#which is nice to see and from respected community members also

[jogetsobsessed]

The Prophecy - Paul Lahote

I've never written angst before so this was me giving a shot at it, please be nice lol 

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

Please…change the prophecy 

You felt your heart shatter as you stood outside of Emily's cabin.

The joy that was radiating off the man that you were so in love with was causing you physical pain. How could he be so happy? 

Until a few hours ago you had been in a three-year relationship. You had never felt more loved than when you were with your boy. He promised you so much, marriage, a big house with a white picket fence, and children. Since your third date, you have been planning your future together.

Everyone told you that you were moving too fast. But you didn't listen because you didn't care. Paul was the one for you and you were the one for him. 

When he phased for the first time two years into your relationship he had been terrified to tell you. Wanting to keep it a secret until Sam told him what could happen if he didn't. So one night Paul reluctantly brought himself to your house, snuck into your bedroom so your parents wouldn't wake, and told you. He laid all his cards out on the table. 

And while you had initially laughed in his face he begged for you to believe him. Which you only did once he snuck you out of your house and took you to where Emily's cabin sat tucked away in the thick of the reservation. She and Sam had watched as Paul urged you to stand back. Working himself up to phase. 

You had fallen flat on your ass, tears springing almost instantly as you looked around unable to pick your jaw up. Paul had huffed for a few seconds, making himself look as big as possible to emphasize his point before he lowered himself down, lying flat and lowering his ears. 

From that day on you felt a small sense of pride. You were someone that Paul trusted enough and loved enough to tell his deepest darkest secret. The fact that your relationship had reached the point where the two of you were open books with each other warmed your heart and made you fall in love with him all over again. 

That was until Jacob opened his big fat mouth. 

You had been sitting at the counter in Emily’s kitchen rolling the chocolate chip cookie dough into little balls and placing them on the cookie sheet. She was bouncing around the kitchen focusing not just on getting the cookies baked but also finishing up on the sandwiches she was making for lunch and starting the roast that was to be eaten for dinner. 

This had become a routine for the two of you since you had graduated high school. You didn't have a post-grad plan but you knew for sure it certainly didn't involve going away to school. The idea of even leaving Forks drove you mad. Why would you want to leave a place of perfection? 

So while the two of you made light small talk and listened to the wind chimes that were knocking around with the soft breeze you worked on your respective tasks. When the various sets of stomping bare feet came up the porch and the screen door was thrown open neither of you even looked up, completely unphased by the rambunctious pack of teenage boys. 

Paul had rushed over to where you sat and placed a quick peck to your temple as he swiped a ball of cookie dough, turning around and eating before you could swat his hand away. 

“Paul Lahote”, you screeched rolling your eyes as he just smirked, reaching out to grab another. This time you hand stopped him and were able to fight it off. Once he realized that you were not budging he gave in and pulled you into his arms. 

He had turned the two of you so you were facing the kitchen table where Emily had just placed the first platter of sandwiches down. It had been a few months since Paul had let you in on the pack secret and since then it had grown from the awkward two-man pack that was him and Sam to them and several other members of the tribe. You knew them all having grown up in the small community and you were happy to see Paul secretly get excited each time one of his new brothers phased for the first time. 

The boys had turned into feral animals like they always did around mealtime. Food was flying around the table as they all stuffed their faces as if Emily had not fed them breakfast just hours before. Your laugh was quiet and you leaned into Paul attempting to absorb his warmth thanking your lucky stars that you had chosen to eat before the boys got back so you didn't have to fight the wild beasts off to get a chance at eating lunch. 

To be honest you weren't even really paying attention. As soon as Paul's body heat started to warm your bones you tuned out the chaos of the kitchen, that was until you heard Jacobs's unnaturally loud voice cut through the air. 

“Sam thank god you imprinted on Em, I don't know what we’d do without her '', his comment was meant to be light and funny. And for everyone else it was, the rest of the boys at the table laughed, shelling out their agreement towards the statement. But you felt Paul stiffen at Jacob's words. 

You lifted your head and were met with his now hardened expression. A small part of you didn't want to know why, what Jacob meant by Sam imprinting on Emily, and why that caused Paul's mood to shift. But a bigger part of you wanted to know. 

“Paul what does that mean, imprinting?”. 

Your words caused everyone to shut up. You had tried to be quiet but it was no match for their enhanced hearing. Instantly an awkward air settled over the normally happy kitchen. None of the boys moved a muscle, except to turn slightly in their chairs to throw dirty glances at Jacob, who looked incredibly guilty. 

“Paul I'm not gonna ask again, what the hell did Jacob mean?”, you had pushed yourself out of his embrace, putting some distance between your two bodies. His face was unreadable but his body language displayed how upset he was. But it wasn't anger, which was what you expected to see, no he seemed genuinely upset. 

Slowly he crossed the room reaching where you now stood by the front door and walked slightly past you holding the front door open while gesturing for you to follow. You allowed him to lead you to the set of beautiful handmade rocking chairs that sat on the creaky front porch. 

It was then after he spent several minutes with his head in his hands that he explained to you what it meant for a quileute to imprint. The whole spiel on how this person becomes their whole world, no matter what the imprint wants the imprinter will dedicate their life to their imprint. 

And when you asked the hard question, the one that you in the back of your mind knew the answer to but were too scared to ask because you knew it was about to change everything, you watched as life drained from his eyes. 

“No”. 

He hadn't imprinted on you. 

That meant that no matter how much he loved you there was someone out there that he was going to love more when the time came. No matter how much he assured you that he would fight the connection because you were the love of his life and how the bond could still snap because it wasn't an exact science, you still felt a heavy presence settle in your chest. 

Dread. 

You were dreading the day that your boy was taken from you. 

The day that it became a reality that you were going to get your perfect house or perfect family weighed heavily on your mind. 

Paul had assured you that he wanted to stay in a relationship with you. Downright got on his knees and begged when you suggested that you should leave then, make it a no-hard-feelings split. 

“Paul, it's not meant to be '', you cried as you watched him hold back his sobs. 

“No baby please stay, I am begging you. I can not lose you, please”. 

-----------

You made it work after that day. 

Tried to ignore that nagging feeling of impending doom whenever your relationship got brought up. 

But you watched as some of the other boys found their imprints and how their lives changed, becoming exactly what Paul had described. 

So you knew that as much as Paul believed he would be able to fight back his instinctual need to put his imprint first when he did find her you knew that that wasn't going to be the case. 

But no matter how much you tried to prepare yourself when the day came and you received the text you shattered. 

I don't know how to do this. It doesn't feel fair to you to call or come over to tell you this but I’m sorry. Last night…the bond snapped with Rachel Black. She’s back in town from being with her aunts and I ran into her at the store. I’m so sorry, thank you for the past three years. I will never regret loving you. 

The scream that had left you was guttural as you collapsed onto the floor. Tears were pouring out of your eyes as you clutched your heart. 

You felt so stupid, wasting these past few months begging an invisible higher power for you to be Paul's person. Begging to please change what prophecy was written in the stars, so that Paul would continue loving you forever. 

Your wails could no doubt be heard from outside of the house but it didn't matter. Not at this moment. 

Hours were spent laying on your bedroom floor, trying to collect yourself. Eventually, you did enough to pull yourself up. You had no clue what you were doing. You knew that you shouldn't be getting in the truck and driving the familiar drive to a place that felt like a second home but you had to see him. 

In your time wallowing on the floor of your bedroom you had decided that you weren't going to let him get away with this, flush three years down the drain in a text message. He owed you a face-to-face conversation. 

Panic didn't start coursing through your veins until you had a moment of clarity and realized what you were doing. You didn't want to look crazy but you needed this. You needed to look him in the eyes and have him tell you that he wasn't in love with you anymore. 

But as you opened your car door and made your way off the creaking steps of the front porch you stopped as your blood ran cold. 

The curtains were pulled back from the front windows which gave you a perfect view of the kitchen. And you saw how happy everyone looked. There were various different bowls and plates of snacks lying on the table and the kitchen counter. Chairs had been found throughout the house to fit everyone at the table as they were playing what looked like an intense game of spoons. Their laughter was so loud you could hear it from outside and your heart swelled as you longed to be in there, having fun and laughing with your friends. 

But the longing stopped when you saw him. How his arm was thrown around the back of her chair holding her close, his head thrown back as he howled with laughter. 

He looked like for the first time in a long time, maybe even ever he was happy. Had you ever made him this happy? 

You had been proud of yourself for keeping your composure but once you saw him bring her close and press a chaste kiss to the top of her head your knees buckled and you dropped to the ground. 

Air was rushing out of your lungs and not returning as it became obvious coming over here was a mistake, you had been right there was no way Paul was going to be able to fight the bond he had with Rachel. But that didn't stop you from looking up at the sky blinking rapidly to keep the tears at bay as you whispered, 

“Please”.

[cy-cyborg]

We have communities - Writing disability quick tips

So often, stories centred on disabled characters, especially in modern settings, emphasise how lonely or isolated the character is because of their disability, especially if it’s a newly acquired disability or one that non-disabled people assume would have a big impact on our ability to do “fun stuff”. This will often be accompanied by statements of “no-one understands what living with [insert disability here]” is like!

And while isolation and loneliness are things a lot of disabled people deal with, a lot of us are not completely alone either, especially in the modern day.

Just like any group of people with shared experiences, we find one another. Sometimes this is through formal systems; some spinal rehabilitation centres for example, will pair newly paralysed people up with a mentor who’s had a similar form of paralysis for much longer to help guide the person while the adjust to their new disability. Other more formal systems can look like disability sporting organisations - the one I used to work for used to specifically encourage very newly disabled people to join so they didn’t feel like the had to learn everything about their disability alone, or support groups.

