#as a former hp kid

[ziracona]

Why on earth does the Wiki and searches about NukaWorld claim Preston becomes hostile if present for Taken for a Ride or spoken to after the player becomes Overboss??? I’ve played the entire DLC twice now, different PCs, different saves, regular and survival, and I took Preston both times for the DLC??? I never even got a ‘disliked’ from the man, except for being too forgiving to Harvey. He loved a lot of my sass at the Raiders?? And if I talked to him just would say I’d shown him I’m one of the good guys/repaid my trust in him. I mean, I’m sure if you agree to go Raider and like, kill settlers and shit. But I completed most of the questline short of taking over settlements or hurting innocents (took over the park, turned on power, etc) first save, and still completed grand tour and home sweet home on survival, before Open Season. I romanced the man in the overboss office yesterday before starting my raider killing spree. He never doubted I was just scoping out the place, which I was.

[seirindono]

What are Sloth Sans/Demon Sans Powers; relationships; what is he like in the other runs???

Ok, let's talk about Demon! Sans!

The embodiment of idleness, he's the predator of many emotions and states linked to this sin, such as apathy, depression and resignation.

We've already talked about his use of illusions (music/ hypnosis) to charm and disarm his victims, dreams being his preferred hunting ground, and one his unique ability (your personnal sleep paralysis demon), but he's just as much as a threat in real life!

His preferred strategy is to lower the enemy's stats (DEF, ATK, HP, etc) so he can finish them off with a single strike or, better yet, let their body slowly die while he lulls their soul into an endless dream.

He gradually deprives them of the desire to attack or defend themselves, amplifying the fatigue (physical and psychological) and sense of powerlessness, of helplessness hidden deep in their souls.

If he's in a playful mood or if his victim has upset him, he takes great pleasure in awakening their traumas by peering into their unconscious and projecting nightmarish hallucinations. Making them super aware of their situation is also effective: they can't defeat him, and even if they could or if he decided to spare them, only death and more pain awaits them at the end of their journey, by the hand of another Lord or bc they're litteraly in hell. However, his habit of granting a “peaceful death” is viewed as merciful compared to the other Lords (or cruel and messed up by others)

A word of advice, however, to intruders venturing into his Snowdin territory: if you stumble upon his collection of ice statues or a suspicious pile of snow, keep walking and don't touch anything.

----

I'll focus on the relationships showed here

Gluttony - His brother. He practically raised him and supports him to this day, going so far as to share the territory where they grew up (Snowdin). Demons tend to avoid such close ties, as it can become a weakness, but the Skeleton brothers are a rare exception, having proven time and again their ruthlessness.

Lust - They don't usually interact but Lust suspects he's hiding something from the other Lords. + there was the time he teleported in his sleep onto the set of Lust (live broadcast), putting everyone in the audience to sleep. He doesn't remember but Mettaton might hold a ti~ny grudge.

Pride - A combination of distrust and disapproval of some of the King's past decisions. He remains loyal to him, but doesn't mind the distance between their respective territories.

Wrath (former) - Lord from the past generation. He was close to them and received a lot of help from both him and their skeleton friend. Both disappeared overnight, their names erased from the archives as Undyne took on the now vacant role. He can't openly look for them bc of the King's order, but he assumes they must have found a way to hide somewhere…

Frisk - The kid that somehow managed to become friend with his brother and is now cosplaying as an imp. He has no interest in directly harming them, only playing tricks on them and witness how far they can make it with that puny soul.

---

Other runs:

This part is still a WIP since I've mostly worked on a "neutral route" so far lol Also, Demons are, well, "bad", so the genocide run requires more reflection

Neutral:

Mischievous and willfully neglectful, he tolerates Frisk and the player on his territory, but doesn't go out of his way to help them since his brother is already helping.

Pacifist:

Still playful and unbothered, but Papyrus has told him all about Frisk's adventures and how they became friends with other Demons. He is curious and may appear at randoms moments in the run to help the player (tell them about a secret passage in Waterfall or come and play an instrument for Lust's show and put the whole audience to sleep).

.Gives Frisk a bone instrument (a very tiny violon) to celebrate their friendship and shares some secrets with them, like the origin of the bells on his and his brother's horns and how hell used to be before the Queen left.

Genocide:

Same as neutral until he kills Frisk for the first time. He'll trigger a blizzard on the next playthrough to block the door leading to HOME, trapping the player in the empty ruins to observe their reaction. If the player manages to find another way out (or force their way out), Sloth will appear to them only as illusions, asking what they are and mocking them for thinking they can defeat what is already dead, nonetheless sans is willing to watch them try.

.Observes and creates illusions along the way to hinder Frisk. He reveals that sinners can't escape hell until they're freed from their sins, and that the player will undoubtedly end up in the hands of Pride, the King and Demon who rules over those with egos as big as the player's (=that's why he and the other Lords are just toying with the player, they don't see them as a real threat and nobody wants to double-cross the King anyway).

.He's not that bothered by the actions of the player, they're demons and it's hell after all. He might even enjoy watching this more than the pacifist run at first....

edit:

Hm.... Actually, maybe I should rename these. Something like : Redemption or Sinner route idk the expectations are different from canon UT, Demons are USED to killing and stuff. Even if one of them die, a new demon reappear. No, the real surprise would be if someone tried to do good for once, wouldn't it?

As I said, it's a WIP

PHEW, there you go. That was a lot, enjoy!

[tanoraqui]

Dungeon Meshi Liveblog: Musing on Ages, & Dragon Prep

"Desire" mention - how much does Tensu know of the details of the origin of dungeons? (More than I do, probably...but I know this is thematically important.)

"Us"? Aren't gnomes another long-lived species? Ok this is going to be continuously relevant to the geopolitics so I need to break it down. From the wiki:

Elves: lifespan: 400; adult at 80

Gnomes: lifespan: 240; adult at 40

Dwarves: lifespan: 200; adult at 40

Tallmen: lifespan: 60; adult at 16

Orcs: lifespan: 55; adult at 14

Kobolds: lifespan: 55; adult at 13

Halffoots: lifespan: 50; adult at 14

I see - so really we're dealing with 3 factions: Elves, Gnomes & Dwarves, and Everyone Else. I find it interesting that the longer-lived races reach maturity at 17-20% of their average lifespan, while the younger-lived races all do so at around 25% of their average lifespan. I feel a little like this is a cop-out on the writer's part in trying to keep the ages of maturity a little closer to one another - though of course it's a cultural thing by each race (and, I'm sure, each culture within each race - idk how monolithic the whole comic will treat them, but it would track with the thematic worldbuilding for their to be multiple distinct social groups within each race, even if they do tent to band together against the other races!)

