#(( feel free to tell me to change anything ))

[fategoflatass]

I used to be so against the slow burn trope. Not because I thought it was shit; it's just, I usually don't have the patience to wait whatever-amount-superior-to-three damn chapters for my dear ship to finally be able to look at each other without blushing and/or hold hands. Thus why you often times see me reading oneshots or fics with the "Established Relationship" tag on them.

So you can imagine just how surprised—or maybe not, maybe I just didn't think enough about it—I was when I realized my newest fixation's main pairing is—canonically—the embodiment of slow burn. Because holy shit they're taking their time.

Nothing against how Kusuriya develops its love story—quite the opposite, actually. The relationship between Jinshi and Maomao, two characters that are written as beautifully as their romance, is a rather realistic approach as to how the same or a similar dynamic would developed in real life. In such a complicated situation, with such complex feelings about emotions—both external and their own—and attachment, makes sense that it takes so long for the relationship to finally sail.

The problem is, I didn't know I was signing with the Devil the moment I decided to pick up the light novel. Ten volumes and nothing has happened. Nothing.

And you can say that technically things have happened, because they have. I mean, Jinshi is just so desperate for Maomao to give him the time of day, you know what I mean? And even that isn't enough anymore and thus he has committed some of the craziest shit I've seen in any romance. Which okay, I don't usually read these type of romances but still.

What I mean by "nothing" is just, their relationship hasn't changed status. I could also say that it seems to go nowhere, but that'd be lying. Since, you know, it has changed quite a lot—just not in the way my impatient ass wanted it to. Because he can be as honest with his feelings as he pleases, and those around them might be heavely conscious of the tension and thus constantly tease those lovebirds (as they should), but babygirl's not helping, you know?

And I get it, Maomao's not the best at expressing and understanding herself, and she's also way too busy worrying about going as unnoticed as possible (she should give up on that one already, tbh) while keeping her head where it should be. But like, I can't help feeling frustrated over it like ‼‼

GIRL, FUCK THE RULES. TAKE THAT PATHETIC EXCUSE OF A MAN AND RUNAWAY SOMEWHERE NO ONE WILL BE ABLE TO IDENTIFY YOU. YOU THEN CARRY THAT BITCH BRIDESTYLE TO THE CLOSEST CHURCH AND MAKE HIM YOUR WIFE. PROCEED TO FROG AROUND, EXPERIMENT WITH YOUR UTERUS AS MUCH AS YOU'D LIKE, AND THEN TEACH THE PRODUCTS OF YOUR PRACTICES AS YOUR OWN GUINEA PIG THE WAYS OF HERBAL MEDICINE. AS EASY AS THAT.

But she won't. She'll take her sweet ass time being in denial about both Jinshi's and her own feelings, then maybe she'll proceed to analize herself and find out that maybe, just maybe, that affection that she'd been feeling for that loser became something else. Did said affection also become something more complicated? Absolutely. Does she know how to deal with it? Hell no, but fuck it. If I learned something from school is that you always leave the hardest parts for later.

Now you see why I was so against reading slow burn?

And you wanna know the worst part? I loved it—I loved every second of it, every word, every page. Every scene that seemed to help the relationship advance, only for Maomao to say nope and leave like she owns the place, which at this point she fucking might.

It feels like I, as the reader, am in the middle of a heatwave and some sadistic bastard won't stop teasing me with ice cream—they put it in front of my face, close enough that I can smell the cold. Then take a spoon and eat little by little while staring directly to my eyes. At times they seem to show mercy and feed me a spoon, only for it to be a rather small quantity of serving—serving that tastes so damn good at first, only for it to have such a bitter aftertaste. But if I gotta have something in common with Jinshi is that I'll never be able to beat the masochist allegations, so I'll wait patiently for the next spoon and its corresponding and seemingly enless teasing from that faceless being.

So yeah, I'm still against it, only that now I understand the appeal—even if I have yet to find out about the whereabouts of my sanity while still mananing with the little I've left.

[dealilcats]

I finally managed to draw something. These are still only sketches BUT! They're people's ocs so I'm posting to ask for feedback if there's anything I accidentally get wrong.

From the left: Ellipsis, Foxglove ( @mysticalcats ) and Bluebelle ( @murdleandmarot ) looking at a bug encyclopaedia Ellipsis probably provided out of desperation but now Foxglove won't shut up in the library.

I've been using the 3D firealpaca tool a lot lately and I've started using it for character heights too. Though it always looks weird in perspective. I might change the composition to space it out better.

@bingbongsanitygone 's Callio walking by her guitar picks pile while carrying an unplugged powerchord. I thought this was the funniest thing.

Callio again (featuring @/kokolencha's art for reference). Sorry if the text being flipped bothers anyone.

Messy sketches under the cut.

Fighting to keep ellipsis consistent and miserably failing.

