#like maybe they're trying to kill each other in an end of the world scenario

[honetii]

best part of having a post apocalypse story is making non apocalypse aus I think

[fractualized]

So I picked up a copy of Batman Masterpieces: Portraits of the Dark Knight and His World, understanding it collects the images and text from the Fleer Master Series card set from 1996. As a bonus, it includes each initial painting idea submitted to the artist and the artist's commentary on the final product.

What I didn't know until I had the book in my hands is that this card set told a story, one about the (seeming) death of Batman. And is there batjokes in it? Of course there is like 95% of my posts are batjokes related what else would I be doing here

(The book as a whole is very enjoyable outside that, of course.)

So for one thing, while technically the first image of the book is Batman swinging through Gotham, repeated mention is made of how the card set is bookended with a picture of Joker's face at the start and Batman's face at the end.

[art by Scott Hampton]

The story opens with Joker's escape from Arkham. Not long after, Batman's death is announced with this image:

[art by Scott Hampton]

Afterwards, for the most part, the cards fall into a few categories:

Various people in Gotham reminiscing about Batman's role and reputation

Alfred, Dick, and Tim setting aside their mourning to review possible suspects

Joker thinking up possible answers

Other rogues explaining their own theories

The resolution of the mystery

One of my favorite images is of Scarecrow. I just love his demeanor and his skull spraycan.

[art by Dermot Power]

Took me a few moments to catch the details in this one of Croc.

[art by Dermot Power]

But anyhow, the thing with Joker's part in this tale is that he naturally cannot accept that he wasn't the murderer, even though he can't remember doing it.

[art by Carl Critchlow]

[art by Carl Critchlow]

He can't convince himself that other rogues managed to murder Batman, though, starting with Catwoman.

[art by Dermot Power]

As you can see, the whiskers are there, so it looks cool, albeit upsetting.

Two-Face is another prime suspect-- until Joker realizes Harvey is still in Arkham.

[art by Dermot Power]

I thought the text for this one was interesting, if only because I'd say that nowadays variant covers serve the function of letting artists run with ideas that don't necessarily show up in stories.

This Talia one is fun given that the framing for this portion of cards is that they're from Joker's POV.

[art by Dermot Power]

The idea of a woman loving a flying rodent is disgusting! What would so do? Hold him dramatically? And lovingly? And romantically? And stare deep into his broody eyes...

After his review of suspects (including Poison Ivy) yields nothing, Joker starts developing wild theories about how maybe he is the Batman's killer after all.

[art by Carl Critchlow]

The scenarios often take after known elseworlds like Gotham By Gaslight and Bloodstorm. But I'm highlighting this one, based on Holy Terror (which I'm pretty sure Joker doesn't actually appear in).

[art by Duncan Fegredo]

Some scenarios are from non-DC stories, like this Frankenstein painting, which may be my favorite of the book.

[art by Duncan Fegredo]

Finally, Joker runs out of ideas and breaks. If he didn't kill Bats, then Bats cannot be dead! And then he hears that the police have recovered Batman's body and they've already interred it in a special memorial crypt. Joker must go see the proof for himself.

And gasp!

[art by Scott Hampton]

Happy clown. :) But gasp again! That shadow to the right?!

That's right! Batman is alive! And he promptly punches Joker in the face.

[art by Scott Hampton]

"Nothing could flush my nemesis from hiding except for himself. And his undying love obsession with me."

So yeah. Batman faked his death explicitly to trap Joker. Like I guess it's a strategy worth trying for the single time it could work, but I feel like I'd save it for a moment of urgency. In the story as described, it doesn't appear that Joker had gotten up to much of anything by the time Batman "died."

And, as noted, Bruce's family completely believed he was dead. I mean, probably only for a matter of hours, but– Wait, nope, an early card notes that the batsignal went unanswered for three nights.

I don't know how many comics there may be about members of the batfam trying to kill this man, but I'm going to guess not enough.

[markantonys]

3x08 might reveal something that makes a fool of me for this prediction, but until then: since lord luc was kinda giving Just Cameo vibes this season rather than giving off the impression that he's a character to keep an eye on for a bigger role later, what if we've already seen the extent of him and he won't return again, and instead in s4, berelain=graendal=slayer?

say perrin gets brought to a city of some sort in advance of his trial, and once there, he meets a friendly noblewoman (berelain) who takes his side against the whitecloaks and offers some help in preparing for the trial. at the same time, perrin is getting involved in the wolf dream and there is a mysterious evil presence lurking around, who the wolves call slayer. eventually it all comes out that berelain is actually graendal, and she's the one who's been fucking around in TAR and killing wolves & antagonizing perrin there. this preserves the whole "slayer is actually somebody i already know in the waking world and have been hanging out with" vibe that luc-as-slayer had in TSR. (casting-wise, they could use just one actress and have perrin never quite catch a glimpse of slayer in TAR so that we don't realize it's berelain, or they could have a different actress for the berelain disguise which graendal permanently sheds after s4 once perrin has uncovered her, and in this scenario perrin fully sees Real Graendal in TAR but just doesn't know either that she's a forsaken or that she's "berelain" in the waking world.)

in the books, graendal and perrin are both involved in TAR shenanigans during the last battle, and a quick wiki check confirms to me that they even fight each other in TAR during the last battle, though they both end up getting away and moving on to do other stuff for the rest of the battle. in addition, graendal is pretty far-removed from any EF5 and from the main plot for the vast majority of the series, besides her brief beef with rand in TGS. likewise, perrin is far-removed from the main plot a lot of the time because he is so often off doing his own sidequests and because his main antagonist is slayer who has basically no relevance to any of the other main characters or storylines (besides the brief crossover with egwene in TOM and besides the family connections to rand & lan that go absolutely nowhere). therefore, turning graendal into perrin's Forsaken Archnemesis would be a great move for several reasons: it pits their TAR abilities against each other and could create a final showdown between them in the last battle, it gives graendal a bigger role in the story directly antagonizing one of the main characters, and it keeps perrin more connected with the main story by having him dealing with a forsaken just like everybody else is and puts his story on level footing with everyone else's if they're all dealing with forsaken instead of many of them dealing with forsaken while perrin's busy with Just Some Guy.

the berelain-graendal merger has been theorized for a long time, and it makes a lot of sense. both their MOs are basically "being really beautiful and trying to seduce people for their own ends" so it's easy to merge them because they are so similar in vibe, and perrin's pursuer being a forsaken rather than just some lady turns the whole situation from a pointless and petty love triangle that isn't a love triangle because perrin is not interested in berelain whatsoever into a truly scary and tense conflict with him being stalked by a forsaken. i'd say berelain either has to be cut or has to be graendal, because berelain as her own character just doesn't contribute enough to the story to justify having her there in this streamlined version.

so let's say "berelain" is included but is actually graendal. even in this scenario, a beautiful woman trying and failing to seduce perrin would have to be a short-term beat, they can't just keep on that for multiple seasons. so it would have to be going on for maybe one season, and then perrin and the audience finds out this is actually graendal. now what? that's where graendal-as-slayer comes in.

