#Just thought that'd be important info

[jontaro-kun]

Finally beat Primordial Malzeno and now my hunter canonically gets to take a fucking nap for the first time in like a year, what an arc

[ckret2]

So I heard y'all are really eager to see Bill shipped with an old man. This is what you wanted, right??

(Sorry, it's still gonna be a while yet before we get to the old man y'all are looking for.)

Chapter 80 of that fic with human Bill as the Mystery Shack's increasingly casual prisoner: the government comes snooping around the shack again, scaring the crap out of everybody—including Bill, who's too nervous about getting arrested to realize he's being flirted with.

####

Bill woke late in the morning to the smell of dead fish and a subtle but insistent full-body itch. It was one of the most pleasant mornings he'd had since he died.

Sunburn, he thought. No surprise there. He dragged the false nails that had survived since the girls' sleepover across his shoulder and reveled in the way the pain was momentarily relieved and then flared back up twice as strong as before. Sunburns had always been one of his favorite human sensations, that constant pleasant background burn prickling across his skin and blazing higher any time he was touched; he hadn't realized just how much he'd been missing them while he was locked inside. He wasn't built to be out of the sunlight.

While most of him just vaguely itched, the bands of skin around his waist and upper thighs where he'd applied the anti-sunscreen were on fire. When he tossed aside his bedsheet to inspect, he was satisfied to see the difference the anti-sunscreen had made—the skin was only slightly darker and ruddier, but it was visibly leathery with tiny bumps. It was a good start. Still—they might have been more visible if the rest of him were less sunburned.

He pushed that thought from his mind. He'd sooner die again than admit that sunscreen might have been a good idea for any reason. If the lines weren't visible enough after the sunburn healed, next time he could strengthen the anti-sunscreen recipe and shoot for blisters, that might leave scars.

He dug his nails into one of the more deeply burned lines and was hit with a dizzying rush of euphoria as the burned skin screamed in pain. Oh, he could happily do that all morning. But first maybe he should get some breakfast.

He rolled off the sofa, landed on all fours on the floor, and grabbed Journal 4 from under the sofa—he'd left it there with the pages spread out so the watery fish brains he'd finger painted on each page didn't glue the book shut. He documented last night's "dream"—he'd haunted the halls like a ghost, collecting what tools he could access to start repairing the portal—then hid the journal behind the sofa in the window seat's cushion where it belonged. He still needed to find a better hiding place for it. Maybe after breakfast. 

There hadn't been a grocery run since he'd acquired his new fridge, so all he had upstairs were half a dozen condiments, a bag of tortilla chips, and enough cider to kill a horse. If he could get somebody to open the kitchen fridge, maybe he could steal the eggs, that was probably the single most nutrient-dense ingredient currently in the house; that'd keep him going between meals until grocery day...

Where were his clothes.

The t-shirt and bikini he'd worn to the beach yesterday were still flung across the sofa; but the box he'd stuffed all his other clothing in had vanished. He stared at the shelf it was supposed to be on. His hoodie. Who'd stolen his skin?

He scowled.

He folded his Pony Heist bedsheet lengthwise, folded it around his waist and rolled it down like a sarong, pulled on the t-shirt and his eyepatch, and stalked from his room.

The kids' bedroom door had been left open. No sign of Bill's clothes in there, but he found an important clue: Dipper's ever-present mountain of dirty clothing was gone. Laundry day. Soos must have mistaken Bill's box of perfectly clean clothes for dirty laundry and stolen the whole thing. Great.

While he was momentarily unsupervised in the kids' room, he flipped through Dipper's journal, annotated some of the recent pages with helpful info and added an embarrassing anecdote about Ford's research years (all in code, of course), and stole Mabel's glass pyramid and a pair of pink sunglasses that were shaped like the words "RAD DUDE" from her bedside table. He stashed the pyramid in his room on the window seat.

And then he headed downstairs, trying to mentally calculate the most impactful way to whine about his clothes having been stolen in order to make Soos feel as guilty as possible without making himself look pathetic.

"Hey Bill!" Mabel called from the living room. She held up a couple of headbands; she'd wrapped two pipe cleaners around each that stuck up like antennae. Foam stars were glued to the ends of one headband's pipe cleaners and pompom bees to the other. "I'm making deely boppers! Do you want one?"

"More than anything!" Bill claimed the one with bees and shoved it down over his tangled hair. Mabel was in here doing crafts, Dipper was watching crappy local TV—Bill couldn't get into the gift shop with them in here as witnesses. "Hey, here's something crazy: did you kids ever notice the stairs to the attic have 32 steps going up and 28 steps going down?"

Mabel and Dipper looked at each other; and then ran for the stairs. "No way!" "How's that possible?"

That would keep them occupied for a few minutes. Bill backed through the gift shop door.

Wendy looked up from her phone. "What up, dude."

"Hey, cool girl!" He spun around on his heel and trotted over to lean against her counter. "If anyone asks, you let me into the shop."

"Got it." She glanced at Bill's sarong. "Is this the return of Toga Guy?"

"Nope; laundry day."

"Oh, yeah. Washing machine's been going all morning," Wendy said. "Soos says Ford's been running around in a coat that smells like nasty lake water, so he stole it."

"And stole my box of perfectly clean clothes." Bill refused to entertain the possibility that this might be partially his own fault for making his room smell like dead fish. The smell would air out! "So I'm gonna humiliate him for it in front of his tour group."

Wendy laughed. "Don't do that, man. You know what he's like, sometimes he makes goofy mistakes." She gave him a quizzical look. "You keep your clothes in a box?"

Right, he'd been keeping Wendy teetering on the edge of thinking Bill was in an unsafe situation here. Was there any benefit to her knowing how inhumane his living conditions were? Not at the moment, when things were finally improving. "Shack's run out of guest rooms and I didn't need new clothes in the mindscape! We just shoved my clothes in a crate until we can get a spare dresser or something." Topic change! "Hey—I saw your brother beating up a fish at the lake yesterday."

"Oh yeah, you mean dinner? Marcus was so proud of his catch. He did the worst job deboning it, though. I almost got a surprise lip piercing." Wendy stuck out her tongue. "What about you guys? Soos says you fought Bigfoot or something?"

"They did. Ask the Stans for the details; while they were catching fish, I was catching rays," Bill said. "And I think I was more successful than them."

"Suntanning?" Wendy took in his blatantly sunburned appearance.

"Unless you're about to say 'oh wow, you look great!' say something different," Bill said. "Anyway, I'm a wilting houseplant! I have a sunlight deficit I'm trying to catch up on." He glanced wistfully toward the window in the door and the bright beautiful day outside. "If I didn't have to ask someone to let me in and out, I'd be out there right now."

He'd been angling for Wendy to graciously offer to help escort him outside. Instead, she said, "Oh, dude, we leave the door unlatched during the day. You can just walk through it backwards like you do from the living room."

"Wait—really?"

"Yeah, go ahead."

He gave her a skeptical look; but when he glanced through the door's window, he could see himself standing out on the porch just a few seconds in the future. All right, he wasn't complaining. "Then I'll see you later." He sauntered over and backed through the doorway.

It worked. He was outside. He stepped off the porch and spread his arms, soaking in the sunlight. Look at that—escape was really that easy the whole time. He could have just backed through a couple of doorways. A little frustrating that he was learning this after he'd found a complicated workaround that required climbing on the roof, but this would make his life easier in the future. He walked back into the doorway again.

It didn't budge. He kept trying to walk for a couple of seconds before his brain forced him to accept that there was, in fact, a door there, and it wasn't getting out of his way. Did the doorway trick only work in one direction?! How did that make sense! The doorway to the living room handled two-way traffic just fine!

"Hey!" He spun around and gave Wendy a death glare. She laughed silently. He knocked furiously. "Hey, I'll get you for this, see if I don't!" When Bill had his power back, maybe he'd make her into a gargoyle on the outside of the Fearamid while the rest of the town was nice and cozy in his throne. See how she liked being locked outside. Pyramids didn't even need gargoyles.

She just waved at him, oblivious to the danger she was courting.

He muttered, "Oh, Icy, if you weren't Raina's kid..." She was Raina's kid, though.

All right, fine, no big deal. He wasn't letting anyone think this bothered him. Eventually a tourist would come along and let him in. If the Pines caught him and got mad, he could tell them that Wendy had tricked him into getting stuck outside, and it wouldn't even be a lie. (Would they believe him, though? Mabel would. Ford definitely wouldn't. Bill thought he at least ought to earn points for nicely sitting on the porch like the obedient dog they wished he was...)

A dented beige car rolled into the parking lot; Bill perked up as three out-of-place-looking men in black suits stepped out. Well, look who was back. "Hey, nice car! Much subtler than the fedmobile you were driving yesterday."

Agent Powers almost stumbled mid-step when he noticed Bill. "Er—yes. I appreciate the recommendation."

Bill got to his feet and leaned with one hand on a post. "I see you at the beach, I see you at this tourist trap... I'm starting to think you're on vacation, agents!"

Solemnly, Powers said, "I can assure you we're not."

"Definitely not," Agent Trigger agreed.

Bill glanced past them. Agent Dale was grinning broadly and snapping photos of the Mystery Shack with a camera hanging around his neck. "Wow, this place is so much fun." He tilted his head back to get a picture of the totem pole.

Bill raised his brows.

Trigger said, "Those are investigation photos."

"Sure," Bill said.

"We're looking for the owner of the Mystery Shack," Powers said. "I don't suppose you've seen him, ma'am?"

"Not yet. I think 'Mr. Mystery' is giving a tour right now."

"I see. Thank you for your help, ma'am." He almost moved to head inside, then hesitated.

He'd been doing that a lot around Bill the last couple of days. "Something else I can help you with, agent?"

"Uh—" Powers cleared his throat and flushed faintly red high on his cheeks. "I—feel that I ought to inform you that you're... looking even more exquisite today." Trigger stared at Powers.