[starpirateee]

WAITWAITWAITWAIT YKNOW HOW SPANKOFFSKI IS A POLISH NAME

PETE OR TED OR MAYBE BOTH SPEAKING POLISH AND CONFUSING THE PEOPLE AROUND THEM

JUST LIKE, THEY HAVE A PRIVATE CONVERSATION OVER THE PHONE THEY DONT WANT OTHERS TO HEAR SO SPEAK IN POLISH TO EACH OTHER AND WHEN TEHY HANG UP EVERYONE AROUND THEM IS LIKE WHAT THE FUCK??????

god im insane about themmmmmm

Anon this is really funny in concept, the size of your mind is insane && I just hope I can do it vague justice

The major problem for Ted on most days was that his phone tended to ring in the most inconvenient of places, at the most inconvenient of times. another major problem was that he often got so engrossed in… Whatever he was doing in the office that he forgot that he and Pete ran on completely different schedules, because his brother was still three months from graduating high school.

He'd been bunking off for the past half hour, and had been talking to Charlotte in the break room, trying to work out when a good time to see her again would be. Everyone who knew them tended to avoid the fact that she was blatantly using him as a fallback option because her husband couldn't— or wouldn't— give her what she wanted. People like Paul and Bill tended to ignore it, only because Sam was doing the same thing across town, with one of the Beanies' baristas, and one of his coworkers… Never at the same time, mind, but Zoey Chambers seemed rather unapologetic about it, so Paul and Bill had managed to work it out as fact.

Still, it was weird to see Charlotte with Ted. Because, at the right angle, it almost looked like Ted genuinely cared about her, and wanted to keep doing what they did to get her away from the thought of her husband for a while. That, of course, had seemed like enough total bullshit that nobody bought it, but they left the two of them to their well needed privacy when it came down to it. Only two people knew they were spot on with near enough everything they speculated about.

Ted leaned against the water cooler, sporting a little more confidence than would surely be allowed in a situation like this. Charlotte wasn't having a terrible day, and that meant it was that little bit easier to talk to her. Less Sam to think about… How did that bastard end up with a woman like her? And why was it that her situation was that bad that he was an upgrade for her?

He was going to think about an answer to that question, but his phone started ringing in his back pocket, vibrating way too dramatically against the cooler.

"Jesus christ-" He stood up a little straighter, pulling his phone out of his pocket. "Sorry, Charlotte. One sec, I swear- hello?"

"Hey, Ted."

That was a voice he'd recognise from anywhere. Pete, once again working off his own time and perhaps completely overlooking the fact that Ted still had an hour at work.

For the sake of clarity, Pete checked his watch and drew the realisation that the holidays were over last week, and Ted was back on office hours. His brow creased, hoping he wasn't interrupting anything then realising there wasn't really anything to interrupt in his brother's work life. "This a bad time?"

"Oh, hey, Pete. No, you're good, I wasn't doing anything anyway…" Ted went straight back to lounging, aware that Charlotte was now trying not to eavesdrop but didn't really have anything better to do. "What's up?"

Pete chuckled. "C'mon, when are you ever doing anything? You don't do shit! Especially not at work!"

"Hey! I do shit! I get paid to do shit, don't I?"

"… Do you even know what department you work in?"

It was a genuine question, and would've accounted for Ted's genuine laziness and reluctance to do any of the actual work he was sent… If Ted hadn't prepared for this exact eventuality several months ago. He'd made sure to pay enough attention in a Monday meeting to at least account for what depeatment he worked in, and what that department pretty much required him to do. He didn't have to work constantly anyway, and that was the best part. His main job was just… fixing the problems everyone else had, when they had them.

"Sure I do. Tech support!" He imagined the defeated expression that flashed across his brother's face, and laughed to himself. There were too many people around him to make the point he was going to make next without getting mobbed, so he leaned in a little closer to the phone, a smirk playing on his lips, and muttered, "Czuję się, jakbym był jedynym idiotą, który faktycznie się zakwalifikował… (I feel like I'm the only idiot who's actually qualified…)"

That prompted an unexpected laugh out of Pete, who was clearly around other people too, because he tried to cover it up. "To wiele mówi (that says a lot.)" He returned once he'd stopped laughing. The two of them had stopped questioning the other's occasional slip into their own version of mostly fluent Polish. They used it to their advantage, to have private conversations in public, or sometimes in reverse when they were around the Polish side of their family. More things could be said if there was the added bonus of nobody overhearing, and that way of thinking had helped Pete out on a few occasions.

Ted cracked a smile. "Ty jesteś gówniarz- (you're a little shit)" He managed to bring himself back into the conversation they were supposed to be having, before he and Pete managed to lose it like they always did, lost in the jesting and the back and forth that just seemed to get better with every phonecall they had. "You didn't call to insult my supposed lack of work, did you? What's up?"

"Can I drop by the office and pick up your keys? I must've left mine on my desk this morning… Took me till third period to realise they weren't in my pocket…" Pete turned from the phone to mutter something- a goodbye, perhaps- towards someone else, and Ted found it vaguely amusing that Pete had retaliated to his complaint when he was with friends.

"You left after me this morning…"

"The front door locks itself, don't worry about it."

Ted faltered, and then nodded. He'd figured that by accident once when he accidentally locked himself out after forgetting his own keys, and he had to wait in the foyer for half an hour like an absolute fool for Pete to show up after his study session. "Fine. You know where the back entrance is, don't you? My car's parked out there, you should recognise it."

