#might have to add him to the personal favorite creators list and that is a HIGH bar

[auriidae]

stream of consciousness ramble warning but okay so i clicked on bdubs' latest hermitcraft video to test out the trick in that last post i reblogged because it was at the top of my youtube recommended and 45 minutes later i am reminded of why i still LOVE hermitcraft after all these years like !!!!! i hadn't watched a single s10 video before just now bc tbh i kinda feel like it's been going too fast for me recently? i'm a 'rewatch the same bits over and over + get to new videos only when i'm in the right mood' kind of guy who's still mentally stuck in s6 haha but ohh my goodness watching this made me go like OH THEYVE STILL GOT IT yknow what i mean? just a friendly reminder that the hermits r such skilled artists and entertainers :] and BDUBS IN PARTICULAR like don't get me started. i've been a primarily and p much only grian + scar watcher since the veeery beginning (well. since s6 <og desertduo enjoyer let's GO) but ccbdubs does the things i love about ccgrian + ccscar's videos so well. his videos are beautifully edited and his builds are ART (the waterfall in his forest holyyy crap? and the palette of the brewery. gah). like mans has been hyped up in the other cc's videos for a REASON. also he's freaking hilarious idk how people skip even his ad breaks because they always make me smile. BUT ANYWAYS i've def been focusing more on the character/fandom/duos aspect of hc + the life series recently (looks at my entire blog) but wauhhh every so often i'm reminded that i'm here for the ccs and their creations just as much <33333

[disfrutalakia]

Arkanis Lore and where it stands at October 31! A quick rundown by me Kia disfrutalakia

Ok hi hello guys, so I'm assuming that you guys know me from qsmp times and I'm also assuming that most of you are not into Arkanis be it because of the language barrier or lack of time, but you still want to watch your favorite cc in the event tomorrow? Well, I'm here to help, under the cut will be a rundown of the main story (I won't get into characters individual lore, only if they tie into the main story which most do to be fair) plus links to some resources that you can use to understand Arkanis!

This is by no means perfect and was made from using stuff from my own memory, which is not the best, others can feel free to add onto it as they wish <3

1 - What is Arkanis?

Arkanis is a portuguese speaking server that started back in September, it's powered by twitch and was started by Boiss Studios and Ostra Content, it has a heavy focus on rp.

2- Who are the creators in Arkanis?

As of now we have 25 creators in the cast, this includes ex qsmp participants like Pac, Mike, Bagi and Felps as well as some faces you might recognize from purgatory like Guaxinim, Himaru, Gabepeixe. The complete list of creators is bellow:

Pac, Mike, Himaru, Febatista, Bagi, Matt, Felps, Yayah, Guaxinim, Cherry, JVNQ, Choke, MeiaUm, Guhzera, Gabepeixe, Quel, Coreano, Wuant, Maethe and FunBabe were the first batch of creators that we met.

Last week there was the addition of new members consisting of Moonkase, Malena, LBeatriz, NickLink, Al3xey and Kazzio.

Most of the members are brazilian except for Kazzio and Wuant who are portuguese.

3- What's the story of Arkanis?

The story takes place in the small city of Valigma, and it starts with with mayor Jota hiring people that are known to us as specialists to help the town.

Valigma used to be a beautiful town and very rich but recently things have been going wrong, with the water being poluted and the citizens wearing a strange kind of mask.

4- Rundown of what we have by now (this will contain spoilers skip to section 5 if you don't want them <3)

After the specialists arrived in town, we are quickly introduced to the mayor, Jota, who has been in power for 8 years now being in the end of his second term when we meet him, he appears to be a strange sort of character who hides many things although at the time the specialists weren't sure of what.

Apart from Jota we also have two other big characters Bia Raux and Araldo. Bia is a witch of sorts who was banished from the town due to the chaos she caused while Araldo is the owner of a factory that produces batteries in town.

A big part of the story focuses on arkanya, or what we would call magic in our world, a type of energy that lets the person who controls it cast sort of spells that can either be for something good or something bad, there is always a consequence to using it tho

One of the first big events in Valigma was the discovery of ghosts, small creatures that are consistent of pure arkanya and don't have any memories from before their deaths, they form a bond with the specialists calling them their parents even

Remember Araldo, the factory owner from earlier? Yeah he comes into play now, since the beginning he seemed like a suspicious kind of fellow, not showing up to speak with people and forming a sort of rivalry with Gabepeixe, there are cases of Araldo trying to dig into Gabe's lab and even trying to stop him from the creation of machines, not wanting the specialist to become more powerful than him.

You guys will have to forgive me here cause my memory is not the best, but there was an occasion where Araldo cast a illusion over the specialists where they got to see what would happen if they went against him, including robots who destroyed the town. This ilusion. due to needing certain power led to the death of Alice who was the mayor's secretary.

This occasion led to the discovery that Araldo was also capable of using arkanya just like Bia.

That event deeply effected most of the specialists making almost all of them distrust Araldo and even go directly against him by allying with others like Bia and Jota.

For the safety of not only the specialists but also the ghosts who they called children JVNQ made a truce with Araldo, he wouldn't attack them for 25 days and the specialists wouldn't go near the factory in return

Things seemed to be working out, that is until one night Bagi and Gabepeixe (two of the specialists who hate Araldo the most) decided to sort of challenge him or at least taunt him and broke into the factory (which remember, it was banned) and stole/destroyed a creative motor that was powering up the place, nothing happened at the moment but the next day all the specialists were called and Araldo did the most horrible thing, he killed Amora and Denix (two of the ghosts I will introduce them in the next point) draining all of their arkanya and making them dissapear.

This led to three important events, most of the specialists began to choose real sides it was either Bia or Araldo. Jv trying to get Denix back (his son) strikes a deal with Araldo and is taken for days while Choke strikes a deal with Bia to begin her training

Currently Araldo status is banished from the town and his factory is no longer part of Valigma, he remains a big threat tho.

Now what about Bia? Well, she is a witch and seems to have connections with the town from before it was made even, she is extremely powerful and even if when we met her she seems to be weaker than normal she is no less of a threat.

Bia has one objective, to destroy Valigma and she will do that doesn't matter who stands in her way.

She has recently been gaining the trust of many people in town, due to the act of bringing Denix and Amora back.

And what about Bad and Fit? Where do they fit into the lore? Well the truth is, we don't know. the character Bad seems to be playing (Mister X) had never been talked about before, so they are pretty much fresh and new, we don't know how their stuff connects yet

5- Ghosts

As I mentioned earlier, there are small entities in Valigma who are tiny ghosts that act as children for the specialsts, they include:

Denix - The first one to be found, his parents are Gabepeixe, Coreano, JVNW and Yayah

Gris - The second one to be found, her parents are Guaxinim, Quel, Maethe and Mike

Amora - third one to be found, her parents are Bagi, Felps, MeiaUm and Matt

Milo - the fourth one to be found, his parents are Pac, Himaru, Guhzera and Febatista

Tucupi - the last ghost, his parents are mostly Choke and Wuant

6- Links to help you with Arkanis:

First of all, the summaries made by Tayr (one of the founders) are essential and probably your best resource to understanding the story without having to watch all the stream: Link to his channel

Second the Arkanis wiki, it's not complete but can help with knowing the characters better a little bit: Link to the wiki

Now you guys won't like this but, their twitter or bluesky, it's where they post the schedules for the week and do important announcements, personally I try to post all they announce in here: Link to their twitter Link to their bluesky

Their youtube where they post all of the cutscenes that are shown in game: Link to their youtube

And of course the beautiful Arkanis tag here on tumblr <3 it's a small one but it's a good place to find art and some liveblogs!

[bookwormcosplays]

Misconceptions of Sherlock and Co

Here I am going to list some misconceptions that I saw before getting into Sherlock and Co that I felt need to be corrected for any new people trying to listen. The things listed might be dubbed critiques. If you are someone who does not like criticism on your favorite pieces of media, please show yourself out now.

Johnlock is endgame

I beg every Sherlock lover who love the stories in every variation and specifically Johnlock, please stop setting yourselves up for disappointment. Unless it is explicitly said, don't believe it's canon. The reason why I say this is when this podcast first started to come out, everyone said johnlock was going to happen. Those are some of the most popular tiktoks about Sherlock and Co. And I won't lie, it was the push that made me listen to the podcast. I can't find where I saw it please if you can find it, send it to me. They said, the creators, that wasn't within their plans. John and Mariana though? I don't know if it'll actually happen, but it just feels like that's what they're pushing towards. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but the name Mariana is a lot like Mary. Speaking of Mariana--

It's just John and Sherlock

It may appear like that for a couple of episodes, but Mariana becomes an essential part of the team and she is here to stay. If you were one of the people who just wanted the boys, you're probably going to be disappointed because that is not the case here. Mrs. Hudson whose real name is Mariana also helps in solving crimes. Usually I would say if you didn't like Molly appearing in episodes, you also might not like this. But Mariana actually has some type of depth. So maybe you'll actually enjoy her appearances in episodes.

These Are New Interpretations of Sherlock and John

Yes and no. This might be controversial, but it didn't feel new. And it didn't feel like ACD's characterization. John and Sherlock's characterizations seems like they took a lot of inspiration from bbc Sherlock even down to some of the mannerisms especially the way they speak. It feels almost like fanfiction where they took the bbc Sherlock character interpretations of John and Sherlock and put them in an alternate universe. Over time though, they seem to be straying and they're now becoming their own characters. But if you told me at the beginning, "oh this is a new podcast based on bbc Sherlock fanfiction" I would've believed it.

POC Friendly

LOOK LISTEN, I'm not saying they're spouting out slurs. But someone, a white person, posted this is a poc friendly podcast. When I heard that, I assumed certain things. I assumed they had POC cast and crew, they had sensitivity writers, cultural consulting, etc. The cast and crew, respectfully, are majority if not completely white. I remember looking up Sherlock's voice actor after seeing all the fanart and I was so confused seeing a white man. Now this doesn't mean that POC should run away from it, but this does mean that when they say/do certain stuff there's no one to tell them "hey maybe let's not do that." There are instances that felt ignorant and unnecessary. In the Blue Carbuncle, they read a letter or a transcript from someone who saw an incident in the street (avoiding spoilers). I don't know how to phrase this, but it felt very much like they were mimicking some type of POC (most likely black). And they didn't put on a blaccent or anything, but just the fact that it was a white writer writing this making fun of how they spoke rubbed me the wrong way. And it went on far too long. Then there was Sherlock bowing at an Asian restaurant and John told him it was inappropriate, but I was stuck on why was it added? It wasn't humor and didn't have to do with a case. It shows Sherlock's ignorance, sure, but it just really didn't add anything. When it comes to content made by white british people, the bar on racial awareness for me is to the ground. I don't expect them not to have ignorant moments. But stuff like that, it is something that should be accounted for when you try to say something like it's "poc friendly." So would I say POC friendly, not really. Is it welcoming of everyone no matter what race or ethnicity? Yes. There's not a sign on the podcast that says POC do not enter, but be aware what majority demographic is a part of this and that they probably are going to say stuff out of ignorance.

*

*

*

I've been meaning to write this post for awhile, but I haven't gotten around to it. Plus, I wanted to see if anything else changed before I made a post. I genuinely don't see this as critiques just pointing out stuff for those who might go in thinking this podcast is something it's not. But I still put the criticism warning for people who might not want to see this. I really enjoy this podcast and it inspired me to read the original stories. They put a new spin on these stories that's modern, different, and still entertaining.

