#They are similar characters in drive but completely different in their handlings

[hanakou-often]

SO TRUE!! AUDGGHIHHH HANAKOU MENTIONED

Rereading tbhk and I forgot how adorable yashiro was AAAAAAAAA <33333

[arowyn-m]

I meant to do this ages ago but knowing the leaks exist is driving me insane so I’m devoting my energy to it now—

Obsessed with the idea of Arcane characters becoming their opposites in S2 so I’ve attempted to summarize each character in 3 words—a good quality or strength, a bad quality or weakness, and a neutral trait.

Vi: Protective, Hotheaded, Sentimental

Caitlyn: Empathetic, Naive, Perceptive

Jinx: Creative, Impulsive, Childish

Ekko: Nurturing, Aggressive, Distrustful

Heimer: Patient, Unresponsive, Pessimistic

Jayce: Charismatic, Shortsighted, Proud

Viktor: Self-sacrificing, Stubborn, Reserved

Mel: Wise, Manipulative, Perfectionistic

Singed: Calculated, Sadistic, Cryptic

Sevika: Loyal, Impatient, Honest

Ambessa: Cunning, Ruthless, Selfish

Assuming that these are solid descriptors for each character, and S2 will show these characters becoming their own opposites, we can expect good qualities to become bad ones and vice versa. Neutral qualities may also be turned on their heads:

Vi: Vulnerable, Apathetic, Repressing

Caitlyn: Cold, Experienced, Blinded

Jinx: Destructive (in maybe a different context than S1), Deliberate, Mature

Ekko: Neglectful, Avoidant, Trusting

Heimer: Impatient, Proactive, Lighthearted

Jayce: Unlikable, Farsighted, Humble (or Humbled)

Viktor: Selfish, Compromising, Outspoken

Mel: Foolish, Sincere, Self-accepting

Singed: Careless, Empathetic, Unambiguous

Sevika: Independent, Patient, Aloof

Ambessa: Candid, Merciful, Self-sacrificing

Further analysis below ->

A lot of these qualities are probably going to be tweaked. I don’t think we’re going to get a wildly empathetic Singed, but rather we’ll see some more of his personal motivations, which will show him to be more feeling than he seems.

I honestly don’t see us getting a straight-up self-centered Viktor, so part of me believes that he’ll be “selfish” in the context of his personal ambitions. He’s been working in tandem with Jayce for years; been willing to give up time for other projects that aren’t Undercity-centric. Viktor’s focus is going to be entirely on physically healing the Undercity—a project that only he seems to see the value in. That’s probably going to be the “selfish” aspect we see from him.

Or at least I really hope so.

Viktor’s selflessness is such an integral part of his character that it’s hard to imagine him suddenly becoming self-absorbed, but if the writers handle it well, then 👍

Similar issue with Jayce—I don’t see Jayce becoming humble so much as being humbled or put in his place (maybe by Ambessa, who looks poised to usurp Piltover’s Council judging by previous story beats and her strong presence in the S2 poster.

I like Jayce as a character and really think the fandom doesn’t give him enough credit for caring about those around him—but he’s pretty full of himself, and I only see him leaning further into that trait as those he trusts (Mel, Viktor, Caitlyn) are either pulled away or abandon him.

Sevika’s possible development in particular is quite interesting specifically because she is a follower by definition. In S1, Sevika would not have made a good leader, but maybe she will in S2.

Sevika could start acting independently to contrast her previous loyalty. Even when in an alliance she can have independent motives. We know she’s going to team up with Jinx but it’s unlikely that Sevika is going to be personally devoted to her, and maybe this alliance is a temporary, spur-of-the-moment decision.

If Sevika starts being independent, I’ve no doubt she’ll later become Renata Glasc.

okay that’s it! Feel free to add to this or take away or completely contradict me I’d love to continue to think about and discuss what defines these characters :)

[certifiablyinsanez]

I just saw Nimona, and the fact that this movie isn’t talked about, was poorly advertised, and is completely overlooked is not surprising but is violently disappointing. This might’ve been the best movie I’ve ever seen. It’s definitely the best movie I’ve seen in the last DECADE. Nimona is such a beautiful, kindred soul. There are many things that differ between me and Nimona, I’m not gender-fluid, our personalities aren’t similar, I’m not as confident and I believe they’re BPD coded (which I do not have), but I am trans. I don’t want to have pieces of me be excluded. I want to fuck up the system. I love how she presents as a girl frequently and still says deadpan “I’m not a girl”. They love who they are unabashedly, (which I aspire to do) and are in such agonizing pain from being rejected and despised that it drives them to self destruction.

“The child that’s unloved by the village will burn it down to feel it’s warmth.” Is on of my favorite quotes and I feel like it encapsulates this character so well. This show handled so many heavy elements in such a perfect way in a shorter medium like a movie and it is so impressive.

I love this movie. I love Nimona.

[witchofthesouls]

Hi uh I'm taking the last few posts as indication that you've watched TF:One so do you have any thoughts? Any discussion points, anything you adored/despised and thing you'd like more context on?

I only managed to see at the last week before it was pulled out at my local theaters, but I did enjoy it.

The visuals and designs were top-notch, the movements and background settings were amazing (like hello underground cityscapes my beloved), D-16's pretty optics, Megatronus Prime never becoming the Fallen, return of the Quintessons, the Cybertronian fauna of the surface, and Sentinel's character were just chef' kiss.

In terms of complaints: it basically comes to pacing, plotholes, and personal preferences.

The movie really did show the epic bromance between D-16 and Orion Pax in short scenes with so many details, and yet D-16 to Megatron was, in my opinion, a fast-paced downward spiral. Understandable, but considering D-16 played the brakes to Orion's impulsive plans... It was jarring.

The team really put in a lot of thought into so many iconic characters, even as a cameo, but nearly all the Autobot High Command used to be Cogless? Really? Yes, there was Dr. Ratchet, but everyone else was stuck as a miner and didn't have the chance to develop all those crucial skills that were instrumental for the war against then legendary High Guard (on a side note, they didn't starve to death and had no mention of other city-states for support)? Also, where's the administration and support systems that run Iacon? Shoot, where's Sentinel's own aides, Councilmembers, and other political entities? He took down the Thirteen all by himself? No one else in the conspiracy? Really? (I'm a little low-key salty that the Primes don't have that divine flare, but that's the fantasy/horror part in me talking.)

Okay, so the personal preferences... as much as I liked the concept of Optimus and Megatron coming from the same origins, the execution on Orion Pax's part kinda flopped. It felt like it fell into the same trap with the Aligned verse's handling, where they really tried to underscore the differences but sacrificed the cohesion of the story. @lets-try-some-writing 's post on their thoughts of TFOne, particularly on Orion Pax, really resonates with me because why does he constantly sacrifice his safety to find the Matrix compared to everyone else? A similar complaint for Elita. I'm not expecting sugar and floof, but the way her character was handled left me floundering since the creators put a lot of thought on D-16's and Orion's relationship but left us hanging on a different vibe, a completely other spectrum, with Elita compared to other iterations.

Granted, it can be the Opilita shipper in me mourning, but Elita got done dirty. The 'hardass boss' would have served someone else, like Ultra Magnus, Kup, or Scrapper, if they used another 'main' character, or they could have pulled Terminus that's playing between keeping the topside goals and minimizing underground casualties. Plus, I think it could have been interesting to see Terminus being the driving force between Orion's quest and D-16's admiration for Megatronus Prime. I would move Elita into the Cogged Cybertronians and let her be Orion's partner-in-crime. Maybe as a dock worker as an ode to her G1 origins and acts as a smokescreen/voucher for Orion outside the mines, and Orion is showing her all the secret passages and knowledge she would never had access because of her own station. It could have shown so much more of that Cybertron under Sentinel's rule and the policies he implemented. Plus, I need Elita and Orion to be dumbasses together (and for D-16 to rib Orion over his crush and Chromia to do the same with Elita).

Overall, it was a solid movie. Definitely recommend it.

