#btw thinking of changing the name i go by on here since i've been going by a different fake name and i'm not all that attached to this one

[elmo-rise]

guysguysguys i got my film back that i shot at osheaga also btw i never mentioned it but i did go to osheaga festival in montreal (went to another country) to see lovejoy (and other artists) but i got the film back and it's so good ough

[casscainmainly]

if you had a graph with the x axis being from "doesn't view batman as a father" to "views batman as a father" and y axis being from "doesn't view bruce as a father" to "views bruce as a father", where would you put each batkid?

btw, i love your recent metas <3

This is such an interesting ask!! Here's my rendition of it:

I'm going to add a little reasoning because these are contestable!

Dick: I personally don't think Dick separates Bruce from Batman the way some other Batkids do. Even if he did, Dick has been with Bruce so long, is so steeped in both his vigilante and civilian lives, that he's Bruce's son in any identity. Their bond transcends any 'Bruce vs. Batman' division.

Tim: Similarly, I don't think Tim separates Bruce/Batman, especially since he came into his life knowing both identities. The reason he's lower than Dick is because Bruce wasn't his dad originally; I'm a little biased since I'm now reading Batman: Contagion, but the presence of Jack Drake in much of Tim's tenure as Robin prevents Tim from being as strongly attached to 'Bruce/Batman = dad' as Dick.

Cass: Of course Cass separates Bruce and Batman very clearly, as she does with many people, such as herself and Babs as Oracle. For the early part of their relationship she didn't know Bruce, nor did she care; Batman is her father, Bruce is just the guy Batman happens to be sometimes. (I think this is less true recently, but she still thinks of Batman first and Bruce second).

Damian: Struggled with him because he definitely thinks of Bruce as his dad under any name, but I do think it's Batman that matters to him. He is the 'blood son' but it's the Robin mantle that establishes his relationship to Bruce (Robin, Son of Batman, not Damian, son of Bruce). This may have changed recently with the current Batman and Robin run, but for the majority of Damian's time I think it's fair to say he thought of himself as the son of Batman, not Bruce. (He is not anti Bruce though, which is why he's not that low).

Jason: Jason for sure thinks of Bruce as his dad - the entirety of UtRH wouldn't have happened if Jason didn't believe to his core that Bruce loved him as a son. That belief is so strong that Bruce overshadows Batman, in a way. Jason spars with Batman on the moral front, but his conflict is ultimately always with Bruce, which is the name he consistently uses in UtRH. This is the one I'm least sure about though because I've not read lots of Jason's runs.

Stephanie: Like Cass, Stephanie didn't know Bruce at all, so a lot of her relationship to him is Batman-only. She definitely doesn't think of either Bruce or Batman as a father - her desire for Batman's approval has shades of him being a father-figure, but it never goes as far as an actual desire for a father-daughter relationship. The only reason she's higher than Duke is because of the somewhat complicated way he echoes a father (and she, to Bruce, echoes Jason).

Duke: Duke doesn't really care about Bruce, and he cares about Batman only as a mentor. He basically tells Bruce he's only useful as Batman; even then, Duke doesn't have a super deep emotional attachment to Batman. He also loves Doug, who's still alive (though MIA), and wouldn't replace him in any scenario. He explicitly calls Batman a 'mentor' and 'friend'.

These are just my takes, I'm sure there are other interpretations of every single one of these. It's one of those questions that highly depends on your preferred dynamics for the characters, where canon can go either way. Even if this is horribly incorrect, I hope it was interesting! Thanks for the ask <3.

[ryo-kaikura]

Yandere Male CEO x Top sorta low self-esteem male reader

I had some other requests but I wasn't able to finish them 😭(it's like writer's block but on my other stories that I was planning )I'm sorry but this was quite literally stuck to my head.

---------------------------------------------------------------

“YOU KNOW WHAT!!?? WE'RE DONE!!”

“B-but why??? Didn't I do things that you like???”

“ What do you mean I like? U never gave me any attention, you’re even more stuck to your electronics than me.”

“But he sai-”

“I've always wondered why I even liked you, Alexander already said you don't care about me🙄😮‍💨”

“wait plea-”

“Pack up, you're leaving my house I bought with my money”

---------------------------------------------------------------

There it was… my romantic relationship with someone. I always knew relationships are hard but I, m/n, messed up big time. I have no house since I always saved up for our marriage… now I only have around £3 billion. Should I just change it back… it's no use since she doesn't want to marry me anymore.

*at the bank

“Hi.. I wish to change my money back to (country currency). O-oh please put it in my bank savings account”

“Very well sir”

*after booking a hotel room and going in it

Ugh, my hair is long and my body's stiff. I thought she would like a gamer boyfriend but I didn't know she wanted a rich gamer boyfriend.

Whatever… I better go and get a haircut these days. Hmmmm, the money I have, I should invest it but on what?? Oh I know, I ask Derry, he should know.

*in chat

D:Your girlfriend like ugly oily men

U:No way, you're lying

D:Hell no

Today

U: Hey Derry…

D:What's up man

U;What investment should I invest

D: How about company A I heard they're a rising

U: Okay

Weird… wasn't company A going down these days. I should just invest 100.000 on company A just in case and 900.000 on Xander enterprises.

*few days later

I've been staying at the hotel this whole time while searching for a house but my ex made it so hard since anyone that heard my name would cancel their contracts, how did I know… she told me 😅.

The only places that I would be able to buy are mansions 😭… wait a minute… it's not that expensive yay 😆.

*at the house

Huh… it's ugly 🤢. I gotta change it to a proper mansion. This looks like it doesn't scream home, it screams I'm rich so I'm gonna buy a hospital and make it my house. Guess I'll have to do some renovations… I'll call someone, I don't know how to build a house🥲.

OMG, the workers was in budget 😆. But the hotel was fully booked. Where could I stay 😭. Oh maybe Derry would let me

U: What investment should I invest

D: How about company A I heard they're a rising

U: Okay

Today

U: Hey Derry… could I stay at your place

D: Huh… why?

U: My house is being reconstructed

D: Okay

D: Here's my address

D: (Address)

U: Thanks

Thank goodness he let me. I should start going there. Oh he's home. *knock* *knock* he's really home 😁

“Hello Derry glad you allowed me to stay with you😁”

“No prob, btw I have other friends over currently”

“Oh it's fine, so am I gonna sleep on the couch or…”

“There's a guest bedroom, you could stay there. There also blah blah blah house stuff. And blah blah more stuff.”

“Okay thanks, it's already late so I'm gonna sleep😁, good night”

“Okay sleep tight”

*when you're asleep

“Isn't he your rival to getting Mila? Why invite him here, it would've been better just to let him rot”

“Nahh. He's not a threat, Mila will be mine whether she likes it or not*whispering* but I barely feel anything for her…how weird.”

“okay, ‘Derry’🤭😂”

“Shut up 😒”

*a few weeks later

I've been awake since 5 in the morning but I've been thinking because all the advice Derry gave me was useful months ago but a few weeks before, his advice has gone awry. Never mind, it's probably he has bad Intel on those things…I should tell him.

*the kitchen

Oh! There's Derry…

“aren't you tired of letting him stay here?”

Isn't that Mila's voice, why is she calling him?

“No need to worry, I'm not that mean and he's my friend, plus he doesn't have a house now, does he?”

Baby??

“Ugh, you're right, okay bye, tell me when he finally leaves.”

“Bye.”

“since my love is worried, maybe I should kick him out”

*you step into the kitchen

“Oh m/n, have you finally woke up? I've cooked some breakfast for you, eat up😊”

“Oh, okay. By the way, it seems your Intel about investment was off, since company A has just gone to bankrupt”

“Really 😯, but my friend said company A would show their wings and soar through the sky again… I'm sorry, I didn't know..”

“Oh right, Derry, do you want to hang out later today…?”

“Sure I'm free then.”

“Okay see you later”

I've been stressing about the renovations of my house but my appearance is terrible… I should get a haircut before he and I hang out.

*at the barber

“could you show me haircuts? I wanna pick which one is my favorite.”

“Okay sir.”

“I want (haircut pick)”

“Okay”

“It's done, wow sir, you're so good looking, pretty sure if I didn't have a wife, I would've turned gay for you”

“Thank for the compliment”

DERRY'S POV

Honestly, I'm still shocked after all these years they broke up… soon he'll be mine, wait ‘he’??? Wtf??? Nevermind I've probably gone crazy cause I'm tired. This evening m/n invited me to hang out. I'll humiliate him by making him meet his ex. This way she'll hate him more, he'll be embarrassed and I'll be the hero…

*that evening

Ugh, I've been waiting for 5 minutes but where is that ugly sad sack… I'll text him

Company Xander enterprises has

been growing so if you wanna invest

go to that one

Today

Hey, m/n where are you?

Beside you this past 15

Minutes

Huh?

I looked to my side and a guy was waving at me.. His style is the same as m/n but he's handsome… wait no it is him. It looked exactly like him in the past. Why is my heart beating so loudly… there's no way I didn't fall in love with Mila but him at first sight, RIGHT?!!!

“Oh hey m/n, didn't notice you there, I thought you were a creep since you were standing next to me for the past 15 minutes”

“No problem, I should call out to you..”

“Anyways, what did you plan?”

“ You know in the past, you said you like horror movies, right? So booked one for us”

“Oh, it's amazing you still remember”

*after the movie

“It was so exhilarating, don't you think so?”

“Yeah.”

Can't believe he still remembers, she doesn't even remember my favorite things while he did.

Huh why is m/n screamin my name

*CRASH*

FUCK

.

.

.

.

.

----------------------------------------------------------

M/N'S POV

Noo, Derry.. I've gotta bring him to a hospital

*picked him up bridal style

Finally the hospital..

“PLEASE SIGN HIM IN, HE WAS JUST HIT BY A CAR”

seems like screaming did help since they instantly prepared a room. The car… the plate number was Mila's, I know cause I was there when she got that car 3 years ago. Fuck… I should call that friend of his… (you got the phone number when you ask in the first few days he was at the house)

*you called him over

“M/n what happened…”

“I don't know Luke, he was lost in thought and walked super fast, and when I caught up I saw a car hitting him super hard, their plate number was (Mila's plate number)”

“okay.. Could you take me to his room?”

“Oh yes.., let's go”

*at the room

“Ah… m/n did you come to pick me up for uni?”

“eh? You're an adult”

“yeah I'm 20 years old right?”

“ERM, no. Your 28 years old”

“Eh, and who's the bastard beside you”

“This is your friend Luke, you remember right?”

“No, why should I”

“M/n could you wait outside I need to speak with Derry”

*you left the room and went to get water

“How dare you use that nickname”

“Sorry boss, but why are you pretending to be amnesiac?”

“I'm testing something”

“But who hit you?”

“that fucking bitch Mila, never thought she would want to kill me”

“Wasn't it you who was blind to that and even loved her? She realized you were the one behind the ir breakup after she regrets breaking up”

“I was forcing myself… I knew I didn't actually like her… I just can't believe I like m/n.”

“So you're planning to cling to him? Plus you've been lying to him, you think he would forgive you?”

“Hah that's the easy part, all I need to do now is just make him fully believe I'm amnesiac.”

*a nurse came in and brought Alexander to a VIP room

“Did you upgrade my room?”

“No”

“Excuse me, nurse… who upgraded my room?”

“The one that brought you here, the one that carried you like a princess, here a photo(photo of m/n carrying Alexander to the hospital), I couldn't help myself, you both looked like the perfect couple”

“Luke, get me a copy of that picture, and destroy that board”

“Okay sir”

*you enter the room just as Luke was leaving

“Oh why are you leaving Luke? Anyways here's a cup of water”

“Thanks, I'll be leaving for stuff”

“Okay… how are you feeling Derry”

“You do know my name's Alexander right?”