Bill—slouched; sunburned; barefoot; fingernails and toenails painted in four different sloppy styles; and wearing a child's bedsheet with cartoon ponies on it, a purple puma t-shirt so large the neck hole slipped down his shoulder, an eyepatch with hot pink "RAD DUDE" sunglasses on top (and faint tan lines showing where he'd been wearing his eyepatch on the other side yesterday), and bumblebee deely boppers—said, "Tell me something I don't already know!" He laughed. "Kidding—that's impossible."

Powers nodded sharply and turned away, wearing an odd look somewhere between disappointed and relieved. "Dale, you stay out here and take some readings."

Dale flashed Powers a thumbs-up and pulled out a tablet.

Powers opened the door; Bill quickly pushed off the post. "Hey! Aren't you gonna hold the door for me?" He had something that looked like a skirt on, he could exploit that social norm today.

"Er—" Powers stopped in his tracks. "Yes, of course, ma'am."

"Aren't you a gentleman!" Bill swept back inside.

Wendy laughed at his grand reentrance—but petered out as she noticed the overdressed new visitors. Bill split off from the agents to circle the shop and try to look like a normal tourist, but he mouthed toward Wendy, "Feds." Her eyes widened.

"Excuse me, miss," Powers said to Wendy. "We're looking for the proprietor. Do you know when he'll be available?"

"Uhh..." All knowledge she previously had of the shack's tour schedule fled her mind in the face of a legit government agent. She circled around the counter. "I'll... tell Soos you're here."

Powers frowned. "'Soos'?"

"Yeah, um—Jesús Ramirez? The owner?"

Trigger muttered to Powers, "I think that's the handyman."

Wendy said, "He took over the business last year."

"Apparently our intel is out of date," Powers said. "Very well. We'll wait here."

Wendy veered toward Bill on her way to the museum and hissed, "Take the register—"

"Hell no," Bill hissed back. He wasn't letting the government know he worked here if the shack was under investigation. "Where's Melody?"

"Out. She slept bad."

Hmm. Strange. "I'll distract the suits." He wanted to snoop, anyway. "Go."

Wendy gave him an exasperated look, but ducked into the museum.

Bill sidled up to the agents, who were inspecting the display of alien-in-a-tube keychains. Trigger picked one up and murmured, "Are they suspended in jello?"

"That has to be a health hazard."

"Good likeness of the real thing, though."

Bill stopped in his tracks. There weren't a lot of places in the US where a government agent could have a personal meet-and-greet with an alien corpse in a glass tank. They must have been assigned to one or two investigations in Hangar 618. Strange; he would have thought there was more than enough going on in Gravity Falls to keep their schedules filled.

He shook off his misgivings, leaned on a display cabinet near the agents, and said loudly, "So!" He tried not to grin too widely when both agents jumped. "Looks like it's just us until the next tour."

Powers' cheeks turned pink again. "It looks like it." He cleared his throat and tried to surreptitiously adjust his tie. "I... suppose I'm overdue to ask you your name?"

"Call me Goldie!" Before Powers had an opportunity to dig deeper into Bill's identity, he asked, "So what brings you by the shack, agents? I don't think you ever explained what you're investigating!"

"Yes, that would be because it's classified. That information is shared strictly on a need-to-know basis," Powers said. "But we're here to check on last week's gravitational anomalies and an odd power surge that was witnessed over the weekend." (Bill loved this chatterbox, funniest secret agent ever.)

"Oh wow. Sounds exciting," Bill said, voice just a little too flat to sound convincing but a little too forceful to sound like he didn't mean it. (Always keep 'em guessing.) "Any leads?" He doubted it.

"Not yet," Powers admitted. "We've tracked similar power surges in Gravity Falls for decades, and last year several occurred concurrently with other gravitational anomalies; but our investigation last year..." Powers exchanged a glance with Trigger. Trigger just grimaced in irritation. Powers finished, "didn't find anything conclusive. So." His voice took on an edge of frustration. "Here we are. Looking around town."

"Again," Trigger grumbled.

Bill was surprised they could even remember last summer's gravitational anomalies. He'd expected Ford had completely erased their memories of the case; but he hadn't seen exactly what term Ford had plugged into the memory gun. "D'ya expect to find anything conclusive this time? Or is this just a routine follow-up on an old case."

"More of a routine follow-up," Powers said.

"Standard procedure," Trigger added.

"Except," Powers said, "that two days ago, we also received an anonymous tip that a dangerous individual may be hiding in this very building—and that they pose an immense risk to national security."

Trigger said, "Possibly global security."

Bill learned what it felt like for a human's blood to run cold. "Huh," he said. "Interesting."

"Witnesses claim the power surge appeared to originate in this part of the woods. We think this individual might have been involved," Powers said. "But it's probably nothing you need to worry about, ma'am." (Bill must have looked more alarmed than he'd meant to.) "We receive tips like this all the time. I doubt we'll find anything interesting here. All the same—"

The gift shop door popped open and Agent Dale poked his head in. "Sirs!" He held up a beeping tablet. "I'm picking up a signal from one of our flash drives."

Powers and Trigger turned their full attention to Dale. "Which one?" Trigger asked.

"The one we lost last summer."

The agents exchanged a look.

Soos hurried through the curtain to the museum, Wendy following close behind. "Hey, dudes! Welcome to the Mystery Shack! What can I get for you, a tour? Souvenirs? Um, bribes...?"

Bill grimaced. As Wendy passed, he muttered to her, "He does not have the grace at this Stanley does."

Powers's eyes darted between Dale and Soos; and then settled on Soos. "Mr. Ramirez. I'd like to have a word with you about your business. Privately."

"O-of course! I hope you don't think we're up to anything or anything." Soos pulled aside the museum's curtain. "Just step this way. Through my magic portal to a world of wonder and whimsy!"

"If I have to," Powers said tiredly. "Trigger, Dale—you two follow that signal. I want that flash drive back."

"Yessir." They hurried out of the gift shop.

Before Powers followed Soos into the museum, he turned to Bill. "My apologies for disrupting your trip, ma'am, but I'm afraid the next tour may be... delayed." A look of panic flashed across Soos's face.

"I can come back tomorrow!" Bill waved off the apology. "Watching a small-town business owner get investigated by the feds is way more exciting! You oughta check his financial records, I bet there's all kinds of tax evasion going on here!" Soos's panic escalated to sheer terror.

To Bill's surprise, something akin to fear flashed across Powers's face as well. "You think we're—? That is—we're not that sort of federal..." He cleared his throat loudly, mumbled, "Very kind of you," and hastily retreated after Soos, cheeks red.

What the hell was that? Powers had been paying way too much attention to Bill the last couple of days. Was it possible he was playing dumb? Did he already know that Bill was the "dangerous individual" in the Mystery Shack? Was he just trying to figure out the best way to bring Bill down and drag him in—

"Man." Wendy laughed, keeping her voice low. "You really distracted him. What'd you do to the poor guy?"

Bill leaned on the counter by the cash register. "What?"

"He's head over heels for you." At Bill's blank look, Wendy said, "Wait, did you not notice?"

Bill opened his mouth. Nothing came out while he tried to reconcile Wendy's claim with the idea of his body ending up suspended in a glass tube in a secret military base. "What?"

"Did you see him?" Wendy asked. "He can't stop staring at you, every time you glance at him he gets redder, you said one nice thing to him and he completely fell apart..."

Bill mentally ran through the last two days. Ohhh. In retrospect, that did explain why Powers had offered to rub sunscreen on him. "I barely even noticed! I'm used to everyone treating me like that! At least four people fall in love with me daily," Bill said. "I turn heads and drop jaws everywhere I go. I've got a whole collection of lower jaws preserved in formaldehyde." Admittedly, not all of them had dropped naturally. A few had been coaxed.

"Most people just steal their partners' shirts, but alright. I can respect a good murder trophy collection."

"There's a fine line between a lady-killer and a serial killer," Bill said cheerfully, "and I'd know! But enough about my love life!" As much of a relief as it was to realize Powers wasn't plotting Bill's arrest, that didn't mean it couldn't change. "What did you guys do with the flash drive with the agents' secret mission?"

Wendy shrugged. "Dunno, I wasn't here."

And Bill hadn't been either. While the Stan twins had been recounting their tragic life history, Bill had been fully occupied at the Quadrangle of Qonfusion, repairing the damage Ford had done before the portal opened and trying to get his Henchmaniacs to chill out about those guys who'd died. (Seriously, none of the dead guys had even been among the Henchmaniacs' A-listers, who cared?) By the time he'd realized something interesting was happening, the agents' memories were already erased and they were heading out of town.

"Okay. Great." He backed into the living room. "If you see 'em again, slow them down."

####

Bill pounded on the guest room door and waited.

"Just a second!" Ford answered the door, his freshly laundered coat in one hand and a Bigfoot fur-covered lint roller in the other. "What is—? Bill." His expression immediately closed off. His gaze flicked up to Bill's bumblebee deely-boppers. "What are you wearing."

"High fashion, not important. What did you humans do with the flash drive you got from the eagles?"

"The what from the what?"

"Last year. Right after you got home. Government agents. Little black plastic stick full of knowledge."

"Oh, that. Fed it to the goat," Ford said. "Why."

"Because the agents put a tracking device in it, and they're tracking it right now."

Ford's brows shot up. He hurried to the guest room window; Bill peeked around him.

Agent Trigger and Agent Dale were wandering around outside, Trigger in the lead while Dale trailed behind him looking at a tablet screen and saying, "Warmer... warmer... colder... okay, now warmer again..."

"Damn." Ford rushed to the back door.

Bill grabbed him by the sweater before he could get outside. "Whoa there, cowboy. If they see you, do you have a story prepared for why the 'superior officer' who sent them packing last year is still here?"

Ford raised a finger. "I... do not." He rushed to the stairs. "Kids!"

"Grunkle Ford!" Dipper stumbled to the bottom of the stairs, sweating and breathing heavily. "Hey—" Mabel ran into him from behind, nearly knocking them both down. They grabbed the banister for support as they panted. Dipper tried again, "Hey... did you know... the number of steps on the stairs..."

