#SO SORRY if the cut doesn't work

[crookedfivefingers]

3.13 | ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴀꜱᴛ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛɪᴍᴇ ʟᴏʀᴅꜱ

link to the post I accidentally wound up prattling endlessly about in the tags 💀

[flufflecat]

busting out the blacklight and reading over some journal 3 pages to reminisce

[desultory-novice]

Apologies AU - Good Ending Drop

Hey, everyone. It was my goal to finish Apologies in tandem with the Tournament, but for health reasons, I won't be able to as I planned. Because I tied the story to the tournament and don't feel like untangling it again and making everyone wait more, I'm going to give you all the ending spoilers, as I promised I would if I became unable to finish the story.

What I'm about to describe is THE Good Ending. The True Ending I had planned out almost from the beginning!

-

In the main-verse...

Susie, who sees too much of herself in Adeleine, decides to take matters into her own hands to bring the girl's older brother back.

She takes the vial of Dark Matter Swordsman DNA that was harvested from King Dedede. Meta Knight catches up with her and argues against it. It's foolish, dangerous, and liable to be nothing but painful to all parties involved. But Susie anticipated interference and asked Zan to bodyguard her. When Zan arrives (late) to the lab, the argument has caused the vial to begin to react to all the negativity in the room. Zan recognizes its contents as Dark Matter and insists on calling Lord Hyness, who in his own quirky way, analyzes their problem and suggests that while the contents are too weak to survive on their own, a resurrection could be possible, using Void's powers to mimic a hive queen, supplying whatever creature emerges the power to survive on Popstar without burning up into ash...

-

In the tourney-verse...

White-Haired Noir is at peace with his life and has come to accept the death of his precious little sister many years ago, but...a part of him still wishes to make Adeleine happy.

Using his fairy-born dimension sight, he discovers an Alternate Noir who is 98% percent compatible with main-verse Noir. This is the Purgatory!Noir from the Re_Birthday post. And he drags this unstable, utterly clueless Noir out of this peaceful void without his permission and secretly "volunteers"  the massively confused, un-alive but un-dead teen boy for the Kirby OC Tournament.

It is White-Haired Noir that is the "good" voice on phone and in Noir's head, encouraging rationality. His goal? Get Noir some friends. Get him to face up to/open up to people about his past. And get him caring about his life enough that he wants to live...! 

White-Haired Noir has seen what the main-verse Star Allies are attempting and knows that the odds of them actually bringing "Noir" back instead of just an emotionless monster are low without a compatible "Noir Soul" (haha) to inhabit the new vessel.

Over the course of many in-tourney events, including Noir learning to have faith in the sibling bonds he built with Gooey despite being Dark Matter at the time, learning to separate himself and Adeleine as individuals instead of clinging to her to his own neglect, privately opening up to King Dedede, who put the pieces together post-possession, about some awful stuff Noir put up with for years in secret from Raquelle's father (who privately loathed Neichel AND her kids and took it out on Noir) to "pay" for Adeleine's good life...

And lastly, using the power of wishes to interrogate if THIS Noir's true wish is to die and be free, to have never been born, to have had a normal "perfect" life, or if he simply wishes for a second chance to be with those he cares about... White-Haired Noir determines that Tourney!Noir is ready and reveals his plan to him. Noir confesses to him that he really does want to live and be with his family again and offers up his stronger soul for Susie and the gang's vessel.

-

Back in the main-verse...

The experiment is a success! They have brought, well, something back. It is not quite like Dark Matter Swordsman in form, nor is it exactly a human boy. It looks a little bit like a spiky haired-Gooey.

After some tense questioning of the emotionless, memoryless, unresponsive goo, it...suddenly seems to awaken. With the voice of a deeply shaken and scared young boy, the violet-eyed blob questions the mad scientist, cultists, and masked man surrounding him... Where the hell is he? And where are his little brother and sister?

Meta Knight welcomes Noir back to the world of the living.

Later, after Noir has time to dress himself in an appropriate scarf, Adeleine and Gooey are brought in and it is a happy and tear-filled reunion all around as Noir confirms that, while this form is strange, it's not dangerous and he's not in pain. He is then re-introduced to King Dedede, whereupon it's revealed that even though Noir likes him, he's still a snarky teen punk at heart, as he sasses the king horribly. (Dedede has gained another kid, but at what cost? XD)

...And that's it.

That's the ending to Apologies I've held onto for nearly a year.

For reading through all that, here is a short comic I drew a while back of the reunited family having a snowball fight in White Wafers.

