#There's several other things I need to pin down about the lore I want to follow and everything else but it's so nice to have a new sona

[ashwii]

Celestial AU FAQ

Usually I prefer pinning my favorite artworks to the top of my profile, but over the last couple weeks I've gotten MANY repeat questions about my rottmnt celestial AU. I never mind answering questions, but I want to limit how many asks I answer to keep everyone else's dashboard's in mind [i.e. I don't want to clog up other people's tumblr with several asks that have been answered in the past.]

Below is a list of general frequently asked questions regarding my celestial au. Even more detailed information and questions can be found in the "#celestialFAQ" tag on my blog.

What is the Celestial AU?

It's a ROTTMNT au where Leo, Donnie, Raph, and Mikey embody celetial bodies. Leo embodies the stars, Donnie embodies the Moon, Raph embodies the Sun, and Mikey embodies the comets.

Can you tell us more about what they are?

Leo is the stars — he overlooks the stars as a guardian figure. While he thinks of his stars as his children, he is also an embodiment of the stars — he IS the stars. They are one and the same.

The same goes for Mikey and his comets. Although, while Mikey specifically embodies and overlooks the comets, he also overlooks all them zippy lil' things in the galaxy [meteors, asteroids, etc.]

Donnie and Raph are a little different — Donnie specifically ONLY embodies Earth's moon, and is the overlooker of all the other moons in the universe. The same goes for Raph and Earth's Sun.

Are there any other characters in this AU [Splinter, April, Drax, Krang, etc]?

[As of writing this] The only other characters in this AU are April [an astronaut who works for NASA / an aspiring astronaut], and S.H.E.L.D.O.N. [a robot made of lost junk and lost space tech that Donnie found]. I do not plan for there to be any other characters in this au, as I mainly want to draw and focus on the turtles.

There have been lots of fun headcanons in the askbox about who else could be in the au and what they would embody, and I think that's great! I love all the fanart and creativity everyone is doing for this AU, I will never be mad at exploring fun ideas [I've even doodled some of these ideas for fun] — as for what is "canon" in the AU though, at the moment I'm going to keep it as the turtles, April, and S.H.E.L.D.O.N.

What's the lore behind this AU?

There is no real lore behind this AU, just a bunch of fun ideas in a fun concept. Lots of other people have had fun coming up with their own lore and ideas for this AU, and once again, I think that's great! There's so many ideas other people came up with that I love — but again, in terms of "canon" and what I'm willing to draw, there's no legitimate lore for this AU.

The Sun is also a star. Does that mean Sun!Raph has a special relation to Star!Leo in some way?

Yes! Leo and Raph have a very strong special connection in this AU because of this.

Do the celestials control what they embody?

Control isn't exactly the right word — say for Star!Leo, for example, he's more of a guardian figure to the stars. "Control" implies that the stars have no personality of their own whatsoever, but that's not exactly true. They almost have their own little life to them — like a healthy tree —that Leo can understand since the stars and Leo are one in the same.

What are Moon!Donnie's alternate phases?

Moon!Donnie's alters are Blood Moon, Harvest Moon, Blue Moon, and Super Moon. Moon!Donnie's design also changes some depending on the phase of the Moon [eg. During the Full Moon phase, Donnie has no shadow up his arms and legs. During the New Moon phase, Donnie is all encompassed in shadow].

Is there any more info about these phases?

During Donnie's Blood Moon phase, he tends to be a little more mischievous and violent. He's ready to kill, no questions asked.

During his Blue Moon phase, he's a little sadder than usual. He's not breaking down every minute or endlessly sobbing — he's more just a little blue (heh) and the unending river of tears just comes with the phase. He just needs some cuddles and comfort during this time <3

Harvest Moon Donnie is a happy lil guy! He's a little chipper and cuddly during this time, hapoy to help and talk with his brothers on end.

These phases don't COMPLETELY change his personality — he still the same Donnie, but just with little changes to his overall mood.

There are many more types/names for the Moon [Snow Moon, Worm Moon, Flower Moon, etc.] — will you be drawing those as designs for Moon!Donnie as well?

While I think I may sketch out some of them for fun, in terms of "canon" to the AU, I want to keep it limited to what I listed above in the previous question.

Are there any alternate versions of the other celestials?

Sun!Raph gets sun flares when he's upset, and I have a Nova!Leo design in the works. I haven't thought of any alternate versions for Comet!Mikey, but I don't think he needs one, haha.

What happens during an eclipse?

During a solar eclipse, Raph gives Donnie a hug from behind. During a lunar eclipse, I like to imagine that Donnie is hiding behind the earth because he ticked Raph off.

Can Star!Leo feel it when any stars die?

Yes, he does. I explained in much more detail in the "#celestialFAQ" tag, but when his stars die, it hurts him some emotionally and physically.

Whenever the Sun [Raph] would explode in the future, Star!Leo will be out of commission for a while because of how much it would hurt him.

What is Star!Leo's relationship with the stars?

Leo is the stars, point blank. He is the personification of them. He's all the stars, he is them, they are he. One and the same. BUT there's also a special relationship there — Leo looks at the stars like they're his children, almost. A very deep connection and love. The stars feel that deep love for Leo too, they see him as almost a guardian figure. They love him more than anything, and Leo knows that.

Now HOW can the idea that Leo looks at the stars like they're his children, and the idea that Leo is just straight up the personification of the stars (him being all of the stars) both be true at the same time? Ah — no real answer there. It just kind of is, and it's more of a feeling that I myself have. That's just the way that I personally feel Leo's relationship with the stars is, even if I'm never able to describe it quite perfectly, and even if it's confusing to everyone else lmao.

Do the celestial turtles still have their weapons like the canon turtles?

Yes they do — Star!Leo has katanas made of constellations, Moon!Donnie has his staff made of shadow, Sun!Raph's fists fire up, and Comet!Mikey's comets and meteors spin around him and he can shoot them where he pleased.

Is this AU meant to be accurate about how astrology and space works?

Not at all — there are a lot of inaccuracies in this AU. But what's the fun of making an au like this if I have to keep everything pinpoint accurate! This AU is for good, fun vibes, and it's ok if not everything matches up with exactly how space works.

Can I make fanart/fanfics for this au?

Yes, you can! If you do, please tag me and lmk, I'd absolutely love to see what you guys make. Oc's and fan characters are welcome as well.

[nyxshadowhawk]

I Read The Silmarillion So You Don't Have To, Part Eight

Previous part.

Picking up right where we left off...

Chapter 19: Of Beren and Lúthien, Part Two The greatest love story ever told, cont.

Back in Sauron’s prison, only Beren and Finrod are left. All of their companions have been killed. Sauron intentionally left Finrod alive, because he knows just from looking at him that he is a powerful prince of the Noldor, even if he doesn’t know which one. The wolf comes to eat Beren, but Finrod has had enough. He wrestles a werewolf into submission with his bare hands, like fucking Heracles!

Finrod vs. the wolf by @maglorious

Finrod kills the werewolf with his bare hands and teeth. Despite this unrivaled badassery, his wounds are too severe. He bleeds out in the dungeon of the tower that he himself built. He has just enough time to say goodbye to Beren, knowing that by the time he reincarnates in Valinor, Beren will be long gone.

Thus King Finrod Felagund, fairest and most beloved of the house of Finwë, redeemed his oath; but Beren mourned beside him in despair.

Beren and Finrod by yi tiao zhi xian chong

Not gonna lie, I’m so sad. I love Finrod! He’s one of the only Noldor who’s not a hot mess, and I’m gonna miss him. At least he’s the first of the Noldor to be reincarnated; Mandos (the Vala of death/purgatory) forgives him before the Curse is officially lifted at the end of the First Age, and the Lay of Leithian says that he joins his wife Amárië and his father Finarfin in Valinor. When Galadriel finally crosses the sea at the end of the Third Age, she sees her brother again for the first time in thousands of years.

I’m gonna cry. We need to move on!

Right then, Lúthien and Huan arrived at the tower gates. Lúthien sings a song that causes the walls themselves to shake.

Beren hears her singing, and sings back a song about the Big Dipper, which (in Elven lore) represents a sickle that was placed in the sky by Varda as a direct challenge to Morgoth. It represents hope and the promise of Morgoth’s defeat. Then he faints.

Sauron hears them singing back and forth to each other, and smiles. He’s already salivating over the reward he’ll get for turning Lúthien, the beautiful daughter of a Maia, into one of Morgoth’s slaves. He sends werewolves out to intercept Huan and Lúthien as they cross the bridge to the tower. Huan easily kills every single one of the werewolves, until Sauron sends Draugluin, the oldest and greatest of werewolves.

Lúthien and Huan in in Tol-in Gaurhoth by Randy Vargas

After a long and bloody fight, Draugluin flees, drags himself back to Saruon’s feet, and dies. Sauron knows that Huan is prophesized to die after killing the biggest and baddest wolf, and that was Draugluin. So, that menas that now Huan can die. Sauron wants to do the job himself, so he turns himself into an even bigger and badder wolf to kill them.

Upon encountering wolf!Sauron, Lúthien immediately faints, because his eyes are terrible and his breath is worse. (That’s a bit damsel-y of her, but I can’t judge her too hard — it’s literally Sauron.) As she falls, she somehow manages to throw a corner of her enchanted cloak in his face, and its magic makes him momentarily drowsy. That’s enough for Huan to strike. Huan pins Sauron down by the throat. Then we get another old mythic trope of Sauron shapeshifting into multiple forms while Huan holds him fast — he becomes a snake and then a “monster,” and finally his usual humanoid shape.

Lúthien stands triumphantly over Sauron, and threatens to strip him of his body and send his incorporeal form running back to Morgoth with his tail between his legs, unless he surrenders the tower. Sauron surrenders, and Huan lets him go. As soon as he’s free, Sauron takes the form of a vampire (which in this context I’d take to be some kind of bloodsucking bat thing?) and flies off.

With her magical voice, Lúthien declares that she is now the lady of the isle, and all of Sauron’s captives and thralls go free. All, that is, except Beren. Huan and Lúthien desperately search for him, and find him still lying, catatonic, by Finrod’s body. Lúthien assumes he’s already dead, and cradles his head. Beren wakes up in Lúthien’s arms, and they gaze at each other. Cue The Sun! The evil fortress crumbles as the dawn comes, just like in a Castlevania game.

But the story’s far from over. Sauron was only the Disc One Final Boss. Beren and Lúthien still need to do what they set out to do in the first place — steal a Silmaril from Morgoth.

Huan goes back to Nargothrond, and finds it in chaos. All the prisoners that Lúthien set free had gone there, and told the people of Nargothrond what really happened to their king. The elves immediately turn against Celegorm and Curufin. The mighty sons of Fëanor don’t have the balls to face Sauron, but Lúthien, a girl, took him down! The elves once again appoint Orodreth their leader, but Orodreth won’t have the brothers executed for their treachery. Kinslaying was the whole reason why the Noldor were cursed in the first place. So the brothers are banished from Nargothrond. Celegorm loudly declares enmity, while Curufin just gives that unsettling smile.

No one goes with them, not even Curufin’s son Celebrimbor, because all of them can see how bad of an idea that is. Only Huan follows them; Celegorm is still his master.

Beren and Lúthien bury Finrod on the highest point of the island. (It was his island first, after all.) Then they spend some time catching up with each other before planning their next steps. They wander as far as the Forest of Brethil, Beren wants to bring Lúthien safely home to Doriath before setting out again, but Lúthien tells him there’s no chance of that. She’s not about to wait in some treehouse while he goes and gets himself captured again. Wherever he goes, she will go with him, and if they die, they’ll die together. Their options are either to wander the earth as exiles, or to try to claim the Silmaril.

Before they can formally resolve to pursue the Silmaril, Celegorm and Curufin just happen across them as they’re fleeing Nargothrond. Curufin scoops Lúthien up and into his saddle. Enraged, Beren flings himself onto to the horse (this is so famous that it’s known as the “Leap of Beren”). He grabs Curufin around the throat and drags him off the horse. The horse rears, and Lúthien goes flying. Beren tries to choke Curufin to death, but Celegorm charges at him, on horseback, with a spear.

At that moment, Huan decides that he’s more loyal to Beren and Lúthien than to Celegorm, even though he’s spent literal millennia as Celegorm’s pet. Huan launches himself at Celegorm, so that his horse swerves, too afraid of the giant dog to approach Beren. Beren raises his knife (which is cool enough to have a name, Angrist) to kill Curufin, but Lúthien tells him to let him go. Reluctantly, he does. He tells Curufin to go do something useful with his life, and keeps the horse for Lúthien, so Curufin has to ride back sitting behind his brother. Curufin curses Beren to die “a swift and bitter death.” As the brothers ride away, Curufin, like the spiteful little ass he is, shoots an arrow at Lúthien. Beren jumps in front of it, and it hits him square in the chest.

Curufin by @bohemianweasel

But don’t worry, Beren’s the protagonist! He’s not gonna die that easily. Huan fetches some healing herbs (probably athelas), and Luthien uses them and her own magic to heal Beren. After that, Beren has a case of “I’m the protagonist so I must do everything alone to protect my loved ones”-syndrome; he leaves Lúthien in the middle of the night, trusting Huan to take care of her. He takes Curufin’s horse and rides to the far north, until he sees the peaks of the Thangorodrim. At the threshold of Morgoth’s realm, he assumes that he’s never going to see Lúthien or see the sun and moon again, so he sings the “Song of Parting.” In his song, he says that even if the world were to crumble into the abyss from which it was formed, it’s all worth it just because Lúthien can exist for a brief moment.