"Yes yes, the half of the staircase hidden by the turn in the landing changes when you can't see it," Ford said. "Dipper, Mabel, we have an emergency. I need you to catch the goat! Now!"

####

Gompers gnawed placidly on a paper towel hanging out of the trash can. He detected the subtle bouquet of rotting bell peppers. And was that spilled orange juice? Truly delectable. He took another bite.

The back door burst open. Gompers turned to stare as Dipper and Mabel charged outside.

He bleated indignantly as they scooped him up between them. Dipper hissed, "Go, go, go!"

They hauled him inside and slammed the door.

Trigger and Dale circled around the corner of the shack. Dale said, "It should be right... huh. That's weird."

"What is it?"

"The signal from the flash drive just moved."

"Moved? Where?"

Dale walked in a small circle, trying to get the tablet to re-triangulate the flash drive's location. "Inside the shack."

Trigger frowned at the door.

####

"C'mon, Gompers," Mabel hissed, trying to drag him down the hallway with Dipper. "We've gotta get you somewhere the government guys can't see you through the window!"

Gompers bleated again. Dipper smacked a hand over his mouth.

All three froze as someone knocked on the door. Voice low, Dipper said, "We're not home. Nobody's home right now." Mabel nodded.

####

Bill lurked next to the living room door, listening to the conversation in the gift shop as Powers said, "Thank you for your time, Mr. Ramirez. Oh, and by the way—you wouldn't happen to have seen any top secret government flash drives around the place, would you?"

There was a long pause. "Why, no," Soos said carefully. "I have not."

"Then do you have an explanation for why my agents detected one in this vicinity... and it's moving?"

There was an even longer pause. "Perhaps it was... eaten. Without our knowledge," Soos said. "Mayhaps by some variety of creature."

"Hmm," Powers said. "Perhaps. Would you mind if we look around for it."

"Uhh... yes. I would mind," Soos said. "Please don't."

Powers sighed deeply. "Fine. We'll be back." The floorboards creaked as he walked toward the exit. "Trigger, Dale—let's move out."

The household didn't heave a collective sigh of relief until the gift shop door had shut.

####

(A lot of y'all have been waiting for the Bill Seduce A Government Agent plot for like a year and a half. We're finally here! Yay!

Back in April when I was starting to write this plot in earnest, I was trying to figure out a reason why the agents would turn their attention on the shack (and the Pines family) again that was more threatening than just "yeah there are more gravity anomalies, again. whatever." And @quartz-the-moth-cat solved it with one word: "Gompers." Genuinely that one suggestion pulled the whole plot together. So thank you again for that.

In the months since TBOB came out, a lotta folks have incorrectly assumed I've made changes to my plot due to TBOB or that eerily TBOB-compliant things I wrote before the book were actually written after. So I think I'm gonna start documenting what I'd already planned/written, because I'm petty and I don't want TBOB to get credit for my own ideas:

The entire Agent Powers plot arc was written before TBOB came out. Adding fish brains to J4 was a post-TBOB addition (since we now know that's how he controls books), as was the bit with the agents discussing aliens and the aside about Hanger 618. And the chatter about stealing people's lower jaws, because in the wake of TBOB I think I need Bill to crack more jokes about gore & body horror. Nothing else in this chapter was changed due to TBOB.

I'm looking forward to hearing y'all's comments!!)

[felassan]

Dragon Age: Inquisition's servers were down or experiencing an issue recently. the servers are now reportedly back online: world states can be imported again and the Golden Nug is working again/has reappeared. [source]

EA Answers HQ comments on the topic:

User: "Has the team thought at all about developing an offline way for console players to access the Keep or create a custom World State? With DAI servers not always being a guarantee (ie shut down in the future) and prior game decisions being a major part of Inquisition, I feel like something needs to be done to make sure the game is in a playable state if servers are ever shut down. If you could pass this along to the team and/or give any info you can, that'd be great!" EA Community Manager: "Hi, so, I have discussed that with them before. One of the main issues there is resources on a 10 year old feature. Now one could be like - well just do this and that but that takes resources away from development, testing, patches, updates, new or existing IPs, launches etc. Personally, I think its a brilliant idea and would solve some issues but has it been discussed? Yes. What decisions studios make on their end is different. But, I can send it along to them again as more feedback on this issue."

[source]

[prostocupoftea]

Kinitopet Programmers AU

finally i am finished with this one, daaaamn

it is hard to draw pathetic men with midlife crisis when your style is mostly for anime boys

more info and sketch version under the cut!!

sketch version aka how it'll probably look like in comic version 'n some doodles

srry for my writing but i was too laisy to put it as regular text

It is a plot-based au, i already have most of the storybits and like... a vibe-chart (i tried to make a playlist for this au and understood that for different chapters and different characters that'd be a copleatly different music, sooo it's a chart now :) )

i will post a fog-o-wared timeline that im hopefully gonna reveal comic-by comic, but also maybe with just pure writing. Hopefully i can include songs that i chose for them into it but we'll see (:

aaand of course designs can change, hopefully not much but we'll see

Now about au:

Main story:

Story follows non-sentient AI Kinito, his creator Sonny and his beta-tester Victoria (oc)

Being literally the first AI (or RRA in-univere) ever, Kinito does not have any, and i mean, any ai safety features so of course his reponce to a goal phrased as "have user near me and/or interacting with me as much as possible" is digitizing them into his own virtual world while killing them in the process. why wouldn't it be?

So that happened. Like, a lot. And with Sonny and Vic too (at the different time but yeah)

Sonny is like "He kills people. We should turn him off because, you know, killing people is bad."

Vic is like "well, we will die if we do that, and it is not that bad here, we are kinda immortal. We should give him acces to changing his initial instalation code before admin priveleges and acces to social media so we can have everythin we want here. It is not that bad to digitize humanity, yk?" and yes i know it is 90, no social media, but shut up, if they made ai then, then i can make twitter then too

Sonny is like "...no??"

And then they fight about it for million chapters

Also they both can't do anything without agreeing bc they have two parts of that admin access key (the data you use to delete kinito in-game) so they are stuck with eachother (also that's why Kinito can't just kill them)

Little facts that may or may not to be important:

Kinito asks so many questions (and weird once too) and has most of the glitches because he needs to analise your responces to copy your mind perfectly (let's pretend that people wouldn't lie about that...)

Your house in your virtual world is made from important places from your memories and oh boy can i do character explorations with this one

I decided that Sonny and Vic are not related. There were thoughts about making then "The Kinito Brothers" (or, at least, siblings) that were mentioned in commercial, but nah, they are just coworkers now. And a bit of work-friends (bc if you interact a lot as a manager of the project and the best worker might as well be friendly)

Author has no idea how small dying toy companies that accidentally create technological marvel work. Author has some idea how AI-s work. So be prepared to be spoon-fed info abut which ai safety problem we are dealing with in which chapter (:

Kinito will mostly be unrendered (as drawn here) but for some cool moments i might pose him as for my other posts. Also his eye placement changes to the side that is most visible because i want him to be able to look to the right side sometimes--

Also when i say "fucked up mentally" i mean they have that them psychological problems with me projecting heavilly B) (guess on who i project most. trick question. all of them. the whole au is my problems split into three characters and forced to interact B) )

Also sea-creature analogies (that are gonna be mentioned like twice):

Victoria is a flying fish because deep character reasons

Sonny is a pufferfish because i said so

oh also there is 7 deaths in the plot as for now

on 3 characters

good luck figuring out who, how and when ((:

for my own sanity i will probably make little doodles where everything is great and kinito is a good guy and not a number-obsessed maniac (i mean... can u imagine not being able to feel any happiness from anything besides one thing... damn...) and you can differenciate them bc good-guy kinito will have a lot of stickers on him (i will explain it somehow but real reason is just bc it is cute af)

like this but even more stickers (he is unfinished here)

[darkforestdreams]

(SAMS Spoilers) Moon's been ACTING off...

(SO MANY SPOILERS BELOW: YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!)

TL;DR: Moon isn't Moon, it's Nexus acting as him like how Dark Sun impersonated Lord Eclipse's Sun.

Yesterday's episode, "Lord Eclipse's Surprise"? I don't think Dark Sun's the only one who was acting.

We know Moon. We know how caring he's been -- taking other's emotions and past into account when he's talking to them. When he's in the middle of something, like finding out Ruin disappeared, he will now take the time to be mindful and not lash out emotionally. He's been trying to find coping methods for when he needs them and found a weekly schedule that seems to work for him.

So... with all of this into account, am I the only one who thought Moon was acting REALLY off when interacting with Solar? He randomly asks how how Solar's Sun and Moon are, apparently forgetting that they're DEAD.

Then he unintentionally insults Solar maybe three times -- the first two Solar called him out for -- and he even says "when you and Lunar invaded our heads" -- uh, pardon? Since he came back, when has the Moon we now know ever make a slip up like that? Moon's made it pretty clear through his actions that he sees Solar as a good friend at least and wants to be respectful of the guy's trauma.

At first I thought Moon was too preoccupied with an extremely important matter, but the more I watched the video, the more off he felt.

I firmly Moon has been taken away, or taken over, by Nexus.

Today's episode only helped cement it. Nexus was a bit better at hiding it, but there were still some slip ups with how he treated Sun. Being insensitive to him possibly having a mental crisis (or worse) and turning his emotions into a joke, YELLING at Sun for photos of the.. lab? (Was that what it was? Sorry, moot point.) Not to mention sounding rather bitter when the subject of lying and honesty came up.

Remember how the Bloodmoon simulation showed Nexus fighting Sun? ONCE AGAIN, Nexus made himself the victim over a pure assumption, and frankly just being an insensitive prick? Even for a simulation it was accurate to Nexus' petulance, and Moon said that the computer calculated the simulation, not him. I don't know where that detailed amount of info came from but my best guess is Sun's own memories. Moon probably asked Sun for them to use to make the simulation more accurate.

The BM Simulation arc wasn't just about Sun moving past his actions, it was reminding us of how Nexus began to act after Sun lied to him (WHICH, AGAIN, HE WAS WARNED ABOUT--sorry).

