#'maybe it Was just learning and it only became 'evil' because it learned from murderous tourists!'

[godsfavoritescientist]

Finally rewatching some doctor who, and the episode 'midnight' is such a different experience now what the fuck.

Spent the first half of the episode like "wait the doctor IS being reasonable this is an undiscovered lifeform its just trying to learn things its not its fault people think its creepy </3" and also "this is a bit more contrived than I remember. Why are all these tourists down for Murder after 20 minutes of someone repeating what they say." But of course the episode is having so much fun with itself that I'm having fun too <3

Anyway my crack theory is that the midnight creature is post-finale bill, due to the line, while possessing someone, of "I can move, I can feel again, I'm coming back to life" and all the really obvious evil little smiles

[klausysworld]

Ok so I have a desperate desire because I read and writte to forget my traumas

So the reader is a werewolf and she was raised in a toxic home, both her parents were aggressive on her, they die and she was forced to live with her uncle who abused her, this when she was a teenager but now she is 20something but has no choice but to remain with him, until klaus finds her and turn her into a hybrid

She was very happy with that because she was finally free

She is very smart and loyal and always does the best to please him, including coming up with the best plans to destroy his enemies, so he grows to like her and to be very protective with her and obviously he falls for her

One day he tries to kiss her and she pushes him always, but she does like him, just can't deal with that kind of physical contact

So later she finds him and explain that and he finds out about her pass

Of course he kills the man because abusers have to die and he promises her he will always protect her and they will go on slow until she feels comfortable because this man can be evil but he respects consent

Something more

Y/n hadn’t grown up with an easy life.

Any physical contact she experienced brought her pain and distraught right from a very young age. The few times she was given ‘affection’ she knew it would be a trap, a way to twist people perceptions of her family. So that they thought she was loved. Wanted.

But deep down she knew that no matter how good she was, how hard she tried, they would loathe her whether they had a reason or not.

So she tried to learn from her experiences, she began to sense when danger was approaching her, when something bad would happen and exactly how someone felt. She was able to decipher peoples thoughts just by looking at their eyes and although that didn’t make the abuse she faced easier, she hoped it would become an advantage when she grew up.

She just had to hold on and struggle before she could get there.

And eventually she was able to use this extra sense of hers when she was selected by the one and only Original Hybrid.

She couldn’t have been happier when he told her she was to be a hybrid. That she had to come with him, to serve him. Not that serving him bothered her, he promised to be a fair master as long as she behaved. She was good at behaving, learned it a while back. And he didn’t plan on letting her run very far away from him which meant that her family wouldn’t be able to steal her back.

He would find her.

And she counted on it solely.

Which is why she would do anything she could to please him. She knew when something was wrong and was able to warn him of danger that was headed for him.

She knew when he was angry, she knew what to say to calm him. She knew how to stroke his ego in a way that had him offering her all kinds of luxuries.

He enjoyed her company, her reliability no matter the occasion. She would drop anything if he asked her to, she was ready to help him in his plans. Willing to do anything he required, whether it be as simple as making him a cup of tea or as drastic as jumping in-front of a stake for him.

He didn’t realise it was because she had little regard for her own life. That she didn’t care what she did, live or die, as long as he didn’t lay a hand on her. As long as her uncle didn’t have her.

And she was grateful that Klaus never once harmed her, rarely yelled at her like he did his other hybrids. Didn’t threaten her and grip her neck in a murderous manner or throw glass at her.

He spoke to her, confided in her and she felt that maybe he would trust her even if it were just a little bit.

Because she trusted him.

She trusted he wouldn’t go back on his word, that he would be kind to her for as long as she was helpful to him. As long as she respected him and obeyed his commands.

But somewhere along the way, her desire to please him, the seriousness of the situation became thinner. She wanted to make him happy of course but now she didn’t have the abuse attached to the idea, she just wanted to see him smile.

And god did he smile for her.

He had never been known to smile nearly as much as he did than when he was with her. Just her presence brought him some sunshine to his day.

After a lot of coaxing, he managed to break her out of her shell and got her to share about her passions. He loved the way she would get lost in certain topics, the way her eyes would gloss over as though she was experiencing everything she loved all over again. She was so beautiful when she got excited and invested in things. Many paintings of her were hidden in his art room from the times he was unable to stop visualising her face, her eyes and that lovely shine she seemed to emit.

He had never had someone, who weren’t his family, care for him the way she did. And he knew it wasn’t because she was sired, she was the only hybrid who was so undeniably loyal to him. To put in every ounce of effort to make him just a tiny bit happier.

He admired her talent when it came to recognising even the slightest change in someone’s emotions, she could read people like the back of her hand and she fed everything she found out straight to him.

It wasn’t long until he found himself craving her touch and love. He adored her affection, the little compliments she would utter to him with a soft blush coating her cheeks.

He wasn’t sure what they relationship classed at, where the lines and boundaries were.

For instance he realised that he very rarely got very close to her. She often sat opposite him rather then next to him. She kept a reasonable distance between them and he couldn’t remember is she had ever casually placed a hand on him. The only physical contact he could remember was when he was covered in blood and barely containing his anger, she had very reluctantly sat right beside him while gently wiping the blood from his face with a hand on his shoulder.

But she didn’t seem to mind when he brushed past her every now and then, so he tried to make more of an effort to have her feel more comfortable with him.

He didn’t want to just be her master, he didn’t want her to see him as someone she had to beg and bow before. He wanted her to feel like she could be herself any time she wanted. He wanted her to come to him with a worry of hers or to open up about her life before becoming his favourite hybrid.

It was a topic he was never able to find out anything on. The mere mention of her family or where she lived before would shut her down entirely. It was the only time she had acted hostile to him and he remembered very well how she responded and steered clear of it until recently.

He tried to slowly weave it into conversation but never got any further.

But he did feel her getting less robotic around him. She allowed him to understand her emotions and he realised that some things he did or said could upset her or scare her and he didn’t want that but he was glad she was comfortable enough to tell him that he was making her feel uneasy.

A large step for them was when they were out in public and y/n had gotten frightened by something in the distance, he wasn’t sure what it was that had spooked her but her clutching his hand with hers was all he needed to know that he would protect her as long as she would let him.

He thought it was quite obvious that he had feelings for her. He was a very flirtatious man and he had made it abundantly clear that he wanted her. He always took her blush into account and the fastened putter patter of her heart as a good sign.

He didn’t think it might’ve been fear or that he was really just making her feel like a toy.

He wasn’t sure what to do when she reacted the way she did, he didn’t know how to make it better for her.

He just knew that it hurt.

Having her shove him back, pure discomfort and fear in her eyes as she stumbled back.she wiped her mouth roughly with her sleeve and aggressively wiped the skin of her cheeks where his hands had held.

“Y/n-“ he took a step forward but the look on her face make him take it back

“No! You don’t do that!” she yelled and he felt his heart take a hit

“I thought-“

“No!”

He felt ridiculous. He felt something he hadn’t experienced for years: embarrassment. And he had no clue how to approach it.

So as he thought would be best, he avoided her. Cleared his throat and left the room when she entered and busied her with pointless tasks and tried to let her be.

Until she finally came to him.

Her heart racing and a lump in her throat as she waited for him to come to his bedroom door. An immediate blush on his face as he tried to think of an excuse to have to leave

“Love-“

“I’m sorry” she whispered and he frowned

“Sorry for what? No, no you didn’t do anything wrong. I was out of line…I shouldn’t have ki-“

“I led you on, I think I wanted to kiss you…I did but I changed my mind” she whispered with furrowed brows, unsure how she can confront it

“Changed you mind?” He questioned confused but seeing her distress he just nodded “okay, that’s okay. I was a little too rough with it, you’re a sweet girl and I should’ve been softer”

“I’m not very good at…dealing with…touch” she mumbled and he tilted his head “especially um..rougher ones”

He hesitantly placed a hand on her upper arm, happy that she didn’t shrug him off and instead came inside his room, allowing him to close the door and then both sitting side by side on his bed. His hand dropped to lay by hers and she slowly slid hers into his with a quick glance to his eyes.

“I like you y/n, more than you may like me…I love our time with each other and I adore our friendship but..I would love to have something a little more..if you would be interested in having more…with..me?” He wanted to slap himself as he gave an awkward smile to her and her lips upturned slightly

“I would…but I can’t” she whispered and he felt his face become hotter as he looked to the wall behind her. “And it’s not anything to do with you, I promise that I wouldn’t do that to you. I never want you to feel any less than you are..I just…I can’t do more” she tried to explain but it only confused him more.

“Why not?” He asked and she brought her hand to her mouth, nibbling at her nails as she tried to move around the topic she so desperately despised

“Well…I’m not very good with touching and well kissing and other things that you want to do involve a lot of things that I just can’t do” she muttered.

