#Some weird fusion between canon because I can

[katatsu-chan]

Three idiots

[saxandviolins77]

What are your thoughts about what the relationships between the Constructicons are like?

I didn't know if this was G1 specifically or my AU... So why don't we do both?! Better yet! I even finished those relationship charts I talked about with Tumblr user @/the_last_magpie (hi!).

So, first of all. G1. My canon-compliant and headcanon-less take is: they're a group of good friends. Nice and simple. Episodes like "The Core" and "City of Steel" really solidified this for me. They banter, they talk and they work together almost seamlessly. This really endeared me to them because... They're 'Cons and... They're friends! Mind-blowing right?

For G1 is just that, no deep takes for them that don't border on headcanon territory.

Now, if you just wanted a G1 take, you can skip the other part of this post. Now we're entering AU-zone! Of course, the eagle-eyed followers at home know that my Fan Continuity is just: "G1 but sitcom... and the Constructicons are main characters."

LOOOOOONG POOOOOST

I always say they're a polycule, for quick recognition. But if I wanted to be specific, they are really more akin to "fictive-kin", a group unrelated to each other by blood bonds, but which functions much like a family. You can say "found family" too, but that's so diluted nowadays. For extra context, yes, they had lives and were full individuals before they became gestalt. They are all from different backgrounds and socioeconomic realities.

SO RELATIONSHIP CHARTS + MORE EXPLANATIONS GO!

Scrapper is a bottle of joy and supportiveness. The way I write him is some kind of fusion between the idealized figure of fatherhood and the idealized figure of motherhood. He genuinely cares for the team, no ifs or buts.

He is in a romantic relationship with Long Haul. They are a very boring and disgustingly happy couple. They love doing anything together, even if sometimes they have a quarrel they'll always communicate first and try to find common footing. The bad thing is that Long Haul is very silently unhappy with this whole "gestalt" thing and not so silently unhappy about his function in the team. Scrapper feels immensely guilty for that, even if Long Haul just shrugs it off.

Hook and Scrapper are also in a romantic relationship! Their relationship is definitely more "work-based" in a way? Like, Scrapper is in love with Hook's talent and his mind and how he's so logical and cold (and how problematic he is). They make a great working duo because Scrapper knows how to handle Hook perfectly and how to get the best out of him. They're also into more inventive ways of having sex.

Scrapper sees Scavenger as a mentor in a weird way. If Long Haul's common sense and Hook's hard logic aren't doing it for him, he'll go to Scavenger for advice. They're also great friends! Scavenger can control Scrapper when he's getting ahead of himself and Scrapper reassures Scavenger when he's depressed.

Scrapper is in awe of Bonecrusher, not only of his technical abilities but also his fighting skills. He's very worried about his problems to open up and how hard on himself he is because of the whole "gestalt" thing. Tries to reassure him and support him as much as mechanically possible.

Scrapper and Mixmaster are a dangerous duo. Scrapper is really impressed by the other's mind and chemical knowledge that sometimes they simply get in trouble if left alone, with Scrapper saying that everything is fine and nothing will go wrong. Scrapper's general tendency to be unorthodox does NOT go well with Mixmaster's impulsiveness.

Hook is a creature. He has trouble socializing outside of the gestalt and he's emotionally constipated AF.

Hook admires and respects Mixmaster's prowess in chemistry. Very veeeery annoyed by his antics and "jokes". Every interaction of theirs ends with Hook frustrated and angry and with Mixmaster laughing his ass off. Hook still likes Mix' as a friend and will defend him to anyone (awww).

Hook is definitely in love with the enigma that is Scrapper. The thing that made their relationship actually become a thing is the fact that Scrapper respects Hook as a whole, his personhood and skill. Hook rolls his eyes at Scrapper, but will always look out for him... In his own way.

Brooooooo, these guys. They're in a weird non-relationship and they fuck every once in a while, just casual. Hook views Bonecrusher as "the person who is actually worth his time". Maybe even an equal in some way. When Hook needs an opinion, he'll very much go to Bonecrusher first, because he'll say what Hook is already thinking and maybe what Hook wants to think. Just by that, they make each other worse. They also pretend that they can't stand the other, and bicker like hell. (that's how they flirt.)

Hook has a weird, almost romantic kinda platonic relationship with Scavy. I'll just say, they knew each other for a very long time and were each other's comfort in a violent and dangerous environment. Hook has been Scavenger's caretaker for the longest time, and he's very proud of that, in a way. Hook has a very foggy type of possessiveness with Scavy too.

Hook and Long Haul DO NOT see eye to eye. Their whole view of being "gestalt" differs and it makes them fight a lot. They respect each other, but their relationship is estranged.

Mixmaster loves the team and being in a gestalt (where he's finally understood and accepted.) He wouldn't trade them for nothing... Not even a new bigger and improved lab...

Mixmaster really likes Scrapper! He doesn't have that "oh, I gotta respect the boss" mentality or anything, Scrapper is just his friend who takes care of them. Very much likes all of Scrapper's crazy ideas and goes along with them in a heartbeat, also puts his own two cents because he knows he'll be heard.

Hook is like his brother in a way. Loves to bother him and annoy him. Also loves him in general. He'll try to give Hook advice on his problems but sometimes he feels like he doesn't quite get what is going on in Hook's mind.

Long Haul is the person Mixmaster has been trying to understand the most. They are actually very good friends, Mixmaster is a very positive influence on Long Haul's more downer personality... He's also just a real goober. (Thank you Mr.Meanor on Twitter for pointing this dynamic out to me, very endearing!)

Mixmaster and Bonecrusher are best friends, point-and-blank. Bonecrusher will follow Mixmaster on any of his schemes and new projects to take care of him and Mixmaster helps Bonecrusher out when he is in "angst mode".

Mixmaster really likes Scavenger and sees him as his "cool grandpa". He tries to listen to Scavy, but knows that he can be really hard on him sometimes. Cares a lot for his well-being and happiness, even if he drives Scavy insane with his antics...

Scavenger sees the team as his support net but also sees himself as a burden to them. Tries to work 2x as hard to make up for it. (Oh, Scavy... You poor old man.) Might I say that Scavy is also disabled, and suffers from chronic back. Sometimes has difficulty walking, standing, or transforming (does wonders to his self-esteem).

Scavenger is out here gentle parenting Hook ha ha. Ok, seriously Scavy really tries to look out for Hook, he knows he's the only person that can go through him and actually help his problems (they both suffer from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, forgot to mention). Scavy is very much Hook's therapist and friend, and it sure makes him feel useful.

Scavy really tries to take care of Mixmaster and make him stay out of trouble, to... Mixed(lol) results. Scavy genuinely wants Mix' to live his best life and be free from the expectations of outsiders, but he can't help but think: "What will everyone else think?". Really makes an effort to understand Mix' and accommodate for him.

Respects Scrapper more than anything. Tries his best to be helpful and "return the favor", but still, he thinks Scrapper is unreachable. Loves spending time with him, and values the quiet moments between them. Always brings him a cup of energon when he forgets to refuel.

He can't treat Bonecrusher like Hook and that confuses him. He'll try to press and coddle him, but it only works in making Bonecrusher more distant. Respects how Bonecrusher values and cares for the team, but he can see this is very much a responsibility and trauma response and not something that comes naturally to him.

Since Long Haul is more stern than Scrapper, Scavy tends to REALLY put weight on anything he does, says, or thinks. Really respects Long Haul and finds him impressive and a figure of inspiration. When Long Haul is around he pretends he's not in pain, even if he's having a really bad flare-up.

Talk about being emotionally constipated. Bonecrusher really makes this "nonchalant", "aloof" and "detached" persona but the truth is, he values these five guys more than he values his own life.

Thinks of Scavenger as a "little guy I gotta protect". Keeps an eye on him to make sure he's not stressing himself or doing more than he can, and will often take his tasks for himself. Doesn't really know how to talk to him without making him think he's mad at him, really trying to balance the persona and the "making the gestalt happy" thing with this one.

Respects Long Haul. Even when he doesn't agree with him, he'll disagree in silence. However, in comfortable conversation, he'll freely pick on Long Haul and try to wrestle with him. Really thinks Long Haul should use his strength to fight Autobots and is death-set on being his teacher.

Bonecrusher is crazy loyal to Scrapper, like CRAZY LOYAL. He respects Scrapper so much he'll pick fights on his behalf. To him, every word Scrapper says is law and he should be the one to take it upon himself to fulfill his every wish (Scrapper lowkey hates this). Also endeared by how chill and caring Scrapper is.

Values Mixmaster's friendship and company a lot. Makes sure to protect him from himself and from anyone who means him harm. Secretly enjoys his antics and laughs at his stupid jokes. More willing to open up to him due to his carefree nature.

Bruh moment again. Bonecrusher also thinks of Hook as "my equal but not really". Pretends to hate him, but actually values his opinion and most of the time not only gets where he is coming from but will share the same viewpoint. Very angry to get used as his "personal bodyguard"... won't stop getting into fights because Hook crossed someone they both hated. These guys are disgusting and they should die, now.

Long Haul is the odd one out. He likes the guys, sure... But he very much doesn't like the whole gestalt concept. This is just his job.

He's so deep in love with Scrapper, it's ridiculous. Values Scrapper more than anything, will go to hell to make him happy, puts him above himself, and is just generally sappy with him. Sure, he's more reclusive, so the way he shows love is different from Scrapper's. Maybe he'll put a blanket over him, remember his favorite human song, make food for him- ok, I'll stop because I'm getting sick just from thinking about them.

Respects Bonecrusher a lot, even if he thinks he can be a bit over-the-top in... Generally everything. Doesn't like all of his enthusiasm for fighting and teaching him how to do it, but whatever. Doesn't mind talking to him, even if he has "Hook Behaviour" sometimes.

Cares for Scavy, and doesn't know how to show it. Hates it when Scavenger goes out of his way to "prove how useful he is". Thinks Scavy should value his own health more and stop worrying about others. Even if some projects will need to have their deadline extended, it doesn't matter in the long run.

Rocky relationship with Hook, respects his skills but does not respect his mindset. He definitely gets mad pissed when Hook goes over the deadline and budget because he "just needed to get this part perfect". Also doesn't get his distaste for people outside the gestalt and thinks he's crazy for this. Also also, doesn't know what an OCD is.

Even he is surprised with how good friends he and Mixmaster are. He may not find everything he does funny, but he tries to understand what is going on with Mixmaster's mind and talk to him equal to equal. Defends Mixmaster even if he knows he is 100% in the wrong, a little bit ashamed of his lack of professionalism but damn if he isn't endeared by the guy. Will scold him later, probably with Scrapper there to nod and agree.

.

TL;DR: these bitches are dysfunctional but love is love ig ❤️.

[theserpentsadvocate]

Aaaaah, I love stuff like this, thank you!

Tagged by: @copperarsenite

Tagging: @feeisamarshmallow @allonsymiddleearth @iceberg-hootenanny (and basically anyone who wants to, honestly)

rules: post the first lines of up to 10 of your last fics/chapters posted on ao3 or your wips and try to draw some conclusions.

I'm going with fics in general, not chapters (because otherwise it would be entirely Satisfaction), and probably sticking to VM fic because all the Tolkien stuff I've posted recently has been crossposting. So last five posted and last five WIPs worked on. :)

(Also, warning that the second-last sentence has a racial slur (used by a character.))

Satisfaction

Veronica’s dad was the sheriff, so she was usually pretty scrupulous about not breaking the law. 

Flipping the Script

All Jade wanted was to get her mother’s car and drop it off with enough time to get to the library before it closed, and since the library was open late on Thursdays and she’d stopped to pick it up at 4 PM, it hadn’t seemed that difficult.

Unexpected Dividends

It was probably weird to run a to-do list for your boss in your head, but Eli had been doing it since his second month on the job, because Fred was competent, and reasonably organized, and obviously he was a hell of a mechanic, but his ability to prioritize was a little bit whacked out.

The Most Important Part

“Hot date?”

The Art of Starting Over

It turned out that calling your sort-of boyfriend after a whole week and a half of radio silence was daunting.

Choices (upcoming post S4 oneshot)

Jade grew up in San Diego.

Hunger Games AU for 'X universes Veronica didn't grow up in'

I didn’t sleep well, the night before the Reaping.

untitled WIP (zombie non-AU, post-S4)

Veronica made it home for the end of the world.

Carmen for 'Would've, Could've, Should've' (pending oneshot series)

Yesterday, Carter Phelps shoved Carmen into the stair railing and called her a wetback, like her parents swam all the way here from Venezuela.

Circle of Magic AU for 'X universes Veronica didn't grow up in'

The first time the Guard caught Weevil breaking into a rich man’s house, they tattooed an X on the web of skin between his thumb and first finger and threw him into a cell for the night.

*

So for the obvious – I favour third person (which I knew), and I’m a bit heavier on female POVs than I anticipated (which I’m pleased with, actually). Also Jade's very prominent, and since I’m already 50% of the Jade/Eli tag on AO3, that doesn’t exactly shock me.

(It’s not immediately obvious for all of them, but every single one of these is Weevil-heavy, which is the most unshocking thing possible. I think I have exactly one VM fic in progress where he’s not central to the entire premise, and even there he’s still majorly present.)

Other than that, the closest thing to a trend that I can pick up is that apparently I like opening sentences that feel either dynamic or relatable? Satisfaction and the post-canon zombie fic both have the more classic hook of raising questions about what’s going on, and most of the JEC fics as well as Carmen’s WCS entry are an attempt to jump you right into the characters’ heads or at least their social reality. Whereas the fusion AUs seem to establish their crossover-fandom immediately (THG with an immediate reference to a well known part of that universe, and COM by heavily echoing Briar’s introductory sentence). I don’t know if I did it on purpose, but I like it, so I’ll have to see how much/if that holds true for the other ones in the series. (The BTVS and Animorphs ones are harder, because they involve discovering something, but the summary of the latter will definitely start with My name is Veronica…, and the 1-800-WHERE-R-U one starts with a direct shout-out.)

Anyway! I’d be interested to know if there’s anything that strikes you. :)

[distant-eclipses]

Uh- who?

