#I don’t want permadeaths they are sad

[jrwiyuri]

I kinda want more kids to die maybe I’m evil

[watchingyoufromthestars]

Hhhhhhhh more Hermie thoughts. I think the difference in s2 deaths for me is something like this, as articulate as I can make myself right now. With Terry Jr., there was some expectancy that we’d probably see him again. It had already been set up that the dead will ‘return’ in that they’re very easy to visit with some quick realm hopping. My feelings towards this was that I was unsure if I wanted to be able to see him again because of it being too late for Scary to make up with him properly and never seeing him again would really cement this. I do like that they got a moment together in Hell, and it was necessary to happen in terms of all the Daddy Magic memory collection, but all the same it’s too late for Scary to make things right with Terry in a ‘normal’ way.

With Hermie, I genuinely don’t expect to ever see him again. It’s been set up that permadeath exists. The void. Nothing and nowhere.

Hermie is chronologically two years old. He was created out of a scam, nothing of love. He was dropped into reality as a joke (literally and meta-wise). Nobody has ever loved or cared for him, and that’s only made more known to him the more he learns about his birth parents.

And then here’s Normal. Nobody really knows Hermie, but Normal sees him. Normal may fall victim to the constant oops-Hermie-is-here-we-forgot, but he does his best to make space for him and include Hermie, even if a good chunk of that time is alongside romantic feelings. It’s still recognition.

But in the end, none of that matters. Because Hermie is just an NPC. An NPC that the DM doesn’t even care too much about, despite how interwoven he became with the plot and gets dragged along. He’s important but at the same time he never mattered. In Anthony’s own words from Teen Talk 2-46, Hermie is a free kill because it does nothing to affect the podcast. And he hates Hermie because “he isn’t Paeden.”.

The said the entire next episode is just about the fact that he died. Hermie’s finally getting the attention he so desperately craved but would never receive, but now he’s not here to even see it. And after that? When they’re done being sad about Hermie for one episode? He’ll probably be barely brought up ever again, just like always. Except this time it’s because he no longer exists and never will again.

And that kills me.

[desultory-novice]

You said the Mechalor/Crowned Marx AU wouldn't have much impact, but could you not extend the format to some other villains? Taranza hunting down Star Dream to try bring Sectonia to her senses, only to make things worse. Susie, trapped and contorted by the Dimension Mirror, now just trying to find her father after her accident.

This is the first ask Mechalor Anon sent me, btw!

I'm half putting this up for interested readers, because it was a fun read, but also for Anon themselves, as I included some fresh commentary on their ideas as well!!

...

>Not much impact

You know, I sometimes forget how popular my little AU ideas can get! (Hmm. Can I claim the title "CEO of Kirby AUs?" Is that one taken?)

ATM these asks ended up leading to the formation of the Permadeath Swap, which I'm working on the second half right now, but there's a lot good here too I don't want to leave on the table!

>Taranza + Star Dream

Ohoho... the fact that Taranza might seek out a DIFFERENT cursed Ancient Artifact to try to undo what the previous cursed Ancient Artifact he got did is so broken in a very delightful way! (And I hate to say it, but it feels very in character for Taranza ^^; )

And that Susie story...feels very much like what may have happened to Parallel Susie! Although, given how she no longer has the hair accessory her father gave her, I think it didn't end so well...

>Permanent changes for Taranza...

Is it sad the first thing that came to mind is "Sectonia actually does real permanent damage to him?" Like...physical abuse? Maybe, since she's losing her mind due to Star Dream eating up her memories and the last traces of "Joronia", she sees Taranza and tries to erm, force HIM to evolve to become more "like her." Doing things like destroying four of his hands, breaking his mandible/horns and blinding him in all but two of his eyes. Like, at this point, she can't even recognize / remember what caused the changes in herself so she just thinks that by breaking him she's helping him to "evolve." Of course, he never seems to "get there" so she just keeps going...

Oooh, god, wouldn't that would be awful...? The other awful thing of course is that by this point, Taranza might just accept all the horrible things she's doing to him with a smile because he wants them to be the same too (inside, he knows this is wrong, but he can't speak up about it because it means accepting how BAD things have gotten.)

Keep smiling, Taranza. Joronia used to say your smile was beautiful. If you stop smiling...what body part will she take next?

-

PS: I actually forgot while writing this that she wouldn’t be her BEE self because it would just be the star and not the mirror (so much for god reading comprehension…) but uh… just go with it. >.<

(Btw, I’m reminded just how dark this AU can get. I don’t know what it is about the BossSwap that brings out the worst in me….!)

>Max's Eternal Search

Something I really like about the thing with Max is that when Star Dream began messing with him, became obsessed with money - to the point that it was the only thing he thought about. Everything he has is expensive. Everything in framed in terms of how much ludicrous amounts of money it costs in his own fictional currency. ("Company store" indeed.) Everything is covered in gold + gemstones. Greed incarnate. But...

...This Max would probably become obsessed with looking through the mirror instead. If he stops looking for even a moment, he might miss catching a rare trace of Susanna. And so he uses his technology to expand the mirror's reach and makes sure EVERYTHING he owns is absolutely covered in mirrors/mirror-dimension feeds. (Take THAT, Versailles!) You can't see his eyes, as they're always covered in visors projecting the mirror. He doesn't even LOOK at you when he's talking down to you because he is still looking for Susanna...

>Daroach + Hyness Swap

"None of these are great?"

WHAT?! I love this idea?! A Daroach + Hyness swap?! This is going on the to-draw list for sure! And by draw, I mean I now need to see the Mage Sisters dressed up as a pack of 1920s-esque lady thieves! The Jamba cult in a wacky heist story is too good.

No, really, this one is galaxy-brained! Multiverse-brained, even!

Plus, Squidward I mean Hyness and Dark Nebula just...they'd be so cute together?! (...Don't look at me that way... >.> ) Also, Dark Hyness would probably look like some kind of skrunkly cthuhlu (Nebula's arms sticking out from under his hood/veil) and that's just great?!

Fun fact: It is not a Squeak who steals Kirby's cake but WADDLE DEE (the traitor!!) And yet, I can totally see Flamberge in the role of starting things off this time. 

Zan: "Is everyone ready?" 

Berge: "Hold on, I gotta finish this."

"...Berge? Where did you get that?" 

"Huh? I grabbed it along the way. Figured you'd start complaining if I made us stop to eat in the middle of the mission! Smart, huh?" 

"Are you telling me...you found a slice of cake...just lying on the side of the road?" 

"No way! That'd be silly, Zan!" 

"I'm trying to ask, who did you take it FROM?" 

"Dunno. Didn't ask their name! Haha!"

"...BERGE...!"

-

My weak attempts at writing the sisters aside, you're right about Daroach and the Squeaks being quite easy to fit into this plot. After all, Daroach already expressed interest in the Jamba Heart! Given it's probably close to the galaxy's "largest jewel" in size, he might already have his heart set on stealing it! Perhaps he finds it but it has lost its glow. (The Heart Spears are still restraining Void Termina, after all.)

He uses what little magic he has to try and restore the gem's sheen, but just as it does, the Jamba Heart splinters and cracks. So he sends Spinni, Storo, and Doc out to gather the missing pieces, breaking up the cohesion of the close-as-family group as he stays behind to make sure... it's, you know, that it's safe... All the while, the Heart takes up more and more of Daroach's thoughts...

Also seeing the Squeaks all dressed in black... Yeah, I like this swap...!

>Various Elfilis Swaps

I think the funniest thing about swapping the two geminis and Zero/Zero 2 is that you would either have Gooey playing the role of your "Elfilin" figure... or Dark Matter Blade!!

And something about the perpetually friendless, socially awkward Blade attempting to assist or (...god...) give commentary on what's going on is just very fun to imagine.

Let's ignore the fact that Dark Matter would almost certainly play the role of brainwashed Dedede in that situation and just go with it!

Lastly, while I really, really, really like the Daroach + Hyness swap (it's probably my favorite just because I'm still having the time of my life imagining the super serious Hyness and the Sisters in the madcap "Wacky Races" plotline that is Squeak Squad) but I like this possibility too! Especially if you have it so it's an unexpected consequence of the botched summoning. (Although it WAS secretly effective! This is just what happens when you touch the mind of a dimensional rift opening psychic from across time!)

[shikai-the-storyteller]

KARMALAND....

WEDDING DAY WATCH....

