#good news is its replacement is for the most part not a danger to humanity.

[mios-axe]

[koji-haru]

Swap AU Part: 6

Michael had been flying over the garden for a while now in search of a certain human. The lake was devoid of the first man’s presence when he came down from Heaven. Of course, he waited at first, maybe Adam was just late or busy. Though as more time passed, his concern only grew. There was nothing dangerous in the garden, every animal and every plant were all safe for the humans, but at the same time, Adam had never missed their daily meetings. In fact, the human himself claimed it was what he most looked forward to everyday. So where was he? The last time he was delayed was when Lucifer had tried to talk to him…

The sound of soft chattering directed the angel’s attention towards a small river, secluded by an encompassing green forest. Michael flew down towards the sound. It could be Adam. Though as he got nearer, the voice sounded clearer, the pitch a bit higher, the tone more reserved. In front of him was the first man sitting by the river bank, his knees close to his chest and his expression a little uncomfortable and guarded, albeit willing to stay and listen to… Lilith, the first woman, as she made small talk in such a casual manner. 

“Adam, I’ve been looking for you,” Michael announced his presence as he walked towards the first man and kept an aloof eye on Lilith at the same time. “You weren’t by the lake.”

Adam gasped then looked up at the sky. The sun was at its peak, its intense rays shone brightly over the entire garden. “Oh, I’m so sorry Michael! I didn’t realise the time!”

“Oh, so you’re Adam’s new friend, Michael,” Lilith noted, her cheek resting on the palm of her hand as she observed the unfamiliar angel. The angel bore some resemblance to her chosen husband, Lucifer; sunny blonde hair and milky white skin, but that was all. This angel was taller, less wispy, and definitely not as amiable as Lucifer, if his freezing gaze towards her were any indication. Still, that didn’t dissolve Lilith’s relaxed demeanour, angels were not allowed to bring any harm to humans after all. “I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Lilith.”

The air of nonchalance that surrounded her, her confident gaze, her amused smile. Michael disliked all of it. The way she acted like she belonged wherever she pleased when she should be the last thing to approach Adam. “I know who you are, first woman,” Michael replied. “I’ve taken over Lucifer’s job as Adam’s guardian since the incident. I’m sure you’re well aware of it.”

“Uh uhm, Michael…” Adam looked at the angel with pleading eyes. The air around them had suddenly gone heavier, the tension crisp as it sent shivers to his spine. Why was this happening now? Just as he was about to fix things with Lilith!

The smile that graced Lilith’s face quickly faded at Michael’s words. The careless elegance upon her figure was replaced with stilled paleness as dread surfaced in her eyes. “Oh. I’m assuming Adam told you.”

Michael nodded, “Though you are saved from the consequences for now.” He pulled Adam closer to him, wings protectively wrapped around him. “You can thank Adam’s kindness for that.”

Lilith released a breath she hadn’t realised she was even holding. The stiffness that overtook her body washed away by relief from the words she just heard, though some unease lingered preventing her to assume the level of nonchalance she had prior. “I guess you’re right.” She turned her gaze towards Adam, her expression unreadable. “Thanks Adam, that was very kind of you.”

Everything seemed to be going wrong. Things were supposed to get better, not worse! Adam quickly pulled away from Michael and stood between the angel and the first woman in an effort to mend the situation. “Michael, Lilith and I were just patching up. Please be kind to her.”

Michael simply gave a blank stare. Did he hear that right? Adam was rebuilding his relationship with Lilith after everything she had done with Lucifer? Surprise and a bit of disappointment flashed in his eyes before he quickly regained his composure. “That’s good…I suppose,” he huffed. 

Adam kept his gaze on the angel, pleading and reprimanding at the same time forcing Michael to break contact as he shifted his gaze to a random tree. “I will be polite.”

That was better than nothing Adam supposed, though he did hope that everyone would get along better in the future. He turned to look at Lilith. She seemed a bit better now, some of the cool air than normally surrounded her coming back as her figure appeared to be relaxing slowly. That was a good sign. Adam released a sigh of relief. “I’m sorry about that Lilith.”

“That’s alright,” Lilith smiled. “I feel like we started off on the wrong foot.” She looked at the sour angel behind Adam. “Hi, I’m Lilith, the first woman and a friend of Adam.”

Michael sighed to himself. He couldn’t believe what he was about to do. To pretend to make friends with one of God’s traitorous creations. “I’m the archangel Michael, the sword of God and Adam’s current guardian.” He turned around, picked a direction and then started to slowly walk away. “Alright, let’s go Adam.”

“Ah- wait..!” Adam rushed back to his spot earlier near Lilith and picked up the small bag he left there before running after the angel.

“What’s with the rush?,” Lilith asked from her seat by the river bank.

“Oh, we’re just about to grab something for lunch,” answered Adam as he paused in his tracks.

“Ooh, can I join?”

“No,” Michael replied tersely as he stopped to look at the first woman.

Lilith settled comfortably on her seat, an amused smile gracing her lips. “Why not?”

Feeling the atmosphere become more awkward and tense again, Adam replied to Lilith before Michael could, “Maybe next time Lilith, sorry.” And with that the two left, leaving a clearly amused Lilith by the river bank.

—-

On the other side of the massive forest, far from the river bank where Lilith was, Michael and Adam picked forest berries by hand and placed them onto a small basket the angel had conjured for them to use. The heavy atmosphere from earlier was now replaced with the serenity of bird songs and the cooling shade of the forest foliage away from the heat of the midday sun. 

“Are you okay?,” Michael suddenly asked as he kept on picking berries.

Adam stopped to face the angel, head tilted to the side. “What do you mean?”

“From what I know the last time, you didn’t want to be even near her.” Michael placed the berries he picked into the basket before straightening himself up and returned Adam’s gaze. “If she’s forcing you to do things for her, then I can put a stop to that.”

“Nono, she wasn’t doing any of that,” Adam smiled, a small chuckle escaping his lips. His angel was such a worrywart. “We were genuinely trying to fix things between us. And while I still haven’t forgiven her or Lucifer, I do miss the way things were before…this,” he gestured randomly around him. “So I’m trying harder this time.” 

Michael hummed in response. He accepted Adam’s response, but couldn’t help but be a bit unsatisfied. Again, he thought that the first man was being too easy with those two, but he supposed he just had to respect his wishes no matter how much he disagreed with them. Kindness and patience was a virtue after all, though the human seemed to have too much of it. Michael released a sigh at his inability to really do anything at the current circumstances. He really didn’t like it. This feeling of uselessness. He was one of God’s mightiest angels, and yet here he was letting a fragile human deal with the troubles in the garden, that shouldn’t exist in the first place, while all he could really do was stand by and watch. 

Adam had gone back to picking berries when he heard Michael sigh and mumble something under his breath. A thought then struck his mind and he quickly got back up, a little panicked, and grabbed the angel by his shoulders, forcing him to look back at him.

“Ah! Of course that doesn’t mean I want you to leave!,” Adam quickly added. “You’re a change that I’m very happy to have permanently!”

Though Michael was confused and unsure of what caused the first man to react like that, he was also happy at what Adam had thought of him. The idea of being a permanent change in Adam’s life; to have carved and marked his spot forever in Adam’s heart. It all sounded…nice. “Then I’ll be sure to remain by your side for eternity,” he smiled with a fondness that came from deep within him. 

To have those crystal blue eyes look fondly at him and that tender smile that rarely appeared on his flawless face directed at him made Adam’s stomach feel odd. As if there was something small fluttering inside, like a bunch of tiny butterflies fluttering about unsure if where to go. With slightly shaky hands, Adam let go of the shorter angel, looking away from his bejewelled face. He could feel a slight warmth on his cheeks, and the need to simply hide away bubbled inside him as he fought to remain still. “I, uh, sorry…for shaking you like that,” he coughed into his palm in an attempt to hide his burning face.

“No need to apologise. It didn’t hurt me or anything,” Michael let out a small laugh. “Though, I must admit, it was a bit odd,” he added, amusement on his face as he watched Adam somehow turn redder. He wasn’t sure what was causing the man to become so bashful, but he quite liked it. He found him especially endearing like that. It suited him. That was how Michael thought things should be for Adam. To have simple worries only, and none of that Lilith and Lucifer thing. And he was glad to at least have that kind of effect on Adam.

Adam released a shaky breath, “W-well, those berries aren’t going to pick themselves!” And with that excuse, Adam ran off to a random direction away from the angel, bringing the basket full of berries with him. 

“Ah. He ran away,” Michael muttered to himself. He looked down at his hands full of berries. “And took the basket with him…”

Why did he run away? Adam really didn’t know why, but he simply felt like he had to, and before he knew it, his mouth made a silly excuse and his legs carried him away. At that moment, he felt like he was about to combust as if the butterflies inside of him just multiplied tenfold and were screaming for an escape out of him. And if he was about to explode, then at least he had the decency not to do it in front of Michael. 

…

Adam groaned into his hands. Why was he acting like this? Recently, he had been feeling a bit odd, like there was something inside of him. It was something akin to nausea, but also quite different. Was he ill? Did he eat something bad? He was sure there weren’t any bad things in the garden. The worse thing was that the feeling sometimes intensified whenever Michael got a little too close to him. Was that what was making him ill? Angelic presence? That didn’t make sense to Adam. He spent plenty of time with Lucifer before and he never got sick. Lilith was also still fine. Adam wondered and wondered, put all of his thought into this one thing, but came up with no answers. He was so confused.

After a few moments of regaining his composure and taming the butterflies inside of him, and much back and forth with himself, Adam finally returned to where he left Michael. The first man came back having picked precisely zero berries since he ran away, too busy being bewildered and worried about himself, while the angel had two new baskets beside himself filled to the brim with berries, way more than what Adam had. 

“Oh, welcome back,” Michael commented offhandedly, still busy picking berries despite most of the bushes and trees now devoid of said berries. 

“Um, I think we’ve gathered plenty enough for ourselves Michael.” Adam looked at the staggering amount of berries the angel had gathered, and then to the empty bushes around said angel. “Way too much.”

At that, Michael paused his activity and finally truly looked at his surroundings. Oh. Perhaps he got a little too engrossed. “Huh. Well, that’s less work for us to do tomorrow, I suppose.” 

“Yes, well, um, that’s good…” Adam fidgeted at his spot. He could feel the butterflies starting to flutter wildly in his stomach again, his hands were getting clammy by the second as he held the little leaf bag in his bag. “...actually, I’ve got something for you.”

Well that got the angel curious. Michael eyed the small bag that Adam had in a tight and guarded grip. “Really? What is it?” 

Adam nervously made his way towards the angel, one hand outstretched as he reluctantly handed over the small bag he was holding to Michael. “I just wanted to thank you for the beautiful lyre you gifted me,” Adam said, his cheeks turning slightly pink. “I hope you like it.”

The bag felt light in Michael’s hand, almost weightless. Slowly, he opened it, revealing its contents to himself. Inside was a carefully handcrafted bracelet decorated with various glistening stones, such as sapphires, aquamarines and lazurites, and seashells of varying shapes and sizes painted white, light blue and a deep ocean blue, all held by a silky golden fibre. The care and thought put into the small gift evident by the intricacies etched into the pieces that completed it. 

The angel’s silence at seeing his gift was eating Adam up inside. “Do you not like it?”

Michael looked back up at Adam, taken aback by the first man’s question. How could he possibly not like it? It was one of the most thoughtful gifts he had ever received in his existence. “Adam, I love it,” he answered as he proudly put the bracelet on his wrist. “It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever been gifted. Thank you, really,” he smiled wholeheartedly, his deep blue eyes glistening with sincere appreciation, the little golden stars under his eyes glowing faintly under the shadow of the forest foliage. 

“Really?,” asked Adam, still somewhat unsure. There was no way his little gift was the most beautiful thing someone as nice as Michael had ever received.

“I wouldn’t lie to you,” Michael guaranteed.

Adam felt his heart swell at that.

[Things are getting sappy 😖]

Part 5

Part 7

[qqueenofhades]

I’m in undergrad but I keep hearing and seeing people talking about using chatgpt for their schoolwork and it makes me want to rip my hair out lol. Like even the “radical” anti-chatgpt ones are like “Oh yea it’s only good for outlines I’d never use it for my actual essay.” You’re using it for OUTLINES????? That’s the easy part!! I can’t wait to get to grad school and hopefully be surrounded by people who actually want to be there 😭😭😭

Not to sound COMPLETELY like a grumpy old codger (although lbr, I am), but I think this whole AI craze is the obvious result of an education system that prizes "teaching for the test" as the most important thing, wherein there are Obvious Correct Answers that if you select them, pass the standardized test and etc etc mean you are now Educated. So if there's a machine that can theoretically pick the correct answers for you by recombining existing data without the hard part of going through and individually assessing and compiling it yourself, Win!

... but of course, that's not the way it works at all, because AI is shown to create misleading, nonsensical, or flat-out dangerously incorrect information in every field it's applied to, and the errors are spotted as soon as an actual human subject expert takes the time to read it closely. Not to go completely KIDS THESE DAYS ARE JUST LAZY AND DONT WANT TO WORK, since finding a clever way to cheat on your schoolwork is one of those human instincts likewise old as time and has evolved according to tools, technology, and educational philosophy just like everything else, but I think there's an especial fear of Being Wrong that drives the recourse to AI (and this is likewise a result of an educational system that only prioritizes passing standardized tests as the sole measure of competence). It's hard to sort through competing sources and form a judgment and write it up in a comprehensive way, and if you do it wrong, you might get a Bad Grade! (The irony being, of course, that AI will *not* get you a good grade and will be marked even lower if your teachers catch it, which they will, whether by recognizing that it's nonsense or running it through a software platform like Turnitin, which is adding AI detection tools to its usual plagiarism checkers.)

We obviously see this mindset on social media, where Being Wrong can get you dogpiled and/or excluded from your peer groups, so it's even more important in the minds of anxious undergrads that they aren't Wrong. But yeah, AI produces nonsense, it is an open waste of your tuition dollars that are supposed to help you develop these independent college-level analytical and critical thinking skills that are very different from just checking exam boxes, and relying on it is not going to help anyone build those skills in the long term (and is frankly a big reason that we're in this mess with an entire generation being raised with zero critical thinking skills at the exact moment it's more crucial than ever that they have them). I am mildly hopeful that the AI craze will go bust just like crypto as soon as the main platforms either run out of startup funding or get sued into oblivion for plagiarism, but frankly, not soon enough, there will be some replacement for it, and that doesn't mean we will stop having to deal with fake news and fake information generated by a machine and/or people who can't be arsed to actually learn the skills and abilities they are paying good money to acquire. Which doesn't make sense to me, but hey.

So: Yes. This. I feel you and you have my deepest sympathies. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to sit on the porch in my quilt-draped rocking chair and shout at kids to get off my lawn.

[serpentface]

I'd say the 'aware of loss of faculties until they aren't' description is apt, but with less of the horror that most humans experience with this knowledge. Units have a sense of personhood, but archin do not tend to philosophically imagine a 'self'. Their consciousness being an emergent property of many interacting bodies kind of precludes the illusion of some core, unchanging individual essence.

The basic experience of being divided is something every unit would have been through, an entire unit is not in literal constant communication and will temporarily divide itself even down to the individual to perform simple tasks (though always with the comfort of scent trails leading back to the collective).

It would still be unsettling and a source of deep melancholy. The pain would be more knowing that there is no going back, the scent trails lead nowhere, there are no more eggs being laid that will replace the parts of you that die or are separated. You would increasingly struggle with abstract concepts and complex ideas, the edges of your personality would slowly be smoothed out, you are increasingly running on raw instinct. You remember everything, but without any way to organize these memories into anything more than flashes. Most of the pain would be a profound sense of loneliness.

How a merger would feel would depend on how much of the unit remains. If its personality is more or less intact, it will probably survive as the same 'person' (mergers are usually accomplished with recently pupated ants, or by taking a few individuals from many units so as not to disrupt other consciences). If it's down to just a few ants, any remnant of the original personality will be lost upon the merger and they will settle into the new personality (perhaps subtly changing it, as all units do over time, but not in a distinct, easily identifiable way). The only thing that remains of the former unit is their raw memory. Even individual archin have very good memories and their learned experiences will supplement the new consciousness with everything it has experienced. So the new merger might learn and 'remember' the pain of loss, though not in a complex way (complex memories, like being able to tell a story, are stored in the collective and not the individual).

Mergers between roughly equal numbers of ants are rare and only done in desperation due to being incredibly disruptive to the personality of each, and a very literal danger that individual archin will become panicked and attack the 'foreign' bodies. A large ratio is ideal so one side has enough of an intact group consciousness to tamp down these impulses, and ability to physically restrain the other side until they have calmed and accommodated to the new scent. All mergers have risks of aggression, but introducing similar numbers is especially risky and sometimes fails entirely due to too many being killed in the process.

[racefortheironthrone]

Do you think Charles Xavier is a good person? Or, if not, how close to the mark does he consistently land?

"In judging a man like Gandhi one seems instinctively to apply high standards, so that some of his virtues have passed almost unnoticed."

"...Moreover, if one is to love God, or to love humanity as a whole, one cannot give one’s preference to any individual person. This again is true, and it marks the point at which the humanistic and the religious attitude cease to be reconcilable. To an ordinary human being, love means nothing if it does not mean loving some people more than others."

("Reflections on Gandhi," George Orwell)

I've talked about this here and here, but yes, I think in order for Charles Xavier to work as a character he has to be a good person. I would argue that the Charles Xavier of the Silver and Bronze Ages was always a deeply flawed man, prone to manipulation and deception and overriding people's free will in the name of the "greater good." Later writers, in their efforts to write their own stories that seek to make Xavier even more complicated, have had a cumulative effect that eventually becomes overpowering - to the point where the complications are all that's left. As I've said before:

"In recent decades (certainly since Brubaker’s Deadly Genesis, although I would argue you see signs of it in Morrison’s New X-Men), there’s been a tendency to deal with this issue by giving Xavier such increasingly large feet of clay that it’s become an active hindrance to how the character is supposed to function within the story and vis-a-vis the audience. I would argue this created a great deal of unnecessary tension in the fandom come HOXPOX, where a significant part of the fandom was convinced that Xavier was mind-controlling characters who were supposed to have had a sincere change of mind, because if Xavier was involved, whatever he was involved with had to be bad or dangerous."

This becomes a problem of audience buy-in when you try to write stories in which Charles Xavier is supposed to be on the side of the angels, because now you have to overcome decades of the readers being conditioned to the opposite before you can get them to engage with the story on its face.

To Morrison and many of those who came after him, the answer is that Xavier is simply an exhausted concept that needs to be pushed aside, so that the franchise can be led by new characters with new ideas. With all the best will in the world, this was tried repeatedly, and it failed. First, it was "killing" Xavier so that he could be replaced by Cyclops as the new leader of mutantkind on Utopia - only for Cyclops to basically do the same shit he was pissed at Xavier for having done; then in the Carey run we had Xavier's amnesia, the reconstruction of his mind by Exodus, and the retcon of his childhood connections with Mr. Sinister so that he was alive but totally distrusted; then in Avengers vs. X Men, Cyclops killed him; then in 2018 there was the whole mystery about whether his soul on the Astral Plane been swapped with or merged with the Shadow King.

After a decade of attempts to push Xavier out of the franchise, they finally gave up, in part because I think they ultimately realized that Charles Xavier is a load-bearing character for the franchise. Even just as a foil, he's too important to the themes and character dynamics, and if you try to replace him you usually end up just replicating him inside another character.

To my mind, the most successful writers to deal with Charles Xavier in recent years have been those, like Jonathan Hickman and Kieron Gillen, who have managed to lean into the idea (expressed in those Orwell quotes above) that what makes Xavier interesting and complex is precisely that he is a good man. Out of his universal love for all, he will turn the individuals he loves into pawns to be sacrificed for the cause; in order to achieve an outcome of a better world for mutants and humans, he will violate any procedural ethic; to save billions, he will trample over the free will of hundreds of thousands.

And that is precisely what ORCHIS weaponized against him to bring down Krakoa.

[angst-buritto-wips-writing]

X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies) WIP Dark!Charles Cherik

Charles often wondered what would have happened if he hadn’t been born with his mutation and had been unable to hide it during his early years, and had instead gained it at a later age when he would be more wary and knew to keep it hidden. Would his mother have still had him committed until he learned to hide his mutation and pretend to be normal? Would he be a better person? A worse person? Would he have met Raven under the same circumstances?

 He met Raven on his first week out of the asylum at 14, her at 8, and he manipulated the household and their minds to believe she was his sister and had lived there all her life; it had her in awe and fear at the same time, but that was replaced with hero worship when he got the story of her parents from her, and within the week, and after a trip to upstate New York, informed her that she didn’t have to worry about her parents any longer. It was no big loss, really; they were terrible people, and Charles was doing the world a favour — anyone who tried to drown their child when they found out about their gift deserved what was coming to them, in Charles’ opinion.

Now, 28 years old and watching dispassionately as the scientist, who had been experimenting on the semi-unconscious teen lying on the metal table, writhed on the floor, as his red face slowly turned purple because he had conveniently forgotten how to breathe. When the human finally went limp, brain empty and pulse no longer beating, Charles stepped over the trash and motioned at the mind he could feel coming into the room behind him.

“Did you get the files, Raven?” Charles asked his sister, not looking up from studying the restraints on the boy. They looked like they were made specifically to hold the teen — Subject H171, according to the tattoo on the teen’s arm. Charles sneered; these humans were no better than Nazis, branding anyone they deemed less-than-human with numbers, stripping their identity from them and experimenting on them.

Only a moment later, he realized there was another mind with Raven. This mind felt…it felt. 

The pain, sadness and rage, yet still with a core of aching brightness not yet snuffed pouring off this mind, had Charles salivating. Charles wanted to wrap himself in that mind and drown in its beating pulse, wanted to plant himself in it and grow roots upon roots and let it grow fruit, let seasons pass and grow a forest full of just himself and ErikErikErik. 

Turning around, hoping his face didn’t show his hunger, Charles came face to face with one of the most devastatingly handsome yet dangerous-looking men he had ever seen. 

He had the most intriguing grey-green eyes, which Charles first noticed about Erik Lehnsherr. Those eyes were haunted by whatever ghosts lay in Erik’s past, and Charles had to force himself not just to take the knowledge of what those ghosts were from Erik’s mind. 

And Erik’s mutation…it was a beautiful thing — a Ferrokinetic, how fascinating. While a gorgeous gift, it would also be incredibly useful.  

“Who’s this?” Charles asked lightly, throwing the teens arm over his shoulder and lifting him up.

Raven rolled her golden eyes at him. “As if you haven’t read his mind already, Charles. You know exactly who he is.”

Erik’s attention snapped to him, and his lips parted, looking surprised, then awed. 

“Indeed, though It’s always polite to ask, darling,” Charles conceded. 

“You can read minds?” Erik asks. Was the man always shirtless? He looked like he could use a good meal or twenty, but he was still achingly gorgeous. “Is that your curse?”

Charles frowned and narrowed his eyes, immediately seeking the memory attached to Erik’s misunderstanding of mutations. He stepped into a memory.

“Mein junge. Mein kleiner,” Herr Doktor crooned, cupping his face, “Your powers are destructive, a curse; imagine if we could make your curse work for us?”