Of course, Lúthien set right off after Beren as soon as she found out he was gone, just like Sam insisting that he’s going to Mordor with Frodo. Lúthien already saved Beren once, and she can do it again! She again rides on Huan’s back. They stop at Sauron’s fortress and put on disguises. Huan disguises himself as the werewolf he killed, Draugluin, and Lúthien disguises herself as a vampiress named Thuringwethil, who is one of Sauron’s messengers. (Did you know there were vampires and werewolves in Tolkien?) They look so scary, that none of the monsters in the Forest under Nightshade bother them. When they catch up to Beren, he initially thinks that Sauron’s minions are pursuing him, and that he must have hallucinated hearing Lúthien’s voice, until she reveals herself.

Beren is really regretting that he promised Thingol a Silmaril. It’s starting to sink in just how impossible of a task that is. He thinks it would have been better for Thingol to kill him than to take Lúthien into Angband. Though I understand the impulse to want to keep your true love safe, I think Beren is underestimating Lúthien a little bit. She’s more capable than he gives her credit for. Huan speaks for the second time to offer ominous advice: Beren still has the option to turn back, but that would mean that he and Lúthien become exiles. Lúthien has already become mortal by choosing to stick with Beren, so, she’ll die no matter what he does. Either she’ll die alone after Beren’s life ends, or they can risk facing Morgoth. It’s kind of a lose-lose situation, unless by some miracle they manage to get a Silmaril. (And even if they do get a Silmaril, then they’ll still have to deal with the sons of Fëanor and that whole mess.) Huan tells them that he can go no further, but he hopes they’ll meet again.

Beren and Lúthien resolve to face Morgoth. They basically don’t have a choice at this point. They put on magical disguises again, Beren as Draugluin the werewolf and and Lúthien as Thuringwethil the batlike vampire. They arrive at the gate of Angband, which is so huge and terrifying that it makes the Tower of Cirith Ungol look like a vacation destination. At the gate is a huge and terrifying wolf called Carcharoth. Morgoth also heard the prophecy about Huan’s death after defeating the greatest of wolves, so he personally nurtured this werewolf into the biggest and baddest of them all by feeding him corpses of Men and Elves. Carcharoth sees Draugluin arrive at the Gate, but he knows that Draugluin is dead. He doesn’t trust the strange vampire and werewolf, and denies them entry. Then, through some deus ex machina, Lúthien is suddenly filled with divine power and commands Carcharoth to go to sleep. Okay then. That was easy.

Then Beren and Lúthien went through the Gate, and down the labyrinthine stairs; and together wrought the greatest deed that has been dared by Elves or Men. For they came to the seat of Morgoth in his nethermost hall, that was upheld by horror, lit by fire, and filled with weapons of dread and torment.

They basically walk straight into Hell. Welp, there’s got to be a descent into Hell in every great hero story! Katabasis, yaaaaay.

Beren maintains his disguise, but Morgoth immediately dispels Lúthien’s disguise. She looks straight into his terrifying face. (Remember, Sauron kept an aura of fear about him to make everyone in his vicinity cower in terror. If that’s Sauron, then imagine how scary Morgoth is.) She tells him that she’s a minstrel, and that she’s come to sing and dance for him. Because, y’know… Morgoth regularly has bards casually wander into his fortress looking for work. But Morgoth, like literally every other man in this story, immediately lusts after Lúthien. Tolkien says that he conceives of “a design more dark than any that had yet come into his heart since he fled from Valinor,” which is saying a hell of a lot.

Luthien and Melkor by Pete Amachree

Lúthien begins singing and dancing before Morgoth’s throne, and of course, her song is magical. She sings a song that’s so beautiful, it temporarily blinds Morgoth, and all of the evil creatures in his court — wolves, orcs, even Balrogs — fall to sleep. The Silmarils burn with white fire. Remember, the Silmarils are blessed so that nothing evil can touch them, and being surrounded by good magic makes them really weigh on Morgoth’s head. Lúthien opens her magic cloak, flies up to Morgoth’s face, and throws her cloak in his eyes, putting him to sleep. Morgoth literally falls out of his throne, crashing into the ground like a falling tree. Kind of undignified for the Dark Lord. Beren takes his knife, Angrist, and cuts a Silmaril out of Morgoth’s crown. The quest is complete!

Lúthien singing a song of enchantment by Pete Amachree

I love how Lúthien does most of the work. I love how proactive she is! Tolkien doesn’t write many women, but the women he writes are badass!

The Silmaril shines through Beren’s hand. Because he’s a good person, it doesn’t burn him. He figures that he may as well take advantage of this unprecedented opportunity and claim all three Silmarils, but his knife snaps, and a shard of it hits Morgoth in the cheek. He doesn’t wake up, but Beren and Lúthien realize that they need to get the hell out of there before they run out of luck.

When they make it to the Gate, Carcharoth has woken up, and he pounces on them. Lúthien is out of magic and can’t do whatever thing she did before, but Beren holds aloft the Silmaril. It shines in the wolf’s face, but Carcharoth bites off Beren’s hand. (I bet this is a reference to Fenrir biting off Tyr’s hand in Norse mythology.) Unfortunately for Carcharoth, swallowing the Silmaril is like swallowing a live ember. He runs around madly, howling, terrorizing northern Beleriand and causing a lot of damage to both good and evil creatures alike. Tolkien says that this is one of the worst things to come out of Angband (which is saying a lot, considering the Battle of Sudden Flame happened, and there are dragons still to come).

Carcharoth by Xavier Collette.

Beren faints, because the wolf’s fangs are poisonous (and also because it must be pretty damn painful to lose your hand). Lúthien sucks out the poison and dresses the wound, but they haven’t made it much further than the Gate, and Morgoth has woken up. Time is running out.

It would be bitterly ironic for Beren and Lúthien to succeed at getting a Silmaril away from Morgoth only for it to be swallowed by a wolf. But then a miracle happens. Guess what? Guess what it is? What does Tolkien do to get his characters out of every impossible scrape? That’s right, it’s the Eagles, baby! It’s not random, though — Huan tipped them off.

Beren and Lúthien are flown to safety by Ted Nasmith

Thorondor and co. swoop down and pick up Beren and Lúthien, flying them to safety. As they leave Angband, storms rage and volcanoes erupt, but Morgoth can’t do anything. They pass over Gondolin as they fly (what a way to find out where Gondolin is). Eventually, they reach the border of Doriath. Huan is there, and he and Lúthien both tend to Beren. It takes a while for Beren to recover, but he eventually does. He gains the epithet Erchamion, “one-handed.” (He’s in good company with Maedhros.)

After all of that, Beren and Lúthien still don’t have a Silmaril. But at least they’re both alive, and they wander in the woods like old times. Lúthien doesn’t mind going into exile with Beren, but Beren doesn’t think it’s right for a princess to live that way. He takes her home, still Silmaril-less and having eaten his words.

Meanwhile, Doriath is in a bad state. Everyone thinks Lúthien is dead, and has fallen into despair. Daeron has got depression. Thingol went to Melian for advice, but she tells him that he made his bed and now has to lie in it. Thingol gets a (now very outdated) message from Celegorm saying that Finrod and Beren were both dead, and that Celegorm would marry Lúthien in Nargothrond. Thingol decides that this means war, but his spies inform him that Lúthien is gone and Celegorm and Curufin are exiles.

Finally, Carcharoth the mad wolf breaches the magic wall of Doriath, because the power of the Silmaril is stronger than Melian’s magic. It’s the first real threat to assail Doriath in centuries, and all of the woodland Elves are terrified. Just as it seems like things can’t get any worse, Beren and Lúthien return to Menegroth. And there was much rejoicing. Thingol is amazed that Beren is still alive, but still hates him, and blames him for every bad thing that happened. He asks to see the Silmaril. Beren uses a bit of clever wordplay and says that the Silmaril is “in my hand,” i.e. the hand that was cut off and in the wolf’s belly. Thingol actually accepts this, and laughs. He finally, finally realizes that Beren isn’t just any Man. He seats Beren on his left, and Lúthien on his right, and they tell the whole court the epic story of the Quest. Thingol finally gives his blessing, and Beren and Lúthien are married. It’s about time!

But the Quest isn’t done yet. There’s still a mad wolf terrorizing Doriath, who conveniently brought the Silmaril right to Thingol’s doorstep. Beren, Huan, and a bunch of Elves (including Thingol) go hunting. Lúthien stays behind, but has a bad feeling about it. Carcharoth bites Beren in the chest with his venomous fangs, and Huan attacks him. The dog of Valinor and the dog of Morgoth fight each other, and Huan succeeds in killing Carcharoth, but not without suffering a mortal wound himself. Carcharoth was the greatest of wolves, and it’s time for Huan to die. He speaks for the third and final time, telling Beren goodbye. The king’s captain of the guard, Mablung, cuts the Silmaril from the wolf’s belly. He puts it in Beren’s other hand, and it gives Beren just enough strength to hold it aloft and declare the quest fulfilled. Then, Beren and Huan both die on the forest floor.

The quest fulfilled by Anke Eißmann

So, that’s that. There’s no happily ever after to this love story. The minute the quest is fulfilled, Beren dies. Hope it was worth it, Thingol.

Lúthien embraces Beren’s body when he’s brought back to Menegroth. She tells him to wait for her upon the Western Sea. Beren’s soul hangs around in the Halls of Mandos, even though Men don’t stay in Valinor after they die, because he doesn’t want to leave Middle-earth without seeing Lúthien again. Lúthien dies of despair a little while later. When her soul arrives in Valinor, she sings for Mandos. If she could sing for Morgoth, she can sing for Mandos, too. Like Orpheus singing for Hades, she sings a song so beautiful and sad that Mandos is moved to tears. (It’s the first and only time that Mandos has ever been moved.)

Namó Mandos by Elena Kukanova

Mandos goes to Manwë to consult with him about what to do in this very exceptional circumstance, since only Manwë knows the will of Eru Ilúvatar. Manwë gives Lúthien a choice. She could live for eternity amongst the Valar in bliss, and forget Beren, or she could reincarnate with Beren, but become truly mortal, and pass from Middle-earth upon death.

It’s obvious what Lúthien chooses.

Until Arwen (who’s just an expy of Lúthien), Lúthien was the only one of the Elves to truly die, and to have left Arda permanently. But in having made that choice, she creates a line of descendants with both human and Elvish ancestry, uniting both races of Children of Ilúvatar. Middle-earth is better for it.

Fate of Beren and Lúthien, by breath-art

[wyrmblob]

Disbelief - Ultrakill oneshot

Honestly I made this bcs I want to get back into writing, so it's not all that good eknfnd

It was also inspired by Itoki Hana's song, Disbilief (hence the title ekrndj) BCS HOLY FUCK THAT SONG FITS THE ULTRAKILL LORE SO WELL, GO CHECK IT

Also this takes place a bit after Gabriel's second battle with V1, and V1 also gets sucked in by the holy light portal bcs curious cat shit🙏

It felt strange to wander the remains of Eden, dark and silent, smelling still of weeds and wood, it's light dim when compared to heaven's imponent shine, yet not as dark as hell managed to be, in fact it was far from comparable to such a place, for one it was not littered with demons or the stench of blood old and newly spilled, or other unholy entities, Eden was as empty as it had been since the exile of Adam and Eve... Well, was; for now Gabriel roamed upon it, him and his far too curious last minute companion who strode silently behind him, like a cat that tries sneaking up on it's human, freezing in it's tracks only when the angel turned around to watch it.

Gabriel tried to not pay mind to it, he needed to think of other far more important things, things that haunted him long before the machine came to his attention, like the fact the council was escentially fucked up, or that god would never return, was he even alive? If he was, he's clearly not coming back, but then what did that mean for him? The council, for heaven, even for the sinners like the ferrymen who still had hope for redemption? Did he let them all down? Could the blame even be pinned on him?

His head spinned as he tried not to crash in on his own thoughts, trying to keep some form of focus, but the machine's heavy steps didn't help, or the tinckering sounds of it's wings, it's metalic clattering and exagerately heavy footsteps that seemed to just get louder and louder the more Gabriel started to pay attention to it.

"What the FUCK do you want?"

The archangel whipped around to face the walking piece of scrap, splotches of red slightly seeping into his white armor, fists clenched in frustration, as if beating him twice wasn't enough, the machine kept shaming him for loosing by following him around, surely a silent remark about his defeat, why wouldn't it just behead him and display his severed head all across heaven and hell at this point?

Instead of an answer, Gabriel just recieved a blank stare back as V1 froze in it's tracks, not even bothering to pull out a gun, not a flinch or even a defensive position, nothing, as if it knew it could take on Gabriel again, or that despite his anger, the angel wouldn't pick a fight with it right now.

Both of them stood, Gabriel's anger against the machine easing just a bit, sighing heavily as he turned back around to keep walking, the machine following closer behind now, there was no point in fighting it again anyway, not now.

They walked further and further until they reached an opening under the trees, the stars could be contemplated in their full divine glory from there, something so simple and honestly underwhelming to Gabriel, it was almost weird to see the machine be... Entranced? While it looked up at those celestial bodies of light.

