#I should do like a proper lore post for both these boys

[tokillamockingbird427]

Broke: Walker fam OC

Woke: RORKE FAM OC

(I am victim of a fatal condition where I have BOTH. *Slaps Roger+Mich* these bad boys can fit so much meme in them.)

[moltengoldveins]

ok but I have Thoughts about the way Minecraft usernames translate to actual names, both irl and in fanfic. They’re definitely ‘obsessed with structure and grumpy at inconsistency flavor autism’ thoughts but still. I find it weird how we cut and paste the media we’re given to fit what we view as functional worldbuilding, and how that gets screwy when translating online names.

like, you’re working with several categories here. The person’s actual real name, their irl nickname, their gamer tag, a name possibly contained by or possibly the entirety of that gamer tag, and any extra pieces or symbols in the gamer tag. And you have the weird situation where those categories might not easily translate to a ‘First Name Last Name’ structure. For an example, we’ve got Phil Watson, who’s gamer tag is ‘Ph1LzA,’ and is called Philza Minecraft or Philza. The ‘Minecraft last name’ is a…. Bit? A joke? A reference to a bit of lore? It’s unclear. The ‘Za’ bit was put there for flair and is now an integral part of his name. Sometimes it’s his last name. Sometimes his real last name is chucked in there. the 1 in his actual username is literally never referenced in nicknames or fic it’s like it’s not even there. But that’s a simple one. What about Tubbo_? because we call him Tubbo Underscore. Like. We say the ‘_’ aloud. Why do we do that. What has possessed us to make that decision? What about FitMC? I’ve usually heard it said ‘Fit Emsee.’ Why say that, and not say ‘Minecraft? That’s not even really a last name, it’s just like…. His full first name. Fit is used more like a shortened nickname. BadBoyHalo. Like. ‘Bad boy’ is a slang term, not a name. It would make the most sense to call him Halo, that’s the distinct noun in the name, the term the ‘bad boy’ bit is referring to. Like ‘GoodTimesWithScar’ but noooo. Bad. Halo is usually a last name, if it’s there at all. Skeppy on the other hand is… just his name. No last name ever. Technoblade is also weird. Technoblade is his full name. We call him that. We ALSO call him ‘Techno,’ and use Blade as a last name. We also use Blade as a title. What the heck. GeminiTay. We call her Gem. We use Tay as a last name sometimes. Her name is a Zodiac constellation. Literally nowhere I’m have I seen that affect her naming conventions. IJevin. We just… remove the I. For everything. This wouldn’t bother me except we don’t do it with everyone and I’m starting to get annoyed by the inconsistency. GoodTimesWithScar. Ok. This one also bugs me. Like, most fics call him Scar Goodtimes when they need a name. I’m not gonna dig into it but that’s…. Why? Why that? Grian never gets a last name. Ranboo sometimes gets chopped into Ran and Boo but usually he’s an Underscore or he’s last nameless. Wilbur Soot functions wonderfully (until the get involved shhhh) but it’s too close to his real name it gets very confusing.

anyway, all of this sucks, I hate it all, we’re a terrible fandom /hj

all that nonsense aside, yknow who has a functional Firstname Lastname username? It’s even got a space, and proper capitals: Mumbo Jumbo. That’s who. Look at that. It’s perfect. Everyone should be more like Mumbo Jumbo. Thank you and good night.

.

Edit: I know about Ranboo Beloved and Grian Dreamslayer and the various other characters whose names I didn’t mention perfectly in this post. This was no piece of journalism, this was an old man shouts at cloud meme personified. I was very overstimulated and this was what happened to catch my autistic ire. I’m not upset, just figured I’d clarify, a lot of people seem distressed at my not mentioning Beloved. Hope y’all are having a lovely day 💜

[thatringboy]

A Body Built for an Undeserving Soul, A Boothill Theory

My definitely sober thoughts while grinding for the eventual Ruan Mei rerun and writing some robinhill have led me to a startling train of thought. I’ll do my best to sound sane as I say this, but the 18 minute discord voice memo I originally made is definitely anything but. Spoilers for Boothill’s backstory, character stories, and other lore, and no I’m not really gonna be citing things because it’s 3 in the morning and I’m high. If at any point I say something that isn’t really supported by canon, please be nice i’m a little silly boy

Anyways

I don’t think Boothill is a Pathstrider.

Let me cook, please. Here’s my reasons why:

The way he talks about Aeons and Paths

The way his body is designed

And 3.

Enjoy the madness below the cut

So, there’s not really a proper way to word any of this without it being an ADHD word vomit. Bear with me. Please.

Penacony has been a fantastic update for those of us waiting for worldbuilding. We’ve learned a LOT about the many factions in the cosmos, the true nature of the IPC, the powers of the Aeons, and that the Paths are tangible things in the universe. The Luofu arc opened up a bit about this, but since it was so focused on The Hunt and The Abundance and The Permanence, we sort of fell back into the same story beats as the Herta Station arc. Either way, Penacony has been amazing for little lore bugs like me.

So what does this have to do with the wild claim that Boothill somehow isn’t a Pathstrider?

Let’s touch some grass for a minute and consider our places in the irl universe. Hi, I’m Perseus, a young transmasculine white adult guy from South Texas who grew up reading too many Rick Riordan books and now has a complicated relationship with both the christian god and the greek gods. It’s an autism special interest of mine to learn about the greek pantheon and while I don’t know everything about it, I’m a silly little guy and can recite fun facts about dozens of gods. I can also recite fun facts about the christian bible and christian mythology because I was forced to study christianity when I was younger. Nice to meet y’all. Now, when I, Perseus, talk to people about the various religions I know a thing or two about, I infodump. A lot. I think I once ranted about Dionysus for 20 minutes before my sister told me to shut up. It happens.

Now focus back in on the important topic: the fictional cyborg with jiggle physics. I’m working purely on memory, but I’m pretty sure when he first meets Dan Heng and Pom-Pom, he does go on a spiel about the Aeons and Paths as he tries to prove his identity as a Galaxy Ranger and Acheron’s identity as Not a Galaxy Ranger. The way he describes The Hunt, The Nihility, Emanators, and Paths, it all just sounded… i don’t know, canned? It came across as very emotionally disconnected, even as he talked about The Hunt, but he was saying all the right words. Like someone who studied a religion but isn’t actually a part of the religion. 

On its own, this means absolutely nothing besides just reminding us of his home planet’s hostile takeover by Qlipoth-worshiping IPC workers. If you haven’t seen the post yet, I really recommend reading the So, Honkai: Star Rail made a cyborg cowboy... an INDIGENOUS cyborg cowboy. post by @ahworm I’ll link it here, please check it out because it recontextualized a lot of how I viewed Boothill’s actions and mannerisms

So the way Boothill talks about the Path he should be a Pathstrider of sounds more like an encyclopedia than a follower. Now, maybe this can be explained by the fact that Galaxy Rangers aren’t the most zealous bunch, especially when standing next to the Xianzhou Alliance who worship Lan as a deity more than The Hunt itself. The Galaxy rangers are the opposite, they are hunters first and last regardless of what Lan in THEIR “greatness” does.

But if Boothill is just a normal Galaxy ranger (whatever that means), then how does he recognize the Jade Abacus of Allying Oath instantaneously? Dan Heng’s barely put the damn thing on the table and Boothill’s already jaw on the floor amazed. One could make the argument that, well, Boothill’s a well-traveled guy, of course he’d know the most valuable artifact to his Path. To that, I say: there’s more to it.

Boothill’s main accusation against Acheron in the beginning is, what? “An Emanator that shouldn’t exist.” He talks about The Nihility and Device IX the same way he talks about The Hunt; learned and detached in an agnostic way. He’s aware these are real concepts and beings, he’s crossed paths with an Emanator of Elation before so he can’t deny the existence of literal gods in the universe

We also know that it’s canon in the star rail universe that there are planets who haven’t heard of the Aeons before, like Sigonia - Aventurine’s planet. Instead of Aeons, we know the Avgins worshiped the goddess Giathra Triclops. I’ve seen the argument that Giathra is just another name for Xipe since THEY have three faces, but Aventurine’s flashbacks are very clear in showing that the worship of Giathra was very different from the worship of Aeons. We don’t know much about Aeragan-Epharshel, but from how the IPC described the indigenous people as needing civilization and other disgusting things (not to mention how they forced a synesthesia beacon into boothill when he was maybe like a teenager? And then his brain nearly broke from the influx of information?), I think it’s safe to say that the tribes of Aeragan-Epharshel also didn’t follow any specific Aeon.

But Aventurine is now a Pathstrider of Preservation, so why can’t Boothill be a Hunter Pathstrider too? Well, dear reader, allow me to bash my head against the wall trying to form words. Aventurine doesn’t believe anything about the sovereignty of The Preservation, just like the rest of the Stonehearts. He has his agenda, and if he has to play Preservation to do so, then he will. I think Boothill is the same, which is also why I can’t wait to see what happens in the upcoming quests with the two of them in the same room. That being said, Aventurine’s Preservation powers only come from his Cornerstone, crafted by an Emanator of Preservation. It’s how he and Topaz and Jade can all be such different people but all be classified as Pathstriders of Preservation, the sheer proximity to an Emanator’s powers canonically give them powers equivalent to actual Pathstriders.

So… what about Boothil? This leads me into my next point: Boothill’s cyborg body. By looking at his Character Story Part 3, we learn that Boothill VOLUNTARILY became a cyborg to become stronger. He literally shed the skin and name from an ancient, dead tongue to become a real loaded gun. His voice lines in combat talk about death a lot, his name literally is in reference to a graveyard - this man cannot wait to finally die in some sort of blaze of glory and vengeance. I say that with a little bit of sarcasm, but Boothill designed his body to be a weapon. 

In a lot of parts of the USA, it’s illegal to even insinuate that you have a firearm as that constitutes as the crime of  “armed robbery”, even if you don’t even have a gun. The threat alone is enough to warrant a higher penalty. But Boothill is already a great shot with a gun, why does he also need augmented teeth and crosshair eyes and hips that can fold his body into any sinful shape he needs? Because the threat alone is enough to give him power over his prey. Almost as if he’s compensating for a lack of magic godly powers. He needs to be able to keep up with even the strongest IPC goons, to pierce their Preservation shields with his bullets so that he can get closer and closer to Oswaldo Schneider.

But how can I prove that Boothill doesn’t have any Path magic? Well, let’s take a spin around his character model. What’s that thing sitting snugly against his exposed asscheek? His pistol? But that’s not weird, Perseus, most cowboys hold their guns there!

But what other playable character has their weapon on their actual model like him?

There are so many in-game cutscenes showing that, canonically, the Pathstriders summon their weapon from some sort of unseen storage or hammerspace. I like the term hammerspace, let’s use that. The playable Pathstriders all use hammerspace to easily summon their weapons. None of them actually carry their weapons on their model. Even Welt Yang has scenes of him summoning his herrscher cane (I’ve never played hi3 please forgive me for using incorrect terms) from his hammerspace. But not Boothill. He has his arm gun and he has his trusty 9 millimeter pistol on his little slutty hip. His idle animations involve reloading his weapons and putting them back on his person. No particle effects, no vanishing tricks, just a man sticking his tongue out to catch a bullet for a snack.

So what have we learned?

Boothill doesn’t have an emotional connection to his Path, it most likely is just the Path he figured met his needs and decided the philosophy was good enough

Boothill’s body is designed to perform specifically to kill Pathstriders, especially sturdier Pathstriders of The Preservation

Boothill either can’t or won’t use the same hammerspace the other canonical Pathstriders use

Each point by themself means nothing, or can be chalked up to unique character designs. But together? My intoxicated mind theorizes that Boothill is not a Pathstrider, merely a broken man trying to play the game according to the rules of the oppressors that colonized his planet and bombed his tribe into reservations and the dirt. Thank you for your time.

