#strange concept for many of the older generations

[megamindsupremacy]

Stewjon is Space Scotland: Names and Naming Conventions

For context, I designed an entire naming system for my Stewjon is Space Scotland AU. I'm still trying to work out the cultural logistics of it, but the actual practical logistics I have down.

To break everything down:

Stewjon is a clan-centric society, with clans and clan names having a hugely important role in the culture. I therefore had clan names feature in both the first and last name of Stewjonis.

-The last name (Kenobi) is the family/clan name, and is passed down the family paternally. This is both because I'm from a western culture with a paternal naming tradition, and also because I liked how his parents names sounded when the last names transferred paternally but not maternally. "Ken" would translate to "Clan" (I don't know if this is accurate to Scots English or Scots Gaelic, but I'm working from canon Star Wars names and trying to worldbuild from nothing so work with me here), and then the clan name "Obi" is attached, so "Kenobi" translates to "Clan Obi" or "of Clan Obi"

-The given name (-Wan, but we'll get to "Wan" in a second) is one to two syllables. All of these names are (according to Wikipedia) actual Scottish names, which I picked from the list mostly based on how well they'd sound next to the clan name.

-The prefix clan name (Obi-) is the interesting part. All children are given the father's clan name as both their first and last clan name. Therefore, Obi-Wan Kenobi, son of Ito-Benneit Kenobi, has "Obi" in both his first and last name. However, upon marriage, the couple swaps their prefix clan names to signify the tie between their clans. Therefore his mother Ito-Ceit Kenito and his father Obi-Benneit Kenobi became Obi-Ceit Kenito and Ito-Benneit Kenobi upon their marriage.

-Originally I was going to do something with the fact that "Obi" means belt in Japanese, such as making the clan names signify professions in the same way "Miller" or "Smith" would in English surnames, but I gave up because Japanese is so different of a language from what I understand that I would have just made myself very confused and everyone who understands Japanese language and culture very mad. So I just went with a vowel-consonant-vowel pattern for all the clan names and called it a day.

-Remember how I said we would come back to "Wan"? Obi-Wan wasn't born Obi-Wan Kenobi. He was born Obi-Owen (Owen is a whole 'nother thing and I decided to just give myself a freebie on it), and his name was anglicized (basic-icized?) upon being brought to the Jedi temple. Not on purpose, but it did happen. So technically the chart above should have him listed as Obi-Owen Kenobi, but I already took the screenshot so this is what we're working with.

-Culturally, it's respectful to refer to someone by their full name (Obi-Owen Kenobi). The full name stands until two people are fairly close to each other, platonically or romantically. The informal, friendly version would be their full first name (Obi-Owen). So you wouldn't call your new friend "Obi-Owen" until you're quite close, even if you're social equals. Technically you could refer to someone by their given name only (Owen), but it's awkward and Stewjonis don't really see a reason for it. All of this highlights the cultural emphasis placed on clans and clan ties in Stewjoni society.

The Family Tree

THE KIDS

Starting from the bottom, we have the four Kenobi siblings. Obi-Conn is the oldest, and he marries Yana-Eóin Kenyana, becoming Yana-Conn Kenobi. None of this happens in the story but I wrote it in the chart anyways. Obi-Eóin is nonbinary, which is why their square is white instead of blue or pink.

Obi-Mór and Obi-Pál are twins and approximately four years younger than Yana-Conn. Obi-Mór is ambiguously disabled (she has some form of muscular disability, but the specifics weren't relevant to the story). Obi-Pál is just some guy and I love him for that.

Obi-Owen is the baby of the family. He's twelve years younger than the twins (16 years younger than Yana-Conn) and was definitely an oopsie-baby. I don't need to say anything else because he is also one of the major characters of the Star Wars franchise. You know him.

THE PARENTS

Obi-Ceit Kenito and Ito-Benneit Kenobi are the Kenobi siblings' parents. I don't have much to say here other than that Ito-Benneit shortens his name to Ito-Ben, to avoid the repeated "eet" sound in his full first name. I'm sure that doesn't affect Obi-Owen's future nicknames in any way!

It is Ito-Benneit fault, by the way, that I made clan prefixes instead of surnames to be switched upon marriage. Culturally, it would have made more sense for the more commonly used first name to hold your birth clan and your less commonly used surname to indicate your linked-by-marriage clan, but I needed Obi-Benneit to marry into the name Ito-Benneit so that I could shorten it to Ben. Goddammit.

THE GRANDPARENTS

Ito-Ben's parents are entirely irrelevant so they don't exist. Sad!

Technically I didn't have to name Ito-Lili Kenuna, but I felt bad having her up there as an unnamed person. Una-Owen Kenito, as you may suspect, is where Obi-Wan's name comes from. I really wanted to highlight his Stewjoni heritage in this fic, so giving him family ties through his whole name was important to me. Obi-Ceit names Obi-Owen for her father because Una-Owen was a strong fighter, and she wants to pass that resilience to her son. Which, uh. Well he sure is resilient to things trying to kill him!

Feel free to come yell at me in the askbox about Stewjon's worldbuilding!

[sunderwight]

Okay, concept:

Luo Binghe grew up very poor prior to arriving to QJP. And when he first got to QJP, he was ostracized and neglected. So there are probably a lot of phrases, terms, and ideas that he didn't know were things until SY arrived and started actually teaching him. Right? So the bulk of what he did learn, he learned directly from Shen Yuan's own slightly messy attempts to fake ancient scholarly credentials.

Plus, QJP is supposed to be the peak of scholars and well-read, fancy intellectuals, and YQY probably also doesn't know shit about most of that stuff (having also been a former illiterate street child) and of course is incredibly predisposed to take Shen Qingqiu's side on virtually anything. Especially something frivolous or linked to their shared past, such as someone, say Qi Qingqi, accusing Shen Qingqiu of making up a literary reference or "gibberish" word. If something Shen Qingqiu says is something no one else seems to know, that just proves he's more worldly and well-read than the rest of his peers. Also, Shang Qinghua will probably know it, and despite his many (many) character flaws, Shang Qinghua reads a lot too. There's really very little to convince a former street child turned Demon Emperor whose former education began and ended with Shen Qingqiu specifically and Meng Mo (wildly out-of-touch with human culture anyway) to suspect that some of the difficult-to-source references his master makes really have no worldly source (in this world).

So Luo Binghe, in his quest to become as knowledgeable of all things about his shizun and keep up with him as well as possible, and maybe also put down some arguments he's overheard once and for all, eventually gets annoyed because CLEARLY there is a wealth of cultural knowledge contemporary to Shen Qingqiu and Shang Qinghua that didn't survive to his own generation. His efforts at hunting down all the sources being referenced and origins of certain philosophical ideas or terminology keep coming up empty in certain departments. He's been over the entire QJP library with a fine-tooth comb, but QJP focuses on things pertaining to cultivation, history, and knowledge. Obviously, there are gaps. The archives are unlikely to keep pop cultural references and lowbrow literature, and Luo Binghe begins to suspect (from what tastes his master seems to share with his shishu) that that is that actual source he's missing.

The trashy yellow books and romance literature of their generation! Bawdy poems and lewd artworks so on! Heck, that's probably even where the shared "code" (bad English) comes into play -- disciples are always trying to sneak forbidden material past their teachers and smuggle naughty books into the dormitories. Knowing Shizun and Shang Qinghua, Luo Binghe honestly wouldn't be surprised if the two of them were racketeering that shit in their own disciple days. Shang Qinghua acquiring materials, Shen Qingqiu acquiring buyers, both of them making their extra spending money off of secretly supplying Cang Qiong's population with contraband fiction and art.

Also, that would explain why both Shen Qingqiu and Shang Qinghua get flustered and refuse to elaborate if someone asks them what this or that strange turn of phrase refers to. Shen Qingqiu has a very thin face for actually discussing erotica, and Shang Qinghua doesn't like being caught doing illegal shit.

Luo Binghe desperately needs access to trash lit that's older than he is. However, most of that stuff is not printed to last, and turning it up is like trying to find old Spirk zines without the internet.

Shang Qinghua, the obvious go-to source, also seems to not really have anything that old anymore (intimidating him is laughably easy, if he had anything he would have coughed it up by the second or third time Luo Binghe asked and frowned at the same time), and if Shen Qingqiu did have anything he wouldn't want to be questioned about it. Asking too much might even get it destroyed in an act of excessive embarrassment.

Which means there is just one other person Luo Binghe knows who might be able to lead him to some sources. One other person he is absolutely, 100% certain was extensively reading trashy literature around the same time that Shizun was a young man. Someone who would know where to go to even begin looking for it.

Luo Binghe is going to have to ask Tianlang Jun for help with something.

[monstrouslyobsessed]

love’s lethal bouquet

concept: in which the floral shop boss is in love with you—and isn’t a human. —momster

—a/n: well i havent posted in ages because of how bad my writers block was :( and i’m vvvvv iffy about this one. this is much more subtle and tamer than my usual too, but at least its something for the valentine’s day?

anyway, ima try and tackle a commission i owe next so please take care yall<3

—tw / tags: gn reader, implied drugging intention, implied teratophilia, implied exophilia, general yandere themes, sfw.

—featured character(s): the floral shop boss / plant monster (implied)

Valentine's Day proves to be one of the busiest days at the floral shop where you work. Breathing in the heady floral scents that permeate the store, you find yourself in continuous motion, assembling bouquets of pink roses, carnations, violets, and every red flower known to man into the van. With your back straining from the constant lifting, you absently listen to the gentle voice of your boss reassuring an irritated customer about their belated delivery—

and you wince.

