#also the foxes tend to double as other characters

[sardinesandhumbugs]

I just realized... in the musical, or atleast the West End production... there's only like, what, four foxes?? Maybe five if you count the one with Fox News?? I don't know, maybe my math us just bad or I can't count them with them all moving around, but I feel like there's more Stoats and Weasels than there are foxes

Ohhh foxes are interesting. Yeah, there are significantly fewer foxes than there are stoats or weasels in the musical, and my guess is that this is either a nod to the book (foxes are only mentioned twice in the whole book, and never during the retaking of Toad Hall) OR because the foxes’ riding pinks costumes would upstage the rest of the Wild Wooders’ darker costumes. 

They don’t even start on-stage during the Taking Over the Hall song at the beginning of Act 2, only appearing when they bring in Portia, and then mostly staying upstage (and sneakily tidying up some of the props while the stoats and weasels keep the audience’s eye trained on them) and neither are they in the jury (which is probably more so they can double as Other Characters)

In-universe explanation for this? This is something which @dontbecattyratty suggested, and it’s that foxes are just... kinda odd. 

Between their costumes being literal riding pinks (the sort humans wear to, y’know, hunt foxes), them being the only Wild Wooder we see existing outside the Wild Woods (Fox News), and their habit for staying out of the limelight (being either upstage or skipping the court/jury scene entirely) they never quite fit in with the rest of the Wild Wooders. 

The musical even takes Ratty’s “they can’t be trusted” line from the book, which originally could have been about all Wild Wooders, and makes it specifically about foxes. 

Ratty: Not that I’ve got anything against foxes - we are always polite when we meet, but they’ve got some nasty habits and they can’t be trusted and that’s just the truth.

I also talked previously about animals who skirt too close to humanity being just odd by default, and in the UK foxes are more common in urban areas than rural (since farmers don’t take too kindly to them, and farmers are one of few type of people in the UK who you can expect to own a gun) so I hc the musical foxes as being of the urban type and thus far too comfortable around humans. 

So yeah, the foxes raise some interesting questions and also some fun potential for headcanons :D

[etherealmach1ne]

- Intro Post ⋆｡°✩

| Hello! My name is Ori/Bee/Star or V1 and i am 20. This is primarily my otherkin/personal blog, however ill probably post whatever. ^^

i'm an artist and occasional animator, i also do livestreams every so often. i love drawing robots or fanart of things i like, i also draw furries. I am autistic, adhd and likely (quiet) bpd.

i am agender, my pronouns are they/he/it/bot. i do not mind most gendered terms (although i tend to prefer the masc ones, there is exceptions) so you can use he or "look at the little guy!" the way you would if you saw a little robot wearing a fancy hat. Im also Greysexual and Queer.

My Kins/Kintypes (will go more in depth another time)

Robotkin/Machinekin - Nonspecific, i feel this with anything that could be referred to as a machine, electronic or mechanical. Although with robots im most attached to ones with non-humanoid faces. This was the first kin-thing i discovered about myself!

Angelkin - i believe this is also nonspecific, but im most drawn to multiple winged ones, the statues of angels, or depictions of them being abstract like beings of pure light.

Fictionkin - v Here is a list of my fictional character kins v

Starscream (Transformers) - My highest(and most intense) kin, mainly G1 starscream or similar versions (earthspark and some comics). He is incredibly important to me. Skyfire also plays an important comfort role to me because of this kin, I do ship them so i am incredibly attached to them both.

Bumblebee (Transformers) - Much less intense of a kin, i mainly kin G1 or the bumblebee movie version (or similar ones in some comics once again)

V1 (ULTRAKILL) - Realised this kin at the same time i realised i was robotkin! Was also a very intense kin, however its calmed down as im hyperfixated on starscream/transformers at the moment.

Questioning/not sure

Starkin - This may link with Angelkin, as i do see stars and angels as connected/appearing similar.. not sure.

Birdkin - Same thing, i do very much relate with having wings. some of their behaviours i also feel attached to, but im unsure if its just because i associate them with other kins..

Deerkin - Ive had certain shifts that seem to align with deer, ive always been quite drawn to them.

Foxkin - i connect a lot with the way foxes act and used to identify with them a lot in my early teen years, some shifts ive had could also align with them.

Interests (some, at least..)

Transformers (current special interest) | Robots/anything mechanical (also special interest)

Space/Sci-fi | Character analysis (or overanalysing..) | Art/Animation (of course)

(Any kind of) Science ( i am not smart enough to understand it fully but im autistic enough to find it exciting regardless /hj)

Video games in general (ULTRAKILL, Undertale/Deltarune, Fnaf, Splatoon, Portal, to name a few) | Phasmophobia/Lethal Company/Among us

Clowns/Jesters | Markiplier (his videos and his projects) | Good omens

Other

With fictional kins i do tend to feel discomfort with doubles (people who share the same kin) however you can still interact, i do try to look past the discomfort.

DNI if youre a weirdo (proship, homophobe/transphobe, racist, ect.)

i'll likely never post anything entirely nsfw here, but im not sure about suggestive stuff,. it will be tagged if i do, so if you dont want to see that it should be easily filtered out! i'll likely leave it all below a "read more" anyway just to be safe.

Dont be shy to interact! whether its to ask questions or anythin!

[dirigibleplumbing]

tagged by @oluka, thank you! (A million years ago, sorry! I love being tagged in and doing these things, but seldom do them in a timely manner.)

rules: list the first line(s) of your last 10 (or however many you have) posted fics and see if there’s a pattern!

In order of most recent to least recent:

Don’t Do This - A Choose Your Own Adventure Story!

You are Dean Winchester.

Double Vision

Steve’s surprise at the knock on his door turns to delight as he recognizes the sound—it’s Natasha.

lovely dark and deep

AIM swarm him as soon as Steve lands on the roof of their base. 

One Left

Blackbeard lucks out in an outbuilding across from the carriage house.

In Full Color

“Clint’s not pulling a Die Hard in here, is he?” Tony asks when Steve finds him, standing in front of a painting from the permanent collection. 

Perception Check

Jim glares at Tony, who just smirks back.

A Way to Say Hello

Well, new Heaven’s better than old Heaven, and better than Hell, but it’s got shit beer, a Roadhouse with no one tending bar, and Bobby sitting on his ass. 

Persistence of Vision

Natasha stills her tapping foot.

Never One Thing

I would’ve slept through Dr. Page returning to the motel room with breakfast, just like I’d apparently slept through him getting up, showering, turning on all the lights, and leaving, except now he was on the phone and not bothering to regulate his volume. 

Deep In the Woods

Tony shuts Steve’s door behind him.

The obvious trends I notice are that these are pretty much all in medias res--"Don't Do This" isn't clearly so but the rest of the intro section goes on to situation the reader in the middle of Billie chasing Dean and Cas through the bunker. I tend to use either short, active intro sentences, or long mini-paragraph sentences that set the scene. Also, I used to use past tense sometimes but all of these are in present tense.

I guess also most of these mention at least one of the two main characters, except for "A Way to Say Hello," which is mainly about Dean, who is the POV character but isn't named yet, and while Bobby in the fic he's not a primary actor in the story. "Never One Thing" is a weird example because Cas is first person, we never learn the name of the human he thinks he is for most of the story, and while he knows "Dr. James Page" isn't the other character's real name, Cas doesn't remember that his real name is Dean until near the end. But it still introduces Dean and Cas to an extent.

I tag @starvels @sineala @kiyaar @arukou-arukou @elcorhamletlive @fox-bright @destiel-wings @therollingstonys @iheartallthethings @welcomingdisaster

[nightcoremoon]

female hyenas have penises. kinda. more on that later.

so as many people following me probably don’t know because I don’t talk about it a lot, I am a furry. when I was a kid some of my favorite games were ratchet and clank, crash bandicoot, spyro, gex, sly cooper, okami, dust: an elysian tail, pokemon… final fantasy 12. I also never played but love the design of banjo kazooie and starfox. I love night in the woods. I love aggretsuko. I love animal crossing. I love five nights at freddy’s…’s visual design. against all odds I love undertale. my default race in the elder scrolls swaps between khajit and argonian. the only races I ever main in WoW are the tauren worgen and pandaren (AND VULPERA)! king is my tekken main. dark souls’ crow demons... enough said. I love zelda and in its later years it started getting more and more furry with each major installment. I love sonic the hedgehog. twokinds is my favorite webcomic. beastars is probably my favorite anime of the 2020s. and none of it is sexual. I just really love anthropomorphic animal characters!

…okay maybe I have a huge crush on a few characters. rivet. coco. carmelita. fran. krystal. isabelle. roxy. blaze. others I won’t name because you’ll just make fun of me. but a whole lot of it is nonsexual. regardless I’ve always wanted to settle on a particular species for my fursona.

fox. cat. wolf. skunk. rabbit. raccoon. ermine weasel.

but every one of these choices has just been me settling. I looked at a list and thought well I might as well pick one of these because that’s what everyone else does. to be a normal furry I have to really vibe with a certain animal and align with that particular choice wholly. completely. like society tends to do for sexuality. you have to pick 1. no more, no less. so I kind of wandered around between them all not really picking any in particular and figured I’d get around to it eventually but as time went on it just didn’t go anywhere. until today.

so I just randomly realized that my name rhymes with hyena. and then I realized hey wait a minute I fucking love hyenas. so I did some research on the cultural impact of hyenas and… it’s really sad. the whole world hates hyenas. muslims hate hyenas. african tribal faiths hate hyenas. the greeks hate hyenas. jews hate hyenas. damn near every single culture in the region hates them. they’re vampires. they’re werewolves (er. werehyenas?). they’re the ghosts of cannibals (if only there was a single word for a creature that was the evil ghost of a cannibal). they’re the evil mounts that evil witches ride in the night. some real fucked up stuff. and I think that’s really sad, as I LOVE hyenas. they’re one of my favorite animals. the way they’re kinda dogs kinda cats kinda neither, the way they’re shaped like fucked up demented little monsters, the way they’re murdering bastards, the way they laugh. and I’ve heard that they taste very interesting. I’d eat em.

so I decided, them. hyenas. they deserve better and I would be one hot and sexy cute and adorable hyena. fursona selected, I’m a hyena now motherfucker!

and then my partner told me female hyenas have dicks. I was like bro what? and I looked it up. lady hyenas have an appendage that looks (if not functions) like a penis.

and I (dfab, trans, no desire or plans for surgery) thought

hell. yes. bonus points. I’m double over a hyena now.

is it culturally appropriative of African culture to pick an African native animal as my fursona? …nope. no it’s not. shut up fuck you do not pass go don’t touch my inbox. :)

[byneddiedingo]

Estelle Taylor, Beulah Bondi, and Eleanor Wesselhoeft in Street Scene (King Vidor, 1931) Cast: Sylvia Sidney, William Collier Jr., Estelle Taylor, Beulah Bondi, David Landau, Frank McHugh, Russell Hopton, Greta Granstedt, Eleanor Wesselhoeft, Walter Miller, Max Montor, Ann Kostant, Allen Fox, John Qualen, Lambert Rogers, George Humbert, Helen Lovett, Nora Cecil. Screenplay: Elmer Rice, based on his play. Cinematography: George Barnes. Production design: Richard Day. Film editing: Hugh Bennett. Music: Alfred Newman. Ninety-one years later, King Vidor's Street Scene remains one of the best translations ever made of a stage play into a movie. I think it's largely because Vidor and screenwriter Elmer Rice, adapting his Pulitzer Prize-winning play, avoided the temptation to "open out" the play. The focus of both play and film has to be the façade of the tenement house in which the characters live. Director and writer resist the temptation to go inside, even to show the double murder that forms the climax of the drama. Vidor does give the setting a little more context, with shots of the street and the city rooftops, and there's a scene inside a taxicab arriving at the brownstone, as well as a swish-pan montage of faces popping into windows along the street as people hear the gunshots. But virtually all of the action takes place where it should: on the front steps and in the flanking and upper-story windows of the tenement. What keeps Street Scene from bogging down as one-set films tend to do is the constant mobility of the camera, seeking out a variety of angles on the characters as they come and go. Several of the actors, including Beulah Bondi, John Qualen, Eleanor Wesselhoeft, George Humbert, and Ann Kostant, had performed their roles on Broadway, so they were already keyed into the kind of ensemble playing that Street Scene demands. This was Bondi's film debut, and she's a standout in the key role of the malicious gossip Emma Jones, a hypocrite whose son is a bully and whose daughter behaves like what Emma would call a tramp if she were someone else's daughter. The newcomers to the play also handle themselves admirably, especially Sylvia Sidney and Estelle Taylor as Rose Maurrant and her mother, Anna. The weak link in the cast is William Collier Jr. as Sam Kaplan, who comes across as something of a wuss, unable to defend himself against the bullying Vincent Jones, and a sap in his love scenes with Sidney's Rose, making us wonder what she sees in him. Street Scene also trades a little heavily in stereotypes: the Italians who love music, the Irishman who's a drunk, the Jews who are somewhat isolated from the rest of the tenants, and even the Swede with a comic accent -- one of John Qualen's specialties. Like most of the films produced by Sam Goldwyn, Street Scene has high production values, particularly Richard Day's set, which was modeled on Jo Mielziner's Broadway set; the cinematography by George Barnes with some uncredited assistance from Gregg Toland; and Alfred Newman's score, which features a bluesy Gershwinesque theme that he would re-use in half a dozen other movies even after he left Goldwyn for 20th Century Fox.

