and resentful, even fatalistic, is prone to visions of an awful end or unfortunate fate (this one I'm bringing up specifically because of his phone) and has a connection with nihilism and fatalism.

The inverse of his class being an Heir is also significant. Heirs inherit and embody their aspect, and Spamton does this two-fold - he serves as a cautionary tale of what happens when you hit rock bottom after trying to climb too high up, and, after the fight in the basement, becomes an omen to Kris that leaves a significant impact on them.

[fivie]

There's a thought about umw that I've had for a long long time and since I didnt exactly have anywhere else to out it I thought I'd share it here.

It's about Montparnasse, or rather, the apparent lack of him and where oh where is he.

Now, obviously, there are many les mis characters who aren't in the story, it makes perfect sense, eg. javert who is implied once or twice but isn't actually mentioned.

But anyway, while thinking about umw my thoughts often turn to R's life before the story. I mean, it has been many centuries and while I can imagine it Nit Being Much, there had to be Events to fill the time, right? Some people he met, some historical events he's witnessed, etc etc.

I've always imagined imagined Grantaire to have met Floréal some time in the 1600s or 1700s and them being very loose sort of friends. Acquaintances is a better word maybe.

But the one concept that cannot for the love of everything leave my mind is Montparnasse sort of being there, throughout the ages. At first I thought, a fallen angel maybe? But that doesn't seem to fit him at all, and the idea that I arrived at was that Montparnasse was a Reaper. I'm going to be serious, I haven't been keeping up with spn for several seasons now and my memory of the lore is very fragmented so I'm not sure how it holds up canon-wise, but it seemed neat to me. He accompanied R during the worst of times, when he witnessed the most deaths, wars, revolutions, massacres, the sort of atrocities that made Grantaire so cynical and distrustful and That Way in general. Maybe they became sort of friends. Maybe Montparnasse was the Reaper intended to bring the kids from Smoleńsk across. Who knows. Maybe the whole theory is bullshit and he's either some rando doing Crime around Lyon or he doesn't exist in the universe at all, but it's still fun to think about.

Anyway that's all I hope it's at least a bit entertaining 🙌🙌 + tysm for all the hard work on the fic it's taken up at least 85% of my brain at all times for thr last 2.5 (maybe more?) years<33

Ooh that's a cool idea! It would have been fun to have a Reaper character in UMW, especially since humans can't see them (unless they're dying or, y'know, dead) so it would be someone only Grantaire could interact with. Or maybe Jehan can perceive Reapers too, which would add a tasty Romantic quality to his abilities – he sees dead people and also the embodiments of death itself 💕 also I imagine a Reaper, a keeper of the Natural Order, would have a thing or two to say about resurrected-ghost-Feuilly 😂

I actually do have my own UMW version of Montparnasse, since he was originally meant to feature but got cut due to the story already spiralling madly out of my control without me adding even more characters and plot threads. I think I wrote about him in a post once but it was like a bajillion years ago so for funs let me tell you about him here:

He IS some rando doing crime around Lyon!! (Or possibly Paris, I never 100% decided.) He's sort of like a dark mirror of Jehan; he's human and also a psychic, but much less naturally powerful, and has started dabbling in witchcraft and other unsavoury things to enhance his abilities. He's wildly jealous of Jehan's powers and also considers Jehan to be an idiotic waste of those powers because he won't use them for his own gain. He comes from a much bleaker background than Jehan and had to fend for himself from a young age, and so has become very adept at using his abilities to manipulate people and is now a very successful and wealthy con artist. He's not 'evil', which is a pretty strong term in a world with demons etc, but circumstances have molded him into a person who does not trust others and is very out for himself, and his psychic abilities make him somewhat arrogant and he considers ordinary people to be inferior and fair game for him to mess with.

As you can see my personal take on Montparnasse is a bit darker than the pure neutrality of a Reaper-type character 😂 In this AU I envisioned him as kind of the same type of character as Spike from Buffy, in that he starts out as a legitimate threat and thorn in the protagonists' sides but reluctantly develops into an ally as time goes on.

However I know that fandom interpretations of Montparnasse vary wildly and all are valid, and since he's almost definitely never going to actually show up in UMW, please have fun imagining whatever version of him you enjoy most!! I just also have a lot of thoughts with nowhere to go and will take any opportunity to share 😂

[crystalelemental]

We've been playing Nexomon Extinction for the last couple of days, and I have two posts about it coming up.  This one is focused more on what I wanted to talk about initially: mechanics.  The next will talk more about story, character, and creatures.  This could've been one post, but I feel like there's too much so...splitting that up.

Mechanically, Nexomon 1 was...interesting.  It's very bare-bones, and has a lot of eccentricities that made it stand out compared to Pokemon's systems.  There were only seven types, but barring Normal, they all had two strong and two weak matchups for perfect balance.  Each Nexomon only learned what it had naturally, which removed frustrations of egg moves and tutors and TMs, but added issues of some options getting blasted by really poor learnsets.  Damage was high, but this facilitated a system where you want every move to be a one-shot, unless it's bosses, in which case you need specific tools.  Status was overwhelmingly powerful to the point of absurdity.  The rarity system was a good indication of power, but the discrepancies were rather severe, and made a lot of options pretty poor choices for use.  Stamina as a general system that feeds from every move was a non-consideration, thanks to level ups fully restoring HP and Stamina, and levels being incredibly easy to achieve.

Nexomon Extinction really refines its system.  I think overall it makes it a more dynamic experience, that also doesn't feel as...unique.  To go over it point by point before the conclusion:

Psychic and Ghost have been added as types.  This has turned a perfectly balanced type wheel into a more traditional type chart, with strengths and weaknesses no longer being reciprocal.  Psychic is the master of this: Strong against Normal, Electric, and Ghost, but Ghost and Electric are also strong against it, making its only safe switch-in against Normal.  Wind gets blasted with another weakness in Ghost, which it is also not good against, probably because so many of them packed Electric coverage in the base game.  Normal gets hit with two weaknesses, probably because the Normal-type bosses from the first game were really obnoxious HP sponges that you kinda had to cheese with confusion.

I think by and large the changes are innocuous enough?  I think this goes hand in hand with the damage changes.  Damage in the first game felt outrageously high, whereas damage in Extinction is much less severe in most situations.  However, it's also harder to mitigate.  Supereffective damage is only 25%.  Resistance only cuts damage 35%.

The complementary change is status being nerfed.  Poison, Bind, and Burn just deal 8% damage each turn.  Confuse and Paralyze are now only a chance to deny action, alongside the new Puzzled and Demotivated.  Leech is new and siphons some HP every turn.  But none of these statuses feel particularly strong, and are either low percent chances (most are 10%), or have horrid accuracy rates (35%).

The result of all this is that your main consideration is what's strongest. Type advantage doesn't factor in that much, so you can get away with just spamming something really strong. Even resists can be pushed through if you want. You have your big attack on-type, ideally a strong neutral, and maybe a utility move like recovering some stamina or HP or maybe taking a swing for a useful status. But there's not a whole lot of technical play. This isn't strictly different from the first game, where most fights were similar, you just also had bosses where the strategy wasn't "spam big attack" but rather "spam something that hits for confuse." It's just changing what the focus is.

There is some consideration for speed. Attacks have individual speed values, which influences turn order of who goes first. The player doesn't always get to anymore, but it's not solely a matter of who has the higher base speed; what move you're using also plays a part. This...is not as well-implemented as I would hope. I do think it's a fun addition, but I also feel like most of the slow moves are slow because they apply status. Which already confers a power penalty, and as stated, is not worth it. The super strong moves have all been just fine on speed. Which feels like it renders the mechanic pointless.

Rarity is...I won't say a non-concern, but it's far from absolute like it felt before.  Madamusa is a common Psychic, with some excellent traits, who has put in fantastic work for me.  My wife has been running some of the dragons from the Drake Isles, and some of them have learned nothing of value by level 35 and are underperforming because of it.  Rarity is no longer the sole determinant of ability.  Which is good! I don't like cool designs being relegated to being bad.

Stamina has mattered a lot more, in part because of EXP and leveling changes.  Leveling up still restores some HP and Stamina, which is delightful thank you for this, but it's not a full recovery.  As a result, spamming the biggest attacks means running out.  It's a nice system to keep the player rotating who is in use, trying to take advantage of type matchups despite the fact that bigger numbers are better regardless of type.  My main complaint is that it is a system that only hurts you.  Enemies will effectively never run out of Stamina, because if they do, they probably just beat your entire team's ass.  The tier 3 Stamina core is incredibly good as a result.  15% bonus stamina is like an extra move or two, depending on your current progression.