[bawmbo]

hi. decided that i can probably ramble a little bit in general here

i realize that theres not a lot of content revolving around the star sanses (and no jab and nightmare and the crew, all of them are interesting characters in their own respects, both together and separately) but. id say so for the stars too

i want to introduce the concept of cross joins the stars too. obviously take my character readings with a hint of salt because some of it is a personal twist on how i see the characters and i wont ever be able to recreate them as accurately as their creators do but imo cross doesnt seem like the guy to want to further havoc across the multiverse or bend to every one of nightmares whims. i think that would drive both of them up the wall

but say ink takes in cross, or dream, or blue finds him and drags him home. their roles are pretty interchangeable in that scenario. dragging home a grumpy cat, he doesnt want to be there. not at all. but everyone has food and water and theyre learning to respect his space and quickly cross realizes hes been kidnapped into a team of idiots that hes now having to call friends that are widely known and trusted as the guardians of this multiverse. great

they all anchor each other nicely in personality and battle. dream and ink struggle with similar feelings, though not directly the same, but having to be tied to a job and a one-dimensional purpose; not feeling as though they belong in any specific space (not feeling connected to the people around them for very different reasons, but otherwise not validating their humanity). both of them disagree on the end solution, "everyone needs to be saved and i want everyone to be happy" versus "not everyone can be saved for this to continue." imo creators and nim, whatever they have going on, can be really easily tied into some religious metaphors or trauma but i digress

blue can be a nice middle ground of either. he holds a more realistic view of it and has to completely reconstruct his world view after being taken out of his timeline. its scary fighting battles when your other two teammates are functionally immortal (with minor exceptions) and you are very aware of your mortality and where your feet are in battle. they love you and respect you just as much but everyone is scared for the day that you actually bite the dust. some people have the misconception that youre actually immortal when they havent heard of you. and adding cross in on it is so much better for relatability, for schedule and stability. is it selfish to be scared to die first? theres so much more going for you.

i have so much to say about dream as a character in general but i will be quiet. for two seconds to continue

cross and ink are horrible at the emotional aspects of battle de-escalation, both can be blunt and mocking or cruel. they can be jerks but usually accidentally. so dream and blue handle the emotional aspects and its easier

but dream and blue arent so good at being mean immediately and cross can put his foot down really easily.

all of them could be really close with each other. dream and ink can start off rocky and everyone in that group can annoy each other but id argue that they can be very close. i think the harsh affects of being widely idolized or demonized / the general public having such a polarized view on you would be interesting to explore too. how would it affect their personal relationships? people dont let nightmare and his crew just waltz around their house, how do they feel about the stars? are they angry they cant save everyone? are they happy they do their jobs? they dont know everything about them. and the stars are at most just 4 people out of thousands and thousands of people who could potentially need saving. i think even in a lighthearted way, a lot of the dynamics in that group could be really interesting if it was explored. isnt it funny to imagine seeing the multiverses widest known heroes wearing cat pajamas and doing summersaults for fun over park benches, playing respective instruments in the center of the city block? oh look at those guys. theyre actually just a little more eccentric than normal people. and now theyre playing uno and now theyre taking random arm wrestling requests from strangers. one of inks dads is a clown and there he is dressed up as one. hes also the local tailor. blue is devastated watching as his brother who no one ever sees is dragging an entire pallet of honey away that he was just putting down.

anyways i love writing and i think a lot of characters have a lot of writing potential. theres so many scenarios to put them in and i want to explore how everything they have to go through affects them

[byunpum]

Will there be a sequel for experiment 56?

I REALLY want to see his reaction when he meets Y/N's and Neteyam's child for the first time.

Neteyam being a baby daddy ft. Sully family, and Quaritch.

Neteyam x Human reader ( like a mix of human-navi) This is the continuation of the parental life of neteyam and Y/N from the mini-series "experiment 56". tw: All character are age up 20's, cute and fluff.

Here is the full masterlist of experiment 56. "CLICK HERE"

Note: I hope this is what you asked for. Enjoy!!! <3

Song recommended: Beautiful boy (darling boy) by john lennon

Y/N's pregnancy was a bit complicated, and it wasn't because you couldn't handle it, but having the small body of a human and creating a baby navi was difficult. Although noah't was born a small baby compared to a baby navi.

Neteyam was your most faithful servant during your entire pregnancy, you wanted water? He was there. Were you hungry? Tell me what you want and you shall have it. He didn't mind going hunting in the middle of the night, hunting the beast, and cooking it. The important thing was that you and the baby were happy and pleased.

If Jake was overprotective of you, imagine what he would be like as a grandfather. You couldn't even be alone. Neytiri would prepare special meals for you, give you massages to ease the discomfort and show neteyam how to do it, so he could help you.

You liked being with loak and spider, because they were the only ones in the family who treated you normally. Although you could see out of the corner of your eye, spider removing objects before you passed so you wouldn't fall over.

Kiri and tuk spent all the rest of the months preparing different clothes for the baby, it didn't matter if it was going to be a boy or a girl. They were going to be ready.

Norm made you take several tests, just to make sure everything was going naturally. Jake was the one who came up with the idea and neteyam supported him.

When Noah't was born, Neteyam became more protective of the two of you, and even more protective of you.

He sits behind you, while you are in between his legs, while breastfeeding his son. He is creating a kind of guardian, to protect you.

Kiri had created a type of baby carrier. He was all proud daddy, while taking the baby for a walk.

He likes to take care of noah't while you can do things with the girls. I mean with kiri and tuk.

You two are still very young. So the stares from neteyam to you would never stop. And now they are more intense.

He loves how you look carrying his son, while you are preparing something. Or when you are hunting, and you have noah't hanging on your chest. Gurlll, it drives him crazy.

Neteyam would give you kisses on your neck, or take your hands and kiss them. He'd come up to your neck so he could smell your scent. You knew you had to be careful, because if it were up to him, you'd have another baby on the way.

He would trust spider more than loak, but to his bad luck noah't loves his uncle loak. He literally jumps out of your arms to run with loak.

Noah't was smaller than an average baby navi, but he was still bigger than an average human baby. this also affected his learning, he was growing and developing like a human. According to the research Norm did, by the age of 10, Noah't would grow like a normal navi.

You two didn't mind this, since noah't was a bright baby. But he couldn't do most of the things a normal navi baby would do at his age. But that didn't stop you and neteyam from taking him to the different activities.

Noah't was the trendy baby of the clan. He was completely navi, but had very noticeable human features. His ears were smaller and his eyes were similar to neteyam's, but they were light brown, and even his skin was a lighter blue. Not as much as those of the aquatic clan, but a little lighter than the omaticaya.

Loak would take the baby for a walk, hidden from neteyam, of course. He would sneak into the hut you shared with neteyam and ask you if he could take Noah't to play. You had no problem with this and handed him the baby.

Realizing this, you try to dialogue with neteyam saying that he is a dramatist and that loak is his uncle. Neteyam doesn't care and goes out to find loak and his son. His biggest nightmare comes true when he sees his son in the air, riding on an ikran and uncle loak holding him by the sides, Superman style.

neteyam almost has a heart attack, while grandpa jake is arguing with loak. While noah't is hugging his uncle loak's neck.

Kiri would take noah't for walks in the forest, tuk would accompany them, but would soon get bored. Spider would catch up with them, to play a little with the baby. Kiri would take him to the family hut and change his outfit. Put new clothes and new beads in his hair.

When she hands you the baby, it's a whole new baby.

Although spider and neteyam had their differences, neteyam trusts the boy. So he lets spider take care of him when he is with loak. Neteyam loves his brother, but he doesn't quite trust him.

Neytiri is a loving and overprotective grandmother to her grandson, preparing his favorite foods and giving him his first bow. You would say something like "mom, he is only 10 months old", this would not bother Neytiri, she would even teach him how to use it.

Grandpa Jake would be something else, this is his baby. And if anyone says otherwise, he's ready to fight. Loak and neteyam would complain, because he never treated them like that.

Neteyam would put beads on the baby just like him. And when noah't had enough hair, he would wear almost the same hairstyle.

Neteyam loved to lie on the floor, while his son plays on top of him. He likes it when noah't takes his braids and pulls them and tries to bring them to his mouth. He likes to hear his little laugh, when he picks him up off the ground and makes him fly on the floor.

When noah't turns one year old, neteyam will give him his old toys, he wants his son to have memories with him.

He is a very loving, understanding father. He likes it when noah't calls him "baba" it melts his heart completely.

Noah't was going to meet Quaritch, Y/n had brought him close to the base, and Quaritch would come out from around the base so he could see the baby. He had communicated with you through a communicator. After all, if it weren't for him Noah't would never have been born.

You would let him hold him in his arms, and play with him. He even took pictures with noah't. Neteyam would be watching from afar, ready for any inappropriate moves.

You could see tears welling up in Quaritch's eyes. He was congratulating you and praising how beautiful the baby was. When you told him the baby's name. He looked into your eyes, and you knew this was very important to him. "You are perfect… noah't" Quaritch says as he continues to swing noah't in his arms. He even gives you a bag of cinnamon candy that lyle had sent you.

You were even able to get spider and quaritch to meet, it was strange, but you know they will work out.

Every night, neteyam would lay down and seettle you next to him while you cuddled noah't. Neteyam liked to stretch his arm out so he could hug the two of you next to him. He wanted to know that you are safe by his side, and that he would always protect you.

p.s: I really enjoyed writing this, if you have other ideas. Go ahead… requests are open.

[picturejasper20]

If Danny Phantom came out today, what themes and topics do you think the show would tackle?

I think it would be quite a lot like The Ghost and Molly Mcgee and the direction A Glitch in Time is trying to take.