Other times though, these communities are much less formal. They may look like online forums, such as the ones on Reddit, built by and for disabled people to talk about their experiences and seek recommendations from others in the same boat, or parts of larger social media sites. For example, on Tumblr, there aren’t really any formal groups, but thanks to the hashtags we use in our posts, we often find one another fairly quickly there. We sometimes also carve out our own little subsections of fandom or hobby spaces, brought together by the shared interest itself, how things like disability might impact the way you interpret or interact with it, and how we can modify it (in the case of hobbies) to make it work for us.

A lot of disability communities, formal or otherwise, also form out of necessity, such as advocacy groups run by and for disabled people, and those built around ensuring the rights of disabled people are protected.

Isolation and loneliness are problems within the disabled community that many of us deal with, but this tends to be more in the context of isolation from the wider public, exclusion from public spaces and events (despite there being laws that are supposed to stop this because they’re often not enforced), disconnect from non-disabled friends and family, etc, most of which are the result of systematic issues or the lack of understanding or care and support from non-disabled people in our lives. Not always, but often.

The communities made by and for disabled people though are often (at least in part) made to help make up for this, and they’re more common than you might think, you just have to know where to look. It would be nice to see more creators reflecting this in their work a bit more often, or at least acknowledging that they are there, even if your character chooses not to engage with them.

However, as a reminder to authors and creatives: These communities, especially the online ones, are for disabled people, they are not there for you to use as a reference as a creator. Some communities are ok with you being there to learn, so long as you listen and don’t try to speak over/bombard their members with questions. Others are not. The ones that are, typically will have something written somewhere if it’s online (e.g. subreddits that accept writers wanting to write disabled characters will often have it written in the “about” section or the rules). There are also dedicated groups and platforms for non-disabled people seeking to learn more about us and our communities, which can be excellent resources for creatives like writers. Just remember to be mindful of where you are and respectful of people’s spaces and boundaries when doing your research.

[cenorii]

Chris Redfield: personality

This is my psychological analysis of the character, which includes important details of the story, an analysis of the decisions they made and the concept of the phenomenon of «Guiding Fear». Contains spoilers!

Even if you know lore 100%, you will be able to learn something new from my thoughts

I did this to practice analyzing personalities and reliably prescribe my own characters.

[These are all my personal reflections that I have been accumulating and analyzing for six months. You can see the same analysis with Wesker here. In Chris' case, I want to dispel the myths that he is unstable and stupid. Thanks to everyone who reads this, I really appreciate it and it's nice to know that my thoughts are of interest to someone!]

Chris devoted his life entirely to the fight against bioterrorism, renouncing normal life so that others could have it. We don't know much about his thoughts and feelings, as it's in Chris' character to hide such things deep within himself so they don't interfere with his work, but his kind and honest nature shines through. His probable motto is «If not me, then who?»

The main theme of Resident Evil is the struggle with fear. We can speculate endlessly about which characters struggle with which fear, but I'm pretty sure Chris embodies the «fear of loss».

In his 48 years of life, he has lost many partners and squad members, as well as family and friends. Death follows Chris, and he is unbearably afraid of his curse. But who is Chris? In the eyes of many he is a hero, famous for his impulsive character and unbending sense of justice, because of which he is ready to argue with his superiors to prove his point. But behind the legend is a sensitive, respectful and careful man, able to recognize the best qualities in people and guide them.

«I'm not a hero» © Chris

Because of his fear of losing his loved ones, Chris needs control and order in his life, he avoids and minimizes any risks. For this reason, in re8 organized his own squad, separated from the organization, to have full control over the situation. This obsession to control his environment and outcomes to avoid the pain or disappointment that he has experienced in the past is a defense mechanism.

Chris is not an overly sociable person or someone who is eager to make new friends. Although he is easy to communicate, Chris still refrains from frequent socializing with people to avoid forming attachments that could potentially lead to losses in the future. He is used to formal communication between subordinates and colleagues, and informal communication only with those close to Chris who have been with him for a long time.

But let's go his way.

Chris and his younger sister Claire lost their parents when they were children, they died in a car accident. Since then, Chris has taken responsibility for his sister and they have become very close. The first major loss in his life.

At the age of 17, Chris joined the United States Air Force, where he stayed for 6 years. From there he has flying skills, and he is also good with various weapons and is known for his hand-to-hand combat skills, which will not once help him in life. A capable man who was fired for disobeying senior officers, because he didn't agree with them. Barry Burton, a friend he met in the Air Force, recommended Chris to S.T.A.R.S. (elite special forces division under the jurisdiction of the Raccoon Police Department), and that's how his fateful meeting with the Alpha and Bravo teams happened. On the team, Chris was valued for his versatility and was assigned as a point man.

There Chris won at least one award as the best shooter and also met Jill Valentine, who later became his good friend and partner.

His desk in S.T.A.R.S.'s office stands out with its perpetual clutter, scattered folders and disks. He tends to bring things from home, decorating his place with them. For example, next to his desk, Chris put a guitar and also hung a jacket with "Made in Heaven" written on it, which is a reference to a song by the band Queen. Did he risk using the guitar in the presence of the Captain?

On holidays, he would often go to the suburbs with his teammates to drink, which sometimes caused riots. At that point, Chris was chaotic, but because of a difficult fate in the future, he had to tame his inner chaos.

All good things came to an end when contact was lost with Bravo's team in the mountains near Raccoon City. Alpha, meaning the team Chris was on, went to investigate and stumbled upon the Spencer's Mansion. But it wasn't an accident, it was just part of the plan of Wesker, their Captain. The mansion was only a cover for the Umbrella lab beneath it. All the inhabitants of the place had become mere shadows of their former selves, turning into zombies. In order for Chris to explore the building more safely, Wesker left supplies for him in some places, which may not be canon, but only a game convention. But this is quite normal for Wesker, he maintained the image of the captain until the very end.

When Chris caught Wesker off guard in the lab, he was finally convinced that his fears were correct... the captain was a traitor. But even knowing that, realizing how many squad members he ruined, when Wesker was mortally wounded Chris didn't hide his excitement for him. In the re1 remake Chris twitches in his direction, but then recoils. Chris has compassion even for those who betrayed him.

Chris lost many friends, including Wesker, during this assignment. And that day left a strong imprint in his mind. It was later dubbed «Mansion Incident». Something that divided the lives of many into «before» and «after» and began an endless nightmare.

Chris, Jill, Barry, Brad and Rebecca survived and took it upon themselves to figure things out. Upon their return, Chris reported the horrific incident to anyone who was willing to listen, but Police Chief Irons hushed up all the gossip, being under the thumb of Umbrella, not to mention that even the government refused to listen to what Chris had to say. Umbrella had too much influence for it to be that simple, but that only fueled the fire of Chris's fighting spirit. He went on «vacation» to Europe to do his own investigation without saying anything to Claire. Chris wanted to keep his sister out of danger, but there were consequences. Concerned about her brother's disappearance, Claire found herself drawn into the chaos of the fall of Raccoon City, where she met Leon Kennedy (events re2).

During his time at S.T.A.R.S., Chris saw his sister often and taught her shooting and combat skills. Thanks to her brother's attention, Claire learned the skills she needed to survive.

When Claire learned enough information about her brother and left the infected city, she traveled to Europe to continue her search for Chris, but found herself caught by Umbrella. She was sent to Rockfort Island prison, which was more like a concentration camp. (Code: Veronica). Thanks to information from Leon, who Claire managed to contact, Chris set out to help his sister. On the island, he encountered a few revelations - Wesker was alive for some reason, and he was also after some Alexia.

The former captain who got Chris's friends killed. The one who was presumed dead has once again cast a shadow over Redfield's life. Their fates intertwined.

Since Wesker's presence has been causing disasters as of late, Chris decided not only to find his sister, but also to investigate the situation on the island to prevent his new enemy from giving him what he was looking for. Upon meeting him, he discovered that the former captain was no longer human. Chris was only able to defeat him by stealth, suffering greatly in the process.

He eventually saved Claire, and they left the place together. Deep in his heart, Chris realized that Umbrella must cease to exist so that people like Wesker would disappear. So that unfortunate people would not repeat the fate of Steve (Claire's dead friend) and the people of Raccoon City.

In 2003, he traveled with Jill to Russia because of reports of infected people in that region. Their visit to a biological weapons factory ended with a victory over a new enemy, T-A.L.O.S., as well as the collapse of Umbrella, because now Chris and Jill had all the evidence against them. It was not without the help of Wesker, who had contributed to this collapse, because he wanted the same thing. Since then, Chris had become very attached to Jill, as if he was responsible for her life.

However, bioweapons and viruses have affected civilians many more times. That's why Chris and his partner joined the young BSAA organization to prevent the disaster in Raccoon City from repeating itself. In 2005 they were drawn into a conflict with the terrorist organization Veltro, in the investigation of which revealed unpleasant information about traitors in their (BSAA) ranks. There, by the way, Chris becomes the partner of a certain Jessica Sherawat, who is clearly partial to him, but he pretends that he does not notice the hints, softly rejecting the feelings of the future traitor. Inside BSAA, the leadership had to be changed, and that was the first seed of doubt that settled in Chris's mind. The first feeling of distrust for the place he was involved with.

Life continues to put Chris on the spot, forcing him to go on various missions with little or no time to rest. Thanks to the huge number of things, he has dedicated himself to, Chris is at the top of the organization. His endless hard work is summed up in his own phrase: «I'm Not Going To Stop Until I'm Dead».

Let's travel back to 2006. DLC for re5 «Lost in Nightmares». Chris and Jill go in search of Spencer, the last remaining bit of Umbrella, its founder. This man is responsible for many things and deserves to be punished, and could help them find Wesker. But when the partners arrive on a tip-off at his mansion, they find only a bloody corpse with their former captain standing over it. The latter in turn was displeased with the intrusion and immediately attacked them, during the fight Chris was caught off guard. A couple of seconds separated him from probable death. But Jill intervened and pushed Wesker through the window, she falling with him into the cliff. Chris could only watch helplessly as they fell, realizing that once again he had lost someone dear to him. Here Chris wonders for the first time if his struggle is worth it.

