#((Which this doesn't have to include; I just saw a similarity and ran with it.))

[the--emerald--isle]

In a way, they were similar; each born after a World War, one born into a radical ideology, and one born because of it. Though Ireland -- Aaron -- had existed long before achieving his independence, it had been that very radical ideology that had spurred his people into finally breaking away from under England's heel. But that wasn't at play, for the moment, nor were his feelings on a certain part of his people's politics.

Instead, the Irishman found himself seated beside the blonde, as the usual tomfoolery of "more important" nations occurred around them; as always, it had quickly devolved into adults acting like children. Turning fully to face Liliane (she was on his blind side), the ginger extended an offer, casual and friendly. Contrary to popular belief, he could easily be both... depending on his history or lack-there-of with the person in question.

"'M goin' fer a smoke. Ye want t' come?"

He didn't know if she smoked, but figured it was polite to offer.

@mauerfrau

[fanfictionvibesworld]

(A/n: Your wish is my command 😊. sorry for the long wait This kept deleting on its own.)

Words: 1.7k

So different but eerily so similar

Warning: some blood and violence

Running

That is all what seems to happen often these days, well mostly today and even a couple days before that.

Why were you running? people may ask. Well.... How are you supposed to explain to people that currently you, your friend sister Irene, and father Burke are currently running away and trying to defeat a 7 foot tall demonic nun that was in the first place called from the monastery itself calling uponit?

.

.

That's what I thought

The air was cold but heavy. it was to the point that anywhere in the monastery seemed to suffocate you which to be honest, it probably is. But all of this didn't stop sister Irene, father Burke, nor me from giving up so easily. To be honest when sister Irene was comfortable enough with me and told me about her sightings with this demonic nun I couldn't help but be curious about the creature, since I have never heard of such a thing, but.... I felt a feeling of familiarity with the title "demonic nun". Ever since was little my family was always so skittish nuns or anything that included religious which always puzzled me but I didn’t speak much of it.

When I told my family that I was to become a nun I can definitely tell the air around them intensified. It's like they know something I don't...... I seem to be the only person who doesn't know....

I ran as fast as my legs could carry me as the wind was whipping past me. I somehow end up outside the monastery in the cemetery, alone. I started to slow down as l've actually never been in this part of the monastery from the outside.

My thoughts were running with how I could help defeat this demonic entity as the overwhelming of the situation as well as the seriousness, on what could happen, or the situations that will come more with it could make anyone pull there hair out. I was now just walking the cobblestone path as I looked around the cemetery taking in the surroundings. I saw that there was a rundown fountain in the middle of the cemetery.

It wasn't too big, nor small as it stood straight and tall. If you looked close enough, you could see verv intricate details that you couldn't see if you w farther away, As there was of course some baby angels on it. angel statues on it. I walk over to it. I saw the water was green and cloudy to to the point we're you couldn't see the bottom of the fountain floor which indicated that it hasn't been running for a while. I decide to take a seat at the fountain flat edge as I was trying to think of my next move to make.

I was deep in thought when suddenly I heard a noise of low splashing coming from the fountain water behind me. This made my heart beat go fast as I felt once again like I was being suffocated.

I slowly turn my head as I looked back down at the water. There was nothing. I then turn my upper body as I now put both of my hands on the cement edge of the fountain, leaning over to look even closer at the water to see if anything could be in there. I felt the air electrified as l did this even though I was outside in the open. My nerves started to get to me as my breath quickened. I leaned even closer to the water. The silence was becoming unbearable.

In the cloudy green water I saw a small black shadow that was slowly coming to the surface. The object got closer and closer to the surface as my heart was racing faster.

As the small black object fully came up to the surface........was only a frog. As I see this and let out a sigh in relief as i thought it was something else entirely. I backed my face away from the water being glad how the outcome came as I sat up right again. But..... immediately a very large pitch black arm reached out from the fountain water The arm tactically grabbed the ends of my hair that was close to the water and harshly pulled me in the water. I let out a scream from this but it wasn't heard from me being dragged in the fountain water so quickly.

My heart was now jumping out of my chest as fear consumed me whole at this point. I start to struggle, thrashing around like a fish out of water. The grip that was on my hair tightened more and pulled even harsher. With every breath of air that I could get. I was now fully submerged in the water. Holdings my breath as I continue to thrash, all I could hear now is the Luke warm water moving from my thrashing and my heartbeat in my ears. I opened my eyes at some point as I saw clear from the green and cloudy water was just two inhuman like still beady yellow eyes staring right back at me.

My eyes and the yellow ones never flatter from each other as l knew...... this was the demon. But what caught my attention was the look of familiarity on both of our parts when looking at each this long enough. At that split second I was then harshly thrown out of the water to a cobblestone wall of the monastery. I gasped for air as I finally was out of water and start coughing from being underwater for that much time. I groaned lowly from the throw like I was some rag doll.

I touched the spot on my head softly where its was pulling my hair, there was definitely a big that will be left there. I touched the spot on my head softly where its hand was pulling my hair, there was definitely a big bruise that will be left there. I realized just then that my nun veil was gone as my hair and face was more exposed in the opened. It was all wet from the water like the rest of my nun gown

I slowly got up in a daze as l gather my thoughts on what just happened only mere seconds ago. I looked around and saw I was actually back into the monastery but specifically in the basement. I quickly stood up, though which I almost fell back down but I kept my control and balance. I looked at the new scenery that this thing took me to. My eyes widened as I looked at one specific corner wall of the room. I couldn't believe my eyes what l was seeing, my eyes was filled with fright.

father Burke and sister Irene who was both was sitting on the cobblestone floor and leaning there upper bodies back on the cobblestone wall propped up. There bodies was stained with blood making it looking more gruesome. I also notice that the blood of Jesus that we planed to use which it would work like the first time we used it , its bottle was shattered but… The blood was gone.

I felt like I was going to throw up and cry in the time instantly at the sight. They both were alive minutes ago, but now there dead. I start to slowly step back as I had a hand over mouth when I continue to look at the scene. I walk back 3 steps until my back suddenly hit against something. I froze immediately in fear that I couldn't hide anymore of. It has won and knows it. the powerful demonic presence was more presents than ever in here as instead of feeling cold, it started to feel hot.

I slowly turn around slowly as the tension in the air once again intensified as I was now fully turned around and cranked my neck to look up. It was the demon again....just staying down at me, almost piercing through my soul. I started to shut my eyes tightly as I didn't wanna see what it was gonna do to me next.

But, surprisingly, and unbelievably they weren't doing anything other then just looking at me. My eyes were still close as I preparing myself for any minute now that it would kill me in the same way it did to father Burke and sister Irene.

Nothing was happing though other than the intense stare down from it, the powerful presence was getting overwhelming. It did something shocking as it spoke for the first time and it seemed like it ha talked to any humans in a LONG while. The sly evil smirk permanently look in place on its face

" So we meet again...Agnes..... My little viper....”

Their voice was truly deep. So deep that it almost felt like the floor shook and sounded like an echo of different kinds of voices in the background of its own voice.

My eyes slowly opened as I looked up at them. I was filled with all different sorts of emotions but there were three that was more going on in me then most.

Fear, confusion, and disbelief at this situation. That wasn't my name, that's my...... great, great grandmother. My family talked about her once in a while but never got into detail about her like my other ancestors. I push pass my nerves as i replied, not taking my eyes away from its own

“....My names not Agnes It's Y/n.... How do you know m—“

I said shakingly as it spoke again immediately after what I said, cutting me off in the process but this time in a more malicious then the last

“I know that. I know a lot of things Y/n, ALC your her descendant and rightfully so...... I will drag you down the same rabbit hole like I did to HER all those years ago...... My little viper in training..."

[catsteinbooks]

The Thin Dark Duke of Hell

Haven't actually written a meta before, but I've been mulling this around in my head, so here's my take on why I think Crowley is likely to be a Duke of Hell in season 3.

Reason 1: it makes narrative sense

From a story-telling perspective, it's the logical starting place for season 3. Especially if we consider how the original idea was developed as a sequel to the book.

