#who has a pretty good idea of what's going on but also some INSANE lore about shanks zoro's 75% sure is fake

[giurochedadomani]

Mihawk’s lips are dry and tempting. The next time he sees him trying to wet them, he kisses him. For a moment he feels the other’s hand tightening around his shoulder, and he sways a bit in Mihawk’s direction—

“Sorry, I’m— sorry”, he says automatically when the other pushes him back.

A cold chill goes up his spine and fights the wave of heat in his cheeks. His mind keeps juggling excuses as to why he could read the situation so wrong, when he was so sure that— 

He wishes he found Mihawk’s unblinking stare as unnerving as people usually do. 

“...What for?”. 

Shanks opens his mouth, closes it. He looks back at Mihawk’s perplexed expression, more or less as confused as him. Then he thinks about the other’s hand on his hair as he massaged him; about his fingers tracing idle patterns on the back of his hand in the underground. About the weight of his hand still on his shoulder. 

He takes a deep breath. 

“I said a lot of stupid shit”, he says as if it was some sort of grand commencement of a speech only to instantly run out of words. Good gods. Somehow Mihawk still makes him feel as if he was about to go on scene for the first time. 

“I didn’t want to fight you”, he tries to explain, feeling rather lame under the other’s scrutiny. 

No, he had wanted to fight off that part of his conscience that questioned what he was going to do when there wasn't any part of his dreams left to sacrifice over. Much like in their duels, Mihawk had the habit to strike and to do it hard. 

Restless and unsure, he tries to get something more out of the haze of ideas he toyed with, when he still used to think about what he’d say to Mihawk if he had the opportunity, only to be surprised by— 

“I wasn’t patient with you. I regret that”. 

Shanks’ head snaps back to meet Mihawk’s gaze. 

There’s a dust of pink on his cheeks and he sounds as if his words had been confessed under torture.  

He snorts. 

[smokestarrules]

Why Caleb & Evelyn’s Absence is Good Writing

So if you don’t know me, I’m a big fan of Caleb and Evelyn (Clawthorne. Because I’m sure). I’m fascinated with their story -- I wrote an entire fic about them in 2022 before we even knew Evelyn’s name -- and I find them both incredibly interesting considering what is both shown about them and not. Despite that, I had a feeling that neither of them would make an appearance in Watching and Dreaming, and I was right. 

Understandably so, some people were disappointed with that decision, that they were hoping for an entire flashback scene or something close to it. But while that also appeals to me -- oh my god does it appeal to me -- I also really enjoy the intangibility of it all. 

So, I have three reasons as to why I like that Caleb and Evelyn didn’t show up again, which I’ll go through in no particular order. The rest of this post will be under a cut because it’ll probably get pretty lengthy. 

1) Haunting The Narrative

Half of Caleb and Evelyn’s intrigue comes from the fact that in the end, we really  don’t know all that much about them. Everything that we do know is from second-hand accounts at best and the rest of their story is up to your own singular interpretation; we only know the bare bones of their tale, but at the same time, they’re both extremely monumental to the main plot of the show. 

They’re hardly ever shown centered on-screen (in Evelyn’s case, never), and again, despite their huge impact on the characters and world even 400 years later, it’s part of their charm that... they’re mysterious. You’re not meant to know much about them, not meant to perceive them as normal characters. Caleb never speaks in the show, Evelyn hardly even appears, and in the end, they’re not meant to be understood. 

Caleb seems to have undergone some semblance of a redemption, but that’s only alluded to considering how he ends up dead; the implied is everything, and getting a concrete answer would, in my opinion, ruin part of what makes this story so fascinating. 

Of course, the biggest argument I’ve seen against this idea is that casual viewers of the show, the ones who don’t care about combing the background of Hollow Mind for lore about Emperor Belos’ big brother, will be confused without the lack of context. And... I disagree. 

Sure, maybe some people haven’t seen the portraits from Hollow Mind, but they’ve certainly seen Caleb when Gus went through Philip’s mind in King’s Tide. Maybe they missed the book about Grimwalkers in Labyrinth Runners, but they definitely caught Caleb in Philip’s diary during Elsewhere and Elsewhen. Then, in Thanks to Them, there’s an entire scene in which Masha very kindly gives an entire summary on the topic, tipping off both the main characters and anyone else in the audience who may be confused. 

The story’s all there, both in the background and in the forefront of the show, and it’s weaved in so beautifully that it’s hard for me to believe that anyone would see Caleb in For the Future (of which is a scene I will be talking about soon) and have absolutely no idea who he is. 

So in the end, I think having a more clear understanding of the going-ons that set everything into motion would be almost doing a disservice to the fans who have spent their time piecing things together and it’s also not really necessary in the first place. It’d be nice, and I’m sure I would have gone even more insane with more to analyze, but with the way this show has always portrayed Caleb and Evelyn, them fading into obscurity in the final episode just seems... fitting. 

2) Philip Doesn’t Really Deserve Closure

It’s a simple fact: Philip Wittebane is kind of a fucked-up guy. 

Besides a flashback scene, another idea for a potential Caleb and Evelyn appearance that I saw tossed around most was this: it’s the end, Philip’s about to be defeated, and in the interim, he sees his brother one last time. 

Either he’s given forgiveness or not, Caleb being present at his lowest moment would undoubtedly mean something to Philip; over the centuries he’s spent a significant amount of time trying to remake his brother -- to make him better -- and no matter how you feel about him, Philip is a tortured soul. Perhaps Caleb could help him accept his inevitable death, perhaps he could have one last chance for Philip to have a moment of genuine vulnerability. 

He’d die with the ghost of his brother and the ghost of his brother’s wife looking over him, and he’d die content... maybe. 

Or you can go the other route: 

On the other hand, maybe Philip goes to his death kicking and screaming the whole way, with Caleb and Evelyn staring him down as he’s ultimately annihilated for good. The tale of two brothers is over, and while Caleb is the one who perished first, centuries ago now, it’s Philip who is undoubtedly the one who loses in the end. 

The last thing Philip sees is his brother’s hateful, tired face, and he dies with that image. 

Of course, that’s the one that sounds better to me; Philip is not a villain you could ever redeem (a cruel upbringing will not excuse everything) and to even make an attempt at it would feel cheap and be completely unaligned with ToH’s core values, which actively (and correctly) condemn people like him. 

The problem with both of these ideas, different as they are, is that both of them give Philip a sense of closure that he simply does not deserve to have been rewarded with. Either way, he knows for sure how his brother would feel about him -- or, at the very least, how he believes his brother should feel about him -- and it’s just that, the knowing, that rubs me the wrong way. 

In the end, the last time Philip sees his brother is in this scene in For the Future, and it’s safe to say that there’s no actual closure or anything close to it here. Whether or not you believe this is actually Caleb or just Philip hallucinating him (personally I subscribe to the latter), it doesn’t really matter because the idea stays the same. 

Philip spends this scene snarling curses at his unyielding brother -- who seems to be, notably, his younger self, given his hair length -- while also actively melting away in front of his eyes. Philip is the one who’s alive, Philip is the one who (he believes) is on the right side of history, and yet Philip is also the one on his knees, his entire body disintegrating slowly due to his own choices. 

As the episode continues, it’s shown that Philip is seeing Caleb and the other Grimwalkers that he’s likely killed as well, and they’re clearly more of a taunt to his already-collapsing mental state than anything else. Again I reassert my opinion that they’re not actually there, that they’re simply Philip hallucinating in one of his weakest moments yet, and because of that, there is no answer given. 

They stare; he tells them to “Shut up” and they don’t react in the slightest. They watch and they stare and they dare him to care about them in any way and the entire scene is just... a precipice. Eventually they disappear for good, and Philip moves on without even trying to process this phenomenon. 

Basically what I'm saying is that Caleb appearing in Philip’s last moments would give him too much credit. And that actually leads us right into the final point I want to make, which is this: 

3) Caleb Wasn’t Actually That Important To Philip 

In the long run, at the very least. 

Now hear me out. When I say ‘important’, I don’t mean that what happened with Caleb didn’t have long-lasting effects on Philip, because that’s simply not true; otherwise, my entire last point would be meaningless. Obviously, it’s Caleb (and to a lesser extent, Evelyn) who can be credited with initially setting Philip down this path; Caleb was probably the most stable thing in Philip’s early life, and losing him in a way that felt like abandonment -- and then killing him -- is undoubtedly something that would stick with you for a lifetime, 400 years or not. 

But Caleb’s death is also largely an excuse. 

Much in the same way that “saving humanity” is an excuse for Philip to commit the atrocities he does, Caleb’s betrayal pushing him towards that path and his subsequent attempts at bringing him back are also an excuse. 

Here’s the thing: if Philip was genuinely passionate about remaking his brother -- but better -- then he’d care about the Grimwalkers more than he does. If Philip actually considered every Grimwalker a potential Caleb that he could just fix, then he would not have been able to dispose of them so coldly. There’s dozens of their corpses piled under the Skull, yet he only even commits to memory a rare few. Even Hunter, the closest to Caleb a Grimwalker’s ever gotten, was given a Sigil! A Sigil, which tells me that no matter what, no matter how perfect Hunter may have turned out, Philip was never going to let him survive the Day of Unity. 

True, there’s definitely a part of Philip that hates the Grimwalkers because they can’t be Caleb, at least not in the way he thinks he needs (which is impossible, but I digress) there’s also a part that I think is just... carrying on because this is what he’s done for the past few centuries. It’d feel like giving up on himself to give up on the prospect of having Caleb beside him again, but there’s no passion anymore. 