skimming the wiki, the main thing graendal is doing prior to the last battle is causing trouble in arad doman offscreen (until rand goes there for 1 book) and messing with ituralde and his efforts against the seanchan. i speculate that ituralde will be cut and mat will take over as the Great General leading a military campaign against the seanchan, and perhaps semirhage will be the main forsaken he's dealing with in that whole situation since she's attached to tuon. this would leave graendal without much to do, so rehoming her in perrin's notably forsaken-free storyline would work, and giving slayer's activities to her as her main role in perrin's story (once the jig is up with the berelain-esque seduction scheme) would also work because TAR fuckery is perfectly within her standard MO and abilities, and it keeps the heart of the slayer story intact while hugely simplifying the lore and fully cutting out the ABUNDANCE of explaining that slayer-luc-isam would require in order to be even remotely coherent (even if they axe the jekyll/hyde situation and make it just luc by himself, we still have to explain why This Random Guy is so skilled in TAR and his backstory with tigraine and family connection with rand and ideally we would make something out of that family connection so it doesn't feel like a random thread that goes nowhere etc etc etc, it's just a lot of information the audience needs to get in order for the character to function well in the story, and absolutely none of that is required for graendal-as-slayer because we already know that the forsaken are dangerous in TAR and love fucking around there, no further explanation needed).

when we first heard that luc would be in s3, i thought "oh interesting, luc/slayer seemed like a prime candidate for some cutting & merging since it's a thread that feels somewhat random and unrelated to the main story and main set of antagonists, but maybe they're planning to expand his role and make him feel connected to the rest of the story and also beef him up so that he's sufficiently on par with the other antagonists". however, the two rivers arc of s3 came and went and luc had about 3 lines the whole time and no particular attention was drawn to him, which is now leading me towards thinking maybe he's just a cameo as faile's hunter companion to lend credence to her being part of the hunt (instead of just showing up randomly all by herself), and maybe we won't ever see him again. glancing at the actor's imdb page, he tends towards 1-2 episode stints in a variety of shows and no long-term role in any, which would support the idea that his role in WOT was a short one and won't recur. plus, nothing about his show aesthetic seemed to indicate that they were setting up for a reveal that he's andoran royalty and related to rand (surely they would've made him a redhead or strawberry blond to set up for that, but he has dark hair in the show), so that's another point leading me to think he is Just Some Guy in the show and doesn't have book!luc's whole backstory or overall plot importance.

but i could be completely wrong! he does seem to be hanging out with the whitecloaks, which is where perrin will be in s4, so maybe they intend to do him as slayer next season and simply didn't have time to give him much setup in s3, and maybe my whole graendal theory will turn out to be silly. we shall see!

[somehow-a-human]

Whose POV is it Anyway?

Bodysnatchers & Cosplaying a bookseller

DO NOT ASK NEIL ABOUT FAN THEORY

I'm back! I took a few days off of doing internet thingsss so I took a break from writing this series of posts but I'm back and continuing with episode 3 in its entirety!

For reference & context, I recommend reading these posts:

Whose POV is it Anyway? - Introduction

Lens Filters

POV "Your 'Something's Wrong' Voice"

POV a Trip to Hell and a 25 Lazarii Miracle

POV a Companion to Owls

POV The Dirty Donkey & I think I Found a *Clue*!

Shall we get cracking?

Episode 3 gifts us the arrival of Muriel! Sweet adorable Muriel! We see them arrive to the bookshop, with the Bronze Glimmer Glass filter in full effect. Aziraphale is the only one there so it makes sense we'll have Aziraphale's POV to start. Cupperteas ensue, and Crowley arrives to be grumpy but fully accepting that Aziraphale is taking their car, I mean, he's already brought the plants inside. His sideburns are long here as well.

When the duo head into the backroom to discuss what's going on, the filter changes, the lighting is much cooler toned, and we're now looking through the Black Diffusion FX filter in Crowley's POV. Crowley's sideburns are also short now, and if my theory that POV is also correlating with his hair length, it's standing here.

As Aziraphale drives off, we see Crowley watch him from the window and sigh, sideburns still short, still his POV.

I'm going to stick to the present day storyline and switch to the bodysnatchers minisode at the end!

The time Aziraphale and Crowley spend apart in this episode is interesting to say the least. If we're trying to look at the lighting and possible lens filters used to determine the narrator or POV for these scenes... I think they're switched!

When we see Aziraphale driving the Bentley, the scene isn't awash with glowy warm lighting which we know isn't reserved just to the bookshop since we've seen it used in the record shop, coffee shop, and in the Job flashback.

It's rather cool toned lighting for a yellow bentley. Aziraphale's whole trip to Edinburgh is cool toned. The time he spends in The Resurrectionist, the graveyard, everything. I would have expected Aziraphale's magical little newspaperman cosplaying extravaganza to be dripping in his golden glow through the gorgeous Edinburgh when I started thinking about the scenes and these lense filters and these metas.

But then you look at the opposite, Crowley alone in the bookshop with Jim. Something he would hate right? Sounds like worst case scenario for him. He loves the bookshop but he's there alone with Gabriel who tried to kill the person he loves more than anything and didn't have an ounce of compassion, while Aziraphale has taken himself and his car very far away.

But what is Crowley's experience like? He and Gabriel are chummy as ever, they talk about rainstorms, vavooming, gravity. Crowley dresses down and is wearing sleeve garters? A bit old fashioned for Crowley but not for Aziraphale no? He's playing bookseller, carrying books around, albeit not quite correctly, chucking them at the end. Every scene is drenched in warm golden haze and Crowley's sideburns are long the entire time.

They aren't together, but they've always probably got one thing on their mind...

I think we're seeing these scenes through each other's eyes, or the POV is swapped if you will. Maybe that's why Crowley is wearing sleeve garters and cosplaying bookseller and being very kind to Jim? And Aziraphale is being the worlds cutest little investigator to ever exist. I think maybe they're imagining each other, or it just points to the idea that they're apart but still the only thing they're always thinking about.

Okay, cute lovebomb, now let's talk digging up dead bodies!

There isn't a lot to go off of for lighting in this minisode, but there is one detail I wanted to point out that has to do with Crowley's hair length. In all locations BUT the crypt his mutton chops are longer. When they enter the crypt both times, they are shorter.

You can see they are a distinct "J" shape in most scenes but in the crypt scenes (for example when he drinks laudanum and busts through the roof) they have been trimmed back). So if I'm going just on hair length, all scenes except the crypt are Aziraphale's POV.

If you can look past my terrible image quality, you can see on the right image his chops are notched where on the left they're doing the opposite.

NEXT

POV 1941

[oswaldthatendswald]

I love your donqi bros Au so much, it's fill everything my heart desires about thier relationship, but one question keep bothering me for mouth! How thier reaction would look like if they accidentally meet a Celestial Dragon ,or maybe Sengoku and Tsuru alweys make sure that something like that won't happen?

I think this is referring to the Marines AU, but if I'm wrong, please do correct me!

Sengoku and Tsuru definitely would do everything in their power to make sure that Doflamingo and Rocinante don't meet a Celestial Dragon, but they're not perfect. It might still accidentally happen.

If he met a Celestial Dragon, Rocinante would try to hide any reaction he had, pretending that he was just any other Marine, and hope not to be noticed. Afterwards, he would be quite rattled, and probably spend a lot of time trying to calm down again. He wants to feel normal, and he wants to help people by being a Marine, and the reminder of where and who he comes from would be quite distressing. The World Nobles are the opposite of everything Rocinante wants to be. Of course, he'd also want to hide how upset he was from Doflamingo, because Doffy would have a much worse reaction.