V1 did not look to Gabriel as he wandered off, so why he came back to the spot was unclear, even to him as he settled some fire wood in front of a fallen over log he used to sit once the fire was started.

V1 had simply stared at him before sitting in front of Gabriel, the angel might not have a face, but doubt was writen all over him, his mind distant, his body being the only real company the machine had as the fire quietly crinkled and sometimes burst.

"... 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚝, 𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞?"

the question caught Gabriel off guard, he knew the machine spoke, he had heard it before, but listening to it speak still felt somewhat uncanny, specially what it was asking him, why would it even care for that? And was he really going to speak to it?

Gabriel contemplated it a moment, what harm would it do? Who else was he to go to? There was no one else, nor here or in heaven, it was only him and the hunk of metal with guns.

"Of course I am... Somewhat thanks to you.."

His last words were not as salty as the first ones, which surprised him and V1 a bit, they had both expected for his words to sound angrier or at the very least spiteful after their quarrels and how the war machine lead him to be having a crisis, but really, it was more a revelation he had been trying to push away, it was only a matter of time before it boiled over anyway.

"But honestly... I belive this to be necessary, for I am afraid heaven has been ultimately misguided by our own hands as servants of the lord."

Despite V1's relative lack of expression, it did not take a trained eye to realize it was confused, Gabriel somehow forgot, it was a machine, there had been no need for it to learn who God was, who the angels were or what was going on in heaven, would it even care if he tried to explain it?

"Just.... Just know we were waiting and praying on the father's return- and we strayed from the path he had set for us."

V1 seemed to be pleased with that answer, it's wings twitching slightly in approval as it set it's eye back on the fire, just like Gabriel did.

" 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚘 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝?"

Gabriel remained eerily still, such question coming from the machine seemed unreasonable, why did it care? Why did it follow? Why did it feel... Comforting? Was Gabriel being delirious? Maybe hell's madness finally got to him..

None the less, he contemplated the question, he had to, he could die without doing anything useful, or die and send a message to those in heaven, do something to change the ways of the council or at the very least let everyone know God was dead, he had been for a long time, whatever hope or faith there was left, it was futile.

Gabriel slowly nodded, he knew what he had to do, there was no point in going back on it, it was for the best, for everyone.

"I must ask one thing though.."

V1 lifted it's head slightly, it's yellow eye shining due to the firelight hitting it, it's posture still relaxed as they waited for Gabriel to speak.

"Why are you here? Why do you care for what happens to me after our battles?"

A few cogs seemed to be moving inside the machine's processor, it's hands twitchy for a second before going completely still.

"𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚙𝚛𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐"

[honourablejester]

PF2e Character Concept: Shackles Goblin Rogue

Again, I’m watching Mythkeeper’s lore videos, this one on The Shackles, the pirate archipelago in Western Garund. There’s a lot of fun things in this area of the world, but a very small, random one snagged me. There are several goblin tribes in the Shackles, but apparently on Blacksand Beach, in the vicinity of Kelizar’s Atoll, there’s a tribe called the Reefrunners who are primarily swimmers and wreckers more than sailors and pirates, and I’ve no idea why that stuck in my brain, but … I’d really like to play a Reefrunner goblin horizon walker rogue? For reasons.

(Possibly it’s my choice of ghost fiction, and obsession with lighthouses, but wreckers have slightly more of a pull for me than pirates. Also I like the Reefrunners’ combination of almost-courtesy and raw pragmatism, in that they like to run ships aground and then let the crews go, not necessarily out of goodness, but because it’s easier to loot an empty sunken ship than fight a pinned crew. Which I love. This is about the shinies, the crews are just awkward obstacles that need to be shooed away first. Or, you know. Killed if it absolutely has to come to it, but let’s try the less risky methods first).

I was browsing backgrounds on Pathbuilder, and it has a regional one called Pearl Diver, which when I look it up on Archives of Nethys is actually regional to Absalom, not the Shackles, but I’m from the pirate isles, here, so I’m going to steal it anyway. Because I want a swimmer goblin who likes shiny things, a Reefrunner who’s fine taking the ocean’s bounty whether grown there naturally or lured there by a judiciously placed light on the rocks. Heh.

The idea here is just … I want a tough, scritchy little gal who’s in love with the ocean and all the shiny things the ocean can provide, and who’s not too particular about how the shiny things get in the ocean in the first place. She’s not mean, necessarily, just … single minded. Very loyal, courteous in a rough, absent-minded sort of way, but extremely pragmatic and with roughly one priority in the world, maybe two if she gets especially attached to anyone.

We’re in the pirate isles, so I am feeling rogue. But she’s a pearl diver and a swimmer and a scavenger, so I also want a survival emphasis, and I thought the Horizon Walker archetype? With aquatic terrain. I could take the ranger archetype instead, but I just like the vibe of horizon walker. Skillwise, we’re going to build around stealth, survival, intimidation, acrobatics, athletics and thievery. Because we’re a rogue and we can have that many skills levelled high. Heh.

Starting stats we’ll have a +4 in Dex, +3 in Con, +1 in Int/Cha, and +0 in Str/Wis. As we level I’m going to prioritise Dex, Con, Cha and Wis.

I’m going to go for Unbreakable Goblin for my heritage, because she’s a tough little gal, and also it’s just such a fun heritage. We’re tough, and we bounce, and we don’t go down!

Feats I particularly want as we go would include Breath Control as my first general feat, because pearl diver, Magical Adaptation from Horizon Walker as we hit Level 10, because water breathing, Quick Swim from Athletics Mastery, Fleet and Mobility and Catfall and Cave Climber and Skitter and just a lot of general movement feats, because we a bouncy goblin, Kneecap from goblin, to attack other people’s move speed, and a bunch of Intimidation feats because this girl is all teeth.

She’s 19, I feel like. Young for most people, but pushing the limits of survivability for goblins. She’s wiry and scarred and toothy, cheerfully pragmatic, polite as goblins go, and she has a collection of shinies sewn into/onto her clothes where she can see and admire them. She does favour seed pearls, all self-gathered, as a point of professional pride, but she also sees diving shipwrecks as much the same thing, so any old shinies will do if they’re pretty enough. As will glass and buttons and whatever was sparkly and caught her eye, to be honest. She’s out wandering, looking for better ships to dive, different waters to swim, because she is pushing survival age for a goblin, and she might as well. Most of her people die not much older than her, so why bother being afraid? Let’s just get the good stuff before we go!

Her name is Early Reefrunner. Early, to rhyme with Pearly. She’s a tough little goblin survivalist rogue from Blacksand Beach near Kelizar’s Atoll, and if you promise her good waters and good treasure, she’ll follow you to the ends of the earth. Or, well. The ends of the ocean, at least. Heh.

Ahoy, longshanks! Let’s go!

[wishing-stones]

do you have any general headcanons for baggs?

Prefacing this with: if you want to know more about him, go to his creator and the blog for he and his au Here

I have loads.

It's difficult to pin down stuff that hasn't been mentioned, or that involves parts of the lore/story for Megalosomnia that haven't been revealed yet. So, while I have tons of headcanons about the story and/or other things that might be spoilery, I'll narrow it down to one for that:

-He created Flowey, being the Royal Scientist, and keeps him in a terrarium. It's been stated that he's not really around when the human/Frisk falls, and when you take that clever mind and the latent almost meta-level observation skills of Sans in general into account, you get someone who is unwilling to let his experiments just sit around in pots on a countertop. They were all in their own tanks, and when Flowey woke up, he was stuck in a glass (or plexiglass) cage with no real way out. It's since been expanded, so he isn't in a cramped little box, but he's down in the true lab with no way out. And, predictably, he hates this. He can still save, load, and reset, but... it doesn't do him much good when he's stuck in a tank. They get catty at one another, Flowey tries his best to needle Baggs into making the mistake of opening his tank for even a fraction of a second, but it never works in his favor. The tank is climate-controlled and everything in it is automated with no chance of escape. He's pretty well taken care of, at least.

This is the biggest headcanon I have for MS/Baggs in general. I might be close to canon, I might be way off. But... It makes sense for him to keep the one person he can't control under careful lock and key, doubly so when they can save and reset. All he has to do is get out of that tank once, and everything Baggs has built will come crashing down around him. It's a risk he absolutely cannot afford to take.

But, by the same stroke, Baggs knows who Flowey is, so it would be mutually assured destruction.

Other miscellaneous headcanons include:

-He's not as much of a hard ass as he comes off as, sometimes. I just don't get the chance to write him when he's not preoccupied with something else very often. Dumbassery comes with the territory of being a Sans, though, so he has the capacity for some spectacular feats of goofiness. If someone sees this, he doesn't even bother to remedy it-- he just smiles and more or less says "No one will believe you." (Also, most of what he's been present for when I write him is either a. his job or b. being very guarded around the others. He's starting to show otherwise, though.) -He is a lot more compassionate than he might come off as. While he keeps an air of professionalism about him, if he likes the people he's taking care of or looking after, he's accommodating and thoughtful. He's gentle with the flighty and conciliatory with the upset. His friends and family immediately fall into this category, and you can tell you're in good with him if it starts to feel more intrapersonal-- if he talks about himself at all. -It's known he likes Hot Pockets and Sushi, but in the same vein, he likes bagel bites, pizza rolls, anything else that is pizza-like and thrown in the microwave or oven. It's fast, it's absolutely awful for you, and it's greasy. He similarly likes other similar garbage-tier frozen microwave food, but the pizza-flavored ones are his favorite. He also likes mozzarella sticks. -He likes soaps. There's several he's partial to-- awful human programs that have fallen into Waterfall-- but they're good for background noise. They're terrible, he knows they're terrible, but they're entertaining for the sheer ridiculousness of it all, and no he is not invested in the secret romance, how dare you insinuate otherwise. -He has those glasses he wears around General, but they also come out if he needs to look disarming or have someone trust him a little more or if he wants to make a statement in the company of those who know what he's capable of that he's a complete non-issue right now and off the (proverbial) clock. He doesn't really need them. -He can sew! This is a bit of a necessity, since his (very cool custom) lab coat occasionally takes damage. He has more than one, but if you look very close, you can see just little peeks of fine white thread from a ladder stitch. -And, last but not least the goddamn heelys. They, I think, have been bounced around a bit and displayed in at least one piece of fanart. It's hilarious to me because while he's studious and hard-working, he's still a Sans, and you can never truly rid a Sans of all of his laziness in all areas. Coupled with the fact that he burns the candle at both ends, it makes sense to be able to roll from place to place rather than walking-- or better yet, have someone walk for him. Almost everyone in the lab is used to him catching rides on the back of their coats and just go along with it. It's just something the doctor does, so you get used to it fast if you work with him.

I've been rotating him and his au like a rotisserie chicken since I discovered them, so I've had a lot of time to sit and think about these. He lives in my head rent free so he may as well earn his keep by providing inspiration. Little turd.

[noxcorvorum]

I uh. I just finished ghost wax ep 44. I'm devastated. I need several moments. At least a day actually. Jesus christ.

(spoilers for part 44)

First of all I love the incantations. Iconic. I have all of them written down in Google keep. The empty table. The world's last fable. Dead mortar, bone pestle. Come death to your vessel. Come now, entropy. The spiral of time. Spin, spin fast. And seer and cable. Pen, fog, and fable. Stay within, flat and pinned. Love all of it and I am actively wanting more of them to memorize for enrichment. And now time to go feral over the Happenings.

So I'm kindof unclear on what happened to pip, did she essentially get jonah magnused, as in whatever entity Charles served controls her eyes now? Does she still have control of the rest of her body? Does the entity have control and she's just watching from within or is she essentially dead/incapacitated with the entity puppeting her? Ack augh I really liked the episode where she had the dream thing where the other characters were her friends and family, Luca as her brother, Owen and Azem (AUGH ILL GET TO HIM) as her uncles ("Uncle cid will be delightfully catty," ACK.), and she lied her way out of it even with the incredibly tempting offer of a world she could control where she can have an actual support system, and she gave it all away to protect the same people in the real world. That episode made me much more familiar with her character than I had been, idk what happened while I was listening but I was pretty neutral about her before this episode bc I didn't know her and AUGH she was just trying to help Charlie and he manipulated her away and into getting caught by whatever he serves and AUGH SHE DOESNT EVEN KNOW WHATS HAPPENING WITH OWEN AND LUCA

We also get a lot more Luca lore in the most recent episodes with his childhood and the beginning of whatever's going on with his soul that at one point Owen said his spirit is incomplete? And Owen gives him a replica of the thing he pulled out of his dream 😭 sobbing. Luca my beloved augh is he dead?? I saw a theory that the body Owens hamsa instincts latched onto was his so what's going to happen to them if that's true? Is one of them going to disappear or is it going to be a John and Arthur Malevolent situation or even will they combine like Paul from Nona the ninth? If that is the case I'm leaning towards something between disappearance and a malevolent situation bc Owen seems to have kept what remains of Azem with him all this time, and he cares enough about Luca that I think he'd do his best to not erase him as much as he possibly could. Luca my boy please don't be dead ;_;

Owen my beloved AUGH. ACK. ALDKSJ. Owen you are devastating me. Apologizing to Charlie bc he failed him when from what I understand pretty much nothing Owen could have done for him would have helped him not do this and then pleading for just five to seven more minutes so he can release what's left of Azem and also cause as little damage as he does as possible??? SIR. I AM WEEPING. He's old, so so old, and he's been here for so long and held on to Azem for so long that all he wants is to be able to let him go, to give him this one last thing. He accepts that he's about to die and that he will lose this last connection to his partner so quickly, and he just wants to give that which remains of Azem the best chance he can give him. I think the fact that he was pleading for this long-dead figure that only remains in mere fragments in Owens head at best to be released and not for his own life and continued connection to Azem broke me. I do think that the body he was in for all that time had some significance regarding Azem, maybe it was azems body?? I think it might be more likely it's the body he held when he met and was with Azem though, but also that whatever parts of Azem are left are tethered to that body, and he can't take him with him if he takes a new one, and he's afraid of letting go even when it's to his own detriment, because he starts using the wax recorders when he starts losing memories of reclaiming from the sheer vast amount of them he has in that brain. When he doesn't want to use an observed as bait and someone suggests he use himself instead and he says he can't, and I think the intro to ep 41 has some interesting implications:

A: ["will you- will you"? Could be a name?] please, oh god, ["please don't make me"?] just let it be over, I don't want it I don't want it anymore-

B: shh, come now, come now it's almost over. hush, hush, my love, we believe in you.