[lonerfox14]

Is it too late to have Sonic Prime ocs or uhh…

Because I’m still giving these dorks some love, especially Goggles and Pine

Goggles, Pine, and Vixen are different variants of Loner the Fox.

Goggles being a small resistance member who keeps her goggles for special needs like double checking and other random futuristic stuff, even though sometimes it’s optional for her to have the helmet on like all the others. If any platonic oc x canon relationships outside of any of the resistance I like to imagine that she used to have some trust issues towards our main bois(Sonic and Nine) but I like to imagine that she’s gotten over with probably. Unlike Loner, Goggles actually usually has a serious side but when it’s caught off guard she can be optimistic when it comes to worlds involved around nature or the old world

Pine’s casually just a most skittish version of Loner, she might be a scavenger but I know like Thorn she’s kind of a nature girl… Well, except that for her there’s no sudden area overprotection going on, she’s just vibin’. I kind of wanna think of what kind of interaction she could have with Mangey but that would sadly be a diffy for me. As far as I know Pine just tends to hide in trees to avoid trouble, etc. There’s also a nickname of hers where she’s called “Piney Winey” but I’m not really sure who should actually call her that

Vixen is a pirate, a sneaky one obviously. Her crew is full of jerks so she definitely has a habit of leaving the ship. I mean I do have some ideas that she could come back but maybe that’s somewhere in the near future of fanfiction, I don’t really know. Vixen can also swim pretty decently and every time she escapes the water she’s like a flipping dolphin or something

You can find info about Loner the Fox somewhere else on here or not

Target is the more naive and gloomy counterpart to Delca. I don’t really think she does anything than to be a background oc I guess, but at least she does join Goggles later on and starts a character arc. Her only background is that she grew up with a neglecting mother-figure(I said figure because canonically she was an orphan from the start) and is the only one who doesn’t’t know that she’s a reincarnated soul although she reads the stories

Spikey may be a rough and pointy little spike ball but she’s actually a little sweetie on the inside. I did plan her to be a scavenger once like most of them in that shatter space but I might make up my mind later. She believes in reincarnation so it’s obvious that she knows

Sushi is just a sassy pirate version of Delca who was a part of Vixen’s crew. Her teasing might even accidentally make someone leave the crew even though in reality she’s just trying to motivate people. Her old soul flashbacks don’t even concern her lol

More info about Delca is somewhere else

Other Facts

-Pine is the only Loner variant who is able to use her original powers, although she doesn’t use them but instead fights with a bow and spear(archer girl, yes)

-If Tails in my escape fanfic comforted Loner, would it be possible to one of his variants to motivate one of hers, if so who?

-Goggles had the most redesigns out of all of them

-I used to have Haven variants but they’re kind of scrapped because Sonic in the escape au had never met him as a whole

-Goggles does have a recent full reference but that’s only if anyone wants to draw her so I’m not throwing it here, sorry

-In the earliest designs Goggles had a metal tail and Target was completely a robot, I drastically changed them for a reason-

[genderfluid-insomniac]

hi 😀

can I request heizou, scaramouche & albedo with a fox or cat-like s/o or maybe just with their ears/tails and stuff,, I've been compared to both a lot recently for some reason but I love both animals v much lol

sfw or nsfw no preference 🤠

hi anon! I cannot tell you how much fun I had writing this because I've been compared to the same so this was so fun and was more suggestive than I meant it to be but of well 😊. also you literally requested my three favorite characters and I love you!

heizou, scaramouche & albedo with a fox/feline s/o

Heizou

The snarky bastard is going to have fun with your hybrid half and might abuse it for his entertainment like using his magnifying glass to create a small light that catches your attention, not even needing to go outside to distract himself.

Your tail flicking attentively when you spotted the moving light and tried to submerge the instinctual urge to pounce on it or catch it, ultimately saying ‘fuck it’ and chasing the light around the room as your boyfriend moved it and stifled his laugh.

If you’re not with him then he’s on a case that is secretive or dangerous because you love being around Heizou a lot since he’s often very busy with being a detective and he loves getting attention or just being you so it’s a perfect scenario.

Often you’re in his lap while he does paper work and napping on him while sunlight warms your back, purring happily as one of the maroon haired boy’s hands rubbing your ears and humming a tune he heard that morning.

You tend to have a habit of trying to sneak up on him, which never works, as well as fighting (or “catching your prey” as Heizou likes to call it) with a clear plan in mind, often getting what you need by almost seamlessly without being seen if you need to be and using your cuteness to your advantage.

Heizou will often also take you on cases because you also have heightened hearing as well as sight so it helps a lot to have another pair of eyes alongside his, not to mention he gets to have his lover as he works so double win.

Scaramouche

This smug bastard is going to act like you’re even more pathetic since you’re part fox or cat, he doesn’t care because you’re still really reactive whenever he wants to mess with you and give your tail a tug or pinch your ears.

You’re hearing is also heightened so just a whisper like “Sit still and I’ll rub your ears if you’re a good pet.” or “I know you’re cramped but I have work so go take catnap.” It’s nice for both of you because you get to be with him (compared to isolation when he goes on missions) and he get’s important paperwork done along with having his partner show him love behind closed doors.

Childe’s going to make it his mission to find you as soon as he hears that not only did the stoic balladeer bring his lover while he works but they’re also part fox….Fuck doing anything he had to do today(Poor Scaramouche has to move rooms every 10 minutes and eventually orders guards to keep his fellow harbinger out or else they’ll get it) and you can’t help but laugh at the exchange.

For reasons he can’t fathom you love the rain and when it thunders (it reminds you of him), so it’s uncommon for agents or passerby to see Scaramouche soaked while carrying a pissy drenched fox hybrid who’d rather be outside than being dragged inside (he was worried that you were going to catch a cold)

He loves when night rolls around and it’s finally time to go to sleep, stripping himself of his uniform and changing into soft Inazuman robes because then he’s able to cuddle with you. Your tail on top of his pale legs and fluffy ears twitching as he buried his face in your hair, content with the knowledge that his darling is perfectly safe (and soft) and won’t ever leave him.

Albedo

He’s gonna wanna do some experiments on or with you (only if you’re okay with it ofc) and more personal ones because you’re his s/o and sucrose wouldn’t be okay with doing it since it’d cross boundaries as his assistant, some of them being more perverted than others.

Asks if you have heat like other cats and animals but regardless of what you say he’s going to try and induce it because he loves the pleasure drunk expression you give to him during very intimate moments.

Like Heizou your hybrid qualities give him an advantage when working with experiments because you’re not entirely human but also can give him more sensitive insight given your ability to see and hear well better than others

(and totally not because the alchemist loves petting your fluffy ears and rubbing your tail when it is wrapped around his arm or waist, not to mention he can sneakily give you kisses whenever he wants.)

Your favorite activity is to watch the snow fall and play with Klee, who adores your ears and tails, often playing tag or doing crafts (one of her favorite things is to take a nap in your lap with your tail as a makeshift blanket).

[sallertiafabrica]

Sal’s Art Den

Salutations! I’m Salenna, a fox artist passionate about storytelling, drawing, prose, music, and several other forms of art. You can find most of my art in #Sal Draws (older stuff, from before I started doing digital art, is tagged as “sketchbook”) and my writing in #my writing. I’m also Salenna on Ao3.

While Ladybug Classic is my most active special interest atm, I’m also into Hollow Knight, Psychonauts, Undertale/Deltarune, and some of d20’s campaigns, and may post about them (or whatever else I get into) occasionally.

I’m not a minor, and while I don’t post anything NSFW here (there’s still the occasional suggestive joke, tho), I have more than one work that touches on heavy topics and I don’t tend to filter out language.

My felinette fanfics and others are organized under the cut:

Completed works:

Trickster - Fox!Félix AU - Tag: #Trickster AU - First installment for my main project (read: favorite child), an AU that starts off with the usual post-chameleon salt-fic setup (with some spins on it), but it’s completely non-canon compliant with rewrites and rearrangements on the lore and timeline as well as several characters’ overhaul. Felinette slow burn with focus on developing other friendships too. Superhero, family, and school drama. Link to the whole series.

As Marinette, she already lost. As Ladybug, she couldn’t afford to lose. So when a Trickster offered a hand in exchange for the foxtail pendant he already took, she couldn’t afford to lose it.

Symphony of Lights - Completed - Childhood Friends AU - Tag: #SoL AU - A short romantic fic focusing on Félix’s and Marinette’s reconnection during adulthood after years separated. Features some pre 3d Miraculous concepts and lots of indulgence with my autistic Félix and ADHD Marinette headcanons. The series also features oneshots that take place either in their childhood (pre-Symphony of Lights) or their adulthood (post-Symphony of Lights).

The Festival of Lights is soaring in the streets of Paris and Félix is enjoying it in a quiet corner of a café when a familiar face walks in.

On-going works:

City of Fools - Fox!Félix AU - Tag: #City of Fools - A direct sequel to Trickster, and while the 1st fic had already stepped out of canon compliance and into fanon territory by the end of it, this sequel is gonna dive way further into the AU-ness of it all, from the Miraculous lore to the introduction of some concept characters (at the moment, only one is for certain, but who knows). If that isn’t for you, feel free to ignore this and treat Trickster as a self-contained story (which it is! I just felt like exploring more of the AU in other fics).

“In a city governed by fools, it’s not through the conventional and orderly that you’ll come out on top.”

———

After defeating Hawkmoth and saying goodbye to her teammates for the summer break, Marinette moves with her newly divorced maman to a new place in Canal Saint-Martin. There, Sabine hopes to start anew with her daughter and the four magical beings they brought along.

Of course, things don’t stay calm for long. Especially once new and old foes start popping up.

Good thing a certain fox decides to come back to Paris prematurely.

Double Major in Psyche - Butterfly Hero AU - Tag: #Psyche-nauts - A Psychonauts-inspired AU where the Butterfly can enter people’s minds to help them with their problems (magical or otherwise). Technically a college AU as well, as both Félix and Marinette are in university. Deals with themes regarding mental health—mainly depression and trauma—but the overall tone is mostly lighthearted.

Paris has been dealing with wishes being granted and heroes sprouting left and right for a good while now. And under all this tumultuous, a small butterfly has been jumping from mind to mind, helping everyone he can with their mental demons.

Marinette was one of these people, and after her own wish manifested itself in the form of a mouse, she decided to help him in return. It might just give her the sense of purpose she’s lacking.

Félix Can’t Communicate - Komi-san AU - Tag: #Komi Felix AU - The collective brainrot first spawned by @/kronehaze resulted in the creation of this series. Mostly felinette fluff based around Komi-san eps, but I also want to try some different storylines; featuring: Human kwamis as the school’s workers.

Although he has tons of admirers in Kwomi Shouka École, due to his severe social anxiety, Félix struggles to communicate with others and form meaningful connections, so he just stopped bothering. But it seems like the new student was able to stop and listen.

Stray Cats - Runaway Brothers AU - Tag: #Stray Cats - Marinette and Félix are young adults while Adrien is Félix’s baby brother. A strangers to friends to lovers with brotherly love and found family story; it also turned out to have some superhero action with pre-3d concepts for the powers and a Butterfly Mafia from chap 4 onwards idmdkdidmd.

On a rainy night, customers ventured into Marinette’s shop and interrupt her while she was writing her essay—that she was totally going to finish if those stray cats hadn’t stormed in.