There's no body-swap in the book. Neither Aziraphale nor Crowley has heard from "their sides" at the end, so technically they're still connected to Heaven and Hell. They haven't been punished or kicked out. They even speculate that maybe everyone will just pretend it didn't happen.

And now we're approaching the Second Coming. The Big One. "All of us against all of them." Where are our heroes? Well, time has passed, things have happened. It's reasonable to think that maybe they've both been promoted. (Crowley, in particular, is often getting promotions, usually for things he didn't do.) And story-wise, they're set up as opposite numbers, so it makes sense that their positions as the sequel story begins will be of similar status.

Applying this concept to the screen version, we know Aziraphale has been offered the Supreme Archangel position. Therefore, if Crowley is to be his counterpart, he has to have a high rank in Hell. And there's a Duke of Hell opening to be filled. (Sorry, Shax, I think Crowley's going to snatch it out from under you.)

Reason 2: it fits Crowley's character

"What?!" you shout. "Crowley hates Hell! He turned them down! He doesn't want to go back!"

Correct. He doesn't. But he will if he thinks he needs to. Because he and Aziraphale have a huge, defining commonality: they love Earth and Humanity and don't want it to be destroyed.

Yeah, Crowley will probably wallow for a while. He deserves some time to get insanely drunk and cry. Sort of like he did when he thought Aziraphale was dead in season 1. But the thing is, Crowley always comes back. He's always ready to run. He always threatens to run. He hops in his car and drives somewhere. But he never actually leaves. Because there's no point in going away somewhere without Aziraphale. And that hasn't changed. If Crowley ran away now, he'd still be miserable, but without any music or whisky or his Bentley. It would be... pointless.

So what's a heartbroken, grieving, furious demon to do? Vent his pain in the best possible way: thwarting everyone and everything who hurt him and took away the angel he adores. He knows what Heaven is planning, because he saw it in Gabriel's file. He doesn't want Earth destroyed, he doesn't want Heaven or Hell to win. And he has an opportunity to sabotage the whole thing from the inside.

Which leads us to...

Reason 3: Crowley has a way into Hell already

There is a great meta here about Crowley's conversation with Beelzebub in Hell and its potential season 3 impact. The TL;DR version is: Crowley DID technically find Gabriel, and Beelzebub promised him anything he wanted (including being a Duke of Hell) in return.

Is it a somewhat dubious contract? Sure. Would that stop Crowley? *snort laugh* The demon who makes up legal clauses on the spot to save humans is well-equipped to argue his way into Hell's highest position in order to save the entire world. It's probably much easier than driving a flaming Bentley all the way to Tadfield.

So where does this leave us?

Aziraphale is up in Heaven, ready to burn it to the ground. You saw him when the Metatron mentioned the Second Coming. That was not a happy angel ready to do what he's told. And, frankly, Aziraphale is not actually capable of doing what he's told IMO. No matter how much he tries to follow the good/evil dynamic, he ultimately ends up choosing what is Right over what is Good.

Crowley in Hell would be doing the same kind of thing, albeit in a more subtle, sneaky way. After all, he spent 6000 years thwarting Hell all over the place and getting away with it the vast majority of the time. He knows how to mess with them. (And can you just imagine what would happen when demons like Eric asked him questions and he answered them?! He could gather his own little army with one Suggestion Box.)

So when shit hits the fan, as it inevitably will, we'll be left with both our ineffable heroes (gn) poised to do the exact same thing: destroy the machine from the inside.

Even if some of the other fan speculations prove true (memory wipes, for instance), I think it still makes narrative sense to have them both in equal-but-opposite positions. Because no matter how much the enemies are trying to mess with them, if you take a certain angel with an opportunity to fuck up Heaven and a certain demon with an opportunity to fuck up Hell and you bring them together (which, let's be honest, has to happen no matter what the storyline is), it's going to be pretty darn epic.

[henrysglock]

[Lumax voice] Turn Around, Look At What You See! In Their Face...

(If you couldn't already tell: I have finally lost all my marbles.)

I'm sure this has occurred to other people by now, but if El's memories leading up to the 4.07 monologue are ripped directly from Brenner's (<- slayful Nat post, required viewing), and she runs in to see One killing Two...then doesn't it stand to reason that that is what Brenner saw when he ran into the Rainbow Room in 1979?

Now before anyone hops in to correct me: There's definitely a version of things where Brenner finds El alone in the rainbow room after the massacre. That's not in question. We all know that happened at some point.

(Regardless of the manner of death...no broken bones or gouged eyes...okay!)

However, as I'm sure we're all aware...these guys are different guys.

(This detail has been beaten into the ground but always bears repeating)

So, what is in question is what close-up Brenner saw when he ran into the Rainbow Room.

Those duplicate memories appear to belong to close-up Brenner:

i.e. not the Brenner who runs in and sees El at the start of 4.08. (This isn't to say that that Brenner doesn't have those memories or similar ones, but he's not the Brenner whose memories are being featured. Begone, thot.)

So, arguably, if El has close-up Brenner's memories...then she should be running in and seeing what he saw, no?

So what did he see? Someone just slightly shorter than him, who walked close enough to warrant a tight shot.

That POV (as has been discussed ad nauseam by many) is far too tall to be any version of El:

But it is about the right height for someone a few inches shorter than Brenner...something like:

So, tl;dr: I want to play a clip for you.

I love choreography and camera work. That's art right there.

However, that video doesn't include the subtitling that accompanies the visuals that link El finding One to Brenner finding El:

Now, it's difficult to compare anything after this point (though not impossible, can't keep a south Wisconsin boy down. I will be using them for comparisons later)...because of course that's when weird, random blood starts appearing:

Hence, the clock is visibly frozen after that point:

This smacks, to me, of the same kind of shit that happened with 004 when the kids were bullying El—Scenes that never actually happened in the real past being spliced into a tape that cuts off and then picks back up like no time had passed/nothing had been spliced in. It makes more sense if you read the post I linked, since the video in that post makes my point clearly.

< TANGENTIALLY RELATED >

The anime nerd in me is tempted to liken this whole deal ^ to JJBA/DIO's time-stopping stand "The World" in...that's right...Stardust Crusaders, wherein DIO pause time for everyone but himself, which I'm certain others have done as well.

Tbqh...I'm still here:

Specifically a reference to The World/DIO vs Star Platium/Jotaro, both of which are time-stopping stands...(Much to think about irt Jotaro/Star Platinum developing time-stopping powers later on in terms of El, sure, but also in terms of "Everything was hard for [One]...He walked in here, and it was like something had changed. He told me he had figured it out.").

[Distant screaming as I'm forcefully prevented from going on a "Stardust Spider-Stardust Crusaders-Dio Brando-Joestar Family-Dio's Bone-Green Baby-Green, Green Grass of Home" tangent in this post...and don't get me started on DIO's regen healing/vampirism from the ancient stone mask...don't get me started on King Crimson and Golden Experience Requiem either...]

Not to mention the DIO reference with One linking this scene to (you guessed it) Edward Munson:

Edward Creel proven once again, but this time it's via goddamn JJBA and Brenner fuckery. (And yes, yes, I know about DIO the band. This ain't about her. Things can have multiple meanings. It was a Choice to associate Henward with DIO and Eddie with DIO. I rest my case.)

< ANYWAY, TANGENTS ASIDE >

As I said earlier, close-up Brenner is shot at a distance baby El could never have achieved. She passes out on the far side of the room, entirely too far away to have been anywhere near close enough for a close-up of Brenner's face, height aside.

However, ignoring the blood fuckery and disappearing gate cracks:

Some-One else has enough energy left to walk towards the doors. All the way over, in fact. So while those close-up shots are 100% out of range for post-gate baby El, they're very much in-range for 3:46 PM One.

Tl;dr: It's entirely possible, if not likely (based on the choreography and camera-work in these scenes) that close-up/angry Brenner was addressing One rather than baby El.

[xjulixred45x]

Headcanons of ed,al and ling with a s/o that have a twin? And that twin is protective,like theyre total oppossites,reader is a meek,calm and shy person while their twin is more extrovert,grumpy and protective

Awwww this is cute! I have a Twin myself, so this is pretty much relatable for me

Edward Elric/Alphonse Elric/ Ling Yao x Reader with a Twin

Genre: Headcanons

Reader: neutral

Warnings: none really, Reader is shy while their Twin is grumpy. Fluff

Edward Elric

The funniest reaction of the three

First of all, I think that Ed's relationship with the reader works precisely on the basis that they are polar opposites.

