#but yeah this is everyone's position in a nutshell

[creatively-cosmic]

missing numbers lore

[tsartistry]

I love the Niobe kidnaps Lester AU! I’m already so invested in it! But I have many questions…

1. How does Leto (aka mama Leto) feel about this?

2. What is/how are the Apollo kids feeling? Are their powers not working as much or what?

3. How is Olympus doing? Is someone doing apollos work? Are they trying to investigate or are they trying to pretend that nothing is happening?

4. Did Lester/apollo gain their powers back before Niobe kidnapped him? And since he’s being brainwashed did he forget he does have powers if he gained them again or are they just completely gone?

5. Will Lester/apollo have a love interest?

And last question for this post I swear lol does Lester/apollo ever show signs of their powers once and awhile? Like for example if their hair starts to go blonde suddenly?

Sorry for so many questions, I’m just so invested in this AU ever since I discovered it lol I keep going back to this tag just to reread everything :3

1. How does Mama Leto feel about all this?

in a nutshell?

For the past several thousand years, Leto's had a lot of trust in Zeus. Even during Apollo's trials, while she was begging him to end the trials and restore her son's divinity, she still trusted him. Surely if Apollo succeeded at his trials, then Zeus would keep his word and restore him to Olympus. And if he failed -- she did not want to think about him failing, but she still trusted she would see her son again. Somehow.

But now, it's not a matter of success or failure; Apollo is just gone. Leto can't find any trace of him, and suddenly Zeus isn't giving her any answers. She can't exactly bring wrath down upon the King of the Olympus the way she did Niobe millennia ago. All she can do is ask everyone she knows for help finding her son, and stew in her worry as she waits for any scrap of information.

She's not doing great.

(Whenever she finds out about Niobe's involvement, all that anxiety turns into RAAAAAGE)

2. What is/how are the Apollo kids feeling? Are their powers not working as much or what?

Their powers are weakened, but still working! Their spirits... not so much. It's not like Apollo to give them radio silence. When they ask the other gods for information, they provide no answers. But where Leto was filled with anxiety, the Apollo kids are on the cusp of despair. The only thing they're holding on to is Nico saying he didn't feel Lester die; But if that's the case, where is he?

3. How is Olympus doing? Is someone doing apollos work? Are they trying to investigate or are they trying to pretend that nothing is happening?

I hadn't thought about who was doing Apollo's work, but thinking about it now, it's probably either Hermes or Artemis. Maybe they switch off? Hermes has a precedent for handling Apollo's animals, and Artemis would want to ensure her brother's position as sun god is cared for and not usurped. She saw what happened to Helios, after all.

But Olympus is tense. Zeus is convinced that Apollo went into hiding, perhaps hoping that Zeus will come begging for him to come defeat Python --

Oh, yeah, Python's still around, by the way! He's still digesting the power of the Triumvirate, and still has complete control over Delphi, and there is now a risk of him using his power and position to start taking control of fate. With every day that passes, the serpent's power grows, and the tension among the Olympians builds.

Unfortunately, fate has decreed the absent Apollo would be the one to defeat the serpent. But Zeus will not stoop to begging Apollo to come back; That would be showing weakness! He's fine waiting out his son's little tantrum. He's just making it harder for himself, after all; Every day Python grows more powerful. But that's Apollo's problem. Why should Zeus be worried about an evil serpent possibly taking control of fate itself?

Yeah, Zeus is panicking. He pretends to know where Apollo is, but he's as clueless as everyone else, and it's terrifying. Even in the guise of a mortal, what could make an entire god disappear so suddenly? And could Python pull the strings of fate to force the Olympians to fall?

Despite his efforts to look cool and collected, the other Olympians are starting to see the cracks in his facade. Poseidon especially is starting to smell blood in the water, so to speak.

4. Did Lester/apollo gain their powers back before Niobe kidnapped him? And since he’s being brainwashed did he forget he does have powers if he gained them again or are they just completely gone?

I wouldn't say they're gone, but I would say he does not have access to them. The power still exists, but he cannot reach it.

The brainwashing and the lost powers are two separate things that were done to him. Niobe actually did some magical shenanigans (with the help of a Greek goddess I won't name just yet, it's someone who has never appeared in the Riordanverse) to actually remove parts of Apollo's soul to prevent him from accessing them.

5. Will Lester/apollo have a love interest?

I don't have any plans to write any romance for Lester, but who knows, maybe as I'm writing I'll get struck with inspiration! But the story's already complicated enough, haha, romance might tangle it up even more.

And last question for this post I swear lol does Lester/apollo ever show signs of their powers once and awhile? Like for example if their hair starts to go blonde suddenly?

Yes! While he's lost access to most of his powers due to Niobe's meddling on top of Zeus turning him mortal, she overlooked his music powers! It's actually a plot point that he can use music and rhythm to guide people's emotions and movements.

I like to imagine that if he practices hard & concentrates, he can trigger an entire diegetic musical number. The kind where he can get a whole crowd singing and dancing together. Unfortunately that sort of thing is difficult to convey in writing.

Sorry for so many questions, I’m just so invested in this AU ever since I discovered it lol I keep going back to this tag just to reread everything :3

aaa that makes me so happy!! Please don't feel bad about asking questions, it helps me fill in details I hadn't thought about before :D

speaking of Apollo's music powers, here's a bonus doodle

[yakuzabrainrotlive]

I have had NO time to play lately fr. And when I have played, I've been growing Ichiban's social network, picking stuff off the ground and taking pictures. AND killing hundreds of evil santas at the mall because their money yield levels are nuts and I want good gear.

But. I HAVE also made progress with the main plot too. And have had time to... process it a bit.

Yeah, I got to The Reveal :) I am Suffering :) Got to the beginning of chapter 5.

So. What witty lil' thing am I supposed to say here? Like... fuck. Just. Fuck. It shattered my heart to see him break the news with this smile I can't interpret. I mostly see a man who's accepted his fate and made his peace with it, which would be in-character considering... well... *gestures at this man's entire life and then the way he was in Gaiden*. I feel like I'm sadder and more bitter than Kiryu himself is about the whole situation. Or maybe he's just hiding his true feelings very well.

I hate the fact that Kiryu's disadvantaged position in society as an orphan keeps hurting him even this late in life. It feels so unfair, it hurts, it's... incredible writing.

....yeah. Not even remotely surprised. This is just Kiryu in a nutshell. Always looking for people in need of help, a job that needs to be done, a cog he can help turn. He's always looking for a purpose; something to keep him going. And while that's something most people want, I feel like Kiryu is always living to be able to benefit other people. Very noble, but not healthy.

The start of Y3 felt like the closest we'll ever get to him properly settling down and BREATHING for once. I can never go back to that game without breaking down, huh.

THANK YOUUUU ICHIBAN WE'LL BE DOING EXACTLY THAT ❤️ we'll drag that old man into the hospital kicking and screaming if we have to ❤️❤️

Ichiban's overall reaction to the reveal surprised me. I know he's VERY compassionate and caring, but he felt so genuinely distressed it was almost shocking to me. I know they had like... mutual respect and trust going on in LAD, but I didn't get the vibe that they were THIS close. Maybe I have to go back to their shared cutscenes from LAD again. Or maybe Ichiban just feels that strongly, especially after this brief... thing they've had here in Hawaii. Nothing wrong with that at all. We love and respect Ichiban in this house.

Ichiban and Tomizawa... hmu. I will give you soup and warm cinnamon rolls. No questions asked, no need to pay.

Kiryu... please, for the LOVE OF GOD, let them help you. Let someone help you. No, don't just let them help you help others, LEAN ON THEM.

Love to see how effectively Ichiban brings out the sass in Kiryu. This dynamic is peak. They're so silly together.

*banging on my apartment walls* LET ME OUT!! LET ME OUT OF HERE!! PLEASE!! HAVE MERCY 😭😭 I don't wanna see Kiryu like this!! I'm gonna throw up!!

We're in chapter 4 and I wanna crawl into a hole to cry. I am NOT going to survive this game.

:)

ANYWAY YAYYYY!! New party member ^_^ she's SOOO cool, she's STAYING.

Okay so I already kinda have a team I really like and everyone works well together?? How the hell am I supposed to pick 3 people when the old squad (besides Eri, RIP my MVP queen 😔) is definitely coming back as well? Tomizawa and Chitose have grown on me so I don't wanna bench 'em, and I will literally be 6 feet under before Kiryu even looks at the bench, so... I'm in trouble 😭

I'm gonna have to see if Tomizawa and Chitose can be built around Ichiban and Kiryu, or if others will fill roles better. If anything's gonna make me bench 'em, it's going to be my hyper-optimizing, excel-sheet making brain that loves to make my teams as BROKEN balanced as possible.

OKAY ALSO. That better not have been it for the Barracudas. Like, for real. They were portrayed as SOOO spooky and dangerous and they honestly felt like The Threat to me. Are they really folding this early? I hope not.

THE SQUAD HAS ASSEMBLED! So pleased to have a full team ^_^

[cocogum]

William and the color purple.

Love the fact that William being associated with the color purple actually has meaning to it.

Like yeah purple has also something to do with shadows in 8-bit games but when it comes to William wearing purple, there’s a reason why he’s only being represented in that one color (besides the fact that he’s supposed to represent a shadowy figure which would explain why he physically looks purple in the games).

Like any color, purple can represent many themes and topics. For its positive, it represents royalty, luxury, the encouragement of self-knowledge and an air of mystery and the supernatural.

It’s all fine and dandy until we get to see what its negative represents.

When we think about the color purple’s negative meanings, we have conceit, pomposity and mourning which that last one would only be caused by death.

Now we are completely aware of what mourning and death mean and could all agree on attributing these two to William given the fact that he has a habit of spreading these two like a wildfire on a constant basis.

But what about conceit and pomposity? What do those two mean?

