#along with just being plan horrifying to look at that was a a very important aspect I wanted to convey

[quins-makeshift-menagerie]

They’re SO MUCH BIGGER and more Two-like than I thought! I LOVE IT! Even tho he’s a bigger boi I can’t help but still love him. Lookit this goofy goopy lil creecher.

But, like, actually tho, they would be absolutely terrifying to see in motion on all 4s like this tho. Especially if it’s fast.

Something that looks frail, but isn’t, and most certainly has something WRONG, AND can move terrifyingly fast? Dead. I’m dead on the spot. Heart stopped before Goops even got to me. It’s one of my favorite flavors of horror. I missed the timing on the body-horror submission ask (and tbh I have an essay’s length of a response for my favorite elements) but he his SO MANY of my favorite body horror details. Gosh I love it when I can just look at something and can be brought to silent tears.

Like, no they don’t have much in terms of stable muscles or fangs (that I can see at least) but that thing will catch you and suffocate you with its own viscous, sloughing off, non-newtonian fluid textured tissue and painfully invade your body with its own. Gag-worthy and violating. Writhing in your viscera and crawling under your skin. Nothing you can do to stop it once it’s inside. Victims reduced to horror and helplessness.

Its more than just a creature of horror, it’s dread. The sickeningly cool, thick sludge pooling and making your stomach feel heavy and churning kind of dread (which is quite fitting considering that might be a bit what it feels like to have that goop shoved down your throat), and mixed with fear is just *mwuah* a horror delicacy.

FANTASTIC. Beautiful. 100/10 did NOT expect this from such a cutesy series but I am PLEASANTLY SURPRISED. As much as I love and could happily drown in slice-of-life family fun with the mittens, I CANNOT wait to see what you do with Spoopy Goops here! I’ll be patient but also vibrating with excitement.

Genuinely glad to hear all of this!!! I was so worried how Goopy would be received but seeing everyone love(and fear lol) him makes me so happy 💕

[sonderblade]

SONIC MOVIE 3 SPOILERS AHEAD!

SCROLL NOW YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!

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Okay so we all know that Shadows survives at the end but I was thinking about if they went down the path of Shadow feeling extremely guilty for almost destroying the world and doing the opposite of what Maria wanted but I also was thinking about Shadow having strong guilt towards SONIC considering he almost made Sonic lose someone so important to him and Sonic ends up talking it out with him and helps him despite everything.

So I’m thinking about this AU where Shadow gets ambushed by GUN agents and there we see that soldier lady (who was very efficient in messing up everybody’s plans😭😭go queen, I Stan her) and he’s in a terrorgation room with no cuffs, nothing, just her and him. She approaches him saying that he wouldn’t have come willingly because he most likely would’ve thought they were ambushing him anywYs blah blah blah- we get to the point where she guilt-trips him using Maria, him almost destroying millions of innocent lives, and then she brings up Sonic and how he put aside his hatred and helped him instead and how good of person Sonic is and that Shadow didn’t deserve someone like Sonic to be good to him- that he didn’t deserve a second chance. And she does this WELL. She doesn’t yell, she’s calm and she has such a sure face that it messes with Shadow despite him trying really hard to not take everything to heart and agreeing WITH it. She says that he could EARN that second chance if he starts helping GUN because “today’s GUN isn’t the same GUN as before”. And adds,

“if not for the world, then for her.”

And THAT gets him on board, although still reluctant.

Then we can time skip into shadow having a REALLY bad time where he’s constantly switching from mission to mission to fighting in an underground illegal fighting ring because he can’t stand being at GUN’s room for him and he needs to let out his emotions. He’s in between fighting as an agent and as a bloodied fighter(he lets himself get beat bc he thinks he deserves it) and he’s seeing hallucinations of Maria but also starts to see hallucinations of Sonic and he begins to consume his mind because why??? Why help him??? Why console him? Why choose to understand him? Why did he smile at him knowing all the things he’s done? Why laugh and talk with him like they’ve known each other forever?

And he CANNOT get Sonic out of his mind. He’ll be fighting bad guys on missions and Sonic’s smile flashes or he can hear him laugh. And shadow doesn’t know how to feel about it. He barely knows the guy!!! But it doesn’t click until he gets a talk from someone in the locker room for the fighting ring where she tells him, “when someone looks at you with care even though you’ve done nothing to deserve it… it’s hard not to think about warmth after years of freezing.”

And it clicks. Sonic’s the only other warmth he’s felt besides Maria. But Sonic’s different, he isn’t someone to be like family- like Maria, it’s something else entirely and he’s so confused at the feeling. But he thinks of him anyway. And he dreams of new times with him anyway. And he’ll never plan to visit him.

Until a new foe arrives which causes the Sonic team+ Amy (so excited to see her!!)+ Shadow & GUN. Sonic and Amy are getting along fine but Sonic is just. So. Glad that Shadow is in fact alive. He introduces her, they talk about what happened but Sonic is all like “it’s all in the past, who cares??!!!!!” “Sonic, he almost killed Tom and you tried to kill him” “it’s all in the past!!!!!”

And they get to develop their relationship and Sonic’s talking about how Shadow needs to go “popular place” and needs to do “trendy cool thing” because he’s “uncultured to a horrifying degree”. They get to have teamwork, argue with each other, reconcile, laugh, bond, and it’s NOTHING like these boys have felt before. It’s so easy to share with each other but also have some sort of friendly rivalry and continue to push themselves to impress one another. It’s sportsmanship , it’s friendship, it’s romantic(tho they won’t admit it), it’s a genuine connection.

And maybe. HEAR ME OUT PLEASE. MAYBE. they have a dance scene. THIS ISNT CRAZY. THEY SHOWED SHADOW DOESNT MIND DANCING AND SONIC FUCKING LOVES IT!!!! SO!!!!!

ITS A ROMANTIC LYRICS BUT REALLY GOOD MUSIC TYPE OF SONG (think of “Ma Meilluere Ennemie” from Arcane which is SO THEM btw) BUT ANYWAYS.

I just really hope we see Shadow and Sonic become friends that everyone knows as complicated but They still Care. For one another even if they don’t want to admit it.

[allmcl]

WICKED GAME │ Castiel Veilmont.

A quiet afternoon with your boyfriend couldn't seem like a better plan. But when two people are ridiculously in love, they always find something ridiculously more romantic to do.

pairing. castiel veilmont x f!reader

genre. fluff, suggestive.

setting. established relatonship, both are aged up.

content warning. kissing maybe? and castiel loves you too much :( (that needs to be a warning)

author’s note. im kinda nervous to post this 😭, pls tell me if you liked it, enjoy!!

The day was horrible, and all I wanted was to return to the comfort of my room and never leave. But since I discovered the comfort of being with Castiel in his house, simply talking about everything, resting, or any relaxing activity, I understood that there was nothing better than that.

"Feel better?" Castiel asked in a raspy voice, as if he had just woken up.

His finger gently tracing the curve of my back under my shirt sends an electrifying spark through my body. "A lot." I snuggle a little closer to him.

"I'll beat whoever hurted you." Castiel murmured.

I laughed. "You won't."

"Well, not if you don't tell me what happened."

I grimace. "It's not that important, seriously."

"If it concerns you, it's important to me." I don't see his face but I'm sure he's already frowning.

I managed to lean on him and stretch out a little and get a better look. I moved a little closer and my fingers stayed busy untangling the strands that fell into his eyes gray eyes, shining under the sunlight. "You look very handsome." The compliment slips from my mouth before I can think.

Castiel pauses for a second. "Do not change the subject." I would have believed him right if it weren't for the way his ears reddened and his expression relaxed.

"I'm serious." With the golden light from the window illuminating his features, and giving an even brighter shine to the red of his hair, I dare to say that I have rarely seen him so angelic.

He complains. "I knew you were obsessed with me, but it's starting to get embarrassing." Finally his smile escaped.

I rolled my eyes. "Wathever you say..."

A few minutes of silence were enough for the fatigue to dissipate a little. Between talks, Castiel and I were fully up and we were talking about everything and nothing, as usual. At this point in the afternoon, the radiant glow of the sun indicated that it was about to set.

With his eyes still closed, Castiel spoke. "I think about you a lot when I listen to music."

The idea took me by surprise and I couldn't help but raise my eyebrows in surprise.

"Oh yeah?" I smiled.

"It's a slow song."

"I thought you only listened to rock bands."

I have shrugged. "Not since I've known you." He confessed and seemed to avoid looking at me for a couple of seconds.

I stretched a little closer to him. "Can I hear it?"