[wylldebee]

Ye Olde Magick AU

All of you should thank @books-n-guns for this. What once was a silly little AU about the Starks and their fangs and making everyone around them develop a biting kink has now turned into a full-fledged AU with lore and magic and other houses getting characteristics. Basic lore: — Magic exists within the bloodlines of all noble houses, though from different sources. It's strengthened by two things: the existence of a group's homeland and the religion the magic is tied to/originates from. — The First Men got their magic from their adoption of the Old Gods and their Pact with the Children during the Age of Heroes. Since the decline of the Old God religion in the south the northern nobles house don't have as many characteristics as they used to. — The Andels came with their own magic along with The Seven. Since their religion is more widespread the Andel houses have a lot more characteristics than any other house. I'll probably do two more posts: one about the lore, and the others about the gods who are real and are trying to be more active in Westeros because world ending reasons. Because there is now plot, however it may change. Also I might do the other houses. Might. Ideas are welcome.

Without further ado, here are some of houses and their characteristics.

The Starks (now): Sharp fangs (X). Resistant to the cold. In the past the Stark were so cool looking. Bigger and sharper fangs—proper wolf fangs I'm telling you—and pointed ears with ear tufts. Slitted eyes that could see in the dark. Sharp claws and thicker body hair (both men and women), and enhanced senses. Because of Catelyn's river nymph traits, the Stark-Tully kiddos can breathe underwater and talk with the fishes. Might also have a bit of enhanced strength. Resistant to cold. Jonny boy, however, doesn't get anything from his Targaryen bloodline until Dany brings back the dragons. Resistant to cold (Stark blood) and heat (Targaryen blood), and breaths fire (Targaryen blood). The Tullys: River nymph traits. Gils and enhanced strength. Haven't changed much though it has been noted they aren't as nymph-like as they were in the past. Don't fuck with their rivers you will be drowned. Can breathe under water and communicate with the fish, hence the trout. Needs to bathe in a river or any body of fresh water once a month or they'll start looking sickly; any longer and they'll die. The Martells: Snake fangs mostly, though there have been some with forked tongues or snake eyes. Rarely all three. Can make their own saliva poisonous at will. Has been known to coat their weapons in their own poison. Resistant to heat though not flame proof. The Baratheons: Horns/antlers. Basic? Yes—but the Baratheons have long since mastered the art of making their horns look both mighty, dangerous, and handsome. Many an enemy has been impaled upon or had their heads ripped off by the house of Storms End. Some say that the ancestors of the Baratheons used to be able to bring storms and fierce winds thanks to the blood of Elenei Durrandon in their veins. The Lannisters: pays their debts shits gold Lion fangs and sometimes manes. Can actually roar. In the past they were as fierce looking as the Starks; humans with lots of lion characteristics such as sharp claws, toe beans, slitted eyes and even whiskers. Some Lannister women were born with lion manes, and there are one or two theories that Lann the Clever was in fact a woman with a mane. The Tyrells: Dryads-Anthousai mixture. Yes, even the males. It's an AU and ASOIAF, and mom says I can. They have flowers in their hair—roses. mostly, though Olenna has a beautiful and deadly flower and thorned circlet—and can shift their skin to be any type of bark of any type of tree so long as they form a connection to it. Looks healthier in the spring/summer; dead looking in winter (no seriously they look fucking dead, and more than once people thought Olenna had finally kicked the bucket. Boy did Tywin have a nasty surprise). Not at all flame proof. The Targaryns:

At first they were the most Basic And Boring of all noble houses. The only thing cool about them was their dragons, and those died out. With Valyria destroyed in the Doom, the Fourteen Flames no longer being followed and the dragons gone, the Valyrian magic within their veins either died out or went dormant. Now they're just heat resistant and beautiful looking. It was only when they started marrying into other bloodlines/houses did they start getting characteristics—or rather, the characteristics of other houses such as Rhaenys Targaryn/Velaryon having antlers and the Baratheon square jaw can someone please start drawing her with it and Baelor Breakspear having the Martell snake traits. That is, until, Daenerys 'Stormborn' Targaryn brings back the dragons. The Dany that stands admist the ashes of her beloved husband is not the same who walked into the flames. The return of dragons has re-awoken the valyrian magic in her blood and it mixes with the westeros magic. She stands tall and unburnt with her dragons in her arms, patches of shimmering silver-gold scales on her thighs, arms, shoulders, breasts, neck, and they follow the curves of her cheekbones. Violet eyes with slitted pupils blink slowly. And protruding from her head are the beginnings of white horns. Soon they will start to grow. They will be elegant and beautiful, up and out, almost like an ivory crown. The Dragon Queen has been born.

[chibishortdeath]

Ok, I’m sick of seeing only Netflix posts lately so I’m ranting about Simon lol

Unfortunately I had some nice paragraphs written for this but tumblr crashed while I was writing so this is my second time making this post (TwT)

TL;DR with the rant under a cut for easy scrolling, I am deranged and have studied all of Simon’s outfits, here’s some fun tidbits and I guess kinda a guide about his fashion sense :3

Oh boy, where to start XD. Castlevania has a lot of intricately detailed usually gothic and/or visual kei inspired fashion designs, usually with some amount of historical accuracy, thanks to Ayami Kojima, that the series is known for. But before this, the character design style was very different. From the very 90s shonen anime inspired Richter, to Christopher being deadass shirtless in a skirt at one point, to John Morris being in basically casual clothes, there’s a lot of variety in it.

Well, being the silly Simon super fan I am, I’ve studied all his outfits a ton over the years I’ve been a fan of the series and oh boy they are INTERESTING :3. I’ve noticed a lot of elements are consistently reoccurring, specific to him, and some are very much not specific to him lol. Anyway, just trust me on this one, overanalyzing the closet of an NES barbarian to be able to make new outfits for him is FUN >:3c.

So, I’ve seen him not wearing pants thrown around as a joke before, but it’s actually the truth! Besides the Haunted Castle wedding suit (an outlier that should not be counted lol), I actually have never run into a design where Simon is wearing full length, proper pants. The closest he ever gets is black tights in Simon’s Quest and occasionally shorts, but on that topic, shorts aren’t even his most common choice! Let’s look at some of his oldest designs:

This one is really hard to tell, but based on the angle of the lines, the shadows, and context clues from other art for CV1, I don’t know if that’s actually supposed to be shorts 💀💀💀!

In both his cute little manual doodles and his almost more adorable teeny 8-bit sprite, his outfit is a belted tunic of some sort! So like, the equivalent of a really tiny dress or a long shirt XD. And really, his cover art design is kinda just a more detailed version of these. They both have a distinction between a top and bottom part of the upper half, they both have big belts, they both have the tall boots and arm guards, they both have teeny skirt part, and Fun Fact! They both have red in the hair! I color picked a nice high res scan of the CV1 cover art, and yes, there’s red in his hair!!! It’s like a nice mix of dark reddish blond, it’s a very fun hair color :3.

However, that’s not where CV1 ends in tunic vs shorts debate:

THAT’S A SKORT— DO YOU SEE THAT DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE HALVES, ONE IS DEFINITELY A PANTLEG LMAO. So yeah, skort Simon is also a thing thanks to this particular magazine scan lol, thus leaving us with the possibility that it is both a skirt and shorts on the CV1 cover that he’s wearing X,,,,D. Never change, Simon, never change.

Besides the tunic, there’s some other interesting details to his CV1 era designs! :D In a lot of depictions he has this neat cape, something that returns in some Simon’s Quest art and Smash Bros lol, but he’s never shown wearing it in game. What’s interesting is that Trevor actually gets a cape in his game’s opening as well as Christopher in Belmont’s Revenge if I’m remembering correctly. It’s very neat seeing Simon character design details rubbing off into other characters :3. I like to think lore wise that it’s the same cape that’s been passed down to Simon from those two.

He also has the headband! Iconic! But have you noticed the little ball shapes at the ends of the tails? They’re either knots or, infinitely cooler option, beads :D!!!!!!! And I wouldn’t be surprised if they were because that leads me to another design: X68000–

Now this one is one of my favorites :3. It’s kinda like a forward facing version of his original design but with some new details! And his headband gets this cool lookin, intricate distinctly metallic design on it, something I’ve seen a lot of artists simplify to a general crescent moon shape. But it is kinda similar to the shape on his belt buckle, something that I still have no idea what it’s even supposed to be. Also, his arm guards and the thing at the end of his necklace (which may or may not have vampire teeth on it, they could just be metal spikes though) are similar; it makes me wonder if it was an attempt at a tortoiseshell pattern? Filigree? Whatever it is, they’re all matchy matchy about it.

This design also gives him the staple left shoulder pauldron, of which has these huge stitches holding it on and an added belt that connects to his other belt armor. Get used to belts, he has a lot of those X,,,D. What’s really neat about this one’s belt is that he has both a hilt for the family sword but also one for the whip on the other side, and they’re on the wrong sides for drawing the weapon properly 💀💀💀💀. Which is also funny considering his CV1 cover art has the sword on the other side, which is kinda wrong too? Who knows, maybe he’s ambidextrous and just doesn’t care what sides they’re on lol.

The biggest thing I can say about this design though is that a lot of these accessories and armor pieces look homemade, like as if he just took teeth as a trophy himself and strung them on a cord or made a shoulder piece and put it on an already existing belt he had. Adding onto this, there’s also the possible beads on his headband and the cords around his boots (which could be an attempt at a certain actual historical type of shoe that I cannot remember the name of for the life of me rn, in which case would make these not boots and actually corded shoes with very nice big fluffy socks hehe, I am forcing you to imagine him with big fluffy socks—) and yeah! I can see him making his stuff on his own :3. Which is so cool! I love this idea so much, it makes for a lot of things to imagine him doing hehe. Also gives him a hobby??? Yeah :)

No indication of if he’s got shorts or not in this one, maybe I’ll count how many have skirts or shorts and put that at the end of this lol.

But shorts get another point again cause we’re looking at Chronicles:

Oh Chronicles. Well, the first thing I wanna mention is that, this is Ayami Kojima’s design for him, so here we are seeing a very interesting mix of the visual kei style and 80s barbariancore in a way that honestly slays (figuratively and literally). And, surprisingly, there is something historically accurate about this design, and it’s not what you’d probably expect. Based on the width, material, cross rivets, and the buckle on the front, Simon is wearing an actual dog collar. Like, for dogs. Like it’s dog armor used primarily for hunting dogs I just— Again, never change Simon, never change 💀💀💀.

We also see Simon preferring to put his armor on his left side again with the torn in half coat. It’s also somewhat similar to 1600s coats, not really of any specific country in fashion that I can tell, however the sleeve being that short is not accurate, leading me to believe that he probably tore that off too lol. Very Chrom Fire Emblem of you, Simon, and another example of him D.I.Y.—ing things. The basic elements still stay similar to past designs. Shorts, distinct upper and lower half of shirt, belts, armor on said belt, sword and whip hilts, arm armor and tall boots (shout out to the heels on this one), and armor on the left, unfortunately no headband though. But that distinct bottom half to the shirt part of his outfit in this one is defined with… a corset? Yeah!!! That’s a corset!!! Though the proper name for the time period might be a stay or a girdle, but Simon is straight up wearing a belt over a corset. And said corset over a coat. Half of one. Don’t question him—

But the main entries to his 80s bara-barian half of the wardrobe, let’s get to some knightly aesthetic outfits, of which he does have a good amount, starting with SCV4:

Simon’s knightly outfits are usually a similar silhouette as his original tunic look, just in metal this time and in various colors. SCV4 has his armor as gold on the cover, blue on the Japanese cover and manual art, and green in game! And they’re all pretty much the same with mild variations. On the cover art, his shoes are corded sandals with nothing under them, but in game and in most other artwork they are these metallic boots with the classic X shape of the cords baked into them. Some art gives his middle belt armor section this cross with snakes on it, which is an odd thing to be referencing here. It’s either a staff of Mercury, usually associated now with medicine but was an alchemical symbol before that, or something else I can’t find any info on. There’s also a big ab window because these are all proper half shirts lol. Straight up a metal breastplate with nothing under it, a pretty bad idea tbh 💀.

All in all, these are generally really simple, but there’s one more thing before I stop talking about SCV4:

I LOVE this design. It’s this really nice blend of the older CV1 era style and the metal armor of the later ones, very cool. Shout out to the eye creases and the dead stare shadow over his eyes too, they really conveyed the effects of witnessing the horrors well lmaoooo.

Again, tunic, belt, arm guards, headband, the usual, but, speaking of symbols, there’s something about this one that’s been driving me nuts forever: I cannot find out what that symbol on his paldrons and belt buckle is!!! It’s this upside down triangle with a bent rectangle missing the bottom line over it and it LOOKS distinctly intentional, but I can’t find it or what it means anywhere!!! I tried searching through lists of alchemical symbols, religious symbols, nothing so far has been close (TwT ). Regardless, great design, definitely in my top 5.