Although you should be in a rush taking care of the deliveries, you tiptoe inside the back of the shop to avoid interrupting your boss—

But he merely hangs up the phone upon seeing your flustered face.

“S, sorry—” You begin.

He shakes his head with a gentle smile playing on his thinly bearded lips and says, “Don’t worry about it, love.”

The way he addresses you as ‘love’ used to bother you. It always seemed so…formal, old-fashioned, but coming from him—your boss—he somehow makes it work without needing to force the romantic undertone. Perhaps it is because he is on the older side and being a foreigner in this little town of yours.

The town lies deep within the trench of an endless forest, and you wonder how your boss had found his way here.

His arrival several years ago stirred many gossips about him, with him keeping his lips sealed about his past, but everyone slowly warmed up to him. His succulent blooms, never seen before even in the gardening magazines, certainly helped. Now, your boss is a familiar face among the townspeople, with very few not knowing who he is. And, of course, his handsome and charming demeanor won the hearts of many too.

“But I would’ve made the deliveries on time if I didn’t eat brea—” you try.

His piercing green eyes soften as you nervously fixing your rolled sleeves. You halt when he suddenly leans in.

“Boss—?” You rasp at the new weights on your shoulders, trying to pay no mind to the strange dark strains on his thick fingers.

The way he held you was almost…fond—

And he pushes you outside to the doorway. “Go finish the deliveries, won’t you?”

“Really?” You huff, trying to ignore the red tinge to your cheeks and the heavy thumping of your heart.

Your boss smiles that damnable handsome smile of his and pats you on your head, saying, “Get to it. The sooner you finish, the sooner I can give you your little Valentine’s Day bonuses for working so hard.”

While giving his employees gifts during holidays and special events is not new to your boss, you still perk up in eagerness and reward him with the biggest smile you can muster. As you dart away with a confident promise to complete the deliveries, he watches you scurry to the van, inhaling sharply,

“Soon.”

Your boss murmurs, rubbing his knuckle with his other hand—as if to hide the sudden green spot on it. Tiny vines emerge briefly, before he rubs them away and pivots back to his cash register where his impatient customers have started to queue. Flashing them with a dazzling smile to reassure frustrated customers with a wordless apology, your boss absently peers over to his office.

There, on his desk, is the special bouquet he prepared for you and only you.

Imagining you burying your face into the fragrant cluster of your favorite flowers, oblivious to the true intention of its purpose, the toxic drugging qualities meant to lure you into his arms—into his ivies and his binds of vines and creepers—had him biting back a shudder. Restraining himself before the antsy crowd, your boss rings up a customer with an invisible countdown ticking in his head.

A countdown to have you.

The blooms nearby writhe and shudder, with most dismissing it as mere breezes from the air conditioner.

It was not.

—end…?

[nogu-d-reamers]

MORE ABOUT LIBBY AND #1202.

(this Sketch are the first concept about Libby and Dogday + a little Bit of lore of them).

MORE ABOUT LIBBY:

As mentioned above, she was an orphan who ended up in the playtime CO adoption program to be adopted by one of the employees at playcare, and was selected as to be one of the smiling critters, specifically; Dogday. (I don't think that the gender of the children is a great influence in deciding which children will be experiments for the bigger bodies initiative.)

She lost her parents because of a "strange religion" so the topic is something delicate for her.

Originally due to all the reasons, the team of scientists wanted to place it in "experimentation" as soon as possible (#1189-#1201); However, it started to be a problem when a certain Playtime manager had taken a liking to her and had her under some protection.

She was known for being a quite sociable and charismatic child among other orphans, however with adults she was a completely different thing being withdrawn and quiet.

She used to be constantly hurt and wearing Band-Aids (playTime co. trademark) due to her own childhood hyperactivity and was often an easy target for older children caused by the panic of not being adopted. (Libby in general did not usually betray them or return evil because she did not see the point of revenge).

Extra note: he reason for her appearance in the story (specifically her haircut and several of his clothes) is based on several protagonists of Ghibli films.

She favorite food was the po' boys sandwiches and chicken and waffles (which causes a misunderstanding when, already converted into dogday, he said "man, how much I would kill to eat a po' boy" and catnap left him the body of a deceased child).

Her favorites Playtime Co. toys are the smiling critters, Candy cat and PJ pug-a-pillar (although Libby was only able to buy 2 smiling critters at the toy store during his entire stay at playcare)

She hates the playtime Co. Doctor's, according to her because they were very rude and scary.

Libby "died" at the age of 9 due to an attack by the prototype.

About Dogday/#1202:

It should be noted that Libby's clear annoyance and confusion at being turned into dogday made it difficult for the playtime co. scientists deal with him.

The biggest problem in being turned into dogday in a curious way was not the fact that it was referred to as masculine; Instead, they put Dr. Sawyer's voice on the voice box.

extra note: dogday has no problem being referred to as a boy (he/him), however it was VERY confusing for him at first and many times he did not respond or had a hard time saying that; so he started referring to himself in the third person "dogday says..." or "dogday thinks...". He keeps his true identity a secret so that there is no confusion about what to call him (although he will be happy when he is treated femininely)

Returning to the topic of the voice box, this was a strategy of scientists who were aware of the fear and rejection that Dr. Harley Sawyer and that unlike Elliot Ludwing, he did not have a very charismatic personality or very kind to them in general. So, adding the fact that they had to turn Libby into an experiment, they thought that if Dogday had the same voice and interacted with the little ones in a friendly way, they could trick the children into confusing the smiling critter's voice with that of the scientist. (Dogday refused to collaborate; being the one who fears and rejects the doctor the most, so he learned to imitate the cartoon's voice as best as possible).

That made him create a sworn enmity with the scientists; constantly punishing him when the children did not see him, denying him food and when they gave him food it was portions of poor quality raw meat (which made Dogday prefer to endure hunger than eat it).

Not counting that enmity with the scientists, due to his duties in the counselor's office as an assistant and "therapy dog" for the children who came, he had a broader perspective that there were "angel employees" and "evil employees." even witnessing when one was upset about the whereabouts of one of the children he was going to adopt and hearing their complains about not being able to get out of there.

About... PLAYER?!:

(hell yeah... This story is more complicated...)

Remember when I mentioned that the reason Libby hadn't been experimented on before was because a high-up Playtime official had taken a liking to her? well, whoever she was the player is the person.

At first both were irrelevant to each other's lives (the player because he was just another worker, and Libby because of her shyness with adults); However, after an absurd incident with Barry's toy, it was enough for them to meet.

Once Libby had come into confidence with Player, she can't pronounce his name correctly, so she affectionately call to him as "Mr. Angel" and ran to hug him, give him drawings and crafts made in class whenever she could.

The scientists thought that perhaps it was a ruse to get the girl to believe in him, in any case they knew that he had already done more terrible things for the company... but they were shocked to know that he was taking the issue of Libby seriously as a legitimate adoption. even giving her gifts along the way (including the famous "tragedy dress").

Once Player entered the complex adoption process to be able to take Libby from Playcare, he learned the worst side of the scientists and managers of Playtime Co.; He spent two whole years fighting for it until he was able to find a legal loophole where either the girl would be handed over to him or he would publicly declare everything the company has done without caring that it would sink him in the process.

...unfortunately the day he was going to take her, she disappeared and only a bloody piece of the sunflower dress she was wearing that day appeared; and scientists left her for dead in an accident in the restricted area.

After Libby's disappearance and "dead", Player was never able to return to playcare so he demanded to be changed sections shortly before Dogday went into operation. They were never able to cross paths again.

a massacre and 10 years later; They cross paths again. Dogday cannot recognize his "Mr. Angel" and only called him that because it was the first time in a long time that he heard friendly footsteps; However, the mere fact that he referred to "Angel" and that player assumed that all the bigger bodies were children, it didn't take him long to realize that that poor ragged dog would be his sweet little Libby.

The shock of that possibility was so great that the mere idea made him remain paralyzed while the bigger dog said his monologue before he warned him to run away from there.

Extra note: in the timeline where he did react in time and saved Dogday from that cruel fate, he couldn't help but burst into tears and hug him, begging for forgiveness. while dogday would be confused.

About Theodore Grambel/Catnap/#1188:

(Let's not lie to each other, everyone even me came for this-)

Ohh boy... How I can start this?...

Their relationship was one-sized from minute 0.

Libby wanted to be friends with Theo however she wanted, because she considered him to be a very shy and quiet boy; Theodore, she tried to talk about him all the time with different topics until she could find a common topic.

Theodore for his way... he only considered her annoying and a waste of time to spend with his true friend, 1006.

Which got worse when Libby realized that, like her, he was a fan of the smilling critters show and that it bothered him that Catnap had disappeared from the shelves (she was even able to give him his catnap stuffed animal to keep him happy; which he still thinks is a nuisance but he appreciates the stuffed animal)

When Theodore disappeared, Libby got really sad; while Theo couldn't care less that it was Libby's... that is, until her resistance to her poppy gas became present and Catnap had to be more aware of her. (in the end it could be useful to his angel)

dogday also strived to be friendly with catnap and that it will integrate with the others.