Ed is the hard-headed and temperamental one, Reader is the one who keeps the peace and has a hard time even correcting when they give them the wrong food.

They balance each other in many ways.

However, Reader is definitely what one would consider soft by nature, so Ed himself has developed certain protective tendencies towards them.

The typical thing is to react more than them when someone makes them feel bad/insults them, encouraging them to take repercussions, etc.

Ed has enough anger for both of them.

I imagine that although Ed already knew that the reader had a twin, he had not really seen then due to work issues/they being in another division in Amestris.

However, Reader and he exchanged several anecdotes about their families, including those of their sibilings.

and Ed is definitely happy to know that there is someone else in the reader's life who protects them when he is not there (especially if the reader is a civilian who doesn't know about alchemy).

However, when the mix-up incident occurs, it definitely catches Ed off guard.

I imagine that Ed and the reader were planning to meet at the Amestris barracks, but it just coincided with the arrival of the reader's twin for some work matters.

When Ed started looking for the reader and ran into their, he was MORE than confused.

Reader? What are they doing in an alchemist's uniform? Since when? Isn't it too early? Why are they looking at him like that?

When Ed goes to ask the "reader" directly, he ends up encountering a cold and powerful: "Do I know you?"

TWIN FINISHED IT..

Ed would try to maintain his composure and try to ask questions but at the same time he NEVER saw the reader looking at him so coldly, he almost feels intimidated, like he was in trouble...

Fortunately for everyone, the real reader came to Ed's rescue.

and not only that, but also to greet their twin.

Ed saw with horror how the twin's face changed COMPLETELY when they was talking to the reader, a literal 180 degree turn.

Ed didn't seem to want to give him the time of day, and with the reader they were already catching up, laughing and chatting.

He definitely leave it like that🤯

I think Ed and Twin could get along well...in terms of work. If there is a mission that depends on them, then they will do everything possible to get along.

Outside of that... difficult.

On the one hand, they both can't stand each other (which is ironic considering they have very similar personalities) and constantly compete for the reader's attention.

It's like a game of tug of war. They are both super clingy and see the other as a sudden invader of their time with the reader.

Although Ed will definitely leave Twin and the reader alone when they are exclusively family days, it's like an unwritten rule (just like Twin doesn't get involved in dating).

They try to keep aggression at bay when the reader is present, because after all they don't want to make her angry or, God forbid, cry.

It's like a cold war.

Ed also continues to appreciate Twin's contributions to the reader's self-esteem. At least they have a good common topic to get along with.

Alphonse Elric

Bby boy baby

Al and reader are definitely like the opposite of Ed and his reader, mostly because they both fall more on the shy spectrum. It's just that Al is more social and less reserved.

Although that doesn't mean he has it easy, I can see him and the reader having problems in situations like when they bring them the wrong food and they both silently accept the order🤣 or at least try to help the other by removing what they don't like (this obviously after Al already has his body).

Al is the one who does most of the talking, he's used to it, apart from the fact that he wouldn't feel comfortable letting the reader talk knowing that they make themselves uncomfortable.

Since he can't sleep, get tired or eat while in the armor, I can definitely see him carrying the reader everywhere and being their personal shield:3 both from the danger and the world in general.

They also both LOVE animals and on more than one occasion he and the reader ALMOST get away with taking some kittens (thanks Ed..)

In general, Al is super sweet with the reader and has infinite patience with them.

He knows about the reader's family and especially their twin. Al tends to compare several of their misadventures with those of him and Ed (on a smaller scale) and he even finds it cute that the reader is so attached to their sibiling.

Continuing with the fact that the reader is not an alchemist, Alphonse is happy to know that there is someone in the reader's life who protects them both physically and emotionally.

He's probably more curious about this twin than Ed, and already knows in advance that Reader and their twin are practically identical, but Al is convinced that it can't be that bad.

That is, of course, until we get to the incident.

Probably in Alphonse's case, he ran into twin while they were a civilian, which made it even more difficult to tell them apart.

Al saw Twin in the distance and thought it was his partner, so, like the sweetheart he is, he went to greet them and give them a metallic hug!

When Twin started screaming and even going so far as to hit him, poor Al was SO confused.

Did he take them by surprise? Are they angry? Why the violence!?

Since he is not used to seeing the reader shouting so loudly, not even with a frown, that image will definitely stay in his head for life.

When Reader arrived, Alphonse was so happy to see that they were still as shy and friendly as ever, he probably even hid behind them (as ridiculous as it was considering the size of the armor) to escape Twin's wrath.

Al and Twin get along surprisingly well, mostly because while Al has an intimidating exterior, Twin realizes that he is a softie because of their twin, so they trusts him more than Ed.

but it doesn't mean that they have the same level of patience for him that they have for Reader, rather they don't have any tolerance EXCEPT for reader😅 poor Al..

There's also the issue of Al being, well, AN ARMOR for much of the series, so Twin is understandably worried about how this relationship might work (or how CERTAIN ASPECTS of it work...)

Although if we're talking about full-bodied Al, I can definitely see Twin being much more patient and understanding, hell, even helping him recover from going without food for so many years.

and by the time Al fully recovers, you could say that he and twin are friends. and which twin is more open to receiving it into the family.

All in all, he's doing better than Ed🤣.

Ling Yao

Tbh it's the less surprised about it, but not less funny to see.

For the sake of my sanity and the meaning of this scenario, let's say that Ling's partner is from Xing and probably stayed there when he left in search of immortality.

Ling may have met the reader through some clan, on his own, etc. but definitely from the beginning he naturally gravitated towards them because of their reserved and friendly personality.

They are like opposite poles in a more discreet way. Ling is super social and has no problem defending himself (or others) while Reader was much quieter and barely raised their voice.

Ling made it her personal goal to help the reader be more honest and so they began dating seriously.

Ling definitely falls into the category of clingy partner, especially physically.

especially with reader because he finds their shy reactions super adorable!

He also laughs a little at their exaggerated expressions when they are embarrassed, or when they turn very red.

Although he definitely does not make fun of them, he does everything in good faith and thus his partner gains more trust! He will definitely kick the ass of anyone who makes the reader cry.

Considering that the Xingense culture is based on the Chinese, I can imagine that Ling has already met the reader's family in the past, at least their parents to have permission to "court" their child.

and Ling is also very aware of the dislike that the reader's family may feel towards him. more than anything because of what would happen if he became emperor.

I can see the reader's twin believing that it is not a good idea to date Ling solely and exclusively because of the tradition of the children of each clan, they does not want their sibiling to be left with a broken heart because of something they cannot control.

So, when Twin formally meets Ling, it's not very pleasant.

Ling is the only one who doesn't technically confuse reader and twin, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't have something to say about it (to lighten the tense atmosphere).

-"Wow! (reader) told me that you guys look alike but it's like seeing you in a mirror!"

something like that, he is partly surprised to see them in person side by side, but definitely not as much as the others.

and the only thing he gains is a loud SCOFF before twin walks away from him and reader, shuffling their feet.

Ling knows he didn't do anything wrong, but this is probably the first time "diplomacy" has bothered/distress him.

Of the three, Ling is the one who has the hardest time earning, at the very least, the respect of a twin. not because I don't try! but because twin has the typical Xingense standards.

I mean, Twin not only dislikes the idea of what will happen to Reader once he becomes emperor, but he believes that he is committing themself to someone who is not worth it.

And Ling left in search of inmortality(in Twin eyes, an ABSURD quest), it's like giving green light to these thoughs.

Fortunately, when Ling returns, apart from becoming emperor, he also manages (partially) to close Twin's mouth!

first of all, abolishing the law of marriage (that of the children of each clan, let me be happy) and he appears genuinely more mature than before, to the surprise of twin.

Before, Twin simply saw him as a bum, a scoundrel who happened to captivate his brother and who was lucky enough to be royalty.

but now, seeing everything he had done for Xing, for a foreign country, and that he still always came back to reader...you could say that speaking the heart of a twin.