“I wouldn’t make you do anything you didn’t want to-“

“But you want to and I can’t make you feel like you need for something that I can’t give you. I can’t have you rely on me to…satisfy you. I’m sorry but I can’t”

“If you’re afraid of sex-“

“It’s not that”

They both fell into a silence and her hand no longer rest in his. He sighed as he tried to find the words to make her feel better.

He studied her for a moment, trying to remember what she had told him when showing him how she read people.

He noticed the way she shielded her body from him, the way she tried to push her discomfort and pain into a stoic mask. But there was something in the way she behaved. He tried to recall their last interactions, every time she had a similar expression.

And after a few moments, when she was about to get up, something clicked inside his mind.

“Y/n,” he spoke her name softly “if someone did something to you…” he watched as her eyes turned a little colder and she stood up defensively

“Nobody did anything-“

“If someone important, a family member perhaps-“ he tried but he was making her angry

“You don’t know my family. You don’t know what they were like, they could’ve been lovely” she countered but he just saddened further

“But they weren’t…we’re they?” He asked gently, standing up to face her but not aggressively or confrontationally, just so that she wouldn’t run out on him. When she kept quiet he tried a different approach, “you know…when I was young, my father was a cruel man” he began, his eyes in hers which were looking down. “There was no explanation for why he did it, even before he found out that I wasn’t his biological child, he wholeheartedly despised me. Some people, well if you can even call them that really, they are cruel to people for little to no reason. Some people don’t deserve to be parents, especially to such extraordinary life like yourself my love”

Y/n looked up at him, her skin hot and felt as though she needed to itch it at just the thought of having this conversation with him. Klaus was never meant to know about this, he was just meant to be her sire. She was meant to please him and that would be it. So she had a little crush on him, that didn’t mean that he had to know all her secrets, shamed and humiliations. But looking up at him, seeing him lay his heart before her, she knew he wouldn’t judge her like she once feared.

“My parents passed when I was younger, they were very…harsh and they didn’t exactly like me very much…I think I ruined their lives” she whispered and he felt his expression soften. “So I had to go to my uncle” the last word alone had tears springing to her eyes and he knew it was a sensitive topic. “He um…he didn’t exactly appreciate my coming to live with him” she murmured and he gently took her hand again in an act of comfort.

“Did he hurt you, sweetheart?” He asked softly and she nodded

“He just…he-“ her tears overflowed and he found himself taking cautious steps closer, standing just before her so that her body nearly touched his

“I’m going to hug you my love, is that okay y/n?” He questioned and waited for her nod before wrapping his arms around her, loosely to begin with and tightening them as she buried her face into his chest and cried her heart out to him.

“I’m sorry” she whispered through her sobs and he kisses the top of her head lightly

“Never be sorry, this will never be your fault. You are so strong, so gorgeous, nothing could change that. Nothing.” He promised her as her hands gripped his henley firmly as the physical affection overwhelmed her a little much.

“I hate him” she whispered

“I will do anything I can to make you feel safe my love. He won’t walk another day on this earth. Do you remember the address?”

“Klaus don’t be silly-“

“Silly is a word that should never be used with something like this. It’s not something to brush of my dear, I will rid you of him forever. Please sweetheart, let me help you just this once. If not for your piece of mine then for mine okay?” He convinced

“Even if he’s gone…I can’t…”

“I know that. And I won’t push you to do anything, ever. Just…just allow me to care for you the way you deserve to be. I want you to know the warmth that love can make you feel. Any pace you want love, just don’t shove me away yet, please know I would never hurt you, never leave you or disrespect you. I won’t touch you unless you are one thousand percent, whether it’s a hug, a kiss or maybe one day…if you ever feel comfortable then maybe something more.”

[megbanned]

Ik I said the Doll one in a reblog but shhhh

Evil AU ideas ig?? Idk I just woke up from a nap my mind is going in circles

Evil!Doll:

-Never committed a murder in her life

- you know what? In fact shes Hemophobic (or whatever the equivalent term is for oil instead of blood) and will faint at the sight of oil

- Her worst crime was stealing Evil!Uzis pink cat eraser and glitter pen

Evil!Lizzy:

- Not popular

- not a cheerleader

- is the nerd outcast instead of the one bullying need outcasts

Evil!Thad:

- Hates sports

- Isn't as nice and chill and cool :( he's kinda an asshole instead

- despite that he's secretly s coward, when the DDs attack he hides instead of trying to fight

Evil!Cyn:

- NOT POSESSED BY THE SOLVER?! Real!!

- we don't see a lot of her as herself, but instead of her and N having a caring sibling relationship they instead have a rivalry & argue a lot

- Instead of being kinda shy/hiding behind N and clinging to him like in Ep5, she's instead overly confident

Evil!Absolute Solver

- Not Evil

- Instead of destroying planets they either fix them or create new artificial planets

- Hasn't killed Tessa!

Evil!Tessa:

- Not dead (yay)

- Hasn't actually rescued any of the manor drones, her parents did instead (in this Tessa would dislike them whilst her parents like them)

- Annoyed by N

HOHOHO

Some of these ideas are canon! Let's see 👀

Evil!Doll:

-She is very talkative and maybe a little jealous of Evil!Uzi since she is the sweetest person in the class and with whom everyone gets along well while Doll only appears to be good, because she is hiding something... (I still need to think about this)

Evil!Lizzy:

-Yep!, that's correct with her!

Evil!Thad:

-Yes too!, he is the bully until DDs appears just to hide!

Evil!Cyn:

-Originally brought to Tessa being affected by the AS, however she begins to regain consciousness. -As she regained consciousness and control of her body she became more confident. -Has a certain rivalry with N, at certain points she makes him look bad on purpose. -Tessa's favorite drone. -More will be added-

Evil!Absolute Solver:

-Created by humans as some form of hacking the JCJenson company! -The AS was implanted in Cyn to cause a disaster and boycott the company, but now Cyn is aware of this and thinks that humans only want to kill each other using other drones, she will prove them wrong, and will end them... humans should never have given uncontrollable powers to an IA -More will be added-

Evil!Tessa:

-She's alive!! -Yep! -Her parents brought the drones for her to give her more company (although they are both loving and care for her a lot), Tessa still had to continue learning to live with other people (in this case the drones), but J was somewhat lazy, V was very uncontrolled, N looked very tormented and Cyn… she was different, she was very good to Tessa, but it was just a mask. -Yep, was annoyed by N (caused by V and Cyn)

[whumpbby]

Tbh i really hate when ppl act as if Jiang Cheng was "rotten from the start" and never actually cared about Wei Wuxian as a brother. Like, in the latter's case we can see he cares very much but that care is very much mixed in with many negative feelings, it's like when you love someone but they hurt you but you still love them, you want things to go back to the way they were before but they can't and they won't. On the former it's pretty much canon that he was an ok if high strung young man and losing everyone he ever loved in very close proximity to each other is what made him be the way he is today, he's not evil (he'd be hotter if he was) he's just angry and bitter for very valid reasons

I think it takes an extreme case of Protagonist Bias to think that. And not even following the actual protagonist's thought process - just being biased on their account in some sort of a projection. Kids these days got to used to having their bad guys colour-coded.

People are so desperate to cast a villain to the Happy Couple they will grasp at any straw to justify their opinion. They will ignore every piece of text that explains in detail why things are happening and why he's acting the way he is - even to the point of ignoring the protagonist explaining what happened and how. They will literally ignore the protagonist they're wanting to stan just so that they can have their villain. Wei Wuxian needs to be massively nerfed and woobifed for the whole shitshow to start making sense. Literally, a man with no agency! Poor helpless victim! The poorest little baby, no one suffered as he did!:(

Meanwile, Jiang Cheng's biggest sin in the novel?

He's not nice.

That's it. He tried to protect Wei Wuxian from his mother. He did all he could to bring Wei Wuxian home after the war against his best interests. He walked away from Lan Zhan being a dick when he could have easily caused him problems. He only ever fought Wei Wuxian when it was either staged or he was attacked first (in the much brought up ancestral shrine scene that people don't seem to have actually read).

But he's not nice about it. He's not even stoicly stiff like the ever-amazing Lan Wangji (who only ever cared about one thing in his life, and it's the man he wanted to fuck roughly in the bushes-_-).

It was barely a decade from having his whole extended family horrifically murdered, so obviously he should be fine by this point. (We can ignore the main plot of the decade-in the making-revenge-plot, that's not important, that's not a theme at all!) At least he should learn to repress his trauma! Because that ended great for the protagonist, right?:)

You need an intense case of lack of comprehension to miss the fact that, until the very moment of the Core Reveal, every bit of information Jiang Cheng had available to him pointed directly to Wei Wuxian being at fault for the tragedy his life became. The only doubt cast upon that conclusion was the spark of love that he could not kill. JC trusted Wei Wuxian for as long as he could. He trusted him - against a myriad of signs that he maybe shouldn't have - until the man killed his brother in law.

