#and there’s some. more lore posts I wanna make

[ryin-silverfish]

Sorry for the very late reply: I stayed off Tumblr for like, a month or so. But this is a long reblog with a lot of interesting points I wanna respond to.

Honestly, the most common form of JCT doesn't stem from A Chinese Odyssey. It's inspired by the webnovel that's kinda a fanfiction to said movie, Biography of Wukong.

The predecessor to BMW, Asura Online, takes a lot more inspiration from the webnovel than its spiritual successor, and even tho BMW isn't trying to be a direct continuation of AO, I would argue that some of its themes and worldbuilding still slipped into BMW.

You mentioned not seeing JCT in the game according to my definition, and I feel like it's a matter of exposure. For someone who has Chinese as their first language, they are gonna to be 1) exposed to a shit ton of JTTW media, and 2) see a lot of interpretation about the novel proliferate that an English audience is completely unaware of.

BMW is not the most extreme or common form of JCT, but the general ideas are still recognizable. Like, just because it doesn't make all the gods evil, or all the yaoguais innocent victims, doesn't change the fact that the main narrative is still one of Oppressive, Conspiring Pantheon vs. Oppressed Yaoguais.

(Example: the lore entries' implication about Lingji and the Yellow Wind storyline is that Lingji is creating the weird stone Buddha heads and the Fuban yaoguai to 1) collect Lingyun, the "soul" equivalent, and 2) artificially create a threat so that he can rescue the Flowing Sands kingdom from it and convert them to Buddhism.)

(Instead, the Yellow Wind Demon became the rescuer and the kingdom started worshipping rats, which was why its people were all turned into rats.)

(Or, the most obvious one: the Western Heaven's genocide of the Yakshas in the Bull King family backstory.)

(As for Erlang: why do you think you find him inside a painting, which, according to the lore entries, is implied to be the result of him asking Maitreya for refuge from the Celestial Realm?)

And it's made even more jarring by the fact that the game wants to create a facsimile of the original novel through quoting its poetry and imitating the vernacular novel dialogue style, and make allusions to SWK's role as the Mind Monkey, without realizing how it conflicts with the Biography of Wukong-style interpretation.

You mention the lore entries, and that's actually my favorite part! Both the Ming-print style illustrations, and their simulation of the Zhiguai short story style.

But, again, there is a dissonance. The funny and strange Zhiguai-style entries are noticeably different in tone compared to the "main storyline" entries about major characters and backgrounds, which is written like modern short stories instead of a classical Chinese text translated into Mandarin.

And my problem is not that the adaptation is different, that it may want to change the allegory or reinterpret the themes for a modern audience.

It's the feeling that they want to have it both ways——be faithful to the novel (or at least create a facsimile of faithfulness), yet also stick to the Bio of Wukong style popular reading that proliferates in modern JTTW media for mass appeal.

And to me, the dissonance in the two narratives weakened the thematic coherence. Frankly, if it sticks to one or the other, I wouldn't have been writing these critiques: if it's a proper exploration of the original novel's allegorical themes, I'd be praising and loving it, and if it's JCT thorough and thorough, I'm just going to be like "Yeah, not for me" and leave it at that.

But it's this mixture of things I love and things that frustrate me that drives me to write and get down to the bottom of those conflicting feelings, which has little to do with JTTWR's original posts and his attitude towards adaptations.

Lastly: I'm very much coming from the perspective of a native speaker complaining about Chinese JTTW media and popular interpretations. My own opinions are not mainstream in the Chinese JTTW fandom either——JCT is so popular precisely bc it has mass appeal.

Just a thing to keep in mind.

I'm a Theravada Buddhist. I saw many people interpreting the story and meaning behind Black Myth Wukong, differently. But I hope the devs team didn't intend to insult Buddha Dhamma by recreating this new story and distort the meaning of Buddhahood or Enlightenment itself..

I don't know if they intended to insult Buddhism, but I can say that their presentation of Buddhism in the game is disrespectful.

@ryin-silverfish recently posted a wonderful essay on what's known as the "JTTW Conspiracy Theory," which is a method of interpreting the story by twisting details, making the heavenly hierarchy look evil. The game follows this method. I recommend that you read the essay:

I unknowingly ran into the JTTW Conspiracy Theory a couple of years ago. A Chinese article claimed that the Buddha lies in the novel. This is my rebuttal.