As part of the evening out, many things feel like they evolve this time around. In the first game, Commons didn't evolve, Uncommons did once, and Rare and above had three-stage. The increase in stamina was felt at times, but largely wasn't too bad. In Extinction, that stamina is felt, and it matters. Which is why it's nice that even Commons will have three-stage evolutions at times. The stamina system and really does feel more applicable this time around.

I mentioned a minute ago the lack of full recovery on level up. This isn't a bad thing, strictly, but it leads to significantly more trips to the healing center, both because your team gets battered down, and because of Stamina running out. There are healing rocks scattered around, but while they're present enough to be well executed, they're not exactly plentiful, and early game is largely spent trying to level while running back to get healed up.

They did add a Core system.  Basically, equippable items that grant bonuses.  I'll be honest, Level is still the most important stat, so I haven't used anything aside from what boosts EXP.  A really fun trick is that, when you want to power-level something, you run a lower level thing that's good against the local wildlife with +80% EXP modification, and then use four tier 3 EXP Share cores to copy 100% of that to the higher level thing in the back.  EXP scales higher for lower levels, but the EXP copy doesn't seem to, so they gain more EXP being in the back.  And that's why my Mermella is level 43 at the Drake Isles.  Because she evolves really late, and I'm on a mission.

The last thing to talk about is capture mechanics. I actually like this game's transparency. Pokemon is always cagey about what your actual odds are with anything, and if you've ever looked at a calculator, the answer is "bad." Nexomon at least gives me the numbers, even if they're atrocious early on. It also has a much more lenient system. You have your obvious HP meter, which gives up to 19%. Rarely I'll see 20%, but I have no idea how that occurs. 10% is from a basic Nexotrap, while elemental types are 15% generally and 35% on-type. Golden Nexotrap is guaranteed. There's Other, which brings in a 3% chance per type Whistle you've found to increase odds, and any status applies a broad 10%. The big one is Food. You can give wild Nexomon food to endear yourself to them, and if they like the food it's a pretty big bonus. This lets you stack a lot of odds in your favor, and so far, only Dragons have had any reduction in the base odds. I assume legendary ones do too.

It's a generally good system, but I do think that over time, the Whistles compensate for status and you just, again, have no reason to ever rely on status effects ever. Like it's just so not worth the trouble.

All in all it's a very polished system that I'm enjoying, though I do feel like it's maybe a little too familiar? I feel like, with the adjustment to a full type chart and the push for fights to mostly be throwing out the biggest damage, it feels...more like Pokemon than it did before. It was already kind of heavily a Pokemon-like kind of game, but mechanically, the first game was weird enough to feel super distinct. The polish almost makes it feel too similar in some ways. I'm still enjoying myself, and the rest of the game is very distinctive, but mechanically, I feel like it could stand to lean more into its eccentricities. I kinda miss that status was so game-shatteringly broken. I kinda miss the full recovery on level up that made exploration feel incredibly smooth. I think in looking to smooth things out, they shifted a bit too much into spaces we've already been and didn't really experiment as much as they could have.

[hungrydolphin91]

So. Dolphin. Tell me about these little guys :3 (Persona edition) What are they like? What are their names? Backstory perchance? Mwehehe

Bonus:

*johnny yong bosch voice* PERSONA! thanks for getting me into this franchise btw, though my knowledge is still limited to the 60 hours we've played of P4 Golden so far and the bits you've shared about 3 and 5. Thus I can say with tenuous confidence that these guys aren't from those games at least? 😅

So who are they? Well first there's Psychic Chie aka, uh, Rosalind. I can see her filling a similar role as Chie though, being sorta loud and easily flustered and probably has a mad crush on whoever the protagonist is. She's got those Leia Rolando/Lynne from Ghost Trick vibes of being very cheerful and trying her best but oops! Problems instead! And maybe trauma!

I like the floating heart shaped beads around her, I hope she uses them as her weapon 💓 She's probably like "teehee I'm gonna beat you with cuteness!" and then it's like 'oh no Rosalind, you made the Shadows fall in love with you instead!' 'Oopsies!!' *canned laughter*

Next is a character whose art style looks like Q or Q2, and the pattern on their skirt suggests they go to Yasogmai High too? So either this is from a social link I didn't do (I never did join the drama club did I 😅) or they're a Q-exclusive character who is part of the same world as the P4 guys.

But that's all I got for the Naoto-esque deductions, time to make stuff up. This is Linette, a level-headed but quiet sophomore. She's not shy, she just doesn't speak much unless prompted. She probably has all of the braincells of the group, unless corndogs are involved, and then all sense goes out the window (I'm assuming you chose this picture for a reason and it's not just a coinidence she's eating one 😅).

She's probably an NPC who like helps you measure your social links or something, but occassionally she also shows up during plot events to say a couple helpful lines and then dip so the player cans solve the problem themselves. Or maybe she is a social link herself in a community garden or something, she does have a powerful (and adorable) flower motif going. Very cute. I think I'd like this character. Is she romanceable?

And then finally we have this sexy evil looking guy. I'm not sure if he's actually bad or just likes to look morose and debonair but I'm gonna say he's an antagonist at least, probably not the final boss though. You're not important enough for that.

Since he's bad he probably has a name like Eddelgard or Evangelion or something that starts with an 'E' because all bad guys have 'E' names, right Pav? ;) EXCEPT in Persona, where they all have 'A' names instead, so naturally this guy's name is Avangelion.

[It has occurred to me that Persona games usually give their characters Japanese names so I have a 0 percent chance of getting these names right. oh well.]

So Avangelion here has the swept back hair and the corsage because he wants to look like a ladies man and all the NPCS love him BUT the protagonist and party know his true nature, that he's actually manipulative and cunning (I'm probably slandering this guy sorry hope he's not your favorite 😂). He has some grand egotistical schemes where he's in charge of everything because he should be because he's better than everyone else and he says this aloud and somehow the NPCs are still like 'aw isn't he such a gentleman??💗'

It's either that, or he's a perfectly normal party character who like. Uses swords and magic and stuff. That's a possibility too.

And that's them! Thanks for letting me ruin these characters, I had heaps of fun making shit up 😂 feel free to send more if you'd like! Also feel free to take this chance to infodump the truth in the notes.

(Oh, and the bonus, Crazy Dancin' Mark. We all know and love him, beloved character of the Dancing All Night spinoffs.)

[a-gastly-trio]

AHEM.

hi. incredibly biology and psychology obsessed nerd here. and i have. like. a few questions. [most simplistic first.]

[midway typing this, i realise this is WAY LONGER than i thought it would be. if you would like, you may take a screenshot and split it up into different things. geeking out here lol]

1.) Is possession still a thing? I'm unsure if most ghost types can possess others but i've heard of it.

2.) how do type advantages work? there are some obvious ones, such as poison and grass or fire and grass- but like? Ghost and dark? It's a bit confusing; especially how the humanoid anatomy is different from the full-on-'mon anatomy.

3.) SPEEAAAKING OF ANATOMYYYY um. how. the first thing i'd like to address is Raven's eyes; now, obviously, there's only so much that is a difference between human and humanOID but I still wonder what biological feature gives Raven a red sclera while damien and gage have the typical white ones.

4.) is there anything not visual, but internally that's different? the only visual thing that stands out about you three that aren't human is mainly raven's eyes [also considering that they reflect light therefore glowing in the dark.] But there has got to be some anatomy difference?? with it being established that things like talking to dead and hypnosis moves are possible, what parts of the body are responsible for non-psychical moves????? especially psychic types. those guys confuse me to NO END. and dont get me started on all the other mons like you who can float- that shit is BEYOND me.

5.) more on the psychology side of things, is there anything in particular anyone could say about how these living conditions have effected you? like obviously there's gotta be some mental repercussions to- a. societal stigmatization towards 'evil' and 'creepy' appearances of ghost or dark types b. talking with the dead. elaborating more on the second, speaking with the dead such as this would effect you mentally, no? knowing one cant be revived and can't see the ones they love physically but you see them? there's got to be some extent to that.

i dunno. just vomited thoughts in the ask. hope this was entertaining to read lfmao

//OKAY THIS IS ALL OOC AND I APOLOGIZE. But there's no way theSibs would know every single in and out of thir universe. Even WE don't know all that about our own universe unless we're fucking scientists.

//ANYWAY. In order:

Yes. Because it also exists in the pokemon universe. It's fiction.