That's where any sane person would stop and reconsider.

And yet he was still willing to be convinced otherwise - until his sister died in his arms.

Like, this is what it took for JC to snap.

If someone says that Jiang Cheng was "rotten from the start" that only tells me they have skipped the whole fourth of the book that tells us in detail why Jiang Cheng wasn't a bad kid and how much he loved his family and Wei Wuxian. It tells me that they are here only for the romance and can't see anything else, certainly not character development (why would they? Wanxian don't develop throughout the story in any impactful way except of "oh, hey, we can be together and not care about anyone else - just like we did it before, but now with fucking included!"). It's like people who don't read books cannot comprehend the fact the author thought about this shit and put it there on purpose. It's not something that just happened to fill the pages between the Romance bits for the word count. That's, like, the actual meat of the story? These people have the critical thought capacity of a fucking tiktoker-_-

The author is telling us: look at these kids that were raised in a broken family and how it affects them as teens and young adults. How it affected their relationships with the people they love and demolished their self-worth. Look how a broken family can leave it's children scarred for life!

The idiots online: one is an innocent angel that never did anything wrong and the other an evil, selfish and hateful brat, got'cha! I am very smart!

-__-

[thepacifistrouter]

Portal Zelda AU

Hello everyone!! So, the other day a friend from the Chelley Discord server mentioned this idea @violetstar-arts, I loved it very much and, after a bit of cooking, I made some art based in it with bits of lore here and there and I just wanted to share it here.

Context!!

Okay, in this AU GLaDOS, Chell and Wheatley are the Triforce Holders, the three of them being veeery unexpected Triforce Holders (if you know the games, you know why, but I'll explain it anyway)

First, GLaDOS, the Triforce of Power Holder, an extremely inteligent and strong Gerudo.

Descendant of Cave Johnson Gerudo equivalent, former leader of the Gerudo tribe and who was believed to be the next Ganondorf and holder of the Triforce of Power, but things (that I haven't decided yet) happened and he died, probably murdered, so she took his place. GLaDOS always thought that she could do a better job than him in the sense of being a Triforce holder as far as her tribe leader, being both lovers of technology and science, inspired (or maybe even envying) what the Sheikah could do, they decided to make their own technology for the Gerudo, who they considered deserved and could do more. With her superiority complex and excellent ability, not only in combat but in creating weapons and tools. Unexpectedly for others, she was right and turned out to beshe the perfect bearer of the Triforce of Power in the current times. I need to build a couple of things, like the motivation to make her the main enemy of the first part of the story, her goals, her and her people's relationship with Hyrule, etc. I can only tell you that technology would be strongly related.

Second, Chell, the Triforce of Courage Holder.

A hylian villager who leaves with the village's blacksmith (not quite sure of her job in the village, maybe farmer, maybe lumberjack, maybe blacksmith aprentice) who is really close to her, takes care of her and taught her to fight and haunt. She is well known in the village for being really brave and determinated.

Even though no one believed that she was the new bearer of the Triforce of Courage, since everyone was expecting a Link (a pretty or cute blond who doesn't talk much), everyone thought that she could be it perfectly, so when those close to her found out, it was a big cause for joy. She is a big justice believer, determined to do the best she can for others, specially those she cares and for the Kingdom no matter what she has to go through or how many times she has to get up again. It is something that she would have done with or without the use of the Triforce, so she is the ideal bearer, even if it is unexpected.

Third, Whealey, the Triforce of Wisom Holder and Prince of Hyrule.

Probably the most unexpected one, absolutely nobody expected from him to be the Triforce of Wisdom Holder, little less to be the current Hylia's incarnation! but, since there were no more childs in the royal family, no mather how much his parents tried, the castle's inhabitants, at least those who knew about the matter, began to consider that perhaps no princess would arrive and that he was the one they were looking for, which did not make them too happy since Wheatley was someone talkative, impulsive, clumsy, insecure, emotional and childish, pretty far from what could be expected from a Triforce of Wisdom Holder or Hylia's Incarnation.

But as the truth became undeniable, Wheatley went from receiving little attention from everyone around him because they thought he was annoying and because the priority was other, to receiving too much attention, but in a bad way since they still thought he was annoying, he started to be overloaded with duties and learning.

In the middle of this, he is cursed under mysterious circumstances, becoming a floating orb. Worried, they consult a wise man for help and advice, Wheatley must find the hero chosen by Hylia and help him defeat the evil that was looming in the Kingdom, only then could he activate and find the power necessary to break his curse. He was the one able to find the new Triforce of Courage Holder, becoming her cute little assistant (the kinda that normally accompain Link) the first half of the story, being a secret his actual identity. She was the first person to ever actually believe in him and trust him.

For now this is all, but I'll post more soon I'm also hopping to be able to read what Violet herself have for her own AU once she has her writting done. She is very creative and cool and spiring :3

See ​​you all later!

[tragicbeauty1991]

Today I got called a “murder apologist” (and other not so nice names) by someone who apparently does not like the fact that I love a good villain redemption arc. Let me explain a few things…

First off, welcome to my blog. We believe in the inherent goodness of humanity here. We believe in love and forgiveness and that people can change. We believe in kindness over bitterness, in hope over despair, and in reconciliation over revenge. And if that’s not your thing, maybe this isn’t the best blog for you to check out. And that’s okay. People are allowed to have different opinions.

Second… We recognize that there is a difference between fiction and reality. Just because I like a character and want to see them come around to the side of good does not mean that I approve of any or all of their actions. Murder is bad, kids. I think we can all agree on that point. I don’t support the character’s evil deeds. I support the idea of them working through the reasons they got to the point of doing them and then coming out on the other side of it as a better person who wants to try to make up for their past. I also recognize that there is a distinct difference between a fictional villain and a real-life serial killer in jail. I’m not that person who’s gonna be caught sending love letters to violent men in prison. I am, however, fascinated by them and am the kind of person who will listen to podcasts and watch documentaries that investigate the psychology of such people. I like to see what makes people do the things they do and I firmly believe that in the vast majority of cases, there is more than a little bit of nurture lacking in the “nature or nurture” cause of evil. People aren’t born evil. Learning how and why they became teaches empathy. And yes, I can empathize with them and still think they’re a terrible person. Maybe I’m naive, but I think the world can use more empathy, and I’d rather be a little too kind to someone who might not deserve it than bring more hatred into the world. Real people often don’t change their ways, but it does happen. And fiction allows a safe environment for us to play around with that idea.

Third… In the words of Wonder Woman, “It’s not about deserve.” Do I think these characters who have done awful, horrible things deserve to be redeemed? Probably not. But that’s the thing about grace and mercy…they are inherently undeserved gifts. And that doesn’t mean you don’t set boundaries. It doesn’t mean you put up with abuse. It doesn’t mean that actions don’t have legal or emotional or financial consequences and everything is automatically all rainbows and butterflies. Forgiveness isn’t a feeling. It’s a choice. It’s choosing to allow the legal system (and God, if you believe in Him) to do its work and taking yourself out of the equation in terms of offering vengeance. It’s not allowing yourself to get walked all over, but it’s also choosing not to go walking all over your enemy when you have the chance. Also…redemption isn’t something that happens overnight. It’s hard work. It’s a long process of the person slowly coming to realize that they were in the wrong, grieving deeply over the wrongs that they have done, and doing the best they can to make up for it by living a different sort of lifestyle. It’s not a single choice to do one good thing. It’s a million little choices to do the right thing instead of the easy thing over and over and over again. It’s stumbling along the way and making mistakes and getting back up and trying again. It’s learning to control anger and to accept that love and friendship and fear and heartbreak aren’t weakness. It’s learning to put others before themselves when before they only ever had to worry about looking out for Number One. To use a recent quote from the Loki series, “Raze it to the ground. That’s easy. Starting over is hard. Hope… Hope is hard.” Redemption doesn’t always mean a totally happy ending. It means becoming a better person, and there is often a lot of pain involved.

Finally, I’d like to conclude with the words I once heard from an Orthodox priest that really stuck with me and which I think are especially relevant to how I approach my thinking in both fictional villains and my actual fellow human beings… “Other sinful human beings are not the enemy. They are slaves of The Enemy. And you don’t hurt your enemy’s slaves. You try to set them free.”