And what else is in my top five? Oh yeah babey, it’s Simon’s Quest time:

Ah, Simon’s Quest with his fuck ass bob and the stolen Ravenloft image— but unironically, that armor fucks fr. Again, similar silhouette! If there’s any take aways from this post, it’s definitely that Simon is a little shirt, little pants kind of guy. A severe lack of long sleeves and long pants legs until now, and even then, these are skin tight. Heck even his boots(????) are vacuum sealed, just look at those fabric creases by his ankle!

Now, it’s honestly really hard to tell if his “gloves” and “boots” are supposed to be in some parts metal due to the shading on them and the base armor being very similar. I personally like to depict the forearm and calf parts as metal and the hand and ankle parts as not, but eh. Like most things regarding Simon, I suppose this too is up to interpretation XD. There’s some variation in color in some scans having the underclothes be white, dark blue, or black, and the armor be any range of red to purple to brown too. But towards red and black is probably the most accurate due to his sprite being those colors.

But this is a shockingly rare case of Simon being fully covered in one of his outfits, and I’m inclined to think that there’s probably a reason for that. Not only does he have a rotting curse right now and drawing straight up gore on the cover of an NES game was just not an option lol, but he’s not letting his guard down anymore after being hit. Which would also explain the sudden change to all metal armor as that can’t be cut through as easily as leather.

Speaking of all metal armor, oh I looooove the detailing on his. The gold accents to his byzantine (a nice in between color of red and purple, a color that is also reused in Smash Bros again in the middle corset section of his outfit) are what I would call stylized floral patterns, kinda in the way that fleur de les don’t really look exactly like flowers but still are supposed to represent one. Not sure what kind exactly, but possibly some sort type of angel’s trumpet? Very neat regardless. The gems inlaid in it are all green on top and around the belt, but the center belt buckle is bright red. It’s a very jewel tones color scheme!!!

Well anyway, if tumblr will let me have more images, I’d like to show off a few other random examples of outfit elements he’s had before I close this off with something :3

This was a pretty recently found scan of Simon wearing get this: a pleated miniskirt. Probably Roman armor inspired, as some of his other magazine scans have depicted him as such. One ad for SCV4 and another (live action even) for Simon’s Quest has him even wearing like a Roman helmet and everything, it’s odd. Add helmets to the list of things Simon might wear. Hmm maybe I should make a tier list of things based on how often he’s worn them…

Moving on!

This one goes for the bold choice of giving Simon not only an expected tiny belted tunic, but side slits on the legs! And uh um a little too much detail but uh— It’s also this kinda white, kinda bluish, kinda silverish color? Add this to Simon’s color palette I guess lol.

Which reminds me that I didn’t mention colors very much until now whoops. Throughout all of hie designs he primarily seems to wear neutrals like various browns, greys, and metal tones. But he also has a lot of color. Like as in there’s enough different colored designs to make a whole rainbow of Simon outfits. Common combinations like dark green, gold, and wine reds; blue and silver; brown, gold, orange, and kinda purplish greys; etc etc. And his HAIR. Oh boy, would this guy love modern hair dye X,,,,,D. He’s had it various blonds, reds, browns, even black at one point, blue, green, unnatural red, pink, and in one concept design white! Personally, I like depicting it as a nice in between of red, blond, and brown, it encompasses the most I think.

The final thing I wanna mention is the Smash Bros design, which I unfortunately can’t show because I’m on mobile and have met the 10 images limit whoopsie— (_ _ ;). This design is really a good culmination of a lot of elements. Not really definitive or anything, but very good :3. And it has something I didn’t mention earlier that I’ve noticed in some Simon designs: random belts or metal around his upper arms and thighs lol. The Smash Bros design in particular has the arm band things on both sides, Chronicles has it on the not half coat one, but this is another thing I’ve seen other characters (Christopher in particular, but his are just gold rings) have. The leg thing is less common, but yeah, that exists lol. Thank you Simon for uh bending two pieces of metal around your leg…? It’s cool XD. The corset also makes a return, as well as, once more, the same basic silhouette with the armor only on the left side, the belt armor pieces, etc etc. He’s very particular about that—

Well, anyway, Simon definitely has a vibe going on, but here’s a brief summary of things he seems to like:

Skirts, tunics, long shirts, and shorts (and skorts I guess), but nothing past about half his thigh, generally over the knees.

No long sleeves or pant legs (unless it’s tights when absolutely necessary).

Armor primarily to the left, unless it’s metal, in that case usually a full plate or paldron set.

Belts, hilts, belts on his arms, and neck, and hanging off of things, and legs, yeah belts—

Boots/tall socks, corded or not, and something on his forearms or wrists.

Headband! Seriously out of every Belmont he is the most dedicated to these lol.

Necklaces and beads and other little accessories and adornments are also cool.

Alrighty then, have fun Simon-ing and I encourage you to look through his or other characters’ designs and pick them apart a bit sometimes, even if it’s just through what’s on the wiki :3. If anything, I think it’s a good exercise in character design and consistency! But yeah, I wrote all this late at night and can’t think of anything else rn. If I do I’ll do a sequel I guess hehe. Either that or I might rant about another character hmmmmmmm—

[mino-diabolik]

Five Years of Mystic Tsukinami

This August it’ll be five years since I created Mystic’s blog. And since I’ve reached the 500 followers mark not long ago, I thought I’ll compile a few fun facts and others about the blog and how Mystic’s character developed through the years into the rampant, chaotic-horny, grinning Founder you all know today! ✨

Origins

I started this blog in August of 2018 thanks to the encouragement of a good friend and fellow Kino-lover, @munarisblog! I only interacted with the Hispanic community of DL’s fandom at the time, writing in Spanish all the time.

I’m not very sure when, but as friends started being less and less active, I turned to putting out content in English and getting myself out there by sending the first ask/starter to other blogs. Through which I acquired incredibly mutuals and people I very much consider friends today ✨

Designs

The first ever imagery of Mystic’s design I had to show for was manga-clips and Picrew depictions, as it was what everyone was doing back in the day.

The manga clips, I used even up to a few months ago, but the Picrew avatar is very, very old. So, if you recognize it: Congratulations, you’ve been in this hellhole for quite a while LMAO

I later received the opportunity to obtain a proper sprite for Mystic! It being made for me by the talented @/lavendel081 ✨

I believe these were introduced some time in 2018/2019. Don’t quote me on that, though. I’m not quite sure, but pretty confident it was very early on. I’m still greatly thankful to Lavendel for offering to make this sprite of Mystic for me back then.

Moving to the present, summer 2022, I got in contact with Lavendel once more in order to properly commission new sprites for Mystic. The finally product—which, fun fact, were coincidentally done by Mystic’s birthday on the dot lol—are the Mystic you interact with presently.

As for Mystic’s other forms, I’ve only shown his wolf form. Which I will present here in both their past and current versions—

I’m the future, I plan to make (at least) a sprite for Mystic’s owl form :D

Character Development

I was going to say I didn’t mean this as in dumping trauma on him, but that’s a lie lmao

In the beginning, Mystic was very much a flat character with very little interesting attributes to him, besides the fact he was an OC descendant of the Tsukinami. His personality was very much based on Shin’s back then, aside from a few aspects that would be considered extremely out of character today.

Early-Mystic used to be extremely shy and easily flustered, being (and forgive me for the wording lmao) a virgin who had no experience in love whatsoever. That is to say, Kino was his first-everything back in the day. Not to mention, he was your typical prince-boy that never had to lift a hand for why he wanted. That is to say, he was pretty whiny.

The current version of Mystic I have today is the abso-fucking-lutely opposite. Sleeps around, trauma based off past relationships, flirty, emotionally-unavailable, outgoing—you get it.

Not to mention, a lot of his backstory is based off the very vague notes I had of him during his early stages. Back then, I knew he was a prince, but truly had no clue where I was going with the Owl Clan and their lore. What you see today is the most detailed his backstory has ever been.

Routes appearances

Oh my god, I cringe just thinking about it. The very first version I wrote of Mystic’s LE route is very much what I described of his character during early-stages (refer to the inexperienced, easily flustered virgin fellow). It was a mess. He was so boringly weak, I could have made him a human and there (mostly) not had been much difference.

The Mystic I’ve depicted in his (in-progress) Dark Fate route is the kind of character Mystic is presently, and who is much like the canon that should be followed.

This post isn’t all that impressive (I’m still considering making something else that includes my followers/community), but I thought it fun to make something that could trace back to the very beginning. I’m really thankful for those that have been here for a long time, but also you guys that have just arrived months, or even weeks prior.

I’ve met incredibly writers and characters through Mystic, with whom I hope to be able to continue interacting with ^^

I’m not very good at this kinds of speeches, so I won’t stretch this out any more;;; Thank you once more, and stay tuned for more! ⭐️😈⭐️

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

So I keep finding Fall Out Boy songs that are absolute VIBES and I really like their work! I'm wondering if you have any recommendations, since you're a huge fan. No pressure, of course!!

ok so there's like, songs I just really like. songs that are pretty deep cuts. and songs that have Lore behind them that make me absolutely insane. I'm gonna give you a few of each

obviously their hits are hits for a reason. Sugar is so much fun to sing. Dance, Dance has a wicked fun bass part. Immortals and Centuries are both simply iconic. Grand Theft Autumn is a classic. I also really love The Last Of The Real Ones

I really like Alone Together, Fake Out (obviously sndkdnskfk) — actually, Hazel, do me a solid and just listen to all of So Much (For) Stardust straight through one time if you want/have a chance. it's so worth the like, hour of your time — Disloyal Order Of Water Buffaloes, Bob Dylan, and Hold Me Tight Or Don't. they're super good songs lyrically and musically I love them dearly they're not like, radioplay popular but they're decently well known?

as for some deeper cuts basically all of Folie A Deux is a banger despite the morality of some of the songs being iffy lol but hey. it bops we gotta be real here. I really really like the title track off of Save Rock And Roll (it makes me a bit emotional considering the band's journey through the years yknow?) as well as Miss Missing You. The Patron Saint of Liars and Fakes goes HARD. The Music Or The Misery is... a whole lot. Bang the Doldrums, an absolute BANGER of a song to jump around a room to, could technically go in the lore category but honestly. it's the song that would have been in Shrek 2 if DreamWorks weren't hecking cowards. The (After) Life Of The Party is one of my favorite songs EVER. Wilson (Expensive Mistakes) is basically my theme song.

as for like, Lore songs, Hum Hallelujah is actually one of THE songs that got me into FOB, as well as Coffee's For Closers — Hum is largely about FOB's lyricist and bassist's suicide attempt (not in a horribly depressing way actually, it's a reference and a homage to the song that he says saved his life), and CFC borrows lyrics from one of that guy's old blog post poetry things (which I actually reblogged earlier today). I've Got A Dark Alley And A Bad Idea That Says You Should Shut Your Mouth (Summer Song) (yes, by Fall Out Boy sjdkdksk) is also tangentially about Pete's attempt in that he wrote it around that time and it's very much about his own insecurities. a pretty dark, sad song but one I relate to a lot and it sounds SO pretty. Saturday, off their first (proper) record, is a song the lead singer wrote pretty much entirely about the band and specifically the aforementioned bassist/lyricist — very historical song but also the song I sing every time I get in the car to drive somewhere skdlfjssk.

listen ok this is a lot, so-

TL;DR, out of every song I've recced here, top 10 songs you should listen to by Chicago Softcore Rock Band Fall Out Boy:

Hum Hallelujah, Bob Dylan, Coffee's For Closers, The (After) Life Of The Party, Saturday, Bang the Doldrums, Wilson (Expensive Mistakes), Save Rock and Roll, Patron Saint of Liars and Fakes, The Last Of the Real Ones

also the entirely of SMFS start to finish. it's a cinematic experience despite being audio. it might change your life.

[blockgamepirate]

I have so many thoughts about Purgatory and how it's being handled, but I'm also too tired to write a proper post

Here's a bunch of rambling instead:

idk like I think the thing they did successfully was reinvigorating the QSMP project (I think, idk what the actual numbers are tbh, I'm just going by vibes). It's a very dramatic event and it's constantly changing. No two days are the same as I said earlier. They also brought together people who hadn't interacted much before and gave everyone a break from the staleness of a seven month old server. And the mystery aspect keeps people engaged, even almost unwillingly so I think.