[wanderingchocolateeclair]

Too much thought, no brain space….

:|

[starry-bi-sky]

tales of the passerine - danny fenton being bruce wayne's first kid

okay okay. so this is like a continuation/elaboration of my oneshot/prompt i wrote about the idea that Danny was the first batkid. We have a lot of aus where he joins the family after the rest of the bats do, right? So hey! Lets shake things up a bit. Danny is the first to be adopted by Bruce Wayne.

Danny's parents and unfortunately Jazz die shortly after the events of TUE -- how so? I was gonna say an ecto-filter explosion, that would call back to the TUE explosion and trauma behind that. But lets do something new! Carbon-monoxide poisoning.

It's not too unexpected for something to break in the Fenton house, especially with the Fenton parents' questionable understanding of proper weapon handling and lab safety. The water heater broke from a stray shot by one of the weapons, and was promptly MacGyver'd incorrectly. Danny went to stay with Tucker for a guys' night, and came back to a dead silent house.

(Danny's neighbors got a very unfortunate shock when he ran to the next house over in hysterics.)

There was a lot of shuffling around with CPS, the police. People had to be called in to handle the equipment in the lab, and the GIW was rumoring to show up in aid to clearing the scene. When Danny heard of that, he immediately went and dismantled the ghost portal to the best of his abilities. He burned the physical blueprints of all his parents' inventions, their blueprints on the ghost portal, and their most dangerous weapons were destroyed beyond recognition. Anything to prevent the GIW from getting their hands on his parents' tech.

It opened up another investigation, but he was not under the list of suspects. He was placed in the care of Vlad Masters, where they then went back to the rebuilt castle mansion in Wisconsin. Danny, terrified of the future that has once passed and may do so again, shuts down in his grief. Inadvertently, he ends up somewhat repressing his ghost half. Something Vlad, who is grieving Madeline but relishing in Jack's demise and his custody of Daniel, is not very happy with.

Vlad's... gone into a bit of a mental health spiral. He's becoming increasingly possessive over Daniel, the final remnants of his friends and a liminal being like him. He doesn't like that Danny's repressing his ghost half -- both out of genuine concern as a ghost, but also because of his desire to control Danny and groom him into the perfect son. If you ever had a phase where you read Dark SBI found family fics, first off; me too bro, and second off; those are the vibes I'm thinking of.

Danny's mentally shut down from grief! And fear. He's dropped into a bad depressive state -- paralyzed with grief and the terror of the inevitable. Clockwork saved his parents because he believes in second chances, but what's the point of that when his family ended up dead anyways? Danny doesn't wanna believe that he's destined to become evil, and he's holding out onto that hope, but it's a thin line, and he feels utterly hopeless and trapped. He hasn't used his powers or ghost form since he trashed the lab, and Vlad has alarms set up to prevent him from trying to escape.

He's also unintentionally cut off Sam and Tucker -- both of whom are so scared and concerned for Danny too, and are trying their damndest to reach out to him. He keeps ignoring their texts. Danny basically haunts Vlad's manor. He goes out to eat if he has to, attends parties Vlad drags him to, and stays in his room all day if he can.

At parties, Vlad doesn't allow Danny to leave his side, or really talk to anyone -- not that Danny wants to. A product of Vlad's increasing possessiveness. Well, he almost doesn't let Danny leave his side. Danny has a habit of slipping off to hide somewhere for the parties whenever he can, and Vlad reluctantly allows it so long as he stays alone.

This becomes an advantage when eventually, Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham after missing for years, and holds a bright charity ball to celebrate the return. Vlad has been chomping at the bits to get his hands on Wayne Industries, and with the return of its owner there is no better opportunity to wipe out his rival. He goes, and he as normal, brings Daniel with him.

Vlad thinks Wayne will bleed his little heart out for Daniel's poor orphan sob story -- he's a fellow orphan himself, after all. He's not wrong; Wayne's little heart will bleed, just not in the way that benefits him.

Bruce sees Vlad and Danny approaching before they're even close enough to introduce themselves - and like with many of the children he will soon come to care for, it's like someone set a mirror into the past right in front of him.

Danny Fenton's suit is tailor-made for him, and despite the fact that it's his perfect size, the sag in his shoulders, the ducked down head, and the way he hunches into himself all pictures the image of a child in shoes too big for him. There's a far away, glazed over look in his eyes and grief marble-cut into the lines of his face. There's not enough makeup in the world that will hide the dark circles under his eyes.