Jill's body was never found, and neither was Wesker's, so the former was pronounced dead. The empty grave with the headstone that had been erected in her honor was not deprived of Chris's attention. He probably went there often and grieved. What he swore over Jill's grave was unknown to anyone, but it made Chris investigate even more and put himself through even more training.

Since 1998, his body has changed a lot. Knowing that one day he would meet Wesker again, Chris diligently grew stronger, pushing his body to the limits of human capability so that he would be ready for anything.

What follows are the events of re5. In 2009, he travels to Africa to stop a bioweapons deal, where he meets his new partner, Sheva Alomar. Although they don't have the reliving of the past that they had with Jill, they hit it off well, thanks to which they accomplish a lot together. At the very beginning they encounter a new enemy, Majini, the same Ganados that Leon once encountered in re4, only from an improved version of the Plaga parasite. They also meet a virtually immortal mutant created thanks to the new Uroboros virus. After defeating him, Chris gets the data and learns that the deal was rigged to test this virus. In doing so, he lost several more of his men and painfully realized that if he had arrived on the scene a little earlier, his corpse lay with them. The data also contained a picture of a woman who looked strangely like the dead Jill, but with blonde hair. Chris secretly believed that maybe his old partner was alive.

Sheva was disappointed by the deaths of her comrades and frightened. Not wanting to put anyone else in danger, Chris asks her to leave him, but Sheva refuses. She assures Chris that they are partners until the end. Somewhere out there, her people are dying, so she can't drop everything and turn back and leave Chris alone. Then Chris tells her that he's on this mission for personal reasons. His former partner Jill may be alive and she needs his help, so they need to hurry before it's too late. To which Sheva agrees, not doubting her new partner's theory.

Eventually, after going through many trials, they came face to face with Wesker. He revealed that Jill had been with him the whole time, but was under a mind-altering drug. Jill, being zombified, fought on the same team as Wesker against Chris and Sheva. One of the dearest people to Chris had been enslaved for two whole years, which was beyond his mind with horror and sadness. He had almost buried her, almost given up looking for her, but Jill was literally under his nose, in a terrible situation. Struggling with his best friend and partner, Chris never stopped trying to get the truth into her head so she would recognize it, and he's succeeding.

Running away on urgent business, Wesker leaves Jill alone, forcing Chris and Sheva to fight her. During the fight, they remove the injector from her chest that was controlling her mind.

A disoriented Jill repents that she realized everything but couldn't control herself, to which her partners reply that they understand. Jill is back in action and off to the «Desperate Escape» DLC, while Chris and Sheva continue the main plot and head off on Wesker's trail. For Chris, this was already a personal vendetta. Having suffered so much loss through this man's fault, he would no longer be able to look Jill in the eye if he didn't stop him.

While searching for Wesker, the team encounters an Uroboros mutated Excella, Wesker's his ally, on whom Wesker decides to test the virus, to see if Excella will prove to be the «chosen one».

After an exhausting battle, the partners find the man they came for and decide to use the serum stolen from Excella. It is an injection that, under the right conditions, stabilizes Wesker's powers, but when overdosed makes him weaker. A weakened Wesker tries to flee to his plane, refusing to be confronted any further. His partners, who managed to climb with him, cause the plane to crash into an active volcano, where their final battle takes place.

Wesker, having lost most of his powers, finds himself in a difficult situation and decides to resort to overdosing on Uroboros. Against him, Chris and Sheva are once again at odds, but the fragile rock in the volcano plays into their hands, and Wesker falls ridiculously into the lava as the ground beneath him collapses.

This allowed partners to take advantage of his helplessness and fire the rocket launcher twice at the target. Although not shown, it is assumed that Wesker was killed.

After that, Chris finally realized what he was fighting for, realizing that his fight was worth the lives saved. Jill was sent to rehab after everything Wesker had done to her and didn't get back to normal until closer to 2015, causing Chris to change partners again. Chris wrote in his notes, «Defeating Wesker's undoubtedly a turning point for me. Due to this battle, I found the meaning behind what I'm fighting for».

In 2012, during the events of re6, Chris and his new partner, Piers Nivans, were sent to Edonia to prevent the spread of another bioweapon, but things didn't go quite as they expected. Another mission, another loss for Redfield.

At some point, he learns about Jake Muller and the fact that his life is in danger. After learning that he was Wesker's own son, Chris thought deep down, probably about the fate that has been intertwined with this man since the days of S.T.A.R.S.

At the very beginning of the mission, Chris loses almost his entire squad, once again convinced of the curse he carries behind him. And amnesia during the trauma incapacitates him for six months and Chris becomes an alcoholic.

In 2013, Pierce brings his captain back into the service, forcefully reclaiming unpleasant memories in order to continue the mission. The losses that Chris has suffered have affected him greatly, and he worries for the lives of every member of the squad, making foolish and rash actions that put him in danger. It is only after talking with Piers that Chris comes to his senses and becomes his old self again, because being gripped by fear you can't save anyone. And he really couldn't save anyone again, only the two of them survived.

After meeting Jake again, Chris confesses that he killed Wesker, his father, which leads to an argument in which Jake pulls a gun on him. Chris at this point says, "Go ahead, shoot. You have every right to. Just promise me you'll survive. The world depends on it." Jake shoots past and declares that there are more important things at stake than their problems. Chris probably feels guilty about him.

On a mission to protect Jake and many others, Chris and Piers have to face a new bioweapon, HAOS. Piers, sacrificing himself, becomes infected with the C-virus and forces Chris to save himself by being alone with HAOS. In doing so, he became another wound on Redfield's heart. Another loss on the account. Chris had planned to retire, lay down his weapons and turn everything over to Piers, but now he is forced to continue his service, thus honoring Piers's memory. Chris once said he would fight to the end, and he doesn't throw words to the wind.

2017, re7 events. Bakers and Mold incident, which Chris was unlucky enough to be involved in. He once again tragically lost all of his people. Once again, fate has struck a sore spot. And that seed of doubt that had settled in his mind back in 2005 finally blossomed. After this incident, Chris became even more distrustful of the BSAA, because they had hidden the incident from the public, which had never happened before. He formed his own Hound Wolf Squad, gathering people he could trust, and spent the next three years tracking down a certain mother Miranda, with absolutely no authorization from headquarters. He became an outcast in BSAA for this cause and for justice.

As Chris got older, he stopped acting impulsively and began to act more uncompromisingly, clearly following the plan regardless of any interference. He saw no obvious reason why he was obligated to inform Ethan of his next course of action before shooting his «wife» during dinner in 2021. He believed that Miranda would realize that Ethan knew something, so such sacrifices had to be made.

Ethan thought until the last minute that his wife was gone and the baby had been taken away. What loss and stress Ethan went through Chris didn't even take it upon himself to imagine. In the end, it turned out that it wasn't his wife at all, but Miranda, who had pretended to be her, changing her appearance at the expense of Mold's abilities. Chris's plan had gone awry from the start, but it could hardly have been worse if he had prematurely informed Ethan. From now on, Chris tried to keep random people out of his plans to minimize any potential casualties.

On this mission, for the first time, Chris didn't lose anyone from his squad, but he did lose a friend. Ethan died to protect loved ones, and it hit Redfield and his fear once again. He experienced grief and anger at the realization that he would never be able to save those whose lives he held dear. Perhaps he chastised himself for the mistakes he had made during this assignment. Blamed himself for not telling Ethan the whole plan beforehand. He had plenty of reasons to hate himself.

But this small victory over Miranda doesn't mean victory in the never-ending war against bioterrorism. On the way back, one of his squad discovers that the body of the BSAA soldier on their plane was a bioweapon. This is the last straw for Chris, and he decides to look into everything, which will most likely lead to a coup in the organization.

To summarize, Chris is sometimes hard to understand, as he hides his emotions and feelings under a meaningful silence. The kindly man who was the soul of the company, by 2021 looks as if he has lost all hope, but it still burns in him. Every dead person he failed to keep safe feels like they destroyed his heart. Christopher is a huge wound in the fandom that is not easy to heal. His storyline is likely coming to an end, which makes me sad to see Chris meet his old age in sadness and loneliness. At the time of re8 (2021), he's already 48 years old, which is a lot considering he's been fighting bioterrorism since he was 25. Has Chris ever thought of his own wants and needs since then? He has such dedication and concern for others that it seems as if he is completely oblivious to himself. With his endless responsibilities, it would be impossible to take a vacation, but there are indeed moments of calm, does Chris never rest?

On a more personal note, he has always treated his squads like family, "I know it is not any of my business, but I want you to think of us as a family... no matter how this all ends" (Philosophy University Incident 2010). Nothing is known about Chris' relationships, except for one non-canonical instance of dating a girl in «Viral Campaign». Apart from his living friends, he has no one else. It wasn't until Ethan's death that he found something resembling a normal life. Chris helped Ethan's wife raise and educate their daughter Rose, becoming an uncle and father figure to her. It is unknown if Chris ever returned to alcoholism after his amnesia, but I can assume it is unlikely. A lot of things happened to him during that period of his life that affected his view of the world. Surely he no longer allows himself to behave so recklessly, even in the most stalemate situation.