A: I can't, please

B: you knew this would not be easy. You know that. you cannot stop now, it is too late.

A: [weakly, as if weeping] please don't make me

B: this is what you chose. It is the right choice. None of this, none of it is real. It's all just a vivid dream. You choose to wake up. Just a few steps further, my love. [Interspersed with noises from A that sound like sobbing] Free yourself. Almost. [sigh? Or a laugh? Possibly "there"?]

I think "A" is Owen and "B" is either some corruption of Azem or something using his countenance and voice. It's too late at night and I kinda forgot what exactly happened in 41 so I can't elaborate exactly why I think this. However perhaps it is related to the thing Charles is serving (the cypher? Unclear to me) possibly attempting to get Owen to give up prematurely, maybe with a dream such as the one pip had but Actively Bad And Worse? It's something, that's for sure. I couldn't understand some of it too so that's probably contributing to my confusion

[kerizaret]

YAYYYYY TY!!!!!!

I was wondering what exactly your process was when it came to worldbuilding? ,:3 I remembered when I rambled to you about my polysho au and you had so many questions that I hadn't even thought about which I thought was really cool and when I see your rambles about your own aus they're so intricate and detailed and stuff and I always wondered how you did alla that :3 sorry I'm not good with words um. TLDR I want to know your process of world building if you're okay with it ,:3

OH. MY PROCESS. UH. I.. don't really know if i have a concrete process??? I'm just a Perfectionist who needs to have everything figured out as much as possible HAHDHS

It just sort of happens? It's really really hard to explain how I think. I just really want things to make sense and for that I need to know why they are the way they are and have explanations for any questions people might have for them. Think about it like, if I was told about [situation/power] without context, what would I ask about? What would I want explained to me?

But well. Thays very vague. I'll try to write down some of how I think below but i don't really know if it'll make sense ahahdh

Usually when I come up with a new idea, it's because I come up with a certain scene or concept I think would be interesting, and just build the plot around it? And then I just ask myself questions all the time. How would we reach that point? What's the process? Why is someone acting like this? Why this character in particular? How does it fit them? How does this work?

Generally the most important question I need an answer to is – what am I trying to achieve with this? Where am I leading the story towards? What's my end goal, or at least a certain point late in the story that I want to realise? Am I trying to lead the polysho au to joint marriage or for them to choose? Do I want something happen to the hina tenmas? Will the opposition in the cpdw au win against the oppressing system? (I know i haven't shared much of this au bc there's so much going on there but I promise I will soon)

I also definitely always try to think up a background for the story. What is the situation and how it affects what's happening? How did it reach this point? Is it a finished process or is something still developing? Will the background situation change and somehow affect the story later on?

If the action is in a city/country/land, what's that place like? Is there something happening in it that's important? If it's a seaside village wary of mermaids, why is it like this and what happens if a mermaid appears? If its a cyberpunk city oppressed by the system, what is the oppression like? Is there a resistance, and how does it fight back, how does it hide, what are their struggles? If it's several kingdoms, what's different about each of them that makes them separate countries and not one and the same thing? How are the relationships between them? Things like that

But other than that it's hard to pin down exactly one route i take, you know? The thinking is really like, unique to each au. For example the polysho royal au was inspired by one ruikasa scene that randomly appeared in my head (that I can't tell you about because it's happening later on and is important) and I just thought "well. Now I have to somehow make it make sense". And then I came up with the arranged marriage thing, and how emunene work into this, and had a basic concept. (I wasn't PLANNING to make an au out of this, but you guys got interested and I decided might as well try. And now I had to figure out how the relationships develop and why)

For hinamatsuri au, the concept for toy-fixers tenmas came first, and only then I started figuring out how I could work other characters into it, and how exactly their "magic" works. I haven't shared it yet because drawing this is. A process. But I have a whole lore reasoning for why toys even move in the first place, what the Tenmas' abilities depend on, their limits. Their creation and why they broke later, how this affects them

Why did Tsukasa's power fail, in the last comic? Was it a one-time thing or will this continue? Why does Saki start crumbling sometimes? Why does tsukasa forget things? And other things

I like it when a power has its weaknesses or limits, when a situation has its consequences and reasons for it. You take whatever concept you have and think, where did it come from? Where does it stop? How does it change things? Why did I choose this person for it?

I generally also like to and try to reference the original story somehow too. Like the hinamatsuri au characters' stories. I tried to - as much as was possible - do something similar to their Canon situations. Like toya being harumichi's puppet whose strings tenmas cut off, like honami being mistreated by her owners but still choosing to stay with them at first, like nene being thrown away because of her voice failing.

In cpdw au emu finds herself fighting against her family who works for the system she doesn't agree with. Ruinene have a whole backstory together as childhood friends whose contact grew apart. Tsukasa let the system manipulate him with idea of fame into working as their propaganda idol

If it's possible, I like to keep the characters' personalities close to canon – except sometimes I emphasise their certain characteristics. Like for hinakasa I took the big brother energy and multiplied it tenfold, but toned down a bit on the impulsiveness as you've probably noticed

I don't know what else is there really? It all comes down to me just taking the idea and taking it apart to be able to know it inside-out and from all sides. Ask yourself questions! Be curious! Think about where things came from, how they work and what they change!

Or, talk to someone else about it. Heavens know how much it helps. There's ALWAYS going to be a question you won't come up with yourself that someone asks you and you go completely blank. And it's great! It lets you develop things better! It gives you a new perspective! And most importantly you can scream about an idea you like as much as you can. What could be more fun?

I'm always happy to listen to new ideas and ask questions to help if you ever want to!

[czolgosz]

tell us abt fallen london !

ok!! i dont know much lore so thats not what this is about i will just talk about the game in general👍

(for talking about the story/events of the game ill just use first person the whole time it feels more normal i think.)

the basic idea of how the game works is it's a desktop text-based rpg game where you do stories and tasks and get items.

the story begins with you having just gotten to london (which is underground.). you were immediately arrested and taken to new newgate prison, where your cellmate helps you escape. and then you pick where you live (this can change its just where you start). different places focus on the four main "attributes" one can have which are shadowy, watchful, dangerous, & persuasive. i picked spite which is the shadowy location!

(also there are other attributes apart from those four, including respectable, dreaded, [these next two are more skills] monstrous anatomy, & mithridacy. those are just the ones i have. there are "menaces" as well which are basically the bad attributes. those are nightmares, wounds, scandal, & suspicion. and others but theyre less common & i dont have those)

right now i am situated in someone's attic. the rat that lives with me wants me to move somewhere thats not an attic but i have bigger things to worry about.

i currently have a job as a minor poet (i want to become a campaigner or journalist eventually) 👍

there are groups one can be associated with like criminals, the police, revolutionaries, artists, the church, &c... as i've said i've been trying to be associated with the revolutionaries! i will need a lot more money for a special pin though </3. and i dont really know at all how to make money other than selling things....

the main story of the game is called your "ambition", which from what i've heard take about a year to complete, as opposed to smaller stories you can complete in a very short amount of time if focus on them. these include "nemesis", where you try to hunt down the murderer of someone you knew; "bag a legend", where you try to catch some manner of beast i suppose; "light fingers", where you try to steal a big diamond but apparently about a third of the way through there's a big twist and it turns into a really dark horror story; and "heart's desire", where you try to get involved in a gamble for your soul so you can win your heart's desire of course. im probably going to do "bag a legend" when i feel ready to start one :-)

by the way the current event i've been talking about with the airships &c. is an annual thing called "estival". this year it's gardening + a war of sorts. (note: by the time i got into doing this event it was pretty much over; i can still play through it but im not actually helping the war effort im just getting items). i grew a nice plant and got a prize and then i went to a building related to the gardening competition, where a stalactite fell on the building and also on me. sad! and then these ghouls called "starved" started crawling out of it iirc. i ran away and did some helpful things and the ghouls were fought off. but it turns out that they plan to expose london to the sun and burn it to a crisp, i guess? im not really sure i cant remember anything. so we have to go look at the ceiling to figure out whats going on exactly. and someone was like "hey guy still severely injured from a stalactite falling on you!! come captain an airship and look at the ceiling!" and i did and it didn't go very well but i was able to obtain more items. and now im in the midst of the final(?) mission where all the airships are going together

this is kind of a mess but yeah there is something about fallen london !!

[galaxythedragonshifter]

Ok really cool Evil!Galaxy AU lore i came up with

She's the second villain to ever successfully take over Ninjago (other than Harumi being the first, as far as I'm aware). Unlike Harumi though, Galaxy remains in rule for several years.

She originally decided to "work for" Shadow during the time she was imprisoned, as he had offered her a deal. She took it, resulting in Shadow having more confidence. However, the ninja started to fight, and Galaxy made Shadow flee with her, knowing the ninja's strength. (In the original, Galaxy refuses the deal, wanting to stick by her morals).

(Another change to the original is that Shadow is less "evil" per say. He works as an assassin for a king from another world: King Vadalis. Shadow is much more hesitant after his failed attempt at killing Galaxy. "Shadow" also isn't his real name.)

Matthew also ends up coming with, being carefully watched due to his previous plans of escaping Shadow.

After a while of Galaxy learning her magic and skills, and fine tuning them with the help of Shadow, as well as learning assassin skills, she eventually overthrows Shadow, and Matthew runs to try and warn the ninja.

She then goes back to fight the ninja, using her newly acquired skills and her knowledge of their weaknesses to her advantage, killing all of them but Lloyd and imprisoning him. (She knows keeping all the ninja alive is a huge gamble. She's even wary about leaving Lloyd until she sees how utterly broken he is without the others.) She then becomes ruler of Ninjago.

However, some old friends (Skylor, Scott, Borg, Morro (ghost), ect) break him out. They had started a resistance, and needed Lloyd. Problem was, Lloyd was utterly broken, and it took forever to get him to help. When he did, he felt nothing but hatred towards the second who betrayed him. (can you tell I'm playing with Galaxy's and Harumi's parallels here lmao-)

She rules for several long, cruel years.

Our Galaxy ends up in this world. Seeing the destruction, she wonders "what happened here?".

She sees herself walking down the streets and she hides. Her other has a scar over her eye, over her nose, and her pupils are slits. Her teeth are sharp, her claws are always out, and she has a cruel grin. She looks like Galaxy...but she doesn't at the same time.

Lloyd pins her to the wall angrily, sword at her throat, yelling at her. Galaxy has no idea what's going on, and Lloyd notices..she looks off somehow. Evil!Gal gets too close, and Galaxy pulls Lloyd further into the hiding spot, covering his mouth. They can both see and hear her, and Lloyd is so confused.

Once Evil!Gal is gone, Galaxy explains that she comes from an alternative universe, and that she isn't evil where she comes from; she can't even imagine it. "What...happened to her?"

Lloyd explains, but doesn't trust Galaxy at all. "Yeah that's fair-" Galaxy responds.

Galaxy ends up helping the resistance. (They keep an eye on her, and treat her like a Prisoner due to their suspicions. Galaxy doesn't mind. They eventually loosen up on her though, realizing the amount of help she's been in helping the resistance.)

Some stuff happens here, idk everyone fails at a plan and gets captured maybe??

Galaxy and Evil!Gal fight, and Galaxy is trying to save her counterpart, trying to show her the life she could have had if she hadn't been evil. In the end, Evil!Gal refuses, forcing Galaxy to seal her in stone (think the whole MLP thing with Discord, and Tirek/Cozy Glow/Chrysalis.)

"I'm sorry. But I can't let you harm any more innocent people. I'm sorry that you lost out on a life you could have had."

Tags: @yumeyumeappleo

[demcnsinmymind]

most important headcanons/char beats for my blog nav/pinned post and easier understanding

another master post? why?

after working on my blog nav  I’ve realized that my blog is filled to the brim with wordvomits upon wordvomits about Lance and my ideas for him, so I figured that next to my very lengthy headcanon masterlist, I’d make another shorter-ish post with the most important bullet points that I consider essential for possible threads and interactions with the boy.

