#aka 'i needed enemies in the game idk'

[insertdisc5]

Are sadnesses caused by the king specifically or is that just what happens when people die with regret, sadness, etc?

Odile phrased it in the worst way possible and also it doesn't matter that much, but sadnesses are just people's emotions taken form. The people don't even need to be dead, just Wow I Am Feeling A Whole Lot Of Stress Right Now -> boom sadness. Obviously isat happens during a time of heightened emotions for Vaugarde which is why sadnesses are becoming a capital P problem

[lixbf]

ive been playing so much hades 2 atp i feel like the first Big early access patch is gonna legit change my life....

[mywitchcultblr]

Saw your posts abt the shadow of the erdtree writing and wanted to say thank you for being open abt your opinions on it because I feel largely the same but everyone I've encountered has an tantrum if you critique the writing. Like lets be honest radahn came out of nowhere & I wouldn't even be that disappointed abt it being him instead of godwyn if there was any build up to it in the base game but there isn't.

Miquella feels like they legitimately didn't know what they wanted to do with his character which is a shame bc hes was probably my favorite demigod before hand.

His motivations are wack as fuck. He wants to make the world a gentler place but his consort is a war monger and simps for godfrey, who, mind you, led a genocidal campaign against the giants on markia's behalf??

I swear even the tarnished would have been a better choice for consort. And why imply he was torrents former master if that wasn't the case? It would make sense, melina literally tells you '' torrent has CHOSEN YOU'' so if miquella needed a consort, why not pick the tarnished who has the ability to kill actual fucking gods and isn't inherently a blood thirsty warrior.

biggest disappointment for me is mesmer, hes so cool and his lore is super interesting but he feels like his presence and relevance is side lined or just diminished. Idk. Felt like he had so much potential only to be forgotten in the wake of radahn somehow being alive and back again.

Sorry for rambling but really thank you, your posts really said what i couldn't articulate before.

Also the fact that Radahn being Miquella's consort doesnt make sense because THEY ARE VERY DIFFERENT.

Miquella desired a world of peace, so peaceful there wont be any war or conflict while Radahn is a man of action who relished in bloodshed, he's a relentless warrior who idolized Godfrey.

Him wanted a glorious battle against Malenia before settling down with Miquella, turned Radahn into NOTHING BUT GODFREY'S CLONE. Its one thing for him to idolized the first elden lord, its another thing for him to just become another carbon copy of his idol.

A cheap replica, first elden lord from wish dot com...

This weird arrangement with Miquella is detrimental to not only his Caelid arc (the whole festival thing, letting go, and putting him to rest) but also for Radahn as a person. Also if Radahn became Elden Lord (and marry Marika? Or Ranni? Or Malenia?) his age wouldn't be an age of eternal/total piece that Miquella desired, it has to be a world where warriors could not only survive but also thrive.

A world that Miquella would never approve.

"Oh but its about the symbolism of repeating Godfrey and Marika-" Symbolism for the sake of symbolism that ruined Radahn? Yeah its still shit... And yeah I dont get why Miquella would insist on marrying Radahn, while the STRONGER LORD AKA THE TARNISHED WHO BESTED COUNTLESS ENEMIES IS RIGHT THERE!

True, Mesmer should have been the main big bad, I dont care what anybody said, its such a waste that he was so hyped as this living embodiment of heresy and just ending up as not that relevant in the grand scheme of thing, like this guy has 0 impact on the main title.

I really dont want to see this DLC as canon :(

"Mr. Stark I dont feel so good."

[levemetal]

I have a million and one svsss AU ideas that idk if I'll ever write cause I have 0 confidence in my untested writing skills. Any of these appeal to you?? Go ahead, use 'em. Know any fanfics like that? Please please PLEASE leave them in the comments. Ideas to add? Anything? Please go ahead I have no friends that are as deep in the svsss brainrot as me to subject this to ˚‧º·(˚ ˃̣̣̥᷄⌓˂̣̣̥᷅ )‧º·˚

Continued under the cut due to excessive rambling

These will be Ghost King/Calamity!SJ cause he has been living rentfree in my brain ever since one braincell at one AM shouted about it so you have been warned.

- Dual Ghost Kings YQY and SJ, Post canon of PIDW. That's it that's the idea. Their extras hurt my cold dead heart way too much and as much as bbygirl SJ is a piece of shit, Yue Qingyuan deserves happiness, and for that he needs his Xiao-Jiu. Basically YQY does not stay dead when Bingge turns him into a pincushion à la White No Face to Xie Lian except with arrows. What happens from here? Idk didn't get that far but I imagine he steals back his (probably dead) Xiao-Jiu, maybe does some other batshit insane shit like we all know that deep down he's capable of, and the duo fucking COMMUNICATES for once in their life and they live happily ever after. Bonus points for hilarious deaths for Bingge.

- If you're a filthy multishipper like me, want a BingJiu version of the above QiJiu? Easy, SJ decides to haunt Bingge's ass for eternity and vice versa when Bingge kicks the bucket and so they spent the rest of eternity trying to make each other miserable in increasingly ridiculous and creative ways. Maybe along the centuries they find a common enemy or sort their shit out and proceed to make their awful existence everyone else's problem. A match made in hell, truly <3

Are you seeing a theme yet. I like a general comedic air to svsss AUs, it just belongs to the svsss experience ya know? Anyway carrying on-

Shen twins, and SQH twins cause why not. If you want Binghe twins too, actually probably funnier with Binghe twins, where one is our beloved maiden Bingmei and the other OG!PIDW Bingge but forced back in time with memories of the PIDW timeline. Transmigrator SQH aka Airplane gets the peak lord + Mobei-Jun plotline while OG!SQH is just chilling as an An Ding Peak Hallmaster or something. Meanwhile, the Shen twins have a funny game of imposter going on. As far as everyone is concerned, there is only one Shen Qingqiu, Shen Yuan. Shen Yuan transmigrated in earlier into the novel, but ended up going to CQM with Yue Qi while SJ got stuck in the Qiu household as in canon. From here the details can change but the main idea is that

A) Shen Yuan knows how to do his peak lord job actually

B) SJ is a calamity ghost, having died either in his disciple years or alternatively never made it out of the Qiu household alive

C) Both SY and SJ have been playing switcheroo when SY needs to head out and do stuff or just wants SJ to do his paperwork for him.

I still need a good reason for the switching and duping, but wouldn't it be funny if the disciples just had to deal with their peak lord behaving WILDLY different at times. Most of the time it's good ol' Shen Yuan smiling at disciples, way too enthusiastic for monsters and plants and keeps forgetting his fans everywhere. Then one random week in the month after he has a resting bitch face, scowls, snarls and bitches at anyone and has 0 patience for teenage attempts at music.

Most shrug it off as just terrible migraine weeks, but some disciples are suspicious, most of all Bingge who is CONVINCED something is WrongTM. Like, he KNOWS SQQ and this SQQ is just so different, something must be different. He doesn't know how right he is yet everyone just thinks he's actually insane.

I know this is probably increasingly insane and dumb, but fast forward to the Abyss opening. SJ was probably there to keep an eye on his clumsy twin, but SY ends up asking the ghost to look over the Luos, as the system still demands that they go to the abyss. So SJ after much grumbling agrees (after all he probably just was unmasked as ghost calamity, and the twins as demons, with a huge amount of cultivators moving their way. It's really the smaller hassle to jump into the Abyss and deal with the horrors there. Besides, the scholar in SJ would be curious about the abyss (and SY too let's be honest) ), kicks both in and goes "Alright we're taking an impromptu field trip" and jumps in after leaving SY to deal with the political mess that comes after.

Anyway, the last AU can be changed in various ways, like make it a PIDW time travel fix it with only the OGs around, or just Shen twins, etc. Feel free to shout at me how dumb this all is.

[dolskele]

Playing Course of Temptation for funsies, super fun so far! Here's my list of pros and cons so far (not tht deep into the game yet btw)

PROS:

·Similar concept/idea for DOL but it's college!