[katyspersonal]

Do you think that there are characters who stand for absolute justice or absolute evil in bb？🤔

This is a hard question! Almost everyone in Bloodborne is morally grey in terms of motivation, I'd say! In terms of intention. For example, Alfred is a religious fanatic that beats Annalise into a bloody mess in """righteous""" quest, but in his head he is doing a "good" thing as he is convinced Vilebloods are just bad and it is "not fair" that Logarius has to suffer because of one instead of being buried. Micolash has done uncountable amount of horrible things, but in his head humanity was "not worth it" anyway and evolution and knowledge is worthy of any sacrifice. In fact, it is actually a reasonable assumption considering the setting and all the cosmic horrors Byrgenwerth scholars have learned! Suspicious Beggar is literally just trying to survive, trapped between being not a full human neither a no-longer-sapien, "innocent" beast. You can see why this is so complicated...

The bad guys

I'd say Valtr is the closest to being 'absolute evil'! Vermin is something that could only be seen during keeping his rune burnt into mind, but every Hunter defeated with Impurity in mind + every boss defeated with a League confederate drops Vermin. We thus could assume that virtually everyone has Vermin... or does not, because lore calls it an "illusion". But regardless of interpretation, Valtr is an absolute madman that keeps pulling people into a crazy cultish activity to exterminate all life. But even then, it is closer to 'May Chaos take the world' issue than to simply revelling in relentless murder. Even Valtr tries to help the world, albeit by cleansing it from the life itself sdhfhds Fromsoft is very good at writing insanity, which by definition can't be true evil.

Amelia is a good candidate for being true evil person - maybe long after Laurence's corruption and death, the head clerics willingly exist on borrowed time! They know the blood is not as efficient as it is preached, they know they are not helping Yharnam's citizens, they know they're feeding on what the decaying city still has to offer, they know their end will come sooner or later but they choose to be selfish and use it up while they can. But even then, how can we be sure Amelia was not indoctrinated and brainwashed since childhood and is not stuck in the idea that such existence is "honorable" and DOES something? How can we know whether she has a successor? In my headcanons, she actually became aware and deliberately did not leave a successor (and ate the superiors that pulled her into all this, actually!). So the corrupt system ends on her!

And, of course, Flora / Moon Presence. The one who benefits from the vicious cycle of blood and hunt, yet also somehow from people that attempt evolution through cosmic knowledge. It is just hard to judge a deity from the standpoint of human morals.... But she is more or less a leech on humanity, especially on its suffering, despair and blood. I think I'll count her too... I guess.

The good guys

This one is so much more simple! We have the little girls and their mother Viola, who are easily just a simple family that wants to live! Gascoigne might be more complicated, especially since he's falling for blood-drunkness and paranoia. He announces he won't take any chances with people even if they are not beasts yet! Gilbert, Lonely Old Dear and Arianna also are probably just good people that want to live and do their thing. (Narrow-Minded Man not so much because he is a judgemental asshole that will poison people's daily lives outside of the hunt xd)

Simon certainly stands for justice. He wants the truth to be uncovered, and for the Nightmare to lose its fuel so people do not have to suffer for generations for the sins of their ancestors! I think Henriett is a good girl too - her items and boss summons imply that she used to work with the Healing Church but detracted. However, she is still a hunter, fashioning herself as one of the old ones (this is what 'default' Hunter set is). And she only kills Amelia after she becomes a beast despite her gripe with the Healing Church, right?

And, of course....

According to Miyazaki, Iosefka and especially the Imposter are good and heroic! I can absolutely see the intention. Iosefka is simply a good doctor that tries her best, and she also notably cleans the blood she gives from the blood cells. I've had a theory on how it is useful and very responsible, but additionally, since she is a white doctor, meddling with the holy blood this way should be... heretical? Iosefka disobeys dogmas of her own institution because "cleansed" blood will be better and with less side effects. Fauxsefka, on the other hand, is turning people into Kin so they physically can't become beasts instead. Her kind of good, again, deals with insanity. For an average person, what she's doing makes no sense and she appears to be evil doctor experimenting on poor people... But in the bigger scheme of lore in its entirety, she has a good point. Beasthood stems from humanity... Remove the humanity from humans - and they are safe! She even says this herself, that "we should transcend our stupidity" or something. Think of Micolash, but... kinder? Or even Valtr, but kinder. xd Miyazaki was right that what makes her a hero and not a villain is hard to understand, but I do!

Thanks for the ask! It was interesting to think about! I love philosophy!

[elains]

Some ideas on Theia, Fionn, Pelias and the High Lords

Since House of Flame and Shadow is coming out soon, I want to leave this registered here for posterity hahaha. I'm doing most of this by memory, I haven't really reread, so any mistakes you find that's probably it lol. Also this is WAY more focused on CCity and its character's than ACOTAR proper.

ACOSF introduces us to the Daglan and Fionn, the First and Only High King of Prythian. According to the Prythian side of the legend, he has a sword called Gwydion which was dipped into the Cauldron by the High Priestess Oleanna, which he used to defeat the Daglan. Milennia of peace followed, the land was divided in the precursors to the courts, but then they were at the brink of war. He became High King and was betrayed by his best friend and his Queen, who was also queen of her own territory in her own right.

In Crescent City, we are introduced to the figure of Queen Theia, the Starborn Queen who led the Fae out of their homeworld and brought them to Midgard. She had two daughters, Helena and an unnamed second one. She was betrayed by her most trusted general, Pelias, who then married her daughter and forced her to bear his children. Her other daughter escaped, never to be heard from again. The Starsword beloged to Theia. Come HOSAB, we learn it and Gwydion are one and the same.

Applying Occam's Razor to these two characters, the simplest outcome is that Theia was Fionn's wife and the one who betrayed him, Helena and Nameless Daughter are their children, and Pelias is the best friend and general who betrayed him. Fionn probably wasn't a great person because let's be real, Theia found Aidas later and SJMs has a thing for making past love interests looking bad when a new one is in town (example: Shahar for Hunt).

I don't want Fionn to have been evil! And I guess this is what these ideas boil down to. I'm not even gonna call them theories because they aren't really based on hard evidence. Just fun What Ifs, possible parallels, headcanons. Who knows? So without further ado:

What If Pelias played the role of Iago?

We all know Pelias is utter trash. He betrayed his Queen and forcibly married her daughter so she could be the mother of his now royal children. If he was Fionn's best friend, I have exactly zero reason to think he wasn't trash and power hungry then too. All in all, regardless of what Theia and Fionn's relationship was like (and I want to believe they were both good people), I believe Pelias was the root of all evil.

I can see him feeling inferior to both: Theia with her blazing starlight compared to his meagre one and Fionn was probably remarkable in his own way. I like to think that though they didn't love each other, there was respect and trust and even camaraderie. They both played their part in expelling the Daglan. Fionn got to be High King and married Theia, who was Queen of Dusk. He was their friend, relegated to their shadows.

This gets even juicier if we accept as true that Pelias was always a Starborn Prince. Maybe he was Theia's illegitimate brother, maybe a distant relative. I can see him wanting everything his friends have: the crown of High King, the title of King of Dusk, everything. Greed and Jealousy that drove him to manipulate his closest friends into turning against each other and ended with Theia slaying Fionn.

He never got to reap the rewards in Prythian, though: Theia's killing of Fionn sent the realm into disarray. We are told the Fae were lured to Midgard, and I think that's because Theia took the chance to flee a whole land that wanted her dead for her crime either for justice or their own greed (we will come back to it). Theia escaped believing Pelias was her friend and trusted general. I don't think they were ever lovers. Maybe that too played a role in his jealousy and anger, how Theia never loooked his way and found love with Aidas.

Regardless, he betrayed and murdered her anyway, dooming her daughter to a lifetime of unhappiness.

What if Fionn and Theia were siblings?

Frequently, across Crescent City, we hear that the Starborn have intermarried to keep their bloodline pure (how utterly Targaryen of them). We have yet to hear about any historical examples of such unions, but Fionn and Theia provide a fine opportunity for this to be brought to the table. The Last Starborns marrying out of duty to keep their bloodline pure in their old world. It also goes well with how Gwydion and Truthteller are siblings blades, one belonging to each.

Could Theia have been a Queen of her own territory in her own right then if they were siblings? Why not? Plenty of queens in history were queens in their own right, regardless of their husbands. She could have been the oldest and heir to the Dusk Territory, Fionn the younger sibling who was chosen as the High King. Or maybe he was the eldest and gave up the throne to her. Maybe the territory passed down in the female line or to the strongest starborn. In any case, it's not really a hurdle.

In this scenario, Pelias as their best friend (distant relative/bastard half-sibling/wtv) still works. In fact, it complements it because it highlights Pelias's hatred and envy for them both. They get everything, he gets nothing. Taken further if Fionn didn't have the Starborn's light, but was a legitimate prince.

It would also create an interesting parallel between Ruhn and Bryce. Siblings, one dark and one light. "Maybe there's a knife for me out there", Bryce herself says. Ruhn's the older brother and as far as we know, the heir, but it's Bryce who is most often compared to a Queen. Not him, though if I recall, Bryce think she will be a good ruler. She is right. Ruhn might carry Pelias light, true, but his shadows are Fionn's.