Oneshot Series:

Sal’s Felinette Oneshots - All felinette, all AU, might be connected to something or each other; ranging from fluff, to humor, to angst, to hurt/comfort, to mixes of those; from G to T; established relationship, pre-relationship, more gen than romance, etc; around 500 words drabbles to oneshots past the 1k wordcount. Take your pick!

Between Tricks and Treats - Fox!Félix AU - Where I post oneshots that takes place in the Trickster AU. They might have spoilers for Trickster (the first fic), or need context from it, so I suggest reading it before coming here.

Rewritten Stories and Rearranged Songs - Fav & Mads AU - Tag: #Faverolle & Madamouselle - A series where I organize the oneshots I wrote for @/arcadeology’s Rooster!Felix and Mouse!Marinette AU. Featuring a completely (in-universe) rewrite of the magic system, Baby Brie as Marinette’s little sister, and much, much, more you can find in her blog.

In the year 2231, 200 years after the original series, Nou Paris witnesses a resurgence of magical activity when the Bee miraculous is awoken and starts causing chaos- their beautiful, green city slowly turning into one polluted by smog and black magic, as monsters born from the pollution rampages through Nou Paris’ streets.

(Summary snippet taken from the AU’s reference doc).

Other works:

Sal’s SebSab Stuff - There’s not much in here (yet) but God knows I’ll need this series, lol.

(Not) the Same (Old) Em - A post-canon fix-it The Promised Neverland AU with a different take on Amnesiac!Emma and the human world. First two oneshots are about Em’s two years with Alex and the fic Echoes is where the “post-canon fix-it of sorts” really begins.

Goblin Cacophony - AU for Dimension 20’s A Court of Fey and Flowers where I take Brennan’s tidbit about Hob being originally three smaller goblins fused together and go through with it. Because I can and WILL make this crack-y idea work.

My original pieces collection - Though I don’t have much interest in a longer original book, I like to write some original pieces from time to time. It’s also how I most experiment with writing styles.

Dropped in Seastone - WIP/Indefinite hiatus - A felinette fic based on the Seastone AU by @/arcadeology - currently paused as I focus on other projects but I’m still hoping to come back to it.

Abandoned works:

Miraculous: Tales of Creation and Destruction - In case you’ll like to see my first attempt at a full canon rewrite. I’m still fond of it and think the writing holds up well enough; and some of the concepts I used here are things that I’d still like to implement in other fics, if given the chance.

With Great Powers: Another trunked attempt at a complete canon rewrite. It was a cool experiment, but me realize it’s just not the kinda fic I’m interested in writing. Has some cool sequences though, and I still like some of the characterization choices I made here.

Thanks for stopping by my fox den! ✨🦊

[fnf-amateur-writing]

Hey! It’s Fox again! How are you doing? I just started school back up today, so I’ve been busy Xp.

Think you would be cool with writing some Pico with an s/o who is a writer, and tends to ask him about things like “hey, how long does it take someone to bleed out” or other things like that?

I understand if you don’t feel like it, and I hope you’re having fun 😊

🦊

Hello again Fox, I'm doing quite well rn. I'm cool with your prompt, especially since I need more writing material anyways.

Took me a while, because I didn't want to do a hc, but rather come up with a oneshot with a little twist to the style. Well, hope it works well.

Good luck with school, mate!

TW: Mentions of violence, swearing, slight sexual reference, and crime.

Pico with a writer S/O who asks him strange questions

Prologue:

On a chilly autumn morning, you were sitting out on your patio with a laptop and a mug of your favourite beverage next to you. Whenever you looked up, you could see the warm coloured leaves fall as the breeze accompanied you. The whole scene was an aesthetic.

When your boyfriend, Pico, came outside to see this, he knew that the nice environment you surrounded yourself with meant one thing. "You're back in your writing space already. Heh, with that bestseller you published, I thought you were comfy taking a break." You simply smiled and said, "can't waste the inspiration rush I got right now."

Pico had a good point though, with your rising popularity as an author, you were near set to retire before turning fourty. But you wish you weren't given all of the credit, since your boyfriend's stories of his dodgy job has occasionally sparked some ideas for your stories. However the books you wrote in the past were usually meant for the young adult and had few mature themes. This time, you thought maybe it's time to garner extra inspiration from those stories.

You were met with some disappointment when you realised that your mug was empty, only a drop entering your mouth. "Here, babe, I'll ya some more," Pico said, taking your mug and walking inside. "Quick question," you stopped him. "Yeah?"

"What would be the best place for a murder cemetery?"

"... What?"

Chapter 1:

"So you're doing some story about the police hunting down a mass murderer?"

"Pretty much."

"And to think you were gonna write Pixar's next script. Aight' I respect that." Pico takes a seat next to you with a refill of your drink placed next to your favourite writing laptop. "Thanks, Pico. But yeah, I want to branch out to something edgier, and I think you can help too."

"Let me show you what I've got so far." You showed him some of your notes in a little notepad document, detailing the story thus far and your current plans for this chapter. "Oh, that's it? Just looks like boring police preparation mainly," Pico commented. "Yeah, it's not much right now. But it'll get juicy later." "And bloody?" "And bloody."

"Welp, I'm gonna head back in," Pico got up, "let me know if you need anything." He head back inside, closing the door, but then opened it almost immediately afterwards. Pico stuck his head out, "by the way, the guy should use some strong alcohol or something to throw off those sniffer dogs."

Chapter 2:

"And then, because they used a silencer, the police don't immediately notice the--"

"Nope! I'm calling bullshit (Y/N)!" Pico had suddenly interrupted your explanation of the scene you were currently working on. "Silencers can help prevent some hearing loss, sure, but they're not magic."

"Alright," you reply, "no silencer, but the killer still has to kill in a way to not get blood on them, so I thought shooting and killing them from a distance would work." "Well, they're alone. Instead, have the guy get shanked in the neck or something, and have the killer use a plastic bag as a glove. It saved my ass one time."

"Woah!" you exclaimed with a giggle, "you used a knife once? What happened to my trigger happy boyfriend, huh? That's pretty sus."

"I forgot to reload the Uzis, alright?"

"What an impostor would say."

Chapter 3:

"What would be the best way to muffle the scream of someone you kidnapped?"

You two were sitting on the couch together watching a show. You didn't have your laptop on you, so Pico didn't expect you to still be thinking about that book. "I can't say from experience, really," he said as he paused the show. "However, shove a rag in their mouth and duct tape it in, and you should be good."

"Thanks Pico, also one more thing." "Yeah?" "What if our killer also wanted to..." God, this one was gonna be awkward, but you had to say it or else no help. "You know, cut off this victim's willy. How would you do that?"

"Wai-wha-uh-ga," Pico started fumbling his words like never before. He stopped, then took a deep breath. "YO, WHAT THE FUCK?!" "It'll make sense in the story later, I promise!" You watch Pico begin to lose it, breaking into laughter. "Ladies, gentlemen, and others," Pico dramatically stood up, pulling a little Showcaster impression and directing his arms towards you, "my famous 'young' adult novelist partner!"

Chapter 4:

It was in the dead of night, but you awoke to Pico on his phone. His vpn was on and Tor was up. As per usual, he was checking up on his little hitman service, where others could request for a certain someone's guts to fly if they paid him a hefty sum first. Though tired, you ound this to be the best time to ask him some more questions.

"Pico, how do those sites work?"

"Oh, you're awake," Pico blankly stated, sleepy too. But he still answered you. "Basically, some anonymous rich guys in the area give me money and a target, then I just do the thing and send a mission accomplished email." "Do they pay you in person?" "Nah, we use always use Bitcoin. It's a lot harder to trace than real money."

"Thanks Pico. Goodnight," you wish him, yawning and going back to sleep. "You too... So this guy is a hit man too?" "Hush. Tomorrow." "Okay." Pico puts his phone away, leaving it on a nightstand. You then spoon the night away, peacefully thinking of murder as you drifted off.

Chapter 5:

On a morning similar to before, you two sat on the patio with your drinks and laptop at the ready. Pico watched rather awkwardly as you typed away, wondering why you haven't entertained him with another question yet.

"You gonna ask anything else?" "What? Oh, nah," you plainly state. Inevitable, sure, but he was kind of saddened. He liked being able to share his messed up wisdom. "So, you're done?" "Almost." You turn to look at him, "want the spoilers?" Pico smiled, "sure thing."

In the novella you and Pico crafted together, the main character is a cop who hunts down a killer. They eventually notice that there would be two murders at a time for unknown reasons. Well, it was unknown until one victim had left up a dark web hit man for hire site. They that the hit man not only kills the target, but the client as a hidden price for the service.

And any request will be fulfilled, according to the hit man's site.

"Do they catch 'em?" Pico asked. "Well, ANY request is granted. So, if our hero were to... hire him to kill himself..."

"No way!"

"He did. They find both of their bodies in his bedroom."

Pico was a bit impressed with the ending you came up with, but then he remembered something. "Why did that guy get his thing cut off?" "Lol, I forgot," you giggled. "He sent a message to the hit man, saying he wishes the target would choke on his dick."

"That's my favourite part."

Epilogue:

After everything was finished up, you sent the book off to your editor. After the initial joy of knowing how the story ended, you saw that Pico was still in thought. "What's up with you?" "Oh nothing, well it's just... I'm probably just biased, being that I'm a bit of a hitman myself, but it's kind of sad to see the guy go."

"Then I should spoil the epilogue I came up with." Rather than being excited, Pico nervously asked, "what's an epilogue?" He didn't get an answer, only you staring at him. "Sorry, school held too many bad memories for me to pay attention."

"Anyways," you continue, "the rest of the police gang did some background checks, and find that our killer was a normal guy with no criminal history."

"Penilian?"

"No. But I did decide to take a more supernatural approach here. Somewhere across the country, another string of double homicides occur and that site is active once more. And the story kind of repeats itself."

"Penilian."

"You joker," you give him a playful little kiss on the cheek, one that definitely caught him off guard. "So is it canon?" Pico smirked. "Nah, just thanking you for being my cute little co-author." "Oh," Pico started, "so we're flirtin' now, huh. Come here babe!" He tackled you onto the ground, giving you several kisses in exchange.

"Actually, I think we call that 'making out'," you chuckle out, flustered. "But that doesn't mean I said stop'!" You pull him in for more, accidentally bonking your heads together rather painfully. "Nice double kill there, (Y/N)."

[protectchara201x]

(ignoring all the other juicy Deltarune 2 stuff to shove Chara Talks into it lololol)

I haven’t been super active on this blog because frankly I have like, three? looong analysis/theorycrafting posts I’ve been putting off working on and it fills me with shame to log in and see them waiting in my drafts.

But.

With the release of Deltarune Chapter 2, I wanted to talk kinda in general about how I thought it could impact the fandom’s perception of Everybody’s Favorite Demon Baby, and also point out something in specific about the Weird Route that might connect back to Undertale.

Putting it under the cut to avoid spoilers and long-winded ramblings for the unwilling. Includes spoilers for the Weird Route.

(NOTE: may update later if I notice more things for to put in section II. I’d like to make a full list of parallels if I can tidy them up.)

I. Pre- vs Post-Release Thoughts (you can skip down to II if you don’t care, it is genuinely Long and Pointless)

Okay, so first off. I got SO worried like, the day before the new chapter dropped? It hit me that whatever new stuff we got out of this, people would connect back to Undertale, and. Honestly, I really do hate connecting everything back to Chara, because I do think of Kris as their own character and I really like them and don’t want to ignore everything they got going on. But, I am first and foremost a shameless Chara stan and they’re very important to me, so I kinda... did spend a few minutes reeling from all the new DR stuff as its own stuff, and then immediately started thinking about how this would reflect back on Chara in Undertale lol.

But that’s ok for me to do here because this is my All Chara, Only Chara, All The Time blog, so I am gonna only really talk about Deltarune here to talk about them lol.

So yeah, I started getting anxious beforehand worrying about how everyone would take any and all implications and apply it to mean “aha, Chara IS evil!” The fakeout with the pie reveal in the anniversary stream was a big relief, but I still got worried leading up to the release about what could be in it.

Because part of why I’ve always thought that “Chara was genuinely evil from the start” and even “ok maybe not TOTALLY evil, but Chara was still a kinda bad person” were unlikely was, even if you throw out all the other popular Chara-sympathetic theories. To me, both these takes just seemed too below TF’s talent and the way he wrote all his other characters with depth and love; a Chara like the one these theories propose just doesn’t belong in a world created by TF, and the way the Dreemurrs talk about them overall, the way TF made a point of having Chara say they were guided and repeatedly, correctly blame you the player for the destruction in Kill-All, I was sure that he never intended them to ever be as bad as the fandom sometimes tried to make them out to be.