·OMG TRANS/NONBINARY OPTIONS FOR PC AND NPCS!!!!!! I finally got to make Luca trans😭😭

-> People actually acknowledge that you're trans! From what I've seen, the PC corrects when someone calls their privates something they don't prefer (ex. calling it the "front hole" instead)

·Main character creation is SUPER interactive! What u choose for their highschool experience affects their stats!! Super cool

·College life is more focused on, and earning money. DOL is fun for how many options there are to do other shit, but the stability is nice lol

·All kinky shit is similar to DOL, interactions and sexual encounters are easy to navigate

·Theres a goddamn opportunity to do cam shows. U need exhibition 4/6 or whatever for it but I NEED IT

·I love that we can customize our best friend! I named mine Robin Hayes... because it felt right to transfer him from DOL-> COT lmaoooo

·The interactions between characters are fun! I esp love tht when u go eat, u can choose what table u sit at and talk to the people there! And ur interests matter, esp if u wanna befriend them

·NPCs are very interactive and memorable! If u interact w/ them enough, u can learn their name and even upgrade them to friend/rival/enemy!!

·U can develop crushes unprompted/others can have crushes on u! It's not so important, but it's cuteeeee😊

·PARTYS ON FRIDAYS!!!! Most fun shit ever, u can eat as much u want, drink as much (u don't have to drink alcohol unless someone offers and ur willpower isn't high enough)

And now for the 🥊CONS🥊:

·I said NPCs are more memorable, but now I'm more attached to them than the Special Characters😭😭😭

·Sadly, the Bailey grind is back. But so far it's just been $100, and it's just ur mom asking for it as compensation for living on the dorms and going to college¯\_(ツ)_/¯ so that's fair (and if ur grades are high enough, u only pay $80!)

•You have more stats to take care of!! Rest, relaxation, hygiene, food, bladder, release (aka horniness)

·I love money too much and I'm a hoarder, so I've been grinding on my job @ the burger place in town😭

Aaaand that's it. Yeah idk much rn since I've just started, but it's promising so far! And just to catch more attention, here are a few screenshots I took!!💗💗Enjoy💗💗

[jhui-01]

this line in wuthering waves angered the cn community

So, I’m sure some of you might already know that Kuro Games had to remove one line from the main story after receiving backlash from the Chinese community. It’s a line by Yang Yang in Act 2.

Now, it might not seem like anything in English, cause it’s true that soldiers need to focus on battling, and the people behind the battlefield (aka strategists or generals) will need to think of plans and strategies to win the battle. However, the sentence in CN sounds something like this: 

“Soldiers in the frontlines should only put their focus on battling, obeying orders and slaying enemies diligently. The people at the back though, they have a lot more to reconsider and plan.”

This gives off the feeling that frontline soldiers have it easy. All they need to do is just follow orders given, it’s not like they’re the ones losing sleep by planning strategies or anything. Which made many people go ??? Dafuq. What kind of writing is this? What do you mean or what are you implying with this? 

Yes, they’re soldiers but they are fighting tooth and nail for your country, your people too. They risk their lives following the strategies and orders given by those at the back. With one simple mistake in your planning, they will be walking straight into the lion’s den and perish. They have children, wives, families and friends waiting for them to return too. This is war?? Lives lost??? Hello? Where’s your empathy, how can you think of them like tools while those strategising are more superior? 

And then someone mentioned Jing Yuan from Honkai: Star Rail. In Myriad Celestia Trailer: History of the Xianzhou video, he said this:

“若无全军上下万众一心，谋吾遗计又有何用，仰赖各位云骑交托性命，我必不负所托” / “An army must be one of heart and mind, or skillful sleight of hands is little use. The Cloud Knights entrusted their lives to me, I shall not fail them.”

Basically, what Yang Yang said is the opposite of what Jing Yuan said. In Jing Yuan’s case, he’s saying that if the soldiers at the front are not united to fight to the death, then what’s the point of coming up with battle plans and strategies? They trust me enough to listen to whatever orders I give, so their lives are literally in my hands, thus I will not disappoint or fail them.  

So many people think that the line in Wuthering Waves doesn’t really respect the soldiers, and it may come off as condescending? Idk, I’m pretty neutral in this, cause it’s a pretty small matter, just that Kuro Games might have to review some of the things they write because yikes…that line just doesn’t sound too good 😭

Anyways, hope you liked this sharing <3

[sadalmostlesbian]

D13: District Deep Dive

Idk if y'all are on TikTok and have seen Lucky Leftie's videos on each of the Districts, but she is amazing and really dives into the worldbuilding of each District and the importance of their industry in Panem. HOWEVER, she never got to D13. And since I've gotten a decent amount of asks regarding my thoughts (which OMG thank you all so much I literally love you all sm) i thought I'd make one.

Thirteen is probably the second most explored District in canon, so luckily I have a lot to go off of. BUT, a lot of this is comprised of headcanons that I attempted to connect to actual canon in the most realistic way possible. That being said, I reference my fic Just As it Was (ch 10 and onward) a decent bit because I had to world build 13 to write the setting for the later half of that fic.

Let's start with history and geography. D13 is located in what was once the Northeastern US and parts of Southeastern Canada. It includes parts of New England, Pennsylvania and New York, as well as Quebec. What I find really interesting is that there is an "underground city" aka RESO located in Montreal, Canada. It's essentially a shopping center, but also connects lots of hotels, and residences. Its HUGE. I think Suzanne Collins MIGHT have based the whole "underground city" on RESO. Katniss says the bunker in D13 was the work of centuries, and very valuable to the Capitol. It is also mentioned that they mine graphite (which is a used in nuclear reactors as a moderator or reflector). The Snow family, as mentioned by Coriolanus, held stock in the research labs and munitions factories in D13.

This gives us three industries to explore. I think, similar to District Two, there was a class distinction between the miners and those who worked in labs or produced munitions. Because D13 was the Capitol's main military stronghold, I can assume they were treated somewhat better than other districts due to their military advantage. This may have led to a relatively close relationship with the Capitol, similar to D2 at the time of the 74th games.

D13 is very close to two technologically advanced districts, D3 (technology) and D6 (transportation). I think before the first rebellion, they were able to collaborate and work together, which was terrifying for the Capitol. I think the development of the districts in terms of industry in Panem kind of mirrors the development of the United States. The more technologically advanced Districts are located on the east coast, where the west and central Districts are more focused on raw resource production. With the exception, of course, being the Capitol.

I think this is an interesting choice, but quite a smart play on the Capitol's part. On one hand, they have their most militarily equipped citizens far away enough to make a ground assault relatively impossible, and, incase they were attacked from the West and the Capitol was decimated, their weapons are stored far away, and those who survived had a bunker to confine themselves to wait out the enemy.

Which leads us to the first rebellion, in which 13 led and was then destroyed because of it. I think there was a lot at play here. I think D13 did not initially begin the rebellion, but they seceded to the rebels in neighboring, less fortunate districts and lent their weapons. But the Capitol recognized them as the leader because they are what made the rebels a legitimate threat. And that threat needed to be eliminated in order to quell any hope of a rebellion happening in the future.

So the Capitol bombed 13. However, I don't think that many of the citizens in 13 expected this because of their close relationship with the Capitol in the past. Which leads me to the first OC of mine, Arvada Coin (Alma Coin's grandfather). I think that 13 was headed by a General, rather than a mayor, because they're military. I think this general would not have accepted that their District was going to be destroyed. But some of his officers knew that the threat was not an empty one. Arvada Coin, who had lived underground his entire life because that was the industry his family worked in, pleaded for the General to issue a shelter in place warning and force everyone underground. When he refused, he defected from the military and began trying to get everyone to safety. In the end, he was able to save around half of the district, and the others all died in the bombings.

I think that's why the Coin family is so respected in D13. I think it was some initial forethought that ended up saving the lives of thousands.