“Huhhh, what!! I thought it was like Dexter or something… it actually makes sense.”

“anyway, I upgraded the room since you look slightly uncomfortable with the bed and room, thankfully it wasn't that expensive”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“Anyway, Alexander, do you want to live with me? My house just finished renovation and I was thinking if you want to help me decorate it since I'm not that up to date 😅”

“Sure😃”

*after he got discharged and started to look live with m/n

“Thanks to you, my new house feels like home”

“No problem, btw can I come over with the secret key you keep?”

“Yeah sure, why not”

“I'll go back to my house now”

“bye 😁”

ALEXANDER’S POV

I really didn't know why is didn't realize I like him, but he should really be cautious *he's checking his phone that shows m/n's house, he put cameras in m/n's house*. I mean in the past I would put cameras where m/n would visit most often but I must truly be in denial.

Heading back I saw Mila, she was in crocodile tears… truly, why did I think I like her… she was sobbing saying shit like, I didn't mean to hit you and stuff.

I quickly head inside and locked then I start to plan my next moves

*next morning

*Alexander goes to m/n's mansion*

I started cooking while I knew he wouldn't be awake. When I heard him coming over, I started to cry.

“*sniff* ugh… I'm soo pathetic”

“Huh, Alex, why are you crying… Are you okay”

“huhuhuhu, a scary girl showed up in front of my house screaming I didn't mean to hit you, huhuhuhu I'm scared. Huhuhuhu”

“There there, who would do that, tch tch tch how crazy people are these days”

“And out of nowhere this expensive looking package showed up🥺, I'm scared to open it🥺. Help me”

“Oh okay, it seems like it's a ring. Oooh, that’s the ring I bought. I was thinking of gifts and rings came up, so this way we'll be matching 😁, you'll wear it right? 🥺”

“ah, em, o-okay.”

“great😁”

M/N'S POV

This ring looks exactly like the ring he showed me when I was asking for engagement ring ideas🥲 maybe he didn't realize it…

*BANG**BANG**BANG*

“OPEN THIS DOOR M/N”

“Huh”

*opening the door

“HOW DARE YOU STEAL MY BOYFRIEND”

“Huh? I didn't”

“Since when was I your boyfriend, pretty sure girlfriends don't hit and run the boyfriends”

“That was an accident, you should know that!!”

“M/n that's the scary women that showed in front of my house 🥺”

“I can't believe you scared a sick patient, you of all people should know that”

“Ugh🙄, I don't care, give me back my boyfriend”

“The one you said was your boyfriend just proposed to me *lifted the ring finger* that means he's not your boyfriend, now, you're just pathetic, security! Kick this women out of the property”

*you and Alex went inside

“Sorry Alex, I used you and lied to her… I mean this ring looks like an engagement ring 😅”

“No problem…but I've liked you since a long time ago, you know”

“Huh?!!!”

“So? Will you marry me?”

“Emmm, aren't you amnesiac, maybe we sho-”

“No, I'm scared you'll get stolen by somebody than so I should ask now”

“Oh, then, yes, I would like to marry you”

----------------------------------------------------------

*A few years later

Life's been great since I married him and lived in my mansion, turns out he's the CEO of Xander Enterprise… and I own 20% of the company's shares from when I invested in the company.

Tho, I'm curious what is in the basement since after we married he took the basement for himself. It used to be for a wine cellar, but we made one in the kitchen.

I should check it out..

*enter the basement and turn on the light

Huh, why are there multiple pictures of Mila and other girls… is he in love with them… I mean he was probably straight… I suppose I should tell him it's fine to take mistresses

ALEX'S POV

*Alex arrive at home

“ Alex… I went to the basement”

Fuck he didn't see the rotting corpses right?

“I'm just gonna tell you this”

If he ask for a divorce I'm gonna threaten to kill myself

“If you wanna take mistresses, I'm fine with it 😔”

“Huh, what, no, definite no, I only like you.”

“You don't need to lie I say the pictures”

“How about I prove myself then😄”

“Huh???”

*after sex

“😚how was it.. My ass, can't believe you took control in an instant and did it for the whole night 🤭”

“Um😅, you just felt sooo good, it felt like you were hugging my penis 🥵”

“So you won't ask about mistresses and side pieces??”

“I won't😘”

“This is why I asked you not to go in the basement😔”

“I'm sorryyy😖, but why do you have pictures of those women”

“Those girls were nagging me to divorce you, so I destroyed their companies 😁”

“Oh, um please don't 😅”

“I'm kidding, I was just showing their flaws since they keep saying you were trash and they were perfect for me”

“OoO, okii”

----------------------------------------------------------

A bit rushed 😖

[worldly-fluster]

Snapdragon

Dragon!Sylus x Non-MC! Reader

Part 1 of ?

*This will be Non-Canon BTW it starts with Dragon!Sylus and goes into normal Sylus*

Warnings: Blood, cussing...I think that's it lol

**non-mc but will be called MC because it's easier to write than (y/n) every time 👍**

-The Start of Something Normal-

-1st person POV- changes throughout**

Have you ever wondered if there was something...more?

Something other than going to a 9-5 and paying rent with all you earned, there must be something else.

At least I had my games right?

-

Today is weird.

Just weird.

Ever since I woke up from a weird dream, that I can't even remember, I've been randomly smelling flowers.

Checked the LADS game, flowers.

Got ready for work, flowers.

Delt with customers, flowers.

But I'm the only one smelling it?

Maybe it's the stress, I'll just have to take melatonin when I get home.

-

As I walked through the front door of my apartment, coming home after a long day at work, I was greeted by dark silence. I hate living alone...

I sighed as I placed my keys on the shelves by my door and threw my heavy jacket on top of them. I limped slightly into my living room/kitchen, my feet hurting from standing all day. When I reached the couch, my nose was assaulted by the smell of flowers once again causing me to groan.

"What the fuck... Bruh." I plopped down on the cheap leather futon with a weeze, reaching for the bottle of melatonin gummies I threw on there the other night.

Popping two into in my mouth, I grabbed the iPad next to the bottle and opened up the Love and Deepspace app.

I smiled when I saw Sylus show up immediately on the screen, my heart doing a badump as I sang quietly along to the intro.

Finally getting onto the game, I went to the daily login that I forgot to get this morning, ignoring Zayne standing there in his Panda onesie.

After completing the normal, I didn't know what to do, so I went to check the memories. Only then did I remember I never actually watched the new Dragon Sylus cards...

From what I heard about them it seemed traumatizing. But I guess if I had nothing else to do?...I'm gonna regret it aren't I.

The smell of flowers hit my nose again, even stronger than before, when I tapped the first one I saw called 'Abyssal Blossom'.

As the memory loads, the iPad glitches and shuts off. Maybe I forgot to charge it and it died? The smell of flowers is almost overwhelming, as if I'm standing in a field full of them.

I started feeling tired, so tired that I could hardly stand up so I decided to just sleep for a while on the futon. I fell asleep quickly.

-

This dream?...felt familiar...and too real.

The scent of the flowers made more sense here, the field looking familiar...oh its almost exactly like the flower field you can see in one of Sylus' Dragon cards.

What was the name of it again? Abyssal something...

Oh whatever, these flowers are nice. The scent kinda comforts me, almost like a mix of vanilla citrus? With a slight hint of herbal lavender I think... I don't know I'm bad with identifying stuff.

This dream is quite detailed though, the flowers, the dirt, the nice cool breeze and warm rays of sun on my skin...wait, what's that? Looks like something flying in the sky? A big bird maybe...it's coming closer? Oh shit, what the fuck-?!

The air was knocked out of my lungs as I was picked up and yoinked through the air.

"Are you here to try to kill me?"

I blinked up at the...man? Are we flying??

"No?"

I wheezed out my answer, it sounding more like a question in my shock as I clung onto him. The man? narrowed his eyes at me.

Are those red eyes? And horns? Why does he look like Sylus?? Wait, Dragon Sylus???

He seemed to search my face for something, his own relaxing a bit as he found what he was looking for.

"Then why are you in my territory?"

"I don't know, I just woke up here..."

"Woke up here? Who, in their right mind, would come into my territory for any reason?"

"I don't know...I just remember falling asleep at home and waking up in this field. It's beautiful by the way."

"Hm..."

"What should I call you? I'm MC."

"...Stayrus*" (Something that sounds similar lol)

"...How about Sylus?"

"Do what you want. It'll be up to me whether I answer or not."

"So...where are you taking me?"

"To my home, where I will be keeping an eye on you."

"Oh okay."

"Don't get any ideas human. I'm bored and I have been waiting for something interesting."

"I mean, I figured. No one just goes out and picks up a random stranger without being a little bored."

He grunts as he continues flying through the sky.

He brought me to a cave opening at the top of a deep canyon, he sat me down and lightly pushed me inside.

"You will be staying here until I say so."

"Alrighty. Any rules?"

"No...you are oddly okay with this."

"Well," I shrug, "it's either this or fend for myself in an unfamiliar place outside."

-

"Sylus?"

"..."

"Um...Stayraytus??"

"That was terrible."

"Sorry..."

"..." He sighs, "What is it?"

"So...I have zero survival skills...can you teach me how to survive here? Please?"

"...child."

"Yes...sorry."

-

It's been about a week since Sylus, yes he started answering to it, let me stay in his 'home'. He started teaching me some survival things, like how to find food, telling me to ask him first if the thing is edible. Other than that, it was...boring.

In my boredom, while Sylus lay on the cool cave floor surrounded by gold, I started stretching.

Touching my toes, bending to the side, balancing on one foot like a flamingo...you name it, I was trying to do it.

I was in the downward dog position when Sylus spoke.

"What are you doing?"

"...yoga?"

"...yugo."

"Pffft-" I couldn't help but laugh a bit, "it's Yo-gah."

"...why are you doing whatever that's called?"

"It's so my body doesn't get stiff."

"...how old are you?"

"23."

"..."

"...Don't you dare say it."

Sylus grunted as he went back to messing with his golden lamp thing.

After a bit of silence he spoke.

"I'm 27."

I looked up at him in a little surprise.

"Really? You look my age honestly."

"hm."

-

We were sitting by the entrance of the cave, watching the sunset, when Sylus broke the silence.

"Your hair..."

"What's wrong with my hair? Is there knots? I swear I got them all out earlier..."

"No, it's just different."

"What do you mean?"

"everyone I've ever seen had lighter hair...yours is darker. It's...pretty."

My face felt hot as I turned away from him.

"Oh, thank you...no one's said that about me before."

"Why not?"

I shrug.

"I'm sure that you get called pretty, beautiful, every time someone sees you, I mean, you're pretty attractive...I'm going to shut up now..."

There was a bit of silence until he spoke, looking over my face.

"No one has ever called me any of those things before..."

"Oh...well I still think you are. Those people are just blind."

"...Thank you."

I smile at him.

"Any time."

A comfortable silence settled over us but I couldn't take my eyes off of him if I tried. His hair looked so soft and fluffy...

"Hey Sylus?"

"Hm?"

"Can I...touch your hair?"

He looked questioningly at me, one of his brows raised.

"Why?"

"It looks so soft, but you don't need to say yes. I was just curious."

Sylus looked to the side, seeming to think for a moment before he looked down with a small smile, giving a small nod before he lay stretched out and placed his head on my lap, careful of his horns.

I let out an excited hum as I carefully ran my fingers through his hair, my nails slightly scratching his scalp. He grunted, not really used to this type of contact but...he thinks he can get used to this.

Sylus closed his eyes as he felt your hands work their way through his hair, around the base of his horns gently and lightly rubbing behind them in the hard to reach places. His chest felt warm, his heart fluttering as all he could think about were your hands, the warmth of your thighs...

He could definitely get used to this.