In character i think Danny would be pretty similar, but there would be a lot more emphasis in how he doesn't know to which world he belongs- to the human, ghost or both. There would be more exploration about how he doesn't feel like he fits in, if already had trouble with being unpopular in school, he now feels like a complete freak being a human/ghost hybrid. In some episodes he sides more with humans and in other episodes he sides more with ghosts.

I think there would be themes from the original show like self acceptance, responsibility and learning to rely on others when you need help but we would get to see more of why x character acts this way and the reasons behind it.

One character i believe he would have a quite different take would be Vlad Masters. He would have a lot more development and we would get flashbacks of his relationship with Jack and Maddie before and after the accident. Think of something like King Andrias from Amphibia except with more screentime. Another thing that would be different is his relationship with Danny. I think he would have episodes he has to work together with him and Danny gets to know him better. He would have moments he shows to care about Danny and protects/saves him. He would be less..extreme in some way but he would still be terrible.

I know i like to talk about Danny and Vlad's relationship a lot, but, honestly? If there was a reboot nowadays, their relationship would be one of the most interesting things in the show or one of the main things that drives it.

The series could explore things like dying a leaving things behind with more freedom. Ghosts that didn't take the opportunity to do x thing when they were alive and/ or find themselves stuck in the past. Maybe Danny starts hating ghosts at the start of the show and over time starts to see there are good and bad ghosts, a lot more balanced than is in the original series.

If Dan were to become canon in the series, i think Danny would have a sort of corruption arc that bit by bit you see him taking a darker path and closing off from people that care about him. It would be something gradual until it gets revealed that Dan is what he could become in the future.

That itself is a lot more interesting than just having Dan show up in one episode and barely being used again after that. It adds potential for character conflict and development.

Characters like Sam and Tucker would have their own episodes that develop and change. Maybe we would get to see more of their families and what goals they have outside of helping Danny. They are fun characters but in the series they usually struggle be to be their own people.

Jack and Maddie would be... better handling things than they do in the series. I believe they would pay more attention to Danny coming back late and getting injured. They wouldn't be leave lying ghosthunter machinery around. It's possible the narrative would be a lot more critical of them hating ghosts and talking about dissecting ghosts in front of their kids. Hell, it wouldn't be out of place if Danny had an arc he started to live with someone else until his parents realize their mistakes and Danny feels comfortable enough to go back to them. Here is another thing for interesting potential relationships conflict.

As for final antagonist, it could either be Dan or The Guys in White. However, i would prefer that Vlad stayed as main antagonist for a good part of the show until someone else could take that role.

[ellesthots]

Fateful Beginnings

XIX. “(im)mortality”

parts: previous / next

plot: Bruce struggles to convince he’s not bribing your silence, and you find yourself locked in the backseat of his car while Batman investigates a suspicious murder.

pairing: battinson!bruce wayne x fem!reader

cw: 18+, gore, fear, arguing

words: 3.3k

a/n: while I do list ‘gore’, I want to let everyone know I will never post photos or visuals, I will only describe it as is canon to Batman-typical violence.

How could he convince you it wasn't a bribe?

You met him out back where he pulled up with the headlights cut. Not terrifying at all. The alley was dark and leftover rain was spilling down through gutters. The sun had already set, not making more than a few shades of difference to how Gotham looked during the day. I want to go back home. I hope I survive the drive. You stepped toward the passenger seat and grabbed the door handle, but stopped with your hand clasped around it. Your shoulders tensed, your stomach felt like it halted digestion, and your eyes darted around the area, every new crumb of environmental information nearly sending you back into a panic.

You looked afraid, no, absolutely terrified. He picked up on the stress you held in your body like it was his own. He rolled down the passenger window which made you startle like a cat, the sound of the pulled handle snapping back to position. Your face was getting harder to see by the second, and his mind went blank. He had no words to reach for, no expression, no cloak of anonymity. It was rare his mind turned completely off, impossible for him not to have every next move choreographed. It only served to make him look more unsure, and less safe.

"I'm getting an Uber." You forced down the lump in your throat and started for the side of the building. You heard a door slam and Bruce call after you.

"It's not a bribe."

You halted, tucking your chin over your shoulder. It stung to look at him but, thankfully, he was cloaked in shadow. In more usual circumstances that might have scared you even more, but you were close enough to the main street should someone need to hear your screams. That same peculiar sense of safety crept up and let you turn around. "Why not? I know about you."

He sighed. "It would've been more if it was a bribe."

The thought have you bribed anyone before? germinated, but curiosity wasn't getting the better of you. It was all too fresh how he'd looked at you the last time you'd been in that building, and you could still feel the small wash of air his scoff had made against your cheeks. You were shocked you hadn't fallen back into acute panic. "You wouldn't just throw money at someone you hate."

He didn't hate you; Bruce didn't think he could hate anyone besides the people who killed his parents... and Falcone. He hated Falcone, but that could have been one and the same. He answered as simply as he could through grit teeth. "My parents have similar history." That same feeling was encroaching as the last time you and him had been in the alley, when you'd first asked Batman for an interview. Regulate. Breathe. Regulate. Breathe.

"So it's not a bribe, just more philanthropy? A tax write off?" Your voice began to rise. He shoved out a half-baked thought. "You still got the money, didn't you?"

Fucking... Your fear did a hard right into exasperation. It was important he understood he couldn't just do that, that rich people couldn't waltz around doing whatever they pleased without reprimand. Knocking the People's Prince down a peg seemed like your life's mission. "But it's dehumanizing, it's so fucking invasive."

His response was swift like the punch of guilt to his gut. "And I'm sorry about that. I shouldn't have."

"Uh huh."

His voice was firmer, louder. "I mean it. It won't happen again."

"Unless you think I'll tell someone."

He hated having his character misinterpreted; he'd journaled about this before, this nagging feeling of no one fully seeing him, no one understanding his intentions. Once again you nestled right into a crack. "I don't do bribes."

"You could've had a conversation with me."

"It won't happen again." He hesitated, just long enough to sign the contract in his head. "Promise."

"I don't trust you." Now his eyes met yours through the glint of a sporadic streetlight. "A normal person wouldn't even be able to do that."

He shut his eyes and thought about Alfred. He hated remembering this, oh, it made him sick. Bruce had come home one day from sixth grade and Alfred had been waiting at the front of the stairs, right near the entryway phone. He'd gestured for him to follow to the kitchen table, and once Bruce had sat down Alfred had told him he'd gotten a phone call.

"Your teacher says you're exclusionary." Bruce had sat there confused, remembering swinging alone on the swingset earlier that day. "What do you make of that, hmm?" Alfred had done this a few times before—tried to have a serious conversation with him, but it sat in an uncanny valley between butler and parent, and always made Bruce feel a bit squeamish; why couldn't his dad be his dad? As much as he hated his father being gone, he completely loathed anyone trying to take his place.

"I just played on the swings." Bruce kept his head down. It was easier that way, not looking people in the eye. It'd become a reflex since he'd done it that horrible night.

"Ms. Taylor says three kids came to her crying today saying you didn't want to play with them." His brow was furrowed. He let his face loosen a bit as he noted Bruce get smaller and smaller. Sometimes he was a bit overbearing trying to take on a guardian role, it was palpable in moments like these. Quite honestly he hadn't wanted to talk to Bruce about this, but felt like Thomas would have. He stuck out a hand to Bruce.

Bruce shrugged and ignored the hand. He counted the rings in the wood table to stave off tension's bite. "I told them I didn't want to play."

Alfred had sighed. Bruce was already in therapy, and he didn't know what else to do for the boy. Stressing the importance of social interaction as a means of mental health preservation seemed like the only straw he had left, so he took it. "Master Bruce." In an effort to help make the boy feel important, thinking it might pull him out of his dejection, Alfred spoke something that burned into Bruce's mind like a hot branding iron. "You're a Wayne! If you don't want to play with someone, that hits harder than just any kid in the play park."

"Bruce?" His hands were clenched tight at his sides, and his eyes were so excessively wrinkled he had to be squeezing them shut with all his might. His face was twisted into an excruciating wince. Was this anger? Was he about to fight you?

He was red-hot, his system alerting him to LEAVE. "See you next week."

What the hell? "Wait,"

Bruce reflexively whipped around, a sharp prickling traveling up his neck to his eye socket for which he massaged his temple with barely concealed earnest. The flickering streetlight salivated for a migraine. "You said you wanted an Uber."

The frustration that bled into his tone was not lost on you, so you matched it. "Why were you standing like that?"

"Do you need me to order one for you?" Water. Might have some in the backseat.

His tone had moved firmly out of cordiality, which sent a rod of indignation through you. "Jesus,"

He opened his eyes but winced as a flash of pain seared across the right side of his head. "That's not what I meant,"

"Everything is about money with you."

"I don't want it to be."

"It is."

"I don't need the reminder."

"Whether you ignore it or not, your entire life is shaped by money."

"You think I don't know that? I hate it." Nausea was tempting him now, the gravel shifting slightly under his shoe only multiplying the vertigo.

"You hating being rich doesn't make you less rich, Bruce."

"Can you stop calling me that?"

"Why?"

"Because my parents are the only ones that did."

The street fell silent. You stared at him. The last fifteen sentences had been said in the span of ten seconds, each barely hearing the other before seething a response. His chest rose and fell rapidly, nearing ten times in the past second. He blinked rapidly as he focused on the trunk of his car, his left hand out to steady him. Black spots sprinkled the corners of his vision.

You tried to bring some levity to the situation, because the combination of the tension in the air and not knowing whether or not he was about to fall and crack his head open made you nervous. "I swore I heard Alfred call you that once."

It was mildly effective; this distance between you and him was more comfortable now, but it left more space for panic to strike you again. When you spoke up, it was a squeak. "I'll get in the car. But don't hurt me." You started walking toward the passenger, but stopped when you noticed he was staring at you, exasperated. His head was pounding, taking all of his inhibition away with its roar. Bruce heaved a breath and tried to regain focus before speaking; it stung a lot more being feared as Bruce than being feared as Batman; again, once again, made him feel so much less human. "I paid the loans because," He took another breath. "I don't want anyone going through what I did." He hung his head and squeezed his eyes shut as they became hot and prickly. "I found you on the commencement list." It spilled out. "I found your mother's name. I called the closest clinic to your listed hometown and put my card on file. I almost didn't..." He peered back at you again. "I know it was a breach. I promise to never look you up again." You were standing across the car from him, soaked in gutter water. He huffed out a breath, figuring now was the best time to get everything out. "I know I'm a Wayne. I know there's a difference between you and I. I don't know how to bridge it."

It was wild how quickly he activated you, and how equally quickly it was tamed, like a wave crashing on thirsty sand. You walked to his car and slowly slid into the passenger seat. This could be the first block of the bridge; he wanted to drive you home anyway, and this could be a quiet drive to get back to equilibrium. Tears stung the back of your eyelids thinking about your mom again, thinking about the mortality of life; swells of guilt and grief welled up inside you and you bit the inside of your cheek until it was raw to keep the sadness at bay. You tucked your arms and legs and shut the door quietly in hopes he might note your restraint. He didn't know if you really believed him, but you did accept his offer to drive you.

He fought to suppress the screaming nags at the edge of his thoughts as he slipped into the driver's seat and drove off. Bruce's speed made you nervous, transporting you to when he'd nearly flattened a pedestrian the time before. It killed you to bite your tongue but this was the closest thing you'd ever get to a peace treaty, and no one wandered out here anyway. A minute passed in total soundlessness, a quiet neither of you liked but were forced to tolerate, with the alternative being bickering again.

A wash of color illuminated the alleyway. A look out the right side window revealed a smear of jagged red light against a nearby cloud—the bat signal revamped. You heard him sigh. Your research all those months ago had never pictured it anything but white. Before anxiety got the best of you, you broke the silence. "Why is it red?"

"Means it's urgent. I have to get you a cab." After the flooding, Gordon had upgraded the signal protocol—white meant come quickly, and red meant come now. He could still smell the copper from the dead's runoff in the days after the massacre and pictured Gordon, donned in a mask and gloves. "We need to improve our communication method."

You wanted to pester him into letting you come but you were smart enough to realize the implications of Bruce Wayne seen leaving with you and Batman being seen with you shortly after. The signal began to pulse, and Bruce groaned. He took a hard left down the smallest, ricketiest alleyway you'd ever seen, let alone driven a car through. He'd never seen the signal blink like that, but considering the color... he couldn't waste a second.

Just when you thought he might slam into the brick wall at the end of the alley, he hung a right and slammed on the brakes. Before you'd so much as blinked he was headed toward the trunk. "Get in the back so you aren't seen."

You thought you were being fast, but by the time you unbuckled and opened the back door he had donned the suit in its entirety. A shiver went down your spine and you stilled. The last time you'd seen him like this was before you knew a him behind the mask. It was somehow scarier knowing it was him. More reckless. It gave an immediate sense of mortality to the Batman; a poorly placed gunshot, a chink in the armor, a moment lacking focus and it was all over.

As he finished tightening a glove he glanced over to you; that same sensation felt looking back at the same doe eyes. The armor felt heavy as its purpose became negligible. Your hair was wet, and your dress hung limply stuck to the side of your thighs. Black began to smudge on your lower lash line, and your lip color had begun to fray. Panic again. He tore away from your spotlight and landed back in the driver's side. Soon as he heard the click of your belt, he gunned it.

After another minute he spoke. "Stay in the car and stay quiet, it's a dangerous neighborhood." You slumped into the back seat and stared up at the ceiling, your mind swirling with the intricacies of how you'd ended up here in Batman's backseat. And the full suit, Christ. He was menacing.

Skrrt. The tires smeared on the pavement as Bruce parked off an adjacent street. You watched as he rummaged in the middle compartment and pulled out a small blue button. A shield went up between the back and front. "Sit up."

You did, instinctively. It almost felt like a remake of the night you'd nearly been assaulted... fuck, why did the suit bring him so much command? He doesn't own me. He doesn't know me. But right now he was the expert, and you were caught in an unfortunate emergency circumstance. He turned and made direct, unwavering eye contact and you twisted your fingers together struggling to contain the pattering spurred in your chest. He looked down and you could breathe again. His voice was low, but not soft. "Good. No one can see you. I'll be back soon."

After Bruce shut the door and began jogging off, the wash of color shifted from red to white. Had the status changed? Relief grabbed you like an ice bath. Visions of guns shooting wildly had threatened to paralyze you. Gotham's 'severe' was Washington's apocalypse.

The shift caused Bruce to move from a jog to a sprint. Gordon emerged from his police vehicle knocking what looked like a remote against the base of his palm. "This damn thing," He knocked it a few more times before the signal faded, leaving the area considerably darker. Gordon threw his hands up. "I meant it to be white. Reports of a homicide."

"Where?"

"Thirteenth floor of the Rimmel Building. There." He pointed to the building a quarter mile northeast. Flashes of light were intermittent out the windows. "Forensics already started. You were a last minute call.

"Now, I've been warned this is graphic." Gordon paused at the doorframe and glanced over at you for a moment before feeling silly. Why would he care, Jim? For all he knew, and as much he wished to stay blissfully ignorant of it, Batman could have done this himself. He faced front and walked through the doorway.

It was somewhat ordinary to Bruce, at first. His eyes caught the trail of blood toward the doorway, a blood-slicked hammer to its left. He always examined the ground first after the flooding.

Your mind had wandered in strange directions the past ten minutes you'd been locked in the back seat of Bruce Wayne's supercar. So. Bruce sent the money. Alfred entered your thoughts, sitting across from you in his office chair, spectacled, talking casually about how Bruce was kinder than he let on, more compassionate. Had he actually been worried about you back at his place? Was this an expression of care? It had sounded like it, but you could not stop your mind from wandering in all the worst directions about the billionaire's intentions. Did growing up with such massive wealth actually rob him of humanity, or did it simply make him ignorant? Was his character still intact? His moral compass? You certainly hadn't heard of Batman going around killing anyone... that was one of the rules you'd found during research for your paper. Did he leave me here as a trap? Should I leave? Curiosity got the better of you, and you decided you wanted to stick around to see what crime was so urgent it warranted a complete redesign of the iconic logo. You temporarily disabled location services on your phone in case anyone might check and question why you were in the middle of an alley at night, which... sent Mar into a frenzy a minute later.

Y/N?? Where the fuck are you?????

You texted her back, reassuring her you were okay. She kept asking you to call until you finally caved, holding the mic close as you whispered. "Mar, I'm fine!"

"Then why are you whispering?"

"I just can't talk right now. I'm fine.”

"I'm not buying that. Speak up or I need to call the police."

When Bruce moved from the ground to eye-level his mouth twitched toward a grimace. A naked man was strung up in a bastardized crucifix via tarnished throwing knives; his body had streams of caked and fresh blood stained and bubbling down his person which clotted in rolls of flesh on the way down. Gravity had made each knife point sag—and there were many—the flesh poking out like it was overstuffed. He took refuge in the lack of evidence for a fight; he hadn't seemed to suffer, at least.

"I can't talk. Please. I'm fine."

"If the next words you speak aren't above a whisper, I'm dialing 911–"

"Okay! I'm fine!" You'd been louder than you'd meant, a double-edged sword of satisfying her request and making yourself vulnerable.

"Say 'it's all good' if you need help." Mar scribbled something in the background.

Bruce walked closer to the man. He made a mental note to invest in some nasal filters as the decayed stench of dead body singed his nose hairs. It looked to be about 15 knives, and—

"What is it?" Gordon whipped his head around at the sound of Batman inhaling. He was inspecting one of the knives. "If you're looking for prints, he didn't leave 'em."