Anyway, Coin is military, everyone under his direct command is military. They're all excellent at fighting, but none of them know anything about how to feed, clothe, and provide medical care for thousands of people. They have an excess of luxuries like electricity (nuclear reactors are INSANLEY good at what they do) and weapons but their citizens are starving because they've been cut off from all the rations from D4, D9, D10, and D11. Four whole districts are dedicated to food production and 13 has to find a way to cultivate crops with no arable land above ground and no sunlight. So they start with grain. They strip their hangars that used to house military equipment and devote them to agriculture. As I said before, they have an excess of electricity, so they are able to constantly power UV lights. So their food grows twice as fast, and there's no cold season underground. So they don't starve, despite the Capitol thinking they will.

But you can't eat only grain. So they turn to their allies. Just as the Plinths moved to the Capitol after siding with them during the war. I think some high ranking rebel officers and their families were allowed into D13 in order to escape the fallout from the failed rebellion. Two important people are Lt. Commander Finnegan, a D4 naval officer who served under Commander Harrington (Pup's dad) but defected and joined the rebels and Cera Hadley (Mrs. Hadley), wife of an important munitions dealer in D2 (who was Strabo's childhood best friend, but that's a long story). Commander Finnegan, being from D4, was able to create a fish farm in D13 (look up underground fish farms, THEY'RE SO COOL AND INSALEY EFFECENT). Cera Hadley knew the basics of gardening (thanks, Vesta (Ma) Plinth, for teaching her that btw. We're deep into the OC content now) and was able to cultivate plants important for resolving nutrient deficiencies, most notably, wood sorrel for treating vitamin C deficiencies. Limes, lemons, and oranges are notoriously hard to grow in cold climates, and orchards take up too much space. So they grew sorrel, and were able to modify their crops to grow underground and twice as fast.

And they survived, and grew more advanced with every year that passed, until they were able to become the powerhouse we saw in THG trilogy. But they stayed bitter, especially Coin, because of what they had to go through at the hands of the Capitol. So not only did they have a desire to protect the Districts, but also a desire for revenge which I think provided a lot of motivation for Alma (President) Coin.

I could talk about this forever, but I'll leave it at that! Thanks to @mr-nauseam, @maidstew, and @tumblingghosts for asking about this! I'm sorry if I gave you more than you asked for, but I simply have so much to say.

If your interested about D13 and learning about it in less "info-dumpy" way, please consider reading my fic Just As It Was. It's told through Sejanus's POV and is a Sejarcus fic, but the last half is set in D13 and dives into the character dynamics and specifics of all the people I mentioned in this post. Also I PROMISE I will update soon!

[winterchimez]

MOOT GAME: " make up a trope for your moots and their biases. doesn’t need to be romantic. can be crackfic/funny. ^ㅇ(๑>◡<๑)ㅇ^ "

hi anon-ie!! yayyyy ok this is so fun imma just *rubs hands* cook up some scenarios 😋 (tagging the ones i talk to on a daily basis!! 💗)

@sungbeam acedemic rivals - theres something about you just being rivals with changmin and it gets on your nerve whenever he outperforms you but then all that bickering slowly turn into romance and thats something i will be watching from afar with my popcorn.

@from-izzy strangers to lovers - you and hyunjae (as much as i wanna mention the other guy but i won't bcs im trying to be nice 🥰) would meet as strangers on your first day of uni orientation, seemingly also ends up as deskmate in class and boom hes the goofy funny guy, always trying to get you involve in activities when you're just shy and reluctant and then the both of you start falling for each other

@daisyvisions best friends to lovers - we all know how much you love this, esp with hyunjae when yall be doing things that are pretty much obvious that's more than just friends 😏 so by the time yall end up together its more of a meh we've already done this before but then it gets awkward cs you're both now labelled as bf/gf

@aimeecarreros / @momhwa-agenda enemies to lovers - bcs of what you told me yesterday....but juyeon who's always teasing and bullying you...but then it's bcs he actually likes you sm but bcs of his ego he refuses to believe nor accept reality...but then it eventually hits him and hes confronted by you with a revenge dress and he goes oh. 😌

@snowflakewhispers mutual pining - realistically you and jacob would be having feelings for each other but then you both have your doubts (even though you don't look like it when you have beef with me everyday 🙄 HOWEVER it'll be cute but then the rest of us at the side will be all frustrated (aka me, daisy, elena) be like HE ALSO LIKES YOU BACK WTF but you're just "IDK MAN I DONT THINK HE WOULD"

@kimsohn unrequited love (but with a happy ending) - sunwoo's been head over heels over you since day one but you're always just ignoring his advnaces be like "this dude is hella weird", this goes on until one day you eventually see the other side of him, he makes you blush and he gets a high and giddy be like "okay confirmed maya likes me now i've won in life"

@justalildumpling rich kid au - ok i know it sounds cliché but hear me out!! na jaemin aka the rich boy from uni and he gets all the girls and naturally you fall for him too cs hell hes a fine-looking man but then maybe one day you are forced to live with him and thats when you see his true colours which makes you go ew, but then bcs of your personality you'll be like "i will change this man" (which you do) and he realises that you're not like the other girls out there

@ethereal-engene coffeshop au - you just give me calm sunshine vibes so!! you and woozi in the coffee shop, woozi as the barista (WHEW WITH A WHITE SHIRT- 😮‍💨) either you both work tgt as coworkers and eventually become a couple, or you would often visit the store not just for the good coffee but also for the good looking barista 👀

@drunkdrazed childhood friends to lovers - you're literally the sweetest human being so it would only be appropriate for this trope!! either with ten / jacob, you would fit so well 🥺 love the way how yall know literally anything abt each other and when yall reach uni / work and thats when you both realised that you're falling for one another instead 🫶

@h0mebody-heaven soulmate au - you're so funny and another ball of energy!! i can't imagine a better soulmate for hendery than you! lmao i can imagine all the chaos, the jokes that you both are gonna pull, probably asks you to film plenty of questionable tiktoks but then you oblige bcs YOLO 🤭

@strayed-quokka established relationship - do i need to say more, husband sangyeon and you're the housewife. you can replay that scenario in your mind.

@sanaxo-o arranged marriage - chanhee the rich son of dior's ceo ✨ but imagined getting pampered by him??? what a life it'll be 😮‍💨

[corallapis]

Hi <3 No obligation to answer, I know dw lore is really convoluted and there's a lot of expanded universe material, but you've mentioned a few times that you think the War Chief is the Master. I'm also a War Chief/Master truther because I think that makes the contents of The War Games more fun and interesting (& also could count as another time the Master got the Doctor killed <3 romance <3) but I wanted to know if you had more reasons/examples from canon that supports that idea

anon i’d be delighted to talk abt the war chief!!! he’s My Guy <3 and (dare i say it?) possibly even one of my favorite incarnations of the master. i’ve got lots of quotes for you under the cut, but to give a short summary of So Why Do People Think the War Chief is the Master, Anyway?:

the war chief was introduced in the war games, written by malcolm hulke and terrance dicks. (dicks, it should be mentioned, was also co-creator of the master, with barry letts.) when hulke & dicks novelized the serials colony in space, terror of the autons, and the war games, they dropped several hints that the war chief and the master were the same man. so, the creators of the characters were the first to suggest a connection between them.

but, i hear you cry, didn’t dicks go on to write timewyrm: exodus, which shows us a future incarnation of the war chief that isn’t the master? yes, because the official editorial line for the vmas & vnas was that the war chief & the master were two distinct characters. this caused more than one writer that personally believed them to be the same to write otherwise professionally. however, i think dicks still dropped hints linking the two despite this editorial limitation.

and what about magnus, the guy who’s well-known in current fandom as the “academy era” version of the war chief? conceived of by gary russell, magnus was originally written as a young incarnation of the master, not the war chief. in flashback, goth opera and invasion of the cat-people, the character of magnus is a young master. so why did russell retcon his own character in divided loyalties to be the war chief instead? he did so out of respect for david mcintee, who had recently written a different backstory for the master in the dark path, using the name koschei. despite divided loyalties’ portrayal of magnus and koschei as separate characters, it actually in large part serves to conflate the two further, due to said retconning.