This time, it doesn't end in tragedy.

What if Theia was Fionn's daughter?

This is VERY far-fetched, I freely admit to it, and was born out of me trying to rationalize the difference between ACOSF and CCity: Gwydion is Fionn's sword, but it'salso the Starsword, which is Theia's.

Simplest solution is either: it was Fionn's and Theia took it all after she killed him and Midgard doesn't have the full story or it was always Theia's and Prythian remembers it incorrectly. The Dread Trove we know was likely made by the Asteri and it wasn't originally Fionn's.

Crackpot theory: Fionn was the Starborn King, hero to the Fae, and married the Night Queen to secure his rule (that's where shadow power would have com into the bloodline). Fionn and his Queen have a daughter, Theia, and Theia herself has two daughters of her own. Who fathered these kids is 100% irrelevant. Sarah didn't give the Archeron sister's father a name, I'm not holding my breath he isn't just a no one.

Pelias is Fionn's best friend and general, and madly jealous of the man. Likely wants to marry his daughter, too. In any case, he and the Queen betray and murder Fionn, intent on setting Theia on the throne. In the end, Pelias tricks Theia into believing it was all her mother, and he is on her side. The Night Queen, ruler of Nightmares, was always a means to an end. Maybe she was aligned with the Asteri too, considering the Wild Hunt imagery in the CoN.

Or maybe the Queen was dead by then, and history has conflated her with Theia. Maybe Theia, Queen after her mother, thought her father was becoming a tyrant and decided to kill him. Maybe Pelias pushed her into it, thinking he could marry her. We actually never know how long Fionn reigned. Theia never stole anything at all: it was always hers by right. She was to be the next High Queen.

And then the High Lords intervened.

What if the reason Theia fled to Midgard was because of the High Lords?

Theia was lured by the Asteri to Midgard. But why? Why did she gave up everything in her former world to a new one? What could have driven her to take such a risk? I think she wouldn't have, had she any other choice. Theia was, to put it simply, pushed against a corner because she had a rebellion in her hands.

If she killed Fionn and he was recognized as the High King and well loved, this may as well have started a rebellion. Not even because he was a good king (maybe he was), but for their own power. The Royal House is in disarray, regardless of its familial arrangement, and what better place to strike? They do not want a High Queen whatsoever.

So they attack Theia. Maybe at some point she loses parts of the Dread Trove, which is why Helion has the reaction he has to the mask: it's an echo from when his ancestor used it against Theia. In any case, she's fighting a losing war. Her people will be eliminated. She's losing and desperte, and the Asteri's call is her salvation. She doesn't notice the trap.

Victorious, the High Lords weave history to be whatever he wanted, twisting or erasing the role she played. And, perhaps, this is why there have been no High Ladies: there's magic preventing it, magic which the first High Lords established to keep the power at bay, because Fionn's only heirs were women.

And this closes the bunch of ideas I wanted to write down lmao. Probably none of this will become canon but hey, it's fun to think of other possibilities! Again, this was all by memory, incosistences galore, self-indulgent, I don't really expect any (except Pelias is the Iago but that's pribably what EVERYONE thinks, but I needed to write it down for the rest to make sense you know).

[mable-stitchpunk]

Do you think The Mimic is pure evil or just one very unfortunate bot? seen a pretty big group of people lately saying its just pure evil but I'm unsure if a learning AI can actually be pure evil, esp when you could potentially contain and correct its behavior and AI.

While I do hate what the Mimic is now and that its just a charmless Ennard, I do think the Mimic has a ton of potential especially if a redemption path is taken with it, its a learning AI, its not set to be what it is forever, and with the theory that Cassie survived as well as Roxy I think its a perfect set up for Mimic redemption.

The Mimic could watch the positive interactions between Roxy and Cassie and learn like its supposed to, while I don't see it being immediate the Mimic could go from hostile to just... not exactly nice but not murderous, harsh, cautious, curious. And personally if anyone was going to befriend the Mimic I do think it'd would be Cassie, she feels empathy even for scary things that chase her.

But I doubt this would ever happen, its taking away a big scary bad guy from the plot and not putting another one in, even if I think the new big bad should be whoever owns Fazbear Entertainment now, there is some super shady stuff going on there. I think unfortunately the Mimic may be doomed to always be a shallow Ennard, a big scary monster and nothing else, even if it shouldn't be.

I feel like, from what we've seen in the books and game (and ignoring the random inconsistencies through some of the interpretations, that Mimic is pretty much just an evil supervillain who is bad. Sort of like Eleanor except sometimes it strictly mimics and other times it's aware. If it's possessing Helpi when his eyes go yellow, then it also occasionally acts like some of the variations of novel William.

By which I mean, Mimic could be a complex villain, but I just don't see it happening. A lot of what it is was piecemeal from other characters and backstories, which already doesn't show much originality on its part. And looking at the characters who directly inspired it, Eleanor, I don't foresee Mimic to be anything more notable than Afton replacement.

There of course ARE a few routes they could've or could go that would make Mimic more interesting. Here's some ideas:

Have Mimic actually not a sentient creature but instead does just mimic everything. In that case, it could mimic someone like Cassie or Roxy and become friendly- only to risk becoming aggressive again if it gets the chance to lock onto another subject to mimic.

Have Mimic be Edwin's child and have his resulting aggression and switch into villainy triggered by what Edwin did to him. A sort of reverse-Henry scenario. Plus, maybe there can finally be some thematic repercussions for the abuse and trauma the haunted animatronics went through. The new villain being a victim.

(I don't personally like this idea, but in case you want a shocking twist) Maybe had the Mimic be Glamrock Freddy. Recontextualize Freddy's "when she brought me down here" and "I am not me" lines. While clearing out the basement, Vanny accidentally awakened the Mimic who then overtook Freddy's body. Mimic then became convinced he WAS Freddy. Of course, this would only be effective if it was set up and revealed in Security Breach. Even then, it would still be a twist for the sake of a twist.

Have Mimic actually be Ennard, lol. I don't know how he got there, but those wires could probably squirm into a random suit more easily than a random endoskeleton.

Have Mimic start mimicking Roxy and Cassie get control of it through its programmed bond, then have like an alternate Gregory/Freddy relationship except it's Cassie and this extremely aggressive endoskeleton that thinks it's Roxanne Wolf.

Of all the options, Mimic being a redeemable or an easily manipulated villain would certainly be more interesting than just bad because evil. Maybe even go a Fabrication Machine route somehow.

In 9, the Fabrication Machine unleashes a war against the humans and kills them all off. While in the movie the Scientist suggests this could be because the machine doesn't have a soul, in the Scientist's Journal it is shown that the machine was overworked creating war machines for the humans and that its resulting turn on them was likely triggered by that.

In my opinion though, I think it would've been cooler if it was The Blob luring her down there. The Blob, under the right circumstances, could be very terrifying. It is a monster, but imagine it luring a child with the voice of another... perhaps because it believes it's a child too.

A mat of wires comprised of numerous victims, numerous bodies, numerous voices. It may not have any souls left inside of it, maybe it does but they cannot distinguish themselves. All it knows is that it wants out and it cries out for help from a 'fellow child'.

But there's no helping it. It is simply too dangerous- because unlike Mimic, who can barely move faster than a light jog, who can be broken apart by an elevator door, who is destructible... You cannot destroy writhing wires. There's simply too much to take it out.

You may try to suffocate the voices of agony, but they will continue screaming from the depths until someone comes to find them.

I don't think Mimic ever had a chance to be that cool. 😔

[the-littlewonders]

i’m at ep 32 and i feel quite frustrated for TTJ. this is probably going to be my most incoherent rant but here it is anyway:

- throughout his life up till meeting li susu as ye xiwu he has been labeled as essentially an abomination

- right out of his mother’s womb, he is a “murderer”

- when was revived after taking his caregiver’s blood, he is a devil baby

- his caregivers just saw him as a promise they made to their late queen, a duty they had to carry out, to just keep him alive. at the opportunity for a better life they would kill him

- when he was sent to the other kingdom, he was a hostage prince

- he was never seen as an individual or his own person deserving basic respect

- when he emulated xiao lin’s behaviour, he was still scorned and called a dog, people have already made up their minds about him regardless of his actions

- he ended up riding the currents of life wherever it took him and excepted any form of hardship as the life just is

- then li susu as ye xiwu comes into his life and looks at him. really looks at him for who he is. took an interest in what he is eating, if he is warm enough, if he was happy

- ye xiwu didn’t just keep him alive, she made sure that he was living well. the charms that she taught him had no other purpose to TTJ other than to bring joy

- even in the phase when they took turns capturing each other when TTJ was escaping to the jing kingdom, she was selfless in her attempts to save TTJ

- of course as the viewer we knew she did that to prevent the devil god from coming to life before the devil bone was extracted but from TTJ’s perspective, his wife genuinely wanted him to lead a good life

- when he became emperor, he was on cloud nine. he was being Good and that clearly made his wife happy, so then he was happy

- fast forward to her betrayal to go over to xiao lin, it was a grim reminder of his life as a hostage prince that it did not matter what he did, he was second class and clearly nature trumps nurture

- jumping all the way to the bone extraction, his entire world crumbles because all of a sudden he learns his experiences were a product of forces completely outside of his mortal life

- it’s not even twisted account of events like being labeled as murderer just because his mother passed from giving birth. it’s literally being charged for crimes he did not do. to TTJ that devil god is a totally different person! it’s not him!