Aka a deep dive of sorts on the character formerly known as Eclipse, who I'm going to dub Pseudo-Eclipse(is there a popular new name for him?) and the stuff that followed. Spoilers for part of Security Breach Ruin

Who is Pseudo-Eclipse: Most people who have the Daycare Attendant as their favorite character(s) know who this is, but even now there's probably some fans who don't know(or, if they do, don't know the fully situation)

In Security Breach there's an arcade cabinet in the Daycare Attendant's room called Balloon World

In the game you play as Balloon Boy and try to stay floating as long as possible. The game is similar to Flappy Bird, but with a few differences. One of the important ones is the day/night cycle, with Sun and Moon in the background of their respective times of day

Another difference is the purple glitches which, if touched, lead to this weird glitchy world

If you follow the weird line of glitchy squares, eventually the trail will end and this will happen

After a few seconds of this screen(which isn't a still image, but I wanted a good shot of the "good night" messages) the arcade game crashes and you get sent back to the Daycare Attendant's room

This (sorta)character eventually became known as Eclipse to the Daycare Attendant side of the fandom(I don't know how well known it is outside of that group)

Why this interpretation: Why was he called Eclipse by most of the fandom? Why was he usually called a fusion? Some people called it something related to Sun and/or assumed he was Sun if he was infected by Glitchtrap, but those people were in the minority

Well here's a clearer look at Pseudo-Eclipse's sprite. While he has Sun's rays, his face is obviously Moon's(Sun also has a grinning sprite, but Moon's smile seems closer to it). Almost like Moon is right in front of Sun, aka

an eclipse(specifically an annular eclipse). Which would explain the odd coloring(due to the moon's lack of light to reflect and the ring of fire) and the background(the redder color of the sky mixed with the virus' purple)

So because of that, he was called Eclipse. And while it's unclear if Moon is just in front of Sun or if Pseudo-Eclipse is one (fused)entity, it's funner to imagine it as a character

Fanon: interpretations of Pseudo-Eclipse can vary wildly in design, personality, and origin. But one common personality I see is him being depicted as evil, which makes sense because of the implied connection to Glitchtrap. There's also quite a few who depict Pseudo-Eclipse as a middle ground between the two(one could argue Eclipse works in a similar way)

The way he shows up also differs depending on the universe. In works that are more similar to canon, I've seen it show up in specific lighting conditions, be a security mode, or just come from the arcade. In aus where Sun and Moon are separate beings I've seen Pseudo-Eclipse be a sibling, some other relative, or just a dude that's entirely unconnected to them. Funnily enough, I haven't seen many people depict it as an actual fusion

One trait I've seen in a lot of fan designs is him having 4 arms(I even ran a poll for it, a majority of the voters preferred 4 arms), though I did see a cool design that gave him 6 arms. This fits with his nature as a glitch/fusion/generally odd being

However, while "Eclipse" quickly became a fusion name(as well as its own character in some way pre-Ruin), some designs seemed to forget or not notice why Pseudo-Eclipse was called that in the first place. I've also seen designs that, while obviously based on the arcade glitch, take a lot of creative liberties

On the more astronomy-accurate-arcade-inaccurate side of Pseudo-Eclipse designs, I've seen a lot of people make it look more like a partial eclipse than an annular one. This fits with the Daycare Attendant's half and half design and is possibly what Steel Wool chose to do with Eclipse(though it may be a coincidence)

There's also those who make Eclipse more purple/blue? Some of the designs may be based on other types of eclipses, but aside from a possible Sun-design-Moon-color for balance reasons(astronomy accuracy be damned), I'm not sure why this is

On the other side of the coin, there's those who decided to make ocs and/or other fusions

Fan characters: Pseudo-Eclipse was able to open the door to other ideas for eclipse-based designs that weren't supposed to be the arcade glitch or your average fusion. One that I've only seen a few times is fans noticing that Pseudo-Eclipse is an annular eclipse and making a design based off of a total eclipse

Another Sun-based design is "Solar Eclipse", despite Pseudo-Eclipse already being one of those. Accuracy varies, but these tend to be on the more accurate side and I've seen ones based on annular and partial eclipses. There's also those who call the "Nice Eclipse" from The Sun and Moon Show this, despite him looking like a weird Sun most of the time

But the thing about Pseudo-Eclipse is that he mostly looks like Sun. So the idea of a Moon-based design, aka Lunar Eclipse, became a thing. These designs are usually pretty blue, probably meant to mirror Pseudo-Eclipse's orange. They usually have a nice personality, possibly because of Pseudo-Eclipse usually being depicted as evil. A popular example of this is Lunar from The Sun and Moon Show

These designs are nice, but most of them are in a similar boat to several fan designs for Pseudo-Eclipse. Because while lunar eclipses do exist, this isn't an "astronomy accurate" design. Though in my experience, some people will probably be more familiar with another name for a lunar eclipse

aka, a blood moon. Which is also the name of some fan characters, though the most popular one is probably from The Sun And Moon Show

Despite both being lunar eclipses, Blood Moon and Lunar Eclipse don't seem to have any connection beyond them both working/having worked with SAMS-Eclipse

Ruin(ed) tags: When the ruin dlc came out, Daycare Attendant fans were blessed with a canon Eclipse(who is a wonderful character, but not the topic of this post)

But all good things come at a cost and this is no exception. While Eclipse is the main one showing up in search results and tags, Pseudo-Eclipse still appears a lot. On top of that, as of now there's no real way to search for(or stop seeing) Pseudo-Eclipse content and without any pictures it can be hard to tell which one a person is talking about(I don't know how ao3 users are doing, but I imagine it's a similar story over there)

"Glitch Sun" seems to be one people like(use of this name goes back to 2022), but while it may be getting more popular it's not nearly as well known as "Eclipse. It also assumes that Pseudo-Eclipse is Sun, which a lot of people disagree with. This interpretation may get more popular thanks to Ruin, but it doesn't really work for those who still view Pseudo-Eclipse as a eclipse and don't want to call it a sun

I've also seen tags used for specific au versions of Pseudo-Eclipse and The Sun And Moon Show. While designs vary, several are accurate or inaccurate enough for a lot of fans. However, these are specific characterizations of him with specific origins. Not to mention the specific settings and lore. However, too many of these would defeat the purpose of using specific tags to filter stuff out

One fan name I've seen suggested is referring to Eclipse as a lunar eclipse and Pseudo-Eclipse as a solar eclipse. But they're both obviously solar eclipses or at least solar eclipse adjacent. Also, it would just turn into "which Lunar are they talking about" for those who post about Lunar Eclipse

Ruin: While fans love Eclipse(and hopefully Steel Wool will give it more attention), that doesn't mean they're done with Pseudo-Eclipse. And neither is the game

As I mentioned in a previous post, while the arcade game is broken and unplayable in Ruin, if you look up in the room and wait a few seconds while wearing the rabbit mask

it's still there. So, that begs the question of who this is. While we know that he's connected to Glitchtrap/the Mimic's virus and is most likely not a sun, there's not a lot to work with

But at the end of the day, he's just a neat little easter egg character that fans grew attached to. It may not have a major place in the lore, but he still left a big impact

[polliwoggers]

Who do you think sealed Dark Nebula and how did it end up with King Dedede?

More answers, see below cut.

Dark Nebula was sealed in the chest a very long time ago; before the Ancients fell, but not THAT long before. So, most of the relevant characters we're familiar with wouldn't have been around to do anything about it. (Hey, maybe Galacta Knight had a hand in sealing it! He'd probably just have killed it though, rather than containing it, so who knows, really.)

As for how the chest ended up in Dedede's possession, Popstar used to be a minor trade hub on the outer reaches of the Halcandran empire, long before Dream Land existed in the form we know it today. The Ancients did lots of things there, such as bringing a Dimension Mirror for faster travel and building the Fountain of Dreams to maintain local spacetime stability (long story).

Even though Popstar was still a relatively minor point on the map for them, it was prized both for its location on the outer edges of the empire as well as its pleasant, semi-tropical climate, perfect for a relaxing vacation! Species indigenous to Popstar still existed, of course, but they did not have power over their planet at this time.

Long story short, Dark Nebula's chest was probably being transported somewhere, and was meant to be briefly held on Popstar before continuing on to whatever its intended destination was -- perhaps to some hub of Jambandran culture out there in the stars, to study and learn from it. Then, the Ancients' empire met catastrophe, and some things just got forgotten about.

MANY years later, when Dedede proclaimed himself king, he also more or less forcefully claimed a lot of the leftover treasures lying around, both from the time of the Ancients' occupation and even older. Dedede had NO idea what was in that chest, but kept it around to make himself look richer. The only reason Meta Knight had an inkling as to chest's contents is because he's a history buff who had previously read about the sealing of Dark Nebula and recognized the chest from its description.

Just some Ancient. Not anybody we're familiar with. Most likely a human (for Dreaming reasons), but probably not related to Adeleine.

Tangentially, I do think that Vividria came from a sort of "sequel" painting to the original two, however, explaining why she seems so solidly like a younger sister to them. Artists often create "series" in their art, so it doesn't seem all that far-fetched to me.

I don't know whether or not they intended for the paintings to come to life, though. That may have been a skill the artist didn't know they had.

Same as in canon, I think? Lots of weird things happen in Another Dimension; it's got the fun combo of being ridiculously high in magical energy while also being super unstable in terms of spacetime. So, strange unexplained things can happen.

Apparently, one of the strange unexplained side effects of Another Dimension's weirdness is the creation of Parallel counterparts for different characters. Pretty sure that's just actual canon, if I remember correctly.

This does mean I lump Parallel Susie from the Clash games under the same umbrella as the Parallel bosses from Star Allies, like Parallel Kracko and Meta Knight, rather than with similarly black-and-red counterparts from the Mirror Dimension. Having the same prefix as the Star Allies bosses just feels too major to ignore.

I think also that this means that the Parallel counterparts were just created on the spot, unlike the Mirror counterparts -- i.e., the Parallel counterparts didn't live their own full lives before we fight them.

Dark Mind is the fusion between Mirror Nightmare and Mirror Zero. On their own, both of them filled very similar roles to their regular counterparts -- Mirror Zero was a Dark Matter queen who subjugated countless planets to live in darkness, and Mirror Nightmare was a galactic salesman who sold or rented mercenaries and monsters to whatever warlord paid him the most.

Also like regular Nightmare and Meta Knight, Mirror Nightmare had a hand in molding Dark Meta Knight into the form we know him as now. Unlike their regular counterparts, though, Mirror Nightmare and Dark Meta Knight were closer, and had a SLIGHTLY more healthy familial relationship.

Mirror Zero does not need monsters or mercenaries. He's got a practically infinite amount of Dark Matter drones under his command at any given time, so he has no need for hired help. In fact, Mirror Zero would have an easier time taking over planets if there was no hired help available -- if the planets he's conquering couldn't access legendary monsters to help defend themselves, that's just one less hurdle for Mirror Zero's forces in taking over.

Mirror Nightmare, like regular Nightmare, is something of a con artist at heart. He's willing to make a quick buck off of anybody he thinks he can trick into parting with their money, and he's made a lot of enemies this way.

At some point, Mirror Nightmare thought his next target to dupe would be Mirror Zero. Given what Mirror Zero would have to gain by removing Mirror Nightmare and his monster services from the equation altogether, this went about as well as you can imagine.

Dark Mind operates primarily as a hollow shell of what Mirror Nightmare once was, and his primary emotional outlet is wrath. The monster/mercenary service immediately falls apart without Mirror Nightmare's management, leaving Dark Meta Knight completely alone with an army of Dark Matter and Dark Mind breathing down his neck at every move.

I think it's really interesting to imagine a parallel between what Dark Meta Knight and Taranza both go through, despite Taranza hating all Mirror-worlders' guts. Both would have witnessed someone they spent much of their life with become corrupted, becoming a shell of themselves, their worst parts exaggerated and their violent ambitions amplified to the extreme.

Even still, they would continue to serve this corrupted figure, both out of the hope that their friend/mentor figure would somehow return, and for the fear of what this new threat might do to them if they defect. Of course, neither Taranza nor DMK ever acknowledge this parallel.

To be clear, though, neither Dark Mind nor Dark Meta Knight have anything directly to do with Sectonia's corruption; Taranza simply assumes that's the case. In actuality, it is Dark Taranza who caused Joronia to become Sectonia.

This is a real short one! The answer is YES, they are the same person.

[lavender-long-stories]

For the fruit game: 🍊🍑

This was in reference to: The Fruit Ask Game

🍊 Who’s a character you don’t write for that often, but keep meaning to write for more? (They’re so interesting! But maybe you have trouble pinning them down, or keep getting distracted by another blorbo…)

Gaara @_@

After writing Lavender Sand, I have really struggled to do another GaaHina because I felt like I had already explored the deepest depth of their canon possible relationship there. He pops in here an there as a secondary lead when I need him, but I really wish I could pin him down again.

I wrote Beauty and the Sand Beast as another attempt at a cannon-ish universe, and though it turned out cute, I didn't enjoy writing it as much.

I plan to force out a modern AU that I have been trying to figure out how to write for a long time this year. It's going to be really weird to not have Shukaku in his head. We will see if I can do it.

Also Deidara

Another character who is getting his own story this year, whether I like it or not. I have him as a background side character quite a bit, but his POV just doesn't come as naturally to me as some of the other Akastuski, and I find he is hard to bounce off Hinata's personality because they don't have an easy conflict. Thier both too laid back.

🍑 If you could make a connection between your favorite character and another work you care about (whether a crossover/fusion or a wonderfully “pretentious” literary reference) what would it be? How would it work?

Uuuuuuuuhhhhh. ????

My brain rot doesn't usually work very well with cross-overs.

But I guess you could say that I would love Hinata is just about any supernatural boi K-Drama I've watched, which is why I determined to make a bunch of non-human boi AU's.

Death Wishes (ItaHina) came from my love of shows like Goblin and Doom at Your Service, but I was going more for the trope than the universe.

[fierykitten2]

Okay I’ve said this before but I think it’s cool that the Neo Swords don’t have a Keldeo because I think it implies that their version of Keldeo never became an orphan and therefore the Neo Swords didn’t need to step up to look after it so we can kinda imagine what the Swords of Justice would be like if they didn’t have Keldeo (between this whole situation reminding me of the Doctor Who episode The Church On Ruby Road specifically when Carla becomes mean because she didn’t have Ruby, the Neo Swords having probably the most stoic type Psychic to replace the Fighting type and Game Freak trying their best to show that the Neo Swords are the stoic ones and the Swords of Justice are the ones with a happy deer, a bull that believes it’s the coolest thing in existence (that’s probably not the vibe they were going for but I’m not really sure how to group together canon Terrakion and my headcanons for Iron Boulder) and a (noticeably less than its counterpart) stoic goat, you’d think I’d headcanon the Neo Swords as the stoic incarnations of the Swords of Justice but no, to me the Swords of Justice are the (more) stoic ones) and I think that sort of clashes with my joke headcanon that to make up for the fact they don’t have a Keldeo, the Neo Swords share some trait that Keldeo has but Cobalion, Terrakion and Virizion don’t have (I chose walking on water) but they hide it because it’s not a design feature so they can do that (they specifically hide the whole walking on water stuff because Leaves accidentally drains the water and Boulder accidentally gets damaged by the water and has probably been seen passed out on top of a river before but mostly because Crown just doesn’t want them to be seen as weird. Also it’s fully aware of the Jesus comparisons that Suicune, Wake and Keldeo have been subjected to) but why not have both headcanons and it’s just some minor coincidence (similar to how they just happen to match up to the Pokémon in the imagined fusion Paradox Pokémon in the Violet Book and the Proto Beasts do the same with the Scarlet Book’s imagined fusion Paradox Pokémon. At least that’s what I assume Game Freak’s intentions were with that as an in-universe explanation)

I do think it would be cool if at some point the Neo Swords watched the Swords of Justice looking after Keldeo at some point and were inspired to go hang out with their version of Keldeo (who I assume exists because I’d assume the non-Paradox Pokémon in Area Zero didn’t come from the Paradox timelines so there’s gotta be more Paradox Pokémon where they’re from because otherwise why are there only 11 Pokémon in this timeline, at least one of which (but probably 4) are extremely rare) and they each said hello to it individually briefly but collectively agreed not to invite it to their group officially because it had its own life and had no need to join the Neo Swords. They were of course already aware of their version of Keldeo due to their Psychic abilities (unless of course Future Paradox Keldeo is part Dark. I don’t know why it would be though but I also don’t think Keldeo’s Fighting type would automatically translate to a Psychic typing just because that’s what happened with the Neo Swords given in this timeline it never joined them)

[mythicaldemigoddess-of-deltarune]

Hazformers Ship: Sarimily or EmiSari (And Theory About It's The Boy Ars Goetia That Has The Baby...)

[Note: Reading This Is Optional, The Hazformers AU is thanks to Blitzy-Blitzwing. also references to some episodes of Hazbin Hotel Season 1 will be brought up, so make sure to watch all the episodes first before reading this. also will talk about a theory that has to do with possibly about Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss, and it reminds me of Cosmo from Fairly Odd Parents when Poof was going to be born....so yeah, Male Pregnancy will be mentioned.]

yeah, it might be a weird idea for a ship but what if Sari did end up going to the Human's Heaven because well, her spark is also a hybrid between a human soul and cybertronian spark, so it is like a techno-organic spark.

and during her time in Heaven, and besides noticing the corruption and not fully trusting The Exorcist Angels, Adam or Sera.

she ended up becoming close with Emily, and if Heavenborns do age but stop at a certain point but still carry some form of Elder Wisdom.

it could be possible that if Sari died at 18 or like late 19 and early 20s, and Emily is 18 or late 19 early 20s in a biological way but could be like 120 years old, like late 190 years and early 120 years.

Sari still being able to age, could have to do with the celestial powers of the allspark, maybe.

but like picture if Sari did meet with her Autobot Friends again after running away with Emily from Heaven and going to the Hazbin Hotel and not knowing the Autobots and Decepticons are there.

both the Autobots that are her friends are in the same room as The Decepticons and even Charlie, Vaggie, Angel, Niffty, Husk, Sir Pentious, Cherri Bomb, Alastor and Lucifer.

and Sari introduces Emily in the same way Charlie did when introducing Vaggie to Lucifer as her girlfriend.

Bumblebee being well himself, might not understand the whole "girlfriend" thing....he might misinterpret it meaning that Sari found another friend that happens to be a girl...

Bumblebee you precious clueless adorkable honeybee...

even Ratchet, Prowl, Blurr, Optimus, Megatron, Blitzwing, Shockwave, Soundwave, Lugnut, Lockdown and everyone else would understand the meaning of what Sari was saying when introducing Emily as her girlfriend.

Sari could be Biromantic and Demisexual.