Two most important headcanons

The lore is somewhat canon divergent on my blog. The building was alive and sentient with an agenda just like in canon, but my most important headcanon is that the entity possessing and distorting it has been H.P. L/ovec/raft’s demonic outer god Azathoth instead of just some nameless invisible thing. (see detailed possession lore and azathoth info)

Azathoth is bound to Lance on a physical and emotional level and it’s the only thing keeping him from turning into this - a severely impaired, insane and numb shell. (more here)

- The cut him being trapped in 1948 plotline is canon on my blog and I will die on this hill because it’s so awesome!!!!!!!!!!!! =(

Lance

- Lance is not a villain character. He’s not a hero either. He is a grey character and very flipfloppy. He can be the most loyal and protective friend, but he can also be the most selfish, vain, outright asshole. He’s very complicated, but I cannot stress it enough that he’s not a bad guy. (Best said by Sean (the actor who plays him) in this gifset. See more detailed HC posts about it here or here or here) Read: there is no need for excessive hostility towards him. When Azathoth’s in charge? Totally fair game. But him? Consider him more of a victim, please.

- Pre-canon, he did not believe in the paranormal. He wasn’t an outright denier, but pretty much a skeptic in need of some serious convincing. So even though he’s making an entire show about ghosts and the paranormal, off camera and out of character, he’ll tell others it’s all bullshit and think they’re bullshitting as well if they start talking about it being real, or reveal that they themselves are in fact supernatural. That is pretty much canon (see more here) Read: Pre-canon, he’ll react surprisingly douchy and somewhat naive to anything involving his own genre. However, a part of him wants to believe, so he’ll need little convincing :)

- Lance has Stockholm’s syndrome and is trauma bonded to the building/thing possessing him aka Azathoth. (See more here) Read: There will be questionable reactions on this blog that might sound defensive of the thing/trauma, might even play it down. But that is on purpose. Not me condoning what happened to him. The opposite. He’ll work his way through this and learn sooner or later that it’s bad to defend it. However, be prepared to see him get angry with the helper instead of the abuser at first, which might be perplexing at first. He’ll need a lot of convincing on that front.

- He’s filled to the brim with charisma and fake friendliness and he does have a silver tongue, but he does not have many friends be that before or after canon, pretty much none post canon after losing his team inside Collingwood and losing 13 years to his ordeal. Read: He’s all talk and no bite. Expect a lot of bitter sarcasm and a lot of pushing back. He isn’t used to the idea of people caring about him. He’ll get there.

- I headcanon him to be aromantic. Couple that with his lack of interest in deep and lasting relationships, and you got someone who is very prone to casual hook ups and what not. He has no interest in anything romantic, and neither will he ever pursue the family/marriage life. (See more here) Read: I won’t write romantic plots. Smut and regular booty calls with very tight friendships behind them are more than fair game, I love them. But there won’t be any exclusive monogamous ships here.

- He’s incredibly guarded. I don’t know the right word/explanation for it and “emotionally unavailable” doesn’t quite match how I portray him, but basically one of the most important aspects about my portrayal of him post canon is that it will take a lot to break down his barriers. It’ll take a lot of patience and time until he starts trusting people, and even more of it until he opens up to them and accepts help. This is due to his obvious trauma, not due to toxic masculinity or the fact that he’s incapable of emotions or empathy. He has a whole palette of both, but he keeps that under very tight wraps. (see more here or here or here) Read: He’ll react like an asshole when it gets down to people offering their help and comfort at first. This is not because he is one and wants to hurt anyone, but because he’s very afraid of being vulnerable and getting hurt. But it is a fact that  he very much wants help and needs help and that you’ll get him there eventually. It just takes some time and trust. Kind of like a kicked wet cat in an alley.

Azathoth

- Azathoth is an it. Please do not refer to it as “he”. It’s a thing that looks and acts like however it wants to be. It is called the nuclear chaos. It is so beyond our human comprehension and most certainly beyond the idea of genders. Read: Azzy isn’t male. It’s a chaotic wildcard. It won’t ever be refered to as “he” by me and I’d very much appreciate it if you kept that in mind =)

- As stated up above, the most important thing to keep in mind is that Azathoth is like a plug in Lance’s brain. If you pull it, he’s a goner. They both know it. Thus, they’ll react harshly and negatively to any attempts of banishing it from his body. (read more here) Read: Unlike most other depictions of possession in media with the possessed being helpless victims horrified by the ordeal and more than grateful to see their possessor gone, Lance won’t react the same way to the prospect of getting rid of it.

- Azathoth is a demonic outer god that was once exiled beyond time and space. It more or less adheres to some of L/ovecraft’s lore and canon, not to any Supernatural or biblical canon. It has no weaknesses and cannot be exorcised. It can only be bound to other buildings/universes/places beyond time or put back to sleep with ancient flutes. (read more here, also see cool videos like this) Read: Azathoth is an overpowered Mary Sue. Please do not assume it can be put in demon traps or hurt with holy water/hex bags and what not. That’ll just get Lance’s clothes wet and dirty and piss the both of them off. Fear not though, I very very rarely write out its OP powers and am more than happy to piss it off.

- It has a lot of cool powers. Though it technically isn’t canon that it’s what did all the things, whatever is possessing Collingwood did do a lot of cool things. See here. Read: Just me wanting to share my fav gifset hehe

[miktoast]

Requiem Bit?

alrighty, so if you havent read my pinned post, you dont really need to. This is a bit titled "His Interlude" which basically just explains some lore. but first, I guess I should give you a synopsis of the first chapter just so you can understand a little bit of whats going on in the interlude.

Harry walks into the Forbidden Forest to meet Voldemort and sacrifice herself in an effort to destroy the horcrux that inhabits her. The Deathly Hallows are very reactive to her, and portray a level of sentience. She speaks with her parents and gains some measure of closure and her acceptance of her fate becomes more solidified. She meets Voldemort with peace in her heart, the Deathly Hallows refusing to leave her and her parents promising that they would be there, too. The Avada Kedavra to her heart feels like coming home.

She opens her eyes after what feels like a refreshing sleep, only to find herself standing on a bridge over a stream. She turns her head to find a man with liquid gold for eyes, hair darker than pitch. Harry can’t place his age, but he seems to be around her own age. She feels calm, and content, and relishes in his presence even as confusion scrambles her thoughts. He explains that she isn’t dead, that she isn’t the Master of Death, even, but Death itself, and that he is Life and that they were two halves of a coin. She had become so heartbroken about Voldemort’s use of so many horcruxes that he felt the only solution was to cast her down without any memories so that hopefully she’d be able to harden her heart in the future, except he hadn’t known about the war or prophecy.

He tells her that her “job” is performed mostly passively due to an entity that Harry will come to name Wisp, so that if she wished, she could move on and ascend, or go back and continue her mortal life. When she hesitates, he provides another option, “I could send you back to a time most opportune?” And when she continues to hesitate, he adds, “And I can give you those most loyal?” He loves her as a part of himself, and he knows how much her human life mattered to her, but also how much this new duty would cause her conflict because which duty was more important? She eventually accepts after spending a while worrying about dragging people back with her unwillingly, until the man tells her that those most loyal would probably try to physically fight her if she went back alone. She closes her eyes, and when she opens them, she is standing in the door of a train compartment, several inches shorter, with a new trunk almost as tall as her, lacking any of the wear and tear of the last several years, and an equally as new golden bird cage. She is eleven years old again.

His Interlude

(2691 words)

One day, after a very long time, the Universe became lonely. She had spent her life making millions upon billions of beautiful things, filling her space with planets and stars, but there was no one there to admire them. She was getting old, and she wanted desperately for something to love what she had made. With this thought in mind, she allowed herself to sleep, drawing away from every other thing in her existence so that she may gather energy to make something extraordinary.

As she slept, she dreamed of what would one day call itself a man and make others in his image. With a breath, she gathered up stardust, and with an exhale came her first child. Then, she continued to dream.

The man found himself lying in a patch of vibrant grass, surrounded by dozens and dozens of wildflowers in every colour, and he thought to himself, “This is beautiful. This is something worth loving.” And so he spent ages wandering this planet which he would name “Earth,” learning of his mother through the things she had created, and he loved her. 

But she continued to sleep, and like his mother before him, he grew lonely and old. So he began filling the world with his own creations. The first thing he created was the dragons, crafting them after his own nature, gifting them wings so that they may join him in surveying his mother’s world, and fire breath so that they may police it. Next he created snakes, who would work directly below the dragons and speak the same noble tongue. They crawled upon the ground with fangs to snap at the heels of those doing wrong. Next he filled the world with all other animals. The final thing he created were men, which were to rule over all other creatures.

For a time after their creation, he continued to walk among his mother’s world, interacting with all that she had created and all that he had added as well, but still he felt alone. The world around him was stagnant, with all of the creatures he made never ageing or changing. All of the things he made treated him as a god, bowing to him as he walked past, never speaking without being spoken to, never stepping out of line, and they were all content with this.

‘Why,’ he thought to himself, ‘I have dragons to warm me, snakes to adorn me, and men for me to talk to. Why do I still feel alone?’

He pulled away from his mother’s world, hiding in the space between the sky and the stars so that he may think. For a very long time, he hid, thinking only of himself, his mother, and his loneliness, and the world beneath him continued unchanging. Until, finally, he realised, he had made multiple of each of his creations so that they may have something to sympathise with, because his mother had filled the world with hundreds of the same plants and he thought that was the standard. But he was the only “him,” even if he had fashioned men and dragons after himself.

With this thought in mind, he fled from his hiding place to call out to his mother, but she remained asleep. He pleaded to her still form, asking for another of his kind, and listened for any response. All he heard was her slow breathing as the universe expanded and contracted, and the thud of her heart. And then, images of someone began appearing in his head as his mother began to dream. Whatever they were, they looked remarkably similar to him, with a torso, two legs, two arms, ten fingers and toes. They had dark hair, darker than ebony, darker than his mother’s void, the same darkness as his own hair, and the same sort of power for creation that exuded from their body in tendrils of gold.

They were beautiful, and he wanted them desperately, but he could tell that if he had her, his mother would perhaps never wake again.

In a fit of heartbreak, still tuning in to the visions of black and gold, he fashioned what he named women in their image, crafting one perfect counterpart for each man he made, and commanded that each man and woman shall become perfect partners and serve each other for the rest of their days. Then, he did the same for each dragon, and each snake, and each other creature he had made.

Finally, he looked at the dragons after his nature, and immersed himself into visions of them, of “Her” he decided, so that he may capture her essence into a creature that would forever reside by Her side. It is in this way that he made what he would call the phoenix, with beautiful plumage of fire and gold, and the ability to return from any injury or slight with no signs to show for it other than a strength that would continue to grow with each burn, and pearlescent tears that could heal all ailments.

Once more, he fled to the space between the stars and the sky in an effort to hide from his hurt, but the introduction of women ensured that things would not remain unchanged. Populations began to grow and advance, and the world became crowded. Plants began to grow sparse as creatures ate them or treaded on them, space for living decreased as more and more children were born and settlements had to expand, fighting became a plague as resources became few, and the creatures of Earth began to cry out in anger and despair for the god that had left them.

It was this that finally woke the Mother, and her heart ached at what had become of her world. She listened to the prayers of her son’s creations, and to the thoughts that her son tried to reconcile, the want for another of his kind versus the love of his mother, and she decided to fix every issue at once.

She gathered her energy, cradling it to her heart, imbuing it with her love, and time seemed to freeze as every other being listened to the slowing thud, thud, thud.

He, who had continued to agonise in his hiding place, immediately understood and left to seek his mother at once. He got there just in time to hear the final thud of her heart, and from that beat came Her, cradled close to their mother’s bosom even as she dissolved into stardust. And he knew Her purpose. She was to gather up the stardust of those who had lived their time and return it to him so that it could be used to create other things, and their energy, which She would later name souls, would settle in Her embrace and be joined into Her so that they may be connected to all other things in the way that their mother used to be until they were ready to be reborn.

But She was young, their mother did not have enough energy to create Her fully matured the way she had done for him with all of the children being born, so he took Her into his arms and carried Her down to Earth, and he told the creatures that this was his counterpart in the way that women were counterparts to men, and he named her Death and he named himself Life. Then, he commanded that all creatures would have a lifespan and would age, and that at the end of their lifespan they would die.

The creatures of Earth were ecstatic that their god now had his own perfect half, but they didn’t understand.

“What does it mean to die?” They asked, and he told them, “To die means to go home. All of you are made of the stardust of the universe, with the energy of the universe. My mother, the Universe, has been split into two, Life and Death. When you die, your stardust returns to me so that I could make something new, like children, and your energy, the culmination of your being, will be cared for by Death until you are ready to live again.”

And the people were awed. “Our goddess will care for us!?” they cried out with joy. And suddenly, dying became the highest honour.

“The Mother Universe is gone, and Death and I are to take her place,” said Life. “Death is to be the greatest gift our Mother Universe will ever give us, and She is to be known as Mother Death and I am to be known as Father Life. In the end, you are all of our children, and we will both care for you.”

And so Life began separating creatures based on their eldest individual, the first of each kind which he had instructed to guide those that came after. He asked each leader how long they wanted their lifespans to be, but they were conflicted.

“I want to return to Mother Death,” said the dragon, “but I do not want to forsake my Father Life’s gift.”

“You don’t need to worry about keeping Death waiting,” said Life, “She will not be well for some time yet, and she will need to gather plenty of energy before she could care for you to the best of her abilities.”

The dragon hummed in consideration, his whole great body rumbling with it, “I would not want to burden her. Would six-hundred summers be too early? Should I ask for more?”