"That hunk of shit? I'd recognise it anywhere,"

"Do not slander my car!"

"C'mon, Ted, you've had it like, twenty years! And it hasn't gotten any better in all that time…"

He was going to ignore for now the seemingly increasing pile of problems that it seemed to have every year. Wings that needed replacing because they'd rusted so hard last year, numerous little engine faults… And the suspension was probably shot after all these years… It was a hunk of shit, sure, but it was _his_hunk of shit. "You just wait till you get your own hunk of shit, we'll see who's laughing then!"

"I'm- I'm getting close, I can see your car. Thanks for this, by the way…"

"Yeah yeah, don't mention it, Pete. You better not lose 'em on your way home, I know what you're like…"

"Dupek. (Asshole)"

"Tak, też Cię kocham… (Yeah, I love you too)" Ted chuckled before Pete hung up on him with a scoff. He rolled back his shoulders and stood up from the water cooler. Charlotte tilted her head, and it dawned on him that she'd probably heard all of that. He shrugged. "My brother. Useless bastard left his keys in the apartment… Hold on just a moment." He flashed her a quick smile and sauntered out of the break room towards the lift at the back of the office. Charlotte didn't have the time nor the space to question the constant little jumps in language that may well have happened on both ends, because Ted was gone before she had the chance to think about it at all.

[goobie-goobert]

His name is Penis and he was born without a brain💔💔

FUUUUU I ACCIDENTALLY USED UP ALL MY FREKSGINY TAG SPACE YAPPINGGGGGGG GAAAAAAAAAA

COUGH

Errmmmmm listen to Keep Myself Alive by Get Scared

Do yr daily click

Annnndddddd…

Have a good! ᕙ(`▽´)ᕗ

[a-s-levynn]

"Even if the sky cracks in mourning / And the heavens just won't open up for me" A Series of Small Offerings - II/12 - day20

[thelastunison]

@zolotishkopodsnegom Last time people requested these low res pride icons, they did so per asks

I did two versions of the boutarou one since I wasn't sure if you prefered the classic gay flag or the ocean one

[eclaire-went-bam]

ppl, especially low/no-empathy ppl, who talk to ableist anti-pd cluster b abuse believers with the upmost patience & understanding are so crazy (/pos) for that because what

how do y'all sit there and level w/ them just. so much.

i know it's kind of necessary bcs even if they don't listen to us anyways, they're only gonna think we're 10× worse if we don't walk them through the spiel w/ hands held (which we're not even owed to do anyways) but like i can hardly see myself doing it

so like

respect

[just-sp-in-inginthevoid]

My attempt at making the curse makes sense

+ the time leap powers too because why not

Spoilers up to the final arc of Tokyo Revengers

We’ll discuss three different things. 1) How the curse works, 2) Why Sanzu was affected by it, 3) And why Takemichi succeeded to make it calm down.

Keep in mind that it’s my headcanons and that Wakui could one day give information that ruin everything i wrote. And you can of course have another view on it and/or not like my way of thinking !

Who, What, Where, When and Why

Shinichiro was the cursed one. The homeless man cursed Shinichiro, and it’s never revealed by him how he actually cursed him.

The curse went to Mikey – Why is it ? He’s the reason Shinichiro killed the homeless man. So, three different theories. 1 : it’s because of his death that Shinichiro kills, so without Mikey the curse doesn’t exist, 2 : he’s supposed to be dead but he’s not – a sort of karma ?, 3 : if the curse was meant to hurt Shinichiro, then making Mikey hurt and unable to stop hurting was definitely the way to go.

What’s the curse’s purpose anyway ? Why does it make Mikey act like that ?

The curse feeds on tragedy, the more tragedy, the more it grows, the more it grows, the more hungry it gets, the more it wants tragedy, the more it triggers tragedy. And by feeding on tragedy i mean all the negative feelings that go hand-in-hand with. Sadness, despair, helplessness, rage, regrets, guilt… It clings to someone who already has a tragic life and it worsens it. Mikey didn’t have a father and lost his mother, his life wasn’t all happy from the start ; Sanzu… We don’t know enough about the Akashi but he doesn’t have his mother, his father is always out working and his relationship with Takeomi is so, so bad ; Kazutora – who had never met Shinichiro – was the one to be affected by the curse and not Baji – who knew Shinichiro for a while so the ‘it affected everyone around him’ should’ve worked here – and Baji doesn’t have a typical family life either since he only has his mom, but his relationship with his mom is great, and it’s not the same as what Kazutora has to deal with at home.

And while we cannot say if i’m right ; the fact the curse grew with time is undeniable

What do you mean you were ‘following Mikey as if you were in a trance’

this is why we cant have nice things

So. Sanzu.