It's spectacle, it's hype

But....

I do think the way it was handled, even taking it for granted that this was all a good idea, as far as I can tell, the players were not warned in any way that they would be suddenly thrown into a completely new gamemode? Live on stream? A gamemode that's explained very poorly to them so most of them have no idea what's happening or how they're supposed to play it? That's harsh. It's no wonder a bunch of them didn't take it well! And some of them might have if they'd been given a bit more of a warning or had a better explanation! People are generally more open to new things if they're not just suddenly pushed into it.

They didn't sign up for this kind of pseudo-battle dome type of thing, they signed up for an SMP. Usually when SMPs do competitive events, the players are told ahead of time and are allowed to opt out. But with this? If you opt out, you're fucking over your team, because you already got assigned to one and if you're not logging on, your team has one less player.

Also the viewers too would probably have responded better with a bit more of an explanation. Like if you're showing up for a mystery thriller in the movie theatre, you'd be pretty pissed off if it turned out it was actually a sports tournament. And most would probably just leave the theatre. And then the people who heard that it was a sports tournament and came in going oh boy I sure do love me some sports, would be pretty pissed off when it turned out it was actually a mystery thriller masquerading as a sports tournament after all.

Okay maybe that analogy is a bit weird and exaggerated and unfair but like.... what even is this event actually?

And that's my next point: Like separating it from all the stuff I just said about needing to reinvigorate the server, what is the point of doing it like this? The players themselves don't seem sure what's expected of them, should they be roleplaying or should they just have fun competing and ignore the lore?

I get the impression that it was intended to be possible to play either way depending on the streamer, but the thing is that this makes both options frustrating. You can't fully roleplay because have to play along with the game and you can't just fully commit to the competition because it's so full of lore elements and badly designed from a competitive point of view (I mean look at Sunday's surprise elimination round when a bunch of greens were busy, which I feel is the most ridiculous example of this. But also Soulfire getting targetted by the kill quests for seemingly no reason. And then there's the cursed team aspect: what the hell are you even supposed to do with that as a competitive player? So much of it is so stupid. But it's also not balanced in a way that would be fun for casual play either.)

Not to mention the fact that when you have people who want to roleplay and people who don't, there's absolutely going to be clashes, and you also end up blurring the line between roleplay and reality. And of course the audience will be confused and won't get it, either way.

Okay, a very simple example that I think was already dropped: Etoiles attacking Phil and Phil taking it as Lore while Etoiles was just having fun playing video games. I think they basically just resolved it by Phil letting it go (which is the correct take IMO), but you can see why this kind of thing is a problem, right? Because if the person who wants to roleplay interprets it as roleplay, they're effectively godmodding the other person's character, which is bad rp etiquette. But then if they can't interpret it as roleplay it means they basically just can't actually roleplay.

You can't have some characters roleplaying and others not, at least not unless you've made that clear between the players and also to the audience.

Also I just have to point out that even though QSMP doesn't have an activity requirement, I do feel like they have a bad habit of creating events that effectively create psychological and social pressure to log on and play along with whatever they throw at you. This was a problem with the egg event; suddenly you have a Minecraft baby that you have to take care of every day with another person you've probably only known for like two weeks (if you get a partner at all) OR THE BABY DIES AND THE FANDOM WILL HATE YOU.

And this is kinda similar; you don't have to log on but you're letting your team down if you don't!

Except this time the fandom will also probably hate you if you do.

idk. I think it's a mess that could have been (somewhat) avoided by just not being so obsessed with mystery and surprises and letting at least the streamers know ahead of time what they were getting into and letting them choose whether they wanted to play at all in the first place or not, and also actually setting up some guidelines for figuring out what was roleplay and what wasn't.

And maybe putting together some kind of a trailer for the viewers so they'll have even a rough idea of what the concept is and would be a bit more prepared for it. (They could just say the trailer is non-canon, it's fine)

The streamers can still act surprised in character, you can just tell them to not let the audience know exactly what's coming and to pretend like they don't know anything. I mean there could still be surprises like the teams and the exact mechanics of the game and the specifics of the lore. I just think the players should know something about what they're getting into. It's just common courtesy.

(But also the event itself could have been better designed)

And maybe you can set up something where only the streamers who signed up for the event actually end up on Egg Island, and the others conveniently were all in a car that got detached from the train on the way so now they've ended up somewhere different and maybe they just have like a low-maintenance temporary server to play on casually if they want to, maybe with some subtle lore elements that they can discover. You could do something weird with that too, like maybe the car got derailed into an ocean and they end up in a waterworld sort of place and have to figure out how to play in that kind of environment for two weeks; challenging but chill. (idk it's a random idea but something like that could be fun for a very limited time, and imagine the memes.)

Anyway, obligatory end note: I do genuinely respect the work the admin team put into this project. It's a lot, it's very ambitious, and it often pays off. They're also very good about responding to feedback which is great. I just think that they do make a lot of frustrating mistakes, or what I would consider mistakes. (There are other things I could complain about but that's another post)

Also I do think Purgatory would have worked better if it had happened earlier in the egg disappearance arc, but I fully understands why it took so long. There isn't much you can do about scheduling issues. Can't criticise the admins for that.

[amouress16]

RUIN Thoughts!

Under the cut for your convenience to avoid spoilers!

I have seen pretty much everything that is out/widely known about as of day one so I'm just gonna ramble about everything. Starting with positives and then getting into the things I didn't like towards the end. Cause hoo boy are my feeling very mixed about this whole thing let me tell you.

I like Cassie! We have proper context and motivation for her right off the bat. Immediate story improvements there!

The gameplay of the whole DLC looks way better. Personally I've never liked games that box you in to one path too much in a way it's too obvious, but the DLC makes it realistic and gives paths that loop back around to places you've been. The map still doesn't make sense but that's just the SB experience at this point I guess.

Eclipse. ECLIPSE. ECLIPSE CANON OH MY GOD. He's sweet and gentle and acts just like how a caretaker should! Sun pleading for help and Moon expressing their pain being forced to work as entirely separate programs, both of them fighting each other's triggers.... Aauughhhh I love them. The fact that all they needed for so long was a simple reboot and there were just no human workers around to do it.... 😭

AND ROXANNE. Seeing the side of the characters actually being child entertainers is so nice! Even if it was done just to make the moment bittersweet. "Do you still like carrot cake? I like carrot cake." They're all supposed to be kind. They're supposed to be good and wholesome and they've all been twisted into monsters that aren't their true selves.

High tech AR Vanny mask.... but no Vanny... 🤔 sure game, whatever you say

On the other hand, no map bot, but mask bot? Clever sleight of hand Steel Wool, I see you

Bonnie design reveal!!!! Further implications that Monty murdered him!!! I...! I'm not sure I like it. It's difficult because he has no consistency in his appearance. The Bonnie Bowl mascot is purple like OG Bon but the design we see in the gator ride telling Monty's backstory is blue. What are those shoulder pads and how would that work on an animatronic, like at all?? He has no room to move his head! Don't get me started on the inconsistent coloring between his gloves and his outfit. Idc if I sound pretentious for this, the clothing choices hurt me as an artist tbh. If you're gonna make him blue let him wear hot pink or or even yellow. Idk idk it just didn't mesh to me. Oh and his neon sign had the star glasses but his cut outs didn't. Inconsistency is Steel Wool's middle name.

What is with the glitchy shadow rabbit? Why is it shaped like a map marker? Is that supposed to be Glitchtrap? A security system...? I don't understand the point of this storywise at all but sure gameplay go brrr I guess

What the fuck is the Mimic. No seriously. I don't know what it is. Why is it here. What is happening. I am well versed in the canon of these games what is- .......... So it's another Book Thing. Haha. No. Bad. Stop that. Whoever signed off on the "let's add book lore to the games with no explanation or fathomable reason" decision, I am spraying you with a water bottle. Stop alienating those of us who don't have the time/money/desire to buy and read the books. I hate the books personally and have been actively ignoring them since the Plushtrap Chaser one. They are meant to be fun side stories for people who want that, not main game canon!!! Stop it!! I am actually begging you!!

TL;DR I like the characterization given to everyone this time around, it felt right for them. Bonnie's design is inconsistent and kinda mid. And trying to force in booklore most people won't know about is just stupid and I'm mad about it. That's about it.

I definitely wanna draw Cassie with Roxy post game- because I do believe she survived that elevator crash- and maybe make a Bonnie design I'll like better. And I definitely wanna see other people's art. That'll be the best part of all of this.

[h-i-raeth]

WIP Files (I will admit to having adjusted file names since last time I did WIP Wednesday hah)(also whoops meant to get to this earlier in the day but it's alright progress is progress)

The Sum Of Our Parts (unpublished)* (AFTG, Andriel, Unwind AU, partially published)

Time And Hearts Will Wear Us Thin (hanahaki deconstrucion fic) (Stranger things, queerplatonic Stobin with several side ships, entirely unpublished will start to be as soon as I get the final draft up to season 3)

The Shadow Of Dust(Character & Plot Notes)* (Stranger Things, His Dark Materials AU, unpublished + looking destined to be Long)

Barb Lives Side A (Alive) (Stranger Things, unpublished + looking to be long, will start being published when I've got a base draft done up to the end of season 2 + also a proper title)

Alternate Version (Trapped In The Upside Down) (Stranger Things, unpublished but should be much shorter than the other two Barb Lives AUs living in my WIPs)

*TSOOP & TSOD are both in phases where adding sentences isn't what I need to do to progress, so asks for them will me working on them/their notes/editing for at least 15 minutes. I'll post snippets from CH5 that have passed a final-editing sweep for Sum asks & both a snippet of sentences from a different WIP + a lore tidbit about it for Shadow asks.

My Snippet:

And sure, the kids have been more actively involved in his life since this most recent bout of insanity. He’s folded the idea of something happening to them into the same place where he keeps his anxiety about party guests lingering unwatched near his pool, and it means that the kids have rapidly figured out that they can exploit him for rides pretty much anywhere as long as he’s free. He bitches at them about it, but it’s honestly a relief to know where they’re supposed to be most of the time, and they’ve all rapidly endeared themselves to him, Dustin especially. It helps, but it’s still more babysitting than friendship, especially at this stage.

Mike still hasn’t forgiven him for having dated his sister (and is too wrapped up in El to really have time to warm up to Steve even if he had), and Will never went on Steve’s monster-hunting tween bonding adventure in the first place. Plus, he’s not like Dustin, Lucas, and Max, who don’t have any actual adults in their lives that they can go to about the Upside Down bullshit. He has no need for Steve outside of his glorified chauffeur services, and he gets rides from his mother or Jonathan most of the time anyway.

Max acts almost like a feral cat. He’s… Pretty sure she’s fond of him, but he doubts she’d ever admit it, and that extends to soliciting his company. She lets him get close so long as he doesn’t show signs that he cares and orbits cautiously around the group, alternating between being wrapped up in Lucas and almost abandoning the boys entirely as she renews her efforts to further endear herself to El. And El, for her part, seemed to like him well enough the few times Hop had had Steve help Joyce keep an eye on her when he had to go out of town, but with her being pretty much confined to the cabin he’s probably seen her in person half a dozen times at most, total.

Dustin convinced his mother to hire Steve as an actual babysitter for her late shifts, and he knows that Claudia is relieved about it, as odd as that is for him, and that pretty much amounts to just passing time with him. Lucas often gets folded into that, coming over to hang out with Dustin, occasionally with Max or Will in tow, and the group of them asking for his input on their various conversations every so often (even if they dismiss that input half the time as he admits ignorance to their board game rules), and he approaches Steve for advice much in the same way that Dustin does, albeit less frequently. 

But. As fond as he is of the kids, the fact of the matter is they aren’t exactly friends, even if Dustin comes closer to it than the others. They don’t really hang out with him. Steve can’t lean on them the way that he encourages them to lean on him. They don’t go to school with him. And Steve sometimes feels stiff and wrong-footed trying to interact with them, uncertain of the protocols for being friends with people so much younger than him. So they can’t fill the ache in him that the loss of Nancy’s constant company has left in him following their break up.

