#AND you get ark from killing my beloved <3< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[ilaiyayaya]

Back in my "desperately attracted to Ozma" (the big psychedelic orb eikon from FFIX) phase again 😔

[idylls-of-the-divine-romance]

Why is this blog anti-Jacob?

Yayyyyy!!!! I get to hate on Jacob lol.

Okay so I'm sure you're familiar that in Genesis 3 there is the humans and the humans are deceived by the nakhash/snake and Yahweh gives a foretelling of the future (i need a new word to replace prophecy T-T) that there will be two lines, that of the Woman and that of the Snake. Children will come from both families, and there will be conflict between the two families. And one day the ultimate Seed of the Woman will crush the head of the Snake, at the cost of the Snake biting his heel. I know you know all of this but it'll come back later lol

So then we get the next story where the woman has two children, Cain and Abel. And you get no word about baby snakes, but what you do hear about is this snakelike beast called "failure" that will overcome Cain if he doesn't rule it. Cain doesn't rule it and kills his brother. So, even tho Cain and Abel are both the literal children of the woman, narratively they are the children of the Snake and the Woman. Then Abel's replacement is Seth and they kick of two lines. From Cain's line we get beastly men like Lamech (who's name is the letters for king backwards) who kills men for slapping him and accumulates women like property. From Seth's line we get men like Noah son of Lamech (different man; same name. It's actually really cool) who is the one righteous and blameless man in all the land, who lives in peace with the animals in a little micro-Eden (literally. the ark is designed like the Garden), and plants a garden when he gets off the ark. But then he takes the fruit, get's naked, and is shameful (all the same language from Gen 3). And then from Noah's sons we get the beastly Ham who... does... something to his father (probably rape tho) and the other 2 sons who honor their father and cover his nakedness (like Yahweh does Adam and Eve).

What i'm trying to draw out here is this pattern of people being Children of the Woman, or Children of the Beast. It's then with this background that the family narrative comes. And here the Snake-Seed is portrayed not so much with violence as before, but with deception. A different kind of violence.

Abraham complicates this dichotomy because he is both: he is constantly going back and forth between being a Snake-Crusher and a Snake-Seed, and in the end, ends up being a Snake-Crusher (at least imo).

Isaac.... I don't like him. Terrible father. BUT he did do good and willingly let himself get sacrificed so *shrugs* I'll give him that. Other than that he and Rebekah suck. And beside there terrible parenting, Isaac is also a liar just like his father.

But Jacob. Jacob is worse. He is born a snake. He's clinging to his brother's heel for goodness sake!!! (not that Esau is better. He is a hairy beast of a man so). He tries to cheats his brother out of birth, he cheats his brother out of the birthright, he lies to his blind and dying father, gets cheated on by his uncle, and then cheats his uncle right back!!! Then comes my favorite narrative where Jacob gets punched in the dick. Marvelous. Yes I know it says his hip socket came out, but think about it. He was punched so hard, clearly in the inside of his leg, that his hip socket came out. That's pretty close. Than there's also the symbolism. The Blessing (tm) that Jacob is so obsessed with comes through family and the ability to have children. It's like the circumcision thing with Abraham. Except instead of cutting it, God punches him in it. Which he deserves. Because he sucks.

"Oh no my father played favorites with my older brother and that really hurt me. So I'll play favorites with my youngest and surely that'll turn out finee. Right? Righttt???"

No. You're older children will deceive you the same way you deceived your father and your beloved princess of a son get's sold into Egypt as a slave and almost gets assaulted. Woopsie.

I know that last one is not entirely his fault but like, it indirectly is. Jacob doesn't get a change of heart until his teenage son gets sent into exile and only THEN does he see what his lying gets him.

In summary, Jacob sucks becuase he's just like the rest of his family. A liar. Except he's a liar all the time instead of just some of the time. And he never really does anything heroic, i don't think.

[fortune-maiden]

20, 21, & 22 for choose violence (mxtx stuff is cool but can i poke you for falcom?)

Of course! I've got plenty of Falcom Salt to go around :D

Thank you <3

20. part of canon you found tedious or boring

Side Quests in Sky & Crossbell never felt particularly bad (although the cracks were there in Crossbell too) but in Cold Steel they were an absolute chore to get through, and I especially hated how the game became very formulaic with its designated TIME TO DO SIDE QUESTS and always warning you that you're about to advance the plot.

For Story related things, I just did not really care that much for all of the Thors academy plots. They were more enjoyable in new Thors II but not still not enough to get me invested.

(Also while I do love Gagharv, I don't particularly like White Witch all that much, except this is The One Game that seems to be extremely beloved by everyone who played it ^^")

21. part of canon you think is overhyped

This is going to be a bit of a hot take because the game is generally pretty well liked (by me included) but I have a lot of frustrations about Lacrimosa of Dana's big reset button plot because WE LITERALLY HAD THAT IN YS SEVEN ONE GAME AGO! (and I mean the exact same kind of plot - not just the island being reset which would have made more sense imo... finding out we're literally rehashing Ys SEVEN's plot actually killed all my momentum for this game ^^")

And for Cold Steel.... OH BOY DO I HAVE A BONE TO PICK WITH MISTER CROW AMBRUST!

I just really feel like nothing with this character was earned. I never felt like Rean was closer to him than everyone else in Class VII that his betrayal would hit THAT HARD. Or that we can set aside all of his actual terrorist activities because HE'S ONE OF US (Rean aside, rest of Class VII why are you like this too??)

I just feel he's way too easily forgiven and I can't help feeling a chill knowing that he (and Rean) are back for Kai >.>

22. your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

GAGHARV TRILOGY MY BELOVED! CAGESONG OF THE OCEAN ESPECIALLY MY BELOVED!

I really wish these games were more accessible or at least had better translations because their stories are actually really good!! A Tear of Vermillion is very much as Trails in the Sky prototype in terms of structure and character archetypes and gives a lot of really great character moments and relationships!

And Cagesong feels like playing through a really fun shonen adventure, and its Ch 2 in particular has such a fun mystery island plot! Also music is great!

I also really love Ys Ark of Naphistim but I feel like that's one of the least popular Ys games nowadays (excluding Kefin) xD

Meanwhile for Trails, I feel like I just don't know what people focus on nowadays and especially with all the wasted potential of Cold Steel, but I'll go with Rean's status as the empire's hero and propaganda figure had so much potential and nothing was done with it. Idk if fic explores it much either ^^"

Oh also! I love the two bickering ambassadors in Sky and wish more was done with them! If there was ever a plot line to copy/paste from Gagharv into Trails it was one that could have involved them! :D

[moveslikebucky]

Yay!! My Bestie @ouidamforeman tagged me in a fun little AO3 game and I'm still crying about their post and how niceys they were to me in it <3

We've been collaborators on so many projects for so long now that it almost feels like we're a package deal at this point xD (and i love it <3)

1. how many works do you have on Ao3?

177

This isn't counting, I don't think at least, the five or six that I've orphaned over the last year.

2. what’s your total Ao3 word count?

642,686 <3

3. what fandoms do you write for?

Good Omens is by far my largest fandom lol. I have a long abandoned series that's a rewrite of Fallout 4, but no idea if I'll ever get back to it.

4. what are your top five fics by kudos?

They're all fairly older ones that have been kicking around AO3 for a while <3

well then, ask me to stay (904)

unpath'd waters, undream'd shores (643)

And now I'm ready to feel your hand (545)

Hush, darling...I've got you (532)

All the Idle Weeds That Grow (519)

5. do you respond to comments?

I love to respond to comments! Often they get away from me and I won't for a long chunk of time, and then inevitably the ADHD hyperfixation will kick in and I will answer some 60-120 comments in one go because I let them sit for far too long sometimes xD

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Gonna have to go back old school for this one, I think it would have to be Hopelessly, I'll Love You Endlessly, simply because it implies that Crowley is going to the bar to drink himself into a stupor after Aziraphale's discorporation as a form of suicide. Honorable mention for What good would common sense for it do? which has the two of them spending the night together after Crowley has a mental breakdown about the Spanish Inquisition, which ends with him leaving at the end because he doesn't think he's worth what Aziraphale clearly sees in him. As well as, as Ouida mentioned, I think about you, which ends with Crowley in a very distressed state after masturbating in the shower.

I think... I like torturing that old man. Oh well.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Oh there's so many of those I might as well list my five favorite happy ending fics:

It's Not the Years, It's the Mileage - My fusion that puts Aziraphale and Crowley in the place of Indy and Marion during Raiders of the Lost Ark. It ends with them proclaiming their love and continuing their mildly illicit affair and lots and lots of kisses.

I won't have a life (until you're dead) - My first big long project with @ouidamforeman will always have a special place in my heart for happy endings. These two found each other despite all of the odds, and now they have eternity together!

Night of the Living Boyfriend! - Me and @ouidamforeman's 70s horror pastiche which I don't think anyone realized would have a happy ending. We certainly jumped through hoops to get there, but it got there all the same.

go where I go, do what I must - This one is going to be a series of interconnected one-shots in the same world but really... Poor little repressed Victorian man deciding to kill himself rather than get married to a woman he doesn't love by sacrificing him to the fae, only to become married to one of them instead? And then get to take part in their bacchanalian cultural customs? AND eventually get to have an orgy with two big Satyr fellas while his husband claps and squeals gleefully? He's living his best happy ending ever!

formation displays of affection - The android fic... oh my beloved android fic. I wrote this one specifically as a vehicle for Ouida to express some of their feelings and thoughts around their autism, and it ends so hopeful and happy and full of love to bursting.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I have only gotten hate twice. The first time was on a zine fic once it was published, someone saying that I was a hack and that my writing style was shit so I shouldn't get into zines. They bragged about it in a few discord servers, I've had them blocked since. The big one, as Ouida mentioned in their post, was on formation displays of affection, where apparently we are abelist against ourselves? For writing our experiences? Because the character is a robot. Whack as hell if you ask me.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Oh please honey, you know what blog you're on xD

All kinds of smut every configuration. Solo, couples, orgies... heavy kink, monster fucking. Always unapologetically queer and joyous. A few of my most Out There smut fics for your consideration (the first two are both collabs with Ouida!):

En Eski Aşk Şiiri - Vore sex. It's vore sex! Devour your angel husband for fun and profit!

The Nature of Intricate Rituals - Are they animals? Yes, strictly speaking. Reverse Omens where Crowley is a harpy and Aziraphale is a sphinx and they fuck good and Gadriel (Crowley) lays a lot of eggs and also comes about that.

In The Depths - Dubious consent wherein mech pilot Aziraphale gets fucked via that neural interface by a sea monster. Said sea monster comes back for more in a more compact, human looking form, but he still doesn't quite grasp the limitations of human bodies.