[the-s1lly-corner]

Hello! May I request caine x reader (platonic) where the reader used to be the lead developer of the digital circus so when the reader enter the circus, caine immediately become a little protective over them since caine sees them as his creator (how he found out about it? Idk either)

Also I really love your work! :]

TADC caine x developer!reader (platonic)

oooo this ones going to be interesting because wouldnt the reader still lose their memories, unless they knew a loophole before getting stuck in the circus and used it? shrugs... ooooh but admins trope of "characters who loved each other (platonically and/or romantically) finding each other in a new world, unaware they know each other, finding their way back to one another" oooooouuuuugh rolls around this one may be a little short, my apolocheese anon </3

i think it would be neat if neither of you two explicitly knew about your history as his creator, but still feel this instinctive draw towards one another... but maybe thats because of the trope i listed above still being one of my favorites.... hmm...

usually when i write caine interacting with readers, hes very up in their business and hanging around them; trying to spend as much time as he can with them and perhaps can even come off as very clingy... but he just loves his dear reader; and i think this would remain true in a platonic setting!

before he would just dive into an idea for an in house adventure, but he finds himself running his ideas through you, for guidance and corrections that may need to be made for the IHA

and perhaps, sometimes he makes them in your favor/your vibe

though, if you both know you created him, i think he would playfully (but also... not fully playfully...?) call you his dad/mom/parent, which might earn a few looks from the other circus members... actually if any of them realize hes kind of being serious, it may cause issues, especially for those who arent too happy with their current position in the circus... ooo the drama, but i dont have the brain power to come up with anything for that so im going to leave this open for you guys

i think, if he knew you were the one who made him he would ramp everything up in order to try to impress you, i mean its like when you want to make someone you look up to proud... and sure caine was already doing fine before and he was aware of that; its a whole different thing when the person literally single handedly responsible for your existence is there... add that in the fact hes a ringmaster in the circus and how whole thing is to entertain and keep things running.. can easily boil over into chaos, i think.. not maliciously, of course, but sometimes he can get carried away

[sagau-my-beloved]

If I were the creator I'd totally take advantage of seeing Venti covered in blood. "Uh, yeah, you've cleared out all the actual threats in Teyvat, but, um, there's this low-level thief that's being a really big huge problem right now."

"I know the drill, Your Grace, don't clean up before I come back and I'll get a reward. I'll be quick ;)"

*cut to a very flustered creator*

Ahjtfrjhdecvhh yes

Honestly just the idea of the creator having a kink so hard that they literally put their favorite in a dangerous position and also cause the death of some living thing just to enact it is sending me, and the fact that he's just perfectly fine complying makes it even funnier

Of course he's not stupid, he knows you like seeing him like that, so really he'd be all over it and probably would tease a little let's be honest

It's not really a healthy dynamic, but what here is, heavy displays of strength and power only for that character to go happily and obediently back to show off to the person that practically owns them is hot

And he would show off, if you like seeing him like that then he's not gonna hold back on wreckage, maybe you'd actually like to watch the fight too? He can definitely secure you a front row seat which his just close enough to watch him throw you a playful wink after winning, coming back for a quick kiss before moving on to the next one

But fr kissing Venti while he's covered in blood would be on my bucket list if I was there, right above kissing every other character also covered in blood (and that might only add to the bloodshed if revealed)

[luffythinker]

can i introduce to my latest obsession?

Astro royale

i come from my hero so i keep calling their powers "quirks" but it's like my hero except family centered and we are smack dab in the middle of "quirks" being a thing, and everyone is using their powers to try and rule the world sort of. everyone says this manga is trash but i look on twitter and everyone says the author is cooking every chapter, and i was reading it myself cause i remembered after tokyo revengers ended they said the author was making a new manga and it looked interesting so i picked it up not many days ago

people were complaining about how the artist style is "stiff" and other stuff that doesn't matter like "hating the designs" and "the story is dumb" or something stupid like that that makes me feel like they didn't read it or just hate this creator cause he ended his other manga in a way that upseted ppl, but i love this manga so far 12 chapters in and it's such a good story and i got attached to the characters so fast i love my kids so much and i love this manga and i want other people to love it too

it's like, theres a yakuza family ok? and there are 20 brothers? i think or less, the protag is the only blood related brother everyone else is adopted from rival gangs or whatever, and the father wants him to be the next leader - if something happens to him - i don't wanna spoil it but it happens in the first chapter and it's part of the plot but the dad yeah he kicks the bucket and tells protag your gonna lead this organization, the shooting stars fall everyone wishes on their items and gets super powers based off their wish and now everyone's fighting to be the top dog BUT WITH POWERS

they are literally my favorite little guys ever, please give it a read or add it to your list it's so interesting to me

okay this is either gonna be really funny or just really awkward 😭

i actually know and have read this manga, i know wakui from tokyo revengers a manga series i really really loved and followed it until the end, and yeah im one of the people that wasn't happy with the ending for many reasons.

so when i heard he was making a new manga i was skeptical but still wanted to give it a try bc tokrev really captivated me from the first couple of chapters, i think for someone that isn't familiar with his writing style and art astro royale can feel really good!! so i totally understand the people that like the manga, but I think its a bit unfair to say other people (like old tokrev fans) complain about "things that don't matter", because yeah some of his art is a bit stiff, but for me my main issue is that i couldn't really connect with the characters because they look a LOT like a lot of other tokrev characters, so in my brain it's a bit difficult to fully separate the characters i knew and loved from these new ones that look a either exactly like one of them or just a mix of others (but this is my personal issue with the manga), i read it up until chapter 10 and i wasn't really feeling it so i dropped it for now, i might give it another try in a few months

now about the story itself I think the idea and plot is really cool, i was super curious about the idea of people getting powers associated with something that is personal to them, im not really big in yakuza/mafia plots tho so that wasn't a selling point for me, but i totally understand for people who are interested in this concept that the story would be really cool to see it developing

so yeah i dont hate astro royale, i dont hate wakui, but I can understand the feelings of people who were not satisfied with the end of tokrev as well, this would create a certain skepticism to how we will handle this story. what i can say is that hopefully he learns from it, because his story telling and character build in tokrev were pretty amazing for like 70% of the manga, i was begging my friends to read it a couple of years ago so i do think he is super talented, and i really hope he can have a good run with astro royale! and i hope you keep enjoying the story

[keldjinfae]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers! Spread the self-love 💞

Okay, so first off, thanks to @dear-massacre for this one. I got to filter through a lot of things I wrote for other fandoms besides Teen Wolf, and while I won't be sharing them (purely because most of them fell victim to the Great Strikethrough Purge, and the "clean" versions I have up on the Pit that is fanfiction.net are... frankly, things I would delete if I could remember what the hell my log-in is), I did remember one I co-wrote with a friend of mine over a decade ago. And neither of us remembers how to log into that old account we created solely for the purpose of writing something together (let me just say, AO3 allowing for co-creators is a fucking godsend), so the link for that one will have to direct you there instead of AO3. I may be able to update this with an AO3 link, provided @caseyvalhalla (said cowriter) is able to find a full version of the fic in their backup drive (which would be outstanding, seeing as how my copy of the fic was lost at some point about three or four PCs/laptops ago).

I also left WIPs out of this list because I feel like that might be too cruel of a tease, seeing as how I haven't updated them since about 2011.

Freaks and Fools is a Halloween-themed fic that Casey and I brainstormed together in about two hours after the initial joke of mashing up Kingdom Hearts and Peanuts. One of us said "Axel is Snoopy, sleeping out on the lawn," and it suddenly turned into him also being Johnny from The Outsiders; what followed was a feverish brainstorming session of determining the perfect way to balance drama and humor. Then we wrote and edited the whole damn thing over the course of three coffee-laden weekends.

I'm Not Asking Questions, I'm Taking My Chances is the first fic I wrote for the Sterek Reverse Bang. I'd previously written a fic for the Sterek Reverse Quickie, and it was my very first Teen Wolf fic, period, while I fucked around and found out if I'd be able to write for the fandom. Turns out, I could. The minimum word count for the RB was 5k, so naturally I wrote something up in the 80k range because I have zero chill.

It's a fantasy AU that very loosely (seriously, so loose that you definitely don't want to be relying on this fic to catch you in a trustfall exercise) incorporates themes from the Merlin series. Writing it helped teach me how to better plan out scenes, in terms of "do I really need to write out this whole scene independently or could I just incorporate it briefly into this already-existing one?" It also gave me better practice at determining when I was going to have to let scenes go altogether, maybe with the notion that I might write them someday and add them on later.

You Gotta Promise Not to Stop When I Say When is a fic I wrote for the Sterek Reverse Quickie, during which I was paired up with the same artist who I'd written for during my very first RQ. She wanted comfort, made a moodboard about it (sadly, Discord stopped image hosting so the links to all of her previous artwork are all broken), and I decided I wanted to write comfort as well. I gave her two choices (Derek takes Stiles's pain, or Stiles is a vampire sharing a house with Derek, and both of them accuse the other of being a squatter--it's a long, stupid story that has gone off the rails in a meme prompt thread on Discord), and went with the one that both of us could sink into.

This one is probably my absolute favorite because I literally just wrote what I know. Stiles is disabled, Derek helps him cope with it. I can't really sell it any better than that, other than to say that I wrote my own personal experiences, but Sterekified.

We're Floating in the Moonlit Sky is a Sterek fic I wrote for a little something called the 1000 Cakes Challenge, which provided the writer and artist participants with a word, an action, and a setting, and had us all spin our own take on them. The word was "kumquat," the action was "pursuit" or "sleepwalk" (I incorporated both--again, zero chill), and the setting was a gorgeous painting of a snowy forest that one of the moderators made herself just for the challenge. Initially, I wasn't even going to participate because I'd literally just finished writing my latest Sterek RB fic and thought I was burned out. Then an idea smacked me in the face right as I was falling asleep.

I love this one because it's more or less just me allowing myself some pure self-indulgence. There's some angst, there's some drama, but most of it is just seeing how many Christmas carol references I can squeeze in as puns. Stiles is half-elf and half-frost sprite, Derek is still a werewolf, Peter is Krampus (thanks to @ice-mage, because "of course Peter is Krampus"), and Noah is Santa Claus.

My Echo, My Shadow, and Me is the Sterek Reverse Bang fic I wrote before I got started on Floating. I somehow managed to write 100k+ words in a bit under four months, and satisfied my desire to write a season 3a "fix-it" (of sorts--more like a revision) in the process. I don't know if the experience would be the same for @nerdherderette, who wound up beta-reading "the Beast in Blue" in the course of about 20 hours, but it was damn satisfying to write.

Essentially, all of season 3a still happens, but Jackson never leaves and Cora never arrives. I wanted to explore everyone's strengths and flaws, and I wanted to write an alternate take on the nogitsune without having to rewrite 3b as well.

[jjonathancrane]

Novels That Jonathan Crane Would Enjoy

As many Scarecrow fans know, some of his earliest comic book appearances featured Crane’s pursuit of books at any cost. Given his love of collecting and reading books, I thought it may be interesting to consider what novels he would enjoy.

I didn't have a single version of the Scarecrow in mind when making this list, as Crane has been characterized differently by every creator. (Though, for reference, my favorite versions of the Scarecrow include his depiction in Knightfall, the Long Halloween, and the game Arkham Asylum, just to name a few.)

Add on your own opinions, I’d love to see how others interpret Crane’s taste! It doesn’t have to be exclusively novels, it can include nonfiction, poetry, short stories, etc. I just wanted to put a limit on myself so this list didn’t get out of hand! (Although I may add onto it later.)

This list may contain spoilers for these books, so if they're stories you intend to read, be mindful of what may be in my little blurbs!

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Sure, Crane would be fascinated by the scientific elements of this story and would certainly appreciate this as the first work of modern horror, but I think his interest would go beyond that. I imagine that in his youth he would have identified with the Monster, as he was shunned, misunderstood, and alone. He’d also enjoy that the Monster then takes it upon himself to seek vengeance on the man who created him, and I think this is a novel that Crane would be really attached to throughout his life.

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

Despite Crane’s whole schtick being fear, I feel like he wouldn’t be as interested in ghost stories as one might think. That’s why he’d appreciate Hill House - it is not an outright ghost story, and it handles the haunted house tropes in a very interesting way. It’s not about ghosts being outright terrifying; it’s more focused on the way that the characters of the book frighten themselves in this eerie environment, so I imagine that's part of Crane's fondness for this work.

Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

I’m convinced that Crane would prefer Carmilla to Dracula, and that preference all comes down to the differences in the titular characters. Carmilla feels like a person, whereas Dracula feels more like a presence or an idea. The story in Carmilla is intimate, and the motives are on a much more human level - Carmilla preys on one particular person, her interest is almost exclusively on that single individual for the entire book. Carmilla doesn’t have a grand scheme, she’s pursuing her fascination in a sole person, and I think the simplicity of that narrative satisfies Crane.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip. K Dick

As someone whose career was in psychology, Crane would like that this work raises questions about people and society. I imagined he’d be drawn to certain kinds of dystopian sci-fi literature, as it’s a genre of speculation. The ideas surrounding the titular androids and the way the main character, Deckard, engages with them would fascinate Crane, as a lot of this story is not definitive and everything can be questioned.

The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker

There’s a lot to ponder in this novella - the concept of pain and pleasure, the priorities of people, what they think they want, what they think they’re deserving of. I imagine Crane would find all of these elements fascinating, as they all revolve around human nature and the choices people make. I also think that, although their part in the book is small, that he’d find the Cenobites to be such an interesting way to draw attention to how smally people can think while also believing themselves to be above others, more deserving, and so on.

Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

This story is all about a concept that is uncomfortable for the majority of people, and it forces us to integrate into and engage with the dystopian ideas presented. That alone is something that would be up Crane’s alley. He’d love that different elements of the story would make different people uncomfortable or scared, and he’d love the psychological element of engaging with this book. If he could study people's responses to this work, I think he'd be very pleased, because what people react strongest to can say a lot about them.

[zlatakleos]

Progress 2 // July 22nd, 2023

In my last update, I hoped to have finished revising the rest of Chap1, to decide future plot points, finish the "bare bones" of the rest of my chapters, and to start writing the poem- part of which will be featured in the beginning of each chapter.

I was able to do most of those. So that's good.

I finished revising almost all of Chap1, now I just have to edit one last bit of a scene until I can let myself move on to Chap2 [or let myself skip around between chapters and scenes], and I did decide some more future plot points. Those are the good things.

Unfortunately, I didn't start writing the poem yet, and I might not start that for a long time. I also didn't finish the "bare-bones" of the rest of my chapters, but that's alright- I do have my plot-list, which is what I start with anyway.

However, while I was writing Chap1, I did give myself time to plan out a few panel pages. I also made notes on what I could fix/add on my next revising period, and notes on little illustrations I could do. Also, I designed a small little section break thing, but I'm not sure how well it'll show up.

[Image ID: a large sun in the center, with a swirl in the middle spreading to the ends, creating the fiery ends of the sun with wavy lines and clouds from either side. at the end of the lines lies a single flower.]

I am doing this all on my phone [only option, and will likely stay that way.] The art updates will be relatively inconsistent because of this, but that's okay.

I started doing more in-depth research on child psychology and how trauma impacts them later in life [journals, articles, observing my family, books, self-reflection, etc.] as an adolescent and/or an adult.

I also did another male torso anatomy study to get back into drawing guys, although I fell asleep halfway through.

However, I have been neglecting the Italian [arguably one of the most important aspects of my novel.] Mi dispiace :[ so I will still have to rely on Google Translate for most of it, and checking with articles for various slang and fact-checking Google [quite tiring, but I can manage.]

I'm going to attempt to explain the relationships between my MC [Lu] and the rest of the characters here, because... Why not?

Lu [MC/himself]

He doesn't know how he feels about himself. Between how Az treats him vs. how Mae treats him, he is conflicted.

He is afraid of being perceived as ugly, or "flawed," and will do everything in his power to make sure that he is as perfect as he can be. [Academics, athletics, arts, as a person, beauty, and etc.] This is all I can say, at the moment.

Az [LI, kinda]

Lu&Az are close friends, and Az is essentially his only friend. Az takes it upon himself to make Lu feel as "precious as he is."

Once Lu opens up about imperfection, Az is just incredibly confused, concerned, and even kinder towards him. He even cut off a few friends of his because they [unintentionally] made Lu feel lesser than [Lu learns of this, initially feels guilty.] Az is also concerned for Mae's treatment of Lu. [Catalyst of Lu's villain arc]

Mae

Mae is the "villain." They're his Creator, Lu was literally made in Their image[in a way]. They overwork themselves constantly, and take out Their frustrations on Lu, whether drunk or not.

Mae is concerned that Lu won't "thrive" in Paradiso, especially being the heir to Venere, and that he won't be a fit ruler for Venere. Lu adores his Creator, but also despises Them. He appreciates what They do for him, and also hates how They treat him. [also conflicted]

Ma [Az's Creator]

Ma has been nothing but kind [and beyond] to Lu. She takes him in as Her own, nurses him back to health, tells Mae what She thinks of Their treatment. She's proud that Az has treated him so well.

Lu sees Her almost as a "mother." She treats him like a son.

Ra [Professor]

Her class is, by far, Lu's favorite. It's the quietest, and he likes Human Literature.

She has a standard teacher-student relationship with Lu, but eventually expresses concerns about Lu's home life and Lu is now in fear of what she may do to him.

This was a long one, but I think it's interesting. By the next Progress Update, I plan to have Chap1 fully revised [until next time], one or two illustrations done, better Italian, better knowledge on child/trauma psychology, better anatomy knowledge, and be at least halfway through revising Chap2 [or whatever chapter I decide to work on next.] This has been a hectic month for me, so I'm surprised I got anything done at all. :]

[amaranthineoceans]

Everything Weird About Deltarune!

Spoiler Warning for Undertale and Both Chapters of Deltarune! Really! I Literally Go Through Everything I Can Remember About Them!

This is a long post so get comfortable. Also note that my brain doesn't process thoughts into words very well so some of these might not be worded in the best way. :)

Deltarune. The first teaser chapter was released on October 31, 2018, and it came out of nowhere. We've all gone through this, but I'll try and go through every single painstaking detail I can remember. Feel free to reblog and add/correct things.

The weirdness begins right off the bat. The title is an anagram of UNDERTALE. We all know Toby likes to use anagrams when he wants to indirectly tell us when things are related, so it's no surprise that when you go to download DELTARUNE, it warns you that the game is designed for people who have played UNDERTALE. You think, "Cool, so it's a sequel? Or maybe a prequel? A different perspective of UNDERTALE perhaps?" You were wrong; so terribly, terribly wrong! I'll elaborate on this later.

Before you download the application, the terms of service that you must agree to beforehand reads simply and plainly, "You accept everything that will happen from now on." This detail was kinda brushed off in the beginning, because, hey, it's Toby Fox. He does weird stuff all the time. But even in the first chapter, it's apparent that the concept of choice, or more accurately, the lack of it, is a very present theme in the game. I would like to remind you that Toby has announced that there will be one ending in the game. One. I'll elaborate on this later.

The program (as in, what the game is called in your files) is named SURVEY PROGRAM. Why not just call it Deltarune like it is when you download chapter two?

The game launches you, without a title screen, without any setting adjustment options, straight into a reference to the theme of the entire franchise: the lack of choice. A strange formless voice guides you through "making a vessel", with what we know now as a fountain in the background. You have the option to make some very disturbing choices in this character creator, such as making its favorite flavor "pain" or expressing your feelings about it with options such as "fear" and "disgust." You name your "creation," tell the formless voice your name (which is different from your vessel's name) and watch as said formless voice muses over your name at an agonizing pace. It thanks you for your time and tells you that your wonderful creation, (cue music cutout and background removal) will now be discarded. "No one can choose who they are in this world." The screen slowly turns white as the voice says, "Your... name... is..."

It gets weirder. The next scene appears from the whiteness and showcases Toriel calling "Kris" out of bed. Kris' area of the room is very bare in contrast to the other side, which we later discover is Asriel's.

It's Toriel. Why is Toriel here?

Kris is kind of an anagram of Frisk (the protagonist of UNDERTALE) but without the F. I highly doubt this is a coincidence.

Speaking with Noelle is the only reason you can proceed (see what i did there?) while finding a partner in the classroom. This means you can't go through the 1st chapter without knowing who she is. Is it because of the Snowgrave route?

Ralsei is just suspicious to me. There's no way he was just waiting in that castle his whole life alone without some mental toil. So either he's insane or he wasn't alone the whole time. What happened? Is it related to how he can close his eyes and see what Susie is going through when she's apart from the party? Was he just watching everything? Is he related to the formless voice?

Susie's icon is the only one without color in the Dark World.

Jevil's fight is more difficult than Sans'.

Your actions have little consequence in the first chapter. If you choose to go genocide, the only difference in the ending is being run out of the kingdom, and this doesn't carry over to the next chapter. Again, lack of choice, people.

If at the end of chapter one, you walk around town, it's mentioned (notably by Noelle) that you're usually not this talkative. If you go to the hospital and speak with the receptionist, they mention that you used to play the piano in the corner. If you decide to attempt to play the said piano, an out-of-key bash can be heard and the receptionist comments on how you used to play beautifully. If you try this in chapter two, the result is the same. All this is confirmation that Kris is acting noticeably weird.

When you leave the Dark World and walk around town, you can find Sans. He "pretends" to recognize you, and if you tell him you recognize him, he tells you it's funny, considering that you two have never met before. He winks. I'm pretty sure he knows that the player is there.

The mention of Papyrus in both games, but the purposeful lack of him. Like he's avoiding you.

If you go upstairs while inside Asgore's flower shop, there are flowers in glass cases resembling his SOUL collection in UNDERTALE. There's a red flower.

You can't enter the church.

The clock in the storage closet shows a different time than all the others in the school.

If you go all the way south in town and into the woods, the music stops and you come across a rusty, double door is in a hill covered in crass. It's locked. If you go this way in chapter two, however, you watch a cutscene where you and susie happen to find Monster Kid from UNDERTALE (or someone resembling them) and an owl kid in front of the door. The owl kid is pressuring Monster Kid to (presumably) break inside, telling them that they don't want to be a wimp like Kris. Does this imply that Kris is connected to this strange door somehow?

The ending. You know what I'm talking about.

Did Kris actually rip out the SOUL (I say "the" because I'm not entirely sure it's Kris') and knife because they wanted to eat the pie? Did they only eat the pie because Toriel caught them?

Why did they look at the player? Are they sick of being controlled? Is that why they freaked out after the Spamton fight? (later)

Anyway, now we're at chapter two.

DELTARUNE Chapter Two was released on September 17th, 2021. 17. Entry Number 17. Sound familiar?

Asriel's part of the room is different from the last chapter. I don't think this means anything sinister, but I think it means Kris notices different things about the room as the story progresses. My theory is that it will become more sinister in each chapter.

Ralsei getting super excited to see Susie and Kris after a day. As in he has separation anxiety and it breaks my heart. not anything suspicious but it makes me sad so it's on the list.

Kris and Susie's rooms. Ralsei REALLY doesn't want them to leave. Seriously get this boy a therapist. Or a stuffed animal. SOMETHING.

Kris having to gather everything from the storage closet so that people appear in the Dark World????? Why??????????????? They had to do the same thing for the computer lab too.

The golden door. I don't trust it.

How/why the heck did Noelle and Berdley go into the Computer Lab Dark World? I don't see either of them just walking into pulsing void doors without Susie.

Apparently the knight has been gone for a bit and can corrupt people's minds? The king in the first chapter doesn't seem like he can be redeemed but Queen just seems,,, not bad, but a little crazy. I wonder what happened.

Then again, name ONE person in this franchise without trauma.

Spamton.

Horror doesn't bother me. Spamton? Spamton bothers me.

SPAMTON. ENOUGH SAID.

A Kromer is a type of hat invented in the '70s. Nobody named Mike is associated with it, that I can find.

SPAMPTON. HOW DO I EVEN DESCRIBE IT.

HIS SONG IS THE ONLY ONE WITH WORDS.

The way he asks Kris is they want to be a heart on a chain their whole life. Like, dude, no wonder they were screaming after the fight.

WHERE DID THE YELLOW HEART COME FROM. YELLOW MEANS JUSTICE. WHY DOES JUSTICE APPLY.

Kris screaming after the fight and the player not being able to hear it. Don't you dare tell me that's just how the game is designed. There are sound effects characters make throughout the game. None that I can think of apply to Kris, apart from when they rip their soul out.

