#mercy seems to be the only character that i could reasonably still play on the switch

[forcebookish]

played enough (what. one hour? and VERY badly) of overwatch on pc that now i can't remember how to play it on the switch

[dicenete]

I repainted his face more times than probably necessary but something always caught my eye and still does, but it is done. is done. It's fine. xD IkePri Tagteam:

@scummy-writes @goustmilk @solacedeer @m-mmiy @mxrmaid-poet

@pawnkyyy @ludivineikewolf @violettduchess @floydsteeth @wistfulwanderingone

@sh0jun @lorei-writes

A little bit of rambling of him below the break, spoilers (Keith's route, and little bit of Nokto's route) and such :0 so you have been warned.

TL;DR: I enjoyed the route despite its questionable elements. MC is too forgiving at times, but other than that, romanctic route was cute. Licht, the third wheel, was funny but sad.

Okay first about Keith's visual design: I really love how his design is the most asymmetrical from the suitors. Like the jacket and the vest he has. The jacket is very interestingly layered, almost like you aren't sure which part is the main thing and what is the accent. The green or the gold? The host or the alter? : D Same with his vest. His duality is battling in his clothing too hahaha

Keith's route was interesting. I had heard lots of differing opinions about it and I had my own reservations.

One mainly about the portrayal of DID and how the route does it. First things first: I'm not an expert at all. I won't even humor the idea that I had any say in anything regarding it. But overall, it could have been worse? Of course it might be very extreme in the way Alter Keith is hostile towards Host Keith. And of course you shouldn't take this as the only way the alter systems work. But as I said: I'm not an expert.

I had heard that the dramatic route follows Alter Keith and romantic route host Keith. I picked the romantic one. I had my personal reasons for that tho. But aside from that, it was nice to be with Keith that who struggled with self-worth. It was nice to see him grow as a character and find that strength to stand up for himself. (The fact that the host Keith seems to think that he is inferior to Alter Keith and that people would prefer the alter over him. The amount of stress that will bring. )

Keith's uncle was your very generic villain/antagonist without any real depth. He was a spoiled noble and so on. But since this was more about Keith inner journey I thought it was fine that it was like that.

The drugging scene… Well. That's a… a topic. Hmm… Host Keith himself felt very guilty about it and was full of remorse. Not that it was his choice to do it. Alter Keith well… He might justify it because he was gathering information about a rumor that might endanger his home country and people if it were true. I kinda can see where he is coming from, but also...IT CERTAINLY WAS DESTROYING OF TRUST. Like that time when Nokto "accidently" gets MC drunk. but hey ho. Since there is limited time frame for the chapters, I do understand they can't really jam all the things there, but I wanted Belle be more angry with him with Alter Keith for longer.

Maybe that's what bugs me sometimes. That Belle/Emma/MC is sometimes too forgiving and too much of a doormat. It works in routes like Yves and Licht (from the routes I have played, Leon seems like the most respectable gentleman too), because they are not being insulting towards her. I would even think that she works with Clavis, tho I would love to see him with someone who shares his chaotic gremlin energy. But with characters like Chev, Silvio or Alter Keith the their "power" doesn't feel balanced. MC seems to be completely on their mercy even if they stand up to them in some way. (Gilbert is another can of nasty things.)(With Chev's route, well, that is also a rambling for another time. But I haven't finished his route yet. so I will keep my ramblings to myself for now.)

Is Keith's route more about acceptance then? Accepting the good and the bad of a person? Possibly. I would think that is a good way to put it. Both Keiths have good and bad sides. And it seems that they are working on them.

[hostdoozy]

The horrifying implications of Meat Sweats powers.

Rupert (mainly known as meat sweats) is possibly one of my favourite side-villains within Rottmnt as of this moment. Down his writing and animation, the Gordon Ramsey parody is an absolute delight to watch.

Something about his mannerisms is beyond fascinating to me. He's a double threat, both cunning and robust. I could go on about for hours about this overgrown porky pig characteristic and how he is so much more than the very thing he is parodying.

But I'll spare you that mercy and focus on ONE aspect of his character.

His mutant powers. (read more down below)

In 'Nothing but Truffle' we get a lot of insight into how his abilities function. Using the strange tendrils that make up his arm and hands, he can latch onto his prey and suck out their 'essences'. Temporarily possessing his victim's powers while his victim is either immobilized or die after the process (implied). The key word here is "Temporarily" During the episode, after Mikey is betrayed by the British Meatbag we get this little exchange between the two.

"B-but- i thought you were nice now?" "Oh. that wore off hours ago...and by the way, you play lousy mandoline" This shows us, that once he absorbs his victim's powers- throughout the course of an entire day- they only last for a short period. This shows us, that his mutant form can quickly burn off "essences". why is this horrifying? I'll get into it soon enough, sit tightly. Let's us examine what exactly he IS absorbing.

We see that whenever Rupert is absorbing something- it is always GREEN and you what else is green? Empyrean. the source of yokai power, the ingredient used to create mutants. His mutant form requires Empyrean. What do I mean by "require"? well then. We established that Rupert can quickly burn off Empyrean after absorbing it. now i'd like to point out something to you. Notice how Rupert is often described as "cannibalistic" or "vampiric" by other characters, merch and even concept artwork. Notice how often he hunts, he jumps at any opportunity to catch any prey. See how within the show, there are many instances of him having cages upon cages of mutant/yokai saved for special occasions. Almost like, he NEEDS a constant onslaught of Empyrean not because he enjoys the power that comes with it but rather, out of necessity. It is VERY possible that his Mutant form needs it to survive. Normal food won't simply cut it, He hungers for yokai and mutants alike.

So is that it? seems pretty simple enough, right? AHAHAHAHAHA NO MY DEAR READER, WE ARE NOT DONE YET! you are stuck here with me. I had a shocking revelation, one that seemed rather far-fetch but please bear with me.

Rupert has minimal control of his powers.

When the metal gauntlets come off, Rupert cannot control what his tendrils can absorb. An example of this is featured is once again, in "Nothing but Truffle". The second Mikey pulled Rupert's arm to the weretree, the tendrils began draining it upon contact- against Rupert's will. He can't stop it. This is just one of the many instances of it. We know that Rupert can form "claws" with his tendrils based on this one Ep but this is the only time it happens. Usually, they are untangled instead of interconnected

While this could just be an animation inconsistency- please just. indulge me for a moment. Rupert is known as most dangerous mutant according to Tmnt and there's good reason for this. Despite Ruperts disadvantages, he is capable of working AROUND them. He is dangerous not because of his mutant abilities but for his intelligence. we the viewer don't suspect it because He is capable of making split-second decisions within a fight. Rupert is competent in many others ways that we overlook and mislead into thinking he's in full control of his powers. (Idk if he's autistic but he'd be a master at masking lol)

So NOW why is this horrifying?

Keep in mind. Rupert was a human- a shitty one but still human regardless. His mutation wasn't by choice. His cannibalism wasn't a choice. Imagine, you are at the height of your career and in the middle of your show- in front of an entire audience- you suddenly feel a pinch. everything is painful. Your body contorts into a horrific pigish amalgamation in a matter of minutes. The world has its eyes on you. people are watching. All you see is RED.

You've become a monster.

Once the red is gone. All that is left is the hunger. You are reduced to nothing more than a creature lurking within the shadows. A wall is put between you and the remaining semblance of your old life. Everything you work for, Gone. Left to rot away.

No matter how many scraps you pull out of NYC's trash piles. You are still hungry. This disgusting form of yours demands more. The only thing you can do to survive. is give in. indulge. you didn't just become a monster. you ARE the monster.

Whether or not Rupert was deserving of this faith is up in the air. We know that he's always been an Asshole. (both Mikey and himself go on to confirm this)

This isn't meant to suddenly paint Rupert in a sympathetic light nor be an attempt to "redeem" his actions. Far from it. This is meant to further insight into him as a villain and why he acts the way he does. Rupert still values his humanity. Rupert resorts to extreme measures to ensure his own comfortability and his legacy (i.e his restaurant) but thats a topic for another day.

To finally conclude this tangent. While Rupert is scummy sod, the situation he's forced into is unsettling when you sit down and think about it. If anything. he might have become a bigger asshole due to his mutation. (now excuse me- im going step inside this man's food truck and kiss him)

[lifesizehysteria]

A Mother's Blessings | A Bridgerton Fic

Part 2: Hyacinth

Fandom: Bridgerton (TV) Rating: Gen Pairing: Violet Bridgerton/Marcus Anderson Characters: Violet Bridgerton, Marcus Anderson, Hyacinth Bridgerton, Kate Bridgerton, Benedict Bridgerton, Gregory Bridgerton Summary: A collection of moments through Violet and Marcus’ courtship in which Violet seeks the blessings of her children. AO3 Part 1

Violet fanned her face, still desperate to cool herself from the oppressive summer heat, despite having moved inside. It seemed they had chosen the worst day possible for a family game of pall-mall; the sun was relentless and there was not a breath of wind nor a single cloud in the sky. The shade provided by the covered seating by the lawn offered little relief from the stifling temperatures, so they had sought refuge inside, filling the hallway with their usual raucous joy as they did so, before settling into a quieter cacophony in the drawing room.

“It is a shame Lord Bridgerton was unable to join us,” Marcus said.

