#has a dlc called echoes of the eye

[tobiasdrake]

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Echoes of Wisdom arrived!

Y'all, for real, I was more excited about getting this than Tears of the Kingdom. I am the hypeness.

[skyloftian-nutcase]

TotK DLC idea!

The screen is black. You don’t hear anything for a long time. Then, faintly, in the distance, you can hear it.

Link. Link. Open your eyes.

While the line echoes familiarity, the voice does not.

Or. Well. It does. Because while it isn’t Zelda, it’s a familiar man’s voice speaking gently, so gently you almost don’t recognize it because there’s no way he ever spoke like this in the main game.

But he is now. And instead of a golden light being the first image you see before the screen shows Link awakening… you see gloom floating in the air. The image cuts to a Hylian waking up who… doesn’t look like Link from TotK?? He’s different, still small in stature, with slightly tanner skin, platinum light blonde hair, and red eyes. But… something’s wrong with his forehead. There’s a weird line on it.

This new character you apparently are gonna be playing in the DLC blearily blinks his eyes open, clearly groggy and too weak to really move. But then that line on his forehead moves a hair, it splits apart, and you realize it’s a freaking eye, red and yellow and it’s like the ones on gloom hands and oh gosh what the hell is it doing on his forehead—

Link realizes something is off and his eyes blow wide, his hands reach for his forehead and he screams in agony and terror, only for someone to scoop him into a hug to soothe him.

And suddenly you realize why that voice was eerily familiar.

It’s Ganondorf. He resurrected you from the era of the Imprisoning War. You, who have a history with him and his family. You, who he wants to protect, who he views as his kid, who he calls a prince and says he’ll keep you safe by controlling your body with his dark magic if he has to.

Welcome to Tears of the Kingdom: Hero’s Shadow.

You have to play a long gone Hero who was resurrected. Ganondorf, who is still recovering his strength in preparation for killing the current Hero, tasks you with finding your betrothed, his daughter, as well as his wife. They’re buried somewhere in the Depths like you were. He wants you to find their burial sites so he can use his secret stone to resurrect them like he did you, and control them as well. Which is doubly bad when you realize his wife was the original Sage of Lightning. He gives you free reign to wander once you go through a tutorial (he tests you to see if you’ve recovered enough strength), because he knows you love wandering and collecting things. Your own personal objective, however, is trying to help Hyrule from the Depths, to break free from Ganondorf’s control, because Link would rather set himself on fire than let Ganondorf resurrect and control the love of his life and his mother-in-law. Your best hope is to find shards of the shattered Master Sword to try and stab the eye on Dark Link’s forehead and break the control Ganondorf has on you. Until you can, though, the monsters are your allies, you can teleport across the Depths by manifesting out of the gloom created by gloom hands (just like what Phantom Ganon does), and the world below is your oyster. If you get too close to sword shards when gloom hands are nearby, Ganondorf can see your attempt and immediately takes control of your body, and no matter what button you press Link just walks back to Ganondorf’s location and stays there until you get a chance to try again.

You start with three hearts, all empty looking like when gloom hurts you, and if you get injured they just shatter. Whenever they all shatter, you respawn at Ganondorf’s location because his gloom hands came and rescued you from dying. The only way you can get more hearts is by collecting poes and offering them to the statues in the Depths. You can communicate with the spirits of soldiers, who may give you combat tips or info about the area. If you gain enough of Ganondorf’s trust, he’ll let you command monsters, and he might even let you wander the Surface (under his supervision) during a blood moon.

You learn of Link’s and Ganondorf’s history through discovering ancient relics/texts that trigger memories. This connection between you and Ganondorf stems back to time before the war, well over ten thousand years ago. Link was engaged to Ganondorf’s daughter, but during the Imprisoning War the family fought against the demon king. Ganondorf did love his family, but he loved power more. Link sacrificed himself, letting himself get mortally wounded to save Rauru from a killing blow. Gan held him as he died, and it allowed Link to both beg him to stop and stab him in the heart with a light shard. The shard didn’t kill him, but it was what Rauru connected with when he hit him in the chest, allowing him to seal Ganondorf away. Ganondorf still wants the world, but his love for his family is still present, though now twisted, so he thinks he can control Link and everyone else with his dark magic in order to keep them safe and in line. Once the threat of the current Hero is eliminated, the world will be his, and his family will be safe. As such, he treats you, Link, the player, like a stubborn child, reeling you in, but does so in a horrific way, torturing Link by controlling him.

You have to break free of this and stop him, and the only hope you have is the distant call of a sword spirit…

[malkon-dova]

Shit your pants simulator | Echoes of The Eye/Outer Wilds DLC

outer wilds DLC 1st playthrough liveblog | no spoilers, hints or tips please if commenting! |

PART ONE: Crossroads

(Content features 4/11's session; Writing this pre-game on 4/18)

I did quite a bit of progress!!! After getting reacquainted with The Stranger after a week of not playing, I decided to finally explore more of The Reservoir. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find whatever is making my log scream at me saying that I haven't discovered everything yet. Rip.

But!!! There's always more to find when you're stuck! And wouldn't you know, there's fun little house with a broken bridge I've yet to go to! And with a mysterious passage too!!! :]

And man, I didn't realize how much I've missed in The Stranger till now!! A whole town/section right there that I had missed!! And all because I didn't stay flush-right to the stream :D wow!

The Hidden Gorge is fantastic btw! It's such a cool area, so much to explore!!! And there's those artifacts too!! :) Which, at the time- I had no idea how to use. There's also another dead-people tower, which. I hate. with a passion.

Either way, after gallivanting around the place and navigating the ghost matter maze I finally enter the house and-

jesus christ i nearly shat my pants here. Not the god ray on the eye dude ;o; ohhh my godd. the music too?? aaaccchhhgkkkk. fantastic. makes me cry

And there's one of those locks on the top floor too! I'm sure the puzzle solution is connected to wherever the chain behind the broken wall (where the eye sits) has something to do with it. yet to figure that out though!

Either way, I found this reel about a busted hull!!! and wow!! im glad i pursued that!!! so much info!!! And actual information about the artifacts too!!!

Huh! In order to activate the flame in the artifact, they close their eyes. Well. I suppose the only way to do that for our character is to sleep. Good thing there's fireplaces in the dead-people towers!

oh no.

g. guys. guys. (shaking you). why are the dead people gone. why are the dead people gone. they have disappeared. why are they gone. why is it so dark. why do i move so slow. oh. god.

dude. i wish, i really genuinely wish i had a clip of when i discovered the sleep mechanic worked. it was so funny. but i genuinely was going to start hyperventilating LMAO- i was so scared out of my mind and was stuck on the pause screen for a hot while.

but oh my GOD DUDEEE!!!!!

DUDE! THIS AREA!!!!!!! THEIR PLANET!!!! THEIR MEMORIES OF HOME!!!! THIS IS SO COOL!!!!!! FULLY IMMERSED IN THE STRANGERS HOME AND CULTURE!!!!!!!!!! AND THE GIMMICKS/PUZZLES LOOK SO COOL!!!!!!!!

I AM ABSOLUTELY TERRIFIED THOUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so! unfortunately, the session ended short and i needed the night to recover hsdgsd

Additional notes: 1) The memories from exploring the spooky area has a cool filter over the memories! The same one when looking into the memories of the experiments.

2) I know the vault is carrying a person. I know it in my heart. I played hollow knight. i know three dreamers and the black egg when i see it. Also I was spoiled on there being a person called "The prisoner" and that just fed into my theory. How do we unlock the towers?. probably with the horror sections. how we communicate? i dont know,, but ultimately i am excited to reach that point and the journey there.

But there's a problem: I am very. very bad with horror. I have nightmares about this sort of stuff. And I saw the gimmick. I hadn't played enough on 4/11 to experience it, but I know I'm gonna have to dodge and weave those gangly motherfuckers (The Strangers) and not get caught by them as I solve the puzzles. I hate everything.

But of course, if there's a will, there's a way.

[Stay tuned for the post-game liveblog today!!! It will be attached to this post in a reblog!!]

[fizzy-macaroons]

Hey guys what if Four isn't in Splatoon 3 not because Nintendo forgot about them, but because they got lost on an island pretty far from Splatsville, and they meet the local idols, which, are like: You're one of the agents from Squidbeak Splatoon we've heard about? You're lost? Cool can you fix this- And then they show you to a bunch of areas on the island covered in net and polluted stuff so you go around fighting like, dried and polluted fish or something idk and basically new idol companions yay. If you help them clear the island they'll let you use their boat or get back to Splatsville. As you progress you keep hearing these echo-ey calls (that are from whales) and eventually the game is like: Woah, what? You can't continue off the base island anymore? What that? And you turn around and guess what, it's a marine research center when humans were alive and there's like, recorded chips you can collect because why not reference Side Order, but you can't get the chips without getting some form of currency, which you get from beating the fish on levels. So you buy a couple chips And it's like oh, you can move to the next island now! So basically kill bad fish->Buy sound chips->Use boat. And then eventually there's bosses and stuff but it's just a bunch of ocean animals stuck in pollution that are fighting you. Like you have to remove fishing net from a shark or something and then you get to the final boss and it's a beached whale so you like fight off polluted fish and nets and things and then you save the whale and the idols are like, cool, let's go to Splatsville and woah, look at that, the Splatoon Universe now has a boat! So you can travel back and forth and buy extra gear with th leftover sound chips or something. Marine Awareness DLC

Or maybe Nintendo just forgot about four and I'm sick and slightly delirious.

[sugar-omi]

THIS IS THE WEDDING NIGHT REWRITE YALL BEEN WAITING FOR i rewrote this like 3 times n it jist got.. freakier and freakier n... i actually made my own kink bigger after this.... i will never be the same n now i kinda need to do this derek n baxter..... me abt myself: i can make him worse

DAY SEVEN — FEMINIZATION

*kinktober masterlist | *ao3

tags : NSFW, wedding night dlc spoilers, gn + top/dom reader, multiple choice dialogue, sissy training, cove in white outfit, use of toys, dirty talk, degradation, mind break, oral (reader receiving)

synopsis : while on your honeymoon your husband finds your gift for him while you're sleeping and surprises you by wearing it.

of course you have to show him how much you love it, and he finally admits he loves everything you're doing to him. everything you're turning him into...

you didn’t think the first thing you’d wake up to would be your husband in the lingerie you bought him.

‘he must have found it while i slept…’

cove jumps, calling out your name in surprise, he turns his head, using his arms to cover his chest but it’s unnecessary, something down out of instinct since he’s not exactly covered in other places…

"you look so pretty in this baby… what do you think, did i pick well?" you wrap your arms around cove, trailing your eyes over his body in the mirror.

he nods, squirming in your hold. "is it… supposed to be this skimpy?"

you nod, letting go to admire his butt.

the back of his panties is completely backless, only a piece of fabric in the front to hold his dick.

now that you're paying more attention though.. you notice a little extra something that wasn't included in your gift.

"cove… what's this?" you ask, spreading his cheeks to look at the jewel butt plug.

cove bends over a bit, leaning on the sink to present his own gift. "i wanted to surprise you.. do you like it?"

your curse, dropping to your knees. "fuck, i love it."

you cup his ass with your hands, digging your fingers into the flesh.

"god, i can't believe you…" you drag your teeth over his ass, kissing down his inner thighs. "is that what took you so long? you were stretching your pussy open for me?"

cove whimpered. it used to fluster him terribly when you feminized him, but now.. he'll even do it himself.

"yes.. i want you to fuck me in this, please…" cove looks over his shoulder, pleading with you.

well, how can you deny him that after such a lovely confession?

cove waits obediently while you grab a few things from the bedroom, rolling the condom over your dick and pulling out the plug.

cove moans at the drag of the plug against his walls. it's not a small plug, the stretch has cove's head spinning.

you bite your lip, cursing lowly.

when cove's clingy hole finally let's go of the plug, his hole is left clenching around nothing and lube slowly running down his taint.

cove speaks, breaking your trance. "please… just stick it in…" wiggling his hips to sway you.

you laugh, lining up with his puffy, slutty hole and sinking into him with one sharp thrust.

he yells, his moan echoing throughout the bathroom.

you rear your hips back, holding onto cove's hips so you can have leverage for your brutal pace.

the sound of your hips colliding with cove's ass, echoing through the bathroom.

you lean over him, pulling his hair so you’re chest-to-back. “you’re already moaning like a whore and i’ve barely fucked you. you like being fucked that much?”

cove moans, looking down, unable to face his lewd expression.

you lay a swift smack to his butt, feeling warm at how his cheeks are slowly reddening with every harsh thrust of your hips and now your hand print.

“i asked you a question, or are you so cock-drunk you can’t even think?”

cove just moans and stutters a few letters before giving up, not even bothering to form full sentences.

you smack your lips, letting go of his hair and instead you push his chest against the counter, pulling his hips away from the counter to meet your thrusts. “you are! and i didn’t even have to do anything!”

then a thought strikes you, and you look at your new husband in the mirror, his hands clawing at the counter and you can see his lust-struck eyes. “i’ve turned you into such a slut, all it takes is a butt plug, womens clothes, and a dick for you to fall apart!”

cove swallows the drool pooling in his mouth, trying to be composed. “ha- that’s not… true..”

you laugh wickedly, “oh really? then why are you moaning like a whore?”

cove startles, eyes wide and an adorable pout on his face. “that’s-! that’s because you- haa.. ‘cause you- tease me so much!”

you hum considerably, “so should i stop?” to punctuate your solution, you start to pull out.

“no!” cove cries, reaching back to grab you, tears in his eyes. “don’t… please don’t stop…”

“but why, you said it’s my fault for teasing you so much.” maybe you’re cruel for teasing him, but after all your hard work and spoiling him with pretty skirts and dresses and make-up.. why, it just hurts your heart that you like it more than he does. you don’t wanna force such lavishness and pampering on him if he doesn’t want it…

cove blinks, and now you notice he’s wearing a bit of make-up. the mascara and shimmer eyeshadow with pouty, glossy lips making him look like a doll.

“i just mean…”

you hum, egging him on. you’re looking forward to hearing what he has to say.

“i did.. do it for you but… it’s..” he squirms, biting his lips to stop from moaning because of your shaft still half inside him.. “nice to see myself like this.. and dressing up.. being spoiled by you… it feels good.” he peeks at you through his lashes.

you coo and awe, pulling your husband against your chest. which also shoves your dick back into him, right against a sweety spongy spot inside his walls, making him moan loudly.

“you’re so sweet! i love spoiling you, so just tell me how much you love it, okay?”

you bring your dazed husband to the full length mirror, his knees weak as you hold him up wrapping an arm around his waist, the other coming to cup his breast and play with his shiny new jewelry for the occasion.

“look at how beautiful you are. you like dressing up all cute for me?” cove nods and you reward him with a slow, deep thrust, drawing out a loud whine.

“and you like it when i spoil you with nice skirts?” cove nods affirmative, his mouth falling open when you grind your hips into him, your tip brushing his prostate.

“mmm… do you like it when i feminize you?” you put your chin on his shoulder, cove crumbling in your hands, his hands on the mirror to support him. he nods.

“yeah? when i play with your tits, and use your cunt however i like?”

“yes! i love all of it!” the words spilling out cove’s mouth with moans and gasps.”please.. please don’t stop spoiling me, using me!”

you pick up the pace again, your hips slamming into cove’s. “good boy! just admit it!” you lean down to nibble on his ear, lifting up his chin to make eye contact. “admit that you like me turning you into a sissy whore!”

cove moans, hanging his head, pushing his hips back to meet your thrusts. “i.. i like it! fuck! i like- being turned into a girl!”

cove looks up, his teary eyes meeting yours in the mirror. “please! fuck my pussy more!”

you definitely couldn’t deny such a lovely plea.

you focus on pounding cove’s insides, his ass twitching and clenching on your dick, making your cock drag against his insides.

“ah-! i’m cumming!”

cove’s legs shake, his upper half collapsing against the mirror. his cum stains his panties, soaking the lace.

you still, burying your cock into him as you pull cove up against your chest. “look at you. you made a mess of your panties!”

cove looks down at his messy crotch, his dick nearly bursting through his panties, cum soiling the lace.

“you’re such a dirty girl, you came without permission. is your pussy that sensitive?” you degrade, reaching around to palm him through his panties, purposefully stroking his cock with the soaked fabric.

"haa… y/n.. please." cove gasps, shaking.

you tease his tip through the fabric. "poor baby.. since it's our honeymoon, i'll be lenient."

you pull out, purposefully taking your time so cove can feel the drag of your cock against his walls, the prominent vein on the underside of your cock making him quiver.

he falls to the floor, the sheer fabric of his babydoll top sticking to his sweaty skin.

you remove your strap.

you remove the condom.

and lean against the counter in front of cove, tangling your fingers in his hair and nudging his face towards your sex.

"well? i'll let you off easy for finishing early if you suck me off / eat me out. deal?"

cove nods, and you can feel his shaky, labored breath against your skin.

he puts your leg on his shoulder and leans in, licking a stripe up your cunt and taking your clit in his mouth, sucking and lapping at the bud.

you moan, cove sinking his fingers into your cunt and angling his fingers to stimulate your clit from the inside.

"fuck- just like that.." you gasp, tugging on his hair to bring him closer.

cove moans around the clit at the sting of your fingers tangling and tugging his hair, pulling off your clit with a pop to stick his tongue alongside his fingers.

he uses his other hand to circle your clit, cove dropping his head to suck on your inner thighs and leave marks before returning to your cunt.

his lip gloss is totally ruined. rosy gloss on your inner thighs and your outer lips.

he takes your dick in his hands, quickly swallowing the tip and working more of your dick into his mouth.

he pulls off your dick with a wet pop, tilting his head and licking up the side of your dick, swallowing down to the base.

cove hollows his cheeks, sucking and taking you as far as his throat allows until he pulls off with a gasp, stroking your wet dick, giving kitten licks to the tip.

his lip gloss is totally ruined, rosy rings of gloss make rings from the tip to the base of your dick…

your stomach tightens, that familiar pressure rising up and you take cove by the hair, forcing his head down on your clit / cock.

"ah- so good.. i'm going to cum in your mouth…" you pant, grinding your sex into cove’s mouth.

cove eagerly sucks at your sensitive sex, holding onto your thigh for leverage, the other furiously fingering his sloppy ass.

you throw your head back, your hips stuttering as you finish in cove's mouth.

cove laps up your slick, slipping his tongue into you / slowly pulls off your dick, cleaning off your cum with his mouth and tongue.

he removes his mouth from your sex with a wet smack, bringing his hand to his mouth to clean your slick / cum off his fingers.

he slow takes each digit into his mouth, his tongue wrapping around each finger carefully to taste you, his tongue dragging over his palm…

he keeps eye contact the whole time. and with his fingers still in his mouth, he babbles a request.

"can i.. ride you?"

he's totally brain dead… all he can think about is you and your cock.

you can't help but lay back and admire the view though…

cove's hands under his lingerie, tugging and rolling his nipples as he rides you, his weeping prick making a mess on your tummy.

his panties are long gone, the lace not much more than a weak net for cove's cum.

but his ass-pussy swallows up your cock / strap so nicely, and he rolls his hips just right so your tip brushes against his prostate, his hole fluttering around your dick.

"your pussy is so greedy.. you're swallowing me whole." you comment, a wicked smile on your lips.

you're enjoying this so much, watching him fall apart… his mascara running from crying happy, horny tears, and yet he still takes more, baking about how good you feel, and how he wants you to stuff his womb with your cum..

how cute.

[tailored-casettetapes]

“Humanity”

Image credit to Dmesca!!!

Lies of P, P/Pinocchio x GN!Reader

Contents: Lies of P!Pinocchio/P x Inventor!Reader, Gender-Neutral Y/N, Reader lives at Hotel Krat, Reader is besties with Eugenie, Reader doesn’t like P at first, and maybe P rejects you a little, Eugenie works on his weapons while you work on his Legion mostly (lucky you lmaooo), enemies to lovers if you squint, dw you’re not a biyatch for no reason, kinda Flipped core if you’ve seen that, lowkey turned into an AU sort of situation towards the end, including AU name at the end for P because he DESERVES his own identity.

Warnings: DEATH SPOILERS FOR LIES OF P!!! ONE OF THE ENDINGS SPOILERS FOR LIES OF P!!! Slight swearing, some name calling (reader calls him “puppet” to degrade him), Reader has a fear of puppets, mentions of PTSD, reader has a panic attack or two, mentions of murder, blood, injury, and scars, some angst, P is slightly mean (more so blunt), gets cute and fluffy sooner or later, incredibly awkward touching, Eugenie and Venigni teasing you and being generally sibling core, Eugenie bestie angst, I didn’t include some characters a lot so just wait till the end where I haphazardly make a plot point to cover that, trust the process, that’s probably it?

Word Count: 6.2k

Not Proofread

Writer’s Note: Hiiii :D. This is actually my first post on here! Forgive me if my formatting is out of the ordinary or if there are any mistakes, i usually go with the flow a lot with my writing. I hope it's enjoyable, at least!

So I saw the announcement trailer for the Lies of P DLC Overture and now I am diving HEAD FIRST back into my violent obsession with this game. This was initially supposed to be just a cute x reader where the reader and P were central to the plot but somewhere along the way I got carried away, lowkey made the reader a really sad character with complex relationships (mainly Eugenie and some Gemini but yknow), and the it became a whole AU thing where I wrote about the potential aftermath of the end of the game :|. I really hope it isn’t incoherent or seems rushed, I really like this one and wanted to share because omg we NEED more lies of p content on here.

“It’s quite rainy isn’t it?”

“Yes, it really is…”

“At this rate, I may not even be able to get my tools working. Might have to wait for another time.”

…

“You can’t avoid working on him you know-”

“Uuuugggghhhh…”

You stepped back into the side hall of Hotel Krat, gadgets and gizmos aplenty in your arms soaked of the rain. You wished there’d be an awning or two out in the training courtyard, but you wished a lot of things that never came into existence.

You wished you weren’t stuck living in this dingy hotel, feeding off of canned scraps. You wished that your family were still safe and sound down the boulevard drinking tea and eating biscuits like you all used to. You wished the Puppet Frenzy hadn’t happened- hell- you wished puppets never existed.

Yet here you were, silently tending to each gear and crank on a puppets arm, and none of those wishes had come to fruition.

“If you come back here with dried oil in your Legion again I won’t tend to it, puppet.” You grumbled to him as you scraped a small chunk of dried oil out of his forearm cavity, flicking it to the bucket beside you with a scoff. “I told you- find some water and moisten your arm- or does your ability to lie also come with the incapability to listen?” you shot at him in a slightly louder voice, looking up from his arm to glare at him.

Those blue, twitching, emotionless eyes that always reminded you exactly what he was- a toy for his father to play with.

“Understood.” he responded, his voice cold and paired with a small hollow echo, his gaze unfaltering as it met yours, causing you to drag your eyes back to his arm, bringing one last crank to a bolt before twirling your chair back to your desk.

“Good Puppet.” you hummed the ill-willed praise under your breath, your attention now on organizing your tools to be uniform once more. The soft creak of a chair sounded, and soon after clopping footsteps followed, signifying he was gone.

You let out a sigh, muttering random words of annoyance under your breath before hearing the soft meow of a familiar cat, and an even softer voice following it.

“Must you be so… Crass?” she asks, sitting at her own desk across from yours, the other half of the nook that light often spilled into. You didn’t make much a sound, only responded with words,

“Must you be so kind? Seriously ‘Genny, it’s not gonna kill him to know where his place is.”

You combatted, already knowing what she was talking about with her vague question. She sighed, scratching her cat, Spring’s, chin as she continued,

“But… His place is here. He is not bound to the Grand Covenant, at least according to Gepetto-”

“And why do you trust him?” you interrupted, swirling in your chair to face her, your eyes a steely glare as you spoke, “That bastard made him, of course he’s going to defend him.”

“But-” she stuttered, taking in a breath in an effort to steal her nerves under your gaze, “That’s precisely why we should. Gepetto knows this stuff best, and P has only ever protected us-”

“So did the guards.” you interrupted again, hand gripping onto the screwdriver you held, your form tensing at just the mention of Gepetto and his puppets. “We trusted the guards, the officers- the stupid maids and performers- and where did that get us, Eugenie?”

Eugenie faltered, letting out a small squeak in an attempt to fire words, but nothing came out, which kept you going.

“Sure, he’s not bound by the Covenant, but the breaking of that Covenant is what caused this, isn’t it? If anything, that puppet you keep claiming is protecting us is more dangerous than the frenzy.” You grimaced, a flash of memories going through you as you looked down,

“But he’s different!” she shouted suddenly, causing you a jump in your chair, and even a gasp of surprise from her at how loud she could get, but she continued,

“P is different- he’s gentle, yet powerful all the same. Sure he’s a puppet, but what does it matter? He’s killed countless puppets, protected Hotel Krat- even Sophia trusts him and you can’t?!”

“If you saw your family boiling in a pool of their own blood would you?!”

She let out a gasp, her eyes softening from her shock into pity, but yours only hardened their sadness into anger,

“If you saw the very puppets who were supposed to protect you, feed you, care for you- bashing the bodies of your own flesh and blood until they’re an unrecognizable pile- would you ever trust one of those monsters again..?” your voice betrayed your own emotions, a small crack throughout your words as it flashed past you again. The blood, the screaming, the death. Your eyes glossed, and so did hers, until she finally gave in and averted her gaze, her voice quite,

“I… I suppose I wouldn’t.”

You nodded, letting out an affirmative hum at your triumph before turning in your chair again with your eyes glued to your work. You didn’t speak another word before she sighed and stood up to leave, “I’ll bring you dinner…” she muttered, which earned nothing but a clink of your wrench from you.

The rest of your night consisted of silence, and so did the next. Soon enough a few days became a few weeks where you and Eugenie didn’t speak much. It wasn’t that you were mad at her, you just didn’t have the energy for it. You hardly had the energy for anything nowadays, she noticed.

The pair of you had grown up together in a small town outside of Krat, a place not worth mentioning the name aside from it being the supposed birthplace of Alidoro The Great. You were more sickly in your youth, many of the townsfolk had deemed your death imminent from the moment you were born. However, you were resilient, stubborn, traits Eugenie would say were the best of you back then.

Despite hardly having a heart large enough to support your body, your real heart was the size of a lake. You were so kind, a child so full of love despite her circumstances that seeing you at the headboard of a hospital bed was almost too much to bear. Eugenie bore it though, almost every day. Along with your family, Eugenie and her brother would often visit you to give you sweet treats or dramatized stories of their playtime together. They were the highlight of your day, the adventure you craved outside of the doctors office.

When you were about six years old, your family had scraped up enough money to move to one of the border areas of Krat, allowing you not just a new home with more children your age, but more advanced doctors, who gave you the heart you needed to keep going.

By age eight you could run, chase your colleagues down an empty street as you all played tag together, you were finally able to chase the adventure you always wanted, but something was missing, someone.

You grieved the loss of your friendship to Eugenie, you always dreamed that your first stride would be with her, but alas, you couldn't just travel hours to and fro from Krat to your hometown. You wished you could see her, play around with her without coughing or needing your bed. Every night you prayed you could.

Maybe your wishes do come true, if only sometimes.

By the time the pair of you reached high-school age, Eugenie had finally managed to move to Krat, though with many less family members in tow. It was more of an escape from the town, as it was slowly dying agriculturally, many were leaving, and you weren’t aware that Eugenie’s only family was her brother who had disappeared just about a week before her move. She called you and your family her own, you provided her a home just like she had provided you with enjoyment. You were siblings in every way but blood.

That was the only thing that stayed true after the Frenzy.

You and Eugenie were at the Grand Exhibition when it first began, excited to present your new inventions and Eugenie’s newest weapon models to the great Venigni in hopes of getting a work study from him. You both had been fond of puppets, surprisingly enough, you really enjoyed the idea of them and inventing things to help them and humans join forces in harmony. You trusted them, your whole family did, everyone did.

It started out small, a puppet or two malfunctioning and knocking over a citizen or two. But what seemed like normal mishaps turned to bloodshed very quickly. The guards started hitting people, people who couldn’t possibly be trespassers, they pulled rifles and batons on innocent people, children too. You and Eugenie were the few that got out of the fray, but you never were really out. You remember running and stumbling down multiple streets, bobbing and weaving just barely out of the grasp of the puppets that plagued each and every area because that’s what Krat was.

You didn’t care how scraped up you had gotten, how wet and muddy your brand new clothes were in the rain as you ran.

You couldn't stop thinking of your family.

Eugenie hadn’t found you just off of pure luck, no. Your blood curdling screams led her to you.

She found you at the floor of your home entrance, screaming and begging as you tugged on your puppet butler’s leg to stop bashing your mothers bloody body slumped over the table. And as she ran down the hall to get you out of there she passed corridors filled with the body and body parts of your relatives, all drenched and mangled in blood and oil. She swore she'd never heard you scream louder than in that moment, in the past, you were so well spoken, so calm and collected, but the broken image of your body fighting hers to run back, weak from exhaustion yet unbearably strong- fueled by adrenaline- never left her mind.

Your screams were loud, everything and every memory playing at full volume in your head.

‘Mommy! Get up- GET UP! Please- Please stop- What are you-?’

‘NO..! Don’t leave me..! We can’t- we can’t leave them please!’

‘No.. No- NOOO-!’

“NO!” you shot up from your bed, chest heaving as you attempted to catch up to your palpitating heart. You hunched in on yourself, your palm meeting your forehead and brushing back some of your hair. It took you a few moments to get your bearings, see that you were in one of the guest rooms of the hotel and not your bloody childhood home.

‘It was just a dream…’

You sighed, head hung low, sweat dripping from your forehead to your neck onto your shaking hands. Your breath still wasn’t normal, sniffling and gasping left you for a few minutes, until you decided to get up.

You thought it would help to get away from this bed for a bit.

You opened the door of your room slowly, a soft creak and click sounding in the quiet hall. You stepped out in a sleeveless undershirt and some pajama pants and slippers given to you by whatever staff was left of the hotel when you arrived. Your hair was disheveled as it would be just getting out of bed, whatever skin visibly having a slight sheen of sweat still visible, but you didn’t really care for your appearance at this hour.

The clock struck two as you took your last step down the stairs and trekked to the corridor behind them to reach the kitchen. There never really was much in there, nothing prepared at least, mostly just boxes of ingredients, ration food cans you often ate from, and more important, water.

You opened the large fridge, though there wasn’t much cold coming from it, there was still a small light that illuminated you and your surroundings just enough. You grabbed a glass from the cabinet, careful to dodge the jagged or slightly broken ones strewn about, and when you took one out you placed it directly beneath the sink faucet.

You filled your cup once and downed it in only a few sips, and as you leaned against the counter, holding your glass onto it with one hand, you noticed your shakiness with the other. You huffed, muttering a few profanities as you took in a few more deep breaths. You were still shaken up by the dream, no matter how many times it happened, no matter how many nights you spent like this, you could never get used to it. The suffocating feelings in your chest, the slight blur of your eyes as you rose, the tight feeling in your lungs that convinced you you never took in enough air.

You were so focused on trying to bring yourself back on the rails that you didn’t notice who was stalking your visit to the kitchen.

“Y/N?” a voice sounded, a deeper one from Eugenie or Sophia, or even Venigni that made you jump at first. You whipped your head around and behind you, your eyes attempting to adjust to the darkness that enveloped the figure before you. But you groaned before you could even recognize it, you knew who it was- who else just wandered the halls at two in the morning?

“Leave me alone.” you grumbled, though your voice wasn’t as strong as usual, it was shaky, breathy, not your usual tone.

And damn his supposed gain of humanity, he noticed.

“No you’re not.” He stated bluntly, taking a step deeper into the kitchen, but not yet letting the light touch him, “Your heart isn’t right.” he said again, which almost confused you.

‘Why was he noticing this all of a sudden?’

You supposed that it could’ve been the fact that you hadn’t talked to him in about a month or so, ever since that small blowout with Eugenie, she and Venigni have taken more of the load off of you in an attempt to provide you solace. You hadn’t thought he’d change in that short span of time, but as you looked back on it, maybe he was listening and playing more music, maybe he was talking to everyone a lot and actually bringing emotion to conversation.

Maybe he was changing.

“Thanks Sherlock…” You grumbled back to him, taking another hurried sip that made your breath falter again, grumbling a few more profanities.

“That’s… Not my name.” he responded, the joke clicking maybe a few seconds late, or not, he still had trouble with the more niche things.

You almost laughed at his words, but was still catching up to your heart, and just huffed,

“I know, dumbass. Go away and do whatever puppets do.” you tried shoeing him away again, but to no avail. He only stepped closer, now at the opposite island counter from you, looking at you with concerned eyes that you refused to meet, thinking there was nothing to meet.

“Breath in through your nose and out through your mouth, air gets to you better that way-”

“I don’t need your help!” you shouted at him, clenching your teeth more out of anxiety than anger, but you did it all the same, “Go away puppet, save Eugenie or something since she loves you so much!”

You turned your head back to the sink, gaze downcast as you took in more labored breaths. You didn’t hear another peep, just the soft clicking of shoes as he left, and you sighed, hoping you could actually get better.

You didn’t, unfortunately.

You were curled into a fetal position on the kitchen’s cold tiles, your breath more irregular than ever as you were now fighting off a panic attack. Usually if someone was around you could calm down a bit better, but no one was. You were alone, cold and hot at the same time with sweat dripping onto the floor, your gaze hazy and unfocused, your whole body shaking vigorously with anxious energy you didn’t know what to do with. You didn’t see an end, spiraling into yourself as tears pricked at your eyes, but you were suddenly interrupted by movement.

You were flipped onto your back from your upper body, your head suddenly laid over a lap and colder, hard arms around you. Your vision was unreliable, but you knew who it was just off of the feel of his left arm.

“S-stop..” you protested weakly, still shaking as you laid in his arms. He clearly ignored you, as he only tugged you closer, your upper back against his front. You tried to wriggle out of his hold but he was much stronger than you at the moment, so you soon just laid and allowed him, though begrudgingly.

Soon enough, his body began to warm, starting from his Legion arm. The top of your head against his chest as you looked up at him, the soft ticking of his “heart” helping to calm your own. He looked down at you, his eyes, the ones you’ve hated since he got here, were suddenly so soft and caring. His other hand lifted up, gently wiping the sweat and hair stuck to your forehead before cupping the side of your face, his fingers under your jaw.

You closed your eyes, partly to focus on his heart and yours, but also partly because of your embarrassment.

‘Am I really letting this puppet “comfort” me..? This is a new low, even for me…’

Despite some of your thoughts being degrading or upset, you couldn’t focus on much else besides the feelings he was emanating to you. He was warm, his hand, his clothes were all surprisingly soft. His eyes kept trying to meet yours in an effort to ground you, and it was all helping so much.

You convinced yourself it was the height of being in a panic, that just anyone could’ve shown up and you’d feel this way, that’s what you told yourself as you dug further and further into denial.

You were so in denial, that you hadn’t noticed you fell asleep on the spot.

The solid hour of nonstop anxiety had gotten to you, and you were so exhausted that you hadn’t woken up until a few hours later, at around six am.

You woke up, eyes yet to open as you grumbled sleepily. You snuggled your face into his leg pant a bit more, not yet being aware of what you were doing and who you were doing it with. P held you softly still, eyes open as he watched and listened for your every move. His “flesh” hand traveled to one of yours, holding it in his grasp, squeezing it gently,

“Y/N.” he called to your sleepy form, which only earned a groan from you, and he tried again, “Y/N… Y/N.” he called a few more times, but you only awoke to the sudden change in his heart tick. It was churning now, why was it doing that?

You adjusted a bit, moving your head back to look up at him, you knew he was close, but you didn’t expect this.

Warm breath met your face, warm breath that met the sudden churn you felt, and that made your eyes shoot open.

When you met his blue eyes, they were glued to you. Eyes slightly dilated as they roved around your face. His newfound breath was steady, and his ticking heart had a tiny base to it, like a real beat. You moved suddenly, motioning to sit up and not be seen laying so close to him. He let you move, albeit hesitantly, he still seemed worried about your health judging from the look in his eye.

You sat on your legs, gulping a bit as you looked at him, eyebrow raised and a small scowl on your lips,

“What are you doing?” you asked, almost looking mad at him which caused him to pull back a bit.

“I- Are you ok..? I’m sorry.” he spoke, ever so politely to you and almost apologetic. You huffed, looking away, dustings of blush from embarrassment on your cheeks,

“I- I’m fine.” you huffed a bit more, standing up and avoiding his eyes. “The hell were you thinking huh? You can’t just hold someone you’ve got to at least ask.”

His eyes softened again, his demeanor going from comforting and caring to apologetic and hesitant.,

“I meant no disrespect.” he muttered, rising to his feet as well, hands still slightly open as if he was trying to normalize your absence in them. You scoffed, turning to leave the kitchen, and as you stepped out you called,

“Don’t do it again.”

You went straight upstairs to bathe and dress, your eyebrows furrowed the entire time. Not because you were upset, no, your feelings were far too complicated to simply categorize them as anger. You were more confused than anything.

Confused as to why you felt so safe in his presence, confused as to why the very species that ruined your life was something of a queller, confused on why you enjoyed it so much. Ever since that fateful day, you’ve hated being coddled. Hated being treated like a baby who couldn’t care for themselves, but he did it, and it felt wonderful.

But there was no way you’d admit that.

After you finished getting ready, you traversed downstairs once more. You offered quick greetings and mornings to everyone who was also awake, and as you neared your nook you shared with Eugenie, you spoke,

“He’s not here is he?” you inquired suddenly, catching poor Eugenie off guard and jumping. Adjusting her glasses on her nose, she spoke,

“Uhm- No, P isn’t here.”

‘Good’ you thought, even though it looked like you just wanted him gone because, like usual, you hated his presence in general, the more truthful part of yourself was just glad you didn’t have to face your feelings of last night.

You went past Eugenie, sitting at your own desk in silence as you both worked the next couple of hours, but something was nagging at you.

You yelled at her about a month ago, and you never really faced that again. You liked shoving things down, out of sight out of mind, but unfortunately, Eugenie would constantly be around you- so it never really was out of sight, nor out of mind.

After a good fifteen minutes of anxious stirring, you swirled your chair around to look at the back of her head, calling to her,

“E-Eugenie…” your voice was quiet, cracked slightly out of nerves, and obviously with all of the machinery she didn’t really hear you.

You cleared your throat and tried once more, still nervous as ever. You never were good at apologies.

“Eugenie.” you called again, and this time you caught her. She turned her head to look at you, tilting her head softly in inquiry as she hummed. You met her eyes, your own perhaps betraying the guilt you really felt, and you spoke up, “I- I’m sorry.” you said plainly, which earned her a confused look,

“For what?” she asked with a soft and awkward giggle, trying to gauge where you were coming from.

You bit your lip nervously, sighing and scoffing at yourself. She was so kind, too kind. You were like that once, but that was a distant memory now- you didn’t want her to go down that path, she was the only kindness left in your life, the only one you could truly relate to and accept.

It’s why you needed this apology out.

“For…” You started, taking in another breath before scooting your chair closer to where she sat, “For yelling at you. I shouldn’t have done that, you didn’t deserve it, you were just trying to help me understand where you were coming from, and I didn’t listen.” you admitted softly, a weaker tone than you usually wore within this hotel. She smiled a bit before speaking,

“I forgive you. I understand where you were coming from too. I shouldn’t have tried to push you, I know how everything still affects you, and yet I tried to make you move on faster even though that’s not how you want to heal.” you met her eyes, and they were as kind as they ever were, you couldn’t help the smile spreading on your lips as you chuckled,

“It- it’s fine, Genny. I still acted like an arse, I just… I want you to know you mean more to me than the way I treated you.”

She smiled even more at those words, like the skies of Krat had finally cleared up to let the sun shine.

She stood up, traversing to you and opening her arms, offering a hug.

“So we’re still friends?” she asked, but she knew the answer before you wrapped your arms tightly around her,

“So much more.” you reassured into her shoulder, smiling into the soft hug.

After solving things with Eugenie things were much less tense about the work space. You found yourself more productive now that you could speak with her and even Venigni more casually. You didn’t mind him, despite him being one of the heads of puppet production and invention in Krat, he seemed genuinely remorseful of what had happened and he hadn’t stopped trying to find ways to fix things- and for that you respected him.

A few months had gone by, and the supposed “King of Puppets” was expelled by P not too long ago. With that came a sort of odd calm, though puppets still roamed and killed whatever moved, there weren’t as many, and some even ignored what was happening around them in favor of mourning. It baffled you, even now how these puppets seem to feel in a weird way. How the ergo within them allowed them even small fragments of humanity and emotion- which unfortunately led your thoughts to a specific puppet that you did not want to think about.

You and P had remained cordial- you weren’t as sour on him, or at least you were taking a different approach now. Your confusion of how you felt developed further into something even larger, and something you had hated to admit,

“You like-like him?” Venigni asked, leaning against Eugenies desk, and Eugenie too turned to look at you, befuddled at the notion.

You stuttered and scoffed, crossing your arms,

“What? That is not what I said-”

“You said he made you feel comfortable, warm- loved?-”

“It’s not love! I just- I’m just confused. He’s confusing me. Besides, even if any of us loved him, he can’t feel that can he? He’s just a stupid puppet.”

Venigni and Eugenie shared glances and smirks before both looking at you with chuckles,

“I’m pretty sure you love him.” Eugenie spoke, a mischievous smirk upon her face as the words left her, and Venigni followed,

“Yes- I doubt just a friend makes you pitter-patter like this, hm?” and the both giggled, teasing you unbearably well, before they heard the familiar sound of ergo in the main hall.

“Oh- he’s here. Shall I give him to you for his Legion check?” Venigni offered with a sly smirk still on his face. He didn’t wait for an answer before calling P over to them.

“Oh P! I can’t top up your legion today- is it alright if Y/N does it?”

You groaned and cringed, really not wanting to face whatever was lying deep within you, but put on a smile when P entered the nook.

“If it’s alright with you.” He said, and you nodded and gestured to the chair for him to sit in. You scooted your own chair close, and he offered his left arm to you, allowing you to inspect it.

Venigni and Eugenie watched from a distance, obviously gossiping over your awkward interaction, which was one-sided completely for you.

P looked slightly different nowadays, his hair had grown out a bit now that he was gaining more humanity, but it was still fluffy and soft. His freckles were as pronounced as ever, his eyes holding a glow of genuine life within them.

You tried not to oogle at him, and you noticed that another change he’d gone through was not “bothering” you as much. He didn’t look at you and watch like he would do in the past, and he hadn’t really spoken to you like he did the others.

‘Shit-’

“I’m glad to see you’re taking better care of your Legion…” You muttered, in an attempt to try and make conversation, or maybe it was more of a tester to see if he hated you or not.

He hummed before speaking, looking down at his arm,

“Yes. With the new upgrades came a need to actually look after it I suppose.” and he didn’t continue, looking back out to the halls, and even nodding and almost smiling to Venigni and Eugenie. As they looked at him, they returned it, but as he looked away they looked at you and him, their smiles faltering, like they saw the energy change he had about you. They looked worried.

‘Oh no’

You tried maybe two other times to start a conversation, and he responded with either a short answer, or a small confused look as to why you were talking to him. That last look deterred you, and you finally realized why he was doing this.

You shoved him away, you stood between him and a good relationship between you two. You told him to stay away, and he was finally doing it. Right when you regretted it the most.

“Finished…” you muttered, signifying that he was done and his arm was tended to. He hummed, nodding to you and offering you thanks before immediately getting up to leave.

As he left so suddenly, you shot another last ditch effort to get him to speak with you,

“Be- Uh- Be careful!” you said, a weak smile on your face, one he wouldn’t see because he only paused in stride, but didn’t turn or respond.

As he left, your whole face fell, your eyes traveling down to your feet in defeat. Venigni and Eugenie, both with concerned looks and hisses of their teeth, went to you,

“I… Wow, he hasn’t acted that cold since he got here-”

Venigni spoke, but was interrupted when Eugenie nudged him to hush, looking back at you,

“I- Don’t worry! I’m sure that he’s just having a bad day-”

“No he’s not.” you interrupted her now, gritting your teeth as you fought any tears of guilt.

“I’m such an arse.” you muttered, gripping the wrench in your hand tightly, and Venigni and Eugenie immediately came to your aid.

“No no dear! He just doesn’t understand what you went through, you’re not particularly bad.”

“Yeah! It’s ok, once he can understand maybe you two can try again. You’ll just need a chance to apologize and-” You didn’t let them finish, already leaving and stomping to your room for the night, then the next night you did the same… And the next few after that.

For the next near week you shut yourself off from nearly everyone aside from occasional hellos’. Instead of trying to continuously connect like Eugenie advised, you shut yourself away from him, but for a completely different reason. You wouldn’t work on him, not even when Venigni was out because you figured he’d prefer Eugenie anyways. Whenever he was speaking with Sophia, you were sure to not go near and let them speak before you ever asked for anything- Hell- you even stopped personally updating Gemini, which confused him the most.

You were elusive, hardly even there. A ghost in the halls of Hotel Krat. A ghost of guilt that is.

You felt terrible knowing how you treated everyone, especially P. They got the worst sides of you, always, and you hated that the only real relationships you had were ones through Eugenie. That’s what you thought at least, Gemini liked you, Sophia did too, and Antonia, who hardly saw anyone, still enjoyed your company.

Thankfully those people liked you, or at very least understood you to an extent, otherwise you would��ve likely been completely alone that night.

It was a night of deja vu- you, having a nasty nightmare over your past again, same sleep wear and disheveled look on as you stared into a sink, water glass in hand. It felt so much worse this time around though, because you were finally self aware enough, finally past the initial trauma of the Puppet Frenzy, now entering a new era.

You curled up against the cold tile again, like it was some kind of routine, like you were giving yourself to it rather than trying to fight it. The tears came quicker, the shaking was more violent, and you could hardly hear the sound of your heartbeat pounding in your ears. You sobbed there, alone, for at least thirty minutes, succumbing to whatever emotions were to take you right here and now… But they didn’t not completely.

You felt a familiar warmth grace your upper back, and you were oddly hyper aware of the feeling of being propped onto someone's lap. You were wrapped and coddled in the same way as that night months ago, but you opened your eyes much sooner than that night.

You met a familiar pair of blue eyes, newfound long dark bangs obstructing his view just slightly as he held you.

But that wasn’t the only thing.

A small lantern that chirped upon contact, two young women sitting on either side of you, offering a comforting presence. Another young man, and a few puppets surrounding you on the floor, and a familiar weathered but soft voice coming from the other hall.

“Are you alright, dear?” she asked, but for any of their questions and looks, you could only sob in response, holding on tightly to the form that held you.

They were all there for, aside from Gepetto, who had been doing god knows what. You didn’t care for that much though, all you cared for was that they cared. You were loved, or at least, you could be.

After that night, you tried becoming more open and honest to everyone at the hotel. A slow process yes, but one that was worth it all the same.

You talked with everyone more, offering more than just hellos and goodbyes, even offering small stories and jokes to help you cope. P began requesting your services more often, and he spoke with you more. Asking sometimes blunt questions to remind you of his origin, but overall being understanding and kinder to you. Eugenie and you stayed ever so close, and Venigni had practically become a brother to you. Sophia had become a source of respect and guidance, and Antonia would love to listen to you go on and on about your latest invention.

That was another thing, you began inventing again. Trying to find the joy in the things you used to love again was no easy task, but it did help.

With years came loss of friends as well as new ones. Sophia had finally been freed of her cages, Antonia died a peaceful death with the ones she loved, and Gepetto met his fate with open arms, reminding himself that it was his doings that caused the loss of his son.

Giangio was an oddly lovely presence about you, quiet and gentle as a butterfly, and the young treasure hunting apprentice stalker was certainly a friendly face.

P had grown in many ways, maintaining his nonhuman body while harnessing the emotions of a human. He gave himself a name, Ettore, for his loyalty and inspirations to Krat. He had felt he no longer could identify truthfully with P nor Carlo, for he was neither of those people anymore.

His hair was a silvered grey, cut to what he used to have back when he had first awakened. He wore the glasses of his creator with his own look and flair, and he often held the scythe of a Puppet Ripper from his old friend.

He’d grown to treasure life, especially yours, for both of your feelings had ignited into something bigger the more you stood around each other.

You laying over his lap and chest became a nightly occurrence, and you were especially close after a long day of attempting to rehabilitate and find any more survivors of Krat. Your many fears subsided greatly, though never truly disappeared, but that was ok. Nothing can ever truly die in this world of puppets and ergo, can it? Instead of obsessing over trying to reach your past self again, you made and accepted a new self, a new life with Eugenie, your dear near sister- Venigni, your close friend- and Ettore, who you still would call P on occasion even still as a term of endearment to him, the two of you sharing one of the strongest of relationships.

Between shared kisses and ample touch, you both explored the relationship slowly, P learning of what it is to love someone in this especially intimate way for the first time, and you, opening your lake sized heart once more for him.

Life was cruel, but it was also beautiful. You’d learned that the hard way. But you wouldn’t trade away any memory or lessons for what you have now.

