#if you have stories i'd love to hear them!

[scarlet--wiccan]

Hi, do you know if Pietro is albinos or just has light skinned (colorism).

Neither, and you're using both of those words incorrectly. Pietro has white hair as part of his "mutation," and his skin tone is the same as Wanda's-- which, in their current official designs, is a light/medium brown.

If you're assuming that Pietro may have albinism simply because he has white hair, I would encourage you to do some research, because that's not how the condition works. I have always found the way fandom equates albinism with fantasy hair colors to be reductive and insensitive-- although it's not my experience to speak on, so if anyone with a more informed perspective is willing to share their thoughts, I'd love to hear them. Regardless, there are many other factors that a person with albinism is likely to exhibit, physically, and to experience both socially and medically, none of which have ever been ascribed to this character.

Colorism is not "having light skin." It is a term that is used to describe prejudice and discrimination towards towards people with darker skin tones, or, in certain contexts, preferential treatment of those with lighter skin and more euro-centric features. This comes up in a lot of conversations about intracommunal issues, and it's usually not appropriate for someone outside of a racial group to comment on this, but I will say this-- when someone with lighter skin feels like they don't fit in with their peers or community, that is not colorism.

To my knowledge, the idea that Pietro has lighter skin than Wanda is based solely on Uncanny Origins: Quicksilver, a retelling of Wanda and Pietro's origin story and childhood that was published in 1996. Such retellings are dubiously canon at best-- they often take liberties with certain events and create contradictions that aren't ever acknowledged in the main continuity. Uncanny Origins is guilty on both counts, and it does something really strange with the twins' racial identities. At one point, Marya comments that Wanda and Pietro aren't truly Roma, which is not only false-- at this point, both Erik and Magda were thought to be Sinti, so as far as readers were aware, the twins were Romani on all sides-- but it's also just not something I believe that a mother would say in this context.

The narration also states that Pietro has a hard time fitting in with the community because of his lighter skin. Keep in mind, all of the characters in this comic are colored the same way, so there's no difference between Wanda, Pietro, or any of the other Roma, and they all pretty much look like white people. Beyond that, I just don't think this is an accurate or likely scenario-- Romani identity is nuanced, but it's not predicated on appearance. Even if Pietro was notably lighter, he'd be less likely to face rejection from within the community, and more likely to be at risk of violence from outsiders. There is a history of lighter-toned and white-presenting Romani children being taken from their families.

Like I said, Romani identity is complicated, especially when it comes to adoption, but it's not appropriate for outsiders to speak on this and I really don't like the tone that Uncanny Origins takes. I usually tell people to disregard this portrayal, since it's such an isolated incident. It's worth noting, as well, that none of this aligns with the twins' updated backstory. In the current continuity, Django is Wanda and Pietro's uncle, and their mother, Natalya, placed them in his and Marya's care. They, and the rest of their community, knew exactly who these children were, and there would have been no question about their racial background or sense of belonging.

[crimsonxe]

To start with the whole point of my response was the fact that I'm a multishipper hence the mentioning of me shipping AmberPrice, Pricefield, and AmberPricefield. In other words I'm not purely a Pricefielder.

1- Shouldn't be that hard to understand. Pricefielders & LGBT+ fans were stabbed in the back by DE in their breaking up a 10+ year iconic LGBT+ pair; doubled in how shittily & disrespectfully as it was done. Michel is one of the OG writers aka fathers of LiS from DontNod who put out a social post saying that Pricefield would never break up; they could have rough patches but never fully break up. He & DontNod are the true canon makers for LiS1 & 2 as those are games helmed by them.

2- Yes, your ass ignoring or trying to handwave away Pricefield's importance and connection = you're a dumabass. Especially since you repeatedly try to do it across at least 3 posts of yours (which you put in the damn Pricefield tag no less; ofc your ass is going to get raked over coals).

Um fuck no, Pricefield should not be "just friends" for your dumbass's preference. My Max didn't sacrifice the Bay because she was just friends with Chloe, she was fully in love with her. Which again was shown once again by DontNod in LiS2-Bae route w/ green-haired Chloe. Have you never heard the stories of sapphic ex's repeatedly getting back together? Also this shit is fantasy not a documentary.

Chloe isn't the past, Chloe is the shining light that came out of the past. Max throwing away the past instead of accepting it and healing from it, then walking forward with a partner who had gone through the same major events as well as shown her devotion to her as much as she had for her = the better damn route that is ACTUAL growth; you wanting her to toss away Chloe in order to make way for Safi IS BIAS.

I never said anywhere that going solo was a bad thing, but even one of the fathers of LiS says that isn't how the two would go.

As already pointed out your dumbass made sure to include Pricefield tag shoving your shit into it. I went through it thinking that surely I'd find a point where I could at least see where you were coming from, a kernel; but nope. I just saw more and more bullshit, so I'm most definitely the opposite of a fan.

You are definitely not a Pricefielder. You can try to slap a fake ass sticker on yourself if you want; but not a damn Pricefielder around would speak like your dumb fucking ass has.