“Yes, well…” Violet began, but found herself unable to provide any further excuse as to why her son had, once again, found a reason to avoid Lord Anderson’s company.

“He is quite busy preparing for our departure to India, I am afraid,” Kate supplied without missing a beat, though Violet caught the quick glance her daughter-in-law sent her direction. She offered her own smile in gratitude, patting the perspiration from her brow with the back of her hand.

“It is probably for the best,” Benedict said. “Our brother has a competitive streak unlike any other. He would have died of heat stroke before ending the game early.”

Marcus laughed. “Is that so?”

“It is true. I do not know where he gets it.” Violet shook her head, secretly grateful Anthony had not been there to insist the game continue. While the weather had been the excuse, Violet was sure it was really mercy that ended the game early. When Hyacinth had suggested they play, Marcus had agreed to join on the condition that Violet play, too. Despite her efforts otherwise, she had not been able to resist him or the children’s insistence. With reluctance, she joined the game, only to thoroughly humiliate herself, despite Marcus’ attempt to throw the game in her favor. They were all laughing so hard by the time they called it off, no one could have continued playing anyway.

“Ah, yes,” Marcus said, the richness of his voice sending a shiver down Violet’s spine. “I believe it is a trait shared by all eldest children. You have met my sister.” He flashed her a dazzling grin, his eyebrows arched knowingly.

“Indeed, I have,” she conceded with a laugh, fanning a new wave of heat from her cheeks and averting her gaze from his shining black eyes.

“Well, I think you could beat Anthony, Lord Anderson,” Hyacinth declared.

“Thank you for your vote of confidence, Miss Hyacinth. Though, if he is anywhere near as formidable an opponent as the Viscountess, I would not stand a chance.”

“I assure you, he is not,” Kate said, making everyone laugh. 

“Anthony certainly did meet his match in you, Sister,” Benedict said. 

“As we should all hope to do,” Marcus said, his eyes finding their way to Violet, who bit back a smile while her stomach did a somersault. 

Conversation continued to flow, but Violet grew quiet, watching. Marcus looked completely at ease among her brood, the portion of it that was present, at least. There was a noticeable camaraderie between him, Benedict, and Kate, their playfulness rather enjoyable to witness. And with the younger two, he was attentive and kind, including them in conversation and listening to them with genuine interest. Hyacinth was clearly enamored, and although he was a bit subdued, Gregory was receptive to him as well. 

“Lord Anderson, are you staying for lunch?” Hyacinth asked, pulling Violet back into the moment. 

“Hyacinth!” she chastised, though her daughter did not show an ounce of embarrassment at being so forward. “Please forgive my daughter’s lack of manners.”

Marcus held up a staying hand. “It is quite alright,” he assured her, then turned towards Hyacinth. “Thank you for the invitation. Unfortunately, I have already committed to lunch with my sister, so I cannot join you today. It is my sincerest hope that the offer may be extended for another day.”

Beaming, Hyacinth opened her mouth, but Violet cut her off before she could speak. “I am sure we can arrange something soon.”

“A picnic, perhaps!” Hyacinth jumped in, ignoring the wide-eyed look of warning from her mother. 

“Oh, a picnic would be lovely,” Kate agreed, barely concealing a smirk as Violet’s mouth dropped open.  

Marcus leaned closer to Hyacinth, dropping the volume of his voice to a whisper that was more than audible throughout the room. “I do love a picnic.”

When he grinned at Violet over his shoulder, she was caught between wanting to throw her arms around him and wishing a hole would open up beneath her feet and swallow her alive. If he and her children were already conspiring against her, she was not sure she would stand a chance at winning anything ever again. She stubbornly pursed her lips against a persistent smile and cleared her throat. 

“Well then, I suppose we’ll see what can be arranged. As long as the weather cooperates,” she added, if for no other reason than to feel as though she had not lost complete control. 

“Oh, goodie!” Hyacinth cheered, clapping her hands together as her curls bounced around her shoulders. Behind her, Benedict silently clapped as well, a teasing smirk directed at his mother. She narrowed her eyes at him, which he returned with a wink. He was bordering on impertinence and if she didn’t love him so much, she thought she could have killed him. 

“Until then,” Marcus said, standing up and addressing the room, “I am afraid I must take my leave. Anyone who knows what’s good for them does not make Agatha Danbury wait for her food.”

After a chorus of goodbyes, Violet sat back down on the settee, nestling into the corner. Kate came over from her spot by the window, managing to look as graceful as ever lowering herself onto the settee across from Violet, despite her ever growing belly. At the same time, Benedict wandered off without a word to anyone, leaving Gregory alone at the table. Hyacinth appeared beside her mother, kneeling on the cushion, her large green eyes bright with enthusiasm.

“Mama?” she asked, taking hold of Violet’s forearm in both her hands.

“Yes, dearest?” Violet patted her daughter’s hand, the affection in her voice unwavering despite a hint of weariness sneaking in. 

“When are we going to have our picnic with Lord Anderson?”

Violet let out a little laugh of surprise. “I do not know. I will arrange it and send him an invitation soon.”

Hyacinth beamed at her, turning to sit properly and leaning into her mother’s side. Violet wrapped her arm around her, pulling her in against her. 

“I do hope it is very soon. It will be such fun!”

“You seem to hold a great affection for Lord Anderson,” Kate pointed out. 

“Why shouldn’t I? He is kind and funny. He does not treat Gregory and me like small children who should not be allowed to speak. And most importantly, he makes Mama smile in a way I have never seen before.”

Violet’s eyes grew wide, her face suddenly hot again. 

“Are you going to marry him, Mama?”

Her eyes, widening even further, flew to Hyacinth, finding herself at a loss for words. After sputtering for a moment, she finally managed to ask, “Why ever would you ask such a question?”

Hyacinth straightened and tilted her head to one side. “Is that not the purpose of courting?”

A flutter of panic began to rise up the back of Violet’s throat. “Who told you we are courting?”

“It is quite obvious, Mama.” She looked at her mother, then over at Kate, then back again, doubt causing her face to fall. “You are courting, are you not?”

“I don’t…” Violet huffed, waving one hand in the air as if it would conjure the words she could not find. “To be quite honest, I do not know,” she finally said, her face twisting with unease.

Hyacinth’s brows knitted together. “It seems like you are courting,” she said.

Violet blinked and tipped her head to one side, acquiescing. “Yes, I… I suppose it does.”

“Do you want to be courted?”

Diverting her eyes again, Violet fidgeted with her skirt and offered a tight-lipped smile, wishing for the second time that the Earth could somehow swallow her whole.

“I, uh… I am, not sure,” a strained laugh escaped her throat. Part of her felt that this was not an appropriate subject for her daughter of just twelve, but she also understood that her decisions would ultimately affect Hyacinth’s life as much as they did her own, so she felt obliged to answer. She just wished she had had a bit more time to sort it out privately first. She cleared her throat and blinked hard before making herself meet her daughter’s eyes.

“I enjoy Lord Anderson’s company very much. You are right; he is kind and humorous, and I greatly appreciate how well he seems to get along with all of you. And even more so, there is a… companionship I feel with him that I have not had since your father died. It has been an unexpected joy to feel that again.” A small, unconscious smile turned up the corners of her mouth.

“And yet you have reservations?” Kate inquired gently.

“Yes.”

“What sort of reservations?” Hyacinth asked. 

“Well, dearest,” Violet spoke slowly, choosing her words carefully. There were so many layers to her feelings, and not only were they not all appropriate for her young daughter to hear, but she also wanted to avoid becoming too emotional. Hyacinth was rightfully curious, and while Violet wanted to answer her questions, she did not want to burden her with problems that were Violet’s alone to resolve. “The purpose of courting, as you are clearly aware, is to marry. And I had not ever imagined marrying anyone but your father. I am not sure that I want to marry again, even someone with whom I share… affection.” She looked down at her daughter, picking nervously at the lace on the cuff of Hyacinth’s sleeve and took in a deep, slightly shaky breath. “It feels a bit like a betrayal. To him, and to the love that we shared, that I still feel to this day.”

Hyacinth studied her mother’s face, noting the worry lines that appeared between her brows. She wrapped her arm around Violet’s waist and laid her head against her chest, hugging her tightly for a moment while Violet returned the gesture by pulling her in closer. “I do not believe Papa would think it a betrayal,” Hyacinth said, sounding confident. 

Curious and a bit surprised, Violet’s eyebrows lifted. “Why not?”

“Because to think so would be selfish. I may not have known Papa, but I know that everyone says the two of you shared a true love. And if you have taught me anything, it is that love is not selfish.”

Violet felt tears prickle behind her eyes and she blinked them back with great effort. How could a child who had never even met Edmund sound so very much like him? With a lump in her throat, she pressed a kiss into her daughter’s hair and whispered, as much to Edmund as to Hyacinth, “You are right about that, my love.”

[alannybunnue]

For daemon and baratheon reader. After a while of playing good husband and father. Daemon starts to notice things his wife has done. Like make sure their children were educated on their heritage and claimed dragons, she's even taken up many of his duties on dragonstone, all things deamon neglected. She has dragon stone running more efficiently than he ever could. He notices how genuinely competent she is, that she doesn't, and has never really needed him. He begrudgingly respects her for her capabilities(though he is upset that she's shown to be more capable at certain things than him)

The servants and guards respect her (but unlike the respect they give him, its not out of fear, but genuine appreciation.), and seem to listen more to her then him, they only seem to show him the bare minimum of what is to be expected for a prince. Which while is still great, is still less then what they give her. Their children respect her, whilst for him they only insult and glare (he has to admit they're rather sharp and actually remind him of himself at that age).