It is revealed he only acted that way because he ‘was in a trance’ (→ the curse affected him). Not going to talk about how much it pissed me off when i read that. But why would he be affected by it? Emma wasn’t, Senju wasn’t, Takeomi, Wakasa & Benkei weren’t, grandpa Sano wasn’t, Baji burnt cars and threw punches at anyone who might look at him but that wasn’t the curse (final timeline 7 y/o Baji punching Takemichi) (it could still be, of course, but it doesn’t feel as violent as Mikey and Sanzu have it. Then again, he didn’t live long enough to tell ig), Inui and Draken weren’t either… What does Sanzu has, who is Sanzu for him to be affected by it ? Shinichiro’s trigger. He is tied to the time leap power and to the curse then. He was also the first victim of the curse, when it was still very small, and that might have given him a sort of immunity/protection which caused the curse not to directly harm him anymore. He’s here in Bonten when Mikey drove every other person close to him away. Twelve years, and Mikey didn’t kill him with his dark impulses whereas they appear soon after Takemichi talk to him.

Or it could be Mikey’s seemingly incapacity to harm anyone he knew before being cursed. He wouldn’t hurt Emma, wouldn’t hurt Baji, wouldn’t hurt Shinichiro, didn’t hurt Senju, hurt Sanzu once or twice. So the curse could not affect much/at all people Mikey knew before Shinichiro’s time leap.

Then again, Emma & Baji didn’t remain alive long enough to know if Mikey could’ve/would’ve hurt them.

Or. Sanzu was 'in a trance' because his job is to make the dark impulses grow. After all, he says he had waited for them when they finally show up. Maybe that's how the curse affects him – by forcing him to make Mikey act on them. By forcing him to preserve it. Or maybe it's all that I just wrote. Or maybe it's neither.

Edit:

So. This is the official translation from what I understood.

Which change one thing: it's canon it's not because of the curse (or at least not only) that Sanzu is insane ☺ He just Is.

Takemichi’s power of friendship

Shinichiro dies on the day he let go of the power, on the day he gave it to Takemichi. It is said relatively often that Shinichiro was what held Mikey back from letting go of his dark impulses, hence, Takemichi snapped Mikey back to reality because he is the host of the time leaping power. But Mikey almost killed Takemichi thrice, and that’s when the distinction between him and Shinichiro happens. Mikey himself go to Takemichi to tell him to yell at him if he ever snapped like Shinichiro would have, but Takemichi isn’t Shinichiro – Takemichi isn’t his big brother whom he loves so much and whom loved him so much.

The curse knows it was born out of the time leaping power, that it wouldn’t exist if Shinichiro didn’t kill to gain the power. So when Takemichi stops Mikey from killing Kazutora, it goes away, when Takemichi says they’re friends, it goes away. Sure, it still pushes Mikey to shoot Takemichi, or sending Takemichi to the hospital and then stabbing him with a katana through the heart, but im trying my best to think of a reason that isnt ‘shonen spirit, friendship power or nothing’ at the end, it’s a curse meant to destroy everything Mikey holds dear, to render him incapable to be happy and it can go past the fact it’s its creator it is killing. Plus, Takemichi isn’t its creator, Shinichiro is. Hence, the curse rather not hurt the power that created it, but it isn’t against it, especially if the holder is not its creator. Edit: The curse is what killed Shinichiro at the end, because that’s what it’s job was - yet, it only did on the day he let go of the power, so he couldn’t be protected by it the way Takemichi is at the start of the story. The curse could’ve been confused since Takemichi had the power (and perhaps confused him with its creator) at first and then as the story went on, it realized he wasn’t.

This link between the time leap powers and the curse might also give me a reason why Mikey knew when Takemichi came back in the past. The same way Naoto can feel when Takemichi goes back to the future, chapter 2 : “When I shook hands with you 12 years ago, I could feel you inside past you disappear.”

+ So about the ‘deathlike state’ in chapter 7 and how it never happened again...

The difference between Takemichi going back to the future this time and all the other times that follow is actually pretty simple : it’s his consciousness that goes back to the past, that we all agree of, it’s canon, and that’s it. When Takemichi goes back in the past and changes his past self’s life even so slightly, they don’t end up having the same kind of life or way of thinking.

By that I mean : when Takemichi went back to the past knowingly for the first time (and accidentally came back) he didn’t change anything. He still got his ass beat by Kiyomasa, he may have met Draken and Mikey but that isn’t enough to change his past self’s personality ; they’ll end up sharing the same and if they’re the same then there’s only one Takemichi. Whereas all the other times he went back from that point on, he has changed his past self’s life (fighting Kiyomasa, saving Draken, getting stab in the hand). Which means they won’t have the same life experience, which means they won’t be the same and won’t share their consciousness.

Because among the various things the last arc teaches us, there’s that :

It’s not linear. Takemichi didn’t re-write the timeline. He created new ones. Alternate dimensions exist in TR. If they didn’t, the timeline would stop everytime a time leaper goes back. Just straight up cut reality and existence to replace it with other, either 100 % similar or completely different, stuffs. But Sanzu remembers days after Shinichiro’s death and time leap. Why only days ? What happened then ? I don’t wanna know. But it’s probably the same for Naoto. He remembers more of the other timeline that Takemichi does, because he doesn’t time leap with him – he stays in the dimension/timeline until Takemichi goes to a future he changed/created and then the Naoto from this newly-created future has the memories other-hims have plus his own.

And here for the question we don’t have an answer to… :

Where do the past-self of time leapers go ?