That unilateral dynamic is cut when the theme of the "hour of joy" becomes present.

dogday understands everyone's motives in wanting to participate; but it starts to be a problem for catnap when your "and there's no other way?" along with their “and then what?” They made other toys start to doubt the prototype... that annoyance towards Dogday turned into legitimate hatred.

Extra note: In an alternative line where Theo likes Libby things would be slightly different, he would be rude because he doesn't know how to be sweet with her and he would even ask 1006 for advice on how to be romantic (of course it would end in failure).

Despite everything, for Dogday things would only end up being him alone, being the last smiling critter standing, completely a prisoner and feeling stupid for having wanted to be friends with that thing called catnap.

[bonefall]

I hope you find a way to keep starclan involvement minimal because making them able to zoom call frostpaw so directly at any time raises the obvious question of why she (or anyone else in riverclan who wasn’t in on the conspiracy frankly) aren’t told who did it earlier

I’m curious if Splashtail was rejected for lives or if he refused to take them on principle

The solution is very simple. Most angels can't communicate directly! What's the point of speaking in omens and signs and prophecies if you can just say what you want

Between the realms of life and death is a sort of veil, like a strange, dusty membrane. A spirit can cross through it and try to influence the mortal plane, but it's got that disconnected feeling of working in heavy gloves.

Still, it's reliable to zip down and drag a couple of items to the nearest Cleric. They're trained in divination, learning basic systems for properly interpreting signs and omens.

The bright feather of a jay = StarClan is pleased with you

The dull feather of a jay = StarClan is disappointed in you

Hairstreak butterfly = Follow this

Snail shell, swirl-up = Yes

Snail shell, swirl-down = No

Trying to chat casually is AWFUL. Have you ever been asleep, and someone started trying to tell you something or command something of you? Sometimes you'll remember it, other times it just ends up warping whatever dream you were in, but most of the time you'll catch absolutely NOTHING. That's what it's like when gramma talks to you.

It's easier to connect to spirits you knew in life, or have a kinship with. Strong emotions make this more powerful. Rituals, like invocation (calling StarClan to connect the ancestor to you), channeling (directly contacting the spirit, usually via a sacrifical object), or prayer (catching the attention of a spirit) can strengthen the connection, but there will always be that veil.

Think of spirituality kind of like a stat. In life, having a huge number means you're really good at receiving messages and understanding intuitively if you're near something supernatural. In death, you're better at sending them and what exactly will get through.

Other assorted tidbits in closing;

More powerful spirits have a higher "stat" in spirituality, but they're also usually more disconnected from the mortal they once were.

Skystar, Patron of War, could pretty directly tell you what the confusing omen means...

But. He's very likely to angrily blast you with a lightning bolt for asking him to do something he sees as beneath him.

Thankfully this is why Invocation is helpful. If you tried to invoke someone who would get angry you're bugging them, the "call" won't go through.

Thanks to Clan cat ego and shifting popularity, good patrons often go uncontacted because they're less "cool" or unpopular. Pinestar actually got a lot of mileage out of his invocations of Bumble.

SPIRITS ARE INDIVIDUALS. Even when they've hit godly status and are distant from mortality, StarClan is not as united of an entity as it presents.

StarClan is not a fair or rational entity. It's the most powerful ancient spirits remembered over many decades, and a bunch of recent dead relatives a few generations behind the living.

Lizardstripe understands it best; the lower angels make a jury and a crowd and the patrons are the court staff.

The younger spirits are more connected to the living, but the older spirits have more functional power to pass on accurate signs

Ancient patrons, especially the founders, tend to not give a lot of "personal" attention to prayers, and when they do answer they tend to be cryptic. They are very disconnected from their mortal selves, more legend than life now.

Riverstar in particular is notorious for this. As the Patron of Water, he's essentially an abstract concept, on top of being a mysterious and wise person when he was alive.

Angels of all levels are perfectly capable of acting alone and messing things up, though. Birchface actually sent the sign that wound up getting Mapleshade’s kittens drowned, and he's just kept quiet about it out of fear this whole time.

Spottedleaf was UNRIVALED in her connection, both in life and in death.

Firestar doesn't know how she made it look so EASY... and he's also got a good connection, himself. He wishes he had more time to learn from her.

Shadowsight got his incredible connection by being tormented by Ashfur. He blasted him with lightning and turned him into a living radio tower.

If Ashfur and his accomplices hadn't blocked off StarClan, Shadowsight would have been more haunted and hounded than Goosefeather. They were the only "signals" he was picking up

(And then Ashfur ate all his accomplices anyway.)

SO those sorts of stunts are not pulled often. You need to be extremely powerful to alter the living like Ashfur did to Shadowsight

(In case you're about to ask; Goosefeather was likely either a mistake or an accident, unless I end up tweaking his story later)

The only time where you're guaranteed to be able to directly, perfectly talk to any cat is during a leadership ceremony. It's considered too sacred and personal to burden with commands, because the leader will only ever experience this once.

Going through the Moonplace is actually not a guarantee! They send very strong dreams to those who visit, more like TPB than later arcs.

As for why ghosts don't just reveal their murderer-- in addition to how hard it actually is to speak directly, most murderers simply take precautions.

It's known StarClan can be watching, but there are also demons to channel. There are rituals to ward watchful eyes.

Can't reveal your murderer if you don't know who killed you.

If you're Redtail in particular and your incredible sister breaks the law to summon you directly for answers, you actually waste the entirety of the time you got to yell at her about using the wrong method <3

But in a nutshell; no more zoom calls. You will STRUGGLE for your divine revelations and only end up receiving them when you've royally pissed them off the way God INTENDED

(also i think in the wind excerpt it said that splashtail rejected them outright, but I haven't read the whole book yet)

[hopeymchope]

Kodaka did an event promoting The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy-.

In case you're new to the game and its concept, here's a quick summary from the article:

First revealed during a Nintendo Direct back in June, The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- is a tactical RPG with adventure game elements. Its story follows Takumi Sumino, a regular teenager who lives in a domed city known as the Tokyo Residential Complex. After monsters invade the city, a strange creature named SIREI appears and offers Takumi the strength needed to protect those he loves, but awakening this power causes him to lose consciousness. When he finally comes to, he finds himself in a mysterious school with 14 strangers, and together, this rag-tag bunch of teenagers must band together to fend off the Invaders and survive for the next 100 days.

So here's some stuff that was news to me from this article. (I'll add some of my own thoughts in parentheticals with italics just like this.)

The game starts with a 20-minute anime-style cut scene.

Each character has their own unique attacks and abilities inspired by their personalities and certain enemies are faster than others, so players will need to think carefully about how they spend their AP and the order in which they take down the invaders.

It's possible to carry unspent AP over into the next turn, so there may be situations where it's better to end a turn prematurely rather than fruitlessly fight on.

Takumi has the ability to rewind time. So as is the case with many modern strategy RPGs, you can undo a few steps if things go south.

As they perform more actions, players will build up a special gauge known as the "Voltage Meter," which, once full, will allow them to perform a devastating attack that ends their current turn.

Players will also be able to sacrifice characters who are low on health by using the “decisive death” mechanic, although as there’s no way to revive characters in battle, they’ll need to think carefully about how and when to use this.

Decisions made both in AND out of battle can result in permanent character deaths. (So are "decisive deaths" in battle actually permanent deaths or no?)

Kodaka claims that the title is “radically different” from other games with multiple endings, with 100 “extreme despair-filled endings” available in total. Players won’t need to see all of these to understand the story, but there’s plenty of extra lore there for those who want it. (There's literally no chance in hell that these will all be radically different. No game production has ever had the time and/or money to generate 100 full-fledged, completely distinct endings... and this game is being funded independently for god's sake! So PLEASE expect, right up front, that these "endings" will mostly be minor variations on a select few endings.)

The classmates include Amemiya Darumi, an emotionally unstable girl with “crazy eyes” and a love of death games; and Takemaru Yakushiji, an “old-fashioned yankee” who rides a motorcycle into battle. (Sounds like I'm going to adore Darumi... :P)

All of the game’s main characters are voiced in some capacity and will have numerous interactions available over the course of the 100 days, encouraging players to engage with them regularly between battles.

When confronted with comparisons to Danganronpa (teenagers trapped in a school getting picked off, etc), Kodaka says that he prefers working with teenage protagonists, as they’re generally a lot more interesting than older characters and he finds it much easier to show them grow and mature as the story unfolds. (People should be constantly changing and maturing across all walks of life, imo, so this isn't the strongest answer to me. But OK.)

I'm sure plenty of these points are semi-ol dnews to people who've been following the game religiously, but my finger hasn't quite been on the pulse of its coverage the past month or two, so I may have missed some stuff.

[eli-elien]

Been workshopping her but I love em (any/all pronouns btw)

Introducing!! Angela Sal Wake (Saw)

what if the stans had a best friend? Sure she's a "girl" but also a clever one who's mother's neuroscientist at the time and father is (unfortunately) a cop interested in psychology and medicine (criminal justice) she's a nerdy yet loud kid with...

multiple rows of sharp razor teeth they never grew out of (think of sharks and their teeth), glowing eyes, pale skin and an allergy to silver. Overall a decent kid with good grades but poor social etiquette that got her many wagging fingers their way.

The twins meet them when they happen upon the boys getting bullied, takes the rock that landed by their feet (via stanley) and gives a good ol bruise on one of the bullies' heads. They invite her to play tag, she's never had friends before so this was a new start at a new school!