In other words your ass doesn't have a clue about the characters, because I listed out the assassinations that anyone that actually knows the characters would already have caught themselves. No, Chloe breaking up with Max isn't at all fucking realistic or fucking matching to her goddamn character. LiS1 & BtS make it very damn clear that once someone gets past Chloe's mental/emotional walls she's VERY loyal to them. To the point that she hears about Frank and Rachel and STILL wants to find out what happened with her; same damn thing goes for Max. Max wouldn't let the relationship just die either, ESPECIALLY after LiS1 and seeing how that impacted Chloe the first time they separated. Max also would definitely not be into a fucking Nathan Prescott douche in general, but especially given what happened in LiS. With Amanda I can at least handwave/eye-roll it away cause she's basically a soft demure femmed up lipstick lesbian with minor elements of Chloe buried in the cashmere. I also love how you just ignored certain things like Max's hurling the Rachel barb at Chloe in her journal or Chloe of all people talking about a threesome with some guy. Nvm that Max can technically abuse her powers to hook up with Vinh/Amanda in the separate branches; as if she'd ever fucking do that. Hell even Michel once again in a post on socials said that Decknine's version of Max and Chloe aren't ones he & his team would've done or recognized.

Um no, dumbass she loves Chloe so she does what is needed to save her from y'know DYING. That's just fucking love and care for another person. It is very much fucking healthy and that you see that as unhealthy yet nudge Safi/Max says worlds about your views on relationships.

3- Do I want them to continue Max and Safi's dynamic? Sure, there's interesting aspects there involving one wanting to restrain her powers and another wanting to openly flex hers. But I do NOT at all want it to be all about them, especially with the fucking bit about going back to the Bay. That's pure setup for Chloe to return and the next creative team would be braindead to not rectify DE's team's mistake by delivering a Chloe storyline & OPTION in the end. It won't make up for the character assassination, which is where them putting in a scene to show that DE is a side-branch comes in. Though Decknine already gave enough reason to run with that anyway via their changing Chloe's hair in the LiS2-Bae picture from green to blue; likely cause they have no respect towards DontNod and their characters. But their fuck up allows for one to toss DE into a side-branch, while green-haired Chloe & Max handled by DontNod remain as the main canon. On top of that having opportunity for Safi to use her shape-shift ability to fuck with Max via Chloe and Chloe via Max as part of their storyline.

4- Completely ignoring the actual important detail where your ass offers every other option BUT a Chloe one. Nvm that Michel once again father of LiS, Max, and Chloe stating that the two would always come back together and never fully break up. Hell iirc even recently on the anniversary he was out replying suggestively to Pricefield posts specifically; because he knows the importance of the pair both to each other and to LGBT+ fans that got into the series due to them.

5- Do get your comprehension skills up, cause if your ass bothered to actually read you'd notice that I stated that "violence against women" is AN ELEMENT within; but the core of the entire goddamn first LiS revolves around PRICEFIELD. How the fuck your ass went through the episodes and have at all interacted w/ social media related to the game and not realized that I don't fucking know. Maybe you have that level of damn mental filters put in place. If there wasn't Chloe in the bathroom getting shot, there'd be no time travel; without Chloe and Max's relationship there'd be no story at all just a skeleton of story beats.

Bitch there is no delusion as proven by pointing to Michel AKA ONE OF THE FATHERS OF THE GODDAMN GAME where he fucking basically backs up MY fucking views on things. YOUR ASS is the one off on your own delusional ass island somewhere. On top of that I RESPECT DontNod for what they did with LiS and offering an LGBT+ main damn pairing back in 2015, when LGBT+ was still just starting to be an accepted thing in media. Hell even the fucking comics know the characters, relationship, and story enough to respect DontNod; thus fitting in-line with LiS characterization. Mostly cause Emma actually loved LiS, its characters, its iconic relationship, and gave respect to DontNod.

You fail at grasping the characters, at grasping the relationship, at even aligning with the OG creatives, at remotely being near a Pricefielder, and you stand on nothing but bullshit pro-Safi & clear anti-Chloe bias. You accuse Pricefielders of being limited in their view of things, but YOUR ass is the one that has a limited & just flatout wrong view of things. That's a matter of you not aligning with Michel and DontNod in anyway shape or form, where they're the damn OG creatives that made the damn characters & game.

this is probably going to be EXTREMELY controversial so i dont expect ANYONE to agree (please dont hate me 🙏🙏🙏‼️‼️‼️) but i REALLY DONT WNAT CHLOE BACK IN DE2. I HAVE REASONS!!!!!!!!

1. i think that it'll be viewed as a cash grab and like pricefield / chloe fans r never happy sooooo

2. if chloe and max were to get back together for some unforeseen reason i think that woukd ruin max's potential growth in de2 in my opinion. like i PERSONALLY think that her 'losing' chloe should help her move on from the past and should be portrayed as something that can help her move forward instead of dwelling on what could have been (as taylor swift once said, everything you lose is a step you take 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️)

3. i think she'd be so out of place and id rather have de2 focus on max and safi's relationship and this highkey sounds lkke bias because of my fixation but i PROMISE YOU its not.. mostly...

4. i think that max should grow by herself i really dont think she needs to be attached to chloe by the fucking hip.. like i would be so fucking ecstatic if you got to be with amanda/vinh/safi at the end of de2 but i think the most realistic ending would be for her to be by herself, not FOREVER, but for a good amount of time for her to be secure with being by herself because i personally think max is extremely codependent with chloe.. if .. that makes sense

[taro-pdf]

I don't have a lot of the aro/ace experiences growing up. I was and am a creature of comfort, and things that made me uncomfortable I avoided; since my school was small, religious, and I had trusted adults, I never felt enough peer pressure to do stuff I didn't want.

I never realized I should have a crush. I only realized people actually had crushes in college.

I never realized sex was a thing people desired because it was discouraged. I only realized, again, in college.

I never realized how much kissing on screen really bothered me because I didn't continue watching shows that i didn't like. I only realized yesterday watching the bachelorette with my roommates.

... though I do remember crying when talking about my wedding night with my dad one time lol. (edit to add: assumed future wedding night)

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

i wanna know more about svsss menopause

They synced their periods together too well. Now they are synced through their perimenopause years.

[luguangs]

Shaking your hand shaking your hand shaking your hand. Thank you for being the first person to engage with my rambling 1000xRESIST post. Also compliments on the username; I do think ORV has some parallels in 1000xRESIST. Specifically how both Dokja and Iris were in isolation, and duplicated themselves in a way where their copy hated them and tried to kill them. The main difference being that Dokja had others who cared about him, but Iris had already gotten rid of anyone who might intervene in her new world. And both of them are EXCELLENT at being works that have no single all-consuming thesis, but instead are complex and interwoven narratives that cannot be consumed and understood in a single attempt, or even by a single viewpoint.

absolutely insane ask to wake up to. hello. a fellow 1xr AND orv enjoyer oh my gosh..... how does it feel having immaculate taste!!! we are melding minds rn 🧠🤝🧠

throwing up blood at the dokja/iris parallels i feel sick to my stomach!!! thank YOU for being the first person to bring up the orvcore of this game. i've been literally vibrating out of my skin without anyone to scream about this hyperspecific niche with so i hope you don't mind me rambling for a sec lmao

you're SO right about their similarities and it's breaking my heart.... also the way both iris and dokja only know how to sacrifice, and the tragic irony of how they both take after their mothers in this because it's the only way they know to love. and the contrast between iris deciding to show everyone her past which led to her eventual demise vs dokja hiding his past at all costs and taking up the blade to doom himself.

also! the themes of stories and memories. how the keepers/occupants were referencing memories and the outer gods were beings of excised stories. and the concept of death and remembrance as a transfer. how a story is alive as long as someone out there is thinking of it. a person living through the memories of others. how because of this both dokja and iris remained and remained and remained after death.

i also see a lot of similarities between watcher and od... both scattered across time and having lived too many lifetimes, lost in reminiscence in an endless train. they're the reason their current timeline exists because they embodied that balance between remembrance of the past and hope for the future... even if that future didn't include themselves.

the difference was watcher communed in an attempt to understand, and od dreamed out of love for that one story... but in a way, just like orv said, isn't trying to understand someone a labor of love? how you can keep rereading a person's story and find something new each time, and still never fully understand them?

oh!! i absolutely love how you articulated that last part about narratives that can't be completely understood by a single viewpoint... i've often found those to be my favorite kind of stories; the ones that raise questions without any one definitive answer, that allow for different interpretations and multiple readings. and you're right, both of these stories are PEAK in that regard 🤌

also if you'd like another story with similar vibes, interwoven narratives, and nuanced themes i highly recommend a manhwa called Truth or Dare (Jinsolhan Segye) by Yu Myeong. it's fairly short and it starts out slow but gets very philosophical and is a social commentary on so many things... i posted some rambling propaganda here if you're curious but tbh i'd rec going in blind! i don't want to say too much about it because just like with 1xr and orv there's so much joy in gleaning the themes in a story for yourself <3

[genderqueerpond]

pretty funny how every time someone tries to give Tegan a male love interest in an audio drama it somehow turns into a story about how much Tegan isn't interested at all

--- it's a curse why don't they stop trying ----

it's actually great. do the writers even know they're doing this??? my theory is that they're actually earnestly trying to write it at face value…. and then Janet Fielding delivers it ….like that….

and. well.

[technikki]

val showed off my balloon smp piece on stream and said it's one of the most gorgeous pieces they've ever received i am genuinely going to fucking cryyyy. YUUUUUUP

[frameconfessions]

I used to be obsessed with this game 4 years ago or so and wanna get back into it but can't find it in me to do it.. sigh it's still my favorite sci-fi world but now I don't know half the characters

.

[victorluvsalice]

AU Thursday: Valicer In The Dark -- More Score & Story Ideas!