They don't get along at all. Ling and twin definitely shouldn't be left in a room alone for more than 5 minutes (unless you want them to tear each other's throats out), but Ling KNOWS that twin does everything out of love.

and boy does he understand it. So, for now, they are fine.

Shares, reblogs and comments are very welcome!

[bemusedlybespectacled]

re: Jenkins' tweets about how Buttons is a witch and there's no show without Izzy, IMO there are three possible ways to interpret that:

He's being cryptic because he in fact has no intention of resurrecting Izzy (outside of maybe being a guilt ghost, like Nigel) and is trying to mollify the fans.

He's being cryptic because he wants to keep his options open in the event that he does resurrect Izzy somehow.

He does actually plan to resurrect Izzy, via Buttons' sea witch magic or something similar.

I think it's #1, at best #2, because I think him resurrecting Izzy would cause more narrative problems than it solves.

Longer explanation under the cut:

So, okay, Buttons being kinda magic was hinted at throughout season 1 but, importantly, it was never actually confirmed one way or the other.

The fact that he can identify ships on the horizon as Spanish with his naked eye when Izzy needs a telescope could be proof of sea witch powers, or he could just have good eyesight and/or guessing ability.

His ability to talk to birds could be a legitimate skill, or it could be a figment of his imagination, like ghost!Nigel is for Stede.

The hex he puts on Calico Jack could be real, especially since Calico Jack gets hit by the cannonball after Olivia has her standoff with him... or it's a complete coincidence.

Even in season 2, we never actually see him transform: he walks off into the woods, the bowl falls on the ground, and we hear a seagull, but we don't actually KNOW he's turned into a seagull. There's no Swan Princess-esque transformation scene here.

The same ambiguity is present in the curse episode. It's never confirmed one way or the other whether the curse is real, because that ambiguity is part of the point (i.e. "it doesn't matter how you feel about it, Stede, you need to validate your crew's experiences and not be a selfish ass").

So say Jenkins ends up leaning hard into the magic thing, makes it explicit and unambiguous, and ressurects Izzy. That opens up a whole host of new problems for him, like:

If magic is real, what are the rules? How does it work? What can it do? What are its limits?

Who else in this world knows about it? Obviously Auntie does, but it doesn't seem like Zheng or anyone else does: why?

If it is known by other people, how well known is it? Why do so many people (like Stede and Izzy) not believe in it?

Who else in this world is magic? It can't just be Buttons, since he needed the scroll to turn into a bird and that presumably came from some other magic user.

How much of what we've seen is magic and not plot convenience/rule of funny? Are the Loony Toons physics magic? Is the ship staying afloat despite no one knowing how to sail magic? Is the characters' ability to row anywhere they want, including places they do not know or even have a reason to try to find in the first place, magic?

And, the most important one: if magic exists in this universe, and people know about it and believe in it, and if it's been underpinning the story this entire time, why does Izzy need to be resurrected at all?

I'm not saying these are insurmountable questions Jenkins has no way of answering. But they are questions he would start having to answer, which is not only a lot more work but also very easily verging into the ridiculous if not handled well. It's an incredibly difficult needle to thread. Like, even if he's not slapped with (honestly, valid) accusations of trying to do a do-over because of fan pressure, he's going to be veering off in a direction that is way more difficult to write in a way that feels authentic and satisfying and not forced.

And I currently don't trust him to handle it well! Since we just saw how well he handled killing off a main character and navigating the cast's romantic relationships, which are both way less complex in terms of world-building!

Fanfiction can absolutely handle this. The OFMD fandom has already picked up the magical realism ball and ran with it, which is one of the things I like about the show: a lot of tropes that are often kind of jarring to me in certain fandoms (not just magic in a world with no magic, but certain whump and angst tropes that sometimes feel a little overwrought) aren't jarring here, because there's some basis for it in the canon. Like, the fandom has already written a lot of stuff more complex and better understanding of the universe's rules than the S2 finale (even, dare I say, much of the second season in general).

But Jenkins and the writers team right now? Nah.

[eyedelater]

some recurring words and callbacks in golden kamuy that didn't necessarily get translated consistently

sugimoto says 出た! deta! ("there it is!") or similar whenever citatap comes up (deta, demashita, de~ta~). also, it seems that even though asirpa says "citatap" properly with the katakana "pu" made small so you know it's acting as a final "p" sound, like チタタㇷ゚, sugimoto and other sisam tend to say "citatapu," with the katakana "pu" at full size, like チタタプ, showing their mispronunciation. (after i noticed this, i saw that noda-sensei had confirmed it in an interview, but i forget which one.)

my favorite recurring bit: when sugimoto does something nice for someone (e.g. offering his blanket to henmi kazuo) and they think something like, "he's so nice!" the line they're thinking is 優しい "yasashii" (kind, gentle). sugimoto gets called yasashii a few more times as well. in a small addition to volume 24, chapter 234, boutarou calls sugimoto yasashii, referring to him throwing people off the boat to save them from being shot by boutarou. and sugimoto's father calls him yasashii on his deathbed. i love the sugimoto who everyone agrees is so nice.

the word 戦友 senyuu ("war buddy, fellow soldier, comrade in arms") is omnipresent. i think it gets used in the sentimental "war buddy" sense just as often as it gets used in the drier "fellow soldier" sense, so it has been translated variously depending on the context. tsurumi uses it frequently to refer to fallen comrades as well as living "war buddies" like tsukishima. (he uses it with great emotional weight in this moment in chapter 150... EH scans' translated version here.) tsukishima uses it when yelling at ogata for killing maeyama in chapter 78, and ogata scoffs at it. but ogata himself uses senyuu, maybe in an ironic sense, to refer to the 3 men he thinks tanigaki killed (chapter 111) and also wryly to tanigaki himself (chapter 113). and the narrative refers to ilya as vasily's senyuu.

opposite of a recurrence: several distinct but similar words meaning "soldier" are translated as "soldier" because english doesn't have enough other options. (兵士 heishi, 兵隊 heitai, 軍人 gunjin all appear; there is also the more specific 屯田兵 tondenhei, meaning colonizer or agricultural soldier)

shiraishi gets called タコ坊主 takobouzu (literally tako "octopus" + bouzu "monk, guy with a shaved head," but if you yell it at someone, it means roughly "you bald idiot") by ienaga when she was about to get blown up by his grenade and by kiroranke when he told shiraishi not to run from the bear and he ran anyway. i kept waiting for a third instance to round out the list, but there is none.

when shiraishi introduces himself to pretty women (ienaga then inkarmat), he says 独身で彼女はいません!! dokushin de kanojo ha imasen!! meaning "i'm single and don't have a girlfriend!!" EH scans didn't include that redundancy in their translation, but i think the redundancy is funny. this is another entry where it happened twice and a third never cropped up.

shiraishi often gets called 役立たず yakutatazu (役に立つ yaku ni tatsu means "to be of use," so yakutatazu means "being of no use" or "useless") by sugimoto and asirpa. also, sugimoto calls himself yakutatazu when fighting gansoku on the ice and again after boutarou takes asirpa from him in the brewery.

shiraishi calls pretty much everyone he meets -chan. even ogata-chan and koito-chan (including at their first meeting when koito was clearly an enemy). i get the sense that he does it as part of his overly friendly and teasing nature. he's the one who named vasily "zukin-chan" (hood guy). i think the only one who ever calls him "shiraishi-chan" in return is ishikawa takuboku. but shiraishi won't call people -chan if he doesn't feel like it. (i'm pretty sure he never calls sugimoto sugimoto-chan; and he calls boutarou kaizoku-chan [pirate-chan] once or twice but mostly just calls him boutarou.)

[shen-daozhang]

ooh i saw your tags in the post about ppl hating female characters for the same things they love about male characters, and i thought about sqt vs jgy, so i wonder what you think about both of them! (if you feel like answering! it's not like a 1:1 comparison)

*vibrating* Yea I like those characters a normal amount why do you ask!! (Also I had a super busy week at work and I kept thinking about this ask and monologuing about it in my head, so thank you for the enrichment in my enclosure)

(very messy thoughts incoming!)