They work the same way as they do, again, in the pokemon world. Even I don't know the full answer on some type advantages over others (Like dark over ghost or flying over fight), it just is because that's how it works in the games, anime, manga.

Simple: Raven evolved. Gengars get red sclera when they evolve. Gastly and Haunter just don't have colored sclera. I don't know why it's like that in games/media 🤷‍♂️

Some Mons have more animalistic features while others don't. I made it this way in case anyone wanted to join my AU and already had a gijinka in mind. I wanted it to be open for every type of gijinka/humanized interpretation as a way to be inclusive!

Well, how are or would you be affected by things like racism or homophobia? It's the same in this AU. Also in pokemon anime/manga and some games, there are already humans who can commune with the dead: Channelers, psychics, hex maniacs, etc. So that's why it's incorporated here. And yes I assume it would be mentally taxing on some individuals, it's probably like that in the regular pokemon universe too.

//BASICALLY. It's fictional and meant to be fun. That's it.

[gummywyrmtrainer]

Progenitus the Hydreigon

Art of the above Hydreigon was created by myself, for myself! Full name: Progenitus (More details under the Readmore)

  Individual Head Names, left to right      -White: Gideon      -Blue: Jace      -Black: Sorin      -Red: Koth      -Green: Garruk At MOST times, Progenitus will be addressed as such, since, unless he is totally relaxed, all heads work and act together as one unit, essentially a hivemind, mainly under Sorin's direction. Progenitus is almost NEVER fully relaxed unless he's alone with Tanis and the rest of her team, in someplace he's comfortable with. For other trainers or Pokemon to see the heads act individually is horrendously rare. Species: 5-Headed Hydreigon Level: ??? Size: Big McHuge. An average human can faceplant onto the fluffy parts of his chest.So...2 to 3 times bigger than a "standard" Hyderigon? Nature: Aggressive. Hostile. Violent.     To be saved as a last resort or in dire situations. History:     Progenitus did not start off as creature of malice, but he DID start off a little... Different. Tanis discovered him as a Deino as she was strolling around Unova, and he was at the brink of death. He hatched with polymeia, having two extra legs that did nothing but hinder him at all times, so walking was incredibly difficult, let alone hunting for food. Plus, his ravenous attitude and severely off-putting appearance managed to chase away any who had enough sympathy to even try and help him, human and Pokemon both. Excluding Tanis, who not only saved the poor dragon's life, but she helped him trained. Despite all odds, he grew. Gained weight and strength over the years, and he evolved. He still had those two vestigial limbs as a Zweilous, but, given more tender loving care... He evolved once more.     Suddenly he found himself free of his burden. Those useless legs turned into two extra, fully functional heads when he evolved, all equal in strength and intelligence. And he was angry. He was IS magnificent, and if not for this one, practically feral human who cared for him so tenderly, so diligently, he would have perished. He did NOT deserve that. He deserved to be cared for. Hell, he could have been like this many ages ago, he could have a territory of his own and  rules all beneath him. But no. He was treated as a freak. And now he's everyone else's problem.     However. He is 100% loyal to his trainer. His entire body can and will stop on a dime as soon as the word leaves her lips. He sore to always keep her safe, to keep her happy and healthy, as she has done for him.Everyone else though...? If not for Tanis telling him to hold back, hundreds would have fallen to his ruthless assaults. Moveset:    Every head can use Dragon, Dark, and Normal type moves. However, each individual head has access to 3 other types exclusive to it.      -Gideon: Fairy, Electric, Steel      -Jace: Water, Flying, Ice      -Sorin: Ghost, Psychic, Poison      -Koth: Fire, Ground, Rock      -Garruk: Grass, Bug, Fighting   All access moves: Dragon Pulse, Draco Meteor, Outrage, Dark Pulse, Nasty Plot, Crunch, Hyper Beam, Hyper Voice, and Giga Impact.   Individual moves: Dazzling Gleam, Thunderbolt, Flash Cannon, Scald, Aeroblast, Ice Beam, Bitter Malice, Freezing Glare, Sludge Bomb, Flamethrower, Earth Power, Power Gem, Energy Ball, Bug Buzz, Focus Blast. If you think that this is too much, and want to compromise/ make possible changes for an RP, this can be arranged, you just have to let me know. Progenitus was clearly made and designed to essentially be "Final Boss" strength, but I fully understand that he smashes nearly every law of Pokemon out there. I do love him, and i want to use him, but not at the detriment of others. Fun Facts:      -Yeah he's a walking Magic the Gathering reference. He is based off of this card,

and every one of his heads is named after a Planeswalker. Sorin is the only one not monotype mana, and he's the only exception because I like Sorin and the name.      -Progenitus was MUCH softer looking in his original art.

    -None of Progenitus' extra head/necks look like arms with a muppet head attached to it. They all have the same basic serpentine neck, with all of the supporting heads looking like the main one.      -I'm not 100%sure if the fluffy bits of a Hydreigon are supposed to be fur or feathers, so I went with both. Progenitus is covered in both beautiful scales, and protofeathers. His feathers are basically a mixture of emu feathers and quills. The base/ "undercoat" of these feathers is that pink that you can see through his coat.      -His wings ARE the same color as his chest, they're just darkened in the reference image to make them fade into the background a bit more.

[sleepy-moron]

All the poster characters from season four of stranger things but I assign them 1 Pokémon each based on vibes:

Karen- Leavanny: noted for being an exceptionally maternal Pokémon, it even makes clothes out of leaves for its young….also fits the green theming the wheelers have got going on in this au which is fun.

Joyce- Pyroar: Specifically noted as being good mothers and protecting their young extremely fiercely… plus cats are supposed to be able to pick up on things other things don’t so Joyce being a lion fits her imo

Hopper- Camerupt: Hop can have an……explosive temper but mostly I just picture a very unimpressed looking volcano camel following hop around and staring into the camera like it’s on the office. Big crotchety old man vibes and that suits hop.

Murray- Beheeyem: Murray is literally a conspiracy theorist and this is the Pokémon equivalent of the men in black how could I not give him this…..also an underrated personal favorite psychic type

Steve- Floatzel: I sat here for ages trying to think of a Pokémon for Steve and then I realized floatzel works really well+ it’s literally described as making an effort to save people that are drowning so clearly it has the proper protective instincts and I can just see Steve chilling with this dude

Robin- Chatot: A music note themed parrot that can replicate and as they age understand human speech?? Yeah this suits robin pretty well, plus one of its possible abilities is tangled feet which suits Robin’s general lack of coordination.

Eddie- Obstagoon: This is Gene Simmons as a Pokémon….not a ton of lore but it’s a punk used by the “evil” team in gen 8 and it suits him

Nancy- Gardevoir: Looks pretty and feminine (ie pre s1 nancy), loyal and will summon a black hole to protect its trainer, has some knight inspiration as well….overall very strong and cool Pokémon, plus her and mike have Pokémon with similar color schemes

Johnathan- Male meowstic: said to have awakened its psychic powers out of a need to protect itself, and must restrain itself to not wreak havoc with these powers. Males are highly protective of those they care about and are hesitant to fight unless those people are in danger.

Argyle- Alolan Raichu: chill surfer dude vibes and the fact that I can just imagine a lil Raichu floating around next to Argyle while he’s making the grave for the agent man and is helping to decorate it. I just think the energies are the same.

Erica- Galarian ponyta: Look me dead in the eyes and tell me Erica would not have this as a Pokémon……you can’t because it’s true!!

Dustin- Rotom: mischievous electric ghost that possesses electronics and is smart enough to cause havoc….also it’s heavily associated with befriending children with a knack for tinkering and engineering in Pokémon so it’s pretty reasonable that one would take a liking to Dustin.

Lucas- Luxray: (might be a touch of bias because I adore the shinx line and I have a shiny luxray) Lucas is usually the one in the party to scout out situations for danger…..he’s also pretty good at seeing through people and luxray can see through walls which is great for someone who uses long range weaponry

Max- Crobat: Fast and agile flying type that starts out as a super common annoying cave encounter but through the power of friendship evolutions becomes a really cool and powerful Pokémon. The Pokémon I gave Mike is also 4x weak to crobat as well which is funny.

Mike- Chesnaught: literally an armored knight that shields loved ones with its own body, and its (formerly?) signature move is spiky shield so it is spot on for how prickly and defensive Mike is… also I think him and Will both having stuff from the gen 6 starter trio is cute

Will- Delphox is literally a traditional fantasy wizard with fire powers…..The gen 6 starters are literally based around an rpg party it’s too perfect and Will did have a dog at some point so having a fox Pokémon tracks + I gave all the Byers psychic or fire types

El- Type Null or Marshadow: Null makes more sense since it was modified in a lab for use as a weapon before breaking out, and it reaches its evolution through high friendships. Marshadow just really reminds me of s1 El for some reason….both work fine but I would probably say type null is the more official choice.