- he loses the love of his life like that and when he survives the 500 years, he’s given a new name

- new name new chance at life correct? no.

- again he’s been reminded time and again that the devil god is inevitable. he is inevitable and he only exists to become the devil god.

- who the hell is tan tai jin or chang jiu min? clearly no one seems to care except for the fact he is a stepping stone for the resurrection of the devil god.

- who cares if he suffered all those years, choosing to do good and not succumb to the evil voice in his head

- who cares if he chose love and life over destruction

- because no matter what he chose at the crossroads of his life, the love of his life no longer sees him for who he is right now but obsess over who he was expected to turn into

at this point if i were TTJ, if everyone claims i’m the devil god well fuck it might as well turn into him. if 500 years of sacrifice can’t convince you then might as well turn into the person you think i would be and maybe then you’ll really look at me again

i don’t really know where i wanted to go with this. just really frustrated on behalf of TTJ

[cloakedsparrow]

“Don’t worry, you still got me. I guess nothing’s changed” & “I heard you became an agent” aka another Resident Evil headcanon/rant

Damnation is my favorite Resident Evil film. Not just because it’s awesome but also because I feel like we get the most insight into Leon as a character in it.

He’s usually ‘on’ in some way when we see him. He’s usually either protecting someone, keeping a civilian (or fake civilian) calm/safe, or with people he can’t really trust (like Benford) or doesn’t know if he can trust yet (like Helena). But his interactions with Hunnigan, JD, and Buddy/Sasha in that film are different. He’s very raw and open. And hurt. And tired. And hungry. He really lets them (and us) know how he feels about everything. It might just be the best characterization we get from any character in this franchise.

As part of this unusual expression of feelings, he makes the title quote before hanging up on Hunnigan at the end of the film. He seems upset. He starts to storm out of the hotel room he’s in before taking a breath and walking out with a little more control. Considering that he’s on furlough during that film and then part of the DSO in the next game, I always figured the ‘I guess nothing’s changed’ line meant that Benford pulled his shit again, using something to make Leon feel he had to join the DSO. Initially, I figured it was something to do with Buddy/Sasha. After all, we do see him returning to his life as a teacher at the end, despite having kidnapped and nearly murdered a US citizen during the film.

But then In RE6 we learn that Sherry Birkin is a DSO agent who answers directly to Simmons. This strikes me as weird for several reasons.

He’s her adopted father. Wouldn’t there be a conflict of interests to him being her CO?

As unlikely as it would be irl, we keep being told that the DSO answers directly to the president, so why is she an exception?

She’s a BOW who has been kept very sheltered/protected up to this point. When, where, and how was she safely trained?

Then I thought of that part of Damnation.

What if making Sherry an agent was what got Leon to sign on? As the most experienced agent with the most successful BOW related cases under his belt, Leon would be the natural choice for all the really crazy/dangerous assignments after joining the DSO. If he were to refuse to join though, then an agent with no experience but the ability to heal rapidly would probably be a top contender for such assignments. Leon taking the position would mean protecting her all over again and that’s something Benford knows works.

I’ve never subscribed to the fan-theory that Sherry is basically Leon’s daughter. I’ve always seen it as more of an unbalanced brother-sister relationship. Leon gave everything to protect her (from Umbrella, from the US government, from a life as a lab rat, from foster care) but he was nine years older than her and busy saving the world. She specifically refers to him as the person who saved her in Raccoon City rather than just someone she can trust or has known over half her life when Jake questions her about trusting Leon in RE6. She ultimately trusts him over her adopted father, so they definitely know each other still, but it doesn’t seem like they’ve spent  lot of time together.

There’s also the way he says he heard she became an agent. It’s very...stilted. Like he’s trying not to give away too much or is maybe not too happy about that but knows it’s not his place to say anything. It’s all very much like a big brother who went off to live his life when a much younger sibling was still growing up at home. There’s trust, respect, and caring there, but only one seems caught up with the other’s life.

About that ‘not giving away to much’ thought: Leon is caring and initially trusting, but he’s also smart and has seen some serious shit. He wouldn’t have signed away his freedom to guarantee Sherry’s safety without wanting some sort of evidence that she was truly being taken care of in exchange. He’s probably been given regular reports on her, both from Simmons and from Claire. He probably has files of childhood photos and drawings, copies of medical reports/report cards, and random reports on her interests going back to when she was twelve. He probably has video of her home ballet pageants or piano recitals or whatever she was into at any given point in her childhood.

But would Sherry know about any of that? She knows who Leon is, of course. She remembers him saving her in Raccoon City and has probably heard about him from Claire, just like she heard all about Chris from her. However, no one knows how Benford ‘recruited’ Leon. Would it have been more beneficial to Benford to let Leon see her or to keep them separated so his only way of learning about her was through Benford? And what about Simmons? He agreed to take responsibility for Sherry, would he have wanted Leon potentially butting in while he saw to that responsibility?

I’d like to think Leon made sure he got to see her sometimes, but it sounds like such visitations would have been rare. With Claire able to verify whatever the reports said about Sherry, would Leon feel the need to push to see her all that often? If he was given the choice of him being able to see Sherry or Claire, I would bet he’d let Claire see her.

That means Leon would have to say something like ‘I heard you became an agent’ because at this point, they don’t have time for a full explanation, assuming he’d even be comfortable giving one. Without context, it might seem odd or even creepy for her to find out just how much he’s been keeping track of her life if she doesn’t know she was basically a hostage used to guarantee his service for years.

It kind of makes me wish we’d gotten that version of RE7 with Leon and Sherry working together. Maybe they’ll use it for a future game, like a Revelations type title that takes place in-between existing games/films. It would be interesting to see what their relationship is now that Benford isn’t around anymore.

TLDR: Headcanon that Benford let Sherry apply to be an agent of the DSO in order to force Leon to join after Damnation. Simmons probably agreed under the condition that Sherry reports to him instead of Benford. Leon has been getting reports on his surrogate little sister/instrument of coercion for years but she doesn’t know that.

[stariisoda]

[Kade's Arcana Swap!AU Idea dump]

Yo I had a dumb idea for an Arcana AU maybe it's been done before but I've seen similar role swap AUs. (Also none of the designs are finalized they are just silly doodles off the top of my head with no references)

(More under the cut if you're interested in the explanation)

So, this is a Swap AU. What's different? I only have 2 characters with more fleshed out ideas, which are Lucio and Julian.

In this AU, Lucio and Julian actually swap with each other.

Lucio Morgasson

Lucio Morgasson is an ex-mercenary and currently fugitive on the run for the murder of Count Julian Devorak. (Lucio in this AU is also a doctor, but only because after the war he could no longer fight due to the loss of his left arm. So he learned to be a doctor instead)

He was still raised in Morga's war tribe, but never made a deal with Vlastomil. He still wanted to be leader, so he challenged his mother to a duel to the death for leadership. He was in the end, cowardly and backed down. He retains a long scar down his chest from this fight. He ran, tail between his legs, away forever, exiled from his tribe. He changed his name from Montag to Lucio and that was when he came to Vesuvia.