Sobs

Luzu: Today's going to be an improv lore day, it'll be fun and relaxing DOUBTFUL

Oh frick I forgot Fargan was on Luzu's side. Alexby come pick up your fiance and knock some sense into him

Vegetta: They won't leave me this time. I've had dreams where this has happened before, where I've been left at the altar. But it won't happen this time; they are just dreams. It's just nerves about the wedding. :(

Vegetta: *trauma dumping about his wedding fears* Fargan, zoning out: I can't wait to marry Alexby :)

Frick. Forgot Luzu had Rubius' daughter locked  up, wtf Luzu

WHY DOES SAPO PETA'S STREAM TITLE SAY PERMADEATH??? IF HE DIES I DIE

If he has to die to bring back Titi I will NOT be happy

Like, legitimately I'll be so sad if he dies

AWH…LUZU'S GONNA GET VEGETTA A WEDDING PRESENT….I genuinely adore their friendship

OH LMAO I FORGOT LUZU CLOSED THE CHURCH TO FORCE OUT QUACKITY'S COUSINS uh oh

Vegetta and Fargan: yeah Luzu's a bit corrupt, but we love him anyways Friendship is beautiful

Vegetta: we don't need a wedding banquet, I want to spend my wedding night with Lolito 😒💀

VEGETTA AND HIS FIVE MILLION CATS….I love him

HE HAS TWO KITTENS NAMED RUBEN AND SAMUEL…..IM WEEPY…🥺💕😭

WAIT IS VEGETTA WEARING THE SAME SUIT HE WORE TO THE DISASTER K4 WEDDING??? oh no

Fargan: I made some mines for today because I think it'll end messy You did WHAT

Why is Fargan wearing That

Luzu: here, we can rehearse the wedding. I'll pretend to be Lolito Luzugetta….

Luzu: We're all proud of you Vegetta. Also a little nervous WE SURE ARE

Alexby to Luzu: I refuse to sit with you. Oh wait I’m the priest, I won't be sitting at all

PFTT he's so cute

They asked Luzu to go get Lolito LMAO please don't ask Luzu they've got old longstanding beef

Lolito: I want Rubius to take me to the altar uhhhHHHHH UH OH

Sapo Peta showed up in a nice suit that's torn up and Luzu said it ripped because of all his muscles pftt

Alexby: Oh how pretty! Does Lolito have a ring for you too? Vegetta: I — I don't know Oh No

Vegetta: This wedding gives me a bad feeling YOU AND ME BOTH KING

Rubius: Today is the day that two men will forge their destiny, but which men are we talking about? RUBIUS I SWEAR–

FIGHT FOR YOUR MAN FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE COMMIT TO THE MAN YOU LOVE

Rubius: Why do people keep saying I want to stop the wedding? I just want my friends to be happy If you ruin his wedding Vegetta will be the OPPOSITE of happy you moron

Lolito: Today’s my last day in Karmaland! I’m going to marry him then kill him. Just kidding. :) SHUT UP LOLITO!!!! THATS MY BIGGEST FEAR

*Luzu and Alexby fighting* Fargan: Wow this is so tense let’s kiss

Rubius wearing a purple dress wow that’s subtle

Rubius Mexico PFTT

Awh… Vegetta was getting stressed out because things weren’t symmetrical so Luzu made his henchmen fix things :’) Fwiends….

Rubius told Lolito to throw the flower bouquet to him. Lord.

LOLITO PROPOSED TO RUBIUS?? HUH

Oh it was that kind of proposal 😒

Lolito still has doubts against getting married agh

Quackity sleeping through this whole thing rn bruh

Lolito: I keep repeating "Mi niña, mi niña, mi niña” in my mind. It makes me feel such a strong strange thing Me: Huh I wonder what that’s about The fandom: *EXPLODING* Me: OH I SEE. THAT’S A MANGEL / LOLITO REFERENCE

Rubius trying to blackmail Lolito into not getting married to Vegetta AGH

Lolito: Everything is beautiful Vegetta: You're more beautiful. The flowers can't even compare to you. The best part about my eyes is you reflecting on them. THAT”S SO CUTE WTF

Awh, Vegetta looked back at Rubius when Alexby asked if anyone objected to the wedding.

HELL YEAH RUBIUS STOOD UP TO OBJECT TO THE WEDDING, WE LOVE THAT TROPE

Vegeta: Sit down, this time I'm getting married for real HOLY FRICK. POP OFF VEGETTA

NOOO HE’S SHOWING THE PICTURES

Not Sapo Peta being like “yes I was the photographer! :D”

WTHAT THE FRICK

RUBIUS ASKED FOR LOLITO’S HAND IN MARRIAGE???

RUBIUS I HOPE VEGETTA DUMPS YOU THAT”S SO MEAN AND CRUEL

Lolito: Do you know I'm a little crazy? I will need an open relationship, I need love without boundaries.

NO!!!! WHEN WILL VEGETTA CATCH A FRICKIN BREAK, LOLITO’S THE SAME AS RUBIUS

NOBODY IN THIS FRICKIN SERIES IS LOYAL

Noooooo noooo poor Vegetta oh no :((((

Vegetta: Rubius just sabotaged the wedding because he's in love with Lolito! And I didn't want the open relationship, they're valid, but not for me! I love that in the midst of heartbreak he’s still like “that’s valid” oh my gosh

Luzu is badmouthing Rubius and Rubius just said “Betrayal? You’re one to talk, didn’t you betray Quackity?” DANG

Rubius and Lolito got married 💀💀💀 Our worst fear became true

Luzu: How can you celebrating knowing what you did to Vegetta? With everything Vegetta is going through? HELL YEAH TELL EM OFF!!! YOU”RE THE ONLY VALID ONE IN THIS ROOM

Partying at Vegetta’s house is always a tradition but this is the WORST time to have it AGH

Luzu: I'll respect my friend forever, and his dignity. They stole his bride, his wedding and his house. That bear is laughing at Vegetta. But he's not gonna laugh for long. The town hall won't accept manipulation. I love Luzu so frickin much. He’s the only one who’s loyal to Vegetta, sobs

Gosh Vegetta’s house is gorgeous

Oh no Luzu noticing the Rubegetta painting in Vegetta’s house

Vegetta: Leave me alone. I want to cry NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Man Rubius is the EPITOME of “If you can’t be with me you can’t be with anyone” except he’s LITERALLY the reason they aren’t together. This is all Rubius’ fault.

WTF IS THAT POTATO

Wait the machine said Luzu was lying when Rubius asked if his name was Luzu. Does this confirm that uzuL or Evil Luzu is in charge right now?? That would actually be the best case scenario because that would explain why Luzu’s being so contradictory 

Rubius: Is there someone in Karmaland you love? Luzu: No Machine: WRONG WE WIN THESE

Rubius: Are you planning something deeper and darker than being just the mayor? Luzu: No Machine: TRUE

Rubius: Did you commit voter fraud? Luzu: No Machine: TRUE LIAR!!!!!!!!!!!

LMAO SAPO PETA OUTING LUZU FOR RIGGING THE MACHINE

Fargan’s the only person there who still supports Luzu, FARGAN….HE CLOSED YOUR FIANCE’S CHURCH….

Fargan: Rubius needs to be taken down Luzu: And Vegetta should be the judge OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Gosh I love the music Luzu is playing I wish I knew what that was

Rubius: Is there someone you love? Alexby: Yes. It’s a love I carry in secret Weeps

Rubius Gaslighting so hard rn

Rubius, lying: I was wrong, you didn’t do anything bad. Luzu: If you want my trust, arrest Quackity and put him in jail. FRICK

FRICK!!! RUBIUS AGREED

Luzu: The truth, Rubius, I am a man of action and not of words YEAH. WE’RE WELL AWARE

Rubius: Congrats on the mayoral position Luzu: And congrats on your wedding I can just imagine them looking each other dead in the eye as they shake each other’s hands trying to break the other person’s fingers

Luzu: I don’t believe a word he said Frick. So Rubius is going to have to tell Quackity the plan. Or will he? Or will he not tell Quackity so it seems more believable? FRICK

Luzu: I trust no one now :( Just like the beginning of K5… “The only word you can trust is mine”

Luzu, to Sapo Peta: I didn't feel good today. I don't know if you can notice my anxiety, but I hated seeing my friend suffer at the wedding. AGH!!! THE LUZU VEGETTA FRIENDSHIP MAKES MY HEART ACHE!!!!!

Rubius said to chat he’s having a better time with his role now in Karmaland but also. King you’re breaking all of our hearts

Luzu asked Sapo Peta to be his unofficial advisor, thank goodness he’s asking the one mentally stable person in Karmaland

Sapo Peta: I’m not sure what's wrong or right anymore. Maybe you should respect your own judgment, because you're looking for the best outcome for Karmaland.