-

(Not to unnecessarily over-explain the story but because the comic is a little vague, I have to tell you that no, Noir does not ever return to human after his revival. I meant it when I wrote in several places that their parting on Shiver Star was the last time they'd see each other "...in this form." This is merely meant to depict a moment in which Adeleine, seeing her brother alive and smiling and laughing and having real fun for the first time in so long, is able to imagine his old self smiling and is at peace that her brother is finally free from the hurt and misery he bore up with for so long.)

(...And yes, he has a long, silly tongue just like Gooey. Which is why he hides all but his eyes behind the scarf. Gotta keep up that cool older brother look even as a little goo creature! While Noir can't become human - frankly, he doesn't miss having a human body, given the stuff in his adolescence and being over-stressed, underfed, under-slept and just overall sick all the time in his later teens - he does eventually acquire the ability to shift into his old "Swordsman" form for short bursts of time.)

-

(Lastly, you might wonder how I could have had this exact ending in mind from almost the beginning when so much of it is tied up in recent posts like the tourney? ...Well, originally what was going to happen to allow Noir to be properly resurrected into the Dark Matter Goo body is that the Dream Rod from Star Allies was going to appear in response to a grieving Adeleine's wishes to see her brother again, bringing Noir-as-Swordsman back. At least for a LITTLE while, as it would be revealed that with Zero dead, Noir, who was entirely composed of Dark Matter at this point, couldn't survive on Popstar. Every moment he was there, his body was burning.)

(Still, he lasts long enough to have one final talk with Adeleine that helps heal him from the torturous events of DL 3 - in which we learn a highly disappointed Zero drove Noir to the absolute breaking point, shattering his mind and his newly regained soul. Adeleine also tells Noir she has finally realized everything he did for her during their childhood and apologizes to him for not seeing it before. With dawn on the horizon, Noir asks to look over Adeleine's sketchbooks with her before the end... He dies one last time, peacefully, while Adeleine finally gets to properly mourn him.)

(Then, all the "main-verse" sections proceed to happen as stated above!)

-

(...Okay, okay. One last thing. There was also an alternate ending planned where Magolor, taking advantage of the fact that Merry Magoland was built on a nexus point, finds a way to reunite Adeleine and White-Haired Noir - still a teen in this version - using his theme park as a union point, as special birthday gift for Adeleine.)

(I was kinda fond of this one for reuniting the timelines, but it opened up a lot of questions such as, if Magolor made it so that Noir and Adeleine from two different dimensions can see each other as long as they're both in Magoland, could others from the WH Noir-verse see the main-verse this way? It invited too many questions, so that's why I scrapped that one and just let White-Haired Noir grow up instead.)

[spotaus]

Hey i am back with another thought.

Remember how ccino was unamused with nightmare bringing a serial killer home as possible knight?

Inagine his annoyance when it HAPPENS AGAIN with dust!

And dust needs like 4 magic dampers.

Nightmare just standing there: i found another possible knight

Ccino staring at the criminal: ... i will go prepare a room *leaves*

And then.

Later!

Ccino walks out to meet nightmare and stops because he sees a giant skeleton behind nightmare with a hole in his skull!

Ccino: ...

Nightmare who can feel that ccino is THIS close to snapping: ... this one isnt a criminal.

Ccino takes a deep breath. Nods. And leaves. He does not like this pattern.

And then cross gets caught

Killer: lmao. Wonder why nightmare is leaving him in the jailcell instead of just punishment

Dust and horror shooting each other knowing looks.

ccink just leaves because APPARENTLY he needs to prepare ANOTHER room now >:(

Some kids bring back rocks or plants or insects or wounded animals..

Nightmare brings back criminals. (Which is even funnier because nightmare also hires wrongly judged people as his servants).

No wonder the cats swarm the castle. It is already full of strays.

Hi I *know* you have another ask in my inbox that I need to address (because I love it to death and need to make a coherent answer that isn't just me key-smashing-) but I saw this one fresh off the send and I need to respond because this one !!!!! Is so silly but so true!!!

Yeah, Ccino is a very kind and loving soul but like. In the way parents can still get annoyed w/ their kids, this is Ccino's peev. Every single time Nightmare comes back with a criminal Ccino has to take a deep breath abd count to 5 before he can respond in any proper way. And he *knows* Night knows how worried abd frustrated he his! Because!! Of all the people to bring in when you're paranoid of getting murdered? The serial killers???

