#and by og lore I mean first three games

[viriborne]

Just watched the fnaf movie while just slowly coloring in a Malleus sketch I did like 3 days ago and haven’t had the time to finish

[elliebean714]

Hide And Seek

Josh Washington x GN!Reader (Romantic or Platonic)

Everybody's playing hide and seek, but you're veryy competitive and end up somewhere you shouldn't have

Fluff, Slow Burn(?) This is kinda just game lore, then turns into an actual character x reader at the very end lol

An~ I *think* this is *loosely* inspired by a fic I read on here a few years ago, I cannot remember though, so credits to them ig, I'll tag the og if I somehow find it (if it's even real, I may have dreamt it up or something lmao). I only put this as josh x reader bc he's my fave, but honestly, this can be read without that and you wouldn't miss anything lmao. I just wanted to get this out of my skull. SOO PROUD OF THISS!! HAD SO MUCH FUN WRITING THIS OMGGG?? WRITING IS FUN?? WTFF??? Its 5:30 in the morning and i just finished writing until dawn fan fiction. How did it come to this?? good lord this man is beautiful, should be a crime to be this gorgeous. Someone tell me how to tell if my one shot is slow burn or not. I'm not very clever. Sorry the ending is so shit lol, I'm very tired and really want to share this and AAAHHHHHH release me from this tormentttttt

Pre-Game

"Okay, everybody, let's set some ground rules before we start." Chris waves his arms to make sure everyone is paying attention. "First off, obviously, nobody is allowed to go outside, okay? Let's keep it fair people. Next, since there's twelve of us and the lodge is so big, we're gonna have two seekers. Thats Josh and Beth, they'll have to wait in here for two minutes while we all hide." The pair wave "Alright, lastly, you're allowed to move as much as you want, but if you're caught you come back to the kitchen until everyone is found. Winner gets the $600." He motions to the locked box that everyone pitched in $50, then hands the key to josh to keep a hold of until the end.

"Right, yeah, we get it. C'mon nobody likes to wait." Mike snaps his fingers, growing impatient, "Lets get going." while Beth sets a two minute timer on her phone, you slowly creep towards the door with a destination already firmly implanted in your mind. A countdown from three starts, your hand twisting the handle of the door, ready to bolt as soon as you hear-

"One!" The timer starts, and by the time everybody is out the kitchen, you're already halfway down the stairs to the basement. You sprint past all the potential hiding spots, far too obvious for someone of your calibre.

The sound of the basement door opening and a two pairs of footsteps make you jump "Mike-" Emily moans into, what you assume is a kiss. You sneak behind a pile of boxes before they can see you. They might not be seekers, but your plans will NOT be foiled by MIKE AND EMILY making out. Absolutely not.

They find some distant corner to hide and do whatever, you poke your head out for a second to check they don't notice you, when you see them firmly 'distracted' you sneak off without making a sound and get past the door at the furthest point in the room, deeper into the basement, and closer to your destination.

The old hotel. Before the Washingtons built the lodge on the mountain, there was a hotel here, they leveled it before construction, but you've spoken to josh about it, apparently remnants have remained down there, completely untouched. There should definitely be somewhere to hide. This would be easier if the two people looking for you weren't the two most likely to have knowledge of the layout of the hotel, but that doesn't mean you give up.

It means you have to be smart, sneaky and fast. You don't even need to be in a great hiding spot, you just need to be the last one found, you need to win. You feel a rush of adrenaline course through you when you see a pair of rotted wooden stairs, YES! It's still here! Soon you find yourself in what probably wouldve been the kitchen, and let yourself stop for a moment to check the time, 22:49. You've been running for five minutes, Josh and Beth have been searching for three.

That thought pushes you to keep moving- past the weird, long, creepy hallways and rooms and... smells. You come to a small room with a cage encasing it, god, how deep into this place are you? This wouldn't be a bad place to stay, if there were hiding spots. You check your phone: 22:52. If you had to guess, Emily, Mike, Hannah and Chris had probably been found by now. But you can't rely on that, time to get moving.

Eventually, the rooms and corners all turn to the one long corridor, stone exterior, definitely man made. Like some tunnel...? To where?? Where would there need to be a tunnel to on the mountain? Well, might as well check it out, not like you're going to lose at this point. If Josh or Beth decide to check the old hotel, they sure as hell aren't coming down this far.

A little ways down the tunnel, you see a huge set of metal double doors, this just keeps getting weirder. Thankfully the doors are open, just enough to squeeze yourself through and continue down. You check the time once you pass the door: 23:07. Oh you've won that $600. No contest. A surge of pride and adrenaline rush through you and motivate you to continue.

Seeing a set of stone stairs is... unsettling. Where they lead to even more so. You cautiously follow them up to a weird, giant room. Dark and abandoned... is this more of the hotel? No way, right? Leaving the room, you see a chain linked door down a tiny hallway, all other directions are blocked off by old furniture, you look through the door...

It seems empty? Just a bigger room, looks semi religious, maybe an old Chapel? You gently push the door open, it's loud, but who cares? Nobody's here anyway. Looking around in amazement, this entire building, untouched by humans in who knows how long, you might be the first person to be inside this building in decades, maybe the last ever! This is all so surreal... your thoughts are interrupted by... a call? You check, Josh. You've only got one bar of service here, it's a miracle any contact was capable of being made. Might as well tease him. You're not going back to the lodge until you're found.

"Heyy-" you start, unable to contain your cheeky giggles

"JESUS, Y/N WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?? Are you okay??" He sounds so relieved to hear your voice

"Yeah, obviously... so what's up, Washin-"

"You won, okay, wherever you are, just come out. We're all freaking out trying to find you"

"Nope." You state simply.

He sighs "You won. Please. You're freaking us out, you weren't supposed to go outs-"

"I didn't." God- its so hard to keep a straight face

"What...? You're still here? We've checked everywhere! I even checked that old hotel! Where are you??"

"No hints. I want one of you to find me." You hang up before he can protest, and check the time briefly: 23:38 before putting it away to explore the building. Along the sides are areas with chain linked walls, it's too dark to discern what's inside them. Except the one with an opening, heading inside you see a map of the mountain, outdated for sure, as it has the hotel labeled instead of the lodge.

From what you can guess, this building youre in is probably the sanatorium. Makes you wonder what happened that caused it to be abandoned. And for the Washingtons to do nothing with it. At the far end of the room, another giant set of double doors, you try to push them open, but they're either locked or way too heavy.

So the other side of the Chapel is your only option. One is completely blocked off, one that leads to another building in the sanatorium is locked and one at the far right takes you to a fenced in area, a makeshift graveyard, every name has the same date under it. Must've been a massacre... that's probably why it was abandoned, jeez... okay, well, that's just a dead end, so you turn back and- why does it feel like you're not alone anymore?

"Josh?" You call out, best case scenario, it's someone from your group and you've just given up your position... worst case... you creep towards the middle of the room "guys?" No response, maybe they're trying to scare you? Would be good payback for the $50 this excursion cost them. "You got me, okay? Come ou-" a screech interupts you, it sounds like an animal in distress, or a warning... "what the fuck?" It's coming from beyond the locked chain link door.

"Hello?" You step towards the sound, the door is locked, nothing will get you, it's fine... "is anyone there?" Another screech, you reach out to investigate the lock... and a gloved hand stops you.

Shit. You feel your blood run cold. This definitely isn't one of your friends. In half a second you whip your arm away and turn to face your assailant- old guy, weird goggles, flamethrower- before he can say a word you sprint across the room, out the door, down the stairs and back into the tunnel. You don't even know if he's following you, all you can hear are your own panicked breaths and your heart thumping so loud it feels like the walls are closing in on you with every beat.

You make it back to the double doors and slam them shut behind you. You can't lock them from this side, so the best you can do is close them and hope it'll slow him. God- you forgot how much of a maze this stupid hotel was, why the hell does there need to be so many hallways and dead ends?? Wait- the kitchen!! Yes! You know exactly where to go now! Just straight up. No more corridors and empty rooms.

The adrenaline has you acting pretty clumsy, tripping over steps, banging into things and slaming through doors. Once you're up that last set of stairs from the hotel to the lodge you start to feel exhausted- no, not yet- keep going, you got this. You reach out and open the door to the main basement, scaring the shit out of Ashley in the process "RUN! Holy shit-" you don't need to tell her twice. She grabs Chris, who was staring and the two run ahead. They hold the door to the basement open for you, after you practically jump up the stairs, somebody slams it shut and locks it.

The relief hits you like a freight train and your legs finally buckle, dropping you to the floor. Everyone hounds you with questions as you pant on the floor, trying to let the cold wood cool you down. You cover your eyes with your arm for a minute.

"What the hell happened??" You hear Matt ask

"I saw- shit- I saw somebody-" You pant- well at least I won't have to work out for the rest of the year. That sends everyone into a panic. More questions are thrown your way, the guys are discussing a plan of defense should it be necessary.

"What the fuck- who??" Jess' question is the one you hear.

"I dunno, some weird old guy- had a pair of goofy goggles and a fuckin' flamethrower." You take in several deep breaths and give Hannah a grateful smile when she hands you a water bottle.

"Where the hell did you go?" Josh gets close to you "where was he??"

You gulp down half the water before answering "I think I was in the sanatorium? I saw a map, I guessed that..." you trail off, everyone's stares making you suddenly self conscious "what?"

"Why the hell were you in the sanatorium?? That's dangerous Y/N!" Josh's concern comes out as a yell, in that way that someone only does when they really care.

"There's a tunnel from that old hotel beneath us to it, I was curious and I wanted to win." You shrug, god- this would be hilarious if it wasn't for that fucking insane person you met.

"There's a tunnel to the sanatorium?" Mike asks for confirmation.

"Yeah. And I won since I never technically went outside, by the way." You remind them. Sure this was a terrifying situation, but fuck it if you were loosing your reward.

"Shut up! Oh my god! There's a crazy guy up here, oh my goddd!" Ashley lashes out, you'd be offended if you hadn't scared her half to death a minute ago.

"Sorry." You mumble, drinking more water- fuck, have you ever sweat this much?

"Was he chasing you? Like, what happened?" Sam asks, always clear headed.

"I don't know, I just got there, Josh called me, I hung up, explored for a bit, heard some sort of animal, and he came up beside me before could see what it was. I just booked it, I didn't hear him I was too freaked." You answer truthfully

Josh takes your hand, seeing him serious is uncomfortable. "You should've come back when I called you."

"I wanted to win, I didn't think I'd see a fucking lunatic-" you attempt to defend your reasoning. was it sound? No. Did it work? Yeah.

"I told you you won." He asserted. He had one of those intense stares. One of the ones you feel a mile away. One that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand.

"I know... I just- I dunno... I wanted to explore. A whole building abandoned and lost to time? I couldn't help it. I was gonna come back after like an hour." You shake your head and sigh "I got excited. I'm sorry I worried you. I wasn't thinking, you know how I get, I'm really sorry"

He sighs. "Just don't do it again"

🦋❄️🦋❄️

🦋Butterfly Effect~ Too Soon...?🦋

❄️The Group Decided To Play Hide And Seek❄️

🦋Y/N Went To The Old Hotel And Found A Secret Tunnel🦋

❄️Y/N Refused To Return To The Lodge❄️

🦋So They Could Explore The Sanatorium 🦋

❄️Y/N Attempted To Investigate The Sound...❄️

🦋And Met The Stranger🦋

♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆

~ Elliebean714 🦋

[fanfictionaddictee]

Final Fantasy VII- Sephiroth Fanfiction Favs

This is a fanfic rec list that recommends stories that focus on or heavily feature Sephiroth. :) All ships, no ships, genfic. Nothing is tagged, so heed the fic warnings if you're sensitive to stuff.

Final Fantasy VII OG- Canon only Fic Recs (Compilation characters like Genesis and Angeal do not appear)

The Monsters Within by TheCalamity (The Nightmare Begins, A Cold-Hearted Boy, Minute to Breath) @the--calamity

A story about the destruction of endurance. What does it cost - as individuals, as a species - to survive? We are how it ends. [A contemplation and analysis of the original 1997 Final Fantasy VII. Chronicles the Jenova Project, Sephiroth's childhood with ShinRa, and the events of FFVII through the lens of Vincent Valentine. This series is a deep dive into the philosophy, themes, characters, dynamics, world, lore and message of OG FFVII.]

This quite possibly the story I've reread the most that I'll recommend on this blog. Banging soundtrack, gorgeous art, brilliant formatting, terror, awesome, gut-wrenching-- all words to describe this story. The author doesn't shy away from the grotesque, and there are tender moments woven through an epic saga about terrible people desperately seeking connection and meaning. I don't think I've ever read anything like in any fandom ever. I don't know if I ever will.

Lament of Memories by CryptCreeperX

From test-tube freak to First-Class SOLDIER to super villain to a quirky mechanic suffering from a bad case of amnesia… This is a strange tale of how the end of the world, a band of misfits, forgotten memories, and raunchy romance novels push a fallen angel to rise again.

It's a tragedy this is incomplete because I needed more of this 7 years ago. T_T

Earthing by Grenespek

Gast survives being shot by Hojo, only to wake from a coma seventeen years later. Searching for his wife and daughter, events find him in Nibelheim on the day Sephiroth disappeared. A Sephiroth redemption exploration.

I love me three things in a Sephiroth story: 1) a Sephiroth that subsumes Jenova 2) Terrifying Sephiroth 3) Sciency Sephiroth. Told from the rotating perspective of terrifically flawed Gast, an in-character badass Aerith, and a Sephiroth that I can definitely see being the progeny of two insane scientists and a space alien.

Our Shining Past by Tocasia FFN | Ao3 @tocasia

A series of old-style (original game mostly, no CC) Sephiroth and Zack Friendship stories (all genfic) from a list of 100 prompts, in order of completion. Variously dark, silly, cute. Mostly one-shots; chapter format is a lie. Same AU? maybe… or maybe not. Halfway there on 7/1/2018!

Consider this blanket recommendation of all of Tocasia's works. Pair impeccable writing with nuanced characterization, humor, action, excellent integration of the game-mechanic style worldbuilding that is so rare in video-game fics, and you've got this series of one-shots. Zack's character is so much more interesting to me pre-crisis core, and unfortunately fics that explore what canon jossed 15 years ago are slim or mostly gone from the internet. Other favorites of mine from them include God of Paperwork and The World that Will Never Be, a Kingdom Hearts crossover.

A Good Son by myeve123

AR Ending for Nibelheim Incident. After Hojo fished him out from Nibelheim Mako Reactor, Sephiroth sets about cleaning up the mess. Preferably before the chemical imbalance in his brain drowns him for good.

Ugh, this story need so much more love than it's gotten. I'm a slut for stories that play around with the relationship between Lucrecia, Vincent, and Sephiroth, and take it in a true canon divergence! Excellent visual writing, and fast paced. Unfortunately, all the images are broken.

This Family Is Alright by axilet

A series of stories exploring the dysfunctional dynamic between mad science sibs Gast, Hojo and Lucrecia, and their son Sephiroth who they're completely unfit to raise. Just imagine what the poor kid will be like once he's all grown up. Sad Uncle Vincent tries to stage an intervention but you know how that turns out.

An oldie but goodie that I first encountered on FFN some years ago now, but I misplaced the link; now archived on ao3. How To Train Your Super Soldier Son (to become an insane destroyer of worlds) is the Sephiroth-centric fic of the series, and also the first one I read.

They Were Monsters by Yinza @yinza

In the midst of his breakdown in the Shinra mansion and desperate for answers, Sephiroth breaks open the locked basement door to find the man who might be his father… But though Vincent presents him with possibilities he hadn't imagined, Sephiroth struggles with who to trust, and what path he might follow--Jenova's, or his own.

Yinza is another ruler of horror. Actually maybe I'm just a slut for horror there's a lot of those recs on this list lol. Anyway, this fic is so well-written. If a sense of creeping dread is the sensation you seek, look not further than this story. For a not-Sephiroth centric rec, I must include their story No Moms Die, which according to my ao3 history I have 32 times @_@. If we exclude the chapter updates, I've reread it more than times since it finished :D It's that good.

Final Fantasy VII Compilation (includes Advent Children and Crisis Core)

To Be Human by LadyKF LadyKF On FFN On Ao3 [For Archive Users Only]

The world seems black and white at a glance, but the truth is never so easy. Where one draws the line between human and monster is a lot less clear when motive and deed don’t match, and a change in form is only proof of something that has been there all along. (Angel's Wings rewrite, Crisis Core fix-it.)

Ahh I was obsessed with Angel's Wings while it was updating, and To Be Human and it's compilation side stories blew the first story out of the water. The worldbuilding! The writing! The jump straight into action! The CANON DIVERGENCE!!! We all read fanfic here, we all know how rare an actual 'canon divergence' story is that actually sticks within canon without being a lazy rehash? This story is THE fix-it.

Be Not Afraid by Tiffany_Park On FFN

Hollander to Angeal: "Jenova's power has passed on to you completely." What does it mean to have received "Jenova's power"? Chances are it's not pretty. (Yeah, it was pretty ugly in Crisis Core. It's worse in this AU because Hojo got involved.) Warning: These are horror stories. Check the tags and take them seriously.

I prefer to read this series on FFN because yay for giant font but I've linked the AO3 since it puts the series in order. I live for everything this woman writes. This series takes the body-horror in canon and amps it up to 11. From Zack's POV but the Sephiroth characterization is just *chefs kiss*. Unsettling and blue-and-orange morality kind of ride of die friendship love for the win.

Snowball Effect by Tiffany_Park On FFN

Once upon a time in his youth, Angeal posed as the centerfold for an obscure porn magazine. When he made SOLDIER First Class, Shinra decided to erase its history for PR reasons. A few years later, Reno and Rude find an old copy in a used bookstore and purchase it so it can be safely destroyed. This results in many more complications than if they'd just left it to molder there.

If you read that summary and thought, "the premise of this story is utterly ridiculous", you would be entirely correct, but it's not a crack-fic in that it takes this completely seriously and runs with it. Features Shinra Corp. being dastardly, fangirls that fit effortlessly into the 90s sci-fi setting, and wonderful characterization of Angeal, Genesis, and Sephiroth, who all manage to be completely terrifying in their own special ways.

What is Lost by UnLike_Us

What little is left of Sephiroth after 100 years in the Lifestream suddenly finds itself without a purpose. Determined to find its lost history and reason behind its obsession, it goes back to where it all started.

One of the fluffier picks on this list, the author really plays with the idea of inner memories. A time-travel fic I don't hate lol, if only because the time travel doesn't result in an OP fix-it.

Father: Verb by Naughty_Nishitani

11 year-old WMD Sephiroth is assigned a new handler/bodyguard, named Vincent Valentine. I am sure this has been done 10000 times but I can't stop thinking about it, so here's my version.

As the author says in the summary, I too am a slut for murder-baby Sephiroth, and this is one iteration of the trope I've reread many times. Another Sephiroth fic from the same author I enjoyed is First Soldier.

Starstruck by DyraDoodles @dyradoodles

Zack's limit break always mimics people who end up shaping his life in one way or another. Once he's met them, he can use a break similar to one of theirs, no problem. This time, there is a problem: He's mimicked someone with the power to blow up a solar system, and he has no idea how to control it. He'll have to track them down, and hopefully get them to take an active role in not just teaching the limit break, but his entire life.

This fic is crack to me. I've been salivating over every update since chapter 3. DyraDoodles has another more popular series Redux Hero AU, which I also enjoyed, but that one is much more Zack-centric and so not a good fit for this list; I rec it nonetheless.

Sephiroth Shinden: CLASSIFIED 'PROJECT S.' by goddamnitaisha

A series of one-shots exploring Sephiroth's life. One of the most no-woobie takes of Sephiroth's character, which I really, really like. Paired with an almost bleak writing style, the blunted amorality of the characters really shine through in each one-shot. A favorite of mine. Ao3 users only, unfortunately, but the author has a tumblr @goddamnitaisha. Her blog is truly gorgeous and definitely worth checking out! Not Sephiroth-centric but I really love The Unpromised Land. That's the first story I read from her on tumblr a long ass time ago.

Final Fantasy VII Remake (explicitly set within the Remake/Rebirth verse)

Swords into Plowshares by brilliantKatabasis

The purpose of the Jenova project was to produce a Cetra, someone to negotiate with the Planet on Shinra's behalf. The military applications for the entity were compelling, it's true, but ultimately limited in scope- they have robots for these things, after all- and so the SOLDIER proposal was rejected, quietly shelved away. The asset is instead committed to the significantly more lucrative field of agribusiness, where it is hoped the cultural cache of his mystic heritage will assuage the rise in environmental concerns and planetological sympathies among key interested parties. Sephiroth, Director of Stewardship, tracks down the supplier of the only fresh flowers in Midgar he's had no hand in cultivating, oblivious to the web of time he's threatening. Oblivious to the probability he shares a name with, who longs to crush this flight of fancy and claim his rightful title of certainty, gathering like a cloud on the horizon. Oblivious to the attention he's brought to his local florist's door.

Ugh, remember everything I said I loved about Earthing? This fic is an AU with a similar vibe, completely different premise. I actually recommend you check out all of brilliantKatabasis' library; they truly are an excellent writer.

For the Love of Rain by Boomchick (On Tumblr)

Sephiroth is not human. There is no doubting that now. He fell in two pieces into the reactor all those many months ago. And yet there he is again. Appearing between one heartbeat and the next, while Zack floats hopeless in Mako. There he is, opening the tanks and setting Zack and Cloud free. There he is, chuckling “there is no rush” and smiling an indulgent smile.

If you like Sephiroth-fic, you've probably been recced Boomchick before. If you haven't, I highly recommend you read all her fics, especially The Trooper Series and Restart. A lot of her stories are accompanied by epic art by tomowowo. Why did this fic make it onto the list and not the rest? Because, and I quote, it gives me the tag "Nightmare Sephiroth chooses friendship." That is epic.

Little Seph by ToastedCatBread @toastedcatbread

A life spared, a life returned. A future unseen, a future to fight for. This is the story about the Candle and the Star.

On the note of Nightmare!Sephiroth, what if he was tiny instead of hot and terrifying? :D That's what this story is. Love it!

Those Called by the Reunion by EllaEpoche

Shinra Electric Power Company’s Administrative Investigator Agatha Highmore has just landed the gig of a lifetime - investigating the leak of compromising photographs of the SOLDIER hero Sephiroth. But after a night of passion, Agatha finds herself entangled in a world of human experimentation, corporate scandal, and mysterious illnesses, with only one goal: find and reunite with her lost love.

This fic is a trip @_@. EllaEpoche is one of those authors whose brain cooks up the most insane plots and has the writing talent to back up the wild storytelling. Also recommend Schrodinger's Sephiroth, which explores the multiple timelines introduced in the remake. Ten Thousand Cold Nights also gets a mention here.

Epiphany by Fenrir4life, The_Story_Maker

Sephiroth is looping, repeating the events of Final Fantasy VII over and over again. He has experienced not only the events of the original game and the remake, but many more cycles beyond, stretching into a multitude of similar and yet ever-so-slightly different worlds. Regardless of loss, death, or even victory, he has been unable to free himself from this time loop – or even uncover why he is looping at all. Determining to find answers, he seeks out Aerith Gainsborough to see if he can convince her to interrogate the planet itself for information. However, it turns out Aerith is not completely ignorant of the cycle. Fed experiences by the planet of the events of the original Final Fantasy VII, she has good reason to distrust Sephiroth and his plans. This story revolves around their interactions with each other and the resulting consequences that ripple through this particular cycle.

This is probably my favorite Remake fic. It matches the perfect balance of silliness and action that attracted me to the characters in the first place and hits it with a hefty dose of perfectly written Aeriseph, like you hit the pot with the hot pepper to make the flavor pop. Love it!

Alternate Universe

The Host by CryptCreeperX

A troubled youth, Cloud leaves home to join an elite gang of soldiers. But flipping burgers at Chocobo Chow and living in the Slums during unsafe times wasn't in the plan. Neither were rejection letters from Shinra Inc. An encounter with an enigmatic silver-haired Host presents a new obstacle. Guided to a world of sensual pleasure, Cloud bonds with a man who revels in dark passions

This story is sensual. Even the most mundane moment are described so thoroughly? So intensely? Like, this is a POV of a dude who has zero-chill and you can feel that every moment in his narration, even when man is flipping burgers. Plus, Sephiroth is HOT. The makeup of my bi-dreams.

The Boy Voted Most Likely to Rule the Planet by CryptCreeperX

In High School, there's the pressure to fit in, raging hormones, and seeing the boy of your dreams with someone else. Sephiroth deals with all this. He's been on the run his whole life. When he and his nutjob dad move to Nibelheim, things get complicated. An unruly boy catches his eye. Now he must contend with his feelings while making sure Dad doesn't turn him into a pet project.

I hate high school AUs. But sprinkle some mad science and psycho kids and all of a sudden you have a perfect story. It's like when you don't like a certain fruit but cooked into a pastry that shit is godly? That's this story.

Wonders of the World by CryptCreeperX

Once, a man driven by love nearly ended the world in hate. 200 years have passed since Meteorfall. A film crew documents a derelict mountain village shrouded in snow. Isolated from the world, it's rumored the Lifestream runs black there and spirits of the dead stalk its grounds. Their guide is Wolf, a man with odd blue eyes. He likes to smile. He also says some memories never die.

This thing's got the pacing of an M.Night Shyamalan movie. Love it!

The Prophet by NazoFox2501

In Assiah, there are prophets that are chosen by the god Sephiroth to speak on Their behalf. Cloud, an atheist college student, is afflicted with a deadly disease, the mark of the next chosen prophet. On a journey with his friends, will he be cured and accept his fate, or can he overcome it?

If religious trauma horror is your cup of tea, this story is for you. If your favorite bit of FFVIIR is how terrified Cloud is in Midgar, this story is for you.

[mortish-writes]

Something that I've been meaning to do (and just haven't gotten around to yet for some reason) is to compliment you on putting varying lore drops in each route. I know a lot of IF writers complain that they write several novels worth of words, but many players play the game once before dropping it so they experience only a fraction of the game's overall content. I'm usually a player who has one personal canon route and I don't often feel the need to deviate much outside of it. The lore differing between routes is a clever way to get players like me to experience more of your work!

And since I have played at least most of the routes, it's had me wanting to ask why Serax's behavior with Unaligned Zealot the morning after the incident in Meyrrvik seems different from his treatment of Aligned Zealot and Non-NSFW Heretic despite similar events at about the same approval level. (At least, I think so -- if there's alternate dialogue in that scene for Unaligned, I haven't managed to unlock it.) I refrained because I figured it would be too spoilery and Night VI is not super far away so I should see if it's answered there. Serax's PoV made the implications around that question even juicier than before, though… 👀

Firstly, thank you! Second, two reasons.

One is a little more obvious in that the more the story advances, the more I try to add nuance in how the guys react to her. A big difference between the first few nights is that S&V are mostly certain the Zealot MC is a Vestal of Dawn and the Heretic MC is a lady of the evening. It's why they're a bit more closed-off with her in the Heretic run, at least initially. Not necessarily because they think her profession is shameful but because it's a profession predicated on lies/deception/seduction. Val is more 50/50 that she might be telling the truth, but Serax is like 95% sure she's acting, at least up until the Night V reveals, but even then...well, you'll have to wait and see.

Two is that I view each scene as an accumulation of the scenes that came before it, so even if the last couple of scenes are identical across the two routes, I might be considering a conversation they had on Night II that might make Serax/Val say something different.

Okay, actually there are three, and this one is huge. Every scene I write is based off a draft of all three POVs, not just the MC's. Serax and Valdricht are constantly having conversations that the MC is oblivious to via their mental connection. It's something you'll see a lot during the alternate POV scenes and I think there will be a lot of aha! moments. That said, I know it's kind of unfair because there's no way as a player to know that early on. That's a big reason I plan on tailoring the alternate POV scenes into the game because they add so much to the overall narrative.

Right now I have a conflict in that certain things that were major plot twists in my novel drafts are laid out early on for the sake of pacing, while other things that weren't intended to be twists such as Serax's whole vibe were supposed to be revealed in the first chapter of the first novel. Like I mentioned (i think) in a comment on Patreon, the OG Serax/MC storyline is a straight up enemies to lovers romance where Serax is more or less the antagonist for the first book and then (naturally) falls hard for her, while Valdricht/MC is a fated mates type story that is just everything, and all wrapped in this caustic but emotionally rich poly relationship. It's been a bit of a challenge to adapt that in a way where the IF players don't hate Serax at the start or crush too hard on Valdricht, so that's also jumbled the narrative a bit. I'm really looking forward to going back through with a fine-tooth comb after Night VII and finding ways to smooth out progression/lore drops and add more clarity, so this feedback is so helpful. Let's be real, your feedback is always golden.

[ashubii]

Supernatural Legacy Challenge Revised - First 3 Gens

Years ago my close friend Haids (she doesn't have a tumblr!) and I wrote our Supernatural Legacy Challenge. The OG rules can still be found here on GDocs. But this was before we had some of the occult life-states we have now, and this challenge is long overdue for a revamp. My goal was to try to simplify the challenge and incorporate more variety. I'd consider this a very rough draft version. It may get updated a bit more over time, and I'm always open to ideas and suggestions!

this is just the first three gens: vampire, spellcaster, and werewolf. i have rough drafts for the rest, but I am waiting until the new fairy pack releases so I can modify the fairy gen (i switched up the order so fairy comes after Werewolf now).

General Notes:

This was written by someone who owns all packs. If you don't and can't complete some goals b/c of it, that's totally fine. Please change things up so that you can play! (if someone wanted to write a base game version of this, that'd also be super cool)!

This challenge does NOT have hard rules. This should be free-form, loose, open to play how you like. If you want to use cheats, use cheats. There is no "game over" if you fail to complete generation goals. Play on whatever lifespan feels best. Give your sims $0 or $500000000000000000000. Play your way.

While I'll be listing the gens in about the same order as they were originally, I'm removing the gen numbers. Feel free to rearrange things, do them in whatever order feels like fun!

Below the cut are the first 3 gens and all the info! Most are categorized by Aspiration, Traits, Skill Focus, and Goals (some gens have a few extra). Generally "Skill Focus" just means, pick one or all of the suggested skills to have your sim work on. They do not need to be maxed unless stated in the goals (same for Aspirations)

I have removed careers - this will be entirely your choice in your own gameplay.

tagging @memoryroad :)

Vampire

Aspiration: Your choice! Traits: Your choice! Skill Focus: Vampire Lore Goals:

Must start as a human or a vampire: humans marry a vampire/vampires marry a human.

Become a vampire/turn spouse into a vampire after marriage.

Have at least 2 kids.

Turn at least 2 Sims into vampires - only ONE can be family.

Master Vampire Lore & discover Vampire Cure

Craft the Cure and save it for heir (if they're a vampire).

Have an enemy/rival - either another vampire, or a human 'vampire hunter'.

Create a vampire club or host regular vampire gatherings! (maybe with a special mortal guest for uh... reasons).

Spellcaster

Aspiration: Choose either - Spellcraft & Sorcery, Purveyor of Potions, or Elixir Enthusiast (when available) Alignment: Choose to be Good, Evil, or Neutral Traits: - Good: Family-Oriented, Good, and your choice. - Evil: Evil, Mean, and your choice. - Neutral: All your choice! (Excluding Mean, Evil, and Good) Skill Focus: Herbalism, Potions, Wellness, Mischief, Apothecary (when available) - as mentioned above the cut, you can choose 1 or several of these; doesn't have to be ALL Goals:

Choose an alignment and only practice magic schools based on your alignment: - Good: Practical Magic - Evil: Untamed Magic - Neutral: Any, or all; your choice

Have a pet cat, a familiar, or both (a familiar can just be a pet frog or fish, too)

Have at least one child.

Learn the ultimate spell from your Magic School (for Neutral, pick one or try to learn them all).

Cast a spell on every Sim you know at least once (for good, or bad).

Evil Alignment: - Have an enemy/rival - Duel and win against at least 5 other spellcasters.

Good Alignment: - Become an Apothecary and try to help Sims - Craft and sell GOOD potions (Yard table, Plopsy, shop). - Duel and win against an Untamed School (or just one with an Evil trait) spellcaster.

Neutral Alignment: - Balance all 3 schools of magic - Have a collection of: all brooms, all wands, OR all familiars.

Werewolf

Aspiration: Choose either - Leader of the Pack, Werewolf Initiate, or Big Happy Family Traits: Choose at least two of these - Dog Lover, Family-Oriented, Bro, Slob, Hot-Headed Skill Focus: Parenting, Tattooing, or your choice Goals:

Become a Werewolf.

Join a pack or create a club.

Get a tattoo to represent your new life/pack.

Have a Werewolf "mate" - Loyal for life, no cheating! If mate cheats or ends the relationship, remain single until elderhood; you can have flings, though!

Have at least 4 kids. - Have one child resist their Werewolf nature (next gen heir)

Only choose Werewolf talents/abilities that suit your chosen pack or archetype. Are you feral? In control? Something in-between?

Complete a dormant ability.

Create a special holiday the night before a full moon to "prepare", and the night after a full moon to "recover". Celebrate with family/pack. The werewolf gen might get updated further once i playtest it - i have played very little werewolves personally lol

[getvalentined]

Differentiating the "Black Robes"

For folks who didn't catch it on their own playthrough or (or watch-through) of FF7 Rebirth, here's a quick breakdown of the apparent nature of the people in black robes seen throughout both this game, and previously in Remake.

This differs from OG canon, where everyone in a black robe was a Sephiroth Copy, but in the FF7R timeline they appear to be broken into three "types."

SPOILERS BELOW — READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

NO NUMBER TATTOO means this is a G-type SOLDIER suffering from degradation. These people are terminally ill. Degradation sets in within five years of enhancement [see Note 1 below], and accelerates very quickly without aggressive treatment.

Known G-type SOLDIERs: Roche, Azul, Rosso, and Shelke Rui. Population: over 100.

A ONE- OR TWO-DIGIT NUMBER TATTOO indicates S-type SOLDIERs in the throes of Reunion. These people are not terminally ill, based on dev comments confirming that S-type SOLDIERs don't degrade, but they have a cellular leash that is being constantly yanked on by Sephiroth/Jenova. Without Reunion taking place, most of them would presumably live long, fairly healthy lives. [See Note 2 below.]

Known S-type SOLDIERs: Zack Fair, Kunsel, Luxiere, and Broden. Population: presumed fewer than 100.

A TATTOO STARTING WITH "SC" confirms these people are successful Sephiroth Copies. Failures do not receive a tattoo. They may or may not be terminally ill, contingent upon which type of SOLDIER they were prior to the procedure to make them into a Copy, and the leash on their own cellular makeup is much stricter, much more direct, and gives them a clearer concept of where to go and what to do.

Known Sephiroth Copies: Roche (successful), Zack Fair (declared failure), and Cloud Strife (declared failure). Population: 4 subjects in total, plus 2 known failures.

Tattoos don't seem to be applied at the time of enhancement, since none of the SOLDIERs in Crisis Core have them, but it's possible that early inductees like Broden were marked when they survived the treatments; this seems likely, as Broden's tattoo is in a slightly different typeface than the tattoos of others in his "type."

I didn't include Sephiroth, Genesis or Angeal under known members of their given types, as they were never normal humans and were not enhanced using one method or the other as teens or young adults. Those who are Jenova babies from birth don't count. I also didn't include two members of DeepGround due to the fact that they canonically cannot actually be G-type SOLDIERs based on the lore of how the two of them were made and how they function in general; they may be G-type on paper, but they are not G-type for the purposes of this analysis.

Lastly, I'll admit that this breakdown may appear to be slightly inconsistent during gameplay, but this seems to be due only to the reuse of models between black robed individuals, presumably to take stress off the dev team. I'm fine with this, obviously, no crunch is good crunch. As far as I can tell it's pretty consistent in full cutscenes, though, so I'm sticking with it until the third game proves me wrong.

—

NOTE 1: The timeframe for degradation is based on Roche suffering from the condition prior to his becoming a Sephiroth Copy, which is visible in the fact that he has a handful of incongruously pale streaks through his hair prior to the procedure; an attempt to cure this is presumably the reason he volunteered to work with Hojo in the first place.

According to the Remake Ultimania, Roche joined SOLDIER after the Nibelheim Incident, so he's only been in the program for five years at the most; this timeframe also allows us to recognize S-type SOLDIERs, as they've been in the program for significantly longer with no known ill effects (e.g.: Kunsel has been in the program since at least 2000, but is mentioned by name and indicated to be at headquarters in Remake, showing that he's still on active duty in 0007; this wouldn't be the case if he were suffering from degradation, so he can't be a G-type.)

NOTE 2: The capacity of S-type SOLDIERs to live fairly normal lives with minimal major health issues is proven by the existence of Broden, who identifies himself as a SOLDIER but was certainly part of Project 0; he and Mildred left home as teenagers and wound up with Shinra, but Mildred doesn't know the name of the project into which he was conscripted, only that it was "top secret."

Combined with the apparent age of both characters in-game, this indicates that Broden took part in the project before SOLDIER was even SOLDIER, putting him as one of its earliest successful operatives, probably enhanced sometime between 1983 and 1985 based on the timeline provided in the First SOLDIER Battle Royale opening cutscene—hence why his number is the lowest shown on a person in a black robe in the entire game. This puts him in his forties at the youngest during the Crisis, and he functions just fine (albeit with some other issues we can assume were caused by the enhancement procedure being imperfect at the time of his enlistment) until Reunion starts to call him toward the end of 0007.

[bewitched-if]

first i wanna say that i'm already loving the wip. second, i have some questions.

how old is everyone? what personality can mc have? can we ruin kara's life? (she def deserves it). can i know more about the world's lore? could we plese get some facts about ??? and some facts about mc?

okay that's all i can think atm. have a nice a day!

hello anon, first of all, thank you!

second, here is the answer to your questions:

how old is everyone?:

A: - Juniper is 34. - Celeste is 31. - Calliope is 27. - Kieran is 30. - Rhys is 29. - Kara is 2-3 years older than MC. - MC's age is headcanon, but I would probably say MC is either on their mid twenties or early thirties (for both original mc and the body). - Mother and Father are in their sixties. - ???, you don't know if it have an age, you don't even know it.

what personality can mc have?

By personality, if you mean stats, then there is: Friendly/Hostile Independent/Dependent Fearful/Brave Trustful/Distrustful Grateful/Envious Emotional/Stoic

Behavior: Mental Health: 0%/100% (this will heavily impact the outcomes, character behavior, mc's health, and choices. oh, yeah, did i mention mc can die) Adaptable/Outsider Leader/Follower Intelligent/Naive (ps. there's probably more but i dont have the file with me rn so i cant check, will change if needed later)

can we ruin kara's life? (she def deserves it).

A: maybe, maybe not. you never know🤷‍♀️

can i know more about the world's lore?

A: I will do a post in here about the world some day (hopefully soon, js hope my lazy ass doesn't take over; it will also be in the game)

could we plese get some facts about ??? and some facts about mc?

A: here's three facts about MC and ??? MC: 1. mc is has anxiety :D 2. mc tried running away, only for mc's family to find them :D 3. mc also has PTSD :D

(nah fr, wait i need happy ones have another 3):

ACTUALLY HAPPY/NORMAL CANON FACTS ABOUT MC: 1. Ophelia gave MC a bracelet that symbolizes their friendship. MC still keeps it in their room. Well, IRL room. 2. Ophelia gave MC chocolate which they don''t know since their family ever lets them go outside, and got addicted to it. MC hasn't had taste of chocolate since. 3. mc had a pet hamster named mrs. hammie but she ran away.

FACTS ABOUT ???: 1. They have a whisper of a voice, it's almost impossible to hear it, but it's there. 2. They have often make MC second guess, do something out of their comfort zone which affects MC's mental health. (heads up, you will need to do something to make it go away :D) 3. They also make MC think of abhorrent stuff whenever someone hurts them.

A.N: also can i just say that the body really needs a name to determine if we're talking about original MC and the body MC now inhabits. like, every time somebody asks me about MC my brain short-circuits like, "are they talking about the body or OG!mc?" i thought of naming the body saint bcs the empire perceives em as saint but im open to suggestions. (and the body just sounds weird to me.)

[pyro-madder]

On the Four Guardians, their connection and relation to X (the both of them)

-because the lore is a mess and I Needed Answers. i only meant to compile the different pieces of the puzzle at first, but once it turned into a full essay, i figured i'd share it !

disclaimers :

due to my inability to read or understand japanese i'll be relying solely on english material - official localizations, fantranslations, and a bit of machine translation, and pray there weren't major farts during either processes. all my sources that aren't in-game screenshots will be linked at the end of the post.

for the sake of simplicity - both in analysis and writing - i will proceed with the assumption that all the guardians were built/activated at the same time, and that a hint applying to one applies to all four of them (and by "one" i really mean Harpuia who hogs all the screentime for himself)

this is merely my own analysis and conclusions for the sake of my fanworks and interest, not a guideline on what people should believe. anyone with more info or thoughts is free to chime in ( ´ ◡ ` )

So... let's dive into it.

First things first : who, or what, are the Four Guardians ?

First game introduces them as Neo Arcadia's elite and Copy X's inner circle, then the lore entries in 2&3 (Ciel's computer + Secret Disks) specify they were built after X himself.

In-games we only know the Four as military generals, but the Official Complete Works reveal they had another job - or at least Harpuia and Leviathan did.

This is repeated and expanded on in their profiles for the Remastered Tracks : Zero booklet (which i'll just link here instead of pasting four more paragraphs). An excerpt from Harpuia's : "Neo Arcadia, aspiring to restore the world of humans, heralded 2 goals. One of them was the annihilation of the [Mavericks], source of the wars, and the other was regeneration of the Earth's environment to expand the human living area."

Terraformers ; Reploids made from X to assist in the repopulation of a planet damaged beyond words by over 100 years of war, while suppressing the maverick threat.

Then, the Megaman Zero collection website drops these bombs (flash website, translation courtesy of ggle lens, with thanks to @/cinnamononions for two of those three screenshots and to @/irys955 for the post that brought the matter on the table for me) :

Here rather than merely built after X, the Four were full parts of him that separated into their own beings upon sealing the Dark Elf. Not the same thing ! This is something that not only contradicts the games - aka the source material - but has never been seen anywhere else. So, I don't think it's worth much unless you want it to, but there are two implications to point out anyway :

the Cyber Elf X we meet and speak to throughout the games is incomplete compared to his original MMX self, something you'd think would be addressed, or that you'd be able to tell when interacted with ;

the Guardians never met the original X. This was my main question out of this whole mess, and this bit is what directed the rest of my digging.

In Z2 Harpuia has this line-

-which i've seen taken as evidence that he knew of the og X's body all along. while not impossible, it's not a guarantee - there is a whole year between Z1 and 2, he could very much have found out during that period, especially from his newfound leadership of Neo Arcadia !

and YET, when faced with MK-II in 3, knowing him to be the copy (Zero only says "a" copy, but MK-II clearly has the memories from the one in 1, so either way works) - he still immediately submits.

And in the first half of the game, while he tries to reason with MK-II, he never turns directly against him - even when MK-II tells him off and steps him down, even after the missile strike (the human deaths !!) he's co-responsible for, Harpuia's anger is consistently and ONLY directed at Weil.

He knows that's not the og X, yet he keeps his respect, and with him being comatose while MK-II goes out, we will never know how long that could have gone on.

Apart from what the Collection said above - which again, I consider as dubiously reliable - the question of when the Four were built, or at least activated (the distinction is important) is never asked and never clearly answered. The only thing we can be certain of is that it was after the Elf Wars - Z1 is their first meeting with Zero, they're not aware of Omega's true body (Phantom learns it first through Cyberspace), and the intro cutscenes in Z3 make it clear that while they knew Omega and Weil by name, they had never seen them in person before.

The implicit question behind it being, "have they known the og X while he was alive ?"

Well, the OCW has a timeline, let's take a look !

... they're not on it, except for that mention alongside Copy X at the bottom left paragraph.

And on (an excerpt of) the relationship chart from this same book :

They are written as underlings to Copy X only - no link to the og X at all, not even a "created after"...

So my takeaway is that they were activated roughly around the same time as Copy X. (There's also the fact that they use Copy X's leitmotif, "The Legend", rather than X's "Cyberelf", even after Copy X is no more, but that may be a stretch on my end.)

According to the devs, Ciel may have been as young as 5 when she made Copy X, so doing the math with her being 14 in Z1 brings us to at most 9 years before Z1.

And this made me think, aren't the Four a little late for their terraforming business then ? Neo Arcadia has been standing for almost a century ! To which the devs answer that they'd been working outside of Neo Arcadia. Crisis averted.

(The "they weren't supposed to be weapons" is an interesting bit, in-line with Megaman tradition and twice as ironical coming from expies of the pacifist X, though we're never told what non-military function Fefnir and Phantom could have occupied. But I disgress.)

So now we have Reploids made after the og X but likely never knew him alive. So the last (and I'd say most important) question is, were they at least aware they were following a clone ?

The "disappearance" of X was likely not something planned ahead, by Neo Arcadian authorities or by himself - I'm not that familiar with his character, so feel free to correct me on that, but I can't imagine he'd be in favor of maintaining a facade with a fake, even for the sake of maintaining a sense of stability and security. Copy X's lie is held to the general populace, as we see in Z3 (through Weil framing "X's" sudden brutal end on Zero) and Z4 (the human Caravaners very much believing that). But how high exactly does it go ?

See again my point about Harpuia's Z2 line not being irrefutable evidence he was in the know, and let's compare with what other characters know, as told by the Remastered Tracks : Telos dramas !

Case 1) TK-31 :

We are already in Copy X era, and the to-be Elpizo is at this point a regular worker in Neo Arcadia's City Management Bureau - in other words, a civilian (in Z2, he's referred to as a citizen by Leviathan and as an errand boy by himself). He seems to be in content, practically complicit ignorance of Neo Arcadia's inner workings despite his own condition as a nameless, mass-produced model, so it's safe to assume what he knows isn't much above what the average citizen knows. He recognizes the Dark Elf and Weil but not Omega, and is of course unaware the X he sees here is different from the one he knows.

Then he gets found out and berated by Harpuia :

Is Harpuia trying to keep a mere civilian away from the truth he's privy to, or is he himself unquestionningly following orders not to pry ? It honestly wouldn't be far off from his character. Remember the earlier paragraph with MK-II. Remember that in Z3, any of his protests are immediately shut down with "you used to be more obedient than that" !

Case 2) (half of) the Eight Gentle Judges :

Now we're at the top of the echelon - or, well, close enough. And that last line is immediately telling : the Judges knew the og X and noticed the change without realizing he's been replaced. And immediately after that...

From the respect Kelverian shows here, it would seem that the Guardians are at least one rung above the Judges on Neo Arcadia's ladder, so again : is this keeping the lower ranks in the dark, or is this just the usual Sage "don't you dare doubt Master X" Harpuia ?

Case 3) Fellow Guardian, Phantom (and with direct ft. of og X) :

The wording here is a little confusing ("we meet at last" but also "you haven't changed a bit", is this their first meeting or a reunion ?) ; but we do have "my darkness will not serve any other light than [the og X's]." Can Copy X's "light" be equated to the og X's ? Because we're dealing with the guy who was willing to blow himself up to stop Zero from reaching Copy X. Whether or not he already knew about the og X back then, Phantom's loyalty, like Harpuia's, seems to extend to both Xes unconditionally.

Note that he also states "protecting the people and Reploids", which up until then seemed to be completely optional for the Guardians with how ready they were to terminate their own.

And now, with Harpuia's own musings :

An illusion. There WAS something he didn't know at this point. And this point is the beginning of Z3 - he's aware of the Elf Wars, of Weil and Omega, and he's aware of the original X's now-destroyed body. So what is it he's still missing ?

When Harpuia asks Zero to stop Elpizo, and when he opposes Weil and Omega, it's because they threaten human lives. There's no character development here, no changing to Zero and the Resistance's side. Leviathan and Fefnir too, when asked by X to help Zero in their own drama track, only accept because Weil/Omega are shared enemies, and they're shared enemies because they threaten humanity and Neo Arcadia's order as a whole. The protection of humans, and their master(s), has been their singular consistent goal, even when it came at the cost of their own kind. Perhaps much like the Judges, merely carrying out orders while being kept in the dark of how exactly their victims came to be labelled Mavericks !

So, my conclusion on what Harpuia figured here is the original purpose of Neo Arcadia - an utopia for humans and Reploids, as the og X envisionned, and not only for the former. (And if you listen to the drama track itself, he sounds in clear distress and denial, which may explain why he holds onto MK-II anyway.)

Last but not least is really just... law of parcimony/occam's razor. It's much easier to explain the Four's ruthless enforcement of Copy X's agenda, something we know the og X would have never stood for, if it's the only status quo they've ever know, isn't it ?

If you're still there, we're nearing the end, and I'll recap my own conclusion with another homemade Canva masterpiece made from everything we've discussed :

The Four Guardians were modeled and coded after X, and activated alongside or after Copy X to help humanity repopulate the Earth before being reconverted as military assets. They were either kept in the dark about the og X entirely, or were led to believe they were carrying on his legacy by enforcing Copy X's regime, regardless of whether they knew about the og body in Yggdrasil or if they learned about it later.

I specify "activated" to keep the possibility that their project as terraformers might have been something X was involved with, but the seal of Dark Elf happened before he could see them open their eyes.

The whole other can of worms that is important yet that we will probably never know ANYTHING about, and the one that makes me use the passive voice above, is the human side of Neo Arcadia's government : whoever made Ciel build Copy X to begin with, and saw no issue in his regime. These are people with enough power to keep the truth away from up to the Gentle Judges, and I'm thinking the Guardians may not have been exempt from that.

Everything compiled here still leaves a ton of blanks, and anything more will have to be headcanon territory, so...

Thank you so much for reading ! Figuring out this mess then writing this took me like A Month, and it's quite awkward doing that on a 20 y/o game from a franchise we KNOW gets inconsistent. It might just be a compilation of what we already knew from still fairly recent translations but I hope you enjoyed the read anyway. 🙏

Sources :

MMZ2 in-game script

MMZ3 in-game script

MMZ Official Complete Works

MMZ Remastered Tracks booklet translation (character profiles)

MMZ Remastered Tracks Telos booklet translation (creator's chat)

MMZ Remastered Tracks Telos drama tracks (audio w/ translations, MMKB translations)

MMZ Collection Website (website, MMKB translation)

[miss-moradas-art]

my prediction about poppy playtime's ending (and it may surprise you :D)

Or maybe it won't. But here it is.

I think it would be a good idea for the Poppy Pkaytime devs to take notes from FNAF 6/FFPS's ending i.e the fire one because, in my opinion, it's the only proper way to end this story.

FNAF 6's ending was ICONIC and still is (especially since lore wise it's been rectified now that we know Burntrap was always intended to be the Mimic but that's a convo for a different day). It was a perfect bow tie on the present box that was the Scott saga of games.

And what does FNAF 6's ending represent? It represents the ending of everything we knew then, purified symbolic and quite literally with fire. Everyone that was left was there; Henry, Mike, William, Elizabeth, whatever was left of the OG MCI kids soul's because WTF is remnant, maybe Dave/Evan and Charlotte.

(Speaking of Charlotte, her dad mentioning her in his monologue and talking about how he couldn't save her in life so he was gonna save her now makes me cry every time TT or maybe that's the daddy issues)

Now going back to Poppy Playtime.

We know us as the protag is weighted by the guilt we have from working for Playtime Co. And since Mommy recognized us-- and only people who would've been aware of the experiments would have even seen her-- we probably did some HENIOUS shit while we were there. We know this from the hallucinations we have throughout Chapter Three.

But look at what's happening in the factory, even before out arrival.

The toys, who keep in mind are mostly former children who were experimented on against their will, have resorted to cannibalism to survive because they ran through all the bodies from the HoJ. And we know that they can die from starvation. They were promised they'd be able to leave the factory but then either a exec triggered lockdown on the factory before dying or the Prototype used an Omni-Hand to do the same.

1006 considers those who don't worship him to be heretics and we know DogDay wasn't the first toy to be bisected for going against him. Mommy, while broken psychologically before the HoJ, fell even deeper into insanity in the ten years. Miss Delight ate her sisters to stay alive because, once again, some genius thought it was a smart idea to have the toys eat only human flesh and meat.

We know the the CG5 song, Sleep Well, made in part with Mob Entertainment so as far as I know it's considered canon, that the toys were promised and want freedom (also that video made me ball tears the first time I watched it and I haven't watched it since).

They don't want to be here. No one wants to be here. No one should've ever been trapped in this horrible place to begin with. None of these kids should've ever been experimented on, eventually leading to the deaths of employees who didn't even know what the hell was happening (notice I said the ones who didn't know).

So many people, kids and adults alike, have died for the profits of this company. So many souls are gone for what? All for the selfish wants of people at the top.

And here we are as the protag, returning to the factory to see if our co-workers are truly alive with a heavy weight of guilt resting on our being.

And unfortunately, none of them can get the freedom that deserve without going through being experimented again. The secrets of the Bigger Bodies Initiave were kept only within Playtime Co. and that shit can NEVER see the light of day.

So how should this story end?

Well, I think it should end the same way FNAF 6 did.

A fire to burn every dark remnant of this company away. And yes, that does mean the remaining toys, allied or not, would have to die too but at this point, that would be a mercy after all the horrors they have experienced.

And who better to light the match than the final employee left?

This was a very long post. I shall go to sleep now

ALSO THIS OST NEEDS TO PLAY AT THE END OF THE STORY, REGARDLESS OF WHAT HAPPENS

[sholangagaga]

What do you think happened to Glamrock Bonnie, using all of your info that you gathered through the game? your analysis on Bonnie's disappearance was really indepth

I was putting off this ask for a while because I wanted to properly gather my thoughts (and I wanted to replay Ruin like another 2 or 3 times just to make sure I got all the lore I could) but I think I have a grasp on what I want to say

BTW, Spoilers under the cut per usual, also, this theory is going by the premise of Ruin's ending. I'll reference my previous theory as well. This is also a carry over of this post.

Now, I had said in that previous post that the three Dufflebag notes told a patchy and incomplete story. Because to me, they do. But in order to decipher the story they tell, you need to think about what was happening in the Pizzaplex during that timeframe. (there's also a couple more Dufflebag notes that help the story as well, I totally forgot to put them in my earlier post)

as I said before, Bonnie and Monty were already co-existing at this point. Bonnie was the bassist, and Monty was just an animatronic with his own attraction (like how Foxy is the animatronic at the theatre and Sun/Moon/Eclipse are the animatronic for the Daycare)

Now I'm gonna preface all of this theory and information with the fact that I do not believe Monty killed/attacked Bonnie.

I simply don't.

I know what the OG Security Breach story wants us to assume, but from a logical standpoint, it simply makes no sense.

Now, let's go through this chronologically. There will be some conjecture here using the information we've seen outright, so please don't strangle me if this doesn't necessarily match canon or what-not.

First, Bonnie was the original bassist of the band. Alongside Freddy, Roxy, and Chica, they were the original cast. (I don't know why Foxy wasn't part of the original band. Maybe he WAS, long before Roxy took over, or maybe they decided Foxy would be better in the theatre/child area since prior incarnations of Foxy weren't considered bandmates, they were simply side attractions for kids)

I think it's pretty safe to say that Monty was enamored with Bonnie in some regard. At the very least, he looked up to him. In the Gator Golf attraction that shows you Monty's rise to fame, you see Monty playing something akin to a bass or a banjo all alone in his swamp. He was a One Man Band, as they say.

I think his One Man Jug Band probably played in the Gator Golf, maybe he had his own little party bookings there judging by how popular his attraction is. (Like how Roxanne's parties can be booked at Roxy Raceway/Glamrock Salon or Freddy's parties can be booked at the Atrium and main stage)

At some point, Monty became acutely aware of the main band and the stardom they enjoyed. Of course he did, they were the main focus of the Pizzaplex, and the main band had their own greenrooms along Rockstar Row, the FNAF equivalent to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, if we had to compare it to something in the real world.

It seems very obvious that Monty looked up to Bonnie. Bonnie, who shared the same instrument as him, who probably was friendly to him and maybe gave him some pointers on how to refine his playing.

You can see Monty looking up towards the band, but his gaze is localized on the star and Bonnie. Bonnie is also the only one looking at Monty. I think that, at least at this point, they were on good terms in some regard.

Now, for what happened to Bonnie. When we look at Bonnie's body, you can see that he was apparently clawed open and parts of his endoskeleton and machinery was removed and taken away.

You might be thinking, "Well, he got clawed open. So that means that Monty did it, of course."

and You'd be wrong.

If you recall, Monty got his claws in order to play the bass. Now why would he need to play bass if the band was still full and there was no need to replace Bonnie since he was still active? This is mentioned in the note MONTY UPGRADE

MAINT LOG: MONTY - Montgomery's Claw upgrades allow him to play the bass. Following performances, he mostly uses them to cause damage. The fence repairs are getting costly.

So, whoever clawed up Bonnie couldn't have been Monty. And if Monty had clawed up Bonnie, why did he rip out his hardware when he'd have no need for it?

Now what exactly happened to Bonnie can be tracked through his last night active in the Pizzaplex. Seen in the notice MISSING, we are able to see Bonnie's final movements.

SECURITY REPORT - 12:24AM - Bonnie is seen leaving his green room in Rockstar Row heading East towards the atrium. 2:40AM - Bonnie enters the East Arcade. 4:12AM - Bonnie enters Monty Golf.

Now I went into deep analysis of this in my post explaining how Bonnie is considered missing in canon, so I'll summarize it here.

Bonnie spent 3 hours and 48 minutes following a specific path in the Pizzaplex only to disappear after entering the Monty Gator Golf attraction. It took him 2hr16mins to enter the Fazcade from Rockstar Row, and then 1hr32mins to get to Monty Golf.

There's no reason it should have taken Bonnie so long to move from Point A to B. So there must've been something that he was doing during that long walk.

So my theory is that Bonnie was already injured when he exited his green room and started his journey towards the Fazcade.

My reasoning for this is mostly because of how long it took Bonnie to get to the Fazcade, but also because it doesn't make sense for him to take the path he did in the first place in the middle of the night.

I believe Bonnie sustained his injury and then left his greenroom to find help or someone to help get him to Parts and Service. He trudged his way to the Fazarcade and then went towards Monty Golf. And then something happened in Monty Golf that must've fully incapacitated Bonnie, making it so that he was unable to leave. And then at some point, he was abandoned at the back of the Bonnie Bowl and left to rot.

Now, as for what attacked him, I'm a bit up in the air about it since I don't know what exactly is the true canon-line for the game. I've heard some people imply the Burntrap and Blob ending was deemed noncanon and instead the ending of Ruin involving the Mimic IS the true ending. That confused me because the Mimic didn't appear at all in SB (as far as I recall, and I poured over that game pretty intensely) and in the Ruin ending, you see the area where the final battle against Burntrap took place. (And this isn't even touching on what exactly Malhare/M.X.E.S is, I'm assuming hes some remnant of Glitchtrap?)

After playing Ruin (and using Ruin as the main plotline) I have two theories of what attacked Bonnie.

Bonnie was attacked by the Mimic (who does have huge, sharp claws) in an effort to either build on itself or repair itself, and then maybe followed or lured him across the Pizzaplex towards Monty Golf. And then it fully shattered him there, maybe using the Hurricane Bucket that was mentioned in the Monty Mischief notice. Then in an effort to hide the "body" and be able to take it apart without technicians or FazEnt getting in the way, the Mimic brought Bonnie so the back of the Bonnie Bowl and further removed his endo and parts.

My other theory is that Bonnie injured himself. Remember, Monty didn't have claw upgrades by that point so he couldn't have been the one to claw open Bonnie. But you know who DID have claw upgrades? Bonnie.

I think in some way, Mimic or some glitch entity (maybe Malhare/M.X.E.S) got into Bonnie's head in an attempt to lure him somewhere secluded so they could harvest him for parts, but Bonnie fought the conditioning much like Freddy had and ripped himself apart to get these strange voices/entities out of him. And then he wandered the Pizzaplex presumably looking for help before he was finished off in the Monty Golf and brought to Bonnie Bowl to be harvested.

This would explain Bonnie's injuries, why the Mimic (or Burntrap if you want to go that route) looks so brand new and put together, and also why Bonnie apparently disappeared without a trace.

BONUS

There's another notice in the Dufflebags that seemingly adds more to Bonnie's fate, Understudy

MANAGEMENT REPORT - With Bonnie out of commission, we are making Monty the new bass player. Parts and Service has already done the proper adjustments. This could be a good thing. Monty could be even more popular than Bonnie.

This notice apparently takes place before the notice Re-Theme since it takes place DIRECTLY before Monty gets established as the new bass player in the aftermath of Bonnie's disappearance/shattering. However, Bonnie being "out of commission" doesn't allude to anything about his actual fate. It must be that Bonnie disappeared suddenly, and in an effort to smooth things over and re-complete the band, they pushed Monty into the role. As we know, repairing and fixing an animatronic is not a hard thing to do. There's no way Bonnie would be so destroyed that it'd be impossible to put him back together, and from what we saw of Bonnie's condition, it was certainly bad but it's not like he was completely turned to ash or destroyed and unrepairable. They could have repaired him if they got a hold of his body. But it was apparent they didn't, and they had no idea where it was. So instead of rebuilding/remaking an entirely new shell and endo from scratch, they simply grabbed the next best thing and put him into the role.

Which explains why Monty seems to openly use Bonnie's old props, like his glasses and his bass. Monty never had a problem with Bonnie, he idolized him. And after his idol disappeared, he took his place and used his props to allow Bonnie to live vicariously through him. Not to mention how maybe Monty feels responsible for Bonnie's disappearance since it happened in his own attraction, but if Monty was the one who hurt Bonnie then I sincerely doubt the other animatronics would be okay with him taking his place and using his props. Especially Freddy, who was the closest to Bonnie.

[m1ckeyb3rry]

SUNCHASER? DAN HENG?

[ask game!]

SUNCHASERRRR yes actually dan heng was my og baddie in hsr!! in the pre-phainon days he was The Man and indeed sunchaser was the first fic i ever planned for the fandom...it would've been the first i posted too LOL but then i got distracted with mydei and threefold and THEN the phainon sickness hit LMAOAO BUT !! i actually have every last bit of it planned out so i am adding a cut and dumping it all on you because i have no idea if i will ever actually finish it or not KSHJDF it will always be very dear to me though!! and apologies in advance this will be a very long response when i say i have this whole thing planned i MEAN IT

so sunchaser was meant to kind of be formatted as like. an additional trailblazing quest in between the luofu and penacony if that makes sense?? so it's like the astral express crew ending up on some random planet and helping them w their problems 🙂‍↕️ so i really had to make up Lore for the planet which ofc yk i love doing but given that the Lore is key to the plot here is like the quick version:

lucyke — also known as the green moon,  the sole moon of the planet llides, it is more hospitable and prosperous than llides itself; the people of lucyke have maintained their independence thus far, but due to the cursed storm raging on the planet, their economy, army, and society are weakening, leading to their imminent defeat (this is where reader is from and where the story takes place)

llides — a center of commerce, with large, shining cities interspersed throughout the desert landscape; they believe conquering lucyke is their right, as it is “their” moon and they are therefore entitled to its resources [note: llides and its cities are like. vaguely based off of dubai]

the story is broken into three parts — part one "the green moon", part two "the sky's reflection", part three "the first sunrise" as you can see i love a good three part structure (it is actually a coincidence that both this and threefold have three parts LMAOOO but funny yk)!! but the major conflict is that the moon of lucyke is Barely fighting off llides's attempts at conquering them, and at the same time they are suffering from a centuries-long rainstorm that was brought upon them when a llidan general named hava cursed the moon in an attempt to bring rain to llides and defeat lucyke in one blow

in part one the astral express intercepts a distress signal coming from lucyke amidst the storm and find reader, but it is revealed that the distress signal actually came from llidan forces, not the reader, and the astral express members believe, as does the rest of the cosmos, that the lucyke people are belligerent and the “wrong side” of the conflict; the storm increases (although it is eternal, it has both heavy and light days), leaving the ae members stranded on lucyke until it is safe for them to warp; reader (who is the commander of the lucyke imperial guard) takes them to the capital of lucyke to decide their fates; they all agree to help lucyke with their troubles in exchange for being allowed to stay on the planet, and in return reader finally explains the truth of llides attempts on lucyke as well as hava's curse (a funny note on part one is that caelus is often off-screen except for important events which is meant to mimic him doing random side quests in-game LOL)

in part two llidan forces gather upon lucyke, planning an attack; reader tells the ae members that when hava first cursed lucyke, there was a prophecy that he would one day be destroyed by a beautiful song; they go to meet her father, who reveals that hava's will has continued for so long because he is a parasite, and she is his current host (hence her inhuman strength) before commanding her to stop fighting, as she is slowly being corrupted by hava and she risks being overtaken by him completely, whereupon he will wreak havoc on lucyke and likely destroy for good; reader tells dan heng (they are fairly close atp because she admires him for saving her life) about her deceased mother and the only memories she has of her being the lullaby she used to sing (he thinks the lullaby is stupid because it's meant for kids but he #keepsitin), whereupon he theorizes that this lullaby might have some connection to the defeat of hava (maybe she is the one who will do it?? since she is his host after all); before they can further go down this train of thought, caelus and some other npcs discover that the llidans have invented ships that can fly through the storm (although the storm was horrible for lucyke, it was also protecting them from many attacks), hence their forces amassing in such great numbers and their impending attack

finally in part three, the reader realizes that there's no way the lucyke army can defeat the llidans, so she sends them all away and tells the ae members to subdue her once the ships are gone before she allows hava to take over, promising him that he can destroy lucyke if he helps her defeat the llidans this one time; she becomes the storm and the ae members realize that she/hava will be impossible to stop so welt says they must kill her, whereupon dan heng decides that in a last-ditch effort to save her, he will attempt to bring her back in possession of herself by reminding her of her mother via the song she referenced to him; he is ultimately successful but her body is so destroyed by becoming a storm that she dies almost immediately afterwards, and her death marks the first time that the sun is seen on lucyke without any clouds or rain in its way

HERE ARE SOME SCREENSHOTS unfortunately i did not write as much of it as i would have liked to because the handsome pseudogreek men invaded my tik tok fyp and also my mind but at least there is a little bit...

[louiesselfshipramblings]

Once in a Lifetime: ENA selfship!!

My relationship with ENA as a series is a bit interesting. I knew of her through tumblr for a while, I'd say, but never looked into it. My friend showed me the trilogy of shorts that had her (it was "Auction Day", "Extinction Party", and "Temptation Stairway" at the time), and I thought the style was cool! I didn't think much of ENA as is, but to be fair, I was still a blossoming bud when it came to figure out what I liked. After all I was only, like...eighteen. Lol.

Ena is def one of my more recent selfships, and I was kinda unsure of her when she re-entered my mind. I was unsure if it was really smth special, or just kind of a spur of the moment situation. I was still kinda feeling that as I got this quite frankly amazing commission, but seeing the WIPs and ESPECIALLY the final product made me go "Oh yeh...that's my gf!!!"

The Lore!!

My sona here is known as Lüc, which is a somewhat corruption of my own name? I wanted something that matched the sorta off-kilter, fake-video-game vibes of ENA as is. Tho, given the sparse nature of world building as of now, I'm kinda just making the setting...Earth-like with special features, lol. Maybe DreamBBQ will change things, idk yet.

But!! Lüc!! He's a starry eyed (quite literally) mid-twenty-something who owns a local theater, but it's a lil crummy. Has an old, 80s style appearance due to lack of budget, which also effects the showings. Since I can't afford big releases, I mainly show older public domain films and cartoons, with "new" content being indie films. It attracts...people, at least. I also sell cashews instead of popcorn cause I don't like how kernels get stuck in my teeth (and in lore an unpopped kernel cracked a tooth of his as a kid)

Ena sorta just stumbled in, as she does, and hung out in the lobby. Didn't even see a film, but she did buy some cashews. We did chat for a while. It was a brief encounter, but...I kinda fell for her at first sight XD

The feeling of liking was mutual, course, but she didn't really think it romantic at first. Which is why she visited so often! To see her friend! Yippie...but eventually I had the guts to tell her how I feel (we were close enough friends by then), and she was a little surprised at first! I was worried I upset her at first, but turns out she was just thinking it over. The look of realization on her face and the way she blurted out "THAT'S WHAT THE CARNATIONS MEANT!!!" still stick in my head, heh!

We didn't start right there, exactly. Ena said she needed time to think it over, so of course I let her. I was bracing myself for waiting a whole week of not seeing her, but she ended up popping back in three days later, roughly. She seemed a lil lost for words, which shocked me seeing as she usually had such colorful vocabulary. I tried to give her some support in realizing her feelings and such, before she blurted out, again, "I LIKE YOU A LOT TOO?? CAN WE DATE MAYBE???"

And we just kinda started dating! I took her out to a very nice restaurant, and that's also where we had our first kiss!!! And we've just been kinda going regular since! She still lives at her place, but she visits a lot to mine (second floor of the theater, saves space and money!!).

We're still very much enjoying being each other's bf and gf, so marriage is hardly on the table. No kids either, probably. Neither of us think we'd be able to handle it, lol. Moony visits sometimes too! We...get along best we can. I realize she's Ena's best friend, she realizes I mean a lot to Ena. We tolerate one another for her sake.

But yeah! That's my self ship with Ena! The series timeline is kinda...nebulous? Especially with DreamBBQ and the whole "second" Ena. I mainly just ship with the OG blue-yellow pre-TempStair version of her; gonna have to wait and see with this new gal!

The amazing art of me and Ena coming together was done by the always spectacular @cupiidzbow! I said before but you did just AMAZING here!! Like my sona is great but also your Ena is so cute???? I def gotta get more with her from ya! And you, the reader, should support Freddie and his monkey business!

[its-aighost]

My Top Ten Monster Hunter Monsters

I'm doing this cause i just watched a video of someone else doing it and felt like it.

Starting with Honorable mentions; Rakna Kadaki, Chameleos, Gogmazios, Lunagoron, Lagombi, Paolumu, Legiana, Valstrax, Espinas, Dodogama, Banbaro, Vaal Hazak, Great Wroggi, and Pukei Pukei.

#10

Zinogre;

Big electric wolf boy with spikey spikes. Also Thunderlord and Styngian are really cool variant/subspecies of the guy. I just think he is cool.

#9

Tetsucabra;

Big rock demon frog, and also my first Hunt as i played the MH4U demo on my 3ds with my sibling. Had never heard of the Monster Hunter series before this point and tried the demo as recommended by said siblings friend. Also I just really like frogs. so rock frog is #9

#8

Kecha Wacha

His armor, his design, his goofy little self. He was a fun challenge early on in MH4U and gave a into the new combat system so nicely. Also his playful kind of attitude makes me want him in something again besides a stories spin off title. I wana see him in an enviroment like world or rise...

#7

Ceadeus;

While the MH4U demo was my first Monster Hunter experience, my first game was MH3U on the 3ds. And that means my first Elder Dragon, was none other then the giant goat whale himself. While the under water fighting mechanic was a slow and painful process, it was well worth it especially with his EPIC BOSS MUSIC. My favorite ost in the entire Monster Hunter series save proof of a hero is Ceadeus Theme! That alone makes him so epic in a nostalgic way.

#6

Deviljho

I actually didn't like deviljho when i first ran into him in MH3U. I was actually terrified of him to the point of nightmares. (mind you i was like 13) But when i got to MH4U and watching some dumb pickle jokes about him later in life, he just kept growing on me. I like his armor, his lore, and his fight is genuinely memorable. yet i still associate him with crimson Quropeco years later because yah... (that bird should also be a honorable mention)

#5

Nerscylla

As someone who despises Gypceros, i only like him if it means my baby girl is in the game too. OG spider monster is so cool. I love the great sword tree for her and her subspecies. I also just like spider monsters given we only have had two (Heard there might be a third in wilds, but trying not to spoil myself too much) I like her kind of creepy skin coat, that if you break it off you see her white actual spider shell. And her armor looks so like, knightly yet alien ish to me... she is just a really cool monster design that i want to see more of in the series.

#4

Gammoth

BIG MAMMOTH POPO MAMA!!!! She deserves to be back in a main line game as much as the other three!!!! While i love Astalos fight and armor and Misitsune's armor and fight, Gammoth just feels so BEHEMOTH and cool, and big! I love her armor and massive weapons'. i love her fight, i love that she is much more a guardian of the mountain then a horrible threat of nature! She big!! just amazing design, amazing fight, bring her back to me!!!!

#3

Lagiacrus

for similar reasons to Ceadeus and Tetsucabra, Lagiacrus was one of my firsts. He was my first proper flagship, and his fight was memorable to me even with the hard to grasp underwater mechanics. Also seeing him in the dark of the deep water with his glowing blue crystal spikes on his back as he unfurls and watches you... In my heart of hearts he is always what i think about when i think of LEVIATHAN. he is the leviathan. Knowing he could have been in World is a devastation to me. But i understand... Also his color palate is phenomenal by the way. That greenish more blue with the cream and then orange sub tones.... he feels ocean.

#2

Goss Harag

... I really like the bears. I love lagombi and arzuros. (Volvidon is eh) but i felt like after a certain point you just leave them behind, and lose the need to hunt them. I really like bears... Then you get Goss Harag, who is the new bear and he is EVIL in all the most epic ways! His scary demon looking face, that turns red when he is enraged! The fact he can make weapons' for his hands! His big fluffy white mane! He looks both cuddly and a serial killer! Like this guy could be put in a horror game and also be a very marketable stuffy!

#1

GORE MAGALA

and not just him, but his entire lore/ growth into shagura magala. In his base form, Gore Magala is such a alien creepy guy with like... very edgy aesthetic. The whole fact that he canonically cannot see you with out his scales that also weaken you... and that all his weopans and his armor all have like, Grim reaper dark lord energy. Then you have the fact that his final true form as the elder dragon Shagura Magala has such a more Heavenly aesthetic, yet still kind of angel of death! I really do love Gore Magala, not only as such a cool flagship and part of my all time favorite MH title MH4U I very specifically remember playing both the Gore Magala fight and the Shagura Magala fight on a bus ride, and having my friend who had no idea what i was playing, cheering me on as i took out both these epic looking six limbed dragon bois... it is memorable.

separate honorable mention;

i was the one that got my niece into monster hunter and was real shocked when she told me her favorite monster was Khezu...

[misc-obeyme]

Can we talk about Solomon...? Tbh in the OG obey me game i never found him interesting, that is until Nightbringer came out. He feels much more fleshed out here, and i think it's cute that both Solomon and MC share a living space together as if they're married.

I also find it very interesting that Solomon is based on the REAL King Solomon of Israel. There's so much lore surrounding him, and i find it kinda sad that the devs don't use it to their full potential to the plot. Of course, they make references here and there, plus his pacts with Barbatos and asmodeus, but i feel like they could do much more?

Can we talk about how biblical lore, King Solomon, also had (foreign) 700 wives and 300 concubines, and his greatest sin was in building temples for the gods that his wives worshipped Young Solomon is a playboy xD even though i'm sure he married all of those women for power, so it's more likely not out of love but more political expediency? and apparently, "his wives turned his heart after other gods” (Kings 11:4), and thus, he built shrines to the gods of their religions. In the biblical account of his reign, God tells Solomon he will punish him for his apostasy by breaking up his kingdom after his death. Seeing how Solomon is still alive in the Obey me universe, that would mean he had to witness his kingdom being split into two kingdoms (The people revolted against heavy taxes levied by Solomon and his son, Rehoboam). He also probably had to watch many people he truly cared about pass away. (Do you remember that one Gif in the OG Obey me that he was crying in front of a grave??)

BUT, as I mentioned before, since he had many wives, naturally, he had children as well. The documented children of his were Rehoboam, Menelik I, Taphath, and Basemath.

So maybe the reason why the devs didn't mention this might be because fans might get jealous? Seeing how many were upset when Thirteen (the first female character) was announced because they were threatened that she might be stealing the boys, I can see why they didn't include that information.

-Angsty Anon

It does seem like more people are enjoying Solomon since Nightbringer! In fact, the fic I wrote about Solomon shortly after NB came out was the first time one of my fics really took off - it got so many notes in the first day or so and I was so confused lol.

Anyway, I personally started to really enjoy Solomon's character in season three of the OG, but they definitely made him more prominent in NB! And of course I loved that he and MC were living together... it was so cute, nearly all my Solomon centered fics after that are about them in Cocytus Hall.

As for the Biblical lore, I can guarantee you it had everything to do with not wanting any of the love interests to have had any wives in their past. Of course, they don't explicitly say as much, so I think you could headcanon that Solomon still had all his 700 wives and 300 concubines.

I also think they don't go too heavy on the Biblical stuff for the reason of not wanting to offend people who actually believe in this as a religion. I think there's probably only so much you can really use if you want it to stay somewhat neutral in that regard.

By only loosely basing Solomon on the real King Solomon, they give themselves the space to do whatever they want with his character. They're not as bound by the source material. So they only pick and choose the parts they want to include.

I think they do this for the entire story, honestly, not just Solomon. For instance, who is Diavolo even supposed to be? I always thought he was supposed to be kind of a stand in for "the Devil" you know?

But anyway, I digress.

I think they kind of completely rewrote Solomon's past. Considering how he was said to be locked up in a basement as a child, after which he was brought to the Fountain of Knowledge by Barbatos... so when was he actually King? Perhaps after that? And maybe it was then that he would have had all the wives and such?

I definitely remember that particular gif... I made everybody upset when I suggested that it was MC's grave he was crying at lol. Sorry, guys.

But it could just as easily be a wife he actually loved or one of his sons. (Though how is it he only has four sons when he has 700 wives and 300 concubines?? I don't know anything about Bible stuff lol perhaps these are just the ones with names??)

Anyway, I'm fairly certain that people wouldn't like him to have all those wives and concubines. Maybe one wife could be handled, you know, because she'd obviously have been dead for a long time. But I dunno. People get jealous over the idea that Solomon was Lilith's lover, too. So probably best for the game if they just don't go there at all lol.

I do think it would be interesting if they introduced another demon that he happens to have a pact with. We never see any of the others, but I suppose that's more about a lack of space... it's not like they can add 70 characters... in fact, I take it back I am glad they've kept it to the two we have, no more are needed, thanks!

[tanukitsuneko-suki]

idol au - relationships

the closer the personality of the three is to canon, the more i don't think they'd get along tbh. i still haven't decided on how "in character" or accurate to canon events the characterization of parad, philip, and banjo will be, but the following hcs are assuming it's going to be them post-series (+ heigen movie), and they're just magically transported into a world where they're already idols and they do not question this plot convenience too much. as for sento/shotaro/emu, they're alternate versions in this case. this is also shortly before fuuto tantei's storyline happens

parad and banjo hate each other so much. it's on sight. LMFAO. okay so the thought process for this one is: they have, atleast to some extent, already 'interacted' with each other in the crossover movie. while they haven't met each other directly, i'm thinking of banjo learning abt parad's bullshit attitude towards sento (sento wont say it directly so maybe he watched a prev recording) and immediately deciding to plant a grudge. on parad's side he's being a brat bc banjo's trying to grill him (in his eyes banjo started the feud) when it's completely reasonable to maim people after bc he's distraught losing contact with emu for 2 years. Duh

philip finds their implied lore deeply fascinating. it's not as important to him as trying to figure out what's happening and getting back home (fuuto doesn't exist in this universe, but he can still connect with the gaia library. said gaia library has information about fuuto though, so he's concluded he's connected to the gaia library of his og world and this place is a different world. consequently, he doesnt really have info on the other two, but i'm thinking gaia ummm wells??? exist in the world anyway so philip just has to connect to those to access the info in this world...so it's kind of like worlds are computers and he has to be connected to the port to read their gaia library.)

the more fun part: their fujoshi fans think banjo and parad hate each other so much because they're love rivals fighting for philip's hand. LOL (banjo/parad ao3 is filled with enemies to lovers hatefck)

i feel like i need to get a decent manager for these three because they all lack common sense about anything outside games, protein powder, and research

philip's the de facto leader in their planning if only because the other two are musclebrained dumbasses whose first solution to any inconvenience is to punch it (omfg i just said they dont question the isekai plot too much im crying)

anyway their approach to interviews is definitely....interesting. i don't think any of them would be the type to give out fanservice... it's a miracle in the first place that they were able to drag philip into the makeup room and on the set. the only reason he even participates is that he likes answering questions (he earned a reputation of being the smartest idol so it's become a trend to change his interview questions to the theme of "what DOESNT philip know" which is convenient bc that means he's not trying to sneak out of the set when the camera is in a different angle lmao). parad in an interview... isn't that a disaster (lol). banjo is the only one with media experience as a previous pro-wrestler but also he's been through the entirety of KR Build so im not really sure his media training stuck through. i do think he's got his own ingrained habits and he AT LEAST knows bare minimum of what he shouldnt say on tv. also i think he would be pretty nostalgic about it (bro's been through a war so the reminder of his stable career was nice) and he'd probably try to joke abt with sento or be defensive incase sento teases him only to remember that sento isnt here

wouldn't it be fun if they all met in a fanmeet pfft

[leofrith]

hii so i‘m way to invested in everyone‘s baldurs gate plays. can we see your tavs? I would love to see them haha😭

YESSSSSS i will happily take any excuse to talk about my tavs. 🥰 i'm sorry this took so long. i wanted to have their Lore™ a little more set in stone before answering this, but then i proceeded to make uhhhh 2 more tavs and a durge. 🤡

i am listing my characters in the order i created them. they're all good/neutral aligned because being mean in video games makes me break out in hives. aaaaand this is going under a read more because it got really fucking long. 🥴

marqwyn stoneheart

race: human

class: eldritch knight fighter

background: soldier

romance: gale

my first tav who i adore. ❤️ i stole her name from the very first character i created for a now abandoned dnd campaign (though she's nothing like og marqwyn). she's a former flaming fist who left their service due to the corruption she witnessed there. after leaving the city she became an independent soldier for hire—but she's a terrible mercenary because she's a bleeding heart who will help people because they need it, regardless of whether they can pay her or not.

she has dragged the party into many an unnecessary brawl because her charisma is literally in the negatives. we love a girl incapable of talking herself out of Situations. she also used to have two brown eyes before deciding to get herself volo'd during a brief moment of desperation-fuelled insanity.

her backstory has changed a lot since i first made her, mostly because i didn't really have anything in mind when i started playing. 😬 i also had no fucking clue what i was doing when i first started and it certainly shows (tons of missed content, didn't take enough long rests, completely missed lae'zel for the first ~30 hours of gameplay, have done quests in an extremely questionable order, etc.).

i romanced gale with her because the wizard had me by the jugular the second he opened his mouth, and buff wife who hits things with her big sword and her squishy wizard husband who casts counterspell is something that can be so personal. that being said, i do want to rework her character and do another playthrough with her, probably romancing wyll, because her playthrough is a mess.

i will now dip into the alternate canon that lives in my brain in which my next three tavs are allowed to coexist, so just stay with me here and trust in the vision ajgjsdgf

meadow moonwillow

race: mephistopheles tiefling

class: storm sorcerer, bard of the college of lore

background: entertainer

romance: karlach (or enya in the canon that exists in my head)

i made her specifically for my karlach romance run, because best girl deserves a little sunshine to match her own. meadow was born to play gigs in dive bars, but was cursed with a natural talent for magic. 😔 she'll use it because it's useful in a fight, i guess, but she'd much rather insult people to death. if there is shit to be disturbed, she will disturb it.

her and gale are best friends, because i think having some friendly spell caster competition with his bestie who (begrudgingly) lets him teach her wizard spells would be good for his mental health. her and wyll butt heads a bit at first, mostly because meadow's way of trying to comfort people is through humor, and her attempts to make him feel better about his new devil form come off as insensitive (inspired by the way i accidentally insulted wyll at the tiefling party in my meadow playthrough by joking that i was jealous of his horns. king i swear it was meant as a compliment!! 😭). eventually they become really close, which is certainly a necessity when you're both going on a vacation to hell with no set end date.

also my choice of name for her definitely has nothing to do with the fact that i am in the middle of watching the sopranos. definitely not.

landric sparrowsong, "the wrath-bringer"

race: human

class: oath of vengeance paladin, tempest domain cleric of ilmater

background: sage

romance: gale

his backstory is probably the one i've thought about in the most detail, mostly because he's a walking tragedy and i live for that shit. 🧍🏻‍♀️

he was once a school teacher and wasn't much of a fighter at all before his little village near baldur's gate was razed to the ground and his wife and (or so he thinks 👀) daughter were killed, at which point he took up his oath of vengeance. his favourite pastimes now include self-sacrifice and violently murdering evildoers, hence the "wrath-bringer" epithet.

he has been alone—mostly by choice, because he can't lose any more loved ones if there is no one left alive that he loves—for over a decade by the time he's infected, but the forced proximity means the companions very quickly get under his skin. he's very protective of meadow especially (when they're both in the party at the same time in the universe that exists in my head) because she reminds him of his daughter.

he is god's favourite sacrificial lamb, and is consistently the first to go down in a fight (inspired by me, constantly getting him killed by taking far too long to figure out how to play a support class). naturally i paired him with gale because i think the idea of a guy finally opening his heart to the love of another after over a decade of self-imposed solitude out of fear of being hurt again, only for gale to decide to take on a suicide mission just as they're finally realizing their feelings for one another, is soooooo good and tragic. ☺️

he has a soft spot for children, but being around them makes him sad and withdrawn (for obvious reasons), something that the companions notice pretty quickly once they get to the grove and see his cold exterior totally melt around the kids there. he carries a journal which he adds to often, either little blurbs or sketches of people he meets in his travels, ever observing from afar as an outsider.

he was actually a war cleric of mystra when i first multiclassed him because the idea of this man finding solace in his goddes during the worst years of his life only for that same goddess to tell the first person he's truly loved in years that he needs to kill himself is sooooo. anyway. but i decided to change it because war domain just wasn't doing it for me and also have you seen ilmater's whole deal?

also if he bears a close resemblance to my favourite unromanceable assassin's creed npc, that's just a coincidence (lying).

enya sparrowsong

race: human

class: beast master ranger/circle of the land druid

background: urchin

romance: lae'zel (or meadow in the canon that exists in my head)

enya is landric's very alive daughter. i made her in the character creator with no intention of actually doing a playthrough as her, which is a lie i tell myself every time i open the character creator. 😔

ideally she would not even be filling the role of tav at all, but that's obviously not an option for an actual playthrough. she spent her childhood hunting and gathering in the wilds and later pickpocketing her way through the darkened alleys of baldur's gate to survive. in the version of her backstory that lives in my head, she eventually caught the attention of jaheira (by trying to rob her), who then took enya under her wing. the harpers became a family to her, and she is with them in the shadow lands when we meet them at last light in act two. also depending on my mood on any given day, enya and meadow are either bitter exes or couple of the year.

she is generally very abrasive with most people she doesn't know well (her and lae'zel are very perfect for each other), but has a soft spot for animals and orphans. she likes her solitude and it takes a lot of effort to earn her trust (there's a reason she's survived alone as long as she has) but once you do, she's ride-or-die.

she has a raven companion and her preferred wild shape is a wolf, but i've also had a lot of fun using her wolf wild shape and a wolf companion for twice the mauling in combat (and twice the torment for shadowheart—thank you sam for pointing out that she would fucking hate this 😭). i also like to think that she's been helping shadowheart get over her fear of wolves.

her relationship with her dad is deliciously complicated!!! but that's for another post.

idunn

race: high elf

class: necromancy wizard/gloom stalker ranger

background: haunted one

romance: astarion

i haven't played as her much yet, and she's my first durge so i don't really know a ton about that whole background. but her brain is currently scrambled egg and she doesn't remember her past so i figure it's fine if i don't know anything about it either.🧍🏻‍♀️

she's trying so very hard not to kill people, and making up for the lack of murder by being incredibly rude to everyone she meets [astarion approves]. i named her idunn because i like the name but also in large part because i think associating the dark urge with the norse goddess of rejuvenation and vitality is really funny.

aelius lucilius

race: drow half-elf

class: light domain cleric of selune

background: acolyte

romance: shadowheart

he's my newest tav and the one i've played the least, so i'm still working out his backstory. i honestly just really wanted to romance shadowheart as a selunite, which is working out great so far because the shar is already out of the bag and now she loudly and openly hates his fucking guts. 🤪