#oh gosh this was long

[the-moth-from-elsewhere]

So, You Want to Try RolePlaying.

I’ve been doing RP and co-op writing for years, but have only about a month of experience doing it with complete strangers. So, here’s my advice, some warnings, and probably some random jokes.

First, who are you doing this with? Your friends? Strangers you want to get to know/write with? Your internet acquaintances? Because that’s gonna affect things.

My first and most important warning is this: don’t expect full control, especially not with strangers/people you don’t know personally.

Don’t expect anything, really. You’re taking a risk, and you may end up having to deal with discomfort. Morals, ethics, beliefs, preferences, triggers, even basic likes and dislikes may be very different between you and those you are writing with, so be prepared for that. My best example of this is that I tend to curse much less than those I RP with on tumblr.

My advice? Don’t be surprised, don’t get offended. If you’re uncomfortable, maybe just remove yourself from that scene. You cannot, and should absolutely not, try to control these things. If you’re very very uncomfortable, and it’s an objective thing, that’s when you should ask for changes. For example, if this isn’t supposed to be NSFW/Suggestive, and someone’s really pushing/has crossed that line, going against explicitly stated and agreed upon guidelines and rules, THAT’S when you say something/explicitly ask for them to stop. Exercise basic respect to everyone, agreement with you or not.

I’m an absolute control freak sometimes, so I honestly struggle with “I don’t like this plot” discomfort sometimes, to the point of occasionally feeling physically sickened when something feels out of control. A recent bout of this problem is what made me want to write this. My personal way of dealing with this is making my characters OCs FIRST. Dusk, Northeast, even Kit are all from their own original thing somewhere, that this all isn’t really canon to. While they were made for this specifically, that doesn’t mean they still aren’t my characters and I cannot have them also canonically exist in their own bubble where I have control. It’s strange, but it’s my own personal tactic. If you want, I could probably tell you about this “oc AU”, but most people are probably just here for advice. So onward.

Secondly? Don’t be confusing unless you know you can get away with it hoo boy here we go

I accidentally maybe introduced Puella Magi Madoka Magica into a TADC RP I’m in, and while it did end up crossover-ing decently well, it was really rocky, especially because nobody else had heard of Madoka and if you know anything about PMMM it’s that the lore is freaking WILD. So if you want to try something like that, be slow about it. It was about the only thing I got right.

I mentioned the mechanics, then made a character show up who uses those mechanics, then I introduced Kyubey, a way to spread those mechanics, and then and only then did other characters get to use the full potential of these mechanics/lore. Like I mentioned, it was incredibly rocky, but it worked. So do better than me, I beg.

Third of all. Try to figure out the overall tone before writing. If this is a serious piece of literature where things need to be set up properly, ACT LIKE IT! PLAN! SCHEME!

If this is a no-logic insanity mess where everything is surrealist metaphor, ACT. LIKE. IT. PLAN METAPHORS! BLAST PERTINENT MUSIC! HECK YEAH!

If this is 8-15 teenagers writing a TADC AU full of comedy, drama, ocs, and “whatever seems fun”, FREAKING GO FOR IT, BE DRAMATIC, JUST KEEP THINGS BASICALLY LOGICAL AND MAKE SENSE AND YOU’RE GOOD!

…

…Yeah that’s it for now see y’all

[babycharmander]

(BOOK OF BILL SPOILERS)

I just finished reading The Book of Bill and I am kindof losing my mind over some of this stuff.

I had wondered if Alex Hirsch might make Bill sympathetic in some way and oh boy I was not expecting him to do it so successfully (and without cheapening Bill's character).

So, we learn that Bill was born into a 2D world... as a mutant who can see into the third dimension. He claims he was absolutely loved by all, but when talking about his powers, he mentions under Pyrokinesis:

"Cipher, Cipher, he's insane / Starting fires with his brain." The kids in grade school could be so cruel. But where are they now, huh? WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

So probably not quite as liked as he was letting on. To add to that, there's the silly straw page, which looks like silly nonsense until you decipher some of the codes:

"EYE DOCTOR OF A DIFFERENT KIND / WHO WANTS TO MAKE HIS PATIENTS BLIND" "THE DOCTOR SAYS / THREE SIPS A DAY / WILL MAKE THE VISIONS / GO AWAY"

I wasn't sure what this meant until I saw someone point out... he was seeing a third dimension that no one else could see. His parents probably took him to the eye doctor to try to "fix" him. Which, speaking of his eye doctor, the coded message in the section about human eyeballs says something interesting:

"MY OPTOMETRIST NEVER SAW IT COMING"

It could be a joke given beforehand he's talking about dissecting a human eye, but given the previous hints of medical abuse, I wouldn't put it past him that he tried to get revenge on his eye doctor.

Oh yeah and the whole thing about him setting his entire dimension on fire? Yeah it turns out it was entirely a mistake (he just wanted everyone to understand the third dimension he was seeing so they could be free of only two dimensions), he was so traumatized by it he blacks out when trying to recall it. He deeply, deeply regrets it, and...

