#incredibly absorbing game because of that fact

[ivehadanapophany]

The most impressive part of the cultist simulator/book of hours universe is the amount of insane theological discourse all these different groups were having, genuinely fascinating to read about the different ways the Hours were worshipped. It's also impressive because this has meta-game consequences to where I will see an in game piece of lore and go "ah no i disagree with that interpretation of the solar hours I don't think the Door-In-The-Eye can be counted among them" and I'll realize I've fallen for the trap.

[legendofmorons]

Your honor, I humbly submit an idea that has not left me alone for a solid few months. Seriously. I can’t escape it.

Reader is a hero. Well, kinda. They are a hero in their dreams in the most literal sense of the phrase.

When they were younger, they had this incredibly strong love for the Legend of Zelda and Mario and all manner of games where you could simply help people for the sake of doing good. They weren’t too shocked when their dreams took a more realistic turn. As they slept, they felt like they were living a second life where they were the hero. They would go around solving problems, collecting items, and generally saving the day. Some nights, the dreams would be from different times, based on different adventures, or fighting different people.

Those dreams had always felt extremely real to Reader, yet they knew they were just dreams. When morning came, they moved on.

That was the norm until a strange portal appeared in front of them. The summer was coming and they had no better plans, so they threw caution to the wind and stepped through. When they came to, they found themselves clad in the same clothes they wore in every dream, surrounded by the items they had grown so familiar with adventure after adventure.

They had gathered their things, realizing they instinctively knew how to fight, similar to what had happened on that first night. They wandered the area, heroic persona seemingly taking control, heading towards a town and immediately solving problems.

In fact, that was how they found the chain, while attempting to solve another problem. Something told them to keep their name close to their chest and they weren’t in the business of going against their gut, so they listened. They used a nickname in a group full of nicknames.

A long while of traveling and growing trust (and one particularly heated story rendition where the reader just plain forgot to censor their name) and Reader had shared their name with the group. They were met with stunned silence which was, admittedly, not the reaction they were expecting.

As it turned out, each of those dreams became stories to these heroes, acting as a guide on how to act, what to try. In their eyes, Reader was a hero of story and legend, someone kids played at being.

How do you think the boys would move forward from this?

-VS Anon

Dreamscape

Pairing: Chain & reader

Rating: G

Notes: (Y/n/n) - Ypur nick name. I wrote the opening and then skipped the middle, I hope it's okay. I just really wanted to write the meeting.

Summary: You find yourself in the world of the dreams you played hero in, but apparently those dreams were more real than you thought.

Warnings: none.

Other: I saw you submitted something along these lines more recently. VS, do you want a second take on this? I am willing to do another take, haha. As always, if I missed anything, please let me know

-------

You have always had a vivid imagination, at least according to those around you. But you can't really argue. After all, your dreams used to feel like a whole other world. A second life of sorts.

You'd loved games where you played a hero. Legend of Zelda? Amazing. Mario games? Absolutely.

Over the course of your life, you built what would have been quite the legacy in your dreams. You had countless items and had even been blessed by a sages.

Summer hangs in the breezes, due to start any day.

So, when a strange purple portal with a spooky energy opens up before you, you go through it. You don't have much else going on, and don't imagine anything too weird coming of it.

A shield, that was gained from a forest. Wooden with metal enforced ages and a beautiful swirling design carved into it.

You emerge in a small clearing with birds song cheerily overhead.

In front of you is a pile of items. Items that you know, because you collected them in your dreams.

A sword, gifted by the ruler of a fairy kingdom. The blade is enchanted to never break and to absorb any malice.

A small stachel that clips to a belt that is a bottomless bag. Anything you put in there appears in your hand once you reach in and think

A small cluster of potions. One that heals, one that provides stamina, and one that protects from fire.

Even the small flute from your travels.

"What the hell?" You murmur, looking at your hands.

You realize then, belatedly, that you are in the same outfit from your dreams. The leather armor on your limbs and the breathable fabric comfortable.

This is officially Weird, with a capital 'W'. This- doesn't seem like a dream. Not at all.

Ypu gather your items, securing them as you have many times before. You brush yourself off and look around for more details.

The clearing you're in is nice. Wild flowers are scattered about and there's a rabbit at the edge.

A river runs through it.

Well, your best bet is to find a town or something, and you heard once that towns are often near rivers. So, in theory, if you follow the river, you'll be okay.

You head off, following the river downstream and hoping for the best.

-------

After two days of travel you have come to a few more conclusions.

First of all, you can fight. Like- really well. You fought of monsters that included a lynel, some lizards, and several bokoblins.

Second of all, walking for two days straight sucks but also you aren't as exhausted as you probably should be.

And third of all, this is definitely not a dream.

You're starting to wonder if this second life was ever a dream.

The third day you find a small town, but a town nonetheless. Thank whatever it is that looks out for you.

You make your way towards the store, hoping to stock up on arrows and food. You've accepted this is your life for the moment, might as well be prepared.

Unfortunately, while lost in thought you trip and stumble into someone. You are both sent sprawling to the ground.

With a groan, you rollout of them. You sit up and say, "I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"

"I'm okay, are you okay?" A male voice asks.

You turn to look at him and nearly chokes. You find yourself staring at the Link from Skyward Sword.

Okay, this is a lot.

"Uh-" You manage eloquently. Blinking as you try to formulate some kind of response.

"Did you hit your head?" Another male asks, he has pink hair. That's another Link, the one from Link to the past and s several other games.

"I think I might have." You frown, pushing to your feet.

You look around the group and find it made up entirely of Links from different games.

"That's no good, you need a potion?" Asks Twilight Princess Link.

"No... Just a little dazed." You wave him off, "Ever since I walked through a portal it's been a little weird."

"You walked through a portal too?" Asks Wind Waker Link.

"Yeah... Why?"

"I guess you're supposed to help defeat the shadow." Muses what is probably an older version of Majoras mask Link.

"Maybe."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, I'm Twilight." The Link in a wolf pelt says.

"I'm Time."

"Legend."

"Hi, I'm Wind!"

"Wild."

"I'm Warriors."

"Hyrule!"

"I'm Sky."

"Four."

You know these are all nicknames, so you decide to give your own nick name. You have a feeling your real name will cause- a scene.

"I'm (Y/n/n)."

-------

Time can't stop thinking about the connections between you, (Y/n/n) and the hero (Y/n). You both have the same items, the same personality, and even the same appearances.

The hero you remind him of is legendary, chosen not by Hylia but by a deity before any remembered. A hero chosen Fierce Deity.

He comes back to the conversation in time to catch the tail end of your story.

"Ams then my friend was like "Stop hiding from them, they don't remember ypu tripping two years ago, (Y/n)."

"What?" Hyrule chokes.

"You're name is (Y/n)?"

About time. Fierce purrs from the void inside Time's mind.

"Uh- yeah?"

"You're The (Y/n)?!" Wind demands.

"Oh stars." Time mutters.

"I mean, maybe?"

"You're The one who slayed the hydra of Catan?" Wild blinks.

"Oh. I mean, yeah. That wasn't a big deal." You shrug, "It needed to be done."

"You rode a tornado!" Legend accuses.

"What? No I got swept up in a tornado."

"You knew the original sages before Skyloft even exsisted!" Sky gasps.

"Yeah?"

"You're the biggest hero ever." Warriors manages, sounding awed, "How are you unaware?"

"Uh...I didn't think that stuff mattered?"

"Are you kidding? Kids play games where they pretend to be you." Four says, looking horrified at your unawareness of your importance.

"Oh. Neat?" You say shakily.

This makes no sense, your dreams - if they were ever that - never seemed like you would be a hero of legend important enough to be known millenia later across different timeliness.

"You really don't know." Legend muses wryly.

"Glad I helped?"

"You are telling us all about your adventures." Wind informs you.

[jkl-fff]

The monster we all made in Silly Game Time

must necessarily have two forms: their humanish disguise (one that can pass for human at a glance) for when they must pass among humankind … and their true form.

When they don their humanish disguise (to hunt or to seek companionship or to get a cold drink out of the fridge—though they almost never refill the ice cube tray when they do, like the monster they are), a sense of unease still surrounds them that has nothing to do with their uncanny appearance. Perhaps we instinctively sense that they aren’t human? Perhaps we remember reading about that one time they cut down the trees in Danny DeVito’s yard so fast no one could stop them, and for no other reason than they wanted to annoy DeVito specifically (like a jerk)? Usually, though, we’re either too preoccupied with our own affairs to care all that much. Or we write it off as eccentricity that’s harmless enough, but still seems off-putting; their hair is an unnatural purple and styled in uneven spikes (like a punk rocker or an anime character), for example, and they always wear a dumb cape like from a Count Dracula costume, they’ll howl at the moon in an almost ironic way, and they can do that tongue trick like the singers of KISS that makes it seem way too long and way too prehensile (it’s forked, though, so it must be a fake extension … right?).

If you take more than a glance, though, you might notice the way their skin is stitched together and mismatched in places. Look closer, and you’ll see the stitches tend to secrete a slime that bears an unpleasant resemblance to Velveeta “cheese”. Yuck. Maybe you might notice that they don’t cast a reflection in mirrors and can’t be captured by cameras. Or maybe you’ll notice that one of their eyes is larger than the other and has a yellowish glint to it (the other has a reddish glint), and both have pupils that look a bit too slitted; see them at night, and you might notice that their eyes seem to glow in the dark.

Most likely, though, you won’t see their eyes at night. In fact, you most likely won’t see anything of them at all at night (until it’s too late), save for a gleam of teeth. Because they can hide everything else of their appearance in shadows—everything but the gleam of their teeth for some reason, unless they choose to let that remain visible as a kind of joke. And those teeth, when you look close at them (if you have time enough to look close at them) are always too numerous, too big, too sharp, too rowed like a shark’s teeth. Or like the more feral depictions of vampires (the ones that are more beast than Bela Lugosi). Which is appropriate, since, like nearly all monsters, they have an incredible appetite for human blood.

Their true form might almost be considered majestic in an ineffable, eldritch horror sort of way. They are big, of course—huge, mammoth, colossal—stretching longer than a city bus from head to the tip of their spiked, foxy tail. They stand on an uncountable number of short legs that all end on big, velvety paws as large as a siberian tiger’s (and just as silent). From their sides (their countless shoulders?) sprout an asymmetrical distribution of limbs with asymmetrical sizing. Some are like humanoid arms (the foremost ones are these, with the left one being massive but clumsy and the right one being puny but very deft), some are like tentacles, some are like wings, and one might be an actual snake that got itself absorbed into their mass. The arms end in long claws, the tentacles end in pincers and scissors, and the wings resemble those of bats (with claws at the joint) or ravens or albatrosses (they shouldn’t be able to fly, and yet they can).