Dude I also love the thought that Dust had a couple dampeners so he couldn't harm anyone or run off, and the longer he behaves the more Night takes off. (And Night *really* wants to see Dust at his full power, but he can't risk being hasty-)

Horror, who arguably looks the most like a criminal, actually got into a heated argument with a friend as a teenager and ended up with a huge skull wound. He's actually a sweetheart! (<- to his family at least-) Ccino is just happy it's not another criminal frfr.

And then Cross.

The visual that Killer has yet to pick up on the signs of Night preparing to collect another knight is SO silly but also SO him. He's blind-sided when he's put in charge of Dust to train him for knighthood. He's blindsided when Horror is adopted into the Knights. He's also blindsided when Nightmare firmly tells everyone that Cross will be helping them. 🙏 (and then he becomes a Knight)

Poor Ccino putting up with these guys... <3

Oh yeah, stray city! Nightmare (if he did have godlike powers) definitely gives off a domain of safety for misfits + survivors. Like, Reaper's kingdom has a great reputation but. Nightmare is very specifically keen on helping people and taking care of them (even as they take care of him). So the cats, the wrongly-accused criminals, and the *rightly*-accused criminals who he thinks can change are all his now :] He attracts them like a beacon lol!

[pricemarshfield]

2024 fic wrapped

i was tagged by @wetcatspellcaster to do this tag game, and i will take any excuse to talk about myself and my writing so hell yeah. let's do it to it. y'all know the drill, below the cut because i'm a yapper. like genuinely good God this is too long

if you got tagged in this but don't have time to read the full post, i shared a fic of yours that i loved this year :) but also i'm tagging you in the game if you want to participate! and if i didn't tag you but you want to do it, consider yourself tagged :)

What's been your biggest learning point this past year?

i feel like i somehow discover this every year but writing's way more fun when you write what you want to read. like whoaaa stepping away from taking requests i don't care about and writing the characters i'm obsessed with is...easier AND more enjoyable? that's crazy. who ever could have guessed this

but also on a more serious answer, i think i've learned that treating my writing as an internal deadline is just not sustainable and doesn't even work. (it works on collaborative projects with ACTUAL deadlines, to be clear to my lovely fellow zine and other project contributors fjdlkf, just not My Personal Fics For Fun.) sure it'd be nice to update every week, or every month, but viewing my hobby like that just stresses me out and then i put off thinking about it and writing at all. writing because i want to and because i enjoy it means i write more and, more importantly, that i enjoy the process of doing it. it also helps that my commenters who were nasty about updates all basically fell off lmao. bye babes, hope you've learned etiquette in whatever fandom you're on now

How has your writing developed this past year?

i think i've gotten MUCH better at hitting character voices this year, which is one benefit of latching onto the nastiest man in the world (raphael) and the weirdest woman to ever exist (my own oc, tav, light of my life and my soul and all that fun stuff). they're so strange and unusual, and i Have to get them right, and because of that when i go back to write...idk, poppy or someone, it's so easy. SO easy. oh, a rich bitch lesbian with an inferiority complex? easy work. tav's experiencing divine madness while fighting a devil to the death but like in a way where they're both horny about it. after writing that (and doing so the way i wanted to!), i find my voice for EVERYBODY is a lot easier to sink into.

i also think i got better at the flow of my sentences and i could not tell you why. i just feel it in my heart. this might just be because of the projects i'm working on Right Now but whatever, if it fits, it fits

Good writing habits?

no longer writing to beat a self-imposed deadline but writing because i want to. not forcing myself to work on a wip if the muse isn't there and instead working on something i AM inspired for or just doing something else. being more intentional with my word choice in ways that will not make sense until chapter 20 of these longfics but I'M kicking my feet and giggling so who care. making sure not All of my wips are for one fandom (or even for fandom at all) so that way if i'm burned out on bg3 or something, i can still write because i want to.

Bad writing habits?

starting so many new wips rather than finishing a fic, oh my god, we're at so many, i think we're at 45 (FORTY-FIVE. NOT A TYPO, NO HYPHEN MISSING) bg3 wips and easily more than half are raphtav alone and it's gonna be at 50 by the end of the month because i have so many ideas and so little time. (more than half of those are multichapter wips. help.) refreshing for comments even when it's been like two minutes rather than not being externally motivated (i. am trying). outlines being a fic in their own right (which is fun but not the purpose of an outline and a habit i am trying! to break).