("My nephew, Daniel Fenton." Vlad's hands are possessive on Danny's shoulders. Bruce immediately notices the way the boy tenses under his touch. "His parents passed recently, and as his godfather I was designated his guardian.") ("I'm so sorry, the loss must've been terrible.") ("Yes, carbon-monoxide poisoning caused it. Daniel was out with friends, when he came home... they had already passed.") (Bruce immediately dislikes that Vlad shared the details of their death unprompted -- he likes it even less when Danny flinches at the reminder and hunches into himself.)

Danny runs off at some point earlier into the charity. At this point, parties are still being held at Wayne Manor (because iirc google search mentioned that was a thing at first before it was changed), so he disappears and hides in one of the empty rooms nearby. It just so happens to be the same room Bruce Wayne hides in when he needs a break from all of the socialization.

Thus begins a long, long process of trust. Bruce can't reveal his hand as being smarter than he looks, but he can be compassionate. Kindness needs no measure of intelligence. He keeps Danny company for as long as he can before he runs the risk of being found.

Rinse and repeat. Vlad insistently wants Wayne Industries, and he'll go to as many Wayne parties as he can to get his hooks into the man. The problem is that Bruce Wayne is never alone, and getting him alone is impossible. Finding him too. It's like the man never stops moving. Always talking to someone, always circling somewhere. He orbits around the room as if he isn't the sun of the Gotham Elite's solar system.

Danny's had such repetitive behavior that Vlad never thinks to believe that Bruce Wayne is disappearing to go talk to him. That "Vlad's" son is even interacting with him at all. Danny never gives him a reason to think so, and neither does Bruce.

Danny doesn't actually acknowledge Bruce until a handful of parties in, where he hands Bruce a small slip of paper he smuggled in that says; "don't trust Vlad". Danny's face stays carefully blank, but he's so tense that his hands are trembling, and he's purposely looking away from him. Bruce plasters a smile onto his face, slips the paper into his pocket, and tells him "okay".

(he's been busy with his own goals with the mafia, but he sets aside time to investigate Vlad Masters. He was holding off. Until now.)

Danny does eventually start speaking to Bruce, he's starting to really like the guy. He's starting to see a little hope, even as Vlad is starting to get more and more agitated with him the more he refuses to use his powers.

He reaches out to Sam and Tucker again, and starts trying to reconnect with them. Vlad has spyware on his phone, and he limits the amount of times he can talk to them. A weird parental control lock of some sort that leaves a time limit on how long he can talk to them for. 30 minutes. Danny doesn't tell them anything about Mr. Wayne.

Danny, slowly, wants out of here, and he's slowly gathering the motivation to do it. Vlad is genuinely scaring him -- and Danny wonders just how truthful the past-future Vlad was when he told him that Danny wanted his ghost half separate. He starts trying to come up with an escape plan.

Vlad has anti-ghost wards everywhere around the mansion, and while they're always on, they boost to full power at sunset. The doors and windows are always locked, all main exits have alarms set on them. The only reason it's not super extensive is because Danny hasn't tried leaving at all yet, so Vlad hasn't had to tighten anything.

At night, Vlad locks the door to his room and puts up an anti-ghost ward around the room. The mansion is on the outside westward side of Madison, more entrenched in rural Wisconsin. The closest town is a four-way stop sign with one house on three corners, and an open bar on the fourth. Not much to go.

He refuses to go to Sam and Tucker; Vlad would look there first. It's too dangerous. Vlad would sound alarm bells and have a manhunt looking for him, Danny can't risk going just anywhere. Too much risk of being found, sold out, or caught. There's really nowhere for him to hide.

Until there is. Bruce is telling Danny about the history of Wayne Manor, and says, as casually as saying the weather; "The manor has dozens of empty rooms, I'm sure Alfred wouldn't mind filling another one if he could." And quietly, hesitantly, Bruce places a careful hand on Danny's shoulder, unrestrictive and gentle; "He wouldn't mind getting one ready for you if you need one."

And there it is. There's his out.

Danny, just as quietly, replies; "I'll keep that in mind."

The ball starts rolling.

Now I've been trying to summarize this au as much as possible for length convenience, but Vlad has been steadily growing more and more controlling. More emotionally manipulative. More agitated at Danny for not using his powers.

