#Couldn't stop thinking after that other stats post

[blackbird-brewster]

What do you mean other people don't compile a decade worth of fanfic stats as a fun little side project??? Really? Because I sure do...

[meowzcw]

I finally drew my oc A-Sans normally on here instead of kawaii doodles 🔥🔥 (By the way he stole that jacket off a coat rack like a hermit crab, that's why it's like size asgore)

(I HAD TO FIX HIM SO THIS IS A REPOST OF MY OWN DRAWING 😭)

Reblogs are appreciated ‼️

His/au backstory down below if you wanna read 🦟 just a warning it's not original or anything and there's obv a lot of hcs and things picked from the multiverse because why not I just made him for fun 🎉

it's missing some info but those parts are mostly from Frisk's side of things since they're what caused everything to happen 🐺

Frisk basically got trapped in the underground for 7 years since the barrier wouldn't open due to one of the souls dying out and one day they selfishly yet desperately decided to go through with a genocide route for the first time, they didn't want to but they felt as if there was no other way

Sans met Frisk in judgment hall to stop them obvi and he tried to talk them out of continuing but Sans sucks at saying the right things so Frisk continued on anyways- Frisk struck first and got him on the face and Sans in return charged up his very op everything attack which is a one shot kill (can explain in another post if anyone's interested 🌹 it's a bit long but in short Frisk hopped into the core and some things bugged out bad, including stats of some monsters) and Frisk struck him again in the last second.

They died at the same time and due to the fact Sans shouldn't be able to use a move like that he ended up glitching out of the timeline into a battle sequence like out-code where the fight couldn't progress or end because Frisk wasn't there to do any actions. While Frisk continued into the judgment hall, except Sans wasn't there and things started to glitch out when they tried to go past the area. so they were forced to give up and go back to how it was before the genocide route. Just without Sans there

Sans got stuck in there for a few months until Error accidentally opened up the area during a silly fight with Ink- which Ink swiftly ditched Error to go check it out

Sans grew paranoid after being in there for so long so he started fighting Ink the second he saw movement thinking it was Frisk, but he was even more confused when he saw someone that looked exactly like him just in different clothes so he panicked and teleported outta there. And since he had dust all over him at the time Ink obvi wanted to know what happened, so he went to go look for him.

Ink soon found him and reassured him that he didn't need to worry about anything since everyone in his AU was alive, but advised him not to go back since Frisk might try another genocide run and succeed.

Sans accepted that and took his advice, Ink then explained the whole multiverse business, AU's and such, since Sans was pretty confused. He then asked Sans for his name since they didn't do a proper introduction, which Sans decided to call himself "A-Sans" because pretty much everyone that's usually out of their au is a sans.

A-Sans took Ink's advice the wrong way and forced himself to stop worrying about anything involving his AU since everyone was alive unlike those in the multiverse that were more unfortunate. which was hard to do since he missed everyone, felt guilty for leaving them behind all miserable and such so he took up drinking to help him stop worrying about it all.

Now he just hangs around in busy areas to nap all day by himself, people avoid talking to him because of the dust on his face and assume he killed someone.

-End 🔥

Personality wise A is very laid back and friendly, usually sleepy. He doesn't hold grudges and he forgives easily if it isn't too bad. He doesn't blame Frisk for what they did, he just wishes he was able to do something sooner to help them out before they got to that state.

And sorry if I repeat things or explain it all weird 🙏 it was 11am when I wrote this and I didn’t slept a wink but Imk if you have any questions!

[jolalibrary]

so, yesterday i asked what the 'best piece of advice you've been given' is. and i wanted to collate and share in case any of these help someone else.

some, I've added from people in my real life (aka people not on tumblr).

"write for yourself, be indulgent, and have fun!! stats and notes don’t indicate quality, and as long as you’re proud of what you’ve made, then that’s really all that matters," from @saradika

"each flower blooms at its own time and only when it’s the right time to do it," from @msjarvis

"admit you don't know, when you don't know. because you can't know what you haven't been told," from anon

"you can always feel for your loved ones when they are going through a difficult time. but you cannot take their burdens on yourself," from @maggiemayhemnj

"if it makes sense, we don't do it here," from @inept-the-magnificent

"everything happens for a reason," from @morallyinept

"stop expecting the truth from people who lie to themselves," from anon

"there’s always someone who is going to be better than you at what you do, and that’s fine. you don’t need to be the best at everything, don’t put so much pressure on yourself or you will end up hating something that provided so much joy and fulfilment for you in the past," from @thundermartini

"only write when you're feeling passionate/motivated and to never force yourself to write just to get something posted," from @tightjeansjavi

"today is difficult, and tomorrow might be too, but that doesn't mean it'll feel like this the day after that, or the next," from anon

"not my circus, not my monkeys," from @thetriumphantpanda

if you care a lot about what other people think, remember "they don't sign your checks, and they don't make the sun rise," from @hellishjoel

"when they go low, we go high," from anon

"other people's opinions about you are none of your business. You can't control what they think or how they feel about you, so don't work yourself up over it," from @goodwithcheese

"nothing outside of you has power over you," from anon

"be yourself. it's effort to pretend to be someone else," from anon (i did raise the point actors exist, and i got a sassy note back hahah)

“it's okay to fall down, as long as you get back up," from anon

“there's nothing so bad it couldn't be worse,” from @oonajaeadira

“It's not always dark at 4,” from @linzels-blog

if you'd like to submit your own, pls use the comments or reblogs. if prefer anon, send it in and I'll add it.

[britt-kageryuu]

Donnie just ended a stream, and was going over the stats for said stream, when his phone set off the group chat notification sound, it was April. She was asking if she could come to the studio to ask about something, specifically with Donnie. She was given the go ahead, and Donnie asked his drone children to help straighten things up.

April showed up a few minutes later. She greeted the drones who went back to playing their games. They're seated in the inflatable chairs that are just always left on the set.

"So April, what can I help you with in our studio today?" Donnie asks while leaning back with a slight squeak.

April lets out a annoyed sigh, "Okay, so even with my stellar resume and Degrees, those jerks at the News wouldn't even give me an Internship! They said they didn't take degrees of my level without a recommendation from 1 or more these 5 random sounding tabloid-y magazines!" She was slowly raising her voice as she talks, while griping something imaginary probably the neck of the person who told her she couldn't work for them.

Donnie just quirks an eyebrow, but doesn't question it. She did also have a long list of being fired for the most random reasons.

"So, what kinda of help do you want? Blackmail on the staff, hacking the channel, draining the guys investments? I can go on." Donnie lists off with a slightly sinister smile.

"As tempting as that is, no." April shakes her head in amusement, she's sure he's just listing this to make her laugh, maybe. "No, I wanted to see if you had anything you can have me do with your companies. Like maybe as a 'Manager' or something?"

Donnie thinks it over for a second, "Well if we made you a manager, it would just be just a title, you wouldn't really be doing anything, plus you want to go into journalism, and acting as a manager won't look that great on your, probably highly edited, resume." He pauses to look over something on his tablet. "I have two possible options for you, one is media management for Genius Built, and Four Turtles Production, it's basically putting together the news we want to release to the public about them, along with helping with event stuff, and two basically option 1, but you do it as a Newscaster in videos that we will upload onto our social media sites. If you want you could use a model to mask your identity, if you don't want to be called the 'PR Girl'."

April looks a bit confused, before thinking it over for a few seconds, "So I either, just edit posts and videos that will be put on the GB and FTP socials, or I do it in mainly a video format like I'm reporting the news, maybe with one of your custom models?"

"Yes, either way it's up to you. These are just the options that I believe would look better for your resume, if you ever want to look for another job." Donnie stats, he hands April the tablet, "Here will be your benefits, though remember that all medical problems will lead you to Leon, therapy to Angelo, you get a personal trainer with Rafa, and I become your financial advisor."

April looks it over the benefits, and figures that agreeing to work for Donnie will be better than one of the other jerks that she could possibly work for. "Alright, let's see how this works out. Better than trying to find work around top side anyway. Do the Dragons get the same benefits?"

"Why, of course! They were a bit weirded out by needed to go to Leon for medical, and got freaked out at Angelo, but not Rafa. I don't know why." He looks like he's contemplating this, but he probably knows why.

"So, you already have a model for me right?"

"About 20 at least, we didn't want to assume which one you want so we made a variety you can choose from, and we can make changes from there!"

"Can I help with Cass and CJs models, or are they already done?"

----------------

Masterpost

I don't think I will actually write posts from April, but after watching a Vtuber news reporter, I couldn't stop thinking "this is how they drag April into what is becoming the family business!" and it fits kinda.

Also writing April was a bit weird, but then again writing any of these guys is weird.

[carriehobbs]

i mentioned that each of my detectives have at least one central issue that defines a significant part of their lives and personality. then i was asked to elaborate on this thought.

to me, i can't divorce how these characters are in-game from why these characters are that way. so i think i'll need to start at the beginning.

under the cut for (very long) length.

this is an obligatory reminder that i have a list of my detectives here, along with some of their dominant traits and their romance routes. think of this as a handy cheat sheet, if you'd like one.

when i first heard about wayhaven, it was shortly after book 3 had been released and someone i follow had been posting about the a route. so, going in to playing, all i really knew about wayhaven was a very small bit about a (namely that their route involved a lot of will-they-won't-they slowburn denial) and that they, as the only character i knew in the game, were the ro i intended to romance first.

thus, when i made lauren renfield, my adam-romancing detective, i had only one question in mind to guide her character: what kind of person would not only tolerate being jerked around by someone who is supposed to love them, but would come back willingly?

the answer i came to was: someone who desperately wants to be loved enough by someone for them to choose her.

from this concept naturally emerged lauren's terrible relationship with rebecca. stats-wise, their relationship is bad and, though it fluctuates somewhat, it stays bad. the issue in their relationship isn't that lauren doesn't know that rebecca loves her, because she does know this (how could she not when rebecca says as much surprisingly frequently?), but lauren also knows that rebecca is incapable of loving her in a way that (in her view) has any meaning.

to lauren, love is choice. you can feel the emotion of love for someone, but it means nothing if you will not choose to be with or stand beside that person. and she knows that rebecca will never choose her or prioritize her, especially not over the agency. there have been enough times as it is where her life has been in danger and rebecca has come to her to tell her how worried she is, only to receive an agency phone call and leave within five minutes to take it (for example, the end of book 1 or, if i remember correctly, in book 3 where the ro interrupts the detective and rebecca talking to say that the agency couldn't reach rebecca for a phone call, which she then leaves to take).

so lauren knows that she will never be rebecca's priority and that rebecca will never choose her, but god does that not stop her from wanting. every time rebecca reaches out or expresses concern, there's some part of her that truly believes that maybe this time will be different. she cannot stop herself from reaching back. and yet every time it is not different: rebecca still leaves and still shows her where she exists in the hierarchy of things rebecca deems important. and then the other part of her berates herself for always getting her hopes up. in truth, lauren hates herself for this - her ultimate, incurable weakness.

and so, as one does when they grow up this way, lauren eventually came to see herself as the kind of person that no one would ever choose. she grew detached and distant from other people, and then ultimately abandoned trying to form meaningful personal relationships in favour of focusing on her work (which, in turn, conveniently gave her an excuse for not having personal relationships - it's not that she's isolated herself, it's that she's too busy with work). her work becomes her source of pride and from where she derives her internal sense of her own value. she lives in a home she's barely furnished because she spends all her time at work. (prior to meeting ub) her closest friends are tina and verda, who she met through work and who she does not believe actually like her. she genuinely cares about them, but she believes that they see her as little more than a particularly competent coworker. she hates bobby, but she always lets him back in to her house and her life because he seems to be the only person who keeps coming back for her, even if it's only for his own self-serving interests.

enter adam du mortain.

lauren does not doubt that adam is in love with her. nor, really, does she doubt that she's in love with him. the problem with adam is that his favourite hobby is dangling the possibility that maybe this time he will confess to his own feelings, only to pull away when she tries to get close. and lauren falls for it every time. as much as she hates herself for it, she cannot stop herself from hoping that this time adam will stay. she's never the first one to pull away. so many of the problems present in her relationship with rebecca repeat themselves in her relationship with adam. she knows that she loves him and that he loves her, and she also knows that he will never choose to be with her (and so ultimately his love does nothing but hurt her), but every time he offers her any affection or hint of closeness, she can't help but hope that maybe this time things will be different.

the second detective i made was alina langford, my nate-romancing detective. after lauren's bad relationship with rebecca, i wanted to play through wayhaven with a detective who has a good relationship with rebecca. i knew i wanted alina to be a fundamentally kind person (i've mentioned previously that i need to play a nice person who wants to make friends with everyone at least once) but, much like with when i made lauren, i asked myself one central question that underpinned much of how alina developed as a character: what kind of person could be raised by an absentee parent and still love them uncritically?

for alina, the answer i came to was: someone who cannot see that they deserve better.

alina never blamed rebecca for her absences growing up; instead, she made excuses for her. rebecca wanted to be home on time, but she's just very busy. her job is very important. it would be selfish, even, to be upset when rebecca is doing her best. she just has a very busy, very important job. rebecca loves her. rebecca wants to be there. and when rebecca is there, alina soaks up as much of her time and attention as she can get, so grateful to be getting any of it at all that she never considers what more she could have.

over time, alina learned to see herself as less important. not just less important than rebecca's work, but less important than everything. it's not that she thinks she deserves to be treated poorly, per se, as much as it is that she can't really recognize that she deserves to be treated better.

consider, as an example, alina's relationship with bobby: i've always imagined them dating in college for about 2-3 years and even living together. i think that alina really was in love with him at first, but then that feeling slipped away as their relationship progressed (up until she broke up with him after she caught him plagiarizing her work). i don't think that they were miserable together (though i don't imagine they were particularly happy either), and i think that, for the most part, they stayed together because it was easier to do so than to break up. alina could not even consider that she might deserve a better relationship than this: that she might deserve romance and passion and a relationship that gives her more than just consistency.

all of this, of course, is compounded by the fact that alina has been constantly, painfully lonely her whole life. her self-confidence suffered significantly. she lost (if she ever had) the ability to view herself as someone with value to contribute. she comes off as incredibly humble - constantly trying to share any accolades or credit she may receive and downplaying her own achievements - almost uncomfortably so. she doesn't think much of herself, and so she does not think to ask for much either.

as a result, her relationship with nate surprises her. in book 1 (especially just before the murphy attack, when he tries to kiss her), she doesn't think he takes her seriously - he's a special agent with a secretive supernatural government agency, whereas she's just some detective who didn't even deserve her position. once they're dating, however, he treats her the way no partner ever has before. she's taken aback every time by his thoughtfulness, his care, his love for her, because she never thought being on the receiving end of all that was even a possibility. she never knew that something like this could exist, and certainly never knew she could have it for herself.

alina told nate that she loved him in the book 3 research scene, which is the moment she realized that she loved him, but in my heart of hearts i know that the scene played out differently. instead, when he showed her everything he had arranged for them out in the garden, she says to him tearfully and in that bewildered way, where something is so wonderful and unexpected and incomprehensible that it hurts old wounds you forgot you had, that no one had ever done something like this before and that she loves him. in that moment she knew and in that moment it erupted unexpectedly out of her - she wouldn't have been able to wait until later while they were doing research to tell him.

after alina came sydney "syd" kingston, my morgan-romancing detective. syd didn't have a central question, but came into being because i wanted to play a sarcastic asshole (neither lauren or alina are the type). i also knew i was romancing morgan, so my character inspiration for this romance route was "two cunts in love". syd cares a lot about people, and actually cares a lot about her job, but it's all hidden so far underneath a veneer of assholery and dickishness that most people don't really get to see it.

syd is fine. syd is always fine. syd is never not fine. her relationship with rebecca is fine (to the point that she was taken aback in book 3 when rebecca wanted to be closer, because why would rebecca want that? things are fine). her recovery (mentally and physically) from murphy and the trappers is fine. her relationship with morgan is fine (in book 3, she realized that she's in love with morgan, and immediately decided to never tell her. in her mind, morgan has warmed up to her as a person and as a friend, but their relationship was set out to be explicitly and exclusively sexual back in book 2, no feelings involved. as far as syd knows, this is still the agreement between them. so morgan can never know that she has feelings). no one needs to worry about her. she's fine.

but she can never not be fine, because if she starts to pull the thread of this particular sweater, she will unravel the whole thing. if she acknowledges that what murphy did to her was traumatizing and that she still has nightmares about it, it will mean that she has to reassess everything else she has ever been "fine" about: if she thought she was fine with murphy but is actually decidedly not fine, then what other things has she said were "fine" that aren't? it means opening the door to not just acknowledging but feeling her anger at rebecca for being absent during her childhood. it means being vulnerable with people and being sincere about the ways that she has been hurt.

so she doesn't examine any of it. she's fine. it's all fine.

after syd came andrea "andy" reeves, my farah-romancing detective. i actually struggled the most with andy (i had to do two passes at her character) and i only settled into what she's like after a) i figured out what's wrong with her and b) i explicitly made her a lesbian. andy is in the unique position amongst my detectives of having what's wrong with her be (almost) completely unrelated to rebecca!! congrats andy!! 🎉🎉

andy's relationship with rebecca is also unique in that it is the most dynamic of all of my detectives': lauren's relationship starts bad and stays bad, alina's relationship starts good and stays good, and syd's relationship starts meh and is (at least for now) likely to stay meh. andy's relationship, in comparison, starts bad, and starts to get better in book 3.

andy spent her entire childhood hating rebecca and acting out against her. much like lauren, andy realized from a young age that rebecca would never give her the kind of love that she wanted in the ways that she wanted it, and she decided that having nothing was better than having something less than what she wanted. andy felt so much anger towards her mother for years. it was only in book 2, when she was talking to farah about how farah came to our world from echo world (farah mentions her mother, but doesn't explicitly state that her mother is dead/didn't make it through the portal until book 3 - but andy's not an idiot), that she began to reassess. over the end of book 2/the time between books 2 and 3, she thought about what would happen if rebecca died or if she died while doing this job. it's clearly a dangerous job: rook died doing it, andy's almost died several times doing it. andy took for granted, i think, the idea that rebecca would always be around to hate, but hearing farah's story about losing her own mother made her realize that that assumption isn't true. and andy realized in that moment that if something happened and she never got the chance to speak to rebecca again, all she would be able to think would be that all of this, all of the anger and hatred, had been so stupid.

in book 3, she tells rebecca that she wants them to grow closer. she still knows that rebecca will not be able to give her what she spent her life wanting, nor would they ever get the time back, but she feels now that she was wrong before: her relationship with rebecca will be different than what she always wanted, but it won't be worthless.

andy's second issue is mainly the realization that she can die. andy is my high combat skill detective. the short version of this story is that, when she was in university and starting to dress more masculinely and come into her own identity, she stopped some drunk guys at a bar from harassing some friends she was out with (very get-in-their-face, intimidate-them-into-backing-down). in that moment she realized that she had the power to protect people, to make a meaningful difference for them. that she could put herself between innocent people and the things that want to hurt them and that she could protect them.

this became a big part of her identity, and for years this worked without a problem. she became overconfident. when the agency asked to run the blood tests, she declined: not because she distrusts the agency (though she doesn't really trust them), but because she was confident enough in her own abilities to handle the situation that she didn't think she needed the extra help.

then murphy got her.

now she's incredibly traumatized by the experience with murphy, and is scared in a way she hasn't ever really felt because of her blood, and because the trackers are hunting her. for the first time, she's prey and not predator. and she doesn't know how to cope with it. she doesn't know how to cope with the trauma itself, and she doesn't know how to cope with the fact that she is traumatized when she thought herself invincible. because, as she's learned so many times since the beginning of the series, she isn't invincible.

and none of them got therapy (mostly because none of them recognize that they need it)!

[reedfulton]

hii!! I was wondering if we can get some of your charlie/fulton hcs, or just about them in general. I saw on your fulton rarepairs post that they were one of your pairs and i’d love to hear more on what you have to say about them (bc you didn’t get to in the post) bc I really love them and their paring.

omg absolutely!! sorry, i've totally abandoned tumblr because of school commitments and stuff so i hope this ask isn't too old lmao. but anyway, here are some of my hcs for them!! they're one of my favorite pairs ever and i'm honestly very surprised that more people don't ship them.

i've always said that i think they're childhood friends. i think i posted something about it a long time ago and then proceeded to not elaborate on it, but i always thought that fulton's home life wasn't great and so he was kind of allowed (or forced) to wander minneapolis/stillwater just to get out of the house. i did the math at one point and realized that the diner that casey works at is kind of in-between the heart of minneapolis and stillwater, so it wouldn't be insane to think that fulton might have ended up at the diner a lot as a kid. i think he and casey became 'friends' first (casey practically adopted him) and then when casey brought charlie to the diner because she didn't have anyone to watch him, they became fast friends

their friendship started off so well because fulton was extremely shy and charlie could talk to a brick wall and make good conversation, so charlie didn't really expect anything from fulton and fulton has no problem sitting and listening and retaining information from stories and stuff. that's kind of how their relationship works too lmao. charlie's always talking about random things and his wikipedia deep dives and hockey stats and fulton will definitely talk back if he has something to say, but sometimes charlie just needs a sounding board and fulton is more than happy to be that for him (and charlie is very impressed with all the random stuff fulton remembers just because charlie's the one that told him)

fulton's had a crush on charlie since they were in peewees. i don't think they were still super close when fulton joined the ducks, but they definitely still spoke to each other in class and stuff, and fulton joining sparked their friendship (and fulton's feelings for charlie) again. it's a super cute puppy-love kind of crush, and fulton has absolutely no clue how to deal with it lol. it's also definitely why fulton was watching the D5 games before he ever joined the team, and why he was so ready to fight the hawks the second he had the opportunity.

they definitely have one of those relationships where most people can't even tell if they're best friends or dating. they don't really do PDA (other than charlie laying on him like a cat, which he also does with a lot of people), and 'dude' is their main term of endearment in public lol.

casey LOVES fulton so much it's insane. charlie jokes that when they come home for breaks, she's more excited to see fulton than she is to see him and hes right

fulton's the little spoon but he'd kill anyone that ever found out

charlie is exactly 3 inches taller than fulton and it pisses fulton off to NO END. charlie knows this and definitely teases him about it.

i think once charlie bulks up a bit (probably like junior/senior year) they get to a point where they can wear each other's clothes and then just. never stop. at this point they don't even know who's clothes originally belonged to who anymore.

their first kiss happens after a game where charlie got injured and fulton felt so bad that he couldn't do anything about it that he's fussing over charlie in the locker room afterwards and bumbling his way through apologizes and charlie just. kisses him to shut him up as a funny haha joke but then realizes how fulton reacted to it and is like "oh shit this is actually A Thing"

fulton fell first charlie fell harder

they don't do PDA but they're all over each other the second they're alone. both of them have definitely made the other one irish goodbye at multiple events just so they can go home and make out and cuddle

sorry if these make ZERO sense i definitely was Not writing these at work :D. but i love talking about them so thank you so much for this ask! if you have any other prompts or ideas for them or anything do not hesitate to reach out, now that my semester is over and i'm just working full-time i totally have extra time and want to be more active on here :]

[velvet-vox]

An analysis of Doll on a Roleplay battle setting.