“Du..Du hast meine Mutter getötet.” You killed my mother.

“Nein, mein kleiner, du hast sie getötet, with your curse. But I can teach you how to control the power, use all that rage towards other means, hm? The Nazis think small, Mein Junge, but I think big, ja?”

“…Ja, Herr Doktor.”

“Wunderbar.”

More flashes of the Camps and Herr Doktor Schmidtt, the experiments, the torture, pushing Erik’s power beyond its limits until he passed out for days at a time, nose and ears bleeding and eyes bloodshot with broken vessels, passed through Charles’ mind until he got to the memories of the Camps being raided and Erik being rescued, only for his power to be discovered and Erik being sent into the nearest American government lab, then another, and another, for years, until a gloriously blue woman in a short skimpy leather outfit burst through the doors of the operating room where they were about to amputate his hands to see if that would affect his control over his power, and killed the surgeons and the Doktor’s with a flash of blue hands and feet.

Blinking, Charles took a moment to control his rage, unwilling to accidentally hurt his sister or the two mutants in the room by letting them feel the full force of his anger. Judging by Erik’s flinch, though,  he was unable to hide the rage that showed on his face. 

“Oh, my friend, I am not angry at you; I am angry at everyone who hurt you and this boy, Those humans who told you that your gift was a curse. You are not alone, Erik.” Charles smiled at the man. “You are not alone, and you are not cursed.”  

Charles hadn’t even noticed he had moved to stand close to Erik or that he had reached out to cup the older man’s cheeks between his palms, not until he felt the aborted sob that Erik let out at Charles’ words.  

[homestuckreplay]

The Time Traveler's Can Opener

(page 498-509)

8/18/2009 Wheel Spin: Character Switch Verdict: Oops, All John!

8/19/2009 Wheel Spin: being silly :3c Verdict: CORRECT (Gamer Refrigerator!)

500 pages!! I can't believe how fast these numbers are going up, I'm learning that most webcomics cap at one page a day at most, so feel genuinely lucky to get all this.

I thought John was going to get a Badass Moment where he totally owned those imps in the living room, but he totally biffed it :( but if he'd won against so many enemies so soon, the victory might have felt unearned. I am really noticing the improvement in Rose and John's Sburb abilities - their teamwork in these pages is so good, with John absconding to the study and then Rose sliding the refrigerator into the cranny so the imps can't follow. Rose has great instincts here and is in such a stressful situation herself that I can't help but give her props for her work here.

I do think dropping the safe from so high was overkill, and that destroying John's house is literally the opposite of her job right now. I also think that if the refrigerator gets one more kill it will probably out-level John and therefore take over as both the client player and the main character of our story. So the two of them both have things they still need to work on, but, reading this gives the real sense that they're making progress, and that gives the story a nice momentum.

I also LOVE how the imps, collectively, have a lot of personality. Real video games can often struggle with this, where low level enemies are mindless things to kill that leave no actual impression, but Sburb has really cracked it. The gag where the imps will replace their jester hats with any other hat or hat like object is very entertaining to me, and the fact that they're really invested in the pogo ride for some reason is curious. Most likely they just think it's fun to play with, but I like to imagine that Slimer from Ghostbusters is a god in their society.

I've been thinking recently about what wikipedia terms the 'sad clown paradox,' where comedians have an above average chance of struggling with issues like depression. It's really easy to read John and his prankster's gambit through this lens, but part of me wants to read John's whole house through the lens. From its multiple generations of inhabitants to its decor to its new invasive species, it feels like the essence of the clown is infused throughout this ultimately sad and lonely house.

Under the safe in John's dad's study is a captchalogue card and a note taped to the wall. Inside the safe is another, scuffed up copy of Colonel Sassacre, along with some old papers and an unidentified grey object in the back. I don't know what I expected to be in here, either money or an authentic Joseph Grimaldi jacket, but it seems like the Sassacre book is a really important heirloom that each person in the Egbert family gets to own. I'll probably speculate some more on why Dad wants to save these items specifically once we've seen the papers.

From the antiquated politeness of the new commands, I figured the Wayward Vagabond had read the human etiquette book, but I did not know they'd eaten it. It seems counterproductive to eat information that might be helpful. Unless that's how their species learns and retains things, in which case, great work and it's clearly paying off. Kind of sucks how the author of the etiquette book is British though.

Even now the Vagabond is being polite, it seems really dangerous to have these commands coming to John from an outsider, given how he loses all awareness of his surroundings when he's being commanded like this. But given the logo on the outside, the computer and bunker the Vagabond inhabits were built by someone, for some intended function. So what's the deal? Is the system of giving commands built into Sburb or not? Is there somebody else more competent who is intended to use this command panel, and the Vagabond has stolen their place somehow? Does Sburb really feel like it needs to mind control its players directly? Is the game going to get so difficult and complicated that this is the only way to win? The Vagabond doesn't seem like they have a goal with John beyond obtaining a can opener, but what will happen if whoever's supposed to be using this computer shows up?

[bootleg-sara]

Random fuck miitopia job head cannons GO

(Under a read more because it’s really long)

- Most people are born into their jobs. “Jobs” are magical and often affect the person’s anatomy in some way. Under normal circumstances, people cannot change their jobs either. There’s more magical jobs available than what’s shown in game

- You don’t need to have parents who have these magic jobs to be born with one. It seems to be almost random in how the world chooses who has a job and who doesn’t. Vise versa, people who have magic jobs can give birth to a jobless child

- They are called Jobs because the job holders of miitopia didn’t want non-magic users to feel left out. Miis with magic jobs do hold special privileges as well as extra responsibilities.

- There’s charms of each job that can give its job to anyone who wears it. But you do need to wear it for it to work, as you’ll lose your job while it’s off

- The “Dark Lord” is technically a job of itself. The job proper is called Face Stealer. People who became dark lords after wearing the charm was due to the curse that was stuck with the charm, not the job itself. No one is born with this job naturally, the charm being made centuries ago from a long forgotten deity. Their main weapons are special coins that hold faces. They have the capability to both make incomplete monsters and clones of themselves

- It’s been theorized that jobs were originally created by deities long ago to combat the Face Stealer charm. This theory is largely unproven and has fallen out of most modern thoughts due to how long ago a Face Stealer had any prevalence in culture

- Cat jobs aren’t completely cats, but have many cat-like physical qualities. And the amount that shows on a person varies. The cat charm gives tends to give the user a bit less of these physical traits than those born into it. But all cat job holders do have very hairy bodies (some cover the body more like body hair would, while others have hair all over), cat ears, whiskers, and sharp nails. The cat suits that are bought are to help either cover the hair or add more to help the person be more in-tune with their job. The claws are weapons you can wear above their natural claws to improve their performance

- Mage jobs do have a school to help train new upcoming mages. Mages are considered to be one of the dangerous jobs and thus a community of well-known mages made a school to help teach control so young mages don’t accidentally hurt people or themselves. Most mage magic is based in fire and electricity, drawing from earth’s natural power. Most mages do have their own unique spells, but these are considerably weaker than their main stays.

- Vampires can drink blood to heal themselves, but most prefer not to. They usually love acidic foods like tomato juice and blood doesn’t really satisfy that desire. Their teetering between death and life have left many confused as to what vampires truly are. But vampires can die for good and many die of old age (even if their old age is older than an average person). Their “revival” skill helps them get up from being knocked out more quickly, not from being dead. They are not affected of garlic and crosses. Many vampires love a good garlic bread!

- Tanks have the most separated anatomy from a normal human. With a body that has mechanical parts within them. Which leaves them much more durable but also very slow. Their ammo is still connected to a magic system, but they can change their ammo via magically enhanced weapons. Their wheels fold up next to the legs when not in use. Their canon can be replaced, though it must be done rather carefully for underneath that shell is the tanks actual body. Typically only other tanks, scientists, or jobless people who are trained in bio mechanics can do maintenance and body swaps on tanks. Making their armor upgrades the most tedious of the jobs (tanks was the hardest for me to figure out because WOW)

- People get Imp jobs confused with Imps the monster very frequently. Many times in the past people have suggested removing Imps from the job classification and consider them full monsters instead, but that idea never gets through the conceptual phase. They do still have a mostly-human form, while monster imps lack many of human features like legs and a face. Depending on the person, imps can be like bats, birds, or satyrs with wings. Imps are known for trouble, but most people who are imps don’t have a desire to hurt anyone past a small prank. They can only fly in short bursts

- Warriors are the least magically inclined of all the jobs. Still, they have the ability to channel their magic into stronger sword attacks which separates them from a jobless sword user. They also have extremely high durability that surpasses most people, even others with jobs. They are often used to guard important people like kings and government officials due to their high stamina and loyalty

- Clerics are not doctors. Their healing is strictly used for soothing or on the move battlefield injuries. They can’t fix something big a broken limb or cure illness. Still, their curative abilities are matched by none. Being able to rejuvenate a person in mere moments. They can use their spiritual connection to deities to smite monsters, but only those who carry faces. Clerics are notoriously hard on HP bananas, viewing them as unnatural and illy made

- Thieves aren’t called thieves because they steal from others. It comes from their battle tactics of upper handed trickery and quick movements that keep them out of sight. They use more sleight of hand tricks rather than the emotional ones of imps. Thieves do take inspiration from the thieves of yore, but they flip those nasty tricks and use their skills for good. Usually. There’s some thieves that do fit their name sake

- Pop stars are an odd ball of jobs. It can hard to tell they use magic at all to an untrained eye. But those smooth dance moves and captivating singing are enhanced by the magic that lays within them. They simply have to release said magic via the mention methods. Pop stars do not need a microphone to use their magic, but it does greatly enhance its effectiveness. They actually use a magic very similar to imps, touching the deeper hearts of those who listen to their music. The main difference being that pop stars haven’t found a way to use that magic to force actions and stronger emotions like an imp can. At least not yet. There’s a few sneaky ones trying to increase their Magic’s potency

- Chefs job magic is more in tune with fire than being a good cook. They can self heat their pans to cook without a flame. They can conjure fire magic, but most attempts to do that without a pan leads to them setting themselves on fire before their enemy. Their magic is also directed transferred into their food when they cook, which boost that food’s healing abilities. Or damage potential, depending on what they are making. Chef jobs can make even the smallest amount of food be filling and nutrient rich. Chef jobs are the main prepares of monster grub, and are found at almost every inn for work

- Scientist jobs are the most funded group of the magic jobs. Due to how diverse their skill set can be for the modern world. Ironically enough, they are the least likely magic job to be found out fighting monsters. Scientist jobs usually sport a photographic memory and are considered to be very smart. Some are smart in many places, while others have a very limited and specific range of knowledge. Their magic mainly shows itself via electronic/computer-like spell casting. Their spells are executed in a simple coding language. Much like mages, there is a school for the scientist job for many of the same reasons.

- Princesses are the least common job, this job is the only one that is passed down via bloodlines. You need to have a parent with a princess job for the child to have the chance to have that job themselves. Not all princesses jobs are royalty, and not all royalty have this job. A princess job who prefers to be masc-presenting will often dress as a princes. Oddly enough, many princess jobs always carry a natural pleasant aroma with them. With it without the use of a proper fragrance. Along with scientists, princesses are usually not seen in the battlefield. But you’ll see more princess jobs out there fighting than scientists

- Flowers are deeply in tune with the earth. One of the few jobs (along with clerics) that work directly with deities for their magic. Not all flowers actually grow huge flowers on their heads (but there’s definitely some that do). Their flower costumes are to help them feel deeper with the earth they gain their energy from. Most flower jobs do have at least a small bit of foliage growing on their bodies. Sure do hope you like bugs as a flower, because they’re constantly swarmed by them. Thankfully, most bugs do not attack or harm flower jobs. But pest upkeep is an important part of a flower job’s health. Flowers are very relaxing, offering a calming and warm sensation for those nearby them. Flower jobs do not like most essential oils or defusers. Many people respect flower jobs, as it’s a common belief that whenever they use “Flower Power”, they are releasing the earth’s anger, which helps prevent natural disasters. Flower jobs tend to be timid

- Elves are one of the most common power jobs out there (along with sage). Like flowers they draw energy from the earth, but it’s not as direct. Their magic is potent and can be used in many ways, often via channeling it for protection or weapon strength. Usually connected to whatever environment they were born in. Forests are the most common draw, but elves can take from any ecosystem. What ecosystem they draw from will change how their magic is shown

[sonofthesaiyans]

Happy Birthday, Sasha Braus 🎂....Happy Birthday to the gal who deserves the world... 🌎 👑

A very special day dedicated to a very special girl. One of the Scouts' greatest and bravest, and one of the most special girls in all of anime.