I mean it can be possible for some people to be Heteroromantic & Demisexual as well, as well as being Heteroromantic-Ace or Heteroromantic-Aceflux but try telling that to both sides who have some problem with Aces...

if Sari's friends never came back and she had to discover new things about herself alone, like the whole Megatron technically being the one who gave birth to her through budding that happen in Sumdac's Secret Lab.

the other parts Sari would of figured out could be that she is romantically attracted to both guys and gals.

like before meeting Emily, and falling in love with her, which by the way would be Fanon Timeline only and it isn't canon.

Sari could of suspected she might be on the Asexuality Spectrum, but wasn't sure.

even if Megatron (who I'm still gonna Crossover OTP ship him with Carmilla Carmine making them Megamilla) has no idea he is Sari's Cybertronian Parent, he could be supportive.

plus if it was like in Steven Universe, if Sari and Emily ever fused their fusion would be a embodiment of their love and would be a relationship.

but fusion, both romantic and platonic isn't just a Gem thing.

because Tigatron and Airazor forming into Tigerhawk, even if at first it wasn't of their free will and choice, but they took their fused body back when their sparks became one and went into their now fusion body.....so yeah, Tigerhawk is a romantic fusion and came way before Garnet, but both Garnet and Tigerhawk will be my favorite romantic fusions.

I think if Sari and Emily did fuse, they would be what Steven would describe as a Giant Woman, who will have wings, four eyes, but there being a fifth that is closed and possibly other eyes, and there being four arms but still two legs, but the fusion form being able to use a default form where they can appear with just two arms along with just having two legs.

the ship name for Sari x Emily, can either be Sarimily or EmiSari.

also even if Clara from Season 1 and Pilot are the same but difference design, I like to view the pilot version as being a third daughter and being possibly the middle child, while the Clara that shows up in Season 1, is the youngest.

like we could call the Pilot-Clara by a different name while the Other version is still called Clara...

like Carmilla's Three Daughters are Odette, Clara and Clarice.

Clarice being The Pilot-Clara, and she could be in The Fanon Timeline, the middle sibling, like Odette being the eldest sibling and Clara being the youngest.

if Megatron and Carmilla did get married, even if it was only in Fanon.

Soundwave (who I'm still gonna view as being separate from the Other one who was born on Cybertron and is also known as Soundblaster...) would not only have Sari as a big sister who he shares a birthday with, but he would get more big sisters...

and if Carmilla did have three daughters, and Sari did end up marrying Emily....that would give Soundwave three step-sisters and one sister-in-law, which adding Sari that would give Soundwave about....Five Older Sisters.

like it be interesting if Sari felt guilty about how she treated him before and may understand he might never forgive her or want to form a sibling bond, because they were both technically made by Megatron, even if the situation of their creation from him was different.

but it would still be interesting if Sari got really protective of Soundwave, like in a protective big sister wanting to protect her baby brother way.

like just because he might not want anything to do with her, and she can respect that, but it doesn't mean she will stand by and let anyone mess with her baby brother and if she forms a sisterly bond with Odette, Clarice and Clara, who could end up bonding with Soundwave and viewing him like the baby brother they never had...

well anyone who dares try anything with their precious baby brother, would have to answer to those four...who could be way scarier than Shockwave, for all we know.

I wasn't sure about the name Clarice for the Pilot-Clara, but I think I'm starting to like it a bit more as well as the Fanon idea about Clarice being Odette and Clara's sister and Carmilla's third daughter.

anyway besides the whole ship idea about Sari x Emily, and Sari coming out to her Autobot friends that she is Biromantic and the whole her introducing Emily as her girlfriend, and the only one not getting the full meaning of that would be Bumblebee...and it has to be explained to him, because he might only understand some romantic relationships that seem similar to cybertronian courtships.

so he could mistake the whole Sari saying that Emily is her girlfriend, meaning she is a Gal Buddy and thus platonic friend...

Bumblebee might not be 100% naive and he could understand some form of romantic relationships, but might not get some stuff right away.

so Sari would have to help with explaining in a way that Bumblebee will understand, and that is by saying that in Cybertronian terms, Emily is her Femfriend, which then Bumblebee will finally understand.

ya know like Mechfriend would be similar to Boyfriend, but if a Cybertronian is Nonbinary, they would be Partner, but only some who go by She/They or He/They would end up going by both Partner and Girlfriend or Boyfriend.

anyway as for the whole Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss Theories...

it could be possible it is The Boy Ars Goetia that has the baby...

you know like how it is the Boy Fairy that has the baby like in the Fairly Odd Parents, but oddly enough it is the Girl Anti-Fairy that has the baby.

like in theory, it can be like the Asari from Mass Effect who can have children with any species or gender.

so Stella may claim she had the egg, but she likely didn't and only thought she did and her brother and the rest of her family NEVER gave her the talk.

Stolas was possibly the one to have the egg in the first place, meaning he was technically pregnant.

it could be possible that Lucifer from Hazbin Hotel, was the one who was pregnant with Charlie, not Lilith.

while he could end up turning out to be possibly Cain's Bio-Dad, even if it is a Hazbin Hotel version of Cain and possibly ending up being Charlie's Older Half-Brother...

him causing Eve to become pregnant, while still ending up pregnant himself, could mean that Charlie's Dad is able to make someone else pregnant but also become so himself...

Lucifer likely had mood swings and was acting in a way that drove Lilith a bit crazy but like also made her tired.

and before Stolas laid the egg that would hatch and become Octavia, he likely got mood swings as well, and would be very aggressive to Stella one minute but then crying and apologizing the next.

the reasons why Fizz and Ozzie hadn't end up in the same way, and Fizz having to deal with Ozzie's mood swings and weird food cravings, could be because they are careful...that and Ozzie may not of told Fizz about how he can get pregnant, but he makes sure to prevent it.

so it could be possible that Blitz and Stolas could become parents, and giving Octavia a half-sibling....

Stella could of been asleep when Stolas had the egg that would hatch and become Octavia.

Andrealphus you cold heart himbo, ya need to give your sister talk, and I don't mean the other talk ya had with her, about calling off Striker. but telling her the truth that it is the Boy Ars Goetia that has the baby, NOT the girl...

if it is possibly true, then Andrea not giving his sister the talk could of been well, because he never really considered he had to be the one to give it, and may have thought that it would be his parents who would explain to her.

plus it could be possible the female Ars Goetia could get pregnant as well, but something happen to cause them to become not able to and the only thing left was for them to get a male pregnant.

and in theory, the only female and well nonbinary-gal ones who are technically Demi-Goetia who can still possibly get pregnant, but are half-human, live on Earth...

(feel free to skip some of this and keep a eye out for the bold letters...) yeah if it truly turns out the Phenex from this universe makes up one of my angelic parents (even if I still am biologically my human dad's daughter) and one of my soul-parents is another Earth Angel...and well anyway it could be possible that some angels and well even half ones who are human, come from a type of egg that the soul is placed in, well a small soul orb that would end up growing in the egg and then hatch.

if Phenex did break off a piece of themselves, it could be the part that faced the truth that they aren't returning to heaven anytime soon or in the years they believe...

and even if some might tell me I wasn't a accident, I know technically I was...and yeah for all I know it could be possible that the Stolas from this universe had to watch over and protect me until someone finally got me, which might of took a lot longer than it should have...

and if that whole thing is linked to a certain part in one of my past lives, which I'm lucky I don't have full memories of...

I am not going to forgive the group of humans that were involved...

forgiveness can't just be well, as fast or as easy as some might think, plus one thing is that the ones who need forgiveness would need to feel true remorse and understand from the other person's point of view not just there own, even if they might not fully understand it but could try to.

but there is just some things that can't be forgiven, even if your told you have to, and my past life selves had been hurt more than once possibly and it might be a good thing I don't have full memories of it, and it can be possible some memories could be copies from my Earth Angel Mom, who may have fragmented a part of herself which would become me.

there were some videos that talked about a Soul Resetting, didn't really watch the videos, only read the names about it...

it makes me wonder about what would happen to me if my Soul Resets, will I end up breaking and falling apart, like how Ruby and Sapphire started to fall apart when Garnet learned the truth about Rose or the time when Pearl tricked Garnet into forming Sardonyx.

will I cease to be me, or will I still be me but something will feel off.

I don't want to cease to be myself, I can accept that I'm some kind of soul fusion, and I guess it could be possible I am a relationship, possibly...not sure.

not everyone has to agree about that, plus it could be possible that some who recall only small bits and pieces of past life memories but not fully, they could end up remembering memories that aren't theirs but belong to their soul-parent or soul-parents.

anyway back to the whole theory about Stolas and Lucifer being the ones who became pregnant and having Octavia and Charlie...

and if you think about it, if Megatron is Sari's Other Dad and he did have her in the secret lab when he was in some kind of stasis coma.

Megatron was technically pregnant as well, of course in the Shattered Glass Universe version it was Optimus who had went through the budding stage.

meaning that SG-Sari is SG-Optimus's Daughter, while in the timeline where Sari is from, she is the daughter of Megatron.

maybe sometime I will do a ship drawing of Sari x Emily, not sure if I will add that to "Falling For The Angel In Disguise" but if I did, that would mean that Swindle would get a rival.

that story is still going to be on a bit of a hiatus, along with the "Spinelluva Boss: Home Is Where The Spinel Is"

if I do decide to Cross-post some of the chapters from those two stories on here, I will but no promises.

(editing this in to say that those two stories, I had posted them over at Quotev, and even if "Spinelluva Boss: Home Is Where The Spinel Is" and "Falling For The Angel In Disguise" isn't well 100% perfect, it's okay that not everyone reads it, but I'm happy some seem to like the story even if those two stories I wrote aren't 100% perfect, and well it might be a while before I start to write the next chapters of them so for now they will stay on hiatus...and if I do decide to, I might cross-post some of the chapters of each of those two stories on here maybe, but once again no promises...and it really is okay that not many are interested in those stories, I'm fine with it being only a few that seem to enjoy those two stories so far. oh and both stories are for mature audiences only, because of what can be like 18+ scenes that aren't fully graphic probably, but I think some scenes in both of those stories will be kind of around 18+ but still in a different way...)

I still plan to have Sari use the Asmodean to disguise herself in the story "Falling For The Angel In Disguise" which once again the story did start out slightly different and the original female heroine was replaced by Sari.

the original female heroine still plays a part in the story, but she might be a side character or supporting character now at this point.

also is weird to get the idea about wanting to lock Adam from Hazbin Hotel, in a closet.

and if Lute, Emily or Sera or even Charlie, Vaggie, Lucifer or anyone else asks...

I would say that "Adam is in the Closet." cause he would really be in the closet, cause he was put in there on purpose.

it can also reference to a theory that Adam may be in the Bi Closet...

even if he finds some kind of attraction about finding Charlie and Vaggie's relationship to be hot...

but besides him being attracted to females, and nonbinary-women.

it could be possible Adam from Hazbin Hotel, could be in the closet, and not just because I want to push him in there and keep him in the closet possibly to give him a time out.

like even if he does come back as a Sinner, he would probably end up having a hard time hiding the fact that he likes guys as well, and that he is bisexual, I mean if it does turn out to be true...

if I made a bet with Alastor about it, and if I turned out to be right, he will have to give me all the strawberries I can eat, with melted chocolate to dip the strawberries in, he will have to pay up in strawberries with a bowl of melted chocolate. XD

it could be possible that Adam could be in the closet and was always in the closet but never fully realized it.

and as strange as it is, it could be possible as much of a Peepaw Dirtbag that he is, he could likely become a bit better and less of a heartless jerk if he came back as a Sinner, sure he wouldn't change much, but he could possibly become a bit more caring, maybe.

it could be possible that even if Adam and maybe Lute became better, and reformed in some way, it might not be the same for Lilith.

even if we might not want to admit it, it could be possible that Lilith from Hazbin Hotel, isn't a good person, I mean she might of been at some point at first even when she and Lucifer fell into Hell.

the Lilith from that universe and this one, might have slightly same backgrounds, but there are still some experiences that they had that are different.

Lucifer in the show, seemingly only did the whole stuff that was mentioned in the book that Charlie was reading.

and that would mean that Lucifer didn't have the same type of rebellion as the one from this universe, and the two are different as night and day.

I still want to give the one from this universe the cold hands to face punishment...and he probably freaking knows why.

as for Charlie's Dad, I just want to glomp the Adorkable Apple Goober and protect him, he is such a sweetie apple dumpling that needs to be protected. XD

I'm a Weird Earth Angel, who I think the whole weirdness runs in the family....The Embodiment Of Weirdness can be some form of silliness and laughter, and well having your fun weird side out might be helpful at times when you felt a bit sad or mad before.

not sure if many have experience that very much, or get what I'm trying to say about it.

anyway if it is true that it is the Male Ars Goetia that has the baby, and well the Female Ars Goetia were once able to, but can't anymore.

it could be possible that Stolas may have already given Octavia the talk about the whole how she was really born, so Octavia would know that it was Stolas who was pregnant, not Stella.

as for the whole if Lucifer ever gave Charlie the talk, it is possible he didn't and she only knows about some info about how babies are made and it has to do with the Moms being the ones who are pregnant.

and what could of kept him from giving her the talk, might have to do with his depression and the divorce with Lilith.

he could of made plans on how to explain about the whole him being the one to be pregnant, not Lilith...like him having to explain it using the ducks or puppets.

it be nice if we turn out to be wrong about Lilith from Hazbin Hotel, that she isn't some two-faced, toxic-feminine, selfish and egotistical as well as self absorbed person...

we will have to wait and see and hope for the best.

but her being in Heaven instead of Hell, and her not calling Charlie back despite the fact Charlie had probably been calling her for 7 years...who knows why she never told her own daughter why she was off in Heaven, and making her daughter believe she was just off doing something important.

if it turns out Lilith left for selfish reasons, and not the understandable kind, if it were possible, I would want to punch her.

even if I may be shorter than her, and well I could find a way...

at least the Lilith from our universe had reasons why she fell, one of them being that during Adam's younger days, he was a selfish and full of himself and didn't truly treat her like a person and didn't give her the space she needed to heal properly, and the three angels involved in trying to force her to go back to him, aren't off the hook either. yeah even if they are doing some good now, but if they truly hurt Lilith past a breaking point, it wouldn't just be Adam who is partly responsible.

one can only hope they feel some form of remorse and Adam had matured and became less selfish and no longer so insensitive.

anyway we can only hope that Lilith isn't going to be some nonredeemable villain, while it might only be Lute and Sinner-Adam who get redeemed, and end up working together with Emily to help Charlie.

but even if we do hope that Lilith wont be some villain, it doesn't mean it wont happen, so it is possible she could end up being one and Charlie might have to face some tough truths about her Mom.

one of them being she is a Toxic-Feminist and makes herself out like she is the good and better parent, even if she may have did some good for Charlie, it doesn't mean everything she has done for her was truly for her.

we know that both Greg Universe and Isaac Sumdac are Gray-Parents, not really being 100% good parents but not really bad either.

but it doesn't mean that their children, Steven and Sari wouldn't figure out there was some things they did wrong when trying to raise them.

just because Steven is Half-Gem and Sari is Half-Cybertronian, doesn't mean they aren't still human.

so they would still need to go to a doctor, and Isaac could of programed a robot with some medical knowledge and learn and adapt to how to take care of Sari who was half-human and half-cybertronian.

Greg might still be a beloved character, but he still made some mistakes that some fans may have called him out on, like still liking him but not really liking that he never used that money he got from Marty, to use to pay for maybe a home tutor for Steven, or using it to pay for Steven when he has to go to the hospital.

parents don't need to be perfect, but even if we can still like Greg and Isaac, it doesn't mean they wont end up showing their bad parenting side.

at least Steven was able to get some form of education from Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst.

Pearl is like Steven's Mom, even if Rose is as well, but it was Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst that basically raised Steven.

even if Greg did only kept Steven when he was baby and until he was a bit old enough to live with Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst.

plus there were times when Greg was being selfish, like faking still being hurt, I mean it is nice he wants to spend time with his son, but it still doesn't mean he was in the right with those actions.

even if Isaac did some things right when raising Sari, it doesn't mean he didn't make some mistakes as well...

and well in a Fanon Timeline like in Hazformers, Sari may have never got the chance to tell her Dad, Isaac Sumdac that she is Biromantic.

so if someone hired I.M.P. to take care of Isaac, he would possibly end up as a Sinner in Hell, but not because he was helping Megatron when he was held captive.

it would be because he took some parts and reverse engineered a living being that wasn't truly dead/offline but was in a stasis coma.

so while Sari could end up in Heaven, her Dads Isaac and Megatron would be in the other place.

and if Sari did run away with Emily, and end up meeting Isaac and her Autobot friends in the Hazbin Hotel.

she could introduce Emily as her girlfriend and finally coming out to her human Dad, who would be a Sinner at the moment, about her being bi.