Based on the categories of "long-lived" and "short-lived", the latter seem to view all of the former as much the same - but I'm SURE the Elves have a different view of it, and I'm sure the Dwarves and, as we see here, Gnomes, are very aware of and irritated by the Elves' view.

...and as we see here, and earlier with Chilchuck admitting to being 29 (solidly middle-aged!) and Marcille going, "Aw, so you are a kid!", people rarely make any effort to understand each others relative ages, instead just coasting on their own life-based assumptions.

With reference to above, we can see that Namari at 61 is pretty exactly equivalent to Kaka and Kiki at 20.

Also: this little scene wasn't in the show at all and I love it! Namari in mentor mode!

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ALRIGHT RED DRAGON TIME!! Hey look, literally the 2nd panel in this ghost city is 2/3 winged lions by volume. Hmmm...

.

I love how it's explicitly Shuro's job to get the final killshot, presumably because he has Feats for this (ie, cool-looking moments) as a "real" anime character (Easterner). This literally bears up with what we see of him in the future.

.

Chilchuck: I will NOT fight!

Chilchuck: I'll totally be dragon bait with you, though.

Chilchuck: Not that I care if you succeed or survive or anything! I'm only here because you paid up front.

.

Laios using the Inspiring Leader speech feat! They're all having a Heroes' Feast before fighting the dragon, a classic pre-dragon act for bonus HP and immunity to being Frightened! I know this isn't actually D&D but that post that I think came through my queue earlier today is right: it DOES have the same bones. It's like reading the Locked Tomb and being aware that this author was deep in Homestuck, or Scholomance vis a vis Harry Potter canon and fandom. I know where this writer has been, because I have been there too.

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THE BOY IS HERE! THE MAN THE MYTH THE OVERWORKED* LEGEND!

THIS SISTER-EATING MOTHERFUCKER!!

*Crack AU where the whole dragon fight is averted because it talks and somehow the conversation leads to Chilchuck going, "And the Mage isn't even letting you sleep? Tsk. You've got to start a union." And then Laios gets all starry-eyed, "A Monster Union?!" And then the Mage is eventually defeated by all the monsters of the dungeon, and also the poor sane ghosts as well, unionizing against him, and "king" becomes just the title for the Union Rep, whose main job is to honk an airhorn at presumptuous Elves and tell them to fuck off like a Canadian goose.

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I LOVE THEM SO MUCH

[the-kestrels-feather]

I know I'm SO late to the party, but In light of the hbomberguy video, I wanted to drop a list of some of my favorite video essayists on here who are all great. Some are well known, some of them not, but all deserve a lot of love thrown their way!

Any creators I know are Queer will have a * next to their names if that's what you're looking for! (Note some of them might not have a star that should, that's not me trying to invalidate anybody I just didn't know, please feel free to correct me!)

Dominic Noble- book content! Has a series called Lost in Adaptation that judges how faithful movie adaptations of books were to their original source material, but also does some reviews/summaries as well. Very publicly denounced JKR after she was revealed to be a TERF and stated he will no longer review anything by her on his channel. Also deleted ALL of his HP videos after finding out she was a TERF (which were his most popular videos), so I have a really deep respect for him tbh. Former Channel Awesome member who publicly denounced them on several occasions, and an all around swell guy.

*Overly Sarcastic Productions- channel run by 2 people who go by Red and Blue. History and Mythology/Literature content, as well as analysis of tropes and media! I've been told their History content can be a bit... Iffy, but I'm not a Historian so I don't know, however if they get something wrong they're good about correcting it for what that counts for. Very interesting to listen to, I've watched Red's Videos roughly 100 times each. Also has a podcast.

*Strange Aeons- fandom/Tumblr history mostly, as well as some history, and weird businesses too. Reads a LOT of cursed content for her channel.

*Lindsay Ellis- Media/film analysis. obviously not as unknown as some of the others on here, but I absolutely adore her content and will forever be sad that she isn't on YouTube anymore.

Cruel World Happy Mind- MLM/explanation of controversial figures. I'm not sure how best to explain her content, but she seems genuinely lovely and is interesting to listen to. Also a victim of Illuminaughtii's ire and deserves some love. The video she made on Blair is a bit outdated since she made it at the start of when this all came to light, but imo it's definitely worth a watch. Her talking about her interaction with Blair genuinely broke my heart.

*Night Mind- Analog horror/Unfiction/ARG content! Analyzes and explains various internet horror pieces, and also has a very nice voice to listen to.

*Lola Sebastian- Film/Media Analysis!

Li Speaks- Deep dives into various nostalgia, mainly flash games!

*Princess Weekes- Media/film/literary analysis!

abitfrank- summaries and analysis of various "darker" children's content such as Coraline (book and movie), Nightmare Before Christmas, and various dark fairy tales

Hello Future Me- writing advice and world building information!

Curious Archive- deep dives into the various bestiaries of video games and the animals in real life that they're similar to, I love his Subnautica video!

In Praise of Shadows- Horror media analysis! Will often focus on specific franchises, but also covers things like horror comics and tropes as well.

Wait in the Wings- theatre! Deep dives into the back stories behind the production of various musicals! His video on Rogers the Musical that he did for April Fool's last year is comedy fucking gold

Weird Reads With Emily Louise- conspiracy theory/cult/weird thing analysis! Looks at things from an objective and skeptical view, and is very in depth. Recently served as a consulting producer on an HBO Max documentary on the Love has Won cult.

Ask a Mortician- death content! Covers various historical events and darker stories of death from the view of a Mortician.

*Izzzyzz- deep dives into fandoms, as well as well as different video games and kids' virtual worlds.