Castiel seemed to hesitate for a moment, but soon agreed. He shyly reached over to turn on a music player and the song began to play. I know it! If I remember correctly, I may have mentioned to him at some point that it was my favorite. "Wicked games" started playing, and I couldn't help but get carried away by the melody.

"Come on!" I said, and got up from the bed. "Dance with me!"

Castiel shot me a horrified look before starting to complain. I slowly started dancing, and I offered him my hand to take, but he seemed prettysure that he wasn't planning on dancing with me.

"Please.." I wishpered.

Castiel could never resist that, so I noticed how he sighed heavily and barely stood up from the bed to join me. Although at first his movements were a little reluctant, he began to play along when I took him by the hands. We intertwined our fingers and I noticed how his grip was so delicate, but still firm.

The now dimly lit room gave everything a comfortable, homely look, and I felt like the time was frozen, and, for a brief moment, it was just the two of us. Castiel didn't dare say anything, but I could tell he was enjoying it too from the way he was watching me. His eyes shine and I can't tell if it's because of the light or some other reason.

"I wouldn't do this if it weren't for you." He reproached with a red face. I smiled and stood on tiptoe to kiss him.

Although I expected the same gentleness with which he held me, Castiel caught me off guard and instead grabbed me by the waist tightly, pulling me against him. Our bodies continued to move to the music, only this time we were melted into each other. The strong smell of his cologne intoxicated me, and his body heat relaxed me. His lips kissed mine a little too roughly, but he always did it that way.

His hands caressed from the curve of my waist to my back and higher with constancy and softness, just like the gentle swaying of our bodies.

"It´s nice to have you close..." I quietly whisper, breaking the kiss for just a few seconds.

In response, I feel a warm kiss on the crown of my head. Being so tall, he always used to do that instead of kissing my cheek. My body gives up a little, and I lean against his chest. The song is still playing in the background, and I feel how his chest vibrates while he hums to the rymth of the song.

"This…is nice" He said softly. "Even if it's ridiculously romantic."

I smiled against him, and from the way he pulled me closer, I knew he had noticed. I always knew Castiel wasn't that good with words. But he made an effort for me.

And that was enough.

©allmcl !

[cat-mentality]

My favorite silly qsmp headcannons that have like zero canon evidence

The French version:

Antoine is a eldrich abomination as old as the earth itself, man was just chilling in some dark deep cave eating the eventual mobs or unfortunated explorers, scaring the living shit of people from time to time, until Etoiles strumbled on his lair and proceded to try to fight him and then befriend him as one does

Antoine is very dedicated to act as a human(tm)

Everyone knows he isn't one.

But it's a silent agreement between everyone to just play along with him, because that is very important to him and that's their friend, if he doesn't want them to know he is a ancient horror they wouldn't.

Baghera stabbed someone once because they are going to mention the fact that humans are, actually, not able to just float.

It took Antoine an unholy amount of time to realize Etoiles and Baghera are not in fact humans.

He still doesn't know Pierre is not human either.

Actually, no one in that godforsaken Island knows Pierre isn't human even if the man has mechanical parts in his body and can talk to machines.

He has absolutely no plans of telling them either because he finds it absolutely hilarious. And also, he doesn't actually know that the fuck he is either.

His machines are very vocal, he doesn't even know where they learned to swear, but boy do they do it like sailors

Pierre genuinely believes there are no actual full humans in the world. For him everyone is just a hybrid or has at least a hint of something other in their blood.

Etoiles trauma dumps in the most fucked ways. Man will just casually mention some terrible thing that happened on his past, or how he once suffered such terrible injuries he wanted to die but couldn't even manage the strenght to kill himself so he just waited to die of thirst, or something equally as fucked, and he will say it laughing, like is is telling the absolutely funniest story ever while everyone is just horrified.

He 100000% does it on purpose

Kameto went looking for milk, accidentaly found a way out of the Island and is now locked outside with no way of contacting others because he left his communicator behind

Baghera can communicate with ducks and once she actually physically fought one that was being a little bitch

She lost

Antoine and Pierre have the pictures

Sometimes when Etoiles stays in the rain for too long, flowers will blossom on his hair

Baghera used to be able to fly, or at least she thinks she did, so now she still feels the instinct to throw herself from any high place she finds with absolutely no warning

The Island having perpetual summer is fucking with Baghera's personal clock bc she does have the instinct to migrate in winter but winter just never comes

[valley-of-headcanons]

hii! may i request harvey with a ftm farmer who's on T?

alex and harvey x ftm!farmer starting T || headcanons

when coming out as transmasc, you're not sure how your lovely boyfriend will react ...

warnings: i am not transmasc! please excuse anything that is not the most accurate! i tried to educate myself, but i am always open to learning! thank you so much my trans lovelies <3 gender neutral pronouns, but transmasc details and the use of boyfriend.

requested by: anons! hiya, tysm for requesting! decided to smush these posts into one for similarity reasons. hope you all enjoy! <333

alex

• When coming out to Alex, you were ... definitely nervous about how he'd react. He's such a masculine, “bro” type of guy. You didn't know how he'd react to his girlfriend becoming his boyfriend. He didn't strike you as gay, and it might end in a break up. You were incredibly worried, but you took a deep breath and assured yourself. Being your true self was important, whether Alex was along for the ride or not.

• So, you ripped off the bandaid, coming out to Alex while sitting down in your living room. You couldn't look him in the eye, you were horrified for how he'd react. You loved him, but if he didn't accept you, it was over. The silence only amplified your nerves, until finally, Alex spoke up.

• “Okay ... that doesn't change anything. I ... I was honestly going to come out to you sometime soon as well. I think I'm, at the very least, bisexual ... so maybe it's like the stars are aligned? That doesn't take away from you, though! I'm so proud of you for being so brave and coming out to me! Ah- I'm sorry if I worried you ... I'm glad you trust me enough to tell me, and I'll support you through your transition. I love you, and I'm glad to have such an amazing boyfriend.”

• Alex asked you questions about yourself, your new name, and how to help you through your transition. He was incredibly supportive, being very attentive to what all you told him. He was very uneducated, but he really wanted to learn! He loves you, and he is here to support you no matter what!

• He was extremely helpful during your transition, reminding you to administer your injections and helping if needed. He would constantly reassure you, making sure you knew that you were doing the right thing. You were so brave in his eyes, and he just adored every aspect of you. You did something that he probably would never have the confidence to do.

• No matter what, Alex was incredibly supportive of you, and you couldn't have asked for more. He was so excited to learn and grow with you. You were the best thing that's ever happened to him, regardless of what gender you'd like to present as.

harvey

• When coming out to Harvey, you weren't the most worried. Harvey seemed to be pretty understanding, at least from a medical perspective. He would honestly be the best person to come out to, being the town's doctor and all. But he was also your boyfriend! So, it had double importance.

• You decided to come out to him, sitting down in his office. You explained that you were transmasc, and you wanted to start testosterone. He nodded, taking notes as you spoke. He didn't say much at first, obviously thinking. He kept scribbling notes, possibly a prescription.

• “Alright, before we get into the medical aspect, I just want to say thank you for trusting me with this. I love you, and your gender won't change that. I accept you, and your new pronouns, and your new name. I'll change your name in my records as soon as possible, and we can administer testosterone soon. I love you, and I'll take care of you not only as a doctor, but as your boyfriend. Now, let's talk side effects ...”

• Harvey was focused on the medical side of things for a while, working out a plan for your transition and everything you wanted. He was incredibly considerate and kind throughout the whole thing, being extremely respectful of your new identity. Afterward, he was very attentive, listening to the personal aspect of your identity. Your new name, your pronouns, and everything in-between.

• Being a doctor, he was incredibly helpful with the medical aspect. He personally administered your testosterone, unless you specifically asked him not to. He was also conscious of your mental health, making sure you didn't need a therapist for gender dysphoria. He was educated on the subject, and if he didn't know anything, he would turn to the books in the Museum. He wanted to give you the smoothest transition he could.

• Harvey is head over heels in love with you, regardless of your gender and how you present. He's so incredibly hellbent on making you happy, and he's grateful that he's able to hold your hand throughout this journey. Seeing you happy makes him happy, and that smile brightening little by little everyday keeps him going.

[sstar-nerd]

Ok, I have risen from the dead because these two are hilarious to me in their entire concept.

So everyone is talking about the Vox and Alastor rivalry especially with the season finale with Vox’s commentary and the torn photo. Like, those two fucking HATE each other so comically. Everyone says it’s more on Vox’s side but I disagree cause on the very first episode Alastor HATES having to deal with video and being recorded. Maybe we didn’t pick up on it before but he’s very subtly INSULTING Vox that whole time.