In the end, I think Papa Titan said it best:

“...That man doesn’t care about anything but his need to be the hero in his own delusion.” 

That’s exactly it. Philip believes himself as the hero of the story, as someone who’s been suffering for centuries but will one day finally get the ending that he deserves. He goes through all of this not because he wants to go home and not because he wishes he could return to the life he and his brother once had, but because he so desperately wants to believe in the delusion that he is a person doing all the things he does for good. 

You don’t live for over 400 years working towards a singular moment without at least having the thought that maybe what you’re doing is incorrect. But Philip has never let those supposed doubts stop him, and by the time the series is ending, nothing matters except his goal -- to see the destruction of every last witch and demon on the Boiling Isles.  

Which is why, in this final scene of his, there’s not a single mention of his brother. His brother, who he’s spent the last 400 years trying to save; his brother, who, by learning to be better, essentially kickstarted Philip’s entire goal, but it became so twisted so quickly as Philip subconsciously decided that he was the only one who could ever fix things. 

To put it simply: Philip’s only ever been concerned with himself. His idea of morality, his vision of the Boiling Isles, his opinions on the witches that live there. Nothing else matters; Caleb is a crutch to fall back on and so is the idea that Philip’s saving anyone, it’s all just more vindication to feed into his hero complex, because he’s the only one that really matters. He’s human and Luz is human and so they’re redeemable, but he stopped seeing Caleb as human the moment he saw him with Evelyn. 

In the end, I feel as if it’s almost safe to say that Caleb and Evelyn as constructs are more important to the all-encompassing plot than they are to Philip specifically; they set him on his path, sure, but his descent into madness almost feels inevitable, death of his brother or not. He blames his own misfortune on them, and the fact that they're never quite seen makes Philip’s villainous qualities that much more emphasized, I think. 

Overall, I loved Watching and Dreaming and I loved ToH and I think the characters of Caleb and Evelyn are some of the most haunting I’ve ever encountered, literally and metaphorically. 

Their story is largely up in the air, but it still gets told, you just have to look for it. That's their charm, that’s why they’re interesting to me, and that’s why I am content with getting the amount we got of them. 

[vide0-nasties]

Going to be rambling insanely about Ghost and probably what his feelings on the monarchy would be, coming from one deeply damaged povo to another.

Anyway, specifically around the time the parasite in chief in her idiot hat (thanks Eccleston lub u) died and passed said idiot hat on, I was seeing a lot of (fun and gentle-ribbing, mind you!) posts about Ghost getting razzed about the queen croaking and maybe him being sad about it or something - I don’t really remember bc I have shit for brains and I just latch onto what bits my adhd will allow.

SO. I really don’t think Bruv Innit gave two shits about Liz buying the farm, bc he grew up working class in a working class town to a drug addicted, drug peddling dad, and a fairly nondescript mom who likely didn’t have a way to get her and her kids out of that shit situation (per ‘09 MW lore and some presumption). I imagine dude was dragged around a shitload of council estates and his dad’s friends’ shitty crash pads, no stability whatsoever, where food insecurity was a big ass forever-looming deal, mom had no idea if her 20 year old vauxhall was going to make it another trip to her minimum wage part time job, and school was forever on the back burner bc when it came to school supplies/trips vs eating and keeping the lights on. You can guess which one won.

If we’re also going with him being about 35-40ish, he would’ve been 10-12ish or so around Diana’s divorce and then her death. So, here’s this starving, horrendously abused kid, with his starving, horrendously abused mother and little brother, drowning in a system that is pretty much just letting them sink to the bottom, nothing is being done about the evil sperm donor that ruins everything for them, and he’s obliterated constantly by TV coverage and tabloids and radio DJs talking about this goddamned family’s stupid fucking drama. Charles cheated, Diana left, her poor boys in their fancy private schools with their endless wealth and glowing skin and brand new clothes that don’t stink of consignment shops are sad.

Sorrows - sorrows, prayers. 🫶

It’s a story he’s seen countless times, the only difference is money and coverage. And, realistically, the women in the stories he knows aren’t killed in car wrecks, they’re killed by their infuriated husbands who think they’re owed something catching up. Maybe that’s why his mom doesn’t leave the cocksucker that trapped her, she could’ve ended up another council house Diana that no one gave a shit about.

He grows up, becomes a butcher’s apprentice, joins the army. Straightens his brother out, makes sure his mom is set up nice, finally beats the shit out of his dad. And all the while, there looms the most fucking pointless, parasitic family in England: living off taxes taken from the public, god knows how much land and how many castles, even owning all the fucking swans on the island.

Relics, vampires, leeches.

But, you know, twenty years down the road, he’s pushing 40, his services to the country are done in the dark, the family he tried so badly to save were brutally cut down anyway, and when he goes to Tesco, the price of a fifth of piss Smirnoff is insane, and he’s still got Soap swimming in his head mid-rant bc his mam’s fucking knee replacement appeal has been denied for the third time and she can’t even walk anymore, Gaz is moving for the second time in a year bc he just can’t afford to live close to his parents even on his salary, meanwhile there was a stretch where it looked like Philip was surviving solely by being pumped full of virgin blood and straight stem cells.

So, yeah, if anything he probably said cheers when the news broke and cracked a couple extra jokes that day.

“What d’you call one dead Windsor? A good start.”

Edit: This is picking up some traction. @50cal-fullauto-astarion is my CoD blog if you like my Call of Bullshit stuff, this is my main and I don’t really go into CoD here

[kerubimcrepin]

Live-read: "Julith et Jahash" - Part 1

In the past, I said that I would wait for a translation that is currently in the making in the russian fandom. However, because I am weak, and want to keep this blog going asap, I lied. (This liveblog will be very slow due to this, so be warned.)

This comic will let us understand Joris better... while literally all of his personality, morals, body language, and tastes, are a product of Kerubim, — this might shed light on A. family history, that might dictate his physiology (what if Julith randomly says she has an allergy? This isn't real, but it would be big for Joris lore), and the things he went through after the movie: what experience he would have with the huppermage culture, which he was cut off from for his entire life thus far.

Question: is there a single member of this family who DOESN'T fish??

Kramdam is a part of Rok Island, the name of which will be familiar to you if you're A. a player of the MMOs, B. batshit insane about Joris lore.

It might be silly, for me to point this out, but listen: the movie, the series, they all happen hundreds of years before the Dofus MMO, — so to have confirmation that Rok Island is that old, is very interesting.

I had previously said that huppermages aren't very fond of cultures outside their own, and I want to elaborate, so that my words aren't misconstrued: Huppermages culture is, in a lot of ways, a mixture of different classes, — because a lot of huppermages aren't born huppermages, but instead, people who convert to this class, and a lot of their spells are inspired or taken from other classes. However, not assimilating fully is... very unwelcome.

Having a history of oppression and at least one genocide in the years after the movie, made huppermages very understandably conservative and closed-off. But this culture, as we'll see from this comic, had some pretty toxic traits even before those scars.

HOLY FUCKING SHIT. Like I already knew about this, but I want you to understand: the stupid fucking log thing is a family trait.

Do you think Joris told Bakara "I hate magic, I hate magic, I hate magic. I HATE WANDS. I HATE STAFFS. I KEEP BREAKING THEM. LET ME OUT. LET ME OUT OF THE ACADEMY. STOP HAVING ME BE ENROLLED!!!!" and the next day she brought him a fucking log. Do you think this is what happened.

So small, and already sure that she'll never be as good as her brother... man.

Also... Bakara and Joris looked very similar as kids. At least that's my opinion.

I didn't think this comic would make me emotional, but the Jurgen family having a thing for logs is making me violently ill.

It probably was Bakara who gave him that bright idea. And Kerubim was probably like "ok son, I am someone who also uses blunt weapons, I can teach you how to do this."

There isn't some "i like to use logs" gene, it was all just Joris preferring to use melee, Bakara's memories of Jahash's melee skills, and Kerubim's skill in melee fighting.

It is just... insane to me, how Joris ends up doing this one thing that his biological father liked to do, despite how different they are as people. Despite Joris likely feeling absolutely nothing towards the man.

Well, that, or he fucking hates Jahash, though probably not as much as Julith.

Think about it this way, — Jahash and Julith ruined his childhood by their reappearance. They ruined his life for the next few decades too, probably. And after? They would always be a shadow over his life, for as long as they are remembered. It's always either "you're evil and we don't trust you because you're Julith's son" (even though he knows that Julith was framed,) or "you're not good enough, even though you're Jahash's son. How come?" (even though he knows from Bakara that... Jahash was just a man. Even if it is hard for him to put together the almost-holy image of his father as seen on the stained-glass in a temple, and the image of him that Bakara talks about, — a human person, who had fears and dreams.)

The only way for Joris to live his own life, without any judgement or comparison, without being reminded of how shit his childhood was, is to wait for the World of Twelve to forget who the fuck a Julith and Jahash even are. It's logical for him to have some irrational resentment.

And yet he brings a log to a nuke fight in season 4. Jahash would never do this, because he got good at magic, but he WOULD approve.

His parents would have loved him a lot, if they had the chance.

List of things that Joris and Bakara share:

Neurotic perfectionist who struggles with self-hatred about their skills and their body.

Cute ass behaviours and expressions as children.

Alcoholism (this is my fanon for Joris. It came to me in a vision. He's just like Kerubim and Bakara, — needs to get shitfaced to cope.)