Life considered this. “Six-hundred is very few,” he replied agreeably, slightly shocked and more than a little pleased that the creature had spoken out of turn, and asked something of him, no less! It seemed that the arrival of his counterpart and subsequent declaration of their roles and titles had opened up his creations to a level of familiarity that they had dared not touch before. He felt his affection for Death rise in turn.

The dragon nodded his great head, “Better double it, then? Twelve-hundred summers seems respectable?”

“Indeed,” said Life. “Then I command it that the noble race of dragons shall live no longer than twelve-hundred summers from this point forth.”

And then he moved on to the snake, who had overheard the dragon. “I think I would like to live for one-thousand summers.”

“Only one-thousand?” asked Life. “The dragons will live for twelve-hundred, you know.”

“Aye,” said the snake, “but we are not so noble, and we crave the comfort of our Lady Mother. We spend our life crawling upon our bellies and the other creatures have called us pathetic and vermin during the dark times. We do not wish to burden the Mother, but we are eager to meet her.”

“I apologise,” said Life with sombre eyes, “But you are not pathetic or vermin, and you crawl upon your bellies so that you may ambush your prey and scold those that do wrong. There is nothing wrong with the way that I have made you, and I bid them to remember your duties.” He patted the head of the leader of the snakes and named him Basilisk. “I command it that the noble race of snakes shall live no longer than one-thousand summers, and that the sight of them may forever instil fear into the hearts of those right to fear them.”

And then he moved onto men and women. “We would like to live for two-hundred summers,” they said together, and the snakes and dragons were aghast.

“Only two-hundred?” Life said, similarly confused.

“We cannot bear to be apart from our Mother for so long, and I imagine that she would be happy to see her children often. You said she needs energy, yes? Then let us be her energy.”

Life felt his heart soften for the children that look so much like himself and Her, and so he allowed it. “Alright. Then I command that men and women shall live no longer than two-hundred summers.”

And then Life continued with all other creatures, their lifespans decreasing more and more as he went along, until he came to the phoenixes.

“I wish to never leave our Lady Mother,” he said. “I wish to die every sun cycle.”

And all other creatures burst into an uproar. “That’s not fair!” they cried out. “What about our Father Life!?” and “We want to never leave our Mother Death!” and “What about the burden you’ll put on Her!?” But Life hushed them.

“I understand your longing,” he said to the phoenix, “After all, you were made to be by her side. But I cannot allow you to die every sun cycle.” The phoenix drooped and began crying in despair. “However,” said Life, causing the phoenix to perk up, “I can make you immortal so that you can burn whenever you wish to see her without causing her any strain. Everytime you burn, your energy will travel to visit her until your stardust regathers itself and you emerge from the ashes. In this way, you may see her every sun cycle, or not for a thousand years.”

The phoenix began to sing with joy, his lovely trills and coos filling the space around them and calming all those it reached, and Life could not stop the affection from blooming. “You are the essence of my Death, and you will be her sworn companion,” he proclaimed, and then he christened the leader of the phoenixes Fawkes. “I command that Phoenixes shall have no natural lifespan, and that they may burn and be reborn at their own leisure.”

With that, all creatures had been given their lifespans, and the world returned to balance. For many years, dying was as honourable as living, but as humans advanced and ruled the world, and the original creatures passed on, they began to forget the care of their Lady Mother, who found Herself maturing to prayers of fear and hatred.

She began to grow depressed, so Life created a new race of humans which he named Wix, a race which was supposed to spread the knowledge of Life and Death’s kindness and care for all that they had made together. One family in particular became Her line of prophets, the Perevells, after She had grown fond of three brothers. They had spent their lives playing games with Her, toeing the line between Herself and Her counterpart, even creating a branch of “magic” after the concept of phoenixes which they called necromancy.

As time went on, however, even Wix began to forget Her true nature, and so She began to get worse. Creatures of Earth began ageing quicker with Life’s anger, and Death’s depression meant that She delayed in reaping souls, so they spent longer in their unfit bodies than should be right, which secretly delighted Life as he had grown wrathful in his children’s rejection of their Mother.

There came a point in time that some Wix became so afraid of dying that they utilised every tool in their arsenal to create something truly vile, something they named “horcruxes.” It wasn’t until a Wix was born by the name of Tom Marvolo Riddle Jr. that Death truly broke, however, a boy who hated and feared Her so greatly that he would split his soul, seven times.

Life couldn’t stand to see Her so torn asunder, and so he devised a plan. He would cast her down to Earth to be reborn as a Wix, and hopefully her time as a human would overwrite any memories that she had had as a goddess when she ascended. Additionally, he hoped that, maybe, if she experienced the cruelty of their children herself, she would not be so quick to care for them the next time they begin to hurt her.

But he was not aware that the Wix were in war, as he had stopped caring for their children when they stopped caring for their Mother (and subsequently stopped watching over them), and he was not aware that a prophecy had been made about the very child he would cast Her down as. By the time he had learned, it was already too late.

[sysig]

‘Bout bloody time

[tatsumi-harem-chronicles]

the aira superfan the world collection

mod toku here. so while mod pensive was making an “aira has hanahaki because of his love of idols as a whole” au (read here: https://archiveofourown.org/series/3047022) i was also pitching in with some…suggestions… so without any further ado enjoy my efforts to contribute to the aira angst extended lore (with the added bonus of asta torture) (note that the formatting is a bit chunky cus these are all discord messages ✌️) 1/10

toku | pensive | asta

(context: there’s a point in the au where aira, trying his best during his early days at yumenosaki, gets invited to join/form several units with various classmates, all of which later disbanding due to a lack of audience; this is my proposed result to that) concept: he's spent so long working so incredibly hard to get his career, his dream, somewhere to the point where's he's practically living in his idol uniform/practice outfit and he's losing sleep over it, he can't find the time to eat when he might miss a job opening, a free gig, some kind of opportunity to make the time really count and it culminates when he like passes out in class and doesn't wake up until long past the end of the day to which point the staff send him home for the rest of the week to rest up because "it would reflect badly on the academy if this were to have happened anywhere public. your choices are your own but we cannot allow the impression that we as an institution actively overwork our idols" and so then he's back in his room for the first time in... a while, actually, and he doesn't know what to do with himself so he lays down and tries to sleep but the need to work, that need that's been settled into his bones over the past weeks comes bounding towards him like an overactive puppy and god even if he can't do idol work he has to do something so he organizes. he looks at all his hard-collected merchandise, his most precious treasures, and cleans off the thing dust settled over them (...when did that get there?) and repositions them on his desk so they better reflect the seniors he's seen around campus (because sakuma rei and tenshouin eichi would never be within that distance of each other) and he's thinking about school and how yumenosaki has produced so many wonderful, loveable, spectacular idols and he just can't make the cut and feels a tickle in his throat when he almost forgets to add a "yet" to the end of that sentence and suddenly the clothes he's wearing chafe against him and his head is too hot, his hands are too sweaty and fuck he has to take a shower and when he gets out he finds that he, somehow, can't even look at the majority of his wardrobe filled to the brim with more and more idol merch so he digs for something that won't remind him of the grand stage he'd finally reached, even if it was empty when he stood on it, and of the crowds he never saw and the small boxes of pins and stickers bulk-ordered in an hope-filled meeting that they never actually sold and he finds a worn shirt from an old anime, something about magic-wielding detectives?, that he used to like watching and he puts it on and when his throat and those traitorous lungs feel the ever slightest bit of reprieve for the first time in so, so long because he's staring resolutely at that one patch of wall he never quite found a poster the right size for, finally wearing something that's not his uniform, or training gear, or any kind of merch and he's not thinking of idols but he's never not thinking of idols so, of course, he thinks of idols and then it comes back with that same insufferable tickle and his mouth is dry and he wants to cry and can't pinpoint just one "why"

pensive ur right aira suffering is so fun :D join me IM PUNCHING YOU BOTH IM SHAKING AND SOBBING GET AWAY FROM HIM /joke

[legends-live-in-memories]

Talk So Pretty, But Your Heart Got Teeth

AYO another day another oneshot as a part of the MGI Trope Tussle! BUT WAIT THERES MORE thanks to @nightlychaotic for letting me continue her oneshot that can be found HERE! 

Fics Masterlist

Dickinette Oneshot 2.8K words 

Summary:

“Nightwing was desperate to figure out Kit Noire. For reasons beyond professional.” 

without further ado:

Some days, you're the only thing I know

Only thing that's burning when the nights grow cold

Can't look away, can't look away

Beg you to stay, beg you to stay, yeah

It had been two weeks since Nightwing had last seen Kit Noire. While the lack of thefts and reported break-ins was doing wonders for his day job, he found his nightlife severely lacking its usual luster. He had done some research into her powers, cross-referencing with some of his more magically inclined coworkers. Aquaman had an interesting story about some god of destruction but it was Atlantean lore that led nowhere. He was drawing blanks on what his next move was going to be. Conflicted on whether to bring her to justice or to help her get justice. 

His team was of no help either. Batman was adamant on chasing her out of Gotham, her destructive powers too dangerous in the city, while his siblings were more engrossed in teasing him about his affections for the cat thief. Jabs about ‘learned behaviour’ and ‘truly being the next Batman’ went ignored for his own piece of mind. He loathed to admit it but his intrigue in her, his adamance to be involved with her case, stemmed from less professional intentions. He was compromised in this investigation but he was unwilling to relent to anyone else.

Kit Noire was his to solve. 

Sometimes, you're a stranger in my bed

Don't know if you love me or you want me dead

Push me away, push me away

Then beg me to stay, beg me to stay, yeah

He finally found her one night by the Gotham Harbour. She was in the middle of an altercation with the same guy who had stolen some grimoire from her. ‘Guardian’ he had called her. 

Rather than intervene immediately, Nightwing hung back in the shadows, observing the two of them. The man was obviously much older than her and was particularly equipped to combat her style of fighting. He used what appeared to be a wooden staff and was dressed in Buddhist-inspired robes. Another piece to add into his investigation. 

Their fight was approaching a stalemate, neither willing to yield to the other. Nightwing decided to make his presence known. A couple smoke bombs were tossed into the fray, halting the fight. Taking the opening, he jumped in between and threw two bolas at the old man. He was wrapped securely in the wires and collapsed gracelessly on the planks. Not giving him anymore attention, he moved to intercept Kit Noire; choosing the evil he knew over the one he didn’t.

“Sorry, songbird.” She spoke with more bite than usual, her frustration with the older man still clinging to her. “But I already have plans tonight. None that involves you sadly.”

“What?” His casual drawl, partnered with his carefully crafted smirk did nothing to placate the hissing cat in his arms. “I can’t let the kitty have all the fun.”

“Please,” she scoffs; she slackens in his hold only fractionally. “As if I need a little birdy like you to give me permission to do anything.”

She slipped under his grasp and shot a leg up directly into his chin. He was taken completely by surprise and before he could react, one of his own smoke bombs was thrown at his feet. He was disoriented and by the time he switched his mask to infrared, she was already gone with the older man. His discarded bolas were the only thing that remained between the clearing haze of smoke.

Call me in the morning to apologize

Every little lie gives me butterflies

Something in the way you're looking through my eyes

Don't know if I'm gonna make it out alive

He was pulling into the precinct parking lot for his morning shift with a poorly concealed bruise on his jaw and excuses already on his tongue for how it got there. His ego wasn’t fairing much better but that was concerns for his punching bag back at his home gym. Now, he was Dick Grayson, rookie cop at the GCPD. Now, his nighttime problems can’t reach him.

Or so he thought.  

He didn’t make it ten feet into the building before detective Montoya was slamming a file into his chest. He quickly glanced into the file, partially listening to her debriefing of the case, then immediately wished he hadn’t. In the file there were pictures taken from the most recent crime scene and sitting on top of the pile was a picture of a wall from the local aviary. The words ‘Sorry about last night, Songbird -KN’ were spray painted in steel blue. 

He felt his irritation flare as heat crept up his neck while a weight settled in the base of his spine. His warring feelings drowned out everything around him as he fixated on her very obvious declaration. Kitty Noire had been gaining infamy for never being caught by both the cops and the bats. Some in the precinct hadn’t believed she was actually real, just some urban legend the streets were stirring up to cause trouble. To let herself be caught like this, and to admit to contact with one of the bats— it didn’t take a genius to guess which side of the law she was calling out with ‘songbird’— was damning to say the least. 

Fight so dirty, but your love's so sweet

Talk so pretty, but your heart got teeth

Late night devil, put your hands on me

And never, never, never ever let go

Fight so dirty, but your love's so sweet

Talk so pretty, but your heart got teeth

Late night devil, put your hands on me

And never, never, never ever let go

It was another week before he was crashing into her midleap, throwing both of them down onto the nearest roof. They rolled a couple of times before he stopped them by pinning her down. Both of her arms were held above her head; his grips were tight around her wrists, avoiding her palms in fear of what her destructive powers could do. They were on top of the platform that had the doorway to the building’s stairs. Her distracting smirk curled up further as she was about to speak. Probably a suggestive comment but he wasn’t in the mood for their usual back and forth.

“Enough games, Noire.” He shifted his knees to brace on her shins, in case she had any ideas. “You need to tell me what’s going on. You’re bringing suspicious people into the city, dangerous people, and it’s my job to drive them out.”