But, could anyone discuss how funny it would be if they were still friends THIS ENTIRE TIME. Has anyone had those two friends who throw insults and fight with each other 24/7 but they’re actually super close? Like BFF levels of close? Just me?

Think about it: Alastor’s radio broadcasting things were still there after 7 years. You can’t tell me Vox wouldn’t have brought those down at some point even if someone else used them? Or just built some as his own version to display some sort of power grab? Like c’mon even if they were there for an important reason Vox would have found a way to take them over.

It would just be so funny for both sides to hear only insults about the other- constant slander and threats almost daily. Vox will not shut up about how much of a has-been Alistor is and about how he was gone for 7 years just RAGING. And the other half Alastor refuses to allow TVs into the hotel, constantly insults videos or any V products, and keeps making sly insults about Vox ANYTIME a video or TV is even referenced near him.

So it comes a time for the two groups to team up for one reason or another and they’re both dreading it. Val doesn’t want to deal with a grouchy and pissed Vox the entire partnership and Velvette knows she won’t get a moments peace. Charlie is coming up with plans on how to get the two to get along while Vaggie is simultaneously strategizing how to keep them away from each other. Everyone else in the hotel is all tensed and worried.

Than comes the meeting. They’re staring each other down for a good couple moments as the others around them make awkward small talk and then:

Vox: NO CALL!!!

Al: I don’t use-

Vox: NO LETTER!!!

Al: I WAS BUSY!

Vox: Doing what? Being old?

Al: Regaining my sanity after our last brunch.

Vox: Oh I make ONE bland dish and you-

And then the two are arguing for HOURS. There’s not a soul in that room who has the bravado to get in between them or butt in. They’re all either terrified or seriously confused. Eventually the argument boils down to something akin to an actual conversation like two friends catching up.

Someone, I think Charlie, asks them about their rivalry and if they can work together now. Vox and Al share a confused look before they realize: they had never told anyone the status of their relationship. Vox is doubled over laughing while Alastor has his face in his hands trying not to do the same thing. Everyone is concerned.

When they’re done they have to tell the two groups how they knew each other for forever since their respective falls and had even heard about each other when they were alive. They became extremely close friends shortly after meeting and only became ‘rivals’ when they thought they were both becoming to arrogant and unchallenged.

Their friends are all horrified and confused.

Vox and Al think it’s hilarious.

[sunsetconcert]

this is a fic that i would LIKE to write, but unfortunately, the actual details of writing it drive me up the fucking wall. so i am posting the general framework here, just to get it out of my system. so:

CONCEPT: Sonic Forces Metamy Political Marriage.

four months into the war. the resistance is losing ground, they only control about 10% of the planet. and rather than just crushing them outright, eggman comes up with psychological warfare - he starts to torment them with terms of surrender. in particular, he targets amy by saying stuff like "You can save everyone, Amy! The war will be over, and everyone gets to go back home! You can save everyone, right now, if you just stop caring about your principles and surrender."

the terms of surrender are actually pretty good, but they're also pretty visibly designed to inflict maximum psychic damage on the resistance. the most IMPORTANT part, though, is that the terms of surrender require a binding ceremony between the resistance and the eggman empire. it's framed as a political marriage thing.

however - eggman never intended the terms of surrender to be accepted. it was purely a psych-out tactic. he never actually expected that the terms of surrender would be ACCEPTED. and by amy rose, of all people??? so eggman basically weasels out of it by saying now amy and metal sonic have to get married. amy and metal hate it immensely but begrudgingly accept it.

amy and metal manage to peacefully coexist for all of sixteen hours before they have their first screaming match, followed by a deeply personal conversation regarding their feelings about being engaged to each other. metal basically says "Nobody will ever love me. Nobody will ever love me, so just let me pretend otherwise until this farce is over with." and amy still hates him, but like... she's not going to be a bitch about that sort of statement. eventually they agree to have a big dumb lovey-dovey pretend wedding as a coping mechanism for their respective situations, and go back to hating each other afterwards.

(spoiler: they do not go back to hating each other.)

they then proceed to get WAY too invested in the wedding. like, unhealthily so. the argument over the flower arrangements go into the history books. when the time comes for the actual wedding, amy and metal sonic both decide to go big or go home. it is the biggest, gaudiest, ugliest wedding you have ever seen. everything is either hot pink or goth black and there is NO inbetween. the cake is like sixteen layers tall, the chapel is filled with so many flowers that it makes a few people sick, everything. MAXIMALIST WEDDING. eggman is just along for the ride at this point.

the bride and groom wear the ugliest fucking wedding dresses you've ever seen. amy looks like she's from a 1980s barbie commercial and metal sonic looks like a hot topic got their shipments mixed up with a bridal goods store. they are very pleased with themselves and they are also so fucking insufferable that basically all the guests heckle them most of the way through the ceremony.

halfway through the ceremony, infinite tries to crash because he's obsessed with attention and can't stand not being the most important person in the room. unfortunately for him, in the chaos of the wedding planning, eggman is SO DONE with this loser and promptly cuts all power to the phantom ruby prototype infinite is using. the gathered guests promptly kick his ass and toss him into a dumpster outside.

at some point sonic shows up for the sole purpose of leaving a gag gift at the wedding reception. like a toolbox just in case amy wants to inspect any of metal sonic's parts. sonic does NOT know the tools will be used for foreplay and would be fucking horrified to find out.

at some indeterminate point sonic and his very canonical bestie ian jr both break out of the death egg and tear down the eggman empire's stranglehold on the world while everyone else is obsessed with the wedding. the rest of the cast find this out like three weeks after the wedding goes down.

[piratecaptainscaptainpirates]

I think that the important thing to consider, when writing about Ed and violence, is to do some self-reflection to make sure you're not giving more weight to Ed's violence than that of other characters (and white characters especially).

OFMD, as a show, does not pass moral judgments on violence, other than "if you're a bigot you deserve what you get," which is very sexy and cool of them. Ed, who is horrified that he is defined by his capacity for violence, does not feel the same way, and has invented little rules for himself to get by as the best in a very violent profession. At the start of the story he NEEDED to be able to look himself in the eye and answer the question of "have I killed anyone since my dad," honestly, with "no," even though he's a smart man and he no doubt knows perfectly well that the other equally valid answer is "yes."

I do think that Ed's hang-ups around violence extend to more than just killing itself - Ed's a social chameleon and is excellent at fitting into what the situation demands of him. Prime example is him shouting "that's what you fuckin' get!" at the Swede when Jack hits him with the whip, and then seeming extremely ashamed and embarrassed when he tells Stede "this is what I am" before he leaves the ship. It gives me the impression of a guy who has been very, very good at fitting into a violent culture, even as he becomes ashamed of it when he gives his behavior more thought. I think Knife Parade is an example of the exact same situation - Fang was ""playing along,"" just like the Swede, and Ed was playing a role just as much.

There's no question that Ed is willing to use violence as a tool when needed, but for him, we always get the impression it's more of a tool than something he enjoys. Ed is genuinely very difficult to goad into anger, and his violence is always an extremely controlled reaction (think about him threatening the boat captain to tell him where the loot is - he just flipped that persona on no problem, and shut it off just as easily). But where lovable characters like Roach genuinely seem to enjoy violence, Ed's jaded to it and seems to prefer to delegate the necessary violence whenever possible.

So the important thing to keep in mind, I think, is if you pass judgment on Ed for things like going on raids (where we don't ever even see him participate), why should that get more weight than when Stede does the same (with much more enthusiasm)?

And my biggest thing, always, is that Ed's violence is a tool he uses in service of his job. Unless your modern AU has Ed formerly being in some similarly violent occupation (which I would approach with caution and care), he's not going to be a guy with three murder charges and a double-sided rap sheet. Not every AU where Ed has a violent past is racist, and there are some that are done very well, and, hell, I'm planning one myself! But I think it's worth being thoughtful about Ed's relationship to violence and how you're mapping that into your AU.