"What? Your ENTIRE home dimension? destroyed? How? By what?" Bill looked distant, more distant than I'd ever seen him. "By a monster."

He sees himself as a monster.

And yet, he's not some innocent, misunderstood being. He still revels in causing pain and chaos. He's terrible in general, but becomes incredibly abusive toward Ford.

"YOU'RE MY PROPERTY. DON'T FORGET IT. The hillbilly abandoned you, your father won't want you returning without millions, you have no friends, and if you died out here in the snow, who would even miss you?"

Which... speaking of him and Ford...

Yes, yes, I know people ship them. But like, whether you see their relationship as romantic or platonic (I see it as the latter), there's some interesting parallels to be made here.

Both Bill and Ford are mutants who were mocked for their being different. (Bill was not physically a mutant, as far as we know, but more in the sense of him having vision stronger than that of everyone else in his dimension, and also having special powers. And he does describe himself as a mutant.) Both became social outcasts, separated from their families but still haunted by them (Ford seeing commercials of Stan on TV and running across old photos of him and his brother, Bill being haunted by his family in some form). Neither could return home for one reason or another. Both more powerful than their peers (Ford intellectually, Bill in terms of actual powers). Both of them isolated and alone. (Yes, Bill does have the Henchmaniacs, but they seem like shallow friends, and only really seem to follow him out of a desire to have a place to party.)

Ford was not aware of most of this, aside from knowing that Bill could not go home because his dimension was destroyed. But Bill absolutely saw himself in Ford. There was no other person he tried to use whom he felt a stronger connection to.

And he actually seems to care about Ford--he actually gave him a birthday present, and when Ford didn't like it, he decided to get drunk and party with him instead to make up for it.

And then when Ford realizes what Bill's plan actually is and refuses to go along with it, and fights back no matter what Bill does, Bill completely breaks down.

After living for trillions of years, he met someone who was like him, and that person rejected him.

He goes berserk, wreaking havoc, being caught by the dimensional authority that he's been taunting for most of his life.

And then after dying and being cast out of hell for being too annoying, he winds up faced with the Axolotl, who sends him to therapy, where he continues to break down further, sending out the book in a desperate attempt to find someone, anyone who will help him break loose and wreak havoc once again.

"You have no friends, and if you died ... who would even miss you?"

I don't know, Bill. Who would even miss you?

In short,

[ID: The front and back of one of Bill's Valentines cards. On the front is a black void with Bill Cipher lying down without his hat, gazing blankly upwards, with the text "I DON'T WANT TO DIE ALONE" above him. On the back is a simple white "TO/FROM" in red, with a red outline illustration of Bill spontaneously growing a mouth and eating a realistic, bloody heart. /end ID]

[egophiliac]

still ruminating over Lost In the Book With Spooky Skeletons Part 1, so here's a selection of some of my favorite little bits! (...some more loosely paraphrased than others) (I just feel like Idia has no room to criticize in general, okay)

anyway, I'm sure we're just going to have a fun time celebrating Halloween and nothing bad is going to happen whatsoever! :)

[feelo-fick]

more misc au art... (the last two are unrelated but shh)

GAAAHHHH i promise ive got actual stuff cooking im just scared to post it/motivation to finish art Hard :"D clutching my head... always forever 24/7 thinking about them...

[swan2swan]

The more things change, the more things stay the same, eh, Darius?

[cowardlykrow]

"That is where you are wrong, my boy!"

@ratb4stard3 and I deliver another Cowardlyghostbro's(™) collab ✨💛

[tallyhoot]

[_^

[chanssimping]

ok imagine kakaobi but its an AU where they're both highschool teachers and Kakashi is like a perfectly straight man but he's one of those teachers where all his students are js like "there's no way he has a wife and kids bru" meanwhile Obito is a NEW teacher at the school and nevertheless he seems a lot closer to Kakashi than all the other teachers for some reason and thats when all the students start deviously plotting and investing in these two like "thats suspicious.."

PLEASE let me know if i should drop it... I have the draft and all the chapters planned out on a doc... Is this ao3 worthy?

[cerealboxlore]

Billy Batson related question, as always! How do you think the League would react to Black Adam knowing who the Captain is, especially when they don’t even know? (The relationship between Billy and Teth doesn’t matter, they could be allies or enemies).

Billy Batson related questions are my personal favorites!

The idea of the Justice League not knowing who Captain Marvel's secret identity is always makes me giggle :D it's the layer of mystery and unknown danger that presents itself behind not knowing who the Big Red Cheese is that keeps them on edge sometimes. They admire their friend, but sometimes they do wonder, are they his friend? What is he? An alien? A human? A monster beneath the disguise of a man? Three kobolds in a trenchcoat? Nobody knows... They do wish to get to know their friend better.

Normally, most league members have their secret identities kept, you know, a secret. With the exception that Batman knows, of course. However, even he remains stumped on this mystery. He doesn't enjoy not knowing who Captain Marvel is behind the boy scout smile he often shines, but Batman is determined to find out one day. There's almost some respect for how well the Captain manages to hide his identity and tracks.