Now as they grow up, both twins grow fond of them although both think there's something more to it than just medical allergies and dental anomalies (mostly Ford, Stan sometimes forgets and is faced with a scary looking stare that no girl he knows would be capable of but its all forgotten once they hang out at the arcade and watch cartoons)

TLTR: Divergent AU where the Stan twins grew up with a bff, who happens to be a monster that isn't what they seem. They're actually really sweet.

Below is more so more Lore (tm) and general info on what they are and some doodles I've drawn of them

Maybe wondering: Who are they really?

Good question! It's actually "What?"

A walker, biologically they have similar processes to a human, and in some of the rare documents on them seemingly are a long line of cursed humans, often getting confused for werewolves or vampires and its somewhat understandably.

Like both, they can transform, the only way however is to eat their disguise, and take on their form. "Replace" them. And it's thought that its more so filling from the soul rather than getting nutrients from the victim's body.

Recent times however, with modernization giving humans ample fire and silver they've become smarter-and some families of them growing moral backbones! Like Ann's Mother and her side of the family seeing humans as friends!! They hunt for more magical and conscious creatures of Gravity Falls (Hint Hint that's where Ann was born and the Wakes reside) then the other side of the coin are the ideologically different kind of walkers: Only seeing humans and other creatures as less than, prey, just something squish for the hell of it or for food without a second thought like a cat playing with a mouse (her father's side that doesn't disclose their diet)

Half the time you won't know until it's too late: either they go for a hug or a kill.

Side note:

Inspiration:

You know the concept of "The Stranger" from the magnus archives? Or even stupidly: Among us? What about the Thing? Or perhaps the entities from the mandala catalogue? All of these are once people that we knew but something has changed.

They are not who they are, They've been replaced!

And ironically a character who's best friends, and grows along side a character who's got trust issues galore and paranoia beyond measure loves and trusts a character that is a walker: the essence of not being able to trust people, even those you've known for so long

And being actually genuine and sweet!

also similar to Mabel, Stan is quite perceptive of other's emotions: including crushes-or seemingly crushes. Listen I've been through it too, yknow the ol' "Augh I'm in love you because you're first person who Gets Me/Are Just As Strange As Me/The Only Person Outside Of Family To Be My Friend" and it's the 80s so Ace wasn't quite a thing back then also pls do read it as two genderqueer people having perhaps a lavender marriage when they're both older lol

[graylinesspam]

Older sisters

post war, O66 never happened, Au.

Ahsoka had been loved, cherished as a little sibling.

She'd dealt with a rash of over protective brothers, that despite their physical circumstances managed to hit all the awkward preteen sibling experiences. Like giving her stern lectures on boys. Cheering on her first crush. Being generally awkward about puberty. And stuttering around obvious sex jokes they wanted to make so bad, but couldn't because she was there.

She'd been the kid sister, in all the little mundane ways that made their relationships rich, that swelled her heart with affection.

But she'd been more than that too. She had to be. Through whatever cruel circumstances, men that would slap their hands over a chatty brother's mouth to keep him from making a dick joke in front of her would also bow to her order. She held their lives in her hands. It was a concept she never truly wrapped her head around. And maybe never would. But it was a responsibility that she took very seriously.

First on the battlefield doing every damn thing she could to keep them alive. Then in front of the senate and al over the holoweb and anywhere she could get people to listen to her; To listen to them. Then briefly in the war again. And now, now she was the shepherd leading them into the galaxy. Not as soldiers but as free men.

Ahsoka was responsible for the clones in a way that many of them did not comprehend. They still believed that she was their kid sister. Little 'soka, come to play house with them while they all figured out how to live. And she allowed them to think that. She enjoyed it. Needed it even. Needed them to believe that they were taking care of her and not the other way around. Needed them to feel useful. Needed them to not feel indebted towards her. Not like some of the clones did.

Dogma, Rex, Cody, Tup. Too many brothers still looked to her with gratitude in their eyes. With a knee jerk response to do whatever she commended of them.

She didn't want that. She wanted them to figure out on their own how to be men. men who ran their own live. Who made their own calls.

But that didn't release Ahsoka of her responsibility. She may have left the public advocation for clones in more trained hands, Like Senators Chuchi and Amidala. Or the Jedi council. Or the new Mandalorian government. But Ahsoka handled the nity grity. the detail work. Ahsoka taught them as individuals, how to budget, how to pay bills, how to travel without GAR resources. All things she'd had to learn on her own.

She has a unique perspective living amongst men who were simultaneously much older and much younger than her.

Or, at least, she'd thought it was a unique experience.

When Echo turned up, he brought company. And lots of it. Clone force 99 were some of the roughest men she'd seen outside of the outer rim. Certainly rougher around the edges than any clone she'd ever worked with.

They were pleasant enough. Just strange for clones. Wrecker was a trendous help to have during the building process of the little compound they were putting together. As was Hunter. He was an excellent leader. He was deffinitly no Clone Commander. Every CC that Ahsoka had worked with had the same bow to bow acknowledgement of Ahsoka. Recognizing her rank and trusting her intuition. Hunter had no such inclinations.

It was actually refreshing. He argued with her more than anyone else did. Never hostile arguments. They were all civil. He as just a particular man with many opinions about how she was running just about any aspect of the compound. He argued with her the same as he would with any other clone. He broke the seal on making crude jokes in front of her. And was generally a pushy crass soldier in her presence.

And the compound benefited from it.

CF99 didn't strike her as the kind of solders who were ready to settle down yet. They still had that itch under their skins to get out there and do somthing. Anything.

She hadn't expected them to make any real effort to stick around until she met the reason that they did.

Omega was just the most perfect ray of sunshine that Ahsoka had ever met. She was kind, resilient, and optimistic. Even in the face of her most brazen and unlikable brother, Crosshair.

In a sea of brothers Ahsoka found herself a sister. She blames the little blonde girl for how Hunter puts up with Ahsoka's presence. Ahsoka and Omega clicked in that primal almost telepathic way that young girls do. Like magnets drawn to each other and disrupting the electromagnetic fields around them, bringing something young and untamed out of Ahsoka who at barely 18 often felt old.

They were close, which is why it didn't take Ahsoka long to recognize a pattern she wasn't aware even existed in anyone else, or ever could.

Despite her physical age Omega had a lot of authority with her brothers. They were quick to do almost anything she asked of them. Like a herd of new parents scrambling to keep their child happy. Many children would have become spoiled on the attention. Getting anything they wanted out of their guardians. But not Omega. With her big heart and her many years more life experience than her brothers. She used to her influence to take care of them.

To lure them to sleep with bleary eyed stories of bad dreams. Or forcing a decent eating schedule on them by insisting on having one for herself and making everyone else join her. Or railing in their wandering spirits with games, and challenges, and new emotional frontiers instead of the endless expanse of the galaxy. Or smoothing over their arguments with a subtlety that Ahsoka admired.

She was wise far beyond her years, and as much as she could twist her face into the bright eyed gleam of innocence Ahsoka often caught her looking contemplative and nurturing as she studied her brother. She ruled their lives with a gentle care almost motherly.

Another little big sister dedicating herself to keeping her brothers alive and together.

It was the only way Ahsoka could live her life after the war. And it seemed whatever happened in the labs on Kamino had the same effect of Omega.

She opened her heart to her little sister. Made a space where they could exist, exactly as they were. Kindred spirits in the galaxy. Living for love and learning to love living again. That dimming of something old and wizened in their eyes slowly transformed from something painful to something contented.

As they played their roles of kid sisters and eldest siblings.

[gingermintpepper]

Day 5: Orpheus

Interpretation notes and trivia under the cut!

Orfeu meu amor <333 Honestly this could be my longest ever set of notes or the shortest because unlike literally any of the other Apollonian figures in this, I have never once had to waver from what I wanted with Orpheus and that's an Orpheus without Eurydice. I know that sounds kind of strange, Orpheus and Eurydice have always been completely synonymous with each other but like, Orpheus is kind of completely batshit as a concept and I'm tired of pretending the most interesting thing about him is his love life?? His love life is cool, don't get me wrong, but we, collectively, as a group of people don't pay nearly enough attention to the fact that Orpheus was singer and musician so gifted that he made trees and rocks bow to him and he could stir even the gods to grieve from his songs. This is the guy who's song was so beautiful that not only did he outsing the Sirens, they also killed themselves upon hearing his song?? This is the man that was pulled apart but his head just?? Kept on singing??? So the Muses just???? Added his perpetually singing decapitated head to their choir??? There are depictions of Apollo using said decapitated head to help him teach people???? And we're gonna focus on him trying to get his dead wife back?????? Really?? Miss me with that nonsense, Orpheus is the witchest witch to ever witch and if no one else is gonna make him the disgustingly powerful bard he was in myth then I guess I'll have to do it myself. His femme appearance is mostly inspired by the highly ornamental raiment of kithara players and he consistently has some of the fanciest clothes of the cast apocalyptic hellscape be damned.

Some assorted trivia:

Son of Apollo and Calliope - was accidentally conceived during the period when Artemis had forbid Apollo from fraternising with mortal creatures in penance for him orchestrating Orion's death and so Calliope and the other Muses hid him away in the court of King Oeagrus. Didn't know Apollo was actually his father until quite a bit later.

Not a demigod as that would imply he's half human. Orpheus isn't exactly mortal either but he certainly cannot be harmed by most normal methods. There's no formal name for something half god, half muse and not deathless so Orpheus prefers to identify as the Son of a Muse rather identifying strongly as something strictly divine.