Haunted by Jahash's success in life, even though Jahash would NEVER have wanted either of them to be haunted.

Thin grabbable waist and twinkish/waifish looks as adults. (Joris is already a twink, despite his 3ft stature, but NEVER forget the official concept art of how Joris would look if he wasn't possessed by a dragon as an infant. He would be a tall, blonde, anime twink instead.)

Whisperers have, historically, been used as servants by Bontarians and Huppermages.

Though by Waven times, they are enemies of the state (at least dissenting ones), and Joris wants you to beat the shit out of them, for the sake of his beautiful nation. (because they're dissenting)

Jahash and Bakara grew up with their dad, Juvence Jurgen.

By huppermage standards, they lived in very unusual conditions.

"All huppermage towers are super-protected, we WILL die if we don't take precautions, so I will go ahead, and deliver the message myself."

Yeah, no, they're not typical huppermages. I guess Joris has a lot in common with Bakara and Jahash. (I keep making myself sad, thinking about this.)

He thinks that Jahash and Bakara are some local hicks/rednecks that the huppermage has been experimenting on, which raises many red flags. Like the fact that apparently, human experimentation is a thing that some huppermages do. Then he thinks that the huppermage is experimenting on his own kids.

The headcanon that Jahash might have had some learning disabilities that he gave to Joris as one last "sayonara you weaboo shit" genetical move, and that it was REALLY hard for him to learn magic and impossible for Joris, stays winning.

By the way, I guess this is a good time to give you the next, very funny piece of trivia:

Joris's name literally means "George George the Farmer Farmer".

I think it's likely that, historically, before Jahash's success in life, their family were just some random poverty-stricken farmers, who happened to be huppermages.

I'M SO FUCKING SAD ABOUT THEM.

Grandpa Jurgen is literally so fucking real.

THE HEADCANON THAT JAHASH MIGHT HAD LEARNING DISABILITIES THAT HE GAVE TO JORIS AS ONE LAST "SAYONARA YOU WEABOO SHIT" GENETICAL MOVE, AND THAT IT WAS REALLY HARD FOR HIM TO LEARN MAGIC AND IMPOSSIBLE FOR JORIS, STAYS WINNING.

Juvence really cares about his kids.

"If you don't do as master says, he will kill you and all your loved ones."

Guys I'm starting to think, that between this, the political intrigues, the bullying, the "using Bakara for PR while she becomes a teenage alcoholic and not giving a shit about her" thing, — that the huppermage academy and temple, are um.... not actually Good, as an institution.

To most this is "an honour," and yet, this random selection process chose a teenage huppermage who, by all accounts, can't do magic and doesn't know a single spell.

I'm so fucking sad.

You know what else these two quotes can apply to? Haha. well. I ask you to imagine Jahash's funeral, and—— [i collapse on the floor weeping]

"He was always more like a father to her, than an older brother."

I am going to crash my car into the sea. And I don't even have a car.

[hearvex]

can i ask for this Juan guy lore :v i saw his tweet when it had like 3k and thought it cant be good but i dont know anything about him. its upsetting to see 12k likes tho like why are people fighting against human fights tho

oh this is a long one, who's Juan Guarnizo, the streamer who has recently tweeted against the french union in regards of the qsmp.

juan guarnizo is a colombian streamer (who now lives in mexico with his wife). he's participated in Tortillaland, a roleplaying minecraft series, as a wizard of sorts. He then decided to create a "spin-off" series (more cinematic/pre-planned) called "El Dios de Todo" (The God of Everything, his character's catchphrase). So he partnered with Euphonia, a popular Minecraft Studio that has created games such as SquidCraft, Dedsafio, SawMinecraftGames, and more.

He announced he was looking for several roleplayers for this project, and people started complaining on twitter because some of the requirements were pretty much insane.

Some include, full availability for 6 hours a day everyday for an entire month, good quality microphone, not being able to livestream the content, just record it to be used after the proyect was released, knowing how to rhyme/rap/sing/imitate voices and animals/general voice acting talent and being able to improv. All of that for the price of 0$. The payment? The enriching experience of being part of this unpayed proyect with your favorite content creator.

Well turns out people still didn't like this idea, justifiably so, and continued to call him out on twitter. His initial response was as follows:

(Hello, I understand that you know little about the project so I'll explain it to you: The God of Everything is a series based on a story that we will tell in the most cinematic way possible, therefore it is only possible to have one pov and not 40. Participants will be able to take advantage of the series on different social media platforms but not live. How much benefit they decide to get out of it is up to each person. The 6 hours a day thing is insurance, because there will most likely be days where your participation is half an hour and that's it. Also making it clear that professionals such as voice actors who will also be in the series will be paid for their work. We are creating an experience never seen before for me, the roleplayers and the audience, whoever wants and can experience it will enjoy it very much. It is something that we are putting all our heart and desire into for those who want to see the story. Communities that are not going to see it at all, at least don't fill it with your toxicity or bad vibes.)

Basically excusing himself by "I'm doing good by allowing you to join, please don't let toxicity ruin this". Which was still off, because professional voice actors would be getting payed but somehow the rest wouldn't, weird overall. Several POVs would be recorded but only one would be able to broadcast it, Juan. "we'll pay you with exposure" ahh deal

I haven't followed him since this happened, some claim he then did pay the actors, but even if that were the case, that would've never happened if it weren't for people calling out his exploitative bs. Which is exactly what's happened with the qsmp, only this time it's not a cancellation on twitter dot com, but a whole entire french union.

What I think their fans don't understand is that this is not a mob campaign against their faves, it's about protecting the working class from the privileged who refuse to pay them correctly or sometimes never at all, granting them rights to defend themselves when cases like these arise. This goes for people who claim Juan learned from his mistake, he clearly didn't if his immediate reaction to the union was:

(It's good that they formed a union, so they all hold hands together and fuck off)

So either he's forgotten his "lesson", or he only payed them (if that even happened) because he got caught and wanted to prevent a future cancelation).

[1moreff-creator]

DRDT + Milgram AU: Undercover (Introduction)

Finally succumbed to the Urges and came up with ideas for a full Danganronpa Despair Time - Milgram AU, and now I feel like sharing. This means giving each character a MV + VD concept (not a full VD though I ain’t writing that much dialogue, and not a full MV because who do you think I am), plus this Undercover post! I’m not sure if I’ll commit to this for a full three trials, or I’ll just drop it after just one, but I can guarantee I’ll do this trial in full. Feel free to make analysis posts (no pressure obvs), but also obvs don't expect this to be that good, I'm doing this for fun.

And if you come from the Milgram side, uh... have fun? I am curious about what people with no prior conceptions of these characters would think, but I do recommend DRDT if you haven't watched it (the overlap between the fandoms is non-trivial, I imagine you'll like it). If not, you should probably look up the character designs at least, but be wary that there will be DRDT spoilers.

As an obvious disclaimer just in case, I am not affiliated with either DRDT or Milgram in any way, this is just a fanmade AU done entirely for fun.

Basic Concept

Pretty simple. What if the 16 students of DRDT were prisoners in Milgram? This means they're all "murderers" by some loose definition of the word, implying most of their backstories must be changed to acommodate for that. For the prisoner pairs, I just paired them based on the Chapter 1 recap. The rest is pretty self-explanatory provided you know how Milgram works; three trials, vote Forgiven/Unforgiven, etc. I won't repeat it all here. You can go to the official Milgram YT channel for more information if you're not familiar.

Meet Es

Although they are of unspecified adult age, this universe’s Es is very similar to canon Es from the main series, at least in appearance. The only differences are red highlights in their hair, as well as sharp yellow eyes and taller height. They also wear arm sleeves on both their arms, being particularly adverse to people touching the left one, and their voice is slightly higher pitch. As for their personality… well, you’ll have to wait for the VDs, right? But as a heads up, they’re quite a bit nicer than canon Es, though they can still get pretty strict with the prisoners. 

(Can you tell who they’re connected to yet?)

Their uniform is the same as canon, including the band thing which in Milgram runes reads “reciffO eciloP”. The only difference is that their other band thing is longer and has the following runes:

(As a heads up, since there's no rune for 'q' I just used the rune for 'c/k' in its place. You probably don't need to translate it all to know what this says if you're familiar with DRDT lore)

Jackalope is replaced by DRDT canon MonoTV, no big changes to its personality. It still breaks the fourth wall and talks to an audience,which is odd for the prisoners (and Es) seeing as there is no audience in-universe (at least, that's what it claims). 

*Es’ VD is mostly the same, besides changes in dialogue caused by the difference in personalities. The only real difference is that there is no ‘extra cell.’

*Cover is still Hibana. 

Alright, let's get to the fun stuff.

Undercover

(It is highly recommended you know what the canon Undercover looks like before reading this, since a lot of it is pretty similar)

The opening is still the same minus Es' different appearance and MonoTV replacing Jackalope, and only starts changing when the prisoners begin showing up.

(Don’t- Don’t expect this to actually work as a song btw. I’m not insane enough to make that work)

UNDER Split in between decisions, my conscious is made up of torn stitches

Levi (01) holds a mostly neutral expression as he holds up his prisoner card, which displays his face alongside an image of an alleyway. His pose keeps changing slightly in smash cuts. Levi’s face darkens right before there’s a switch to the next prisoner.

(Note: I won’t mention the pose switching and the face on the card all the time, since that’s part of canon Undercover. Just assume it always repeats)

UNDER The beauty in simplicity, wilting with rising complexities

Arturo (02) has his chin up arrogantly at first, showing a prisoner card with a picture of a bathroom. He scoffs and turns around before the switch. 