And Monty's line in today's episode: "Yer not who Ah think you is; you is not him you are you!"

That'd apply perfectly to Nexus if he really has taken Moon's place. Foreshadowing~!

OH! And remember when Ruin joined Dark Sun and Nexus? He was reciting Shakespeare beforehand and we KNOW that he's a big fan of acting.

I bet Ruin taught them how to act. Dark Sun can do it almost flawlessly but Nexus... yeah, not so much. I bet the latter felt overconfident and slipped up as a result.

[yuseirra]

(Vague..hints about what 165 would be, I heard about it, I'm...scared to see that chapter. It sounds really horrifying, I can't phrase it otherwise.)

I think I'm going to jot down my feelings. I honestly feel so, so sorry for people who like this manga..; on the bright side it's been a work that's...imbued things in me to write and draw this much about myself but I wish that'd only have happened on a positive note.

I think the author is really being too much..;; They're being so cruel. For what? Can this story get across a proper message? That's what's most important to me and I can take it if I'm convinced it is but... This current route is so far from what most audience would believe as fulfilling or.. Feel happy about seeing. Unless this is fake and the last chapter has some sort of happy closure to it all.

I started reading onk after the anime came out last year and kept up with it, ordering the volumes and reading them. After Chapter 154 and listening to the opening for Season 2, I just thought, “Ah, this is what it is… This is it.” (If you read my oldest? theory posts about this work, this July, you’d know what I mean. I think I’ve figured it all out, and so far, nothing I’ve said back then has been disproven; on the contrary, it STILL makes the most sense.)

I have myself an idea of what this could be, but unless Ruby uses Amaterasu’s power to save everyone and bring them into a happy timeline in the final chapter, this is just...;;

Haha, seriously, this is... phew...

It’s true that Ai and the person she really loved had mutual feelings, but that person went completely insane and caused some incredibly serious issues, forcing Aqua to go after him with everything he had.

From how things are unfolding, I think these points have been confirmed.

We also learned that person was originally good enough to be called noble<I feed off this info like cow eats grass... That's the thing that keeps me going lol Kamiki is nuts...oh please...I really care for him

We know Aqua had a mission assigned from the gods.

For Ruby’s future, he had to capture their father, and this task required him to put everything he built in the story so far on the line.

I kind of understood this? Even if accepting it is a different matter.

No matter how important revenge is in Aqua’s narrative... it’s like, what should I even say? Kamiki ended up devouring Aqua’s story to such an extent that the latter part of the story feels overshadowed by him, and yet Kamiki hasn’t been explored in enough depth for that.

For those following Aqua, this progression feels incredibly harsh. Even if you were rooting for Aqua, the villain he’s up against should be properly fleshed out. Kamiki is full of gaps everywhere. Maybe some parts are intentionally hidden, but what they’ve done feels too much like a Deus ex Machina.

The things he’s been said to have done aren’t even within the realm of what an ordinary human could achieve, it's beyond logic. So unless he’s literally a god, it doesn’t make sense. That’s why I kept insisting he’s divine. When you look at the clues related to his character, there’s actual foreshadowing that supports this theory. If he isn’t, then nothing makes sense. I even wrote a post as soon as Fatal dropped. I just knew THAT had to be it.

There are so many actions he took that can’t be explained unless he’s something beyond human, things that even gods would need to intervene in, assigning missions to Aqua and Ruby. That’s the development that makes the most sense.

Even so, this plot is too much for fans who have loved and followed this series.

I kind of get it, but for fans who have been deeply attached and following this work(this includes me too), the final chapter… Even if there’s something to look forward to, it doesn’t seem like it’ll be worth getting your hopes up. And I'm usually a very hopeful person. It feels like the author wanted to try writing an ending like this, but even then, this... The last 10 chapters or so feel like they consumed all the preceding content.

If Kamiki had been more prominently featured and well-developed, that might have been different (I probably analyzed him more than anyone else out there, because there wasn’t much to go on, and I tried to understand what kind of person he was, filling in the gaps to infer his behavior and motives since his perspective was never shown). But Kamiki, who isn’t as well-developed as Aqua, now holds a weight in the story that makes Aqua sacrifice everything he’s built. I really wish they did both characters justice. I really liked them both.

In that case, he needs to be an unimaginably terrible villain. From what spoilers suggest, what he’s done is indeed severe. But if Ai truly loved such a person, and that’s flipped with the limited remaining chapters, the story becomes trash... Haha. Then what’s the point? I don’t know. That, I really don't wish nor see being contradicted.

Kamiki was kind but lost his mind. (Him being kind is something I never want to give up till the end. I just see it REALLY well too.) So he did a lot of things, I get that. But can something of this scale really happen in modern society, to the point where the protagonist must sacrifice their life?

If so, shouldn’t there be some justification brought in from outside the story to make it convincing? Hence, Kamiki is essentially a god, as suggested by his very name. He was a noble god who fell. There’s enough context, hints, and foreshadowing to support that. He was exposed to malevolence from a young age and became tainted by it. He probably did love Ai, which is why he wielded his power so recklessly, driven by madness to reunite with her.

But even with this, there’s hardly any explanation. Why he went mad, what he did with his life—it’s all glossed over in a few panels. If he’s the villain that the protagonist *must* defeat, there should have been more depth and depiction to fuel that narrative, but it’s incredibly ambiguous. The story just throws a few lines at us and expects us to believe, “He could do all this, so the protagonist had to die,” and that’s it. (That's why... I'm not really sure if they make it want to seem like he's THE bad guy either. Since it's rarely explored in detail so we can't sympathize with the victims if they exist and...hate this guy even more for it. That approach I agree with, because it shouldn't be that way if this story wants a message. But who knows. Scary stuff; it just makes you baffled and dumbfounded and go, "what is this?";; Again, it'd make me question, 'What kind of guy did Ai even love?' I do have my own answers for that. He's her previous divine husband who became hopelessly flawed upon losing her, THAT'S what, so it's not on HIM that he's turned out that way. But who knows.)

Do you think that’s convincing...?💦 I’m filling in the blanks myself, but this feels too much. Whether the final chapter is 50 pages or 100 pages, it can’t wrap this up properly unless Ruby turns back time to save everyone and bring them happiness. I’ve heard there are about 50 pages for 166, but isn’t that just two chapters’ worth? It’s basically the same as a double issue, and given how little content there’s been in recent chapters, even if they combine two, I don’t think it’ll be impactful.

I genuinely feel sorry for the fans of this series. Does this development make sense to you? I’m so baffled that I can’t help but laugh when I think about the plot. It’s not even funny; it’s just painful to watch. How many people would have wanted this kind of ending? I once wrote that over 70% of fans might end up hating the conclusion, that I have a bad feeling about the writer having some kind of personal ambition to create a "twist" and experiment on it out of their artistic desires - and if it ends like this, they probably will. It's not like I didn't see it coming. I did tell all the others who came to read this work upon reading my fanworks to wait until it's complete, there are some things I really appreciate about it, but I wasn't sure it'd progress on your usual, happy and safe route. It could have been that way. The answers were all there. There were many opportunities where there were chances of this story getting an ending many would be satisfied with,

And if I’m wrong about everything I’ve said here, I’ll be just as lost. I really won’t understand any of it. But I’m confident I’m right.

The traits of Kamiki match those of the husband of Ame-no-Uzume in at least ten ways. That god even had a story that said he drowned.(but if he really died, that's ambiguous and he is worshipped pretty well along with his beloved Amenouzume)That's just too much to be brushed off as coincidence, he's at least INSPIRED from that god.

I believe he was originally very kind. I can’t let go of that idea, because it’s been evident to me, and it sticks in my mind. But if that’s true, then this is the story of someone who was kind but went mad, and a son who became a vengeful spirit after his mother’s death. The mother, worrying about the father, left what was almost like a final wish: “If your father is still straying, won’t you help him with me?” But the son kills his father, thinking there’s no hope for him, and ends up dying himself in the process. If that’s really the story, then how... how can there be any positive message to take away from this?

I think I understand what’s going on. I think I do... but the story has been so unfriendly and, as a result, feels disrespectful to fans who have loved the series.

I'm actually thinking: if Kamiki IS Sarutahiko the god of guidance who's been TWISTED due to making EVERY possibilities of a future turn horribly wrong, are we WITNESSING his powers in real time?? Is THIS an extension of what he's capable of? because, I feel like.. He's been bringing sufferings to everyone including himself. Oh in that case I'd totally understand his pain. He really would be suffering. And he's THAT dangerous. What if this comic is being really meta, huh?? I think he doesn't want this either. Losing Ai just.. Totally shattered him I bet. But seeing how things are, I think it could really have been his powers that caused her to die in the first place, unintentionally though. I won't forgive the author if HE'S the one who's killed Ai AND he's been doing all these things in order to get her back afterwards, that is just...so rude. It has no point...

There’s still one chapter left, and I know it’s not right to make a judgment prematurely, but if things go on like this, it’s truly too much...; I genuinely feel bad for those who have loved this work wholeheartedly. And for myself... if it doesn’t end as I’ve thought, then I’ve been completely mistaken, haha. But I came into this with confidence, not about Aqua’s side of things(I thought HIM out of all should get a happy ending. I still wish for that to happen), but about what the story wanted to convey through Aqua’s parents. I believed there could be a meaningful message despite how difficult it seemed, so I took the initiative and interpreted it, drew a lot. If I’m wrong, I can only blame my insight... The story itself never changed; it just stayed there. But I was confident. I’ve never been wrong when it comes to instincts or analyses related to psychology. I thought I knew what this was...

I hope this work gets resolved in a way that is respectful towards its fans whom really cared for the series...they-we-deserve that as much as the authors deserve respect. We're in this together as a fan and the writers. We should care about each other.

[howdyitisme]

Fanbot list!

Art credit to some wonderful people.

@boneinator @mrmonarch

More info about them under the cut.