Favorite thing you wrote?

i am picking like 6 things and no one can stop me #selflove

talk was supposed to be a 3k MAX pwp oneshot to break writer's block, and by god did all 18k words of it accomplish that goal. incredibly nsfw, raphael/tav/haarlep and tav is a freak about it and also not a good person, and i had So Much Fun writing it. it was posted on my birthday as a present to Myself and i might do the same this year with one of the other wips. EXPLICIT before anyone clicks on it, it's not that kinky compared to some other fic out there but it is Very explicit

The Complicated Woman Podcast: Tracker O'Shaughnessey was an exercise in form as much as it was a fic. i used to be a transcriptionist, and i'd been wanting to write a transcript-format fic for Ages, and so when i joined a zine literally named the complicated woman podcast i just had to. that wasn't even the point of the zine but i Did have to. and it slaps! it's been my sample for every (read: one) d20 project i've applied to since and also i love tracker and fig so very much.

eat your young, aka my tav's bad end, has haunted me for more than a year, and FINALLY. i began posting it. updates are going to be slow because every time i sit down to write, tav psychically attacks me with new ideas to make everything worse, and it's great but it takes a minute. both chapters are more than 7k. Help Me (but don't actually because i love it). a lot of people have written "astarion ascends so tav goes to raphael"--which, given fandom, not necessarily a surprise--but i am SO fond of my take on it because tav is so unwell. allying with the devil as "pragmatism". but watch out! you might start to like the guy! (and then. other things). cw canon-typical raphael (but no major archive warnings other than violence)

the ghost of her is a weird little second-person durgezel piece and i'm kind of obsessed with it. it's my durge arcaena's bad end, which is if she Doesn't give into bhaal and lae'zel chooses to go back to vlaakith. i don't know that it's the Best thing i've written but it is one of my Favorites, and that's what matters.

welcome! everything is fine. is my the good place au, and it was supposed to be a oneshot. yes i know that it says 27 chapters. yes i know that just the first two chapters are almost 16k. but it was SUPPOSED to be a oneshot. however the idea of this fic is what launched raphael from "hell yeah, devil with a villain song" to living rent-free in my mind so not really a surprise that it. escalated. (thank you @wretcheddthing, you horrid enabler who Chose to send me "raphael in the good place" when i had just finished house of hope and was unwell about it, and know that this continues to be your fault). making astarion/minsc "soulmates" in this is the funniest decision i've ever made, and i cannot WAIT to get to more of the raphael/tav dynamic in this (she knows, he doesn't know she knows) and also the astarion/tav dynamic but that i can't elaborate on because spoilers. not that a lot of people are reading this one fjdklfjd but that's okay, i'm writing it for me.

this one piece i've shared with maybe 4 people about my oc and her backstory before the world ended slapped severely and i should write more of it.

and then my last answer is one i can't share yet because it's unposted. but it's gonna be sooo fun

Favorite reads?

this one's going to be even longer. i have so much love in my heart, and also i read a lot more than i wrote this year, and i wrote [checks numbers] yikes! i'm not admitting that number!

fic

any and all of these fics are ones i enthusiastically recommend, if i were to gush about why i love all these fics i would hit tumblr's character limit (which. presumably exists) so i've just marked fandom, pairing, and if it's explicit. tags can tell you more <3 so many of these are from my friend molly fjfkd hiiiii molly sorry for tagging you a million times

Against the Tide by domestic_ice - fantasy high, adaine-centric genfic.

and i, reaching by @prettyaveragewhiteshark - arcane, caitlyn/vi, explicit.

Blood in the Wine by @atrueneutral - baldur's gate, raphael/tav, explicit (or will be! it's a slow burn and a VERY good one at that)

break up with your girlfriend, i'm bored by @danielmolloystits - interview with the vampire, armand/daniel & daniel/lestat, explicit.

call me any, anytime by nevermore_evermore - fantasy high, fig & sandra lynn & fabian.

cat scratch fever strut by @dalgursbate - baldur's gate, gale/tav(/haarlep), explicit.

Cooler Than Me by @wetcatspellcaster (hi yes i know you tagged me but i did love this fic dearly this past year, so!) - baldur's gate, astarion/tav.

Dying in slow motion by @librivore42 - dragon age, choose your own adventure.

esmeltar red supernova by @dalgursbate - baldur's gate, karlach/lae'zel/shadowheart, explicit.

give the devil his due by thatsparrow - the devil went down to georgia (yes the song).

i wanna tear you apart by @dalgursbate - baldur's gate, lae'zel/shadowheart, explicit.

let me be your friend(ly) fire by @dalgursbate - baldur's gate, astarion/shadowheart(/tav but mostly shadowstarion), explicit.

lie down & get fleas by @dalgursbate - baldur's gate, raphael/tav, explicit.

make a mess, lioness by @dalgursbate - baldur's gate, raphael/tav, explicit.

of street names & subway wall prophecies by @dalgursbate - baldur's gate, astarion/shadowheart, explicit.