Because, uh, I have a lot of ideas for stuff I want to do in this verse, and the original list from a year ago has expanded quite a fair bit:

-->While I haven't gotten all of my stories into a proper timeline yet, I do have the first five sorted:

A) "Start At The Beginning...Sort Of" -- the story currently in progress, where the trio all meet, solve Victor's ghost problem and Ghost!Emily's Barkis problem, get wrongly accused of murder, run from the police (showing off their special starting scoundrel abilities along the way), and eventually end up in Elder Gutknecht's old place in Six Towers. This is sort of the "prologue" to the whole mess, putting all of them in the right position to start on a life of crime. XD

B) "A Murder Shared Is A Murder Thirded" -- yes, I did have Gale of Baldur's Gate III's line about how "a parasite shared is a parasite halved" when I came up with that title. XD As you might imagine, this is the trio first "unofficial" score, with them going to murder Bumby, because the fucker needs murdering. Of course, it's only after they kill him that they meet up with Smiler's parents and learn they were exonerated of the original "murder" by the Spirit Wardens. XD Still no regrets, though.

C) "The Van Dort Vacancy" -- came up with that title while looking at old Oxventure Presents: Blades In The Dark episode titles and being inspired by "The Cab-Con Caper's" alliteration. This story focuses on Alice and Smiler returning Victor to the Van Dort mansion...only to discover the Van Dorts hosting a party. Victor quickly learns that his parents never even considered the idea that he might be in danger when he vanished, only caring about the fact that Victoria Everglot married someone else (and is now due to wed Imperial Guardsman Christopher White after her first husband's death and disgrace) -- and after overhearing his mother declare "what ghost would marry our Victor?" decides fuck them, he's taking his stuff, stealing what money he can, and going to live with Alice and Smiler in Six Towers. Features special guests Barnaby "The Butcher" Fortescue III and Kasimir Jones from Oxventure Presents: Blades In The Dark, because it tickled me to imagine them doing a score to steal some of the Van Dorts' money at the same time -- only for Victor to catch on to what they're doing when he meets Barnaby at the party and go "if you wait five minutes for me to get my things, I will open the safe for you and give you a good chunk of the money inside." XD

D) The currently-untitled story detailing the gang's first "official" job as a crew, picked up when they go to dinner at the Ball & Socket Pub and Smiler overhears two workers from Coalridge discussing needing to get something back from their boss -- the "something" is a list of potential union representatives that the boss stole in order to call assassins on the people listed. The workers need it back to keep their nascent union safe. Notably, the score involves the workers saying they can't give the trio much in Coin, but they'll do what they can -- and then one of them jokingly saying, "Unless you want to be paid in furniture."

Cue Victor, Alice, and Smiler, who currently live in Elder Gutknecht's-not-exactly-comfortable house, going "what kind of furniture?" XD (A couch and a proper dining table, specifically -- old furniture one of the workers was trying to shift after inheriting some stuff from a late relative.)

E) "Who You Gonna Call?" -- As you might guess from the Ghostbusters quote for a title, this story involves the gang busting some ghosts. XD Specifically, it involves Bonejangles -- here a Whisper who does entertainment work for the Ball & Socket on the side -- deciding to school Victor in the art of ghost-catching by taking him on a job to catch a few Echoes (non-sapient ghosts who continually do the same thing over and over again in a loop), with Alice and Smiler tagging along for moral support. However, as it turns out, one of those "Echoes" is actually a Specter (a sapient, feral ghost who attacks people and possesses them to feed on their life force) who was biding its time... I felt a little bad that none of the previous stories really had any Whisper-y stuff for Victor to do, and decided he needed a "day in the limelight" score -- as a bonus, this score is how he gets his ghost-hunting equipment for later!

-->I also have plans for two possible prequel stories -- one showcasing the three times Alice and Smiler talked before the events of "Start At The Beginning...Sort Of" (I have the first bit, Smiler giving Alice the money for lunch, actually written already), and one showcasing some of Smiler's life even before that (I have a rough draft of the scene where they wake up the "morning" after inventing Joy Serum and go "bwuh?" over their newly-glowing yellow eyes). Good for filling in gaps and writing more stuff from Smiler's POV!

-->I mentioned Victor wanting to make a community greenhouse very briefly in the very first post I made about the AU -- this has expanded into a whole little arc about him finding an abandoned conservatory while wandering Six Towers and the gang fixing it up into a place where they and the other residents can grow food. In order, the stories would cover:

1) Getting enough money to pay a glazier to fix all the broken window panes (or doing something for the glazier in trade)

2) Acquiring the initial plants (which involves a trip to Barrowcleft and probably doing a job for someone there in trade)

3) Victor researching ways to infuse butterflies and moths with electroplasm to create radiant energy insects to help the plants grow; my idea is that he eventually tries mixing it with some of Smiler's Joy Serum -- and gets REALLY BIG bright yellow glowing moths, to his and Smiler's delight and Alice's concern

4) And then, once the place is just about ready to "open to the public," Lord Rowan, the only lord who maintains a permanent residence in Six Towers, rocks up, claims the greenhouse is his, and demands an absolutely ASTRONOMICAL rent from the trio to use it. Fortunately he proves to be a man who likes games when Smiler asks to negotiate, and tells them if they can break into his house and get the deed to the land from the safe in his bedroom, it's theirs (the trio smartly get this written down and notarized by someone in Charterhall first; Rowan is PIIIIISSED when he realizes he'll have to honor the deal)

-->A related idea would be for the gang to encounter some of the people in Charterhall (the neighborhood mostly made up of one big university) who are working on an alternative power source to help replace leviathan blood (which is refined into the electroplasm that powers everything electric in the setting) and need a place to test it. The trio decides that the alternative energy group can try to get the streetlights back on in Six Towers, and there's a score all around helping them get there safely, and keeping Lord Rowan's nose out of it until they're done. Not sure what exactly it will entail yet, but I'm eager to find out!