Charlie and Emily could of formed a sisterly bond, and if she did find out that Emily is dating Sari who is half-cybertronian, she could be happy for her and that she found someone that will always be by her side.

the idea of Sari x Emily is just well a ship idea that pop into my head, and the chances of others liking the ship idea is likely very small.

anyway, I'm not really sure what else to say about that or the whole Lucifer and Stolas being the ones that were pregnant with their daughters, and Stella and Lilith were NEVER pregnant at all, only took full credit possibly.

anyway I'm just gonna check out a few more stuff on here and then I will log off...so yeah, maybe next time I will make a second poll that is even weirder than that first one that has to do with Adorkable Apple Goobers. XD

[dispatches-from-the-lorecord]

What on earth is up with the Sinjoh mountains?

[May 05, 2022] 

{Haji:}

Now looking back at the conversations around that point [the finale of The Wooper Who Saved Christmas], we talked a lot about Bill's connection to the Outsiders may have stemmed from the fact his childhood home was the site of the final confrontation with Team Rocket in TWWSC, and where Rocket Boss Shawn unleashed the question mark glitch on Wooper and gave us time-space-physical manipulation powers. Granted Bill's family didn't live there yet but that doesn't mean there wasn't a lot of lingering glitchwork in the old place when they did.

Kinda funny to realize the rest of his family may not have stayed around long given we know his mom and sister at least moved back to Johto but he stayed in Kanto with his own growing family and stuck to his work.

What's interesting though is Kanto seems to be at the bottom of the "Sinjoh Mountain Range," if you will, which even if not as religiously prominent as Mt. Coronet, the range does seem to include the Sinjoh Ruins, Unown Cave, and Mt. Silver since the mountains appear to go all along the northern border until reaching Cerulean Cape. (Rock Tunnel doesn't directly connect to this since the Cape divides Route 9 from the mountains).

Which for TPP means these mountains likely have some weird aspects to it since we talked about the significance of places like Mt Moon and the League holding powers or gateways or whatever reason there is for our Kanto hosts have that be the place they need to reach for one reason or another.

In TWWSC, we see that the old mansion Bill's family was looking to buy was basically built right into the side of the mountain given how large it is inside compared to what we see later with his house, which may also be why Team Rocket had their headquarters there before Giovanni built the Game Corner.

What does this have to do with anything? Well besides the PC, what does most of Bill's work seem to work with? Link Cable technology. Which wouldn't be a big deal except the canon universe has made the Link Cable and it's core energy so terrifyingly meta powerful, and that Bill canonically knows enough about it to perform time travel in Gen II says something. And in Sevii when he's working with Celio, we see it can be powered by rocks since somehow a Ruby and Sapphire can connect regions to overseas? Gems and Crystals seem to hold HUGE amounts of power in both the Pokemon and TPP world, something he might have learned by living in the mountains.

But Time travel, outside of our jokes with Dialga and Celebi, is often a Glitchmancy standard. Which again, kid Bill may have learned from Wooper and our Mega Stone shenanigans causing our Wooper to physically divide and multiply itself showcasing stone divinity and / or infinity energy (since Wooper was somehow able to Mega without a Key Stone or Trainer) in the days before Fossilism retook Kanto by storm. Which was already pointed out [in some older lore], Bill's dealings with Glitches as a kid probably is what drew him to Dome in the first place.

But that's not all, because we know that Glitchmancy tends to cause fusions or human / Pokemon shifting to occur! And while it may have been an accident, I can't help but wonder if there's some connection between Bill's Clefairy accident, Larry's intentional creations [in Fused Crystal and Bootleg Green], and Old Man Glitchduck [in Anniversary Red] (whatever the hell happened there).

Granted they're all at different points of the timeline, but the similarities make me wonder if it's all connected to Link Cable technology.

Which may or may not have been discovered by Santa :Kappa:

Also with all these fusions or shape shifters, I suppose it doesn't help that "Nameless Glitch" or Decamark we saw in TWWSC apparently has the ability to change it's appearance since it usually poses as a Delibird or outright goes invisible when protecting itself.

And Santa uses those too seeing how he can go invisible and appeared like an old man but changed his look in battle. But did he change to be more intimidating or is that his true self? Tl;Dr - TWWSC's final confrontation opened a big can of worms in Bill's history, and possibly introduced the world to the long-since buried knowledge of Infinity Energy in the form of Mega Evolution and time travel capabilities. Energy that causes Pokemon to warp into their Mega Forms but can also create hybrid monsters in the wrong hands

Also drawing lines between the Fossil Pantheon and Sinjoh Ruins and different Glitch monsters like the ones we saw in Anni Red Battle Tent

...So draw lines between Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, and Kalos via game mechanics meta :tppLUL:

Goddammit Wooper :pogsire:

Ugh I'm sorry if I'm just rambling and didn't have this organized enough to explain anything. So sleepy :tppNap:

{Xacrom:}

This run has to be the most influential thing on the lore since Olden :LUL:

{RomanoffBlitzer:}

The Wooper who Saved Lore.

{Xacrom:}

I love the observation about all this magic mountains being all part of the same mountain range in particular

{denne/faeiri:}

wooper strong and good

im running off to work so maybe ill put more words to this later but i love how mountains as a religious place/place where weird shit happens is like, built so hard into both tpp lore and also has some in regular pokemon lore. it makes me do eyes emoji

{Haji:}

Yeah it's kinda funny when I got to looking at the maps. Like years ago I had this clip of Giratina explaining to Pepe about staples in the space-time balance and it came up how "the battle of the mountain must always occur, so the battle of the mountain can always occur, so the battle of the mountain will always occur" but never really had a fleshed out idea of where to put it since it also required the visual gag of showing the different fights whether it be Red and AJ, Napoleon and Cyrus, Jimmy and N , ect.

But yeah I know it's supposed to be epic but there are a ton of mountain battles in Pokeverse

It was only while working on my Blue fic though I got to realizing that Mt Silver, Mt. Moon and Unknown Cave are all likely connected in the underbelly, which lore wise makes sense given Dome and Helix's battle ground and the sacredness of Mt Silver so maybe Mewtwo was drawn out there. But then I realized it goes further than that given layouts and we know Sinjoh Ruins are somewhere north of the map but still seems connected.

My Coronet and Cinnabar may even be part of it too if they're all just a volcanic chain but getting into the islands being considered the same range might be stretching it...

[bunny-the-bunny]

I agree with the OP.

And this is why I don’t ship soul shipping.

Rant below. ⬇️

For those of you who don’t know, soul shipping is the ship pairing name for Jaden/Judai Yuki x Yubel.

Or to be more specific: Haou and Yubel.

And after watching Yu-Gi-Oh GX season 3 in the dub and the fourth season in the sub.

(I will watch it all of Yu-Gi-Oh GX in the sub one day).

I couldn’t see Jaden and Yubel being a couple for a few reasons.

1) Haou’s promise to Yubel that he would love them or be friends with them for all of the time. That was the supreme king’s promise to Yubel not Jaden’s.

2) Toxicity (Yubel’s personal reasons for hurting Jaden and the others all just to get him back doesn’t justify the harm that was caused, the guilt-tripping, the clinginess and jealousy over Jaden possibly liking Jesse more than them, and etc.)

3) The forced fusion (Jaden/Judai ultimately fusing with Yubel to unite Haou and Yubel once again with no other option despite all the trauma)

Jaden shouldn’t have to deal with all the drama around that relationship with the supreme king and Yubel.

He’s the reincarnation of Haou but it doesn’t mean he has an obligation to love Yubel let alone be with them.

I don’t think he fused them all together out of love but to protect the world from being at the hands of Yubel again, in other words to save the world.

In my experience, due to the toxic parts of the relationship and maybe cause I watched the season 3 dub of Yu-Gi-Oh GX it stopped me from shipping Jaden and Yubel altogether.

Maybe also because I ship Judai/Jaden with Johan/Jesse mostly.

And I kept those feelings going into season 4.

Yes maybe it’s supposed to be an eternal bond but not with Jaden and Yubel but between Haou and Yubel.

The way I see it in terms of a relationship is a platonic bond or just a regular friendship between Jaden and Yubel in my au and in general.

That’s it. I really don’t want to argue with anyone about this matter.

To the soul shippers, I’m not saying you can’t ship Jaden/Judai and Yubel. Because you have a every right to. It’s your choice and decision.

I just personally won’t ship Jaden and Yubel together and I hope that no one forces me to just because I ship against the canon and prefer spiritshipping.

Final thoughts:

At the end of the day, people will ship what they like. As long as it’s not hurting anyone or inappropriate (for example: adult x minor) then you can continue to ship it.

Just don’t shove your favorite pairing/otp down other people’s throats or force them to ship it.

Some fans when it comes to shipping in fandoms take it too far to the point: you feel like you have to ship it cause it’s canon or people think it’s canon, people really like it or whatever reasons people may have.

That’s the beauty about headcanons and aus. You have the creative freedom to ship whatever you want from your favorite media as long as it’s not hurting anyone.

Done.

Geez that was a long one-

I’ve been hoping there was a post like this so I don’t feel weird or guilty about not shipping Jaden/Judai and Yubel together.

Disclaimer: Don’t take my words too seriously or harshly. It’s an opinion. You can ship whoever you want. If you have criticisms all I ask is that you’re respectful with your comments. I will not tolerate your opinion if it sounds like you’re just being a jerk. You can get your point across without being an a**hole.

It amazes me that some fans say it's inappropriate to ship Judai and Johan because "it's a kid show, stop making everything gay!!" but are perfectly happy with a sixteen-year-old boy being in a relationship with a 1000+ year old spirit who was in love with him when he was a literal child, coerced him into returning their love or they would destroy the world and made him feel guilty for something that wasn't even his fault, all over a promise his FORMER SELF made. Real toxic shit.

To be fair, these type of fans are usually only cool with shipping Judai and Yubel so long as you refer to Yubel as female. As soon as you say they're non-binary (which they are) they lose their shit all over again. It's more to do with blatant homophobia than anything else.

But I get what you mean. I'm honestly not surprised the whole Judai/Yubel thing was censored in the dub. It's seriously messed up imo, and you'll never convince me otherwise. Had I written the series, Judai would have defeated Yubel and finally allowed them to be at peace by destroying their card. He didn't deserve to feel guilty over something that wasn't his fault or keep a promise that he himself never made in the first place (I know Haou was his past life, but the whole idea of past lives is that you don't remember your past life. Your souls are the same but you're still different people.)

Mind you, this is anime we're talking about. It's pretty notorious for creepy relationships.

[wangxianficfinder]

In the mood for a Fic...

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1. I'm in a mood for your best crack-y crossovers! Does not need to be crack fic but weird!

among the stars by plonk (E, 61k, WangXian, Space, Science Fiction, Firefly Setting, Courtesan WWX, Courtesan LWJ) I've a wonderful one, It's 13 chapters of standalone crossover fics where wangxian are in the Firefly 'verse. Spectacular. 10 of 10!

The Lives of Lan Wangji by azurewaxwing (T, 14k, WangXian, Fusion, Dianna Wynne Jones - The Lives of Christopher Chant, Temporary Character Death(So Temporary the Character Doesn't Notice), Rated T for Corpse-Eating Cats, Sentient Burial Mounds, Getting Together) weird but good and very imaginative fusion

Of Hats and Flutes by FixaIdea (G, 6k, WIP, WangXian, Discworld Crossover, Humor, Witches, Fluff and Humor, Necromancy)

~*~

2. Are there any fics where wangxian meet for the first time in a disaster scenario? Like they recognize in each other the skills, courage and fortitude to save other people- they depend on each other in life threatening situations and grow closer because of it. I’m thinking modern would work best but canon setting could too! I’d love a good long fic but I’ll read anything! Thank you angel mods!! 💚 @starfishderby

In This Life or Any Other by DrowningByDegrees (E, 74k, WIP, WangXian, Eventual Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, physical hurt/comfort too actually, Falling In Love, family (found and otherwise), Fantasy, Slow Burn, Mutual Pining, Eventual Smut, Trauma, Politics, Intrigue, BAMF WWX)

SIMILAR! Crossing Paths by Ilona22 (M, 21k, WangXian, Shapeshifters, War between sects, Not JC Friendly, War Crimes, WangXian Get a Happy Ending) this is maybe a different take on what's being requested, but still has them impressing each other via being BAMFs in dire circumstances

~*~

3. Hi mods! Thanks for all the work that you do! For ITMF, could i get some fics where the lans (could be just lwj, or anyone else, or the whole clan) fights with the jiangs (anyone) over wwx? Thank you!!

~*~

4. for the next iitmf, can we get some childhood friends wangxian?? thanks so much!!

Talisman by Witch_Nova221 (M, 192k, WangXian, Modern AU, Eventual Romance, Theatre, Rock Band, Childhood Friends, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Spousal Abuse, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, Stalking, Minor Character Death, Friends to Lovers, Mutual Pining)

Red and White by julomaiboulomai, red_rahl (G, 6k, WangXian, Kidfic, Animal Transformation, dragon lwj, bunny wwx, Fluff, Accidental Baby Acquisition, Art Embedded, Wei Ying gets adopted)

Heart of the Beast by WaitForTheSnitch (E, 96k, WIP, WangXian, WWX, Isn't Adopted by the Jiāngs, Adopted WWX, WWX is a Niè, Canon Divergence, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Oblivious WW, Protective NMJ, Scheming NHS, Protective NHS, Soft NMJ, NMJ is So Done, NHS Is A Little Shit, Pining LWJ, LWJ Has Feelings)

The Thing Is by sunlightrefrain (T, 7k, WangXian, Modern AU, College/University, Childhood Friends, Friends to Lovers, Love Confessions, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Pining)

Make The Fireflies Dance Silver Moon's Sparkling by Sweetlittlevampire (T, 23k, WangXian, Modern AU, High School, Friends to Lovers, Teenagers, Childhood Friends, Growing Up, Getting to Know Each Other, Getting Together, Slow Burn, First Kiss, First Love) from teenagers tho

soft-hearted by sarahyyy (G, 6k, WangXian, Childhood Friends, Hurt/Comfort, Getting Together, First Kiss, Wedding Fluff)

~*~

5. hi I love your blog sm!! for the in the mood for fic I was wondering if anyone knows any fics in which wwx still falls into the burial mounds but doesn't lose his core?? thank you sm!!<33

Alliance of the Traveling Pants by JustAWanderingBabbit (G, 106k, 3zun, wangxian, Canon Divergence, WIP) WWX’s cultivation has been damaged in a different way; he still descends into the Burial Mounds and invents Demonic Cultivation

Cultivating immortality by KizuKatana (E, 231k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Rogue Cultivator WWX, Mutual Pining, BAMF WWX, BAMF LWJ, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, unreliable narrator (wwx's self image is...), sect wars happening, demonic cultivation descriptions in detail, JC gets a chance to redeem himself, Found Family, First Time, novel canon relationship dynamics)

~*~

6. Hello!!!! Can I get fics where wwx dies in qiongqi path please!! If contains nsfw bottom wwx only please thank you!!

The Fire Lapping Up the Creek by notevenyou ( E, 66k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Hurt/Comfort, Injury Recovery, Blood, Respiratory Illness, Major Illness, Fever, Grief/Mourning, Burial Mounds, Angst with a Happy Ending, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Hunger and food scarcity, Surgery, Fix-It of Sorts)

ius in bello by Lise (T, 2k, Yunmeng Siblings, Canon Divergence, Tearjerker, Sad Ending, Heavy Angst, Grief/Mourning, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Not A Fix-It, POV JC, [Podfic] ius in bello by flamingwell)

in this place where we don't have a prayer by Cerusee, Mikkeneko (T, 42k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, WWX dies at Qiongqi path, Demonic Cultivation)

~*~

7. Hello! Thank you for all of your hard work. For your next IITMF, I was hoping for a fic where WWX comes back to life as MXY, but is surprised to find his name already cleared and his reputation already restored, or at least find himself in public favor somehow. I always wondered how he would react to something like that.