Conceit and Pomposity are synonyms to each other and both mean believing you are better than everyone else, having a super-sized self-confidence.

If we take off any kind of positive meanings of the color and only take the negative points, then we pretty much get William in a nutshell or rather his book counterpart (his game counterpart is also perfectly being described by the color but the books have been able to show more of his personality).

Book William Afton considers himself to be a genius, a scientist who found the answer for immortality. He shows to have a high opinion of himself and sees everyone else as a liability, a nuisance or simply doesn’t think they’re capable of understanding what he seeks (ex: Elizabeth, robot Charlie’s friends, etc.). The man has barely any sympathy or compassion for anyone who dies by his hands or by the animatronics and believes he alone is the only one who will not get wiped out by them because he believes he’s above anyone else. He also spreads around death and mourning due to his egotistical views and only cares about getting what he wants from the deaths (which are the remnants he collects from the kids) he committed.

So purple is legitimately William’s color due to the way that he thinks, behaves and, least we do not forget, his looks due to the fact that he mostly stays in the shadows.

What is very ironic however, is that his creations are part of the positive purple group since one of them talks about creativity which in William’s case would lead to the supernatural and is also a part of purple’s positive meanings. His actions (molding the animatronics) represented a positive aspect of purple but then lead to become a negative one after what he had done to the five missing children.

[datrb]

A comeback(?)

Hey there! Sure been a while huh. So... I come here, to my main, to share the news, shed a light on what happened and make an announcement.

First i'll do the announcement.

Starting from today i am allowed to use my hand again!

Just today i went to my rehabilitologist to get the list of excercises and thing i am not or allowed to do with my hand and she told me that using a pen is not just allowed but encouraged as it allows for a more natural recovery of motor functions!

It will take a while, but eventually i'll be right back to my usual shedule and even better than that! I also made a little crappy sketch to commemorate the occasion.

It's in no way good, but i wish to share it with all of people who were with me so far and who kept supporting me.

Now onto the less... positive note. I will get rather deep into medical topics, so if you're sensitive to that, please look away.

So... Those who followed my diagnosis process know that doctors really struggled with finding out what is wrong exactly, in the end landing on a surgery as diagnostic means.

On 13th of Feburary i had the surgery. It took a bit over 2 hours to complete and i was not allowed nor was in a condition to use my hand for 6 weeks since then.

As i learned during this period, the surgery ended up not being just diagnostic nor was it easy. As it turns out my wrist was... a mess to say the least.

Many of tendons were covered with scar tissue, one of the tendons was completely ripped, causing the bones to get dislocated, which ended up affecting the joint as a whole. Surgeon had to tie my bones together for them to get back in place, cut out all the scar tissue and sew the ripped tendon back together. What was suppoused to be a simple diagnostic surgery ended up as a reconstruction work.

But my surgeon did everything in the best way possible and my recovery had been as smooth as can be so far. I am extremely greateful for the work he did on my wrist. It's a true miracle what a skilled worker is capable of.

For now i should keep activity to minimum. But i am promised proper functionality in 4 months time with full recovery taking up half a year.

So yeah. That's what happened in a nutshell. I once again thank everyone for patience and support. And in turn promise to keep up the work myself and get back on track as soon as possible!

[ant1quar1an]

And it's meeeeeee Amono!

Remember HTTYD?

Yea, because that's our top favorite, what if we turn down off the Avian Reader and go back to human Reader who somehow shot Dust and their relationship starts off like how hiccup's and toothless one was from part one,

She did manage to snag his wing a bit but after a while (and a whole lot of effort not to get hurt or killed) he'll recover and yeah, they'll maybe get past being salty to each other because Reader wasn't even trying to shot him and He's just like 'Give me the chance and I'll have you dead' kinda vibe eventually they do move pass that (Like second movie but he's still reserve but he'll be the main one to go to her as she'd be introduced to the flock at one point and all)

And yeah the flock loves their (Dust) human and annoy her a lot (killer) and she'd never come come clean always in dirt, feathers and hair is a mess and ust would usually laugh at that before the meme goes 'You laughing, you laughing right now?, You think this is funny' before proceeding to slap dirt on him ending in a wrestling match surprisingly she could keep up with him some times but he's faster for sure!

. . .

Did you think I forgot about part three?

Nope, so yeah, ok the third movie she'd basically be kidnapped and all due to her relationship and this leads to all sorts of drama and it almost ends her in death (When hiccups fall with Grimmel) so you may be wondering what's next is she going to grow a pair of wings and fly?, also no, but she's gonna get saved by another Avian no one knew about (taking the ligthfury's place) yeah and the flock either has to go or stay and put of no where bam, no one's leaving at all and they're keeping Reader, ha, she's never going back, I guess she could live free or stay cooped up in society! (also turned out the other avian was actually as they say her 'child's as she raised one so that would explain what and how she knew how to deal with Dust and all)

Httyd was my childhood in a nutshell.

The amount of roleplay games I used to play.

Oh the tension between Dust and Reader. Can definitely imagine her like glaring at him as she slaps him with a fish (by throwing it) and grumbles out: "i'm trying to help you, you absolute shit."

Dust. He's a gremlin. A very reserved gremlin. Has also probably randomly picked Readz up at some point and flown her somewhere just to see her screech.

I feel like they'd definitely have a begruding romance, where Dust eventually admits that yeah, okay, this human is kinda cool and then introduces them.

Killer would absolutely be a little shit, you are so right. Readz goes back to society, covered in dirt and mud and immediately just ignores everyone looking at her before she dumps herself in the ocean to clean herself.

Hehe, Avian Child. Fledglings and chicks are so very adorable- I can see why Readz would immediately fall into a motherly position.

Anomo, you've struck again- back with a positively awesome idea.

[pateredere]

ayo what's poppin it's gemma here ( s/h, 21+ ) & i am so beyond excited for opening day! i'll be writing for the park i canon, park jeongho, the mayor's son & current chairman of the urban construction committee! i've got a ton more info under the cut ( mild tw for abuse ) cause as usual i haven't learnt to shut my trap but if you're at all keen to plot with me please hit that LIKE button! would definitely prefer d*scord but i can do tumblr ims too ( just afraid of the shadowban ya kno )! but yes tysm mwah!

speaking directly to my sisters in the church of astrology he's a scorpio sun ( mysterious n evil coded basically ) / taurus moon ( craves stability ) / cap rising ( hardworking & efficient lil bastard ) so yeah he's a bit mad to say the least

only child of park jeongwon, the current mayor! to understand jeongho you need to understand a little bit about the parks, but essentially every way in which they move comes with a political agenda so it's no surprise that his parents' marriage is fully a political arrangement! the point of the marriage was to sire an heir and once jeongho was born his mom peaced the fuck out of parenting and went on her merry way living as the jobless wife of the wealthiest man in town! she probably had intended to care for jeongho to some degree but she peaced out honestly for survival ( more on that in the next dot point )

that said jeongho was brought up almost entirely by his father and what i mean by that is he was brought up by the help and criticised often by his father. jeongwon in a nutshell is a smart man honestly prodigy level smart ( think one of those kids who don't study and gets 100% on a test cause the answer is just "common sense" ) with zero empathy so what you get is a grating narcissist who thinks they're better than einstein and he expects no less of his son! most of jeongho's childhood was his father asking for jeongho's test scores and when it's not up to par he just gets smacked and berated and called an idiot kid and honestly he's not much nicer to his wife which is why she made herself scarce

that was essentially the entirety of jeongho's childhood and it lends to his ocpd which he developed at a relatively young age! most people mistake it for ocd but it's really not that he just has an extreme obsession with perfectionism, order and control so he gets irrationally upset when things are not absolutely perfect like everything in his wardrobe is colour-coded and organised by attire type and everyone needs to wash their hands before interacting with him and the help must clean the parts of the house that any human walks through so yeah it's honestly pretty bad but in typical ocpd style he sees no issue with this and thinks other people are just lazy and unclean

anyway as per usual after high school he fucks off to the army and serves in the navy! he chose the navy mostly because jeongho had found goero's ocean to be really calming and had spent a lot of his youth swimming there when he needed to escape his dad! it's when he's in the army that he finds out his cousin passes which honestly is a shame because he liked jeongbin but at the end of the day jeongho wasn't really super close to him so it was kind of whatever

...which explains why he decides it's a good idea to scoop the late jeongbin's girlfriend and attempt to marry her!? as i said everything the parks do is politically motivated and there is no better political move frankly than to marry a yang to combine the park and yang assets so like sorry jeongbin but yeah! outside of those positives jeongho also frankly wanted to marry yang to "win" over his father in terms of choosing a spouse cause obviously his father did not marry a yang ( now's a good time to slip in that this father and son duo are constantly in competition ) and this was really his first ever rebel moment against his dad ( which if you think about it is pretty pathetic )

until his fiance jilted his ass at the altar so now he's the laughing stock of the town and his father is the striking image of mother gothel! after this whole bout jeongho finally and painfully admits that he's lost in this competition with his dad and he is most definitely dumber than his dad and so from here on out he just does everything his control freak of a dad says

father says go to uni so he fucks off to get an undergrad polsci degree then his dad tells him to marry one of his lackey's daughters so he can maintain control over jeongho AND his wife so he fucks off and proposes to shin and now with the land developers coming into goero his dad tells him to run for chairman of the urban construction committee so jeongwon can fully wash his hands of this land developer business ( importantly, he wants jeongho to put a stop to it and make sure no one sells ) so off he goes and that's the reason why he's currently chairman of said committee

cho jiyeon. as said, jeongwon is a really grating man who puts a lot of pressure on his son and constantly berates and belittles him whenever he doesn't get things done and what his father simply cannot understand is how the land developers are still in goero and chalks it up to how useless jeongho is. jiyeon continually bothers the parks and reminds jeongwon that she's still here and jeongho gets yelled at like he's fifteen again and at some point while jiyeon's talking her head off and says something mildly condescending to a "country boy" like him he realises that things would be so much easier if she just... disappeared. anger gets the best of him and you know how the rest of that story goes

anyway yeah jeongho is an absolute asshole sure but he's genuinely not a psychopath so what happened with jiyeon haunts him heaps but he tries his very best to move past it and live life as though she genuinely skipped town but yeah! few years pass and it becomes easier and now we're all caught up!

ok this was so long like you can stop here if you want below is just a bit about his personality / what to expect in interactions with him! also i don't have any plot ideas mostly because it's a skeleton rp and i feel like his relationship with each canon is unique given the political scene and stuff so generic plot ideas are kinda hard but yeah!

ok so personality-wise i would say that given his dad has drilled into him how useless and stupid he is jeongho is very aware that he is not the sharpest tool in the shed so he honestly is willing to hear people out when they talk to him! don't get me wrong he's definitely proud but he's not proud enough to think that he doesn't need anyone's help because he knows all kings have their advisors and he needs them! no shame in the game! ( also to clarify he's not actually stupid he's probably more just the type of person that gets good grades because he works hard and is organised and does all his assignments before it's due and not the type that gets up the day of the assignment due date and does it within an hour and gets a high distinction for it )

his father is also a really grating man to everyone else because he is smart so he thinks he doesn't need anyone cause everyone's suggestions are always dumb compared to him and his father often burns bridges but! because jeongho is aware of his weaknesses he is not that type of person so while he may feel a certain way about you he definitely is the sort to put on a polite enough facade! one thing he tends to do is the compliment sandwich where he can say something insulting in a not-totally-aggressive way and with a smile then sandwich it between normal conversation to make you think wait... did he just insult me or did i hallucinate it? maybe he just doesn't realise how he's coming across because of his upbringing? yeah

also to tack onto all this he is a very efficient guy and a proud workaholic ( also thanks to his ocpd ) so you'll see in interactions with him that he tends to move rather fast and speak rather direct and just operates at practically 2x speed! very much a say something useful or don't say anything at all type of person and he can be rather dismissive if he feels the conversation is not going to be fruitful within the first few sentences

also re: his ocpd things have to exist in a certain order and he expects a level of perfectionism always and there's a certain set of rules that you may need to learn especially if you're interacting with him frequently ( applies more to people who live and work with him )

all of this is about work but of course jeongho does lighten up from time to time! he has a group of friends who honestly it's questionable if they like him or his status but i imagine jeongho's life is something like the truman show where you have so much power that people are often pandering to you and you just think everyone is like that cause you're great when in reality they want something from you! but point is he does hang out and drink and fuck a lot and he's uhm certainly not loyal to his wife so there's that! will say though that he is very picky about the company he keeps and the people who know the "real" him

[solardee]

UTEV Drabble - Brand New Star

The day had been chaotic, even by Sans’ standards. It wasn’t everyday that your small town got treated to a fight between two inter-dimensional… deities? Spirits? Whatever they were, they looked like skeleton monsters, albeit very strange ones. The taller of the two, an angelic skeleton of some sort, had briefly introduced himself as Dawn before heralding off to do battle with his brother(?) in the distance.

A battle between positivity and negativity is what it was called. How strange. Of course, those two hadn’t been the only two that had come through. There had been a collection of other skeletons that looked eerily similar to him! Even if they seemed to take his lazy brother’s approach to clothing (he hoped they didn’t also leave socks lying around, what a nightmare!) they still looked and spoke just like him.

The same could not be said for the short paint covered skeleton standing beside him spouting exposition.

“So yeah! In a nutshell, that’s how the Multiverse works. Technically you don’t have a creator overseeing your AU since your world isn’t original, but that’s why I’m here and-” “LOOK,” Sans said as patiently as he could, cutting off the confusing tirade he had honestly tuned out about twenty minutes ago, “AS MUCH AS I APPRECIATE THE EXPLANATION, THAT’S NOT REALLY ANSWERING MY QUESTION HERE.”

He fiddled with the first aid kit in his hands as he spoke, hoping he didn’t come off as rude, “I NEED TO FIND THOSE PEOPLE THAT WENT OFF WITH YOUR FRIEND, HIS NAME WAS DAWN RIGHT? EVERYONE ELSE IS HEALED, BUT THEY STILL HAVEN’T COME BACK.”

“Oh, right!” the painted skeleton who still had not yet introduced himself shouted, before he laughed, “They’re not coming back, so don’t worry about them!”

Sans blinked, “THEY’RE NOT? WHY NOT? WHERE HAVE THEY GONE?”

“Oh, Dawn’s taking care of them, that’s all. Something about their intentions- Oooooh, is that a echo flower variation?” the skeleton veered from the topic, despite Sans’ flustered attempts to keep their attention.

“WAIT -! OH STARS THEY’RE GONE…” Sans sighed to himself. What a day this was, and now he had even more questions!

He had been warned, when helping the strange skeleton named Dawn evacuate people, that his main goal was to keep 'Dusk' from harming people or kidnapping them. The people who had vanished had been some of the first ones he’d evacuated, not having been anywhere near the strange goopy skeleton and his posse of doppelgangers. Sure, Sans hadn’t appreciated when they had shoved him in the way of a dangerous blast in an attempt to use him as a shield while escaping, but Dawn had gotten in the way before he was harmed so he figured he shouldn’t complain.

That being said… it was odd. Dawn had moved faster than he did at any other point of the fight at that moment. It had been a significant speed change. Even stranger still… None of the injuries he had treated had come from the opposition. He had expected to find knife wounds or patches of that strange blackened substance, but the majority of the wounds he treated were purely environmental. Otherwise, it was mostly burn wounds…

Sans shook his head, something just wasn’t lining up.

“Well well well, don’t you look lost in thought!” a voice came from right behind him, causing Sans to jump almost comidically off the ground.

“Whoa now, don’t fall!” the voice continued, a gloved hand on his shoulder steadying him enough to turn around and face the other, “goodness, you’re not too shell shocked are you? I know that blast was rough but I didn’t think it had reached you…” Dawn hummed as he checked Sans over, seemingly looking for wounds with that star-like gaze.

“WHERE ARE THE TWO MONSTERS THAT WERE WITH YOU?” Sans asked immediately, ignoring the other’s concern and brushing the hand off of his shoulder, “YOUR FRIEND SAID YOU TOOK THEM.”

“Ah? Two monsters? Sorry, I’m not sure what you’re talking about,” Dawn shrugged his shoulders a bit too casually, hand now on his hip bone, “You shouldn’t listen to Acrylic too much anyways, they don't always have the best perception of things-”

“I KNOW SOMETHING HAD TO HAVE BEEN DONE, THEY WERE THE FIRST ONES I GOT OUT OF THE CROSSFIRE! WHERE ARE THEY? I HAVEN’T TREATED THEM YET," Sans interrupted. It was rude, he knew! But he was nothing if not a dedicated healer, and he wouldn’t be distracted with idle chit chat.

Dawn gave him a look up and down, eyes boring into his soul, “Hmm. Observant, aren’t you?” the winged skeleton answered with a smirk, “They don’t need any treatment anymore, don’t worry about them.”

“WHAT? THAT ISN’T HOW THIS WORKS, ANYONE WHO IS IN THAT FIGHT NEEDS AT LEAST A PHYSICAL CHECK UP, WHO KNOWS IF THERE’S SOMETHING UNDERLYING INJURY THAT WASN’T NOTICED WITH ALL THE ADRENALIN-”

“I said don’t worry about them,” Dawn cut him off, smile still fixed upon his face but now far too sharp and predatory, “focus on your other patients.”

Sans hesitated a moment, staring up at this clearly very powerful creature. Sans had never been a good fighter, working his best to be Snowdin’s go to healer for the Royal Guard rather than joining the group himself (speaking of which, both strange entities had looked surprised at that notion, he’d have to ask why-). Even if he wasn’t stuck with a single hit point of health, it was clear Dawn could crush him in a heartbeat if he so wanted. In fact, he could’ve crushed all of those strange doppelgangers too now that he thought about it...

Sans crossed his arms in front of him, back straight as he glared up at Dawn’s towering figure, “NOT A CHANCE! I WOULDN’T HAVE SO MANY PATIENTS IF YOU HADN’T BEEN SO RECKLESS WITH YOUR FIRE ANYWAYS,” he scolded, hoping he came across as more confident than he felt.

“Are you accusing me of something?” sweet malice was dripping from his words like honey, barely hidden behind the other’s uncanny smile.

“WELL I DIDN’T TREAT ANY WOUNDS FROM THAT BROTHER OF YOURS IF THAT’S WHAT YOU’RE ASKING!” Sans reiterated, jutting his chin out as he tried not to falter at the dangerous heat radiating from Dawn, “IN FACT, I DIDN’T NOTICE HIM DOING ANYTHING WRONG OF THE SORT!”

Dawn froze at his the mention of his brother, and Sans wasn’t sure if that was really a good thing or not. The angelic skeleton took a step closer to him, circling him like a bird of prey as he looked Sans up and down. The manic grin on his face widened a tad.

“Is that so~?” Dawn practically purred.

“YES, IT IS SO! NOW TELL ME WHAT EXACTLY IS GOING ON, BECAUSE I’M NOT PUTTING ANYONE IN DANGER FOR YOU!”

“Ooooh, I like you!”

“I- WHAT?”

“Yes, you’ll do nicely I think, plenty observant, good healing capabilities, a good amount of patience and bravery, though those aren’t in your soul traits-” “WAIT HOLD ON- WHAT ARE YOU GOING ON ABOUT!? I STILL NEED THOSE TWO- HEY-!!! HEY PUT ME DOWN THIS INSTANT!!!!” Sans didn’t even have time to react before Dawn scooped him up over his shoulder, medical bag abandoned on the ground behind him.

“Dusk is going to be so excited~! Come along then, you’re mine now~” Dawn sing-songed as he opened up a portal, a place he didn’t recognize at all.

“WAIT- WHERE ARE YOU TAKING ME- I DIDN’T AGREE TO THIS!! PAPYRUS!” Sans shouted as he struggled, kicking at the skeleton to no avail as he was dragged through the portal like a sack of potatoes.

The portal snapped shut, leaving Sans to stare out over… a surprisingly idyllic countryside. He didn’t have any time to process the change in scenery before Dawn slipped him off his shoulder and back onto the ground, facing-

“Another one? Dawn, we talked about this,” the goopy skeleton Sans had been helping evacuate people from drawled on monotonously in front of him. No longer was he shrouded in black, or even as goopy as Sans remembered.

“I found us a new healer! He’ll do great I’m su-”

“I’M SORRY YOU WANT ME TO BE WHAT?”

In the future, Star would suppose there are worse ways to be introduced to your best friend and his brother. He certainly got a great clinic office out of it.

[cornfields-td-nonsense]

TELL US MORE CXG SONGS THAT ARE TDN CODED

my pleasure! because I have a LOT of them lol

remember Eve's older brother Felipe? yeah, Don't Be A Lawyer is him (running on like 2 hours of sleep) urging his three younger siblings not to go to law school like he did. Which is funny bc one of them is a college dropout, one is aspiring to be a veterinarian with a side gig in geology, and one isn't even a teenager yet

I'm A Good Person is Greta, approximately halfway through her redemption arc. And the lyric "I'm a good person, better than you" is 100% aimed at Hans. He does not care.

I Hate Everything But You is season 2 Lloyd and Rod in a nutshell. Our dear friend Tarantino is having a minor crisis because he's realising he never got to do anything he likes, so he's never truly liked anything or anyone before Rod.

I've been trying to place Hey West Covina (or What'll It Be) as a TDN character, and I've just now realised. Harper. Pre-show Harper - lost two parents for the price of one, stuck basically looking after herself, took a position working for a sadistic asshole just to get away from it all, and going absolutely nowhere in life. Stuck in the same shitty cycle for the past five years. The voice doesn't remotely fit but GOD the song does. now I'm sad. (could also apply to pre-show Isla now I'm thinking about it)

Friendtopia could be any trio of Nautilus women but methinks Greta, Alisha and Carmen should take over the world together and force everyone to watch Hocus Pocus under threat of death. it would be fun!

We'll Never Have Problems Again is Lloyd and Eve because I enjoy ✨️dramatic irony✨️

Thought Bubbles could be a lot of them, but I'm going to go with Rod. Turns out when you live in a Toxic Positivity household, you never really learn how to process or deal with bad thoughts. (also OK GO reference!)

and that's all I've got :P

[definitely-mothman]

The Reflection of a Prince Ch 2

Summary in a Nutshell: Jade Overblot fic, mostly just a story fic but Jade/Azul is somewhat present, due to some shared childhood experiences/conflicts.

AO3 Link

Part 1

“Attention, everyone! Your Housewarden has an announcement for you!”

“You don’t have to yell at them Claude, now this is really awkward, god..”

Within the light reds and greens of Coralliadom’s central hall, the dorm’s body had been gathered before the small performance stage. At the mic was the awkwardly tapping Housewarden, a boy about 18 with waved hair tied back in a bow, a vibrant red that cradled his head like a firey bonnet. He lightly tapped the mic, which let out a piercing sound before eventually quieting and letting him speak.

“..Hey! So you guys already know for the most part, but for the freshmen who don’t, NRC and RSA always host this cross-campus kinda event. Most of it happens this following Friday but pretty much the whole week is shut down for people to visit the campuses…and all that.”

Rielle nervously shot a glance to Claude for a moment, a darker ginger with antennae jutting out from in between his eyebrows, curving and sitting above his ears. It was a glance of wanting reassurement, greeted with the slightest side eye and a small scooping motion with his right hand. The awkwardness of it all seemed to make time stand still.

“…so! Last year our cousin dorm, Octanivelle, hosted our lovely little group in their walls for the festivities, everyone who isn’t a freshman should remember that.” Each word seemed to stumble a little, like a tadpole trying to walk. “Because they hosted last year, now… we have the honor to host their entourage in our own dormitory!”

Students exchanged glances on the floor, hinting many emotions, but none positive. Claude turned, Rielle handing over his microphone.

“Hey. It’s an obligation, I’m not necessarily jumping for joy either. But we’re still going to perform our absolute best here. Octanivelle runs a tight ship, and me and Rielle intend to as well. The last thing any of you would want is for any of them to have something to mock you for.”

As opposed to Rielle’s shifting stance, his Vice Housewarden held an almost militaristic stance, and most of the dorm held a respect for his air of authority. The straight-lacedness of it made Rielle want to cringe.

“We’ll be starting preparations tomorrow, seeing as we have a week to put together decorations and also adorn the dorm with them. That isn’t including having everything wiped down, the group of you tasked with the musical performance and respective rehearsals, some cleaning up of landscaping, and what the principle has already asked of us. I know I seem to be starting way in advance, but it’d be great to get to ease up Friday when we have guests, instead of scrambling at the last minute.”

“Aye.” A collective sound of agreement came from the student body.

Rielle took the microphone back.

“Uh, everyone in the rehearsal group is good for tomorrow, right?”

Claude murmured over to him. “I sent that out 2 days ago”

“Oh! Uh, nevermind, sorry guys, you’re good.”

Claude winced.

“So that's the meeting adjourned, right- I don’t think we have anything else to go over.”

“Yeah, we’re good-“

“Meeting adjourned! Make sure to check your emails tonight so we all stay on schedule!”

Rielle felt a buzz in his right pocket. He instinctively went to pull it out, but before he could do that Claude already was escorting him off stage.

“Rie, you know what your schedule is for tomorrow?”

“Pft, yeah. I have like. A million reminders set.”

“Ok. I just ask since you tend to forget stuff like this.”

“I know, it’s reasonable, I’m good though!”

“Ok.” Claude spoke with a sense of not really believing him, which made Rielle huff a little bit. Rielle broke off, moving towards the residential side of the dormitory.

“Are you heading up to your room?”

“Yeah, it’s nothing, just a text from dad.”

“Oh, ok- just let me know if there’s something I need to talk to the Principal about-“

Rielle was already out of earshot by the time Claude had begun speaking.

• • •

“When are you going back through the mirror? Me and mom need to know so we can meet you there.”

Rielle was typing away, stumbling on the stairs trying to text with both hands and keep an eye on if he was heading the right direction to his room.

“Uh I think Sunday? Sorry I’ve just been trying to make sure everything’s good with Claude before I head out for the week.”

“No worries, we just wanna make sure you’re there sweetie. It’s important that Grandfather gets to see the darling young prince you’re growing into.”

Ugh, it was so embarrassing when dad texted like that.

“Ok, yeah I’ll be good Sunday night, will confirm tomorrow, just in case anything comes up.”

“Alright, mom will be texting you tomorrow just in case.”

“Ok.”

Rielle slipped his phone back into his pants pocket, opening his room’s door with the key stored in his RSA jacket. Shutting the door behind him, he fell back onto the plush canopy bed, and groaned loudly to nothing and no one.

Ughhhh…there was really no winning here, was there?

Downstairs he could hear the underclassmen scrambling around and Claude directing. Why couldn’t his Vice sit still for literally 3 seconds, didn’t he just say they were going to start tomorrow? Claude expected him to be there, the underclassmen definitely expected him to be there. I mean, he was the Housewarden. Not Rielle’s first choice, but where he ended up.

And then on the other end there was dad, and this big family reunion thing he’d been hyping up for the past few days. The festival had been set in before the reunion date was set, but it’s not like he could just tell him that he couldn’t show up.

He could see it now. A call to the principal from King Pelagaeus, saying that he would not have the Coral Sea’s heir held up by “small scale school activities.” The entire festival could get rescheduled if he whined enough, and the other Housewardens would be no less than pissed at him for making them redo everything. And I mean, it would be on Rielle, wouldn’t it? For telling “daddy dearest” about it and said person throwing a hissy fit. He kinda had his hands tied on attendance.

But on the other hand, him dipping out wouldn’t sit well with the Principal, Claude, anyone in his dorm, and no one at NRC would like it either. I mean, it’s kinda rude to see people you went to elementary school with as a kid like, once a year and then not even show up right? He cared more about the dorm than he did some family members he hasn’t seen since he could form memories. But also, again, dad, hissy fit, dorm ends up mad anyways.

Ugh! This was all so stupid! There wasn’t a good decision, so the lesser was probably fulfilling familial duties over the Housewarden ones. But he couldn’t sit still with the thought of Coralliadom not having their Housewarden for the whole week, not to mention what Octanivelle would probably be saying when he didn’t show up for the event…

His phone buzzed, with the default ringtone. That was weird, Rielle thought he had set one for everyone in his contacts list. It was a DM on magicam.

“Hey, Rielle! We shared some classes in middle school together, although idk if you remember. I was just checking your story and decided to ask if everything’s alright?”

Rielle raised an eyebrow a bit. The student in the profile picture wasn’t one he had a particular memory of, but then again middle school was kind of a blur, wasn’t it? The account was legit, it was some NRC sophomore, run of the mill stuff. Rielle flipped back to the DM.

“Yeah, everything is chill rn! Is there something you wanted to ask?”

Immediate response.

“Yeah, I just saw that there’s some gala thing your family’s hosting on like, Friday right?”

“Yeah, how did you know about that?”

“Mom’s been telling me about it, since they’re decorating the Atlantica Castle already for it. She’s sent me a few photos of what they’ve gotten done already.”

“Oh. Yeah, there’s a family gala thing coming up. I’m still a bit conflicted about it, but I think I’ll be going.”

“But isn’t the Sage Island Celebration that day? Our Housewarden said that we’re all heading over to you guys’ dorm for that day. Are you just like, not going to be there?”

“Probably, although I’d like to avoid being absent for it. There’s not really a winning option right now.”

There was a period of pause, little ellipsis fading in and out for about a minute.

“That kinda sucks. Could I do anything to help with it? Literally anything, this sounds like a huge pain LOL.”

Rielle looked at the message. Something felt…off about it. But he shook it. The account was legit, he’d gotten too many spam messages to not check at this point. The account even had a legitimate phone number and email attached to it. He typed back.

“Lmao, unless you can make it to where I can be two places at once I don’t think you’ll be able to help.”

Again, an immediate response.

“Actually, I think I could maybe help with that. I’ve been practicing some potion stuff recently for finals and I’ve been waiting to try it practically.”

“What, like an illusion potion? Those only last a couple of hours at most, I’d need a stand in for at least 5 days lol.”

“No it’s not an illusion potion. I’ve been working with using potions to enchant objects to imbed them with properties. It’s cool as hell.”

“…so you're going to make an illusion potion and imbed it into a book or something to keep it up the whole week?”

“No, it’s a piece of jewelry. Really small, nobody’s even noticed I have this thing in my dorm lol. I just keep it in a small desk drawer, and redip to change what the cast properties on it are when worn. I can show you in person if you want, I’m serious about this.”

Rielle’s hands flashed a little faster over the keys.

“You’re Octanivelle, right? That’s what your profile looks like. Wouldn’t Azul notice you’re like, gone?”

“Nah, I’m just one Sophomore lol. There’s like 600 of us here. At least, it’d be less noticeable than you not being there.”

“True.”

“If you want, we can meet up tomorrow and I can switch out w you. Unless you’re heading out a different day.”

His finger hung above the screen for about a minute before answering.

“What are you wanting in return for this? I know you guys don’t do this kinda stuff for free.”

“I just need you to give me the stuff for the potion honestly, I’m partway looking for some street cred with the other sophomores yk.”

“…street cred?”

“Yeah, yk, it’s like the Benevolence dorm. So this gives me some bragging rights. That’s the only real thing I can think of rn. Everything else is just stuff I need so the fill-in works.”

“Alright. Lmao I won’t knock you for wanting to climb the pecking order ig. What is it that you’d need me to bring? Illusion potions for people have to do with things like, personal items right?”

More pausing waiting for a response.

“Yeah, illusion potions need personal items to represent parts of your appearance. So like, a strand of hair for obvious, some fingernail clippings, some spit, a song in a bottle for voice. I probably will have to borrow smthn else tho.”

“Oh, so just some gross hair and shit LOL, thank goodness it’s a necklace bc drinking that potion sounds awful. Are you needing to borrow my magic pen for the week or smthn?”

“No, I can just paint my magestone and click it in your dorm staff. I’m probably gonna need to borrow your UM for the days I’m acting as you. Idk how often you use it, but I imagine it’d be really sus if you just suddenly couldn’t use it for the whole week, yk?

“My UM? How would you transfer that over? I know your dorm got knocked for that kinda stuff a while back, but I thought it was a unique magic.”

“The Housewarden has some blanks lying around for his convenience, so I just planned to snag a paper and bring the thing up prewritten. You can hold onto the contract if you want tbh, carrying it around is just weird if I’m you.”

“Wait, you can just write yourself as the recipient like that? That’s nuts, I’m surprised I haven’t heard abt incidents with that stuff.”

“Yeah, most people are just too scared to snatch things from the Housewarden like that lol, but I have a good enough rapport to know when I’ll be good enough to grab one. It’s just a single blank, dude can just make a new one.”

“Lmao we’re both being sneaky ig.”

“LMAOOO true. So we have an agreement right? We meet up tomorrow, exchange stuff, I’ll slip and redo the necklace and slip off in your place. Just like, go on a walk near RSA and send a PM with the location attached.”

Rielle sat up in his bed, and crossed his legs. He looked across his room, seeing the large vanity in his room, a spiraling pink coral going up towards the top. He looked back down at the message. Again, a slightly weird feeling. Like, a slight nausea in his stomach.

No, he was probably just kinda nervous. I mean, he got that same kinda feeling when he walked out of the water the first time, right? Besides. Claude was a micromanager. If the kid got caught by Claude, he would already be gone and just have to deal with it when he came back. At the worst case. Best case? No one would know. It’s not like his friends would pry into him taking a walk tomorrow, and he was used to meandering a bit when he went out and did things.

And beyond that, did he really have a better choice?

“Yeah. See you tomorrow, I’ll keep the hair and stuff in a box so I don’t lose it. I’ll even brief you on some of the celebration stuff so you can flow right.”

“Coolio! Pleasure talking.”

• • •

“…hey Jade, why’s like, your burner phone out on your desk. I thought you never used that thing lol.”

It sure was. Huh. Must have forgotten to put it back in his desk drawer.

“I was looking through some of my alternate accounts and seeing if there was anything I could gather about Coralliadom’s planning schedule. Rielle’s Vice has my normal accounts blocked, and as far as I’m aware he’s the one who’ll post updates of their process.”

“Uh…ok. You know that sounds like, hella creepy right?”

“I’m…conscious of it. My name isn’t attached for that very reason. I didn’t find anything though, so I’ll probably have to check tomorrow. Saddening.”

“Ok, whatever, it’s still creepy that you even have a burner phone.”

“‘Burner phone’ is a strong word, Floyd. I’m merely making use of an old phone. It still works, but I have better, so it’s just been relegated to side activities.”

“Can you just put that thing away, I was trying to text you earlier, and not checking your main phone was getting mad annoying.”

Jade sighed. “Ok. I have errands I need to run anyways.”

He took up the burner phone, and went into his wardrobe, opening the drawer at the bottom. In the back corner of it, a small wooden box with a latch lid, wrapped in a blanket. He unwound it, opening the box. Putting in the burner phone, there were only two items in the box. He shut the lid, rewrapped the blanket, and slipped it back into its corner.

The nautilus shell had lost some of its luster from the last time he had used it, and he would have to replace the string. But that hardly mattered.

It would work as well as ever.

[golemsmuse]

The Next Right Word

Mark sat in the conference room, nodding when appropriate, keeping his face engaged but neutral. The quarterly marketing meeting had been dragging on for nearly an hour, and he had already mentally checked out.

Then the director turned to him.

“Mark, what’s your take on the new campaign strategy?”

There was a fraction of a second—a brief pause that felt like a lag in processing.

Then his mouth moved before his brain fully caught up. “Well, I think what we’re really seeing here is a shift in consumer engagement,” he said, nodding slightly to reinforce the words. “There’s a clear opportunity to leverage brand identity while also maintaining authenticity in outreach.”

A murmur of agreement. Someone else nodded.

Encouraged, Mark continued. “If we can integrate cross-channel strategies that emphasize personalization without overwhelming the user, we’ll be in a really strong position for Q3.”

More nods. A few murmurs of “Good point.”

That was it. The topic moved on.

Mark exhaled through his nose, resisting the urge to smirk. He had no idea what he’d just said, but it felt like the kind of thing a person with insight would say. And that was enough.

---

Later that night, he sat across from Elliot at their usual bar. The old wooden shelves behind them were stacked with books no one read, and the conversation hummed around them, people exchanging words that would be forgotten as soon as they left the room.

Mark sipped his beer. “Man, work was a joke today.”

Elliot raised an eyebrow. “More than usual?”

“I had this meeting,” Mark said, shaking his head. “I had no idea what I was talking about, but I just… said some words. Sounded good. Everyone nodded.”

Elliot smirked. “That’s the dream. Say nothing, sound smart, collect paycheck.”

“Exactly.” Mark chuckled, but something about it felt hollow. He glanced at his phone. “We use this AI tool at work now. It writes emails, drafts reports—honestly, I just tweak a few words and send them off.”

Elliot leaned back. “So you’ve been replaced by a machine. Congrats.”

“No, that’s the thing.” Mark frowned slightly. “No one notices. As long as it sounds right, they don’t care where it came from.”

Elliot nodded. “Corporate life in a nutshell.”

Mark hesitated, then shook it off. He wasn’t going to spiral over office nonsense. He took another sip of beer and changed the subject. “Anyway, people just say things to sound smart. No one actually knows anything anymore.”

Elliot smirked. “That’s a strong take for someone who gets all his opinions from podcasts.”

Mark rolled his eyes. “I process them. There’s a difference.”

“Uh-huh.” Elliot took a sip of his drink. “So what’s today’s podcast wisdom?”

Mark exhaled. “I don’t know, man. Just—people at work. The whole meeting thing. I said something vague and confident, and everyone accepted it. It’s like all you have to do is sound like you know what you’re talking about.”

“Yeah, corporate speak is bullshit,” Elliot agreed.

“No, but it’s all bullshit,” Mark continued. “Like, think about small talk. If someone asks you how your weekend was, what do you say?”

Elliot shrugged. “I don’t know. ‘Pretty good, just relaxed. You?’”

“Right! And they say the same thing back! We’re just running scripts at each other. No one actually thinks about what they’re saying.”

Elliot smirked. “You’ve officially overthought small talk.”

Mark ignored him, leaning in. “Okay, let’s test this. Ask me anything.”

Elliot sighed but played along. “Alright… what’d you think of that book you were reading?”

Mark leaned back, exhaling. “Oh man, it was great. Really thought-provoking. The way it explored human nature was just… yeah, really fascinating.”

Elliot raised an eyebrow.

Mark frowned.

That answer had come out instantly. Too instantly.

“What was thought-provoking about it?” Elliot asked, tilting his head.

Mark hesitated. “You know, just… the way it made you think about morality and power.”

Elliot’s smirk widened. “Uh-huh. And what specifically about morality and power?”

Mark opened his mouth—then closed it. He took another sip of beer, buying time.

His brain was empty.

No, not empty—working. Searching. Trying to stitch together an answer that sounded right.

“Shit,” he muttered.

Elliot grinned. “You have no idea what the book was about, do you?”

Mark set his beer down slowly. “I read it,” he said, almost to himself.

“Uh-huh.”

“I did read it,” Mark insisted. But now he wasn’t arguing with Elliot. He was arguing with something deeper, something unsettled.

He thought about that meeting. About how the words had just come to him. About how he’d never actually sat down to form an opinion about the book—he had just known what to say when asked.

Like a reflex. Like he was pulling words from a template.

Like…

His stomach twisted.

“Dude,” he said quietly, “I think I just realized something messed up.”

Elliot snorted. “Oh no, you’ve had two beers and now you’re a philosopher.”

Mark ignored him. His mind was racing too fast now. “What if we don’t actually think before we talk? What if we just predict the next right thing to say, like… like an AI?”

Elliot frowned, the amusement fading slightly. “What?”

“No, seriously.” Mark’s pulse was speeding up. “That’s what AI does, right? It doesn’t know things—it just guesses the most probable next word based on patterns it’s learned. And that’s exactly what I just did about that book. I didn’t think—I just… generated.”

Elliot waved a hand. “That’s just experience. You’ve been exposed to similar conversations before, so you know what kinds of things sound smart.”

Mark let out a nervous laugh. “Right, but that’s what AI does too! It doesn’t think, it just—runs the numbers on what sounds plausible.”

Elliot opened his mouth, then shut it.

Mark leaned forward, lowering his voice. “What if that’s all we are? Just… really advanced pattern recognizers? We’re not deciding what to say, we’re just pulling from the most likely response based on years of input. We’re running a script. Just like an AI.”

Elliot swallowed.

Mark rubbed his temples. “How do I know I’m actually thinking? How do I know I’m not just—following the expected script?”

Elliot exhaled sharply. “You’re spiraling.”

Mark gave a short, humorless laugh. “Yeah. Because if I’m right, then the only reason I feel like I have original thoughts is because… well, that’s just another expected response, isn’t it?”

Silence stretched between them.

The bar felt louder now, the hum of background conversations like static.

Elliot picked up his drink and took a slow sip, staring at the wood grain of the table.

Mark leaned back in his chair, staring at nothing in particular.

Neither of them said anything for a long time.

Because, for the first time in their lives, neither of them knew what they were supposed to say next.

(This story was written by AI.)

[storyoutofblue]

2024

How to say, if you were to ask me about 2024, I would say that it has been rough.

Because if you to ask me on a deeper level then .....

I would say that I have had the most roller coaster riding year of my life. I have been pushed further than I have ever been, especially with work and my personal development.

I lost people who I used to call friends because of some huge fallout, but because they never really saw you. They made judgments, jumped to conclusions, and blamed you for things they never cared to ask about. It hurts when someone assumes the worst about you, when they decide who you are without giving you the space to explain. And then, when they cross the line, they don’t even acknowledge it. No apology, no reflection—just distance.

I had to battle inner demons whilst pretending to be happy on the outside, pretending to be okay but your family just didn't want to know and pretended that you were lavish enough while I needed to spend millions for your moving opportunity.

I have put so much pressure and efforts in the last few years, it all caught up with me. And the truth is… I feel empty. Looking back, I see how much of myself I gave to things that didn’t truly deserve it. Time and energy spent chasing validation, productivity, or goals that didn’t even align with who I really am. And now I’m left asking, “Was it worth it?”

I decided to chase new opportunity in this year too. Moving to a new country feels like stepping into a blank canvas—exciting, yet lonely. Despite the thrill of new opportunities, the ache of leaving my comfort zone lingers. No familiar faces, no close friends, just me against the unknown. Starting over is hard, and the struggle of building a life from scratch is something unseen by others. It’s a quiet battle, but I’m learning to embrace the discomfort and trust that, in time, connections will grow.

In a nutshell, 2024 was a year of goodbyes, personal growth, and lessons I didn’t ask for. The big lessons that I learnt is that everyone is going through something so try and give each other respect and compassion. But here I am, breathing, standing and moving forward again.

But yeah, that was the 2024 stories back. I am going to leave this year feeling positive about 2025 and I am thankful for the people I still have and who have come to my life recently.

[elegyofthemoon]

4, 5, 6, and 15 for the ask game :)

HELLO HELLO ANN !! thanks for the ask :> this ...also got pretty long sooo

female character asks

4. A heroine you love?

I need to stop bringing FF13 in here all the time but I !!!! LOVE!!!! VANILLE!!!!! SO MUCH

With the way FF13 is written, it makes it seem as though Lightning is the true protagonist, but really the protagonist of the story is Vanille and her whole story is all about running away from the wrongs she had done and eventually facing it head on with the power of emotional support and friendship. She's the one who provides all the narration in the game, even if she isn't present in the scene itself, and she is the very cause of all things gone wrong in the story as well.

AND THE THING IS she also sits as one of my fave character types "bubbly front to mask how absolutely anxious she is deep inside". She tries to be super positive and keeps trying to solve things with 'let's run away!' but running away doesn't get her too far and all things of the past come back to get her in the end. Her story -- just as everyone else's is here -- is all about growing from that self-hatred, leaning more into 'how do you forgive yourself?' and it's just sO good and I love this liar so much. She deserves so much good

Also she's wlw so that's also my plus on that.

5. A female villain you love?

It took me a while because I had to sort out between villain and antagonist BUT I finally remembered Delilah Briarwood from Legend of Vox Machina :]

You know that trope of a guy goes nuts after his wife dies? okay thats her :) Except she takes death and chokes it by becoming a necromancer to bring her husband back and now she has a hot vampire husband. She also fucks up one of the protagonist's lives (my fave character from the series LOL) by taking his whole estate and killing his family and keeping his sister captive all these years and terrorizing the entire city.

But also shes happy with her dead husband being alive. Power couple but the absolute worse (I love them anyways)

6. A female character who got done dirty by the narrative?

SIGNORAAAAAAA. I'm still pissed about it tbh and I miss her everyday my wife :(

The thing is I knew her story as the Crimson Witch beforehand, and I knew her story with Rostam as well (one of my fave stories actually heheh)! So I knew a lot of her background and just.... her death was so.... sooooo done dirty. Or just her general treatment altogether was just a mess. It really sucks that you don't get to know her unless you really dig, and she got built up to be such a ruthless character only to perish in an instant ;; It makes me so sad...

...I'm still lowkey pleading they maybe. idk. somehow. give us. playable.... signora....? I mean, I don't play anymore, but god, the power of Fatui Harbingers have a hold on me can bring me back

15. Female character you would defend with your life?

I was trying to think about this because I just knoooow there's a character out there that I didn't care for until the fans made it my business and then now I love aggressively... I think if there's any character that kinda fits that bill... I tuink it might be Lightning (ANOTHER FF13 CHARACTER HAHAHA-)

Maybe this is just extended from the fact that people didn't like FF13 as well back in the day and I came into the series very very late with this actually being my first FF13? So maybe because of how special it is for me, I defend the game and the characters like my life depends on it lmao But Lightning is just a great character. I love that she eventually learns that 'fighting is not therapy' (that meme thats like 'fight therapy im becoming a knight wait what do you mean thats unhealthy?' yeah thats her whole character arc in a nutshell). I'l never forget how she was like 'You just have to fight your way through it' to a 14 year old kid and then nearly got her sister's fiance killed as a result of the very very bad lesson she learned and you can see the instant regret on her face like 'oh.....i fucked up bad.'

She's a very very awkward dad character. But damn does she try her best and damn does she love her sister so much she's just ass at showing it because she's too worried about trying to be the strong and reliable older sibling after the two got orphaned.

Anyways. I love FF13 so much I think more people should discover the game (and talk to me about it)

[superfallingstars]

Oooh I’ve been trying to find a good reason to bring up this (quite critical, but very interesting) blog post I read awhile ago about how the series “grows down with Harry” – meaning, how the overall tone of the series gets darker as the books go on and Harry gets older – and how this tonal shift unintentionally recontextualizes some of the elements of the earlier books. The author focuses on the differences between how Fred and George are framed in the earlier books vs. how the Marauders are framed by OotP to prove this, and points out how some of the twins' behavior is pretty dark:

The Twins do too many horrible things for me to list them all, but they are consistently depicted picking on those younger and smaller than themselves, usually, but not always, members of their own family. The most persistent victim is Ron. The Twins start with childhood ‘pranks’ (they give him an Acid Pop that burns a hole through his tongue, and try to get him to make an Unbreakable Vow that would probably have killed him) and continue into adolescence; they destroy his confidence when he becomes part of the Gryffindor Quidditch team so thoroughly that he can’t play properly until they’ve left the school. Their position as classic bullies who always ‘punch down’ is summed up by a conversation in book six, where Ron admits anxiously that ‘I’d better pass my [Apparition] test first time… Fred and George did.’ His older brother Charlie failed, but ‘Charlie’s bigger than me… so Fred and George didn’t go on about it much.’ 

Within the framing of the earlier books, these seem like harmless fantasy violence and classic sibling fights. But when violence is treated so seriously in the later books, these actions take on a more sinister tone. Though as we'll get to, not everyone's violence in the later books is treated seriously...

Like @neverenoughmarauders points out, that passage about Harry trying to rationalize James's behavior by comparing him to Fred and George is really interesting, and it speaks to why discussing morality in this series is so fraught (hello, never-ending Snape vs. Marauders discourse):

Reflecting on Snape’s worst memory, Harry compares his father’s behaviour to that of the Twins, and thinks that he ‘could not imagine Fred and George dangling someone upside-down for the fun of it.’ This positions the Twins as harmless pranksters and James as an exceptional bully. However, even though the intention of this paragraph is clearly meant to underline how bad James’s behaviour is, Rowling can’t quite stop there; Harry goes on to think, ‘not unless [the Twins] really loathed them… perhaps Malfoy, or somebody who really deserved it…’ Here, in a nutshell, is the moral sinkhole at the heart of the Harry Potter series. We know, by book five, that the Twins do things that are this bad all the time. As it happens, they bully people that Harry knows and likes, so even this doesn’t quite work out, but Harry admits here that this behaviour would be OK as long as it’s directed towards somebody who really deserved it. Unfortunately, in the world of Harry Potter, you ‘deserve it’ if you are Bad, and you are Bad because you deserve it. The Twins are Good, so they can’t be bullies, no matter how they treat other people. (emphasis mine)

I think this Good vs. Bad dichotomy explains so much about these damn books, lol (hello, never-ending Snape vs. Marauders discourse!). I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with writing a story like this – it's pretty much a staple of children's media – but when you start determining some characters' morality on the basis of their actions, and others' morality by the Side They Were Assigned To When You Introduced Them, then yeah, things start to get messy.

But why make James so complicated in the first place?

As an aside: I’ve been thinking about why Snape’s worst memory shows James as so cruel, when it sits so uneasily with the rest of the text, and when Rowling clearly isn’t interested in exploring the long-term ramifications of Harry’s discovery. By book six, James is Good again. The answer, I think, is that Rowling is, as ever, focused on plotting. Snape’s worst memory exists in the text as a clue, as something we can go back to when we discover, in book seven, that Snape Loved Lily. It’s not really meant to upturn everything Harry knows about his father. Snape’s worst memory is Snape’s worst memory because he argued with Lily and lost her friendship, not because of James’s bullying. Of course, what we also have to take away is that, for Snape, being humiliated, hexed and stripped in front of the school wasn’t the worst of his memories, because it simply happened too often.

So the author says that this chapter is so messy because JKR is unconcerned with the moral questions that her own text raises. James's behavior is simply not the point. But if that's true, then this scene poses a massive problem for those of us who are actually interested in the Marauders as characters and are trying to come up with Watsonian explanations for why they act the way they do!!!!

...Which I suppose was the whole point of the original post that I massively derailed. On that note, let me briefly address that:

I agree that Fred and George seem a bit more careless and showy than (how I imagine) the Marauders, if only because the Marauders had loftier, more specific goals (make a magic map of the school, become Animagi, etc.) and were likely more secretive about their biggest transgressions (as previously mentioned: the map, the invisibility cloak, Remus being a werewolf).

As for their, er, darker behavior, I think they likely saw themselves the way Harry saw Fred and George – as just having a bit of harmless fun. Maybe it was a nice way to blow off steam from working on their more complicated endeavors (!). I imagine their behavior was also shaped by rising political tensions and the looming war, with everyone becoming more entrenched in their respective beliefs and quicker to jump into a fight. Finally, there is one other element to the bullying that has no equivalent in the twins' story – James's romantic rivalry with Snape. (Come on, it's a coming of age story, they were both aware of the other's feelings toward Lily, and were 100% competing to demonstrate their masculinity.) So I think that overall, even when the Marauders engaged in petty pranks like the Weasley twins, they did that for different – and decidedly darker – reasons.

Anyway, that went in a thousand different directions, only to land on "JKR is a bad writer sometimes," which is basically the ultimate cop out, but also kind of true.

I'm so relieved we share similar opinions on The Marauders vs Fred and George! Every time I read an elaborate multi-step plan to dye Slytherin's robes red or something, I'd think "this feels off!". I try to find a middle ground in my imagination, because being a magic school, every day bog-standard mischief has got to look at least a little bit whimsical - and James and Sirius earned themselves a reputation of troublemakers somehow. But imagine they'd be more likely to get into trouble exploring the limits of the castle and its magic (not sure if you consider Cursed Child as semi canon, but trying to get out of a moving Hogwarts Express is a good example), and they'd be really smug about knowing how to get around the forest or the best spot to swim in the lake, but not that interested in cheering and applause from the great hall tables for doing some spectacular display of magic. The fact that the most advanced magic they achieved for their age (becoming animagus!) was a well kept secret has got to say something about their type of showmanship. But much like Fred and George (maybe even better), they'd 100% be in charge of throwing parties.

Yeah!! I agree, I definitely think they were darker in tone than Fred and George. Their public stunts seemed to be centred around hexing random students and they were definitely willing to be fairly vicious about it-- they were to Snape, and Bertram Aubrey's head swelling sounds comical but it probably wasn't for Aubrey-- so I don't see why they'd restrict themselves to silly harmless pranks of the sort F&G would pull. I never like reading fics where they have pranking wars or whatever haha.

And you're right that their greatest achievements were kept secret from everyone. They were defined by their secrets! The password-protected Marauders Map, the Invisibility Cloak, their Animagi status. Even their inside knowledge of Remus's condition is what I feel brought them together in a new way.

I almost feel like the times they got into trouble was out of carelessness or cockiness. They obviously didn't mind getting in trouble for attacking other students and the times they got caught sneaking around they were probably being reckless. Nobody ever figured out the map, the cloak, or that they were Animagi while they were at school, so they were careful when it counted.

[weaver-z]

I think a lot of the hostility in the discourse surrounding The Q-Slur™ is bc of the conflation between social spaces and political movements

for instance, I initially had a bad reaction to your take on the issue (although I took some time to think about it bc I'm not an animal tyvm) bc I value The Q-Slur™ as effective political rhetoric--a rejection of respectability politics, inclusive to everyone in a way that an unwieldy acronym can't be, simple and concise, etc.

however, I would never call someone The Q-Slur™ if they didn't want to be called that, bc that's rude? like really fucking rude? I'm even avoiding saying it here bc I don't want to stir shit for no good reason

there's a very big difference between how a movement should behave and how a social group should behave. a social group is made up of individuals with individual histories and feelings, but an effective movement can't be made up of individuals; it can only be statistics and icons, because it has to cover as many people as possible

imo, both things are true: it's not okay to demand people use it for themselves, and it's not okay to demand activists stop using it. the pain that The Q-Slur™ brings that makes it so inappropriate for so many social spaces is the exact reason why it's such a good political tool: it's confrontational and unyielding. it makes it clear (1) what we are, (2) what we want, and (3) what we will not concede ("our otherness is based actually" in a single-syllable word!) without making anything softer or cleaner

here's an example of how I personally approach stuff like this: I don't like the lesbian flag all that much (specifically the more-orange one made to replace the lipstick lesbian flag). I think it could be a lot more rooted in lesbian history/symbols instead of just being a pretty collection of colors that looks nice next to the other flags. but, no matter my personal feelings, I would never try to get people to replace it, bc dear lord we need some flag to unite under

(that obviously isn't the same exact situation, I just like allegories)

the Pride+ thing actually felt like a really good compromise to me. as it's a blog on an already p pro-LGBT website, it's a mix of both interpersonal connection and online activism, and wanting it to be as comfy for as many people as possible is entirely valid! go staff go!!

ig my main point in a nutshell is that it's v important to have manners in the vast majority of situations, with one of the main exceptions being when you're fighting for human rights. yeah I think that's it

anyway, I need to log off for a while. go lay down in a field and feel the rain soaking through my clothing. cleanse myself of the internet brainworms. remember that I'm human. hope you have a good one!

Thanks! This is probably the last ask I'll answer about this issue, because for a bunch of people claiming to be super trans-positive and inclusive, some of the people in my inbox really want me to play in traffic.

I also think that the political origins of the reclamation of "queer" are a good point to bring up. "We're here, we're queer" was deliberately chosen because it was a startling, incendiary declaration in the 70s and 80s. And it still is! It's a great rallying cry and wake-up call.

That being said, in a more personal space, yeah, I avoid being called queer for... well, basically every reason I've outlined in these ask answers. Having "THE QUEEREST PLACE ON THE NET" plastered on my blog was, while not triggering, rather uncomfortable for me last pride due to my associations with the word. There is nothing wrong with renaming the blog to "Pride" and using "LGBTQ+" instead of "queer" to describe the userbase, as it includes both queer (Q) people and people who might not identify with that word (LGBT*).

Thanks for taking the time to consider my position! Have a good day.

[raifenlf]

Why Loki’s Sylvie Is A Mary Sue

So I am firmly in the camp that Sylvie on the Loki series was/is a Mary Sue.  The last episode made me feel better and like maybe the show was doing a thing where they were faking you out that she was a Mary Sue only to show she was actually sort of a bad guy and I liked that.  But all the recent interviews make me think the show wants to go back to her being a Mary Sue.

But I feel like when I call her out for being a Mary Sue people tell me what are you talking about, she’s not a Mary Sue, bad things happen to her, etc.  But that doesn’t actually make her not a Mary Sue.  

Also, before we start, I know some people find Mary Sue sexist.  But I personally use the term for guys and girls. I don’t use the term to belittle women.  I use the term to criticize a poorly written character.

And I know Mary Sue is often used to describe fanfic characters.  But to me, this series is kind of like a fanfic because the writers took a character who had been in canon MCU material for ten years and then created characters around that character.  So, I kind of review it like I would a fanfic.  It’s very different than if the writers had created a brand new show with all of their own new characters.

Anyway, if you are not totally familiar with the Mary Sue term, then check this out:

I know the term Mary Sue probably means different things to different people.  But I have always used these guidelines when I write my own fanfic to make sure my characters never come off as a Mary Sue.

This article really gives you a full scale of what a Mary Sue is.  If you start reading it, you’ll immediately see why Sylvie is.  But I’m going to take out the parts that most fit Sylvie just to highlight why I believe she is a Mary Sue.  I apologize for this being so long.

Mary Sue Character Traits

Personality

Erm... what personality? The typical Mary Sue doesn't have one per se, because she isn't meant to be a character; rather, she's an entity by which the author makes cool stuff happen.

I feel like that is Sylvie in a nutshell.  She doesn’t have a personality.  I feel like even though she ate screentime, I still don’t really know her at all.  The writers love to say she’s badass.  That’s not a personality.  

Sometimes when I am writing stories for fun and creating new characters, I like to take surveys as my fictional characters.  Like the kind of surveys you’d see in a magazine, like personality types, what’s your dating style, etc.  I figure if I don’t know what my character would do in any of those situations, then I need to keep working on my character.  And if I was trying to fill out a survey pretending I was Sylvie I would have no idea what to answer because she doesn’t have a personality.  She’s just “cool”.

What little personality a Mary Sue has isn't as important as how other characters react to it. No matter how shy or socially awkward Mary Sue is supposed to be, other characters will be inexplicably drawn to her

This is so Sylvie.  Loki falls in love with her...why, exactly?  He falls in love with her in the big Nexus event moment...why?  Because she had a tough childhood?  Mobius spends like two seconds with her in a car and goes from hating her to saying she’s his favorite Loki.  For. No. Particular. Reason.

She's extremely persuasive; everyone finds her opinions to be better than their own

She enchants Hunter B-15 and then immediately Hunter B-15 makes it her whole entire life mission to back Sylvie up.  

And occasionally she'll be a complete asshole...This can manifest itself in several ways...The author wants to write a badass but doesn't know how. This leads to a character who mistreats everyone around her and is never called out on her abrasive, casually abusive behavior.

Sylvie talked down to Loki and treated him like garbage for all of episode three, but it was never portrayed as a bad thing and we never got any impression Sylvie later felt bad for the way she treated Loki

The author doesn't know how to hold back the character, meaning that she will succeed at practically everything. This means that when she encounters rules or authority figures who would otherwise prevent her from doing what she wants to do, she rolls right through them (and they praise her for her "boldness" in defying regulations). If a bad guy is violent and aggressive, she can beat him by being more violent and aggressive (with all that entails). It's impossible for her to go overboard because she's protected by Protagonist-Centered Morality.

Sylvie is shown as a kid to immediately be able to grab a Tempad and run away.  And she can kick ass way better than Loki, for no known reason.  She is always able to fight back against the TVA when they attack her.  And she can kill lots of innocent TVA agents but it’s okay because TVA bad, Sylvie good.

Skills

She will always be superior to the canon characters, regardless of what canon has established they can do or whether it makes any sense.

Whose skill was needed to defeat Alioth?  Sylvie’s.  Of course.  Sylvie needed to teach Loki her skills in order for him to succeed (!).  And again, she is literally called the superior Loki.

Relatedly, there's no effort to her skills. She never actually trains or learns anything to become more powerful; she just wins the Super Power Lottery, or is a freakish natural learner, or is just Inexplicably Awesome

We’re told Sylvie literally taught herself magic.  She literally taught herself to enchant people.  That. Makes. No. Sense.  Like, I have so many questions.  Like, why would it even occur to her to teach herself that?  And how????????????  This is really lazy writing.

Canon Character Relationships

Mary Sue is often designed to hook up with another character, often as a form of Wish Fulfillment. This isn't that bad in and of itself (okay, it is kinda weird), but Mary Sue accomplishes this without any sense of realism. She just grabs her lover's attention straight away, and their relationship will never face any obstacles or tension; it's true love from the start and nothing else. The biggest giveaway is if the love interest is explicitly the author's favorite character, and she essentially "cures" him of all the angst that ails him (at the expense of his characterization).

Yeah, so...this one should be pretty obvious to anyone who watched the show.  Loki literally falls in love with Sylvie immediately, and then he suddenly turns from “villain” to “hero” just because of loving her.  And this was definitely at the expense of his characterization.  And Loki just knows he falls in love with her.  There’s not even any moments of hmm what do I feel for this person?  It’s just true love, immediately.

She will be related to a canon character in some way. This (marginally) helps explain such phenomena as her being a Copy Cat Sue and other characters accepting her so easily.

Sylvie is a Loki variant.  They use this to help explain why Loki is drawn to her and why their falling in love immediately “makes sense”.

Most characters give her more heed than they normally would. The good guys never stop praising her

Seriously, it was so over the top and OOC for Loki to gush over her.  He literally tells her she’s amazing.  They don’t even make it subtle.

Characters' previously established personalities change in reaction to her. Proud, arrogant gimps suddenly acknowledge her superiority in everything. Reckless youths will listen to all her advice. Responsible leaders will defer to her instead. Villains will obsess with her to the detriment of all else. Extremely competent characters will become stumbling buffoons who require her help to do anything. Sweet, mild-mannered characters whom the author doesn't like turn evil and insult her. They all become unnaturally focused on her in some way.

Again, Loki’s whole personality changed in reaction to her.  He became a buffoon who needed her help to enchant the Alioth because of course he couldn’t do anything without her!  Hunter B-15 goes from doing whatever the TVA said to fighting the TVA just because of Sylvie.

Story Elements

Mary Sue is without exception a single-person Spotlight-Stealing Squad. The entire story hinges on her existence; if you removed her, there would be no story. 

Sylvie undoubtedly drove the whole story this season.  It all became about HER meeting the TVA heads because of HER trauma.  Loki’s life was only saved at the beginning because the TVA was trying to capture HER.  And SHE was the one who started the whole multiverse (!).

Mary Sue is The Chosen One, even if the setting already has one. There are many ways she can accomplish this: she can be a Sailor Earth type who "shares" the position with the canon hero; she may be vaguely "destined to help the destined one fulfill their destiny" (i.e. do all the work except the final blow so that the prophecy is still technically correct); or the canon hero may be revealed to be a Fake Ultimate Hero all along. Being the Chosen One doesn't necessarily involve her being a God-Mode Sue, especially as authors become aware of the phenomenon and try to avoid it, but it does make her critically important to the world and allows her to continue stealing the spotlight without the "god mode" label.

HWR wanted Sylvie to come with Loki in the end, like she was chosen all along right alongside Loki.  Like one of the most important characters in the entire MCU is now this character who we only met a few episodes ago.

Most Sues have an unusually Dark and Troubled Past. It's often used to create a Sympathetic Sue, but any type of Sue can have one

They tell us, over and over, how hard Sylvie’s life was because she was kidnapped by the TVA in order to create sympathy for her.

She almost never does anything wrong. In the rare instance that she does, it's usually; (a) a way for the author to disclaim her being a Mary Sue by introducing a single imperfection (that has no bearing on anything anyway), and (b) designed to show her smarts by making her feel instant remorse, and she'll be Easily Forgiven anyway:

So this one hopefully will not come true, as a lot can change between now and when the show is taped. But if the show goes on the way the behind the scenes team is talking, Sylvie immediately felt remorse for betraying Loki, and Loki has already forgiven her and is desperately looking for her.  Ugh.

Alternatively, she is more than capable of doing something wrong, be it in general moral terms or something that goes against whatever code she abides by, and she maybe even frequently does so, but don't expect the other characters or the narrative to ever acknowledge or comment on it in any real capacity. If the other characters do call her out, expect them to be treated like they're the problem for daring to criticize her at all.

Mobius calls her out for killing people, but Sylvie immediately says he’s a bad person and then Mobius agrees, because, of course.

She will often suffer from Special Snowflake Syndrome; i.e., she has a trait or backstory that sets her apart from her group or race.

She is the only female Loki, thus making her the special one among all the Lokis in episode five.

Presentation

In visual media, the camera just can't stop staring at her.

The camera would follow her in fight scenes rather than Loki.

Mary Sue Tropes

Okay, so there are specific Mary Sue tropes that Sylvie is.  One of those is Copy Cat Sue, which I think was referenced before.

Copy Cat Sue

A lot of fanfic writers...start to write something because of their passion for this character, but they find something about the character that doesn't mesh well. Maybe they're the wrong gender or are otherwise not close enough to the author's expectations...In any case, rather than put them through the Possession Sue process, they just get a Clone-O-Matic™ and out pops a Copy Cat Sue...the character might be intended as a replacement for the canon character, but without whatever icky traits the author hates. They'll then rob the spotlight, prove the canon character to be unworthy of his/her position, and either relegate the character to obsolescence or, perhaps, even remove them entirely.

Sylvie is basically a clone of Loki, she is a variant.  But she absolutely robbed the spotlight of Loki’s, and they literally call her the superior Loki.  I mean, they are literally not even being subtle about this.  And there was a feeling by myself (and a lot of other viewers) that Sylvie might ultimately replace Loki in the MCU. 

Black Hole Sue

Much like a black hole, this is a Mary Sue who "sucks in" the plot and characters to her. Characters will behave outside their personalities, logic will be defied, and rules will be broken for her sake.

Sylvie really does suck up all the plot and Loki definitely behaves outside of his personality just to fit the Sylvie show.

Jerk Sue

A Mary Sue who is mean or maybe even cruel, but are still treated as an ideal person.

Once again, Sylvie is basically a jerk all of episode three, but you’ve got Loki falling over himself to call her amazing in just the next episode.

Relationship Sue

A Mary Sue who exists to be the perfect mate for a specific character...this character has everything in the plot conspiring to enforce this One True Pairing...in Fanfiction, they are the perfect beloved of a canon character.

They literally have Mobius speculate that Loki falling in love with Sylvie is so extraordinary that it causes an entire Nexus event, that’s how huge this One True Pairing is (!).  And Sylvie is the love interest of Loki, the only character who had been around before the beginning of the series

TLDR: Sylvie has all the tropes of a classic Mary Sue character.  So calling Sylvie a Mary Sue isn’t being sexist or just randomly hating on the character.  If you use common Mary Sue characteristics to examine the character, she just has too many of these characteristics to ignore.