[mikokiara]

My thoughts about Taco and Mic on episode 14 copied and pasted from discord:

(Autism warning undercut)

''this episode is very important for both taco and mic, and especially mic. So, like I have told you already, mic is a complicated one. Knife goes right to her, and in his own words is in a 'generous mood' and so he tells her to well, stop. To in his on words ''have some dignity'' mic simply says that her and taco are equals, she has a voice, no one is shutting her down and she isn't just being dragged along by her. Which, is true. However, knife simply says ''well...I guess you are pretty in synch'' leaving her, confused. Mic is someone that dwells on things I'd like to believe, and so knife's words very clearly get right through her. We have established since the start that mic is at her core really insecure, I didn't told you this but the moment she got the praise, approval and attention she wanted from her team thanks to taco- she was smug about it, had no problem with saying weird stuff about her teammates in order to make herself look better- her confidence skyrocket tremendously and for the first time she seemed to hold herself in a better regard than when she did back then, but in episode 14 there is absolutely none of that, mic's confidence has been completely shattered, test tube is angry at her for stealing her stuff (understandably so) and clearly doesn't trust her for her annoyance, her body language is awkward small, and maybe that's because this is how she feels, I believe test tube's anger and distrust of her was probably some blow to her ego and the way she viewed herself. Overall she is just, pretty exhausted in this episode and this time is easier for knife's words to get through her because of that, she is tired, and worried and even though she wants to believe taco- even though she has learnt to see a new side of taco, people often forget that she still didn't fully know her despite this. She knew now that taco does hide big feelings from her, she supresses them since they are clearly a sour subject for her, and so mic doesn't bring up the portal again. But now that they are here, and knife's words get through she feels above all- insecure. Even despite this her vision is clouded by her exhaustion and doubts she is scared, scared that knife is right, that she truly doesn't mean anything to her that she truly is dragging her along- that despite everything they went through together, she doesn't really see her as her friend.

And so, just like episode 12 she goes to taco, for reassurance, she asks her to please not use violence when they go to get fan, she wants her to promise her not to. She is insecure and scare and doubtful and so she goes to taco and hopes that she does something that proves knife wrong. Taco, gently puts away her hand, tells her that ''teamwork prevailed'' and wished to not promised anything because she wasn't sure if she could. They both smile, and get to the spaceship and it happens. She shoots fan and test tube- mic startled and enraged jumps in the way of taco's guns knowing that she wouldn't hurt her, the latter's gun faltering for just a moment and lowering down. When mic yells at her saying this wasn't part of the plan taco says back to her that aliens rarely are part of the plan and so she sends her to grab fan's body and go back into the competition grounds and she does

everyone is cheering, happy, except test tube of course. Is an scenario that mic dreamed about, dreamed to have, but never through these circumstances. She looks at the crowd with horrified eyes as taco's voice chimes in ''See? this is why you listen to me mic, delectable isn't it? finally...a taste of recognition finally I can finally-'' she cuts her off with a ''is that what you said to pickle?''

yeah this is not truly what she wanted was she? she yearned for approval? yes, for praise? of course. But she never truly wanted to hurt people- kill people to be more exact. It will surprise you the amount of people who don't truly dissect this scene on mic's part. Mic doesn't view herself in a good light, she never truly did, the perception she has of herself alongside her self-esteem is heavily dictated by what others think of her. And right now mic feels miserable, her confidence had already been shattered but in these moments what she thought of herself what she thought of taco the little good redeeming qualities she thought of herself to have are completely gone they have burnt away to a crisp. Her core belief is, doing things because they are the right thing to do. But in these moments- even though she wasn't the one to shoot test tube, to shoot fan, she still allowed it to happen, she truly didn't do ''the right thing to do'' this time around did she? test tube was right, she is a fraud, she is untrustworthy- and in her eyes she is horrible. Episode 14 hurts a lot from her perspective because not only she felt betrayed by someone she loved the self-esteem she managed to somehow ''fix'' for at least a little while has been dragged through the mud and right now, mic is small, and mic is useless and mic is someone that she herself is unable to be proud of.

I thought the reason she even cut off taco in the first place was mainly because of what knife told her. Again she was doubtful and insecure and was afraid that maybe he was right, her brain tormenting her with all those ''what if's'' of her situation, and so she went to taco looking for reassurance, reassurance that she would actually listen, reassurance that she actually values her. But to her this moment was the last straw, to her this was the confirmation that taco really didn't cared enough, that didn't saw her as a friend, that taco truly was dragging her along, as viewers we come to understanding- or well most people come to the understanding that this is really not true, mic is taco's entire world, I didn't mention it here but it was confirmed in a stream that she did all of these stuff out of fear, she feared microphone was doing all the work in the alliance and she wanted to prove herself to her, she wanted to show her she was useful- and its very coincidental that all of this happened the exact moment when I believe taco began seeing mic as a true actual genuine friend. She didn't only wanted to prove herself to her she wanted to show her that she was reliable, that her ideas worked, and that microphone could rely on her because she was her friend but of course, mic didn't know that, and there wasn't really a way for her to know that. She only scratched the surface with taco, she only truly knew so much of her because taco has a knack for hiding herself behind walls to prevent anyone to truly see her for who she really is, she tries to make herself look as an imposing and mighty villain but the truth is that is not really her, she is acting- that is another facade she truly is small and to an extend, scared- and most importantly, alone. It's understandable that mic didn't know what as an audience we know, and even then a lot of people fell through the misconception that she did so it really shows how hard taco herself can be to read sometimes, if even the people who are meant to dismantle her facade are falling for it. And so I believe that had knife not told her that she probably would have given taco an earful, but mic was tired in this and mic was scared and doubtful and not in a good place and so she weaponizes- her past relationship with people against her to hit a nerve, when she is hurt she hurts the other person twice as hard as shown in the same show with cheesy. Just like taco relapsed and fell back into old habits mic also relapsed and fell back into old habits she tried to leave behind because she was exhausted. My friend told me it really felt almost as if she was splitting on her and yeah I can see it, I feel if her mind was clearer in the moment she wouldn't have cut her off like she did maybe distance herself but not cut her off, but because she was tired and rightfully hurt, she just hurt the person she is cannonically the closest to, and makes the choice to leave the show behind. She looks 'relieved' but, I know that the moment she went through the elimination portal and got to the hotel, she broke down days later. I know because sometimes I say or do things that hurt other people when I perceive they hurt me and I regret it later and I feel she probably felt guilty afterwards. But that is so much about mic, what about taco? well

Taco has been lonely, for most of her life. She is hurt- and bitter and yet she regrets with all her soul what she has done. Her core trait is her guilt.

what can I say about taco in this scene? I talked to you about her motivations already, why she did what she did, the way she hides herself behind walls the way she avoids vulnerability almost as if it was poisonous venom to her. More than anyone she hates vulnerability, she does not enjoy looking weak, she does not like when people try to pry into her true feelings and its something that shines a lot in the episode next to this one, she answers to any attempt of trying to crack her open with either dismissal or anger. She does not like, being seen as who she is. Someone small, who needs help. This moment is the moment taco begins to be at her absolute lowest, I will remind you taco at her very core is lonely and she has been lonely for a VERY long time, microphone is the first one to truly see her- 'true self' and still want to remain by her side anyways, and defend her and she enjoyed her company she enjoyed being close to her she enjoyed being by her side as well and she truly held her in a high regard compared to other people, for then this same first genuine friend fading away into the distance right in front of her very own eyes, and so she is left destroyed and hurt and lonely and she doesn't know what to do with herself anymore. Taco's determination that is seen multiple times throughout the series was her downfall it backfired on her. Relentlessly sending letters to pickle in attempts to fix things with him for two years? had the complete opposite effect and it just didn't allowed pickle to properly move on from her and it ended up making him more resentful of her than she already was. Trying to meddle with the competition so she could get some of what she felt was stolen from her no matter the cost? completely destroyed her mental health and made her dig herself into a hole far deeper than before- so deep, she doesn't feel she can climb out of it. Trying to get mic immunity to not only prove a point but to show her she could rely on her? well...you already know the answer. There is of course SO much more to her than just that without counting episode 15 that is an episode solely focused on her, but this is as far as I'll talk with them because I'd like to get to episode 15 with you someday

right now, taco is hurt, and grieving and so awfully miserable. She has believed herself to be nothing but a villain a wretched creatured undeserving of redemption, and yet despite everything mic stayed, mic loved her and mic valued her. For then her to disappear because of one mistake that cost her everything. She is now truly alone and she is not coping well with it. Once again she just completely lost everything and she is too tired to fight to get it back this time, and so she disappear into the distance and we didn't know anything of her for like at least 4 years.

of course there is SO much more of her than this but, this is how I am going to leave it by now, they are both so tragic because they have cannonically been closer than anyone else in the series, they were both hurting and lonely and relied in each other to make up what the other lacked, taco deep deep down truly just wanted company, and mic just wanted to feel actually valued by someone, it was truly the right person at the most awful wrong time.''

[aita-blorbos]

AITA for punching my father in the face after he came back from being missing for 11 years?

(AU)

I (29 M) returned to my childhood home to visit my mother, C, and introduce her to my girlfriend L. While I was there, I was informed that my father, H, had returned after 11 years of being gone.

It should be noted that I am a system, and we had just solved a murder case that reopened a lot of old wounds and even brought back our old host S out of dormancy.