Do they go dormant ? Are they conscious and unable to control their body ? Do they have fuzzy memories of the time they’re not the one inhabiting their body ? Or do they not remember a thing ? Do they only have a vague understanding of time passing by like people in coma do ? If Takemichi and Mikey of the final timeline ever decide to go check on the future and leave their past (7 and 8 years old) self to deal with everything what would happen ? Would these children have grown up ? Or would they still have the same mentality ? How can you react to realizing it’s been years you haven’t been in control of your own body ? Surrounded by people you don’t know. Or maybe you do. But it wasn’t you. And if they never do, if Takemichi and Mikey continue living without bothering about the past and the future, never bothering to use the time leaping powers anymore, what would happen to those 7 and 8 years old them ? The time leaping powers allow you to be a parasite to your own body. It sounds awful.

It’s a bit different with the time triggers, or so i think because it seems awfully similar. The time triggers follow the time leapers which means their main source of memories are from the timeline they initially left, and the other memories from the other timelines become additional. Sanzu is more the Sanzu who lost Mikey than Sanzu who got scarred by him. WHICH. If you compare it to Naoto and Takemichi, makes it so, so interesting (at least for me) because it means, that even though OG timeline!Sanzu and Shinichiro didn’t shake hands, the fact from-OG timeline!Shinichiro shook hands with Sanzu which led to him remembering about the OG timeline, means that Naoto has his memories from when he died with Hinata in the very first timeline.

Time triggers get additional memories ; time leapers keep their own consciousness and don’t merge with their past self.

Which begs the question : what timeline would Mikey remember if him and Takemichi shook hands to go to the future ? Would it be the timeline Takemichi is from (no memories of Takemichi, Draken dying on 8/3, Kazutora and Baji (probably) both dying on Halloween…) or would it be all the timelines Takemichi went through ? Or since he also became a time leaper, he only has Kanto Manji memories ? And we can’t use Naoto or Sanzu as examples, Sanzu only shook Shinichiro’s hand once and Naoto shook Takemichi’s hand since Takemichi started to time leap ; their memories ‘updated’ at the same time, each time (final timeline aside, of course). So… So we don’t know. But Mikey’s core memories would be of Kanto Manji, and the other timelines would be additional. (or would his core memories be of Bonten ? That’s the first timeline he shook Takemichi’s hand in and the first timeline he acted as a time trigger. Idk man, it’s all so complicated and (purposely) unclear)

And it all comes to the same thing once again : Is it better if Mikey doesn’t remember those timelines (because a Mikey who has memories from : Kanto Manji, Bonten, Manila, and all the Bad Toman ones is not going to be a very stable Mikey. Not that he is with his Kanto Manji memories but stil.) or should Takemichi carry the role of the only one to remember ?

[iguessitsjustme]

I'm gonna rate the couples in Playboyy by how enjoyable they are.

Disclaimer: I haven't seen episode 11 yet (I have a headache and I'm not trying to make it worse) so this is my feelings on the couples through episode 10:

Teena and Zouey: 100/10 Best couple on the show. They actually have development and their story line makes sense.

First and Soong: 10/10 Horrendously toxic. I love it so much. Again, I can follow their story line even if I hate what's happening to First with the therapy. I want them to be happy and away from First's dad.

Jump and Porsche: -1654681316546846131/10 They suck. They make no sense and honestly the show would be better if they weren't in it.

Aob and Puen: 0/10 I feel nothing for them. I honestly forget they're there half the time. I can never remember either of their names. When someone mentions them I go "who?"

Captain and Keen: 3/10 Captain stop filming people without their consent challenge. But at least I can follow their story and I can weirdly see how they would fall for each other. But I'm mostly neutral here.

Phop and Nuth: 5/10 Stop using these two as nothing more than vehicles to impart the Message of the Week. They could be so cute and actually show us the message instead of having some weird poorly written screenplay moment of them just talking and being so on-the-nose it hurts. Also the message never corresponds to the actual message the rest of the show is giving us that week. They deserve better and so does the audience. (It super kills me because I always agree with the message it's just so poorly timed and poorly told that it entirely ruins this couple and takes away from each character's agency)

Nont and Prom: 3/10 Sure? They have some plot with Nant which should have played a larger role in the overarching story but I guess not. I wish we saw more of Prom being conflicted about his feelings for the two twins. One dream about it and then him casually mentioning it isn't gonna do it.

So basically Playboyy stretched itself so thin with having too many characters, too many couples, and not enough time and now the entire show suffers for it. Imagine if the show actually cared about the message it was trying to impart instead of caring about being The Show to impart the message.