He wants Wayne Industries under his thumb but he's been steadily growing more and more concerned with Danny. He's started grabbing him, yanking him around, shaking him; trying to goad him into using his powers. He gets angry when Danny doesn't react, or tells him he doesn't want to use his powers. He hasn't outright attacked him, but he's getting there. This has been happening over the time it takes for Bruce to indirectly offer Danny sanctuary at his home.

It all comes to a head when Vlad stops going to parties at all -- something Danny has to pretend he isn't upset about -- because Vlad doesn't want him around other people anymore. Vlad rarely goes now without him, and only leaves to go to a Wayne function or to handle something at VladCo.

Danny can't wait for Vlad to leave long enough to escape. So he leaves during the night of a big storm. Vlad's locked him in his room, but Danny doesn't bother trying to go for it; he goes to the alarmed window instead. Danny's been repressing his ghost half so long that he can't access his powers immediately anymore -- he can feel it, he knows its there, but he can't quite reach it.

He breaks the lock by hand.

Immediately the alarm goes off through the entire castle, filling the room with red, and he scrambles for the rope the Wisconsin Ghost left for him a few months back. Danny's already out and climbing down the side of the castle before Vlad even reaches his door -- the only good thing about the entire room being ghost-proof is that Vlad can't get in that way.

The rope ends before it reaches the bottom, and he's still twenty feet in the air. It won't kill him if he lands it right. Danny takes his chances, and drops. He breaks his ankle, but he survives.

And he fucking books it to the back garden. He hears Vlad shrieking over the thunder and rain.

I'll save the full experience for a future oneshot, but Danny makes it out into the nearby woods and forcibly experiences what it's like to be in a horror game, trying to hide from the thing that's hunting you. There's only one thing going through his mind; "i'm going to die"

I have this mental image for this scene. Very stereotypical horror imo. Where Danny is hiding behind a tree, with a hand over his mouth, and Vlad is a few feet away from him, glowing ominously red through the trees, trying to search for him.

Danny doesn't get away from this unscathed, but he does get away alive. That's all he could ask for. He gets away by getting his ghost half awakened long enough to transform into Phantom and fly to Gotham.

But he gets to Wayne Manor, he gets to Bruce. Or, at least, Alfred answers the door from his insistent pounding. Danny's just in tears and Alfred gets him in the living room, wrapped in a towel, with ice on his swollen leg before he has to step out and alert Bruce.

Bruce already breaks multiple traffic laws on a nightly basis. And that's just with the sheer existence of the batmobile itself, not including the speeding and military artillery attached. He breaks double the amount trying to speed back to the cave and get out of the suit.

Right off the bat: Bruce will know, at least before Dick enters the picture, about danny's powers. He'll figure out something considering the fact that Danny traveled from Wisconsin to New York in a single night. That'll be a bit of complicated affair, but I've already got something in mind.

Actually it'll probably be very soon after Danny joins the family, because Bruce tries to offer to fight for custody for Danny - the state Danny was in at arrival is clear enough evidence for a trial. But Danny immediately shuts it down, says it's not going to work and then Vlad will know Danny's with him and he won't be safe. He tells him that Vlad cannot know Danny was with Bruce.

Danny's biggest regret was not telling his parents he was a halfa, and while he doesn't want to tell mister wayne (yet), he does tell him about Vlad being one. He needs to know why Danny can't be seen with Bruce. So he tells him, and Danny's current plan is to just hide out from Vlad until he turns 18. That way, he has no more legal jurisdiction over him. After that? He's not sure.

And to wrap this up, since this has already gotten very long and I can make more posts about this au later; I've thought about it, and I'm going to say that Danny does become a vigilante before Dick enters the scene. He goes by, as you probably guessed; Nightingale. "Gale" for short.

[thegreatyin]

And thus, with the passing of 24 hours, Caeru's ambition truly comes to an end. Major Nemesis spoilers below the cut- we're talking endgame ambition business here. Mostly on a character RP front.

The Doomed Scientist made quite a few... choice decisions, in the end. Killing Cups once and for all, recording his story as one of grief-

And sparing what little remained of Mr Mirrors, leaving it free to roam Parabola as it sees fit.

Some of them, he can explain. Others, he's still left to feel... discontent.

Cups needed to die. That much was certain from the start. It was a tyrant, as all Masters are, and complicit in the bargaining and eventual destruction of four (potentially five) cities, as all Masters are. It was an obstacle. A murderer. A petty monster that felt no remorse even on its deathbed, and it went out of its way to ruin multiple lives just because it felt owed its own sick and twisted idea of revenge.

It killed his first love. It looked him in the eyes and he knew what it had done and he knew from the start it was going to die.

Perhaps, in the end, it knew too. And yet it still pleaded, and wanted to live, and-

It made a bargain.

A bargain Caeru didn't take.

Not because he didn't want to. Gods, he wanted to. He wanted it. He wanted it more than anything else in the world. To have Greylu back, to give him the gift of life, of love, to show him the wonders of the Neath and the beauty of the correspondence and all of the people Caeru has met and loved and found home with along the way-

But. He couldn't.

Because Cups was a monster. And no matter what, it deserved to die. And he could not, in good conscience, allow it to live.

Even if sparing it meant everything he's ever wanted.

So he's left here, now. With a bloodied traveling coat, and a bloodsoaked knife, and a favor finally fulfilled.

And nothing to live for. No resurrected lover, no charming visits to Helicon, no slow dances in the living room, no memories to rebuild and lives to live and he won't live again-

Nothing. All he has is a coat born of obligation, not to his love, but to people he's never even met. To lives he's never even touched. To a paramour, still alive, with hair of rose-pink, who doesn't even remember her own brother's existence.

Cups didn't die for Caeru's sake. Cups died for the sake of all who wanted it dead. For the revenger's court, and the ghost screaming in his ear, and the reckoning that will not be postponed indefinitely.

And Caeru, who acted as a tool to carry out their wills? Who all but betrayed his own lover, just to satisfy a cause he never knew existed?

All Caeru is left with, is regret. Regret-

-And grief.

[cornbread818]

Who here had “The reason why Asmodena is an amateur demon — despite having the life experience of 500 years + is demon royalty — is because she was lobotomised by Billy’s dad back in 1995” on their 🌽🍞 bingo card?

[samarecharm]

If i start posting dc stuff on here, it means i lost the fight w myself. The demons won. Im sorry

[synthshenanigans]

might actually make more about him later but, I had the idea of taking old CJ things & turning them into the Goners from Undertale. just for funsies :}

only have one designs atm but have a sneeb

soooorta made from the old pfp. mainly just the colors

[more stuffs below]

the Goner dialogue i mainly based him off of

[existential warning?? probably?]

and the small bit i plan to make a lil something for if i ever get to it

[a-storytellers-wish]

If wishing on a star and said star would come down to help me with my wish is real, god damn I wish I had a star buddy helping me with my schoolwork.

[seventh-district]

not even gonna tag this properly bc i don't wanna get Involved but i do have some Thoughts i need to get out into the void so here we go

(aaa quick edit: CW for mention/discussion of Boothill leaks)

[raiiny-bay]

my favorite edits - 2023 edition 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9

[st4rrmii]

Ur oc is so interesting JSJJSJS if u can, pls info dump abt Lucien I must know more abt them 🗣️🗣️‼️🙏

I am finally alive enough to respond to this lets fucking GO

I'm gonna make a separate post of his full lore and allat so for now I'll kinda drop random info/lore pieces as well as how he came to be yippee

(Y'all know the drill everything under the cut)

Design/How he came to be:

For his design I took a lot of inspo from dif things:his bangs are inspired by Ken Sato's bangs, as are his thick ass mf brows. I wanted his bodytype to be built but not OVERLY bulky to suit the work he does, as he still has to be agile while also strong, I also looked into men's gymnastics and their bodytypes, as he grew up doing gymnastics and swimming.

His adult design has a lot of cosmetic dino/reptilian inspired traits, as I wanted him to feel almost like he was closer to dinosaurs than humans due to him isolating himself for so long. He has a split tongue and sharper canines than when he was younger, as well as his eyes being an almost yellow amber.

Honestly I am still working on his lore, as there are certain things I want to do but know it would be either too unrealistic, or too "Gary Stu"ish, so sometimes I gotta choose between doing the self indulgent shit or putting it on the back burner lmao

He's actually a revamped OC I already had, honestly when I first watched CT when it came out I wasn't going to insert him into it, but the hyperfixation hit hard so here we are. I am very glad I did though, as I've met multiple cool ass people thru it, not to mention theres just something about people GENUINELY caring and being interested about your OCs that makes the struggles of being an artist/writer so worth it (Love y'all 🫶)

A lot of his writing is inspired by myself and my life, though exaggerated in some spots. His dad is inspired by my dad in some aspects, as are his siblings. He also has a lot of my behaviors, including the negative ones, as I find writing them can help me learn how to cope/deal with them. His disabilities are also based off mine.

Honestly a lot of his writing was just done overtime, there wasn't a huge amount of planning put into it 😭 but that is just generally how I write my OCs, it just feels right

Lore and Character Traits:

He has been growing out his hair since Camp Cretaceous, the only time he's cut it since (aside from trimming dead ends) was to make a wig for his sister

Speaking of his sister, he has/had two siblings, Landon, his older brother, who unfortunately passed away a couple years before CC, and Mia, his little sister, who is luckily still kicking lmao 😭

He lives on the sanctuary he works at, his house is very secluded, as the line of work he does can end up with people... not being very fond of him, so he has to live in such a secluded/hidden area to stay safe

He started designing prothetics and disability aids when he was as young as 12, he now focuses on dino prosthetics, though he has designed a few human ones

Most of his work actually ON the sanctuary is "exotic vet" work (aka hes a dino doctor), as it is quite rare to find vets who aren't afraid of dinos 😭 though he also works on socializing the dinos

His work beyond that is much riskier, as he works to rescue dinos from shady businesses/people, mainly focusing on the dino equivalent of puppy mills, though he has rescued dinos from more dangerous organizations.

He started this work a little while after his father passed, he originally started to work on the sanctuary just doing basic work, mostly as a way to pay for the rehab he had to go through (will get more into that in his full lore post), as well as using it as a way to isolate himself, though very quickly got pulled into doing rescues

He got his growth spurt around this time as well, possibly due to being on Testosterone for a year at that point and having inherited his father's tall ass genes, as well as constantly working out. He was very awkward with it at first, going from being the tiny one of the group to being the tallest was a lot, so he's glad that Ben also had a sudden growth spurt, so he wouldn't be alone in the "Save any growth for the rest of us?" Comments 😭

Sammy calls him Bumpy's step father, as he's about as clingy and protective with her as Ben is. That dino saved his life on so many occasions that he just can't help but feel indebted to her in some way.

Despite Lucien being older than her, Sammy kinda looks at him like a little brother, being very protective of him. It's partially because she got so used to him being itty bitty and being the type to constantly hide behind people when he was scared on Nublar, so she's just not used to him being grown and able to protect himself. Has fully told Ben that if he hurts him she will take him out at the shin, Ben believes her.

He has a dino on the sanctuary that is his favourite, I haven't 100% settled on the breed, but what I know for sure is she is a carnivore that was rescued from one of the dino mills, and therefore has had multiple procedures to make her less dangerous (such as having her front teeth removed, being declawed, etc.) And she also unfortunately lost a leg while in said mill, though Lucien made her a prosthetic for it. She also has dwarfism due to being in a cage for such an important time in her life growth wise. She is Lucien's baby and he would go to war for her.

Lucien's music taste is,,, all over the place, ranging from kpop, to indie rock, to metal, honestly as long as its not country he'll probably enjoy it

His tattoos have to deal with his work, specifically the doll/robo joints, as part of him feels kind of like he was taken in a vulnerable state in his life to do things that no 16/17 yro should have to do and yet he can never bring himself to step away from the work now as he's too deep into it

That isnt to say he doesnt feel good about rescuing dinos, but unfortunately with that kind of work comes hurting people, and while they are bad people, it still fucks you up

Not super great at communication (which I am actually writing a fic about 😈) which can cause issues but he does try his best, esp for Ben

Collects plushies

Dr.Pepper enjoyer (its his entire personality I fear)

I cannot think of anything else atm that won't end up in the lore drop, but I might find one of those OC ask thingies so y'all can send in more specific asks, since I suck ass at thinking of things off the top of my head 😭 but again thank y'all for all the love for Lucien, he's my baby so to see other people loving him makes me so happy

[fluffle-writes]

I wanna. Pick them up in my mouth and shake 'em around like a dog obliterating a squeaky toy

[svtskneecaps]

friends and fiends if this truly spells the Over for the qsmp i may let the brainworms that have been festering in me for MONTHS--A YEAR, EVEN--win.

i may summarize the goddamn fucking lore.

[xavathun]

ouaghh. density,,

[scoliosisgoblin]

Any yandere character do you like other than YB? :)

so far I haven't engaged with much yandere/stalker games. not cause I don't want to, I'm just unsure of where to go lol

I love Jacob from Lurking for Love, cause he's just so silly (my oc, *also Jacob*, is a lot like him actually and I didn't even watch gameplay when making him yk? strange.)

I love that Jacob is shy, how assertive he can be. the end of the demo genuinely scared me at first. I also just like how the yn in the game is written. I love the love letters, the doodles taht come with it, his name, his eyes, his character as a whole. god he's just so cute. I just never post about him cause I'm not THAT into him rn? I love the pathetic and desperate type, and he's not exactly. however,

put us in a room together and we're both walking out pregnant 🙏🙏

I got into Your Boyfriend through watching gameplay (@/ManlyBadassHero) back in January I think, and I got into Lurking for Love only like a few days ago when my friend recommended it to me

completely open to recommendations, I love Peter but refuse to play the demo because of the creators (also not exactly excited for how the game's going in general 💀)

[hellscribbles]

Yikes' Backstory.

I decided I'm just gonna throw Yikes' backstory on here!! It's not quality writing by any standpoint since I'm very Get To The Point when I write backstories, but I figured its good to have it here for people interested!!

Yikes' backstory is set in a homebrew world, so feel free ask me or @controlledchaosetc questions!

LONG post below (If you're a player in the game I don't really care if you read, but spoilers below I suppose)

Wallowale

The Changeling, known later as Yikes, was born November 6th, 1461 to an Eladrin named Maylynn Nailo on the tiny island of Wallowale. 

The island of Wallowale was plagued by all manner of Fey creatures, some merely harmless pranksters, but others terrorized the town. Sowing mistrust between the human islander's and their Fey visitors from the very beginning.

Yikes and their mother lived on the outskirts of town on a quiet sheep farm. The land surrounding their home was dotted with Sylvan ruins from long ago, these ruins were believed to be an opening to the feywild and the cause of the towns strife. The townsfolk made many attempts to destroy the ruins and the portal they supposedly held. Yikes knows the portal was actually in their mother's water well.

Despite being a feywild elf, Maylynns healing abilities were far too valuable to the small isolated village. For Yikes early childhood, Maylynn was liked by the humans. Her charming music and gentle magic endeared her to the village. While valued by the community, Maylynn was never quite trusted.

From their earliest memories, Yikes knows their mother worked tirelessly to hide their identity, disguising them until they were old enough to master their shapeshifting. The skin Yikes used in Wallowale would later become Quinn. The skin was made to look like Maylynn’s daughter, so it shares a lot of Yikes’ actual features, therefore it was an easy skin for them to wear as a child.

Maylynn was an extremely superstitious person, she taught Yikes many routines and habits to protect them from a Fey’s ire. Yikes still practices these routines to this day, despite not quite understanding why. The most extreme manifestation of Maylynn’s paranoia was her insistence on Yikes not having a name, only calling them constantly changing nicknames or “Changeling”. She told Yikes it was to protect them from someone stealing their name. 

As Yikes aged, they became lonely. Longing to know and understand the world outside the island, as well as whatever strange land lay beyond the portal they lived so close to. Though by the time Yikes was old enough to realize these desires, the suspicion of Maylynn had risen beyond her usefulness as a healer. 

The Fey charming magic Maylynn was so practiced in had begun to be noticed by the townsfolk. People's opinions of her often shifted wildly, from adoring and singing her praises to despising her, sometimes all within the same hour. All manner of rumor had begun to spread about Maylynn by the time Yikes was 10. The most common beliefs spoke of her as a Nighthag, or a siren.

With every attack by the Fey, Maylynn’s name was sullied further. It didn’t take long for this to grow into a conspiracy that Maylynn was the source of evil and strife for the island. The fact none of the passing Fey ever harmed Maylynn, Yikes or their farm only served to solidify the growing suspicion of them.

Despite the growing unrest, by 1474 Yikes had begun spending more time with the village children, loneliness driving them to seek companionship amongst the humans. One of those humans being the cleric's daughter. After gaining trust with the local children over the course of a few months, Yikes freely revealed themselves to be a changeling despite their mothers warnings. The small group of children surprisingly took Yikes' confession very well, their abilities as a shapeshifter began to be treated as part of the group's normal play. 

However as the year progressed, one by one the children excitedly told their parents about Yikes ability to shapeshift, causing a paranoid frenzy in the town. It was in December of 1474 that Maylynn’s quiet sheep farm was burned to the ground, and her Hag trial began. 

The trial lasted 3 days, during which time Yikes and Maylynn were kept captive in an enclosed cell inside the village church. The trial was falsified and seemingly only a method of enacting "justifiable" torture upon Maylynn to prove her status as a Hag. Yikes has very little clear memory of their 3 days locked away, but they do remember the townsfolk breaking their mothers fingers and cutting out her tongue. Despite the torture, Maylynn gave them no evidence of being a Hag, but when the towns leader cut Yikes’ hair, that was enough for the town to damn Maylynn to a Nighthag’s fate. 

Yikes didn't witness their mothers pyre. Set to burn after her, Yikes heard her screams from within the cell they had shared. During the burning, the clerics own daughter came and freed Yikes from their cell, and helped them escape. 

Yikes fled to the shipping docks where the boat captains their mother traded with were about to set sail. Hoping to convince them to save their mother, instead the captain took Yikes aboard and set sail immediately upon seeing the rising smoke and hearing the distant cheers of the villagers.

The Capital

Due to the hard winter storms, the ship was blown off course and what should have only been a week of travel turned into months lost at sea. Yikes and the crew nearly starved to death on the freezing waters, the ship constantly threatening to sink. By the time the ship arrived in the capital in the Spring of 1475, the crew had eaten through what they'd meant to trade, leaving them with no resources to help themselves, much less Yikes.

Yikes spent the following year in the capital as a beggar, shifting skins constantly as they were caught stealing food and other supplies. However, at the start of November and just as the cold was threatening Yikes life, The Eclipse Freakshow pulled into town. Yikes spent their last few coins to see a show. Desperate for help and willing to do anything for safety, Yikes approached the head of the show, Jasper Moon and asked to join the Freakshow. When Yikes revealed themself to be a Changeling, Jasper hired them immediately.

The Eclipse

Yikes spent the next 4 years working as a freak in Jasper's show. It was during this time that Yikes started going by Yikes, a name given to them by Jasper’s (at the time) 12 year old daughter, Iris. The Eclipse was hugely successful during this time, if troubled by the law on occasion. Yikes was treated as part of a family, as long as they performed well.

At the start of the 1480 season the freakshow took a shift into more performance based acts, an attempt to shift into an even more lucrative and more respectable industry. Yikes became a sword swallower in this time to keep with the new look of the Eclipse. It was during this time the high turnover rates for performers began, few freaks or performers still remain that belonged to the old Eclipse. Jasper’s hard working conditions and rumors of his high spending at casinos spread in the industry, driving away the workers who weren’t contractually obligated to stay.

As the Eclipse declined further financially, so did Yikes stability. Yikes began spending their Winters in a city called Fearhar to party and over indulge in whatever vice they could find. 

Yikes found work and protection in Fearhar in the form of working in a lounge that prided itself on having exotic hosts, it was here Yikes began experimenting with escorting and casual love affairs with high society members.

Even during the working months at the Eclipse, Yikes’ over indulgence and reckless abandon started to become obvious to those close to them. As the stability and safety of the Eclipse slipped away from them, Yikes' mindset about their life as an open changeling costing them the chance at a long life became more ingrained, both due to their environment surrounding themself with other live hard and fast performers, and the continued close calls due to the Eclipse shrinking safety In 1482, Yikes changed their act in the Eclipse to that of a dancer. Fully embracing their new passion.

In 1483, a large number of performers walked out. Largely due to poor working conditions, pay and safety. However Iris, Jasper's daughter and someone Yikes thought of as their sibling, refused to leave. Despite being disillusioned with the Eclipse and being offered much better opportunities elsewhere, Yikes stayed in the Eclipse for Iris.

By spring 1486, the eclipse was left with less than a dozen performers. At the start of the new season, Yikes was invited to a dinner party by a strange noble man, which Yikes accepted.

This is where the campaign started!! The rest of Yikes' story can be found in summary here!!