#I remember it ending on an island

[manybackflips]

When I finished “A Series of Unfortunate Events” when I was younger, I was shocked that it had a sad ending…

Looking back, I honestly should’ve expected that.

Also Lemony Snicket has permanently altered my vocabulary.

[lucabyte]

On autonomy, and what it means to be Obliged to Help.

Bonus:

[rapidhighway]

tripped and made more deaged knuckles doodles. i think i made it a whole ass au by accident, how clumsy of me

[derww]

DEVOTIONS WEEK DAY 2: POTIONS/DEATH

CW: Suicide attempt, suicidal ideations, mental breakdown, ableism, DDDNE

This is the first thing Zam does when he realizes that everything he has done this season has been absolutely useless: he kills himself.

Okay, he tries: he abruptly turns away, throws off all his armor, takes a few springy steps, and then jumps down. The height is small, but he has ridiculously few hearts, so it's enough...

A moment before landing something breaks on top of his head, and the fall does not cause any damage. The nasty swamp slime gets into his mouth, and he spits it out, at the same time shaking off the glass stuck in his hair.

– What do you think is the probability that he has milk? – Pyro asks Spoke, tossing another splash bottle in his hand. Zam stares at him. How the fuck did he even hit? He is disgusting and wet. He has milk, but only in the enderchest, and he is not stupid enough to believe that he will be given time to drink it. Or that it would make any difference.

– I don't know, man, – Spoke spreads his hands, – like, high? Doesn't matter. Let's continue my supervillain speech. Time is not infinite, you know.

He doesn't want to continue the conversation. He pukes on the spot. He reeks of corpse rot. He doesn't want to be here. He doesn't want to be anywhere at all. Oh, God, can he just fucking die already?

Mapicc rolls his eyes. He looks annoyed, but not surprised. He and Spoke exchange understanding glances. Zam mechanically wipes his mouth from vomit, staring past them. There are too many things around. Everything is too bright and distinct. He wants to pierce through his belly with a sword, and he is horrified to realize that this will not help.

They- they don't even laugh at his insignificance and helplessness, they see it as an expected hindrance, as something that will happen when you tell the PrinceZam about the impending apocalypse. For some reason, it's so much worse. The vomit is creeping up in his throat again.

Step. Another. Third. This time he jumps into the void – because the Abyss kills anything, and even if not, suffocating in the infinity is still better than being next to them. That's the only thing he wants right now – to die.

He barely does not manage to reach y 0 when he is teleported back to their feet, and he falls to the knees. He violently coughs up bile. Deep disgust fills every cell of his body.

– Listen, – Mapicc says wearily, – let's skip this part. Yes, Spoke has backdoored the server, yes, he has an OP, and yes, no mundane plots have any meaning anymore. Wormhole will open in a week. Are you with us?

He lowers his head. His hands are shaking. He wants to wash himself. He wants to be anywhere else. He wants warm clothes and soft food. He wants to go home and bake a pumpkin pie. He wants to kill himself.

– Earth to the PrinceZam,– Spoke snaps fingers in front of his face, – bro, hang off. I need your answer. I'm only giving you a choice anyway because you're different. Be faster.

He opens his mouth and stutters and gasps. Nothing in his body works properly. For the first time in months, he can't say anything. Why-why at all. What's the difference. They can't make his life worse. They won't be able to mess up any more. They are not-

A blurry image with black and red appears in front of his face. Black hair. A pale face. A red hoodie. Bandana. Horns. Zam doesn't have to think about it to know that it's Mapicc.

– Listen, – Mapicc's voice comes to him as if from under water, - I know it's hard, – no, he has no idea, – and really, really sucks. but this is the situation we find ourselves in now. Right now, you don't have to do much, right now you just need to make one decision. Okay?

Something inhuman is bursting out of him. He's throwing up again. Mapicc sighs.

– Hey, – he says too calmly, – it's hard, I know. But not worse than the end of season two, right? – much, much worse, – just take a deep breath, exhale, give yourself time to think and make a decision, okay? And we'll leave you alone.

He can't. He can't. He is not-

– If I refuse, – he says, dead–straight, – will you let me die?