AghhhHHH

So Rubius left the server, as Lolito's new husband and said he’d get together with Alexby to plan to overthrow Luzu. And SapoPeta will act as a double agent but on Rubius's side. Bruh

Luzu: I’m afraid I won’t be able to make the right decisions in the future Bestie you haven’t made the right decisions in the PRESENT

Rubius to chat: Oh I wasn’t planning on marrying Lolito that was completely improvised WE SHOULDN”T HAVE JOKED ABOUT IT

Oh frick someone said “What if Lolito pulls a Rubius and gets a divorce so he can get all his stuff back?” and I’m like OH FRICK. KARMA

WAIT FARGAN CAUGHT THE BRIDAL BOUQUET?? I DIDNT NOTICE THAT….the only highlights from today’s tragedies was Luzu and Vegetta’s friendship and Fargexby

Sapo Peta: Luzu really seems like a good person, but power... power corrupts. Very few who are in power have had an infinite reign. Human beings are not capable of having that much power. What is good and what is evil? I love you Sapo Peta :(

Thinking about Sapo Peta’s friendship with Luzu and these tweets killed me :(

Oh frick he’s playing the background sad opening music from Beauty and the Beast that’s some of my fave music

Sapo Peta: As you can see, I am a very neutral person, I don't marry anyone. I LOVE HIM SO MUCH

Sapo Peta: If Quackity commits evil, it's because Quackity has an evil side and that can be chosen. I cannot defend a person who commits terrorism, any more than I could with a person who rigs the elections. Sapo Peta really said “Neither of these guys are valid”

WELP.

THE ONLY WINNERS TODAY WERE THE FARGEXBY NATION AND THE LUZUGETTA FOLKS

[cardinaldaughter]

...I really, kinda... want someone to die tonight.

Like, obviously I want that player to be resurrected, but man. I want the angst of a character death.

[jibril-thelibraryangel]

Predictions for tonight’s episode

First of all I think Fearne is definitely going to be fine, not only does reviving her first makes sense because she also has revivify, but story wise it makes sense that FCG would save her first knowing what he knows about Orym’s past (There’s a chance that revivify would fail on Fearne in which case everything is fuck, but that’s unlikely so let’s not think about it).

Laudna’s fate is quite literally a role of the dice, if she passes her next death saving throw I think it’s possible for FCG to revive Fearne and then immediately heal Laudna while Fearne takes care of Orym.

If she doesn’t pass the dice role I truly think nothing can be done, like if Fearne has to choose between saving Orym or Laudna in just a few seconds there is no chance she’s choosing Laudna, regardless of what Orym would want there just to much history with him and the crown keepers.

There’s also a lot of wildcards on the table:

FCG refusing to cast spare the dying because of what it would do to him (I’m not sure what he’s talking about but I’m guessing murder bot may activate if he absorbs too much pain). I don’t think he’ll refuse to use revivify but who knows what may happen when he does.

Liam has been twitting and commenting on a lot of sad Orym stuff lately, so from a purely meta sense it’s not looking good for him. (Liam does love a good tragedy 😔)

Fearne previously saying that she’s died and come back many times already, which was probably a lie but you never know with her.

We don’t even know if revivify would work on Laudna, the spell specifies it doesn’t work on the undead and that’s kinda what she is???

Chetney is at 3 hit points which means there’s a good chance of the wolf’s coming out.

If the explosion Imogen created makes literally any damage everyone except for Imogen and Ashton are dead, just straight up.

Also what the fuck was even the deal with the explosion??? Are they on the moon?? Did they started a second Calamity?? Is Imogen with Otohan??? All those things have huge implications for Orym, Fearne and Laudna’s futures.

Final theory: Fearne is fine, Orym is permadeath, Laudna roles good and is fine or Laudna roles poorly and Delilah pulls some strings, which means she’s fine for now but it’s going to have serious consequences down the line (I truly think Laudna’s potential story is too good to end here and simply having Delilah take full control of her body wouldn’t be as interesting).

Bonus: I absolutely love the time travel theory, I think it won’t cheapen what happened on episode 33, it gives the Bells an interesting challenge and it makes some amount of sense because of all the dunomancy potions present. Definitely not going to happen tho.

[poppyseed799]

As painful as it would be, I kind of want a… how do I put this… an “early permadeath” in Last Life.

What do I mean? Well, in Third Life, the permadeaths were all crammed into the final two episodes. They were very dramatic and sad, but you don’t really get too much time to dwell on each individual death thanks to them all happening in somewhat rapid succession.

I want someone to die and it to MATTER. Like their series is just way shorter than the others’. People will actually have time to mourn their friends.

I don’t have any ideas for who I want to die tho cuz man… that’s rough. No more of that character (I don’t have a least favorite, and I want anyone that isn’t as involved to have a chance to do more), plus a loss of content for the actual content creator who loses. It would just be very painful but I WANT that IMPACT man….

I know that if this happens it’s probably gonna be to one of my faves and I’ll be very sad but THAT’S NOT GONNA STOP ME FROM MAKING THIS POST.

And note that none of this is criticism to 3rd Life nor suggestions for Last Life, it’s all improv so whatever happens happens yknow?

[pixelfun20]

Little Lilac Blossom, Part 4

Summary: Joe Hills has always been able to see things he isn’t supposed to. When he spots a small, transparent boy by the name of Wilbur following his friend Grian around, he isn’t as surprised as he is sad.  Part 1 - Part 5 (Check the #little lilac blossom tag for all parts!)

Credit to @give-grian-rights for the Brothers AU! Nothing would be possible without her!

Also sorry for the lateness. I have way too many WIPs and terrible time management

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

“How do I tell someone that their estranged younger brother is dead?” Joe asks. 

“I… what?”

Joe turns from where he’s been petting one of his various dogs to see Xisuma staring at him. He’d also wager a guess that the admin is open-mouthed, even though his yellow and black helmet is obscuring that particular part of his face.

“I’m serious,” he continues, looking back at the dog. He checked the nametag. Her name is Krista. Her fur is soft and it stopped his hands from shaking, because it has been so long since he’d seriously thought about permadeath. 

“Joe, are you alright?” X asks. Joe can hear him move as he feeds Krista a treat, scratching her behind the ears. He moves into the corner of his eye, now sitting next to him. 

“I’m fine,” he says, letting the dog lick his hand. “It’s Grian. Apparently he has a younger brother named Wilbur. He’s 24, but they haven’t talked since they were children. They were raised by different families.”

A long silence stretches between them before Xisuma takes a deep breath.

“And how do you know that?”

“Wilbur died. His ghost is haunting Grian, but I’m the only person who can see or hear him.”

“Oh my…” Xisuma breathes, shifting to find a more comfortable position on the ground.

“It’s alright,” Joe says again, letting Krista onto his lap. “I’m just out of practice with these things. I’ll be honest, I’ve been avoiding telling Grian because I don’t know how.”

Another silence stretches between them. Distantly, Joe can hear the waves lapping at the shore a few dozen meters away. As he idly takes hold of a chew toy, waving it around so that Krista can chase it, he can’t help the grief that flows through him, taking his breath away. It’s been so long since he’s experienced death, true death, and now he’s unsure of how to approach Grian about it. As cute as he is, Wilbur is still dead, his child self only a shadow of the person he’d used to be.

“Well…” Xisuma says after a long pause, shaking his head. “I guess the best thing to do would be to be honest about it. If… if I didn’t know about what had happened with E.X., I’d want to be told about it, honestly.”

Joe nods to himself, but struggles to hide the wince that comes with his friends’ words.

“And I wouldn’t leave him alone, strictly, but I also wouldn’t force him to act in any certain way,” Xisuma continues, more gently. “Grian’s… been through a lot, more than most people here know. With news like this… I wouldn’t want him to go off on his own. I don’t think he would, but…” he shrugs.

Joe has no clue what the admin is talking about, but doesn’t pry. As a general rule, Xisuma knows, at least vaguely, the backgrounds of everyone on the server. Besides that stipulation, though, everyone else is free to share their pasts as they wish. If Grian hasn’t told Joe about whatever would worry X in this way, he isn’t about to ask.

“Do you want me to come with you?” Xisuma asks. Joe shakes his head. 

“No, this is my burden to bear, I think. Besides Cleo, I’m the only one who can interact with Wilbur; I should be the one to break the news to him.”

Xisuma nods sagely. “Good luck. You’re going to need it.”