Eventually, Lucio became a mercenary under the count at the time, Count Spada. Lucio knew he could win the count's favor so he could accend the throne himself. He meets Julian, who is an apprentice doctor, but also training as a merc. The two become friends. However, it won't last forever. Lucio eventually becomes severely injured while protecting Count Spada and is dying. Julian is the one who amputates Lucio's arm to save him. After this, Julian replaces Lucio and fights while he recovers. Eventually, the war is won. Julian actually saves the count from death in the battlefield and also tends to his injuries. Due to that, Julian wins Count Spada's favor and is named heir to the Vesuvian throne. After this, Lucio begins to fall out of favor with Julian. He is miserable because he likes fighting, but cannot. Also his sword arm was his left, so he's devastated and also too stubborn to relearn using is right. He decides to become a doctor. (Also, Lucio never gets his prosthetic arm since he never became Count and is just too poor to afford anything like one. So he hides his lack of arm by wearing a cape, since he's very insecure about it)

Count Julian Devorak

Julian Devorak was also a mercanary with Lucio (most of it written above). He became the heir of Count Spada after winning the war. But where did he come from? (This isn't super fleshed out if you want to help with ideas that would be awesome) He most likely made a deal to protect his family from danger, due to him and Portia (or should I say Pasha) not being rescued by the grandma's (maybe this happens maybe not) He does everything he can do to protect her, but doesn't think he's strong enough, so he wants a way to weaken any threats. But Julian doesn't trust many people, so most are a threat. He bargains his soul, but eventually runs away with his sister to Vesuvia, never completing his deal. The plague eventually follows him. He begins to lose bits of his soul over time, causing him to go mad. Julian gets more "evil" due to it, but he is still devoted to his sister, so much so that he becomes possessive over her. Pasha runs away and is found by Mazelinka. Julian is furious and heartbroken, but he becomes a merc and eventually the Count of Vesuvia.

A little bit about Portia

I'm going to sketch her soon, but Portia in the AU, I plan to swap her with Asra (although I'm not planning for Asra to have her role) So Portia will be with MC and going to investigate the Count's murder, although she's very unwilling, but that's because she hasn't mentioned the Count is her brother. I was thinking maybe she is a magician but maybe not and she just runs a normal shop with MC.

I was also thinking that Asra would swap with Nadia, Nadia would swap with Muriel and Muriel swaps with Portia.

Anyway, that's just an idea I had. If it sounds good let me know. And if you have any ideas, that would be cool too.

[waythroughtheice]

God fucking damn it. Maybe I should write something. Just to get my brain to stop.

Geo Wily au.

Kelvin comes back to a cult that is not run by his wife (did nobody read his backup plans? They said to introduce the cult to his wife and not drag his son into anything until he was an adult. Why did they? Geo is a child!?!?!) but his son. His son. Who is a superhero. A superhero the world is convinced is a Hikari. Geo. Child. How?

Grampa Wily is laughing.

The Cult refuses to let Kelvin take back over.

Geo was the best leader they had. Geo gave them treats for good behavior! He didn't immediately stop the money laundering schemes (Geo: What's a money laundering?). Geo is the Cult's dad now. (Geo, very tired: I have no idea how we got here and am afraid to ask. All I did was give them stickers and candy for not committing crimes.)

Grandpa Wily refuses to leave Geo. Every time Kelvin takes him he just device hops back to Geo with Omega-Xis's help. Grandpa's favourite.

Kazuma, meanwhile. Is dealing with the dreaded twins. They are. So chaotic. Kazuma kind of wishes he could trade circumstances because at least the Cult can't device hop away from consequences. Please stop getting him banned from locations.

I like to imagine in SF3 all Netnavis became Wizards. Grandpa Wily is free(ish). Granpa has a larger area to encourage children towards evil. Lan and Hub are also commiting crimes. They are breaking and entering to get their boy the best they can. Because it's been 200 years, the laws can't have changed that much, right? They don't even realise. Dr Wily is following the law better than the chaos twins is what I'm saying.

At somepoint the Wily Cult becomes Geo's Cult. Because they adore him. Geo can do no wrong in their eyes. Except working with the cops (generalized). Copper is the exception. They like him. He gives them fun tidbits of info in exchange for not wreaking havoc for a week. (Geo finally asked an adult for help and boy howdy he got it.)

I like to imaging SF2 has a lot of Cult saving lost children shenanigans. Buddicus? No. Bud is kidnapped home before Geo gets there. There are a few memory issues but the familiar environment fixes that quick.

Hope only learns about the Cult when Kelvin asks her how she's been keeping them in check.

Funnily enough, with Geo in charge the Cult grows. Also funny is when he goes back to school half the faculty is made up of cult members. (They were worried about him.)

Pat gets recruited by Geo when he finds out about the dump. Geo's only intentional recruit. (Geo may have tried with Solo. Solo now has a place to go to for help. Solo rarely goes but sometimes he gets sick and just crashes there.)

Grampa Wily approves of this method of world takeover. Kind and just ruler accidentally spreading influence? Sure.

Lan and Hub approve because hey. It's not murder they guess. Kazuma is very tired. But hey. Friendly rivalries are fun.

Kelvin is--so not ready for when he comes back. He expects to find a cult completely under control of his lovely wife, his son safe and sound, and--

What do you mean Geo is the Boss of the Wily Cult.

GRANDPA GET OVER HERE--

Grandpa Wily has had many grandkids over the years and loved them all. He loves Kelvin of course, but.....Kelvin is a goody-two shoes. Geo has sense. Geo is subverting the enemy. Geo is a primo-candidate for world take over.

Geo is his favorite.

Kazuma eventually, in a fit of frustration, introduces the twins to Luna (big mistake), Geo's cult (bigger mistake), and to WAZA (biggest mistake). The Twins recognize Luna as Chad's descendent, grow appalled at her neglectful parents, and call in Protoman.exe for help. But, ah.....all the Netnavis come back, and suddenly all the kids have very watchful NetNavis as as their Wizards. And with the Real Wave technology, they can pop out human sized and interact with the world whenever they like. Is this what parents are like? Weird.

The Twins join Geo's cult for the lols, and quickly become its marketing people. The cult spreads.

The Twins subvert WAZA also for lols, and also for the massive breaches in privacy the police do. This becomes a massive thing a couple years in the future.

Geo eventually becomes World Leader as an adult, because the world loves him. Kazuma is dying in the background. Geo gives him all the paperwork.

[a-student-out-of-time]

Honestly kinda disagree with you on a few points. The first is that just because you don't think the quality of work was acceptable doesn't mean it's a true blanket statement, because that stuff is subjective. The second is that even if the work is publicly available, it doesn't mean the creator has to do jack shit for the audience considering the work itself is completely free. This isn't a case of a genuine level of quality being expected for a product because nobody's spending money on SDRA2.

//If you're focusing very strictly on the money aspect, you're kinda missing my point. This isn't about money, this is about disrespecting your audience and derailing your own story.

//First of all, I've talked at length about why Chapter 3 is bad not just because it derails the twins' characters, but because it's objectively badly-written. It doesn't do anything to service the narrative, it doesn't advance the characters, it doesn't do anything but point and go "Hey, isn't Kanade wacko?"

//Say what you will about the quality on its own, but you can't seriously tell me that wasting 1/6th of your own plot on a completely irrelevant and self-indulgent side-story is a good idea. Especially when that side-story is the longest out of the entire game.

//Almost nothing in Chapter 3 is relevant to the ongoing plot about the Voids, and the bits that are can be learned later on. There was no real reason for things like Iroha being revealed as a Void to happen beyond dramatic irony, but when she doesn't even really do anything in service of the plot or grow as a character, I must ask what the point is.

//The only thing of note that happens is, as I said, Hibiki and Kanade's characters being derailed. Hibiki had a great arc in Chapter 2 and was one of the highlights of that chapter, but then she basically becomes a background extra in Chapter 3 who does nothing but cry and then die for a crime she had no conscious role in. Her death isn't tragic or poignant, it's cheap and emotionally manipulative.

//Kanade goes from a shy girl with a dark streak to a serial killer with a ridiculous body count not because it serves the story or has any bearing on the greater plot, but because LINUJ thought Korekiyo was cool and wanted to do his own spin on V3 Chapter 3. That's it. She turns out to be this manipulative murderer with a body count of over 60 people- which would make her one of the most prolific of all time- and none of it has any meaning.

//There were absolutely ways one could integrate the existing elements of Chapter 3 into the story, where maybe Kanade exposes Nikei as a Void like my friend Mod Poi has suggested. As it stands, however, it doesn't service the plot in any way. The characters barely even seen phased by it come Chapter 4.

//And thanks to wasting a chapter on the irrelevant, that means much of the room for exposition had to be shoved further and further down the line. This is why I think Chapter 6 became a mess of one infodump after another, because there was no room to put it anywhere else.

//The real kick in the teeth for me, however, is that in a character Q&A, LINUJ straight up confirmed that Hibiki- had she survived and gotten away from Kanade- would've eventually recovered from the trauma. If we want to take the creator at his word, this demolishes any notion that Hibiki wouldn't have been a good survivor.

//Kanade, meanwhile, has no qualities or interests beyond her obsession with her sister and just being smart. Without Hibiki, she would've offed herself.

//So essentially, one of them could've had an interesting arc had she survived and the other has no character beyond just being an evil obsessive freak. He deliberately chose to write them like this. And yes, the Q&A has some contradictions, like how he said Emma would've forgiven Kokoro in the afterlife, even though he said she wouldn't have in Emma's character sheet, but this just adds to my point.