Here's a little something to remember in regards to the things discussed in this post:

Tank beats Melee

Melee beats Support

Support beats Critter

Critter beats Tank

I head canon that Doll is (in an RPG setting) a Critter/Tank but mostly a long distance damage dealer that relies on dealing critical hits (metaphor for her plans) with tanking features and talents that allows her to take in a lot of damage (metaphor for her incredible survivability) in line with these stats:

And the funny and interesting thing about it is that her life trajectory probably wasn't this; in fact, I believe that originally Doll was expected due to her behaviour, personality type, and attitude towards situations to become a Tank/Melee (but more specifically an high damage dealing Tank) but after the death of her parents and the hands of V she took a forceful nose dive into rewriting her class trajectory in order to accommodate for her new goals, because it makes perfect sense:

Uzi is definitely a Critter/Melee but not a straightforward one; for context, a Critter/Melee in the language I am using is a long distance damage dealer that gains advantages from actually getting up close, it's a super rare play style that jives well with Uzi being an unconventional protagonist, but it doesn't stop there as Uzi also doubles down as an all-rounder by also having a blunt, defensive personality and being fairly resistant and resilient like a Tank but also having an understanding, highly empathetic and forgiving personality like a Support that allows her to help her teammates in battle and shrug off some of the trauma caused by her situation.

N on the other end is a Melee/Critter (opposite attract each other:) but not a straight up assassin like V in the sense that N is mostly a regular Melee that has counterplay for Tanks and his capable of getting through other people defenses (metaphor for penetrating the bunker at the start of the season) and he's not a glass cannon like other damage focused Melee and Critters tend to be, (although I don't think he has Tank like qualities in the same way as Uzi, rather he has a moderately high base health pool) and has on top of that the qualities of a Support like Uzi to help his teammates by cleansing debuffs and giving bonuses.

(Side note: even though Uzi and N have the qualities of Support, none of them are healers, they are only buffers and cleansers, they heal themselves and only themselves once they kill, hence why they are the most dysfunctional main trio of all time. Nuzi still works by the way, in the same way Wall-E and EVE works).

V instead, arguably the most complex character of the series, is your typical glass cannon Melee/Critter assassin that deals massive damage up close but can't take back said damage. But where it becomes interesting is that V, much like Doll, wasn't initially projected for this play style as we can clearly see from her original timid maid persona that she was probably more inclined towards being a Support, but unlike Doll, she was fully capable of making that transition because she was motivated by the desire to protect N while keeping him distant, while Doll never fully managed to let go of her Tank origins because she was motivated by hatred and not love.

And as you all can clearly see, the problem with Doll being a Tank becomes self evident: all of the protagonists have the characteristics of Critters, the one class who counters Tanks, meaning that each and every single one of them could have easily mauled her like her family had been if she didn't change her ways; which is ironic, since Tank counters Melee, V main class, so even if Doll couldn't defeat V in a combat situation, she would have hard countered her on a narrative level, so in committing to the Critter play style, she lost an important advantage on that front and, narratively, allowed V to destroy her like her parents were.

And it all comes together to bite her in the ass in episode 7 when she faces Tessa/Cyn who I believe, despite what the colour scheme might imply, it's a Melee/Support who stacks attack buffs on herself; you know, Melee who's the class countered by Tanks (of the which Doll isn't anymore) and villainous Support, the class that counters Critters, aka the class Doll traded Tank for.

As to why I believe fake Tessa is Melee/Support, there are a couple of reasons, but you can mostly get it by their personality and play style; Cyn in their dialogues doesn't try to get under N skin to then deal as much damage as possible all in one go like a Critter would, instead, she slowly destroys his sense of security like a Melee would, also, the Absolute Solver is definitely a Support type of villain since they give their abilities to Uzi and Doll, even if inadvertently, which would make sense narratively to have an unstoppable Support force against our 3 Critter protagonists and to have N and V, our 2 Melees working for him, be the ones who can stop him through Uzi's help.

And lastly, the main reason why Doll even manages to reach Uzi inside the chapel is thanks to that Tank characteristic that she chose to forsake and neglect, and now, that characteristic is not strong and trained enough to allow her to survive, but it has just enough of a presence to allow her to get a final warning out, much like her redemption was always possible despite not being reachable anymore.

Want more?

[chussyracing]

f1 related news, facts and plain speculations collected over the past few days

Estrella Galicia cimes back to McLaren and their all other sponsors after the relationship with Ferrari ended to make space for Peroni (who came from Aston Martin sponsors pool)

There are more and more speculations about Alex to Ferrari and from what I understood, Spanish media aren't very happy about that or about articles written about Charles and his reported contract

There are rumours of Prema expanding into Indycar (which I think could be beneficial as some of their drivers are already a part of the series nowadays)

Steiner confirmed he couldn't even say goodbye to the team and thanked them in a live interview with Autosport 2024

Formula E chief said Formula E has its door open for Checo and that he talks to him all the time (rip Checo Perez)

Aston Martin hires Andor Hegedus as Senior Project Designer (he previously worked with RBR and they say he was important for RBR pit stop strategies, so a pretty big name in the game)

Doriane Pin signed to drive in F1 academy for Mercedes but from my understandment she will also be in F4 UAE (and stays part of Iron Damen drivers)

Juju Noda will race in Super Formula

McLaren archived all of their posts (I found reports saying it was up to 10k posts) and started a "whatever it takes campaign" whatever that could mean with today's date being teased (Rebrand? Car launch confirmation? Black livery?)

Toto Wolff extended his Merc contract for 3 more years (including 2026)

Leo Turnini apparently claimed that Ferrari's target for 2024 is to win 5 races

Alan Permane that used to be Alpine's Sporting Director is said to join Alpha Tauri/Racing Bulls

Speaking of Racing Bulls, their new name should get announced with the car launch (and we have most car launch dates confirmed by now)

Mercedes invested more into pit stops equipment over the winter break, because after a few dominant years they fell behind in pit stop stats

Speaking of Merc, they sim driver Anthony Davidson claimed that w15 finally feels like a car after what they had for two years

Formula E is back and I beg everyone who watched the race in Mexico with striking 3 official overtakes to not get discouraged it is nawttt always like this

Speaking of FE, Jake Dennis came to say that RB20 is extremely fast car in the simulator and other teams would need to find over 1s per lap to get close to them

Emily Prazer will step up from the role of LV gp Chief Commercial to the role of Chief Commercial Officer of F1 (Brandon Snow previously was in that role but left last year) and it's seen as the reward for successful campaign she prepared for LV (also she has a lot of experience so props to her)

Gwen Largue (Merc young driver academy boss) said that despite Este being in Alpine and faithful to the team, it's in fact Merc who "continues to manage his career"

Crofty claims Este told him Alpine 2024 car is "a little bit slow" before Christmas, because he has been testing it in the sim since September

