#(The game is fun it's just really hard and makes you want to commit violent murder against Sinistar lol)

[king-candybug-backup]

WAIT HOLD ON, SINISTAR IS AN ACTUAL ARCADE GAME? 😭😭😭 I'M SO STUPID, I THOUGHT HE WAS AN OC YOU MADE UP FOR THE FIC

NJKHBGVFGKBHJHBGVKJKN

Yeah, no, he's a real arcade character from the 80s! I figured he'd fit right in with the older cabinets like TurboTime and Fix-It Felix, lol

(Also you're not stupid!!! It's not a SUPER well-known game from what I can tell, so the mistake is understandable)

[everydayyoulovemeless]

Oooh you do yandere stuff?? Can I please have something for yandere Joshua Graham, either headcanons or the alphabet would be great!

Yandere Joshua Alphabet

➼ Word Count » 1.7k ➼ Warnings » yandere themes ➼ Genre » Romantic, Yandere

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

Joshua shows his affection through how he shelters you. He hates it when you leave the camp without him, and does everything he can to ensure you won't end up being a target for the White Legs or any other Legionary assassin that may come for him again. He's fully aware of the influence Ceasar has and would take this aspect of your relationship very seriously. You won't leave without someone else going with you. He simply won't allow it.

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

In a normal relationship, Joshua would be more hesitant to show how violent he can get. But, in this situation, all the drive to hide who he really is goes out the window. He's willing to go as far as he needs to when it comes to you. Anyone necessary. The tribals, your companions, and even Daniel. He'd slaughter them all if it meant you'd be safe. He'd even do it in front of you.

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

No. He thinks it's rude. It's not your fault that you aren't as experienced as he is. In fact, the whole reason he'd abduct you is to be able to keep a better eye on you. Making fun of you for something that was inevitably going to happen isn't something he's prone to doing.

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

He's going to have you baptized, whether you want to or not, but besides that, he wouldn't dream of forcing you to do anything you didn't want to.

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

There are times when it feels as if you don't even know the man. He's quiet and incredibly closed off, even to you. He'll try to discreetly tell you about himself through bible verses or poetic words, but other than that, he's not jumping for you to learn about his past with the Legion any time soon. He wants you to love and trust him, not despise him.

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

He understands it. This world is harsh, of course, your instinct is to fight him. However, after the first week of staying with him, he hopes you’ll calm down and finally just accept that you’ll never get away from him.

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

He won’t. If you try and escape the humble home he’s managed to set up for you both in Zion, he’s going to be upset. Even with all the knowledge he’s told you about the White Legs and all those around who want to hurt you, and you still want to try your luck? He’ll be disappointed, to say the least. He expects you to have more instinct than that.

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

He's always taken his philosophies seriously, even when he was in the Legion. So, if he ever overhears you saying something he deems to be blasphemous towards his religion, you're going to have a very hard time calming him down. He'll force you to pray out loud to the Lord and ask for forgiveness until he's satisfied. It doesn't matter to him if it takes hours, he refuses to let you be shunned to Hell for a sorry mistake such as the one you committed. What kind of husband would he be if he didn't seek to save you from God's wrath?

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

If he had it his way, you’d be the perfect housewife, staying home to cook and clean while he went out and did whatever. Some Legion habits never left him, and coming back to a loving spouse who’s prepared to comply with his every whim is one of them. Just the perfect nuclear family.

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

He gets very quiet when he's jealous, preferring to be silent rather than blatantly lashing out at whoever is triggering these feelings. He thinks it's stupid that he gets so upset at the tribals for simply being around you. It's not like you'd leave him - not like you could - so why is he so stressed? He'll pray and go on walks to try and combat his jealousy, it's one of the only things he actively tries to work on.

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

He acts as any spouse would. He kisses you on your hands or on your cheeks to greet you, rests a gentle hand on your lower back when you're near him, and does everything he can to take care of you.

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

As he believes any man should: with trinkets and thought-out dates. He wants to court you the right way, even if you’re aware from the start that you’ve got no other choice other than to accept his advances.

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

On the outside it doesn’t appear as if anything has changed, however he feels different. There’s an urge now, something that tells him to kill. He’s felt it before during his peak in the Legion, but now it’s come back and he’s not sure what else to do than to quench the thirst of fear that floods him by ensuring your safety. Maybe it’s God's will that’s enforcing him to protect you.

Naughty - How would they punish their darling?

He’d shout and maybe grab your face, but he couldn’t imagine going any farther than that. If he wants to get his point across then he’ll just let you feel the raw fear that getting chased by Legionaries gives you (only once, he doesn’t want you to be actually harmed), but enough to get you to listen.

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

He’ll take away your right to leave the tribes camp, your right to your weapons, your right to your opinions, your right of religion - there’s not much he doesn’t have control over.

Patience - How patient are they with their darling?

Joshua thinks he's patient, but he has a clear temper. He'll be kind one moment then angry the next. Although he does his best to not take it out on you, it's still terrifying to witness. Sometimes you wonder if it'd just be best to listen and avoid his fits altogether...

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

No, he’s got it in his mind that God assigned him specifically to defend you and keep you safe, so if he ever were to fail that, he’d feel as if he were betraying the Lord's trust.

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

How could he? You're better off this way. He's sworn to care for your every need. He'll feed you, give you access to water, cloth you, comfort you, bleed for you, house you - why should he feel guilty about doing you a favor? For loving you?

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

Joshua has always had this need to worship in his life. It could be seen with how devoted he was to the Legion and the will of Caesar, then with God, and now with you. There's a primal urge within him to commit himself to wherever he feels most desired, and that just happened to be you.

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

It shatters him, especially if you're acting like this because of something he did. He'll sit beside your curled-up form and whisper Bible verses and scriptures as a way to encourage and reassure you.

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

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

His religion is a massive weak point, and if you can somehow convince him that it was God's will for you to go elsewhere, he may just let you go. Granted, you'd have to be really good at persuading people. He's a logical man and won't just take your word for it so easily.

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

Not intentionally, but sometimes he forgets his own strength when it comes to handling you. He likes to brush it under the rug though, best not to think about it.

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

In his mind, he's already won you over. Of course, he'll still go through the process of romancing you and won't ever stop doing that, but his delusions tell him that you've already fallen for him. One thing about Joshua, however, is that he almost sees you as a second Christ. If you ask him to do something, he'll do it no questions asked. But, in the same sense, he's paranoid that you'll be crucified just like the Lord and is constantly looking out for that certain 'Judas' that will betray you.

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

Like a day. The second he feels different around you compared to others, he's got it in his head that you're a divine being or, at the very least, someone God wanted him to meet.

Zenith - Would they ever break their darling?

He hopes to 'break you in' to his way of life, but he hopes that it won't have to be violent or over the top in any way. He's certain you'll come around to his way of thinking soon enough, even if you need a little shove.

[pap03]

Okay so I originally wrote this on Discord so apologies for any jank

But I need to get out my mega LOVE theory for Deltarune somehow, and Discord is the only place I've wrote it down lol

Anyways what got me going was this here difference in stats

Both being a post-Snowgrave Kris, just one from the Light World and the other from the Dark World

And this discrepancy would be strange right? If both LV's stood for the same thing

Which I'd why I claim that they do not

Rather that the LV in the Light World still refers to the LOVE of UT

While the LV in the Dark Worlds stands more properly for a "Level" a way of gauging the amount of Experience the Fun Gang have

Doubly true as the Dark World stats measure nowhere "EXP" aka "Execution Points"

From what I can tell Level only goes up upon reaching certain HP values, as Noelle goes from Level 1 to Level 2 in the Dark World

Since Noelle "Levels up" upon finishing just one act of violence in the Dark World

So I think it'll be possible later on to Level up early if you're violent enough

Sorta opposite of how it worked in UT, where you needed to LOVE up to get HP

In Dark Worlds you need to get your HP up to Level up

But that’s a bit of a tangent; continuing on

With the ground rules laid out that LV and LV can exist synchronously the next thought in my ramblings was that I need some proof that Noelle will continue to be our main Puppet, to explain why this LV theory should be relevant

And on that front, I got several bits

Easiest for me to lay out here is that the Survey taker at the beginning of ch 1 has special dialogue if you name yourself after a majority of the party members

This includes: Kris, Susie, and Noelle

All 4 share the same reaction

Secondarily Noelle lays out herself in the hospital that she's gonna figure out what's going on with Kris, which means to me that she'll keep coming around Kris, even despite the coercion into murder

And lastly, Noelle’s crush on Susie has so much unmissable screentime that Chekov would shit his grave if there were no resolution to it

This established leaves the first 2 core tenents of my theory

1. LOVE exists

2. Noelle will be the sole Snowgraver as the game progresses

For the sake of it, let's tackle the ramifications of both of these in order, as 1 heavily leans into 2

1. LOVE as we know it in Undertale exists in some way form or fashion in Deltarune

Natural questions that raises

- Do Darkners count for EXP? Yes, I'd say so, given the inverse effect on how Levels contribute to HP compared to how Undertale's LOVE and HP work, and the fact Noelle gains HP faster than the rest of the Party when they commit violence I'd argue there's a secondary element increasing her vitality, that being her LOVE increasing

- If LOVE exists why isn't Noelle a complete psycho killer in the Light World? Because that's not how LOVE works, by sans's admission LV contributes to making it easier to hurt others, and easier to distance yourself, but never expresses that it creates a want to kill, although that does seem to be a side effect which I'll get into next section

Mechanics of LOVE across Undertale and Deltarune:

For most people who've played a neutral run of Undertale, you'll be remiss to note anything going on as you gain LV. As much as I love Frisk as the blank slate of a protagonist that they are, their lack of emotions makes it hard to tell what exact the differences are between an LV 3 individual and an LV 7 one, differences sans can tell, but we can't really

So then we have to look elsewhere, mainly the Genocide run and comparing characters who may have killed in UT to their murderless counterparts in Deltarune

- Early LV's 1-6

At this point a person has killed a bit, but is also where the effects of each individual LV is the most noticeable, as sans has unique dialog for every LV here

What this tells me is that your first kills change you the most compared to later kills

Also during this LV range we see Frisk start their way through Snowdin in a Geno run, where they skip puzzles without our input, and are generally quieter than even before

I call this part of the LV grind "Getting Colder" for many reasons, partially for the pun, but also how we see Frisk act much more distant, aka cold, towards their surroundings and walk through situations, giving of an energy of "I don't care, let me through"

Considering this is also the LV's you'd end the game at for killing just Toriel or Undyne (two impassable bosses without killing or their special sparing method) that general sentiment persists

For the sake of it, I also reference Gerson and Asgore, Gerson was in the War of Humans and Monsters and has intimate knowledge about human combat and abilities, and while it's canon that no human casualties were suffered through the whole War, I would not be surprised if Gerson had to put down a fellow monster or two during the chaos after the Barrier was first erected. Yet despite that idea, Gerson is still just a bubbly, slightly traumatized, old man in Waterfall telling me that you can work past Early LVs. Yet there's also Asgore, as of the time of me writing this the only character who has canonically (and confirmed to) taken the life of anything, and as of our time encountering him, he's distantly removed from the act he's doing, which is another murder. However I must mention that there's a lot of shit there for Asgore compared to Deltarune's Asgore that could lead to the state he's in beyond LOVE so take that with a grain of salt

- Middle LV's 7-14

This is where an interesting switch occurs, specifically at LV 9 but the larger grouping together sorta encompasses it all. This is where Frisk (yes Frisk I'll elaborate if I have to) begins to enjoy the act of killing, smiling before every encounter, and even reveling in the fear of others, such as when Frisk intimidates Monster Kid just before the Undying fight