11 years ago, H ran off in pursuit of these stupid trinkets called the Relic Stones. He knew the dangers of the mission and that it would probably be best to go unsolved but he left to try and solve it anyways. Something about a True Gentleman never leaving a puzzle unsolved.

He neglected to bring myself or my younger sister K with him. K is understandable, she wasn’t even a teenager yet. But I was 18! An adult! He didn’t offer to bring me along on this dangerous mission, but he brought a completely different guy with him instead!

Apparently this mission led to him getting cryogenically frozen for over a decade, so H never got to see his own daughter grow up because he was too arrogant or whatever the fuck to bring his children with him on this literally life changing mission.

Needless to say, I don’t like my father. He abandoned us to chase some stupid riddle, leaving C and my older sister F to take care of K. Not even to mention the bubbling hatred S had that just got more and more severe with each passing year.

Now. I brought L with me to meet my mother. C informed me H was back. I said that I’d be fine with staying as long as H didnt try to talk to me. C agreed it was probably for the best we not talk, but H apparently didn’t get the memo.

L introduced herself to H, and H is pulling his usual annoying gentlemanly shtick. L goes on to talk to the rest of my family, since both K and F were there that day.

Then H tried to talk to me.

He started explaining why he did what he did. How he was just scared he was going to lose his kids, apparently there’s a history of his family not exactly getting to see their kids grow up themselves. He apologized for abandoning us, said that he never wanted to be gone so long, how it was out of his control, etc.

I responded by saying he was just like his own father, sticking his nose where it didn’t belong, flying too close to the sun, and thus being unable to raise his own children. This struck a nerve and H started to cry.

C wanted me to apologize but I refused. I simply said what was true. H kept trying to apologize, but he kept calling me my full name instead of the name of the alter that was fronting at the time. He would always call us by the Alter’s name rather than the body’s, so either he couldn’t tell who was fronting or he completely forgot that very important thing about us. It’s worth noting that each alter has a physical change that happens when we front. No I can’t explain it either, but he should’ve been able to tell who was talking.

So I asked why H called us our full name. Or, I should specify S asked this. S has a habit of being more extreme, at least recently. H said he forgot which one was which, and that sent S over the edge.

S yelled at H for not being there, for running off, for not even remembering the name of his own son, for acting like an apology would fix everything.

H tried to talk to S, finally remembering the right name for him, and called him son. And that’s when we finally punched him in the face.

K yelled at us, F had a look of surprise but also a bit of pride, and C was horrified. I grabbed L’s arm and left.

C later called and said I should apologize to H, but I don’t plan on doing anything of the sort. He deserved that punch. He deserves more than that.

AITA?

[plagueybirb]

Because I love all things creepy and spooky and horrifying, and it's basically spooky season, imagine how much MORE messed up the Shadow Temple could be if it were in the BOTW era.

Ten thousand years go by. The Temple has all but been forgotten and buried with the rest of the Sheikah's dark past. I don't doubt at least the chieftains are told, at least as much can be recorded and remembered safely, but that's not all that important. Cut to BOTW. Link is exploring, and he comes across a part of the cliff wall in the Kakariko graveyard that just. Doesn't look Quite Right.

Does he bomb it? Does he Magnesis it out of the way? Does he Stasis it and beat the ever loving crap out of it and send it spiraling into the stratosphere? Whatever the case, he gets it open. There's a long, long, LONG staircase down. It's dark, dank, and there's a heavy scent of something rotting and undeniably Wrong.

Link, being Link, descends.

It gets darker. The smell of rot and decay gets even heavier. The air is thick with it, so strong you can almost physically taste it. It's overwhelming. There's almost a dark aura in the very air, like the shadows themselves take up physical space and are no longer confined to a flat plane.

There's a dias at the bottom, like the typical Sheikah shrines have. There's torches, but they're techy, and glow like stars when activated by the Slate. Lighting them opens the first door. Is it magic? Advanced technology? Who knows, that's not important.

There are messages on the walls. Ancient writing, glowing red in warning instead of the usual blue. Warning you to turn back, that there's nothing worth finding here, that whatever is there is meant to stay buried forever.

Discarded tech litters the rooms, everything was left in a hurry. Tossed about randomly like people were just throwing things into the hidden underground labyrinth just to get it in there. But that's only the first few rooms, the ones that are easy to reach. The tech is nothing special, it's just everyday items one might've had over ten thousand years ago.

The next couple of rooms are very different. They're labs. There's large rooms with long tables filled with weapons that were scrapped. Ranged weapons, ancient blueprints for outfitting guardians with all sorts of weapons before a design was settled on. Sickles, scythes, even energy whips that would snake out and snatch you, little thorns and hooks digging into you to keep you trapped like a fish on a line. Guardians designed to go in water, Guardians designed to swim in sand. All plans, half tested, unfinished, and forgotten. Meant to fight monsters with brutal efficiency in all types of terrain, just in case the Calamity escaped Hyrule.

The rooms after that are very different. Locked behind a terminal you need such high security clearance that genuinely no one alive even has access to anymore. Link, having the last Sheikah Slate, is perhaps conveniently the only person who is able to unlock it. Suspiciously so. One has to wonder who's Slate it was originally, before passing through to Zelda and eventually Link.

The rooms are forbidden. The further in you go, the older and more ancient everything becomes. The more horrific.

There's a Dead Hand. But it's not normal. It lumbers through the halls, slithering among mounds of bones and discarded fleshy and techy amalgamations that failed. This Dead Hand has Gaurdian limbs jutting out at odd angles, dragging it along like a severely messed up spider. It's a horrible fusion of dying tech and revived flesh and too many hands. It's the only "success" of merging tech and flesh to try and create something or someone that might stand up to Calamity Ganon in the event the Hero dies. It was never meant to exist, and never meant to leave, and therefore must be slain.

And after that, it just keeps going. Up until you reach the bottom. There's another staircase and a stone dias, and torches. Actual torches, that need to be lit with fire to open the last door. It's older than anything else in the Temple, older than living memory. Almost like another temple that was just built on top of. From there it's just a straight shot through oddly familiar and terrifying torture rooms and death traps, a ferry that floats without any water to carry it, and a gaping pit that leads to an old arena.

Now, there's probably no Lens of Truth anymore, I doubt an already old artifact survived that long. So maybe there's nothing in the arena. Maybe it's just a big drum in a dark and vaguely poisonous abyss.

But maybe there is something. And Link just can't see it. Or can only see it through the camera on his Sheikah Slate. Something even worse than Dead Hand. Something that had to stay trapped down at the deepest, darkest, most ancient depths of the temple.

Impa would possibly be the only one alive who knows even a fraction of what Link would see in there. Perhaps Paya too, but who knows?

Would the Yiga Clan know? Would they know the horrors of a BOTW Shadow Temple? What would they do with the information if they did know?

Can y'all tell I've been thinking about this for a while? Just a tiny bit?

I just REALLY like the Shadow Temple and want to see it return someday in a way that spooked me like it did the first time I played OOT. It doesn't even have to be a main dungeon, it could be entirely optional and I'd be happy

[darkwitch1999]

🦋😱Akuma Idea: Horror Themed Akuma😱🦋

Okay, here's another akumatized villain concept that I have been thinking over for a while. Now hear me out. I know that the Miraculous Ladybug franchise has already featured a few horror-themed akumatized villains......

Or three? Huh....I thought there'd be more. Anyway, that's not important. For this akumatized villain, I thought that this villain would have powers, weapons, and design elements based on characters from horror movies.

For the character design, I was thinking that the villain would have pale skin and long black hair that gets in her face like the girl from "The Ring". They will also have stitches along the corners of their mouth and wear black mascara around their eyes.

As for her outfit, she would wear a straight jacket, which I'm either thinking could have a mess of different dark colors on it or have scarlet blood splatters all over it. Or it could just be a plain yet worn-out straightjacket. Honestly, I had the villain "Terminal" from Batman Beyond in mind when I decided to give them a straight jacket as part of their costume. I am also planning on giving the black pants with holes in them and black combat boots as part of their design.

As for the villain's eye color, I'm still deciding on whether I want to give them all red eyes or do multiple colors. I do plan on giving them three eyes, with the third eye being located on the base of their forehead. Kind of like Garnet or Hiei, but this third eye is more than just for show. It actually ties into one of her powers that I will get into more detail about later.

Powers:

So the thing about this villain, is that some of their powers are connected to certain horror artifacts and/or characters. Though not every power can be used at once and a few of the powers are activated when the villain is using specific items. For example:

Jason Hockey Mask:

This akuma will have something akin to Captain America's shield, except smaller and shaped like Jason's Hockey Mask. The shield/mask is indestructible and can repel and deflect the attacks from the Miraculous superheroes with ease. It also has an additional use for allowing the akuma to breathe underwater when they are wearing the mask on their face (ironic, huh?).