O0o.o0O

Usually, Joe considers himself an emotionally stable man, probably one of the most stable on the server (which is saying something when you have people like TFC and Cub to compete against). He likes to talk about his feelings, and enjoys sorting out why he feels a certain way in certain situations. It’s calming for him.

All that background seems to fly out the window when he stands in front of Grian’s mansion.

They’ve already set everything up. Cleo has taken Wilbur out for a walk, the former teaching him the ins and outs of sign language as they go. The last Joe had seen them, Cleo had her hands cupped around Wilbur’s as she taught him the sign for yes by touch. Xisuma is at his own base, but Scar and Mumbo have been contacted about “something important happening” and are thus staying in the area. They haven’t been told about Wilbur, not before Grian, but it comforted Joe, on some level, to know that some of Grian’s closer friends were waiting on standby. 

Just in case.

A deep breath. In for six, hold for four, out for eight. 

It will be okay. Wilbur is here, in some capacity, and Grian has so many people to support him. It’ll be okay. 

He walks inside.

Once again, the half-finished interior greets him, chests lining the walls and the two maps on the left side entranceway. Joe moves past them, going into the main foyer. Grian is currently inset in the middle of the floor, trading with a villager for an enchanted book.

“Grian,” he calls out, and he means to continue, but when he opens his mouth, nothing else comes out. So he just stands there as the sandy-haired man turns around in mild surprise, a smile (Wilbur’s smile) on his face. 

“Hey Joe!” He replies with a wave of his hand, as if Joe isn’t here to deliver potentially life-crushing news. “What brings you here? Have you seen the whole mansion yet? I’ve made a lot of progress since you came last.”

Joe puts his hands in his pockets to stop them from shaking.

“We need to talk,” is what comes out, in the end. 

Grian’s smile falls.  “Joe? Is everything alright?”

“I don’t—” he stops himself, remembering Xisuma’s words. “No, Grian. It’s not.” Worry is now on Grian’s face. And a bit of fear. “Is there a place we can talk in private?”

“I, uh…” Grian glances around a bit, pocketing the few emeralds he traded, and nods. “Yeah, yeah.” 

He hurries up the stairs and leads Joe around to the back, where the small, curtained-off portion he’d seen on his last visit sits. He pulls aside a part to reveal an unmade bed and a dresser with some clothes hanging out of it. Grian tsk’s to himself when he sees the state, hurrying to pull up the covers on the bed. 

“Sorry,” he apologizes, pulling the comforter taught. “I wasn’t expecting visitors.”

“It’s okay,” Joe says, the words feeling lame even as they came out. He sits down at the foot of the bed, and pats the empty spot next to him. Grian pauses from where he’s shoving a blue sweater into his drawer, then sighs quietly and sits down next to him.

“What are you going to hit me with?” He asks. “Something to do with EVO?”

Joe doesn’t know what in the world EVO is. But that isn’t exactly his business, so he lets it slide. 

“Grian, do you know who Wilbur is?”

Grian freezes.

Joe doesn’t press him for an immediate answer. He can tell that Grian has been preparing for terrible news, but whatever it was, Wilbur evidently has not registered on that list. So he sits, and watches as Grian’s expression shifts from surprise, to confusion, to realization, and then a sort of guarded curiosity.

“He… he was my brother,” he finally answers. “We were separated when our parents divorced. I haven’t seen him since I was… six, maybe? I’ve been looking for him for a while, but.” He shrugs. “Never got anywhere; interserver travel wasn’t well enough documented, then. How do you know about him?”

“I…” And suddenly Joe’s mouth feels so very dry. “I can see ghosts. He was following you around at the Shopping District eight days ago. So… I asked him for his name.”

And Grian’s face crumples.

[thuskindlyshescatters]

I mean if this is Penny's permadeath, then its a very unsatisfying end to her arc, she just got turned human after all that work the others did to save her, and it just feels to cruel for this show that is about hope to leave her on such a downer note that death was the only way she was able to find peace.. thats why I think , or at least hope that she isn't gone forever, she never got a chance to live normaly and do what she wanted and ever since we met her that was her motivation.. to say death was the answer to that just dosent feel right I dunno that's my take, hope this wasn't too negative.

Here’s the thing.

It’s tragic and sad, for all the reasons you listed.

That was the point.

This was a crushing defeat that will forever change the way the characters see themselves and others.

And if you’re sad about it, GOOD! That’s what you were meant to feel! Fiction is, in part, supposed to be a safe way to process grief. Theories about how Penny (or any other dead character, really) is supposed to come back because her death was just so shocking/sad/unfair are a way for people to process their grief over this character, as they rightfully should. But the moment that their denial (i.e. refusing to acknowledge that the events of the show were authentic), anger (i.e. attacking other members of the FNDM for being satisfied with her death), bargaining (i.e. interacting with the creators online as if it will make a difference), or depression (i.e. pushing for others to drop the show) have a negative impact on the FNDM, it’s time to take a step back from the entitlement you feel towards the character and the show.

I know that it’s sad, but from a narrative perspective, that’s just how it goes. I’m not going to criticize the show for killing her because, ultimately, I thought it was narratively justified, but moreover because I have no control over whether or not she comes back.

So theorize all you want. But don’t run it by me.

[hopeymchope]

Persona Lite with Fire Emblem sprinkles on top

I’ve been addicted to Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore on my Switch for the past few weeks, and I’m getting close to wrapping it up. I figured it’s high time I talked about it a bit.

The game that would become Tokyo Mirage Sessions (TMS) was first announced as “Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem,” which is absolutely not a good way to describe what this became. 

This title led so many people astray.

What comes to mind when you think of (mainline) Shin Megami Tensei games? An apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic setting. First-person-perspective battles. Negotiating with demons. Battles against deities. TMS contains a little bit of the third thing on that list, and none of the others. 

What comes to mind when you think of Fire Emblem? Medieval-era settings. Permadeath (either optional or mandatory). RTS-style combat. The famed “weapon triangle.” Support conversations. TMS contains the fourth thing on that list, and none of the others. 

But let’s be honest here: For most people (especially Westerners), the first thing you think of when you think about Shin Megami Tensei isn’t even the games with “Shin Megami Tensei” in the title. It’s the Persona series! They’ve grown far more popular than their parent franchise at this point.

So I suppose it was natural that TMS is, at its core, a “Persona Lite” game. The darker edges of Persona titles are removed in favor of something more T-friendly, but the basics are all there: A group of teenagers in modern-day Japan discover a strange alternate dimension that they can access which also gives them the ability to summon supernatural powers/entities. When people start to go missing in this other dimension, it falls to this group of teens to unite and save the day, ultimately leading to them discovering the reason why this alternate world has been bleeding into modern Japan in the first place and, in the end, saving humanity from annihilation. That’s totally how Persona works, and it’s also totally how Tokyo Mirage Sessions works!

However, instead of summoning Shin Megami Tensei demons as “Personas,” the heroes of TMS summon Fire Emblem characters that are “Mirages.” Each character is permanently linked to a single Mirage, so there are no “Wild Card” characters here. However, you can level the characters’ mirages up to make them take on new forms and new abilities. FE fans will notice that all of the characters here are from the Falchion/Tiki/Shadow Dragon stories - the two Marth adventures (Shadow Dragon/Mystery of the Emblem) and the semi-recent 3DS hit Awakening.

For some weird reason, all of the Fire Emblem “mirages” wear helmets, masks, or other face coverings 100% of the time. The only exception is Tiki.

The lack of the darker themes in many Persona games and the fact that there’s no “Wild Card” to manage is what makes this, in my opinion, more like PERSONA LITE. And then you get your Fire Emblem backup characters to serve as extra flavoring. The characters we meet from Fire Emblem are rarely the focus — you spend most of your time with the teen heroes — but they still manage to show off their unique personalities and carry in a load of FE fanservice. (The good kind of fanservice where it’s full of references and nods to the continuity of the series, I mean. Not the other kind where it’s softcore porn.)

Fire Emblem fanservice was one of the biggest delights for me here. If you’re looking for any SMT/Persona characters to pop up and link the continuity together, you can stop looking because they aren’t here. But if you want to see specific characters from the three source FE games pop up here, a metric ton manage to do so. For example: Tharja (from Awakening) creates two golems for training purposes, which she names Bord and Cord after the pair of heroes from Marth’s era. And then the actual spirits of Bord and Cord possess those golems. So naturally, they start bickering and fighting. It’s delightful. 