Part of the Hoard by tangerine_blast - fantasy high, adaine-centric genfic.

Pieces Still Stuck In Your Teeth by @wetcatspellcaster - baldur's gate, astarion/tav.

rewind & play it back by @danielmolloystits, interview with the vampire, armand/daniel.

Sansûkh by determamfidd - lord of the rings, Many pairings.

teeter by @pouralaura - baldur's gate, raphael/tav, explicit.

to forgive is human and failure is divine by @dalgursbate - baldur's gate, lae'zel/shadowheart, explicit.

the war you've come to wage against my sins by @prettyaveragewhiteshark - baldur's gate, mizora/tav.

Warding Bond by @bravestworriers - fantasy high, fig/gorgug, explicit but like Barely. it's mostly about the Dynamics and the Messiness of it all (compliment)

when you move (how the whole world moves) by @goldfyshie927 - arcane, caitlyn/vi, explicit.

who will burn who by @pouralaura - baldur's gate, raphael/tav, explicit.

"Good Boy" by AkbaalKiin - baldur's gate, raphael/haarlep, explicit.

truly everything from the fantastic @reallyhatethiswebsite - can find their stuff collated on ao3 here! a lot of it's explicit (and Good at that)

books/comics/graphic novels/you get the gist

i did NOT read enough this year, and that's one of my resolutions for the next year. i physically felt the lack this last year, i Need to read more. what happened to being the girl who got only books for hanukkah for 8 years huh...gonna return to my roots. half of these are rereads too :( i need to dive into a novel again, it'll fix me

Hellblazer's first/original run by a variety of authors (i am not recommending it. but i enjoyed reading it)

Here by Richard McGuire

Last Flight by Liane Merciel

The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James

The Sawbones Book: The Hilarious, Horrifying Road to Modern Medicine by Dr. Sydnee McElroy and Justin McElroy

Tevinter Nights by a variety of authors

Biggest win?

finding joy in writing fic again! wahoo, thanks baldur’s gate and d20 ficoff and also d20 zine jam and also all the zines and things i signed up for last year! 🤸

Goals for the new year?

finish personal problem because i need it done please god. it’s been too long. i also want to run a fic-focused fanevent of some kind that doesn’t require discord (i’ll join discords, and i get why events require it, but i want to run something for the discord-avoidant among us. maybe a bg3 exchange <- i am not committing to this yet no one @ me). also i’m gonna finish this lucanis/veryl (my rook)/spite wip if it kills me because i need to exorcise that energy before it makes me fixate on a game that, much as i am enjoying it, is easily my least favorite in the franchise lol. though maybe i'll finish it and it'll change my mind

Your favorite words of the year, aka the words you check each chapter for, making sure you didn't repeat them 788 times?

adverbs, just generally. sorry that ostensibly is a fun word and it's funny to make my 8 intelligence tav use it incorrectly! sue me! i also loved what you added to it by sharing your favorite turns of phrase, dr. wetcat, so i’ll do the same 🤸

"Hubris and ambition both dog his steps even in the retelling, making him out to practically be Karsus reborn, in overreach and skill." from welcome! everything is fine. (sorry gale. for this and also for everything that's gonna happen in this fic...tav's not a fan of wizards and also not of gale specifically </3)

"The look has something wild to it, the whites of her eyes flashing like a cornered animal's, even as she visibly schools her expression into something less vulnerable." from in truth tempest can never be tamed (for real cw on graphic depictions of violence if you choose to read this one, that archive warning is Very Much Needed)

"You can have my simpering submission, my perfect, obsequious obedience, knowing you'll have earned none of it." from talk. this one is my favorite because i love writing characters who are so annoying that they're using the word "obsequious" in bed <3 AND the fic is still hot. go me

"The pawn shop, while also not hiring, let her loiter in the cool air for almost an hour before she had to make the trek back, and she could have cried from the mercy if she’d had any water left in her." from my aforementioned zombie oc piece wahoo. i miss this oc, i should write more of her

"Familiar, alive, and hot in her chest, heart beating and burning and beating ever forward." from what a horror i've become, which i know says it was posted in 2025 but it's from a zine that i worked on last year so! in this post it goes

What are you excited for in the new year?

i get to write more niche stuff for myself and my favorite people hooray. you love to see it. also i'm writing for a fangame which is just incredibly rad and that'll be coming out this year, so hell yeah. also d20 ficoff 2025!! i'm helping mod it! AND i get to write more of my beloved tav khoury, the world's worst woman! fuck yeah! honestly most of all i'm excited to have a year where i'm excited to write? had that stupid catfish situation + a few rude anons that kinda sucked the joy of writing fic from me for a minute and it's nice to have it back.