From fan's point of view: did you know Lewis is apparently allergic to dogs whicb he admitted to in the interview with puppers?, USA figure skating pair Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker stepped away from competing from the rest of the season but shared a programme they trained that feature's Charles' AUS 23, there's Fight AIDS Cup in Monaco on 22nd January (aka next monday) with Princess Stephanie's team against Prince Albert II.'s team and considering Charles was there last year I expect him to participate again

[twopoppies]

Hi Gina... I need to rant 😠 lmfao

As a life-long Chiefs fan and KC native all I can say is this T*ylor shit is fucking annoying. I know you talk to a LOT of people in the fandom, so you may not remember, but I'm a fellow Sw*ftie hater (maybe that's too harsh but idgaf) and I didn't think it was possible to get more annoyed with this woman than I've been since I stopped being a fan in 2018. Boy, was I WRONG. I'm a die-hard Chiefs fan. I loved my team even when we sucked and couldn't make it to the playoffs (before Patrick Mahomes), so to see EVERYONE make the game on Sunday about her is beyond frustrating. People (Sw*fties) are seriously saying she's the only reason we won. Like we haven't won multiple AFC championships and two Super Bowls in the past three years. Maybe I'm just taking it too seriously, but when our boys played a kick ass game on Sunday after such a shitty season opener (that we lost), it was so nice to see that we're getting our mojo back but I literally can't look at any post, tweet, article, tv segment, etc that doesn't make the game about her.

God, please don't let her be around for the rest of the season 🙏🏻

Also, I'm not saying they're not hooking up, but this is 100% for PR. I've personally never seen them pan to a celebrity so many times during the game. I've never seen "candid" photos of Travis Kelce, Patrick Mahomes, or any of the other popular Chiefs' players leaving Arrowhead Stadium after a game like we just got with Travis & T*ylor, or "candid" photos & videos of any of the popular players driving through the city, which is so sus. And then what really sealed the deal for me was that T*ylor announced earlier today that her concert film will be shown internationally. She was also named as an entertainer of the year for entertainment weekly and is on the cover. Not to mention, she has a new re-recording coming out in a month and continues to announce new versions of the 1989 re-recording. "Someone" must not be happy enough that she's already broke records with the Speak Now sales, is selling the most number of albums overall, but she must be aiming to break those Speak Now records with the 1989 re-recording sales bc she's releasing new versions quite often. I mean, how greedy can one person be. Like you haven't sold enough albums? You don't have enough publicity? You don't have enough money? It's just gross to me.

Also, I personally just found her reactions over the top for someone who isn't even a fan, especially whatever that head shake thing is at the end. But maybe that's just because I find everything she does annoying and cringe.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CxmAHqjrACL/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Plus, the stats around Travis and the Chiefs have skyrocketed. So they're absolutely getting a lot out of this as well as the NFL like someone mentioned earlier.

I'll attach an article but here are some numbers:

Travis' jersey sales went up almost 400%

Stubhub ticket sales for Chiefs' home games increased threefold in just 24 hrs

Travis gained 325k new ig followers - more than he gained after winning the last Super Bowl

Sunday's Chiefs' game was the most watched NFL game on any network last week

It was also the most watched game among girls and women 12 to 49 yrs old

https://www.axios.com/2023/09/26/taylor-swift-travis-kelce-merch-sales-up-chiefs-kansas-city

And yes, I know I know a lot about her for someone who doesn't like her. But she's inescapable even when I have muted everything related to her... And now she's taking over my everything related to my favorite football team and my city 🤢 Where's Pete Davidson when you need him? 😂

Ok, sorry for that rant. I know I probably sound ridiculous, but I prefer my life T*ylor free just like I prefer my life Ol*via free, and I thought you might understand 😂 Anyways, feel free not to post if you don't want to discuss her anymore.

I hope you're having a good night, Gina. Lots of love.

She really is a horrendous actress. Everything she did at that game was so embarrassingly fake. But clearly people want to believe it because it’s everywhere.

That’s bananas how much his stats already went up and just shows why it’s worth it to do this kind of nonsense, even to someone who’s already really famous.

I’m not interested in football at all, but I’m so sorry she’s contaminating your safe space. 😩

[magpiefngrl]

do you think writer's block is an actual concrete thing? / what is writer's block to you?

Hey anon! When I wrote the post seeking asks, I'd added writer's block to the end of the things I'd like to chat about, and then deleted it because it is included in woes. But you read my mind!

This is going to be looooong. I'm putting it under a cut x

I've had debilitating writer's block in the past. Debilitating. I used to write and post fic regularly back in 2017-18--and then I stopped. For a time, I'd write but would hate everything. I'd feel empty of ideas and robbed of the ability to convey thoughts on page. I'd cross half my sentences out and doubt every word.

And then: I couldn't look at the page. I would think about opening a doc and I'd immediately distract myself with something else. The dishes, the cat, a new tab. It was like even the idea of writing touched some wound inside me and I'd flinch, I'd get that visceral reaction of "ouch, avoid avoid".

So, for me at least, writer's block is a real thing. It happens, it affects people, and it is so prevalent that thousand of articles have been written about it.

I've come to realise, though, that writer's block doesn't exist on its own. It doesn't just come at someone randomly like an unwelcome lottery ticket. It's an indication of something else.

(a pause here to say that writer's block isn't the time when a creative brain needs to rest. The fallow periods. That's normal, esp if you've overextended yourself. Pushing yourself to write at that time might make the brain rebel, and you might think you've got writer's block when all you need to do is take some time off and fill the creative well with fun activities.)

So what might the writer's block indicate? Anything from fear of failure, to insecurity, to perfectionism, to depression. When I'm depressed, I don't write. I have to treat the depression to get rid of the block. That's easy, in the sense that I know what depression feels like and I know how to deal with it. Or at least I know that it passes.

But fear of failure? Perfectionism? These aren't as easy to pinpoint, not for me, anyway. Also, those of us who have posted fics in fandom have the added stress of disappointing readers/followers. You've no idea how terrified I was about finishing my WIP, 9 1/2 days. I was sure that readers would be like "it's been years in the making so the story must be extraordinary" and then they'd read my normal, totally ordinary story and feel let down. At other times, I'd mentioned/promised birthday gift fics to people and I felt the pressure of time passing and me having nothing to show for it. So much stress.

We say that fandom is a fun place and we're here for the joy of being a fan, but this excessive positivity often doesn't allow for the negative feelings of having a story you're proud of go unnoticed. It happens. To all of us. It hurts like fuck. It hurts to see rec list after rec list and not see your name on it. And you feel like a dickhead for feeling resentment and anger about it, because you're not here for the stats, you're really not, but fucking hell--you thought that was a pretty good story and if no one really agreed, then you're not a good writer, right?

Why does writer's block come after you've posted ten fics and not before the first one, when you're a lot more inexperienced and new at this? I guess, higher stakes. Also, times of vulnerability come and go. Once, during my writer block years, when I was trying to get over it and go back to writing, I received a piece of feedback that devastated me. It hurt me so incredibly much that I couldn't (and didn't) think about a certain story for over six months. It was like this person, unwittingly, reached inside me, found where I was hurting, the soft, wounded part of me, and stabbed me right in the middle of it. It was a good lesson in learning to protect myself when I feel vulnerable emotionally.

Imagine trying to write, worrying that you'll let your readers down, certain that your best story is in the past and you've peaked already, anxious about making little progress and falling behind, upset that no one recs or talks about your latest fic--in other words it was a massive failure--(all of these were things I experienced at multiple times) and that's on top of the author's normal worries about trying to figure out the plot and the characters and whether this POV works for the story. Who wouldn't get blocked?

