#but he can't say anything about it because of eldritch rules

[lets-try-some-writing]

i wish more continuities played with the horror of being revived after your (presumably) grisly demise. It must be real traumatizing right?? Like, it's gotta be! It could really help with characterizing/building a particular character too (cough optimus cough).

You my dear requester have come to exactly the right writer for this request. I have a fic based on this general premise called A Mere Shadow if you are interested. However, I will never turn down the chance to hurt my blorbo even more.

I may have gone a bit nuts with this concept so hold on-

━━━━━━ ⊙ ❖ ⊙ ━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⊙ ❖ ⊙

A Shadow of Death

Optimus Prime has been faced with death many times. Even as Orion Pax he did not fear it. Death was a fact of life, one he came to accept in his youth. The Matrix only further eliminated that intrinsic desire to flee the possibility of being killed. To a certain extent, it was a blessing as it kept him from faltering at crucial moments, even if he was met with pain for his determination.

Blaster shots a little too close to his spark chamber for comfort, stab wounds deep enough to be concerning, plague of the deadly variety, and more close calls than he dared to count... they were all nothing compared to the true call and agony of death. The fire that rained down on the base that fateful cycle was torture for Optimus. When Smokescreen found him, he very nearly begged Primus to let him die. Only once he was dragged away did he have time to think and to rationalize. Living in that state was a torment, but at the time, he knew it was to end. He made his peace with death long ago. He did not fear its embrace.

It was painful, but it was meant to end. He felt his spark abandon his frame, he sensed his mortality fading as he gave up his life in the line of duty. He was not content, but he was ready to pass and leave the burden behind. It had been so long, and finally, death welcomed him into its patient arms. Its chill wrapped around him, digging into the core of his being. It ached, but it was not unpleasant, especially as he began to see the fallen welcoming him, beckoning him to come home. His attachments faded and for the first time since he was a youngling, he was at peace. He did not expect to be drawn back sharply by a power he instinctively knew belonged to another Prime. He did not know what to think when he woke in his new frame, one built stronger, faster, and more capable. However he knew it was wrong, or rather his frame was not the only thing about him to change.

There was not time to think or time to consider. All he could do was fight and spend the next several cycles focused on getting his team settled. They needed to see he was strong, and so he kept up the façade as weeks passed and a shadow of death hung over him. He could not tell them, for what would he say? How was he supposed to explain the oddities that hung around him at all hours, making him suffer in silence while unable to speak. Something didn't let him, almost as if there were rules that forbade him to reveal that which weighed on him to those who could not sense his discomfort as he could.

It began the first time he returned to their new base after a scouting mission. He had been chilled ever since he was reforged and thought it perhaps due to his spark adjusting to the new frame or vice versa. He spent hours flying and moving, working his engine and his thrusters to the point of his plating being hot to the touch. Despite that... he was cold, not in painful manner, but merely... uncomfortable. It was enough to keep his senses sharp and yet it was unnatural. He went to Ratchet to try and have his frame examined, but all the doctor could tell him was that it must have been a quirk of his reforging. His systems were operating fine and his fans were regulating his temperature even better than before. There was no reason for him to feel chilled unless it was a mental issue. At that Ratchet attempted to have him sit down for a mental exam, but Optimus waved it off as his frame still taking time to settle.

Optimus did not bring up the topic again, not even when he stood beside burning buildings and still felt that coldness seeping into his protoform. He could feel digits caressing his plating, yet when he tried to check his sensors, there was nothing there. The cold haunted him, and in the end, he wrote it off as a punishment of eluding death one too many times.

The cold was bearable, but he hated recharge with a passion. Up until his reforging, recharge was one of the rare blessed moment of rest he was allowed. But now? He dreaded every instance where his frame demanded time to recover. He tried to drag it out for as long as he could with additives and all sorts of substitutes for rest, including plugging his processors into the database to defrag while he was still up and active. But in the end, the need eventually came, or the team would grow suspicious and he would be forced to retreat to his berth all the same.

Laying down for recharge was always comforting. It was familiar and allowed age old routine to take over, allowing him to vent deeply and simply feel for a while. But that is when the trouble always started. Optimus could never stop himself from feeling the pull of recharge. Once it set in, he couldn't move. His frame froze up and despite him being quite active mentally, his frame eased and rested, falling into recharge long before he did. Sometimes his optics were unshuttered, other times they weren't when the paralysis set in. Whatever the case, it always felt like he was back in that cave, bleeding out and in agony. It was terrifying to be stuck in that paralysis before recharge as nearly every time there was a haunting moment when his vents failed to work and his spark ceased in its blaze for but a nanoklik. But Primus, that one nanoklik always felt like an eternity where his frame almost seemed uncertain if it was alive or dead.

At the end of that long nanoklik he could feel digits running along his frame and he could see things in the corner of his vision regardless of whether or not his optics were functioning. Whispers that he could not comprehend echoed in his audials as his frame began to ache, desperate for ventilation and for energon to continue flowing. Then just as it started to grow unbearable, almost as if he were about to die, then his frame would return to its normal functioning and the paralysis would fade. For the first few deca-cycles after his restoration, Optimus threw himself to his pedes after such incidents and took up the night watch, unwilling to recharge after the threat of death hung over him.

He almost went to Ratchet, he almost burdened his oldest friend with his fears. So many cycles he spent nearly half in recharge as he fought against the need for rest, terrified of that looming death that never came. He did not fear death, but its agony was something he grew to be wary of. It was nearly enough to force him to act and plead with his team for aid. However in the end... he abstained, even though it pained him more when the dreams began.

Optimus had always dreamed, even as Orion. It was part of his nature, and gaining the Matrix only gave his dreams more vividness and viability. And yet... after being reforged, he no longer dreamed at all, at least not as he used to. When he fell into recharge, he found himself in a void with no light, no sound, and nothing to help him determine if he was up, down, or even within his own frame. He could never see his servos, nor could he sense himself moving if he willed himself to. He was simply left in a world of darkness for hours, unable to feel anything except the chill that plagued him during his waking cycles. That alone was nerve wracking but manageable due to the strange sense of peace he found within that void. Sometime he could swear he saw motes of light dash past him, slipping through that void and vanishing before he had time to observe them. He made it habit to search out those motes of light while within the void that came for him during recharge. It kept him occupied and made the chill less startling.

He learned to recharge through it all, but never for long. The lack of rest made itself known throughout his waking hours as he wandered and did his work. The chill kept him awake, but he could not stop himself from feeling the pull of that cold void whenever his focus slipped. It was almost as though it was calling him, trying to reclaim him after he escaped its grasp. Sometimes when he was particularly unfocused, he would find himself standing under the stars, watching and observing, unable to move as his mind seemed to leave the confines of his frame. In those instances he could sense things, he could see those same motes of light dashing around him, and with time, he came to understand what they were.

Life, sparks, souls.

It took time, but he came to understand. By the time Megatron was gunning to rebuild the Omega Lock and Ratchet left to join that effort, Optimus found himself... colder. He had never feared death, it was a part of life he didn't care to know but accepted all the same. Now though? Now he understood it. The chill forever sunk into his frame, and he noted that what once was a mere mental issue became reality. He was cold to the touch, even after battle. Things grew to be more distant, or rather less important as the cycles passed him by. The void that he walked in was trying to reclaim him. He could sense it in the way his spark flared and grew dimmer. The void wanted him back, and every day he was drawn closer to it.

What frightened him after his reforging grew to be commonplace. He didn't fear it anymore. The void that came in dreams came to be a second home of sorts, one he grew more adept at seeing the sparks within. It seemed wrong for him to be at peace with the way his mind shifted and how he no longer was terrified of those brief moments where his frame threatened to fail. It simply did not bother him when he saw the void in the corners of his vision or when chilled digits touched him. It became familiar, and with that familiarity, the living realm grew more distant.

He did not emote often, at least not as the others did. Now he did not express himself at all. There was no need. The world was changed for him. The team worried but chalked it up to Ratchet being gone. They were partially correct. Without that mortal tie, the cold came and seeped deeper, making it easier to slip and see the cracks, the thinner places between reality where sparks darted, returning to their maker after their lives ended. It fascinated him, even though it often had him staring into what the others considered empty space when he was supposed to be acting.

He was changing, and what fully solidified that for him was when he began to feel the chill of death closing in around others. He first noted it around Vehicons, mainly those who had brushes with death or were unfortunately killed in combat. There was little he could do for them, as usually by the time he noted the chill, it had already wrapped around the Vehicon in question, dooming them to their fate. He only acted when he felt it around Arcee before she tried to enter a groundbridge. It was harder to feel, but he still stopped her. When questioned, he found he could not speak and explain, so he opted for vague wording, hoping it would help her to see and understand.

Arcee: Optimus, what was that for?

Optimus: You cannot go there. The chill follows you.

Arcee: Sir? What does that mean.

Optimus: Danger Arcee. A threat I cannot save you from.

Arcee: I don't understand-

Optimus: You do not need to. I sense the chill, I see the looming cloud. Do not go. You shall not return if you do.

Harder to focus, harder to think. Whenever he was not working, Optimus watched the sparks come and go, observing with a strange distant affection he could not place. All the while the chill grew deeper, closer to his spark, and his frame became weary despite its power. He was changing...

And the void wanted him back.