WIP Wednesday Game

It’s WIP Wednesday, time for a little accountability, sharing your work, and getting a kick in the pants.

Here’s how it woks:

In a reblog (or new post w/ rules attached), post up to five (5) filenames of your WIPs; not titles, file names.

Post a snippet from one of them. Snippet must be words you wrote in the last 7 days. We’re posting progress here. If you haven’t made any, go make some and come back to post!

After you’ve posted, people can send you an ask with one of your file names. You must then write 3 sentences in that file. If the filename is one you can't share from (for example, an event or gift fic), write 3 sentences on it anyway, and then 3 more on another to share.

That’s it! You can invite others to join in, or just post. If you tag me in your post, I will send you an ask request!

If you’re reading this, you’re invited!

If you see someone posting a WIP Wednesday Game snippet, send them an ask! Make them write.

Requested/Friend event mentions under the cut! If you'd like to be pinged next week, let me know!

friends @fiore-della-valle @redbirdblogs @greenbergsays @idkfandomwhatever @luckyspike @obaewankenope @mad-madam-m @sleepymccoy @eriquin @sosobriquet @qprstobin @spacebarrette @andavs @zainclaw @anonymousdandelion @flameraven @fractalgeometry @northeasternwind / Requests @aparticularbandit @madnessfromthemountains

[kawaiijohn]

Rewind, Rinse, Repeat Chapter 1

For Invisobang Minibang 2021

Ao3 Link

Chapters: 3 finished, 12 total Rating: T+ Warnings: Major and Minor Character Death- all temporary, Implied Child Abuse/Neglect, Strong Language, Mild Body Horror, Mild Injury. Other warnings listed by chapter Characters: Clockwork, Danny Fenton, Pariah Dark, Levi | Leviathan (OC), Mal (OC), Observants, Mentions of other characters Ships: Lost Time, Dark Ages, CW & OC child, CW & Levi | Leviathan (OC) Genre/Tropes: Human AU, Magic AU, Found Family, Character Origin, Hurt/Comfort, Original Magic System and Lore Additional Tags: Existentialism & Existential Angst, Memory Loss & Amnesia, Corruption, Clockwork Centric, They/Them Pronouns for Clockwork, The Fenton's A+ Parenting, Obersvant Bashing

Summary

“Clockwork can I ask you something? How did you become a ghost?”

The tale surrounding the mystery of Clockwork's existence; a world where magic is common and ghosts are not. A world where one lonely, average mage tries with all their might to save what means most to them. A world where things need to be remade into something better.

Shout out to my betas @bibliophilea and @moonlights-shadow-warrior for keeping me sane, @13thdoodle for letting me use their OC, Levi, @dailudannos and @sailor-toni for providing art for later chapters, and all the folks over at @invisobang for being awesome!!!!

Chapter One below the Cut. The rest is available on my Ao3 account because tumblr linking/posting is hella broken.

Chapter 1: An Inquiry

“Hey, Clockwork? Can I ask you something?”

Clockwork looks over from the mirror they were watching intently.  “You already have, Daniel,” they reply, offering the other a smirk.

“Oh, ha ha.  You've never said that to me before.”  The reply is filled to the brim with sarcasm, as per usual.  Danny rolls his eyes, but a small smile gracing his lips betrays the fact he isn't annoyed in the least.  “Seriously, though.  It’s something that's been on my mind like... every day for the last two weeks!!"  He raises his hands towards the sky, flopping back in the air dramatically.  "But... it's kinda, y'know.  Personal-”  Danny trails off, slightly embarrassed.

Of course.  Clockwork finds themself smiling fondly- Danny thought he’d said something he shouldn't have- an inquiry that could make his guardian upset (as if it's even possible to upset Clockwork like that).  A question is a question, and this is a worrying habit of his that the Time Master is trying to help break, even if it's still somewhat endearing to them.

“I uh, I mean... it’s personal about- to you, not to me. That’s what I meant!!” Danny continued.

Clockwork stares at him, unblinking.  An idea (or thousands) of what he may ask flashes through their mind’s eye.  With a single, calming pulse to their Core, Clockwork pushes the involuntary slideshow of timelines aside as if they're no more than curtains.  They need to focus on the window in front of them; the here and now, not the temporal drapery.

It's a habit they are trying to overcome for Daniel’s sake.  To ensure their ward's growth, they need to stop peering into the near future as often- not discourage his asking of questions.  After all, what is a child if not but a well of endless curiosity?  Cutting Danny off is also sure to disallow the development of any trust or patience Clockwork needs to build within their young ward.  They wouldn’t receive either of those things if they assume what he wanted to ask.

It's common decency to not assume, lest it ‘make an ass out of you and me’, according to Daniel.

It is going to be a tough habit to break, but by the (other) Ancients, they're trying their best.  Their ward deserves the infinitesimal choices all other children have when asking things of their guardians, so even if they do glimpse to the future, they will not mention it to him.  Clockwork refuses and will continue to refuse to take their ward’s agency away; to not have a choice in things is a fate worse than fading.

The boy has been quiet, stuck deep within his own thoughts even after an impressive five minutes and thirty-seven and a half seconds of silence (uncharacteristic of the boy, Clockwork notes).

Now that just won't do- he must have lost his train of thought.  Clockwork gestures at the ghost boy, motioning for him to continue.  It works- Danny adverting his eyes and clearing his throat, "Well, it’s just like- you know so much about me- like, how I died, the whole Ghost Zone Prince business, that entire disaster doomed timeline with Dan... I just keep thinking- no- realizing, that I barely know anything about you!!”  He throws his arms up in thinly veiled frustration.

Clockwork smirks. “You had another question, did you not?”  They place a hand along the edge of the closest Temporal Mirror, turning to face the mirror- still halfway facing Danny.  They can see his inner debate clearly written on the boy's face- the mirror reflecting as if it were an ordinary object (for now).  They turn towards it fully and watch Daniel's reaction from behind them, acting as if they aren't finding joy in their ward's hesitation.  It's always adorable when he tries not to offend Clockwork. "I may be able to work with time, but that doesn't mean I wish to float here waiting for an answer all day."

Danny blinks a few times, rolling his eyes again in response.  Clockwork is certain that if they weren’t secured to his skull by human musculature they’d fall out and roll away.  “Well, I’m sorry for trying not to be rude and like, asking outright... but since it’s you I have to always be super direct!!  Jeeze you’re frustrating sometimes!”  He floats towards his mentor, crossing his arms.

Danny often forgets Clockwork isn't easily upset over trivial things such as questions.  Most questions are about things they already know the answers to, anyways.  And the few things that they don’t know when asked, they figure out soon after.  Such is the duty of the Master of Time- to be a step ahead of everyone and everything else always.  Besides, in most timelines (68.3% of them, to round up) the question Daniel wishes to ask is along the lines of ‘What was your past like?’ Another small fraction (a little under 20%) the question is ‘How did you get so strong?’ .  And even in the remaining timelines, the question would be along the lines of ‘How do your time powers work?’

They are each things Clockwork expects Daniel to ask them at some point or other, as it were.  There isn’t really anything Daniel can ask that could be too shockin-

“Clockwork, I was wondering… how exactly did you become a ghost?”

They... did not see that coming… in any of the timelines they’d glimpsed.  Clockwork stills for only a fraction of a moment, but it’s long enough for Danny to flinch, feeling as if he’s crossed a line.  They hear more than see Daniel shrinking in on himself as they look off into nothing, buried memories waking slowly in their mind.

Clockwork is brought from their introspection by a mumbled curse.  “Shit!  I mean... uh crap??"   They just stare at Danny as they are brought back to the present.  "Never mind just... sorry for asking...  Oh man!  Did I offend you somehow?  Ancients dammit, this is what I was worried about!!”  They watch him curiously, soft whirring coming from their ward's anxious core.  “We can just forget about it if-”  Daniel’s hands wring together nervously, shoulders tense with worry and face full of guilt.

Right- facial expressions are also important for a young ghost's emotional communication and development.  Sometimes the Time Master wonders if their isolation in Long Now affected their social behavior (it did).  Their face is carefully blank most times, so they set to fix it- they offer a small grin, hand coming to rest on Daniel’s shoulder.  “It is more than fine, Daniel.  You asked if you could ask a question- which is in fact, two questions, I should note- but I gave you consent to ask it of me.”  They squeeze his shoulder to placate the worry.

“It’s about time I told you this story, as it were.  I just did not foresee it being told at this very moment."  Clockwork floats slowly, turning away from their Mirrors.  "Come along- it’s best we sit for this.  I’ll have one of your friends bring us some tea.”

Danny floats after his mentor, looking around the room the two normally use to study history of the Realms.  “So, uh… is it a long story or...?”

“Oh, it is very long, indeed.”  They fly through an ornate door and over to their favored 'chair'- a stack of comfortable cushions in violets and blues, both impossibly cool and warm at the same time.  They recall Daniel discovering the room, eyes full of wonder and posture relaxed.  Clockwork chuckles- the first time their boy had wandered in here he'd decided to take a running dive into the pile, jumping up in surprise when it was cold as ice, yet warm as fresh laundry.  The expression on their ward’s face is one of their fondest memories; a happy moment amongst all the tedium of watching time.

“It may take a while to tell this tale proper. But, it is a story that ought to be told.”  Daniel makes himself comfortable on his chair of choice- an unholy combination of 'borrowed' pillows and what appears to be a more modern gaming chair- complete with an obnoxiously bright green-black color scheme.  Clockwork has to hide another smile as Danny wiggles himself deep into the pile.  “So, Daniel- what do you know of the phrase ‘Totems of Power’?”

“I thought I was getting a story, not a pop quiz!  Unfair!!”  His disdain for schooling makes Clockwork laugh fondly before the boy continues.  “But they’re like… hmm how do I explain this?  Well, there’s the universe right?  Like every timeline and every result of every timeline all at the same time kind of ties into the main universe thingy- but there's still a main timeline, and that's kinda like... Main Street, and the other possible timelines are uh... like side streets with dead ends?  But there's other forces that like, aren't time and… uhhh...”

He hums, crossing his arms deep in thought.  Clockwork takes the time to purr-sing-hum at one of the many blobs floating in and out of their lair; Daniel had asked them to keep some around as pets and the Time Master was happy to oblige.  They were unable to deny something so beneficial to the young Prince, after all.  The one deemed ‘Mr. Pants’ by one of Daniel’s friends answers their call.  Clockwork buzzes to it a quiet request- ‘bring Daniel's favorite tea and mugs for two, please.’  The little thing chirrups and zips off through the walls- eager to serve the Lair’s owner and be (potentially) rewarded with pats (from Daniel).

The Time Master brings their undivided attention back toward a grumbling ghost boy, lost in thought.  “Daniel if you need to ask for help I’m glad to-”

Danny snaps his fingers, coming to a realization before his mentor can finish.  “I got it!!  The best way to explain it is ‘The Universe needs to run smoothly, so there’s certain forces- like Time or Space- that are upheld by a powerful entity, like a person or like… the avatar of that concept?  Yeah, something like that, but they ensure the aspect they represent is properly cared for so the universe doesn’t completely like, die.’”  Danny nods to himself.  "It's why you stepped in to stop Dan, to make sure the world didn't end like that."

“That is correct- it is my job to ensure this universe of ghosts and reality doesn't crumble prematurely.  Now, do you have a recollection of any other Totems you may have encountered?”

“Well, yeah!  We call them ‘Ancients’, though- so like… Pandora is the one for war and history, and Nocturn is for like… dreams?  The Void or something, maybe?  And then there’s old man Pariah who isn’t one, but he said there’s a Leadership Ancient somewhere, and then-”  Danny pauses, blinking at Clockwork in realization.  “Wait, you asked that for a reason, didn’t you?”

“That I did.  Becoming the Totem, or Ancient of Time is where this story starts.”  Clockwork hums, seeing Mr. Pants fly back towards the two- nearly spilling scalding tea all over the ground.  “Now then.  We have drinks.  We are sitting comfortably.  I believe it’s time I spin my tale for you.”  They take a sip, closing their eyes in bliss.

They open them once more and see Daniel sitting, eyes full of stars and eager- Eager to hear, eager to fire off a question a minute.  It makes a chuckle bubble up in their throat, to see their favorite person so excited to learn.