Ralsei brushing off the Spamton fight. Either that's his coping mechanism or he was trying to shut Susie and Kris up to protect them from... something. I'll touch on that in a minute.

According to Queen, DETERMINATION is a key factor in creating a fountain.

Also according to Queen, Kris, Noelle, and Susie all have DETERMINATION SOULS.

Ralsei freaking out about Berdley making a fountain implies that he may also have DETERMINATION. Why I'm bringing all this up will make sense soon.

How was Noelle able to cast Snowgrave... a spell that she, according to her, didn't know?

The Snowgrave route is so twisted.

You manipulate Noelle into killing Berdley and then, when you get back to the computer lab and investigate his corpse, the text box says that he doesn't seem to be awake. As if you're in denial?

Burgerpants recognizes you. Not Kris. As in the player.

The ending. I don't think I need to describe it. Kris is very methodical without the SOUL. (I say "the" because, again, I'm not 100% convinced it's theirs.) I'm saying this about how they left clues that someone broke into the This proves that they are NOT a mindless, vengeful husk.

HOW DID THEY MAKE THE FOUNTAIN WITHOUT THE SOUL INSIDE OF THEM. DID THEY FEED THE SOUL TO IT AFTERWARDS? IS THAT WHAT THAT WAS?

Another point I would like to make is my theory that Ralsei knows much more than he would have us believe. I might put this into a different post because I have yet to gather my points into a coherent bullet point list, so keep an eye out for that.

Anyway apart from Toriel and Susie being VERY heavy sleepers, I think I've gone through everything. I have a few theories.

1. Kris is possessed by the player and figured out that they could make a fountain from Queen and related to Spamton freaking out about freedom. They then decided to make a fountain going by the logic that "this would tick the player off." This is one of my top theories that assumes that the SOUL is theirs.

And 2. Kris is possessed by both the player and the knight. I think the formless voice at the very beginning of the game is the knight, and they somehow needed the player to possess someone with DETERMINATION. If so, then why Kris? We know from Queen that Noelle and Susie, and maybe even Berdley also have DETERMINATION. The most plausible thing I can think of is the fact that human souls are stronger than monster ones.

I do think that the popular theory (about the one that suggests that the Dark Word is nothing but a figment of a child's imagination, and the events that occur in said Dark World are simply children playing with toys) has been thoroughly dashed due to Berdley's murder in the genocide route of the second chapter. Unless he's not dead. Regardless, how the events (or lack thereof) that occur in the second chapter play through the next will be interesting, especially considering Toby's announcement about how there will be one ending to the game. So either Berdley isn't dead, or he will be.

Aaaand I think that's it! Sorry for the long post; let me know your thoughts and if I missed anything!

[humangerbil]

hey could you maybe recommend some fanfics where bakugou faces consequences for his bullying and abusive behaviour towards izuku?

Oh I can! AO3 has a tag for this that is worth checking out.

@thenarator​ I know Bakugou/Consequences is also your jam. Please add anything I missed?

List in no particular order.

Finished fics:

helping hands by PitViperOfDoom - Quirkless Deku AU. Bakugou sees Gen Ed Midoriya in the hall after training one day. It doesn’t go well.

Bitter by AdelineCaffrey - Bakugou is getting praised for protecting someone from bullies when it gets caught on camera and goes viral. Izuku doesn’t take it well.

The Mystery of Midoriya Izuku by HopeNight - Aizawa-centric fic, pre final exams. Aizawa doesn’t like the idea of pairing Bakugou and Midoriya together but Nedzu wants some real reasons, not just gut feelings. Aizawa goes digging.

Arsonist's Lullaby (Redemption Doesn't Come Easy) by Half_SubmergedinPurgatory - I don’t know how to give a blurb without spoilers. So, just go read it. This one is a favorite of mine because of how well done it is. Izuku-centric.

Yesterday Upon The Stair by PitViperOfDoom - Deku sees dead people AU. This has one of the (if not thee) best post final exam conversations between Aizawa and Bakugou about his actions. Bakugou/Consequences is not the focus on this fic but it does happen. Very worth reading one way or another and I highly recommend it.

Bonus:

These aren’t really about Bakugou facing consequences and generally more about the effects the abuse had on Izuku. Some have promise of Bakugou/Consequences at the end or hinted at.

Conversation in the Woods by ElaneTheTired - Aizawa and All Might overhead a private convo between Bakugou and Midoriya. Things are revealed. This is more about Izuku and how he handles how Bakugou has treated him.

mouth shut (eyes down) by carolinaa - Izuku knows teachers cannot be trusted.

dam failure by orkestrations - Aizawa questions Izuku about how Bakugou assaulted him during their final exam. 

Float by Gentrychild - All Might tells Izuku to use Float he only needs to be happy but no matter what Izuku tries he just cannot float.

Pushed Over The Edge by PixieUnicorn1112 - Izuku is dead but not gone, stuck as a ghost that no one else can see. This one kinda sorta fits in that Bakugou gets pretty messed up mentally because of what he did though there aren’t any real consequences. Also this fic is amazing and everyone should read it and I will shoehorn it into literally every fic rec I can. Read it!

Ongoing Fics:

Breaking Point Series by Blackwolfhunting - Izuku is done with putting up with Bakugou’s abuse after the final exam

no place like home Series by fallish - Izuku has scars from all the abuse he has suffered. He is usually very good at hiding them. Hasn’t gotten to  Bakugou/Consequences but they are clearly incoming. 

Heroics and Other Things That Don't Require Superpowers by TheNarator - Quirkless Deku AU. This one is amazing and I highly recommend! Izuku’s notebooks get noticed by Present Mic and spread throughout the heroic community.  Bakugou/Consequences happens but explaining more would be spoilers! Definitely worth the read.

Analysis lessons, and consequences thereof by ElaneTheTired - Izuku analysis skills get discovered. Some other information comes out too.

Dig Your Heels In by serenawitchwriter - Quirkless Deku AU. Really fun read. Bakugou is way, way worse in this and faces consequences pre-UA. 

Deku? I think he's some pro... by myheadinthecoudsnotcomingdown - Quirkless Deku AU. After being told by All Might he cannot be a hero he sends some of his analysis to a few heroes getting mistaken for an old Pro. Contains  Bakugou/Consequences but it isn’t a main focus.

Personality Swap AU Series by BelleAmant - Aizawa assigns all the students another student to impersonate for a day. Things spiral from there. Bakugou/Consequences happens but isn’t a focus, most of the focus is on Izuku amazing acting skills. 

Quirkless Hero Kintsugi Series by Creators:AmyAirheart, Library_of_Gage - Quirkless Deku Au. Izuku ends up deaf after an ‘accident.’ Enter Aizawa and Mic that train him to be the first quirkless deaf hero.  Bakugou/Consequences is not a focus and doesn’t come into play for real until the most recent part. Is a very fun read I easily recommend. 

Inheritorverse Series by bard_linn, Kir (Kiraya) - Quirkless children are somehow getting quirks. Detective Tsukauchi is put on the case, worried about a connection with All for One. Has some Bakugou/Consequences but not a focus.

look to the blue sky by lollipopsicle - Tododeku Soulmate AU where you see all your soulmates worst moments as they happen. Hasn’t gotten far enough for real Bakugou/Consequences but he has some consequences come chapter 2. I am really loving this fic so far.

i'll be your biggest kept secret and your biggest mistake by sascake - Quirkless Deku AU. Izuku never went to UA, never became a hero, he ends up becoming a vigilante instead. Set 10 years post-canon. No  Bakugou/Consequences yet but they are promised and this fic has yet to let me down. So freaking good.

Bonus:

Erased Potential by theslytherinpaladin - Quirkless Deku AU. Determined to be a hero even though he is quirkless, Izuku tracks down Eraserhead and asks to be trained. No real Bakugou/Consequences because a lot of the fic takes place pre-UA, including some Bakugou development. 

Like Fractions (Baby We're Breaking Down) Series by RayShippouUchiha - Izuku exists but he doesn’t thrive because of all abuse Bakugou throws his way. Easily one of my favorite fics. Amazingly well done take on how Izuku handles the abuse. No promise of Bakugou/Consequences but the effects on Izuku are so, so well written. I don’t have the words for how well done these are. Go read it!

[captainkurosolaire]

~ Mass Update ~

Mainly going into future plans and intents alongside ideas below cut.

Ton's of things I've in store this will prove difficult to vent it all out. But here we go... First off rehashing and appropriately learning to tag and organize things better on my blog. Each category will have their own corresponding content, I seek to bring or share. [Tales of Goldbrand] -- I intend this to carry a Compendium of all my writes soon that'll have everything neatly in-order including a glossary, so it'll have highlights of stories that even matter or the best stuff. I've written here for a very, long time, there's been many shifts. I want to make it more accessible. While coloring what matters for people who want to learn Captain or his Crew with less chapters. While also giving choice to find it all easily. This is essentially a step-above master-lists. I'll be doing that after the Saga I have going on, right now is done. [Captain] -- Will provide you strictly with Captain screenshots, gifs, photo-sets. This is still his blog despite the Crew thing's will sort of make this a scuffed Multi-Muse blog. I've few more things to edit and tag fix to get all his stuff though. [The Wild Crew] -- Afterwards this story is done Immortal Age Saga, It's something that I mainly wrote as a passion project within three days to get my warm-up process fixed. It's to allow me to get a feel for all his Crewmates and casts, in combat, in-general, to feel their presences. While also giving a bit of their backstories. At any point, I can go back and polish or tweak things in. They're NPC's but... not entirely. All will have their own 'Dreams' and their own 'Disapproval's' they have their own missions even. These things will factor eventually, they might set seeds, to betray or disagree with something, but that's all angst and more stories to be created, but overall, they'll probably always be Crew, eventually. -- I plan on making character-profile sheets of them and putting them in this Tab, it'll have their screenshots, their likes/dislikes. Some RP partners or people can also be shipped with them, but they'll all be monogamous and originally start off probably Pan. This allows them to figure out what they like on their own stories. I've always been someone who likes organic-flow. Although this one story contain all 16 characters or more, the rest will probably be shortened to a Squad of 4 and dispersed when on adventuring missions. Until I do a War Arc, that's my main goal to build too. [Roster] -- Will contain this Crew in just screen-sets dedicated to them, I'll probably randomly produce those. I've PC players among this Crew too. I may not be done either adding more, but this Crew is mainly built around Quality. Most pirate crew's mainly, have hundreds, thousands. Even Fleets. This Crew has personalities, monsters, people who are living life's that exist with piracy. He's an particular leader that had PC players the same way, he's had split-personality serial killers aboard, tribal chieftains, succubus, all sorts of various people once on a Crew. It's often an outcast style, pirates default are chaotic in nature, so this really isn't any different, it's a Fantasy version of it. There's humanization characters aboard too though, so this cast is really decked, everything and person is vital, they matter because they remind or covet something that others can draw upon. If ever played (Three Houses or Mass Effect / Dragon Age Origins) A lot of things like that are relatable too this structure and format. Which, Is something I want to be able to give when RPing. I want a genuine feel of this new world someone else's muse will be the main-character too. Depending on what's interacting everything they'll be scale appropriately to follow the genre they're in and environment even. [Aesthetics] -- Already explainable what you'll find here. [Asks] -- Same thing. [Prompts] -- Trivial things I was tagged too, I plan on compiling later. [Writing] -- Another alternatively to randomly go-down and it works right now. [Logs] -- Will have more individualistic master-lists and posts there, my poems from Sheik Sphere the Bard, etc.

