#but also The Problems Encroach :3

[ender-lune]

AUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH. FUCK!!! [emits a psychic blast blows up everything in a 500 mile radius]

[spicysourchimken]

Danny and Constantine's completely regular road trip

So I've had this fic idea rolling around my brain for about 3 months and I've decided to finally set it free into the ether (I have it mostly planned, about 9 of the 18 or so chapters). Its mostly because my energy has been down the drain

So

Constantine hears word of a new occultist practising some very advanced magic out in the US, he decides to investigate. It's not for league business, it's solely because he's annoyed someone is encroaching on his area of expertise (and also may or may not be a demon, but that's less of a concern for him)

Cue Constantine dropping in on Danny, who is about to preform an exorcism. Alone. And is a child. The two proceed to bicker where Constantine takes care of the problem himself, leaving Danny in the dust

Now 18 year old Danny Fenton, vigilante turned occultist is out for revenge. He rocks up to Constantine's next gig and handles it for him

Let's just say Danny isn't exactly thrilled when he realises its Constantine whose been screwing with him

And so goes the fic, two idiots following eachother around trying to sabotage eachother and get the job done before the other even has a chance

Constantine magically locks doors, Danny freezes things shut. Stealing things, purposefully messing up the others work. Dumb hijinks

At some point Danny loses his car and ends up (with the help of the sentient car) hiding in the trunk of Constantine's and getting away with it for at least a week

So now they're stuck together as they begin taking care of the supernatural goings on across the US.

Constantine and Danny are rivals to friends to father son dynamic

(Also yes I am Aware that this is essentially just supernatural but with a dp x dc coat of paint. It haunts me)

[missriyochuchi]

The Torchbearer and the Flagbearer

Summary: The Torchbearer and the Flagbearer meet in the Jardin des Tuileries after the Opening Ceremony and commiserate about the Olympic Games.

Word count: 1.7k

Warnings: Established relationship. Mentions of death.

Notes: I imagined these two like otherworldly beings blessing the games, what with the Olympics being invented by ancient Greeks as a partly religious event. As such, I would have preferred to keep them gender neutral, but because I’m writing this in a pinch and want to be able to distinguish between them without constantly using their names, I opted for gendered pronouns. But nothing about their physical descriptions are particularly gendered; I’m just leaning on the old linguistic quirk lol Also, how tf is there no video of the Flagbearer!? I wanted to gif her/their entrance but couldn’t find a damn thing! She/They deserves more love!

Read on AO3 - Part 2 - Part 3

Darkness cloaks the Jardin des Tuileries. Even the cauldron floating above its center offers little illumination on the ground. Shadows play along the perimeter, tourists passing in the midnight hour, their idle conversations lost to the humid air. The soft patter of rain echoes across the masonry scattered throughout the empty park. Only the occasional creak of metallic plates and restless hoofbeats betray the garden’s solitary visitors.

The Flagbearer looks up at the orange orb in the sky. She marvels at the city’s ingenuity. Decades of oil and gas have finally given way to an electric fire. Only with such technological advancements could engineers even dream of safely flying the eternal flame above the City of Lights. If only the future was as assuredly bright, the Flagbearer thinks. Her gaze drifts back down to the darkness below, the surrounding chill creeping back into her senses. Her horse stirs beneath her and jostles her mind back to the present.

“Easy, Zeus,” she murmurs as she presses her legs to the animal’s sides in an attempt to soothe both their anxieties. “Patience.”

No Olympic Games are ever truly free of political problems, an inevitability of any gathering between disparate peoples, but they weigh heavier on the Flagbearer’s mind now more than ever. Her part in the Opening Ceremony is small but significant, and though she spends less time among the crowds than her eternal counterpart, she catches enough to gauge that tensions are higher than ever before. The darkness of the night seems to encroach and bleed into the darkness in her mind as she ponders human history and her role in it. Before her resolve could lurch under the gravity of her thoughts, the light crunch of gravel announces his arrival.

“You are late,” the Flagbearer intones harshly. She steers her steed to turn around and face the approaching footsteps.

Enough ambient light creeps across the park to distinguish the Torchbearer’s silhouette, catching on the gauzy pieces of his attire bobbing in the breeze. His stride is sure, his stature straight, betraying neither weariness nor arrogance. Only a few meters away, he shrugs and raises his palms out at his sides, teasing, “I did not have a ride.”

The Flagbearer is unmoved but in no mood to quarrel. “How are you, my love?” Her voice floats soft and light through the misty drizzle.

“Exhausted.” His shoulders slump fractionally, perceptible only to his eternal flame facing him. “And you?”

“Concerned.”

The Torchbearer reaches for the horse’s muzzle and runs a familiar hand along his nose. “I hope you are not as troubled as your rider, mon joli cheval.” Zeus bows his long head and huffs in response. His palm runs along the animal’s left flank, lifting once he reaches the Flagbearer’s side. He extends both hands to her gloved ones and helps her to the ground.

“What ails my sweet?” He pinches her chin.

She hums and takes one of his hands in both of hers, squeezing hard enough to convey her worry. “In all our years shepherding these games, did you ever know the atmosphere to be this—”

“I know. The world is—”

“Restless.”

“Yes, and—”

“Not at peace.”

“Never has been, my love.”

“I do not remember it ever being this—”

“Your worries are not unfounded, cherie, but you must redirect your attention elsewhere.”

They circle the base beneath the cauldron, hand in hand. Zeus follows close behind, his reins tied to the saddle. While the nightlife bustles beyond the park’s pocket of silence, the few security guards on duty watch the hooded figures from a distance.

Event organizers had explicitly and numerously instructed personnel not to approach or engage with the Torchbearer and Flagbearer. They were both host and blessing to the festivities, and decades of tradition dictated that a respectful, neutral distance be maintained between the host nation and the two Olympic guardians so that there would be no suspicion of impropriety or favoritism during competition.

The Flagbearer recoils, incredulous. “How can you be so indifferent to the violence and rhetoric—”

“I am surprised that between the two of us, you, in your glittering armor, are the first to lose hope and declare defeat.”

“I have not!” She stops them in their orbit and shoves his hand back to his side.

The Torchbearer laughs. He crooks a finger under her chin and raises her gaze. She sighs and closes her eyes as the backs of his fingers graze her cheek. Her hands come up to open and press his palm to the side of her face, his pressure more than his warmth a soothing balm to her inner turmoil. Her voice is low and leaden when she continues.

“I merely wonder if the gods have not tasked us with an impossible mission.”

The Torchbearer falls silent as he contemplates the Flagbearer’s concerns. She did not interact with humans as much as he did, a natural consequence of their separate roles. While the Olympic torch exchanged hands with every kind of man and woman, the Olympic flag exchanged hands with a significantly select few. As a result, the Flagbearer’s opinion of humanity often leaned towards the optimistic while the Torchbearer’s leaned towards the pessimistic. He had come to know, better than she, the complexities of human nature, their heavenly highs and their hellish lows. They spent decades arguing about the tenuous balance. Now, as he watches his partner’s shoulders sag with the weight of the world, he finds himself despondent that she seems poised to concede to his viewpoint and knows it, knows that she lost this one important battle. He wraps an arm around her shoulders and guides their walk away from the cauldron.

“Plus vite, Plus haute, Plus fort.” The Torchbearer rattles off the Olympic motto.

“Citius, Altius, Fortius, my dear. Latin may be dead, but it is still your mother tongue.”

“‘Ensemble.’ C’est la partie importante. And that is precisely what they are doing and continue to do.”

“But for how long? We do not have a future if they do not, and my darling, I do not see—”

“We cannot predict the future any more than humans can. It is none of our concern. The gods will take care of us.”

“The gods have abandoned us, just as the humans have abandoned them.” The Flagbearer catches the ice in her voice and does her best to warm her vitriol. “We do not exist outside these games, my love. And if these games end, if the world can find no purpose to these communal competitions—”

Silence. The specter of death looms large in their periphery. Every Closing Ceremony marks the end of their days on Earth, a return to a darkness beyond darkness. And every two years, they are reborn and reimagined back into existence to inspire and perform and protect the Olympic Games. Despite the constancy of this cyclical event, the eternal guardians find humans increasingly less hospitable to the ideals they represent. What is sportsmanship to a world where even the rules of war no longer hold?

“Steel your heart as this city has steeled your form.” The Torchbearer steps close enough for the edge of his hood to kiss hers. “The next host cities have been decided, their venues under construction. We still have a future. There is no reason to despair.”

“For now.”

“For now.” He sighs at her obstinacy, but knows not to push further or risk wasting precious moments on a fruitless fight. “In the meantime, the games have begun, and we do not have much time together.”

A smirk plays beneath the Flagbearer’s hood. She perks up at her partner’s motives. “Sixteen days is not enough to spend with you.” She steps closer and brings her forehead to his. She squeezes his biceps, and he rubs her elbows in return. They exchange breaths for a moment of eternity.

“Come.” The Torchbearer takes her hands and swings her in circles. Their laughs echo as they near the horse. “Much of the city has changed since we were last here, and you will not see them if you continue to sulk beneath the cauldron.”

The Flagbearer mounts Zeus and extends an arm to help the Torchbearer take a seat behind her. He presses his front to her back, unbothered by her damp cape. He slides his arms along either side of her waist and rests his hands atop hers on the horn of the saddle. The horse ambles forward towards the city streets.

Buoyed by the Torchbearer’s embrace, the Flagbearer regains a sliver of her hope and optimism. “The Italians will call on us next. Perhaps we will meet a changed world by then.”

“We always do. I wonder what forms they have planned for us.”

“I quite like this form on you, my dear. The cut of your jacket complements you well.”

“As does this armor on you, mon amour.” His hands find the edge of her cuirass and sneak nimble fingers to the suit underneath.

She giggles at the light pressure below her ribcage. “I will miss hearing you speak this city’s language.”

The Torchbearer tightens his hold on the Flagbearer, impressing his being into hers. “You worry about community and forget that we are in the City of Love.”

“Paris is not the world, my dear.” They sway in sync as Zeus carries them towards the edge of the garden.

“Perhaps, but the Olympic Village is, or at least, as close an approximation as the humans are capable of producing. If it is unity you seek, we will surely find a certain kind—”

“You said you were exhausted.” Amusement lightens the Flagbearer’s tone, her heavy mind now fizzy with thoughts of the Torchbearer’s amorous intentions.

“Never enough to deter me from you.” He presses his chin to her shoulder, his words vibrating down the expanse of her armor. “Would you waste the energy of the players’ liaisons?”

Her hood whips to the side as he squeezes the unarmored flesh of her upper thigh. Before she can answer, he takes the reins and brings Zeus to a gallop towards the Olympic Village.

“No more talk,” he heaves with urgency. “I need you before the sun rises and our duties begin again.”

Footnotes:

mon joli cheval - my pretty horse cherie - dear Plus vite, Plus haute, Plus fort (French) / Citius, Altius, Fortius (Latin) - Faster, Higher, Stronger ‘Ensemble.’ C’est la partie importante. (French) - ‘Together.’ That is the important part. mon amour - my love

“The 100% electric flame burns no fuel. The ring of fire uses 40 LED spotlights to illuminate the cloud created by 200 high-pressure misting nozzles.” (source)

According to the engineers who built the mechanical horse, its name is Zeus.

[alpaca-clouds]

Solarpunk Game Ideas: CRPGs

Here I go on with my ideas for Indie Solarpunk games, that are not some sort of building sim or farming sim - and of course I cannot do this without mentioning CRPGs.

Mind you, despite what you might think given that over the course of the last year I have barely played anything but a certain CRPG (BG3), CRPGs are actually not really a genre of game I am super into, even though some of my favorite games are CRPGs. But as a genre in general I usually like faster paced games a lot more. It is just that when I hyperfocus on something that usually is a result of me getting obsessed with a character from it - and that is more likely to happen with a CRPG than with a metroidvania.

But how to do a Solarpunk CRPG?

The Issue:

Look, there really are not any CRPGs right now that are in any way Solarpunk. And I would argue this goes again back to the issue that people struggle with telling stories within a Solarpunk setting, as they are too set in the idea that a) Solarpunk needs to be an utopian setting (or a setting that pretends to be utopian) and b) that utopian settings will not allow for any conflict whatsoever. Additionally there is of course also the issue that most CRPGs do involve violence in form of fighting, which is what a lot of people struggle with - even though some amazing indie games like Disco Elysium have shown very well, that you can do a CRPG without a combat system.

So, let's go over some ideas for Solarpunk CRPGs.

Idea #1: Off-Brand Princess Mononoke

If you follow me for any time, you might know that to me there is no movie or piece of media that is more Solarpunk than Princess Mononoke. And thankfully we can easily build a sort of CRPG around it, either with a similar historical setting or just a fullon fantasy setting. Because remember: Solarpunk does not need to be Science Fiction!

No matter whether you go with a historical setting or just a full-on fantasy setting, the idea is fairly easy: The player character has a magical problem and they need the help of some sort of spirits. As they travel to the place of the spirit, they find out that the spirits are in a war with some group of humans, that are encroaching of the home of the spirits, because they try to access some sort of ressources, driving the spirits nearly to extinction. The player would have the choice in the end which side to join - or whether they will try to broker peace between spirits and humans.

Bonus: You'd have several choices how to play the game - but it is not a clear cut "good" and "evil", especially when the humans might have good reasons to need the ressource.

Idea #2: A SciFi Conspiracy

This idea is very much for a somewhat shorter game. Think a bit more like "Shadowrun Returns". Something that has more like 15 to 20 minutes of a runtime.

We go with the idea I brought up in one of the other ideas before: We have a Solarpunk world, that runs on mainly anarchist principles, and there are some arguments going about over some of the security mechanisms. (Anarchy can after all not properly work, if some people have weapons and others don't have - but you cannot undo the existence of weapons.) Our main character is part of some security force, that mostly are just trained to deescalate situations, but are in some cases allowed to use force.

And when a group of pro-capitalists or maybe even actual fascists start a conspiracy to take over the government, and they already have some co-conspirators in all positions. And the main characters need to navigate this with a mixture of diplomacy and violence, with the player getting a fairly good influence on how this plays out.

Idea #3: A Natural Disaster

Let me take one approach, that is inspired by one of the most Solarpunk movies, that is not by Ghibli: Misaki no Mayogai. That movie takes place after the Tohoku earthquake and is very much about mutual aid in the community.

And here is the thing: No, CRPGs do not need to have combat. So this is an idea for a CRPG without combat. We have a natural disaster of some sort. Honestly it does not matter. An earthquake, a flood, a vulcano... Can be anything. It just did destroy a lot of stuff in a big area. And the game is very much about rebuilding after this disaster, about people helping each other through mutual aid, and then building something better from it. It could feature a society going full Solarpunk if you want to (like a positive post-apocalypse) or just something getting a bit better. Build back better and such.

And if you are interested in creative Solarpunk endeavors, I would love to invite you into the Solarpunk Creatives community! :)

[snapscube]

So do you have a spoiler free review of the Spider-Man 2 game, for people like me who haven’t bought/seen the game yet? (I lack money so I have to wait for Christmas lol)

I can give you my top-down thoughts yeah!

Gameplay-wise, it's a night and day improvement over the first game in basically every regard. I've heard some mixed opinions on the new gadget/abilities system, and I had my own hang-ups here and there, but once I got a feel for it and started actively looking for ways to cleverly use them and upgrade them it really clicked. The flow of combat is amazing. The swinging mechanics are a MONUMENTAL improvement over Spider-Man Remastered and Miles Morales. Those games had fantastic swinging, don't get me wrong, but they always had the issue of having a pretty intense speed cap and a disappointingly small amount of maneuvers to play with and master. This game introduces not only the web wings, which add a whole extra dimension of traversal to play with, but also still manages to improve the swinging itself more than I ever expected. Tight cornering, loop-de-loops, slingshots, and more are ALL introduced and work amazingly. And on top of it all, the speed cap for traversal is a 3X INCREASE when fully upgraded. And you feel it IMMEDIATELY, because even the baseline speed is so much faster from the jump. The game just plays beautifully in every regard, easily worth the price of entry for that alone.

Story-wise, I've mentioned I have some hangups about the pacing that I'm still working out. I just started a second story playthrough so I'm giving it time before I form any "final" thoughts, but my gut experience was that the first Act comes out the gate firing on all cylinders. The characters feel so alive, the world is breathtaking, and there's a ton of intrigue. But then once you hit Act 2 and 3 things speed up in a way that can feel a bit unnatural. One thing that helps this though is making sure to pace out your playthrough with side missions. It doesn't fix the pacing entirely, but there are so many side missions in this game that honestly feel just as integral and worth doing as the main story. I would say definitely try to do as much as you can to pace out Act 2 a little more with side content, cause much like Miles Morales this feels like the kind of game that lives and dies by its side stories. The secondary cast is incredible, and there's a ton of easter eggs and emotional beats that are integral to the overall picture of this game but just aren't in the main stuff. But the beats that hit in the main story hit REALLY HARD. The game definitely has the common sequel problem of shooting for a lot more and as a result kinda ends up a lot messier. The first game is still more of a quintessentially good Spider-Man tale than this one. But that is NOT to disparage this one at all. It is WORTH experiencing, for sure, I just think maybe it could have used some more polish. But there are a ton of moving parts, so I can totally see how they ended up with what they did.

I have a lot of other thoughts but those are sorta the big two pillars I can easily discuss without encroaching on spoiler territory and without writing basically a whole article.

[theminecraftbee]

smallishona au mechanics

or, i finally figured out the in-universe mechanics of this persona au! plus some generalized persona mechanics that people may not otherwise know if they don't play persona.

basic premise: the basic premise of this is not based off of any specific persona game, but synthesized from the basic premise of persona 3/4/5. in those games, a group of teenagers discover they have the power of persona, a sort of almost jojo-stand like ability to summon a representation of themselves to fight against shadows, monsters formed from the collective unconsciousness of humanity. they then must travel to another world (broadly, the collective unconscious, although this world has somewhat different mechanics and names in each game), fight shadows, find out why that world is encroaching on our own world, and save humanity from the problems caused by this other world. this normally ends in them fighting god. it is a jrpg and a smt spinoff, after all.

in this SPECIFIC plot, it goes as follows: the 'vanished' is a term referring to people who mysteriously go missing in the middle of their normal routine. this always happens when they are alone, but it can happen at times that are supernatural. these vanishings are being caused when these people, for some reason or another, slip into a realm called 'altered space' and are killed by the shadows there. in order to get to the root of these vanishings, joel and the party must travel through altered space, fight shadows, rescue the trapped people, and determine what's really causing all of this.

joel must do this while also dealing with high school, because, as the protagonist, his powers get stronger the stronger his bonds with other people. these powers--the power to have more than one persona and fuse personas, amongst other things--are the root of many of joel's woes, as the Bit of this au is that joel is the world's most reluctant persona protagonist.

(the more detailed explanations under the cut this gets LONG.)

altered space and the vanished: the manifestation of the collective unconscious that our heroes must travel through in this story. joel (and many others) perceive it as a place you get to by following evil, non-blue butterflies, but interestingly, other people perceive how to reach it differently. the space manifests as a massive, seemingly endless sea of poppies, some of which are wilting and dying. this field is broken up by seemingly collapsed buildings, and while shadows and vanished can be found in the field, more powerful shadows (and more notable people) can only be found inside the buildings.

it is incredibly difficult not to fall asleep inside altered space, and only people with personas are safe from that effect. still, even with a persona, being inside altered space causes a person to grow exhausted much faster than they would in the normal world. the other side of this, however, is that it is nearly impossible to summon a persona in the real world; in altered space, it only takes focusing on your heart and the scar from the first time you summoned it. in the real world you'd probably at LEAST have to stab yourself again.

there is a time limit to save anyone who has become trapped in altered space; if they spend too long there, they will fall permanently asleep and lose themselves forever. this time limit changes depending on who the specific Vanished is, but can be kept track of using the weather (sorry i am stealing persona 4 for this). when the weather gets unusually frigid for the time of year, it is too late to save any vanished in altered space. anyone there must be saved before that.

certain vanished--those with particularly strong feelings of abandonment and loneliness--can warp the buildings they find their way into around themselves. as such, the buildings inside altered space that the vanished are found in can vary wildly, and often reflect the hearts of those inside of them.

indeed, as you may have noted: the vanished, as a rule, are people who feel so alone, they manage to literally lose their grip on reality. a running theme in this au is playing DIRECTLY into the ongoing moral of persona of "you can't do it alone" by saying "in fact, people who are too alone will vanish, since they don't see themselves as 'existing' to other people". as the plot goes on and altered space and the shadows grow more powerful, the amount of loneliness needed to trigger this gets lower and lower, but that's the general theme here. surprise, idiots, the solution was to not be individualists in the first place!

hm. i wonder if this is relevant to our main cast in any way. wink wink.

(persona is not subtle. one of my first impressions of this series was a guy awakening his ultimate persona, satan, and using it to shoot god with a gun. i cannot express enough how unsubtle i can be with the theming here.)

personas and the powers of those who wield them: while personas are the manifestation of someone's heart, they are also a LITTLE bit their own beings. this only comes up occasionally in the persona series, but it will come up sometimes here too, so keep this in mind. another thing that is relevant about personas is that, while in some games this is a subtle element and in some games this is in your face, personas are also the shadow of the wielder. the only difference between a persona and a shadow is that a persona-user has, at least to some level, managed to master their own shadow. however, established in... all three persona games actually but ESPECIALLY in persona 3... is the fact that losing control of yourself can cause you to lose control of your persona to tragic consequences. keep this in mind for later.

personas, since they're also sort of shadows and definitely also manifestations of the collective unconsciousness, take the form of legendary/mythological figures. notably, all of joel's team's personas take the form of "legendary lovers" for their first forms. i say 'first forms', because it is possible for a persona to further evolve, normally at a moment of emotional catharsis for the wielder, when they truly master themselves. this is known as an 'ultimate persona', and its normally stronger than the base form.

in my own au, a persona can initially be awakened only in altered space, and only by someone who is determined not to give in and be forgotten. that person must stab themselves as part of their conviction, although this only happens once; from then on, they can summon their persona through their sense of self, manifesting from the scar from that stab wound, as long as they are in altered space.

a persona's powers work at their maximum level inside of altered space. however, in my au where i can be as self-indulgent as i want, a persona-user CAN technically summon their persona in the real world, it would just take either a moment of supreme will and/or probably stabbing themselves again. additionally, a persona-user's stats start to manifest in the real world as well, ESPECIALLY their HP and SP, since those stats are not inherently tied to the persona itself (thanks, wild cards, for proving this for me). persona-users, as a result, tend to be far more durable than a normal human and have far more energy... although this is a bit of boiling a frog, and it takes a while for them to notice this isn't just a 'fighting shadows' thing. additionally, their abilities also tend to stick with them in small ways in the real world. however, no matter what world they are in, a persona's abilities only work at full power on other persona-users and shadows. maybe this is because a shadow is best at affecting another shadow, and powers inherently born of the unreal/the collective unconscious do not affect the real easily...?

joel is a wild card. unlike a normal persona user, he can switch personas, unlocking new ones both in battle in altered space and by fusing them in the velvet room. these personas also get stronger via his bonds with others. this will all get its own section below.

finally, all persona-users in this world have experienced intense loneliness or isolation of their own at some point; the main difference between them and a vanished is whether or not they managed to grasp themselves despite this isolation. in joel's case, this was because a dam overspilled, collapsed, and destroyed his hometown after the person who was meant to be monitoring it vanished without anyone noticing. each of the other members of the party also have their own relationship with isolation that is explored in the plot and their social links. just awakening to a persona, after all, isn't enough to solve that, and it's important to try to master it in yourself. or else, well... i did say that an out-of-control persona ends tragically.

the velvet room and joel as wild card: as i just said, joel is a wild card/fool. unlike the rest of his team, he will only unlock his ultimate persona at the end of the game, after he has finished traveling through all the tarot and self-actualizing. however, he has a VERY IMPORTANT role: he can switch personas at will, adapting to the situation in order to best use his personas for both combat and bonding with other people. he is the protagonist. he hates this. that is the Bit.

in order to swap between more personas than the number he has room for (normally between eight and sixteen, depending on what level the protagonist is), as well as to fuse personas together to make stronger ones, joel has the assistance of a place called the velvet room. the velvet room is common to every persona game, although it changes form depending on the guest. broadly, it is a mysterious, entirely blue room that exists in a pocket within the collective unconsciousness, between dreams and reality, and can MOSTLY only be accessed by wild cards. (i know that's not how it works exactly in personas 1 and 2, bear with me, we are working off of 3/4/5 logic.) to joel specifically, it takes the form of a yacht traveling across an endless sea of souls.

in every persona game, it is mastered by igor, although igor does not directly describe himself as the master of anything. this mysterious long-nosed man, a servant of another god called philemon that we Will Not Get Into Here He's Mostly Not Relevant, has the power to fuse personas together. he's kind of a creepy-looking and sounding old man, but it's worth noting that igor himself has the protagonist's best interests at heart. igor and his assistant are also the people who tend to know the most about the mechanics of being a persona protagonist, and assist the protagonist in this regard.

assistant? yes! igor has an assistant; in this au it is jimmy. they are always almost white-blonde and have yellow eyes, and wear an entirely blue uniform. they refer to igor as their 'master', all consider each other siblings, are different for each protagonist, and all seem to consider igor someone kind who they appreciate. the assistant has a few roles. the first is to keep track of the compendium, allowing the protagonist to summon any persona they've had in the past for a certain amount of money. the second is to assist the protagonist in their journey and emotional growth. the third is to have a LOT of goofy jokes about not really understanding the human world and i love all of them dearly. these assistants are also definitely not human, but they are often social links themselves, suggesting they might at least have a soul.

in this au, jimmy is joel's hanged man social link. jimmy both tries to help joel understand stuff like "you have to bond with people" and how personas work to some extent, but also is largely discovering himself and the human world through joel. i have Plans for this, it's cute.

only joel can see or access the velvet room, which manifests as a glowing blue door in the entrance to altered space and also in a back alleyway in the real world. to others, he appears to space out or fall asleep standing up when he accesses the velvet room, and attempting to point out that glowing blue door, or even the very real key joel possesses for that door, is futile. rip him.

social links: i've mentioned these a few times; these are the means by which bonds make joel stronger. social links are relationships with people in the real world, represented by tarot cards. joel has a social link for every tarot except for the world, which is reserved for him at the end of his journey. these social links are their own storylines, some tied to the main story, and some separate things that mostly build on themselves that joel has to help with. they 'level up' as joel spends time with these people and grows closer with them.

as one of these special bonds gets stronger, joel gets new abilities. the most baseline of these abilities is the ability to get stronger personas through fusion; growing his bonds directly makes joel stronger in battle as a result. additionally, though, i have decided i like that persona 4/5 also offers mechanical benefits beyond that. as joel levels up his social links with his party members, for example, those party members grow as people and get stronger persona abilities. as joel levels up his social links with non-party members, he may gain things like discounts on gear, new abilities of his own, or general ways to smooth his way in altered space. a maximized social link unlocks the ultimate persona of that tarot, which is incredibly useful.

the bonds you make in the real world help chain you to reality, and in turn, help make you stronger outside of it. hold on to them, wild card. you'll need them.

joel is aware of what tarot each social link is, and diegetically hears the gameplay voice telling him they've leveled up. additionally, he inherently has the knowledge that when he has a persona that matches a person's arcana, he is inherently somewhat more likeable to them and will be able to bond easier. i am sure this will never get to his head at all.

the team/school rescue committee: it existed before joel came around, in a thing i'm stealing from persona 3! grian was the first to summon a persona, and joe hills, a teacher at the school who knows more about this than most people do, managed to find him and start training him. scar joined as well later, but they've been on their own and barely treading water re: saving people from shadows. joel joining enables them to finally start going on the offensive.

as a team, they're... trying. they aren't very cohesive early on, but they're working on it. its awfully lucky that they have a LITTLE guidance and aren't figuring all of this out on their own, although even joe doesn't have a clue why a bunch of the stuff they face works the specific way it does.

their eventual goal is to figure out what the root cause of people starting to fall into altered space is, and stop it.

additional mechanics i didn't have another heading to put under: there's a persona mechanic called "social stats"; they are somewhat different every game, but they represent social skills joel levels up by doing... esoteric things at the best of times, lol. he will have five stats here, which i mostly won't bring up except when it's funny. those stats are charm/courage/academics/kindness/proficiency. in persona games these stats are largely relevant as ways to unlock certain social links and dialogue options, but they're important to max out, so... have fun visiting zedaph's terrifying stir fry stand and taking bizarre odd jobs, joel!

i. do not want to get into skill cards. they exist alright, and beef is the guy who can duplicate/create them. that is all i wish to get into at the moment.

tfc owns an antique shop, because i like persona 3's antique shop mechanics. here, he can make unique weapons/skill cards/items that can be used in battle by using rare materials from altered space. he seems to have vague knowledge of some persona mechanics, although weirdly, they don't exactly line up with how joel's own persona mechanics work. wonder how that happened...?

stuff from altered space can come out to real space. cleo is willing to fence this stuff, although joel has Questions about how she sells some of it for him. well, whatever. it's a good source of money, a thing he is unfortunately always running out of these days, on account of needing to buy everyone weapons and armor. actually, this feels like a scam on cleo's part, given she's ALSO his main source for that. goddammit.

and that's... basically all the base "game mechanics" of this au! i think that's everything that's relevant for now i hope everyone enjoys it!

[daddy-dins-girl]

Pedro Boys “I Want a Baby”

Headcanons:

Max Phillips - I feel this one needs no explanation. Dieter Bravo - He loves you, he is committed to you, but a baby would really harsh his vibe. Javier Peña - Loves to "sow his wild oats", so long as those oats don't procreate. He has enough problems as it is. Ezra - He's already somehow ended up with one extra mouth he can't really afford to feed. Don't pile on. Jack "Whiskey" Daniels - Absolutely requires ALL of your attention. A baby would only encroach on his territory, and he prefers not to share. Marcus Pike - Has been waiting for you to say this since your 3rd date. Upon receiving your text he immediately leaves work to head to the paint store so he can start preparing the nursery. He also buys a copy of "What to Expect When You're Expecting". Not for you to read, but for him. He wants to to be ready and anticipate anything you may need from him.

related posts: Pedro Boys "During a Fire Emergency" Pedro Boys "Nice Argument. Unfortunately," Pedro Boys "Don't Fuck This Up" Pedro Boys "Dad(dy) Matrix" Pedro Boys & Stabbing Pedro Boys "Lawful/Neutral/Chaotic" Pedro Boys "Feral/Sad/Angelic" Pedro Boys Respond to "I love you." Pedro Boys "Character Tropes" Pedro Boys "Gay/Depressed/Horny on Main" Pedro Boys "Dad/THOT/Bastard" Pedro Boys "bring some Coke to the party" Pedro Boys "Zombie Apocalypse Team" Pedro Boys "As Babysitters" Pedro Boys "As McDonald's Dads" Pedro Boys "in a horror movie" Pedro Boys "Cinnamon Rolls" Pedro Boys "5 Kids, 3 Chairs" Pedro Boys "Playing Monopoly"

[mywingsareonwheels]

The outcome I want from the UK election today:-

Labour victory (even though I hate Starmer), obviously

all the left-wing, LGBTQIA+-allied Labour MPs (especially the WOC) to retain or gain seats

the LibDems to push the Tories into third place (pleasepleaseplease that would be fucking game-changing on an international level srsly and also HILARIOUS)

Reform to fizzle out and die

the SNP to do well, and specifically the mediocre but acceptable SNP candidate I'll be voting for today to kick out the shitty and useless Tory we've had

Plaid Cymru to also do well pls

the Green Party of England and Wales to gain seats and generally do well

ditto the Scottish Greens (of whom I'm a proud member <3)

the steady encroachment of far right politics (with media encouragement) in this country to just fucking halt and go away (and yes, having the LibDems as the official opposition to Labour would help with this, and would massively off-set all the problems with Starmer as PM :) )

Ah shit, I'm demonstrating my England-and-Scotland-centric lack of Northern Irish knowledge here; if any Northern Irish people would like to reblog with similar and specific wishes I'd be extremely grateful. <3

Go forth, fellow UK peeps! Remember your ID! And remember that you don't have to vote for and donate to/join the same party, so if you are voting tactically for a party you aren't a fan of today, you can then join or donate to a party you want to see grow and gain power next time round! Think short *and* long-term. :)

[always-amity]

I've had an idea knocking around in my head for a while to draw every single dragon from the wider httyd universe, including everything from the books, to the main DreamWorks franchise, The Nine Realms and even Rescue Riders. And as I go through redesign them (to varying degrees) to fit my style, and let out my biology and ecology nerd a bit with some headcanons for them.

I've got no idea how many Dragons I'll get done, but I figured going A-Z is the best way to do it, so without further adieu;

The Armorwing

(DreamWorks Franchise)

Headcanons below the cut

The Armorwing is the closest living relative to the Boneknapper, though it is also distantly related to the Sword Stealer and some Stoker Class Dragons.

Their neck is long and flexible, allowing them to see - and breathe fire upon - every part of their body.

Their fire is among the hottest of all dragon fire, but is very short range, reaching barely even a full body length. It cannot be shot in single blasts, like most dragon fire, and can only be sustained for a few short seconds.

Naturally the Armorwing will inhabit caves, cliffs, and rocky, exposed terrain, places where they are most likely to find minerals. They dig said minerals from the ground using their talons and the claws on their wings.

However, Armorwings have adapted amazingly well to the explosion in human civilisations, very quickly learning that a Viking village will have much more metal that conveniently isn't buried under mounds of rock. If you find an abandoned village, you'll almost certainly find an Armorwing that's made their home there.

It is not uncommon to find an Armorwing living with a village that is friendly towards Dragons, since the dragon needs metal to keep itself protected and the humans often find themselves with scrap metal that they can't reuse for anything.

Their eyes are incredibly sensitive to light, which is useful for spotting bright glints of exposed metal but makes being active during the day difficult. Because of this, they are mostly crepuscular (most active at dawn and dusk), when the daylight isn't as harsh on their eyes.

Armorwings are solitary. Each dragon has their own territory, and they do not encroach on others. Larger, older Dragons with more elaborate metal coverings often get first choice for new territories. They also don't coexist particularly well with other Dragons, with Smothering Smokebreaths being their biggest issue, but Skrills and many metal-eating Boulder Class Dragons also proving a problem.

Armorwings do not mate for life, they simply choose whichever partner has the armour they most like every season. Armorwings will often add more colourful, eye-catching details to their armour during breeding season specifically to attract partners. Females lay about 3 eggs a year, and care for the hatchlings for a month or two until their fire is hot enough to melt metal and they're about Gronkle sized, after which the Hatchlings are chased out of the mother's territory to fend for themselves.

Their armour tends to be concentrated around their most vulnerable points. Their chest and belly have the thickest armour, but it also encompasses their back and tail. Older individuals have more extensive, elaborate armour. However, fused metal does restrict movement quite significantly, so the armour on their neck, when present at all, tends to be rather thin and segmented to still allow them the range of motion needed to keep applying more.

Armorwings have thick, bulky legs and wide feet to support the weight of all the metal covering them. While they can stand up on just their legs, they primarily walk using their wings to help alleviate the weight. Their wings themselves are much more adapted to walking than they are flying, and while (most) Armorwings can still fly, it takes significant effort, so is mostly kept for only extreme circumstances.

Bonus Armour-Less sketch.

[bokettochild]

I know I already rambled about this but

  Hopefully, that is the right call to make. If not, Warriors can be the one to take charge of the hero that’s apparently his kid, and the one that everyone knows looks up to him so much. Twilight has no authority over either of them anyways, and with his stance in the group still shaky after all the secret keeping and whatnot, he doubts that will change soon. Granted, he feels a bit uneasy not handling it himself, but- but he’s also quite eager to enjoy the company of the smithy without the younger heroes, and the warm presence of their skyloftian, waving to them as they enter camp again, is an added bonus.

I adore the way you write insecurity and would love the DvD extra's for this yet to be posted bit! ;3

When you mentioned wanting to talk about a bit from the drafts, I was worried it might be something I genuinely couldn't post without spoiling stuff, but this? Girl, we got this!

So, for I guess a bit of review/context, the group has split up to cover a distance and Wind is Doing Crap that is unspecified and Twilight's big brother senses say for him to go check it out, but also, he really, really wants to not be held responsible for whatever is happening. As you know, Nan, the chapters leading up to this point feature some harsh conversations that led to a few pointed words from the captain regarding secret keeping/trusting others. Twilight here hasn't had time to really gauge how the others actually feel about his shifting and the fact that doing so has let him learn things they may or may not have actually wanted Twilight, not Wolfie, to know.

He's uncertain now, as you said, of what would or wouldn't be welcome, and has no wish to encroach on space he feels isn't his. His referral to Wind as "the hero that's apparently his (Warriors') kid". If Wind i sup to something, he doesn't want to overstep bounds and take Warriors' role when he's quite aware that the man is having trouble trusting him right now, but also going through it.

Legend throwing their failures in their faces a couple chapters previous isn't helping this thought process either.

Twilight wants to be there, but he's also going through crap, so this is him fighting ihmself, if only for a moment, to take time to focus on his own issues, arguing that he's allowed to and finding excuses because, good big brotehr though he is, being a big sibling is hard. Sometimes you want to let that responsibility slide to someone else, to wash your hands of a matter and say "I can't change this" and instead focus on something you can actually effect. Twilight here is tired, overwhelmed, and still healing. He's worried about Time, he's worried about Wild, he's worried in general, and right now he needs time to regroup.

Twilight wants an excuse to say "not my problem" but also feels like shit for not being the responsible brother he's supposed to be and dealing with the potential problem.

He wants to go talk with Four and Sky. He wants to consult with two heroes he sees as his equals, not as little siblings or mentors, and he wants to talk to people who will hear him out, not push him away like Wild and Legend are doing, not react poorly as Time and Warriors are (for unrelated reasons, but he doesn't know that), just...listen. Honestly, he likes talking to them and he wants very much to do so, he just has to first excuse himself, mentally, from the responsibility of keeping everyone else out of trouble.

Poor boy is just super confused, out of his depth, and lost right now T-T

[what-have-i-unleashed]

[for silly anon :3]

right after school, dust drags killer to the bike parking lot as quick as possible, without even waving goodbye to horror who is still packing his bag.

"owie, owie, dust-chan!!" killer whines as dust grips his arm and drags him through the campus. "be gentle! i'm delicate!"

"shut up, killer," dust grumbles. "the only thing delicate about you is your ego."

when they arrive at the meeting place, epic is already there, playing on his nintendo ds. upon seeing them, he waves.

"oh hey there!" he says. "i didn't expect you to bring a friend. if i knew, i would have had delta with me also."

"dust-chan couldn't resist coming with me, that's all," killer says cheekily, which earns him a stomp of his shoe, to which he doesn't react, much to dust's annoyance.

"is that so..." epic hums.

"yep! so what do you want to talk to me about, epic-senpai?"

"well," epic puts his ds away, "a little bruh told me that you probably know where my good pal color is. i think i'd have much better chance to ask you about him than others before me."

"what made you think that?" killer tilts his head, amused despite himself.

"well, for once, i know people like you, killer-kun. you don't speak unless it's with violence, so i'm challenging you..." epic winks at killer, "... for color-chan's hand."

without even thinking, killer charges at epic, his penknife slipping from under his sleeve into his hand as he swishes it open and takes a stab at epic. what he doesn't expect is dust throwing his schoolbag in the way, as killer's knife punctures into the bag instead of epic's face. slowly, he turns to his friend, his face losing his signature grin.

"... dust-chan, what do you think you're doing?" he asks with an eerie calmness that would spook anyone, but not his friend.

"i should ask you that instead," dust hisses back. "what the fuck do you think you're doing?"

"eliminating a love rival, what else?"

"you're not doing that to him, with me around here."

"feel free to jump in then. i'll stab you too."

"wow," epic whistles, pulling out his weapon, his trusted rubber chicken. "you're serious about color, aren't you? guess i have to get serious too."

meanwhile...

horror walks home alone today, but he feels more relieved than anything. without the other two constantly moaning about their problems, his walk is serenely quiet. he gets to the bustling commercial area for his job again. browsing his phone, he checks to make sure he's at the right place.

it's hard to be a gang leader, that's what horror concludes. especially a shadow leader where no one knows who you are.

it's not that horror intended to create a gang - he thought it would be just an inconsequential online group of people back when he was in middle school, but "the unlucky" has quickly grown to be a sizeable opponent gang to queenie's reign of terror. the infamous group chat that started the unlucky has been wiped, and horror kinda misses it - it's where he met killer and dust after all.

but now, back to his job, he has a tip that some of queenie's gang has terrorized an arcade in the local area, encroaching upon his own gang's territory, and that can't be excused of course.

he would prefer if killer has joined him for this job, but whatever. he can deal with these third-grade hooligans on his own.

entering the arcade, the first thing horror notices, with much mortification, is that delta-senpai is also here, and it seems that he has beaten up a large swathe of gang members already. unfortunately, he seems to be in some kind of a pickle, seeing that he is currently tied up in a chair with a lot of others circling around him, ready to descend like a pack of hyenas.

seeing that, horror calls out, "hey, what do we have here?"

one of the gang members turn to him, suspicious. "who the fuck are you?"

"i'm the new recruit?" horror says, nonchalant. "sorry i'm late."

"new recruit?" they look up and down at his uniform. "you're from the same school as that little shit?"

"yup, st. omega," horror shrugs. "boss wants to expand, i guess."

the guy stares at him for a moment before nodding and letting him inside the circle. they're too easy, horror thinks, as he carefully observes each one in the circle. there are around eight people.

"new recruit?" one asks.

"yeah, seems like it," the one leading him says.

horror comes close to delta to take a closer look. he doesn't look very good, all bruised and bloody. upon seeing horror, delta narrows his eyes.

"oh you," he hisses. "i remember you. you're with killer," he spats. "i'm not surprised that you're into things like this."

"you know him?" one asks horror.

"enemy of my friend," horror replies, which is not a lie per se. "let's say we're... badly-acquainted, heh."

"how lucky of you then," laughter ensues around the circle. "you must be itching to hurt him then."

"yeah," horror says, lightly tapping delta on the cheek. "can one of you come help me tighten the ropes? i have to take my tools out of my bag first."

"sure thing."

one gang member comes closer to him and delta and proceeds to lean down. horror swings his bag at their face, sending them skidding on the floor and lying unconscious. the others gape, as horror grins manically.

"who wants another beat-down?"

[lunebits]

ap class tips

for those in ap classes who are struggling. also for those who aren't really. whatever.

just as an intro to my qualifications:

i go to a stem high school (will be graduating next sem!) where all the classes are already advanced as is (our ap classes are also taught differently!) i've taken a total of 10 ap classes during my time, and while that isn't as much as others, i'd say i have a pretty good spread of ap classes i took!

general ap class tips

remember that the ultimate goal for you taking this course is to take the exam and get a 4/5 (reach for that 5!). yes, the grade is important, but that score at the end after that exam might save anywhere from $600-$1200+ in college. so focus your energy on that exam once the exams are encroaching!

make friends in your ap classes. trauma bonding is real (/j) so making friends that will help you study or might save you when you accidentally forgot is key.

and while they all say "study a bit every night!" that's hard to do. the rule of thumb here for every class will be in the categorized sections, so don't worry (i gotchu!!)

ap math (calc ab/bc, stat, physics, chem, etc.)

i personally didn't take physics or chem bc i didn't want to, but i did take bc and got a 5 (yes, i'm so proud)!

rule of thumb for studying at home: do your homework everyday and actually take the time to understand what the hell you're doing. understand what the process is behind solving the problem. be able to pull out the variables. practice, practice, practice. also, this is one of those subjects where it's actually worth it to study it at home everyday.

ANOTHER RULE: practice tests. these math exams are about stamina and speed. if you can solve a problem, great! but now here comes 20 more screaming your name. but, if you can get the timing down before your exam, that's even better. so go waste your saturday afternoon at that mock exam if you need to. another saturday will come in time anyway. ask your teacher for mock exams. get that practice workbook. whatever it takes. get the timing in your hand.

just as a quote from my teacher, "life is about choices, and we are all busy people." don't waste your time doing something that'll waste your time. even if you can't remember it, that's okay. just keep moving and score more points somewhere else. and also, do the easy route. only memorize the easy route.

math is about patterns. patterns rule math. extract that pattern out of that problem, memorize it, and you'll be just fine.

FRQS WILL HURT YOUR BRAIN AND THAT'S OKAY! collegeboard has a very specific way it wants you to answer these questions. the best way to learn the format is to do so many frqs your hands hurt. because in any exam that involves math, you genuinely need to do better on the frqs. they'll land you more points. yes, the mcq might get you that 5, but the frqs become the basic 3 or 4 that you need. your teacher will hopefully teach you the format, but if they don't, the collegeboard ap website has all the past frqs they've ever made.

YOU WILL BE OKAY. I PROMISE. make sure that if you cry, you understand your disappointment then move on to a larger action plan.

ap histories/humanities (art history, u.s history, euro, world, etc.)

i've taken all the histories that my school offers (apush, euro, apwh, apah, etc.)

rule of thumb: don't study at home unless there's a test coming up or you're bad at putting stuff in order.

GET YOUR WRITING SKILLS DOWN PAT. this is the thing that'll get you the most points. that mcq section is a killer, but doing 3-6 (looking at you apah exam) right after might just kill you. so please, get your stamina up. just write. just keep writing.

timeline shit for history. because when it comes down to it, knowing the sequence of events and knowing the events themselves are more important than dates or whatever.

if you're worried about coherency in your writing, jot down a small pre-writing list.

memorize every single rubric. luckily, the dbq/leq rubric is the same across apush, apwh, and euro. you'll get away with just memorizing the two. the apah rubric is a little different, and the ap lit rubric is a little different. just memorize them as best you can.

when writing, cater to your reader. make things easy to spot and easy to grade. they'll give you a higher score if they can clearly see where things are.

just practice mcqs. all the stimulus will have something you can pull out of it (unless it's like apah where you're meant to memorize the works). but every question will have an answer that's in the passage. practice finding that answer. (this one is still really hard)

all these tests are tests of stamina. and sometimes, they're on the same goddamn day because collegeboard hates love us. just keep going. grab a snack. rest your eyes, go.

essays are the bane of everyone’s existence in ap courses because you’re on this strict rubric and have this mythical complexity/sophistication point that you need to give your hopes and dreams of achieving. BUT. but. you’ll be okay. especially for exams like the ap lit/apah exam, you get to come in knowing at least a bit of the exam (for ap lit, a good part of the frq weight. for apah, 90% of the test). TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THAT!! know a novel inside and out. know the works inside and out. you’ll be okay. stretch your hands, breathe, write.

ap sciences (bio, physics, chem, psych, econ)

i've personally taken bio and both econs, but these are all concept based, so the same general tips apply.

rule of thumb: if you don't understand it in class, you need to study it at home asap. seriously. because you sure as hell won’t be able to put it together during class the next day. whats good though is that there’s so many resources online (esp videos!!) for all the ap sciences that it’s actually crazy.

read your textbook. science is great with a textbook in your hand. you don't even need to read the whole thing. just skim through it to add information to your class notes. most times that works.

because the questions are concept based, the mcq/frqs are a little hard to get used to. SO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS: don’t ignore your responsibilities and learn what these questions look like.

flashcards. USE FLASHCARDS. so much of science is not only understanding concepts but applying them. to apply them, you need to know them by heart. and to know them by heart means flashcards to drill yourself.

and speaking of applying your knowledge, you need to take things slowly. approach questions with this framework: 1) read the problem + understand what concept it’s asking about. 2) pull out that information from your sexy brain. 3) solve the problem based on what you can remember. to truly understand, include a lot of examples in your notes. AND MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND WHY AND HOW THEY WORK. the why and the how are more important than the what.

misc tips 🌷

burnout is inevitable if you don’t manage your time correctly. there’s people online that can explain how to manage your energy more than me so please go watch them instead lmfao

try your best to stay on your schedule. the more you push your tasks to this arbitrary tomorrow, the more you absolutely won’t do them.

honey, you need to bring a snack and a water bottle to those exams, you get like a 10 minute break that isn’t enough for the mental taxation (without representation) that happens on those exams. they’re brutal.

the classes themselves are not as bad you think. i promise. most of the time, you’ll actually have fun. and it’s really cool to be learning at a college level. so keep at it! the moment you hate something, the moment you begin to stop trying as hard and your grades start slipping. keep finding the next thing to delude yourself into enjoying (/hj).

[dark-frosted-heart]

*cuts into all the Gilbert postings*

Stuff from Keith's route of part 3 of the amnesia event

Keith 🥹 After Emma loses her memories, he's so afraid of touching her inappropriately. While they go around in town in Rhodolite to jog Emma's memory, Keith takes her hand out of habit but immediately lets go and apologizes. But Emma takes his hand back. Going around hand in hand like they're on a date might bring some memories back. Lowkey wants to touch him more.

Alter!Keith on the other hand has no problem encroaching on Emma's personal space. In his journal, he even suggested using his body to help bring her memory back. He's also taking this situation pretty calmly. At least, that's how it looks on the outside. He was actually very worried and anxious. The gloominess in their inner forest was partly from him.

The two run into some bad guys in an alley while chasing after a cat that stole a kid's toy. Keith tries to get alter!Keith to stay put but he takes over any way to take care of them and Emma notices that something's off. And there's this feeling of discomfort (similar to before she officially met alter!Keith).

On her favorite hill, Emma tells Keith that he's treating her like a stranger. Regardless of how many times she tells him that she's not uncomfortable around him. She then tells Keith that she loves him. Aaaaaand now things are awkward between them

On the awkward carriage ride back to Jade, Keith tells Emma that he has a secret. He mentions how "they" love her, which a memory back to Emma.

They've been traveling on some rough terrain which causes Emma to constantly fall on Keith, not that she minds. But eventually, this causes the carriage to break down so the two get off. Keith then takes Emma to their flower field. Emma wants to continue their conversation from before, wants to know why their love is abnormal. Overwhelmed by feelings, Keith runs and tries to hide among the trees. He just didn't want to look unsightly in front of her. He's still avoiding the topic, but Emma's able to figure it out and more memories come back.

Keith picks some flowers to make a bouquet and presents it to her in a way similar to how he did the day he came to bring her to Jade. He'd like her to accept the bouquet if she can love him despite knowing about the Keiths situation. With this, Emma finally remembers.

Cue a happy reunion in the epilogue and alter!Keith gets a moment too, cutting in as Keith and Emma are kissing.

[attractthecrows]

There once were 3 brothers, who were the mortal sons of a god. The eldest was given the name Justice; he became a great king of men. The middle son was given the name Victory; he became a renowned hero, and succeeded at anything he set himself to. The youngest son was given the name Futility; divine gifts always come with a drawback.

The gifts of his brothers were many, and they were well-beloved. Futility had gifts, too; he was gifted with language, and could speak not only with men but also spirits and animals. He was gifted in understanding, conceptualizing, and creativity. But he was dogged by failure. He was young, feeble and weak, he could not hunt, and mortal men became very frustrated with him. Even his demigod brothers, while they loved him, had little patience for Futility.

The eldest brother felt that he needed to learn, to prove himself, and sent Futility away with a group of his subjects who wished to start a new village on an island. The village was beset with problems from the outset.

Futility discovered the local spirits, but they were offended by the encroachment and did not wish to speak to him. The villagers became upset that Futility was trying to speak to spirits while they were struggling with building shelter.

The villagers struggled to find food. Futility spoke to the small lizards that pestered the ants, and they told him the mortal men would never succeed with the way they were fumbling about; there was food aplenty for those with finesse and patience. The villagers became angry at the suggestion, and upset that Futility was talking to lizards while they struggled with farming and hunting.

The villagers became convinced they could not live on the island, and began to make preparations to leave. Futility was upset by this; he knew his brothers would mock him for yet another failure. He saw lush vegetation at the tops of the cliffs; he heard chattering birds speak of how wonderful and rich their lives were. He climbed the cliffs to try and find something that would convince the villagers that they could live on the island.

When they saw him, the villagers shouted in anger. This startled the birds, which burst into the air, knocking Futility from his grip. He fell, and did not move. "Finally," the villagers said, "he has done something useful; he has lessened our burden and we may travel faster without useless weight. Let us leave and tell the king of his fate." And so they left.

But Futility was the son of a god, and though he was wounded and unconscious, he did not die. The animals and spirits held a meeting to discuss what to do with him.

Some of the spirits wanted to push him into the sea; they were still angry at the villagers' disrespect. Some of the birds suggested they leave him to his fate; he had not meant to scare them, but they had no means to help him. The small animals and spirits he had spoken to asked for mercy on his behalf; he had been kind to them, protected them from the stomping feet and flung stones from the other villagers, had treated them with respect. "The trespassing humans did not like him, did not listen to him, and they are why he's hurt," the lizards argued, "they are the ones who scared the birds and disrespected the spirits, not him. We would help any of our own that had been hurt, and he treated us as his own kin; let us help him."

The lady of the water, the guardian spirit of the island, heard all of these suggestions, and looked at the wounded youth. The sea is merciless when need be, but nurturing. She was moved by the pleas of the small animals and island spirits, and the guileless face of the boy. She granted the lizards permission to help him, and told the angered spirits to wait and see how he responded; if he was disrespectful, they then could push him into the sea.

Futility awoke in a bed of green plants at the top of the cliff, covered in lizards, who told him of the villagers leaving and the meeting to decide his fate. The birds helped them carry him up here, they told him, and the spirits agreed to check their anger until he recovered. He thanked the lizards, he thanked the birds, and he thanked the spirits for their mercy. In time, he mourned the cruelty of the villagers he had only wanted to help.

As thanks, he helped any animals that became hurt, and taught them how to treat wounds with the plants they had only used as shelter or food. He helped them gather nuts and seeds that were difficult for those without hands. He sang with them at dawn. They accepted him as one of their own, and taught him to swim and to fish, to appreciate the bounty of the seas. He spoke to the animals of the water, and eventually befriended them, too. The lady of the water grew to love him as a son.

The villagers returned to the king with their story of failure. They told him that Futility was of no help at all, carousing with spirits and lizards while the people suffered, and fell from a cliff while they were stuggling to leave. The king was saddened, but could not punish them for leaving his brother behind; he was Justice, and it would not be right.

The middle brother, Victory, became incensed; though young and foolish, Futility was their baby brother, and he loved him. Justice would not let him direct his anger at the people, and so Victory set out to find his little brother and bring him home, confident that he would succeed as he always did.

After a time, Victory found the island. He saw Futility living among the animals, happier than he'd ever been with humanity. Victory told him of his quest to bring him back, and Futility refused, telling him of the acceptance he had finally found.

This angered Victory. He was determined to break the island's hold on Futility. They accepted him, he reasoned, only because they did not know of the calamity that followed Futility all his life. If they were warned, they would let him go.

He tried to speak to the animals, but they fled; they loved Futility for his gentle nature, and Victory was not gentle. So he turned to the guardian spirit, the lady of the water. He told her of his brother, the bad omen, the bringer of failure and disaster, and how he fouled everything he laid hands on. How it was inevitable; for he had the blood of a god and could no more deny his nature than she could deny her charge to protect her island. She was appalled. Though she loved the boy, she had to protect her charge, and Victory had convinced her that he was a threat.

It grieved her, but Victory succeeded in releasing the island's hold on Futility. The lady of the water revoked her protection, and Victory watched in horror as the wrathful spirits of the island cast his brother into the sea.

As he sank beneath the waves, Futility stopped fighting his nature. He had tasted happiness and acceptance - but he was Futility personified, and should have known it would not last. He closed his eyes and let the darkness take him.

Victory returned to his boat and circled the island, begging the sea to give his brother back. Victory had succeeded in removing his brother from the island's hold - but the sea is merciless even to the divine. Mourning, Victory began the long journey back to his home.

Futility woke on the seabed, among the sea creatures he'd befriended. They'd seen what Victory had done, and refused to give their friend to him. They mourned the betrayal, and beseeched the gods of the deep ocean to show kindness and accept him. When they heard of his kindness and the betrayal of his people and his brothers, the deep gods agreed. Futility shed his nature and his ties and became a spirit of the waves. He told his brother, Victory, who still mourned, of his fate, by splashing his face with the salt of tears, and letting him hear his laughter in the waves.

[spyramy]

Thinking about the layers in Harry's cataclysmic brain event at the start of Disco Elysium.

1. The surface layer: the man drank so much he gave himself brain damage and now contains only traces of his past self.

2. Except it's not him piloting this new start, instead the wheel is being given to someone else (the player) to fill in the blanks with their own preconceptions and intentions.

3. Having said which, there is no definitive 'Harry' to return to. Much as we gain and lose parts of ourselves everyday, and *learn* to be ourselves much more than we are ever born to be. And the skill tree mechanics, encouraging you to level up skills to reward your curiosity more than improve your gameplay, reflect this better than I've ever seen it done.

4. Apart from where alcohol is concerned, because Harry's chemical dependency breaks through and intercepts the player's game as Electrochemistry. One cannot forget one is an alcoholic. And the day one task "find booze and drink it" will remain with you all through the game if you choose not to fulfil it. Even if you internalise the "wasteland of reality" thought, essentially sobriety, that nerfs your skills and nullifies all gameplay effects from alcohol. It is still there.

5. On top of which, in the Church while you're dancing, a failed check will lead to Harry having a seizure, and learning that what killed his memory may run deeper than drinking yourself to brain damage. Or even that, knowing that he has some sort of epilepsy, he intentionally triggered a huge seizure through alcohol/drug overuse in an attempt to either die or "not be this animal anymore"

6. It also begs the question, is there something more seriously wrong with Harry? Some of his internal voices, like the Necktie, read more as psychosis than internal monologue. His ex wife describes him as 'crazy' so I think it's possible all this predates the incidents of the game. Is this illness fatal?

7. Even if he is a seriously ill man, it kinda hardly matters in the scope of the game in which The Pale is eating the world. Harry's condition may be the microcosm of this; a long neglected problem, exacerbated by human behaviour, encroaching in on a beautiful, complex, loving, imperfect experiment, while the inhabitants bicker and infight, unaware that it will all be over much sooner than they think.

8. NOT TO MENTION the implication that Revachol herself being deeply connected to Harry, that Harry is her instrument, she took control of him and bestowed upon him the grace of a clean slate. That very palpable spirit of Revachol watches over the whole game, and maybe that is who the player is supposed to be.

9. Other things about European romanticism and post-war and cold war shaping of European cities, identities, lives and legacies, and how I've never seen a game inhabit this so well. The craters in our cities are the craters in our souls etc etc. I literally have to stop now.

And there's a huge amount of dialogue options I have never seen that might give a whole heap of other perspectives...

[librarycards]

hiii good day :3 i remember you once gave some recs for mags to submit to for an anon, and i was wondering if you knew of any that would consider 2 poems that i feel have very dyke vibes (exploring butch love and strap love <3), but am more of a bi-enby dykefag myself so don't wanna encroach on a lesbian space ! no problem if you can't share recs for any reason !! thank you for always brightening up my dash 🌻🌻

hello!! i totally do. please don't be worried about encroaching on "lesbian space." you belong among dykes, as do all bi dykes. the magazines i suggest - including the ones i'm affiliated with - will welcome your whole self with open arms.

Recs:

Mad Dykes, Queer Worlds - a special call for an issue (guest edited by me!) of Sinister Wisdom, which I recommend in general! They love steamy, intimate work on dyke sex.

Ditto for Honey Literary - they have a "sex" section!

I also edit manywor(l)ds.place and would totally consider these pieces!

ANMLY

Fifth Wheel Press

kith/corporeal mag

Foglifter

All of the above are places I have published with and whose editors I know (or am), all queer and trans-led. I trust them completely to be respectful of you and your work. I hope this helps!