I'd better stop around here, this is something that I could discuss forever. My leaving thought would be that to treat writer's block one should:

first, see if it is writer's block and not burnout or fallow period, in which case: REST

second, try and reflect on what the block is hiding, and then deal with that.

third, care a lot less. I think, at the end of the day, writer's block comes because we care so much about writing a good story that it becomes an impediment. It helps to care less. I've been posting stories unbetaed in the last couple of years. It's a deliberate decision to take back the sensation of being an amateur writing for the fun of it.

send me an ask!

[elfie-eats]

my biggest regret: i ran a pro-ana blog.

i haven't posted to tumblr in years but i just needed to get it off my chest.

i used to have an ed account with THOUSANDS. of followers and it is my biggest regret.

yes, i was 15 and in the grips of an ed and didn't really understand the magnitude of what i was doing but then again, how fucking stupid was that. there was some good within it; giving myself and my followers a safe space to talk and vent about our problems, i had a lot of online friends i spoke to daily which was refreshing as i had very little friends in the real world. However, accounts and platforms like that never end well and it usually becomes a breeding ground for triggering posts, tips, grooming and toxic relationships cemented in active ed behaviours.

i hate the pr0 ed community.

when I ran this account at FIFTEEN years old, I was contacted by multiple people claiming to be "pr0 ana coaches"; the best way to describe them, they are self-proclaimed mentors that would help you stay motivated and on track to hitting your 'ugw' by telling you what to eat, when to eat, and by sending you abusive comments about your weight and how fat you were, which is pretty much a dream come true to a fifteen year old with an eating disorder.

all you had to do was update them daily with your weight, stats, and send half, sometimes full nude photographs to these people who would often disguise themselves as other teenage girls, when in fact they were typically grown men over the age of 21.

i personally got tricked by these 'coaches' and realised after seeing a mutual follower at the time talk about their experience. When I had confronted the coach, they had threatened me and told me they would leak the photos and contact my parents. i was so scared, i couldn't stop crying and i thought my entire life was over.

i deleted my account immediately; though looking back i wish i would have reported it to the police or at least tumblr. i had no idea what i was supposed to do in that situation and i was terrified of getting into trouble.

these men are probably still out there getting child p0rn off vulnerable, mentally ill minors who are not thinking clearly.

if there are any minors that read this post; and have similar experiences, please report them and keep yourself and others safe!

i am in active ed recovery now and i have a heck of a long way to go but it's worth it. i have a very beautiful life ahead and my eating disorder is the least interesting thing about me. i wish i could have understood that at fifteen.

fuck the pr0 ed community.

[vvelegrin]

i don't know, i feel like lately i've been getting better at... doing things that are difficult? not to sound like a toddler, but it's so fucking hard to get myself to do things, even if i desperately want to do them, and like yeah i know that's Executive Dysfunction, it's just very hard for me to wrap my head around. putting under a readmore because i'm just shooting my mouth in multi-paragraph format.

i have lately been able to brute force Activities with much more success. stimulant is a help, not so much in terms of direct cognitive functioning as much as indirectly by making me less devastatingly tired at all times. i still have little control over the direction of my focus and get stuck doing things a lot, both enjoyable things and unenjoyable things. and things that were enjoyable and then they eventually become unenjoyable and i still can't stop. and et cetera. i jokingly say free will is a sham, because it has always felt on various levels that i have somehow, physically and metaphysically and whatever, not had access to the same level of free will as my peers. shoutout to that person who posted their 'tourette's and free will' thesis online and altered my vocabulary on that front forever lmao.

but like... i've been doing pretty consistent work on some translation, and when i finish this piece i'll submit it and hopefully i'll be able to build my portfolio with a volunteering opportunity with this organization that will post my occasional translations of articles with my name attached. i've been playing chess (not well, I'll say, but i've been studying and practicing). i've finished a couple art pieces (small drawings mostly, except for the camel i whittled over many days and weeks!). been practicing arabic almost every day, and reading on grammar on days that i'm not directly practicing vocab and such. i took a six week intensive stats class during the summer and i worked my ass off and got a B+ (note that i hadn't taken any math class since literally a decade ago). i've stuck this master gardener program class through to the end, and i just need to finish my volunteering hours within the next year (that will absolutely Not be a problem) and i'll be a proper master gardener in my county. i've spent most saturday mornings (early because i am the earliest timezone lmao) this past year since about april, with a couple months' break, playing a logh strategy board game. i moved out and have been handling it.

i think, and i don't want to exaggerate, but like. i have been deeply affected in the past by failure and having to drop out of things or simply not do things because of overwhelm and inability to keep up. i missed out on being definitely cast in a college theater production because of dumb shit on my end. i made it onto an international model united nations team that was going to go to the czech republic and poland to compete, but had to drop. i was going to double major, but couldn't swing it. i took six years to do a bachelor's degree that normally takes people three (four, if they double major), and did a summer language immersion program that i was burnt out so spectacularly by that i was paying for it for YEARS after. i spent all that time literally surviving that i learned approximately no arabic. definitely didn't go to jordan the year after that to study like literally everyone else in my program. all of the volunteer and internship opportunities i could not follow through upon because i simply COULD not, physically or mentally, do them.

i don't know, people are always like 'you've accomplished so much!' which like, yeah, i've definitely accomplished things, i never mean to discount the things i've done! but people have always said so as if it cancels out the devastation of being so close with these other things that i desperately wanted to do and almost did but then didn't because of various internal reasons. and then the feeling, simply out of habit, that, oh, why bother with this thing, you're not going to make it through. there's also a certain patronizing tone that people couch their words with when talking to me about, oh, sweaty, remember that you have your problems. you have SUCH a beautiful brain and i can tell how soooo smart you are as you struggle to communicate with your words. I'll Fucking Kill You With My Hands.

but. anyway. this is the first time i've ever felt like i've come close to actually thriving, despite some troubles with health that are going to come occasionally in inevitable waves, but i got through it. i supported myself financially, and i am living my life on this wretched and beautiful earth.

i changed the goalpost of this from 'doing immediately effortful things' and 'accomplishing goals' but honestly they're in the same enough vein that they occupy the same part of my heart, which is hopefully beginning to fuckin heal after the constant and pervasive disappointment in myself lmao. and some of that is learning to not be disappointed in myself, i guess. things happen, and there are people who have it worse than i've described above, certainly. i've been putting together some grad school apps, so here's to trying again at some shit because i am allowed to and because i probably have the ability to do it.

[ev-n-learning]

2023 year stats!!! Wow its been a year since ive shown u one of these... amazing

anyways not too much to say here i don't think! Although can you believe its been almost a year since i stopped learning ukrainian.... weird

something thats interesting to me is that i've spent more time on czech this past year than ukrainian the year previous... and just on duolingo, somehow?! There's no way I'm 2 months away from finishing the czech tree!!!

I suppose the courses could have been different lengths to start out with, but I do blame the redesign they did... I still don't like it, lol. (Other factors could be: czech has No Cyrillic so i cant read it as well)

As far as the other languages go — I really can't believe it was only this year I finished 50languages?! Year so long... but anyways, after that i will be honest with you: most of my active belarusian studying has been solely anki and (mostly) daily search of the wordle. The other most is People I Follow On Tumblr and tiktok (theres belarusians on there)

Russian is about the same as I've been doing. Slogging through 5,000 words of top 10,000 on memrise still. Probably about 2,500 of the way through. Probably at LEAST 2 more years of slog...

