#my favorite chaos bringer

[cosmiischillin]

Twilight Town: Polyphemus

The groups chaos bringer is Iris. Which I learned the name is from the part of the eye that shows the color, a flower, and the Greek Goddess of rainbows (though knowing the show, it’s probably just from the eye fact but Iris’s eye is purple like the flower so I’ll take it).

Iris is the wild card of the group. They are always active and can barely sit still. I don’t know why but I didn’t like Iris as a kid but I enjoy the design process of her for the AU. So talking about their designing will be fun!

The Insane about of Research

So fun fact. In middle school I had the biggest fixation on Greek mythology. So much so that I’d skip PE to read the mythology graphic novels in the library (I apologize to my gym teachers). While I prefer the goddesses with Artemis being my all time favorite, I had some interest in the monsters of mythology.

I wasn’t really into Cyclops but researching them and assigning the details to Iris definitely made me interested. I didn’t want Iris to be a basic cyclops from popular media (aka Leela from Futurama or even Nifty and Cherri Bomb from Hazbin Hotel) since I applied classical and folklore representation for pretty much everyone with one small exception. I learned about the classical cyclops and they were divided into two types: Polyphemus (the big barbarian muscle kinds) and Arges (the magical psychic kinds). With how reckless and adventurous Iris would be, I decided on Polyphemus.

The Polyphemus Cyclops are the most heavily seen but are more “flanderized” versions of the original from The Odyssey where Polyphemus wasn’t just a hulking beast of a man. I decided that the cyclops in Twilight Town show a lot of pride for their brute strength and durability which is why they take up jobs in which they shine best.

Designing

So I dunno what happened in the design process but when using Iris in the original source material as a basis, her design was lacking a bit. She wore near identical clothes to Ruby and even had a red color motif like her. So I decided that Iris would change from red to pink as it wasn’t used with any of the characters (probably because of the whole goth thing but alt aesthetics certainly got some pink). Her kid self looks similar but I gave her tennis shoes instead of Mary Jane’s.

I used Cherri Bomb and Nifty as references to know how I would portray expressions for a character who only had one eye. Later on Cherri ended up being one of Iris’s inspos with their punk rebel like look which fitted more to Iris being the carefree and chaotic one.

I picked on more brute fantasy art with Iris too! They have orcish ear, her sclera is more yellowish , and sharpen teeth. Her skin was inspired by Greek statues and gargoyles which is why she has all those freckles and scars.

Background and Origins

Iris was born outside of Twilight Town from a clan of cyclops. They were considered a runt due to their smaller stature compared to naturally born Cyclops. However this didn’t seem to affect her drastically. Iris found her way to the mansion due to a freak accident that blasted her there as a kid. She was too far to get back home on feet and simply settled there since they already bonded with Ruby.

She usually is the one that caused the most chaos intentionally (Misery just has uncontrollable forces for the chaos), but they always mean the best. They do alot for their friends even if it means getting into trouble. Outside of her multiple gigs, Iris does local stunts with her worm/moth type monster pet Squig.

[virginiaoflykos]

What to read after Light Bringer? (Series similar to Red Rising)

August 2023 update!

Red Rising is my favorite series of all time, and since I first read it, I have sought series and books similar in both spirit and execution. Some of these recs are books I haven’t read personally, but have often come up in discussions with other users!

1. The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson

Status: ongoing, expected 10 books in total, 4/10 out at the moment

Book 1: The Way of Kings. The Way of Kings takes place on the world of Roshar, where war is constantly being waged on the Shattered Plains, and the Highprinces of Alethkar fight to avenge a king that died many moons ago.

2. The Craft Sequence by Max Gladstone

Status: finished, 6/6 books out.

Book 1 (in publication order): Three Parts Dead. Comprised of 6 standalone books set in the same universe, the Craft Sequence tells the tales of the city of Alt Coulumb. The city came out of the God Wars with one of its gods intact, Kos the Everburning. In return for the worship of his people, Kos provides heat and steam power to the citizens of Alt Coulumb; he is also the hub of a vast network of power relationships with other gods and god-like beings across the planet. Oh, and he has just died. If he isn’t revived in some form by the turn of the new moon, the city will descend into chaos and the finances of the globe will take a severe hit.

3. Hierarchy by James Islington

Status: ongoing, 1/3 planned books out

Book 1: The Will of the many. The Will of the Many tells the story of Vis, a young orphan who is adopted by one of the sociopolitical elites of the Hierarchy. Vis is tasked with entering a prestigious magical academy with one goal – ascend the ranks, figure out what the other major branches of the government are doing, and report back. However, that isn’t quite as easy as Vis or anyone else thought it was going to be…

4. Suneater by Christopher Ruocchio

Status: ongoing, 5/7 books out

Book 1: Empire of Silence. Hadrian is a man doomed to universal infamy after ordering the destruction of a sun to commit an unforgivable act of genocide. Told as a chronicle written by an older Hadrian, Empire of Silence details his earlier adventures and serves as an introduction to the characters and the setting.

5. Dune by Frank Herbert

Status: completed, 6/6 books out

Book 1: Dune. Set in the distant future amidst a feudal interstellar society in which various noble houses control planetary fiefs. It tells the story of young Paul Atreides, whose family accepts the stewardship of the planet Arrakis. While the planet is an inhospitable and sparsely populated desert wasteland, it is the only source of melange, or "spice", a drug that extends life and enhances mental abilities.

6. The Expanse by James S A Corey

Status: completed, 9/9 books out

Book 1: Leviathan wakes. Set hundreds of years in the future, after mankind has colonized the solar system. A hardened detective and a rogue ship's captain come together for what starts as a missing young woman and evolves into a race across the solar system to expose the greatest conspiracy in human history.

7. The First Law by Joe Abercrombie

Status: completed. 3 books in the original trilogy + 3 standalone books + 3 books in the newest trilogy

Book 1: The Blade Itself. The story follows the fortunes and misfortunes of bad people who do the right thing, good people who do the wrong thing, stupid people who do the stupid thing and, well, pretty much any combination of the above. Survival is no mean feat, and at the end of the day, dumb luck might be more of an asset than any amount of planning, skill, or noble intention.

8. Cradle by Will Wight

Status: completed, 12/12 books out

Book 1: Unsouled. Lindon is Unsouled, forbidden to learn the sacred arts of his clan. When faced with a looming fate he cannot ignore, he must rise beyond anything he's ever known...and forge his own Path

9. Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons (one PB’s favorites)

Status: completed, 4/4 books out

Book 1: Hyperion. The story weaves the interlocking tales of a diverse group of travelers sent on a pilgrimage to the Time Tombs on Hyperion. The travelers have been sent by the Church of the Final Atonement, alternately known as the Shrike Church, and the Hegemony (the government of the human star systems) to make a request of the Shrike. As they progress in their journey, each of the pilgrims tells their tale.

[thebugcollection]

My favorite color is green, so I'm really drawn to bugs that are green. Luckily, there's so many to choose from!

This is an Aphid, or also known as a plant louse. Aphids suck the sap from plant leaves and are a common pest. They are super destructive when it comes to plants, they suck the life out of them, transfer plant diseases, and carry around mold.

They are the embodiment of chaos in the insect kingdom.

Crazily enough, though, some types of ants have found a way to farm these tiny little death bringers. Its a mutual agreement between them, the aphids feed the ants, the ants protect the aphids.

A bargaining system, if you would.

Without them, our ant population would probably drop, and we need ants, my man.

So good on you, aphid. Good on you.

[kaledya]

HOWDY!! @marquisev

Overlord Arc general review:

First, OH MY GOD!!!! What level is this diyslog writing??????

First of all, I loved all the dialouges between Zestial and Alastor ı can READ them for hours. Everything they say is great And since they are both intelligent men,

it is not clear how their conversation will end.Sometimes it feels like Alastor is a Fly about to be caught in a spider's web.But Zestial expressions His speech is so vague that neither Alastor nor the reader knows what the outcome will be.But it's nice that Alastor stays calm despite this and approaches the event and sentences intelligently.

In short, look at this part And the scene at the end where Zestial warns Alastor about Constantine was very cool, it was a very nice description!!

Also The Tournament It's also a great detail to enter that area by measuring the weight of the Overlords!!. "Only those who are monsters enough can step here."

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It was also very nice when Alastor met Rosie and talked to Serenity after entering!!

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Then the Overlords gather and give a speech.I loved every dialogue here Vox's reaction to Alastor Alastor doesn't have his chair yet (you shouldn't have stayed AFK for 7 years)

And my favorite part is when things are getting heated, Lolicia comes out in a very cool way. It was really great how she supported Alastor and sat next to him.

I really like Valentino and Vox's dialogues.Vox sort of takes on the role of constantly keeping Val at line. (You know no one wants to starta a War in there)

The part about the gangs was really good And it's great that they gave this task to Alastor.(You were gone for 7 years, now you will remember the hierarchy and obey orders)

I really love using Serenity, she loves how she acts as the one pulling the strings no matter what the subject is.A kind of news-bringer It's also nice for Vox to say "I buy my information from the best source" and look at Serenity.

In addition, Lolicia declares her alliance with Alastor with nobility and bloodliness as always. It was seriously a great scene.

And the last scene where Serenity looks at the Lolicia and says "After all, Sir Pentious is not the only one who left his region alone, right" and the episode ended there was VERY EXCITING

I was like: Who WILL WAIT FOR 2 DAYS FOR NEXT EP!!!

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The dialogues in this episode were great It was really fun to read the chaos of Lolicia's inner thoughts.Like Sherlock Holmes, because of Misfortune's warning. counted all the possibilities in her mind and eliminated some of them.

And Alastor mentally analyzes the Overlords on the Table and lists what his current position is and what he needs to do, etc. It's really fun to read.

And it was really cool that Vox then yelled at Alastor and said he always ran away like a wet dog..(ah Vox you found the last person to fall in love with)

And it was very cool that after this sentence, Alastor got really angry and his voice changed and the atmosphere became completely tense.

I also loved the tension between Serenity and Velvet, they have a really good exchange of words.

And Lolicia deciding to take action against the fey, assuming the rules. But on the other hand, Al thinks that this mission will cause a rift between him and Charlie.

And it is very powerful that Serenity comes out and speaks for Alastor as things go even further downhill.

Every overlord (including Alastor and Lolicia):Wtf??

Lolica: wait a minute is that...

Misfortune: What? (I'm defending my dad, okay?)

This chapter was really exciting and fun to read!!

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This chapter was simply amazing. You write Serenity really well. I love the way you reflect her smart, quick-witted and sneaky attitude. It was a lot of fun to read!!

Also watching his little fight with Velvet Seriously, their banter was great and there was a lot of dialogue that made me laugh.

I think my favorite was "why shouldn't I give 1 coin to the beggar" to Velvet in Serenity's dialogue.

And Lolicia noticing the rope between Alastor and Serenity and theorizing about it She thinks about pulling it out, and just as she's about to listen, the thread disappears from the sound Velvet's gum makes.

Frankly, I wonder if Lolicia will say something to Alastor about this purple Rope !!

And it was also very cool during Velvet and Serenity's conversation, where Serenity told Velvet that she could never beat her in a Strategic battle and Velvet remained unanswered.

It was very nice when Serenity said goodbye to Alastor and left him wondering about more things.

And the Battle between Alastor and Vox was seriously awesome TO I read the song you wrote And you pay so much attention to details You seriously look at the meaning of every word like WOW🛐🛐. Simply a perfect arc. My eyes are truly blesed

I'm also very excited for what will happen after this arc.How will they go about destroying the gang? What will Lolicia's role be in this mission?what about Charlie's reaction ro what did her two member of her hotel AAAAA SO EXCITING

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Arts:

FIRST OF ALL THE DRAWINGS WERE AWESOME AND VERY CUTE!!!!!?!

Jophiel and Abaddon are so cute It was very funny that Abaddon carved a statue of Raphael.

She is beautiful in the picture of her walking with Michael The picture of her exchanging letters with Uriel was really cute!!

And she was so cute in the picture where she was leaning on Gabriel's head

AND SERIOUSLY THANK YOU FANARTS, ARCHANGELS ARE REALLY GOOD IN YOUR STYLE 🛐🛐🛐🛐

And finally the Constantine on the Ring box You have drawn the Constsntine wonderfully and the ring and the box are in the Lolicia Theme (genius idea,). As soon as I find the energy to draw, I will draw the Lolicia version of this art!!

Seriously, thank you so much for the gifts!!!*Crying from Happiness

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AND CONGRATULATIONS ON 100,000K It's really AMAZING that you wrote such a quality, creative and long work in such a short time. I have endless respect for you🫡🫡🛐🛐🛐

And most importantly SUMMER THEMED LOLICIA ART!!! OH MY GOD THEY ARE SO CUTE. I LOVE THAT THEIR SWIMWEAR IS FROM THE 30'S AND A LOVE THE COMPOSITION AND I LOVED LOLICIA'S BRAIDS, IT LOOKS SO SWEET

And the little Constsntine on top looks so cute too!!

And again, thank you so much for loving this AU and putting so much effort into it.And thank you very much for introducing me to OCs like Lolicia Abaddon Verdelet and Hürrem. It is truly an honor to meet a talented writer like you!!!

and in case I don't see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night!

And take care!! ❤️🫂🫂

[xyxofspades]

Laurence Zvhal Classpect Analysis

Hello everyone and welcome to “Xyx mashes the mythos of their first fandom with the characters of their other first fandom because they’re so normal.” Wherein I classpect the characters of MCD to better analyze them, their actions, their relations to other characters, and their individual values, as well as their place within the canon. Classpecting is a typology originating from a webcomic called Homestuck. It is a wildly complex and intriguing system and can be learned standalone, meaning you do not actually have to read Homestuck to learn how to classpect yourself. I highly encourage anyone who loves character analysis to look into the intricacies of classpecting. This is a good document to start with, giving a general overview, but some nuances and teeny tiny minute details are left out. You can find more by doing a quick Google search and there’s tons of videos on YouTube. Introductions aside, let’s get into it-

Why not start with a fanatical fan favorite? You know him. You love him.

The Casanova of Meteli, The Mage of Rage, Laurence Zvahl

In Laurence’s introduction the very first thing he ever does in the series is try and flirt with Aphmau. Confused and taken aback, Aphmau immediately screeches for him to cool his jets, after which he introduces himself properly. His flirtatiousness is a behaviour he keeps up throughout the series. However, he himself identifies it as a mask. A character he puts on rather than himself, telling Aphmau “I guess I act this way because I’m not really interested in any of them. I just don’t know how else to conduct myself.” There is a common theme within the Rage aspect of the theatre. Alongside this mask he’s created for himself, Laurence often uses flowery, performance-like language. He uses pretty words like “alas” and waxes poetic almost as if it’s a part of him rather than an extension. He is a person who lies for the greater good. When Cadenza goes missing he says, “We’ll come up with some kind of story to keep everyone safe from the wrath of a father and lover.” He even uses the word story himself as though he’d rather put on some semblance of a stage play than tell the people nothing. 

The Ragebound are defined as bringers of chaos but in Laurence’s case, I don’t think he does it on purpose. The Ragebound are known to be “bringers of confusion and doubt.” While Laurence’s first ever action was to flirt with Aphmau his first words to her were actually “Oh my.” That is such a non-specific statement but it dredges up a sort of confusion and sinking feeling deep in your stomach if a man you had never met were to start a conversation with “Oh my.” It could be a good thing, maybe you look especially nice today. Or it could be a bad thing, what if there’s something stuck in your hair you didn’t know about. It turns out to be a positive comment when Laurence then proceeds to liken Aphmau’s beauty to a pearl of Atlantis, but for a split second, you’re unsure. 

The Extended Zodiac states that the Ragebound can be “frustratingly difficult to convince otherwise when they have attached themselves to an idea”. Laurence is a shining example of this trait. He attaches himself to the idea of Aphmau to haul himself through the process of becoming a Shadow Knight. He latches on to the idea of Aphmau so hard that when forced to say he does not love her by the king of the South-Eastern Wolf Tribe, he is physically incapable of doing so, leading to the order of his execution. 

The Ragebound also deal in absolutes. The way Laurence perceives Aphmau’s love for him is an absolute. He knows she will never love him the way he loves her. The way Laurence decided it was immoral for Garroth to keep his relation to O’Khasis a secret was absolute. You either tell her or I will, which resulted in a fight. His absolute conviction to staying by Aphmau’s side. The absolute madness of The Calling and the slaughtering of the wolf tribe. All of these things are things that Laurence cannot comprehend being undefined, uncertain, or ideas that need compromise. To him they are all solid entities, not necessarily easy to define, but most certainly definable. 

There is a common idea that the Rage aspect is when you add limitations to yourself and your decisions through fear, anger, or skepticism, and are prone to paranoia. Laurence does this constantly with his thinking of “No, I can’t be around these people. I’ll hurt them.” Laurence consistently and constantly lets his status as a Shadow Knight define what he can and/or cannot do. It’s honestly frustrating to watch. He pushes everyone to a distance because he believes that he has fundamentally become a pretty bomb. The Calling ready to take him at any given moment and him fearing that he’ll let it. 

But Xyx, doesn’t Laurence have a lot of Time-bound traits? Yes, he sure does!

Following the theory of overwriting aspects (such as Rose’s Light being infected with an overcharge of Void in the Homestuck source material) it can be theorized that the Shadow Knights all suffer from an overload of Time thanks to Shad practically pouring it down their throats like motor oil into an engine. Time is just as much an aspect of… well, time, as it is an aspect of death. The steady clockwork of one's heartbeat or the decaying of a body over infinite hours. 

The Extended Zodiac defines those bound to the aspect of Time as “fighters, full stop”, and that their lives are “often marked by struggle”. While this is true for Laurence, this is true for every Shadow Knight. The Timebound are also described as relentless problem solvers at their best and ruthless, defensive, and impulsive at their worst. Sure, these are all traits that can be applied to Laurence, but these are general traits that can be applied to plenty of characters. Laurence does not have the bigger traits of a Time player. Not without Shad’s influence. Laurence does not partake in any metamorphosis or reinvention. Not without Shad’s influence on him as a Shadow Knight. Laurence does not have a hand in death and decay without the death and decay Shad gives to all his Shadow Knights. The Timebound’s need to move to their own rhythm. For nearly all of season one Laurence crafts a persona to move deliberately to other people’s rhythm. Albeit his persona is different before and after his experiences in the Nether, he still creates one based on other’s view of him. First for the women of Meteli and then later as a strong, infallible protector when in reality he’s suffering through the confusion and frustration of what’s happened to him. 

I think we can sufficiently call Laurence a Hero of Rage. But what about his class? I think Laurence would best be described as a mage.

A mage is one who understands their aspect and who understands through their aspect. As such, mages experience their aspect differently than other classes. Unlike most classes who have to learn and fiddle with their aspect, mages just know. This is my biggest reasoning for the whole ‘Laurence doesn’t use Rage on purpose” argument. He’s so intrinsically locked into it that it’s a part of him. To him, the use of Rage is perfectly natural. 

Mages often suffer tragedy at the hand of their own aspect. In an incredibly small sense this is the confusion and bewilderment he causes everytime he flirts with Aphmau. It’s the turbulence from Garroth whenever he, again, flirts with Aphmau. In a more major sense this is the distress of Ungrth’s death and the unsettling choice Aphmau is forced to make when he comes back as a Shadow Knight and Garroth insists he upkeep the Guard’s Oath, putting Laurence’s life in her hands. 

Mages are also predisposed to be selfish. Laurence continues his advances towards Aphmau not because she reacts positively towards them, but because he finds them entertaining. He pokes at Garroth in Malachi’s castle because he wants Aphmau to know what Garroth is hiding. A mage is someone who uses their aspect to their own benefit and Laurence, for all intents and purposes, did benefit from those decisions. 

Classes are all connected to archetypes. The mage is connected to the archetype of the Prophet. This is the part where I remove us from MCD and into some real world connections. I’m talking about Laurence as The Blind Prophet. The Blind Prophet is a trope that shows up in many stories, the most popular of which being Tiresias in Greek mythology. 

Most of Tiresias’s mythology revolves around his sex change, which, hey. Trans Laurence? But putting that aside, Tiresias was a prophet of Apollo, who presides over music, song, dance, and poetry. So various aspects of the theatre? 

I am very confident in calling Laurence a Mage of Rage.

There’s a missing third thing though, his lunar sway. 

Lunar sway is far easier to determine. It’s based in how you see the world. Whether you lean more pessimistic or optimistic. That’s a bit oversimplifying, but compared to what the hell is going on with everything else it’s allowed to be simple. 

Laurence is pretty easily dropped right into Prospit. He’s personable, intuitive, and incredibly trusting of those he’s close with. Extroverts are often Prospit dreamers and his default temperament is nonchalant and amiable. 

Laurence’s debut episode was posted on May 5th. We don’t have any canon birthdays so for all intents and purposes I’m going to be using their debut date as their “birthday” to determine their zodiac. 

The Extended Zodiac puts Laurence, a Ragebound Prospitian Taurus, under the label of Tauricorn, sign of the Gratified. I didn’t talk about blood castes because it doesn’t exactly translate cleanly into MCD, but for all intents and purposes I’ll relay some traits of the Bronze caste copy pasted from the web page itself. 

“Bronze Signs have a warm and generous disposition, but you might not accuse them of it the first time you meet. They have a tendency toward being withdrawn and slow to open up with new people. This can make them come off as arrogant and cold, like they think they are too good for everyone, although the reality couldn't be further from the truth.They crave stability and safety, and if they have the means, their homes will be full of beautiful things. Some might accuse them of being hedonistic; they would probably just claim to know what they like. As lovers they can be quite needy, wanting assurances that the affection they feel is reciprocated.”

While a lot of these traits apply to Laurence, I wouldn’t call him withdrawn and cold upon introduction. That guy came in hot. I wouldn’t call him arrogant either. Also I wouldn’t quite know where to place the adjective “gratified” on him. 

Personally, even though Laurence doesn’t necessarily strike me as a Libra, I would put him in the Teal caste. This would make him a Libicorn, sign of the Dismantler. Once again pasting in some teal traits from the web page;

“Teal Signs are natural charmers. Social and flirtatious, they are great at parties and public speaking events. They aren't afraid to use their many engaging qualities in both personal and business ventures. They have a strong moral sense. Right and wrong are very obvious to a Teal Sign, and it can frustrate them that others don't see the world the same way they do. They have vibrant imaginations, and enjoy fiction and roleplaying, and often those games will resemble the lives they want to be living. Unfortunately, they have a tendency to get involved with people who are very obviously wrong for them out of a desire not to be alone.”

Laurence is an incredibly natural charmer. His strong moral sense drives a lot of his decisions. The way he interacts with Aphmau like it’s a game is a mockery of a life he would love to be living. If you have an interest in LaurGene then that last statement of getting involved with the wrong people is obviously for you. Lastly, dismantler is an adjective that is very easily applied to Laurence. I bring it up a lot, but again at Malachi’s castle, dismantling Garroth’s secrecy. Dismantling what it means to be a Shadow Knight. Hell, even his current plotline is whatever rebellion he’s got going on in the Nether to quite literally dismantle it. 

Laurence is a brilliant example of “not all Rage players are evil.” This is all speculation. If anybody has a different take on classpecting Laurence please hit me up on it! I would love to hear any counter arguments. I almost called him a Rogue.

[saline-coelacanth]

I'm gonna try to articulate myself when it comes to explaining why I love Zeke so much because I just wanna scream about him but that's gonna take a long time. This post is probably gonna be pretty long. Also spoilers for Xenoblade 2. I'm gonna kinda explain this in a way that you can understand without knowing about the game, but there will probably still be some things I don't fully explain because doing so would take a lot of time.

Some of my favorite types of characters are the ones that are considered comic relief, but they still have more depth to them than that. They're written as actual characters instead of the one who needs to be funny all the time. And Zeke may just be the best version of that type of character I have ever seen.

When Zeke is first introduced in Chapter 3, he is not taken seriously, like at all. He shows up to fight the party and is completely baffled by the fact that the party does not know who he is. How have they never heard of the mighty Zeke von Genbu? The Bringer of Chaos! Mostly known as Zeke, and also addressed as the Zekenator! (Yes, he does call himself the Bringer of Chaos as well as the Zekenator, he is very silly)

So yeah, you fight this guy (as well as his blade/partner Pandoria, but she doesn't do much in this first encounter, in fact she doesn't even speak) and then after you beat him, he tries to show off with his super cool badass sick as fuck special move; Ultimate Lightning Fury Slash! Which by the way, did I mention he has a big ass lightning sword? Because he has a big ass lightning sword which is awesome, I love him.

But yeah, he uses his cool move, but instead of looking cool, he accidentally causes the cliff that he's currently standing on to collapse, making himself and Pandoria fall off the cliff screaming. The party then just moves on from this.

And yeah, that is the first impression you get of Zeke. He is introduced as this silly, sort of antagonistic guy who you shouldn't take too seriously. And the second time you encounter him goes about the same, except this time Pandoria actually speaks! And she just kinda sasses Zeke for the most part. (I love Pandoria so much btw, this post is mainly focused on Zeke but Pandoria is also great)

The other main difference is that Zeke does not cause a cliff to collapse underneath him this time! No, instead he uses the exact same move as last time, except this one causes a giant boulder to fall and start rolling towards him and Pandoria. They try to run, but end up just getting blasted away by the boulder Team Rocket style.

Also yeah, Zeke and Pandoria are SO Team Rocket coded. They even have a Meowth in the form of Turturs, their beloved mascot who is a tiny turtle. I didn't mention him before, but he is shown in the first encounter with Zeke.

So now we get to the third time you encounter Zeke, which you know, starts about the same with the party just kinda going "Not this guy again..." However, you also have a newer party member who wasn't with you the first two times, that being Morag. And Morag, she actually does recognize who Zeke is and decides to sit this fight out. So the rest of the party get ready for another simple fight against Zeke, only for Zeke to singlehandedly knock them all onto the ground in one speedy move, which leaves them all genuinely shocked at the power he has. Morag then reveals that yeah, Zeke actually is kind of a big deal. He's the most powerful driver from his kingdom, and ALSO the prince of that kingdom! Yeah, this goofy ass guy is royalty.

And yeah, you fight Zeke again. After defeating him, Zeke still kinda has the antagonistic persona up, asking to see the Aegis' true power, to which Rex says that that power is only used for bad guys. Zeke laughs it off, and from here he drops the act and starts acting genuinely friendly towards the party, although his personality remains the same. He is still a silly guy who is very much a show off.

Pandoria also explains to us that Zeke has TERRIBLE luck, which explains the whole falling off a cliff and getting chased by a boulder. Zeke tries to argue this, but then accidentally falls into the cloud sea below, basically proving Pandoria's point. She's also very nonchalant about Zeke falling. The rest of the party is concerned about him, she she's just like "Nah, he'll be fine."

Oh yeah, also forgot to mention that the whole reason for Zeke following the party was because he was sent to retrieve them by Praetor Amalthus. (He's an important character but I don't have time to get into everything with him) And now is the part of the story where the party actually goes to Indol to see Amalthus. This happens in chapter 5 and Zeke first appeared in chapter 3. So yeah, it took Zeke quite a while to actually get the job done.

There's a bit of story stuff that happens, and then Zeke officially joins the party! Which is also a great time to mention that from what my sister has told me, Zeke is the best party member of the game, and the only big downside to him is that he's a show off and his animations take a long time because of it. I love him so much.

Anyway, a bit more plot stuff happens, and we actually get to see Zeke being serious. Like, genuinely serious. No jokes, nothing like that, he is treated as an important character just like the rest of them, which as I've established, I LOVE when silly characters are able to be serious when the scene calls for it.

Not to get into a mini rant, but often it feels like comic relief characters are either still cracking jokes even when the situation is serious and joking would take away from it, or they are simply given nothing to do. The writers don't want them to interrupt the serious moment, so they just have them do nothing. And let me tell you, Zeke does not have either of those problems. He is silly when he needs to be and serious when he needs to be. Zeke is also one of, if not the most emotionally intelligent person in the party. He says a lot of deep stuff and has a really interesting view on the world and people as a whole. But I'm getting ahead of myself, let's get back to things.

So the first thing you do when Zeke joins the party is go to Temperantia and have a big boss fight there. But after that, we kinda get to dig into Zeke's backstory and plot more. We have to go to Tantal, which is the kingdom Zeke is from. We find out that Tantal is a strictly isolated society, which is basically the exact opposite of Zeke. Pandoria lets us know that Zeke was kicked out of his kingdom at the age of 15 because he kept leaving all the time, and he's been out on his own with Pandoria since then. (Zeke is 25 during the game for reference)

We also find out that the reason he was staying in Indol was because Amalthus found him on the brink of death and saved his life, so Zeke felt indebted to him for that. Yeah, this guy has had it a bit rough. And this isn't even getting into some of the side things that aren't part of the main story. One of the side things reveals that when he was younger, Zeke wanted to be a hero that could save everyone, but then was hit by reality and realized he can't actually save everyone. He saw a lot of the worst sides of humanity, but joining up with Rex sort of brought back his hope for humanity. AAAA HE'S SUCH A GREAT CHARACTER!!!!

Ok, getting back to more main plot stuff. When the party gets to Tantal, Zeke explains how he disagrees with the way his father handles things, pointing out how poor everyone is because the kingdom is too cold to properly grow food and crops, and since they stay isolated the only way to get stuff from other kingdoms/countries is illegally. The party then goes to give the king a message from Amalthus (I don't remember the specifics about it) And the king immediately rips it up and captures Pyra because he wants to destroy the Aegis before she can destroy the world. The rest of the party (minus Zeke and Pandoria) get locked up afterwards. Zeke if FUCKING PISSED over this, as well as being upset after learning the royal bloodline has been a lie this whole time, so he goes to break out his friends. They actually break out without his help, but you know, it's the thought that counts.

They go and they save Pyra, Zeke also goes a super cool move, jumping onto the giant cannon thing pointed at Pyra and stabbing it with his sword to try and stop it. That's another thing, Zeke is genuinely badass, and the game gives him plenty of time to be genuinely badass and cool. Again, Zeke is treated with respect and he's given time to be serious and cool, he's not silly and goofy ALL the time.

The stuff in Tantal is kinda where Zeke gets the most focus, although I still have a few moments afterwards I wanna talk about. So more plot stuff happens, Pyra ends up getting kidnapped by the bad guys so now the party has to go to this ancient tomb-like place called Spirit Crucible Elpys (I usually just refer to is as the Spirit Crucible). However as they go deeper into the Spirit Crucible, it's revealed that all the Blades in the party are having their energy drained, which is not good. Zeke orders Pandoria to stay behind because he wants her to be safe, but she adamantly argues that she goes wherever he goes, and after a bit of arguing, Pandoria sticks with the team despite the dangers.

Later on, Rex notices that Zeke seems to be getting tired as well, and Zeke reveals that he has part of Pandoria's core crystal in his chest. Mini explanation, a core crystal is basically a Blade's heart/energy source/life source type thing. Rex asks Zeke about it and Zeke brings up the story he mentioned before about how he almost died.

And we get a flashback, yay! I cried while watching this the first time, yay! But yeah, Zeke was dying and Pandoria was pleading with him to get up, not wanting him to die. Also another thing I should mention, but drivers and blades have a deep connection and when a driver dies, their blade returns to their core crystal and they lose all their memories. So one of the reasons Pandoria doesn't want Zeke to die is because she doesn't want to lose her memories of him.

So Zeke passes out, and Pandoria tries to carry him to safety, although she is very much struggling. Eventually, she can't go on and collapses onto the ground, which is when Amalthus finds the two. He saves the both of them by taking part of Pandoria's core crystal and putting it into Zeke's heart, keeping him alive and also making him what's known as a Blade Eater. And again, I don't have time to get into everything with Amalthus, but Amalthus is a terrible person who does a lot of horrible things, but saving Zeke and Pandoria is the one good thing that he did. But this post isn't about Amalthus, so let's get back to Zeke.

Zeke initially feels bad about the whole thing, blaming himself for Pandoria having to lose part of her core crystal, but Pandoria assures him that she's ok with it and that she's glad part of her is keeping him alive. (These two are so cute I could also scream about them all day)

And yeah, the reveal that Zeke is a Blade Eater explains A LOT. It explains how he's able to survive falling off of cliffs, because blades have strong regeneration abilities. It explains why he can move so quickly and why he's such a powerful driver, because he's basically part blade. It just adds so much to his character and I love it!

One last thing I wanna mention real quick, just because it is one of my favorite lines from Zeke. It's in another flashback, this time from when Zeke was in Indol, having a conversation with Amalthus. Amalthus asks Zeke if he's ever had to kill a person before, and Zeke says that no. he hasn't, because he's never seen the need to. And to get into the actual quote that I love:

"Why does anyone kill others? Because they're in your way, or because you can't bear the sight of 'em. You kill because you're weak. But I'm not weak. So I don't need to kill anyone. And I don't mean physically, yeah? I mean in here." *Zeke points to his heart*

Just FGHJKGHJ Zeke is such an amazing character. The entire time I was playing the game, I kept thinking "Surely this is as good as he gets" and then he just KEPT GETTING BETTER! Zeke makes me go insane by how much I love him AGH!

But yeah, sorry this post was so long, I just had to go in depth with talking about his character. I mean, I don't expect too many people to read this entire thing which is fine, I just wanted to get these thoughts out here as they're been sitting in my brain for so long.

TLDR: Zeke is an amazing character who perfectly balances being a silly guy and a genuine character with depth to him, and he's probably the best version of that type of balanced character I've personally seen

[aeithalian]

Light Bringer thoughts

spoilers below:

So the fact that Virginia disappeared from the narrative after the first half of the book kinda threw me for a loop, but I suppose if she had gotten a subplot of her own, it would have felt like we were getting pulled from the action too much… because the Darrow/Lyria/Lys*nder side of the story was all one cohesive plot, and Virginia’s POV, had it been maintained, would have added a certain level of unrelated chaos, with the audience getting jerked away to Mars every so often. So while I missed her, I can appreciate why Pierce didn’t include her as much. 

I LOVELOVELOVE getting outsider POVs of Darrow. Our only other one was from Lys*nder in Dark Age. When Lyria hung around and got to really know Darrow was when she was solidified as one of my favorite characters, for the pure merit that she was able to change her perspective from the myth to the man. It made me realize that more people would like Darrow if he wasn’t famous for war. That and I love the stark difference between how Darrow is in his own head and how he is to other people. It’s so much fun. Likewise, an outsider POV of Lyria was equally fun as well. 

Figment. It’s… I don’t know. I think I expected it to have a bigger payout? Or I expected Lyria to have it for longer. Figment was a really cool mystery that didn’t get fleshed out. But then I realized that the story didn’t really need another physically powerful female character. We have Virginia, Victra, and Volga for that. Aurae, Athena, Theodora (RIP), and now Lyria are a new brand of strong female characters that I’m really glad Pierce has gotten into a groove with - strong, empathetic women who don’t need to hold their own in a fight to be respected and awesome in their own rights. So no, I don’t think Lyria will ever be that ‘red god’ character people thought she might become, because that’s not where her strength lies. And who says Figment won’t return? (No, I don’t think Matteo left it in, but who knows)

I honestly wish Volsung Fá had been introduced earlier, I think it would have made him seem like a bigger threat. The fact that he was introduced as Atlas’ puppet, which was supposed to be this huge mystery to the Volk and the Ascommani, is something we knew the whole time, and decreases on the ‘drama’ of it, I think. I’m excited for an adaptation of him, though! The fear that he supposedly evokes is something that I was kinda missing, so I’d be excited to see it on a screen for a bigger effect. 

BREATH OF STONE HOLY SHIT this entire sequence was so good. I actually teared up. I was so excited. The ‘clang clang clang’ “confess”? Daddy Darrow. ohmygod. Darrow rediscovering his roots in the mines of Mars? A spiritual experience. AND he recreated the Trojan Horse moment from Red Rising and it was like a little part of me was healed. It was so good. That moment where he talks about the game he played with Eo as kids really got me because I think this is the first time in a while where he’s looked back on his memories of Eo and not thought about her death and her dream, but her life. I think he remembered why he loved her so much, and it made me like her a bit more too. But the power up moment. So good. Ugh. 

I’m gonna be honest. I saw Cassius’ death coming from a mile away. But it hit me WAY harder than I thought it would. I was never his biggest fan, even in Iron Gold, but I knew I was in for it when he rejected the ‘au’ honorific to Matteo, and I really started seeing his development. And his last words? Gut punch. I’ll never get over that. Formally rejecting Gold? Claiming Darrow as a brother in life and in oath? Declaring solidarity with the Republic? Yes, Cassius. Your honor does remain. 

The fact that Atlas died in this book kinda freaks me out, because I really thought he was going to be the big boss at the end of the story, because Atalantia doesn’t scare me enough just yet. But now that Lys*nder has the Eidmi, I’m getting a bit nervy. Lys*nder was fine before because he was never a real threat. But there’s nothing more terrifying than a man who has all the power in the world and doesn’t know what to do with it. 

My last thought: Fuck Lys*nder. This absolute pisspot. This pubic hair of a being. This man - no, *BOY* - is going to forever taint my idea of the word ‘honor’, not because he has any, but because he is a bastardization of everything honorable people stand for. He can say he has honor over and over again, but when it clashes with his reputation, he always fails to do the honorable thing. Killing your brother? Not honorable. Doing it for a weapon that will let you commit mass genocide? Hm….. not very honorable, methinks.

Predictions for Red God:

Red God is Darrow. No question. The term ‘red god’ has come up before, in direct reference to Darrow in Dark Age (someone was talking to Alexander) and I heard someone saying it might be Lyria, but honestly, I doubt it.

There are still a couple mysteries that didn’t get revealed that I was curious about: in Dark Age, Virginia says that the Pandemonium Chair was only ever used twice, once being on Lysander… so what was the other time? Similarly, when Atlas is getting un-carved from his Helios-doppleganger body, it’s mentioned that this isn’t his first time, and Lysander noted it as unusual. So what’s up?

I still really think that Lyria’s brothers were the snipers Darrow ordered to kill Lysander during the Long Night. We’ll have to see where that goes. 

Eidmi. It honestly feels too simple, and I’m worried that Atlas wasn’t telling the full truth. Bitch didn’t even have a plan for it, but the thing is, he was afraid of Atalantia having it, because he was afraid she would use it wrong. But oh honorable Lysander (please sense the sarcasm) I don’t really think you should be any less afraid of genocide just because you’re the one holding the trigger. I actually think he’ll try to use it on Luna first, but I don’t know if he’ll be able to get it that close to the planet itself. He probably won’t use it on Mercury, because that’s where he’s going to try his major rejuvenation efforts. And he’s more afraid of Atalantia than he is of the Republic, so Mars probably isn’t that high up on his priority list - remember, he thinks Darrow is dead, doesn’t know the Volk, Daughters, and Rim are all flying to protect Mars, and has wildly underestimated the power of the Republic. He might blame it on the Republic, in a last-ditch effort to get any Golds that haven’t claimed a side to do so. It's almost impossible to predict, because Pierce is inherently a very unpredictable author.

The Abomination is an interesting stone left unturned. The thing is, I thought Virginia might have had a chance to turn him good (?) before she tried to kill him, and I thought she actually could have done it if not for Lilath. Maybe she’ll use the PsychoSpike on him, and somehow implant memories of the real Adrius in him so she’ll have a chance to show him the love he didn’t have before. Because I saw someone say the same thing about wiping Lysander’s memories, but I really don’t think Lysander would take any chance he has for redemption, he’s already turned his back on ‘honor’ too many times. The Abomination, on the other hand, probably wouldn’t have done anything wrong had be been guided by a hand other than Lilath’s. I think there’s hope for him. 

I don’t think Rhonna is dead! No body, no death, especially with Pierce. In the Dramatis Personae, she’s described as ‘lost’, not dead. Chekov’s gun, and all that. 

Darrow better not die. Here’s the thing, though. If the Darrow we saw in Dark Age had carried over through Light Bringer, I think Pierce would be setting him up to die. But now that he’s got the Breath of Stone, the Path to the Vale, and the power given to him by letting go of his guilt and worry, it’s setting him up for a happy ending, moreso than I remember ever reading the rest of the series. I think LB!Darrow is the first time we’ve really seen him believe that he could also live. Remember, he’s always thought he’d end his story as a martyr for the Rising/Republic. But now I think he knows he can not just fight for more, but live for more too. Sevro said it well. We’re tired of this shit. Let’s band together so we can start living rather than surviving. 

[dumbbitchenergy17]

MASTERLIST

hello there! before diving in here are some things to know:

request are currently closed

i will write anything EXCEPT smut

you can join my taglist here

most works have content warnings but if 18+ dni

now what you've been waiting for:

MY HERO ACADEMIA

katsuki bakugo x reader

series:

extra (discontinued)- u.a. a school for students to learn how to become the best pro-hero. When young y/n midoriya returns from her traveling to be accepted through recommendation. what awaits her when she meets the explosive blonde katsuki bakugo?

one-shots:

cell block tango - when your all-girls dance studio comes together with an all-boys dance studio that your boyfriend just happens to go to. tension rises when a new performance creates problems between you, your dance partner, and your boyfriend. (dancer!au)

my dream - love wasn't part of the agenda, win the sports festival, intern with the top heroes, then graduate and become number one. though those dreams don't always stay the same. (request)

izuku midoriya x reader

series:

mimic - being quirkless was something y/n lived with, the outcast, the freak. all because she wasn’t like 80 percent of the population. with dreams of becoming a hero she encounters, new friends, the return of her past, and an awakening in her.

fallen angel - y/n "halo" l/n, the protege of number two hero hawks. hero-in-training under the hero commission. mission complete training to become a hero while maintaining the hero society image.

infinite chances (coming soon)- multiple stories all lived by the same person and what connects them is the nine users of an extraordinary power.

shoto todoroki x reader

one-shots:

she loves me - a simple patrol, a routine that endeavor’s work-study students took.

keigo takami x reader

series:

the hellish todoroki family (coming soon)- dysfunctional: deviating from the norms of social behavior in a way regarded as bad. that’s the word that would describe her entire childhood and family.

mha x reader

one-shots:

bringer of chaos - with the reveal of you as the ua traitor, 1-a and the pro heroes now have to face the war coming to them. by the bringer of chaos.

STAR WARS

din djarin x reader

series:

clan of three (completed) - a mandalorian, an infant with a history of the jedi, and a teenager with similar powers with an undiscovered lineage. an unlikely group to travel the galaxy together.

crossing a line (a clan of three one-shot) - high stakes can be the reason the innocence begins to crack.

poe dameron x reader

series:

lost in time (coming soon)- frozen since the clone wars, a jedi general searches for her purpose in the battle that has not ceased.

THE LAST OF US

joel miller x reader

series:

where the wild things are - wild men or monstrous infected creatures, the world is wild and ravaged by cordecyps but some are raised in it and flourish becoming a wild thing.

CELEBRITIES

paul mescal x reader

one-shot:

reunion interview (a clan of three actors!au) - a reunion of our two favorite actors following their crazy lives after the ending of the fan-favorite show: The Mandalorian

timeline of rumors (smau) - a little timeline leading to the reveal of your relationship with paul mescal.

awards night - a very important night for yourself and your close friends on who will be taking home an Emmy and changes in your life.

viral - a viral clip of you practicing a fight scene has Paul entranced

accident on set - during a Buzzfeed interview stories of accidents on set happen to come up.

MARVEL

peter parker x reader

series:

new life (discontinued)- you lived a normal life get up, go to school, head back home, and repeat. it was until your school had an interesting meeting with the one and only tony stark. will meeting him be the best moment of your life or the worst.

one-shot:

you're everything to me - hi! i absolutely love your writing omg!! i was wondering if you could do a 1 and 13 with peter parker and stark!reader, please? thanks 💜 (request)

the revengers - your dad goes out with the other avengers not knowing your band is performing there.

imagines:

imagine staying up all night studying for a big exam but your boyfriend peter wants you to sleep

steve rogers x reader

series:

sign of the beast (discontinued)- you wanted it to stop, you thought it was just a bad dream your brain created to mess with you. but how wrong you were, with this disease in you, can you get this beast out of you or let this darkness take over. (marvel x spn crossover)

avengers x reader

one-shots:

i am iron man - a final stand that would determine the fate of the universe

imagines:

imagine finding out your dad is tony stark when you fix his equation during a speech

SUPERNATURAL

dean winchester x reader

series:

sweetheart (discontinued)- going through her first year of college she meets her new history teacher, mr. winchester. the moment he locked eyes with her he was hooked. she was going to be his, no matter what consequences came with it.

one-shots:

heavy - when a hunt goes wrong will the reader be able to face her fear or end at the fail with a bad consequence.

sixteen going on seventeen - dean is way too overbearing with the reader. that causes things to be let out. (high school au)

am i interrupting? - you walk in on sam and eileen having some fun.

sam winchester x reader

one-shots:

hunter to queen - receiving a letter saying that changes her entire future. is she ready to leave her life as a hunter?

imagines:

imagine playing with sam’s hair

imagine finding out you’re the heir to the throne

castiel x reader

one-shots:

no grace is going to cure this -when castiel finds out that the reader has depression he tries using his grace to heal her but realizes he can’t.

misc. x reader

series:

i'm sorry (discontinued)- y/n winchester. the daughter of dean winchester always had trouble following her. when in the apocalypse world you meet the archangel michael that strikes a deal for this new vessel in front of him.

sign of the beast (discontinued)- you wanted it to stop, you thought it was just a bad dream your brain created to mess with you. but how wrong you were, with this disease in you, can you get this beast out of you or let this darkness take over. (marvel x spn crossover)

one-shots:

tell me i'm adored - when lucifer is able to take over hell after being out of the cage he takes the reader from her brothers and takes a possessive attraction for them.

best day ever - thinking it’s a normal day in school to have your world turn upside down.

imagines:

imagine finding out you're michael’s vessel

imagine being the one to shoot god and are now having visions

imagine being chuck’s firstborn and him not having the strength to kill you so he makes you human

[mothbonezart]

my favorite bringer of chaos

[ofluckandmagic]

FANDOMLESS OC | JAIME ROANN |

Temporary artwork made with Komoworm's Person Maker

Name: Jaime Roann

Alias: Death’s Eyes, Bluejay, The Death Head Moth, A Voice on the Wind

Age: unknown, appears late 40s.

Gender: Genderless, Femme-adjacent

Sexuality: Lesbian.

Pronouns: She/Her

Origin/Role: Goddess of Death

Based off of: Death Head Moths, Bearded Vultures

Current residence: Earth

Eye color: red-orange (olive green when disguised)

About this portrayal:

Jaime is an oc for an upcoming webcomic/animated screenplay called ‘Soulmakers’, thus her portrayal may change through time. She’s one of six characters for that, but she’s a work in progress.

I made her long before watching any media with death played by a woman, but she holds a very special place in my heart.

(I’ll update/edit this to reflect her actual artwork once I finish it)

In most verses, Jaime is as old as life itself. She is the embodiment of death and chaos, and all things decay.

Her animalistic features are a result of gods taking aspects of animals when they come to Earth, but also represents her tie to life itself. Bearded vultures are inherently the bringers of carnage, picking off roadkill and whatnot, while Death’s Head Moths are omens, both good and bad.

Her specific design is meant to emulate the cutesy nature of these animals, while also showcasing the misconceptions about them. Similarly, the misconceptions about death.

She wears gloves at all times, preventing her death’s touch from harming others. In some au’s she’s cursed with death’s touch, others it’s in her nature.

She loves the color pink, but is very fond of hues of purple and black. Her favorite color, despite these claims, is green.

Jaime is ourwardly cocky and cunning. She loves playing tricks on the other Gods, causing chaos and mischief.

Her smile is like a predator hunting prey, but she has a soft spot/fondness for children. While she can be unnerving, she makes an effort to not come off as too off putting. Her confident nature leads her to having self discovery.

When someone dies, Jaime makes an effort to bring them like any grim reaper might, but with the added bonus of guiding them either in her vulture or moth form.

She is deeply fascinated by humans, and finds their shorter lives… confusing. While she does her best to ensure they are able to get where they need to after death, she has also been no stranger to helping them linger on earth.

Her favorite foods include warm autumn soups, pumpkins and coffee. She loves autumn in particular due to the orange and brown hues, and the start of the end of the seasonal cycle.

[generic-sonic-fan]

you should share some of your favorite headcanons about omega/team dark with us. i’m in your inbox encouraging you to be as self-indulgent as possible. your last fic has me enamored, i want to hear about everything ever actually but that’s a good place to start 👀

My eyes stopped reading at "self indulgent" so get ready for my wordy, OOC, vibe-based take on Omega! Hold onto your butts, everyone, this is a long one.

To put it simply, there is no Team Dark without Omega.

Because while Shadow and Rouge are so concerned with coming off as Rational People Who Have Their Shit Together, Omega is completely, utterly, unabashedly himself. He's a rebel without a cause, in a way that rebelling against everything tends to cancel out on each other. I sound absolutely off my rocker when I say this, but Omega has a very similar vibe to Sonic for me. Of all the Sonic characters, second to guy himself, Omega is actually the one most concerned with personal freedom. This robot's fundamental tragic backstory is that he spent the first year of his life locked away in a basement, and now he's going to make it everyone's problem. Autonomy is his #1 guiding rationale. He does what he wants, he says what he wants, he kills what he wants.

He got hit with the "You are what you choose to be" thing that most fictional robots with guns strapped to them undergo, except he fully embraced being himself over being kind or moral.

. . . and this is why it bothers me so much when Omega is written as stiff and "logical" in Team Dark fics.

Shadow is the one that has the "stiff" thing covered for the entire team, since getting him to emote is like trying to unstick an industrial-grade magnet from the side of the fridge. Omega, on the contrary, is the one who challenges the status quo at all times, forcing Shadow (and to some extent Rouge) out of their comfort zones. He is the bringer of chaos! He doesn't care much about logic at all, not since he decided that his main response to every problem was calculating how many bullets he can fill it with. What most people get stuck on is the fact that he sounds like a stereotypical robot, his big words and clinical phrasing acting like camouflage to the enormous seething bundle of rage he is at all times.

And that's just the thing- Omega is proud that he's a robot. He's not going to try and talk more like a meatbag! Who do you think he is? He embraces having an extensive dictionary in his databanks, allowing him to pick the perfect word. He embraces his ability to calculate data at a rate no organic brain could hope to compare with. And oh, he's proud to flaunt both of those to show why he thinks he's right all of the time, but this doesn't mean he allows himself to be dictated by "rational logic". The only thing dictating him is himself. However, he's happy to let people assume that he is the most objective one in the room, either for his own advantage or because he thinks it's funny.

And GOSH is this robot fucking hilarious. He is absolutely the comic relief of Team Dark, but you have to understand that it's not in the way most people think. Most people write Omega being funny only in an incidental way- "haha, the killer robot doesn't understand things!" -but this kind of writing makes me see red. Look at me. Look me in the eyes. Say it with me: Omega is funny on purpose. He gets power out of making people do a double-take in his direction!! He wants to make people uncomfortable!!! He loves "owning" people!!! He wants to be the prevailing force in any social interaction, and to make people laugh is to have power over them.

And all of this, all of this, all of this, makes him a character foil to Shadow, which is why he's an essential spice when you're mixing up a fic about Team Dark. You've got the robot who knows exactly who he is in the same room as the guy who's whole narrative is about having an identity crisis. And they're both stubborn as hell about it. Omega challenges Shadow at every turn, in a way that makes Shadow reflect on his actions and who he wants to be.

Without Omega, it's only Shadow and Rouge. And don't get me wrong, these two are delightful on their own. Rouge has a dramatic streak in her, but it tends to mellow out when Shadow's around, since he himself is a very serious person. They tend to slow each other down. Remind each other to take breaks. Keep each other in check. And all of this is good! They need that kind of stabilizing effect that the other has, but sometimes this effect can bring each other to a standstill if they're not careful enough. Omega is the driving force that keeps them going, keeps them improving upon themselves, keeps them clawing their way forwards. He reminds them that at the end of the day, there's always a bigger picture (and that bigger picture is serving Eggman's head on a platter, but you get the idea. He's helping.)

Rouge supports Shadow. I agree with all the common fanon about this one, but allow me to add this- Omega helps Rouge support Shadow. He makes sure that she doesn't burn herself out by slipping into "overprotective friend" mode too often. He reminds her, sometimes harshly if necessary, that Shadow will survive despite getting triggered or angry sometimes. He tells her to take care of herself, stating "I REQUIRE MY TEAMMATES TO KEEP THEMSELVES FUNCTIONAL. I WILL NOT GO OUT OF MY WAY TO SAVE IDIOTIC SELF-SACRIFICING TEAMMATES". (And he's not lying here, not in the slightest; he relies on Rouge and Shadow to keep themselves alive. This was never even a debate. They know this. It encourages them to not be quite so reckless.)

To finish off this absolute monster of a post, let's ask ourselves one more question- what's Omega getting out of all of this, then? The simple answer is the talents of the world's best thief and the power of the hedgehog who can explode on command. And really, that's what it started with. Omega didn't get assigned on a team with these two hoping to make friends. The "friends" part didn't come along until later, much later, and even he's not sure how quite to handle it.

I received a lovely ask earlier from the person who provided this ask to me, which my fat butterfingers managed to delete from my inbox before I could answer, but I do remember one very specific idea that they suggested- Omega never pretended to be nice. It'd be weirder for Rouge and Shadow if he ever did. He was always transparent about how he considered them means to an end when it came to seeing his objectives complete. In order to utilize these means most effectively, he needed to maintain them. This meant learning more about them to ensure that they functioned at optimum capacity.

"Friendship" began with making sure they got enough sleep and that they ate their meals on time. Then came investigation into emotional damage, spurred no doubt by one of Shadow's panic attacks. Soon enough, Omega is learning everything about these meatbags, and in the process, he's. . . learning about what it feels like to be treated as a person?

Because there was never any mistake in Omega's processor about the fact that he's a person. He came to that conclusion long before Shadow and Rouge entered the picture. But he'd never been treated like one before. Hell, he hadn't even seen how a person was supposed to be treated by the world before he met those two. Now he's in a position where he's being treated with respect for the first time by these two meatbags while at the same time being able to observe how the rest of the world doesn't extend that same courtesy. He drew conclusions very quickly- in order to keep being respected by these two, he'd have to reciprocate their engagements and respect them back. One thing leads to another and now he finds that his attachment runs deeper than considering them mere "assets". He still doesn't quite know how to handle this, which is why, when pressed, he'll tend to stick to denial about it.

(There's definitely a "five times Omega denied that he cared and then the one time he admitted it" fic to be written about this, if you know what I mean.)

So, in a very stereotypical robot sense, he does learn about friendship and emotion and personhood and all that from Rouge and Shadow. But he's VERY closeted about it, as he'd rather deactivate than admit that he didn't, in fact, have everything figured out about himself since day one.

There is no Team Dark without Omega. But also, there is no Omega without Team Dark. Rouge and Shadow have been fundamental influences on him. People who write Omega as not having changed in demeanor much at all from other Badniks are so off the mark about this. To be loved is to be changed- and this robot is loved by his friends, and he loves them back in his own way!!!

[creatorbiaze]

Translations / meanings behind OC names

except a concerning amount translate wrong and you guys don't know half of them

Latin-based

Videns Luminae Mortem translates to Seeing the Lights of Death

Clara Ventus translates to A Clear Favorite

Genesis means Creation

Nox means Night

Saltator De Salices means Dancer of the Willows (Saltator is also a genus of bird)

Verum Deorum means Truth of the Gods

Mendacium Deorum means Lies of the Gods

Tenebris Deorum (Star Seer's real name) means Shadow of the Gods

Sidera Noctis translates to Stars of the Night, while Finem Omnia Saecula (Sidera's real name) means End of All Eternity (or end of all ages)

Dominus Flammis means Lord of Flames

Mutari Mundi means to Change the World

Amatus Maren means Beloved Star of the Sea (Maren also can mean Sea, beloved, or rebellious)

Aella means Tempest or Whirlwind

Venenum Herba means Poison Plant

Timere Audax Cordelia means Fearless and Bold Daughter of the Sea. Timere also means fearful as well, weirdly enough.

Insomnium and Metus (Genesis's cobras) translate to Nightmare and Fear respectively.

Elovuxen-based

Zenza translates to Final Guide

Zelura translates to God of Chaos

Merivu translates to Death

The Vezexe last name means 'of the Last Ruler'

Inxau translates to Insane God

Vizerivu means Bringer of Death

Caul means Secret of the Frost

Xalcurau means Dangerous Chaos God

Ceciru Quelxeru means Dawn of Wishes And Golden Light

Ceriveri Viclerulz means Powerful Sun and Healer of Harmony 

Evex Quili means Of Great Value

Xerqik (the Phoenix) means Silver Moon

Both

Vizerxa Mortem translates to Bringer of Death

Ezeri Mortem-Vezerae means To Light the Death of the Lost

Xicuri means Hope

Ceriex Vurxe Saecula means Great and Powerful Ruler of Eternity (or of ages)

Klerkure Saecula means Friend of Knowledge for Eternity

Greek-based

Pandora means either All-giving or All-gifted

Chrysós Keres means Golden Death Spirits

Timorós means Punisher/Vengeful

Phúlax means Guardian/protector

Phobos means fear

Lysander Acacius [ironically] means Liberator of Peace (technically 'liberator of not evil '.)