in faction paradox lore, the war king is a version of the master (i don’t need to make a post on that, do i?) that also was once the war chief.

and now we’re really getting murky canon-wise, but craig hinton’s rejected pda time’s champion (ultimately completed & published after his death, by chris mckeon) explicitly depicts the war chief as an incarnation as the master, as well as reasserting that magnus was the name the master used at the academy.

even with all this Evidence, i’m like you, anon — i just think it’s Fun. i mean, just look at the guy lmao. if you can’t see the way that future incarnations are riffing off him, idk what to tell you. and ultimately, it just makes the most sense to me. three & delgado’s first meeting doesn’t really strike me as a First Time Seeing You Since You Left kind of affair, but the way two & the war chief react to seeing each other? and the conversation they have abt it…? yeah. love it.

the ‘70s target novelizations

doctor who and the doomsday weapon (aka colony in space) was the first novelization to feature the master, and was written by malcolm hulke in 1974. it begins with a scene that doesn’t occur in the tv story, where a senile old time lord tells his apprentice about the theft of two tardises by a pair of time lords now calling themselves the doctor & the master:

“There have been two stolen, you know.” The younger Time Lord didn’t know. “By our enemies?” he asked. “No. By Time Lords. They both became bored with this place. It was too peaceful for them, not enough happening.” The old Keeper smiled to himself, as though remembering with some glee all the fuss when two TARDISes were stolen. “One of them nowadays calls himself ‘the Doctor.’ The other says he is ‘the Master.’”

if there have been only two tardises stolen (at this point), then where does that leave the other renegades we've seen on tv? well, the answer to that is that the target novelizations were meant to be self-contained, without prior knowledge of the show needed or past episodes taken into account. it’s easier and cleaner to present the doctor & the master as the only two renegades. except the older time lord continues, and a little further on says:

“There were tens of thousands of humans from the planet Earth, stranded on another planet where they thought they were re-fighting all the wars of Earth’s terrible history. The Doctor” — he interrupted himself — “I told you about him, didn’t I?” “Yes,” said the young Time Lord, now used to the old Keeper forgetting what he had already said. “You mentioned the Doctor and the Master.” “No, it wasn’t the Master,” said the old Keeper in his confused way. “The Master never does anything good for anyone. He’s thoroughly evil. Now what was I saying?”

despite the self-contained nature of the novelizations, the events of the war games (which had yet to be novelized, when this was written) have occurred and are specifically brought up in relation to the doctor & the master. what does ‘it wasn't the master’ mean? the keeper’s confusion leaves it open to interpretation, but the fact that it’s brought up at all is quite a hint.

terrance dicks then wrote doctor who and the terror of the autons in 1975. additional info is added to the scene between the doctor and the time lord who comes to warn him about the master’s arrival on earth:

“As a matter of fact, I’ve come to bring you a warning. An old friend of yours has arrived on Earth.” “One of our people? Who is it?” The Time Lord pronounced a string of mellifluous syllables — one of the strange Time Lord names that are never disclosed to outsiders. Then he added, “These days he calls himself the Master.”

he uses the master’s gallifreyan name first, as if the doctor doesn’t know the name he’s now going by yet. then, we’re given a description of the master, including:

Already he had been behind several Interplanetary Wars, always disappearing from the scene before he could be caught. If ever he were caught, his fate would be far worse than the Doctor’s exile. Once captured by the Time Lords, the Master’s life-stream would be thrown into reverse. Not only would he no longer exist, he would never have existed. It was the severest punishment in the Time Lords’ power.

which brings to mind the war games, as the punishment described here is exactly what the time lords did to the war lord & what they would have done to the war chief, if he hadn’t died/escaped. and, speaking of that escape, the doctor asks:

“Is his TARDIS still working?” “I’m afraid so. He got away before it could be de-energised.” “Then he was luckier than I,” said the Doctor sadly. He had never really got used to his exile.

unlike the doctor, who was unable to get away from the time lords at the end of the war games, the master was ‘luckier.’ this could, of course, mean a more general escape from the time lords by the master, but i’d say all the hints here are pointing in the same direction.

in 1979, malcolm hulke wrote doctor who and the war games. the first conversation between the doctor and the war chief is slightly changed, and again it’s reiterated that there have only been two tardises stolen. first, the war chief teases the doctor about who he must be:

The War Chief took the Doctor into his private office just off the war room and told his bodyguards to leave. “Now,” he said, “a traveller in a time-space machine. There is only one person you can be.” “I had every right to leave,” said the Doctor. “And to steal a TARDIS?” The War Chief smiled. “Not that I am criticising you. I left our people too. We are two of a kind.”

and later, he summarizes that their empire (their empire <3) will be secure because, again, they’re the only two with stolen tardises:

“Now I understand,” said the Doctor. “It’s my TARDIS that you want. But surely you have one of your own?” The War Chief smiled. “No more mine than yours is really yours! We are both thieves, Doctor. Yes, I do have a TARDIS hidden away. But are not two better than one? While I rest and enjoy the spoils of victory, you can patrol our empire. And I shall do the same for you.” “Our empire?” “We shall rule the galaxy without fear of opposition,’ the War Chief said confidently. “For we shall be the only two who can travel through both space and time.”

this (very romantic imo) proposal is also, of course, very reminiscent of delgado’s ‘half-share in the universe’ proposal to three.

timewyrm: exodus by terrance dicks

in 1991, terrance dicks wrote a vna, timewyrm: exodus. in this novel, the war chief appears as a botched two-bodied regeneration after his death at the end of the war games, called dr. kriegslieter. no mention of the master is made. as i said before, i think this is down to virgin’s editorial policy, and i think there are hints connecting the two nonetheless. like when the doctor realizes who kriegslieter is:

And behind them, aiding them, manipulating them, giving them the time technology they needed, the Time Lord renegade who called himself the War Chief. Or, in German, der kriegslieter. “Well, he couldn’t have spelled it out for me much more plainly,” muttered the Doctor.

like, c’mon. it’s just classic master shenanigans to have your alias be an extremely obvious translation of your name. and then there's also kriegslieter’s plan, which is to steal the doctor's body to use as his own (complete with sexual innuendo):

“Once I have wrested from it the secret of the TARDIS, your mind will be of no further interest to me. But your body…” “Please,” said the Doctor, looking embarrassed. “Ladies present.” “We are both Time Lords, Doctor, our brains and our bodies are compatible. Regeneration therapy is far beyond the War Lord’s scientists, but even they can manage a simple brain transplant.” Kriegslieter studied the Doctor with detached, clinical interest. “To be honest, it isn’t the body I would have chosen but it’s infinitely superior to the one I have. When all this is over Doctor, I shall be you — and you, or whatever shattered gibbering remnant of you is left, will be me. Appropriate, don’t you think? A crippled mind in a crippled body…”

how many times have we seen the master do that? maybe only once when this book was written (in the keeper of traken, of course) but at least three more times since then, by my count. in addition ‘we are both time lords’ is an echo of both two & the war chief's conversation and three & delgado’s (in the mind of evil, the claws of axos, and colony in space).

kriegslieter also calls seven ‘my dear doctor’ throughout, which is not a quirk of speech that the war chief has been ever shown to have. i can't claim it's unique to the master, but i think there's a certain history there. (did you know ainley says it five times in one 50 min long serial?)

magnus, as the master

as said before, the character of magnus was introduced in comic flashback, which appeared in the doctor who magazine winter special for 1992 and was commissioned and edited by gary russell (& written by warwick gray). it depicts seven and benny viewing a scene from the doctor’s past, where two old friends, thete and magnus, are at odds.

magnus was, at the time of this comic's creation, meant to be the master. there is no connection to the war chief in this story. which is why when goth opera, written by paul cornell, is published in 1994, magnus is the name used for the young master when listing out the doctor's school friends:

“That was when I was young and wild, Doctor. My contemporaries and I grew up to take our responsibilities seriously.” “Ah…” The Doctor nodded. “Unlike my year. I begin to see.” “Yes.” Ruath warmed to her subject, sipping from the goblet. Her eyes never left the Doctor’s. “Mortimus, the Rani, that idiot Magnus. And you, Doctor. All graduates of Borusa’s Academy for scoundrels.”

and, in 1995, when gary russell wrote invasion of the cat-people, he again used magnus as a name for the young master, referencing the master running out of lives far more quickly than the doctor by the time of the deadly assassin:

Polly smiled. “I’m glad you’re completely recovered, Doctor. You had us worried, you know.” “Regeneration’s a tricky thing,” he said. “And it was my first one. Always the trickiest. They’re supposed to get better as they go on, so long as you don’t flitter them. Always used to say to my academy chum Magnus, ‘Magnus,’ I’d say, ‘Magnus, don’t throw old bodies away like you would a suit. They don’t grow on trees.’ Or something like that. Never listened though.”

when gary russell wrote divided loyalties in 1999, he followed mcintee’s lead in using koschei as the name for a young master, and instead retconned magnus a younger war chief, showing the two of them interacting during the doctor’s academy days — the final nail in the coffin of our lil theory, right? well, all i’m going to say to that is that all the academy era stuff we see is actually a nightmare the fifth doctor is having. so who’s to say he didn't dream his best friend as two different people? (he forgot which one of them killed a guy with a rock, after all...)

the war chief king

in the book of the war, the 2002 faction paradox ‘encyclopedia’ edited by lawrence miles, the entry on the war king states:

His personal assistant notes that his office is brimming with official business, but devoid of decoration. The only concession he makes to sentimentality are the components of a hypercube, twelve white squares stacked neatly on his desk. Its significance is unclear, but it’s thought to be the War King’s last remaining link with his unfortunate past.

the very first use of a hypercube was, of course, at the end of the war games, when the second doctor called the time lords in. if that's not concrete enough for you, the war king spells it out even more clearly in the 2021 audio sabbath and the king:

THE WAR KING: I have failed to introduce myself. I am— ah, but as we have just seen: names have power. I do not think I shall grace you with one of my true names, Sabbath, no, not yet. Let’s see. The Deathless? Oh, let us not get ahead of ourselves just yet. Chief and Master, Minister and Magistrate, President and King… I have been many things.

time’s champion

and finally we have time’s champion, originally written in the '80s(?) by craig hinton, completed and published by chris mckeon in 2008. first, we have mel stumbling upon a corridor of portraits in the tardis:

Her first impression was that the Doctor was at the end of a long, thin corridor. And then she realised what the corridor was. An art gallery, the length hung with paintings, from the doorway to the far distance. As she started padding silently along the corridor, she looked at the paintings, and saw they were all portraits. Portraits painted in a variety of styles, from photo-realistic to impressionist, and everything in between. And she recognised some of the subjects. […] Moving on, Mel had hoped for something a little less depressing, but it wasn’t to be. The atmosphere had changed again: it was still cold, but a sterile light was now bathing the area. Then she realised why: the sterility, the coldness — trademarks of the Time Lords. This must be the Doctor’s own people. Pride of place was given to the Master — or rather the Masters: the familiar, music-hall villain in his velvet penguin suit had been captured in all his melodramatic glory, but there was also a suave, older man, his eyes radiating a fierce, evil intelligence wrapped in charm, next to which was positioned the portrait of a young, satanically handsome man with long, sharp sideburns and a thin, beard-length moustache, whose hand vainly clutched at a strange medallion hanging around his neck, as if clinging to the only power in his possession. And then there was an image of the cadaver, that rotting corpse that Mel knew was all that remained of the Doctor’s oldest friend and oldest enemy, animated by nothing but pure malice and spite.

the description of the ‘satanically handsome man’ is obviously the war chief. and then, the doctor remembers events from his past:

The night time vanished into the shadows of light, as new images, all familiar, threw themselves past the Doctor’s eyes: his tedious years at the Academy, his rise in the Time Lord hierarchy, his flight from Gallifrey, the early years of his exile, the planet of the War Games and his reunion with the Master, the lost years of imposed servitude to the Time Lords, all his memories and so many more impressed their way across the Doctor’s vision, even up to the moment of the present day. Then, abruptly, the vision ended. The Keeper began to speak again.

his reunion with the master occurs during the war games and precedes his exile (which is when his meeting with delgado’s master occurs). and magnus is once again used as a name for the young master:

The Doctor and Benton managed to glimpse him as he raced past. He was young, with a curving moustache and a dark, haughty face accustomed to obedience but now shadowed and twisted by fear. He ran onwards without even pausing to acknowledge their presence. He seemed desperate to outrun something. Moments later, a group of well-armed and uniformed men rounded the corridor and also hurried past the Doctor’s party, following the fleeing man in their wake. Steadying himself against the cool stone wall at his side, the Doctor watched the squad pass, recognising them as members of the Chancellery Guard, but clothed in armour and dress from the long departed era of his days in the Academy. The Doctor paused, wondering where he had seen that face before. “Magnus?” the Doctor whispered. Benton stepped over to the Doctor. “Who was that bloke those boys were chasing after, Doc? He looked a bit like the Master.” The Doctor gazed into the distance. “That he did, and for good reason.”

[cha-melodius]

Weekend WIP Game

You say WIP game and I say "you son of a bitch, I'm in!" Thanks for dreaming this up, @welcometololaland!

1. WIP List: listing only WIPs that actually have text written and are not abandoned lol. I have a lot of to-be-written prompts, but I'm not including them here.

False Dichotomy (firstprince, aka the You've Got Mail AU)

Noir PI AU (firstprince)

Kissed Out (firstprince, pro billiards AU)

Modern magic AU (firstprince)

The Thief Who Stole My Heart (napollya, art thief/gallery owner)

2. Which of your WIPs is currently the longest?

False Dichotomy at 18k written so far (4 of ~11 chapters?)

3. Which WIP do you expect will end up the longest?

Also False Dichotomy, which I'm guessing will be >50k but honestly that's a very rough number.

4. Which WIP is your favourite to write/the most enjoyable to write? Why?

Probably False Dichotomy, though it's almost by default because I don't tend to jump around between WIPs too much. But I love the story I've set up and it has a lot of great scenes.

5. Which WIP do you find the most intimidating to write? Why?

Probably the noir AU, because I feel like it needs to have a particular noir vibe that will be tough to capture.

6. Which WIP do you experience the most self-doubt about. Why?

Right now? Surprisingly the modern magic AU. Idk I'm in a bit of a funk and not super happy with anything I'm writing, and particularly this fic. But I have 3k written so I might as well finish it and yeet it out.

7. Which of your WIPs will you seek out a beta/sensitivity reader for? Why?

These days I get @celeritas2997 and @cricketnationrise to read through most of my rwrb fics. It's especially good for longer fics like False Dichotomy, and that one will have the most tricky moments in it too.

8. Have any of your WIPs been struck by the curse of writer's block?

Not exactly? I've just set a few of them aside while I focus on others.

9. Which WIP has your favourite OC? Tell us about them?

LMAO well False Dichotomy includes Kyle, who is an OC I made up originally for a missing moment in Please Don't Let Me Be So Understood (he's not even in the actual fic), but now he gets to be a real character in this one. He's a queer kid who lives at the Okonjo shelter and works at Alex's bookstore (and occasionally Coney Island lol).

10. Which WIP is the sexiest?

Definitely Kissed Out, which is based on an enemies/rivals AND lovers premise and is earmarked to include lots of scorching smut.

11. Which WIP is the angstiest?

False Dichotomy will probably have the most sustained angst. I think Kissed Out will have possibly the most intense angst, and the noir AU will have the most peril-based angst.

12. Which WIP has the best characterisation (in your humble opinion)?

ALL OF THEM. 😂 Oh so humble, I know. But seriously, I hope they all will be.

13. Which WIP has the best scene setting (in your humble opinion)?

I think it's going to be the noir AU, can't wait to really dig into the scenery of that one. It will have a really different vibe that I hope will be unique and exciting.

14. Which WIP have you worked the hardest on?

Thus far, False Dichotomy I've put the most work into.

15. Which WIP do you have the highest expectations for? Why?

Broken record here, but False Dichotomy. Sometimes I feel like they're too high. People seem very excited. I feel a not insignificant amount of pressure.

16. Do you dream about any of your WIPs?

Can't say that I have lol.

17. Do any of your WIPs have particular complexities that your other fics don't?

Not really! Most of my wips right now are pretty straightforward, in the end.

18. Which WIP is the funniest or has the most humour?

The modern magic AU, probably. Definitely the silliest and crackiest of the lot.

19. Do any of your WIPs contain outside POVs or a deep dive on a character other than the main ship? How are you finding that process?

No different POVs here. False Dichotomy is going to have a little interesting side exploration of Raf and Alex's relationship that isn't something I've really gotten into before.

20. Tell us one thing we don't know about one or more of your WIPs.

HMMMMM. If you're a You've Got Mail movie fan, I think you will be quite surprised at some of the turns in the AU. No, I'm not going to tell more than that yet lol.

Ok, I'm trying to tag people not tagged in the first post, and spreading to new fandoms. Questions for artists below! @petrodobreva, @sherryvalli, @liminalmemories21, @myheartalivewrites, @leaves-of-laurelin, @celaestis1, @historicallysam, @14carrotghoul, @xthelastknownsurvivorx, @treluna4, @adreamareads, @cheesecurdsgravyandfries, @ikeepwatchinghelicopters, @nicijones, @thetamehistorian, @loki-is-my-kink-awakening, @dewdropreader, @hummingbee-o0o, @wolfpup026, @natendo-art, @dreamycloud, @heytheredeann, @mirilyawrites, @jettestar, @sweatersinthesummer, AND anyone who wants to jump in!

A list of questions for Artists!

1. WIP List:

2. Which WIP is your most complex?

3. Do any of your WIPs involve you using a technique/style that you haven't used before? What inspired you to try it?

4. Which WIP do you expect will take you the longest?

5. Which WIP are you finding the most enjoyable to create?

6. Do you have a favourite character to draw/stitch/paint/depict? Are they in many of your WIP projects?

7. Which WIP do you experience the most self-doubt about. Why?

8. Have any of your WIPs been struck by the curse of creator's block?

9. Do any of your WIPs contain characters outside the main ship? How are you finding creating those?

10. What emotions are you hoping to convey through your WIPs?

11. Are there any features/details you are finding challenging in your WIPs?

12. Which WIP has the most complex shading/colouring?

13. Which WIP has the most complex background?

14. Which WIP do you have the highest expectations for?

15. Do you dream about any of your WIPs?

16. Do any of your WIPs have particular complexities that your other art doesn't?

17. Are any of your WIPs commissions?

18. Do you have a character that is more difficult to draw/stitch/paint/depict? Are they in many of your WIP projects?

19. Tell us one thing we don't know about one or more of your WIPs.

[scalproie]

i cannot tell what is going on over there in mortal kombat. is your ship incest now? is this a dread pirate rogers situation? no idea!

buddy you really think I would be enthusiastic over fucking incest? If anything Im celebrating that its not. Its more a inter-timeline dread pirate rogers situation yeah

ok so for the actual explanation, three names you need to know: hanzo hasashi, bi-han and kuai liang.

For 30 real life years aka mortal kombat's entire runtime, hanzo hasashi has been scorpion: yellow ninja with fire powers, his whole deal was that he has been killed and came back with the only goal to take his revenge (either for himself or for his family that was also killed, it depends)

He was killed by bi-han aka sub zero, blue chinese assassin with ice powers. BUT bi-han is only sub zero in a particular instance: in the first tournament of mortal kombat aka always the first game, where he gets killed by scorpion. He comes back in following games as a literal shadow of his former self, and without ice powers. he never stays sub zero for long.

enters kuai liang, bi-han's younger brother who's also a cryomancer, who took the mantle of sub zero in the second game and has stayed the most consistent sub zero for the entirety of mortal kombat.

Theres been two timelines for mortal kombat, the og one going from mk1 to mk: armageddon (mk7), and the second one going from mk9 to mk11. Its a bit more complicated than that but im sparing you the details.

the og timeline has its moments (like scorpion deciding to protect the new sub zero to atone for killing his brother, even going so far as to switch sides and kill the big bad in his mk3 ending bc sub zero was on the opposite team), and the second timeline has even more (the mk9 sub zero ending and every single one of their shared scenes from mkx (mk10) to mk11) that makes the two enjoyable as an item. Its a fairly popular relationship in the fandom and their whole deal also happen to be my cup of tea idk what to tell you there. When people say "subscorp" it means kuai liang/hanzo as they were both the definitive sub zero/scorpion.

anyway we are at the dawn of a new timeline in mk12. and even tho its not the first mortal kombat soft reboot, as they already did that in mk9, this one is WHOLLY shaking things up. Mk9 was new but it kept for the most part the og backstories, dynamics and storybeats of the og timeline, with only some twists there and there to keep it fresh.

Mk12 drops the bombshell among other things that this time around, scorpion and sub zero are brothers, and if you think they mean "brother-in-arms" NO ed boon is very adamant to let everyone know every interview that they're blood brothers now, they have the same father and everything, and that their shared storyline is no longer a story of revenge, but a brotherly conflict of ideologies. Confusing and dark times (this was mere months ago).

Later the sub zero gets revealed to be bi-han, and now this begged the question: who is scorpion? He is dressed in yellow, have fire powers, and a literal scorpion tattoo. For many people it meant it was hanzo: he's been scorpion for 30 years, why would it change now (even tho this raised a lot of question like why is he now part of his enemy clan, why would he still be japanese and has a japanese name if his now brother and father are chinese, and so on). For others, the fact that this scorpion had: 1) kuai liang's brother, 2) kuai liang's dynamic with said brother, 3) kuai liang's face (as his face model was really similar to his mk11 one), 4) kuai liang's position in his clan, and in a later trailer revealed to also have 5) kuai liang's best friend, and 6) kuai liang's dynamic with said best friend, meant that uuuuuuh, maybe it was kuai liang. Even tho the guy named "Quick Freeze" in chinese had now fire powers.

Anyway this has been making me insane, if it was hanzo it had LITERALLY NOTHING in common with hanzo but the yellow outfit and fire powers, if it was kuai liang it was such a wild departure from kuai liang as we know him that this might as well be another guy completely. This guy is supposed to be the definitive sub zero but he cant fit that role anymore, he has fire powers.

Flash forward to last night, back on friday they revealed three mk trailers at comic con, and to keep the promo train rolling, they were invited by ign for an interview on saturday, and among the people there was yuri lowenthal aka smoke's new voice actor (let me remind you that smoke is and has been kuai liang/sub zero's best friend for both timelines). One of the dev was talking about smoke's role in mk12, and says this:

"We are playing up the relationship he had with Kuai Liang- uuuh Scorpion. Um. and-"

Its an accidental slip up so this is still to take with a grain of salt until we get actual footage confirmation that kuai liang is scorpion in mk12, but also come on, you cant fuck up that badly with context, kuai liang is scorpion in mk12.

And considering how HARD theyve been marketing it as "scorpion and sub zero are brothers now!" and not "one of the sub zero brothers is scorpion now!" Im guessing this was supposed to be a big reveal for later. Oh well.

Anyway now we know who sub zero is (bi-han), we know who has the mantle of scorpion this time around (kuai liang), and now the only person MIA is hanzo. Many people, me included, hope that he's narratively retired chilling somewhere and is enjoying life with his alive family for once, dude's had a hard life.

and to answer your question, no, its not incest now because hanzo is still unrelated to the sub zero brothers (tho one of them is scorpion now), and "subscorp" remains safe bc its really, again, more about kuai liang and hanzo than the ship of "scorpion" and "sub zero" regardless of who they might be.