[imminent-danger-came]

Eldritch Abomination MK Theory

OKAY. @the-punning-ubus

I just want to say reading these tags are SO validating, because I have my little "MK was an eldritch abomination thing pre-hatching from stone" theory and seeing someone else come to pretty much the same conclusion feels good.

I've been meaning to write a proper theory post on this for a while, so now is as good of a time as any!

Obviously we have Wukong's "Not just anyone can wield my staff, but you did" from A Hero is Born and "The staff's just a big 'ol stick bud! It takes someone special to wield it" from 3x03, but there's also something in 1x09 Macaque:

Macaque: "Your staff kinda gives you away dude, not just anyone can wield that thing."

-

Macaque: "Ohohoh no, can't you hold the magic staff anymore? Well, you know what that means—there really isn't anything special about you. You're just a kid with a heavy stick."

-

-

The sweet irony of "There really isn't anything special about you. You're just a kid with a heavy stick!" followed immediately by MK lifting the staff again is not lost on me.

So, from s1 it was pretty obvious that Wukong didn't "give" MK any form of power, but we knew that already with MK being a monkey demon and all. I just think it's particularly intriguing that all of this was laid out in the same episode where MK proclaims "I am the weapon!". In all honestly, he probably was/is.

One of the main questions coming out of s4 is "why was MK created?"—Monkey King's stone was used to form another, but for what purpose? To what end? What reason was MK at the center of all these stories?

Well, here's my current theory:

MK was something in a past life, and that something needed to be contained—and so, to put a stop to past life eldritch abomination MK, he was then sealed away in the stone.

I think this scene in particular raises some alarm bells:

The stone cracks open, bursts with light, and then it closes—like something was put inside it. The scene could of course just be an aesthetic choice, or chosen to be this way for another reason we don't know yet, but it just feels so deliberate. A ball of light appearing from the stone, then another ball of light in the mystery woman's hands being revealed to hold a monkey, and then the stone reforming around the ball of light. I just can't help but feel there's something there.

Next I want to discuss the two key things that make me feel this theory has merit:

1.) MK has made a habit of breaking out of things he shouldn't be able to (the calabash in 1x05, the trigram furnace in 2x00, the scroll in 4x07, Destiny itself in 3x14) and the stone would be no exception.

2.) Every antagonist in this show has been sealed away in some form, then being released to resume their plans from before being sealed. Here's a list:

DBK was sealed under the mountain, and after being released continued his plan of world domination.

Spider Queen was metaphorically trapped in her fallen empire, and after being given the chance to rule the above world once again, immediately takes it.

The Lady Bone Demon was imprisoned in her tomb, and after being released prematurely (before learning the error of her ways), she continued her plan to destroy the world and create a new one.

Azure Lion was imprisoned in the scroll, and upon being released (by an unknown 3rd party), immediately worked to free his friends and then end the Jade Emperor's reign.

Now, I love foils, so MK breaking out of the stone he was sealed in, yet coming out an actually changed being unlike everyone else in this show, would be DELICIOUS:

Lady Bone Demon: ”No backup and no weapon? So, you’re plan is to fist fight a child?” Sun Wukong: “We both know that’s not what you are.”

(3x11 This Imperfect World)

-

Lady Bone Demon: "STOP! Have you forgotten? Destroy me and you destroy the host! Have you become so desperate to end me that you would sacrifice this blameless innocent child?" Sun Wukong: "You're giving me no choice! All the time you spent locked away, and you haven't changed a bit! I'm going to finish you, like I should have done a long time ago! I told you—you should have stayed buried."

(3x11 This Imperfect World)

-

Subodhi: "I have not brought you to your master. Although this is the stone from which Sun Wukong once sprung, it appears overtime, it was used to form another. A simple creature, with no past, no family, and no name. There is a reason you were at the center of these stories—a reason you can harness the power of the Monkey King himself!"

(4x06 Show Me the Monster)

-

(If you want extra fodder for this, please see this parallels post :3)

So, if MK were to hatch out of the stone—where *he* was sealed away—and he actually came out of it a "blameless innocent child" with "no past, no family, and no name", it would work exceedingly well. Wukong's not above giving people second chances, but if you use that second chance to try and destroy the world, you force his hand.

(Side note: it could also be the case that the stone was used to "reset" whatever MK was in his past life, and Wukong was originally meant to destroy whatever came out of the stone—which could be the reason he stayed at Flower Fruit Mountain for hundreds of years. However, when an child came out, a new being without a past or the memories of what it was before—Wukong choose to let it go. He choose to let it live a normal life—or even ensuring it could live a normal life—and it then found it's way to Pigsy. This definitely gets into real crack theory territory, but I did want to bring it up.)

Now, none of this is even mentioning the suspiciously MK shaped figure in the mural from 3x13:

Now, the figure in this mural is only shown when MK is also on screen, which is framing that drives me insane. Perhaps this is when they first caught MK's past life, then finally able to subdue him and seal him in the stone.

And so, if MK really was this terrible chaos driven abomination in his past life, what does that mean ✨thematically✨?

Well,

Sun Wukong: “Point is, mistakes happen, but so long as you leave the world in better shape than you found it, then it’s all good. Right?”

(4x01 Familiar Tales)

-

SWK: “ENOUGH! I’ve never let anyone dictate my destiny in the past, and I’m not about to start now. None of us are! We can’t change who we were yesterday or in a past life, or a hundred life times ago! We live with the choices we’ve made, for what matter is the choices we make RIGHT NOW! Only we decide who we are and what we do with the power we have.”

(4x07 Pitiful Creatures)

-

MK can't change who he was in a past life. He can't change that the roads all lead to pain. But you know what he can do? He can try. He can try and get a little bit better every day. He can try and help people. He can try and make the world better than he found it.

Maybe in a past life, MK caused just as must chaos and destruction as Wukong did in his past. Maybe he caused even more problems then he has as the Monkie Kid. But that also doesn't undo the good he's doing now.

Anyways, that's my "MK was an eldritch abomination thing pre-hatching from stone" theory. Hope you enjoyed

[shadowfear-art]

I saw your one piece animated for terror au and it's amazingggg!

But could you maybe tell more about it? Is there gonna be a fic of it? (It there is it'll be awesome-)

Sadly no fic cause I can't write a full story to save my life... Anyway-

Ah ye! If you are new to the Au itself (because I've been using the concept for other fandoms so there are established rules and world building that carry over) I'll give a quickest general background summery then the story itself.

Future me note: This ended up being more than a summary.

There's a ancient eldritch pen that turns anything into a toon/living drawing, usually with the needed help of a human hand to wield it.

Basically pen finds a vulnerable human, tempts them to draw out their woes or wants (whether they want to or not), leaves them with the consequences and fate of creating a living cartoon character with all the chaos that happens in between. There's an abundance of good, bad, ugly, and bitter sweet endings to these "stories".

Toons tend to dissapear sometime after as they have a place to dwell.

Now for Luffy, age 5, modern universe setting, living on Windmill Island (but not for long). Tho this story deviates from the normal formula.

Luffy has always been surrounded by people and his two close 'brothers' for the short 5 years of his life it was perfect. Until it wasn't and does what it always does, life changes. The people around the boy had begun to move on as they were needed elsewhere.

Garp was called over seas, something military? Luffy didn't really pay attention.

Shanks travels the world as an occupation.

Funny enough both of his brothers were involved in a custody battle and were required off the island to attend.

And so on and so forth, all promising to return.

Leaving Luffy alone in the care of Makino, as time went on a large ache began growing in his tiny chest. Taking the notice of something sinister.

"...Follow me... follo... me..."

"... I have... Something to... show you..."

A dark pied piper began singing it's deceitful tune into the childs dreams and eventually lure him out at night.

---

On the other end of this trap is two murder toons Crocodile and Doflamingo, both sent from toon world to take care of a certain annoying goup of intrest.

Toons are chaotic creatures thats no secret but thier existence is due to how crafty and dangerous they can be as a whole (not that humans haven't tried to let the world know about them just always seemingly fail from coincidence) so obviously there's an agency out to take care of these creatures, N.E.T (Neutralization and Extraction of Toons) Is their codename.

The more violent toons are sent out remove the growing annoyance.

And this night was no different, NET agency was taking root on the island so the duo are there to be an effective deterant... And relive some violent needs. Win-win.

Then Luffy walked right in to the situation.

Crocodile knew a trap when he saw one, just was figuring out what type... Or the boy actually wandered into a massacre in the middle of the night, ALONE.

Right.

Needless to say he had the right approach, scare the child and inflict a small "scratch" to cement he's not supposed to be here, if everything goes right the boy will run away bawling his eyes out. A better option than what Doflamingo had in mind.

What he didn't account for was the half dead agent behind his distracted self shooting right through him unable to see the small human due to the toons large size and cloak. It didn't hit Luffy but splattered him with ink, which is essentially the toons blood, new problem for the child.

The black liquid is 99% lethal if it entered a living beings blood system and just having inflicted a wound across the boys cheek Crocodile can now count the minutes before the tiny human collapses.

Unfortunate but perhaps the boy may appreciate the large toon return the favor to another neglectful adult in his short life.

Quick work.

Doflamingo was the first to catch that the kid wasn't dead after.

For the first time in years Crocodile felt his ink run cold, it was a trap.

It was always a trap for him.

The 1%, only if the two are compatible, instead of dying forces beyond understanding would convert living creatures into what they are.

White and black splotches have already begun to appear across the boy's skin, hair, and clothes with increasing speed.

Unsurprisingly both boy and tthon start to show two types of panic, Luffy being the louder soon becoming disoriented with confusion and Crocodile's mind racing to find a option that didn't involve killing a kid... That being said It wasn't off the table.

Before he could come to a conclusion both large toons noticed that their time was up and had to leave immediately.

All three of them.

The last thing heard were echoing wails for those who promised to return to the child's side now gone to a place they could never reach.

End. And the Beginning.

(This au has a B plot)

[hell-drabbles]

Leviathan 1

Summary: What sort of expression will Leviathan make, when he finds out that Solomon wishes to stay by you above all else?

(About time I finally got started on him. It's a thought experiment, where Eldritch Reader crafts a body for Solomon to use to interact with the devils.)

How does Leviathan act when around Solomon?

Dazed, air-headed, as though his head was filled with nothing but that pink cotton candy that Solomon once handed you to try. It was interesting to you, watching this devil go from an envious, haughty being to this being that was almost puppy like in nature.

A rather grumpy puppy, always gazing at Solomon for any hint of praise, or to just simply drink in his joy as he continued to talk.

"You can stay."

However, such a face, such a personality was simple. Stupidly simple. Simpler than any of the humans you've ever met.

Leviathan was filled with such longing that he must have Solomon stay, must 'give him permission,' to stay so that they can never be apart. He didn't pick up Solomon's reluctance to talk about anything beyond the general vague platitudes. Leviathan didn't even notice that all of Solomon's stories are of before his meeting with you.

Or, rather, Leviathan did listen, but sorrily thought that because Solomon is so secretive about the years he was missing, and the years he spent as one with you, that they simply didn't mean anything. That clearly, being here in Hell was more important than anything.

Solomon paused then shifted back. He glanced at you, ever an observer of his every waking moment, then smiled somberly.

"I won't." Not can't. Won't.

Human language in all their subtle social rules will forever fascinate you. A simple difference, all to express Solomon's will.

Such things, as you've learned and absorbed, completely miss Leviathan.

Leviathan has this face that keeps perfectly composed. It reminded you of pale marble, untouched by the reaches of time. It made that slight change, that furrowing of his eyebrows, look childish, like Leviathan didn't practice the expression enough.

"It would be easy work, to get rid of your captor, if that's what's keeping you-" Then Leviathan touched Solomon's wrist.

Captor, huh? Are you truly? Captor of knowledge, certainly. You had a phase where you wanted any and all knowledge to begin and end with you, where you made whole villages forget where they are, who they are, and what they are. Simply because their knowledge was interesting to you.

But a captor of humans? Of their physical selves? No, you never did such things. Still haven't.

And Solomon knows this well.

You smiled when Solomon got up from the table, pulling his arm away from Leviathan.

"… Those words, never say them to me again," Solomon gazed down at Leviathan, "I don't wish to hate you."

The finality in his tone had you reaching out your hand. Clearly Solomon has reached the ends of his patience, being away from you, from your essence for too long.

"Wait! Solomon!" Leviathan could very well close the distance and simply take Solomon away, but he won't. You know he won't, not when his heart still beats for everything that is Solomon.

Too bad, his heart beats for you and you only. Now and forever.

Solomon will forever be within your gaze, within your self.

He grasps your hand without hesitation and knelt down on one knee. A silly little ritual that Solomon doesn't need to do, but does nonetheless. How adorable. How human.

"You could never be my captor," Solomon murmured against your wrist, "You are my key of knowledge, the stellar gaze that lays within my heart. I will walk into the fabric of eternity that is you."

"And I will always hold you close to me, until we weave into one." And you had to entertain him. How could you not? His devotion is second to none.

He vanished into dust upon your palm. You are not a void, there is nothing in you to feel missing. But it felt like a warm blanket upon your shoulders, having Solomon within you once again. He holds onto you as much as you hold onto him.

You both won't let go.

"You…" Ah, it seems Leviathan has learned to express true indignation. His face was almost distorted with it.

You shook your head. "Did you expect any different? Leave those false hopes behind, lest Solomon learns to hate you."

[tobiasdrake]

BONUS: A religious experience for the last remaining follower of a long-dead faith.

(I just was mulling it over in the car on the way to dinner and wanted to add onto that scene in my characters' voices)

I'm such a huge fan. I can't believe this is even happening. I found this super old book in the woods one day and it talked about how cool you were and-and-and I've dedicated my whole life to--

Don't take this the wrong way but shut the fuck up. I don't have a lot of energy to burn and for once, this isn't about how cool I am. I don't need your praise right now. ...well, okay, maybe a little praise.

Your hair looks amazing.

Thank you, I love the way it glows. ANYWAYS. Not the point. It's all on you right now, man. And that's going to be a problem. Because what exactly are you supposed to be?

I'm... I'm a ninja. From the Mesa Island Ninja Clan. Which... I guess is now the Mesa Island... Soldier Camp....

Cultivated person from a cultivated society built to feed an endless recursion of people into a cultivated cycle. That's a whole lot of nobody in my book. What else have you got?

I'm... um... I'm the Messenger

Okay. Sure. I'll walk with you to that pier. What is the Messenger? What does that actually mean? What does it mean to you? Is it something you aspired to? Something you spent your whole life wanting? Did you train for this, specifically?

...I'd never even heard of the concept before a guy handed me the Scroll and said I'm the Messenger now.

Uh-huh. And if i put a bag on your head and called you Lord Shitpaper would that become your life's ambition?

...if you did, ma'am?

Every world and every timeline, it's all the same. People like you get bent over and stepped on by an endless cycle of cosmic assholes.

With all due respect, should a goddess be saying things like this?

Do you know where I come from? Sure you do. You memorized my biography and mistook that for a personality. It was a "town" called Mooncradle, and I use that term loosely. The entire thing was an engineered social structure. An assembly line of Solstice Warriors, cultivating people like you just so there'd be enough serfs doing the work of cultivating people like me.

That's all you are to the people who would tell you where to go and what to be. I've met all manner of eldritch beings and immortal entities over the course of my life. And you know what? I've also known nobody mortals from the asscrack of one world or another worth a hundred of those people.

You haven't been following any of those beings. You've been following me. So you want my guidance? My heavenly wisdom? Here you go: Fuck 'em. Fuck what they think. Live fast, fight hard, hug a robot. Make friends in weird places. Do what feels right because it feels right to do it.

Because none of it means anything. The fancy titles and the celestial powers and the great battles of good and evil. It's all just another game between two pitiful mummified assclowns with nothing better to do with their lives than play games of human suffering. We win this one and they just put the board away and set up a new one.

I don't understand. One of those guys is supposed to be on our side, right? So don't we want him to win? Does it really not matter which is which?

Oh no, it matters. It matters a lot. Don't get me wrong. One of these guys want to turn people into flesh horrors and exterminate societies and the other wants him not to do that. There is a difference.

But you need to understand that there's rules in place. And those rules? They're only there to fuck you over.

See, that's the difference between me and Resh'an. He wants to win the game. He'll use underhanded tricks to get it, but that's what he wants: To have all the chips on his side and capture his opponent's last piece, then sit smugly in momentary triumph before they set up the next board.

Me? I want to throw the board on the ground and punch the other player in the throat.

...I think I understand now why you were considered legendary at Wheels.

HEY, I never....

ONE TIME. That happened one time and I was still learning.

The point is, none of this is going to work if you're just chasing propriety. You've fucked up hard enough to stall out the system. You put a crack in its hull. That's good. That means you have a chance to pry the whole goddamn mechanism apart.

But you can't do it for those clowns in blue hoods. You can't do it because the Prophecy said so. And you can't do it for me. I mean this in the nicest way possible: You need to get a fucking life, man. Find a hobby. Make actual friends and not just... cosmic coworkers. Do you even have a name?

I'm... I'm Ninja.

That's depressing.

Look, play the game or don't. You know what's at stake. I don't have to tell you. But whatever you do, it needs to be because you wanted something. Whether that's a friend or a goal or just to slide a knife between an asshole's ribs, you need to be doing it for you. That's the only way to win.

You know, this isn't what I thought meeting you would be like. It's strange but it almost feels like a weight is lifting off my shoulders. Like I don't have to try and be some cosmic champion or whatever. It's okay to just. Be. A guy.

You're right. I've been so busy chasing what I'm supposed to do. I haven't stopped to think about what I want out of life. Truth is, I'm lonely. All of my relationships are just about the work. Working the job. Being the guy. Doing the thing.

But I guess we all are, aren't we? Gods and heroes and even monsters. We're all just people looking for connections. Bleeding the same blood, even if it takes the form of fire or something.

The world looks a lot smaller when you've got someone's head up your ass. But if you come down off their shoulders, you might just find yourself in company you can enjoy.

Hahaha that's so gross. I don't know if anyone ever told you this. But you're kind of an asshole.

Yeah. Well. I'm a goddess.

Who the hell are you?

......

Hey. We're outside of time and space, right? Which technically means there's no rush.

This place is full of centuries of old junk. I found a deck of cards while I was rifling through the "merchandise" we don't actually sell to anyone. There's some other old stuff that looks recreational in there too.

Shot in the dark. I'm throwing a game night. Would you like to come?

[justatalkingface]

So this was something I asked my Discord Buddies a while back but I wanted to hear your opinions on. What rules from here do you think BNHA needed the most?

...Huh. Alright.

1. This is something that, if anything, MHA is committing to too hard, with how they're 'redeeming' flawed heroes and the villains; the fact they're trying is basiclly absolving them, or for just wanting things to be better so... not that one. Effort alone isn't everything.

2. Yes two. Definitely two. Like, Mirko's entire creepy thing falls under that, and I guess how Shigaraki went full Eldritch Hand later on (I think that's cool, personally, but I'd bet that'd be unpleasant for a lot of people). There's also the lack of focus on so many things, and Izuku's entire dismissal of his character in particular, under this rule.

3. ...This goes back to how unfocused Hori seems on whatever his end goal is, and how hard he seems to be trying to dodge various themes that are still present and relevent (corruption, villains with points, etc), so pass.

4. I'm not quite sure how that's a rule... I assume that means, have a simple story in mind or something like that? Stay on target? In that much, Hori is covered, it's just the gaps between 'Izuku becoming a hero' and 'saving the day', or 'becoming the Number One Hero' that need work, so not this either.

5. This. God this. MHA has so much bloat, so many one-off characters awkwardly being brought back for the final arc, or just made for this arc, or plot threads that seem to exist just to exist (that reporter? Really? Really?). Underline this one.

6. ...Actually, yes. Like, Izuku is never challenged beyond, 'Fight this', really, and he's still got shy bones to him, so forcing him to social situations, or into the more public end of heroism, could have a lot of plot to play with and general story development.

7. I'm assuming Hori has this covered, though I get the feeling that ending may have changed? It's hard to tell with how muddied things are. Still, he does seem to be going somewhere, even if it's badly, so I'll call it a pass.

8. ...I. Don't think Hori has much of a choice at this point, on this. Jump is going to make him finish this even if they have to bring him back from the dead.

9. This seems ultimately a writer only thing, so... call it irrelevant? Then again, I wonder at what his list of 'impossible' would be....

10. I get the feeling he does this; Mineta, probably, and I think he's got to see something of Endeavour in himself for him to go to bat for him so hard. Ultimately, though, don't know enough about him to call it, but I don't think that this is a major concern.

11. I like this. This is related to the whole theme thing I keep talking about; Hori doesn't know what he wants this story to tell, and so it kinda wobbles all over the place, message wise. Mark this one, for sure.

12. Yeah, he probably could have used this once he got going. A lot of the stuff after MHA took off has been way too predictable, though I wonder at how much time he had at that point.

13. This! The reason so many people like the earlier characters compared to later ones is they had opinions; it fleshed them out, made them feel human. As time passed, there was less focus on the characters beyond their narrative role, which makes them feel hollow.

14. And this, I think, is my theme diatrade, if put in different words. Hori has lost his plot so he can't tell his story right. The theme now isn't the theme it was at the beginning, which is very bad, but worse than that he never replaced that theme. I'm not sure there is one anymore. If I had to name the 'essence' of MHA at this point, it'd be, 'I don't agree with you, so let's fight'.

15. *taps it rapidly* Izuku says 'Hi', Hori. Also, the entire Todoroki family, and basiclly everyone Bakugou has ever talked to. This story needs a heavy dose of this so damn bad, because people don't act like people in the situations they're in would, which makes it all feel so artificial.

16. Stakes are covered. Stakes are almost nonsensically covered, really, so we are more than good here.

17. ...I. If Hori had committed to it, actually committed to it, dropped the themes that he started with, full out, and gone with something new, instead of half assing mentioning them every other minute, I think the story would be better off. I also feel like his approach to main character could have used this, though ironically, I'd like it he'd stop dropping every other character willy nilly.

18. Considering he's throwing the story out the window to be done with it, irrelevant. Quality has got to be one of his last concerns at this point, and things would have to be changed on such a systemic level to improve the situation to make this kind of thing pointless.

19. This is more of a late-game problem, but yeah, shit like SFO being shot just before killing someone, which is miraculously able to actually do enough damage to matter, with no story prep before hand hurts the suspension of disbelief.

20. Irrelevant for our purposes.

21. I've said this as well, but too much stuff is happening just so it can happen, just because it's cool, at the cost of plot and character, and he's never realized that that is a bad deal to make. Very much yes.

22. Toga alone proves MHA needs an infusion of this; he clearly has ideas on how certain characters are like, where they're going, and what people think of that. The reality of the matter, on the other hand, doesn't agree with that idea.

This was pretty interesting, actually. Some of these are bit too geared to the actual writing process to translate well, but still, definitely good stuff here.

[missing-sock-misto]

Did you get asked about your AU's? If not, feel free to talk about them!

Oooh goody no I didn’t!

I’ve got a lot. I will admit, I like what I like, so Misto getting ostracized and finding belonging and acceptance with Tugger's help is a big love. I also love when Misto is under Macavity's influence in some way, a "pet", an employee, etc. Tugger is usually friends with or loyal to Mac in some way, and then finds Misto, befriends him, then falls in love with him, and together they realize that Mac is actually bad news and they break free of his influence.). Same thing with Demeter, though with a different flavor of abuse.

I do tend to gravitate towards a more human-esque universe, as it makes the world building easier to me. CATS as Cats is easier for shorter stories.

Medieval au 1: Misto is an eldritch creature, Mac is king after the death of the previous King Deuteronomy. Prince Munkustrap is the head Knight, Prince Tugger is technically a knight but really uses his title to cavort with whatever maid or squire has caught his attention. One day he sees a shooting star fall in the forest and comes across an shapeshifting creature comprised of Void and Stars. Mac wants Misto because Magical Weapon. Misto takes on a human/catboy form, but cannot speak. Tugger teaches him sign language, romance shennanigans before whump. Sideplot of Queen Demeter and her Guard Munkustrap falling in love- possible polycule with Bomba. Medieval Au: Variant 2: There's a monster in the woods. It's been causing people to go missing for years. Finally, Prince Tugger goes in to kill it, but finds a pale faced boy instead. He befriends him, but the boy refuses to come near the castle. Does not listen to Tugger pointing out there's a monster in the woods. The boy doesn't speak, so Tugger teaches him writing and sign. (In the background, Princess Jemima complains that her imaginary friend has gone missing). King Macavity is hunting for the monster as well. It's eventually revealed that Misto is a shapeshifter/monster. He can only speak in echoes, repeating things that he’s heard in the voices he’s heard them in. He's captured and experimented on. However, Tugger realizes that they had it wrong: Misto was not taking people from their beds, Macavity was taking and experimenting on them. Misto was Jemima's "imaginary" friend, and was eventually captured by Macavity. He then escaped, but can't leave the kingdom without [Maguffin]. Queue quest to save Misto and take down Macavity.

A Little Distraction: My main au, but I'm actually kind of protective about this one.

College Au: Misto is a Dance major and hates Tugger's guts cause he's a stereotypical frat/party boy undeclared major who loves flirting with anything with legs. But then they get trapped in a closet together for "7 minutes in heaven" and Misto has a panic attack because he has claustrophobia (from abuse), and Tugger helps him calm down before Vicky gets them out. It makes Misto reconsider his preconceptions of Tugger, though doesn't stop him disliking him completely.

Later Misto and Tugger have hate sex. Or rather- Misto is going "I hate you and I hate your stupid hot face, now take your damn pants off." while Tugger is extremely amused by the entire situation. After that point, their relationship continues in secret as "strictly physical" (it's not strictly physical).

Mafia AU: There are 3 factions; Deuteronomy, Macavity, and Jones. And the patriarchs had been friends in their youth, and had created a “Cosa Nostra” alliance. But age and time had turned that alliance into a thin line. It’s an open secret that Macavity wants to rule the city alone.

(A wraith is performing hits on the Jones and Deuteronomy families. At least, any survivors say it's a wraith. It's a creature comprised of smoke, can infiltrate anywhere, and can disappear without a trace. Macavity points out his own family is not immune- but it later becomes evident that anyone who was targeted in Macavity’s mafia had displeased him in some way).

Bustopher Jones has a quiet nephew, shy and prone to falling sick. But Tugger gets a weird feeling about the kid (he's not a kid he’s like 16), and starts following him around. He discovers the boy has magical powers, and his sickness is a ruse. They become friends.

But in truth, Misto is actually part of the Macavity family, his adopted son. He had been sent to infiltrate the Jones household to act as a spy. Bustopher adopted Misto as his nephew with open arms. This fills Misto with a lot of guilt, knowing he’s betraying someone who was so kind to him. But he feels he has no other choice. Macavity encourages his friendship with Tugger, as it means he can spy on both families. But Misto’s feelings and friendship become stronger, potentially stronger than his loyalty to Macavity.

Superhero au- It's basically Batman. Tugger is a millionare playboy rockstar, Munk is the Police Commissioner who's trying to track down a masked vigilante as well as get a handle on the normal city crime. What he doesn't know is Tugger is the masked vigilante, using his charm and perceived "himboness" to get into places, then using his crime fighting persona to take down bad guys. He works with Bomba, his "gal in the chair". He gets a tip about where a catburglar, who's been pulling off impossible robberies, will hit next. He sneaks in, only to find a pretty dark haired burglar dangling from a rope from the ceiling- just in the middle of a job. Then he watches as somehow, the jewel that was in the case vanishes, and appears in the robber's hand. They have a very flirty altercation, and then Misto disappears. Bomba is busy losing her mind because YOU LET HIM GO?!?! SERIOUSLY?!?! [I didn’t ‘let him go’, he just vanished!]. Turns out Misto is working for the villain who all these plots go back to, Macavity. [This one probably has background Demelurina as a Posion Ivy-Harley Quinn like romance].

Detroit Become human au: Misto is an android who is owned by Macavity. Tugger is a college dropout and a hacking genius, but he mostly uses his abilities for chaos. He discovers that Misto has secretly gone rogue (has developed sentience and a sense of will).

I've got a variety of other aus. I think the story I'm working on currently could also be considered an au technically, but eh. I've also got my CATS as cats au crossover with Thunderwhenhepurrs's OCs, some various cryptid Mistos, and some Demestrap ones. Most are just "Vibes" and thought experiments rather than anything I'll commit to paper.

*

As for AUs I like- I do love my more CATS as Cats settings! I struggle with writing these myself, the world building often overwhelming me. I also love my crytpid Mistoffelees, where Misto isn't so much a cat so much as a demon or eldritch entity in the skin of a cat. People who capture the energy well are amazing (shout out to Cat-at-the-theatre-door, I just found their Tuggoffelees drabbles/fics a few days ago and WOW they are the perfect energy).

[gretchensinister]

[Ask Game] Writing Patterns

Tagged by @sylphidine (I don't forget ask games, they just go in drafts to mature for a little while.)

Rules: List the first line of your last 10 (posted) fics and see if there's a pattern.

I did this for last lines in a different game, so let's see if anything can be learned from the first lines of those same fics!

The list goes from oldest to newest:

Koz holds his vampire in his lap, holds him fiercely, holds him close.

(all I ever do around you is want, Rise of the Guardians, Pitch/Sandy, vampire AU)

“So, Sandy, I have an important question for you,” Pitch says, settling down next to him on a sofa in the Fountain Square house.

(Shortday at Fountain Square, Rise of the Guardians, Pitch/Sandy, bonus fic for my epic fantasy AU A Draught of Light)

Yellow. Gold. The difference between the two can be subtle, one changing to the other with a trick of the light, a trick of the eye, a trick of the mind.

(Yellow/Gold, Rise of the Guardians, Pitch/Sandy, eldritch AU)

It had happened again.

(Incarnation, The Dark Crystal/The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, SkekGra/UrGoh)

You knew it was later than you felt it was, but you had no idea how late it was in truth.

(Clearing, The Ritual, Moder/Reader)

The carnival heralds Halloween, Train rushing into a town innocent.

(Something Wicked Is Me, Something Wicked This Way Comes, poetry collection.)

“Test 1, begin.”

(New, Improved, Guaranteed Quality, erotic sci-fi dystopia (I have trouble describing this work) original work that exists because of Pitch/Sandy)

UrIm carefully made his way up the narrow path to UrSen’s cell.

(To Keep a Body Whole, The Dark Crystal/The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, mystic focus)

It wasn’t as if SkekGra hadn’t immediately had a few speculations about what UrGoh had in mind when he offered SkekGra a cup of mapzad tea alongside his pipe, while taking none for himself.

(Abundance, The Dark Crystal/The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, SkekGra/UrGoh)

Long    Story       Dead          Ahead                   →

(The Sleepover, Dragonball Z, LMAO okay this is the most recent thing I have posted on Ao3 BUT ALSO the oldest work on the list by far. The Archive is an archive! So when I found a notebook with a DBZ fic my friend and I wrote in middle school, I put it in the Archive for, well, archival purposes! I believe in academia they call this juvenilia. Anyway, you don’t get anything else on this list without this one babey! Also in middle school a story under 2000 words felt long to me.)

So, what have I learned from this? I think I've gotten pretty good at starting the story where the story starts, which is something I learned in my practice of writing a lot of fics between 500-2000 words--you can't waste any time with something that short. I also was pleased to be reminded of the deliberate bookending I did with New, Improved, Guaranteed Quality. Its not something that every story needs, but in this case I thought it made a lot of sense.

Some tags: @marypsue, @tejoxys, @bowlingforgerbils, @linddzz

[thebuginthecornerofyourroom]

Look, I've been in a couple of magic academies and in all of them I could not find a single person, a single practicioner that understood what magic is about. No one, from the novices to the archmages, no one that got it, not trully.

You hear them in conversations and they're always like Oh, the chants this, Oh, the gestures that, Oh, the incantation, Oh the blah, blah, blah, because the only thing they want is a streamlined spell, something they are able to teach, something whose effect are able to predict. And then they wonder why no mage can execute major healings, or why their summonings suck. They can't imagine anything else. Some old bastard taught them to sing Twinkle Twinkle little star and they believe that's it. That's all they can do. Because to them, magic is nothing than a method, a technique, a procedure.

First time I managed to fire an Eldritch Blast from my fingers, I swear I heard notes. I composed a melody and was put under surveillance for wrongful manipulation of spells. I crafted a song and was expelled because it started eating the arm of a student and they had to cut it.

I thought the way it spread through the cells of their skin was beautiful.

You see, all of them look for power. And I'm not gonna be a judge here and say that they do it for good or bad reasons, but it all can be reduced to that, power. They want to use magic to bend the world to their will, so they learn the hard spells and perform the advanced rituals and then they get overwhelmed and corrupted because they don't understand what they're doing and shit hits the fan. The leader of the Church of Revelations wanted to make their Holy City fly so he learned advanced gravity magic and then flung the entire city with himself and other 3 million people out of the planet. And of course, they freaked out, banned the whole thing. I figured out how to do that and now I'm using that same type of magic to spin magic stones fast enough so I can coordinate spells better.

Because it doesn't matter if I can blow the army in front of me to kingdom come, or if I can defend the whatever ray some cunt fires at me. But I can regenerate skin. Soon I will be able to grow a person's arm back. I can force a plum tree to grow fruit that tastes like chicken. I can warm the solid rock until it melts, and cool the air until it becomes liquid. And I hear songs when I do that. Melodies that only can be enjoyed when the energy flows through.

I didn't leaned magic to obtain power, I learned magic to LEARN MAGIC. I don't have a kingdom to rule and conquer, I want to visit the planes and the dimensions. I don't have grudges or hatred, I want to find out how to shapeshift a creature with their mind intact.

The point of magic is magic.

[theinsanecrayonbox]

FOP: A New wish ep 5-8

and we're back at it again. another week, more episodes

spoilers: i think i found my favorite episode of this series. you'll understand why when you get to it XD

Episode 5: Fearless

for some reason my OnDemand doesn't have this available on it's own. however, it seems to be paired with ep4 (as it should be) so we can still see it. it's just weird that every other episode is on there single and together...weird

anywhos, onto the episode proper. the title card is giving me big reff vibes; i can't quite recall which previous title card it's evoking, but i feel like we've done this one before.

did Wanda's "squirt' sound like a mangled "twerp" or was that just me?

"Gregory" huh? i can get behind that. and Hazel is a horror buff?? i love you child. and Jasmine's seen IT?

did they censor Jasmine saying "fraidy cat"??

haha you can use TMNT because Paramount owns them too. they're Disney self reffing XD

ok, wishing your friend was fearless, good plot...think we've semi-done this before...and it didn't work this way last time in Emotion Commotion. but holy wow this is some imagery; we are so into the creepy. i love it

oh oh new geography! Annapolis...can't figure out where it is on that map though (Michigan maybe? Italy if it's not USA??)...also yes muppet stand-in is funny

sweet friendly pep talk, and fear fighting montage. good story telling

child possession??? by an eldritch entity of fear??? dang...this is getting deep and epic. A+ writers

"Don't want another of those going rogue" with an ominous stare at the camera...uh, guys what did you do? what did you do??? O.o!!

overall, very good episode! mundane problem that was complicated by magic but in the end was solved without it and allows our MC to grow naturally as a person. A++

Episode 6: The Wellsington Hotellsington

this one was a Spongebob episode plot right? this title card though evokes Hail to the Chief to me but obviously no connection

Winn Harper's our new Trixie? (a popular potential romantic intertest...and are they nb?) and Dev is certainly Remy/Tad and Chad

oh this plot is actually A Wish Too Far; Hazel's making big rich claims and gonna magic to make it seem that way until it goes wrong. eh, stock, but reasonable. actually makes even more sense since she is the new kid so not everyone knows about her, verses Timmy who'd known his classmates for longer so you'd think they'd've known his family's financial standing.

and why's Jasmine buying this, didn't she go to Hazel's apartment last episode? wasn't on screen, didn't happen i guess)

oh she does remember, but she's an easily convinced ditz. it's ok

mega points for emu

oh and now her wish is backfiring on her, as it usually does

evil doppelganger Hazel speaking backwards???? what the...we are not shying from the weird and creepy are we?? (Shinning reference?) i love this writing team

dawww see Hazel you impressed them all on your own, don't need the frilly fancy stuff.

though you have earned yourself a sworn mortal enemy in Dev. delicious

and we end on creepy doppelganger?? what are you guys doing...and will you do more

overall, another pretty good episode. not anything spectacular sure, but we're still developing our supporting cast and the story status quo. so it's good

Episode 7: 1500 Minutes of Fame

the title almost sounds like it'd fit the previous episode too...but nice city skyline cutout *saves that for later refferance*

awww they're a friend trio now, yay

oh it's Most Wanted's plot...well base plot. Hazel wants to be popular. you'd think Cosmo and Wanda would remember how poorly that can go...

why is Father Time here? he had nothing to do with this type of wish last time. also he looks completely different from his prior appearance but then again that was in Timmy's Secret Wish and that wasn't good so we can let that slide. but being popular falls under "15 minutes of fame" huh? uhhu. well...to be fair i could see a rules restructuring after Tim's deal in Most Wanted and all his tampering with the Time Scooter (and in Timmy's Secret Wish too i guess) could've made it so Father Time has final approval of time-based wishes...maybe if that'd been the ruling from the start we wouldn't have 5 different timelines caused by Timmy in the first place

he's far too gleeful about how monkey's paw this gonna screw her over. he's gotta be djinn

that's squirrel!Timmy!!! as the school mascot??!! what??? also that's Big Problem adult!Timmy again...huh...

i wonder if Bev is a Ubetcha...

and yes being most wanted includes being wanted for not positive reasons

why would you send her to a Hollywood school? because she's famous maybe? i mean that makes sense...because Dimmadelphia isn't in California like Dimmsdale, where one could argue that the Hollywood school was just a district over this they'd share students. i just answered my own question...carry on show

who's higher than Father Time on the magical hierarchy when it comes to time magic? who would you get in trouble with my dude?

pffffft ok Nick of Time. 1) love the pun on the name. 2) love the meta puns in the dialog (ranks up there with Zim experimenting on a child also named Nic).

act New Yorky to make New York minutes? uh...ok...i mean, that is a logical idea a kid would come up with to problem solve, so for that reason it makes sense. also, it again highlights that she's a West coast/Midwestern kid and not an East coast/New Englander (yes there's a difference between NE and NY, just like i know there's a difference between West and Midwest). so...montage of stereotypes i guess

"I am a child and recognize all these references" pfffft i am laughing

and musical number with 2d animations...FLAPPY BOB???? and more TMNT references

and the wish just runs out, the day is saved. this was a fun magical shenanigans story, so good job team.

Episode 8: 28 Puddings Later

are...are we getting a zombie outbreak? i know we had some body horror in another episode, and then all the other creepy stuff in this week's episodes, but...really? O.o why are children's media doing zombie plagues a bunch lately...and why am i complaining about that??? even the title card is a zombie pudding apocalypse!! i am SO down for this episode!

it's picture day...and pudding...oh boy, stock plot of trying to stay clean in coming

Dev steals all the pudding?? oh heckie no! go stop him Hazel!! ah it's through bribery...boo on Dale

Timmy is the janitor i guess?

ah making pudding that available will ruin the market value, and devalue it. economics 101. but also people doing nuts and addicted and thus zombies i guess

and we are spooky. heeheehee

why isn't Wanda more chocolate crazy?

zomr there are children zombies swarming another student. what even is this; i love it

broccoli pudding?? but no Yugopotamians? boo

but anywhos, i think this might've been my favorite episode (and oh look it's episode 8 even, heehee). it was just so silly and fully magically induced and fixed, but it was fun. children being pudding zombies, that's just...yeah XDDD

[fatesdeepdive]

Entry 119: Amen

We’ve reached the end.

Revelation Chapter 27: Hear My Cry

The shadow mist that flew out of Gunter flies into the big stone head on the wall. It comes to life, now possessed by Anankos. Corrin says that Anankos has been toying with them for too long. Anankos says it isn't wrong to manipulate humans, because they exist solely for the amusement of dragons. Anankos asks why he was left to suffer and die, why humans flourish while he is burried in a dead world, ignored and forgotten. It's because you destroyed Valla, dickhole.

Jokes aside, Anankos having a crisis about being forgotten isn't a bad idea. The concept of an ancient god, now no longer worshipped, angry about being forgotten is decent. Too bad it's relegated to a couple of throwaway lines.

Corrin answers Anankos by hitting him with a sword, because Corrin is an articulate speaker. This fails, because swords don't cut through giant stone statues generally. Anankos says that, because Corrin is part of his bloodline, he will make Corrin his vessel. Xander and Anakos rush in and get their asses handed to them by Anankos’s laser breath. Anankos also attacks Azura, because dancers are OP.

The legendary weapons randomly start glowing and Yato transforms into its true form, a flaming golden chainsaw sword called Omega Yato. AKA the legendary Fire Emblem.

This chapter uses the same map as the last one, with Anankos serving as the boss. There are Dragon Veins that can be used to make healing tiles. As an aside, I'd like to praise Anankos's design in this chapter. The decayed statue works well for a forgotten god and is visually unlike anything else in the series. The moments where the head rears out from the wall, revealing there's an eldritch monster wearing it, and the moments where the jaw of the mask breaks apart so Anankos can shoot lasers are creepy.

Anankos is a powerful enemy who has bullshit skills that negate stat drops, poison, statuses, Lethality, Counter, and damage after battle from Poison Strike and similar skills. It also halves damage from all weapons but Omega Yato, which is instead reduced by 25%, and reduces the damage from criticals and activation skills. This final battle is lactose intolerant. Fortunately, Xander and Takumi were strong enough to beat him down.

After being defeated, Anankos summons Garon to give him a power boost. Garon tells Anankos to fuse with him so they can rule together. Anankos laughs and eats Garon. The Nohrians are given a single line of mourning each. Anankos then brags about getting his power back. The stone mask cracks, revealing four red eyes. The monster body retracts into a hole. The palace explodes as Anankos's real form, a bigass dragon, flies away. Dragon Anankos summons a fucking black hole, which sucks in all of the rubble of the palace and eventually entire flying islands as he rears up to attack.

So, power scaling is kinda dumb, but Corrin and company don’t get sucked in, meaning they can casually shrug off the pull of a black hole. This makes Corrin arguably one of the strongest characters in Smash.

Revelation Endgame: Anankos

Takumi and Leo say that they can't possibly beat Anankos's dragon form. Xander said he never thought his final moments would be alongside a Hoshidan prince; Ryoma messes up the Legolas quote because he hasn't seen Return of the King. Ryoma says he'll meet his end on his feet. Corrin says to not give up and that they can win through teamwork!

The setting for this final chapter is cool. The black hole makes the sky change to a beautiful starry night, for some reason, with Anankos taking up half the map. Dragon Anankos is a pale dragon covered in spikes, with sharp black nails and rotting wings filled with holes. The dragon's head has no eyes; in his jaw, it holds a giant green orb covered in red eyes, which I assume is Anankos's soul. An excellent remix of Lost in Thoughts All Alone plays as the battle begins. Unfortunately, despite the game giving me dozens of different units, I was only allowed to bring a paltry 12.

There are a few enemies milling about in this chapter, but the main threat is Anankos. You first have to kill Anaknos’s two arms, which causes him to lower his head. Anankos hits like a truck. His attack animation has a tree grow out of his head as he shoots out an energy ball. It looks cool but I don't know what the significance is. I split up my army, with Takumi and Kenshi taking out the two hands, while Corrin took on the central head. Corrin was unable to fell the head in a single blow, so I resorted to callously throwing my units away through an endless parade of human wave tactics. Setsuna, of all people, managed to dodge a lethal dragon breath attack and kill Anankos with a counterattack.

Psyche! There’s a third form that is just the eye ball! This final form tore through my army. I sacrificed Takumi to get the eye weak and attacked with Corrin, who just barely failed to kill the god. I had Kenshi Galeforce boost back to the center and attack over Corrin’s shoulder with a shuriken. This didn’t work, but Corrin killed Anankos with a pair-up attack. If I felt like it, I could wax philosophically about friendship and bonds killing a god.

Anankos dies, the black hole disappears, and everyone celebrates. The game cuts to the throne room, where Azura crowns Corrin ruler of Valla as their siblings watch. Yay! Corrin is the ruler of a dead kingdom without any subjects! Corrin thanks Xander and Ryoma for donating land to rebuild Valla, but the fact remains, who the hell is going to live there? Also does the curse still exist?

Corrin pledges to believe in their people and works for their betterment. Everyone says Corrin will be a good ruler, as Gunter watches from a distance. Corrin and Azura meet by the lake. Corrin says Azura should be the leader, but she counters that they stopped Anankos and were chosen by Valla. Azura sings the song and Corrin speculates it's about them. Azura says Anankos wrote the song, so it could be used one day to save him by killing him. Corrin and Azura vow to write a new verse to the song, together.

In the final anime cutscene, Xander and Ryoma stand on a green hillside and vow to keep peace. Hinoka and Camilla say they will all be bound by this vow. Elise and Sakura say they're friends now. Takumi says he wishes it were that easy to forgive, but Leo says that healing can only begin with trust. Everyone turns to Corrin as the two kings swear to their people, countries, and Mary Sue sibling.

It sure is good that this ending fixes the massive economic issues in Nohr that force the country to result to raids on neighboring countries for supplies and also fixes the lingering resentment Hoshidans feel over the decades of constant slaughter of civilians at the hands of Garon!

I don’t know who my MVP was because I accidentally skipped the credits. Let’s say Kenshi.

Closing Thoughts

Revelation is a bit of a mess. There are things I like. The idea of a golden ending where everyone unites is cool. Mikoto and Sumeragi coming back as ghosts is interesting. Gunter was a good villain, even if the writing regarding Scarlet’s murder was haphazard. Valla at least looks amazing.

But, I can’t deny this route has heavy, heavy flaws. The first half of the route is mostly retreading the other two, with characters reduced to single lines of dialogue and major plot points tossed aside, and feels like filler. It picks up once the gang gets to Valla, only to grind to a halt with the Anthony arc. The idea of new lore and ancient secrets is appealing, but that isn’t really given. All of the depth to Anankos’s character is relegated to DLC chapters and Valla is a boring country, free from any culture or depth. The ad-hoc worldbuilding and dumb character decisions return from Conquest, but at the same time, Corrin being a decent character returns from Birthright.

The reliance on gimmick maps is far more common than in the other routes, and while I do appreciate attempting to make maps unique, many of them are just annoying to play. The game gives you an absolutely massive army, but never gives you a chance to use this bigger army.

Revelation exists to give a happy ending where everyone lives, a route where you can recruit dozens of soldiers and customize your army as much as you want. And it succeeds at being that. But, as this epic finale, this ultimate battle against the ultimate villain, it falls woefully short. And as a result, I think it’s my least favorite of the three routes.

I’m not done yet with Fire Emblem Fates. I still have a few more DLC chapters, most notably the Heirs of Fate Xenologues, and would like to end this blog with my honest thoughts on every character. But, for now, let’s close the book on this chapter of Fates.

[nyx-fey]

Uhhhhhhhhhh hi! hello! I'm Nyx! Welcome, and thanks for stopping by (the odd crab seems to be happy)

So uh, I recently got motivated to start posting more about my fanfictions/weird art here.

I'll be starting a more dedicated side blog soon, (one that's pretty much all robots since that what I'm obsessed with rn) and it will definitely be nsft, since I'm trying to keep everything sfw on main. So look out for that if you are only here because I've started writing about spike.

(I will talk about transformers here too, I've got a bunch of fic ideas in the works, I'm just bad about finishing them. Other than that it's mostly obscure lore and speculative biology; and also uh, about having read through like 3/4ths of the AO3 collection. It's just got a lot to compete with on main)

I'm still planning to use my main for weird insomniac rambling, and cryptid hunting, and transformers fandom- also just the rare reference to actually being a human and not like. a weird squid. (One can dream 😮‍💨)

This blog is, for the most part, SFW. But there are some exceptions. My fossilized friend may not curse, but I do. I also talk about doing adult things like drinking and eating weed. I am not excessive about it, but I'm not trying to hide it either. So if that is something you want to avoid this this is not the blog for you.

(Mostly I use sfw/nsft when talking about excessive-gore type horror, or explicit sexual material which will both get dedicated blogs with specialized 18+ only warnings. I will not be putting content of either type on my main.)

Main is definitely the best place to learn about how far along any of my projects are coming though. And I will put them here if they are sfw.

So uh, besides that, this is also the place where I primarily simp for Eldritch horrors beyond moral comprehension; pretend to be a cambrian era plectronoceras, because it makes me happy; talk about being pagan; reblog whatever cool things I find scrolling Tumblr with zero rhyme or reason; talk about my hyperfixations; be unapologetically gay; build real life robots; and garbagepost (idk the right word) at three in the morning when I can't sleep.

Use the ask box to interact with the squid guy! He wants to be friends with you 💚🐙🐚

(that's all I'm using the ask box for ATM, it brings me joy)

--LINKS--

My Twitter: Coming soon!

My AO3: Coming soon!

My Transformers side blog: Coming soon!

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

Origin of my profile pic art:

(I'll be replacing it soon though)

--About the ask box--

I will almost always be in character when answering the ask box, but that won't stop me from talking about whatever fanfiction or art I happen to be working on. (Or getting really excided about The Transformers)

Asks can range from anything regarding my creative works, discussions about fandoms, questions about the mollusk, asking about other things I'm interested in, to just giving the Squid-wizard a cool rock you found.

Since you can only have one(?) Pinned post, ask box rules will be tagged with #ask box rules please look it up before asking. (I'm sorry I know that's clunky, I'll re-type it up here soon)

--Navigation--

#3 am nonsense | absolute random garbage hopefully still fun though

#writing / #fanfiction | talking about how my writting is going or fanfiction culture

#how do drawing tablets work? | A genuine question, and also where I talk about any of my drawing ideas

#im only putting this here because i don't know where else to put it | Here as in here on Tumblr, also garbageposting but it's about real life mostly- I'm still keeping it vague because that's how I prefer it.

#eldritch horrors that give me warm fuzzy feelings | exactly what it says. Mostly Lovecraft focused. (He was beyond a terrible person- but he's dead now and I can put Cthulhu in a dress if I want to spite him.)

#uerrgh... art | things that I've drawn and posted here

#wow i actually wrote something | for when I actually finish a writting project as post it here

#video games i like | Talking about video games

#transformers / #macadams | Transformers focused posts and my current obsession

#really cool art i found / #i loved reading this | the general tags I use for stuff that's not mine but that I also really liked

#is that a cambrian-era plectronoceras? | Ask box answers, interact with squid guy

#thats right nyx is a furry | I really am! Nyx Fey has been my fursona name for years- before I decided that Nyx would just be my preferred name when online. I will also probably make a side blog about this too!

There are others but none of them are really dedicated enough to put here, I will update later if I need to. Especially as I make side blogs to try and organize things better.

I'm still relearning Tumblr so please be a little patient with me thank you 💚

[the-bog-monsters-simp-swamp]

FIC IDEAS; SHANE AND RYAN EDITION <3

Feel free to take inspiration from these or even just use the whole thing!!

Just make sure you tag me in whatever you make and give credit :)!!

Shane is a demon and Ryan is a fae

Ryan is a demon and Shane is a changeling

Something has spooked Shane during a ghost hunt. But he refuses to talk about it. He's been acting weird ever since, and has even taken time off and called in sick several times to seemingly avoid going back to hunting!

^^ok that was an AO3 style description but the premise is; Shane sees something otherworldy that he wasn't supposed to. His mind can't handle it and he's trying his hardest to cope with this new reality as well as try to actually comprehend what he saw. It could be anything paranormal, but I want it to go by eldritch horror rules: your mind cannot comprehend what you are seeing and you slowly breakdown because of it. Wether he goes "insane" or not is not important, because the fic won't go for that long. It's supposed to be a short >5 chapter fic. Focuses around Ryan figuring out what happened and mainly just comforting Shane through all of it, wether he figures it out or not. I would to explore their relationship a bit. Shane wouldn't want to tell Ryan, and couldn't even if he wanted to because he cannot explain the experience nor describe what he saw. Ryan wouldn't push too hard and comfort him, staying with him until he's sound of mind. If Shane DOES happen to tell him, it would be either him trying and failing to describe what he saw (it would definitely be poetic and terrifying none the less) or him just summarizing and saying that he had a paranormal encounter. I think Ryan wouldn't question this. He knows how his friend thinks on the paranormal, and knows he wouldn't lie about this. He also knows that he's NOT lying because he's clearly in heavy emotional distress about it. (This would most likely cause Ryan to rethink the whole "ghost hunting" gig...)

[savingthrcw]

under request: Solona Amell

she's meant to be a Joke but I also love her so here she is (Joke because overpowered but still will allow you to explore your character's emotions as much as you'd like, and different dynamics)

"human" mage (yeah, right) / Eldritch Horror / Hero of Ferelden & Warden Commander / doesn't have a dark side any more than Barbie does / meant to be generally seen as beautiful, real life fc is Margot Robbie. This gives her privileges which is why I made a point of mentioning it. (your muse is allowed not to find her attractive, obviously).

Wanted interactions: Dragon Age characters because I cannot imagine more people wanting to given that she's all-powerful, but if you request her I'll write her with your other ones too. Solona can easily be played as follower (and a bonus one at that, who is basically more powerful than Sandal, she's not to be taken too seriously as a character, I'll write more about it soon). Open to romantic interactions with: potentially all. Demiromantic, Pansexual. Has tried a bit of everything because curious. It's unclear to her what is socially acceptable to say.

Hair color is like in the first pic (which is her by the time of DAI), not the third which is blonder, but the third shows Margot at 22 which is closer to Solona's age (somewhere near 20)

So, what about Solona? Why is she not to be taken too seriously?

Because she has the KILL-ALL console command and mods. Normally she uses other spells because she thinks it's fun to make battles last but she is overpowered.

She's found in the Deep Roads by a group of dwarves, surrounded by dead Darkspawn and chilling. Has no memories except for the fact that her name is Solona. It seems they were trying to make her into a BroodMother and died for it. She's in her late teens and has never seen a spellbook, all her magic is purely elemental. She picks the last name Amell.

She's VERY gifted which could make her a problem, but because she's so happy to follow Circle rules, is friendly, kind, and has such a pretty face, they let her be; the general idea is that she's too 'simple' to be dangerous. When it takes less than ten minutes to go through the Harrowing they all freak out and decide to find an excuse to make her Tranquil, because that can't be right. Also maybe they should study her. She helps Jowan because he asks her to, and even if she warns Irving, if only for their own safety, they use that as the Excuse. Duncan "saves her" as much as she 'needs' to be saved (meaning she can walk away without bloodshed) so she thanks them all for the opportunity and leaves. She knows NOTHING of the world besides the few things she was taught at the Circle, she finds everyone very amusing and everything is just so great. She will learn more about humanity as the story goes by and feel more things (there is a reason if her icons come from the Barbie movie)

The rest is history, as in DAO really starts.

Notes for other players: -if you play another HoF, Hawke or Inquisitor or someone in the position of being 'scary/in charge', only ask me to use her if you are okay with the fact that she cannot feel threatened by them and if they are very dark/serious/dominant she'd just be like 'okay lol' and not take them seriously. If that bothers you because you feel it's challenging their credibility or any other reason DO NOT interact with her. If she's a follower she could either be found at the Circle during the mission to recruit the mages or have been recruited by Duncan as a Warden not long before your muse was, depending on who you play, and was found on the way to Lothering.

-If you play a Solas and you want her to be able to tell that he's more than just an elf let me know, it'd be funny if she knew and didn't say anything because nobody asked?? -if you play an Anders and want him to have safe passage after DA2 tell me and she'll take care of him. -if you want to use her to retrieve an Alistair/Hawke from the Fade, you can -if you play anyone else and you want to change some fundamental part of your muse's life tell me, she probably can do it. Found an undefeatable enemy and snap her fingers to have it die? Done. Remove a demon/spell like it's nothing? Done.

[below what happens in game / her personality and relationships]

Beginning She travels with a constant smile, she doesn't pass out at the Joining, she doesn't need time to recharge when using spells in Ostagar, just keeps burning/freezing/electrocuting at will. She has a great time! Until Duncan is betrayed. She only needs saving (via Flemeth) because she is hit over the head from behind and passes out after freezing because she felt Duncan's death. Flemeth can probably feel there is something Different about her. Same for Solona but she says nothing because nobody asks. She knows near nothing about life, the Circle doesn't encourage close relationships, so she'll ask her companions about it.

Kill-all mod and other spells. One day the rest of the team sees her not smiling after her Mabari Juliette is hurt in battle, and she immediately kills the entire group army of Darkspawn around her with one move of her hand, then go do the same to the ones who were left behind. This is how they find out that everyone she wants dead and is within thirty feet from her will die on the spot.

It takes her about five seconds to recharge after every hit of the Death spell. So the only reason she doesn't just go up to the Archdemon and kills it on the spot is that she thinks all the different races should fight together to make them remember they are meant to be friends. That and there is enough Darkspawn to tire her, plus she can't be everywhere at the same time. Her nature and other skills: Her origins are unclear but it becomes clear she must be some sort of benevolent creature that looks human, and maybe partly is. She ages and is mortal now but who knows what she was. She cannot heal people nor can morph. She can do extra spells like levitate things. She still uses normal elemental spells because they are fun, the Death Spell is boring. She can feel things that other people can (see Flemeth being More). Can go back to the Fade with some effort. She's very caring and very excited to meet everyone, finds them all very funny. She really doesn't care about killing en masse, she'll just say "they are the enemy :D", but mostly follows Alistair for moral guidance (which makes them all very lucky). Gullible, easily persuaded to do things if she's not already set on a specific choice. So Very Ready to Help.

Some game choices: Loghain dies by Alistair's hand - Anora is queen (alone). Elves and Werewolves are at peace. Bhelen wins the throne. The Circle get rescued. She tries to take care of Cullen after, doesn't hold a grudge against anyone there. Doesn't harden companions, completes all their missions. Kills the Archdemon immediately once she sees it. Either convinced Alistair to perform the ritual because worried about him or she just Could Do That. Kills the Architect.

[trishacastover]

Second update to the Eldritch au! This is just going to be little fun facts and what he is called by the other aus! This isn't apart of Clown's work for the Welcome Home project he's working on, this is entirely fanmade and the other aus belong to their creators.

Okay first up is Avia! Avia can eat other things than rodents in her human form! Though she has a preference towards rodents, she loves boiled eggs! She enjoys peeling off the shell and tearing them open! Her favorite part is the yolk! Sometimes she'll even make egg salad or deviled eggs! The only reason she'll ever go to Howdy's is to get her own eggs since she doesn't want to impose on Poppy and take what's needed for her to bake. So Avia will go to Howdy's to get her own eggs! She even writes her name on the containers so Poppy knows that they're hers. Another thing about Avia is that she's scared of loud noises such as fireworks and thunder! Wally would hold her and cover her with his extra arms and with one of his wings. Although she tends to play off as someone cool who doesn't fear loud noises, which amuses Wally because he knows the truth. Avia is also the only one who can keep him on a leash so to speak, so everytime he comes to RF Wally's mansion (It is agreed upon in the RF discord server that the aus just come and go there at random.) he has to bring Avia with him because it's literally a rule for him to do so.

Now onto our silly Eldritch himself! Because of the show's runtime (Late 60s to early-mid 70s) any technological advancements made after the show was cancelled confuses him to no end. So he still uses a video camera that records things on VHS, those old photo cameras that spit out the picture that has to go through a ritual just for it to show, and rotary phones to call! He can easily use his powers to connect his calls to digital phones so it's never an issue.

Eldritch's in this au are genderless and formless, so they can assume a form and voice that matches their identity. Home doesn't identify as anything so Home goes by it/it's pronouns (Home is dead in this au as a reminder.). Wally still identifies as male so he still goes by he/him/his. He even has multiple voices he uses but there is one that he mainly uses (It's the voice of Tim Burton's Cheshire Cat.). Eldritchs can also fall in love with just about anything, a human, alien, or even a raccoon. As long as the relationship is consensual and the feelings are reciprocated, there's nothing wrong. If the object of their affections don't share the same feelings, then the Eldritchs have ways to win them over (Thus why Wally is a romantic rizzler in this au.). So in order to simplify things in human standards, Wally just says he's pansexual. Wally is still the children's show entertaining puppet at heart, so he does have a soft spot for children. He is also easily bribed with apples and has arachnophobia.

He's properly known as Eldi by the other aus! This only came to be because Baby! Wally can't pronounce the word "Eldritch", so he ended up calling him Eldi instead. It slowly caught on with the other aus and they call him Eldi every since.

I've also went into my settings and allowed questions/requests, I think that's enough in order to set up a ask/request box. Anyways, that's all I have for now.

[northwest-cryptid]

Okay so like here's the thing right all things considered the idea of like, conducting eldritch rituals just to summon a bunch of cosmic horrors beyond my imagination (that will likely drive me insane the second I lay eyes on them anyways) is arguably a really dumb and just objectively bad idea... but I still wanna do it.

Now it's very likely that Meursault, Ishmael, Outis, and Heathcliff would not even humor this idea. They just strike me as the sort who, if they even bother taking any action on the matter; would actively try to prevent it from happening. I don't include Yi Sang on that list because honestly, Yi Sang is so just generally laid back and unbothered that I feel like I could explain the entirely plan to him and just get an "okay" as a response if even that. However I still wouldn't invite him along because the poor guy probably doesn't want to actually go to the giant cosmic monster fight club but also doesn't want to have to tell me no and then spend the next year or two hearing about how "fucking amazing and cool" the giant cosmic monster fight club was because he knows I won't shut up about it even though I likely can't remember anything about it in reality outside of the fact that I wanted to host, and had succeeded in hosting; a giant cosmic monster fight club.

The other exclusions are as such: -Don Quixote might have fun if we tell her that one of the Eldritch gods is actually fighting for justice. However in the event it dies I don't think I'd be able to stop Don from rushing into battle against like, actual cosmic horrors beyond even her imagination; and the simple fact that I don't know exactly who would win but rather that no matter who won the outcome would probably cause more harm than good; scares me -Faust may very well be able to handle viewing such an event and actually keep their mental sanity stable because Faust would likely just not be phased, likely saying "These horrors may be beyond your imagination but Faust can imagine them easily" or something, and while this all might sound like a great supporting argument that we should in fact bring Faust along, I cannot emphasize enough that what happens at the really dumb giant cosmic monster fight club STAYS at the really dumb giant cosmic monster fight club, I don't think anyone is going to want to have to remember those events for the sake of keeping their own sanity intact. So it's probably best if we just all vibe and then Dante can do their magic clock trick and bring us all back after the inevitable horror. I would quite literally go insane if Faust randomly reminded me of the events that took place during the giant cosmic monster fight club, so the first rule is we don't talk about the giant cosmic monster fight club and I can't trust Faust like that. - Sinclair is just too good to be subjected to such horrors I wouldn't do that to the lad I couldn't. - I don't wish to see Ryoshu go insane and likely murder us all before any of us can actually place our bets on which giant cosmic horror wins the battle royale. This leaves us with the sinner squad of Hong Lu who I think would actually get a kick out of it, I mean the guy seems to enjoy entertainment and the like why not have fun betting on some monster fights? Rodion is a known gambler and honestly seems like she would be totally on board to help set the whole thing up. Gregor would have to come along because I'm not gonna leave my main man Greg out!

I have given this exactly 10 seconds of thought, and is all the context for my previous post of "I desire to do unspeakable (eldritch) and unholy (ELDRITCH) things with Rodion" I could possibly provide.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk, I'll see you all at the giant cosmic monster fight club.

Look fam I just wanna see Cthulhu and Yog-Sothoth battle it out in the middle of the ocean like some big ol' kaiju, and I feel like Rodion would be absolutely on board for that I also wanna bet on who wins and I feel like Rodion is the best pick for that as well. Like Yi Sang would probably not care so I guess he could work too but I feel like he wouldn't have fun, ya know? I don't know how I could swing that topic to Don without it going poorly, and I wouldn't expose Sinclair to that; ya know actually Hong Lu would probably get a kick out of it

I am extremely medicated and reading about eldritch stuff, please forgive me.