Now above I talk about how wanting to kill isn't a symptom of LV, and I still believe that

While this seems to be contradicting evidence to that claim I don't think so, as I think it's around this point that one becomes so distant that the act of killing someone else doesn't invoke any feeling of remorse anymore

Where Frisk's enjoyment is derived from is their "Determination" as at the point they're smiling they've killed every monster they could find up to this point, so they're happy to "finish what they started" and also why the Smile goes away if you abort Geno at this point forward as that goal of eradication is gone

- High LV's 15-19

This is the grouping we know the least about, as the majority of these are Geno exclusive, CORE/Hotland exclusives no less which at this point the whole Underground is on lockdown so any unique traits from here are lost in translation, from best we can tell, anything shy of all kills isn't labeled as "True Evil" by MTT and LV 17 is labeled as "Bad at being evil" by sans

So perhaps there's some room for redemption at this point? Idk, sans doesn't think so at LV 19, but it's an interesting thought

- LV 20

This one gets a special mention just because of how everything goes down

The Mercy Button is gone

Frisk is able to make inputs without Player input

And at this LV it's possible to summon the Demon, a manifestation of the evils you caused and power you gained by pushing this world to its limits that quite literally has the power to attack the game box Undertale is played in

This demon is the single most powerful being we've encountered inside of UT/DR outside of maybe Asriel

Now, with everything LOVE-related established we can also use it as a symptom list to diagnose Noelle at where she's at and take a rough estimate as to how much LOVE a single Snowgrave run would allow for

And well, I won't run yall through the numbers so to speak but she's solidly in the Early LV's

She still has remorse for the deaths she did cause

But she's also able to distance herself from her actions there, could be grief but her interactions with her father on Snowgrave compared to a Main Route shows to me that she's a little more reserved, which also falls in line with Early LV symptoms

So what does that leave?

Well, as someone pointed out to me before, Noelle has some violent tendencies

They're reserved, but come out when say, Berdly also has a crush on Susie, or if it's encouraged (see what this whole post is about lol)

See also the theory that the damage at the beginning of the Cyber World was caused by Noelle, not Queen, and there's reason to see where things may go as Noelle breaches into the Middle LV's

I see her, like Frisk, enjoying the slaughter as things continue on

So to conclude my little LOVE Theory I see the rest of Deltarune going as such

1 more route of us manipulating Noelle into killing, she'll be far more resistive, but I know we'll break through, with the boss of that area that she kills (secret boss or another Lightner) the last we'll see of Noelle she'll have cracked a smile

Then from there on she'll easy, fights will break out just from her instigation, or from others more heroic trying to get in her way

By the end I think we'll have to fight her, and she'll kick our asses

Or we'll have to fight Kris

It's hard to know that far ahead

But using LOVE alone, that's how I see things going

Thanks for reading if you did! Feel free to comment and discuss or ask me questions through my ask box. Hope you enjoyed my transcribed madness lol

[skylar-325]

Hi.... If you don't mind me asking, can I ask, what are your top 10 (or top 7) favorite media (can be books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series/games/etc) and your top 10 favorite characters from any media ? Why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this questions....

Wow, that’s definitely challenging lol. I consume media like it’s a necessity for survival but I can try XD I don’t think I can rank them since each of them mean so much to me but I’ll list them here.

1. Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint (book): if you’ve read it then you probably know why and if you haven’t then I definitely recommend it. It was a life changing experience for me. As someone who uses reading as an escape from reality, it hit pretty hard T-T

2. Haikyuu : Big found family enthusiast so that’ll apply to most of my favourites. Haikyuu nearly made me cry on multiple occasions because of how well the characters are written. I see my self in them and somehow rooting for them makes me have hope for myself. Hopefully that makes sense. XD

3. Link Click (anime): Hurt. Very big hurt. Another doomed found family but I really enjoy the mystery and thrill of it. The characters are really well written. Not to mention each of them is also ridiculously hot.

4. Little mushroom (book): apocalypse setting sci fi story, a human inspector falls in love with a mushroom. It might sound strange, but it’s a beautiful book and perspective we get on life made me fall in love with it all over again. Also the mushroom takes the form of a human so like…it’s cool.

5. Bungou Stray Dogs (anime): only watched the anime so far but I do plan to read the manga soon. Adore all the characters and the storyline is really interesting. I’m a literature nerd so seeing edgar allen poe and nathaniel hawtharne interact with japanese and american authors is like a dream come true XD

6. Six of Crows (book): peak found family. laughed and cried reading this book and realised my bisexuality along the way. something about jesper being all be gay do crime really resonated with me. adore kanej and would commit crimes for the entire gang.

7. Percy Jackson and the Olympians (book): my childhood really. i’ve read every single rick riordan book in existence but this was my start to being a book worm. love greek mythology. also inspired me to be a writer.

8. Qian Jin Jiu (book): political intrigue and mystery along with action and romance. super fun to read when im not trying to remember a gazillion names. love love loveee the main pair.

9. These Violent Delights (books): so so good. chinese retelling of romeo and juliet but juliet is a badass. super fun read and it’s the kind of writer i aspire to be.

10. Blue Lock (anime): so. watched the first season and i lost my mind. it was insanely good and i really liked the message behind it. which is funny given how found family core is my usual watch list is. s2 is kind of a disappointment so it’s def ranked lower on my list because of that. but i do plan to read the manga someday.

Special mention for Ouran High School Host Club. Just finished watching it but it’s easily top three anime for me.

ok now top ten characters. again not ranked other than no.1.

1. Kim Dokja (ORV): i don’t think i can explain why. something about being shown a damning mirror in a piece of media

2. Hinata (Haikyuu): his passion and dedication to improve and succeed despite his situation. also his personality. i adore him.

3. Lu Guang: again can’t explain it. just want to wrap him in a big blanket forever.

4. Annabeth Chase (PJO) : My OG girl boss. I spent my childhood trying to be her.

5. Inej Ghafa (SOC): an assassin who convinced a mob boss to buy her out of a brothel and became the most dangerous weapon on the street. her will and strength is awe inspiring.

6. Wei Wuxian (MDZS): he stuck to his principles no matter what and it’s something i really look up to.

7. Chigiri (BL): His story of being the best, only to hurt his knee and lose it all and to fight to get back to who he was is beautiful. Getting back up after life deals such a harsh blow isn’t something everyone can manage.

8. Oikawa (Haikyuu): his story hurts me and is constant reminder of the chances one has to make it in industries like sport or art. his dedication to his passion regardless is beautiful.

9. Osamu Dazai (BSD): He’s just super fun to watch. No deep explanation. Very relatable.

10. Tamaki (Ouran High School Host Club): really like his characterisation, the way they built him from the first episode. his love for his friends and club is everything to me. quickly became my fav character.

Special shout-out to yoo joonghyuk and han sooyoung, too much to explain but they make me cry.

[good-beanswrites]

Eheheh! The anon who sent the ask on the Lights, Camera, Sing Your Sins here! Happy to hear you like the silly thought I made up, bonus on making a small drabble on it! So happy! >w<

So I guess when Mikoto's condition is revealed during his first interrogation, everyone's like "Ooooooh that's why..." over it. And uuuuuuh, does Kotoko feel bad for bashing Mikoto back then? I think it's not scripted according to that post you made back then, but no hard feelings between them, right? And I guess Shidou wouldn't be happy that the prisoners are getting into actual fights ;;

I really did! :D Thank you so much for reaching out, I love hearing people’s thoughts and ideas!!

I'm always very committed to keeping any canon hatred accurate -- I won't sugar-coat a relationship that has been stated to be terrible. However. This is not canon, and I am employing every fix-it in my arsenal >:3 So yes, there are absolutely no hard feelings between them and after every trial they hang out and make up!!

It pains me that all the violence in Mikoto’s interrogation has to be real, but yeah, neither of them pull any punches. Of course Red doesn’t want to hurt Es, but I picture all the prisoners really driven by the desire to tell their stories. Unlike in canon, the au characters are very aware that they’re going to represent a larger social issue/group of people. So when Mikoto is instructed to really sell it, he does it for the sake of accurate experiment results for others like him – and clings to the trust that Es signed up for this. 

And Kotoko’s interference is such a core part of her character: she’s observant, she’s clever, she’s used to and skilled at breaking rules, and she’s such a protector, even to the person who’s holding her imprisoned. It felt unfair to take that away from her by making it something Milgram scripted, so her reaction had to be real and just as violent ;-;

Okay so you know when you’re playing a game with friends/family and you feel very real anger at them for their decisions/actions? Then after it ends you can cool off and acknowledge it was just a game and there’s no hard feelings at all – but you can still clearly remember what made you upset and know it was valid? That’s what I'm picturing when the prisoners write their t2 plans. Kotoko’s anger towards the guilty prisoners is genuine by the end of the first trial. She’s very hurt that Mikoto wouldn’t tell them the truth about himself, after all the secrets they’d collectively shared. She’s disgusted by the others’ actions. She’s not actually planning on beating them up, but she recognizes she kinda wants to lol. Amane does hate Shidou. Yuno is tired of everyone. 

But a few days after the first trial ends, they start interacting in a setting that isn’t immersive anymore. They’re able to relax and talk through everything with clear minds. Kotoko apologizes profusely for hurting Mikoto during the interrogation, admitting that she’s not entitled to anyone else’s secrets. Amane apologizes to Shidou. She may not be as friendly to him as he was hoping, but she tells him that she understands they live under different codes and she shouldn’t hold hatred in her heart. Yuno gets a bit of time to refresh herself while they’re debriefing and collaborating with the writing team. She’s excited to be around the others by the time filming starts up again. Anyone who has anger towards Es lets it soften, feeling bad that they’re allowed to get a fun break while Es must remain asleep.

And I think Red and Kotoko would actually get really close in the au, despite their rocky start! They have very similar ideas on protecting the people they care about and being disgusted by those who abuse their power. Koto-koto duo is real!! 😤I can’t say for sure because so much could change in t3, but I’m hoping to write the two of them bonding over being labeled “the scary violent one” and slammed with a guilty vote next time ;-; 

If anything, Blue is more upset that she attacked Red than he is himself. (“That was our interrogation, what was she even doing there?”) And like you said, Shidou doesn’t want anyone to get hurt for real, so he pleads with them to keep their violence as staged as possible, going forward. He’s also extremely upset with Milgram that they’d let Es get hurt (since he’s the one who treated them afterwards). It takes such long time to assure him it won’t happen again, and that it was a one-time twist that Es signed off on beforehand.

Although I think the violence is going to get worse during this next hiatus, the au characters will actually feel less emotional, in my mind. After doing this for so long, I'm sure it would get easier to regulate which emotions are real and which result from too much immersion -- so there will be less to apologize and make up for this time, they're already very close and happy :')

[prettyflyshyguy]

Happy April 1st, I have no new joke but here's a really good old one.

Buckle up.

Alright. Can't remember if I posted much about this before, but at my old job I produced this videogame. It was pretty cool!! It was set in the future, you're a super soldier who piloted remote robot drones called Espire.

(Violent little robot Sooty, my beloved. The shotgun pump in the trailer is still my favorite bit.)

I had my fingers in just about every pie that made up this game, and it was extremely cool getting to work with the team. April fools rolled around, game hadn't released just yet, we were finalising into the certification phase.

Every friday we had something called 'demo friday' where the team would show off something they worked on that week and we'd celebrate. It was charming to let everyone have a chance to show off their contributions, from every department in the company. I never really showed off anything because the spreadsheets I worked with, everyone already saw cause I would run around showing people every day as part of my job.