Older than Heracles! One of Apollo's oldest children still kicking about, actually, but he's treated like the youngest due to how fragile he'd been after Eurydice's death. Is generally better now than he used to be, but still tends to have depressive episodes every now and again.

Horrifyingly powerful. Orpheus' words are so potent that he does his best to not speak at all for fear of influencing the people around him accidentally. Has the uncanny ability to transmit his own feelings through his songs which can be both fantastic and awful. The Twelve had Apollo put a seal on his tongue when he was grieving so his song would stop completely disrupting the world. The seal's since been removed as Orpheus has had a lot of help working through his feelings. Now he paints whenever he thinks about Eurydice which is much more productive for everyone involved.

Argonaut, storied traveller, speaker of many languages, healer, teacher and storyteller. Teaches occasionally at the Parnassus Institute for Gifted Children and tends to be a favoured teacher whenever he drops by. Is responsible for a lot of very important people knowing some form signed or gestured language.

Has no set 'home' and wanders from temple to temple, sanctuary to sanctuary. His worldly belongings like his clothes and old paintings are currently with Asclepius and his family. Apollo has some of his stuff as well, but they're mostly special instruments like the holy lyre he used on his journey on the Argo.

Never keeps any money on him and is usually fed and clothed by the townspeople wherever he goes. Hasn't had to actually pay for something in decades. Has absolutely no concept of money because he'd forgotten it's a thing people need day to day.

Had a brief fling with Heracles while he was still mortal and the two remain on good terms even now. Heracles tends to visit him every now and again for a stint in some springs and good music.

Favourite colour is maple orange, favourite food is roasted pheasant with rosemary and thyme. Allergic to specifically pale yellow mead but is fine with raw honey and honeycomb. Aristaeus has been trying to figure out what causes his reactions for years now.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

I don’t know why but I got this idea in my head of Cater’s sisters being really into Ace’s brother. Maybe because I got Cater and Ace mixed up all the time when I first saw the character designs for TW.

Ah, yes. Putting more Heartslabyul boys in familial crises with the fear that their own [relative] may start a relationship with a [relative] of a classmate (the last one was Mrs. Spade + "Silver's dad") :)) That's been my favorite thing to write lately, lol

I wrote Cater’s sisters with the concept of bubbly, sociable girls and gyaru fashion/subculture in mind. There's a lot of "like" and "totally" in their vocabular! Ace's brother is 7 years older than him, so in my head I'm placing the Diamond sisters around that ballpark too. (We don’t actually know what the age difference between the Diamond siblings are, nor do we know that much about the character of the sisters other than having girlish interests and being somewhat bossy with Cater.)

Family means Nobody is Left Behind or Forgotten.

Head-turning was an understatement for the effect the Diamond sisters had on NRC’s general populace. The gemstone of their surname might have implied elegance in the right context—but they were more the gaudy kind of jewels, shining so brightly it was difficult to ignore them.

The Diamond sisters dressed loudly, talked loudly, and lived, laughed, and loved loudly. It earned them no shortage of strange looks and stares. Attention, but not the good kind.

The cards that Cater held so close to his chest threatened to slip out from between his fingers and scatter. Putting on an act was one thing—but when his sisters were present? A whole different act to balance.

People looked too closely. They wondered. All things he worked so tirelessly to avoid.

His house of cards threatened to topple.

“Is this really your dorm?” one sister gushed, disrupting Cater’s thoughts.

She gazed at the red roses that wreathed the lounge. Cards were also strung above to give the illusion of floating down. Suspended clocks ticking away the time, racking up the seconds.

“Heartslabyul’s, like, so aesthetically pleasing!” the other sister declared. “It’s like I just walked straight into a viral Magicam pic.”

“Yup, it’s my dorm alright!” Cater said quickly, careful to not let his smile falter. “Hey, if you like Heartslabyul, then we should check out the other six dorms too. You might find a place that vibes with you even more!”

“Really? But I wanna soak up the atmosphere of your dorm first!!” The first sister fell back into a quilted couch with a pout.

The second shook her head and tutted. “Let’s stop and smell the roses, okay, Cay-Cay?”

“Eeeeh? That’s easy for you two to say… I kinda get tired of smelling roses all day myself. Don't 'cha find it a little stifling? There are other places we could hang."

His sisters looked at him incredulously, neither of them willing to budge. He had feared this--their headstrongness had been the cause of many disputes as children.

"Maybe we could hit up the gardens then?" Cater offered, changing up his tactics. "It's so big, and there's so much to see there! Lots of 'cammable spots! We could spend all afternoon wandering it and getting lost~"

Hopefully out of sight for the entire day. It was more energy than he had hoped to expend, but it was a concession Cater was forced to make.

At this, the Diamond sisters leapt up excitedly.

"Omg, pics with floral backgrounds are like, SO hot right now. It's the season for it!"

“Is there a flower archway? Or a trellis we could pose in front of?”

“All that and more!“ Cater beamed and gestured to the open door. It led into a twisting hallway, checkered in black and white squares. When he looked to his sisters, he mustered all the eagerness he could. “Come on, let’s shake a leg and check it out!”

“What, you’re checking me out?”

“… Eh?” Cater whipped back to the doorway.

A man was now there, casually leaning against the frame. He wore a confident grin on his handsome face, poised with the laidback sort of swagger of a street-smart alleycat.

Riddle would have blown a fuse at how he dressed—his vest was open, his shirt wasn’t fully tucked in, nor full buttoned. His tie was loose too, and tossed over the shoulder… and, worst of all, he had the same impish glitter in his cherry eyes as Ace did. Double trouble, it seemed.

“I didn’t think my lil’ bro’s classmates would be so into me,” the Ace-like man joked.

Cater blinked as realization kicked in. “Eh, could it be that you’re Ace-chan’s…”

Right on cue, the first year in question popped up from around the corner. He crammed himself in the doorway with his brother with a groan.

“Would it kill you to wait up for me?!” Ace cried indignantly. “Just cuz you’re visiting your alter mater doesn’t mean you can ditch me to run off and do whatever!”

“Can’t help it if you still can’t outrun me,” his brother smirked. “Maybe you oughta work out some more.”

“Yeah, right! You just got a head-start is all. I bet I’m WAY more in shape than you are!”

Yup, that pretty much confirms it… They argue like siblings—I’d know it anywhere.

"I didn’t know your brother would be dropping in," Cater began. Rapt gasps cut off the rest of his thought.

“O. M. G.”

The blood in Cater’s veins ran cold. He didn’t need to look to know that something had completely entranced his sisters.

They were both suddenly on either side of Cater, sandwiching him between them. "Cay-kun, who’s this cutie?! Where have you been hiding him?"

For once in his life, he was at a total loss for words. Cater stared pleadingly at Ace, his puppy dog eyes (a technique he had learned from many fake Magicam apology vids) on full blast.

The first year wiggled his brows at Cater, then strolled forward. He slicked hair back with both hands (he had seen it once in a movie) and made what he probably thought was an attractive expression. “Ladies, ladies! I know I'm hot stuff! No need to clamor, there’s plenty of me to go around.”

The Diamond sisters flew right by him, snubbing the boy.

"... Huh?"

Both Cater and Ace gawked as the girls clustered around the older of the Trappola brothers. One sister took hold of his right arm, the other, the left, in a desperate bid for his attention. The Diamond sisters giggled coquettishly, batting their eyes at Ace's brother and toying with locks of their hair.

"Hey, cutie~ You free right now? Cuz we totes are!"

"Let's ditch our bros and get to know each other better! You're, like, def our type."

"Oh, you've got to be kiddin' me," Ace groaned, face-palming.

His brother smiled languidly and shrugged. "Sorry, my dude. I can't help being a chick magnet. Better luck next time."

"You don't sound very sorry about it!!"

"What else is a guy supposed to do in a situation like this? I'll make it up to you somehow, promise!"

"Aw, you care about your little bro's feelings? I love that," one of the Diamond sisters swooned, a hand to her forehead.

"Hot and considerate? He's the total package!" The other traced a light circle on his chest, a longing sigh drawn out from between her lips.

"Oh, BARF." Ace yanked on Cater's sleeve, demanding, "Uh, a little help here, Cater-senpai?! You CAN'T be okay with this, right?"

"Eeeh, you seriously want me to get in the way of true love, Ace-chan?" he pulled back, both hands up--distancing himself from the situation. "Sorry, but I'm not up for it."

"Oh, come on! True love, my ass! You're fine with your sisters peacing out on you to flirt and make goo-goo eyes?!"

"Honestly, whatever keeps them out of my hair~" Cater replied with a mischievous wink. "And besides, I don't want to deal with the potential fallout if they kick up a fuss about it. Haven't you ever heard of 'hell hath no fury like a woman scorned'?"

With a grin, the third year wrangled his junior by the shoulder and brought him close. "I should actually be thanking you, Ace-chan! You got me out of a real tight pinch there~"

“Yeah, and now you put me in a pinch!” he groused back, shoving Cater away. There was no shame to his senior’s smile, only smug satisfaction. “Traitor!”

“Geez, that’s mean of you to say. I didn’t ever promise you anything, did I? We just happened to cross paths and things worked out in my favor 🎵”

"Well thanks for NOTHING, then!"