//I'm not saying you can never be self-indulgent as a small creator or that you need a flowchart for your entire story. I'm just saying, if you've got a fangan or any story in mind, there are some things you really need to plan out and have nailed down ahead of time, otherwise it's going to end up cluttered, disorganized and full of plot threads that don't matter. Discovery writing doesn't really work when you have a story that needs a definitive outline and conclusion to work.

//Hell, I'm a small creator and my work is free, and I never want people to feel like I should never be criticized because of that. I admit I've made some bad writing choices in the past, but I'm trying to build off of that and make something better. It's a lot of discovery writing, sure, but there's just as much planning behind the scenes for the arcs I have in mind. The relevant points have been decided on ahead of time.

//As a creator, regardless of whether or not you're making money off of a project, if you make it publicly available, that doesn't make you immune to criticism. It also doesn't mean you're free to disrespect your audience and basically tell them they were stupid for ever wanting to get invested in the characters. Even if that's not the language used, it's what's implied with statements like "Oh yeah, she would've grown as a person if she survived."

//Yes, there is such a thing as fan entitlement, but that entitlement and basic criticism are not the same thing. Creators can be just as entitled and self-absorbed, and saying that any creator doesn't have to "do jack shit for the audience" just because it's free? No, you really do. You have to show them basic respect.

//I'm simply speaking as a creator myself and a fan, and on both levels, Chapter 3 fails hard for me. You can explain to me why it ended up the way it did, but that's not going to magically make anything about it better.

[omegadreams]

Is that [MATT BOMER]? No, that’s [DUNKAN MACALLISTER]. The [39] year old [MERMAN] [OMEGA] [MALE] is the [OCEANIS PACK COUNSELOUR & CATERER]. If you ask their friends, they’re known to be [CHARMING] & [COURAGEOUS], but they urge you to be cautious because they’re also known to be [CAPRICIOUS] & [IMPULSIVE]. He's a [RESIDENT] of New Haven. Written by[DEVIL, 32, SHE/HER, EST]

BASICS

Full name: Dunkan MacAllister

Pronouns: he/him

Age: 39 years old

Pack: Oceanis

Species: Mermaid

Gender: Male

Secondary Gender: Omega

Resident or Traveler: Resident

General

Family: Unknown

Mate: None

Children: None

Pets: None

Occupation: Oceanis Pack Leader & Caterer

APPEARANCE

FC: Matt Bomer

Height: 5'11"

Weight: 176 pounds

Build: Well built

Hair Color: Brown

Eye Color: Blue

NSFW

Position: Bottom Versatile

Kinks: Dirty talk & Consensual nonconsent

Anti-Kinks: Scat, Urophilia, Vore, Feminization, & Gags

Safeword: Knighthood

Dick Size: 7.5"

He grew up in a hidden kingdom inside an unknown state, surrounded by a thick forest which had a coven for neighbors. Coven whom this kingdom had a deal with. It was a deal he didn't quite understand at first but would later on simplify like this: The kingdom protects the coven and the coven protects the kingdom from magic in return. But that never spotted evil or hunters, did it? It might have slowed them down but not stopped them.

His father was a werecreature, a polar bear, who had fallen in love with a mermaid during his many travels when he was young but whom was still married to the same mermaid today. Together they had a boy from the same species as the mother, and who's first word was said while singing. In fact, Dunkan had learned to sing before he could even talk. Innate ability, his mother called it, but it did cause it's fair deal of trouble.

Dunkan's father had settled down and became a soldier when he married that mermaid, but today he was a knight to the crown and his sole mission was to protect the heir from harm. Dunkan grew up training to take up arms, to be like his father, and maybe take his place one day but despite liking the training he didn't like the job very much. He wanted to be an entertainer! A famous artist! And travel around the world! Such dreams were impossible for their kind but their parents let him be, and while he kept training his father also trained others and sometimes trained them a little harder. Dunkan didn't mind.

Then tragedy struck. The day came his father had to protect the heir from harm and his father died in the process. Dunkan couldn't even go to the funeral because he happened to present that day and was locked away in his first heat. Not only he couldn't tell his father goodbye but his father had missed his presentation as omega. They all knew he was gonna be an omega but his father had promised so many times he was going to be there and protect him during it that it just made the whole situation even harder on the poor boy.

The queen, however, saw in Dunkan a young, strong man that had been trained as his father had been so she convinced the boy to "make his daddy proud" and take his place.

Years passed without much trouble but dreams crushed and hearts broken until one day everything changed. He and the prince were out drinking one night and when they came back home, Dunkan, thinking everything was good to go said his good nights and left to go to his own place while Choilleich, the prince, was left alone to find his mate and son murdered in cold blood and a message left for him.

The prince was gone the next day when Dunkan came to find him and found bodies and a note. Not for him but for the prince. His mother had died a long time ago, he always said it had been of sadness, but with no one to leave behind but dust, he took a horse and left to find the prince ever the loyal servant.

The merman followed the prince's trail for a long time, he covered their tracks too just in case, and eventually landed in New Haven. He decides to stay because so has his prince decided and he was to ensure Choillei...no, Colin was safe. He took in the post of the Oceanis Councilman post eventually and with the power he could protect Colin more than he ever could. He wouldn't fail again like he had failed his prince once, those two bodies would always be a weight on his conscience.

[thekingofthenameless]

I posted 8,554 times in 2022

That's 514 more posts than 2021!

94 posts created (1%)

8,460 posts reblogged (99%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@draal-the-deadly

@taags-old-account

@falling-hand-in-unlovable-hand

@peachdoxie

@writing-prompt-s

I tagged 7,345 of my posts in 2022

Only 14% of my posts had no tags

#disney - 1,529 posts

#amphibia - 586 posts

#tales of arcadia - 478 posts

#the owl house - 444 posts

#encanto - 376 posts

#trollhunters - 323 posts

#lgbtqia+ - 311 posts

#favorite posts - 274 posts

#anne boonchuy - 260 posts

#tiktoks - 252 posts

Longest Tag: 126 characters

#but when i watched wizards for the first time i remember just looking at him when he was in a scene no matter who was speaking

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Merlin is such an interesting character, with so much angst potential, and hardly anyone realizes that.

He isn’t the typical Merlin. When I, at least, think of other versions of Merlin, the Sword in the Stone Merlin is one of the first to come to my mind. The Sword in the Stone Merlin is sweet, a little bit forgetful, and a little weird. His magic can only be used for educational purposes, according to him. ToA Merlin is a jaded, guarded person. He’s a warrior who’s been through a lot, to say the least, and he remembers everything. Maybe that’s why most of the ToA fandom still doesn’t try to analyze him at all. They don’t look at the layers of his character, they only look at the surface, and go, “Merlin’s a bad person!” That’s barely covering the whole Merlin hate train after Season Three came out, ugh.

Anyway, here’s the hell that he’s been through: He’s been fighting evil for thousands of years. In his words, “I was battling evil when the world was still young.” Because of that, he’s seen millennia of terrible failures, death, and pain. He fought the Arcane Order and their Titans for a thousand years straight, and it’s implied that he was the one who sealed them away. He only got a hundred years of peace before he went to sleep. Well, not even that. Guinevere died, and Arthur’s massacre began, which affected everyone. He became emotionally distant from Douxie. He tried to lessen the effects of Arthur’s massacre by taking creatures under his protection. I doubt Arthur could kill him, but he could have been imprisoned, or banished, for treason. His former apprentice, Morgana turned against them, then she died in front of him.

She came back to life, and he was still trying to process the fact that she had died in the first place. Then Killahead happened. He literally got impaled with her magic, then he learned that Arthur died. He was confused. Before he had the chance to try to process another death of one of his few friends, Morgana tried to kill him. She wanted him dead, irrationally blaming him for her brother’s death. He had to go to sleep for nine hundred years because of that, and the only reason he was asleep for that long is because Morgana was stealing his magic for nine hundred years. Even though he prepared for everything, he was hoping that it wouldn’t happen, and he didn’t know that Morgana had taken his magic until the Eternal Night.

He’s a great judge of character. In a few seconds of meeting Angor Rot, he told Morgana, “Leave them alone, Morgana!” He was talking about both AAARRRGGHH!!! and Angor Rot. She beat him up, wanting to kill him again. He realized that Morgana stole his magic for nine hundred years, which is what kept him asleep. Then after she beat him up some more, she told him that she murdered his Trollhunters. Before that, he had to learn that she was keeping a slave when he met Angor Rot.

See the full post

200 notes - Posted January 3, 2022

#4

I’m screaming

407 notes - Posted February 24, 2022

#3

I have a type.

502 notes - Posted January 12, 2022

#2

Some people really don’t understand complex characters, and it shows.

625 notes - Posted March 11, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

See the full post

968 notes - Posted May 8, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →