#it’s not even funny it might be an obsession

[i-am-snowils-admiral]

So the dpxdc fandom has been trying to come up with more ways to get Danny into Gotham without relying on the old Bat-adoption trope (though it's a fun trope that I love), which typically either means aging him up or giving him a fake id and making him live alone in Gotham pretending to be aged up, but personally I think we can streamline the process a bit by borrowing liberally from Marsalias' fic Adoption (if you haven't read it, definitely do, it's a really good fic) and sticking Actual Master of Time Clockwork in Gotham as yet another weird rich cryptid.

For those who haven't read that fic, the basic premise is that Clockwork decides to adopt Danny completely legally through both ghost and human methods. He is required to establish a human persona for this, which I find hysterical. He and Danny end up living in an incredibly creepy manor that they both love. We can easily uproot that thing and plop it into Gotham. If we want to be particularly funny about it, we can sandwich Wayne Manor between Clockwork and the Drakes to make them all neighbors.

Now what you do from there is obviously subject to whatever story you're wanting to tell, but there's a couple fun things I want to suggest:

Clockwork doesn't try very hard on his human persona. He still dresses like a time god in a fantasy novel (I'm a little in love with 13thcat's designs so I like to imagine his human form looks a little like this). You have to live, what, 40-50 years in a city to be established? Sure. Why bother aging visibly in this time? That's not necessary! What does he do for work? Uhhhh he's a woodworker who makes clocks. That's why he has millions or even billions of dollars, obviously.

5-year-old Bruce Wayne is OBSESSED with Clockwork (aka Charles Worth). This is baby's first incredibly pure crush. This is your really cool kindergarten teacher that you remain a little in love with well into adulthood, except instead of being nice CW is just really weird and doesn't care about what 5-year-olds are able to discuss. Baby Bruce does that little kid "I'll marry you when I grow up" thing that everyone finds adorable but CW says "there are many timelines where you get married, though never to me. Some options are better than others, but I won't tell you about them" because what else would he say.

When Danny shows up in Gotham decades later as CW's adopted kid Bruce is zeroed in on all the gossip. His interest is based entirely on his childhood obsession though so he uses absolutely zero Batman skills to investigate the situation and therefore finds nothing weird about Danny's background. The batkids find this hilarious because there is Clearly something weird going on with that kid.

Clockwork could easily solve all of the Bats' problems and tell them the answers to all the investigations they're doing but why would he do that???? That's boring. He's vibing in his new house with his cool liminal son why would he be worried about *checks notes* the hundreds of people dying to rogue attacks nearby.

Despite never being genuinely helpful he DOES randomly drop in-universe lore that no one would've figured out otherwise. Usually he does this about six months after it would've been really nice to know.

He doesn't do this out of malice he just doesn't intervene in things normally and if he does, it's only by request. The Bats (besides Batman because he's still oblivious) are too worried about what he might ask for in exchange to make requests though they know he's powerful but they are totally wrong because he's just sitting there baking bread thinking "hm I wonder why Timothy never asked me to help him get Batman back from being lost in the time stream, I could've done that really easily without changing too much. Oh well, whatever makes him happy."

Danny also never makes requests but that's because CW went a bit too hard on teaching him messed up karmic lessons about interfering with time so Danny just assumes it's always a bad idea to ask.

[jweekgoji]

Hi can I request for yandere Sentinel Prime x maid femme s/o please

Yandere!Sentinel/Femme!Maid!Reader [TFO/hcs]

tw: yandere themes, jealousy, possessive behavior, power imbalance, master/servant relationships, mentions of objectification of reader (from Sentinel's side), controlling behavior. word count: ~1300 additional tags: cogless!reader (but I didn't state reader's height just so it will fit for everyone ig), cybertronian!reader, femme!reader, maid!reader. a/n: It's funny, but in the ± official Transformers comics, at least Nightbird, Starscream and Windblade had some sort of maid job.

I can imagine Sentinel already having a bunch of maids, running up the tower while he's too 'busy' being a Prime.

Knowing Sentinel, and his obsession with appearing like a real Prime, it's not surprising that as soon as he gets his high title, he surrounds himself with a bunch of servants who humbly work for him.

If he wants to live like a real king, then he definitely needs assistants to provide him with constant comfort.

In fact, it amuses me to think that the original thirteen Primes didn't worry about such things. Sure, they were busy on Cybertron, constantly creating new things for a young, future race, but having maids? Yeah, well, no, thanks.

After Prime takes his position, like I said, he immediately surrounds himself with trusted confidants. Airachnid is also a very good help at this point. She may not be quite the 'social' bot that she seems at first glance, but her perceptiveness can easily crack any potential rascal.

Such a concept as 'maids' hardly existed on Cybertron, so the term came right after the Sentinel → Prime.

↑ Most likely, like miners, no one thought about their need until the newly elected Prime decided to introduce a new class.

↑ Given that, there's a good chance that bots that play the role of maids aren't as high just like miners, so it's a likely that maid bots won't have t-cogs either. Poor things.

I'm not sure if it got that much popularity among the rest of Cybertron's elite, but at first the rest of the Iaconians were surprised.

↑ Like, we definitely need a new class of bots that will be used every day as servants and will suffer from the elites? Really?? But yeah...! Knowing how much they idolize Sentinel, I wouldn't even question such a decision.

Sentinel is pretty careful about who he accepts into his inner circle, so naive, incompetent, but utterly respectful bots are exactly what he needs.

This bastard can watch for hours, sitting in a comfy chair in his office, Airachnid standing silently beside him as he flips through each profile.

'Too bright, too dull, I don't like this type of frame-' even without looking twice, it can go on like this for hours until he accidentally bumps into you. Everything about you seemed to fit his every whim. You were the perfect size, the perfect paint job, and without a single flaw, what else could a bot of his stature want?

↑ Yandere! Sentinel definitely got a sense of “love at first sight” in this scenario, but I'm not quite sure what he feels for you can be called love at all.

He's not going to immediately order your services the minute you do, but you can't say he doesn't want to either. Sentinel is very concerned about how he looks in front of others.

“Should I contact her?” Airachnid decides to speak, leaning a little closer to take in the sight of the bot on the panel.

Too focused on his thoughts, the Prime flinches, but quickly hides it as he tries to compose himself and sit up straight in his seat.

“No-no need to, for now,” he clears his throat. ”I need some time to think.”

And then he can't help but come back every time to look at you. It's no secret he's interested. Each new profile is now more boring to him than the last, and at some point he doesn't have the patience not to call out Airachnid.

↑ But...! It would be too suspicious if he only called you. No, he can't let the others think he has favorites, so grudgingly, he might as well call out a few other assistants, even though he hardly paid attention to who they might be. All his attention was only on you.

From the moment you arrive, it seems that everyone's favorite Prime just can't live a day without you. Every day, you'll be at his beck and call.

He needs to clean up his own office in a hurry? You go straight to him. In the middle of the night, you're called to bring a few cubes of energon directly to his chambers? You forget about your rest for the whole night. And sometimes it gets absurd.

At some point, he even forgets that he also has other maids that run errands for him; at some point, you're promoted to be his personal maid.

Since then, you can say bye-bye to your privacy since Sentinel gets even more greedy about it. Having you helping him and cleaning around is not enough at one point. Of course, like any other hardworking person, you need to rest; he doesn't want you to end up passing out because of low energon in the middle of nowhere. That is why you should always be kept next to him.

During the important meetings, when many members of Iaconian elite group came to the tower, discussing boring, important stuff, you're here to make sure that everyone is satisfied and happy. He wants to keep his high rate of approval after all!

Seeing how other bots look you up makes him practically grind his teeth. Part of him hates it deep to the core of his spark; the other is arrogant about it, knowing how none of them can actually have you. You're his personal favorite, so there is no way someone would dare to take Prime's maid.

↑ but if someone dares to make a gross, disgusting comment about you, he'd make sure that they learn the lesson. He wouldn't kill them, since he doesn't want to stain his servos in energon, or lose an important member, so he just scares them off in ‘seize them, cut their throat! oh, wait— I changed my mind!’ way.

The more you stay close with Sentinel, the more comfortable he gets. At first, it's all started with keeping your presence nearby. Nothing too suspicious or weird; you may think he's just testing your skills, and that alone makes you put more effort into your work,  even though the reason for his staring is a little different than you might think.

↑ He's not a hardcore yandere even though when he ‘‘falls in love’, it hits him hard. There will be this overly sweet period with him, where he shows that he does actually care about you. Like when you can't reach for something, he will help to get it for you, or if you're too tired, he lets you rest with him together in the privacy of his office. Overall, when he wants to show himself from the good side, Sentinel is such a perfect mech.

↑ He's always polite, and when he's with other bots who are lower in rank than him, he acts all humble; it's hard not to feel at ease around him.

But as much as a bastard Sentinel is in canon, yandere Sentinel still doesn't treat his darling as equal. Like I mentioned in previous headcanons for Sentinel, he sees only himself as ‘a king’, and sharing that title with someone else will only take the part of power he wants to have.

He's still selfish and arrogant, since he believes that his maid lover was created only for him, and him only. There is a part of him that actually sees you as an object that he wants to possess, and it's not really romantic.

↑ Sentinel loves to control everyone and everything, and his pretty darling is not an exception. If he sees you slacking off when you're supposed to work, he's not shy to scold or even punish you. It's nothing too drastic, at least for now, but that will make you remember that you work for a Prime, after all.

[bunniisms]

WALTER. C. DORNEZ HEADCANON DUMP

Blame this headcanon dump on the tremendous support from my friends and my unending obsession with this Old Fart and throwing him down the metaphoric staircases in my brain!

THE C IN HIS NAME ISN'T A MIDDLE NAME. Remind me to talk about it at length later, because it's an entire bullshit that would make this post far, far longer that I've already made it. Instead, the C in Walter's name stands for COURTENAY, the name of the old, old noble family he draws descendants from. Who had historical connections to the art of Vampire Hunting & the Hellsing Family via their connection to the Vatican and support of the late Abraham Van Hellsing.

Walter was the son of a daughter who didn't have the name (or any claim) to pass down beyond her and her late husband's friendship with Arthur Hellsing. As an adult, Walter's reclaimed the title and hyphenated his last name (i.e. Courtenay-Dornez)

TLDR: Walter C. Dornez but the C in his name is a desperate clinging symbol and claim to historic (and almost forgotten) notoriety and a connection to the business he’s attached his whole identity to but never found direct happiness from

WALTER DESCENDS FROM PEERAGE BUT ISN'T DIRECTLY OF ANY IMPORTANCE TO ANY NOBLE FAMILIES

This is sort of canon, but WALTER HAS DEEPLY STAKED HIS SENSE OF IDENTITY AND PERSON-HOOD INTO VAMPIRE-HUNTING and the concept of both his body deteriorating with age, and his gradual sense of being rendered obsolete behind New Operatives and Alucard is the heartbeat in the floorboard driving him to madness. FOR WALTER TO BE BENCHED OR TO BE RETIRED, HE SEES THAT AS THE DEATH OF HIMSELF IN A FAR MORE VISCERAL SENSE

WALTER IS AN OXYMORON OF ARROGANCE AND INSECURITY. Walter struggles with his sense of identity and his place in the world. It's not that he feels useless, but he feels like he has been doomed and damned to forever be third best - unable to move forward - unable to be better, to be wanted by existence (and himself), always envious and wanting for any claim of his own that he can truly sink his teeth into and use as a salve to cover the infected wounds of insecurity that have been with him since he was a child.

HOWEVER, the funny thing with Walter? As much as he feels this way, he is a haughty, arrogant, catty bastard. He views the vast majority of people, human and otherwise, as far, far beneath him, even with his insecurity being what it is. Walter knows he could be MORE, but these other people? It would be a miracle if they even got to his weakest position. Their words have precisely as much weight as the clucking of chickens.

WALTER HIDES THESE TRAITS WITH A JEEVES-LIKE FACADE AND PERSONA OF WARMTH AND HUMILITY. A lot of the time, the Walter seen smiling and bowing, offering his hand and advice, greeting the guests and answering the household's calls with a polite warmth is as superficial as a cardboard mockup - it's an act - the Walter we see walk out and make pot shots to scare Jan and quote his speech back at him. THAT'S THE REAL WALTER. Walter hasn't so much changed that part of him that we saw so much of in Dawn, as much as he's learned to hide it.

ONE OF WALTER'S LOVE LANGUAGES IS TRANSPARENCY. Walter has developed such a false crust of subservience and humility and comically stereotypical butler-like deference. You know you've sunk deeper into his person when he begins lifting the act in more intimate settings. Walter might seem to get sharper and cattier, a little more mean-girl-esc with his judgement and quips, but that's Walter! If you took him for a sweet old man, you bought the charade, hook, and sinker. THIS is the real Walter, THIS is what goes on inside his mind's palace. Either embrace it or take the check and go! Haha

UNLIKE THE HOUSE OF COURTENAY'S CATHOLIC ORIGINS, WALTER IS ANGLICAN and sparsely practicing, making sure to attend major Church Functions alongside the Household (such as Integra) but not making much of a habit of attending the small chapel inside the Hellsing Estate

WALTER HAS FOURTH NERVE PALSY, caused during The Dawn Arc after he sustained a massive skull fracture and very nearly died

YES, HE DOES BLAME ALUCARD FOR THE INCIDENT THAT CAUSED THIS, they were assigned to a mission together, flushing out operatives in Warsaw together, and yet, they became separated. Alucard's bloodlust or showboating slowed him down, and Walter was left alone to fend on his own. While successful for a while, Walter was a child, a lone child, and his enemies had no mercy. By the time Alucard dragged his carcass back to Hellsing, there was little to be done. But, despite rescuing him after, Walter never forgave Alucard for the part he feels Alucard played. His blame is partially misplaced, but it still burns hot, and the paranoia festering in the back of his mind forever wonders whether it was delayed by accident or if he orchestrated it all to stunt his abilities and prevent him from surpassing Alucard? (it's absolutely NOT that Walter, I can promise you)

WALTER HAS A SMALL HABIT OF ALWAYS LEANING/COCKING HIS HEAD SLIGHTLY TO THE RIGHT SIDE TO COMPENSATE FOR THE DAMAGE TO HIS EYE AND VISION

RE: THE MONOCLE, it's not there for the aesthetics of a Victorian nobleman, though that's not to say Walter doesn't carefully cultivate his image. Walter's monocle is a prescription medical device; it helps correct issues with his depth perception and acquired short-sightedness caused by his palsy (especially with reading). Additionally, it's been a wonder how ptosis symptoms in his right eye that've stemmed from the palsy have been eased with the monocle supporting that side of his face.

WALTER ALSO HAS PERIPHERAL HYPER-MOBILITY SPECTRUM DISORDER most notably impacting his hands, wrists and fingers, but more broadly affecting his ankles and feet too. In recent years, Walter's found that the symptoms have been worsening and spread to his knees, too, but he's never spoken openly about this and resents it greatly. The records from Hellsing-pocket Doctors making note of the degeneration of his condition have always been burned, almost as though destroying them could silence the truth in some way.

THE PURPOSE OF THE GLOVES, while Butlers wearing gloves is a tale as old as time, Walter wears them not to uphold old traditions of cleanliness and not smudging things - but rather to hide the slight but noticeable gaps at the center of each of his fingertips where he ejects the monofilament from, which is unfortunately essential when facing the public. He removes them the second he gets behind closed doors and happily does that.

WALTER HAS A COMPLICATED RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS DISABILITIES, BUT THEN AGAIN, HE HAS A COMPLICATED RELATIONSHIP WITH EVERYTHING

WALTER RE: THE WIRES AND THEIR IMPACT ON HIS BODY, the designs of the Late Hellsing and Seward, while innovative, were... imperfect. Flawed even. Walter REFUSES to come to terms with it, but the wires, despite their impeccable qualities, have been degrading his body MORE than gradually. They are the single leading reason for his Hyper-Mobility Spectrum Disorder; they have been EATING at the cartilage and connective tissue in his limbs and making his gradual decline far quicker than had ever been previously believed.

WALTER GOT HIS WIRES IN AN OPERATION AT TEN. It was a deeply invasive affair that left Walter bedridden for months. Directed by Seward and Hellsing loyalists and conducted by the last design of the Late Abraham Van Hellsing and his mentee Seward. WALTER CONSENTED AT THE TIME, IN FACT, HE WAS EAGER ABOUT IT AND THE PROMISE. Walter wanted the prestige, the power, to feel purpose and drive and to have something that was his, that defined him, and the miserable life he'd been gifted that was always at the mouth of the river, leaving him looking up at the source and the promise he had been born outside of and dreaming. HOWEVER, IT WAS STILL SKETCHY AF AFFAIR, AND AS THE WORD OF GOD, IT WAS, WITHOUT A DOUBT, AN INCIDENT OF ADULTS EXPLOITING THE LACK OF KNOWLEDGE, INNOCENCE AND EAGERNESS OF A CHILD FOR PERSONAL BENEFIT.

WALTER'S LOVE LANGUAGE IS QUALITY TIME. Walter, while a womanizer, is no adept man in the art of romance - some would call him a tad clumsy, but that's not it, nor would it be right to call him cold or unromantic. Walter is simply... atypical. He doesn't enjoy grand gestures of romance or constant touch - Walter is a man of boundary, and his ideal form of love is the quiet, cat-like sort of co-existing in joy. Can he perform his duties and passions and look over to see someone he is fond of simply existing - caught in their natural environment and at peace WITH him? That's ideal for him.

WALTER IS A SOMMELIER. Read as Wine Snob, not only for his job, but he just really enjoys wine!

WALTER AND BEING A BACHELOR IS A DELIBERATE CHOICE. He's had proposals passed onto him, and thrice, he's declined. He's had his girls and boys, but never committed even to the point of being considered lovers. Walter is simply most at ease on his lonesome, and though it might seem lonesome at the surface, it's ideal for his line of work and his love style.

HE ALSO IS ALLERGIC TO DEEP COMMITMENT BUT SHHHH

WALTER DOES A LOT OF WORK AND TAKES A LOT OF PRIDE IN KEEPING HIS APPEARANCE. Sorry, I KNOW this man wears expensive colognes that he has organized for the seasons, has all his suits and tail coats properly fitted and has a skincare routine. He IS the type, and I love that for him. His toiletry cabinet is more stuffed with product than either Integra or Seras' COMBINED! He will not leave his room until his hair is slicked back and he smells like sandalwood ON GOD.

THOUGH THAT BEING SAID, HE IS LONELY IN THE SENSE THAT HE FEELS DEEPLY ALONE WITHOUT PEERS; he simply doesn't see most other people, most other creatures, as on his level. In that, and his arrogance, he is deeply alone, but it's a cage of his own creation.

HE LOVES INTEGRA LIKE A DAUGHTER, AND I REFUSE TO SEE IT ANY OTHER WAY; he helped raise that girl - a constant, familiar face in the background of her youngest years. He watched her be born in the house, he was one of the first that held her - she was one of few she gave a big smile to as a baby (she was one of few things that ever made him reconsider his decision to never want children), she watched her walk, then run and grow into a girl and then a confident young woman. And when it comes to the betrayal :,)

I could make an ENTIRE post detailing my thoughts about it and how I portray it, but Walter had been turned into a Freak a long, long time ago, and by the time he met Integra (as in, she was born), he was too far gone to be saved, and he knew it. There was a gun to the back of his head - he had the chip, and he could be toast at any moment; he... well, he selfishly did what he needed to do to survive. Sometimes, the awful truth is that both things can co-exist, and a person can be caught between love and survival and still choose survival, even after everything.

I'm 10000% on copium with this. Still, I feel his whole Ebony Darkness Dementia speech to Integra was to VILLAINIZE HIM AND HIS MEMORY IN HER MIND - he spent DECADES selfishly loving her and raising her, and he knows she returned those feelings. They never spoke about it, but he KNEW. She'd ask him his opinions (even when he, as a servant, wasn't entitled to those against the word of his lord), request him to have dinner upstairs with her and attend church functions alongside him, even when she was a grown woman. He was one of the most consistent fatherly figures she had. He became that for her, but he doesn't want her to spend any years agonizing or grieving over another dead father. Telling her he's a mustache-twirling evil that has always plotted her downfall is another selfish lie. Still, he hopes and needs to believe that maybe, maybe, that'll make it easier on her heart to cope with the rug-pull, his defection (and death) and losing yet another dad.

WALTER IS INTEGRA'S MOST ADAMENT APOLOGIST AND DEFENDER; this is another truth of mine I will take to the grave, and Hirano can fight me. It's not Walter's place as a servant to feel that level of protection over his master - even given his place, having watched her grow. Still, something alien takes over his sensibilities when he hears people speak against her brazenly, and he'll stamp it out in his own petty way. He's her dad, your honour!

[weputthefunin-funeral]

Warning: this is a long post ranting about T.O.P (Choi Seung Hyun) because I don’t have anyone to talk to about him 😭

I've been wanting to make this post for a while now but haven't found the right words to say (but I really need to get this off of my chest) I'll try to not make it too long or too boring

I watched Squid Game and was really scared about the second season. Turns out I loved it! There was a character that got everyone's attention and that is T.O.P's Thanos.

On my first impression (where he's complaining about the shoes and such) I hated him. As time went by I really warmed up to him. He made me laugh out loud. When I finished the season I liked him but wasn’t crazy about him (and didn’t really understood why everyone was obsessed with him or his looks).

I started searching a bit more about T.O.P and let me share what I think:

First let me just say this: Bigbang might be one of the best kpop bands I've ever listened to. The old songs give me a nostalgic 2010's vibe and the more recent ones are amazing. T.O.P verses are usually the best part and his voice is very enticing (I always can tell when he's singing).

His acting in Squid Game was *chef's kiss*. I don't get why people hate him - he's not the villain, guys. He's just a silly guy making bad decisions (head empty, not a single thought behind those eyes).

After researching for a little bit I found out he's also funny, kinda chaotic and always making everyone laugh (think Thanos in real life). He seems really sweet, he is amazing with kids and really smart too!

He went through rough stuff and honestly it makes me like him even more. He speaks openly about depression which is a big no no in Korea.

His looks didn’t really get me at first but as time went by and with all the new information I had from him I really started to admire him.

In conclusion: I love him and he might be one of the best korean artist/actors I've ever obsessed over. I'm sorry, I have so much more to say about him but I don’t want to be boring 😭

[thesoulthatistainted]

A hilarious elriel post I came across that I couldn't help but talk about because of the sheer ridiculousness:

The most ridculous ones:

"<insert random headcanon that is generally accepted as fact by GAs who haven't even read the book>"

The Luring theory? Lucien betrayal theory? elucien mate bond fake? ... and some more like dude call is coming from inside the house. And don't you claim casual readers don't ship gwynriel (not true but they think it) so now people who don't even read the books ship them? (its funny seeing them backtrack and go against the things they themselves say)

<"Ugh Elriels are so stupid! The books might literally say XYZ but that is not the case if you consider this <insert out of context scene">

These people are ones who think Az saying that he hadn't planned for Elain beyond sexual fantasies, Elain rejecting Az, Az saying he regretted the kiss, Az saying Elain can't handle the darkness is not the case if they consider this<insert crack out of context scene and theory> like girl the call is coming from inside the house.

<"Well if you think about it, the last 5 books don't matter because SJM changed her mind">

The last 4 books show Az loving and yearning for Mor and they think it doesn't matter, the last book shows Elain rejecting Az and them not even interacting after that and Elain being shown moving on in the epilogue but they don't think it matter again dude the call is coming from inside the house.

<nitpicks at random one word to make a positive thing sound like a bad thing>"

Potatoes? hold tight? (Home girl was kidnapped and the dude told her to hold tight😭😭again dude call is coming from inside the house.

"<randomly mentions Elucien arguments even though nobody mentioned them>"

literally i want to know how this person sees all gwynriel posts and see elucien being mentioned because like Im on the tag and I don't see it.

"Sparky sparky glow glow = mating language"

SJM named a dating app spark and makes other mates feel similar spark. Like we can see how salty you are and it's so hilarious omg I love it😂😂

"Gwyn is shadow mommy"

again them being salty that the shadows know who their parents are😂😂like they are salty that the shadows only dance for Gwyn and Az.

<"Have you read the bonus chapter??"

These guys base the entire trope/setup for the next book on the Bonus chapter and they think we are the ones obsessing over it? its like they know that the BC sinks their ship and again get triggered when someone mentions it.

[vajrapoet]

Turning The Wheel

For SUNDANG RPG, I wanted to write a different kind of turn-based system. I stand on the shoulders of giants: PbtA’s Conversation-As-Procedure and “No Combat Minigame.” My goal was to make a battle system that had the free flowing, no-minigame feel of a PbtA/FitD game, but had a bit more structure to satisfy the action-heads.

One of the bigger inspirations for revolutionizing the turn-system is my obsession with The Raid: Redemption and The Raid 2, two seminal Silat films that have some of the best action sequences and choreographies in all of cinema. To me, it stands among Police Story 2 and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon as the current peak of cinematic action.

A few things to lay down to help center the thought-processes I had:

I am of a theater-academic background. My fascination and hyperfixation on RPGs stems wholly from the Role-Playing aspect. My friend group loves to extract stories and narratives from gameplay loops, but we want to Role-Play In A World first and foremost.

Therefore, I value the Role-Playing Experience above everything else. This is no doubt colored and informed by what RPGs I began with: Vampire: The Masquerade and Mage: the Ascension. RPGs are world-portals to me, ways to experience, interact, and interrogate realities.

I don’t consider Mechanics to be separate from the “Fiction”. I might even deem a game’s rules to be the “Infrafiction,” the Fiction underneath everything else that arises from a game. The Fiction that demands to be told. The specter that suffuses every rules interaction.

Tangent: This idea was first spurred on because of idle daydreams while playing and finishing my current run of Final Fantasy XII. For those that don’t know, Final Fantasy XII has the ADB or Active Dimension Battle System (which is funny because ADB is also the acronym for Asia Development Bank, one of the major enemies of National Industrialization in the Philippines). ADB is the evolution of the popular ATB battle system or the Active Time Battle System. It’s called ADB because you aren’t squared off into a different screen when you enter combat. Instead, you go into combat as you’re exploring the world. Combat and Dungeon segregation barriers are effectively destroyed. This is actually one of the reasons why I love FFXII so much, and so much of what FFXII worked is what I also love from its CRPG contemporaries such as Star Wars: The Knights of the Old Republic and Dragon Age: Origins. (It’s also very similar to the Combat System found in Xenoblade!)

So for SUNDANG, I had the following goals for combat and turn “order”:

Non-Minigame Combat, or Nondivided Combat Mechanics from the rest of the world/Conversation, taking inspiration from ADB.

No “Turns” just continuous “Action.”

Never-Not-Your-Turn vibe.

Skill-Based Combat.

Brutal, dangerous combat. Skull-cracking, bone-twisting, blood-drawing. Thrilling in the sense that a Horror movie is. A horror movie with wuxia protagonists.

The Action

Action Economy is when, on your turn, you have a number of “Actions” that you can do, and you cannot do anything beyond the number of actions (of course you can do anything which you can justify as an action). This will define not just how your character moves in combat, but how they think of themselves throughout their progression. The most common form of Action Economy is “Move + Action” as seen in most d20 games, especially D&D 5e.

One of the very first things that I’ve had to unattach myself from is the Action Economy. One thing I noticed while developing SUNDANG was that every aspect of the game mechanics felt like it had to justify itself within the Action Economy. This was problematic to me for 2 aspects:

It centered combat completely. Since Action Economy only really mattered in combat, every little trinket that I had to write suddenly had to have some sort of interaction that could be done when you pressed the “Interact” action during combat.

It required “mechanization.” One of the major ideas I had for SUNDANG was to provide a mechanical base that centered on the gamization of the “fluff” without the designer having had a hand in it. If something said “This is a mallet, useful for evening out dinks and repairing machineries” it should be able to be used for that without having to interact with a subsystem. Through this, we annihilate barriers between “fluff” and mechanics, creating a more “immersive” world-space that is more conducive to Role-Playing.

While nothing is wrong with something requiring mechanization, I want it to be as invisible as possible, hence why the mechanical base of SUNDANG is built for such an experience: at creating an immersive interactive world.

One of my problems with Action Economy is that combat becomes about Action Economy. This is a problem that you can see so deeply within some of my favorite games: Final Fantasy Tactics, Tactics Ogre, and Final Fantasy XII all have Speed Stats that are affected by Weight, etc. Since having more “turns” is infinitely valuable in a game about getting more chances to reduce an opponent’s HP to 0, Speed-generating strats dominated those games’ upper mechanical ceiling.

While I think that’s cool, it’s not what I wanted to do with SUNDANG. It makes strange mechanical repercussions, dominations of certain strategies and therefore a larger gap between what is used and what is not used. I don’t want to make a game where you have to “solve” it through buildcrafting. I wanted to make a game where you can express yourself in.

So, away with the Action Economy. What do you do on the turn now?

The Turn

“On your turn, you can do X and Y.” This is the basic assumption in most RPGs. In OSR and NSR games this is the common assumption as well. Move + Action is elegant, simple, and gets things moving along. It gets the system out of the way so people can keep focusing on the fiction.

More importantly, the Turn splits combat into every acting character within the current situation, context, or scene. Gives everyone a chance to act. Pins everything down into spacetime.

For SUNDANG, this was not the vibe I wanted to give off. It felt too spartan, in a way. I wanted people to be constantly moving, constantly turning. More importantly, as the RPG is a player-facing medium, I want there to be the vibe of “never-not-your-turn.” This is a problem I face with much of my past RPGs and with other combat-heavy RPGs.

You take your turn and then you sit back and wait for your next one. If you’re invested in the game, you watch as the situation and gamestate changes. If not, you wait until someone calls you out and then you ask what has happened and what has changed. In all honesty, my position is that this is not a bad game design quirk. In fact, if you design around it, it could be a good quirk. Being able to do something while it’s not your turn helps a lot with Attention Deficiencies, for example.

But this isn’t something I wanted to do with SUNDANG. I wanted it to be Never-Not-Your-Turn.

So I stole a bit from Fire Emblem. There, in Fire Emblem, a “Turn” isn’t a single character’s turn to move, but rather, an advancement of the combat time-space. You often have objectives where you have to “Rout Enemy In 40 Turns” or something along those lines.

So I revolutionized how I thought about Turns. What if Turns weren’t each individual being’s turn, but an entire group of people’s turns? Now this is phase-based or side-based initiative, common (and good! I actually love side-based initiative) in OSR games. It’s very wargame-y and, honestly, conducive to strategy. But that’s not what I wanted to do here.

So I turned the Wheel again. What if Turns were chunks of time in a combat? What if turns were just Rounds? Often, the existence of a combat minigame is so that people can “zoom-in” into the action, because this is a matter of life or death! You can get killed here! Hence why we zoom in, stop time, focus on the details because the details means the difference between kill or be killed.

So I focused on that aspect.

Turn The Wheel

In PbtA, one of the major schools of RPG Design that I profess to have arisen from, combat doesn’t have a “Turn System” or a “Combat System.” Instead, it flows naturally from the conversation. It is contiguous to the rest of the system, not requiring special attention. What you can do in normal roleplaying, you can do in combat! That’s what that meant. When you sequester combat away into a new set of rules, you implicitly change the game unless you explicitly design for it to be a microcosm of the game’s already existing rules. Due to this change, I believe the mindset then becomes that you have to play the game according to this new set of rules unless you’re particularly good at improv-ing or are some form of designer/GM yourself.

I wanted that. So SUNDANG’s “turn system” has no Action Economy, no Initiative, no Reaction (no Reactionaries!) When you want to do something, do it. But it will most likely require a roll, and it will change the state of the situation.Everything has an equal amount of appropriate consequences. This is already how PbtA “combat” goes, since it’s not separate from the Conversation, the combat is also a conversation. You do something, the world does something, you react to that, then the world reacts to that, and so on.

I therefore fused the “Turns as divisions of action space-time” and “Combat-as-Conversation.”

A lot of this clicked after listening to a Robert Kurvitz interview about how he wanted to do Skill-Based Combat Scenes. Which aligned with what I wanted to do. Check it out!

For arguments of space, such as movement rates, the normal movement rate is 5 tails (roughly, 25 feet) per second. One can then infer how much a character can move in a single Turn through that as well as the modifying, environmental factors (harsh terrain, labyrinths, and so on). This allows it to be played on a Grid with the Grid as a space-representer, with shifting distance-scales for each grid square. The more interesting consequence is that, when you move, what about the world that's actively trying against you? That will then necessitate a Check, making even movement volatile and situation-changing. 

Turn-Based Combat: Never-Not-Your-Turn

First off the bat, this conception of Turn-Based Combat arises also from Clocks and Skill Challenges. The difference is largely the Presentation, mentality, and structure.

Additionally, SUNDANG’s Skill System is integral to this conception of combat. SUNDANG is a 24-Skill System inspired by the likes of Artesia: Adventures in the Known World and Runequest, where the majority of the Skills are not even combat-focused Skills, which color a player’s expectations for how combat could go (why be chained to the 3-4 Combat Skills when you can potentially agitate your Creativity to try and use the rest of them?)

So in SUNDANG, Turn-Based Combat is as follows:

If you enter into a situation wherein life-or-death is in the details, set up a 4-, 6-, or 8-segmented circle, known as The Wheel. Segment it according to the time you have left.

Find something within the world to be the temporal anchor, the World-Time. It could be the moving train, the skyskiff (that you might or might not be on at that moment!) plummeting into city streets, the wheels of a horse-carriage heading into a crash, the juggernaut battering ram barreling through enemy trenches. You can use this to lengthen the timescale of a battle. A day-long duel between two masters might have the Sun as their World-Time.

Turn 1 begins when you point at one segment and say it does. During a Turn, all the relevant PCs must do something.When they do something, the world then does something back. As always, this is just the conversation. When a PC goes and swordstrikes a pirate captain, the pirate captain will probably swordstrike back (dealing damage if that’s the PC’s consequence or threatening damage if not). Keep the conversation going.

When all the PCs have done something, mark out that segment of the Wheel. Turn to the next one adjacent to it, and say “Turn 2.” This is called Turning The Wheel. When you Turn The Wheel, before the PCs do anything, describe how the temporal anchor moves forward in time, and ascertain the consequences of that happening:

The skyskiff breaks through the high-rises. (Now there are potential people watching, now there are potential casualties, and so on.)

The horse carriage bumps against a tree and barrels closer to the cliff. (The carriage might have chunks broken off, some combatants might be knocked off, and so on.)

The Sun begins to sink into the horizon. (Dark becomes to impair vision, a nocturnal sea predator might breach soon, and so on.)

The juggernaut battering ram flies over enemy heads and moves closer to the city walls (there might be some warriors firing projectiles at you now, and so on.)

Finally, when all the segments are filled, a Revolution happens. Something Big. Throw away that Wheel. The situation changes. It has to. That’s the only real thing in this world.

The skyskiff crashes into the city plaza.

The horse carriage flies off the cliff.

The Sun sinks completely into the sea, ushering darkness.

The battering ram slams into the city walls and breaks it open.

Often, this change in situation ends Violence. You have to deal with the consequences now. In SUNDANG, you get XP for surviving Violence, not winning it. But SUNDANG is also a wuxia-western-silat game of wandering justicemakers and hotshot swordsmen. If this happens, set up another Wheel and choose another world-time.

You somehow survive the crash, and now must fight in the city plaza amongst hundreds of watchers.

The horse carriage plummets into a jade jungle, and you must fight upon its descending carcass.

The Moon rises now, as the fight continues on.

The King’s Man-At-Arms now charge toward the juggernaut to swarm and destroy it, with you still inside it.

The Violence continues. Deal with the consequences of your actions. Look forward to another Revolution.

If this piqued your interest, SUNDANG is currently out on my Patreon and I'm running pseudo-playtests of it on the Patreon Discord!

[theorist-fox]

Theo's favorite books 📚

Welcome to my list of favorite books divided by genre and with a mini-review. I might update it every once in a while—in the meantime, enjoy!

Masterlist 🦊

Dividers made with Canva by yours truly

Thrillers

Henning Mankell

I'm a huge sucker for Northern European thrillers, and Henning Mankell is my all-time fave. His clumsy but clever Detective Kurt Wallander is just the best. Mankell is a legend, and there’s never gonna be another writer (or man) like him. My favorites:

The Fifth Woman (My fav)

One Step Behind

Sidetracked

Jussi Adler-Olsen

Again—big sucker for Northern European thrillers. There’s something about the icy colors of winter that goes hand-in-hand with cold-blooded murder. Adler-Olsen’s Department Q is a must, especially with Carl Mørck and my all-time fave, Hafez el-Assad. Whatever you do, avoid the adapted movies—they’re absolute rubbish. My favorites:

The Absent One (My fav)

A Conspiracy of Faith

The Purity of Vengeance

Camilla Läckberg

My God I'm being repetitive, aren't I? Same as the previous two, blah blah blah—Läckberg wrote one of my favorite and most brutal thrillers ever (The Stone Cutter). My favorites:

The Stone Cutter (My fav)

The Ice Princess

The Girl in the Woods

Gillian Flynn

You've heard of her, you know her. Flynn gave us the best psychopathic women in thriller history, from Amy Dunne, to Adora and Amma Crellin. These women can be found, respectively, in:

Gone Girl (The movie adaptation is great!)

Sharp Objects (My fav—and the TV show adaptation is even better!)

Paolo Maurensig — The Lüneburg Variation

Let me be proud of my heritage for once. The Lüneburg Variation is a short but subtle story of vengeance that builds up suspense, all based on the game of chess and how it was played in concentration camps.

Patrick Süskind — Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

Perfume is a well-known thriller. It’s deranged and obsessive, telling a story of depravity and passion taken to the extreme. It's a haunting read that still makes me feel sick to this day, but it's also beautifully crafted. And for once, the movie adaptation isn’t half bad!

Bernard Minier — Don't Turn Out the Lights (My absolute favorite Thriller)

If you're a fan of suspense, this book is a masterwork. Honestly, it's one of the best thrillers I’ve ever read—chilling, cruel, and leaves you breathless, unable to put it down. It’s a story about murder and stalking—ugly, dark, and unforgiving. A true page-turner that had me looking over my shoulder even (actually, especially) when home alone. Slept with the light on for a few days afterwards. Didn't turn out the fucking lights for sure.

Agatha Christie's classics

A thriller list wouldn’t be complete without Agatha Christie’s books. If you're looking for classic detective stories, hers are among the best. My favorites:

Murder on the Orient Express (duh)

Elephants Can Remember

And Then There Were None (My fav)

Romance

Katherine Center — The Bodyguard

A sweet romcom where the roles are reversed: Hannah Brooks is the bodyguard of a famous actor, Jack Stapleton. The main character is sarcastic, funny, and thankfully not annoying (Ha! For once!). Caution: severe mommy issues ahead. It’s a chiffon cake of a book—sweet and fluffy.

Katherine Center — Hello Stranger

Hello Stranger has such a unique concept that I haven’t found anywhere else. Sadie, the main character (okay, she’s a bit annoying, but bearable), is a portraitist who suddenly starts struggling with face blindness. It’s incredibly sweet, and while the plot twist isn’t mind-blowing, I really did like it. Perfect comfort book for when I’m feeling down. Caution: severe daddy and mommy issues ahead.

Sarah Hogle — You Deserve Each Other

A sweet book about two people who are desperate to break up but just can’t. They decide to make it their mission to create chaos in each other’s lives, hoping the other will call off the engagement. It’s a story about rediscovering each other and what’s kept them connected all along. A little childish at times, but overall, it’s sweet and funny.

Fantasy

Neil Gaiman

I could sit here for hours talking about how Gaiman's books shaped my childhood and helped me develop my love for reading, but I don’t want to bore you. That said, I’m more than happy to recommend my favorite ones:

The Graveyard Book (childhood favorite. I used to read it at least twice a year—I was a weird kid)

Anansi's Boys

Coraline

Stardust

Holly Black — The Cruel Price Saga

Behold, the only main character in fantasy books that I don’t find annoying. Jude Duarte is actually relatable, clever, and human. She doesn’t stand out because of some superpower or a gift bestowed upon her by a god or whatever—she stands out because she’s worked her butt off for it. It’s an enemies-to-lovers with a lot of plot and a well-built political backdrop.

Stephanie Gerber — Caraval

Ah, the first book of the Caraval series was such a fun read. I devoured it in a couple of days! The plot is super innovative and full of great twists. The main characters are a bit annoying, but the rest was so very nice that I decided it didn’t matter much. The sequels? Not my favorites. I don’t really talk about them. If I see them in a bookshop, I hide them behind other books. Save yourself (I’m being dramatic, I didn’t like them—but hey, if you did, then good for you!).

Stephanie Gerber — Once Upon a Broken Heart Saga

This is a spin-off of Caraval, and honestly, it’s so much better than the original. The first two books are super entertaining, they flow really well, and the romantic tension is chef’s kiss—ugh, first blond crush ever. Forbidden enemies to lovers, plot twists, fates, vampires, curses—it’s got it all! Big shame about the last book, though, it felt a little rushed. But overall, I’ve got nothing but good memories of it!

Fiction

Toshikazu Kawaguchi — Before the Coffee Gets Cold

A warm hug of a book. It tells the story of a café that serves a special brewed coffee—one that lets customers travel briefly back in time to face their fears and losses. But they have to come back to the present before the coffee gets cold. It’s a bit slow, but it mended my heart in ways I didn’t think possible.

Kaho Nashiki — The Witch of the West is Dead

I unfortunately found out that this book hasn’t been translated in English, which is heartbreaking because I really wanted to recommend it to you. It tells the story of a young girl who refuses to go to school, so her mother sends her to spend the spring at her grandmother’s house. It’s such a tender book that I’ve read over and over. The descriptions are so vivid, and I was fully immersed in the story the whole time. It’s about family relationships, the innocence (and fear) of being a child in a big world, and the beauty of small things, like strawberry fields and forget-me-nots. Kaho Nashiki is one of my favorite writers, and I really hope you’ll get to experience her works one day.

For my Italian followers, if there are any, its Italian title is Un'Estate con la Strega dell'Ovest.

Durian Sukegawa — Sweet Bean Paste

Sweet Bean Paste tells the stories of people affected by leprosy in Japan, how they were forced into specific sanatoriums because of the 1956 Leprosy Prevention Law, and how their lives changed even after the law was abolished in 1996. It’s a heartbreaking tale about prejudice and unfounded fear, told through the eyes of a man who owns a dorayaki shop and his dear friend, Tokue. The writing is some of the best I’ve ever read, and I hold this book dear to my heart.

Gabrielle Zevin — Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

I have no words for this one. It’s a book about friendship, family, love and loss, motherhood, and video games. I know, it sounds impossible to fit all that into one novel, but Zevin pulled it off. I’m completely in love with it, and I’ll never forget it.

Taylor Jenkins Reid — The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

The only time BookTok hasn’t disappointed me. This book is wonderfully crafted, weaving together the past and present of Evelyn Hugo’s life while also shedding light on the cruel, unforgiving world of Hollywood. It has (unexpectedly) a really good plot twist, and every day I couldn’t wait for the evening so I could close my uni books, get cozy in bed, and dive into it.

Shelby Van Pelt — Remarkably Bright Creatures

This book. Oh, this book. It tells the story of an old lady who lost her son many years ago. She works at the local aquarium, where she befriends a Giant Pacific Octopus. Yes. You read that right, but it's just not in the way you think. It’s such a sweet book, with chapters alternating between the main character’s perspective and the octopus’ perspective (Ha! It’s so good. I think about that POV switch fondly every time it pops into my head).

Banana Yoshimoto — Kitchen

A book about loss, solitude, and how to overcome it when you're surrounded by the right people. The protagonist finds comfort in kitchens, which she sees as the heart of the house—where food, a basic need, is prepared to be shared with those you love. I cherish Kitchen, one of the first literary fiction books I ever read. It’s short, but no less deep. A little gem.

Dystopian, Adventure

William Golding — Lord of the Flies

I won’t bore you with my thoughts on this book. I’ve read it a thousand times, wrote an essay about it in high school, and spent hours on podcasts explaining it. I love it to bits—from the writing to the story to the meaning behind it. You’ve probably all read it by now. 10/10.

Ray Bradbury — Fahrenheit 451

A great classic, this one. I’ll admit, it’s a bit slow, especially if you're not a fan of the genre, but it’s worth reading nonetheless. It tells the story of a world where reading is forbidden. In this reality, firemen don’t put out fires; instead, they set houses on fire to burn books—targeting those who hide and collect them, those who defy a government that doesn’t want an educated public, only an easily controllable one.

Yevgeny Zamjatin — We

One of the earliest dystopian novels in history! We is told from the perspective of the protagonist, D-503, in a diary format. It’s set in a world where houses are made entirely of glass, so everyone can see inside. The people are controlled to the fullest, all named by numbers and codes. This book even inspired Orwell's 1984, and it's sad to see how easily it's being forgotten.

Reading allows us to keep an open mind. It’s a way to escape our own reality while stepping into the lives of others—exploring their minds, walking in their shoes, and seeing through their eyes. No matter the genre or its tone, reading offers endless possibilities. Imagination never runs out; it’s the only form of energy that’s perpetual and unique.

Use yours to travel where your body can’t.

Love, Theo. 🦊

[dioslesbianwife]

Here are my headcannons for Jojo villain house and how I think they’d each approach chores

Dio

Refuses to do chores outright. He sees himself as above such menial labor and will either try to manipulate someone else into doing them or make excuses.

If he has to clean, expect a dramatic show of irritation. He’ll use The World to do everything inhumanly fast, pausing time and leaving the room spotless but making sure everyone knows how beneath him the task was.

Biggest offender: Leaving blood filled wine glasses around the house when he forgets about them.

Kars

Insists on having things done “the right way” and will redo someone’s work if it’s not up to his impossibly high standards.

Enjoys organizing. He might spend hours rearranging bookshelves, ensuring they’re sorted by theme, era, and importance to human evolution.

He delegates tasks to others but criticizes their technique endlessly.

Biggest offender: Lecturing everyone about how primitive humans are and how they’ve “desecrated” the art of maintaining a clean space.

Yoshikage Kira

The only one who genuinely enjoys chores- as long as it’s quiet. He finds cleaning therapeutic and uses it as an excuse to stay away from the others.

His favorite chore is folding laundry, particularly because it lets him admire the way hands move as they grab onto fabric, bend, and fold.. He folds everything with military precision.

He despises dirty dishes and will passive aggressively complain about anyone leaving them in the sink.

Biggest offender: The ungodly amount of nail clippings he produces.

Diavolo

Doesn’t do chores, period. He considers them a waste of time and relies on Doppio to handle everything. If questioned, he’ll walk away.

He gets visibly annoyed when the house isn’t clean but refuses to do anything about it himself. If someone confronts him, he’ll use King Crimson to skip the argument entirely.

Biggest offender: Leaving half empty coffee cups everywhere.

Doppio

He takes on messes left by Diavoll without complaint. He tries to stay cheerful, but even he gets overwhelmed when Diavolo’s mess becomes too much. Occasionally, he’ll mutter to himself about how unhelpful the others are.

Enjoys vacuuming because of its repetitive and calming nature, aslo it drowns out the chaos of the house.

Biggest offender: Picking up random items to make his phone calls and leaving them out of place.

Enrico Pucci

Insists on assigning everyone their tasks at the start of the week, using philosophical arguments to convince them that chores and daily routines are part of some higher plan.

He’s efficient but doesn’t tolerate laziness, constantly nagging the less helpful men to pull their weight.

Pucci has a habit of singing hymns while sweeping or mopping the floor, which unnerves everyone.

Biggest offender: Rearranging everyone’s personal belongings to organize the house according to “the Lord’s” standards.

Funny Valentine

Treats chores as a matter of patriotic pride. He gives long winded speeches about how a clean home reflects the strength of the household.

He has a habit of delegating tasks and overseeing them rather than just doing them himself. He’ll help if absolutely necessary but only with "important" jobs like cooking or maintaining the garden.

Obsessively cleans anything that might tarnish his image, like the front porch or living room. He makes sure guests (if they ever get any) think the house is always immaculate.

Biggest offender: He sometimes makes a mess intentionally to test others' "dedication to the cause."

Chore Dynamics in the House

Dio and Kars constantly fighting over who’s more above doing chores.

Pucci trying to convince Dio into participating, only for Dio to scoff and vanish dramatically.

Kira scolding Diavolo for leaving things dirty while Doppio tries to mediate.

Best team: Doppio and Kira. They’re the only ones who actually get things done without complaining.

Worst team: Dio and Diavolo. They’ll spend hours arguing about something and never lift a finger.

Pucci and Kira end up supervising everything like a pair of exasperated parents, while Valentine alternates between helping and giving motivational speeches no one asked for.

[chocostrwberry]

So time to ask about my side-character favs. Clearly Chloé is still richie-brat, but we have Queen Bee. So What flavor of her do we have? Also, how is my best doggo Sabrina doing?

ALR SO-

Chloe does start off as a Richie-brat, but overtime she becomes more sympathetic. There are multiple examples in the AU where she shows she has a heart;

She saves Sabrina during an akuma attack in her hotel

She’s consistently there for Adrien and does things in his best interests

She recognizes Marinette’s kindness

She semi-comforts Marinette ONCE after a Luka misunderstanding

She compliments and tries to calm an akumatized Sabrina

Backs Marinette in her accusations and suspicions against Lila

Acknowledged Marinette’s talents in fashion design

She actively tries to change her behavior towards others after being given the bee miraculous

And more!!

Once Marinette and Adrien start dating, they become official “frenemies”! Marinette doesn’t ever really get over Chloe’s ego, and Chloe still thinks that Adrien can do better but is willing to respect his wishes if it means he’ll be happy.

Queen Bee isn’t permanent in my AU, but she’s very dramatic and showy, like she’ll do flips in the air like an aerial dancer for the news cameras, strike poses and does lots of things for attention. She loves the spotlight so Ladybug is a bit salty when she is getting all the attention.

It’s not like she’s a bad partner, but her ego does get in the way of actually taking down the akuma, and she doesn’t take orders very well, especially if it doesn’t end in her being the one to save the day.

AND FOR SABRINA:

Sabrina does have a mean girl streak, like Chloe. She’ll aid her in her bullying and use her phone to cyberbully. She is the top ballerina at a prestigious dance school as well. So even though she’s much quieter than Chloe, the girls in her class know her to be perfect but condescending. She is also compliant/encouraged Chloe in her bullying and bad behavior (doing her bidding, offering ways on how to bully, etc.) and definitely entices gossip and drama for her own amusement, or for Chloe’s benefit. But she also has a heart too;

she cares about Chloe deeply, is always there for her when no one else is, and

is able to interpret Chloe’s emotions to other people when Chloe can’t do it accurately herself

Didn’t run away from an akumatized Chloe and instead insisted on helping her

Skipped school to stay with Chloe after a traumatizing birthday party

Recognizes when things REALLY goes too far and feel guilty about it, maybe even apologizing in her own stuck-up way.

Sabrina is aware that she doesn’t have a good relationship with her mom (Only Adrien knows the terrible details), but she’s Chloe’s best friend for a reason.

[nenoname]

stan twins the canon cptsd brothers i will always think about all your unaddressed issues that would make perfect plot fuel for your spinoff

and also the whole 'stan getting that poem by bill via a website which contrasts with bill getting one from the axolotl via a website' foreshadowing thing

like idk i would love something like su future but like more optimistic, aka not an accumulated breakdown that has to be mostly resolved off screen at the end :/// but something thats being kinda addressed throughout? (although would love to see one of them turn into a monster thats always fun lol)

stan having severe issues from his dad and those years of being homeless that we keep on getting more info on but never really getting confronted on (the drifter catalogue and tijuana incident...), him being completely alone for like twenty years when running the shack before soos comes along to the point that 1998 is noted as his low point, and him not really learning about bill+what he did to ford until ages after he killed him if he ever did get the full context

while i think amnesia and everyone seeing him as a hero actually helped with stan's 'i'm a worse version of my brother' thing its still a lingering issue too and we now got him being insecure over his own hands

ford being immediately thrown from 'being tortured by bill' to 'being stuck in the multiverse and being chased by bounty hunters constantly', him fully expecting himself to die when destroying bill, and him only now being safe for the first time in 30 years ....relatively safe, he's still in constant danger because of course he is

idk in the end the series wants them to be happy and they deserve it, its why i wasn't too worried about the book being like 'ooh bill is back!! and the book is haunting ford' thing cos i knew they'll be ok

[egotistical-cabbage]

more billford bullshit 👍

[fumifooms]

"Marchil? I guess I can see it on Chilchuck’s end, but what about Marcille’s? What makes you think she could develop feelings for him?" I’m glad you asked!

The first thing to note is that she does think highly of him

In the page on the right, literally defending his virtues and literally comparing him to Dalclan. And oh…

She does love a brooding mysterious guy who closes himself to love. But surely, Chilchuck isn’t her type at all, right? He’s not princely or knightly at all. In apperances certainly not, both looks wise and demeanor wise, but then that’s why she seeks to know him on a deeper level, to not only look shallowly.

And hmm. Chilchuck really is quite selfless isn’t he? Always looking out for others, and saving specifically her often, always making sure himself and, staying in or even running towards danger for her sometimes. Modesty is often considered heroic…

And can we talk about that drowning one… You can definitely frame the special attention as him knowing she tends to hesitate or be clumsy, and then his insistance on pulling her out of danger that she’s the healer aka the most important to keep alive, but. From the one who says that he just keeps his ass out of fights and won’t help this is a lot of risk to take, and he does die trying to pull her to safety in the dungeon rabbits chapter. And the drowning bit??? That’s when the dungeon collapses. The only reason they DON’T die of drowning here is that the water then gives way to outside. There was NO hope of pulling her to safety here and resurrections would likely not work either, he truly preferred to die with her than try to survive himself.

Sit your ass back DOWN you are in no state, self-sacrifical hero much damn

And Marcille definitely noticed this imo, after all she loves learning all she can about him, remembering things like how he hates waiting on people too. She pays attention to him and what he does and what he says. This to say that it’s notable, whatever reason for it you may think (though we know by this point at least she was already aware he was an adult though it wasn’t internalized), out of everyone it’s Chilchuck’s bed that she wants to sleep in during the Golden Kingdom stay. He’s safe and comforting to her: dependable, the defining trait in her view of him as is shown by the relationship chart in the Adventurer’s Bible.

^ Lending handkerchiefs is a romance trope btw and handkerchiefs have irl history of being used for courting. Especially in old English literature and plays like Shakespeare’s Othello, and personally I do see a lot of Shakespeare in Dalclan (nobility political drama with some romance). There’s how his cowl is a dearly beloved souvenir from his family too, there’s a lot of aesthetic tropes you can apply to him.

All this to say you can 100% romanticize Chilchuck into a princely noble guy if you try and that’s exactly what Marcille does with the wife roleplay. She doesn’t need much in the first place, she latches onto crumbs and makes aesthetic narratives out of details, give her an inch she’ll take a mile.

But what’s interesting about the shift throughout the arc of her and his relationship is that she starts out idealizing him into a little angel of a kid (shapeshifter), and she ends it idealizing him as a virtuous husband and family man instead.

And what’s doubly interesting is that in the former, she’s actively warping who he is personality and demeanor wise to fit the aesthetic, he doesn’t have that bitter pride of not asking for help and the edges have been smoothened. But what she does during the wife roleplay is something else, she acknowledges the flaws and just… Accepts them, rolls with them. She’s aware of his flaws and implements them into the narrative, but the reason why his wife left doesn’t capitalize on them even, rather Chil is chilblivious and his wife loves him very much still, she’s just testing him after having had a night of feeling out of place at his side.

And this is what separates the idealization vs romanticization, she’s not twisting him into someone else she’s just uplifting what he is and focusing on the good sides.

Marcille: "he has a shitty personality sometimes but if he was my husband I’d still cherish him" "If I were your wife I’d be overjoyed to go out with you and would get myself prettied up while you complain about me taking a long time, your friends would tell me that I’m nice and that’d make me happy, but I’d also be sad because you wouldn’t tell me that you love me enough"

He’s angry and his wife left him, he’s *flawed*, but he’s still worth hyping up, still worth having his own romance story, still has a shot of winning back his beloved. She sees him for what he is, human and real and not a carefully scripted character that fits an aesthetic, and she thinks it’s still worthy of love and admiration and fighting for

And what’s funny too is that you might expect her to cool down on him once she learns more about him but actually she only gets increasingly into his business. You tell her your age and next thing you know you promise to introduce her to your family. Give her an inch she takes a mile. And too the thing is, Senshi is equally mysterious but she doesn’t pester him like at all, asks him ONCE about his succubus and he doesn’t even answer and that’s like… It. With Chilchuck it starts off innocently enough with her wanting to know his age, hometown, the stuff she mentions having asked pre-canon. But it just keeps and keeps going and escalating. Think she’ll be satisfied now knowing you have a wife and kids, maybe she’s disillusioned now? Wrong! She wants to know their names and ages and occupations and hey how did you propose to your wife? Do you think she’ll stop after meeting them? What’s next? What will she want to know next????

She’s… Like it’s not a reach that Marcille is all over him. Like it doesn’t mean it’s romantic but she just is. She is not normal about him idk. Can you not ask him about what tongue technique he used when first kissing his wife, give the man breathing room

Marcille could literally go "if I was Chilchuck’s wife" having deeply pondered and thought out the hypothetical and people would still ask where anyone sees any romantic potential between them. Oh wait

There’s a platonic explanation for everything (almost?) in Dungeon Meshi don’t say I’m saying otherwise, but it’s definitely not like there’s nothing here to read into lol

Going off a bit more under read bc it’s my fave topic

Marcille has a whole theme with the charming prince trope with her idealization and storybook motif and Chil is kinda the "Well someone perfect like that isn’t very realistic and romance is usually more complex and that’s ok and good and flawed people can still be ✨virtuous✨" catalyst

Do you see do you see she starts canon thinking the most romantic thing is a prince charming but her arc in the end has her romanticizing an average, flawed, real and realistic family man, who’s on the poorer side and is on the verge of divorce. And that’s what he needed, too, seeing the positive of himself and the situation instead of focusing on the negative is explicitly what inspires him to hope that he might be able to reconcile with his wife, gives him the courage and self-esteem to shoot his shot.

He IS a prince figure instead that now it’s not about idealizing the grand and overt it’s about romanticizing the small things in real life!! About finding joy and beauty in things that seem normal or mundane and uplifting them to make the world feel kinder!!!!

He’s the devoted virtuous man that she wantsss not the storybook prince that’s unrealistic and could crumble like a script at any time. He’s the perfect example of a flawed realistic but virtuous & devoted & loving man. Far from a prince charming, but not fully detached from it either. Something worth fighting for despite the flawed cracks. Like literally, flawed romance being worth fighting for is literally the finale of Chilchuck and Marcille’s arc on the matter, where their separate arcs and issues intersect at the most crucial moment.

Marcille is important to Chil’s arc not only because of her optimism, but also because of her interest and knowledge in romance & matters of the heart, and that’s what he needs to both open his heart up to hope and to try to reconcile with his wife, like idk sounds gay

Their arc together is literally learning to 1) see each other for how they are and not undermining their qualities capacities etc etc while still not leaving flaws unchecked either and 2) opening up to people. Marcille LITERALLY makes Chil open his heart up to hope like idk man. What do you want from me. He’s literally the guy helping her through deconstructing novels and fantasy and rose tinted glasses and like. Deconstructing the prince charming figure into something more real but still romantically beautiful like KUI KUI STOOOOP STOP I’M ALREADY HOOKED I’M ALREADY-

 Ok fine that’s me reading into the tropes too much forgive me for being storybook brained but like. Speaking his heart out to a lone woman on a balcony, Romeo and Juliette shit, asking if she, too, doesn’t want to meet his family, madly blushing. And like she’s learned with Chilchuck it’s all in the little things, all the implications he cannot speak aloud. She does reciprocate, does blush madly back, and the first thing she does is shower him in flowers and jewelry and what in her heart is coded as romantic gifts

A lady, stashed away in a high tower by her lonesome, waiting for someone to call out to her from below… Romeo courting type shit with an offer, a heartfelt spiel, implicit confession from underneath her balcony. Offering him flowers because he succeeded in calling out to her heart…….. And they have to climb to her too…. Crazy

Doesn’t it sound like a proposal. One that’s both so storybook-like and not, contrastedly real and grounded, all about the implications rather than in your face grand gestures, "Don’t you want to meet my family?". They literally have an arc about the topic of romance and this is the climax/pinnacle of it like god?? This is @ the woman who said "Chilchuck is a shy/bashful man so I know he wouldn’t tell me he loves me, but…" btw

To quote a friend, truly the shiny secret unlockable dating sim capture target : THE DUNGEON LORD BIT WAS SO FUNNY BECAUSE HE KNEW SHE'D TAKE IT HOOK LINE AND SINKER HES THE ONE WHO GOT HER TO TURN AROUND COMPLETELY SHES LIKE. WIDE EYED FLAG RAISED???? FLAG RAISED WITH CHILCHUCK 👀👀👀‼️👀👀‼️👀

And the way that this is the culmination of their arc together… Like people are not ready for the ‘Chil calling out to dunlord Marcille on the balcony has Romeo and Juliette romance novels imagery’ take. Or the ‘their arc is about growing to see beauty even in the non-idealized, in the flawed and in the real’ take which makes it so so perfect if she were to lower her ideal from a charming elven prince to a virtuous halfling man (which she does end up romanticizing)

So there, you got to witness in real time what happens when I think about marchil for longer than 2 minutes, there are so many layers it’s a deranged rabbithole. I saw the necronomicon of subtext and it’s driving me to madness with forbidden knowledge that no one else sees

……. Like what if I told you she implicitly picked Chilchuck over a "unrealistic prince charming who’s actually disingenuous" much earlier in the story already. If she was given the choice to think through going with a guy that seems perfect and chivalrous like her succubus she’d pick Chilchuck over the other actually. If I sound insane rn tune in for my full analysis on them coming this month hopefully thank youu. Interwoven arcs of fantasy vs reality and idealization vs pessimism I love youuu

So now you know the general thesis of my planned analysis about the importance of the prince charming figure in Marcille and Chilchuck’s arc, where she romanticizes things to a sometimes worrying degree or idealize people into something easy and digestible and poetic (like Chil being a kid, and then him being a virtuous ✨✨✨husband), and how she needs to value aesthetics less and actual acts and facts more, be more grounded (like seeing people for what they are flaws and all, and accepting that people need money and not pulling through on principles of honor or unity shouldn’t get Namari shamed) and a part of that is accepting that Chilchuck is BOTH flawed and virtuous, a loving husband that still has shitty moods and fumbled his marriage so bad etc etc. So it’s like, her image of perfect prince charming that will whisk you away on an ethereal romance -> realistic flawed middle aged dad with personality issues and a failing marriage but he still is worthy of love and having his cute grand romance story and his happy ending. Ik I keep repeating the same point through this but I need it to be burned into everyone’s brains it has its grip on me I can’t do this. They are so special……

[numbuh424]

light's face when near totally ignores him, openly accuses him of making the shinigami lie on his behalf, and then addresses the task force in the room with light saying that if they have any doubts about the Second L to give him a call later. ALL WHILE LIGHT'S THE ONE ON THE MIC. oh, they're killing me.

[variksel]

dndads s1 ep40 relisten, every reference to the mountains of dadness thread lets GO:

minute 40: "a zombie with a newsie cap" a.k.a Stud

minute 55: an engagement ring with "SW" carved into it, a.k.a Sally Wilson

minute 58: the words "hearts greatest desire"

[houses-snowglobes]

look at this fucking thing, 20 dollars ? you're undercutting yourself, this is a priceless artifact. I'd spend 100 doll hairs on it

a small price to pay for Hancock (Fallout 4) handmade custom video game plush fo4 ghoul felt

[morrigan-sims]

Knight-Commander Theodore Marshall

Carrion's former mentor and father figure, and the commander of the Knights of the Silver Order. Just a Dad trying his best. Regrets nothing more than leaving the boy he knew as Reverence for dead. Unfortunately for him, Reverence Carrion is alive, and wants him dead...

[closeup of his face and official art reference under the cut]