While Rocinante wants to focus on his future and his life as a Marine, Doflamingo is always trying to reclaim the power he felt as a child. Meeting a Celestial Dragon would remind Doflamingo of how much he's lost. He blames the Celestial Dragons for not letting him back into Mariejois, locking him out of the life he feels entitled to. He would not be on his best behaviour if he met a Celestial Dragon; in fact, he'd probably risk getting himself killed, simply because he's very bad at controlling his temper. Doflamingo would be furious not to be recognized by the Celestial Dragon. Intellectually, Doflamingo would know that he could never get the status of a World Noble back, but emotionally, he'd still feel like he was cheated of the power he wants all over again.

The fallout would be a complete disaster. Rocinante would be shaken, feeling guilty about having ever been a Celestial Dragon and wishing he could just fit in to the Marines, while Doflamingo would be angry, aware that his anger is irrational, and angry about being irrational-- and probably liable to take it out on Rocinante. How this goes depends on how old they are. If they are teenagers when this happens (probably younger than 17 and 15), this would end in a fight that leaves the two of them not speaking to each other for a good month.

But if they were a little older, when Doflamingo has his priorities better figured out, he would figure out pretty quickly that his anger is upsetting Rocinante even more, and he'd try to cool down to help Roci. Doflamingo's main motivation for wanting power in this AU is the ability to protect himself and his brother. He feels like he's entitled to power and status, but not at the expense of Rocinante's happiness. He probably wouldn't do a very good job of comforting Rocinante (Doflamingo is still very volatile), but Rocinante would recognize the effort for what it was worth. The two of them would be able to reconcile without the fight and silent treatment they'd have if they were younger.

I hope I answered your question well! It's a great scenario; it really gets to the heart of what Rocinante and Doflamingo's motivations are in the Marines AU, and what drives the conflict between them!

[starflungwaddledee]

So this is just a question out of curiosity . So I first found you from the comic where Bandana Dee and Morpho fuse, and I really liked it (even inspired me to attempt to make my own Morpho Magolor character). But now I'm wondering, if it's part of an AU, what IS the AU exactly. Like what's different about Kirby, Bandana Dee, and some of the others here?

hi there, thank you so much!!

I'm glad you enjoyed that comic and the idea of the morpho fusions; they're very fun to play around with! the chrysalis au is less of an entire developed alternate world state, and more of a what-if scenario

(another cheeky lil' image from the vault! this is a slightly older/less detailed design before i'd figured out what i was doing with the markings on the visor and the spear and the larger open patches on the wings to make them more fragile, etcetera)

the main thing is probably that i headcanon morpho as 1) actively targeting kirby in this au, and 2) being capable of 'possessing' someone without permanently killing or absorbing them

additionally i like to think that each possession could look different, based on who is absorbed and why. in morpho dee's case, he is minimally changed (and minimally armoured) on purpose by morpho: to make it harder for his friends to effectively battle him

kirby, bandee, and the others are all mostly unchanged up until bandee's run in with the butterfly. and after that it's obviously extremely tragic and stressful a rescue mission!!

maybe i'll eventually come back to add more depth of plot to this au, but for now i think the tasty parts of this one are delivered in the active conflict rather than the world state itself!

as for other fusions, i'd love to see yours if you make one! I've considered a magolor one myself, but i recall seeing one some time ago that was so phenomenal i'm scared to even try; though do you think i can find it now to link it... ? no 😭

i do however have others from alternate endings of this au....!

[bthump]

What if the eclipse rape didn't happen, but Casca still survived somehow and retained her sanity? Do you think she'd follow Guts in his quest for revenge or carve her own, distinct path? How would her opinion on Griffith shift, would she hate him/deeply resent him/try to understand him/a mix of everything?

To be honest, I'm more interested in how you think this scenario should play out in order to feel satisfactory than in how Miura would've handled it, because I really dislike his portrayal of Casca post-eclipse. Also, there's a sequence leaving rent free in my head of Casca being mad and yelling at Griffith for sacrificing the Hawks and basically betraying the blind trust she had put on him and shattering her whole worldview in the process lol. Without Miura silencing her and the eclipse rape taking away her dignity and virtually destroying any hope for a fulfilling future interaction with Griffith, she would've had a solid chance to grow and develop really interesting changing dynamics with our two protagonists, and it's a shame it was stunted...

Thanks for the ask!

For me, when it comes to what I'd want to read or write in this scenario, I think Casca should go her own way and separate herself from Guts. Partly for worldbuilding-logistics reasons, actually - two branded sacrifices can't stay in the same place for long without majorly fucking up that place, as we saw in the Conviction arc.

But mainly because I like the idea of the two of them separating and doing their own thing, and I think it would work with the themes. Like the story could use their two characters to explore differing reactions to trauma - the healthy and the unhealthy. The making connections with other people and growing reaction, and the killing stuff as a coping mechanism reaction. Guts and Casca would essentially be foils for each other.

Unfortunately Casca's stuck with the less fun healthy reaction lol because only the unhealthy gets to be mired in fucked up homoeroticism with Griffith and I'm unwilling to sacrifice that for the sake of a more interesting female character.

So with that division, it would make sense for the narrative to divide the behelit and the armour between them, and in this case Casca should get the armour while Guts gets the behelit. The armour is in a way a test of self control and you can be pulled back from succumbing to it, while the behelit is a one and done monsterizing device, so the armour goes to the healthier one. Casca also collects friends in this scenario while Guts miserably Black Swordsmans around (Farnesca, anyone?)

So ultimately Guts gets my ideal post-Eclipse arc of obsessing over revenge/equality with Griffith and eventually becoming a monster just like him, whereupon maybe one or both die, or maybe Guts ironically rejoins him in a homoerotic "tragic" ending for him 😏

And Casca kind of gets Guts' Millenium Falcon arc through which the story reiterates the importance of relationships, where she wrestles with her own inner darkness but grows past the need for revenge and turns to other goals.

And then maybe her story intersects with Guts and Griffith's in that Griffith needs to be stopped to save the world from dragons or whatever so she allies with various people and does that, and is able to succeed specifically because she's not obsessed with revenge and can keep her head or something like that. Yk, like she uses the armour but is able to come back from it. Whatever.

I don't know or really care what the climax would be here. Does she kill Griff and maybe Guts too? Does she serve as a distraction while a magic thing happens? Or maybe they're reverting the world back to low fantasy and it has nothing directly to do with Griffith and Falconia and she has to slay a dragon or something. Idk, point is she gets a moment to be badass and maybe be tempted by a monsterizing power-up but doesn't succumb to it.

Anyway yeah, idk I'm not super imaginative so my answer is basically "Berserk but Casca gets Guts' role and Guts gets to be gayer" lol. But that said, I would love to see Casca get to express her feelings so yeah that also fits into my thoughts here. Maybe she doesn't directly yell at Griffith but rather tells someone else about what happened and how fucked up it was? Or maybe she gets a Hill of Swords style reunion as well and does get to scream at Griff. It'd be nice. I do think that, in the brief amount of time we saw both her and Guts after the sacrifice and before the Eclipse rape, she was angrier with Griffith than he was.