Meanwhile, Billy is surprised he's lasted this long with a secret identity. He's working with a braincell, half an oreo cookie, and a dream.

I got sidetracked, ack! Okay, so the relationship (depending on which version of Captain Marvel and Black Adam you are familiar with) is almost always going to be personal. There's their shared relationship with the wizard Shazam, but the one I'm most familiar with and enjoy is Black Adam being the one to have killed Billy's parents. (Also, I appreciate you separating the identity of Black Adam and Teth!)

It would be absolutely amazing and gutwrenching to see Captain Marvel shake hands with a "reformed" Black Adam, possibly during a public setting with the JL in attendance, fully knowing the truth behind his parents murders and still going through with the painful decision to let him go unpunished.

For Billy, this hurts. On a deep level that scars his heart and soul for allowing his parents deaths to go unavenged. For the years of pain, he spent alone on the streets homeless and separated from his twin sister, none of it can be fully healed no matter how hard he tries to forget. Scars fade over time, but to Billy, time is eternity. This pain will follow him for eternity.

However, as Captain Marvel, he understands that there's more to the situation that he can't control, and fighting Black Adam would only make things worse. With the wisdom of Solomon, he knows he can't justify a fight against the ruler of a nation, no matter what. So he just smiles for the camera and shakes the hand of the man who orphaned him.

It is through holding Black Adam's hand that the thought passes through his mind: the hand he's holding right now was once stained with the blood of his parents.

Then, the heroes are given a moment of privacy to be around each other without the public's eyes or ears to interfere, and that's when **** hits the fan.

Captain Marvel is avoiding Black Adam, understandably, but when Black Adam loudly calls out his name among the other heroes, Billy can't help but feel rage boil inside his divine blood.

"William. I thought you knew better than to ignore others when they're trying to talk to you. Such rudeness, I am most glad your parents were not the ones to raise such behavior in you."

Whispers among the league ensues. Was that the Captain's name? Did Black Adam know Captain Marvel on a personal level rather than just a regular hero and nemesis level? Despite the eyes watching them, waiting and prepared to step in case of a fight, the Captain grits his teeth and, through miserable eyes of a broken man, chooses to smile.

"Yeah, they really were good people, Adam. I may not live up to their expectations, but I do live for them. Every day. I suppose I have you to thank for that."

"Your gratitude is most welcome, William. May one day come where you live for Mary and Frederick, as well. They would appreciate you honoring them."

Through a wicked smile, Black Adam chuckles, turning his back to take his leave back to Khandak. Leaving Captain Marvel still smiling all alone, his fists at his side curled with rage, drawing his own divine blood from the intensity of his own strength.

After that, the league would be in all rumors and whispers about Captain Marvel. From the past, they knew that Black Adam was fond of taunting the Captain with strange and mean words during their harrowing battles, but had it all been a personal dig at him all this time? Did Black Adam have a hand in accidentally giving Captain Marvel the motivation to become a hero?

Superheroes like Batman would immediately be looking into any information they learned from this and try to decipher what is the truth behind the Captain. Or should he say, "William," now having a name to the face of the hero of Fawcett. He would also be investigating Black Adam far more closely now, should the reformed man ever step out of line. If he heard right and Black Adam had indeed killed the Captain's parents, then he needed to keep an eye on Captain Marvel, too. In case of a breakdown or instability in emotions.

On the other hand, heroes like the Flash and Superman would take the time to visit the Captain in his city and check on him. They'd be concerned after seeing how pained Captain Marvel was. If a villain like Black Adam knew who the Captain was and specifically chose not to reveal his true identity to the public and just the Justice League, then perhaps there was more to it. Superman knew as well how painful it was to let a guilty man go free because he was deemed "reformed" in the eyes of the public (Lex Luthor, ew).

Overall, there would be a whole range of emotions after finding out Black Adam knows who Captain Marvel is. And I am here for it!

[blackkatdraws]

Hi, I'm back from being sent into the shadowban realm!!

Here's school drawing I did when I was bored in class :3

[nikoforgot]

Can you set me free? Will you take my soul away?

[hooked-on-elvis]

[egophiliac]

something quick to relieve the tension of these final hours ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

close-up, 'cause it got kinda lost in resizing:

[lace4forest]

Need a Ride?

We did this one Stream Today!

We gave him wisps because we thought it would be a good idea to make him a little more spooky! :D

I've been trying to work on my backgrounds, so everything I've been drawing recently has had a background, soo aahh- The background alone will be below!

Choo Choo-

[ask-the-dark-sanses-and-more]

To dust: “how’s your papyrus doing?”

now, at the castle...

SLIGHT JUMPSCARE WARNING NEAR END

thank you for the ask!

nightmare gets stronger with negative emotions.

Ending text transcription:

"YOU. CREATORS. LEAVE THEM BE. They are NOT out-codes."

nobody tell him phantom papyrus is a hallucination

《FIRST》 《PREVIOUS》 《NEXT》

[ocarinnas]

I am still lying today But I'm hoping for the day when these words become true.