Ngl, I never considered how they are similar until this ask, and there are a lot of ways that they are! A background that includes abuse, being seen as less-than for the circumstances of their birth (SQT as a Butterfly Boned Beauty Feast, JGY as an illegitimate son of a sex worker), both gravitate towards powerful men to protect themselves, both are navigating the confines of society trying to move upwards, again, in order to protect themselves. Also both use torture (or at least the 0.5 timeline SQT does)! So that's a fun little similarity.

Now, a big difference is there is the element of revenge in JGY's actions on top of the base need to survive (and a desire to thrive in a world that looks down on you), and I think considering his intelligence he would have gotten away with his plans if not for the completely buckwild re-introduction of WWX back into the plot after his death. I personally think SQT is just focused on survival, and even when she is cruel to Chu Wanning in the 0.5 timeline, I believe she does so because considering TXJ's own treatment of CWN she thinks that is want he wants, and doing so will improve her standing with him (which, sidebar, I am always floored by people who hate on SQT for hurting CWN while they woobify TXJ). Her accusation of Ye Wangxi is only done in an attempt to survive, and I think should be viewed in the lens of the danger that Mo Ran's planted evidence places her in - she's a known Beauty Feast and you know in the world of Erha the second she is out from the protection of Nangong Si her life is likely literally over.

SQT is also just not as smart as JGY, which isn't a slight towards her, JGY is obviously brilliant on many fronts. But I think there is an element of SQT batting above her level, and that leads to her downfall in both timelines. Another glaring similarity is the fandom reaction to them and their actions being a smidge... shall I kick the hornets nest and say hypocritical especially when compared to the actions of the main character? Or other characters in the story who get woobified? (I will also throw Ye Bingchang from Till the End of the Moon into this category). At the end of the day, they are people who are just trying to survive in a deeply messed up world in the only way they know how. Now! Are they both innocent of any wrong-doing because of this? Of course not! That's what makes them interesting and why I gravitate towards these types of characters. The TL;DR: of this is essentially, "people doing fucked up stuff to survive in a world where you have to do fucked up things to survive? It's more likely than you think!"

I will say the fandom's feelings towards JGY has chilled a bit lately, but people were nasty towards him back in the day. Unfortunately, people still are towards SQT and I don't see that changing. I actually ended up including her in my 0.5 fic because I was tired of seeing fics that she either didn't appear at all OR was killed off in a way that was obviously done with malice on behalf of the author. Now she uh doesn't meet a happy end in either of my fics where she features but she's actually a character I really enjoyed writing, and I hope I did it with some sense of sympathy.

There was more I wanted to say but this is already long so I shall post this before it withers further in my drafts! <3

Also gonna link my own fics in case anyone is curious since I mentioned them. SQT appears as a character in this one here - my take on "hanahaki but worse" which has a sad ending - and her death is an inciting incident in this one, an AU where Chu Wanning is the one who got the flower and has become a zealot trying to cleanse the cultivation world (a WIP but I will finish it!).

[mrfellsans]

✩Got inspired to write the thoughts that came in my head after reading angst time with @cutechan555 ✩

Warning. This is kinda long-

This makes me wonder if there is a core memory that would take ages for peppino just to remember at least one heart breaking and impactful moment he had including Naya caretta and Theo (there would probably be happy memories to but er ya know)

For tragic ones: Like for peppino to remember a bit of noise as a kid he would probably remember the second before he blacked out which was when he saw kid noise crying in front of him, I feel like this would be a core memory since he wanted to help noise he didn't want him to get hurt and before he blacked out and got amnesia I feel like he would try his best to at least comfort him for a second but the foggyness caught up and he was never able to help one last time, For Naya I'm thinking maybe she was in a dangerous situation where she wandered off into a little forest near the park leading her to a pack of stray dogs that crowded around her and tries attacking her but luckily peppino came in last second grabbed her and ran out the forest with her and other then this being a dangerous situation I feel like this would be the first time Peppino helped Naya out in a bad situation like that so I'm thinking like Naya was very thankful and probably said a simple like "Thank you mama Pino" and those words probably hit like a truck for peppino cuz it showed how much they care about Pino And for Caretta I feel like it be a bit similar to Nayas but different in a way, technically caretta wondered off on purpose and she was missing for like the whole day and then eventually around sunset peppino found her and lashed out a bit out her for just going without a trace and caretta just doesn't care and like peppino sits next to her and ask her what's wrong and she says "Ive been thinking of bad things happening" and like peppino starts feeling a bit bad since kids they don't rlly learn about sad stuff at an early age and he ask what are those thoughts and caretta responds with "I'm scared you won't be with us forever like one day your gonna die, today I learned what dying was and I don't want mommy or daddy to die or you" and peppino probably hesitates to respond and says "don't worry I'll be here for as long as you like" and caretta is like "But what if one day you have to go? Are you gonna say bye?" And I feel like that just hurt peppino anymore, this tiny child is thinking of worse case scenarios and I feel like if your like an older person and you hear like a little kid talking about stuff like that it it just hits different you know? Not in a good way but a painful way. After that he said he would promise to say bye and picked her up and took her back home, though that bye never happened.

Anyways I got inspired by these scenarios by: Noise car accident comic that CC made, Naya for having a pet doggo named James, and for caretta a similar experience I had with a child earlier today

Naya by @luigigirl12

(Sorry if y'all didn't wanna be tagged my mind just started going haywire after reading the angst cc made 🥲)

[niphredil-14]

How about Homicidal Liu x shy!reader? (Maybe a small scenario or hcs) :)

a lot of these are just general relationship hcs, some of which have to do with his s/o being shy and/or introverted. I hope that's alright c: let me know if you want another one that fits more closely to your request. I just saw liu x reader and relatonship hcs and my brain ran with it

Liu has always been more on the introverted side. Though he can socialize well when he wants to or it's required of him, he tends to stay at home with his plants. So having somebody in his life that operates in a similar way is great for him!

Liu is an absolute angel, always going out of his way to ensure your comfort and to encourage your confidence. Sully, on the other hand, is a bit mischievous. His job and purpose is (in my interpretation and au) a trauma holder and protector. He remembers everything that Liu went through, especially regarding Jeff. This makes him a wary and aggressive to people he doesn't know. This may cause a bit of a rough patch in the beginning of your relationship with Liu, even if you're only platonic with Sully.

Depending on when in his life you met him, you will most likely have to deal with Jeff. This can be a bit of a struggle if you're shy, especially considering how invasive he can be. Liu would always make sure to stand up for you, and to enforce your boundaries.

If you're somebody who prefers to stay at home, that's fine with him! Most of his hobbies are things that can be done anywhere, like drawing, writing, painting and reading, though he enjoys a wide variety of activities and would love to be included in your hobbies and interests!

Liu believes that the basis for any good relationship is working together to incorporate each other and each other's passions in the other's life, so he will make an effort to learn about what you love, though he will expect the same of you.

Liu, as I think I've mentioned, loves nature. He is the textbook definition of a plant mom! He has in-depth care routines for all of his plants, and when he was still a beginner, he cried when his Pothos died.

Speaking of crying, Liu is a very emotionally mature person, who has spent a lot of time working through harmful beliefs he was raised with. He will openly express his emotions and has no shame when it comes to crying. Please don't ridicule him, because it took him a very long time to not be ashamed of his feelings and reactions.

[midnightsilverchelly]

Silver Kingdom Pastry / Faerie Pastry AU

Also known as 'The Silverless Faerie'

Just nutshell summary:

An AU where Pastry runs away from the St.Pastry Order and find herself in the Faerie Kingdom where she becomes a citzen of the kingdom as well swear an oath to Elder Faerie to protect him and the seal after learning about the Beasts from him.

Then swearing an oath to White Lily Cookie during the events of Beast yeast Episode 1+2

-----

I'm going to put more information down under read more because this AU been bouncing in my head and I really want to do work on this Au + even write a few drabbles for it.

More detail information:

After learning the truth about the Witches at the Tower of Sweet Chaos; Pastry runs away from the St.Pastry Order and ends up in Beast Yeast in hopes that the Order wouldn't follow her across the island.