So on this fatefull, April 1st Friday, I asked to show the team something special. I pulled up a powerpoint presentation and add-libbed a new game concept pitch.

I pitched Espire to Love, a robot dating simulator, to a room full of 25 odd videogame developers.

Now as you may or may not have noticed, I don't often dabble in romance as a genre. I've barely touched dating sims and I'd never mentioned them before at work.

"From Dreamy daddies to anime girls, KFC's the colonel and even dinosaurs, there's an incredible range of options in the dating sim genre" I said with a straight face infront of a room full of people who were crying with laughter. I was barely holding myself together.

No one was prepared for the fake screenshots.

Still remember how hard some of them laughed when I pulled these slides up. I packed a lot of in-jokes into these that I won't explain - I wanted this to hit hard and hit home for the people I'd spent two + years working with.

People loved it, I made my friends laugh, it was good. And then upon being told "Hey you should send this to the publisher!"

That's exactly what I did.

The response from our assigned reps at Tripwire (YES, THAT TRIPWIRE) said they loved it, and they too were asking themselves the question "why not!" the whole way through.

But this story doesn't end there, oh no.

Fast forward a year. The game is released, we're hectic busy working on post release content, I'm cooking up the next stage of the joke.

Unfortunately, it never came to fruition due to time and stress. But here's what it was going to be:

We'd had our community clammoring for merch - so I wanted to pitch something bold, new and exciting, and the kind of thing that'd make us stand out.

Body pillows.

Would have been incredible. Might've made someone faint.

The robots were called Bean and Sooty during development so yes. I was going to deadass say "The bean bag and the sooty sack" (I mean what I say)

Unfortunately I didn't make it in time, and then double unfortunately, I lost my job when the studio had to significantly downsize.

But that never stops me from posting a good bit. You all know I'm a committed freak.

Fast forward a bit more and I'm trying to learn how to make my own games! So I download RenPy since it's a good starting point. It's designed more for VN's, so to find my feet I figured I should make as VN right?

I didn't want to make to make new assets, as the point was me learning to code. What to do..... what to do....

Full circle babeeeeyyyyy

And that's where we're at today! Long post I know, but I'm real proud of this joke. I love a good laugh that hits you at home, that's just honest fun. Huge shoutout to my old co-workers for listening to my original presentation, their laughter filled my heart and I was fucking terrified at the time, it was worth the joke.

It became a running gag in the office - we were playing Jackbox for a work party and it was one of those question and submitted answer games, and without any input from me the team had made the question "What would the for the sequel to Espire to Love be?"

and the options were "Espire to Live" and "Espire to death"

Anyway, I hope you only have charming and well considered April fools jokes today - designed for you to laugh at as much as the person making the joke. That's the best joke. Peace out.

[twistedtummies2]

Ranking Twisted Wonderland - Part 2

This is the second half of my 3rd Year Anniversary Special! To commemorate me being here on Tumblr, spreading (often kinky) weirdness about Disney’s Twisted Wonderland, I am counting down all 22 members of the Main Cast, from my least favorite to my most favorite. (Meaning no Grim, Staff Members, or Supporting Roles - just the main 22 from NRC). Yesterday, I covered the bottom eleven, from 22 - 12. If you want to see who made up the lower half of the board, you can turn here. NOW...it’s time to look at the Top 12. Like I said in the first half, I genuinely and truthfully love ALL of these lads, and some of these rankings were so ridiculously close, they honestly could have been ties. I didn’t want any ties, though, so take some of these rankings with a grain of salt. Also, keep in mind the game is constantly evolving, so - as time goes on - my love for characters could wax or wane as more about them is unveiled. And for those who follow me for the aforementioned “kinky stuff,” keep in mind that this is NOT a countdown of my favorite kink crushes, but my favorite characters...although, with that said, the two terms are not entirely mutually exclusive. One can certainly influence the other. With all that said, here we go! These are My Top 12 Characters from Twisted Wonderland!

11. Deuce Spade.

Deuce won the duel between himself and Ace, but it was a very close call. At first, I was actually primed to name Ace as the higher-ranking option. After much consideration, however…I realized that, for as much fun as Ace can be, I think Deuce is generally the better, more complex figure of the duo. His backstory is that he used to be a delinquent. He was a member of a street gang, and was more than happy to beat people up and commit all sorts of misdemeanors just for a lark. However, when Deuce heard his mother lamenting and crying over his misdeeds, he vowed to turn over a new leaf. This is easier said than done: Deuce is still somebody with violent impulses and a tendency to think with his fists more often than his mind. But he tries so hard to follow the rules and use his brain, you can’t help but love him. That’s really what makes Deuce such a fun character: there’s a certain dichotomy to him, with him trying so hard to be good, but always having these rough edges. He can be genuinely scary when he decides to throw down, but he can also be sweet, funny, and even downright adorable (especially when his mother gets involved with things).

10. Riddle Rosehearts.

If you know me well, then the character based on the Queen of Hearts making it into my Top 10 should be no surprise. Riddle is yet another character I’ve come to like even more over time than I did initially. I always was fond of this character, largely just because of his inspirational source. But as time has gone on, I’ve become increasingly attached to him. Part of this, I confess, is because his Cards are among the best in my deck in-game, so I rely on him quite a bit in battle; that’s bound to make you feel more attached to a character, by default. But there is much more to admire. In essence, this guy is a control freak, who obsessively demands order and organization. He is intensely focused on his studies, and proficient in his magical abilities, making him one of the highest-ranking students at the school, power-wise. This is despite the fact that he is one of the smallest characters in the game, his height being one of his most sensitive points. Like the Queen, Riddle is a temperamental character, who can go from prim and proper and even rather mild-natured to throwing wild and furious tantrums at the drop of a Mad Hatter’s hat. At times he is childish beyond belief, yet he is at other times a bizarre voice of reason and real authority. His backstory, in my opinion, is one of the most tragic, as his compulsion to follow and enforce the rules and succeed in his tasks is born from a perfectionist streak enforced by an EXTREMELY controlling family life. He never really had time for friends or frivolity when he was growing up, which has resulted in his prideful and mercurial personality. He’s a character I feel so sorry for, and find so amusing and intriguing, and I only come to enjoy him the more I see of him. I still can’t say he’s TOO high in the ranks, simply because I don’t USE him very often, but he’s still more than worthy of a slot in my Top 10.

9. Jack Howl.

This lycanthrope is one of the few characters in the game who seems to be totally original. He dwells in the Lion-King-themed dorm of Savanaclaw, but he has no obvious inspiration from those movies, given that he is a silver-furred wolfman. I would say perhaps he’s based on the Big Bad Wolf, but neither his design nor his personality and dialogue give any indication of that. I’ve seen one or two sources postulate he could be inspired by “Kimba the White Lion” - an old anime that was one of the inspirations for “The Lion King” - but I honestly see even less evidence of that. Wherever the idea of Jack came from, he’s a fun character. Jack is the very definition of what I believe is termed a “tsundere”: these are characters who pretend to be big and tough and unattached, but can never fully hide they have their soft sides. While many characters in the game could arguably fit this mold, none fit it so well as Jack: despite his aggressive, rugged, growly exterior, Jack is really just a little puppy dog at heart. He tries so hard to seem tough and vicious, and to pretend he doesn’t care about anyone, but he can’t hide the way he blushes or wags his tail at certain stimuli. And, infamously, to paraphrase the Bard, “the lupine doth protest too much, methinks.” He’s one of the least nefarious characters in the game, but he always tries so hard to seem more ferocious than he honestly is. It’s adorable, really. Ten-out-of-ten, would adopt this puppy. Ha Ha.

8. Jade Leech.

Just like Ace & Deuce, Jade is one half of a two-part package. In his case, he is one of the Leech Twins: identical twin brothers who are eel-men in disguise, hailing from Atlantica itself. They are based on Flotsam & Jetsam (Jade is the latter of the duo), and act as the henchmen of Azul Ashengrotto, the Ursula character in the game. I’m just going to come right out and say it immediately: THESE. TWO. ARE. FREAKING. TERRIFYING. Forget all of the other characters I’ve talked about so far and will talk about later on, by far the scariest characters in the game are the Leech Twins. Not only is it implied that their father is a literal mob boss, and not only is it more than implied they eat people (to be fair, they aren’t alone in that), but they are both utter sadists who seem to get unspeakable pleasure out of hurting other people just for the sheer sake of it. Of the two, Jade at first SEEMS like the least dangerous, because he puts on a facade of false gentility. He is reserved, intellectual, effortlessly and endlessly polite, and always seems to keep his cool under pressure. Beneath his debonair and dapper demeanor, however, Jade is just as much of a potential pyschopath as his brother. He’s just much better at hiding it. While both Leech Twins have their own funny and soft sides to their characters, it’s how unnerving they are that I admire and enjoy most. It’s hard to say which is scarier, really, but between the two, I think I like Jade SLIGHTLY less, in terms of writing.

7. Floyd Leech.

While Jade hides his monster under a well-polished surface, Floyd (based on Flotsam) is the polar opposite. He is a living paradox, in that he both lives in the moment and lives on the surface, yet you’re not always sure of his motives or reasons for anything he does or says. He both holds no secrets, yet is completely cryptic. Floyd is the very definition of “mercurial”: his moods shift at total random, with no obvious rhyme or reason, making him highly unpredictable. It’s difficult to tell what makes him tick, and where one stands with him. That unpredictability is what makes him fun, because he can be silly and even downright sweet when he chooses to be. However, it’s also what makes him scary: with Jade, you know there’s always something else going on behind those mismatched eyes. With Floyd, you’re never sure what he’s going to do or say next: if he’s going to be playful and childish, or if he’s going to turn into bitter ice and threaten to crush you in his bare arms. Whenever he says he wants to give someone a “squeeze,” you’re not always sure if he’s just going to hug them, or if he’s going to shatter their spine in a constricting grip. I don’t even think HE knows, half the time: he is the proverbial dog chasing cars. The moods are not totally separate, either; he’ll gleefully declare he’ll strangle you even while he’s dancing merrily. It’s the constant back and forth and the freewheeling nature of Floyd that I love most, since trying to puzzle him out is just as fun as being scared to death by him or laughing at his antics.

6. Ruggie Bucchi.

Ruggie is based on the hyenas from the Lion King. (I suspect he’s specifically based on Shenzi, since it’s her face that we see in silhouette, I believe, in his character crest. Take that however you will.) He is the (usually) loyal henchman of Leona, the Scar character, and another multifaceted figure. Much like Ace, Ruggie is a consummate trickster…but he’s almost inarguably much more dangerous than Ace ever could be. Both are pranksters and can be wily in their own ways, but Ruggie’s background is different. For a start, he came from an impoverished background, having to quite literally scavenge for food and scrape by the best he could. He knows how hard the world can be, and while he’s doing better now, he’s still not used to having money or any degree of great status. As a result, Ruggie is both greedy and gluttonous, always thinking with either his wallet or his stomach (quite frequently both at once). While not a brilliant manipulator or chessmaster, he’s a scheming scoundrel in his own right. At times, Ruggie can be friendly, and even downright adorable, given his appearances and his enthusiastic and mischievous nature…but he’s yet another case where appearances can deceive. Ruggie is a predator, through and through, and he makes no secret of it: when he says he’ll eat anything, he also means he’ll eat anyone, and considering he can quite literally eat bones…yeah. Underestimating this hyena boy may be the last thing you ever do.