UNDER A liar? No, that’s wrong! My honesty shines like a star in the night

David (03) (speaker persona) smiles nervously, rubbing at his cheek with a finger. His card shows a bedroom. He covers his face with his free hand, sighing before the switch.

UNDER A sinner? No, you’re kidding! I’m innocent as can be, just don’t mind the gaps

Whit (04) throws a cheeky grin to the camera, doing a finger gun with his free hand. His card shows a park. He nervously rubs the back of his neck before the switch.

(Note: Yes I gave him 04 because of the tetraphobia thing sue me-)

UNDER With a fury and a passion, unstoppable, show them your fangs

Ace (05) snarls at the camera. His card shows a city street. He throws it to the floor angrily before the switch. 

(Note: Sometimes I wasn't quite able to tie their talent to their murder, so it's either tangential to their story or has been replaced with something similar. I am mentioning this with Ace for... no reason in particular, sure, you'll believe that)

UNDER Your fears and anxieties, Respond to the stress, show me fight or flight

Nico (06) hides under the part of their cloak which looks like a scarf, peeking out nervously. Their card shows a locker room. They take a step back as the scene switches.

INSERT CHORUS HERE

UNDER Each existence is like no other, Lucky, unlucky, showtime reaches all

J (07) holds up her card with an unsatisfied expression. It shows a bridge surrounded by camera equipment. She rolls her eyes as the scene switches.

UNDER And yet, it’s all the same In the end, this wretched still life goes on

Rose (08) yawns as she holds up her card lazily. It shows a large dining room. The card slips from her hand as she falls asleep.

UNDER It’s too much, too much, I’m high strung, please forgive my sins

Hu (09) looks nervous, glancing around as if to find a place to hide. Her card shows a zither in a non-descript room. She drops her card, and closes her eyes with a pained expression, a hand on her chest. 

UNDER Please do condemn me, Bloodletting, the horror inside us is what makes me feel.

Veronika (10) spins and gives the camera a bright smile as she pulls out her card. It shows a rooftop. She throws the card in the air dramatically, laughing as it spins around and falls beside her. Her eyes fall back on the camera, and she smirks menacingly. 

UNDER  Unopposable, incontestable Merry kings, life’s queens, for me they bow down.

Arei (11) is sticking out her tongue and looking to the side dismissively. Her card shows a bowling alley. She laughs into her hand before the scene switch.

UNDER My weakness haunts me, Alarm bells are ringing, there's no going back.

Eden (12) fidgets with her hands, shaking nervously. She hides her face behind her card as she shows it, but her teary eyes are still visible over it. The card shows a bedroom full of clocks. She cries into her hands before the switch. 

INSERT CHORUS HERE

[The music winds down, a bridge of sorts. As it plays, a few scenes are shown, where only the characters’ silhouettes are visible, white noise covering them]

[01: A steaming kettle covers most of the foreground. In the background, Levi is seen sitting at a table, head slumped forward. Most of the table is visible, but no one else is in the frame]

[02: Arturo is seen to the left, holding a white turtle neck shirt in his hands. Behind him, an open suitcase sits on a bed, clothes splayed haphazardly around it]

[03: David stands alone on an empty stage, arms wide out. The spotlights are all on him. The entire stage and some of the front row seats are visible, with David’s silhouette only covering a small part in the center of the frame]

[04: A computer monitor covers almost the entire frame. There are countless photos and words, but they’re all too blurry to see, with the exception of a small message on top which reads “Analyzing profiles…” Whit is reflected on the screen, resting his head on one of his fists]

[05: Ace sits on a motorcycle, looking up and admiring the night sky which takes up most of the frame]

[06: Nico is crouched beside a cat, holding out a pink mouse toy for it to play with. Only their legs are visible, but there is a puddle of water under Nico]

[07: J has her palm spread out all over the screen, as if blocking the camera. There are flashes of light behind her, but the source is impossible to see]

[08: Rose sits slumped in a chair, hands on her face. All around her, dozens of canvases can be seen, painted entirely in black. Small bits of color poke out at the bottom, but no full paintings are visible]

[09: The camera is entirely focused on the top of a zither. Hu’s hand is visible, touching the strings with her plectra]

[10: Only Veronika’s footwear is visible over a dark floor. The rest of the scene is filled entirely by blood]

[11: Arei stands in front of a bathroom mirror. She’s holding the right side of her hair, the only part that’s visible. It looks very unevenly cut]

[12: Eden is holding her head in her hands, slumped over a work desk full of small machinery. Behind her are a multitude of analog clocks of various designs, all showing the same time; 6:00]

[13: Min is sitting on a chair, slumped forward and apparently collapsed over a notebook. A pen sits just beside her right hand. A bit of the writing can be seen, showing this:]

[The brown part being Min's hair. Don't make fun of me I'm using Paint and have zero art skills]

[14: Xander, the focus of the shot, stands in front of a crowd, standing on a simple chair. His fist is in the air, and so are the fists of everyone in the crowd]

[15: Charles is kneeling over a grave, the name on it hidden behind the silhouette. Charles is pulling at his hair with his hands. Other graves are visible around him, but the edges of the screen are darkened and it’s impossible to see them well]

[16: Teruko’s hand is reaching out to a black figure, this one without white noise. The figure is completely non-descript, more a simple shadow than a proper silhouette. Blinding white light surrounds this figure] 

UNDER No mistakes, no corrections, 100% Perfection, results shall not vary. 

Min (13) wears a neutral expression, and she holds her card perfectly upright. Her pose changes only to match the exact angles actual mugshots use. Her card shows an untidy bedroom. Before the switch, she lowers her hand, and looks briefly to the side, before turning back to the camera. When she does, her left eye flashes magenta behind her hair. 

UNDER Fighting for true justice, Stand strong, a reflection of the will of the many

Xander (14) is glaring at the camera, moving his card around flippantly. Said card shows a window overlooking an entire city. Xander throws the card away before throwing a punch at the screen.

UNDER Leave no room to hide, No hesitation, a chain reaction of truth unfolds

Charles (15) looks serious, if a bit annoyed as he holds up his card. It shows a laboratory table with several test tubes. He turns his back to the camera, adjusting his goggles, but gives one last, softer look behind him as the scene switches. 

UNDER Or shall the secrets remain? What lies beyond the lies, armageddon untold

Teruko (16) looks at the camera with cold eyes, but a hint of a frown on her lips. Her pose never changes; unlike everyone else, her segment is one continuous shot. It starts with her holding her card at an angle such that only her face is visible on it. She closes her eyes solemnly, before finally flipping her card around so only the backside is shown. It has the Milgram logo combined with the DRDT logo. She never shows the rest of the front of the card, as the scene switches moments after. 

[Pre-chorus, as the prisoners hold their hands to their mouths before a scene of them smiling plays. At the end, for a few frames, a white camellia blooms, before there’s a sudden shift in scenery as we hit the final chorus. All the prisoners’ silhouettes have a still shot each with Es, with a blood splatter always under the latter. The scene starts to focus on each individually]

[Levi’s punching Es in the face, Es thrown to the floor from the impact. Brass knuckles are barely visible on his hand. Levi’s shouting, as are all the other prisoners]

[Arturo is kneeling, facing away from Es. The latter is laying on the floor behind him in what would be a pretty uncomfortable position. Arturo is holding his head in his hands, his mouth visible from the side and open in a shout. One of Es’ shoes is off]

[David is holding Es by the neck of their shirt, shouting at their face (from now on I’ll stop clarifying that they’re shouting). The following symbol appears over where his eyes would be, glowing yellow: 正] EDIT: I forgot to mention one of Es’ shoes is off. RIP to the theorists I’m so sorry-

[Whit is pointing what looks to be a gun at Es, who is recoiling as if they’ve been shot in the heart]

[Ace is seen running, Es’ body falling to the ground beside him and twisting as if they’d been bumped into]

[Nico sits on top of Es’ back. With one of their hands, they’re grabbing onto Es’ hair and apparently pushing it forward. With the other they’re holding two ends of a wire firmly planted on Es’ neck]

[J stands normally, pointing what seems to be a remote control at Es. The latter is face-up on the floor, their limbs contorted in unnatural angles]

[Rose is standing, facing away from Es, who is kneeling and grabbing at their throat. A small jar sits beside them, the cap taken off]

[While standing, Hu is grabbing Es by the throat with both hands, blood coming from the Warden’s throat]

[Veronika is kneeling besides Es’ face-up body. Her hands are on her chest, and there is blood under her as well as the Warden. Meanwhile, Es’ limbs are contorted in unnatural ways, and one of their shoes is off]

[Arei is violently swinging a bowling ball at Es’ head, causing their body to twist around as it falls]

[Eden is standing, covering her eyes. Her right hand has a Ⅵ symbol glowing bright yellow. Es is uncomfortably laying face-up on the floor]

[Min is standing with her back turned to Es, who is kneeling on the floor and grasping at their neck. Min is shouting into a landline phone. Along her arm, an equation glows bright yellow:

ln(x³ - 2 . 13) = 0]

[Xander is grabbing Es’ shoulder, plunging a knife into their stomach]

[Es is standing neutrally, but there is still blood on the floor. A glowing yellow question mark floats above them. Charles is nowhere to be seen]

[Teruko is kneeling calmly besides Es, who is lying face-up with their hands crossed over their chest as if in a coffin. A question mark glows on Teruko's left hand. Teruko is the only prisoner besides Charles who is not screaming]

[The song winds down while a sped up and translucent version of the video plays in the background. A shadow begins growing in the middle, and for just a moment, two sharp yellow eyes stare at the camera from the center of the screen. The finale simply has Es exiting to the left as they do in canon Undercover]

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

And there's Undercover! How we feeling? Hope you enjoyed! Take care!

