#mostly out of thinking up more unique traits for the most typical monsters

[qqchurch]

idle re-imagining of the trash mob goblin we often see:

this goblin variant would be a runaway experiment of someone that wanted self-sufficient worker drones and thus are plant/bug hybrids

the green skin is a side-effect of letting their entire skin be able to photosynthesize to reduce food costs. they have seemingly solid yellow eyes, but these are just lenses that cover up the compound eyes underneath. the noses are closer to horns filled with sensory organs for better detection and tracking of pheromones. the mouth is filled with razor-sharp teeth to help with cutting up meat, though their diet is mostly fruits and berries

behavior-wise, if left alone they form up communities akin to bees and their hives, with a singular "queen" taking up reproductive duties while the workers forage around the vicinity of the nest. they reproduce by growing seedpods inside them which are then implanted via an ovipositor either inside the "queen" or anywhere moist enough such as watered soil

when provoked, they attack with their teeth and claws, often leaping several times their height at great speeds. alone, they're not a threat, but they forage in groups of up to 6. tool or weapon use is rarely observed unless facing a nest that has been active for months, and oftentimes they are observed to only use clubs, rudimentary spears, or slings

there are no known goblin nests that are active for more than 2 years due to extermination quests being enacted on any known long-term nest, but there are persistent rumors of a "goblin queendom" where the original goblins thrive

[leia-doodles]

An unorganized rant about monster high, generation three,

This is mostly about character powers.

Monster high G1 has never had any solid or concrete lore. The main premise has always been, the fashionable teenage children of the universal monsters. It also includes a lot of superstition type characters, and characters from Greek mythology. From what I remember the parents didn't play a big role in generation ones main content. Maybe Dracula and Cleo's father the mummy. Monster high also established that there's pretty much an alternative universe where things are monster pun variants of the real world. Most characters are presumed to be immortal-ish, or they live very long lives. They don't get into how age works and they expect viewers to suspend their disbelief for alot of things. they use your base knowledge of these famous monsters, but they don't really expand on them that much. The stories are more dramatic and don't involve much much lore building. Since they established the monster world as a parody of the real world, it gives the ghouls more places to go, and they don't have to be tied to actual prominent locations present in the media they reference. (For instance deuce won't need to go to Hesperides or Greece and Frankie doesn't have to the Bavarian alps or something idk, does that make sense?😭 Draculaura doesn't need to visit Transylvania). The movies also showcase alot of different characters and locations. It makes the monster world feel more alive. What also helps is the illusion of other schools. I often see monster high as a public school, and things like the werewolf school, and vampire schools feel like private schools. I think it helps convey monster highs messaging of being unique. Good allegories for anti racism, anti homophobia, anti ablism. Since you see how the outside world looks compared MH.

Monster high Generation 3 is striving to have more lore and world/character building. Characters now have abilities that tie into their origins. Frankie stein has electric powers, and they can exchange their body parts for helpful tools. Clawdeen has super speed, strength, smell, and hearing. Draculaura has hypnosis (it's a vampire trait I believe), transformation into a bat, and she has literal magic spells. Almost every character has a new ability that links to their monster origins. I think this is a cool concept, I'm always down for a more monstrous approach, but for some characters it feels very gimmicky and not realistic for the setting. -lets take cleo- she is a mummy monster, and mummies often get some organs removed when they are getting mummified. Cleo has nearly all of her internal organs removed. And not only that, she keeps them on her 24/7. Typically mummies only have their stomach,lung, and liver taken out. And maybe their intestines. And they're put in jars and held within the tomb. Cleo keeps her organs on her 24/7 because she literally cannot live without them, which in my opinion defeats the purpose of her being an undead mummy. The organs are used as plot devices to cause conflict in some episodes. Oh no Cleos inner ear, conveniently rolls away so she loses balance and trips and falls and almost gets caught by humans!! Oh no Cleos heart needs to be given up for this special necklace! But she will be rendered emotionless 😫😫!! There's never really any advantage to her having all of her organs removed, even though she is proud of it. It's not something that I think adds to her character and I think she would be the same without it. (Maybe if it was a fun fact in the BG they could be cute, but for plot purposes it seems weak). Characters like heath, Abby and Lagoona now have elemental powers. Abby and Heath had them In G1, but it was more of a byproduct of their monster types. Not necessarily something they used super actively. Abby was a yeti first, before she was an ice element. Now I'm G3 I'm willing to argue that she's more of a snow man than she is a yeti. While she lives in the Himalayan mountains, she wears no fur or yeti looking attire. Her outfit consists of snow patterned pants and a snow T-shirt, matching her ice earrings and ice...sandals???? I would understand, shes an ice monster, so she doesn't get that affected by the cold temperatures. Therefore she doesn't need to wear big fur coats... But they don't explain it like that at all. Her mother still sports a white fur look while abby is more purplish. It's a tad nitpicky, but she just doesn't come across as a yeti to me. She's an ice element. Lagoona is the same way. Her looks have already convinced me that she's a sea creature, I don't think she needs to have water bending powers. Deuce also irks me with his powers. If you see his eyeballs, you will turn to stone. So he is supposed to be wearing sunglasses to cover up his eyes, except in this generation, his sunglasses are literally just tinted glasses. If that. You can see his eyes clearly. But they still treat his powers the same. So it's just silly to me but when characters are like "oh no his eyes are showing!!! Put his sunglasses on!!! And he puts them on, and you still see his eyes 😭. I have not the slightest clue as to why they designed them this way.

Since the characters now have fancy special powers, the writers often have to include them into every episode. So the episodes often feel bloated with unnecessary conflicts and shenanigans that don't further the plot in most cases. I feel like it takes away from the actual overarching story they are trying to tell. High stake events like clawdeen figuring out things about her mother, are often drowned out and fall flat because compared to every other episode it's nothing crazy. They just got done surviving an attack from a giant plant monster and the whole school almost being destroyed or something, clawdeen learning information about her mother is often pushed to the side. This made it hard to believe how serious her mothers disappearance was. This phenomenon happens with every character. One episode draculaura is freely using magic the next it's super high stakes about her being expelled, just to have the episode after that feature magic again with no remorse 😭. With the constant shenanigans, magic is the least of the schools worries at this point. They also have midterms, which is something to hone in on certain characters powers and abilities, but there’s no build up to midterms. It just happens one episode. I wish we got to see the characters struggle throughout the season, maybe clawdeen especially. If they have to have her human form, let her transformation be unstable for a few episodes, maybe the moon tailsmen doesn’t really enhance her powers unless used correctly, so she has to actually learn and adapt to these new werewolf powers. Instead she’s just the BEST werewolf and there’s no doubt she will win any battle. Her human form isn’t something that puts her at a disadvantage at all.

I believe Frankie is probably the most conveniently used character during the whole season. Frankie is pretty much cogsworth from fallout. They have just the right tool for the right time. I used to think Frankie having different people in their head was cool, but the more it’s used the more I’m like “doesn’t Frankie get tired of this?” Every episode Frankie is going to electric shock themselves or their friends, they’re going to need to tear themselves apart to save someone, they’re going to literally break apart at other points. It looks like it would get exhausting. If I remember correctly, G1 Frankie only really lost her hands and maybe a leg on specific occasions, but it wasn’t something she did willingly often. Sometimes she would remove her hands to help others. Also I don’t remember her having many electric shock moments, not ones that she wanted to happen anyways. You could make a shallow argument that in G1 her hands falling off and electricity issues were more of a (disability), where in G3 it’s an asset to Frankie’s character, one that I just can’t suspend my disbelief to be like “yeah they totally aren’t bothered by this 24/7”. In my opinion it would make more sense if Frankie was just a robot in this generation. They hardly feel like a franken monster anymore.

Draculaura and her infamous witch powers…it just feels like a strange writing decision in my opinion. I think they couldn’t think of some vampire powers, so she matches with everyone else, so they made her a witch so she can do spells. And I’ll assume they made it forbidden for maybe a sense of taboo, but it just doesn’t make sense at all. She practically does witchcraft out in the open multiple times, and no one ever cares. And her spells are never anything that I think are too spectacular, casual levitating spell when needed, convenient teleporting spell. It doesn’t add to her character at all. Maybe I have G1 brain rot, but I liked her forbidden romance in G1. It was simple and cute. And her character was such a sweetheart and a cutie pie. She doesn’t need enhanced vampire powers because her actual personality speaks for itself. In G3 draculaura is defined by everything around her, but what’s her actual personality without those things?

Overall I kind of miss the casual approach to the characters abilities in G1. I like the idea of them in G3, but the execution just doesn’t land in my opinion. The constant fight scenes drag the episodes, paired with the rushed heavy handed messaging and you have very little character development.

[mst3kproject]

Menace from Outer Space

 With that for a title, we can only be looking at one of two things: this is either a Star Man movie or an installment of Rocky Jones, Space Ranger!  I’d ask you to guess but I’m sure you all recognize the Orbit Jet up there, so without further ado, Menace from Outer Space.

Little Bobby thought he was gonna get a comet named after him, but a closer look at the approaching object reveals a missile of some sort, headed straight for Earth!  Vena determines that it could only have been launched from Fornax, an incredibly hot moon of Jupiter where it was thought nothing could live.  Rocky and the gang immediately set out for Fornax to ask them if they can please stop shooting at us, but when they arrive, they learn that they are not the first Earthlings to land here.  The wicked Professor Cardos crashed his own rocket here eight years ago, and he plans to use the power of Fornax’ unique crystals to conquer the galaxy!

The opening of Menace from Outer Space had me groaning.  I’ve seen enough movies about comets or asteroids about to strike the Earth to have a good idea what was coming, and I did not want to see 1956’s version of Armageddon.  Imagine my relief when the meteor turned out to be a missile, which came down and blew up and the whole thing was over and done with inside of five minutes!  I kind of want to apologize to the writers of Rocky Jones, Space Ranger!  I should have had more faith in you guys.

The rest of the movie has everything a MSTie could want from our old friend Rocky Jones.  The technobabble is completely meaningless when it’s not just dead wrong, the aliens are white guys in stupid costumes, the special effects are delightfully hokey, and the fight scenes are as clumsy and stilted as anything with William Shatner in it!  Even Cleolanta makes a cameo appearance, just when I was resigned to not seeing her again. The plot goes through a number of the twists typical of the series, with multiple bad guys making and breaking alliances against the heroes.  It’s pretty involving, and you honestly do want to keep watching and see what happens next.

Traditions are good, so I shall keep one up by talking about the science that appears in this storyline.  One of the most breathtakingly stupid lines comes very early in the movie, when Professor Newton announces that the object he’s spotted can’t be a comet, because it’s making a wooshing noise and “there’s no sound associated with a comet or meteor”.  Uh… professor?  There’s no sound in space, period, on account of the vacuum.  Tom Servo’s head would have exploded.

Then there’s the moon Fornax, which is presented as a bizarre and glittering landscape of crystal pyramids and weird, hourglass-shaped monuments.  There doesn’t seem to be any plant life, which leaves me wondering what the Fornacians eat.  Perhaps they don’t need food, since Professor Newton describes the life of the moon as being based on crystals.  Earth’s scientists had believed that nothing could live in such heat, but crystals, the professor says, can grow, and “growth is life!”  This leads to a bit of a disappointment, as I was hoping we’d get to see something weird and alien like the Horta from Star Trek or the crystal-based organisms of The Monolith Monsters.  But no, the Fornacians are merely people in vaguely Arabian costumes.  I probably should have known better.

Although the moon is described as far too hot for life, with a reference to thousands of degrees, when the Orbit Jet lands there the crew climbs out in their shirtsleeves and likens the weather to a nice day on Palm Beach.  So… what happened to the inhospitable heat?  When King Zorovac visits Earth with Rocky, he never comments on the cold – or on the fact that Earth’s gravity is said to be half that of Fornax’.  The high gravity makes landing and taking off on the moon difficult, but otherwise doesn’t seem to affect anything the humans try to do there. It’s like the writers couldn’t be bothered with their own plot point.

Well… there is that nasty little scene where the guys tease Vena about gaining weight, but that doesn’t count.

The other weird thing about the high gravity is that it implies some very odd things about Fornax itself.  Let’s say Fornax is the biggest moon in the solar system – that would make it the size of Ganymede, a real-life moon of Jupiter, which has a radius of 2600 km.  The surface gravity of Ganymede is about fourteen percent of Earth’s.  In order to make it twice Earth’s, the moon would need a mass about a third that of our home planet, which doesn’t sound like much until you consider that it’s thirteen times Ganymede’s real-life mass and would require a density of nearly ten grams per cubic centimetre.  Such a moon would have to be made almost out of pure lead! And that still wouldn’t have the weird gravitational effects further out in space…

The writers, of course, did not do that math (I can barely believe I did that math). It seems they were just assigning their fictional moon traits willy-nilly, without worrying about whether it was astrophysically possible or even internally consistent.  So it’s actually kind of interesting that Jupiter does, in fact, have a hot little moon!  That, of course, is Io, which has been squashed and stretched by Jupiter’s gravity until its insides spill out in the form of sulfurous volcanoes. The writers of Menace from Outer Space couldn’t have known that, since the volcanism of Io wasn’t discovered until 1979, when astronomer Linda Morabito noticed a volcanic plume in one of the Voyager I photos.  A neat coincidence, though.

As for the people of this curious world – the standard trope would have the inhabitants of a hot planet be belligerent and impulsive (fiery, if you will), so it’s kind of nice that the Fornacians are very much the opposite of this.  They’re presented as valuing reason and careful in their judgment.  Cardos has told the king of Fornax about Earth, but when given the opportunity Zorovac would rather see for himself.  His un-named queen clearly knows what kind of movie she’s in, because she actually listens to children who come to her with information relevant to the plot.  Princess Vollica is a quick study in English and quite resourceful, even though she’s no more than eight years old.  Their missile, we learn, was not actually an attack, but a misguided attempt at communication!