Freddy Kruger Gloves:

On their own, they are just ordinary leather gloves. However once this akuma puts the gloves on their hands, they can grow metal claws like Freddy Kruger that can also retract at will like Wolverine's metal claws.

A Ring:

Okay, I know there wasn't a literal jewelry ring in the movie "The Ring", but I thought this would be a cool concept nonetheless. Basically, when the akuma is wearing this ring, they will able to possess and pass through any electronics that have a screen of their choosing (TVs, computers, iPads, phones, etc.).

Wrist Corsage

Every rose has its thorns and this beautiful bracelet is no exception. Like Carrie from the movie of the same name, wearing this corsage gives the akuma the power of telekinesis, which allows them to move objects or people or set stuff on fire with their mind.

Now for her final power (yes, I know I have already given her a lot. Shadow Moth was feeling very generous this time when he made this akuma. Like I said though, she can't use all of these powers at once, well except for this power.). This last power involves the akuma's eyes, especially the third eye. Her strongest and most horrifying power that this akuma possesses is the power to make anyone who looks into her eyes hallucinate their worst fears/nightmares, causing them both severe psychological and emotional trauma that incapacitate them by paralyzing them with fear, giving them panic attacks, or causing them to have a mental breakdown as their intense screams and feelings of terror fuel the akuma's power. The third eye acts as an amplifier for the fear-induced hallucinations, meaning that the more people that the akuma terrorizes, the stronger the hallucinations and the akuma become. Now I bet you can imagine all the different types of fear-induced hallucinations each one of the Miraculous heroes could face when fighting against this akumatized villain, who's civilian identity is none other than:

Noelle Odeja!

The details regarding how she got akumatized are still in the works with the story, but let's just say that someone messed with the wrong girl! Time for her to show the world how much of a "horror freak" she truly is. I'm thinking about making the akumatized object her backpack or something, will also carry her power items in it when they are not in use (though that idea is subject to be scrapped if I think of any better ideas).

As far as the name of this akuma, I still haven't decided on one yet. I was thinking of something like "Frightmare", "Freak Show", or maybe even "Horror Show". IDK. I'm not that great with naming villains or heroes. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm open to them.

Anyway, let me know what y'all think about this akumatized villain. Feel free to voice your opinions, thoughts, theories, or any suggestions you might have on how this villain could be improved upon (I might have made her too OP. Let me know if I need to tone the powers down a bit).

@nerd-chocolate @andromeda612 @princessbutterflysposts @artzychic27 @arny20252 @imsparky2002 @msweebyness

[sugarywishes]

Could you go a bit more into your plans and the role of Elizabeth & Even in the future of your AU? I'm curious to learn a bit more about how their respective roles change things, as well as how it will end up playing out with Micheal & William also involved on the whole...

Of course! Answers below as usual.

So I'm trying really hard to not fully expose every detail of the Security Breach portion of this rewrite, but the gist of it is Glitchtrap/William, and the Afton kids return for a grand finale! And unfortunately Gregory, Vanessa, and GlamFred have to be in the middle of it all. (Which means HW 2, Secret of the Mimic or whatever games they'll be making in the future will likely not be added to this thing, unless I really like it but it's likely I won't lmao) (RUIN-ED is in a complicated situation in this rewrite, it's technically now an AU spinoff, that's not canon to the security breach section but is still related to it, but I'm over complicating things here, I'll explain it in other post!)

And as some of you know in this section of the rewrite/AU, Glitchtrap will use Gregory as a replacement body for Evan to inhabit to come back to Earth, and boy are they BOTH upset about this! (My Security Breach portion will include Gregory's family, the Casas, and they'll get a chance to interact with Evan a lot too, since they don't know that Gregory's kind of being possessed rn)

Speaking of the Casas, EVERYONE in that family serves as a 'mirror' to the Aftons (that does not mean they share the same personalities or anything, they're just the counterparts for story telling purposes, and I mean VERY important story telling purposes!) Julian is the 'William', Rebecca is the 'Clara', Gregory is the 'Evan', and Monica is the 'Michael'. You may notice that Elizabeth wasn't included in the line up (originally, before RUIN-ED came out, there were many theories that Cassie could be Gregory's twin sister and I was ALL for it because then I could finally have Lizzie have her own Casas counterpart, and then turns out she wasn't related to him, so I had to rewrite things unfortunately 😔) So now, VANESSA is the Elizabeth counterpart.

Going back to Evan, he HATED coming back, when he did originally wake up in Gregory's body, he had a full blown panic attack and was horrified by his surroundings, cause yk he was freaked out by Glitchtrap, an 8 foot tall gay ass bear, a white woman and a teenage girl who looked too similar to his brother whom he only remembers MURDERED HIM, that can really overwhelm someone! (Btw, Mike had been fully anticipating his father's return, but he didn't think Evan and Elizabeth would come back because he thought they moved on, they definitely did not!)

After a whole rescue operation (and losing someone during it, not a death though.) Gregory/Evan will go through a lot of trials and tribulations through family matters and trauma. Again, I'm trying not to spoil a lot about this section since it's pretty crazy, but they do become friends! They will be each other's first ever friends, actually, since Cassie won't be in this rewrite. SORRY ☹️ she will be important in the RUIN-ED AU/spinoff though! (Yk the one with the stupid ass kids/ocs)

For Elizabeth, she will end up attempting to possess Vanessa (although it was not part of William's original plan, and who knows? It could work.) I really want to say more details but I must restrain myself from doing so. She will be an antagonist along with Will, she's gonna cause some evil shit, and she'll get a redemption arc because it's what she deserves! (Yk after she learns her lesson) And there is actually a reason why she and Evan even have relationships with the MCI/KCI kids, even if Liz didn't actually meet them when she was still Baby. Let's just say, the afterlife prison for her was not cool! Thank goodness she managed to escape too.

And yeah, tons of Afton family drama is relevant in this too, it intertwines with the Casas family own trauma.

I'd really like to discuss more about what exactly will happen, believe me. But I'm saving all that for when I get to it! (And also because, I'm still working on it!)

[gainesha]

BSG rewatch notes, cont'd and ended (spoilers, obviously):

it was so nice to watch the whole thing again, once again being reminded why I fell in love with these characters

the second half of Season 4 is much stronger overall as the first one, but the Tigh-Six baby plotline is awful. dumb and ludicrous. gave lots of fantastic acting moments for Hogan and Helfer, at least

Michael Nankin was the GOAT for directing Sometimes a Great Notion

I had loved the piano man story from Someone to Watch Over Me, so I was looking forward to rewatch that, but I completely forgot that the other main plot of the episode is going to be Boomer kidnapping Hera, and jfc, the locker room sequence with Helo and Boomer as Athena and Athena watching them is probably the most horrifying scene of the whole show, genuinely disturbing

I really like the finale. the flashback structure works very well for showing us how far all these characters came, and also crystallizing their story arcs, the stakes of their present-day choices. the last mission is intense and satisfying. the big showdown between Cavil and the Final Five / colonials and the Opera House reveal is a bit bumpy, but I still love the anticlimax of Cavil just saying ah fuck this shit. the ending always made emotional sense for me, and because the emotional farewell was the more important expectation for me (rather than getting a wholly satisfying mythology and precisely worked out plot machinery), and I feel good about the exodus part, too, I can more easily let go of my quibbles of explaining how the people of the fleet actually went along with throwing all their technology into the sun and going into the wild which would realistically mean quite a low life expectancy for them - like, I would not last outside modern civilization at all, but considering the rate with which we have been destroying our planet in the years since the show ended, their choice to have a clean slate is all the more wishful and heartfelt. (also a nice sentiment to forego colonizing the natives of Earth). Kara's "poof" is jarring, but I find her narrative arc complete and wonderful. I don't need to know exactly what she was after she returned from Earth-1. I even didn't mind the epilogue! like, the dancing robots would probably be AI if they remade the show today, but otherwise, the all of this has happened before... message of the show, with all its cheesy directness, still stands. except maybe it's more difficult to share HeadSix's optimistic prognosis

"You know, I know about farming" is the best line reading of the whole show

I wish we got at least one more Leoben-Kara scene after the one in Sometimes a Great Notion. that was a huge turning point in their relationship, but it should have been followed up, and I am sure it would have if not for the unavailability of Callum Keith Rennie. that is the only part of the show that feels incomplete.