[brittlefcrged]

VERSE. ( weaponized. ) trigger warnings for manipulation, gaslighting, torture et al.

generally based off of THIS wishlist post where Reese has been weaponized through whatever form of hypnosis, torture, brainwashing, chemically or whatever induced - in short turning her into a living breathing crystal ball for whatever bad guy or organization either programmed her in the first place or was sold off by or whatever.  it could be something that was done for fun by someone like jonathan crane as an experiment one time that she got admitted to arkham and then gets lost in the system or ‘died in custody’ or it could be a verse where someone like hydra or the suicide squad or whatever recognized her abilities as something that could be trained and weaponized and decided to see what they could do with her.

she has precognition and postcognition so she can touch objects, things, people, places and see emotionally charged things that happened or will / might happen to them / with them etc in the future.  with specific guidance and training this could be useful for finding out who’s lying, stealing, spying, who’s guilty or innocent in a criminal defense system or any number of things. 

she’s also got a near (so far as anyone can tell thus far) a ridiculously high healing ability - potentially useful for experimentation or for some form of body guard / human shield scenario or for sending someone in to retrieve something from a situation with practically zero survival probabilities etc - though she has no combat skills or training whatsoever so there’d have to be some caveats taken into account for something like that

in some verses, generally things like where magic or psychic abilities are more prevalent or can be poked and prodded into existence - mass effect, witcher, got, xmen et al - she can develop cryokinesis which is generally going to be a wild card but has potential for those patient enough to try and train it into something useful

she also has the ability to see and hear and touch ghosts / some spirits but she doesn’t generally realize that they’re ghosts she thinks they’re actual people unless someone tells her otherwise (which doesn’t always end well) but can also be useful for getting information otherwise inaccessible 

generally the methods of control put in place would be like, whatever it took to break down her physical and mental resistances, then building up a combo of key words for reiterating control like hydra uses with their agents or like in the series dollhouse where the handlers and dolls have a script that reinforces the bond between them on psychological baseline level + it’s highly recommended that there is a general structure to her days; meals at set times, hygiene and general self care things within a general time frame -

       because of her insomnia and her trauma and bc of the visions that she gets and becomes obsessed with painting, it is sometimes difficult to keep her on a schedule especially for sleep - there are probably certain drugs that are recommended for knocking her out if she gets unruly or just won’t sleep on top of whatever she’s given daily to keep her palatable / useful but not overly aggressive or manic (usually)

social interaction is encouraged especially with whomever the ‘handler’ is whether that’s meals together or going out and about to a festival or museum or for a walk or something to basically reinforce the baby duckling / handler bond 

there’s a lot of ways these types of plots can go and i’m pretty much open to whatever.  she’s not necessarily adverse to being around violence but she’s not really a fan of it most times; she’s also likely to build up some tolerance to the chemical constraints and may or may not try to escape or leave if she doesn’t feel safe or - maybe she gets won over and chameleon like becomes a (generally) happy and willing participant in The Crimes it’s - idk it’s a pretty open ended verse so come at me with your ideas.

[thebrokengate]

Not to gush about my own story and characters or anything, but like.. 

I love that Vesper just does not give a fuck about anything unless it directly involves his attachments. Like, he is the embodiment of that “you can break my soul.. but don’t touch him” meme, on a more not-giving-10-shits level. Virgil’s worried about being separated from his attachment (who he’s trying to protect) because of what psychics are telling him? “Eh, half of them are liars and the other half think attachment separating is as simple as saying a prayer.” He doesn’t show concern in the slightest; he’s 100% sure everything will work out for his friends. He’s chill. But come story 2 and involve a psychic in Vesper’s attachments? Man goes feral, and chaotically so. Using his shapeshifting abilities on a seer to mess with them. “Am I the same demon or am I a new one? See? You don’t know.” Being told he’s not allowed to follow his attachments anymore? “Yes I can.” Their commands mean nothing to him. “We have the power to control them and take back our space.” He finds that hilarious. It’s not that simple that you just tell him to leave and he goes. If he wants to stay, he’ll stay; he’s the one who’s more powerful and they don’t know a thing. He lives by the philosophy that “you can give a stalker a restraining order, but that doesn’t mean they won’t still break the rules”. He’s witnessed a thousand exorcisms that failed because the malevolent entities were either completely unbothered or overly possessive of who or what they chose to make their home - and he views the spirits that run once the prayers start as a bunch of losers who give up the game too easily. He’s all about playing chicken, and he likes the ones who take things the furthest - up to the line of a breaking point without crossing it. That’s even what he was looking for in his own attachments; he likes the danger because it makes him feel alive. “It’s the only upside to an otherwise boring state of existence.” It’s the only real fun he can have, and he envies humanity for having more. He doesn’t get it when humans claim their natural lives are boring or that they have nothing. He knows the true meaning of having nothing. Nothing to pass the time. Nothing to read, no games to play, no real sense of community. Half the time stuck watching a ghost repeat the same task over and over on a loop every day between two marks of time because they didn’t do that one single thing right in life and that failure stayed with them into death in a cycle they can never break because the problem can never be fixed. The supernatural realm, to him, is so uninteresting that he’d rather make himself a nuisance or pose a threat than take what he has and what he is in stride. Yeah, I don’t know, story 2 Vesper is something else and the idea for his corruption arc is giving me massive brainrot right now.

[tyrantisterror]

The ATOM Create a Kaiju Contest 3-D: Entry Roundup

You’ve been patiently waiting for the results of the ATOM Create a Kaiju Contest 3-D, and now... you have to wait a bit longer, but at least you’ve got an entry roundup with lots of sketches and a good bit of feedback for all the entrants!  My goal is to get the finalists illustrated in a week or two, and after that, the grand prize winner will be announced.  But, for now, the official entry roundup!  After the cut:

I should note that while I sketched these in the order they were submitted, my scanner saved the documents with random names, so they’re a bit jumbled.  You know, just in case you’re like me and would get confused noticing that it’s almost in chronological order but with some entries jumbled around.

@bugcthulhu’s Obsideban was designed as a counterpart to Rohobaron - the Black King to Rohobaron’s Red King, if you will.  Or, well, Black Queen in this case, as Obsideban also takes her personality from the “delinquent girl” archetype in Japanese media.  Bug’s designs always ooze personality, and I had a lot of fun translating this big, gnarly retrosaur into my own style.

@toothlessloveshiccup‘s Argonox is the first - but far from the last - monster in this breakdown that brings in a bit of fantasy influence to ATOM’s roster.  A golden-fleeced ram with a vicious streak, this sheep is both treasure and dragon at once.  And while it wasn’t written in the monster’s profile, given the Yamaneon-rich nature of its wool, Argonox might be able to replicate the healing power of the golden fleece too!  A very fun mammalian kaiju and excellent entry.

@highly-radioactive-nerd submitted Gunmetal Jeeves, a robot butler who can gigantomax temporarily create a holographic/hard light version of himself to fight kaiju.  That detail was a late revision added to the entry before the contest’s deadline, made after the creator realized that ATOM allows for some truly ludicrous bullshit, which is something everyone should exploit when making entries for this in my opinion.  Also, this is a robot butler who can size shift.  Revel in its awesome absurdity!

Ultranerd submitted Rajasaurus, a dimetrodon-like synapsid kaiju with electric powers.  His origin specifies that the electric powers are a result of the volatile nature of the Yamaneon deposits he mutated under, which is an interesting idea.  That’s another theme that cropped up a lot in this contest’s entries, actually - people really wanted to play with what Yamaneon can do.

Case in point, @polygonfighter’s Yamaneolith takes the Monolith Monsters homage at the heart of Yamaneon even more apparent.  I like the implication that there is a second mineral-based lifeform at the root of this Yamaneon cluster’s anomalous behavior - a parasite, perhaps?  It brings up some interesting possibilities.

@ariccio50 submitted Kukulkuzana, and damn is this a cool spin on the body plan of my martians.  I made a few changes here and there (splitting its tail into two is probably the biggest one), but tried to keep true to the original design, because holy hell is it gorgeous.  The idea that this is a mountain-dwelling creature is really intriguing to me, as it looks like a sea creature, but at the same time, that flexible and low-slung build WOULD work pretty well in mountains, and it’s just the right mix of plausible weirdness that makes for a fun alien design.