Five Sparrows for a Penny - Five Aziraphale clones give Crowley the ride of his life.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I've only written one crossover, and that was The Curious Case of Old Mr. Fell, where Basil of Baker Street and Dr Dawson from The Great Mouse Detective meet Aziraphale.

Fusions though, I have It's Not The Years, It's The Mileage as mentioned above, as well as the group project Reclamation and Reconnaissance which is an au set on Bajor during the events of Deep Space Nine, but with Good Omens characters.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Several times! Mainly into Russian, once into French and Italian I think.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

The majority of my writing is co-written. Me and Ouida are a great team <3

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

Aziraphale and Crowley, hands down.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

My Fallout 4 rewrites. I just don't have the hyperfixation energy to work on them anymore.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think I"m pretty good with dialogue and with scene details without them being overbearing. Ambience and mood as well.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I am not good at long form fiction, writing multichapter fics is a struggle for me because I struggle with plot of all things. I'm much more a one-shot person. However, part of the benefit of working with Ouida so much, is that they balance me out and are very good at hammering down worldbuilding and plot points. Also they beta everything I write!

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I haven't done it myself yet, but I feel like it's so cool to do! If I can ever get it off the ground, eventually me and Ouida have a cold war spies concept that we're working on and Aziraphale will speak Russian in it a lot of the time.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Teen Titans. Not GO!, the original one.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

God I've written so many it's hard to pick, but I definitely have to say that it's I won't have a life (until you're dead). It will always be that one, forever and ever. That's why I haven't ever changed my profile picture xD

I'm gonna tag uhhhh @ashfae, @entanglednow, @charlottemadison42, and @waldosakimbo

[communistdragon]

3, 4, 5, 7, 8 for the dw ask!! you dont have to do all of em i just like options :]

Thanks for the ask!

3. What’s your least-favorite moment with your favorite doctor? Ah yes, favourite Doctor. The ubiquitous question in the fandom that is nevertheless rather hard to answer. Because making choices is hard, I'm going to refer to both the Fourth (my first Doctor, and the one who I usually mention in response to this question) and the Eighth (lives in my head rent-free at all times) Doctors as my favourite. With that being said, it is hard to recall a really unpleasant moment with the Fourth Doctor, besides some uncomfortable moments in I believe Talons of Weng-Chiang regarding imperialism. The Eighth Doctor moment that I really dislike is when he's being outright mean to Charley in Scherzo. I love Scherzo to bits, but I don't enjoy listening to the Doctor when he's like that.

4. Who’s wardrobe would you steal? Early Eight. His scruffy Edwardian gentleman vibes are excellent. I'm definitely a big fan of velvet coats and lots of pockets. I think the Doctors all have excellent fashion sense, although I don't have the confidence to pull off some of them.

5. If you had to take the form of one non-humanoid alien permanently, which one would you chose? This is probably a copout answer, but Whifferdill. Whifferdills are shapeshifters who appear mostly in the comics. Frobisher, the Sixth Doctor's companion, spends his time LARPing as a talking penguin.

7. Which doctor is not necessarily your favorite but is the doctor you’d most like to travel with or the doctor you think you’d get along the best with? I think Series 10 Twelve would be fun. We could dismantle capitalism together. I also like the relatively chill relationship he has with Missy. The two of them would be fun to hang out with.

8. Which villain actually scares you the most? The recurring Doctor Who villains usually aren't that scary, but the Cybermen in Spare Parts are. I can't recommend that audio enough. The only times I can recall being properly scared while watching Doctor Who are as a child watching a couple of Classic stories. Eldrad Hand of Fear isn't particularly frightening himself, but the threat of nuclear meltdown definitely is. Wirrn Ark in Space is pretty scary conceptually (giant space insect eats you from the inside out while you go feral and kill your friends), but the Wirrn is made out of bubble wrap. Classic Who my beloved. There's probably a couple of audios I'm forgetting. Big Finish is a bit better at doing scary stuff, since they don't have as many restrictions and aren't bogged down by silly effects. Hmm. Horror in Doctor Who might be an interesting topic to write more about.

[acerace]

...you have opened my eyes to a vast universe of VintageBeef lore that I was unaware of. I knew about the New Hermit Order, of course, and the UHC invention, and I've watched a few of his CTM things but -- I will take all the info and lore you feel like giving out because Beef is amazing and my knowledge is so small.

Vintagebeef my beloved <3

So the thing is, right, until about 2016 I only watched two (2) youtubers- Vintagebeef for Minecraft and aDrive for Pokemon (and funnily enough both of them are named Dan irl). So I've watched most of Beef's videos over the years and have a general knowledge of most of his stuff, except because it's been like a decade I don't remember where most of the lore comes from XD

The thing with him is that he doesn't do Lore tm the way other mcyters often do lore- he doesn't have an extensive RP series to draw from like Grian, doesn't have a solo world with steadily increasing amounts of lore like Etho or Zisteau, and while he's played on SMPs and been involved in storylines before it's not really the focus of his episodes unlike with Evo or Legacy or Empires

So where does that leave us?

IRL, Beef always has multiple series running at the same time. Often he's playing on an smp while doing a singleplayer, often modded, series as well as a CTM or modpack with a group of friends. For example, right now he's playing on Hermitcraft, doing weekly Pixelmon and Building a Zoo episodes, and a CTM map with Slip. And to me, this translates to one thing: Beef is an adventurer. He travels frequently- he explores a world and when he decides he's done, he leaves for the next one. That's the basis of my personal interpretation of his series and his character for my writing.

Ok so reading this back, this got extremely long and didn't explain much in the way of lore, somehow? If anyone has any additions to add please do so, I am very definitely leaving out a lot and would love to see what other lore people remember and are using for Beef! I didn’t include the Hermitcraft stuff since my memory of season 4 is blurry (his base was themed after the Martian, that much I know, and he and Iskall were buddies :D) and most of the s5 NHO lore is best watched from Bdub’s perspective from what I remember, and the only s6 stuff is a single line in Hermitgang and then the Area 77 arc with its possibility of an NHO reunion which we did not get rip. And s7 of course had the cloning machine and also the Podzol Party as the main lore. So all the original rambling is still below the cut though it is very long, and I'm gonna bullet point the main stuff here instead:

Actual canonical things:

Invented UHC and was the only survivor of the first ever uhc (Mindcrack UHC s1)

Married to an ender dragon (one of the UHCs I think), later father to a different dragon (Mindcrack season 3? I think?)

Might not have legs if you choose to take that joke as canon (Mindcrack s2)

Was a wizard (RAD)

is a zookeeper (Building a Zoo) 

Had a wife and kids (Sims in Minecraft)

Part of the Trial of the B Team court case (Mindcrack)

NHO founder, founder of the Podzol Party (Hermitcraft)

Created a cloning machine that sort of works (Hermitcraft)

Played the Forest which is I believe the first time he and Keralis played together (look up the trigger warnings for this one, it's a horror game)

Was the creator/owner of Sourceblock SMP (featuring some familiar faces if you know Legacy, Empires, or MCC) and there is literal magic from a mysterious sourceblock of water that teleports people and summons mobs and probably more stuff that I haven't seen yet since I'm still watching it myself

Things you can infer:

Good with animals (Life in the Woods, Pixelmon, Ark)

Is a car nerd (irl and all of the car games he's played)

Is a highly experienced adventurer who has traveled through dozens of worlds both vanilla and modded, across multiple dimensions (Twilight Forest, the Aether, the Betweenlands, Limbo), completed dozens of monuments, fought in blood sports, survived apocalypse after apocalypse, tamed dinosaurs, and played a lot of prop hunt and golf with your friends

If you're looking for what to watch for lore purposes, I'd say the Mindcrack UHCs and Team Canada's RAD series are pretty good, definitely Sourceblock and HC s5, plus the Diversity CTM maps and Ruins of the Mindcrackers maybe? And Mindcrack Prank Wars for the chaos and the origin of Team Canada. And if you can handle horror than the Forest is fun and if you don't do horror you can watch the Pojkband play golf or prop hunt they're hilarious I love them sm I want a Pojkband reunion So Bad 

Beef's first series was a singleplayer series in beta 1.4_01 though he had played the game extensively before that, and was a big fan of Guude, having watched his own Minecraft videos. The series was functionally a hardcore one where if he died Beef would delete the world and start again! I haven't actually Watched this series so idk if he died or how often lmao. When Guude made Mindcrack, which was btw one of the very first Minecraft SMPs, he also hosted a competition for people to join, and Beef submitted a video (which is still viewable on his channel I believe!) and won, and was added to Mindcrack in season 2 :D (fun fact, Guude said that even if Beef hadn’t won he would have added him anyway) 

Two running jokes emerged from Mindcrack- pulling a Vintagebeef and Beef doesn't have legs. The first is a reference to Beef dying of fall damage (I believe the exact instance was him trying to jump into his swimming pool and failing spectacularly) and after the incident, every time someone died of fall damage they were pulling a Vintagebeef. The second joke comes from Guude, who joked that the reason Beef wasn't going to a convention was because he didn't have legs, and then he pranked Beef's base by building a giant pair of legs at the entrance to his castle so you had to walk between them to get into the base. This joke has long since died and both Beef and Guude feel pretty bad about it iirc because there were people who genuinely thought Beef was disabled and were emailing him supportive messages and stuff oops. So if you go looking on the Salad or find old Mindcrack fics, you might see references to Beef having prosthetic legs!

Mindcrack also brought about the creation of several Player groups- Team Nancy Drew, Team Canada, and GOB to name a few relevant to Beef. Team Nancy Drew consists of Beef, Pauseunpause, Guude, and Baj, who formed to investigate a prank on one of the members but I forget who. They're named Nancy Drew after the detective! Team Canada also formed in retaliation to pranks, with it consisting of Beef, Etho, and Pause, the three Canadian members on the server (not including Adlington who moved to Canada but never joined the group). There was also a Team America who pranked them with American flags everywhere. GOB is Guude, OMGChad, and Beef, who played stuff like the Ragecraft, Pantheon, and Monstrosity ctms together but that's way down the line lol

Team Nancy Drew is also notable for inventing UHC. It was Beef's brainchild but it was the four of them who first played it! The first UHC had the four of them working to kill the dragon with no natural regen, with everyone dying but Beef, who "won" the UHC. The second uhc was still dragon focused and iirc is where Beef married the dragon? Memories are hazy but they do kill the dragon in this one I think. UHC was then revamped as a pvp event and became a regular Mindcrack game every few months, featuring most of the Mindcrackers and several special guests, including Dinnerbone, who as we know Thanos-snapped Doc's arm out of existence as a result of Doc killing him in one of them

In one of the seasons of Mindcrack, Beef invited swedish Mindcracker and good friend Anderzel to go caving with him and invented ABBA Rules caving, where the winner takes it all. ABBA Rules is a game where each ore (and also dungeon loot like nametags) is assigned a point value and the person with the most points at the end wins and gets to keep all the stuff collected from the game.

In Mindcrack season 3?, Beef punched the ender dragon in an... awkward area, so when the dragon died and left the egg behind, Guude said Beef was the father of the egg XD I don't remember if I watched s3 so I have no idea if anything Happened with this concept but *history of the world voice* you could make lore out of this!

So Team Canada has played a Lot of CTM maps (which fun fact were pretty much invented by another Mindcrack member, Vechs, with his Super Hostile series! Super Hostile has a bunch of things called "Zistonian", which are references to another Mindcrack member Zisteau, who has a very wild singleplayer series with even wilder lore but I digress). In Ruins of the Mindcrackers, they had a running joke that Beef was Etho and Pause's mom, which is a joke we can leave in the past actually /lh. They also played all the Diversity maps, Sky Factory, Terra Restore, Uncharted Territory uhhh and a couple more ctms and adventure maps! Each map kinda has its own story so in Diversity 3 for example they were trapped in a simulation? I think? Team Canada also recently played the Roguelike Adventures and Dungeons modpack, aka RAD, in which Beef was a wizard with a magic staff that could do anything from summon lightning to control hostile mobs.

Sourceblock SMP is a vanilla survival 1.14 series that ran for one season and the series starts with each of the Players being drawn to a strange sparkling water source that, once they touch it, brings them to the Sourceblock world. It also summons a giant zombie at one point. There's probably more lore for this series but like I said I haven't watched it all the way through yet 

He has a Patreon server called VintageCraft and has done a series or two on there as well, and played a few UHCs with them, so lore that how you will! 

Beef also played a few popular mods, notably Pixelmon, Life in the Woods, and Feed the Beast, with LitW being singleplayer and the other multiplayer. He's also recently played the Zoo and Wild Animals mod a lot. He did a short series with the Minecraft Comes Alive mod where he married one of the villagers and had two children, so that's canon now :D he’s played a Lot of Pixelmon starting when the mod first came out iirc (he chose Turtwig in his first series and built a Grass gym, then made a Normal gym in another series in uhh 2016) and he still plays to this day. Quite a few Hermits played on his Pixelmon servers with him, like Wels, Etho, Iskall, Stress, Slip, Zueljin, and also Guude and Phedran (a Mindcrack adjacent player and creator of the LitW modpack) and a few Mindcrackers on the older servers 

Mindcrack and friends played a lot of other games too- 7 Days to Die, Ark Survival Evolved, Unturned, to name a few, so you can pull a lot of lore out of these as well. Speaking of friends and non-Minecraft games, Beef teamed up with Pause, Keralis, and Slip (a former Hermit) to play the horror game the Forest, which saw them stuck on an island trying to survive against terrifying mutated human... things. They played it a few times as the game updated but as afaik it's the first time Beef played with Keralis and possibly Slip and since the game starts with the Player's airplane crashing, that could totally be how Beef first met them in-universe 

I... think? that’s everything I mentioned in the tags? There is probably way more stuff I’ve forgotten that stems from inside jokes and things that happen within each series, but I hope that was a) helpful and b) at least somewhat comprehensible lmao 

[levenxa]

Here’s an Official Pinned Post // FAQ // Reference Master-list!

*REQUESTS ARE OPEN :D (i am so motivated 🤌)

All this information may be updated from time to time, so have fun getting to know me more :D —>

Preferred Name:

- Levenxa (Lev)

Pronouns:

- They/Them

What do you use to draw?

- I mainly use my fake apple pen and iPad for drawing now, but occasionally my beloved finger is put to use :)

What art program do you use?

- IbisPaintX weee

Can I repost/use your art?

- No you may NOT repost any of my art. But you may use my art for Matching PFPs, Regular PFPs, WP Bookcovers, etc. With credit.

(Permission is always appreciated :D)

May I draw one of your concepts/AUs?

- Is that even a question? YESS >:DD Be sure to tag me so I can see it :D

Fandoms?

#Dreamswap, #Danganronpa (preferably V3), #UTMV, #Dreamtale Multiverses (DTMV/AUs), #IBVS (Issac Beamer Versus The Supernatural), #MLP, #MLB

Current Main Fandom: Danganronpa! :)

(some I make content on, others I don’t :)

Special Hashtags:

#levenxa draws (for art) // #lev answers (for asks) // #levenxa says (for txt. posts) // #levenxa reblogs (for reblogs) // #lev is cursed (cursed stuff) #levenxa writes (for fics/writing shiz)

Link to Character Template?:

- Here you go!

Some things to address:

- I will not dislike you if you tag me a whole lot, just make sure it’s relevant to me :,)

- Please do not give me unsolicited critique, it’s just so obnoxious, so just do not do it.

- Only correct me if we’re close—in terms of text. It just really upsets me for some reason. Please respect that.

- Please tell me if I haven’t tagged enough tw/cw’s on one of my posts, I want this to be a safe space for everyone <3

- Art Request Guidelines

My Current Works: (mainly AU’s // Multiverses)

DS! Storytwist

// Dreamswap x Storyspin…? All the characters are mangled and mixed up in terms of their role in the original ongoing story.

References:

- Aura & Trust

- Era & Alidia

- Xris & Savv

- Alexis

- more sooon :)

Tag: #ds! storytwist #dsst

Creation Date: Nov. 8, 2021 (1)

—

Orphicverse

// My own UTMV multiverse that I made, about Balance and stuff

References:

- The Celestial Beings (Empyrean, Jinx & Hiraeth)

- The Electrospectums (UV, Infrared, & Gamma)

- Human Versions!! (might redesign them)

Tag: #orphicverse // #opv

Creation Date: Nov. 22, 2021 (1)

—

ds-deranged.exe

// Nightmare makes a grave mistake and almost kills his childhood friend Dream, who eats the apples in order to survive; and turns on him. Dream while wishing for payback gains his cool organization, and Nightmare ends up gaining a friend that doesn’t last very long. They both get their respective allies, while Blue hides away from everyone because of an unknown reason. Dream gets a change of heart, and is now afraid that this whole argument may have gone too far.

References:

- Dioxxi

- Ezzra

- Bell

- Ribo (Ribbon)

- Pierce (unofficial ref)

- Iddriss

- Annika

- Eva

- Vessel

- Brooks

- Realm

Tag: #ds-deranged.exe // ds! deranged.exe

Creation Date: Nov. 18, 2021 (2)

—

Swapped Alignment

// An AU where the neutral utmv “sanses” replace/swap with the classic “Bad Guys” and “Star Sanses.” Plus one funky neutral :)

References:

- Lust

- Stella (Outer)

- Color

- Dance

- Ruby (Fellswap)

- Wiki

- Exlunar (DT Fusion)

- Gen

Tag: #swapped alignment #swapped alignment au

Creation Date: Mar. 6, 2022

—

Undermedical

// an old utmv au I made, might change the crap name 😭

References??:

Tag: #undermedical #utmvundermedical

Creation Date: Dec 3rd, 2019 (3)

—

DS: The DISARRAY

// a dreamswap mirror world where everything is opposite :) [collab au /w @whatdoievensay ]

References:

- Blue (Hail)

- Error (Knit)

- Cross (Sevver)

- Ink (Dex)

- Nightmare (Null)

- Dream (Moritz)

Tag: #ds: the disarray #dstd au

Creation Date: April 25, 2022

—

DS! Draeastasy

// ds fantasy au (on hold, I want to improve my art a bit more before diving into this one.)

References:

- Ark

- Meerif

- Ezmae

- Collette & Vale

- Lyca & Adieu

- Forrest

Tag: #ds! draeastasy

Creation Date: Feb. 15, 2022

—

DS! Royals (awesome name fr)

// Royal AU my beloved :) You could say that this is a placeholder for Draeastasy, I came up with both of these during the same time period. Open ended AU, art practice mwah :) nicknames & storyline coming soon hehe

References:

- Dream (The ‘King’)

- Nightmare (Ex-Prince)

- Ink (Grand Duchess)

- Cross (Bandit)

- Blue (Duke)

- Error (Lady in Waiting)

- Finch (Knight)

Tag: #dsroyals #dreamswaproyalsau

Creation Date: Feb 13, 2022?

—

Blue’s Desire for Benevolence (BDFB)

// An IBVS inspired concept where the character cast is just a bunch of Underswap alternates (turned into ocs kinda) that travel across many worlds after gaining cool powers :) (writing practice ig)

References:

- Shiloh Philips (US)

- Royal Lawson (EV)

- Blanche Sawyer (ET)

- Sam/Samuel Kaz (DS)

- Bluu Fisher (Fanon)

- Klein Zeller (CS)

- Yves Collins (Yan-Blue)

- Taylor Allore (OSC)

- Kristin’s Gang: Josh, Noah, Riley, Jest, Will

- The Council of Dreams: Embriel, Odessa, Solstice, Revv, Delire, Penelope

- The Night Club

Tag: #bdfb // #blue’s desire for benevolence

Creation Date: Dec. 22, 2021 (1)

—

Dreamswpahafsb (or ds! keyboardsmash)

// The worst Dreamswap AU. it’s just there :)

[starlight-phantom]

Hmm... I dunno if you've been asked this before, but how about top 10 non-Persona videogame characters? :3

Oh boy, characters???? I've been asked about non Persona games but not characters... Uhhhh... Okay, these are gonna be in no particular order because I've no clue who'd be my favourite.

1 - Shadow The Hedgehog, to be clear: When he is written well, he is one of my favourite characters. Unfortunately he hasn't been written well in quite a long time.

But to summarise, he was an experiment created by Professor Gerald Robotnik as the Ultimate Life Form in his attempt to achieve immortality to cure his sickly granddaughter Maria. But stuff happened (aka the military got involved) which resulted in a conspiracy where everyone on the space colony ARK was killed to cover up the fact that the research ever existed. Due to his rage and grief, Gerald rewrote Shadow's memories to make him think that Maria wanted revenge for what happened instead of wanting Shadow to protect the planet they loved watching from the colony together.

So yeah, I think you can understand why Shadow is so angsty; especially since Maria was his best friend and she sacrificed herself to save him. Shadow is actually a really deep character and it sucks that so many of the games coming out now just boil him down to edgy, brooding rival. Sorry for sorta ranting but man, Shadow used to be such a great character... I miss that...

2 - Sebastian Debeste, there's loads of Ace Attorney characters I love but I went for one that's not as well known because the only way to play Investigations 2 in the West is to download the fan translation patch. But yeah, long story short, he's introduced as a bumbling buffoon who acts like he's the best (Get it?) But you later find out that his father's a high ranking prosecutor who bribed Sebastian's teachers to give him top marks and thinks of Sebastian as an embarrassing failure. And that final chapter where you basically use the logic chess segment as a therapy session for Sebastian and he finally stands up to his father? Perfection. Please play Investigations 2, it's so good.

3 - Luke Fon Fabre, I hated him at the beginning of the game. To the point that I wanted to stop playing. But everyone who has played Abyss knows that you need that opening part because it's a crucial part of his character arc and there's a certain scene that turns everything on its head. And after that, Luke goes from an annoying, whiny brat to one of the best written characters I have ever seen. Especially since he goes through three arcs:

1 - Atoning for his mistakes and growing from his weak, whiny past self

2 - Finding his own sense of self after discovering he's not who he thought he was, and

3 - Finding a meaning to his life after he comes to believe that he needs to sacrifice himself to stop the villain

It's insane how he went from one of my most hated characters to one of my most beloved. He's amazing.

4 - Hershel Layton, I've never really talked about the Professor Layton series on here but trust me, I love it. I haven't played the fifth or sixth games in the series because I seem to got dumber with age and had difficulty with the opening of Miracle Mask. But anyway, Layton's a fantastic character, he's fun, he's complex, he's like a second dad to Luke and Flora, and most of all: His story in Lost Future... I have no words, I was bawling at the end of that game, still my favourite in the series.

5 - Snake, ngl, Zero Escape characters are very hit or miss for me, I think it's mostly because of the multiple timelines where sometimes they're lovely and other times they stab you in the back, but Snake for me was the most enjoyable throughout the entire game. But my favourite scene with his is that one bad end where he finds out his sister was killed by Ace and even after being shot multiple times, he just clings to Ace and makes sure he's stuck in the incinerator with him. Such a great scene.

6 - Riku, ngl, it was tough to choose between Riku and Roxas because those two are pretty much tied for my favourite Kingdom Hearts character. The only reason Riku in on here is because I hated him in the first game and then he had some amazing character development... And I am a sucker for good character development. And Dream Drop Distance really cemented him as one of my favourites. Ngl we could get a game where we just play as Riku and I would be happy.

7 - 9S, Man I don't even know how to begin describing how and why I love 9S so much... First of all, his voice acting: Natsuki Hanae in the Japanese and Kyle Mccarley in the English. Both are fantastic, completely blew me away. Second, I think it's how he kinda has reverse character development? Like after the start of Route C, he (understandably) goes into a deep downward spiral and there's nothing you as the player can do to stop it. It's honestly quite harrowing.

8 - Harold 'Hal' Clark, first of all: Please play Astral Chain. It's amazing. One of the best games on the Switch. Anyway, another tech boy voiced by Kyle Mccarley, funnily enough. And you don't really get to see his face, you only really see him through holograms and a wanted poster. But you do get to see his drone and it's amazing how much personality you can see from the drone. But also, his personality is fantastic, I love the sections of the game where he's your partner giving you backup, he's so much fun to listen to.

9 - Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd, as I've said many, many times: I am a sucker for good character development. And here's the thing with Dimitri, he goes through the reverse character development I mentioned with 9S and then he starts to heal again and goes through even more character development. It's genius. Also, I am extremely weak for his paired ending. And it would be a crime if I didn't mention Chris Hackney's amazing performance.

10 - Bayonetta, ... D-Do I even need to explain why I love her so much? Like... Gorgeous? Badass? Sassy as hell? Could easily crush my spine like a soda can? Really engaging backstory? Entertaining relationships with her allies??? I could keep going on if you'd like but we'd be here all day.

[mtraki]

Brain chemistry is messing with me... got me in the bad feels looking at dark roads... So let’s try and drag ourselves out of it through hyperfixation!  It’s time to rant about Agent 47′s brain chemistry-- specifically all the serums and antidotes that artificially change it! (It’s a rant... I won’t take up space on your dashboard scroll if you don’t want to see it, but if you do, please check out under the cut.  Spoilers for the comics and Hitman Season 2-3 are unmarked...)

The focus of the rant is thus: “Exactly what did Ether’s antidote do?” ‘That’s easy, MT,’ I hear you tell me, ‘It brought back 47′s memories that were wiped by Ort-Meyer before he escaped the lab.’ Forgive me, strawman Reader, (but as always, thank you for your faithful engagement) but I don’t think it’s that simple...  Maybe because I overthink things, or maybe because the details aren’t adding up... Let’s discuss. In the cutscene in HITMAN 2 (Hitman Season 2) ‘Long Shot’, Olivia and Lucas provide a syringe from Ether Biotech Corporation.  According to their information, Ort-Meyer’s estate and his research were granted to the corporation (through Providence) after his passing.  The syringe is supposed to be an antidote to what Ort-Meyer used to wipe 47′s memory.  Using the syringe, 47 is able to remember Janus, the first Constant of Providence, so they can go get his info on the Partners... and kill him. ‘Yes, MT,’ you say, ‘so it’s easy.  The answer is right there.’ Well, please bear with me... In the next cutscene ‘Gifts and Curses’, our leading ladies Diana and Olivia are doing the real work (tracking Janus’s coffin) while our lads are being moody.  Lucas asks 47 if he’s all right and 47 says, “It comes back in flashes.  Fear.  Anger.  But like it happened to someone else.” Later, in ‘Precautions’, Lucas and Diana talk about how Lucas has feelings about the things he’s done, and 47 does not-- a parallel is drawn between these feelings and “having a conscience”. In ‘The Ark Society’ mission, on the Isle of Sgàil, as you’re marching Arthur Edwards, the Constant you are abducting, to the harbor, he’ll fish around for information by giving some of his own.  For the purposes of my rant, there is an exchange I want to focus on: Edwards: “...Your murdered him [Janus] to get to me.” 47: “Not just that.  He had it coming.” Edwards: “Interesting.  It was my impression that you were cured of such... sentiment.  The ‘good doctor’ built his serum specifically to target the seats of your emotions.  Has Miss Burnwood’s sense of justice rubbed off on you, I wonder?” This is where I feel the need to stop and point out that there are TWO DIFFERENT SERUMS at play here, that were forced on 47 at TWO DIFFERENT TIMES in his forgotten past.  This is shown in the comic series. SERUM #1) This serum was given in 1989, after 47 and 6 failed to take over the Institute.  47 sacrificed himself so 6 could escape (though he was presumed dead) and instead of being killed like he expected, due to pressure from Janus (who spoke as Constant for the Partners of Providence) Ort-Meyer instead used a serum to stifle his and the remaining clones’ emotions.  This one was an injection to the neck (like the antidote).  Here are his exact words: “I gave you something most people lack: a true purpose.  And you cast it aside.  For some misguided dream of freedom.  Why?” “It’s that storm inside you.  All those feelings I fought so hard to lock away.  Raging, driving you.  So now I must wipe them out entirely.  A small chemical insult designed to target the amygdala, the hypothalamus, the cingulate gyrus.  The seats of emotion.  I’ve just sawed the legs off them.  Do you understand, 47?” “Your memories remain intact.  But now they’re a series of events with no significance.” The effects of this serum were devastating.  With the singular exception of 47, every other clone more or less lost the will to live.  They died of starvation, dehydration, infected bed sores... losing any and all motivation for anything.  Meanwhile, 47 became an apex predator of murder, stating that the opportunity to complete the assassinations handed down by Providence through Ort-Meyer were the reason he went through each day.  He had a hand in the deaths of a good number of clones, either via poisoning or smothering. SERUM #2) This serum was given in 1998 (that’s nine years after the first one) after Providence demands Ort-Meyer give them 47 as the only success of his very expensive perceived failure.  Ort-Meyer gives this serum, without the permission of Providence, very specifically so that 47 will not remember him to assassinate him.  This serum is given orally, and through a hose and pump apparatus.  Here are his exact words: “I only need one more day, and a moment alone.” (This is included strictly to point out that 47 must have escaped that exact same day) “I raised you as my own.  Taught you everything you needed to thrive in this fallen world.  And now I have to take it all away.  You would come after me.  It’s the only way I can be free from having to watch over my shoulder for the rest of my life.  It feels like drowning at first.  Don’t struggle.  I’m going to make you perfect.  Now you have all the potential in the world.” 47 wakes up later to the voice of Ort-Meyer over the intercom.  He implicitly trusts the voice, as he knows nothing else.  He knows about the existence of nothing outside of the room and the voice.  He starts making associations as he goes on, and points out that he understands how some things work (”The mechanics of breathing, the science that makes remotely operated restraints possible.”) and the justifications behind their existence (”Somewhere deep down, I even understand the need for them.”).  As he makes his escape, he observes that their is familiarity in the sensations of killing.  Out in the world, he continues killing on his own for about a year, claiming that his work is his only indulgence and that he doesn’t need things, friends, or stories.  He does also claim to have a few stray memories that haunt him-- elicit emotional responses in him (which we also see in Absolution with the whole “doctors” flashbacks). Edwards should not know about the mind-wiping, and his dialogue does not betray that he does.  Lucas apparently knows about both, but I’m going to attribute this to “Lucas became personally invested in learning what happened to 47 specifically after learning he was alive and working for ICA, so put the pieces together once he stole the data from Providence” because he wasn’t around for either serum.  Meanwhile, Edwards doesn’t have many reasons to worry about 47 until he starts trying to use his past as a lure for Diana.  Because his angle is to eventually reveal that it was 47 (AND 6... they were on the job together, per the comics) who killed her parents, and the fact that that juicy reveal would hurt that much more if he could reveal it as something 47 knowingly hid from her... I don’t think he’d go out of his way to discredit Janus’s reporting on the situation that only the first serum was given, and something else happened that allowed 47 to escape into the wild.  Janus is apparently Edwards’s beloved mentor, after all. ‘MT,’ I hear you say, ‘You’re rambling.  What’s the point here?’ The point is that 47, a man who does not mince words, makes the observation, when asked, that he remembers fear and anger.  These are the things that stand out to him in his memories.  The emotions.  This is in violation of the first serum’s properties as well as the second. Now, why is this happening?  Perhaps the first serum has an effective lifespan, and perhaps it’s wearing off.  Perhaps 47′s human (arguably superhuman, per some sources) brain is adapting to make necessary associations despite the “chemical insult”. Or... was this antidote supposed to also be an antidote for the first serum?  It is noteworthy that 47 starts behaving in ways that suggest more emotionally-driven motivations after the antidote is given-- at least it seems that way to me.  This seems especially the case at the very end of HITMAN 3 (Season 3), ‘Untouchable’, when 47 is confronted with his guilt, with his feelings about what he perceives Diana’s thoughts and feelings to be, and with his choice in the end concerning Edwards in the final confrontation.  No matter what he chooses, he owns his choice and all the baggage and consequences that come with it.  At the very end, in the cutscene 'New Deal', he tells Diana that he isn’t ‘Agent 47′ anymore.  That he chooses this path because he can. Perhaps I’m very much misunderstanding the themes, here, but 47 not remembering his past never struck me as something that held him back from choosing something else.  It has always been his inability to connect with others in any way outside of infiltrating their spaces and killing them... with very, very few exceptions... that has kept him from choosing a path outside of murder-for-hire (perfectly executed, of course ;) )  So I’m left at the end with the conclusion that 47 is now able to operate as his own conscience because he now has a... mostly usable independent sense of morality-- which requires a certain level of empathy. So... again: what’s the deal with the antidote?  Is it two-in-one?  This would be fine, (Okay, not really, I would then have to rant about how this only makes sense as a convenient plot device because for which person BESIDES Agent 47 would such an antidote be useful unless they also work with the first serum... and oh boy IMPLICATIONS... I know we keep crashing their stock but can we crash their production too?) except the antidote is only referenced as working to return 47′s memory... and his ‘warmer’ dialogues through the end of 2 and into 3 with his allies is simply treated as matter of course-- nobody points it out. I don’t know if this is a problem with my perspective, the writing, or what... But it seems like Lucas knows and doesn’t know about both serums at the same time (he comments specifically about 47 remembering things... but not him behaving more emotionally engaged)... Or like the games smooshed both serums together while the comics had them separate.  This isn’t like the whole “we don’t talk about Absolution though we do wink and nod that it mostly happened in canon” thing.  The comics were written as a companion for the HITMAN: World of Assassination trilogy! I know how I’m treating it for 'Monstrous’ (because if I don’t, I’ll go crazy and rage-quit the fic) but it still bothers me...  Anybody got any ideas?  Nuggets of lore I missed?  Am I the only one stressing out about this??

[mewtonian-physics]

my ranking of the alex rider original series (stormbreaker through scorpia rising) from ‘book i least enjoy rereading’ to ‘book i most enjoy rereading’ let’s goooo

spoilers for all 9 books under the cut

9. Ark Angel

...He went to space. He went to space. Also the entire plot could have been avoided if Drevin had actually bothered to provide a photograph of his son. I’m sure he had one. I still like this book but it’s literally so insane that I just don’t know what to do with it. 

It is however really funny that Webber just goes and gives a speech insulting this super high-profile ecoterrorist group and acts like it’s no big deal and then they kill him. Shock of shocks.

8. Skeleton Key

Okay, points to this book for terrifying the shit out of me. God damn it does that shark scene scare me. Also, points for making me feel a little bit bad for a man who wants to nuke his own country because he thinks it will fix the place up. I’m still not entirely sure how that’s supposed to work, but that’s probably a good thing. I feel like understanding his thought process would say bad things about me. Still, I actually did feel sorry for him, if only a little. Dude was clearly mentally unstable and I doubt his son’s death helped at all. I also got sad about what happened to Carver and Troy. (Yeah, yeah, I’m a cringe fail American who has the American release. So sue me.) What a nightmare that must’ve been to endure... Otherwise, though, I’m not super into this book. The opening is just kind of meh and the way it leads into the rest of the plot seems a little bit unbelievable. Also, this might be an unpopular opinion, but Sabina annoys me. I would not get along with her at all and I can’t imagine her as a girlfriend. Skeleton Key does, however, absolutely excel at the emotional scenes. 

Also, why are all the spy agencies so comfortable with sending in a 14-year-old? Especially when they outright admit that the other attempts have all died horribly? Bureaucracy’s a bitch.

7. Point Blank

Boo, Dr. Grief! Boo! We hate your white supremacy! I’m so glad you got a snowmobile to the face, you deserved it. (Perks of books written by Jewish people--we aren’t afraid to give the neo-Nazis an unpleasant death.) Anyway, this book definitely isn’t bad, but I wouldn’t really say it stands out in the series. It definitely does hammer home the point of just how trapped Alex is, since MI6 isn’t going to just let him go after one mission, and let’s face it, the plot with the clones is creepy as hell, if highly improbable. But I’m largely just here to see the neo-Nazi get snowmobiled. That’s right, I just completely changed the definition of a pre-established word. I’m a rebel.

Also, I hate Fiona Friend so much and overall think she just didn’t need to be in the book, but the line about ‘I’d rather kiss the horse’ made me laugh so hard. Alex, you sass.

6. Snakehead

Okay, let’s talk about how genius the plan in this book is. I love it! I love how Yu wants to kill the people involved in the peace conference without making them into martyrs, so he comes up with this whole elaborate plan to stage a natural disaster. It’s incredible. This dude was thinking so far ahead. And he would’ve gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for that meddling kid... But anyway, I don’t see a lot of books where the villain really acknowledges that killing their enemies could just cause more problems for them via turning them into martyrs for a cause. Also, the way he’s so polite and soft-spoken while also being a complete monster... This book genuinely gives me chills. Extra bonus points for the part in the hospital, the absolute nightmare of having all your organs slowly removed and sold off and everyone around you is being so nice about it? ‘Oh, don’t worry, Alex, it won’t be so bad. Here, take your medicine. Do you need anything?’ Literally just. What the fuck. 

Also Ash can fucking fight me. You put your own godson in horrible danger on purpose! You killed your best friend! Bastard. 

...And just in case the book wasn’t disturbing enough, Yu’s fate at the end lives in my mind rent-free and I think about it on a concerningly regular basis considering that the chances of that happening to me are so low they’re practically in the negatives. Damn you, Horowitz.

I would also be remiss if I did not mention just how much I love the tagline ‘once bitten, twice spy’.

5. Crocodile Tears

Ah yes, the book that kickstarted my drift away from the church... I kid, of course. I drifted away from the church for completely separate reasons. But Desmond McCain is always going to scare the shit out of me. The ability to kill countless innocent people while blissfully quoting Bible verses (that he takes wildly out of context and uses for his own self-serving means) is... well, I could actually say a lot about what that reminds me of, but I’m here to rate books, not religion. Moving on. This book has some really stellar antagonists, and the plot is chilling in a way that feels a lot more realistic than most of the other books. Even if some of it is a bit farfetched (sabotaging a nuclear power plant? Really?), the idea of using disasters for your own profit... well. I’m sure I don’t need to elaborate on why that is so believable. The Poison Dome is also a really cool and chilling scene--even Alex, who has the luck of the devil, can’t get out of that one unscathed. Further scares come in with the fate of Harold Bulman--imagine having your entire existence wiped and your identity changed while you were asleep! The breakdown he has over it is almost enough to make me feel sorry for him, even though he was ready to exploit a teenager and make his life a living hell just to turn a profit. Note the word almost.

Also. The opening makes me cry. Specifically the line talking about how Ravi’s kids would ‘never meet Mickey Mouse’. I lose my goddamn mind every single time I read it. That little personal touch turns the scene from a statistic to a tragedy. Once again: Damn you, Horowitz.

4. Stormbreaker

Yeah, this one gets the special cover shot. And why not? What we are looking at here is the birth of a legend. Move the fuck over, James Bond, Alex Rider is on the scene now. Anyway, yeah, this book is pretty damn spectacular. It has its stumbles, but as the first book in a series, that’s to be expected. Still, it pulls you in from quite literally the first line and keeps you going right up until the end. (If you came here from my post of memes, you know how much the line ‘Killing is for grownups, and you’re still a child’ destroys me.) It has the debut of much-beloved characters such as, of course, Alex--but also Jack Starbright, and of course, the best MI6 agent of them all, which is to say Smithers. Hell, even Yassen Gregorovich, especially once you get through Russian Roulette... Man, that was a rough one. 

Seriously, though. This is a really good book. The scene with the Portuguese man-o’-war still gives me the chills to think about. (Have you ever looked up pictures of those things? They’re beautiful, but holy shit will they make you regret being born. Nature is funny like that.) 

We also get the introduction of, of course, Alex’s patented sass (his response to Sayle saying he relates to the man-o’-war is HILARIOUS) and we get the inherent humor of Alex screwing up an alias one time and then just going by Alex for the rest of the series so he doesn’t do that again. Really, kid, I know you’re not a trained spy or anything but did you never play pretend growing up? Ever? You can’t pretend your name is Felix for a little while? That sounds like a you problem.

3. Scorpia Rising

I distinctly remember when this book came out, actually. I was on vacation at the time, and I remember my brother annoying the hell out of the poor workers at a bookstore we frequented there to see if/when they were going to get it in. They did, finally, and we bought it immediately, and I was of course absolutely desperate to read it. He got to read it first, though. -_-

This is a great book, an absolute emotional rollercoaster all the way through. The way Blunt tricks Alex back into service by staging a shooting was exactly the kind of cold, brutal behavior I’d expect from him. Seeing Julius come back was shocking, but very exciting, too. And Razim makes an incredibly chilling villain, with his absolute disregard for human life and his desire to measure pain. Also, seeing Smithers’s house was so much fun. Smithers in this book was just really fun in general, but he’s really fun in every book, so... nothing unusual there. But also, I want an unwelcome mat. Please?

2. Eagle Strike

‘But Penny,’ you might ask, ‘why is this book so high on your list? It has so much of Sabina in it, and you said she annoys you.’ That is true. What does not annoy me, however, is basically the entire rest of the book. I love the tense opening, and then reading through Alex’s real-life ‘playthrough’ of Feathered Serpent is still one of my favorite scenes. Cray is absolutely incredible as a villain, with the way that he truly believes in his cause--which is undoubtedly a good one! Yet the extremes to which he will go for that cause, and the fact that he very nearly succeeds, are what elevate him to one of the most dangerous villains in the series. That scene with Charlie Roper and the nickels is something I can never seem to stop thinking about. Actually, I think about it basically whenever I think about large amounts of money paid in small increments... 

Also, I really enjoy how he gets into the whole plot in the first place, and I really enjoy Smithers saying ‘ah, fuck it’ and helping him out anyway. Go, Smithers. You once again prove me right in saying that you’re the coolest adult in MI6.

The revelation that Yassen knew Alex’s father is one that absolutely blew my mind first time around. The way his life was threaded into the lives of the Rider family--he worked with John Rider, was saved by him, killed Ian Rider, and then died for refusing to kill Alex Rider--wow. Wow. It gets to me. It really gets to me. This book is a masterpiece. I heard that it’s going to be what the second season of the TV series is based off of, and I’m so hyped for that. We love to see it, we really do.

1. Scorpia

I don’t believe anyone who says this book didn’t get to them at all. I just think they are lying. I don’t think it’s humanly possible to not be affected by this book. God. Just thinking about it reminds me of why I don’t think it’s possible. I mean, come on. We get all this backstory about Alex’s parents, we get tricked along with him into thinking MI6 killed his father, then bam, that was a lie, and Alex may have just fucked himself over big time. Also, that plot is terrifying! (And I bet anti-vaxxers had a field day with it, huh.) Julia Rothman is a really great antagonist, one of the only ones who didn’t go and explain her plan in great detail to Alex--the fact that she didn’t actually being a plot point was something I personally found pretty clever. In general, this book is... I tend to hate when people say they ‘can’t put it down’ because it’s usually an obvious exaggeration, but that really is how I feel reading it.

And again. If that ending didn’t get to you... Well, I just think you are lying.

[broadway-ghoul]

When you get this, respond with 5 things that make you happy. Then, Send this to last 10 people in your notifs. You never know who might benefit from spreading positivity✨ (Only if you want to of course)

✨I completely missed when this was asked✨

1. My beloved fur child (when she's not trying to kill me)

2. video games, currently Ark survival evolved and both Subnautica games (Al-an the platonic love of my life lol)

3. Interacting with the TG fandom here on Tumblr, everyone's just really sweet and supportive

4. Painting, I work with acrylics and really enjoy painting ocean landscapes/scenes! and if I can sell them that's a plus, but sometimes it hurts to part with them

5. I can't think of anything else atm... listening to music? reading maybe?

@trashosaurus because I got one of these asks from them also! :D I missed yours too but I'm sending virtual hugs as compensation, I don't have 5 more things that make me happy lol

[sometimesrosy]

Rosy, I just watched 711 and I'm so confused. I don't understand multiple things. 1) Did Bellamy hallucinate Cadogan and his mom, or was that really Cadogan? Did they send B to Etherea on purpose so he'd go through this journey and adopt the faith? 2) I can't believe that Bellamy bought into it, given how skeptical he is of things. I thought he'd just think the storm passing was a coincidence. 3) Even if he believed the Shepherd had powers, I can't believe he'd adopt the idea that personal love

personal love and ties should not exist and would betray Clarke and his friends like that. Can you help me understand?

++

1a We don’t know if Bellamy hallucinated Cadogan and Aurora. Maybe he did? Maybe it was Cadogan who had a contact with that glowing room light. That is not clear yet in narrative. I think we’ll have to find out.

1b We don’t know if it was on purpose, but I don’t think so. We DID see Levitt discover that Bellamy went THROUGH the anomaly and did not die. He might have told Cadogan. Anders was the one who changed the setting on the anomaly stone, right? He’s dead. So I don’t think they KNEW. But once Cadogan found out, and he wanted to manipulate and/or convert the delinquents, it makes sense that he would use the opportunity of Bellamy on a pilgrimage and send that vision, trusting the groundwork of deprivation, fear, loneliness, propaganda, and hardship to make B prime for a life altering “vision.” But we don’t know.  Again, not clear yet.

2. In times of great stress, Bellamy has CANONICALLY changed his mindset and followed people he doesn’t believe or philosophies he doesn’t like. He looks for a way through, and it isn’t always to reject the opponent. S1 on the Ark, he did what the guard wanted and assassinated Jaha to  get to clarke. He fell in with Diana Sydney’s plan, to get back to his sister. In s2 he went from wanting to destroy all of MW to seeing them as human and wanting to save them. Changed his perspective. In s3 he went from wanting peace to wanting all grounders dead because of his grief, trauma and manipulation of Pike. he wanted a leader. he did not want to be in charge of these decisions. In s5 he was TOTALLY willing to go along with Octavia’s cult even though she sent Echo on a suicide mission... until she sentenced Clarke to death. In S6, he was TOTALLY willing to go along with Russell’s bodysnatching cult even though he’d MURDERED Clarke, until he had a chance to get Clarke back. And now in S7, in order to get back to his loved ones, Octavia, Echo and Clarke (all featured in his moral shifts above,) he falls into the cult doctrine which gives him the FAITH that he can get home.

Oh we should link that all back to his original statement of “who we are and who we need to be to survive are very different things.” Even though most of fandom thought of that quote as wisdom, to me, it’s always been an example of the ends justify the means. Which is honestly how good people end up doing evil. AND IS NOT WHAT THIS SHOW SAYS IS THE ANSWER. Maybe it’s time for Bellamy to confront his long held belief and recognize that.

3.There’s a purpose to the stories this season. You have to find the purpose, I think, to understand what it means and why it’s happening. If you don’t pay attention to his character journey and just stan him as a hero, you’re gonna miss the depths of his character. Nothing that happened in that episode was out of character for Bellamy. But it won’t last, because he’s a thoughtful guy and he will recognize that it’s wrong and incorrect and love is not a weakness. And my guess is that he’s gonna both do the right thing AND choose love.

BUT, he’s also gotten a lot of pain from being “The Heart.” From the very beginning. His love got Aurora floated and Octavia captured and sent down to the surface. It made him a murderer. It made him jealous. He saw Finn LOSE it over love. He had his heart broken when Clarke told him it was worth the risk. She left anyway outside of Camp Jaha. He loved Gina and she was murdered. Then he took part in Hakeldama in revenge. And Monroe was killed over that revenge campaign. Clarke abandoned and betrayed him. His sister beat him. Clarke kidnapped him and sacrificed O and pulled a gun on him. Then they got over it and he lost Clarke which destroyed him. Then she’s back but now his beloved sister who already sacrificed E is about to kill Clarke, then Clarke drop kicks him and his sister throws him in the pit. Then he nearly kills Clarke and Murphy himself. His sister is a monster and he banishes her to probably die on a toxic planet. He’s torn between Clarke and Echo, and jealous again. And then Clarke dies and he’s destroyed, no she’s alive and he sacrifices everything to get her back. And then his sister who he’s reunited with is kidnapped, more heartbreak. No now he’s kidnapped and thrown onto a deserted planet to die. THat’s a lot of pain that comes from loving people on the personal level. Lost of people do lots of things to protect themselves from that kind of pain. 

Doucette gave him a way to protect himself. It was to give up personal love and turn to abstract love. Poof. Now he’s safe from pain.

Right?

RIGHT?

no. 

[sir-silly]

The Last War fan review

So, our beloved show has ended. And while I wish things would have gone differently, I did cry with relief when Clarke looked over and saw everyone already waiting for her.

Anyway, I wanted to share some of my thoughts on the finale.

1) Going right into the title sequence kind of shocked me. It wasn’t that big of a deal, but I was just immediately like “oh.” It was a bitch-slap in the face that they left a gap in the credits for Bob Morley. Why you gotta do us like that?

2) Murphy screaming “come on” while they used the defibrillator on Emori was heartbreaking. And his little whispered encouragements were so freaking cute.

3) Clarke rampage? Yes, please! I love me a badass woman. However, unlimited ammo is a sin in writing. The moment Octavia picked up the sword was a big “oh yes.”

4) Did Cadogan not care about his son like at all? Lmao. Why is he so hung up on Callie and not his other kid (who I can’t even remember the name of). I don’t care if they explain in the prequel, that’s still a shitty parent choosing favorites. Along with his wife, like, was she not his greatest love? It was Callie? Kinda fucked up.

5) Why the fuck could Jordan figure out it was a test and not a war in 5 seconds when the Disciples were studying that shit for decades? I know he’s Monty’s son, but he’s not a genius or anything.

6) Thoughts on the test: I think Cadogan would have failed and the human race would be destroyed. Why bother asking questions if you already know all the answers?

7) Why wasn’t Gaia in the finale like at all?? Like, what the fuck. She was hunting??? For what?? That really annoyed me because I’ve grown to really like her and there was no point in her not being involved in the last episode. They seriously couldn’t have thrown her in there? Like, come on! Even Niylah was there! (not saying that I don’t like her, it’s just that Gaia has felt far more important to the story than her).

8) I do think that Jasper and Hope are cute together, and I know they spent the majority of their lives either alone or only with their parents, but GOD I can’t stand how awkward they are. Also, I know ya’ll have feelings for each other and shit, but is now really the time to be making out?? Why do people think that’s okay in literally the worst situations? I know it’s a show, but come on.

9) And how the fuck did Jordan throw and catch that sword? He’s a child who’s never fought a day in his life. Unless they suddenly want to tell me that Harper and Monty were secret ninjas and taught him all their tricks, I don’t believe that.

10) I’m being pissy and bringing up things from the past, but I don’t care. Why the fuck couldn’t Harper and Monty gone into cryo? I know they were happy and shit, but I’M NOT. How the fuck did it take so long for him to get into the files for Sanctum? His ass has done that shit a thousand times before in about two minutes and suddenly it takes him 80 years? Bullshit.

11) I’m still being pissy, but how the fuck does Jordan know what a magician is? “For my first trick, I will make an army appear.” Bruh, no. Monty wouldn’t have known what a magician was either. If they weren’t being taught what a Navy Seal was, there’s no way they knew what magicians were. Calling bullshit on that one as well.

12) I was pretty surprised that the Disciples didn’t start firing on Wonkru immediately. Like, this is the war they’ve been gearing up for forever and they don’t attack as soon as possible? Also, where the fuck did Wonkru get their war paint? Do they just constantly have it on their person? Or did their asses literally spend time making their paint before going to Bardo?

13) I fucking love Miller and Jackson. They’re freaking adorable. Murphy’s flat “I am glad you are safe” was so fucking funny. Also, saving Emori in one scene just to kill her in the next is bullshit. They should have just killed her the first time and done the same thing anyway. Murphy screaming at Jackson to do something and sobbing was heartbreaking. Fantastic acting on Richard Harmon’s part.

14)  Octavia putting on Lincoln’s same warpaint again was once again, so sad. I miss that man. He was too good for his own good. And while I do think that her and Levitt are very cute together, I’ll always prefer her with Lincoln. But I think that he would be really happy that she has found someone new to love.

15) Apparently whatever Echo “did” to Levitt was so forgettable that I don’t even know what she’s talking about. Bad writing. I shouldn’t forget that in just a few weeks, I should remember as soon as I see the two of them in the same room.

16) Lexa. Just all of it. There were some suspicions that she would show up for the last episode, but I didn’t really believe them because I didn’t understand how she would be integrated. I’m glad that they did bring her back, but I’m also not. It was amazing to see her back by Clarke in all of her armor and glory, but knowing it wasn’t actually Lexa was just a punch in the face. It wasn’t her mind, so it’s almost like they didn’t bring her back anyway. I honestly would have preferred if they used someone else for her Judge, because that just really didn’t do it for me. Their hug was sweet, but it didn’t even count as her returning. I personally think that her Judge should have been Bellamy or Madi instead, as they both certainly could fill the role of “the subject’s greatest teacher or the source of their greatest failure...it can be their greatest love.” This is just my preference. Believe me, I know how much Lexa meant to Clarke, but as a fan, bringing our favorite Heda back in that way wasn’t the best way to do it. As a writer, it makes sense, but it doesn’t as a fan. The writers can’t just think of what is the best storytelling, they have to think of what those watching will think.

17) I’m confused about the mindspace? Why did Clarke wake up in her solitary room with her memories painted all over the walls, but Emori woke up in the castle with a view of the desert? Why wouldn’t it have been her and Murphy’s cave? Is there a reason it was the bedroom and not the cave?

18) I know this isn’t canon in any sense, but could you imagine if Murphy and Emori fought over John’s body and she won, and then suddenly woke up with a penis? How fucking funny would that be? Just had to throw that out there.

19) Can I just again reiterate how fucking cute Miller and Jackson are?

20) I’m curious about the location of the test. Why did Cadogan’s take place on a pier, while Raven’s happened on the Ark? If it was their favorite place, wouldn’t Raven’s have been actually out in space? Like during a spacewalk? I’m confused about that.

21) I knew that Raven was somehow going to be involved in the test just because of the trailers we got for the final episode. My two guesses for who the judge would be were Finn and Abby. Though I am happy that we got to see Abby again, I would be curious to see if the scene would have played out any differently if it had been Finn.

22) Where was the full line that was given in the trailer? Because that was amazing. “We’re selfish, and we’re violent, and we have destroyed too much, but we survived.” I loved that line far more than what we got instead, which was simply, “Have we made mistakes? Yes. Clarke, me, all of us, but we were just trying to survive.” I definitely would have chosen the former over the latter. Poor choice on the editors’ parts.

23) How the fuck did Octavia and Echo go out to the field and get Levitt with Echo only being shot once? With all the bullets, the three of them should have been torn apart, I don’t care how much Indra could cover Octavia. Calling bullshit on that as well.

24) Bringing this up kind of late because I’m giving my reviews as I’m rewatching the episode, but what they had Eliza do was really fucked up. Her and Bob suffered a miscarriage during the filming of season seven, so the scene of her holding Madi and crying “my baby” is like 10 times more heartbreaking. If they made her film that after having a miscarriage mere days, weeks or few months before, that’s really, really messed up.

25) They really played-up Sheidheda’s bringing back of “jus drein jus daun” in the trailer. In reality, it was far less intense. I would have preferred what I had been expecting, which was him coming to help convince Wonkru that they would be able to win. However, I am super glad that he is dead and Indra finally got to kill him. I love how that bigass gun just turns people into mist lol.

26) The beginning of Octavia’s speech was literally like “what the FUCK guys” and it was hilarious. And I swear to god if I hear her say “we are Wonkru” or “you are Wonkru” another time, I’m gonna scream. I know it was legit the last episode but I’m sick of it by now lol. When Indra was like “I hope you know what you’re doing,” Octavia’s face was just like “omg me too” and it was really funny.

27) Bellamy. His situation was a whole problem itself. He deserved a hell of a lot better and wHY DID HE CUT HIS HAIR I LIKED IT THE LONG WAY. Anyway, you can bet your ass I’ll be writing a different ending where he didn’t die because FUCK THAT. When I do, I’ll be sure to share it.

28) I’m fucking confused about Murphy and Emori both transcending. Because, what the fuck. Emori died. The dead don’t transcend. Her mind wasn’t even in her body, it was in Murphy’s. So how the fuck did she end up alive and in her own body again. I’m glad she’s alive, but I just don’t understand. It would have made way more sense to have either not had her die in the first place, or to have Murphy, Miller, and Jackson keep pumping her heart so she technically “lived” anyway like Echo.

29) If Madi had decided not to transcend, would she still have been paralyzed? I mean, I would assume not because Levitt and Hope’s gunshots were healed, as was Emori, but I’m curious. Also, wouldn’t Raven’s leg have been fixed? Because if they only fix recent wounds and not old ones, that’s stupid.

30) On the point of Madi deciding not to transcend, why did she? Why didn’t so many other people choose not to? Like, not one Eligius prisoner or person from Sanctum chose to live? No one else from Wonkru? Why didn’t anyone else other than the main cast and guest stars not transcend? I totally understand the Disciples transcending, but seriously, nobody else wanted to live? That’s really weird. Madi and her friends really couldn’t have chosen to live on Earth with Clarke and the others? I just think it’s really unrealistic that not one single person outside of the group chose not to transcend.

31) I was really surprised that Murphy and Emori chose not to transcend, because as the Judge said, they would eventually die and not join them in the infinite. It shocked me due to their fear of dying and wanting to be immortal, but I’m really proud of them.

32) I’m disappointed that those who don’t transcend can’t have children. There were suspicions that Emori might have been pregnant (which were never confirmed), but the idea of her and Murphy having a kid together was adorable. They’d have their teeny tiny families with those two, Hope and Jordan, and Octavia and Levitt.

33) This isn’t as much me pointing out a problem as me wondering, what was Clarke going to say to the Judge when she turned around? What else did she have to say or ask? Was it about Madi? Or maybe Lexa? Or just transcending in general?

34) It’s pretty shitty that some of our questions went unanswered due to the fact that there will be a prequel. On the other hand, I live for lore, so I’m just glad that they eventually will be answered. But still, that doesn’t excuse shitty writing.

35) I want to see a stupid edit of Picasso taking the test where the Judge is Madi.

I think we all know that season seven was really not what we wanted it to be. We’ve been really disappointed by the writers and unfortunately, this is what we got out of it. I believe they really could have done a better job, but I am at least glad that everyone ended up together.

The writing was lacking. Too many questions were left unanswered, I don’t care if you’re making a sequel or not. Plot holes. It really could have been a good season if it was done better.

My ranking of the seasons is as follows: 3, 2, 4, 1, 6, 5, 7. Seasons 4 and 1 are kind of interchangeable for me in spots three and four, as are 6 and 5 in the two spots behind them, whatever the order may be.

But I still love the show. I love the characters, their development, and many things about it. It has been quite the journey and I am glad to have been a fan of the show.

May we meet again.

[hebby-arts]

This is what I would want if Shadow ended up in a Sonic movie. Not the next one, just a Sonic movie. Basically, I think that it should be a merging of SA2 but with Heroes Shadow in it.

The movie could be in 3 half hour parts.

Act 1: Sonic is encountered by Shadow, a pure black and tan hedgehog that looks a lot like him and even has his super speed. Shadow is on the run because the military is after him, and Sonic is immediately feeling kinship. Shadow doesn’t remember who he is, he only knows his name, and he keeps tripping over the hover skates he had with him. Sonic realizes that this kid is a lot like how he was--and Sonic also gets this great idea to show Shadow the ropes of being a kid in Green Hill, because he would have killed to have had a friend back then, he’s gonna be Shadow’s friend. he teaches him how to roller skate, he teaches him how to play baseball and they play together. They eat gross food and watch DIE HARD and a bunch of movies. Tom and Maddie of course are there and encouraging Sonic, but also like “be careful” because like. “Isn’t it a big too convenient that this kid is just like you?” and Sonic gets defensive like “What, I can’t have a friend who’s just like me???” 

Act 2: Sonic and Shadow are playing around the house when Shadow stumbles upon Maddie’s tranquilizer gun--and it sends a pulse of memory through him. In fear, he tears up the kitchen and bolts out of the house, with Sonic chasing him. Sonic is trying to calm his friend down, but Shadow just keeps telling him to leave him alone. They get into a bit of a scrap, and Shadow eventually tells him that seeing that weapon made him feel really bad, like he had to just... rip stuff apart, and he didn’t want to rip Sonic apart. Sonic promises he won’t let that happen, and he’ll help Shadow out. Eventually the whole gang finds themselves back in SanFran (haven’t decided why yet) but Shadow ends up having another mishap--and this time the police are involved. The sirens, the flashing red lights and all of the guns pointed at him send him spiraling through flashbacks of his past, of playing in the ARK with Maria, of being studied by Gerald and the scientists, and then the government invading and killing his best friend. 

Act 3: Shadow goes ballistic and his voice gets much deeper, he gets red streaks on his quills, arms and legs and eyes. His eyes are glowing red and red electricity snaps over his body before he unleashes a Chaos Blast, blowing the cops and the cars away. Sonic tackles Shadow and they start another fight. “What are you doing, man!?” “I remember everything--and my purpose! I have to destroy this miserable planet, all these pathetic humans have to die!” He’s talking so differently, and Sonic realizes he has to fight his friend. Act 3 is mostly a very big battle with Shadow trying to get into the abandoned underground facility ARK in order to set off the reactor within and detonate a large chunk of the USA. I haven’t worked out all the details here, but eventually Sonic gets through to Shadow when he’s seconds away from killing Tom by saying “Shadow, please--please don’t do this! I’m begging you man, they’re-- they’re my family. Give-- give them a chance, please...! Not everybody’s as bad as those guys were.” and this spurs the memory inside of him of Maria, fatally wounded, as Shadow holds her and sobs. “Shadow, please... I beg of you, don’t give up on humans. Not everybody’s as bad as these people. Give them a chance... Give yourself a chance.” And he’s shot with a tranquilizer dart, and knocked right out, and the flashback ends. Shadow backs away, tears running down his cheeks. “That’s what she wanted...” He realizes there isn’t time, and he and Sonic are the only two fastest to get out of the facility. He tells Sonic he’ll stay behind and turn the machine off, you get Tom and Maddie to safety. Sonic holds up Shadow’s wrist ring, and Shadow gives a thumbsup, “I’ll be back for that! Go!” 

The facility enters full lockdown, but the reactor is stopped from exploding... and Sonic keeps waiting for Shadow to appear, but he doesn’t. He must be trapped down there, all by himself. 

At the very end, Sonic’s asleep in bed and he hears something crash through the window--it’s a baseball wrapped in a note. The note reads “Hey, faker, gimme back my bracelet.”

I don’t have any art drawn but I imagine Shadow doesn’t have his red streaks for the first 2 ACTs. It’s not until the 3rd ACT that he looks more like the Shadow we know. I figured this would be a better story than cramming too many things together. If you have any changes you’d wanna make, go ahead! But I think taking away from the EDGE FACTOR and going back to main ideas from SA2 combined with Sonic being a lonely kid from the movie would really shine here.

Also. Just. Imagine the fact of Sonic teaching Shadow how to use roller skates, to roller blades... and then Shadow using the hoverskates later. “You only beat me cause you’re skating! You slid over the finish line!” “Wanna rematch, faker?” “FAKER!? Who’re you callin’ faker, before you showed up, I was Green Hill’s beloved supersonic hedgehog!”

Lemme know what you think!

[finding-fallen-stars]

YGO Questionnaire Part 2 Electric Boogaloo

So, my gf/bf @howaboutalittlehelpneos tagged me to do this again a... good long while ago, and I had wanted to wait until I'd finished my GX rewatch before trying this again. But ouch oof I accidentally also got through all of 5Ds again before getting to this lol

But the 5Ds rewatch definitely reshaped a lot of my thoughts, so... cracks knuckles. This won't be spoiler free, fair warning~

Favorite Series: ugh the formatting killed my original essay on this but okay GX and 5Ds are pretty tied in my book, now-- I love them equally, but in different ways! GX fulfills my love for subversive coming-of-age stories with a heartwarming, humorous, and also soulcrushing touch, and I love how each season brings a new story and new characters-- it's like reading installments of a novel series, and I think the formatting works wonders for it as a whole. It has some absolutely phenomenal character writing, too-- even the characters I dislike are ones I can appreciate for what they introduce to the story! And honestly, not enough people give the first two seasons of GX the credit it deserves: they're half the charm, really. How are you going to feel the full impact of the heartbreaking content in seasons 3 and 4 if you aren't properly attached to the characters?

But on 5Ds's side of things... it fulfills my love for stories with time loops, found family, human nature, and of course, love and death and how they intertwine. I love how the leading characters are just a bunch of broken kids from broken circumstances who all find a home with each other, and of course, how it highlights class disparity and how fucked up the prison/"justice" systems are. Yea, sure, maybe it underwent executive meddling and all, but I genuinely love it for what it is and I wish more people appreciated it... my only problem with 5Ds is the untwist with Z-ONE and then the ending s m h I adore it overall and I could go off for a long while on it. Overall, these are my two instinctive recommendations for anyone getting into Yugioh!

(look at these boys they're so important) Favorite Protagonist: Oh, believe me, absolutely nothing has changed here-- Yusei Fudo is and always will be my favorite protagonist, and my rewatch only solidified that.

I just... love him so much? He's seen so much hell in his life and carries so much guilt on his shoulders, but he still has room in his heart to believe in others and to believe that anyone can defy fate and find hope even at rock bottom. I love that he's initially introduced as this quiet, brooding figure when he really just turns out to be a huge softie who wears his heart on his sleeve half the time and wants to bring about change for Satellite and its people. Plus I just really love that his greatest flaw is something that would ordinarily be a positive trait-- he's Overly self-sacrificial, to the point where he's basically setting himself on fire to keep others warm, and that's not really framed as something Heroic

Just... he makes me so happy. I have two Yusei charms that I ordinarily keep on my keys (one was a gift from Zenzen) and they're a constant source of serotonin for me. He's Peak comfort character for me. Best protag in my book Favorite Rival: Same deal here-- still Manjoume!

look at him he's so important

While he spends a lot of the anime getting the good old damsel in distress treatment (getting suckered into a cult, getting knocked into a coma, becoming a zombie, getting fucking Killed, etc), I still think his character arc is really well-written overall and I only appreciated it even more when I watched GX again. I love the fact that he's got a soft heart he buries beneath the edgy facade, and that he's simultaneously really sharp and also kind of dense lol. He's just a fun character and watching how he evolves from episode one to episode one hundred eighty is such a satisfying journey.

Plus, props to him for being such a versatile duelist-- 50 wins in a row is HARD as is, let alone with a deck full of cards he just found laying around in the Arctic. Three ace monsters, three different archetypes... he's a really good duelist and I'm proud of him for it

Oh, but honestly, I don't really dislike any of the rivals-- I'm neutral towards Revolver and Reiji, but the remaining four (Kaiba, Manjoume, Jack, and Shark) compel me. yes I accidentally wound up liking Jack Atlas shhh Favorite BFF: Honestly, I really like most of the characters who fit this archetype-- Joey, Crow, Gongenzaka, Soulburner... I still lean a little bit more towards Joey, but I really appreciate all four of them. I'm gonna say Joey again, just because I find his evolution as a character the most compelling, but I appreciate the other three a lot. Soulburner has the best design though Favorite GFF: Oh absolutely still Aki, but I honestly... really love most female Yugioh characters? I'm assuming this is lead girls only, but like. I'm dumb and gay and I love Girls so this is naturally the most difficult one for me to answer lol

Aki just resonates with me the most because she's the prime example of how trauma doesn't always manifest in palatable ways-- when we first meet her, she's angry and lashes out at anyone and anything just because she wants the world to suffer in the same ways she's suffered, and then... we get to watch her grow from that, once she's free from Divine and able to heal the way she needs to heal. I know the second half of 5Ds didn't give her character the attention it deserved, but I'm still proud of her for winding up on the path she did-- seeing her channel her power and energy into wanting to heal and help others was just so good and was one of the few things I really Loved about the 5Ds ending.

oh, but like. Asuka Tenjoin and Aoi Zaizen are very close seconds for me!!! Aki just has a vice grip on my heart Favorite Villain: Okay, it's still technically Vector-- I think he's the most entertaining, well-written, and effective villain out of all of the ones we've seen so far, but... I also want to add Takuma Saiou and then all of Yliaster as honorable mentions?

As someone fond of tarot myself, I was naturally pretty intrigued by Saiou the first time I watched GX, but my attachment to him only grew the second time around where I actually got the chance to understand his character better. Plus, like... the visuals with him are fucking astounding and he's always so interesting to watch.

As for Yliaster, I just... really love how the big bad of 5Ds turned out to just essentially be a broken man desperate to save anyone and anything and three robotic reconstructions of the friends he'd lost. I still think the untwist with Z-ONE was stupid and I much prefer the idea of him and Yusei being the same person, but I'm still compelled by the other three-- well. Paradox less so, because we don't get a lot of Paradox lore, but. Aporia and Antinomy for sure.

ugh Yugioh has some damn good villains

Favorite Card: now that I actually play the TCG game...

Stardust is always going to be my favorite of all cards because it checks every box for me (my favorite YGO character's ace monster, space theme, what more could I want), but Aromaseraphy Rosemary has really become one of my aces in my best TCG deck! I'm still mastering irl plays, but I'm happy with my progress and I love my plant gang...

Favorite Episode: alright, here's where there's actually been a Lot of change, so...

Season 0: Episode 16: "Turnabout by a Hair's Breadth - The White-Robed Crisis" -- The more I think about this one, the more I love it; there's a... lot of corruption in the medical industry, and I've seen a lot of it firsthand, so just. Seeing a corrupt doctor get what he deserved at the end was cathartic, in a way? Plus, a Jounouchi-centric episode is always a good time.

Duel Monsters: Episodes 96-97: "Darkness vs. Darkness/One Turn Kill" -- this hasn't changed, I still love seeing Marik and Bakura bitch at each other for two whole episodes LMAO

GX: Episode 152: "Activate Super-Fusion! Rainbow Neos" -- This one hasn't changed and it likely never will-- I take so much pride in seeing Judai push forward, past the fear and guilt he's carrying, all to save Johan... it's cathartic and I never get sick of watching it.

5Ds: sweats. still all of Crash Town, but also episodes 137-147-- the Ark Cradle is one of my favorite parts of 5Ds and one of my favorite YGO arcs period, and even though each duel is a fucking gut punch, I love the emotional intensity and weight in each episode... It hurts but in a mostly good way

Zexal: Episode 143: "The Aloof Duelist 'Nasch': The Destined Final Duel" -- this one hasn't changed! Still hurts, still love it, I still weep over Ryouga Shark Kamishiro on a daily basis

Arc-V: Episodes 81-82: "Our Respective Battlefields/The Ultimate Falcon VS The Black-Feathered Thunder" -- Okay, honestly, this was hard because I... genuinely. really don't like Arc-V very much at all lol (it's just not my cup of tea, but more power to those who do like it!), but I thought this duel was a lot of fun! Shun is my absolute favorite from Arc-V and I really like the friendship he struck up with Crow a lot, so here we are

VRAINS (so far): Episode 25-26: "Virus Deck Operation/Three Draws Leading to Hope" -- honestly I am so biased because I just really love Blue Angel and I loved seeing her get a well-deserved victory like this lol. I'm not done with VRAINS, so this is probably gonna change, but anytime Blue Angel or Soulburner are on screen, I'm happy

Favorite Decks to Use: Aromages will always have my heart, but I adore Cyber Angels too! I'm building my Trickstar deck, my Synchron/Stardust deck (just waiting on Dawn of Majesty...), and my Magician Girls deck, too! Fusion, Ritual, Synchro, XYZ, Pendulum, or Link?: Synchros my beloved... but also Ritual Years in fandom: I've been here for just a little over one year now! and I wuv it... I'm never looking back Who am I tagging: no one I'm too shy

[bondsmagii]

3, 6, 7, 18

thank you!! 

3: Are you more the type to cut off your braid and wear an armour to save your princess or the type to give up your royal privileges to run away with your beloved maid?

without a doubt I’d disgrace my family by running off with the maid and my father would disown me as his heir and I wouldn’t even disguise who I was as my beloved and I travelled around the world and had a good-ass time... I’d be like that one king of England who abdicated to run off with the American divorcée he fell in love with and the next time everyone saw him he was in a picture looking like he was having the time of his fucking life with his hot wife... what’s his fuckin name... Edward VIII that’s the bitch. that would be me.

6: What stayed with you most from the fairytales you enjoyed as a child? Can be a quote, a detail, a character, a moral or a whole story ark.

the thing that stuck with me the most was how terrible the adults were lmao. my favourite fairy tale when I was a kid was Hansel and Gretel, and I just could not believe that the adults would be cool with dumping two small children off in the middle of the woods. (the fact that I, a small child, was permitted to play in the vast forests surrounding my village for up to 10 hours at a time was lost on me.) “don’t trust adults” was something that I liked in media when I was a child, though, so this is unsurprising -- my favourite series of books ended up being A Series of Unfortunate Events, so go figure.

another thing that stuck with me was the cheek of Goldilocks. I got unfathomably angry whenever I was told that story, even as a very small child. the idea that someone would come into my home and eat my food and sleep in my bed just sent me feral; I hated Goldilocks and I always wanted the bears to kill her.

7: They’re all awful, but - in which castle would you rather be imprisoned? A castle filled with your loved ones in deathly slumber and surrounded by rose hedges - a glass castle at the end of the world, threatened by the cruel coldness of sun and moon who hunger for human flesh - a castle with a beautiful garden where every path leads to the same secret chamber dripping in blood? Why?

the castle with a beautiful garden where every path leads to the same secret chamber dripping in blood. I’m not entirely sure why; the idea of being surrounded by loved ones who are present but out of my reach isn’t one I like the thought of, and I’d rather be alone than have something like that. the glass castle... don’t fancy fighting the sun and moon, if I’m honest. the secret chamber is cool as hell, and I think that logically there would be more clues here and less distractions. I might be able to find something else imprisoned in the chamber and strike a deal with it... if I don’t end up like everyone else who previously attempted, and whose blood is probably what’s coating the chamber!

18: Which would be worse for you - if a loved one got transformed into a fawn and was thus vulnerable and mute, or if a splinter of a devilish mirror fell into their eye and made them cold and unfeeling?

not to sound like my ex and choose a deer here, but the second option would be worse. I don’t like the idea of them looking how they always did and still being human and sentient, but being wholly changed; I don’t think I would be able to accept it, and I’d waste a lot of time trying to get through to them. at least if they were transformed into a fawn, I would be able to accept that they were no longer themselves, and I could focus on trying to undo the magic. if they were just a cold and unfeeling version of themselves, I might be less willing to take risks and accept I’d lost them anyway, and any attempt could only improve matters.

> fairy tale inspired asks 🏰🧹