– No, of course not, – Spoke's voice comes from somewhere to the side, and he doesn't have enough strength to turn his head, – why did we try otherwise? Wait for the Wormhole, and I'll think about it. Maybe I'll give you endless effects, or maybe I'll let you die in peace. Who knows? I haven't decided yet.

– Don't listen to him, – Mapicc interrupts, irritated, – don't think about it. Just decide whether you want to destroy this world or fight for its preservation. If you want to keep it, the defenders will pick you up sooner or later. If you want to destroy it, you will become the third with me and Spoke. We will work together. Like before.

He's looking past them. His heart is beating too fast.

– if I join you, – he says dryly, – will you let me die?

– When you will finish your work? – Spoke giggles, – yeah, sure, why not. It wouldn't matter.

He swallows a lump. His throat hurts. Mapicc seems to be looking right at him. He's suffocating. He doesn't want any of this.

– Okay, – he says in the end, – I'll help you. And then you'll let me go.

Spoke grins.

– And that's the deal! Good job, PrinceZam. That's more like it.

At least Mapicc and I will be friends again, he thinks detachedly. At least there's anything good about it. Maybe I can get over it. Even if it's only to get the fuck out later.

[dame-lazarus]

thinking about IWTV and how Daniel says of Lestat, “I’ve gotta meet this guy”…and how the sequel book is basically Lestat complaining how he’s misunderstood and how Louis’s account gets a bunch of stuff wrong, but also explaining his turning and some basics of vampire lore…a perfect framing device for the two of them meeting and commiserating in s3…reflecting on their makers and the fledgling bond…Lestat mentoring Daniel…Daniel chatting with Louis telepathically and driving Lestat insane…Lestat and Louis passing notes via Daniel until he loses it and makes them talk on the phone…Lestat offering to reach out to Armand for him but Daniel refusing…in-person Loustat romance rekindling in the season finale just as the well well if it isn’t the consequences of my actions pops up in the form of Akasha…but they’ll face it together…give it to me

[ganondoodle]

even if i didnt love botw as much as i do, totk drives me nuts bc, similarly to pokemon, this series is so SO SO full of potential, they have so many games they can pull from, theres so many themes, characters and worldbuilding thats just left to rot, you dont need to connect anything with a chain to old titles, you dont need to bring back any things that already had their ending, but PLEASE harness at least a fraction of all this!!!! and they just refuse to do it beyond shallow references

totk jsut drives it all home to me, bc this isnt just the next game in the franchise, but a DIRECT SEQUEL no 10 years apart from botw, yet they cant even, they REFUSE to even keep the continuity with its OWN lore it established in botw together, and that, i think, is what truly makes me so insane (derogatory) about totk

it PROVES they do not care, they dont care to build on anything of the lore of old titles beyond references in form of amiibos or whatever, they dont even care to make a sequel to their most successful game in the franchise coherent with its own lore

botw established a captivating detailed world full of potential, while lacking in active storytelling, it had environmental storytelling, characters and ideas that were the perfect ground to build on-

and then they do away with it bc idk .. they want you to build mechs and make videos of it that go viral and thats all they care about or something

shiekah tech? forget that existed character being the character you know? act as if you are seeing them for the first time just like they are lame story? dont think about that just be distracted by the epic presentation of it lore the previous title established? forget that, all that matters is what is here and now beloved character from old games beign brought back? hes a new guy and has no background and no lore and just sits waiting for you at the end to have a flashy fight with references from old titles and their lore? just here for nostalgie bait, dont you remember? you LOVE this series, now give me 70 bucks for a glorified DLC that ruins what you loved about the series and makes you realize that nothign matters and nothing is interesting anymore

you are supposed to take it all at face value, to not think about anything, to see a character say something and just go with it, and forget it the second its over, be distracted by good music and pretty visuals, but dont think about, dont think about anything but what is directly said to you like you have no critical thinking skills, forget there was a game before this one, only the one you play matters, empty your skull and dont let yourself feel anything but what the game tells you to feel

if they dont even care to make the sequel to their most successful game actually build on the previous title, dont even care to keep their continuity of two games supposedly directly happening one after the other in tact- maybe they never cared, and all the meaning we thought we saw them build into their games was all accidental and meaningless

and that is absolutely soul crushing for fans like me to discover

its a game. its not a story, its not a world, its not themes, its not characters, its not lore. its a product made to make you pay money, not to make you think about anything.