They’re covered in fur the same color as their humanish disguise’s spiky hair. Except for patches of rotting flesh where muscle, bone, viscera, cogs, gears, and internal combustion engines are exposed (yet still somehow function, occasionally bleeding the black ichor like evaporative oil they have instead of traditional blood) or where unearthly mushrooms sprout. And except for along their back, of course, where the skin grows scaly and plates (like a stegosaurus or Godzilla) jut out of their spine. Speaking of their hair, it corresponds nicely to their true form’s horns: on the top of their head at the end of their long neck, their horns are long and stiped and swirling, one set like a ram, three sets like from different antelopes, and one single horn like a unicorn.

You might easily miss their bat-like ears among the horns, save that they swivel constantly to-and-fro tracking what they hear. You won’t miss their teeth, though; those carry over to their true form, even if their mouth tends to change its location on their face, slithering like a snake between their too many eyes (big yellow ones and small red ones scattered around their face). And, almost glorious, above their head floats an interlocking of many-eyed halos like some sort of angel during one of Heaven’s many drag competitions (the drag they got up there is wild, since they’ve got so many more and wild genders than here on Earth).

This has led some scholars to theorize that the monster (that we just made up yet has also always existed) actually *is* an angel. Specifically one of the Gray Angels who remained neutral instead of siding with God or Lucifer, possibly one overseeing fungi and decomposition. This would explain why they do neither good (apart from maybe making sure fungi continue) nor evil (apart from killing some humans and drinking their blood, but there are over 8 billion of us, so it’s not really that big of a deal when you think about it), and are willing to exploit and disregard the safety of mortals to perform their own tasks. Some say this means they represent the worst of humanity (egotism), some say they’re still objectively more decent than their creator (God, who is indisputably the biggest criminal in this universe’s history). Some say they can be viewed as an allegory for being trans, but since *all monsters ever* can be viewed as an allegory for being trans (one of the many reasons monsters are awesome), that’s a bit like saying the sky is blue. Everyone agrees, however, that it’s pretty cool they can spit acid and breathe fire, and everyone is right on that point.

The final question we might ask is: How can we protect ourselves from our monster? There isn’t anything we can do to harm them, however they do seem to be averse to complex geometry (mobius strips and tesseracts and the like) (it doesn’t hurt them, they just seem to find them too tacky to be tolerated). So maybe wear a pendant with one of those on them. Can’t hurt. Probably can’t help, but can’t hurt, either.

Thanks for playing!

[llamagoddessofficial]

Okay, but can you Aggre/ the cryptid boyfriends?

The boys are cryptids who live together for convenience's sake. Mc moves in with her three very normal, very Not Unusual roommates, who definitely are not at all strange or bizarre or dangerous.

Sans: A close friend of Mc's that used every trick in the book to slide into her life. He's good at studying people, good at mimicking acceptable behaviours- so good, in fact, that all of his slightly stranger qualities are passed off as just Sans being weird. One time he mistook a ketchup bottle for a drinking bottle, and downed the whole thing, but everyone just thought he was doing a bit so everyone just laughed. When he acts bizarre, it's simply Sans being Sans. The others could reveal they're cryptids and Mc would still think Sans was the odd one out.

He seems so normal, so funny. But he's been her cryptid for a long time, following her, absorbing her interests and tastes in partners to try and win her over. He's playing the long game- and it's working. He acts weird around her all the time and she's just accepted he's Like That. She's even somewhat honoured by the fact that he feels relaxed enough around her to be weird; he brings out the weirdness in her too. They're weird buddies.

He'd very casually tell her he can 'shapeshift'. But he'd be reluctant to show his true form- let alone reveal he's a cryptid.

Red: A serial flirt, popular and handsome, constantly out on the town. Unlike the other two, who need breaks every now and then, Red can hold a different form for days on end with only minor slip ups.

... Deep down, though, he's incredibly insecure about being a cryptid. He hates the way his cryptid body looks... the way it warps and frightens people, looking like he crawled right out of a nightmare, too much of some things and too little of others. 'Red' is his ideal body, a handsome badboy, the one who's surrounded by adoring humans. It's the only way he feels loveable.

He wants to be a person. He wants to be part of society, he wants to be loved like a human, that's why he constantly seeks out human flings and one night stands. To him, being in bed with someone signals that he's winning, and his act is convincing. He doesn't want Mc to ever know he's a cryptid, because in his eyes, nobody could ever love a thing like that.

Skull: He isn't good at acting like a person. He 'hides in his room' a lot, going out of his window at night to hunt and then returning to sleep through the day. At first, he just crushed on Mc from afar, silently following her around at night or peering through her window... but because of his feelings, because of her, he starts trying to be more humanoid.

He learns some words. He figures out how to eat human food. He practises 'smiling' in a mirror for hours, to make sure he doesn't look too frightening. And it can't be said that he isn't charming, a lot of his genuine struggles with acting like a person just come across as sweet-natured shyness or social anxiety. He pulls his hood over his face every time she smiles at him; a little because he's flustered, mostly because when he's flustered he loses control of his face and his features start shifting and melting in disturbing ways.

Mc likes him a lot. She's none the wiser that he's the reason she feels those chills running up her spine whenever she passes the woods.

[autisticempathydaemon]

Hello! Are you hyperfixated on RedactedAudio?

Do you want (need) to know who to follow to cultivate your dashboard and feed your gremlin brain good, good boyfriend roleplay content?

Cool, I’ve got you, and I’ve got hyperlinks. Buckle up.

(Note: This is by no means a comprehensive, objective, or complete list. I've only been in the fandom for six months or so. I have biases and favorites and limited time. I hope to update this list periodically, and if you feel I've missed someone, please feel free to reblog with your additions! I just would have loved a guide like this when I got into the fandom back in August and wanted to spread some positivity~!)

Fanfiction:

@angelnoodlesoup: she/her

Sophie is just one of the sweetest David stans that's ever existed who writes, like, the sweetest things about him. Her posts are just going to make you feel warm, fluffy, soft things in your heart area; give into the sweetness. Highlights: Sophie writes this adorable timestamp series of vignettes exploring Davey and Angel's day, but I'm particularly attacked to their David/Angel neighbors to lovers AU~

@arrowfleur

I was actually going to put Max in the visual content portion of this post, because they post delightful Redacted edits on Tiktok (under the same username, highly recommend~), but then they made a uquiz that gave me an existential crisis, so here we are. Highlights: This quiz sent my whole server for a loop and has made me reconsider my relationship with Lovely as a character and kin; it's a great time.

@batch-of-pengwings: robin/bird, she/her

Robin, an absolute sweetheart who makes all the fun ask games that keep the community interconnected and thinking and talking which is just really sweet and fun in the best way. Highlights: The Winter Wonderland game is the one who went around most recently, and it’s so fun to engage with the fandom and discuss who we think is stupid enough to get their tongues stuck on a telephone poll~

@bicyclepainting: they/them

Clover, the fandom's resident Smartass, doing the lord's work and reminding us all how fucking smoochable Aaron is on a regular basis on top of being the coolest astrology nerd don't give them your birth chart you will be perceived /lh Highlights: No one is doing Aaron/Smartass like they are; like, read and absorb the delicious, domestic delight that is them. I also recommend their deep dives into the Redacted bois signs, if you're into that; they're very thorough and fun to read!

@cashandprizes: she/they

My Lexi, my queerplatonic soulmate… She is on a quest to dissect and critique fandom brick by philosophical brick, and I both love her and fear her in equal measure. (That’s a lie, I love her infinitely, more than anything, but she is in fact incredibly intelligent and intimidating.) Highlights: Come for the scathing insights into gray-morality and DD:DNE’s place in fiction, stay for the stripper!Gavin fic they’re working on and their sequel to Lasko’s SexTember audio because she really wanted to make him cry

@ejunkiet: she/her

EJ, the very first of my Redacted loves~ Not only is EJ an endless well of kindness and positivity, but she also writes fucking bomb ass everything. You get angst, you get smut, you get fluff- We stan a multitalented, ace queen. (She also writes really cute CastleAudios fanfiction and original stuff as a cherry on top.) Highlights: EJ writes just some of my favorite David/Angel smut; she captures Angel's little shit nature perfectly. She's also written the sweetest thing of Damien meeting Huxley's moms that I can't get enough of~

@dominimoonbeam: she/her

Domini, truly one of the pillars of the fandom. I don't know what'd we'd be without her fantastic fics or her original novellas or her fantastic, beautiful, rarepair-creating brain. Highlights: God, there's too many to choose from! There's the Sam/Darlin fake dating AU that has us all gripped by the proverbial balls. There's the David/Darlin tattoo shop AU that has me frothing at the mouth because tattoo artists are stinkin hot. That's not even getting into their Cam/William fic, because god, that is such a good rarepair. We love two immortals finding love with one another, we really do. My personal favorite has got to be their Huxley/Darlin piece though, because Darlin gets to be cute and awkward and so, so loved in it.

@frenchiefitzhere: she/her

Frenchie, the fandom's unofficial (but basically official) Marie Greer, not only a gorgeous writer but also the creator of the most fantastical and unique fansongs (who makes original audio content to boot~) Highlights: We would be nowhere as a fandom without the Marie/Colm greer backstory and saga or her audios as the Greer Matriarch herself, but personally? Her Imperium!Lasko/Adam fic kind of changed my life, I'm kind of obsessed with it.

@friendlyfaded: he/him

Miles, the king and professor of the rarepairs! Beware, you will leave his blog wishing for fics for a ship that doesn’t actually exist yet. It’s unavoidable when you read the careful, creative, thoughtful way he considers seemingly silly pairings and makes them gorgeous. Highlights: I recommend his whole rarepairs with prof tag for a snack and his Sweetheart/Lasko/Milo fic for a whole meal~

@gingerbreadmonsters: she/her

Ginger, literally one of the sweetest, friendliest people in the entire Internet. I cannot adequately describe the absolute magnificent poetry of Ginger's prose, so you just have to read it for yourself. You will not be disappointed. Highlights: Ginger's Milo/Sweetheart series is for if you're feeling sweet, and her Vincent/Lovely/Gavin/Freelancer foursome fic is if you're feeling spicy~ Or if you're like me and are longing for an character we'll never see again, you can read her gorgeous, Doctor Who-inspired look in Marcus's mind.