The more he learns of her and what she's done without him, the more he realizes he never really knew anything about her, he just kinda of assumed she was like any other noble lady or his late wife (he's most definitely kinda sexist). He never bothered to know her and see if she was any different then his preconceptions and assumptions.

Whilst it most definitely wounds his ego, a part of him starts actually admiringly certain aspects of her. He never really thought much about her, had she always been this cunning and sharp. He even starts admiring her appearance more. He'd never thought of her as anything other than plain, but when she commands respect, he has to admit she's rather attractive. But somehow, whilst still being able to command respect, she's still a good and loving mother to the children he forced on her on a whim. She's far more interesting than he anticipated.

I'm trying to figure out how he should develop yandere feelings towards her. Perhaps an assassination attempt, or maybe witnessing a genuine moment of softness between her and her children. Or both. Maybe since viserys is considering daemon for an heir. An assassin his sent for his eldest son, baelon, but the reader holds the assassin off but is injured whilst doing so. Daemon is the first one to arrive after discovering the planned assassination, he arrives to see the dead assassin and the reader injured but still comforting baelon (he may be pretty mature for his age but he's still a child and seeing his mother injured would be scary). This may be the tipping point daemon need to realize that's he's actually begun to love his wife and children (the children remind him so much of himself, they all have aspects of himself at those ages). He was genuinely concerned for them when he discovered the assassination plan, and seeing this was the final push he needed.

Now his attempts at playing good husband and father aren't for show. Especially as the reader is healing from the attack (now she needs him, at least in his mind anyway). Her and her children are at his mercy. He finally really wants to be a father and husband, and nothing is going gonna stop him or take away the family he suddenly wants. Only the seven know what Daemons real ideas of what a good husband and father are, now her and her children are gonna be subjected to it and his twisted idea of love.

Oh no

Ok, that right there is the REASON why this story is going to become angst, and i warn you all.

It's gonna get depressing

So, since you already described what happened, i will focus on the feelings of the characters throughout these events and how this can go down.

So in the last post i said that the kids went with Baelon to watch him flying on Viserion (Aka the Cannibal) and Daemon was behind watching from afar.

After that, the days passed and the kids had two different ways of acting around their father, which varies from passing by and ignoring him or looking at him a blank expression while giving him short and simple answers whenever he told or asked them something (Aerion tried to stab him on the leg from behind-), except, due to obvious reasons, for Daena, since she is 2 and has no memories of her father's absence or abuse towards her mother.

So the ones who mostly answered to Daemon among the kids were Baelon amd Aegon.

The only adult who actually spoke with him (Even though it was very limited answers) was Lady Baratheon and she always made sure to remind him of her opinions. Other than that, he stood by as an spectator around Dragonstone, watching everyone.

Now i would like to point out some things he noticed other than Lady Baratheon being a girlboss. He also noticed the...kids, mostly, the kids' father figure.

Listen, i know i have indulged that Baelon sees Viserys more as his father than Daemon, like he literally renamed the Cannibal after the man, but that is not the same deal for his siblings.

To the others, Sir Edrik (the knight that i created for this story) is their father figure.

Sir Edrik was one of Lady Baratheon's guards that came to Dragonstone with her after her wedding with Daemon, and stood by her side throughout all these years. In which he made it his mission to take care of her children as well. So he is always around them, he trains Baelon and Aegon, he stayed close to Aerea when she was beginning to tame her dragon (Grey Ghost), he always stayed by Elaena's door whenever she felt anxious of going to her room alone, he made sure Aerion doesn't cause any trouble and there were many times he carried Daena around whenever her mother couldn't.

And Daemon didn't like that.

So he ordered Sir Edrik to guard the gates of Dragonstone, where he would be far from the kids.

In which resulted in the night of the attack :)

Mind you, Baelon is a strong minded child, but he is still a child, and seeing his mother bleeding after defending him caused the poor boy to panic and yell for the maester.

To Baelon's suprise, his father appeared and he also stayed by the boy's side while the Maesters tended to his mother.

Just for them to announce that the wound was in the area of her womb, so she could no longer bear children.

Baelon felt his guts twitching, his only thoughts were surrounding the possibility, his father would no longer see a value on his mother.

But that didn't happen, instead, Daemon began staying more around them and her. And that made his kids question reality.

Not having their mother and Sir Edrik around, the kids were completely depending on Daemon, which caused some stress for Baelon, as he tried to care for his siblings without his father's help.

Lady Baratheon was also stressed over the sudden change, having Daemon around her was too uncomfortable for her, she felt as if he was trying to insert his dominance over her or something. And in her state, she still needed help to do things, especially taking care of little Rhaenys.

So yeah, having him around made everyone anxious.

And that is only the beginning 🙃

[blueskittlesart]

i see discussion abt the traveler in the notes of a reblog and i think it’s very interesting you say that bc honestly i think it’s the amount of disconnect present in The Twins Themselves and The Player that intrigues me but also intensely frustrates me. it feels like “the traveler”/you as a person playing the game and lumine/aether/the twin chosen are two separate entities and honestly that could be Really interesting if it was acknowledged and could fit in nicely with some of the vague themes of otherworldly/fourth-wall breaking stuff and personal autonomy they’ve got going on. but Nope! i think this is yet another issue of the Gacha Mechanic too in a way bc honestly all of the instances of x character bonding with The Traveler ends up pissing me off REAL bad lmaooo. i would much rather there be some kind of genuine distinction in the twin’s dialogue too bc the whole idea of. “oh this character you are playing is Their Own Character but also they have the exact same story interactions and dialogue as their twin” is just. Eeufhhh. maybe this is just a lot of personal issues i have with the setup because i am someone who not only enjoys lore but also characterization and character interactions with other characters and the world around them and i am not a fan of when a You The Player character is thrown into that. sorry for dumping this here i just need to let out these thoughts somewhere

I think what it comes down to is that on launch hyv was worried about player immersion but reluctant to commit to a true silent protagonist. in most actual gameplay, the protagonist twin functions as a silent protagonist, meaning a blank-slate character with no autonomy, completely at the mercy of the actions the player chooses for them. (the only exception to this rule is A-plot quests which directly involve their sibling.) But in the A-plot of the story at large, the twins, regardless of which one you choose, are NOT blank slates in any sense, and that's what leads to the disconnect during gameplay.

Silent protagonists are a method of storytelling unique to video games and they're specifically a vessel to further player immersion, the idea being that a player character whose backstory and personality are unknown or nonexistent is much easier to insert one's self into, thus creating a more immersive experience for the player. I think that this was probably the original intent behind the twins, at least to a certain extent, and is likely at least part of the reason that hyv is still keeping all their story cards so close to their chest--the more we learn about the twins, the less our chosen twin functions as a silent protagonist. In a game with so many playable characters that AREN'T blank slates, hyv may have worried that having no designated player-insert character would break immersion from the get-go. However, the story planned for the game at large relied on a protagonist that was, from the very beginning, NOT a silent protagonist. the twins have personalities. they very obviously have backstories and pre-game relationships with each other at the very least. they have NAMES. The fact that genshin has you 'name' your character who quite literally already has a canonical name and gives you no reasoning behind that is one of the most glaring examples of this weird inconsistency in the writing imo. It almost seems like they want it both ways. they want a perfect silent protagonist for player immersion, but they ALSO want a protagonist who is tied up in the story because of their history and relationships and personality. and it doesn't work, because those two things are fundamentally incompatible. you cannot allow your players unlimited choice in the actions, thoughts, and feelings of your playable character while also requiring that character to make certain choices and have certain feelings and relationships for the story to progress. The result of attempting to do both is a story which promises unlimited choice to the players and then jerks them along in one direction anyways, which only results in frustration and immersion-breaking. there are plenty of ways to do a non-silent protagonist in a video game without sacrificing the player's experience, but what genshin has done is given us this weird worst-of-both-worlds combo that just. does not work.

[instexcamera]

Hi UM can I request some brat!Natsume x dom!reader punishing with one of those fuck machines and degrading him until he's mindbroken?

Have a great day

Ooo my first request, and of course!

Brat!Natsume x GN Dom!Reader

Warnings: Overstimulation, Sub character, Degradation

Note: I'm sorry it took a little while to make this, I'm sick currently but I tried my best to get it out fast. I also hope you enjoy it as I tried my best with it but brats are hard to write for me hhh. I also hope I did Natsume justice as I have never written him.

18+ Under the Cut

Low whirring sounds flow from the machine as it fucks into Natsume at a slow pace. Even though it was set on the lowest setting you had to keep one hand on Natsume's knee, forcing him to keep his legs spread open. He gazes at you defiantly, a smug smirk on his lips. The urge to wipe that look off his face fills you, this was supposed to be a punishment for his jealously, he shouldn't still be acting so disobedient. The only cracks in his facade are the small shivers that run though his body every time the toy thrusts deep, or how he has to hold himself back from making noises.