Despite the title being Menace from Outer Space, the real menace in the storyline is the very earthly Professor Cardos. He has told the Fornacians that Earthlings will come to them speaking sweet words about friendship and trade, only to conquer and enslave when Zorovac has his guard down.  I think we’re supposed to be angry that he would say such things, but considering human history, it’s not as if he’s lying. When Zorovac insists on making up his own mind about what Rocky and co have to say, Cardos turns instead to some more reliably evil allies.  This seems to imply that the greatest threat to humans in the entire universe is ourselves, which… again, history makes that seem reasonable.

Menace from Outer Space does do one thing neither of the MST3K installments of Rocky Jones, Space Ranger! did, which is to give us a bit of an idea what some of the characters besides Rocky and Winky actually do.  We still don’t find out exactly how Bobby joined this team but it seems he is a child prodigy and an invaluable assistant to Professor Newton.  When they’re figuring out what they can and can’t take to Fornax with them, Newton argues that Bobby is ‘worth more than his weight in equipment’, and there are bits where he rattles off some rather intense technobabble that Winky is shown as unable to keep up with.  At the same time, the writers never forget that Bobby is only about twelve and while Rocky and Winky joke about his ‘romance’ with Princess Vollica, the friendship between the two children is clearly nothing of the sort.

Vena, too, does a little better in Menace. She’s shown to be a skilled mathematician, and capable of taking over as Rocky’s navigator if Winky is out of commission.  It’s clearly not that she isn’t intelligent, it’s just that her bubbly personality makes her come across as a ditz.  If this were used in the plot, by having the villains underestimate her, I would want to think that it was an intentional attempt to make the audience examine our prejudices about women, but sadly it never is.  Rather, I get the impression that the writers didn’t know what to do with Vena. She makes her one contribution early on when she determines the missile’s origin, and then spends much of the rest of the movie as a hostage.

When people describe Rocky Jones, Space Ranger! as a proto-Star Trek, they’re mostly speaking in terms of the plot, which involves exploring space and meeting very human-like aliens who all speak English.  This isn’t entirely fair.  While obviously not as progressive as Star Trek tried to be, Rocky Jones is smarter than I think it’s given credit for.  The politics of the no-win situation in Crash of Moons, or Cardos disguising his own imperial ambitions by projecting them onto his enemies, is actually pretty weighty for a half-hour tv show.  The acting may be bad, the science wrong, and the gender roles dated, but Rocky Jones, Space Ranger! does a good job of giving the audience food for thought.

[cornerverse-fma]

Monster AU:

Since it’s Halloween, let’s post this son of a bitch that I’ve been holding onto for months!

So, basically, it’s ‘AU where most characters are some sort of Magic Creature’. Because fuck it, you know? The story itself is kinda canon-parallel, but I haven’t thought out everything.

Anyway, first I’m starting off with tidbits on various creatures and stuff instead of straight into the story!

Ed and Al, and Hohenheim – Dragon

Technically Ed and Al are half-Dragon/half-Human, but due to Human Adaptability, Monster/Human Hybrids come out full monster(Monster/Monster Hybrids are rare, but would have abilities from both).

Ed and Al are also bumped up in age, being 18-ish. (so are the rest of the teens but whatever)

First up is the Monster Lore:

Dragon Magic is remains dormant until Awakened(because would you trust the unbridled chaos of a toddler with the ability to set stuff on fire?). It’s designed to be Awakened by another Dragon(usually a parent/guardian) after hitting puberty-age. Ed manages to find a loophole in this.

Dragons have three forms. Full Dragon, Human Disguise, and ‘Midform’(Human with Draconic features like wings, horns, claws, tail, and some scale freckles). Most Dragons feel most comfortable in Midform. While the Midform is still Human-sized, the Full Dragon form gets bigger with age! Ed and Al are young so they’re about the size of a small horse, but Hohenheim is 450-ish and enormous.

While they have the standard Dragon abilities of flight and fire, they also have general spellcasting abilities. Speaking of, another Dragon Ability is to either resist/deflect Magic, or enhance it, depending on if they want it used on them or not. It can even work subconsciously. For example, Ed and Al trust Winry, so her using Magic on them will always work, but they will resist spells from random people. This is another thing that gets stronger with age, as Ed and Al only have high resistance, but it’s difficult to find a spell powerful enough to get through Hohenheim.

Dragon Hoards are also a thing, but not in the usual gold/jewels way. Think of the Unusual Dragon Hoards art. A Dragon picks an item and creates a collection. When the instinct first kicks in, the Dragon will gather up as many items as they can find and just pile it up somewhere and not let anyone in. It calms down after a day or two. Ed’s hoard is actually friends because he’s a dork like that, but it gets difficult when he suddenly has five people in a cuddle pile and gets Very Upset when they try to get up.

Dragon Magic is Unique in it’s Source. Most Magic has an external Source(Fey have Nature, Witches have Spells, Vampires use others’ blood, etc.) A Dragon’s source is their own Life Energy. Using Magic will use up their Life Energy, but it replenishes itself with time, rest, and food. Despite being tied to their Life Energy, it’s very difficult to die from overusing Magic, as the Dragon will likely pass out from exhaustion before it gets unstable.

Very long-lived, but not Immortal. They age at the same rate as Humans until their twenties, and then aging slows dramatically. For example, Hohenheim is 450-ish, but is equal to a 30-ish year old Human.

Also! Colors! The colors of a Dragon’s scales are not genetic. It’s determined by the emotions they feel when their powers are Awakened. Ed is red, a color of passion and love, Al is green for a sense of belonging, and Hohenheim is white for freedom. (Accent colors like on horns and claws and such are still their usual gold)

On to character-specific tidbits:

Ed and Al

A lot of their story mirrors Canon, in that Hohenheim left for reasons unknown, and Trisha ends up dying. They do kinda get on a ‘maybe we can cook up some necromancy?’ idea, but that’s shut down real quick.

Ed still loses his leg somehow, because that’s constant in all my Aus.

Instead of focusing on fixing their shit, the boys are instead trying to figure out what the hell they are. Because, like, no one really knew that Hohenheim was a Dragon. They knew he was more than just a Witch, but they didn’t know what he was. He did tell Trisha, but neither of them told the boys. And since Dragon Magic remains dormant until Awakened, they’ve experienced minimal side effects. None of which are common Monster traits.

So they’re studying different Monsters in a hope to figure out what they are. The plan if they run across Hohenheim is to ask what they are and also punch him(Ed says punch first then ask, Al says ask and maybe punch.)

This does lead them to working for Mustang.

Hohenheim

His story also probably mirrors Canon. I’m not entirely sure what all goes down or how Father functions in this AU(I think I’m doing the ‘evil twin’ thing again, in which case I’m making him a black dragon for contrast!).

Him leaving is definitely still connected to this, though when he’s not actively working on that he uses the whole ‘Dragons can negate most Magic and are rare enough that people don’t have special defenses for them’ thing to help people out. Especially Monsters that get kidnapped for various reasons.

Hohenheim is also less depressed in this AU! Like, obvs he still has some issues. But being 450 years old is a lot more common so he doesn’t have that Angst™ hanging over him. Nor does he have the Angst™ of said Immortality being gained through a bunch of murder, since it’s just his natural lifespan. So we get to see more of his not-depressed side.

Winry – Witch

Monster Lore is short this time. Witches in this Universe are highly debated about whether they are Monsters or not, as they are basically just ‘Humans with the ability to use Magic’. Different people have different opinions on it.

Winry(and her family) consider themselves more on the Monster side, doing doctor stuff for all sorts of creatures.

Of course Automail is still a thing, and of course the Rockbell family is well known for it. Specifically, they make Automail that also hooks into a Monster’s Magic, and will function as they do. For example, Ed’s still missing a leg in this AU. So when he switches between Human, Dragon, and Midform, he needs his leg to change too.

Ling, Greed, and Lust – Vampires.

So, a few character tidbits before the Monster Lore:

Ling:

Despite being a Vampire, he’s still the same age as Ed. He was only Turned a couple years ago. Reasons for that are… not fun. It involves an abusive ex, becoming friends with Greed and Lust to get out of that, and ends in a ‘only way to save his life is to make him a vampire’ situation.

Before that he was just a Witch. Kinda neutral on the ‘are Witches ‘Monster’ or ‘Human’?’ debate, but Monster-friendly.

Greed and Lust

Much like my Groupchat AU, the Sins Crew and Father are mostly not related except for these two, and the Sins did work for Father for a while but they’ve all kinda fucked off. (The Sins crew do mostly stay in contact though).

Used to be Human(maybe Witches?). They were from a noble family about 200 years ago. Greed was Turned thanks to political drama, and was kicked out of the family. Lust willingly went with him.

While they’re around 200, due to Vampires being a bit frozen in time, they’re only a little older than Ed and Ling.

They operate this Universe’s version of the Devil’s Nest, which is a Montser-friendly bar.

Some Vampire Lore applies, some doesn’t.

They don’t have to be ‘invited in’(But they typically stick to societal rules of ‘don’t break in like a jackass’)

Sunlight and Garlic sort of bother them, but not like in some lore. They’re designed to be nocturnal, so being out in the sun is like ‘wtf???’ to their senses. Same with Garlic, which can easily overload their sense of smell(but so can any strong smell)

They can be burned by silver

The no reflection/can’t be photographed thing is sort of true. Old mirrors and cameras used silver. Nowadays mirrors use cheap metals and photo/video is digital, so they show up.

Religious symbols are tricky. It depends on how much the Vampire and the person warding them off believe in said religion.

Vampires have an ‘Enthrall Enchantment’, but it’s not, like, straight up hypnotism. It just kinda makes the person they’re biting feel a bit good and fuzzy and not really in pain. It also helps heal the bite afterward. I’ll discuss this more later.

Vampires need blood, but it doesn’t have to be Human blood. It’s just safest because Monster Blood can have various side effects.

Werewolf blood causes an effect similar to alcohol.

Fae blood causes a different prank each time(minor stuff, like turning your hair purple for a week)

Blood from Monsters related to Religions(like Angels or Demons) are actually poisonous.

Dragon blood causes a large power boost.

This is the Loophole Ed found for Awakening Dragon Magic.

The blood they drink has to be relatively fresh. ‘Straight from the tap’ is best, a vial of blood is good for a few hours

There is the question of ‘do Vampires need blood to live?’.

Technically? They get very weak if they don’t, especially in the Magic Department. But they usually die from said weakness than outright ‘not getting blood’.  

Vampires are Immortal as long as they continue to drink blood. even to the point of self-healing if they have enough.

Technically, a Vampire doesn’t need to eat or sleep if they have a decent blood source. However, it is better for them if they do as they can last longer between ‘drinks’.

Much like the other side effects I listed before, different blood lasts longer. Dragon blood would last longer than Human blood, for example.

Mustang –  Faerie (Fire-based)

An odd choice for him, but I’m running with it!

Time for Monster Lore:

All Fae love legal loopholes and the bullshit technicalities.

Usually Faeries are somewhat allergic to metal(especially iron). Occasionally there are ones that have no issue it, but it’s super rare.

A Faerie’s Magic Source is some form of nature. Fire-based ones have the ability to sort of create their own source(they can magically light fire to become their source). Think how stuff works in ATLA. Water users need a body of liquid, earth users need earth, but fire users can kinda make it themselves in decent conditions.

They’re still effected by other Elements though. Mustang’s whole ‘useless in the rain’ thing is still a problem. Even more than Canon. Like, he won’t die if put in water(the man has to shower sometimes), but it does make him very low-energy and overall weaker. He does not like swimming.

Also! Faerie Wings!! Gotta have those! The colors resemble a Faerie’s respective Source Element, but aren’t made out of it, so no literal fire wings. They do glow a lot when using powerful Magic. They can also be ‘put away’ to pass as Human(or just for convenience of not knocking shit over in narrow hallways).

Character tidbits

One of the few Fae that don’t have an issue with metals.

Between that, and the fact that the wings are usually ‘put away’, most people assume he’s just a Witch. He doesn’t correct them as it does make him more liked.

He subconsciously feels a connection to Ed and Al due to his Fire Magic nature picking up on their Dragon Fire. It’s one of the reasons why he tolerates their shenanigans(the other reason being that after about ten minutes getting to know them he was like ‘okay you’re my kids now’)

mini things on other characters that I don’t have story for yet:

The rest of the Sins Crew:

Envy is a shapeshifter(of course).

Pride is some sort of shadow monster(again, of course.)

Sloth is one of those Dream Eater Spirit things? You know what I’m talking about. He spends most of his time asleep in the Dream Realm.

Idk about Gluttony or Wrath yet.

Mustang’s Team!

Idk what everyone is yet, but they’re all Monsters of some sort.

Hawkeye is absolutely something with wings tho because HAWKeye!

Not sure what Mei is. Maybe just a Witch, but maybe something more? (obvs on her mom’s side though).

I also want to put Lan Fan in, but I’m not sure where or what she’d be? I think what happens here is that she was friends with Ling, but then his whole ‘bad relationship and becoming a Vampire’ thing happens. She feels guilty for not protecting him from that, and they end up going separate ways for a while, but they’d end up reconnecting at some point.

Story Plot Points!

The whole thing kinda kicks off because Ed and Ling are dating. Yes. Really.

Like, they get to that point in the relationship where Ling invites Ed over and is like “Okay, so I’m not actually Human?”. Because that’s a talk people have to have at somepoint

Ed’s like “cool me neither?”. He further explains the whole thing of how he knows he’s a Monster of some sort but doesn’t know which kind.

He then proceeds to ask a fuckton of questions about Vampires because he hasn’t studied one in-person before, and he noticed Ling goes against the typical rules(can’t go in sunlight, must be invited in, etc.)

As they’re talking on this, Ling mentions that different Monster blood has different effects.

Ed’s thought process is that he could use this to narrow down the search for what kind of monster he is by seeing the effect his blood has on Ling.

Ling’s… hesitant for several reasons.

But Ed insists and makes it very clear that he’s okay with it.

This is where the loopholes kick in!

As Vampire Magic uses the blood they drink, it also counts as the Magic of that creature. So Ling using Ed’s blood qualifies as Dragon Magic, and since the Enthrallment is in effect, that kickstarts Ed’s Magic.

This causes a panic as Ling’s Magic is suddenly a hell of a lot stronger and the Enthrallment is a lot more intense.

There’s also panic because once they stop that part, Ed’s just like ‘Holy FUCK I feel GREAT!’, but Ling knows he shouldn’t feel that good right now and he’s overheating. He’s like ‘Okay, that good feeling is probably you hallucinating or something so let’s go into the bathroom in case you throw up?’

And then Ed just kinda bursts into flames? Luckily they were already in the bathroom so Ling just kinda douses him in the shower.

Next day they head back to Ed’s place (He and Al live with Winry in this AU?). And they explain what happened. They agree that they have a decent lead here, but they need someone more knowledgeable. And, well, Ling knows some people.

Ling takes them down to the Devils’ Nest. As mentioned, Greed and Lust run the place.

They talk to Greed mostly. After explaining everything, he tells Ed to try something. Said thing ends with the boy breathing fire.

Greed’s just like ‘congrats kid you’re a fucking Dragon!’.

Greed and Lust share various tidbits about what they know about Dragons, but admit that there’s probably a lot of stuff they’re forgetting or just straight up don’t know.

They explain the whole ‘dormant Magic only activated by Dragon Magic’, and the probable loophole.

They also explain that once Ed finishes the ‘Awakening’, he’ll be able to ‘Awaken’ Al’s Magic easily. (Though Greed does offer to recreate the loophole(Al is very flustered but currently declines))

Speaking of, they do warn Ed that there’s a bit more to go through. Mostly that he’ll have three forms, but the first time he transforms will be involuntary and painful. Best way to deal with it is ‘when you feel your back start to itch like crazy, take some strong pain meds and lay on your stomach’.

By the time they get back home, Ed’s starting to feel that. So he decides to just go to bed early, and everyone else just kinda tries to sleep too. (like, he says he’s fine and they don’t hear him screaming so he’s probably good?). Ling also stays, but since Ed wants his space for this he stays on the couch.

Next morning, Ed comes down and everyone is fuckin floored. They’re staring but he doesn’t notice at first because he’s very hungry and raiding the fridge for everything.

Basically, since his Magic was supposed to be awakened years ago, his body kinda stopped growing, resulting in him looking a bit ‘stuck at 15’. Now the Magic is making up for lost time, so it’s a somewhat literal ‘puberty hit him like a truck’ situation. (Ling and Winry are both like hearteyesmotherfucker!

Like, you know that picture comparing Ed in the early episodes of fma:b to the later episodes and being all ‘look how much he grew!’? That, but overnight. Ya boi got kinda tall. He’s still shorter than Ling but he’s taller than Winry. (With the potential to grow taller now!)

One of the reasons for the height is that he’s in his midform, aka: Human with Draconic features. This includes his legs being digitigrade, so it’s kinda like he’s constantly standing on his toes. (His Human form is technically shorter because of this).

They also focus on the Dragon-y features more. Like the wings, and the horns, and the tail!! His eyes are the slit-pupil thing, and while his teeth have always been kinda sharp he now has full on fangs. Then they also notice his arms transitioning from skin to scale, starting at the elbow until his hands are claws. (his regular leg also does this from the knee down). His ears are also pointed and scale covered, and he has a few scale freckles on his cheeks.

They have about five minutes of normal before something goes weird. Because suddenly Ed is being ridiculously clingy but is seemingly unaware of how weird that is and cannot seem to explain why.

They’re like ‘why are you hugging me?’ and he’s like ‘Why wouldn’t I be?’. And like, if they try to step away for a minute he gets very Upset™

Somehow they manage to make it back to the Devils’ Nest to ask Greed. The group finds a seat on a couch and at this point Ed’s in full cuddle mode, just hugging the three of them and laying across them and he’s kinda like a cat on catnip.

When Greed gets within five feet, Ed suddenly shoots up and stares at him. He freezes, waiting for Ed to make a move. When Ed nods, he takes a step closer. When he takes a second step, Ed pounces forward and drags him into the cuddle pile.

Greed is mildly confused, but explains to the others that this is just the ‘hoarding instinct’ kicking in, and he’ll be back to normal soon enough.

Since he’s not allowed to leave(Ed is stronger than he looks and also even if Greed could leave Ed’s fucking face is too much), he kinda tells Lust to take over running the bar for the day.

The whole ‘get within five feet and Ed shoots up’ thing happens with her, but Greed calms Ed down by saying ‘it’s okay she’s a friend’.

Of course, when she goes to leave, she finds that while she was out of range of Ed leaning over to grab her, she didn’t notice the tail around her leg.

She gets dragged in, and while Greed tells someone else to take over(from a distance), he also suggests they take this party upstairs.

Al says a thing about ‘can you stop flirting for five seconds?’. Greed responds with a ‘while I would love to invite you to my bed for other reasons, now is not the time’.

Al gets oddly flustered by this

They’re trying to figure out what the connection is between all of them that makes them part of Ed’s Hoard. Lust asks more directly ‘why the fuck did you drag me into this??’. And Ed just points to Greed and says ‘He said you are a friend.’. as if it makes complete sense.

Turns out that Ed’s hoard is friendship. And combined with the fact that(despite his grumpiness) he gets easily attached, it took little for Greed and Lust to be considered friends.

Everyone does have the freedom to leave, and sometimes they do because they need to get up and stretch or use the bathroom or grab a snack. But whenever they do Ed just sits up and stares at the door until they come back.

By the next morning, Ed’s kind of back to normal. Like, he still has the instinct in there and all, but everyone can do their own thing and Ed’s a lot more calm. He’s also very embarrassed about the whole thing.

Of course, Ed and Al remember they were supposed to drop by Mustang’s office a few days ago. Mostly because they get a call like ‘are y’all okay?’.

Ed shifts into the Human Disguise form to head down there, but everyone still notices something is up because he’s suddenly the same height as Hawkeye.

They’re all like ‘okay kid. Drop whatever tall spell you found this time’. Ed just grins maniacally and says ‘it’s no spell! I look like this now!’. Al confirms it, but is realizing how obnoxious Ed’s going to be about the height.

They explain that they figured out what the hell they are, and Ed shows off both the full Dragon form and the Midform.

Obvs the team asks how they figured it out, and Ed explains that Dragon Magic is dormant until another Dragon Awakens it, but they found a loophole.

‘Wait, a loophole? What loophole?’, “Uh… a Vampire using my blood?’, ‘Did you get attacked by a Vampire?!’, ‘No, it’s a friend and I asked him to because different monster blood has different effects’, ‘and you were okay with a guy just getting all up in your personal space and biting your neck like that?’, “Well, he’s the kind of friend where I’d be okay with him‘getting all up in my personal space and biting my neck’ anyway.’. ‘Oh.’

Yeah. They didn’t know Ed was dating anyone, much less a guy. So that’s a conversation.

When asked why it’s just Ed who went through the whole thing while Al’s still ‘normal’, they say that they’re mostly waiting to see what all happens to Ed and how to deal with it.

Although, Ed does point out that if they don’t do it soon it’ll probably happen accidentally since it’s basically a ‘next time he uses Magic on Al situation’.

Then Ed’s like ‘Or, you know, you could always ask Greed to ‘recreate the loophole!’. Al gets very flustered again and is just like ‘willyoushutthefuckuppleaseohmyfuckinggod’

Overall, they’d like some report on what else they find out.

Next plot goes on to ‘testing out powers’. Specifically. The boys want to test out the ‘resist and enhance’ aspect.

They bring in Ling and Greed for this, killing two birds with one stone and also studying the Vampire’s Enthrallment at the same time.

Of the various things they’re testing:

Resisting the spell

‘enhancing’ the spell

differences between the resist/enhance skill of an Awakened Dragon vs. not Awakened

if the Enthrallment Enchantment is different between Vampires(and between who it’s being used on)

Ed and Al also already came up with a ‘payment method’, since they’ll be asking Greed and Ling to use up a bunch of Magical Energy to do this. Said payment is, of course, blood. Ed will ‘pay’ for Ling, while Greed and Al get to ‘recreate the loophole’.

We’re going to jump right into my Al/Greed Rarepair because fuck it it’s my fanfic and I pick the ships!

So their banter has been going back and forth for a bit. Like, at first it was just Greed flirting and Al getting flustered, but once Al gets into the rhythm he can kinda flirt back but neither really realized it was more than banter until now

Al realizes it because of what they figure out about the Enthrallment. Because it effected them differently and the emotions it brought forth wasn't anything unfamiliar. Like, Al found Ling’s Enthrallment to be comfortable, because he’s a friend. But Greed’s made him fluttery and giddy and all that. Meanwhile, Ed felt the opposite.

So when they are alone and he has Greed biting his neck, Al ends up going in for a kiss.

And while the feeling is returned, it leaves Greed somewhat flustered and confused. He manages to distract Al with the ‘you’re probably gonna catch fire in a minute so maybe deal with that first’ thing.

Next time they really see each other is after Al’s turn with the ‘puberty hit him like a truck’ situation, but Greed’s kind of… he’s still a little hesitant and confused about things so he’s giving Al space, but Al doesn’t know that so it’s like ‘is he avoiding me?? Why??’.

Al even wonders if it has something to do with his Midform, and tends to stay in Human Disguise more often around Greed.

Next time they’re alone for a bit they end up talking that out though. And also making out I guess.

Okay! So! A Lot of other plot stuffhappens.

Like, probably things like meeting other characters and also the rest of the Sins Crew, finding out about various fuckery going on. I mean, I did say that while the Sins Crew all kinda left, Father himself is still an Asshole™ and doing some major villain stuff.

So they find out all that and a bunch of other things too. I haven’t thought all that out yet.

Out of the stuff that I have planned out though, the next thing to happen is Ed getting a little kidnapped. Idk exactly ‘why’, other than ‘some assholes are grabbing random monsters’, but who knows what they’re doing with them it’s not important.

Anyway, Ed’s already on his way to break out, when he happens to run into Hohenheim.

Oh boy is that a trip. I mean, first off we have them just being ‘why the fuck are you here? Why am I here? Why are you here?!’ and just generally being that pointing spiderman meme. After the initial shock, Ed’s kinda ready to punch, but then Hohenheim just says things that Ed didn’t expect.

Like, Ed expected Hohenheim to just be some asshole who never cared. But he’s immediately concerned about Ed and seems to, you know, care about him.

The thing that really hits him though is when he says something along the lines of ‘Let’s get you out of here and back home. Your mother’s probably worried about you!’.

He realizes ‘oh god he has no clue’. And then he realizes ‘oh god I’m going to have to tell him’.

And like, I’m not gonna get too into that Angst Fest™, but there is kind of a minor breakdown because how else do you react to that news?

But that whole thing is enough to make Ed stop and think things through and overall give Hohenheim chance.

They then end up going on their own adventures while Ed tries to get back home.

And of course various strange bonding experiences happen along the way

A lot of that bonding is learning about Dragon Tricks. Especially flying because while Ed kinda figured out a little bit he hasn’t had anyone with wings(or at least the same kind of wings) to really teach him.

During one flight Ed suddenly catches a familiar scent

obvs everyone is looking for Ed, and he manages to find Ling, Greed and Lust

Ed does a literal flying tackle at Ling and knocks him over. There’s a minor fight because Ling doesn’t realize he’s not being attacked but you know.

After hugging the fuck out of Ling, Ed tells Greed and Lust to get down there too. Greed’s like ‘hell no I’m not getting on the ground to hug you!’ but he forgets about the tail. Lust gives in.

They ask what the fuck happened and Ed’s like ‘where do I even begin??’

At some point Hohenheim had popped up and is like ‘maybe start with introductions?”

then you get the comedic thing of the Vampires looking up, and then continuing to look up, and then being terrified of the giant fucking dragon.

Ed’s just all causal like ‘so, uh, I found my dad?’.

Walking into the nearest town is fun

Ed’s kinda clinging to Ling because goddamn it he was lonely!

At some point Ling kinda starts to stumble a little and Ed’s concerned. Greed says ‘he’s fine he’s just and idiot’.

Basically Ling hasn’t had any blood since the last time he drank from Ed. Which was a while ago at this point, so he’s kinda getting a little weak. Not dangerously but imagine the feeling of pulling an all nighter without caffeine.

Ed offers, but Ling brushes it off by saying if he took a drink now, then Ed would be the one weak and stumbling so it doesn’t make a difference, it can wait until they get a place to stay for the night.

Not putting up with that shit, Ed transforms into Full Dragon and offers a ride. Ling’s a little bit like ‘really??’

Greed’s kinda jokingly like ‘why don’t I get offered a ride?’. Ed says ‘well, when we get back home you can ask Al.” Greed opens his mouth to make a joke, looks over to Hohenheim, and decides he really should shut up.

Lust is kinda like ‘hey. Why are we walking into town when we have a large Dragon that can carry all of us?’

Hohenheim’s answer is ‘First of all, I am not a taxi service. Furthermore, if people saw a large Dragon land in the middle of town, they would freak the fuck out.

Ling falls asleep on the way back.

They manage to get a hotel room in the next town they come across. Ed and Ling get their own room, of course.

They go to do the whole ‘blood drinking’ thing, but Ling’s still very hesitant.

Ed has noticed this a lot and at first he figured it was the typical ‘I’m new to being a Vampire and hesitant to do something so weird/taboo/etc.’ thing, but now he’s getting the feeling its something else and ends up asking about it.

So, big trigger warning for that whole ‘abusive relationship’ thing I mentioned way back in the beginning. But, like, that’s kind of what’s up. Like, his Ex used to use the effect of the Enchantment to be manipulative. And Ling’s kind of afraid of accidentally doing that to Ed.

Ed just points out that 1. he knows when Ling is using the enchantment and knows how to separate his feelings from it, 2. the enchantment itself doesn’t make him feel all love-y (he brings up the whole ‘testing it with Greed’ thing as proof, since it didn’t spark any romance with Greed.), and 3. Ed is a Dragon. His own Magic can cancel out the Enchantment if he chooses to do so.

The whole thing does get Ling to relax about it. It’ll still take a while for him to get comfortable using it on Ed, but now Ed knows to not try doing anything romantic while under the Enchantment.

Okay! On with that! The group eventually gets back to home base and they meet up with Al and Winry and whoever else is a friend at this point.

Ed fucking tackle hugs them, of course.

After that Al and Winry notice Hohenheim and they can’t even figure out how to process that they just gesture like ‘what the fuck?’

Ed explains what happened and they’re kind of like ‘you know what fine.

Time for more family bonding with Hohenheim talking to Al for a while.

Time for another Rarepair because this is my fic and I choose the ships!

So, like, Mustang meeting Hohenheim.

Mustang’s just like, staring for a bit. And it’s not helped by the fact that Hohenheim has no sense of personal space when he’s investigating other creatures(because he’s a nerd and that’s what he likes to do).

Mustang is flustered to the point that Ed and Al actually notice and are like ‘bruh what is up with you?”

Obviously he lies as tries to say it’s a reaction to a large source of fire magic. Ed and Al are like ‘really? Because you never do that around us.’

Someone (Probably Hughes) eventually calls him out says ‘magic reaction my ass you think the guy’s pretty!’

Ed and Al are confused by this revelation but are kinda chill with it? Mostly they don’t know how to feel so they’re just going to be chill out of confusion. 

That’s all I got on the plot so far because fuck it.

[kryptsune]

🌼Good morning everyone and a happy Tuesday to you all! I had a lot of people ask me about my Outertale on Discord. That beat out pretty much all the other options on the poll so here we go! This is one of the larger ones because I had a lot of fun putting some of my favorite sci-fi concepts into this. I am a huge SG1 fan so you can definitely see that reflected. I admittedly am the fantasy genre girl so any ideas are welcome! I just liked the idea that the monsters in this were more than just typical monsters. DO NOT REPOST MY WORK WITHOUT MY PERMISSION IT IS NOT FOR YOUR USE. IF YOU LIKE MY WORK PLEASE REBLOG INSTEAD! It helps me so much! It makes such a difference.💙If you want more of these just let me know! It’s the only way I can gauge interest! Outertale Alternate “Nicknames” Info:  Sans: Nova- Nova is the trickster though he is mostly associated with that of Loki. Loki is described specifically as “Playful, malicious ( ok maybe not that one), helpful, and nihilistic.” He helps others in a kind of goofy over the top way. He just doesn’t take much seriously. Nova is one of the youngest. He acts very childish at times coming to question how long he has been among the pantheon. Some argue his many centuries gave him a nihilistic outlook on life or that he is too young to understand the true ways of the world. Not to say that Nova can’t be serious but he is pretty laid back. It’s one of the reasons unlike the others he doesn’t really keep his cultural ties in his design. He should have more Norse in it but nah… varsity jackets are cozy right? I mean he is wearing star shorts for star’s sake. When asked about his job he mentions, “Hey, there kiddo. Nice of ya to drop by. Been up to? Heh well got a “new” job which is pretty cool. Not as cool as Pollux but I help arrange stars. Ya know, like the ones you see in the sky you can make pictures out of? I think you humans call em… constellations. One time I made this giant whoopee cushion one. Then I lost ma job. Got a second chance though. Andromeda’s constantly watchin me. hehe no harm done though.” Both Pollux and Nova refer to each other as brothers but it is unclear if they are biologically related. Their abilities and strengths are nearly opposite and their mythos even more so. Papyrus: Pollux- The presumed older brother of Nova. Pollux is associated with Egyptology specifically wisdom. Pollux tends to be the opposite of Nova in that he takes his job very seriously. Once on earth, he was known as Thoth gracing humanity with a mechanical and architectural knowledge that astounded the world. His mind and intellect put him at the forefront of innovation making him one of Capricorn’s best and most trusted advisors. He enjoys testing the mental prowess of others using puzzles and riddles of his own design. Unlike canon Pap, Pollux cares more about balance in life. Something his younger brother seems to lack. Not all work and not all play. He is kind, helpful, and willing to give advice to anyone that is looking for it. To the little human Frisk, he is a good mentor and teacher. (Pollux has made it his pastime to create a series of challenges to prove a humans worth. If they pass then they are able to speak/ see them. No one has managed to prove themselves.) Undyne: Andromeda- Andromeda is not different from canon Undyne as she embodies the Mayan mythology. She is most closely associated with the feathered serpent Quetzalcóatl. A deity of wind and rain. Also known as life-giver. Though Andromeda tends to harken back to her more aggressive roots she has a deep respect for the King and acts as his guard. Just like Pollux she too acts as an advisor, though more on matters of security than strategy or mechanics. Such a position is where she first met Elara and to this day the two are inseparable sharing their very different cultures. Her favorite kind of anime to watch are mech-based. Alphys: Elara- Very similar to canon Alphys just as this version of Undyne is. Alphys is based on Sukuna-Biko-Na (少名毘古那) or the Shinto god of medicine and rain. Elara is still very much a scientist and one that has a unique fascination with living things. Everything from the planets, to humans, animals, and plant life. She particularly enjoys spending time in her private greenhouse creating and taking care of all of the plant life. Before the monsters were forced to leave their place among the humans she was able to collect all the DNA of the plants and animals on the planet. They are stored in a kind of ark in which to preserve them if anything threatens their existence. Elara is very traditional in her work as her medicines are derived from her magic as well as herbal substances. She is very curious however as she is not allowed to interact with the progress of humanity but rather watches from afar. This is where her love of anime takes hold. Her favorites are ones like Sailor Moon or any type of magical girl anime. She will sit with Andromeda and watch them for hours. Her demeanor is very shy at first but once she opens up she will be a friend for life. Asgore: Capricorn- The head of the cosmic pantheon he is the King as he is in the original. He is associated with Celtic mythos though he has taken on many pantheon roles in his lifetime. Ambisagrus, a god of thunder and lightning, Ancestor God, Sky God, God of Wind, Rain & Hail is what he is based on. One such role is that of Zeus whose main symbol is that of lightning and thunder. Just like the Zeus of mythology Capricorn is constantly debating his involvement with humanity. Whether that be to stop their technological advances or aiding in their lives. A large portion of his time was spent with his subjects not so much his wife Aurora who is the jealous type. Capricorn is not a ruthless leader but he does know that sometimes hard decisions must be made. Just like UT Asgore, he is kind and benevolent, however, he has a temper if you make him angry enough. His magical abilities lean more toward lighting then fire but he has that ability as well. He tasked Elara to watch over human development should a problem arise. Toriel: Aurora- The Queen to Capricorn she is known to be easily jealous. It would explain why Zeus wife Hera also shares these traits. Her Gaelic deity tie is that of Arianrhod a goddess of the moon and stars. She creates life from the stars she creates sometimes causing them to take a form of their own. They are almost like living constellations. Some say that the Queen made such life to combat her own loneliness which her Son and Husband spent time away. In addition to the stars, she is also known for being a loving mother and caregiver. In her time on earth, she used to watch over and protect children and their families. Aurora though previously jealous of her simple in the universe has come to accept and embrace it. She is kind but rather overprotective. Anyone that forsakes life will feel her wrath. Muffet: Umbra- Umbra is associated with Hindu mythology as a goddess of wealth and prosperity. Though earthly riches do not concern Umbra she still has a taste for the fine silks and gold that she once had on earth. A little about the goddess that she represents: Lakshmi’s name comes from the Sanskrit word ​laksya, meaning an aim or goal. She is the goddess of wealth and prosperity, both material and spiritual. Unlike UT Muffet, Umbra also focuses on spiritual wealth. Peace of mind. She is ever the optimist even when things do not turn out to go her way. In times of need, she is called those in the struggles of self-worth trying to bring them into a different understanding. There have been many a time when Umbra calms Capricorns quick and rash judgments, much to Aurora’s displeasure. Just as with the rest of the pantheon she is kind and helpful even with her yearning to return to the people she so loved before they were forced to the outskirts of the galaxy. Grillby: Helio- Helio derived from the sun is my OT Grillby. He out of all the characters could care less about either being a deity or an observer. He is known to be at a middle ground. He would rather live his days running a social establishment but during his time on earth, he was known for his magic. Originally he was the right hand of Capricorn being depicted as a war deity for his fiery nature. He was the general of grand armies. His armor is something he hung up long ago but if called into court he will wear it once again. Its design is very reminiscent of Roman centurions. Though depictions of him are curious since his name back then was referred to as Merlin. He was best known for his magic and alchemy and the concoctions he made during a period of time far lacking in imagination. Just like Nova, Helio tended to interfere far too often in the affairs of man though noble in purpose. He tends to be outcast among the pantheon for his past conduct but he is content in his lab mixing crazy concoctions. Everything from love potions to disguises. His forte is all about alchemy and magic. Asriel: Azicree (Azi)- Azicree or Azi for short is the Crown Prince. By monster standards Azi is still very young, however, he has lived for far longer than any human can fathom. His mother used to shelter him until he begged for his father to let him prove himself. He still acts like a child always curious and desiring some form of exploration. Much to Capricorns dismay Azi enjoys spending time with Nova and the two become pranksters in general. He tends to not do as he is told, which is why they are in this mess in the first place. His reckless behavior had him appearing to a human that begged for his salvation. The matters of life and death are ones that are not to be messed with. Those that do find their souls being tainted for all eternity turning them into something other than just a monster. 9X is an example of such tampering. Azi does learn his lesson and begins to try and shape up to be a worthy successor to his father if such a thing ever did come to pass. He studies off of all those he knows especially Pollux who is more than happy to share such knowledge. His associations are nonexistent since he was born after the times of gods. His abilities seem to be mimic based. He is able to learn about abilities and use them at will. It is rare that monsters have children and as such Azi is the little prodigy child even though there are many times he just wants to be a kid. He makes friends with Frisk very quickly and learns a lot from the human visitor. Gaster: 9X (I can’t even)- 9x (can be pronounced NYX or Nine-X) is the Gaster of this universe. He is Capricorns pantheon counterpart. In essence the Hades to his Zeus. He is the monster that everyone thinks about when darkness takes hold. He is the one that associates with apocalyptic events such as Ragnarok. He is however not evil by any stretch of the imagination. He would be better suited to be called a god of chaos. He tends to reject the laws placed upon the rest of the pantheon regardless of repercussions. It’s speculated that both Pollux and Nova were a part of him and crafted into the monsters that are known today. Nova being his more devious side which Pollux is more his intellect and drive. He has been locked away for a very long time in a prison aptly named Tartarus. His abilities are space and time-oriented very similar to Nova which makes him difficult to imprison. He, of course, has been in his cell for quite some time and it is unclear if he actually has had a change of heart or using it as a manipulation tactic. The only one he speaks with on occasion is Azi wanting to learn more about this planet they all used to call home. It is information that the others tend to not speak of. His father more so as he is afraid it will instill a yearning in his son. 9X’s genius is on par with his godly abilities such as creating artificial intelligence. Something that is not considered life. He uses Azi as a template for this new program… FLOWEY- F- Friendly L- Life-like O- Operating system W- With E- Earthbound Y- Yearning  F.L.O.W.E.Y was created by 9x and Nova with Azi as a template. He is a charismatic AI who was originally created as a helper as well as to teach the Prince about their planet of origin. Unfortunately, Flowey does not have the same reservations about disobeying his father as Azi does. Even going so far as to integrate with key and vital systems in The Capital. Flowey is not evil he just is driven to be the best help he can without regards to any type of consequences. He also feels abandoned by Nova as he was not only his creator but also his closest friend. It was why he was made. To be a companion and friend.  He helps Frisk meet and learns more about their existence. He acts like a companion. However, when Frisk becomes friends with Azi Flowey’s AI goes haywire. He begins to feel emotions he is not technically allowed to such as jealousy. This causes him to try and eliminate those threatening him which in this case would be all the monsters. Eventually, Azi attempts to program himself into the interface changing its initial programming. Some of Flowey’s previous versions:    Blookie: Nebula Riverperson: Omni Gerson: Quasar The Ursas: Ursa Major/Minor Greater Dog/ Lesser Dog: Canis Major/Minor  Character Origin/Mythos: Sans- Norse (Trickster)
Papyrus- Egyptian Undyne- Mayan Alphys- Japanese (shinto) Asgore- Celtic Toriel- Celtic Muffet- Hindu
Grillby- Medieval (Merlin) Asriel- Celtic through lineage Gaster- Greek/Roman Blookie- Western Guard dogs- Constellations (Native American) Riverperson- Greek (Charon) Gerson- Chinese (Divination/ wisdom) Background and Context: A long time ago there lived beings of great power. They could bend space and time with a simple thought and bring life to their creations. These were the gods. Ones of great benevolence but also great and terrifying power. Humanity, a primitive race just starting to understand life itself, became their focus. At first, their interaction was very rare only occasionally appearing to help but as time went on those interactions became more drastic. Their assistance and knowledge were seen as godlike to these humans. They would bring gifts and offerings to their new deities in hopes that they would look favorably upon them. That they would impart their wisdom and magic if they were pleased. In time this became more and more of a tradition. A religion built upon pleasing these deities so that their lives would be far improved but this became a conundrum for the beings. Some remained benevolent and helpful while others become greedy and wrathful. The power began to go to their minds corrupting their souls. These instances were written down in variation by the humans making up grandiose stories of fiery chariots and jealous gods. Thus mythology came into being for humanity. A way to explain the things in which they did not understand. As with each religion and deity, the monsters each became associated with a specific culture or mythos. Some being pinnacles of their pantheon and others being lesser deities molded to suit a specific task. These monsters rarely interacted with ones of their own kind but as power shifted some of them took on roles of others. One monster could have been the god of war in Greek mythos but end up also as the god of thunder in Norse. There were no limitations to their influence. One such “deity” was that of the trickster. A monster that tended to be rather childish in his ambitions jumping from pantheon to pantheon looking to lighten up his other “deities” stern demeanors. The monsters began to pull away leaving their presences in name only and occasional help but this was short-lived. It caused problems, war, destruction, and feuding powers sadly began to use their civilizations as almost pawns. Their meddling almost destroyed that which they wanted to originally protect. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. The “gods” faded from existence only being remembered in myths and legends. The great prophecy of the Norse. The architectural marvels of the Egyptians. Now they reside in the furthest reaches of the galaxy. They spread out among the stars but a group of them resided in a Capital of sorts. A station at the edge of the Universe. One which no human could ever reach. The Humans Impressions: When the monsters left the humans to their own devices they worship continued long after. Eventually the magic and the miracles that had once been performed faded into history. The monsters were all but forgotten unless mentioned in mythology or scary stories. The humans never harbored any animosity toward them since they no longer believed in their existence in any form. They only understand what their ancestors depicted them as. The monsters as well don’t really have anything against humans either. All in all, they just go about their jobs and enjoy the universe, helping from time to time discreetly if need be but never showing their faces. Main Plot Synop: The plot to Outertale is very simple as it is more based around the world than it is the actual plot. It is very similar to that of the regular UT timeline with some notable differences. Once the humans reach an age of technological advancement they begin to spread out and search the stars. Some of them encounter monsters which they mistake for aliens (hilarious enough. I mean Jerry looks like an alien.) They begin to build colonies living more and more outside the reach of their own galaxy. Humans, however, tend to turn on their own creating factions within the space colonies. Some more prosperous than others. Frisk’s colony was one such beast being cut off from the other colonies as a drifter. Unfortunately, Frisk’s family was nearly non-existent and being stuck on a space colony was little to be desired. After seeing a streak of fire slamming into the outskirts of the colony. Frisk decides to investigate. They have always been the curious type disobeying orders and questioning everything. The colonies outer and more dangerous regions became their playground finding old pieces of technology. Eventually, they stumble upon a crashed ship. One that It seems too damaged to be used but it’s nothing like they have ever seen before. Everyone else on the colony considers it to be cursed.  The strange runic language is confusing but Frisk finds that there is one lone computer onboard that seems to still function. It flickers with a bright yellow light showing an almost pixelated Flower with a =) face on the screen. Over the next few days, Frisk returns to decipher the runes with the help of their new friend which they find out is called Flowey. It is a project that the curious human enjoys and for once it is nice to have a friend. Eventually, the runes are deciphered claiming some sort of teleportation capability. Once Frisk is close enough the system fires up on its own sending the human straight to the monster Capital on the farthest reaches of the universe. A place that no human has ever been.  The rest of the story is an exploration of this new environment. Frisk befriends the monsters who don’t attack first. They actually mostly want to engage with the human showing off their ability a little bit. A part of them misses the previous worship. Nova seems to take a particular interest in this new human especially when they befriend Azi. They work to help shut Flowey down only for Azi to impart his knowledge on the interface helping it understand. Frisk has nothing to return to so they stay with the monster and become Azi’s human tutor so that one day maybe the monsters can return and live side by side the humans once again. Both Azi and Frisk are almost like siblings coined the star children.

[wolfromtheisland]

Xantunsia Riveresiana - Monster Hunter

Sole Survivor

“I have to grasp it for all of you! I cant waste it! All our pain, our dreams, our regrets, fears, anger, sadness, I’m the only one left who can carry it! So a little more is nothing compared to all the happiness you lost! I’ll keep gathering it! I promise! “

Raised since the age of 5 on a monster infested island, Xantunsia has seen her fair share of death In fact, it seems to follow her and she had to come to terms with that a bit younger than most do.

Life didn’t get much easier after escaping that cursed place, but pushing through all the pain and loss, she buries herself in training to cope with her trauma and protect what she cares about, which just happens to be the world at times.

The young miqo’te has no memories before her airship crash that sentenced her to six years on that hellish land. With vicious Monsters she hasn't seen the equal of even in her current age roaming in hoards and her only allies being children as young as four, she learned to steel herself in the face of the death of allies. Or she tried rather, but each one was a dagger in the softhearted mewling. What she really learned was to cope with the pain of it. Besides the children, she did also have Leader, the only fully grown survivor on the island. Though he was cold and pragmatic, his instruction generally kept the most people safe. That was until the Calamity struck. In the wake of the Monsters rampaging about at that time, Leader was lost and Xantunsia took his place. She managed to even lead the few surviving children off the island and live a half decade with her modest little clan. But the specter of death would take that from her too, she would even argue she tore it apart with her own hands. It was in that state she would leave the wilds and arrive in civilization for the first time, if you can call Limsa Lominsa such a thing.

The Basics ––––

Age: 22(?)

Birthday: 26th Sun of the 1st Umbral Moon (A Date she chose randomly)

Race: Miqo’te : Keeper of The Moon

Gender: Female

Sexuality: Pansexual

Marital Status: Single

Crystal Data Center : Zalera

Physical Appearance ––––

Hair: What used to be a scruff shag of white hair, has been warped by exposure to feral aether and monster blood. Died golden by the energy of her Inner Beast and how often she released it, it was splashed red by the ample amounts of Monster blood she would get coated in. Eventually, it became even more red than gold. It also went from scruffy to very spiky, to the point it feels jelled almost and can prick unprepared hands. She has to tie it up just to keep  it under some semblance of control. 

Eyes: coincidentally like her hair, a golden color, but change blood red when enraged.

Height: 4″10′

Build: she has packed more muscle into her tiny frame than one would think humanly possible. deceptively petite clothed, she could handedly defeat even  a train Roegadyn in a test of strength with a body seemingly made on Tungsten Steel which is toned to match.

Distinguishing Marks: Though heavily scarred all over her body, they have mostly healed to the point of being barely noticeable without looking intently. Outside of that, most of her features are pretty eye catching in their own right. She also always has the scent of blood on her for those who can notice that.

Common Accessories: Not exactly forward on fashion, she typically simply chooses the accessories that have the most combat use. She does however glamour her accessories with certain ones that have been gifted to her by friends like the Namazu Necklace.

Personal ––––

Profession: Monster Hunter (more of a hobby but people pay her)

Hobbies: All forms of Craftiing and Gathering, Reading, Learning new information

Languages: Most Languages (And when she finds a new one, she studies it obsessively)

Residence: Wherever is a deemed a safe place to camp

Birthplace: ???

Religion: Agnostic

Patron Deity: Oschon, The Wanderer

Fears: Death, being weak or unprepared, something befalling those she cares about, the unknown

Relationships –––

Spouse: N/A

Children: Gilberti Rivesesiana (Son, Deceased?), Extorris Riveresiana (Daughter, Deceased), Vigilis Riveresiana (Daughter, Deceased) (Adopted and appointed children by Xantunsia, they are actually only a few years younger than her)

Parents: Leader Riveresiana (Father, Deceased) (Appointed Father by Xantunsia postmortem)

Siblings: Noir Panthere (Sister) (Adopted and Self-Appointed)

Other Relatives: The other 54 members of Riveresiana Clan (Deceased)

Pets: Clarent (Chocobo) Throw Pillow (Amaro) Coalumu (Ufiti), Arthur (Black Chocobo), Maggie (Magitek Armor), Parrie (Magitek Predator), Dekie (Magitek Deathclaw), Sqwiggles (Ahriman), Betty (Behemoth), Piko (Yol), Pointy (Unicorn)

Traits –––

* Bold your character’s answer.

Extroverted / In Between / Introverted

Disorganized / In Between / Organized

Close Minded / In Between / Open Minded

Calm  / In Between / Anxious

Disagreeable / In Between / Agreeable

Cautious / In Between/ Reckless

Patient / In Between / Impatient

Outspoken / In Between / Reserved

Leader / In Between / Follower

Empathetic / In Between / Apathetic

Optimistic / In Between / Pessimistic

Traditional / In Between / Modern

Hard-working / In Between / Lazy

Cultured / In Between / Uncultured

Loyal / In Between / Disloyal

Faithful / In Between / Unfaithful

Additional information ––––

Smoking Habit: Never Drugs: occasionally tests drugs on herself to build up resistances Alcohol: Socially (and to build up a resistance)

RP Hooks

✔ - Xantunsia’s main coping mechanism is training, which she is doing near constantly and is always up for joining in, having others come along with her’s, or learning new forms of training. On that note, Her main form of training is Monster Hunting. She’s always looking for stronger and stronger prey and if you need a Monster dead, she will never say no.

✔ - Due to her constant hunting, she always has the scent of blood on her, maybe this would catch your characters attention in some way good or bad (She has been attacked out of the blue by strangers because of this and is rather understanding about it, thinks it makes for good training!)

✔ - Xantunsia has mastered all forms of combat in her personal training, as well as healing, if you need a role filled or a job done, she will not withhold her help. conversely, if youre someone who would challenge such a person, she never says no.

✔ - Xantunsia doesn't have a location exactly she would call home, and her hunts and training have her effectively wandering constantly. Should she find herself in a new place, she may need some help, but the reverse can also be true

✔ - Her anxiety manifesting in a near perfect memory as well as obsessively collecting any information that may be even remotely usable for survivability or battle, Xantunsia loves little more than simply learning new things. You have some unique information, knowledge, or skills? You will likely have her attention.

✔ - The Main Scenario is also part of Xantunsia’s personal story. If the same can be said about you, then it’s likely she has met your character in some capacity (specifics such as “who is the Warrior of Light” or mentioning big events by character name such as “Haucherfaunt” are usual a bad idea for mixing characters that are also canon Warriors of Light. Typically it will just be passing references to such characters and not by name, and Xantunsia never refers to herself as The Warrior of Light anyway)

Player Information

The information on this page is not allowed to be used unless spoken about with me. Either on Tumblr, Discord or /tell.

I am okay with some mature content in RP, Xantunsia is a generally happy, even silly character despite her past but with major themes of ptsd and coping with death, she can fit well into most darker themes. Sexual themes however, she doesnt fit well with. Generally her experience with the darkness of the world is of a more forward brutal nature and she has no experience with such things. She doesnt even actually know where babies come from and assumes they all come from airship crashes. At most she can get into humorous moments where she doesnt understand when something sexual is attempted to be explained to her. I decided to keep her perpetually unaware of such topics mostly just because I find it funnier that way, but it does take serious situations involving sexual themes off the table.

[whirlybirdwhat]

Sea of Monsters - Chapter 13

Happy Halloween! I made it with an hour to spare!

Usopp has some unique ancestry and he may not be brave or bold or daring - but he won’t let that stop him from following in his mother’s footsteps.

(Because like his father he can see, and like his mother he can protect.)

-

Read the entire series on Ao3 for better quality and authors notes! Gen, creepy, featuring all of the Straw Hats, multi-chapter story.

“The East Blue has a different nickname to those in the Grand Line, and those who hail it as home have a few… unique traits.”

---

Sight - Usopp (and Zoro)

His mother was a Tengu and his father a Feathered Seer, so Usopp sees a lot of things, more than most actually. His mother told him his father could as well (that was his nature) but Usopp doubts the man could have ever seen the world this brightly, seen this golden path fading in and out of existence every moment.

(If he had been able to see it, why did he leave? Couldn’t he see the life draining drop by drop along fevered cheeks from his wife? Couldn’t he see the way her feathers, black, glossy, and beautiful, wilted more with every day that went past?

Or had he been able to see it and instead of his family chose to chase the beautiful sight of the horizon, which danced with every step and promised a thousand worlds to explore?)

(Usopp sees the horizon and fears (knows) he will one day leave to conquer those thousand unending sunny days)

Usopp sees a lot, you see. The world to him is like a painting painted over a thousand other paintings – but he’s able to see each one as he scratches at the layers like one would at peeling wood with his sight. He sees the past and future and present, sees the paths of each person if he chooses to, and knows how the world will end and begin.

(But yet – there is still so much he doesn’t see, shrouded in shadow and dark thoughts. He sees more than others but not all – the limits to his powers are as blurred as they come.)

(Paths are always missing around Luffy – there are only ever two, twisting around each other in a dizzying dance and Usopp is content to follow the one his captain chooses (or doesn’t, in most cases.))

Usopp loves it – loves when his eyes grow hazy and he sees distant warriors of lands of other existences, fighting giants and snakes and gold fish the size of his island, loves when he sees a king with an aim straight and true, from an island far away, loves when he can tell Kaya, his friends, his crew all of these things.

(He loves it when he sees images of his mother, the stories of her life that she will never tell him – Yasopp did not fall in love with the woman lying weak (dead) in bed (though he does still love her); he fell in love with a warrior, a trickster, a woman with a thousand silver tongues and a rage against the world that traps her.

She was once the guardian of this isle – the reason she never followed her husband to sea.)

The point is – he sees a lot, and it’s probably from his father, the one thing left behind by the man. It aids him in his talents – he sees the other realms, other planes, and tells stories from them, he sees how they shift and adjusts his shots accordingly, he sees the future so he lies to save it – and he is glad for it.

However, Just because he can see through all the planes of existence, doesn’t mean he can walk through them to find a directionless swordsman who can walk through all of them by his own ability to get lost so badly that he jumps through realms.

He hates Zoro Duty.

“ZORO!” Usopp calls, irritated beyond belief, “WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!”

Of course – there is no answer.

He expected nothing less, even if his voice echoes through a thousand different planes.  His crewmate is as stubborn as they come (with their Captain being the only one who could possibly beat him) and he tends to not listen to directions or respond when they are given.

(Hence, the need for someone to be on Zoro Duty, making sure the swordsman doesn’t get too lost. )

Usopp is beginning to wonder if Zoro even knows how directions work – because to the swordsman, north is up, as in up to the sky, and sometimes to the next plane.

(Usopp’s never actually been in these other existences – but occasionally he’ll ask Zoro what it’s like.

It’s one of the few times where Zoro actually attempts to describe something well. Of course, it’s not much - The air felt weird or It felt like I was falling or even The chocolate smell was everywhere what the hell - but it’s enough that he tries.

(But he does have to wonder if Zoro actually recognizes that he’s in a different realm.  He doesn’t seem to think he gets lost at any rate))

He remembers the first time Zoro got lost in front of Usopp.

(A moment there, the next gone, terrifying in a single instant)

Zoro had reappeared after taking a single step, five paces away, turning to Usopp saying

Where were you? and It’s been five hours.

It’s completely bizarre, how time seems to flow around him. He’s like Luffy in a way. So stubborn and headstrong not even silly things like fate and destiny and the laws of physics and time can tie him down.

Which is why, again Usopp hates Zoro Duty.

(Because there’s always a chance he’s going to find Zoro bleeding out after a long search, or find a horrific monster attacking him with Zoro just smirking, or Zoro aged a hundred years, or Zoro starting anotherinternational conflict or even worse – Zoro actually drunk.)

There’s a snap to his left, and a low curse, said in familiar tones (with an even odder tone of three voice speaking at once, only audible to Usopp and few others (those who know a demon’s true presence)) which means finally!

Zoro!

“Zoro!” Usopp repeats aloud, rushing through the greenery.

Finally! He thinks elatedly, before his foot steps on something wet and burning.

(Blood? Boiling blood?)

He steps back, ready to give a comical wail (he’s suffered far worse) when he notices exactly what is in front of.

Oh sswweeet chhhild?

The voice is soft and slithering, as one would expect from the mass of darkness standing in front of their bleeding swordsman.  It shifts and swirls with an unnatural ease, like bones sticking out of skin and being crunched underfoot.

It doesn’t belong – even if he didn’t have Sight he could have seen it - and the way reality bends around the thing strikes shivers up his spine.

(Usopp’s reminded of Thriller Bark, in that moment, watching the gigantean shadows of the fog fade in out of existence as if they were never there at all – so very, very wrong.)

And Zoro’s getting ready to fight the thing.

(There’s something unnatural in his eyes, something unknowing and lost in a way Zoro isn’t typically. Like he’s remembering something, being lured to something, something monstrous from his past like a temptation he never had the chance to take before.)

“STOP!” Usopp shouts, suddenly terrified and full of rage all at once in a beautiful cacophony of emotions.

Because this thing – this thing, this horrible beast from elsewhere, has taken advantage of his nakama, of Zoro, of how he doesn’t know how to differ between planes like Usopp does, how he doesn’t see the paths the world takes (only one – the path to the top (World’s Greatest Swordsman)), and he will get lost and hurt and No.

Usopp will not allow that to happen.

“Zoro! Stop!” He tries again, and this time the swordsman looks away from the beast, from the haunting vision between realms.

“Usopp?” The green haired swordsman mumbles around his sword, wild eyes searching for an explanation.

In the moment of distraction, the being lunges – teeth snarling and rabid – but Usopp is ready.

(His mother was a Tengu, and his father was a Feathered Seer – this means that he sees more than most, and that his feathers will be as ink on paper, telling, dark, and true. It also means that Usopp was born to guide, to protect.

Maybe he’s too cowardly to be as great as his mother was at protecting (a warrior dressed in red with a terrible beast in front of her, slayed with tricks and weapons and the words of a Protector – his mother-) but he can do it, when the need arises)

He was surprised to learn that certain salts (depths of the ocean thrust into the light, the kind from deep waters sunned upon rocks)  burned outside of the East Blue, like fire burning through his bones, the Veil smoking away by its presence. Thriller Bark had taught him much, and especially how to use this to his advantage.

When the salt from his Burning Salt Star hits the beast in the sliver of space attaching it to the world beyond, (a world that only Usopp can see) there is a wicked glow as it gives off an unholy wail...

And the beast burns.

Zoro looks mad as Usopp drags him away, but there is a light in his eyes that Usopp doesn’t like, that makes Zoro’s aura (the fatal oppressing force felt at Ennies Lobby that near consumed their swordsman – the move to that extent was banned by their captain but Zoro still likes to stretch his limbs and scare their enemies with Its essence) grow and darken around him, give faint images of deathless gods about him that Usopp did not like.

“Zoro.” He says, trying to reign their swordsman back in. “This realm – whatever you saw isn’t here.” He can’t say it isn’t real, that whatever Zoro saw in the beast doesn’t exist because Usopp can see a thousand words and Zoro can step through them, meaning it could be real.

“Yeah… yeah…” Zoro says, voice uncharacteristically small and distant. “Not here.”

“Not here,” Usopp agrees.

(He doesn’t know what kind of creature Zoro is, doesn’t know what tethers keep him with Usoppp and Luffy and the rest of the crew, doesn’t know what aura, dark and horrendous, finds its place in his friend’s bosom, but hell if he won’t make sure Zoro stays here.)

It’s quiet on the way back to the ship, but Usopp keeps a tight lock on Zoro’s shirt.

His teeth are sharp and his feathers ruffled, and Zoro’s eyes are still faraway, but he’s mostly sure whatever was dragging Zoro to there is gone now.  He’s not taking chances.

Its tripled, like it comes from three different sources, when Zoro speaks again, but when Usopp looks back there is only sincerity in his voice.

“Thanks Usopp.” – And finally, their swordsman isn’t lost in his head anymore.

(Usopp can see that as clear as he can see a million other worlds – and his friend’s path to the top of thisworld.)

[bonepranks-a]

@anonymous said... For any later thought: how do you interpret skeletons as a monster species? Obviously they’ve got some drastically different shapes than a normal human skeleton! But I’ve seen some interesting concepts (like fuzzy skeletons— cute— strange— but cute!). But are their any interesting biological traits you incorporate (claws, thicker bones, strength of tactile perception given they are Just Bones—) or social traits (any quirks of the species—)?

. OUT              @vertebralheights​ and i could give a whole lecture on skeleton biology (maybe we will one day lol) so ivy, feel free to chime in here with any thoughts. but! i reject the idea of most skeletons having ever been human. that being said, and i’m pulling from ivy’s lore here), there ARE some skeleton monsters who were specifically revived from dead humans (mostly during the war). they have their own unique traits i won’t get into because it’s not super relevant to your question && it’s not my lore or area of expertise. i am intrigued by the comment papyrus makes about skeletons being descended from humans, and i am interested in maybe exploring that, but that’s some backstory detail i have no time to think about right now. instead, i see their shapes and sizes are more reflective of other monster types than human types. that being said, i think that pre-war they were actually the species that bridged the gap between humans monsters mostly because of the familiarity and similarities to humans. of course, as times changed and skeletons as a concept became more associated with necromancy and death and all around spookiness, the humans began to reject the skeletons. this was one of the impetuses for the war.

             as for more specific biological traits, i can tell you what i don’t like. and by don’t like i mean fucking HATE. 1) ecto-genitalia/bodies/tongues/etc. i don’t judge anyone who DOES headcanon that but to me it’s just.... dumb and unnecessary. like rip to the entire udnertale fandom but i’m different. it was literally a concept only created for the sake of po.rn and i’m just not here for it?? the whole point of them being SKELETONS is that they’re vastly different from humans and like... all other monsters. just let them be actual skeletons. it’s way funnier that way. also, having ecto-parts is just an easy out for everything. if you’re going to conceptualize a species of monster, make it work within the confines of that species. skeletons are the ONLY pre-existing monster species (besides uh. dogs.). i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again -- just come up with something new! for fuck’s sake. okay, rant over.

               i’m not a fan of them having fur, hair, claws or fangs. again, that’s an aesthetic choice i just don’t get the point of. in my mind, they’re really just bones, held together by magic and magic alone. which is HILARIOUS because i love the idea of a skeleton being so tired/devoid of magical energy that they just sorta fall apart. they’re fine (i think they can detach random bones at will) but they have to kinda put themselves back together again. it doesn’t happen that often -- not even to sans except on rare occasions. pretty much only if their body isn’t producing enough magical energy to sustain their physical form. along those lines, the reason they’re able to eat without the food just falling out of them is that monster food as we know does not pass all the way through the body. the natural conclusion to this fact is that their bodies simply convert it to magical energy as it enters their system. this is what gives it it’s healing power. skeletons probably jut evolved in such a way that this conversion happens instantly (even if it takes longer for other monsters. maybe it doesn’t.) i’m not sure what happens if they try to eat non-monster food. my guess is that it works the same way -- but it only satiates hunger, not magical energy nor can it heal. so even on the surface, monsters need to continue making monster food.

             i talked about skeleton eye-lights in my last post but something i forgot to specifically say is that they don’t need their eye-lights to see. it’s more of an expressive thing anyway. the eye-lights are magic generated, not an actual biological trait. because again, they’re just eyesockets. however -- skeletons CAN close them. that’s just an odd quirk that’s different from a typical human skeleton. that and creasing their brows. 

           also, because they’re just bones, they don’t weigh much. think science classroom skeleton. however, they ARE very strong as a general rule, they can lift their own body weight which again, isn’t much, but compared to humans who have to train to be able to deadlift their own weight, it’s a natural ability for skeletons.

            in terms of social traits/quirks? i think there’s a tendency to be more reclusive? but then again, i see all monsters that way (as opposed to humans who are naturally social beings). but also, there just..... aren’t a lot of skeletons. most of them are in vertebral heights, and while sans and pap socialize, they also tend to just..... do their own things. skeletons, i think, have a history of standing apart from other monsters and so the ones that are still alive continue that trend.

             oh! i need to talk about font & voices while we’re here. again, this could be a post all on it’s own, but i’ll try to streamline it. skeletons are usually (but not always) named after fonts. these names tend to be chosen after hearing the baby vocalize (not necessarily speak, although i ALSO think that babybones speak much earlier than human babies). a skeleton’s font is like a visual manifestation of an accent. it’s not a different language (among roman alphabet fonts) but rather an inflection in the voice. skeleton voices work sort of like synesthesia, where another skeleton can see or at least sense the font that’s being spoken in. and so this is usually how they get their names. sometimes skeletons have multi-part names (first & middle & last), other times not. sometimes a family will use one generation’s last name and carry it down even for skeletons who don’t possess that particular font. i’ll do a post later on the specifics of sans’ family to give some examples. 

             the exception to this rule is skeletons who speak in symbolic fonts (wingdings, webdings, dingbat, etc). they speak in a series of vocalizations that other symbolic-speaking skeletons understand but pretty much no one else can. it sounds similar to the soundfont used for entry number 17, if less distorted (i think that what we hear there is an effect of the void, despite being written before he fell into the core). symbolic-speaking skeletons CAN learn to speak non-symbolic fonts (that usually take the form of one of the plainest fonts of either the serif or the sans serif families), but not all of them choose to (gaster did not). however, it’s INCREDIBLY difficult for a skeleton who does not possess the natural language to learn to speak it (it’s possible with training, but their voices just don’t work that way). however, learning to read/write in the fonts is an easily achievable practice, as is understand it when spoken, with time. however, most symbolic-font skeletons learn how to sign, and in return most non-symbolic font skeletons learn how to understand sign language. 

              and i think that’s it??? friends & followers, feel free to drop your skeleton biology thoughts into the replies or in my ask box! i always love hearing other people’s takes!

[icantstopanalyzingbts]

Jungkook as an ISTP x Cognitive Functions

So, as BTS released MBTI test results with Festa 2017, I was going to go back on all of my analyses and re-think everything in order to make my impressions fit with what I was seeing. But then I realized they ranked the accuracy of their results, and that delighted me. Because oftentimes, the MBTI is taken in Korea in high school as a career aptitude test, which means the accuracy of the results is questionable. And, sometimes it is just really hard to get an accurate result taking MBTI tests, even if you try to answer the questions truthfully. Which is where cognitive functions come in (and, of course, exploring other type descriptions as well). 

A lot of people who like MBTI don't know about cognitive functions, but they are basically what determines one's MBTI type. Here's a link to a good article about cognitive functions, which I will be using as a source for this post.

I'm a bit of a cognitive function rookie myself, so if I get something wrong please feel free to correct me. This series of posts will be based on cognitive functions. I might do some later posts just relating to their actual type descriptions. :) 

I'm going to go with what most of the members said about their types; particularly, I think J-hope, Jin, and V seemed to feel that their types were quite accurate. Jimin seemed mostly satisfied, but I still think there is the possibility he is something else (but will comment later). HOWEVER, Rap Monster, Suga, and Jungkook's types need some more fleshing out. CLEARLY. And although Rap Monster gave his type 4 stars, that one 5th crying star was too much for my heart...I still think he's INFJ. So without further ado, let's talk about why Jungkook is not an INFP.

As an INFP, Jungkook's dominant function would be Fi. In a dominant position, Fi exhibits itself as a moral compass. An Fi user is highly preoccupied with how an action fits into their moral code, and will make decisions based on where that action finds itself in their sense of morality. My INFP brother has very strong feelings about his morals and judges everything by those morals. They don't have to match the system around him, but are instead his own unique set of ideals that influence all of his decisions. A caveat: Fi users usually know very well how they feel about something and are comfortable with theirs and others feelings.

His auxiliary function would be Ne. Ne is focused on the possibilities of a concept. Ne users will entertain all of the manifestations of an idea, no matter how crazy.

His tertiary function would be Si. Si is a nostalgic function. Si in the tertiary position is concerned with matching previous facts and experiences with current ones and making connections between those experiences. It manifests as nostalgia as well sometimes, or a longing for the past.

His weakest, inferior function, would be Te. Te is an executive, logical function. In its inferior position, Te manifests when the user is stressed out. And a stressed out, inferior Te looks like someone on a power trip. Lol, just kidding, but the frustrated Te user comes across as someone who cannot set in motion the plans they have, and feels inferior because of this. They fear others perceiving them as inferior, incompetent, or immature, and will lash out with "bossiness" and sensitivity to criticism of their decisions and executive abilities. *This is one reason why Rap Monster /could/ be an INFP, because he sometimes has these types of reactions to the other members when under pressure.

However, I don't believe Jungkook is INFP. My reasoning goes as such: we do not see Jungkook vocalizing his use of an internal, emotional, moral compass as an evaluation of his decisions. While he is often seen observing, his observations are made towards the physical that he is interacting with; he is intrigued by how things work. We don't see Jungkook getting nostalgic, either. Whether it is because he's so young, or because of his personality, he isn't often seen reflecting back on his earlier days like, say, Yoongi. Instead, Jungkook lives in the moment, a typical trait of SPs.

Finally, I refer to the "Hamburger Incident" and "Birthday Surprise" videos. Under both situations, Jungkook does not become aggressive. Instead, it feels more like taking pot-shots at a puppy...which is exactly what it is, based on his inferior function as an ISTP. He insists he brought hamburgers, he insists he didn't get the dance moves wrong, and then he retreats because he isn't able to insist on his point in the waves of his highly emotional response (which he is unable to control).

As an ISTP, Jungkook's dominant funnction would be Ti. In a dominant position, Ti presents itself as a fact-gathering, highly introverted function. Ti users can appear quiet and shy, and when presented with a new situation will sometimes hang back to take in all of the information they can about the situation before making an analysis of what they wish to do next. They are preoccupied with determining how all logical systems work and love to point out any inconsistencies in those systems. We can see Jungkook using his Ti in his cool, almost nonchalant reaction to most things occurring around him. He quietly takes in information and enjoys spotting the inconsistencies in others stories. He is assured of his assumptions regarding the world around him and this contributes to his "I got this" attitude in most situations which he can, or has already analyzed. Ti users tend to be independent thinkers who prefer making their own observations before determining whether or not something is as others say it is.

Auxiliary Se: Se is a physical function. Se in the auxiliary position is fascinated with the physical world and wishes to experience many enjoyable feelings, sensations, and emotions. They are preoccupied with the current moment and wish to live out as many exciting, exhilarating moments as possible. We can see this in Jungkook's affection for roller coasters, the banana boat ride, the paraglider, and just about anything that gets his adrenaline running. He is most at home in the moment. His introversion still rules, however; he cannot match up to Jimin's extroverted prowess on stage, despite his smooth dance moves in practice videos. His image leans toward the quiet, sexy one instead of the spotlight stealing heartbreaker. And he's comfortable with that.

As an ISTP, Jungkook's tertiary function would be Ni. Ni in the third position comes across as a kind of passion for perfectionism, which Jungkook shows us constantly. He is the golden maknae- he can do everything, and he prides himself in that. When his abilities are questioned, such as in the video where he is surprised for his birthday, he just works even harder, believing that there must be something wrong in his approach which can be improved upon. This is the essence of tertiary Ni. In fact, I think his second and third functions were easiest to pinpoint in this analysis. Lastly, an ISTP's inferior function is Fe. I'm going to quote the post above as I think they just nailed the inferior Fe description so well for this one: "As an inferior function, Fe originally manifests as the user being reluctant to dabble with or express emotional concerns, as the user cannot logically make sense of many of his or her own emotions and therefore doesn’t feel confident in moderating them. As Fe matures, its user will feel increasingly comfortable making and keeping emotional commitments to others, as they grow more confident in what is expected of them. The inferior-Fe monologue (prior to maturation): “Feelings make me freeze with anxiety because I don’t know how to moderate them. I am terrified of accidentally offending someone.” "

And this is Jungkook's feelings in a nutshell. His birthday surprise video sums it up well; although he is delighted to be surprised by the other members and staff, he is somewhat offended that his emotions were so easily toyed with. He doesn't enjoy showing emotional sides of himself, as he himself doesn't understand those emotions. He is also terrified of offending others as can be seen during the "Hamburger Incident". He becomes paralyzed by the fact that he might have unknowingly hurt or offended someone, all while being hurt and offended himself and perhaps not even realizing it. Others might assume that an ISTP is made of steel based on their cool, risk-taking, highly independent, sometimes impulsive personalities. But they are not. In more developed positions, Fe is the loving, people-pleasing, puppy-dog warmth of Jimin and J-hope. Those with inferior Fe can exhibit that too. But at Jungkook's age, they are usually terrified of showing that side of themselves, as they don't understand it. Though affectionate, Jungkook can come across as a bit cool and reserved to anyone other than his closest friends, which arguably are some of the other members of BTS. His moments of emotional breakdown are a result of either feeling comfortable showing those emotions in front of others, or being assaulted with a sudden onslaught of disapproval and criticism, which literally hits him in the feels. An Fi user, like an INFP, would be 1. more comfortable with this emotional response (instead of describing it as "annoying" as Jungkook did) and 2. would react rigidly to others criticism, perhaps even lashing out or becoming cynical. Jungkook simply collapses, and that's why I think he's an ISTP. A huge thanks to Heidi Priebe for her amazing article on cognitive functions, which introduced me to this lovely mess which is typing. 

[i-just-like-commenting]

Blue Rose RPG second edition: the Narrator’s section

So I have administrative privileges to make an event to start running a Blue Rose series, and after reading the final Narrator’s section of the guidebook, I feel as though I’m ready to. I’ve even made a minor financial investment in it to try to make my decision more permanent by buying the gorgeous tarot deck designed Stephanie Pui-Mun Law, the cover artist for the guidebook:

You use the tarot cards for more than just randomizing personality traits; the book suggests using it as inspiration for coming up with plot ideas, as you can randomize events from a table they give as well. This of course also allows you to use tarot in-universe as “The Royal Road” by matching up events and character insights to cards if a character with a Visionary Talent gets their hands on a deck.

Indeed, this section is full of helpful hints on how to run the game while at the same time leaving a lot up to the Narrator to figure out. Dungeons and Dragons, for example, will give you lists of hazards with their respective challenge ratings and all the stats that you need to face each encounter – which of course lets them sell extra sourcebooks for different climates, says my cynical side. For Blue Rose, though, you’re basically given the numbers for varying degrees of difficulty, how to do one-time versus ongoing tests, and after that it’s up to you to decide how challenging whatever obstacle is you place in your players’ path. Ditto on monsters, who are lumped into the broad categories of minor, moderate, major, and dire rather than getting challenge ratings, a change from the first edition where creatures had “levels.”

Above all, the most interesting thing is how much it encourages you to cheat. This was a philosophy of narration in the first edition as well; since story is paramount, you’re supposed to bend the rules to make things dramatically satisfying. Did somebody just roll something terrible trying to make a jump to a cliff? Well, you could make them randomly fall to their death, but if you reading that in a book, you’d hate that stupid twist. Better to leave them hanging by their fingertips and give their companions a chance to rescue them. Don’t let NPCs be the ones to deal the final blow to monsters, even if their dice roll let them; avoid letting characters die unless it’s suitably heroic or tragic.

Another big part of the Narrator section is made of ideas for campaigns. The most basic setup is called “For Aldis and the Queen!” where you’re all members of the Sovereign’s Finest going around on missions for the good of the country. Other setups include: being a set of travelers who keep running into trouble as they go from land to land; a coming of age story where your protagonists begin very young; a “Game of Thorns” setup (get it? because roses?) where the focus is on political factions vying for power; playing a team of knights with disabilities; and several ideas that involve the power of Shadowgates that I don’t want to spoil should your Narrator ever choose them.

But let’s face it, for all the story stuff, as an RPGer you’re probably most interested in the other parts of the Narrator section: the stuff you can get and the enemies you can face.

Rewards and Intentional Vagueness

Many RPGs have fairly lengthy lists of special items that you can find in your quests. Blue Rose has never been like this, because again it’s more story than game. In this edition, rewards are divided into five categories. By your actions you earn special bonuses as an honor, titles that you give you status in your society but no gameplay bonuses, memberships in societies that you can advance through, companions who are loyal to you whether human or animal, and stuff.

Stuff can be further divided into ceremonial, masterwork, and arcane items. Ceremonial items aren’t a part of the gameplay, and they usually come along with titles and memberships. Masterwork items are a series of bonuses that the Narrator can add to weapons or armor. There are also rules for how to make masterwork items, as well as how difficult they can be.

This is not the case with arcane items, of which the most common are simply listed. No information on how much they cost or how difficult they are to make. This latter is a little frustrating because the Artificer Talent allows adepts with focuses in Artisan and Craftsmanship to make elixirs, stones, and weapons, in that order, as they advance through levels. Presumably this is a measure of their difficulty to make, but that also means that by only level eight you could be making crystons, which are pretty much laser guns. If they were that simple, wouldn’t they be ubiquitous, rather than rare as they are in the world guide?

What’s missing, I suppose, is the difficulty of each item within a category. Crystons are presumably much harder to make, even for a master artificer, than a general arcane weapon that overcome certain resistances. Otherwise, though, it falls to the Narrator to make up the rules, perhaps using the masterwork item guidelines as a model. I don’t need everything spelled out for me, but even just a designation of “easy” or “difficult” to give me a rough idea of the challenge rating would be nice.

Wealth has been eliminated in this edition. In the first edition, you had a wealth score that went up as you advanced and presumably had more access to funds. Now, as with equipment, the Narrator gets to choose whether something is reasonable for a character to afford given on their background. You can give wealth as bonuses (the world guide has a box on money in different kingdoms) but it argues that in general it’s more fun to give people something tangible, like a masterwork weapon or a horse or even land and a manor to use as a base.

Bestiary and the Need for Expansion

The other element I find rather lacking in this book is the bestiary in the back. This was somewhat true of the first edition as well, but it’s even more pronounced here. I know that the game isn’t driven by battling monsters, but I have more other reasons for wishing it had a few more creatures to incorporate into stories. Fortunately they are ways of creating creatures yourself. I’ll talk about all this after giving a quick look at the bestiary as it stands.

The original Blue Rose bestiary was very much a D&D clone following the SRD, featuring D&D-original creatures like assassin vines, shamblers, treants, ettercaps, chokers, chuuls, gricks, and otyughs. A lot of the other creatures who derived from mythology strongly resembled their D&D counterparts, and included the very D&D category of “aberrations.”

The D&D influence is still there in the second edition, but they’ve tried to make it a little bit more their own this time around. Most of the D&D-originals are gone, albeit not all, and there has been re-categorization as well, with aberrations going out the window.

The first category of creature are beasts, which is to say animals, mostly non-sentient. They’re included to give you a few more options for making rhydan, to be animal companions or familiars, and to be converted into other monsters through add-ons and templates. Most of these are real world animals with the exception of winged cats called “falcats” and drakes, miniature dragons who are sentient but mute and not psychic like rhydan. Their giant squids are also a little more like legendary (not D&D) krakens then an Architeuthis.

Rhydan are their own separate category, and the bestiary lists the most common rhydan as well as the two species that have no non-sentient counterparts, griffons and unicorns. Unlike in the first edition, whales and falcats are no longer considered automatically rhydan; in fact, whales aren’t even in the bestiary.

After this are nature spirits, where you find elementals. Elementals are the main thing you summon with the “Summon Spirits” spell if you’re not evil (if you are, it’s darkfiends). There are the four basic kinds (air, earth, fire, and water) from the first edition (and D&D) but now there is also a fifth, the wood elemental, that’s a bit like a treant or a shambler. The big addition, though, are the fae. Sprites, revelers, and nobles all come in different varieties, although there’s only one model for each that you can tweak depending on what you want your faeries to be like.

After this are shadowspawn, the corrupt creations of the Sorcerer Kings. This category includes one or two creatures formerly classified as aberrations. Ettercaps, troglodyes, and mongrels (who resemble gnolls) are presented as the most typical forms of “beastfolk,” with the Narrator allowed to make up their own versions as well. The other main change here is including all the creatures that were scattered in the two supplements: chaos beasts, mock hounds, white howlers, and wyverns.

Worse than shadowspawn are the unliving, aka the undead. Here the D&D influence is pretty strong in the naming, though less so in the creatures themselves. If you assume a lich or a ghoul or a specter is going to be exactly like its D&D namesake, you will be in for some surprises. Zombies have been renamed the walking dead for whatever reason, whether to capitalize on the show or get away from the negative stereotypes of vodou.

Finally, darkfiends serve as the demons of the series. Stats are given for watchers, soldiers, and whisperers, but servitors (a dire threat) are left for Narrators to construct themselves from scratch. Each servitor is supposed to be unique based on the Exarch they derive from. The end of the bestiary gives a number of stat-mods that you can give to creatures of all kinds to make them more dangerous or just unique, which also presents the tantalizing possibility of making your own creatures.

Because there are two reasons why I think there’s not enough creatures in this book. First, there could really stand to be more animals. This includes creatures you’d find in Aldis, like deer or badgers, but it’s especially lacking for tropical creatures like you’d find in Lar’tya or Wyss. Where are my tigers, jaguars, antelope, elephants, tapirs, and monkeys? You can’t give us two regions with rain forests and not give us creatures to inhabit them!

On a more personal note, though, you know that tarot deck that I bought and love? It has a number of creatures that don’t appear in the book. The guide literally recommends that we use this deck as a representative for the Royal Road, the religious iconography of the Faenari, and yet the creatures don’t match? Okay, granted, I can believed that the horned lions and phoenixes might have been native to Faenaria and went extinct in the disaster that turned it into the Shadow Barrens. But merfolk? I would love merfolk to live further out in the deeps, related to the sea folk yet separate from them.

And dragons. The absence of dragons was even worse in the first edition where drakes are called “pocket dragons”…only there are no dragons for them to be compared to! Wyverns exist, and are evil, but there are no true dragons. Perhaps they’re legends, a rhydan species that existed in the time of the Old Kingdom but supposedly were wiped out like the vatazin…only for our heroes to discover the last of them?

I’m biased because I like dragons, and always have. I’m addicted to A Song of Ice and Fire, sure, but it goes back way before that, to Pern, to Earthsea, to the Enchanted Forest, to Austar IV. My fantasy (and sci-fi) has dragons, damn it, and I was Blue Rose to have some too, somewhere. Not D&D style dragons, who come with a multitude of magical powers, including the ability to change shape, but the dragons I grew up on. I just have to figure out how to make them using what the book gives me, probably starting with wyverns as a template and assuming they are corrupted versions of that.

Final Words

The module at the end of the book was what pushed me over the edge of wanting to run a series. Not only is it easy to follow and use, it reminded me of how much fun it is to do this kind of game, even just reading it. I’m psyched to return to Aldea, and to introduce new people tot it.

[ramajmedia]

10 Best MMORPGs For Fans Of World of Warcraft | ScreenRant

World of Warcraft started as the fourth fantasy game in the Warcraft universe all the way back in 2004. Blizzard Entertainment had swapped the base building RTS (real-time strategy) gameplay of old for an intimate yet online RPG (role-playing game) experience that you could share with friends. From quests and overarching stories to scoring the best gear in high-level dungeons, WoW had it all.

Although not the first MMORPG (massively-multiplayer online roleplaying game) of its time, it surely had one of the biggest impacts on gaming through the next decade and a half. For some, WoW alone continues to fill that online gaming void. But if you're craving to fill that itch with another MMORPG, then you're in the right place. Here are the Best MMORPGs For Fans Of World of Warcraft.

9 TERA

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Developed by Bluehole Studio, TERA offers an MMORPG experience that is a bit heavier on the active action side than WoW. With action rolls, players are forced to dodge skill shots and perform combos at the same time. Ranging from the ever-present Lancer to the backline Gunner, TERA's variety is its strong suit.

Each of the seven races compliments the classes with their traits to further make your in-game character feel unique. Unlike WoW, TERA uses a free-to-play model. This is supplemented with "EMP", a currency used for in-game extras such as cosmetics.

8 Star Trek Online

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Star Trek Online lets you live vicariously through your avatar as a captain of your own space ship. Your crew can be filled out with medical personnel, tactical officers, and more. With a main story quest to follow or abandon at your will, dozens of planets and encounters await in the Star Trek universe.

The highlight is the space combat, as it is rarely done correctly in an MMO. Most games render outer space as a skippable cutscene, making Star Trek Online a welcomed change of pace. Perfect for anyone ready to leave the fantasy setting and a treat for all Star Trek fans.

7 Lord of the Rings Online

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Lord of the Rings Online came out back in 2007 to marginal success. A classic Lord of the Rings adventure lies underneath the surface of the tab-target gameplay (akin to WoW). But don't mistake this free-to-play fantasy game for a WoW clone.

All of the races and classes are taken from LotR literature and will make fans feel at home. Whether you wish to be a High Elf Hunter or a Dwarf Guardian, there are enough choices to satiate any RPG fan. Some features include the ability to play as a minion of Sauron and vs. other players, as well as player housing and in-depth crafting. 'Epic Story' is a standout feature that involves you taking control of famous characters such as Gandalf the Grey and Bilbo Baggins as you go on famous journeys through their shoes.

6  7. Star Wars: The Old Republic

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Star Wars is a multi-media franchise that has piqued generational interest for a reason. Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR) feels right at home for old and new fans alike. This is first and foremost a story-driven game.

If you're hoping for the best of the best in regards to gameplay, the single-player Knights of the Old Republic games are your best bet. Taking place in the Old Republic era of the Star Wars universe, SWTOR lets you play either side of the age-old tale of the Republic versus the Empire. But there is more to this tale than Jedi and Sith. Take up the role of a Bounty Hunter and focus on your own story, or be a Smuggler for the Republic and blur the lines. The choice is yours and the universe is vast.

5 EVE Online

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If you think the typical MMORPG is unimpressive and want to delve into the rules, lore, and development of a universe, EVE Online is up your alley. Touting one large server that houses an ever-expansive universe, everyone takes part in the same outer space-driven gameplay. Set over 20,000 years in the future, your goal is to push forward into "New Eden" after Earths resources have been all but dried up.

After selecting your race, you are thrust into the game with a lone ship. The player-driven ecosystem will impress those who find joy in numbers and the economy. The combat is realtime and time-consuming, which is fantastic for those who want rewarding gameplay. Over 5000 star systems await. Who you side with is up to you.

4 Guild Wars 2

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Set in the gorgeous world of Tyria, your goal in Guild Wars 2 is to reclaim the land after horrific monsters start to take over. With a focus on narrative, this game touts quests that offer multiple paths, a feature typically associated with single-player RPGs.

The combat is grounded in frenetic action, with a litany of spells and melee items to choose from. Skills are mostly tied to weapons, with quick swapping available during combat. Each class has special abilities to differentiate from the pack, along with a self-heal to keep the focus on action. With Player vs Player(PvP), Player vs Environment (PvE), and World vs World (WvW) to choose from, Guild Wars 2 never fails to be an ongoing adventure worth joining.

3 The Elder Scrolls Online

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The Elder Scrolls (ESO) series explores the fantasy continent of Tamriel. The first in The Elder Scrolls to be an MMORPG, ESO focuses on non-linear gameplay, with a large portion of Tamriel open to explore. Although you pick from ten races and six classes to create your character, many skills are learned via specific weapons and quests.

A questline from the infamous Dark Brotherhood might offer you a new cloak, but it also rewards you with new skills only offered from the guild. Each zone offers its own unique setting, with multiple overarching stories at play throughout Tamriel. Expect tons of in-game lore from books, NPCs (non-player characters) and the environment. Great for those who want their Elders Scrolls fix before The Elders Scrolls: 6 comes out.

2 WoW Classic

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World of Warcraft and its six expansions have turned into its own beast over time. Whereas the original release of WoW saw a plethora of unique features for 2004, many of those feel antiquated and were nixed with new patches and expansions. WoW Classic wishes to return to the basics with the original Alliance vs Horde story.

Gone are the days of dungeons teleporting you to them instantly. Nope, go fly there. Do you want a mount to ride around? Go earn it over time. While this becomes more time consuming, it also connects you to your character and those around you. And in return, classes are more unique. Individual roles are rewarding, as you have spells that are more unique to just your class. WoW Classic is packed in with the World of Warcraft subscription.

1 Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn

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From traditional RPGs and arena fighters to rhythm games and action titles, Final Fantasy is a powerhouse series to be reckoned with. After a misstepped launch of Final Fantasy XIV, Square Enix decided to retry and rebrand. With the aptly titled Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, the game was made new and it shattered all expectations. The combat loop is similar to World of Warcraft, so fans of the series can shift over to FFXIV without too much of a learning curve.

You take on the role of a character destined to save the land of Eorzea. The diverse cast and classes available are a joy to be a part of, with each class feeling unique.  The newest expansion, Shadowbringers, lit up the scene with two new classes, new races, and a whole new story to follow.

NEXT: Star Wars: 10 Gifts That Every Fan Of The Empire Would Love

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source https://screenrant.com/best-mmorpgs-world-warcraft/

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N'Pressions: Mutant Busters

I’m not going to lie here. When it comes to toilet humor, it’s a 50/50 for me. I’m not against then by no means, heck same goes for innuendo jokes, but more often my common response is a groan and looking at my non-existent watch waiting for it to be over. Personally there are a lot of shows with the gross out humor as its main stichk that I’ve just glossed over. But looking at the visuals of this show in my Recommend feed on Netlfix, I felt I’d be fair and give this show a try: Mutant Busters.

Trying to find information about this show is a bit tricky since my Spanish is rather limited. From what little English informstion I could find, Mutant Busters is an animated show part of a Spanish toyline from Famosa/Planeta Junior. The toy design is certainly amusing. The very simplified design reminds me a lot of those vinyl figures that are everywhere. Basically if Funko Pop decided to make an action toy line; these would be it. The humans have the same general body design with a few adjustments here and there but with different printings on to make them into different characters.

The backstory for this toy line is that there was a great cataclysm caused by a Giant Fart that split the world into the shape of a giant butt. The surviving humans reside on the right cheek while the mutants reside on the left cheek. Pretty much from these few lines alone you know what you’re in for. I mean, one of the mutant body types is a giant butt faced golem with thick arms and shoots lethal farting projectiles. And the mouth is…well I don’t think the fledglings would get it right away but now that I’ve thought about it, the mouth is…oh dear gods. Wow, Spain, gotta give you credit on that one.

Anyway, fighting the mutants is La Resistance (they had already printed the cards) led (sort of) by self-proclaimed treasure hunter Jim Rubik alias Sheriff; called so because of the star he wears that is deceased brother gave to him. One day he finds a mysterious mineral and tries to sell it at the local bar, but the mutants cross the dividing chasm to obtain it. The mineral is then stolen by Shooter, a gun toting thief who is obsessed with video games and tends to use gaming lingo when talking. Shooter tries to sell it to gangster leader Brutux but they are ambushed by mutants and the mineral is absconded with by soon-to-be-love-interest Vegan Su and her younger brother (who is black for some odd reason) B.P. Sheriff, Shooter, and Brutux chase the pair down into a fortress where they discover the mineral, Morphinite, is needed to create a cure for the mutations. But to complete the cure they need specific vegetables (and fruits) which are rare these days and thus must travel all over the world to find them. Thus La Resistance is born (or reborn as we learn this wasn’t the first team). Along the way they must deal with Wart and his colossus minions along with other wild mutants while trying not to kill each other.

Yeah it’s pretty much a straightforward plot. All currently 52 episodes are about ten minutes long and usually follow into one of three categories: stories that move the plot forward, filler but some nice character episodes, and…ugh clip shows. Yes birds and bats, they have clip shows for a toy line…and there are at least FIVE of them. I could be off but I know there’s at minimum five. And honestly they really are not necessary. It’s not like, oh say Power Rangers, where it’s the plottiest of plots; all the episodes do recaps and will typically have at least one or two lines of dialogue saying where they’re at now. They really really didn’t need to be here.

So visual wise, like I said, is very simplified with that vinyl figure look. Just a little note here: for those who say this show is outright disgusting and whatnot CLEARLY haven’t watched the gross out shows of the 90’s (Ren & Stimpy and Garbage Pail Kids, anyone?). No really, this stuff is pretty tame compared to that stuff. And remember by talking about how toilet humor is a hit or miss with me? I honestly feel the show would have been better served if it had been scaled back. And not because of the jokes themselves, but rather it becomes…well…stale. Okay so there is this one running gag of our main protagonist Sheriff farting a lot; like either he initiates the farts himself, or propels by fart, you get the idea. But oh gods, does it get overused and very repetitive. Farts are not inherently funny. You need some build up or unexpentantcy, just something to add to it. Hell that’s half the humor they use in the show. Why not have someone else have some of the fart jokes once in a while huh? Variety is all I’m asking here? Wait, I’m asking for variety in a toyetic show around gross stuff. Michael, I need my brain adjusted!

So our cast of La Resitance which is a nice diverse cast. And by diverse I mean assortment of interesting characters that we follow. While the plot mostly centers around Sheriff, we still get a mostly solid supporting cast even if they don’t get as much background context. Interestingly enough from what info we do get, the Big Fart happened fairly recently-or at least in the last decade or so. They don’t give the characters ages but we know Shooter did almost get married once before the cataclysm soooooo I’m wagering late twenties early thirties?

Also both Shooter and B.P. have quirks to their dialect. Shooter is a major video game addict so he’ll often make references like “Player One” or “Let’s move on to the next level” and so forth. Thankfully it’s not game specific so if you don’t know like a specific video game it’s alright. And he doesn’t use it all the time. Most of the time it’s during action sequences. As for B.P. yeah he talks in rhyme. All of his dialogue is in rhyme. And yes there is that rap scratchy tune often in the background when he talks. Yup, black rhyming rap dude whose specialty is weaponry. Totally not stereotypical at all. But…I can understand what the heck he’s saying and it’s not annoying! Do you know how many times I’ve wanted to shove a spare Noctina head on characters with “quirky” and “cool” lingo? But yup, I give this one a pass. Funny enough, if he’s off guard he talks normal. It’s pretty rare and usually involves when someone is hitting on his sister.

Ah but let us not forget about our villians of course. And oh yes these are your card-carrying theatrical sort naturally. Our main villain is Wart, a little purple meatball thing obsessed with taking over the world and beauty products. Later he drags his sister Verruca into the fold though she is lazy and prefers to just watch soap operas all day. Oh yeah there is a running joke of a show called Tears and Tribulations: a soap opera with 1000+ episodes. I guess soaps were the only media left after the apocalypse. That and cat videos. Sorry Twinkies. There are also the colluseses: Gloom, Horor Kal, Cyclop, and Leviaton; but they mostly made commentary about the humans and don’t do much villain wise. Most of the mutant designs are recolors of about four monster body types: butt-face, zombie slug, evil ET, bloated caterpillar, and bald sasquatch. Granted they at least try to give each recolor some unique traits, but still. It’s a common thing I’ve seen in CGI shows like this; especially action shows. I get it, it takes a lot of work to rig up new models and whatnot. It’s just one of those minor nitpicky things that bugs me with monster designs. And don’t think you’re off the hook either, Digimon. Nevertheless, I hope we get something new in the upcoming Alien Mutant Invasion Arc.

So what do I think of the show personally? It’s a cute fun little thing to kill an afternoon with. Not really something I see like a big fandom growing around, but it’s still entertaining. Even with all the swearing and fart jokes they cram in there (yeah they say hell and damn a lot), I didn’t find the show overly offensive for children. It’s no masterpiece of young entertainment, but I’ve seen worse…so much worse. In all honestly I think Mutant Busters should be taken for what is rather than what it isn’t. All and all, it’s quite basic stuff meant to advertise the product. I enjoy it and sure some of it can get rather tasteless, it’s each enough to overlook and not going to spoil the whole product. I’d recommend at least giving this a try. Like Larry Leviaton says at the end of the season (yeah they actually give their own review at the end of the story), I give it four out of six slices. You get what you expect and it’s still pretty satisfying.

I’m Noctina Noir, and I’m one Nox of a Nobody.