[nyoomfruits]

fics that are essential landoscar lore to you 3 2 1 go

[shoves the enitre contents of the ao3 landoscar tag at you] there you go :)

IN ALL SERIOUSNESS. this is so hard why would you ask this of me aaahhhh but OKAY.

(below a read more because uuuuh. this accidentally got really long)

how much can you fit (under your skin) by cloudcollector | E | 4,5k

Oscar has biteable thighs. Lando has teeth.

this one is self explanatory and what prompted you to send me this ask i think. anyway i've said this before but even if you dont like thighs you will come out of this a thigh lover. also 10/10 dynamic like everything is so!!! about this fic. introduced reading oscar to the world which i think should be a staple in all landoscar fics actually

Negative splits by leafmealone | T | 10k

So officially, Oscar Piastri, pretty good steepler and pretty bad pacer, was now a professional runner. They wanted him to steeple, mostly, though he’d be doing cross country in the fall, and Lando had pinky promised him, mid-distance guy to mid-distance guy, that if he wanted to get into the 3k flat indoor then he would get him in. Oscar didn’t really want to ask how he planned on doing that. Felt safer not to ask.

very important landoscar lore to me personally which if you've been following me a while you probably know why. anyway 10/10 and a must read makes me feel very insane every time. also leaf did put the sports boys in another sport as well which is also mandatory reading in my personal opinion.

only found by eisenberg | T | 7k

“Hey, well. No strings attached, right?” Oscar says, strategically. Lando smiles and says, “hell yeah. And now that that’s established, what’s your stance on aliens? Also, do you still want your cake?” -- cinderella soulmates au where whatever you lose, your soulmate finds. except: oscar has a soulmate and lando is a No-Match, a person who doesn't have a soulmate.

what is a mandatory reading list without a soulmate au truly. AND LET ME TELL YOU. 10/10. dynamic is of the charts fantastic, beautifully captures the differences between lando and oscar but why they work anyway and gaaahhh. sometimes i just stare at the ceiling for three hours and think about this fic no biggie

what would you do (if I went to touch you now)? by laceyamethyst | E | 30k

“Okay, so they both like each other. We need to get them together.” “How? Lando’s too freaked out to think straight and Oscar is the human embodiment of the standing man emoji.” Charles purses his lips for a moment before he snatches his boyfriend’s phone up from the other side of the table. “What are you doing?” “Initiating Mission Landoscar.” “Did you just make that up?” Charles waves at him dismissively as he begins texting, and Max lays his head down on the coffee table and prays for strength. *** In which Max tries to prove to an oblivious Charles how glaringly obvious it is that Lando is head over heels in love with Oscar. When Charles finally gets with the program, Lestappen go on A Mission™ to get the two idiots to admit their feelings for each-other, but it’s easier said than done.

first of all this fic is perfect, show stopping, laugh out loud funny. SECOND OF ALL this fic is the best way to bully your lestappen friends into shipping landoscar because it actually has a super sweet established relationship lestappen side plot. also this whole fic is from max's pov which means you get a beautiful outsider pov look at the complete chaos that is lando and oscar pining for each other. delightfull really.

Your Plans (And Those Slow Hands) by xxcelientje | E | 4k

He could probably fit both of Oscar’s hands in one of his own, he could for sure use one hand to hold both of Oscar’s wrist and an idea entered his mind. He smiled at Oscar. ‘You like my hands?’ Oscar’s cheeks reddened even more as he nodded, his eyes still on their joined fingers. ‘They fascinate me,’ he admitted, biting his lip. OR: Lando and Oscar have some fun (and share some feelings) after the Belgium GP

just like the thigh fic will give you a thing for oscar's thighs this will give you a thing for lando's hands. gaahhh their dynamic in this is just so!!!!!!!!! the way theyre so HORNY for each other 10/10

carried away by venerat | E | 22k

“Oscar,” Lando said. “Don’t hate me, alright, but I've—”

did you really think i was going to do a mandatory reading list without a venerat fic???? lmao. anyway all of venerat's stuff is mandatory but this one is my personal fave i think. TOP TIER dynamic truly, and its FAKE DATING. what more can a person want really

change the weather by sharls | E | 5k

Lando knows what a thong is, of course he does—but the team needs content, the team needs clicks, and he just so happens to be well-versed in the art of going viral.

is a mandatory landoscar reading list really complete without a thong fic??? i think not. and this is so!!!!!!!!! everything about this just Makes Sense. if you told me this had actually happened i would be like. yeah. that checks out. very incredibly in character and just !!!!!!! very hot and funny and perfect.

all right theres a lot more but??? i promised myself i would rec only 5 fics and this is already 7, so... i'll stop here. for now

[yanderes-galore]

Could I request something for romantic yandere DBD Nurse please? I can't decide if I'd rather have an alphabet or a concept so you can pick which one you'd prefer to write.

Sure! Was originally going to do a concept, but an Alphabet may be easier? Also, focusing on her base lore, not Tome lore.

Yandere Alphabet - The Nurse/Sally Smithson

Pairing: Romantic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Violence, Death/Murder, Poor mental state, Delusional behavior, Mentioned kidnapping, Stalking, Fear of loss implied, Clingy behavior, Choking/Suffocation, Trauma, Forced relationship.

Affection: How do they show their love and affection? How intense would it get?

Sally is quite the tragic character. In her base lore she went on a massacre in the asylum she worked at for two decades due to her failing mental health. She's gone insane... but maybe there's some humanity in her somewhere.

Sally would probably be one to slowly trail her darling at first. She doesn't want to scare you off. She may even see you as another person to treat.

Her obsession may start mild but grow intense. She's loved someone before, her husband, before he died. Now she's alone... but not for long.

When she gets her cold hands on you... she may never let go.

Blood: How messy are they willing to get when it comes to their darling?

Messy, but not without reason. Similar to Amanda/The Pig, she feels the survivors around you could corrupt you. So it appears she'll need to purify them before they get near you... with her frigid fingers around their necks.

Cruelty: How would they treat their darling once abducted? Would they mock them?

She would not mock you, if anything she wants to try and "help" you. She took you into her care because she thinks she loves you. Under her care... she'll treat you.

She tries to be as accommodating as she can with her darling. She treats you as a nurse would despite her lack of words. Every once in awhile her actions dip into overly affectionate territory.

Internally she admits it's... unprofessional. Yet Sally just loves you. She promises in a croaking tone that she'll take good care of you.

Darling: Aside from abduction, would they do anything against their darling’s will?

In her eyes she isn't doing anything "against your will".

You? Well, that's up to you. The answer is most likely yes due to how delusional Sally is by this point.

Exposed: How much of their heart do they bare to their darling? How vulnerable are they when it comes to their darling?

Fight: How would they feel if their darling fought back?

A lot. She is incredibly vulnerable around you as you are her second love. She lost her last one... so she is scared of losing you.

As a result her feelings make her linger and cling around you.

She's a ghost who haunts you in trials, even if she means you no harm.

Game: Is this a game to them? How much would they enjoy watching their darling try to escape?

Genuinely saddened. As a result she would try to limit your fighting in the only way she knows how. Limiting your air.

She stops when you stop fighting, apologizing by placing her hand on your cheek and rubbing softly. You're terrified... but she just sees this as restraining a combatitive patient.

Not a game to her, she hates the idea of you escaping... or dying.

Ideals: What kind of future do they have in mind for/with their darling?

Hell: What would be their darling’s worst experience with them?

Honestly I want to say dying/seeing other survivors dying to her the first time in a trial.

Yet the fact she has this eerie attachment to you as a whole is pretty bad.

You're always the last one left... always waiting for her to confront you... but who knows, you may have seen worse due to these trials.

Sally isn't sure. She sort of wants to recreate what she had with Andrew, yet at the same time she wants to treat you like a patient. She's rather torn between the options.

Jealousy: Do they get jealous? Do they lash out or find a way to cope?

Partially she does, yes. She'd most likely try to cope, but may lash out if she feels the attachment between you is threatened.

Kisses: How do they act around or with their darling?

Love letters: How would they go about courting or approaching their darling?

Eerily nice. She seems like she's trying to be comforting. Her touches are freezing, like she's been in the winter cold for too long. Yet the patterns she traces on your skin appear to be comforting.

Things like circles on your back... holding your cheeks... it's like she means to be caring to just you.

It's like she's trying to replicate her old life, her old partner... just to satisfy her delusions.

She actually... isn't all that bad when you comply.

Mask: Are their true colors drastically different from the way they act around everyone else?

Slowly, trial by trial, until things click. She's constantly jumping between two delusions. She can't tell if she sees you as a romantic partner or a patient.

As a result her actions are rather mixed.

It will take time before she solidifies her feelings... by then you may have gotten used to her.

But nothing could've prepared you for her brewing obsession towards you.

Compared to other survivors? Yes.

Naughty: How would they punish their darling?

As said by letter F, she'll try to stop your disobedience in the way she's, scarily enough, used to in her lore.

Oppression: How many rights would they take away from their darling?

You never had many in the trials anyways, but she tries not to take any.

Patience: How patient are they with their darling?

Quite patient.

Quit: If their darling dies, leaves, or successfully escapes, would they ever be able to move on?

Regret: Would they ever feel guilty about abducting their darling? Would they ever let their darling go?

By this point it would be her second heartbreak, she probably would not recover.

Yet that'll never happen in these trials.

No and No.

Stigma: What brought about this side of them (childhood, curiosity, etc)?

Most likely her past trauma.

Tears: How do they feel about seeing their darling scream, cry, and/or isolate themselves?

Saddened and sympathetic, she'd immediately try to comfort you.

Unique: Would they do anything different from the classic yandere?

She's easier to control (?)

Vice: What weakness can their darling exploit in order to escape?

Wit’s end: Would they ever hurt their darling?

Appeal to her delusions, you'll get hatch/gate every time.

Unless she decides to keep you longer....

At the start, yes.

Xoanon: How much would they revere or worship their darling? To what length would they go to win their darling over?

She'd go to great lengths, unsure about worship though.

Yearn: How long do they pine after their darling before they snap?

Not very long, pretty sure she already snapped.

Zenith: Would they ever break their darling?

If other trials didn't break you I'm surprised. Soon hers actually become comforting when you give into the madness.

[weebsinstash]

ok across the spiderverse spoilers and tw for miscarriage stuff but, more idea bullshit let's go

yandere Miguel who lost his family and traveled to another universe to replace his wife and child 🤝 his new spider society obsession from another universe where you were Spiderwoman 2099 and you lost your fiance Miguel and had a miscarriage of your son Gabriel and tried to travel to another universe to replace them, and now you're both fucking emotionally damaged husks who stumble upon each other doing multiverse shit

Just a fucked up traumatized possessive genius control freak who wants his family back and has a desperate need to do good and save people x his equally as traumatized victim who never got to have her fairytale love and is exhausted from loss and being a hero, missing her lover and a baby she never got to meet, who is also so fucking burnt out and depressed she could legitimately just accept being kept prisoner because she's basically too tired to take care of herself or resist, just apathetic with the weight of it all

Like THE most toxic codependent ass relationship, "i want to take care of you vs i probably need someone to take care of me", where there's some sort of mutual affection but like he's Obviously So Fucking Bad For You but. You're getting attached to your captor now and when he cuddles you he smells like your former lover and you're just like a walking ghost and since you're an anomaly anchored to his universe anyways, and he's already had his canon event of losing his family and is in his own universe, surely, potentially, things would be ok if... he tried again, since its new events, new people, not changing anything, simply moving forward? Peter B was able to change his mind on his decision and have a kid safely, even though that was influenced by an anomaly, so, perhaps... test the theory?

Like imagine you're just like normal spidey coworkers for a little while after meeting during, anomaly bullshit, and if anything he's indifferent to you but, even though you force yourself to keep going and you do decent enough work Miguel can tell you're like, Still Going Through Some Shit, and when you eventually spill on what you went through, there's like, obviously the intimacy that you were married to one of him is obvious and he may even feel flustered right away, but also the elevated kinship in going through even more of the same similar things than just the typicals that all Spiders go through, not just losing an uncle or a captain, that you can relate to him so deeply on the loss of a partner and child, the pain of the Rapture addiction and his exsct backstory, the mistakes made in grief, that moment is when, you know, The Switch Is Flipped, and he's 2099% invested in your life and wellbeing from that moment forth (and yes I WILL keep using that percentage joke)

Also the more I read on his lore and facts about him the more I realize how absolutely terrifying he would be as an enemy or jailer/pursuer. He was genius enough to develop multiverse tech, he's inhumanly strong capable of lifting several tons, he shoots organic webs, he has claws to help him climb shit and also fight, his suit is capable of gliding and is extremely durable, he's got paralyzing venom, and I mean. He's 6'9" in the movie. I'm pretty sure he could just legitimately stalk up and stand really close to you physically towering over you with a vaguely threatening body posture as he looks down at you like he'll do something absolutely insane if you don't do what he says and that alone would be pretty effective in reigning you in besides physical forces or tech tricks. I feel like this man is the kind of guy where, yeah he wants to save people, he's still Spiderman, he's still a good guy and can still be funny and charming and care about people, but goddamn it if he hasnt been through so much shit and he's lost so much and he's doing everything to hold it all together so for the love of God don't fucking push him on the things he cares about or he blows up quickly because he just has so little mental and emotional energy left to still divide up between the 50 other things constantly occupying his mind

You go into his captivity you're basically never coming out as long as he still lives and breathes so you might as well let him take care of you like a good husband while you two "make preparations for a new family"

[maybe-its-micheal]

I honestly feel like we're all underestimating Mike as a potential president?

I particularly like his ideas about making sure everyone has similar access to resources like a good home, food, and tools.

In terms of keeping players active, making sure everyone has good, resources, especislly tools and armor is really important. Etoiles has said he probably would have quit day 1 if he hadnt been given as much as he was, and its pretty clear to see from his recent streams that Slime not having. Anything. Is a real hurdle for him getting back into lore- he didn't even know what a warp stone WAS until Fit gave him one and explained it.

Newer players are not going to know the mods well. They arent going to know their best options for food and armor, they arent going to know how to get a lot of the materials people use every day for travel or building, and they arent going to know what to expect from the mobs.

Even for players that aren't new, lacking equivalent materials is going to be a big demotivator for peoole who haven't spent as much time grinding to get back into lore, or even just playing frequently. I'd love to see more qsmp content from Spreen, Luzu, Missa, Mariana, or Vagetta, but the server has changed so much from when they were more active to now that they'd probably feel pretty lost trying to get back into it. Charlie is having the same problem, and I won't be surprised if it happens to Wilbur for a bit as well.

This problem can be and has been solved. So far, its been solved through the generosity of other players. BadBoyHalo gave Etoiles a log of the materials he needed to start out, Fit has given Charlie a warp stone now and others have offered him things like armor, I imagine Phil will give Wilbur some stuff, and explain how it works, ect. This is all great, but having a standardized system in place to make SURE less rich players are taken care of would be a fantastic idea.

It isn't even neccesarily about everyone having great gear, just similar. In the begining obviously no one had many of the things they do now, but it was still fun because they were on the same level. Its certainly less fun for someone who has been away for a while to come back and not be able to travel the same way everyone else does, die to mobs way more often, stand little to no chance in pvp regardless of skill, and just generally not understand how to even go about making a lot of the progress everyone else has made.

A president who makes sure people have reasonably matched materials and a house as a starting point before they build their own sounds like a good president to me!

I know Etoiles proposes something similar, which I also approve of. For similar reasons I also really really like Insane Duo's 4D lore museam experience. I hope whoever wins takes all of these ideas into consideration, and they communicate together and settle on a good way to provide these resources, provide information about how they work, as well as some other generally important information about the mods, and make sure the base line level of materials granted is kept up to date as players continue to progress

[seeds-of-life-daily]

Day 19

SEELE!Rei AU notes I wrote on the bus

If you've seen this account's post, you're probably aware of the SEELE!Rei AU that's been circulating in my brain. To those who are curious and like the concept, here are some tidbits and notes I've made about it under the read more !!! BRIEF EXPLANATION: This is an AU idea of what if Rei was raised by SEELE alongside Kaworu instead of by Gendo/NERV?

Having Rei and Kaworu as siblings would be pretty good for the both of them. Rei would have someone to relate to and be comfortable around. Kaworu would experience similar stuff too, and wouldn't be exclusively Shinji-centric, making them have a possibly healthier dynamic/relationship. Rei could also be a tad more self-expressive, since being raised by SEELE would rid her of all the conditioning* and restrictions* (by Gendo, at least) she went through in nge canon. That doesn't rid them of all their problems, though. As we know SEELE has a dummy system as well, meaning Rei would still view herself as expendable and question her identity and self (possibly even more, with now having much more information to go off of to analyze.) Poor Rei'll have to deal with another organization's instrumentality planning deal again :( Kaworu would still have to choose between Lilin and the Angels. He is still a (unnatural) progeny of Adam, after all. I don't think he would suffer any less dread and anxiety from that in this AU. Having Rei around would probably lean him more towards his decision of saving the Lilin, though. What fun to constantly have to battle your nature of returning to your angelmom/soul's body, amiright? Yeah. Having Rei in the custody of SEELE makes me think that it would be best that she wasn't a Yui clone. No more weird ulterior Yui motives!! That would pose the question of how did they come to exist then? Since the Katsuragi crew were the ones to be near Adam in Antarctica, what if another division was with Lilith a year or so later? This time they made another contact experiment with a vessel they manufactured specifically for this one. Just so happens that the one to be in charge of the design and name was our old pal Gendo... Bro can't let go of his dead wife obsession even in this AU :/ Yui's still totally dead btw. Right after Rei's "birth" too! She was still batshit insane and put her soul in Eva unit-01, but at least now Rei wasn't anywhere near NERV/GEHIRN. Rei gets unrestricted internet access. They share a room with their "twin" and have a cheap, creaky, bunk bed until they're 8, when both of them decide to split the room in half and bicker when Kaworu finds Rei's trash on his side of the room. This doesn't last too long, though, since when they turn 12, Rei gets sent for training at NERV, while Kaworu's goes two years later. ^^^^ I think about this moment a lot in the AU. Gendo basically just takes Rei to go pilot the Eva just because they look similar to Yui and had to leave her twin brother alone to deal with SEELE bullshit without anyone else to really talk to about it for 2 years.