"You're failING, what type of punishment is thiS? It's not working on meeah-" He cuts off with an unwanted moan as you had had enough of his teasing, choosing to turn the machine up to its highest level for a moment to shut him up. It works as Natsume's legs start to tremble more frequently and his eyes roll to the back of his head, his mouth opening slighty. You divulge in the sight for a moment before returning the machine back to its slow pace. Natsumes eyes going back to normal as his body relaxes, his expression now one of annoyance.

"I didn't actually enjoy thaT, I faked it for your own amuseMENT. " Staring at him for a second, noticing how he acts like this isn't affecting him. Yet those small signs are still noticeable no matter how much he tries to not let them show. You can feel his thighs still trembling ever so slightly underneath your fingertips, the way his face is starting to become a flushed red color. But you decide you'll play his little game, if he wants to act like a brat he can be treated like one.

Turning the machine off and removing your hand from him, he has nothing to gain any sort of friction now and annoyance shows on his face. Now that all stimulation was gone from him he was completely at your mercy, even more so than before. His cock, you realize dripping precum, the tip a deep red color. He wanted to cum you could tell but his pride of not wanting to be caught begging was winning, however you would change that before long. Leaning over him, and using your hand to grab his cheeks, forcing him to look you directly in the eyes.

"If you want more, beg. I already know you're just a pleasure loving slut who just can't take it when my attentions on another guy that isn't you. So come on, beg, don't be shy, you weren't earlier when you cussed out Tsumugi were you?"

Tsumugi was the reason he was like this in the first place, he couldn't handle seeing you give him a kiss on the cheek. You knew that Natsume's relationship with him wasn't the best, but he still somewhat liked Tsumugi, but that kiss seemed to have went too far for him. Natsume looks as if he regrets it now, deciding between if he wants to keep his pride up or be able to cum.

You pull your hand away from him and his face drops as he seemly stares down at his stomach, his shirt pushed up around his waist. It's not too long before you hear some mumbling coming from Natsume, his hands clenched tightly together. "I'm a jealous slut only for yoU, and I constantly want my hole to be filled with your cocK." Moving back down to be right next to him you whisper "Can you repeat that? I didn't hear you." He immediately turns to look at you as those words leave you, "I know you diD, your just enjoying thiS." His golden brown eyes continue to glare at you for a few more seconds until he finally gives up, realizing that he won't gain any touch unless he says it louder.

"I'm just a jealous dirty sluT, I can't handle not being filled and I need yoU-" Your finger presses down the button that makes the machine start up, at full force. Natsume, not thinking you'd start it while he was talking taken by surprise. His head bangs back onto the headboard and you feel bad about it only for a moment. His eyes start to unfocus and his body rocks back and forth from the force of the machine. His legs start to close and your quick to push them down, you can feel his muscles straining underneath your hands. The slapping sound from the machine meeting his ass isn't loud enough to block the high pitched whines leaving Natsume as the toy rams into his prostate over and over.

Natsume's precum is dripping down his cock in larger amounts, and the way his body strains against the machine and the increasing pitch of his moans signals he's close. Thinking of stopping the machine right before he orgasms takes form but is quickly pushed away when his moans reach a beautiful crescendo. You feel his thighs start to tremble more violently and a second later long white ropes of cum spurt out of his cock, landing on his chest, and dripping down to his stomach.

Letting go of his thighs and sliding your hand up his body, not bothering to slow the machine as it continues to thrust into him as forcefully as it can. Feeling his body twitch with the aftershocks of his orgasm, and the constant movement from the machine you gather some of his spend on your fingertips. You bring your fingers up to his lips and slip them past his open mouth. His eyes are glazed over likely from the after effects from his orgasm but you expect over stimulation to kick in soon. You watch as his mouth closes around your fingers, sucking his own cum off of them.

His eyes move to meet yours and you slide your fingers out of his mouth so he could speak. "Why aren't you stopping iT? It hurTS, it hurts so gooD." His voice comes out in different pitches, the machines thrusting starting to affect him more than you thought as overstimulation starts to kick in. You only smile at him as you let the machine keep up its pace, he deserved to be over stimulated. Broken moans fall from his lips as you look down towards the machine, realizing that Natsume's cock is still hard dispite cumming a minute ago.

"You're still hard? You must be more of a whore than I thought, but that's fine, I'll give you more pleasure than your body can handle." Natsume's response is pained whimpers, but you don't want him too fucked out of his mind just yet, he still had to answer some questions. Turning the machine down to a medium setting so pleasure is always present, you hear him let out a relieved moan, yet his body still twitches from deep thrusts onto his prostate.

Grabbing his cheeks once again, you force his head to turn to look at you. His eyes are starting glaze over and his mouth hangs over ever so slightly. However he quickly attempts to looks serious. "You want to apologize to me for interrupting my conversation with Tsumugi with your jealousy? I let you have an orgasm, not that you deserved it." He quickly sneers at you, however the effect doesn't work as well as he hopes with the position he's in. "I don't have to apologize for anythING. Tsumugi didn't care anywaYS, and I was not jealOUS." You sigh, of course he wouldn't admit it that easily, however you could get him too.

You wonder if causing him to orgasm over and over would make him admit it, he would enjoy it no matter how much he may deny it. He already looks on the verge of another, however the amount of stimulation he's getting not enough to push him over the edge just yet. Running your hand down his chest towards his cock, taking it in your hand, starting to jerk him off slowly. The feeling causes him to bite his lip as he glares at you, you'll try again to get to him to answer in a way you want. "I know you're just a jealous slut who only wants my attention you even admitted it, so why won't you say it again?" He stays quiet, you could see shame run through his eyes at your words, he knows you're right, he just wants to be difficult.

You could feel him twitch in your hand, your words turning him on more than he wanted to admit. "Oh, I feel your cock begging for release in my hand, even if you don't admit it yourself your body clearly knows how much of a jealous cock hungry bitch you are. " He still doesn't respond, choosing to continue biting his lip. You'd get him to admit it again. Turning the machine to high once again, not having any plan to turn it down this time until he's begging you, you'd break his stubborn behavior by having him too drunk on pleasure.

Natsume stops biting his lip immediately, the pleasure overtaking him, his head once again knocks back, his body starting to rock roughly again. You watch as his stomach visibly clenches and you feel his cock once again release. His whines filling the air, almost louder than the slapping sounds echoing throughout the room. There's not as much of the sticky white fluid this time as it mixes with his last spend with more soon to join it.

You smirk as you let go of his cock, still painfully hard as small amounts of cum dribble out of his angry red tip. You move towards his head, watching the flush on his face spread down to his chest as his body starts to tremble even more violently from the aftershocks. "Too mucH, too mucH." His eyes have tears in them as he stares at you, however they're becoming more unfocused by the second, you just smile down at him. His hands grip the bed sheets as his back arches, his eyes widening a little as another orgasm takes him by surprise. Laughing a little at his reaction you wonder if you've been successful in fucking his brattiness out of him.

"Are you sorry about interrupting me? Are you going to say you're a dumb attention whore? You must already know that I'm right, your little mind can't seem to comprehend anything but reaching your next orgasm right now." Natsume can't even turn to look at you as he nods, the overstimulation muddling his mind up. "I'm sorRY, I'm sorRY. I'm a dumb jealous slut who can't do anything but think about cummING." You laugh a little to yourself, he looks absolutely ruined now that he finally admitted it. He didn't even look like he comprehended what he said, his mind to hazed over by the continuous thrusting.

"You finally admitted it, and all it took was having a machine fuck you stupid. Doesn't this just prove what you said?" He nods along to what you're saying, and increasingly loud whines leave him as he cums again, less than last time, you wonder how many more he can take before nothing comes out anymore.

You make no move to slow down the machine, only running your hand across his forehead, wiping his bangs away that are stuck there. He doesn't seem to be able to form coherent sentences anymore, much less thoughts, only small I'm sorrys leaving him. His cock still hard, sways back and forth with his body from the machines continuous thrusting. You decide to see how much more he can take before either shooting blanks or passing out.

You wonder how he'll act when he comes back to his senses, how pissed he'll be. You know he won't be able to walk tomorrow from how hard you have this machine fucking into him. But for now you can only watch as the machine fucks into him.

[bringthekaos]

Hot take but I don't think Mel is interested in a pacified Zaun & Piltover because of the good in her heart as much as she wants to do it to prove herself to her mom

I mean. Mel’s mom literally said “let the war unfold,” and if Mel wanted to prove herself to Ambessa, then she would have done just that. We saw through her flashback how Mel tended to lean toward mercy rather than bloodshed, and seemed to be disgusted by her mother’s thirst for it.

Now… there might be a small element of vying for peace to spite her mother, but even then… I think vying for peace for selfish reasons is still vying for peace. Right thing for wrong reasons is still right thing, kinda deal. And I also think that Jayce rubbed off on her, a little. She had been here in Piltover for so long, playing the game of politics for so long, that when she first met Jayce he was just another pawn on her chess board. But I think as she got to know him better, she was reminded of the reasons she came to Piltover in the first place—to escape the warmongering and build something for herself, and she lost herself along the way. He helped her get it back, and I think it made her take a step back and say “what am I doing? This isn’t a chess board, these are people’s lives, and if we’re not careful the warmongering will consume us too. I will become my mother.”

Mel is a complex character, and one that got far too much hate from the fandom (and I think a very large reason for that is that many of us, myself included to an extent, can’t help but project our own distaste for corrupt politicians and “rich people” onto her). But I think it’s important to give characters a chance without dooming them from the start just because they happen to resemble something IRL. And while yes, she is technically corrupt, she is far from the biggest problem on that council. And even if she’s done some corrupt things in the past… she deserves a chance to make it right. I mean that’s the essence of character growth, to realize you’ve done something wrong and seek to change. I really hope she survives the bombing, because I’d like to see what a Mel who has been hurt by the conflict might look like… and how it could swing her to go even harder on the “no war” stance. She may be one of the only voices that still holds to it, Jayce included.

TL;DR—Mel may have voted for peace to spite her mother, but personally, I think her motivations for the vote are inconsequential to the vote itself. And while it may have been too little too late, she deserves credit for trying to stop this.

[coolcattime]

Reborn Obsession [Mianite AU Oneshot]

Relationships: Lady Ianite/Captain Capsize

Characters: Lady Ianite, Captain Capsize, Skipper Redbeard

Under the blanket of night, Lady Ianite lurks awaiting a mortal to quench her thirst. For centuries, the vampire queen has made this town her hunting grounds and tonight is no different. However, as she lures a pair of unwitting souls into her grasp, she finds one bares the face of a love lost long ago.

A love that she will not let escape her again. Whether the woman remembers her or not.

AO3 Link

Mianite Vampire AU Tag

“Why? Why is she—?”

“How many times have I warned you about keeping a human pet? It was only a matter of time before you went too far.”

“No… I didn’t mean— This is your fault!”

“Don’t you blame me. You were the one to sink your fangs into her and drain her dry.”

“You chained her up! Drugged me so I’d—Oh gods, I—! Why!?”

“I did warn you to turn her before our next meeting, didn’t I? If you’d have done that, this little accident wouldn’t have happened.”

“…”

“No more arguments? Good. Next time I’m sure you’ll listen to me when I tell you to do something.”

🩸 🩸 🩸

The cobbled streets were lit only by moonlight and the few lanterns still burning fighting the blanket of darkness that had descended when night had taken hold many hours ago. The perfect hunting grounds for the Lady currently lurking in the deepest shadows of an alley contemplating whether she should await prey coming to her or if she should begin actively hunting.

If any of the townsfolk were to see her at this moment, confusion would set in first rather than fear. Their rational thoughts would leap to the idea that their eyes were playing tricks on them. After all, she was a lady of nobility dressed in all her finery. She should truly have no reason to be loitering in an alley.

Though there would be some who would react in fear. After all, this town had crafted her existence into scary little stories meant to keep children from misbehaving. Tales that so many thought were merely that, but still would cause fear in their hearts if one was to encounter her late at night.

That thought brought a smile to her lips. Most didn’t even recall her name, merely calling her “the Lady”. Yet the fear persisted. As it should. If she so wished, she could unleash horrors on this little town.

They should be grateful that it remained just the occasional disappearances. If she so chose, she could dry this town dry and there would be nothing that anyone would be able to do to stop her. Not even the thorn-in-her side slayer nor the little apprentice she had recently begun training.

So as far as she was concerned, her hunting being such a rarity was a great mercy. Most of the time she tended to stick to merely capturing those trespassing onto her lands. The rest of the time she drank from her plentiful supplies or from animals. Coming into the town like this was just for when she was particularly carving fresh human blood.

Though she imagined whichever mortal happened to be her prey tonight would not take solace in their fate being a rare one. In fact, it seemed to make them far less accepting of meeting it. Though she did always enjoy telling them. The look in their eyes as she explained was always so amusing.

And it seemed that it would not be much longer before she would be able to quench her thirst. She could hear a group approaching. Such loud conversation and intoxicating laughter. So many souls unaware of how close their ends could be.

For the briefest moment, she considered feasting. To just emerge and drink her fill before stealing away the survivors for later. Let the streets run red and the stories become reality once again.

Tonight, though, she had no reason for such an act. As much as it was always tempting, it was simply not worth the attention she would gain. It was not worth the slayers coming to her door.

So instead, she simply focused on the footfalls. One would be behind. One or two always were. That poor soul would be more than enough for her meal tonight.

As always, she was right. Of course she was. These had been her hunting grounds for centuries. Even if the physical landscape changed, the ways mortals acted didn’t.

She could hear it, one walking slower and falling behind the rest of their friends. Now she just needed to completely separate them from their group. That too she was extremely well practised at.

She waited in the shadows for the group to make their way past. They were locked in some odd discussions that she paid no mind to, though she was glad for its presence. Those focused on such stupidity never noticed one of their own going missing until it was already too late.

Still, she waited. Her moment had to be chosen carefully. She closed her eyes, focusing entirely on the footsteps. They all passed slowly, moving further from the alley she was in. She needed only one in earshot.

Then, once she was sure only her target would hear, she let out a cry as if in pain. One step of footfall ceased as a member of the group paused.

She smiled. It was child’s play. However, now was not the time to be revelling. She had to reel her prey in.

She continued to cry. Weak, pathetic, little cries. Those meant to sound like the lost and the scared. The type of cries that she knew from great experience would lure people in. Tonight was not an exception. Footsteps began to approach the alley.

“Hello? Is— Are you okay?” A voice with a thick accent travelled in a careful call. At the edge of the alley, she could see a man.

He would not be able to see her, his eyes were not nearly as good in the darkness as hers, but she could completely take him in.

She’d guess he was a dock worker with how he was dressed, though her knowledge of fashions was outdated. He did look scruffy though. An untucked shirt and unkempt beard. The only part of him that seemed groomed at all was his hair and as far as she could tell that ginger mess that only tied back to keep it out of his vision.

He would not be missed.

“Red?” Or perhaps, for once, she was wrong as a woman’s call came and turned his head. The same accent, clearly one of his friends having already noticed his absence.

The man hesitated. His gaze was pulled towards the one calling him, but he did not move away. Her cries were still reaching him.

Of course, she could just let him leave. Allow him to go on never realising how close he was to the end of his little existence. But she could already smell him. The sweet blood waiting for her beneath the scruff and sea salt. She didn’t feel like letting him escape now.

So, she would just have to lure them both. Drain one here and save the other for later. Whichever had less fear in their eyes… Or perhaps just whichever was prettier.

Yes. What harm was there in having a little fun tonight?

“What are you doing? We almost left you behind,” The woman called again, apparently oblivious to the fact that the two had very much been left behind by their friends.

“I—” The man’s gaze was pulled between herself and the mystery woman. He appeared to have no words for why he had stopped. Perhaps the old stories were floating in his head, of the way that the Lady lured her prey in.

So, she just needed to push said thoughts out of his head.

“Help me…” She imitated the final tone of her last unfortunate prey. The quivering tone that she had heard so many times. The tone that she knew from experience would lure in the kind and dark-hearted alike. “Please… Help me…”

Then a yelp. Weak, but loud enough for him to hear.

His eyes widened. He entered her web.

“There’s something hurt!” The man yelled back to his friend as he entered the alley.

“Shit!”

Feet began rapidly hitting the cobbles. Both sets coming towards her.

The man was approaching quickly, though for the moment he still couldn’t see her from where she was hidden. If she so chose, she could lunge out now and snuff out his precious life before he even knew what was happening.

But she did prefer her preys’ ends to be a little bit more drawn out. They just tasted better when there was a sauce of terror. She wanted the woman to see the first attack.

Still, it would not be long now until the woman entered the alley too. So, the Lady slowly began to rise.

There was an excitement that she could not rid herself of. It had been so long since she had hunted a pair. All the ideas of what she could do with such a golden opportunity were circulating through her head.

Immobilising the man seemed like the obvious first move. It would lure the woman closer and allow her all the time that she desired to figure out her next step. Though, it would likely be immobilising her too.

Then perhaps she would drain one here. As slowly as she could while their friend had to watch, unable to help. Then she’d leave her first victim with just enough life that they’d be able to see her abduct the other before they expired. Dying knowing their friend was in her clutches.

Or maybe she could take both back to her castle. Play some games with them to decide which she would drain first. Have them wake up in her dungeons, allow them an hour or two for reality and the terror to truly set in. Maybe she’d even tell them that she’d let one of them go, to watch them spend their last moments together arguing.

Just imagining the fun that she could have was enough to bring a smile to her face, but it was not the time for it. The woman was entering the alley. Now was the time to strike.

She stepped into view of the man. Briefly, she saw his eyes begin to widen at the sight of her. However, before he could even truly comprehend her presence, she grabbed a hold of his shirt and threw him into the wall.

There was a wet thump.

The man fell in a heap.

“Red!” Came the panicked cry of the woman.

She once again poised herself to strike.

It would be even easier this time. Fear, after all, made mortals act in such questionable ways.

However, when the woman actually came into her sights, the Lady found herself completely frozen. If she still had breath in her lungs, it would’ve been completely expelled at the sight of her.

Though she was dressed similarly to the man, in common clothes covered with the scent of sea salt and hard labour. Though her accent had made her voice different. After all these years, all the centuries of longing, it was her.

Alive and breathing. Her heartbeat rapid and fear spreading through her being did nothing to stop her from being as beautiful as the night that she had been lost.

Before Lady Ianite was her love, reborn again.

Every thought, even plan and hunting instinct, completely left her.

This could not be their reunion. It needed to be perfect. It could not be filled with fear and blood.

She could not be seen here by her.

She would prepare and come back for her. Nothing would keep them apart again. Anyone who tried would suffer. But for now, she needed to get herself ready.

She turned to mist and rushed away, her love knowing nothing of her presence but the man’s injuries and the unexplainable force that rushed past her.

🩸 🩸 🩸

A number of nights later, Capsize stood on her balcony trying to ignore her unease as she could swear that she saw a figure moving in the darkness just out of her view. Normally coming out here was a comfort. The night air helped put her at ease, particularly on nights where she struggled to sleep. But since Red had been attacked, she found it hard to shift the fear that someone was watching her from the shadows.

She knew that such a thought was stupid. Nothing more than paranoia from the fact her brother had been attacked out of nowhere, seemingly by a person that could vanish into thin air. Yet, the way her friends were acting, it was as if nothing worth worrying about had happened at all.

Maybe it was unfair to say her friends as a collective. Sonja had been coming by every day to make sure the two of them were okay, but the way the rest had been acting had left a bitterness in her that had soaked her to the bone.

It was ridiculous. Whoever had attacked him was still out there, but those closest to her were acting as if he’d just run into a wall of his own accord. Like she was just making up the attack to cover for him. As if she made something like this up.

Though, at least their laughter was better than the people she had to hear blaming the same local tall tales that they blamed on everything.

It was beyond frustrating the amount of old sods that were telling her that she and Red should be counting their lucky stars that they’d escaped an encounter with the Lady. Because apparently, they’d been attacked by a vampire. The way they laughed about it left her barely able to resist punching them as they used it as an excuse to not look into the attack at all.

‘I’m not becoming prey to that woman.’ One had said to her face. Apparently, they were fine with letting Red’s attacker walk free as long as they could pretend it had been a supernatural creature of the night.

Yet despite her annoyance at her explanation, she had still been unable to shift the feeling of someone watching her since that night. Only ever at night. But it had been ever present since the attack.

Maybe the local tales stuck in her mind more than she wished to believe.

Even now, standing here on her balcony, she could swear that someone was watching her. The more she looked, the more she swore that out in the darkness was a figure.

That a bright pair of purple eyes were fixated on her.

She gripped onto the railing, almost leaning over to just get the tiniest bit closer. To be able to tell that her eyes were just playing tricks on her.

“Capsize!”

She whipped around in panic as Red yelled from downstairs. As she did, she must have shifted her hand onto a rough part of the wood as her finger caught with a sharp pain.

“Ah!” She gasped, looking down to see that she’d cut her fingertip open. Blood began to drop onto the wood. “Shit…”

What on earth was wrong with her? She had no reason to be this jumpy over shadows and children’s stories.

She squeezed her finger, wrinkling her nose at the sting but thankfully not spotting a splinter. With a sigh, she headed inside. Hopefully Red wouldn’t make fun of her for the act of clumsiness.

What she did not see as she left her balcony was the figure she had been trying to convince herself was nought more than a figment of her own imagination, turning to a dark mist that floated its way up to where she had just been.

As quickly as she had deformed, Lady Ianite reformed into herself, smiling.

“Capsize… What a lovely name for you.”

She ran her finger over the freshly spilt blood. Every urge in her body told her to taste the precious liquid, but she knew that was not the best use of it. Besides, there was plenty more that she would be able to drink once the time was right.

Instead, she pulled the tiniest crystal vial from a hidden pocket. Pressing her fingertip to its top, she willed the drop to fall from her skin to the container, quickly sealing it once it landed and stained the inside crimson.

“With this, my love, we shall be together once more,” She said in elation as she held the vial close to her silent heart.

There was still so much to do, so many lengthy processes ahead of her to make sure everything was ready for their reunion, but blood magic was a talent of hers. Even with just this single drop, she knew what her talents could do.

When the time came, her love would walk right up to her without a second thought. No matter who or what tried to stop her, all her love would be able to perceive would be her.

Though with only a drop, it would take time to enthral her to such a level and the enchantment would burn out the moment they touched. But Ianite was patient enough to wait, it had already been centuries, what was one more year?

As for it burning out. Well, once they were touching, it would already be too late for anyone to stop her from taking her love home.

Of course, she’d keep a watchful eye on her in case of other opportunities, but she knew she had already won.

“I won’t fail you this time, my love. This time, I’ll do what’s needed and we’ll be together for all eternity.”

[allwormdiet]

Insinuation 2.9

And now everyone is cool and nothing is wrong :)

Y'know, obviously the actual violence involved in the bullying, both physical and social, is like the chief source of harm for Taylor, but I think what's almost equally terrible is that it's made her into her fourth-worst enemy after the main trio, scared of being disliked and trying so hard to find ways to justify not bowing to others

Also, I don't fully know enough about Alec to say, but low-key I get the sense that Taylor just doesn't like him that much, which is a little funny but also a little sad

Yeah, like, he's a little immature but this kinda feels like her interpreting his words in bad faith

This is kinda cute? Alec is being a bit of a brat, yeah, but Brian is immediately charmed by someone else who automatically did a Responsible Thing and Taylor clearly flourishes with his attention. I'm sure they both think they're the token sane ones

Maybe it's just me but I think Alec's power can be pretty busted. Like that's a great way to get an enemy to score an own-goal if they're not careful with their weapons, or if they're on a flight of stairs.

Also think I'm getting a marginally better read on his character through this chapter. He does seem to be earnest, or at least trying, the sarcasm comes off as much of a front as Brian acting like an adult or Lisa acting smug.

Rachel speaks up and it's just to defend her dogs, this is relatable

Also smart call on the infosec tbh

Also also, lmao Taylor's still mad and not shy about that, very telling that she's still thinking of Rachel as Bitch

Makes sense that Rachel has to be careful about what dogs she can use her power on, it only takes one beast like that to go off the rails and cause a whole world of hurt that she didn't mean for. Five bucks says there's a story to how she learned that one.

Sweet But Heartbreaking: The Hebert Family Story

Few things, semi-conflicting in my head but I'll talk through it all anyway

I like the Undersiders and know that they're broadly good kids, or at least trying to be good kids, but I don't think they're so upright that they're above doing crime that would cause harm to others, even if it's "just" financial loss and a scare

And it's interesting to me that as much as Taylor likes them, as much as Taylor yearns to be on this team with them (to the point where she'll tolerate Rachel), she still sees herself as in some way apart from them, even better than them, because she's a hero. Or going to be a hero at the least.

Wonder how long that attitude can hold up

Current Thoughts

I like seeing the Undersiders play off each other more, and I like seeing Taylor slide into a niche alongside them. Had I the power I would make the next *checks notes* twenty-eight arcs just about them all being friends and having adventures, but I do not, so. Reality will ensue at some point, I imagine.

I think it's a little easier to see Taylor's exact problems with more people to bounce off of. She's got this ongoing struggle between needing to belong, needing to fly under the radar, and needing vindication for what she's been put through, and it's given her some bad habits. The self-loathing is a major component, but as I'm looking at it I think her swiftness to dismiss others as less-than-her could just as easily be a byproduct of Emma's tender mercies as a lot of her other bad habits. All of Winslow High has either participated in her suffering, or else stood by and did nothing about it; is it any wonder that she feels alone in a crowd, that she's so harsh in how she views others who provide any reason to doubt their intentions towards her? Rachel is obviously an extreme case but she even raised her hackles a bit with Alec back in 2.7 and what he said could barely count as teasing.

Little shocked that this arc is over already, but I guess it's longer than Arc 1, so maybe I'm just getting wrapped up in the flow of the story and getting thrown by the interruptions. Interlude next, then my meditations on Arc 2

[nikoisme]

i get what you mean about zeus in god games, i think generally it all boils down to “there is only so much time we have for each song”, but of course there are ways to work around that, probably, and i think if even he has his own song as an extension of god games, we could have had a bit more build up to his eventual actions

personally, i’m not overly salty about it, but i know i may be bias because i like the ending of the song a lot and have very mixed opinions on zeus. i also haven’t read the odyssey so i can’t comment on the fact it plays out differently in the musical. what i will say, if we look at this action in the contained context of the musical - okay, so, zeus likes to do choices, right. he gives odysseus the choice in thunder bringer and he seems to be relatively fair with it? (okay, not, like, it’s not really fair but in line with all the other gods we see in the musical, it makes sense, i guess?). and then here he does give athena a choice again, the other gods or him. and i think he hoped she’d choose them and lose. i think he just wanted to be entertained, and then she’d give in. but she doesn’t, she does this seemingly impossible thing, convinces them all, all for the sake of a mortal man.

and if kindness is weakness, if ruthlessness is mercy, then such a feat is something unnatural to zeus. how can his own, perfect daughter be willing to fight so desperately for a man who has (in the eyes on several gods) violated the will of the gods? she won, fairly, yes, but she wasn’t supposed to. she shouldn’t have wanted to. so, yeah, zeus still overreacts, but i think it’s sort of, like, that’s his daughter. and he can’t handle that she’d align herself with a mortal and he needs to punish her, somehow, because that is something the gods cannot do. i mean, athena initially rejected ody for his “weakness”, she probably got that mentality from her dad

all that is to say, yeah i do think zeus is still a bit over-the-top-villainous, but that’s my two cents on why that could be the case. maybe. i know you did not actually ask for this i’m so sorry this is so long. autism is a crazy thing, y’know? anyways. yeah. sorry. bye

Hmm, yeah! I do see all your points! I always keep in mind that epic is loosely based off the odyssey so not everything is going to be faithful to it. It's trying to serve its purpose within the story epic is trying to tell. I recognize that a lot of the changes in epic are made for that reason, and while i may prefer the odyssey version, i can enjoy it for the point it's trying to make. But this just felt a bit over the top for me, even for the epic format haha. So this is one of the changes that i generally don't like not only because it's a complete flip from the odyssey, but also because it felt very one-dimensional and fell flat for the musical itself as well (though i understand that not every character is going to be fully fleshed out,, that is expected)

So that is just my personal opinion, and obviously i'm fine with everyone who enjoys the route epic took :)

[coeluvr]

Hi there!🫶 First of all i wanted to thank you for getting me out of the worst reading slump I ever had- seriously your story is amazing (i love that mc *doesn't* play the whole 'forgive and forget' thing, but that you actually offer the oppurturnity of MC being out for blood) 🫡 that being said is there a overview of all characters besides the LI's? Unlike Mr. Luceris '#IMissMyWifeEveryday', i got a horrible memory and forget after some months😭 another question- are you okay with fanfics? in general and if so- are there any rules for them (like e.g. where to upload them, do you (noz want to be tagged or if scenes of patreon content can be mentioned briefly ((usually i would assume no))?)✨ I'm just a lil mc lover and would like to write about my mc's unhinged questionable behavior (especially playing around with the trauma and the ptsd here!).🫶

Lastly- what do you think of the song 'Brutus' of the Buttress for a revenge seeking, mentally unstable MC (since this seems to be a popular rough cut for many people)? I love how a tinfoil can be made between MC and Luceris, especially Luceris sorta creating a mini him (but worse) with what he did. Ironically his mercy on MC by letting them live is the most ruthless thing he could have done and i'm living for their cat fights 💅

have a good day coe!🫶

Hello, anon! 🥺💗 Thank you for your kind words aaa 😭

There isn't an overview of all the characters but I do plan on adding something of the sorts to the demo.

I can just do one here just for you though lol.

Luceris - Emperor / Murderer of MC's family and god knows how many other people / Helios' father

Lancelot - Emperor's Shield / Saved MC from Luceris crazy antics that night / Hunter's uncle

Farah - Emperor's dead wife / The woman whose room MC can burn / Helios' mother

Ikram - General of the Imperial Army / Woman who hates MC for no apparent reason / Vincent's mother

Naima - Royal Mage / Only normal person around here? / Fadiya's mother

Aside from them I don't think any other character (that isn't an RO) in the current demo is really relevant.

There's Eadred/Eadith but they make their appearance in the short stories and yeah that is about it. If I'm forgetting anyone, my bad. 🫣

Fanfics would be lovely! I don't have a preference where it is uploaded so post it wherever you want. I won't interact with it (aka won't read it) but I'm sure everyone else in the fandom will love it. 🥰

Patreon content can be mentioned except for the interactive romantic snippets because those are not canon and I don't want anyone to be misled about those. 😭 Anything from the short stories can be mentioned since it is all canon.

I love that song!! I see the entire song as a sibling dynamic or mentor and student type of dynamic so I personally can't see it for MC.

I can see parts of the song but not it in its entirety because even with the envy that the character in the song feels, there is still some love and care towards "the one who has it all" and I don't know, I just don't see MC right now caring for Luceris lol.

Thank you for the ask! 💗

[viravos-simper]

Aaravos/the merciful one theory

TDP - Aaravos/The merciful one theory

Part 1

We’ve all been asking ourselves the same daunting question, who are they?

They’ve only been seen twice; in the statue with Aaravos, and a leaked image from s6 ep1. Known by the tital ‘the merciful one’, we know nothing about this seemingly important character, who may be a significant part of Aaravos’s backstory. I have some thoughts in which I am here to share.

At this point in time, I'm sure everybody has seen a glimpse of these leaked season 6 images floating around the internet; and everyone can't help but wonder what may be happening in this scene. While there are so many thrilling possibilities to what is amidst, I have crumpled together bits and pieces of engaging ideas and intriguing thoughts to form my theory on who this mysterious person might be. A daughter; specifically Aravos's daughter.

Let's start our story here, with this picture:

In this image, it looks as though Aaravos is pleading with someone. Asking, or perhaps begging them for/to do something. Seeing as though the other person is referred to as 'the merciful one' maybe he's asking them to spare the humans, saving an enter race doomed to be disposed of seems quite merciful.

My reasoning for saying Aaravos's daughter instead of a lover, friend, or possibly another leader, is because of this:

This post does say 'the' elven leader, and not 'an' meaning it could refer to someone such as Aditi. As well as the fact that this passage only refers to this person with the pronouns she/her, while the merciful one is confirmed non-binary and uses they/them. Still, we do not know who the writing was talking of before this part; meaning if they were speaking of Aaravos, the term 'the elven leader' still stands.

So even with new information that might prove this theory false, it still provides some interesting ideas.

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

Part 2

My friend (@6coco_nut9 on tiktok) originally thought of some of this, luv ya brah <3

If you look at the pictures at the top of the page, you can see that Aaravos is in fact NOT crying in front of the merciful one, as the silhouette in front of him has long hair and tmo has short hair.

If you look closely at the silhouette with Aaravos, you will notice some things:

Similar colors in different lighting

Same ear placement

And the gold accent on their clothing next to the hair (which Aaravos has in the same spot)

This leads me to believe that Aaravos is looking at a reflection of himself (this is where Coco's idea comes in); and that maybe Aaravos is having a flashback to this moment:

He's looking at his reflection in the water when tmo comes into play. This ties into the 'tmo is Aaravos's daughter theory' as maybe he is crying because he is asking for help.

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

BONUS THEORY!

(For context, this is Aaravos’s voice actor)

Leola is Aaravos’s mother. Change my mind.

[cinamun]

Hi Cin!! I hope your day is going well so far!!

This is going to be long so I’m sorry in advance…

Okay so, I’m gonna start with saying I don’t like Bishop. I like him as a character in the sense that I like knowing how people think and why they do the things they do. Motives, ya know? So naturally his character intrigues me. BUT, I can’t stand the role he plays in this story and the way he treats others around him, especially Mercy. He is vile and abhorrent. That being said, what is he currently doing wrong? He could be trying to cover his ass while also weirdly caring about her, not in the sense of getting soft and mushy but in a way where what happens to her affects him because clearly he benefits from having her around even if that’s just so he can continue to manipulate her. Maybe he is just helping her so she doesn’t die. He doesn’t have to care about her extremely deeply to want to make sure she doesn’t die. Regardless of his intentions…she’s still breathing, he’s getting on her every single time she gets up, he’s making her eat, he told her to call her son, he said d she’s free to go as soon as she’s able to stand on her own but she can’t. She’d get back to her apartment and end up right back on that floor. Who else was showing up to check on her? She would’ve probably died on that floor. No one was coming any time soon. Except him. Could’ve just been right place, right time but still. It could be as simple as I’m around this person very frequently, they’re hurt, I’m going to fix it. Doesn’t mean he’s had a change of heart. He could just be simply taking care of her bc she’s severely injured and no one else is there and she’s being stubborn about it. Like Cin said, there’s no telling what kinds of nasty injuries him or his cell mates may have sustained while incarcerated. I’m sure he knows a thing or two about concussions. OR it could just be to cover his ass and not be a suspect or manipulate her into trusting him again. Either way…she’s alive, right? Because of him, right? And I’m only defending him bc SHE ATTEMPTED TO STAB HIM WITH A KITCHEN KNIFE WHILE HE WAS SLEEPING THUS GETTING FLUNG ACROSS THE ROOM TO PRESERVE HIS OWN LIFE. Prison instincts are a very real thing. In that particular situation this one time, he had a valid reason but used way too much strength and now she has a head serious head injury. It could have genuinely been an accident. You don’t have to care about someone to acknowledge that you severely injured them without meaning to and you feel obligated to take responsibility bc not only was it your fault but they’re not taking care of themselves and neither is anyone else. I will keep saying it….if he wanted her to die or didn’t care to some degree about her life, she would’ve been gone by now.

Now…I am fully aware that I could be loud and wrong and I will admit it if I am. We all know Bishop and we all know nothing is ever what it seems. I’m just going based off what we currently are seeing and how we got to this particular situation.

[dialovers-translations]

DIABOLIK LOVERS MORE CHARACTER SONG Vol.2 GRATEFUL★DEAD ★MARCH by Sakamaki Kanato Mini Drama “The Serenade Danced with Jealousy”

Original title: 嫉妬で奏でるセレナーデ

Source: Diabolik Lovers CHARACTER SONG Vol. 2 Mini Drama

Audio: Here

Seiyuu: Kaji Yuki

Translator’s note: Honestly I have an insane amount of respect for all of the Kanato stans out there because it couldn’t be me, lol. Huge props to all of you for keeping up with this purple gremlin and his jealous antics. Honestly, you could be breathing air and this boy would be pissed because HOW DARE YOU PRIORITIZE OXYGEN OVER HIM. >(((( Rejet was smart to hire Kaji Yuki as his VA though because that man is talented as hell and the only redeeming factor to this character imo. 