Things of that nature, I'll probably add still. It's where a lot of my creative writing is summed. [Gems of Hydaelyn] -- My main #tag for other characters and artists, creationist. Lot of amazing people easily to find their zones or follow them optionally if you like. Ton's I intend to support and bolster, be a lot less unspoken. I'm never the type who's been strictly inclusive. But I'll do that when I've time to even explore the dash, I'm always still planning ahead with things and projects. [CKS] My original character-sheet it's outdated on something's but not too terrible. I'll give him polishing someday, I swear? [21+F-List] -- Just purely degenerate stuff of Captain. I'm a pirate blog. I will represent that with openness and furthermore. I'm never projecting you some false-image. I started off a smut-writer by stripping that, I no-longer represent the same aura and identity. But those are strictly his stuff and kinks, I'm effective in executing them but they're not all relatable to me OOC. This blog will always be 18+ containing crude or dark material sometimes, romantic things, this Captain is blunt, will literally put his cock on the table in conversations. Swearing and being censored would be too uncommon and displace most of him, but there's more about him then all this. [Other] -- I pay homage to a lot of characters, I originally am a Concept Designer. Which mean's I make characters and ideas like my addiction. Bad characters / villains or other little things I like to share in designs, I'll put there. Some villains might get little photo-sets, even if they died. Just cause I like their design, or maybe I'll give them an AU, where they won. When I've wrapped up things. [Collabs + Ships] -- Is a new project idea. This isn't going to be something limited too romantic only ships. It'll contain, platonic, romantic, friendships, rivals, frenemies, family, PC Crew, all ships. I am desperately working on improving my gif, screenshot, posing game so I can supply 'Screen Stories' this is not only a way to RP that's accessible with even people who are upon time-crunches from work, It gives visual-representation. To impactful stories shared with others and establish bonds. That are all-valid and impactful matter. Lot of people take a lot of their characters attributes into them and are them dialed up, I work with that and bit more, differently. I'm disconnected from my characters and they'll get hurt and injured and killed by me, that's my duty as their Author to give them conflicts and struggles. I'm their major antagonist, but that doesn't mean at-all, it's always SET that way. The characters I like to make have their own life, they live in this setting and are abide by it, they're often nothing, nobodies, and by the interacting with others, they slowly gradually building, more... Through emotional impacts, they alter, these are REAL people by all their beliefs. Each person they come in-contact with are legitimate and treated like that too. They've always impacted or given them insights to grow, or represent more. Otherwise it'd be criminally disrespectful if I allowed any emotional I felt OOC be the grudge to something IC. Captain in-particular is set on defying me. I cannot have that. ...But I can't stop him. He's met and encountered so many people and lived so many scenarios based on the actions of others, he's giving a chance right now to actually do things a lot further than impossible. The more people he meets and encounters, experiences, the more I lose. These stories are emotionally interactive where everything is a factor and adds to the dice, where the other people are the one who get to roll the dice for him, not me. That's something I want to color in. People range in emotions, they have their down's, ups, their own wholesome-grounding people, spending time with your favorite people, there's nothing more cherishing than that, being in your own comfort-zone or 'safe-space' these are all treasures that we live under, today. Contrary if what people assume of me, I'm not another 'blogger' that's came

before, who's wanting to force a harem, then constantly is bewildered when that falls to pieces cause of selfishness or a lack of communication, or the skeletons they have in their closets and beliefs they hid behind and swindled fooled everyone. I'm not looking to be popular or anything really, I just create stories and want to share in those, and I want to also boost others included, upward with me, especially those who make me. There's no ego in anything I do, this is purely love. I've never cared about being replicated or duplicated, I've had stalkers, I've gone through more then anyone would imagine, I've been used OOC and abused, just for my writing and cold-harshly told, i'd never amount to anything other then that or vice-versa. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Passion. That's all I got and am anymore. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Passion is the hardest thing to keep. It's something that can be stolen, quite effortlessly. Few words of discouragement, a bad negative representation, a lack of confidence, or small amount of time, there's many thing's that can put that flame out. Once you lose it. The difficulty to reattain is hundred-times harder than climbing any mountain for real. I've watched the greatest creators crumble from under the pressure, from beaten down by others. I watched many of them do it to themselves because they put a grand vision of needing validation of another and once lost, felt uncompelling to press onward. But passion also can be given BACK and drawn. It can be shown and encourage others, with a soft-triggering, that pushes them. That motivates, that constantly sticks to it. There are many that fuel me. If I ever quit, I let them down, I spit in the faces of people who're better than me in every-way. Or people who've came and given me their precious Time. That have given their character's or dedication to the abundant stories and community-driven things I've done. There's ONLY things you can do, create, give and provide. It cannot ever come to life without YOU. This is a fact. ...I swear, If you let your creativity soar, you'll be amazed by the heights you get. Constantly polish and learn and hone the best you, challenge yourself day after painstaking day, to draw better improvement on something, no matter how trivial or unfamiliar you are. You'll find a confidence only you can give yourself. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Future Plans --------------------------------------------------------------------- For me, I've got so much more stories to give and also explore, I might be taking up soon some other artists and more skilled people from community and hire them for some of my future writes, to up my game or cause something thing's can't be done in-game cause no background carries it. I also got a lot of-set up things and more angst stuff I want to practice, plus I'm adamantly on that grind to produce screen-sets with the intent's to some sort of improving daily. Additionally more people I'll be reaching out too soon for these collab's ideas and things. I look forward to shaking your hands, giving some hugs, show you my respect and admiration, then creating some enchanting stories and giving plots light. Feel free to reach out to me, I get scattered-brain but I'm working on getting better about it. Eventually will get to you though, my goals, if uninterested just say so when I poke, no bites, unless you kinky. Anyways, cheers hearties.

[rzdhc]

Xisuma's HC 999 QNA

Questions and Answers not word for word sometimes, mostly summarized to try and keep it short

my comments will be in brackets [this is me commenting on something]

1. Hey Xisuma, how are you doing?

I'm doing great and looking forward to answering these questions

2. What are your favorite projects you've worked on this season?

Designing the towers and the redstone for the potion brewing [brewering?]

3. Any particular CC you want to join HC?

No, though there are many amazing creators and we haven't recruited in a long time

4. Of all former Hermits, anyone in particular you miss having around?

I really miss Biffa, I have a lot of fond memories with him, we've been good friends for years, over 10 years now actually, and you know we both started on hermitcraft season 1 together and so I have many good memories with him.

Biffa's reply:

[🥺🥺🥺😭]

5. How do you stay motivated to work on a project for long periods of time?

Having an audience and knowing others will enjoy it too

6. Will you add a 0 to the start of all previous episodes?

No, too much work, all future episodes have 4 digits

7. Who hosts hermitcraft server?

Ourselves, no minecraft host, but have a dedicated box

8. Thoughts on making the first minecraft let's play to hit 1000 episodes?

He brings up assumptions and brings up that a German youtuber hit 1k years ago, and the likelyhood that there's a lot more yters that hit 1k before him [The youtuber's name is Gronkh, and is all in German]

9. Are you real?

Of course no, I'm a figment of your imagination

[this is a joke, he is real, you are real, and you are not imagining things]

10. Any more music covers like Ride the lightning from Metallica?

He wants and likes playing guitar, but he doesn't like recording and editing videos, so unlikely to make more videos on it.

11. About how long to find and plan out things before a build?

Varies based on builds. Planning things first, in his experience, always turns out better than winging it

12. PG Tips or Yorkshire Tea? [PG Tips is a brand]

Always Twinings

[Alice Leiper, in the comment section, jokes that this, Xisuma not drinking Yorkshire Tea, is the reason Biffa hasn't returned to Hermitcraft. Yorkshire Tea being Biffa's favorite tea.

My personal favorite is earl grey, but Imma be trying English Breakfast and Yorkshire Tea soon enough]

13. What do you and the hermits talk about in meetings?

Hermitcraft server and casual chitchats, what we do on the server and plan out minigames

14. Do you feel you have a responsibility to influence younger viewers with good morals and remind them this is all fun and games?

Something he wants to do rather than a responsibility?

15. How much stone would a stone pick pick if a stone pick could pick stone? [this is a play on the tongue twister about a wood chuck chucking wood]

It can, 131.

16. Would you make music again?

He is right now, dabbling every now and then but not gonna share anytime soon

17. How far ahead do you plan and how much do you change it?

Plans are project oriented and will list it down, but sometimes gets pushed back. A balance between the two.

18. Will we see Evil X return in an way? I noticed that he hasn't appeared in this season at all [🥺😭 PLEASE X I"M BEGGING YOU]

"You might do, you might not."

He had" fun with the "evil x character" but feels it [ex's storyline and ex as a character] ran its course."

[:(((((((]

"Not a shut door [meaning it isn't a definitive no]"

19. Typical day?

cold shower

meditate and breathing exercise

yoga

workout

breakfast

long walk

workout

meal

everything else is his, videos and streams, which is about mid day

[goodness gracious, this dude works out a lot. lowkey makes me feel like I should work out]

20. Will there be more LPMT [Let's Play Minecraft Together, I think it means] in the future?

not the near future but will happen again, he enjoyed it

2nd season going on, just not apart of it

21. One piece of life advice?

Do the hard thing and not put it off.

22. Do you feel that you are different irl than in videos?

Obviously yes, for every cc, but different for everyone. Projecting some parts of you

23. Favorite tv show?

The wire, watched it several timees

Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones

24. Accents?

Can do it for fun but not on the spot

[if you wanna hear biffa and xisuma do an american accent, see Xisuma's Vinyl Fantasy II episode 4 at about 18:50-19:00 for it, highly recommend the series btw]

25. How to pronounce Xisuma?

Shishwam-Bam or Shishwammy

[pretty sure this is a joke, I don't think this is the real pronunciation, he's said before that because it's a made up word, there is no pronunciation

but Biffa says that's he's known xisuma for a long time and that it's pronounced i-soo-ma, I don't remember which video it's in]

26. What inspired you to be a youtouber?

Bad minecraft tutorials and felt that he could do better

27. Who decides who joins?

Everyone

28. To what extent do you feel you have to be a role model and has it ever hindered you?

Didn't hinder him and has no interest in playing mature games

Doesn't like the term "role model" and wants to inform and educate and let them figure it out for themselves rather than putting on a pedestal

29. Did you feel you would become a minecraft youtuber when you were young?

No, because minecraft didn't exist then

30. HC Server Specs [oh void, no, it's gonna take awhile to list it down, I know before writing this]

doesn't have name of hardware on hand, but:

looked for fastest preforming single threaded cpu, and overclocked it

[single threaded means, for example, a long list of tasks is done one at a time, as opposed to multi threaded, where multiple tasks can be done at once.

overclocked cpu "runs at a higher speed and voltage than it was design to," making it "run harder and faster"]

31. Are you satisfied with your channel, or would you like to grow it?

Would like it to be bigger but is satisfied

[*holds back from making immature joke*]

learned that it's more about enjoying what you do rather than numbers

32. If HC were to end and you were to start a new smp, what would you want to do differently?

Getting away from grind of survival and focus more on creativity (maybe mods or world edit)

33. Buy new computer?

Current is 1.5 years old, last is 8 years and want the current to last as long, so no

[he mentioned in one of his streams is that is phone is somewhat old and wants that one to last too so I get the feeling that he's the type of person to not jump onto trends/care about the "new thing"]

34. Why don't you show your face?

"Unfortunately my webcam is broken at the moment, so until I fix it, which I probably won't, there's no face cam"

[this is a joke, I mean, he could have a broken webcam, but he doesn't plan on ever showing his face so... yeah

though he did make a joke face reveal years ago, it's on xisumatwo if you want to see it, just search xisuma face reveal and you'll see it. the thumbnail has the ghostface mask in it]

35. How do you stay motivated to play the same game everyday?

mentioned earlier the audience, but minecraft is an endless sandbox

36. Countries been to?

Says he's forunate to be able to visit a few places, recent most favorite holiday is Rome

[I've never been outside the country :(]

37. How do the leaves look different in your game?

Resource pack, vanilla tweaks

[texture pack for the ogs]

38. How do you make your thumbnails?

in photoshop, but th3pooka makes the 3-d renders who also helped edit the hc vid

[also there was a cute fox animation th3pooka added :) 12:30 in the vid if you want to see it]

39. If you could make an update, what would you want and why?

inventory update, like expanding inventory size

40. Favorite episode?

Episode 299 "professional minecrafters"

41. Branch out to different games or modded packs?

Eventually in the future on his second channel

42. Still practice cycling? like in the old vlogs

Yes, he uses to get around, but prefers running

43. What do you think your skin would be next season? [this was my question :) unless someone else asked it too]

hints in episode 1000, new mobs, etc

[at time of writing this, episode 1k is already out, and he chooses the axolotl]

44. How many diamonds made from shops?

he doesn't know, a "heck of a lot"

45. Best base according to X?

Bdubs, no context

46. Favorite salad?

Rocket lettuce, cucumber, peppers, tomatoes, beetroot, and favorite thing to add is cottage cheese, or olives, something with "a bit of punch"

[this is the most complex salad I've ever heard of, the most complex I've heard of is lettuce, corn, beans, chicken, tomato, cheese, and dressing]

salad is one of his favorite meals

47. How do you deal with burnout or lack of inspiration?

main thing is keep moving forward, always will have days where you're inspired and some not so much

48. Should we still keep asking for a face reveal? [no.]

sarcastically says yes

but everytime someone asks, it convinces him more and more that he shouldn't

49. Other MC smps/mcyters you like?

Doesn't consume mc content anymore, but will watch snapshots

50. Best support: Watch entirety of ads or still get it despite skipping

so negligible, so just skip it, and watch the way you want to

51. Fitness tips?

look at building positive habits and starting small and build it into habits

52. Favorite season?

6, because 7 affected by the pandemic

53. how much content that's cut out?

these days, not so much

54. Usual ratio between recording, editing, and playing off screen

playing off screen is like 90%, the other 2 5% each

55. Advice for peeps that lose interest in worlds/projects halfway through?

Scale own expectations

if you lose interest, maybe they're too big

56. I've noticed you make more hc episodes way more frequently than other hermits, along with your other channels [not really a question]

everyone has their own rate

57. What it's like being part of hermitcraft than other seasons?

Now it feels stable, in the beginning it felt like an adventure, starting in s4 it felt that it'd stick around

58. Suggestions to those looking to step up basic builidng techniques?

58. Suggestions to those looking to step up basic building techniques?

practice

when you feel "oh it doesn't look good" that's learning. when you think something looks good, it's because of all the times when you thought it didn't look good

59. View on continuing the episode count through many different seasons?

[rn, I'm really getting the feeling as if I've done this before, or that someone else has]

he's glad he did it, will continue it

60. What made you want to start hermitcraft?

another assumption. didn't start it, started by generikb and was invited by him

61. How to stay healthy while also spending hours in front of computer? Affect eyesight or backpain?

[POSTURE CHECK]

trick to not spend hours straight, breka it up. also has a sit/stand desk, and has a herman miller chair #notsponsored

eyesight strain, look up eye yoga

[did I do eye yoga? yes I did, also did some dancing so I wouldn't get bored doing it, and tbh, my eyes don't feel as strained]

62. Longterm plans for job? Do you think you'll make hermitcraft 10 or 20 years from now?

he doesn't know, rather roll with it

63. Vanilla, chocolate, mint chocolate, salted caramel, which flavor ice cream is your favorite?

disappointed peanut butter isn't on it

authentic italian gelato chocolate

64. hobbies? enjoyable

music and fitnees

feels taking care of body is like taking care of your mind

music is like a spiritual experience

65. How hard is it to embrace role-playing?

not hard, he likes it

hard to navigate but good to try new things

66. Why is this season running better than s6?

Found mods that made server run better that doesn't affect vanilla experience

67. How did you come up with your name XisumaVoid?

Xisuma is from music, flipping it around, chanigna letter, and adding a. Xisuma was already taken so he added void because of the band "void through materialism," something he was listening to at the time

68. What made you choose doom guy skin?

He likes Doom and it appealed to him but doesn't recall the exact moment he decided to change it

69. Did you think you would ever reach 4 digit milestone when you started playing hermitcraft? [number :-)]

no, but he put 001 in his first episode because he wanted to reach 100 episodes

70. What instruments do you play?

guitar, keyboard, drums (been awhile, like 5 years)

71. How do you keep your stinger so pointy?

"I sharpen it everyday of course"

[shapeshift xisuma confirmed? /hj]

72. Do you speak any languages beside english?

unfortunately no. he struggles with learning new languages, it's a weak spot of his

73. How did you get into hermitcraft and what caused you to become the admin of it?

Invited by generikb and after he left, xisuma felt they needed leadership and direction and he put his name forward as a steward and steer the ship in the right direction which eventually involved running the server and becoming admin

74. Would you consider proximity chat mod as a regular thing in the server?

agrees that it's cool and is now a regular thing

75. Do shenanigans such as Etho's free glass actually annoy you and the hermits but you just laugh it off?

no, all fun and games

[see @/hermette-historian's post about biffa pretty much making xisuma get used to pranks]

76. Would you ever make hermitcraft amplified again?

s3 amplified, he liked it and would do it again, but most of the group probably wouldn't do it again

77. HAve you finished the roof of the fish shop?

no, thank you for reminding me, I need to do that

78. Are you and Keralis gonna expand your bases to reach each other?

Yes

79. Most unexpected thing?

Pandemic

80. Do you think because of the pandemic the hermitcraft audience/community has grown?

yes, numbers across the board had increases

says reason why is sad but it is what it is

81. How long have you been making videos?

September 25, 2021 will mark 10 year anniversary

[COUGH COUGH MARK YOUR CALANDERS]

82. Would you make any doom videos?

he's already played the original on his main and played the newer doom guy on his second

he also says that if you have a question on if he's played a game, to look it up first

83. Pineapple on pizza?

Yes, any day. Also wants to try kiwi on pizza, is very non-fussy when it comes to food

[🤢]

84. do you record your voice when playing or do voice overs?

it's pretty much him talking. he makes it obvious if it's a voice over

85. How do you make so many high quality so quickly?

learned to get better over time

86. Secret to productivity?

discipline

87. Any future season to be modded?

side series maybe, but main is vanilla

88. Prefer late or early minecraft?

Prefers late where he can invest stuff into projects

though he does like doing early game every now and then

89. Specific way you like your tea?

without sugar, little milk

90. Why java not bedrock?

When he started, it was only java. And bedrock movement is a little clunky compared to java

91. How do you deal with burnout?

Already answered, but answers again

keep bigger picture in mind and power through. if you let yourself get derailed, it gets harder to get back on track

[this is me rn]

92. Favorite doom game?

Doom 2

93. Is hermitcraft at current peak?

Viewership and creativity, yes. Always gets better as seasons go on

94. Have you ever thought about collabing with other youtubers?

[I"M ALMOST DONE]

he does and do. clash of the creators in live streams

95. Will world download cost something when hc7 is over?

no, it's always free

if it's being charged, probably a scam and not hosted by them

96. after 1k episodes, what would you have done different/what do you wish you knew when you started that you know now?

1. get outside help, don't be afraid to get help, like thumbnails etc

2. be less strict at what he's saying and be more natural, used to spend ages retalking.

3. don't be a perfectionist

97. Any chance hermitcraft gets bedrock?

doesn't believe neither version will replace the other

chances it moves over is very slim since all play java and they don't have much interest in bedrock

98. any real life skills you think you have improved from minecraft?

Being a youtuber taught him how to work hard at things he wants to achieve

translated to music, videos, health/fitness, etc

development as a person tied to being a youtuber

99. What are you doing for episode 1k?

[well we already know]

same thing as episode 404

[which, if you search it up, doesn't exist]

[I"M DONE FINALLY OMG]

[dandylion240]

All of the story asks please :) (Character specific ones I'd say up to you, but would love to have them be Jonah/Cecil or my usual favorites ;) )

what’s the last screenshot you’ve taken for your story?

2. describe your story in three words or less

Family, Angst, Drama

3. describe (insert character here) in three words or less

Jonah - unassuming, brave sensitive

Cecil - insightful, supportive, caring

Evan - self-sacrificing, helpful, innocent

Jayden - protective, stubborn, active

4. how did you choose the name of your story?

I try to use titles that is kind of thematic of the story I'm writing. It takes me forever to come up with a name and sometimes the name changes multiple times before it gets posted.

5. how do you choose your characters’ names?

It depends upon the story. For my Reagan family stories (TS4) I use the parents names. It's kind of a family tradition. For instance Jonah/Ethan. All boys will start with E and the girls will start with J. In my TS3 stories I sometimes choose a theme for names and use that. Like next gen of NSQL the theme is nature.

6. how long have you been working on your story for?

Well it depends on the story. With my Reagans I started writing for them in the summer of 2019. For my TS3 legacies I started in 2014 I think.

7. whats the biggest risk you’ve taken with your story? did it pay off?

I think my biggest risk is my current story Into the Depths of Darkness. I wasn't sure I could pull it off and the story has changed from what I thought it would be and the hero of the story has changed from first conception. I'm happy that Jonah is the hero of his own story and it's given him so much character growth and he's becoming more of what I always invisioned him being. I owe a lot to @mahvaladara to how the story has progressed and the ideas she has contributed. It wouldn't be what it is without her.

8. what about your story are you proud of?

There are many things I'm proud. Mostly that I continue writing even though sometimes it feels like I'm ripping my heart out to write some of things I write about and also that I don't quit even when it's hard.

9. what about your story are you looking to improve on?

There's always things that can be improved. Writing is a process that the more you do it the more you learn and get better. I could say pictures but I'll admit the storytelling will always come first over pretty pics and sometimes I just can't find the right pose to fit. Maybe one day I'll be able to make my own poses but I'm not there yet.

10. is your story fully planned or are you still working things out? is there a definitive end?

It's a work in progress. I start writing from an outline of how I think the story should go but it's loose enough for me to rearrange things or remove/add things to it as the story evolves.

11. why have you decided to tell this story? are there any messages or meanings within it?

I just like to write. If there's any message in my stories it's that family is important and no matter awful things you might face in life if you have people who love and care for you that you can endure it. But mostly that you can rise above your circumstances and still be a healthy, functioning person despite everything even if you have a mental or health problems, you can still be happy, loved.

12. do you actually play the game or do you just use it as a storytelling medium?

It's mostly a storytelling medium for me. I do play it sometimes but tbh though TS4 lacks so much depth and gameplay I find it boring after a while. I've gotten into playing TS3 again now that I have a better computer that it doesn't lag as much.

13. from basic planning to a finished post, how long does that take you?

I don't honestly know. I've never stopped to consider how long it takes.

14. do you have any regrets about your story so far? if you could go back in time, how would you fix these?

No I don't think I have any real regrets. Sure I go back and think I could have written that better or edited that picture more but for the most part I'm happy with my stories.

15. what have been the highlights of creating your story?

The highlights have always been the people who become involved in my characters lives.

16. what about the process do you enjoy?

Seeing my stories come to life. How my characters change as the story progresses.

17. what about the process do you hate?

When I struggle to write a scene and it doesn't flow the way it should. It's generally because I'm coming at it wrong. Once I figure that out than it flows. Sometimes the seeming lack of interest in what I write from the readers is hard to overcome and I feel like quitting. But the few who comment I thank because that always revs up my motivation to continue.

18. choose a song that reminds you of your story

Just one song....that's really difficult say. There are so many songs out that fit my current story. This song fits Into the Depths of Darkness because where there's a lot of darkness there's still hope to be found.

19. choose a song that reminds you of (insert character here)

Ok I'll do this for Jonah - Fight Song

20. choose your favourite shot from your story so far

21. choose your least favourite shot so far

22. choose a favourite character from your story so far

Jonah is my baby. It may not show it by I love him.

23. choose your least favourite character so far

Hmm this is difficult because there were characters I created purely to be hated. Currently my least favorite is Ethan but it's not because I don't love him but it's because of his roll in the story.

24. are there any characters who remind you of yourself?

Not really. There are certain aspects of me in all my characters or people I know in them but none are an incert of myself.

25. what inspirations have you drawn on for your story?

There are so many. I draw inspiration from people around me. From movies and TV shows I watch. The books I read. Sometimes from the people I interact with on here mainly @izayoichan @mahvaladara @jenpants and @legendofsim They've let me bounce ideas off of them and their input helps me in my stories.

26. have other sim stories inspired you?

Yes they have. See above. All their stories have inspired me.

27. what genres would you describe your story as?

Modern fantasy drama??? I have no idea if that's a thing but it best describes what I write.

28. if you could reproduce your story in another medium (movie, novel, comic, etc.) what would you choose and why?

Hmm I'd say novel or maybe series. A movie would be cool too.

29. what would your story’s rating be? (G, PG, M etc.)

Hmm interesting I'd like to say its somewhere between PG-13 and mature just because of some of the topics.

30. if you were leaving simblr and had to choose another creator to continue the story for you, who would you ask?

I think either @izayoichan or @mahvaladara for my TS4 stories since they've helped me write some of them and they would keep true to the characters as they love them as much as I do.

For my TS3 stories I would say @legendofsim since for a long time our stories had been intertwined.

31. drop some random trivia about your story

Ethan was supposed to die trying to save Jonah

Caiden was supposed to have played the part of the hero instead of Jonah

Cory was going to heal Jonah's broken heart over the of Ethan.

But as they say the story changed...

32. give a light spoiler

Someone will be heartbroken at the end of the story.

33. recommend another creator’s story!

There are so many: @izayoichan @mahvaladara @nikatyler @justkeeponsimming @amuhav @legendofsim @simlit @lilyshadowwriter @wannabecatwriter

Please don't be upset if you weren't listed on here. I love everyone I follow but these are my favorites. I have others but some aren't active anymore and stuck with the ones I'm always waiting for the next installment, even if I'm behind on a few of them.

Thank you for asking!

[thevindicativevordan]

Metallo

I wanted to talk about one of my favorite DC villains, a guy who I’ve always thought was incredibly cool. A guy who I’ve thought makes a really awesome contrast for Superman. A guy who has never been in stories that have utilized his potential in my eyes:

Let’s talk about Metallo.

Metallo’s Background

He’s one of Superman’s oldest Rogues, and also one of the Rogues who has gone through the most revamps. The Golden Age Superman fought a guy called Metalo aka George Grant who created a suit of armor made out of the strongest metal on Earth (something that would resurface in the Grant Morrison revamp during the New 52) and a super strength serum that made him Superman’s physical equal. In an odd way he was an evil proto-Iron Man/Post Crisis Lex Luthor:

The John Corben take wouldn’t show up until the 1950s, created by Robert Bernstein and Al Plastino. This was the foundation for the modern conception of Metallo:

Right off the bat Corben was positioned as an Anti-Superman, predating Bizarro who wouldn’t show up until later. Corben worked as a journalist to cover up his real activities as a murderer and thief. An accident that nearly killed him and crippled his human body, forced him to accept a deal with a scientist to transfer his mind to a new artificial body. The scientist transferred his mind into an android body covered in synthetic bulletproof skin, gifting Corben with super strength. The synthetic skin idea would be used in Byrne’s revamp and the DCAU incarnation. He was initially powered by uranium, but was told he would need Kryptonite to fuel himself permanently. Corben would also act as a romantic rival for Clark via wooing Lois with his pretense of being Superman’s secret identity.

Ultimately John Corben would die in his debut issue, after mistaking a museum prop for the actual Kryptonite he needed to power himself. I often wonder if the character might have been better off if he had not been killed off in his debut, similarly to how the Joker was saved from dying in his debut by editorial. There were many intriguing ideas present in Corben’s creation: He was a romantic rival for Clark Kent, he used his journalism in a similar if villainous way as Superman did, and he was powered by the very thing that could kill Superman while still possessing enough raw strength to stand on equal terms with the Man of Steel. If they had kept him around, fleshed him out more, might Metallo have enjoyed more long term respect?

 Regardless, Corben’s death paved the way for the third Metallo: His brother Roger Corben.

Roger likewise had a lot of interesting ideas that would eventually get folded into the modern Metallo. He was not a petty thief, but had a personal vendetta with Superman over the death of his brother. Superman accidentally caused the very accident that crippled Roger, adding to the man’s feud. Roger was also a leader within the Skull organization, rather than the small time criminal his brother was. This Metallo’s design would form the basis for the Geoff Johns/Gary Frank revamp during Secret Origin, and I suspect the Johns conception of Metallo as a member of a wider organization and whose transformation was caused by Superman has it’s roots here.

Sadly the take on a more fleshed out Metallo would not last. The Roger Corben version of Metallo would meet his end with the rest of the Pre-Crisis Superman Rogues Gallery in the seminal Alan Moore story Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?

Enter John Byrne:

During his Post-Crisis revamp of the Supermythos, Byrne returned to the John Corben take of a petty thief injured in an accident, who is rebuilt by a mad scientist Professor Vale. Byrne added his own twist though, with the scientist believing Superman to be the first scout in a full blown Kryptonian takeover of Earth, and specifically crafted Metallo to be an Anti-Superman weapon powered by Kryptonite. Metallo was to be humanity’s defense against the threat of Superman, an idea that would be revisited in Johns’ and Morrison’s revamps. Unfortunately petty thieves don’t make for great heroes, and Metallo killed Vale, ultimately coming into conflict with Superman not over any desire to protect humanity, but to simply eliminate a thorn in his side.

This incarnation of Metallo has basically served as the basis for his appearance in outside media, with a design that blatantly draws on the popular Terminator films.

This version of Metallo would also acquire a variety of powers thanks to making a deal with Neron that included the ability to transform parts of his body into weapons, transfer his consciousness into any technological or mechanical device, and manipulate his size:

Personally I’ve always loved that powerset upgrade, and think it’s crucial it sticks. It let him kick the shit out of Superman AND Batman in Loeb Superman/Batman, which basically solidified for me that this dude was a badass you didn’t want to mess with. Shame he’s never come close to matching that initial impression since.

The DCAU mostly used the Byrne revamp’s take, but they did change a few aspects which would end up carrying over to the mainline version. Most important was the replacing of Vale with Lex Luthor as the mind behind Metallo’s creation, something that would be incorporated in both Johns and Morrison’s later revamps.

One aspect that they introduced that didn’t carry over, that was still utilized to great effectiveness in the show, was that Corbyn’s transformation had robbed him of most physical sensation. He couldn’t taste, smell, touch, all the little things that made us human, and that drove him nuts. Ultimately he would learn that Lex was responsible for what happened to him, and he would swear a grudge against both Lex and Superman. Malcom McDowell was a fantastic choice to play Metallo, and is still the guy I “hear” when I read Metallo’s dialogue.

Now we come to the guy who crafted the next big revamp of Metallo: Geoff Johns.

This version of Metallo incorporated a ton of aspects from the multiple revamps that had preceded it, in much the same way Secret Origin did to Superman as a whole, while also adding a few new twists that I consider essential to the character now.

Like the DCAU, Luthor was the one who transformed Corben into Metallo. Like the Roger Corben take, this John Corben was accidentally crippled in a fight with Superman that gave him a personal vendetta against the Man of Steel.  Similar to Byrne, this Metallo was created to be an Anti-Superman weapon. Corben and Lois had had a brief romantic relationship, similar to the original debut of Corben. Johns even incorporated some of the Golden Age Metallo by having Corben suit up in a mech suit made of “Metallo”, the strongest metal on Earth to fight Superman before the accident. Johns also added a key bit of lore that I love, that Corben served as a soldier under General Sam Lane, and became the man’s surrogate son, the child he always wanted as opposed to Lois and Lucy. Here Corben is motivated to fight Kal-El by a mix of xenophobia, need to impress his father figure, desire to impress Lois, and a simple dose of blood lust.

The last major revamp came from Grant Morrison during the New 52:

Morrison kept a lot of the Johns revamp: Corben was a soldier serving under Sam Lane, he had a brief romantic relationship with Lois, he was distrustful of Superman’s heroics, and his transformation into Metallo was connected to Lex. However Corben was a much more sympathetic figure under Morrison than under Johns, genuinely believing Superman to be a threat, he volunteered to be merged with the Metal-0 superweapon (another callback to the original Metalo) to defend humanity, but Brainiac hijacked his cybernetics and turned him into a weapon. 

While Metallo would get another visual revamp for Rebirth, posted in the first image, Corben has more or less stayed within the confines that Byrne/Johns/Morrison established.

How I would use Metallo

I said earlier that Metallo is a guy I loved that I’ve never thought has lived up to his potential. He’s a villain with a lot of cool ideas, he’s a villain who has been continuously used by a lot of my favorite writers, but he’s never lived up to the Anti-Superman characterization that’s baked into him. Too often he’s just been a glorified henchman, or a petty thug, rarely if ever challenging Superman except in the most basic physical sense. I think that’s a great disservice to the ability of the character to be a much more important Rogue. That writers so often refuse to focus on him or any of the Rogues beyond Lex also hasn’t done him any favors. Instead of creating countless new OCs that are tossed aside by the next writer, someone needs to come on board with a passion for revamping the classics.

A lot of Superman’s Rogues suck not because they aren’t cool or don’t bring any interesting ideas, but because the ideas don’t do a good job in contrasting with Superman’s attributes. Metallo is a great example of this, look at all the interesting ideas creators have crafted around him, yet none of them have really been able to push those ideas as a way to explore and contrast Superman, so we get basic “Metallo tries to kill Superman, fails, Superman sends him back to jail” stories. That’s a failure of creativity in my eyes. I think that by choosing from some of the revamps listed above, a better, cooler, more interesting Metallo can be crafted.

The basics as established by Byrne/Johns/Morrison are great! The essential ideas that should be incorporated from all of the revamps listed above are:

1. Corben needs to have a military background as in Johns/Morrison. The petty thief origin is too dull, there’s nothing really to be mined there from a characterization standpoint. As a soldier Corben can serve as an interesting critique and contrast of Superman as an icon of America. The “American Way” has always been a dicey add-on to the original “Truth and Justice” motto. Often it’s been used to cast Superman as an obedient stooge of the government, as he was in The Dark Knight Returns, a characterization that has dogged him ever since. I think Corben can serve as an interesting character to explore Superman’s relationship with the American military-industrial complex. I would have Corben be what said complex wants Superman to be, at least in the beginning: A human WMD they can aim and fire, who will always follow orders no matter how reprehensible they are, who has a firm “America First” mindset. That way you can contrast the mainline Superman, and show that Superman is not that while also establishing what “The American Way” means in his eyes. Or you can have Superman drop that aspect of his motto in-universe, out of disgust for how his government perverts it. Either option is fine with me, I didn’t mind when Superman renounced his American citizenship.

2. If Lois often has to end up working with Clark’s exes, whether it’s Lana, Diana, or whoever, I think it’s only fair that Clark has to end up facing down an ex from Lois’ past. It’s important to show that Lois had a life before Clark showed up, and I think Corben is a good way to explore some of that. He’s the possessive ex-boyfriend who doesn’t respect Lois’ personal space and is convinced he can “win her back” via sheer determination. You can also compare and contrast the way Clark courted Lois, did Clark occasionally make the same pigheaded assumptions as Corben did? Corben debuted as a romantic rival for Superman, and I think that aspect still has merit. I also like his status as Sam’s surrogate son, it adds for some nice tension with Clark’s father-in-law that the guy he actually wanted to marry Lois was transformed into a weapon to kill the guy who ended up being his son-in-law. 

3. Corben is a true believer in the threat Superman poses, and is willing to take on the transformation into Metallo to protect humanity. It’s xenophobia yes, but with all the Evil Superman stories going around, it’s hard not to sympathize at least a little bit with Corben’s viewpoint, which tie into a deeper attribute of Corben’s I think needs to be brought up: Corben should be a sympathetic villain. I wouldn’t make him a bloodthirsty psycho, Superman has plenty of those. Corben should have villainous valor, willing to tackle on whatever threats to humanity are out there, whether Superman or others. I would make Corben instead someone who has the genuine desire to protect humanity, but lacks Superman’s concern for collateral damage. In that way you could contrast the two’s brand of “heroics”, Superman’s loyalty to humanity as a whole over one nation, and concern with protecting lives first and foremost, Corben’s desire to protect humanity’s future for the “greater good” even if it costs a few lives in the here and now and loyalty to America above all else. 