[angelsdean]

ruthlessly deleting old 2021/2022 posts (not by me) from my dean studies tag like *click* un-incorporating that from my beliefs system! also the way SO many posts have me like ok uh-huh good aaand then say one completely wrong thing that loses me. it's so many posts.

[bonefall]

I know you're keeping Clear Sky as an antagonist (and he's very compelling as one in your rewrite), but I'm curious: if you absolutely had to give him a redemption arc, how would you go about it? (Besides not fridging his sister and wives, of course.)

If I was forced to give Clear Sky a redemption arc I'd slip a femur right out of my legmeat and beat someone to death with it

I'd never write a redemption arc for him, ever. It would be a completely different character.

Clear Sky's redemption arc is not even an idea worth considering; This an extremely consistent abusive family member who drives the entire plot, a predator who will leverage the love people have for him, whose defining characteristic is that he dresses up his megalomania as "Just Trying to Protect Everyone"

And I'd give that up?! for what?

I'd rewrite the whole plot, JUST like how the writers did with TWO born evil foreigner villains so their story wouldn't get boring, so I could prove the he could be a good boy if he wanted to? WHY?

It's doing the same thing the Erins do, totally uninterested in the story of his victims to write yet another plot centered around the pain of an abusive man.

Elder Bones is disappointed in you if you even think about it, actually. I am holding the femurbone in my hand as we speak. I'm gonna GETCHA

[adorablemonk643]

Paul and Ted should team up and kill Sam for Charlotte me thinks

[gender-euphowrya]

spell of explode all transphobes Activate

[seeminglyseph]

"Arrests require cause."

Bitch *you* let her instigate martial law! Through your power! What did you think that meant?!

That's literally the purpose of putting martial law in place. To be able to let the government do whatever police and military shit to its people without cause. It removes the rights of the civilians because it views those civilians as the enemy of The People.

You let hating Jinx make you forget what words mean, Caitlyn. I get it, grief does terrible things to a person, and Ambessa is a very compelling public speaker, but like. She said out loud: "Let's do Martial Law."

[iwakuraz]

it's not going too well

[teknikolor-walters]

I feel sick to my stomach

[doors-worstenemy]

one video has completely turned my view of night mind around. I'm not a huge fan of night mind, I'm a fan of horror and mystery. but I'm not smart, so i watch explanation videos so I'm sure I understood 100% of the plot. Night Mind did a great job of this- mostly- with Marble Hornets, EverymanHYBRID, and things like this house has ppl in it, so I've started looking into his videos for more. Things like Chainmail Chasers, POSTcontent, Rapid Eyes, they were all fine videos from him, treated fair and explained well- praise and criticism where it was due. But it's videos like his "case file" or whatever he calls it on the series "JustAcquaintances" that pisses me off. When he started laughing at them in part 2 I couldn't keep watching. It's rude, it's pointless, it's mockery. No explanation or defense at the end of the video can make up for that. JustAcquaintances is what most arg/found footage fans want to be. A fun homemade series with friends, something made with passion and genuine interest- not professional and trained. Marble Hornets is good found footage because it's professional, they knew what they were doing and planned every step months or years ahead. If I'm not wrong, some members of Marble Hornets were in school working on film/acting. Either way, it's professional. JustAcquaintances is an example of well preformed fanwork in the best way possible. Their acting is amazing, a bunch of stupid guys looking for trouble end up in deep shit with the paranormal and a cult. The police, real or fake, time and time again leave them in either deeper shit or the same as before. Now people are dying, being kidnapped, stalking, beating, torturing our protagonist. It's good. It's a good series. It's what I want every found footage fan to create, i want a dozen million fans to go out with their ideas and do this. Because I don't expect every series to be another EverymanHYBRID. I don't want another Marble Hornets. I want raw passion of creativity woven from horrific inspiration. And I've seen the Slenderverse/yt horror community. They are critics, expecting the best, expecting all of the creators effort into these series'. But these are free. They are on Youtube, somewhere that's very famous for not giving creative- esp horror related- projects the attention and monetization they deserve. These are projects filmed by humans for the sake of letting their dark little project out of their heads and onto your screen. They deserve praise, they deserve your attention, they deserve your patience, and they deserve your criticism NICELY. THEY DON'T GET PAID ENOUGH BY THESE VIDEOS FOR YOUR SPONSERED, MONITETIZED, WELL RECEAVED VIDEO TO LAUGH AT THEM. THEY DESERVE TO BE PRAISED FOR THAT SCEEN REALLY, IT LOOKS AND SOUNDS LIKE HE'S REALLY BEING BEATEN BY A BAT, THEY AREN'T HITTING HIM IN THE HEAD OR SPINE, THEY AREN'T HITTING ALL TO HARD, THEY'RE BEATING HIM FOR THE SAKE OF BEATING HIM. AND IT'S WELL PREFORMED. HE'S CONFUSED, HE'S TRYING TO PROTECT HIMSELF AGAINST SOMEONE HE KNOWS KIDNAPPED AND HURT HIS BROTHER. HE'S SCARED. HE ISN'T FIGHTING BACK BECAUSE HE KNOWS HE'S ALONE, DEFENSLESS. HE DOESN'T DESERVE YOUR LAUGHTER. Even if poorly acted, he is on the floor, rolling in dirt, with bugs and germs in a public area, crying and whining, all for your entertainment. Not for money, for you- a supposed fan of found footage- to enjoy his act. He's willing to roll and scream in public, in the dirt, for you to laugh at him. It seems unfair, to do all this and expect nothing in return. JustAcquaintances is a good series, it's not hollywood, it's not professional, but it's exactly the passion I want to see every artist put into their work. It's what I want from anybody that's been inspired by horror or found footage, it's art and I wouldn't ever want them to change it. I'd want them to learn from it. Take what they've created and keep creating- just for the sake of creation. Criticism is necessary for art to prosper, but criticism isn't an hour and a half of copy and pasted footage occasionally interrupted by laughter or high expectations.

[justworthlessreblogs]

Same Anon as Yesterday (Food pun anon) and I just wanna say something I personally think is missing from Rio’s arc, that I think is important.

So largely, I’m speaking from my own experience as a twin, where me and the twin were really codependent and I was definitely the more docile of the twins. What really helped me with my own personal inferiority complex was making the choice to step out of her shadow. Even though I wasn’t born talented at the things I chose to focus on, the fact that I had chosen to set out and do it on my own left me feeling proud and fulfilled.

To me, Rio makes this choice by becoming Julio, only to step back into her shadow (aka his comfort zone) after his redemption. His friends are her friends, his hobby is her hobby. In a way it’s like, regression rather than development.

I think Rio really should have found something that he’s passionate about that Ciel isn’t, and made some friends that care about that same passion. I don’t think he needs to stop being passionate about baking, but I think he should’ve tried to find something that makes him feel unique. He needs friends that care for him not because he’s Ciels twin, but because he’s Rio.

I’ve came up with various headcanons over the years to deal with this, from giving him a set of new friends, to him becoming more of a business kinda guy when they grow up. Like Ciel is the creative one who literally doesn’t understand the first thing about running a business and Rio is the manager who makes sure the patisserie they run doesn’t spontaneously explode or smth. If I recall, WV Rio likes sports as a hobby (might’ve hallucinated that, it’s been a minute) and I really wish canon had expanded on that, or his other talents. Because I think that would’ve been a much more satisfying way to end his arc.

food anon you're so right. my hottest take of all is that at the end of the series rio still isn't in a healthy mindset because he's put right back into the same situation that caused him to spiral in the first place except ciel compliments him sometimes and i don't think that's a great ending. when writing waffleverse i always ask myself "who is (pov character)?" and once i moved out of rio's julio era and his corporated mandated post-redemption angst i realized i had no fucking idea because postcoma rio just. Exists. he's ciel's brother and he's kinda grumpy and he feels bad about what he did as julio and that's about all you can say about him. he is unfortunately the hardest character for me to write because of that

[wolpatinga]

[ceiling-karasu]

A bit more of world building with a possible OC, White-Naped Crane focused.

I know that I mentioned in a previous world-building post that the White-Naped Cranes were part of a ruling priest class, in the old Joseon style species caste system, that was overthrown generations ago in my AUs.

The caste system is based around the idea of Confucianism, with the ideas of ritual performance and piety towards a leader. This is combined slightly with Shamanistic and Hindu values that somewhat did influence the traditional Korean values, that hold that an authority figure should make rules and laws for the good of the family/community, all turned into a religion that held the caste system and separation of species as holy.

Although, whether the cranes fully worship this idea, or just want to reclaim the power they used to have, is a mystery they keep to themselves.

