#also thinking like. what about the og tree from that dimension.

[tskumoyuuma]

finally got around to watching happy death day, and it was pretty good I had fun watching it, so I decided I'd try the sequel movie right after the first but..

spoilers for these movies I guess but man did I lose interest in the sequel real fast. I think the last good moment was when o fortuna played n I laughed real hard at that, but after that moment, it just felt. kinda boring. and also confusing? like did she just automatically assume this guy was gonna try n kill her every night like the first movie, even tho so much had changed? she just went straight to killing herself, sometimes in really really brutal ways, so she wouldnt get stabbed to death? and then it turns out he wouldnt have even gone after her at all as long as she wasnt in the hospital cause he doesnt even kno her here. so then what wouldv happened if she.. had just avoided the hospital? like if they hadnt gotten the machine up and she didnt die. would it still reset? or would it have just gone to the next day. I assume not cause they talk about the loop still being there but it only has ever reset when she dies. it's like they either didnt think about that when writing this movie, or they didnt want their audience to think about it too hard, cause when the killer reveal happens n he asks who she is, this kind of 'solution' is never even mentioned as a possibility. of course the movies basically over by then and I guess its better to be safe than sorry when u think a guys gonna kill u every night but. I think I'd feel better about it if they had addressed it in some way, like if the loop didn't actually depend on her death this time. but then we wouldnt have the 'funny suicide montage' I guess so.

[occasionally-victor]

some mer au sketches, this time figuring out some designs for brazilians (does. does Brazil even exist in this au-) (also kinda tweeked Richas' design to look a bit more. for water yknow) ("mer au" doesn't draw any mer)

talking about them under the cut:

!pac is aquafolk (i genuinely don't know how to call just partially fish people), he's, well, partially fish (blue fin tuna as an inspiration). He can transform from "looks human of you dont look too close" (still needs to cover fins and gills) to "40% of body is scales" (can really only happen in water). On a pic is a middle form, for when he's only with family and friends.

!mike is dryad, the three parts (just like that ribcage also has a tree spine basically) are flexible. The green stuff all over the body are not because of him being dryad, it's actually moss. That is a result of "moss disease", when basically moss starts growing on body. Unless you have been born with it or it was completely removed, it can be deadly (because the moss uhh incompatible with the host basically. however, if a person was born with it, that person will be fine, because the body was born already compatible with moss). !Mike was born with it, so it's fine, however he can't really wear clothes on top of it (it's not a requirement, it's more for a comfort of moss). Oh, and also he has a goddess wife, yeah.

!felps is a human sorcerer (or maybe enchanter idk, and he is pretty powerful). His main thing is doing potions (that's like. basically the only thing that he is actually interested in practicing). And he's like, stupidly good at it, both normal use ones and completely ridiculous ones. He carries a lot of ingredients in his ig it can be called a skirt? a 3/4 skirt's pockets. That also makes him pretty good at doing homebrew medicine, so that's neat.

both twins are human (tho for shits and giggles their very distant ancestors are catpeople, but at this point the only things left are just sharp senses) and good news they actually got to reunite again when they were just 19! slightly less trauma for them! what happened in a first place? someone just happened to accidentally dimension hop to a basically hell dimension (im actually thinking about calling it Nether fr, i think it's just a nice name tbh) when he was like 10, right on the eyes of his sister. That also led to both if them acquiring pretty powerful demons (that what basically everyone who lives in Nether called, in the same way that everyone who lives in this dimension are people) as companions.

!bagi at first thought that Jorge is her imaginary friend that appeared to help her feel less lonely after her brother was gone. She didn't question the fact that they were a bit too real sometimes (she was just 10, it didn't exactly matter to her at that point). Jorge, who is fresh out of Nether and doesn't really know how to get back anyway (the passage was closed immediately after some boy ran through it) doesn't really want to break it to a kid, so they just. Stick around and eventually become an actual friend. (a bit background for them: Jorge was a spirit, who on a way to a Rest Place (basically dimension for dead) accidentally gets stuck in Nether (it's basically normal occurrence to be stuck in some dimension on a way). Jorge basically uhhh starts consuming other spirits that were not yet found by grim reapers and by that amasses enough power to basically become a demon themselves. They do not remember any of that tho, however Jorge on themselves at this point is rather a conglomerate of spirits with og one in charge basically). When !Bagi started working as investigator (when she was 16 - she was really persistent), Jorge was actually really useful because, well, they are still a spirit, they can go through walls and all that. ig that also makes them working partners.

not going to get into how exactly the 9 years of being basically in hell went for !cellbit, but making a pact with a demon was probably the thing that saved his life the most. Rapaziada (or Chat - affectionate nickname) is a hivemind creature that manifests itself as voices in a head of host or dark evergy. At the cost of 80% of !cells memories, it's main task became to protect the host in any way possible (physical and mental). Unfortunately, surviving in Nether outside of big cities, especially for someone who is not from this dimension, requires kill or be killed mindset so. Let's just say, Chat was really good at it's job, to the point when by the time the host turned 15 the demons help wasn't really required outside of physical protection (the dark energy is pretty flexible in what is could become). When eventually !Cellbit returned to his home dimension and dare i say even got better, Chat kinda became more of a slightly annoying, but usually ignorable roommate (roommates? it is a hivemind). Also it just being there gave !cell ability to see all what considered supernatural in world (like spirits who stuck and can't move on, or demons who for one reason or another is not in Nether and all that basically), so he became a paranormal investigator? (i dont think yall know what im talking about, but he basically becomes Yashiki from Death Mark, just with a bigger field of work). He basically helps spirits move on (or destroys them if needed), help lost demons to get back to Nether (surprisingly easier than to work with spirits!) or repairs the "holes" through which others can accidentally get to another dimension.

(I'm not going to get into details now, just to set a scene: !pac, !mike and !cell first meeting was in Nether and it went as well as you would think it is (a disaster), !cell and !felps became friends a bit after !cell returned from hell and are roommates atm.) So, those 4 happened to be in the same place - a cave, that is basically right by a abandoned house on a small hill (!Tazercraft are there because they were searching for some minerals (they didn't find any). !Cell is there because he had a request from someone living in that area to check the cave because "there were some weird sounds" - the standard stuff. !Felps is there because back then he sometimes joined !cell in investigations, so that what he did that day). However, right before the reunion might have turned violent, all 4 happened to catch some barely noticeable sounds - it was however, undeniably sounds of crying. A child's crying, which kinda made them to "deal with eachother later" and go check on whoever was making the sound. What they found was a small dragon child with left leg being just. gone (now that they think about it, there was some blood on caves floor). That basically how they found Richas (and that how they went from "barely know each other with most of them wanting having nothing to do with eachother" to family)

Richas basically now has three places to live: !Tazercraft's absolutely legal laboratory they pay all taxes for, !Felps' apartment in a city nearby, !Cellbit's house right by that cave (because that cave happened to be just perfect to be somewhat of a personal office for work;) (for reference, they live pretty close to eachother, the longest distance is no more than 2 hrs by motorbike).

!Bagi, well, doesn't live over there - she lives in another city, like 8 hrs on motorbike far away. She rents an apartment with !Tina and as of recent !Mouse.

[minijenn]

Found and Lost

Some Notes: This is what happens before Pearl’s lament (which I also did with some changes, like removing curse words). 

Pearl’s skin cracking until she poofed was inspired by Rebecca’s confirmation that intense emotions can lead to a poof (like Spinel after finding out the truth about Pink, or the Crystal Gems after finding out about Rose’s pregnancy). 

It’s ‘Found and Lost’ because the respect that Steven had just found towards his mother in ‘Now we are only falling apart’ will be lost once again.

It’s heavily inspired by ‘Lost and Found’ of the OG UF.

Anyway, let’s begin. 

  __________________________________________________ 

  Steven was inside Lion’s mane once again. He was still getting used to the new tree in that dimension caused by Lars’s pink state.

He wasn’t there to visit his space pirate friend, however. He was there to check on something a certain yellow triangle said to him. 

‘Come on, Rosebud. If you are so sure it’s all a lie, why don’t you check that chest on that lion of yours? You will get all your answers and more’

Bill’s voice echoed through his memories. The triangle had lied a lot through the period the gem boy had known. He lied during Sock Opera. He lied to get Stepper’s journal. And lied to get the rift from Mabel’s hands. 

But, what if, this time, it ended up being true? Either way, checking wouldn’t cost him anything. 

As he kept walking through the magical fur from Lion, Steven couldn’t open up his mouth to hold his breath, considering there wasn’t any oxygen in that new dimension.

This whole situation was all too familiar when he found the gem’s memories here. Another skeleton in his mother’s closet.

He slowly walked towards that chest, and couldn’t help thinking once again about all that his mother’s actions ended up causing.

‘My Diamond! Your Diamond! Pink Diamond!” 

‘I saw with my own eye: Rose quartz shatter Pink Diamond’

‘I never want to look back. So, for my last order to you as a Diamond, please, let’s never speak of this again. No one can know’

‘She lied to us! She lied about everything! She held our hands, looked at us right in the eyes, and told us to never question who we are as Garnet. We never questioned ourselves, or her!’

‘I lost my ARM for her little game. And you Want me not to get ANGRY?!’ 

He finally arrived at the locked object, terrified of what he could find. Every single thing he found out about his mother only made her image worse and worse. 

He may not have the key to open it. But, fortunately, he had a very powerful weapon at his side. He also had super-strengh and a lot of anger. 

BANG!He thought about everything he went through the time Stepper forgot about himself.

BANG! 

He then thought about how Jasper was impacted by the lost of her Diamond. 

BANG!

He thought about Weirdmaggedon and how he almost lost the people that he loved the most.

BANG! BANG!

He thought about what Rose did towards Bismuth. And how she lied to her own friends about the entire situation.

BANG!

He thought about poor Pearl, who had to see him handling himself to Homeworld, see all her friends suffer, and couldn’t do anything because of Rose’s orders. 

BANG!!!!

The last straw was thinking about how Dipper suffered and lost his own arm… all because of HER! 

Fortunately, the least attack managed to completely destroy the chest entirely. He started to search through the rubble for anything useful… he ended up finding a book. 

“What?” Steven asked, not expecting that. He dusted it off so that he could read the cover. 

“No…” he whispered, unable to process what he was seeing. 

It was a black book… with a familiar triangle on the cover, with the color red… 

__________________________________________________

  Pearl’s Lament 

“And that was the end of my Romance with Bill Cipher. A story that hopefully will become a cautionary tale for future victims of the triangular demon – Rose Q.” Steven read out loud the last sentence of the diary he found on Lion’s chest.

Everyone who was sitting in Steven’s living room were with their mouths open. The Mystery Kids, Stan, Ford, Greg… and, most importantly, the Crystal Gems…

The last few days weren’t easy for any of them. First, Lapis left once again, and, this time, it felt like she wasn’t coming back. Then, Pearl revealed the truth about Pink Diamond. Ruby and Sapphire had the biggest falling out of their relationship, and, even Dipper had his own secret inner battles he wasn’t ready to share…

But… that book on the chest was the straw that broke the camel’s back. For everyone.

“You gotta be kidding me, Rose and that… bratty triangle?!” Amethyst shouted, indignant at the situation.

Ruby and Sapphire were too stunned to speak.

“What else can we expect from her?! Faked her death, doomed her friends, left my brother stranded on another dimension. If any of you tell me she almost started third war 3, I wouldn’t be surprised” Stan teased angrily. His opinion on Rose wasn’t a good one. So, finding out she sucked in so many levels was almost therapeutic to him.

“He did that to her too, huh…” Ford pondered, feeling a mixture of feelings that his lack of emotional self-knowledge wasn’t able of processing yet.

Dipper, who was silent until now, hit the counter of the kitchen with his metal arm.

“Dipper!” Mabel and Pacifica shouted in worry. The noise was so loud that most turned their attention to him.

“Fudge! If all that shoot wasn’t enough, now there is also this bomb! What’s wrong with this woman?!” the pine tree boy yelled angrily, walking away. Steven wanted to say something, but he was frozen on the sofa. The news hit him harder than any brick.

“You know what! I HATE Rose Quartz! I hate her! I hate her!” Dipper screamed, finding her to not blame him for all that happened until now. Bill’s obsession, the Diamonds turning him into a cyborg, all the hell they put his best friend, Steven, though.

“This… must all be a lie. A trick, or a code. Yeah, a code! Maybe Rose left us a code in form of this twisted joke!” Pearl suggested, slowly losing her sanity.

The rest couldn’t help worrying about her reaction.

“P, I don’t think…” Amethyst said, trying to help Pearl process everything.

“This can’t be true. Rose couldn’t have had a secret romance with Bill. Hehe, not at least without telling me, right? The one she told basically everything. If Bill was important to her in any matter, I would be the first one to know, right?” the ballerina tried to rationalize the situation. She couldn’t accept what that book was saying.

She started to pull her hair, desperate to find a solution for the situation she found herself in. It didn’t work, though, and she broke down in tears.

“Pearl, I know this is hard, but…” Ruby tried to comfort her. The ballerina, however, clearly didn’t want to hear, and ran towards the warp pad, and disappeared in the stream of light.

Everyone’s heads turned to Steven, who usually was the one to solve this kind of situation. He managed to get up, but seemed weird.

“Pearl…” he mumbled, trying to walk into the ballerina’s direction, but passed out midway.

“Steven!” Connie shouted, running to catch him in time. Mabel, Pacifica, and Dipper, who was awakened by his friend’s weakened state, ran to help her.

“We need to put him in his bed. He needs to rest” Dipper ordered, really worried about his friend.

“But, what about Pearl?” the fiery little soldier questioned.

“We will think about that later. Right now, Steven needs us” the pine tree boy answered.

_____________________________________________________

As soon as Pearl arrived at her destination, she didn’t waste time and continued to run. She didn’t even want to go anywhere, just wanted to run until the pain stopped…

“Rose…” she whispered to herself, as the tears continued to fall. She couldn’t help thinking about all the moments they shared together.

‘Please, never stop!’

‘My Pearl, you are wonderful’

‘If the Earth really is my colony, I want to give it to the Crystal Gems. I want to be with the humans. I want to be with YOU!’

Her voice and her promises was the only thing on Pearl’s mind now. She couldn’t run anymore, and finally stopped. And a certain someone was going to take advantage of that…

The time around the ballerina froze, and the surroundings slowly started to lose colors.

“Well, well. If it isn’t my old pal? Bird Brain!” a certain triangular creature greeted, with it’s usual happy tone.

Pearl took some time to process what was happening.

“YOU!” she shouted through her tears, feeling an amount of anger that she rarely felt before.

“You are going to tell me right now that the whole story on the book was a lie! That you two didn’t have anything and it was all some… badly timed joke from the universe!” she demanded, summoning her spear to threaten the creature.

“Wow, Bird Brain. Being straight to the point, aren’t you?” Bill joked, not feeling any amount of fear. The ballerina shot a few energy projections at his direction, to no avail, because he avoided them all.

“Well, birdie, I have the happy news to tell you that: it was all true!” the triangle revealed, beaming with joy. That was not the answer the gem was expecting.

“What…” she muttered. Bill then created confetti and threw it at hair. A sarcastic celebration.

“Congratulations, Bird Brain. You were not Quartzy’s biggest love. Far from it to be honest” the triangle teased, enjoying every second from the gem’s suffering.

“No, no, NO! Rose would never involve herself with something like you!” Pearl spat, enraged at the demon.

“Oh, Bird Brain, sometimes you can be VERY ANNOYING, DO YOU KNOW THAT!!” Bill yelled, entering his red form and using his echoed voice.

“Do you genuinely think that it was easy for me to be replaced, after years, by a fancy cutesy servant like you?” the triangle asked, filled with spite.

The ballerina fumed in anger.

“But, do you wanna know what made me feel better?” Bill laughed.

“I DO NOT!” Pearl stormed, tired of all the hard pills she had to swallow already.

“The fact that Quartzy laughed more with me than with you. The fact that she kissed me more than she had EVER kissed you…” the triangle started to list.

“Stop” the ballerina ordered, with no success.

“And that her very first fusion was with me! Not you!” Bill bubbled happily, very satisfied with what he managed to do.

Now, the gem had nothing else to say. She was too emotionally tired to fight, complain and even to cry.

“It seems like you have enough emotional baggage to work on now. I will be going. But, don’t forget… I will be watching you…” the triangle bit farewell, disappearing in thin air.

After being left alone, Pearl began to cry once again, as she curled up on the floor.

“Rose…” she said as some cracks started to appear in her skin.

“Rose” she repeated, as the cracks began to get worse and worse.

“Rose!” she repeated once again, as the cracks were almost covering her entire body.

She was about to poof, but the pain inside her was too big for her to notice what was going to happen.

“ROSE!” she shouted at the top of her lungs, losing her physical form soon after.

The only thing that remained was her gemstone, intact on the ground, just waiting for the Crystal Gems to come and save her… but who would be able of saving Pearl from her own lament?

---

OH this is so good! Sorry for not posting the original version of this, I uh, acciedntally cleaned my inbox out before I could. But its very good! Very realistic depiction of how everyone would react to Rose and Bill’s little tryst imo 

[aaghht]

minor spoilers for the usagi chronicles series but just wanna try and figure out a timeline here, so...

Miyamoto Usagi is established as a "distant ancestor" of Usagi

Yuichi Usagi lives in a futuristic Edo inspired era/re-imagining of the comic world

Neo Edo exists about 1000 yrs into the future? (i think the show itself doesn't establish this as strictly, so i think might have gotten this from some NYCC livestream or something) Edit (24.10): Actually, the show establishes this a few times, but it's a bit vague/always the same:

One of the dog police guarding Usagi in ep 2 tells him the story of Miyamoto Usagi and how he was a big traitor, starting with:

In the first ep, it's established that a 1000 years ago, something happened with the main villain Kagehito, to make him hate Miyamoto Usagi - for sealing him in the Ki-Stone for a thousand years.

