#now that ive given them backstory

[chattahoochiecoochie]

It’s Us, Then

Summary: Answers are nice, so is letting go. 

Word Count: 3k

Warnings: portrayal of weak female / manipulative language / mild dub con

A/N: And now I’ve made them boyfriends (plus you), so reality is whatever I want it to be. In order, first, second, third. Everything else is here. 

By the time Sam meets you at the front door of the training facility an hour and a half later, you are practically a puddle.

He’s got you by the hand, asking about the meeting and Ja’Marr, but you can’t answer, too lost in your own head and the heat between your legs.

You’d spent the entire meeting staring at your iPad notes, trying to focus—and failing. Your mind was split, fractured in the middle as you tried to organize your thoughts.

On the one side, you heard Joe’s silky voice on repeat. Hour and a half. And on the other, the rough laugh Sam had let out when he’d said something about taking it slow. What had he said exactly? So much for taking it slow.

Taking it slow. Hour and a half. Taking it slow. Hour and a half. Hour and a half. Taking you slow.

There are a thousand things you want to ask. What are the three of you doing? With all these rides in the morning and the hand holding and the spare keys and the looks they give each other when they think you’re not looking. What’s with all the winking at you on the sidelines of the training field and the turning up at your exam room, just to say hi. The texting, always in a group chat—never individually— and the way they hold hands with one another when you sit at that back booth of that shitty dive bar you’ve frequented over the last three weeks.

Three weeks. Hour and a half. Hour and a half. Three weeks to take you slow. Taking it slow.

But then, every time you think you’ve gotten your thoughts together, the low hum of Joe’s voice washes them away again, over and over again until your mind is numb. The words run together in your head as you walk beside Sam, spinning through your own head until you're almost dizzy when you finally reach Joe’s car.

“I—we—are gonna fuck her stupid after this meeting of hers.”

We. We. We.

You get into the passenger seat blind, only vaguely aware of the grin on Joe’s face and the way his hand snakes onto your leg.

“There's our girl.”

Our. Our. Our.

“Careful.” Behind you, Sam is sliding into the back seat, chuckling. “I think they fried her brain in there.”

“Something like that.” You mumble, tuning back in slowly as Joe strokes his thumb over your thigh.

“She speaks!” Sam sounds giddy behind you, his voice close as he leans between you and Joe.

“Something like that?” Joey’s got his left hand on the shifter, and then the wheel as he pulls out of his parking spot.

“I just…” You falter, unable to finish your sentence. You can hardly think straight, much less articulate it verbally.

“Just what, baby?”

“I think I missed that entire meeting.” You laugh weakly, shaking your head.

“Yeah?”

“My head’s on fire.” You let your head roll to the side, allowing your eyes to roam over his face. God, he’s so pretty.

“You wanna tell us about it?” Sam speaks up, putting his arm over the console so he can rest his hand on top of Joe’s in your lap.

You’re not sure you do, or if you even can, head so dizzy still. You don’t even know how to begin. But you try anyway, rambling on, barely conscious of yourself as Joe takes the side streets, sailing through green light after green light. Where are you going?

Watching the blur of the city through your window, you play with their hands in your lap, dragging your nails over them as you speak.

Everything you’d spent your meeting thinking about, all the questions you had, all the things you’d been hung up on for the last three weeks, they pour out of you until you're breathless. What, exactly, are the three of you taking slow?

When you finally trail off into silence minutes later, it’s eerily quiet. Both boys sitting patiently with what you’ve said—or tried to say. Joe’s finally hit a red light, and the car skips a beat, and then another as you sit in front of it. It’s only when it turns green, and his foot is heavy on the gas, that they eventually speak up, over one another.

“We’re—”

“I—” Sam stops short, catching himself. “Nah, go ahead man, my bad.”

Turning the car down a short city driveway, Joe nods, mostly to himself it seems. You watch him swallow, jaw tight as he parts his lips to speak.

“We’re doing whatever you want to do. That's what this is. Whatever you want it to be.”

He squeezes your thigh, looking at you from the corner of his eye as he puts the car in park. Where are you? “I think it’s all, maybe, going a little differently than we thought it would—”

“Quicker.” Sam interjects, voice low.

“Yeah, quicker.”

“Than you thought it would?”

“Than we planned it, yeah.”

“So you did plan it, then?” They planned it. They planned it.

“Yes.” Joe looks back at Sam, sounding cautious. “We did.”

You hum quietly in response. Your mind feels heavy, like it’s weighing you down. Is that an answer? Is that an explanation? Why does it sound so good? They had planned on it, on you. You can feel a lazy smile curling on your lips. That’s nice, isn’t it?

“That’s good.” What had you been thinking earlier? The words are stacked over one another in your head suddenly, indecipherable. Joe’s answer lies over them like a blanket, the tone of his voice drowning out everything you’d been caught up on.

“Yeah?” Joe’s smiling at you, squeezing your thigh.

“When you say ‘our’” You pause as Sam pulls his hand from your lap, moving to get out of the car. Wherever you are, you’re staying. “It’s us, then, is it?”

Joe gestures to himself, and then to you, and Sam who is now standing beside your open door, nodding. “Us.”

Us. Us. Us.

“Okay.” You hear yourself saying, voice distant. You roll your head on the headrest, turning to look at Sam. “Okay.”

He looks smug—a funny smile on his face as he leans down in front of you, undoing your seatbelt before taking you by the hand and drawing you out of the passenger seat. He’s got you by the wrist, pulling you into his chest, quiet as can be. You’re aware of the car shutting off behind you, and the sound of Joe stepping out onto the driveway—but only barely. Whose house?

“Good?” You look up at Sam, nodding when his eyes lock on yours.

“Good girl. Go on after him then.” Kissing your crown you can almost hear the grin he’s wearing. “I think you’ve made Joey wait long enough.”

An hour and a half. The phrase sparks in your head, fizzling out before you can grasp it. It's been almost two.

It takes a moment to find your feet, and when you do, Sam pats you on the ass, pushing you forward towards the front of the house—to where Joe is standing on the stoop, waiting for you.

He’s got the door open—his house, then—one hand holding it open, the other tucked in his pocket.

“Can you do me a favor?” He asks as you get closer, brow raised when you make the top step.

You nod, looking past him, into the house.

“Get on up those stairs, and turn that pretty little brain off for me.” He points his head to the staircase sitting beyond the entryway. “Please.”

You smile to yourself, feeling warm when you move past him. How silly. Your mind is numb anyway, he hardly needs to ask. Are you always this easy?

You’re halfway up the stairs when you register Sam’s voice behind you, a low whisper he must think you won’t hear, and to his credit, you almost don’t. “So that's it, then, is it?”

“Got her wrapped around our finger.”

“Get her khakis, would you?” Mouth on your collarbone, the words come out muffled. Joe’s got his arms around you, fingers working on the clasp of your bra as he bites at you, breath hot on your skin.

“Say less.”

Sam’s got them around your knees in an instant, nudging the back of your leg with his knee. Step. You lift your foot, head back when Joe moves up your neck. You get your leg free, only to be nudged again on the other leg. You step again, stumbling between the two of them.

They’re both so close to you, trapping you in the middle with nowhere to go. It’s all you can do to collapse against Sam, hoping he’ll keep you upright as Joe drags the straps of your bra down your arms.

Letting your eyelids flutter, you let go of whatever else you’re holding on to. Turn that pretty little brain off for me.

“Can I?” Sam asks. There’s a hand on your thong, holding it by the band—it must be his.

“Waiting on it.”

It’s hardly hit the floor by the time they’ve got their hands on you, a mess of fingers playing over your center.

Through heavy eyes you can see them on you, Sam with his right hand snaked around your waist, palm pressed to your belly as he plays with your clit—fuck. You groan when his other hand moves across your chest, grabbing at your breast. God, that’s good. And when that’s almost too much, there’s Joe, curling his fingers between your legs, groaning when you drip on down his wrist.

Your head falls, knocking against Sam’s bicep. Blinking slowly, you catch them above you. Sam’s got his mouth on Joe’s neck, tongue flashing briefly as he sucks on the spot beneath Joe’s ear—just how he does with you.

Us. Us. Us.

His eyes are closed, lips parted. He looks delirious. You whimper at the sight, knees weak when Joe looks down to catch your eye, blush rising on his cheeks. Delirium turns to something else, flashing across his face as he turns his focus back to you.

“Bed.” He mumbles, brushing off Sam as he leans down to press his lips to yours, fingers slipping in when you part your mouth for him. “Now.” He speaks into you, voice weak.

Sammy’s got you off the ground before you can catch your bearings, tracking backwards until he falls onto the mattress, holding you in his lap, a hand on each knee to hold you apart. Did they plan this too?

“On your knees, Joey, I got her.” Sam's voice is gruff, right by your ear.

You watch through your lashes as Joe sinks to the floor in front of you, free hand working at the band of his shorts until he pulls himself free. His eyes are dark, pupils blown. The sight of him, staring at you, the feeling of him touching you—no, licking at you—you can hardly breathe.

He’s so soft on you, clean shaven and smooth, the tip of his nose buried against you as he goes even lower. His brow is raised, blue eyes trying to find yours. He’s wet, covered in you. For half a second, you can feel your consciousness drip away, pooling under the base of your skull.

Chest heaving, you crumple in Sam’s arms, trembling. He’s dragging his fingers up your legs, back and forth, forcing your legs open every time you shudder under Joe’s tongue. He’s so good, so patient. Take it slow.

A smile comes over your face as Sam’s words cross your mind. Taking it slow. Tongue sliding up the center of you, lips over the bud, and then back down he goes, fingers working all the while, curled up inside you, getting at the one place you can’t find on your own. Fuck.

“There she is.” You're shaking, forcing Sam to hold you tighter, nails digging into your skin as you try to pull your knees together. “You got her?”

Joe mumbles something in response against you, lips tugging into half a smile. It comes hard and fast, the rush of nerves running down your spine until you fall apart on him, tension going slack as it passes over you.

Offering you no time to recover, they move around you quickly, indifferent to how limp you’ve gone. Sam’s got Joe by the wrist, taking the blonds fingers in his mouth, a moan echoing when he tastes you on his hand.

“Fuck that’s good. I get it next time, yeah?”

“We’ll see.”

“Dick.” Sam’s tone is gentle, and when you let your head roll, you can see him smirking, trademark glint in his eye.

Then suddenly there's a shift in your space, thighs moving under you, Sam’s got you around the waist, dragging you up the bed. In front of you, Joe is working his way out of his shorts, tripping onto the bed once they hit the floor. You blink slowly as he crawls up to you. Why does he look so hazy?

Halfway up the mattress and still behind you, Sam’s let you loose for half a second, squirming out of his own clothes, a hand back on you before he’s even got his shirt over his head.

Holding you tight, he pulls you onto his chest, spreading your legs with his knees now. “Come on then.” He pats between your legs softly, sending a shiver up your spine as he grazes your bud.

Three little words, that’s all it takes. Joe’s in you moments later, hips knocking into your legs as he bears down on you. You feel your jaw go slack, caught moments later when Sam puts a hand around your throat—holding you steady as Joe strokes.

Fuck her stupid.

Who’d said that?

You're drooling onto Sam’s hand, eyes fluttering every time Joe pulls back, just waiting for him to drive back, each time harder than the last. Take it slow. You wish he wouldn’t.

“You want it, too?” Joe’s voice is strained when he speaks, each syllable said over a stroke of his hips. Your back arches at the question, not understanding that it’s not pointed at you. Someone laughs, but you can’t place the sound between the two of them.

“I know you’re not asking.” Sam chuckles under you, the vibration of it coming in time with another shudder of nerves. So close.

“Get up then, big man.”

You want it, too? You want it?

Sam’s slow, letting his hand fall from your neck first before sliding you off his chest and onto the comforter. Sitting up beside where he’s left you, he’s got his fingers on your temple, pushing your now damp hair from your eyes.

You’re shaking, cheek pressed into his hand when Joe falters against you seconds later, cock throbbing. Shuddering as he pulls out of you, come drips from him as he lets himself spill on you, warmth hitting your clit as he lets himself go.

You whimper something unintelligible, tears burning down your cheeks as Sam takes his place before you can catch your breath.

It’s insanity—a blur you’ll hardly remember. He’s bigger, harder somehow, and rougher just like he was last time. Calloused hands hold your hips as he drives into you, lacking the patience Joe had. It’s quick, pleasure towing the line of pain every time he strokes.

Joe is somewhere close, hand ghosting over your head and then your chest—fuck—and then your clit—fingers muddy with the mess he left on you.

“Fuck me—” Sam groans, “You got her? I can’t—”

“Go ahead.” Joe’s fingers work faster, digging into you harder. “I got her.” So close. So close. Please.

You look for him through your lashes, making out the shape of him sitting beside you. “Please.”

“We got you baby, let go.” His voice is clear, sure and his tone makes you whine.

You're quivering under Joe’s fingers when Sam finally follows you, collapsing onto your chest as he finishes inside you, come dribbling out every time he makes the slightest move.

Shaking, you try to find your breath, gasping under Sam’s weight. It hits you like a wave, consciousness flooding back all at once beneath him. Jesus Christ. You can hear his heartbeat on yours, beating in time, and over it, a low laugh emanating from Joe beside you.

“Y’all good?”

“Man shut up, you got to go first.” Sam speaks into your shoulder before heaving himself off of you, knocking into Joe as he hits the mattress.

They tussle for a moment, the bed shaking as they wrestle, taunts flying. There’s a certain sudden sweetness in it, the intimacy between them as you lay nearby, presence waning. You sink into it, losing yourself in the sound of your own heartbeat and them giggling with one another.

It goes quiet for a moment, when they finally notice you lying limp, with a lazy grin on your lips. You can feel them looking at you, sitting still. You let them watch, blinking slowly only after another beat has skipped in your chest.

Sam’s got Joe in his lap, broad arms wrapped around his waist. They’re staring at you intently, waiting. For what? You offer them what you can manage as a smile, lips hardly moving despite your effort.

“There she is.” Sam grins at you, squeezing Joe around the middle.

“Our girl.” With pink cheeks, Joe relaxes against Sam, letting his head rest on the larger man's chest.

Our girl. Our. Us.

[fiendishartist2]

guys what if i want to make my own apollo justice game.

[aria0fgold]

OH STARS WAIT I GOT IT! I nearly forgot but also thank goodness I have it written down. But like, Alec's backstory had been giving me the biggest headache of How Can I Make That Work?! cuz the original plan was that: Wrong place, wrong time, he gets kidnapped at age 15.

But then after inspecting it some more I'm like-- that literally doesn't work too well cuz the one that kidnaps him are people from an ORGANIZATION so like-- they can't just pluck random kids they see on the street all willy nilly.

BUT I FINALLY GOT IT! And... the solution was just pretty simple actually. Still a, wrong timing kind of thing but also not quite. Basically, Alec found the people While they were targetting homeless children. And Alec being Alec, stepped in to save them but that resulted in him getting taken instead. It works! I'M FREED!!! (Alec, not so much. Well, in the past. He's free now in the present).

[kurthorton-moving]

oh twitter bookmarks, facebook saved, instagram saved, tiktok bookmarks, tumblr likes, my beloveds (i will never ever open them again)

[yanderespamton78]

sometimes i feel like toby fox made spamton and the addisons especially for people to hyperfixate on. everything about them seems so perfect for people to go rabid about its insane to me

for one, spamton himself pretty much counts for 4 people, those being addispam, big shot spamton, in game spamton, and spamton neo. now sure you mostly see people going rabid about in game spamton but ive seen plenty of people who are obsessed with a version we dont get to see on screen

secondly, even the main in game spamton himself is kinda up to interpretation. loads of people characterise him differently. if i compared two aus to eachother theyd often be very different and depending on the ones i chose could be almost like 2 different people, and then if i compared those to in-game spamton, theyd still be very different. also since you dont see addispam and big shot spamton on screen you dont even know what they acted like so again basically you can make your own guy to fixate on with a few prompts as to what he was like

dont even get me started on the addisons. now im biased as fuck here seeing that ive been fixated on the addisons for like 6 months now (send help) but toby fox basically gave us 4 templates for us to have fun with. sure based off of in game dialogue you have a bit to go off of when it comes to their personality (pink being an asshole and blue being caring for example) but even then every addison in every different au is slightly different and i have never seen two addisons turn out exactly the same. ALSO you dont even know the relationship these characters have to spamton meaning you can have them be siblings, you can have them be friends, or you can ship them based off of what you enjoy. OR you could just ignore them altogether (which a lot of people do lmao)

also another thing is the fact that you dont necessarily need to have your addisons' personalities just reflect off of spamtons. I mean the main 4 addisons give you enough to go off of to make your own, and you are given cyber city, an entire fantasy world for you to put them in. cyber city again is up to interpretation, some people have it be like a normal city, some people make it a utopia, some people make it a hellscape. the choice is yours!!

and even then in game spamton is so versatile. he is perfect for angsty stuff, fluffy stuff, or jsut silly stuff, and none of it is out of character. you couldnt really make an angsty spongebob edit could you, itd be weird and out of characer and no one would take it seriously. but also you couldnt make a silly walten files video, sure people do but its out of character and wouldnt actually happen canonically. but spamton on the other hand. hes the kinda guy who you can draw holding a wallet in his mouth like a cat and generally being silly but also you could draw him sobbing at the bottom of dumpster and neither would be out of character!! AAAA

also extra thing i thought id add but his backstory is also very up to interpretation, like i dont think ive ever seen two people who think spamtons rise and downfall went exactly the same. sure everyone has the same general idea of how it went but some people believe in acid theory, some people believe in puppetification theory, some people have a mix of both, some people have their own idea of how it went down, and with that you can project different parts of your own trauma onto whatever happened to him.

ok sorry that was so long thank you for reading my very biased ramble about why spamton is perfect byeeee

[eluxcastar]

hi ive never written a request before so im sorry if its bad or too vague

could you write a dottore with an adopted child reader? like maybe he found them on the outskirts of a small town and just was like “im adopting you now”?

Dottore slightly dadfailing his way to fatherhood

── ୨୧：il dottore & reader

୨୧﹑synopsis :: dadtore picks up a kid and takes it in like a box kitten

୨୧﹑genre :: fluff

୨୧﹑content :: gn reader, child reader, reader's backstory is mostly ambiguous, this is literally exactly as is written on the tin

୨୧﹑words :: 753

you're doing just fine honey I'm sorry you've had to wait so long for me to complete this and the fact that it's basically a ramble, I'm just getting back into it so please forgive that it's slightly messy

It was cold when he found you, too cold for a child to wander about unchecked. Little children were never his thing, but scooping you up under your arms like a boneless little ragdoll and carting you off with him that night felt right somehow.

It would be simple to discard you on the doorstep of the House of the Hearth and simply forget you had existed, as that is hardly uncommon in the children there. Being delegated to the orphanage by a Harbinger is usually a visual shorthand: "They had parents once- just yesterday, in fact. Thanks to the Fatui's involvement, they don't anymore."

You're different. Circumstances demand it when Dottore has no access to the House.

Dottore swaddled you in his coat, shedding it in the same motion he scooped you up, carried you back into town where he could set you up on the closest thing you could get to a bed, situated on a chair in the basement where he got you a change of clothes. You didn't ask where they came from or what he did with your old clothes.

A bath of warm water did you well, easing the chill in your bones and washing away the dirt sticking to your skin. You popped the soapy bubbles with your fingers and sat quietly as the water ran over you. Dottore is good at giving baths, experienced from the days of sterilising subjects.

It's nice to feel clean. Dottore let you get out on your own and dress yourself in a fresh change of clothes.

The pillows were thin, blankets not enough to keep out the cold, but for the first night, he let you keep his coat.

Perhaps he intended to turn you over at that time, but a month has passed, and nothing has happened. You thought Dottore would be cold and distant, but he lets you poke around and play with things befitting a child. You watch and observe what he does but don't understand it. Many ask, and he evades answering.

Dottore isn't one for affection, not typically, and you've given up on having him read to you or play with you. It's not in his nature to treat you too softly. You have to be self-sufficient because his work demands it, and while he can monitor you, he can't stop to cut the crust off your sandwiches or do any more than offer that you sit by his side when you get scared.

He cares, but not typically. At first, it's almost...comforting how little he tries to push you into normalcy when you're so used to being by yourself. You can wander and aren't coddled too much beyond being unable to get into dangerous things.

You're well-fed and well-dressed, and you get to listen to Scaramouche, the strange doll man when he comes down. By all means, you are well-kept for a child. Apparently, it is because he got attached, as Scaramouche put it.

You don't quite understand how that could motivate him until he points out everything he's done, from making you comfortable to buying you clothes and even embracing you as his own. Rearranging the way he stores things to practically babyproof his lab was a feat just so you could wander around it safely in a place where he can watch you easily. How could he give you up? He obviously has no intention to.

It feels like the lightbulb to your little mind that sets off a domino effect as you look around you and start to realise these things. There is almost the sense that, despite Dottore’s informality towards his role as a father, Dottore doesn't want to give you up to the orphanage and maybe never did in the first place.

He likes it when you pester him and have to rely on him. He set everything that could kill you on the highest possible shelf, took note of the clothes you didn't like, the foods that put you off eating and collected the blankets he could find to make your bed more cosy, the occasional toy, plenty of visitors coming in and out to listen to. It's always warm where you sit.

Dottore let you keep borrowing his coat to sleep under, and you even convinced him to read you a storybook, if only once. There are many nights you fall asleep somewhere and wake up wrapped up in blankets and his coat, just as you like.

It seems very pleasant to live this way.

[flicklikesstuff]

HELLO

HI

i am here to just say i absolutely LOVE the way you think about rick,, ive seen your posts about him and . ough,, agh,, im shaking you very hardly!!! cause rick is my favorite character and i love to hear peoples interpretations about his backstory and his behaviors,,,

i like the way you thinkabout his backstory and how it affects how he behaves and with his epithet, cause being in a arena with your only survival method is to harm/kill something something others but also having a epithet that only works if you have a friendship with the person , and in arena i dont think thats very , possibkle? i MEAN YEAH HE DID HAVE "freindships" in the arena but they were very likely to be fake for the sake of the person and for rick, but despite all of that hes DESPERATE for friends, whether or not they were fake , cause it was all for the sake of his power, even if like the person is clearly communicating somewhat that they dont exactly like rick, he still tRIES to be friends with them and thats intresting to me

..COUGH

went on a rant there for a second,,, woops

+ extra note i love the way you drae rick and the other characters too teeehee

+ extra extra note i wrote this at like 7 am so my writing and describing isa little wonky

“Rick Shades Explosion post because DAMN, y’all are so obsessed over the ocean man-“ 0_0 /pos

(Prison of Plastic Spoilers ⚠️)

Thinking about his persona. How he built “Rick Shades” as a defence mechanism. So that he could easily dissociate just to keep an ounce of sanity and from getting too hurt.

Because emotional scarring is a whole other thing from physical ones. Physical ones he could handle. But he can never forgive or live with himself if “Toidei Gourami” was the one that killed/hurt his friends instead of “Rick Shades.”

He’s scared. He doesn’t appear like it. But he’s scared of being “Odi” again. To have his friends know the real side of him and risk possibly losing them while not having the “Rick” persona on. “Odi” would be the one dealing with the loss instead of “Rick” this time. It would ruin him.

Then there’s Molly being the first person he trusted with sharing his real name. And for the first time in a long while, he lets his mask down.

AGHHHKKS

Imagine thinking “Why is this character so weird?” and then you’re given the exact answer to that question and now you’re just staring into space like:

“Oh-“

…….

Btw, Have I mentioned yet just how much I love him too as a little lizard?

Now excuse me while I go sob from all you guys’ sweet comments :,)

[zeravmeta]

ive talked abt it before but ive always wondered if there was some deeper dynamic between caesar and vegapunk. like, vegapunk very clearly moved on from the warcrimes he was doing in mads (well. he did them for the world govt and Then grew a conscious about it and focused on humanitarian efforts) but he also had caesar tag along with him to work for the marines and it was ultimately caesar making even deadlier weapons for the marines that made him dismiss caesar. knowing what we do now though with vegapunk being in league with the revolutionaries im pretty sure vegapunk was intentionally sabotaging the world govts might (as well as just not wanting another superweapon in the world since he def knows about the 3 ancient weapons by that point) but compared to how the marines looked like they were about to arrest caesar due to the potential danger, vegapunks response to just dismiss him seems pretty soft handed in comparison.

did some part of vegapunk believe caesar could be better? like setting aside his own past where he managed to become a better person ,caesar's one sided rivalry with him is completely out of pride in only being seen as second best, yet when presented with his death caesar is fully in denial about it and looks like hes about to cry, contrast to judge who isn't even relevant enough to get a reaction but ultimately looks like he doesn't even care.

mads was shown to be completely dysfunctional as a group before dissolving, but after said dissolution, vegapunk and caesar worked together for about 18-20 years between mads' dissolution and him being dismissed, 2 decades of just the two of them.

I feel like theres some hidden element to their dynamic that we just arent privy to yet, where they did care about each other more than it may initially seem to on the surface, which may be revealed with a proper caesar backstory + coming events in elbaf (which im 100% betting hes gonna be there for given how pivotal he was in giant research and the SMILE fruits)

[acotarfrustrations]

An ongoing list of ACOWAR grievances I'm keeping track of while I read (because there's too many to make a post about all of them) pt. 2

I'm on chapter 15 now and feeling the urge to complain again so here we go

1) the writing is way too overdramaticized. Like every other paragraph is some remixed version of feyre going "I wondered whether it would be eggs or bacon for breakfast. But when I looked at Rhys I realized that he was giving me my own choice. My mate, my high lord. In our home. With our family. Every thing was always my choice" and its CONSTANT, LIKE OH MY GOD GIRL SHUT UP

2) every thing about Lucien's plotlineand the elain mating thing. I HATE this subplot with a PASSION

3) feyre immediately fucking rhys when she got back instead of going to see her sisters

4) feyre and rhysand acting like they've ben separated for forty centuries instead of a month

5) the contradictions about how the high lord thing works. Like it was established that its a government position given to you through basically fate and being chosen by the cauldron or whatever which is why siblings kill each other for a chance for the throne and yet they just went to a priestess and swore feyre in as high lady?? It makes her title not feel real like it's purely ceremonial. It doesn't even make sense that she would be able to be HL of the night court as she has no more ties to that court than she does any other court. Is it because she's mated to Rhys? I don't understand the HL lord at all, it just keeps changing

6) the fact that Feyre, Rhys, and Cassian tell Lucien about their tragic backstories and everything that's happened to feyre at the NC and he just immediately does a Feyre™️. Like he's suddenly "Oh yeah you had a horrible childhood and took feyre into your found family without letting her explore relationships outside of the IC, that totally makes up for all the evil shit THAT IVE SEEN YOU DO WITH MY OWN 2 EYES. wow i cant believe youre not evil even though you killed 50 winter court children and sexually assaulted your mate and mind raped her constantly to get her to like you"

7) the way they're treating Nesta. It has been a MONTH since she was stolen from her home, brought amongst a race that she is terrified of and THAT ENSLAVED HER PEOPLE, and was forcefully turned into ONE OF THEM and the IC is acting like she's being unreasonable for not wanting to talk to them or to mate with Cassian. WHY THE HELL WOULD SHE EVEN BE THINKING ABOUT CASSIAN RIGHT NOW?? WHY THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO FEEL BAD FOR HIM? Instead of him worrying about how his mate is doing regardless of his own comfort he's like WOE IS ME, SHE DOESNT WANT TO FUCK ME?????? GET OVER IT ASSHOLE?? WHY IS FEYRE EVEN LETTING CASSIAN COME NEAR HER AND ANTAGONIZE HER?? DOESNT SHE LOVE TO FLAUNT HER HL STATUS AROUND?? THIS IS THE TIME TO USE IT, PROTECT YOUR GODDAMN SISTER FROM HIM? ITS SO OBVIOUS THAT SHE DOESNT GIVE NEARLY AS MUCH OF A SHIT ABOUT NESTA AS SHE DOES ELAIN!!

8) the fact that sjm didn't keep cassian's wings shredded. Him learning to live with that would have been a badass character development but now sjm doesn't want me to have good things

9) the mating bond in general. I think it could be a potentially good plot device but no one ever employs it well and sjm is definitely the most egregious with it

10) the fact that the ic never gave consequences for their fucking actions. Feyre dies in acotar? Turn her into a fey and give her ALL of their powers. Stealing a precious artifact that they didn't even end up needing and getting a bounty on their head in the summer court and then getting that court invaded? That's fine because feyre is SOOO brave and says things that are common fucking sense which makes her SOOOO smart so we obviously need her as an ally so we'll just rescind the blood rubies. Getting the spring court sacked? That's fine we didn't like them anyway. Rhys and feyre's bond gets snapped? Well they didn't know about our super secret mating bond that is actually the only thing that gives our characters chemistry so we still like each other. Rhys causes irreparable damage to every court for 50 years and kills 50 kids? Well that's fine he was being held hostage and hey! We don't know he actually killed those kids 😡 Feyre, a 20 year old girl who's been fae for like 6 months and training for even less goes up against thousands of years old beings? She beats them effortlesslessly! Rhys gets sexually assaulted for 50 years! Well he planned all of it so it has no negative consequences on him. Cassian gets his wings shredded? Well he worked really hard and they're fixed now 🥰. Rhys FUCKING DIES?? Well that's no problem, tamlin can just resurrect him, nvm the fact that there's no reason why he WOULD. like no harrowing situation is ever interesting cause we all know sjm isn't actually going to do anything to the ic

11) "my mate" STOP SAYING IT PLS IM BEGGING

12) "males and females" STOP SAYING IT PLS IM BEGGING pt. 2

[gumbootillustrations]

i can fix him your honour *smacks him with the oc-ification hammer*

anyway. enjoy the babygirl-ification of aaron lycan. more stuff below the cut.

i love the idea of aaron. like, some guy whos hellbent on revenge learning to live and love outside of it?? and he finds not only love but a new home in someone else searching for the same thing after they've both lost so much??? UGH ITS SO GOOD. and then jesson fucking. fumbled it. SO BAD. im still mad abt it almost like. ten yrs later (how tf is diaries this old i swear it was still airing like last yr). so uh. ive tried to go in n fix him. i swear. but in the process a Lot of his backstory n stuff has been overhauled and im sorry to all the canon aaron truthers but the way that jesson handled his arc n stuff was God Awful and i hate it. so uh. yeah.

aaron shows up in ashes, ashes way earlier than he does in canon diaries - hes following the high priest's trail, and when he catches wind of him travelling to phoenix drop to officiate a wedding and track down his supposedly dead brother, he follows the rumours and shows up right after alexis is cursed. he forms a sort of truce with aph (although garroth is hesitant to trust him, given that he wants to murder his younger brother n garroth still believes that zane can be saved) and fucks off again until they meet up again when aph n co are snooping around pikoro trying to find lord luke so that she can sign a trade deal with him - aaron's (rightfully) convinced that zane has something to do with luke's disappearance, and once all that tomfoolery is settled, he decides to return to phoenix drop with aphmau, believing that the impending war will offer the best opportunity for him to finally kill zane.

as we all know, though, this... really doesn't go to plan. they get trapped in irene's cathedral - which is more of a labyrinth with religious imagery plastered everywhere - and it isn't aaron who lands the killing blow on his mortal enemy, but rather garroth, who gets possessed by esmund's relic. then, when they manage to escape thanks to zoey, ten years have passed and the cathedra of irene (the religious organisation that zane was in charge of as high priest) has all but collapsed. up until this point, all aaron has really been living for is destroying the cathedra, and with his job already done for him by the passage of time, he's now sort of... lost, is the best way i can really describe it. he decides to stick around in phoenix drop - although he doesn't really want to admit it, the people are nice, he's become friends with garroth and katelyn, and it's a safe place for him to stay while he figures out his next moves. it also doesn't help that aph keeps roping him into her adventures (although he secretly enjoys having something to do).

it's through these new connections that he learns to start opening up about his past; how he was raised as the heir to the lordship of a hunting town up north named falconclaw, how the cathedra ordered its destruction and the murder of all its people due to them allegedly being descended from shad, the destroyer, how he came back from a hunting trip to find all his family and friends dead, how the grief manifested in a long-dormant magick that causes anything he lays eyes on to disintegrate, only to be controlled by an enchanted blindfold given to him by a passing elf who took pity on him. over time, he learns to control his magick, leading to him starting to leave his blindfold off - a sort of symbol of his willingness to trust in others, and to trust himself around others. most of this is me wanting his fuckass bandanna to have some sort of meaning behind it outside of "uwu edgy man with edgy outfit" but uh yeah. idk.

anyway, after a while he decides to stick around permanently right before the gang heads to gal'ruk to track down carin valkrum, an ex-juror who went missing decades prior, who katelyn is convinced knows of the whereabouts of the keeper's relic.

which means an outfit change. i tried to make his second winter outfit noticeably lighter than his first one, but still incorporating his trademark reds and browns. there isn't too much else to say abt this outfit? i dont think?? like there isnt a ton of lore stuff tied up in it except "oh hes going to a cold place lol". uhh i guess i could mention that he has a fucked up knee from a hunting accident when he was younger, hence the wrapped up knee?? idk. also he has a lil brooch w a falcon claw on it as a sort of homage to falconclaw. and his fucked up eyes r a reference to his eyes being fucked up in mys. yeah. idk.

uhh casual outfit. i like to think that he asked laurance for help w finding something to wear that wasnt super casual for more formal events (like the monthly potluck dinners that phoenix drop holds for everyone to celebrate the new moon) bc garroth is fucking useless when it comes to clothes n katelyn isnt that much better so laurance, having grown up in meteli surrounded by pirates, threw a billowy white button down at him n told him to go ham. i think laurance also lowkey influences aaron to get the falcon tattoo at some point - i dont think he loses the brooch, but since its so obviously a reference to his birthplace in ru'aun and could potentially get him and the rest of the gang hurt or even killed once they decide to travel to tu'la, he decides to get the kārearea tattooed over his heart as an homage to his family. anyway, it's in tu'la where he learns that he isn't the only survivor of falconclaw as he had previously thought: the werewolf pack that he'd grown up alongside (blaze, dottie, maria, rylan, and daniel) are still alive and well, as is melissa, although she's been cursed w what will later become known as the "ultima" curse due to her striking a deal with the demon warlock in an attempt to restore falconclaw. anyway, it's pretty emotional, esp since both sides have long thought the other to be suuuper dead. the scars on aaron's forearm are from when he n blaze got into a tussle as kids.

and finally, his destroyer form! after katelyn finally kills ivy n recovers shad's relic, there's a lot of debate as to what to do with it; some folks think its best to find it a host, others want to try and destroy it, and others want to simply lock it away in a pocket dimensino or something to keep it safe. eventually, aaron decides that, in order to protect the family he's created and the family he's rediscovered, it's probably best for him to take on the mantle of the destroyer of the second war of the magi, especially once it's revealed that the aaron of the first war (shad) cleaved his soul in two once he began to get corrupted by the influence of the void - the half that was corrupted would become the shadow lord, whereas the uncorrupted half would go onto reincarnate like the other souls of the divine warriors (excluding irene). i'm still fiddling around w how the second war of the magi ends, but my thinking as of right now is that the first war ended with irene burning away her first physical form to seal the shadow lord in the nether, the second war (mcd) ending w the restoration n reunification of shads soul n the divine warriors sealing away most magicks as a temporary stopgap against the spread of the void, and the third war (mys) being the war in which the void is finally defeated.

and finally some headshots. i personally headcanon aaron as being autistic as fuck n being the kind of autistic where he isn't super expressive (sorta like garroth), although a little less stern. speaking of, i really wanted him n garroth to be sort of foils for each other: namely, where aaron was raised to only ever see lordship as a privilege, garroth was raised in an environment that led him to believe that lordship was only ever a burden. anyway, they're best mates n i will die on this hill. yeah i know that in the first war esmund n shad didnt like each other that much (as an understatement) but something something healing the wrongs of the past with each reincarnation cycle something something they're best friends now and you can't stop me. also he and aph do end up together but it takes sooo fucking long, like those two are the most awkward motherfuckers this side of ru'aun and it takes longer for them to confess than it does for garroth and laurance to confess and thats Saying Something. like. c'mon. it was stupidly out of character for this wet noodle of a man to hook up w aph in the middle of s2. tell me that u don't know how to write ur characters without telling me that u don't know how to write ur characters n all that jazz.

anyway. gumboot rambles once again. its 2am at the time of posting this n i need to go sleep so uh. yeah. dante or travis is up next mostly bc aph has like thirteen outfit changes before s3 n im dreading drawing them all so yeah.

feel free to ask any questions or anything!! :D

[fischlcatgirl]

i fucking love when a relationship is severely fucked up. and i think that the matter of scara's autonomy in the context of his relationship with nahida is INTERESTING AS FUCK. because he has been associated with two other archons before right and one of them abandoned him and the other one was his. boss basically.

so in both cases within that relationship there is a general perception of scara as an object or a tool. in ei's case he was. seen as a faulty tool but the point stands. in his betrayal backstories he is very often doing physical labor. he is kept around because he is useful. and so because that is the way he has spent basically his entire life being told that is how his life is going to be, he holds the belief that the only reason anyone associates with him at all is because they want something from him.

and i think there IS room there for a nahida who helps him heal from that. i think there is room for a nahida who sees him as a friend and affirms to him that they are friends and that she does not see him as some kind of errand boy.

however.

Nahida is god. and she is an exceptionally patient and forgiving god, but she is NOT practiced at friendship. she is not familiar with being in any sort of respectful relationship with anyone. She is LITERALLY an immortal little girl who was given all of the information in the world to entertain herself for five hundred years and she was LONELY. and now she has POWER.

i want you to look me dead in the eyes and tell me that if you were an inhuman creature made of knowledge with godlike powers in the body and, to a degree, mind of a preteen girl that you would not choose to tie yourself to the only boy your age you've ever met, the only person who you believe may ever have the ability to ever understand you.

because ive said it before and ill say it again but scara is nahidas nahida. she sees him in the same way she sees herself, lonely and betrayed by people who were meant to take care of him.

so there is such a real real real possibility that there is a nahida who, against anything he could ever want, takes his heart and eats it. who connects the two of them. because the thing is that in order for this relationship to really mean anything to scara there has to be a degree of freedom involved with the safety of a place to come back to, he has to know that he CAN leave and CHOOSE not to. being tethered to nahida would make him FUCKING MISERABLE.

and nahida KNOWS that, and knows that what she is doing is creating another cage. but she can't hear it over the idea of never being alone again.

RATTLING THE BARS OF MY CELL. NAHIDA SELFISH HOURS.

[bananathebookworm]

TLOVM S3 Eps 7-9 Ramblings

Ep. 7

Oh boy... Anna backstory... that can't mean anything important is about to happen...

Aw, poor Trinket

I love that Vex and Percy think they're successfully hiding but everyone else just wants them to stop fucking in the shared spaces of the mansion

Pike is killing me this episode. I love that they've been able to fill out more of her personality and we can see more of the goofy side. Makes me wish we'd had her/Ashley for all of campaign one.

Oh good. Trauma for everyone.

I love Orthax's design.

Always here for more Zerxus. And Luis.

Oh shit. Orthax arm.

Anna's movements are so cool.

Oh this slow-mo stand-off is so cool.

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. No.

Okay. Cool. I'm fine.

Scanlan's gone. Percy's dead. Everything is pain. Holy fuck.

I'm very looking forward to whenever the "How do you, Vox Machina, want to do this?" moment happens. I'll say right now though that it was so beautiful in it's original form because their triumph over Ripley wasn't really a triumph.

Ep. 8

Percy backstory.

Uh... are they not resurrecting him? The fuck?

Well at least Scanlan's back. Hope this doesn't lead to resentment that he was gone.

Twins backstory

I love when Grog has his random moment of intelligence

Love a good "Rallying the troops" montage.

Zahra and Kash!

Remember when this whole plan was created because Kash/Will was like "You all suck at war, this is how you're supposed to do this." and everyone was in awe?

Ep. 9

Better late than never I guess? Glad to see Zahra and Kash joining the fray.

"Ive never mad a plan before" "Neither has anyone else" D&D in a nutshell.

Um. Kash wasn't supposed to die. What the fuck.

Taking "I have passed through fire" a little too literally.

"Make the fucker bleed for it." Fuck yes.

Welp. Shit. Babies are hatching.

"Fix him." Oh my heart. Though again, the original hit a lot harder for me.

Fuck. Yes. Pike. Taking a page out of Grog's book and raging.

And this entire moment with Vax is gorgeous.

So... about Raishan... Keyleth please trust your instincts more.

General

Are resurrections still going to happen? I feel like they'll have to. Unless they're going to make a completely new, original to the story character for Taliesin for some reason. Though I do like that Percy's death is given time to settle in before he's brought back.

I am curious, since this season seems to (arguably) deviate the most from the original material... Have certain changes been made because they aren't guaranteed a season 4 and they needed to make sure if this is the last season everything has finality?

[rookfeatherrambles]

hey so for the angle that cries ink ive been wondering how jon like got under the institute in the first place and how similar he is to the jon the know, the character from TMA. like before he was trapped was he our precious little guy who read statements and then immediately disagreed with him or is he more like an OC with a completely different backstory. i don’t know a whole lot about fics in general or how much youre willing to share about this one in particular but i would love to know some things about jons backstory if you could share? idk a whole lot about much of anything rn or if youve shared anything yet that I just haven’t seen so idk this is your sign to tell me as much as you want whenever you want to ig

long story short: would love to know some about jons backstory :)

considering I haven't written anything but chapter 1 so far... and I did yell about this on my blog before, I don't consider this a spoiler. Jon was put under the Institute by Jonah Magnus! You could say that the Institute was built because of Jon, but that's not quite true. However, the place Jon resides and has for like idk 150 years of his 200 that he's spent on this earth was made to be a home for BOTH of them. That, obviously didn't happen, and now its Jon's prison. As for if Jon is the same... yes and no. Yes, he was canon all the way up until the finale, spoilers for mag 198 and 199 and 200, but he went kinda crazy, if killing Jonah, becoming the pupil and then going through with his plan to burn out the fears is crazy. I think its real sensible! (that's a joke). Anyway, mag 200 didn't go according to plan. the panopticon didn't blow, and Jon set about his villian era. I have no idea how I'm gonna write it but he basically waged war, being marked by all fears, he could puppet them (thanks web) to a degree, and he pitted them against eachother to the death. The world burned. He BECAME the Extinction, do you get me? And he kept Martin by his side until, well. He was caught in the crossfire. The End doesn't barter its dead, even to God. Martin was gone, and Jon quickly destabilized and was deposed. I'm pretty sure he was draged kicking and screaming (and cursing) to hilltop house and the rift and thrown into it. Thus, the web's plan was ultimately fulfilled, it just took like a century. In the void between millions of realities, the fears (mainly the web) reshaped Jon. As punishment for him trying to escape the strings he'd been dancing on, he was remade in a mockery of the savior he had tried to be. Markless, beautiful and ethereal, connected to every fear, a harbinger, an angel. They took his voice too, his only weapon. Jon was brought to an almost identical world, but 200 years into the past, and given directly into the grasp of one Jonah Magnus who was just dipping toes into the supernatural. Jon's punishment, is to be immortal, and to be the reason every single person he cares about or so much as knows, falls to the fears. he is the reason they are here, after all. So yeah. That's Jon. He's been alive for 200 years, and all he wants to do is see Martin again, and apologize. Only, his Martin is dead, and this world's Martin has no knowledge of Jon's feelings or even his existence.

[floof-wulf030]

GIVE ME UR DON PAOLO THOUGHTS HES AN INTERESTING CHARACTER IVE HARDLY SEEN TALED ABT

Ummm…. Where do I start?

Yeah he doesn’t really get talked about a lot… though I’m not really surprised because you know…

I feel like many don’t really care much about or always forget about him.. like yeah there are some people who like him but??? It seems like people focus more on villains that are more complex and sympathetic. (Which… DON’T GET ME WRONG! I totally understand that and I love those too, and I’m also a huge fan of Clive and Descole too but this ain’t about them..)

I know Paul doesn’t really have this tragic backstory like the rest of them but hey not all villains need a tragic backstory right?? Sure the reason of him being evil is ridiculous and stupid but I personally think it fits his character more. I personally find it funny and a little entertaining. Tbh I never really did expect him to be very complex even before playing Lost Future a year ago. However yes, parts of me wished Level-5 gave Don Paolo more time to marinate as a character. One thing that bothered me though was the whole thing about him being exiled from the society of scholars. Like it was only mentioned in Curious Village then it was never talked about ever again?? Like whatever happened to that???

In general though, I really like Don Paolo aesthetically. I established this many times already but I just love wacky and goofy looking villains, probably even more than the whole “Tall dark and Handsome” ones. Again, don’t get me wrong I love those too! There are many handsome villain designs that I love. I just find myself fawn more towards the weirdos lol, LET THEM BE WHIMSICAL CREATURES. (Kinda wished we had more of those in the PL series if I have to be honest here..) His design definitely reminds me of Dick Dastardly or Robbie Rotten, which both were some of my favorite villain characters from my childhood lol. Maybe because of the whole color scheme. I feel like SOME also don’t really pay an attention to him either was because he’s not one of the attractive ones, idk??? Honestly that’s what I really like about him though! Also the whole disguising thing with the latex masks?? Like how the hell did he PULL that off? (No pun intended) How was he able to change his size? This man is like spineless or perhaps just liquid!

My favorite tiny little fact about him is that he plays music. I know this could refer to listening to music, but him being some sort of musician is so fun and interesting to think about. Like what instrument would he play? I’ve seen some people hc him being a guitarist which I’m totally on board for. The fact that he likes playing music and that he’s also Tomohito Nishiura’s (The composer for the PL games) favorite character is really cool :3

Anyways yeah! I personally think Don Paolo deserves more love and appreciation than what he was given. I noticed he’s been lacking some fanart (oh and fanfics too), which is why I’ve been wanting to draw him a lot more often. Just to fill up the tag (and that empty void in my heart) Ngl at first impression I thought he was going to be hard to draw but it turns out that he is really fun to doodle

I would love to talk more about him but for now I’ll leave it here, because I’ve been typing for so long lmaooo.

Thanks for coming to my Tedtalk

(Also feel free to leave any thoughts if you have any)

[remyfire]

korean war anaesthesia practices? please sir some korean war anaesthesia practices? 🤲🥺

God I am so excited. I love you.

What I need you to know is I spent multiple hours over multiple days researching this just for Leo Bardonaro backstory that I am probably never going to get to write in detail anyway. I headcanon Leo as an anesthesiologist. Also I think it's a shame that they stopped having at least one or two dedicated anesthesiologists in the show after Ugly John because it's such a complex set of measurements to understand and as important a trained specialty as any other. It's difficult to pick it up off the cuff if you haven't been properly educated. I appreciate little moments such as in Bug Out when Hawk snaps at BJ when Beej is the one setting up the anesthesia. Very true to life and history when anesthesiologists were thin on the ground in Korea and doctors or nurses did have to double up, and also affording MASH their smaller cast to focus on.

Side note, I discovered first in my research that anesthesiologist and anesthetist are two different terms. An anesthesiologist is a medical doctor while an anesthetist is a nurse who has received the training to administer anesthesia, either assisting the anesthesiologist or working independently. The more you know!

Now let's get to excited autistic rambling :D :D :D

This is the Ohio 685A military model anesthesia machine, affectionately referred to as The Pig. This is the machine that was most commonly in use during the Korean War, all the way through to the beginning of the Vietnam War. It was important because it was lightweight, easy to disassemble, and it broke down into an easy-to-carry box in the event of the MASH unit needing to bug out.

Look how cute it is!!! My best friend The Pig I love them so much. An anesthesiologist was not only keeping a close eye on vitals and ready to spring into action at a moment's notice, but they were also constantly watching the levels of administered nitrous oxide (what we know colloquially as laughing gas) and oxygen (which has to be administered as a level of at least 20%) to make sure they were giving enough to keep the patient under but not enough to cause them long-term damage of any kind. This is important given that nitrous oxide causes intracranial pressure, for example.

An interesting thing to note is that while they had begun to pioneer intubation as a way to administer an anesthetic in WWII and saw impressive results, in the Korean War, the majority of patients were still anesthetized by mask on account of the doctors having to work so quickly and efficiently that they most often defaulted to the techniques they were familiar with if they did not have to change. This might also be why a large number of doctors would choose to administer a spinal anesthetic instead of using a mask.

So the rabbit hole I really went down was how we typically see anesthesia used in media versus the reality of it. We're used to seeing them just put a mask on the patient's face and they're out immediately. Not quite accurate! Nitrous oxide alone will not put a patient to sleep. It's a wonderful pain reducer and produces a sense of euphoria and it's incredibly fast-acting, only taking a few minutes to reach full effect. But anesthesiologists would first administer something to induct unconsciousness, most popularly a dose of thiopental into the patient's IV line.

Thiopental is a barbiturate often used as an induction agent. Within 30 to 45 seconds, the drug reaches the brain and makes the patient unconscious (an interesting thing is that thiopental also reduces intracranial pressure, which was also helpful with the comment above about nitrous oxide causing that). But thiopental itself will wear off within around 5 to 10 minutes as the drug leaves the brain and circulates through the entire body, thus meaning the patient would wake back up.

This is where nitrous oxide comes in!! The thiopental injection induces unconsciousness and the nitrous oxide maintains it. Because nitrous oxide as a gas dissipates so quickly in our system, removing the mask will have a patient coming back to consciousness within minutes.

With how rapidly things had to move in surgery in a Korean War MASH unit, the anesthesiologists had to be on their fucking game. If they administered just a little too much of an induction agent or nitrous oxide, severe side effects could occur. Patients would suffer convulsions, damage to the brain. A wrong dose was a ticket to total shock, heart attacks, death. It's so stressful to read about and also so cool. The surgeons always get the big bucks but other doctors deserve their flowers too.

This was a fun hour of rambling!! Thank you for asking :D

[hurgablurg]

im just starting to watch the aeor episodes, but based on all the spoilers and thinkpieces ive seen here, I have to say that humanizing the gods was not just a poor decision, but poorly done.

the conflict in the main campaign at least had some complexity to it when the gods were abstract overlords:

they were not responsible for making the world, there are powers older than them and are potentially far more responsible and kind

the gods are imperfect AND omniscient and WERE omnipotent, which is an abominable combination that lends itself to degradation and cruelty, at minimum through inaction, and at maximum through intentional action, and arguments could be made that they very well deserve to die for those cruelties

while defeating ludinus and stopping him from ascending (we all see where its going) was never in question, allowing predathos to consume the gods (and some of the PCs have motivation to do so) was a crapshoot on whether or not it would turn it's attention to mortaldom afterwards, or if it really will just purify the world of parasite-gods as a failsafe for something beyond comprehension.

However, now that the gods are imperfect individuals who are NOT all-powerful or all-knowing, and are just Some Aliens who are NOT responsible for their own cruel inactions because they are not ALL-powerful, it becomes unconscionable to let them be murdered.

HOWEVER, because they ARE conscious people and not forces of nature, and ARE still responsible for their own cruel actions, it becomes unconscionable to allow them to live because while they are not ALL-powerful, they are still more powerful than anything else in existence but have unchallenged reign, stymied only by the big-ass wall between them and their toys! With such power, they lose their humanity, they lose the right to be given the benefit of the doubt

This is because it seems to be really poorly done - every player character is a "good" god and every "bad" god is played by the DM. Just right out of the gate saying that "we aren't going to force/allow any of our players to play the really icky people we don't like and who are evil so they are going to play wispy, boho-ass conventionally attractive people while the bad gods are evil and spiky or look like a paedophile priest" and "they have to stop these evil mortals and also their victory is assured. They will have some character drama, but it won't be too important because they are known characters and this is a prequel and they all have places and ways they need to be to remain canon".

Calamity worked because it was people dealing with the consequences of their backstories and actions. Downfall is gearing up to not work because these aren't people. These are powerful idiots playing dolls like the mean kid from Toy Story.

And mind, this is based off of what tumblr users have said. So either they're stupid and missed some grander point, or this assumption of mine is correct and this is just a bad story.