In Exchange by FlautistsandPeonies (M, 8k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Implied WangXian Ending, The Power of Yiling Laozu Sexy, WWX Canon Memory Loss, WWX gets his original body back, Crack Treated Seriously, not for jc fans, Attractive WWX, WangXian Get a Happy Ending)

~*~

8. Heyy !!! Would you please recommend some fics where everyone just love wwx or some fics which have same vibe as Stunted, Starving Juvenility Thank you !!

The Communication Effect by draechaeli (E, 33k, WIP, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Mainly Novel with a few CQL and Donghua bits, Cloud Recesses Study Arc, and beyond, Arranged Marriage sort of, WWX is 16 at time of wedding, No Golden Core Transfer, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, Wēn Remnants Live, Adoption, Adoption but WWX birthed him, Pregnancy Kink, Consensual Non-Consent, Light Bondage, easy to skip nsfw chapters) this one def has the SSJ vibe: cloud recesses arc wangxian get together, wangxian being in tune the way they are in post time skip book/manhua/donghua canon, inventor/genius wifi appreciation

A Thousand Things by tickertape (M, 108k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, WWX Isn't Adopted by the Jiāngs, Developing Friendships, lots of OCs, miscommunication and misunderstandings (they’re idiots your honor), Nightmares, Hurt/Comfort, Panic Attacks, Cloud Recesses Shenanigans, Slow Burn) has a very similar vibe to SSJ

~*~

9. Hey mods! Could i ask for some dark LWJ, obsessed with WWX? Like maybe stalking and stuff. With WWX actually liking it right away or eventually.

Bottom wwx and top lwj if there’s smut. Thanks!!

you only ever touch me in the dark by sweetlolixo (E, 5k, WangXian, Modern AU, Dark LWJ, Older LWJ, Age Difference, Boypussy, Intersex WWX, Feminization, Rape/Non-con Elements, Dirty Talking LWJ, Stalking, Size Difference, WWX Has a Non-Con Kink, Dark WWX, Daddy Kink, Mirror Sex, Restraints, Virginity Kink, Blindfolds, Deranged4Deranged Wangxian)

crazy in love by mdzsed (E, 2k, WangXian, Modern AU, Stalking, Obsession, Breaking and Entering, Conditioning, Manipulation, Dark LWJ, off-screen allusions to drugging someone, Light Bondage)

Close your eyes by Say (T, 2k, WangXian, Modern AU, Established Relationship, Stalking, Unhealthy Relationships, Light Angst, Dark LWJ, Sad WWX, Oblivious WWX, Emotional Hurt/Comfort)

Under His cold gaze by Say (T, 1k, WangXian, Dark LWJ, Vampire LWJ, Obsession, Obsessive Behavior, Memory Alteration, Stalking, Costume Parties & Masquerades, Kidnapping, Vampires, POV Alternating, Unspecified Setting, Possessive Behavior, Possessive LWJ)

no mercy by azuresummer (E, 9k, WangXian, Dom/sub Undertones, Dominant LWJ, Submissive WWX, Idol WWX, Dark LWJ, Possessive LWJ, Protective LWJ, Dubious Consent, Power Imbalance, Age Difference, Stalking, Manipulation, Obsession, Possessive Sex, Feminizing Language, Rimming, Creampie, Chastity Device, Chastity Cage)

The inherent romanticism of hiding a body together by Aki_no_hikari (T, 4k, WangXian, Modern AU, First Meetings, Love at First Sight, Corpse Desecration, Kinda?, Corpse Disposal, Pigs)

Dark Lan Zhan: Dark Union collection on ao3

~*~

10. heyyy loves, hope you're having a good day. for an ITMF can you do anything Wen Ning centric. can be sad but looking for happy <3 @twlaei

do not go gentle by RoseThorne (G, 684, Canonical Character Death, Spirits, Ghosts, LWJ Plays Inquiry, Song: Inquiry, Protectiveness, Grief/Mourning, Love, Acceptance, Family, Angst, Post-Canon, POV Third Person, POV WN)

history (proud to call your own) by words-writ-in-starlight (Gunmetal_Crown) (G, 5k, LSZ & WN, WN & WQ & WWX, WN gets a hug, Babysitting, Gardens & Gardening, Fluff, just absolutely appallingly soft actually, CQL universe mostly)

This One Shadow by LtLJ (G, 3k, WangXian, WN & WWX, Missing Scene, CQL canon, Domestic Fluff, there were only two beds, Character Study)

waiting for the man who will take only one step by Mikkeneko (T, 1k, Time Travel, time traveler WN, sorta pre-series, Bad Ending: WRH Wins, except then he doesn't, Resistance Fighters WWX and LWJ, Temporary Character Death)

zeroatthebone has a list of Wen Ning-centric fic recs here

~*~

11. any fics where wwx is wheelchair bound?

Gentians of Yesterday by KobaltBlu (T, 11k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Lan WWX, Disabled WWX, Paralyzed WWX)

Threads of Love by OnlyMeAndMyBones (M, 61k, WIP, WangXian, Modern AU, heavy angst (flashbacks), not papapa but pa, Major Injury, Medical Procedures, Graphic Description of Injuries, mental health talk, past trauma, Ableism Mention, racism mention, Living abroad, Happy Wangxian Ending, it's not as angsty as it looks okay, Sharing a Bed, Cuddling, tender scar kissing, extremely wangxian centric, POV LWJ, jiang family feels, Disabled WWX) this story is complete with only additional one-shots getting added

~*~

12. Hiii Can you help me find some threadfics? I have no idea how to find them on Twitter and I know there must be some really good fics on there that I am missing out on. Hopefully happy ones/fluffy but I am okay with angst as long as it's a happy ending. Thank youuuu 😘🥰

Threadfic by ana_cp (Modern, fluff, wangxian) and other threadfics by them

Threadfic by cerbykerby (Fantasy au, moth WWX, witch LWJ, wangxian) also has lot of good stuff

Threadfic by wrecklwj (Modern, teacher LWJ, dad WWX, wangxian)

Threadfic by beesfigs (Moth WWX, eggpreg, wangxian, probably WIP)

Threadfic by luckymarrowb (Modern, YLLZ WWX, pigeon LWJ, wangxian, WIP)

Threadfic by 0Pink_Blossoms0 (Modern, wangxian)

Threadfic by enigmatree (#warprizejiseason, YLLZ WWX, arranged marriage, bottom LWJ, WIP) has a lot of nice stuff too!!

Threadfic by yeehawmeowqing (Modern)

Threadfic by hyacinthsuns (Modern w/ cultivation, vampire WWX, feat. misunderstandings, daring rescues, consensually sexy blood drinking, & a happy ending)

~*~

13. hi! so i've just read miscella's 'all old things are new again' and i'm absolutely obsessed - i'm wondering if anyone can point me towards other immortal lwj meeting reincarnated wwx fics! i'd be very appreciative 🥳

Monotone by seredemia (Not on AO3 anymore but you can read it on Google docs through a link posted by author themselves) i've never actually read this one but from what i know of it it's in line with thr ask

Closer Than Eternity by Netrixie (T, 26k, WangXian, Modern AU, Reincarnation, an unhealthy addiction to starbucks, Immortals, cultivation is -kinda- commonplace, Self-Doubt, POV Alternating, Minor Original Character(s), Canon Compliant, Post-Canon, Temporary Character Death, Angst with a Happy Ending, not for jc fans, This is not a reconciliation fic) you may have read this one already but it’s one of the best examples of the trope you want

the recluse at the end of the moonlit path by beesinspades (T, 28k, WangXian, Modern AU, Reincarnation, Post-Canon, Jack of All Trades Artist WWX, Immortal! LWJ, Mutual Pining, Light Angst, Reunions, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Implied Sexual Content, Asexual Character, good vibes, [Podfic] the recluse at the end of the moonlit path by b_ofdale by Beria1021)

🧡 We Were Never Strangers by NeverEnoughWangxian (M, 36k, WangXian, Modern AU, Reincarnation, Modern Cultivators, POV WWX, (mostly), College Student WWX, Rogue Cultivator WWX, Immortal LWJ, Immortal LSZ, Dreams, Pining, Sharing a Bed, brief mentions of wwx's past death(s), WangXian.mp3, Getting Together, I guess getting back together technically, Happy Ending, Sexual Tension, Sexual Content)

Similar! Confusion by Vrishchika (Not rated, 5k, wangxian, time travel) these two aren’t precise matches for the prompt but they’re v close

Similar! The Life Cycle of the Frog and the Fish by Aerlalaith (T, 53k, wangxian, modern, fairy tale elements, reincarnation, fluff & angst, humor, illnesses, curses) these two aren’t precise matches for the prompt but they’re v close

~*~

14. hello~~ could I get some wx fics with reality tv? dating shows, survival shows, etc. thank you~!

shoot your shot -- hot or knot by defractum (nyargles) (E, 51k, wangxian, hunger games au, modern, ABO, extremely dubious consent, getting together, happy ending) hunger games style survival show

Call me out by your name by Asparmagus (E, 51k, WIP, WangXian, Modern AU, Reality Show, Paradise Hotel, First Meetings, Getting Together, Mutual Pining, First Kiss, Blow Jobs, Semi-Public Sex, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Pool Sex, Oblivious WWX, Rough Kissing, Biting, Bisexual disaster WWX, Unnegotiated Kink, Handcuffs)

Hide Away by sassybluee (E, 19k, WangXian, Modern AU, Modern: No Powers, Compulsory Heterosexuality, Homophobia, Internalized Homophobia, straight boy WWX, straight boy LWJ, everyone's convinced they're straight tbh, LWJ FUCKS, WWX fucks, referenced but not shown for both of those, Reality TV, Love Island, Slow Burn, Getting Together, Drunk kiss, Shower Sex, Ambiguous/Open Ending, POV Alternating)

After the Final Rose by azurewaxwing (E, 55k, wangxian, modern, reality show au, secret relationship, fluff & angst, happy ending, bachelor LWJ, cameraman WWX, smut)

The Great Chinese Cook-Off by aubreyli, cafecliche, etymologyplayground, mme_anxious (G, 20k, WIP, WangXian, Modern AU, The Great British Bake Off Fusion, sort of; it's more of a cooking show, because most Chinese people use their ovens for pot/pan storage, Collaboration, Screenplay/Script Format, Humor, Baking, Cooking, Stress)

🧡 don't threaten me with a good time by livinginaworldofnoise (G, 60k, WangXian, Modern AU, Great British bake off AU, Script format, Fluff and Crack, Reality TV, Social media)

Battle Chefs by sami (T, 25k, WangXian, Modern AU, Reality Show, cooking contests, Format - Recaps, Humour)

🧡 I Don't Want to Debut! by countingcr0ws (G, 56k, WangXian, Modern AU, Reality show, Idols, Actor LWJ, Forced Contestant WWX)

❤️Knight Hunt! Phoenix Mountain by travelingneuritis (E, 51k, wangxian, modern, dating show, Modern Cultivation, but in the silliest way possible, Reality TV, the juniors are interns, Smut, Illustrations, low-stakes pining)

❤️ start getting real by azurewaxwing (T, 21k, wangxian, Modern with Magic, Reality TV, POV Outsider, Golden Core Reveal, (sort of), Appropriate Use of Gūsū Lán Silencing Spell, Getting Together)

Love at Second Sight by flowerofgusu (E, 49k, WangXian, Modern AU, Romance, Reality TV, Musicians Wangxian, Comphet WWX, Coming Out, Demisexual WWX, Rated E for the Small Amounts of Smut, Eventual Smut, Romantic Comedy, Falling In Love, Misunderstandings, Rivals to Friends to Lovers, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Arranged Marriage)

Welcome to the Great Gusu Bake Off! by  BlackWiresOnHerHead (G, 60k, wangxian, modern, college/university au, the great british bake off au, humor)

Falling to the Rhythm by Selenay (E, 128k, WangXian, Modern: No Powers, Dance, Strictly Come Dancing Fusion, Ballroom Dancing, Dancer!WWX, Violinist LWJ, Pining While Dancing, Oblivious WWX, Gratuitous Costume Descriptions, Gratuitous dancing descriptions, Slow Burn, [Podfic] Falling to the Rhythm by semperfiona_podfic (semperfiona) )

~*~

15. do you have any angsty fics where jyl is a sort of mother figure to wwx?

salt to the sea by starmins (M, 31k, WangXian, Modern AU, Grief/Mourning, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Road Trips, Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Canonical Character Death)

for whatever we lose we find in the sea (and love is higher than any sky) by shadowspice (G, 5k, WangXian, JYL & WWX, JYL & LWJ, Siblings, Sibling Love, Romance, Fluff and Angst, Domestic Fluff, Cooking, Husbands, Hurt/Comfort, True Love, Established WangXian, Sad WWX)

~*~

16. hiiii i had an idea n i wanted to see if there are fics abt it out there... any fics where wei wuxian remakes the gift for jin ling that got destroyed by jin zixun? thank u 4 ur hard work!!!

~*~

17. Hi! I’m in the mood for some fics with mind reading like someone cursed LJY and now he can involuntarily hear all wangxian dirty thoughts or something like that. Preferably wangxian centric and not modern au but it’ll be okey anyway (i’m that desperate))) have a nice day 💜💜💜 @shirikitsunenice

❤️The One-Body Problem by metisket (T, 29k, LJY & WWX, LJY & LSZ, wangxian, possession, cohabitation, Mojo’s bookmark)

Losing My Mind by pupeez4eva (T, 6k, WangXian, JC & WWX, Humor, Protective JC, JC drinks a potion that lets him hear people's lustful thoughts, Teenage LWJ has a lot of feelings, Canon Divergence, Takes place when they are studying in Gusu) in this it’s jiang cheng who gets to listen to wangxian’s inherent horniness for each other instead of ljy

~*~

If you didn’t get an answer to your ask here, don’t forget to make use of @mdzs-kinkmeme and MDZS KINK MEME on Dreamwidth. Authors actually do use them for ideas. You may get what you order!***Your prompt doesn’t have to be kink! Fluff, crack, whatever - it’s all good!***

[adobe-outdesign]

I’m curious. What are your thoughts on latios and latias, one of my favorite legendaries thanks to Pokémon heroes?

I guess the thing with the Lati-s is that they never seemed to have that much of a focused concept behind them. They're based off of jets, sure, but the 'dex just talks about them being intelligent or being able to turn invisible, but also they understand emotions well, and also their title is "eon Pokemon", whatever that means. I feel like the lack of concept muddles these two a bit, as you end up with a big mash of stuff that doesn't really go together. Even dragon/psychic typing feels random--no flying-type for a jet Pokemon?

I bring this up in part because we know from this piece of concept art:

That Blaziken and Latias (and arguably Latios by extension) were once one Pokemon that were split apart in development. Aside from explaining some oddities in the 'dex (mentioning that they have feathers, despite them looking mostly smooth in their final designs), I also feel like this is the source of the lack of focus, at least in part. Not to say that the above really has a clear theme either, but the fact that Latias/Latios are basically the leftovers from an earlier design wouldn't have been helping anything from a development standpoint.

The one thing I can say is that these two have fun personalities in the movie and are fairly memorable in that respect, but that's also not canon to the games. And outside of that, there's not a lot going on here.

Anyway, with all of that said, Latias is fine enough design-wise, though not terribly memorable. I like the marking on the head and the way the white kind of streaks into the red, giving it "motion lines" of sorts that make it look like it's flying. The two sharing each other's triangle colors is a nice touch as well.

In terms of things that aren't working as well, the anime-style under mouth bugs me. I feel like it should come open at the bottom of the marking, which would both look more natural but would also be cuter.

The arms also look out of place, mostly because they're very ovalur while the rest of the design is angular and sharp (see the concept art again, where the limbs were more angular and thus fit a bit better). You could make them more angular, though given they they tend to tuck them in you honestly probably could've dropped them completely.

And finally, the stub tail looks a bit off. I would've liked to see something spikier back there, to resemble the flames from a jet or something.

Also, the eye should have been blue to match the chest marking, and so the colors match Latio's red eyes and markings.

Most everything I said with Latias applies to Latios, as the designs are very similar. I've mentioned before that I'm not fond of legendaries that look too similar to each other, and while it's somewhat justified here (as they're almost sexually dimorphic versions of the same species, though I don't think the games have ever said this) I do wish they had been differentiated a bit more. In particular, it feels like the wings could've been positioned differently (maybe Latios only has one on the back or something), and the markings on Latios could've been circles instead of triangles or something.

Between the two, I do prefer Latios a bit. The body just looks more streamlined and coherent, especially around the tail or the lack thereof.

Unfortunately, the megas do the exact opposite of what I would've liked to see happen, making the two look near-identical (the only difference is size, eye color, and the arms being reversed) instead of differentiating them more.