@akitymh submitted Aramzados, a Venusian monster that’s basically an organic hot rod car.  I like the idea of organic machinery being the gimmick for Venusian kaiju, and Aramzado’s does it subtly enough to not feel like that gimmick is the sole thing going for it.  I especially love this monster’s stange, apparently mouth-less blade-beaked face.

@virovac submitted Rurzar and Zar Rider, a Beyonder kaiju and mecha (respecitvely) that were both modified and repurposed by humans reverse engineering Beyonder technology to make, like, a motorcycle-saurus essentially.  It is a delightfully absurd concept, and a very, very detailed one (13 pages of description).  There’s a dark undercurrent beneath the sillyness, though, as this pair show that humanity might still be following the same path as the Beyonders before them.

@dinosaurana brings us Krangor, a humanoid monstrosity of living kelp!  The goal here was to create a Jack Kirby-esque monster dude, complete with the gibberish name and all.  He’s also made out of kelp, which feels very classic 1950′s monster-y despite me not being able to think of any monsters that were explicitly made of kelp.  I love him.

@kiryuthechimera submitted Genkakurah, a psychic retrosaur with some draconic features.  Though his substantial powerset is probably the biggest distinguishing feature of this kaiju (given that most ATOM kaiju pretty much have the same standard powers), what really draws me to him is that reptilian pseudo-beard.  It’s just a fun detail!

@glarnboudin submits Tiratola, and see, there’s that fantasy influence again!  Even more explicitly dragon-y than Kraydi, Tiratola still manages to toe the line between sci-fi and fantasy enough to fit ATOM as is while still cementing its ties to my own slice of fantasy fiction.  Man it’s good I’m doing a Midgaheim book next, huh?

@dragonzzilla submitted Scuttlebutt/Argonautilus, a hermit crab kaiju who lives in/with a hollowed out mecha.  That’s a twist I can’t recall ever hearing before, and the idea of a kaiju and a mecha having an equal partnership that doesn’t involve one being grafted to the other is really intriguing to me.  A very unique concept!

@evolutionsvoid submitted Fleagor, an enormous flea who has no idea what to do with itself now that there’s no creature large enough for it to parasitize.  I love that concept - it takes the core idea of the giant bug kaiju archetype (i.e. unsettling the audience by showing how terrifying small, “insignificant” creatures would be if our sizes were reversed) and really turns it on its head.  The name also plays on the Universal Monsters, who were a huge part of 1950′s pop culture thanks to their movies being re-released in that era, so all and all this one is very on brand for ATOM!

@skarmorysilver submitted Lilacorn, another entry that plays up that Midgaheim/ATOM connection.  Reinterpreting the mythological unicorn as an Cenozoic wooly rhinoceros-inspired monster gives it a very unique look, both in ATOM and in the general world of unicorns, and she has a bad-girl with a heart of gold personality to boot!

dracosaurus-rex submitted Florasaura, a two-headed plant/retrosaur hybrid monster.  I love me some plant monsters, I love me some retrosaurs, and I love me some rhyming the word “flora” with other words that contain similar vowell sounds, so this one has me written all over it!

@downtofragglerock submitted Sauroguana, a delightfully odd flying retrosaur.  There’s a great deal of charm to the original illustration that this sketch doesn’t quite capture - it’s a deceptively simple design with a lot of personality in it, and with those unique leg-wings it really doesn’t need a whole lot of frills to stand out.

Draxi submitted Brakan, an unimpressive burrowing retrosaur kaiju whose mastery of illusions allows it to convince other kaiju it’s actually a big, super-powerful badass that’s the ultimate fighter in the universe.  It’s a delightful parody of the concept of a fan self-insert god-mode character, with a really fun story built into it to boot!

@quinnred submitted O.N.I.A.C., a mysterious cocooned kaiju whose chrysalis has been turned into an organic computer of sorts by the people studying it, and seems to possess a fairly advanced intelligence for a kaiju.  It’s a really bizarre and ominous idea, with built in intrigue given how vague its nature is.  Is it just a kaijufied butterfly/moth who got stuck mid transformation?  A relative of the Mothmanuds?  Something else, perhaps equally alien?  Good story potential here.

shadyserpent submitted Vespilitor, a bat/retrosaur hybrid made by the nefarious Spooks Organization.  A mercurial prankster whose tendency to stir up trouble never crosses the line into maliciousness, he’s the kind of monster who would make a great foil to a lot of ATOM’s cast.  I’d especially like to see him in a prank off with Ahuul - it’d be like Bugs Bunny fighting Daffy Duck, but on a kaiju scale.

@multiversefan submitted the Yamaneon King, a nomadic kaiju whose refusal to settle down causes problems as he stirs up trouble at kaiju sanctuaries all over the globe by showing up unannounced and stirring up the locals.  He was basically designed to be a monster that the kaiju sanctuary initiative would struggle to deal with, which is a good idea for a post-ATOM Volume 2 story conflict.

Sir K submitted Jadeera, a kirin kaiju that can actually forcibly convert most of its body to Yamaneon to enter a dormant, statue-like state in a loose homage to King Shisa.  Though the fantasy elements are far more present than I usually prefer for ATOM kaiju, I think it should be noted they’re pushed that far for a purpose - a theme in Jadeera’s entry, which continues where its creator left off with their submission to the previous ATOM create a kaiju contest (Yokaigon), is that the world of kaiju is more complicated and challenging than many are willing to accept, which is a theme in ATOM itself.  Yokaigon’s more supernatural/occult powers are based on the ghost parascience of my setting, which ATOM has delved into a bit (Pathogen being the big example), so it’s not as out of left field as some might think.

@cerothenull​ brings us our final entry (unless some got lost thanks to tumblr’s shitty tagging system), the flying spider Naeranti.  She’s a kaiju spider who uses silk to make complicate hot-air balloons, more or less, and that’s just delightful.  ATOM could always use more spider-monsters, and with a really unique gimmick backing up a wonderfully distinct look, Naeranti is sure to stand out among her fellow giant arachnids.

Well, that’s the roundup!  In a week (or two, depending on how much my hand cramps) we’ll have the five finalists, and sometime after that, the grand prize winner!

[riversofmars]

Sometimes 13 just poses as a student and attends rivers lectures.

Hellooo! I’ve been saving this prompt for a long time cause I love it so much and now finally did something exciting with it! This is actually a little collaboration I did with @serawalkerwrites. She keeps getting asked to write for DW and never has, so we decided to do a little thing together! Basically, we took turns writing paragraphs! She's written the River bits and I wrote for 13. Really fun thing to do because our styles are quite different but it worked :D Apart from the fact that she made me write in present tense which I hate lmao! Also, if you like American Horror Story or Ratched, check out her stuff!

Rating: Teen

Word Count: 2300

Read on AO3 or below

Like The First Time

“I might be younger and far prettier than the other Professors at this University, but that doesn't mean I don't expect the same level of good behaviour from my students,“ Professor River Song barks up the rows of lecture hall seating, slapping her papers on the desk. She tosses her bouncing curls of hair and brings her hands to her hips, watching the chatting students in the back row and waiting for them to take notice. That blonde girl seems to whispering at some speed, with enthusiastic hand gestures to boot. “That means you in the back row!“ She raises her voice again, finally getting the young blondes attention.

The Doctor hadn’t been able to stop herself. When River had started talking about the Venusian tomb she’d visited not long ago, it had been a perfect opportunity to tell the other students about the time she’d been invited to a funeral service there. It’s an incredibly stupid thing to do, of course. She isn’t meant to interact with anyone - as strictly speaking - she isn’t meant to be here. For a start she isn’t actually a student at Luna University; for another, she could very well be causing some damage to the fabric of space and time. Visiting her wife earlier in her timeline is risky… but she hasn’t been able to stay away. Sometimes, when the Doctor misses her a lot, she sits in on her lectures, right at the back. She knows River won’t recognise her and she never speaks to her… there’s no harm no foul is there? However, a slip up is bound to happen eventually.

Now, as she looks at River, who is shooting her piercing glare from the front of the auditorium, the Doctor realises she’s messed up. The Doctor looks left and right to the other students, hoping it’s one of them River is scolding.

“Yes you, don't act like I cant see you -“ River lifts her eyebrows at the petulant student. “Forget it, I’m not shouting at you from down here, stay behind after class. Then we’ll talk, and believe me you won’t like what I have to say.“ River rolls her eyes away, a taut huff tumbling from her lips to find her inner calm once again, before continuing. “Now where were we…“

The Doctor shrinks back in her seat, her neighbouring students giving her sympathetic smiles. Others just snicker and smirk. River has a reputation for strictness, no-one messes with her…The Doctor’s made a big mistake. She glances to the exit; she can still escape this situation. But if she does, she’ll never be able to come back. Perhaps it’s time to face her wife at last. She gnaws her bottom lip anxiously and tries her best to sit still for the remainder of the lecture.