I was ranking all the episodes for myself alongside the rewatch, so here's my bottom 5 and my top 10. I still need to rewatch The Plan, which in my memory is barely more than a glorified clipshow with some nice acting, so that could possibly be in the bottom five as well. and yes, that is a 7-parter in the second place, sue me.

Black Market (2x14)

The Woman King (3x14)

Hero (3x08)

Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down (1x09)

Deadlock (4x16)

10. The Passage (3x10) 9. Someone to Watch Over Me (4x17) 8. Downloaded (2x18) 7. Pegasus (2x10) 6. The Oath / Blood on the Scales (4x13-14) 5. 33 (1x01) 4. Scar (2x15) 3. Unfinished Business (3x09) - non-extended version 2. New Caprica arc: Lay Your Burdens Down 1-2., Occupation, Precipice, Exodus 1-2., Collaborators (2x19-3x05) 1. Maelstrom (3x17)

[sunriseverse]

(busts through the wall) DID SOMEBODY ASK FOR DMBJ PROMPTS??

i want something sunrise but i want it to be dumb/silly. i know it's a serious au but it's about three fools so it should still be possible.

okay you said something silly. and i THINK "xiaoge who literally purrs" counts, but. i couldn't help but get feelings in it </3 wu xie's pov because i realised i'd done xiaoge AND pangzi's pov for sunrise but not wu xie's yet. (also this got LONG i am so sorry..........)

-

The first thing they do after they get Xiaoge back from that fucking rift in Changbaishan is fall into a tangle of limbs and sleep for ten hours straight.

Well, no. The first thing they do is bundle Xiaoge, who has somehow in the last decade lost the thick, fur-lined coat he’d been in when he and Wu Xie had come up here that last time, into a thick, heavy, coat that smells faintly of smoke, which had been shoved into one of the saddlebags to make it take up as little space as possible. The second thing they do is herd Xiaoge, who looks less and less distant and dazed as the moments pass, in front of a fire and ply him with the best food they can offer, here, so far from any city and proper kitchen amenities. The falling into a pile and sleeping for what feels like glorious, golden days is closer to the fifth or sixth thing that they do, but Wu Xie sort of loses track somewhere along the way, because Xiaoge’s presence, an absence rent into the very core of his being, of the world, for so, so long, is intoxicating, and Wu Xie keeps losing track of his thoughts.

“Tianzhen,” Pangzi says, knee knocking against his, warmer than the crackling fire between them, and doesn’t say anything more; just tilts his head towards Xiaoge, who’s half-buried in the voluminous folds of the coat they’d foisted on him. It makes Wu Xie’s throat lock, tight and painful, the way that, even now, after so long spent keeping him at arms length, Pangzi is still the man he loves; still one of two people who understand him in a way no other does, in a way that renders spoken communication unnecessary. With a shuddering sigh, Wu Xie lets his eyes slip closed. The threads between them—ones that Wu Xie had feared, for the past few years, would snap and break; leave Xiaoge stranded to a world Wu Xie couldn’t even imagine, to die with a mind slowly bending, breaking, shattering; leave Pangzi, one day, to snap to the horrifying awareness of it, of that break, of the bond between them, carefully nurtured, built on an aching, all-pervasive trust, not only fraying, but rent apart because of Wu Xie’s carelessness, because Wu Xie hadn’t been careful enough to keep it alive—flicker at the back of his mind. Glow, nearly, with an indescribable incandescence, a pulsing sense of warmth, of home. 

He spent long enough unable to see a way past the end of things, of a life beyond the plan; now, it’s time for him to try and make things right. He opens his eyes and smiles at Pangzi; lets his hand settle on his knee, and, for a moment, squeezes, just to let him know he’s there. And then, raising his voice, he says, “Ah, Xiaoge, come here. You’re going to freeze like that.”

Xiaoge blinks, slow. As if he hadn’t even realised he’d been sitting so far away. Then, gangly figure uncurling, he crosses the too-large distance—small as it is in reality—, and Wu Xie shifts to leave space between himself and Pangzi for Xiaoge to slot into. He does—easily, as if he’d never forgotten how; as if he’s coming home. The glance Wu Xie gets out of the side of his vision shows him Pangzi’s eyes are just as misty as his. 

So, no; sleeping together isn’t the first thing they do, technically. But it’s important enough that it feels like it.

The bedrolls they’d brought along are the type that can be combined together; Wu Xie does so while Pangzi tells Xiaoge about the terrible snowstorm they’d had to brave through on the way there, replete with taking care of a snow-blind Wu Xie in the cave they’d taken shelter in. “Our Tianzhen,” he says, with a smile and a shake of his head. “Terrible luck.” It makes Xiaoge smile, small and barely-there, and the image makes Wu Xie’s lungs burn with something he hasn’t felt in years.

Actually clambering into their makeshift bed is fairly anticlimactic; all of them are too tired to be prickly about space, or limbs, or anything besides curling close to each other. Wu Xie winds up on one side, Pangzi in the middle, and Xiaoge on the other. If this were a real bed, Pangzi would lovingly and dramatically bully Xiaoge into the middle, but a real bed is also safe in a way that being up in the mountains isn’t, and they’re both well-aware of Xiaoge’s vigilance, undulled by time. Well, no—if Wu Xie’s theories about the Hiveside are right, then he might be even more vigilant than he once was. And Wu Xie—he tries not to think too much about why Pangzi let him be on the outside.

The horses, settled down on the other side of the fire, whicker at each other, the sound a subtle hum in the night. Wu Xie lets out a breath, and settles; pillows his head on Pangzi’s chest, slings his arm across to brush fingers across Xiaoge’s side. Under him, Pangzi lets out a muffled laugh, but doesn’t comment. Xiaoge doesn’t sigh, but Wu Xie can feel the tension that bleeds out of him at the combined contact, and he curls inwards, so he’s facing them.

It’s not hard to fall asleep like that; ten years of vigilance are nothing in the face of the warmth and safety trickling down the slowly-widening bond between them. Once, Wu Xie had stood in the boiler room of a great, snaking black train. At the time, he’d been too busy thinking about other things, but right now, all he can remember is the warmth—and the heat of it pales in comparison to this, tenfold.

Some time later, he slowly swims to consciousness in the dawn light, pale, the world around them tinted a dilute blue. Under his head, Pangzi’s chest rises and falls, a slight wheezing snore drifting from his open mouth. Wu Xie’s own lips are wet with the beginnings of drool, and he reaches a clumsy hand to wipe the traces of it away. There’s a low, steady rumble that permeates the air, and his eyes snap open, his body already moving as his mind hurtles, full-speed, across a plan to get them all out of here, away from the impending avalanche—and then he catches sight of Xiaoge, long limbs pulled up and curled against Pangzi’s side, only one, slitted eye visible through the fringe of his hair, and he realises the sound is coming from him.

Pangzi, disturbed by the sudden scramble, cracks his eyes open and lets out a grumbling complaint. “Aiya, Tianzhen, you’re letting the cold in. Get back here, will you? You’re going to freeze our poor Xiaoge.”

Wu Xie blinks a couple times. “Right,” he says, hasty and belated, and gets back under the covers, only for Pangzi to drag him closer so he’s practically laying on top of him. “Hey!”

“Maybe that’ll teach you to move less,” Pangzi says, softly vindictive, and then yawns, eyes scrunching up. “...Xiaoge, is that you?” He drags Xiaoge closer, and the rumbling increases, both in intensity and pitch. The sound goes a little hitching as Xiaoge’s head lands on Pangzi’s chest, a mere hairsbreadth away from Wu Xie’s own. His eyes, no longer narrow, flash in the low-light. The rumbling is loud enough Wu Xie can feel it in his bones.

“Mn,” Xiaoge says, the sound overlaid over the rumbling. 

It takes a moment for Wu Xie to sift through his still sleep-addled thoughts to process it. “Are you...purring?” he manages, eventually, and reaches out a clumsy hand to press against Xiaoge’s chest. It rises and falls beneath his touch, rattling. “Since when can you do that?”

Xiaoge blinks at him. “Always,” he says, as if it should be obvious. Pangzi, beneath them, chokes on a laugh.

“Oh.” Wu Xie processes the words, blinking a few times. “Then why did you never...”

Xiaoge shrugs. “Forgot,” he says, the words quiet, and Wu Xie’s throat tightens. Under them, Pangzi stills, a quiet sigh slipping out. His hand comes up to card through Xiaoge’s hair, and Xiaoge’s eyes slip closed.

“Like a cat,” Pangzi says, fond and amused, after a long moment. Xiaoge doesn’t open his eyes, apparently content with the designation. Wu Xie’s lips twitch. “Who knew our Xiaoge’r was so cute.”