The same episode, Karasu-Tengu also mistakes Usagi for Miyamoto, and says a similar line about the Ki-Stone:

Then the season end establishes that this sealing of Yokai and Kagehito by Miyamoto Usagi was to hold off an invasion from another dimension/space a 1000 years ago.

Another little factoid to build on: in the 1st ep, when meeting Usagi, Gen says it's the first time he's seen a rabbit in the city;

(edit end)

Auntie mentions in the 1st ep that her and Usagi's great-grandfather made her sword, Edgewing, together "back when I was your age." - so I assumed here first that Miyamoto is the great-grandfather Auntie means here. (edit: again, how old is Auntie if she's had her sword for that long???)

so when in season 2, Usagi and crew save Neo Edo and then visit the temple again, they see Miyamoto Usagi reflected from the Ki-Stone, he calls Usagi his grandson. I checked this in translations and the subtitles too and there's no mistaking his words there.

so I'm just wondering... What is the timeline here?? how many generations have passed between Miyamoto's time and Usagi's time?

Also, since they have different last names (Miyamoto and Yuichi) and Yuichi is his grandson, I guess I can only assume that Miyamoto Usagi had at least two daughters: Auntie and Yuichi's mom.

edit 2 (Oct 24): The 2nd season establishes that at some point, Miyamoto sent his sword, Willow Branchs away for safekeeping with a servant. The sword is lost in a war those same "1000 years ago"so at what point did Miyamoto Usagi of this series die? How old is Auntie? What's the life-span of rabbits that there are so few of them that a bounty hunter like Gen (who we will assume, travels or at least sees people a lot), would be surprised to see a rabbit in the city?

This begs another question.... if we assume their lifespans are actually quite long.... How many rabbits are left?

a 1000 years is definitely enough time for a heroic character like Miyamoto to be rumored into a villain, but even a 100 years is enough for that sometimes, so is it really a 1000 years?

Yokai are mythical beings so they can basically exist and remember a time like that easily enough, but since they've been locked away for a whole 10 centuries... (edit end)

sdfsdfsdfs i would just like to know more plz

seriously, this show is so fun but i know almost nothing abt the og comic series except maybe stuff I once read on fan wikis, so I guess I'll have to introduce myself to the series proper one day. I believe the series is a bit more removed from the series in that it exists in the comic world but in a further away sci-fi future, so it isn't too bad that it's left vague in the Netflix series.

but I'm still just wondering??? so Yuichi Usagi is a grandson???

Gen, Kitsune and Chizu are also either distant descendats/direct re-interpretations and unique takes on the side-characters of the og comic series, so very non-seriously I'm just wondering here how the family trees look like lol

edit 3 (Oct 24th): so with all this in mind..... is Auntie Miyamoto's daughter and then, Usagi's own mom, his youngest daughter? How old did the other characters from the og Usagi's time live? How many generations have passed for their families? Gen has a family tree, but both Chizu and Kitsune are orphans - how old aaahhh so many questions (edit end)

also listening to an interview with both Stan Sakai and art director Khang Le on this podcast and it all just sounds so inspiring to me but I just thought I'd make this post to think about what the timeline/relation might be. I also think it might not be that important since the show itself seems to be spiritually faithful as a spinoff to the comic, but still, got a bit curious haha!

edit 4 (Oct 24th): also, from that same interview, I remember they mentioned that Neo Edo as a futuristic city (a 1000 years from the Edo-era of the Usagi Yojimbo series) has flying cars. There are talking appliances (not Yokai-posessed), vending machines (a staple of modern japanese cities?) and futuristic games, like TRON-esque car racing games, but interestingly, no phones. So the crew put a bit of thought into that - what would a futuristic world without phones look like?

signed - Aghht, 19th October, 2022 (might add more as I remember)

[shigayokagayama]

also while I’m here i think ur take on the ageswap au is really neat and I was curious,, if u know,, what do u think is the thing in ur age swap universe that changed the MOST from the circumstances of the swap,, and what do u think change the LEAST?? :0 (when compared to canon l mean)

ok the biggest change i did just bc i found the mogami arc really interesting and didnt want to wipe it from canon entirely was making it so minori actually transferred to mobs school irl and actually bullied him rather than that happening in another dimension just to torment him. i didnt include it in the og post bc the word count was super long already and there wasnt a natural way to segway it but mogami is reigens age (and one of the few people who tolerates him) and ends up getting possessed by minori like 1/4th of the way through the storyish? and instead of having """good""" intentions like mogami did in punishing people who do bad things she is still the bully she died as lashing out at the weak willed doormat esper kids that remind her of the one that got her stuck like this (mob tried to save her after he realized what he'd done but just ended up keeping her from passing on + making her spirit super strong + growing a fuck ton of trees around him).

least changed is tsubomi like honestly i havent even decided what shes doing, she lived about the same life and moved away at about the same time and is just living a normal person's life.

[doom-nerdo-666]

What if Doom had a Heaven before Eternal?

For a series about Hell, Doom never really had a "Heaven".

Doom Eternal finally gave Doom a Heaven but it's a rather unexpected take on it: Urdak, a very alien dimension with a sci-fi aesthetic, whose "angels" are creatures called Maykrs, most of which wearing layers of metal to hide their alien appearences.

The idea being that Heaven is not what people think and Urdak even inspired many religions. In a way, i see this being comparable to the 90's Doom novels deciding that "demons are aliens all along" except Maykrs are still divine.

This direction of the story and art direction may differ from previous games, only making me think "what if Heaven existed in other Doom games?".

You could bring up the Holy Water Pistol in D2RPG, some level names and what they reference, the occasional crosses in the series or even Quake having inclusions of Jesus portrayals and Wolfenstein's Spear of Destiny.

Or even a wad like Eviternity but i also had some ideas on Heaven portrayals for Doom:

Whenever i think of Heaven in Doom, i think of something that parallels Hell. 

Like how Hell was made/worked and how it could apply to Heaven to make it fit Doom (While adding some more unique stuff).

Because between Doom Eternal's Urdak and wads like Eviternity, i like to imagine something more that tries to come off as a "What If The Old id Software Put Heaven In Doom?", even if i do it wrong. 

Hell in itself technically looked like Hell and had some elements and references you'd associate with Hell but at the same time, some elements from horror, science fiction, fantasy and a lot more "outside" material.

It's like a combo of ideas that makes the setting unique and abstract, while allowing for some mapping potential even.

The ISSUE though is considering Sandy Petersen: A mormon that didn't mind Doom because the demons are cartoons that you kill.

But during Quake's development, i heard he objected to a Jesus texture being used on the floor.

Classic Doom

Know the Evil Eye candles in OG Hell? They could be similar but with the symbols resembling yellow crosses instead.

Some Angelic/Heaven symbols for teleporters like the ones you'd find in Hell.

Maybe some tall pillars and some architecture inspired by greek/roman architecture like arcs or some medieval/middle age elements.

Diamond switches or switches with golden chains/buttons, as a response to eye/skull switches.

Floating bells or some floating things holding bells to parallel the floating rocks with skulls.

Stuff with trees and flowers to replace the flesh and meat of Hell.

Stained glass windows and paintings, to replace the nailed skin walls like the one based off Adrian Carmack/Kevin Cloud's knee wound texture.

Stone/marbel/iron face portraits could be angels, Jesus, God, some other tradional religious characters or even a "classic" Kahn Maykr.

Textures resembling clouds, some of which being "transparent" so they're like the iron bars and gates, so they have gaps/"holes" in them, while also being placed as moving textures (Like horizontal moving textures).

Golden gates and doors.

Some props could have halos/rings above them (That Urdak temple even has a giant ring above it).

Something rainbow related? Like a path/corridor floor or a bridge.

Some Maykr/Urdak elements like white/red tubes/tech, black rock, red trees and cross holograms (Hell always had tech so i can see Heaven having some as well, even if it's not the main focus) along with stuff based off D2016 MP map Empyrian and those Urdak assets in Nekravol.

Their own FIREBLU, like uh... GOLDCYAN? (Was cyan a color in the original game's palette?).

Snow and ice, to contrast Hell's focus on lava and fire.

To contrast that skull computer switch from Doom 2: A golden tree with computer screens attached.

Some Hell level geometry being represented like the upside down cross hole from E2M1 but it's a proper cross or a reverse intro of E3M1 where you're rising down from above instead of rising up from a hole (Heaven = sky and Hell = beneath the Earth).

They could have wood and bookshelves.

A ceiling hanging candelabra.

Chess floor tiles.

For colors: Blue is more common and red is less common.

Fountains and wells?

Purple neon lights because of tech in Heaven.

Giant halos above stuff that are technically ceiling sectors.

Maybe flags and banners like Doom 2's?

References to stuff like "Hallelujah" as a word in a level name.

Some of the music could be some songs in major key or some "happy" sounding versions of certain songs.

Maybe take some bits from Mick Gordon's music and put them in more "Bobby Prince" like music.

Some levels being easy to contrast Hell being hard or is that kinda dumb?

Power ups could be crystals or something?

For barrels, maybe some wooden barrels or even giant glass bottles/flasks with Holy Water in them, that also have golden rings around, some cross on top/on the cork and some tiny gold legs as support (One for explosive and the other to replace the burning barrel prop).

I know keys get to be "cross keys" with red/blue/yellow variants.

What about an Intermission Screen Map? (This mean applying the concept to both Doom ONE and TWO, sort of like: Shores of Heaven, Paradiso, Heaven on Earth and beyond/more, probably).

Instead of damaging floors, imagine healing floors, like how Quake even had an area with healing water.

Maybe an inverse to Hell's stretched/fused faces wall texture, like "resting/peaceful" souls even if it's uncanny.

For enemies/characters:

Angels could be traditional angels but less humanoid like with blue skin or some not-so-human aspect to them and they could be the Imps.

Maybe centaurs and lions?

Knights like the Night Sentinel ones that serve under Heaven?

"Blessed" Soldiers/Humans.

Eagles?

For Cacodemons, have like giant thick rings with multiple eyes (Ophanims).

Lost Souls could be Cherubs (Maybe even make a reference to the D3 ones).

A Jesus Mech: Basically mech robots that look like Jesus' head in a Transformer/Gundam like body because uh...

A "classic/non-Urdak" Kahn Maykr: A female angel statue with a brain shaped like a pope hat/papal tiara and golden feathers (Call her "Angel Mastermind").

Not sure where i'd put the Maykr Drones (I imagine them like statues of angels with pope hats and with chainguns attached to their chests).

Some enemy type could use a crossbow as a weapon (Either angels or knights).

Some hooded figure with light coming out, that covers their face.

Something horse related or even unicorns.

Some or one type of enemy could have wooden wheels like a wagon.

This probably would require a lot more than just replacing Hell assets like replacing some from UAC/Earth as well, if it were a megawad done just to explore a Doom Heaven.

I feel like Heaven wouldn't be that morally good, but they could have some "goody goody" image to contrast Hell being blatantly evil.

Or it could be good but imagine if the "Angel Mastermind" locked God in some place and allowed demons to attack Heaven and corrupt angels into enemies, as she's tricked by Hell into thinking he could finally rule Heaven.

And when she's defetead, someone like the Icon of Sin speaks to her and says she was being used before she's teleported to Hell and tortured for eternity.

As for Doom 64

If Hell was mostly gothic and atmospheric, i guess Heaven can be more "classical" or Romanesque for its architecture and their versions of Gargoyles statues could be angel statues?

Also a Angelic version of the Unmaker but unlike the Unmaykr from Eternal, it's more "Christian" and called what, the "maker"?

As for Doom 3

Heaven would have beautiful temples and buildings corrupted/invaded by Hell and the horror would increase because of the idea that everything is DOOMED when not even Heaven can make it, since even Martians had trouble with Hell.

Cherubs would turn out to be Heavenly angels turned into what they are in Doom 3.

Maybe a cutscene of a poor angel guy getting crushed by a Hellknight.

Doom 3's Hell and demons were said to look a bit "alien", so i wonder how could that apply to Heaven.

RPG Series

(Yes, i lazily screencapped a sprite rip from Spriters Resource)

If the Holy Water Pistol means anything, we could get a somewhat goofy take on Heaven.

Maybe even with unicorns and fairies (Too far?) but still with some sci-fi stuff applied to them.

What about GOD?

Ignoring 2 certain characters from Eternal, i had some ideas about a Doom version of God.

I imagine it'd be based off Romero for obvious reasons. So i imagine the "head on a stick" sprite but with some fancy/golden pole/pillar with some fancy plate/platform on top, holding the head of God.

And the disembodied head resembles Romero's face but with white/grey hair and beard.

And maybe there's a comfy pillow beneath the head.

Maybe the head is inside of a glass sphere or a crystal.

Another idea would be a giant wall texture of an angelic counterpart of the Icon of Sin, like the face of an old wise man in some giant computer screen. 

Or god being made of stone.

Or him with blue skin or even have something to do with the sun or clouds.

Or a giant robot head with robot tentacles and a beard.

(Maybe he has multiple forms, i dunno)

More on Urdak

Heaven in Doom has a lot of potential that i fear if Urdak is the only time it happens.

Nothing wrong with Urdak and this post is just me imagining fanfiction tier ideas that might be out-of-reach and absurd.

Because Doom was never that into religious references or portrayals like other media.

But it's also because of all the stuff i said about Doom's versatility and potential being from treating it like an "empty canvas" and how most people's interpretation includes cherrypicking specific elements from a mixture of things that made Doom.

But speaking of Urdak related ideas (Because it probably could've been more explored)

This is copypasted from that "meytr" Rentry post and slightly edited:

Blessed Soldier (Fodder): Based off the Slayer Maykr skin; Could use a rail-gun and bouncy grenades; Despite the limited arsenal, they have a grapple hook that lets them “steal” a weapon from the player’s arsenal and use it.

Cherubs (Fooder): Those baby things from Doom 3; They shoot weak slime projectiles that can blind the player’s view; Killing them causes them to explode in a damaging slime pool.

Black Squid thing (Fodder/Ambient): Those things from TAG1 that act as temporary platforms; They use their tentacles to absorb the player’s health and try to chase the player: A way to defeat them is by jumping on top of them and crush them; For some reason, i feel like using them to do a reference to the Chaos Eaters from Dark Souls.

Ophanim (Fodder): Shaped like a thick metallic ring with eyes; Acts like a Lost Soul equivalent from Urdak; Tries to slice the player with its circular saw-like shape; They have a chance to charge and can miss Doomguy, causing them to bounce off walls like boomerangs or low gravity tennis balls.

Maykr Angel/Principality (Heavy): Those guys from the cutscenes (Like the one that says “Welcome home, great Slayer”); They borrow abilities from TAG1 Samur like the 3 projectiles, teleportation and summoning electric eyes.

Maykr Archangel (Ambient): That giant “living” cross shaped thing from Urdak; They shoot projectiles through 4 directions; Also buff Maykrs like their version of a Buff Totem; Their weakness is a yellow hologram-like symbol that acts as a weak spot.

Maykr Guard/Virtue (Super Heavy): Remember that one concept art Maykr with multiple eyes, a staff and a text-on-a-loincloth thing? These guys can summon tornados (Heretic Iron Lich) and shoot homing projectiles; They also do a Devil May Cry Vergil-like attack where they summon energy staffs around them; Another attack consists of shooting giant ring shaped projectiles, that strafe left and right (Like a zig zag pattern) as they travel, but if you’re lucky, you can go through said rings like hoops.

Maykr Mech/Dominion (Super Heavy): Remember that one concept art Maykr that looked like a mech with a giant mechanical arm? These guys can summon a “rain” of rockets like DHunter and Tyrant; They can also build up a powerful laser that leaves a burning trail of energy; They also shoot small homing fire columns that make the player jump.

Reinterpretated Khan Maykr (Boss) with new attacks: She can shoot “black hole” projectiles; She could have an unique ability of creating energy platforms underneath the player, that appear and move upwards to make the player hit a ceiling hazard or be crushed in general, though the player can simply run away from these platforms (Think of this as a twist to Exultia's falling platforms and Arch-vile fire pillar jumps).

If these enemy attack ideas are absurd, that's another reason to add more Maykr enemies: So you can split some attack idea concepts instead of making some enemies feel bloated.

Also, completely unrelated to Doom but here's 2 designs from the Shin Megami Tensei series:

(Cherub, Devil Summoner and Ophanim, SMT II)

Now imagine Doomguy fighting these 2, in a crossover starring the Strange Journey protagonist.

[apartmentnumber4]

Ugh sorry to rant about dumb media but like I’m gonna complain about the recent seasons of Stranger Things sorry

.

The first season of Stranger Things was so fucking iconic. It had the perfect balance of references to 80s media which it was taking inspiration from and it’s own extremely original story line. The lights on the wall, the eggos, Eleven’s dress and wig, it was all literally iconic and invaded the media and I think that’s a good thing.

Despite the fact that it was dealing with alternate dimensions and aliens and shit it felt somewhat grounded. I mean, a small town in 80s Indiana, that is my bread and butter right there (partially because I’m from Indiana but whatever). I wasn’t alive during the 80s but everyone that I know who was tells me that it was so right about everything. The brownness (Like the color) that pervaded, the DnD, riding on bikes, I know these aren’t exclusive to the 80s but it felt right. Even the fact that the kids were pulling names from their DnD both felt like a great plot point but also believable. Of course they would, if they weren’t into DnD these 12 year olds probably would have pulled their names from something else because that’s how kids are.

Even the second season was pretty good. It didn’t have the iconic-ness that the first season did, but the Mindflayer was still a decently scary villain, Will got more screen time, and at the end it seemed to wrap the story line up nicely what with Mike and El getting to go to the snowball, Will finally being safe, etc.

And then season 3 happened. I will maintain as I’ve said to IRL friends before that Season 3 and 4 feel as though the Duffer Brothers got contracted for 4 (actually 5) seasons, finished the story and 2, and then went “well shit now we have to keep this going.”