“Once upon a time, there was a human; average in most ways, a simple person living a simple life.  They would get up in the morning, perform their daily tasks, and go to sleep at night.  Day in, and day out- a boring, but fulfilling existence.

“However, where this story differs from what we recognize as reality, is that in this realm, humans who could control magic were the norm.  Think as if it were like one of those fantasy games you and Tucker play together- mages, healers… all of those and more were commonplace when I was alive.  Yes, humans can wield magic now, but it is nowhere near as frequent as they could in our tale.”

They pause, seeing that Danny was about to interrupt.  “Wait wait- this realm?  Like- this is a completely different reality?? And people can wield magic now???  Are you messing with me?  Like… I thought it was all just-”  The boy stops, his train of thought drifting off the tracks as it tends to now and then.

“Yes, first, this is a completely different realm from either the Mortal Plane or the Ghost Zone.  Second, Daniel- tell me... have you not noticed the magic of those you have encountered?  Blood blossoms… a reality warping gauntlet?  The existence that is ‘Freakshow’ in general should be a red flag, seeing as his talents were… strangely non-ghostly in origin.  Not to mention objects such as the Infi-map...”

“Man, I wish I could forget about Freakshow… who mind controls ghosts???  He was the worst!” Their young ward crossed his arms and grumbles.

“If you’re done sulking about your past misadventures and former foes, I was in the middle of telling a story, if I recall correctly.  One you asked I tell you…”  Clockwork simply stares, unblinking as steam wafts from their slowly cooling tea.

All is well, they knew Danny would only take approximately 4.85 seconds to snap his attention back to their story.  Clockwork sips their tea, waiting.

Danny snaps out of his thoughts only a millisecond off of Clockwork's prediction. “Sorry... it’s just super weird to think that magic actually… still exists?  Like ghosts are real and all but magic being a thing feels a bit far fetched, don’t ya think?”  He pouts, brow furrowed.

The Master of Time finally closes their eyes, removing the hood from their head.  White hair floats gracefully behind them, settling just past their shoulders.   Clockwork opens their eyes again- a serious, yet warm expression directed at their ward.  “Magic is simply defined as reality altering acts using both energy and the willpower of a sentient being, if that helps.”  Another sip.  Mr. Pants made a wonderful batch of tea, as always.  They smile wider when they notice Danny’s expression- the boy has never seen them without a hood, and they know doing this will (in 99.78% of all possible timelines) convince the boy to take what they said seriously.   ”Just as ghosts can be defined as ‘ectoplasm given form and consciousness’, forces beyond humanity and the physical realm can be explained with scientific terminology if you know where to look.”

“So like... what all did magic have to do with this ‘simple human’ version of you?  Did you ever have the power to shoot lightning??  Could I shoot lightning if I tried?  Like were you some sorta time wizard?  Is that why you’re all… timey-wimey and powerful?”  Danny wiggles his fingers with a look of confusion on his face.

Clockwork always finds their Core warming when their boy acts his age.  He's abnormally prone to shoulder the destiny of the world on himself and often forgets he's just a kid.  “You could continue asking questions one at a time, or you could allow me to tell my story.  The choice is yours, Daniel.”  They smirk, watching as Danny purses his lips, his steady flow of questions stopping short.  The best answer.  “Perfect- all is as I thought it would be.”

They close their eyes and reminisce as they continue.  “Now- to answer your last question… Yes.  You could say magic is how I came to be the Master of Time in both the Infinite Realms and the mortal plane, but there is much more to the story than that.  Other players, situations, and pure circumstances.  The universe in its infinite chances and possibilities brought myself, as well as many others to the situations they face here and now.”  Clockwork pauses, taking the moment to stare straight through Danny’s soul.  “Even yourself.”

The boy shudders, an appropriate response.  “Wait... me?  Did you… do something in the past to like… a past version of someone we know??  Can that even happen???”  Danny is already enraptured by the story, eyes twinkling as his mentor opens up about themself.  The boy is obviously thinking about everything that has happened, everything that could possibly have happened, and everything that Clockwork could possibly drop on him.

They feel Daniel cautiously tug on loose strands of time to see if he could possibly scope out what is about to be said, quickly failing to do much else beside give himself a small headache.  “Time stuff is still really confusing, Clockwork…”

“You could say that.  You could even say that trying to mess with time in the inner sanctum of Long Now is the most confusing ‘time stuff’ one could do if they were not myself.”  They grin- a Temporal Mirror appearing behind them with a thought.

“What’s the mirror for?”  Danny catches sight of himself and looks away, embarrassed that he’s been literally glowing with power after trying to do something so simple with his developing powers.  The glow is something he’s been working on suppressing recently.  After all, it would be a shame if other ghosts could see the boy powering up by aura alone.

The Master of Time smirks, bringing tea to their lips again.  “I thought it would be fun to attempt braiding my hair and doing my makeup for once.  It has been an awfully long time since I’ve done either.”

They stare at Danny who just bursts into laughter.  “Did you just use sarcasm???  Man, I didn’t know you could lighten up, Clockwork!”  The boy laughs harder, sinking deeper into his nest of pillows.  After a few minutes he was finally wiping tears from his eyes.  “But no.  Seriously… what’s the mirror for??”

“Why, what they are always for, Daniel- seeing through time and space.”  Clockwork waves their hand.  The mirrors show an image of a human with dark hair and burgundy eyes.  They have a large, hooked nose and medium brown skin- and Danny finds himself having a hard time guessing their gender.  The human sits at a desk, paused in time with the delicate gears of a clock sprawled along the desk surface, tools in hand.

Behind Clockwork, the image changes, showing the human living through an average day- images play in small spurts, never showing the whole story.  “Do you understand what’s being seen?”  The young boy nods, grabbing Mr. Pants out of the air as the blob drifts between the two.  Good, he will probably need the companionship, especially towards the end.

This isn’t the easiest story to tell, nor is it easy to listen to, but with a sip of their tea, Clockwork continues.

[lordsofmedrengard]

Femarine Legions and Drama

First things first: GW retcons and breaks the lore on a daily basis on a worse level than femarines so who fucking cares anymore, and some Legions have peculiarities which IMO make them more and less suitable from a purist-ish perspective. This is my own opinion and my own takes so feel free to debate or disagree. Me including drawbacks has to do with my own “rule” for OC stuff - ALWAYS introduce flaws to balance what makes them cool, OR write them on a small enough scale that they’re a slight statistical anomaly rather than a galactic marvel. I think it makes outlandish stuff easier to swallow and generally makes things more interesting, and I think it feels more like the flavour of 40/30K I was and am attracted to. Basically, I’m making the minimum additions to the standard lore that I’d use to include female space marines in the setting with as slight modifications as possible.

I should also add that I consider partial augmentation with none or only a few of the standardised organs to be a perfectly valid way of including female astartes, either during the chaos of the Heresy or if there are women in the armed forces of the Primarch when they’re found - among others there were plenty of early Calibanite Dark Angels who joined when the Lion was recovered, but were too old to get the full augmentation. They’re noted to be a bit less than standard marines (not as hypno-conditioned reflexes/minds, not as fast/strong, not as good with their power armour etc) but still good enough to field - IE, good enough to put on the table. If they’re old women commanders, give them the Kor Phaeron treatment - reduce the points cost and lower their stats a bit, maybe add something in their fluff about how many in their Legion look down on them as being “half-astartes”.

Moving on:

2 Legions stand out to me as especially suitable for potentially producing female astartes during the Great Crusade: the Blood Angels and the Thousand Sons.

BA use a unique method that can transform even wretched mutants into beatific astartes, the kind of subject we’re explicitly told is almost 100% certain to due during the long and trying induction process or otherwise reject the implants later. I could see it working with girls as well, albeit with the same caveat of being both more painful and less likely to succeed than traditional implantation. They’re already described variously as beautiful and angelic, so depending on what kind of she-heads you glue on you could really work with it, I think. This is my personal favourite, and if you WANT, you can go further down the route - what happens after Sanguinius’ death? Why do some 2nd-and-later Founding Chapters feel the Red Thirst so keenly? Why do some fall to the Black Rage so often? Maybe they’re to a higher degree inducting girls, or maybe they’re ONLY inducting girls. Knights of Blood and Lamenters are best girls

TS were masterful biomancers and I could totally see them transforming girls into either “proper” astartes or something close enough to make little difference, either if the child had prodigious psychic abilities worth inducting or post-Prospero when they needed to rebuild pronto. Potentially more prone to the flesh-change depending on the kind of psychic tomfoolery required to make it work. Alternatively, if that stretches your willing suspension of disbelief regarding what you think Prospero’s apothecary-covens are capable of, I could see TS transforming girls into boys with biomancy, THEN inducting them.

After them, there’s two more Legions I could see field female astartes during the Crusade era: the mysterious Alpha Legion, and the highly-augmented Iron Hands.

AL are a big question-mark with much about their geneseed being unknown. They’re already known for infiltrating other Legions and being two-faced, and while I dislike the Alpharius Omegon twists one might as well go full-hog and say one they’re actually Alpharius Omegan - one Primarch/sex, with either or both being genderfluid and this being exemplified by them taking the place of the other. This DOES potentially further tip towards the edge of them being one of the 30K snowflakes though, so be careful. Lots of people have reached their limit for AL reveals and retcons, myself included. Personally I’d rather go with IH.

All Legions routinely get marines injured enough that the only recourse is to lop limbs or scoop organs out and replace them with cybernetics, and the Mechanicum also does plenty of wack stuff with robotics. The idea here then, is partial biological augmentation followed by a bunch of cybernetics. I’ve never read anything in which Ferrus Manus wasn’t a huge piece of shit though, so I don’t think he’d be very welcoming towards his daughters. I think he’d see them as temporary stopgaps recruited in the wake of savage losses or in preparation of massive campaigns, and then they’d be expended fighting in the wars - I’d represent female IH with a bunch of Medusan Immortals, since they’re already expelled from the official companies and formed into suicide units sent into the thickest fighting to redeem themselves through a useful death. Destroyer units work as well, as do (ironically) the Leviathan Dreadnought, noted to burn out marine occupants at a worrying rate but massively powerful. Potentially you could play them as Clan Morragul, since that Clan tended to act as a sink for unstable and undesirable elements of the 10th Legion.

During the Heresy, Legions become desperate and start to engage in experiments that to various degrees are sanctioned and, by the loose standards of the setting, ethical. The Emperor’s Children stand out here, but potentially ANY Legion could produce femarines here. We’re told in the fluff for Blackshields that many of them were created as experiments and weapons of horror and set loose in enemy territory, often made with chimeric geneseed - usually meaning that the kid that becomes the marine has been stuffed with organs from more than one Primarch, as would become the norm for CSM after the Chaos-corruption set in. Naturally, experimenting on suddenly doubling the recruitment-pool makes perfect sense here. Other Legions that make sense to be the origins of your female marines are the Word Bearers (experimenting with forbidden sorceries and bulking up ahead of the Heresy), the Sons of Horus (the original 4 Traitor Legions are sorely depleted after the Isstvan battles, and SoH have the resources and connections to make shit happen), the Massacred Legions (both to recoup their losses for the Loyalists, and the Traitors experimenting with captured geneseed), and the Ultramarines (who need to recover from Calth SOMEHOW, right?).

There are several Legions I’d consider less suitable, particularly during the Crusade.

The Crusade-Era EC were noted to be the most careful with their geneseed and only accepting the most perfect candidates; until they start experimenting on improving or “improving” space marines I don’t really see them making female marines in large numbers.

The Night Lords are weirdly puritanical about some subjects, and “purity” is usually one of them. I for sure could see renegade-in-all-but-name, power-hungry Nostraman commanders experimenting during the Heresy or Scouring, but to my reading it doesn’t really fit their pre-degeneration “follow the LAW or SUFFER” mentality. Still, if you do go with female NL and if you interpret them like I do this Legion in many ways ideal, like IH. It comes pre-packaged with a unit scorned by their Primarch as well as a RoW that makes it Troops - the humble Terror squad. Don’t forget to paint their gloves red to show that they’re under a commuted sentence of death for not being Pure enough!