[system-architect]

ok here's my collected JW thoughts in general. obviously this is spoilers

OK.................................... so i think anet is Back. its not quite "we are SO back" levels but it COULD be "we are SO back" levels depending on what they do in the next installment

they did good, though, and i think the most obvious jump in quality is actually in the maps themselves. they feel so much better than soto maps just to run around in and explore. theres a LOT more detail and they actually feel pretty intriguing and immersive with a lot of fun easter eggs and surprises!

the story didnt always hit for me but it was still overall Better than soto. the first instance alone grabbed me more than all of soto had tbh. the bears don't personally interest me but the mursaat do, and we're getting somewhere with all the bloodstone and titan stuff

i DO enjoy the angle of the commander starting to go kind of lie-lie man acting in personal interests. isgarren is a bitch but we can also be rude to waiting sorrow for no reason oops sorry nice again haha oh man how'd this bear teleport here that's craaazy.. there were points at which i actively lost track of who we had lied to about what and when, and while the confusion grated me a bit it was also funny in a way? like yeah if i was the commander i'd lose track of this shit too right

the commander doesn't have much of a personality technically, beyond "person who does good(TM) things", and what we make of our canon commander's personality is mostly just our own notions and conceptions and interpretations being placed on them, BUT that said it felt like the story did take the commander in some interesting directions for me.

i felt like i got the sense that the commander really is sort of a "free agent" now, which is fun. when you've already killed all the dragons and your life's purpose is TECHNICALLLLYYY over but you're still around and you're still many things to many people, what do you do with your life? this, apparently.

i like us being kind of a mirror of isgarren in the sense that the comm is an ultra powerful guy, with a lot of worldly+scholarly experience at this point, who a lot of other very powerful figures respect and Need, but that not everyone necessarily Likes. yeah this is our free-range deployable killing machine politician who's kind of strange interpersonally.

my favorite instance in the whole story was the one with the bloodstone ghosts btw. i thought they did a really good job imbuing each with a fair amount of personality and showcasing a wide array of perspectives on what happened in gavril-- a thing which i was prepared to not be particularly interested in tbh, and yet...

ALSO, the voice actor for the gavril citizen ghost was SUPER good! i'm pretty sure they were a new VA but i'd really love to hear more voicework from them. in general i felt a lot of the VA work in this xpac banged-- it feels like they got a decent amount of new/fresh talent?? it's been nice, i hadn't realized how stale the world was starting to feel only hearing the same 3-5 voices constantly (no shade towards the longer-standing VAs who DO do a good job, i just wished for more variety)

REALLY liking the amount of unique voice lines and racial dialogue also

features wise its also been pretty good! i like the repeat renown heart thing plus the return of the hearts. as a revenant with a condi set i cant say ive got any issues with the spears LOL. and warclaw is super fun once you get the hang of it-- i like that it has a learning curve and some nuance like most older mounts do, as opposed to skyscale's fairly 'flat' mobility. have NOT really tried out decorating my homestead yet and ive heard mixed opinions on it, so we'll see how i feel there!

[yanderecandystore]

Hi I'm brazilian, sorry if my english is wrong. But I can order a yan with a sweet wizard boy where he lives in a house made of candy and attracts people for him to devour, I don't know if you've read the story of the brother grimms, of Hansel and Gretel (or Br: João e Maria). How about this concept?

I'm so sorry but I struggled with this one so bad, I made so many versions of this but always fucked up at the candy house part 💀 (I couldn't imagine how to write the reader getting inside, or even finding it even though it was supposed to be the most obvious part lmao) It's very short 👉👈

Also lmao your English is great boo, welcome to the candy store, thank you for sharing with me this idea! It was actually pretty funny how challenging I thought it was X'D

TW/Tags: a little sadistic/more dehumanizing yandere // mentions of: weird/abusive family dynamics; cannibalism; drugging; kidnapping; gore; severed body parts; the usual yandereness although without the soft/lovey fluff I usually write // delusional (he is as sweet as someone who who eats humans could be- I want to write more but I kept messing up so much I died ⚰️)

🍭꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍰꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖🍭

Pumpkin Pie [Yandere!M!Cannibal!Wizard/Witch x GN!Reader - Scenario (?)]:

You were having tea inside a colorful house, your vision was very blurry and your ears felt clogged, and to make things harder to understand there was a heavy and pretty mixed up smell of sweets and candies, overwhelming your nostrils… You don't remember when or how you got in, or why, but the tea was nice so you kept drinking.

You were having a nice time with a stranger who you don't really remember the name of… He wore a weird suit for your town's weather, actually it was just off in general… But you thought it looked nice…

He smiled at you blissfully, clearly having a good time… You felt like you were having a good time as well… You like to think so.

Okay, to be honest you couldn't feel a single thing, your legs were numb and you felt like your head was way too heavy to move it around. You barely felt awake at all. So you just assumed it was probably a strange dream, after all you didn't know this man, right?!

He was talking to you… You didn't understand what he was saying, the smell of something tasty was being baked… Pumpkin pie maybe…? How long have you gone without one of those? Your father didn't like how much sugar you ate, so you were restricted to only a few sweets… But he probably wouldn't be mad about one slice of pumpkin pie, right?

The man patted your head endearingly as he smiled at you, he seemed to not care much about how you weren't paying attention at all… You thought that was sweet of him considering you were always considered an airhead by your family.

… Speaking of them- Shouldn't you go home soon? I mean, this is very pleasant and all but you don't remember how long you've been here and the things that happened beforehand feel like a blur… Your family had a curfew and you didn't want to get in trouble again for breaking it.

Ah, but what could you do? You were just so curious about the forest beside the mansion. You secretly hoped to see fairies or anything magical whenever you went there, ah, how wonderful it was to escape your responsibilities as middle child for at least a few moments.

Sure, your family was wealthy, a lot better than most people in town, but you wished you didn't have to stay inside all day… Your older siblings would get to work with the family mine business while your younger siblings got to play and study all day long, and you? You were sort of the second servant of the house, there were many expectations placed on you and not enough attention to your interests and dreams…

You already miss Ms. Bell, she is such a nice lady and sadly your only friend in a big almost always empty mansion. Actually, you're not even all that bothered about being a "second servant" because you actually like helping her out.

Ah, sweet Bell… She always told you to be careful out in the woods, people would often go missing, especially people who have zero expertise about finding their way in and out… Ms. Bell, always so caring and wise… If only your family listened to you more like she does…!

While you kept drifting into different topics inside your own head, your vision was starting to come back to you and your ears seemed to get better after a while… Your head was still very heavy and it aches as you look around and notice- This guy has a weird taste for decor! Seriously, there's candy everywhere!! Actually… Was everything MADE out of candy?! What the hell?

Wait, you can hear humming, you can hear him better now, he is singing a nice tune as he gets up and takes care of the pie in his oven.

"You're finally awake, or at least more awake now! I'm sorry for what happened before, the dose I gave you was probably too strong, I guess it is just a habit of mine. Please forgive me." The man said in a joyful way, smiling at you like he did before… His voice was familiar but nothing to really help you remember.

"I guess I haven't introduced myself properly, then again I didn't think you would make it this far- I don't know why but I couldn't bring myself to let you go to waste. You have a very sweet smell and I couldn't help but wonder what it would taste like." He acts as if what he said was a compliment, and you strangely enough nod your head, feeling a little dazed still.

Yeah… but, what was he talking about? This conversation was weird and it was starting to worry you a little bit.

He brought to the table you were sitting on his pie so it could cool down while you two chatted, and filled the table with a plate of muffins and another of small bread. They looked incredible!

"You can eat how many you like! Consider yourself my guest, it's actually very nice to have someone over after such a long time…" He sat down in front of you and started to pour you more tea.

"I think it's clear to see I don't really do this, well, my name is Zirick, and this is my house! Don't worry, I'm not mad about what you did earlier, it happens all the time! And of course, my house was pretty much made for it, ya know?"

You didn't understand what he meant, so you told him your name and apologized for not only not remembering what you did but also for doing something that would offend him.

"Oh Pumpkin, it's okay! It's my fault your head is as empty as my cup of tea- My spell was supposed to just knock you out but I guess it was a little too strong and in return made you lose a few memories! But don't worry it'll come back eventually…"

"What I'm talking about is that you stumbled around my land and… Well, after seeing my house you couldn't help but want to take a bite off my walls! But I fixed them already so that's fine."

What? He knocked you out with a spell?? For eating his walls?! That entire sentence didn't make sense to you, you would never randomly eat someone's walls!! Even if they were delicious and even if you… do remember snacking on them… a little bit…

Ugh your mind was a flurry of thoughts, it was like different ingredients being violently mixed together and not mixing well! (Heh, cake comparison! You sure he would have loved to hear that one).

Well, invading someone's property like that was not a good thing but you weren't sure if knocking them with a spell or two was a good way to deal with an intruder… Still, you apologized and said you were going to find a way to pay him for his sweet wall. He waved you off laughing to himself.

"Oh but human money is worthless to me, and besides you have already paid me- Oh! Speaking of which, I just have to make sure this pie tastes good- I would offer you but I don't think it would taste, little Pumpkin."

He started to cut himself a slice… It was very red and meaty for a "pumpkin" pie, yet it smelled like one to you… And to him too.

Your senses were starting to get to you, you started to feel worried as the man was staring at you expectantly, you looked around and saw a peppermint clock on the wall, it marked 10 and you were sure by the darkness outside the window it meant 10p.m. You tried to get up and excuse yourself, after all you needed to get home soon or your family would end up getting mad at you.