-->As stated in previous posts, the gang eventually has to go after Dr. Kelman when he puts out a notice saying he wants the three captured so he can submit them to his special "social compliance therapy" (aka do horrific brain surgeries on them and/or Hollow them by ripping out their souls). This is how Victor and Alice learn Smiler's birth name, and the whole trip proves to be a rather dark look at Smiler's childhood pre-running away and joining the Advocates. In fact, I already have one specific scene in mind of Victor finding a photograph of a young Smiler and noting that their smile in the picture looks incredibly strained, as if they're desperately trying to see the bright side. Also, Miles Cedars is definitely going to show up, and possibly get to murder Kelman. Because I like giving him the chance to murder Kelman. :)

-->Speaking of Smiler angst, I also have in mind a story where, on a particularly chilly night in winter, Smiler, Victor, and Alice are wandering the streets together when Smiler somehow falls into one of the local canals. Victor and Alice fish them out as fast as possible, fortunately, but the rest of the story proves a race against time to get Smiler home and warmed before they succumb to hypothermia. Featuring half-naked cuddling when they learn that skin-to-skin contact can be an excellent way to warm a chilled person (fortunately this is after they get together as a polycule, so the partial nudity isn't as awkward as it could be)...and Smiler crying in front of Victor and Alice for the first time when they can't stop thinking about the fact that, if they'd been walking with their fellow Advocates, said Advocates would have believed them when they said they felt okay...and they probably would have died. :( It is a story of many feels, is what I am saying.

-->So, when does my OT3 actually become an OT3 in the actual stories? Shortly after the Kelman score, in a story entitled "And There Was Only One Bed" (a play on the fic trope, and the fact that the house only has one good bed -- at the time the story starts, the three are taking turns using it, with the other two sleeping on cots borrowed from The Advocates). The story involves Smiler (who has been trying to subtly push Victor and Alice together, having noticed they seem to like each other) finally revealing to Victor and Alice that they're a pretty accomplished hypnotist, and offering to use their skills to help Victor with a nasty bout of insomnia. Victor agrees, with Alice wanting to watch for her own peace of mind -- cue Smiler hypnotizing Victor the next time the three of them are going to bed...

And a deep-in-trance Victor asking to be held as he falls asleep. Prompting both Smiler and Alice to cuddle him...and fall asleep against him because neither wants to get up and possibly disturb him after he does drift off. Meaning when everyone wakes up the "morning" afterward, they're all really awkward -- Alice because she's like "wtf why did I find that hot;" Victor because he's like "oh no I liked that too much and I have to process the fact that I'm in love with both of them now;" Smiler because "damn it I think I just decreased total happiness in this household should have kept my stupid mouth shut." They do their best to push through and complete the latest job they have though (a random "steal something from this rich fucker's house" deal, it's not actually important), which ends up with them having to clamber up onto the roof at some point --

And then Victor nearly falls off said roof. Prompting both Alice and Smiler to nearly have a heart attack and have their feelings toward him thrown into STARK RELIEF. Meaning they all finally have a chat once they complete the job and get back home, which allows them to finally discover that a) they're all willing to get into a polycule and b) that they actually have quite compatible kinks. Story ends with Smiler delightedly returning one of the cots to their parents (Alice insisted on keeping one in case one of them does want or need to sleep alone) and the three of them regularly sharing the bed. :)

-->I also want to do at least one follow-up concerning them starting to play around with hypnosis, and Alice insisting she wants to do something that will help keep Victor Victor no matter what they do to his head -- cue her and Smiler coming up with a safety suggestion that involves Victor picturing the core of his personality as a glowing tree, and then having him encase it in unbreakable glass so his personality can shine out, but nothing can get in. :) It's just a sweet scene that's been rattling around in my head for a while, and I'd like to put it to virtual paper.