As a shrill bell rings out, signalling the end of class and an end to the Doctors torture, River watches the troublemaker while she packs her things. Students rise to their feet, stuff their bags with books and file out in an eager swarm, heading into the midday sunshine. But not this student. She’s bouncing down the steps to the front, an epic grey coat and too-short trousers have her piquing River’s interest before they start talking. “Ah, good. At least you decided to be smart this time and not run-off out the doors. I would have found you,“ River informs the girl, whose swinging her arms and looking guilty. If this were any other circumstance, then River might have bought her a drink. But as it is, she's her student, however adorable she is. “Care to tell me what is so pressing you had to take time out of my lecture to talk about it?“

“Ah well, you know, the whole thing about the Venusian tomb, just brought back some memories to when I was learning Venusian aikido. There was this one time when I was invited to a funeral at one, which - you know - is a big deal for any outsider and…“ The Doctor starts rambling, unable to stop herself. A grin spreads across her features, hoping to entertain River with her story, as she had done so many times in the past. River always liked to listen to recounts of her adventures.

“Venusian Aikido?“ River folds her arms, skeptical. “They don’t teach that to just anyone. I happen to be a black belt myself.“

“Oh I know.“ The Doctor grins.

“It’s not on my resumé,“ River parries, her eyebrows lifting into an arch. “So someone told you. Perhaps at this funeral, you supposedly attended?“ River laughs doubting the girls claims. “No-one just gets invited to a Venusian funeral, or a wedding, or any kind of ceremony unless you’re a honoured noble. Which you clearly cannot be, no offence Sweetie but -“ River pauses. She stares at the blonde and her mismatched clothing, then bunches her lips. “What did you say your name was?“

The Doctor doesn’t answer immediately. This is it, the moment of truth. She could just tell her… surely there’s no harm in it. This is River Song after losing her parents in Manhattan, and before Darillium; there is no real reason to keep her identity from her. Apart from the fact that she isn't sure how she will react. They didn’t see each other for so long in between Manhattan and Darillium, enough for River to come to doubt if the Doctor had ever truly loved her. Her words still echo through the back of the Doctor’s mind now. The Doctor doesn’t and has never loved me. - But you are the woman who loves the Doctor. - Yes I am. I never denied it. But whoever said he loved me back? Those words still haunt the Doctor, even after spending 24 years with her in which she’d done everything she could to convince her of just the opposite.

“Jane Smith.“ The Doctor answers at last with a thin smile.

River lets out a loud chortle. “Jane Smith? Of course it is,“ River replies not believing her for a second. Who has the most standard name of all names like that? River postures a little, shuffles her papers around into a neat pile already thinking of the lunch that’s waiting for her in the refectory, because she's not getting any truth from this girl. “I don't recall your name on my student register; so…how about you tell me the truth.“ River hooks her bag over her shoulder and takes a long stride forward, claiming the podium as her space, the lecturer to the student. River examines her, because if she’s not her student, then who is she? All beautiful round eyes and choppy blonde hair, River certainly doesn't recognise her. Should she, recognise her? “Or you can come to my office and explain yourself there.“

“I uhh…“ The Doctor swallows hard. Of course she doesn’t believe her, people rarely do initially; but usually she can use her psychic paper to back up her identity. She knows River would see right through that if she tried it, so that isn’t an option. “Well, I’ve actually got somewhere else to be. A really very important…thing. A thing that can’t wait, so…it was really nice talking to you, brilliant lecture. Slightly exaggerated in some parts but - you know - got to keep the students engaged…“ Her eyes flick to the door. She’s parked her TARDIS in a supply closet, so it’s not far away.

“Are you calling my stories embellished?“ River trails after this Jane Smith towards the door, flabbergasted. She’s a bone fide time traveller, she knows her subject matter better than anyone in the known universe, except  - “It’s not as though you can possible know better? How old are you anyway, twelve?“ She carries on trying to get under the girl’s skin, who is clearly hiding something.  “Where on earth are you going? You realise that’s the closet.“

“Why are you following me?“ The Doctor had hoped to simply shake her but River seems to have different ideas. She doesn’t dare open the supply closet door, River would see the TARDIS and she would be done for. But where else could she possibly go? She looks around anxiously for a way out.

“Mmm it seems you might be trapped…“ River drops her voice to a knowing whisper. She smirks, delighting in watching the girl fret.

“I just… forgot which way I… uhh…“ The Doctor struggles for a response suddenly aware of how close River is getting to her. And that smirk… She knows it all too well. Like a lioness stalking her prey. She can’t even think of a credible lie to get her out of her predicament.

“Which way you meant to go?“ River bobs her finger on her lip pretending to think hard about it. “My office is this way, if you didn't get the hint earlier.“ River ghosts her hands over the girls hips, rubbing into her hipbones with her thumbs and sucking her lips and humming. “Jane Smith. I appreciate the code name. You can slip me your paper later, I’ll be sure to mark it up a grade, well, depending on your performance of course.“ River winks coyly.

“I…“ The Doctor’s mouth suddenly feels really dry, she can’t speak. Flirting and reading innuendo isn’t exactly her forte but River can’t possibly be more obvious with her advances. Is this what River is like when she isn’t around? The Doctor isn’t sure whether to be flattered or hurt. They’re not exactly exclusive but she doesn’t like her nose rubbed in it like this. But at the same time, perhaps this is an opportunity… She could be with River without having to reveal her identity… but is that something she wanted to do under false pretences?

“Good talk, come along!“ River grins and leads the way across the lecture hall to the staff door, and unlocks it with a quick key-twizzle, then presses the door open wide to wave ‚Jane‘ through. River uses the opportunity to loop her arm around Jane’s waist and scoops her in the right direction down the hall towards her office.

The Doctor doesn’t know what to do. Things are moving fast, River doesn’t even give her a chance to protest. Her hearts seem to skip their beats when River pulls her along.

Once inside, River tosses the door shut and wastes no time in pushing Jane against it, roaming her hands up and down her sides and snapping the elastic braces. “These are retro, but I can go with the flow, off they coooome…“ River sings as she yanks them off Jane’s shoulders, then the coat, and where is the edge of this t-shirt? River is keen to feel her hands up Jane’s abdomen, and the flush of her skin. River knows her hands are rough - years of archeological digs will do that to a girl - but Jane is young and sweet enough to need a little roughing up.

“River…“ The Doctor tries to protest, this was moving too fast. Her breath catches when River untucks her t-shirt. The Doctor is still getting used to this new body and she suddenly feels very hot.

“First names already? My my…“ River tosses her mane of hair out the way as she leans in to kiss Jane on the neck, biting her and enjoying teasing her far too much. “Sweetie you do give yourself away, even in this body,“ River tickles her teeth along the Doctor’s collarbone searching for the next spot to bite. “I mean, I like it darling, but give me a heads next time -“ River explores the Doctor’s petite body with enthusiasm. “My apparatus is your apparatus and all that, got to get my head around it.“

“You knew?!“ The Doctor blurts out and pushes her off, holds her at arms length. “And you just played along?!“ She’s breathless from River’s kisses but her outrage overshadows her arousal.

River unbuttons her shirt confidently, tearing the sides apart and presenting her body to the Doctor once again, even if it’s all new for the Doctor, River is still River. “Well what did you think? I do this with all my students, Jane Smith?“ She smiles a broad, proud River smile and holds her hands out for the Doctor to take. “I’m married, remember?“ Mutually exclusive is…a bit of stretch, there might be other husbands here and there, but there is only one Doctor. “So, wife, how about a little ride on the merry-go-round with this new body?“

The Doctor just stares at her for a moment. It’s been a while since Darillium but she still recalls every moment, and River is just as beautiful as she remembers. And just as much of a temptress. She bites her lip, suddenly feeling very insecure. It would be her first time in this body…and it’s her first time being a woman as far as she can remember. That’s a lot to be anxious about.

Softening the come-on, River takes the Doctors hands and steps closer to her, squeezing her hands in reassurance. “I knew it would happen eventually, a wife and not a husband. It’s okay, you know.“ River takes a deep breath, and kisses her wife properly for the first time. Her lips are thinner softer and taste of cinnamon, but she kisses back just like her husband did. Her Doctor. “I love you. This adorable new body is just a bonus,“ she says gently, then kisses her nose for extra effect.