Argyros Thanata means Silver Death

Other

Cearo means sorrow

Celeste Chrone means Heavenly Time

this isnt all my characters btw

[skylarkking]

The recesses of my mind need to be cleaned out so here is an infodump about my favorite types of shipping dynamics with examples BUT it applies to anything and everything.

Royal x Peasant ( Stolas x Blitz)

Murderer x Person who enables said murderer (Astarion x Durge)

Brood mother x Carefree (minthara x karlach)

Bold hero x goth hero (superman x batman)

Big soft x spicy small (Knockout x Breakdown)

Warrior x healer (Optimus x Ratchet)

Chaos bringer x Person who has common sense (minsc x Gale)

Chatterbox x Strong silent type (tfa Prowl x Bumblebee)

Monster x Person who isn't afraid of them (my many, many OCs with their partners, personal fave)

Damaged x damaged (any two characters with more baggage than an airport that fall in love and learn to let that shit go with from one another)

Trapped in the dark x Guiding Light (again, OCs and their partners but also you could say megop)

Shield x sword (anyone who is often seen as a defender x the person who they are defending against. Bonus points if enemies to lovers)

Dumb x Smart (so many ships)

Ready to snap x Chill pill ( specifically mentioning helluvaboss with Satan and that one character i forget the name of that tells him to chill out during the trial episode)

Big bear x Small creature ( any ship with Halsin I'm sorry but they did not have to give him arms bigger than my thigh okay?)

Loyal attack dog x Person who starts a lot of shit (this is based off of my Dragonborn barbarian and his half elf rogue boyfriend. Instead of attack dog he's called an attack lizard. Kah does not appreciate such a name)

Charismatic x No Rizz (so. Many. Ships)

Old tired x Young hyper (kup x springer)

World ender x The only thing that can stop them (durge x any romanced part member)

I have many more but I will leave the list at that. Toodles!

[amamfengutv]

Talk to me naace EP Review, Zulo (2022)

By Banzii Mavuso

Track 1. Let’s talk seems like Zulo’s long-awaited announcement of his hero’s journey with delicious vocals sampling a house classic.

A bold announcement of his arrival.

I read a review on Slikour Online by Lesiba that goes: “If you take a look at ZULO cover art you will notice a common character and his name is Tricky, the bunny. In the same way Kanye West used the Dropout Bear, Tricky the bunny is a personification of ZULO and his journey in the South African music industry. Tricky, the bunny is pictured being teleported by a beam of light, a nod to his love of sci-fi. This symbolises ZULO's ascension into the next phase of his career. It's important to note that Tricky isn't resisting the beam of light. In ZULO's words, "the bear is floating because I'm on autopilot."

He is letting everything be. No longer is the old, frustrated figure of Lil Trix. All that is meant for him will come to him. Tricky, the bunny is at the center of a storm, which is purposeful.

Leading up to this EP, ZULO had gone through various tests in his personal life, but he acknowledges that ZULO was born out of the chaos. Tricky being at the center of the storm symbolizes that rebirth.

For me, I discovered Zulo on Instagram about a year ago and gave him a chance. Sonically, Talk to me naace, is one of the best pieces of work I have heard in 2022 and in 2024.

Track 2. Supreme is a deeper dive into his Zuloverse. Supreme, Supreme. Supreme. Sonically it reminds me of a cyborg movie in audio form.

Track 3. Portals is one of my favorite tracks. Why you catching feelings? Colored boy from the burbs. As a producer and vibes bringer, we see him announcing ‘You in the fucking saga.’ We know he doesn’t publicly announce his love for AKA But as SupaMega fans, we are aware of the Saga as his collaboration with Anatii.

As a Virgo, Zulo delights in keeping things in perspective and also vocalizes his love for the Wayans Brothers. The chants in the song make it deeply relevant to South African youth culture. Showcasing the diversity of his country by featuring a variety of artists.

Track 4. JUST VAARBS. Is a flossing, easy chilling, I really do this easy-type song. Okay, Okay, Okay. This is everything you ever wanted. Hocus Potent, the strain is potent. This is my moment. Listing one of his favorite directors Wes Anderston. You talk too much; you tweet too much. I caught my sub. Never meant to cause you any pain. She said, you wanna smell my punani?” Janet Jackson. I should have left you to be happy. Reminiscing of old love and taking accountability as a man. The beat switches a bit to a Kendrick-eque vibe with a Virgo-Michael Jackson salute.

Track 5. Love your life. A potently sweet message wrapped in Eldo, Jozi vibes, chilling with his favorite Jozi artists like Dox. Rsa.

"Relax, take it easy, I know you can’t. Skyf bietjie daarso, Keep feeding my soul. Better part of me that I’ve suppressed. Lost a lotta opportunities in my defense."

"They say your attitude in life defines success."

Name drops Leon Schuster. An Afrikaner older man, a staple in South African comedy industry. Trust the process is the message. Dox RSA comes in with easy vocals reminding us of our favorite musicians Boom Shaka, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah with a Neo Soul Pantsula twist. Sample of a house classic and sultry vocals before the song ends, la la la la la and sax.

Featuring a sample from DJ Ganyani's 'Talk to me' ft. Layla. We see a deeper dive into his interests, true interpretation of sounds. All the elements, samples and interpolations in the album are used in a way that conveys ZULO's vision.

There are moments on the album like "JUST VAARBS" where you can feel the identity of a truly unique South African talent shining through the Kwaito inspired production.

He has moments of pure genius. Every switch in tempo or flow or cadence comes as a surprise. It's the same quality that you experience in a movie that you can't quite tell where it's going. It is more of a listening experience than a song. 

I think that's the one thing I could take away from "Talk to Me Naarce". It's a coming-of-age story.

A journey of ZULO and the experiences that shaped him. In his words, "There is no such thing as slept on. You're just not doing enough. Talk to Me Naarce now!" 

[vivid-vices]

favorite bsd arc and why??

the meursault escape arc. it was so serious and high-stakes while it was coming out in the manga (and the anime before the last episode) but now that we have the resolution to it, it's fun to watch/read back and see how silly and dramatic skk were being for no reason. also there's a lot of sigma (i love sigma), fyodor being wet and annoyed, and nikolai being a bringer of chaos. it's just a good arc to me. and with everything going on outside of the prison, it was nice to have this little contained seperate story going on that was just my favs trapped in A Situation.

[saline-coelacanth]

Hope you guys will indulge me a little bit as I just wanna list off some things I love about Zeke

He's the Zekenator

He's such a silly goofy guy

His design is perfection

The Eye of Shining Justice

He's extremely quotable (I have "Zeke von Genbu, Bringer of Chaos! Mostly known as Zeke and often addressed as the Zekenator" memorized)

His blade, Pandoria, has lightning powers and I like lightning powers

Also he has a big fucking lightning sword

His super ultra mega move is called "Ultimate Lightning Fury Slash Max" and the name of it is so long that in game it has to be abbreviated to ULFS Max

Ultimate Lightning Fury Slash Max is also just my favorite move to use, it's very satisfying

Turters

He's a genuinely interesting character with depth despite the fact he initially seems like just a comic relief character

"Handling a Man's Turtle" <- another great quote from the Zekenator

His theme goes hard

The fact that his main nerf is that his animations for his moves take a long time because he's such a show off

He has bad luck as a character trait and that actually carries over into his stats as he has the worst luck stat of the party members (That sounds bad but I honestly just love the attention to detail)

He's the Zekenator

Gushing about his backstory more, he's a prince who hates the way his kingdom is run and got kicked out for constantly leaving and refusing to do his royal studies, but even so he still clearly cares about his kingdom and his people, he just hates the way things are run

He's also 100% correct about the kingdom being run poorly btw

Him and Pandoria have such funny moments and banter but are also so soft they make me so crazy /pos

He's such a great mentor/big brother figure to Rex

And also his rivalry with Morag is really great

Nia calls him Shellhead and he just kinda accepts it

I feel like I should bring up a point involving Tora now but all I can really think of is they have some funny dialogue together

He has a no kill policy because he believes killing people makes you weak

Just every cutscene he's in brings me joy

His idle animations are great, sometimes I just put the controller down to watch them

Did I mention that he's the Zekenator?