... Like, mostly sure. Like, 80% sure? Because he never ever talks about them, so it’s impossible say for sure, and it is still theoretically possible that “Chara was and is bad” was the cold-ass take he’d intended all along. So yeah, leading up to the release, I started getting antsy that whatever new lore came out of it, either he’d directly confirm “Chara was a villain?” “*cocks gun* Always has been” or there’d be something that’d at least heavily implicate them, or could be twisted to implicate them, as a negative force. More ammo to be used against them in the Chara Debate Circles would be a drag, and outright confirmation of them as a villain would honestly break my heart and I’d be forced to disown Toby Fox, My Beloved Cool Dad.

And, right now? Tell the truth, I’m SO relieved and I am SO happy. And not just because of how much depth and characterization it seems Kris is getting! (imo, because rn I just headcanon them as an unhappy teen desperately trying to keep their new friends going on adventures with them and trying to fight back against the player’s control)

I love how this chapter seems to be TF doing course-correcting based on fandom interpretations. Because Kris just isn’t evil, even if they are a knife teen, even if they are the Knight, they’re just NOT evil and that’s canon, baybeeee; it’s made clear in this chapter and the previous one that they love their family even outside of the player’s control, they care about their new friends even outside of the player’s control, they’re established as a weird creepy kid but no one sees them as scary or evil, they’re just Kris, and even in the Weird Route, TF made a point of hammering in the differences between Kris and the player in the Weird Route: Susie and Ralsei notice how distressed Kris seemed after you have Noelle ice Berdly, Noelle heard a voice that she said wasn’t Kris telling her to kill, and the FUCKING Spamton fight: “Kris called for help... but nobody came” again and again, and then “You whispered Noelle’s name”... you, not Kris.

I know TF has never commented much on fans’ perceptions of Frisk and Chara, or who exactly is pulling strings in different routes. But after all this, and especially after seeing all the little winks and nods to fandom jokes in this chapter (what comes to mind: pulling everyone’s leg by seeming to have Kris attack Toriel with a knife only to reveal that pie theory was right, Susie not liking Ralsei’s real face as much as his shadowed one, Ralsei with a gun getting referenced with the ad, Kris getting a joke fixation with knives after the fans made Chara and Kris have knife obsessions as a joke), and seeing what looks like him try to correct some things (what stuck out to me was doubling down on showing that Kris is loved and valued in their family: lots of fans came away from Chapter 1 thinking that Kris was not valued as much as Asriel, but here we see that Toriel is supportive of Kris’ friendship with Susie, and it’s stated that Asriel is the one who used the crappy controller, not Kris) -

I think while he hasn’t commented directly, while he admitted to being overwhelmed by Undertale’s success, while he tends to be pretty tight-lipped about the lore (whether that’s because it’ll be addressed by future chapters or because he prefers to let fans sleuth it out), this chapter convinced me that Toby does keep tabs on fan reactions in Deltarune, so he probably does with Undertale too and would know about all The Discourse surrounding Little Mx Pink Cheeks (and in turn, popular theories like Narrator Chara... Toby if you integrate Narrator Chara into Deltarune being a borderline creepypasta and have the narrator start talking directly to the characters or to the player or the characters start talking to the narrator I will lose my damn B E A N S).

(Kris and Chara not being demonized and the narrator interacting directly with the characters were the only two things on my wishlist going in, I was fine with literally anything else happening lmao)

I even kinda think he’s going out of his way to separate Kris and the player because we didn’t get it before with Undertale, we still insisted that Frisk or Chara was the one doing it, and he’s even using Kris to show that even if this kid can be scary, maybe even mean, and maybe they’re even the Knight (with their reasons unknown), they’re still not a bad kid, they’re still funny and likable, and they still genuinely love their family and friends - which falls in line with Undertale’s cast of complex but likable people who can be antagonists and make mistakes but still aren’t truly bad people, and imo is a direct response to some people fixating on the idea that Chara was always evil because they seem scary/complicated.

... Which is a long way to say that I came out of Deltarune with my confidence fully restored about TF’s intentions with Chara and Kris. Even if he never comments on Chara directly, now I really don’t think TF thinks they’re evil or ever intended for them to be. Deltarune convinced me more than ever that Chara is meant to be complex, yes, and able to be influenced to do horrible things, but they were never intended to be as malicious or shallow as some fans insist.

TLDR:

Toby Fox read your mean fanfiction where Chara is a bad abusive serial killer no one likes, and he made Deltarune in revenge.

... Hm? Ah, you’d like me to get to the point! Right this way!

II. Undertale, Deltarune, and The Point

While no doubt some will still take the voice Noelle hears to be Chara influencing her to turn her into a murderer (I haven’t gone looking for it yet, but I’m sure it’s already a thing because I know this fandom), since it’s made too clear by the game that they can’t blame Kris for this one, I think at this point that’s just being too stubborn to consider other ideas.

If you believe in the totally made up idea used in so many fanfics that Chara is an evil spirit trying to whisper in Frisk’s ear to kill everyone, literally (for some reason) the embodiment of raising stats, and gets more control over people who have increased LV to take over their body... sure. Could be them, they did talk about moving on to the next world and all. I mean, that wouldn’t really make sense because it’s literally never implied in the actual game that Chara encourages you to kill outside of the Kill-All Run or even wants you to, certainly not as the narrator and we get no hint of them doing this as an unseen, unheard third-party either.

Not to mention they’re NOT literally possessing you because of increased LV; they don’t control you even with high LV in any Undertale route other than arguably the Kill-All, and if you fail the Kill-All and it turns into a high-body count Neutral, Chara suddenly stops using first-person narration and showing up in mirrors entirely even though they were showing themself before, the LV remains the same or even can get raised as high as LV 19, nor do they suddenly take over in any other Neutral runs. We can speculate on why (personally, I’d place this either on Chara’s mindset, such as them sinking into shock from the trauma or becoming more assertive as the player feeds their megalomania, or as a sign of Frisk’s withdrawal, leaving Chara alone in the body to take the reins and act out the player’s orders), but canonically, no, Chara does not take over due to high stats.

In fact, there’s even more evidence against this. First-person narration also exists for fleeing your battles in Undertale, even on Pacifist runs with base stats, 0 EXP, and an LV of 1. Since Chara is established to use first-person narration to refer to themself, is the only one who canonically does so, and is confirmed to be present even in all runs through their name and memories always showing up, it seems pretty likely that Chara can take control to flee battle. That means an increase in stats is not a sign of their presence or control, in Undertale or Deltarune.

The most damning blow to the idea that Chara is the voice corrupting Noelle are the lines in the fight with Spamton I mentioned. Kris called for help, but nobody came. You whispered Noelle’s name. Well hold on. If that’s Chara, shouldn’t it be “I whispered Noelle’s name”? As soon as you’ve officially started the Kill-All in Undertale, Chara starts up their “It’s me, Chara” schtick right away, right there in Toriel’s home in the first area, and if they weren’t the narrator before, they’re beginning to speak through the narration now. If the voice was Chara, surely Toby Fox knows it’d be a way bigger “oh shit” moment if the creepy scary hidden route once again switched into first-person, scaring us the same way he did before when we first saw “It’s me, Chara” and knew something was wrong; unfairly or not, their reputation as a villain is still well established and hinting to Chara’s presence with a simple “I” would drive the menace even further, if he intended for them to simply be a demon that possesses player characters when you grind enough. But it’s still just you. The player.

The Weird Route does even more to help Chara’s case than that. Not only is it made pretty clear that Kris and the player are separate, and the player is the one responsible for corrupting Noelle and making her kill... consider how similar Noelle and Chara are, in the Weird Route and the Kill-All Route.

This “voice” that “guides” them in growing strong, compelling them to kill everyone in order to fight for them, eventually driving them to murder people they know. Chara calls themself “the demon that comes when people call its name”, and you whisper Noelle’s name to have her appear to kill Spamton. Noelle’s conflicting emotions towards Kris and the voice as she is manipulated, as she becomes more violent and sadistic, as she goes into shock; does that not sound like Chara, who flipflops between holding you dear as their partner and wanting to move on to the next world together, to be together forever, and them being disgusted by your refusal to accept consequences and the perverse enjoyment you get in killing everyone again and again? Chara, who clings to their quirky narration for much of the Kill-All, but keeps slipping up, who becomes terrifyingly cold, aggressive, power-hungry, and even sadistic, yet still calls Undyne “the heroine”, still seems to still care about their locket, still has moments where they seem to falter?

Noelle does put up significantly more resistance to the voice’s commands than Chara does, and at least much more visibly shows distress and trauma. I don’t think this is a black mark on Chara’s chara-cter either, or an indication of them being more violent or cruel.

For one, while Noelle is still herself with her own soul, it is heavily implied by Chara, Flowey, and Undertale’s lore that Chara was reincarnated without their own soul, at best perhaps attached to Frisk’s (or yours): as I speculate in one of my currently unfinished theories, while monster souls are made up of love, compassion, and hope and thus Asriel was reincarnated without these qualities, it could well be that human souls are correspondingly made up of their own multiple traits, namely determination, patience, bravery, integrity, perseverance, kindness, and justice; if true, a soulless Chara would be lacking these qualities, which would make them less equipped to resist the player’s commands or to feel as torn up about it.

Also, the player has a hold on them both as “party members” to the player’s vessels, but it is also possible that the player naming Chara and having them directly attached to Frisk also gives them a stronger connection to Chara they can abuse, similar to how Kris and Frisk (as the player’s direct vessels) have much less autonomy than Kris’ party members.

(Fun observation: We know that when the thing controlling Kris forced Noelle into becoming a killer and using her to kill Berdly, Kris was horrified and shaken-up according to Susie and Ralsei. How do you think Frisk felt watching Chara be used to slaughter the Underground and then erasing the world when they’re totally corrupted?)

And lastly... look, Noelle and Chara are both minors, but Chara is significantly younger - a small child compared to Noelle’s teen. I know it’s fiction and strong wills and determination and anime is real and all, but a traumatized young child who died two violent and awful deaths back-to-back, may have literally experienced being a corpse in their own coffin/grave for who knows how long, and then came back ”confused” only to immediately start hearing a voice relentlessly commanding them to kill everyone?? I can absolutely see a traumatized kid shutting down and just going with it out of fear at first, before the LV sets in.

TLDR:

What you do to Noelle in the Weird Route is the same fucking thing you do to Chara in the Kill-All Route.

[yandere-sins]

Be safe (Atsumu)

Summary: You are to marry the fox spirit Kita Shinsuke after you accidentally agreed to become his wife by signing the deed to your new home. A contract is a contract, he says, but is there more to this marriage than you know? Will you be whisked away by one of the foxy twins instead, or have to marry Kita after all? Can you be with a creature that only seems tender on the surface, or will you try to run even if it might cost you your life? Choose your route carefully, you never know what these foxes are up to!

Characters: Kitsune!Miya Atsumu x afab!Reader

Rating: Explicit    

Warnings for this chapter: Yandere, Forced/Unhealthy Relationship, Manipulation, Mention of blood

“But if you leave, they’ll find you.”

Again, you couldn’t argue with that. You couldn’t argue with anything he said; not, when he was so right about it.

It had been days now, perhaps a week since you two left the village. Time passed quicker when you were hunted and always had someone on your heels, so you lost track of it. It moved especially fast if these someones had long jaws and big teeth, trying to maul you no matter if you were awake or asleep. If you didn’t see them while you wandered the forests by Atsumu’s side - stumbling and failing to keep up with him no matter how hard you tried - then they’d come to you in your nightmare-filled hours of sleep. You weren’t sure if you were cursed or ridden with remorse, but you had never been so constantly exhausted in your whole life before.

No matter how safe your current location was, you caught yourself looking over your shoulder all the time, double-checking your surroundings. Sometimes, subconsciously, you held yourself back from touching trees or kicked away your footsteps when there was time for it. Paranoia was a constant companion, and it wasn’t any better than the person you actually were traveling with.

There was no hiding it how bad of a travel companion Atsumu was. His constant picking on your abilities, the insults, and trashing wasn’t only going on your nerves but even deeper, down to your confidence and strength. When you two were talking, it was mostly arguing with each other or you telling him you couldn’t take another step without collapsing. The few times that you stood up for yourself, Atsumu made it crystal clear there was nowhere to go. 