[lakesbian]

Dearest Aisha, I hope this letter finds you well on this horrible sunny day. I’m leaving you this message because my heart is twisted in twain, and you must know that it’s not you, it’s me. What we had was wonderful, but alas, my future in the Bay is either woefully short or non-existent and as such I must bid you adieu. Or in plain English, I’m leaving because this whole plan Glory and Taylor cooked up isn’t my thing and would just put a target on my back. Maybe things would’ve been different if we weren’t pulling up the curtain, but oh well. Try not to be too upset about it. I left the playstation behind, and feel free to save over my old files. Say bye to the others for me, just don’t be too mushy about it. -Alec.

JESUS. WHY DO PEOPLE THINK HE TALKS LIKE THIS. alec wouldnt say bid you adieu if you paid him. or Twain. or Dearest Aisha. oh my god hed gag before saying dearest aisha. hang on we need a full count off of the sins here

the base premise that he didn't discuss his feelings about victoria and taylor's plan with aisha beforehand is absurd--they're extremely communicative with each other

the base premise that taylor would go along with anything victoria cop dallon said in the first place is insane and makes me want to see the person op thinks victoria is killed badly by bugs

the base premise that Aisha is fine with victoria cop dallon's plans instead of going "alec isnt this fucking sucks." is insane.

the base premise that alec is the only undersider not okay with victoria cop dallon's plans is also insane. I'm going to be real with you they would kill her immediately and without hesitation for alec and they dont even like him that much.

again, it's absurd to act as if aisha and alec are noncommunicative enough that he would drop this on her as opposed to telling her he was considering leaving off the bat. also i think she has enough wrong with her that she would want to go with him. but i digress, that's besides the point because

alec would not want to leave without aisha in the first place. people latch on so hard to him casually suggesting leaving the undersiders in that one early chapter but like. he's doing that bc it's in the context of a hypothetical scenario where his dad is getting after him. he always unequivocally backs them & follows their lead when they get into Shit That Is Not About Him--he's just both not wanting 2 burden the undersiders w/ having 2 deal w/ his dad + assuming that they wouldn't necessarily Want to help. once they say they would help he's like. oh ok. and this is certainly the last time he ever even considers leaving. those are the only ppl he has he's not walking his ass out of there. he Thinks he doesn't care but in any situation where he's at risk of exiting or losing one of them he leans HARD into backing them up. e.g. knocking himself unconscious to help brian sacrificing himself for aisha suggesting leaving town As A Team when the s9 is there and explicitly mentioning stopping to pick up rachel first. his actions demonstrate how he feels even if he isnt consciously aware of it. this entire situation is cartoonishly implausible but even if it did happen he would just not react this way

anyway the fic literally just ends like this.

A/N: And so the curtain rises. Or sets? Maybe it’s an interlude? Or a intermission? I didn’t really think this metaphor through. Writing Alec is hard, but I’m hoping I managed well here. No, this is not an elaborate rug pull or “oh he shows up later”. Alec is gone. He doesn’t show up for the rest of the story. And the reasoning for that should be laid out pretty clearly here. Maybe in another world, where Tori and Taylor resolved the communication issue before this point, they could’ve had that conversation. But they didn’t and he didn’t. So the only way out was out. Alec was never going to be willing to unmask. And with that knowledge, what happened last chapter should be a lot clearer. Today’s rec is an essay on Alec’s Costume by ewingstan on Tumblr, which does an excellent job breaking down his character in terms of psychology and code switching between his cape self and who he is regularly. Or rather, how there’s not much difference at all. I’ll see you all next week.

YOU DID NOT MANAGE WELL. HOW ARE YOU READING AND LINKING GOOD ALEC POSTS (albeit ones i had a bit 2 expand on but like. Its a good post it stands on its own.) but not internalizing Any Of Them. my god. this is so funny. there he goes fucking off into the sunset leaving literally his entire life behind because op understands nothing about him. resti n peace boy. ok thus concludes my Complaining. i'd apologize but its my blog and i can do what i want forever

[amoneki-ramblings]

003 for the ask: which Kaneki is your favorite to ship with Amon?

Oooh that's an interesting ask (I was gonna answer this earlier but I kinda forgot, oop-) let's go !!

Does this one count?? I feel like this could just be categorized under Shironeki; I'm not really sure if this counts as A Kaneki it's just A State he's in sometimes, but I also can't deny how horribly ill any scenario with Amon and Centipede Kakuja Kaneki makes me. Maybe it's because any situation involving this would probably be a given for angst and/or hurt/comfort but like hear me out (about to spew the most Incomprehensible nonsense at you). Something something bringing back someone from the Brink. Something something trusting someone to have not lost himself completely even after he stares you straight in the eye like he doesn't recognize you at all. There's this one detail in the scene at Kanou's lab where you don't see Kaneki's 'human' eye for (i think) the entire time he's on his rampage except for when he tries to remember Amon and when he tries to remember "this world is wrong" and I just think that's a little fucked up (also the way Amon says "yeah" and almost-smiles because he trusted and knew all along when Kaneki admits he doesn't actually want to kill and eat, guh. and-) and Wow I really need to stop before I end up with another hundred word analysis about that scene okay moving on

Shironeki !! - Peak Amoneki era right there. Ironically I don't have a lot to say, they're just Good (also probably because I dumped a lot of my thoughts on them already with one of the previous asks). They're The Classics yknow ?? You can do whatever you want and it's great, guy who's chasing after another guy who's always just out of his reach, guys who are kindred spirits, guys with the Best Dynamic Ever it's hard to go wrong, really

Haise :)) - While they're different I still want to fit Haise on here because God. They should've interacted. I could've been so insane about them if Amon stayed in the CCG In my heart he's tied on this scale with Shironeki but alas canon couldn't even let Haise see Amon. Haise trying to learn about Amon (with the bonus Live Kaneki Reactions) was very interesting though, I think he would've absolutely Loved him if he got to know him as a colleague. I have that whole au just for that. I just think the blend of silliness and them getting to know each other with the pain of. Haise. And the conflict of trying to separate him from Eyepatch/Kaneki just makes it very well-rounded. Wait what do you mean they never Actually interacted and I just made all that up? What do you mean I had to make an au for all that?? (also sidenote but Amonhaise and Amoneki at the same time is also a really funny dynamic imo )

Kuroneki - It's hard to imagine how their dynamic would be before. Everything, though I suppose them seeing each other after their first encounter but pre-torture could be very interesting. Amon sees the ghoul who basically leapt into the air to tear a chunk out of his shoulder and he's just Some Guy. Internally Kuroneki is like "oh God it's the investigator he's going to kill me I'm the reason his partner died this is it" and Amon's just confused like "this is the really the same guy??? but he's??" That actually reminds me I read a really good tumblr drabble once of Kuro-amoneki that's genuinely pretty great I recommend it :)

[urdgealesisbaby]

I don't know if you write for Seishiro Hiragi, but if you do can I please get an Seishiro Hiragi x Reader.

They both hate each other, and they have a disagreement at an important meeting, but behind closed doors, they're actually lovers.

It could be NSFW or not, I'll leave that up to you!

Hello! Sure thing! I have to admit the fact that I'm not really a fan of Seishiro Hiragi,but your request is just soo amazing and I like it very much!