"Do you see this?" He couldn't believe it. A perfect opportunity. Just as he'd stopped looking... The owls were in plain sight, etched cleanly into the handle of each instrument. Gordon came closer, having to take a moment after turning his nose up. "Where?"

"The handle. The owl."

[drmobiusvanch]

so yi sang isn't my blorbo but this is driving me crazy SO

Deep dive into this picture!!!!

Okay, first off. We can see that this is an edit of the picture of the League from Chapter 4.

The word 'edit' is chosen specifically. At first, it looks like the picture was just defaced, but Ring Yi Sang is an abstract painter and there's a lot of changes outside of what you might think. A lot of silhouettes are distorted wildly, especially including the two mysteries in the back left, and strangely Aseah.

Of the three faceless characters, I have no idea which one might be Rim. I'm GUESSING he's probably not the femme-y tall one, but who knows.

Also, Dongbaek has these swatches of white on her face, which no one else does.

They look vaguely similar to the 'feathers' on Yi Sang's painting of his wings.

But since we're talking about faces, let's inventory it, shall we?

Of the three unknowns, two are frowning while the one in the foreground next to Dongbaek is smiling. The frowning faces are heavily distorted as well. The face of the one on the right looks to be 'melting', heavily lopsided compared to the other faces, while the one on the left has their eyes de-emphasized, drawn smaller and darker than the others unless one of them is missing?

Very abstract, so it's hard to tell, but if you consider Dongbaek and front guy basic faces, you can see that these two are distorted in a way Dongbaek isn't.

Yi Sang's face here is very interesting. First off, he appears to have given himself a hat, but more importantly his face is drawn dramatically differently from every other face in the picture. Even the relatively un-distorted ones are childish smiley faces, while Yi Sang has a 'normal' face in silhouette. He's effectively saying that he is important, human, but the rest of the League are just shadows of the past.

As you can see, just about everyone in the back row has their heads distorted somehow. I have no idea what this means.

Gubo and Dongrang's faces, meanwhile, are really strange, even compared to the face of the person next to Dongbaek. They're both drawn with smiles, but the smiles are distorted even more than the lopsided frown in the background. Gubo's smile reaches entirely across his face, while Dongrang's is almost a 'V', with the corners of his mouth drawn up to be level with his eyes.

Young-ji is completely free of any graffiti, as well as any distortion.

(Aseah will be explained later.)

But what do the faces MEAN? Simply going off the ones we know, Gubo, Dongbaek, and Dongrang-even more when we consider the vague information we have on the fate of the others and compare that with the faceless ones, we have a pattern.

Yi Sang is smiling, fitting with his joining the Ring later.

Dongrang and Gubo, both of whom sold out to Wings, are smiling. Dongbaek, who was injured and had a breakdown after the fall of the League, is frowning.

For the faceless ones, Rim is one of them, another sold out to work with T Corp, and I can't remember who/what the third one was. Two frowning faces, one smiling. From the rest of this, it seems reasonable to extrapolate that the T Corp defector is the smiling man in front, and since Rim isn't notably tall, it seems very likely Rim is the shorter man in the back with his face 'melting', or in the regular picture, this guy:

But then there's Aseah. Aseah is one of the most interesting parts of this picture. We can't see his mouth, but it's not a choice on Yi Sang's part to obscure Aseah's face-it's a choice on nai_ga's. His face is blocked by the handle of Yi Sang's weapon. Why?

Aseah first appears in Leviathan as a captive of the Ring. When we see him in Limbus, he's an associate of N Corp and in charge of the Ring. Regardless of which, the fact that Yi Sang is a member of the Ring as well as a friend of Aseah's would make him an authority on Aseah's emotional state, as well as what happened to him. We don't know much about Aseah, who is something of a cipher. Whether he drew him with a frown or a smile could have meant a lot about what the circumstances around him are.

Also, interestingly, his face seems to be less distorted, like Yi Sang's. If his face was as distorted as Dongrang or Gubo's, it would be immediately apparent where his mouth was-even a more simply drawn mouth would probably reach up or down into the cheeks outside of the paintbrush handle.

Finally, as a side note, comparing the expressions with the original picture:

In the original picture, far-left, tall one, and Possibly Rim are all smiling. Yi Sang and Dongbaek have small smiles-Yi Sang appears much happier in his drawing than in the original picture, as Ring Yi Sang probably considers himself to be now. Aseah seems expressionless. Gubo is frowning slightly. Dongrang looks visibly uncomfortable, which is particularly interesting considering how he's drawn in Yi Sang's version. Considering our Yi Sang might have harbored a grudge against Dongrang, this one might too.

Regardless-it's very interesting that someone so focused on denying the past and putting it behind him would not simply deface the picture, but put effort into that defacement by giving them different expressions.

[pleasantspark]

My partner literally defends this show a lot and in VC he tries to "dispute it" so here's the full list of issues wrong with this show, you ALL have the fucking excuse as "no creative control", "endgame and slowburn", "You watch spliced up clips.", "It's Hell!"

No Creative Control: ViziePops characters would have IMMEDIATELY been changed COMPLETELY if that were the case.

Endgame and Slowburn: A ship being fucking depicted as going through a crisis every fucking minute and taking over an episode that was meant for two other characters? While also ruining a Parent Child bond? "Endgame" my ass, also lets not forget a character sexually harassed another character and was not depicted as calling that character out, "Couple Goals" my ass too. Slowburn is non-existent in this world.

You watched spliced up clips: HONEY the only clips I watch are those that ACTUALLY are relevant to my fucking point, Are we even watching the same damn thing? Also edits are beyond that.

It's Hell: Ah yes, so it's hell, no it's fucking downtown Los Angelos thats DISGUISED as Hell, Hell would be more "chaotic" and more "consequencal" most of the demons there are LIVING IT UP, and continiuing their lives much as they were alive. There's nothing different from when they are alive. It seems like Hell is LITERALLY Heaven. The only consequence is that demons seemed to get harassed or at the minimal killed, so next time I stab someone in Jail, I can go and say "IT'S JAIL!"

I feel as though people who compare ViziePops Harassment to Rebecca Sugar's harassment is completely stupid af.

Rebecca was harassed because someone decided to make a 1 hour long video trashing her show and indirectly called her a neo-nazi which caused other people to parrot the accusations as well, Rebecca was harassed by her fans just for standing up for a fan who was getting sent death threats over a FUCKING art style.

Afaik, Viv's harassments is just criticism of how she handled the pilot actors (And apparently Cherri Bomb's pilot VA had lost her Husband due to a medical ailment and she was trying to raise money to help fund the expenses that were left behind and fucking Viv said, Nuh uh, and shut that shit down. KNOWING PEOPLE PAID FOR THAT SHIT, I mean can Viv LEGALLY take down VA who impersonate her characters? Sure it's her IP but it doesn't mean that the VA for the original CB is her.), how she drew something I am not about to get into because quite frankly it's not my business (And I mean MOST of the creators, Rebecca included, had drawn some fucked up shit in the past.). She also apparently mistreats her workers. And afaik Sugar never did any of that.

You can scream "Oh but Viv has a LOT of struggles and [Rebecca Sugar] is just like her!!" all you want, but THERE'S nothing similar to her and Rebecca and the only thing similar is they make tv shows with diversity and are both females.

Don't get me wrong, I love HelluvaHazbin but people needlessly finding excuses for poorly written shows and bad pacing/decisions while also holding Viv on a pedestal infuriates me, and the worse part is, allegedly she never received criticism in her college years.

I ain't gonna sugar coat it, the LGBTQ+ Rep in this show is completely for the fujoshi and as a Trans Male whose Gay, I am HIGHLY disturbed about how most of the Gay characters are depicted as "Uwu Soft boys who could do no wrong"

Like for FUCKS sake, we're NORMAL PEOPLE, we don't get treated any differently by a standard hetrosexual, the only time we get treated differently is by angry Facebook Prudes and edgy fuckers who think being scared of homes is the new norm.

I am surprised most of the fandom (On tumblr) don't call out the problematic shit, when THE LGBTQ+ is prominent here! The more you continue to agree and like these "rep ships" the more you're giving these people the okay to continue to drive the show WHICH WAS BASED OFF OF "Assassinations" now turned into "Arguements between a same sex couple that has one victim and one gaslighter"

A little tidbit for those who stand with Stolas.

An Abuse Victim can be a Abuser.

It's not that difficult. Jfc. Anyways, this is my reason why I made Biblically Inaccurate to begin with.