“But if you leave, they’ll find you,” was his new go-to sentence whenever you dared to defy him. As if he liked to remind you that the choice between pest and cholera you made wasn’t going to guarantee you freedom from the other. Atsumu might be the pest in your life at the moment, but there was something just as or even worse ever-present, ready to lash at you the moment you distanced yourself from the fox spirit.

Perhaps Atsumu wasn’t the prince you wanted, but you came to realize he was the fox you needed.

You couldn’t keep count of the times you two had been attacked on your journey, not specifically by other foxes, but there had been many other creatures that seemed to want to pick a bone with your protector. Whether it had been because of you or simply because they seemed to have a specific interest in Atsumu, these fights always were more gruesome than your innocent, human heart wanted to see. One or two times, there had been a critical amount of blood lost after a fight, but so far, you two had managed to get out of it every time. Those were nerve-wracking times, and you had thought about simply leaving Atsumu where he hid himself to recover, so you could run away. Perhaps it would have saved both of you some trouble if you separated, and maybe you would have been safer on your own, hiding and dodging the things that came after you. 

But were you really? Thoughts flooded your mind almost instantly about the things that could happen when you were on your own. Most of the time, you didn’t even know where you were, stranded in the middle of the forest, and even if you knew, where would you go? You couldn’t go back to your’ home’ as it wasn’t a safe place for you anymore. And if you asked for help, the best anyone could do was bring you back there, where ultimately, you’d be found. You didn’t want to think about what would happen if another person tried to interfere with this particular situation you were in. What would happen to them.

Somehow, seeing him wounded and whiny, you couldn’t bring it over you to abandon him like that. Of course, there were more factors playing into why you’d stay by his side instead of leave, but you were still struggling with accepting them all. Even if he probably would have survived without you, you made yourself believe you felt indebted to at least try to help him, perhaps tend to his wounds amateurishly. In the end, you rather endure his grumbles and moans than to really leave him, and that should have told you everything right back then. 

It should have told you what kind of coward you were.

You were scared of the marriage, having wanted nothing more than run away. But now you were scared of the consequences - your life, even. To some degree, Atsumu was scary too. You saw him - his real from - and you watched him fight. If he wanted, he could kill you in one bite with his giant maw, and so, staying with him was scary. But he didn’t. Quite on the contrary, and even more so, against his harsh words, he still held your hand gently, warmed you at night by laying down next to you so you wouldn’t get cold, and brought you food. You stopped asking where he got it, checking the freshness date on the packages only to find them being practically new. Yes, you were curious, but he had his ways, and he never got you the same thing twice, and especially not if you seemed to have disliked it. 

This journey wasn’t quite what you expected your life to be, but every day, it was taking new paths and let you experience more things. Even if civilization was close, you began to forget and yearn less for it, the longer you spent time with Atsumu outdoors. Of course, there were things you absolutely missed, like normal baths and, well, fridges to open even if you aren’t hungry, but Atsumu’s drive to move forward was stronger than your desire to go back to normality again. And really, there was less and less to complain about because if you did, he’d take care of it. He’d run and fetch you new clothes or yarn to fix small holes in yours. If you were cold, he found you fur to wear, and if you two crossed paths with a river, he let you wash up even without looking - you hoped.

Over time, he was less and less an annoyance as he was a caretaker. Though his walking pace never slowed to something you could match, he still stopped ever so often to wait for you or even offered to carry you on your worst days. Riding a gigantic fox wasn’t comfortable, but efficient, and holding on to him tightly, the wind never won over the warmth coming from him. 

Still, and you assumed Atsumu knew this as much as you did, this arrangement you two had wasn’t something meant to last.

“I know they’ll find me,” you whispered, thoughtfully dragging your hand over the arm he laid around you, spooning you from behind so you wouldn’t be cold. The makeshift dip in the ground you two used as a bit of a cover for the night was anything but comfortable, but having something breathing and warm lay beside you and hold you did a lot for you. “But… this life… I can’t live it either.”

He grumbled something into the back of your head, his voice lost inside your hair. Surely, it was just another complaint, but you understood what he wanted to say. To him, you going back and living a relatively everyday, human life was out of question, Atsumu always insisting that you’d be found and killed if you left his side. You offered for him to come with you, to live a ‘normal’ life with you despite your gut telling you he would be the largest annoyance you ever encountered. Still, he shied away from it. 

From what you had found out, he and his brother - Osamu - only recently joined the other foxes who, against what the two were, lived relatively civilized even though they kept themselves hidden from the public still. Meaning, the brothers were actually fox spirits much more feral than the others and not used to humans or how they behaved. Atsumu explained that with a stern expression, unlike his usual chipper one. Personally, he’d rather describe himself as ‘fun’, but apparently, even he knew the differences that separated the two from the clan. 

Living like humans didn’t seem like an option for him after centuries of being wild. But to expect the same amount of enthusiasm he had for nature, slowly but surely, seemed to also dawn on him as impossible. It became evidently clear that it wasn’t just your state of being that collided with each other, but generally two wholly different worlds that just didn’t fit. If you liked the day, he liked the night. You preferred warm water, and he cold - he the mountains, rather than the beach and warm sea. 

It seemed impossible that you two would ever get on the same level of understanding, and you were painfully aware that one of you would have to cave in if you two decided to stick together for a better chance of survival. Your mind began to buzz as you thought over all the possibilities, making you fear that there was another night of restless dozing incoming. 

“So you want to leave me… too.”

His whispers barely reached you while your head was focused entirely on different things, but his voice made you listen up. “What did you say?” you mumbled, slurring your words as you felt the heaviness of the drowsy half-sleep that you had already been under. Atsumu’s hold around you became tighter, and he pressed himself right up to you, almost as if he was trying to melt into you and hide, but your stirred, feeling alerted by the change of moods, making it impossible for him.

“If you go, I’ll be all alone…” he mumbled softly. Meeting his gaze head-on turned out to be an unfortunate action, your heart feeling a throbbing pain. For the better portion of the time spent with him, you had cursed Atsumu under your breath, wished for him to leave, and especially keep his potty mouth shut. But right now, he looked like a baby animal, with wide eyes and puppy gaze. A being you’d rather protect and coddle instead of the monstrosity he actually was. 

Perhaps he was uncomfortable, realizing you could see his feelings, so he quickly hid his expression in your shoulder, putting on a fake laugh as he spoke. “I can’t go back either, and my brother didn’t want to come. So if you go… I’ll be truly alone.”

Biting your lip, you felt an incoming headache press on your brain. The sudden change of feelings inside you was raging war against the ideas of the future you had been building in your mind and thought over. It was true, so much you knew, Atsumu left a lot to break you out and run away, no matter how much he seemed to think humans were worthless beings. Maybe that was the reason that he kept insisting on sticking around with you and tried to keep you satisfied even if his words were as harsh as bites. 

In some ways, that made him the same as you. Both of you only had the other one left and nothing else.

Even before realizing this, you had noticed how Atsumu was treated by other creatures. If he wasn’t fighting someone, even spiritual beings seemed to want little to do with him, huffing and leaving with a scowl. You couldn’t know if there wasn’t at least one other friend he had, but currently, it didn’t seem like he was very much liked by others besides his brother, who he spoke fondly off most of the time. Though you wondered why, you didn’t voice these questions, instead trying to think of what to do.

Happiness clearly looked different to you, but Atsumu’s taunts aside, he wasn’t as bad as that he’d deserve being robbed of it too. Even if separating seemed like the best way in the long run, it broke your heart knowing he’d be in this predicament just because of you and because you made the more selfish decision. Perhaps if you two knew each other longer, he would become gentler in his choice of words? Maybe he’d be more considerate and kind once he got to know you as not just the ‘human’ but actually as an individual? There was still the possibility he’d change, right?

“I’m…” you spoke up, not having thought about it twice. “I’m not leaving.”

“You’re not?” he immediately chimed up, pushing himself up and peering over your shoulder. “You’re going to stay with me?”

“Y-Yeah…” you stuttered, deciding to keep the idea of leaving at a later point in time to yourself. “I’m staying.”

His face suddenly was too close again, warm breath caressing your skin and messing with your head. Your heart picked up the pace as you didn’t know how to respond to the broad smile and delight in his shining eyes. If you turned your head a tiny bit more to the right, you could have kissed him without any more effort. There was something nudging you in your head to do it, but curse your reasonability - or bless it - that you figured that would set more things off than you could handle. 

“Forever?” he asked as innocent as a child, and you gulped, immediately feeling like you were caught in a lie. There was no plan of sticking with him longer than necessary, and ‘forever’ seemed awfully long for some time. Atsumu waited for a reply almost angelically patient. Instead, you felt his face nuzzling against yours, like an affectionate pet would. He genuinely seemed to be happily anticipating your response, and you wondered if it meant so much to him to not be alone anymore. There must have been more loss than you could imagine in his life that he’d be satisfied to be by your side despite him always making it seem like you weren’t up to his standards. 

“Forever is awfully long,” you eventually contemplated out loud, and though you couldn’t see it, you heard the disappointment and frustration in his voice as he spoke up again. 

“And I am supposed to endure it all alone?” 

Of course, it wasn’t fair, you understood it too. You knew he lost a lot too by helping you, and if this was his only requirement, maybe you could fulfill it. It wasn’t like he asked you to serve yourself on a silver plate, and no, he did not need to remind you what the pros and cons were of staying with him. 

With him, at least, you’d be safe from whatever was coming your way. 

He had proven himself more than once to you.

Slowly, you sat up, even though Atsumu’s body followed as if he was an extra limb on you. His touches and closeness never ceased, and you didn’t have the strength or even will to fight it. “I can’t promise forever,” you stated firmly, deciding to put a foot down in this conversation, even though you knew it was time one of you caved in to the other. And it seemed it would be you.

“But for now, I will stay. You’re not alone if I’m around, right?”

For a solid minute, and with the time stretching out the longer it was quiet, you two merely stared at each other, neither of you budging to the other’s stare down. If everything in this world was scary, it might be true that you underestimated Atsumu, but he was the least of your concerns now. He’d yap and snap, but you found some trust in yourself that he wasn’t going to bite you. 

“Pinky swear?” he required softly, being calm once more. With how close he was, only a whisper was appropriated to not burst anyone’s eardrums, and from the corner of your eyes, you saw his hand lift to the height of your head, pinky stretched out in anticipation.

You thought for a second. There was a nudge in the back of your head about supernatural beings and promises, but it was late, and you were tired and your memories fuzzy. Something in you didn’t want to promise it; after all, who could know how long this promise was going to last, and you didn’t want to think of the consequences when breaking it. But if it would end the conversation, and positively too, then who were you to deny him? 

Linking your pinky with his, you felt the fingers curl around each other tightly as if it strengthened the bond you just made. Once he released you again, you sunk down, back into his arms, wondering if you had made a mistake just now. But when you laid your head against his chest, you heard an enthusiastic rhythm coming from it, and it made you almost believe that it was the right choice. 

“Tomorrow, let’s search for a home,” he mumbled. These were words meant for you, but they sounded incomplete as if there was a hint you missed in them. Your eyelids became heavier as you listened to Atsumu’s heartbeat, his warmth lulling you into sleep, and you heaved another deep sigh as you wondered if the feeling of being safe in his arms was justified or just another illusion in your exhaustion. The last thought that crossed you before falling asleep was if this was any different as staying with the clan you tried so hard to escape from. But your mind gave out before you could think about it any more thoroughly.

Little did you know that Atsumu would never ever let you go again. Even if you had told him ‘no’, it wasn’t like it was actually your decision, and with a wagging tail, he looked forward to the new future with you he’d build. One that you couldn’t run from, unlike what awaited you in the past. 

After all, Atsumu was the only one that could keep you safe, and he’d make sure you’d never forget it.

a/n: I can't lie, this chapter was a bit of a struggle for me as I was lacking a clear direction for it, but I hope I was able to make Atsumu's yandere personality in connection with his more real struggles that I think he'd experience, shine through! Do let me know what you thought in the comments or asks and thanks for reading ♥ Next up is Osamu!

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[masqueradeball]

How about number 3? Like, tell us all about it if you want :)

Oh my gosh 🥺 thank you so much for giving me my first ask! 💖 I'm eternally grateful I get to spill all my pheels out.

3. What is my favorite Phantom tv/film adaptation?

My absolute favorite Phantom is the 1925 Lon Chaney silent film. He just embodies everything that I like about Gaston Leroux's Erik for me and he is both horrifying and pitiable. I dislike the ending but I can live with it given it's what test audiences wanted at the time. I truly love his Red Death costume. You can find it on Youtube and the Tubi app for free.