Interesting detail, Chris is constantly contrasted with Wesker, as if he's a better version of him. Both were Alpha squad captains, both have blood type 0, and were once the same weight class and same height. Probably the same eye color, as well as great weapons proficiency. Their encounters in re5 don't look like a fight, it's more like a dance between two people with equally good fighting skills. Sure, Wesker is much stronger than Chris due to his situation with the virus, but he never let himself use more strength than necessary to keep Chris fighting him, prolonging any fight with him. It's possible that Wesker's attempt to kill Chris in «Lost in Nightmares» is just a ruse, and he was going to toss him aside somewhere, as he never seriously intended to hurt him enough. Chris' age at the time of his last official appearance in re8 is 48, which matches Wesker's age at the time of his supposed death. Their conflict isn't over yet, so it's fully expected that Wesker survived and will once again surprise Christopher with his presence. They need to finish what they started, as adults and having already been through a lot. Without the pointless fights that the current Chris is unlikely to get into. There's no telling what the modern Wesker might be like, but if he's stayed in the shadows for so many years, it's not like he's planning to be too reckless either.

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

Due to a misunderstanding, I would like to supplement my text. This analysis is only my personal interpretation and my personal view of the character and his story. I do not claim that it is 100% canon, because canon is so vague and disjointed that it is impossible to fully assemble it objectively. Everyone is entitled to have an interpretation different from mine. Best wishes to all!

[preservationofnormalcy]

So, one of my old time pals needed a friend to go as their +1 to a wedding so they wouldn't feel alone but I'd feel bad not bringing the couple a gift...only thing is, it's apparently a Fae wedding? What's the tradition there? Do I bring a gift because that's like, the thing you do as thanks for being invited or do you not bring a gift because of the whole Fae thing. If I should bring a gift what sorta thing is traditionally good to bring?

This is a pretty common question. It’s way easier to figure these things out now than it was before the ‘37 Tommyknocker Accords and the formation of the North American Seelie Court. The NASC has historically been very good about curbing the worst offenders in their community after the Goodfellow incident in Sheboygan way back when.

That being said, there’s a few things to keep in mind, if only for etiquette reasons. Gifts and favors are very important in fairy culture.

On the subject of gifts, it’s acceptable for a human to bring a gift to a fae wedding if invited or invited by proxy, but that gift should be proportional to how well you know the couple. If you’re close friends or related in any way by blood, you’re going to want to splurge. A less than extravagant (or sufficiently thoughtful) gift might be seen as not respecting that relationship, or not honoring the tradition of human/fairy cooperation. Practicality has no bearing here - you don’t buy a fae couple a toaster for their wedding, unless you know one of them is like a toast connoisseur, in which case it could be sufficiently thoughtful and valuable. I once got invited to a fae wedding where I knew the grooms both had a thing for Elvis. (Side note: it’s a sincerely held belief in some fae circles that Presley had fae blood. Very funny to me.) I found the gaudiest velvet painting of the King that any thrift store in Vegas could offer me. I got a bunch of really nasty looks from their family members at first, until the grooms saw it. The looks on their faces. Man. You ever see an Old Court wet blanket realize they were wrong? Anyway.

In your case, the opposite is probably true. If you barely know them, a gift is probably polite but go small. A tea towel, a single bottle of milk with a nice ribbon on it, some organic strawberries in a nice cardboard box - fae love nice boxes - all of those things are great options. Don’t present it to them directly, just leave it on the gift table, and don’t put your name on it. They’ll know.

On a more general note, just remember to watch your food and drink. Only eat or drink from sources that have been offered to guests with no expectation of return, typically just whatever tables are out. If the hosts know humans are likely to attend, they may clearly mark the tables with signs saying that the contents are offered freely. They may also have assigned people to watch the tables if they’re not totally trusting of all the attendees - if a malicious actor put food on one of the tables and a human (or anyone else) ate from it, the consequences are pretty politically damaging. You might find this is more common in fae circles that have deep ties to the Old Courts. Old rivalries run deep and the political machinations of fae are impenetrable to outsiders.

This also applies to food and drink offered to you. Fae don’t have waiters or people serving drinks, that would complicate an already complicated process. If someone you suspect is fae (that isn’t a close friend or person you trust) brings you a drink on a tray or in a friendly way, politely turn it down and find one of the hosts. If it’s the host offering it to you, that’s a sign to politely leave.

Keep those things in mind and you’ll have a great time. Have fun!

[deli-writes-kiss-fics]

KISS Headcannons: After a concert that didn't go well

It was a bad show. Something messed up, Costume fail, technical issues, bad crowd, whatever. Reactions are a mix of brief onstage composure but mostly post show and in the dressing room.

GENE

He is quiet, doesn't say a word to anyone, just shoots people looks when questions are asked

His bad mood is instantaneous, the moment he is away from the crowds view, the demon act drops and so does any nice demeanor. (He's not out to be an ass but he's not going to care about others feelings in that moment in time)

His first call of action is to find out the people involved (if its a mistake from techs or bad stage set up. Etc). He's going to have a stern talk with someone.

If there is no one who needs talking to, to scold, he's going to get his costume off in private, and then join the guys in the dressing room and take off his make up. He's going to avoid any questions asked or brush them off.

He'll open up later to Paul about how he felt but try to get on with what needs to be done and move on.

PAUL

He's gunna get annoyed and he's going to be vocal about it to the audience in a pissed off but sarcastic, joking kind of way

He might go talk to one of the techs if it's anything big but would also just carry on if no one comes to speak to him

He communicates with the rest of the band about his frustrations on the way back and in the dressing room

He makes sure to check in on Gene but is also aware of their reactions and gives him space

After getting out of costume and makeup, he'll check on what went wrong and why and see if anything needs to be resolved, keeping an eye on what Gene is saying and asking

Is understanding to any situation though he is very clearly annoyed/pissed and is open about the fact but he is still respectful and professional

ERIC

He'd be frustrated but takes it with a pinch of salt, more frustrated if it was about his kit

If its about his kit then he'd try to find a way to support the techs and figure out what went wrong if it's unknown or help get things fixed if something broke during his playing

He wouldn't let his mind stress about it too much and focus on carrying on for the sake of the fans, wanting to cancel out any risks of giving the audience a bad time

He'd remain cheery and probably talk to Paul and Bruce/Vinnie/Ace about his frustrations but wouldn't dwell on it.

He'd get his costume (and possibly makeup) off and hunt out some food and chill

BRUCE

He would be more confused and upset more than angry, like Eric he'd rather find a way to resolve the issue and help out

If the issue is with his guitar then after it was fixed he would probably give a little mini solo and interact with the crowd to bring up the mood

If the issue is something else he'd check in with the other members and try and keep the spirit up

He wouldn't stress about it much like Eric once they were backstage. He'd just get changed and join Eric in eating and relaxing

He would probably have a friendly chat with some of the techs to find out the issues and reassure them that things like that happen which would be needed after any talks with Gene or Paul

Do you guys want Vinnie, Ace, Tommy, Peter and Eric Singers reactions too? Comment please!

[oh-no-its-bird]

Just wanted to say I adore all your au's but the idea of Tora and Shisui are sending me my two favorite boys interacting

They'd be so fun together!! I honestly think they'd have really good chemistry

I see them as one of those dynamics where people take turns looking at them and going "oh ok so HE'S the sane one, right?" but switching who they're talking about depending on the hour of the day. (The catch is neither of them is normal they're just so good at acting it that they've managed to trick even themselves)

They have to take turns being in charge in the trio with Itachi bc if either one of them is left in charge for long periods of time it inevitably goes to shit

They have a lot of genuine respect for each other (which is somewhat rare coming from Tora, who, while gives a lot of surface level respect to people bc ettiquite, doesn't actually tend to really respect a lot of people)

They have the perfect personalities to play off eachother as the "straight man" and point out when the other is being insane or just plain weird

Meanwhile, Itachi is looking at their individual crazy going "this is a perfectly normal idea told by two perfectly normal upstanding members of the community and I have no issues with anything u are saying right now"

<- which also makes Itachi the perfect tie breaker/in-between for them bc he is blind to any crazy they may say and will take them very seriously no matter how stupid or outlandish the idea proposed

I think Tora existing and kind of dragging Shisui into this dual partnership for "who's in charge" between the three of them also eases a lot of stress off of Itachi. He just has to sit there and eat his applesauce in the back seat of the car as Tora and Shisui argue ab how to take care of any given problem and occasionally ask if he has any ideas.

Personal take here: I don't think Itachi likes being in charge! That boy is a born, built, and bred shinobi who follows what he is told to a perfect T, no matter how blatantly horrifically awful the order is! Even if hates it with all of his heart! He'll still fucking do it! And then only blame himself for it and not the guy who fucking ordered it! Because he'll still obey that guy after!

Which also adds another fun layer of irony bc hes supposed to be clan head one day!

To me, Itachi is a fascinating subject of having an unshakable, unbreakable iron will— and also having absoloutley no spine

To be fair tho was also like. Fuckin 13. He was fucked up and was tricked at a very, very young age and unfortunatley that one mistake came to chain him to that one specific way of thinking. If he came to grow out of that way of thinking, he'd first have to admit he'd made a mistake, which wasn't gonna happen bc it was too late for regrets.

But anyways:

With Tora here Itachi has another "voice of reason" to help steer him away from other voices who might otherwise bind him. There isn't as much pressure on only him + Shisui to here and now choose what they (and only they) will choose to do to save the entire clan or Konoha

Tora is a natural leader and quick to take charge, and Itachi is ok with that. When Itachi chooses to speak, he is listened to carefully and his opinions are taken seriously, which is all he can ask for tbh. Otherwise he's allowed to sit there and look pretty till given a nice, neatly wrapped plan approved by 2 people he can really, truly trust.

So he's doing a bit better mentally than canon

Anyways, in this AU I think Itachi should actually get to semi-retire as a shinobi and actually Sasuke gets to be clan head bc his brother ain't built for it. Plus it can play more into the stuff I was talking ab earlier about Sasuke struggling a lot more than those around him to learn different stuff (sealing especially) only to come out as one of the most terrifying in what he eventually masters.