Disney Dan- Disney content! Covers the history of different mascot costumes at Disney and Disney-like parks! Has collaborated with Definctland in the past too!

Yesterworld- theme park content! Discusses history behind rides and parks, as well as some Disney movies. I think has also collaborated with Defunctland and Disney Dan?

Legal Eagle- legal content! Breaks down news about ongoing legal cases in a way that feels approachable. I like him because both my parents are paralegals and his videos have helped me understand what they mean when they're talking about work a little bit

Super Eye patch Wolf- media video essays! Mostly about anime/manga and video games, but also covers things like influencer scams and pro wrestling. His "what the internet did to Garfield" video is SO GOOD

*Jessie Gender- Media Analysis, loves Star Trek

*Laura Crone- Media Analysis video essays, her videos on the Swan Princess are fucking great I highly recommend!

*Lady Emily- Media Analysis, did a whole video on Spuder-Man turn off the dark that is SO good. Co writer for Sarah Z

Tale Foundry- covers different forms of fiction, their xenofiction video is great, as is their Angelarium one!

Defunctland- Theme Park ride and Children's TV History channel!

Jenny Nicholson- one of the sort of "big three" commentary channels with Lindsay Ellis and Sarah Z imo, covers all sorts of stuff but her most recent one is a 3 hour video on the theme park Evermore Park!

*Sarah Z- Fandom history and Media analysis! I really enjoy their content, the Johnlock Conspiracy and DashCon videos are my favorites!

Li Speaks- Flash games/virtual world analysis mostly! She has a very soothing voice to listen to, if you played like. Any MMOs or virtual worlds growing up I Highly recommend. I've watched her video on Horseland SO many times.

*Codex Entry- Video game coverage! Her videos on Pathologic are great if you're like me and wanted more after the Hbomberguy video!

Wendigoon- ARG/Spooky content! One of the early proponents of the Mandela Catalog and best known for his conspiracy theory iceberg, but has also covered things like various weird/unsolved crimes, Assassination conspiracies, and other things. His videos on Faith, Blood Meridian, The Mandela Catalog, and his Religion/Cult iceberg are some of my favorites

Dino Diego- Dinosaur fiction, like movies, video games, books, short stories, etc. his 2 videos on West of Eden and Winter in Eden are two of my favorites!

Haley Whipjack- I don't know how to describe her content really? She does a lot of deep dives (her Shrek one is my favorite), currently doing a recap of Once Upon a Time by season that is very fun. She's an elementary school teacher by day (that's not me dozing her she talks about it on her channel), and so she has fun unhinged teacher energy!

Other channels that are a sort of collection of different people talking about different things rather than 1 or 2:

TEDx

PBS

The Exploring Series

[lxnely-lullaby]

My WoC OCs: Thunderstorm Torres and Elijah Torres

"You bring in the lightning, I bring out the thunder!" Carmelita "Thunderstorm" Torres is a Filipino race car, modeled/based off of both the 2020 Lexus LC 500 and the 2024 Lexus LC 222. She was a champion racer in the Philippines Touring Sports series, before moving on to compete in the Grand Touring Sports series with fellow WGP racer friends Miguel Camino, Nigel Gearsely, Jeff Gorvette and Lewis Hamilton months after the 2011 World Grand Prix. Her former career is singing, which was widely famous for, before quitting when she was 21 years old. Harv was her former agent - since he is a talent agent after all - and was psychologically and emotionally abusive towards her, which is one of the main reasons that led to her quitting and turning to racing. Her top speed is 215 mph, with a Volvo XC90 4.4-litre V8 engine that has 650 hp. She does have a hearing condition called hyperacusis, a condition she had since she was a kid, so she wears special hearing devices that help her make the noises in her surrounding environment much more manageable. Her father, Elijah "Storm Cloud" Torres, is her crew chief in the racing world. He was formerly a legendary racer in the Philippines, whose career ended in a major crash that led him to retire at the age of 50. A year after he retired, he became a commentator for racing by the time Thunderstorm was 18 years old, but once she became a racer, he decided to become her crew chief and pass his knowledge and tricks down to her. He was also the one to give his racing number 20 to her when she moved on to professional racing. His top speed is 200 mph. He is half-blind in his left eye, which is a result of his crash. He is modeled/based off of the 1957 Ford Fairlane. These two have a loving father-daughter bond both on and off the track. Thunderstorm is incredibly grateful that her dad is with her on the track, even if it is as a crew chief, and even more grateful that he's helping her become a great racer. She looks up to him quite a lot, and dreams of becoming a racing legend like him one day.

[dark-elf-writes]

HP/MHA prompter again

What if the Wizarding World wanted their savior to be an auror, was offended he became a teacher? Maybe he became a tutor after he finally sat his exams, couldn't stand to walk the halls of Hogwarts anymore. Maybe he does training with minor Quidditch league teams on his free days, Teddy comes first after all. What if Hogwarts new staff (because what, 8 teachers for all those kids is ridiculous, let them hire new now that they aren't paying for Dumbledores robe budget) wanted to get Harry in their ranks? What if they wanted him to start teaching Defense, but also a Defense Club? Wanted him training these kids after seeing how school children turned the tide of the last war? Seeing how Durmstrang stood on its own after the mess of 4th year and wanted that for themselves. What if Teddy's enrollment date, that would be available to anyone who can count, made people desperate and tried pushing Harry with "don't you want your child to be able to defend themselves?" Maybe they had been hiring former aurors or ones on leave for the position currently and these kids would learn regardless of Harry being hired. Hoping to convince incoming firsties and traumatized upper years that they could benefit in joining up with the Ministry. Maybe Teddy was thinking of attending Mahoutokoro instead before hearing about UA. If Teddy was going to be a hero, it was going to be under his own desires, not any teacher or public pressure. No matter how highly respected those teachers were. And who would look for the child of their savior in Japan? No idea if this helps the brain worm, but a morally grey Harry who refuses to allow his child to become a pawn in the same machine that chewed him up has my heart. Because not only does his child come first, the rest of these kids too and he's probably heard how his Hufflepuff Heartchild talked about a shy kid who struggles with his quirk.

The Boy-Who-Lived died surrounded by enemies and ghosts deep in the forest of the first place he had ever called home. A man for the better part of a year that he had spend on the run. A student who would never be able to stomach finishing his schooling in the very place that had become his final stand.