“I’m not bringing anyone into the city,” she all but spat at him, the fury in her eyes burned bright at the accusation. “He tracked me here.”

“And he is…?” He was getting tired of being out of the loop, meta-abilities and magic are safety hazards if left unchecked in Gotham. He needs to put a lid on this before it spirals any further.

“He is my business and soon to be not a problem for the both of us.”

“Why should I believe you?”

“You have no other choice, songbird. Above your paygrade, remember?” She mumbles something he doesn’t hear but from the shape of her lips it looked like Cataclysm. He didn’t have time to react before the roof was caving in under them. 

The freefall was disorienting but he could see from his periphery that Kit Noire was prepared. She had extended her staff out to fit between two walls and was hanging on, dangling over what was probably twenty flights of steps. Nightwing wasn’t so lucky and he had to angle his fall to crash into steps a couple flights below her.  

“It was nice crashing into you, songbird, but I have things to steal and people to rob.” Retracting her staff, she let herself freefall to the bottom floor of the building. Nightwing dove after her, shooting out his grappling line to one of the higher railings. She had reextended her staff, this time aiming for the height of the building, and was sliding down it like a pole. Banishing the improper thoughts of ‘Noire’ and ‘pole,’ he questioned how the staff was even able to extend that far. 

Right, magic.

Once they were more comfortable feet above the bottom floor, she paused in her descent and let him over take her. He wasn’t given a chance to question her actions as she immediately swiped at his grappling line, snapping it with her rather sharp claws. This time he was prepared enough to brace himself for the fall. He landed on his feet and crouched to roll out of the harsh impact.

“I thought it was cats that landed on their feet, not birds,” her jeer echoed against the walls. He looked back up to see her rapidly climbing her staff. She was gaining distance fast and he was running out of options just as quickly. He didn’t trust climbing her staff so he took to climbing the steps from the railings, jumping and swinging himself around to gain altitude.

“Maybe you’re rubbing off on me.” She had made it to the door that led back to the roof and her staff retracted in an instant. He was still a couple flights away but he knew he wasn’t going to catch her. He resigned himself to knowing that tonight was another failed night. He had let her go again.

Some days, you're the best thing in my life

Sometimes when I look at you, I see my wife

Then you turn into somebody I don't know

And you push me away, push me away, yeah

Something Kit Noire had said was bothering him. She said she was a hero once. That she had given it up because of accusations that ruined her reputation. He had half a mind to not believe her. Write it off as one of her tricks to try and get under his skin. But the other half, the louder, more desperate half, implored him to keep searching. To uncover the cat themed enigma he had grown frustratingly fond of. 

He expanded his search, looking for anything or anyone cat themed with destructive powers. A deep web search had him discovering an old video. It was labeled ‘Reflectdoll’ and nothing else. It was a part of some long forgotten blog that had an entire catalogue of videos labeled in similarly vague ways. Desperate for answers, he rationalised that if anything else, he would cross this source and narrow the search further.

The video was quite the fanfare, looking something out of a movie with impressive CGI. He was about to label this video as another bust but something paused him in his tracks. Her. Kit Noire, or at least a younger version of her, lept into the action. Her and some ladybug patterned partner dealt with the fiasco and Nightwing watched, enthralled and hopeful, as the two worked to take down the foe. He was both impressed and even more confused because he recognised that infamous tower but had no memories of there ever being attacks of that caliber in the city of love. He had done several missions there over the years, and there was never any call for help or an attack to get his or the League’s attention.   

Just what was going on? 

Call me in the morning to apologize

Every little lie gives me butterflies

Something in the way you're looking through my eyes

Don't know if I'm gonna make it out alive

Fight so dirty, but your love's so sweet

Talk so pretty, but your heart got teeth

Late night devil, put your hands on me

And never, never, never ever let go

He had her pinned again, one of his hands holding both of hers above her head, the other was fisting her braid in a tight pin. They were staring at each other, neither wanting to tip the scales in their own favor. The air was charged and each breath felt like one step closer to a dangerous precipice. Nightwing was struggling with what to do. He had a responsibility to this city. This was his home. And he was letting some magical ex-hero trample all over it because he let his infatuation get to his head. He was too involved but he didn’t care. She was his case to solve. 

“Something you would like to share, songbird?” Her smirk was enticing and infuriating. He couldn’t look away. 

“I have a lot on my mind.”

“What? Is keeping me here not entertaining enough for you?”

“I’m not keeping you here for entertainment.”

“That could be rearranged.” She had surged up to kiss him, her lips soft and inviting. He would be a fool to pass up the opportunity.

Blood on my shirt, rose in my hand

You're looking at me like you don't know who I am

Blood on my shirt, heart in my hand

Still beating

She was hurt. The old man found her again and left her with a painful reminder of who she was up against. Nightwing wished he could track him down and beat him to bloody pulp but right now he was more concerned with patching her up. She was lucky he found her when he did. The gash on her side would be easy to stitch but he first needed to get her to somewhere safe. His options were limited. No clinic would take them in, she was still a notorious criminal after all. Batman would have his head if he brought her to any of their safe houses. The cave was completely out of the question. 

But she was still losing blood. 

“Why the long face, songbird?” Her voice which was usually jovial was tinted with strain. 

“Oh, you know, just getting blood on my suit while a cat bleeds out in my lap.” He tried to lighten the mood and her chuckles were relieving. 

“Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. Just need to find somewhere to put you.”

“Oh, is the birdy worried about his kitty cat?” She was teasing him, he knew, so he decided playing along would do more for his own peace of mind than trying to refute.

“And if he is?” He mirrored her own joking tone but he couldn’t help the taxes of sincerity that slipped in. She caught on if the slight widening of her eyes were an indicator.

“Oh.” The stunned look she had on her face would be adorable if it weren’t for their situation. “I have a place, not far from here you can drop me off there.”

“Lead the way,” he said, picking her up bridal style. If he pulled her closer as she wrapped her arms around his neck then no one had to know.  

Fight so dirty, but your love's so sweet

Talk so pretty, but your heart got teeth

Late night devil, put your hands on me

And never, never, never ever let go

Fight so dirty, but your love's so sweet

Talk so pretty, but your heart got teeth

Late night devil, put your hands on me

And never, never, never ever let go

Nightwing never noticed this before but Kit Noire was small. Her waist fit in the palms of his hands so well and her legs were slender and lean as they tied themselves around his hips. He looked like he could overwhelm her but he knew better. He knew how strong and dangerous she was but the mental image of just holding her down as she submits beneath him spurred him on further. Her lips were cherry sweet and intoxicating. And her weight on his thighs left him reeling, silently begging for more.

“Someone’s eager,” she had pulled away from his mouth to speak but rather than entertain any conversation he just moved to suck bruises into her jaw. The hand she had in his hair tightened and pulled at the short strands. Her breathing became laboured as she pants into the night sky. He wanted to coax out more reactions from her, wanted to see if she can really mewl like a cat. 

A wayward hand had her grinding down harder in his lap. They were in their own bubble on this abandoned rooftop; it sat between two skyscrapers, both casting the roof in an almost impenetrable shadow, one would really have to be looking to see them. The sound of traffic below was nothing more than white noise, a background soundtrack for their current encounter. Using her grip in his hair, Noire dragged him up from her jaw and crashed their lips together again. Her kittenish licks asked for entrance and he eagerly granted it, savouring the taste of her as she mapped out his mouth with her tongue. 

He gripped her tighter, not wanting to let go, blind in the pleasure of her lips and tongue and teeth.

Teeth

Teeth

Teeth

Never, never, never ever let go

[atomicblasphemy]

Can’t promise this will make sense.

But I think I’ve seen people theorize this lovely enormous andominous guy is in fact not King’s dad:

And I’m inclined to agree. I mean, Lilith does mention the island King was hatched at was ancient. So odds are he was being incubated for quite a minute and, when the time was right (which may or may not have something do with that sky window thingy or Emperor Phil’s meddling with the island innate magic), he finally hatched.

Moreover, whatever magic is used to cloak that wee island, to produce King sonic rainboom, or to animate Jean-Luc is probably of a different source to that elemental one harnessed by demons and witches from the Boiling Isles since Hooty was unable to pin down what type of demon King was, suggesting he may not even be one. (Also, on a bit of a tangent I just think that’d play nicely with the contrast between Emperor Phil’s bri’ishness and King’s more francophone tendencies).

Lastly, the carvings, the plant life, of the that Island, the fort’s architecture, the writing system, and the very fact that they managed to build what’s probably the most sophisticated bunker in any dimension would in my eyes point  to two things: one, whatever civilization made the island was powerful, foreign, and is long gone; and whoever King’s dad was he was important enough a figure to justify a lot of resources being used to protect his son. And you know how monarchies are: the king is dead, long live the King. Also, we know next to nothing about the world beyond the Boiling Isles other than Eda telling the Selkidomus to hide further into sea and the fact that the Emipre has some form of navy (be it it a military of commercial one, in either case this suggest the existence of other nation with whom to wage war or engage in trade).

Now, I know, essentially, this brings nothing new to the table. But there’s to things I’d like to point which might do just that.

First and weaker evidence:

This looks like a place that has a similar origin to the Boiling Isles, but not really it.

The reason why this can hardly be called evidence is simple though: Eda was undergoing a very bad acid trip when this happened. So while that whole sequence offers a lot of insight into her psyche, that’s all you can take from highs. Everything else there has a very blurry relation with reality. I mean, I’m not even sure that figure people thought was Amity is really someone from Eda’s past or just a way her mind found to cope with the trauma from years of persecution by a fascist state on account of factors way beyond her control.

Regardless, if this is a real place (and consequently faux-Amity a real person), this would mean confirmation that lands other than the Boiling Isles do indeed exist, and on top of that would suggest at least one candidate for King’s true place of origin (and possibly of Eda’s curse, after she became Icarus she did turn into that suspicious looking scroll after all). Hopefully though, the show won’t really focus on that. I mean, just look at how the show sidelined Willow this season then just imagine what the sheer amount of lore this would imply would do, especially considering how short the run time ahead of us is.

But hey, I don’t even know why I’m speculating on all this and seeing how given what we know pretty much all bets are off... so you know... no harm, no foul.

Anyhow. as I briefly mentioned before whoever the lovely guy (fig. 1) is, he seems pretty huge. And that’s actually quite important. Because there is one physically big (to fit her big heart ofc) with a very unclear backstory that the show seems to bring up only when strictly necessary. This lovely gal:

The one on the left.

The reason why I point this out is: I like her and want to see more of her; her backstory was left deliberately hanging after her second appearance; what we do know about her is that she was part of the “staff of a giant” some thousands of years ago; she’s takes care of palismen which put her in a collision course with Emperor Phil; I like her and want to see more of her.

Now, those second and third points are important because as previously stated that guy (fig. 1) is buff. And so was that other figure portray on King’s forts walls. Maybe enough to call them giants (we don’t know what their growth limit is), but not so much to be a Titan. If there’s really a kinship relationship between them and King, then we should probably expect him to undergo a growth spurt, maybe not one of continental proportions, but still a growth spurt.

Anyway, not only that, but Luz (the one on the right in fig. 3) did offer to help Bat Queen find out more about her past, and the offer probably still stands. Meaning that the show writers have this avenue open, and if she really was King’s dad’s palisman then that make her the most poised one to give him the insight he needs on his past (and that his dad is, most likely, long gone, making his story pretty much like Luz’s and Eda’s in the sense it could be described as learning to accept what you can’t, change what you can and from that forge a self you can actually like). Not only that, but this would make her have a deeper connection with Luz’s camp against Emperor Phil, giving her chance to avenge all the palismen he ate over the years (which as of now she’s probably not aware of).

Also, if all of that is the case and King’s civilization is as ancient as Lilith suggested that’d probably mean she is among the oldest palismen out there if not the oldest, which could offer a solution to the palistrom wood shortage problem. And it would also raise the possibility of King’s dad being the inventor of palismen or something along those lines, not sure what that’d entail and I’m into way too esoteric territory to comfort. 

But on a mostly unrelated note and seeing how I’m taking a few hours to aimlessly speculate: Luz’s palisman. I’ve seen people suggesting she’d pick all sorts of different animals from bats to blue cardinals.

I just think she won’t really get a palisman at all. She will get a staff though, Hunter’s artificial one to be exact.

Here’s the thing, getting a palisman and the accompanying staff is kinda painted as this whole rite of passage from witchling to witchhood so to speak. Meaning that from that point on they are a witch, a part of the Isles. A huge commitment for a human to make, and her character’s  whole subtext thus far this season has been a balancing act between her human past and her magical future, culminating in the promise she makes to Camila.

That’s why the Bat Queen (fig. 3) calls her out on her insecure, tentative response when pushed to state her purpose to the potential palismen - even if covered by her usual upbeat presentation (that girl’s mind is a storm right now, poor child). In other words, for good reason, she sees getting a palisman as too much of a commitment, implying certain sacrifices (her link with the human world) she is not ready to make. 

On the other hand, she found in the Boiling Isles everything she was missing in the human realm. She was accepted there, she has a family, friends, and a girlfriend now, all of whom see her as a cherished part of their lives as much as they are of hers. She belongs in the Isles, she belongs in the human realm, and those two are on equal measure to her.

That’s a pretty tough place for some who just started learning who she is - I mean, she is 14 after all. And as of the place that the show left after Yesterday’s Lie, there’s really nowhere she can say to her self that she belongs to.