My first runner up would be Claude Raines in the 1943 because his Erique so soft and tragic in that film I cannot help but love him. This was one was my grandma's favorite 'classic monster' movies that she loved, so I have a special place in my heart for this one. I love his hair and appreciate that he was one fine silver fox before the revenge and jealousy issues set in. The opera parts are a little boring, but the costumes and the sassy diva rival to Christine are worth the watch. We get 2 handsome Raouls who end up going to dinner together at the end of the movie and a Christine who gets to bask in the limelight of her career while not choosing any suitor, which is the best possible outcome for her. Double play for the win in my book! You can watch it for free on the Peacock app.

My next runner up is a 3 way tie between Robert Englund, Gerard Butler, and Charles Dance.

I honestly enjoy all their performances because they each bring something unique to the role.

I cannot stress enough how violent the Robert Englund version is if you want to give it a go, but Erik Destler is insane, twisted, and fabulously murdertastic in this. I love the creepy, evil vibes the man gives off. Think of this film as a time travel AU of the original novel. I feel like he nailed Leroux Erik's darker, snarky personality that some people tend to forget he had and the gothic horror parts of the original novel are there. Bonus: they keep the Faust parallels like in the novel!

I'm gonna say it: I love the Charles Dance miniseries. I know it's not the best, but damn, he is so dry and sarcastic I cannot help but enjoy his performance. I want to pinch his cheeks and smother Cherik with the love his father never gave him everytime I see him. Again, this one focuses on the operas a lot, and for me it's a bit boring. But the backgrounds, settings, and props in this thing are fantastic and the costumes are wonderful too.

That leaves Gerard Butler in the 2004 movie. No he is not the world's greatest singing Phantom, but I don't care. I absolutely love his facial expressions and body language. The Phantom is an emotional, expressive dude and the Red Death costume scene is pretty good. I love how kind and sincere Emmy feels in this film and I appreciate she's not overracting and doesn't feel fake compared to some other Christines *coughSierracough* Being the film version of the ALW musical, this Phantom story focuses on the romance and Gerard excels at that. When he and Christine are singing Past the Point of no Return, I FEEL THEIR PASSION! And that's what counts more so than hitting the same notes we've all heard a million times before.

Now for the versions in the 'I will eternally like this' category 😊 :

The Phantom of the Paradise from 1974. This is also a very violent and dark film so fair warning if you haven't seen it. It's a bizarre rock musical, but if you're weird like me and enjoy Rock & Rule or the Rocky Horror Picture Show, this might be a film you'd like too. I don't want to spoil it too much but the Faust/devil parallels are here too, as is various pop culture references. His teeth and mask are terrifyingly cool, and so is the electronic voice box he uses. It makes sense Daft Punk was inspired by this film. Maybe G1 Soundwave was inspired by this film too, but that's a debate for another day 😉

Next is the animated 1988 film. This one features animation on par with other 80s tv cartoons of the time. I love that they kept the Persian and the torture chamber from the novel. The Phantom's death scene is pretty damn epic. Christine is kind of a flake, but animated Leroux Erik is hilariously insane and terribly charming, especially when he calls himself a Don Juan. It's worth watching just for his antics and his dialouge.

You might not expect a Goosebumps episode to do a Phantom story any justice, but here we are: 1995, The Phantom of the Auditorium is a spooky fun take on the story and honestly, I'd like to see the full play the kids at that school are putting on cause it looks better than some of the live Phantom stage scenes I've seen. Both young boys playing the Phantom are fantastic actors and the plot twist at the end is great.

I absolutely have to give a shout out to Wishbone's Pantin at the Opera. He is the best, cutest, most adorable Raoul de Chagney ever and I will fight you if you dare talk smack about this version. I'm not even a Raoul stan by any means but like, this dog is precious and I enjoy this episode so much.

Also in the animated category and cute dog category is Scooby Doo Stage Fright made back in 2013. This movie is one of my fave Scooby Doo films (yes I own almost all of them on dvd) and there are multiple Phantoms, a reality tv show contest, and Fred and Daphne finally kiss each other! Lots and lots of hidden Phantom references in the background and lots of voice acting talent for those of us who appreciate that.

Now for the versions I intensely dislike 😏

The 1962 Herbert Lom version. UGH where to start. The sets are so small and everything looks dirty and of the wrong time period. The color in the film looks washed out. The clothes look too modern somehow (maybe it's their hairstyles?) and it bothers me. It feels low budget in a bad way and it shows. This phantom is not likeable or pitiable even though his backstory is similar to the Claude Raines version. He has no romantic interest in Christine, so it feels off. This guy is such an old a$$ piece of sh*t, he literally slaps Christine as she's singing for him for no damn reason. His paper mache mask looks like a Kindergartener's botched art class project. His personality is like somebody locked up cranky grandpa in the basement and he's PMS-ing because y'all forgot to give him his daily prune juice. This squatter's lair lacks creepiness, and his bizarre sidekick is annoying and yet somehow more interesting than the Phantom. The pervert manager trying to bang Christine aggravated me and simultaneously made me want to vomit. Raoul is the only likeable character in the whole damn movie. The Joan of Arc opera scene makes up for some of the film, but it's still terrible.

Next on my meh list is the 1983 made for tv movie starring Micheal York and Jane Seymour. Now, this one has some likeable and applaudable scenes: the various murders and general creepiness of the Phantom, and the lair scene when she wakes up in his bed and the Phantom gets all up in her face is so intense and so Leroux I absolutely love it. The rest of the film is a jumbled hot mess at best, but Jane Seymour is 🔥 and she gets some damn good sex, so hell yeah to that!

And lastly, I do not like the Royal Albert Hall 25th anniversary recording. I should preface this by saying it is Sierra I don't like. I like Ramin, I love Hadley, everyone else is wonderful but I cannot stand Sierra. She tries too hard to make Christine a Disney Princess- and that doesn't fly with me. It comes off as insincere or mocking the source material at best, and at worst it makes Christine look like an airheaded ditz. Apparently Sierra played Ariel at one point which is hilarious because of all the Disney princesses, I dislike her the most. But that's a different rant for another day.

And finally, the one I hate most of all:

The 1998 Argento film. This is the worst Phantom adaptation I've ever seen. It is a whole lotta nope for me. Between the rats, the unecessary and pointless telepathy, the r*pe scene, and the unfunny weird vibe from the murder going on in this film it's a disaster from start to finish. Honestly, it's the rats and his hair that bother me from a visual standpoint alone and it's beyond disgusting the way this a$$🤡 treats Christine. I don't like any of the characters in here and for good reason. It's not worth watching and if you do, be ready to bleach your brain afterwards.

💖 Sorry if this was a long read! Thanks again for giving me an ask and I will cherish it forver!!!! 💖

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #165

Today on Fate and Phantasms we’re taking a break from the Sakurafaces to build Suzuka Gozen, funloving JK gal and world-renowned Tamamo provoker. Suzie G is a Kensei Monk for some ungodly sword skills as well as a Fey Wanderer Ranger for her beguiling ways and eventually, her noble phantasm. Check out her build breakdown below the cut, or her character sheet over here!

Next up: Hey senpai~!

Race and Background

Suzie is a fox right now, but she isn’t one naturally; she just couldn’t resist the urge to ruin Casko’s day. That’ll make her a Swiftstride Shifter, giving her +2 Dexterity and +1 Charisma. She also has Darkvision to dunk on normal humans, Keen Senses to bump up her perception, Graceful to boost her Acrobatics, and a Swift Stride for an extra 5 feet of movement. She can also Shift as a bonus action to become a bit foxier, giving her temporary hp, even more walking speed, and the ability to move away from enemies as a reaction if they end their turn near you without provoking attacks.

As a humble shrine maiden, Suzie’s an Acolyte, giving her proficiency with Insight and Performance (or deception, whichever one you think the JK girl act should be under). We’ll be getting religion later, but you can’t get either of the latter two from monk levels, so we’re starting with them here.

Ability Scores

First up, make Suzie’s Wisdom as high as possible. Divine servants tend to have solid saves, and you have to read people to fool them with that gimmick. Second is Dexterity, because you’re a saber, you’ve gotta be good with a sword. Your Charisma is also pretty solid, because you can’t fool people without, y’know, fooling them. Your Constitution isn’t bad, you can take a hit with the best of them. You don’t really need Strength, but we’re dumping Intelligence. You’re not actually stupid, but you’re actively pretending to be dumb, so it’s not much of a difference.

Class Levels

1. Monk 1: Starting off as a monk gets you that Religion proficiency we skipped on in your background, as well as History. You also get proficiency with Strength and Dexterity saves. You also get Unarmored Defense to kick ass in a schoolgirl outfit or dress by adding your wisdom modifier to your AC while not wearing armor. You also get Martial Arts while unarmored, using your dexterity instead of strength to attack with monk weapons, attack as a bonus action with your fists, and you deal a minimum of a d4 in damage while using monk weapons that grows as you level up.

2. Monk 2: Second level monks get Ki points Monk Levels per short rest that you can spend to dash, disengage, dodge, or attack twice as a bonus action. Your Unarmored Movement as helps you get a little bit faster to show up that Cat as well. You also get a Dedicated Weapon, letting you spend a short rest with a non-monk weapon you’re proficient in to turn it into a monk weapon. That’s a tool for next level though.

3. Ranger 1: Bouncing over to ranger gives you proficiency with martial weapons, so now you can dedicate your Longsword into a monk weapon no problem. You can also focus on a Favored Foe after hitting it once, letting you deal an extra 1d4 damage to it once per turn for up to a minute or until you lose concentration. You can mark enemies Proficiency times per long rest, and the damage grows as you level up. You’re also a Deft Explorer, making you Canny in performance, doubling your proficiency bonus on performance checks. (Or again, deception, depends on you.)

You also get Perception proficiency. It takes hard work to make your outfits look just right!

4. Ranger 2: Second level rangers get the Thrown Weapon fighting style, adding +2 to damage damage caused by chucking weapons at people. Most people prefer to not throw their swords, but you make it work, somehow. You can also cast Spells using your Wisdom to cast it. Zephyr Strike is another concentration spell that lets you deal extra damage and speed yourself up once per casting, and you can avoid opportunity attacks for the duration. You can also cast Hail of Thorns to turn one thrown sword into several, dealing extra piercing damage to creatures within 5′ of the original who fail a dexterity save.

5. Ranger 3: At third level, rangers pick their conclave, and the Fey Wanderers get a bunch of neat goodies that make you more charming. Not like you actually need it tho lol. Your Dreadful Strikes add a bit of psychic damage to your attacks once per turn, you get Fey Wanderer Magic, which means you know Charm Person now to act as your mystic eyes, and your Otherworldly Glamor adds your wisdom modifier to your charisma checks. You also get proficiency wit a social skill, so I’d suggest whichever one of the deception/performance duo you didn’t get level one.

On top of all that, your Primeval Awareness helps you sense otherworldly creatures nearby, and you also learn Searing Smite to make your blades a little hotter.

6. Ranger 4: Your first Ability Score Improvement is going towards the Resilient feat to bump up your Wisdom score by 1 and to make you proficient with wisdom saves. You have pretty strong Divinity, so you shouldn’t be getting jerked around by illusions that much.

7. Ranger 5: Fifth level rangers get an Extra Attack each attack action. You can also cast Misty Step to move even faster than usual, and your can Enhance Ability to make you or a friend better in any one kind of ability check for the duration.

8. Monk 3: Bouncing back to monk now for the Way of the Kensei, which gives you the Path of the Kensei, which is totally not confusing. This gives you Kensei Weapons so you can use all long swords as monk weapons instead of just one dedicated weapon. You also get a ranged weapon, and you get a couple more at higher levels, as long as they aren’t two-handed.

You can also make Agile Parries by making unarmed attacks while wielding your kensei sword in your other hand. This gives you a +2 bonus to your AC for each unarmed attack you make that lasts until your next turn.

You can also use a bonus action to make Kensei’s Shots, adding another 1d4 to your ranged kensei attacks. Notably, it doesn’t have to be a ranged weapon, so now your thrown swords are even scarier.

You also get proficiency with calligraphy thanks to the Way of the Brush. Writing’s a class in school, it’s justified.

You can also use your sword to Deflect Missiles as a reaction, reducing incoming damage. If it’s reduced to 0, you can even throw it back with a ki point.