The man who came back swore that he would never let his family know that pain again.

He never went back to Hogwarts after the final battle, had nearly splinched himself apparating out with his not inconsiderable magic stores drained to the dregs after all the fighting and dragging the bodies of his dead with him. Remus and Tonks deserved to be laid to rest anywhere else. Deserved not to be left behind in the carnage of a place that would never be home again.

Maybe that’s why Andromeda had decided he was ready to raise Teddy. Maybe, somewhere in the middle of watching him dig two graves in her garden still covered in the blood and filth of war, she saw that promise he had made to himself when he woke up face down in a clearing that should have been his tomb with her sister’s voice in his ear. Whatever the reason, Harry found himself trying to figure out how to come back from the dead and raise a child at the same time.

He did pretty well, if he had to ask himself. Teddy certainly didn’t have any complaints.

He finished his schooling with tutors, as his former classmates either went back to that bloodfilled horror or straight into the world that only had space for them now that they had bleed and died for it. He focused on teaching (charms were his preferred subject after the panic that gripped his chest the first time he tried to explain a disarming spell) rather than running to the Aurors to continue a life of violence he never asked for. He never wavered as the headlines started rolling in accusing him of forgetting the war.

Sometimes he thought he was the only one that remembered.

(The rest of the world may be content to forget that their future has been barred for in the of their children, but Harry Potter never would. Would remember it every time he looked at Teddy and felt the grave dirt under his nails mixing with the blood staining his hands.)

Teddy asked not to go to Hogwarts when the time finally came, and Harry never once felt anything but grateful.

He would have been content teaching them himself. Would have been happy to pass along the knowledge he had gained after finally being able to step out of those bloodstained halls. But then Teddy asked about muggle school.

About hero school.

It hurt to agree, cut like glass over his tongue, but Harry had agreed all the same.

(It was Teddy’s choice. The choice Harry had never been given. If they wanted to be a hero then he would stand with them. Would watch their back and ensure they lived long enough to retire no matter what he had to do to make that happen.)

At least the British Wizarding community wouldn’t look for them in Japan. At least Harry would finally get a break from the ghosts of war that lurked around every corner. At least no one expected his child to throw themself on the sword in whatever horror rose up next.

Then the attacks on Teddy’s class started. Then two Pro Heroes came to his home to ask his permission to let Teddy continue at UA.

Harry’s hand didn’t waver as he poured just a few drops into each mug of tea. Colorless. Odorless. Tasteless. Didn’t waver as he smiled at the men who could spell the death of his child and asked what they wanted.

(Wouldn’t have wavered if he had to pull his wand and kill them where they sat. He had been molded into a weapon. Had been raised his whole life with the only purpose of dying and killing. To protect Teddy, to keep that promise to himself made all those years ago with the icy grip of Death still clinging to his skin, there was no length Harry wouldn’t go.)

Teddy’s teacher told him that he wanted them to live.

Harry signed the paper and slid over the antidote with a smile.

[joannerowling]

Ok, so, I am seriously confused.

I got into HP some years ago and have recently discovered the HP tumblr, which I'm really excited about-

But then I see these allegations against JKR for being transphobic?

And then I see her defenders?

And I'm so confused-is she transphobic or not?

Because trans-women free spaces isn't a crime. I mean, I as a cis girl would be kind of uncomfortable with former men, even if they're women, being with me in those spaces. Especially since I'm a minor.

But I'm incredibly confused and I wonder if she's in the right or not-could you help me out here?

Could you tell me what's going on and kind of summarise it?

No pressure though I swear. Sorry if I was rude or anything.

Run! Run away while you can!! D:

Kidding, but seriously you'll probably enjoy Harry Potter far more by hanging anywhere else than tumblr.

I personnally don't think JKR is transphobic. I think she just said out loud what many women were thinking quietly to themselves, which is that we don't want men, even men who "identify as women" (assuming there'd even be a consensus on what that means, which there isn't), absolutely everywhere we go, for safety reasons. And that furthermore, altering the legal definition of women to mean "anyone who identifies as a woman" (which is what trans activists argue for) endangers the very concepts of sex equality and sex-based rights. You can read what she said precisely here in 2020 when this all started. I encourage you to read it and to forge your own opinion. And don't worry, you weren't rude.

[silly-salty-utdr-rants]

an unnecessarily in depth analysis of my take on underfell papyrus

before we begin: let it be known that none of this is properly confirmed or canon, this is all based on the version of underfell that almost solely exists in my brain. also the quality of grammar, spelling, and translation of brainrot to coherent essay is not guaranteed. also uf!papyrus belongs to underfella

to start lets look at the very basics, what would it take to turn papyrus, the only person to believe even the worst of the worst can improve, the causation (however indirectly) of the true pacifist route, the only monster that will never kill frisk, the sole creature in the entire world of undertale to be dubbed the sadistic fuckface flower's favourite, that the world is kill or be killed? allow me to spin you the tale of how i think it happened.

maybe once upon a time when uf!papyrus was just a kid, he wanted to be a hero. he wanted to be a pacifist in a kill or be killed world. maybe, even unintentionally, he constantly put both him and his older brother in danger. and one day, he tried to spare the wrong people, so both he and his brother were scarred in the process causing a crack over the eye for papyrus and a lost tooth for sans. and on this fateful day papyrus was faced with the choice, kill the attackers and survive or spare them and be killed. and maybe since he's still alive as an adult, he chose to kill, thereby gaining his first LV.

at least thats what i think happened. this traumatic event would cause a number of changes in his life, including, ditching his former obsession with "being a hero" in favor of being a villain, on several occasions being peer pressured to murder, and being more harsh to sans.

BUT. as i have said before and will say again, papyrus' soul is almost definitely bravery and integrity so his preference for pacifism isnt going down without a fight! maybe his whole "kidnapping and torture chamber" schtick is an excuse to not have to kill someone while not being seen as weak. maybe he lies about how many people he's killed or how much LV he has when in reality both numbers are shockingly low. maybe he wants to be captain of the guard so he can delegate the killing to others. maybe he hates asgore because its because of him that their world is like this. maybe he never kills the human. one thing i've never understood is whether or not he kills or spares the human or if he does the whole "OOP YOU'RE AT ONE HP! TIME TO GO TO THE CAPTURE ZONE!" thing. i like to think that he does. hell ive already done a whole damn drawing on what i think it would look like.