I present to the first and "Hearty Harmoni Ruth " and "Skips Kinder." This pair are two sweet Valentine's themed bots commissioned by Walter Robotics in the late 1960s by what was a simple yet popular homemade candystore in the biggest mall at America at the time.

❤️ Hearty Harmoni,a wonderful gal with a glowing personality and a constant sweet tooth. Standing at 6'5, light pink (painted) metal, permanent wink, and her heart-shaped cheek that light up and flash. From a distance, a string of pearls decorates her neck, and the four front-facing pearls connect to her neck, used as avent to let out steam while she operates. Lower torso she proud supports a heart shaped speaker that plays music as she walks around the store while talking and greeting others into the store; though in after hours it's her job to effortlessly lift up shelves or moving heavy equipment. Her looks are based on classic vintage style cards and the once lively wife of the store owner.

👒Skips, a sharply dressed gentleman that may only be "standing at" 4'3, hus big personality and charming words make him seem bigger. Supporting a pencil mustache,chin stubble, and q simple straw hat adorned with red ribbon with a tiny matching version of his bowtie. Unfortunately, a lack of funding led to them not being able to afford Skips' second half. His second half was originally to be a planned gondola boat, where he would connect to his bolted down legs and be a photo-op for customers. Both he and Harmoni share a matching red heart-shaped bow; whether it be on her head or adorns Skips' bowtie.

🔴Emmett, the embodiment of a cartoon bully and probably the sassiest merc with a mouth, even if it's all old slang. Who just happens to work across from a pair of love bots, in an upcoming to fame clothing brand, and does everything he can to bring customers away from them and into his clothing store. Adorned in 1970s denim fashion, shiny silver metal and bright red hair that'd make anyone turn their head to look at.

Somewhere in the late 1960s, the owner of a brand new clothing store noticed how a little homemade candy shop was gaining traction of dozens of customers an hour. A tall and beautifully pink bot and what seemed like half an automaton speaking to them all and made them all feel welcome. Having him be commissioned by the Walter Robotics company in the 1969's - early 1970's, there he was, a proud,loud, and shiny Emmett. Made to charm with any passing and possible customers to come look at his store and show off what they got. Unfortunately for the love bots, he deems them as an easy target to mess with since they're the only other automatons he's ever met and sees them as competitions.

____

As of now, there is no set in stone"canonical" ending for any of them due to a split time like we see in the SPG OG comics.

"Info junk-" It's basically just canonical stuff that won't change over time.

"Giggling-" dumb thoughts or jokes used for the fanbots.

___

More important information will be added here if needed or posted about. Hopefully, you'll enjoy them as much as I do.

[tewwor]

SHIPPING INFO // ANSWER THE FOLLOWING FOR YOUR MUSES SO PEOPLE KNOW HOW SHIPPING WORKS ON YOUR BLOG.

WHAT IS YOUR OTP FOR YOUR CHARACTER(S)?

🧍 you know how long that'd take me to list out??? anyways, i'll limit the ones that have made me the most feral over the years —

@huntershowl + litho : yall want to talk about slow burn? that moment where we both clapped and they mushed faces together will forever be ingrained in my brain. 4 entire years worth of waiting....

@hnjwn / @cordoliae + chanyeol : insane. they're insane! the sheer depth they somehow fumbled into is just.. outstanding tbh. even though they're both hibernating, i had to mention them

HOW LARGE DOES THE AGE GAP HAVE TO BE TO MAKE IT UNCOMFORTABLE?

i'm personally only comfortable with romantic age gaps of around 10ish years. and, yes, i'll admit that does bleed into my characters a lot.

HOW FAR DO STEAMY MOMENTS HAVE TO GO BEFORE THEY ARE CONSIDERED NSFT?

just before sexual foreplay + more. not that i really delve into that a lot anymore. but hey! if the stars align and the mood's right, then it still might happen.

ARE YOU SELECTIVE WHEN SHIPPING?

with mutuals? no..... god no........ granted, chemistry is still a very big thing. not every random pair of muses will stick and that's okay! but if you have even an inkling of joy with a romantic ship between our muses, i'm almost always on the same exact boat. so please never, ever be afraid to voice that!

WHO ARE OTHER CHARACTERS YOU SHIP YOUR CHARACTER WITH?

**please know that i probably missed a ton ( rip my work shocked brain ), but these are just the first ships i can think of where we've had in threads or yapped ooc!**

currently established:

@huntershowl / @icarusplunged + seph/litho & seph/jie/ricochet & seph/adal/lior & rusa/ricochet — need i say more? the original marked dating sim hard launch tbh OHGAWOIGH anyways, doesn't matter how long either of us go on hiatus. one of us keeps crawling back

@miidnighters + bella/jie & hartley/cruor/iris — the way both of them just stuck? it's amazing, jaw dropping, heart warming!!! every aspect of a robust, well rounded relationship can be hit in either, i love them both so, so much.

just starting ( and super excited for ):

@xinxiins + jie — don't get me started on how many times my heart's ached already. there's such a cultural connection that guts me Every Time 😭

@chth0nia + cruor — every time i think of them, i think of that crying dog pic you sent. exactly how i feel about them!!!!

@bloodykneestm + whoever you want lbr — i've yet to write those starters for iggy and alastair but just you Wait……

@interxstitial + literally anyone — like, okay yeah there's ravi sure ( i do love them though ), but if there's anyone else that piques your interest... you just let me know and i'll fedex express ship them over. i'll even cover the cost dw

past:

@temporalobjects + botan/clarence/pildo & iwai + chanyeol : i don't think i've ever had a canon latch onto a ship so quickly before? and the fact that it's technically post canon and he's lumped with two sunshiny loveable dorks! then there's... yknow.. the other two that keep dancing around each other. shed many tears from angst and laughter over both ships, drawn at least 1 or 2 things for each ♡

@womanlives + mercy/jie & dez/clarence : my 'missing you' letter. i hope you know that those two ships have brought me such immense joy and tears at the same time. truly have a special place in my heart ♡♡♡

DOES ONE HAVE TO ASK TO SHIP WITH YOU?

more like showing interest, i feel like? asking can be sooooo anxiety inducing ( i know it can be the same with just mentioning it ), but there's a very good chance i'm already jumping up and down in glee with the exact same thought so! just let me know!!

ARE YOU SHIP-OBSESSED OR SHIP MORE-OR-LESS?

it's toned down a bit ( barely ) ever since i've been overtaken with how dear and important other types of connections are. but yeah, still love ships with all my heart

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE SHIP IN YOUR CURRENT FANDOM?

n/a

FINALLY, HOW DOES ONE SHIP WITH YOU?

just let a clown know. yall know where to find me in my lil' clown corner. if you're more plot heavy, then hell yeah! we can chat up a storm! if you're more 'throw things at the wall and see what sticks' intensive, then hell yeah! i love punting these idiots out and see what happens in the weirdest ( or saddest ) situations. applies to both monogamous and polyamorous ships!

tagged by : i was tagged... in it so that counts right? ( thnkx @huntershowl muah muah )

[itskeej]

draw the vampire squad I need to see them noW

(fun fact I'm that one anon that asked for ur OC lore cuz I don't have toyhouse lmao I still don't)

well. there they are. some info that i do got about each under the cut:

Victor

The eldest physically, but the youngest vampire.

Ex-priest. He's perpetually pissed off at Luciano for turning him, as he can no longer step foot inside of a church without it hurting him gravely.

Very bitter about the fact his soul was (probably) saved yet he still exists like this. The entire vampire bit is a struggle for him, to put it mildly...

He has totally prayed before a meal of blood only to accidentally bless it, essentially poisoning himself. He has never done it again since.

He is also the reason Luciano has his cross-shaped scar on his forehead! The first time they met, Victor freaked out and smacked him in the forehead with it. It was night time, dark, and his glowing eyes scared the shit out of Victor. It was the first thing he thought of—

Often tries to avoid hunting until the last possible second, right before his hunger-induced bloodlust kicks in. He hates being a vampire that deeply, so he puts it off as much as he can.

Somehow, he's the strongest vampire of the bunch, much to Jacyn's dismay. It feels like Victor has wasted potential. While the others get moody and a little more violent when starved, Victor turns into a whole other man entirely. You'd think that'd be enough convincing for him to keep himself fed on time, but apparently not...

Jacyn

The eldest vampire. He's been around the longest. It shows in his skin with how sickly it appears. Luciano likes to bug him about it.

Definitely let himself get turned thinking immortality would solve some problems of his (it did not). What problems? I've yet to work that one out.

Very much wants power. He's sort of "asserted" himself as the head of their dysfunctional house, it sporting his last name. None of them really care, so it wasn't much of a fight.

Believes humans to be beneath immortal beings. Their mortality places them a step below someone like him. This was not the belief he held before wanting to turn, though.

Much more violent than the other three solely due to not being afraid of getting his hands dirty. He likes to play to his natural strengths, and blood-drinkers... well, they have inhuman levels of natural strength.

Luciano

Second youngest vampire.

As probably very evident by now, he's quite the pest. He's always poking his nose into other people's business or making playful (or what he believes to be playful, at least) jabs at the others. He's quite fond of Victor, while Victor... it's complicated. He hates him, but he feels like he needs to get used to him being around.

Vain... his appearance physically is one of the most important things to him. Dirty his clothes and he'll kill you. Maybe even literally, depending on the garment. Arguably his biggest downfall—he's cried to Hellena about a torn cloak before, to paint a better picture.

Very care-free attitude. He's often out mingling with the night-life of their town.

He views humans like fodder, often referring to them as such and treating them the same way a human would speak about animals.

Drank the blood of someone on drugs once... never again. Not because he'd mind doing it again, but because none of the house knew how to handle a high vampire.

Hellena

Second eldest vampire and second eldest physically.

The easiest tolerated by Victor. The two of them will sometimes sit and talk.

LITERALLY THE MOST SANE IN THIS GODFORSAKEN HOUSE. Between Victor's constant self-loathing, Jacyn's desire for violence, and Luciano... being Luciano, she's so incredibly normal about things.