Let the second son inherit!! Let Sasuke have a defining character moment where he decides he wants to help guide the clan, and he's forced to kind of get over his brother worship to confront Itachi to say he doesn't think he'd make the best clan head. And Itachi let's out this sigh of relief he did not know he has been holding for his entire life and tells Sasuke he's proud of him.

Fuck right sorry we were talking about Tora and Shisui let's get back to that—

They're a terrifying, hyper competent duo who are here to get shit done. I've been thinking about Tora's chakra affinities latley, thinking it's mostly wind with a weak water affinity (and boy do I have thoughts about the implications of him having lost that strong connection to water in this life but that's for a different post) so his wind moves can feed into and off of Shisui's fire for some cool combo attacks. Just them fighting together really well in general is fun to think ab tbh

Tora has a decent (honestly kind of mean) sense of humor, but when he makes jokes he says it with a totally straight face. (Itachi is similar so when they're joking with eachother no one can ever tell bc neither are even laughing about it as they banter w dead faces)

But Shisui, having grown up with Itachi, can totally tell when he's joking and thinks he's funny. He's a pretty upbeat, smiley guy, but he always seems to be laughing about something around Tora for some reason (the reason is that Tora is funny you just can't tell)

Shisui is in general just really good at reading him. He catches on to what he's thinking really fast and will sometimes react to Tora's plans before he even explains them. Or he'll see some scattered clues to something and go "Hmm. This means nothing to me but it feels like something Tora would notice, so I'll make note of it"

I think over time both Shisui and Itachi would start to make similar expressions to Tora

(I love when friends subconsciously pick up on eachothers expressions and vocabulary)

Tora catches Shisui's "I'm going to cause problems on purpose" smile and Shisui catches his in turn. Tora catches Itachi's quietly smug gleam in his eye and Itachi gets his own (very punchable) smug smirk

Funny scene where Shisui makes the exact expression Tora always makes before declaring something terrifying and Kakashi instinctivley slaps him upside the head bc of it. Shisui goes ?????? What the fuck was that for ????? As Kakashi apologizes and stares at his own hand in confusion

Tora and Shisui are a comedy duo you can't change my mind

[lullabyalikpoptarot]

Enhypen Dynamics (Jay's Perspective)

Okay, how I do this is that I go through each member and see what they think of each member and the dynamic between the two.

Heeseung (The Moon/9 of Pentacles)- Okay from his perspective the fire energy isn't as prominent. I think they both can be very emotional. I see them tending to each other's needs. They nurture each other in a sense. There is a sense of independence between the two. They can stand on their own. They are both very abundant and successful in their own right. The moon gives me their dynamic isn't very showy, or over the top, a bit more covert, but there is a bond there.

Jake (Mercury/9 of Cups)-Mercury shows they are very communicative with one another. They could banter and bounce ideas of one another. They are both the type to get their wishes fulfilled. He may see him as someone who makes their wishes come true. I can see them sharing their wishes together, and both being able to make it happen. He sees Jake as a happy go lucky person who finds a way to get what he wants.

Sunghoon (Gemini/9 of Swords)-Once again, like Jake, very communicative. They give me they may banter a bit more, and they also bounce ideas off one another. They learn a lot from one another. I just see a lot of back and forth with that Gemini energy. Also, very quick to say things, which may end up hurting that said person. With this 9 of swords, I wonder if they share their fears and worries with another. Or he may see Sunghoon as someone who stresses a lot about things. He might share a lot of his worries with Jay, and Jay may think he overanalyzes things too much.

Sunoo (Leo/Knight of Cups)-Well, this is cute. They both radiate confident energy. Both are passionate. He sees Sunoo as confident, bold, outlandish and passionate. There is love here. He finds Sunoo to be very charming and wears his heart on his sleeve. He may also feel he can let his guard down and be more emotional towards Sunoo as well. I always get a loving bond type of energy with these two when I do readings on them. I feel they are really close.

Jungwon (Taurus/Knight of Pentacles)-This doesn't really surprise me. This kind of gives me this bond took a while to get going. There is a sense of trust in this dynamic. They are stable and steady. Although, this doesn't give me much about an emotional connection. I do feel he is very nurturing and loyal to Jungwon. These cards also give me they experience a lot of things together and have laid down a strong foundation together. This also shows he has a lot of patience for Jungwon as well. Cute, really want to see Jungwon's perspective here, but that will be next week.

Ni-Ki (Neptune/Queen of Swords)-They are a very dreamy, imaginative bunch these two together. They might talk about the most random and out of there things with this Neptune energy. Their imagination runs wild when they are together. But on the other end, they listen to each other's ideas. They respect what the other has to say. They are both observant of the other. There is a lot of respect for each other's opinions and ideas. These two are cute. I tend to think they aren't close, but when I read for them. I always get this close energy, so nice to see this.

Overall, Jay's energy seems to be cool with them at the moment. Don't see any struggles right now. We'll see when I do this again if anything changes.

[fireflyatlast]

As promised: Rite Here Rite Now Review

Spoiler free above the cut, spoilers WILL be under the cut. (Word count: 1110)

Wow wow wow. In simple terms, RHRN was incredible. The recordings were edited very well, the crowd was great, the vocals were amazing as always, and the long-awaited continuation of the chapters was very satisfying.

As a newer fan (really started listening right when Re-Imperatour was ending) I unfortunately never got the chance to ever see any shows live. However, despite my newer status, I have made Ghost a key part of my interests. (ask any of my lovely irl friends, they've had the misfortune of hearing my rants.) I've watched countless interviews and old rituals in order to make up for lost time, but never have I felt more immersed in any Ghost media than I did when I saw the KIA shows on the big screen. It didn't feel like I was in row G seat 12 of my "local" mall's Regal Cinema, it felt like I was right there in LA.

The opening 5 minutes as Square Hammer plays softly in the background was great. Because there wasn't much going on on the screen, everyone in the theater that I was in was softly humming or singing to themselves quietly (Side note: I was worried that people would be super disruptive as the movie was going on, and I was really happy to not have those worries realized. My theater was respectful for the most part, and the only time anyone sang was during that five-minutes of not much.) It felt very nice to belong amongst such a nice community irl. As an introverted neurodivergent, sometimes I struggle to find places or people welcoming or sharing my interests. So being in a theater full of people who love the same thing as me, as much as me, was such a nice feeling.

The cinematography during the entirety of RHRN was great, with my personal favorite segment being Con Clavi Con Dio. The editing was really nice for the most part, and I love the development Cardi was given throughout the movie. I feel my one gripe with the filming is that while we did get great perspective shots on the ghouls, we didn't get much of their personalities. And yes, I get that technically they are just hired musicians and not the main focus by any means, I think it just would have been nice to see more than just a handful of clips of them interacting with each other or Papa.

All in all, RHRN was a wonderful experience and I strongly suggest any Ghost fan out there gives it a watch.

And now its time for my more story-based review. Spoilers under the cut!!

Again, wow. I was pretty excited to finally get some more of the chapters, I'm a big fan of anything that has "lore" even if it doesn't need it, so I definitely owe the chapters a thanks for really getting me into Ghost.

I was thrilled to find that we finally had a true conformation of Cardi's parents. I had always theorized that while Nihil was Copia's father, Copia had come from an affair with the audience members in the Kiss the Go-Goat music video, and that Imperator was Copia's adoptive mother after Nihil's abandonment of him. It's good to know I was wrong rather than not I guess.

Something I also enjoyed was the constant foreshadowing of Sister's death. It wasn't very subtle, but its definitely something I only connected the dots to at the end. Whenever we saw Sister, we saw pills. Lots and lots of pills. I had originally brushed this off as a background joke, but once Cardi reads her note, I realized that the pills were for her unnamed "condition." I think going into it, all of us knew someone would die, I just personally thought that someone would be Copia, not Sister.

That after-credit scene was amazing too. I loved Cardi's new outfit, and the conformation that yes, there will have to be another papa. Which obviously, yes, of course there has to be a new papa, but now, it just feels so much more real. Speaking of the new papa I WISH WE COULD HAVE SEEN HIM AAH! I get cliffhangers, but he was RIGHT THERE!

I'm excited for the next era and the next papa, the next costume of the ghouls. I have a theory though. I see a lot of people being stressed about the changing of the ghoul costumes with the new era, but I think we have one more cycle with the Impera masks. I've noticed that each mask and costume stays the same for two cycles. Opus to Infestissumam, the only thing that changed was the costumes becoming more remnant of Catholic ministry-wear. From Meliora to Prequelle, the masks stayed mostly the same, now with an added more feminine looking mask and more "suit like" outfits over religious attire. I definitely think we have one more era with the Impera masks, but different costumes. Also speaking of the ghouls one of them talked!! I think it was Mountain, but honestly I have a shit memory and it could have been anyone.

Onto my focus on who Cardi actually is. I am so happy we finally got more of a look into his mind now that he is papa. I feel like his personality when he was Cardinal was very timid and awkward, however I never thought he would stay that way at all. I like that he's way more confident now, to the point that he's questioning the higher authority of the ministry and their ways. I love that this confidence is partly just a mask to keep his fears of death hidden. I think his fears manifesting as an angry, questioning personality gives him a lot more depth than if he just gained confidence through his performances, which obviously happened too, don't get me wrong.

The last thing I want to discuss is the credit song, "The Future is a Foreign Land." First off, loved it. It was great musically, and the uncertainty in the lyrics fit very well with all of our uncertainty about the next cycle. Second off, I can't be the only one who think it sounds very similar to Subvision. I personally love Subvision, and even if its only for that one song, I'm super glad that style was revived for Ghost.

In conclusion, I love the developments made in RHRN, and I am more than excited for whatever is next. I think my brain will have to marinate on what I saw a bit more, maybe then I'll have some actual theories.