-->I mentioned a "Lord E.A. Bethesda" in my Duskwall Slang post a while back, as a guy who gets labeled with the very-dangerous-in-Duskwall title "Welcher" (someone who hires someone for a job, but then decides to try and kill them instead of pay them; people who do this generally end up dead themselves). How does he get saddled with this label? By hiring the Three Pillars to steal a golden beetle statue from a rival (Lord Bethesda is a bug collector, you see), plying them with a hefty reward if they pull it off (which he can afford as the "Gambling King" of Duskwall -- his fortune was built off of getting lots of people to pay him small amounts of money in hopes of great reward). They do indeed pull it off --

And Lord Bethesda happily orders them killed by his guards, forcing them to escape his house in Brightstone. However, Bethesda (who has done this before) employs Plan B and has his guards herd them toward his garden and through a gap in the lightning barrier around his home --

Before turning said barrier back ON and stranding them in the HEAVILY ghost-and-horror-riddled Deathlands just beyond (specifically, they're in the Lost District, a formerly rich neighborhood that was abandoned once the lightning barriers went up). This leads into the sequel story, where the trio have to find a way back into the city while navigating the horrors of the Deathlands...which results in them discovering that Alice's Wonderland Jabberwock, inspired by an illustrated poem she read as a child, is actually based on a REAL CREATURE. Which has the horrible eye beam and wants very much to kill them. (And which may have the voice of Christopher Lee because I might as well throw in the nod to Tim Burton's Wonderland -- Victor is VERY CONFUSED as to why it sounds like Pastor Galswells.) They manage to kill IT instead by strapping Alice's Vorpal Blade (now a real thing, Victor bought it for her as a present) to Victor's ghost-catching kit while Smiler whacks together a sort of motorized skateboard thing for them to ride on and then using the electroplasmically-charged Blade to slice the damn thing's unprotected belly open. Alice claims one of the eyes as a trophy, and shortly thereafter they're found by the Spirit Wardens, who look at the corpse and go "let's just get you back inside the barriers, shall we?" Cue the the trio tromping back to the Ball & Socket and telling the clientele about their experience...leading to Lampblack gang leader Bazso Baz declaring Bethesda a Welcher, and the guy soon afterward getting killed.

-->Not that Baz is actually a friend to the trio -- for another future story has the trio invited to one of his fancy parties, supposedly to recognize how rapidly they've made a name for themselves in the Duskwall underworld. The three go, figuring it's a good way to keep relations good with their fellow criminals -- but are quickly rather disgusted by the party itself, as it feels pretty much like any party Nell Van Dort would throw (overly ostentatious and making it clear he's only in it for the power). They resolve to get through the shindig and head home...

And then Baz reveals that the actual reason they were invited was because they've collected a variety of bounties on their heads (including a big one from the Van Dorts, specifying Alice and Smiler have to die but Victor be brought home alive, and a huge one from Lord Rowan, wanting them ALL dead) and the other criminals want to claim them. Cue the Three Pillars having to try and find a way to escape from the house as the other criminals hunt them. Fortunately for them, they have unexpected allies in Baz's staff, with one guy in particular having a sister and nephew in Six Towers whom they've helped a lot (probably both in general with the greenhouse, and specifically by helping the kid when he got sick once). They eventually manage to get out with the staff's help, and limp their way back to Six Towers...

Just in time to see Lord Rowan trying to make a big speech to the citizens about "how your heroes are dead" and blah blah blah. He is gobsmacked to see the trio still alive, leading to, of all people, Smiler strolling up to him and clocking him in the face. XD Gaining the Three Pillars a reputation as, frankly, unkillable...

Aaaand I should probably cut it there because this post is getting long enough. XD And I haven't even touched upon all the stories I have in mind that are based off of other properties I like! Guess that would be a good follow-up post to this one, huh? :p

[broke-bruce-wayne]

Does anyone else ever think about things that happened in your life where, if someone else told you about it, you would be skeptical that it actually happened?

[fiepige]

Venom!Hobie Cat-Symbiote AU!

Okay so I might have made an AU of my AU...

It's based on my Venom!Hobie au but with a slightly (?) lighter tone in the sense that Hobie actually gets along well with his symbiote. Though they initially mostly get along due to shared mutural trauma... (But more about that later)

This version of the symbiote is more animalistic and usually communicates with Hobie through emotions- sorta projecting its own emotions and feelings towards him to let him know how it feels about something, though it might also communicate via single words or short sentences but that's pretty rare.

So, I'll do like I did in my original Venom!Hobie post and focus on the Design first:

Since they get along the symbiote feels safe around Hobie and thus it'll often "extend" itself outside of him and take the shape of a (freaky looking) cat - Kinda like how VENOM is able to partially seperate itself from Eddie while still being tethered to him:

Like this but they actually get along and the symbiote looks kinda like this:

(Once again- I CANNOT draw but the brainrot is stronger so I need to share this)

(I didn't draw the symbiote goo that would extend from it to tether it to Hobie but it's there I swear!)

Since this is Spider-Punk's symbiote I wanted some of the spikes to carry over in this design

I haven't quite decided if it should have the "running-mascara" look (buttom drawing) for its eyes like Spider-Punk's mask has or not so lemme know what you guys think?

The spikes are used as a way for it to communicate to others as a way to make its body language more expressive (though it only shows itself around people it really trusts so it rarely uses them as it still just communicates its emotions directly to Hobie when it needs to)

And like with Venom!Hobie the spikes are reminiscent of symbiote teeth

When it's relaxed/happy the spikes will be pressed down towards its body - making it easy to pet- if somebody would dare approach it that is

Hobie pets it a lot as it usually sits on his shoulder when he walks around (when there's nobody around that is)

The symbiote is still made of the same goo as regular symbiotes so it does not feel like petting a cat at all- Hobie doesn't mind but most other people find it rather unpleasant to touch

The "fuzzy" look is just the symbiote goo trying to imitate cat fur

The reason the symbiote takes this form is partially because it's more animalistic and likes physical affection (from people it trusts, it will bite your hand off if it doesn't like/trust you and you try to pet it) and partially because Hobie is a cat person and it used it as a method to make Hobie like it more when they first "met" + petting it helped Hobie calm down and still does

It's gotten pretty good at mimicking cat noises including purring

It'll usually stay on Hobie's shoulder or sit in his lap like this, it's still tethered to him so it can't go that far without him - not that it really wants to anyways

If it likes someone it'll rub itself against their legs and mimic purring noises

Okay now we move on to the

Origin:

This is my current headcanon for this AU but as always feel free to share your thoughts/ideas/inputs if you have any <3

Hobie and the symbiote "met" at one of Oscorp's labs

Hobie was living as a homeless teen (13-14 years old having escaped an abusive household a few months prior) and was captured by Oscorp to be used for their symbiote experimentations

Hobie was an easy target as he had just been bitten by the radioactive spider a few hours prior and thus he was starting to suffer from the fever the bite gave him

Hobie was to be fused with a new kind of symbiote

The symbiote had been made to make people more susceptible to orders- making them less inclined to think for themselves

But in order to make that possible the symbiote had been put through some rather painful and extreme experiments- making it more "dead" than alive at this point

When it's fused with Hobie, who's still very sick at this point, the spider bite is still working its magic on Hobie's body and thus it also partially heals the symbiote

Both Hobie and the symbiote are terrified of their situation as they're put in holding cells made specifically for symbiotes.- Their only comfort is each other.

The symbiote takes on the cat like appearance to soothe Hobie after being subjects to a particularly bad experiment

Since Hobie's gotten powers from both the spider bite and the symbiote they quickly become the subjects for many inhumane and painful experiments as the scientists futilely try to figure out how to replicate the symbiote (as they're unaware of the spider bite, thinking the symbiote alone is behind Hobie's new powers)

Due to the symbiote Hobie develops a taste for human flesh

And he gets his first taste of it as he manages to escape the lab during one of their many tests- killing as many guards and scientists on their way out as possible. (This is also the first time they fully transform into Venom!Hobie)

He would later return and burn the lab down completely.

As a result of their treatment at the lab + Hobie's past with his abusive family, both him and the symbiote have developed a deep distrust to other people.

Which is also why Hobie isn't trying to get rid of the symbiote, he considers it his only friend for a long time.

Hobie still loves playing music (which is also how he eventually makes new friends) but has had to make some adjustments due to the symbiote, thus he usually uses both earplugs and noise cancelling earmuffs when he's playing and even then he still gets migraines if he plays for too long or too loud

He still craves human flesh and will usually target cops or anyone associated with Oscorp to sate his hunger.

He doesn't feel bad about killing but will still try not to harm civilians (emphasis on try- sometimes the hunger gets the best of him)

He still operates as Spider-Punk but for a long time he's mostly fueled by his hatred for Oscorp and how they treated him and the symbiote

But as he slowly learns to open up to people he starts to shift his focus onto figting to help people and make the city safer (which means he'll still target cops and Oscorp employees but that's not his only focus anymore) (he also makes an effort to actually save civilians at this point)

Though due to the symbiote and their past this version of Spider-Punk is more prone to just straight up killing his villains (+ he still gotta eat right?)

But I'd like to imagine that this version of Hobie also finds his own community who help him out and accept both him and the symbiote

Giving them kind of a "happy" ending despite this version of Hobie being more messed up and unhinged...

Once again this turned out way longer than I intended lol (I just can't shut up about Venom!Hobie, the brainrot is real!)

Thank you so much for reading!!! <3 <3 <3

(And please let me know if you have any thoughts/inputs/questions about anything I wrote! The brainrot is real and I'll never get tired of talking about this guy)

Also click here if you wanna read more about my Venom!Hobie concept <3

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

Me, at my coworker: I finished both Kyoshi novels. Coworker: Uh oh. How you holding up? Me: I thinking about walking into traffic

[unladielike]

Every once in a while, I'd remember @spiritpyro's Hayate mentioning in his internal monologue that he likes everything about Vivian, including even her personality and her speech patterns, which to this day, makes me emotional, because as a character, Vivian has gone through a lot... from characters getting pissed off at her for saying the wrong thing (thereby ending a thread prematurely) to characters outright not getting her humour and claiming she's unkind, even though it hadn't been her intention to offend them.

Granted, I don't really treat those as canon occurrences, because I'm not really a single verse blog, so any interactions from partners who have broken mutuals with me/deactivated/didn't follow me on my remade blog are null and void (meaning as far as Vivian is concerned, they have never occurred and will no longer be referenced in any threads/headcanon posts except for this one), but at the same time, I will lay in bed at night sometimes... and have this startling revelation that the way Vivian had been treated remarkably mirrors the experiences of most autistic people I've read about/heard from. Honestly, it's astounding to me how many on Reddit would describe similar struggles/feelings she also has, to the point where even though the RPC has a general distaste for slice-of-life muses, I still take comfort in the fact she is at least relatable.