At some point; Pastry ends up in the Faerie Kingdom after Silverbell Cookie discovered her passed out in the forest with a high fever during a patrol. Being confused and panicking on the inside; Pastry tries to leave the room that she woke up in to only find her body protesting as she's still suffering from a fever.

It doesn't take long for a faerie cookie walks in and spots that she is wake; the faerie cookie gives Pastry some soup and medicine, not answering any question Pastry has before leaving despite Pastry's demand for the cookie to stay and answer her questions.

Questions that would soon be answered when Elder Faerie walks into the room whom was informed by the faerie cookie that Pastry has finally woken up after three days of discovering her in the forest.

Elder Faerie answer most of Pastry's questions (where she is, what happened and who he is.) in return for Pastry answering some of his questions (Who she is and what she was doing in the forest in the first place but doesn't reveal she ran away from the Order or what she discovered about the Witches and White Lily.).

Afterwards; Elder Faerie allows Pastry to stay in the kingdom so that she can find a new purpose in her life after she recovered from her fever and her revealing she doesn't know what to do.

During this time, Pastry got to know the faerie cookies including Silverbell Cookie and Mercurial Knight Cookie; the latter of which she becomes best friends as they both had similar connections (both of them gave up their flavour + name for a purpose.)

She also discovered that White Lily Cookie is regarded as a hero in the kingdom as well as her body, which confused her since she saw White Lily got rebaked into Dark Enchantress Cookie.

Once she discovered White Lily's body; Pastry goes to Elder Faerie to confront him about it; fearing that she's being trick somehow again.

She reveals she knows what happened to White Lily to Elder Faerie and the actual reason why she was in the forest in the first place (her running away from the Order), including how she witness what happened on the Night of the Witches (cookies being eaten alive and White Lily being rebaked.)

After getting over the shock and horror that Pastry described to him; Elder Faerie comfort Pastry before explaining how the world isn't black and white as he tells her the story about the five Beasts whom would have destroyed Earthbread if the Witches didn't seal them away for their crimes.

Elder Faerie then tells Pastry to think over about it and allow her to come to her own conclusion, as he doesn't want to influence her and want her to walk down her own path of freedom and truth.

It takes a few days, however, Pastry finally able to accept the truth as well, swearing an oath to Elder Faerie to protect him and the seal so that the Beasts Cookie doesn't get released into the world.

Some time pass and that's when Pure Vanilla + the group shows up. Pastry just lingered on the side, mainly keeping to herself, and follow the group.

That's when all hell breaks loose, considering the seal broke and Shadow Milk Cookie is released. Pastry helps the group out and assisting them to the best of her abilities.

When Elder Faerie Cookie dies; Pastry becomes upset however doesn't cry since they still need to take care of Shadow Milk thus shove her grief to the side and allow her angry to fuel her to keep going.

She quickly tells White Lily Cookie that she will protect her since she is the new guardian.

Pastry doesn't get captured by Shadow Milk when Shadow Milk capture some of the group for the final round. When arriving at the final confrontation with the jester; Pastry tries to encourage White Lily Cookie to fight Shadow Milk Cookie as Earthbread would be doom if the jester wins.

White Lily Cookies seals Shadow Milk Cookie which Pastry is happy about.

In the aftermath; Pastry goes to the side so that she can finally grieve over the loss of Elder Faerie Cookie due to the fact that she saw him as a father figure and a positive influence on her life (especially since she was mainly surrounded by negative influence before meeting him.)

She still attends to the feast since the feast is in honour of Elder Faerie despite the fact she wants to be alone since she doesn't want to dishonour Elder Faerie's memories.

There's also a bitter side as she wished Elder Faerie didn't die in the first place, however she doesn't blame Pure Vanilla, White Lily or anyone in the group since she knows it's not their fault but instead blames Shadow Milk and Dark Enchantress (the latter breaking the seal in the first place which allows Shadow Milk to escape in the first place.)

Afterwards, Pastry swear an oath on her life and fork that she will protect White Lily Cookie since she is the new Guardian, and she wants to ensure that the seal doesn't get broken again or fight against the Beasts to the bitter ends if they do get out again.

Even despite not feeling ready for an adventure; Pastry will follow the group due to the oath she swore to White Lily as she doesn't want to break the oath that she made.

[disappointmentthemusical]

grammar basics

punctuation

commas are only used:

to separate two independent clauses with a conjunction, e.g., "I went to the park, and and I ate ice cream, so I'd say it was a pretty good day." (A sentence like: "I think we should leave and go home" does not need a comma because the second phrase, "and go home," is a dependent clause.)

to surround nonessential information. This is anything that is not vital to the sentence. Essential vs. nonessential information examples: a. "He drove by a row of houses, which were packed tightly together." vs. "He drove by a row of houses that were packed tightly together." "Which" is indicative of nonessential information, which requires use of a comma, while "that" is used for essential information and does not use a comma. b. "And then she ran to hug her wife, Sarah." vs. "And then she ran to hug her wife Sarah." If the subject has only one wife, then the name and title are separated by a comma. But if the subject has many wives, and it must be clarified which wife she's hugging, then the name is essential and does not have a comma. This is true for anything: friends, parents, siblings, coworkers, etc.

for lists. USAmerican journalism does not allow the Oxford comma, but it doesn't matter in other fields, so long as it's consistent.

after an exact date or location is given. Example: "We met on Aug. 13, 2001, and fell in love immediately, but I had to catch a bus to Beaufort, South Carolina, to meet my fiance's family."

Semicolons are used:

to separate two similar independent clauses without a conjunction. Example: "He smirked meanly; it was always so easy to rile his sister." (NOTE: The correct alternative to this sentence is to split it into two, not use a comma; that would be a comma splice.)

for lists, for clarity. Examples: "When I was at grandma's house, I ate green beans; shrimp and grits; and macaroni and cheese"; "When we get home we need to do the laundry; make sure Roger is OK with everyone coming over and ask about his stereo; clean the kitchen; and bury the body." (NOTE: While it's up to preference whether to include the Oxford comma, use the semicolon after each list item.)

Ellipses are only used:

to indicate that part of a quote has been taken out.

Em-dashes are used:

to indicate a pause, e.g. "The kid looked – strange." NOT "The kid looked... strange."

to include nonessential information or give an aside. E.g., "And when I saw her in that dress – blue, just like her eyes – I felt my heart stop."

turns of phrase and redundancies

It's only "whether," NOT "whether or not" – that's redundant.

"Try to" NOT "try and."

Toward, forward, onward, etc., NOT towards, forwards, onwards, etc.

Regarding, with regard to, in regard to. (Never "regards.")

"Unexpected surprise" – all surprises are unexpected.

"Heavy in weight" – so it's heavy.

"X colored" – just say the color.

numbers

Spell out numbers 0-9, and use numerals for 10 and above. This includes things like the fifth and the 11th.

Use numerals for all ages, and hyphenate it. Examples: "His eldest grandchild is 36-years-old, but his youngest is not yet 3-months-old!"

Use numerals for height and measurements, e.g., "The gnome stood proudly at 1-foot and 3-inches tall."; "The dude's got to be at least 6-foot-5."

[turianosauruswrex]

Lesson, Ocean, and Wish for Per and Tace? (I hope things get better for you soon)

thank you!! it's just the post-vacation with friends blues, it'll all be okay!

LESSON: What was the first important life lesson your OC learned? How did they learn it? Was it a kind lesson or a difficult one? Do they still remember it now, or has their worldview changed?

Peregrine learned how fragile life is, how easy it is to end it. This was honestly probably learned when they were very young, before the cult even got their hands on them, but they don't remember most things before that. It would have been framed gently, when given by their mother, but given that the version they remember involves her dead body... yikes! They've kind of internalized this as "living things are weak, therefore it's no great sin to end those lives, because if I don't do it something else will" combined with a healthy dose of "I am my Father's perfect killing machine". And while Jasmina's teaching would include a healthy dose of respect and sympathy for the bereaved, like. Peregrine doesn't think about that. If they did, god, how could they do their job? They're professional. They have to stay focused.

Tace's first life lesson is that she is the recipient of a Great Mercy, For Which She Is Supremely Unworthy by virtue of being a tiefling orphan raised by the main church in her setting, that of the god Toksis Rex. The Rexxan church believes tieflings to be wholly corrupt devil-spawn and discriminates heavily against them. She's equal parts furious about this and what's happened to her to doom her to a martyr's end, and wholly buying into it. Martyrdom can redeem her soul. If dying is how she's saved, then so be it.

OCEAN: When was the first time your OC saw the ocean? How did it make them feel? If they’ve never seen the ocean, do they want to?

Peregrine grew up in Waterdeep! They are very familiar with the ocean! It's always been a presence in their life so they don't remember ever thinking about it. I'd hazard the first time they actually saw it was shortly before their mother and her adventuring party died, around when Per was nine or ten, when they arrived in Waterdeep from further inland. I think they would have been entranced. A little frightened. Hesitant to go in the water. They still are.

Similarly, Tace grew up on an island, she's very familiar with the ocean! She has no memory issues (well, except the gaslighting) and can't remember the ocean ever not being part of her life. I imagine she likes it a lot and finds it quite peaceful.

WISH: What’s the first thing your OC ever wished for or wanted? Do they still want that, or have their desires changed? If so, what changed them? If not, how far would they go to fulfill their wish?

For Peregrine I have to think the earliest thing they remember wanting is their Father's approval. Whether that was out of fear or a genuine desire to please Bhaal, they would have very desperately wanted it. They want his attention, they want him to love them, and they think, of course bloodshed and violence is the way to make him love me, of course bloodshed and violence is what I get when he loves me. In a way they still want this, though they're convinced they're the favorite now. They don't know who died to make them the favorite, but, c'mon-- you don't just get to turn into the Slayer if Dad doesn't like you. In Blood Feud AU they want Bhaal to leave them alone, which is a verrry interesting turn from the campaign. That shift came from experiencing love that didn't hurt them, from Eileen and Caoimhe. They're still getting used to it. And of course in campaign they don't have this; being loved in a way that wasn't painful shortcircuted them so hard they broke the heart of the person who loved them, killed the other person who did, and ran 500 miles down the Sword Coast and took 100 years to kinda get over it. I love this weird bird. They're having similar coping issues with Elayne looking out for them currently. SOOOO much fun to play oh my god.

Tace was probably similar-- she would have wanted to be seen as good and worthy by the church that raised her. More immediately, and tangibly, she would have wanted a specific rival, Calliope, to leave her the fuck alone. Calliope is an aasimar daughter of a higher-up in the church and can thus get away with murder. For some reason I don't quite know yet (campaign starts next month!) she singled out Tace as a prime target. Probably the tiefling thing.

[lampmanliveblogs]

Ah, I see The Collector used his space magic to summon a book filled with the completed version of all the fanfics I’ve never finished. I know I always say it’ll be a miracle if I ever get all my ideas written down, but I didn’t think it’d take an actual miracle.

You guys might think I’m exaggerating, and I am for comedic effect, but not by much. Just today, I started jotting down yet more notes on my phone while eating lunch at work. What if Masha discovered that they had psychic powers? I have so many unfinished first chapters, short snippets of dialogue, and premises for stories written down on my computer, phone, in various notebooks, pieces of cardboard, and reciept paper lying around. It’s honestly a bit ridiculous.

Oh wait, the pages are stone slabs? Or maybe they’re supposed to be clay tablets? That’s kinda cool actually, brings to mind the earliest stories written down by man in our own world. You know, like the Epic of Gilgamesh.

…hold on, I gotta go get myself a drink to dramatically spit out in shock and disbelief, give me a sec.

…

”Right, now where was I?” I say as I sit back down with a refreshing beverage. I rewind the video by a few seconds and hits play as I take a sip of my drink.

”Collectors live long, we watch things pass.”

”Pfft!” I spit out my drink in shock and disbelief, spraying my computer screen with liquid. ”What!?” I exclaim between coughs. ”Other Collectors?

I mean yeah, sure, The Collector is a child of the stars and whatnot, I kinda figured there’d maybe be some subtle hint at a larger pantheon out there, but, uh… I guess we get it confirmed right here, right now. I was even thinking of including a joke about The Collector’s parents being Mother Nature and Father Time, I just couldn’t figure out how to work it in.

Alright, calm down Lampman, think…

Based on this short summary, it appears that the collectors are if not gods, then at the very least god-like beings. They travel the cosmos and collect specimen of various lifeforms to preserve them in their collections. That in and of itself doesn’t sound all that horrible… but, ah… that second paragraph is a bit concerning.

Should the mortal beings they collect begin to meddle in the affairs of the Collectors (like, oh, I dunno, maybe NOT wanting to be turned into a collectible), they’ll scorch the planet and wipe them all out. Which… yeah that sounds about right for gods of mythology.

Our little Lord of the Fireflies doesn't like that mentality though, they’d rather play games and have fun and make friends (though evidently, The Collector still don’t care too much about what the mortals want).

Right of the bat, this does make me wonder something: is it possible that The Collector we saw in the Owlbeast’s flashback in Knock, Knock, Knockin’ on Hooty’s Door wasn’t THE Collector, but another collector? Cause that’d explain why that one didn’t look a whole lot like this Prince of Plastic

It also makes we wonder if maybe The Collector ISN’T the Grand Huntsman worshipped by the Titan Trappers, but rather, another collector (or several of them). Indeed, we see at the bottom of the page, three collectors looming over several worshipping humans. Because’s I’ve been wondering about that; aside from calling King’s dad a bully for putting him in divine time-out, The Collector really didn’t seem to have much against Titans from what we’ve seen thus far. Heck, he was super excited to meet King. So could it be that The Collector was not the one responsible for wiping out the Titans, but rather some other collector?

What I’m thinking right now is that The Collector is the divine equivalent of a kid that ran away from home. And their family either doesn’t care, doesn’t know, or enough time has not passed for them to notice.

(hm… a kid that ran away from home because they didn’t fit in with their peers… where have I heard a similar story before…?)

(the book mentions that the collectors would scorch the air… the demon realm planet is covered in a boiling sea… perhaps scorching the air is a more poetic way of saying ”set off a bunch of volcanoes”? In real life, the worst mass extinction event known was caused not by the meteorite that wiped out the non-avian dinosaurs, but a massive flood basalt taking place about 251.9 million years ago, colloquially referred to as ”The Great Dying.” Volcanoes are good at killing stuff, is my point. and undersea volcanoes spewing out lava would explain why the sea is always boiling)

I mean, look at this face. Does this look like the face of someone who could wipe out a race of giants? Look at him! He couldn’t hurt a fly.

Except Belos, but he doesn’t count.

And I guess they did turn an island’s worth of people into puppets and force them to play along in their games, hmmm…

[ashtoberr]

ASHUTA IS SO COOL OHHH MYYY GODDD •□•!!!!!

Hi hi I loveeee your csm oc / insert ♡♡ THEYRE SO COOL Her lore is so interesting 💭💭 At least. The lore that I've seen so far is so interesting. AND HER DESIGN IS SO CUTE I ADORE IT SM 🏂🏾🏂🏾🏂🏾

I always love it when ocs break the "norm" of their universe (idk if that makes sense but her being a vampire when most, if not all of the supernatural entities are devils/Devil adjacent is so swag and cool and based I LOVE SEEING CHARACTERS LIKE THAT 🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽)

Her and Aki seem so cute too :3cc I don't think you understand how STOKED I was to see them in the selfship tag. Saw it and ran around my room screaming (in spirit not in action) because YES !!! FINALLY!!! IM STARTING TO SEE MORE PEOPLE W/ CSM SELF SHIPS / OC X CC SHIPS !!!!