The Doctor can’t help but chuckle as she looks up to her. This was new. She is shorter than her! Though only due to River’s ridiculously high heels.

“I love you, too.“ She whispers nuzzling into her crook of her neck as she wraps her arms around her. River smells exactly the way she remembers, like sunshine on a spring day. “I’ve missed you so much.“ She confesses.

[nekasu]

SnapCube’s Until Dawn Real-Time Fandub Sentence Starters (Part 1)

"I didn't bring my phone. It was in my other pants!" "This is a really long high five." "...I won't tell anyone about this." "Ya see, that's a joke thinger." "Can you see me? Don't answer that." "Who talks to screens? Maybe you can." "We're here in a strange time at a strange place." "Hopefully you enjoyed whatever the hell THIS video was." "When those girls died? That was funny." "My phone still has battery? Holy shit, I gotta keep that warm." "I'm trying to get like 100% on Animal Crossing." "Check it out, I have this gun. It's really really cool." "Are you McCree from Overwatch, hit video game?" "Make sure you don't shoot any guys with that." "Never mind, I do have the key. I just found it in my pocket." "We're all just really good beans at the end of the day." "Why did you hit me? That hurt so much!" "Sorry, I've been in jail a while." "My arm really hurts. Do you have any first aid?" "I just got off the big train in the sky." "This is my Smash invitation and frankly, I deserve it." "It was gonna be a surprise for your birthday, motherfucker!" "Jesus, everyone is so rude. What is this, Rude Mountain?" "This mountain fucking sucks." "I'm here to be rude to people." "I think this is sus. He's definitely the impostor." "As a gamer, I know all about Among Us." "Is this...Tamriel?" "Well, that's a cliff." "No, you got arms!" "I don't speak corn." "Grab my stinky hand!" "I will live on in the vibes!" "No, that's too fast! Oh, god!" "2x4? You're not even a 1x1." "You look so stupid right now." "Hehe, I'm under the bed now!" "It was for a prank video. Come on!" "It's fine, honestly. She has a blanket." "Women never listen to me when I talk..." "Everything's a big deal when you make it." "Oh my god she has pants! What the fuck?!" "No one told me I was wearing pants today!" "It's pretty cold because it's DEAD of winter!" "Hey, tree! Look at me, I'm looming right now!" "Not a blanket, but maybe I can keep you warm." "This fuckin' candle doesn't keep me warm at all.” "At least you're not calling it 'arm pants' this time." "Oh, wow! SHE'S looming! Oh, she can teach me!" "I don't want to play any of your Among Us games." "I have this weird feeling someone's looming around here." "Answer a question for me: how are you feeling today? YEAH!" "Well now, wise guy. Let's see who among us really is the funniest." "Helloooo there! I am Doctor Rabbit. The world's only rabbit rabbit." "Whoa, that guy was straight up looming! I wish I could loom like that.” "Was that that Anus Unnus guy?" "Hey, babe, you wanna go and record a blog with me?" "So are my pranks as good as Markiplier?" "Wait, when did they get the hugging perk?!" "See, that's what I think of your problems, is that they're just some sort of joke." "Got in real trouble with the locals, I did. They don't let me back there." "Maybe you're just trying to be woke or something." "Your insurance isn't covering these sessions, by the way." "We can send, like, aura to each other. You know like, uh, vibes." "I don't guess, I know. I never guess, I know everything. I do the math." "Two plus two equals you're my friend. Just kidding, it's four." "I just hurt all of my bones." "High five? No, you're too far away. My bad." "Did you solve my wolverine puzzle?" "Did you know doors hurt?" "Everyone has a raccoon!" "Why don't you keep it to yourself, tough guy?" "Save the fight until I have the camera ready, okay?" "That's not a view, that's a snow." "I think you're in the corridor of the monkey." "If you throw that me, I'm gonna fuckin' flip my goddamn lid." "You want some snow, bitch?!" "Lady? Girl? ...I should really learn her name." "Water's looking a little green, that's just the way I like it." "Did the ghosts take my friends again?" "I'm actually half ghost." "Is that a lightsaber? Like from Star Trek?" "I'm gonna level with you, I hate being in the same room as you." "BOOOOOOOOOOOK!" "You like the new office? I fuckin' don't." "You didn't read through the contract, did you kiddo?" "I can get fucked? Finally!" "Even the ghost agrees." "I should have fucking known. This ghost is such a libro." "That's great and all, but I'm gonna look like a jackass!" "This is what happens when you pull mean pranks. God punishes an elk." "THAT was a HEALING spell?! Oh god!" "Door key? You're pretty dorky!" "I can imagine a lot of dipshits, in fact." "Get un-naked! Get un-naked! Get un-naked! Get un-naked!" "I'm casting a hex on you now. Have fun getting hexed, idiot." "See? The Kinect causes psychic powers." "I can't believe Blue's freakin' clue is on here." "Ugh...I freaking hate doors." "Blue save me..." "Telling them the vibes made you do it won't hold up in a court of law." "Oh, would you look at the time. It's time for me to rip you a new one again!" "I cannot wait, but I suppose I'll have to." "The hex worked great. Now let's see if I can go shoot what remains of her." "I love running through the forest like a fucking weirdo." "You look like an idiot on the ground there." "If I have anything to say about it, you won't make it back." "I wanna see you, whatever you are, you funny-looking fellow." "Why do I have so much trouble with doors?" "Hey, funny voice! Fuck off, please!" "It's a saw trap, you dumb piece of shit!"

"Seems mysterious, but I won't shoot him this time. Gotta weaken him with the hex." "You're gonna get fucked if you can't say goodbye to a ghost. Trust me on that one." "Hey, uh, do you wanna stop having trouble with doors, now'd be a phantasmical time!" "Unless you want to work with me here, well...we're gonna be stuck here until dawn." "Not like you've ever done anything on purpose in your entire life, you fucking hack." "What, not even a goddamn laugh? Oh, it's gonna be a rough fuckin' couple weeks." "I can't believe I made it up to Rude Mountain only to be discovered by rude people." "I've got all my gamerscore on my phone, so I'm hoping that nobody really touched it.” "That's pretty cringe of you, buddy. I'm gonna put you in my Cringe Tuesday compilation." "If I wanted to talk about beans, I'd hang around with the fuckin' Among Us crew down there." "You know what? I have two arms, so I guess I CAN carry both of them at the same time." "I just got my lips unstuck. Aw, geez. I've been trying to talk to you guys this whole time."  "I left some beans in my backpack. They might be a few years old, but they don't really expire." "I should've known that coming to Rude Mountain would have made you worse as a person." "I've just been playing a lot of Among Us recently and I've just been trying to really get good at lying. "Oh, so NOW you're a funny guy, huh? You think you got your own jokes?! Ya think this is stand up?!" "I have blankets in the back, but I'm gonna go to the front just to see if I can spice things up a little." "I'm here to help you, and whaddya do? You spit in my goddamn face! ...Metaphorically, of course.” "What do you take me for, some kind of clown?! Some kind of Boo Boo the Fool that ain't done this rodeo before?!" "Here at therapy we're here to answer the one big burning question everyone's got: what the FUCK is wrong with you?" "I noticed you don't have much of a sense of humor. That might explain all the shit you've gotten into recently, wouldn't it?" "Well with my ten step plan I'll be happy to go plumb the depths of your sad, scared little mind and see what makes you...tick, as it were."

[phoenixyfriend]

Demon-Infected Kurenai

Whoo let’s go, this is an AU I brainstormed with help from @firebirdeternal​ back in September, and it’s finally time to pull it all together.

To whit, this all started with me sending this message:

“Just got hit by the overwhelming urge to turn Kurenai into some kind of horror movie monster after a mid-mission accident? Like there's an unknown scroll she picks up and WHOOPS you're kind of a demonic entity now, so sorry.”

And it kinda just... went from there.

Like, okay, Kurenai is already objectively terrifying.

"I'm going to psychically convince your brain that I was never real and lull you into a false sense of peace with the scent of pleasant flowering trees before I emerge like a nightmare from the branches to snap your neck. Then when your friend looks back they see you standing placidly in the street before wondering where that lovely scent is coming from?"

(Kurama being scared shitless of Kurenai is a fun mental image. Like he doesn't give a fuck about any other living or unliving creature, but this illusion master witch who can carve up someone's reality and murder them while they smile it all away? That's fucking scary no matter how big you are.)