So yeah, there’s plenty of nods for FE fans to appreciate even if your favorite characters are taking a back seat to a bunch of teenagers. Fire Emblem fans will recognize the heroic mirages, the enemy boss mirages, the weapon triangle weakness/strength system and lots of musical cues. On the flip side, Persona fans will recognize the story structure, the magic spells the characters wield (things like “Mazio” and “Diarama” and “Rakukaja”), the common enemies you encounter and cameos from a few of the more famous demons found on signage around Tokyo. Sadly, there are no familiar sounds or music pieces borrowed from SMT/Persona that I noticed.

In addition to the main story, there are also “Side Stories” for your party and side quests from various NPCs. The whole game lasts around 50 hours even if you aren’t trying to 100% it.

And while the music here is mostly pretty good — especially the Fire Emblem themes — I really wish we’d gotten some Persona-style tunes in here. Persona soundtracks are absolutely killer and everybody knows it. I wanted to hear some Shihoko Hirata, some Lotus Juice, some Yumi Kawamura, some Lyn Inaizumi. Alas, that never happens. Sad face.

In fact, as far as vocal tracks go, you’ll only be hearing the performances of the main characters. See, the story this time revolves around a group of teens who are hired by a talent agency to become young starlets of the stage and screen. You meet plenty of pop idols, a cooking show host, aspiring actors, and those who do combinations of the above. There’s a lot of focus on the Japanese entertainment industry, and it’s mostly a very positive portrayal about how hard teen stars work to reach their dreams and how fulfilling it can be when they express themselves through their artistic pursuits. Speaking as someone who legitimately does not care one iota about the idol industry in Japan or Asia as a whole, I’m very happy that these characters managed to remain likable and their pursuits stayed enjoyable throughout. No one here is an ultra-deep character, but no one here is a total cipher, either. I’m additionally thankful that the vocal songs are another highlight of the soundtrack alongside the FE tunes. 

The last thing I’ll bring up is the “Sessions” mentioned in the title. It’s a battle mechanic wherein striking an enemy with a weapon or element they’re weak to will enable other characters to start jumping in with follow-up attacks. At first, it’s just one or two follow-ups, but by the game’s end, you might be sitting there for 15 or more consecutive strikes on an enemy after you initiate a “Session” of follow-ups. The greatest quality-of-life improvement built into this Switch port is that you can turn on “Quick Session” to make these attack animations much shorter and more rapid than they ever were in the Wii U original. I never had to play that one, but I can’t imagine I’d have much patience for constantly triggering 15 attack animations with every round. SO glad I don’t have to sit through that.

This is just a two-strike Sessions, so it won’t last long enough for you to take a beverage break.

So yeah, there’s a lot for RPG fans, Persona fans, and most of all, Fire Emblem fans to dig in “Tokyo Mirage Sessions.” And since we already covered that Danganronpa fans are apparently predisposed to enjoying Persona and Fire Emblem, that probably means that YOU, dear reader, are likely to dig this game as well. 

[mugiwara-56]

A gripe I have with more recent FE games has been how they handled permadeath. Or rather how they’ve done nothing to capitalize on the system that FE is most known for. Like, imagine a FE game where if you get a character killed, the story plays out slightly differently. Or hell, what if they added an optional Ironman mode that forces you to play with permadeath by automatically saving your progress each turn and erases your save file if you get a game over. Of course it would probably be one of those things you don’t unlock until after beating the game, but it would be so fucking cool.

But I don’t think FE is going in this direction. 3H, while a great game, honestly felt like it only had permadeath because that’s what people expected from the series. You didn’t get any new units after the halfway point, so no replacements. I’d honestly argue that permadeath hurt 3H more than it helped. 3H put a bigger emphasis on its characters than a lot of its predecessors did, especially with things like support conversations getting more focus. But the sad thing is with permadeath, it felt like it couldn’t have its characters drive the plot as much as it wanted cause it’s hard to have a character be important to the plot if they can get themselves killed at any moment.

Anyway my intent here isn’t to complain about 3H so don’t take it that way. Basically I’d just think it would be cool to get a FE game structured more like Shadow Dragon that basically expected players to get units killed.

[czarojay]

LONG POST

Someone please stop me from writing the ghost tubbo idea i had a month ago to procrastinate on the dreamon au

Because like i had this AU and maybe if i write about it here it will stop me??? I can’t actually find the conversation on discord where i talked about it so i’m probably just gonna throw stuff here from memory and change half of it

Feel free to write a fanfic inspired by this, but 1. tag me 2. i’d appreciete if you credited the idea or at least said i inspired you ^^’

Ok so Tubbo died during the Festival. Like I don’t care if in this a Respawn!AU or Permadeath, irl or whatever. Tubbo doesn’t respawn and dies in Tommy’s arms. 

Assuming it’s a world with Respawn, Tommy just waits for Tubbo’s body to disintegrate or whatever the bodies in this AU do, as Techno massacrates people in the background, he just repeats to himself something along the lines of “C-come on Tubbo! Respawn already!”, but his friend stays limp in his arms, growing cold. 

In the end, they need to flee, like they did during the festival. Feel free to make Wilbur even more insane or evil whatever you prefer and make him leave the body saying either don’t take it, he’s a traitor, just like Eret or just it’s going to be a dead weight (ha, a pun!) (that was so inappropriate to the scene sorry ignore this), so they leave the body and it’s buried in the Manburg just like in the later Tommy’s stream where he zoomed onto the grave with a sign saying that here lies the traitor Tubbo. 

But you can also make Tommy carry his dead friend’s body all the way to Pogtopia, anger and grief clashing, still in the denial stage, hoping Tubbo will come back. Like Tubbo dies all the time! He’s just such a clingy, clumsy big man right? He will come back, right?! Tommy rests Tubbo somewhere in the Pogtopia on a makeshift bed hoping it will make the healing faster and as Techno and Wilbur talk ‘downstairs’ he realizes something. Tubbo isn’t coming back. He would be back by now normally. 

He’s shook to the core with the realization and shakingly goes down to Techno and Wilbur. The pit happens, but at the end, even after Techno’s speech about the language of violence, maybe Tommy snaps? Maybe Tommy yells how Tubbo isn’t coming back? Maybe the older men, practically brothers to Tommy, realise that Tubbo is nowhere to be seen? Maybe they realise the boy, the spy, the victim of the situation is dead? Maybe Niki stares and gasps in horror in the background and is the one who goes to Tommy first to comfort him and help him with the wounds from both the pit and the whole today? Maybe Wilbur stares in horror at his fists, realising he’s the one who put Tubbo in danger? He wanted Tubbo to do the speech, he made Tubbo run back and forth between the two leaders, maybe if he didn’t pressure Tubbo as much, Schlatt wouldn’t have noticed. Wilbur falls to the ground and sits with his head between the knees for a long time, wondering about what he did wrong. 

Technoblade?  He’s awkward and we all know it. He may be a god of PvP, the best farmer in Minecraft, but he’s still awkward. Of course he wants to comfort his little brother, but what can he really do? He’s at loss and still hasn’t fully accepted what he’s done. He killed Tubbo, but he had thought he’d respawn/survive(I really went at the beginning and said this can be also for permadeath au and then wrote it all about respawn au but whatcha gonna do huh). 

Overall the tension in Pogtopia is high, but to be fair, so is Manburg. People didn’t know about the execution and (you know what im just gonna keep going as if the respawn au was planned) the brush with death, even if they respawned, was never pleasant. It’s even worse when they somehow find out Tubbo didn’t respawn. Some people are happy with the fact, others are in shock and grief. 

And here can end chapter 1! Or at least it feels natural for me to cut off somewhere here! Idk really it all depends on your writing style. I'm not gonna dictate how you’re supposed to write idk myself neither. 

Assuming Tommy took the body with him, he later goes on to the only place where Tubbo found peace. Where Tubbo went during the war, the only place where he wasn’t bothered, where he was safe and truly free, without a leader or a dictator over him. Tommy went to Tubbo’s jungle base. 

He took the body with him, not letting anyone of Pogtopia know where he’s going, not wanting a Wilbur or a Technoblade, especially a Technoblade with him. He felt as though he needed to do this alone. He needed to make sure his friend, at least posthumously, gets the treatment he deserves. So he buried his best friend as he would bury a king. 

Tommy spends the night at the jungle base and awakes at night, by a greenish blue light. It’s not too strong, but it’s just enough to be felt. He rubs at his eyes, trying to awake himself, to see if he’s not seeing this, but there it is. A will-o-wisp floating in the middle of the building. Tommy gets up, picks up his sword and carefully maneuvers around the wooden beams with a collapsed floor, he gets to the centre. 

He gently cups his fingers and let’s the ember fall on his hands, but as soon as it touches them, there’s a bright flash and Tommy falls to the floor momentarily blinded. When he regains his sight he looks up and sees a ghost floating above him. Its back is turned to him, but he can tell it’s as confused as he is. But wait… He recognizes that shirt. It may be more bright and glowish, but… 

“TUBBO” he screams in the dead of the night, the nature suddenly quieting. The spirit turns around with phantom tears in their eyes “,Tommy?” they whisper and that was the moment both of them were sure of each other’s identity. 

Tommy rushes, tries to stand up and hug Tubbo, but he simply passes through the boy. 

As disheartening as that was, Tommy is still overjoyed to see Tubbo alive. Or at least here, as they soon agree that he is in fact dead. Feel free to put a flashback here, a new paragraph or whatever maybe a new chapter from tubbos perspective.

 The last thing Tubbo saw was a grim grin from Techno and a flash of blue and red fireworks. Here is a “how creative can you get” test! You can put somehow afterlife looks like, maybe something comes for Tubbo to go on, but he refuses? Maybe he sees nothing or everything is a blur? Maybe it was the last thing and the first thing he saw was Tommy’s crying face? Here is your free chappy for all the angst it can fit! Have fun go wild, turn on some sad music and let it ALL out! 

Tubbo and Tommy talk for long and Tommy tells Tubbo the fallout of his death and Tubbo tells Tommy what happened from his perspective. 

But here’s the funny thing, because I don’t know what you think, but… ghosts aren’t actually bound to places! They’re spirits they can go wherever they please! So Tubbo decided to stick around to Tommy. And as they travel and reach Pogtopia, they find out, Wilbur or Techno don’t see Tubbo. From a brief moment, where Tommy was sleeping and Tubbo broke away and went to see Manburg after the festival on his own eyes, he meets Schlatt and as he stops his breathing (he doesn’t need it, he’s dead, he just does it for comfort or out of habit), he’s scared, he think he’s noticed and waits for insults or a surprise or a sorry or a laugh, he feels something phase through him. Schlatt didn’t see him. Schlatt can’t see him. 

After a number of tests Tommy and Tubbo settle it. The leader can’t see the spirit. 

Niki can see him, it’s settled pretty much the day after Tommy came back, with a shout of fear and surprise and later happiness. 

Quackity can see him as it’s settled, when Tommy meets him in the forest and Quackity aside from being scared shitless by a teenager with netherite armour, he sees a disoriented, glitchy ghost behind the teenager, floating creepily, lighting up the forest around them in a sickly cyan light. 

Everyone can see Tubbo, but the people who caused his very death.

AND I’M DONE HERE. I DON’T KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. I CAN TRY TO THINK OF SOMETHING IF YOU ASK ME, BUT RN AS I’M WRITING THIS DOWN I DON’T KNOW. 

Reminder, if you want to write this plz credit the idea <3 Also holy shit this hit 1831 words how.

[jadethest0ne]

35! Go for it! ✨

Oh right, for this ask game! I had nearly forgotten about it XD

35. Ramble about any fic-related thing you want! 

If there was one fic-related thing I’d want to ramble about it’d be specifically being a comic artist, and the different things I experienced going from the Pokemon fandom to the RotTMNT fandom as a comic artist.

I spent 5 years creating a Pokemon comic called “Liberty”, based on a nuzlocke playthrough of Pokemon Soul Silver (basically pokemon on hard-mode with permadeath involved for those of you who don’t know what a nuzlocke is). Meanwhile, it’s been just over a year since my first foray into creating comics for the Rise fandom.

The Similarities

The Disparity between Fanart and Fanfiction

Being a comic artist is odd sometimes because I basically do both fanart and fanficiton at the same time. I can understand and vibe with what a lot of both fanartists and fanfiction writers go through and deal with. This is why I feel like I can answer a lot of these fanfiction questions despite a good chunk of my story-telling being visual.

I am also aware of the disparity between fanart often getting a lot more eyes and attention than fanfiction. Deciding to write a piece of fanfiction instead of draw it out in comic format is often a calculated choice on my part, because writing prose takes more energy from me and often gets less rewards via views and interaction from readers. But despite it taking more energy, it takes less overall time for me to write something out than draw the same story, so I often factor that in when deciding which medium to create a story in.

I feel bad that a lot of fanfiction writers don’t get the attention that they deserve because of this disparity, so may I remind readers to please please PLEASE support your fanfiction creators and interact with their work! It seriously means a lot to them! Even a little message or a reblog will do! The main similarity between these two fandoms is this disparity, and I think it’d be awesome if we could get the number of interactions between fanart/fancomics and fanfiction to be more equal.

The Differences

I’m more popular as a Rise artist?

So, as I said, I spent 5 years making a Pokemon comic and 1 year creating a bunch of Rise comics. And yet I think I got more (or at least the same number of) viewers on my Rise comics in that one year than on my Pokemon comics in 5 years. I certainly got a similar number of followers, despite the differences in time. One of the main reasons for this is likely due to the social media platforms I posted on. I posted “Liberty” on deviantart and on the Pokemon Nuzlocke forums, the latter being particularly niche. As for my Rise comics and artwork, I branched out to other sites including here on Tumblr, Instagram, AO3, and Twitter (though insta got fewer comics due to the image size restrictions). The number and popularity of the sites I posted Rise artwork to are more than deviantart and that is likely a big reason. The other reasons for my increase in popularity may be for some of the other differences...

There aren’t that many comic artists in the TMNT fandom

I could probably name only a handful of consistent comic creators in, not only the Rise fandom, but in the TMNT fandom. And I mean the long-running, over-arching story type of comic creators. There aren’t that many of us. There are tons of artists and fanfic writers out there, yes, but very few that combine the two.

Meanwhile the Pokemon community has TONS. Especially the nuzlocke community. Heck, the Pokemon nuzlocke community started and was named because of a popular comic detailing the events of the creator’s nuzlocke challenge playthrough of Pokemon Emerald. You get a little bit more lost in the crowd amongst so many other comic artists in the Pokemon community, but at the same time have more people to learn from and relate to in that way.

My involvement with the Fandoms has been different

There’s been a lot of collaboration and working together among creators within each respective fandom. I feel like personally, a lot of my collabs with Rise creators has been a lot more direct and more personal than the kind of things I did in the Pokemon fandom.

For example, in the Pokemon comic fandom, it was really common to cameo each others’ characters in your comic, or include each others’ comics or characters in memes. This wasn’t always a planned thing, though we would ask each other for permission. I joined a Pokemon comic discord, but most of my interactions there and on other platforms involved brainstorming help. Not only that, but sometimes the community was a bit more competitive as well. For instance the Nuzlocke Forums would hold an “extravaganza” every year where folks voted on various categories to vote for the best nuzlocke (I won “Best Pokemon” and “Most improved” in 2018 :3 ).

Meanwhile with the Rise fandom, I did more things like art trades, collaborative art pieces, and zine work. These were a lot more direct and planned out and involved a bit more trust and interaction with other artists. I also became close friends with the folks in the discords that I joined as part of a Rise server, beyond just “fellow creator”.

As a result, I found myself doing a lot more serious artwork and even created other fics for the Rise fandom beyond just my comics, while when it came to Pokemon I stuck mainly to my “Liberty” art/comics.

More eyes, less interaction and visa versa

Again, this could be mainly a differences in what social media I’m using, but a big difference I found between readers of my work is that I got A LOT more people commenting on my Pokemon comic than on my Rise comics. I may be getting more views on my TMNT comics, but boy did I get more interaction with my Pokemon comics. I would get at least 5 people leaving these in-depth analysis or guesses of what would happen on each page for my Pokemon comic, not to mention the dozens of other reactions I would get in the comments. And despite that comic being on hiatus for a year, I still get some comments on it!

So, unless I know the commenter personally, I feel a little less involved with my readership with my Rise comics than my Pokemon one. Which is a little sad. I do appreciate you all who appreciate my work, but I feel like I appreciate you from afar and can only go “awww” at the things y’all leave in the notes or on the anonymous asks I get, instead of being able to thank you more directly.

Rise readers are a bit less patient

I get lots more people asking me “when the next page is coming” on my Rise comics and fics much more often than on my Pokemon comic. This virtually never happened with my Pokemon comic. Granted, I was way more consistent with “Liberty” and it had a set schedule, whereas my Rise comics/fanfics never have. But still.

I really DO NOT like those kinds of asks/comments. Please do not ask me when the next one is coming out. It makes me feel stressed and ashamed and pressured, which can create negative feelings around my work and make me less likely to finish them. I get that you’re excited, and that’s cool. But literally no one likes those kinds of comments.

For perspective, “Liberty”, my Pokemon comic, has been on hiatus for nearly a year and I’ve gotten maybe two comments to that effect, and they were newer readers who weren’t around at the time that I announced my hiatus and the reasons thereof. My “Liberty” readers have been so patient with me (bless them), and I feel a real loyalty to that kind of readership. I don’t know when, yet, but I really want to get back to “Liberty” someday, not just for myself or that story that I lovingly crafted, but also for them.

Pokemon was a hobby, Rise is a passion

Likely due to the fact that I have made a lot of close friends within the Rise community, and the fact that it has helped me immensely through this really tough year, I feel so much closer with the Rise creator community. Pokemon was a thing that I did for fun as a side hobby. My TMNT related comics and art have pushed me so much further in my art, gotten me involved in various projects, gotten me into creating animations, holy heck was I sucked into this fandom in such a short amount of time, and I love it so much.

I have been a fan of Pokemon since I was a kid, and I never thought I’d find a piece of media that would capture my attention and adoration as much. I think at a point when I was shifting from the Pokemon to the Rise fandom I said something along the lines of “I feel like I’m cheating on Pokemon with Rise”/j but it’s kinda true, haha!

In the end, both fandoms and the people in them mean a lot to me, and I’ve grown a lot from them as an artist and a person. I will be forever grateful to the other creators, readers, artists, writers, friends, collaborators, etc in both.

Thank you all very much!

[crypty]

Bleed the Water Red

Tommy wasn’t scared. He didn’t even feel pain. The sight of his blood floating gently to the surface, red bursts of color in clear water, was oddly beautiful. Like adding milk to tea. Tommy wondered what would happen now, he lost the duel. L’Manberg wouldn’t get to see its forever. Dream won, his SMP crushed the last hope for Tommy’s beautiful new nation. 

The dammed arrow went straight through Tommy’s chest, tearing through the soft uniform and staining the, well not spotless now, white shirt. That fucking arrow that knocked him off the goddamn bridge, forcing him into the water so he couldn’t even see Wilbur or Tubbo-fuck is he crying?  Where’s Tubbo? His best friend? Or Wilbur? Wilbur could make it better. Tommy needed them but here he was, sinking to the bottom of a shitty river, his last hope gone. Oh but there’s Wilbur, diving in after him. Wilbur would always save Tommy, right?

Wilbur grabbed Tommy, hauling him back to the bridge, trying desperately to ignore the red water and the usually sharp eyes glazed with pain. “Dream-shit-Dream I need to talk to you. Dream I know what you want” said Tommy. Dream, to his credit, looked horrified by the gore. “Tommy I... I’m so sorry. What do you need?” “Dream please. Let L’Manberg stay. Please Dream, this isn’t a game anymore. We’ve lost, we’ve sacrificed, so much. Dream I don’t beg but please.” “Tommy... from this day on, L’Manberg will be an independent nation. I swear, I swear on anything you want just... rest easy ok?” Dream’s voice broke at the end, despite the literal war raging, everyone seemed invincible. George’s hand rested on his shoulder, pulling him to the rest of the Dream Team with only a sad nod to Wilbur. The Dream Team. Not much of a dream now. God, Dream didn’t feel like a leader. He felt like a murderer with not a drop of blood on him. Perhaps that’s worse.

Tubbo, Wilbur, and Fundy quietly surrounded Tommy, blocking his view of the Dream Team. Tommy tried his best not to thrash about, he was so scared but he wanted to die like a man. God, he was so scared. “Tommy, we did it. L’Manberg is free Tommy. C’mon, you gotta live, we need help to build it up.” Everyone knew that wasn’t why Tubbo wanted, needed, Tommy to live but saying so would make it too real. 

Fundy wished he could talk but his throat closed and his eyes burned with tears. Fundy tried to smile at Tommy but a small grimace was all he could manage. 

“Tommy you did good. Tommy you did so well, I’m so proud Tommy. Tommy please. Tommy please don’t leave me.” Wilbur wanted to be strong, to not make it harder for Tommy but goddamnit he needed his right hand man. Fundy rested his hand on Wilbur’s shoulder, hoping that the physical comfort would say more than he could. 

“Will?”

“Yeah Tommy? What do you need?”

“Will I can’t feel my legs. Will I’m so scared”

And then, Tommy was gone. 

~~~

Masterlist

https://thelullabyer12.tumblr.com/post/635902461766418432/permadeath-au-masterlist

[sweetest-honeybee]

To Hell and Back

Chapter 23

Summary: Tango goes to have some cake an hot chocolate with Stress.

Characters: Tango, Stress, Xisuma (Doc, Hels, Wels, Keralis, Impulse mentions)

TW: None I don’t think?

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They were all in shock at the event.

Xisuma was seething.

Doc was pulling Beef and Wels out of the cage.

Tango had shot the arrow, much to their surprise.

Hels was still stuck in his other state of mind, not showing any signs of returning to his usual sadistic self. Tango’s hands were shaking from shooting his friend for any reason that wasn’t to just mess around. But again, it wasn’t Wels. It was a weird substitute for Wels that apparently had more willpower than he did and that really said something.

Thankfully, the knight was unconscious now. Only one arrow wasn’t enough to kill him and that’s what he hoped for. If Wels died and respawned, while he wouldn’t be too far away, it was safe to assume whatever that thing was had control over him and would have him flying off somewhere else in the opposite direction. Really, at some point it would come out to be a stupid plan. They’d message everyone to capture Wels on sight and given how spread apart everyone was across the map, hiding spots weren’t too evident. A search team of about twenty odd people would find him within an hour at most.

“Tango, are you alright?” Xisuma asked him. His head snapped towards the admin.

The demon exhaled shakily. “I shot him,” was all he said, still staring at the scene in front of him.

“I know, I know, but you did the right thing, Tango.” Xisuma’s voice wavered too much for Tango’s liking. He seemed just as panicked as everyone else was. Yet, his hands were balled right around his sword and his eyes showed none of the usual softness behind his visor.

Tango shook his head, disregarding that statement. “I shot Wels, X.” He gestured vaguely at the knight. In the spur of the moment, he forgot that it was Wels simply being controlled, firing at him instinctively. But after it all, it was still his tiefling friend.

“Yes, you did. But you also just saved Beef from being hurt more than….that.” He gestured vaguely and then put a reassuring hand on Tango’s shoulder. “You can leave if you like. You don’t have to be here.”

Well thanks, Tango wanted to say bitterly. Not quite what he wanted to hear, but Xisuma had a point. A shaking mess of a demon who could now barely hold his bow wasn’t too useful in this situation. Before Tango could accept the invitation to leave, the admin was already typing into his communicator, presumably asking for more help. His hands dropped to his sides defeatedly.

“Okay,” he muttered, taking one last look at the unconscious pair. “Keep me updated?”

“Will do.”

With that and a quick pat on the back, the demon rocketed away from the sandstone building. While he flew, he took out his communicator to see who was coming to help in his place. Preferably more than just one person, he thought. Probably someone fairly close by. Thankfully, he doubted Stress would be accompanying them and her hot chocolate sounded quite good right now.

<Xisuma> We need some backup at Beef’s base

<ImpulseSV> I can lend a hand

<Keralis> Me too

<Keralis> On my way

Well, at least they had people who Wels didn’t just try to kill an hour earlier. Tango was still a bit shaken up by that. So, he decided to visit Stress, seeing as she wasn’t accompanying them. Rather than taking the Nether Hub, he opted to take the long route to think and simultaneously clear his head. He kept thinking about Evil X for some reason, but that was justified quickly when he thought back to Xisuma.

Knowing the admin, he could probably just ask about it later, but he didn’t really want to press into matters that weren’t his, jokingly or not, given what’d happened earlier on from doing so. He also wondered about Evil X and how nervous the guy looked before flying off to his base. Poor dude, maybe Tango should’ve at least tried to understand what happened. After all, Xisuma was rare to anger and when he was, Tango didn’t imagine that it was pretty, be it cold silent glares or outright rage.

Nonetheless, it would probably leave you upset with yourself more often than not.

Slowly, he crept up on the familiar giant butterflies crawling around on the jungle trees and the pink topped buildings. The butterflies glanced at him but continued their activities. He landed on the glass rainbow to get a better view of the surrounding area. The demon looked around, not initially finding Stress, but after a few more seconds his eyes landed on the familiar pink cardigan. Strange, he thought she’d still have the T-shirt on, but who was he to judge when that landed him in a mess on its own.

At the sight of her, he grinned and glided down to the pathway where she was.

“Hey Stress!” He waved.

She turned to him. “Oh, Tango! Fancy seeing you here. I thought you were with Xisuma.” She tilted her head in question. “At least I thought anyways. Saw something goin’ on, I assumed you stayed with him.”

“Uh, yeah, I was. Then things got a little heated so I left,” he answered.

Stress nodded. “I saw they needed some backup. Mind telling me what happened? Nobody really knows what’s going on besides the few of you.”

That’s right, they hadn’t really explained in chat, or to anyone else really, what was happening with Wels and Hels. Tango grimaced at the thought that Wels would probably be waking up soon and lash out again. He didn’t want more people to be hurt, especially not Beef. Beef was such a nice guy and genuinely wanted to help both knights. He didn’t deserve how much he was hurt by it. And Impulse was there too now, and that was an accident waiting to happen. He didn’t want one of his closest friends hurt.

“Tango, you alright there? You’re spacin’ out a bit.”

The demon shook his head, ridding himself of the previous thoughts, and coughed awkwardly.

“Well uh, you know how Beef has that cloning machine, right? And Wels used it?”

“Vaguely, but yes.”

“Well, something’s gone wrong recently. I mean, not that it hadn’t before after he used it but worse this time.”

Stress began leading them inside her brewery, nodding along to him. “What happened the first time?”

“Ah, apparently it made this evil clone, I dunno if he met you yet-“

She perked up happily. “Oh, you mean Hels! Yes, yes, he’s a very interesting fellow. Very cooperative, too, I had to care for him because he came in from HelsCraft lookin’ like a mess.”

Tango raised a brow, suddenly interested in what she had to say instead. “Looking like a mess? Nobody really mentioned anything about that when they came over. Just said Hels wanted to meet me and moved on.”

“Oh yeah, had a dagger in his stomach and everythin’. Looked real painful but he’s a tough cookie.” Stress smiled as she sat the demon down on some stairs near a small kitchen she had built earlier on. Not too great for the overall area and stuck out against the few stands but she apparently recently put one in each of her builds in case of events like these, or just to keep baking convenient. “Care for some cake and hot chocolate? No offense, but you look like a mess, too. Could use some sugar.”

And always prepared with sweets.

Tango snorted. “Sure.” He sighed, continuing his story. “Anyways, so after all that, apparently he and Wels began like….switching places? Hels is becoming nicer and Wels….” he trailed off, grabbing Stress’s attention.

“What about Wels?” She leaned against the counter thoughtfully.

“He….came over because he shut himself off from everyone and I pestered him with some trades. But, after telling him that his offers were crap, he tried to kill me.”

Stress fumbled with the cake knife as he said that, her face twisting into worry. “Kill you?! Why on earth would he try to kill you over a trade?!”

The demon shuddered, the knight’s smirking face burning into that back of his mind. “It wasn’t him, Stress. He keeps being taken over by this….weird dark force or something. You should’ve seen his eyes, Stress, they were as red as mine!”

“Oh, goodness. Are you….alright? I mean, we all saw earlier that Evil X killed you, though. We just assumed he was causing some mischief.”

Tango shook his head. “Wels nicked my wing and I just,” he pushed his hands away from him, conveying a falling motion,”fell right into one of the towers.” He circled his arms around himself. “He didn’t help me. I couldn’t speak ‘cus I was hurt. But, I guess just by coincidence, Evil X came over and just….he said something about just going ahead and killing me and after that I was in my bed.”

Stress had momentarily forgotten about the cake and mugs sitting next to her, invested in his story. She had a hand over her mouth in sad surprise. “Did- did anything else happen?”

“Ah….Evil X came in, said Xisuma needed me to come with them. We go back up and Wels has these nasty red marks on his face but he’s still all evil and whatnot. Doc had him tied up and they just left. Suma wasn’t looking too good though.”

The lady eyed him curiously. “Not looking too good?”

“He was looking like he was gonna pass out. He said something about how he apparently hit Wels, something else about not affording to lose another Hermit.” Tango perked up. “Hey, do you know anything about that? I mean, I’ve been here for a while and the servers changed and stuff. Some people left, but he said it like….someone died or something. Like permadeath.”

Stress shook her head with pursed lips. “No, sorry Tango. Is there more to the story or do you want to eat some cake now.”

Slightly, Tango smiled. “Cake first.”

With a grin, she cut him a slice and moved to get some milk and cocoa beans for the hot chocolate. The two fell silent while she worked, pouring the milk in a small pot and placing it on top of a furnace where some heat began growing. She began to hum absentmindedly and cut herself from cake as well. Within a couple minutes, the milk warmed and she finished up grinding the cocoa beans with sugar.

“You like yours with whip cream and marshmallows, luv?” She looked up at Tango who was busy picking at something on his shirt, probably just to pass the waiting time.

“Hm? Oh yes, that’d be nice. Thanks, Stress!” The smile on his face grew and Stress couldn’t help but to warm at the sight of it. At least she had a knack for cheering up her friends with her recipes.

“Right then, they’re done!” She placed the cake and hot chocolate on a tray and had the demon follow her to a lounge-like area through a painting. Well, he’d never seen this before. Looks like she had a whole bunch of surprises.

“This is my private room to chill out once in a while, don’t tell anyone. I have a bunch of these.” She sat on a pink sofa tucked into one end of the long, thin room. “Given what on earth happened to you, I’m deeming you worthy to see it,” she added with a smile. Tango sat on the sofa as well, feeling how plush the cushions were.

“Guess I’m just that messed up now, apparently,” he chuckled. “Thanks again, Stress.” He took the cocoa happily.

“Anytime! If you need a sit, just come right on over.” She took a sip of her cocoa. “I really do hope Wels gets better though. And Hels too. Can’t imagine being kicked out of your own dimension.”

“Me too, Stress, me too.”

[onewingedxngel]

Sephiroth says he'll never be a memory, but imagine Cloud clapping back with: "You're right. You'll only just be forgotten"

Hello anon, thanks for the ask!

I think Sephiroth’s response would depend on a lot of things, but personally, I think he might not say anything at all: maybe a small chuckle depending on exact context.

He’d be confident that there’s no way Cloud could hope to forget him, not after everything he inflicted on him. Forgetting Sephiroth would mean forgetting many of the important things Cloud learned/experienced throughout the OG game, the trauma of his past (which, unfortunately, trauma is rarely something that can truly be left behind) as well as the things he’d been fighting for. So Seph would know that Cloud here is almost certainly just being all bark and no bite. Although he might be reminded of why he must never falter in his will, and make sure that one day he will succeed. And he might, in a small corner of his mind, tell himself to be cautious in case Cloud somehow does find a way to do something.

Granted, say, if Cloud theoretically somehow did forget Sephiroth (and somehow get everyone else to forget him too), or if he did find a way to live up to his words and reduce Seph to literally nothing...

... Ouch...

I mean, granted, I did write a drabble about Seph facing permadeath which totally wasn’t utterly depressing or sad in any way. But, essentially, he has a big breakdown which shows his most vulnerable side as he dies alone and afraid. I do think that death (like, oblivion-type death)/being forgotten are his biggest fears; considering the fact that he seeks to become one with the lifestream and ascend into a God (an immortal being), has a will so powerful that he has refuses to die/let go of his individuality multiple times, and has the line ‘do not let me die’ in the lyrics of One-Winged Angel. Oh, and the whole ‘I will not end’ scene at the Edge of Creation.

I have a feeling the Remake will deal with Sephiroth’s permadeath, not gonna lie. He’s already died and come back so many times, hell, he’s implied to have somehow jumped timelines or gone back in time or done something to know the events of the OG. If Remake doesn’t deal with his end, then I have a feeling FF7 is going to be milked to hell and back (as if it isn’t already tbh. Remake is so far the only addition to FF7 I can truly say is good, because I despise the compilation [save for AC as the guiltiest of guilty pleasures, though I still wouldn’t call it good]).

But yeah. I don’t want him to die, or be forgotten. DAMMIT I WANT HIM TO WIN!! DESTROY THE PLANET!! LET IT ALL BURN!! ASCEND MY CHILD!!!!! Here’s hoping we get multiple endings, or maybe a secret ending, where Sephiroth wins.

HelenE: *watches Sephiroth slaughter countless life forms, burn a village to the ground, throw a meteor at the planet, psychologically and sadistically torment everyone and try to devour the lifestream* Yessssssssssss destroy it all. Also HelenE: *hears Cloud say something kinda mean* hOW DARE YOU