Xiaoge, clearly unbothered by the comment, keeps purring. Wu Xie’s mind is far too sleeplogged to figure out how the fuck that even works—is it a mechanical process that just sounds like purring? Is he tapping into the tech that lines his body? Is it instinctual? On purpose? 

“Your thoughts are too loud,” comes Xiaoge’s quiet voice. “Go to sleep.”

Wu Xie, for once obedient, surrenders. Surrounded by the warmth of the men he loves, he slips back into sleep.

[exoticalmonde]

Arknights - Zwillingstürme im Herbst Event (Day 1)

HEY, Zwillingstürme im Herbst is here and I CANNOT pronounce a single of the German words they are using, I think I might just end myself here. For some reason, the update was loading extremely slowly, but it was long enough to get us through those pesky 10 minutes we had to wait until the server was open.

On the flip side, we have a bunch of cool new things to look at and a reason to rewatch the trailers and cinematics + review the music that comes with the event.

Warning: The following content goes over obvious stuff about the event and the characters that I plan on working on + my personal ideas for who is useful in what way.

At the END of the post is a guide for the music tunes you need for the interrogation event. As far as I have gotten at least.

Since it's Arknights' sixth celebration event we expect a LOT of content, a long story, probably a daily check-in for missions inside the event itself and much more. The banner for Viviana and Virtuosa Arturia (being the Limited operator) lasts a whole three weeks, with every day carrying a single free pull.

Oh the joys of saving for Zuo Le and Logos knowing that I really do want Viviana is a bittersweet sensation. I'm going to get Lessing today at least, so we can be content the husband team stays strong.

Not to forget the free 10-pull we get along, which got me a single Baseline.

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When it comes to the videos and PVs we got, they're actually an insane amount in comparison to other events. Of course, the anniversary has something to do with that, but it's also because the characters we are getting and the story that is meant to unfold is very important to the Arknights world.

This is the official trailer that introduces us to:

all the new characters,

flashing us with the gorgeous medal set,

the skins that are coming out WITH the anniversary event,

the new characters in the red ticket shop

operator archives for: Czerny, Rosa, Diamante, Santalla, Shalem

modules for Mudrock, Penance and Vulcan

+ Lessing, Baseline, Nearl Alter, Bagpipe,

new furniture sets

Naturally, there is no event without the PV. This is from the POV of Viviana.

The event teaser is subsequently the introduction video as you enter the event.

I watched this just now for the first time and it's equally horrifying to see the Aegir, charming to see her get along with kids, saddening since I know this is her at her mother's funeral and also it makes me absolutely insane to think that I feel anything but resentment for her and everything she's done to Ebenholz and Kreide.

I know she is going to make a huge mess in Leithanien again, I know it.

I feel a little smitten for the reason we are getting an ENTIRE introduction to the University. I can't even imagine how it's going to come to play inside the story itself. But I am glad that there's more embracing of the regional tongues now.

Fondly, I was reminded the other day how I started playing when there was only the Chinese and the Japanese (and Korean?) voiceover. Now there is German, Italian, Russian along with the English.

How... Unfortunate, we might never be able to hear French.

As far as I'm familiar, I think Ripples is meant to be the music for both the Candleknight and Arturia.

UPDATE: OF COURSE ARTURIA WOULD HAVE HER MUSIC VIDEO COME OUT TODAY WHEN I MADE THE POST ABOUT IT YESTERDAY BUT WHAT ELSE DO I EXPECT, HERE YOU GO

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There is this video that isn't on YT but it's on the Arknights Twitter page, so I'm going to link it anyways for anybody who wants to see enamel pin-like designs of Bassline, Arturia and the others. It's basically character showcase but in some different form.

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I love the character intros but more than anything I enjoy reading Travel Guides because this means these places are going to be super important to the lore itself and I am EXCITED!!!

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Most of the enemies are very easy to deal with as long as you know the base mechanic and don't get too taken away by the music. The ones with a purple sphere on their heads need EXCITED music to neutralize their special skill and those with a yellow star need MELANCHOLIC music to calm down.

Long story short, the Tuning Nodes need to be all active at the same time and the place where you see that jellyfish shield is the place you need to avoid placing operators because they just won't do anything for the Node itself.

Attack Speed gained from the Exciting music is stackable for your operators. I don't know to what point, but Dr. Pinkie was having a blast learning this last night.

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Speaking of the characters and Baseline specifically, he's a Lupo from Leithanien, appointed in the year 1100 (the year the story is set in as well) as a sort of mediator between RI and the Leithanien Imperial court. He's uninfected and his role is Defender, specifically Guardian aka Medic Defender. Real name Michael Wolfgang, tiniest Schatz because he's only 160cm tall and pretty much the same size as Greyy-alter me thinks. Birthday is on the 16th of July.

From what I imagine, I can use him instead of Nearl/Gummy or Spot since his Skill 1 heals operators only if they are under 50% and his Skill 2 stops attacking and concentrates on healing + gives the ally a shield.

I haven't done the speed/strength comparisons to Nearl but VS Gummy, his skill 1 charge is 6 seconds and the difference is only 20% additional healing at M3 for a cost of an additional 1DP at all E stages.

To me, that's good enough to exchange honestly if you're looking for more tankiness due to his Talent.

If we overlook the cost of maxing out a 5-star in comparison to a 4-star.

AND NOT TO MENTION HIS TOKEN IS--- I mean, if you insist I have it, sure, but I feel like the mouthpiece of any instrument is important to the player in their own way... right?

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Lessing is the free 6-star operator you get in the event by competing the missions in Herzenfolgen. It's unlockable after you finish stage ZT-2 and it comes with 3 (technically 4) characters you can get event materials from including Lessing's Potential.

He's a Guard, specifically a Dreadnought (or as it's also popular - a Duelist Guard) whom I immediately am looking at as FINALLY there is something I can use instead of Melantha when I get asked for someone of that type. You'd think that out of all the guards I do have already there's going to be someone who does as much damage as Melantha and equal in health, but no.

Since Mel is a 3-star character and only reaches level 55 E1, I'm going to compare them like this: Lessing does more damage, has more health and defence than Melantha. His Redeployment time is 10 seconds more than her though.

Skill-wise Lessing's Skill 1 is an Offensive Recovery (charges itself when hitting enemies) like Hoederer's that does additional damage on the charged strike sans health regen.

Skill 2 is like a buff on his first talent: Pain Focus (this is at E1) - When blocking, take 20% less Physical and Arts damage from enemies not blocked by this unit. So that means that at lvl 7 of his skill you apply the maths that I am NOT going to math myself. At least not while Dr. Pinkie is sleeping to check them for me. When deployed, 1st Talent effect increased to 2x, ATK +35%, and attacks become 2-hit combos. His Skill 3 is what people get him for: Become immune to Negative Statuses, HP +80%, and attacks deal 180% ATK as Physical damage when attacking a blocked target Skill can be used when Operator is affected by a Negative Status, removing the status, but dealing 600 Arts damage to self.

So far as I can read while my Lessing is cooking in the training room - yes, you might be able to kill him if you use his skill and he's under 600HP.

My little Hoederer, big sword - big damage wielder. The only saving grace for Melnatha is that she's 13 DP at max potential while Lessing is 21. That's a lot to consider.

And of course, he is a cutie patootie in his letter, I'm crying.

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Here is the guide offered by the Twitter page for the Herzenfolgen because otherwise, I could not grasp a single word of the explanations inside the event itself.

To explain it in simple terms:

Every day you get 3 people who will tell you a story and according to the information they give you, usually the important part is in red, you have to figure out what sort of emotion they have felt and then you have to align them to the 'desire' they have.

Making a mistake 2-3 times gives you the emotion and the 'desire' so it's not impossible to figure out, but it's a lot of experimenting as well until you get both right. And the notes you get are exhaustable, so you need to farm for them to know.

Dr. Pinkie also told me yesterday that the cards you DO manage to use also disappear.

Whenever you complete the day you get an Authorization Warrant to unlock the case-related characters and then you get a pot for Lessing every time you finish those.

You get 2 a day actually I think. Since I already managed to squeeze 4.

Here's all the emotions since some of the guides I found kind of misnamed the emotions and I had to spend a long while staring to get it to actually work.

TO GET THE FINAL ONE: DIE REISE (Tomorrow's Opus) you just have to complete all of the main interrogation nodes.

With that, I wish you good luck, enjoy the music of Zwillingstürme and I hope that you enjoy the music as much as I do. My favourite theme so far is 'Under the Spires' and 'Anger's Opus'.

WHICH, I almost forgot, YOU CAN FIND ON SPOTIFY AS WELL, IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL!