#it's so hard to not mention any spoilers because I want to talk about certain things so bad but I CAN'T :(

[covenofagatha]

All that's left to burn (part 2)

Agatha, Rio, and you adjust your rules after the motel incident and you get your fortune read by a certain divination witch

Word count: 3.4k

Warnings: mentions of murder

A/N: bit of a shorter one but starting to slowly plant the seeds for some plot down the road (spoiler alert: the plan is for the next chapter to have a threesome for everyone just here for the smut lol) it's also such a funny transition to go from the filthy smut I've been writing to mystery and murder

There’s a heavy silence that hangs over the three of you as you all pack up the few things you have and walk to the car, making a pointed effort not to look at the dead man still lying in a pool of blood by the vending machine. 

The awkwardness continues as Agatha pulls out of the parking lot and speeds onto the interstate, desperate to get as far away as possible before someone notices. You fidget with your fingers in the backseat, picking at skin, biting your nails, cracking your knuckles — you can’t sit still. Are they ever going to talk to you again? Are they mad? Disappointed? Afraid?

You’ve just started drumming your fingertips against the windowsill, making a dull noise, when Agatha finally snaps her head back. You freeze instantly. “What happened?” she asks, an unreadable look in her eyes. 

Anger starts to bubble inside you — What happened? Like her and her wife didn’t come in and turn your entire life upside down and make you this way — before you tamp it down. Agatha and Rio have every right to be frustrated with you, you could’ve put all three of you in jeopardy. The last thing anyone needs right now is more murder. 

“He knew,” you croak, your throat suddenly dry and seizing up at the memory of him trying to grab at you. You shudder. “He recognized me from the news and said that he was either going to turn me in or keep me for himself. He tried to — and I stabbed him. I had to. I’m sorry.” 

Agatha and Rio share a look and you wish you knew what they were thinking. Did you just fuck everything up? 

Is there something wrong with you? 

You swallow hard. “Look, I know we said that we weren’t going to do it anymore but you guys don’t miss it at all? The exhilaration, the…the power. Don’t pretend like you didn’t nurture this spark in me. Isn’t this what you wanted?” It comes out a little more accusatory than you had planned, but you can’t take any more of this. You can’t pretend like everything that happened in Westview, or Salem for that matter, didn’t happen. 

“Doll,” Rio starts, craning her neck back to look at you, but she sighs. “We’re sorry about the man, and we understand. But you need to be honest with us, about how you’re feeling and about what you do. Why don’t you tell us what you want?” 

It almost makes you smirk at Rio trying to be your therapist again. You do have to admit, she got the job done the first time, if the job was to make you remember that you killed someone at the age of ten years old and to set you on an unconscious killing spree across town. You still don’t have all the answers for that, but you’ll cross that bridge another time. 

“I don’t know what I want, everything just feels so boring now,” you say, stomping your foot on the car floor for emphasis. “I know why we can’t kill people and yeah, it makes sense, but I just don’t understand how it’s so easy for you to walk away after everything. It’s like I’m a completely different person now because of you and you just want me to throw that away after you both fucking liked it so much.”

They’re quiet for a moment while they chew on that. Your cheek twitches and you feel the sting of tears in your eyes while you furiously blink them back. 

Agatha finally looks back at you and offers you a tight smile. “You’re right, honey. And we don’t want you to throw it away, we like this version of you—”

“—very much—” Rio interjects and Agatha smirks. The memories of having the hottest sex you’ve ever had flash into your mind and your cheeks heat up, and you can tell they’re thinking of the same thing. You hate to think it was because of the murders, but you think the feeling that the three of you get from it at least contributed. 

“—and we don’t expect you to just be able to get rid of it. But,” Agatha warns, “we’re going to need to be more careful.” 

You nod before the gravity of what she’s saying really sinks in. “Wait, we?”

Rio snorts. “Doll, you are so absolutely fascinating. There’s something about the way your brain works that is just captivating, and also so hot. You, being like this? That's hot to us.” 

“We know exactly how you feel,” Agatha reassures, and for two serial killers who gaslighted and manipulated and used you, they really are sweet sometimes. “But if we’re going to kill people, which, it seems like you’re not able to stop —” your head ducks, slightly embarrassed, “—we’re going to help. And we’re going to do it carefully and we’re going to think it through so that we don’t get caught.” 

A low heat thrums under your skin at the thought of the three of you killing together. If the sex was that good after they killed someone without you, and after you killed someone alone, you can only imagine what it will be like when you get to be in the room. 

Fuck. 

You know they get turned on by it, too. And now you’re completely overwhelmed by the thought of seeing that spark in them as they watch the life drain out of someone’s eyes. 

It’s not the death specifically, you know, that gets to you. It’s not the blood or the violence or the act of killing. 

It’s the feeling of being alive. The feeling of having that much control and that much power over someone. You know it’s incredibly fucked up and twisted and dark — and sure, there’s definitely something wrong with you. You’d talk to your therapist, but if anything right now, Rio is actively trying to push you to be more of a killer. 

Their acceptance also warms your body, because they see you, all of you, and they aren’t scared. They see the darkness, and they’re embracing it with open arms. 

All you know is that you need them so bad, you need them more than life itself. That five weeks when you didn’t have them, when you thought they had abandoned you, was the worst period of your life. You couldn’t imagine doing that again. 

“Okay,” you say, your voice thick with emotion. 

They both glance back at you and nod. “Okay,” Agatha says. “We never do two in the same state.” 

You’d like to mention with the rate you’re traveling at, you’re rarely in the same state for more than one day, but you agree. 

“We plan it,” Rio says, and that one feels a little targeted. “We talk it through. Nothing impulsive — that’s how mistakes get made. We need to make sure we have cleaning supplies: bleach, hydrogen peroxide. We cannot leave a trace. We need to be smart about it.” 

It takes you a moment to think of one. “We do it, and then leave town right after. No sticking around for anything.” 

“Not even sex?” Agatha asks, a teasing lilt to her tone, and she turns back to wink at you. There’s a rush of arousal in your stomach and you smirk back at her. 

“I thought that was implied,” you answer and with the look on her face, you know you said the right thing. 

Rio digs around in the cooler bag before grabbing a drink and taking a sip. She passes it to Agatha and then back to you. “How do you feel now?” she asks. 

You take a moment to assess. The itching feeling has been gone since you came over Agatha’s face just an hour ago — or was it from murdering that man? You no longer feel restless either. “I’m good,” you say, and it feels right. 

The next few hours pass quickly and you’re almost out of Mississippi when you really have to pee. 

“Agatha, do you think we could stop soon?” You shift from side to side and try not to think too hard about it. You’ve heard that thinking about sex can get rid of the urge, so you try but the pressure on your bladder is too great. 

She glances at you through the rearview mirror to see the pained expression on your face. You know she’d like to keep driving, but Rio’s stomach grumbles loudly and Agatha pulls off the interstate at the next exit. 

You’re almost to the border of Arkansas, and there is almost nothing in sight except for what looks like a practically empty, run-down mall. It’s strange that that’s the first thing you find, even before a gas station, but Agatha pulls into the parking lot anyway. 

The three of you get out of the car, but before you can hurry inside, Rio stops you with a hand on your arm. You stop and look at her, squinting your eyes from the sun. With only traveling at night and staying inside the whole the past few days, you’ve forgotten what the warmth and light has felt like. 

“Doll,” she says, sounding a little nervous. Agatha comes to stand next to her so they’re both facing you. You can’t help but worry about whatever this is, but then Rio reaches into her pocket and pulls out a small, silver ring. Your breath catches in your throat. 

It matches the ones they’re wearing. 

“When did you—” You’re completely overwhelmed now and all you can do is reach out your left hand. 

Rio smiles and slides it onto your ring finger. It might be a tad bit too small, but the gesture is everything to you. “When I was getting the stuff for the oil change. I saw it and thought that it would look great on you.” 

You hold it up, admiring the way the sun glints off it. It’s nothing special, a cheap ring from the grocery store, but it means that you belong to them. And they belong to you. 

The kisses that they give you after are so sweet it almost makes you melt, and you feel your heart swell. Even though this is not what you imagined your life looking like at this point, you couldn’t imagine wanting it to be different. There was a dormant part of your brain that is finally awake now — and it’s all because of them. 

You walk, hand-in-hand with them on either side of you, into the mall, where there are maybe four people in the entire food court, not counting the workers at the restaurants. 

“How about a pizza, superstar?” Agatha suggests. “Nothing says ‘symbolic wedding’ quite like cheese and pepperoni.” Rio snorts. 

“That sounds perfect. I’ll be right back,” you say before darting to the restroom. 

When you come out of the bathroom, wiping your still-damp hands on your jeans and trying to get used to the feeling of the ring, a woman catches your eye. 

She’s standing a yellow sign up on the outside of a shop, whistling to herself, wearing flowy blue pants, a white top with a plunging neckline, and a long, colorful coat with embroidered patterns. Her curly gray hair is in a loose bun atop her head and you can see her lips stained a dark red. The vague sense of familiarity creeps up the back of your neck — have you seen her before?

You look closer at the sign and read Madame Calderu’s Psychic Readings in cursive blue lettering and your nose wrinkles before scoffing. Leaving it to an almost-deserted mall to resort to ripping off gullible people in a last ditch attempt to stay relevant. 

The woman hears your sound though, and looks up. “I’ve been expecting you,” she says in a mystical voice and it almost makes you laugh. 

“Do you say that to everyone who walks by?” you mock but she beckons you forward with a hand while shaking her head. You know you should turn around and go find Agatha and Rio, who are surely waiting for you in the food court by now, but something draws you in. You take a step closer and peer through the windows of her shop to find it absolutely cluttered with gemstones and crystal balls and lines of beads and dream catchers hanging from the ceiling. There’s posters and electric neon signs on the walls and one table in the middle with two chairs. 

She sees you looking and she smiles. “Why don’t you come in? I’ll give you a reading for free. It seems like you have a lot on your mind.” 

You open your mouth to protest, but she raises an eyebrow at you, and you give in. “Okay,” you mutter. It’s a bunch of hocus-pocus, but at least humoring the old lady is a nice thing to do. 

Seemingly satisfied, and thankfully not making a comment about how she knew you’d say that, she opens the door and holds it for you before guiding you to the table. 

Sitting down across from her, she gives you another glance before reaching over and grabbing a small box. She opens it and pulls out a deck of tarot cards. “Have you ever done this before?” she asks conversationally. 

“Uh, no,” you answer quickly before realizing that it may have come off as rude. “Sorry, I just don’t really believe in it, Madame — um.” You forgot her name. 

“You can call me Lilia,” she tells you in a silvery smooth voice, eyes flicking up to yours as she taps the cards on the table three times. “And it’s okay that you don’t believe. But the cards know all.”

You peer at her. “Do I know you?” You can’t shake the feeling that you’ve seen her before and the question slips out before you remember you’re supposed to be dead, so having someone recognize you wouldn’t really be the best. Your heart skips a beat and you watch with bated breath as she studies you.

If she says yes, if she places you from somewhere, it could all be over. Fuck, Agatha and Rio are going to kill you. 

The tension becomes almost unbearable before she finally shakes her head. “No, I don’t think so. Must be déjà vu or something,” she says and through your sigh of relief, you still find it in you to roll your eyes. She hands you the deck of cards. “Shuffle.” 

She watches you closely as you randomize them and then hand them back to her. There’s a pit starting to grow in your stomach — nerves maybe? You shouldn’t be nervous about something that’s not even real. 

Lilia waves a hand over the table, bringing your attention to the five lighter spaces on the wood. “We’re going to do a five card spread. You’ll ask a question and then the cards will reveal an answer through the past, present and future.” 

What should you ask? Different possibilities swirl around your head — is there something wrong with you? Are you a bad person? Will Agatha and Rio get tired of you and leave? Did you do the right thing leaving with them? 

It takes a moment for you to notice that Lilia is staring at you expectantly. “Oh, do I have to say it out loud?” She nods like it should’ve been obvious. Fuck, you have to ask a question that isn’t going to make her suspicious. “Um, okay. Did I…did I choose the right path?” 

If she thinks it’s vague, or just a plain bad question, she doesn’t let on and pulls the first card. She sets it down in the middle and the first thing you notice is that it’s upside down. There’s a yellow background behind a black horse with red reins, and a knight atop the stead. In the man’s hand is a five-pointed star inside of  a circle. 

“First, we look at your present. The Knight of Pentacles reversed,” Lilia announces. “You feel stuck in a routine and you’re bored with how your life is. You need to change it, maybe add something to it.”

You swallow roughly and try to tell yourself that it’s just a coincidence. Maybe you were bored, but that was before Agatha and Rio changed the rules. You’re good now. 

Lilia takes the next card of the deck and puts it on the space to your left. It’s a tall tower on top of a cliff, lightning striking the top and a crown being thrust off. Fire is erupting from the crack and the windows and two people are falling from it. This can’t be good. 

“Now, we look at your past. The Tower. There has been a significant disruption in your life. There has been destruction,” she says and she taps the flames that are raining down. The image of your burning house flashes behind your eyes. 

No. Tarot is a trick. There’s so many ways to interpret it, any person could relate to any of the cards. It doesn't mean anything. 

The pit in your stomach grows. 

Lilia flips over the next card and puts it to the right of the Knight of Pentacles. She frowns once she gets a look at it. 

At first, you think it’s reversed because the person is upside down, you’re able to read the letters at the bottom normally. There’s a wooden T with leaves on the ends, and the person is hanging upside down in red pants, left leg crossed behind his straightened right one, and a blue long-sleeve tunic. There’s a yellow circle with spokes, almost like a sun, behind the head. There’s an eerie resemblance to a crucifix. 

“The Hanged Man,” Lilia says in a hushed whisper. You gulp, the hairs on the back of your neck standing up. Why have you gotten the worst ones? “It suggests the ultimate surrender — a sacrifice.” 

It’s not real. It’s not real. 

You try to speak but it comes out as a croak and you have to clear your throat. “Who is going to be sacrificed?” 

“That’s not how tarot works, darling,” she tuts and you have to bite back a retort. She puts the next one in the bottom slot, under the Knight. “Now we look at the cause for your question.” 

It’s another horse, but a white one this time, with a green blanket around the body. A person in a red cloak sits on top with a wreath around the head, holding a long staff adorned with another wreath. In the background, there are people holding up five more sticks with laurels on them as well. 

“The Six of Wands. You have had success, self-confidence, and most of all, recognition,” Lilia says. This one puzzles you a little more. 

Is your success catching ‘The Witch’ and ‘Lady Death’? Is the recognition the fact that you’re on national television for allegedly being killed by them? 

But then she flips the last card over and sets it down on the slot on top. “There are many different paths you could have taken, and can still take. But this one will show the potential.” 

It’s a man, lying face down on what looks like a shoreline, dark clouds above, and swords impaled in his back. A cold sweat breaks out across your body. 

“In your future,” she says. “The Ten of Swords. Betrayal.”

You shove your chair back from the table and it scrapes against the floor with a sound that would make you wince if you could hear over the blood pumping in your ears. Lilia tries to call after you, but you’re stumbling to the front door and you almost run right into a tall boy wearing a blue jacket. You mutter an apology and don’t even look back before you rush to find Agatha and Rio in the food court, sitting and picking at pieces of pizza while they chatter. 

“There you are,” Agatha says when you drop into the seat in-between them. She passes you a plate, but you’re not hungry anymore. 

Rio’s eyes narrow. “You okay? Didn’t kill anyone else while you were in the bathroom, did you?” Agatha chuckles at her wife’s joke and reaches over to take your left hand and trace over the ring that’s just a little too tight on your finger now. 

“I love the way this looks on you,” the older woman murmurs. “You’re all ours.” 

You smile and nod, but you can’t get the cards out of your head. Betrayal. Sacrifice. 

Are they going to betray you? Are you the sacrifice? 

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[hollowflight-propaganda]

Also I would really like to hear more about your wolf OCs! They seem so interesting from what I’ve seen in the “howls of darkness” tag

MY TIME HAS COME!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :DDDDD

(CAUTION: Long Ass Loredump Ahead)

So, best place to start is probably with the setting itself. There's this single continent with no humans whatsoever, which I've been calling Ashland. (Name is subject to change, but to be honest it'll probably end up sticking like the series title did) And thousands of years ago, before it was known by that name, the continent's apex species where phoenixes, dragons, and gryphons. But, as you probably gathered, a phoenix named Frostburn accidentally caused a mass extinction event, which wiped out all of those creatures. The only surviving life was a little amount of smaller creatures due to how some of them adapted to stay underground to steer clear of the large predators. And yes, this includes our wolves.

Cue a whole bunch of family drama between some wolves, classic post apocalypse survival, and other shit I'm not getting into right now. Besides all of this, something interesting started to happen due to the absence of the Great Beasts. The dragons and phoenixes had five main different elements tied to their different sub species, fire, ice, water, earth, and sky. In ways I haven't fully decided on yet, the surviving wolves were able to harness these elements, and through the centuries, they've developed their own sub species akin to what the dragons and phoenixes had. There were also the griffins, and while it was possible for them to learn to wield elemental magic if they worked for it, they didn't have this magic inside of them. What they did have however, is the magic that let them exist as both avian and mammalian beings. It took longer for the wolves to harness this, but they formed their own sub species as well. (bird wolves my beloved)

These six groups are called the Coldborn, Flameborn, Skybound, Earthbound, Coastdwellers, and Cliffdwellers. There are now many distinguishing factors between these groups, both cultural and physical. I'd go into some, but this is already getting long and I haven't even talked about a single character yet, so we're moving on for now.

Now that I've gone through a crash course of what the world's like, I'm gonna talk about the main characters!

Starting with Eclipse cause she's the closest to being the protagonist, she's a Skybound wolf who at the start of the series, left the Skybound for currently undisclosed reasons. Whatever made her leave seemed to have really shaken her up, and the first section of the story is largely dedicated to getting her on the path to start resolving her issues.

Next is River, who runs into Eclipse one day, and immediately decides his new mission is to befriend her because that's how he is. He's a pretty carefree guy, and at the start of the series he seems to be the most mentally stable. (Which in this series is a VERY impressive achievement)

Next is Rain and Dew, River's older siblings. Rain is River's bio sister from a different litter, and Dew spur of the moment adopted them even though he's only about half a year older than Rain. Rain has a pretty similar attitude to River, if only a bit more subdued. Dew is The Ultimate Big Bro to sum it up.

Now Frost! Best I can describe him is that he's a very cocky himbo, but that's mainly the front he puts up to hide his insecurities. He's a character who gets explored a lot more later in the series, so I'm gonna leave it there for now.

Last I'll do for now is Ember. He's a short and scrawny Flameborn wolf who is pretty stone-faced a lot of the time, he's also begrudgingly friends with Frost. He's Edgy Mcgee and I love him for it. He's also being tortured by a demon, but I digress.

Anyway, that's all the major players for the most part! Feel free to ask me about any other characters I've mentioned if you'd like!

[yuri-is-online]

Ooohhh any head cannons with malleus! Yutu and how diasomnia reacts to them?

Ah yes the banished Prince.  I was wondering when I was going to get an ask about him, and I admit I am a bit surprised it was only the one unlike a certain other prince. It's rather fitting to come back to Yutu posts with him though, there's a great deal of tragedy to be had with Malleus in this ayuu.

notes: they/them used for Yuu, for context on the fyuuture kid au can be found here and here. SPOILERS FROM BOOK 7 ON HOW DRAGON FAE REPRODUCE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED, PROCEED WITH CAUTION.

I've mentioned it before but Malleus! Yutu plays by half elf rules.  He's very young looking, he's around the same age that Yuu is, whatever you think that is, but he looks around 15 at most and shares his father's eyes and teeth.  Even in your world he had a reputation for being quite baby faced, this annoys him quite a lot, though he keeps his outrage to a brief pout if the person talking about it is Yuu.

Yuu remembers Malleus being their best friend, someone who was socially awkward due to isolation and came off as intense and scary because of it.  They go to great lengths to try and encourage Yutu to make friends, but the public opinion of them as weirdos really hinders this and is only increased as Yutu matures.  This Yutu doesn't like people very much, he grows up assuming everyone is mean and overly judgemental and that he will never be truly accepted for who he is no matter how hard he tries.

Being born in a different world does not make him any less of a Draconia, though unlike his father he is less prone to rage and more to long periods of melancholy; he is very much that sensitive goth kid with reams of bad poetry he will want to burn when he gets older and a love for rainy days. He has a deep love for classical poetry, music, and old clothes. If the area where Yuu lived had a ren faire then you can best bet Yuu took him there as a special treat more than once, he loves seeing all the medieval outfits and activities. He's explored every cemetery your town has, knows all of it's weird rumors, and any fun history stuff that might have happened in and around it, something he retains when transported to Twisted Wonderland. There are few people who know more about the history of Night Raven College than Yutu Draconia, for better or worse.

His interest in the macabre effects how he sees his parent's situation. While other Yutus might have needed time to adjust to the idea of magic and curses, Malleus! Yutu always firmly believed in it and assumed that was exactly what had happened to his parent. He went back and forth on his beliefs about his father, as a small child he thought of his father as a wonderful person who loved his parent so much that he must be searching for them surely, and that any day now he would swoop in and fly Yuu and him away to where they really belonged. When that never happened he began to wonder if maybe his father saw his relationship with Yuu as a mistake and that their memories had been altered purposefully to hide his identity. Whatever the truth, Yutu has decided that his loyalty is to Yuu, and that no matter who is trying to harm them he will hunt them down and have his revenge.

He announces as much to Crewel after he arrives in the mirror chamber, magic sparking at his finger tips as he roars it with a force he didn't know he had and immediately starts hacking at how dry his throat has become. It's very cute and not as intimidating as he might have wanted, but his point comes across well enough. Diasomnia is extremely pleased to have a Draconia back in the Housewarden's seat, though Yutu is less than pleased with this new position of authority.

The transition of being a hated outcast to the rightful King of a literal fallen kingdom is jarring. Learning of his father's controversial marriage to Yuu, of the uproar caused by their disappearance and his father's outright refusal to ever give up hope that his child and spouse would return is heartbreaking. Silver and Sebek had standing orders to go to them when not if they did, that's how badly his father wanted to believe he would be back. He was barely able to live with himself without them, but he had to. He had a kingdom relying on him, and someone else too.

We have gone back and forth in these posts about giving Yutu a sibling, but Malleus! Yutu absolutely has one. Dragon fae create eggs from magic and their partner's love, so in this scenario Malleus and Yuu decided to have two children, one that Mal would nourish and one that Yuu would. Technically, the Crown Princess is older than Yutu, but since she hatched from an egg she matures even slower than he does. She did grow faster than her father, the ability to transform into a human came much more naturally to her because of Yuu's love, but she doesn't look or sound much older than six. You are insane if you think this means she thinks of herself as the younger sibling though, her egg was older by two whole years so there! That means she is in charge! So Yutu absolutely has to stop learning boring "political smience" or whatever and play with her RIGHT NOW. She's wanted to meet him for so long TᴖT how dare her little brother deny her TᴖT look at her she's so cute how could he even think of scolding her TᴖT oh jail for brother jail for 1000 years TᴖT

Yutu might hate socializing and have a negative view of people but he absolutely adores his sister and thinks of himself as the big brother. He lets her claim to be in charge in the same way Malleus let Sebek do whatever he wanted because he finds it amusing. It is not uncommon to see the King in Exile holding court with the Crown Princess on his lap, rocking her softly as she naps. It helps solidify his control over what remains of Briar Valley, they might have been skeptical about having a half human King who cannot even transform into a dragon, but his professed dedication to his father's legacy of sacrifice and the clear adoration of his sister make his authority tough to deny.

Speaking of sacrifice, going back in time was hard for Malleus! Yutu. He felt there was absolutely no way he could bring his sister back with him because of how young she was and he was skeptical of whether or not it would even work. If it didn't he would be depriving Briar Valley of a king again, but if it did well. Then he would never need to be king in the first place, which Yutu finds reliving. While he did step up to the task, all he ever really wanted was to live with his father, Yuu, and now his sister in whatever way would have been normal for them. Sure, that normal turns out to have been quite abnormal, but that doesn't mean he still does not want it.

When the Once and Never King sees his father he has maybe more information than any of the other Yutus, even those who had met their dads. He conducted lengthy interviews with both Silver and Sebek, compiling a great pile of notes that he went through over and over again trying to come up with a strategy. All of that planning goes out the window when they actually meet, Yuu asks for permission from Tsunotarou to introduce the two of them, thinking it would be nice for both him and Yutu to have more friends and Malleus is just intrigued enough to say yes.

So this is a dragon fae. It's the only thing Yutu can bring himself to think when he sees Malleus, the other, more intense thoughts and emotions are distracted by the fireflies that accompany his father's arrival. They're beautiful, he can't remember having seen anything like them before, certainly not in his future. His father looks at him in brief surprise, and magic tingles up Yutu's spine. It's similar to the feeling he had when he first saw his sister, like recognizing like and seeking to form a connection. It hurts to shut himself off, but he smiles and focuses on his humanity as he puts forward his hand. "Hello Mr. Tsunotarou, I'm Yutu." The smile that stretches its way across Malleus's face is pure amusement, he must have really liked this ruse. What did Yuu think about that when they learned?

"My the humans of your world are certainly brave." He shakes his hand proudly, clearly pleased at the normalcy of Yutu's treatment but still painfully unaware how to be normal about it. "I am deeply pleased to make your acquaintance."

Malleus adores Yutu. There's just something about him that activates a part of him that he wasn't aware of before, and while he doesn't understand what those emotions are he recognizes his increased need to be protective of Yuu for exactly what it is. His mind thinks of Yuu as his mate, in body and soul, and that does terrify him slightly. Yuu is so tragically human, they'll die if he takes them home. They'll die if he lets them go to their home. They'll die if he never says anything at all and lets his love rot out his heart alone in his tower while they freely move through the world without ever having known of his emotions-

I haven't given much thought as to how I would want a Malleyuu confession to go down, but I could see them starting a sort of awkward courting process where Malleus takes them for long, late night walks in the forest to slow dance alone, brings them roses and handcrafted jewels he silently begs for them to wear to show just how close they are getting- but however it happens there is at least an understanding that there is something between them by the time Yutu's disguise is knocked off and he's forced to come clean.

It's a reveal Malleus does not take well. Oh not that he hates his son, he is overwhelmed with such a powerful love and joy at the mere concept of his existence he could never- no it's the fact that his future. His happy ending, that he fucking deserves after everything that his family has been through, was robbed from him and he wasn't able to do anything about it other than go to sleep? Him? The most powerful mage (fifth actually but he doesn't care about that) in existence couldn't stop that? Unacceptable.

After Yuu gets him to calm down and soothes the brewing thunderstorm they both are very focused on the well being of their child. I feel like both Yuu and Malleus would want Yutu to have a chance to just enjoy himself, for him to take off the crown he was never meant to have and just. Breathe for a moment. That's part of Malleus's motivation for introducing him as his son to the Diasomnia gang, he wants his child to have a chance to have some fun with his Uncles and Pee Paw Lilia.

Sebek bursts into tears when he learns of Waka Sama jr's existence. I think he feels a sort of kinship with Yutu, they're both half fae and they both have a deep respect for Malleus. He's very shy when he sees how much respect Yutu has for him. He's surprisingly humble when Yutu thanks him for protecting him in the future, insisting that he was just doing his job. He likes listening to Yutu play the piano, I could see Yutu trying to teach Sebek how to play an instrument, partially to spend time with him and partially just because he is curious as to how tone deaf Sebek can be.

Silver is deeply concerned about Yuu and Yutu's safety. He organizes with Sebek and Lilia to change up their patrols to include defending the new members of the royal family . He is a bit confused as to why Yutu wants to just hang out with him when all he really does is train, but he also is glad that the little prince is willing to train with him and take Silver's concerns about his safety seriously. I could see Silver apologizing for not being able to defend his parent, genuinely distressed about his situation and Yutu being a bit awkward about it. He never thought to blame Silver ever, why would he? Yutu is not unused to Silver's kindness, but it still overwhelms him. It's a pure sort of love that challenges what Yutu thinks about the world, and he doesn't know what to do with that.

Now. Mr. Pee Paw. Lilia is probably the most excited out of the entire group, look at this kid. You see him? Living physical proof that humans and fae can get along! If a Draconia did it then you can too, Grandpa Leven would be so proud! The future is concerning sure, but now that he knows about it he can plan for it. Lilia might be old, but he is still has some fight left in him, and he is very happy to use it on securing Malleus's family's future.

Yes, he does try to cook for Yutu. He wants to make him a birthday cake because he insists that they should throw him a party even if it isn't his birthday so he can have one with his Pee Paw and Dad. Yes everyone forces Yutu to distract him so they can make sure they've got something edible. He's so sad about it, how could they, jail for the little prince, jail for 1000 years.

Malleus is overly confident about his ability to change the future. Failure isn't an option as far as he is concerned, he will find the person who dared to corrupt his perfect future and he will have his due. His son will never have to live in a world without him, and he will never have to live in a world that rejected Yuu. Someone clearly needs to be reminded of just who Malleus Draconia is, and that memory will not be pretty.

Bonus

So the little crown princess. She learns that her idiot younger brother is planning to go back in time without her and she is very angry about this. How dare he, she knows he can't do anything without her so she makes sure to tag along anyway.

I toyed with the future kid reveal coming from her just marching up to Yutu and giving him orders, but I also like the idea of the Draconia family finding her lost in the woods crying because of how distressed she is that she can't find her little brother. Either way she doesn't understand the need for secrecy and wants to spend every single second she can with her parents. She causes a lot of rain when she finally gets to meet Yuu in person, she had so many dreams about meeting them and now they're real and she can hug them- she's just got too many emotions in her little body send help.

The Draconia family has pretty easy to follow naming theme, but I wasn't too certain about what names to give Yutu and his sister. I like the idea of Princess Draconia being named Mallia after Lilia but I am less certain about Yutu. In my notes Miss Princes was just called Princess Tamago because she hatched out of an egg. That's not her name but I could see that being something Yutu calls her.

[arceespinkgun]

I was wondering if you had any thoughts on Skybound Elita's more negative reception, like ppl equating her with DOTM Sentinel?

IMO alot of it also feels like fandom misogyny, like ppl are mad she’s cracking from leading a losing fight for survival instead of being super motherly. & the DOTM comparisons are esp vapid when Elita made her choice out of desperation, rather than a long-term plot to betray her entire faction & subjugate Earth.

Sorry if this is ask is annoying, the negative responses I keep seeing abt her have just been driving me nuts 😭

"...like ppl equating her with DOTM Sentinel?" ...People are doing what?!

I haven't personally seen those takes, probably because I try to avoid a lot of discussion of Skybound to avoid spoilers—I've been lucky and saw a lot of sympathy for her. I think your reasoning is basically what I'd say. There's a lot of depth to Elita-1's character in the series. She was stuck in this horribly traumatizing situation for so long and on the knife's edge of hopelessness and she understandably resents that she's had to make so many calls that would be so hard for anybody to live with while from her perspective that hasn't been true to anywhere near this extent for Optimus. She feels incredibly abandoned. At the same time though, there's some part of her that still has hope, that desperately wants the struggle to have meant something—and we can see that in actions she takes like the difference between how she handles Ultra Magnus being captured and tortured by Shockwave versus Cliffjumper and Jazz (probably also affected by seeing what state Magnus was in when she finally saved him... after her friends were slaughtered in the rescue).

I will also say that I have been really angered by other really bad Elita-1 takes I keep seeing about the TF One and Earthspark versions of her:

People saying TF One Elita's a mean asshole for lines that I'm 100% certain they would be seeing as hilarious if someone like Prowl said them even if they were unchanged

The momification of TF One Elita

Claims that Elita-1 just never has enough characterization to be likable or deep, posted by people who think random guys who have appeared way less than she has are deep

What I swear is a whole new genre of post that goes something like: "TF One was so shockingly progressive!!! *proceeds to talk solely about men in the movie with no mention of Elita-1 or what women's roles were at all*"

Incredibly uncharitable readings of Elita-1 in Earthspark telling Jawbreaker to stay behind after he bashed into Grimlock repeatedly and triggered him after being repeatedly told to stop... sorry everybody, I know Jawbreaker's literally ND and a minor or something, but sometimes a teacher needs to say that (unintentionally) cruel behavior isn't okay if a kid wants to be part of a community! Initialization isn't good. Plus Jawbreaker getting to have a talk with his sister alone for a bit made everything better so....

Elita-1's practically a litmus test of some kind for misogyny, I swear. I've been blocking liberally whenever I see unbalanced treatment of her.

[axolotl4days]

Batfam fans i promise I'm gonna post part 2 to the "batman Dead Daughter" story soon (I intended to post it after the first part but I keep getting distracted and haven't finished writing it)(i have adhd and autism and I've never actually posted my story ideas before-)

However, part of why I haven't is i accidentally started thinking of a completely different story-

And it's so much angstier, and I haven't decided if i want to actually write it or if it lives in my head forever

It takes some slight inspiration from the "little misfortune" game, but tbh the most it takes is the name Misfortune

Side note:I have no fucking clue how old any of the characters actually are in canon, so for this it's just going off age order rather than numbers the reader would be in between Tim and Damian age wise but thats about it

Anyways here's the idea lemme know if anyone would be interested in reading it

The basic premise:

Backstory: The reader was adopted by the bat at the age of like 6 or 7 after the bat found reader just kinda... wandering Gotham one night covered in dirt and dried blood, when asked about their parents the reader just stays silent so bats like "Well I guess i have a new kid" because what else do you do? Takes the kid homes, cleans em up, and gifts them a scarf to try to gain their trust (he noticed reader kept covering their neck, he sees a pretty nasty scar but doesn't push reader to talk about it)

And the story would basically be the bat siblings realizing they don't know where reader came from (not even tim knows and he knows like, everything about his siblings cause it's tim)

And they don't ask because they're detectives they can figure it out right? But then they start to notice certain behaviors, subtle things that wouldn't normally raise alarm bells for anyone

But they don't get anywhere and after a few incidents (aka moments where they see reader experience ptsd but don't know what caused it) they decide to ask (I have an idea where they don't ask upfront but try to do the thing where they're all talking about their backstories so it doesn't feel so confrontstional) and reader very casually drops a lore nuke and tries to brush it off like it's nothing because "it happened a long time ago I'm fine" (spoiler alert, they are not fucking fine)(i want them to violently start sobbing while telling the story and they don't even realize it until one of the others points it out) and shenanigans ensue as they learn just how not fine they are :D

Because the story has only been in my head I've got a bunch of alternating scenes and plot line ideas so it's hard ti describe what it exactly is about but it mske sense in my head

This one would have a lot of mention to heavy child abuse, death, and other stuff, but apparently I'm sadistic cause I can't stop thinking about it

Depending how it goes it could be considered platonic yandere batfam but it'd get their gradually, but I haven't decided yet

[fire-lizard-ro]

Ah yes. I've come to inquire about a certain blond fellow with the pretty eyes. Aventurine

So here's my bit. Reader is going through a break up with Aventurine and then they make up. I'm writing this while attention (females perspective)is playing in my mind. Maybe you could like incorporate it into the ask. Because I'm thinking in a way that the reader is trying to get Aventurines attention whilst keeping him at a distance. Sor of cat and mouse. And he's buying into it though he's much prefer without the sneakiness.

Also I hope this asks finds you in good spirits and a joyful mood. Caio.

Okay, okay- I have no clue what attention is. A song? I’m not good at this game help-

Anyways I will try my best.

Thank you sm for the ask. 🫶

I really do love this twinky little blond man and I’m happy to be writing about him.

It’s like two in the morning rn and I’m rambling here to distract myself from things. ANY!!! WAYS!!!

No gender is mentioned for the reader.

CW: exactly one (1) 2.1 spoiler (Aventurine’s real name- It’s at the very end), break up-make up time, mild angst bc ofc there is it’s Aventurine, hurt/comfort, happy ending hehe 🫶

Writing under the cut (SFW):

You couldn’t help but smile as you saw a certain someone’s nickname flashing across your screen. Right on time.

Though you supposed he knew what you were doing. After all, Aventurine is smart. Even if he didn’t realize it right away, he had to know by now.

You picked up the phone.

“Well hello, stranger. To what do I owe the honor?” It was hard to keep the sly lilt and inflection out of your voice when you knew he was definitely gripping his phone tightly on the other end of the line.

“I’m sure you know, dear. You’re slick but not that slick. You’ll have to do better than that to outplay me,” Aventurine said, his voice still fixed in that unhurried cadence and unbothered tone like usual despite the situation.

You rested your cheek on a hand and leaned back in your seat with a smile. “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean. In any case, it’s a bit odd of you to call me. After all, we did break up. You remember that, I’m sure.”

You could practically hear the leather of his gloves crunching (is it crunching I forgot-) as he clenched a fist, keeping hold of his restraint.

The two of you had been dancing around each other like cat and mouse. Though at this point, who was the cat and who was the mouse was anyone’s guess.

Despite having gotten to the point of breaking up, you ended up missing him a lot. And thus you began the dance only to find his hand already waiting for you. It was unspoken that you both wanted the same thing. But every time he drew closer, you’d pull back. A frustrating back and forth that seemed to confuse him. Aventurine was sure you wanted him back. And yet you never let the cat finally catch his prey. Why? He didn’t get it.

“Oh sweetheart- Let’s not keep pretending, yes? I know you’ve been trying to catch my attention. You can’t hide your intentions.”

“Seems it’s working, then.”

It was true. You had been doing things to keep Aventurine’s eyes on you. Despite playing a game of keep away with him with how you’d draw him in and push him away, you didn’t want him looking at anyone else. At the same time, you weren’t sure if you’d truly be willing to get together again. What if the train went off the tracks again? The first time had been rough enough with the two of you waging a passive aggressive war and pointedly ignoring each other at some points.

And thus, this odd little game of yours. One that Aventurine was growing tired of it he had finally called you.

“Let’s talk in person, shall we?” “What-?”

A knock at the door. No fucking way- You opened the door to see your favorite the blond man himself.

“Hiya, darling dearest~”

“Aventurine.”

“No need to be like that. I was serious about that talk.” He then pulled a bouquet of your favorite flowers out from behind his back. “For you,” Aventurine said with that stupid charming smirk of his. You squinted at him for a moment before accepting the flowers with a huff and a faux annoyed, “Fine.”

You were a bit conflicted. You were excited that he was here. Especially because he seemed desperate enough to actually seek you out and talk to you in person. But at the same time this was not something you calculated or expected to happen.

“I know you’re glad to see me. You don’t have to pretend,” he practically purred as you shot a glare over your shoulder, still keeping up appearances. “Oh but of course- I’m absolutely just tickled pink.”

Aventurine chuckled, tipping his head down to look at you over his shades, lids low and eyes practically glowing. “You always did have a way with words, sweetheart.”

He then took off the sunglasses (and oh that was another stupid, dorky little thing about him you found oddly endearing- shades inside a building- stupid silly adorable man-) and plopped down on your couch while you put the flowers down on the counter in the kitchen. You’d deal with them later. For now you had him to deal with. You sat in the chair instead of the couch. He pouted playfully about it, but didn’t comment. “I’ll cut to the chase- I want you back. And I know you want me back, too. I just can’t figure out why you’re leading me closer and then shoving me away. I’m starting to get the feeling you just like my attention. But even so- We both know the truth. So why don’t you just give in, lovely? I know you want to,” he said, surprisingly not using the old song and dance of leading someone around to get the information he wanted. He didn’t talk in circles and didn’t even seem all that flirty despite his words. He was… oddly serious.

“And what about the reason we broke up before?” You didn’t even try to pretend anymore. Aventurine has always been able to see right through you. That ability had clearly not gone anywhere. “I can’t make promises, but we can talk. We’ll work something out. I’ll even compromise on it.” Compromise was not an Aventurine word. Any deals he made were made in his favor without the other person even knowing what they were going to lose. Your incredulity must have been showing on your face more than you thought because he laughed lightly, the sound somehow dry- tired and heavy. “I see that look. I’m serious, baby. I’m sorry I ever let you go. You’re the only one who stayed. The only one who has stuck around. I need you. I’ll give it all to you. My attention, my trust, my… my heart, even. You don’t have to play these games to make me want you.”

Now you feel a bit guilty. But at the same time, elated. Even before you broke up, he never once brought up matters of trust and love. He seemed far too uncomfortable even edging around the topic. But now Aventurine was the first one to bring it up.

You said nothing but silently stood. And his eyes dimmed, waiting for disappointment. But then you walked over and sat next to him, pulling him into a hug. “I missed you, Aven.”

He let out a shaky sigh and wrapped you up in his embrace, arms tight around you.

“Kakavasha.”

“What?”

“You should tell me, ‘I missed you, Kakavasha,’” he (Kakavasha?) said, his voice was shaky with emotion.

“I… I missed you, Kakavasha.”

“And I love you, sweetheart.”

[aureliusbraniff]

I finished The Hobbit recently and I wanted to talk about it.

Full disclosure If you haven't read the book yourself, watched the movies, or seen any memes I would like to warn you moving forward in this review will contain spoilers

My rating: 3.75 ★★★★

Summary:

A high fantasy story set in an intriguing and expansive world. Throughout the story you mainly follow a character that's from a race called hobbits, and a bunch of dwarves. They get themselves into a number of predicaments throughout their adventure and we (the readers) get to witness their shenanigans, as well as meet a few interesting characters.

In the book your introduced the MC Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf, Thorin, Bombur, Fili, Kili, Bofur, Bifur, Oin, Gloin, Dwalin, Balin, Dori, Nori, and Ori. We also encounter other iconic characters such as Thranduil, Elrond, Beorn, Gollum, and Dain to name a few.

I can appreciate that this was revolutionary for the time and as you read this you can see how it influenced the fantasy genre. The writing style is very much a product of its time, so if your not used to early 20th century writing or if you don't like it, it might be difficult to get into this book. Aside from the style the way the story is written was difficult for me to read not in the sense that the writing was complicated it was just hard to immerse myself that might be a me issue, I'll revisit this if I decid to do a re-read. The characters don't get much development aside from Bilbo the MC. To a certain degree I would forget about some characters were there because they rarely did anything or weren't mentioned as frequently as others. So it was hard initially to get attached to characters even within the main cast. I will say that Fili, Kili, Bombur, and Thorin stood out to me the most out of the 13 dwarves. Gandalf was kind of just there which I find amusing it was quite literally just a side quest for him. Some of the other characters were decent, we don't really get to know much about them, but that makes sense since the book focuses on the Bilbo's perspective so it makes sense that readers would be kept in the dark.

I will also say that the world building is brilliant, it feels flesshed out despite it being a small book it was described in a way that still made it believeable and intriguing after the first 80 pages or so. I think it also helped that the characters kept moving from place to place. So that we got to several different locations in this world and the different species and some of the cultures in this world.

Some critics I have for this book is that the characters get into difficult situations and get out of them pretty conveniently. For instance Bilbo just randomly coming accross the ring was a good idea in a sense but it was too easy that he just passed out and when he woke up randomly came across it. Another example would be whenever they were captured by an antagonist (i.e. the trolls and goblins) and then last minute Gandalf would miraculously show up and save them. I get that he's extremely talented in magic and insanely powerful so much so he's a living MacGuffin but still it just felt to easy, and made me question why he couldn't do anything sooner. Don't get me started on when Smaug got super mad at them and instead of attacking Bilbo and company he decided to fly off and destroy Esgaroth. the only time I felt like the stake we're relatively high was when the humans we're trying to fend of Smaug, but that just made me more mad at the fact that Bilbo and company got off pretty much Scott free. I feel that it kind of lowered the stakes for me and so I didn't really feel concerned for the characters. Although it is a children's book so it can be expected. Another thing that bothered me was the songs, there were numerous songs throughout the book. I usually don't mind songs but they sounded the same, the lyrical style and rhyming scheme was the same despite the fact that some of these songs were coming from several characters from various different races and cultures. It just seems unlikely that they would be that similar. I understand that there can be similarities between different cultures especially when they are close to one another but there would also be some slight differences and there simply isn't. Also the book is written to be a translation. It seems strange that the songs were translated to rhyme in the first place. The likelyness of something rhyming from one language to another is slim, and if the song was translated to rhyme then would that not bastardize the original language of the song? It just really irked me.

However in a less critical note there is also some pretty good symbolism in the book some of the things that I noticed and saw from other reviews was:

Orcrist and Glamdring being symbols of heroism

The ring symbolizes power something that can be useful and handy in many situations but has its drawbacks

Thorin gets dragon sickness which can symbolize greed obviously and how quickly it can consume you and destroy your relationships in addition to yourself.

Also Thorin being buried with the arkenstone is nice not sure if it counts as symbolism. I think it could symbolize the heart of the mountain/people being returned to its rightful place

I would also like to add it might be the movies and memes that has corrupted my perception of Thorin and Bilbo's relationship I think it's kind of romantic that Thorin waited to die until after he saw Bilbo one last time. Also it might just be wishful thinking to support this claim Bilbo and Thorin hadn't known each other that long considering their species' lifespans. Not to mention Thorin's reaction to when he thought he had been betrayed. I know his mind was corrupted because of the dragon sickness and he was being protective of the gold and the mountains because of its significance to him and his people but even still he had a visceral reaction and seemed incredibly hurt. Either he was projecting his pent up emotions about the situation at Bilbo or he felt something for Bilbo those are the only two logical explanations to me. If you have other theories feel free to share.

TRIGGER WARNING ⚠️

Mention of Antisemitism -

Another thing I want to point out is the antisemitism. I didn't notice initially and I was confused because I had seen people talk about. In my copy around page 192 there was a strange and unnecessary comment about how the dwarves really are, and it did consist of common antisemitic characteristics. Although I wouldn't really associate the dwarves with Jewish people, but I can see why someone might see some similarities I suppose. I don't think it was a deliberate choice on Tolkien's part, I think it was probably an subconscious decision. Unfortunately in the case of a lot of popular books especially with classics this is a pretty common issue. Although from what I've heard he did apologize and was more cautious in LOTR. Which is something, I guess

[the-way-astray]

thinking thoughts about gay fitz. how his arc has been gearing for him to step away from his family name, reputation, or legacy. how he has all those expectations on him and may mold himself to fit them rather than trust himself. etc etc.

also one more thing i thought of… (unraveled spoilers ahead!!) why the fuck didn’t keefe ask alvar about the vacker legacy even though it has been set up as a mediumish to largely important plot thread??

i think shannon needs to hire one fan/stan and one non-fan of each of her characters as a committee to make her books theeee best that they can be. lol.

good night!! it is 11pm. if it isn’t for you, have a great day ahead!!

hi, anon! those are certainly some thoughts you have there.

keefe didn't ask alvar about that because sophie already asked alvar about it in legacy. he said the troll hive was the extent of the research alvar himself had conducted, but that he suspected that his family had other buried secrets because of the sheer amount of power they held (but that he didn't actually know anything else for certain). so alvar wouldn't know anything more. and honestly? i don't think shannon will continue with the vacker legacy plot thread. it's wrapped up pretty nicely as it is right now, and revisiting it would take away precious space that could be allocated to closing plot threads that are actually still open. so, while i personally was not satisfied with the vacker legacy as a plot thread and would prefer shannon expanded upon it and gave us something more interesting, i also think that it's just not a priority anymore. it's been wrapped up. in a satisfying way? absolutely not. but it's been wrapped up nonetheless. so. that's a thing.

as for gay fitz, i agree!!!! i've talked about it briefly in this post where i mention several ways i would change kotlc, and one of those is that i would make fitz end up with dex because it would make his arc of stepping away from his family name so much more . . . cemented. (i also said in that post that my version of kotlc would have the elves not being queerphobic but unraveled shattered that so. we ignore that part i guess.) i think if he was gay in the (now canonically homophobic) lost cities, it would go a long way in making his arc about matchmaking and generally stepping away from being the perfect vacker and liking being a vacker and whatnot come full circle.

i personally don't think shannon's going to do it. and i also don't actually want her to do it. between the way fitz is dogpiled on by pretty much every non-tumblr fandom and the disastrous reception the three (3) mentions of gay people in unraveled received, i can't imagine this can go any way that could be considered good if it was canon. i talked about this same exact thing in a similar post about poc vackers a while ago, where i basically said the same thing (except it was about race instead of sexuality).

but, yeah, the headcanon absolutely slaps hard. fanon-wise, i'm personally more partial to keefitz, but i think in canon fedex is the superior ship. it's just better for both their arcs. as for fitz growing to realize that he doesn't have to mold himself to fit the overbearing vacker reputation, i think it would be so cool if he realized that because of a conversation with dex. dex is a noble, now, after all. there could be some connection there about how dex maybe feels pressure because of that but he's still not willing to sacrifice what he believes in or something idk.

my toxic trait is that i genuinely believe i could fix keefe. i could fix him . . . i could make him such a good character . . . shannon should give him to me. and yeah. she needs to do that with all the characters. at this point only stan-hater pairs could fix these guys . . .

[switch-shift]

Hi switch i love asking stupid questions. Uhhhhh so ik they're video games but beyond that, what even are mouthwashing and balatro?

Heyyy hil good to talk to you! :)

Mouthwashing and Balatro are both indie games that came out in 2024. In essence, Mouthwashing is a nonlinear storytelling walking sim with some light puzzles that relies on the player / audience to make inferences on key plot details. Meanwhile, Balatro is a roguelike / autobattler based on Poker that adds in fun and wacky upgrades, mutations and gamechanging alterations.

Mouthwashing uses PS2-era graphics as both an artistic style and a way to obfuscate certain details, relying on visual glitches, nonsensical surroundings and nightmarish confrontations to tell a story in a way that does not follow the linear path of time. The story follows the last manned crew ship of the company the Pony Express (they do long-term interstellar deliveries) and the five-person crew: Anya, the nurse; Swansea, the mechanic; Daisuke, the mechanic’s “intern;” Jimmy, the co-pilot; and Curly, the captain.

The POV switches between Jimmy, after The Crash, and Curly, before The Crash (the Crash, if you can imagine, is when *someone* intentionally causes the ship to crash). Even before The Crash, you can tell that the relationships between the characters are degrading, but after, it all falls apart. No spoilers, but Jimmy turns out to be an incredibly self-serving, horrific person that has done multiple inexcusable, unforgivable things. This game is very heavy and serious and gets incredibly abstract towards the end, so it may be very hard to follow after a certain point.

Trigger warnings for, in general, sexual assault / rape (implied? Never directly mentioned), manipulation, death, and gore

BALATRO, on the other hand, is a game that revolves very heavily on Poker! It has no plot and purely revolves around gameplay. You start out with a certain amount of hands (plays), cards, and discards. You use these to play normal Poker hands - each one gives a set amount of chips and mult (a scale to multiply your chips by) - to defeat “blinds” or levels where you have to reach a certain score to win. But eventually, you’ll get the ability to buy jokers and consumables - consumables upgrade the amount of points your hands can give you, can change the dynamics of your deck (starts out as a normal 52 card deck), or give bonuses. Jokers can do… almost anything. You can have a few at a time, and they can give you more points, scale (additionally or multiplicatively), fudge the rules or change the game in a minute way, and just in general make or break your game.

Each “ante” is made up of 3 blinds, and the last blind is a boss blind that has a unique debuff. You want to reach ante 8 to beat the game.

You can add more cards to your deck through purchases or consumables, remove cards through consumables, or add enhancements to cards all in the name of optimizing your run. Most players pick a type of hand to focus on for the entire run, like flushes or straights or pairs. And then you upgrade your hands, decks, and jokers accordingly.

Now, you’re probably asking because you’ve seen me reblog fan art of these jokers and are wondering about the interactions. In the game, it’s all just cards - there are no characters. But there are “synergies,” or certain jokers that work really well together - for example, a joker that gives bonuses when you play a straight and a joker that fudges the definition of a straight (maybe it makes it so that you can play a straight with 4 cards instead of 5, or you can skip ranks to make straights easier to play) will have great synergy because they rely on the same strategy.

People have started shipping jokers with popular synergies and drawing gijinkas of these jokers being romantic or whatever. I personally find the idea super fun and cute and that’s why I enjoy reblogging it. The most popular pairing by far is Brainstorm and Blueprint, both of whom copy any other joker’s ability - effectively triggering that other joker 3 total times when used together. It’s a very OP combination when played right, and almost everyone has agreed that these two jokers are both women, which is awesome imo.

A side note: the face of the game is the most basic joker, and he *does* have a rudimentary personality. His name is Jimbo and he runs you through the tutorial and makes fun of you when you lose. On the other hand, he also compliments you when you win. Aside from ship art, he’s probably the most common type of fan art you’ll see.

Anyway, I hope that was a good explanation! If you have more questions just lmk haha

[rosesradio]

the archive//pjo vigilante au

⚠️ long post warning ⚠️

for all intents and purposes, the gods were dead.

at least, that's what they want you to think--for their safety lies in a secrecy so strong, it leaves the mortals below with hardly any acknowledgment of them.

but what do you do when there are no gods, no explanation, and you one day find flames dancing along your fingertips, or shadows bending to allow you passage through darkness?

do you become a hero, the same way you would in any other universe? or do you use your abilities for gain, as you were left with nothing?

for all intents and purposes, the gods were dead.

but their demigod children were very much alive.

so this is an au i’ve not really talked about a lot—it was my side project, my “scrap fic” that was giving me a much harder time than my “main fic” (ivory rain).

It’s been giving me such a hard time, I’ve decided to “retire” the au, aka post it publicly. this is to open it up to conversation and opinions, as well as open my inbox to any potential asks or even drabble requests for any aspects of the au that spark an interest. this is not opening up this au for everyone to write. please do not take my ideas. i am positive i’m far from the first person to come up with a pjo vigilante au, so if that’s of interest to you, feel free to explore your own ideas for what that au would look like.

at this point, the main reason i am posting this is because i don’t see myself writing a full fic with it. i won’t say never—under certain circumstances and intense revisions i may piece something together, though it’s highly unlikely. i plan on sharing most of my ideas, though for the sake of exploration i will keep a few to myself (such as spoilers on who dies in my original concept, etc).

with that out of the way, let’s get into the meat and potatoes—the au itself:

warnings: grooming mention, homelessness mention

in this au, the gods have zero contact with mortals or demigods other than to perform their duties (such as Apollo with the sun chariot). in the event that they come down to interact with mortals to, uh…hang out (movie!grover voice: hookup!), they go by an alias, so no mortals know about the gods’ very real existence. like most things that suck, you can blame zeus for that one.

that being said, camp half blood does not exist. heroes must train relentlessly on the streets, seeking out others like them with no label for what they really are. the gods have been too weakened by the disbelief of mortals to do anything as monsters ravage the earth. the demigods must survive, form alliances, and protect the citizens of New York.

as the demigods don’t know they are demigods, they are labeled into two categories: “Empowered” and “Bugs”.

Empowered experience all the demigod symptoms with powers to match, and they are often revered as superheroes if they happen to use their abilities to defend mortals. Examples of Empowered include Percy with his water powers, Leo, Jason, etc.

Bugs also experience the symptoms of being a demigod, though they have no visible powers. these demigods are sometimes looked down on as “weaker”, and some debate if they even are special, or simply mortals with the bad luck of attracting monsters. Examples of Bugs include Annabeth, Luke, Reyna, etc.

the demigods are also in two different groups with rivaling ideals:

the vigilante side includes: Percy, Hazel, Frank, and Nico. This side believes that the origin of their abilities does not matter as much as using their abilities to protect the people.

the researcher side includes: Annabeth, Luke, Piper, and Leo. This side believes that the origins of their abilities/the mysteries of the monster attacks hold the key to stopping the attacks. They will do anything in their power, even breaking the law, in order to find answers.

the other side of town: in my mind initially, Jason, Thalia, and Reyna were staying on the other side of town, not getting into the rivalry in the city and just doing what they could to stay alive. this of course can & probably should be altered for other interesting dynamics. i probably would have to keep Thalia out of the main plot of Luke and Annabeth, but i’ll get into that in a minute.

now, for the dynamics & histories:

percy works with his mom at Sweet on America. He is moved out in this au, even though he’s still 16. He does this to protect his mom, though she is not a fan of the arrangement. he also protects the people under his blue mask, using the alias Riptide.

Percy and his mom also volunteer at a homeless shelter, where he met and befriended Frank when he needed a place to stay.

Hazel, Frank, and Nico live with Percy, using their apartment as a base of operations, like the teen titans. Hazel is known as Jewels, Nico as Necromancer, and Frank as Captain Creature (for the bit).

at one point, Nico and Bianca were on Percy’s team, until Bianca was killed on a mission. Nico then went off on his own, joining Luke & Annabeth & Piper in a quest to find answers and get his sister back. After a period of time on the researcher side, Nico began to have second thoughts on their methods and escaped. He was eventually welcomed back by Percy, though a slight distrust remains at Nico’s double-agent trip.

in an effort to bring his sister back to life, nico accidentally brought Hazel back. Hades, being too weak due to erasure and lack of mortal interactivity, remained unable to do anything about this (and perhaps he did not want to).

nico’s latest curiosity is the researchers’ newest team member, someone he’d never met while working with them. unlike most of them with their cheap eye masks, this newest member has an Iron Man level suit, as well as a knack for blowing things up.

———

on the researcher side, annabeth, piper, and leo live at luke’s apartment, working odd jobs to afford the rent. one side of the building was damaged in a monster attack, so they get a discounted rate (lol). also, leo fixes things for the landlord here & there to get a further reduced rate.

Piper first sought annabeth out in school, noting her as an award-winning academic researcher for their school. she offers her money and anything else she might want in exchange for finding her mom. this side quest helps a friendship form between the two, and eventually Piper runs away from home after a monster attack to live with her (much like Percy, she does this in part to protect her dad).

Leo is the newest member of their group, and he built himself what is essentially an iron man suit to do work for the researchers—“work” being things such as robbing banks, intense interrogations, etc. he knows who Nico is in and out of the mask thanks to his team already knowing his identity. He meets Nico when he saves him from a monster attack as Necromancer, and the two form a tentative friendship. Nico often visits him in disguise to talk to him (the researchers having moved apartments to stay undercover as nico knew their previous location), and Leo hides his secret second identity as The Inventor/Pyrotechnic/man of many names etc in order to glean more information from him…and also maybe get closer with Nico, what’s it to you ����

Annabeth and Luke’s dynamic…sigh. this is where the darkfic vibes come in, cover your ears.

annabeth and luke have much of the same relationship as they do in the books, though over the course of this au, it takes a turn. Annabeth’s crush grows stronger and luke, seeing this, takes advantage of her trust and innocence. he grooms her into a romantic and (borderline) sexual relationship. now, seeing as she’s a 16 year old teenager and he’s a 23 year old man who practically raised her as an older brother figure, one might see how that’d be several layers of toxic & wildly messed up. but that’s darkfic for ya! this is why i’d keep thalia from meeting luke and annabeth the way she had in the books, otherwise she would hunt luke down for sport with all of us cheering in the background lol.

this arc also coincides the push by luke to become more violent and harmful in the research effort. Soon enough, it’s obvious that he is uninterested in research of a potential higher power. Instead, he wishes to eliminate all threats to his intention to rule over all demigods and establish his own system.

potential big spoilers aside, i planned on ending the au with both percabeth & pipabeth, where annabeth dates both of them (piper and Percy would probably be platonic, but i’d be open to them all three dating depending on how that dynamic would work). annabeth’s story ending with her healing, whether or not she “officially” ends up with better partners, is crucial for the kind of hurt/comfort i have in my fics.

i was also open to valgrace in this and kind of switching out jason in nico’s role, though it didn’t take long for me to realize it wouldn’t really work, and valdangelo is a better endgame narratively.

so, that’s all i have. terminology, history, dynamics. i have a handful of drabble-length scenes written, though i really wasn’t getting the right feel for them. i hope you guys like this au either way, and feel free to send me an ask about it if anything interested you. thanks for reading this far <33

[silent-neutral]

About SH2 Pyramid Head symbolism and the remake PT.1

--mentions of sexual violence, suicidal themes and just overall mental illness-- please PLEASE DON'T READ BEYOND THE CUT IF YOU PLAN TO PLAY THIS GAME BUT KNOW NOTHING ABOUT SILENT HILL 2!! There will be spoilers in this ''essay'' and I don't want to spoil such a great game for anyone starting fresh and blind, because that'd be the perfect way to start this game imho - your feeling toward this game will be heightened without knowing too much, plus forming your own view and having questions about it is also cool.

(***Had to cut this down into parts after watching 10+ hours of the remake and so much watching gave me a headache that felt like a literal hangover the next day ugh I felt like James lol otherwise it's too many topics and words in 1 post. This way it might be easier to organize them. )

------------------------------- My mind was blown recently. Ig I'm posting this to clarify more to myself than anything, but I had to search up Ito's recent comments about certain scenes with Pyramid Head. (ahem, the first cutscenes specifically). I've always had my own ideas and guesses about specific details playing as James, but after some clarifications on Ito's part about Pyramid Head.. it kind of jarred me, but at the same time explained other things and now my initial view of this game and its characters are validating my assumptions.. And if you knew about this already, well good on you.... Ito tweets so much sometimes, info like this gets buried and I had no idea until a week or so ago lol. So in light of SH2R releasing, I conveniently found out about some crucial details that would *also* inadvertently explain my (petty) gripes about SH2R. I watched the entire playthrough and my views have slightly altered (mostly positive, as this game was actually very faithful to the original imo). but for now I give you...a very wordy analysis on some themes of SH2. Excuse my rambly thought process though, it's very hard to organise them sometimes, I say to future self re-reading this later lol.

We know the monsters all carry symbolism relating to James. Specifically speaking, the series has a lot of sexual undertones present. Man.. Idk where it all started but I'm pretty sure we all assumed it was true when every Silent Hill source or fanpage over decades would bring up James' sexual repression. It made sense because of how things appeared, plus Angela's trauma and her demon....that James even fights... Well.. Ito hates fans saying James 'sexual repression' being symbolised in the monsters are canon. He doesn't mind people forming their own opinion, but he hates when fans say it's canon lol. At any rate, there was a lot of confusion from what I read at first (and the language barrier didn't help, but I think I got the gist of what he meant). --------------------------------------------------------------- Talking specifically about the mannequin scene, Ito says PH is *not* raping them. Ok sure, tbh it looks too vague to label it something extreme like that. But it became something of a meme and Ig it ended up being believed as true. Kinda wish this sentiment was quashed many years ago and not in 2020/2021 gah... So, what's happening in that scene is actually far more deeper than simply to traumatise James.... Pyramid Head is a manifestation of James' guilt AND unconscious desire to be punished for killing his terminally ill wife. James is called to Silent Hill via a delusional letter from Mary he created in his mind.(A made up one to ignore the real one). He's suffering from some kind of selective amnesia throughout the game, hence why everything is there to remind him of his pain. Obviously he's traumatised by what he did that his mind has blocked it out to the point it seems he has remembered a false timeline of events... but his soul is yearning for judgement. Ito says that, therefore, James is suffering from many delusions, that's what's creating and manifesting his inner demons (true for all that come to Silent Hill). Pyramid Head himself is manifested as the executioner, tasked with punishing James, and so.. He is actually attacking James' delusions, trying to remove them:

*o* And Ito goes further! Right after PH kills those mannequins, he stalks over toward the closet James hides in (also meaningful, lmao, but okok it's not about sexual orientation). Apparently, PH's appearance is shifting. Ito says he modelled and animated all the monsters in the original, so I trust him when he says that the front left panel in the corner of his helmet is peeling/flaking back and a tongue-like appendage protrudes from the hole. Although.. he admits it might be too dark to see in that scene, but it's there supposedly. I'm paraphrasing, but Ito implies that PH is impacted by James' delusions in that James *thinks* he sees a tentacle come out of the helmet and thus manifests that. And that's when James shoots at him - He shoots at his own desire to be judged when it attempts to remove his delusions that are keeping him from the truth of his reality!! James can't face reality at this point - those delusions are keeping him somewhat sane and distracted! It hurts too much this early on for PH to attack those delusions so he stops it...this is why he is 'in the closet'. James continues to keep those 'skeletons' there, for now. It makes PH look like the true good guy - an angel.. like Valtiel (interesting to note they have similar body design). Because of learning this, I very quickly noticed how throughout the Remake, you will find plenty already downed enemies.. and it was easy to think ''PH was here''. After James realises the truth from the tape, the Hotel reveals its true appearance (not sure when it burned down or if that has something to do with Alessa, er wait I remember in Origins it was in her house.. well anyway! this could explain James' sketchy memory of events, especially when confronted by Laura having only met Mary and received the letter a year ago in-game.) Anyway, the point is; if James is aware, then the delusions begin to fade. So after watching the Remake, I hoped that the monsters wouldn't appear/be weakened and lo and behold! Bloober was paying attention! The monsters after you watch the tape are weak and limping, can't attack or are already dead and I was delighted! It means Ito was consistent that the delusions the town creates makes up the core theme of Silent Hill. In the original, there are only 2 lying bodies before the PH fight. (I forget the meaning behind them but it has something to do with James' helplessness.) At any rate, Remake did the 'dying vision' symbolism much better here and the explanation is so so fascinating that it led me to rethink the concept behind PH. Side note though, about that hole in PH's helmet. I was always so damn confused about it for so many years!! I used to draw it as a rectangular hole (some art by Ito actually depicted it like that iirc), and then eventually to a gunshot hole since James, well, shot at him, so I assumed that's what it was from. and NOW it's actually a triangular shaped hole from the paneling being 'turned upward' due to how James' is perceiving him in the moment. What a revelation, I cry. Ah.. and note on other design aspects.. Apparently Ito never designed PH with a mass of flesh under the helmet (just a perpetual shadow and the neck bag thing at the back) and he doesn't even know who conceptualised that, but I think it's due to all the cameos and appearances PH has made in many games since SH2. And he looks slightly different each time so.. yeah, interesting that.

Even the figma has that fleshy mass (and gunshot hole!) but I'd say it is accurate on nearly everything else:

It is a very nice figure though. I can't blame all these figures ever released that *weren't* supervised by Masahiro Ito himself, because lmao, Ito just admitted that PH is subjected to changes depending on how James views him, and that explains why details are vague and hard to determine let alone see bc the game is so dark. Take this little gacha figure of PH for example, from a cute baseball game called, I think, Konami Dream Stars (Pal Pro kun?) Yeah, I got Snake as well lol:

...and yes, shameless little peek at my nerdiness on display, all the Capcom stuff is directly below it lolll

------------------------------------------------------------------ So! Having learned what I did, I ofc had to question the next obvious thing; the cutscene just before the first boss fight. PH was without a doubt molesting the Lying Figure/Body which was moaning suggestively the entire fucking time - no one is about to gaslight me into thinking THAT wasn't sexual! And yes, Ito admits that scene was intentionally made to appear sexual (as opposed to the mannequins) and yet he says it has no sexual meaning....wtf does that even mean?! Well, I think I got it. Again, language barrier is most likely to blame, but... To apply the last explanation for the mannequins; James' delusions are making him *think* he is seeing something intimate to the point it manifests right then and there which is so disturbing he recoils and tries to go back through the now-locked door. And so.. it would seem that to PH, he is just trying to destroy the delusions and he can't help how James perceives that; it's just going to manifest accordingly. And while Ito hates 'sexual repression' as somehow being canon to some fans (the majority actually), well, bruh... can you really blame people for coming to that conclusion? The flesh lips, nurses too, are on the risque side. Now, idk how it doesn't indicate something sexual if it's not meaning to be but I am aware of Ito's art style tending to be quite sexual and suggestive, featuring a lot of bdsm themes in his artwork and he is quite obviously inspired by at least HR Giger's work. So making the nurses, for example, look the way they do may be a stylistic choice, but I highly doubt it doesn't also have a symbolic purpose other than referencing Lisa's image or something (This is Silent Hill though ffs, everything is symbolic, it HAS to be). I'll reassess the meaning of those for myself, but specifically I'm addressing PH (and soon in another post, the other elephant in the room: Abstract Daddy.) Initially, I always saw PH as trying to remind James of his sins, jolt his memory, to wake him up to reality. (Which is interesting considering it's not clear if Silent Hill itself is even rooted in reality, the alter dimensions I mean. Another topic I want to address soon.) I also noticed the mirroring effect PH/Maria were doing in relation to their human counterparts; PH is James, and Maria is Mary; James killed Mary, and so PH kills Maria. But.. If PH is actually also trying to destroy the delusions, (which also appears to reflect the fact James is trying to overcome his guilt, his mental blockages that are causing his selective amnesia)that inadvertently means PH will need to destroy himself in the end as well, and that is exactly what happens..

Coincidentally, this would also reflect James' suiciding.

But first, PH attacks the monsters that are manifested and represent different aspects of James' trauma/psyche. Then he is constantly confronting James by killing Maria, or James having to return to a dead Maria. I thought he was basically tormenting James by showing him what he'd essentially done to Mary. "This is what you're guilty about, this is what you need to accept'' I think that idea still holds water (pun very intentional), but now I feel it adds another layer because Maria is the ultimate delusion... and thus, PH must destroy her. Now when she says 'I'm not your Mary, but I can if you want me to be' makes more sense to me what she is. She too is subjected to James' delusions because she keeps shifting the perspective she talks or thinks in, Mary's or Maria's? But she knows she is not Mary, just a manifestation of an idea. And James deep down knows she is holding him back (like all the other delusions) and that feeling calls PH to thus kill her. When James can't escape the reality of his past, he finally accepts the truth, the memories revived by the tape, and confronts PH after stabbing Maria a final time. 'Stop denying/ignoring your guilt, and stop trying to cover it up with distractions like Maria'. James finally doesn't need to be told anymore, he has punished himself (fitting, seeing as PH is an extension of James anyway) and thus PH, the final delusion/illusion kill themselves and disappear.

-------------------------------------

OK so that's PH! Now to compare that with the remake

My main gripe was that the game is way too saturated in colour and too bright in certain parts, but it improves that as you delve deeper in the game thankfully. Kudos to Bloober for changing James' face to something more 'unaware' and disassociative. Gripe number 2: I do wish they cut out the 'hand rubbing' in the opening scene or at least tone it down bc that kind of foreshadowing is too damn obvious, sorry. Not needed. Especially not right at the start. Not even for old fans playing it, we know what happens, but cmon...It makes James too aware of *something* and his selective amnesia is what gives rise to his own customised demons...if he is even slightly aware of what he did, then what is the point to seeing the monsters, let alone PH attacking them, now that we know what Ito had intended? Wouldnt that change their appearance, or rather, remove them altogether? sigh, anyway. I find PH a bit too bright, not dirty enough and consequently, not as disturbing. Partly for that was how they clearly removed the lying body scene from the boss fight. I would be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed, but now with much needed context, this now makes sense...

HOWEVER....If my guess about James' assuming something sexual was taking place in that scene is what manifested it to begin with, then what is there to say about the remake?... So the simple act of hand-rubbing (awareness) really DOES make a difference, huh?! >:O it took away our favourite PH scene! 😂💔..

We can talk about DEI and stuff like that affecting certain themes in this game.... but Ito saying 'it doesn't mean it's sexual' would explain why it's taken out of the remake. Ito has supervised the Bloober design team on this, so they would have so much more context and info from the man himself... Still, it appears to conflict with James' psyche, bc it is through his very perspective that we are perceiving the town and how it presents itself to James so ofc if James sees something explicit, so are we the player. We are seeing the town and monsters through his eyes. And there is much to say about whether or not the other characters are even seeing the same town, but I'll get to that too. There is also the possibility that it's just 'creative freedom' on Bloober's part. It sucks, but overall... the game's pros outweigh the cons. Symbolism for Silent Hill is a very strong trait though, so I'm a bit conflicted about those changes. In the end, PH being a punisher and attacking the delusions of James' traumatised state of mind is fundamental, so as long as that is present, then I can't really say it's so inaccurate ig. It does imho, take away from PH's menacing persona and tones the disturbing factor down which consequently, in my humble opinion, makes him less scary. Intimidating, perhaps.. but less so. He looks very cool though lol. Especially how he breaks the walls during the chase and the final PH battle, I was super impressed with it! I didn't really like how PH was animated in the cutscene in the first fight (the way he turns around, idk..) but I love how they both throw the spears at you! This fight definitely improved upon the og version. Ah, and the sound of his heavy footsteps are wonderful as well! There was another creative thing Bloober did with PH's knife where you have to pick it up to advance through the tentacle wall thing. I realised this was a manifestation of James mental blocks since he starts holding his head in pain. But I thought "oh cool! James is gonna use the Great Knife to cut them!" But sadly, no.. but.. those tentacles would peel back, afraid of the presence of PH's knife... they are delusions after all~

Oh btw.. I didn't realize this before, but as soon as you attain Angela's knife, PH appears with the Great Knife - before this, he is unarmed. In Remake, right after you get her knife, you can hear PH's infamous screeching coming from dragging the Great Knife, reiterating that he is James. Subtle but very cool! I can't believe I didn't make that connection myself lol bah.

A bit more gripes to mention though: his strange janky movements that were imitated in remake made it look like a sad parody of the original scene, which was much more disturbing. I think it would have been better had they not added that part, it was random to see when he was moving as normal as one does trying to apprehend the mannequins, then calmly and slowly assessing the room only to suddenly flail about and strike random poses barely reminiscent of what he does in the original...and then just stand there as if James never shot him 🤨 not to mention, James looks so unbothered in this scene, he doesnt look at all anxious like in the original..the whole 'interaction' looked awkward. The original scene was paced better giving PH a kind of build up to those strange movements. I also dislike the lack of reaction and bad pacing with several of Remake's cutscenes as it toned down much of the intensity in crucial moments of the game, like in this one with PH. Yet... improved on others that I think were made better than the original's by elaborating on them.

Anyway I will touch on this and add more criticisms on remake in another post, this one is long enough lol; i just tried to get my thoughts on PH in one post but if I missed something I'll just add it in the PT.2.

If you actually read this, you must be as obsessed as I am (thank you)! Feel free to add your thoughts if you want, I love talking about silent hill symbolism or the ideologies behind The Order.

[foxglovepng]

TWST Overblot theory

CW: Spoilers book 6-7, this post is really long btw, Spoilers spoilers SPOILERS Spoilers for Malleus's age, grim boss theory.

So while I was going through book 6 (This was like when it came out) Idia made an observation and he theorized someone could be inciting these overblots. I looked over it as to what he said after made sense but I watched a theory from Rose Ember in which she discussed a time loop theory. I wanted to throw in my own two cents about an overblot theory I had been thinking about.

(As of making this post it is May of 2024 I am not up to date on any JP chapters, Crowley's card, or Heartslabyul manga book 4-Octavinelle. All of my sources I will be putting as I am taking direct game quotes)

I also would love it if at least some of you guys read this post and reblog I would love to hear y'all's opinions on this. I never seen people really look into it and I want to maybe bounce ideas off of some people on what's really going on.

Just remember all of this is just a theory...A GAME THEORY (RIP Matpat we love you king)

(Book 6 ch51) Idia was talking about how absurd it is that 5 (5 overblots up to this point) Coincidentally happened in 6 months "Overblots can happen when the caster overuses magic and builds up too much blot while experiencing intense negative motions" "It's a cascading effect that stretches back years." "And the thing that triggers emotional outbursts is the hardest to quantify our innermost feelings, or 'heart', so to speak a persons heart is the one thing we can't control no matter how hard we try." Idia's exact words. Now going with that statement and saying all of the overblots are just merely a "Coincidence" let's examine and analyze the overblots and why they happened.

Riddle

(HIS SAILOR MOON OF AN OVERBLOT TRANSFORMATION IS SO COOL IN THE MANGA.) Riddle's overblot obviously happened because his authority was being challenged as the housewarden from Ace going in a duel against him to everyone else getting fed up with his rules to defying him. Not to mention with the deep severe ties with his mother and her rules he well overblots.

Leona

His overblot happened because of his failed plan to basically kill off Malleus (He really pulled a long live the king here) from my understanding he gave up and the Savanaclaw students were like 'tf why?' he turned into an angry kitty and the feelings of being the second born prince and all that trauma raised up especially when Lilia went off on him (I fully blame Lilia for this). And he overblots.

Azul

His overblot happened from when Leona used his UM on Azul's contracts and blipped them away basically. When this happened he went back to that time when he was being bullied and was no longer powerful like he is now.

Jamil

Jamil's happened because well Azul thought it was cute to live stream his whole plan to the world exposing the fact that Jamil was essentially going to betray Kalim and well his deep-rooted years of being merely a 'servant' came up and he overblotted.

Vil

He overblotted because he basically lost to neige and was attempting to kill him (Almost killed Rook and the others). He accepted he had lost to him and will always lose to him and just snapped.

Malleus

He overblotted because of the announcement Lilia was leaving and retiring to Red Lagoon (Okay just leave your kids...ig?). I also want to say Yuu's announcement added to it because well Malleus is a lonely dragon who just wants friends and someone who is basically his father announced he's leaving and his friend outside of Diasmonia is leaving too.

Idia isn't in this list for a reason will get on with that later.

When it comes to all of these overblots in a certain sense none of them make sense as to HOW they happened. Coincidentally how is it that 7 students overblot in a school year especially with how rare they apparently are supposed to be. With them being 16-18 (Leona being 20 and Malleus being 178) You'd figure the eldest third years know the most to be careful. Plus if the staff is doing their job correctly all the students know to be careful right?

If it happened like once in a year that's understandable but 7 coincidentally? Leona had 4 years to overblot why all of a sudden??

I also want to point out something whenever blot would get built as far as I'm concerned they wouldn't even be using magic (Just having a negative emotion) and blot would built. Going by all the patterns from the overblots they get pissy it builds up they use their UM BOOM overblot. I think someone is personally targeting people to build up negative emotions purposefully and then they use a lot of magic which causes it. Having a UM like this could be entirely possible because look at the facts.

Book 2. It makes sense Ruggie would overblot rather than Leona. He just drank a potion that enhances his UM he was mad struggling he just GOT betrayed by Leona makes sense for him to overblot right? Not to mention during the Camp vargas events Overblotting was such a huge concern with just via their magic so why would the staff risk putting MANY students at risk of an overblot if they knew it wouldn't happen.

I also want to add Idia has a curse which has him burn blot and he was the first in hsi family to break that and overblot. However in order for him to thrive he needs to build it it's most likely being in Tartarus he built too much than he could burn off. (In Ch 6-51 it is also stated curses, and sealed phantoms getting lose can cause overblots as well meaning negative emotions and building power aren't the only causes to an overblot) There is a possibility from being around too many phantoms he built too much, but even then his family curse could have been burning blot during his overblot so Idia was probably never meant to overblot by any normal means (However if his curse wasn't burning off blot foul play could be involved)

Going by these facts the theory in question is a possible UM that affects negative emotions to be built up more and possibly a mood change. OR there is a pause on how blot is released causing it to build up.

(Has it ever been stated on how normal humans release blot if it's been built up...?)

ANOTHER THING. JP SPOILERS BTWWWW.

I cannot confirm my sources with this one so please take this with a grain of salt. I came across a post (I CANT FUCKING FIND IT) in which it translated if Malleus's ob doesn't end he will basically become the no. 1 enemy to society (Basically pulling an Eren jaeger). He's very powerful so you'd assume he's very mindful about overblotting especially if he's going to become the no.1 enemy of humanity.

I have some theories on who could be doing this.

1. Crowley

CROWLEY? Him and my other suspect are battling for first place but let me state my reasoning.

For the exception of Book 3, 4, 5? and 6? he was not present during the overblots and was basically useless. However he was present for book 1, 2, and 7. I put a question mark near 5 and 6 even though he was not present he was still in the general area. Via he was brought to Styx and he was DEFINITELY there at the VDC since it was a school event. book 3 and 4 he was for sure not present for.

We quite literally know nothing about him not to mention he's kind of a jerk face and will do anything to save his ass. For Jamil's and Azul's overblot this goes into hand that he could have activated his UM beforehand on them and the overblot started.

Not to mention during book 5 the headmaster of RSA was like "Bro I sense heavy magic presence" and Crowley was like "Naw you mad tweakin homie."

Two thing

He's Fae.

He has to be as old as Lilia or younger. But he definitely has at least 300 years of existence in his age.

HES A LITERAL HEADMASTER FOR A MAGIC SCHOOL

Meaning he DEFINITELY can sense magic so for him to blatantly ignore the blot sense with Vil either he was protecting his ass from losing his job or he is hiding something. Especially since it was an overblot If Malleus's magic was that good Crowley would have either sensed Vil's overblot or Malleus's Magic.

(If I'm correct an anonymous tip was sent in to Styx to check out NRC the anon in question was possibly RSA headmaster as it makes sense)

2. Ortho

Stay with me here

Ortho is from Styx and obviously Styx investigates overblots what if styx itself is causing overblots so they can study them and they are using Ortho.

Since Idia was theorizing about the Obs there is a possibility that he is not in the plan and it's Ortho plus his family and styx staff that's all in the plan.

(They could have gone too far with Malleus's)

It's merely a theory and I have no evidence to back this up

3. Grim

Quoting Idia's exact words ahem..

"He is seriously mediocre in every single way." "The preliminary report of him being a dire beast with high cost of blot density checks out, though." "He's a magical fusion of a direbeast, and some kind of animal." "He's as lackluster with magic as he looks...and his blot density COULD be phenomenally high."

Ahem okay.

So as we know Grim is a fusion with what could be a Direbeast and possibly a cat. Going back to exhibit A in which Idia said loose phantoms could cause an overblot he could be affecting the blot levels around him Yuu being the only one not affected since Yuu isn't from said world.

Some Cons tho

Using this logic Ace would overblot as well same as Deuce hence why I think he is the least likeliest but it does make sense as eventually Grim does interact with the overblot squad.

4. Yuu

STAY WITH ME STAY WITH ME OKAY

Yuu comes from different world and are trying to actively escape using their new plan MICKEY. However it doesn't exactly explain how Yuu got there since well 1 they are from a different world how would a horse basically cross the multiverse (Unless the Magic mirror is scheming against Crowley and needs Yuu's help that's a different conversation) we know jack shit about Yuu. HOWEVER Yuu could be subconsciously activating overblots since they are prom a foreign world (I'm basically thinking of that one mickey game with the ink brushes EPIC MICKEY) except Yuu causes them.

Cons tho.

As per the manga every Yuu is different every chapter and this would highly contradict (Also how tf are there multiple Yuu's?) not to mention Ace and Deuce would also OB.

[thecomfywriter]

What is Cara's opinion of how evan was raised?

this is fascinating. let's get into it before i take a mighty nap because turns out post-exmas will fry your brain and eyes.

day three pt 2 of tcw's 12 days of askmas--cara's opinion of evan's upbringing [lotf series spoilers]:

okay so cara's opinion in general is a topic of a lot of intrigue in the entire series. starting from sai, alan mentions how:

I noticed how quiet Cara was. It intrigued me because she was the middleman between the two. She always was. It was why I wanted to hear her opinion above all of theirs. I knew Caramel hated Hilbert, though I did not know why, neither would I ever trust myself in someone else’s memories again. I knew why Morreial saw me as a shell of myself. Why he called me a walking corpse. But what was Cara’s opinion, when she saw me suffer? Cara, who knew what Caramel endured at Hilbert’s hand and kept those secrets sealed on her lips in an oath of silence. Cara, who accepted her title as my older sister. Did she regret her deception? Did she regret digging the hole that planted the seeds of my distrust? I never found out. She never said a word.

- Throne of Vengeance, SaI [available for preorder may 2025]

cara's opinion is always the most interesting, because she always has the most context of the entire cast. she knows the most because she sees the most, but also because she's the most trustworthy. but its because she doesn't talk about people's secrets that people find her trustworthy to begin with.

now, this quality of cara's is what makes deciphering her opinion about evan's childhood difficult. see, morreial's opinion is pretty evident considering how many times he argues with alan about his parenting choices. but cara never peeps a word. not to caramel and not to alan. not a word, never a protest. all she does is watch from afar and seal her judgements behind her lips.

she is a kind motherly figure to evan, but not with the same intimacy as bimyllis is to evan, which is why evan never considers cara his pseudo-mother the way he considers morreial his godfather.

HOWEVER, the two of them start to bond more once she helps him go to the north, and he realizes just how pivotal she is to soilailan politics. they both start to see each other, and evan is the only person cara reveals the meaning of her name to.

so in terms of what cara's opinions are of how evan was raised, i can't say for certain because they girl is as mysterious as her secrets. however, i could imagine she holds silent disapproval, considering she goes out of her way to disobey alan and caramel and sneakily help evan out. but she never casts any judgements to anyone, but cara is always the neutral party, and she is always the one who understands the nuances of everyone's stance. she knows why alan and caramel have difficulties in their parenting in ways morreial doesn't. she also understands why evan is jaded. it's hard for her to blame either party.

HOWEVER--i will say... there is one thing that cara doesn't find out about until mott, and by the time she does, that is the only time she is super vocal about her disapproval. to the point where it's almost uncomfortable because putting her foot down is icy and acidic. there's a reason why she doesn't often cast judgement, and its because when she does, it's scalding.

but i'm not going to spoil that oops. teehee.

thanks for the ask, wyked!

-- harrassing the revived tag list --

@wyked-ao3 @an-indecisive-nerd @drchenquill

@paeliae-occasionally @theink-stainedfolk @inseasofgreen

@thelovelymachinery @the-letterbox-archives @illarian-rambling

@bunnymermaidwrites @the-golden-comet @sm-writes-chaos

@leahnardo-da-veggie

[please tell me if you don't wanna be tagged i promise i will stop 🥺)

[scapegoated-if]

it occured to me belatedly that since youve only played 3 COG-system i.f.s that you MAY be unaware of code-diving?

it can be helpful if you want to study how other COG-system authors organize their code, or how they accomplished a bit of coding that you admire. (like this isnt a critique or anything, im surprised how many times you have scenes repeat per branch. it's not good or bad to do that, it's a style choice. tone in text is hard, so im just reaffirming youre fine and im not judging. anyway, i assume its a style choice anyway. it is not one ive seen often. so, for that style of coding, idk how many other i.f. authors youll find do the same, but im sure youll still find it fun to potentially code-dive in other people's demos and explore how they organize things)

it can also be helpful to know readers can code-dive and read your code and, if you happen to have spoilery label-codes within it, get hints from it. one of my favorite demos, Mind Blind over at the blog @/mindblindbard had no idea code-diving was a thing until code-divers themself informed her they could see that she wrote the secret identity of the Supposed To be Nameless Villain in the code. she was informed really early in the i.f. though, so VERY few people saw that whoopsie as she fixed the issue immediately and was much more careful about potential spoilers in her code

to code-dive is really easy. all you have to do is go to the dashingdon demo in question, and after the final backslash in the link, add the word "scenes". and then you click on which chapter you want to read the code of. that's it. idk how to code-dive on itch.io, you are on your own there, but i enjoy the simplicity of this. it helps me a lot in understanding stats and the tone/consequences of certain scenes that my autistic ass may not have picked up by accident within the text itself

anyway, thats a thing that people were talking about a lot in 2020 thats now been kind of Unsaid in years since, one of those "if you know, you know. it's an open secret, or i guess not 'secret', just... a thing that exists that we moved on from doing tutorials of and discussing after The Brief Time We Did Them, good luck finding that tho" type of things i guess?? idk how to explain it

anyway, just something that occured to me while reading the three demos you mentioned. i have a google doc of all my favorite authors, their blog-names, and demos, my MCs names and other short facts about that MC's playthrough, and i have like.. over 30? idk. point is, id love to add more to your list once you, on your own time, publish the ones you tried and liked. feels potentially overwhelming to bot wait until youve comfortably caught up in what you already are reading. besides, all the ones i favorite might be already ones you know and therefore making my recommendations moot lol

i digress. bye! have fun!!

I was going to keep this anon ask in my inbox just to have it stored for myself, but I thought this may be useful to any fellow new writers or anyone interested in developing their own IF; even anyone reading IFs in general that may be curious about the implications of certain choices.

I have been given some useful advice about my convoluted coding on CoGs (which was how I was alerted readers could view my coding at all haha). I won’t be making any changes to the Prologue as of yet, but I have applied these tips to Chapter 1–that so far is functional as far as I’m aware thank goodness.

I will apply code-diving to Scapegoated, thank you for letting me know it exists!

In general, I don’t mind anyone seeing my coding, simply because there aren’t any spoilers outside of what occurs in each chapter at a time. I feel like I conceal a lot, even to myself, just for the sake of keeping myself in the headspace of where I am in the story. But this has been extremely useful to know, you have no idea!

You’re the goat for this, friend.

Stay groovy!

[timeskip]

Finished episode 5! Mystery stories are made with love, because the author wants you to solve the riddle. Witches and truth can only be seen with love. Hm! Umineko really is a love story.

[warning: long post.]

HOUGH THAT ENDING WAS SO GOOD. THE TRIAL WAS GREAT AND THEN BATTLER COMING BACK TO LIFE AND FIGHTING... I was wavering a bit near the middle of the episode wondering if it would stick the landing for me but it DID IT

I like Dlanor a lot in how she affects the story (and the concept of a guardfor Knox's decalogue is super compelling) but I was uhhhh uncertain of her at first. I think adding new characters that are so vital is a bit weird this late in the game... but GOD. GOD. THE FIGHT ITSELF. The way she and Battler both agreed to go at each other. It's so good. She justified her existence excellently.

AND. In addition. Erika never understood her. Battler did. Of course she ended up resigning against Battler after teaching him to respect the reasons why mysteries work.

I also find myself wondering if the spoiler I saw before of Battler being Kyrie's child was fake after all. Does a little anime girl "blehhhh"

BUT BECAUSE OF THIS. BECAUSE I DIDN'T SEE THE POSSIBILITY OF BATTLER BEING THE CHILD FROM 19 YEARS AGO COMING UNTIL IT WAS CLOSE TO APPEARING... IT HIT REALLY HARD. I LOVE IT

CRAZY. BUT REALLY GOOD.

Battler becoming the game master is fascinating because it's clear he understands Beatrice better than the player. I'd seen people say that Umineko wants you (the player) to solve it, and until the end of episode 5 I didn't see it, since it's a mystery like any other; you SHOULD be able to solve it, but I feel like the mystery of Beatrice is too veiled in obscure hints and unclear moments, especially since the game is about denying she exists. But I mean. lol. Asking us to solve it is right there:

As for what I think about the mystery... I'm not very good at solving these things. I love mysteries, but I'm not very good at "mystery thinking" the way some people are. As far as theories for how the mysteries of episodes 1-4 happened without magic, I'm not really one to go through it all again to try to piece it together when I don't feel like I have enough clues right now.

I'm also afraid I've seen too many vague spoilers to JUST be going off of what the game is about... I. uh. Might know who in the 18 characters is Beatrice, for example. I've avoided thinking about it on purpose, but hey. I'm not certain about it, but when they were comparing mysteries to love (with the obvious meaning of Battler and Beatrice's love) Battler mentioned his first love being with someone else. That first love being Shannon. And it's clear to me that if (keyword: IF) Beatrice is any of the 18, she WILL NOT BE ONE OF BATTLER'S RELATIVES!! So, a servant. If she's not Shannon or Kanon I will be surprised. There is another vague spoiler I've gotten that complicates this, but uhhh yeah. idk. If Battler can be the child from 19 years ago (maybe. This has not TECHNICALLY been confirmed) then Beatrice can be someone completely outside what I think is possible. We shall see.

I would find it weird if they broke up this seemingly beautiful and important love between Shannon/George that helped Shannon feel like a person, so honestly I'm leaning away from Beatrice Definitely Absolutely Being Shannon and more towards her having a weird connection to Shannon that people talk about in a way that confused me when I didn't know the characters very well. Is Battler's "first love" important to his relationship with Beatrice? ....Maybe. Is there more that I don't understand? Definitely.

(Also as a note: Genji = Ronove. Kumasawa = Virgilia. Gohda = ?. Shannon = Beatrice?. Kanon = ???. I don't expect this to be a one to one thing, but considering the first two are so firmly established, I'm keeping it in mind.)

Anyways. Battler committed a sin 6 years prior. Something related to Beatrice, or at least something related to who she used to be. Driving my thoughts away from WHO she is again, and back to the "why": Battler clearly remembered what it was. He lied to Beatrice about something. He understands Beatrice and knows why she constructed the game to have him solve it. We, reading the story, should be able to find the clues for what this sin is, but. well. We haven't been given much info about Battler 6 years ago. I feel like I need to wait for it to circle back around to Battler's backstory before I really make any theories.

Of course, Natsuhi and Erika are the stars of this episode. Natsuhi is a REALLY compelling character, but Erika is truly what made this episode click into place for me. Her hatred and gloating, the vile intentions, how pathetic she is when she loses... Her love for Bernkastel and the way she's being thrown away if she fails... She hates Battler, she has to defeat him, she won't hold back. I have high hopes for episode 6...!!!

Yeah!!! I liked episode 5 a lot!!! Whatever Battler's game looks like, I wonder if it'll help bring Beatrice back from the nonexistence she was pushed into, since they didn't really address that? ^-^

[olderthannetfic]

The ace asks about how asexuality and being aromantic is increasingly seen to mean "has sex and romance like a normal person" reminds me of the time I accidentally deeply angered an author. She had the tag 'asexual character' in her fic's tags, but since it's a 300k word long fic involving a lot of characters, it wasn't clear who that referred to right away. I left long comments on each chapter, talking about what I liked, sections that hit really hard, lines that I loved, etc., as I always do. (I like to ramble IRL and I can't turn it off even online.) At the halfway point of the fanfic, during a long comment about the OCs that helped flesh out the oft-mentioned but barely explored organizations and companies in the world of canon, I said that I hoped This One Specific OC or That Other Specific OC would turn out to be the asexual character, as I saw in them echoes of myself and a friend of mine (we're both ace).

She had never responded to a comment of mine before, but she did for that one... to yell at me about how the main character OC was aroace, actually. This was apparently supposed to be obvious since the word ace was used in the tie-in prequel fic, which I had held off on reading because the author's note mentioned it would have spoilers if you hadn't read the whole main fic. The character in question has a relationship not remotely different from any of the cishetallo or cisqueerallo relationships presented in the text. She develops a snarky sarcastic friendship with someone she finds visually beautiful and impossible to look away from, gets to know him a little, watches movies with him, they get into urban fantasy danger which they help each other through, they fuck and do so extremely regularly, and she has past exes who she also did all of this with.

And I was, apparently, a bigot with internalized aphobia and negative attitudes towards women who have sex because I didn't look at her and go, "Ah, yes, an aroace!" She informed me I was forcing unrealistic stereotypes no one adhered to onto ace people by thinking aces had to be a certain way and by refusing to see that

Her angry reply was so long it took three AO3 comments to send to me, and it didn't really make me convinced I'd misread the situation. It just made me convinced this wasn't an author I wanted to read more fic from, because 1. this is a lot of anger, holy crap and 2., I really think this is an excusable mistake on my part. I saw no signs this character was in any way different from any other couple in the fic beyond that she and her love interest didn't get to know each other's backstories as much and instead bonded more through experiences they shared, which in my opinion is not something that can be linked to any sexuality or lack thereof.

I feel like there's a moral in here. Like, authors, as a fellow author, I get that it sucks when someone else doesn't see the characters like you do, or misses something you thought was clear, etc. I get that it's frustrating. But don't rip into someone who's been gushing about every chapter of your fic individually just because they didn't catch one thing. I failed to realize one character's sexuality. That's not the same as hating you, the character or the writing.

Mostly I remember that incident as the day I stopped asking questions in my long comments. A sea of gushing does not make up for a mistake and the best way not to make those is to not ask if a tag relates to a character or line.

--

Oof. I mean, sure, there's a diversity of experience. Everything is a spectrum. Yada yadda. But if two labels become entirely indistinguishable, what's the point of even having them, much less getting mad when people can't spot the difference?