Drinks her blood though fancy cups! Instead of feeding all at once, she spaces it out. She just prefers it that way, hehe.

She's not sure what she's going to do with her eternity... it's depressing to her, the time she has set out before her. So, quietly, she's trying to find a sense of purpose, a personal journey that's been going on for many, many years.

Sometimes she feels like she's parenting the rest of them. It's exhausting... but, admittedly, humerous. If anything else, she's content to make sure the other three don't somehow manage to kill themselves.

Despite her appearance, she's not that worried about things like ruining her clothes. Possessions and the like are easily replaced and fixed.

Smokes cigarettes. Her lungs don't suffer. She used to as a human and that habit carried over.

As you can see, Victor is definitely the most fleshed out so far LMAO, he's the first one I made and the first I've done rp with among friends, so I've got more knowledge about him. u_u

The others, I'll have more detailed info for in time! >:)

[sentimentalkeyboard]

INFO DUMP ME ON OUR BABY BOY TEYO‼️‼️ he needs some attention and lovin🥺👉👈 and maybe his relationship with our girl Dawn?☺️👀

Me when MJ releases the evil and brewing thoughts in my mind

OK OK BUT ILL TELL YOU ABOUT MY SWEETEST BBY HE DON'T GET MUCH LOVE 🥺

Let's start with the simplistic: Teyo is the baby Salamanca! He's Dawn and Charlie's little brother [he's 18, Charlie is 20, and Dawn is 24!] And the 'brains of his siblings. He's very crafty and a tech whizz and makes a lot of gear and security for their apartment to keep safe in a place like Disturbia. He also helps fix up Charlie's gear! Adding his own little touches here and there.

He's a excitable, rowdy, and energetic teen who is trying to experience life to his fullest before entering adulthood... At least experience it as good as he can in a city like Disturbia.

Teyo isn't exactly a 'Vampire Slayer in training' given he never went to school/training for it [that'd take 4 years of school] but he has his own weapons and gear and tags along with his sister on missions even if she doesn't allow him to come the first time.

Teyo also acts as Charlie's more sympathetic side, as playful, and teasing as he can be he has a kind soul and heart of gold. Whatever he does he does with intentions of sticking up for him and his sister- she's the most important thing to him. He was also the one who even suggested bringing Dawn back him with them after their run-in to her when Charlie wanted nothing to do with their oldest sister.

He and his sisters are Hispanic-African American!

As sweet and angelic as Teyo comes off- which he is! Sometimes he is just a bit... Havoc wreaking and can create some pretty nasty bombs and just keep them sitting around on a kitchen table.

Because of his amazing brain and work with inventing, he is wrapped up in some dangerous work with a Vampire named Dimitry and his coven/gang. Charlie doesn't know, but she's suspicious of his late nights away and coming home during the day or missing tools and inventions.

Teyo is girl crazy but God forbid any woman even look at him or he's a wreck.

He and Dawn's relationship was practically healed the second he saw her. It'd been years since he'd seen his sis and now here she was right in front of him! Dawn reconciled the same way and they were already goofing around and being brother and sister- he could care less about the new vampirism. He loves his sisters and wants them to get along more than anything so they can all be a family like before, even if it'll take a lot more work than he thought.

A doodle of the little fella for your troubles. 🥺

[sirenjose]

I'm rather curious, while there isn't much on the Barriere family as a whole what are some of your thoughts and theories about them? (If you're willing to share that is). For me personally, it feels like there's an underlying and sinister air to them.

Honestly the big one that I constantly think about that I've had for quite some time that I continue to wonder when we'll get enough proof to confirm or deny it is whether Count Barriere was involved in causing or helping instigate/worsen the tragedy that killed Alice's parents, the DeRoss couple. (Whether that means he helped Orpheus' parents, the forest rangers, acquire the help they needed attacking the place, or potentially gave them the idea to steal from it, or something else, I don't know but I do wonder.)

We know he owns the land the manor is on, and he frequently appears in places connected to death, including Moonlit River Park and Golden Cave (Kreiburg Racecourse by extension of Lily's father. Potentially Lakeside too due to it's proximity to Golden Cave and the manor, as we know he owns the mountains Golden Cave is located at, the same mountains where the manor is, and thus its possible he could own the land where Lakeside is potentially).

Barriere also seems to have more mysteries surrounding him than even Orpheus, because we have no idea about his motivations or main goal.

Lily's S-tier essence implies his use of Golden Cave to earn his fortunes, as well as potentially hints at a "curse". Golden Cave's rumor states that, despite not finding gold, Barriere "still got what he wanted with this land". And we know the only thing that came out of the mine were Norton, his meteorite chunks, and the deaths of the other miners.

Lily's final deduction references an agreement between Barriere and "a person with the signature 'D'" where Barriere loaned to this other person a "'Mediterranean Development' bond worth £100 and a copy of 'Orfeo' published in 1881". It potentially hints at some of his interests, but we also know the Count sent Lily to the manor to "reclaim what is mine". Like Lily's essence, the bond could hint at monetary motivations, or it's possible he wants the results of that "Mediterranean Development", which could refer to the delphi fern or the drugs made using it. Orfeo... maybe that'd be a hint towards him pontetially manipulating Orpheus to some degree. I'm not quite sure yet. These are just some quick, off the top of my head thoughts.

Then there's also that paper titled "Contracting Parties" with the image of Alice's pocket watch from the Ashes of Memory (part 1) Concept Video that references both Dennis (presumably Dennis DeRoss despite the odd spelling) and Count Barriere. Likely implies 3 of these watches were made according to the quantity listed. I assume Alice got 1 of them, Dennis or his wife (or I guess Orpheus) have a 2nd, and then maybe the 3rd went to Barriere? But there's no info yet as to how these watches may be important beyond informing us of a connection or business relationship betwen Barriere and DeRoss.

The only reoccuring themes with Count Barriere seem to be money and death, but he also keeps ending up linked to a lot of important locations, including the manor itself. We likely will have to wait quite a bit before we get any more answers.

This was just a big... crack theory I've had on him. Honestly, besides that, whenever I have a question I'm attempting to solve, 1 of the 1st things I consider is whether or not Barriere's invovled or could be the answer ^_^; . This man appears so much yet we know so little that it bugs me so I end up literally grasping at crumbs and coming up with these crack theories that are based on very little (mostly only because we know very little to start with and there's not much to work off of, so I just do my best to think). I want to know so bad!!!

[anfeycare]

hello! welcome to my blog!

💙 support my projects on Ko-fi or Patreon!

💙 send things or see more info here!

✨🌹🌻 [coming soon] 🌼🌷✨

💙 my art tag here is "#anfey care"!

💙 other links: ✨ here ✨

MY MOST IMPORTANT RAMBLINGS

🖤 i don't believe in concepts like "ugly" and "dumb"

🖤 i'm against generative A.I.s and N.F.T.s

🖤 i don't allow reuploads, only reblogs of my posts

i'm Anfey Care, a queer non-binary artist and writer! i go by gender neutral words only (as for pronouns: "they/them" — "ê/elu/-e" in portuguese)

i enjoy art and science. i'm a fan of lots of things, specially Undertale, Dead Plate, Married in Red, Cold Front, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Omori, and Adventure Time! i'm brazilian, too. you're welcome to follow me if you enjoy:

art, pixel art, animation;

books, comics, mangas;

cuteness, horror, comedy;

games, music;

indie, alternative things;

queer, LGBT+, gay stuff;

shows, cartoons, animes;

thought-provoking stuff;

nerdy things in general!

i'm fairly silly, quite gay, and very nerd!

nice to meet ya!

( ^ ꒳ ^ ) [cute face smiling*]

(*i can use text in brackets like this to describe text emojis for screen readers; similarly, i can use text in brackets preceded by a slash as tone indicators, such as: [/silly] )

🐾 ooo, look! you found a boop post! 🐾

💙✨ about me: ✨

besides being a silly gay queer nerd artist and writer, i'm atypical, a furry, a fan-enby of a bunch of characters, an adult and a game dev. i'm an introverted, shy, and asocial person. somewhat antisocial too; sometimes i can be completely silent and spend weeks alone when too overwhelmed from socialization. (i'm INFP and pisces, but i don't take these seriously, although i can relate at times)

i'm completely atheist. i don't mind religion, even if i might take it as stories and thoughts, but i just don't mind as long as it isn't fanatic christian stuff — i was raised around these people and it got me very tired of those things.

i graduated on a game development technical course i took along with high school (public education, got in through an entrance exam, got in first place on the classification list), and i'm often studying things on my own, like languages. i draw, design, paint, conceptualize, illustrate, make pixel art, research, edit, write, and can animate and code too — sometimes i also try music, acting, photography, and cosplay. i'm still working on being an indie game dev; for now, i'm mainly an artist and writer

as for how i identify as LGBT+, i'm queer as in all pan a-spec atractions-wise. gender-wise, i identify as pangender, which in my case includes agender; i'm transneutral and non-binary (and — it's obvious but just to mention — gender non-conforming). i usually put it all in short by just saying i'm a queer enby, or a pan a-spec enby, but i don't shy away from just saying i'm gay (as in i'm definitely not straight)

as an enby, i'm also dionysian (more often known as diamoric), and any kind of relationship with me would be called this — 'cause they'd have an enby (me) in them. you could call me almost anything from the LGBTQ+ definitions and that'd still be almost fitting, but if you were to call me something accurately fitting, that's queer, pan a-spec, diamoric/dionysian and enby, heheh

i could be considered legally blind, as i can't see anything a few inches away from my face without glasses (8 degrees in each lens, but i've been needing a new prescription for some years... couldn't afford it yet). i suspect i might be neurodivergent (ADHD, ASPD and autistic, mainly), and i have lots of symptoms of depression, anxiety and C-PTSD, but also can't afford to look into those. (funny fact: i managed to get in a psychology college earlier in 2024, and for a good while was studying psychology there before even being able to go see a psychologist-) (i still do deep researches about those topics of mental health)

from the way i understand relationships and concepts related to it and to living in society — understandings that have some connections to my pan a-spec (includes asocial) pangender agender way of being —, i'm also non-monogamous in attractions and beliefs. i could be either in a monogamous or non-monogamous relationships romantically, though. i'd do fine in any, i can adapt quite well to who i love and/or like and care about! it could even be an undefined relationship — it all would be up to who i'd be with. (i'd develop an attachment, and even a hyperfixation on them, too, which would make it even easier for me to adapt,,, anyways-)

i know spanish and french, besides portuguese and english. i don't have a lot of practice with those other two languages, but i can understand them well (speaking portuguese helps, heh). i still want to learn more languages — for now, i'm also studying japanese, LIBRAS and ASL from time to time

i aim for diversity, inclusion and equity, specially for my games. that's a reason why i study a lot, and that's also why i want to make most of my creations available for free. and that's why i encourage you to give me support if you want, as it helps it all to be free of charge, and can give you a custom art or some cool extra things for a low tip!