[teecupangel]

saw the Joker!Desmond idea & the tags about the LoA & a bunny emerged! so here u go for the bunnyvault: Desmond reborn as Talia Al Ghul's twin brother. it would be a little nightmarish with the Leader of Assassin Group Father (with extra crazy) in a death cult, but there would be room for funny bits. like Desmond just Judging Talia's taste in men. *gestures to ALL of Bruce's everything* WHY? R U into this man? doting on/teaching damian the Creed in secret. accidentally leading a schism in the League. * over 200 yrs & what have we actually accomplished "Dad"?* bullying his sorta brother in law. idk

The ask that inspired this one about Joker!Desmond AU which had these tags:

#ngl #the idea of desmond being the leader of the league of assassins #would be a fun idea #especially if we set this before cassandra runs away #so we can have a mentally unstable desmond #try to raise a socially awkward cassandra #it would be both funny #and also a bit tragic

So… Desmond went from one fucked up family to another fucked up family. XD

I think it could be debated on who is a worse father, Ra’s Al Ghul or William Miles lol.

Anyway, he would have a strained relationship with his family, not just with his new father. For one, he and Talia would have grown up being pitted against one another and their competition would be ‘nourished’ by their own father. Talia would probably respect him and care for him as her twin brother but loathe him as her rival because he was a prodigy in the eyes of the League.

Desmond, for his part, would try to be the nice brother (relying heavily on Ezio’s Bleed for help) but Talia can be quite a handful when she feels like it so there’s a bit of annoyed older brother vibe to how Desmond deal with Talia sometimes.

Which would be funnier if Desmond is actually the younger of the twins XD

Also, let’s not forget that the Lazarus Pit is used to ensure that they do get to live that long so… Desmond’s mental state post-Bleeding Effect? It definitely takes a hit every time he uses the Lazarus Pit.

The first time it happens, Desmond didn’t know the extent of the Lazarus’ Pit powers. He had grown up in an isolated ‘community’ (again) and in an unknown world (let’s say that Desmond’s world doesn’t have DC in it) so he just figured it’s one of those long honored tradition.

Then he emerged from the Lazarus Pit and… he sees Altaïr in the crowd of league members…

He doesn’t go to the pit regularly. Not as much as their father but…

He sees them… walking around, always near but too far at the same time.

Then an accident happened and Desmond was dunked into the Pit once more. He was too valuable to let die after all (and maybe… Ra’s Al Ghul did care for him in his own twisted way but, then again, so did William Miles).

When he emerges from the Lazarus Pit, he could hear them.

They talk to him now.

They support him, give him tips and suggestions…

They make him feel… warm.

A warmth that he rarely felt in this place. A warmth that he had only felt maybe once or twice from his father, more times with his twin but they would be so short they felt like they were already fleeting by the time Desmond felt it.

He knew then and there that the Lazarus Pit was dangerous.

Because he also knew… his body had grown stronger.

He had become more.

But the worst part? Desmond didn’t realize that he and the whispers he hears… they were being stripped of their moral compass little by little by the Lazarus Pit.

Desmond does his best not to go to the Pit. But, at the same time, he hears its call. He starts to wonder if the next time he goes to the Pit, he would be able to feel them. To touch them.

Then…

Bruce Wayne came to the League and asked to be trained.

He was… an interesting fellow, to say the least.

He could feel the sexual tension in the room whenever he and Talia were together.

And Desmond tried to keep his distance, more because Talia hates it when Desmond takes her ‘things’ even if Desmond didn’t intend to do it or didn’t even know they were her things from the very beginning.

None of that mattered.

But Bruce saw him.

And among the best of the Leagues, Bruce knew he was the one most challenging of all. His movements were erratic and random but they always strike true. It was like fighting multiple opponents at the same time, weaving in and out of different stances and fighting techniques like flowing water.

And Desmond was, by far, the most normal of the Leagues. As long as Bruce ignored how it always seem like Desmond is looking elsewhere as if someone who wasn’t there was talking to him or how he sometimes nods or makes noises that signify he was listening even though no one was speaking.

Then…

It all came crashing down.

Bruce became Batman and became a thorn in the side of the League.

And Gotham City becomes a beacon to the Leagues.

It’s not all bad though.

Desmond is more or less amicable to helping Batman if it interests him or benefits him in any way. Among the Leagues, he’s the one who Batman could trust the most. Batman knows Desmond has plans of his own for Gotham City and he has no qualms killing those he perceive as evil but Desmond could be reason with… to an extent.

Then… Jason Todd died…

Talia took his body and revived him in the Pit.

And Desmond watched as Jason tries to control himself as he stayed in the League. He was Talia’s though and Talia hates to share so…

He goes to him in secret. Only when they are alone and Desmond is sure Talia would not know of it later on. He tries to teach him how to channel his rage and that primal urge that seemed to come from being revived by the Pit. He teaches him the Creed and what it means to be an Assassin. Not one of the League’s assassin but an Assassin.

When Jason leaves the League, he bears a burn in his left ring finger and Desmond realized…

There was no need to continue to stay in the shadow, quietly and swiftly undermining the plans of the Leagues he didn’t agree with.

He just… needs to take matter on his own hands.

That’s when Desmond starts growing his own faction in the League itself. His moral compass skewered enough that he believes he can ‘fix’ the League and turn it into a real Assassin Brotherhood. He takes in Lady Shiva and his sister. Becomes Cassandra Cain’s guardian later on after the tragedy that pushes Cassandra Cain’s life was unraveled by Desmond himself.

Then Damien was born and Desmond couldn’t help himself. He sees himself a lot in Damien and he knows his sister enough to know she would fuck him up. He does not, however, realize that he wasn’t any better after all. He’s better in hiding it but… the Pit has affected him as well.

Damien would remember his kindness and would be the least inclined to go against Desmond even when he dons the cape of Robin and makes it his own. Desmond would always be the kind uncle who smiled at him and patted his head. The one who thought him how to kill men five times larger than him and how to care for eagles so they would be loyal to him. Desmond gave him a childhood that seemed both normal and strange. Damien would see how easy it was for Bruce Wayne and his family to care for him and feel a pang in his chest because that was the kind of love he felt from his uncle. And yet… his uncle stayed in the League and still continue to smile at him and tell him he’s doing well even when they’re on different side. Damien knows the League is wrong and that he’s doing the right thing but, at the same time… his uncle made him think that maybe… just maybe… No. Damien can’t think that. His father would be disappointed in him if he did.

Damien does not know that Bruce harbors the same ‘maybe’ in his mind. Every time he sees Desmond, he wonders if the League is beyond saving. But, unlike Damien, he does not hold Desmond with rose-tinted glasses. He knows how dangerous Desmond is.

So when Batman and his allies hear that a civil war has erupted in the League, one faction led by Desmond and another faction led by Ra’s… Batman can’t help but question if a League led by Desmond would be a good thing. A better alternative to Ra’s? For who? The League? The world? Himself?

Talia stays with their father, of course, she does. She does it not out of loyalty for their father but because she will always stand against her brother. That was how they were raised.

The Batfamily tries to stay away from all this. But some of them do tend to lean towards Desmond’s faction more. Mainly because Desmond is the ‘nice one’.

It would be Dick who reminds everyone that just because Desmond is nice to them doesn’t mean that they should lower their guard.

They must always remember.

Desmond… is an Assassin.

.

Unorganized Notes (this is gonna be short):

Red Hood would keep his connection to Desmond a secret. All Bruce knows is that Jason was with the League for a while but Bruce also knows that Talia thinks of Jason as hers because he’s Bruce’s and Bruce was hers.

Among the Batfamily, Red Hood and Robin would definitely be the ones to easily team up with Desmond’s Brotherhood.

Cassandra Cain doesn’t become Batgirl or Black Bat in this one (or, if you want her to be part of the Batfamily, not yet). She’s raised by Desmond and has a better childhood this time around although… okay, it’s a better childhood compared to canon but it’s still an Assassin childhood. She’s loyal to Desmond and sees him as her father figure. Although, she’d also grow close to the Batfamily as they team up some times.

Among the Batfamily, it would be Tim Drake who would be more willing to go along the more ‘violent’ plans that Desmond’s Brotherhood may do. Tim Drake is also the one who advocates that it’s better for Desmond to lead the League.

Dick is the one totally against it and some would say that he has no plank to stand on considering he became a Robin to get revenge but Dick is past that entire thing. He doesn’t support Ra’s faction as well and he’s more on the side of, whichever wins, the world would take the fall. The others (Babs, Stephanie, Kate and Duke) are on the fence about this and are waiting on what Batman would do.

Desmond is quite amicable to a few of Batman’s Rogue gallery. Poison Ivy is one of his staunch supporters as their end goal tend to align most of the time. Because of this, Harley Quin likes to call him their ‘bestie from another screwed up family’. She also knows that something is ‘wrong’ with Desmond but she doesn’t pry because ‘that’s not what friends do!’

Desmond likes to loudly say that Catwoman is a better match for Batman just to annoy Talia. He does not necessarily ship Batman with either his sister or anybody else because of Batman’s (gestures to ALL of Bruce’s everything) but annoying Talia is a favorite past time of his.

I absolutely did not include non-Batman characters because then I’d be writing this for far too long than I should but he hates Lexcorp. It reminds him too much of Abstergo XD

[ja3yun]

Maybe I’m naive or maybe it’s the brain rot… but am I being completely delusional in thinking that tumblr is almost 99.999% a fan site that artists (especially kpop idols) do not engage with and probably don’t even have much regard for? Like this is a space for the chronically online. Most people don’t use any of their own personal information/faces/identifiers bc this is not a real place; it’s a black hole. That’s not to say that your work here is insignificant (it’s helped me a lot to escape from everyday anxiety and stress so thank you 🙏) but it's not like you or any other adult writer are writing these stories and then spamming them on Weverse or any other platform where the members are active.