[serickswrites]

i’m such a sucker for Lonely Place of Longing (the living weapon story, or, at least, the first of yours i’ve seen). especially any hurt/comfort aspects. i can see that story expanding to be novella length. may i request for a continuation if you have the time and motivation? when you take requests, do you like ideas or do you prefer to go off of what you were already envisioning?

here are a few ideas but please ignore this paragraph if you don’t want any. will Whumpee be punished for being too injured to go back into the field in the next month? maybe Caretaker steps in to defend them? i’d love to see more conversation between Caretaker and Whumpee with how isolated Whumpee is and how little Caretaker knows about them. will Caretaker ever see the extent of Whumpee’s powers (abilities? idk what you called them)? would Whumpee see Caretaker’s expression and be heartbroken that Caretaker is afraid of them and going to leave just like everybody else? does Whumpee ever train, would Caretaker be brought into the field (even just a helicopter overhead or watching video live), or would Team Leader see Caretaker becoming too fond of Whumpee and show the mass destruction to try to put distance between them? do the power-suppressing cuffs hurt them intentionally, hurt them unintentionally, or suppress any healing power that might become necessary?

@eyehartart (so i’m notified if you answer this ask)

Hello, friend! Thank you for all the questions! I love it.

So this story has gotten so big that I have changed things up with it. I have named my characters and they have some pretty extensive back stories, so I will be following up this ask with a master post, character bios, and summary because this is so much bigger than I realized (we're now at 17 chapters and it's completely written).

I absolutely love questions. And I love this story so much.

I'm also going to answer your questions from the reply in the second chapter as well!

How has Team Leader punished Whumpee after perceived failings in the past? So this is a complicated answer because Whumpee (now called Dylan) doesn't fail. Without giving too much away, Dylan always completes his missions. BUT obviously he does get hurt in the process. And that is something both Team Leader (now called Thomas) and the authority (I'll explain what they are in the master post) do not appreciate and so Dylan is made to feel very bad about that. He has been yelled at, neglected, and yes, denied his basic needs. He's experienced a lot of emotional and physical pain at the hands of those he is surrounded by.

when you take requests, do you like ideas or do you prefer to go off of what you were already envisioning? I take requests all the time and whether it's just a 'please continue this' or 'i love this i need more' or more specific continuations with requests of tropes or avoidance of squicks, I don't mind. If something is completely plotted or written I'm not always inclined to deviate unless it's a really good suggestion (I try not to be rigid, but if I have written the entire thing I'm not changing it lol). That said, I have written things completely and have written alternate endings on request. If there's a piece you like but don't like the tropes in it, you can always request a similar piece but with different tropes. I love prompts it helps my brain lol.

will Whumpee be punished for being too injured to go back into the field in the next month? maybe Caretaker steps in to defend them? In the next chapter, there will be some more hurt comfort and you'll see how Dylan handles his injuries and how Caretaker (now called Halle) experiences him.

i’d love to see more conversation between Caretaker and Whumpee with how isolated Whumpee is and how little Caretaker knows about them. Halle will learn more about Dylan and spend time with him. No spoilers but their relationship and interactions are actually the driving force behind this story.

will Caretaker ever see the extent of Whumpee’s powers (abilities? idk what you called them)? would Whumpee see Caretaker’s expression and be heartbroken that Caretaker is afraid of them and going to leave just like everybody else? In future chapters, Halle does get to see some of Dylan's powers in action. She does eventually learn the totality of his powers and it's definitely impactful for her (I don't want to spoil but the reveal and the chapter after that are so full of the feels).

does Whumpee ever train, Dylan doesn't need to train. You'll understand why near the end of the series.

would Caretaker be brought into the field (even just a helicopter overhead or watching video live), Halle does get some field action time but is very sheltered. Dylan's abilities are considered like TS/SCI level clearance in the world of this story (in the US that's the highest level of security clearance is my understanding), and Halle does not have that clearance, but is brought in on the know near the very end of this story.

would Team Leader see Caretaker becoming too fond of Whumpee and show the mass destruction to try to put distance between them? Thomas does not like how Halle interacts with Dylan and reminds Halle on a regular basis that Dylan is dangerous and not to be trusted.

do the power-suppressing cuffs hurt them intentionally, hurt them unintentionally, or suppress any healing power that might become necessary Ah, the power suppression cuffs. Those are super duper handy. Originally I was going to pair it with a muzzle, but decided that was too much work to then develop the rest of the story so I nixed the muzzle. They suppress all of Dylan's powers, which do include accelerated healing and higher constitution. So it's not necessarily that they cause harm intentionally, but by design are harmful. Dylan's powers are a part of him and to be cut off from them is uncomfortable and painful. He's adapted to life like that as he's had to wear them a long time (it's revealed how long very close to the end of the series). But they are not comfortable and he doesn't enjoy wearing them.

Please ask any questions you like! I really enjoy the questions. This story got so much bigger the more I wrote and the more I thought about it that by the time I finished, I realized I needed to change the generalness of the piece (but had sadly published two chapters already). So I'm going to be editing those two chapters to reflect the changes AND I'm going to create a master post, charater bios, and summary. Which means I am going to do something I never do and that is tag everyone who has interacted with the first two chapters (normally I only tag reblogs, comments, and replies, but this time I'm also going to include likes) because I have made some changes and want to give them a chance to read.

And this turned into a very long winded answer, so expect chapter three to be out tomorrow!

If you (anyone who is tagged in this post) do not want to be tagged in anything further, please let me know and I will take you off the tag list. If you do want to be tagged and are not already tagged below, please let me know and I will add you!

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[tokiro07]

I think one of my favorite things about Undead Unluck is how thoroughly it integrates its cast and its power system

There is literally no way that one can exist without the other, as the powers that everyone has are simultaneously the driving force of their character development and the benchmark of said development

Every Negator's life is defined by how their ability brought them tragedy, either in a single horrible event, an ongoing insecurity in their day-to-day life, or a mixture of the two. Their abilities are their origin and the source of their pain, but struggling against or embracing that pain allows each of them to grow and evolve their abilities into something new by a change in perspective and experience

Fuuko's Unluck killed her parents (and hundreds of strangers), which led to a life of isolation and longing, both of which shaped her eventual interactions with Andy and the rest of the cast, and it was her ability to analyze and accept what Unluck really means to her that she was able to make it a part of her identity and use it to her advantage. Fuuko as we know her would not exist without Unluck, and Unluck as it exists would not exist without Fuuko, as it would look entirely different in the hands of another character

I feel like I must have seen it elsewhere, but I can't think of any other manga that so perfectly joins those two concepts

Even One Piece doesn't really marry its power system to its characters very much. Yeah, Luffy's Gum-Gum Fruit is iconic and gives him a lot of his charm, but Luffy as a character would not be fundamentally changed if he didn't have it. It fits him thematically because, like his personality, the Gum-Gum Fruit allows him to act freely and bounce back from any bad situation, but his Fruit does not inform his characterization, it merely reflects it. Someone else using it would likely have different results because of their personality, but probably not too drastically. Haki is similar; Luffy has Conqueror's Haki because he has the personality to use it, not the other way around, and this sort of thing is consistent across the series. Characters' abilities are reflections of who they are, but no one became who they are because of their abilities. If you took out Devil Fruits and Haki, I think you'd still end up with mostly the same story just with less interesting fights

Hunter x Hunter, which has likely the most robust and well-defined power system in any shonen manga (if not all of manga), does something very similar, as Nen abilities are created almost exclusively by the user. Whereas Devil Fruit often happen to carry symbolic weight for the characters, Nen abilities reflect their users because they illustrate the user's intentions, priorities, convictions, and imagination. Kurapika's chains give him a lot of versatility, giving him a useful weapon in essentially all situations while carrying a ton of risks to reflect how little his own life actually means to him; his quest for revenge is extremely self-destructive, but damn if he hasn't put a lot of thought into it. However, if you took Nen out of the equation, you'd still be able to illustrate Kurapika's ingenuity and drive solely through his actions, which Togashi managed to do just fine in the several arcs that took place prior to the official introduction of Nen

On the flip side, something like Jojo has surprisingly light characterization unless you're really looking for it. Thanks to Araki's very strange way of conveying dialogue and exposition, with everyone having the capacity to say a completely deranged non-sequitur and explain esoteric scientific or pseudo-scientific trivia, it's not always easy to get a firm handle on everyone's personalities. However, Stands are a manifestation of the inner spirit of their user, so you can use a Stand's ability to analyze and come to understand the characters themselves. At a glance this seems to do the same thing as DFs and Nen, but to me the Stands themselves are used to better understand the characters, whereas HxH uses the characters to develop and understand the power system

Again, it's not like you could take out Stands or Nen or Devil Fruit, but nothing that occurs within technically requires those systems be in place as they are. Any power system could have technically worked, like Luffy could have used Nen or a Stand to rubberize his body or Jotaro could have gotten a DF that lets him stop time. They would require a lot of changes to fit with the overall design of their respective stories, but the cast wouldn't really be that different

Luffy fights DF- and Haki-users to change the systems they represent, but defeating them will not affect his ability to use his DF. In UU, defeating God will (presumably) remove the Rules altogether; defeating the source both clears the Negators of the "curses" that have plagued them for so long while also forcefully changing the systems of the world as a whole. It's two birds with one stone, and serves as a great example of narrative utility