[sassy-bitch-since-2007]

Headcanon for Island of the Slaughtered : Of all the survivors (Gwen, Duncan, Katie, Lashawna, Cody, Izzy and Eva), only Cody felt bad about Heather dying. That's because she's never been mean to him, unlike with the others (especially Gwen and Lashawna). He wanted to go back and help her, but Gwen took hold of his hand and dragged him away- which was for the best, as both Cody and Heather would have died in that scenario.

I think, of all the campers on the Island, only Cody, DJ and Harold got along with Heather. That's because they saw some good in her, despite her mean and harsh personality.

Side-Note : More people felt bad about Noah's death due to the circumstances, but if he were to die differently (like Courteney or Heather) only Cody would've been affected by it. That's because, again, Noah's never been mean to him, unlike with the others.

[weneedatdcharacterwho]

You remember in the Among Us times where players/youtubers would sometimes vote off people just to be funny/silly/for the bit or whatever? I want a character who is able to convince their team to vote off a random player just because it would be funny. And they actually succeed at this.

Bonus if some super strategist like Courtney/Alejandro/Heather are on the team and absolutely lose their minds that all the work they do just goes down the drain cuz some rando was like “you know what would be funny?”

.

[ambrosiagourmet]

Please go on the Rin family tangent, I'd love to listen to it!

OH I WISH I HAD MORE TO SAY HONESTLY... Mostly it's just in reference to my Rin Masterpost (shameless self promotion!!!), where I talk a bit about the nature of her parents as refugees, and the tidbits we get about the archipelago politics.

Though also, as I have since discovered, the official and fan translations of her parent's history use different words to describe them! I'd love to know more about which way the actual meaning skews... the fan translation calls them refugees, but the official one just says they were "wanderers."

Just from a narrative/character stand point I'm inclined to believe that it is more likely that they left for a reason, partly because "wanderers" is SUCH a vague label and most of the backstory we get in the AB isn't quite so generalized. Also because we do have that one comment about the archipelago being chaotic/at war, on the cover of one chapter, and that's exactly the kind of background detail that would make sense to weave into Rin's backstory imho. I would also somewhat expect more context for how much they traveled/the lifestyle they were living, if it was less a one-time fleeing home thing and more a general practice of travel. But maybe that is just meant to be extrapolated on by the reader. OR MAYBE THEY ARE JUST REFUGEES IDK.

Really I'd just like more insight about that word/description in general. I actually tried to use a kanji search at one point to see if I could find anything myself, but I don't know enough about how to do that properly so I ended up giving up. Maybe someday I'll teach myself more about kanji just so I can figure out Rin's parents' history. It's not out of the question for me tbh.

Anyway as a last note, if they ARE refugees then I'm very curious about the idea that the impact of the possible (it's just my interpretation) Sengoku period setting for Wa extends out to other parts of the archipelago. I mean. it makes sense that it wouldn't just be localized to Wa, given the proximity of the islands and all, but if other parts of the archipelago are meant to draw from other cultures and not ALL just be Fantasy Japan, I'm curious of what the politics of that all looks like. It feels like it could have a basis in real world history rooted in Wa, but then from there could have a lot of potential to spin off into more fictional ideas and Dungeon Meshi specific politics.

Anyway: Rin centric spin-off manga when

[meamiki]

Love your reverse entry AU! Also put a silly amount of thought into the idea of Loop doing a vtuber nuzlock thing; namely, the universe hates them.

See, in my headcanon* of your AU not only do they make the mistake of naming their pokemon after the party, (discreetly, I'm guessing?) They also encounter a bug that makes the game reset if any of their pokemon faint. After freezing for a bit. And once they realize what happened, they decide to actually do their job, and make little puppets. They memorized all of their families actors lines after all! So it's easy for them to act out little scenes in between bits, while waiting for things to happen or during interludes.

Also, they look rather real for a vtuber, so they just have a 3d model of themselves mapped over themselves to hide that they are themself. Except the lighting from glowing head makes it glitch for a half second every hear and there so.

Also! Maybe the puppetry thing ends on them giving the story a ridiculously tragic ending? Because they don't feel like they can acknowledge an alternative ending for a play they star in and remain sane.

*was headcanon the right word here? Probably not. More like, 'I think it'd be neat if'

Anyway this was a lot. Feel free to ignore literally all of it! I just think it's a cool and interesting au that's nothing like anyone else is doing so I couldn't help myself.

Wah!! /pos

This is super interesting and fun anon!!! The Universe hates Loop :thumbsup: 

To expand upon your idea with more ideas (hope this is okay!): 

I can only imagine Loop, while waiting for the game to reboot after freezing, just taking out like. Wood carving tools and materials from out of nowhere and just start whittling away to make these puppets of The Party (but as they remember them, not their modern counterparts.) A few extra set pieces here and there, maybe as well. Not the King though. 

Maybe it ends up becoming a recurring thing throughout the stream while waiting for things to stop glitching out? And they start giving “made-up” backstories for each of these puppets while they’re being created well in addition to using them properly for acting out bits! 

Every once and a while someone points out their model having an “art-style shift” for a few seconds. They ignore them. 

Once they’re all completed maybe they end up putting on a whole production out of it completely discarding the nuzlocke (lmao). A completely fictional tale. Not at all based on their own experiences. 

When they get closer and closer to the climactic end. When the party is staring face to face against the final boss, the King. They stall. They think. What type of ending will this story have? They were reciting lines from memory while telling it. Going off script is scary. 

They want to continue the tale as written. They want to stay true to their memory. 

But they also don’t want any of their (puppet) Party to suffer either. So, they tweak it, just the tiniest bit.

They continue telling the tale, beat for beat. Up until when the King defeats them. In one fell swoop.

Instead of the Housemaiden being thrown, it’s the Traveler.  

Over and over again, Loop acts out the King (metaphorical, there is no puppet) throwing the Traveler puppet onto the table. While narrating the whole ordeal as well.

They get really into it too, smashing the puppet into smithereens on the table after a bit. Whoops!

This causes the vtuber model to completely glitch out, showing themself instead of the model. They abruptly end stream after that.

…Many people will probably speculate that this is somehow an ARG. 

All this happened because The Universe was like “you are not allowed to play this Pokemon Game without some form of hiccup.” lmao. 

Anon, I will repeat this again. This is a super fun and interesting idea!!! Thank you, for introducing me to a new idea I had not considered and making me think!!!!!

And I am also sorry for using this ask as an opportunity to reveal where this Loop is coming from (sort of kind of) LMAO.

For anyone who read this to the end, thank you!! And also feel free to send any other asks my way since. I like thinking. About things I have not thought before!!!!

[faislittlewhiteraven]

Undertale/ISaT crossover thoughts 2

Been thinking more about this despite trying to vent out all my thoughts in this previous post and now I have something of a plot I figured I'd share (in case anyone else would like a stab at it/some ideas for their own Undertale/ISaT crossover fanworks).

Story opens with a time looping Chara in the void hitting their breaking point. The wish for freedom from generations of monsters + their own alternating wishes to free their family and hurt the humans who hurt them equals a loop that begins with their incredibly painful death to buttercup induced internal blistering, and ends whenever Asriel (post absorbing Chara's soul) is killed or they 'fail to punish' Chara's human family and well. Chara doesn't know the rules so the two have them have been looping so long that now when they reach the village of humans by Mt Ebott, instead of the friendliness they were shown in early loops (before getting murdered by the official authorities who 'already have orders on how to treat monsters') the villagers now attack them on sight in terror (sobbing monster thing? Sadness!), and they keep dying over and over and over-

Basically full 'Start Again a prologue' vibes, and so Chara in full please just make it stop mode wishes to the Universe...

For everything that hurt them and monsters to be forgotten like a bad dream! (cue The Island, Sif and Chara's homeland, as well as certain nasty individuals like Chara's human 'family' being erased from memory)

For someone kinder, stronger, and untainted by hate to 'be the angel' to free the monsters in their place.

To feed the golden flower seeds stuck in Azzy's fur with their corpse.

To atone in any way for all the pain they've caused.

(To one day be able to sit and stargaze on top of Mt Ebott together with those they love, just like they promised Asriel they'd be able to do)

Cue time skip to after the end of Undertale and Flowey's 'please don't reset and ruin their happy ending' speech, to show Chara's ghost flopping on top of their flowerbed grave wondering how long they'll be able to last before they give in and ruin Frisk's happy ending once more (with heavy implication that Chara is once more stuck in a time loop with no idea how to get out).

Then a cut to Toriel and Frisk making their way down Mt Ebott and spying a shooting star, Toriel remembering her religion (goodness, how could she have forgotten the Universe?) and praying/wishing to the Universe to 'have one of its stars watch over her fallen children, and give them the happiness she could not'. Cue Chara being shocked out of their non existent skin by a person with the head of a star crashing down right through them onto their grave out of seemingly nowhere.

(Aka, Plot line 1: Chara is trapped in time loop hell and Loop has been sent to help them and possibly Flowey? out of it. ... That's literally all I've got for them right now because I have NO idea how to actually have them interact XD)

---

Next section of story cuts over to the northern coast line of Vauguard: Sif and family (including Nille) are on their way back to Bambooche after their most recent travels when basically the world explodes into colours, Sif suddenly remembers a LOT more than they used to and they can all now see the large landmass to the north.

Much eye boggling, confusion, wonder and tears are had before everyone kind of parties and passes out but next day, things are being taken much more seriously:

Why is Sif's forgotten homeland, the Isle of Chara, suddenly back? Why are colours? How is this going to effect all of Vauguard (the fashion industry alone..)? And... What happened to the people of the island? Are they ok or..? And how will the rest of the world react to them being the epicenter of so much very unexpected change?

Cue brief discussion on whether or not to go (mostly just double checking with Sif if he's actually up for it despite the many potential horrors they could find there that are sure to be extra traumatising to them in particular), the group checking in with the House in Bambooche to have word sent to the rest of Vauguard (and hopefully the world at large) that the Saviors of Vauguard are on the case, and well. They could catch a boat or they could try walking along that MASSIVE steel and concrete bridge with its weird black road stretching out over the ocean (which was apparently there the entire time and ok, now everyone is getting really freaked out because it seems there was a fair bit more forgotten than 'just' the Island and the Stars. What else did everyone have stolen from their heads?).

(Aka, Plot line 2: The Saviors of Vauguard heading for The Island, hoping for the best and preparing for the worst, and also the plot line I've done by far the most work on, to the point that it probably needs it's own post)

---

And last section, Frisk leads their monster friends down Mt Ebott back to 'the village of the humans' they came from and the monsters are stunned by the sight of... Well, wailing and sobbing adults who barely give the monsters a second glance, curious and 'just as silent as Frisk' children who smile and wave, and an old man Frisk introduces as 'Elder' who despite being very wobbly and also in tears, does his best to greet the monsters, thanks them for returning Frisk and very politely asks if Asgore is their king and here to kill them all as the stars foretold.

Cue a bit of awkward 'Um. Yes and no?' with a request to open talks with the 'leaders of humankind' only for the old man to laugh and cry as he explains that he's the closest thing this settlement's had to a leader for years now by virtue of being one of the few adults here with enough presence of mind to actually function through The Forgetting (he thanks his younger years of being an avid traveller) and that since the monsters breaking the Barrier seems to have made The Forgetting stop and they seem to have some form of government then honestly, they're the ones in charge now since stars know there's probably not much left of the Island's government still remaining all this time, and it's doubtful the people of other countries even remember they exist.

Cue everyone other than Frisk who knew all this being very surprised (Frisk's follow up 'explainations' don't really help a lot since The Forgetting is all they've ever known, and Toriel is so messed up when she realises Frisk and a good number of other kids literally can't talk or read without 'Communication Craft' due to the memory wipe effects they suffered under while growing up) and well. Monster kind move out of Mt Ebott at a breakneck pace while Toriel, Asgore, Alphys and everyone frantically try to get everyone settled, help all the very damaged Islanders into as much stability as they can (some recover better than others but there's a lot of grief over lost family, missing people, etc going around and monsters end up stopping more than a few suicides), and get things organised enough they know everyone will be fine before they can move onto working out WTF happened here. Also in the process of all this they end up working out that some things (like who was in charge before The Forgetting) are still being 'auto deleted' from memory (though the effect is fading as time goes on) and also the Island's capital is a space warped nightmare filled with Sadnesses right now and probably everyone should avoid it.

Lots and lots of world building regarding what Monsters vs Sadnesses are, my headcanons for the Universe religion (going with the Monsters also traditionally being Universe worshippers and much talk is had on the differences between 'the old ways' Toriel and Asgore remember vs the traditions and beliefs of the Islanders), and... yeah.

(That's Plot line 3: Frisk leads the monsters to the one semi stable human adult they know of and the monsters realise that not only are they free to live on the Surface now but the local humans both see them as saviors and desperately need their help after going through something that arguably makes the Underground look wonderful in comparison.)

---

Eventually I'm going to have to tie all three of these ideas together and I think I've got some ideas for Plot lines 2 and 3 such as:

Sif's family and/or Undyne bumping into each other catching all the trains to search for survivors across the Island

Mirabelle and to a lesser extent the whole party finding themselves the official Vauguardian ambassadors to the newly formed human/monster Island/Isle of Chara alliance who are very much in need of aid and more info about the rest of the world.

Papyrus and Frisk also being ambassadors, making all the friendships.

Sif realising 'the Elder' is their grandfather on their mother's side and trying to wrap their head around having any family around at all (and also trying not to think to hard about all the family still missing).

Isabeau and Odile uncovering just how much stuff countries outside the Island forgot (airports, train stations, cars, all that juicey science stuff).

The Saviors of Vauguard and various Undertale folks investigating the capital together (learning some of the less pleasant aspects of the Island's politics and culture while there including stuff about Sif's dad's side of the family and why the name Chara matter so much). But well. So far have NO CLUE how to get Chara, Loop and Flowey involved with the rest of the cast since well, they're reluctant to leave and no one else knows they're there. So. Yeah. That's what I have planned out mostly. Will list a bunch of stuff I've thought of regarding Sif's group going through the Island and their hometown (totally gonna bring up the 'Euphrasie Islander and possibly Sif's mom' theory in story but not actually confirm or deny it since well, Euphrasie is out of focus and most likely going through a major 'my memories have returned, how could I have forgotten-' breakdown her beloved Claude is going to have to help her through <3) but that's for another post and er. Yeah. Please feel free to share any feedback, ideas or thoughts you might have on this, and to take a stab writing/scribbling up some of this yourself as well as I think it cold be a lot of fun and I'd LOVE the help XD

[cosmodynes]

i tell you someone will remember us in the future

POEMS OF SAPPHO TRANSLATED BY JULIA DUBNOFF

[bye2k]

[d4rk-x-w0lf-17]

i'm gonna be 100% honest and truthful with all of yall

when i first watched bfdi and ii, i legit zoned the hell out of s1 on both shows and came back to when i was on the finale on both 💀

[heartcircus]

one of my fav streams of s6 so far has been seeing gay joker stalk spepticle and threaten him.. its so intriguing to me i love gay joker

[todayisafridaynight]

So Allegedly Infinite Wealth is 100 hours... not that you can't already spend that long on the games if you really want to, but I'd say it's the first time that could be said to be the base experience rather than a time only hardcore completionists are likely to get.

Yokoyama was talking at length about wanting to make the game worth the price tag since the team is incredibly conscious about the value of the players' time and money. They essentially feel they owe players ten times what they paid, so they're aiming for "an enjoyable 100 hours, but also an unforgettable 100 hours."

If they pull it off, I personally think it'd be 100% worth it and not just a "well other studios are doing it so we can get away with it too" price hike... I'm at least happy to know that's not the intent, and I'm intrigued to see how everything pans out and what the ratio is between story and side content

oh yayaya i saw that article this morning!!! 100 hours is actually so unfathomable to me in terms of an rgg game- i mean y7 was At Minimum around 45~50 hours but when i think of other RPGS that easily dip into 70's and 100's of hours, i'm not too surprised to see LAD start to climb towards those numbers now. it'd be such a jump in rgg's terms tho, so i'm TRULY curious to see where the nearly doubled gameplay hours comes from..

i really appreciate yoko's respect not just to RGGS but also to its customers: they want to make a great product, but they also don't want to sacrifice what they want to do to do that in the process