I guess my point is that we the adults that engage in 18+ enhablr are minding our business and keeping the fantasies in fantasy land and then going to work in the real world. Like we do not know Enha for real. Some people apparently don't have jobs or lives, so they send hate to people online and act like they are personally offended on behalf of adult men they don't know and never will. It's giving desperate fan that thinks going to the airport to get an interaction is more sane than staying at home, kicking your feet, and giggling at imagining meeting and knowing the boys in real life (95% of the time as non-idols anyways which is another degree of separation).

I'm sorry for ranting. I'm just a huge believer that fanfic is a very safe and respectful way of engaging in fandom because we leave the real people out of it. We're not screaming inappropriate things and sexually harassing the boys to their faces, which happens way too often. We're engaging in community fan-to-fan which to me strengthens the fandom. There are things we talk about as Engenes that will never make it back to boys and thats okay. What makes fandom fun is not always the direct connection to the artist, it's the community we build because of them.

I hope you and the other amazing writers on this site know how important you are ❤️ thanks for taking your time to write and engage 💐

anon this is so!! you get it exactly. i think a lot of us post here because why tf would enha know this place exists? and its a safe place really bc if you want smut, you come here or go to ao3.

i think hate to writers is so petty bc it is the one form of media you can easily avoid? like to see smut you need to seek it out yknow? i never write in the general tags or post inappropriately, so for people to find my blog must mean they are looking for smthn 💀

hate comes w any platform, esp to creators of any kind so i kinda knew what i was signing up for. some of it kinda makes me go??? like im not making the boys out to be horrible or bullies like i try and write them as nice as i can so some of the hate saying i 'tarnish' their name is so false lmao

thank you anon, i'm sure every writer here appreciates the kind words and also, just the fact that you understand is enough for us

ilysm <33

[smoshidiot]

sorry in advance if this is rambly or doesn't make sense. it's 3am and i just have a stupid amount of love for smosh in my heart rn and i wanted to make a lil appreciation post 💕

first off i wanna say: happy birthday smosh! i can't believe this silly youtube channel is already 18 years old. it's hard to exactly describe how much smosh means to me. i discovered the channel nearly 10 years ago (my anniversary is on the 25th!) and even at the times in my life when i wasn't actively watching smosh, they always had such a special place in my heart. ian and anthony have always been able to make me laugh in a way that other channels have never really been able to, and it has been such an absolute delight to see them working together again.

ever since june 20th my life has really been centered around smosh and it's been amazing. if you told me a year ago that this is what my life would look like i never would've believed you. i am so unbelievably grateful for all of the joy, laughter, and opportunities smosh has brought me since anthony's return. i wanna say how happy i am that smoshblr exists and was so welcoming as soon as i made my blog. i honestly don't know if i would've stuck with smosh so strongly if i didn't have this great community to chat with and rediscover my love of this channel with.

and then of course, smoshblr and my friends here led me to joining the smoshcord which has been my absolute home these past few months. i have made so many incredible friends on that server and i wouldn't trade it for the world. all of the neighbors mean sm to me and i absolutely cannot wait to meet a bunch of them at vidcon 2024. also! i am still so honored that erica from the team over at smosh chose me (as well as a few other amazing ppl!) as a community mod for smoshcord. it feels so amazing to be able to give back to the smosh community, for how much it has given me over the years. and just to be recognized by smosh as a respected member of the community means the absolute world to me.

along those lines, while i'm being sappy i think i'm allowed to be a lil selfish and say ?? holy shit if you told 12 year old me that i would go on to have regular conversations with anthony padilla i would tell you you're absolutely insane. it has been such an absolute wild ride but it's so fucking cool that ian and anthony (ok mostly anthony but i think ian too bc of streams n stuff!) know who i am. i have an insane amount of love in my heart for these boys and it's so nice to interact with them on a slightly more personal level. it still feels like an absolute dream to even see them sit next to each other, let alone sit next to each other while saying my name.

but anyways i just want to say thank you smosh. thank you for all of the love and laughter and hope you have given me. you've shown me that friendship DOES truly always win. i am so fucking proud of these boys for mending their relationship and coming through such a hard time to create something genuinely beautiful.

anyways i wanna shoutout @smoshmonker @squig-s @yourinterestisnotcringe @lilac-hecox @kubabamia @only-frann for being just so lovely and fun to talk smosh with ♡ i am so grateful i met you all and that smosh brought us together like this! (sorry if there's any other neighborhood friends that i simply forgot the tumblr urls for ilyy)

[katarafirelady]

please elaborate on the adam drama

so we all know that adam is one of the founders of neopets along with Donna, his current wife/then girlfriend. As such, he (was) a bit of an idol in the eyes of many neopians.

basically he came into the neopets discord server to try to shill for his new crypto game, started calling everyone idiots bc we "just dont understand crypto" sent a selfie giving us the middle finger, repeatedly asked a respected member of the community for their phone number (???) asked to be banned, eventually got banned. Then came to the neopets subreddit to complain about how unfair we had been to him etc. but it turned out he was shadowbanned from all of reddit so only mods could see his posts, but he thought it was the mods who had banned him. THEN Jellyneo posted about the whole event and he went on to comment on Jellyneo. At one point he said that he "fucking hates neopets" and "wishes [he] had never made it". He also apparently has no idea how the internet works and thought that Jellyneo, r/neopets, and the neocord are all run by the same people (was begging on JN to be unbanned on reddit - which again, he was shadowbanned on reddit - not something mods can even resolve) Then Donna, his wife/cofounder of neopets, (who had also been in the discord with him but was being nice and was not banned) allegedly commented on the Jellyneo article calling us all filthy pervs. (the jellyneo account couldnt be verified as actually donna so those comments were deleted)

Oh and i almost forgot! he promised that his new crypto game would have "much better moderation than this hell you have created"

It was honestly so funny and silly.

[climbthemountain2020]

You keep getting SO close to accurately portraying Rhys and the IC and then you CHOKE at the last second. COMMIT lol

Hey there, anon.

I'll be honest with you, I usually ignore asks with this sort of tone, but frankly, I had a shit morning and this hurt my feelings a little.

I want to give you the benefit of the doubt here, and I hope you were just teasing. But I also want to take a second to just explain my thoughts on this for what they're.

Before I say anything else, I, as a writer and a member of the fandom, am not personally anti anyone. In fact, at my very heart, I am a multishipper. Anyone who knows me within the fandom knows my personal take is that "these people are too hot to not be fuckin'", and I stand by that. Also, while we're being honest, I think ship wars are dumb. The literal entire point of fanfiction is to see (or write!) the things that you want to see in canon. Why are we fighting about this? Let Miss Sarah cook, and we can decide what else we need to write from there. Second, as I assume you were reading both my stories since your comment seemed to imply more than once, but I think it's important to note what I'm writing. My fics so far are Tamlin/OC and Eris/OC, which like, consider the source. I even said in the Eris one that I wasn't going to be writing an anti-IC fic--but I like to write things close to how I imagined them personally, and I think obviously if it's one of their POVs, there will be IC tension. IDK, from a storytelling standpoint that seems to make sense to me. That doesn't mean they're going to be evil. Stories shift and change, and in writing OCs I want to explore things the way I envisioned them. I am sorry if it doesn't fit with what you'd envisioned, but the beauty of fanfic is that you can just close out and find something that does.

Third, I just got here. I literally started writing the week of Christmas, and I hadn't read ACOTAR before last July. So, I am still fairly new. That being said, I try really hard to be a good cheerleader and friend in this community. I wish more people would. Telling someone they "choked" writing something isn't a particularly kind way to say it. I totally respect if someone doesn't like my writing, and I don't expect that everyone will. But if what you're saying isn't nice, why take the time to say it at all?

I'll close by repeating again that I hope this was just teasing. Anon, if you'd like to talk more, my DMs are open, and I hope you know that I would be happy to have polite discourse with anyone. I swear I'm not mean. I'm just someone who enjoys writing things and making new friends. If this reaches you, I hope you'll think twice about the way you phrase things in people's ask boxes in the future, and I hope that, if you're a creator too, that some kindness finds you today.

[beautifulpersonpeach]

kind of random, but I’m curious about your thoughts on what seems to be the intended growth and direction of Weverse and Weverse magazine beyond the kpop sphere

bang pd has said that they want to expand weverse’s use to western artists and fanbases. Of course it’s still almost entirely kpop and kpop adjacent, but in general I like the platform and I think it could be an interesting tool for smaller artists globally. But I also don’t see western artists being that interested in engaging with their fans like this, especially where they already have tools like Instagram live. Maybe I’m biased by my army experience, but the Weverse armys are some of the cringiest (and youngest) imo, and the parasocial relationship encouraged somewhat in kpop isn’t encouraged in the same way in the west. Maybe there’d be interest in the online concert format?

as for Weverse magazine, I like the idea of growing a kpop oriented magazine that actually respects the artists. There’ve been so many dumb articles written about bts that it’s nice to see there be consistently decent interviews with them. The bts/hybe bias shows, but I don’t need constant fluff pieces about the members to appreciate the magazine and I think it’d be better off in the long run if they have objective authors writing about kpop generally. I have seen some articles about western artists which threw me off of what I thought they wanted to do with the magazine and who they want their audience to end up being. Do you see a benefit in trying to grow their reach to western artists and growing their audience? What do you think they want to do with this magazine?

***

You raise very good points. I want to challenge and expand on a few things.

"...and the parasocial relationship encouraged somewhat in kpop isn’t encouraged in the same way in the west."

This is changing. Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Billboard, etc, the main music publications have been highlighting since BTS got on the scene (2020), that musicians should look into actively building dedicated fanbases via more fan engagement, to be more successful. Here's an article from Billboard crediting this shift in the industry to Taylor Swift (I disagree). Also, western artists already leverage parasocial relationships: Selena Gomez, Taylor Swift, Nicki Minaj are all examples of western artists who are about as engaged with their fans as some k-pop groups are. So if the sales pitch for Weverse is a customized fan engagement solution to lean on the parasocial aspect more, there's more than a few western artists who will be interested.