[celestialorcas]

The Outer Archives

Spoilers ahead for all of The Outer Wilds, all of Echos of The Eye DLC, and all of The Magnus Archives

So played outer wilds a couple years back, and its remained as my favorite game of all time, so I got to thinking recently, which locations in outer wilds can be mapped onto different fears from The Magnus Archives which i also loved! (Not as much as outer wilds but not really a fair comparison-) So today I got to work and made this:

First obvious thing before I go into my reasoning's for each is Timber Hearth is clearly missing, thats just cause I could not think of a link to any of the fears, it really is just a chill place- Anyway my reasoning's (some are obvious but bear with me) The Sun: Represents the end, I thought about maybe The Extinction, but thats more the end of humanity with everything else carrying on, the sun I think perfectly represents the end cause it's supernovae-ing alongside the rest of the universe, everything is ending and the sun serves as a manifestation of that. The Ember Twin: All those little cramped caves systems slowly filling up with sand that you can get buried and crushed in The Ash Twin: It's the centre of the whole loop, its the ash twin project after all, everything that happens in the game can be attributed to the ash twin project, something out of your control till the end that youre stuck in The Attlerock: Esker..... Its a tiny moon thats easy to miss, with the character who in game is forgotten about a lot by the rest of the Hearthians, a quiet space for them to be alone and forgotten Brittle Hollow and Hollow's Lantern: The whole thing is slowly falling apart and being destroyed, catalysed by the big fire rocks from Hollow's Lantern being chucked at it, Represents collapse and destruction Giant's Deep: Big water planet, open space, tornados that can throw you from a vast ocean planet, into the infinite reaches of space. The depths that Gabbro swears they say a sea monster in, very vast. Dark Bramble: I can see how people could think of The Dark for this, the anglerfish being blind and hidden out of sight, but I think corruption fits better for the "planet" itself, it wasnt always Dark Bramble after all, it was once an ice planet that dark bramble corrupted and grew on until it took over its host, shattering it. The Interloper: The cause of the slaughter of this games Nomai clan, senseless destruction and killing just by chance (The Trickster from Doctor Who/SJA would have a field day with this) The Quantum Moon: Constantly changing from what you expect it to be and what it should look like. It's surface is different depending on what planet it orbits, and everything on it moves around, the world is not right, its the spiral The Stranger (EOTE): Not because they are named the same, thats just an amazing coincidence. The whole thing is unknown, no one you know has been there, all has an air of unease and creepiness to it, the burnt out reels destroying/changing information, the whole time I was there, despite the peaceful river (until...y'know-) and calm vibes, under the surface theres something just not quite right Eye of the Universe: Again, not because of the name, another great coincidence, or i guess not really a coincidence. The eye sees everything and constantly outputs a signal calling people to it, it rebuilds a new world based on the experiences of the hatchling, what the hatchling has seen. Just like the eye in the magnus archives, it takes all the experiences of the main character (Hatchling/Jon) and makes something new built upon them (New universe/The apocalypse). Love to hear peoples thoughts and where they would place things differently (especially if yall have an idea as for Timber Hearth-)

[meowteorite]

The Lantern | Outer Wilds

Outer Wilds is a game best enjoyed without spoiling anything for yourself. The game relies on mental checkpoints, so once you know about something, there is no way of reliving the magic of finding it out via simply playing the game.

This piece of literature includes spoilers for the WHOLE main game (Outer Wilds) AND DLC (Echoes of the Eye). I am going to mention critical story points and I am going to touch on how to solve endgame puzzles.

If you are interested in space, please check out Outer Wilds. If you like puzzle games, please check out Outer Wilds. If you are interested in a more unconventional game, please check out Outer Wilds. I will not force you to, but I can only recommend playing Outer Wilds.

Night has fallen. The familiar sounds of silence are filling the dark room that is lit only by candlelight and the dim blue light coming from the tiny window. How long have I been imprisoned here? Left alone in this room, unwilling – or unable? – to die. My body may have rotten, may have crumbled to dust. I do not know. My soul is caged only by the blue fire emitted by the lantern I have been holding onto for years. I cannot unlearn how to talk, though it has been a good while since I did. I should have lost my mind, but the sheer force of not wanting to has kept me sane. I have not heard a sound from beyond these walls in so long. Is anybody even still out there? Am I the only one left? I will not blow out my lantern. The sun rises again.

Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen.

I have witnessed so many sunsets and sunrises within these walls, thousands of years must have gone by. But what if it is a trick by the others? I am trapped in this simulation that they have created. What tells me they have not modified it to make time seem endlessly long? For the real world outside this box, it might have been only a few hours. It would fit them. It would fit them to be trapped alongside me, though not by force but their own will. It would fit them to misalign how fast time in here progresses, compared to the real world. They had always feared the end. Death. The great unknown. A few thousand sunrises and sunsets ago, I would have called them cowards. But I am trapping myself in the simulation – just as much as they are. I will not blow out my lantern. The sun rises again.

Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen.

I could blow out my lantern at any time, disconnecting me from this room that keeps me prisoner. I could die. My body could already be rotten, crumbled up to dust. If I blew out my lantern I could disconnect my mind, finally free. But if my theory, however wrong it may actually be, is true and only a few days have passed since my imprisonment, I could still be alive. Before the simulation caught me, I felt the air thickening, felt my stomach aching from not having eaten in days. My feet were giving in, only for me to discover that the wooden box forced me to stand. But what kind of life would I even have left? Trapped inside a wooden box, my own grave, my own sarcophagus, starving or suffocating to death. In this simulation I cannot feel the pain inflicted upon my real body. Maybe staying – however boring it may be – is more welcome than pain and suffering. I will not blow out my lantern. The sun rises again.

Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen.

My prison houses a telescope, to look at an image of the planet we had left behind. They were so keen on following their new hope, they had rendered our home a barren wasteland. Then they felt betrayed by their new hope, and so they constructed an image of our home planet in our fake simulated world. I do no longer care to look at it, I have seen every inch at least a thousand times. I am saddened by how we treated our home, though I am happy we were curious enough to leave it. Even though I only see the same walls each and every passing day now, I am happy that I was able to see something more before that. I will not blow out my lantern. The sun rises again.

Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen.

I am staring at the same walls again. My nails do not grow, my feathers are not falling out. My antler is not growing back. My eyes are adjusting to the light and the darkness as they always have. Even if I had always hated the simulated world, found it to be a cowardly way of escaping reality, I wanted to look outside. The window is too high up for me, I can only look at the sky. The sky with the big blue planet, the sky with the simulated sun. I have tried staring into the sun, but while it would hurt my eyes in the real world, here it does not do anything. Everything stays the same. I will not blow out my lantern. The sun rises again.

Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen.

My two rooms have started to feel smaller. I have tried carving into these wooden planks, they seem indestructible. No scratches, no marks. The lift is working as usual, I can go wherever I want. As long as “wherever” is within these walls. This simulated body does not need to eat. It does not need – and it cannot – sleep. I cannot pass the time. Looking through the window and into the sky has long become utterly worthless to me. There is nothing else to do within these walls, aside from thinking. I might blow out my lantern? The sun rises again.

Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen.

The planet in the night sky has began taunting me. The blue light coming from it fills my room each night. I cannot escape it. It is the same shade of blue as the fire of my lantern. I have picked up my chair, I have smashed it into the wall. There is no damage to be found. Not a scratch, not a mark. I might blow out my lantern. The sun rises again.

Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen.

Can this simulated body feel pain when it becomes too much? I am sticking one of my fingers into my lantern, holding it directly into the fire. My vision becomes blurry, though my finger does not ache. I pull it back. I will blow out my lantern. The sun rises again.

Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen. The sun rises again. Night has fallen? The sun rises again? Night has fallen? The sun rises again?

Night has fallen. Is it possible to hallucinate within this world? I could have sworn I had heard a sound coming from outside the walls. I tried looking through the window, but the planet is still here and there’s nothing else to see. I wanted to scream, but fear had taken over me. Who else but my former peers could be out there? There is no way to reach this island from within the simulation. Maybe my theory of how time progresses within the simulation is correct. Have they come to free me from my prison? Maybe they think I had been broken enough? But it would be so unlike them to welcome a “traitor” amidst them. They surely have not considered being in the wrong, I cannot believe. I will not blow out my lantern.

There are steps outside, I am so very sure of it. I heard something move on … water? It must be. There is something moving, someone is aligning the platforms for the bridge. Have they come to free me? My ears start ringing as I hear the sound of bells, but the footsteps continue on. I hear someone rotating a wheel. I must be hallucinating, it cannot be. I hear someone approaching through the tunnel. Suddenly, I am scared. I shift back into the darkness, the darkest spot of these walls. I sit down on my chair. I am going to wait. I will not make a sound. My life may be over soon. I can hear footsteps in the room above me, going in circles. I will not blow out my lantern.

Someone is stepping inside of the lift, it is moving downward. I am sitting in silence, I am not moving. The door opens, someone enters. They are small. They are turning around. I hope they will not leave, even if I am scared. They are looking left and right, checking the walls. They are searching for something, but what is there to be found here aside from me? They are staring in my direction, their face is … Their face is blue. And they have four eyes. And they are smaller than me. No need to fear them, probably. They are taking tiny steps toward me, eager. Lantern in hand. I will not blow out my lantern.

They are within reach, but they are not doing anything. They are looking, staring into the darkness. They are taking a step toward me. I do not want to scare them, but I most likely will once they bump into me. I will not blow out my lantern. I will not stand up. I might stand up? I will stand up. I stand up. I reach out my hand, my body had become a bit stiff from sitting. Fear overcomes their face, they run to the other side of the room. I scared them, even if it was not my intention. I will not blow out their lantern.

I stand there, staring at them. What is their intention? They are staring at me, regaining their composure. They are approaching me, they open their mouth. There are words coming out, but none that I know. I cannot recall a species looking like that. Maybe they have come from far away? Maybe they are also in search for the Eye? This is what I have waited for all this time. Someone to share my knowledge with, yet I lack the words. I must think of a way that enables me to talk to them. I must ask them how they were able to visit me, how they were able to unlock my seals. I remember my vision torch, I am stepping aside to grab it. They take a step back. I will not blow out their lantern.

I am holding the vision torch to their head, communicating to them what my species did. How we left out home planet in search for the Eye, how we left it a wasteland. How we built this space station to last for an eternity so that we could stay with the Eye forever, no matter what it looked like. What the Eye told us, how it told us that the end of the universe is near. How betrayed the others felt upon seeing this and how they tried to lock the Eye away. How I managed to break the seal, freeing the Eye for a mere moment. How they locked me away, both in the real world and the simulation. Finally, I could talk to someone. All this time, this time where I had felt so alone and stripped of purpose – there was a purpose. And I was not alone. I want to think of them as a friend in need. I will not blow out my lantern.

I am done with sharing my experiences. The look on their face is one of understanding, the look of someone that has found the final piece to their puzzle. They seem eager to share something with me, I am so very glad. I want to know their story, their origin. I hand them my vision torch. I will not blow out my lantern.

They show me my own species. My own planet. The plants are dying, the houses are still standing but in the worst condition they have ever been. Time has passed, my theory was wrong. My body is dead, so are the bodies of all my former friends. My former family. The thought saddens me a little, but I cannot help but feel a little bit more at peace. They tell me how the Eye sent out a signal to a faraway place. The inhabitants of this place built a spaceship, teleporting away from their home in order to find the Eye. I can relate to them. By shutting the blocking system for the eye off, I helped them receive a signal of the Eye. I am happy to have helped another species find out about this mysterious thing. The next vision. I am glad I did not blow out my lantern.

Their ship got stuck within a vine-like structure, but they managed to send out some little shuttles. I hope they all managed to safely escape their shuttle. I hope they are all well. They built houses on different planets. A blue light approaches them, they all fall to the ground. They are dead. Their skeletons remain, their houses crumble. An astronaut found these houses, they brought a wall with some sort of violet text to a house. A museum? There are other blue people. I see the person before me, they look even smaller. The one that had transported the wall must be some sort of other blue person. The one before me is looking at the wall, they are growing older. They are in their own spaceship, putting on some sort of suit, flying off into the deep vastness of space. I am so very glad I did not blow out my lantern.

Hearing this person’s story makes me happy. I did not think my prison would allow me to talk to someone else again, but I did. My species is long gone, everybody has long withered away. The natural course of life, the end. Their minds may still wander this simulation, for now. Seeing what had happened to our space shuttle makes me realize that nothing is forever, their life is going to end at some point as well. But I remember the three seals of my prison, and I remember what sacrifice had to be made in order to break one of them. I am saddened that by visiting me, the creature before me had given all they had left away. I hope they will not rely on the simulation. It would be their prison, as it was mine. I am saddened but hope that they will blow out their lantern.

For now, I wish to see the surface again. I stretch out my hand, I wish to hold my vision torch. My newfound friend hands it to me. I step on the lift, eager to leave the prison behind. I want to go before them. I bow to them, my deepest and most heartfelt thanks. There is nothing I would have loved more for the last few minutes of my life. I step on the elevator. I go outside, the sand beneath my feet. I see the raft. I would have loved to sail into the sunset with my friend, but I cannot. I cannot stand this world any longer, and I am at peace. A last vision for them, to show how glad I was to have met them. We push the raft forward, we sit in it. We float toward the ever-growing sun. We are together, nobody needs to be alone anymore. I push the vision torch into the sand, making sure that they will see it. I am glad I did not blow out my lantern.

I take a few steps, I approach the dark water. The sun begins to rise again, but I am not here to see another day. My knees are touched by the cold water, my lower body is submerged. I cannot swim in this simulation, I do not feel the need to try. I walk further. One last look at the planet I had watched from my prison all these years. I am glad I did not blow out my lantern, so that the water could do it for me.

[kitsumidori]

This took so long! And the reason was that I keep getting creative burn-out.

I've been wanting to do a headcanon post for the main siren character's (excluding the Calypso's) and this took way longer than I thought it would.

Key note

Along with the tattoos, another noticeable trait is the elf-like ears, each in different shapes and lengths.

Like in cannon, only 6 women can become sirens. There were instances of fake sirens which were women using make up to make tattoos and fake elf ears.

Sirens have a slightly longer life span than most humans, likely due to their demi-god status.

For now, I don't have a lot of headcanons for Sirens specifically. If I have more ideas, I'll update this.

Lilith

She gained a slight mutation due to both the Eridium usages and the forced ejections by Jack.

Freckles because she looks cute with them.

(Also I remember her vaultlander figure description called her the most powerful ginger in the world)

Hates Scythids. When she and her team first encountered them, she immediately jumped on Bricks shoulder and refused to get off until those "cockroaches from hell" were gone.

Was caught one night having a secret tea party with Butt Stallion (In her defense, she wanted a pony since she was 7).

Immediately adopted Angel once the whole Jack is dead thing settles down.

Maya

She's terrified of heights (somewhat cannon from her Runner dialog) mainly uses her wings for combat.

Before she came to Pandora, her hair was so long, that it was starting to trail behind her.

She cut it to her main style shortly after arriving at Pandora.

Did at one point consider going back to Athenas, but after Ava's situation with those monks, she ultimately decided to stay.

Has the biggest ears out of all the other sirens, but doesn't like to show them.

Axton did call her Dumbo once, she suplexed him and no one dared to call her that again.

Has a surprisingly strong sense of smell (somewhat cannon in the Wam Bam dlc where she was able to sense Hammerlocks moustache)

Loves mangos, like REALLY loves mangos. Give her a basket full of them and she'll die for you (medaforicly)

Angel (TW: mentions of abuse)

The scar on her left eye was from Jack trying to install an Echo Eye on her. Her body rejected it and Jack didn't even bother to remove it.

When Lilith found out, her silent fury was loud enough to scare a flock of Raks.

Struggled with eating without throwing up during her recovery, took her awhile to eat solids.

Pre-rescued: Jack would constantly put make-up on her not only to cover the bruises he gave her, but to also cover her freckles, a trait she gained from her mother.

Similar to Lilith, she gained a mutation from the Eridium usages, but her's is more noticeable due to years of constant Eridium ejections.

A lot of her clothes were hand-me downs from Lilith

Tannis

Her Phasesight powers were originally Steele's. However since Steele never chosen a successor, her powers were given to Tannis.

Used her illusion ability to hide both her tattoos and her ears.

Acts as Angels crazy aunt, to which everyone is surprised that those two got along very well.

Amara

Is BBF (Best Buff Friends) with Krieg, Brick, and Mr. Torgue. The four did an arm wrestling contest that ended in a draw between Amara and Krieg.

Loves gummy candy, especially ones with fruit juice in the center. Moze would usually have a tin with her whenever she's with Amara.

(Speaking of which, don't leave a fruit drop tin alone with her, she'll devour them all in one sitting)

Ok I really doubt that Amara can even summon wings, but let me pretend because Amara with multiple wings sounds cool!

Ava

Her parents died not because she accidentally leached them, but because the monks of Athenas wanted to take her with a bullshit excuse that there's a great evil coming.

They didn't believe the monks, which caused them to take her by force.

It ended with the monks killing her parents, and Ava leaching the monks.

Has a pretty big appetite, likely due to her siren powers.

(But more like she'll sneak into the kitchen at 2am to steal food kind of appetite than draining people's souls)

Total cringe fail. But to be fair, she's 14, and 14 year olds are allowed to be a little cringey, as long as it's harmless.

Her siren wings are based on the wings Troy uses in his boss fight.

[ishaslife]

ELDEN RING theory: Messmer is Radagon and Marika's son ?

Okay okay okay, guys...

Messmer in the new elden ring DLC trailer. I have questions and also some answers. My first thoughts were:

Red hair = Radagon but also, Serpents = God-devouvering Serpent/Rykard but then I paid attention to his dialogue...

I wonder if he is an offshoot or child of Marika and Radagon, he has the golden eyes and the red hair, he's also massive yet he wields red flame (like those of the giants) and Radagon was known to despise his red hair due to red hair being associated with giants (likely hinting that he had giant blood) So, crazy theory but I wonder if Messmer was Radagon and Marika's child before She came into power and he was actually a bit cookoo so his record was basically stripped from the history books. Like, Miyazaki said:

“There was this piece of key art where it shows Messmer sat in this throne-like chair, and people who’ve played the game may recognize this throne to be one of those from the boss room where you battle Morgott. And this represents the thrones at the base of the Erdtree. And it’s supposed to symbolize that Messmer stands on equal footing to these other demigods and children of Marika who sat around in these thrones and held the rooms of the Erdtree.”

Also,

According to Miyazaki, during the DLC we’ll “learn a little about why he wasn’t featured in the legends of the Erdtree, the lands between.”

So, my theory is that he is Radagon and Marika's exiled child. As in his dialogue, he says:

"Mother, woulds't thou truly lordship sanction in one so bereft of light?"

He's basically saying, "Mum [Marika] you really let this dude become lord? A graceless tarnished?"

As to why they exiled him to this land or, as Miyazaki said, "[we'll learn] why he wasn't mentioned in the legends of the Erdtree, the lands between"? I don't really know. Perhaps he represented everything The Greater Will wished to leave behind, i.e. Serpents, dragons (his helm has dragon wings), flame etc.

I like to think that where we're going is the same universe but an alternate dimension which I think Miyazaki has somewhat confirmed so perhaps time passes differently over there.

I don't want to be too concrete in how or when Messmer was born, it could be that he was born while Marika was ruling or perhaps when she was still an Empyrean, he might also be the offshoot created when Marika and Radagon merged (if they weren't always one being.) Perhaps, he is all the bad qualities of Marika and Radagon. The red hair of the giants, the deceitful serpents growing out of him, the flame (probably of the giants) that can burn the erdtree. It's as if they expelled all the faults that didn't align with the nature and principles of the golden order into Messmer and locked him away in another realm.

Hear me out but perhaps the echo Melina tells us in Marika's bed chamber isn't about shattering the elden ring but the moment when Messmer was conceived/made. She says:

"Radagon, leal hound of the Golden Order. Thou art yet to become me, thou art yet to become a God. Let us be shattered both, mine other self."

At first, I thought she says this to convince him to shatter the elden ring with her but the dialogue can be interpreted in so many ways that even this interpretion might be wrong. Perhaps, her calling Radagon her "other self," has two meanings: one, that he is her male aspect/alter ego and two, he is her other half, like, her significant other. So perhaps this was a conversation between them right when they decided to become one being, splitting from one another whenever they saw fit and their literal shattering of bodies/souls against one another is what gave birth to Messmer. Of course, I don't know the specifics of merging with someone so this just very crazy speculation.

(I suggest don't pay too much credence to this theory above, it's mostly just rambling but it is possible, you never know.)

We know offshoots are a thing since there are Malenia's daughters (Millicent and her sisters) and Malenia was an Empyrean just like her mother so it'd make sense if Marika/Radagon also made an offshoot.

Regardless, one thing (I think at least) I'm fairly certain of is that Messmer is son to Radagon and Marika and that he is also definitely associated with the giants in some way, perhaps decended from them much like Radagon or played some part in their downfall. And I think I'll have to delve even deeper into the dialogue and watch the trailer frame by frame to be able to decipher more lol.

[kyrathor]

I played Outer Wilds recently, during a rough patch in life, and I absolutely love the game. I won't spoil anything that isn't immediately obvious from the steam description, don't worry. I love the whole world, each planet with it's own system of things, places to explore, everything. Sometimes there are people you can talk to, other times you're finding something left behind by someone else. And of course, stuff runs on a cycle, areas change or become inaccessible as each cycle progresses until the loop resets. The game is somewhere between space accuracy and an almost fantasy game type physics, and I love it. It's a sweet spot that I think the game hits very well.

And I want more of it. I don't even necessarily need the time loop aspect, but I absolutely adore the casual story exploration with very little consequences. I want to explore a crafted world, or a solar system, or whatever, that has a story that you find piecemeal and construct a bigger picture. Maybe it Would have an end goal, as Outer Wilds does, maybe it would just be to fill up a journal or come to a conclusion or something, or maybe it would just be to explore.

Outer Wilds is a game that I don't think I'll ever find anything quite like it ever again. After beating the game I discovered there are mods and desperately wanted more of what I'd just experienced. I wasn't completely disappointed, though not completely satisfied either.

These are the story mods (that I've played) that I enjoyed the most and think play the best with Outer Wilds as a game. They aren't perfect by any means, but a lot of care and effort was put into them, and I definitely recommend them.

[night-fall-moon]

Chapter 4: Remiss—Reckon

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As the case came to a close one of the Suzuya squad members abruptly spoke up, "By the way, I thought the Q's squad had five members?"

"Oh, the other two are..." Reina rubbed the back of her neck anxiously, knowing that Shirazu most likely gave up trying to wake up the blue sloth.

The other two—Mutsuki and Urie—beside her murmured quietly. "I wonder if he couldn't wake up Saiko.."

"Can't be helped, but it doesn't reflect well on Q's squad."

Mutsuki looked at the vacant seat across from him, "their squad leader isn't here yet either." He noted to the boy next to him.

And just on time the short male sprinted through the door making quite the entrance.

"Sorry I'm late!" He marched on in as his squad rose to greet him, a rush of good mornings flooded the room.

Once introductions were set, Suzuya turned to the two instructors and greeted them with open arms—but instead of a hug, Suzuya instead began to pat the taller man down. Handful after handful of candy piling up in the palms of his hands—stuffing them into his own pockets for later. He then turned to the girl and stuck his hands out expecting her to pull out another handful of treats just for him.

"You know candy'll give you cavities Juuzou." She said as she handed the small handful to him.

"This is less than last time." He pouted as he counted each piece.

"Did you not hear what I just said? Haise gave you enough as it is." She quirked a brow at him.

He smiled at her and popped the lollipop she gave him into his mouth before turning to Abara.

"Sir, the meeting has concluded.." the taller man noted.

"Then gimme the short version. But before you do-"

"I'm sorry... we're late!!" A loud voice echoed throughout the room and small snores could be heard from behind the man.

"Shirazu?!"

"Im impressed. Maybe putting Shirazu in charge was a good idea, Haise." She smiled at the younger boy as he blushed at the compliment, behind him Saiko seemed to have been half awake, mumbling incoherent words.

"I met them in front of the elevator.. give me the rundown once they're seated, please." Juuzou finished his sentence as Abara nodded at his word.

"Sorry Sassan, Nana.. we're so late.." he frowned.

"I-it's alright. Thanks for bringing her here... you did great!!" Haise smiled awkwardly trying to calm the panting boy.

"Stop acting like you did something bad," Reina rolled her eyes at the dramatic boy, "just be proud about the fact that you were able to bring her here. Give her to me, just sit." She extended her arms out and reached out to grab the drooling girl on his back.

She carried her to an empty seat and tried to wake her up.

"C'mon Saiko, you're here already might as well try and be present for the meeting, yeah?" She cupped the girl's chubby cheeks. Instead the girl just kept nodding off, a string of drool dropping onto the older girls arm.

Instead of getting grossed out by the wet feeling she just brushed it off and continued shaking the sleepy girl awake. "Saiko... if you try your best throughout this mission I'll buy you that new DLC you've been wanting." She bribed.

How the girl caught her words, she'll never know, but they seemed to work as the weariness was slowly washing off of her and a sudden consciousness came to front for a bit.

"You promise?" Her raspy voice called out quietly.

"Have I ever broken a promise, Saiko?"

"Nuh-uh."

"So you promise?"

"Pinky promise?"

"Alright, pinky promise." Both girls intertwined their fingers together swearing not to break this vow, not wanting to disappoint the other as it'd give them something valuable in return.

A significant gift from the girl she looks up to, and a better relationship with the girl she wants to protect the world from.

A ghoul who consumed only genitals from the opposite sex wasn't uncommon to hear, but was pretty unsettling to hear the least. As her name suggested, she only ate testicles—and her traces were rather odd.

Cases of human trafficking in ghoul society wasn't uncommon at all. After all that's how the Gourmet's eat after all—and ghoul restaurants were still as popular as ever, but that may just be considered kidnapping and homicide.

"Well..?" Haise muttered into hi in-earpiece.

Seated at the designated restaurant, the Quinx squad was separated by tables. A group of three by the back of the restaurant and one closer to where The Nutcracker and her accomplice were seated, those being Mutsuki, Shirazu, and Saiko.

Haise, Reina and Urie situated farther away guiding the rest of the squad from afar. So far they were able to barely get anything in either of them.

"It's no good. My ears aren't up to par today." Shirazu scolded himself growing increasingly frustrated at his incompetence during an important point of their main mission.

Turning to the small blue haired girl, Shirazu nudged her and asked if she could hear anything, but all that came out was her describing the sound of the meat grilling in the kitchen. Unable to hold back his frustration he took it out in the girl and whacked her on the head while cursing her out.

Sighing, Reina looked up from her phone and turned to the other two boys beside her and noticed that they were equally as stressed, though Urie was hiding it a lot better than Haise. Speaking of the boy, he looked to be lost in thought until Shirazu spoke into the earpiece.

"What do we do? S-should we move closer?"

"No. Knowing that when ghouls are out they're already hyper aware of their surroundings. They'll just get more suspicious of us. Plus, you guys look so out of place." She scrolled on her phone and mumbled the last part more so to herself, but Urie happened to overhear her but decided not to comment.

"Shit, I can almost hear them too-" Shirazu's arm pushed his cup over the edge of the table. The fragile glass shattering as it came into contact with the floor. Shards of glass and juice spreading all over the floor.

Haise covered his face in dread, Saiko looked at the boy in an unimpressed manner. Mutsuki turned to nervously look at the boy who was probably shitting bricks and pissing himself right about now.

Trying to act nonchalantly Urie took a sip of his coffee, and Reina continued to scroll in her phone acting as if nothing ever happened.

The Nutcracker and her accomplice turned to look over her shoulder back at the blonde before she got up to pour herself a cup of iced coffee. Her gaze never leaving his.

"I'm sorry Investigator Suzuya... the Nut seems to be returning home earlier than we expected. She may have caught onto us. I'm sorry. It was my fault.. yes sir." Haise cut the call and turned to the sulking boy.

"Squad leader. It's alright. We'll make up for it next time."

"Shirazu. Look at me," the girl ordered. He hesitantly looked up at her, "Mistakes happen. You'll get used to things not going as planned. Cheer up."

Once the squad back home Shirazu locked himself in his room out of sheer frustration and embarrassment from his supposed failure. Leaving him be Reina went up to her room and grabbed a few toiletries before heading into the bathroom and taking a warm bath.

She stripped of her day clothes and stepped into the warm water, her mind running wild until she sat down letting the warm water relax her badly and mind. Slipping further and further into the tub she let herself get consumed by the water, numbing her senses letting the wave of calmness take over.

She recalled a memory. They were in the comfort of their own home, she was on her bed reading while her sister was by the windowsill painting her nails. She'd gotten to a chapter that described a new setting she was totally unfamiliar with.

The sandy, sunny beach. Where there was an infinite amount of sand and water—inches, feet, kilometers deep. Waves that crashed up against the rocks that bordered the shore line. The feeling of cold salt water splashing against their warm skin.

"Rize, what's a beach?"

"A beach? Well they're usually considered a tropical place, but not always. They're apparently great vacation trips for when you want to take a break from everything."

"How come we've never been to the beach?"

"That, silly girl, is because there's no big bodies of water here in the city. We need to be by the coast in order to be by the beach."

"I wanna go to the beach!"

"Do you know how to swim?"

"Of course! Why wouldn't I? Kichimura taught me how to-"

A knock at the door brought her back to reality. She pushed herself up and out of the water, hands wiping the water out of her face before responding.

"Yeah?"

"I need to ask you something."

"I'll be out in a minute—hold on."

She pulled the drain plug and stepped out of the tub onto the floor. Droplets of water soaking the dry floor. She wrung her hair and wrapped it up in a towel. She grabbed her other towel and began drying herself as quickly as she could. Deciding she was dry enough she put her underwear on and messily put her outerwear on.

Leaving the bathroom a mess she opened the door, her face being met with a poker face.

"What is it?"

"I need you to sign this." He handed the sheet of papear over.

Reading it over it stated the following, surgical consent form... frame procedure... healthy... next step.

"If I don't sign this, what'll happen?"

...

"And what did Sasaki say?"

"He'll give it some thought."

"Let's go to my room. We can discuss this more privately in there." She grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him around whilst guiding him to her room. Opening the door she pushed him inside and closed it behind her.

"Okay first thing first, why do you want to get it done?"

"I-"

"And be honest with me, I don't want a bullshit answer."

"As I was saying, I feel like I'm handling my kagune better than before and my rising RC levels have stabilized. Taking the next step in the experiment would be best for me."

"No. That's the answer you should give me, I want your personal belief. I know there's a stronger feeling that's making you feel strongly about the surgery."

...

Sighing she pinched her nose bridge knowing it would get her nowhere with him. Knowing Kuki Urie, there would be no coaxing his actual feelings out. He was a smart boy, knew exactly what his peers and everyone else wanted to hear. But when it came to Reina there was no use trying to suck up to her.

"Look, I know we're not as close as I am to the other members. But you keep pushing yourself away from emoting how you truly feel in the moment, and it's not just that. Remember how you asked for the reimbursement, and how you kept handing us receipts?"

He blinked.

"You never communicated with us. Had you told us your idea, your plan, anything at all! You wouldn't have put anyone in danger. You're holding yourself back and you don't even know it because that's been your whole li-"

"Don't act like you know me-"

"But I do know you. See how you're acting defensive? You know exactly what I'm talking about, Kuki Urie."

"Shut your mouth."

"You know, I wish you would just speak your mind no matter what. I can tell that you're hurti-"

"Will you sign the form? Or not?" He cut her off before she could say anything else.

"No." She crossed her arms, her voice dripping of disapproval.

He walked out of the room and slammed the door.

"Please take a look at the files in your hands... it's a copy of a list discovered at The Nutcracker's residence.

"A list?"

"Yes. It's a grocery list. It suggests there's a connection between the Nutcracker and the madames."

"So the Nut also kidnaps people, maybe she's collecting things for the auction."

"An auction..?" Mutsuki asked after hearing the word during the case.

"It's a bidding event that the madames hold—similarly to ghoul restaurants. They bid off the victims they kidnapped," Reina explained simply, "or in other words human trafficking."

"The ghoul known as the Big Madame—the chairperson of the restaurant and the show—is notorious throughout the CCG. We've had numerous chances to eradicate her, but they all ended in failure."

"So she's a vicious ghoul..?"

"If the Nutcracker is working for the Madame this could be an important case."

"If needs be, we may work, with Countermeasure II..."

Leaving the briefing was pretty eventful. With the newfound information of the case, everything had now changed. This was going to be the first case in a while where they would actively pursue a rate: ≥ A ghoul. It was like a scary thrill ride with how surreal the moment felt as it sank in.

The five of them walked out together and murmured a few words to each other about the case.

"Sounds likes it's bigger than I expected..."

"Yeah. A joint investigation with Countermeasure II rarely happens. Guess it's all up to the Nut... we need to be at our best." Haise stated, everyone else knowing that it was true. If they lacked competence in any way, shaper, or form they'd end up six feet under.

"Hey, Sassan, Nana."

Bothe mentors perked up at their names being called upon by the blonde boy beside them.

"Is Urie okay? Being sent to the hospital out of nowhere like that."

"Sorry, I don't know. I was just informed myself."

Reina sighed knowing exactly what happened. After the argument that ensued the night he presented her the consent form, she knew that he'd still get the surgery behind their backs. How he was able to go through with it? She didn't know, but she probably had a feeling he forged their signatures or something.

"I'm sure he'll be fine, Shirazu. Urie's a tough nut, he'll get through whatever's going on in his immune system." She reassured the boy, not letting anything slip.

"I don't know. I can't reach Dr. Shiba either."

"I hope it's nothing serious."

"They said he'll be back in a few days. It'll just be us then."

"We have a meeting tonight. Shirazu, there's someplace I have to go to after I lecture Saiko. Can I have the car keys?" Haise reached his arm out as the boy pulled the keys out without hesitation and passed them to the man.

After Haise came back, he wasted no time to call everyone into the meeting room to announce their new plan. He sat everyone down and gave them the shorter version of what he was told,

"The Nut is scoping out potential victims in clubs and other places in the 13th ward. The list includes some unusual criteria for victims. Ocular prosthesis... vocalist, and some general ones like specific height and weight."

He stood up, " guys. We're going to become women."

wc: 2.8k previous chapter  masterlist next chapter

a/n: this’ll be the last chapter for the month, and I’ll be taking a break due to personal reasons. I’ll continue writing whilst I’m on hiatus, so it’ll be easier to post once I’m done and so I’m ahead of my schedule. I’ll be back by May! So I’ll see you guys then!

ps. I wasn’t going to post today at all, but I felt like I was depriving everyone and myself of giving y’all the next chapter, so here you are

Tag list:

[playerglx2020]

explaining everything about rain world and the timeline (in a very incorrect way)

there are pretty much spoilers under this cut + very long text (may be quite unfunny)

rain world is one of the peak survival & tribe managing simulator and violence simulator game of all time where you play as a creature known as a slugcat and there are other several creatures in this game such as dragons, flying birds with masks, a giant centipede,a bat,a dropping creature that gives you jumpscare and so much more and there are 3 slugcats to play with and 5 other that are locked behind a dlc called wet planetary uprising that totalizes 8 slugcats to play with and we have a banana slugcat, the banana slugcat's brother,turbocancer slugcat,a fat slugcat (in a good way),a demoman main slugcat,a spiky one,fishy one and the pacifist one now lets begin by telling the start of the timeline with a slugcat known as the needlemaster to the end of timeline with the Jesus floofly one spearmestr:the slugcat that is a artficial one made by seven red moons and its a messenger that delivers stuff and has no mouth but can speak using hands and he can do some cool drawings and can pull a infinite amount of needles out of his tail and drain creature's blood to fill his hunger meter anyways the spearmaster has a objective to deliver a pearl inside his body to someone known as 5 stones that is killing looks to the sun and spearmaster goes inside 5 rock's chamber and instead of a casual normal welcome 5 pebes violently removes the pearl inside his body but dont worry he recovered from it and he got kicked out along with the pearl so he must go to looks to the moon but he must avoid some creatures known as scavengers since they attempt to take the porl from you and after a long journey he made to looks to the moon and she casually asks him to deliver the same porl but with some modifications on it into the antenna in a sky region to make a sad announcement so he did....and we never heard of him again

artificier:the slugcat that commits several warcrimes in a violent way and also commited cannibalism against scavengers and you ask how it just escalated very quick??? you see arti has a pretty sad past that her pups died because the scavs killed them so she takes revenge on them also she is on a journey to find the king but there are 2 obstacles 1.your karma is stuck to level 1 but atleast you can steal karma from dead scavengers and bypass the gates 2.the scav raid to your location are frequent so you literally have to prepare yourself but also has a companionship and its the drone with red eyes so arti decided to go to 5 bepes and he fixes the drone that is corrupted with virus and malwares on it and he asks arti to kill the king on metropolis which is a nod to the fact that they share same enemies so arti goes to metropolis and she finds the king so she decides to fight against the king and the king dies....so she takes the mask and goes onto a rampage against the scavs huntor:the slugcat with cancer on it that has a slighty high speed and can hold a spear on his back and has 2 things a pearl and a glowing green stuff and his journey is quite hard because you have to get max level karma and ascend so he goes to the sky area and he finds a creature known as a echo dont worry the echo is not dangerous to you and after finding 3 echoes on different locations during his way to Moon he visits 5 Pebbles and he gives hunter extra life (which is not that much but we must be grateful for that) and after a long painful traveling and he finds a aquatic and giantic creature on sea known as leviathian (also if you ever find him R U N)and after that he finds moon aslep so the green neuron stuff flies and then speaks enchantment table to revive neurons then moon and she says to hunter that he have no enough time and hunter goes to subterrain and goes into a yellow & dark & glowing fluid and he ascends gormod: the overweight slugcat that has infinite amount of items inside of him and he can craft stuff just like hit game Minceraft and can jump onto creatures and killing them just like Supra Mayo Bros but he can be easily tired and he has 1 important journey to explore regions and 1 optional quest that requires you to eat almost anything even lizards but the game to his home is blocked so he goes to 5p and he unlocks the gate so he can go back home and have happy ending suviver: a normal slugcat (thats it theres nothing special about it) so he got separated from his family and got lost but he goes from region to region and meets 2 robots known as 5 stones and eyeballs to the sun so he found his way to home and there are nobody there (but atleast he came back home) mank: physically weak and surviver's young brother basically goes same journey but instead he tries to find his brother that got separated and once he found him on his home with kids he got a ending after a few days or weeks or months or years idk how is the calender in this game waterlet:the sugar addicted slugcat that goes fast than lighting mcqueen and she is made to finish spikemaster's job so she visits moon first and then goes to 5 rocks however 5 pebes's place has been infested with something known as rot and he asks rivulet to take a funny core and give to moon so moon can enjoy having her windows xp OS back so she did also fun fact the core gives a zero gravity power for a short time now onto the christmas period Saint:pacifist and weak compared to mok also instead of the tormental & painful rain its a snow that is deadly so he must go do 2 things 1.go find other echoes so he can have a true power to ascend creatures

2.survive so after he found all echoes and got special powers he ascends 2 robots first was moon living peacefully and last was 5 beples living in pure D E P R E S S I O N with a destroyed darky city that got trillions of spiders extinct just like the dinos so he goes to subterrain and he goes to a place called Rubicon also known as hell so he have to get to the top and he meets a worm creature but saint ascends worm and he became a echo then it ends with him being sleepy on start which maybe is a fact that its going to sisyphus mode and the end

[thedenofravenpuff]

Once the first wave of Ruined Attendant hit the Internet I tried to write a fic of being an urban explorer checking out the old ruins of the pizzaplex, but  soon lost the drive and never write more than the first chapter. 

BUT is had a cameo for MapBot, so here ya go, some FNAF Ruin DLC MapBot for your MapBot needs!

Fic snippet under the cut 

Moving away from the atrium you did note a lack of windows further in to provide natural light. This is why you pack for all occasions when exploring, though you wanted to save your torch batteries if you could, by trying to just let your eyes adjust to the dimmer light as you went on. The flashlight on your phone was saved for emergency to not drain its battery in case of needing to call for help after using up all its juice like a moron.

All about planning ahead and be prepared for anything.

So you walked on to explore, looking around with  glee. This place was HUGE, you probably wouldn’t get to see even half of it within just one day! Worth revisiting that was for sure! You would have to map out the place to check off where you had b-

“tAk-tAk-taKe a MaP!”

You jumped, only thing keeping you from shrieking loud enough to echo throughout the entire building was the feeling that you nearly swallowed your own tongue in shock. You staggered and coughed for breath, while getting something shoved into your face.

Your brain a chain of irrational thoughts trying to make sense of what was happening, was a bird or a bat flapping in your face??

Finally you grabbed what was attacking you, which immediately gave up the fight. You blinked, having to back up to try keep your balance. Paper.. a bunch of folded paper in your hand. And in front of you.. another robot, a STAFF bot!

A functioning STAFF bot!

Well, relatively.

“Tak-TaK-tAkE a m-m-m-m-m-ma-ma-mAp..!”

It was starting to slump forward, jerked back up again only to slump forward once more. Hand held out to you now empty, after you had taken the pamphlet it had been slapping your face with. You heard a spinning sound, looking down to see the wheels going, yet moving it nowhere as it had gotten itself stuff in a collection of roots from a plant left to grow wild.

“Ha-hA-Ha-hAve a n-N-n-N-N-N-NiCe daY!”

It finally stopped its attempts to move and slumped over for good.

Huh. Okay, so. That was unexpected, you are pretty sure your heart nearly exploded out of your chest right then and there! Breathe in, breathe out.

Last thing you expected was a robot still active and moving a decade after the place closed down! Damn!

You gave yourself a break to calm down, before taking a few pictures of the offending machine. Now quiet and still where it was stuck.

Looked much alike the bot you found at the entrance, but instead of a mop this one was armed with a wide brimmed hat and the pamphlet it had been attacking you with. You saw pockets with more of those on it. Guess this was a bot whose entire purpose was to.. hand out maps to guests? Man, time really must been rough on it in here, you can’t imagine that going well by jumpscaring customers like that. Poor thing.

You put the map down after unfolding it, picking up your torch and turning it on to get a better look. A map was perfect for exploration!

Except for one problem.

This map SUCKED.

I want the FNAF tag flooded with Mapbot fanart right now honestly.

I'm glad I give the guy a little featuring role every time Sun or Moon venture to the Pizzaplex in my fic

[xstarkillerx]

Maul in the Jedi Temple (drabble)

I don’t know how much sense this is gonna make because it’s been a vague idea in my head for weeks, but if you’re a maul lover like me, do yourself a favour and (don’t) play the TFU Jedi Temple DLC wearing the Maul skin. It absolutely will make you confront the idea of Maul, years after the Clone Wars, seeking out the Temple Ruins for... something. He doesn’t quite know why he’s there, but he feels as though the front gate itself might smite him for daring to look upon it, even when it lets him in with ease.

He spends some time exploring the ruins, most of it untraversable now, but still grand, still teeming with light and remnants of a dead religion. The force feels different here. When he crushes the statues in the hall, or lifts the giant globe off the ground, it's not a destructive act, it's almost playful, a back and forth between him and the energy that flows through the building.

Something calls him to the heart of the temple, a dark hall with a Holocron at the end of it. Blue and holy and inviting it bursts to life without his having to touch it, putting forth a towering projection of a man, a Jedi, in a hood.

"My son..." It booms and what a novel concept, Maul thinks, a Jedi bearing children. " you now control your own destiny. The dark side is strong in you," Maul feels small, infantile, voyeuristic, dwarfed by the projection with the warm voice whose message is clearly not for him." but you can still be saved.” It says. “The blood of a true Jedi, my blood, flows through you but you must complete the trials..." He tunes the rest out. It isn't long before he is blinded and dropped in the middle of a stone abyss.

Menial challenges are set before him, the fabled Jedi trials, child’s fodder honestly, but he proceeds. Maul is led to a stone platform. From the dark emerges something that makes him want to vomit, a red zabrak with black markings, silent, stoic, no older than 22 years old. He sees it now, he was truly a frightening presence at that age. Darth circles him on hunter’s feet, never making so much as an audible scuff on the stone floor. Maul flexes his left foot, a new habit garnered by a tight joint he hasn’t had the spare part to fix yet. He knows himself, knows that Darth will attack swiftly, so he takes what milliseconds he has to try to remember how he would have fought when his body was complete. He'd be faster, lighter, more agile, but more cocky, a warrior who hasn't tasted the sour of loss; loss of limb, loss of life, of status, of sanity.

The duel is bloody, a flurry of red light. Maul hasn't thrown himself into battle like this since he was a young man, thirsty for purpose and proof that his existence is not a mistake. Maul reigns victorious in the end. He slices Darth in half and pierces him through the heart with his saber, a sickening thing to watch from this new perspective after playing in his head over and over again those long years he spent in the madness and filth. He kicks Darth’s body off the ledge into the seeming endless abyss. A guttural scream erupts from his chest and he falls to his knees. It stings his eyes and scratches away at the walls of tight throat, the urge to cry like a babe. 

The dark side is strong in you but... echoes in his ears. Maul thinks about whoever's wretched son that Holocron was meant for, what special purpose he must have to be seen as redeemable in the eyes of the pious Jedi.  

  The dark side is strong in you but... Maul covers his ears, a futile action in the in the bellowing silence of the stone abyss, but it lets him hear his own heart rate as it slows in the comedown from adrenaline. 

The dark side is strong in you but... He thinks about his own miserable little life. He thinks of parenthood, of those precious few moments his mother held him before damning her runt. 

 The dark side is strong in you but... He thinks of Sith, of Jedi, of the force that binds the two. What would he have been if they had found the runt first, those so-called keepers of peace. If they raised him in the light, would they have adorned his horns in silly beads, given him sandy coloured robes, condemned him to life lacking in riches and sex and... would they have abandoned him too?

“but you can still be saved.”  Maul retches at the thought. The Jedi failed that runt, as they failed the Galaxy those many years ago. The Jedi failed him, it was never his choice to make an enemy of them. And yet...

 Maul absentmindedly flexes his left foot and adjusts his position on the floor, folding his metal legs under himself as best he can. The thought does cross his mind that somehow he’s found himself on the winning end of their trial, their test of worthiness, at the heart of their temple. He chooses not to linger on it. Maul finds himself occupied with the lively silence of the temple instead, a warm breeze of energy passing through his body like a sheet of linen.

 Somewhere, floating in that space in time, he realizes his lightsaber went over the ledge with Darth, buried in the young man’s chest. 

Somehow it’s not a discomforting thought.

[theliterarywolf]

I think the worst thing about the whole welcome home situation is that it really brings to light 1. just how "commercialized" the perception around creative pursuits has become (it might not be the right word but I can't think of another one). like this isn't [insert random corporation]'s IP #67484934 but someone's own work they are still directly involved in and unaffiliated with any major company. and 2. somehow the basic concept of respecting boundaries has been lost not just on fanpol but some proshippers too it seems. "no nsfw of my original characters please" is a pretty reasonable boundary actually and if someone feels the need to do it anyways they should at least have the decency to keep it private and away from the og creator instead of mocking them for *checks notes* being so arrogant as to have one boundary on interacting with THEIR work that they were so kind as to share with others on the internet

"Just how "commercialized" the perception around creative pursuits has become"

No, that's it exactly and we can see this echoed and causing the trickle effect that has led to the current situation with art and creative media in general.

Look at how the concept of a good adaptation (books, games, comics, anime, etc) is a rarity and not the norm. It's because you have a bunch of talking-head studio-executives not seeing the IPs they're scrambling over as creations from individual groups and artists but just something to get eyes on a watered-down screen, milk for ad-revenue, and then repeat the process with another IP.

Look at how the Triple-A video game space has turned into less of a 'we want to create fresh new experiences and ideas' and more 'okay, let's get a skeleton crew to make enough of a game to justify DLC and live-services for a year or two... Okay, time to do the same thing over again!'

Look at NFTs and AI "art" and how, the only reason why those two things were able to rise to the plague they currently are is because you have this brain-dead portion of the population who refuse to see art as a practiced skill of human labor that should be paid for and appreciated as such but, instead, they just 'want something pretty to look at for a second before getting another something pretty to look at for a second before...' Ad-nauseum.

Two perfect recent examples of that last one: one dude who calls himself rapidly making 'better' art of Princess Peach when all he's doing is clicking on an AI and getting nightmare amalgamations that look worse than pre-Toy Story Pixar and one person who made a piece of Sonic fanart with a human fem!Sonic in the center but all the 'Sonics' around her looked more inbred than the Hapsburgs.

But, of course, even with actual artists pointing out 'hey, these look wonky/weird/bad', you have thousands of people who don't care. Why? Well, look back to a certain comment that people use to dunk on current Star Wars, Marvel, and other mainstream IPs:

'Don't ask questions; just consume product and then get excited for the next product'.

No one wants to think about the creators of their favored IPs anymore. They just want to be given the shiny new ball to treat (or mistreat) in any way they see fit for a while before dumping it to the wayside a month or so later to do it to something else. And if, heaven forbid, you get a creator who dares to want to have some matter of agency with how people engage with their creation, well...

'Why do you hate people having fun?'

'Well, I'm just going to do it anyway.'

'So... Anyway, these characters are now mine because the creator is obviously shitty and doesn't know them as well as I do'

And then

The Cycle

Repeats

Anew.