9. Monk 4: Use this ASI to bump up your Dexterity for a better AC and better swordsmanship. You can also Slow Fall as a reaction, reducing falling damage by five times your monk level. I’ve heard foxes are just dog software running on cat hardware, so I guess you can land on your feet?

10. Ranger 6: Bouncing back to ranger bumps your favored foe damage up to a new die size, and you become a Roving ranger, increasing your walking speed further, as well as giving you a climbing and swimming speed.

11. Ranger 7: Fey Wanderers can put a Beguiling Twist on your charms and the charms of others. You have advantage on saves against being charmed or frightened, and when a creature near you succeeds on a save against being charmed or frightened you can force another creature to make a wisdom save against your spell DC. If it fails, the target is charmed or frightened by you for a minute or by making another save. High schoolers generally don’t have good taste, as long as you’re charming somebody it’s probably fine.

You can also cast Magic Weapon to make your swords a little stronger a pierce through nonmagical weapon resistances. You’ll be able to do this for free later, but you’re probably running into enemies with those kinds of resistances by this point, so why wait?

12. Monk 5: Fifth level monks get an extra attack that doesn’t stack, but they also gain a Stunning Strike on their melee attacks, spending 1 ki point to force a constitution save on whatever you hit. If it fails, it’s stunned until the end of your next turn.

Your Focused Aim also lets you turn ki points directly into accuracy, adding 2 to your attack roll for each ki point spent, up to a maximum of three.

Also, your martial arts dice are d6s now. Rejoice!

13. Monk 6: Sixth level monks get Ki-Empowered Strikes, and kensei also become One with the Blade.  The former, plus your Magic Kensei Weapons, make your unarmed strikes and kensei weapons magical against resistances.

You also learn to deal Deft Strikes, adding your martial arts die to a kensei weapon damage roll once per turn by using a ki point.

14. Monk 7: Seventh level monks get Evasion, supercharging your dexterity saves. Failures reduce damage as much as most peoples’ successes, and your successes negate damage entirely. You also get get a Stillness of Mind that lets you end effects of charming or frightening on yourself as an action, in the rare event one of those actually sticks to you.

15. Monk 8: Use this ASI to bump up your Wisdom, making it harder to charm you and easier for you to charm others. Also, you get a better AC! Win win!

16. Monk 9: Your Unarmored Movement Improvement lets you run up walls and over water. Just make sure you end your turn on solid ground, otherwise it won’t be pretty.

17. Monk 10: Tenth level monks have a Purity of Body that makes you immune to diseases and poison. When was the last time you saw a relative of a demon king come down with the sniffles?

18. Ranger 8: Hopping back to ranger gives you another ASI, which will max out your Wisdom for super powerful charms. You also have the Land’s Stride, letting you ignore nonmagical plants while traveling through them, and you get advantage on saves against them.

19. Monk 11: Our last level of kensei lets you Sharpen the Blade with your ki points, spending 1-3 points to add that much to the weapon’s attack and damage rolls for 1 minute. Like, why bother spending all that gold on fancy weapons when you can just do it yourself?

On top of that, all your weapons now do at least 1d8 damage thanks to martial arts!

20. Ranger 9: Your capstone level unlocks third level spells, like Dispel Magic from your Fey Wanderer Magic feature, or the real reason we’re here, Conjure Barrage. Now you can literally turn that sword into a thousand and yeet them all at your foes!

Pros:

You’re mobile as hell, with 60 feet of movement speed normally, climbing and swimming speeds baked in, and the ability to go even faster by shifting or using spells, you can dart around the battlefield real heccing quick.

You’re also really good in social situations, with a difficult to save against Charm Person plus a more than maxed out charisma modifier for skill checks. If you don’t like doing math, you get +7 for most charisma checks, +13 for Deception, and +19 for Performance. Pretty freaking good

On top of that, you’re also super difficult to charm with a maxed out wisdom save with proficiency and advantage. On top of that, your defenses then get turned into more charms against your enemies. In effect, you’re making your foes able to be affected by their own charms.

Cons:

A lot of your spells use Concentration, which is always an issue, especially since they’ll be butting heads with Favored Foe. (Also your concentration save isn’t that great...)

You also have a lot of limits on your offensive options. Most of them are tied to spell slots or ki points which are few, or they only add damage to one attack per turn. Sword+Thrown Weapon Fighting+ Dreadful Strikes+Deft Strike+Zephyr Strike is a lot of dice packed into one blow, and you’ll almost certainly hit, but it would be nice to be able to add your damage after getting a crit like paladins do.

Thrown Weapons just aren’t good. Again you have a lot of bonuses that make them scarier, but you still have to deal with either picking up all your weapons to throw them again, or deal with unsheathing a dozen swords each fight.

[amberwild420]

one step back, two steps forward (pt. 8)

masterlist

family dinner

The girls chatted as they stepped out of the school. Luka and Kagami promised to meet them there so they can all go for the dinner. And true to their words they were there.

 Luka! Kagami! So glad you could make it!

 I wouldn’t miss our duel for anything.

Kagami slightly smiled. Since lunch, she had been looking forward to the duel. Luka merely smiled and the group walked towards Kaylan’s home.

  When Kaylan told them about class and the drama that unfolded after class, they were angry but pleased when Kaylan used Bustier’s words against the class.

 You seriously need to teach me how to trash talk!

 Marinette laughed. All the responses and comebacks that Kaylan had used till now made her days.

I can teach you but you have to toughen up first. What they are doing is wrong and I want you to save yourself.

 Marinette gave a sad smile. Luka, Kagami and Kaylan shared a look.

 I trust them that they can realize the truth and everything will be back to how it was.

 I don’t think so.

 Kaylan fired back. She stopped, making the rest stop too. She had a blank face but her eyes were calculating.

Marinette…..*sigh*………..look I know you say that everything will be ok or that you trust them, but……but deep down you know that after what they had done, you won’t be able to trust them……………..at least not like before………you know before all this started. As for that everything will be alright……….it’s just as connected to the trust. You think it will be alright but you know that your trust and relationship will be strained. So much that slowly and sub-consciously you will cut them out.

 Marinette made a face. A flash of coldness passed through her eyes. But it was gone before she mumbled,

 You wouldn’t know that.

I know that. I have seen that. Or rather someone close to me had seen that and told me.

 For a moment they looked vulnerable. But it was gone when Marinette nodded. She seriously needed to talk to Tikki. She was good at listening and giving advises.

 Come on we don’t want to be late.

 They silent moment broke and they walked towards the apartment building.

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The woman smiled sweetly and welcomed the trio in. As soon as they settled in the woman started mothering them, hugging them tightly, asking them of their day, talking non-stop.

Mom! You are overwhelming them. Slowdown will ya!

 The woman stopped abruptly and smiled sheepishly when she saw the expression of the trio.

 Sorry. Sorry. I was just excited that you made so many friends in such a short time.

 *sigh* this is Veronica Fox, my mother. She is a freelance psychiatrist. And yes, she is the one who made the banshee therapy for akuma prevention.

 Oh! It’s nice to meet you kids. I’m so happy you made friends with my broody daughter.

 I’m not broody. Batman brood. I sit back and judge……… And fight when they irritate me.

 Marinette nervously laughed not knowing what was going on. The difference between the mother and daughter was like sun and moon. And judging by Kagami’s attempt to hide her smile and Luka’s quite snicker they must have thought the same.

 She could feel Tikki’s amusement from her purse.

 At least someone’s having fun.

 She thought and sighed.

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The small training room was cozy. Their apartment was not by any mean big and luxurious but it wasn’t too small. The two bedrooms, a living room, a guestroom, a kitchen and a spare room turned to training room was definitely not small. Kagami was attracted towards the small assortment of the blades on the wall.

 A beautiful long bladed spear stood tall in the center. The shine and sharpness of the blade gave her a sense of satisfaction.

Next to it was a double bladed weapon. Marinette who stood behind Kagami looked confused.

 I don’t think I had ever seen this type of weapon in your collection Kagami. What type of weapon is this?

 She whispered to the Japanese girl who looked rather stunned.

A naginata!        Kaylan called from behind them. Veronica left the teens to get started for the evening tea. Luka also joined the girls, giving out an impressed whistle.

 It’s not easy to wield a weapon of this caliber. Not without years and years of practice.

 Kagami looked impressed.

 Wait were her eyes shining like all those anime characters she had seen or was Marinette hallucinating?

 Kaylan looked amused. She picked up the blade in question and went in the middle of the room. The rest waiting in the side in anticipation. Kaylan stood with her eyes closed mentally preparing to do a simple trick rather then something complicated.

With a sigh, she opened her eyes and spin the pole around her with a familiar ease and pointed it towards Kagami, who looked like a child in a candy store.

Smiling softly she put the weapon back to where it belonged.

 It was impressive!

 Kagami said with a wide smile. If it wasn’t her ability to school her emotion she would be rumbling like Marinette normally does.

 I’m glad you thought so. To me it is like a fish to water. That’s why I learned to fight with this far quicker.

 Uh………..       Marinette didn’t know what to ask but she shuffled around nervously before opening her mouth to ask her a question.

 Is it really hard to fight with this two blade pole?

Yes. / It is.

 Both girls said at the same time. They looked at each other before turning towards the designer.

 Wielding a naginata requires a lot of practice. Especially for women. First because of the height and weight that requires a lot of upper body strength. This one is normal length mostly used by samurai’s. Women warriors use one smaller and lighter.

 Kagami told them rather eagerly. She wanted to learn. But her affinity was with sword. But to see one here and someone to use a weapon she longed to learn right in front of her was making her warm in chest.

 It’s not just the upper body strength………        Kaylan interrupted.

Normal naginata have only one blade. Mine has double blade. It makes it even more difficult to practice. You can’t get distracted. Or one of the two blades can cut you.

 Kagami nodded. This is exactly what made this weapon so magnetic for her. She turned to the wall and picked up the only katana from the wall.

  The beautiful white sheath with small patterns and beautifully crafted handle. Marinette subtly took out her sketch book, suddenly inspired by a sword to make a base line of her next dress.

 Kagami unsheathe the sword, admiring the blade before turning to Kaylan.

 I believe a duel is in order.

 Kaylan only smirked before taking her sword and turning towards the sparring mat. Kagami unsheathed her own saber but was bummed out when Kaylan didn’t unsheathed her own but didn’t comment on it.

 Luka who was silent all this time, stepped forward to act as referee since Marinette was in her zone.

Both girls got in position, blades pointing each other. The moment Luka signaled both clashed. Both countering the other, not letting other to take advantage of the opening.

 Marinette looked at the dual fascinated. Tikki the ever loving god/Kawami was recording the dual. (She is still hiding in the purse mind you. She just doesn’t want her chosen’s friend to get into trouble when they clearly forgot about the promised video.)

 It was until Kagami thrust her saber point blank and it hit Kaylan in the shoulder when she tried to block it. A moment of silence passed before Kaylan chuckled and relaxed.

 Not bad, Tsurugi!

 Kagami who looked rather bewildered. Apparently she didn’t thought it would actually hit. But she relaxed when Kaylan laughed. She smiled.

 Not too bad yourself, Fox.

 Best out of three?

 I don’t mind.

 And with that they positioned themselves again.

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The next two rounds were a tie and another win for Kagami, though it was longer than any match Kagami ever participated.

 I would have won if it was my trusty pole.

 Kaylan said, before putting the katana back to its place. Kagami let out a hum of affirmation. No doubt there, she was good at handling it. They turned to the pair of whip coiled at the wall.

A silver whip with a small curved blade.

And another with golden handle and an arrow like blade. Both adorn the wall, with a grace of their own.

 How good are you with a whip?

 It was Marinette who asked this time. Her eyes were calculatingly looking at the weapon. If she is good with such weapons then giving her a miraculous with an unconventional weapon will be easy for her to use in akuma battle.

 Better than sword. Almost as good as gladiator.

 The trio raised an eyebrow. She smiled sheepishly before gesturing towards the naginata.

 You named that thing?        Kagami looked rather amused. The designer and the musician snickered when Kaylan let out a dramatic gasp.

 How dare you call gladiator a thing?! He is my trustworthy ally.

 The trio laughed. A whine that was more like complaining sounded. A smile rose to her lips, Veronica looked at the old picture on the fridge. It was two of them, she cried when she first held her smiling daughter. It was one of her favorite memory.

Her life hasn’t been easy. No friend. No family. But it felt nice to hear her talking to friends, laughing. Maybe it was the right decision to come here despite the emotional terrorist.

 Kids, have some snacks! God forbid I can’t have any more kids with no self-care.

 MOM!!!

 And one again the laughter rose.

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Taking a bite of the fruit sandwich, Marinette hummed in satisfaction. Fruit tart and fruit trifle were available in bakery but……… she definitely need to get the recipe.

 Kagami looked right at home. Well, considering it was from her home country. Luka, Kaylan and her mother were tending to their tea.

 Now that we all are gathered……..let’s begin the interrogation.

 Veronica winked at the kids making them giggle while Kaylan rolled her eyes fondly.

 So I know about Marinette being the aspiring fashion designer that could give other designer a run for their money, what about two of you? I don’t think any of you was mentioned before.

That’s because we met today and I decided that are worth my time and effort. Unlike some liars and dumb sheep that share only one brain cell which could die anytime now.

 Veronica lightly slapped her on the thigh, but Kaylan just shamelessly smirked. The trio exchanged knowing glances.

 Yep, they were like sun and the moon. Not like mother, like daughter kind.

 Kagami is a world class fencer. She had won many gold medals in every single competition and she is training for the Olympus.

 Marinette excitedly started talking. The girl in question had a very tiny blush on her cheeks when her friend kept gushing about her.

I’m actually a guitarist, I was with the kitty section but now I’m going solo.

 And Luka sometimes intern with Jagged Stone, he can hear the songs of the soul.

 That’s nice I’m sure you wouldn’t mind telling me what type of music my soul emits?

 The said boy nodded before closing his eyes and focusing while everyone else held their breath when they saw Luka frowning. It wasn’t like the unpleasant frown when he heard Lila’s song. But more like he couldn’t figure out how to tell.

It’s…………

 Everyone leaned forward batting their breath waiting for him to speak.

 It’s ……it’s like many different melodies mixed together. Not like a mush or anything unpleasant. More like…..orchestra? No more like a mix classic and rock band.  

 Veronica looked eager to learn about the mixed melody. Kagami and Marinette looked curious as well. Kaylan just calmly sipped her tea before interrupting.

 Let me guess? Sharp and fast notes of violin, upbeat of a drum? That’s her alright.

here

She got another hit from her mother but she just rolled her eyes hiding her smile behind the cup.

 You don’t need to hide it mom, anyone who dares to antagonize you learn about your gentle sharpness, your excitement and upbeat personality is what everyone you meet knows. What else is there to hide?

 True.    Luka said as his eyes turned to the woman in question.

 However there is softness hiding underneath those sharp notes, your love.

Veronica looked rather pleased. She was beaming.

 Oh! Oh! What about my daughter?!

 I don’t want you to hear it.

 She flat-out refused. A little pestering occurred but she just fondly rolled her eyes.

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Playing mortal combat, while sharing stories with each other was a good time pass. Marinette sharing her experience about being clumsy even if she could haul a 50kg bag of flour on her shoulder with ease. Kagami sharing her training and fencing experience. Luka telling them about all the melodies he had ever heard and how Marinette was the most beautiful one he ever heard (cue lots of blushing and whining and teasing). Kaylan sharing her moving around experience and difference in cultures.

 Time passed quickly and it was time for dinner. It was rather pleasant. A few jokes passed around. When they left, Veronica insisted they come to their place whenever they feel like it. They were welcomed to return when they felt like it.

 It would be best if you kids come around more often. I’m a therapist and I can see the amount of stress you kids are shouldering. It is not good normally but it is worse when you are emotionally hostage of a terrorist. So come by when you feel like you have to unwind. I might not be able to give a 100% solution but a better coping system will be nice. So don’t hesitate.

 Kaylan looked as serious as her but didn’t say anything. They bid their farewell and left.

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[hutchhitched]

And training has begun. Our favorite duo is impressing the gamemakers and learning to tie knots. How very non-domestic of them. Here are thoughts and musings on Chapter 7 for @everlarkedalways​ THG reread.

 Currently, I’m reading a book called Jesus and John Wayne, by Kristin Kobes Du Mez. The general thesis of the book is that white evangelicalism is obsessed with patriarchy and masculinity and celebrates that rather than emphasizing the gentler, more peaceful teachings of Jesus Christ. (While I have some issues with the larger historical study, I don’t particularly disagree with her thesis. Her book is the most gendered studies of American evangelical Christianity I’ve read in a long, long time.) A friend from work invited me to an online discussion group about the book with some friends of hers and the topic of gender roles played prominently in our conversation. Mostly, I kept thinking about portrayals of Katniss and Peeta and how those have sparked debates and arguments over Peeta’s masculinity or lack thereof.

 Peeta is strong, but he’s an artist, a painter, and a baker. He’s gentle and compassionate and kind, and he’s in love with Katniss. He’s been emotionally and physically abused by his mother, and he knows brute strength can’t help him win the game because Katniss will die if he tries. He makes a decision to protect her, but to do it behind the scenes. He can’t puff up his chest and kill the people who want her dead, so he does it by sacrificing himself for her long before they’re in the area. As such, many critics of the series (more so the movies than the books, I believe), including the actors themselves, often referred to Peeta as the damsel in distress who has to be saved by Katniss.

 There is a fundamental lack of critical examination in those interpretations of Peeta’s character. He is the epitome of non-toxic masculinity, but there is a rejection of that by society. Remember the Gillette commercial a few years ago that showed men being kind and gentle? Remember the backlash from it? Society is obsessed with strength and violence, and looks down on men who aren’t hypermasculine and/or show what are considered “feminine” qualities. In other words, Peeta has been emasculated.

 In the book itself, Peeta’s mother emasculates him by brow-beating him into submission and running her family with an iron fist. Mrs. Mellark is a strong woman, and in this context, that’s not a good thing. She’s overbearing and a “witch,” according to Katniss. She’s taken power away from her husband, evidenced by him not buying squirrels from Katniss unless Mrs. Mellark is absent. She’s also taken Peeta’s self-esteem and self-worth away by abusing him and telling him she thinks Katniss is a survivor, implicating that Peeta is not.

 Historically, masculinity has played a significant role in the development of the United States. White masculinity was codified in a series of laws in colonial Virginia in the seventeenth century, and southern masculinity was glorified and adulated during the antebellum period and beyond. Non-white men were emasculated in order to highlight the power of white men. Some examples:

Traditional gender roles in European societies centered on men providing for the family by owning land, farming, running an estate and so on while women’s roles were to work within the home. Rich men hunted for leisure (think fox hunting in packs, hunting quail, that kind of thing). Traditional gender roles for many Native American groups included women farming and gathering, while men hunted. Europeans believed Native American men were lazy because they played all the time (went out in hunting parties), while the women worked the fields. As a result, Native American men were emasculated and had their power stripped by European colonizers.

Africans who were enslaved were not allowed to legally marry under the system of slavery. Despite that, slave owners encouraged their slaves to “marry” (lived together as man and wife without the legal protections that entailed) because enslaved men who were married tended to be better workers due to fear that their wives and/or children would be punished if they rebelled or misbehaved. They had no control over their own families because enslaved peoples could be sold at any time at the whim of their owners (fathers sold away from wives and children or vice versa). In addition, white men often raped female slaves in order to a) terrorize the enslaved and b) impregnate the women who would give birth to more slaves. In addition, matrilineal succession was codified in a series of laws that ensured the offspring of an enslaved woman would follow the mother, not the father. That allowed white men to enslave their own offspring without consequence, and it emasculated male slaves in numerous ways. For example, enslaved men were not allowed to protect their spouses from being raped; enslaved men were not able to pass on their family names due to matrilineal succession; and enslaved men frequently had “wives” with children from another male. Each of those methods took power away from black men and put it in the hands of whites.

In 1676, Nathaniel Bacon asked for permission to raise a militia to fight a group of Native Americans who he believed had attacked his land. The governor refused permission, so Bacon did it anyway. He mustered yeomen farmers (poor white landowners), indentured servants (often Irish or poorer English contract workers), and slaves (African men). With this group, he challenged the wealthy white men in colonial Virginia.

What does all this mean? Peeta is a male with characteristics that are typically viewed as feminine (point 1), who is forced against his will to perform/work for the wealthy and privileged (point 3), and is unable to protect the woman he loves from harm (point 2). In other words, Peeta has been emasculated by Panem’s government and society.

 Please don’t read this as me saying Peeta is not masculine. I personally don’t hold to this idea that men have to engage in toxic masculinity in order to be male. My personal preference is a man who is compassionate and caring and nurturing. What I’m saying is I understand why people can read Peeta as weak, even if I don’t happen to agree that his characteristics are effeminate.

 Collins presents Katniss as a scared, angry, determined girl who engages in activities that aren’t necessarily feminine. Hunting and killing game, trading, and so on are very different activities than most of the women in Panem. She is, figuratively, bringing home the bacon and the primary breadwinner (ha!) for her family. Her role as a strong and independent and working against traditional gender roles is celebrated while Peeta’s are criticized. I find that fascinating. It’s kind of like it seems normal for women to dress in pants and t-shirts, but Harry Styles can’t wear a dress without causing an uproar. Oh, the double standard.

 I won’t get into how the movies and press marketed Katniss as a badass warrior. Let’s just say it pisses me off and absolutely misses the point of the books in my opinion.

 One last point since I’m headlong into gender theory here. Katniss and Peeta work as a team, equal partners as they negotiate their way through training. Collins seems to be a proponent of men and women carrying equal loads in relationships, and I’m here for it. Peeta doesn’t look down on Katniss as someone who needs to be protected (although he wants to protect her in any way he can), and Katniss doesn’t allow Peeta to make all the decisions for them. They work together, and it’s a beautiful thing. They have no idea the effect they have…on me when they do that. It’s my life’s goal to find someone who wants to be with me because I’m capable and not someone to be rescued. Katniss can rescue her own damn self, and I’m here for it.

 Okay, I’m behind again, but I’ll get there. If you’ve read all this, thank you for your consideration!

[ridiasfangirlings]

So Scepter 4 is a normal municipal office. Cathedral is just a normal church, Homra is just a normal bar and its regulars, jungle is just some gaming site, “Hakumaitou” is just Shiro’s apartment, and Colorless doesn’t exist. But Kokujoji is the richest, oldest, loopiest, most influential man in town, and everyone goes along with his Kings nonsense to keep him happy and philanthropic. Habari and Kagutsu didn’t die spectacularly. They retired.

Everyone doing their part to keep the senile bunny-loving old rich man happy XD Maybe Kokujouji was in fact a total anime fan when he was young and in his old age he's convinced himself that he is living in an anime world, where he's the rich influential man who runs all of Japan with the power of his giant magic rock. If he was just some regular guy this wouldn't be a big deal but he also happens to be the actual richest and most influential guy in town, and even though he's clearly a few knives short of a harness everyone has to play along with him or else he could make their lives very difficult.

Munakata and Mikoto probably slightly resent having to play along with this old man's fantasies which is why they tend to be little shits around him in their own ways, Mikoto's supposed to be working as a bouncer in his friend Kusanagi's bar and napping in his break times but no he has to entertain an old guy by pretending he has fire powers. Munakata meanwhile is a young up and coming politician put in charge of some minor department which he is already turning around with spectacular skill and drive and then his predecessor Habari Jin is all 'by the way, Munakata-kun, there is one other aspect to the job' and now he's suddenly supposed to be playing King in his spare time. (It turns out that Munakata actually likes playing King a little too much though and also he finds Suoh Mikoto to be a completely unworthy scene partner and troublesome to work with, which just makes their roles even more believable really.)

Meanwhile Shiro and Weismann are probably two different people, like Hieda is actually Weismann's cousin or something who has to play along pretending to be Weismann because Kokujouji was getting bored watching Munakata and Mikoto fight and decided to start up a whole new storyline. Kuroh and Neko are just random students of Weismann's who he asked to join up, they get all the free rice they want and Neko gets paid double for every pantyshot (she's not doing those for free okay, respect).

Meanwhile Iwafune is an old friend of Kokujouji's who was initially fine with humoring him but is just getting more and more tired of it and is probably trying to steer things in the direction of Kokujouji's character dying so he can get back to being a terrible priest. Hisui is Iwafune's adopted child who really likes this fun website jungle and Iwafune's not really happy when he learns his kid is now apparently the villain of Kokujouji's story, Hisui though thinks it's kinda fun and wouldn't it be interesting if they won. He buys a stuffed fox and throws it at Weismann one day just to get the story rolling and everyone else just has to play along while also trying to do, like, their actual jobs in between.