5. Kalim Al-Asim.

So far, all of the characters we’ve talked about so far have multiple layers to them. They are complex in how they blend darkness in light. Some of them have been generally good souls with a dark side, while many have been dark souls (keep your video game jokes to yourself) with a light side. Kalim is one of the few exceptions to that rule. He is one of only two characters at Night Raven College (the other being Silver) who isn’t based on a Disney Villain. Instead, Kalim is based on the kindly and ever-befuddled Sultan from “Aladdin.” In fact, he’s also one of the few characters who is a direct descendant of his inspirational source, since it’s revealed his family are distant descendants of the Sultan’s own family. (Which I suppose means he’s presumably related to Aladdin & Jasmine, as well. Take that however you please.) Unlike everybody else at Night Raven College, there is absolutely no dark side to Kalim whatsoever. He is the very embodiment of “too pure for this world.” There is not a mean bone in this boy’s over-privileged body; his only sin or crime is that he was raised on a silver spoon, and has no real idea just how lucky he has it! In the Japanese original, Kalim’s canon nickname from Floyd was “Baby Otter,” and I think that tells you everything you need to know about him. Kalim is far from the most complicated character in the story, but that’s exactly why I love him so much: he’s a breath of fresh air, this wholesome and fluffy sweetheart who just wants to make friends and see everybody smile, and has no idea just how bad some of the people around him really are. You just wanna hug him and protect him and then join him at a party. Because Kalim LOVES to party. I love writing for him, and he always brings a smile to my face when I meet him in the game.

4. Jamil Viper.

If Kalim is a purehearted teddy bear of a young nobleman, then Jamil - based on Jafar - is another example of a polar opposite to the precedent. More than perhaps any other character in the game, Jamil is two-faced, through and through. He has lived his life in the shadow of other people, and this has left him with a decided divide in his personality. I like to say Jamil is someone who has a public side and a private side. In public, Jamil is calm, practical, reasonable, humble, and frank. All of this is a sham. In private, Jamil is a half-crazed, power-mad manipulator for whom enough is never enough. All of this is probably making you think, “Well, that’s exactly how Jafar was, so what’s so impressive there?” Well, at least one important thing: Jafar, let’s be honest, was never very good at pretending to be other than what he was. Any facade he put up was really just skin deep; everything from his voice to his design made it clear he was a lying schemer, and the cracks in the armor were numerous. Without his hypnotic snake staff, and the total idiocy of his employer, he probably wouldn’t have gotten very far. Jamil is different: even WITHOUT his hypnosis, he is an EXTREMELY good plotter and is VERY good at lying. With Jafar, the only person who was ever fooled was the Sultan; with Jamil, he can almost fool the Player, and that’s with us knowing what’s really going on because…well…presumably, we know how his source operates. I love how Jamil takes the qualities of Jafar and humanizes them, becoming a more sympathetic character, but also becoming, in some ways, an even more dangerous character. I also have to say, I love how it’s very clear the sprite animation and design work for Jamil really, REALLY took a lot of cues from Jafar; some of his expressions and gestures feel so close to Jafar, it’s kind of hilarious, but in the best possible way.

3. Azul Ashengrotto.

Combine Ursula with Mephistopheles and an old-fashioned mafioso - plus a dash of Ebenezer Scrooge - and you’ll have Azul Ashengrotto in a nutshell. Azul is practically greed incarnate; essentially everything he does is for money, power, and pleasure, usually in that exact order of preference. He’s a miser and a manipulator, who always has some sort of scheme in mind, and makes Faustian pacts that may benefit you if you’re lucky, but will always benefit him even more. There is a sad side to Azul, because his whole personality and demeanor is born out of self-loathing; he grew up bullied and neglected by most around him, taunted and tormented or his weight, his clumsiness, and his crybaby ways. As a result, he has essentially rebuilt his entire life and persona: he tries to present himself as a gentleman of business, always in control of the situation. He is mindful of his weight, trying hard to stay in trim and look more traditionally appealing to the eye. And he does his best to compose himself with debonair and dapper grace and a suave, sophisticated demeanor. Underneath all these practiced constructs, however, he is still the same plump little octo-boy-in-disguise he used to be. In a way, he is a combination of his own henchmen, the Leech Twins: one half of him is Jade, an eloquent sophisticate who likes to be in charge. The other half is Floyd, as he is easily flustered and shows a highly emotional side when things do not go his way. I love how Azul is able to switch tonal gears from being one of the most shadowy and menacing characters in the game, to one of the most sympathetic and sad, to probably one of the most amusing with the combination of his greed and occasional bouts of conflusterification. (Is that a word? It should be.) Plus, I guess I’m just a sucker for his sense of style. (pauses) “Sucker.” With an octo-man. I didn’t even intend that one. ‘XD

2. Malleus Draconia.

Well, when you’re based on my favorite Disney Villain, you’re almost guaranteed to rank highly in my books. Malleus is almost a mascot for this game, much as Maleficent is a mascot for the Disney Villains franchise. He’s another great example of a character with two different sides, but in his case, it’s a little different: it’s less about Malleus presenting one face to the world over another, and more about how other people PERCEIVE Malleus. This half-draconic Dark Prince of the Fae is the single most powerful student at Night Raven. In fact, he’s the most powerful PERSON at NRC, since he is one of the top five most powerful magical beings in the entire world, in this universe. He has a Gothic sense of style and interests: he likes to wander through graveyards, empty old mansions, abandoned castles and cathedrals, and so on. He is a descendant of Maleficent herself, and - according to the Japanese release - seems to emit a strange, dark aura wherever he goes. With very few exceptions, he inspires either mind-numbing terror or reverent awe in anyone he comes across. Malleus knows all this, and he certainly doesn’t mind it - being feared, respected, and known as highly powerful are all good things, and he knows how to use them - but he’s also…well…rather lonely, to be blunt. Part of Malleus’ whole story is that he’s had so few people in his life ho care about him JUST because they care about HIM. He wants people to see him not as a Prince of Darkness, nor as Maleficent’s heir, but simply as MALLEUS. Beneath his grim and at times frightening exterior, he just wants friendship and companionship. He wants to be invited to social gatherings, wants to feel accepted and needed, not just worshiped or horror-striking. In short, he’s frankly the most adorable Master of Darkness you could ever come across. Of course, he IS still a man-eating, superhumanly strong, fire-breathing dragon-fairy hybrid who can literally change the weather just through the sheer power of his emotions and summon forests of thorns with a simple gesture of his hand, so…sweet as he may often be, whatever you do, NEVER PISS HIM OFF.

1. Leona Kingscholar.

If you know me and my relationship with this game well, you knew this was coming. If you don’t/didn’t, then this is probably going to be a surprising first place. While I’ve always liked Scar, he’s actually not one of my highest-ranking Disney Villains; he’s in my Top 15, but not my Top 10, let alone Top 5, which is where most people seem to place him. In a way, Leona Kingscholar - the Scar-based character of “Twisted Wonderland” - ranking at number one can really be seen as a testament to the strength of these characters on their own terms. I don’t like Leona because I like Scar (although that certainly does help): I like, no, LOVE Leona, and it’s simply because I love Leona. Having said that, it’s difficult to explain WHY I love him, since…well…to be perfectly honest, Leona is sort of a jerk. A SCARY jerk, at that: his unique power allows him to turn anything he touches into dust, he’s canonically stated to be a sadist, and - like Malleus, Ruggie, the Leech Twins, and even a couple other characters I failed to mention - he freaking EATS PEOPLE. Not exactly a glowing resume. Yet, something about him just…draws me to him. I think it’s because, for all his nasty qualities, Leona is a character with many interesting layers and soft spots. True, this goes for many other characters in the game, but I think it’s the specifics of how they work that attracts and intrigues me so. First of all, there’s Leona’s intellect: Leona is a certified genius, and probably the second most powerful student at the school after Malleus. The only reason he IS second place, it’s implied, is because he’s also abominably lazy, and despite his incredible power, refuses to put in the effort to really bear fruit, so to speak. He’s also the single most brilliant schemer in the entire school: while Jamil and Azul are crafty plotters, Leona is a chess master, both literally and figuratively. He always has not only a Plan B, but a Plan C and sometimes even a Plan D already worked out for every strategy. His motives are also interesting in how they fluctuate; you can never be entirely sure if Leona is doing something out of the goodness of his heart, or for his own selfish ends. Even if he CLAIMS it to be one or the other, there’s always doubt in either direction. While he is annoyed by and holds resentment towards certain members of his family, he actually DOES love his brother, his nephew, and so on; he’s just not always the best at showing it. Every time you think there’s something he can’t do or can’t feel, he proves you wrong. It is difficult to describe the reasons why I love him in any succinct manner, but regardless, I have no hesitation or question in my mind when I say that Leona Kingscholar is My Favorite Twisted Wonderland Character.

[beatcroc]

@midnightcityx0x0 i like to read the third phase largely as self-defense more than like, an emotional outburst. he IS defintiely pissed off there but like.....hes got plenty of reason to be by that point yknow. you've already been whaling on him for several minutes at by then, and before that he doesn't seem especially committed to taking the fight seriously or making it a proper "fight", per se, it's more like him gently nudging you out like "teehee hey silly i can't let you up onto floor 5, you're not allowed up there you scamp" [this has a little more to do with my take on his actual Purpose and his dealings with pizzahead but im already working on a separate essaypost about that :y] but anyway peppino [real] is very much putting his full force into this, so phase 3 comes off as a "fuck, ok, ow, you're being mean and playing too rough, we're done here, get out" from fp.

you never fight to subdue him like that ingame! that was actually one of the first and main things i noticed and built his character from; once you're out of His Territory and you no longer have to be His Problem, he just sort of.... stops and lets you go. i know i'm risking reading a bit too hard into a general Game Mechanic Thing here, but they definitely Could have let you get a decisive finishing blow on him to make sure he doesn't get you again, and they just.... didn't. like you just leave. And He Lets You Go. you cannot convince me that shitty boarded door is actually physically doing anything to hold him back, but you still don't see him around again after that. for any purpose, let alone for glaring you down like literally every other boss does, so he doesn't seem to have a grudge about it either. [or at the very least not one that outweighs his commitment to staying at his post guarding floor 5]. but mostly i think he just doesn't give a shit.

like whatever the context here, it seems like he's just enjoying being along for the ride. lines up with his attitude for the fight pretty well 2 me.

saying all that to say! i don't think beastmode is inherently any more dangerous or violent than how he is normally, and it's not something that would just Happen; he'd be doing it on purpose--again most likely for his own or someone else's defense. he is also just generally very hard to piss off, so you'd have to deal with any other character around retaliating first before you get to him [namely peppino of course, since peppino gets pissed off extremely easily, and if there is violence to be had in dealing with a threat, pep will be the first one to take it.] kind of a tangential point but ive been wanting to say it so: i look at it like. if you spook fake pep, he will cower. if you spook peppino, he will kill you. if you are aggressive towards fake peppino, he will kill you. if you are aggressive towards peppino, he will cower [...at least until you piss him off but even then it's probably just some broken bones, fp will Kill You kill you [but frankly if you manage to push him to that point you probably deserve it]]

BUT all that notwistanding, @unexpectedbrickattack has some very fun thoughts on getting fake pep calmed down if he goes haywire that i've largely adopted into my own; heavily paraphrased tldr is that "gustavo would probably be the one to do it because he's used to having to calm down peppino and a lot of the same techniques work between the two". i imagine this idea also extends to gus' being good at taming beasts, so there is a lot for gus to work with in fp. but besides that peppino is just a really fucking bad mediator. being calm or controlled under stress is not exactly his strong suit. i don't think he'd be able to do much except hold fp back, but even then i do have to wonder if he wouldn't just be too stressed and panicked [both about fp himself and also about whatever's going on that fp off in the first place] to even do that.

FUNNILY ENOUGH one time i did try to entertain a scenario with fake pep going full uncontrolled/violent monster mode for whatever reason, because i thought it would be cool, and it ummmm was Not i made myself sad 😭. it was like this

he would cope with it Fucking Badly i think.

my secret hell about fp is that no one is more afraid of him than he is of himself. he genuinely, really and truly, desperately, does not want to hurt or scare people; he literally just wants to be carefree and silly and friends with everybody but the problem is that he IS a big strong freaky beast, and people who don't know better are going to be afraid of him for pretty much anything he does. he knows he is scary, and he does not know how not to be scary [or even if he CAN], and that, well....scares him.

so in the event he is causing Serious Actual Harm without really being cognizant of it, it would be a thing of like. the second he snaps back to normal or realizes what he's doing he would be mortified and immediately drop the situation and run off and hide under a rock for like a week a la "do not fucking come near me i am not safe" type of deal. he might eventually slink back in like "i am so so so so so so sorry ;n; ;n; are you mad at me ;_; ;-; do you still like me ;_; ;n; ", but i could also easily see it getting as bad as a thing where you'd have to go Intervene and forcibly pry him out of isolation yourself. either way, going forward he'd be really really really anxious/wary of anything even remotely resembling the circumstances where that happened, and probably just turn tail and run to not risk it happening again. lil bro could traumatize himself so bad....

fortunately! i can't see this ever actually happening for real, but more importantly, peppino and/or gus would eventually get worried and go looking for him+help him out if it did.

on the peppinos, postgame

i like to think the peppinos are pretty good friends now, but that certainly wasn't always the case. in fact i think they were both pretty terrified of eachother for a good couple months or so after the tower's fall. here's a moderately-sized ramble on how they went from one end to the other, with some extra thoughts on their current dynamic.

peppino's deal here is pretty obvious. being anxious and afraid of everything all the time is like his main character trait, but frankly he has every reason to be terrified of fake pep even aside from that, given the... you know. the everything. everything that went down in and around their fights, and just the nature of what fake peppino is-both as a general horror creature and also, specifically, as some kind of fucked up parody of himself that exists for reasons unknown to anybody. the only reason peppino let fp hang around in the first place was out of fear of pissing him off and getting attacked if he did try to take some action to Remove him. he tries his best not to invoke that, and stays far away from fake pep.

but fake peppino is also pretty terrified of peppino for the same reasons- he's really only ever seen peppino at his most violent, he's already gotten his ass kicked twice, and what's more he's acutely aware that he's on borrowed land and borrowed time out here. he only went to pizzeria in the first place out of instinct and because he didn't really have anywhere else to go without the tower, but he knows damn well that this is not his turf to be hanging out on, and that peppino has every right to defend it if he wants. he tries his best not to invoke that, and stays far away from peppino.

unfortunately, neither of them are perfect at that, and both of them are peppinos, so...

their paths do tend to cross on occasion. fortunately, neither of them actually want to fight again, so these run-ins never escalate to conflict, and end with them both scrambling away as quickly as they spot the other.

as it goes, time passes and they get more used to eachother at a distance; fake pep being naturally curious and poking around despite his reservations, and peppino sorta noticing fp is skittish whenever he ventures a bit past his usual boundaries. with that and the fact they've never actually had any violent encounters with eachother, peppino eventually catches the vibe that "oh maybe this thing isn't just here to menace me''. there is definitely still the aspect of "why the fuck is this freak here and what does it want" to deal with, so he doesn't drop his guard entirely, but he does go from ardent avoidance to more a... neutral observation. and it's a bit of a positive feedback loop; fp seeing peppino being less Reactive about him means he's less worried about being Retaliated Upon & thus a bit more venturous still. perhaps even enough to be seen Inside the restaurant...?

from here it doesn't take long for peppino to start seeing fake's, uh, utilitarian benefits. he eats the rats so it's free pest control, and noise seems really afraid of him too which is funny as hell, so pep just kinda starts going lik ''oh lmao ok maybe this is kind of cool''. for fake pep i think it was just... the first time peppino showed him any kind of thanks or congratulations for such. a moment of "??? does he like that?? does he like me?? do i not need to be afraid of this guy???" and so this is where fp starts trying to Deliberately interact with peppino a bit, and things just kinda grew from there.

i think it's neat because while peppino may have been the first to get over his fear and technically 'be accepting' of fp [shockingly???], it still takes the both of them because without fp trying to Initiate something, i really don't think pep would have ever gone out of his way to Give A Shit or achieve anything besides a mutual tolerance.

it is also so funny because like. i think peppino still is not seeing his end as anything more than a tolerance. sure, by now he knows fake pep likes him a lot, but as far as he's concerned he still only keeps fp around because he's '"'useful''", and because he thinks "ohhh i guess this guy is just never gonna leave ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ i guess there is nothing i can do about this ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯" when in reality it would take very little to drive fake pep off, and also, i need to reiterate, peppino has very much already beat fp's ass twice [when fp actually WAS trying to fight no less!], and could very much do it again if he actually wanted to. he just doesn't want to. he isn't actually any more stingy towards fp for all this, but it also means like, he's never going to give fp an actual "name" because that would be waaaaaay too direct an admission.

i wouldn't call peppino emotionally Stupid or immature, but i like to think he is often very....oblivious of his own actual state even when LITERALLY everyone else knows otherwise. fp knows bc peppino lets him get away A Lot Of Shit and even openly solicit affections, gus knows bc peppino actually defending fp and/or making an effort to work him with is an insane leap of faith/trust for this man to have made, every random customer who sees the two buddying around knows, hell even noise knows [and is terrified of it] bc why the hell would the most panicky man on earth casually have a freak fucking beast around in the first place? and nobody really tries to press peppino on this because he is stubborn. it's a good bit of denial, but it's also partially him thinking he's just being logical; "why would i be mean or try to chase him off if he's beneficial?" if you asked him whether he was gonna give fp a name he'd get all defensive and probably straight up say some shit like ''noo you know how they say if you name it you'll get attached'.' dumbass. you are already attached.

we all know peppino is a nervous animal but really i think they are both nervous animals. pep is a nervous prey animal who's mostly stressed out and afraid for like, self-preservation reasons; and fake pep is a nervous predator animal like a cheetah who needs constant companionship and reassurance or else he's Also going to be very stressed. and they're like weirdly good at covering this for eachother & so trust the other way more than they probably realize.

for peppino it's as simple as "if this guy was going to hurt me he already would have", perhaps with a bit of extra "if this big scary thing is on my side maybe i'll have less to worry about in general" [i mean this mostly in the powerful allies "oh he can kill things for me" sense, but i'd like to think there's a bit of a confidence boost in the sense of "if i can overcome/make peace with this maybe i can overcome other things too" somewhere in there as well]

for fake pep I think a lot of it is that peppino is like completely incapable of hiding his emotions. it makes him very easy to trust in that regard, and for a guy as Unsure about everything as fp is it's very good for him to have that kind of straightforwardness. there's never any guesswork with peppino; if you are doing something he doesn't like or makes him uncomfortable...you will know it. and for the same, on the rare chances he's showing approval, you can be sure that's genuine too.

[writernopal]

Magic System Inspiration Tag

Thank you @autumnalwalker for the tag! See their post here. (It was such a fun read, def check it out!)

Tagging @captain-kraken @mariahwritesstuff and anyone else that wants to share more about their magic systems!

Rules: List the inspiration(s) for your WIP's magic system and, if you want, go into detail.

I will admit that I dragged my feet on this one mostly because my magic system is quite baby and tends to morph as I write it. I call As A Stranger Or A Friend's magic system "medium" magic because I don't feel like it falls strictly into the camp of "hard" or "soft" (borrows aspects from both systems).

I'll list the general aspects about the magic system in AASOAF and the inspiration/author's notes for each one below the cut! There are a lot more specific magics/rules that apply to particular characters, but some are spoilers, so I won't cover those here hehe.

Magic, on the whole, is not forbidden/outlawed; however, there are some schools of magic that are more frowned upon than others, which depending on the group/faction, may be considered taboo.

In AASOAF, magic is more like a "liveness" marker, so anything living has the ability to channel magic. By that principle, it makes no sense to outlaw it because it would basically be like trying to outlaw breathing haha.

The inspiration/concept for this comes from Divinity Original Sin II wherein all being have something called Source, a finite amount of lifeforce (unless you're Godwoken then the rules are a little different). In DOSII, when beings are drained of this, they die.

That's not exactly how it works in AASOAF, in the sense that magic can't be drained from an individual, but there is a cost to using and relying on magic. The effect this has on the individual varies based on their constitution (the general term, not talking about CON pts like in DnD) and the type of magic they practice. This is where the frowned upon schools come into play, generally referred to as "black magic". These magics leave physical marks on the user's body and eventually take limbs, much like frostbite would (hence the name black magic).

Evidence of this can be seen on Fay's hands and wrists, which over time have blackened to the color of ink due to her heavy reliance on it. Other markers of this are permanent rune etchings on the user. Runes are ephemeral in AASOAF so having one stick around isn't a good sign.

Magic isn't considered to be a violent force (note, this doesn't mean it can't be used to commit acts of violence)

This one has a lot of not inspirations haha, too many to list tbh (video games, web comics, shows, movies etc) but I've never liked that magic, something that to some degree or another is not completely understood, would be so plainly characterized as "violent". And in the world of AASOAF, when it is part of what makes up all living beings, it just wouldn't make sense to deem it as such. As a note, I never mention this explicitly in the text (ie, a character never explains it to the reader) this is intentional, to convey that magic is ubiquitous, expected, and very much a part of daily life.

There are different types of magic: elemental, spatial, healing, and psychic, to name a few.

Direct inspiration for this is X-Men and Naruto haha. I LOVE the variety of mutant powers and jutsus the different characters of those series have! One of my ALL TIME favorite things is getting to see those really epic battle scenes where characters can combine/complement each other's abilities! They always give me goosebumps and anytime I develop characters it's something I take into consideration. It's very creatively fulfilling for me and also makes for some really interesting scenes, even if the abilities themselves are not super powerful/cool-looking. Also from a plotting standpoint, it makes sense (to me) to limit the abilities a character has otherwise they end up OP and there is no fun in that.

The methods of 'expanding' magic can vary.

In AASOAF, individuals are all born with the ability to channel magic, but like any ability (think strength, endurance, etc) it starts at a base level and can be honed, in this case through a mechanism called Expansion.

The base level that individuals are born with varies, so some people have a very high base, like Priestesses of Shanta and Dreamers. Others have a very low base, like IRL people. Those who have a low base will get minor bursts of it here and there, often cited as feeling like goosebumps or the sensation like someone is watching them.

Regarding the concept of Expansion, this comes directly from my own experiences with weightlifting, running, and yoga as well as skill trees like the ones in Skyrim! Basically, to get stronger, to run farther, to be more flexible, you need to put in consistent practice and progressively push yourself just outside of your comfort zone (ie to failure). So, for individuals who have a high base, they will need more complicated training/practice to Expand, while individuals who have a low base might need a lot less and will see drastic leaps in improvement.

However, there is a way to cheat the system, via a mechanism called Consumption. This can occur through worship, pacts, or rituals in service to higher beings. These can be gods, spirits, demons, and special beings called Patrons/Matrons. That said, Consumption, like black magic, comes with costly side effects.

[bowditch]

i keep seeing rancid arkham takes and i'm Tired.

listen, i understand that part of this is mishandling of the concept in comics and media? this isn't exclusively a fan issue.

but the whole point of arkham is that it's a last resort. bruce as batman isn't deciding to put anyone in arkham (except ra's once, and you know what? fair.). he's stopping criminals-- criminals who may have been written with mental illnesses but who are committing actual crimes on large scales-- and handing them over to the court system. the court system is putting them in arkham because the entire point of arkham is that NOBODY ELSE WILL TAKE THEM. whether it's written as it's own horror show or an actually compassionate institution (and it DOES vary), what exactly do you think anyone should do with serial killers nobody else wants to be responsible for? i think as fans, most of us are opposed to the death penalty except for maybe Joker, and part of the narrative nature of comics requires we do keep these characters alive and cycling through stories regardless of any moral objections.

you can't make Batman the villain for "putting people in Arkham," however broken the institution, without demanding that he actually act as judge and jury instead of just a stopgap. what's he supposed to do? make his own prison? show up in court to demand another prison take them? comics have a history of handling mental illness in really gross ways, but these aren't just mentally ill people in the context of their stories. they are horrifically violent people who have proven by action that they will not stop being horrifically violent.

"bruce could pour money into arkham," someone says. okay? do you understand free will? do you understand how hard it would be to get people educated enough to work with the most dangerous and unstable people in the nation? you can renovate the building all you want, try to hire the most compassionate doctors and guards, and the nature of what this KIND of prison is will keep grinding it down. doctors will burn out. doctors will do their best and still not be able to "fix" some of these issues. the building will be gradually destroyed. it's a money sink. that isn't to say Bruce as a wealthy man shouldn't try-- just that the state of Arkham in most comics or media isn't proof that he hasn't. you can't change a lot of these specific violent tendencies with money.

i understand comics have done their part to shape bruce as a violent man without compassion. video games have done a lot of that, too, because in video games people want to hit shit. but as a batman fan, i'm tired of fandom taking a massive, systemic problem of both mental healthcare AND prison work AND narrative necessity (people going in and coming back out) and making it Batman's fault. the whole point is that Gotham is a terribly corrupt place and still has an institution for prisoners literally nobody else wants to house because of the risk. these aren't just people who need therapy, however much fandom likes to woobify gotham villains-- these are people who even with therapy (some of it canonically good!) will go on mass murder sprees for FUN.

they aren't in prison because they're mentally ill, they're in arkham because they hurt people. repeatedly. with intent to do it again. even in the most violent iterations, you think that's Batman's fault for beating them up? like, bruh, i don't know about you, but if someone beat me up i still don't think there's a world where i'm justified in getting away with mass murder because of it, lol. in the less violent iterations, i still don't think it's batman's fault for what a judge decides in a system that is-- whether we want to admit it or not-- much bigger than one man's wealth, and full of people with their own motives and feelings and complicated thoughts. is he supposed to just keep rogues he suspects might be put back in? bribe some other prison somewhere else to take them, when that prison and those people might not have ANY idea how to prepare for them or stop them? at least in gotham he has a fairly high chance of catching them again pretty quickly, instead of dumping the problem on someone else.

anyway.

[m00nj3w3l]

Felt like coming back to this ask cus I felt like giving an actual answer (also thanks I appreciate you being genuinely curious about it even if you aren't super into Clear as I am). The megapost will, most likely, not even exist atp because I feel like I wouldn't say anything new in regards to his character that hasn't been touched on already by other fans in 13 years of the game being around and I'm busy irl, so I feel like I should dive more into why I myself latched onto Clear so hard.

Granted this will be a VERY long and personal (as in I do deep dive into my mental health) word salad that was way more eloquent in my head but you know how it is. Many beautiful thoughts and the second you voice them you're just saying things lmao. I'll keep it under the cut to not make a wall of text and you'll be free to read it whenever you want really.

To me, Clear's arc is all about acceptance: coming to terms with your past and what you are, and obviously this spoke to me as an autistic girl with not the brightest of pasts.

I spent a long, long time being uncomfortable with myself: I'd spend entire days crying about how much I hated myself and how I wished I could become someone else entirely. Even if my conscience was the same, the thought of having a new body that didn't look like me at least seemed comforting in the sense of "I could start again". That, or planning to kill myself. I have been suicidal ever since I can remember, but the start of 2024 was particularly bad. I was telling myself that if things didn't get better I would have committed by the end of the year.

Then in May 2024 I got into DMMD and, believe it or not, it fucking helped me cope.

I actually didn't like Clear at first!!! I was dead set on Koujaku as well (still love him my pathetic wet cat of a man) and my first thought of Clear was "God he's so annoying what the hell." And then. And then I played this route and idk, something about how he's constantly reminiscing of the times with his Grandpa, how scared he is of being vulnerable even with the person he chose to follow by not showing his face if not after like, ~2 hours into his route, how; like the post I reblogged some days ago says; he's treated like a trophy child by Toue who both violently rejects him AND obsesses over him by making insane amount of copies of him both in physical aspects and in concept (the mind control is basically an all encompassing subplot of DMMD as a whole), and how despite being mistreated time and time again by life itself he fucking chooses to be happy. Idk, it got to me, y'know? (Plus, which is kinda minor admist all these aspects to me, but felt like mentioning: having an heavily autistic coded character in an eroge who downright expresses his desire for sex is really nice, given how often we as autistic people are deemed as sexless beings and that often reflects in fiction too)

There's this one detail that I actually planned to point out sooner or later, but have you noticed that his way of speaking in RE:connect is way different than in the main game? I mean, he's still extremely formal and uses honorifics on Aoba even if the nature of their relationship could allow him to drop that, but he's not as high pitched and shrill as he is as we first meet him. Even as he gets excited ("Ren-san, such a long time no see!!" "Did you like the mirror???") he screams a lot less. Hell if anything his voice even gets a bit deeper!! That is also when the mask has been long dropped and at this point we, and him, know what he's like. He doesn't have to prove anything to anyone anymore, he doesn't need to scream and be loud to be listened to, he's comfortable with himself to the point of even poking fun at Aoba and showing him a part of his past that no one would've seen otherwise.

The fact that he refuses to be put in an Alpha body when he malfunctions again in his Drama CD; as tragic as it is that him and Aoba have a time limit on their time as a couple; to me is also a sign of this: it's ok if my body isn't perfect, if I myself am not at my core, I don't have to be. I'm done trying to be. I'll just be myself and whatever comes my way will be dealt with.

Idk how to properly word why all of this spoke to me, but it did: maybe also cause I am extremely loud irl, am very bad at masking, and as I mentioned some other time, a lot of Clear's character reminds me of myself when I was younger (which, sometimes, is kinda painful, but that's how deeply he speaks to me). Idk, there's a lot of things, y'know.

To add onto this I'm gonna add a fun fact:

My real name obviously isn't Moon (although I do sometimes tell people irl I use that, but it's kinda more like an artist name I chose for myself). Actually, my real name means the same thing as Clear's: if you'd translate it, he'd have the masculine version of my name; and that one scene in RE:connect where Aoba is like "your heart is like glass, you're always earnest and giving it your all, which is why I think he named you Clear" reminded me a lot of something my mom told me when I was a kid: that people would come up to her to praise her for the choice because I was a very honest and open child, which is why my name suits me. And God if that didn't make me cry, lol. I spent a long time hating it because of the negative connotations I felt like I had with it, but finding a character that I love that is so similar to me and has the same name as me really helps, y'know?

It's. Definitely veeery silly to be this viscerally attached to a character from Cursed Gay Sex Game, and maybe in a couple years I'll find another one who speaks to me just as much, but yeah. This is how I feel rn, so I guess there's little I can do about it, lol.

psst you should ramble about Clear and how cool and interesting you think he is in great detail

I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not since talking about him in great detail is my whole shtick and it makes me extremely predictable but LOOK MAN I HAD FUCKING NOTES WRITTEN DOWN TO LOOK AT WHEN I PLANNED TO MAKE THAT FUCKASS BIG POST I TALKED ABOUT BUT Iiiii am not so sure anymore :( I love making analysis posts and stuff but uaaaah I feel like I'd spam the tag and annoy everyone thumbs up emoji

[lunar-writes]

AkiRohan Incorrect Quotes

⩘⩗⩘⩗⩘⩗⩘⩗⩘⩗⩘⩗⩘⩗⩘⩗⩘⩗⩘⩗⩘⩗⩘⩗⩘⩗⩘⩗⩘⩗

Rohan, scrolling through Twitter: Koichi, what the fuck is 'AkiRohan'?

Koichi, who accidentally started the tag:

-

Josuke: Are you two dating?

Rohan, holding Akira's hand: No why would you think that

-

Rohan: *making fun of Josuke & Okuyasu* That's gay

Akira, holding him in his lap: Really-

-

Akira: Why the fuck are you drinking Monster at 3 in the morning?

Rohan, sleep deprived and physically shaking: Pain is temporary but greatness is eternal

Akira: go to bed

-

Akira: Damn, my fingers hurt from playing all day

Rohan: I can rub some cream on them for you

Akira: Is this just an excuse to hold my hand?

Rohan:

Akira: Answer me Rohan

-

*Arriving at a hotel together*

Akira: Oh there's only one bed

Rohan, laying on the bed seductively: How unfortunate

-

Rohan: Should we start dating?

Akira: Were we not already?

-

Rohan: I fucking hate EVERYONE

Akira: Everyone?

Rohan:

Rohan: ....alright fiNE-

-

Akira: I want to give you a pet name

Rohan: Like what?

Akira: Sweetie, darling, dearest, dearly beloved, my love—

Rohan: *blushing intensely* PLEASE stop

-

Rohan, holding out a card: Happy Anniversary, I guess

Akira: Thank you....?

Akira: *reads the card* ....

Akira: "I don't hate you"?

-

Rohan: I have done nothing wrong, ever

Akira: I know that's bullshit but I love you anyways

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Akira: I have an idea

Rohan: No murder

Akira: I no longer have an idea

-

Akira: You're violent

Rohan: Who's the murderer here???

-

Akira: Tell me something good before I commit another murder

Rohan: No music in prison

Akira: This is why I love you

-

Koichi: Rohan-sensei, why are you ignoring Otoishi-san?

Rohan: I'm playing hard to get

Josuke: Why? You're already hard to want

-

Akira: I'm going to play all of Metallica at max volume and no one is going to stop me

Rohan: Akira

Akira: One person is going to stop me

-

Okuyasu: You deserve an award for putting up with me

Josuke: Oku, you are my reward ♡

Akira: You deserve an award for putting up with me-

Rohan: Damn fucking straight I do

-

Rohan: The stars are bright tonight, aren't they?

Akira, mumbling: You're the brightest star

Rohan: What was that?

Akira: I said I want to hit you with a jar-

-

Rohan: Color me surprised

Akira: You're literally white as a ghost

Rohan: As if you're any better

-

Akira: Truth or Dare?

Rohan: Truth

Akira: How many hours have you slept this week?

Rohan: Dare

Akira: Go to sleep

Rohan: I don't like this game

-

Rohan: I know you think my judgement is clouded because I like Otoishi a little

Koichi: You drew your wedding invitation

Rohan: That's our joint tombstone

Koichi: My mistake

-

Rohan, seeing Josuke getting blasted into the nearest wall by Akira: Was that necessary?

Akira: No, but it was dope

Rohan: Understandable, carry on

-

Rohan: Why did God deem it necessary for me to exist

Koichi:

Koichi: *gestures to Akira*

Rohan: Oh yeah, that's why

-

Rohan: I despise you immensely, your music is absolute garbage and your sense of fashion is atrocious

Akira: You want to fuck me so bad it makes you look stupid

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Akira: Rohan, babe, hun, hotstuff, light of my life-

Rohan: No I will not pass you the aux cord

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Josuke: Isn't that, like, your twentieth drawing of Otoishi?