Just wanted to put that out there, and also because it ties to my next point about the (theoretical) competitive edge WV has over a platform like Instagram Live:

IL is technically the better platform because it gives you the widest audience reach. More people have Instagram already installed than they do Weverse.

But the key thing about successful fan engagement, is cultivating a fandom. Meaning, a somewhat organized group of fans. For the fans to organize, they need a fandom space. A shared feed where people in the fandom can communicate and build community. It's somewhat difficult to get this on Instagram and this is why forums like Twitter, Reddit, Tumblr, Quora etc thrive.

Weverse's pitch is highlighting a customized solution that combines the best things about those platforms into one thing, creating a dedicated fan space for the artist and their fans.

In theory, Bang PD is right on the money here and with a few adjustments should have a gold mine on his hands. But the platform isn't well managed.

And neither is the magazine.

And so that theory remains just that.

There's been a handful of dumb articles about BTS/members and other artists by Weverse Magazine too. They've done an excellent job with the interviews they've published, and sometimes they've offered critical counterarguments to shoddy logic from mainstream music publications, but the times they've gaffed have been really embarrassing for everyone involved. For example that racist article that undermined Jimin's accomplishments with FACE. One can assume that was maybe their attempt to show less bias towards BTS and come across as 'objective', but all it did was make the writer and magazine look uninformed.

To gain any critical cred they need more flashy bylines, more socially conscious Korean critics and more mainstream writers, etc. And to increase their audience, yeah more pieces featuring western artists is one way to go about it. They want the magazine as an avenue to tell their own stories and offer their own side, as well as an attempt to participate in discussions in the wider industry, in k-pop and outside k-pop.

This is the wrong way to think about things, but I use Weverse as a bellwether to gauge how efficient and well-run HYBE is. My take on things, using how Weverse appears to be managed as a proxy, is that HYBE is bloated - not quite yet a bureaucratic nightmare but key departments are slow to react whether it's in fixing problems, picking up on trends, course correcting, etc.

I don't know much about coding but the UX/UI on Weverse feels like an afterthought. Almost everything from the color scheme (and lack of personalizing options) to the fact there's a WV streaming platform nobody uses.... they could be doing a much better job with a leaner structure.

Last week if you opened Weverse you'd have gotten a notice to participate in a survey. I left my feedback and I hope y'all did too. BigHit used to be decently good at responding to fan feedback. Let's hope that's still the case with Weverse and HYBE because even the company recognizes that Weverse is underperforming.

[hypergamiss]

So here’s how my date went with the lawyer:

I was picked up by the Uber he sent for me and I met him at the restaurant. When he asked me about sending me an Uber his words were “when you’re almost ready, I can order the uber if you want(No creepy vibes lol)”

I didn’t have to ask about it or bring it up this time and he likes me to the point he wanted to make sure that for some reason he wasn’t coming off creepy.😂 This was a good sign that I make him nervous.

Dinner was really nice, it was your typical high end steakhouse with an amazing bottle of wine. We can relate to each other a lot when it comes to managing people, business decisions, and taking risks. There was plenty to talk about and laugh. The date went by quick and there is definitely some chemistry but I already know for a fact that we are not compatible.

He comes from a couple of generations of money, but his mom worked very hard to keep the household in order(red flag) while his dad had a drinking/gambling problem(red flag). His older brother was basically his father figure. Both of his parents and older brother have passed and he is the only member left from his immediate family.

He also mentioned how he has just recently learned how to enjoy his own company, and he’s almost in his 40s(red flag). He also brought up his ex that I previously met in conversation and said that he allegedly told her he wasn’t interested in a serious relationship with her because she had 3 children. He said she thought that she could change him. I do believe that she probably did think she could change him because I see this often, but I do not respect a man who decides to lead on any woman he knows he’s not seriously interested in(red flag).

He tried to get me to meet him again the next day with his group of friends which I kindly declined and said that I had other plans.

He’s been persistent with communication since then, double texting whenever I stop responding type of persistent.

Overall it was a fun date, but I’ve learned enough to know that even though his company is nice, we do not view life the same way.

[mcytblr-archive]

Early MCYTblr Interviews: nibbleinephym

our interviewee is @nibblelinephym (known in 2020/2021 as severely-nearsighted). here is a copy/pasted transcript of the questions and answers!

(if these posts are too long, please let me know, and i'll incorporate a cutoff in the future!)

Q: What do you remember most fondly about ‘Early MCYTblr’? (2020-2021)

A: i think im most fond of how tight-knit the community felt in the 'early days' honestly? dont get me wrong seeing it grow and new creators bring even more people in has been wonderful but theres just something about a smaller fandom that feels nice. we were never by any means a Small fandom but we're a Lot bigger now than we were just a few years ago!

Q: I understand that you were the face of Silverfish2020 (winner of the first MCYTblr elections). What was your experience in the elections themselves like?

A: first, clarifying; unfortunately silverfish2020 was Not the winner of the first election; that was quotes2020, represented by mcyt-quotes (who i believe has since changed urls? apologies but im not sure what their current one is or if theyre still active at all ^^;) by exactly four votes -- for me the elections were a lot of fun! when they were first starting up i wasn't sure if i wanted to join, since there were a Lot of people involved already and i hadn't really solidified myself as part of the community yet (i think i was still almost exclusively a musical blog back in the first days of it, not multifandom, which is so wild to think about tbh). im really glad i did though, i met some truly amazing people through the event that i still talk with to this day :] everything felt very fast paced at the time, especially since the discord was almost always going at blink-and-youll-miss-it speeds; you had to be Constantly in there if you wanted to participate in conversation. i remember whenever someone joined the server there would be a mob of people from different parties trying to convince them to side with theirs. surprisingly, that tactic worked pretty well for a lot of parties. i vividly remember that there was usually a pause of activity in the general server when results were being posted and a boom when they were all out. it was overall just a generally pretty positive environment from what i remember

Q: You were also a contestant in the MCYTblr ‘Friend or Host’ for Paint (adhddream). What do you remember of it?

A: friend or host was great! i wasnt in the competition long (iirc i was one of the first five out??? i dont actually remember how many contestants there were for the round but i know i was pretty early ^^;) but paint seemed really chill, it was just a nice little thing that we did for fun at love or hosts peak. i remember the discord stream of it didnt exactly go very well -- there was an issue with the visuals i think? so it might have been only audio. but im not entirely sure about that, it didnt really stick in my mind as well as other things from that era.

Q: What was the roleplay for Silverfish2020 like? 

A: the silverfish roleplay was very,, im not sure what the best word for it would be. chaotic maybe. there were a lot of things going on there just because there were a lot of things going on in the elections roleplay as a whole. we really leaned into the cult thing when the jokes started and it just kinda spiraled from there. in the beginning we toyed with the idea of a chestburster type thing living inside of the party members but it never really went anywhere despite how much we talked about it in our private discord,, instead we just focused on the party being a sort of hivemind. they lived in a stronghold under a dead forest and would try to get others to listen to 'the buzz' (like. insect buzzing. except if you listened to it long enough youd start hearing promises of a new family and respect and power and shit like that). one of our party members, shard (@shardofsun) was very thorough with all of her lore, going so far as to make detailed plans in a notebook of hers. the roleplay extended throughout the other elections as well (if you ignore the third and only through past lifetimes in the fourth) and is still partially going on now!

Q: You’ve been consistently keeping a list of all ‘kinnie’ (content creator imposter) blogs. Which ones stood out to you?

A: i think one of the imposter blogs that stood out most to me was definitely iamdreamwastaken (who eventually moved to tmblrdream) just because they were very interactive and took all the shit we sent them in stride. i also really liked the timedeo imposter despite never watching any of timedeos stuff. just thought they were cool. honourable shoutout to the eret and nihachu imposters too they rocked

Q: What are the biggest blogs you can remember? What was your impression of them?

A: the biggest blogs i can remember are probably gnfkitten [braveboyhalo] back when cat was the only one on the blog, adhddream, hearty-an0n(maybe not a Big one?? but very active and in a Lot of peoples inboxes from what i saw) and wooteena. there are definitely more urls i remember like georgeeehd (i think?) and wormweeb but i dont think i followed georgeeehd and i cant remember a whole lot of wormweebs stuff apart from the infertility post so i cant accurately answer for them ^^; wooteena was an acquaintance of mine; we didnt talk a whole lot but we were mutuals for a while. they were always pretty chill, despite the fact there were people out there shipping them with a friend of theirs?? ive always had huge respect for them just because they had the energy to deal with shit like that. i was friends with gnfkitten and hearty-an0n, at the very least in a 'wave at each other on the street' way, and i have really fond memories of the both of them :] hearty is still active, they post about sports these days from what i see on my dash, but im not sure if cat is despite gnfkitten being active as a group blog. adhddream always seemed really cool! my memory of their blog isnt super clear but i know i really liked seeing them on my dash back in the day. since this is tumblr i have no way of knowing if any of these people were actually Big Blogs but it definitely seemed like they were to me at the time haha

Q: What was the most insane piece of fandom drama you can remember from early MCYTblr? Did you participate?

A: i dont actually remember a whole lot of fandom drama from that time honestly. i tended to stay in my bubble of mutuals and other people i followed so it rarely ever crossed my dash. i was like ,, 15-16 at the time so fandom drama stressed me wayyyyy out, i tried my best to avoid it. the only stuff i can really remember at all was people fighting about whether or not it was okay to ship the characters from the dream smp and if shipping the characters was the same as shipping the players, but i never participated in any of the discourse from what i can recall

Q: Is there anything else you want to mention or that you want to be written down and remembered?

A: nope! though im happy to clarify on anything stated here if needed or answer any other questions that may arise :]