But before you could actually walk away, you fell hard into the ground. You noticed you weren't feeling your legs properly, that's because one of them was missing.

"Don't roll away now, you're my guest today, remember? And besides, how far can you go without help, silly?" Zirick came to your aid very quickly and helped you get back to the chair immediately.

You tried to push him away, you bit him, you slapped him and even tried to kick him with one leg- It didn't work, he still knew how to tranquilize you into going back to your dreamland…

"Shh… Ah, how sad. All my guests get like this… You're a little fiesty for such a sweet Pumpkin, but I somehow can't get enough of your company, perhaps when you wake we can start again…"

He licked his dirty, bloodied fork eagerly. Normally he would have turned you into a massive pie but he wasn't THAT hungry and surely just a leg would be enough, and you were adorable walking around in the woods like a little adventure! He couldn't help but trick you into coming closer and eating a piece of his house- He needed a reason to get you inside of course, an eye for an eye, as they would say.

He isn't sure how he'll go about this but he likes your company, especially when you're too dazed to have any inhibitions or sense of privacy when talking to him! He could hear you sleepily mumble for hours, you were just so sweet to talk to, and to taste!

🍭꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍰꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖🍭

[thevindicativevordan]

it’s a shame that after Tom King’s Strange Adventures clearly positioned Mr Terrific as the clear avenue character for DC to do modern sci-fi adventure stories, they still never choose to do anything fun or worthwhile with the guy outside of the short lived Terrifics and lame ass JSA stuff. he’s SEVERELY underutilized and i’d love for Waid to have him be a big part of the new JL run. personal thoughts on the guy?

I love Holt because he’s such an American character.

We Americans love our trash talkers. Oh we publicly make a big deal about the need to stay humble and respectful, but don’t believe that for a second. Look at our heroes and icons! Only thing Americans really respect are winners, and we love winners who can walk their talk. Michael Holt comes from the proud tradition of American heroes who can do just that. He’s incredibly smart and he knows it. He’s fantastically competent and he shows it. He’s Mr. Terrific! - able to cut through the bullshit with his mind or his fists as need be. And he doesn’t take crap from anyone.

Like Hal Jordan or Barry Allen before him, Holt might not be the first character to hold the mantle, but he’s the one who made folks respect the name. No offense to the Terry Sloane fans out there (if you exist), but there’s a reason Holt is the only Mr. Terrific who ever gets used. He’s simply cooler than his predecessor in every way. His backstory, his design, his attitude, his powers, despite sharing the name I even hesitate to call Holt a “legacy character”. He’s more in the vein of a Hal Jordan, taking the title but reinventing the concept, than a Barry Allen or Wally West who is steadfastly trying to live up to a pre-existing ideal. How many people even know that Holt wasn’t the first Mr. Terrific? Who would care if they did know?

Holt is living in the timeline that John Stewart fans wish they had gotten after the DCAU. Far as the general public is concerned, there’s only one Mr. Terrific. Which I would be happy to see DC continue to act as if that were the case, I know this rubs against how most people view legacy as central to DC, but I don’t believe that any story about Holt “struggling” to live up to his predecessor’s example will ring true. Besides, it’s unnecessary.

Mr. Terrific already has plenty of baggage on his own to deal with. His unresolved trauma over the deaths of his wife and their baby, his mentally disabled older brother dying young also, his need to excel at anything he sets his mind to, his atheism in a universe where the gods are not only real but actively involved, the all but stated fact that he might be smarter than Bruce and Lex, but put himself in third place to not attract attention, and leading his own team the Terrifics. Returning to OP’s statement, I too bemoan Holt being trapped on the Boomer Squadron. Yes it’s expected given Geoff Johns created him to be part of the team in the first place, but like Wally on the Titans, Holt has outgrown his original team.

Making him the leader of his own team simply makes sense. Unlike most of his peers you can justify all sorts of adventures for Holt on the basis of SCIENCE! or simple adventure-seeking. The JL are not wont to taking field trips but the Terrifics have no problem doing that. Holt became an Olympian athlete simply to prove he could. He’s exactly the type of character who can easily justify a trip to space or through time simply because he felt like doing that. DC made it explicit but Holt always has been the natural counterpart to Marvel’s Reed Richards.

DC struggles to create teams that don’t languish in the shadow of the League. No matter the protestations to the contrary the Titans and the JSA absolutely are stuck in said shadow. Mr. Terrific and his Terrifics however don’t have to be. Market them as explorers and adventurers rather than crime fighters and they would have a niche that isn’t covered by anyone else at DC, with a mandate to go anywhere and do anything.

[cipheramnesia]

hello i am giving u an excuse to talk about the chucky TV series because i generally don't like horror but i watched it and it was great

My friend... this goes so much deeper than the TV series.

DATELINE 1988! The horror movie slasher genre is THRIVING in the boom of video and cheap rental stores. Jason. Freddy. Michael. Already household names, nay! Heroes! Enter one Don Mancini, young and queer and ready to share some fear with a little idea knocking around in his head about a killer doll. With little more than a dream and few friends he tackled the enormous task of crafting the next horror legend. On the advice of a lawyer friend, he loaded Chucky up with distinct, trademarked features and made sure copyright on the titular killer doll was his and HIS ALONE.

Child's Play, the original Chucky movie, debuted to instant classic status. To modern eyes it may seem strange that a concept as silly as a killer doll could ascend to the heights of the holy triumvirate, but SIMULTANEOUS to Chucky we found such properties as Cabbage Patch Kids and My Buddy dolls - a virtual BUFFET of saccharine toys just begging for a counterpart with edge, and Chucky edged hard. The My Buddy doll never recovered as millions of children globally cowered from the mere TRAILER of Chucky and his slimeball snarl voice broadcast it's way to hearts and minds. But this wasn't all, no, for you see Chucky had a most peculiar gift, the gift of a soulful heart.

While many other slasher movies focused on a test of wills between survivor girl and unstoppable monster, Child's Play was first and foremost the coming of age story for Andy Barclay and his, Karen. In particular credit must be given to actor Catherine Hicks who never wanted to be in a horror movie, and made the conscious decision to play Karen as a straight dramatic role about a single mother and her son. In a sea of peculiarly good choices, it perhaps was hers more than any other that granted Child's Play a quasi-Spielberg-esque movie magic to transcend the genre stereotypes and absurd premise, to create something unique.

While she would not return for Child's Play 2, the die was cast with Alex Vincent as Andy and Brad Dourif as Chucky. We saw the introduction of street smart older stepsister played by Christine Elise. With a bigger budget, nastier deaths, and a truly grotesque version of Chucky, Child's Play 2 is likely considered the best in the series, as it predates the series' later campiness and had the delightfully rubbery 80s practical effects. Not me though, I love them all except of course Child's Play 3, the military academy one, which rounds out the first arc of Chucky. For a little while.

In 1998, just in time for a ten year anniversary, Chucky would RISE AGAIN, in Bride of Chucky. You see, while Don Mancini no longer had the rights to the Child's Play name, he still owned Chucky. Would this new chapter in the knife wielding minimaniac mean the previous continuity was dispensed with? NO, for this series was and still is violent killer baby of ONE MAN and his found film family. Instead, Bride of Chucky would introduce a new member of the family, Tiffany Valentine, played by the inimitable Jennifer Tilly. In this chapter of Chucky's tale, he and Tiffany took center stage, with no consistent protagonist, and a greater focus on absurd humor. Bride of Chucky and Seed of Chucky are both movies which give the sense of perhaps Mancini himself being more comfortable with his sexuality, more open and free. It was also the turning point where Chucky would go from a by the numbers slasher to a metatexual interrogation of the horror genre itself.

Besides playing with self referential comedy and genre references, Don Mancini introduced an in-universe awareness of Chucky's prior crimes, both as a human and as a doll, including the set of an in-universe movie (Chucky Goes Psycho) starring actress Jennifer Tilly. Hang onto your butts, because we're going in hot. If Bride of Chucky felt like it was going to weird places by having two dolls fucking and working on their romantic matters, Seed of Chucky abandoned all pretense, enjoying the presence of stuntcasting like John Waters and Redman (as himself) in roles specifically for gruesome deaths. But Jennifer Tilly was the central meta tornado.

Try and follow this. Real actress Jennifer Tilly plays Tiffany Valentine, who gets her soul transferred into a doll which is also voiced by Jennifer Tilly. Subsequently Jennifer Tilly also plays fictional actress Jennifer Tilly (who is otherwise identical to real world Jennifer Tilly), cast to play Tiffany Valentine in fictional fictionalized account of the fictional world real events of Child's Play 1 & 2, and also to voice the fictional Tiffany Valentine doll along with fictional Brad Dourif voicing the fictional Chucky doll, both dolls created for the fictional movie Chucky gets lucky. However, the fictional dolls get possessed by the real fictional characters Chucky and Tiffany, still voiced by real actors Brad Dourif and Jennifer Tilly. Eventually, Tiffany is able to transfer her soul into fictional Jennifer Tilly.

So, hang with me, in Chucky this means that fictional actress Jennifer Tilly (played by real Jennifer Tilly) is now possessed by fictional real murderer Tiffany Valentine (played by real Jennifer Tilly) who has to pretend to be fictional actress Jennifer Tilly (as played by Jennifer Tilly).