Like, yeah, I might not be the most descriptive/poetic writer on this godforsaken site, but in my opinion, my characterization is where my writing truly shines best... and so, Hayate catching feelings for Vivian (despite me portraying both her flawed and endearing sides as a young, neurodivergent woman in her early twenties) is such a memorable thing to me, that I would find myself occasionally thinking about it even while I'm at work. I mean, granted, Vivian is nowhere near as dysfunctional as the main female lead from Asper Kanojo (That's My Atypical Girl), but it cannot be denied she is still very hard to love... to the point where Hayate pretty much fell out of love with her in an alternate universe.

Either way, it honestly hurt me on a deep, visceral level when Hayate was like, 'Fucking think before you speak', when they fought that one time, because autistic people will commonly be told that at some point in their lives... furthermore, Vivian had to hear that from someone she loves, so I can only imagine how betrayed she must have felt, especially since she already tries super hard when it comes to explaining things from her point of view and can only process her thoughts when speaking them due in part to her disability.

At the same time, though, it also makes me think that in the event Vivian and Hayate would romantically be together, this would realistically be a reoccurring issue within their relationship, where every time they would argue, she'd utter out stuff that would potentially annoy him, because according to Hayate, Vivian probably doesn't put a lot of thought into her words... so there would be instances where she would view him as an absolute alien. Still, knowing Vivian, I could also see the aftermath of their fights being one of those rare, few moments where she would wish she was more normal; after all, if she happened to be less difficult, Hayate might actually become less frustrated with her.

Since this is Hayate we're talking about, however, I could also see him potentially researching autism a bit more and slowly reaching a point where he would better understand Vivian, but either way, their relationship is one I always have fun, psycho-analyzing, because it's between an unpredictable, misanthrophic man and a manic, neurodivergent woman.

[allisonreader]

Please chose the one that you like the most. NOT which one you think I might like.

[femvaylin]

I think I need to go work with kids for a while. Pick up a couple of shifts. I keep having dreams where I gently guide young children through life and teach them life lessons.

[jessamine-rose]

*gasp* It's me ( ˶°ㅁ°) !!

🍵 𝒲𝐻𝒪𝒟ℛ𝒜𝒩𝒦𝐼𝒯? ‧₊˚❀༉‧₊˚: A Yandere!H:SR x Reader Otome Game

✧ romanceable characters (© hoyoverse): Professor Veritas Ratio, "Your friend" Kakavasha, and "Gallagher" [for now]

✧ content warning: yandere themes, mentions of racial/species discrimination (your character is SEA/Filipino-coded), (y/n) uses they/them, the story takes place in a modern hybrid alternate universe where each planet (Belobog, Penacony, etc) is considered a country.

PLAY THE DEMO HERE (available for download on PC & Mac AND online play for any devices, though download is preferable to avoid pixellated graphics & misaligned textboxes)

You (name changeable) are a hardworking and full-pledged human cafe owner in Penacony City. Your Dreamjolt Cafe has been a go-to for residents and tourists alike. But your loved ones' lives took a sharp turn for the worst when you decided to take a much-needed vacation back to your homeland, Perlas. While your family eagerly awaited your arrival, you disappeared en route. Where did you go? How did this happen? Who did this? Was it...

☕ the prickly yet fascinating Prof. Veritas Ratio, your self-proclaimed avian-hybrid regular,

☕Kakavasha, your longest fellow human friend who always seems to have a secret or two;

☕ or Gallagher, your hound-hybrid roommate whose past is as peculiar as his loyalty?

☕ or are there two more you're forgetting?

... so...

𝒲𝐻𝒪 𝒹𝓇𝒶𝓃𝓀 𝒾𝓉?

Please support this game by reblogging the post & sending asks/comments! I put a lot of time and effort writing, drawing, and learning to code for this. Thank you so much, my beloved yandere!H:SR community and of course, @dreamjolt-hostelry, for being supportive friends!!! - @beloved-brynn

✧ Characters, Background Art and UI Credits

Hoyoverse assets sourced from the-astral-express-archive. I just tweaked em a bit!

Canva freestock images... Haha...

✧ Intro video, sprites & CG art Credits

Me!!! Hi <3 I hope you enjoyed them! I can't believe yall made me learn adobe after effects a bit for this-

✧ Music Credits

The main menu theme (the first song upon booting the game) is made by @naraven!

The rest of the royalty free music soundtrack (such as the music used for the video above) is sourced from Vodovoz Music Productions!!! Please show the creator some love!!! I was actually vibing so hard while listening to them lmao

✧ (Fan)Story

lol hi again!!! man. i feel like Argenti.

If you wish to support my work and want to see more of this in the future, please buy me a coffee! So I can at least prove to my parents that my work is at least worth one dollar ;;;;