Warning!NSFW CONTENT!(Only mentioned/implied)

Lovers behind the doors,enemies outside-scenario->Seishiro Hiragi x reader

Seishiro Hiragi

It was yet another day at work.You were working of course for the most prestigious family in the Seraph of The End verse,the elite Hiragi family.

Kureto had summoned you to attend a meeting and you had to attend to it,it was after all your boss who summoned you.

You did hate those meetings,you really hated them,apart from everyone trying to impress the Hiragi Family with their achievments so that they may promote to a higher rank or get more privileges,you also had to deal with the man called Seishiro Hiragi,the younger brother of Kureto Hiragi.

Although they were brothers,they were kind of the opposite of each other.Like yeah,they both were prideful because they were Hiragis,but Seishiro was even more prideful than Kureto,which was why Seishiro was such a pain in the ass for you.

You weren't the only one though,kind of everyone shared the same opinions as you:Kureto was tolerable,almost like a leader everyone wanted to be,but on the other hand,Seishiro? Seishiro was just another prideful Hiragi,nothing more.Or so you though?

No one knew what you two were hiding all this time.

At the meeting:

"Everyone,I need suggestions for keeping humanity safe and killing more vampires in a short amount of time!"Kureto says.

"I think I have a suggestion,what if we give more cursed gear to more people,even the common folk,so that they can protect themselves?"you say.

Then,Seishiro says:

"What a stupid idea coming from a stupid member of the council,if we do that,the world would become a chaos,we can't just let anyone have cursed gear this easily!"

"If you have a better idea,then say it,if you don't,then shut up and keep your tongue in your mouth,or should I remove it for you?"you say,annoyed by his remark.

"You dare speak like that to a Hiragi? Maybe I should have your tongue for that,wouldn't you say so?" he says.

"You two!Calm down,we haven't organised a meeting just so that you are arguing!Nobody will have nobody's tongue!Cut the crap!" Kureto says.

After the meeting is over,everyone is told to get back to their rooms,as it is becoming night outside.

As you walk on your way home,when you arrive at the front of your door,someone taps your shoulder.

"What a pretty outfit you have on....y/n"he says.

"I thought you were gonna say it was a stupid outfit for a stupid person"

"I got tired of saying that,repeating words can become annoying,wouldn't you think?"

He says that as he starts to get his face closer to yours.

"I...I agree....Seishiro-sama" you say as you melt in his kiss.

"You don't have to call me like that here,that's just work honorifics we use.In private,call me however you wish,prince/princess."

You two start making out while you enter your home.Then,he places you on your bed and you two start undressing.

"You.....have such a sweet scent,y/n"

"Thank....you"

He starts kissing your neck and you two both get very excited.

"Ahhh~" y/n moans.

"What is that,my little bird? You feeling good? You like what I'm doing to you?"

"mhm......Yes"

As you two start touching yourselves more passionately,him touching your chest and you toching his one,you two have a splendid night together.

That was it,that was your secret,that's what you two are hiding from everyone else.You love him,he loves you,and no one knows it.Except for you.

I hope you liked this!<3

[felixcloud6288]

Higurashi: Festival Accompanying Chapter 30

Who will win? A secret squadron with enough men to fill four vans and a truck, all of whom are equipped with taser guns, wireless communicatons, and supplies; OR six children with a mountain of mischief?

This whole chapter is a mook horror show. I actually felt sorry for how brutally the Wild Dogs were suffering from Satoko's traps.

They ARE getting seriously injured and I would not be surprised if at least one of them dies or becomes permanently disabled because of this.

I mean seriously, one guy got hit in the chin by a log.

This guy's arm could have easily been broken.

This arc doesn't have anywhere near the grisly shots that several other arcs have, but there is this one.

And then there's the psychological warfare involved. Each time they see one of their comrades caught in a trap, they would become more scared of each step they take.

And let's look at this scenario. This guy definitely didn't walk into a pitfall. I'd like to guess that he dived out of the way of one trap only to end up landing right into this pitfall.

Like, imagine seeing one of your teammates manage to avoid a trap only to immediately fall into another in the process. Avoiding the traps you see isn't enough because they're actually bait to lure you into other traps.

And this is just the biggest possible taunt anyone in the club could pull:

I can understand Takano underestimating Satoko's trap-building capabilities. Most of what we've seen are things like tripwires and snares. We've only seen the mountain traps in Curse-Killing chapter 1 and Festival Accompanying chapter 18, and we only saw small, mostly harmless traps.

I do have to ask how Satoko managed to set up the giant logs and oil drums though. There's also a pitfall with stone walls. Maybe it was a weekend club activity to set up the larger traps. And that pitfall could have been an old well.

Is it strange that I was actually rooting for Skylark 13 to beat Satoko?

He pursued her to this clearing and she gives him a challenge to take five steps and if he doesn't trigger a trap, she will surrender to him.

One of his comrades whose foot is stuck in a stump says "Don't step on the stumps!" One of his comrades caught in a snare says "Don't step in the grass!" One of his comrades in a pitfall says "Don't step into the bare ground!" There's literally no way for Skylark 13 to approach Satoko that doesn't potentially have a trap set.

So what five steps does he take? He decides to take 5 steps BACK the way he came. Surely since he managed to make it that far without triggering a trap, that means the way back is safe.

NOPE! Satoko expected that and triggered a manual tripwire trap that threw an oil drum at Skylark 13. He actually got out of that without getting hurt. The oil drum landed beside him. But Skylark 13 was done trying.

What would have been funnier is if the clearing had no traps at all and he fell for the one trap that was actually there.

Skylark 13 also made a mention to the protagonist of Golgo 13, a manga series about an assassin for hire. Golgo 13 began serialization in October 1968 and is still ongoing. It is both the oldest manage series still in publication and holds the world record for highest number of volumes for a manga series (213 at the time of this post).

This panel of Satoko looks...really off. Her feet are not touching the stump at all.

Satoko and the rest of the background were definitely drawn separately and then layered on top of each other here. But Suzuragi didn't make sure Satoko's feet would line up with the stumps she's standing on. I wonder if there's a panel somewhere else in this arc where Satoko or someone else was making the same pose. Maybe Suzuragi used that as a template to draw Satoko for this panel.

When Rika said Mion would have gone down in history in a different era, Mion mentioned Nelson and Togo as being "okay". I think she was referring to Horatio Nelson of the British Royal Navy and Tōgō Heihachirō of the Japanese navy.

I am curious about how many of the Wild Dogs have been defeated so far. Assuming each instance was a different person, I counted 26 personnel injured or ensnared in this chapter.

Next chapter, we'll see how the rescue team is doing.

NIPA BEAM!!!

back

[shoechoe]

YEAHHHHH 🦈🦑 i'm so thrilled!! i'm glad you liked it!! i think it does a really good job of working with what little squalo and tiziano have while making something really interesting! plus, i think being more grounded than jojo itself really lends to both the organised crime and courtroom setting. and what it says about stands is really cool, especially talking head!!

and i think it's really nice how squalo and tiziano's relationship is portrayed, it's very present throughout and you see how much they love each other, beyond just the physical affection. i love the conversations they have, especially squalo's side where he's so sure of tiziano's strength and hates seeing tiz looked down upon. (i do love the scene in clash and talking head– and i'm not saying their relationship isn't present outside of that –but it does feel like the anime is trying really hard to make you know they're gay, and didn't have much time to go into much else. and... i don't even know if the manga was intending it. i mean, i guess it's there if you really read into it? hard to say.)

and! there's also the hint at squalo and tiziano's team before unità speciale!! how exciting! i believe the implication is meant to be that squalo (with tiziano's help i bet) killed their team leader and were promoted? i do wonder if that would be related to them killing the leader or their work in the courtroom... maybe both? it could be, since squalo points out the leader isn't doing a great job of it. either way, i think it does lend to them being in unità speciale and i'll take anything i can get about them hehe. i did end up making some OCs and lotsa headcanons about that - but this ask is starting to glitch out so i'm gonna wrap it up before it goes weird again.

i like squalo and tiziano 👍

You're welcome. I'm so sorry I didn't check it out sooner haha, you were right that it's really damn good.

I have always wished for Vento Aureo's worldbuilding to be more grounded in reality, but then again I feel like it's only what you could expect from Jojo. Like, for example, I have complained before that Diavolo being the Boss despite nobody knowing his identity, including a name or face, makes literally no sense when you think about it, but honestly I've come to realize I have a soft spot for it. I still feel like Passione is extremely underdeveloped as an organization, but I can forgive the pieces we know that are logically incomprehensible when thought through, because... Well, it's Jojo, you know? In that way, I think best-case scenarios for expansions of VA and Passione really come from side stories like Purple Haze Feedback and Testimone di Gangster, and people's interpretations of the gangster world in Jojo's Italy really do shine in them.

I also caught that the story was likely trying to imply that Diavolo promoted them after the events of the story- I can't imagine why he would promote them just for killing their leader, so if I had to imagine it, it's probably their massive success keeping Passione in the dark and beating down resistance at the trial as well as their leader "disappearing" that pushed Diavolo to assign them a higher role as Unita Speciale. It's genuinely very cool.

Not to nag a little with my typical criticisms of Vento Aureo as well, but it's also interesting to actually see an anti-mafia investigator as an antagonistic force to Passione... I mean, if Falco were alive when Giorno became the Boss, he'd assumedly be fighting against Passione under his rule all the same. Makes you think about how Giorno would feel about (and similarly, what he would have to do to) a person like Falco, if Giorno's goal is to be a "righteous" gangster.

[liliallowed]

slay the princess is so sansanomoly.

spoilers for the game btw:

I'm sorry I just can't unthink a scenario where sans is tasked to kill the anomaly cuz they will end the world.

but by killing them the world resets and ends, by sparing them it also ends, there's also the option of letting them out but that's a true reset...

all in all? I think he'd say fuck you to all three options and like... hang out.

like, just casually take a nap in the dungeon while talking to the anomaly.

the guy's too lazy to do anything 😭

and the greater collective consciousness of the player's routes would probably still linger. while the vessel is just salty he's being a troll.

he's not gonna fall for it lmao. he's just going like, abandon all logic and just defy physics as he does, going out of bounds to bring them a hamburger. or like... carry their heart in a safely contained space vacuum. around in a vessel that... maybe WON'T end the world when they escape containment...

he KNOWS how to manipulate the anomaly too.

it's a loop but I think he's going to stay calm and instead of blaming the narrator or the anomaly just... look for a solution with them. a compromise.

he knows how they tick. if he makes an interesting world or story, the anomaly will be curious and let the world live.

all in all, I think sans would even use the anomaly to his advantage. get a desired outcome. try risking for something.

maybe challenge them to reset. make bets.

he knows you're not a demon. he knows you're not an angel. just a chaotic entity who searches for more pieces and braches of the world and it's outcomes.

a timeline hopping explorer or a destroyer of worlds... when you're entire existence is based of a flimsy desire to be or not to be flickering between the two states I don't think sans would actually care.

he'd do what he can to preserve the world but SAVE it? that ain't his responsibility. it's yours.

also I keep imagining the skelly with an elderich horror monster 100 handed doll figure just casually sitting next to each other eating ice cream.

now to the slay the princess game itself!

anyways. I love these ships.

the princess does make a connection to us the player. she thinks we are similar. and we are! both even have the same motives in fact. she just... has more terrifying features with her vessel. ours is just a faceless blob of grey matter... so maybe we're both kinda creepy???

gurl you don't scare me. in fact. I already have my Dr strange "I'VE COME TO FUCKING BARGAIN" card ready to go. let's talk time loops. it's either me and you. so if you think IM scared of that? I PLAYED GENOCIDE FOR BREAKFAST BABY COME AT ME!

oh boi... you'd be surprised how many times I can endure the same conversation:3.

fite me! I CHALLENGE YOU TO A TIME LOOP DUEL!

I'm sorry that's cringe...

anyways I love this game. (saw a playthrough. didn't play it myself)

but I can definitely see a cross over... or would like to make one.

imagining dusttale player just looking at the princess face like it's their avrage Tuesday routine...

while the "hero" and dust stare at each other finding comradery in the voices in their heads.

also dust would yeet the princess into the void...

and player would probably get stabbed by the heros blade with a smug grin to show off they're also cursed with reset powers.

okay literally any of these four traumatized loop bound poor babies are gonna be hilarious to see interact

[fabdante]

Prompt for fun:

Vergil fucks around with some demonic artifact (like the Beastheads in the second DMC novel) and he (and maybe Dante and Kaat too, if you want) ends up in an alternate timeline! Could be the preboot canon, or it could be reboot canon, but an alternate version of it. Which version would you pick to play around with, and what happens? How does Vergil (and possibly others) react to it?

Oh that's a fun idea! Very Vergil to do asdfghjk particularly post canon, like he's trying to find a way to go back or find a world where things worked out correctly

There's a lot of interesting ways to go about this. Like a universe where Eva and Sparda manage to stay alive and around and keep training the twins for their purpose. Or a universe where the twins stayed together, either in the system or because both were adopted together.

I'll focus primarily on like the Vergil transporting himself idea for a few of these little musings.

Eva and Sparda Live/Are Still Around Universe: It'd be interesting to put post game Vergil here because him and Dante would probably have a good, close relationship. Something the reboot twins don't really have and have not really had since they were kids and it'd be so interesting to see him like respond to that internally. Like last he saw his twin, he was trying to kill him. And now suddenly he's in a place where Dante and him get along and have been training together since they were children. I think it'd be interesting for him to see Dante in this new light

But the real treat is Vergil interacting with his parents with all that he knows, but also given so much he remembers about them is hazy half remembered child memory. Our memory is far from perfect, after all, so seeing them in the flesh and being able to interact with them would be so interesting, particularly post Downfall. Like he's cemented this complicated relationship with Eva, he's got this idea of Sparda in his head. It'd be so interesting. Plus to I have a theory that the twins are sort of...impracticable weapons to Eva and Sparda. Like don't get me wrong they're their kids, they on some level love their children. But the twins in the reboot also seem to have been born with the purpose of killing Mundus so seeing how this would have played out from Vergil's perspective, as someone who was not living this life as it was happening and is only just now stepping into it and seeing the results of Eva and Sparda's raising and training, is very interesting to me.

Plus like I imagine the twins here were probably kept a lot more isolated. Eva and Sparda had to be very careful about them.

Which brings me to Kat. Who I don't think the twins would know, but Vergil would definitely want to try and find. Of course he would. So that makes me very curious to how she'd tie into things, particularly without Vergil having saved her. Unless this version of Vergil did before our Vergil got here 👀 interested in how this would impact their relationship as he knows her very well (and misses her!!), but this version of her has no idea who he is or in the very least, barely knows him

Twins Together, Dante Path: I confess me and my girlfriend actually made two AU's tied to this sort of thing asdfghjk two universes, one where the twins were raised together along with Dantes childhood and one were they're raised together along with Vergils. So for the Dante path like, Vergil's going to hop into the universe in Dantes trailer where the two twins live on the pier and he's going to have such a hard time adapting asdfghj this is not the sort of comfort and luxury he knows and I think Dante would be most likely to clock something is wrong in this scenario. In my opinion, having to rely on each other so completely and only each other, would make the twins the closest in this AU so Vergil stumbling into that...Dante's quickly going to be like 'ok. who are you and what have you done with Vergil'. Which makes this AU fun because I think it'd turn into a caper to switch the Vergil's back asdfghjkl (also in this scenario I imagine Vergil has already found and helped Kat and she is also living in the trailer . Similarly, very jarring to go from knowing Kat very well to her having recently met him

Twins Together, Vergil Path: Here I'm sure he'd be so happy to see his parents again. I think he'd be living in that euphoria for a bit. Honestly I feel like in this scenario he'd be sort of just basking in the comfort and peace of it for a while, not even bothered by the fact Dante is around. I imagine the twins might be a little more distant here as they aged, as I think Vergil was probably their golden boy given Dante is more of the slacker and probably does not have very strong ambitions. I think he'd kind of love that, being the favorite son. I wonder if this version of Dante and Vergil have even had to deal with the demons. But of course, then he'd start wondering where Kat is. And it'd sink in no ones been there to help her. And, well, then he'd be dragging both him and Dante into a whole mess. Because he can't leave this universe without at least making sure she's safe.

[abyssembraced]

16. what is a plot you’ve been wanting to do for... anyone i guess lol? 

20 QUESTIONS FOR MULTI-MUSE BLOGS! (Still accepting!)

Oh no one of the harder questions-- fgdgshdhf

(Putting this under a cut since it ended up Long)

Honestly I tend to just look at my rp partners' muses, and then come up with plot ideas specifically for interactions with them and my muses. I dunno if I have any general ideas just Floating Around?

Ghost is my default muse for crossovers, since a) I Love Them and b) they have a very flexible crossover verse that allows me to just throw them as they naturally are anywhere, but stuff that actually takes place in Hallownest is always nice to have! But most if not all of my plot ideas are tied to specific people's muses (like our plans for Ghost and Arti's HK AU! Definitely still wanna do that <3), and if they're not, then it's more along the lines of "man it'd be fun to have interactions with [character] but no blog that I know of writes them"

I guess I have considered writing a drabble for Ghost's post Dream No More verse for a while, basically going into their thought processes and stuff and how they're eventually able to reform themself as a Shade in the physical realm, which could also function as an open starter for any HK muse who could realistically be around the Black Egg Temple when that happens. No idea when or if I'll ever actually write that though dgshff

Papyrus is harder to come up with specific plots for in general, at least when it comes to interacting with fellow Undertale muses, just because there's so much freedom in what can be done that my mind just goes blank asgshdhsf. Generally speaking, though, it could be fun to do stuff with some of Undertale's neutral endings!

I believe I've brought this up at least once on the blog, though, and I know I've plotted something along these lines with at least one friend, but I do like the idea of Papyrus interacting with ex-villains or people who have Done Bad Things and regret it. Since! My Paps follows the Otherworld theory, and in his original Deltarune universe, he was the Roaring Knight! Or was at least affiliated with them in some way, but I think at this point, regardless of what Papyrus' role actually ends up being in Deltarune, I'm tempted to stick to mine being the Knight, even if that ends up making him canon divergent. I'll see once we actually get more information, I guess! But I digress. Point is, He's Been There! He's done the terrible things and has his regrets! But since then he's worked to redeem himself and become the Great Papyrus, and that's how he knows everyone else can do that, too.

I don't know how many times I'd actually want to write a thread based around that, since doing it over and over would probably get repetitive, but! In my heart, Papyrus is surrounded by a bunch of scary-looking ex-villain or otherwise morally grey friends who would kill for him if needed <3 gfhfhsdhf

It's funny though, because Papyrus' past is typically something that he never talks about. Like-- Sans is the only one who really knows anything, and that's just because they're brothers and he was there when it all happened. Even Flowey, despite his constant RESETs and completionism and trying to learn everything about all the "characters" in his "game", might not be aware of everything. Maybe just the "Papyrus did some things in the past that he deeply regrets" part, since I could see that being relevant to a conversation between the two of them. Because even though Paps is a bad liar, he's damn good at keeping secrets and simply Not Talking about things. And yet! I keep thinking about scenarios where he might actually be compelled to bring it up dgshshdf.

And then GLaDOS... I'd just like to try writing in general dhsgfshf. Definitely still want her and Mirage to bitch at each other lmao. I've still gotta write out my thoughts on how the two might meet using Mirage's psychopomp AU, which I will do! Eventually!!

For her Rain World AU, I think interactions with fellow iterators would especially be neat! But I've uh. Also gotta write out more info for that verse too first dhshdhf

[theladysunami]

I know this is from a while ago, but since it's still getting reblogs I might as well compile and respond to some of my favorite suggestions in the notes!

@sunderwight

#I love this so much #probably a contributing factor that my mom watches a ton of murder she wrote #i hadn't heard that version of the 'wtf is up with jessica fletcher' theories but i like it!!! #sort of like the 'death is in love with jessica fletcher' one but with more psychic powers #luo binghe visiting people in dreams to get all of sqq's skeevy backstory npcs to murder one another #maybe he's still part demon in that universe??? #airplane was originally gonna write a supernatural murder mystery series but the cozy market was bigger so he just kind of #didn't incorporate those notes explicitly into canon #but surprise turns out they're still part of the world-building! #also I would absolutely help sy hide a body especially qiu jianluo's so yeah that tracks

Binghe still having dream powers in this AU is excellent!

To make it fit in more with common murder mystery tropes, I'm thinking Airplane had a tendency to write himself into corners and couldn't always figure out a good reason for Luo Binghe look for some bit of evidence or another. To Shen Yuan's absolute disgust, Airplane "solved" this problem by giving Binghe super convenient clairvoyant/postcognitive dreams.

Maybe Airplane actually did have some notes with ideas for why Binghe had these dreams (like Su Xiyan being involved in experiments designed to create psychics and/or Tianlang-jun's family supposedly having some demon-related past), but he ended up scrapping all that when readers didn't seem interested.

With the introduction of psychic powers into the worldbuilding, of course Binghe could learn to use them for his own purposes... like making all the skeevy NPCs from Shen Qingqiu's tragic backstory murder each other.