Maybe it doesn't serve much of a purpose, but i'd feel weird having the extra time. Like, no, i'm supposed to be Doing Something at 14:45,,, and, yknow, sometimes i encounter these words in the wild. (Not so much anymore though)

Doing my best to keep up with polygloss for russian, too! It's fun but I never know how to describe the images so a lot of matches get sent into the ether... oops 😅

As for marathi, well................................. nanowrimo happened. Is putting it shortly - actually, I started doing something else in november, and with that, languages, and nano... it was a lot! So I did not do much marathi in november specifically because of that. The rest of the year, well... hmmm. The less said the better?

Well, anyways, it's because of having to spend the same amount of energy almost on czech at the same time, *and* because of the Something Else i've been doing. So - I do want to learn it! Spending time on marathi would be great, actually! I am just Busy. And thus it has been relegated to anki only for the better part of the year if i remember right 😔 someday...

Sidenote, at the rate I'm typing this will be posted after midnight..... well, i wanted to put it out there yesterday night, but i couldn't decide what to say, lol. January 2nd is still New of new years, right??

To be honest, I haven't really thought about any language plans for this year... i know russian and belarusian well enough to read posts & such, and I have the mental fortitude to read books i understand maybe 25% of, but listening and talking I'd say are probably where I need the most improvement. (Writing, well... I'll get back to you once i can learn grammar effectively). With everything as it is now, I'm not sure there's much to be done about that, but maybe I'll figure something out here sooner or later... maybe.

I know I want to finish the czech tree on duolingo, and then I'll pick another language from my duo list and the cycle shall begin anew... and then in 12 years either duo will be dead or i will not wish to learn languages any more (a scary thought). OR i will speedrun every language on my list to the best of my ability and then never touch duo again (no streak, no badges... i think monthly badges are like the Only duo thing that actually works on me because i Need To Collect. ah, fomo...)

As for marathi, if I can manage to pull it out of hibernation alongside all that duolingo nonsense, then by god i'll do it 🫡 if i learned* one language by being exceedingly slow at it I can do it again!!

*referring to russian so perhaps its not accurate to say "learned" still but my point stands

...

Anyways yeah!!! Idk how to end this so з новым годам (late) to u all and good luck & wishes for the new year <3 things may never be perfect but at least i can hope they will be better 👍 🎉🎉🎉

[paperanddice]

You may have noticed from the posts on Caira and Gorguth that stopping them is effectively mutually exclusive. You can spend the time to hunt Caira down and deal with her immediate allies to prevent her apocalypse from the sky from slaughtering tens of thousands, or you can rally your forces to confront the bodak general and splinter his army of undead and demons so they don't destroy a city. Pulling off both would be an incredible feat, but one most likely beyond any single group. And so, most likely, Atropus will be called to, and the World Born Dead will arrive to devour all life energy from your planet. Now what?

Well, now it's time for a desperate bid. Send a team of incredibly powerful adventurers to the moon's surface, and try to find a way to defeat it. Killing Atropus itself permanently is not a possibility, but by causing problems for it you can force it to concentrate itself into a representative form, conjuring up an aspect to fight you. The exact method of getting Atropus' attention in this way depends on you. Maybe the players begin consecrating the surface of the moon with hallow spells. Maybe they destroy key spots on the moon with powerful radiant rituals. Maybe a 9th level planar binding spell can force the aspect to appear, and remain until you or it are destroyed. But no matter what, the end of an Atropus campaign involves confronting a manifestation of the Elder Evil and destroying it to force Atropus to retreat.

The aspect takes the form of an immense, headless humanoid form, its skin fosilized and constantly dripping necrotic ichor.

Originally from Elder Evils. This stat block is immense, and one that a lot of parties likely couldn't face off against. It is meant to be the conclusion of a campaign spent dealing with undead and creatures associated with them, and a party confronting Atropus should have a lot of equipment dedicated to helping them with this goal, including potentially some artifacts. In my current experience, with my level 15 party, I expect that once they reach level 20 I'd have to give the aspect double or even triple the hp to survive for a real fight, they've already brought down major enemies with 300 hp, but I'm not going to boost that on my own for this release. At minimum, if you think the aspect will need the help, consider giving it max hp for its hit dice. For all high level games, some degree of understanding will be needed. How much damage can the party output, and would the aspect survive a single round of that? If not, give it a bunch more before the fight starts and let it deal some damage in return. Atropus also comes with Lair actions, as befits a creature that is literally a world. These are listed after the plain text stat block below the read more below.

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Aspect of Atropus Gargantuan undead, lawful evil Armor Class 22 (natural armor) Hit Points 367 (21d20 + 147) Speed 50 ft. Str 30 (+10) Dex 13 (+1) Con 25 (+7) Int 25 (+7) Wis 24 (+7) Cha 30 (+10) Skills Perception +14, Stealth +8 Damage Immunities cold, necrotic, poison, bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks Damage Resistances acid, fire, radiant Condition Immunities blinded, charmed, exhaustion, frightened, petrified, poisoned, stunned Senses blindsight 500 ft. (blind beyond this radius), truesight 120 ft. passive Perception 17 Languages all, telepathy 1,000 ft. Challenge 23 (50000 XP) Create Spawn. A creature killed by the aspect of Atropus rises 1d4 rounds later as a wraith under the aspect's control. Divine Scourge (1/Day). As a bonus action, the aspect of Atropus can lay a curse upon all divine spellcasters, celestials, and fiends within a 1,000 mile radius. Each such creature is poisoned for 4 hours, and must succeed on a DC 25 Constitution saving throw or take 65 (10d12) necrotic damage. The target's hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the necrotic damage taken. The reduction lasts until the target receives a greater restoration spell within hallowed ground, and cannot be removed by any other means. Immutable Form. The aspect of Atropus is immune to any spell or effect that would alter its form. Its hit point maximum cannot be reduced. Negative Energy Aura. The aspect of Atropus is surrounded by a powerful aura of negative energy out to a distance of 30 feet. Undead that start their turn within that area regain 15 hit points and gain resistance to radiant damage until the start of their next turn, while living creatures that start their turn in that area have their hit point maximum reduced by 27 (8d6) until the start of their next turn. The target dies if this effect reduces its hit point maximum to 0, and it rises 1d4 rounds later as a specter under the aspect's control. Regeneration. The aspect of Atropus regains 20 hit points at the start of its turn if it has at least 1 hit point. Actions Multiattack. The aspect of Atropus makes two Slam attacks. Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +17 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 24 (4d6+10) bludgeoning damage plus 21 (6d6) necrotic damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 18 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone or pushed 10 feet directly away from the aspect (aspect's choice). The target must succeed on a DC 22 Constitution saving throw or its hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the necrotic damage taken. The target dies if this effect reduces its hit point maximum to 0. Stomp. Melee Weapon Attack: +17 to hit, reach 10 ft., all targets in a 10 foot cube completely within reach. Hit: 32 (4d10+10) bludgeoning damage plus 14 (4d6) necrotic damage. The target must succeed on a DC 22 Constitution saving throw or its hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the necrotic damage taken. The target dies if this effect reduces its hit point maximum to 0. Trample (Recharge 6). The aspect of Atropus moves up to its speed, ignoring difficult terrain from other creature's spaces. The first time it enters a creature's space during this movement, it can make a Stomp attack, targeting just that creature. Spellcasting. The aspect of Atropus casts one of the following spells, requiring no material components and using Charisma as the spellcasting ability (spell save DC 25): Constant: nondetection, tongues At will: blight, create undead (as a 9th level spell) 1/day each: circle of death, finger of death, power word kill, symbol (death only), weird

Legendary Actions The aspect of atropus can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. The aspect of atropus regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn. Step. The aspect of Atropus moves up to half its speed without provoking opportunity attacks. Pin. The aspect of Atropus grapples one prone creature within 10 feet of it (escape DC 25). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained and takes 14 (4d6) necrotic damage at the end of each of its turns. The target must succeed on a DC 22 Constitution saving throw or its hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the necrotic damage taken. The target dies if this effect reduces its hit point maximum to 0. The grapple ends if the aspect moves. Cast Spell (Costs 2 Actions). The aspect of Atropus casts one spell using its Spellcasting.