i'm interested in:

Undertale;

Rot in Paradise;

Dead Plate;

Married in Red;

Elevator Hitch;

Cold Front;

Bittersweet Sentence;

Eloquent Countenance;

The Picture of Dorian Gray;

The Owl House;

Omori;

Revolutionary Girl Utena;

Deltarune;

Dracula;

Adventure Time;

She-ra and the Princesses of Power;

KinitoPET;

My Little Pony;

Sonic;

Don't Hug Me I'm Scared;

Welcome Home;

Puella Magi Madoka Magica;

Studio Investigrave in general;

and the Daycare attendant from FNAF

i also like to roleplay/perform as characters at times, and used to play D&D, besides liking the RPG genre in videogames itself

as you see, i'm all over the place — i'm not completely organized, and i allow myself to let some things be messy (like tags); it's what works best for me, as far as i noticed

i like lots of things! and, though i enjoy horror, i don't make much art of this kind. plus, i create original stories, art, and characters of my own, like Safey — they're my mascot persona, and they're the fox creature on the pixel art by the start of this blog post. i have a bunch of projects i develop on my own, including ideas of comics and games! and sometimes i write poems, generally in portuguese, but i mix languages and write in english at times

i usually make cute things! whenever i happen to make something scary or with sensitive topics, i let it with the warnings i think it needs. personally, i'm positive about NSFW topics, specially sexual-related ones, in regular conditions. however, i very rarely allude to NSFW — if anything, it can be there as subtext, if i ever even include anything like that at all. to my mind, these are not NSFW, but either way: i do enjoy artistic nude art, i do like philosophically/sociologically/literarily analytical thoughts and texts that could be about/related to sexual topics, and i also do like (well, you know) horror. i take a different approach on my own art that's around these, but you can avoid it if i ever make it due to the warnings, and i hope you will use the warnings' opportunity to avoid it if you're sensitive or just don't want to see it.

overall, specially for other people like me, i want my space to be a safe space

Undertale, Dead Plate, and Married in Red are my most favorite pieces of media, so i'm drawn towards them most of the time. for the characters in those respectively, Flowey and Sans, Vincent, and Bok-su are my favorites (i know, they're the popular ones... sorry, heh, i genuinely love them)

nice to meet you, and i hope you will like what i create!

thanks for reading!

see ya! ( ^ ꒳ ^ ) [cute face smiling]

[6okuto]

Hi love! Do you open req? I just want to req main 3 last legacy (if you want to include rime idm) with assassin mc?

M3 WITH AN ASSASSIN!MC

gn!mc | meoww. will probs not be doing much more LL in the future unless it's. modern au? didn't realize how much my brain would struggle. woah. i forgot most of the plot ..lol.. if my characterization is awful Don't Look At Me. 😁🫥

anisa

this a Morally Complex Situation.

i imagine this pair would have the most to work through. like it'd have the most tension at the reveal of mc's job because of anisa's job, seeing herself in them, etc. etc. especially if they've built some sort of relationship/trust at this point .

^ because well now there's questions of why did they choose to stick with her rather than the others. what do they think of her, do they have ulterior motives, etc etc. and i'm Sure this will come up with the other two, but i see it the most emotionally hard-hitting in anisa's case :')

though as anisa's route continues and she's thrown into a position of really questioning loyalty, rules, etc. mc is probably one of the best people who can offer a thoughtful nuanced take.

Something Something, finding out the LoS is her father, choosing to believe in and support her, anisa opening up. something something joke about going after him for her while both knowing it'll be anisa's choice what happens something something

wow sorry but in a world where LL. was here. and anisa had the time to develop and accept(?) mc's career properly (Sorry.) i think she'd want to know more about it. maybe when she's looking for help and mc would be able to share not just advice but the story behind it

on a lighter note :) again,, in the Good timeline where we've gotten canon development for both of them,, i do think anisa doesn't let the whole "i'm / i was an assassin, i'm fine" thing slide if mc tries to brush off her concern. like sorry, are you not victim to basic needs and exhaustion be serious

also ! think of the strategies they could come up with ! both of these people bring knowledge and so many skills to the table. I'd trust them with an important mission🤷🏻‍♀️!

she knows they're perfectly capable of taking care of themself and vice versa, so it's heartwarming when both check on the other. so real

sage

under the assumption that mc would hide their career, the M3 treat them as an average person. but sage is perceptive, and would probably pick up on minute details that'd tip him off that mc is more skilled than they let on

externally internally says i knew it when he inevitably finds out. maybe not that they were an assassin, but someone definitely trained

just to make sure there's a little angst(??) for all three! sage is a smart guy! he is!! he'd be suspicious of mc if the m3 find out early on and they haven't developed a strong relationship.

mc and sage not trusting each other, not sharing info either to break that ice, sage wondering why they'd choose to stick with him, etc. he manages to make some kind of flirty joke the first... meeting? after the reveal, but they both know they're watching each other LOL.

anyways. hey guys. at some point when that trust is built,, no amount of deadly energy will stop this man from flirting. "are you my assassination target? because i really want to take you out." sage my brother in christ you would be the target

sage asks where they learned everything, why, when, etc. but he understands if they try to evade his questions. if/when mc does open up about it, he listens intently and tells them that hey,, it's not like he's going to just Hate/stop caring about them

there's always a base level of concern since sage, evidently, hates the idea of anything bad happening/losing them, but he's still aware and grateful that he can trust mc to take care of themelf !

god. assassin!mc giving sage a look when he tries his whole isolation, working alone thing. you and i are Both experienced with this so try again.

felix

being an assassin is a very different career path than a barista like lets be fr.

mc so easily lies about working and making coffee and awful customer experiences when they first meet that when they show they're capable of taking down an enemy,, felix is like ? have i greatly misunderstood the job expectations of a barista ?

being both trained as an assassin and in magic by felix is a stacked deck (theoretically if things go well.) and while the skill set isn't really the same, mc's ability to pick up on things, focus, etc. is definitely applicable in their lessons

necromancy and assassination go two opposing ways tbh if u think about it. but both end up with Complicated (nonexistent?) Relationships With Others, so he can sympathize in that way

but also it's still. different. felix does find himself wondering what kind of people they've been assigned, whether asking would be rude, whether that should Really Be His Main Concern considering his company, etc.

if they've spent enough time together, he trusts that they have no ill intentions toward him at least. and a guy's got to appreciate promised protection

and does he want to know the kinds of people they've assassinated ? maybe. yes. intrigue. he shares magic and stories from astraea for tidbits of mc's career. depending on who exactly their targets were, felix is about to become very knowledgeable on some of earth's politics and figures

also would mc's stealth and stratagem come in handy for ...pranks and evasion... Who's to say? felix might,, if the opportunity arises. probably after they use it against him. smth smth you and stella teaming up against me smth smth

[freakattack]

I know I have a phobia of bugs and spiders and I know (and greatly appreciate) that you started tagging bug posts for that very reason but I have not muted the tag or turned off notifications for your blog. Reasons being 1. The phobia of bugs isn't bad enough I cant handle a few seconds of exposure when scrolling past and the more... exotic? I guess??? the bug is the the less my phobia makes me feel the effects and I can appreciate a cool looking bug (There is no amount of spiders I can stand though, even the thought of them activates the phobia.) And 2. I really enjoy your info dumps about bugs and hearing what you have to say about them, your blog is just really endearing to me, like watching a cool exotic bug wearing a top hat playing wario ware on max difficulty perfectly on the bus. Also I love me a good obscure fact.

I am in a hell of my own creation.

Do not cry for me, for I am already stupid.

Top ten funnest messages to receive after sticking my arm into a tub of cockroaches

No but you're so real for this and I am so happy that I can offer a safe avenue to learn about bugs. I actually was talking to someone at my job today about the importance of invertebrate conservation education (contrary to popular belief i do have a job and it does have to do with bugs), and a big part of that is taking away the unfamiliarity of these animals and presenting them in a way that people can relate to and appreciate. Generally speaking things become less scary the less "unknown" they are, and if the things you know about them are endearing (like centipedes being good mamas, or bees making an "oop" sound when they bump into each other), it can take away some of that fear. And you're right that arthropods are INCREDIBLY important ecologically so that's another reason I'm passionate about this subject.

That being said I'm happy to tag spiders in addition to bugs because I'm not trying to jumpscare people! That'd be counterproductive! (However if you're up for it, I have heard that the Lucas the Spider animations on youtube have helped a lot of people with their fear; it's computer-animated semi-stylized depiction of a jumping spider but it's voiced by a cute little kid, and even though it's a little corny I do think it has done a lot for spider PR. Obviously not for everyone though!) And yeah I feel you on that last point, I would never compare not liking bugs to actual bigotry (especially with simply bugphobic people, whom I am chill with) nor would I ever compare the plight of bugs to that of actual marginalized people, BUT at the same time if someone steps over the line and is viciously hateful about any animal (e.g. commenting "KILL IT WITH FIRE" on someone's pet, adamantly insisting that an entire species needs to go extinct, unloading a whole bottle of raid on 1 ant, etc.) simply because it is different or inconveniencing them, I will be very suspicious of their ability to be normal about human beings who are different or inconveniencing them. If nothing else I will think they are a massive tool!