[vintage-bentley]

in depth harry potter spoiler warning. but i wanted to talk about gay!dumbledore. what jkr really does well is the adult backstories. you meet the adult characters from an eleven year old’s perspective. as harry ages (in the last book he’s seventeen) he gradually learns new things about the adults and gains a better understanding of them as full people. but every single one of these adults was already the full person harry understands them as in book 7 all the way back in book 1. a lot of other ya authors try to imitate this and fuck up, either because they get excited and jump the gun, giving us way too much info way too soon, or because it’s blatant that the complexity was added later. dumbledore is a great example. in book 1 when harry first learns who he is (from the back of a candy box trading card with commentary from his friend ron) he’s this highly revered wizard who famously defeated the greatest dark wizard of all time pre-voldemort in a duel. when harry meets him it’s noted that his nose is crooked like it had been broken and never healed correctly. there’s a mirror that shows you your greatest wish and when harry asks what dumbledore sees he says a nice pair of knitted socks. harry can tell he’s lying but doesn’t push because he realizes that was a really personal question, but he doesn’t know dumbledore well enough to know what the truth would be. we get the full backstory drop in book 7. the simple version is: when dumbledore was a young man he was extremely close to another young man, one his brother didn’t like. they wind up in a three way brawl, dumbledore’s sister gets caught in the crossfire and dies. boyfriend up and leaves, brother breaks dumbledore’s nose at the funeral, boyfriend goes on to be the powerful dark wizard that dumbledore battles decades later. so even though harry didn’t know that backstory in book 1, it’s clear looking back it was already a part of him. anyway this is why it drives me bonkers when people say that dumbledore wasn’t gay in the books and jkr just said that after the fact for clout, because it’s an integrated part of his character and arc and has clearly been what jkr had in mind from the get go. no, harry doesn’t get the definition of homosexuality talk but homosexuality is absolutely there (and in more than just how close he and evil wizard were in backstory, in book 7 a homophobic tabloid journalist insinuates dumbledore was molesting harry). people act like him being gay was a retcon when it was just jkr being honest about what she wrote. sorry for the novel but yeah

Don’t be sorry, I’m glad to have this context!! Like I said, I haven’t read or watched HP so I’m completely clueless here and don’t really want to praise or bash Rowling over something I don’t know about. I lean towards praise though because it seems like anyone not caught on the “I hate JKR!” Bandwagon claims that Gay Dumbledore was handled well.

I really like the concept of finding out more about the adults as the child protagonist ages and gains new insight!

Tbh I imagine that this is a similar situation to GO S1: it’s not technically canon because it’s not explicit, and readers/viewers who either don’t want to see homosexuality, or are too entrenched in heteronormativity to think of spotting it, won’t see it. But LGB people and possibly even allies will spot it, because they’re either used to reading between the lines or are willing to see it.

So I don’t think she should be praised for explicit gay representation, which I haven’t seen anyone claiming (although like I said, I haven’t read the books so it’s possible I’d change my mind if I read them). But she’s much different from Neil in that she’s said “yes, it was my intention that he was gay, and there’s clues in the text that point to this and prove my intentions”. Neil has been like “yeah we called him the f slur and made him a gay stereotype for the laughs, but no he’s not gay. He can be literally anything else though”.

[theseventrumpets]

♪ ♫ The Seven Trumpets Sound,   ♫ ♪

In a world similar to our own, but full of magic and strange differences, groups of cats gathered by the Four Deities of the Plain are surviving on their own, living in fear of the ones who made them who they are.

After the treacherous Age of Sin, led by the late Gooseheart of the Black, the Decks are unsure of how to handle their current situation. Bodies pile high as a cat was given the task of a God, and now the Decks must suffer from what it caused. With Valerianspade pronounced dead, The White suffering from rampant raccoon attacks, and The Red's Face being struck by visions and absent in action, the only thing the Decks have to look forward to is the next Messaging and Calling, to try and find answers...

►► Zero Trumpets Sing. ◄◄

At long last, The Seven Trumpets is finally open! A year has passed since I began planning this story, and I’m happy to say that I’m finally opening it to the public. I’m excited for this, and I hope you all are as well! The Seven Trumpets is an 18+ horror Warrior Cats Roleplay based around the concept of a biblical apocalypse, inspired by the album 'Until The Horror Goes' by the band John Congleton & The Nighty Nite. It uses a lot of horror themes, though mostly focuses on psychological horror and the idea of unreality and fear, and how those can drive characters to survive, or cease surviving entirely. This RP will focus on some darker topics, and gore will be featured from time to time. This RP may not be for the faint of heart, and I encourage you to make sure you can handle psychological horror before coming into this server! Although this RP is horror themed, it will not be purely angst and hardship. As the goal of the story is to stop an apocalypse, there will be themes of hope and light coming through the darkness, and characters finding the strength to keep pushing on even when everything is against them. Don't expect this server to be purely dark with no happiness, as that just wouldn't be fun for anyone to constantly deal with anxiety and pain and suffering all the time! If you’re interested, read below the cut to see more in-depth details about the server and story, or check out the links right below to get started on reading the lore, about the Decks, and so on. To join the RP, just go ahead and click the link to the Discord server! After you’re in, wait some time for our mods to check you over, and give you permission to join. There are no applications during Trumpet 0, unless the count of people joining gets too high to handle. Anyway, have fun, and I hope to see you there!

♪♫♪► WEBSITE ► RULES ► SEND AN ASK ► DISCORD LINK ♪♫♪► SERVER ADOPTS ► ALLEGIANCES ► LORE ON TUMBLR

"To indeed be a god, to indeed the pale white horse, With you we turn the mountains, went upside down, with you it's a force."

Here’s what you can expect from this RP:

► Oh god, there’s elemental magic built into the cats. ► It all takes place entirely in a world of my own, so there’s a shitton of worldbuilding! ► Paranormal and supernatural activities, including Gods and... Mothman? ► Non-feline animals are allowed in limited quantities! ► There’s no Starclan, just Ad Infinitum and it’s subsections! ► A completely overhauled and hand-crafted Warriors ranking system! ► A mostly liquid time based RP, both in events, roleplay, and aging! ► Morally dubious and evil characters allowed in certain quantities! ► Neurodivergent/mentally ill/physically disabled characters are allowed with no restrictions or paywalls! ► Currency system to add rare traits to your cats, AND MORE! ► Fun games, like a drawing game, trivia game, and an in-character question game, which give you points for currency!

Here's a brief rundown of how the server and story is going to be run: There will be multiple arcs in the story, each defined by a trumpet. Each trumpet will be a different arc. Within these arcs, there will be a generally planned plot to follow, but it won't be completely set in stone, and things can change based on how the players themselves interact with the story and choose to make it flow. That's right baby, this WILL be player driven! There will be a lot of player-mod interaction as the players work with each other to make the story flow, and the mods will be there to make sure their RPs and adventures and questions will be rewarding in the end! Everyone is supposed to feel important in some way, and we will make sure everyone gets their time to shine--as long as they want it, at least.

There will be major events that players can participate in, and there will be special happenings that players can go through--kind of like choose your own adventure type scenarios, just as a special addition to the general roleplaying experience. We don't want anything to get boring or tedious, so be sure to let us know how you're feeling about the RP and the plot itself, as player feedback is VERY necessary in a place like this!

The RP itself takes place in southern Illinois, by the Mississippi river, and not too far away from St. Louis. The Plain of Revelation contains four Decks: The Pale Spades, the Black Hearts, the Red Diamonds, and the White Clubs. The White Clubs are a prideful and dramatic Deck based around secrets and facades, the Red Diamonds are a skill and family-oriented Deck based around pairings and symbols, the Black Hearts are a unified and empathetic Deck based around goals and achievements, and the Pale Spades are an orderly and strange Deck based on promises and vows. They all have their own unique quirks that make them special, ranging from some worshipping the food they eat, to others painting stories in caves to remember history. All are open to join, and all are happy to accept new members!

[torchship-rpg]

Dev Diary 5 - Dice Pools

Here we are with Dev Diary 5; we’re going to talk about dice in Torchship, and how you make basic checks.

Essentials

Firstly, we gotta talk about when you roll dice. Torchship is in many ways a classic ‘pop’ RPG, leaning away from some of the structured narrative mechanics popular in the last decade or so. That means you roll dice for the classic reason; when GM has decided that you’re doing something you might fail, and that the failure has sufficient stakes that it’ll affect the story.

When a Check is called, the GM always opens by telling you not just what you’ll be rolling and how difficult it’ll be, but what’s at stake. The GM lays out the full consequence of failure before the dice are rolled, because your characters are competent professionals and can see the places where things might go wrong. If you don’t want those consequences, you can pause and think of something else to try.

Torchship is a d6 dice pool system. When your character does something that might warrant rolling dice to see how it goes, you pick up a handful of dice and roll them against a target. The number of successes you get determines how well things went; in Torchship 3 Successes is a full, unqualified success, 1 or 2 are partial successes where you choose lesser consequences, and 0 successes means the full failure elucidated earlier.

It’s very quick to build a dice pool in Torchship, but despite that there’s an enormous amount of potential nuance built into every element of it. Each mechanical component of the process has a narrative meaning you can draw on, which makes it easy to improvise for specific circumstances because you know exactly what each part of the rule does. 

Targets, Modifiers, and Rerolls

Your Certification grade is what provides the dice target you’re rolling against; if you’re Skilled at something, you need 4s or better, but if you’re completely unfamiliar with the task, you need 6s. That’s easy and straightforward; concentrate on what you’re good at and let the rest of the crew handle the other stuff. 

If you have particular specialty knowledge, or when you gather information during Investigation, you get bonuses to your rolls, because the result of individual dice is something we govern in the fiction by the skill and knowledge of the person doing the work. In a similar way, being injured subtracts from your roll because your personal abilities have been degraded by pain and damage. Simple!

We also have a concept of Advantage & Disadvantage, which covers circumstances. These simply give or negate successes in the final roll. Disadvantage is generally more common; anything from unfamiliar gravity to working remotely or in an awkward position to doing something in the dark. Advantage and Disadvantage cancel one another out, but also stack; you can end up in a position where many of your Successes will be cancelled out, or one where you have so much Advantage you don’t even have to roll.

Finally, teamwork provides rerolls, as another person looking over your shoulder can catch and ‘do over’ things you might not have noticed. Not only can this be direct, like having a comrade directly assisting in the task, but it can also be indirect, using the Unity resource we’ll detail more later to represent the Power of Friendship driving you along.

Finally, there’s the number of dice.

Tools & Dice

The ‘default’ number of dice is 6d6, and then it’s modified by the tool you’re using. Using a tool in a way it wasn’t intended for means -1d6, using a tool hyper-specialised for one particular task for that task is +1d6, and appropriate heavy equipment you couldn’t carry on your own adds another +1d6.

So in most cases, it’s pretty easy. Want to find out what something’s made of? Take out your hand scanner and roll 6d6, or point the ship’s sensor array at it for 7d6. If you thought of a different novel way of determining it with one of your other tools, like breaking off a piece with the hammer in your multitool to inspect it, that’d be 5d6.

What tools are for is defined entirely in the narrative, so you can make new ones as needed, if you have the time and resources to spare. There’s a huge library of tools available on your ship, from multitools to climbing equipment to futuristic lockpicks, but you’re always rewarded with that extra +1d6 for building a tool exactly for the job using the Invention rules, which themselves use one of these Checks using the tools you’re building with. So if you need to pick a specific lock, you can build a bespoke lockpick for the job!

… but here’s where it gets fun.

Tool Levels

6d6 isn’t an arbitrary number; it’s part of a whole continuity in the tool construction rules we call tool level, which is rated on a sort of expanded Kardashev scale based on the energy available to the civilisational infrastructure which created it. That level is what determines the size of the dice pool!

So as Star Patrol, with access to advanced flash-fabrication systems, a huge library of materials and alloys, and near-sapient computer aided design, you can build a really, really good hammer; that hammer will be 6d6 to do hammery things. The Star Union is a K1 Civilization; they have all the available energy of a single planet from the use of advanced fusion reactors. All that energy powers a complex industrial network mining, refining, researching, storing, designing, manufacturing, and recording everything you need to make a 6d6 hammer.

This gets relevant because your stories aren’t always going to take place in your ship. You’re going to travel to strange new worlds, and not all of those are going to be K1 Civilizations; you’ll bring with you your K1 tools, and you’ll have plenty of chances to pick up theirs as well as you interact with them. 

If you pick up a hammer made with the best production techniques of a world with roughly 20th century technology (what we call “K0.5”, using the energy of a planet’s hydrocarbons), then that’s going to be a 5d6 hammer. That civilization simply doesn’t have energy required to sustain the kind of vast social infrastructure you need to make a 6d6 hammer.

On the other hand… if you get gifted a hammer out of a matter resequencer run by an advanced alien species, a K1.5 civilization like the Voxytes who are backed by the energy potential of many worlds… that’s going to be a 7d6 hammer. Your civilization simply doesn’t have the energy backing to sustain the enormous chain of infrastructure needed to build a matter resequencer, so your hammer doesn’t have all its molecules individually aligned in optimal hammering configuration. 

One of the objectives of your campaign is getting to be the kind of civilization that makes 7d6 hammers.

If you don’t have any hammer, you’re down to your bare hands and 2d6; even operating perfectly, you can’t score a full success. You are a K0 civilization; your body has all the energy of a single person.

But humanoids are tool-builders and tool-users, remember? Go pick up a rock. 

It’s not much, but it is 3d6.

[rosetyler42]

Some Ericka + Moon fun! While I agree with alot of @lovelylivelyv 's sentiment on Moon's character being handled badly, I can't really hate Moon. She had the potential to be a good character, she was just poorly handled. Alot of this came out of that since Ericka was in a similar situation once and prefers to teach others and convince them to do better than fight them.

That is, if she thinks they'll listen.

1. Despite Ericka's issues with the Magic High Commission (...Mostly Rhombulus and Heckapoo) and Mina, I think Ericka woukdn'r have a problem with Moon. Moon's alot more reachable than the others and I think Ericka'd ultimately empathize. After all, she was in a similar situation. The only problem (Besides the Star and Eclipsa-like clash between Ericka's more bouncy, crazy, free-spirited and optimistic nature and skewed morals and Moon's much more uptight, reserved, and straight-laced one) is Ericka DOES agree that working with Mina behind Star and Eclipsa's back was a stupid thing to do and a breach of trust. Even if she doesn't judge all that harshly for it. ("I mean, not only did I date a guy while trying to kill him, I ran a whole monster cruise death trap and knowingly helped my Great-Grandfather retrieve a magical weapon of mass destruction. I am the LAST one who should be judging here.")

2. Here's an idea I've had for a while: I feel like Ericka and Moon have completely different reactions when it comes to seeing what the other side thinks of them. While Moon takes things seriously and personally, getting offended and trying to correct with her OWN misconceptions, Ericka ENJOYS any opportunity to see things from the other side after a lifetime of only learning from Great-Grandfather and finds the fact monsters had silly misconceptions of their own about humans funny and almost adorable compared to her own. She forgives and forgets far more easily than Moon and can even laugh at the monsters' dark humor and join in with her own jokes about the past...something that drives the much more uptight, serious ex-Queen up the wall.

It's fun playing with the clashes between these two. While Ericka's willing to easily forgive Moon for her mistakes and past views of monsters since she sees hope for Moon to do better, she can't help but enjoy how easy it is to play with the much more straight-laced women's head a little. Even with their difference in rank and power. Perhaps it's Ericka's way of trying to get her to lighten up, her seeing some of her old self, Great-Grandfather, or even Drac in the other woman, or it's merely Ericka's mischievious "I will cause problems on purpose" side coming out. Who can say?

And Moon, while she can't help but like the charming, friendly woman that oddly reminds her of her own daughter (they even relate to eachother on many things, including parenthood, being one of the leaders of their community, and having been an accomplice to Genocide once); she finds her VERY odd and at times talking to her is like dealing with Eclipsa, Mina, and Star all at once...with the challenge of Ericka KNOWS full well what she does drives Moon nuts and enjoys it immensely.

Basically, Ericka enjoys bending or breaking MANY of the rules Moon has spent her whole life upholding. She lives by her OWN rules, and it causes clashes between the two.

Bonus that didn't make it due to space:

Moon: You...What do you MEAN you find all this... FUNNY?

Ericka: Mmmm, Sounds like SOMEONE still has hate they haven't let go of yet. Not to mention some control issues. C'mon, Moon. Even YOU have to admit the irony of them being just as scared of us as we are of them is atleast a LITTLE BIT funny!

Note: Yes, Ericka copying Drac's "When will you Van Helsings learn to let go of the hate?" Pose and phrase was 100% intentional.

I strongly associate these 2 with "What I know Now" from Beetlejuice since Ericka not only had been an accomplice to Monster Genocide who learned she was wrong about Monsters and made a heel-face turn (but betrayed someone she loved in the process and nearly ended up dead because of it,) but she grew up trying to live up to the rigid, serious rules and expectations of being a Van Helsing and ultimately rejected them in favor of making her own future. So "If I knew then what I know now" is both her trying to tell Moon what she learned about Monsters and taking rules and life seriously.

@lovelylivelyv @black-ak9 @hotelt-resurrection @serial-serializednovelreader @deathfangirl9 @wingingfromthezing @heartsong1994 @ebevkisk @kittyball23