“...There you are.”

*Rustle*

Kanato approaches you.

“I gave you some alone time since you told me there was some important business you had to take care of, so I got curious as to what you could be up to, only to find you lost in thought in your own room?”

*Rustle*

“Hm? You hid something behind your back just now, didn’t you? ...Show me. ...You know what will happen if you say no, don’t you?”

*Rustle*

“This is...an organ? I’ve never seen it before. Hmー”

He paces around you.

“You got your hands on it without my knowing...and tried to hide it from me on top of me?”

*Thud* 

“Did you truly believe you could get away with that?”

You apologize.

“Teddy...Did you hear her just now? This girl seems to believe that all she needs to do is apologize and she’ll be forgiven. She must be letting the fact that her blood is somewhat special get to her head. That’s only logical explanation. ...Ah! I just had a great idea. Give me that, please.”

*Rustle*

“Come on, hurry!”

 He rips it from your hands.

*Rustle*

“...Heehー Now that I take a better look at it, I have to say that this organ is a work of true art.  It’s made from glass. However...It’s an eyesore. I cannot believe you would prioritize this thing over me.”

*Rustle rustle*

*SHATTER*

“Fufu...Fufufu...Well, would you look at that! That’s one less annoyance in this world to worry about! I bet you must be happy as well?”

He halts right in front of you.

“My mood has somewhat improved as a result after all. ...Now don’t ever make me go through extra trouble because of your unnecessary behavior. That being said...Ahー Poor little organ...It met such a cruel fate because it ended up in your hands. It’s all your fault, because you turned a blind eye to me. Fufufu...Anyway, this is the end.”

He walks to the door.

“Let us go to my room. I do not want to stay here another second.”

*Rustle*

“Hey...Why won’t you move?”

He walks back up to you. 

“Are you that sad about what happened to that organ?”

You explain.

“Eh? It was supposed to be a gift for me...? ...Please safe me the horrible excuses. You cannot fool me with those lies. It doesn’t make sense to give gifts on a random day, does it?”

You try to defend your case.

“You are insistent...that you’re stating the truth? Then why don’t you tell me why you wanted to gift it to me?”

You explain.

“It played a beautiful melody so you wanted me to hear it too? That hardly counts as a reasoning. Besides, did you truly believe that i would be happy with such a gift?”

He picks up one of the glass shards. 

*Cling*

“This stupid thing...”

*Shatter*

“It breaks so easily, just like this. ...It’s nothing but a bunch of trash. ーー I don’t want it! How come you just don’t get that!? Stop doing things I never asked you to!! ...Haah, haah...Hah...I thought I had made myself very clear at this point, but it seems like you still fail to realize. In which case, I shall teach you one more time. ーー The only thing someone like you can do for me...”

Kanato bites you.

*Sluuurp*

“Nn...is to donate your blood like this...Mmh...”

*Sluuurp*

“Nn...”

*Sluuurp*

“Hah...Trying to do anything beyond that point is nothing but presumptuous...Hahn...”

*Sluuurp*

“Mmh...Nn...”

*Sluuurp*

“Nn...Nnh...Exactly...All you need to do is be at my mercy like this, forever...I won’t let you show interest in anything or anyone else...Having you be meek and obedient to me makes me much happier than any gift ever could...Do you understand?”

*Rustle*

“If you do not want to upset me any further...Then please forget about that silly little organ already. All I want is for you to only ever have eyes for me, pay mind to my words, and offer your blood to my fangs...As every cell of your body craves for me and only me.”

*Sluuurp*

“Mmh...Nn...”

*Sluuurp*

*Gulp*

“...Hah.”

*Rustle*

“...Hm? Why would you flinch all of a sudden? ...Ahー I injured my hand? I suppose it happened when I picked up one of the glass shards earlier. However, I won’t die from bleeding a little.”

You frown.

“Hm...Are you worried about me, perhaps? ...Fufu. Right. This is all your fault, so you do something about it. ...At this point, you should have plenty of experience dealing with blood, don’t you? ...Come on.”

*Rustle rustle*

“...Fufu...Fufufu...That only tickles. Come on, part your lips wider and lap up the blood...Fufufu...Fufufu...Ahaha...Ah-aah~ You still don’t know what to do, do you? ...You really are a silly girl, aren’t you? In that case, I suppose I’ll have no other choice but to take tonight to teach you more thoroughly. ...Right, Teddy? Fufu...”

*Rustle*

“Are you listening? You should do it like this...”

Kanato shows you.

“Mm...”

*Sluuurp*

“Hahn...”

*Sluuurp*

*Gulp*

“Mmh...Nn...”

*Rustle rustle*

“...Hah. ...Once again...If you ever wish for something or someone other than me...Nnh...I will never forgive you...Mmh...Never...Understood? Fufu...Fufufu...Ahahaha! ...Nnh...”

*Sluuurp*

*Gulp*

“Ah...”

*Sluuurp*

ーー THE END ーー

[rainbowolfe]

Kallamar Dialogue Analysis

I might be crazy, but I think there's another character at play hiding in plain sight.

Sorry for the lack of screenshots, I'd have to start a new save to get most of them, but this document contains all the dialogue from the base game (and then some) with the text effects preserved. Maybe I'll add pictures in at a later date. Anyways,

While the same probably can't be said for other Bishops, Kallamar is very particular when he speaks about Narinder and the Red Crown. The Red Crown is it/its, Narinder is he/him. And he clearly talks about them as separate beings.

"Shamura, the Red Crown grows stronger by the day. Already it has succeeded where he has failed before. Leshy has been slain!" "He has sent many vessels like you. One after the other, they all fall." "And he sends you back from death stronger each time." "Kill Shamura, but do not send me to my death. Do not send me to him!"

Two of these he/hims are not like the others.

And the reason this even catches my attention is because of Him. As in, His Infernal Majesty (HIM) from Powerpuff Girls. A plain old 'him' could be referring to anyone, but Him meant specifically that character.

Kallamar has lots of other dialogue speaking about Narinder, and he doesn't use that emphasis. In fact, the only time Narinder receives an emphasized 'him' is from Leshy, but it's red.

"You may think yourself righteous in your service to HIM."

So. There's another him causing problems for the Bishops that isn't Narinder. Need more proof?

The thing is, Narinder never tried to kill Leshy, so he couldn't have failed at it. He wounded him and Kallamar, but those weren't lethal strikes. Those two don't see what he did as an attempt on their lives either.

"But when dear brother Narinder struck us in his fury, my eyes were torn from the socket." "[...] my handsome ear, unfairly taken by Narinder."

So, who tried and failed to slay Leshy? A previous vessel maybe? It may have been a previous member of the Old Faith. Or maybe even the proper Red Crown bearer before Narinder. Whoever it is, Kallamar doesn't want to have to face him in death. But the thing is.

Narinder is in the Realm Beyond. The Bishops get sent to Purgatory. The Bishops most likely never crossed his path. The only reason Lamb ends up on Narinder's doorstep is because they were sacrificed on a pentagram. He may be chained away, but that symbol is still connected to him as much as it's connected to the Bishops. Not to mention, Narinder is clearly still very attached to Shamura, as mad as he is at them. He wouldn't watch them die, but he'd torture them in Purgatory?

By the way, someone is definitely actively torturing the Bishops in Purgatory. Purgatory is a place where souls go to be punished so they can (potentially) be released into the next life, which is what's happening every time Lamb 'kills' someone in there. But there's a stark contrast between how the Bishops look and how everyone else looks. Even though their mini-bosses and Witnesses look more monstrous, none of them are sustaining injuries.

Perhaps the reason the other realms are being affected isn't just because the Bishops are in Purgatory, but because they're in Purgatory with someone who's absolutely pissed with them.

Shamura knows the Bishops are bound for Purgatory. More on that in a different post. Kallamar most likely knows too, hence his fear of dying. These two are the most "aware" when they're in their Purged state, and Kallamar may even be more aware than Shamura. Everyone seems to be fighting an illusion of Lamb while the actual culprit beats their ass and tears them apart. Except Kallamar. Kallamar has to be able to see the true attacker (at least sometimes) because he's gained items from the new environment: the tooth of a beast, and a tentacle impaled on a stick.

"Free me! Let me out!" "Stay back! Stay away! Mercy, Red Crown, mercy..."

In the first quote, Kallamar knows that either Narinder or Lamb is listening at that moment. And he demands their help. When Lamb does finally come to help him, he says the second quote. Which wouldn't make any sense, right? He requests their presence and then tells them to stay away.

Unless, of course, he's not begging Narinder or Lamb for mercy. He's begging a past Red Crown user, whose name he doesn't know, but whose face he does.

Or, OR. The Red Crown itself.

Though this is a Kallamar dialogue analysis, this quote from Shamura is relevant:

"I envy you not. While you may yet kill me, still I would not trade places."

What is so bad about the role Lamb plays in all of this? There are three paths for Lamb: 1) They die, 2) They die and are tortured until Narinder gets it out of his system, 3) They ascend as the new God of Death. The first two apply to Shamura as-is. So there has to be some type of baggage associated with the Red Crown or being the God of Death that Shamura would rather die than deal with.