Rohan: And don't you still have that stupid hairstyle? Fuck off

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Koichi: Rohan-sensei said you have pretty hair and a nice ass

Akira, twirling a strand of hair: He thinks it's pretty?

-

Akira: Do you think I have a type?

Josuke: Yeah, the unlovable

Rohan: I am riGHT HERE-

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Rohan: That's ridiculous, Otoishi doesn't like me at all

Reimi: Yes he does

Koichi: Yes he does

Akira: Yes I do

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Rohan: If I run and jump at Akira, he will most certainly catch me

Rohan, running at Akira: CATCH

Akira: NO I'M HOLDING MY GUITAR-

Akira: *catches Rohan with one arm, still holding guitar*

Rohan: How the fu-

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They've taken over me and now I'm obsessed with these two dumbasses. They're chaotically in love and I'm here for it

[cleansingreflections]

i do agree with you on childe being a good brother thing, he puts his family before everything else and i find that admirable, but i wouldnt really call him morally nuanced just because he’s a good brother. like, he very much will bring up how much he wants to kill something at any given opportunity. (also taking note of his prior atrocities) also also while we’re here i’ve seen people say childe is genuinely stupid?? and it kind of just baffles me how people can read his character that way. at most he’s stubborn and willfully ignorant at times, but dumb?? how.

i think he's not morally gray because he's a good brother though. for me it's very hard to put him in the "straight up evil" category because he isn't evil

he does bad things on purpose, absolutely, he is a bad person, but also (hot take alert) i want to take into account that the game itself has skewed morals,,,,, we fight treasure hoarders, who are literally just normal ass poor people, with weapons and visions, so like? you get my point

he kills for fun but i still think he's fully redeemable because it's clear that he doesn't do it for the sake of just ending lives, but for the sake of fighting, which is a remnant from his abyss times, so he's not innately evil in my opinion

like my point is that he is a bad person but not a straight up villain? you know what i mean? it's hard to explain but i think even when we see him commit acts of violence they're motivated (not justified, but motivated), we haven't seen him commit any act of violence that hasn't been motivated in some way, except for like his demo where he attacked some random treasure hoarders but like, again,,,,, so do we

this sounds idiotic when im saying it like this but yes he did wrong yes hes a war criminal yes he hasnt owned up to his wrongdoings yes hes a violent and dangerous person and yes hes still redeemable despite it all in my opinion. hope this helps

anyway yeah also people who call him stupid piss me off like he's just young, hot headed and stubborn and he has no regard for his own safety, but that doesnt make him stupid jfc he's just some guy.

it's almost like something incredibly disturbing and traumatic happened to him when he was 14 (literally neurodivergent and a minor /j) that altered his psyche and physical form and changed him fundamentally as a person. mh. go wonder

[primrose-path-of-dalliance]

i’m really worried about caleb.

like, first off? liam broke character early in the episode to say aloud, “caleb’s not having a good time, guys.” that rang alarms in my head immediately. liam doesn’t just tell the rest of the cast how his character is feeling in the moment. no one in the cast does that. they roleplay it, because the fun is in acting out your character’s behavior so someone gets the opportunity to notice it.

the fact that liam was roleplaying distress and panic and immense guilt, even throughout reassurance, before getting the actor’s equivalent of grasping for words before just saying outright: “caleb’s not having a good time”?

shit.

to unfortunately add on further, there’s a core to caleb’s self-harm and self-hate that can essentially be summed up as: he dehumanizes himself. he very rarely expresses his feelings or emotions with the expectation that they have inherent value. when he presents an idea that holds emotional significance for him, like possibly reaching out to astrid and eadwulf for help in eiselcross, he couches it in abstract excuses. it would be useful. it would be helpful. it would be smart. it would make a good plan.

that is his approach to himself. he can’t express that he wants to do something because he feels like it—because his feelings aren’t worth shit. the only thing he’s worth is how useful he is.

so—he wakes up sane in the vergessen sanatorium and decides that he’s only going to live to travel through time and prevent his parents from dying. there is no happiness for him, no future waiting for him, and no real atonement. there is only how he can put his magical talent to use in figuring out the impossible.

so—he becomes part of the mighty nein. he’s a team player now. he learns spells to help his friends. he casts them to help his friends. he trades favors for favors: with beau in hupperdook, with fjord in dashilla’s lair. the only way he will get help and concern, after all, is if he is useful.

this same perspective surfaced in this last episode when caleb suggested trading himself for everyone else’s safety. because his worth is in how useful he is—and right now he’s endangering them, and they could go free if he offers himself to ikithon.

and no one contradicted him.

on how useful his sacrifice would be, sure. if he left, they wouldn’t be able to teleport anywhere. if he left, he wouldn’t be able to help them against the tomb takers and the eyes of nine. but on his inherent value as a person, someone who is suggesting being given to his abuser? nope. no mention of that.

on the beach, when they were inspecting the crystals stolen from the sanatorium, veth implicitly asked caleb whether he would put them back in his arms if they made his magic more powerful.

caleb said no, because he has so much trauma around those goddamn crystals that he regularly scratches at the scars covering his arms.

and no one else offered an agreement with that sentiment.

do you know what one of the most moving scenes for caleb and his character growth was tied to? when he finally lays out all of his past for the entire mighty nein in a shitty inn room in episode 110, he expects to be judged. he expects rejection—from jester most of all.

and her first move is to hug him and say: “you must have been so sad, caleb. i’m sorry you felt like you had to hide that.”

he breaks down at this, hard. because caleb had not ever acknowledged his own emotions from what he’s gone through as valid. he had never allowed the simple mercy of recognizing himself as a person: not just someone who committed terrible crimes, but a child. a child who was abused by a much older, powerful man, and whose beloved parents were murdered.

so—when he expects to be judged by the abstract concepts of morality, of right and wrong, of the horror of patricide? he is instead recognized as a person who has been struggling and in pain. he receives an apology for the fact that he did not feel safe around them.

the same kind of uncomprehending, overwhelming emotion appears on his face when jester responds to his apology for keeping secrets with: “we lie. we lie about things all the time to protect other people. sometimes to protect ourselves. i don’t blame you for that.”

rather than taking offense at having something this important hidden from her by caleb, jester instead validates his fears and concerns. it doesn’t matter if hiding what he did was inconvenient to her or dishonest—he felt afraid. and she doesn’t blame him for acting in ‘selfishness’ and fear.

the first time he truly got angry about what was done to him was two episodes ago. one day ago in in-game time.

so yeah, i’m worried for caleb. because he’s in a terrible place, and no one has gotten to tell him yet that they care about him as a person. that no, they don’t judge him for how violent he got at the sanatorium when he personally suffered at that institution. that no, they would never trade him to ikithon for safety because ikithon was his abuser, and he is not getting hurt again. that no, they would never ask him to retraumatize himself in order to be useful.

this episode was extremely chaotic and stressful, so i don’t blame anyone. i just really hope they find the time in the next episode or so to tell caleb how much they love him.

(EDIT 3/10: please look in the notes for my additional commentary.)

[orionshounds]

I’ve been knee deep in dsmp lore streams and I just want to ramble about it

Dream smp lore is so good, it’s so good!!! Not only is the story itself just fascinating, but how it’s presented so uniquely through the medium of minecraft of all things is just so cool. One of my favorite parts of the lore is seeing how everyone on the smp has their own “style” they present it in, and watching them find the way they find the most enjoyment in is so cool. Literally no two streamer’s lore stream quite like each others and it’s just incredible! It just speaks to the flexibility of roleplay as an artistic medium and really shows everyone’s individual personalities. 

Wilbur was dramatic as hell and wrote eloquent speeches. He started a drug operation under the guise as a country, and it lead to a revolution in which he was able to explore the spiral of a man who loses control of everything he had built. And after his arc and he wanted a break from the server? He created ghostbur, an amnesic comic relief with just enough touch of tragedy that he is still able to make heartbreaking monologues when he wants to.

Tommy is able to run around with his friends and cause as much chaos to his heart’s extent, but there is so much more than meets the eye. He is incredibly social and isn’t afraid to start conflict with a lot of people, bringing them into the roleplay. He doesn’t back down from storytelling either. His character goes through terrible situations and he fully explores the trauma that comes from those experiences. His character goes against the “stereotypical” trauma I see alot in media; instead of being shy or scared he’s reactionary, he’s angry, he’s violent, he’s depressed. I’m actually really impressed with the heavy subject matter this 17 year old teen has managed to portray (I’ve connected with it quite personally at certain points), while still being able to keep the light hearted fun that’s so intrinsic to his personality. 

Tubbo isn’t really interested in serious lore as much. Even in dire moments he tells jokes and just has fun. So, in his recent lore, he just streams as normal while putting mysterious writing on screen that he doesn’t acknowledge or have to explain, which I think is just a genius work around for him to participate in lore. He still has his dedicated lore streams sometimes, and when he is in the acting zone he has some of the most powerful moments out of everyone on the server.

Ranboo, while having stake in the greater smp lore, is much more character focused. He presents his lore through long monologues and fucking heart-wrenching voice acting. He loves working in themes of horror and causing a specific feeling in the viewer. So he chooses specific music as a themes for events/characters and creates visual queues in his overlays to draw out that desired reaction. He also values improve a LOT, if something unexpected comes up he just runs with it and he has made huge changes to his lore as early as 30 min before a stream.

Technoblade, while arguably one of the most powerful people on the server, prefers a more light-hearted yet dramatic approach to lore. When Dream was at his house looking for Tommy, Techno had no problem joking around and making fun of him for being homeless. He tore down an entire nation on the server and had so much fun doing it! He’s more of an antagonist than a true villain in my opinion. And lets not forget how dedicated he is to the game, he’s cracked at the craft. He spends hours grinding and creating farms on the smp, for amazing pay offs (his several vault reveals, the withers, etc), most of which weren’t even on stream!

Karl Jacobs is extremely social, so he created Tales from the smp as a way to involve TONS of people in lore while exploring the past and future of the server (it was also a way for viewers who weren’t that well versed in dsmp lore to join and not have to worry about it!). And through this premise, he took the opportunity to develop his own character on the smp; making an incredibly tragic story of a time traveler trying to save his home while slowly loosing his memories. Not to mention the beautifully shot cutscenes of the Inbetween and the Other Side. He includes so many people behind the scenes as well, collabing with other members on lore, hiring building teams and people to make intros and credit scenes, and promoting fanart and fansongs from the community!

Quackity explores his lore through heavily scripted events and amazingly shot cut scenes. While the way he expresses his lore comes at the cost of improv, the payoff of the visuals and story is well worth it! The shots he makes of the smp is downright gorgeous, no to mention he’s the first person to include irl footage in his lore (not counting facecams)! He’s not afraid of thoroughly examining his own character, being one of the only people I can think of that shows us “past events” leading up to something that has already happened.

Badboyhalo, Antfrost, Ponk, Skeppy, Captain Puffy, Punz, Awesamdude, Hannahxxrose all work together on shared lore and the payoff is amazing! By introducing the Egg, a constant antagonistic force that constantly pulls on character’s relationships with each other, everyone is able to stream together to battle for or against the egg! There’s also plenty of room for people to do individual lore that's more intimate to their respective character. They spend hours changing vines, putting up posters, slowly shaping the smp in a way that makes it exciting to watch streams to see just what has changed everyday. Because there’s so many people necessary to tell the egg’s story, it does comes at the cost of time (the egg has been around FOREVER). However, they all work together super hard and I just admire their commitment to the story they’re trying to tell!

And Sam! He has several different “Modes” his character is in (and an entirely separate character, Sam Nook) that he gets to explore lore with. He’s a terrifying warden, he’s a money motivated businessman, he’s a conflicted lover, he’s a traumatized victim of the egg, and just so much more. Through having so many different “roles” in the rp he gets to explore relationships and plotlines with a whole array of people. Not to mention he’s absolutely cracked at redstone and has some of the most impressive builds on the server.