[urtrickster]

silly crackship post for the mceleni au that me and @kindheartedgummybears are making because we're unhinged and treating these characters like barbie dolls.

these are just the current ones we've jokingly brought up and mentioned. no doubt more will pop up the more we develop this au. uh... idk friendly reminder these are all crackships and aren't meant to be taken seriously this is just a fun lil thing i made w kearney idkidk felt like i needed to say tht bc ive seen people get Weird about crackships sometimes.

tabitha x belial. aka tabilial.

god-fearing puritan x demon? hell yeah brother sign me up. there's just something about them that's scratching that itch in my brain in all the right ways.

i. already got a fanfic idea for them. idk why im treating these two so seriously but i am.

jenny x anna. aka janna.

got this picture in my mind of jenny being the only one anna listens to when anna is like. this close to eating someone.

'keep your dog on a leash' trope.

tanya x michelle. aka tanchelle.

tanya and michelle are basically the mediators of this whole horrific mess of a group, so.

tanya is always stressed and very overworked and refuses to relax and michelle is just trying to get the poor girl to pause and sit back for a moment to take a breather.

'go on break.' 'no.' 'c'mon, at least step outside for five minutes to get some fresh air.' 'i will not.'

tabitha x taylor. aka tabylor.

i'm sure you've all seen the propaganda in the ship tournament so there's that.

the inherent horror of meeting your demon while trapped in purgatory is real, taylor's dealt with it. honestly, she totally avoided tabitha for a while thinking she'd just metamorph into the demon again but after a while she realizes that tabitha is just. a person. at least, one conjured up in the same way she was conjured up.

jenny x tabitha. aka mayton.

idkidk i just think it's an interesting concept that i kinda wanna explore a bit in this au. it's existing in my mind.

jenny x taylor. aka jenlor.

neither of them exist!! one is a hallucination thanks to chemical bio-weapon and the other is a hallucination thanks to grief and trauma!

clarice x belial. aka clelial (but also berice).

smth smth they first meet in switchback vr idk i think clarice is in that game smth smth and then they meet in purgatory and belial is like 'damn you were a lot cooler as a murderous alien-possessed husk' and clarice is like 'who the fuck are you'

they co-parent greg. greg is the alien parasite that infected and took over clarice.

daniella x belial. aka danibel.

for reasons unknown the two have beef in this au and therefore provide the classic and beloved enemies to lovers trope.

toma x clarice. aka cloma.

another ship that popped randomly into mind, and one that's equally as intriguing to me and something i would like to explore a bit as well.

honestly i just felt bad for not including toma fhdjskfhd

[angeldrawsstuffs]

Ok look, whenever I post about the Nutcracker AU, it’s some kind of angst. So, I offer you all some domestic Jaya fluff:

So, after a particularly eventful loop of the story, the squad agrees to take one loop to get some much needed and deserved R&R. So, for the toy trio (Kai, Nya, and Jay), they do the battle scene and just don’t leave the living room area after that. While Kai relaxes with his boyfriend, White (Movie!Zane), Jay and Nya wander off to, for once, explore the rest of the space, since they’ve never really done so in previous loops due to time constraints to progress the story.

Eventually, after poking around a bit, they come across a massive, even by regular human standards, dollhouse. One they can assume was probably made by Dr. Julien (who, for the curse’s sake is filling the role of Drosselmeyer) for White and Echo’s new toys (aka them and Kai), so, out of curiosity, they take a look inside.

It’s a nice dollhouse, definitely. Almost indistinguishable from an actual house, if it weren’t in a giant living room and if they weren’t toys themselves, that is.

Nevertheless they decide to have a peek inside because why not, you know? They find that the inside is just as nice as the outside, once again almost indistinguishable from a human house (if you forget about the fake food and seam line where the house opens up right down the middle, though the house is close up right now so that’s not an issue). The couple ends up hanging around the “kitchen” for a while, and eventually Nya says something…

She mentions that it’s funny how the closest to a normal, domestic life with the other they’re ever going to get is in this dollhouse as toys.

Jay tries to refute this, but ultimately can’t, because Nya is right. They’re likely never going to get something so peaceful in their real lives, at least nowhere in the foreseeable future with how many enemies they have.

So, Jay has an idea: if they’re toys in a dollhouse, why not run with that? How about they play a game of house? If they can’t have a peaceful, domestic life outside of this cursed world, they might as well get a taste of it while they’re here.

Nya loves her dorky boyfriend, so she plays along, taking part in Jay’s proposed game as, of course, a working wife, returning home after a long day to her stay at home husband, who obviously prepared dinner for his beloved!

For the rest of the loop, their game continues, at times breaking character from how silly it all feels in the moment, but it’s nice, especially for Nya, who had to see all too young just how difficult maintaining a home is, even when her and Kai got help from the other adults in the village. To have a fun game where doing all that stuff isn’t so hard, especially with her partner… it’s nice.

FSM, she loves her boyfriend. And if his goofy smile is anything to go by, he feels the same way and more.

So congrats to anyone who actually read all this- somehow I couldn’t condense “Jay and Nya play house in a dollhouse” into less words. Anyway, hope y’all enjoyed the Jaya fluff (or maybe it’s hurt/comfort idk), because there’s not much softer than this for this AU (as of writing this, that is).

Also I might do a comic of this idk, we’ll see if the diverged neurons permit it.

[cmdonovann]

ive been really into skyrim lately so i wanted to put together some FITS (aka what i think the qb characters would wear as skyrim characters). little explanations under the cut.

jack: carved nordic armor, steel sword, and just one of those standard wooden guard shields (i think i based it on the guard shield design from the pale). why? idk i feel like hes pretty basic when it comes to video games. he would play the civil war storyline, from both sides, and actually enjoy it.

beth: daedric armor and dwarven warhammer. idk beth just feels like a warhammer gal to me, and the brassy color of the dwemer weapons fits with the colors i associate with her. also the daedric armor is a) cool as hell, and b) requires a daedra heart to forge, so like, kinda haunted? and thats her vibe imho. she probably also dabbles in conjuration magic occasionally.

paul: adept mage robes, circlet, and steel dagger. i think he would be partially a magic user (primarily destruction and alteration, occasionally restoration and conjuration... he'd do it all) and partially a stealth player who assassinates people with daggers lol. but he wears the mage clothes cuz he likes the color better than the assassin outfit. the circlet is enchanted.

hatch: elven light armor/hunter armor (i ref'd both for this) and elven bow & arrows. he is extremely patient, the sort of person who just sits around waiting for the enemy to wander into his sights. i think he is also very much a stealth player, but not really an active one. he just sneaks around for the sake of not having to interact with anyone. he doesn't kill if he doesn't need to. he'll go into a bandit camp, take anything valuable, and leave without even being noticed.

will: winterhold college archmage robes and the staff of magnus! okkkkkkkk this one was self indulgent, i admit. its no secret that i adore the college of winterhold and basically every quest associated with it, but in my defense, i think will would like it too. he would be obsessed with the lore behind the eye and staff of magnus, probably. plus it just looks dope as hell. he probably also does a lot of alchemy.

[bidisasterevankinard]

weekend wip game

tagged by @hoodie-buck @hippolotamus @pirrusstuff @callmenewbie @thewolvesof1998 @wikiangela @jesuisici33

as I'm late tagging anyone who wants to do it

Rules: List your WIPs below (if you only write one fic at a time, feel free to include future WIPs/ideas!) then answer the following questions. Then, tag as many people as you have WIPs (or more)

it's too many so wips I wrote/brainstormed about recently:

you rule my heart (I am your royal slave) or King Eddie/Lord Buckley

bra fic (or Buck in bra and too into it Eddie)

girl dad Buck and ped Eddie

Vegas fic

street dancer Eddie/firefighter Buck or dance my way to your heart

exes to lovers

florist Buck/tattoo master Eddie

sometimes it takes a baby (or platonic baby making)

after 6s where Eddie is stupid and insecure

enemies to lovers singers

Buck wears skirts

Eddie has a cousin

Buck wooed by a guy

2. Which of your WIPs is currently the longest?

—Vegas wip (11061) and enemies to lovers (11460)

3. Which WIP do you expect will end up the longest?

—prev too(I guess enemies to lovers) or street dancer Eddie

4. Which WIP is your favorite to write/the most enjoyable to write? Why?

—hmm I love all because of the different reasons but royal au, enemies to lovers and street dancer Eddie funny because of the new aus and kind of new possibilities for out boys and exploring them.

5. Which WIP do you find the most intimidating to write? Why?

—hmmm I think it is Buck wears skirts well cause I have some insecurities about it

6. Which WIP do you experience the most self-doubt about. Why?

—Vegas fic cause I need to reedit this fic a lot and it has different narrator changes in the text and too many repetitions of the lines and yeah i need to reread it even

7. Which of your WIPs will you seek out a beta/sensitivity reader for? Why?

—IDK

8. Have any of your WIPs been struck by the curse of writer's block?

—All the wips I abonded or ideas i never started (they love in my files)

9. Which WIP has your favorite OC? Tell us about them?

—i don't have a lot OC but my favs are Danny from wooing Buck. cause he's sweet and really likes Buck and wants to treat him right hoe Buck deserves. And Alex Diaz aka Eddie's little menace cousin. I love him cause he's funny and smart and knows what to do to make his stupid cousin admit his feelings

10. Which WIP is the sexiest?

—hmm probably royal au or bra fic. But I have some ideas which are probably will win

11. Which WIP is the angstiest?

—Buck sold his life 1000000%%%%%

12. Which WIP has the best characterization (in your humble opinion)?

—hmmmmmm Vegas or exes to lovers. or after 6s

13. Which WIP has the best scene setting (in your humble opinion)?

—probably royal or vegas

14. Which WIP have you worked the hardest on?

—all ? But Enemies to lovers wins because of the work with editing and with music

15. Which WIP do you have the highest expectations for? Why?

—Enemies to lovers cause it's going to be biggest work I will publish. With the most amount of work done and cause it's an au

16. Do you dream about any of your WIPs?

—day dram yes. really dreaming not really.

17. Do any of your WIPs have particular complexities that that your other fics don't?

—two fics i have are dark. especially one of them. and it contains psychological disease

18. Which WIP is the funniest or has the most humor?

—hmmm Vegas i guess

19. Do any of your WIPs contain outside POVs or a deep dive on a character other than the main ship? How are you finding that process?

—not now

20. Tell us one thing we don't know about one or more of your WIPs

—I have some secret kinky fics and dark fics

[petrenocka]

I skimmed over the Dante's Inferno wiki article and now I am ready to make some god damn Ultrakill Act III predictions babyyyy.

So obviously liberties have been taken, but overall Ultrakill so far was surprisingly faithful to Divine Comedy's portrayal of Hell. Wrath and Limbo being the standout "to a tea" ones.

7th layer of Hell is Violence. In Inferno it is devided into 3 rings itself. However the third ring, a scorching desert for those who committed violence against God, was already integrated into Greed in Ultrakill.

This lives us with 1st ring and its boiling rivers of blood for those who committed violence against their neighbors, and 2nd ring for those who committed violence against themselves and are turned into infertile trees harassed by harpies.

Thus I expect 7th layer to be mostly forrest themed, with rivers of blood for the deadly "floor" like water was in 5-2. Specifically, I expect it to draw from the Japanese Aokigahara, the suicide forrest. Somehow. Maybe one of the levels is going to happen in a suspended tree house city type location, and another will be rafting down a river.

Additionally, both Limbo and Greed have introduced a flying enemy to the roster - Drones and Virtues respectfully. So I suspect Violence is going to continue that and add Harpies, who I think will be husks, if only because I can hardly imagine an Ultrakill demon flying. Maybe they'll be somewhat tengu-like in appearance, or just Filth with jetpacks. Who knows.

7-s will 100% be a Duck Hunt reference. I can feel it just as surely as I could a fishing minigame for 5-s.

Moving on. I straight up have no idea what Hakkita will do with Fraud. None at all. There is like a fucked up city there in Inferno, but Ultrakill already moved that to Lust. Other then that, maybe it'll be a volcano level, idk why. I do find the potential to have a surviving Council member as a boss here extremely exciting, although unlikely.

Maybe 8-s will be an Ac Attorney reference, because it would fit Fraud.

Moving on again.

Treachery, the last level of the Act and of the game too most likely. The gauntlet. The one where P-3 is.

Oh, Treachery. In Inferno, it is a frozen lake with sinners encased in ice. I thus expect the 9th layer to be ice themed, although since it is The Gauntlet™ there won't be new mechanics and therefore no ice physics, don't worry. But we do lack a white level, and blood splatters will look beautifully on the snow.

1st Round of Treachery punishes "Traitors of Their Kindred", and I am like 80% that either 6-1 or its ost will get called exactly that, since this is such an Ultrakill name.

2nd Round of Treachery is for traitors of their country. I think it fits Gabriel pretty well, considering he never really betrayed God of you think about it. He went against the Council. And yes, obviously a Gabe fight in 6-2, is there even a qestion about it?

Very low chance, but maybe there is 6-3 where we kill Hell itself, since it's sentient and all.

Now for P-3. Take out the crack kids, we'll need it for this one.

3rd Round of Treachery is for traitors of guests and I think it will correlate to the gauntlet before P-3 boss. This in not the part we need drugs for.

And that is because in Inferno the 4th and final Round of Treachery, at the very bottom of Hell reserved for those who betrayed God Himself, Satan, aka Lucifer, is encased in ice and is chewing Judas.

For Ultrakill that means that we have them fucking options for our Flesh and Prime.

For Flesh it could be just another container cube. But since this is the very bottom of Hell, and Hell is alive, it could also be The Heart of Hell, or something. It could also, hear me out, be Satan. In Inferno, Lucifer is basically Judas' flesh prison, in fact, I am half convinced that the imagery of Judas being chewed by the Devil is the very reason why Flesh Cubes have teeth.

Our first two Primes were ancient Greek Kings. And the Prime of P-3 might be another ancient Greek king who I am sleeping on entirely.

But I think it is pretty safe to assume that this pattern is getting broken, just like we are not going to fight V2 in act 3 either. As far as I know there is no Greek king more into defying gods then Sisyphus and the game requires escalation.

What is more important about Primes to me is that both we have so far are enemies of God. We have a peaceful protestor in Minos, then a revolutionary in Sisyphus. So the Arch Enemy of God in Lucifer seems like a plausibility for our next ass wooping.

I am personally more in favor on Judas for that role though. I mean, he is kind of the guy who managed to get God killed, if you think about it, a natural progression from Sisyphus who tried but failed. Also Judas hung himself, so him being the King of Violence, specifically the forest part of it, makes sense.

This concludes level predictions.

We are also getting Red variants for 4 weapons, a new Arm and probably an Alt version, which is ridiculous. Absolutely zero idea how the new guns will be like. Imo S.R.S is already pushing the bloatedness of our arsenal, but Hakkita is obviously a super genius, who made the ball work, so will see.

As for the arm, we are defo getting it from 7-4, and because of the colour, my bet is that we are ripping it off of the Real Swordsmachine, the twist being that the ones in Prelude were copycats afterall, explaining why there are suddenly so many of them in 6-1. Maybe it's V-0 or something, the machine that spearheaded the modular design approach, or the first blood-powered machine, period.

I also, for literally zero reason other then "what else could it be", expect the new Alt to be a Slug variant for Shotgun. A Winchester lever action rifle sort of deal.

Ye, rant over, I don't have a concise way to wrap this up.