Beyond all this fuckery, Chucky and Tiff must cope with their new child who vacillates between Glen or Glenda, a kind of bigender or genderfluid character at a time when those ideas weren't very widespread, but which feels deeply informed both my Mancini's experience as a gay man, and also the long history of queers in Hollywood. At the conclusion of these two movies, it seemed like we were done with Chucky, with Tiffany living happily ever after as Tillyception and Glen/Glenda now living as two children, having their soul split into the twins fictional Tilly was pregnant with.

However, it seems that these five movies total instead were a kind of foundation for the next generation, when Chucky returned in Curse of Chucky and Cult of Chucky. Together these movies added a new layer of recursion, and might be called the Nica Pierce chapter. Both films featured less camp, and a more serious tone which, initially seemed to imply an intent to reboot the series. This was, of course, a fake out as Mancini not only revealed the new movies as a direct continuation, but also gave Chucky an illegitimate human daughter in the form of Nica Pierce, played by Fiona Dourif, the real world daughter of Brad Dourif. Not only that, but we would get the reintroduction of a long absent character, Andy Barclay, still played by Alex Vincent.

In the reprisal, Alex Vincent, an actor who was damaged and traumatized by being a child actor in movies like the original Child's Play, plays Andy as an adult damaged and traumatized by his experiences as a child in the original Child's Play.

Now, eventually Chucky gets control of Nica and Fiona Dourif does drag to play young Chucky and there's fucked up lesbians and gay kissing and a priest explodes, but all that happens in the TV series. What I'm really needing everyone to get at here is that from 1988 up to RIGHT NOW Don Mancini has kept continuity of plot AND ACTORS, with two seasons and an upcoming third which incorporates every single movie detail. A series which, while silly at times, always both respects its audience second, but FIRST is itself above all. Every single movie and episode has been something which set out to be its own thing, free from control or demands of conformity and it always has been, like it or not, love it or leave it. Somehow the killer doll movie has turned into a 35 year long and counting love affair, a found extended nuclear family both on screen and off.

And perhaps the best part is how much the queerness has been given a chance to flourish, going from a whisper of an influence in early films, to campy comedy later, to fully realized queer relationships in the series. Not only that, but it's always seemed to treat its atypical protagonists with a humanity and respect few other media properties manage. The young Andy works so well because he's an actual character, not just some kid, treated like a capable and thinking human. Tiff and Glen/Glenda are bizarre but never dehumanized, never treated as undeserving of human kindness. And Nica, a paraplegic, is amazing, with her disabilities informing the plot, but not innately treated as some definitive limit or inspiration porn. It's rare for so many disenfranchised characters to get such a human treatment, and frankly bizarre that the murder doll series is the one to do it. But that's kind of the real beauty of Chucky. Every character is human first, before anything else.

In fact, there is only one character who is genuinely human second, and it's Chucky himself. Now I'm not saying there's no room for complex antagonists, but in all Chucy movies, the one constant is this: Chucky is a total dick. Not evil, not a menace, just a pure all out asshole. Chucky is a piece of shit person first, murderer second, and that's GREAT. You will never be in a position where you hope the evil murder doll succeeds (Tiff excepted). You will never stop and wonder "Gosh maybe Chucky is secretly a good guy deep down." Chucky is always a gaslighting selfish prick who wants to live for ever and kill everyone, full stop. It's beautiful, it frees the mind to dwell on the humanity of other characters because you never once are getting asked to give the lying cheating manipulative little fucker the benefit of the doubt.

I don't know what it is, but Mancini just gets it. He gets the best and the worst of people and that's what makes this whole machine tick. It's huge and overwhelming to think of how many people and plotlines and stories are encompassed by Chucky and then like a falling air-conditioner it just slams into my head: "Oh yeah, this is about a killer doll."

[ingravinoveritas]

I thought I was the only one who weirded out by the fact that a mother can define ON THE INTERNET her own daughter a “drunken accident”. Like??? Everyone find her so funny. Maybe I have no sense of humor, but I can’t tell from experience that knowing to be your parents’ accident hurts A LOT. It isn’t something you want to make public. And yes, she’s definitely bragging. We get it, Georgia, you’re the luckiest woman alive, now chill. There’s no need to remind us about your sex life, unless you have something to prove...

Hi there! I'm so sorry to hear of your negative experience, and that it affected you so deeply. It's a curious thing, too, because in the same post where Georgia wrote that caption, she has Birdie's face censored/covered up. So seeing her kids' faces is too private, but sharing that piece of information (about Birdie and about Georgia's sex life) is somehow okay? Because that seems like a pretty strange disconnect.

I also think what a lot of people are missing is that in many cases, using the word "accident" when referring to a pregnancy also tends to correlate with "unwanted." There is an entire media trope built around this that we see in both TV shows and movies (i.e., an older sibling saying to a younger sibling, "Mom told me you were an accident"). And while this can be and has been played for both comedy and drama, the underlying negative connotation is the same: That Sibling #1 is saying it as an insult/to be hurtful toward Sibling #2. And that feeling of being unwanted is not something lightly brushed aside.

But if the comments on this post are any indication, you are definitely not the only one who felt weirded out by Georgia's caption, and I would not at all say it has anything to do with a sense of humor. This is par for the course for Georgia, as she posted this about Ty on Valentine's Day last year (putting it side by side with today's post, so we have the comparison):

...As well as her repeated use of the hashtag #vaginabragsunday (or just #vaginabrag) when making posts about her kids. She even (inexplicably) used that tag on her post for David's 50th birthday a few years ago.

The common thread with all of these (the post about Birdie, the post about Ty, the post about David) is that these posts are meant to be about someone else, yet she manages to center herself in them instead. That's where I think much of the issue lies for many of us--that this post for Birdie's birthday was phrased as if directed toward her, yet Georgia is using it to brag about her sex life, and clearly aiming that/the post itself at the general public.

Which brings me to your assertion about her having something to prove. As we know by now, Georgia has pretty much built her brand around the concept of--to borrow a terrific turn of phrase from @clayisforgirls--"I shagged David Tennant and you didn’t." But what I feel like some people are missing is that "I had sex with David Tennant" is a world away from and not the same thing as "I had sex with my husband David, the man I love." And if she needs to brag and seek validation from complete strangers--on her own kid's birthday post, of all places--that seems to speak volumes about the state of her and David's relationship, and not in the way that most people commenting today seem to think it does.

Thank you again for sharing your thoughts with me. I think folks often feel like they can't speak honestly about these things in the fandom, so I'm glad you felt comfortable enough to do so. Thanks for writing in! x

[dailydemonspotlight]

Sandman - Day 132

Race: Night Arcana: Strength Alignment: Neutral-Chaos October 22nd, 2024

Mr Sandman, sand me a man. Make him the cutest man car door hook hand.

Dreams have always been an incredibly curious part of human existence as a whole, and many different cultures around the world have looked for ways to explain the phenomenon, one that we, even now, don't fully understand. After all, even with our relative understanding of why they form and how they work, dreams are still a bit of a mystery in the terms of their purpose. This brings us to back in the day, however, when we knew even less- dreams were even more obscure in their origins and their role, and as such, like many things, people looked to folkloric explanations. Case in point, our subject, the Sandman: the bringer of dreams in traditional European folklore.

Traditionally a Scandinavian being, though one that spread throughout much of Europe, the Sandman was a popular figure that existed to help people fall asleep and grant them dreams. One of the earliest accounts we're aware of, being an 18th century German dictionary of the supernatural, speaks of just this, as 'der Sandmann kommt' (literally 'the Sandman comes') was an idiom used to refer to someone who looked like they were just about to sleep. The phrase was also typically used to refer to a child who would rub their eyes, or alternatively had rheum under their eyes upon waking up, and essentially was a joke about the fact that the Sandman had thrown sand in their eyes while they were asleep/to make them fall asleep.

However, as time went on, the Sandman began to take on a far more literal role, solidified in the famous 1817 story 'Der Sandmann,' which paints the figure in a far more antagonistic light; as the story goes, a young boy is told of the story of a 'Sandman' who would throw sand in the eyes of anybody awake in the wee hours of the night to make their eyes fall out, after which he'd steal their eyes and bag them up to feed to his children back home. This eventually ended up inspiring the story Ole Lukøie, which was a far less horror-focused fairy tale. The 1841 story speaks of the eponymous Ole Lukøie, roughly translating to 'Mr. Shut-eye,' who would be a fairy-like figure who brought a carton of milk to pour in people's eyes to let them sleep.

However, with the strange translations of the story early in its lifespan afoot, Ole Lukøie would be described as 'throwing a powder' into people's eyes instead, and somewhere down the road, someone decided to call him the Sandman instead. As time went on and the concept evolved, the Sandman became detached from Der Sandmann and more associated with Ole Lukøie. Now, with the myriad of poems and stories about him being related to him bringing good sleep instead of, well, stealing the eyes of children, the Sandman became a far more friendly figure who brought good dreams and inspired imagination far and wide. He was said to have told stories in the night, bringing about what dreams were, bringing this all full circle.

Shin Megami Tensei takes the theme of sleep and night to a head with the design of the Sandman, as his head is literally a moon, and the sack he carries is filled with the sand that the Sandman would toss into the eyes of children to put them to sleep. I'm not sure why his preset dialogue in most games is on the older side, though, as several interpretations of the Sandman show him as a child- it might just be a translation thing, might be connected to his general race as a Night (which is a fun nod, honestly,) or it could even draw connection between him and the original story. I'm not sure, but still, it's a fun and memorable design in the series that has barely changed over the years for good reason.