Rei's design differs when not in school, having a light blue long skirt and a simple dress shirt with her school uniform's red ribbon. They also sport some bandaids, even before piloting! Mainly from clumsiness and accidents back when she was a small kid.

Kaworu's design is virtually the same, save for his orange belt, his black shoes with orange bottoms, and bandages on his arms. Having already been with SEELE in nge canon, I didn't want his design to differ too much.

So far that's all I've written down for now, but if I ever get close to done with this AU and have made it even slightly comprehensive then I'll probably post a huge lore-post about it. Thank you for reading !! :D

[karinyosa]

Gene and Brinker, good sir?

AHHH okay okay

what made you ship it?

reading the book lol. ok so i feel like there's a lot of context i need to explain for this beyond just the book's subtext bc there's a bit of personal lore here. before teaching us the book, my middle school english teacher introduced each of the central four characters with this powerpoint with a slide on each one, and the way she described them like archetypically and physically made it sound almost like (to MY middle school brain) a dating sim, in which gene was the main character. like the blurb already sounds very romance novelesque so jdkshfkh. ig it wasn't too big a leap. so we already have a baseline there.

i also think that in the book brinker and gene are a secondary and competing rivarly/friendship to gene and finny's rivarly/friendship, and i think that's where the tension between brinker and gene and brinker and finny comes from. in fact this is kind of just text, like brinker and finny i think are pretty explicitly competing for gene's attention. i'm pretty sure there are some like old asp posts from the earlier 2010s era of the fandom where people are like "brinker and gene/finny have such ex energy", but iirc it was more often finny? like i'm definitely not the only person to see this Thing brinker has going on with gene, but at the time i'm p sure brinkerfinny was the more widespread take. anyway. brinker pursues gene so relentlessly both as an antagonist and as a guy who just Needs to be doing things with him, Needs to be occupying his time and attention. and yet they maintain this weird friendship/understanding throughout. to me this was most pronounced with the whole enlistment thing, and that dynamic where gene had to choose between finny and brinker for the enlistment/not enlistment??? it just gave very love triangle energy. the intensity with which brinker is fixated on gene is like. it gives repressed queer guy with problems. it's beyond wanting to antagonize him, he just is constantly coming up with excuses to be around him and to orient his focus around the pursuit of this one guy. his need to be morally superior to the object of his pursuit feels very queercoded to me. it's a very funny contrast to other parts of the book where he and gene are seemingly chill and normal friends? boy has issues

2. what are your favorite things about the ship?

HOOOOOO okay i have a long answer for this because it has to do with how i accidentally made myself insane about them. so i have this really long winded headcanon-turned-sequel fic in my Brain and Mind about gene and brinker moving in together after the war for kind of money reasons and kind of personal reasons. gene has been depression camping in finny's family's attic for a long undefined amount of time, and brinker is like hey you need to get the fuck out of there come live with me idiot. cue several years later and this is where the fic starts. i usually have it start at the time that gene would've gone back to visit devon, because i like the idea of that whole thing happening during a hs reunion in devon town, in which he and brinker joint travel and stay with his family which is its own whole awkwardness but anyway. <- culmination of everything i've ever thought about them since eighth grade

most of my genebrinker thoughts center around this period of adulthood where they're not young anymore but they're not old either, and they have all this unresolved tension and shared trauma and resentment that spills over into their "present" relationship. i think this is where genebrinker would theoretically "actually" start, in adulthood. i think there could've been ambiguous things earlier, especially during their joint enlistment period if they happened to be together, but nothing very deliberate or openly acknowledged until much later. it's this delicious mix of both having an established very domestic and familiar dynamic, knowing this person's routines and habits inside out, and yet having this pent up unspoken something. and for gene and brinker, it's not just this quiet tenderness, although i think that's bound to happen sometimes when you're essentially apartment husbands. i think they'd blow up at each other and let things slip during heated moments that they don't mean to, mostly on brinker's side, bc i think brinker's been nursing some kind of crush since hs, whereas if gene returned brinker's feelings, i think they'd slowly build over time. their familiarity with each other is also very interesting because, while they have this odd like, daddy issues(?) solidarity in the book that again feels very queer, in adulthood, it's also this thing of like, they kind of shared the murder of one of their closest friends. my fav think about genebrinker is that they know the worst of each other, that they actively participated in some of the worst parts of each other's lives, but it's that coupled with like, arguing over dinner and visiting the parents and trying to hold down stable jobs. or i guess for something more connected to the actual book, that coupled with like, accompanying your friend to an awkward meeting with his dad

this is not even all the things i think about their dynamic or all the like underlying sources of tension in their adult relationship in my head, i also think they'd be in very different places in terms of sexuality, and that would come to a head at some point, but i'll stop here because this is a question about my favorite THING, not explain every thought you've ever had about them

3. is there an unpopular opinion you have about your ship?

i think the entire ship is an unpopular opinion lmfao. like 90% of this is my headcanons. ummm i have brinker being the more responsible of the two when i write them as adults, if still the more temperamental one, so that might be controversial? i think at this stage of their lives, he's more practical and better at home ec stuff, and gene cannot fucking take care of himself for the life of him. gene is running himself into the ground while brinker is like get your fucking socks off my floor

[narcisseart]

drop some more dirge/beluh lore. nsfw stuff under the cut.

be'luh is very dominant with most men, she often would lure them in, get her gratification, and kill them during it. However, with Enver, they had known each other for 2 years, and breifly knew each other in childhood, she didnt want to protect him, but she knew she didnt want to kill him yet (prayer for forgiveness) she generally felt a sexual urge with him, it took him making the deathstalker mantle for her to fully realise that what it was after those 2 years. It drove her insane. he put a lot of effort into putting the magic on there, and he sweat and bled on it a lot (in its creation and also on their heists) it generally stank of him, to the point where she couldnt wear the thing without feeling an urge. She literally runs up to the foundry and demands he take it back, saying its not good enough, which he calls her a spoilt brat for, they yell insults at each other, enver pulls her in for a kiss and they both leave confused. they dont see each other for a week, till she comes running back in and the first page of that comic plays out. The second page being when they arrive at a kinda 'sex' party? held at the szarr palace, where Enver literally tries to steal every man and woman from be'luh, with his charm or money, in which be'luh has none of either, to a point where shes left alone and goes out for a smoke and the second page plays. up until they first get truly intimate, neither of them knew what on earth they were doing and were just, running and running, sometimes into walls, sometimes into each other, metaphorically. And they are so touchstarved when they clash, but very passionate. In this realtionship, its enver who gets jealous the most, not very protective tho, neither is she with him tbh.

When it comes to after nautiloid, dirge grows a liking to gale because she generally just thinks he's handsome, but then he opens his mouth and goes on a long speech; and she likes him so much more. his ambition and knowledge really excites her, and shes always asking him questions about things and he just some how knows. And its because she consults him and asks questions during his rants that gale tends to lean havily towards her. She begins the flirting really, after the whole moment in the weave scene, its all because she'll just be chilling in camp, and look over at gale and just say in her minds eye 'stupid sexy wizard' and have to go over there and tell him she wants to rub his belly. She really wanted to be physcial with him during the teifling party, really she just wanted to kiss him at least, and oh gods did gale just NEED to. But saying that Dirge follows gale into the weave the first time, but she felt it was off and said it was 'just fine' the next day. after moonrise they have physical sex in which gale is pretty left hanging from the rafters, it is after that, they decide together they should only use magic as a suppliment. And it makes dirge feel less uncomfy about the whole 'mystra could watch us' and she feel less likes shes just a replacement for mystra to fill that void for gale. however for gale it generally was to try and wow her, nothing more or less, but he much prefers to be the one left speechless at the end of the night. they grow to be very sex positive, engaging in many forms of trantric and role switching sex that generally, is both healthy for their rehabilitation from trauma. in this realtionship, its dirge who gets jealous and protective the most. And man she would punch the god of magic if she could.

But I just like the idea that its like this

be'luh and enver: WHAT IS THIS< WHAT IS HAPPENING gale and dirge: I know this feeling, its love, and its deep and maddening.

[kivaember]

37. Promote one of your own “deep cut” fics (an underrated one, or one that never got as much traction as you think it deserves!). What do you like about it?

48. What’s the last fic you read? Do you recommend it?

💜💜💜

37. Promote one of your own “deep cut” fics (an underrated one, or one that never got as much traction as you think it deserves!). What do you like about it?

man i've written so many fic and in armored core fandom i feel like my fics get quite a bit of traction considering how small the fandom is. i mean averaging between 40 kudos on those fics is pretty impressive!

But I suppose (strictly sticking to my current fandom of AC6) I would like some of my Walt/Mich and Flatwell/O'Keeffe to get more traction, even though I'm aware they're fringe ships compared to the likes of viv621. But it's fine I'll write for like the five people who like those fics so we can all go insane together haha

I will say I'm very surprised that the rusty/freud fic (or viviv as i'm gonna call their shipname lmao) got as much attention as i did since i think i'm the only one?? who's written that?? it is a good ship though. consumed my brain with ideas for it. hope i'll inspire other people too with that.

48. What’s the last fic you read? Do you recommend it?

Oh man with this question I'm gonna do more than one. Let's see top five I've read recently are:

helping the world via murder, a guide by your local reformed terrorist by RK7200 which is a Jujutsu Kaisen/Naruto crossover. I'm totally blind to JJK but the premise intrigued me to try it and man, it's a good read and you can easily get by with very minimal JJK knowledge so long as you're savvy with your Naruto lore. Tl;dr Obito after dying revives as a curse in JJK world, and sends Gojo down the conspiracy rabbit hole thinking Obito is evidence of a big cover up in the Jujutsu world. Hilarious misunderstandings by all.