⬇️

so yeah. he spares frisk. and maybe adopts them

one last aspect of this guy that intrigues me before i go! what is underfell papyrus' dynamic with flowey? maybe he respects flowey a ton. maybe papyrus is envious of flowey's courage to run away from fights and defuse them instead of hurting the opponent. maybe they're the only one that the other truly opens up to.

but these are only my thoughts on the dude because frankly, there arent enough character analysis about uf!paps. feel free to add your own! or not! i dont care!

[mostrandomgallery]

She's like a kid in a candy store; she sees it, she likes it, she wants it...give it up for Envidia Desiree Dominic!

Envidia Desiree Dominic may be little and adorable, but she always wants what everyone else has, and feels she’s not enough, always having to prove her worth. Much like her relative Annette, she’s become something of an overachiever in her quest to have the same skill and aptitude as her classmates; possibly even surpass them. Word on the street is that she does this to prove she's worthy to bear the name of House Dominic because she might have been adopted after the Tragedy of Duscur and is thought to not be a true Dominic (it is also believed that she might be the offspring of a Dominic relative and a Duscur native to explain why she manifested the crest). One classmate she looks up to a lot is Delicia von Hevring, whom she sees as beauty and brains incarnate.

And now, time for Envidia's battle stats!

Crest: Dominic (major)

Heroes’ Relic/Sacred Weapon: Crusher

Strengths: Axe, Reason, Faith

Weaknesses: Bow, Heavy Armor

Hidden Talent: Flying

Personal Skill: “Heart’s Desire”—After initiating combat, will inflict -4 on surrounding enemies’ HP, Lck, and Cha, and personally gain 4+ on the same stats. If defeated unit was carrying an item, the item will be doubled in Envidia's inventory.

Ideal Classes: Monk, Fighter, Mage, Brigand, Warrior, Warlock, Gremory, War Cleric, Wyvern Rider, Wyvern Knight, Dark Flier

Learnable Magic: Wind, Cutting Gale, Excalibur, Sagittae, Agnea's Arrow, Heal, Recover, Nosferatu, Aura

Ideal Combat Arts: Smash, Helm Splitter, Diamond Axe, Focused Strike, Lightning Axe, Dust (unique)

Selection Quotes (Academy): "You picked me!" (normal), "Don’t mind me!" (mid-health), "I want to live…" (critical health)

Envidia's best stats are Dex, Mag, and Cha. Her talents in axe and magic make her a perfect fit for the War Cleric class, but utilizing her hidden talent can make her an excellent candidate for the Wyvern Rider or Dark Flier classes (the former making her lose access to magic). Her Crest of Dominic allows her to use Crusher and its unique combat art, Dust. The real question is if her crest also makes her an extreme overachiever who needs to study to be just as good, if not better, than everyone else...maybe that's a question that can only be answered by a support with Annette.

Envidia is super easy to build support with, and she just loves to talk at tea time; it is literally impossible to have her fail tea time. For dining, her favorite dishes are: Saghert and Cream, Peach Sorbet, Sweet Bun Trio, Vegetable Pasta Salad, Sweet and Salty Whitefish Sauté, Fisherman's Bounty, and Bourgeois Pike. She has unique dialogue with Delicia and Anneliese. As for gifts, Envidia goes crazy for a Floral Adornment, Gemstone Beads, Tasty Baked Treat, Book of Sheet Music, Stylish Hairclip, Armored Bear Stuffy, Legends of Chivalry, Ancient Coin, Lavender, and a Lily. While she has supports with everyone in the Cotton Candy Elephants, her inter-house supports are limited to: Annette, Dedue, Lysithea, Ignatz, Ferdinand, Gilbert, Ingrid, Edelgard, Dorothea, Yuri, and Constance. As for S-Support, she is locked to Male Byleth.

Fun Fact: Envidia's name is Spanish for "envy", while her middle name, Desiree, is French for "desired".

DO NOT REPOST!!! Also on deviantART

[lore-of-the-mushroom-kingdom]

My Unofficial Roy Koopa Character Bio

Roy Koopa is of the 7 Koopaling siblings, and is the toughest of the Little Kuppa Corps. He is known for and proud of his strength and brawny body, all while wearing sunglasses giving an air of being bad. He often uses terms like old man and rock n roll in his speech. While he may seem like he is all brawn and no brains, he is actually fairly smart. He once coordinated a jumping and mugging of Mario before the fight, and used Mario’s own abilities against him. On top of that he has attended night school before. He likes using Bullet Bill cannons, he can shake the ground just by stomping on it stunning his opponents, he can breathe fire, run on walls, he can use his shell to burrow into the ground and show up somewhere else, he can wield magic using a wand, he has high hp, and he can use basically a power shell attack. Sometime he may just use a giant boulder or rock to get the job done. He is able to coordinate attacks with his fellow Koopalings such as Wendy which he seems to get along with. Like the other Koopalings he is able to operate various machinery such as Bowser’s Clown Copter, and has even been given his own airship. Most importantly he is an elite commander who leads Bowser’s troops. As such he has commanded said troops in fights against the pesky plumbers. Initially viewing Goombas as pathetic he gained respect for them thanks to the former Captain Goomba. He makes music produced under Roy Smooth Sounds, which has been used in karting events. Not Bowser's kid and are an adult. His laugh is "bahahaha!!"

Note, while the Koopalings status as Bowser’s kids were retconned other information about them wasn’t stated to have been retconned so it can be regarded as still canon unless new information contradicts it. Mostly the sibling part is what I’m referring to.

[senatortedcruz]

I legit never read Harry Potter as a kid and only saw maybe 4 of the movies but I can relate to former HP Stans because We Need To Talk About Kevin is genuinely one of my favorite books and when I’m recommending it I’m like So. Don’t look up what this author is up to now.

[msfbgraves]

Another thing that should be remembered is that, to some degree, fandoms have always been self-interested, making decisions primarily based on who they identify with.