It's just such a weird choice from a design standpoint. The colors are particularly baffling; Latias being red and Latios being blue both helped differentiate the two but were also what you'd associate with them, so why make them both purple?

In a weird way, these feel more like a fusion of the two than a mega. The purple is a combo of red and blue, the designs are the same, they have Latio's head marking but Latia's tail, ect ect. If that was the case, they might work better, but as-is they kind of just amplify the problems already present in the Lati-s to begin with.

Aside from that, the way the legs are separated from the rest of the body and form this weird rounded shape with the underbelly and back is really unpleasant, and lacks the speed implied with their original designs. The bodies are almost too round, while the random points near their mouths are just kind of there. They can't decide if they want to be round or smooth, and this weird combo isn't working well. Though with all that said, I do like the arms, which feel unique compared to the original designs and could work if the rest of the body was more coherent.

So overall, the original Lati-s are fine for what they are, but they lack a clear conceptual focus, which holds them back a bit. The megas, meanwhile, look way too similar to add anything meaningful to the line. At least the movie was memorable.

[azurefishnets]

Candy Hearts Ex(change) Letter 2023

Hello friend!

As on AO3, I'm AzureFishnets and thank you for joining me in this exchange, despite the loss of Chocobox for this year. I think it's going to be fun and I am happy with art or writing or any other medium you want to try. All my prompts are listed in no particular order and I would love any of them, or, indeed, anything using these tags that doesn’t match my prompts. I just hope you find something that speaks to you!

I think it's worth noting that I love these weirdo & pairings with all my heart; I have a few shippy prompts in here but mostly I love to see people just...being human with each other, whether in art or fiction. I don't need movie posters or wild poses for it to be something that will make me so happy in art, and don't be afraid to explore weird, unplotty situations in fiction! I can handle that and will enjoy whatever you gift me with great pleasure.

LIKES:

worldbuilding (I love prompts where it’s like, pick a character and toss them in a location and see what happens)

sensory details (textures and smells especially)

unusual interactions (anything from slice of life to full adventure!)

puns and wordplay

cool symbolism & unexpected parallels

relationship level ups, whether that means platonic bonding or friends-to-more, etc

non-mundane AUs (no coffee shop, school, etc

fandom crossovers or fusions (but taken seriously, not cracky unless specifically requested)

missing moments

emotional support/intimacy

OKAY WITH:

any tense

any amount of plot or none

out-of-the-ordinary story structures

any amount of dialogue from none to screenplay

character explorations

characters appearing that aren’t requested as long as it doesn’t go against my DNWs

DNWS:

any kind of consent issues whatsoever

disrespect of the holy & symbol (AKA non-requested romantic relationships)

angst without a happy ending or at least some kind of resolution

infidelity

pandemic stuff

underage relationships, non-canon children

terminal illness

descriptions of bodily fluids and/or gratuitous depictions of bodily damage

things squirming under skin

--PROMPTS--

GHOST TRICK: PHANTOM DETECTIVE

Alma/Cabanela/Jowd (or any /& subset therof) - Always and forever the OT3 of my heart, and I will happily devour anything that develops any facet of their relationship unless it includes an infidelity angle. I love these three together, or doing things with just one of the others, but always with the knowledge that they are a threesome at heart, you know? I'm happy with date nights, case fic, non-mundane AUS...

Cabanela & Lynne - Lynne didn't have the same things driving her to be a detective in this ending so how and when do she and Cabanela connect for the first time?

Cabanela & Pigeon Man - Cabanela has a small requested task for Pigeon Man that isn't directed to the case; Pigeon Man undertakes it because...dammit he's fond of the boy. Grump.

Cabanela & Missile - Missile would like Mister Cabanela to throw the ball very much please. Too bad the ball is a) evidence and b) filthy. Why is his baby's puppy at an open crime scene anyway?

Kamila & Sissel - Sissel chooses how to reveal his powers to an older Kamila

Emma & Jowd - I'm torn between two prompts on this so have both: Emma tries to verify her suspicions of what happened with a call to Prisoner D-99 OR New timeline Emma attempts to schmooze with Jowd at a party, but Jowd is unschmoozable while simultaneously being schmooze incarnate. How does he do that?

Emma & Alma - Did Alma and Emma ever cross paths in the old timeline? What's their fated non-meeting like?

Emma & Cabanela - New timeline Emma has somehow gotten herself into the situation of needing to infiltrate a political party with Sith and Cabanela is her guiding voice via an earpiece (with optional Sissel?)

Cabanela & Jowd & Sissel - I'm just super taken with thoughts of case fic where Cabanela knows the cat's deal but still can't speak to him; bonus points for undercover work where they all have to pretend they don't know each other.

Alma & Pigeon Man - Alma would like to thank the mysterious Pigeon Man for his efforts on Jowd's behalf but she doesn't know what he knows. Or even how much she does.

Lovey-Dove & Pigeon Man - Lovey is a grumpy dove one day and Pigeon Man is somewhat bewildered as to why

Jowd & Kamila - Jowd introduces a small Kamila to roast chicken and is rather bemused by her reaction

Jowd & Yomiel & Sissel - Jowd and Sissel attempt to teach Yomiel how to be an orb. It is difficult for a variety of reasons.

Jowd & Pigeon Man - The first time Jowd has to ask Pigeon Man to consult on a case in the new timeline...

Alma & Sissel - A small adventure for Alma as Sissel loses his body and has to guide her to it...somehow!

LEGEND OF HEROES: TRAILS IN THE SKY

Ries / or & Kevin - I like Ries best when she's being fierce and I like Kevin best when he's taken off guard by that ferocity. Any moment like that please! Free to make as shippy or unshippy as you like.

Olivier & Kloe - I've got a hankering to see royal scheming. Kloe's so sly with her humor but I feel like these two are a better match as friends than it appears.

Lila/Maybelle - I just think they're cute OK. Anytime they can gently and mutually bully each other into spending time doing something restful is good. Or maaaaybe good ol' sickfic.

Celeste & Kloe - You cannot tell me that academic Kloe does not immediately want to grill her not-ancestor for everything she's worth. Celeste, on the other hand, would like to know more about current day Liberl, especially Kloe's relationship with Alicia...

Kloe & Julia - Kloe and Julia go hawking with Sieg as a training and bonding trip

Estelle & Kloe - I love the FC play so much. Any missing moment there would be great! Or moments in Phantasma: mutual comfort, mutual teasing... OR Kloe allowing Estelle to captain the Arseille for five whole minutes just to see what would happen.

Olivier / or & Mueller: For some unknown reason, Olivier /& Mueller are shanghaied to help with the Perzel farm for a day and find some pleasant parallels to Alster. Free to make as shippy or unshippy as you like.

Olivier & Cassius -They have one final interaction at the banquet before Olivier leaves and heads back to Erebonia forever (?) What advice might Olivier ask of Cassius? Or what might he warn Cassius of, given the Black Record revelations from later in the series?

LEGEND OF HEROES: TRAILS TO ZERO/AZURE

Alex Dudley & KeA - KeA has a question of police procedure that none of the SSS are around to answer; who better to ask than one Detective Dudley?

Elie MacDowell & Tio Plato - Elie & Tio have an SSS case to solve on their own

KeA & Lloyd Bannings - KeA asks Lloyd to braid her hair; Lloyd has no idea how to do that but he'll cross this barrier

KeA & Randy Orlando - KeA asks Randy to read to her, early after she comes to stay with the SSS. Randy's the kind of guy who goes all out

KeA & Sergei Lou - KeA goes to Sergei for help organizing a small surprise for the SSS

KeA & Zeit - Zeit sneakily goes to check on KeA while she is the Zero Child

Lloyd Bannings & Alex Dudley - Lloyd and Dudley share stories about Guy

Lloyd Bannings & Elie MacDowell & Tio Plato & Randy Orlando - Missing moment between Zero and Azure where they visit Armorica and end up picking a bouquet of flowers for KeA together

Randy Orlando & Ken & Nana - Randy gets pulled into a game of hide n' seek with the west end kids

Randy Orlando & Tio Plato - Randy tries to card shark Tio and she sweeps him handily, but he's sharper than she gives him credit for...

DISCWORLD

Death & Death of Rats - There is a small kerfuffle over jurisdiction when both of them show up for an opossom...

Binky & Death - Death has conflicted responses when a horse girl dies and has THOUGHTS on how well Binky is being treated

Death of Rats & Mustrum Ridcully - Ridcully, for whatever reason, decides it is time for the Rite of AshkEente once again, but who has time for the old fashioned ways? 2 ccs of mouse blood later, he sure has summoned a Death all right...

Cheery Littlebottom & Detritus - Detritus brings Cheery some parts of his old thinking helmet in hopes she can repair it

BATEN KAITOS: ETERNAL WINGS & THE LOST OCEAN

Almarde & Lyude - Lyude finds a moment to honor Almarde in the new world with some music

Mizuti & Xelha - Xelha teaches Mizuti to ice skate

White Dragon & Xelha - Xelha takes a ride on the White Dragon to explore her new world and have a bonding moment

LUNAR

Althena & Lucia - The moment they realized one would have to stay on the Blue Star and one would have to go

Leo & Mystere - A moment of contemplation where Leo looks at his alternate life and yearns to be that free

Leo | Mystere & Mauri - I would be most amused by Mauri & Mystere shenanigans. Or even Mauri taking on Mystere's mantle!

Luna Noa & Nall - Luna sings Nall one last song...

Nall & Quark - Nall wants to learn more about Quark, so he decides to live his cave for a time

Alex Noa & Nall - Alex visits Nall in Quark's cave, where he discovers that Nall does not really enjoy cave life

Nall & Ruby - Nall informs Ruby about the secret of Dragon Diamonds...and that they can buy MANY fish

FINAL FANTASY VI

Terra & Mog - Terra and Mog dance together on the airship deck in a moment of silliness

Edgar & Sabin & Chocobos - The tween twins steal some chocobos from the royal guards and take a joyride

Celes Chere & Relm Arrowny - Big city Celes and small town girl Relm have a chat about their respective lives pre-WoR

Celes Chere & Chocobos - Celes's first chocobo ride was in the green forests near Maranda... what a difference in the WoR, now that they're being chased by a dinosaur?!

Cyan Garamonde & Strago Magus -Cyan asks Strago how he dealt with his grief after his daughter died

Cyan Garamonde & Relm Arrowny - Cyan is not reminded of his son by Relm. Not at all. But... she's certainly an interesting young girl, isn't she...perhaps she'd like some flowers to paint?

Celes & Sabin - I'm always always soft for comfort between the two of them on the Serpent Trench

CHAINED ECHOES

Lenne & Victor - Post-game Lenne commissions Victor to write Glenn's last story

Lenne & Magnolia - Two queens commiserate over the loss of their kingdoms, as well their other mutual loss

Glenn & Victor - Any exploration of their shared chained echo, OR Victor finds Glenn's latest incarnation one last time

Ba'Thraz & Victor - How do these two continue to build on their shared fate as continuers of the Heroes of Leondar's legacy?

Thank you for making it all the way to the end! I hope something here spoke to you. Happy crafting! I can't wait!

[veryimportantsparkles]

Popka Diggle Gijinka Master Thesis lol

I’m (slowly) making my way through Digimon Cybersleuth and I want to do gijinkas for my diggles the way I do for my popkas.  But Digimon are very emphatically NOT Pokemon so it feels wrong to treat them in the same way.

Pokemon:

1. Pokemon have a maximum of 3 stages, with a few exceptions for form changes and even those usually are one per species.  Evolution only goes forwards and never backwards.

- I give every individual a design for every stage, and while they get a slight bump in age with each evolution they also age naturally.

- Example: Pikachu stays unevolved for a long time it gets child and adult Pikachu stages.  Or, if I evolved it right after I caught it, it might get child Pikachu and child Raichu stages.  Or, if I want to interpret a Pikachu as being fully grown when I catch it, it just starts as adult Pikachu and maybe someday gets a middle-aged Pikachu/Raichu stage.  If I caught it wild, I ignore the Pichu stage entirely because I didn’t know them in that form yet.

- Normal form changes are usually annoying to switch between so I pick one and stick to it.  Mega Evolution and Gigantamax forms are temporary power up buffs, like going Super Saiyan.

2. Pokemon have set genders, mostly.

- I interpret Pokemon gender as self-reported.  “I caught this rat and it told me it’s a girl, so her stat sheet has a female symbol.  I am not questioning her.”

- Genderless Pokemon just lean towards whatever design concept I come up with that seems to suit them.

- I always thought of legendaries as only being ‘genderless’ in the sense that we can’t comprehend them, not that they’re definitively agender.  I also don’t make legendary gijinkas most of the time, so I don’t have to think about it.

3. Pokemon live in a natural world, as animals.  They don’t know they’re in a video game.

- I as the ~Player Character~ am a real human who has inserted myself into a unique instance of this pocket dimension that behaves like a ‘real’ environment.  The Pokemon I catch are able to comprehend a little of that when they meet me, but they don’t ever truly understand it.  (Exceptions for Pokemon that I want to be particularly smart characters, like my favorite Gardevoir)

- Every instance of the Pokemon world has a limited scope with an unchangeable beginning and a designated destination.  Once I clear the championship I have opened that save file to connect to the greater ‘Megan owns this cartridge’ multiverse, which in turn connects to the ‘Megan’s stupid OCs’ universe.

- I have not played the Pokemon games that actually deal with alternate dimensions (ORAS, SuMo/USUM, whatever is going on in Legends: Arceus, etc) so I don’t have to deal with it yet.

- Because the Pokemon world is relatively ‘normal’ the gijinka forms are also relatively ‘normal.’  I usually aim to make them look like they could be Pokemon trainers themed after their favorite Pokemon.  They can have weird hair colors but are still mundane humans.

Digimon:

1. Digimon have a near-limitless evolution tree and they can go up OR down.  There are six stages of power, but Digimon can be ‘born’ at max power in the right circumstances, just as easily as being born from eggs.

- They don’t have to devolve into the same species they initially evolved from???

- There are ‘types’ (virus vaccine data), elements, and some vague evolutionary groupings (dragons mostly turn into dragons) but even these will change around a lot.  The evolution tree often crisscrosses between types.  Bugs and plants seem to be the same group sometimes.

- In some games Digimon reincarnate.  I don’t think they do in Cybersleuth but I am not that far into the game yet.

- I know I might someday have to think about armor eggs, fusions, human spirits, and whatever other evolution methods Digimon can have, but I’ll tackle that when I get to it.

2. Digimon canonically have no genders and no concept of gender, except when they kinda do, but not really.

- No further notes, they just don’t care

3. Digimon live in a multiverse by default.  At its most simplified, the Digital World is a dimension with connections to the real world.  At a more detailed look, it’s ??? ??? ??? ?!?  Digimon believe themselves to be real but not ‘natural’ or ‘animals.’

- I’m not far enough into Cybersleuth to know yet but I think that even the ‘real’ world in that game is going to be outed as a virtual world.  Don’t spoil it for me tho.

- Multiple ‘real’ worlds connect to a Digital World, or to multiple Digital Worlds, and there may be other Digital un-Worlds or some fucking shit.  Witch dimensions?  Cthulhu ocean dimensions?  Fucking...whatever.  Who knows.

- Cybersleuth has a new game+ so even the defined beginning and end of the story mode are not solid barriers.  On the other hand, it’s a story heavy game so your path is somewhat linear.

Currently I’ve got a notepad file where each of my individual diggles’ evolution path is being saved as a list.  So my ideas and options might change as I learn more about the Cybersleuth plot, but right now my ideas are:

1. Every individual Digimon has a ‘base form’ that is a gestalt gijinka of all the forms it has been through, and can do powerup transformations (either a Super Saiyan style bulk up, or a Sailor Scout style costume change) into their preferred evolutions.  They are ascended superhumans who hold themselves separate from normal people.

2. Every individual Digimon gains a HUMAN form designed to suit their personality.  Probably would look similar to the ‘combo of every form’ gijinka for option #1.  They spirit evolve Frontier-style into their choice of several normal Digimon forms.  They are pinocchios, who have earned a new life as real humans and live as normal people.

3. Lean in hard to the ‘digital’ aspect.  Every individual Digimon gains a human/gestalt gijinka AVATAR that remains digital.  They’re still Digimon in every way but they get a cute hologram that can walk around in the real world and talk to people.  The main difference here is that I’d be making humanoid designs with more robot features.  Give ‘em weird eyes and hovering parts instead of just normal-passing humans.

4. Lock every individual Digimon into a final form and that’s the only form they get a gijinka for.  It’s viable to build a living dex in Cybersleuth so I could just have a gijinka for every available species.

Once I decide on how to go forward, THEN I get to decide on how the Digimon connect to my personal OC universe, which is also where my Pokemon are supposed to go.  Do they live together?  Do they get along?  Do I need to construct a separate island to stick the Digimon on so they don’t disrupt Pokemon society?  Do I have to spawn a whole digital pocket dimension and tether it to my regular OC verse?

Or I could just...not do any of this shit and just play video games.  But that’s less fun.

If somehow you made it to the end of this post and actually have opinions please share them.  You are also free to steal any of my general worldbuilding concepts for your own video game monster journeys.  Let us philosophize together.

[funkii4-blog]

Some trans!Kyoya headcanons of mine for y'all

Keep in mind you don't have to agree on or adopt these, these are just my personal takes on the concept. And there may be some inaccuracies about the whole transmasc thing because I myself am cisfem and don't know a lot about the experience.

He was lucky enough to begin T at an earlier age (14-15, I hc him to be 15 in Fusion) so his voice is a tiny bit deeper already by Fusion. It does still remain relatively high throughout the series, though.

For a large part of the series, no one knows about it but him; not even Benkei. 

However, Madoka accidentally finds out following the early events in Fusion ep.11 when Doji interrupts the end of his battle with Gingka. I really like to think they end up keeping the secret between themselves for a while and they become close friends behind the scenes over this (and it’s adorable).

The initial detail that pulled me into this headcanon upon my rewatch was that aside from that weird ass fantasy frame from Fury (you know the one), which isn't even canon, he isn't shown bare-chested at all that I can remember. He is seen without a shirt on in Fusion ep.11, but is bandaged up at the chest.

(Yes, I do know that does not apply to the manga, I’m specifically referring to the anime for this.)

I noticed that his outfit in Fury is a lot tighter than his initial Fusion/Masters outfit, so I imagine he got his top surgery somewhere between seasons two and three and rocks the tighter outfit since he no longer needs to bind by this point.

In the first two seasons, he binds while battling and around a lot of other people but in more casual environments he does not.

One thing I immediately picked up on was his absolute open hatred for physical affection. While this was most likely a trauma response if anything at all, it could also have been due to risk of further dysphoria; but again I haven't dealt with the transmasc experience head-on so I’m not one to talk.

[love-takes-work]

Steven Universe: End of an Era: Outline & Review

I wrote this review in October but never got around to posting it here

Steven Universe: End of an Era is far more than an art book–it’s also a collection of behind-the-scenes material, stories about the experience of working on the show, planning documents and associated background info, and both older versions of developed concepts AND concepts that never made it into the show. It's a huge fusion of all those elements, and it's definitely an experience!

Some low-quality images are included with my review just to give you an idea of what’s there--it’s not a good substitute for getting your own copy, but here’s a tour!

Like the previous concept art book, Art and Origins, I'll be giving you a description of the structure and overview, while also collecting notable information for fans. Obviously just about everything is "notable" once again, but I'll aim for unique insight or perspective on the main source material, keeping the screaming about everything new to a minimum so you can also enjoy something for yourself if you pick it up. My low-quality photos should prevent people from feeling like I'm reproducing the book in any capacity. Please grab one while you can and have your own experience!

[SU Book and Comic Reviews]

OVERVIEW

The book is titled "End of an Era" for a couple reasons--obviously because it is released after the show has wrapped, but also because Gem history recently ended its "Era 2" and began Era 3--an age of prosperity and peace. The author--the person in charge of adapting all of this information into this slick, readable package--is Chris McDonnell, whose work was previously applied on the Art and Origins book.

The foreword is by N.K. Jemisin, a well-known science fiction author who's a huge fan of the show (and wrote a really excellent series that also has a weird geological connection, by the way).

And the cover, like its predecessor, is shiny and decorated with a beach scene featuring minimalistic characters--this time it's the Gems at night in front of the Temple, and on the back cover is a big pink leg ship in a cross-legged pose.

The interior covers are decorated with tons of amazing sketches of Steven and Connie on the front, and a bunch of Gem sketches on the back. Every interior page that most would leave blank is highlighted with some kind of sketch art or character exercise--it's so much to look at, so much to absorb.

The book is dedicated "For Eddie."

Its organization is different from the previous book in that it shares applicable work in chunks associated with groups of episodes rather than pertaining to different aspects of building the show.

FOREWORD

N.K. Jemisin gives us such a great introduction to the book--apparently understanding very well that the audience of this book is full of animation enthusiasts and adult fans more than it is full of kids, and explaining that bewildering journey some adults had from blowing this show off as a silly kid thing to falling in love with it hard and fast.

The important thing, Jemisin says, is being able to trust a storyteller with your heart. And it was clear to her that Rebecca Sugar knew what she was talking about and was saying important things about identity and the radical power that comes with accepting it and demanding respect.

Important also is how we handle heroes and who gets to be one in fantasy. That's part of the reason Steven Universe speaks to so many--because we see ourselves here, and know stories can be about us. Acknowledging the power we all have to MAKE THINGS BETTER with what we fight for is so important--especially if we're going to speaking to the next generation about it.

Highlighting Rose Quartz as a "born leader" who failed and Steven as a relatable scamp who did what she couldn't, Jemisin asserts that we can save the world.

1. END OF AN ERA

We start with an appeal to the audience to think about identity and the formative parts of our childhood--and how different it is if who you are and who you become is restricted, mocked, erased, or Not Allowed. Most people, if not ALL people, can relate to this, but for those of us with a special relationship with Steven Universe because of queer identity, this hits hard.

But it doesn't have to be anything grand to be something we respect--this show's authenticity comes largely from how personal everything is, drawn from real-life experiences and incidental truths from each artist's perspective, leaning hard on childhood and formative experiences.

Rebecca Sugar offers some interview bits to discuss writing philosophy and why "writing female characters" was difficult for a nonbinary person who'd been socialized as a girl and a woman. Rebecca has spoken before about how frustrating it is that marketing for cartoons was SO gendered when she was growing up (and to some extent still is).

The Gems in the story are all "she/her," but on their planet they're defined by their work, not by emotion or relationships (unlike women in our society), so having them be socialized opposite to how she was and be able to claim those emotions through choice and NOT as just an expectation "as women" was revolutionary. Rebecca wants her show to tell all marginalized people that they don't deserve to be in the margins.

Weighing in on other aspects of the show were Ian Jones-Quartey, Joe Johnston, and Miki Brewster. Ian describes feeling like at first doing SU was a thrill ride that meant they'd finally get to do all the cool stuff, but it quickly became a responsibility that he took very seriously--the need to tell a good story now that he'd been given a megaphone.

Promotional art, planning documents, character sketches, and concept art from the lighthearted to the stone serious is included, along with some very cool (sort of famous) timeline charts that track major characters' developments. It's emphasized by Rebecca that the developmental materials ARE NOT CANON (and especially are not MORE canon) compared the final show.

There are concept sketches alongside final art for Aquamarine and Topaz in "Wanted" (with Topaz labeled "Imperial Topaz"), the Zircons in "The Trial," Blue and Yellow Diamond, and the Off Colors (including Pink Lars).

And there's also a spread of "the two sides of Steven's life: Gem Magic and Rock N Roll" featuring Sadie Killer and the Suspects (referred to as "Buck's band")--as well as a cool "Crew Cameos" key and some concepts for short-haired Connie.

And then there's some more "finished" art with stills alongside concepts, including some background art, revision, and really cool "fairytale" art from some of the shadowplay storytelling bits. We get "Lars of the Stars," "Jungle Moon," and "Can't Go Back."

2. THE BEGINNING OF THE END: A SINGLE PALE ROSE

In discussing the huge reveals and Gem mysteries in the show, the pacing is examined, and emphasis is put on the intended "slow burn." One of the most difficult things in the show was to strategize so that every piece that was needed to support another piece in the future was placed properly to seed what it was supposed to.

Some of the ideas they developed were more of a group effort and were fit together collaboratively (like Amethyst's being younger than the other Gems and Jasper being from Earth), while others were intended from the beginning based on Rebecca's vision (the fundamental idea of Pink Diamond's true identity, for instance, as well as Obsidian's design and sword and our Pearl not being Pink's first).

The writing process gets a great deep dive here, including fun tidbits like how the orb in the moon base was inserted by Joe Johnston and they literally had no idea what it was for when they wrote the episode. They repurposed it when they figured out what they needed.

Rebecca credits her detailed timelines for helping keep the order straight, and discusses how other artists are sometimes flabbergasted that a storyboard-driven show can have this much detail and continuity and yet not get wrecked by the free non-scripted boarding process. But Rebecca and the Crew valued that approach and loved the way fresh eyes would handle an idea, making it come back alive, entertaining, vivid.

Several Crew members weigh in on the writing process. Lauren Hecht refers to making lots of incorrect guesses despite being on the inside. Joe Johnston recalled getting briefed on his first day and getting so excited to start working on this massive project.

Miki Brewster remembered being told Rose Quartz is Pink Diamond and being shocked--and also confused about why Ruby and Sapphire would need to be married if they're already basically married. Drew Green talks about being brought in late and getting to watch unaired episodes and a rough of the movie while eating cereal.

Ian Jones-Quartey complains about Pink Diamond's real jester-like form being leaked to the internet through a Hot Topic shirt. Rebecca piggybacks on that and says it was upsetting that the wedding was leaked because of toy fair keychains featuring Ruby and Sapphire in wedding attire. They'd always be worried about leaks, and sometimes Rebecca struggled not to talk about the reality of Pink Diamond before the reveal because she knew it would make so much more sense once the truth was out. And everything associated with Rose makes more sense once you know she's Pink--especially what happened with Bismuth, considering what we know about how Pink Diamond has a habit of treating anyone who no longer serves her interests.

When it comes to visual cues, Rebecca also talks about intentional designs to create a feeling of unity between concepts, like the flower shapes on Pink Diamond's palanquin lining up with the poofs of Steven's hair and the star imagery of the series. Steven Sugar and Mary Nash discuss how the Human Zoo incorporated this imagery, trying to look like Homeworld with a Pink Diamond touch.

Steven Sugar, as a game nerd, liked to throw in video game references from old and modern stuff to feel like he's inserting what he's enjoying and who he is from moment to moment, while Mary Nash, who related to Sadie as a basement-dwelling young person with cult interests, liked to include stuff from MST3K and cult movies. Pearl's hand gestures get a spotlight too--her reflex to cover her mouth when Pink Diamond was being discussed was analyzed here.

A "Top Secret Visual Timeline" from 2016 is included which tells us some Diamond history. It has an earlier version of Pink Pearl's fate and does not include Spinel since the movie hadn't been greenlit. The timeline includes the birth of the Diamonds, the emergence and major story beats for each major character, and some philosophy of the driving force behind each.

We're told that Pink Diamond straightened up, behavior-wise, after she lost her first Pearl, and that Yellow and Blue wanted to give her a planet but White only agreed to it to prove she would fail at managing a colony. Pearl, meanwhile, is so confused to have a Diamond who keeps asking her what she thinks when she doesn't believe she should have opinions.

And when Pink moonlighted as Rose to start conflict, she found herself leading an army to fight Pink's troops--then Yellow's, and eventually Blue's too. Lapis is said to be waiting for the conflict to end on Earth so she can terraform, but she gets trapped instead.

Pearl's love story with Rose is described as "an endless honeymoon" where she's free to love her, while Rose's is more like "I'm now the head of the family and I'm going to give everyone what they never had, so everyone is super special!"

Jasper is described as "adopted" into Yellow's army as the only successful Beta Quartz. And White Diamond knew that Pink Diamond was not dead--she thought she was just running away from home like a brat and would eventually be back.

3. THE HEART OF THE CRYSTAL GEMS

Now we discuss Rose Quartz--the original Pink Diamond. How she was selfish and selfless, never enough and always too much, and how Greg was her first partner who "challenged her" to be an equal. Rebecca describes Rose as being delighted by the idea that both she and Greg reinvented themselves, but when that leads her to want to share her past, Greg isn't interested--he only wants to know who she is now, and doesn't consider the old her to be her.

Rebecca likes Carl Jung's concept of "enantiodromia," which is the idea that extremes lead to their extreme opposite. This is demonstrated in all of the Diamonds. This narrative is interspersed with drawings of Greg and Rose being cute.

But another "heart" of the Crystal Gems is its relationships--particularly, Garnet, the fairy tale romance embodied. More psychological theories are discussed with regard to differentiation in a relationship making the relationship stronger, and how they made sure that happened for Garnet during the appropriate arc. Rebecca has struggled with the idea that she, like Ruby, went straight from a "family" group to a living-with-others situation and never lived by herself. But she also learned that you can in fact develop as a person in the context of a relationship--you don't have to be alone to do it. Ruby learned that too, and chose on her own terms to be with Sapphire.

The wedding made so much sense to Rebecca and the crew that they couldn't imagine a wholesome couple like Ruby and Sapphire not having a wedding episode. They wanted it for years: The wedding concepts always included the tuxedo for Sapphire and the wedding dress for Ruby.

But pushback (often blamed on the conservative standards of the international market) led to negotiations trying to keep Ruby and Sapphire's relationship from being explicit. Rebecca and the Crew were very tired of this double standard, and they were especially irritated by attempts to claim a wedding wouldn't be well received by a core demographic or wouldn't make sense for Steven's character. But other shows had done weddings and Steven had been established to love weddings already.

Rebecca kept adding more elements to the wedding episode to answer all the concerns, but she didn't want to back down from explicit marriage between these characters. They deserved it. And the audience deserved to see this as wholesome, like any other cartoon wedding. Eventually they got their way and were allowed to have the wedding. But the ordered episodes were also coming to a close without promise of more, so Rebecca had to request more episodes to be able to wrap up the storyline!

And of course, there is Steven, the true heart of the team. A very interesting aside discusses Garnet's leadership and how the network pushed the Crewniverse to acknowledge Steven as the leader. This was successfully resisted throughout as well--because Garnet is the leader (unless she's incapacitated, of course). It's fantastic that this concept was preserved because too often a young male chosen one is elevated above people with more experience and knowledge because of that chosen one tradition, so it's really nice to have a show acknowledge that team leadership is more appropriate for an adult.

4. ERA 3

Beginning with a discussion of the Diamonds, this chapter deconstructs the dysfunctional "family" of the Diamonds (who are said to be based on tropes about evil stepmothers and stepsisters), with the thread of dysfunction originating with White Diamond.

Yellow is physical, Blue is emotional, White is judgmental, and Pink is impulsive. Some philosophy on why Pink is naturally manipulative and why she clashes so much with White is offered.

White believes her identity is to be imposed on all because she is the pinnacle of what should be--and therefore, she has the right to make decisions and statements about and on behalf of everyone. But her secret is that she can't do what the others do--act or feel or want. In trying to be everyone, she is no one.

And this becomes very important when she confronts Steven about his identity and turns out to be wrong. The triumph of Steven being totally, fully himself is a beautiful, simple revelation that's described as far more satisfying than the theories about Pink living inside him or Rose returning from his Gem.

Also discussed is Gem architecture. A lot went into this idea, and Steven Sugar weighs in to say he had to think of what it would mean for a world to have buildings but serve no human needs. That's why it's mostly focused on transport and storage. Even the broken planet is meant to indicate a place stripped for its resources, and everything serves a function that is meant to avoid looking like the human equivalents.

And there's another layer, too: a difference between Era 1 and Era 2. Era 2 became more functional to hide Era 1's broken bits, and older Homeworld buildings still have some "ornate and ancient" feel to them. And the fact that props, tools, and even walls and doors could be living was taken from a concept Rebecca thought was horrible from old Busby Berkeley movies, where people were inanimate objects and it was portrayed as lovely. Tom Herpich helped conceptualize these living objects.

Steven dealing with "princess tropes" is discussed here too. The Pebbles (worked on with Pendleton Ward) were sort of his Cinderella's mice, and all the locked-in-a-tower, having supportive tiny friends help you, getting princess clothes made, attending a ball, having to mind your manners stuff was intentionally related to fairy tales.

The point of doing that (besides fun) was to easily invoke the feeling that Steven was being made to be someone he's not, and that he was being treated like THIS is who he really is when it isn't. White Diamond as the "evil stepmother" is discussed with regard to her detailed features and massive scale. They generally didn't put fingernails and eyelashes on characters (especially not to indicate that they were women or girls!), but they decided White would get all of these feminine markers for tradition's sake.

Rebecca also invokes several other references that were included and describes the princess tropes as "chipping away at his integrity" setting him up for the final challenge with White.

There is again tons of concept art: Homeworld architecture, Pebbles, Diamond diagrams, background Jades and Lemon Jade Fusion, Comby, Diamond extraction chambers, and White Diamond.

5. CHANGE YOUR MIND

Now we finally begin to discuss Steven's identity. The "Perfect Steven," discussed in several interviews before this book's release, was an idea back in 2013; the "ultimate Steven," beefed up and shonen-looking, was far from perfect because OUR Steven is perfect, while this alpha hero Steven idea (used in Steven Universe Future) didn't belong being idolized in such a show.

They thought about having Steven fall apart into organic half and Gem half early in the show (during "Giant Woman" after a successful fusion and unfusion, even!), but they didn't try the concept until the last episode. They didn't want the "Pink" Steven to be portrayed as "better" even though he would be more powerful, so they decided he isn't whole without his organic self and he's just as much of a shell as the organic half. They absolutely did not want any ending that required Rose to be inside him or waiting to come back. But the debates were fierce--what DOES it mean to have Rose's Gem?

Ian Jones-Quartey brings in an anecdote about his own family to emphasize some of the immigrant themes that inspired aspects of the show. He had a brother who reinvented himself elsewhere away from family without resolving issues, and all the ramifications of that were explored in the show through Rose Quartz. (He is careful to say he doesn't think his immigrant experience is like being from another planet!) But he did say you can hurt your old family even if they were toxic or didn't know the real you, and you can hurt your new family by hiding your past. The Pizza family of course was also a more direct reference to Ian's Ghanaian family.

In talking about the new Fusions from this episode, Sunstone is largely described by Miki, who also got to board the Sunstone section. Sunstone was described as a cool 1990s character and the evolution just continued into making them a fourth-wall-breaking PSA dispenser. Obsidian is also discussed, with their sword being an early concept. Steven Sugar said they totally knew it would be forged in action. Obsidian being similar to the Temple design is of course another very early detail.

The story of how James Baxter got involved with one of the final scenes (Organic Steven and Pink Steven fusing in front of White Diamond) was shared. His family was fans of the show and Rebecca Sugar took the time to drive to a birthday party for his daughter and give her a drawing. He then owed her a favor, and this was it.

Concept art is again included, this time with sample boards, promo images, a Diamond fight concept, costume design changes for the Gems, new Fusions, the so-called "Mega Diamond" ship conglomerate, some scenes from the White Diamond confrontation, Pink Steven, multiple pages of James Baxter animation, corrupted Gems and their healed selves, and photos from the "Change Your Mind" premiere and some awards. The show has won one design-related Emmy, a Peabody Award, and a GLAAD award.

6. STEVEN UNIVERSE FUTURE

The book doesn't cover the movie because it got its own book, but dives right into Future. Ian Jones-Quartey emphasizes that the movie and Future are separate and different from the original show, which ENDED. After all, after that, Steven has a neck!

Some new names are invoked now: new writers Kate Tsang, Jack Pendarvis, and Taneka Stotts. They were excited to have Steven make HIS OWN mistakes instead of trying to clean up someone else's! Now, instead of doing the usual shonen anime thing and having the final battle be a big physical rumble, Steven has to make peace with himself and take an active role in coping with what all the fighting has done to him and what effect it's had on who he is (and who he wants to be). There is no sudden "I love myself!" answer, either. It's always a process.

Drew Green and Maya Petersen, who came on board as storyboarders officially in Future, also weighed in on writing for a "mature" show, how to deal with Steven being a "moral compass" while being sort of unreliable, and what they learned as Crew that they didn't know as fans. Drew didn't know Garnet never asks questions. Jack didn't realize the show never deviated from Steven's point of view. Taneka was nervous but excited to collaborate. Kate was worried about how established the show was and what to do as a new writer to contribute appropriately.

Maya was on the old Crew but not as a storyboarder, so felt like some of the "old" ideas ended up not being appropriate for the "new" Future in an embarrassing way--and dreaded the idea of dealing with Steven's emotional problems when they were similar to stuff she'd been through. She also was personally behind the idea of Steven wanting to dump his problems by becoming Stevonnie, and got to work with Etienne Guignard on inventing the Pearl creation backstory with Volleyball.

There's some discussion of "depression hobbies," stress, and the show's pacing. And they say Etienne was entertaining at pitches. There's even some discussion of how Greg is taken off a bit of a pedestal because his terrible restrictive life in the suburbs sounded wholesome to Steven and Greg presented it negatively.

And then there is some information about how the Crew felt behind the scenes due to fan reactions and negative press. Ian discusses feeling offended when the Black characters are described as bad examples, as if their cartoonized but realistic-in-context features are automatically caricatures.

Rebecca Sugar felt beaten down by some of these narratives and began to access mental health services, inspiring some of the content of "Mindful Education." A long reflection from Rebecca discusses people's infighting about her show and what she had a responsibility to show or not show in the story. She learned a lot about bullying from Cartoon Network's anti-bullying program and learned that bullies thrive on whatever attention you give them--unless it is made clear to them by a peer group that no one is impressed by their cruel actions. Also, not all negative feedback is bullying. Constructive criticism is different. Self-awareness can help you avoid internalizing what bullies might do or say to you.

Segueing from the discussion of how people are affected by and connect with the show, we then discuss how they chose as a team what should be covered as the show came to a close. They didn't have time to do quite a few stories they wanted time for, like a Rhodonite story, a Lars side story, and Diamond "prehistory" and religion; all of it was put aside for the main arc with Steven.

They thought people would find those stories about Homeworld and Off Color history very interesting, but so much of the show had been about Steven's Gem adventures, so keeping him mostly on Earth seemed appropriate. The acknowledgment of his battle damage, of his trauma, was necessary and real, and helpful in an important way to the core audience.

Oh, and there was some stuff about a cheeseburger tree. Don't ask.

In discussing the "reverse escapism" of the original show (Gem aliens are intrigued by everyday human culture, and realism is necessary), Rebecca says her views have changed on escapism and gets why some people want a soothing feel-better show. She acknowledged also that her own escapist dreams-come-true fulfilled in the show didn't feel like escapism because they were givens to the majority of mainstream culture, but were never guaranteed to marginalized people.

Rebecca ties in her several-times-told story about "Love Like You" and how the middle bit was when she didn't feel she was worth looking up to, and the realizations she had to tie the beginning to the end. Feeling like someone will like you less if they know you more is terrible. So sometimes a show like this can be helpful in telling people that they belong when their fantasies are things like "I want to be loved" and "I want to know I exist."

In Future, Steven has to connect to who he is and love that person--and understand that person enough to finally feel that even if he's not fixing their problems or saving their world right this second, Steven deserves his family's love and support, and they WANT to give it to him.

There's a huge amount of supplemental material in this section so there's no way I could name it all. The charts for Future's timeline are pretty straightforward, though a few episodes like "A Very Special Episode," "Why So Blue," "In Dreams," and "Bismuth Casual" aren't specifically represented and a couple are in a different order ("Prickly Pair" was conceived as happening after "Fragments" and "Homeworld Bound").

Steven feeling like a monster, having intrusive thoughts, having not forgiven the Diamonds, and getting help/moving on--it's all there.

We have keys, color scripts, and boards for the new opening and some various backgrounds and storyboard art from episodes. Model sheets for Shep, Nice Lapis and Mean Lapis, Jasper, Steven Tag Gems, Pink Steven Powers, Monster Steven. New house concepts, Era 3 Homeworld concept art for the Diamond environments, and background art for the Reef.

New Connie and Greg designs. Concepts for Mega Pearl, the Rose Quartzes, Bluebird, and Morganite (who didn't get used). And there are some photos from recording and the conference room. There are even some extras from "Crossover Nexus," the crossover with OK K.O.!--including an unused cut scene that included Ruby and Sapphire fighting. The rest of the book is a bunch of adorable Crewniverse art--extras, blog drawings, promos, and gifts to each other.

NOTABLE

1.

The first timeline chart in the book features a cool sketch of the original Off Colors, which at the time this planning document was drafted included unused Off Colors Flint and Chert.

We knew of their existence already because of an episode of the podcast, but these two unexpectedly appeared as incidental characters in the Steven Universe Future episode "Homeworld Bound," identified only in the credits. Sad to think that instead of banding with the Off Colors, these two were probably shattered for their crime (being Quartzes who don't want to fight) and that's why we see them being repaired in this episode. Later, there's some brainstorming for types of Off Colors and "a Ruby that wants to wear limb enhancers" is mentioned as well.

2. 

It looks like there was also originally more juice to the story of tracking down the events of the war culminating in Pink Diamond's assassination.

One of the timelines talks about Steven thinking it makes sense that Pearl can't talk about her involvement because she might have been a double agent, explaining why Rose Quartz always knew what Pink Diamond was doing. It seems like that bit was supposed to be included in Garnet's version of the story she believed in "Your Mother and Mine." Seems like they originally conceived Garnet's story to inspire the Off Colors to become pirates and freedom fighters, though in the show's canon this storytelling happened after Lars had already reinvented himself the way he did.

Sadie was also supposed to be sending letters to Lars via Steven, which is funny since the "Letters to Lars" episode is just a montage Steven letter. And of course it's specified that Steven was supposed to get Pink Diamond flashbacks by going to the Palace on Homeworld.

3. 

The second chart in the book makes references to Sadie's reinvention of herself as a parallel to Lars, Greg, and Pink Diamond all doing the same thing, and how positive it is to embrace such a thing--a version of yourself that YOU create.

I love that Yellow Diamond's arm ship arm-wrestling the Cluster was always part of the plan.

There's some more explicit direction to have Connie help Steven understand the Diamonds as "strict parents," and a lot more emphasis on everyone realizing Rose had been inspired by THEM rather than them all following her.

White Diamond is presented here as if she thinks of Pink Diamond as a "daughter" (whom she now understands she has "lost"). There are notes on how the Diamonds have a responsibility to their children and should attend to it before just continuing to make more.

4.

One of the concept art images for the Off Colors features Rhodonite crouching by Padparadscha saying "Don't worry, I won't let them hurt you." It's very interesting because she DOES seem to protect Padparadscha in the show, but doesn't seem confident about it in her final version, even though it does seem like she'd be "programmed" to guard aristocratic Gems because of her Ruby and Pearl makeup. Cool.

5.

A "Crew Cameos" spread was included, which is of great interest to some of us who loved seeing the Crew insert themselves into the show. Not every SU Crew person who's been represented in a crowd was there, but this crowd included Amish Kumar, Kat Morris, Amanda Winterstein, Angie Wang, Lamar Abrams, Emily Walus, Mary Nash, Joe Johnston, Christy Cohen, Danny Cragg, Hilary Florido, Danny Hynes, Matt Burnett, Ben Levin, Elle Michalka.

6.

The official national flower of South Korea, Hibiscus syriacus, is the name of Pink Diamond's flower.

7.

One of Steven Sugar's comments about the silhouette difference between humans and Gems points out that humans have ears. This seems to be pretty good confirmation that they are not supposed to have ears, despite that sometimes we'll see ears drawn on them in some frames.

8.

Rose Quartz/Pink Diamond is characterized in this book as "self-hating" in a really interesting way, saying that because she believed she was not capable of compassion, she practically worshiped those who demonstrated that ability and thought they were so much better than her--which is described as "intoxicating" and resulted in others being drawn to her. How interesting is that!

9.

Timelines reveal that early plans for Pink Diamond's first Pearl originally had her getting destroyed by Pink during  a game, and then her destruction was rewritten as a punishment from the Diamonds after Pink Pearl defended Pink Diamond to the other Diamonds. They went back to the idea of her getting hurt by Pink for the final version, though the cracked face and control by White Diamond was not on the agenda until they started writing "Change Your Mind."

10.

The approximate ages of the major characters, based on emergence, are revealed on these timelines. It begins with a cracked-planet-looking graphic depicting four tiny Diamonds emerging at 20,000 years ago. Some suspicious "blacked out" redacting surrounds a long timeline tail that goes back before that, which may mean there are secrets they still don't want to reveal. But the dates go like this:

20,000 years ago: The Diamonds emerge.

11,000 years ago: Pearl is custom-made for Pink Diamond.

8,000 years ago: Sapphire emerges (on Homeworld).

6,000 years ago: Ruby emerges (on a colony).

5,750 years ago: Garnet is formed.

5,600 years ago: Lapis is poofed and put in the mirror.

5,200 years ago: Jasper emerges (on Earth).

5,050 years ago: The Cluster is planted.

5,000 years ago: Amethyst emerges (on Earth).

4,500 years ago: The Crystal Gems found Amethyst.

3,000 years ago: Peridot emerges (on Homeworld).

40 years ago: Pearl found Lapis's mirror at the Galaxy Warp.

And of course we know 14 years ago Steven is born!

11.

Originally the Diamonds were based on a quartet of themes: Love, Fear, Pride, and Sorrow. It got too complicated to keep and it was abandoned, with Pink's identification of "love" being described as "particularly outdated."

12.

Notes on a sketch say that Pearl was inspired to become bold and unashamed because Pink's questions drove her to have opinions, and it's said that Rose "fell in love" with her boldness.

13.

Rebecca tells the story of driving off a ridge and getting stuck in the desert, comparing this to Ruby's tumble during her Wild West adventure and using it as inspiration. She's told this story before but here it is in print. She also included the story about using the flowers from a friend's wedding to put in Ruby's hair.

14.

Rebecca describes having to "fight" notes she was given when it had to do with Ruby and Sapphire's relationship. One she describes as NOT fighting was for a signing card depicting Ruby and Sapphire dancing. It was called "too romantic" and she decided not to worry about it since it wasn't the actual show content.

She was also scolded over her book The Answer because the powers that be expected her to downplay that relationship. She always argued that queer youth deserved these things.

15.

Tom Herpich describes being inspired to name Blue Diamond's comb "Comby" because he was watching the news about Comey getting fired from the FBI. It's also a mineral-related term and I always assumed that reference was intentional, but maybe it's not and this is the only intended significance to Comby's name?

16.

Rainbow Quartz 2.0's design is not discussed, though the other two new Fusions from "Change Your Mind" (Sunstone and Obsidian) were. RQ2 has some sketches included, but no accompanying narrative in the text.

17.

A sheet of corrupted Gems and their healed selves is offered, though it doesn't appear to be final. The obelisk in "Serious Steven" is labeled Albite. The unnamed Worm Monster, Desert Glass, and Watermelon Tourmaline are included. An unnamed birdlike Gem represents the Big Bird monster from "Giant Woman." The crab monster from "Arcade Mania" is labeled Blue Chalcedony. The Tongue Monster is drawn uncorrupted but not named. The Flower Monster from "Back to the Kindergarten" is labeled Grossular Diopside or Titanite. The invisible monster from "Island Adventure" is labeled Moonstone. The Lighthouse Gem is labeled White Topaz. A form for Larimar that was used in "Change Your Mind" but changed in Future is there. The Slinker is listed as Chrysocolla. And the Crab Monster is listed as Aventurine.

On the next page, this is changed to Bixbite (as it was in Steven Universe Future), and we then also have Lace Amethyst, Blue Lace Agate, Crazy Lace Agate (Fusion), Ocean Jasper, the Mother Centipeetle Nephrite (Facet 413 Cabochon 12) and three other Nephrites, Angel Aura Quartz, a hooded Jasper, Zebra Jasper, Biggs Jasper, Watermelon Tourmaline (labeled as Fusion of Gem * Onion--huh?), Snowflake Obsidian, "Little" Larimar, and Orange Spodumene (who was the Worm).

18.

The Rhodonite side story would have been about the love story of a Ruby and a Pearl working for Morganite. Images of Morganite and her servants, unfused, are in the book. We do not get this additional information, but Rebecca said in a panel shortly before the book's release that Rhodonite's story would have been about finding out that she had been Rejuvenated 17 times because her components kept falling in love and needing to be reset.

19.

Referring to the Diamonds on one of the charts, Steven's perspective is "I can't believe I helped these" and then there's a censor bar. Welp.

20.

Some included art by Hilary Florido features Kevin with a souped-up Koala Princess car and another where Kevin is staring at himself in the mirror in front of an altar to himself.

21.

Rebecca's sweater collection is included in the Crew art.

[SU Book and Comic Reviews]