I wanna know all ur thoughts about Ashuta 💭💭 She genuinely seems like such a cool character they're so epic and awesome n cool n swag ((o(^∇^)o))

OMG HI!!!! IM SORRY I JUST SAW THIS Ahhh thank you so much!!! It's super exciting to met another CSM selfshipper!!!! :DDD I'd love to hear abt ur self insert omg I'm so glad you like her!!!!!!! It actually means a lot, she makes me really happy to work on :D

And trust me I will provide on Ashuta lore >:3 Here is The Food For Today. I didn't include art this time bc I have been eepy. I have ideas for long after this, but this is the general gist. I plan to eventually draw a lot (if not all) of this out. Here's her concept for her first appearance and mission (Chapters 14 to 20, or up to episode 7 in the anime):

So, after being found by Makima:

She is added to the team briefly after Denji and Power. I'm currently undecided at which point she should enter the story; I'm thinking about prior to Chapter 14.

Makima helps her find a place (up until this point, she's been homeless since becoming a vampire) near Aki's apartment, encouraging her to make friends. She suggests Denji could use a friend since he's similar to her (not fully human, rough background).

Ashuta believes that since she'll be on a team of devils and humans, she would be more likely to make friends since they should be more accepting, right? She shows up to the Hayakawa apartment with some food, trying to introduce herself as a new member of the team (and not disclosing herself as a vampire yet- Power can tell, but doesn't care enough to point it out).

Denji thinks at first she's friendly, but a bit too polite and wonders how someone like her got chosen by Makima. Power doesn't initially feel strongly about her either way, though she's delighted to meet Meowy.

Aki thinks she's polite (and finally someone easy for him to get along with on his squad), but questions why she became a devil hunter after a couple hours of them hanging out. She briefly explains that she's a vampire, and that her life was ruined by the Vampire Devil. Aki's tone quickly changes knowing she's not human, and the night is sort of abruptly ended.

CHAPTER 14:

She's integrated into the group with Chapter 14's mission in the hotel being her first (could be retconned later.)

She's a bit hurt with the talk of Aki and Arai not trusting "non-humans" and saying they don't have human rights, so she's quick to become very quiet since she assumed Makima's team of devils and humans meant she was more likely to be accepted.

Himeno can quickly tell that she looks upset and comes over to strike up a conversation, and the two make small talk throughout the mission. She tells her to not mind Aki, that he's just had bad experiences with devils. Ashuta protests that she's not a devil, but a devil makes an appearance before Himeno can respond.

Himeno discusses with Aki later in the mission that she's surprised Ashuta is so conscientious for a vampire- Aki shrugs and believes it's her being deceptive. Himeno goes to suggest he give Ashuta a chance.

CHAPTER 15:

Ashuta does bond a bit with Denji over the mission, both of them asking each other questions about their respective species ("So are you allergic to garlic?" and "Does it hurt when your chainsaws come out?")

CHAPTER 16:

In hopes of winning Aki's approval, Ashuta offers to help Aki hunt for the devil. She explains that since vampires don't really need to sleep much, she could help him all he wants.

Aki, unimpressed, asks why she's so hellbent on trying to please him when he doesn't care about wether she lives or dies as a non-human.

CHAPTER 18:

In the hysteria of facing the eternity devil, Ashuta finally snaps at Kobeni after trying to keep everyone calm the entire mission, telling her she's going to be a shit devil hunter if she freaks out at the slightest inconvenience. Kobeni yells back that it was easy for her to say, that she'd been calm and collected the entire mission because she can't die. Ashuta yells at her that pussying out and turning on her teammates made it more likely for all of them to die, and to shut the fuck up and help if she was going to stay a devil hunter. It certainly doesn't make Kobeni like her, but it shuts her up.

CHAPTER 20:

Ashuta joins the newbie welcome party. Denji questions how she can eat if she's a vampire, and she shrugs and explains that it's the same way devils eat- the only difference is human food isn't of nutritional substance to her and she doesn't retain any energy from it, she eats it for nostalgia purposes and the taste.

Ashuta lightens up when Makima joins the party, glad to see someone familiar- she considers Makima a friend, being the first person who was nice to her.

During the party, Makima asks Aki how Ashuta's first mission was, and wether she had done satisfactory. Aki admits that she did well, and Ashuta can't help but be a little happy at his approval.

As the night progresses, she gets drunk enough where she feels less afraid to approach Aki again. The two actually end up talking some. While drunk, Aki apologizes for the way that he had regarded her earlier in the night, and that she handled her first mission well, remaining composed in such a stressful situation .

Ashuta shrugs, and says it's fine- when she was turned into a vampire, she'd been shunned by everyone she once knew. She explains she still considers herself the same person she was before, but she fears rejection from humans more than she fears injuries from devils. He suggests she come stop by their apartment again sometime (more out of drunken guilt than actual like for her, but it's a start to them becoming friends).

[idledreams4]

i FINALLY had a Supernatural related dream last night!!!!

So basically I was an angel but someone (I forgor who) had stolen my grace, so I was just living on earth as a human

Similar to Anna when we first met her though, I had no memory of this

And then one day I meet Dean. (In this AU, he's also an angel) and I think we were part of the same garrison before I fell or something, but clearly we never really spoken.

At the very least he was acting like we didn't know eachother that well. Which sucked cause I fell head over heels the moment I saw him.

And I kinda figured that was like super common, so while I did try flirting a little I wasn't confident enough to like really go for it, but he had the audacity to read my mind (for some reason???)

So anyway he gets me back to heaven, and tells me I still have like the funniest bit of my grace left, but it's not enough to do a whole lot so I'm probably going to be on the bench until we can recover the rest.

But also, by the time we've made it back to heaven he's like returning my affections and stuff. So we basically showed up, he went and told our commander "hey I found her" and then we just kinda left again

Now this is embarrassing to explain. I know we all know I'm a Dean girl but that doesn't make it any less embarrassing to admit that the only reason we went back to Earth was because when he read my mind he found me thinking about him bringing to me to some cheap motel. And I guess he just kinda started going along with whatever advances I made at that point.

So anyway we end up at the sketchy ass Motel, Wind up on a hunt, I barely get out of it alive but he heals me and all is well

Then I wake up.

But I was able to go back to sleep and get back into the same dream, but we're back in heaven at this point.

Me and Dean were inseparable basically. Everyone knew what was going on and they did not seem to be ok with it whatsoever. (How Dean was still an angel I'll never know)

And our commander, who's name I forget right now, came around asking for volunteers for something and nobody really stepped up, so I turned to Dean and was like "well, we could do it" but the commander gets mad and is like "absolutely not." And she calls on a few angels, including Dean and this other one that had actually gotten injured on this same appointment not long before. The second in command (idk her rank) was clearly afraid of our commander, but she asked if she really thought sending that angel out again was a good idea and was met with silence.

While Dean was gone a couple of the others started talking to me. (One thing I forgot to put in because I'm not really sure when it happened is that the rest of the platoon Dean was part of had to come save our asses at some point, that's who was talking to me. Our garrison was a company of angels, and I think it was made up of 3 platoons. I think we primarily worked as a company though, and only split into the platoons when absolutely necessary. But I also only ever saw like 10 angels max so...)

Anyway that's not important, y'all don't care about the way old heaven ran (Metatron was never brought into play because Dean was an angel and Sam was just some hunter. Literally the apocalypse hadn't even happened in this word, it was wild. Oh but Leviathan had. Castiel somehow was still fucking everything up despite having nothing to do with Dean. I think all the angels he slaughtered is why a) our garrison was so small and b) why they came looking for me. Every body counted, and with the factions at war... Bad times. I don't know who we were aligned with. I think in all honesty our commander was after power for herself, and the only reason she didn't have us actively engaged in battle was that she didn't have enough angels on her side.

ANYWAY thats not the point

Back to the main story.

I was talking to some of the others, they were asking what it had been like living on earth and I don't know why I told them this but I was honest and was like "yeah, about that... so I still don't know why or how I'm here because I wasn't exactly the most godly person.... I worship lucifer actually"

And the looks on their faces were priceless let me tell you. So before long Dean came back and had barely any time together before he was being called away to do something else, and I was just kinda stuck on the sidelines, watching.

And then I woke up for good and started writing this

There's a bunch I left out because I forget what order things happened in, and some of it wasn't remotely canon-compliant so I just ignored it. But also I don't think y'all needed the borderline smut scenes lol

In the few instances where me and Dean got some alone time he came on hot and heavy. Like I said: no idea how he was still an angel, cause lust is a cardinal sin....

Idk. We don't question dream logic.