Decades ago, in the 80s/90s, fandoms stuck up for bullying victims, social outcasts, and the "losers" of society, and they thought bullying was one of the worst things you could possibly do.

But that's because in those days, pop culture fans were former victims and outcasts themselves, because fandom hadn't yet become mainstream. Thus, fans felt sorry for characters like Daniel LaRusso, Naruto Uzumaki, Charlie Brown, etc., because they saw their own pain in the characters.

Then, the 2000s Harry Potter fandom changed everything, because it was the first fandom to "go mainstream" and attract multiple demographics. Rich, middle-class, poor, children, teachers, parents, etc. That meant it was the first major fandom that attracted the attention of the privileged, not just exclusively outcasts and "losers".

So, why did HP fans identify with Draco Malfoy in the 2000s, and why do fans identify with Johnny Lawrence today? Because fandom's nature didn't change; the "demographics" changed. Fandom no longer only consists of former victims and former outcasts. Now it consists of people who come from more well-to-do demographics. Thus, they identify with rich boys, rich girls, etc.

So, ironically, the Cobra Kai fandom admires Johnny Lawrence for exactly the same reason that the 80s/90s Karate Kid fandom admired Daniel LaRusso. Because in both cases, "that's the character who is most like ourselves and our own past or present lives."

Potter did change fandom but I think it's unlikely that before 2000, nobody rich ever identified with a protagonist or no one ever wrote about rich people, see for instance Emma by Jane Austen, or its 90's remake Clueless. Nor do I think Johnny Lawrence is the first bona fide arsehole with a huge fanbase, see James Bond.

I do think that Johnny Lawrence speaks for a demographic that historically for the past 200 years held all the power in the US: middle aged white protestant men, and this is around the first time they're being consistently outperformed by others and don't have enough privilege to automatically fail upwards anymore. And apparently, that's quite an attitude adjustment. In his day Daniel LaRusso types very rarely beat the WASPy kids, so maybe he felt like a harbringer of change, that's why he triggered so many people. It's considerably harder to coast on white maleness nowadays, and they keep writing angry stories about it: Fight Club, Wanted, Joker. I think Johnny Lawrence as written in Cobra Kai fits that trend.

[itisiives]

Tom, STOP

Harry Potter is a dying franchise, and it's not just because JK Rowling keeps digging herself deeper and tap dancing for the far-right to own da trans (even going so far as to petition the government to defund a 🍇 crisis center because she didn't like a volunteer that worked there, but I am digressing).

It's because the franchise has been done to death now. It's a franchise that, on the surface, looks like a timeless and whimsical subculture for fantasy lovers, but look within the covers and... it is very much the elementary and middle grade series that it was meant to be, and one that has aged poorly. Even former Harry Potter actress Miriam Margoyles said it: adult Potterheads should grow up and get over it. But not many have gotten that message, certainly not our beloved Tom Felton here.

When I first saw that Felton was still talking about HP and getting involved with the Harry Potter marketing, I had felt bad for the dude. But now I'm just so annoyed!! Like, holy crap!! Clearly, his other acting endeavors aren't working out for him, because wdym he's still doing HP-themed commercials and meet-and-greets? WDYM he's not building his portfolio with the other big-name projects he's been in, like Planet of the Apes and Flash? Dude has been in dozens of shows and movies, too many to be a one-hit-wonder actor, and yet he's officially reached that status as he clings to the HP movies like TikTok stars who try to cash in on their one meme going viral and keep doing the song and dance until they become the laughingstock of the internet. He couldn't move on like many of his costars have, like Radcliffe embracing his eccentricity and having fun in less-serious projects, or Watson being a UN ambassador, or Grint sort-of bowing out of the spotlight altogether to raise his kid.

Tom, we are TIRED, baby! The comeback card's declined, baby! Please, for the love of Medusa, let it go!

[anamericangirl]

“What I think the point was is that while the entire demographic isn’t responsible for the shooting, the increasingly hateful and violent rhetoric is.”

Yeah, anti trans rhetoric and hate against trans people caused this tragedy.

“for anyone from that community to push back against the ideology in any meaningful way.”

Can you explain what ideology you are talking about?

“I mean we are at the point where if you don’t want kids exposed to porn or attending adult entertainment you’re a transphobe.”

No, just no. Completely wrong. That’s not what’s happening at all. No one is against preventing kids from seeing sexual drag. The problem is that you people think all drag is sexual, so you want to ban all drag, or prevent any drag performance from taking place in public. Family friendly drag exists. Sexualized drag exists. Kids should only see the the former.

“We are at the point where if you play a video game you are erasing the existence of trans people.”

JKR gets payed royalties from every sale of HL, and JKR donates to anti trans charities and groups. Which makes buying HL a roundabout way to support anti trans charities and groups. Also JKR believes that the reason she makes money from HP is because people support her views. Every time you buy HP products, JKR takes that as a show of support for her being anti trans. So if you buy HL or any HP product you’re indirectly harming trans people.

“We are at the point where bills are “trans genocide””

I mean if you’re passing legislation that will cause more trans kids to commit suicide, you’re evil and committing an act of genocide against people with gender dysphoria. That’s a no brainer. Trans genocide is a real thing.

Imagine if they passed legislation that would increase the suicide rate of any other minority group.

“and it has led several people within those communities to think anyone who doesn’t actively support everything they do is a hateful transphobic bigot who wants them dead.”

These people don’t think that everyone wants them dead. But there are people out there that genuinely do want them dead. Some of which are in positions of power and are passing legislation that actively harms them.

“The headlines are blaming everyone but the shooter.”

Provide one.

“They are telling us that it’s the fault of christians and maybe if we didn’t hate trans people this wouldn’t have happened.”

It’s the fault of the bigoted politicians in office. Don’t elect evil people into positions of authority and stuff like this won’t happen again. That’s not a threat or a promise, it’s an observation.

“They are fueling the narrative that led to this shooting instead of trying to dismantle it.”

There was no narrative that led to this shooting. There are politicians passing bills that harm the trans community. There are politicians that want trans people dead. That doesn’t justify what Hale did, but the issues that led to this shooting are real, and a school shooting wasn’t going to fix them.

“The ideology is the problem and we need people in the community to push back against it before this happens again.”

1. Again, what ideology?

2. Stuff like this won’t happen again if politicians stoped passing bills that harm the trans community. Once again, not a threat or a promise, just an observation.

“Yeah, anti trans rhetoric and hate against trans people caused this tragedy”

No you guys decided that’s not how it works. If anyone who is even remotely right wing commits a shooting it’s our “rhetoric” and our fault but when someone who shares your ideology commits a shooting it’s still “our rhetoric” and our fault? You can’t have it both ways.

And as much as you wish there were, there is hardly any hate towards trans people in this country so blaming that is preposterous. It’s the hateful rhetoric of the trans community the trans community that bears some responsibility. The trans community is constantly tell trans individuals that we hate them and want them to die and are committing a trans “genocide” which is a blatant lie and it’s stirring up hate from trans towards everyone else. Your rhetoric is the hateful one so be consistent, acknowledge reality or get out.

“Can you explain what ideology you are talking about?”

Yeah the political trans ideology which tells boys if they ever put on a dress or like dolls they’re a girl and girls that they’re boys if they are a tomboy.

The ideology that tries to convince trans people that we hate them and are out to get to them and are committing a trans genocide.

The ideology that tells people if anyone thinks boys can’t become girls and girls can’t become boys then they hate you.

“No, just no. Completely wrong. That’s not what’s happening at all. No one is against preventing kids from seeing sexual drag. The problem is that you people think all drag is sexual, so you want to ban all drag, or prevent any drag performance from taking place in public. Family friendly drag exists. Sexualized drag exists. Kids should only see the the former.”

It’s not wrong at all. We were called transphobes for wanting books with pornographic material and graphic sex descriptions removed from elementary and middle schools.

And sorry to be the breaker of bad news for you but there are a lot of people who got mad that we wanted to prevent kids from seeing sexual drag. You are part of the problem actually because you’re advocating for kids to be exposed to drag when drag is inherently sexual. There is no reason for a child to be exposed to drag in any capacity.

You are repeating lies because no one has said we want to ban all drag. You’re just getting brainwashed by propaganda. There is no such thing as “family friendly” drag and you are an idiot if you think there is and want kids exposed to it.

You have no self awareness. You say no one wants to expose kids to sexual drag as you advocate for exposing kids to sexual drag because all drag is sexual and no amount of denial from you will change that.

“I mean if you’re passing legislation that will cause more trans kids to commit suicide, you’re evil and committing an act of genocide against people with gender dysphoria. That’s a no brainer. Trans genocide is a real thing.”

Trans genocide is not a thing. Look up the word genocide and then explain to me how this is happening to trans people.

Name a piece of legislation that will cause people to commit suicide and explain how it will do so.

“These people don’t think that everyone wants them dead. But there are people out there that genuinely do want them dead. Some of which are in positions of power and are passing legislation that actively harms them.”

Wow so you just don’t live in reality, do you? How can you be so dumb that you simultaneously believe there is a “trans genocide” and that they don’t believe everyone wants them dead? You do understand how that’s contradictory, right?

Who wants trans people dead? I want names and when you heard them say they want them dead.

“Provide one.”

Ok. I mean I don’t know how you haven’t seen them since you just blamed anti-trans rhetoric for the shooting instead of the shooter and I know you wouldn’t be repeating that if you hadn’t seen it in a headline somewhere since headlines are where you get your news, apparently.

And if you search about this shooting it’s fucking disgusting how the majority of headlines are talking about how much “hate” the trans community might have received after this shooting or fears of violence targeting the trans community instead of reporting on and worrying about the fact that innocent children were slaughtered.

“It’s the fault of the bigoted politicians in office. Don’t elect evil people into positions of authority and stuff like this won’t happen again. That’s not a threat or a promise, it’s an observation.”

“Prove people are blaming anti-trans rhetoric and politicians!!!!!” You say as you do just that.

Saying don’t elect people I don’t like and this won’t happen again is the definition of a threat you disgusting school shooter apologist.

[collegetennisoriginstory]

Calling Hogwarts houses one-dimentional is simply incorrect. The four houses represent the strongest trait of each individual, not that they only have one personality.

Harry is brave but also cunning & resourceful.

Hermione is known as both smart and brave.

Ron always looks out for his friends on top of being brave.

Neville, most notable example, is widely believed that he suits Hufflepuff more but that's not true, because he's brave first and foremost.

You might have beef with JK (I do too, same as many HP fans) but you're just wrong about the one dimension thingy. That ask wants to know ROs' strongest trait but you combine the houses so it's two traits instead of one.

NOTE: I absolutely do not condone Rowling as a person/author/her transphobic stance and the antisemitic caricatures rampant in her works. As for continuing to engage and, in fact, critique the work / the world she has created, while also prefacing deep disagreement and disappointment on her personal views, I feel there is space for this as explanation of why we disagree with a person is always more useful and constructive than simple erasure. See more on this here.

Heya! I totally agree and can get behind the idea that the houses take the strongest trait of an individual.

My main beef(s):

The Hogwarts houses would be much better representations of character if they represented the "why" (WHY is someone brave, why is someone ambitious) instead of the "what"

Another thing—if I were to choose, I'd choose 4 traits that are: (a) as distinguishable from each other as possible, and also (b) when combined, cover most of the major ways of viewing and interacting with the world. I don't think Hogwarts houses adequately meet either of those criteria. For me, the Hogwarts house traits picked are kind of... boring. They do not satisfyingly explain / do justice to the characters. I'd pick other traits. I've tried to explain this under the cut a bit more.

Btw, it's been a while since I've read the books and I was a kid then, so i could be WILDLY wrong and would welcome a discussion about this, I'm a huge personality nerd and I love character analyses, so pleease take this as friendly happy discussion (I'm a G in this sense) rather than an argument :)

Argument 1: Traits picked are iffy and weird

What is Ravenclaw's main defining characteristic, exactly? 😂 Like, alright, the rest I get. But I think the main issue with ALL of Rowling's Ravenclaws feeling like "oh smart nerdy" is because the house itself and how it's defined / the trait that is 'headlining' the house is pretty weak in the first place.

Argument 2: Traits picked get at the "what" but not the "why" and hence are less interesting to me on a character-defining/representation basis

Bravery is often inflected with so many other impulses—are you being brave because you care about your tribe/your loved ones more than your own life? Or are you brave because of your ideals, because forging a 'better world' or the 'greater good' (however you define this) matters more to you than individual lives? The former is very close to the 'sense of loyalty' that so defines Hufflepuff. The latter is very close to the ambition that defines Slytherin.

More on ambition:

Before we start, ambition, or Slytherin's main trait, is defined in my brain as: willingness to sacrifice people/things for what they see to be the 'overarching thing'. Whether we think of the particular person as redeemable or evil is dependent on what the 'overarching thing' is:

Themselves / their own wellbeing = evil

Their loved ones (e.g. like Malfoy) = redeemable, rather gryffindor-ian in nature

An even a bigger dream ('the greater good') = redeemable

Herein lies my beef: the reason behind someone's willingness to sacrifice the 'small' thing for the overarching thing (see above) is more interesting and telling of a person's character to me than the choice to sacrifice the small thing or be ambitious or whatever. Hence, I'd do the sorting by the "why" rather than the resulting action "what/how", if that makes sense. That would better capture some of the nuances that you mentioned in your post re: Harry, Hermione, Ron, and also the Hufflepuffs and Slytherins.

Example using the CT:OS character houses I picked

Rayyan's "Gryfferin"-ness is rooted in a willingness to ruthlessly but also bravely, unflinchingly, sacrifice other things for the things they think matter (e.g. people they love, their dreams etc.) which differs from Tobin's "Gryffinpuff"-ness, where their bravery and loyalty is more outward-facing and expansive.

Rayyan seeks to protect their own, while Tobin seeks to make the entire space / world around them better through their actions).

Contrast this to G's ambition and willingness to sacrifice the 'small detail' for the 'overall/big picture'—G's impulse is more objective, impersonal, abstract (it's based on utilitarian principle) and the desire to seek the best outcome in a very... logical way (hence the inflection of the Ravenclaw), rather than the fiery emotion/subjectivity/loyalty-based nature of Rayyan's willingness to sacrifice 'other things' for what they know to be right/true/important to them.

Hope that provides some elaboration on why I griped about Rowling's houses in my previous post haha, and thanks for the message. The length and detail clearly got out of hand HAHA but more because I'm interested in the question and less because I think you're wrong! :)

[hottakehoulihan]

Ring-Maker

Characters behave recognizably canonically: Yes, sufficiently. Not abandoned incomplete: Complete. Engaging (Funny/cool/thoughtful/feels): Cool Do I recommend it: Esp if you're into LOTR Curbstomp, Cuddles, Crack, Cyoot, Concept: Concept

Premise: Silmarillion sequel+crossover. Taylor's trauma awoke in her ancient links; she's actually the maker of the rings of power reborn. She makes the three rings and uses them--of course--to prevent Lung from killing some kids. Things escalate from there.

Someone posted a recc for this fic to Kylia because it had an unusual portrayal of Amy and I added it to my bookmarks and then, on the plane weeks ago I read it. It's lengthy--at ~150 chapters--and I don't recall being annoyed by bad characterization or spelling.

That said, take what I write here with a grain of salt because

I'm sick rn and have been for a few days so my head is clay.

I waited too long to post this and so my memory isn't fresh.

I never managed to read-and-understand the whole Silmarillion.

Also, this is a story with redemption in it. If you hate the idea of having characters redeemed, you're warned.

(One part of my embers of rage at Victoria "Cop" Dallon as a protag in Ward is her deciding that those former villain capes who didn't perform contrition well enough deserved to be ostracized and marginalized. 'People don't change' thinks this ostensible friend to...literally her whole team of counterexamples. 9_9)

So, spoilers-territory upcoming:

Taylor didn't trigger with a shard. When Sauron ("The Loathed one" I think it is) was destroyed, this teenage girl is where that vestige ended up. Taylor doesn't get this all at once, though. She just knows she can make common metals into mithril, and she can make rings. She's made the three. She'll find them homes, and she'll make more. She'll make all twent--nope. Nope. Not gonna make that 20th. Scary and don't wanna do that don't wanna be that kind of person. Nineteen is fine.

Obvious spoiler one: She's gonna make the 20th eventually.

She'll go by Annatar when she joins the Wards...but she's a bit high-tier. Still, they're her friends.

Sophia? Oh she could crush and destroy Sophia. The PRT wants Annatar enough they'd crush Sophia even if Piggot and Armsmaster weren't already inclined to do so now that they've seen the unvarnished truth of the school incidents. ...but no, Taylor decides (well, she's got a thousands-years-old vestige personality that is only mostly subsumed in her head; it grants perspective) that this is a *child* and that children...fuck up. Sophia wants to be a hero, but she's fucked up.

Taylor decides to redeem Sophia. And Sophia decides she wants to be redeemed. Eventually, Emma, Taylor (who backslides a bit into MasterMachiavellian for a bit, and Sapphia (tastefully) bravely stands up to her at cost to herself) and...

And Cauldron's decided to hitch their wagon to hers. And some of the shards, upon talking to her, do the same.

And it's not at all a curbstomp, even so.

I had a good time. I don't think I'll be rereading it, but it was well done and I'm under the impression I've seen it recommended multiple times in multiple places, so I've this idea that it's a 'classic' of sorts in the Wormfic circles.

...I should maybe attempt to determine what the "classics" are in the minds of the wormfic-reading community. Excluding HP stuff and crack, especially (though I do love crackfic.) My mind leaps to Tabloid and...and suddenly I'm realizing how many of my favorites are crackfic or niche. Hmm.

I'll be looking up other works by the author eventually.

Anyway, tl;dr: Ring-Maker was a pleasant and interesting read, and I felt like it not only did a decent job of exploring the concept, portraying the characters, and telling an interesting story, it also gave me a window into some of the niche weirdness of the LOTR world. Also, I never thought I'd see a serious tasteful attempt at Taylor/Sophia and I don't think I could do it.

Also, Amy doesn't get much screen time, but she's a gruff unapologetic terrifying ass-kicker in the story.