It started to rely why way more on the stereotypical 80s, with the neon colors and the mall and GAP, not saying that its necessarily bad but its a complete shift from the og mood of Stranger Things.

They keep adding characters that they immediately kill off. And like, Barb had a purpose in both season 1 and 2, Billy technically had a purpose (although I think he could have been left out if they had ended on season 2). But what did Eddie, as much as he is a fun character, actually add to the story? I love Bob, but did he add anything if they were willing to completely forget about him season 3?

They also went from fun monster hunting and honestly a seeming criticism of American government to going Russia bad (And I know that there is a war happening w Ukraine rn but it wasn’t when season 3 came out and also do you honestly think they’re doing that out of sympathy for Ukraine or to push an overall pro America agenda), and they’ve even sanitized the monster plots. The demagorgon was Iconic, but what has it been reduced to but a weird plot where Hopper and some Russians have to fight one (that looks so different from the original one) in a work camp/prison. The mindflayer was reduced to a shitty cgi blob, the demogorgon/demodogs are basically nonexistent, and now we have some shitty guy that looks like a cross between a burn victim and a tree stump.

It’s insulting! It’s not the original stranger things. Even the parts that people praise such as Will being officially gay feel awkward and lackluster.

They took a group of kids who obviously loved one another and made them seem to despise each other - and they can’t seem to give a clear answer as to why except “growing up.” There’s so much potential conflict but they ignore it for this dumb shit.

They sacrificed the original main groups (the kids, the teenagers, and the adults) for ~quirky duos~ such as Dustin and Steve, and while I always expected the groups to overlap some its not as fun when Steve and Dustin don’t even know what Mike, Lucas, or El (or Will) are doing because they’re off having their own independent adventure.

It outgrew itself. That much is clear. And I get that that’s what shows do and what getting a bigger budget does but it’s disappointing. Especially because I go online and see people lauding it and I feel like an idiot. Do you guys genuinely think Vecna is good character design? No seriously. I’m asking, because everyone seems to think so and in that case I can only imagine that I’ve lost my mind. Is Eddie really that interesting, or is he just easy to ship Steve with?

Please, if you agree with me reach out because I need someone to not just complain to but also discuss how I think it could have been done better.

[erigold13261]

So I was thinking about how Ilia's String of Fate is something that can be used to connect JJK, Swap JJK, and the Eriverse.

If each character saw their counterpart, who would be the most (and least) surprised? Because OOH BOY do they have different lives!

Technically Swap JJK Ilia and JJK Ilia are the same person.

Swap Ilia was a human who died and for some reason was reborn as an ancient curse in the OG JJK universe (might change his story to be that instead of dying to a curse, Miyo died to a curse and Ilia used his maximum Kiss of Life to bring her back to life and because of that he died for her and was then reborn in a whole new universe).

So there isn't really a way for Swap Ilia to have known or seen his counterpart life in the future as JJK Ilia. However, JJK Ilia will look into the past with his Ocular Strands as well as look into other people's other selves from his universe by using their life strands just to get a better vision of his past universe that isn't directly connected to himself.

As of right now, he can barely look into other realities because he is honestly so focused on his past and this reality he tends to ignore the others around him as they aren't important to him other than maybe a quick past time when there is absolutely nothing else to do, but even then he tends to look at the pasts of trees or puddles instead of other universe entirely.

Now, Eriverse Ilia is an entirely different Ilia who probably would go around looking in all other kinds of universes just for the funs of it. Most likely it would also to be to check himself out and see what he is doing as well as if there are any other friends there possibly.

So he'd absolutely be looking at his Swap!JJK and OG!JJK self! As well as other versions of himself if there are any.

However, if we are just going on hypotheticals, and all of them could see each other, I think Swap Ilia would be the most surprised.

Mainly because if he could see these other two, most likely this is the first time for him as something happened so he did not even realize there were other universe or that he was going to die to give life to JJK Ilia later on in his short life.

JJK Ilia would then be the next more surprised (second least surprised? He's in the middle lol) because he already knew about other dimensions, but since he never looked into them he would be very surprised to see he is a robot in some universes.

And then the least surprised would be Eriverse Ilia. Not because he is used to his powers, I actually think he will be very surprised when he does get them, but not in the sense of "I can't believe alternative universes and me's are real!" more in the sense of " I can't fucking believe I can look into other universes! COOL!"

It also helps that Ilia would have talked to the Trolls at some point who would have explained time travel communication (which they use with humans 1000 years in the future) as well as possible alternate dimensions.

I mean, technically domains are pocket dimensions as well, so of course the Trolls and other people would think full on other dimensions/universes would exist. So Ilia absolutely had a theory they were out there (or possibly by this time already knew from evidence elsewhere), but now he has the ability to look whenever HE wants to without needing a device or something.

So yea, most to least surprised is Swap, JJK, Eriverse.

Also, I don't think Eriverse Ilia is going to have "Strings of Fate" but will still have something related to strings at some point, or like a knockoff or better version of Strings of Fate. One of the two.

Definitely gonna try and have the word "Web" in there to connected "Strings" and "Internet/robot" together lol

[magical-awesome-kid]

Just because I was thinking about NADDPOD and the fact that Hardwon of the three boobs has the shortest lifespan, I started to remember that Moonshine LITERALLY teleported them into basically a room in Heaven to have Hardwon visit Elias Sr. So it got me thinking that Hardwon, even when he goes, won’t be out of the story.

Imagine an old, haggard Hardwon who’s stuck around far too long thanks to Magic but his body aches, and it’s hard enough to lift a hammer these days. He’s already passed on the King’s Hammer to his daughter, a little girl who’s a tall dwarf raised amongst the crick folk. She’s made her own name, and Hardwon couldn’t be prouder.

Moonshine and Beverly have also grown, but Moonshine looks hardly a couple years older then she had been all those decades ago. Beverly has become a young Halfling man, but he also appears much younger then his halfling husband, who is the same age.

So when the two are distraught with everyone else, Hardwon is just “don’t forget to visit me” because in his heart he knows better than to think this is the final good bye.

And then he goes... but doesn't.

He meets up with the Dusk Mother, Kord, Pelor, and Moradin. He can smell the Crick in the air, which soon becomes the land, and he knows Melora is there as well.

Hardwon looks like himself right after the world had settled. Sure, he and the others had played roles in other fights, but they also spent much of the rest of his life being teachers and guides to the new generations of heroes. He feels strong and pain-free for the first time in a while.

So the gods sit him down and explain that he’s got a lot of pull in the afterlife. He was one of them, after all, for a short time, and he stabilized the mortal realm. The Dusk Mother doesn’t want him in the Ruby Dawn (formally Hell), but she also knows that he had a ball while being there, and she could keep him in contact with his mother in Shadowfell. Kord, of course, laid claim through his father, and, in recent years, the two have bonded. Pelor owes his heart to the Boobs, and he’s offering a cruise ship with all the solo cups. Moradin was his OG god and looks after all the loves Hardwon has truly had. Melora, there in spirit, reaffirms that his later life was of the Crick, and, even though she has given up her physical form, she can still offer her a place in her eternal tree stump.

Hardwon doesn’t know how long he’s talking it over, especially because time doesn’t exist where they are, but eventually he asks a favor - that they all pitch together. Instead of a cruise ship, he gets a simple air vessel from Pelor, one which his daughter imbues with her own magic to pierce between the realms. There is a permanent slip for the ship at the stump, Kord’s Hall, and Moradin’s forge. Hardwon is the first of the demigods to find home not in one dimension but many, and, over the years, he becomes a kind of mini-god of his own, one of pure hearted adventurers and never-ending spirit.

Of course, after his funeral, Moonshine has NO IDEA where to go, because her and Bev are like “what heaven would he go to???” So they pop down to the Ruby Dawn because the Dusk Mother likes them a lot and also they like to goof off down there on the race tracks she kept just for them and the spirits who race to work out their feelings.

Of course, they find the ship docked to the highest tower and, racing up the stairs, they find a younger Hardwon helping the Dusk Mother with a painting class for some of her wayward spirits, working out emotions through art. It’s One Big Pile On as Bev and Moonshine hug the ever-loving shit out of the man, and they KNOW he’s dead but Ruby Dawn? Like it’s fun but he doesn’t seem to fit here.

He then explains his ship, its power, and how he’s just... continuing to be him. Moonshine puts her scry sigil on the ship so she can always find Hardwon, and over the years Hardwon collects his own crew of adventurers who just can’t let adventure die, and Moonshine and Bev, until their own passings, come visit regularly to update him on the gossip of the mortal realm and bring him Sticky buns.

Moonshine and Bev settle a bit more than Hardwon, in the Stump and with Pelor, but he visits and brings them along whenever they ask.

[roselyn-writing]

Lost in another Dimension

Chapter 1

When was the last time i used a potion to Solve an issue. Well not Once in my life . so i’ll Use a “magical solution” to this .. Horrible issue .. when some farmers accidentally or maybe intentionally Awaken a sylven of the old west forsaken Lake .. and to my Amazing luck i well. Accidentally transform myself into a dimension i did not know about it .. not even little.. I didn’t know that are dimensions other than ours .. Virgina! .. well .. yes maybe i did and i forgot ... whatever ...

“Ouch ... what is this place?” Aliyaa murmured as she got up from the ice white ground ..

“Don’t tell me i’m in flistervaniya! I HATE ICERBORNS ..” She fumed ... and she heard a footsteps..

“What are you doing in my territory Stranger!.” Spoke a Chinese tongue ..

“What?” She looks behind and saw a blue-clad ninja ..

“Who are you?” She spoke in her language. She did not recongize his language because she did not know it ..

He stops a bit to think , she did not understand him .. and her looks is foreign. he didn’t see her in outworld or in his earth-realm ..

“You speak english? ..” He said in english hoping she knows it ..

“Yes.. and why is that? Horrible iceborn..” She spats and her hands glows blackfire

“Iceborns ? What is it .. and what are you talking about you use magic too?” He asked surprised and his hand glowed blueish-white .. ready to strike ..

“Don’t pretend like you know nothing Iceborn!! .. viðurstyggð .. prithee .. Reyndu að standa gegn mér eins og bræður þínir” she Speaks as she prepares a fistful of a darkfire caged spell that he dodges barely..

He did not understand what she said .. but he let it pass by

“Stop this mockery lady.. and let me help you .. you cannot stand against me ..” he reply as he shot a beam of ice that she Blocked it with ease .. Before the beam hit her she raised one hand as she magically blocked and Mix it with her own magic and she tossed it to the side ..

He looked astonished .. no one ever blocked his ice beams .. he had understimate her .. seeing her as a weak defenseless assassin.. but she is not an assassin or a hired gun or a hired murderer to finish him .. she was a stranger who got by her horrible luck stuck in this filthy White ice land .. that she hated so much ..

“Wait !! I do not wish to hurt you lady .. But please hear me out .. i only wish to know how did you know about my temple . How did you know about the Lin-kuei” he stammers

“What are you talking about .. i know nothing or anyone in this land i was magically transport in this dimension by accident.. and i’m sorry i mistake you for an enemy .. that i know in my dimension.. or homeland ...” she said as Dimmed her magic . So she appears as no threat to them ..

“Grandmaster! Are you okay? Did she attacked you ..” his bodyguards came as soon as they saw him in his fighting stance with another stranger .. mistaked as certain enemy clan ..

“No, it is alright.. go back to your duties..” he dissmised them as he look to the stranger ..

“It is alright lady .. i also mistake you for an enemy .. pardon my mistake.. may i ask what is your name!” He asked her and caught her off-guard by the last question ..

“Aliyaa aepel .. but you can Call me Al” she summarized .. the answer .. by AL ..

“Sub-zero” He Answere shortly

“Is that your name? Sorry but it sound funny” She laughed a bit ..

“Yes you found it funny as many did .. but they changed their minds when they Soon found out why i was called that ..” he told her nonchalantly

But he noticed that she was melting the Ice Beneath her ..With strange fire colour he did not see in his life ..

“Why your fire colour is black? I did not see something like that!” He told her and he think of certain pyromancer

“Because i chose this colour” She smiled as she blow a tundra tree that was on his left side .. he looked behind him as that unlucky tree is burning fast and Melt fast as well but before it burns and turns to ashes it was coated with black color.

“ is it not beautiful!” She was mesmerised by her own fire ..

“ it is more hotter than the mere fire i know .. you know when you blasted me i felt it’s horrible heat .. but i was lucky when i cooled it faster ..” he admitted.

“Sorry for that .” She apologized again ..

“Which realm you hail from?” He asked again

“Is your questions ever ending?” She chuckles a bit ..

“No, but i wanna know lady Aliyaa” surprisingly he smiled at her .. She did not know why but she find it amusing

“Why are you wearing a ninja attire?” She asked caugh him off-guard too he did not expect that .. not from her ..

“Because i used to be an assassin.. but i hope to find redemption..” he Answers bitterly

“You’ll find it by making good deeds” she Uttered smilingly to him

“Alright. I think that we spent enough time in the Wilderness come in my temple you must be cold .. Aliyaa” He suggested amused

“I don’t feel cold.” She protested and she wasn’t lying about not being cold or hot

“In clothes like this?” He mused at her ..

“Yeah, i dont feel cold or hot .. well i am protecter.. in my realm when your a protecter or a superior you have enormous power you can’t even feel hot or cold ..” She explains to him

“And which realm is that?” He asked again hoping that she would answer

“Valoreina or valoren for short ..” Aliyaa reply to him ..

“Alright, come inside so that you and i share stories .. You look promising with more amazing stories..” He asked again as he gestures his hand for her to follow ..

“Alright, if you insist” she Accpeted..

•Moments later•

They were walking in the corridors and talking in temple

“So you fought a fiery warrior . That sounds Kinda Hard to believe..” she smiled teasingly

“Says you .. you said you killed a Wizard eating children” he chuckles at her mimicking her tone ..

“Fair enough.. i guess i’ll believe you ...” she chuckles at him

“Fair enough i guess, i’ll believe yours too” he smiled teasingly too, She stopped and looked at him ..

“What?” He questions her

“Why is there a boy with spiky blueish hair coming to you?” She Asked him

“That’s a her not him ..” He answered Chuckling, as the thought mistaking a female student with as a boy

“Ooh . Well from afar she look like a boy .. no offense !i mean hehe” She declared

“None taken Aliyaa” he chuckled

“Sifu .. I apologize for interrupting but what is a stranger doing here especially in Lin-kei Sacred grounds!” Frost demanded

“Frost ... please go back to your duties ..” he dissmised her, Frost didnot argue but she shots Aliyaa a dead glare ..

“Why is she always the odd one?” Aliyaa asked once again, She can’t help but to ask.

“Sorry Aliyaa but she is what you described her

Always the “Odd” ones of my students .. “ he grunted ..

“Wanna do a spare match?” He suggested

“Well .. i ... i .. I Don’t really fight like you do ..” she addmited while Fixing her gaze on the side .. she looks embarrassed because of it ..

“It is okay .. it seems you have more potential but you are not willing to show it .” He explained

“Why would i show it?” She countered him with a straightforward question ..

“Well .. to show that you Are a capable person. A powerful fighter and a protecter willing to protect it’s people ...” he explaint

“I dont need it .. thank god that everyone in my homeland know that i am a powerful protecter!” She smiled proudly

“Okay.. we can still do a spar match ..” He suggested again hoping she would answer..

“Alright if you insist..” She whined a bit ..

“Let’s go to my own fighting ground” he confessed

“To your own fighting ground what else you have of your own” she joked

“Actually a lot .. but Too much to count on my fingers” He admitted, Chuckling to himself

In their way to the fighting ground aliyaa was listening Instead of talking .. he figured out she is more of a listener than a talker ...

“We here .” He clapped as he removed his coat ..

“Alright.. for I don’t know what is this going to lead us ..” She joked and she is prepared

“You look prepared al” he mused

“You too look prepared and confident.” She reply

“What’s wrong with confident..” he reply as his ice power gatherd into sphere and blasted to her

She sheilded herself by her power it sounds is stronger and devoured his ice sphere ..

“Nice try .. you fell for it twice grandmaster” she mimicked his title and chuckles ..as her sheild de-activated

“Too soon to brag” He slided into her and kicked her into the abdomen ..

He was surprised it did not affected her .. Her body is hard like a rock ..

“How’s that ..” He reply shocked ..

She pulled him magically as she prepared a dark-fire punch into his face

He flew behind the fighting ground lines ..

“It was fun ... i had to admit” she smiles a bit she pulled him magically before he hits the trees ..

“You okay?” She Asked look worried..

“Yes .. i am fine Aliyaa ..” he smiles as he took her hands in his and get up ..

“It was a powerful attack .. i had to admit.. i did not expect it from you .. to be this powerful.. and your body is more solid than mine , good reflexes by the way ..” He asked.. looking shocked

“Well yeah it is a secret of mine and thank you for the compliment,..” She offers him to heal his face .. it looks burns with a black remnants

“Yes please ..” He said as she heals him swiftly on the face..

“Here look” she told as she summons a mirror magically

“Thanks..” he thanked her

“Welcome ,” She smiles as she got up , from kneeling to heal him up

“You look full of surprises Aliyaa aepel” He said

And with that we end this lovely chapter! There will be chapter too ..

[imagine-loki]

The Slutty Webs one Weaves

Title : The Slutty Webs one Weaves

Chapter NO. 5 of 10?

ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine Loki’s Asgardian wife learns women write fanfiction about him on a trip to Midgard. She’s edgy for the duration and lets him have it when they get back.

Author: lokilover9

Rating: M

Thor agreed Brianna going to Asgard a good idea as Loki presumed and shielded her from Heimdall's sight as a precautionary measure. Before leaving, the brother's sat observing Little Warrior lead Tony and Pepper to the couch and hand him a usb stick.

"What's this?" He asked.

"A computer virus. My revenge plan was to disembowel Jarvis if you hadn't kept your promise."

Stark eyed Loki who shrugged a shoulder. "Don't look at me. I only learned of it this morning."

"It's my creation, pretty nasty and should be destroyed." Said Brianna.

"How nasty?"

"It bears the potential to wipe out most of New York's power grids."

Tony was momentarily speechless. "I'll do that and am overjoyed you two became friends."

"Me too and sorry for being so rude when you touched my stuff."

"It's alright." Said Pepper.

"No it wasn't. You deserve to know why. Loki mentioned the homeless people right?"

"Yes."

"Dory was the first one I met. Taught me handy street smarts and helped shop for my boy clothes. Ran away from home because her moms boyfriend was a jerk. I encouraged her to call one day and when she learned they split up, convinced her to go home. Really smart person. Dreams of becoming an Astronaut. Anyway, she had a big crush on Captain America and gave me her favorite hat as a gift. Then I met Muriel. A mean looking older lady who was actually super sweet and protected me something fierce. Beat this guy up one night for trying to steal my blanket while cursing him sideways. She loved Chinese food and taught me self defence techniques, like how to poke a hole in someone's brain by shoving a chopstick up their nose."

Everyone's ears and attention piqued as Tony wondered if Muriel was a distant cousin of Sasquatch's. "Hopefully not on live subjects."

"No, silly. On a plastic skull she molded a face onto with clay. I paid for the supplies. Helping police identify people used to be her job in Arizona. Great way to kill zombies though. Best to behead them like with vampires and guarantee they've bit the bullet." Brianna then pulled a gold bracelet with a four leaf clover charm from her pocket. "Muriel was Irish and gave me this for good luck. It's too big so I carry it in my pocket. Before meeting you guys, they were the first people who were super nice to me. I fretted their gifts ruined in the wash."

"I'm sorry." Said Pepper.

"It's okay. I was just a little freaked."

'And nearly built a cave for the abominable snowman.' Thought Stark. "We were more worried about you after the fact."

"I could tell by your happy dance when I woke."

"Hey, badass did one too. In the hall. You didn't see."

Brianna giggled. "Thanks to you both for everything and I'm sorry for lying."

"Meh, we understand."

"I meant about not having a favorite Avenger. It's you uncle Cootyoodles. That's why I sought your help first. The Black Widow was my next stop."

Tony pictured Nat teaching her how to yank teeth out with pliers and felt twice as relieved for keeping that promise. "Nat's eccentric and hates zombies. I'm way more fun." Brianna suddenly hugged him tightly and kissed his cheek. "Awe, Little Warrior. Friends forever?"

"Damn straight!" Then she did the same to Pepper. "I forgot to explain why you're a badass role model. Working so hard to become CEO of a massive company like Stark Industries and executing all that embodies? You rock! I hope to grow up as astute, diligent and athoritative. Maybe I'll run a company one day."

"You already possess those traits and will exceed my achievements."

No one knew that better than Loki who cleared his throat. "Grandmother and Grandfather go to bed early, Min Lille."

"One more minute, please?"

"Alright."

She studied Stark, pondering the best way to implement her request. "You don't have to do this, but… Not all homeless people are bad or crazy like others seem to believe. Many hit hard times and the world is so expensive, they couldn't keep up. No one I met lived on the streets because they wanted to. There just aren't enough shelters or resources available. You're rich Tony and could help them. Will you try?"

As Loki had succeeded with Frigga, those beautiful pleading eyes won her case. "You really know how to pull a guys heart strings, kid. I promise."

Loki wasn't aware she'd intended to ask this, yet was so proud of her. "Min Lille?"

"I know." She politely replied.

"You have to go." Tony suddenly stood and darted for the hall. "Be back in a jiffy."

"Meet him by the elevator, or you'll never leave." Suggested Pepper.

He returned and handed Loki a loaded Iron Man backpack. "More things? Shall I conjure a crate for the bifrost?"

They'd already given her an overstuffed suitcase of clothes and toys and Stark held a gift bag in hand. "Be quiet, you. It's a peanut butter stash. Does Asgard have bananas?"

"Yes." 'Thank the Norn's.'

Tony knelt before Brianna. "I would've packed some tater tots, but you ate them all again."

She smirked. "My goof."

"Rascal. Try to ignore a wee, bitty smidgen, you aren't into girly stuff? We couldn't help ourselves with you off to Asgard."

Brianna pulled from the bag a pink baseball cap that said Warrior Princess in tiny diamond gems and proudly adorned it. "You sure know how to pull a girls heart strings."

"I put some Motown CD's in there too. Teach Dad to moonwalk." Loki sighed, pushed the elevator button and Tony playfully whispered. "From a distance. In case he trips over his own big feet." He hugged her again and summoned Jarvis.

"Yes, sir?"

"Our friend is leaving."

"Goodbye, Little Warrior." Said the AI.

"Bye. Sending you a virtual hug."

She joined Thor inside while Loki shook hands with Tony, his expression saying everything. "Any time. Now get the 'bleep' out of my Tower before I thieve your Daughter."

Brianna shouted as it closed. "There's presents on your bed! I'll miss you!"

Peppers was a black t shirt with gold letters that read Badass Role Model and Tony's was a monsterous box filled with tater tots.

"Don't do it, Butch. If you cry, I'm gonna cry." ***** Loki had purposely slowed the elevator allowing her time to give Thor a drawing.

"Mjolnir in a field of flowers? Thank you fair maiden."

"It's a scratch n' sniff."

"A what?"

Loki picked up Brianna. "You scratch the flowers, then sniff them. The effect is most appealing the stronger you inhale."

Thor took a whiff and wriggled his nose. "Quite the nostril tickler. What should they smell like?"

"Try harder." 'Doofus.'

He took another, looked cross eyed at Loki and began swaying. "...Brother..you…" Then down he went striking the floor with a thud the tip of his nose covered in sparkly dust.

"Sorry, uncle Thor."

Loki chuckled at her wince. "The spell is mild and shall soon wear off."

"Is he hurt?"

Loki let her down to hurle the hefty Thor over his shoulder. "Us God's are resilient. Your uncle once endured a skirmish with the Hulk." After escorting them through a portal and delivering Brother oaf to his bed, he lead Brianna through a second into some woods.

"That was awesome! Will you teach me how to do it?"

"Not in the near future. It's very complicated, darling and I'd hate to think you lost in another dimension." 'Or vanishing one day as an angry teen with a troublesome suitor I dream of throttling.'

"Okay." Brianna nervously scanned the area. "Now what? Carnivores hunt these woods."

"Northern Alberta is home to many. Never go outside without me and none will harm you."

"But wolves hunt in packs and grizzlies are bigger than you."

He booped her little nose. "I'll smell them before they smell us and neither possess deadly weapons in interdimensional pockets."

"Where our luggage is? I tried hiding bigger items in them and the darn things wouldn't come back. Hannah was furious, but I didn't care."

"What did you hide?"

"The back wheels of her Lamborghini, Gallardo. I overheard my Mother tell Claudia she got it from her rich boyfriend."

Loki recalled from spending time with Stark this wasn't a billionaire's vehicle, yet financially unattainable to the average Midgardian. "I see. Did she mention his occupation?"

"Plastic surgeon."

Brianna deserved that minor victory and although he wouldn't encourage it, one cannot preach vengeance a negative path when mapping their own. 'Perhaps he'll be useful to the sluts after I'm done.' "Ah. Care to see what I did while you slept last night?"

"You left me?" She confusedly asked.

He picked her up again. "It was necessary and I returned, yes? I won't abandon you, Og Min Lille."

"Never?"

"Never, darling. "Loki headed for a shack nearby nestled amidst some bushes. With its crooked roof, faded wood and door minus a hinge the structure looked ready to collapse.

"We're staying there?"

"Why not? I'll conjure an outdoor toilet." He teased. "Sheltered of course."

"Ewww."

"Come now. At night we'll have heated beds and during the day, roast squirrels on an open fire."

She scrunched her face in disgust. "Blech! I'd rather eat tree bark."

"You'll get an awful tummy ache."

They entered the dingy space and Brianna instantly focused on the filthy floor covered in forest debris. So intently, she didn't notice the sturdier frames of the structure only visible from within. "How will we keep the door closed and is that poop?"

Loki rolled his eyes at some turds in a corner. "The cabin is made of Brazilian Ebony."

"One of the strongest woods on earth." She commented.

He arched an intrugued brow. "Stained to appear aged, it's also bulletproof in light of human hunters. Consider the other materials deceiving movie props. The 'raccoon' poop is genuine." It vanished with a wave of his hand. "Now, did you mean that door?" It closed and he conjured a deadbolt onto the surface with a panel directly above. "Place your hand in the center?" Brianna did and it glowed green, spreading magic from the center throughout every surface like glowing, emerald fireflies. As they dimmed, Loki turned around. "Or this one?" The floor, suddenly cleared of debris had a sliding glass door in the center.

Brianna gasped in wonder, glancing between him and the mystery beneath. "Where does it go?"

"Did you think a sorcerer Prince would allow his Princess daughter to dwell in a shabby old shack?"

"Ancestry aside, I sincerely hoped not. Even an RV would've been better."

He chuckled at her frankness. "And you worried of uncle Thor bumping his head? The shacks purpose was added safety should a need arise and to keep our secret entrance hidden. "Once the outer door locks, only the interior alters. To outsiders, nothing changes." It opened and he carried her down a mutedly lit spiral staircase, each step progressively illuminating the space below.

At the bottom, she slid from his arm in awe. "Shut the front door! You 'definitely' have to teach me how to do this."

Min Lille was referencing conjuring. Another ability Loki thanked the Norns she didn't yet possess, having confessed so before requesting Tony and Pepper's gifts. "In time. Beyond that archway, another surprise awaits." Loki followed and suddenly pondered Brianna conjuring a future dwelling for herself and that troublesome suitor. 'Lessons commence when your forty.' ***** Thor woke to find two notes in his shirt pocket. One for himself the other, Astrid; 'Sleep well, Brother? We won't be returning to Asgard just yet. Please give this to my wife? I recommend waiting several days, discreet delivery and a hasty exit. A visit will follow and when interrogated, lie. Tell her Brianna came to you and don't mention her ice concoction. Unless you enjoy Father's company when several fries short of a happy meal. As I planned our escape without Tony's knowledge, do avoid his unnecessary panic and Pepper seeking our demise, by not telling our dear friend? Min Lille is safe.'

"That shyster." He grumbled. Jane returned in six days as would Astrid to a missing Loki. Waiting risked a molotov cocktail interrogation. His beloved and coronary inducing sister-in-law, banging down their locked bathroom door while the mighty Thor coward behind a shower curtain. Plus Maxi Waxis training schedule ended in two days. Bribery assured those lips zippered, but Heimdall would think his hastiness suspicious. He called to the trainee in the middle of the night, snuck into the palace and raced back to the observatory like the looney tunes road runner. "Spend it well nincompoo..eh he, Max. Asgard is lucky to have you."

Guilt ridden over her outburst and already missing Loki, Astrid returned in the morning to find the note.

Frigga was preparing to join her belly dancing instructor when she barged into the foyer and flung herself at the Allmother.

"Bwaaahahaa! I want a divorce!"

"Hells bells and bilgesnipe testicles. What has my shameless son done this time?"

"Frigga, your language." Scolded Odin.

She patted Astrid's back. "Oh shush. As if your cursing hasn't scarred the servants ears."

[snkpolls]

SnK Chapter 120 Poll Results

The chapter 120 poll closed with 1,375 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!

RATE THE CHAPTER 1,314 Responses

This chapter is less popular than most, possibly due to its abrupt ending and feeling of incompletion. Still, 86.5% of the fandom rated it a four or five making it another solid contribution to the series as a whole.

PATHS are awesome, but I hope there's a satisfying narrative payoff to its inclusion

A lot of mixed opinions on this chapter from everybody, but I personally loved it. It went by fast but it's something you gotta read a few times just to get a good feel on it.

Best chapter since Attack on Liberio

I LOVED this chapter. Paths explained! Baby Eren! Little Mikasa! The OG Levi Squad! School caste Armin and Mikasa!!! I literally began to cackle when Eren straight up told Zeke his plan was stupid. I loved it, I've been waiting for that moment ever since ch114.

Character expressions were beautiful. Isayama's art keeps improving. 

Easily one of my top 5 favorite chapters. The artwork was fantastic, the double crossings had me shook, & the Paths converging at the Coordinate is Yggdrasil. Love it!

Felt way too short and paths just got more confusing

I actually had to count the number of pages because I couldn't believe it was over yet. Seemed so short! But at the same time, many questions were answered.

Timeloop theory is out, multiverse theory is in! :)

This chapter was a gift from Isayama to all the Jaeger fans. Thanks Isayama.

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING WAS YOUR FAVORITE MOMENT? 1,342 Responses

18% of the fandom was thrilled to see Eren reiterate his “born into this world” sentiment as he rejected Zeke’s ideology. 16% found themselves moved by Zeke hearing Grisha apologize to him in his dreamstate. 14.6% were excited to see Eren rejecting Zeke’s plan, and at a near-tie 9.9% most enjoyed Zeke pulling a double betrayal on Eren, while 9.8% loved the moment when Eren woke up to see the Coordinate in front of him.

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF ZEKE CATCHING EREN’S HEAD? 1,323 Responses

It was a meme, and now it’s canon. What did you all think of the resolution to last month’s cliffhanger? 42.2% felt it was a bit goofy but still worked, 29.5% thought it was amazing, 16.5% liked the moment but wish it had flowed better and not cut up over chapters, and only 7% thought it was absolutely ridiculous.

All those times playing catch with Mr Xaver really paid off!

It wasn't bad but just hilarious how memes have predicted it

I guessed it would happen after finishing reading chapter 119. In AoT nothing goes the way the characters want it, except for the Yeager bros.

I thought it was really heartbreaking and absolutely traumatizing.

I was very sad for Zeke at that moment, he seems in deep despair, there was no way to know that it would work to make Eren's survive. It was obviously more instinctive like Colt wanting to hug with his brother while he knows it will cause his death than reflexive

I totally called it and was thrilled it really happened

It was expected, but I believe we can't fully know how to feel because it's still a moment in development. I mean, it makes sense, it was the only move. We all saw it coming but it doesn't take anything from the awesomeness

Great payoff to Zeke's obsession with baseball

Eren could have given him a heads up... Zeke almost didn't catch him

WHICH ‘FROZEN IN AN INSTANT” MOMENT ARE YOU MOST EXCITED TO SEE PLAY OUT? 1,330 Responses

When the action returns to the battle, the majority of the fandom are eager to see “Armin and Mikasa vs. The Cart” (27.4%) and “The aftermath of Gabi’s shot” (26.7%) play out. On a more lighthearted note, was “that one bird” (3.7%) received more votes than “Niccolo and the Braus family” (1.6%).

WHICH TITAN MEMORY MOMENT WERE YOU MOST EXCITED TO SEE? 1,328 Responses

“Mikasa from chapter 1” was not only the largest memory shard, but also the moment we were most excited to see (24.3%). “Present day Historia” was our second choice (19.9%) and “The mysterious dark haired boy” was third (12.4%).  At the other end of the spectrum, once again “those birds” rule, beating out “the horse” (0.4%), “the ocean” (0.8%), “that bowl of food” (0.2%), “the colossal titan peering over the wall” (1.1%) and “that one person in the bottom left (1.1%) Faye (0.6%), the blimp (0.1%), the basement key (0.4%), Jean’s horse face (0.9%) and even Hange (0.5%).

WHO IS THE BOY NEXT TO MIKASA IN THE MEMORY SHATTER? 1,303 Responses

“A child from the Mid East Alliance” has taken the majority (31.8%) with Rod Reiss and Tom Xaver following, each with about a quarter of the vote. Eren Kruger was fourth with 11.5%. We also had plenty of write ins. 

A child from the Mid-East Alliance, as he's wearing a Fez. It's probably a memory from Lady Tybur's youth, as we know the Tybur Family had connections with nations all across the world.

All the memories here have been from either te Attack Titan or the Founding Titan.  Thus I don’t think this is a boy from Warhammer Titan’s memories. Possibly it is Eren Kruger’s memories, in which case this cannot he Tom Xaver as it’s much too young for them to meet. Eren met Tom when Tom was a doctor and able to falsify his blood documents is he could join the Marley police. This is a new character.

At this point i really don't know it could be fucking king fritz himself isayama would probably do it

Eren's future son

Frieda’s brother

I think he's ms. Tybur's friend, eren's memories in here kinda mixed up so it makes sense he sees tybur's memories

It’s rod. You can tell by the vest he’s got on. But I do like the few people calling him the Arumika lovechild.

Probably Eren Kruger's friend / brother / child idk, or a future character that we don't know yet.

Someone from Ymir Fritz's time

The child from the last рanel

DID YOU LIKE THE INCLUSION OF CASTE ON TITAN CHARACTERS IN THE SPREAD PAGE? 1,249 Responses

Let’s be real… The manga has had a depressing tone for quite a while now, and some humor (assuming that’s what this was!) is probably good for us. 72% of poll respondents agree with this notion, and loved the inclusion of Armin and Mikasa from the high school AU. 18.3% weren’t quite so keen to see this easter egg, however. 

I knew Isayama said something along the lines of incorporating this AU in the canon so it was nice to see that. Whether he plans to make a reincarnation AU out of this or just an easter egg is up to him.

I think it's cute. It's small and out of the way so it's not like it's disturbing the story.

Idk I'm confused. Isayama really likes to play with us

If you mean Nerd!Armin and Goth!Mikasa, yes I did like it. Could you PLEASE call it Highschool AU or similar, I spent like five minutes trying to understand what 'Caste on Titan' meant!

WHAT DO YOU THINK THE BEST IN-STORY EXPLANATION IS FOR CASTE ON TITAN BEING INCLUDED? 1,266 Responses

Well over half of the fandom agree that the inclusion of Caste on Titan (AKA the high school AU fake previews) in the memory shatter was merely an easter egg for the fans to enjoy, rather than Isayama canonizing anything. 20.9% feel differently, feeling that Isayama has canonized Caste on Titan as an alternate universe. 10.7% feel that it is a possible future or reincarnation. 

Above Ymir Fritz, in a dimension higher than PATHS, lies the one true God and Creator Isayama-sama, who casually screws His people's minds on a monthly basis with images like these.

It is the actual reality

Canon?? FUTURE?? WHO?? WHAT??

Reincarnation AU is canon, baby

I have never heard of Caste on Titan.

Really it's probably just an easter egg, but it also kind of canonizes AUs which is fine by me.

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE LOOK AT THE PATHS DIMENSION IN THIS CHAPTER? 1,331 Responses

What did the fandom think of a whole chapter focused on paths? 80.2% loved the deep dive into them, 15.3% liked the information but don’t love paths as a story mechanic, and 2.1% dislike paths immensely and just want to go back to the battle.

Being someone who loves time-travelling stuff, I'm intrigued. I see a lot of theories around and the loop seems a little weird to me. I believe Isayama has a great, unique concept and I'm excited to fully comprehend it.

Enjoyed it a fair bit, but we need to know more! Especially about how this dimension came to be in the first place.

I can't wait to see this in the anime!

I sort of wish it was more alluded to and not shown too much

I wish isayama was good enough a writer so that he wouldnt have to rely on this bullshit for long-term, grand-scheme storytelling

It's awesome, we need a break from battle, right? I can't wait it'll be animated beautifully just like Ymir one back in the season 2

The most fascinating aspect of the story by far. I just want every single one of their mysteries to be revealed.

I really want to know more about the PATHS. But not from Zeke. I think he is definitely lying about some things here. And I loved that double betrayal. 

I didn’t know what the heck was going on

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE COORDINATE AS SHOWN IN THIS CHAPTER? 1,321 Responses

A part of the in-depth look at paths this chapter was a visualization of the coordinate itself. Just over half of the fandom are excited that the theories of Norse Mythology influences might have paid off with the coordinate appearing similar to the mythological tree Yggdrasil. 18.2% of you are unsure what Yggdrasil is and how it relates to the story, 16.5% think the coordinate is supposed to look like a tree but Yggdrasil isn’t a direct influence, and 13.1% think it’s just a beam of light that branches off.

I just thought back to most of the depictions in books of Ymir and the Devil.  A good number of them had an object behind Ymir, that being a tree.  Coincidence?  I think not!

It really does have Yggdrasil vibes, and sorta looks like a tree branching off, but for now I can’t quite put it anywhere. Looks dope though.

It symbolizes a tree, and I hope it in turn connects to the tree Eren sat against in Chapter 1

Yes! more norse mythology references! Yggdrasil baby!

I loved how the trails in the path sky were the expanding branches of the Yggdrasil tree from SnK. Different space, different rules of time and matter...

It's shiny, glowy and pretty, and gives rise to loads of amazing fan colorings. Seriously, that full-page panel with Eren standing in front on it is a work of art.

It's the Tree of Life, Yggdrasil but also the Sephirot, among others. Norse Mythology confirmed with the name Ymir, the Norse proto-giant whose body was used to create the nine realms.

Maybe it's Yggdrasil, maybe not. I like the symbolism, but I can't confirm it actually is Yggdrasil.

Tree of life, much original, v cultured

PATHS converging as ROOTS.

BETRAYAL! WHAT DID YOU THINK OF EREN TURNING ON ZEKE? 1,331 Responses

Who doesn’t love a predictable but good betrayal? 70.5% of respondents were more than happy to see that Eren didn’t agree with Zeke’s ideals, even going so far as to support the demeanor in which Eren delivered the blow. 20.9% are happy he doesn’t agree with Zeke, but feel he could have gone a little easier on him. A small percentage feel he should have sided with Zeke…

Expected but still immensely satisfying. Kinda felt a little bummed for Zeke getting rejected like that.

I loved the twist which was made even better with a double-twist!

Assuming Eren wants to go through with the Rumbling, then both plans are crazy

Eren revealed his cards too early. Although, I can see Eren making that mistake.

It was what I'd hoped would happen eventually, however, it's still another example of Eren doing whatever the fuck he wants without consulting his plans with anyone and hurting people as a consequence

Harsh, but Zeke had it coming and it felt kind of great on an emotional level in terms of a true loss to Zeke, who has done some pretty shitty stuff.

Eren’s plan is stupid, you could’ve told Armin and Mikasa about this but nooooo you gotta be an ass.

I knew Eren wouldn't go through with Zeke's plan. But Zeke also deserves to see the errors in his plans, that he has no right to euthanise his fellow Eldians!

I'm not surprised about Eren's betrayel, it was obvious from the start that he would never agree with Zeke's ideology. But currently I feel very bad for Zeke. For first his parents only want to used him for their plans, because of his royal blood and Eren only used him for the same thing. Poor Zeke ;___;

Zeke had a lot of time the overthink everything that has happened in the timeless paths realm. Even if Zeke did not realize before, he definitely thought about the betrayal during said time.

DO YOU THINK ZEKE IS CORRECT THAT THE GIRL IN THE PATHS DIMENSION IS OG YMIR? 1,331 Responses

Zeke assumes, along with 76.5% of readers that the girl we see roaming paths is Ymir Fritz.  However, 19.5% of readers disagree with Zeke on this one.

I was but, after reading a theory posted days after the release, it makes sense that she's actually the OG Christa.

I think it’s Ymir, I don’t think ymir is who they think she is

I think she is indeed Ymir... But could also be the Earth devil.

Hearing all these theories about Eren asking Zeke how he could know, and Zeke just responding with (while logical) a not for sure answer makes me mixed

It seems wierd to me that the Founder has no will or personality of her own, it seems to me that shouldn't be the case, but well... I was hoping she would have some more additions to the story of the titans but she seems like a walking corpse

It's the most likely answer, but the fact he's just assuming makes me not want to claim for sure. Yams likes to seize on assumptions.

Kind of, it's the person they call Ymir but it's really the character of Christa

No. At least not fully, many characters have claimed what happened in the past, but none of them have been entirely right. I don't see why I should see Zeke as entirely correct either.

An empty shell of ymir caused by King Fritz messing with the cordinate

I think Zeke, Eren, Historia and this girl (I think it's Eren's daughter) are all Ymir.

WHY DID YMIR PASS BY EREN? 1,328 Responses

Over half of the fandom (57.7%) agree with Zeke’s theory on this one - Ymir gave Eren the brush off because the Founding Titan is basically a pawn of the royal family. 28.1% are suspicious and believe that she’s got other plans we’ve yet to be clued in on.

Nepotism over cronyism, I guess

She's being controlled by Zeke due to his royal blood so she probably got no choice. Maybe if she gets released she'll cooperate with Eren

The grown woman-child doesn't like boring edgy teens, maybe?

In his time in the paths, Zeke gained enough control over them to make since illusions for eren.  This chick is just as illusory as his chains.  Zeke is using her to manipulate Eren because he needs Eren to control the founder.

Zeke is technically alive. Eren isn’t. She’s going for the living shifter.

Eren is too hot for her, she can't handle the Yeager

That’s not not Ymir.

She really dosnt have a free will and is being controlled by an even higher power

Zeke has created those chains and that girl to trick Eren

Ymir herself is a slave to the royal family. The royal blood in Zeke calls out to her.

WHAT MEMORY OF GRISHA’S DID YOU ENJOY THE MOST? 1,335 Responses

With lots of heartwarming moments to choose from this chapter, 32.7% most enjoyed seeing Grisha turn away from the Reiss chapel and choosing instead to focus on being a good husband and father to his family. 28.8% enjoyed seeing how Grisha spent his time in the basement and the possibility of him seeing Zeke from the future. 19.7% got the dokis over seeing Grisha be there for Eren’s baby milestones.

Loved baby Eren and it was really nice seeing Grisha so caring for his family (I missed Carla too, so good to see her again)

Baby Eren is the cutest baby in the whole universe and if you disagree you need glasses

IN LIGHT OF THIS CHAPTER, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT GRISHA NOW? 1,330 Responses

Nearly half of the fandom (47.2%) admire Grisha’s ability to change and work to become a better father and husband after learning from his mistakes. 21.1% are glad that he was much better with Eren, but still can’t look past the way he treated Zeke as a child. 19.3% have always had faith in Grisha and enjoyed his character. 

One of the reasons why SnK is as good as it is. The way goodness and horribleness exists within him at the same time, the way it makes him so imperfect, so deplorable, so sympathetic and so human, it's a testament to how well he is written. I love him. I love him so much.

I didn't like him before, but now I have a little more sympathy. I felt like crying when he was dreaming about Zeke and wanted to see him badly. I hope they will have a chance to talk in paths.

I'm amazed by the forgiveness other readers are giving him. It's as if they're ignoring what he actually believed and did. I don't believe many people are beyond redemption, and the fact that Grisha managed to get caught before he could actually murder anyone works in his favour, but I hold him to the exact same standard I would any real person who tried to bring back a regime he himself believed was exceptionally violent and bloodthirsty (before the Owl delivered the 'nice' history of Eldia). Overall he *could* be forgiven, but so far...holding your cute chubby son and choosing not to commit your original sin *again* is not it.

No matter how much he learned from Zeke he still cursed them both with 13 years at the end, so it doesn't really make a difference for me.

For the longest time I didn't know how to feel about him but this chapter cleared up a lot of things and I absolutely love him now

While he ultimately failed at parenting twice, it is good to see he learned from some of his mistakes and that his actions here reflected that. In the end, he still went for the royal family before the breach of the Wall and treated Eren to the serum instead of spending his time looking for a better, less 'child' host for his titan.

DID BABY EREN SEE OLDER EREN AND ZEKE? 1,335 Responses

While it may not impact the story, the vast majority of the fandom (70.9%) feel confident that baby Eren was able to see his future self. Only 2.8% selected “No” for this question.

DID GRISHA SEE ZEKE AT THE END? 1,333 Responses

We don’t really know how it happened, but it sure does seem like Grisha saw Zeke at the end of the chapter when he noted his aged appearance. 79.1% agree that this appears to be the case. 2.7% disagree, chalking this up to nothing more than a coincidence. Eren and/or Zeke being able to interact with the past in any way has some striking implications, so hopefully we get some answers soon!

WILL ZEKE CHANGE HIS MIND ABOUT GRISHA? 1,333 Responses

46.3% of respondents feel that the narrative is pushing Zeke to forgive his father and let go of what happened in the past. 38.6% see the potential for him to forgive Grisha, but don’t want to say with confidence that he definitely will. 11.5% believe that there is nothing that will ever cause Zeke to forgive his father. 

At his core, Zeke wants his father to love him and treat him as a son instead of a tool. Knowing that Grisha still thinks of him and feels guilty about the way he raised him must have stirred something in him.

Partially. Yes, Grisha grew from that. But it just meant that Eren got the childhood he wishes he had and that in his eyes Eren got preferential treatment.

If anything I think he's mostly going to be jealous of Eren and regrets not being born at the right time. That being said they haven't reached the memory where Grisha passed his titan to Eren.

Might lean more towards him not changing because of his very single-minded way of looking at things. Maybe a smaller chance, don't know how I'd feel about it, though in terms of storytelling.

I hope. I am so ready for a Zeke redemption to take place even if the chances of it happening are low. I want to see the Yeagerbros working together.

I don't think so. If Eren shows him the next memory in which Grisha gave his titan powers to Eren and forced him to end his mission by going to the cellar and learning to control that power, Zeke would think that he was right about his father that he brainwashed him. Maybe Grisha was a good father in Eren's younger years but at the end he shouldered his burden to his second son and gave Eren a new reason to continue the cycle of hatred, to avenge his mother. I don't think that Zeke will change his mind so easily...I have the feeling that Eren has to convince his Brother otherwise, but I could be wrong.

While his opinion about Grisha May change slightly, that won’t change his opinion about euthanasia.

I love how that in the midst of all the plot development and the PATHS, it still boils down to the characters and their relationships in the end. The Zeke/Grisha parts make this chapter, imo. The boy who wants so much to be loved by his father, who vilifies his father as some sort of coping mechanism, realizing that his father loves him, misses him and regrets the way he treated him, realizing his father is only human... it never fails to tug at my heartstrings. I can't wait to see where Zeke will go from here.

WILL ZEKE’S MIND BE CHANGED ABOUT WHAT THEY SHOULD DO WITH THE FOUNDING POWER? 1,329 Responses

As we step away from the action-centric battle, we move into a battle of philosophies, outlooks, and plans. Zeke has attempted to sway Eren, but will Eren be able to convince Zeke to change his mind about what to do with the power they now possess? 38.8% think he will in fact be able to do just that; and only at about 1% behind, 37.9% don’t know what the outcome will be, and 20.3% don’t think Zeke’s plan will change.

Zeke's mind is already made up. What may change is his motivation. He just may lose all will to execute his plan and let Eren do his thing.

His euthanasia plan is instilled into him primarily by Xaver, his father-figure, someone whom he holds very much in high esteem. So if Zeke should change his mind about that plan, it has to be through changing his current opinion on Xaver.

It will seem he agrees with Eren. And then, out of rage and despair of his ideals being broken and Eren getting the life he wishes he always had, he'll cause the Rumbling to lash out at the world for how cruel it was to him.

No, he's far too stubborn for that. But he still needs to return the powers of the Founder to Eren somehow. So I can see him being cornered in a way that makes him realize there's no happy ending.

Probably, but it shouldn't be because of some Grisha shit, it should be because Eren has a better plan

Yes but he‘s still an ass who had fun in killing. Maybe he‘ll redeem himself by showing remorse but whatever, he just rubs me the wrong way.

I sure hope so, because eugenics really doesn't make sense even if you support the reasoning. If it can be done by a royal titan then it can be undone, and they're literally planning to keep a pack of royals as spares.

I hope so, because I really want to see the brothers work together. Zeke has done a lot of terrible thing (including what he did to poor Levi) but I want to see his redemption arc

I think that Zeke will come to the realization that he is doing to same thing to Ymir as Grisha has done to him.

WHAT DOES EREN WANT TO SHOW ZEKE? 1,324 Responses

This chapter ended abruptly with Eren about to lead Zeke into “The next memory.” But what could that be? 36.3% think he’s going to show Zeke scenes from his own life, 32.1% believe there will be an even deeper dive into Grisha’s past, 19.7% think it will involve Tom Xaver, and 8.6% think Eren Kruger will get more time to shine.

A mix of all of them: More of Grisha's memories up to his death, his own life and experiences (Attack on Titan greatest hits coming for the 10th anniversary chapter), and then finish off with some Xaver reveals if he indeed worked with Kruger.

Bit of Kruger's, Eren's memories, and little bit of Grisha's. Maybe Ymir's or Karl Fritz

Definitely something involving Xaver, probably him in cahoots with Kruger to fool Zeke.

Don't feel like he wants to show Zeke something, just telling Zeke to move it along

His true motives and what lead him down the path he’s been taking since chapter 91

That one exchange between Grisha and Frieda in the cave we still didn't get to see when Eren kissed Historia's hand.

The memory where Grisha turns Eren into a mindless with added dialogue to hit us all in the feels.

Warhammer memories

I hope it could be something around Kruger and Xaver, and finally enlightening Zeke view of his "dad" and their plan. From here they could move around some really interesting scenarios, there are so many possibilities and I AM HERE FOR IT! ("If you want to save Mikasa and Armin..." quote for example idk).

Fall of wall Maria, Dina eating Carla

Some hype ass shit.

WILL EREN BE DEAD AFTER THE INSTANT IS OVER? 1,327 Responses

The majority (77.8%) are confident that Eren will find a way to make it out of the paths dimension alive, while 11.5% are much less optimistic about Eren’s fate. A smaller percentage believe that he’s already dead without any chance of coming back.

I have this weird theory: since a shifter's consciousness can be transferred into the spine or in the Paths dimension in some capacity, what if the consciousnesses of two shifters can be "exchanged" in the Paths dimension? Zeke may end up dying (willingly or not) while Eren lives.

I don't know. I think he'll either come back alive, or find a way to communicate with at least Mikasa and/or Armin before he dies.

Zeke promised that he will never abandon his little brother. Even if their ways differ in the end and Zeke’s mind isn’t changed, I don’t think he would leave his brother to die. He has already stated that he will command Ymir to reconstruct Eren’s body. No way he would treat Eren like that

No. Eren recovered in paths just like Zeke did so there's no reason for him to be dead

It would be a fresh plot twist and I would like him to stay dead because of it but I doubt Isayama has courage to do it.

i think it would be weird for eren to die right now, especially before seeing Armin & Mikasa again

DO YOU THINK ZEKE WILL COME OUT OF THE PATHS DIMENSION ALIVE? 1,328 Responses

Zeke was in pretty good shape when he went into the PATHS dimension, so it only makes sense he would make it out alive - or at least that’s what most of us (81.9%) think! A minority (18.5%) think (or hope?) he will not be so lucky.

WHAT ARE YOU HOPING TO SEE NEXT CHAPTER? 1,339 Responses

More than half the fandom wants chapter 121 to be the continuation of A Zekemas Carol. 18.9% would rather take a break from the PATHS dimension to see what’s happening with Levi and Hange.

Been wanting to see Annie, Levi, Historia for many chapters.  Now just want these amazing memories to continue!  This part of the story is incredibly powerful.

I know this paths fuckery will continue for another chapter or two but after that yams pls gib annie i beg

A moment of silence for the amount of hope I had to see Hanji and Levi, if you will. It will be missed.

All I'm asking for is one panel with Levi and Hange... Is that too much?

Annie in paths Annie in paths Annie in paths Annie in-

Eren in the next chapter is going to open a door from Eren Krugers past showing interactions with Tom Xaver

Heh, as much as I want to see Hanji & Levi, I'm 99% certain we're staying in PATHS zone :)

I feel bad that I didn’t choose Annie for any of these answers, but this moment in the story is literally the only thing I’ve wanted to see for years

I just want to know Levi is alive 

I want to know who Ymir really is and what her motivation is! I want to see the story through her eyes!

I don't care about Zeke. Please show me the Present Day Historia memory. I beg you OG Ymir. Amen.

whatever it is im gonna pee myself regardless

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 1,263 Responses

While Reddit and Tumblr continue to make up the majority of our respondents, the Attack on Titan fandom is everywhere. Wherever you choose to discuss the series, we appreciate your support of the chapter poll!

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE CHAPTER? 

"Where's the rest of it?" - Zuko

I liked Eren's "surprised Pikachu" face when Zeke broke the chains.

Great fucking chapter, Eren and Zeke are a riot as a brothers duo.

Why is Grisha so attractive 

Boy am I glad Xaver trained Zeke in baseball instead of football.

Grisha Redemption Arc, let's go!

a chapter without reiner is automatically a bad chapter 

At the beginning I thought it’d end up being boring but the ending showed me otherwise. Attack on titan never disappoints

Awesome, beyond my expectation. We get more info about PATHS and yeager moments that i nearly don't care about others lol. The cliffhanger is more painful than previous chapter tho 

Chapter in a nutshell: "I have more resolve!" "No, just kidding. By doing this I have MORE resolve!" "Well guess what? I have a piano. End of discussion, I have the most resolve." 

I kind of dislike the whole concept of the Paths. I really dislike the "enslaved little girl builds Titans out of sand" angle when there was so much potential for a science fantasy explanation instead. At least Eren's acting like Eren again, that's all I'm asking of this manga at this point.

How did Ymir have three daughters when she looks 13 years old and presumably died 13 years old?

I put a 2/5 due to how empty and anticlimatic this chapter was. I'm more than okay to explore the pathverse but I didn't expect 10 pages of filler and recollection, 10 pages where the brotherly betrayal gets quickly resolved with both Eren and Zeke's emotions being turned down (Zeke just told Eren he had no freedom in his decisions ffs) and the rest being Daddy Issues TM.

Dope. Loved it. Answered so many questions. So, the PATHS meme is a little less true now. It'll probably become even less so with the next chapter and so on. 

Eren and Zeke this chapter were basically that one spiderman meme you know the one.

Glad the memory manipulation theory was wrong, didn't expect this walk through memory lane however. I'm excited to see if and how Zeke's outlook on his father and whole ideology will change.

Eren out here playing 5D chess against Zeke when he was playing 4D chess and thinking Eren was playing 3D chess. Eren a legend

Eren’s sarcastic attempt at convincing Zeke was a welcome reprieve from the “excuse-me-what” nature of this chapter

Every time Eren appears in a panel I stare in awe at how beautiful he is. Shaven face + Hobo hair = Peak Eren. 

I love how abrupt the ending is, specially if Isayama's going for what I'm thinking. I suspect chapters 120, 121, and 122 will all feel connected as one single big chapter, with action outside paths only unfreezing at the end of 122. The main issue is how some parts of this chapter feel like stalling for the inevitable anniversary chapter next month, but I believe it's gonna pay off.

I was laughing like a maniac by the end of the chapter. Eren is truly an incredible little sh*t, and I'm super excited to learn more about his actual motivations. Interestingly enough, Zeke won't shut up about Grisha the father, and seems to have conveniently forgotten (which I did as well) that one of Eren's biggest motivations in his life has come from his mother, who told Shadis all those years ago that Eren was special BECAUSE "he was born into this world". As much as I reeeeeeally wanna see an update on Levi and Hanji (IT'S BEEN SIX MONTHS, ISAYAMA, WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO US), this walk down memory lane is turning out to be the most entertaining part of the arc so far 

I'm SO HAPPY to see Eren talking again and to see that fiery determination and his snarky attitude! Go Eren!

Just . . . I'm really tired. Now Grisha's father of the year all of sudden. I'm still waiting for Eren to like, suffer real consequences for his war crimes and his shitty treatment of his "friends." And Annie is probably never going to be relevant, Historia is going to stay stuck in her chair. Like, the whole point of this series was that it's hard to tell what the truth is, right? And now there's MAGIC and Eren can literally take Zeke into his memories to show Zeke EXACTLY what happened with Grisha as if that's the real truth? Isayama's gone soft or given up, I dunno. I'm just tired.

Anyone else expect Isayama to just carry on with these flashbacks for four chapters just like the basement.

This chapter hurt me. In fact, this whole arc has. I think the point where I started being really confused was when Zeke got resurrected. I get the point of it. You wanna show what PATHS is? Ok. You wanna show how titans are built! Sure! You wanna explain that this is a pocket dimension and time moves by super slow? Perfect. You wanna show the person making the titans? Cool. But the mechanics with the royal family are so inconsistent. IF ZEKE CAN BREAK THE WILL, WHY CAN’T FRIEDA OR URI OR LITERALLY ANYBODY. Is it because he isn’t the direct founding Titan? Is he bluffing?? I don’t know. I want Armin and Mikasa please.

One redemption for the monky boi, please.

So Eren did all he did, sacrificed so many lives, hurt his friends etc. just because he only hoped he’ll be able to use the Coordinate? Seriously that was his plan? Give me a break please. I’m very disappointed Erwin was not there in the ‘important moments’ page - he was one of Eren’s childhood heroes after all and the person without whom Eren would’ve never gotten this far. 

[trick-and-treaters]

An In-Depth Look at Oogie Boogie

Tim Burton has gone on reccord stating that he doesnt think Oogie Boogie is evil, and I’m inclined to believe him. Let me convince you.

So, what are Oogie Boogie’s motivations?

It’s not a silly question, as I’ve found a lot of people seem to miss it. In the extended cut of Oogie Boogie’s song it is expressly stated, and heavily implied everywhere else, that he wants to cook and eat Sandy Claws (and Sally, but that’s incidental)

(The orange stuff is his “snake and spider stew,” and the 8-ball contraption appears to be blender/dicer blades flipped upside down.)

Now here’s an easier question; what is Oogie made of?

“Bugs!” Every person who has ever seen the movie shouts in their head. That’s wrong, but for the sake of simplicity, and me not wanting to write an extra lecture about insects and the like, let’s just say yes. He’s also got some spiders and a snake, and those bats in the rafters could possibly be a part of his hivemind (I don’t have proof of this other than I think it’s weird that they can sing)

So what is he made of, summed up in one word?

Carnivores.

His motivations as presented are fueled by the most basic survival instincts, eating and reproducing.

Yeah.

The thing is, while these things are in his nature, I don’t think “evil” is his nature either.

Let’s compare him to Dr. Finkelstein, the only other character shown to have these traits.

He is the only character we see actively eating (though Barrel licks a lollipop and mentions liking Oogie’s stew), and is also actively seeking a life companion, first in Sally, then in Jewel. He also seems to be the second most organic character to Oogie, with flesh and organs. While he’s mad and a stock evil scientist type, he’s not really evil. He’s antagonistic to Sally through a desire to be less lonely, not just “because.”

So no, I don’t think Oogie is acting out of “evil,” I think he’s just trying to survive in a very difficult situation.

So let’s talk about this “situation.”

Wherever he is, it’s outside of town and buried under a tree. It’s clear he can’t leave, and is imprisoned as a form of punishment for something. Whatever this was, who really knows (not really a fan of the Bug Day thing, but it could apply), but I think he’s suffering more than just imprisonment.

Take a look at the Oogie Boogie puppet from the film;

Notice how much he just sags. Burlap does not naturally fold this way (trust me, I’ve cosplayed 9) unless there’s quite a bit of slack. Also ruling out natural folds is the way his weight falls, specifically his feet— look at how slack and creased they are around the “ankles” compared to his arms. And of course, the floppy part off the top of his head that barely has dimension.

The puppet is 2 feet tall, and the Disney Magic Kingdoms app says he’s about ten feet with 12,000 “bugs” inside. 12,000 bugs... is not a lot, even with the mass that the snake would add.

He’s not full— his “body” is made to hold a lot more than we’re shown.

On top of that, he relies entirely on Lock, Shock and Barrel to bring him food. Who knows how much or how often that is? And while his “bugs” are capable of mass reproducing, you’d think that would be enough to fill him out more.

I think his bugs resort to eating each other. There are spiders in there, and many others will eat other bugs. That’s pretty messed up.

After who knows how long, years, centuries, of this imprisonment, he is desperate. So why does he toy with his victims with torture and gambling? Boredom. Torture devices are just toys to the Halloweentown denizens (the corpse kid and mummy play with a guillotine). He doesn’t know how to really interact with people, so he tries with his gambling games, tortures them because he thinks it’s normal, and eats them because he has to.

So, where does this bring us with how others see him? We don’t have a lot, but I think it’s a lot more complex than at first glance.

The general consensus is that, based on how the Mayor addressed Lock, Shock and Barrel, he and the townspeople are afraid of him. I, however, think he merely meant it about them. Why wouldn’t he? They’re canonically imps (stated in the art book), mischievous fae or demons described as “lively” and of “small stature.” They’re not evil or threatening, they just love to cause chaos and misfortune, which, if you’re in charge of organizing an important event such as a holiday, is the worst possible thing that could befall your tight schedule.

Jack doesn’t even seem to act angry at the thought of him at first, just annoyed. He calls Oogie, in front of several other people with no reaction of the mention, a “no-account;” a person of little importance or use.

Personally, I think this panel from Zero’s Journey says a lot about how the town and Jack sees him;

That’s his grave. Quite the memorium for somebody that is supposedly hated and feared, right? And it’s not even that far away from Zero’s grave!

So, I don’t believe Oogie Boogie is evil or hated, and if the og Nightmare crew ever ever had a hand in content again, I think we’d really see that.

[fivegoldpieces]

okay let’s get this late liveblog post started

marisha and travis wearing those glasses while sitting right next to each other is honestly killing me right now please im so weak

what is this ad oh my god 

SAD SANDPAPER

how the hell do they have time to do this im

LAURA BURSTING OUT LAUGHING AND MATT’S PERPLEXED FACE IS ME EVERY WEEK

HAPPY PRIDE HELL YEAH HELL YEAH

JESTER DISGUISING HERSELF AS A LEAF I LOVE HER SO GD MUCH

LEAF COSTUME IM LOSING MY MIND

rotting meat fjord, i don’t know how much that will help but okay

“can i like swim back to the tree” MARISHA THAT’S WHAT YOU SAID LAST CAMPAIGN TOO AND IT DIDN’T WORK

JESTER COULD HAVE GONE INVISIBLE IM FUCKNSKFL CRYING

Beau: “Everyone is fucking bailing on me, and I ain’t got shit” 

Jester: “I’m a leaf! I’m a leaf but I’m still with you”

THE WAY IM FUCKING HOLLERING RIGHT NOW OH MY GODDD I LOVE. THEM!

MARISHA MIMING BEAU REACHING OUT TO JESTER IM AJLKDJALSJFSADF

beaujester held hands i am perFecTLY FINE this is FINE IM FINE this is okay im good im good imajfdklasjdfasjkfk HANDS

Fjord is a bottom Confirmed

DIMENSION DOOR IS BEAUJESTER SHIPPERS FRIEND

UGH THAT POLYMORPH COULDVE BEEN SO GOOD

FJORD RIDING THE ROC LIKE VM DID I THINK

YES JESTER POLYMORPH BUT ALSO OH NO FJORD

the image of 6ft caduceus holding onto an eagle is fuckn amazing

i have to say the sound of matt shaking the dice as fjord falls sounds ominous as fuck

YAY FJORD IS STILL ALIVE

caduceus talking to fjord on the ground reminds me of the skyrim scene for some reason

can beau saying “i follow jester” be a thing

jester saying sorry to fjord 😭

KEEP THE BAT AWAY DON’T TOUCH IT JUST PUT IT IN THE BAG OF HOLDING

beau and caleb going to the nest to get loot together hell yeah

AWW BABY ROC

BEAU TRYING TO SCRITCH THE BABY ROC LMFAOO

THE BALL BEARINGS RETURN LMFAO

oh damn that’s a lot of gold in a nest

beau getting the silk clothes for jester

“c’mon man get back in the cloak”

beau arguing with caleb as an eagle fucking sends

LMFAO LAURA HIT THE MIC

OH SHIT POLYMORPH DROPPED

omg bless that one spell slot

damn jester really loves using command

this tense atmosphere with the roc omfg

HUT COMPLETED

 im not saying beau is married to jester now because of the rings but she definitely is

LMAO THE BOX IS TRAPPED THE ONE TIME NOTT DOESN’T CHECK FOR TRAPS

FIREBALL TRAP NOTT WHAT THE FUCK

nott is drunk i can tell

omg jester trying to snatch the flask and putting it into the haversack

beau proposed to yasha with that ring omg rights for beauyasha shippers

IM SORRY BUT MARISHA ACCIDENTALLY FUCKING WITH LIAM’S INJURED SHOULDER AS BEAU SENDS

LMFAO JESTER TRYING TO WINGMAN

omg beau and yasha are married ugh wlw rights

AH FUCK ORCS

HELL YEAH FIREBALL

i wonder how fjord feels about the orcs they’re fighting

FUCKING HELLO BEES GOD I LOVE JESTER

marisha really works those sunglasses ugh someone draw beau in them

their true rivals are toya and the roc

awww poor jester is exhausted

LET’S GO BAZOZZAN

i don’t trust that tower at all

o fuck it’s a xhorhasian hupperdook but without the fun civilians

persuasion checks scare the crap out of me ngl

“be quiet, do your work, and leave” honestly applies to a lot of places

beau, to jester: “you were pretty awesome actually”

me: fucking dead on the ground because of these two blue gfs

omg pls the leaf costume

things escape from the tower? a prison?

oh fuck temples to betrayer gods

DOORWAYS TO THE ABYSS??

this is some grey warden darkspawn shit omg

THE FUCKING DANCE MOVES

JESTER SMART TIEF LOVE HER

oh fuck THE ABYSS?? DEMONS

OH HELL OH HOW FUN

marion read jester a book about demons as a child lmfao

oh god what’s jester gonna do to that sign

bless on beau and fjord and jester ugh i love my og trio crumbs

ARE YOU STILL IN YOUR LEAF COSTUME

the traveler’s voice being described as disembodied honestly creeps me out

oban wan kenobi

omfg what is up with that incense lmao

oh the joys of haggling i cant do that lol

HOW MUCH MONEY DOES CAD HAVE

SHARE BEDS PLEASE

FLASK IS GONE AND NOTT IS FREAKING

omg not at nott thinking yasha did it

ok but nott and her alcoholism is gonna be the new spice

nott possibly fusing with frumpkin sends

i love cats ah

FJORD OPENING UP LET’S GO LET’S GO

let fjord and caduceus be goddess buddies

praying to the wildmother is literally a way to deal with anxiety attacks

fjord’s fixation on the fact that the dream with the wildmother felt good says a lot

SHUT UP HE’S ANXIOUS TO FEEL THAT GOOD AGAIN IM GONNA FUCKING SOB

mountain with no snow in front of a salt flat? oh my

god i fuckn love fjord and caduceus talking

it’s the fuckn ocean im gonna fucking cry im 

HE GOES TO SLEEP VERY WELL THAT NIGHT IM LITERALLY GONNA SOB

omg let’s go three wlws bc bi/closeted lesbian jester is Real and no one can take that away from me

jester trying to wingman so hard lmfao

LMFAO YASHA STANDING OVER THEM

WAKEY

THE SCRY FAILED UGH

jester saying “that’s what i’m here for” rings a bell in my mind but i don’t know what exactly - something about her view of her worth in the group which would be interesting to explore

omg nott about to confront yasha

and fjord now oh and caduceus

TRAVIS JUST ENDED SAM’S CAREER HOLY FUCK

oh boy cold turkey is not gonna be fun

ANGRY YASHA OMFG

omg m9 please don’t enable the alcoholism

45 GOLD FOR FIRE WHISKEY OMG

maybe use that bottle to wean her off 

everyone calls jester jessie now ugh thank you nott for starting it and beau for always using it

god i love brjeaus so much

SECRET TUNNELLLLL SECRET TUNNELLLLLL THROUGH THE MOUNTAINSSSSSS

lmfao fjord tryna be buff

oh god what is this sending gonna sound like

WHAT IF I JUST GO DDU DU DDU DU DDU DDU DDU

IM FUKVMKSNF LLOSING IT NO SHE DID IT IMF FJA

how is she supposed to look for the hidden entrance if it’s hidden

oh god they’re gonna go down the tunnel aren’t they

the way travis and marisha burst into song fuckn nerds

no plans we die like adventurers

YASHA HONEY YOU ARE NOT A FREAK

i can be a freak i can i can be a freak every day of every week

o fuck yea goggles are cool

SHE’S UNDERAGE LMFAOO

holy fuck 25 gold BUT HE DOES IT ANYWAY

fjord just one black coffee-ed nott lmfao

huh nothing for locate creature but locate object worked

FUCK YEAH CELESTIAL BUDS

uh “until the world ends”?? that does not sound good 

FJORD JUST GOES IN DUDE

oban is floating i know

JESTER HOLDING YASHA’S HANDS

SHFSFIA THE FUKD FK AF JESTER TELLING YASHA THE M9 IS BEHIND HER AND WILL SUPPORT HER

WE CAN BE YOUR NEW ONE

WE CAN BE YOUR NEW ONE

WE CAN BE YOUR NEW ONE

hol on i  need several moments

WE LOVE YOU VERY MUCH YASHA NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS

FUCKJFKSJFDAKJDF MY FUCKNS TEARS

oh? an idea?

ROCK HARP LMFAO

the way yasha prays to the stormlord is kind of endearing in a way to me

ashley is so nervous omg like travis was

TWO MILES???? THAT’S SO MUCH WALKING

this tunnel mad creepy i don’t like this

okay but i wonder if that tunnel collapsed because of someone 

beau and jester keeping track of the wall ugh my crumb

MM I DON’T TRUST OBELISKS

OOOH SYMBOLS ON PAPER

omfg fjord you can’t just eldritch blast in a tunnel that’s had a cave in before just shake him

oh it’s abyssal? defaced by celestial creatures?

UH UH THAT SOUNDS FOREBODING

god they’re such musical nerds

oh boy they’re sending nott in i hope she doesn’t get hurt

angel sculptures?

UM WEEPING ANGELS NO THANKS

THEY’RE CRYING BLOOD? NOPE GET OUT GET OUT

NOTT NO OMFG

ugh cats should have darkvisio

oh my god this is so creepy it’s like 4am matthew please

BROKEN SWORD??

THEY’RE GOING IN FUCK

LMFAO NOTT SEARCHING YASHA’S POCKETS

this place is so gd creepy matt please end it oh my god

the music is not helping at all

TWO DAYS OLD?? UH NOPE NOPE NOPE

THIS SOME SACRIFICIAL SHIT

NUH UH THIS IS REMINDING ME OF THE WHITESTONE ARC AND ZIGGURATS FUCK THIS OMFG

DON’T FUCKING PULL THE SKELETON FJORD JFC

oh god the fact that the statues were sitting is even creepier

i really don’t like this omg it’s so creepy

DOES NO ONE HAVE DETECT GOOD AND EVIL

AH FUCK THE STATUES ARE MAGICAL TOO

oh god she touched it

oh god they both touched it

oh i really do not like this omfg

what if someone dragged a body in oh god this is terrifying

IT’S MUSIC

WAIT DOESN’T CELESTIAL SOUND LIKE SINGING

METAL HARP LMFAO

break one open lol

UH SHE’S STANDING IN FRONT OF THE DOOR H

oh geez they really are gonna go in

earthy rotten sulfuric smell does not sound good at all

“you guys know what to do” oh boy

oh three yashas are a dream

WELL HELL LMFAO

closing it off with yasha as annie amazing

UGH CAN’T WAIT FOR NEXT WEEK

[tsainami]

wip prep tag

tagged by: @hazeywrites and @omgbrekkerkaz​ ! tysm 💫

rules: answer the questions and then tag as many writers as there are questions answered (or as many as you can) to spread the positivity! even if these questions are not explicitly brought up in the novel, they are still good to keep in mind when writing.

i’ll be doing this for my wip CHEAT.

FIRST LOOK

1. describe your novel in 1-2 sentences (elevator pitch).

a random guy pops out of nowhere and starts a drug that gives people the ability to use magic. magic doesn’t exist in this world so this is very shady and a lot of people go and chase him.

2. How long do you plan for your novel to be? (Is it a novella, single book, book series, etc.)

at first i thought i’d write a standalone but realised the plot was too big. i think it’ll be a duology.

3. What is your novel’s aesthetic?

over the top gothic + renaissance + baroque architecture everywhere (the main setting is based off of prague), errr magic (duh, dasy), lots of shadowy corners. um half dead doves? necromancy.

4. What other stories inspire your novel?

well there’s two. one’s true and happened to me (it birthed this wip really). long story short i was out on a trip with my family and one summer night while we were walking, something happened that made my dad turn to me and say “you know, the people of this world have a tendency to cheat.” 

the second is from a video game called dishonored. it’s one of my favourite games and you can definitely see a lot of similar elements between cheat and dishonored’s world (like, say, the VOID to name a big one). 

5. Share 3+ images that give a feel for your novel.

i wish i could share an edit, but i haven’t made any for cheat as a whole but here’s its pinterest board.

MAIN CHARACTER

6. Who is your protagonist?

my main protagonist is a boy called jan (yahn). he’s the one running around dealing magic.

7. Who is their closest ally?

in the beginning, the con-artists he’d given magic to (long-standing customers of his lol). but none of them really trust him so i don’t think they really count. that changes later on though. there’s also another person--a middle aged, disabled lady--called britta who probably understands him the most but we see quite little of her.

8. Who is their enemy?

well, there’s this undead queen from another dimension who is hellbent on revenge and a whole other dimension also has sent hunters after him. [i guess a man-made god and semi-goddess?]

9. What do they want more than anything?

jan’s kinda... complicated. he has two personalities. one of them--the one that prevails the most at least during most of the story as a whole and can be called the OG jan--wants the system assigned to the universe (in this story, it just means the mentioned number of dimensions) to change. he wants to right the wrongs he’s made. and if he’s a little honest, he wants his life and real name before he became... what he currently is... back (but he knows this is impossible).

his second personality doesn’t want any of that. he disagrees with the system as well, but it doesn’t involve him and he thinks humans should do what they want to do even with the greater knowledge (made possible thanks to... spoilers) that it’ll just fuck them and world up. all he really wants is a very slow, lowkey manipulative revenge.

fyi: when i talk about jan, unless i specify his second personality i’m always talking about the OG jan.

10. Why can’t they have it?

sksks i made a longwinded reply to that previous question, so for here i’ll just say for jan #1 it’s because--apart from everyone being NOPE LOL--a sacrifice the size of jupiter will have to be made. for jan #2 it’s cause jan #1 exists and is thwarting all his plans.

11. What do they wrongly believe about themselves?

that he’s unforgivable. that his existence is meaningless. that as soon as he fulfils his purpose the world would be better without him.

12. Draw your protagonist! (Or share a description)

jan has black hair somewhere between straight and wavy. shorter at the back, longer in front with a length that goes past his ears. he dresses like some dude from the 20′s (sometimes he wears coats he looks like he’s drowning in though). he’s got light, yellow-toned olive skin and a mole on his neck and another one on his ear. he has two piercings in one hear and has an earring that dangles from one of them. he has hooded eyes and normal eyebrows (what are normal eyebrows), good bone structure and he's neither underweight nor overweight. he’s somewhere between 5′11 and 6 foot. he's poc. 

PLOT POINTS

13. What is the internal conflict?

spoiler memories from a spoiler time haunt him. basically he was victimised by a group of murdering naysayers. this goes hand in hand with his struggle over which personality dominates his being.

14. What is the external conflict?

magicking people out for blood and their magicking monster familiars.

15. What is the worst thing that could happen to your protagonist?  

that he gives over to his second personality and ‘dies’ (because of his circumstance death means to live through that though, watching it all). he’d rather be killed instead.

16. What secret will be revealed that changes the course of the story?

mad spoilers but it’s that you can do whatever you want with jan if you find his heart (he doesn’t have it atm and tbh nobody knows where it is). as for which side finds it first... hmmm i wonder.

17. Do you know how it ends?

yes and so far everyone who i’ve shared the ending with has hated me.

BITS AND BOBS

18. What is the theme?  

i think one of the biggest themes in cheat is in regards to time. we all have a limited amount of time on this world and it’s ultimately always up to us to decide on what we do with it. however, every thing we do always relates to something and even something so small as a thought could shape what kind of life we’ll live. no one is entirely good or bad and every one is imperfect. but jbc life can sound stressful and BIG and scary doesn’t mean we can’t face it. we all have our merits and we all have the ability to develop from the mistakes we’ve made.

19. What is a recurring symbol?  

the moon.

20. Where is the story set? (Share a description!)

a city called heidelheim. it’s made out of cobblestones and spires and huge gothic vampire buildings next to shabby small squashed houses. then there’s random marble domes with painted ceilings, bridges, an obelisk... there’s something called the outskirts too that has some hills and trees.

21. Do you have any images or scenes in your mind already?

i’ve got some.

22. What excited you about this story?  

the ending hahahahaha.

23. Tell us about your usual writing method!  

oof. my method (and the reason why this isn’t already a whole ass novel considering it’s been 2 years) is freak out! write a sentence. think about useless things (why would a pigeon be at the city square at night? that doesn't make sense? is it a normal pigeon? what is the purpose of its life?). try not to get distracted (i always do though) and write another sentence.

this story will probs be finished when i’m 89 years old. i’ve got some years to go.

TAGGING: @hajaara @stegladent @twocrownsoneshittywriter @marscults @furybloods @ikilledmyocs @cynotype @asablehart @aestreia @maskedlady @katabasiss @melrosiewrites and @nepeinthe

[codylabs]

Chapter 15: Tale of Two Bots

-date: 13/20/2094-46’\

Hello.

My name is Ɖg@}Nᶌ.

As one of the survivors of the crash of colonial vessel 46.18’\, I am starting this journal to document our experiences on this planet. In the event that we are rescued, or survive long enough to reestablish contact, this log will serve as a record on our experiences. If you recover this and we’re not here to give it to you… Then I guess we’ve failed.

And this is our story.

Well.

As I said, the colonial vessel has crashed. Near as I can tell, we were traveling near-horizontally at an altitude of several kilometers, when some type of interference or malfunction disabled the vehicles artificial-gravity engines. We hit the ground before control could be regained. The impact was directly into solid rock, at a velocity in excess of 400 meters per second. The ship carved a large chunk out of a mountainside, and half-buried itself in its own artificial valley. The impact was sufficient to free the majority of the nuclear fuel from containment, disable the primary propulsion system, and kill the entire pilot and command crew. To the best of my knowledge, I, and 52 other passengers, are the last survivors of the collision.

We have escaped the confines of the ship, and have used salvaged tarps and materials to erect a small camp on the hill above it.

More of us are injured than not. Many terminally so. Since the vessel’s power supply has largely gone into meltdown, all remaining power has been automatically diverted toward containing the damage. Periphery systems, including the auto-medics, have gone offline. I’m no surgeon, but the others are even less so.

They expect me to repair the wounded.

I’ll see what I can do.

-date: 13/21/2094-46’\

My medical tools were designed for my species specifically. They are poorly suited for the others, who are primarily carbon-based. Their bodies are squishy, ever-shifting, mostly liquid. I don’t know how to handle it. Many of the terminally injured have died following my surgery. I was able to fix a few, but… But the others are angry with me. They think I could have done more for the dying. Survivor count now 41. The names of the living are included here for posterity:

Ɖg@}Nᶌ

Klk76y

Zlfo]n

ƉN::ᶌ

&4r(/_^`;~y

iA**5{y

-@N^^>

C0gsJRY

V;M9OZ

4EtR%ibP

WA~/\hi(B

~u81FF:’

S~5VH/’QepKl

3v49EVv

iZxFpLo

wX~~E2VY

IeR&Usp

xE][fo

I6gyvPh

7ncZ9Itx

bC*$l9DSEmm

J86O/\oBZg

v89Z;vHFiv

4g0ORH

Xp;DWstNBYi

0aF2I(zLxyn7k

SGff\mBOfic8

0Xzn

TSpqQfjFn

famESw

W8{A1EdwQ

j0wX

KlcfG;B0lw0

4hArMXj4

qKhcn0U

SXz4;

PxNeLwi

w4A;mVIV5

tVkqZme

oy.}szN;XJCc

og;hgnC5j8Ca…

I don’t really want to talk about it anymore.

-date: 13/22/2094-46’\

Only one other survivor belongs to my same species. We were bound for the same colony, her and I, but now everybody we knew is gone. I’m glad I have somebody to speak to though, especially after the failed surgeries. Her name is ƉN::ᶌ, and she is kind to me. Seeing as how it looks like we’re here for the long haul, I wonder if perhaps we could begin the colony here, with only us two.

No, I can’t think that. It’s indecent.

She’s looking at me.

I am pretending to type something in.

-date: 13/28/2094-46’\

Klk76y has gotten one of the computers online, and has retrieved data from the crash. Apparently, we are on body 3.0 of this system, on one of the northern continents. It’s hellish here. There’s air, it’s hot, the gravity is high, the surface is soaked in unhealthy chemicals like water, and infested by native (and occasionally hostile) carbon-based life. Even its moon, 3.1, would have been better than this. We can survive, but it isn’t well-suited. Natural terraforming processes won’t work.

I just wish we would have crashed on 4.0. It would have been nearly perfect for our needs.

The only metal ƉN::ᶌ and I have to eat is that from the ship’s hull. Livestock and crops could easily survive on this diet, but they would rip the whole craft apart in the process. Since we’d rather leave it salvageable (by the slim hope that we could repair it someday), we’ll keep the farming systems in stasis for now.

I hope our colonial supplies are still intact. They should be tougher than the other cargo, but I don’t know.

Titanium-steel alloy plating is sure getting bland though. Hard to chew. Hard in general.

I want some fruit.

-date: 13/22/2094-46’\

Everything has calmed down now, as much as it can. The fires from the crash have died out. We’ve buried as many of the dead as we can find. The other survivors are settling into the camp, and they’ve gathered some meager supplies, enough to last the winter. ƉN::ᶌ and I can survive directly off the ship’s power, so we should be fine indefinitely. Klk76y has also taken charge as a sort of leader, and everybody seems as content as they can be.

I suppose that now is a good a time as any to give my own personal story.

It all started long ago, and far away.

It was cold and hard and small, one of many solitary, airless moon of a bloated gas giant, bathed in the light of an old, red star. To look at it, you might mistake it for a larger asteroid, or one of the many unnotable, dusty rocks that inhabit the empty voids of space.

But this rock wasn’t any rock. This was a living place, filled with rugged natural beauty. Spreading seas of liquid sand, mountains of the dust of ancient timbers, and the great, towering forests of mighty trees. Fields abounding in fruits and grains, the woods crawling with wild animals, the void alive with the radio singing of the bugs and the birds, the sun shining brightly on the leaves. And a humble people toiling with bliss beneath the stars, picking and eating their food, building their houses and roads, constructing and raising their children. It was a place where families could be happy. A place of peace.

This was my beloved home.

But I never once enjoyed it.

Why didn’t I? It was a paradise. I could have grown old and happy there. I could have been rich and prosperous. I could have had everything that people strive for… Everything but meaning.

Mind you, I wasn’t alone. There were many of my peers who considered it an utterly boring, menial existence, where our young minds had nowhere to explore, where knowledge and learning was scarce, and where our toil and daily labor did not satisfy our hunger for adventure. We were children then, restlessly longing for something more. I wish now I hadn’t been among them… But I was.

Two cycles ago, when I had just finished being a boy, but didn’t yet know what ‘man’ was, another race came to our world. They arrived in an enormous ship from some other dimension, on a mission (so they said) to explore and archive the wonders of the universe, to seek out new and deviant life, to see, hear, touch and explore that which nobody had ever experienced before, and to set up colonies among the far reaches of space. They visited us for this same reason, collecting samples from our planet, examining and studying us. (The reason for their fascination, I found out later, was our metallic bodies and mechanical makeup. Apparently, it’s something of a novelty to these squishy carbon-based people.)

Regardless, I’m sure you can understand my thoughts when they revealed this mission of theirs. How glamorous! How grand! How adventurous! How meaningful! I dreamed to accompany them, to whatever fate lay beyond the horizons of my own mind. Once, I even had the chance to speak directly withCaptain &:V->GN[], commander of the alien vessel.

“I wish I could accompany you!” I had told him. “I wish I could count myself among the colonists on your ship.”

“It’s certainly a hard life.” He had tempted me, with a twinkle in his eye. “Long years aboard a closed metal ship, and at the end of your journey, an unknown fate… It could be dangerous, it could be strange, it could require things from you that you don’t know you had. Even WE don’t know what we’ll find in that great unknown…”

He was telling me precisely the type of tale I wanted to hear, and naturally I fell for it. “I would be willing!” I told him. “And I have friends as well! We would all love to leave our world, and travel with you to the ends of the universe! We would follow you!”

He stroked his chin, and nodded. “We have set down several colonies already…” He said, as if it were my idea the entire time. “Perhaps there would be room among the organic cargo sectors for your… Particular breed of crops and livestock…”

“I hope so!” I said, and I meant it.

The next day, he announced to our people that they would be taking on passengers and cargo, whatever passengers could fit in sector 22, and whatever farming supplies we could fit in stasis in sector 43. They would allow our people to found a colony on a world of our choosing, or even, if we wished, they would allow us to return with them to their home dimension.

It goes without saying that I, along with many of my friends, signed up eagerly.

My father silently watched me as I entered the shuttle, and he had a sorrowful look on his face which I will never remember, because I never once looked back.

And so did I venture forth, to seek my fortune among the stars.

It was a lie.

No sooner had we left the system, but the crew confined us to quarters, and began to treat us harshly. They told us they were cracking down on troublemakers, and that this was just a necessary caution. But among themselves, they were communicating using their suits’ radios. My people could hear such signals plainly, and I learned to understand them.

I learned that our people were not to be set down on a colony of our choosing. Rather, we were all to be brought back to the aliens’ dimension, to be treated as scientific samples, or even used for their own purposes.

They began to experiment on us.

It was a nightmare.

I would hear the communications as they would take our people, one at a time, from the passenger areas. Always young females. Whenever the rest of us moved to intervene, the crew would summon security drones to threaten us, then say it was for our own protection.

One day we heard their purpose… Well, I feel dirty even describing it.

The females of our species naturally have reproductive systems in their abdomen areas. Normally, these organs serve only to manufacture and assemble the bodies of children. The organs are perfectly designed for the task, and they are able to do so reliably and repeatedly. Since the living bodies of children are inherently complex, the organs must be highly versatile.

The aliens saw this.

So the science team, under the direction of Captain &:V->GN[], were downloading foreign code into the women’s organs, to try and make them manufacture artificial systems: Tools. Weapons. Drones. Storage crates. Spare parts. They were trying to turn our people into living factories. This was just a proof of concept, before they returned to their home dimension and refined the idea into an industrial process.

The experiments were invasive and painful, and the women were not willing.

I began to discuss these matters in hushed tones with the other colonists, of both my own species and others. We all agreed that something needed to be done.

So one night, all at once, we staged a mutiny. We sawed through the doors of our rooms, gathered improvised tools and weapons, rendezvoused with the organic passengers, and aimed ourselves for the bridge.

It didn’t work.

They put us under guard from that point on, reinforced the doors, equipped us with stun collars, and pumped all the air out of our rooms to keep us from audio communication with the other passengers. They also encrypted their radio signals, so we could no longer listen in to them.

A cycle passed quietly and despairingly. An older friend of mine likened it to prison.

But then, days ago, it happened.

For reasons none of us know, Colonial Vessel 46.18’\ crashed.

Now here we are. The greatest adventure of my life, more excitement and strange new weirdness than I ever could have hoped or dreamed: aliens, lies, betrayal, mutiny, heroism, bravery, fierce enemies on all sides and a grave mission to follow… This is the adventure of a lifetime.

And I would trade it all away in an instant. What I wouldn’t give to be back home. My quiet, peaceful, meaningless home…

For there is no meaning to be found out here either. We’ve crossed galaxies by now, gone where none have gone, and we are no closer to something higher than when we started out. There is no height to be climbed to reach enlightenment. There is no lesson or sense or justice to bring to our predicament. Life is cruel and short, and our lives are either empty or painful. Some, like mine, are both.

So that is how I, Ɖg@}Nᶌ, got to where I am now.

ƉN::ᶌ says I’m being pessimistic. She says there is a meaning, and that God has a purpose and plan for our lives, even through our pain and misfortune, even though we do not see it.

I hope she’s right.

I prayed for the first time today.

-date: 13/30/2094-46’\

Why are we on this planet at all? Why did the command crew stop here? Did they have to land to make repairs? Did we have to restock supplies? Was there another mutiny we didn’t hear about?

I, for one, suspected the command crew was goaded into it by the science team. They noticed something interesting on the flyby, and convinced the higher-ups of the need to stop and release probes.

It wouldn’t be the first time it’s happened. We’ve had several unscheduled stops over the course of this trip. Always the science team wanting to collect samples or specimens, or examine some readings. Always something new and interesting to look at.

But why here? What makes this valley so special? What drew their curiosity? And what about this valley caused our crash? We may never know; all the sensors are down, many of the computer logs were damaged, and many of the remaining mission files are simply classified to us passengers.

I suppose I’m just complaining. I shouldn’t complain. What’s done is done, and now all we can do is pick up the pieces and make the most of what we have left.

Perhaps it’s just God’s will.

-date: 15/2/2094-46’\

We sent 5 men deeper into the wreck to see what they could salvage. It’s been 6 days now, and they haven’t come back out. I wonder what has happened. The automated security system is coded for all the colonists’ identities, so even if it reactivated somehow, none of them should have anything to fear… I wonder if perhaps some of the more dangerous scientific specimens have been released from containment.

The rest of the survivors are wanting me and ƉN::ᶌ to venture in after them, since our metal bodies make us tougher than the others.

She is afraid, so I will go in alone. I will be their hero. I will be her hero.

-date: 15/3/2094-46’\

I’m back. I found nothing. No signs of a struggle, no weapon damage.

But no bodies either.

Perhaps they got lost down there. I can see why they would; the crash mutilated the vessel into a veritable labyrinth of twisted metal. We can only wait, and hope that that they survive, and hope still that they can find their way back out.

While I was down there, I did stumble across the scientific sample area. It was torn wide open. Everything in the stasis chambers are dead.

But a few of the chambers are open.

And all the chambers that are open are empty.

Specimens must have escaped. Could one have killed and eaten the men we sent inside? I don’t know what manner of subjects they’d stored in the now-empty chambers, but judging by the looks of some of the others… Let’s just say I’m glad most of them are dead. Out of all the nasty things they’ve collected on their journey, I think that living robots are the most harmless of the bunch.

I’m back on the surface now, and gave my report to the other survivors. It frightened them. They don’t want to explore the wreck any deeper than necessary. I understand that.

ƉN::ᶌ is beating herself up for letting me go alone. She swears that whatever happens next, she will be there for me. I’m glad for the promise.

As it stands, Survivor count now 36.

-date: 15/16/2094-46’\

Survivor count now 28.

We don’t know what’s happening. People go missing. Randomly. Unforeseeably. Without trace. As if they decided to just walk away in those moments when nobody’s watching.

After the last incident, Zlfo]n instructed us to watch closely for anyone behaving strangely. He encouraged us to keep up conversation frequently. I don’t know what he suspects, (does he think we’re going mad one by one? Does he know something we don’t?) but I hope he’s on to something.

I modified a few power tools into melee weapons, so that ƉN::ᶌ and I can defend ourselves if the need arises. When I offered her a cutting drill, she said she would prefer to use her teeth, since they’re sharper and easier to carry around anyway.

It’s nice to have somebody to laugh with, even in times like this.

But seriously though, she’s literally going to use her teeth. This girl is crazy!

I kind of… Never mind.

-date: 15/18/2094-46’\

Somebody struck up conversation today with Klk76y. He mumbled his way through a brief exchange, but in the process, he gave something away: he didn’t possess even the most basic knowledge of Klk76y’s life or job. It quickly became apparent that he wasn’t Klk76y at all, but rather something else, looking exactly like him, bluffing his way through a conversation. Zlfo]n, ƉN::ᶌ, and myself attempted to confront him, but he attacked with an incredible physical strength, and escaped into the forest. Zlfo]n suffered several broken bones during the fight, and will not last long. Meanwhile Klk76y, the only leader we had, is gone like the others.

Also, at some point, ƉN::ᶌ managed to clip the enemy with her teeth. This drew green blood, whereas the real Klk76y would have had yellow-white blood.

Something is out there.

Something that’s changing.

It takes us one by one, probably eats us, and impersonates us to learn more before eating again.

Survivor count now 27. Soon to be 26, as there’s not much I can do for Zlfo]n.

-date: 15/19/2094-46’\

Zlfo]n pulled me close today, and told me about the shapeshifter. He described everything he knew of its abilities, its methods, its mannerisms, and its intelligence. He told me where the science team found it, what it eats, where it lives, what it wants.

(Future reader, I have transcribed his analysis, and saved it as a separate file. This is my journal, after all, and not a tactics guide. Suffice to say that this shifter is quite a character herself, and I don’t like it one bit being on the receiving end of her cunning.)

I asked Zlfo]n how he knew so much about the creature. He sighed and he told me:

Zlfo]n was on the science team.

So I took him outside the camp, and I left him to die. By now he will have perished from his injuries in the silent forest, without burial, without dignity, alone except for the memories of the women he violated. Alone, save for his conscience. I hope he has one, so that he suffered. And I hope the shifter finds him, and that she realizes we are not her enemies.

…Did I do wrong, to let Zlfo]n die like that?

I don’t think I did.

Did he deserve better?

I don’t think he did.

Did ƉN::ᶌ approve?

I think she did.

I never asked her if she’d been a part of the onboard experiments. I pray she didn’t have to suffer it, because I don’t know what I could do for her damage. I’m not that type of doctor. Heck, I’m not any type of doctor! What am I supposed to do for a damaged factory, huh? Look at it? I’m a male. Even that’s not proper.

All I can do for her is to be her friend, and love and respect and care for her regardless of anything else. And I really do love her… I’ve been realizing that more and more.

-date: 15/27/2094-46’\

Survivor count now 23.

The other survivors can’t stand it anymore. They need to get away from the wreck. Whatever the shifter wants, it is hostile. And it is near. And since we haven’t the vaguest inkling of how to face it, we need to flee.

They others all agreed to pick up and head North, as far from the crash site as possible. They are carbon-based, and can therefore subsist on native food. They collected all the weapons and tools they could find, and started off. They should be safe from the enemy… Or at least see it coming… I think they’ll be alright. I hope they’ll be alright.

Either way, ƉN::ᶌ and I need to make other plans. We are not carbon based, and therefore need to grow our own crops if we are to survive. We’ll need a farm. We picked out a pretty good spot for it to the South-East, but this planet doesn’t have a lot of dense deposits near the surface, so our crops won’t grow.

We’ll need to improvise some type of soil.

The hull of the spacecraft, combined with the minerals in the native rock, should supply our farm with all the biological sustenance it needs. It would make excellent soil. But we don’t want to stay in the craft’s immediate vicinity, so we need to somehow cut loose a massive section of the hull and bring it all of 20 kilometers to the farm.

How do we do that?

It was her idea to jury-rig the ship’s last remaining artificial-gravity nacelle. Normally, these nacelles create a gravitational dipole large enough to put the entire ship into free-fall in any direction. One nacelle may not be able to do something so grand on its own, but it still possesses a large amount of power. ƉN::ᶌ thinks it should be a simple matter to shrink this dipole and concentrate it, if only we could get to the engine room. This would allow us to ‘jackhammer’ a section of the hull loose. A slightly larger dipole will then be able to carry the disconnected section 20 kilometers through the air, and set it down at the farm. I just hope the craft has enough power left to run this stunt.

To operate the nacelle, we need to get down to the engine room and do it manually. This means risking whatever tricks and tactics the mimic has in store, but we would prefer to risk it immediately, rather than stay above ground and wait for her… Rather take her on our terms: immediately and directly.

We’re going inside tomorrow.

If we never come back out… Let it be known that ƉN::ᶌ and Ɖg@}Nᶌ were here.

-date: 15/30/2094-46’\

It has been 3 days since my last entry, but we are now back. We successfully completed the mission.

But first, a word on what we found down there.

Let’s just say that at this point, the ship would need half again its weight in glue. Its main propulsion system, (everything except the one intact nacelle), is completely offline. 7 of the 8 main reactors have also gone into meltdown, and the computer automatically locked down the last one for safety. The vessel’s long-range communication systems and tracking beacon were in its lower areas, and were therefore destroyed when it contacted the ground. There is no chance of signaling home, or anywhere.

However, there were a few intact things. The perpetual-motive emergency power generators were left online somehow, and should stay remain so indefinitely, barring mechanical breakdown. These were the only thing running the ship until we got down there.

Also, we found we weren’t the only survivors. There were more, some even among the command crew, who had survived the crash but stayed underground. They were barricaded in the ship’s mid levels, and just stayed down there.

But they aren’t alive anymore.

Apparently, the mimic got to them too. Some of their survivors had taken to drawing graffiti on the walls since the computers were down. Most of it was just innocent nonsense, but then there was some stuff like “GweeV7w isn’t what he seems!” and “That’s not the real u*/~h!” and “Specimen has escaped is changing forms.”

And everybody was dead.

Eaten.

The mimic is smart. Smart enough to kill them all without putting itself in danger. Smart enough to use fear like a weapon, and fill her enemies with it. Smart enough to stay in shadows.

Smart enough to learn to hack computers.

The mimic has reactivated the security system, and made several changes to their programming. Firstly, she wiped the drones’ entries for recognized individuals, so that they now recognize everyone, every last man, woman, child and animal, as unidentified intruders. Secondly, she reprogrammed their tactical assessment system, so that they now evaluate threats based on chemical signs of aggression and fear. If any carbon-based lifeform shows fear in a drone’s vicinity, it is programmed to contain or destroy them.

Since the shifter was terrorizing everyone else while remaining calm herself, it worked perfectly: the drones would leave her alone and go straight for any of the other cowering survivors.

As for us metallic life forms, well… The mimic is smart, as I said. She knew we didn’t have a sense of smell, so she rigged a booby trap that sprayed us with hormones. We didn’t even notice, until every drone in the ship started to attack.

That was a dicey couple hours. Those drones are learning and self-adapting, and can sprout pretty much any weapon in the database. We managed to beat them, barely, by modifying one of the perpetual-motive generators into an electromagnetic pulse emitter. We almost killed ourselves with it too, but it took out most of the drones. Enough so we could slip away.

I don’t know that I’ve ever been more scared in my life than when I was down there… But… I think I might have been having fun too. Crazy how that works. It probably just depends who you have by your side in the thick of things, doesn’t it? And while we were fighting down in those dark depths, I had ƉN::ᶌ. And that made it all right.

Anyway, we made it to the engine room, and ƉN::ᶌ managed to bypass a security lock and reactivate reactor 5. From there, she was able to reprogram the art-grav nacelle, and use the immense gravity field to rip apart the hull.

We tore off half of the ship’s upper hull, along with the entirety of sector 43 (sector 43 being the cargo area where all the samples, livestock and crops from our planet were stored.) The gravity field gathered all this wreckage together, forming an enormous ‘fistfull’ of twisted metal and cargo. ƉN::ᶌ then used the gravity beam to guide this mass through the air to the farmland we designated, and spread it out there. The entire process must have been rather eerie to watch, I imagine.

There was only one problem now: if we could make use of those gravity fields, chances are the mimic could too. If she set the field to a high strength and low size, she could use it to physically crush our entire farm, with us inside.

With that kind of power, the mimic could kill anybody she wanted. And anywhere.

So, we removed the power control coupling from the last reactor, and destroyed all the spares. The coupling is small. Small enough to take with us, and keep hidden forever. So that’s what we’ll do.

We made back above ground without much trouble.

Now, everything seems in order. The livestock and seeds will be waiting for us in sector 43’s wreckage, ready to be unpacked, unfrozen, and organized into a farm. A colony. First thing tomorrow morning, we’re off to begin our new life.

-date: 3/14/2096-46’\

Two local years since my last entry.

Farm is going great. Got some trees planted, and some crops. The ecosystem is starting up, and the drilling worms have started breaking down the spacecraft hull. The cats are working as guards, which should be enough to scare away the mimic if she finds us here. I tampered with the cats’ genetics as well, to make them instinctively react defensively toward any unrecognized large organic. Meaning whatever form the mimic takes, the cats will turn on it. I’m just glad this planet doesn’t have intelligent inhabitants; that could make for a rather messy misunderstanding.

I also found an old runabout shuttle stashed in the wreckage. We turned it right-side-up, half-buried it in the ground, and are now using it as a house. Its glass hull should keep it from decay, and its engines still have enough power to run heat, lighting, and farm equipment.

The place is finally starting to feel like home. The trees are supplying power now, so we don’t have to ration anymore. And they’re beginning to bear the first fruit. We haven’t had actual food in so long, and it’s delicious.

And… Well, there’s one other thing. I don’t really know who else to tell, so I guess I’ll tell this journal.

Anyway…

I finally asked ƉN::ᶌ if she would be my wife. And she said yes. I’m not really sure what I expected her to say, since we’re the only two here… But it was the WAY she said it; it made me believe that she would have chosen me out of a crowd. Like I would have been her first choice out of all the men on all the worlds. She said yes… And I’m a married man now! I’m really happy. I really love her. I’m really glad to be alive.

That probably sounded super corny, huh?

-date: 8/9/2098-46’\

Three local years since my last entry.

We lost contact with the other survivors. I don’t know what happened to them. Maybe it was local wildlife or sickness, maybe it was the mimic again, maybe something else. Anyway, let it be known that this farm contains, to my knowledge, the last 3 survivors of the crash.

3 survivors?

That’s what I said.

Because ƉN::ᶌ is pregnant.

I’m gonna be a dad.

Speaking of dad…

If this recording somehow gets to you, mom and dad… If the fabeled Time Giants ever find this log in the far future, and decide to do a favor for my present, and bring it back to you… If you’re reading this now in the comfort of your own home after I’ve left…

I want you to know that I’ve finally found that life I always dreamed of. There’s a little bit of adventure here and there, sure. (This planet seems to harbor some very improbable life. We’re always finding ourselves in some weird situation or another.) But most of all, I’ve found home. I’ve found love. I’ve found peace. And I think… With the help of God, I’ve found a bit of meaning. Here, in a filthy, watery world at the end of the universe. Here, in the valley carved by the crash of colonial vessel 46.18’/. Here, where nobody else has ever been, is where I’ve decided to stay. And here, I am happy. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

-date: 16/13/2098-46’\

There was a fault in ƉN::ᶌ’s manufacturing system. The child was damaged during final assembly, and… I’m not sure what happened. There was a problem with the release, and something snapped. There were sparks, and leaking oil.

And she died.

Her and the baby.

I made glass coffins so they wouldn’t decay. And I buried them behind the house.

I guess that’s it then, huh?

So much for our life. So much for our colony, and our future, and our children, and our love… So much for all that. Whoever’s reading this, I’d dreamed that one day we would have healthy, happy descendants who’d be able to hand this to you. And they’d say ‘Take this. This is their legacy…’

But what good are dreams?

Dreams are for young men… And today I feel old.

Anyway… If you’re reading this journal, then… Then I guess I’m long dead. The barn and the tractor and the windmill will have been eaten all away by now… Only the glass shuttle-house thing will remain; that and the coffins… Give it long enough, and the farm will probably grow all over the place… The drilling worms and trees will have digested the last of the hull wreckage we drug out here… That will make for the only soil on all of 3.0 that can support metal life, so the little forest will have reached a maximum size and stopped growing. Due to the atmosphere, the crops can’t spread seeds far enough to fertilize on the main wreck, and even the cats don’t explore very far. So. By now all the livestock will be all feral, all the trees will be huge… It will all be totally natural. Just like God intended.

It’ll be a little tiny drop of home, right in the middle of all this carbon slime. A tiny drop of home…

And that’ll be our legacy.

I’m locking the house up now, and I’m leaving.

I’m going back to the crash site. I go to find our last and greatest enemy, the mimic, and kill her. I go to ensure the safety of anybody who may come to this planet after us. I go in the name of peace. One final battle. One final adventure.

This is Ɖg@}Nᶌ, last survivor of the crash of Colonial Vessel 46.18’\, furthest explorer of a gentle people, last civilized lifeform on this planet, farmer and doctor and husband and father, signing out for the final time. Whoever finds this… I hope God’s plan for you is gentle. Gentler than it was for me.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.

Have a nice life.