[positivelyghastly]

So I got a text from my mum saying she found a copy of the 2023 end of year metal hammer issue that she apparently got me and then forgot about lol. Anyway I already have a copy so if anyone wants it I’ll be happy to post it out as long as you pay postage, I’ll post anywhere. It’s not been opened (obviously) so it’s got all the freebies and stuff including the ghost button. If anyone wants to grab it just DM me and we can figure out postage. I’ll reblog this with an update if it gets snapped up

[lunaetis]

▸▸ [ @lxmitlxss ( william ) || yinyue one-liner call ]

─「银月」─  " you're not telling the truth, so why would i trust you ? " the STRANGER had not uttered anything other than lies from the very beginning, that was why the rover backed away. her gloved digits hovered at the hilt of her blade. while she was more than experienced in combat, she didn't want to draw her weapon when she found herself in an unfamiliar world. golden gaze narrowed at the assailant. " please leave. "

[psalmsofpsychosis]

yeah so i dont get the "wasn't that some fucked up shit? anyway i'm Rod Sterling" mentality some people have towards different narrative reads. It's all sweet and cool to want to explore all the different variations of a fucked up scenario, but i'm gonna need the reasons for it. I need the "why"; why are we exploring this thing? Why is it important to explore this story? what am i getting out of it? and no it's not about morality.

I dont need a story to teach me "good" life lessons, though that'd be lovely. I dont need it to be an exceptional and exemplary narrative even, but i need my discoveries to be purposeful and meaningful. Sometimes the aim for an exploration of say, a very tragic story, is to simply experiences the different flavours and nuances and complexities of a deeply held personal emotion; sometimes it helps us find the mirroring and connection and relatedness that we need to feel seen and heard and understood. Sometimes it helps you parse out your own bullshit by taking it out of your head and putting it in front of you– i dont care what the reason is, but there's a reason. There's a purpose for every single endeavour you take on, even if you haven't discovered the reason yet. "i just want to experience a fucked up shit" lazy superficial thinking, dig deeper. I hate superficial and purposeless shit; and no i'm not gonna explore the 863796373th trending trauma porn piece of the day because "wouldn't that be fucked up?" nah. I dont care, it's got no use to me. I will absolutely respect the endeavour and make space for it if someone tells me something as simple as "it is relevant to me and my interests and experiences and my mental preoccupations, and helps me refine my humanity and my understanding of humanity in general", that is a lovely and true statement. But if someone keeps churning out worst possible fucked up sad scenarios one after another under the "wouldn't that be fucked up?" flag, i'm out, i dont give a fuck. take your sad shit somewhere else, i have absolutely zero space for purposeless horrible narratives that positively add nothing to my life and dont help me navigate it in any meaningful way.

[james-fun-in-the-sunderland]

What is DND COMEBACK?

DND COMEBACK is a Dungeons & Dragons 5e campaign that me and a few other friends have been playing for almost two years now! I am the DM and they are the players, going through a speculative magical realism homebrew world.

What is it about?

DND COMEBACK is about five people from different countries and time periods in the past that suddenly find themselves in a future (the year 2020 to be exact) that is devoid of magic, other non-human races, religions, and any countries other than the singular country known as The Peoples United Nation. The Peoples United Nation is a country very heavily based on modern America, with English (or as its commonly known as, Common) being the only language spoken and with a government system seemingly based on its democracy. But, in reality, the government is closer to a corporatocracy in reality, with a corrupt president focused solely on power and profits. The players are saved from what is known as a COMEBACK Facility by a group of small rebels. These rebels are focused on trying to bring down this corrupt government, as well as destroying these facilities, which are awful places that revive the recently deceased in order to experiment on them. So, with the help of these rebels, the players focus on trying to get together artifacts that should gather enough power to create a portal back home. However, due to many different circumstances, this task is not at all as simple as it seems.

More info, such as character information and extended lore, will be under the cut!

Have any questions, comments, or concerns about DND COMEBACK? Send me an ask!

LORE

TPUN, the world at large, and the COMEBACK Facilities

The Peoples United Nation is a country split into eight regions, Borealis, Kingston, Kilmaine, Amarus, Indicus, Mogen, Koshka, and Oiseau. The country and its regions all exist on a singular continent, with the exception of Amarus being an island off the coast of the Kingston region, as well as a few islands that closely hug the coasts. Outside of the singular continent and the ocean that surrounds it, the earth is bare with the exception of the Uninhabitable Zones. These zones are large swaths of the world covered in what most describe as a sort of white haze. However, its more so like simply a lack of color rather than being white specifically. These areas have existed since the beginning of history for The Peoples United Nation and most don't even question their existence, however extensive research has been done on them. History of the country is mostly unknown, with anything that the players know being considered fiction and disregarded if not heavily censored. Any evidence of past non-human races, magic, and religions outside of the religion of the Owl God are completely destroyed so that the general populous have absolutely no knowledge unless they actively seek out underground sources (which do exist no matter how hard the government seeks to silence them). Most people with magic, or any non-human races that are found out and not protected are sent to the COMEBACK Facilities. These facilities are government sponsored and focus on researching effects that products, diseases, and other things have on the body in extremely unethical ways. Once a person dies, they are also typically sentenced to these facilities (with the exception of those that are able to buy their way out of this fate) where they are revived. This revival is typically short lived, as the experiments will usually result in the death of the subject, but that's no problem as they are usually able to be brought back again unless there was damage to the subjects brain.

The Owl God, the Griffin God, and the Otherworld

Because there exists no old religions in this world, there are two that have taken their place. That being, the religion of the Owl God and of the Griffin God. The Owl God is what is typically worshiped in most of the country, with the Griffin God's religion being much more oppressed and worshiped in whispers in the more lenient areas, the ones that don't follow the governments teachings that closely. These gods have direct control over the world, with many disciples having personal experiences with the gods and some even being directly possessed and controlled by them. Typically someone who is experiencing this can be identified by their eyes, which will glow an unnatural color depending on their status and god that they follow. This also comes typically with special powers, again depending on their status and god that they follow. These followers usually also happen to have an Artifact in their possession. The most well known artifact of the Griffin God is the Griffin Sword, with its most well known prophets being the ones who wield it. The Owl God has its own artifact, the Holy Book of the Owl, with its own prophets wielding that. There are other Artifacts, however they don't hold direct connections with the gods. While they still hold intense, reality bending powers, they are instead directly connected to a mysterious realm known as the Otherworld. The Otherworld bends reality, showing both different times and different places all at once. It is filled with strange souls and monsters that typically become hostile to any intruding force. Most people, with the exception of magic users and the president himself, do not know anything about this mysterious place. The Otherworld can only be accessed with portals that are typically found in COMEBACK Facilities, opened through ritualistic sacrifice, or visited in dreams.

The Old and New Rebellion

Not long before the players joined this new world, there existed a rebellion that had risen up against the oppressive government that censored everything that didn't line up with its ideals. This rebellion was headed by a woman who was chosen as a prophet by the Griffin God, this gave her unique abilities to be able to fight against the previous president of the Peoples United Nation, specifically so that she could win the country for her own god. This rebellion was extremely popular and nearly succeeded in its goal of overturning the current government, getting many more lenient laws passed and slowing down the governments use of the facilities, with the goal of shutting the awful places down entirely. However, this changed as the past president was murdered and the new, more brutal and uncaring president was put into power. This made things harder but life and rebelling continued on as normal, with most people seeing the leader of the rebellion as a beacon of hope that they still could succeed in this fight. This hope eventually fell, two years before the events of DND COMEBACK take place, the leader of the rebellion was killed during what seemed like a routine training mission. After that, the rebellion slowly dissolved as the government sprang into action and people lost hope, causing many to be captured and sent to facilities, and others to go deep into hiding. Of those that went into hiding, there existed a small group that sought to restart the rebellion and continue the fight. One of these was given the Griffin Sword by the old leader, and though she wasn't the current leader, she was made into the new prophet to push the very hesitant leader into eventually saving the players.

CHARACTERS

The Players

Selene (She/Her, 26, Satyr) - An excitable and devoted young woman from Mycenaean Greece who used to be a priestess for the god Dionysus, believes that her god has sent her here for a reason and believes that aiding the rebellion is that reason! Her class is Warlock. Talfryn (He/Him, 29, Human) - A stubborn young man from ancient Wales, excited to get home as soon as possible to return to his family and hesitant to help this world with their problems. Fights with a focus on protection, putting himself on the front lines in battle despite being more of a ranged fighter, for the sake of others. His class is Ranger with a level in Cleric. Liao Rushi (She/Her, 60, Human) - Rushi tends to take on the caretaker role, not just for the party though but also for the people of this world. Having been a healer back in Qing Dynasty China, she focuses herself on helping the people of this world, and growing the rebellion. Her class is Druid. Jamie (They/Them, 24, Human) - A very quiet and eccentric new addition to the party from Victorian England, with more stake in this rebellion then they want to let on. Typically, they just follow what the majority says to do with no complaints, making them a bit more trustworthy than they would be otherwise. Their class is Rogue. Lady Coocoo (She/Her, 3, Aarakocra) - Lady Coocoo is a spoiled little bird from Rococo France, her neck is twisted around backwards, giving a pretty good insight into how she might have died back in her time, as well as unfortunately making her prone to running into things. She doesn't currently aid the party in their quests, instead staying with refugees from a town that held a magic school, with the hope of her furthering her knowledge. Her class is Wizard.

The NPCs

Henrietta Rose (She/Her, 41 at death, Human) - The previous leader of the rebellion who unfortunately met her death 2 years before the start of the campaign. However, she occasionally pops up and gives cryptic advice to the players at the end of each arc, typically being at different ages and stages in her life. Wiz (He/Him, 42, Human) - The current eyeless extremely hesitant leader of the rebellion, and not a very good leader at that. Not much is known about Wiz, besides his ability to do magic, and this leads to him being very easy to distrust, especially because he was one of the two people present at the old leaders death. Swords, AKA Thalia Lyon (She/Her, 24, Human) - The current spunky co-leader of the rebellion and previous prophet of the Griffin God, though the players have since severed her connection with the God. Has an extreme amount of hope for the future of the rebellion as she used to be very close with Henrietta, the previous leader. Was the other person present at Henrietta's death. Graduated recently from University with a major in journalism. Daggers (She/Her, 20, Human) - The most recent member of the rebellion at the start of the campaign, a very vain and naive girl with an extreme fear of death. Despite this fear of death, she fights strongly to be included in rebellion happenings and wants to do good, though its implied this is to repent for a past sin she committed. Hook (They/Them, 28, Human) - The mute, punk-ish, right hand person of the current rebellion leader, speaks using CSL (Common Sign Language) or using text to speech. Doesn't seem to be too committed to the rebellions success outside of finding their brother who is working in one of the many COMEBACK Facilities. Used to be a maintenance worker for the Facilities President Arthur Williams (He/Him, 43, Human) - The current president of The Peoples United Nation, a selfish yet charismatic man prone to violence when he doesn't get his way. Though he often tries to seem like he has everyone else's best interest in mind, he only looks out for himself and his own power. He seems to be aided by the Owl God in some form, as he has the ability to use magic and is much more powerful than any other spell casters. Winifred Dorothea (She/Her, 45, Human) - The current presidents ex-wife, she divorced him after he murdered the previous president and no longer recognized the man she loved. Now, she uses the training she gained after the divorce to try and bring down the COMEBACK Facilities and eventually to kill her husband, or, freeing him from the control of a 'demon' that she believes is controlling him. Vanya (She/Her, 27, Unknown) - The senior officer of the COMEBACK Facilities, a short mysterious person with a Russian accent that doesn't seem to be like the common citizens of this world. She possesses extreme power for her size and is absolutely ruthless in battle, though she seems hesitant to fully enact the rule of the president, most likely because she used to be a patient in the Facilities and aims to kill the president herself. (please note: she is nonbinary, do not refer to her as a woman/girl) Endymion (He/Him, 27, Tiefling) - Selene's best friend from her past in Mycenaean Greece, having been resurrected in an act of faith after learning of his previous death at the hands of a Griffin God priest. However, he doesn't seem to fully remember her or their home, driving a bit of a wedge between the two.

Side Characters

Rex Griffith (He/Him, 27, Human) - Hook's brother and a worker for the COMEBACK Facilities, working the body disposal room with the hopes of one day being promoted to become a surgeon like his hero, Dr. Shi, is. Dr. Shi Marshall (She/Her, 48, Human) - A medical doctor that works for the COMEBACK Facilities. Previously she had been the main doctor for the rebellion, however once the rebellion fell apart and the options were surrender or die, she chose to work for the Facilities once again. Delilah Martinet (She/Her, over 100, Human) - A very eccentric woman that the players found locked in a room with an artifact that had unnaturally extended her life, though she is over 100 she looks barely a day over 30. She used to build roller-coasters for the theme park she was trapped underneath, until the players finally saved her. Jacques Kohler (He/Him, 35, Half-Elf) - A very strict man that used to be a guard for the city of Corbeau where he had lived for his entire life. However, after finding out some hard truths about his home and the people that run it, his loyalty now lies with the players as he vows to help the rebellion in any way he can. Abigail Elytra (She/Her, 25, Human) - A wheelchair bound scientist from the COMEBACK Facilities that took a liking in Selene, with Selene reciprocating. She has grand wishes to build insect exoskeletons but for humans in hopes of protecting people from extreme injuries. Colton Cooper (He/Him, 25, Human) - The previous owner of the theme park that Delilah had been held under, only taking over after the death of his father and almost immediately plummeting them into debt. After the players mercifully spare him, he now funds the rebellion with the funds he secured before going on the run from the government. Richter Arnold (He/Him, 40, Human) - The first boss the players encountered, as well as one that returned after they thought they had killed him. Richter tried to take revenge on the players after they had gotten him demoted but was unsuccessful, then he was the first test subject in tests to bring someone back to life but completely under the control of another person. It was somewhat successful, but the players ended up killing him yet again, putting him in the ground for good.

Additional details as well as art of the NPCs and players can be found on my blog as well as my Toyhouse page!

The story of DND COMEBACK follows a set of arcs named after the stages of grief. The players have currently been through Shock, Denial, Anger, and Bargaining.

They are currently on the Catharsis Arc, next up is the Depression Arc.

[dihalect]

i need to post about palestine on facebook but i'm fucking terrified

[icy-book]

If no one has done Terrick yet for ship bingo, that one. If they have, uhhh, uh, uhhhhh Sparrow x Grant.

Moss, I literally just reblogged it. I am flattered that you think other people would've noticed and gotten here before you

In spite of canon? They've only talked like one time on the podcast Because of canon? *gestures weeping to the betrayal, them being canonically best friends, just my entire propaganda post, etc*

[blightborn]

SHE'D HEARD OF THIS PLACE BEFORE; a small café nestled within fibonacci ward on the surface. it was scarce she came to this ward, the navigation confusing as ever, but when she had found it, she felt invited in by the array of plants and the feline atop the board itself. she keeps it in mind to tell those she has befriended here of it, too, given the steaming cup of hot cocoa she'd ordered alongside the sweets being some of the best she's had in a while.

now, were it only that her spectral friend had minded her own business instead of causing a disturbance near the books that line the shelves, startling some other customers in her manifestation. should she feel embarrassed or worried that the owner would naturally come over, especially with how intimidating he looks, to see a literal ghost eyeing the shelves so casually? 「 I'm very sorry. 」 her words are written out as fast as she could to show him, hoping she could ease it before anything too bad happened.

「 I promise Eleine didn't mean to. I just think she got curious about the books you have here. So she went to look and I didn't realize. 」

@punisheye