BUT IT ALL JUST GETS SO MUCH WORSE WHEN SHE’S NO LONGER QUITE HUMAN

Kurenai is now upset because she keeps like... bleeding from the eyes? And is freaking out the Uchiha? And she can still eat dango and sushi and all that, but she's like really into raw steak and literal bloody Marys now? And she keeps seeing ghosts?

Kurenai, poking at her chest: My heart keeps stopping and I forget to restart it and then I get cold, help.

Kakashi: Hey Asuma, are you into fangs? Asuma: ...I'm straight and not into you so why does it matter? Kakashi: Not about me. Just answer. Asuma: Fine, uh... I guess it depends on the fangs? Extended eyeteeth, sure, deep sea creature needles, not so much. Kakashi: Great! So, your girlfriend got herself into a situation.

There are Offerings being left at her doorstep by minor demons from the forest. It’s fine.

Kurenai gets monsterized, a tad, and then just. Illusion makeup. For several weeks. Under the assumption/fervent hope that it'll get better on its own. 'It's not a cold Yuuhi, I expected better of you!' 'I panicked okay? And how was I supposed to know it wouldn't get better, I've never been possessed before!'

(Kurenai is a millennial and didn't want this going on her record and interfering with her chance of getting her promotion/a genin team.)

She's not even sure WHAT she is, just like. Probably semi-dead? And demonic? Just like. Kurenai gets into a Situation and it's not even a sentient entity, it's just like. A special kind of chakra... that acts like an infection... but isn't communicable. Or something.

And there's a second layer of chakra under her own, so it doesn't mess with her control of her normal techniques at all, but if she does reach for that second, creepy chakra, things start, like... dying.

Like she channels the chakra and all the grass or trees around her just turn grey. If she channels the creepy chakra, it works like magic instead of genjutsu, and she like... sings hypnosis and shit. Calls up the dead.

She has no idea what she's doing but ANBU is making grabby hands.

Konoha completely skips over everyone else when the Zombie Combo shows up because DUH we're gonna send Undead Kurenai out against immortal bullshit.

SHE HEALS LIKE THAT ONE NEBULA GIF BUT MORE ORGANIC AND LESS TECHNO

Also sometimes she’s just like “Why is my blood black?”

Mostly I'm just really enjoying the mental image of like Hidan: What the fuck are you?!?!?! Kurenai, mid-attack: GREAT QUESTION. I'll let you know when I figure it out!

It's been like ten years by that point and they still have no idea.

Honestly Ninjas are so used to weird bullshit by now that they'll just call it a "Technique" unless it turns out she can pass it on to kids in which case it'll be revised into a Bloodline. How does it work? 🤷. Why did it happen? 🤷. Can you use it to murder people effectively? Hell yes. Good enough!

Kurenai: Wait, what if I can't have kids anymore? [one pregnancy later] Mirai: [is born singing the wails of the damned]

Like one of those Evil Possessed Child horror movies except everyone has superpowers so the Ghost Murder Attempts are just Precocious Shenanigans and the kid eventually grows up to be a productive member of murder-society

"Mirai, honey, what do you want to eat?" "The souls of the innocent." "Uh-huh. We have miso soup." "That is acceptable."

Sometimes if she’s good, they give her a freshly dead pigeon. Asuma is not nearly as thrown by all of this as he could be.

Kiba is SO PUMPED to brag about how he has the scariest sensei in Konoha and people are just like "Yeah right" because they meet Kurenai and she is so??? Normal??? Compared to Gai and Kakashi and all them??? And she's polite and friendly and caring and gorgeous! How is she--OH MY GOD WHAT THE FUCK DID SHE JUST DO TO THAT GUY'S BRAIN

Kisame and Itachi's trip back to Konoha right after the Chuunin Exams and they get set to fight the Jounin team and Kurenai shows up and gets dismissed and then it takes a moment for everyone to be like "Oh my god, you weren't here when that happened, dude she's a literal creature from your nightmares now."

Itachi: Look, even if she's super dangerous, I'll just trap her in my unbreakable genjutsu it'll be fine. [uses unbreakable genjutsu that psychically links him to her] [several seconds pass] Itachi: [gets a nosebleed] Itachi: Hey Kisame quick question can you carry me and how fast can you run while carrying me because we need to leave right the fuck now.

Not a ‘ooh sexy’ nosebleed, a ‘my brain just completely misfired from horror’ nosebleed.

On at least one occasion, Kurenai does the Creepy Horror Movie Crawling after someone thinks they've snapped her neck.

She's functionally immortal but like. In the most unnerving way possible. She's “allowed” to return to life but the prerequisite to doing so is "freak everyone in the vicinity out as you do so." You're allowed to heal but only if you're a creepy, dramatic ho about it.

Some people have no idea that she's a Monster Person because they knew her in school when she was still mortal and then she learned all this psychology and illusion magic bullshit so when she does things like that they always assume that she's using said illusion magic to fake her injury and unnerve the enemy.

Poor, oblivious fool: Kurenai, good work back there. You can drop the genjutsu now though. Kurenai: Oh right, yeah. Kurenai: [snaps her head back into place with a sickening crunch]

"Haha god you're a freaky bitch sometimes" -Anko probably

Anko is the first person to just completely ignore the Creepy.

Orochimaru did weirder shit, the important thing is that they can still get drunk and bitch about how dumb boys are.

(As far as KureAnko goes, I like "roommates who have definitely done the young-and-experimenting sex thing a few times, and maybe some of the drunk-and-grieving sex thing a few other times, but are nowadays just non-sex buddies who like to wingwoman.")

So you know how I earlier mentioned something about Kurenai possibly being able to see the dead?

She. Figures out Obito's alive. Just. The weirdest fucking wrench in those plans. (Sorry, Obito, except not really.) It’s either because she sees all the other ghosts around periodically but never him, or she just... sees Rin. And Rin tells her.

Anyway

Orochimaru and Kurenai fight. It’s. Not a comfortable time for literally anyone in the area.

Orochimaru: STOP THAT. STOP... NOT DYING. Kurenai: Shan’t.

Just an endless background chorus of "necks don't BEND that way!" and "he just vomited up his own body is that normal" and "WHY THE FUCK DOES HER JAW UNHINGE AS FAR AS HIS DOES"

Honestly though I think Orochimaru is charmed. And wants her body for himself, because Orochimaru. Possibly like. Congratulates Anko on her good taste.

Orochimaru: I want to put my soul in that body. Inoichi: No, no you really do not, I can tell you.

Orochimaru: Can I have a blood sample? Anko, completely rabid: FUCK NO GET AWAY FROM HER Kurenai: [eyes rolled back to reveal black sclera, chanting an undead language that summons demons] Orochimaru: Delightful.

Inoichi definitely tried to mind walk her at some point to like, help her figure out what was going on? And came out of it shaking and speaking in tongues and to this day refuses to talk about it other than to say, "She's in control, don't worry about that part. Never ask anyone to mind walk her again."

He wanted to help and that's the only reason he got out relatively sane.

(Me, at any given point: But how can I turn this genre into a really dumb comedy.)

Kurenai: [on her knees in a random field, head tilted back to stare at the stars, mouth agape, black necro-chakra rolling off her her in waves] Kakashi: Does anyone know what the hell she's doing? [five minutes later] Kakashi: Aaaaaaaaaand that's an entire ROOT base. What the fuck, Kurenai.

Kurenai runs into an Edo Tensei and they burst into flames and nobody knows what's going on, least of all her.

"I'm here to ruin all the bad guys' plans but I honestly don't have any fucking idea what I'm doing" is just. A treat.

(This is such a niche AU.)

(I just point at the most random characters and give them a plot you'd normally only see in one of like... four characters.)

Asuma: [comes across Kurenai eating a dead crow, hasn't even been plucked, let alone cooked, mouth covered in blood and feathers, crouched over the kill like some terrifying, shapeless mass] Kurenai: ... Asuma: ... Kurenai: [swallows] Asuma: ...so, you good? Or... Kurenai: I... I think I need a minute. Asuma: Cool, cool, I'll be in the living room.

Demon Kurenai maybe? But with her actual red eyes, and black sclera. Though "grey skin and black veins" might be more on-brand for the Vibe

TL;DR

Kurenai suffers from a demonic infection. It’s permanent. She’s still super nice and talented! She just also like... exudes some creepy “necro chakra” and feasts on raw animals and all of creepiest things in the forest are leaving Offerings at her front door. When Mirai is born, she occasionally makes demands for human souls instead of baby food. (She is not provided this, but she does get a snack of freshly-killed pigeon if she’s good.) (Asuma is not nearly as thrown by all of this as he could be.)