2. Mana by Eiruwei, an OC/Shisui Naruto fic that is amazingly written and I thoroughly enjoyed it, esp with how the person wrote their OC and explored their relationship with the Uchiha and Shisui. Really recommend giving it a read.

3. never gonna give you up by owlings, which is a Rusty-centric fic on trying to figure out who O'Keeffe's "babygirl" is (and being traumatised when he learns the answer is Flatwell). Genuinely made me laugh a lot and is very well-written, so please check it out.

4. SATOKO by quantumghosts, which is an OC-insert fic for Naruto and this is also amazingly written. Tl;dr an OC is isekai'd into Naruto as a female Naruto, and it does incredibly worldbuilding and character development between the characters, and Satoko really distinguishes herself as 'Naruto'. Really recommend this read.

5. Letters to Monsters by beccadbuss, this is yet another OC in Naruto fic, and it focuses on an OC and their relationship with the Bijuu before they're sealed away. Has a lot of focus on literature and the lessons they impart on people, and how sometimes an open hand and a willingness to understand achieves more than brute force. Genuinely an amazing read and I recommend!

6. Fire Rebirth by Blackbirdo, as a bonus sixth entry because I remembered it and it is genuinely fucking hilarious. Zuko is reincarnated as Itachi in Naruto and I read it if only because the summary read:

"To Zuko's great relief, his new family were not part of a cult. Instead they seemed to be rather normal; they were well-mannered, cultured, fire-breathing people who were very assured of their own superiority, and had a family history of insanity."

Seriously recommend it if you want a bit of silliness with a dash of "Zuko is somehow the only sane person here, incredibly, sort of".

Right, well! Those are my fanfic recommendations! You can tell I love OCs and people shipping OCs with canon characters and crossovers because yes, it results in many glorious stories tbh.

Thanks for the questions!

[katyspersonal]

KATY!!!!

You muppet

Gimme your top 5 non-boss Bloodborne enemies 🔪🔪

Hahaha! This is a hard question, because, like... Do I judge the design? The concept? The (presumed) pleasure of fighting them? xD Or, maybe, how good they are from raw gameplay standpoint, without any of our Tumblr sentimental values added? ...so, in the end, I decided to judge on raw personal enjoyment. Here goes!

Five - Edgar, Choir Intelligencer!

Yeah, yeah, NPCs are a weird grey area since they're no regular enemies, blablabla. But, first, I wanted to include at least one Hunter NPC. Two - if I am choosing, it is DEFINITELY Edgar. I enjoyed fighting him on that moonlit bridge..... But, more importantly, I enjoy what this character entails. A player that was only yet to be educated would, soon enough, learn that Micolash has a friend. And then, some time later, the fandom would learn from official materials the character's name and get confirmation for his affiliation with the Choir! I just think that he is THE coolest NPC. Whereas others (looking at the no-dialogue ones in this) would be self-explanatory, with Edgar, there is a mystery that only people with imagination could solve! What else you could've asked for!

Also, I am totally weak for the fact that he does the 'Joy' gesture when he kills us. Way to kill the potential drama of "sparing us from the worse fate" and confirm that you are a simp insane, you lil shit! :pensive: Yet, despite saying less, it is saying more..... Anyways, onto the REAL enemies!

Four - Old Hunter enemy!

They are fuckin' SOMETHING ELSE in terms of aesthetic and behaviour, you know? The bastards have far too much of a healthbar, I will admit, but it is more about the lore... And the vibe. When they are attacking in unhinged, terrifying rage - the beasts (Beast Patient type) cover in fear, that leaves the whole "who is the REAL beast here?" message! They have various weapons and fighting styles. And they have yellow or red eyes variants, that helped me to resolve the mystery of what is under Chester's mask, since he is heavily implied to be from Yharnam and teleported by an Amygdala!

Three - Fishman Mage!

LOVE these guys! ...yes, despite the fact that they keep spamming me with DARN bolt spells and DARN purple homing skulls. But... At the same time, this is so BADASS. I can only speculate and bounce off ideas on why their magic has "wrong" colors; with this type of skulls normally being red and the bolt in Bloodborne normally being blue. But, I love the aesthetic and the cool magic nonetheless. Not to mention the Mystery TM of what is up with their "elongated" heads.

I thought of something akin Lumenweed but more coral-like instead of plant-like, since they seem to pray for other Great Ones to avenge Kos that they "failed" to protect (and since one of Fishmen variants has something similar anyways), but we just don't know! Could be a polyp, could be a fin, could be a Cool Hat...

Two - Clocktower Patient!

The amount of lore per pixel kills me! They have interesting VARIANTS - the regular, the naked, the completely tied-up one, the just-head one, the one behaving like a beast, the fuckin headless walking bodies... The HUGE one, that I fucking bet would be Pthumerians pushed into experiments too, all that.

And, although sometimes they can be frustrating to fight, ESPECIALLY when they come in a crowd, I just love how... "informative" they are? I have not learned more from any other enemy than from these people. They demand a keen eye to decipher no matter what. Like how it is easy to miss that their heads are covered so we can't know what is UNDER the fabric, or the tentacles... But yes, at the same time, the designs and the variations alone are pretty interesting AND scary!

One - Loran Cleric!

Fuckin'. BEST. Display of the fact that what Yharnam is going through already plagued Loran once. Fuckin' AWESOME design. Fuckin' EXTREMELY on-the-nose way to show the "history repeats itself" sentiment. They have ROBES, and they have horns. And they have PYROMANCY... Like other Pthumerians, some Vilebloods (Maria) and, interestingly, Laurence in his beast form, have.

I always found it hard to kill them, because I just could not have enough of their moveset and appearances. They are the enemies I tried to NOT kill for as long as I could afford. Their pyromancy staff gave me idea that Laurence would be using one as soon as he'd get his hands on it, probably in Byrgenwerth + early Church era. I also remember having killed one and spending good 20 minutes just taking pictures, including their cool twisted smiles! I also think that Blood-Possessed Soul is their final transformation form!

_________________

Honorable mention: Church Servants. Of course.

Thank you for the 'some things can only harm you if you are smart enough to PERCEIVE them' delivery, guys.

Thank you for the ask! It was insightful for me too! x)

[technicianuprisingau]

Final Takeoff, Reborn!

Awakened by bonds, the power of three friends forged by fire has turned the previously imperfect Halberd Mode into its purest form! Soar beyond the skies and take careful aim - prepare for a true, proper final takeoff, empowered by sheer determination! When you have your teammates by your side, you can go beyond the impossible and finish with a clean landing!

I did it, lads! The design has been retooled! Click down here for more info on what's this thing...

So! *takes deep breath* Funny thing huh

Does anyone remember this post? Well, this is a reboot of the design featured in said post, as well as a proper recreation on what the hell is this thing.

A lore background, we know the Halberd Mode is... a painful result of a bug appearing due to its inability to keep up. While the bug was indeed permanent and will wake up whenever said mode is in use, Kirby would rather have it gone so that Robobot doesn't... you know, have to suffer. But after noticing that Friend Heart is a tranquilizer and a purification method, all of a sudden there could a potentially new way to actually keep the bug from staying awake.

At some point, Kirby decided to give this idea a try, putting a Friend Heart into Robobot's control panel before scanning the Halberd as part of a improvised plan to defeat a particularly giant enemy (long story). What Kirby didn't know however, was that the Friend Heart is actually kind of volatile, and...

...oops.

Okay, first things first. This mode is basically empowered by not just the energy from the battleship, but also from the Friend Heart. Both energies are actually pretty strong, resulting in huge power burst when the mode becomes active. The fact that three people who has been stuck in a war for three months and has been besties since then are the ones using it doesn't help in the slightest.

Second, at the time, Bandee was with the two, so the waddle dee gets dragged into this as well. Poor guy. He does, indeed, become a co-pilot, and he was... freaking out, at first. He eventually got through it all though.

Third... the transformation is actually really cool. Lots of shooting stars and the way the trio gears up is actually kinda impressive. Huge moral boost everywhere.

Fourth, they realized this mode DOES have a glaring weakness, unfortunately - it needs Friend Hearts to maintain the resistance against the bug. If they can't get put one in time, the mode cancels violently, the battleship literally spawns right behind them, and they are all left vulnerable. Not fun. So much for something called True Resistance Form huh

However, this version of the mode turns out to be equal, if not stronger than the scanned battleship itself. This thing literally has a empowered version of Planet Buster that is so powerful, it deals MASSIVE damage.

...is that good news? Probably not for those having to face this insane mode. Pain.

Anyways, the reason why I ended up redesigning the whole thing is that I kinda want it to look like a proper final weapon. No, seriously. It looked clunky before, so hopefully this does look so much better! Plus, a crossover project ended up using this thing (it's between friends so I won't reveal)

Please enjoy this future content, and now, if you excuse me, I'll pass out. My wrists are dead already.

Bonus versions:

That above, but they just first discovered it.

Background-less versions, and you can see the color of the gathered energy too!

The non-existent ability star f^ck the older version I made like 2 days ago lol

But yes, the name is now True Resistance version, because Bonded Reverse Modding sounds awkward and long. Sometimes, I'd accidentally say Reverse Bonded Modding instead and it sounds weird.