The Death Guard are in a weird position for me. They were also massively puritanical, and mostly recruited from a rinkydink feudal/feral world on top of being one of the smallest Legions. I’ve a hard time seeing Mortarion’s attitude allowing for female marines unless massive losses forced his hand. On the other hand, the population of Barbarus has been hinted to be of partially alien heritage (which normally would be enough for every man woman and child born of that world to be put to death), and if anything that combo’d rather well with Mortarion’s geneseed. At any rate the marginalised members of the DG tended to be assigned to the armour divisions, so if you want unloved femarine DG, you might as well make them tankers while you’re at it. The only problem with this is that the bulk of DG armour was assumed to be Loyalist and sent to die during Isstvan 3, so if this is the route you’re going it can be hard to justify their survival after that battle.

Finally, Space Wolves. Nothing about their lore in 30K or 40K makes me think "huh, you could prolly justify femarines with that”. If anything, they’ve got among the least survivable geneseed, and while it meshed well with the population of Fenris it also seems to have mutated to the point where there isn’t much value in even trying to recruit from outside that planet. IF you want female SW, they should IMO be Fenrisian rather than from Terra or elsewhere, as the Canix Helix they have improves their odds of surviving. It’s considerably more limiting than the BA or TS IMO, and the volatile nature of SW geneseed means I tend to read experiments like what I talk about above as being less likely to succeed. You do you though.

[fuck-goes-on]

Sire Max Phillips and Baby Bat Eddie

warning/s: slight blood, bad vampire lore, fluff, eventual father-son dynamic

note/s: this was just supposed to be a normal talk post but then i turned it into a headcanon because i actually want this to be a thing

masterlist || next

gifs belong to @javier-pena and @artemiseamoon

we all know max phillips is one big giant bloodsucking bastard that fucking turned the whole office into vampires with or without their consent because, i dont fucking know, sales??

and of course we all know eddie, our baby freshman, is a cute lil psychology major who liked buffy because she was nice to him but unfortunately died two times BECAUSE of her??

what if these two very different characters were in the same universe 🤔

imagine one night eddie just couldn’t handle the bloodlust anymore— he’s been holding that part of himself back because he doesn’t want to be a monster— but it got to be too much and he was forced to go out and find someone to drink from.

at this point, eddie looks like utter shit. he’s thin, pale, eyes are sunken and black, and his fangs are out. he’s dizzy, he’s stumbling, and nobody is around for him to attack.

eventually he collapses from exhaustion and hunger. if there were people who saw him, they probably thought him to be a homeless person and didn’t bother to help.

this is when max finds him, i dont know how he finds him but he does ok dont question it.

at first max doesn’t give a shit, why would he? he doesn’t owe any other vampire anything, so why should he care about this young vampire who probably feels like hes going to die again which he definitely does not know how it feels because of his own sire that left him to fend for himself with no knowledge of being a vampire-

oh

well

max reluctantly carries the poor bat up on his back and reluctantly speeds to his apartment to reluctantly give the boy a bag of donated blood. when eddie stirs from the scent of it, max watches him sink his fangs into the bag and fucking gulp the whole thing down.

no it does not make him happy that the boy is looking significantly healthier and better than how he found him.

after eddie eats his fill, he finally realises that he has company and is very scared but also relieved. scared because thats his natural reaction whenever hes with somebody he doesnt know (also because hes in the house of somebody he doesnt know) but hes relieved because this older vampire helped him and maybe will continue to help him.

HOWEVER max is allergic to feelings and emotions so he kicks eddie out after making sure the kid is ok.

jokes on him tho, eddie follows max around like a lost puppy. he doesn’t know anybody else who’s a vampire and he can’t really go up and ask people if they are without them thinking he’s delusional, so OF COURSE hes gonna attach himself to the only 'role model' he knows.

max hates it. max hates that the kid keeps knocking on his door to stay at his place. max hates that the kid looks like a sad baby bat whenever he refuses to let him in. max hates that he lets the kid in at the first sight of his pout. max hates that he shares his blood supply, that he pays cash money for, to this kid who doesn’t even want to learn how to hunt like a proper vampire. most of all, max hates how he’s getting soft for the damn kid.

one day, eddie asks if there were more vampires than him and max, and max goes like, dude how the fuck do you think we became vampires in the first place???

so max brings eddie to his work place to show him around (bring your child to work day) and how the whole office is turned into vampires, like his own little coven of bats, and eddie is both amazed and terrified.

“so... you turned everybody in the office?”

“well not everybody, but only the ones i know will do a better job once they are one.”

“they all listen to you? depend on you?”

“well, i am their boss and their sire, so they really have no choice.”

“... do i have a sire?”

“... yes and no.”

cue sad eyes from eddie because he realises that the person who was responsible for turning him was supposed to help him but didn’t.

max has a sudden surge of anger directed to his baby bat’s sire, how dare they leave him behind all alone without any—

hold on

his baby bat?

fuck

it takes a few days for max to come to terms that he now sees this adorable, too good for this world boy somehow as his... son... but then he remembered how hard it was for him back when he first changed that he had nobody to lean onto.

now he has the opportunity to be that solid pillar for the boy to go to whenever he’s afraid or confused.

no he wasn't tearing up at the thought of having a son because he had always wanted a family of his own and cant have it anymore due to his immortality.

when he brings up the idea of becoming eddie's sire, at first eddie was like, you can do that?? how?? and THEN eddie was like, wait, you wanna be my sire 🥺?

"how does that even work?"

"you just drink from me."

"but we don't have blood? our hearts are dead."

"no shit sherlock."

little bit about that is max feeds naturally, as in hunt down a human and drink from them, and then eddie has to bite max and drink that blood from him.

dont fucking question it.

so they do the whole shebang shebang, now max has officially adopted taken eddie under his bat wing.

if max thought eddie was clingy when they first met, it doesn't compare to eddie actually having that close bond with max and always wanting to be with or around the older vamp.

and they lived happily ever after until the end of time 😌

just kidding :-))

general taglist: @stillshelbs @pedroepascal

[onebillionstarsff]

if you think c!dream deserves torture, you don’t know what torture is

alrighty, it’s time for me to do annoyingly in-depth lore analysis again because i have seen way too many people on my dash and twitter timeline saying that c!dream deserves to be tortured.

i don’t really think people have a comprehensive, reality-based understanding of what torture actually is, what it can do, and the motivations behind it. i, unfortunately, do: i’ve done extensive professional-level study on torture, so i’m going to do my best to put out some knowledge into our little dsmp-related world.

obvious content warnings for references to torture and to violence below the cut (nothing too graphic, though; i know this isn’t an academic forum or government work)

all of this is /rp /dsmp

i’ll also list some sources at the very bottom if you want to learn more

alright then, let’s start: what is torture, anyway?

there are two types of definitions, general and legal. i’ll reference both, but the message they carry is essentially the same, so i’ll just paraphrase the united nations definition that’s party to (read: supported/enforced by) 170 countries:

torture is any act that intentionally causes SEVERE harm to someone, physical OR mental, for the purposes of extracting information or punishment for failure to do so, with explicit consent from an acting public authority.

i’ll break down those components in the context of the dsmp in a second, but i first want to make it very clear what torture ISN’T. torture is not manipulation, it is not "trauma” in the way trauma is broadly conceived, it is not even direct physical abuse. you can suffer abuse from, say, a parent or a partner, and that abuse is about a power dynamic, where one person is being forcibly subordinated to the other. torture, on the other hand, is not necessarily about power, and it’s definitely not ONLY about power dynamics; torture, by its very definition, has to be intensely and officially coercive, and it has to be SEVERE. there are not degrees of torture, like there are degrees of abuse: being deprived of sleep for days or even weeks at a time is just as psychologically impactful as losing a limb or being waterboarded (simulated drowning- a common torture method that the us has been known to employ).

this is my first major issue with the way some viewers of the dsmp approach this whole debacle. i constantly hear c!tommy’s manipulation by c!dream cited as a perfect justification for c!dream’s torture. what c!tommy, and others on the server- particularly the kids- went through is horrible, and intensely traumatic. i will never deny them that, especially as a survivor of abuse myself, but torture is not just another form of trauma. that’s a very important distinction that we, as viewers, have to draw: torture is considerably worse because it is sanctioned, it is coercive, and its explicit goal is not just to cause pain or make someone feel powerless (common goals of abusers), but instead to shatter someone.

in more specific terms, the mental goal of torture is to completely unmake someone’s conception of the world, how they interact with it, and their basic sense of identity. if you read accounts or speak with survivors of torture, it is frequently mentioned that their very way of processing everything in life was destroyed by pain and had to be rebuilt, completely different, after escape. by destroying one’s individuality, will, and their most integral of processing abilities, you destroy their grasp on the world; and, to put it lightly, such a breaking event is awful enough that, in an effort to make it stop and regain some sense of normalcy, the victim will tell their persecutors what they want to hear. it’s the reason why confessions obtained through torture are notoriously not admissible in courts of law. this goes far beyond abuse or manipulation, and i need everyone to understand that.

now, let’s get to c!dream’s situation. did he do awful things? yes, undoubtedly. i’m a c!dream apologist, but his manipulation of c!tommy and c!tubbo was very fucked up. beyond that, his notable “crimes” that others on the server aren’t also guilty of committing (e.g., murder, theft, arson, to name a few common ones) really just consist of especially massive destruction of property (people leave c!techno and c!phil out of this equation, much to my chagrin, but i won’t get into it here). punishment for his actions is understandable, and is typically what justice systems aim to do. but, even if we completely ignore the inherent inhumanity of pandora (HOOO BOY that’s a lot to ignore but i digress), c!dream is not being punished, he’s being tortured. 

going by the definition i used, let’s break it down:

c!sam knows what c!quackity is doing to c!dream, allows it, and even encourages it. as the warden, he is the person in an official, authority position giving their consent. 

c!quackity is, by his own admission, doing what he is to get information out of c!dream. it’s not a confession in this context, but very specific piece of knowledge, with the promise of death also hanging right above it.

list of extreme psychological abuse: long-term solitary confinement (torture if it’s more than 22 hours. c!dream has been in solitary confinement for more than 60 days now), deprivation of the passage of time, general verbal abuse, incredibly limited social contact (people start to fray without basic interaction after a while).

list of extreme physical abuse (god where do i start): prolonged starvation, malnourishment when he isn’t being starved (you will die without protein intake); use of Warden’s Will Breaker pickaxe (it can hack through obsidian, so i think that’s all i need to say), shears (can be used to do things like pull nails, break limb’s bones, amputate toes/fingers/a whole arm in c!ponk’s case), and an OP axe (a sharp blade capable of slicing easily through wood with brute force, and bone is significantly easier to crush than wood). 

so, we have consent of authority, coercion for the sake of extracting information, and severe physical/mental abuse meant solely to cause extreme pain. c!dream is being tortured according to the proper, internationally-sanctioned definition of the term, and that is not okay in any circumstances whatsoever. 

if you haven’t ever read survivors’ accounts (or the accounts of their victimizers), it’s difficult to understand just how uniquely despicable torture is, and the lifelong effects that remain after it’s over and done with. i honestly recommend you read some testimonials, because it absolutely changes the way you view authority and the world in general.

no one is deserving of this treatment, no matter what atrocities they may or may not have committed. 

it’s a basic tenet of human rights, and i don’t think it should be a hard pill to swallow that it’s never excusable in any circumstance. so, defend c!tommy & co. and criticize c!dream’s actions all you want, but please never say that torture is alright. that statement has real consequences, and real moral implications. don’t be an asshole, and don’t be disrespectful to people who have survived it.

if you’re curious, look into these events:

The Argentine Dirty War

Chicago Police’s Jon Burge and his torture regime

Abu Ghraib prison

Extensive torture by Pinochet’s regime in Chile

Guatemalan Civil War

Ugandan policing in the 21st century (Human Rights Watch report here)

if you want some reading, i recommend the following. tumblr will probably nerf this post because of links, but oh well.

Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

Elaine Scarry’s The Body in Pain: The Making and Unmaking of the World (very important work in the literature on torture) 

John Conroy’s Unspeakable Acts, Ordinary People: The Dynamics of Torture

Levenson (e.d.) Torture: A Collection

[danwhobrowses]

One Piece Chapter 1023 - Initial Thoughts

15 Minutes is on the clock

Onigashima reaches the mainland and the fights continue on. Including the Wings of the King vs the Disasters of the Beast

Without further ado, let's get into it

Spoilers for Chapter 1023, Support the Official Release too

Vivi cover page is nice, proper Disney Princess action with Karoo being jealous birb again, but now I have worries because last we heard something went down with Alabasta...all those post-Reverie questions

Back to where we left off with the boys being back in town

Miyagi can you not ominously foreshadow Zoro's future pain please?

Kawamatsu's here to save Zoro from interference, and Hyou's telling the Yakuza not to get in the way of this fight

Marco though is a pensive Pineapple, taking a good long look at King as he recalls Whitebeard telling him about King's race living on the Red Line before the world nobles, Void Century and before stuff

Mention of Gods does fuel one of my old post fan theories, but also fuels that the WG kicked King's race out of the Red Line

Izo though out here saving Marco from being an easy target, tbh Marineford did show he was prone to a surprise attack

Asking Izo if they believe in God though in a raid that may lead to their deaths is kinda irreverent right now though huh?

Queen back to hyping themselves up though

Hm? Is there a limitation to Sanji's raid suit? Sanji's saying he feels weird

Zoro wasting no time to banter with it though, saving Sanji from King as Sanji returns the favour with Queen

Queen does make a valid point though, as much as Sanji expresses that he is unenhanced by Germa he can also set himself on fire, I do wonder if it is just part of that enhancement in there that he expresses as his 'fiery hot passion'

Lunarian though, that must be King's species' name: moon people again I bet which feeds my fan theories

Also since we mentioned Germa again what happened to them? Jimbei made it out after all and I wanna see me some alive and well Baeju

I would issue doubt on Queen's claim that their enhancements are beyond Vegapunk's, given how little we know of Vegapunk after all

King's got a special sword too, it can change its edge to be teethy which he used to ensnare Zoro's swords

Wado saves Zoro's face from eating King's spiked fist though

King does make a fair point though, traditional weapons are romanticized but a fight's about getting every advantage you can, Zoro at least respects that since King never claimed to be a Swordsman, while also reminding King that he could be a feral bastard too

Kinda gave me mini Mr. 1 fight vibes there

Oh here we go, potential Zoro lineage time

Kawamatsu and Hyou muse over how Zoro was like Ushimaru when he was young, even down to his style (though that could be more Shimotsuki Koushiro's doing since he's Zoro's master)

Also Ushimaru was Ryuma's direct descendant, which means that 1. Ryuma banged, 2. Swordsmanship runs in the blood and 3. Ryuma banged

Also Ryuma also had the one eye, and it does seem pretty mythical that a swordsman of similar skill and stature returns Shusui back to Wano (even though this should mean that Shusui would be Zoro's birthright and he was kinda forced into relinquishing it)

Also worth reminding that Kozaburo was Kuina's grandpa so there may only be loose relations if Zoro is a Shimotsuki too, we don't exactly know how Kozaburo and Ushimaru are related if it's by blood or clan, plus I still wonder about Tashigi

Over to Jack vs Inu though, and Jack's hybrid form is just...weird

I did not need to see an Elephant head with abs you know Oda!

Both are pretty tired, as Jack mocks Inu saying he has forgiven Zou for the Raizo stuff, since he already destroyed most of it

Inu though with the shoulder toss, reminding Jack that they had to make these sacrifices to get to here

But we're getting the epic speech, and the hole in the roof caused by Ashura's sacrifice is changing Inu back into Su Long

Same thing is happening with Neko, turning Su Long in front of Carrot and Wanda (who I guess are covering from the moon) as he stares down Perospero

And I'm glad Neko's pointing out that Pedro's sacrifice is valid. I truthfully always felt a bit iffy about people saying that Carrot's desire to avenge Pedro was ill-found because 'Pedro killed himself'. Had Pedro not sacrificed himself then Brook and Chopper would've been dead by candy and Big Mom would've obliterated the rest on the ship

Raizo and Megaforehead though prelude with the mention of maturity, that everyone - even the Akazaya - needed time to mature into who they wanted to be

Down to the surface though and the Heart Pirates are on high alert/panic, they think Kaido's here

But it's Momo, and he looks magnificent

Shinobu's aged him up to 28, the age he'd be had he not been leapt through time, but now she's upset he looks like Kaido

There's new fire in Momo's eyes though, the return ascent begins!

Can you feel that? It feels like the last stretch before the ultimate battle of Wano

Sanji and Zoro vs King and Queen hopefully will remain a tag bout, but I am curious as to King's abilities and what's affecting Sanji in terms of the raid suit. It's not bad to have a limitation but this is the first we've heard of it after seeing him use it 4 times. I don't hate Zoro being a Shimotsuki, though I do feel like we could've built to this, plus we're still lacking in the how.

One wonders what role Marco will now play, and whether Tiny Tiny Chopper is due to recover. We haven't heard from the others for a bit, nor CP0 nor Yamato. Our Pineapple does have unfinished business with Edward Weevil tbf so he could make it out, Izo may be a variable in that, they've yet to learn of Kiku's fate.

Also we never did see who that mystery person was did we? Still could be Hiyori

Marco's musing about gods does feel like we're gonna get more about King, and more lore of the world that Robin will love to soak up like a sponge, Oda have been leaving these seeds since Skypeia, and where there are Gods, there are Devils.

We are however getting major death flags from the minks, one last turn to Su Long to enable their efforts. I like how Ashura's sacrifice is not in vain because of this though, it makes me wonder if there's a slither of hope for Kin and Kiku. If anything though the minks will die from exhaustion rather than being defeated, Su Long eats away at you after all, it's probably gonna be traumatizing for Carrot a little but I hope we see some resolve out of her more like when she was in Zou and WCI, I still want her for Nakama.

And then the final coup de grace, giant dragon Momo, it's one hell of a panel and it means we're bringing Luffy back into the fight. But the extent of Momo's ripening is only in body remember, in mind he's still young. But now we have the setup for the final fight between Luffy and Kaido, I'll expect in that time we'll have to try and finish off everything else with the Akazaya, reconvening the Straw Hats, King, Queen, Big Mom, Kid, Law, Killer, Hawkins, Apoo and Drake.

Act's not over yet, less than 15 minutes until Onigashima Falls.

[hotdemonsummer]

Obey Me! and the hierarchy of Demons

alternatively titled Levi Is Just A Big Fucking Snake

This long, long post is a general examination of NTT Solmare’s choices in developing the lore of Obey Me, namely the choices of which demons to turn into the brothers from a demonology perspective. I was going to include a lot more, but I hit 1k words and was like, a third done so I decided to split this thesis into multiple posts. Disclaimer: I am not a demonology expert, nor have I been a magic practioner in years. I am a guy with an otome hyperfixation first and a comparative theology enthusiast second.

To start off, I need to state the obvious: Obey Me is a Japanese video game, made by Japanese developers. For those who are unaware, Japan is a very fascinating case study in that it is one of five or six countries that were never colonized by Europe, and only one of two that are in the global north. As such, Japan has a wholly unique relationship with religion, particularly Christianity. Most of the population describe themselves as nonreligious, with Shintoism and Buddhism making up the largest practicing religions. Christianity, as it exists in broader Japanese society, is wholly cultural. There are of course Japanese Christians (and Japanese Jews and Japanese Muslims and so on), but they are in the significant minority. Christianity exists in secular, cultural forms: a purely commercial form of Christmas (and it is purely commercial, unlike what your manager at Target will say about American Christmas when he tries to make you wear elf ears) and a Christian-style wedding, both of which are imports from Western cultures.

Why am I talking about this? Aside from now having some more context for the sheer amount of chain-smoking gun-toting Catholic priests in anime, you might be realizing that you probably have a wider understanding of Abrahamic religion than you thought. Even those who grew up with a completely different religious background or no religious background at all would be exposed to the sheer weight of religious hegemony, especially through television. You are probably not this kid.

This is all to say that Solmare had to do their homework, and it turns out they did generally pretty well. More than that, they didn’t rip off the world of Obey Me just from history, and they actually made some changes (beyond the whole anime boy thing) that I think are really interesting.

(Also quick disclaimer: generally when talking about the real-world basis of these things I called it Christianity, but this isn’t exactly accurate. Christians certainly don’t have a monopoly on heaven or hell or angels or demons or Jesus, and as Judaism and Islam generally have a more in depth understanding of angelology. However, most surviving texts and research on demonology comes from medieval and pre-Renaissance Europe, and Solmare does seem to be taking the Christian route in most depictions.)

Initially, something was bugging me about Obey Me: the brothers. Lucifer and Satan were clear inclusions, as were Asmodeus and Beelzebub as well known demons. Mammon is a little less known as a figure, but a clear choice for an Avatar of Greed. Belphegor and the Leviathan, on the other hand, seemed like they were out of left field. Belphegor comes from the same Levantine religion as Beelzebub, but he definitely not a very well-known figure. The Leviathan is also in a completely different ballgame. Outside of Hobbesian philosophy, the Leviathan is a sea serpent of chaos. Not a pagan god (like Beelzebub and Belphegor), but just a big old sea snake. In the Book of Job, he shows up as just a big old snake (implied to be a minion of Satan, and not a demon proper). In the Midrash, he (or rather, she) is still just a big old sea snake. He is likely taken wholesale from the Canaanite Lotan, who was also just a big old sea snake. Just like Lotan, the Leviathan is a part of the shared Chaoskampf myth, like Jormungandr and Illuyanka and Vritra, which is to say he’s just a big old snake. I cannot stress enough of how much of a snake he is. 

There are plenty of well-known demons that just straight up don’t make an appearance in Obey Me (Belial, Ba’al, Moloch, Mulcifer, Buer, Amon, Abaddon,  Astaroth, Baphomet, Paimon, this is just off the top of my head), so why these two as main characters?

You can (probably) thank one guy for getting the ball rolling:

This old bastard is John Wycliffe, a 14th century priest and scholar and a RIDICULOUSLY controversial figure at the time. This isn’t the time or place for a lesson in Catholic history, but this guy was basically Martin Luther before Martin Luther. He is the likely author of a 1410 tract known as The Lanterne of Light, which was one of the first pieces of Christian academia to link the main sins with a particular demon. Contrary to “popular belief” and Wikipedia, no, the tract does not link each sin to each brother perfectly (the clearest link is between envy and Beelzebub, sorry, Belsabub, and notably Leviathan isn’t included in this list because he’s just a fucking snake). However, prior to this the sins and demons were unconnected, and the earlier Psellus classification of demons was ENTIRELY different. 

For the classification that Solmare clearly used, we have to jump forward to the late 16th century and talk about Peter Binsfield, who unfortunately does not have a surviving picture that I can easily mock. Anyone familiar with European witchcraft should definitely recognize his name. Binsfield was a German theologian whose 1589 book Treatise on Confessions by Evildoers and Witches was basically the leading instruction manual on how to torture people for witchcraft confessions. However, it also included a classification of demons and corresponding sins, one of the first to do so concisely since Wycliffe. While it is a very concise and simple classification, it is neither the most well-accepted or most popular (that would be Lemegeton Clavicula Salomonis or King James’ Daemonologie, depending on who you ask). Binsfield’s classification goes as follows:

Lucifer (Pride)

Mammon (Greed)

Asmodeus (Lechery)

Leviathan (Envy)

Beelzebub (Gluttony)

Satan (Anger)

Belphegor (Sloth)

A few things to note here: Lilith is not included here (in certain classifications, she is equal to Lucifer), but it does include all the brothers. However, they are clearly out of order. I wasn’t able to find an actual copy on Binsfield’s Treatise, but the different secondhand sources I found all have varying orders and none of them are a match for Obey Me!’s order.

Why, then, is the order the way it is? Some things make sense from a narrative position but only if you dig deep enough. For example, Beel and Belphie being twins and therefore next to each other in the order makes sense if you know their shared roots in Moabite religion, because you won’t find any connection between the two written after the Iron Age. Satan being fourth-born is, I can only assume, a reference to tetraphobia (四 sounds the same as 死) but that’s just a guess. Levi and Asmo’s placement reasoning is a mystery to me.

Regardless, this is where the classification of “the seven princes of hell” comes from, and it is certainly not the only demonic classification out there! Like I said, Solmare clearly did their homework and thought about the brothers beyond just slapping the Wikipedia page onto a dev sheet and calling it a day (there are also other details, but I think those deserve a separate post)