@glassbearclock: she/her

Beans, also known as the best Milo/Sweetheart writer in the game. Their banter is taken from the mouth of god and first name Erik last name Redacted himself, and you could not convince me otherwise. Highlights: I’m a big fan of her sweet, wholesome, Jewish!Milo sick fic, but aYO her Milo/Sweetheart first date fic is so good y’all like goddamn Sweetheart phases through their door and makes Milo faceplant it on accident man that shit is so good

@horrorscoupes: they/he

My beautiful, darling Lotus, my gloriously deranged brother in arms (affectionate). The way they write each and every d(a)emons is just so -chef kiss-. Highlights: I think about their Regulus/Doll fic, like, literally every day, it's just yummy and depraved. Though, for a true taste of genius, for a galaxy brain treat, you've got to read his Shark!Vega/Pet masterpiece.

@k9rage: he/xi

My beloved Calico, our helpful Image Description fairy. He is just so cool and writes the most glorious smut like the world has ever seen. As of publishing, he's writing a Vega/Lasko street racing AU that's gonna be just smoke ash cinder fire hot. Highlights: You need to read his Damien/Gavin waxplay fic; like, this changed my life, I think about it daily. Ooh, AND his Aaron/SmartAss/Gavin threesome fic, because he didn't do all that thinking and imagining for us to not appreciate it. I'm also reccing @calicostorms, his other blog and spotify, so you can get at his stellar Redacted character playlists!

@lovelylonerliterature: 

Lovely, absolute stand-out writer in the fandom! Would you believe they have a whole (as of posting) 95 works for the RedactedASMR fandom on AO3? There’s <2000 fics, which makes Lovely a whole five percent of the fanfiction on their own. That’s wild and so hella cool. Highlights: Literally everything they write. Explore their extremely well done masterlist, it’s beautifully put together, and you’ll find something you love. (I’m particularly fond of the Darlin/Vega fic they wrote based off of one of FriendlyFaded’s posts~)

@romirola: she/her

Dr. Romi, the one and the only and one of the legitimate sweetest goddamn people that has ever existed. You've never met a more polite, darling person in all your days. How did she write all these thousands of words of art while getting a doctorate? God, I wish I knew... if only we could also be so beautiful and wonderful and accomplished. Highlights: You haven't existed until you've read her Milo/Sweetheart Tangled AU; like, what are you doing here? GO. (I also deeply recommend her found family Shaw Pack + Sam fic, if you're looking for something that's still ongoing!)

@sealriously-sealrious: they/them

Chrys who writes- no contest I think we can all agree- the best Huxley that this fandom has ever seen. He is just so well-explored and so multifaceted, just the top-tier himbo content we all need and deserve. Highlights: Huxley and Freelancer at the aquarium, Huxley and Freelancer going camping, sfw, nsfw, whatever you want, we've GOT. (There's even some imperium!Huxley, if you're so inclined >:))

@starlitangels: she/her

Starlit, another absolute powerhouse of the fandom. Just look at this masterlist, I think there’s something here for literally every character. That’s what babes call RANGE. Highlights: The way they explore the Shaw pack is so fun; I’d highly recommend her fic exploring Gabe and his backstory or her fic exploring the Shaw’s future pups~!

@taelonsamada: she/her

A pillar- or should I say fence post?- of the fandom and just an utter peach. Always has a nice word to say and says the best nice words about Sam and Darlin- Highlights: Her nsfw Geordi/Cutie fic holds a special place in my heart (the blindfold? the gag? Be still my beating heart), but you haven’t lived until you’ve read her Shaw-centric Ranch AU~!

@teasandcardigans: she/her

Mads, another lovely creator that could be in either section of this post- that's how talented she is! Not only is she a lovely writer but she also designs the most fun Redacted stickers! Also, she's got the only Redacted fan tiktok that Erik has confirmed seen and liked, can't not mention that it's so cool Highlights: Honestly, there's too many to mention! A really popular of hers is a "What If" echo-esque reimagining of everyone's stories which is so fun, and my personal, biased favorite is her Alexis & Gavin fic hear me OUT-

@the-sugar-crash

Cait, out here doing the most and the best. They’ve run the Redacted Winter Gift Exchange for the past two years, connecting blogs who might have never spoken to each other, inspiring creativity, and spreading holiday cheer~ Highlights: I recommend taking a look-see through the “Redacted 2022 Winter Gift Exchange” tag- much thanks to Cait for making it possible- to consider if you’d like to join next year! Until then, there’s a compilation of their cute headcanon posts to inspire you!

@zozo-01: she/her

Zo, one of the sweetest people in the fandom~ Not only is she a fantastic writer, but she is also one of the friendliest people in the space! Constantly excited and supportive and positive and a joy to follow and befriend. Highlights: Her Sam/Darlin Deity AU is going to change the world and break some hearts, I just know it. (Just like her Alexis and Darlin meeting fic broke mine-) If you're not up to getting your heart broken and just want a friend, I recommend asking her about her Powerpoint of Bollywood scenes that could be Sam/Darlin moments~!

Fanart:

@andr0leda: she/they

Androleda’s art is so gorgeous in that most of them are uncolored or working with a smaller palette, and it just makes those colors stand out and the line work all the more elegant. Highlights: Their wolf!Darlin piece got so popular, and you can see why! It looks like the cover of a really cool YA fantasy novel. Also, her Sam/Darlin art just melts the heart- the gentle hand, the key around the neck-!

@artbykays

Kays, a fantastic artist who plays around with the prettiest, brightest colors and has the prettiest (hottest) fem listeners. They also have super fun Redacted playlists! Highlights: Their Sweetheart, Valentina, is kind of smokin hot, I mean look at her, but also good lord, have you seen their Warden like lock me up anytime hello-

@belovedbow

Bow’s art just makes me so soft and gooey inside I dunno. Their art is so pretty, and they always have the most expressive faces. Not to mention the colors- like, Bow uses the simplest but most emotionally evocative shades of pinks and blues that make me inexplicably feel things, and I love it. Highlights: Literally all their Davey/Angel is the sweetest, but I also have this deep fondness for their imp!FL and Vindemiator pieces, because look at these deep, mournful blues, they’re beautiful!

@cascadiiing: they/them

Atlas creates the most beautiful, squishable, smoochable characters on top of being the most beautiful, squishable, smoochable (platonic) sweetie in existence~ they’re so sweet and friendly on top of being so talented at such a young age, and I would protect them with my life. Highlights: Their Sam kind of makes me so lovesick, I could barf- he’s just that pretty. Their Alexis/Christian art is fanart of my own fic, I’ll grant you, but it’s also so fucking pretty look at the dreamy colors and it MOVES-

@claracatlady

Where would we be without Clara, like honestly- What really stands out about their art is- other than the overwhelming talent- the obvious thought and joy that went into designing the outfits. Only the best from our resident fashion design student! Highlights: literally everything. If I must be specific, the David design pinned to their blog is utterly ahdhkakshdjsk, and I am particularly partial to their Alexis design, because I love my beautiful, possibly complex lady okay-

@fregget-frou : he/they

Mal has the prettiest Listeners; I’m lowkey in love with all of them~ I love the way he does such fluffy, voluminous hair, and I dunno, all their listener OC’s have this fashion model-esque glamour and posture about them that’s really attractive. Highlights: Of their listeners, Mal’s Angel has got to be my favorite. Look at this fluffy-haired cutie! Look at this menace! I would also propose to them, they’re gorgeous!

@gwenifred: she/her

Gwen draws the most gorgeous, swoon-worthy Huxleys and is just a big sweetpea to boot. Her and Pali sharing OC’s and art trades here and on Twitter is a testament to how friendly and sweet the fandom can be! Highlights: Everything she draws is gorgeous, but you haven’t lived until you’ve seen her animation work!

@ice-palace-art: They/It/He/Dae

Darby has some of the most beautiful designs, I can hardly stand it. He creates the most gorgeous, realistically proportioned characters and listeners, and they’re just really smoochable okay let me live- Highlights: It has this one piece of Gavin and Lasko having a sleepover that fills me with the warm fuzzies every time I see it, and their Aaron design fills me with longing I am hopelessly in love with their dad-bodded Aaron.

@itsdaifuku: she/her

Y’all don’t even know the little happy stim storm Fuku’s art sets me on; like, all her art is so cute and joyful and somehow colorful even when it’s in black and white? It just gives the vibe of life and vibrancy constantly? How does she do that? Highlights: Literally, everything she draws is gorgeous and sweet, though her designs for the Shaws and their mates are so S-tier and so cute. (I’m also particularly fond of her designs for Love and Alexis, my favorite characters, I’m biased, sue me)

@mr-laveau: he/they

Laveau, my favorite Milo kinnie~ (Yeah, I said it out loud; I’m callin you out.) Charming, thoughtful, friendly, much more talented than they have any right to be when they’re also so funny and sweet, AND also writing at their other blog @bratty-telepath. You’ve never seen such a double threat. Highlights: Literally, everything he makes. All his designs are colorful and gorgeous and filled to the brim with deliberate, intentional details (though I am incredibly partial to their Alexis and Darlin designs and the parallels he included between them.)

@nais-doodles

Nai is a fucking blessing unto this fandom, and we are not worthy. You haven’t really lived, haven’t experienced all the pure, positive silliness that this hellsite has to offer until you experience Nai’s Redacted Actor AU. It’s pure serotonin, and we’re all here listening to Boyfriend ASMR, I know we could use it. Highlights: Other than said AU posts (which really are so fuckin good), have you seen their drawing of Vincent and Sam’s Monarchal ball? Ooh, and if you go to their tiktok under the same username, you can see some of the really cool dating sim they’re working on!

@nanowatzophina: any pronouns

Na’no is not only a must follow on tumblr, but I also highly recommend their tiktok if you wish to wade through the horrid cesspool of that app (I say with tiktok as one of my top social media sites- we have a codependent relationship) Their art is super cute and expressive, and I get massive gender envy from the way he draws hair and teeth. Highlights: Her aspec Freelancer is just so close to my heart; I adore Avery so deeply. Also, the way they draw imperium!Vega and Pet makes my heart fucking melt and want to jump out my chest- the size difference, my god

@obsessivedino: they/them

Mint’s contribution to the fandom cannot possibly be overstated. Their art style is just so clean and neat and with the cutest expressions, and I love their designs so much, especially for the d(a)emon bois I just ahhhhh Highlights: If you’ve joined the official unofficial Redacted Discord server, you’ve seen their adorable stickers reminding you to kick that ass or hydrate unless you want to die-drate, and you haven’t truly embraced life unless you’ve seen their two-year anniversary masterpiece. Ooh, or pocket caelum!

@palilious: she/her

There is no Redacted fandom or fandom list without Pali, and we’ve all accepted that. Her style is so uniquely and instantaneously recognizable as hers, and everyone adores it, including but not limited to GBA, Nomad, and Cardlin! Highlights: Literally everyone she draws is so pretty, though I have a soft spot for her Vincent or her Nomad drawings if you’re looking for more VAs to listen to!

@pearl-kite: she/they

Kirehn has the most huggable humans and the most awe-inspiring d(a)emons. The way she draws the d(a)emons with constellations worked into the designs and color palettes is just so gorgeous and purposeful and thoughtful. Highlights: Their Vega is so frightening but beautiful, you just can’t look away from him. I’m also particularly in love with their Darlin!

@queendread

Do y’all ever do this thing when you see an ethereally beautiful person and you have no words, all you can do is giggle like a vapid schoolgirl(gn)? That’s me with all of Anna’s paintings: no words, just awe. Highlights: I don’t even really like Gavin, okay, he’s not my type, but lord above, Anna’s Gavin is something else. Their Sam also has those Captain America, boy next door good looks I imagined, it’s like they took him right out of my daydreams.

@ryokoaoi : they/them

Ryo has the absolute cutest, most adorable art style, one can barely handle it! Everything they draw is just so pretty and so colorful and detailed and sweet. (Except the sad things, those are less sweet but gosh they’re still so pretty.) They also have this Magic Swap AU that they design that is so fun to read about! Highlights: Their swapped! Gavin and Avior designs are so fun, I adore them deeply, and if you need something to cheer you up, you can always depend on their DAMN pieces that always include a little invisible Caelum to bring you joy~!

@slushrottweiler: she-they

There is nothing like seeing Slush’s signature blue linework on your dashboard, it’s such a sweet treat- or spicy. There are also very good, very spicy treats. Her blog is a magnificent roulette wheel of blue surprises. Highlights: I love their Sam/Darlin stuff, especially this one because wowee them shoulderblades, but their HuxDami BA piece takes the cake.

@spookybeandoodle

Spooky has my whole heart and wallet and my other heart if I had one I fell in love with their rich color palettes and shading and Alexis right away and had to commission them. Could not recommend enough, they were a treasure to work with~ Highlights: I’m not biased- okay yes I am but not now their Alexis is fuckin smoking hot but also their Cam might be my favorite Cam look at that smile-!

@sri-rachaa: she/her

Rae is such a treasure to this fandom, we hardly deserve her. Her art is so ethereally pretty and delicate? The way she draws hair and noses and silhouettes- her line work is just phenomenal. Everything she creates is just a delight to look at. Highlights: The Southern Siblings AU is a gift, a treasure, a boon that cannot be ignored. I’m also a big fan of her Lovely OC who is ridiculously pretty~

@tankwolf : she/her

June has been posting fanart for only two months, but I’m already absolutely obsessed. I just find her monochrome character portraits so visually engaging and interesting. I would love so badly to be friends with her listener OC’s… Highlights: …or more than friends, because her Sweetheart is something else good lord. I would just love it if June could stop putting the hot people in crop tops please (but also don’t cause whoa)

@terrazaurio

All the fanart Terra creates is so bright and vivid and colorful and expressive, they’re really such a treat to see and experience. I’m a sucker for the colors they use, cause it makes my lizard brain all happy and go “shiny pretty happy.” Highlights: Everything they draw with the Shaw Pack is pure dopamine, like this one of the bois and their mates hanging by the pool. I am particularly attached to this piece from Milo’s HBS, because they’re so fucking in love, your honor, I love them.

@thefablefoxart : she/her

Angelina’s Redacted couple series is one of the truest delights of the fandom; like, they’re so colorful and cute and just adorably designed. I’m also deeply in love with the way she does hair. Everyone just has really fucking good looking hair, and I can’t get over it-Highlights: On top of the aforementioned couple series, I just want to bring attention to this adorable chibi Sam that she drew- it brings me so much serotonin- and their Darlin, Kai who I wish would just give me a shot okay I have a Southern accent too-

If you’re reading all the way here, I hope you found the post helpful and smiled while making your way through it! Or both! The RedactedAudio fandom is truly one of my favorite spaces on the internet; it’s so intimate and creative, and I’ve found some amazing, perfect friends here, so I hope you will too 💖

again playing around with the formatting please stop hurting me tumblr I’m trying to be nice

If you can see this, I love you, and you’re watching me try to format this post so tumblr doesn’t cut off the bottom of it please ignore the Android behind the emerald curtain go about your day

[butchcarmy]

i think carmy has the potential to be a passionate listener. after all, you listen to him when he’s got a million things to say about his incredibly niche interests.

maybe you’ve gone into great detail about the stylistic choices of ur fav movie or tv show. eventually, when you end up watching it together, at one point he says smthn along the lines of “oh i see what you mean with that”. like, lets goooo!!!! ur not talking to a wall!!

i’d personally love to make him to try and play my favorite video game with me after i’ve lore dumped for hours. (i betchya he’d be awful at it). maybe he’s absorbed a bit of that info tho, and he’d point stuff out while we play.

that would make me embarrassingly giddy.

hiii i'm that guy that can go into great length about films if you get me started. or anything i'm obsessed with at the moment really. 

you don't listen to him talk about food (or in general) because you feel obligated. you do it because you love him, and he listens to you because he loves you, too. he genuinely cares about the things you care about. carmy's a sweet boy!

“If you look for it, you'll see that circles are a motif throughout the whole movie.” You're watching your favorite movie, cuddled with him on the couch. He makes an affirmative noise. “I'll tell you more when we're done watching, too.”

“I'd like that.” He looks at you expectantly, and when you give him a confused look, he says, “You can keep talking if you want, y'know.”

“I know, I just…” You shrivel into the cushions behind you. Carmy's arm that's tucked around your shoulders brings you closer to him. “I don't wanna annoy you.”

“You could never annoy me talking about the things you care about.” He presses a quick kiss to your forehead, and you make a pleased noise. “I think the color stuff you were saying earlier is cool. The red and green, right? I can't stop seeing it now that you pointed it out.”

“Mm, yeah,” you say, like the fact he was actually paying attention to you doesn't make you wanna roll around with giddy. “It really tells you the whole story without saying it.”

“I have some predictions, then,” Carmy mutters, eyes focused on the tv. You could just kiss him (which you do).

[leolithe]

Ever since The Lotus Eaters was announced I have been looking into what it'll be about and what it entails for Lotus. Rebb confirmed that it is inspired by the lotus tree in Odyssey that binds those who eat its fruit to blissful apathy (hence "lotus eaters"), which makes me think Wally is the analogous lotus tree attempting to bind the Lotus to Indifference. However, figuring out the quest's themes has led me to something that has a lot of lotus imagery: Buddhism.

"Mara Lohk" brings to mind of Mara, the personification of desire and negative emotions that are obstacles to enlightenment. Which happens to be Wally's modus operandi, and Lotus has a lot of baggage that allows Wally to tempt her to succumb to her trauma.

However, as I looked into nirvana, which means liberation from suffering and desire, I came to the realization that The New War has imagery of achieving nirvana: the vanquishing of Archons that happen to correspond to animals representing the Three Poisons (not sure about Amar as nothing matches the Wolf), and the Radiant Lotus after being fully restored from absorbing all the three Archon Shards "purified" as virtues to counteract these poisons to achieve nirvana. The Radiant Lotus symbolizing nirvana means she is free from the suffering she experienced under Ballas, Erra and Hunhow.

Nirvana is said to be irreversible. Mara failed to tempt the Buddha away from achieving enlightenment. If The Lotus Eaters will be about The Man in the Wall attempting to tempt Lotus to succumb to her trauma... there's a very high chance Wally will fail.

ANON !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You are bloody INCREDIBLE for writing this out!!!!!!

I've been chomping at the bit to write something about Lotus' Buddhist symbolism because it is undeniably interwoven into her whole character; down to her story and visual design. Comparing her status as the mascot of Warframe and the themes of rebirth, enlightenment, compassion and thriving in a world rife with suffering already present in the game, I believe it's very obvious that DE's writers take inspiration from Buddhism's teachings!

I don't have a lot to add to your ask right now, other than the fact that I wholeheartedly agree with you, so I'm just gonna leave some relevant links in a reblog... A lil bit of further reading for those who want it! :D

[danganronpa-shipping-galore]

✨Danganronpa "As a Ship" New & Improved Edition ✨

For @bifluidmax08 😊

Bonus material:

Despite there being bonus modes/games like UTDP & DRS, they are never seen interacting or really talking about each other.

Headcanons:

They love to cuddle. Initially, Chihiro was kind of hesitant about the physical intimacy because of how he views his own body, but as time passes he starts enjoying it more and more, finding it very comforting, romantic, and therapeutic

Despite the problems Chihiro would have with Kokichi, he doesn't give up on him and doesn't want to change him as a person.

During Chihiro's workouts, Kokichi would cheer him on—sometimes obnoxiously so.

Most times when Kokichi is being blunt, it actually encourages Chihiro to be even stronger both physically and mentally, even if it sometimes hurts his feelings at first.

When he's not saying anything hurtful, Chihiro often laughs at Kokichi's jokes.

Beneficial Similarities:

Despite the fact that Kokichi doesn't show his fears outwardly in front of others, or *does* express these fears by disguising them as jokes or crying fake tears, he does seem to struggle when situations are stressful and/or dangerous. While Chihiro is much more open about his own fears and anxieties, they both struggle with those unpleasant feelings. That could potentially be a good thing though, they would probably understand each other better because of that. Maybe Chihiro would be the only person he could feel most comfortable opening up to in certain ways.

They are both intelligent with analytical minds. They could be good at brainstorming solutions to certain situations and enjoy strategy games together.

Complementary strengths:

Not many people like or tolerate Kokichi, but Chihiro is an incredibly kind, empathetic, and patient person. While Chihiro is likely to disapprove of Kokichi's unkind words or actions sometimes, he would likely still give him a chance and see the good in Kokichi or even the insecurities and fears he tends to hide from most people, accepting him for who he is.

Two sides of the same coin: while Chihiro is pretty meek and shy, he would still not let Kokichi go too far, especially when it comes to causing trouble for others.

On the other hand, Kokichi could encourage Chihiro in his own ways to takes things easy sometimes if he's too absorbed or worried about things, and to be more sure of himself.

Main Struggles:

Kokichi's dishonesty and mean comments could be troubling for someone as genuine as Chihiro, especially if Kokichi goes too far with others.

Kokichi could sometimes find Chihiro to be a stick-in-the-mud or overly sensitive.

Family, Friends, Pets:

Nothing is known about Kokichi's personal life besides his gang of fellow pranksters called DICE, which are said to be the closest people in his life. (Keep in mind, most info like this presented in V3's story is purposely left ambiguously canon.) Given how they apparently perform harmless pranks, Chihiro has the chance to find them genuinely funny and/or charming.

Chihiro has both of his parents, but his father Taichi is the only parent with a known relationship to Chihiro. Taichi and Kokichi's relationship would be pretty funny to think about in the way that Taichi likely would have no idea how to deal with Kokichi but still be polite all the same.

Expressing their love:

Chihiro would express his love with very meaningful but practical gifts and gestures, and would likely make time for Kokichi, wanting to hear more about him.

Kokichi would express his love in completely different ways. While he would oftentimes say flirty things and maybe tease a bit, he would mostly express genuine love through actions. He would go out of his way to be around Chihiro as much as possible and could possibly even show a genuine interest in what he is passionate about. Lastly, he would be an intriguing yet contradictory combination of saying his very rare true feelings, while also lying even more because of how much fun he is having (and how he canonically views lies as his way of life.)

_______________________________________

NOTE: If there are any moments from anything else I'm missing, feel free to reblog with some noteworthy moments!

[aingeal98]

Cass or Tim for the ask game

Gonna do Cass because she gets favourite blorbo privileges

three facts about them from my personal headcanons

-The dip in the Lazarus Pit removed a few of her latest scars. She's still covered in scars, it's not enough that anyone would notice, most of them look at Cass and are horrified by the bullet exit wounds covering her skin. But Cass knows what each scar is from, and the loss of even a few of them hurts her afterwards for reasons she doesn't quite understand. She got stabbed through the chest by her brother and yet there is no evidence of it. Some nights she gets tempted to scratch at where the scar should be, digging into her skin until she catches herself and snaps herself out of it.

-Her favourite music genre is metal and rock. She doesn't care about the differences between the genres despite Stephanie as a fellow Metallica fan eagerly trying to explain it. Cass just likes "Mosh pit music."

-Due to being homeless as a kid she got used to sleeping anywhere and everywhere. Her favourite place to curl up and hide was inside a washing machine, normally ones that were old and abandoned. She stopped as she got older but the washing machines in the manor are huge so she started doing it again when she felt low. This has given Alfred several near heart attacks when he goes to put clothes in and finds his grandchild curled up fast asleep.

a reason they suck

Batgirl issue 37 is one of my favourite issues and highlights some of the reasons I find Cass a compelling character but it also does objectively show one of the ways she sucks. Projection can be helpful or it can make you too self absorbed so you end up making bad choices. In this case it was the latter.

a reason they are great

Literally everything that makes Batman cool and compelling but with none of the downsides. Her downsides are different from his due to not having the narrative protection of being the white male lead. Her downsides are also deliberately and competently written. For further information see my entire blog.

a reason I relate to them

Autistic, mentally ill, used to be suicidal, awkward socially but enjoys violence not for malicious reasons but purely for the fun of it (I like boxing and martial arts.) Just everything about how she expresses herself and thinks and interacts with other people it's like wow. For a character with such a ridiculously comic book fantasy backstory she sure is incredibly relatable in down to earth ways!

(what I consider to be) the top tier otp/ot3 for that character

Stephcass. Steph is the Lois to Cass's Clark, the MJ to Cass's Spiderman. But Steph is also a vigilante in her own right and that adds extra flavour. If DC would give me one of those six issue mini runs they're so fond of I could do so much with it.

five things that never happened to that character that I believe should have happened

-Her Batgirl run should have had a proper conclusion not pushing her towards character assassination evil turns

-She should have become Batman.

-She should have been a part of the family from the beginning of the New 52 era. An essential part, closer to everyone than Jason and with more years in the family than Damian.

-She should have gotten to kiss Steph by now but I'll accept it if DC makes it happen this year.

-She should have gotten one final confrontation with David Cain where he comes back to life for 24 hours to remind DC of why her original run hit so hard and center her more on those themes than on being random Batgirl number 2.

five people that character never fell in love with and why

-Kon El. He's a good friend but she's a lesbian.

-Tai'darshan. He was a valuable part of helping her understand what she liked and didn't like romance wise but unfortunately he fell on the "didn't like" side in the end. Also she's a lesbian.

-Zero. He was her first fun civilian romance and while it wasn't serious it was nice while it lasted. It never would have been able to get serious though for multiple reasons. One of which being that she's a lesbian.

-Tim Drake. Shockingly being a lesbian is not the only main reason for once. Here it's also due to them being adopted siblings. While he loves Cass and was canonically mildly attracted to her at times during the early days, by the time they became adopted siblings they'd been through enough that any potential had fizzled out into pure platonic sibling menace energy.

-Harper Row. Being a lesbian is not an issue here at all actually. The issue is that in Harper's universe Cass killed her mom and in Cass's main universe she killed someone else and never met Harper until the world rebooted. Cass is not emotionally mature enough to wade through all that for a relationship. Especially when she can choose to wallow in guilt and stare awkwardly and painfully at Harper when Harper doesn't notice instead.

[bigfan-fanfic]

Considering you only gain muscles by working out, and to work out, you need to lift heavy things, technically, Clark couldn't be muscular since he's way too strong to actually be able to train his muscles. Which means: Clark chubby farm boy is actually a possible and viable thing.

SO, fun fact! This is totally true, and in fact addressed often in comics.

It's usually agreed upon in canon that Clark didn't develop his powers right away, with his capacity for absorbing and utilizing solar energy gradually expanding, around the same time as the onset of puberty, probably around age 14. So though his powers' growths were rapid once they manifested, he did have some time to adjust until they reached their maximum. And it was during this time he was helping out on the farm, using that as a kind of informal training (lifting hay bales for strength, which progressed to lifting cattle to lifting tractors, etc.; practicing control and finesse with say, chickens and caring for livestock with super speed).

Remember, Clark is supposed to be potential for the high school football team in Smallville, and that immediately makes me think stocky and sturdy, not cut and visibly muscular. At the point where he's at the full strength he'll know as Superman, he's got pretty much no upper limit, and generally nothing that's going to help him train his muscles. So definitely, early career Superman is going to be more mass than muscle.

However, once he gets full access to the Fortress of Solitude and the support of the Justice League, he can get some assistance - Wonder Woman has incredible, divinely empowered strength, and as a warrior trains often - she helps instruct him in martial arts and can help him train at full strength. Meanwhile, Batman can help him train in environments built to limit his power, like red sun training rooms and such.

Considering his physiology is more dependent upon solar energy than anything else to build his strength and keep him healthy, I'd say solar energy keeps him from atrophying. But considering if he's got energy akin to photosynthesis from the sun, I'd suggest he never really gets much of a lean musculature and remains bulky and sturdy.

Above is Christopher Reeve both training and in costume as Superman - his muscles are well-formed, but his torso isn't like, eight pack abs and dehydrated - he's clearly building muscle mass and body fat in a healthy way, and it shows in his costume. He looks sturdy, and strong.

Above is golden age Superman next to a bodybuilder/powerlifter, which I think Superman's original design is supposed to evoke. He's not popping muscles through his suit, but he's clearly really fricking fit and strong. Even his waist is more close to the width of his chest than more narrow like you see in more contemporary illustrations.

My thought is that Clark's physique is a lot more like someone at the Highland Games. Built for strength and sturdiness. He doesn't have to keep lean because he's not worried about endurance and agility because he already has that from his powers. Big arms, broad chest, likely a little bit of a tummy. And if he's under layers like Clark usually dresses, he can easily be mistaken for pudgy instead of powerful.

In any case, that's my untrained viewpoint on the subject. Basically my sweet polite farmboy is basically a photosynthesizing plant with muscles. Wait, is that why Poison Ivy's pheromones can work on him???

[probablyasocialecologist]

AI can turn some impressive party tricks, but it's unsuited for solving serious problems in the real world. This is true of predictive AI, whose correlations are data-driven conspiracy theories, and of large language models like ChatGPT, whose plausible waffle is always trying to pull free of the facts. The real issue is not only that AI doesn't work as advertised, but the impact it will have before this becomes painfully obvious to everyone. AI is being used as form of 'shock doctrine', where the sense of urgency generated by an allegedly world-transforming technology is used as an opportunity to transform social systems without democratic debate. Faced with social structures whose foundations have been eaten away by decades of privatisation and austerity, the political response is to pump money into 'frontier AI' while hyping it up as the most awe-inspiring technology since the Manhattan Project. The Prime Minister says he will "harness the incredible potential of AI to transform our hospitals and schools" while ignoring leaking roofs in the NHS and the literally collapsing ceilings in local schools. This focus on the immaterial fantasies of AI is a deliberate diversion. When large language models are touted as passing basic medical exams, it's because they've absorbed answers from across the internet. They are incapable of the embodied understanding and common sense that underpin medicine, education or any other form of care. One thing that these models definitely do, though, is transfer control to large corporations. The amount of computing power and data required is so incomprehensibly vast that very few companies in the world have the wherewithal to train them. To promote large language models anywhere is privatisation by the back door. The evidence so far suggests that this will be accompanied by extensive job losses, as employers take AI's shoddy emulation of real tasks as an excuse to trim their workforce. The goal isn't to "support" teachers and healthcare workers but to plug the gaps with AI instead of with the desperately needed staff and resources. Real AI isn't sci-fi but the precaritisation of jobs, the continued privatisation of everything and the erasure of actual social relations. AI is Thatcherism in computational form. Like Thatcher herself, real world AI boosts bureaucratic cruelty towards the most vulnerable. Case after case, from Australia to the Netherlands, has proven that unleashing machine learning in welfare systems amplifies injustice and the punishment of the poor. AI doesn't provide insights as it's just a giant statistical guessing game. What it does do is amplify thoughtlessness, a lack of care, and a distancing from actual consequences. The logics of ranking and superiority are buried deep in the make up of artificial intelligence; married to populist politics, it becomes another vector for deciding who is disposable.

[beevean]

Dracula in Netflixvania: how small changes in lore build up to disaster

Changes in adaptations are bound to happen. Cuts in the lore are bound to happen. But I find incredible how so many tiny changes in the lore of Castlevania brought by NFCV, apparently innocuous or even improvements according to some, actually lead to the narrative completely falling apart both as an adaptation and as its own story.

Let's start with the biggest change:

Lament of Innocence didn't happen.

Everything has been covered in this clear thread. To summarize what this change affects:

Dracula in the games started out as Mathias Cronqvist, a man who, wracked by grief for the loss of his wife Elisabetha, rebelled against God and concocted a plan to turn into a vampire and have Death as his loyal servant. In the show, he's just "the first vampire", with no clearer origins. (in the games Dracula isn't even the first vampire, as Walter and Joachim already existed and in fact Mathias needed to absorb the former's soul to become a vampire, but this is a minor detail.)

Leon Belmont in LoI was a crusader who had to throw away his title to rescue Sara, his fiancée. He was involved in Mathias' selfish plan, that lead to Sara's death, and cursed him to be hunted by his descendants for the rest of time: what makes it more painful is that the two used to be best friends. In the show, Leon was already a vampire hunter while fighting in crusades, and only moved from France to Wallachia to hunt Dracula, whom he had no previous relationship with.

The Vampire Killer in the games is the strongest holy weapon against dark creatures, due to it being infused with Sara's soul. There are other whips in the setting, but none can match the Vampire Killer. In the show, it's just a regular consecrated whip, and Trevor also fights with the Morning Star (turned from a powered up version of the VK to a different object) and Leon's longsword (the Belmonts in the games never use swords, except for the Dracula-possessed Soleil).

But these can be forgiven as small changes in adaptation, one could say. Elisabetha was cut because, really, she was a non-entity, and she might cheapen the grief for Lisa. Sara was cut because the VK can work just fine without her. Leon doesn't need to be Mathias' former bestie, the Belmonts can fight Dracula out of the goodness of their heart.

All valid arguments. But this is just the beginning.

Dracula hunted humans before Lisa showed up.

We don't know in detail what Dracula was up to between LoI and CV3. For all intents and purposes, he focused on honing his new vampire powers, moved to Wallachia, made himself a nice castle, and... chilled there. Perhaps he became the voivode of the land, the historical Vlad Țepeș.

IGA confirmed that before Lisa's death, Dracula had no issue with mankind in general, only with God, and he lived a peaceful life: in fact, he was willing to help certain people as long as they were against God, Dracula's one enemy at the time.

Hector and Isaac are, of course, the proof of this.

But even without the extra material, they were two humans who were welcomed in his court and served under him, in an extremely important role to boot.

(to be fair, the show gives an alternative and decent explanation for the Forgemasters' presence as humans in Dracula's court: the fact that they're willing to kill their own kind proves to him how trustworthy they are. A detail that was changed but on its own does not break the lore: good job!)

Alucard in GoS gives us these intriguing words:

It makes more believable why such a pure-hearted woman would fall in love with him.

Instead, the show directly opens with Lisa marching through Dracula's courtyard, infested with impaled skeletons, and flirting with the guy. And if this could be justified if one imagines that those humans attacked Dracula's first, the flashback in Season 2, where he's shown having a grand old time going on a killing spree because some merchants "disrespected" him, proves that no, he was an outright monster when Lisa met him, and his only change after marrying her was that he travelled more.

To cap things off, she freaks out when she gets arrested by the bishop, because she knows her beloved husband will revert to the savage he used to be.

Due to the first season and the finale's rushed nature, it's harder to imagine why would Lisa find a kernel of humanity in this vampire. She doesn't come off too good either.

Why does it matter?: despite his grief having a more prominent role in the story, Dracula is actually less sympathetic in this version. This wouldn't be terrible, as he is meant to be a tragic yet intimidating villain, if it weren't for the fact that the show paints him as utterly pitiable, and it's even known for "giving him depth". Shankar himself sees him as the hero of his own story.

In the show, Carmilla keeps asking why didn't Dracula turn Lisa into a vampire. With game Dracula, one can believe that he valued her humanity so much that he was willing to let her die of old age eventually, as long as she died as herself. The show, instead, never gives us an answer, because the question isn't meant to paint him in a noble light, but as an idiot who doesn't know what he's doing.

Lisa is less compassionate towards humanity.

Lisa's death is very different between Symphony of the Night and show. In the latter she got burned at the stake, while in the former she was crucified and we can assume she bled to death. This affects two factors.

One, in the game, we know that Alucard stayed with his mother until her last breath, allowing her to speak her last words to her son. In the show, Lisa dies alone shouting in the hopes that Dracula hears her. The title sequence of the first episode shows Alucard kneeling in front of Lisa, but this is not shown in the actual story, and there is no further indication that he was actually there: realistically, it's not possible.

Two, her last words are also different.

SoTN (ENG): "She said "Do not hate humans. If you cannot live with them, then at least do them no harm. For their's is already a hard lot. She also said to tell you that she would love you for all of eternity…" SoTN (JP): "Do not blame humans. She said that those unable to forgive mankind will walk the path of their own destruction. Those who do not belong to that world shouldn't do anything... And Father... she said that she will love you forever." NFCV: "Don't hurt them! They don't understand! I know it's not your fault, but... if you can hear... they don't know what they're doing. Be better than them. Please!"

Lisa in the game holds no ill will towards humans. She urges Alucard not to resent them, and understand that their lives are already difficult. She even attempts to find a compromise for ease of his mind: if he truly can't forgive, may he at least leave them alone. In Japanese, she emphasizes that hating humans will only be detrimental, a somber foreshadowing of Dracula's downfall. And finally, she parts with a last thought to her husband, a soft declaration of love. The tragedy here is that Alucard kept Lisa's words dear to his heart, but he could not tell them to Dracula, who instead used Lisa's memory as a weapon to wage war on mankind. By the time Alucard reveals Lisa's final wish, three hundred years later, it's too late.

Lisa in the show doesn't sound the same. Not only she ignores her son completely, but her focus seems to wanting to appease Dracula, who might or might not be hearing her, it's ambiguous. She quotes Jesus speaking to God, but she sounds more like an abused wife scared of her abusive husband's rage, a sentiment echoed in S2. She also puts emphasis on how "it's not his fault", as if to absolve Dracula of the responsibility of his reaction, and that Dracula should be "better than them", implying that she thinks lowly of them and wants Dracula to be superior. Not exactly compassionate.

Why does it matter? 1: the show had a chance to flesh out Lisa and Alucard's relationship as mother and son, and it squanders it to further emphasize Lisa's already established attachment to Dracula. Not only it cheapens Alucard's attachment to the mother he fights his father for (he, bafflingly, even says "Then find the one who did the deed", which misses the entire point of his character), this becomes much worse by the time of the finale, as I describe below.

Why does it matter? 2: Lisa, once again, loses sympathy points. The inherent hypocrisy of Dracula disrespecting Lisa's memory is never breached in the show, which prefers to focus on his shortsightedness, but Lisa's wish herself is not as purehearted in the show. In fact, as I said, her relationship with Dracula sounds quite unhealthy now, which of course never gets acknowledged.

The Forgemasters were warped beyond recognition.

This part derailed the post too much, so I put it in a different post. What matters here is that everything surrounding the Devil Forgemasters in the show makes Dracula look like a massive negligent idiot who had his death coming, not to mention not quite as morally grey as his game counterpart.

Dracula never became the Dark Lord.

When Elisabetha died. Mathias became a vampire through the Crimson Stone. When Lisa died, Dracula made a pact with Chaos/The Evil God to become the Dark Lord, the Avatar of Chaos on Earth. This makes Dracula far more than a vampire, and something closer to Satan, a truly terrifying figure. His penchant for cursing and possessing also proves this. Dracula, through his own actions, became the incarnation of evil.

Needless to say, Chaos isn't even hinted at in the show.

Why does it matter?: despite his posturing, Dracula is nothing special. He is in theory respected by other vampires for being the oldest and most knowledgeable one, but even that is not true, as the first thing Carmilla does is disrespect him in front of his whole court. His abilities also pale compare to what he can do in the games - while he showcases his iconic Hellfire, he doesn't even turn into his monster form!

Death is not Dracula's loyal confidant.

In the games, Death is a creature born from Chaos, and bound to serve the wielder of the Crimson Stone. Mathias was able to get his help to complete his transformation into a vampire, and since then, Death has stuck with the Dark Lord through thick and thin. Not only he's often responsible for Dracula's resurrection through the centuries, but he's pretty much described as the closest thing the vampire has to a confidant and friend.

No Crimson Stone = no Death. The role of confidant is taken by Isaac, strangely enough, with a Dracula being seriously concerned about their friendship (and this only highlights how differently Isaac and Hector are treated).

Death doesn't appear until Season 4, and he has a completely different role: he's the man behind the scenes who wants to revive Dracula, which so far is canon compliant... but he wants to use Dracula by giving him a fate worse than death, in the hopes of driving him insane and pushing him to kill as many people as possible, again. Dracula is nothing but a tool to Death, who is described as being a different type of vampiric creature.

Why does it matter?: it's yet another way Dracula is weakened and disrespected by the narrative. Constantly presenting new semi-original villains and having them insulting the main antagonist of the franchise or playing them as pawns is just tasteless.

Dracula and Lisa are brought back to life in the finale.

Death does manage to accomplish part of his plan: with St. Germain's help, he calls back Dracula's and Lisa's souls from Hell to be fused into a Rebis. After Trevor destroys Death, the two return to normal. Happy to be once again together, they decide to spend the rest of their lives together travelling around the world like they were set to do, leaving Alucard alone.

Why does it matter?: it completely shatters the whole point of the cycle of death and rebirth Dracula and the Belmonts are stuck under. Dracula in the games is brought back into the human world by mankind's evil desires, forced by Chaos to be its avatar and a harbinger of evil. It's implied that even he grew tired of it all, which is why being reincarnated into Soma is a chance of a new start for him. By having Lisa at his side again, Dracula has no reason to hate mankind anymore. Since Chaos doesn't exist in the show, Dracula is completely free, and the year he spent planning mass extermination and suicide is quickly brushed off. We are left questioning what exactly Dracula will do now with his new life, and what he will do after Lisa's natural death.

As of Season 1 of Nocturne, he seems to have faded into obscurity: the first of the two times he is mentioned (the second time from Alucard introducing himself), it's from Juste, in a line like this:

"[Evil] will always be stronger than us. And you can kill this or that devil. A Lord Ruthven, a Dracula, maybe even an Olrox. But there'll always be more, more and worse."

Put in the middle as if he were a random vampire, implicitly listed as less impressive than Olrox. And to add insult to injury, Annette, who somehow knew all about Forgemasters, has no idea who he is.

(and while this doesn't matter as much, the two preferring to spend time with each other rather than comforting their grieving son makes them look like truly awful parents. What happened to "I'm killing my boy"? Why is Lisa outright avoiding her own son when she knows he's still crying over them?)

In short, Castlevania, the series named after Dracula's own castle and domain, barely has Dracula as its villain, and in the short screentime he had he was blatantly disrespected.

But he's far from being the only one.

The Belmonts are incredibly nerfed.

To recap. The Belmonts are a generic clan of vampire hunters, for which Dracula is just another vampire. The two have no connection. The Vampire Killer is nowhere near as impressive as its game counterpart, regardless of the flashy animation of the fight. During the fight with Dracula, not even the Morning Star could scratch him. Dracula recognizes Trevor as a Belmont because he attempts to punch him in the face, to no avail. It's implied that, before Trevor, his ancestors went to fight Dracula. And failed. Possibly died.

The Belmonts... don't come off as being particularly heroic.

And this leads to the biggest sin: Trevor couldn't kill Dracula.

I repeat: Trevor Belmont was not the one who killed Dracula. And a weaker version to boot. He dies because he has an emotional breakdown at the sight of Alucard's childhood room, realizing too late that he's "killing his boy", and it's "his boy" who stakes him through the heart. Trevor is the one who finishes him off, but by and large, the bulk of the work was done by Alucard and Dracula's own depression.

So much for him being the Legendary Belmont in the games, right?

Why does it matter?: The narrative feels somewhat disdainful of the protagonists of the whole franchise, let alone its own.

Alucard being Dracula's effective killer is the result of Season 2 focusing mostly on their strained father/son relationship, which has its place to be sure, but it's as if the writers copypasted the emotional climax of Symphony of the Night in what is supposed to be an adaptation of Dracula's Curse.

Generally speaking, Trevor gets the shaft in his own story. He did kill Death, the final villain of the show, but Death hardly matters in the grand scheme of things compared to Dracula. The narrative's focus was spread through too many plotlines, and clearly favored Alucard and Isaac (and Hector's plotline, but not for him). Trevor and Sypha, stuck to playing hero in random villages in Season 3 and 4, are by far the most wasted protagonists of the bunch.

The writers seem to have grown bored with the main protagonist, because other characters became more popular. It's amateurish, and once again, disrespectful to the source material: yes, not all games have a Belmont as the protagonist and sometimes they use some flimsy excuses to push them to the sides, but at least they accomplish stuff.

And this leads to...

Richter in Nocturne has lost the entire point of himself.

Richter Belmont is famous for being the turning point in the Belmont clan. While, chronologically, Juste already grappled with his own fate, Richter is the one who completely falls apart because of his legacy. For 300 years, his ancestors were born, were raised and died knowing that some of them will have to destroy Dracula. Richter wrapped his identity around being a Belmont, and being tasked with killing Dracula, which he did eagerly... so when he did, he suddenly realized he had nothing to live for. He wanted to keep fighting for eternity, to give a purpose to himself. And that's how Shaft got to him. And Richter was so distraught for the shame he has brought upon the name of his clan, that he gave the VK to the Morris clan, who kept it until 1999.

Nothing of this could be kept in Nocturne, because no Belmont has ever killed Dracula, and there is no reason to even kill him anymore after he stopped hating mankind. Simon's Quest and Harmony of Dissonance cannot happen without Dracula's relics. Richter is still proud of his heritage, but he describes it as a generic "killing vampires": as of Season 1 of Nocturne, the main source of pain for him is the death of his mother at the hands of Olrox, a very different and much more cliché tragic backstory.

Why does it matter?: between this, Trevor being a glorified prop, and Juste being reduced to a depressed cynical mentor, plus the OC Julia getting killed in an uncerimonious way to fuel Richter's angst, there is a sad pattern of the show almost resenting the Belmont clan as a whole. What is the point of adapting Richter's story, if his story simply cannot happen?

Richter thought Alucard was just a myth.

In SoTN, Richter immediately recognizes Alucard as the one who helped his ancestor Trevor. The implication is that the knowledge of Trevor's feats had been passed down, and survived for 300 years. Apparently, no such thing happened in Nocturne.

Why does it matter?: since Trevor did absolutely nothing of importance in the show, Richter's knowledge of his own clan lore is cheapened. This affects once again his supposed arc, confirmed by Sam Deats, of living up to his family legacy - what legacy?

And still they aren't the only ones affected!

Alucard doesn't hate his vampiric heritage.

In the games, Alucard's biggest internal struggle is with his dual nature. Both a vampire and a human, son of his father who wants to destroy mankind and son of his mother who asked him to cause no harm to them. The turmoil is so great that Alucard chooses to seal himself in a coffin twice over, in 1476 and in 1797: he explicitly does so because he feels tremendous guilt over having killed his father, and to protect the world from his "cursed" blood, as there is the chance that, if he dies, he will become a full-fledged vampire.

Absolutely nothing of this is kept in the show. Alucard reluctantly kills Dracula and is shown weeping about it, but he's fiercely, and weirdly, protective of vampires. This is shown in S2, where the reason he spends the entire time insulting Trevor and his lineage with cruel, callous and frankly xenophobic remarks is that they kept "a museum dedicated to the extermination of my people".

Why does it matter? At its core, this is the show's attempt to make the vampires look more sympathetic, painting them as a noble race who don't deserve to be systematically killed (accidentally drawing unfortunate parallels with real life ethnicities). By default, it paints the Belmonts as morally grey, at best, hunters who kill innocent creatures like "children" and gruesomely display the remains.

Incidentally, while the objective was to make the vampires look more pitiable, the real consequence is that Alucard looks like a grand bastard, hating Trevor for doing his job and siding with bloodsucking monsters for reasons that are not elaborated upon. You'd think this would effect his relationship with Dracula, but it never comes up.

(Nocturne also comes off as even more disconnected to the original series now, as it reverts back to the notion that vampires are nothing more than evil monsters to be killed without remorse)

Alucard doesn't go to sleep between the two series.

Let's go back to the part where I said that Alucard sleeps his way through from Dracula's Curse to Symphony of the Night.

This doesn't happen in the show. The entirety of his story in S3 is caused by him going insane for the isolation over a month because Trevor and Sypha decided to travel alone, while Alucard guarded the castle and the Belmont Hold; the finale has him turning Dracula's Castle into a village where he can live with Trevor, Sypha, their upcoming child and Greta; in Nocturne, Alucard mentions that he spent the last 300 years slaying vampires (I suppose he changed his stance on them in the meantime).

Why does it matter?: it makes Richter's ignorance of him even more striking. Alucard should have lived through the Belmont lineage, be a figure to look up to: the only assumption one could make is that he, at some point, cut all contact with his friends or his friends' descendants when nothing would suggest such a decision in the series, and his relationship with Trevor and importance in killing Dracula were forgotten with time. This ties back with how Richter has no legacy of his own.

Alucard also must have not done a good job at slaying vampires for three centuries, if they have managed to infiltrate human nobility.

Why does it matter? 2: a smaller consequence of Alucard never sealing himself in his coffin is that Trevor and Sypha come off as very insensitive friends for abandoning him right when he needed the most support. In Dracula's Curse, he chose to separate himself from them. This cheapens their supposed friendship even more.

However, further consequences (like Alucard's state of mind and the fate of Dracula's castle) are yet unknown. We'll see in S2.

And there you have it. Richter can't be Richter and Nocturne has to revolve around the French Revolution, because Lament of Innocence didn't happen in the show. And because the writers did not understand the source material and all the decisions that had been taken.

[this-user-is-always-bored]

how do you guys think jade and june would change classpect-wise in kidswap. considering that this adds another 3 years to their non-SBURB life, i got to consider how the different circumstances and extra time would come to change their personalities (and along with that, their classes).

not to go into detail with the strilondes here because this is a harleybert-focused post, but to sum it up i made rose a rogue of light to reflect how she tried to imitate roxy in mom lalonde’s absence, while also displaying her own feelings of inadequacy when it comes to what she’s naturally proficient at, knowledge (light), due to err, apocalyptic circumstances. dave would be a page of time, to demonstrate how without bro, he wouldn’t have absorbed the kind of self sacrificial ruthlessness that a prince of heart would have, instead gaining more self loathing from the fact that dirk is a knight, and try as he might, dave feels as if he could never live up to what he thinks he should want to be. okay recap done with back to the prospits

i think another 3 years of isolation would have legitimately driven jade fucking crazy. we can see from the epilogues and hsbc how being essentially quarantined from the rest of humanity pregame, and then losing the first source of consistent social interaction she has for another 3 years during the retcon ship trip has made her incredibly desperate for any scrap of affection and/or human interaction that she thinks she can’t ever lose. even pregame we see that jade’s only been comforting herself to avoid her loneliness through the skaian prophecies of being able to meet her friends. that’s all she has. adding the fact that bec now can’t really stay with her 24/7 and another 3 years on to that pile and you can see how quickly it fucks over her mental health to the point where i’m pretty sure my kidswap jade is more close to hsbc jade than she is to og jade. funnily enough though i don’t think i’d change her from witch of space to anything. jade’s class being the witch is tied to her complete lack of autonomy in regards to something ruled over by her aspect (which is something she shares with her fellow witches, feferi and damara!), while also referring to how in a trade off for immense power (with witches being consistently in positions of power, either in class or raw potency of ability) she loses any agency she may have gained previously, and is pulled along by the strings of the narrative until it’s done with. (again, another thing she shares with feferi and damara). this isn’t to say the robbing of jade’s autonomy and agency in the narrative in exchange for power and/or the ability to create life is solely from the narrative implications of her classpect alone, but it does play a big part.

with june it’s quite similar, since even at the very first section of act 1 we see how hollow her ‘normal suburban life’ is, despite its normalcy. i think something to note is june’s melancholy about how empty everything seems to be despite things being like they should be is something that remains (despite being repressed and then touched upon and then repressed even harder this time) through hs, culminating in her depressive spiral in the epilogues�� these seeds of dissatisfaction and restlessness appear in her since the very beginning, and i feel like they would eventually result in her being depressed nonetheless, with the game or not. another 3 years of mundane, supposedly acceptable suburban life would probably drive her to the same brink as original jade, just maybe the brink could be less tall. like, 50% less. or 30%, depends on how you interpret her depressive spirals in the epilogues. again, the thing is, i can’t really find it in myself to change her class either. this seems very fitting for an heir of breath, and i don’t think the extra years would cause anything to change for her class-wise; she’d probably hold on to that sense of detachment and apathy to not lose her mind at how hollow everything around her is.

and isn’t that harrowing? three whole years of extra time, a whole different set of circumstances and yet neither of them change very much fundamentally. sure, they may be a hell of a lot more desperate and introspective (questionable. is facing the endless hole of loneliness/emptiness within the world around you and yourself introspection?) now, but as who they truly are deep inside, nothing has truly shifted. the world changed, the people around them changed, and yet they still stay the same.

[icedragonlizard]

Are the "deaths" of older Kirby characters unserious?

For all the Kirby characters that are believed to have "died", I wonder if the ones in earlier periods of the series are not actually seriously dead.

The newer, Kumazaki era Kirby characters that have died are much more legitimate. Sectonia is absolutely 100% dead without a doubt. Same for Max Haltmann and Star Dream, as well as Void Termina. I also believe Fecto Elfilis to be dead, since the Forgo half is gone and Chaos Elfilis absorbed into Elfilin. I'm sure that Elfilin will be all that's left of Fecto Elfilis, meaning the original unsplit creature is a goner.

But what about the pre-Kumazaki Kirby characters that are believed to have "died"? It appears they're much less certain. It's ambiguous.

Marx looks like he died at the end of Milky Way Wishes. That impact onto Nova absolutely looks more than enough to kill Marx. How could he have survived that? He also doesn't appear for a very long time after Super Star and its remake. He's been absent in a lot of Kirby games, which can also lead to the belief that he died after MWW.

Although he does appear in Mass Attack... but I have doubts on its canonicity.

... And then he comes back in Star Allies! Seemingly out of nowhere. It's kind of funny that the lore never explains how the hell Marx survived his encounter with Kirby and just randomly comes back, now deciding he wants to team up with Kirby to stop Void Termina.

I get the sense that HAL didn't really think much of Marx's "death" like they thought of Sectonia's death. Marx came from an era where lore wasn't really a thing, so it's harder to take his death seriously.

It's still funny to think how the hell he survived the Nova impact, though. I guess he was just really durable? And I mean, Kirby does survive big impacts, such as Star Dream's explosion after destroying it, so I guess if Kirby could survive them, Marx probably could as well.

I can, of course, bring up my headcanon that Marx was barely durable enough to survive the Nova impact, but he was gravely injured. The only reason he survived is because Magolor and the Lor Starcutter showed up at the right time to save him.

Also, didn't it look like that Dark Meta Knight died at the end of Amazing Mirror when the mirror got shattered? It kinda did. But just like Marx, he also comes back out of nowhere for Star Allies with no explanation as to how he survived and got to the point of helping out.

I'm aware he also appears in Triple Deluxe's Dededetour, but I've always been incredibly loose about considering side modes as canon. Or I guess it's extra proof that older character "deaths" are unserious.

What does this mean for other pre-Kumazaki Kirby characters that may have "died"? Such as Nightmare, the many leaders of Dark Matter (Blade, Zero, Zero-Two) and Drawcia? Are they still alive?

If Marx was thought to have "died" but then survived and is still around, who's to say that couldn't also be the case for Nightmare?

Nightmare has not appeared for a long time after Kirby's Adventure and its remake, Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land. In fact I'm pretty sure the only other appearance he's made in the series is... a parallel version of him in Super Kirby Clash, and I think that's basically it.

But Marx was similar! He didn't show up for a bunch of games after Super Star. And then he just randomly shows up in Star Allies lmao.

Maybe Nightmare is still out there, recuperating for a long time after Kirby kicked his ass. Perhaps he could be planning his next attack as he tries to become much, much, much stronger than he was before.

And maybe Dark Matter could make a return. Maybe one of the Dark Matter leaders in the DMT games could be recuperating and planning a new attack, or a brand new Dark Matter leader could exist.

I think it'd be awesome of Nightmare or Dark Matter were to come back as villains in future Kirby games. There's huge amounts of potential for how powerful they could be in the Kumazaki era. They could easily expand on these villains' powers and motivations.

Imagine if Nightmare grew stronger and, instead of making only Dream Landers have nightmares, what if he was able to make multiple planets or even the whole universe have nightmares? They didn't really push his potential far enough, in my opinion. And Dark Matter could be a lot more ferocious and scary in the Kumazaki era.

HAL didn't really seem to confirm Nightmare's or Dark Matter's deaths the same way they did for Sectonia and Haltmann. Maybe they could still be out there. And maybe they could attack again?

Just a cool thought, in my opinion.

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.

[amberskywrites]

Just Leave A Comment Fest Stats

Thank you to @justleaveacommentfest for hosting!!!

Decided I wanted to put my stats somewhere - as well as just post all of the awesome fics I ended up reading! Seriously recommend checking some of them out, they were truly a delight, and I'm really appreciative of this event not just getting me back into commenting, but reading fics in general, as I had entered a sort of reading funk ^^

Total Comments: 31

Bingo Cards

I plan to fill these out more over time for blackout but I got bingo on two cards during this event ^^

The Fics

Here's a link to ALL the fics I read ^^

I didn't read through all the fics I wanted, but I definitely read a lot more than I have in the past like 3 months so! I'll count that as a win while working through more of the listed fics over time

Below are some fics that I HIGHLY recommend - these were my favorites to read (or reread) ^^

Forever Onward, Scion - 32 fic long Wizard101 Series

This. Series. Is. INCREDIBLE!!!! No joke, definitely within a Top 10 favorite series list of mine, perhaps even a Top 5. @oldestenemy literally changed how I interpreted events and characters in this game. I actually read most of these fics early this year, and when I say they absolutely sucked me in, I mean it. I was obsessed with oldestenemy's portrayal of the Young Wizard, as well as just all the other characters and their dynamics. I literally could not put this series down once I started, I know I very much proctastinated on lots of assignments and maybe even didn't pay attention in class just because of it. For the fest I tried to comment on as many of these fics as I could to make up for the fact that I didn't comment when I first read it - and! I had fun letting it absorb my life all over again ^^

the existence of love - 1.6k words of all the Nanatsu no Taizai emotions

I went through the whole spectrum of emotions reading this fic. And I'm gonna say it was fate that I ended up finding this fic, considering I found it by rolling dice for not one but two different bingo cards. I cannot recommend it enough! By the end I was feeling so... flabberghasted, that this fic had the audacity to take me on such a wild rollercoaster of emotions. And I had to sit for a good hour after before I could continue reading. The author captured the characterizations perfectly and managed to create a character that I could relate to but filled me with absolute rage with each word out of their mouth.

By the water - 42 words of Minecraft Diaries relaxation

It's so short, but it was incredibly relaxing to read. Genuinely, I read this right before going to bed, and I was overwhelmed by a sense of calmness and just... felt so much better. I don't normally read fics this short, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it!

I've Tried Everything - Painful yet beautuful Nanatsu no Taizai Melizabeth angst

Incredible. So so incredible. I really love this author's fics, but I was surprised when I discovered I hadn't read this one! So I jumped on the chance as soon as I could and I don't regret it one bit. Head's up for suicidal Meliodas, and how his cursed has affected him over the years, and beautiful angst and distrust among the Sins. It's wonderful, all of their work is wonderful (seriously, also check out But We All Bleed Red and As Long As You're Alive by them. Incredible.)

[sporadic-doodles]

Starfolk Lore!

(I'm stealing this term, if you don't mind >:D)

Anyways, Worldless lore! Because lore is my favorite part of every game.

From what we know, there are two main natures -- blue and orange -- that are constantly at war with each other. Once one wins over the other, the victor absorbs the loser, taking their energy and shifting both of their forms. They then swap natures, and the victor goes on their way while the loser bums around, probably out of exhaustion or smth. Blue starfolk tend to have either lightning or ice natures, while orange starfolk favor wind and fire (because colors~)

However, rarely, the absorption results in a sort of merge where the combatants fuse to become a single green starfolk. This is where Adaptation, Duality, and Yin-Yang come from, and you can see it happen in the Eastern area of the map. If I remember correctly, it's a crescent and ariman(?) that forms Quimera.

These merged starfolk gain an incredible amount of power, as the most powerful enemies in the game (*cough* Summum *cough*) and can be assumed to be a sort of ascendance, as they no longer obey either of their original natures. Also, from the character designs, it appears that the more green a starfolk has, the more powerful and "near-perfect" they are, hence the extreme difficulty of Summum's fight. The sole exception to this appears to be Edda and Aven.

While yes, Duality has two individual, fully-functioning parts that each have at least some independent thought, Edda and Aven are two completely separate beings. They are physically separated, even though you never see them next to each other unless it's in cutscenes or in special moves, unlike Duality who clearly merges to perform their giant star attacks. Part of that is logicked away to the functionality of gameplay controls, but still. There is no evidence of their merge until they touch, in which green light covers the screen, or the giant sword from Unified Division appears. We are clearly told that whatever they have going on is special in a way that has caught the eye of what is closest to a god in their universe (which is a whole other can of worms that I'll write about later). Either way, they're much stronger than the traditional green starfolk, as seen by the fact that people can beat Summum in 4 minutes *Gestures at speedrun video*.

Now, I also want to touch on whatever the heck is up with Edda and Aven's absorption. We can see in the background -- within 3 minutes of starting the game -- that whenever a starfolk is absorbed, they swap natures and are distorted beyond recognition. However, whenever Edda (and later Aven) does the same, they remain perfectly untouched while the enemy is completely obliterated. I, personally, think this is an ability granted to them following Aved's failed absorption of Edda at the start, where the two are something like a "ever-strengthening" or "consuming" being like how Adaptation is the "ever-changing" and Yin-Yang is the "stable yet unstable" being. Their initial merge is also probably why their own kinds attack them, which took me embarrassingly long to realize.

That's all I can really think of at the moment, but I might write more later.

Please let me know if I messed up or need to add stuff! I'm writing this all from memory!