Atropus' Lair

Atropus is its lair. The literal moon is the creature, and as such truly killing it is beyond even a maximum level party. At best it can be weakened and driven away by destroying its manifested aspect, which can only be confronted on the surface of the moon itself. As such, the environment inherently benefits Atropus in ways that cannot be avoided. Atropus doesn’t have “regional effects” so much as it has environmental traits, which were discussed in the previous update. Confronting Atropus’ aspect without dealing with this extremely hostile environment is near impossible, and would require exceptional strategy and cunning to somehow draw the aspect away from Atropus itself. Without that, the aspect is even more challenging to face, as it gains all the benefits of the Overwhelming sign, the difficulties of the environment, and its lair actions. In such a situation, the aspect has a challenge rating of 25.

Lair Actions When fighting upon Atropus, the aspect can influence the landscape to take lair actions. On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the aspect can take one lair action to cause one of the following effects:

• The ground splits open in a chasm up to 100 feet long and 40 feet wide anywhere on the surface of Atropus. Each creature in that area must make a DC 18 Dexterity saving throw. The aspect automatically succeeds on this saving throw. Success means the target moves to the nearest unoccupied space at the edge of the chasm. Failure means the target falls 1d6x10 feet into the chasm, taking falling damage as appropriate. Failure by 5 or more means the creature falls 150 feet into the chasm, taking falling damage as appropriate. • Bubbling ichor rises up in a line 150 feet long and 10 feet wide anywhere on the surface of Atropus. Each creature in this area must make a DC 18 Dexterity saving throw. Success means the target moves to the nearest unoccupied space outside this area. A creature that fails the save or chooses not to make it must make a DC 22 Strength saving throw. On a failure, the target takes 21 (6d6) bludgeoning damage, plus 21 (6d6) necrotic damage, and it is pushed to the end of the line. On a success, the target takes half as much bludgeoning damage and doesn’t move. The aspect of Atropus automatically succeeds on any saves it chooses to against this effect, and takes no damage on a successful save. • The aspect takes 50 damage and calls a meteor shower down onto the surface of Atropus. All creatures within a 100-foot radius, 600-foot tall cylinder centered on the aspect must make a DC 22 Dexterity saving throw, taking 35 (10d6) bludgeoning and 35 (10d6) fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. The area becomes difficult terrain. The aspect automatically succeeds on this saving throw.

[breannastewart]

stewie’s looked so upset the last few games! :( i feel bad

sorry I'm getting to this late. but I do have some thoughts on this

I don't think it's so much being fully upset, but I do think she's been frustrated. she's a very serious person out there, she's as locked in as they come. and while the big smiles and nice words have come after games and wins, that's expected, in game I think is more telling and she hasn't looked as... idk, pleased perhaps. she likes winning and she likes dominating but I don't think she expected to have to do it on her own as much as she has with this new york team. she was for sure the top option in seattle, but those teams were far more tight knit, willing to play their roles, etc. on those teams she was number one but it didn't ALWAYS have to be her, there were other options that could take that on in different ways. those really good seattle teams they were not flashy star studded stacked teams like all this superteam nonsense, but they were stacked in the right ways, right styles, right temperaments. new york? I don't really see it so far. you can have all the talent in the world you want on paper but that does not mean it's going to translate the way you think. people run through those guards like it's nothing. defense is nowhere to be seen when you should close a team out. and sure maybe sometimes sab gets hot and scores, but even the ones she gets hot in, not all of them have been easily closed out games. take that game against the fever before closing the first half. they couldn't finish that off when they should have at all. you've had sloot in post game after a loss being like it's our fault stewie doesn't get the ball enough in games like that. that's cool, but then you see her in a game later on looking dead at her while stewie's calling for the ball, and she looked to pass another way. that would drive me nuts honestly. JJ has been completely nonexistent to me and at some point it's gotta stop being about returning from injury, I just don't think she fits in this team or system. and more often than not in the end it has been on stewie to take over and finish a game off. as impressive as that second 40 point game was, there's no reason to be taken to the brink by the last place team when you're supposedly so stacked and you end up contributing like 40% of your teams scoring for the game, like... yikes. and I don't think they are stacked in the fundamentals or things that don't show up in a stat sheet. and it ends up falling on one player's shoulders like that, ie stewie's. all of that would be grating and frustrating frankly and I do think at times so far, she has been.

[karizard-ao3]

My son (9) read Assassination Classroom recently. I read only the first few chapters and couldn't get into it, but he was enthralled. He hates handwriting anything because he still struggles with penmanship, but he was so excited about the series that he would laboriously copy down character stats onto a notepad. The ending made him cry. I was sitting next to him on the couch, working on a wip or maybe playing a game, when he said, in a trembling voice, "Mom?"

I looked over at him. Tears were pouring down his face. "[spoilers]," he said. "I want to stop reading. I'm so sad."

But he couldn't stop reading so he kept going and he kept crying. And he was still thinking about it days later.

I didn't think much about it at the time, because at this point, I've been deeply affected by so many pieces of media that I take it for granted. I cried at the end of the new Pixar short, Carl's Date, right there in the middle of the theater. I was a broken zombie for days after the end of Attack on Titan. My brother finished Attack on Titan and had to go lie down for a while before we could talk about it.

But, this morning, I found one of the note pages where my child had so enthusiastically copied out a character's details, and, left with a moment to think because he's away at his dad's for a month, I realized that this is maybe the first time he's become really invested in media. Like, he's had favorite shows and whatnot before, but I don't think he's ever let himself become so fully immersed in a story before. And I started thinking, what a beautiful and human experience it is to lose yourself in something that another human being has created, to have it find something inside you that connects you to it in such a deep and profound way that it makes you feel visceral joy and sorrow, that you want to talk about it and think about it and wrap yourself up in it. How lovely that a work does not have to be high brow or genius (in general, I haven't read Assassination Classroom to make that call for it) to get you in its grip and light you up. What a joy of being alive.

Bringing this back around to fanfiction, this reminds me of something else I've thought before. Being a fan of post-apocalyptic dystopias to begin with, and with the news over the past few years being the way it has been, I've thought a lot about society collapsing, and the future anthropologists (if there are any left) who will study our society. And imagine if all they have left of us is a remnant of the internet (I'm not a computer person. I do not know if this is even possible) where they find AO3, a digital library of tributes to original works. The original works themselves are gone, or lost behind a paywall, but the fanfiction is there, and the future anthropologists and historians and digital archaeologists (I made that up, as far as I know, but why not?) base all their understanding of how we engaged with and created stories based on our fan writing. What would they infer about us and Attack on Titan based on studying our Eremika fics? Would they read our "ancient classics" and be consumed by the characters like we were? Will they write essays about the many faces of Eren (is he a fuckboy or a simp? A toxic daddy or a pathetic goofball?)? Will they speculate about whether Eremika or Jeankasa is the true pairing? What can our portrayals of Mikasa reveal about our society's internalized misogyny? Surely they'll be able to tell from the comments and author's notes that these stories are based on other media, but what if fanfic is all that's left? Isn't that interesting to think about?

God, sorry, I went off on a tangent. It's just so exciting. Art and creation is so exciting, and the idea that these pieces of our minds can live on and change people even long after we're gone.

In conclusion, I just think it's all so neat.