@stu-pidity

Okay consider combining the two where SY transmigrates after the murder, ‘gets away’ with it, and then gets framed for a *different* murder (courtesy of the system)

@wisteria-rainfall

#sqq ends up with conan edogawa type luck and just keeps fucking stumbling across corpses and elaborate murder scemes #time and time again he is also chosen as the unlucky sucker to pin the murder on #not crimes of passion these are deaths that were premeditated years ago taking advantage of SJs reputation to frame sqq #I think it would be funny to have a mix of bad luck and schemes which all overshadow the real murder he did #tho I think it does clash with cover up opportunities

Combining Shen Qingqiu getting away with a real murder, with him being framed for a bunch of other murders, is a delightful idea!

After the events of scenario two, Shen Yuan is relieved his role in the plot is finally over. Then he learns that since he's not in jail, all the murders that happened later in the series are being pinned on him now! There is no escaping the System's wrath.

Shen Yuan sometimes wishes he had been imprisoned for his "crime" after all, since at least his life would be more peaceful. Being able to see his favorite detective, Luo Binghe, in action makes it all worthwhile though!

@freekislydumb

#ok look #hear me out #first version #it gets to the point where sqq has been accused and then cleared of murder so many times #that if he were to actually commit murder #he wouldn't even have to try to hide anything #because no matter how much the evidence pointed at him #literally no one would believe he'd actually done it #he could walk into a crowded room covered in blood still holding the murder weapon #and people would be so used to him seeming suspicious but actually being innocent they'd immediately start looking in every other direction

Oh no!

This has me imagining a scenario where, in response to Shen Yuan refusing to kill anyone, the System not only made him the designated red herring, it also decided to make it so he gets attacked constantly. Sure Shen Yuan says he won't kill anyone, but surely the stress of constant attacks, and being blamed for the eventual murder of all his attackers no matter what he does, will wear him down enough to actually kill someone eventually (if only in self defense)!

Of course, as you say, even if he did kill someone, nobody would actually believe it. He shows up to a party traumatized and bloody saying, "I think I killed someone!" and everyone is just, "Oh you poor dear. Don't worry, we'll find the real culprit!"

@mikkeneko

bonus to the second scenario where it's revealed, after all is said and done, through an bizarre series of events Shen Qingqiu isn't the murderer, it was an extremely convoluted suicide

It genuinely not being Shen Qingqiu's fault would make for a funny conclusion. It also reminds me of another outcome I had considered!

Toward the end of the story in scenario two, Luo Binghe's goes through the results of his investigation, explaining all the other possibilities (suicide, an accident, a different murderer, etc.). His explanations prove so convincing that even Shen Yuan begins to believe he could be mistaken about Shen Qingqiu's guilt (after all, it's not like he remembers anything).

Unfortunately, the moment Shen Yuan begins to feel relived that he may not be in the body of a murderer after all... the System chimes in with, "Congratulations! Congratulations! Congratulations! You got away with murder!".

I listen to a lot of audiobook murder mysteries, which has me thinking:

Shen Yuan transmigrating into a murder mystery… as the killer!

There are a couple of ways the story could go.

First Option: Shen Yuan lets his System know, in no uncertain terms, he will not be murdering anyone.

Its response: [Alternate Plotline Initiated. New Assignment: Designated Red Herring].

Poor Shen Qingqiu finds himself stuck in a whole murder mystery series, and any time anyone is murdered, he somehow ends up being the number one suspect!

The victim? Probably picked a fight with Shen Qingqiu at some point. (Shen Qingqiu tries to avoid such arguments, but it never seems to work!)

The murder weapon? Yeah, Shen Qingqiu is almost guaranteed to have touched it at some point. (Shen Qingqiu is severely tempted to start wearing gloves 24/7.)

The body? Either Shen Qingqiu finds it himself at some inopportune time, and/or it was stashed somewhere “only” he is supposed to have access to. (At some point it's just: Shen Qingqiu opens a door… sees a body… closes the door. “Time to call the cops, yet again.”)

Shen Qingqiu ends up a tad paranoid about the whole thing, setting up cameras outside his house, in his office, in his car, etc. just to (hopefully) stop people from planting evidence any of those places.

If anyone asks about the truly absurd number of (eventually dropped) murder allegations, Shen Qingqiu insists he's cursed. Even with genre blinders on (making the number of convoluted murders in the area seem normal somehow), it's hard for anyone to argue the point.

For Shen Qingqiu's day job (when he's not busy being charged with murder) he works as a professor at a university with a highly regarded Criminology & Criminal Justice program. I'm thinking the original goods was a literature professor, with a strong distaste for cops, who was known for grading anyone in the criminal justice program exceedingly harshly. Naturally one of his students is the protagonist, Luo Binghe.

After his transmigration, professor Shen Qingqiu suddenly becomes a very kind and doting professor with a real passion for literature. This leaves Luo Binghe quickly smitten and makes him a very motivated amateur detective, since he's determined to prove his beloved's innocence as quickly as possible and as often as needed!

Second Option: Shen Yuan takes over after the original goods already committed the murder.

He wakes up with a splitting headache (the victim attempted to defend themselves presumably), looks at his bloody hands… looks at the victim… looks at the weapon… looks at his bloody hands again. “Damn it, Airplane.”

He decides he doesn't want to try and hide a body actually, just to be caught by the protagonist later and charged with a whole slew of things in addition to murder, so he calls the cops himself. He might as well take advantage of the fact he has a concussion and literally doesn't remember a thing. Maybe he can get the charges reduced somewhat and get a lighter sentence.

Of course the first cop that arrives at the scene is Yue Qingyuan, who as the #1 Xiao-Jiu stan gives Shen Qingqiu way too much benefit of the doubt. The most obvious evidence also keeps being erased or damaged by weird as hell coincidences.

Shen Qingqiu knows he certainly isn't responsible for damaging evidence and wonders if the System is working overtime behind the scenes to ensure there actually is a mystery for Luo Binghe to solve. (After all, it wouldn't be much of a story if Shen Qingqiu was already charged and sentenced before Luo Binghe had a chance to even do anything.)

To his complete bewilderment, after a few days leave to recover from the concussion, Shen Qingqiu is actually allowed to return to his university teaching job. He decides to make the best of it, since who knows how long he'll be a free man.

As in the first scenario, a few months later and Luo Binghe is absolutely smitten, not to mention all the other students and faculty that have come to adore him.

As Shen Qingqiu has successfully endeared himself to pretty much anyone and everyone local that could actually charge him or provide eyewitness testimony, not to mention all shady shit about murder victim Qiu Jianluo the ongoing investigation keep digging up, the plot stalls for a bit until the state police (aka Huan Hua Palace) are finally called in by Qiu Haitang.

Unfortunately for the ‘HHP’ folks, the protagonist himself is on Shen Qingqiu's side, and Luo Binghe is perfectly happy to muddy the waters by conveniently “losing” evidence, sending them after every single red herring he comes across, and “accidentally” digging up dirt on all the shady dealings going on in their department.

The System keeps trying to motivate Shen Qingqiu to hide evidence, lie, or do literally anything suspicious to progress the plot further, but all its punishment protocols involve sabotaging Shen Qingqiu's coverup attempts (of which he has none) or revealing information to the protagonist (who is complicit by this point) so it's fresh out of luck.

Eventually the System gives up and Shen Qingqiu is congratulated for “getting away with murder!” despite the fact he didn't actually do anything.

“Seriously? Does it even count as getting away with murder when the original goods was the actual murderer? I didn't kill anyone!”

[...]