4. I like the idea of Superman being inadvertently responsible for the accident that cripples Corben and mandates his transformation. It adds to his sympathy, helps justify why Superman might continue to believe Corben could find redemption (he wants Corben to change and also wants to find a way to earn Corben’s forgiveness one day), and provides a good personal reason for why Corben would hate Superman, blaming Supes for his current state. I would also have him blame Sam and Lex as well, but he would subdue those resentments for as long as he remained working for the military. Only after he finally snaps would he target those two.

5. Finally I would keep the ability to shapeshift his body into weapons, and to manipulate technology. I would have Corben emulating Adam Jensen from Deus Ex, able to “hack” tech around him for his own purpose, armed with a variety of weapons that make him a huge threat not just to Superman but to everyone. Finally I would get rid of the Kryptonite heart. I’m tired of every battle with Metallo going the same way: He shows up, blasts Superman with kryptonite radiation, Superman lies on the ground gasping in pain, Metallo stands around gloating like a moron instead of finishing Supes off, Supes beats him by tricking him or by someone else intervening. I want to see Metallo as an Anti-Superman weapon realized beyond jus the Kryptonite. How about incorporating the DCAU version’s lack of feeling, so that Metallo doesn’t feel pain from Superman’s blows or his powers? How about giving him an internal temperature controller, so he can’t be melted by heat vision or frozen by arctic breath? How about an invisibility cloak that hides him from Superman’s vision, sound mufflers that let him sneak up on Supes even with his hearing, basically go WILD with his Anti-Superman status, let us see a real fight between someone who can counter each of Superman’s powers! You have Kryptonite Man and Lex for the villains who mainly make use of Kryptonite against Superman, I think Metallo should go in a different direction. Morrison making it so that “Metal-0″ was already powerful enough to hurt Superman is all the justification you need as to why he still poses a threat in my opinion.

I’ll go over the basic arc I’d want to see him undergo and the kinds of stories I think he’s positioned to tell in another post.

[americas-golden-boy]

Operation Merry and Bright

Summary: Sam Wilson is many things.

Highly trained former United States Air Force pararescue airman, Avenger, and above all else:

Expert matchmaker.

AKA the power of Christmas traditions bringing together Bucky and the girl from down the hall.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes/Reader

Word Count:  2,161

“Hey, F.R.I.D.A.Y.?”

“Yes, Sergeant Barnes?”

“Bucky.  It’s uh...” he trailed off, pushing a hand through his hair before dropping it to rest on his hip, head hanging slightly as if it’ll hide the wave of embarrassment that he’s feeling from the A.I., “It’s November, right?”

“Yes, sir.  It is November 13, 2017, your name is James Buchanan Barnes, you were born on March 10, 1917, you are in the Avengers Tower—“

“I’m okay, F.R.I.D.A.Y., thank you,” he cut her off, the corners of his lips curling at her reassurance.

Even with the trigger words safely removed from his consciousness along with the rest of HYDRA’s programming, it was still a long road to recovery dealing with the aftermath of his time as the Winter Soldier.  Nightmares were a regular occurrence, his training was always pushing at the back of his mind, and on rare occasions his memories would lapse, leaving him confused and disoriented.

At times like these, F.R.I.D.A.Y.’s programmed response to his mounting distress, if he was alone, was to recite facts, beginning with grounding him in the present and becoming more detailed as she progressed.  The last time he had snapped back into his mind was to her reciting a recipe for plum cobbler, something he had built up the courage to ask her for in preparation for the team dinner around Thanksgiving.

He found it almost sweet that on more than one occasion, such as just now, she did it even when he spoke to her directly, despite the realistic probability that he would recognize her in that state being close to zero.

Even for an A.I., she had enough sass and sarcastic wit to stand on par with her creator, and she still met every random question and whim he had with seemingly unlimited amounts of patience and understanding.  

Which, he supposed, she could really have.

He hadn’t forgotten the date, though.  Or at least he was relatively sure he hadn’t.  He figured it couldn’t hurt to check, but with that simple piece of information, he just found himself terribly, incredibly confused.

Because hanging from the ceiling, right in the middle of the hallway leading from the common area to his suite, was a mistletoe bunch.

Even with Stark’s eccentric party planning at every opportunity, not a single Christmas decoration had made its way to the residential floors yet.  Not on any of the floors, probably, but he hadn’t made any recent visits to the S.I. or R&D sections of the building, both out of a lack of necessity and a personal mission to avoid social interaction when at all possible.

As he shifts his weight to his other leg, arms coming to cross over his chest with a soft huff, he sifts through his recent memories, trying to determine the most likely culprits with a motive to hang up the offending piece of greenery.

“It’s not even Thanksgiving yet, where did they find this thing?” He questions aloud, thankful that no one else is around to see how ridiculous the whole situation is, even before he started talking to empty space, and even more so that F.R.I.D.A.Y. didn’t answer his rhetorical question.

I should take this down, she's in this hall too, it might make her uncomfortable, he thinks idly, moving under the bundle to inspect how it was suspended from the ceiling, muscles stiffening as soon as he fully processes the thought.

Could it be for you?  There’s really no evidence that it’s for him at all when he thinks about it objectively, and he really wouldn’t put it past a few of the other people on the team to hang it up as an excuse to see you flustered, or some setup to an elaborate prank, something he knew you’d been victim to more than once.

Almost all of which were headed by the same person.

“Fucking Wilson,” he grumbles under his breath, spinning on his heel to head to the training room and confront the man in question, before promptly rocking back on his other foot to prevent himself from knocking straight into you.

“Sorry!” You squeaked in surprise at the sudden movement and proximity, hand shooting out to grab his arm in an attempt to steady him if he needed it.

He didn’t, but he wobbled a bit longer than necessary to enjoy the feeling of your hand on the plates of his arm.

While Stark and Banner had made some improvements to the limb that HYDRA gave him until a new, upgraded prosthetic could be completed, he was still limited to the basic sensations of pressure and temperature along the surface.  

It made his heart swell every time you touched his left arm, knowing that you weren’t afraid of it and embraced it as just another part of him.  Despite this, he really wished you had grabbed his right, just so he could enjoy the contact of your skin on his.

“That was my fault, I should have heard you coming,” he managed to get out, the slight lift of your brows and the hint of blush spreading across your cheeks equal parts humorous and sweet, as your wide eyes flitted across his form to make sure he was securely planted before slowly releasing your grip.

Would it be too obvious if I just tipped forward?

“Didn’t know I had what it takes to sneak up on a super-soldier.  What did Sam do?” You questioned, slipping back into your easy banter with a small smile.

“Oh, right. I’m actually not sure if it was him yet but um...” he trailed off, foregoing completing his statement in favor of simply pointing above them.

She quirked a brow at him before tilting her head back and shifting her gaze to the ceiling.  

If her expression before had been humorous, this one was simply priceless.  

The blush erupted with renewed force across her cheeks with all the grace of paint splashed across a canvas, lips parting at the sudden drop of her jaw, eyes blinking owlishly before they shifted to focus on him again.

This time he couldn’t hold back the bark of laughter that came out of him, smacking his left hand over his mouth, the slight sting of the impact a punishment for possibly offending her.

“Is that...mistletoe?” She asked slowly, looking back and forth between him and the bundle.

“Yes.”

“In November?”

“That’s what I said.”

“And you think Sam put it there because...?” She trailed off.

“Well, uh, this hallway is just you, me, and him.  I highly doubt it was put there because of me, and he pranks you all the time.  He just seemed like a logical option,” he explains lamely, realizing how weak his logic is when forced to voice it out loud.

“That makes sense, and it probably was Sam, but it’s uh—“ she starts, peering over her shoulder at the end of the hallway— “it’s not for the reason you think,” she finishes, her voice lowering a bit as she fiddles with the bracelet on her wrist, a habit he noticed she had a tendency to do when she was nervous.

“Okay, well, what do you think is the reason he has to hang it up?” He decides on asking, the direct approach seeming like the quickest and most effective way to find answers to the question literally hanging above his head.

“He— Well we—“ she attempts to answer, eyes darting to look anywhere but his face, “We were talking about the holidays a few days ago, right?  And I really love Christmas, it’s probably my favorite holiday.  So we were exchanging stories, things we like about the season.  At some point I, um, I mentioned that I had never been kissed under the mistletoe, and that it was on my bucket list.  He’s the only person that knows that, I think, so, yeah.  It’s probably because of me.”

By the end of her rant the words are coming out in a rush, and she finally manages to meet his eyes again, looking up at him from beneath her lashes, the soft jingle of her charm bracelet drifting in the space between them.

His brain stops functioning.

Not really, he knows what that feels like, but it’s his turn to look dumbly between her and the bunch as he processes her confession.

It’s probably the most endearing thing he’s ever heard her say, and the warm feeling blooming in his chest creeps up the back of his neck in a way that is in no way unpleasant.

What she told him was also in no way an invitation, and he doesn’t even think he’s worthy of taking away an opportunity like that from her, but it doesn’t stop the image of her body pressed against his from pushing to the front of his mind, and the tingle in his neck turns into a burning electric current, shooting straight down his spine to rest in a roiling boil in his belly.

He realizes he’s still staring at her.

“Bucky?” She asks quietly, looking like she wants to melt right through the floor and he could kick himself for putting that doubt in her head.

“Yes, yeah, right.  I would say that’s sweet of him but uh, I doubt he did it with pure intentions.”

She huffs out a laugh and he feels a bit better for relieving at least a bit of her tension.

“Yeah, well, he’s probably making fun of me for being one of the only people that hasn’t done it.  He thinks it’s mostly for kids,” she concedes with another self-deprecating laugh.

“There’s nothing wrong with that,” he reassures her quickly, stepping closer to place a hand on her upper arm, startling himself with his own sudden movement, smile growing when she relaxes into the contact, “I haven’t either,” he adds on.

Her head snaps up to look at him so fast that he’s momentarily concerned about her neck.

“Really?” She asks incredulously, searching his face like she’ll be able to spot the lie.

“As far as I can remember.  I always spent the Christmas season with Steve and his Ma or my sisters, eating more popcorn than stringing it,” he confirms, chuckling at the memory.

“I thought you were a player in your day,” she teases, gently pulling her lip between her teeth as she grins at him.

“I might’a been,” he concedes, deciding to take the risk and trail his hand down her arm to grab her own, carefully holding it and checking her expression for any sign of discomfort, “but I spent the most wonderful time of the year with the most important people in my life, and if I had a girl I think I really would’a enjoyed the sweet and simple things.”

The smile she gave him nearly took his breath away.  It crinkled the corner of her eyes and shone brightly enough to compete with the star on the top of the Rockefeller Tree.

And in that moment it was just for him.

She slowly reaches up with her free hand and brushes the loose hair behind his ear, palm resting on his cheek with a tender swipe of her thumb.

“Bucky?”

“Mm?” He hums lightly, almost scared to break the moment as he leans into her touch.

“It’s a bit early but, will you kiss me under the mistletoe?”

The warmth in his chest explodes with the strength of a supernova, pulsing heat licking across every inch of him so hot he’s worried he’ll burn her where they’re connected.

He brings her hand to his lips, pressing a feather-light kiss on her knuckles before guiding it to caress his other cheek, resting his own hands on her waist and the small of her back, closing the last bit of space between them with a gentle tug.

“Nothing would make me happier, doll.”

He watches the way her eyes flutter shut, wanting to memorize every second of this moment before letting his own close.

There is no rush, the press of their lips is languid and soft and even better than he could have ever hoped for.  It’s not a kiss of desire, the embrace isn’t hurried and needy, it’s an acknowledgment and acceptance between them and says all of the words they haven’t gotten a chance to express yet.

He’s not sure how much time has passed when they pull apart, but it feels like no time at all and he already wants to sweep her away and continue for as long as she’ll indulge him.

With one last peck on her lips, he presses his forehead to hers, maintaining the contact that he had been yearning for so long.

“We might need to get Sam a fruit basket or something,” she says.

“Maybe. But he can wait till Christmas.”