In real life, White Naped Cranes live in the demilitarized zone of North Korea, but will migrate to other countries each year, primarily to Japan, where they depend on a specific sanctuary to feed them.

(White-Naped Crane migration distribution)

I find that it does make sense for the majority of the population of White-Naped Cranes to go to Teikoku (Japan) during their migration, since the kingdom there would welcome the Cranes due to shared shamanistic beliefs, as well as possible information sharing about Flower Hill. Flower Hill doesn't necessarily like this, but the White-Naped Cranes are traditionally from Flower Hill, so for diplomatic purposes and migration rights, they are allowed to stay for now, even if they do run large temples in the south of the peninsula that the weasels flock to. Besides, their ability for Opera performances is superb at festivals (very popular in North Korea).

Their migrations have them bring back strange, new ideas of subservience to emperors and the old caste system, and they cause enough disruptions with their preaching that Flower Hill considers revoking their traditional permits to come and go as they please.

The carnivores in the south still believe that they are superior to smaller animals, so the cranes' preaching is more welcome there. Especially since Teikoku left a few colonies down there.

Which brings up the concept of migrating species that I will have to figure out, but I assume such travel will be allowed unless it will be too dangerous. There are small birds in the show that appear non-sentient at first glance, since they don't wear clothes, but they can also talk and participate in festivals.

But most of the migrating species in Korea do appear to be the cranes. Ducks migrate as well, but I assume that the ducks in the show have eschewed that tradition since they are part of the navy.

So, I have created the leader of the White-Naped Cranes, Chongsu (Superior/Supreme leader). She is also a mudang shaman who participates in traditional rituals, as much as Flower Hill participates in those other than enjoying operas. Since the role of such a leader is hereditary, her father was the previous leader, who passed away due to a mysterious illness. However, she is rather young, and also sickly, so cannot leave her temple for long periods of time, and certainly not without an escort.

(I'll find an OC generator that does cranes eventually. Or I'll just draw one myself)

Her biggest wish and command is for all races and species to get along with each other. What she does not realize, is that as the supreme leader, this could possibly be misinterpreted as a command for her people to reinstate the caste system, by any means possible, which could even mean teaming up with weasel or tiger leaders who also wish to return to the caste system.

As the leader of her group, she does occasionally have to meet with the Commanders of Flower Hill, but is sickly enough that the higher priests that serve as her guards often speak for her.

This makes the Flower Hill Commanders very suspicious of the White-Naped Crane population, because after all:

The Commanders are very aware of the power she wields over the White-Naped Cranes, and that she could be manipulated into giving orders to perform hostile actions. They just don't know when it could happen, but assume it will due to their friendly relations with the enemy. But ordering the Cranes to stop leaving the country, investigating their loyalty, or ordering them to leave since they do share more beliefs with Teikoku than Flower Hill, could be seen as an illegal purge or discrimination towards a minority group by the international Hague courts, which would get Flower Hill in trouble and decrease support.

Since I am roughly using the world map as seen in the show, I am making up some names for countries that are somewhat related to the country and culture. Also, mostly focusing on countries that have strong relations with North Korea, both good and bad.

I will be going with the idea that Rabbit Village is China. The police work with Flower Hill in capturing 'escaped criminals.'

Chaand Hadia (Moon Gift) is Pakistan. This country has a close relationship with North Korea in real life, to the point of smuggling in nuclear weapons.

Japan will be called Teikoku (Imperial State/country). They have tried to take over the Peninsula in the past, but an internal civil war and economic strife forced them to leave their colonies behind.

South Korea, with the weasels, I would think would be the colonies left behind, which still believe that Teikoku want them to take over Flower Hill, and possibly the continent. However, since the ideals and culture have drifted away from proper Teikoku values, it is unknown if their parent country wants anything to do with them. I have decided to call the country Usuhan Jiyeog (Superior Area/Territory). They also believe in weasel/carnivore superiority, and thus see Flower Hill as weak, and ripe for the taking.

Supposedly, the Wolf Unit represents America, to the point that US can be seen printed on merchandise in relation to the wolves. So I guess I'm calling the country the wolves came from the Unites States Alliance.

Jindo Dog Island (or Jindo empire), is an actual place. It is the only location that has the authorization to breed the National Korean Jindo Dog. The waters there can be very dangerous, so it makes sense to turn it into a powerful nation.

I also made up a country named Chambelli Koh, which is Urdu for Flower Hill, which will be used for a different AU. Although it could be used by both Flower Hill and Chaand Hadia as a buffer zone, since any invading weasels coming from that angle would take over that small country first.