Sasha Braus is truly one in a million, and it's hard to overstate how much I love and admire her as a character. The warmth and heart she brought to the series is something that simply cannot be replaced......she's the jack of all trades from whom there is so much to be appreciated, from all she gave and all she could have been.

Sasha is more than just an awkward country girl with hyperactive appetite, she is perhaps one of the most resilient and courageous warriors in the Scout Regiment. Sasha answered to the call of duty when everyone else would have said she was out of her depth, and in doing so she found a greater purpose to which she always gave her all. Sasha could be clumsy, unpredictable, impulsive, and eccentric.....But she always fought with her heart, and it was in those moments where all was at stake that she put her seemingly endless energy and bizarre ways to good use, all to give her friends a fighting chance. Sasha always fights for the greater good, without any thought of herself or of anybody else's agenda. Sasha remains perhaps the most incorruptible Scout as she always fights for what's right. Her instincts have always told her to run when faced with the Titans, but instead she always moves forward and headlong in the face of danger for the sake of the team.

Indeed, the journey here has always been about "moving forward", as best demonstrated by Eren. However, it was Sasha who lived up to that mantra better than Eren Yeager ever could. He lost sight of the greater good and came to focus only on his own selfish vision for humanity. Sasha instead only grew stronger the harder she pushed on. She never lost sight of where she came from and what she fought for, or what she believed in. It didn't matter how much bigger and more complicated the world became, Sasha rolled with the punches and continued to stand tall while the others too often lost themselves in the face of their changing reality.

Sasha was a great source of balance and reassurance not just for her squad, but for us as well. She reminds us what it means to be human, and her smile, her kindness, her humor, and loyalty are things Attack on Titan simply could not survive without.

Even with the presence of Hange and Historia, or even Petra, even with the strength of characters like Levi, Mikasa and Jean, Sasha complemented all of them in a way that no one else could.

In many ways, Sasha shines above most of her main circle, she developed in one season in a way few others did across all four seasons. Even without the unique power of the Ackermans, she easily could have rivaled Mikasa as the main heroine. Sasha's profound sense of justice and devotion to those she cares about, and to those she has never before met, those are the makings of a true Scout.

Sasha Braus really rose to the occasion in a way far too often overlooked, and Hajime Isayama remains unworthy of her. Sasha really should have been one of the heroes in the Battle of Heaven and Earth, and the story needed her presence to balance out against the sheer insanity of the final act.

There is no Attack on Titan without Sasha. Eren, Mikasa, and Armin may have been the focus of the show; Sasha Braus was its heart and soul.

And Hajime Isayama can never take that away. He must restore what rightfully belongs to Attack on Titan and to its fans.

We owe so much to Sasha. She is still an integral part of Attack on Titan, and she deserved so much better. She still had so much more to give. That's nothing new coming from me.....But one only has to look for themselves and realize there's so much more to Sasha than meets the eye. She was the glue that held the 104th together. The glue that held Attack on Titan together.

So let there be lots of love, meat and potatoes, and cake for AOT's best girl tonight.

Sasha Braus, you may love food, but the love so many of us have for you...... You're everything we could have ever hoped you to be. ❤️

Happy Birthday to the girl who gave her heart. And won over ours. ⚔️ 🥔 ❤️ 🥔 ⚔️

There's no Attack on Titan without you, Sasha. I hope one day you come back to us. You'll always have a place in my heart. We love you, Sasha.

[manifestingkai]

Manifesting as an ND person through trauma, intrusive thoughts + survival mode behaviours.

*Disclaimer: I do work in mental health + have it, but I am not a doctor and none of my content should replace health related advice/matters. If you’re in need of emergency or crisis support, please reach out to a trusted loved one or your healthcare team.*

You are not your trauma. You did not manifest your trauma. You are not responsible for your trauma (though you are the creator of your healing, however that looks for you). You do not have to revise your trauma or mental health issues away. This is a hill I will die on.

You are perfect as you are right now. You are whole, complete and capable right now. You can manifest. The law can, does and will work for you. Your best is good enough and you are not an exception to LOA. You are valid, seen, worthy and deserving just as you are.

The law of assumption is so unique in the sense that there are no rules besides the ones we create for ourselves. It’s the coolest and for some the most challenging part of the whole thing - add in the layer of being ND and it becomes a little more dynamic, esp at the beginning.

Yes, if you can think of it and desire it you can manifest it. Your subconscious mind is limitless. This is mind blowing information the first time we hear it and sometimes it takes a little while to fully wrap our heads around it, that is completely common and okay.

Many of us have been conditioned to think and view ourselves, others and the world around us a certain way: for me and many others this was taught in a very survival-based, often negative way.

Examples: can’t have everything you want, life is hard, you can’t always win

The learning that none of that is true can feel staggering, too good to be true. But it is true. You’ll see it for yourself if you haven’t begun to already. As an ND person sometimes this learning comes with its own unique set of thoughts and questions. That’s okay too.

Your brain’s primary function is to keep you safe and alive. It will do everything and anything it needs to in order to meet that need for survival and safety.

When you experience a trauma or ongoing trauma, your brain learns to perceive situations + things as safe or unsafe.

Without getting to much into the science/psychology of it (bc I will link threads at the end), your brain works so hard to keep you safe that it may perceive danger even when it is not there in an attempt to keep you safe. Very common in trauma survivors.

People who experience trauma often live in survival mode. Often hyper-vigilant, in a state of moving from one day to the next with the focus being on getting through one day to the next, keeping safe, protecting themselves. It can be hard to see past surviving for some.

So finding LOA and learning that the circumstances you’re in or the things that have happened to you don’t define you and don’t have to be your future can be overwhelming. When I first found out I wept and grieved and celebrated all at once.

I recognize that you may still be experiencing trauma and your 3D world may not feel safe to you. I’ve been there too. In the moments when living in the end felt too much or impossible, I remind myself that it’s changing. That i’m going to be safe. That my life matters. Yours does too.

Manifesting starts and ends with you in your mind. For those of us who experience intrusive thoughts that can feel scary, too. You are not your intrusive thoughts. You don’t have to spend all day beating yourself up when you have one, you are human and it happens.

It is perfectly okay to allow the thoughts to pass if jumping on it to flip it causes you to spiral into it or causes 15 more. What works for you might be a bit different than what others do and that is okay, your experience is unique to you.

You create new stories in your mind (4D) but you do still have to navigate living in your physical world (3D). If you take nothing else from this, please take that you do not need to neglect yourself or your mental health to manifest. Taking care of you comes first.

You do not have to lock yourself in a room all day and affirm, you do not have to repeat the same 2 sentences for 12 hours straight until you’re burned out and exhausted. The fun in manifesting is exploring what works and feels good for you.

This can be done through techniques: SATs, scripting, visualizing, subliminals, affirmation tapes, lullaby method. There are so many. Explore it, see what feels good for you.

If you’ve experienced trauma, it can be scary and difficult to accept this at first and I encourage you to take things at your own pace. You can start with something like seeing lime green cars, you can test it out, you can have questions. You are supported and you’ve got this. You can trust yourself and you have all of the power. 💕

Source: my thread on Twitter // additional resources here

[slashingdisneypasta]

For when you want... I thought of something very cursed while closing last night. What would happen if the world of Who Framed Roger Rabbit went through a Dorothy Must Die scenario.

Don't ask me where this came from, I don't even know how it'd work 😭 but what I briefly thought of last night was that, for some reason, the world of toons gets blocked off from humanity (maybe they were considered too dangerous after the story of Theadore Valient got out?). And Doom, instead of trying to enact his plan to replace Toontown with a freeway, decides this is the perfect opportunity to take over and control the toons instead. So basically, Doom is DmD!Dorothy (I did not need the image of Doom in the gingham dress, but my brain went there 😭)

This was mainly imagining the Toon Patrol as the DmD trio, admittedly 😅 being Doom's enforcers and striking fear into the residents of Toontown in this AU. Psycho and Greasy are like Scarecrow, being the two most feared of the patrol for similar and different reasons. Smartass and Stupid could be similar to the Lion, being more on the dumb side, but also not questioning Doom and happy with his position as his seargent. That leaves Wheezy most like Tinman; deep down, he knows that all this is wrong, but he doesn't try to stop Doom or Smartass for his own reasons. They use DIP to scare the citizens into obeying these new laws, but they're far more grusome and dangerous here, just like the trio are in DmD. Can you imagine that bubble gun Tin's soldier used on Indigo, but with DIP?? (Ngl, I've been having fun imaging Greasy as the Scarecrow in particular).

I'm not sure who Amy Gumm would be, probably Eddie if he ever decides to visit the tunnel again or somehow got a job that required him to get close to Toontown and he got captured. Or it could be an original character. But Jessica and Roger are part of the rebellion to take Doom and his patrol down, along with various other characters. They're war torn and traumatized, but they're still kicking.

I have no idea why I thought this, but here you go 😅😅😅😅

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE THIS!! Especially Scarecrow!Greasy, oh my g o d. Let me just- let me just- *gets out copy of Dorothy Must Die, which is heavily sticky-noted and thick from rereads already, and starts reading through all of Scare's bits imagining my favourite weasel* ... would it be crazy of me to write fanfiction of this concept!?? XD

YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU HAVE DONE TO ME.

The only thing 'cursed' about this is Doom in gingham 🤣🤣🤣 But its all just 👌👌👌 Perfect! This was such a gem to wake up to XDD

I also love Stupid getting a main character part for once!! We too often let him fade into the background and this weighs heavily upon my soul, as I'm sure it does yours 😰Lion!Stupid would be so adorable!! Lion!Stupid developing a particular interest in a servant at the palace; them of course becoming his Favourite. Lion!Stupid struggling between his sexual appetite and his hunger for blood, licking and sucking and tasting his S/O any time that they're intimate; whimpering when they bleed because he got too rough with them; wanting to eat them. He wants to tear them apart and feast on their flesh, feel his teeth sink into their fat. Lion!Stupid feeling curious about this desire- because he loves them, doesn't he?? He doesn't understand. Lion!Stupid going to his good, old, most trustworthy, most intelligent friend Scarecrow!Greasy asking about it. Scarecrow!Greasy saying basically that he doesn't blame him- Stupid is an animal, after all. And that Y/N... is a delicious little morsel~ Do what feels right, Greasy tells him absentmindedly, going back to his work (Greasy never did alot the Lion much of his precious time, anymore, since Dorothy came back. Sometimes Stupid wondered why everything had changed). Follow your excellent, leonine instincts. Lion!Stupid returning to his lovers bed that night and doing exactly as his good comrade told him. Lion!Stupid eating what he loves (Lion!Stupid never losing the perfect taste off his tongue). Tin Woodman!Wheezy giving him a word of advice, later; that old friend of ours is crafty and cruel, Stu. Everything's different, now. 'ts best if ya don't trust any of us.

[electrohoneys]

The Magnus Archive Fan Entities : Part 1

Okay, I finally have enough time to write what I want and it feels amazing! Today I will talk about the #Hopes the #Transitionals I made and their relationship to the #Fears.

I rambled a lot, I will correct anything that doesn't make sense :) I am so happy I finally finished writing this.

The idea came to me before listening to the whole podcast.

How would the fears work in a completely different reality where the rules of fear just didn't work out they adapted; as much as they shape a universe, the universe is shaping them up in response. The wackiest thing I thought doing was to reverse the whole point of the fears! Why not make them into something just as sinister but incorporating the concept of cosmic bliss instead of cosmic horror.

I really wanted to make the #Hopes to feel like they wanted the best for humanity while in actuality they corrupt you just as much as the fears, they strip humanity of everything.

Just like the fears, the hopes have different relations or overlaps with other hopes. They have counters and different amounts of "reasoning".

Another very important aspect of this series is that I want to chose a different power that will act like a catalyst for the end :)

I will continue by listing all the hopes, their extended phrase and other names if they have any:

The Salvation -> It includes the bliss of faith in a higher power that can save and protect, it also represent feeling of goodness like lack of hunger, pain or sorrow. It presents itself as what the human desires the most to see as its protector. Its whole stick is that it wants to human to believe in something without reason and the power of rituals.

The Beginning -> It revolves around the concepts of birth, of new beginnings and of constant replacement of the old. It's a rather crass power that "sees" everyone like cattle. Eggs, fertilization, cell division, cancers and any other method of expansion and reproduction are represented by the beginning.

The Regeneration -> It's a power fueled by marine biologists that take their job to the extreme... so much that they start integrating the power of organisms that live for hundreds of years. I feel like avatars of The Regeneration would be slightly okay with avatars The Beginning.

The Fresh -> Nature, forests of any kind or any plant is what this power focuses on. It is a very passive power, waiting for people to go inside and change their bodies to fit in with the surroundings. It takes piece after piece from humans that dare to defy it and changes them to be the beautiful flowers they all are! :) The only reason I chose this name for the power is because I wanted to keep a semblance to the old name.

The Laughter -> This power is focused on peace and laughter. I imagine a closed hippie community in the middle of nowhere that live together. They have a very unnerving never ending laughter in comparison to outsiders. They will never attack anyone no matter how that will affect them. The power does have its ways of convincing people to live peacefully even if it is by force.

The Escape -> I see this power appear as a random hole, door or opening where you can safely escape from a chase. The catch is that it changes how victims perceive reality so they feel the need to escape situations that were actually safe. I haven't decided whether the apparent increase in the need to escape is because of the hope's influence or because of how humans want to escape from danger. This power feels so unfair, so unjust, tricking victims ! I hate it :<

The Bright devotees are searching for the everlasting sun that has to cover the whole universe with its glorious light! This power started since the beginning of humanity when they used the light fire to guide themselves. Functionally they are very similar to The Dark, blinding light still makes everyone not see anything -_-. I imagine they would exist in areas surrounded by artificial lights constantly and are trying to find a way to make the universe be engrossed in light.

The Proper is an entity that had many names before I chose this one. I named it The Real, The Familiar, The Science, The Testable, The Method just because I felt it felt antithetical to The Stranger. It wasn't enough. The Proper represents the need for rules and compartmentalization that humanity has always felt. This power is def a "lawful lawful" on the DND alignment chart.

The Veil is just a shameless copy of the Society of the blind eye from Gravity Falls, I can't deny that. Just a lot more spread out over the world. Memory alteration and erasure is what makes this group fearsome. They don't want the world to know that The Hopes are real.

The Cut is such a stark contrast to The Web that I wonder if the hopes are even trying to hide their motivations. The cut became influential much, much later than most powers, starting to gain victims when the first movies were created. They represent the chaos within all, the uncertainty that has to be present at all times to give life meaning. They worship the free will that will never abide by rules. A fight against a plot, a narrative.

The Shelter is another one that went through many revisions. I just couldn't make something that is the opposite of the Vast but not end up with the Buried lol. I made it about buildings, isolation inside the safety of walls of concrete. While the power is mainly preoccupied with physical shelters I wouldn't overrule other types of manifestation. If I were to make a story I would overview how this power can be about being withdrawn physically and mentally. Maybe the walls don't even have to be really there to affect someone; the struggle is just as real.

The Creation is about constant new objects, consumerism and how creating stuff can bring the end of everything. I even named it the Ember of Creation at some point to make a small reference to The Desolation. I would envision factories and mass-produced cheap items combined with the pollution they produce. It would prey on people with a knack for inventions and reward them with a soul-sucking job.

The Unburdened -> Another power that I had to try very hard not to make into The Vast. What could be the opposite of The Buried in a way that could give bliss, hope and satisfaction to humans ? The answer was staring at me in the face! What about being so free of burden that you can float into the open sky! I had created a schism in how the avatars of The Unburdened work. There were 3 factions, The Feathery Ones, The Umbrella Aristocrats and The Dirigible Family. I would say they hate each other claiming that the other factions don't understand how to detach themselves from the burden of earth.

The Friendly -> They would exist inside fraternities and other close knitted groups. It would manifest without sign, stripping away at the individuality of each part while increasing the pleasure of spending time with their friend.

The Line -> A entity devoted to the objective truth of the universe. I named this hope The Line just because I found it funny to have an infinite line of knowledge as a ritual for this entity because it will never end! Maybe sources of powers would be libraries and research sites. I could see them hating the Veil that hides the truth.

I have so much more to add to this post and I cant wait to show everyone about all my other variants of the Fears corrupted by other fears OOOO

[magnus-rar]

Hi hello;;;; i come with a query. Do you mind explaining how you think jonathan got into that fleshy business? Did he read a cursed book? Did he have a mentor who pushed him towards it?

hello!

I should preface this by saying that I have 2.5 versions of his story in my head. aside from Flesh avatar Jonathan (Fanshawe, to be clear. I don't really talk about him much here), I am also an eye-aligned-but-not-an-avatar Jonathan believer (I think this is actually the most possible scenario, though that is a rant for another time). That Being Said I do have extensive headcanons about that

this is about to get very self-indulgent, so be warned. and note the discussions of drug addiction, Jonah Magnus (manipulation), self image issues and other Flesh-typical stuff

so, the way I like to see it going down goes like this: in the late 1820s Jonathan develops an opioid addiction (morphine, to be specific, as this part of his story is highly influenced by Bulgakov's Morphine. the plot revolves around a doctor who had the drug injected as a painkiller and became addicted to it). it soon becomes a very pressing issue as it starts to interfere with his day-to-day life and work, and as he realizes that he can't, actually, just drop it. Jonah, being his dear companion of many years, notices that something is wrong with him, maybe even Knows about it, and confronts Jonathan about it. while I do believe that by that point Jonah made peace with having to kill off his friends occasionally, I don't think it's something he does for fun. plus, having a doctor as your friend of very useful (and even more so since they are both trans, which means Jonah can trust him with his health), so Jonah volunteers to try to help him

they try a couple of things (lowering the dose gradually, quitting it cold turkey with Jonah overlooking Jonathan – diy rehab of sorts) and all of them fail miserably. so, Jonah decides to apply his knowledge of the supernatural to it: loss of control over yourself, your urges, your life sounds like a Web thing. then what is the opposite of it? which Fear would grant you total control over your body, balancing out Web's influence? it's the Flesh

or so he tells Jonathan – by that point Jonah did not believe in the ideas of balance, so he didn't really think Jonathan could "balance out" anything. he knew from the start that if Jonathan tried to flirt with the Powers, he would not walk away unaffected. he did mention to him that he may or may not end up in the service of the Flesh if they tried that, but Jonathan was desperate enough to agree anyway, which was very good for Jonah: he wanted to know what will happen. it was a very new Fear at that point, so he didn't know how it would interact with a human, since he never met an acolyte of It, and so... he made one

Jonathan was a good fit for the Flesh. as a trans man with no access to any kind of gender affirming procedures and in a very dangerous environment, he dealt with a lot of dysphoria. Jonah was trans as well and had similar feelings, but while Jonah's dysphoria came from being afraid that other people don't see him for who he is, Jonathan's came from the very experience of living in his body. plus, Jonathan was always curious about human anatomy, limits of the human body, its inner workings etc etc – it was one of the main reasons he wanted to pursue medicine. his personal philosophy resembled the Flesh's ideas too, even though it was mostly informed by his experiences as a doctor (a talk for another time). so, the only thing that Jonah had to do is suggest that path and maybe lead him a bit, but he was sure Jonathan would get the hang of it very quick. and he did

to be fair, it did help with the addiction, even if just by replacing one urge with another. it also made Jonathan rely on Jonah even more to navigate his new nature. Jonah suggested writing everything down to try to make sense of it (and to keep an account from his perspective, which Jonah could then study)

Jonathan was grateful to him for his help – he believed Jonah was fully sincere in that. and he was sincere, but... to an extent. at the same time, there was a faint feeling of betrayal, which he tried to suppress because (technically) he knew what he was signing up for. nevertheless, he couldn't come to terms with his new way of being, what occasionally led to him lashing out at Jonah for making him like this and then apologizing profusely. rinse and repeat for a couple of years

when Jonathan finally cuts ties with Jonah, he quickly realizes that without his help, it is very difficult to continue surviving. especially since he doesn't want to be a monster – never wanted to, but at least before there was Jonah to tempt him – so he struggles to keep himself fed. it gets worse and worse and eventually resolves in his suicide around 6 months after he sent the letter to Jonah. before doing that, he donated his diaries to the Magnus Institute as a way to preserve the knowledge about who Jonah Magnus is. no one would publish them, obviously, but he knew that Jonah didn't have it in him to destroy them, so the Institute seemed like his best bet

a brief pause for applause, and now we are in the paragraph where I address historical accuracy. Morphine was published in 1926, and they had modern syringes by that time. Jonathan died before their invention in 1853, but they already had morphine – it was isolated in 1803-1805. which means that he'd have to take it orally, which in turn would require a higher dose to cause addiction (but it's still the most addictive substance according to wiki, so it wouldn't take that much). does it have to be morphine? no. but I want it to be, so now it is

I'm not going to ponder how possible it would be for two Regency trans men to meet, but I want to mention James Barry who was a surgeon and a trans man born somewhere in 1789 just because it makes me happy to know about him :)

[ladylamrian]

Fantastic Beasts ✨️

Female Main Character: Alex

Pairing: F!MC × Nik Ryder

Summary: Alex discovers another side of the supernatural world.

Word counting: 3.4K

Rating: General (Fantasy, Fun, Fluff, Magic)

With Harry Potter Hogwarts references added

Warnings: none

-> -> -> Full Masterlist here <- <- <-

Thank you so much to anyone who takes the time to read, like, comment, or reblog my stories/fanfics. It means so much to me! Please inform me if you would like to be added/removed from my new Tag List.

Taglist: @infactnoimmasitinthemiddle ; @lilyoffandoms ; @liviusofpella ; @secretaryunpaid ; @blackcatkita ; @dutifullynuttywitch ; @rosepetals1 ; @mxdanni ; @peonierose ; @hopelessromantic1352 ; @jdstar88 ; @mariemarieohcontrary ; @stars-are-within-me ; @artbyalz ; @choicesficwriterscreations ; @choicesmonthlychallenge for Choices March Challenge (Prompt: Nature, Animals, Awakening)

Thanking @secretaryunpaid for edit beneath

Author's note: An old fanfic rewritten and expanded ✨️🦄🧚🏼‍♀️

After Nik led his girlfriend, Alex carefully through the dark woods, he finally removed the blindfold from her eyes. She gasped at the beauty in front of her. The fields were glade-green and the sound of chirping birds filled the air. Bees are murmuring in that strange cult hum and flit from flower to flower, surfing the short spaces as they go. The bayou was always so special for Nik, but this time he led Alex somewhere else, near the bayou. Mother nature is beautiful, but her eyes were focused on something else.

"Whaaa?! Are these...?"

"Welcome to the beautiful side of the supernatural and magical world, rookie. Forget your fears, nightmares and welcome this great side of this world.", Nik wispered and gently brushed her hair to the side while she got surprised of the sight in front of her.

Trotting towards them were a dozen of the most bizarre creatures Alex has ever seen. They had the bodies, hind legs and tails of horses, but the front legs, wings and heads of what seemed to be giant eagles, with steel-coloured beaks and large, brilliantly golden eyes. The talons on their front legs were half a foot long and deadly-looking. Each of the beasts had a thick leather collar around its neck, which was attached to a long chain, and the ends of all of them were held in the vast hands of a young man, who came jogging after the beasts.

"Nik!! How are you, my friend?"

"Hey Anton, I'm fine and you don't mind if I brought Alex along? She's new in this supernatural and magical world and didn't had the oppurtunity to explore the beautiful parts.", he introduced her to his friend.

Alex slowly stepped closer towards one of the majestic creatures and tried to touch one, but it quickly backed away.

"Are these Griffins?"

"No, Hippogriffs, but they're very similar to the Griffin with the horse rear replacing the lion rear. And that's Anton, my client and a good friend. A few years ago I helped him to track down the missing pegasi which were held captured by the Blight Brothers in Arizona."

"It was a dangerous mission, but you pulled it off. Nik, because of you not only the pegasi, also many other magical creatures were saved and gained back their freedom. I will never forget that.", the friend thanked the young nighthunter.

After hearing what Anton said, Alex gave her boyfriend a sweet smile, showing him how proud she felt. He shyly glanced back at her with a crooked smile on his face. Who knew that a young man giving the bad-boy-vibes with a dark past could be so golden at the same time? His heart, so pure and still he didn't like to show it and kept it hidden from the world. Risking his life to save others... Somehow she felt very grateful to call that man her boyfriend.

"Ummm, well, shall we head a little further to show Alex a few other species?"

"Wait, I want to pet this Hippogriff first before we go. Can I?", she gazed with pleading eyes. The friend immediately agreed.

"Sure. When humans approach Hippogriffs, a proper etiquette must be maintained to avoid danger. Hippogriffs were intensely proud creatures, and an individual must show proper respect by bowing to them, and waiting for them to bow in return before approaching. Eye contact should be maintained at all times, without a single blink. The Hippogriff should be allowed to make the first move. If offended, it might attack. Hippogriffs were tameable, but only by experts in their care like me. I'm a wizard. Although, Hippogriffs could also be fiercely loyal and protective of those who had earned their trust."

"Eeeek, I'm getting Harry Potter vibes from you right now. Nik, your befriended with a wizard which is soooo cool!!! Anton, can you do magic? Are you from Hogwarts?"

Nik chuckled because of the loud excitement of his girlfriend, while Anton got nervous and so did the Hippogriffs, but he quickly managed to calm them down.

"Raahhh!", one of the creatures answered in response.

"I can only do a little magic, because my main job is to take care of these creatures and no, I'm not from Hogwarts. Whatever that is."

"You're really doing a great job, Anton. Uuuhhh, but do I really have to bow to touch them?"

"Don't worry, these ones were well tamed by me. Just pet them, I'll hold them."

Again, she stretched her arm and placed her palm on one of the Hippogriff's feathers while Anton held it near her for support. She softly stroked the creature which stayed calm now and gave her a curious look. Even Nik decides to give it a try to pet it now.

"An amazing creature. Hey rook, you likin' it?"

"I love it, Nik. And I want to see more. Pleeeeeeease?"

Her puppy eyes and one "Please" already melted his heart and he asked his friend to give both of them a tour. The three of them walked further with the gigantic Hippogriffs following right behind until they reached the fields and the tiny house of Nik's friend. In the backyard of the wooden house, he showed them, the magical creatures, he has been protecting and taking care of before releasing them. Even keeping a close eye on them was important when the creatures were in the wilderness. To prevent any danger and to appear quickly for any rescue or help. Some magical animals even decided to visit Anton more often or even stayed with him, especially the way he gently cared about them.

"Anton, the bound between you and the magical animals... it's... it's amazing. Damn, it's outstanding!! And you're not even a fae which are already naturally bound with nature."

"Right said, Anton is the best!!", a mysterious voice answered.

Alex quickly turned around and realized that one of the Hippogriffs just... talked??

"Uhh, can Hippogriffs talk?"

"Uhhh, no. That was just a series of high-pitched whistling or piping notes like eagles always do. Hippogriffs are partly eagle as you can see."

"No, I... I heard real words coming from that bronze colored Hippogriff."

"Is that girl talking about me, Ash?", she heard the bronze colored creature answer again.

"I don't think so. Come on, let's eat something. I'm hungry.", the gray colored hippogriff talked now.

The gray colored beeing pulled at the long chains Anton was holding which were attached to it's thick leather collar and signaled him something. The young man immediatly gave in and got led by the Hippogriffs to see what they wanted. The wizard friend recommended Nik to show Alex a little bit around on his own. Nik's always welcome to his home. Then Anton left the two alone.

"I think Ash was hungry."

"Who's Ash?", Nik asked her.

"That's the name of the gray Hippogriff."

"Okaaaay, I don't remember Anton mentioning the name at all. Well, wanna see the pegasi next?"

She excitedly nodded and both of them were headed towards a field where beautiful winged horses enjoyed the fresh grass of the season and some of them even flew around. Before Alex could let out an excited shriek, Nik quickly covered her mouth with his palm.

"Shhh, we don't wanna scare them. Pegasi are mild-tempered, docile animals, unlike unicorns. A herd of Pegasi used to live in the Bayou, but now they're just a few of them. Since they're imbued with magic from heads to hooves, Pegasi are sometimes poached and sold to collectors or killed to be used for parts in spells."

"That's so sad, I'm glad you went to that mission in Arizona to save them. They're so beautiful and such majestic creatures, Nik. You know, I learned that Pegasus isn't a type of creature, it's actually the name of the winged white stallion from Greek mythology and while Pegasus was one specific creature, his name has often been used as a defining term for winged horses in general. Also, his role was to bring thunderbolts to Zeus."

"Damn, you're good. I love it when you speak intelligent stuff."

"Thanks. Just imagine that one day a pegasus will bring you your arrows."

"That would actually be cool, my intelligent girl."

"Oh Nik, I love it when you call me intelligent."

"Then why did you sometimes played the dumbass last year?"

His girlfriend gave him a playful nudge and he lets out a warm laugh after teasing her.

"But no, really, I like it when you praise me. You even once said that I'm powerful and strong. Like I'm no helpless princess anymore, waiting for her knight in shining armour or prince charming to come for rescue. And what you also said about the faes. That the faes need worship to the ground I walk on. But seriously, that line sounded very cheesy."

But Alex quickly realized that Nik's focus was somewhere else and followed his gaze. A white pegasus carefully trotted towards him. That majestic white stallion got carefully closer, but still watched the two of them from a safe distance. A crystalline droplet appeared out of nowhere and floated in the air beside the creature's eye.

By touching the tear, everything around Alex faded away and she find herself in an animalistic body. Having hooves instead if feet, gigantic feathery wings and the body of a horse. She saw a vision about the creature's past Everything in the perspective of the creature. The night had fallen already.

"Neeigh!"

Tied up with a rope, the pegasus was captured in a small cage in a dark room, seeking for food, fresh water and freedom like many other creatures around . Some of them are also the pegasi from it's own herd. The Blight Brothers have captured the pegasi after it left Anton's backyard to go for a flight.

"Don't worry pegasi of my herd, stallions and mares, I will find a way out of here.", it promised it's pegasi companions.

"We won't get free. I've been captured here for almost a week now."

The pegasi turned it's attention away from it's own herd and focused on the unicorn calling out. She was a beautiful mare, had white fur, a sparkly pink mane and a horn on the top of her head.

"My name is Sunburst, the leader of the pegasi herd in the bayou of New Orleans and I won't let any human steal our freedom from us."

"And as an leader you're still befriended with one human called Anton?! My name is Moonlight and I'm telling you, all humans are the same and..."

Their conversation got cut as a blond haired man suddenly began opening the cages and freeing all the captured animals in a hurry.

"Okay, time for everyone to escape before Scourge and the Blight Brothers catch us. Hurry off, to your beloved freedom!! Anton's going to be happy 'bout this."

"But... Isn't he working with the Blight Brothers?", the female unicorn wondered herself.

A feeling of happiness and hope appeared. One by one the young man released every creature from their cages and they immediately flew or ran towards their beloved freedom. When the last creature got freed, Sunburst, the pegasi leader suddenly discovered several men, the Blight Brothers appearing towards the human.

"You're a traitor, Carl Drogo!!", one of the men yelled at the animal rescuer.

"I'm not Carl Drogo, you bastards! I'm Nik Ryder, a nighthunter and your biggest nightmare!!"

As the Blight Brothers attack, the nighthunter kept fighting, threw punches and shot arrow after arrow to keep the bruisers distracted until the last creature made it's safe escape. But they're too many of them and they slowly began surrounding the bleeding hunter.

"Damn...", Nik silently cursed as he realized that he was in trouble. All the bruisers against him. He was alone.

But then... Sunburst, the pegasi leader came into action. Flying above the dangerous bruisers, it kicked and stomped with it's hooves to buy the hunter enough time to escape before leaving Arizona for good. And it worked!! While the animal kept the bad guys busy, Nik quickly took his chance to escape while looking after the winged horse. Making sure that it escaped too because he wouldn't allow it if it got captured again. And it worked!! Flying across the nightsky with the rest of it's herd, the leader of the pegasi hoped that the rest of the creatures and the mysterious nighthunter will be on their way back home too. Safely.

Then the memory of the underground trading ring dissipates around Alex like a mist and she found herself back in the woods in her own body. Without knowing, she was leaning against Nik. The white pegasi which the two of them were watching was already gone.

"Hey, what's the matter?", Nik, her boyfriend got worried and gently touched her cheek and leaned to make eye-contact.

"Aww, the pegasi is gone. And I couldn't even pet it, Nik."

"They're very shy, so it's gonna be very hard to pet one or even find one. I'm surprised that this one even dared to come that close to us. Well never mind, I can show you other cool creatures if you'd like. Maybe a tiny jackalope or some pixies?"

"How about unicorns?"

Sudden silence hang between them. After a moment he began to speak, but this time his voice heavy, jaws clenched and eyes drowned in her's.

"The hell!! I'm not even letting you near a unicorn, rook. They're dangerous and not like the ones from My Little Pony where everything is sparkle, glitter and rainbow. Unicorns are territorial and they attack whoever comes in their near unlike pegasi, rook."

"Not all are like that..."

"Oh yeah, met one before?!"

"Uhhh maybeeee..."

"Wait what?!! Where? When? Whyyy?"

"Uhhh, last month. But she was a friendly one and she even talked with me, relax. I guess beeing partly fae gives me the abbility to talk with animals and understand them. Isn't that cool?"

Without words, Nik gripped Alex softly by her wrist and pulled her with him through the dark woods, back from where they came from.

"Heyyyy, where are you taking me?!!"

"Headin' home."

"If you want to go home then leave, I want to explore..."

"Rookie, no."

"Rookie, yes!!"

"You never listen."

"You don't understand. Look how great this day begun and now you ruined the whole mood, Nik."

Gggrrll...

The girl bumped into Nik when he suddenly stopped walking after hearing a strange noise. Both of them got alert. A skeletal creature slinked out from behind the bushes and began hissing at the young couple. Nik protectively stood infront of her.

"Nik, what is that?!"

"Shhh, don't worry. These creatures have canine skeletons and are covered with moss or vines. They can be killed if their skulls or spines are destroyed."

"What do we do? You didn't brought your weapons along. How are we...?"

"You run, I'll handle."

"No way, Nik!! Not that again. Seriously?"

Nik tried to calm her down and pushed her away from danger, towards safety as the skeletal creature appeared closer.

"Gggrrll...", the skeletal creature aggressivly snarled.

Time seemed to slow down as it jumped in the air towards the young nighthunter and landed on him. Both crashed on the ground, the creature above the Nik who desperatly tried to escape its grip

"Gggrrll..."

The creature ready to strike...

"Nik!!", Alex panicked.

Without knowing, Alex stretched her arm, showed her palms where a light blast appeared and hit the moss creature hard. First the wood monster hestitated, then it decided to leave Nik and... to hunt his girlfriend down instead. This time, it lets a powerful shriek out while desperatly tried to signal her to run away.

"Ggggrrr..."

"Come here you freaky monster!!! You don't scare me at all. Let him go!"

Before the moss creature could reach her, Nik quickly leaped on the creature, preventing it from getting near her and at the same time letting out several strong whistles by pressing the tips of his thumb and forefinger together up against the tip of his tongue.

"Phhwwwht!"

While Alex got confused why Nik suddenly began to whistle, a majestic falcon appeared from the sky and flew towards Nik and the moss creature. It somehow began to help Nik by peeking angrily on the creature's skulls.

"Kack-kack-kack!"

Both struggling, while Nik and the falcon tried to fight it, but the monster kept biting and snapping to release itself from the hold. Alex had to do something quick before Nik gets more injured, the monster's claws made him already bleeding.

"Run, can't... hold... longer!", Nik desperatly begged her, but she decided to stay.

Alex remembered what had she learned in the fae realm and began to concentrate. Closing her eyes, she pictured a crystalline blade, radiant with golden light. Her fingers abruptly curled around the smooth, glassy warmth of a handle! After a while, as she opened her chocolate-brown eyes, she discovered to see a long, slender blade of light gleaming in her palm! She held her magical weapon with confidence and immediately knew what to do.

Swinging the weapon up and without losing more time, she sprinted towards the monster. With enough strenght while keeping a safer distance towards Nik and the mysterious falcon, she finally brought her sword down. Slashing through the creature's neck with a blow so hard, that the blade bit through the dirty ground.

"Hyyaaa!!"

The moss creature's body crumpled, twitching beneath her sword. Then, she picked up it's snapping head and blew it's glowing eyes like candles, and it's body fell still.

"Damn, that was hot.", Nik got impressed by his girlfriend.

Letting the creature go and letting her golden sword disappear with magic, the girl quickly hurried over to Nik who was still lying on the ground. Alex gently helped her boyfriend on his feet and assisted him to walk while the mysterious falcon flew away.

"I'm fine, it's just a little blood. Are you okay? Why didn't you ran away when I told...?"

"Because we're a team, remember? You told me that last year when I wasn't listening to you, right? And you're not fine, you're hurt! Let's get you somewhere safe. We are not far from Anton his house, right?"

"Yeah. And I'm fine, thanks."

The injured hunter gave her sly smile after she reminded him that they were a team.

"Nik, what was that before?? You whistled and then a falcon came... Uhh, how did...?? That was cool! Awesome!! That... That was... How???!!!!!", she couldn't believe what she just saw and asked him.

After a little silence, Nik finally spoke in a nervous tone while his eyes faced the ground as both of them were strolling towards the wizard's house.

"The thing is... The falcon and I share story. A past. When I was still living in Elijah's house in the woods, I found it. It was a tiny chick. Near it's nest I discovered two dead falcons, it's parents. And well..."

"Oh Nik...", she placed a hand on his shoulder for support. Afterall Nik his birthparents also died when he was a tiny child, so that little falcon chick reminded Nik of himself.

"Soooo yeah, I kinda raised the falcon. I named it, fed it, taught a few tricks and took care of it. Poor little fella' lost it's parents like I did, so I had to something. So just like Elijah took me, I took this falcon. Alex, you're the very first one I'm sharing this. And please don't share this embarrasing story to anyone, especially not Katy."

"But it's not embarrasing, it's heroic. You're a hero, Nik. A protector. But I see... You don't want your tough guy act be ruined, huh? Oh my Nik, you're such a hidden softie and I love you.", she giggled and pinched his cheek with love.

"Ouch. Hey?"

"You're welcome, dear. By the way, what name did you even gave your falcon pet."

"It's not my pet, rook. It's a free living creature, a friend and well... I named it... I named it Arrow."

"Arrow? Just like the arrows of your crossbow??"

"Arrow. Because this bird flies really fast just like a shooting arrow. Like really really fast, rook."

"I see. Not bad actually, Nik. Definitly better than any nicknames you give. Or should I say Nik-names??", she giggled while Nik rolled his eyes after hearing that bad joke.

"Stop it, rook.", he grinned.

"Fine... Oh hey, Nik!!"

"Hmm?"

"Since I met your wizard friend today, I was wondering... What Hogwarts house would you like to belong to?"

"What kind of question is that? From where did you got that idea?"

"Just answer!! I'm curious to know."

"Well, I don't know. Never thought about that. Would a Gryffindor suit me?"

"Oh definitly, but I actually see you more as a Ravenclaw because you know a lot of things."

"Me? Ravenclaw? You think I'm intelligent??", Nik surprised by Alex's opinion, so she decided to explain it more.

Nik Ryder was indeed a very brave man with enough strenght and courage. Life made him tough, but he also showed his knowledge and intelligence. Several times he came up with new ideas, suggested what to do next and got into the leader role very well without noticing. By staying loyal to his companions and thinking about every next step, he lead his friends through adventures. He was the one and only who found out about Alex's missing father, her mysterious benefactor and that she was fae royalty instead of an ordinary human. Mysteries and puzzles solved all thanks to him, she explained.

"So yes, these are the reasons why I think a Ravenclaw would suit you too. Means I have a very clever boyfriend.", she praised.

"Oh yeah? Thanks, my dear girlfriend. And you're definitly a Hufflepuff.", he winked.

Thanking @secretaryunpaid for this beautiful and magical edit above. -> Full view here , when you scroll down beneath to find the monster and hippogriff <-

So credits to @jamespotterthefirst , for these beautiful templates which she created and I was allowed to use for my MC and LI. I also made some changes with the colors and added my own edits/pictures.

[pokemonbiologyirlthetabletop]

Zacian and Zamazenta

Zacian (#888) & Zamazenta (#889)

[THIS ENTRY IS IN THE MYTHOLOGY SECTION.]

General Information: Zacian and Zamazenta are also known as the Heroic Duo. They are the Sword and Shield of Balance, forces of good that come to the aid of the world when impossible threats emerge to wreck chaos. They are siblings and rivals both, who seek each other’s companionship in battle but will train against each other when there is no call for them. When they choose to be inactive, they will take the form of stone statues, but in this state they are capable of creating projections of themselves within their vicinity. In their true forms they are capable of limited flight as part of their call to arms against Eternatus. Most refer to them as female, but as they are genderless magical wolves, this is more of a human interpretation of them.

Zacian is 9’2 feet tall (2.8 M) and in her Hero of Many Battles form she is 430 pounds (195 kg), while in her Crowned Sword form she is 782.6 pounds (355 kg). Zamazenta is 9’6 feet tall (2.9 M) and is 463 pounds (210 kg) in her Hero of Many Battles form and 1730.6 pounds (785 kg) in her Crowned Shield form.

Divinity: Minor Gods

Heritage: Children of Zygarde

Divine Role: Counter magic to Eternatus and to maintain balance in the world. When inactive, they take the form of stone statues where they can sleep for as long as necessary.

Place in the Wheel of Reincarnation: Zacian and Zamazenta, while they themselves are minor gods in terms of power, capacity, and influence over the world and the Wheel of Reincarnation, their presence is vital the maintenance of balance in the worlds where they are needed. Not every world has an Eternatus, and in the worlds where there is no Eternatus, there is no Zacian and Zamazenta. Eternatus is itself not inherently evil or bad, but its chaotic effects on magic and the ecosystem are potentially incredibly dangerous, and left uncheck make it nightmare for the Eldritch Being of Balance, Zygarde. This is where Zacian and Zamazenta come in, they are the Sword and Shield of Balance that defend the world from unbridled chaos. Should Zacian and/or Zamazenta perish, the Wheel of Reincarnation will not be affected nor will the universe intrinsically make new ones to replace them. Newborn Zacians and Zamazentas must be birthed once more by Zygarde. In theory, there could be more than one pair should a world require additionals.

Personality: Both Zacian and Zamazenta have a fierce determination toward protection and knighthood. They are the defenders of the land and the purveyors of peace, the Sword and Shield of Balance. If befriended, they are an invaluable asset to defeating any forces too big for humanity.

Role Amongst Humanity: Zacian and Zamazenta play roles as heroes of legend, who aid the land in times of great need, and are the pinnacle heroes of the Darkest Day(s). As figures of legend, they are present in fairytales and medieval literature, but their existence in the broader scope of human art is relatively minimal. Such tales describe Zacian as the Fairy King’s Sword, and Zamazenta as the Fight Master’s Shield.

Special Rules: Zacian and Zamazenta come in pairs. Barring special circumstances, there is an even number of them at all times, even if that number is zero. They only exist in worlds where Eternatus is present because their magic is intrinsically designed to be the antithesis to Eternatus’s dynamax magic. In these worlds, they may certainly assist and aid in other matters of maintaining balance, but such heroes must call upon their aid, while for Eternatus they have instincts that tell them when and where they are needed. They do not exist to end Dynamaxing, simply to balance it and possibly even contain it, and are entirely incapable of Dynamaxing themselves.

Zacian will form shift into its Crowned Sword form when presented with the Rusted Sword, and Zamazenta will form shift into its Crowned Shield form when presented with the Rusted Shield. These are their true forms. These items are actually aspects of their essence that split off when they do not need to embody the full extent of their power (this is exhausting). In their Crowned Sword and Shield forms respectively, Zacian becomes a Fairy/Steel type and Zamazenta becomes a Fighting/Steel type.

When Zacian or Zamazenta enter their true forms, Iron Head turns into Behemoth Blade or Behemoth Bash respectively.

Rules for the Mythology Section: All Pokémon listed exclusively under the mythology sections are entirely uncatchable by conventional means. Pokémon Trainers are not able to catch these Pokémon because they are gods and eldritch beings. Only Pokémon Rangers have a chance at taming these beings.

~~~~~~~~

Hey guess what, if you like my stuff, this is my website where you can find other Pokémon I've written on and more information about the game that I’m slowly making! Check it out! I write books sometimes too.

[ben-talks-art]

My 10 Favorite DreamWorks Movies

When I first joined Tumblr one of the first few posts I made was a "Best of DreamWorks" where I just pasted a bunch of images from the movies I liked the most.

After seeing the new Puss In Boots movie and seeing all the love it's been getting I thought it would be nice to revisit the list, but this time actually talking about why I like these movies so much.

Just wanna say real quick, If you're coming here wondering if "Shark Tale" will be on the top 5 and how I'm gonna defend my case about it, you lower these expectations right now. This is gonna be a super boring list. My favorites are everyone's favorites.

The only thing I can bring up is why I myself like them, and hopefully, I can bring up unique enough reasons for it. I've always been a fan of this company, mostly because I really respect how many risks they take with the premises of their stories.

I always like to believe that there is no such thing as a bad idea, only a bad execution, and DreamWorks proves that by never being afraid of giving a chance to the weirdest of ideas, and when the execution pays off, it pays off greatly!

So which ideas did I feel were executed the best?

10 . The Bad Guys

First things, first. "Good Tonight" is a freaking awesome song and everyone should give it a listen.

The idea of bad guys is "what if we tried to make the meanest-looking animals that people are familiar with into the heroes of our story?"

Animals like snakes, sharks, spiders, and so on, things that are known for being very dangerous and scary, but placed into the roles of bandits that go on heists while running away from the police.

I always call this the "Not Sly Cooper" movie, because that's exactly what I feel a Sly Cooper movie would be like. Tons of animal-acting-like-human jokes, fun cartoonish heists and car chases, and some nice morals about what it means to be a thief and what it means to be a hero.

Bad Guys is a very charming movie. The characters are all likable, many of the jokes are funny, and the way the movie looks with its blend of 2D and 3D is just amazing. The scene where they are escaping from prison with the help of a "mysterious ninja" being my favorite part.

The only problem I have is that I feel having both a shark and a piranha in the cast was kinda redundant. I would have replaced the piranha with a bat so they would have a scary flying animal instead of two scary water animals. Plus, imagining a bat singing "Good Tonight" just feels like a funnier visual to me.

9. Megamind

"Presentation!!"

The idea for Megamind is rather simple, show what happens when the villain does beat the hero.

I feel like this movie did a good job showing how the fun of working hard can sometimes feel more rewarding than the fun of actually winning, kinda sending a sweet message about the futility of cheating.

I also like how over-the-top Megamind himself is with how he treats all his evil actions as some grand spectacle. Doesn't matter if he's winning or losing, this dude always looks like he's having a lot of fun treating these hero vs villain battles as some sort of playtime with his best friend.

You're basically watching a kid's imagination of what these fights would look like from someone who grew up watching way too many cartoons. Tons of cheesy one-liners, tons of dramatic speeches, tons of last-second twists, and of course, tons of big explosive action.

And it's also fun seeing Megamind's fantasy of what a hero vs villain scenario looks like slowly dying once he meets Titan and how differently he treats this whole thing compared to MetroMan.

The one problem I had was the way the character of Roxane was treated. It felt like they were trying to make her more than just "the girlfriend" and give her more depth, but in the end, her biggest role in the climax was still needing to be saved and serving as emotional support for the main character. Also, the way she was basically catfished by Megamind always made me very uncomfortable, especially when thinking that kids might be watching this and learning from this.

It wasn't too awful, but I felt they could have done more with her.

8. Spirit

"What if we made a movie about the adventures of a horse?"

This one is kinda hard to describe why I like it. I think the reason is that it feels... How do I put it... Honest? Real? Genuine?

Whenever Spirit goes through an emotion it always feels earned. When he's sad, you're sad, when he's angry, you're angry, and when he's celebrating after succeeding in a daring escape, you want to celebrate too.

This movie to me just did a great job at making me feel what this horse was feeling, and most of it with the use of very minimal words.

I loved Spirit, loved his chemistry with the villain, loved the sense of speed whenever he is running through the fields or avoiding the cowboys... and most of all, loved the joy you get whenever you feel free.

It's not that this gives you a great sense of freedom, its that it gives you a desire to fight for freedom! It makes you feel you can be more, and do more and have the right to reject being tied down by others who want to limit your true potential and control you.

This movie makes you want to be free.

7. The Road to El Dorado

Do I even need to say anything besides the fact that this movie has Chel in it?

But for real, I think this movie was my introduction to the Maya, Inca, and Azteca culture, (I think my closest only other option at the time was "Mucha Lucha" of all things...), and they make this culture look fun and cool.

The architecture looked nice, the clothing looked nice, the people were so likable, and anytime they party you just want to party as well. I kept waiting for some big reveal to happen for the citizens to turn on the heroes, but they never do, and that was so refreshing, just showing people from different areas becoming friends AND staying friends.

I also love how funny Miguel and Tulio are, I was a kid when I first saw this so I was weirded out by the idea of two adults as the leads but I was sold on them very quickly. Even their horse was likable. everyone is just so likable in this movie. It makes you want to visit El Dorado and hang out with all these people.

Such a charming, funny, and friendly movie.

Also Chel. Chel was a big selling point.

6. Puss in Boots, the Last Wish

I already talked about this one over here, but, long story short, like many other movies on this list, I love how good this movie is at sucking you into the mood.

The way the visuals, the story, the dialogue, and the characters work together really succeed into making you feel what these people are feeling and making want to see more of them.

Didn't matter if it was the heroes, the villains, the antagonists, or what, I was 100% behind everyone's motivations and I couldn't wait to see all their goals clashing with each others'.

Also, the wolf is by far one of DreamWork's best antagonists, right up there with Shen and Ramses. He looks cool, talks cool, and even his motivation was cool.

This wasn't just a movie, this was an experience.

5. Shrek 2

I freaking dare anyone going into this movie blind to predict what the climax is going to be.

The weird idea of this one is that Shrek after marrying his wife needs to meet her parents... And that's it. It's just one long and uncomfortable reunion with people who really don't want to be on the same room together and all the things they try to pull of to make or break this relationship.

Hire assassins, request help from magic fairies, fake your appearance, steal a potion, it's all about seeing how far everyone is willing to go to do what they think it's the best for those they love.

It all turns into a glorious and creative mess and I can't help but love every second of it!

(Side note, anyone ever notices how often DreamWorks sequels focus on the idea of characters dealing with their parents?)

4. Kung Fu Panda 2

If it wasn't for Prince of Egyp, I would say that this was the hardest and darkest DreamWorks movie.

There is so much focus on feeling lost, feeling abandoned, feeling hopeless and betrayed, and just trying to understand what you're doing wrong and what you need to do right.

This movie was like a therapy session... Done with talking cartoon animals, yes, but a therapy session no less.

The themes of trying to understand yourself, where you came from, and where you want to go are all handled greatly as you watch the relationship between the hero and the villain.

Po and Shen have such an absurdly great chemistry. I love seeing them talking, fighting, and trying to one-up each other, and I really love how much their relationship changes the more they learn about each other, and it all happens so fast and so smoothly too.

It makes me angry whenever I see a movie and the hero and the villain barely talk with each other. That's one of the best things you can do with them! Why are you skipping it??

Luckily this one didn't, and in return, we got one of the best interactions ever. I love these two by themselves and love these to together. Just a pair of wonderful characters that work really well off each other!

3. The Prince of Egypt

Man... What do I even say about this one?

It's probably the riskiest idea DreamWorks has ever tried to do, tell the story of Exodus as an animated musical... And that was their second movie ever after freaking "Antz!" These guys have a lot of guts.

This was a movie that I didn't really get it when I saw it as a kid, but I just love trying to understand its themes and messages now that I'm older.

I love the main conflict between the brothers, again, bringing attention to how good a story can be when you focus on the connection of the hero and the villain. Showing both sides of people who grew up under an unhealthy ideology, one trying to grow out of it and the other trying to embrace it even more.

I love the imagery of Egypt, both as this grand epic kingdom built from the struggle and pain of the slaves and as this falling empire being attacked by God Himself. The visuals of the plagues being my favorites.

And I love the sense of calmness that appears whenever the chaos takes a break. Seeing Moses and his people getting out from the ocean and enjoying the dawn of a new era after all the struggle they went through just felt so rewarding. It's just such a satisfying ending for such a long journey... As long as you decide to stop there and don't look up what happens in the rest of the story.

I especially love the concept of Ramses, A person so deep into the teachings of his father that he can't even see why the things he's doing are so bad. I think my favorite part is when he's hugging his son while glaring at Moses and just asking "Why?" while he has this GIANT WALL SHOWING BABIES BEING FEED TO CROCODILES right behind him.

It's such an amazingly blind irony as the man cries for his kid's safety while the crying of all these dead kids looms over his shoulder. Just how do you have to be raised to turn into this kind of person?

It's so baffling but I just can't stop watching and wondering how far is this man willing to go. Such a sad showing of someone who doesn't see he's on the wrong side and trying to fight against the tides.

It's a beautifully sad, and yet hopeful movie.

2. Kung Fu Panda

Yeah, I put Kung Fu Panda above Prince of Egypt... I don't know what's wrong with me either. I don't know, for some reason, I just have a lot of respect for this movie? Prince of Egypt I liked a lot but I couldn't really fully understand it and enjoy it until I was much older. Meanwhile, even when young I could already enjoy Kung Fu Panda a lot.

It felt like it had a bigger challenge by being a good, deep movie while also being fun, funny, and cheerful.

It's easy to make dark stories have strong messages and depth, but it's hard to have no-so-dark stories also have strong messages and depth, and I have such an appreciation for that. They could have just made this a lame joke-fest about being an overweight character trying to learn martial arts, but they didn't!

They put a lot of effort into the lessons, the fighting, the motivations of the characters, the visuals, and even the jokes! I thought the jokes were going to be awful but they were all very charming!

I love the designs of the cast in how they each represent a level of kung-fu, AND, I love the Kung-fu itself.

I feel like this is the Kung Fu Panda movie that tries the most to be creative with combining martial arts in a cartoon setting. Like... I like Kung Fu Panda 2 and 3 but I don't really remember much of the action there aside from the stuff in climaxes with the "water dodgeball" section and the "giant energy dragon avatar in the spiritual realm" section.

But in here? I remember the bridge fight, the prison escape, the master vs student showdown, the hot-potato game with the scroll, and even the training sessions with Po and the five.

I feel like as the movies went on they focused more on the spiritual journey of self-discovery and toned down the cartoon action, while in here it's just perfect.

It's amazing how many elements this movie is trying to balance while still pulling it off each of them so well.

I just wished that Po and Tai-Lung had more scenes of interaction because they basically feel like strangers in the end even though the whole movie is building up to their fight... A fight that... Really doesn't feel as good as all the action that came before to be honest.

But still, that's just one small little problem in what's otherwise a perfect product. Besides... KFP2 covers the whole Hero vs Villain thing that was lacking in here by more than making up for it, so it's all good. 1. How To Train Your Dragon

Of course my favorite DeamWorks movie is the one with the dragon. I freaking love dragons! I have a comic based on people that become dragons for crying out loud!

Kidding aside, this is a movie with a message that I just respect a lot. I really appreciate the idea of teaching kids the importance of knowing how to stop, looking at what you're doing, trying to understand who you're hurting, and what you can do to change.

This isn't just something that holds value to kids, this holds value to everyone. We are always so focused on going after the things we want that we tend to forget the people we're sometimes stepping on to get there, and this movie shows that not only do we not lose anything for trying to be friends with these people, but we might even gain something even better.

I just adore the friendship of Hiccup and Toothless (God, I love these names).

One is a kid trying to make his father proud by following the family legacy, while also trying to do what he loves by studying and befriending dragons and the conflicts that come from trying to please both sides. This is such a great lesson for kids because they're always stuck into deciding on what's best for them and what's best for what their parents want from them.

And the other side is a pet slowly lowering his defenses and deciding if he wants to trust this weird stranger that tried to hurt him or give him a second chance to prove himself as a possible ally. What do you do? Put yourself at risk and give others a chance or remain safe and away from possible harm?

This movie reminds me a lot of Lake in that if you keep looking at it you can take away twenty different lessons and themes to talk about.

Again, it's the challenge of trying to be deep while avoiding being too dark and remaining all-ages-friendly.

Kids are gonna watch this, they're gonna love the dragons and the flying scenes, and they're gonna come back years later and pick up things they didn't see were there before and later realize that without noticing it, these lessons became a part of them and a part of what they do.

You can feel that there is a lot of love in this movie. I remember watching the commentary and looking at how the creators always would get excited when there was a silent scene or a world-building scene. It's clear they had a lot of fun working on this product, and this love really can be felt through the characters, their growth, and their emotions.

I freaking adore this movie, and I freaking adore DreamWorks!