However, since we are apparently getting a Hunter redemption either way because that’s what popular media is now, every story has a quota of redemption arcs to fill (preferably of officials of monstrous regimes, but i digress) him and Luz could form a sort of parallel. If, as certain sects of the fandom believes, he is a clone of Emperor Phil’s brother (Bob, that’s his name), that’d make them along with Phil himself the characters with the closest connection to the human. Phil is the one pulling the strings so I can’t really tell what  the parallels there would be other than some kind of “what if Luz had less of a moral center to her”. That’s not the interesting parallel though.

By the way, obviously, this whole word soup’s validity depends on the Emperor being either Phil, Bob, or some derivation. I know the show hasn’t made it quite canon just yet but I mean, come on, they’ve been throwing so many bones at this theory that we could build a skeleton army.

You see, Hunter’s staff is great symbol of the relationship he has with Phil. Something that symbolizes that, the way things are, seeing how he is a magicless witch in magicful world, his only way to truly be a part of the world and of society, the only way he can have a sense of belonging is through Phil, it is through the magic he provides via the staff’s artificial magic.

Moreover, if Phil being human ever comes out, and that Hunter is Bob’s clone, then Hunter would have this delightfully existential question to answer: “Who the fuck am I then?”

Essentially, he’ll be in a similar mind space as Luz buuuut their ways out of that are opposite. In order to make a self for himself the first thing he has to do is to sever his connection with Phil and reaffirm what he wants to do with his life (wild magic). And now he has the means to do just that, he has a staff and a palisman (made of wild magic) of his own, he doesn’t necessarily needs the artificial one anymore. A way he can cut that connection is by giving his old staff to Luz.

From Luz’s point of view that would solve her own existential problem, this staff, made with artificial magic - thus suiting the existence of a human in this magical world - would allow her to either/or conundrum: she can be a witch AND a human. She hasn’t gone through that rite of passage, so she didn’t forgo her humanity (in a metaphorical sense, of course). But she was given, from possibly her biggest enemy, tangible proof that she has a place in the Isle, not by birth, but because she made one for herself through the relationships and bonds she formed, through the way she changed people’s lives just being there and being herself. It isn’t a complete solution, but it is a compromise between those too sides of her being

That leaves that piece of palistrom wood Eda gave Luz out of the equation. What the show would try to do with it is anyone’s guess. But I think something along the lines of “Willow finds out a way to replenish the palistrom wood forests, she needs Luz’s branch to do it, Luz gives it to her out of a sense of moral obligation but is torn about it since she feels she’s giving up her chance at having a staff” would be pretty neat. You know, building up a bit of dramatic tension and whatnot.

Anyway, that’s it. Word soup’s over.

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S5 Ep 20: Pharaoh’s Cool New Trick

Digging my way through quite a pile of commission work (funny how these things only come all at once or not at all), nearing the light at the end of the tunnel, was looking forward to some free time to catch up on my many little side projects when I was asked to take off for a weekend to do some cat-sitting to which I would NEVER say no to a cat, so like...Rip this blog I guess, we only update like once a week nowadays, but what do you do?

That’s right, play Puzzles and Dragons! The only phone game worth paying any attention to! Where they just released Pegasus on their Yugioh Collab and he looks pretty great!

So I’m just gonna take a second for some art appreciation, because the Puzzles and Dragons art team is just A++++ honestly, and yes, I did pull 13 times to get a Pegasus in my monster box, and yes, he is a completely insane team leader that is absolutely broken when paired with Yugi (the numbers are so satisfying) but...look at him. He looks so good!

(also I finally got Joey Wheeler, and so now my gatcha cravings are settled. And, don’t worry, I play this game so much that I was there during Christmas when they offered like a bajillion stones for free so I didn’t actually use real money on this.)

Now PAD also released a Weevil and Rex, and I don’t know why, and neither does the art team because they still look pretty good but in comparison to all the mains, they sure do looks like just some shorty guys in some casuals.

though I gotta admit, I want to learn how the hell this art team does swooshy effects, because man, that would make my art so much better to just have flames violently exploding out of all my art. Why am I not doing that more often? I have the technology.

anyway, I didn’t bother trying to pull them. Maybe I’ll accidentally pull them when they eventually release a Duke Devlin. (also, RIP to the fact that Roland will probably never be in Puzzles and Dragons but like...I can only send them so many polite letters covered in stickers pretending I’m some 10 year old child and writing in my broken Hiragana “Roland in PAD?”. Thems the breaks. (They also might not remember who Roland is.))

Shoutouts to the card that Weevil is holding that is censoring this nipple on the booby spider, PS.

So because this is not actually a Puzzles and Dragons blog, and it’s been ten eons since I regularly updated so I could remember episode to episode...where the hell were we?

That’s right, we’re on an island now. This show’s wonderful obsession with evil islands (and spoiler, this is one of the few Yugioh Islands that doesn’t explode at the end. Mostly because Kaiba isn’t here to do it or this place would be cinder)

(read more island stuff under the cut)

Anyway, after announcing “hey guys! Screw islands!” Yugi immediately collapses and without any warning.

Apparently the armor is a big ol parasite, which is something that Yugi is so used to at this point that he refuses to admit that this is a problem. Just normal Muto stuff, refusing to tell anyone that he has a serious illness going on underneath that giant mass of hair.

(the sailor moon vibes coming off this weird orb energy)

Sort of feels like a call back to S1 when Yugi was clearly possessed and everyone else was like “He acting weird to you?” except it’s S5 and everyone has learned to never trust Yugi when he says he’s fine and they are responding like he is about to die. Which is correct.

Outside of the cave falls this scroll that is...glowing, I guess. So they open it up and get a bunch of hieroglyphs that give them the “riddle of light” and like youknow...it’s riddle stuff.

They’re doing this riddle for “wings.” And it’s like...everyone’s monster here has a set of wings or an ability to fly. Every single monster except for I dunno, flaming swordsman? Hell, Yugi himself had two sets of wings when he fused with Dark Magician (which was weird, and I still don’t like to think about what technically was going on there.) But we have to go and get ourselves even more wings.

Weirdly, Joey turns to Tea and does something that in any other show would be completely normal. He was like “you want to stay here with Yugi, don’t you?” and it was the first time Joey has ever actually addressed the fact that Tea and Yugi are close. Uncharted territory. I was amazed at the amount of casual shipping that is happening here. It’s almost like a normal ass relationship.

So the boys decide to go off, and be boys and tackle this themselves. And they shouldn’t have, because Tea is smart for this group, and also has the only healing spell.

Like if you’re playing D+D you wouldn’t typically leave your only healer behind. Just saying.

Also like...Grandpa Muto went with them? I guess he’d have to since he’s the translator but also...kind of weird to leave your grandson dying in a cave, but maybe that’s just the Muto lifestyle.

Do not be fooled by my caps, no one has addressed the Bakura in the puzzle for 3 seasons. I’m starting to think this show will never address the Bakura in the puzzle. Which honestly, that would be hilarious if they made a big deal out of that plot point and then couldn’t use it in the end.

And speaking of plot points that kind of come out of nowhere and don’t make full sense with the continuity of the show--Joey has regressed back to the 4th grade.

Hey show? What?

So like if you love Joey, this is not the arc for you, because this arc he is reduced to a Himbo and nothing else. Straight up didn’t know what an echo is, but is very strong and pretty, I guess.

This inevitably happens with any TV show becuase different people make different parts, and I’ve brought up before that sometimes it feels like some teams only have loose post-it notes of what any character should be like at any given point (ESPECIALLY with Seto Kaiba’s timeline) but like...

...Personally I’m mot so fond of this interpretation of Joey, kind of ignores Joey’s best traits, and makes Tristan look way too smart in comparison (and like I always pinned Tristan to be the Himbo of the group, but maybe it’s because they give Tristan so little else to do?)

And like don’t get me wrong, Joey’s a dumbass a lot of the time and needs to get corrected by his pals...but...to the point he doesn’t know what an echo is? He’s a dumbass in a High School student sort of way, youknow?

Anyway, they get down to this big ravine, and they have to destroy this stone while the light passes over it. Kind of feels like a Breath of the Wild shrine quest, actually. In fact, I think Breath of the Wild recycled the shadow/sunlight pathing quest like 4 or 5 times. (I love Breath of the Wild to death but boy did they run out of ideas at the end there.)

They have to fight a glass monster and it’s kind of like...do you know the game Balls 3D? probably not, but it looked like a bunch of random shapes stuck together like a 90′s animation. They basically went to war with shapes.

Pure Himbo energy, has several pokemon, but punches for his pokemon instead of using them. A power move if I ever saw one.

Youknow that would make pokemon a lot more interesting if you could like throw out your pikachu, and then choose to just physically run up to your opponents Eevee and sock it in the jaw. Raise of hands--I know you all would love a version of pokemon like that. Let Ash Ketchum punch a Ratata.

Bro has informed me that Ash does do something like this in the anime. But I’m not talking about the anime, I’m talking about the video game. Give me the option to physically combat my rival. This is what I want, Pokemon.

They discover a way to break the monolith, and the show thinks we’re like actually 7 years old (because the show is Y7, although I forget because it deals with so many dark themes) so the show is going to hold on to this puzzle for a while...just to fill time. And it’s fine because we gotta switch over to Pharaoh anyway.

Yami has this dream again. He attempts to fuse with Dark magician to overcome the dream, but alas, he is still not strong enough.

Yugi wakes up in this murky cave while Tea is out washing out like...some rag? (he’s also still got a rag, so I guess multiple rags were required for how sweaty Yugi is.)

Yugi says “I feel like I’m a new man!” a lot in this episode, and every time he calls himself a man like he’s some sort of adult it’s very funny to me.

And then this plot lore dropped.

I mean I guess inevitably it had to happen...

But man, end of an era. It was freakin hilarious while it lasted: that Pharaoh refused to read ancient Egyptian because it’s like 2002 and he is a High Schooler living in Japan and he actually doesn’t WANT to resolve the mystery of the puzzle. Maybe the people who made this arc don’t know about how in S2 and S3, the fact Pharaoh couldn’t read Marik’s back tatt was like...a really big issue. He couldn’t read the God card, he couldn’t even read that massive tablet that read “HEY PHARAOH THIS IS LITERALLY YOU”. KAIBA had to tell him how to read the God card for him. Freakin Seto “Magic is a lie” Kaiba had to tell him how to use the God Card because Pharaoh couldn’t read it.

But like...Pharaoh finally gave in at some point after the world was devoured by the Leviathan, and before Kaiba finished building Kaibaland (which was already built in S1 but wtv)

The timelines on this show have always been a mishmash...but this one is just like...

...show are you trying to convince me that at any point in this show after season Zero, Pharaoh had any idea what he was doing? Did he sap that brain energy straight out of Joey Wheeler so he could do this?

Wow.

(secretly hoping he forgets how to read Egyptian after this arc is over and the show goes back to the other development team)

Pharaohs reasoning is that, if this is the riddle of the light.....

....then where is the riddle of darkness????????????

and when Tea was like “Pharaoh that is not even remotely logic. Omg it’s so bright outside, lets go back to gross cave.” and Pharaoh was like “Tea! You got it!” and she was like “What the hell are you talking about?”

Not gonna lie, I saw the Orichalcos green, and I got concerned.

Anyway, Yugi gets very frustrated and was like “ugh, lets go save em. They’re gonna die (again.)” and marches down there as if he didn’t pass out an hour ago.

And he fuses with Dark Magician again while everyone else (including his grandpa) was like “Yugi are you freakin kidding me? The suit freakin kills you omg! Tea you had one freakin job!”

And then we get the plot twist that...I mean it makes sense but it was choreographed in a confusing way.

And out of no where this guy shows up again:

So this mysterious man shows up and says “If you don’t succeed you have to live here forever” which...nice...that would probably save the world a lot of problems if Yami got locked away and took his OP puzzle with him. And then this man also says “if you do succeed you become VERY POWERFUL” and Yami was like. “...”

This whole episode had a theme to it, where Tristan and Joey were trying to prove that they could do things on their own and without Yugi’s help. And honestly...felt a little bit misplaced. Yami’s the same guy who murdered Yugi last season with the Orichalcos so like...

...I mean he is probably more reliable than Tristan who once died and turned into a robot monkey for 10ish episodes.

and then they flew into a glowing door.

Folks, this was wild to look at.

This is wild.

And at this point I closed Photoshop and thought I was done. But then I looked at my timeline on the video and was like...wait...there’s more?

and I’m really glad I kept watching because it went back to Alex, who...is apparently just still at those steps in this haunted ass Pyramid.

Now we’re watching Yugioh.

I forgot for a second when they turned Joey into a Himbo and made Pharaoh literate, but we’re back. I mean...

...look at the liner art on this adult man.

So...I posit the question...has Alex spent the last 2-3 episodes doing nothing but applying eyeliner to his face in the dark? Because he absolutely has. And honestly, the vibe of being in a spooky haunted pyramid with barely any light, just applying eyeliner down the edge of your face...that’s a Yugioh vibe, if I ever saw one.

This arc is wild. Anyway, next episode we do even more fetch quests and riddles? Just going to guess now that we probably will.

(and for those new here, this is a link so you can read them from the top. Which, since we’re in S5, means you got like...hours of Yugioh content to read through. Enjoy the rewards of my weird hobby.)

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono