#and a bunch of other random things i've been obsessed with

[allieebobo]

Do you have any if recommendation?

Ooh! I have really, really bad memory(!!) but these are current faves that I have played/replayed recently that I can think of. A lot of the authors are also THE BEST HUMAN BEINGS EVER. So, double recommendation.

I probably missed a bunch out, so take this as a non-exhaustive list! In no particular order:

(Edit: Added some descriptions but yeah I got a little unhinged so I'm sorry nothing makes sense or if the quality of the write-up went down over time/did not actually give you any useful info)

WIPs with demos

Citadel, @bouncyballcitadel (I think of all the IFs on this list, this one makes me sweat the most. And I've said it once and I'll say it again: the dialogue is so snappy and well-written, and characters are SO DAMNED LOVEABLE.)

Infamous, @infamous-if (I've been manifesting Band/Musician IFs for the longest time, and then this popped up! I've even played Choice of a Rockstar, that's how desperate I was... Anyway, this is legions better than that. Angsty ex routes are my kryptonite, and Seven is just. Inevitable.)

Defiled Hearts: The Barbarian, @defiledheartsblog (I went into this wanting something juicy and fun/historical—and it's all of those things, but I didn't expect it to be so damned funny, too. The ROs are all impeccable.)

Raiders of the Caravan and Apartment 3-3, @leftski-if (A'ight listen, fantasy slice-of-life is my fave genre, and these are IT. Like, everything I never knew I needed in my life, and SO cozy/wholesome, with a cast of characters that I want to befriend in real life.)

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: An Affair of the Heart @doriana-gray-games (First off, the customization in this game is INSANE, and the branching too. I've replayed a couple of times and the little variations I discover each time just blows my mind. Secondly, it's so funny and written so well. Ngl I'm not a Sherlock fan but that's just testament to how amazing this IF is.)

When Life Gives You Lemons, @when-life-gives-you-lemonssss (Modern slice-of-life with an adorable kid, a bunch of hot ROs, CC. Hill's humor, what can I say?)

Golden @milaswriting (Really interesting world-building, one of the coolest fictional cities I've read in an IF, AND I'm obsessed with the ROs, in particular K de la Renta. Also Mila is such an awesome writer, I'm beyond excited for @beyondthegame.)

A Tale of Crowns @ataleofcrowns (This game is beautiful, polished, and SO exciting. Honestly, it looks like the kind of game created by a whole-ass game studio and would cost $50 to buy, it's that good. I really got swept up by this IF—probably played it all in one go.)

Rougi @rougi-if (Again, another game with scrumptious visuals/UI and also is just so well-crafted. I love the premise too, it's so original and fresh.)

Scout: An Apocalypse Story @anya-dev (Unfortunately this one might be on hiatus but I am/was really, really obsessed.)

Wayfarer @idrellegames (Love the game mechanics of this one, and the visuals. Probably controversial, but I like the D&D / random dice effect. And I also like the fact that it feels like an old-school RPG.)

Chop shop @losergames (The premise is all I needed to be sold, really—I'd always wanted to buy GTA as a kid but my parents were like NO WAY. Anyway, this IF did not disappoint, and let me live all my childhood dreams.)

Edit: AHH! How could I forget, one of my recent faves, Folksaga @folksaga-if (Lush atmospheric writing, super unique premise—norse mythology, plus I'm head over heels for Katla).

Completed IFs

Butterfly Soup 1 and 2 @brianna-lei (these are completed and I will never not promote them. Honestly the most adorable, wholesome, funny sports/coming-of-age IF I've read)

Elsinore: After Hamlet @lapinlunairegames (Insanely cool premise, insanely cool execution)

The Thick Table Tavern @manonamora-if (I love bar/tavern games, and this one actually lets you mix drinks! Instant fave.)

Other HGs/COGs I love: Slammed, Tin Star, Fallen Hero, If it pleases the court, A Player's Heart (these last two are so underrated, though I guess cause it's mainly wlw)

[farmhandler]

Tumblr ficlet prompt: I've been obsessed with the concept of Logan doing sneaky little romantic things like taking Wade on a date but he doesn't know it's a date/logan doesn't want him to know it's a date, getting him little things and trying to pass it off as no big deal

Here's a little combination!!

---

"That was fun," Wade said as soon as they walked in the door. He immediately dropped his coat to the floor and slipped on his crocs, bending down to gather Mary Puppins into his arms. "Who's a good girl?" he cooed. "You are, my little precious baby!"

Logan picked up Wade's coat and hung both on the rack. He walked over to Wade who was still kissing Mary Puppins's head in repeated affection. "You had a good time? I wasn't sure you'd like it."

"Oh, I hate bowling. I haven't been since I thought I was straight," Wade said. "But watching you work so hard and shake that little tush to impress me was so adorable. And we had the whole place to ourselves!"

Wade wearing his full suit might have had something to do with that. Not that Logan had been complaining.

"Were you impressed?" Logan asked, only half teasing. He walked over to the fridge and pulled out a couple of drinks.

Wade cocked his head like he was thinking about it. "If I could remember what an impressive bowling score was, I'm sure I would have been. My eyes were on your ass for ninety percent of night. Why did you want to go to a bowling alley anyway?"

Logan tapped the drink to the back of Wade's head and dropped it in his hand. Wade immediately unscrewed the cap and lifted his mask to start drinking it.

"Holy fuck, that's so good," he gushed. "What is this?" He looked at the label.

"It's new, I think? Thought you might like it," Logan said. He scratched his neck. "You kept saying you were craving chocolate the other day."

He shrugged while Wade watched him, sipping on his drink.

"Are you having a mid-nearly-immortal-life crisis?" Wade asked.

Logan turned to him, brow furrowed. "What? No."

"Yesterday you gave me that Hello Kitty keychain you 'thought I would like'. And last week you brought in a bunch of outfits for Mary Puppins to try on out of fucking nowhere and the whole day became a photoshoot sesh, which you normally hate."

"One of the X-Men was getting rid of them," Logan said.

"You've been dropping random shit in my lap for weeks. And last week we went thrifting for four hours and you didn't complain even once."

Logan hadn't thought he'd been keeping track.

"And now bowling? What's up, peanut? Are you dying?"

Logan sipped his drink quietly for a second. "Wanted to take you out. I always liked bowling. Makes for a solid date spot."

Wade ripped off his mask and just stared at him.

"Date? That was a date?"

Wade slapped his hands over his mouth.

"Holy fuck. You've been wining and dining me? That taco truck you tracked down for me three days ago after we took care of that warehouse situation...Logan!"

Logan lifted his shoulders like it wasn't a big deal. It really wasn't.

"You sneaky little motherfucker. Is this your plot to make me fall in love with you?" Wade stood up and marched over. "Because it'll work! Food trucks after doing a bunch of murder is my weakness. But you should know..."

He stopped in front of Logan and walked his fingers up his chest. Logan snatched his hand and shifted closer, wrapping his arm around Wade's waist.

"What?" he said lowly.

"I'm wearing my rubber masturbating shoes," Wade whispered loudly. "Meet me in the bedroom after you shower. We are not fucking while you smell like a bowling alley."

Logan leaned his head forward, chuckling. His head bumped into Wade's, so all it took was a shift in angle to meet his mouth in a kiss.

[incorrect-mtg]

The Warlord and the Artificer

There's a saying among the Keldon, that a friendship is only true when it is forged in the fires of battle.

Radha would argue that Venser was never a warrior, so his contributions in battle were laughable, but saving the multiverse together should count for something.

That is why when he arrives severely injured on Keld, almost a decade after the mending, she orders her people to take care of him as they would herself, clearing a room for him to use and affording him the best healers Keld and Skyshroud could provide.

It takes him 3 days to heal enough for a coherent conversation, which is good enough for her to demand an explanation of what happened to him and what led him to Keld in the first place. The answer involved places and people she didn't know — from another plane entirely — but boiled down to Venser being unprepared for an ambush and almost getting himself killed, then not knowing where to go for help.

"So" she says, when he's done "your best plan was to seek charity from Keldons?"

"Well, it was more seeking charity from a friend, but yes" is his reply

Her answer is to snort and roll her eyes, before leaving the artificer to finish healing. Unlike him, she has a nation to wrangle together.

When he fully recovers days later, she does make sure to tell him he can come back, if he gets himself almost killed again in the future. Venser apparently takes that as a general invitation, showing up every few months to supposedly recover from his planeswalking mishaps or the miasmic atmosphere of his workshop in Urborg.

At some point the room he had first stayed him becomes HIS room, filled with random trinkets.

His stays are always short: it hadn't taken them long to realize that, no matter how much respect they might have held for one another, their personalities were just incompatible enough that they would inevitably find the other grating when interacting for long enough. Usually this would end with her calling him some variation of a "machine-obsessed coward" or him calling her a "battle-obsessed brute" and things descending into almost (or sometimes actual) violence.

So Venser would come, they annoy each other, he'd go away, rinse and repeat. One would think the constant annoyance would lead to her kicking him out for good. And yet…

One thing she is sorely lacking in her quest to rebuild her home is perspective. There is wisdom in both Keld and Skyshroud, but not the kind she needs to build a nation. Venser is the type of man who might not know everything, but who will voluntarily think and research in a way that would have her wanting to punch down a wall. Moreover, he's from Urborg, a place where people make a life out of scraps and gumption, exactly what Keld needs.

For his part, Venser seems happy to share all he knows freely, be it obtained in his workshop or on any of the many planes he keeps visiting and bringing back souvenirs from to decorate his room. As the years pass he even decides to teach her people directly, showing them how to build machines for farming and manufacturing and put to use the many scraps of phyrexian machinery that litter the land. It is the kind of knowledge that can truly change their lives, that means less people go hungry in winter, if any at all.

As for how she repays him, well…

"Training for the newest recruits will start tomorrow," she tells him one day "you should join in. My healers are tired of patching you up from your interplanar adventures."

"You want me to train… With a bunch of hotheaded Keldon kids" is his incredulous reply "You do see the problem in that, right? At best they'll laugh at me."

"You're a foreigner, they'll assume your lack of training is due to that. Also you don't look much olderthan them, which I've been meaning to ask about. What's up with that?"

"Exposure to the time rifts?" he says, shrugging. Her guess is as good as his, but it is undeniable that something is up with his aging. She is a a half-elf keldon and yet Venser doesn't look any older than her, despite the fact he should look like the human adult he actually is.

Regardless, she won't take no for an answer and the next few months see him going through all of the battle training anyone she calls a friend should have. The fact that the number of times he arrives in Keld injured drastically decreases afterwards only serve to validate her.

Things settle into a routine afterwards with her consolidating her position as "de facto" ruler of Keld ("maybe if I can sit you down long enough to write a proper legal code you can be de jure as well!") and gradually unmaking and remaking centuries of Keldon traditions into something new with Venser's help and constant planeswalking anecdotes ("Youd love Zendikar. Its like if a plane had your temperament"). Sure, they're a weird pair of friends, the keldon warlord and the ageless artificer. But she appreciates his wisdom and he's probably annoyed everyone else who'd listen to his tales.

Then one day he arrives from Urborg with a look on his face she knows means he either has a genius idea or a stupid one. The kind of look that means he's better left alone until he's thought his way through it and either decided on something or came to her for her perspective.

"Do you ever think about Karn?" he asks her, a day after arriving. "how he told us not follow him, all those years ago?"

"Not really" is her reply "I couldn't follow him even if I wanted to, why would I care?"

"But don't you ever wonder where he went? If he's still alive, even?"

She shrugs "He told us not to follow him. If he wanted help, he'd have asked for it."

"But what if he needed help? Or got himself into something he couldn't deal with?"

"Then that's on him, Venser" she says, the topic already irritating her "If I went out and told my people to not follow me, it means I don't want help. If I got myself killed that's on me, but if someone went after me when I told them not to I'd rip them a new one! Now, why are you thinking about this? We haven't thought about Karn in decades, what brought this on?"

He's quiet for a moment, before sighing and finally explaining "Some planeswalkers found me in my workshop. They want me to go with them to Mirrodin- that's Karn's plane" he explains when she gives him a questioning look "apparently it's been taken over by Phyrexians. I assume that's why Karn was so alarmed in the first place."

There's only thing to say to apossible return of Phyrexia.

"Shit."

"Yeah… They think I can help, somehow, and I got the impressioneither I go with them or get very far away to shake them off."

"Huh… Ok. So, you going?"

"Wha- Radha, if they're right, this would be like planeswalking directly to phyrexia! It would be suicide!"

"Maybe. Would be dangerous for sure. So, you're not going?"

"I don't know! If they're right, then Karn might have been caught by them. He might be dead" he says, now rubbing his temples "or he might need help, and nobody knows."

"Look, this is going nowhere" she says, thinking she might soon get a headache of her own "so Karn might be in trouble. Or maybe he's dead. You want to go and check. So go, what's the issue?"

"It's not that simple, Radha!" He replies, almost shouting.

"Yes. It. Is. What's so complex about it?!" she answers in kind.

"Not everyone is a suicidal keldon! I. Could. Die! Probably will, if I go!"

"Then make sure to die gloriously while taking down a legion of phyrexian horrors, Venser! If you want to do something, do it. If there are consequences, face them. If there's a cost, pay it. That's all there is to it. If you think Karn might need help, then sitting here complaining about it won't save him. If you think he's dead, either let it go or avenge him. End of story!"

As she ends her impromptu speech, she sees he's barely containing his anger. Good, if he punches first she might as well knock some sense into his stubborn head.

"Fine!" he finally replies "I'm going. If I come back I'll make sure to bring you the head of a negator or something. If I don't, get your bards to write a song about how I died gloriously against the ultimate enemy or whatever!" And then he's gone, planeswalking away in an instant.

It's the last time Radha sees him alive.

Radha doesn't have time to wonder about his whereabouts in the years that follow. Be it her ongoing duties as warlord or the resurgence or the Cabal, there is never a time to relax, to focus on the past. Not when people are counting on her.

Keldons learn not to mourn the ships that leave port never to return.

She does wish he would come back, of course. Particularly when she's foolishly captured by the Cabal herself. If he knew he'd probably plan some elaborate rescue just to laugh at her for getting caught in the first place.

When she is actually rescued by the Gatewatch, when she sees Karn among them, she lets herself hope just a bit. When all is done and Belzenlok is defeated and the Gatewatch leaves to handle Nicol Bolas of all things, she asks the golem about Venser.

Coming back to Keld, she takes the time for a funeral, even if there's no corpse. He might not have been born keldon, but he lived among them long enough to count, and what is more keldon than dying against the greatest of all enemies, making sure they lose their prize?

At least he was considerate enough to leave some phyrexians for her. The second phyrexian invasion comes with a wave of sleeper agents and whole new mechanical horrors, and apparently they dedicate a significant portion of their forces just for Keld. She'd be flattered if she wasn't busy unearthing sleeper agents and tearing apart ground soldiers. It takes her people weeks to find their footing and finally clear out the core of Keld and Skyshroud, which is when the enemy deploys their omenpaths, each spewing wholes armies of new enemies.

Leading them is a familiar face, if covered by layers of phyrexian butchery. Most of his body is gone, surrounded by a floating shell whose tendrils move every which way. Even as it appears to send out orders to its soldiers, the face at the center barely moves, like it is nothing more than a blank mask or decoration.

She has seen far too many familiar faces put to use by phyrexia. Their sleeper agents had sunk deep in Keld before they'd even realized something was wrong. She knows what phyrexian deception looks like.

This isn't deception. This is mockery.

Keldons do not take kindly to mockery.

The cold anger she had been holding onto since the beginning of the invasion heats up into an inferno but, for once, she does not let it down immediately. She's smarter than that: Phyrexia had fought them tooth and nail, but this is not a battle of attrition, it's an overwhelming show of force. A final act to break her and her people, in body and spirit. So she needs to throw all she has back at them.

Rather than roaring at the sky above, she closes her eyes, reaching back to the oldest lessons she had been given. The knowledge of the elves of Skyshroud, of reaching out to nature itself. She calls for the anger in Keld's mountains, and the indignation in Skyshroud's forests. Draws the mana from the leylines themselves to her. It is crude and painful, but good enough for what she needs.

When she finally lets out a war cry, it is with the power of all the earth under her feet. The mana shining so bright it is almost blinding as it spreads from her to each person standing beside her, then everyone already fighting then every non-phyrexian she can reach. As one, they charge.

And at last the phyrexians learn fear.

[seleneprince]

I have a problem

I'm falling on the rabbit hole of the batfamily, most espeficially the x reader fanfics and headcanons, and it's turning into a hyperfixation that's consuming me. I'm not even joking, i've been these two last days obsessively writing in my mind a full au of yandere!batfam x neglected!reader (yes, it's the most common and everyone has seen it already but HUSH). I hate my brain. I'm not even that deep into the dc universe, haven't been in several years. I'm team Marvel ffk

The worst part is that it's not even a deeply defined plot, like my current proyect. I just have the vibes and random scenarios and headcanons about the mc, and a bunch of cliches from all the batfam x neglected! reader put together in a mix. My arcane playlist isn't helping either. And recently I've played Watch Dogs Legion again and it's only giving me inspiration for this au.

So warning: Maybe I'll post a few things about this to get it out of my brain, because I can't be the only one suffering here. Don't worry to those who follow my other writing, I have no intention of abandoning it (not when I have already everything planned), but it's going to take slower than anticipated.

[jimmycarterghostland]

I finished my Worm read days ago. I'm going to discuss how I feel about the entire story as a whole here.

Some background: I discovered the web serial Worm years ago. I was either searching for the longest story or was searching for one that was one million words long. Either way, one of those things led me to Worm. Instead of reading it properly, I spoiled a bunch of stuff about it for myself, and would read random scenes out of order. And I would look up Reddit posts about the story. I tried giving it a proper read years back, but didn't get very far.

Months ago, I started that proper beginning-to-end read. A couple of days ago, I finished that read. I read the entirety of Worm. And it was worth it.

Before I started that read, I thought the Travelers were pretty cool. I ended up resenting them during my read. Not only were they rude to Taylor, but the Travelers didn't even like each other. That made it even harder for me to care about them, because they showed no care for anyone else.

Heartbreaker and his children, the Heartbroken, fulfilled this very specific trope of mine that probably doesn't even have a name. I don't know why, but I love it when a fictional male character has a lot of children by different women, making those children have a lot of half-siblings. Thragg from the Invincible comics fulfilled this trope too.

Heartbreaker was a villain I wanted to see a lot more of. He definitely had a lot of potential. I wish Wildbow had given him a bigger role in the story. I don't even think Heartbreaker had any dialogue. I wish Accord had had a bigger role, too, because he was another minor villain I found interesting, but at least Accord still had a decent amount of appearances in the story.

Speaking of Heartbreaker, his two kids Regent and Cherish were interesting. I actually liked Regent a lot. I was surprised that Cherish genuinely hated him and that the feeling was mutual. For a while, I thought that Cherish was going to betray the Slaughterhouse Nine and maybe team up with Regent and develop a friendly bond with him. I wanted that to happen. It didn't happen, though. Cherish ended up getting a fate worse than death. I feel bad for her, to be honest. I wouldn't wish her fate on my worst enemy.

I wish Regent had survived. He was a cool character. RIP.

My favorite character was Tattletale. At first, anyway. I think Taylor was my favorite by the end of the story.

Worm is the only superhero novel I've read. Reading it was nostalgic for me. When I was a kid, I loved reading superhero comics and watching superhero movies. The X-Men comics, movies, etc. is my favorite superhero fiction. Reading Worm fed my childhood obsession with superheroes. In general, people with superpowers forming teams and fighting other people with superpowers is something I love to watch or read. My own web serial, which I'm currently rewriting, has that.

I loved the dialogue in Worm. It was one of my favorite things about it. Those chapters during the final battle, when Taylor couldn't understand English, the lack of dialogue was a pain. Not just because a lack of dialogue can be boring, but also because Wildbow writes dialogue so well. I loved it when the characters in Worm would just talk to each other. And I love how characters tended to have unique vocabulary. Sometimes it fit their personality too, like Skidmark and his love for disgusting, inappropriate speech, because he's a disgusting, inappropriate person.

Something I had a problem with, though: a lot of times it wasn't clear which character was talking, and sometimes it was clear which character was talking but wasn't clear which one they were talking to during a group conversation. All of that happened a lot in Worm. Sometimes a dialogue tag would've been nice, with either a name or a pronoun.

The introspection was great. The inner thoughts of the characters never felt repetitive or anything. Sometimes certain phrases were used too much, like "The object was long as he/she was tall". And there were other repetitive phrases, but the introspection always felt fresh. I never had the impression a character was thinking the same thing took much.

Wildbow uses similes pretty well. I loved his descriptions. Sometimes I would read a sentence or a paragraph and understand exactly what a character was feeling. There was this one part when Taylor describes the terror she felt being like a gun being pointed at her for a long time, with her fear not rising or going down. I wish I could find that paragraph again.

The characters. The characters in Worm were amazing. They were so diverse with their own unique beliefs and motivations. It was realistic. A lot of them felt like real people. And there's some great character development. And because a bunch of the characters repeatedly make appearances throughout the novel, you see a lot of them and they make the book feel realer, and more "lived-in".

Worm is technically a multiple point of view novel. It's mainly told from Taylor's point of view, but it has a bunch of other narrators too. Wildbow is a master of multiple POV, which is also my favorite point of view to read and to write. The narrators in Worm have personalities and beliefs that show in the writing. Wildbow knows how to use introspection to demonstrate that. In the racist Hookwolf's interlude, he refers to Shatterbird as the racist term for her race, because he is racist. His inner thoughts fit his character. A non-racist character in Worm wouldn't have used that term. They would have used the proper word for Shatterbird's race. Hookwolf also has a hatred for cornrows, which is another example of his racism. When I read Hookwolf's interlude, I really got the sense that he was racist. Good job, Wildbow.

Worm has a lot of great instances of "show, don't tell". Like when he describes Leviathan as moving slower, because he's weaker, but Wildbow doesn't explicitly say that Leviathan was getting weaker. I loved that. Sometimes the reader has to figure things out for themself. There were some satisfying instances where Wildbow didn't spell out the obvious. I liked that.

I like how smart the characters were. Fictional characters being hopelessly stupid is something I really hate, but there was none of that in Worm. It was like everyone in this book was smart. Smart characters acting genuinely smart makes fiction more thrilling and fun to read or watch. It was satisfying to read intelligent characters showing actual cleverness. There was none of that "This character is stated to be smart but never does anything smart" nonsense.

One example of a character being genuinely clever in Worm is when Coil asks Dinah the chance of various individuals in their group, including themselves, surviving an upcoming attack, after she says there's a chance she will die in the next half-hour. The percentages is around the same for each of them. Coil does this to see if the attack will be an attack on all of them as a whole. This was clever. Another smart moment is when Taylor deliberately confuses Bonesaw to delay her attempt to get to Taylor's brain(which Taylor doesn't want to happen. Bonesaw is a really bad person). This moment probably wasn't extremely clever, but I think in real life most people would just pointlessly beg the bad guy to stop instead of actively trying to delay them.

Characters in Worm use their powers intelligently during fights, and that's what made reading this novel even more fun. It was intriguing.

I also love the stakes gradually get higher. The most dangerous villain is fought at the end, which is a good thing. Because the final battle in a book or other piece of media should be when the stakes are highest. If Scion was defeated in the middle of the novel and Lung was the final enemy to defeat instead, that would've been a terrible writing decision by Wildbow. Villainous Scion was much more of a threat than Lung was.

I really loved this novel. I wish more books were as great as this one. Worm is actually the web serial that made me start taking web serial seriously. I hope I will someday write a serial that's as great as Worm.

My rating for Worm:

4 out of 5 stars.

[metaltea]

(tw: scissors, needles)

Pov: you get your friendship bracelet from Moon cut off :( (no literally that's the plot I'm not even joking)

Reblogs greatly appreciated!

Not his official outfit! I've since then made an actual design I like for him and will post that once I finish Moon's :> BUT I liked this pic and didn't feel like redrawing so gonna just have to deal

Details abt this one bc I feel like oversharing and have nothing better to do

. Y/n is a socially anxious nighttime security guard. They have no friends + are mega depressed + self-conscious and hide their face behind a pair of sunglasses even at night + chubby bc I SAY SO. Started a fic with them a long while ago but deleted it cause depression, they liiiiive

. Sun has access to a sewing machine (terrible idea on staff's part btw) in the crafting room and is obsessed with sewing costumes, needles, sewing scissors, that kinda thing bc of course he is. His outfit has degraded over the years so he tries to put it back together with random scraps of red fabric. He has a bunch of needles on his lil waist thing for easy access

. The daycare is actually shut down and has been for a long time, but y/n doesn't know that since they only see it at night. Sun has gone stir crazy without kids to take care of and spends his day making costumes and other crafts, preparing for children to arrive... even though they never will.

. Moon is dormant most of the time bc Sun keeps the lights whenever possible; he's very passive and sweet, and will tell bedtime stories to plushies as a way to cope with the loneliness. He's kind of aware Sun's gone batshit but can't really be bothered to do anything about it, at least not till he gets to know y/n better

I'm not sure if they're separate animatronics and Moon just goes offline when the lights are off cause like I'm prolly gonna give him a different outfit so

. Basic story idea: Y/n is doing one of their night shifts and gets a noise notification coming from the daycare. Since they never got the memo about it being closed down, they assume there's a break in and goes to check it out. Sun is nervous as shit when the two encounter each other, way out of practice with socializing, but quickly warms up and decides he must become their best friend at any cost. Y/n on the other hand is awkward as hell and doesn't know how to act around him. Sun makes as many efforts to lure them into the daycare as possible, and slowly becomes more and more obsessive, going so far as to hack into the webcam of their laptop, the security cams to see what they can see, watching them at the start and ends of shifts to make sure they don't interact with anyone else

Just as y/n begrudgingly starts to warm up to him, the power goes out and they meet Moon for the first time. They have this rlly wholesome plushie bedtime story scene but Moon soon lets slip about the daycare being closed-

Y/n starts to realize some shit is going on and confronts Sun about it but at this point he's way too cheery around them and is always dancing around them and showing them his latest sewing creations... so instead they begin turning off the lights manually every night at set times, telling Sun it's for "routine maintenance" or something but really it's to get more info out of Moon

Perhaps Moon starts to become a lil protective of them too~ They are after all a lot better of a listener than any plushie...

At this point they're both fiercely protective/possessive of y/n and don't want them being friends with anyone else. Cue jealousy and the two fighting for their attention~

At some point or another Moon makes them a friendship bracelet since he knows that'll get to Sun since he likes them so much, and also to mark Y/n as his

Sun finds it the next day, grabs a pair of sewing scissors and cuts it off in his first display of outright anger

Beyond that?? No clue 🥲

I feel compelled to refer to this ver of him as Pincushion...

[felixcloud6288]

Dungeon Meshi Chapter 39

Oh I am going to love this arc.

We're now at the sixth floor, the subterranean canals. When the party first traveled here, the level was hot, but now it's freezing cold.

There have been comments all throughout their journey that the dungeon has been shifting and it seems like the shift is more extreme the further down they go. The third floor was the first one that anyone commented on, and it seemed like the layout only changed enough that maps had to be redrawn. Meanwhile the fifth floor changes constantly. Hopefully the sixth floor doesn't also have the whole layout constantly changing thing.

There was no commentary on the fourth floor changing though. Maybe since it's a water level, actually trying to move things would cause flooding so it's left alone. If the sixth floor is a canal, it might also be best to not alter it.

For now, the party is going to look for where they lost all their gear. Does this mean Laios is going to recover that shield he was using in chapter 1? And I hope Marcille finds that soap she lost.

Some discussion about Delgal. I'm still hoping to find out if the Winged Lion was a figure before Delgal or not. When Marcille mentions inscriptions about him, there's a lion head with Delgal's name inscribed, so that should imply the lion was a thing at the same time as him. But considering the magician's obsession over Delgal, it's possible all the random inscriptions were made AFTER the kingdom turned into a dungeon.

But yeah, this chapter confirms that Delgal was the one who gave the offer of the kingdom when the dungeon was first discovered. He's dead and his soul is no longer in the dungeon. Depending on how effective that resurrection Marcille used is at resurrecting someone, maybe the magician might try using something like that if he ever finds out.

Laios actually remembered the stuff he saw in the living pictures. And he also managed to infer the magician's motivations based off that. Laios sucks at socializing and picking up cues, but he's not dumb. He can connect the dots when they're all laid out before him.

Some elf lore. They can live to about 500 years and there are records implying they lived longer. ...Poor Marcille. She's going to outlive the others by a gigantic margin.

I want to know what Marcille was saying but its getting drowned out by Senshi's lack of understanding or interest.

Who's hand does that belong to? No one in the party wears that gauntlet.

Now we get to the fun part. The party escapes the blizzard, Marcille conjures a light source and...

I really need to point out a bunch of details leading up to this moment that makes this so much better. First, and most obviously, when the party grabbed each others' hands in the blizzard, we never saw two people in the same panel. The clones had been made during the storm and as far as anyone was aware, they were holding the hands of the real companions.

Second, before the lights come on, everyone's voices are coming from different directions. Once we know what's happening, it turns out several copies were responding to Laios.

Third, Marcille covered her head during the blizzard. So no one would have been able to see what her hair looked like at the moment the fakes were made.

But still, none of the clones are wearing that gauntlet of the person Marcille was holding hands with. For a moment, I thought it looked like something Shuro would wear but he doesn't wear it either. I'm sure I've seen it somewhere.

I would hope Laios's story of shapeshifters is just a story. Or at the very least, they were only hunting sheep. If their disguises are based on peoples' recollections, it would be easier to hunt sheep than people most likely. A shepherd with 100 sheep probably isn't going to remember every unique feature of the sheep.

For simplicity sake, here's how I'm going to address everyone going forward. From left-to-right, top-to-bottom from this image:

F1 Laios

F2 Laios

F3 Laios

Laios

F1 Marcille

F2 Marcille

F3 Marcille

Marcille

F1 Chilchuck

Chilchuck

F2 Chilchuck

F3 Chilchuck

Senshi

F1 Senshi

F2 Senshi

F3 Senshi

I'd seen images of F2 Marcille from the anime and I always thought it was an edit based on the "Handsome Squidward" face.

So we have the first round of Spot the Imposter. The party eliminates the three Laios clones and F2 Marcille. Then Chilchuck and F3 Chilchuck point out F2 Chilchuck and F3 Senshi's outfits are wrong.

I think it's worth pointing out that F2 Chilchuck helped Chilchuck point out which of the Laios's were fakes. So even though it would be in their best interest to sow confusion, the fakes are acting exactly like the real ones would which includes trying to figure out who the fakes are. The fakes probably don't know they're fake.

In the second round, everyone shows off their gear and the ones with obviously fake equipment are locked away. Funny thing is, F3 Marcille is the one who began the line of thinking leading to this suggestion and F1 Marcille, F3 Chilchuck, and F1 Senshi were the ones who suggested showing their equipment which ended up exposing F3 Marcille, F1 Chilchuck, and F2 Senshi as fakes.

So far the party has managed to eliminate most of the fakes because the fakes keep selling each other out. And in the case of F3 Marcille, selling themselves out.

Marcille points out how F1 Marcille's grimoire has several grammatical errors, but it's never mentioned that F3 Chilchuck's lockpicking tools are wrong. We get a detailed look at them in chapter 13 that we can compare.

The chapter ends with them about to go onto the final round. Everyone else will cook a meal and Laios will observe them and decide who is real based on their behaviour.

The others are not confident considering Laios didn't realize he'd encountered the magician, or picked up on Shuro's feelings, or remembered where he'd met Kabru.

But really, that shouldn't matter. Laios doesn't have to realize a stranger is a specific person, understand anyone's feelings, or recall memories. He just has to pay attention to what the party is doing now and pick up on any behaviours outside the norm.

So who made what? The fakes are based on everyone's thoughts of the others so each of the fakes is what they look like in everyone's minds. I'm going to take a shot at guessing which fake was made by which person and when the arc is done, I'm going to look up the answer and talk about the implications.

Laios

His Chilchuck and Senshi were already stated to be F2 Chilchuck and F3 Senshi. They're very close to correct, but Laios missed trivial details like thinking Chilchuck wears a scarf or Senshi's helmet having holes in it. Along that train of thought, I'm going to guess that he made F1 Marcille. He doesn't remember exactly what her hair looked like before this, but he had a general idea how it was laid out. He also has been learning magic so he'd know enough about what the contents of her grimoire looks like to make a convincing fake.

Marcille

I'm basing this entirely on her being a long-lived species and how she interprets everyone else based on their given age. Back in chapter 13, she called Chilchuck a kid when he said he was 29. So I think F3 Chilchuck and F2 Laios are her creations since she'd see them as teenagers. Meanwhile, I think F1 Senshi is her creation as well for the opposite reason. She interprets him to be older than he actually is.

Chilchuck

Every time we got to see Chilchuck's internal thoughts on the party, it's never flattering. So I'd guess he created the dumbest and goofiest looking fakes, F3 Laios, F3 Marcille, and F2 Senshi. F3 Marcille doesn't have any obvious hints to being stupid, but her grimoire is very much wrong, and Chilchuck doesn't know a thing about magic. It also has the line "Spell to turn back time", which is something Marcille was looking for in front of Chilchuck in chapter 33. The word "turn" was also misspelled and crudely corrected, implying F3 Marcille is not as smart as she acts.

Senshi

He has not been with the party for long. And he doesn't pay much attention to anything that doesn't have to do with cooking. So his mental image of the party are probably closer to caricatures rather than their real selves. His internal thoughts on their looks are probably something like "Laios is tall and he is pretty strong. Everyone says the elf-girl is pretty, but I don't get it. Chilchuck is a little baby who I must protect and nurture." Therefore, I think he made F1 Laios, F2 Marcille, and F1 Chilchuck.

back

[blue-thief]

Ok. Thoughts on the Itoshi Sibs / their parallels with Isagi?

HELLO this took forever for me to answer because summer school and the sadness. as you know.

also i went too crazy with tying blue lock into my fixation with japanese nationalism so it got way too complex and i got scared but now i'm just gonna make that its own post (<- said the same thing about bsd. that analysis about bsd's connection with japanese nationalism has been sitting in my docs for a year now i think)

(smh this is what happens when the japanese imperial army almost wipes out your entire bloodline /gen /srs)

anyway. all that waiting to say that rin is... just some guy to me

usually a fw anime boys named rin. esp if they're the sworn rival of the plain protagonist. not necessarily this one though

i have no clue why he doesn't scratch my brain properly. he just doesn't. i need to spend a good three hours staring at the ceiling at night to figure that out

when you first sent me this i didn't really care for sae much either. now i do

that's how long this has been sitting in my drafts 😃😃

(i've written and scrapped thousands of words for this ask sob sob)

(this answer wasn't even formatted this way originally)

i've probably told you the story of how sae grew on me before but like

i don't plan out my fics right

i do play out random scenes in my head to test out if i like them or not

(shivers because updating my fic is another thing that is taking forever.......)

and i was just fucking around with random jokes kaiser and sae could say to each other

then i imagined sae smiling

and i was like "what the fuck... why is that so endearing........"

that was the turning point but it really was a lot of sitting and contemplating sae's character honestly

to really understand him and why he'd be friends with kaiser

and sae is kinda just like me frfr

that guy can't do anything other than soccer/football. he has nothing going on beyond that

and yeah. yeah... i get that.......

it's the reason why i like a bunch of other bllk characters but it's most pronounced with sae yk

(SORRY MR. SNUFFY)

and like. just his inability to be a normal fucking person 😭😭 too real

anyway those are my general itoshi brothers thoughts

now for the parallels part.

(this is the part that killed me and i wanna go more in-depth. but i'm saving that for another post. because holy shit my original idea was so fucking ambitious)

i had other thoughts and god i wish i wrote that stuff down

but the major thing i want to get into here is dependence

isagi is independent. soo independent it's kinda crazy

this was outlined most during the second selection with bachira where he had to learn to play by himself

meanwhile there's rin who seems independent on the surface

however, rin has always been dependent on sae in one way or another

when they were younger, rin was dependent on sae to take care of and guide him

rin also depended heavily on sae on the field

now that they are older, sae's attempt to shake rin off has just made rin's dependence on sae even more intense, just in a different way

rin's only motivation to play soccer/football had been to "crush" sae

...but now he's met isagi

and his obsession has found a new object

with the recent chapters, now we know he places isagi and sae on a similar level in his personal hierarchy, and his desire to destroy sae has bled into rin's feelings toward isagi

while rin has only one rival, the same can't be said for isagi

isagi gains rivals like pokemon, and while they have all played a significant roll in isagi's development as a person and a character, his obsession doesn't consume him. in the PXG vs BM match, he's doesn't fully comprehend the effect he's had on kaiser and rin

and mannn i wish i could find this analysis, but it's gone now

but someone compared isagi's desire to "devour" to rin and nagi's desire to "kill"

I WISH I COULD REMEMBER EXACTLY WHAT THEY SAID

but from what i remember, "devouring" someone is temporarily defeating them, but both parties ultimately improve so there's room for them to meet again and help each other improve even more

however, "killing" someone is defeating them completely so they're never able to play/improve ever again

which outlines the fact that while isagi can be a little bitch on the field, he wants his rivals to improve alongside him, and in the end, he wants the best for people (in terms of soccer/football)

which is why he never became overly-dependent on bachira and why he treats midfielders as actual human beings 😭😭

isagi is independent, but he pushes for the people around him to be just as independent

the itoshi brothers are different though

rin is codependent on sae, and you could say his hatred/obsession with isagi is a different type of codependency

but that thing about treating midfielders as human beings...

uh. that doesn't really apply to rin

sae is somewhat similar with how he "tamed" shidou but it's not THAT imbalanced lmao

there's also how the three of them are on different places of the striker-midfielder spectrum

in-universe and within the fandom, rin is perceived as japan's ultimate striker. his raw shooting power + metavision makes him perfect for this position.

however sae, another metavision user, is the perfect midfielder

then there's isagi who's tried emulating rin's play style at first but is ultimately most similar to sae, leading people to say that isagi is better suited to be a midfielder rather than a striker

while rin represents what the ultimate japanese striker is, something isagi is trying to reach, sae's path is one that isagi could easily fall down instead

many people have theorized that sae became a midfielder to improve rin's chances at becoming a better striker. sae may be considered to have a strong ego, but if this turns out to be true, that might not be the case lmao

errm. idk how to end this off. sorry for the wait sob sob

[imagineandwrite]

Domestic Vibes (Headcanon)

I'm still writing Obsession vs. Love

Domestic?Shuri Udaku x College Student!Masculine!Fem!Reader Also Grumpy!Sunshine!Shuri x Slightly!Grumpy!Reader

Warnings: Mean!Reader and Mean! Shuri but they're slick with it, they're not mean to each other, I feel like Reader just needs a nice nap and she'll be fine. Reader is taller than Shuri, and Shuri has no decorum. Reader is grumpy but is soft-spoken around Shuri. Poor Riri just wants to hang with her bestie, I don't say anything sexual but I think it's implied that Reader is very dominant and Shuri is very... submissive. I think at some point I just let loose and just start dumping my thoughts, so there's definitely a lot of cussing and Reader talks like me... I've been told I talk "Proper ghetto" idfk

A/N: THIS IS NOT IN THE SAME UNIVERSE AS Obsession vs Love. I'm trying a new color code thing. Green is Reader and Purple is Shuri

Inspired by @shinsousliya's Domestic!Wife!Shuri Headcanons

Dating

When y'all finally start dating (which is a hilarious story I imagined but I don't have the energy to write. If you want it, let me know)

You thought Shuri was clingy before but now the nigga is SLOTH CLINGY! Holding onto your back, piggyback rides, held over your shoulder, or she's holding onto your arm.

Don't blame her though, she lost everyone so she needs to keep an eye on you

She's practically moved in with you and only goes back to Wakanda to do check-ups on the people and their safety (she is the Black Panther after all)

Riri has gotten used to coming home to Shuri and you laying on the couch or the floor watching tv

"I left you a box on the counter," Shuri said, her eyes never straying from the tv and her hands still playing with your hair. Riri sighs as she walks into the kitchen, greeted with the site of two boxes. One with her name and the other with MJ's name. "I wasn't sure if you were bringing MJ, or not, so I got something for her!"

Meanwhile, you're grumbling cause your sleep was disturbed by Shuri's yelling.

Speaking of sleep! We all know that College is a bitch, having a job doesn't help, and running a side hustle with Riri is kinda tiring.

Your sleep schedule is terrible

Your friends constantly call you Zombie or a vampire cause you look like shit while still looking sexy

"How is it that you had a bunch of girlfriends, have an amazing girlfriend who will do anything for you, and still have random bitches coming up to you asking for your number? Meanwhile, the other day a girl flat out told me no and asked my brother out in front of me." "I have no clue, maybe no one likes you cause you dress like Mr. Brown." (Yes, Tyler Perry's Mr. Brown)

At first, Shuri would try to get you to bed on time but then she'd stay up working while you slept. And you told her that made no damn sense

So now y'all stay up together until one of you (usually Shuri) slumps over and the other (you) has to carry them to bed.

Remember the clinginess I mentioned in the other post? Yeah, Shuri needs your attention on her

She will 100% let you talk her ear off about all your interests and hobbies

Why are you talking to this musty boy when you could be talking to her? Oh, he's your cousin? Well, she's your girlfriend, your very needy girlfriend.

Speaking of being yours! Tell her she's your "anything" and she's putty in your hands

"Hello, my love." "Hi, Sthandwa Sami." *soft giggles*

"Cause you're my girl." She's now latched onto you, good luck carrying a Shuri sized front pack

She'll ask you about your passions, knowing that there's a chance you'll go on a rant about it and she loves it when you explain things she "doesn't understand"

She understands almost everything about your passions, she researched it when she found out you loved it.

OH! Shuri learns your body's schedule so that she can make breakfast or ready a shower or bath, depending on if you are going to work or school

She learned your style so now she's constantly buying things for you and you're like "QUIT BUYING ME THINGS!" and she's like "But spoiling you makes me happy." and you, of course, don't wanna make her sad so you let her spoil you.

I don't know if Shuri really thinks they're flirting or is just really jealous but if she sees a girl staring for too long or breathing weirdly. She's ready to throw hands... unless you can stop her in time

"Is she staring at you?" "No, I think she's staring at you." "Sthandwa Sami, I am many things, but I am not blind." Cue her speeding towards the woman. "Apartments this way, my love! You can fight air instead of yanking her hair." (that rhymed)

It's either that or she finds a way to "accidentally" offend the person so they leave

"You're wearing a wig, yes? I can see it lifting at your ear where you didn't glue it properly."

"Your shoes don't match your outfit, is today a tacky day? Or what do you Americans call it? Mitch-match?"

She's so mean but she looks so innocent, so confused while saying these things that people think she's genuinely curious. Meanwhile, you're trying to find out if you want to laugh or find the nearest exit so you can deal with her

While you're in class, Shuri is either working on a lab project or she's running errands/doing work for you.

Again, I'm keeping @shinsousliya's headcanon in mind

So, you're a college student running a business. Maybe you're selling hair care products. Just because some old people can't tell if you're a dude or a chick doesn't mean you have unkempt hair.

She bought a printer for you so you wouldn't have to keep using your friends' or the library's printer. She's piping shea butter hair cream into containers, pouring hair oil into bottles, and sticking labels on them.

She'll restock your ingredients, and buy another mixer for you so you can make two batches at a time instead of one.

One time, she sat you down and created a schedule for you. It's got what classes you have on certain days, restock days, wash days, birthdays, vacation time, etc.

Since you both know, you're not gonna keep up with the planner, she has complete access to it. She'll add things to it and you'll get a notification on your iPhone, iPad, laptop, and kimoyo beads.

Did I mention she got you kimoyo beads? You have them as a necklace and she made you Kimoyo earrings as well so you both are matching.

I know y'all THINK she's tall, but shawty is a shorty.

I feel like you'll walk into the kitchen and just see her chilling on the counters. Like literally on the counters. Like crouched on it, like a cat, type chilling.

She goes to you to clean her wounds from being the Black Panther

You've learned a bunch of basics and more of First Aid and such

But she's so whiny and so sensitive

"I'm kindly requesting that you sit still," You mumble, carefully picking a bullet out of the hole in her side. "It hurts," She whined, shoving her face into a pillow to muffle her groan of pain. "I know, my love, but I got it," You sigh, placing the bullet on a tray next to you and grabbing the cloth wraps. After cleaning around the wound, you kiss her hip before wrapping her waist. Stopping whenever she flinched back to give her a break. "I'm done, love." You kiss her temple as you carefully guide her to lie in bed.

She's super annoying but it's cute so it's okay

Like she's following you around whenever she can

As soon as you get home, she's guiding you to the couch or to your room so she can just lay on you

If you say or do something stupid, she's quick to pinch your side

It's gotten to the point where fi you can, you'll move away from her and then say it so she has to get through obstacles to get you

By the time she's with you, she just wants to hug you

Accidently snaps at you for no fucking reason

It's toned down now that you've fixed it, but SHEEEESH

when y'all first started dating, she snapped left and right

"You okay?" "I do not need you hounding me, I'm fine."

"Maybe take a break." "Stop telling me what to do, I don't need a break I need to finish this. You need to leave!"

"Sweetheart-" "No." "Excuse me?" "Can't you see I'm busy?"

At first, all you did was give her a look and that would fix her up

But then you talked about it with her and tried to figure out why she would snap so frequently

Poor baby would be overstimulated and the only way for her to be pulled away from overworking was to snap at you

She likes matching with you, even if you're in different countries

She'll call you so you can plan your outfits together

Sometimes she'll get lost in thoughts of her future with you

DEFINITELY TOOK SOME OF YOUR CLOTHES WITH HER TO WAKANDA

You call her and see her drowning in your hoodie

"Ma'am..." "Yes?" "That's my hoodie." "I know." "Why do you have it?" "Cause..." "Okay, my love."

That's another thing! Y'all don't even have to say anything, you just know when the other is feeling a certain way

Has and will ask you stupid shit just so she can see your reaction

She invited you to Wakanda and you met Nakia and had to do a double take

"I'm looking respectfully."

And Nakia of course has been around the world and has spent time in Nakia. She knows exactly what you mean by that and she is amused. Shuri is not

"If you're going out in that, put on a jacket. I don't want you sick."

If you're like me, I'm an introvert but if I have to, ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO, I will talk to people

Your social battery starts depleting at 5 people if they're strangers.

On a very good day you can do 6

Shuri is perfectly fine with this, cause she doesn't like talking to people either

It's more of a "What's out there that we don't have in here?" than a "People are terrifying" thing

Physical Affection

You're either spooning her or she's laying on top of you with her face in your neck or on your chest. If you move, she moves. There's no separating

"Unless you want me to pee on you, move." Softly nudging Shuri off you. "I'll come with you." Getting up to follow you to the bathroom with a soft grin. "Do me a favor and don't. Just plant your ass on the bed." Pushing her back on the bed and wrapping her up like a burrito.

One of you is wrapped in a blanket laying between the other's legs while they read to the burrito blanket person

I feel like Shuri likes to nuzzle you. Like if she's sitting behind you, she'll nuzzle the back of your neck or your shoulder. She'll nuzzle your cheek.

OR! She'll give you Eskimo kisses, which is just rubbing your nose against someone else's nose

Buries her face in your chest. Doesn't matter if you're flat-chested or your breast is big (like me) She'll shove her face where she can

Goodnight kisses, very important. DO NOT MISS OUT ON HER KISSES

Thump. You shove the pillow off your face and back into Shuri's hands. When you finally open your eyes, Shuri glares down at you from her place on your lap. "What?" "Do not 'what' me!" She whispers, thumping your forehead before crossing her arms. You sighed as you sat up, placing your hands on her hips to keep her on your lap. You swiftly pecked her lips, quick to move out of her reach when she tried to deepen the kiss.

She'll bite you. If you're like me, then you'll bite her back.

Or you're the one who bit her first

She's constantly messing with your hair

If you don't have any hair, then she's playing with your fingers

If she senses your anxiety, and you're in public, she'll grab your hand

If you're in the comfort of your home, or at a friend's house, she'll hug you and kiss along your collarbone or jaw or cheek (wherever she can reach)

So if you saw the Meetings and Things post, then you remember that you'd pull her to sit in your lap whenever there weren't enough sits BEFORE you were dating

Now that you're dating, she likes to sit on your lap and just chill

She's gotten used to sitting in your lap and it kinda feels weird to not be in your lap or pressed into your side

Wrap your arms around her from behind and pull her into you. She immediately collapses into your arms

And good luck trying to escape her hold in the morning

Cause she's latched on TIGHT

How do we like the color thingy? I was gonna do a bit of NSFW headcanons but... I don't know... I'll probably mess with it in the future

[spilledmilkfkdies]

So what are your personal thoughts on Yilidth (if you haven't already answered). I hadn't read the comics in a while but I don't think they ever said anything about him being related to Duman, though considering his eye and hair colour I guess it was probably implied. How do you think he created him? Like did he just use magic or did he had a one night stand and then years later, a basket with baby Duman just appeared with a letter telling him he's the dad, and he's like "Oh, f*#k".

I actually made an au where the wizards had joined Yilidth's wizard cult as novices and one task that he made them do was babysit Duman. Imagine the chaos😂

I think I have given my thoughts on him before, but that was both a while ago and I didn't appreciate him as much as I do now, which you can tell 💀💀 very angry very rambly stuff over there- So let me give some more/updated thoughts!!

Him being underused and shoehorned is still very true, unfortunately. He could've been a super handy tool to give us more information about the whole Terrestrial conflict, since that was an interesting part of canon that might have benefitted from a bit more exploration, even if it was a bit late. But then he just. Wasn't?? He was announced, he came, he died?????? And that was the first and last we saw of him. Honestly deranged boooo yucky.

He never even got to interact with the wizards again- You could literally say he was just some random criminal that had been locked away and almost nothing would change, and that's really his main problem. Aside from his design. I mean, love a blank canvas to throw a bunch of takes at, but come on!!!!!

Him and Duman's relation was never really mentioned either, I don't think? Beyond the "He was the leader of the fairy hunters!" there's really um. Nothing. Like in general. Ask canon Yllidith their names and he'll give you a blank stare fgbhbn- Tbh I'm surprised Duman's even in the lil flashback thingy at all ngl

Now, can we call any sort of relation implied? Are we gonna give them that much credit? Well idk! I'm just personally a fan of it so I just kinda. Squinted real hard. Matching eye colour? Mhm. Hair colour? Sure kinda. Yllidith having illusion magic and Duman being a shapeshifter? Yep that lines up enough for me, that does it, they're related now. Some people see the vision, others might not- I've spoken to plenty of people who aren't a fan of the take and that's a-okay, just know that I very much am 👉👈

This is a. Surprisingly consistent thing for me too?? Like yeah there's a case of "it depends on what I'm doing", there usually is- But not to a large extent ig? The method varies, but in a lot of stuff I'm doing now there's definitely a relation in one way or another.

Usually Duman is more or less made from scratch, a magic'd up baby, if you will. Though the process did include Yllidith's blood, so you have enough wiggle room to still say there's a blood relation. (Duman wouldn't.) (Yllidith only does when it's convenient.) But I've been getting the urge to explore a more normal approach where he was just regularly born lately, so maybe I'll get to that at some point too.

And!! If you ever feel like sharing more of that AU in any way, please do, because it sounds absolutely DELIGHTFUL. Imagine them thinking it's gonna be an easy enough task, and they wonder why nobody else wants to do it, then little Duman starts shapeshifting into horrors beyond mortal comprehension. Bye, I'm obsessed.

[sandybrett]

Here are my completely honest thoughts on a bunch of audio dramas I've checked out. (Don't worry, nothing scathing, they're all reasonably good. But please proceed with caution, or don't proceed, if you're involved in creating any of these shows.)

In the order I first listened:

The Storage Papers: Nine episodes in. A little slow paced, but I've heard it picks up in the later seasons. My only real concern is that it seems like a lot of the horror revolves around "this thing looks sort of like a human but it's Wrong somehow. also it kills people (or cats)." I hope at some point we meet a creature that looks and acts as unsettling as the Grinner but is nice, or at least complicated.

The Cellar Letters: Seven episodes in. I LOVE it. I love the natural-feeling messiness of it, the way Nate and Steve talk in circles and go back and forth on what to believe. It's made me laugh out loud multiple times. I can't wait to learn more about that weird little room full of letters with that one random word written on the wall (I forget what).

400 Words a Horror: Three episodes in. I had to re-listen to the first episode because I hadn't been paying enough attention, but I think that particular episode rewards re-listening anyway. Also it is the only show on this list that genuinely frightens me so I have to pace myself. Very good.

Tin Can Audio Presents: Middle:Below: Two episodes in. I won't say I'm hooked, but I am somewhat interested. It's a lot more relaxing than the other podcasts on this list, so I keep thinking I'll save it for listening closer to bedtime, then not getting around to it.

The Grotto: Six episodes in. Very much enjoying. I was SO proud of myself for correctly guessing the twist in the second episode. I love the characters and am extremely intrigued by the mysteries. My only criticism is that the musical interludes drag on too long. And I'm saying that as a WOE.BEGONE fan.

Soul Operator: Three episodes in. It's good but there isn't any particular element that's drawing me in just yet. There's a lot I don't know about the world yet, though, so there is still plenty of time for me to fall in love with this show. (Irrelevant note: I always get "Smooth Operator" by Sade stuck in my head when I think about this show.)

Shadows at the Door: Listened to half of the first episode. It was somewhat interesting, but I decided I had higher priorities for my listening time than disconnected hour-long episodes that are only *somewhat* interesting.

Archive 81: Five episodes in. Quite possibly going to become a major obsession. It's got everything: playing with point of view; the Power of Storytelling but in a menacing way; vivid character voices; probably a cult. I particularly love the way conversations play out on this show--I don't know exactly how to explain it but there's a certain... friction that happens in real conversations but rarely in fictional ones outside cringe comedy. I don't usually enjoy that sort of thing when it's played for laughs, but for realism or suspense? I eat that up. It does make me a little tense so this is another show I pace myself with and I'm glad the episodes are short.

Alice Isn't Dead: Two episodes in. I'm not going to make it a priority--it's got a similar sort of surrealism to Night Vale, but with higher stakes and less humor, and I had enough trouble getting immersed in Night Vale. I could probably enjoy it if I gave it enough time, but for now I'd rather focus on *gestures at some of the shows above*

The Silt Verses: Listened to the first ten minutes of the first episode and got bored, which I think says as much about me as it does about the show. It does get off to a bit of a slow start and leaves more space between lines of dialogue than most of these shows do, but I could probably get into it with adequate time and sleep. Not prioritizing it, for similar reasons to Alice.

[puhpandas]

I WOULD LOVE A WHOLEPOST ABOUT UR THOUGHTS ON HOW THE UPDATE SOLVED HW2 FOR U

THANKS BESTIE. here we go

so my first thought when I watched the hw2 update was "wow, they really updated hw2 just to add more random disconnected from anything hw2 has going on lore of mxes and most of all just to tease sotm bc they refuse to show any footage of it". the sotm stuff doesnt have a deeper meaning, it's literally just to build up hype, but the very nature of them dumping lore into a hw2 update seemed so... strange. and it made me think deeper about it

I mean they virtually just updated a game that wasnt about the mimic before to be about the mimic, and also to show off mxes lore and explain a little more about it. completely ignoring the sotm hype, mxes lore is so random and doesnt match or fit with anything else hw2 had going on

but hw2 itself was all over the place, not having a comprehensible plot and seemingly just having a bunch of random little plots that didnt have an overarching story. like glitchtrap being killed in the vanny ending, roxys node being a mask and not her endoskeleton, and killing off Cassies dad (I'll get into him later)

so that made me wonder if hw2 was SUPPOSED to be all over the place from the start. my first impression with this update is that they updated the game to explain lore in the mimic era that they wouldnt be able to explain in sotm. that came off as them like, shoving it in somewhere so they didnt have to find a way to talk about it AFTER sotm. and it just kinda clicked for me in that moment. the very nature of killing glitchtrap (the main thing that happened in hw2) and all the other teeny tiny plotpoints that were disconnected from eachother being included was the entire point of the game

we all know they're. fucking obsessed with sotm. they're constantly hyping it up and talking about it and every single release since security breach has been working to foreshadow/tease it. it doesnt take a genius to realize that this is supposed to be a big game. it's the end of this era to me, that I've been calling "the course correction era". everything theyve been doing really has been incorporating the mimic into the games, and this update confirmed talesgames. killing glitchtrap also is securing mimics place as his replacement

so like, if sotm is theoretically the end of an incorperation/course correction/mimic lore era, then that means any loose ends theyd need to tie up quick, and that's where hw2 came in. ruin was the mimics first appearance, hw2 is the game that ties up tiny loose ends here and there, and sotm will be explaining everything mimic so we can more into an actual present day story progression era

tldr I think hw2s entire purpose was to be a game to dump any tiny story aspects they needed to establish or debunk or whatever before fully jumping into the new era after sotm. I always thought "itd be so much better if they did ruin and then sotm with no hw2, bc it's just so nothing" but maybe the nothing was on purpose. it's so they dont have to do it later and they get some explaining out of the way. that's why them shoving mxes lore into the game in an update felt so on purpose, when everything hw2 had done had felt so directionless. it kinda put it in a new perspective for me

and as for cassies dad, who is probably the protag, I think it explains the entire point of his character existing, which was so lost to me before. his character exists just to be the protag of hw2. he gets IMMEDIATELY killed off in the ending of the game, had no face or name or character other than being the father of a more important character, and was more of an introduction to the concept of vanni technician masks and fazwrenches and stuff. he exists to be the guy in hw2, the game that only exists to tie up little loose ends, bc that game just needed a player character, and then he dies.

he doesnt have anything crazy going on, like (people thought for a while, but it was debunked in the john sw interview and also in this update) building mxes, or setting up the nodes. almost all of that has been debunked with Gregory vanessa and Freddy consistently being associated with mxes multiple times, and their footprints being around ruin where nodes would be set up. they're clearly being implied to be responsible for the nodes/mxes in the basement and taking them from the factory to do so/and trapping the mimic. I feel like his character was always meant to be a throwaway, I mean goddamn we know nothing about him.

and also, Scott has shown to be randomly obsessed with assigning adult men in fnaf games with being a past fnaf 4 bully with itp also having Freddy bully, so I doubt the bonnie tie ins have any more significance than just a little cute callback reference. it's just that. anything he had before the john SW interview and this update has been debunked, with major evidence pointing towards other characters (who it SHOULD be doing all that stuff), so its just. it makes him make so much sense. he was so infuriating before bc he seemingly did tons of important shit but was so.. not important, but i feel like enough time has passed and stuff have happened to show that he didnt ever have that stuff going on. he was always a one-off character to give the lore dump game a protag, then he was killed off immediately. hes another jeremy of the franchise. just there to serve the plot and then die

it also makes narritave sense. cassies story cant head in any other direction (& just the story as a whole) than vanny!cassie, and Cassies dad being dead takes away one of the support systems she would have thatd keep her from being manipulated by mimic. it removes parents from the situation for her and makes it like. more possible ig that shed even be in this situation not being helped

anyway, that's what I've gathered from this update. maybe I'm crazy but this update has cleared up a lot of things for me personally, and I hope I'm right about this stuff. cassies dad being one-off and a jeremy would be infinitely more narritavely satisfying than him being in charge of the stuff with ruin then just. fucking dying. it also makes perfect sense for how they treat his character

and more evidence supporting Cassies dad being made to be hw2s protag: ruin and hw2 were made at the same time. it was a year and a half of radio silence before they announced both hw2 and released ruins trailer in the same week in 2023, and then ruin and hw2 released 5 months apart, with both games referencing eachother in them. they made these side by side, so itd line up perfectly if they knew they needed a protag for hw2 that would be disposable, so they made Cassies dad, and made him only exist as a character in collectable descriptions and 1 line from cassie. ruin also foreshadows 'carnival' (aka sotm) in its ending w the mascot costumes in the room it was trapped in, so sotm was 100% planned and prob in development at this point, meaning this whole lineup of course correction was thought out

anyway thanks for enabling me anon! plz lmk ur thoughts! this course correction era has been. very infuriating, since we didn't even have a single clue why they were doing the story like this until sotm was announced, and it cleared up their intentions and plans at least for me. its actually making me so much more excited. theyve just been speeding through getting the mimic and stuff incorporated already so they can move on. it's nice to see and to know that even tho this stuff has taken a long time to come out, at least they're not purposefully spreading it out and dragging it along. they're just doing it until they're done. and if the code of 4625 in the update is really a release date, then April 6 isnt even that far away. we can be free soon!!

[zeondraws]

Finally had time for my boos OCs

Wanted to draw Alondra as study but ended up drawing her brother in. He put the kitchen on fire idk HOW-

Random thoughts down below!

Last four days I have been very productive I've noticed. Just interesting to see, I do manage to work on my projects when the time is there (I always worry I am incapable of working properly, whenever I see all these self employed artists that seem to manage well enough). I specifically took two days off work to clean my apartment and work on stuff. Still have to add something to furniture and wait for my new bookcase but- is going.

Tho I clearly seem to be afraid of paperwork, that fear keeps festering. Hm, I at least have therapy today, hope new therapist will be OK.

I always seem to work on something every day, tho I also have been living alone for years and it sometimes feels very lonely being in my apartment on my own (Tho I am also very used to being alone, sometimes I prefer it). Yesterday, my uncle told me I can turn to him to talk about anything etc. But I just know, if I talk about my feelings too often, he'll get offended at some point.

While I draw is the only time I can finally shed a tear, sometimes at least. It is therapeutic in some way. Also I started listening to a German youtuber hyper analyse every 5min of the first harry potter movie yesterday- She has like 30 episodes that take around 40-60min each. It's wild but also very interesting to listen to while drawing. (German folks may know about Coldmirror) Freaking giggled at some parts, a friend of mine joined the vc session and listened along, was fun.

But ye I hope I can go back to having proper therapy the coming months and sort some problems, I'm too scared to talk to anyone with. I think one topic that makes me feel incredibly awkward, that I have mentioned a bunch of time already? Is probably about love, but it makes me feel very weird. I still remember as a child where I got a crush on cartoon characters and it wasn't really bad. Tho I stopped trying to have that feeling after I obsessed over my chem teacher at the age of 16-17. It makes me feel very awkward to this day and sometimes feels very painful.

I'm turning 23 in about a month, which is wild to think. So much happened, since I left my uncles house. (for context I have two)

But I think developing a crush on a fictional character now makes me feel very weird. I don't know how to feel about it because I avoided having such feelings for ages, because this entire topic among other things has a lot of bad memories attached to it. There is some trauma that is waaaayy too personal, that I couldn't say here. At least not in the near future. But ugh I get emotional just thinking about it, for some reason it brings me back to child me playing uno on my own. Didn't really have many people to play with. Instead I hung out with my imaginary OCs and did stuff with them. They still help me out, whenever I need to overcome a challenge. Or me just imagining them, following me along in the mall. My favourites atm are Edwin and Kirsten, two of my Bus OCs.

Seems therapy, art and just writing my feelings down somewhere online helped the most. I tried doing a diary, but it sadly didn't work long term. If I could have a family member I can vent to instead, I'd be happy to but don't think it's given. I think even a partner scares me too much, I firstly want to be on my own rn.

Okay! I go relax today, busbusbusbusbusbusbusbusbus

[doubleddenden]

Damn the more I hear about Velma the worst it gets. This saddens me because I've been watching Scooby since before I could talk :(

Mainly what I'm seeing is that someone has contempt for the series + their own ideas for their own incredibly generic show and rather than make something unique, they're just insulting an established series.

My biggest gripes so far:

1. How tf do you got a Scooby Doo show without Scooby Doo? Is he too kiddy for your generic ugly adult cartoon?

2. Shaggy- oh sorry, NORVILLE. Look, I have no problem with the race thing- my literal main issue is that he's called SHAGGY for a reason. How hard is it to give him thick hair? On top of that they make him an actual druggie- let's pretend there's not some subtle racism behind making the perceived 'stoner' of the group black- it's boring. Yes yes we know the gang is a bunch of stoners, but isn't it funnier when it's just IMPLIED? Isn't it funnier that a man just REALLY FUCKING LOVES DOG TREATS and is willing to risk his life on a regular basis for god damn DOG TREATS? Instead they just turn him into yet another Seth Rogan tier predictable disappointment

3. The overall mischaracterization from what I'm seeing just... sucks, and again, I think part of that comes from a contempt for the series. You don't have to make the characters assholes to make them likeable! I know Rick and Morty and Seth McFarland have poisoned the well for a lot of people but you really don't!

Across the franchise there's plenty of fun ways to interpret the characters:

Fred: himbo that loves his friends, dad friend barely holding it together, obsessed with traps- take your pick, none of these are spoiled boring asshole rich kid.

Daphne: if you're opposed to damsel in distress, how about the cool martial artist fashionista made prevalent in the What's New Scooby Doo series or the live action movies? What about being a good reporter? Hell, even her goofy dorky self in Be Cool Scooby Doo is better than the stereotypical snooty popular girl. Props at least for keeping the red hair.

"Norville" is not a self friend zoning beta male and he's not really obsessed with drugs. Literally the man across DECADES of this franchise is ridiculously talented. Ventriloquism, improv acting, gymnast and athlete- seriously, why do you think they have him and the dog constantly running away from monsters and leading them into traps? The man was literally so good at that that he became a COACH. for MONSTERS. Let's also not forget that he was a race car driver! And had a hot girlfriend! In fact, fuck this friend zoned beta male shit- Shaggy literally pulls more girls (and men I think) in the entire franchise than the others COMBINED. If anything he should have dense harem protagonist energy. I'm talking more than Velma, dude also pulled her LITTLE SISTER- and she was okay with it because she knows he's a good guy(mind the AUs)! Pulled a girl that was kinda a monster fucker for him specifically when he was a werewolf, an actual fucking alien, several foreign girls of various nationalities, several average girls, a crazy but hot redneck girl that tried to SCHWOOSCH his bones after seeing the red shirt ONCE, pretty sure he did something good for Daphne to hang out with him for so long with just a bunch of dogs and a random kid they picked up, very sure actual monsters fell for him- and he's a nerd! He and his beloved best friend the talking dog are massive nerds! I reckon people still latch onto that and think he's the stereotypical nerd but no, no, Shaggy has so much going for him! Not to mention- not to mention! Animal lover! Doy! How do you miss that? He's always paired with the animals! The man is a collective family friend of the entire Doo clan! Every time there's a guest appearance with a non human entity, he's hanging out with them!

Velma... alright look. I'm about to say something real controversial. Real controversial. You ready? She is kinda boring and bland. She's smart and a good investigator, but really? This is who you base the show on? Recently she was allowed to be bisexual- that's great! She's well read, well informed, and if you want to skip the bitchy "its me or the dog" persona from Mystery Inc or the snooty geek from Be Cool, you could fall back to the quiet but cute and thoughtful personality she had in A Pup Named Scooby Doo. If not, she's just boring. I feel like most of the hype for her comes from memes or the people that think they're unique for finding her more attractive than Daphne (you're not btw). Like what does she do that the others cannot do? I'm pretty sure Daphne can do her job but without the min max on intelligence and some points in kicking ass. In fact, why are Fred and Daphne the assholes when Velma in TWO separate series has been the judgey bitch and overall asshole? If anything she should would fit the perfect "beta incel self perceived victim that's actually just a massive douche" trope!

And Scooby. First off fuck the writers for not including my boi. Second, you really couldn't make an adult comedy of a talking dog? If Scooby said fuck- scuze me, 'ruck'- I'd cry laughing! If Scooby was the druggie and Shaggy was normal, that'd be hilarious! Literally if they took every negative trait they forced onto the others and put it onto Scooby, you'd literally have a prime adult cartoon character right there. He's a gag character! Utilize it! I know in the recent series he's been pushed to the side for the others, but he's literally a comedic gold mine waiting to happen! Make him an arsonist! Make him have questionable opinions! It'd be hilarious because he's a literal dog that can't speak understandably half the time!

Look, if you want to make an "adult scooby doo" then I guess I can't stop you. Velma ain't how you do it though.

Btw before anyone jumps on me to defend the new show, the creator of the series supports JKR soooo

[frozenfauna]

some random life things:

for some reason, i've become a little cilantro freak. i used to hate it - tasted like soap, of course. i even took a 23 and me test a few years ago (btw DON'T give companies your DNA. bad move on my part like a decade ago.) and it said i had the gene that makes cilantro taste like soap. i'm aware your tastebuds change over time, but i don't just like it now, i LOVE it. also been really into broccoli when i was pretty ambivalent towards it before.

i've been working out consistently for a little over a month now! it's been a long, long time since i've worked out consistently and i feel good. it's bizarre to me that i'm just working out and enjoying it without obsessively counting calories/other disordered eating behavior i often paired it with. now, i'm doing it for the health benefits overall. good stuff! thank u, YouTube workouts. 14 years later and i'm back on my leslie sansone grind.

i've been coloring a bunch. it's been fun! it's nice to do something creative just for myself. i'm currently into coco wyo coloring books. she also has free pages online for digital coloring or to print out, so i recommend checking those out if you want something cute to color. some are simple and some are more involved, so there's a lot to choose from.

i think that's all i've got to yap about. oh, i'm going to a friendsgiving this year. never been to one and i've been too anxious/was dealing with agoraphobia the past few years i've been invited to them. that should be fun. it's still hard, but life is slowly getting better.

[thegamingcatmom]

Hello <3 Listen I've started playing re8 and i've had my first encounter with the Dimitrescu family and I am here wondering why the hell didn't I play this sooner so I could obsess over this even sooner, but oh well. So I know you're cooking up a story where they meet the Denalis and I was like walking through the castle and my mind started asking questions. So ofc I imagine you don't wanna give away details of your story because then you wouldn't be able to tease us with lil spoilers and where's the fun in that, right? ;P So instead lemme write down what came to my mind and ask your opinion on that, let's dive into my delulu-land vision XD Tbh is nothing like super elaborated bc you know just rnadom throughts that came to mind so bear with me bc it probably makes 0 sense ok? SO it made me think like in a more kind of "modern" set up, where the Denalis are already vegetarians, they've lived a veeery long life, yk kind of like things are in the Twilight movies/books. In my mind it was like for X reason they were moving from Denali to another place to live, be because the Volturi, bc they had been exposed and therefore they need to gtfo before shit hits the fan (I blame the drones if that's the reason tho) IDK it could be literally any reason, it is unimportant. They somehow end up finding the castle, they meet this vampires who are like super different from them (In my mind I think is cool they can eat human food and sleep and shit eve n though perhaps they don't need it so I'd probs keep that for all vamps in any possible story but that's out of the question XD) and they ofc live very differently from them, the castle ofc doesn't mantain itself, so they have ppl working there for them and they probs dispose of them as soon as they stop being useful, they drink human blood, they make a game out of their hunts and seem to enjoy the pain they inflict before actually drinking the blood. Meanwhile the Denalis started drinking animal blood to stop killing the humans they slept with (With other reasons in the mix too but in the end it was to rpeserve human life) and they've lived away from humans, living in secret and all that shit, like is two complete different worlds they live in. Now all that to make this questions: Say Lady D offered them a place to stay in the castle for reasons unknown bc I hadn't actually thought about it tbh, I don't think she'd mind if they kept their boring vegetarian lifestyle, but they have a choice now to keep it or instead go back to human blood, which honestly seems more tasty and the better option, do you think they'd take it? Would they agree and stay in the castle? Would they leave? Idk f there would be any consequences if they decide to leave though, and in case of staying what about the coven itself? I mean Tanya's the leader, but it matters little I think her title in the castle bc I am not sure if Lady D gives a duck about it honestly, it's her castle after all(?) And final question I promise: How do you think they would adapt to this "new life" in the case they accept Lady D's offer of staying? You think someone might have more of a hard time with it? Will they talk/argue about it among themselves? Consider their options? I have a feeling that Tanya would not take any offer without speaking first to her coven, they are family after all and whatever they do will affect all of them, so yeah. Also this probably makes no sense as I stated before, it was a bunch of random thoughts that I poorly put together so yk don't feel like you gotta answer to all that nonsense XD And I still have not finished the game, just barely started it so idk, perhaps I'm missing some important lore, or something is inadequate, anyway thanks for reading my delulu-bible and for recommending me to go play the game <3 <3 Have a nice day :D

...Oh?

We´re simping for both camps now?

I love how, after having only just reached their section (apparently), this is the result. As in: The Dimis got their sickles hooked in you alright, LMAO.

Can´t say I´m surprised. *cough cough*

Like-

(Simping starts in 3...2...1...)

This was ALL of us when the game was only just coming out and Lady D was revealed in the Maiden Demo. It was madness, lemme tell you. The memes, the art, the fics my god-

The fics were smt else. And they just kept coming. They still do. Lady D destroyed the internet like no other video game character before. People kept dying in game just so they could stick around Castle Dimitrescu for a bit longer (preferably forever).

Like, this was the majority of ppl playing the game:

Lady D: *begins stalking you*

Ethan (you): *heart-eyes*

Lady D: *stalks closer*

Ethan (you): *heart-eyes*

Lady D: *unsheathes her claws*

Ethan (you): *dreamy smile*

Lady D: *takes one giant swipe at you that nearly beheads you*

Ethan (you), barely alive: "...F-Fancy stepping on me too?"

.

It was truly a time to be alive.

(You should check out some reactions to Lady D on Youtube, especially Markiplier. 💀)

I mean, LISTEN-

I dunno what Capcom was trying to accomplish with The Dimitrescus (they knew exactly what they were doing), but being stalked and hunted down by feral goth ladies and their equally as feral Momma because they thirst for your blood (and hopefully mayhaps other things) is pretty much a dream come true for most ppl. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Capcom, were you even trying? Honestly.

.

Okay anyhow-

I love your thoughts on this. Especially because it´s a lot more serious than what I originally came up with, lmao. Like, this thing I got cooking rn is pretty much a total crack fic (for now). Yknow, stuff like portals and time travel and whatnot seems entirely possible there, but I haven´t reached that part yet (the explaining part), so it´s still rather unclear how they got to the castle.

Like, it never occured to me that the Denalis might just find the "real" village in Romania (which is where the game is set). But now that I´m reading your thoughts on it, this seems pretty plausible to me. Defo something I can see happening. With that said:

Lemme start by giving some canon info (which hopefully won´t spoil anything for you):

the Dimis aren´t actual vampires

they are what they are because of a parasite aka The Cadou

they need to sustain themselves on human flesh and blood because of it (for survival & to maintain their powers)

Lady D will grow to the point she mutates out of control if she doesn´t (I´ve read that somewhere)

the Daughters are made entirely of flies

those flies will die if exposed to the cold (yet another thing that´s entirely different from Twilight vampires, who can only be fully destroyed through fire)

Lady D has no such "weakness"

the pain they inflict upon their victims is not necessary for feeding

they just enjoy being cruel

they turn their staff into wine at some point

or use them for experiments ("Moroaicǎ")

With all of that said: I totally agree that it´s a clash of two entirely different worlds. But that´s what makes it so interesting.

I also kinda HC that The Dimis see vampires as some kind of role models? In a way? Like, they clearly enjoy this lifestyle (a bit too much), so I feel like meeting some actual vampires - the real deal - would be like meeting a popstar or smt. At least to the daughters. (Dani would swoon.)

Lady D would be a lot more skeptical about it ofc, but there´s no way she would be able to hide her curiosity. I mean, how many beings pose an actual threat to them? Not that many. Which means Lady D would be quite hostile at first. She got her daughters to think of as well, after all. There would be the usual threats of "slice you to ribbons" and such, until she realizes-

There are no ribbons. And there won´t be. Because her claws are actually kinda useless against them.

As are the flies the daughters are made of. There´s no piercing that skin.

That´s never happened before.

That´s when it dawns on them that whatever they´re up against isn´t entirely human. The fact they (the Denalis) lack a heartbeat or the usual warmth is kinda telling as well.

In fact, the Daughters don´t enjoy being near them at all. They´re so cold!

But, you see-

The Daughters might keep their distance (for now).

But Lady D is more than intrigued at this point.

Listen, that woman is a sucker for power. That´s why she´s got the hots for Mother Miranda (MM), after all.

Well that, and because MM is fine af, obv.

(I don´t blame you, Alci.)

Anyway-

If she saw the Denalis wielding their vampiric powers and, yknow, posing an actual challenge for her in terms of brute strength because it´s not every day she meets someone who´s actually able to lift her- (can you imagine?)

Ofc she´s gonna want to get to the bottom of it all. Because she´s also a bit of a nerd, you see. Just like Momma. (They both fine af.) She´s gonna want to study them, write down every little detail in that notebook of hers.

Kate´s power is gonna fill page upon page as Lady D goes completely mad scribbling it all down like-

With that said:

Yes, I defo think Lady D would demand invite them to stay. She´s nothing if not a gracious hostess to those she deems worthy.

.

As for the Denalis-

Tanya would never make decisions without discussing it with her coven first. Not those that could be life-altering, at least. They'd only stay if everyone agreed to it. And, even then, I'm not sure it would be a permanent stay. I mean-

It's difficult.

I'd say it depends "which" Denalis we're talking. If we take the more deranged ones from my story (The Sisters) then I can defo see them agreeing to a permanent stay in the castle. Human life means next to nothing to them, aside from being their food source ofc. And while they might not agree with everything that's happening in the castle (some of the things going down in the cellar are...tough, even for them), they'd never judge the Dimis for their lifestyle, seeing how they're far from being saints themselves. One as corrupted as the other, I´d say.

If we take the veggie/modern Denalis, on the other hand-

I mean, the sisters killed ppl before. Loads of them probs. Therefore, the Dimis sustaining themselves on human blood and flesh isn't as appalling to them as it would be to your usual human. But it's how they do it (torturing their victims and basically getting the most out of it before they deliver the final blow) that makes them feel...conflicted. Most of their kind (as in: actual vampires) usually don´t draw it out longer than necessary. Mainly because they´ll succumb to their bloodlust almost immediately, sucking their victim dry in a matter of seconds. That (thankfully) doesn´t leave much room for any kind of torture.

With that said-

It´s still difficult, lmao.

I feel like our modern Denalis would defo be intrigued by the Dimitrescus. Then they´d be appalled. Then Lady D comes in with all that charm of hers, laying it on real thick yknow, basically downplaying the things that are happening in that castle full of blood and death. Then the daughters come in with their buzzing personalities. Then the Denalis would be intrigued again. And so on-

And before you know it, years have passed.

That´s the only way I can see our modern Denalis stay in that castle over an extended time period. Cause time works just differently for vampires, yknow. Years are like seconds to them. All one and the same. Doesn´t really matter. Not when you got eternity anyway.

.

Now, that was pretty much me rambling and fangirling without any kind of order, lol. So lemme try and give some more direct answers:

Would the Denalis switch to human blood during that time?

I think that´s entirely possible. That castle is pretty much filled with human blood - it´s everywhere: In the cellar, in the kitchen, in the storage rooms, in the wine glasses, etc. It lurks around every corner, constantly putting our sisters to the test. It´s like waving a piece (more like a bar) of chocolate in front of someone who´s been living on dry toast. Resisting becomes almost impossible under such conditions.

And the Dimis know that.

Am I suggesting that Lady D and her unruly daughters might try and seduce the Denalis back to human blood by deliberately leaving it out in the open, ripe for the taking?

Why yes, yes I am. That´s totally something the Dimis would do in order to gain numbers (and other things).

Would there be any consequences if the Denalis decided to leave?

As I said before, the Denalis pose an actual threat/challenge to Lady D. Neither her nor her daughters could do much to stop them from leaving, if they decided to do so. Doesn´t mean they wouldn´t try though. Lady D is a narcissist and rejection isn´t something she handles well. Her daughters share that sentiment.

"So you don´t love me?!"

Yup. That´s totally smt Dani would say in that situation. The poor baby.

Anyhow-

The Dimis would probs try to stop them because rolling over just isn´t in their nature. But I´d like to think one of the following things would happen then:

A) The Denalis use their vampiric charm to convince the Dimis to let them go without a fight.

B) Lady D puts a stop to things herself once she realizes the only ones to get hurt during this would be her daughters and herself. (She´d never admit that openly ofc.)

To sum it up:

Even if there were consequences, it´s highly unlikely the Denalis would be affected by them.

Would the Denalis adapt well to their new life? Would they struggle at all?

I think my fangirling pretty much answered that, lmao.

Unhinged Denalis: No problem with adapting. (More like they cba as long as they get their fill.)

Normal (modern) Denalis: Depends on the Dimis´ efforts I´d say. There´d defo be times of struggle and self-doubt. But then there´d also be times of "yknow what, why tf not". It´s a constant back and forth and it really depends on how well the Dimitrescus play their cards.

As for who might struggle the most:

Lemme start by saying Kate would struggle the least. I mean, the struggle would still be there, but she´s never been one to back down from a challenge. She´s also not one to shy away from the unknown - on the contrary: Out of the three of them, Kate is probs the one most likely to go "only one way to find out", YKNOW?? No risk, no fun, and all that. That´s why Cass and her get along so well. Whenever the two of them are together, the whole castle holds its breath.

Tanya would probs feel quite torn because, above all else, she has a duty to fulfill: ensuring the best possible outcome for her coven. So there´d be this constant nagging, telling her that all of this is kinda wrong and that, just mayhaps, it´d be better to haul ass. But then there´s time where she´s actually enjoying herself when she´s having "wine" with Bela, giving each other some advice on how to best handle their younger sibllings and such. That nagging fades for a while then. Until it´s back. But so is Bela. And that nagging fades again. And so on.

Irina would spend most of her time with Dani probs, gushing about finding true love and such. She sees a lot of herself in the youngest Dimitrescu daughter, albeit a lot more...unhinged, lol. They get each other, as crazy as it sounds. It also really helps taking her mind off things, makes her forget what´s going on in that castle. For a while, at least. Until the doubts start creeping back in. Dani notices though, she always does. And she´s always there to manipulate cheer her bestest friend up.

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I hope I´ve managed to cover everything. Tbh, that was just me rambling most of the time, hoping it all would make sense along the way, lmao.

...Come to think of it, that´s pretty much my writing style. 💀

Thanks a lot for your ask! I really, really enjoyed that mashup. 🥰💋

Have a great day as well! ❤️