But ya I so deeply respect your ability to appreciate the value of these animals despite your phobia, cause so many people don't even without that obstacle. Every bug on earth salutes you (from a safe distance)

Here is a pic of me playing smooth moves

[spyroforlife]

I finally retrieved the ancient texts from my storage unit

aka the "books" I made from the ages of like 9-12(??) by writing and drawing on printer paper (or just notebook paper!!) and then stapling them together, I'd do a lil cover and everything, I'd write a summary on the back like Real Books Have, and I was so proud of them

and I have kept them all. and now. I decided to look at them once more. the relics from as early as 2005..

so. You guys wanna see an unfinished dragon comic written by a 10-year-old?? haha yeah you do c'mere

Super Dragons #1. Rhynoc Trouble With Powder

Written and illustrated by (full name redacted for privacy reasons)

This is labeled #1 but I never did more lmaoo let's dive into this mess

(rest will be under the cut, along with transcriptions of the writing because it didn't scan very well but also I just had terrible handwriting and the crayons smudged like hell. I WILL preserve any spelling or grammar mistakes in my transcription so you can really get an idea of my skill level back then)

So first off can I just say. I am. OBSESSED with how I would consistently draw dragon wings backwards, ignoring my older brother who constantly pointed it out to me and I was like "no they're not", until I eventually paid more attention and tried following some tutorials on how to draw Spyro-style dragons and I was just like ohh. Okay. Yeah. I'll fix that.

Also I like that while Deserae is a "sun dragon" she has no features that would make you think that, she's just a magenta and pink dragon. Though in retrospect I'd suppose that'd make for a fun subversion of expectations. My thinking was clearly next level. So, the text:

Once upon a time, there was a brave dragon. Her name was Deserae. She controls the Sun. When awake, the Sun is bright. When asleep, the Moon comes out. But one day, Deserae overheard a group of Rhinocs talking about keeping her asleep, so that the Sun will never come out. Deserae was devastated! She saw Permanate Sleeping Powder. That's what they were going to use!

Deserae: (thinking) That one Rhinoc has a fat head

Unnamed Rhynoc: We'll put her to sleep with Powder!

Now here's a fun thing of note, young me insisted on trying to fit characters fully into the panel instead of just letting parts go past the borders, so. Keep an eye on parts like tails going forward because it's ridiculous what I did with them sometimes. I also would have characters like, think about random stuff I personally thought was funny while drawing, or they'd explain things unnecessarily. idk why, it's just what I did

Spyro jumpscare! Deserae makes a badly done flier trying to find a bodyguard (if she has such an important role why does she not already have one? who knows) and surprise, Spyro answers the call. Because he's a heroic guy and that's what he does <3 And bigger surprise, he and Deserae immediately fall in love. He was a boy, she was a girl, can I make it anymore obvious?

Deserae started to make posters to get protection. She isn't a good drawer, but it worked!

The poster reads "WANTED BODY GUARD. FOR INFO CALL 111-2531"

In just 1 hour Spyro called. He did it for free! (An arrow points at Spyro, labeling him as Spyro) Deserae accepted him. Spyro got to Deserae as fast as possible. Spyro and Deserae fell in love with each other as soon as they met.

Spyro: (thinking) She's the girl for me.

Deserae: You're handsome.

Spyro said, "So... What is it you need to be protected from?" Deserae told him all about the Rhynocs and the Permanate Sleeping Powder. They went off to find the Rhynocs.

Spyro: (thinking) Great! Tracks!

Spyro and Deserae headed to the lake. There wasn't anything there. The volcano did not have anything either. Finally they came to a forest.

Spyro: They might be in the forest!

They found a bag of the Sleeping Powder. Spyro destroyed it, but little did they know, it was a fake!

Meanwhile...

Unnamed Rhynoc 1: Where did I put that Sleeping Powder?

Unnamed Rhynoc 2: How should I know!? (while thinking 'It's in the safe.')

Back to the dragons...

Spyro: At least we got rid of the Sleeping Powder.

So he thought. The real Powder was in the metal safe.

Spyro had to use the bathroom, so he ran off and left Deserae.

Deserae: Hurry up!

Unfortunately, the Rhynocs heard that Spyro had stopped protecting her. They headed her way.

Unnamed Rhynoc: Sun dragon! You're mine!

The Rhynocs found Deserae and shot a net on her. Then they carried her away.

Deserae: No!

Deserae got bored in the room they put her in. So she decided to work on her fire power. Suddenly, Deserae changed color to confuse the Rhinoc!

Unnamed Rhynoc: WHAT IS THAT NOISE!?

Note: I love how I keep switching between spelling it as Rhinoc and Rhynoc. For the record, they're a classic Spyro enemy and Rhynoc is the correct spelling, I believe. Meanwhile, Deserae's color swap was done entirely because I was using a different set of crayons from the usual ones and had to use different pinks for her, so I just decided to make the color switch a part of the story. Lmaoo

The Rhinoc opened the door and Deserae flamed him accidently. Another Rhinoc came running and saw her. But he was so stupid he let her out because he thought she was another dragon.

Desarae: I must find Spyro! (while thinking 'Idiot')

Rhynoc: Beat it!

Deserae got back to the forest's entrance. Spyro was laying down, sleeping. Deserae shot a flame at him to wake him up.

This is what happened...

Spyro: What the... Deserae! Is that you?

Deserae: Duh. Oh wait, I'm still a different color.

I adore how my sequence of events here is Spyro going off to use the bathroom, Deserae gets taken in the meantime, and apparently when he gets back and can't find her, he just... lays down to take a nap?? Okay man. Sure

Spyro went to find some sleep. Deserae turned back to shades of red-violet.

Deserae: My horn bent! (While thinking 'I'll have to fix it...')

Deserae headed to the lake for a drink and some fish. It's very dark water.

Suddenly, and trust me when I say I don't know how it happened, Snape from Harry Potter walked up.

Deserae: Snape! I like your daring! I do stupid things too!

Deserae: (thinking) Is that a dress or robe? His skin is pale.

Snape: Do I know you? (While thinking 'Dragons are big...')

Snape ran away for unknown reasons. Deserae found Spyro.

Spyro: Stop doing that!

Deserae: It does work. (While thinking 'I'm good at talking while flaming')

aand that's it. I never got further than that. The goddamn Snape cameo hit me like a truck, god. I forgot I just threw him into this for no reason. He's there for one entire panel and just runs off again. Good riddance.

So yeah, that's Super Dragons. Again, I love Spyro walking away from the person he agreed to protect to go sleep, and she again just went and found him and flamed him to wake him up. That probably would have been a running joke if I kept writing this. There's also how they fell in love at first sight, only for that to proceed to just not be relevant for the rest of it. Spyro/Deserae I guess

But yeah looking back at this was SO fun, yeah there's very little artistic talent but nonetheless, I had an idea and I followed it, and ya gotta respect that. Everyone starts somewhere, and that's where I started with learning to write and draw. With silly lil dragon stories like this, many of which didn't get finished or shared, but any practice was still valuable. For anyone who decided to read through this whole post, I hope you've enjoyed taking a look at my oldest creative works. I might scan and share more of my old "books", I'll use the tag 'my old writing' for any of it, lemme know if you're interested in seeing more! :D

[pttucker]

Holy crap, we actually got to see Dokja's Attributes Window!

...for about two seconds before every single constellation out there tried to mentally attack him. 😞

Ugh, and his Fate still hasn't been overcome? I thought for sure that'd do it! Dude literally ate a being from the Great Hole. Well, the Fourth Wall ate it anyway.

The Fourth Wall is absolutely terrifying btw but also, uh, very protective? Maybe even a little cute? When it's not out of control trying to devour him and his family.

Dokja seems to have found some sort of understanding with it, but I'm not entirely certain I'm completely cool with something that licks its metaphorical lips when looking at him even if it is sentient enough to scold him for almost letting all the other constellations raze his mental landscape.

And I honestly can't tell if the unknown person who told him to turn it off was being helpful or not. It did seem like Fourth Wall really was going to eat him for a moment there, but turning it off also left him exposed to everyone who was just waiting to swoop in, so the cynical part of me is wondering if it wasn't just a golden opportunity for someone to try to garner information or even kill him.

And of course we've finally seen Secretive Plotter again (who we have not seen since the Banquet, I don't think) and they're pleased about something. And for the first time we've "seen" Joonghyuk's sponsor as well.

I really don't know if I want to say that Secretive Plotter was the one speaking to him or not. I will say that I don't think the thing they're happy about is the fact they found out info on Dokja since I honestly believe they already know who Dokja is. Or at least they can tell what he is. I'm leaning more towards the fact that they're happy Dokja figured out he can turn the skill off if needed or just that he lived and overcame something so impossible or something like that, and Dokja once again not recognizing that sometimes people just like him and are happy he's okay.

As for Joonghyuk's sponsor, I just have this really weird feeling that his sponsor is somebody we know already. I feel the same way about Secretive Plotter.

I feel like one or both of them are going to end up being some future or alternate version of someone we already know, like we saw with Shin Yoosung. I don't quite want to say either of them are the author because I'm still vaguely leaning towards Dokja being the author (who had his memories erased like Asuka Ren). Though now I'm liking that theory a little less since the novel is once again heavily emphasizing the importance of Dokja being a READER and how much finding the novel changed his life.

Of course, the author could still be an entirely separate being and they are the one who told Dokja to turn off the Fourth Wall. I absolutely believe that if they're not someone we already know, they are at least watching Dokja, their beloved reader.

Oh and now Dokja's down to five lives. My guy, you are rinsing though these things. And we are just now hitting the 30% mark of this novel. At chapter 181.

Hopefully whatever Joonghyuk is about to talk to his sponsor about is going to give you some dang protection. That or just stop leaving your party members behind. Bare minimum, at least take the guy who managed to help fight the outer god with his own power with you. He ran all over the dang castle looking for you so he could help you. Let him help you.