And Puffy! So much of her lore is calling into question the morality of the server and really makes you step back and think critically about the characters. Her character also has, in my opinion, one of the most interesting relationships with Dream, the main antagonist of the entire server, which is just fascinating to watch unfold. Not to mention she’s one of the first people to start exploring the backstory of her character!

George doesn’t exactly do lore. In fact he’s slept through so much of it it’s become a meme. And you know what? That mad man took that and ran with it. He explains his absence in the story by having his character literally being asleep through it, creating mystery where there used to just be an absence. He’s able to goof off with his friends and have borderline nonsensical streams, then at the end sucker punch the audience emotionally by “waking up” and have the viewers question just what was real and what wasn’t?

The smp has the freedom for people who want more independent lore to be able to explore their character’s that way as well!

Hbomb, Connereatspants, and Purpled don’t have a lot of lore on the smp, generally only coming on to have fun with everyone, but when they do have their moments it unfolds in very interesting ways!

Sapnap, Eret, and Schlatt maybe aren’t as active as some other people, but when they are on they actively participate in lore and have lasting impacts on the story (Ex: Eret’s betrayal, Sapnap’s visit to dream in the prison, Schlatt becoming president).

Philza mostly does his own thing, improving the server or making some bomb ass builds. He has incredibly devastating roles in lore (killing wilbur, blowing up L’manberg for the final time, starting the syndicate with Techno), but he also has quieter moments that speak to the depth his character has, such as fishing with fundy or reminiscing about his dead son and how it went so wrong. Like Techno, he doesn’t like to take lore completely seriously, often laughing no matter what’s happening or teasing chat after something big goes down, but his character is solid with a lot of potential for future lore.

Foolish has only started on his character and its already super interesting. The hints at his dark past as a “god of death” and his current conflict with the egg are intriguing as fuck. Not to mention the MASSIVE builds he does for everyone, helping to progress their lore as well.

Fundy has a lot of freedom with his character to participate however much he wants in lore. While generally he’s a trickster who loves to prank people he has enough tragedy build into his backstory he’s able to break the viewer’s heart with a flip of a switch. Not to mention his recent, almost surreal, stream that explored his character’s disturbing dreams that may or may not predict the future.

Niki is very character driven, exploring her character's grief of losing her best friend and her anger of being ignored in the very country she helped create. She has incredibly emotional moments, and even though she’s on her own building an underground city she still participates in other lore via teaming with jack manifold or the syndicate.

Jack Manifold’s lore is VERY character focused, and while he’s described his story as a “B plot that occasionally intersects with the main plot”, the story he tells is still fascinating. Being pushed aside not taken seriously his whole life, his character develops into a fun cartoony-esque villain who begs to be taken seriously, that has the depth of a truly conflicted person who is torn between wanting revenge on everyone who’s done him wrong and just wanting a friend.

Last but not least, the man himself, Dream. The most fascinating thing about his lore is that absolutely none of it is from his pov. All we know about his character is only from what we see from everyone else’s povs, and in his case it leads to a very intimidating villain! Not to mention, mans owns the damn server and yet has made himself the main antagonist! He is the only character I consider a “true villain” on the smp. His voice acting and writing is downright sinister. I could write a fucking essay on how his character’s obsession with power has led him to the point he thinks himself an unstoppable god

Everyone on this server is stunning and I love all of them!!!!!

[mp100fanworkstranslation]

Better than when you found it -Part 2-

Part 1 Here

-The Second Day: Saturday- 

Ekubo: Yawwwwn~~What are we doing today?

Reigen brushing teeth: There’s a DVD rental kiosk around the corner. Wanna check it out? 

Mob: Yes I’m here

Reigen: Wait, Mob what? (btw you have foam on your face.)

Mob: Weren’t you asking me where I was?

Reigen: No?

Serizawa pops out: Did someone say movie?!

Mob thinks: I keep hearing someone calling my name.

One unspecified adult: What movies are we getting?

Another unspecified adult: Lets go take a look at what they have.

--20 Minutes Later--

Unspecified Adult: Alright! What do we have? 

(It’s not specified who is speaking here, but based on the speech form it’s either Reigen or Ekubo, not Serizawa)

Ekubo reads: The Hunger Games?

Someone else: We’ll that’s....

Mob: I’ve heard of it before.

Ekubo: Yeah?

Mob: Master told me about it. -He holds up a clothes hanger-

Mob puts the clothes hanger on his head: Yeah! Hunger Games!

Ekubo: Um....

Reigen: NO NO, That’s not it.

(Can someone explain this reference to me? I’ve never seen the Hunger games. I have no idea what this is about.)

Somebody: Whatever. Lets try it. 

There is a loud scream from the TV. Serizawa is startled into dropping his tea tray. Ekubo covers Mob’s eyes. 

Reigen is pissed: WHO PICKED THIS VIOLENT FILM?! Take care of Mob!

Mob peeling Ekubo’s hands off his face: Um... I’m fine with it. I just.....I just feel like something is wrong. 

(He’s actually referring to the presence of the spirit in the apartment. He’s been talking about it since the first panel. The adults are having too much fun they forgot.)

Reigen: You.....You’re not likeing this violence are you?  hmmmmmm

Reigen: Okay Mob! Listen up! I’m gonna teach you the right way to approach media like movies and TV.

You gotta put yourself in the shoes of the protagonist.

(I LOVE THE WAY THIS PANEL IS DRAWN. The framing of the panel is encouraging and mentorly, like a coach telling his player to go out there and do his best, ........except it’s Reigen...teaching Mob to watch movies.... He’s 14, I’m sure he’s seen movies before.)

Reigen puts his hand on Mob’s shoulder: You think you can do it? 

Mob: um....

Reigen: Try it out! I guarantee you’ll get a different experience out of it.

Mob is watching intently while all three adults look bored. The room is filled with fighting sounds.

Mob: That looks like it hurts.

Reigen looks over at Mob and fails to notice the rustling behind him. 

Reigen’s Phone Rings: Crap I forgot

Mob: Is it a client?

Reigen: Yeah

Reigen: I’m just going to go on my own, it’ll be quick.

Ekubo: Are you gonna be okay on your own?

Reigen: Yeah it’s fine, It’s just an in-office consultation. I’ll be back at around noon.

Mob: Okay, see you later

Reigen: yep

Ekubo: So.... what are we gonna do?

Serizawa: Ummmmm

(I like how Ekubo hangs out on top of Mobs head, the way he does all the time as a spirit.)

Serizawa gets an idea looking at the microwave: How about we cook while waiting for Reigen to return?

Mob: That’s a good idea, he’d be hungry when he comes back Mob thinks: I don’t know how to cook though. 

Ekubo rolls up sleeves: Lets do it! It’s not like we’re busy. I’ll show you my signature dish!

Serizawa: Ekubo-kun...

Ekubo: Alright lets divide up  the work.

Mob: Okay

Serizawa: ah! Yes!

They start cooking. Mob cuts himself chopping vegetables.

Serizawa: Ah! You’re bleeding!  Mob: Ow ow... Ekubo: You cut yourself AGAIN?!

They’re almost done.  Mob: Im hungry Ekubo making fried rice. Should we make something more than just this? Serizawa: Ah, we can add a salad!

It’s 12:42

Reigen Returns: Ugh this place is so far from the office. I’m starving.

He’s jiggling the key in the lock: lock is acting up again. 

Huh?

(This is a callback to the beginning when he was working the lock, he told everyone to do things in pairs to avoid being possessed. He forgot and went off on his own.) Reigen gets possessed

The door clatters and he enters the apartment. 

Mob: ah! Master! Welcome back!

Mob: Master?

Reigen: What have you guys busied yourself with? 

Ekubo: Um.... what?

Serizawa: We made lunch

Mob: eh? ehhh?

Reigen:THIS is what you’ve decided to whittle away the last few hours on?

(This is so hard to translate, but it’s what I love about translating. His word choice here is saying that 1. they acted without permission. 2. they did something that wasted time, and resources and was ultimately unnecessary. 3. they’re screwing around like children.)

Reigen: No one asked you to do this. Why you did is beyond me. 

Others: ?!

Reigen: I put a lot of effort into planning what foods to bring and what the meal plans were going to be.

(Reigen doesn’t normally have light colored eyes. That’s a nice touch.)

Ekubo is looking at Mob

Mob: I....Im sorry

Ekubo remembers how eager mob wanted to cook for Reigen, how he cut him self trying. 

Serizawa: Mr. Reigen, this is very unlike you. Is something wrong?

Ekubo to Reigen:  I don’t like your tone.

Serizawa: Ekubo-kun!*

Ekubo: Look, I’m not sure what’s gotten into you but.......

Reigen: Hmm?

(*This wasn’t made all that clear in the manga, but Serizawa is ALWAYS very deferential around Reigen. He’s never direct with him, meekly suggests things rather than outright stating them. He doesn’t treat their relationship as that of equals, he’s the subordinate and he expresses this in the language he uses and the tone he takes. As opposed to Ekubo who is direct and not afraid to confront Reigen. Ekubo’s pronouns, word choice and tone expresses the belief that he is an equal if not better than the people around him.

Which is why Serizawa is shocked that Ekubo is so direct. Like, How could he just outright say “I dont like your tone” TO Reigen?)

Reigen: got something to say? 

Ekubo: ....how dare you? What gives you the right?

Serizawa: ....?

Reigen: What gives YOU the right? It’s not YOUR body. It’s not like I asked you to possess this man. You did that yourself. 

Serizawa notices that there’s something on Reigen: Ekubo-kun w...wait!

Ekubo: Bastard, if you don’t stop running your mouth....

Reigen smiles: Hmmm? Are you not an evil spirit? You REALLY think you live a normal human life again? 

(I love that panel with Reigen’s silent open-mouthed smile, he knows he’s won.  He’s gonna pull the trigger now.)

Ekubo: ..... I see 

Mob: Eku~ Ekubo: I understand now. -He walks out and closes the door being him-

Mob stands at the door: Ekubo?

Serizawa: Ekubo-kun

(AAAHHH I LOVE HOW YOU DON’T SEE EKUBO’S EXPRESSION IN THE FIRST PANEL THERE)

Reigen: Enough.... he’s so much trouble.

Mob is still at the door:..... Ekubo

Mob: When we were cooking, he said....

Ekubo: He’s considerate in a way.... For an evil spirit like me, he treats me no different than anyone else around him.... that’s something. 

Mob: Eventhough Ekubo is an evil spirit, and a dangerously powerful one at that,... he’s an uncharacteristically a good person.

Mob opens the door and runs outside after him. 

TO BE CONTINUED

I like this part SO GODDAMN MUCH. Reigen is really good at reading people and knowing what to say. He can use his words to get people to feel how he wants them to, and the idea of him getting possessed and unleashing his ability on other people to destroy them is so goddamn cool. 

You’ve heard of Empaths. They are people that easily understand the emotions of others. But in psychology, there’s a lesser known personality type called a “Dark Empath” that can understand peoples feelings well but is also a sociopath that has no problems hurting other people.

Dark Empaths use their understanding of other people to hurt, defraud and other take advantage of others. These are people that convince others to commit suicide or charm people out of their life savings etc.

I wish there was more Dark Empath! Reigen fics. This is something I’ve not seen in Fanfiction, in fact, this comic is the only place I’ve seen it. It’s such an interesting concept. Like, if there were fics that cast him as a villan, then it’s perfectly in-character and logical for him to be a Dark Empath.