-

It seemed winter was fast approaching as the cave seemed to get colder, frost covering the edges of the entrance. I sat snuggled into Sylus' side.

"...What are you doing?"

"It's cold, it's called cuddling for warmth."

"... do as you wish."

His tail gently curled around us, pushing me just a bit closer.

"...it is getting colder out. We'll have to get you something warmer."

"Ah, don't worry about it. You're warm enough so I'll just have to stay right here."

Sylus grunted, his tail wrapping just a bit tighter. Just enough for me to notice.

-

The next day, Sylus was gone for a little while. I had to stay warm by my own makeshift fire, the dry sticks that were just by the edge of the cave entrance being my fuel.

While I waited for Sylus to get back I watched as the smoke went up through a small hole in the ceiling of the cave, wondering, how long have I been here? Where he could have gone? ...how much longer will I be allowed to stay?

After just a few more minutes, I heard the sound of his powerful wings as he landed at the entrance. He was holding a big bundle of... something.

He walked over to me and just, dumped what he was holding onto my head.

"Mph?!"

"This should work."

His tail moved the pile of burning sticks to the side before I could accidentally fall onto it with his gift still suffocating me.

Seeing me still struggling with it, he chuckled and plucked one blanket off my head letting me poke my head out of the pile.

"Guh! Why you do this?"

"English Sweetie."

"What is this?"

"Blankets, for warmth."

"...Thank you Sylus."

"Hm. Now scooch over, I'm cold."

"You're literally a walking furnace?"

"... I'm cold."

"Just say you wanna cuddle."

"...cuddle me."

-

As winter gave way to spring, the flowers started blooming again. The change in temperature seemed to make Sylus stir crazy.

I let out a squeal as his thick tail wrapped around my waist and pulled me along.

"Sylus! No!"

"Sylus yes."

"No!"

"Do you want to see the flowers or not?"

"...fine. But if you drop me, I will haunt you."

-

After a short flight, Sylus landed at the field of flowers he found me in. I looked around, having not had the chance to fully look around before being whisked away, when I saw something that made me gasp.

"Oh! Look, there are Snapdragon's!"

I moved towards them, Sylus staying close to my side.

"What? There aren't any other dragons here."

"No not actual dragons, Sy, they're a type of flower."

I move so he could see it better.

"This is a snapdragon!"

"That looks nothing like a dragon."

"It kinda does, see? This is it's eyes, nose, horns, and this!"

I push the sides of the flower together, making a small opening into the flower.

"Is it's mouth! Cool right?"

"... dragons don't open their mouth just because you touch their cheeks."

"These ones do. Try it! It's fun."

"Fine."

I watched as he moved his claws around the flower, actively trying not to damage it, but failing.

"Sylus you have to be gentle." I giggle as he accidentally crushes the flower between his claws.

"Here, use the pads of your fingers instead."

I hold his hands as I help him gently open the Snapdragon's mouth. His breath seemed to stutter as he let me guide his hands.

"There, you did it!"

"Hmm..."

In a small burst of confidence, I giggle and lift my hands to his face where I gently press on his cheeks.

"Good job!"

His eyes widen slightly and out of reflex, or shock, his mouth slightly opens.

"You know, you're my big Snapdragon."

-

After we made our way back to the cave, I had a thought.

"What if I end up going back some day?"

"Back where?"

"My home, like how I woke up here, will I one day wake up back home?"

Sylus seemed to stiffen a bit as he looked towards me, eyes searching my face.

"...do you want to go back home."

"I don't know, some days I miss home but most days I forget."

"I understand...what if you never go back?"

"Then I hope you'll let me stay?"

"I'll be here."

There is a long comfortable silence as we watch the sunset from the mouth of the cave once again. I took in a big breath of the freshest air I'll ever have and enjoy the moment.

"Sylus? Can you promise me something?"

"What is it?"

"If I do end up leaving somehow, I want you to find things that make you happy, not just surviving but living."

His tail flicks a bit behind us.

"...fine, as long as you promise the same."

-

A few days later we were at the flower field once again.

The sun set and we continued to sit amongst the flowers after a long day of lazing around. The stars slowly came out one by one.

While I watched the stars it reminded me of a song that gets stuck in my head.

"You and I stargazing...intertwining souls..."

I quietly sang, trying not to disturb the quiet night.

While I looked at the stars and the moon that hung beautifully, Sylus looked my way with a slightly raised brow, curious.

"What's that?

He whispered his question, his rough voice surprisingly soft.

I gave a small hum, still looking at the night sky.

"it's a song from my home... sitting here under the stars reminded me of it."

"Hm..."

"You know...the moon is very beautiful tonight."

"...yeah, it is."

He couldn't seem to look away from you, watching the moon and stars that reflected in your eyes.

-

I heard birds chirping as I slowly woke up from a comfortable sleep, feeling warm. I could smell flowers still. I tried to turn but a weight on my side stopped me.

I heard a deep grunt as the weight tightened around me and pulled me closer. A second weight being added onto my legs, seeming to curl around and in between them.

I groggily opened my eyes to be met with a familiar shiny red jewel, just barely grazing my nose. I moved my hands up from their place by my stomach up to the jewel. I leaned my face into the jewel and snuggled closer.

I could feel a soft rumbling coming from the dragon I was cuddled to, having realized it was him from the warmth he gave me.

"It seems we fell asleep..."

His voice was deep from sleep, his clawed hands pulling me closer. The scent of flowers being drowned out by his smell. Scent like a bonfire and leather.

"We're still in the field?"

"Yeah...I didn't want to wake you."

I felt his warm breath on the top of my head, taking in my own scent.

He...he's definitely used to this. He never wants to let you go. You gave him a warmth he thought he would never receive, showed him care and treated him not as the monster everyone screams he is. With you, he's not a Fiend. He's Sylus, your Snapdragon.

-**

It was only a few moments...

That's all it took.

One second, you both were walking through the field towards home when there was a sharp sound. Sylus reacted almost immediately, dodging the claymore that sliced into the dirt where he was just seconds ago.

He barely let out a breathe before the assailant attacked again. He dodged once more before he heard.

"Sylus! Help!"

His head snapped towards the direction of your voice. What he saw made his blood boil. You were being pinned to the ground by a big burly, ugly, man.

"I got you!"

In his moment of distraction, the one attacking him hit him with something like magic. Golden chains wrapped around him, pinning him down. He heard a laugh as a woman walked into his sight, she was a sorceress and she had an overconfident smirk on her face.

"Time to face your fate, Fiend!" She laughed out, "honestly, I thought you were stronger than that. How disappointing."

"Fate?! What fate?!"

Sylus heard you struggling, making him start to struggle as well so he can get you out of here.

"Now now," the sorceress tutted towards him, then turned towards you, "His fate is to die by my claymore. Simple."

"That's his fate?! Bullshit!"

"You can't change fate-"

"Like fuck I will!"

You cut her off, just as you knocked the large man off of you with a quick kick to the groin. When you were free you threw yourself between her and Sylus.

"Just watch me."

You smirked as you watched her eyes widen and she took a step back.

"MC! No!"

Sylus struggled with the golden chains of magic holding him down.

"Don't worry Snapdragon...I got this."

"Stop! This is not-"

"Too late, already did."

-**

I grunt as the claymore goes through my chest, I can feel the intense pain for only a moment before it seems to disappear. The claymore is lodged in my chest, a ringing going through my ears. Sylus' eyes widen as it feels all the air is taken from his lungs when he sees the end of the claymore exit your back.

"MC!"

"Hahaha! Now what are you going to do Fiend?!"

"I'm going to fucking kill you!"

I heard a growl and the sound of something breaking but my mind goes a little fuzzy as a fight rages on, roars of anger and grunts reach my ears along with the sounds of a blade and claws. I could faintly hear the sound of tearing flesh.

All I could do was stare at the claymore still embedded in my chest, my hands too shaky and weak to pull it.

For a moment I thought the last things I would hear was the fight until-

"MC-"

Sylus slides over to me, his bloodied claws gently holding me. His wounds are already healing over as his panicked eyes look me over.

"MC, she's gone, you don't have to worry now. I got you."

"Sy..."

"Shit..." His voice grew hoarse, his eyes and hands shaking slightly as he tried to figure out a way to help. He seemed to find an idea as his brow set in determination.

"We need to resonate, my healing could help you but we need to resonate, now."

I nod slightly and he grabs my hand gently with one of his as his other gently tries to remove the claymore. I could feel his claws shake a little as he closed his eyes but I didn't want to close my eyes yet. I didn't want it to be the last time I did, so I watched as his power and a power I didn't know I had, connected. When I concentrate I can feel his anger, his fear, and something else I couldn't place. I watched as the claymore fell out of sight, his now free hand coming up to cup my face.

He leaned closer, our foreheads lightly touching.

I could almost feel my flesh mend, but the pain was numb to me as I kept my eyes on his face. I saw his brows furrow, his lips thin in what looks like pain-our shared pain, his eyes stayed closed in concentration.

After a moment more, I felt complete. I let out a sigh as the resonation slowly disappeared, my eyes fluttering closed a moment before I fixed them onto him. I watched as his eyes slowly opened, his nose grazing mine as his eyes locked on mine.

"You aren't going anywhere. Not without me. We live together and we die together. Only you can kill me, and I you."

There is a slight glow to his eyes and the gem in his chest as he stares into my eyes, into my soul.

"Sylus-"

"You're stuck with me. Who else will teach me about your home?"

I shake my head with a giggle.

"What would I do without my Snapdragon?"

"Hm..."

"I'd probably die."

He glared at me for even joking about it, his hand gripping mine a little harder. The hand on my cheek pressed against me, forcing my forehead to press onto his a little more.

"Even if I wasn't here, I would do everything to make sure you stay by me."

"That doesn't even make sense." I laugh.

"You know what I mean." He smiles as you bring a hand to his face, rubbing your thumb of his cheek to get some dirt off. He leaned into your touch, his eyes full of warmth as he continued to stare into your eyes.

After a moment I pull away and stand, Sylus standing as well. I look around at the now destroyed field, a pang of sadness hits my heart...

As both of us take in the aftermath, an oddly familiar scent hits my nose...when suddenly my body starts to glow slightly.

"Wait, Sylus what's happening?"

"I don't know, come here."

This feeling I get from the soft glow feels familiar...my eyes widen when I realize, the smell...

"Sylus!"

"MC?!"

We reach out to each other but the moment his clawed hand touches my hand, a bright light shines and I'm gone.

-**

Nothing is left of her as the light completely disappates

"MC?!"

Sylus turns this way and that, wanting- needing to see just a glimpse of her. His tail whipping around wildly as he floats around in a panic, clawed hands reaching for something, anything.

"MC!...Where..."

Sylus stops for a moment, slowly landing on the cold ground beneath him before collapsing to his knees.

He throws his head back as he lets out the most broken yell that could be heard for miles.

He looked to the side when he ran out of breath, his chest heaving as he let out a whimper. He saw that claymore, laying coldly on the dirt. Your blood still covered it, your scent still on it...

A few tears fell from his eyes as he reached out and gripped the handle. He pulled it towards him, curling around it slightly on the ground.

He lay there for what felt like forever to him, in the very flower field he met you...the flowers mostly crushed by the ambush of the sorceress that was sent to kill him with this very claymore.

When he finally had the energy to move, he went back to your shared cave, claymore in hand. Seeing the entrance made his flight stutter, knowing you won't be there to welcome him home...

He landed at the opening, he stepped heavily inside.

He saw your pile of blankets, the small fire pit you built, the little trinkets you collected from his horde that he let you have...

He stabbed the claymore into his old sleeping place then made his way towards the small stream that runs through the edge of the cave. He used the water from the steam to clean the blood off of him, yours, his, that damned sorceress...

After he was cleaned and dried off with the cloth you used to use, he made his way to your pile of blankets.

Sylus collapsed into them, burying himself in your scent, a wine leaving his throat as he held tightly onto what was left of you.

The dragon is lost without his master...

[isatartdump]

Hi meet (some of) my ocs!!!

you can still look for ISAT pilled posts here btw, there just may be ocs from time to time... I've consistently tagged everything and I plan on doing this still!

Will start oc pilling my silly blog with a messy dump of oc sketches I love. Inconsistent as all hell because most of the drawings are from last year

^ Haden (He's a fallen angel, to sumarize. Although this information IS heavily prone to change DASHUDHASU. He's from Spes (Comic name- No there isn't any comic work done outside of a few points I've drawn already))

^ Shopkeeper (Yes, his name is also his profession... He's a character for a game I am working on. Don't- Don't ask about it I also know jackshit about code and it has been put into the oven again since I want to try to learn coding games and doing the assets with a smaller project)

^ Ignis (He's a fallen angel, just like Haden! I'm strying trying to figure out her past design... But! This one isn't going to change I'm sure. Well. 80% sure, at least. They're also from Spes!)

^ Maru (Shes an alien Idol! Sadly I didn't do much on her story yet but she's half alien half human, since I (sadly......²) only have her concept on hand. I haven't decided which world she belongs to yet but I'm thinking on putting her alongside my other gay aliens for the funnies. Would be nice if she was a bit of the reason why Vector wanted to become a pilot. No I won't give context now)

ANd last but not least- minecraft ocs!!!

From left to right- Cain, the creeper is a vocalist/guitarrist without a band. Pete, the slime is a hunter (yes he hunts while serving cunt). Sulfur, the Warden is a farmer.

That's it- that's the post. Ty. I will share more blorbos later. Probably. I've been sick today and just wanted to get stuff for my ocs here :')

[sasaranurude]

Okay. I've been playing Tokyo Debunker today, since the release happened to catch me on a day when all I'd planned to do was write fanfiction. I just finished reading the game story prologue (it was longer than expected!), so here's a review type post. If you're reading this post not having seen a single thing about this game: it's a story-based joseimuke gacha mobile game that just released globally today. It's about a girl who suddenly finds herself attending a magic school and mingling with elite, superhuman students known as ghouls. If you look in the tumblr tag for the game you'll see what appears to be a completely different game from 2019 or so: they retooled it completely midway through development, changing just about everything about it due to "escalating competition within the gaming industry."

I'll talk about how this looks like a blatant twst clone at the end.

Starting with the positive: The story is charming. I enjoyed it thoroughly the entire time and am excited to read more. The mix between visual novel segments and motion comics was really nice--it broke things up and added a lot of oomph to the action or atmospheric scenes that visual novels generally lack. I like the art in the comic parts a lot. the live2d in the visual novel parts is... passable. Tone-wise, I think the story was a little bit all over the place and would like to see more of the horror that it opened on, but I didn't mind the comedic direction it went in either. The translation is completely seamless. The characters so far all have unique voices and are just super fun and cute. Of the ones who've had larger roles in the story so far, there's not a single one I dislike. It's all fully voiced in Japanese and the acting is solid. (I don't recognize any voices, and can't seem to find any seiyuu credits, so it seems they're not big names, but they deliver nonetheless.) Kaito in particular I found I was laughing at his lines a ton, both the voicing and the writing.

He's looking for a girlfriend btw. Spreading the word.

The problem is like. The gameplay is the worst dark-pattern microtransaction-riddled bullshit I've ever seen. Hundred passive timers going at all times. Fifty different item-currencies. Trying to get you to spend absurd amounts of real world money at every turn. There's like five different indicators that take you to various real-money shop items that I don't know how to dismiss the indicator, I guess you just have to spend money, wtaf. Bajillion different interlocking systems mean you have zero sense of relative value of all the different item-currencies. I did over the course of the day get enough diamonds for one ten-pull, which I haven't used yet. Buying enough diamonds for a ten-pull costs a bit under $60 (presumably USD, but there's a chance the interface is automatically making that CAD for me--not gonna spend the money to check lmfao), with an SSR rate of 1%. BULLSHIIIIIT.

There's like a goddamn thousand-word essay explaining the dozen different types of character upgrades and equippables and equippables for the equippables!! Bad! Bad game design! That's just overcomplicating bullshit to trick people into thinking they're doing something other than clicking button to make number go up! That is not gameplay!

In terms of the actual gameplay, there is none. The battle system is full auto. There might be teambuilding, but from what I've seen so far, most of that consists of hoping you pull good cards from gacha and then clicking button to make number go up. There's occasional rhythm segments but there's no original music, it's just remixes of public domain classical music lmao. I'd describe the rhythm gameplay as "at least more engaging than twisted wonderland's," which is not a high bar

At least there's a cat in the rhythm bit.

And like, ok, I gotta remark on how derivative it is. Like I mentioned in my post earlier, this game is unabashedly aping twisted wonderland's setting and aesthetic. (That said, most of the stuff it steals from twst is magic school stuff that twst also basically stole from Harry Potter, so...?) However, it isn't exactly like twst: in this one, the characters say fuck a lot and bleed all over the place and do violence. Basically, the tone is a fair bit more adult than twst's kid-friendly vibe. (Not, like, adult adult, and I probably wouldn't even call it dark--it's still rated Teen lol. Just more adult than twst.)

Rather than just being students at magic school, the ghouls also go out into the mundane world to go on missions where they fight and investigate monsters and cryptids. Honestly, the magic school setting feels pretty tacked-on. The things that are enjoyable about this would've been just as enjoyable in about any other setting--you can tell this whole aspect was a late trend-chasing addition, lmao. So, yeah, it's blatantly copying twst to try to steal some players, but... Eh, I found myself not caring that much. Someone more (or less) into twst than me may find it grating.

Character-wise, eh, sure, yeah, they're a bit derivative in that aspect too, but it's a joseimuke game, the characters are always derivative. Thus far the writing & execution has been solid enough that I didn't care if they were tropey. If I were to compare it to something else, I'd say the relationship between the protagonist and the ghouls feels more like that of the sage and wizards in mahoyaku than anything from twst. There's some mystery in exactly what "ghouls" are and their place in this world that has me intrigued and wanting to know more about this setting and how each of the characters feels about it. I have a bad habit of getting my hopes up for stories that put big ideas on the table and then being disappointed when they don't follow through in a way that lives up to my expectations, though.

So, my final verdict: I kind of just hope someone uploads all the story segments right onto youtube so nobody has to deal with the dogshit predatory game to get the genuinely decent story lol. Give it a play just for the story if you have faith in your ability to resist dark patterns. Avoid at all costs if you know you're vulnerable to gacha, microtransactions, or timesinks.

[kingskyless]

thoughts on natlan's arc in genshin🌋

tldr: i'm pissed off!! watch me rant about storytelling under cut. please take your storytelling seriously and with love, jesus christ

this is long btw! this is what happens when you piss me off with your poor writing choices! i crave blood!

--

these are thoughts i wrote on my private twitter but i'll put them here too, why not.

i really, really don't like being negative towards anything anymore, chosing to embrace the silliness of poor storytelling and just grab what i do love, but man did the final act for natlan piss me off

I've been waiting for Natlan since the game came out because we knew it was going to be inspired by pre-hispanic America. Aztecs. México. (i'm mexican for context) and it was!!! with the inclusion of Maori, Peruvian, Lakota, Hawaiian and Yoruba. and it was done Horribly

Natlan is still mostly inspired by México though, I made a whole video on genshin's mexican rep, when it comes to overworld, food, names, music and lore inspiration yeah, the Mexican rep is done well and very fun! but it's still mixed with the cultures previously mentioned which is bad!!

and it gets WORSE because you look at the characters, be it playable or NPCs and nothing about them is mexican (or any of the previous cultures) nothing at all, and that's when the issues start.

I literally made a tumblr post a few days ago how I didn't think Natlan's story was bad, we just didn't connect with the characters due to character design. And while it still holds truth, this final act just undoes all the build-up it had in the previous acts, leaving no true conclusion and, therefore, ruining the story as a whole. a lá game of thrones.

Natlan in its first 3 acts was actually really well done, presenting the different tribe cultures, character personalities and how they mix with one another, and they had very strong set up for more world building and Very Important Lore Reveals (the Abyss having a "heart", dragons, THE SHADES, FALSE SKY?) I really enjoyed myself playing the first acts!

But the marketing makes you distance yourself from the characters, devs decided to push back the culture of the tribes in game and delay the next acts of the story, and you disconnect!!!

going back to the first acts and it's wonderful set up, then what is the point of having all this beautiful set up, only to just - not explore it in the CLIMAX OF THE ARC. and it was very very important lore and conversations to move the story forward and raise the stakes!!!

and they ignored it or barely mention it!!! yes having all the answers shown at you is not fun, and they can totally explore these aspects of the lore later on, but by the way Natlan was written from the start it was 10000% expected to have those conversations in THIS arc.

there's also the set up that's been there since the games release. None of this is explored, we don't know who "he" is, who's the crossed out name, what was the secret of the god of war. there's nothing, this is never explored.

NOTE: that it is true the story was revisited or straight up rewritten way after this material was released, it is something that can happen during production, it partially happened with sumeru already. the thing is when you make changes like these, if you already established in previous trailers or manga certain lore, you have to be extremely careful, as the audience is already expecting something like this to happen in the story. when you rewrite this and there's no pay off it causes confusion and frustration among the audience, as you are no longer following what you set up and it creates plot holes a throw away line about the muratans or murata would've done to connect the manga with the current natlan, but there's not even that.

They establish very important new characters, but don't explain their true role in the story beyond "evil" . What is Gosoythoth? why can it become a dragon? why are there voices around it? why are the former archons so negative? . Sure, we as an audience can make headcanons about it (and some answers were partially told, not nearly enough though) but it's information that needs to be talked about in the story, but the characters never question this and it's never explored.

and we KNOW they can write compelling characters and stories because Fontaine is right there!! it explores very important lore and intertwines it perfectly with the cast and their own personal struggles, what the fuck happened in Natlan.

it just pisses me off and makes me very sad, I was excited for natlan for many years because, for better or for worse, that's my culture they're taking to tell this story, and seeing them fuck up both frustrates me.

i'll keep playing because i still want to see how they wrap it up but aaaaa, i haven't been this mad since Inazuma, and i dont think Inazuma pissed me off this bad.

the following is things that bothered me personally and not something i can criticize from a storytelling standpoint:

the entire traveler parade after beating gosoythoth made me uncomfortable to no end. really really giving white saviour. it draaaged and everyone was kissing their feet and i was PRAYING for more depth in that but no! fuck me!

if you wanted to have the corny ass parade, okay, have it, but maybe show the traveler not being as happy? or carrying mental wounds after the battle??? GIVE THEM DEPTH OR SOMETHING?????????

you couldve expanded on the four shades, expanded on the abyss, expanded on the angels, expand on xiuhcóatl, expand on fucking gosoythoth since it was literally right there???? flesh out paimon, flesh out the main cast????

and totally flesh out capitano, he did absolutely nothing and he's the first of the harbingers, we just saw him get his ass beat by mavuika in the first act and then nothing??? (cutscene was great!) im not mad at the ending he got, it was very in character, i just wish there was more to him

natlan was set up as a nation of dragons and we learned nothing of them in the main arc, it set up the abyss having a personification and we learned nothing of it

this is mostly something i wouldve loved, but they set up the shades and time manipulation as we saw from mavuika, and no mention of istaroth??? hello???????????

also how did ororon know about nahidas power????

[flamingspud]

It was the end of the school day, and surprisingly enough seventeen year old Joel found himself approaching Scott and Gem of all people. They were at Gem's locker talking, so Joel slowly sidled up to them. He hovered there for a moment, not getting any attention, so he cleared his throat. The pair turned to look at him. "Can we help you?" Scott asked.

Joel takes on the task of organising a birthday party.

Surprise!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/63167368

Fic under the cut:

It was the end of the school day, and surprisingly enough seventeen year old Joel found himself approaching Scott and Gem of all people.

They were at Gem's locker talking, so Joel slowly sidled up to them.

He hovered there for a moment, not getting any attention, so he cleared his throat.

The pair turned to look at him. "Can we help you?" Scott asked.

"Well, I heard of your little conundrum of having nothing to do this weekend-"

"What are you talking about?-" Gem started, but Joel continued on without notice.

"And I suppose I'll help you out with this problem, by offering to let you help me organise a birthday party."

"Um, pass," Scott told him.

"What?" Joel had not seen this coming.

"I said we're good."

"Ok…" Joel sounded dejected, yet he didn't budge.

This earned weird looks from the pair. "What?" Scott asked again, vaguely annoyed.

"Oh my god, he has no other friends," Gem realised.

"Oh my god…"

"What?! Of course I have other friends! In fact, I have so many other friends that I don't remember you guys exist most days. You're just blips on the busy radar of my life! You're so inconsequential that I can't even think of what your names are, actually have we met before?" Joel rambled defensively.

"Right…" Gem said, looking him up and down judgementally. "…Who's the party for?"

Joel perked up at that. "Well, if you insist, it's for Lizzie. She said she hasn't had one in ages since when she was a kid no one showed up, so I've decided to change that."

"That's… really sweet actually," Scott said, clearly surprised.

"Well duh, I thought of it."

Gem rolled her eyes. "Fine. I'll make the group chat."

"Really?" Joel asked hopefully, before quickly coughing. "I mean, cool."

The pair watched as Joel walked away.

"He has some serious issues," Gem commented.

"Oh definitely," Scott agreed, though they still made the group chat.

~~~

The group had decided to hold the party at Joel's place, since it'd be the easiest place to get Lizzie without raising suspicion. Joel also made sure to schedule a date with her in advance so that she'd definitely be around. As far as she was aware they'd be watching movies.

Lizzie's Surpise Bday

Gem <So what's the plan for entertainment?

Scott <party games???

What is she> Joel 

3?> Joel

Scott <no need to be rude

Gem <How much do those petting zoo companies cost?

Scott <probably an arm and a leg

Scott <I just checked and it's at least 280 for an hour

Yikes> Joel 

Btw Gem you spelt Surprise wrong> Joel 

Gem <That was on purpose

Really?> Joel 

Gem <100%

As Joel was sprawled on Cleo's couch while he texted his friends (though he'd never call them that out loud) about Lizzie's party, who walked in other than his divorced-from-the-family-uncle? 

"Hey Joel," he greeted.

Joel narrowed his eyes at him. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to pick Bdubs up for horse riding. What are you doing?"

Joel sighed. "Trying to find an activity to do for Lizzie's birthday."

Etho had an idea. "How do you feel about hiring a clown?" He asked.

Joel furrowed his eyebrows. "I don't think-"

"I'd pay for it," Etho added.

Joel eyed him suspiciously. "Why?" Etho wasn't known for being the kind of guy to go out of his way to do something generous for someone he didn't even know.

Etho considered saying he wanted to be nice, but Joel was smarter than that. "Do you remember the clown at Bdubs' eleventh birthday?"

"The one who punched you in the face?"

Etho winced. "Yeah- that one… I've been looking for an excuse to have a rematch."

"For three years? Why don't you just hire him without hijacking my girlfriend's birthday party?"

"I don't want to seem lame."

Joel thought Etho had long since crossed that line, but he went back to the group chat.

Lizzie's Surpise Bday

How do you guys feel about having Etho fighting a clown as entertainment?> Joel 

Free of charge> Joel 

Gem <Hell no

Scott <why is that even an option?

He has some rivalry with the clown from my cousin's birthday three years ago> Joel 

And now he wants revenge> Joel

Gem <Your uncle's messed up dude

You're telling me> Joel

Scott <ask him if he has beef with any bunny farmers!

Ok gimme a sec> Joel

He said no> Joel

Scott <damn.

The group tossed ideas around, but by the time they decided to turn in for the night they were empty handed. Gem had said she'd figure something out, but Joel was unsure.

~~~

"What's the ETA on the cake?" Joel asked as he ran into the kitchen to grab some scissors.

"It'll be ready when it's ready!" Grian snapped back.

"Around twenty minutes?" Mumbo suggested, glancing at the oven timer.

A popping noise could be heard from the oven.

"…make that an hour…"

Joel had convinced Grian to make the cake for him in exchange for buying him a DLC for one of his video games. A fair trade, he felt, but only if they actually got the damn thing done.

Joel sighed and went back to decorating. He kept checking his phone, as Gem and Scott were meant to be there already.

He was sticking up the last of the banners when the pair finally decided to show up. 

"Where have you two been? I've been decorating alone for the past hour!"

"Sorry, we were a little busy," Gem told him, and Joel watched as a flurry of cats were guided in by Scott.

"Holy- where'd you get them?" He asked, impressed that they'd actually managed to find some.

"Well-"

"Hold on, is that Jellie?" Joel asked as a grey cat started nuzzling his leg.

"Huh, so it is," Scott commented.

"Did you guys kidnap these cats?!" Joel demanded.

"More like borrowed them- they were outside, we'll keep them for the hour then let them go again, and no one will be the wiser!" Gem told him.

Joel didn't know what to say to that, but they were running out of time so he just decided to roll with it.

It wasn't long after until their friend, Oli, walked in. "Hey guys! I got the playlist ready," he announced.

"Perfect!" Joel said. "The speaker's in the corner."

Oli nodded and bounded over to it.

Joel checked his watch. People were supposed to be arriving around now, so where were they?

"Scott, you're sure you told them the right time?" Joel asked.

Scott winced. "There's a slight problem… nobody rsvpd…"

"What?!" Joel exclaimed. This could not be happening. How could they have a party if nobody showed up?!

"Well there's us," Gem reminded him, "as far as I'm aware we're her closest friends."

Joel was still anxious though, picking frustratedly at his nails.

Scott, of all people, put a hand on Joel's shoulder. "She'll love it."

Before Joel could say something, whether it be a thanks or a cutting remark he wasn't sure, Grian and Mumbo bounded over from the kitchen triumphantly.

"Tadaa!" Grian announced. "No need to thank us, your smiles are enough."

"What- I thought you were nowhere near done?!" Joel exclaimed.

"We uh- took some shortcuts…" Mumbo said, a somewhat nervous tone to his voice.

What that meant, Joel had no idea, but he had no time to interrogate his brother as the doorbell rang. "Everyone hide!"

Joel dimmed the lights as the others found hiding spots around the apartment.

He then walked over to the door and opened it. "Hi Lizzie!"

The girl was confused to say the least. "Hey Joel- why is your apartment so dark?"

As she said that one of the others turned up the lights, and everyone popped out from their hiding places. "Surprise!"

Lizzie's eyes went wide, and Joel took her hands.

"I know you don't normally have birthday parties, but I hope you don't mind-"

Lizzie suddenly wrapped her arms around him. "I love it," she said quietly into his shoulder.

Joel couldn't help the dopey grin that formed on his face. "Happy birthday."

Oli turned on the music, Grian cut slices of cake for everyone, and the group ended up having a really nice time.

As they ate, Joel did cast sceptical glances around the room to see if anyone was having an adverse reaction to the cake, but it tasted like cake so he figured it was fine.

All in all, it was a successful night, spent laughing and petting cats.

[thelingodingo]

Korean Titles of BTS Songs

Remember when a bunch of fans were asking Jungkook about BTS' song 'Paradise' and he had no idea what they were talking about since the Korean name of the song is different from the English?

Well, that's what I thought I could make a post about since it's very common across multiple of their songs!

A lot of the times in Kpop, the Korean name of a song has a completely different translation than the English name so I wanted to start a series explaining the more intricate details of the translations.

So first up here's a list of explanations of a couple BTS Korean song titles:

Paradise = 낙원 : this is just a regular direct translation

Fire = 불타오르네 : I think this Korean song title is great enough to have a post of its own due to how useful it would be to Korean learners as it requires knowledge of multiple aspects of Korean to truly understand. In English, it could still be translated as "fire" but it definitely holds more meaning in the original Korean. 불 (bul) means fire and the verb 불타오르다 (bul ta o reu da) means "to be burning/aflamed". The 네 (ne) part of the title 불타오르네 (bul ta o reu ne) is a grammar particle that expresses admiration, surprise, etc. So all together the song title is sort of saying something along the lines of "oh look, it's burning up in flames" I guess??? It's hard to try and explain the nuance in English.

Telepathy = 잠시 : this title translates directly to "for a moment"

Boy with Luv = 작은 것들을 위한 시 : beautifully means "a poem for the small things" which I think would've made a great English title too

Go Go = 고민보다 GO : this translates to "rather than worrying about it, go"

Dis-ease = 병 : this literally translates to disease in Korean but apparently some media(?) thought it translated to 'bottle' (like a plastic water bottle) which I guess makes sense since it's the same word in Korean but lmao I thought that was funny.

I do like BTS but I'm not an Army so if any fans happen to know any deeper information that may further elaborate on the reasoning for these title changes in English please feel free to add on!

If you would like a Part 2 or have any specific questions then just ask!

I know I've been away for a very long time to any of my followers that keep up with my posts (thank u btw) and I am trying to get back into posting but it has been an extremely busy year for me :(

[decepti-thots]

while i'm talking about Whirl, one thing i've been meaning to talk about for ages just in a 'i am aware some people may not actually know this, and it hardly gets mentioned in fandom' is that Whirl in Interiors talking about briefly trying to change his name when he was a flight instructor at the flight academy is a reference to a passage in Bullets, which is in retrospect very obviously him:

Jetstream had taught him to recognize his inherent worthlessness. In front of the other cadets he'd always been supportive, but in private he would berate him for showing off and for getting ideas above his station. “You think you're something special?” he used to say. “You think you’re better than the rest, better than me, just because you can turn a few tricks? On a good day - on your best day - I’d say you were unremarkable.” Rotorstorm’s only response to Jetstream’s verbal abuse was to make jokes. If you can make light of the situation, he'd think, it can’t be as bad as it seems. Over time, Jetstream’s verbal abuse... evolved. On one occasion, Rotorstorm was pushed against a wall. On another, he was punched to the floor. Before long, he was on the receiving end of sustained and entirely unprovoked beatings. The worst day of Rotorstorm’s life - worse than the day war was declared; worse than the day of the Simanzi Massacre - was the day the IAA installed a Cryogenic Regeneration Chamber. He couldn't remember what he’d done to deserve that night's battering, but as he lay on the floor of the aircraft hangar, his torso freshly pummeled, his spinal strut bent at a right angle and his face reduced to a shallow bowl of oil and splinters, he saw something he would never forget: Jetstream was standing over him, fists clenched and head cocked, coolly appraising his options. And the look of exhilaration on his face as he wondered where to place the next punch had been terrifying. Rotorstorm had passed out before Jetstream had finished shoveling him into the CR Chamber, and had woken up the next day without a single scratch on his body. Jetstream had left overnight; he moved to a training facility in another province and later changed his name. Since then, Rotorstorm had seen him only once: he'd been sitting in the front row when Rotorstorm had been awarded the Novic Medal for Outstanding Valor, and he’d been clapping and cheering more loudly than anyone else.

and this is a really fascinating thing to consider for me because if you just describe the whole thing briefly in the abstract, it's gonna likely sound like one of two things:

whirl tried to turn over a new leaf with a new name, and it worked for a time but ultimately he couldn't and went back to his old life

whirl tried to turn over a new leaf with a new name, but he couldn't and was just as much of an aggro wildcard as ever so gave up

but this is... kind of not either of those, including the last one? whirl IS acting like the violent, bitter, unpredictable asshole we come to meet in MTMTE and know he was during the war, to an extent, but he's also clearly succesfully keeping up something of a facade of really inhabiting that 'not Whirl, nope, i'm a Normal Flight Instructor' in public. it's only to rotorstorm he's not, seemingly. (and even then, the way rotorstorm describes him here is... really cold and deliberate in a way that feels kind of different to what we see later.)

obviously it's. i mean it's SO deeply unpleasant, very effectively communicated in terms of how awful and traumatising that kind of thing is btw a+ but also Jesus Fucking Christ, but it also suggests to me a very specific experience Whirl is having in this period of his life that isn't quite either of those obvious choices. pokes at it. god. what the fuck is going through your head you terrible helicopter you.

[simstationdance]

HAPPY BIRTHIVERSARY part 1 - THE SIMS 2 IS 20???

FUN FACT: The Sims 2 (2004) was released 3 days before the date upon which I was released from my mother's womb, therefore making me younger than The Sims 2 by 3 days as of September 14th 2024, but objectively older by 6 years as of September 17th 2024. The march of time is inevitable and frightening! Let's celebrate!

Admittedly I didn't have very much to give when it came to sharing content for the Sims 2's anniversary because I've been battling the Chronic Exhaustion Demon, but then I realized I still haven't released those hair colors I showed a while back. And then I realized I could share EVEN MORE content by spreading it out across a few days instead of condensing it into one day. And it just so happens that, as stated above, there are two special occasions (for me at least... lol) close together on the calendar. SO. HERE'S SOME COOOONTEEEENT.

Today's bundle is mainly a resource for creators who use GIMP 2.x, and includes 11 UNNATURAL HAIR COLORS in the form of Curves that can be used on just about any texture you want, as long as you use it on a Volatile base These only come in Curve form, but if anyone would like to convert them into Photoshop actions, you're more than welcome to.

The colors are named, in order of appearance above: Sapphire, Tanzanite, Azurite, Alexandrite, Moonstone, Aquamarine, Bloodstone, Ruby, Entropy, Blue Moon, and Lily. You can read more about them under the cut.

DOWNLOAD (sfs)

(btw I made the Gemstone colors and the Alien black and brown a year ago, and I made Ruby and Lily this year, which is why they're in separate folders in the .zip)

The Gemstone colors were inspired by, of course, gemstones. They were my first attempt at making a hair color palette of my own. Out of them all, Moonstone, Bloodstone, and Alexandrite are my favorites.

I wanted to go for something fantastical. I also wanted to push GIMP's Curve function to the limit and see how many shades I could put into one color without it looking like garbage.

I use Bloodstone, Moonstone, and Aquamarine as Red, Blond, and Grey respectively in my (still hypothetical) Alien hair color family.

Entropy - intended to be alien "black", a very desaturated indigo color. since Alien sims born in game typically have black hair genetics (unless using a pt mod that changes this), I wanted it to really stand out against both the Maxis mint green and any alternative Alien themed skin tones despite its overall 'plainness'.

Blue Moon - intended to be alien "brown", I wanted to go for a color that was strange and unsettling in comparison to human brown hair. I think I originally intended it to be more blue but it came out more desaturated teal instead. Attempts to change this made it too similar to Entropy for my liking, so I left it as it is.

These colors were originally created and named after the sims I specifically made them for, and I was going to use them only on a small handful of hairs. But I liked the shades so much that I decided to incorporate them into my personal palette. And so, with that in mind, it didn't feel right to keep them to myself.

'Lily' maintained its name as a color, but 'Ruby' was renamed to what it is now. In my game I bin them as Brown and Black respectively because they're meant to be considered 'dyes' in-universe and I wanted to be able to make their associated sims in CAS without having to make them go to the mirror in-game every time I put them in a new hood, but you can do whatever you want with them lol.

[crooked-wasteland]

I just saw your essay on the codependency of FizzOzzie and it cleared up a lot of things I've been thinking about this ship and to be honest, I myself thought it was the most healthiest ship in the whole show even better than the trash that Stoliz is but well... (btw, I was trying to scroll through tumblr to find it but can you just link it for me so I coud read it again)?

It also brings me to an idea of the possibility brung up in two fics each with different ideas:

#1 if Hazbin's events every leak in Helluva's since they're the same universe, there's a possibility that Lucifer would want to have precautionary heirs for the defense of Hell and outright force Ozzie and any other relationships with lowerclass apart since it's "not compatible with angelic DNA" or some thing, so Ozzie could in fact leave Fizz because of his status

#2 Ozzie getting tired of Fizz... Ozzie is the sin of Lust after all and Lust can be ever-changing and capricious in its nature as a sin. Ozzie’s character, embodying Lust, might lead to a fluctuating commitment level, influencing his interactions and relationships. In biblical lore, he did end up causing a lot of sinful things like fucking a human named Sarah or so I remember?

Again this is the same guy who humiliated Blitzø in Ozzie, S2 just rewrote him completely (btw, in my rewrite I'mma change him to be more evil and instead give the whole "lovey-dovey Sin" idea to Satan who is female and thinks Asmodeu's "fake-love" is like a slap in the fact to her idea of realistic and true romance)

I'd just feel like Fizz would be better off with Blitzø tbh or Striker or all in a threesome... the possibilities are endless, and why is the show making love seem too fairytale and unrealistic?! Like Blitzø shouldn't have to fuck Stolas just because he was his arranged playmate for just one day??? The show did the childhood friends trope dirty and would be better if Stoliz was a thing until mid-teens broke up for [insert reason] and reconnect but honestly, Stolas should've had his own seperate season/arc dedicared to himself if HB was an anthology show

Also the fact that Asmodeus couldn't just burn the contract, one-shot the lawyer and go on a rampage to save Fizz is just beyond me... the Sins are supposed to be these scary demon lords so why aren't they, hm?

Sorry for rambling and what do you think or want to add?

Absolutely here you go.

The consistent failure of Vivziepop is to commit to a mature story. She describes her own protagonists as "Deeply flawed but understandably traumatized people who just need love to fix them" while the villains of her shows are "irredeemable" (and women, but that's a tangent).

I mentioned before that trying to use the excuse of the setting being Hell and playing that out to the logical conclusion would end up exactly like Good Omens. The whole moral of said show being that imperfect humanity is worth saving, that life is worthy and beautiful for its own sake of existence. That is why the story of Good Omens uses the Bible, angels, and demons to tell it's story, to make that point.

Why is Helluva Boss/Hazbin Hotel set in Hell? What is being said by the plot, themes and story? So far we have that demons are better people than the Angels in Hazbin. That sacrifice is the only virtue worthy of redemption and thus reinforces backwards Christian ideals of penance.

Personally, I would have made Hell less absurd. Less a place of debauchery and chaos and more a mere continuation of life. We see in the Hazbin Pilot a character falls from the sky and says "I'm alive?" Before being hot by Travis' car. The point being that people just transition from one life to the next and in that they keep living life the way they always have.

My personal criticisms of the series' use of Hell is that it established this idea that people only behave if they have a god to fear. Once in Hell, there is no salvation, so why bother. It's like a Christian asking an atheist why they wouldn't commit murder if they don't believe in God. The answer is that people like order and security. People dying would seek to maintain their status quo from life. A lack of salvation wouldn't change that for them.

And frankly, I wouldn't have redemption be a thing. This story and its messages are actively devalued by the act of redeeming sinners when the Angels are just the same as them. By having Hell just be a warped continuation of life on Earth, it makes the message more universal: Life is Hell. Life is suffering in a way Hell can never hope to be. Physical anguish and torment for all eternity can never amount to the pain of the fleeting and the terror of change and uncertainty.

I would have made it impossible to be redeemed because the fact is, regardless what you believe happens after death, what we know we have is life. We fear death so much we have created salvation throughout history, the wish to keep living forever in some way. But, especially for young people, life is harder now than ever before. It's more terrifying and uncertain and cruel and uncaring.

So if life is Hell, how do you be happy?

That would have been my thesis for the show. The message underneath is all about finding happiness in the absence of salvation. Even the idea that maybe salvation is something we should reject to really feel what it means to be alive. Giving up on our deaths and seeking our own fulfillment, and in that finding community, love, and hope. To see true humanity as something selfish and kind at the same time.

That's how I would have taken the concept.

[vaguemouse]

*splashes water on her face in front of a bathroom mirror like a pathetic male protagonist* okay i've been thinking about religion in dd for a whole lot of time and i think there is a number of takes to make. we'll go character by character and the insight they provide

let's start with Rey. First of all, he is literally a crusader, making him christian at least and catholic at max. since only latin church practised crusades it's safe to say that if there is any way the church is divided he's definitely on the catholic side, if not then yeah, plain christian

Vestal is somewhat less obvious. Firstly, vestals are pagan nuns and this is demonstrated in her story (keeping up the flames of this holy flame blazer). This is quite a strange practice for a presumed christian church and with a strain some connections with mazdeism can be made exactly due to the cult of fire AND monotheism. However, the prominent practise of burial in the game (prohibited in mazdeism) speaks against that so we'll have to stick with christianity as well

Flagellant is pretty much on the nose, taking into account that it's literally the name of a sect that existed in western europe, making him catholic (even though through a sect). The only thing to add here is the fact that he wears spiky collars and bracelets is uncharacteristic for a catholic person, but something way more common among the orthodox, knowns as in multiple slavic languages as вериги/вярыгі etc.

The Leper is where it gets really interesting (you know i love his character and it's exactly one of the reasons why). First, he mentions changing his faith (at least once), or, at the very least, partaking in more than one faith's rituals. His previous religious affiliation might be some variant of paganism (of whose existence we can be sure, since cultists and fanatics exist and other characters mention gods from time to time), or, if such division exists, another denomination of the church of Light.

Now, one thing that I initially skipped when I first thought about it. Well yes, all Light-related imagery in dd is very latin church inspired and hence it's easy to infer that the church of Light is basically catholisism made dark mediaeval-fantasy-esque. One more thing that we must remember though is that the events of the game happen in a western-themed location (let us say medieval europe). Light-related imagery is obviously very catholic in the locations of the game but we can't say for sure if it's the same in the place Baldwin's from (and i'm pretty sure it's not, that's just unlikely). So of course I myself presumed that since Reynald is obviously christian and Junia and Damian are probably too, then Baldwin must be as well. I settled for a headcanon that he might be orthodox because it is widely spread in multiple areas in northen africa (take kopts, for instance) and it appears as he might be from there, if we believe he is christian. And if we don't, it's not so far-fetched to say he is muslim.  If we assume that christian God is called Light in this universe, then wouldn't Allah be called the same, if it literally means "god" as well?

Another, even though a vibe-based sort of argument is the Leper's poetry. It doesn't sound like your usual mediaeval european poetry to me but it is so, so much like islam poetry (not even necessarily arabic, just muslim!) Let me provide an example of poems written by Zahir al-Din Babur (there are multiple spellings of his name in european literature, keep that in mind), who is, btw an op padishah, a poet and, arguably, a mlm: "It is necessary to behave, to be depressed, // We need to forget what we forgot. // Ayshu gave water to the rose, // Ghussa seedlings need to be dried." I mean… that's very much what the Leper could have said, isn't it?

My main point being, it's very interesting how all monotheistic religions more or less fit into the Light religion of dd. I'm pretty sure it wasn't intentional but, again, it doesn't stop me from wondering. The ultimate variant can be that, actually, all of these suggestions of particular character's faith are true and Light is just an equivalent of God, having many names and surrounded by different rituals in various cultures, but singular God nonetheless. What i like about this suggestion is that it basically means that there’s no preliminary feud between all of the mentioned denominations/faiths which, in my peace-loving opinion, is very nice

end note: this whole thing is based on the belief that the religion system is similar to what we have in real life (because virtually it is very similar) but i understand how funny the idea of looking for historical accuracy and parallels in a fantasy video game really is. i also understand that my knowledge is limited and i have my biases but i think these are things worth sharing still. If you finished reading this, thank you :P

[sos717]

could you maybe explain the whole "dropping the desire" thing a bit more closely? cus idk but whenever i hear people saying to drop the desire, it makes me feel like i have to give up everything i "want" and accept this shitty life i have. like i just don't understand. what do i even do when i have nothing to "manifest"? when i have desires, i can tell myself that everything's okay because im gonna be outta here soon (and living my best life having all my desires) but with nd, i don't quite get what the "end goal" is. hope this doesn't sound stupid, it's just that i've been in the manifestation community since 2016 now, having desires every single day and looking forward to finally manifesting them (which never happened btw), so suddenly just dropping them feels so strange to me. it's already so late where i live and i'm tired so this probably doesn't make a lot of sense, but i still hope you can tell what i'm trying to ask😵‍💫

Hello there 🫶☀️🪷 don’t ever feel bad for

Alrighty I can feel that this is gonna be a longer answer so I hope you’re ready.

Firstly, believe me or not but I know exactly what you’re going through, I’m sure allot of people do.

So firstly let’s this out of the way, why do I keep saying there is no manifestation? To understand that, we also have to understand ND. Let’s break it down first from what ND is and what it states, then you’ll automatically get the answer to why manifesting is not real and the reality of the situation is 100x better in my opinion.

Nonduality is the understanding that there is, well, no duality, no separation in any of “this”. Everything is included in this, thoughts, ideas, the world, people, feelings, events, food, cars, money, desire, you, sense of self, all of it. All of existence is just one, all the same. And this is what you are, dissolving labels and everything, we can realize there is no point where you end and the entire universe begins. Without labels, nothing is named, nothing is decided as yes or no or good or bad, it all just is, a nameless is-ness. You are this infinite presence, nameless, timeless, formless, appearing as everything. No-thing appearing as something. A hollow appearance at that but regardless, an appearance.

And if you are everything, if it’s all just one, and this is what we are, then everything is just what we appear as. So the realization of “$100” is the experience of it. There is nothing to do, there is nothing to achieve because it’s all you and the realization or awareness of this idea is the experience. It doesn’t matter how you feel so you can cry, get mad and do whatever you want because it doesn’t change the nature of what you are, this “ “ nameless thing you are remains untouched. There’s no worrying about the what ifs or time delays because again, this is what you appear as by realizing it.

You say your “manifestation” never happened, and I think it’s time to be clear with yourself (as I have done this many times before). Are you affirming and visualizing to change or get something, or as a means to remind yourself of what is yours. And affirmation does not get you anything, it’s what it means to you in terms of identity that matters.

I could look at a rock and rub it 3 times, and because to me it means I’m going to get a free coffee, it’s instantly true.

You can make anything mean you have what you want, you don’t just make the rules your are the rules. This whole idea of dropping is also just a way for people to not worry about their desire. Personally I do what I want. I’m everything, If I feel like thinking about it cus it makes me happy I will, but if I’m thinking about it in a “I need to affirm to get this” kind of way, ima just stop, remember that this is not a technique but a reminder of what naturally we exist as.

You never have to give up on what you like because this life is meant to be cherished and enjoyed.

There’s no reason to live a life that makes you unhappy, your literally god, god is all, you are everything. You. Got. This. Don’t make it a process, don’t make it a journey, and most definitely don’t thing ND is a technique to manifest. There is no manifesting, only being, so this isn’t something you turn off and on. I hope this helped, I myself have been pretty sleepy so I hope this made sense 😭🤭🫶☀️🪷🌚🌝

[head---ache]

New character charts!!!

Edit: Added new info to Lash's section + Added a link to Emmie's section.

They're here!!! The only new info is in the charts themselves btw, the long text under this is the same, except very minor changes. I just thought it would be better than having to go to the old charts to read all of this.

Emmie: She's now officially the one and only Tube Baby of the group!!! I imagine Tails will later use the big fucking tube in his lab, just not for any of the kids in this group (here's three posts about it: First, second, third).

Just to quickly mention it, her full name is Emily, however, everyone in her life just calls her Emmie, because, according to her, 'it goes with her vibe' (first talked about here + in universe explanation here).

She has Black Arms DNA, and although it's uncertain how it affects her, they (Emmie and her dads) know she has green Black Arms blood (shown here) and has access to the hivemind, which as a baby she used to communicate with Shadow (here), but as she grew older she stopped using it, and now finds it harder to access to it.

She also, of course, has Chaos Energy. She can perform Chaos Control (in this one) and turn Super (that second thing they don't know until she's a teenager, shown in this comic). She also has all the abilities Sonic and Shadow share (such as spindash).

Sparks: Like I've said before, Sparks is a Belly Baby, Blaze carried (here's context).

Sparks has fire powers, similar to Blaze's, though they find it a bit harder to control. They get Blaze and Espio's help to learn to use said powers, since they require a lot of concentration. Also, again, like Blaze, they can turn into Burning Sparks (here), but that form is more unstable and drains their energy pretty fast.

I am also taking this space to clarify this about the entire family (including Tulip). Since Blaze is a princess, Amy, Sparks and Tulip do acquire royalty related titles, however, they're very informal and don't hold that much power, since Blaze didn't want them to have any responsability simply because they're related to her. So they're royalty just by name.

Lash: Another Belly Baby, your local surprise baby representation.

Like is said in her chart, her main ability is acrobatics. She also has some sort of super speed but she doesn't rely much on it.

It's not said in her chart but she has both mommy and daddy issues and is often at Aim's house. The first time she stepped into that home and Tangle and Whisper welcomed she immediately felt glued to that family (here).

She also has two younger siblings, Strike and Decay (post introducing them here), and at first she didn't have that much of a relationship with, since they're younger than her and closer to each other, and since Lash spends a lot of time away from home, however, she eventually steps in and tries to be a part of her siblings' lifes as their parents' should've been.

Aim: I finally decided that he's also a Belly Baby, mostly because the timing didn't add up, since him and Emmie are the same age and there's only one Baby Making Tube.

Like it says in their chart, he does archery, which is his main fighting technique, however, during battle they also use their tail to move around faster (otherwise he just keeps it under his cloak) and teams up with Whisper's wisps in very rare occasions.

He does not speak, unlike Whisper who simply speaks quietly. Aim doesn't speak at all, but everyone around him eventually just finds a way to understand him (because I think it's funny). He very usually is the braincell carrier of the group.

Bria: Bria's a Belly Baby as well, it just felt like something Sonia would want.

They don't have any special ability, but they did learn martial arts as a way of self defense, consdering the group of people she often is surrounded by.

Even though Bria's hard of hearing, his biggest passion is music (over being a hero). She plays piano and guitar.

He's also the extrovert of the group. The loudest and friendliest there is. (Should I also add they're Emmie's cousin?)

Tulip: I was a bit more indecisive with him, but in the end I decided to also make him a Belly Baby, because otherwise it felt weird for that to be the one thing he has in common with Emmie. (In-universe explanation here!)

He hasn't shown any special ability yet -he's the youngest of the group though, being only ten years old-, so he isn't allowed to be around the other kids when there's danger, however, he's very sneaky and often gets things to work in his favor anyways. He does have an interest in tarot though, thanks to Amy, and he also shows to have an impressive intuition.

When he's not around Sparks he is often found next to Big, probably complaining to him about something.

Destiny: One and only Code Baby!! She's basically made from the same programming as Nicole, but more advanced and sophisticated.

Being an AI herself, she can hack robots and similar things, which helps during battle. They can also get into anyone's computer if they want to (they rarely do).

She usually takes the leader role very naturally, immediately making a plan on the spot and guiding the rest of the group. However, she's quite shy (even while being an extrovert. This forms a bit of a problem for her, wanting to be around people but being too shy to do it). Her more confident side mainly showing when assuming the role of the leader. She has great friends tho, who encourage to speak up and lead:]

Spades: She's a belly baby just because of the timeline, there simply wasn't a way without changing her age to make it make sense for her to be a Tube Baby -and I like her being 16-. Unfortunately I backed myself into a corner here JSKDJSKFJWKFKS I don't have many details on how she came to be because, guess what!! There's no real way for her to be the way she is the way I want it to happen:]]] So let's just use our imagination and say that it's possible for two amab people to have a kid who's biologically related to both of them because this is a world where magic color changing hedgehogs are a thing so this isn't super crazy, okay? Okay.

Like I said in this post, Spades has trajectory manipulation, so basically she will never miss her target, and can move away whatever is thrown at her, so that's pretty handy:] She also trains with Espio, so she has a lot of his abilities. She doesn't really want to be a ninja but has many of the skills.

She's the mom of the group!!! And the braincell carrier. She is very sweet and caring, but also quiet and calculating. Her strategy is the best, and her stoic appareance makes her look a bit threatening, but she's actually a total sweetheart!!

Also about swimming!! She really likes it because she finds it relaxing. You can't hear anything underwater so she likes to close her eyes and just swim around.

She gets along with everyone in the group, but is usually hanging out with Aim and Lash:)

And that's it for the individual kids!!

Here's some other links of interest:

-1. Character reference sheets for all most of the fankids, including a height chart.

-2. Voice claims!!!

-3. The old charts!!

-4. Ideas for weapons:)

[moonyasnow]

My OCs' JoJo Stands!

To anyone from JoJo fandom finding this: Hi :) I'm Moony! (they/them) My main fandom is something else (Twisted Wonderland) but I'm also a really big JoJo fan and have made Stands for 7/8 of my OCs! Hope you like them!

And for everyone else who kinda knows me already:

Not including Lisle because he didn't exist yet when I made these! The order of this goes in ascending order from how interesting I think the stand is, so ending with my favorite!

Also gonna be some spoilers-ish for: Part 3 (maybe??? I mention the name of two stands Part 5 (some character names, 2-3 fights I think?, and two Stands) I just wanna cover all my bases 👍

I might do another post with a bunch of my HCs on how they'd get along/not with canon characters (specifically in Part 5 since it's my favorite, but maybe some other misc characters I can see them having interesting relationship dynamics with) but for now here are their Stands!

(also Myzery if you're reading this, the reason I didn't tag you for Veronica is bc you don't watch JoJo and would have no idea what's going on 🥲)

Artemisia

Stand Name: Blackbird

Ability: Broken Wings

Info: Stand gives user the ability to create feathers of any size, shape and color they'd like, so long as they can be found in nature. User can, for example, form the feathers into the shape of a shield, or a parasol, or a pillow. The second, more often used ability lets user create a full suit made of feathers, along with a pair of big actual wings on her back. Just think of White Album's suit but made of feathers instead, with thin, translucent feathers in front of her face as a kind of visor. This way, she won't be seen by non-Stand users, since the feathers cover every inch of her body. It has a physical form in the suit, but it, much like Thoth, White Album's ice-suit and Hermit Purple's vines is not a humanoid Stand and instead in the form of a tool.

Method of Activation: at user's will

Limit: it, just like its user, is weak to sunlight. The Stand can only be in use for around 30 minutes while under direct sunlight, after which it will literally start to melt and burn. So the best use of this Stand is at night, with a suit made of black feathers.

Range: 5m

Spike

First of all; I'm gonna be 100% transparent and say that both his Stand, as well as Spike himself actually, originated from this fic!

The basic gist of it is that, it's a fic where a male reader (bordering on OC) was one of the Stardust Crusaders, later went on to have a thing with Bucciarati, and later had to leave to help the fight in Part 6. I think I've changed Spike enough that he and the character in this fic are no longer the same, but the description of how the Stand looks (maybe also how it works??? It's been a while; I don't 100% remember) is lifted directly from this So I wanted to give credit! (btw please read it, it's so good)

Stand Name: Skillet

Ability: Spikes

Info: Can make razor sharp spikes appear anywhere the Stand touches. Can also throw spikes like bullets. Whenever user gets too angry, shows up unprompted and snarls at the target of Spike's ire.

Method of Activation: At user's will

Limit: If not careful, could harm allies, and user himself, with spikes, too. A real double-edged sword.

Range: 2-10m (Stand can only go two meters away but the spikes can show up as far as 10 meters away if Skillet makes contact with the same surface— such as the ground)

Appearance description:

The Stand itself has deep red skin, wears a spiked blindfold over its eyes, and even though its mouth has been sewn shut with something that looks like thin metal wire, it wears a muzzle. Two giant spikes go through its hands, as well as through its entire torso just below the collar bones, and it has sharp, black claws instead of fingers. There are spikes coming out of its head, too.

Tomoe

Stand Name: Good Charlotte

Ability: record-making, poison

Ability Name: Chronicles of Life, Chronicles of Death

Info: For the ability 'Chronicles of Life', if Stand has a piece of something— DNA from a person, a piece of an object, etc— it can analyze it and find out about its history, after which it will produce a historical document, its shape depending on the time and culture the object came from. Once created, a document can not be destroyed through killing the user, but can be burned or destroyed in the same way as any other book, scroll or tablet. User can also wish for the Stand to hone in on a specific angle when making a Chronicle. For the ability 'Chronicles of Death', the Stand has sharp quills it uses to write with, and if user chooses, Good Charlotte can shoot the quills like projectiles at a target. The ink the Stand uses is poisonous to living things when wet, leading to a slow but painless death that looks and feels like falling asleep— it usually takes 10 minutes to work to its full effect.

Method of Activation: At user's will

Limit: It records details you might see written down in a historical document or an old myth or legend, meaning more mundane details are often ignored unless user tells it to specifically hone in on a specific angle. The smaller the material Stand has to work with, the more incomplete the Chronicle will be. And as far as the poisonous ink goes, the ink dries very quickly, meaning a subject would need to be no further away than maybe two meters for the ink to actually poison them, so ranged projectiles are not poisonous. And if the poison is extracted within 10 minutes, the subject will only be asleep for a few hours before waking up again.

Range: 1m

I don't have any art for this one, so here's a description instead:

Red, black, white and gold colors cheme

Skin is a vibrant deep red color and its body looks a bit like a metallic ball-joint-doll, lower arms being a white color with black fingers, and lower legs white with black feet. Two golden, pupil-less eyes, no mouth or nose. Wears a monocle with many lenses over its left eye, each lense added giving an enhanced zoom-in effect. It wears a darker red toga with a gold and black same-komon pattern. On the back of its head, it wears a big, golden bow.

Irina

Stand Name: Copycat

Ability: Persuasion

Ability Name: Copy That, Copycat

Info: User can persuade a subject to stop being mad at and/or like them more, and the mirror on Copycat's face shows the faces of the people currently being affected. In this state, user can much more easily persuade someone of almost anything so long as the user has a somewhat believable story, and during it Copycat whispers in their ear. And when its mirror is in use, Copycat will imitate the body language and personality of whoever reflected in its mirror it's standing the closest to, letting the user take notes on what kind of behavior would work best to truly persuade the person in front of them with. It's a Stand that's very good for reconnaissance, buying time, can function similarly to a bribe, or could potential lower a subject's guard somewhat. Though, it's not very useful on its own in combat, since when someone has decided to kill you, getting within two meters of them is not a good idea. If she was ever separated from Copycat, like what happened with Fugo and Purple Haze in the Illuso fight, it would try to search for her, then sit down on the ground, hug itself and tremble if it couldn't find her. If it found someone Irina knows who isn't actively hostile, it'd try to jump toward them and cling to their leg.

Method of Activation: Subject looking into Copycat's mirror while within a meter of it.

Limit: Only works on up to 10 people at a time, and the potency decreases the more subjects the ability is split between. If subject(s) has been outside of Stand's range for an hour, the effect wears off.

Range: 2m total. The Stand itself cannot travel further than one meter away from her body, and can affect someone standing at most a meter away, so a total of two meters.

Copycat has a lot of potential to grow. Right now, its user is extremely timid, and feels way too guilty about using its abilities at all to feel confident in its use.

But if she were to become a bit more confident, a bit more willing to use that power, Copycat could become a truly scary stand— one that can puppet people's minds to its user's ends.

Just like Giorno said in the fight against Cioccolata, a Stand is someone's unconscious will given form, so if someone feels guilt or hesitancy about using their ability, it acts as a form of brake.

Junia

Stand Name: Mother Knows Best

Ability: Listen to your mother

Info: Stand causes subject to misremember instructions they've been give, instead remembering a distorted version of often very strange things to do that, if precisely followed, will lead to the best possible outcome. Stand can be used on both user or unrelated subject. Can also be used for some light combat. If Mother hits a subject on request of the user, that person will get the same horrible, dizzying headache and nosebleed as when its instructions are not followed. If Stand is upset and has given subject headache, anyone who touches the Stand will get the same headache.

Method of Activation: Subject needs to be given advice or instructions by someone, and Mother needs to touch them.

Limit: If the instructions of Mother Knows Best are not very precisely followed, the outcome will be disastrous, and Mother turns red in anger, also giving the subject who disobeyed the orders a severe, dizzy headache and a nosebleed. Ability can also only be used once every 12 hours, whether that be on the user or another person.

Range: 3m

At first when she discovers her Stand, she's very unsure about the instructions it gives her, and might end up not following them exactly because she doesn't trust herself, which just ends in her getting a nose bleed and a horrible headache. And she's a bit on edge whenever she sees it because she feels like it's judging her all the time— watching her for mistakes just like her mother used to.

She needs to learn that this is her ability, and to trust her own powers in order to make the best use of Mother Knows Best.

At some point she named her Stand 'Mother Knows Best', though usually she just shortens it down to 'Mother'.

She's really good at flower fortunes— and the crazy part is that her flower fortunes are right every single time without fail.

When she or someone else asks a question, her Stand activates and makes her misremember the question as something else but also related. Then she asks the person who asked the question to turn around while she consults the flower. She started doing this because a pair of invisible hands— well, invisible to all but her— picking off the petals one by one and whispering 'yes' or 'no' to her as it picks them looks creepy to most people.

Then she turns around and says the fortune.

Just as an example, if they asked if they can see their crush tomorrow, Mother Knows Best might rearrange the question to make her hear 'will (crush) eat rotten fish today'. Then when Junia turns around and says that yes, (crush) will be eating rotten fish today. The person asking might think it's weird and not trust it. Then the next day, their crush is nowhere to be seen. And the day after that, when they see each other again, the crush tells them they had to stay home the day prior with food poisoning— the fish they had for dinner was apparently rotten.

Since she herself isn't actually aware of her Stand, she never does this consciously— in her perspective, it just happens every time she does a flower fortune.

But, her mother has told her that her flower fortunes are a waste of time, so she doesn't do it a lot anymore, even though she thinks it's fun.

Veronica

Stand Name: Crane Wife

Ability: Paper

Ability Name: Unraveling, Curses

Info: A medium-range combat Stand made entirely out of origami, looks like a simplified 3D paper version of the user, wearing hakama pants, a crop top and it’s hair up in a ponytail. Though the face has no eyes, nose or mouth, only a pair of eyebrows to let you know how it's feeling. It's also possible for two spots on the Stand's cheeks to be dyed into two perfect circles of reddish pink if it— and by extension the user— is feeling flustered. This is its most common form, a small origami crane being the second most common. The ability 'Unraveling' allows it to fold itself up to a maximum size of 100square feet, into any shape without getting any thicker, making it able to fit under any gap. The paper is extremely durable and not easily cut through, but also incredibly sharp— sharp enough to let the Stand use a sword made of the paper. It's an incredibly powerful Stand, and if no water, fire or strong wind is present, it's almost unbearable. Almost. It's a Glass Canon of a Stand: incredibly powerful at the cost of being incredibly easy to harm once something gets close enough. And also the ability 'Curses' lets the user cut off a small part of the stand and ascribe an effect to it, then fuse it to a subject's skin, after which it lasts for 30 minutes, then falls off. The effect is to make the subject experience some type of pain— anything from feeling as though the part of the body it's attached to it is on fire, frozen, being put through a meat-grinder, etc. though it does not actually harm the subject in any way. Curses also takes a toll on its user, as it has to sacrifice large amount of energy to tear off a piece of the Stand. Its worst weakness is fire— fire will instantly set it aflame, and user could die if Stand is not put out. It's an off-white color and cannot be dyed, and thus quite easy to spot. It is possible to write on, but the writing disappears if Stand is called back. It's a surprisingly talkative Stand; whenever Veronica tries to hide or lie about her emotions, it comes out of its own volition and voices her emotions for her, unless she tries very, very hard to keep it from doing so. It can be anything, from cussing someone out, to giving them praise. Or, going over to someone Veronica secretly really likes, laying down on its stomach, kicking its feet in the air with elbows on the ground, hands holding its face up, two reddish pink circles on its face, just staring at them.

Method of Activation: At user's will

Limit: Weak to fire, water and winds above 40mph. The body itself is also not very stable. A glass canon, basically— if she is hit in battle, that's usually it.

Range: 30m

The left is the Combat/regular form, and the right is the Scout form (the little origami crane)

Victor

Stand Name: Oh Hello

Ability: Necromancy

Ability names: Wormwood, Danse Macabre

Info: The ability 'Wormwood' lets the Stand take the corpses of any non-human animal and twist them into Frankenstein creatures that do the user's bidding. The user can choose to see through the eyes of one creature at a time. The creatures can also be just the unaltered corpses of animals, but the less altered they are the likelier it is they will be disobedient, though it is easier and takes less time than creating one from scratch. The creatures can do things like spy for their User, attack the User's enemies, collect things for the user, bury things, or simply act as companions; pets. The creatures 'live' until one of their organs are affected. User can create however many creatures they want, however, the more they create at once the less smart, cooperating and refined— and thus easier to destroy— the creatures will be. Any corpse will do, but use fresh ones for the best result— the creatures will continue to rot while they're reanimated, and at a faster rate than if they were left untouched. The ability 'Danse Macabre' allows user to give a group of Creatures the same order and have them all act at once— normally, the more Creatures the user gives orders to, the more energy it takes. But Danse Macabre lets user give one singular order to the entire army. Though, it automatically gives the same order to every single Creature, meaning no other orders can be performed at that time. Wormwood can also choose to reanimate just one singular bone— though it won't be able to do anything. For a Creature to be useful, they must be able to move, which means the body must have the muscles and bone structure necessary TO move.

Method of Activation: User touching the corpse of an animal.

Limit: The creatures only 'live' until the next sunrise after they were first created— after that they fall apart into bloody bits of gore and then turn to dust.

Range: 3m

Oh Hello is a hulking, dark blue blue, robotic torso with a cute white and brown cartoon dog head with a halo above it. It sounds like a dog. Its small, adorable cartoon mouth shaped like a sideways 3 isn't its true mouth. If you get close enough to it, its true mouth opens, and it's giant, filled with razor sharp teeth.

And here are the songs their Stands were named after!

Here's the website I used to make the parameters

Annnnd here's some miscellaneous art!

Tagging my moots who I know like JoJo >:3

@bunniehunn @faefum @gingacat

(if I forgot someone PLEAAAAAASE LET ME KNOW. I need to have you all on a L I S T so I know who I can yap about JoJo with 👁️👁️)