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stargazeraldroth · 11 months

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Poor Ink is gonna get separated from Gin no matter what, huh-

Reaper!!! We do need to bring him into this, the poor man is lonely- I just. Forgot about him in this AU until you mentioned him, whoops- But! Yes, he is Absolutely working overtime because of all the shit that’s gone wrong- He’s prooobably not too happy about that, and he’s definitely investigating with the intention of having Words with whoever the hell is responsible for this mess… The big question is when he gets dragged into everything. Hm.

When you think about it, poor Error is probably being knocked for a bit of a loop in this AU, himself… Having to help Ink? Someone else causing more destruction than him? I almost wonder if his attempts to cheer up Ink might also be attempts to cheer himself up, haha.

Yeah, I’m not one to nitpick myself- If I don’t like something, I just leave the page, heh. But it does get very frustrating when it’s always your favorites that are demonized for… No real reason, aside from making the real bad guys look better? Personality swap really is what’s going on there half the time… And! Uuugh I knooowww, why is it always Ink, people??? The poor guy just wants to protect the Multiverse and feel things! People’s insistence on making it because he’s soulless feels… Off, to me, like you said- It isn’t something he has control over, and how determined people are to make his soullessness and subsequent consumption of his paints out to be evil and The Worst Thing Ever is… Well, as someone who struggles with emotions and takes medication, it makes me a bit uncomfortable, myself. I do recall the posts you’re talking about, though! Nothing specific off the top of my head, but they did resonate with me.

I mean, realistically? People don’t care about Reaper and Life (and the Stars, let’s be honest) as much because they don’t have blatantly tragic backstories that they have allowed to completely shape their current sense of self. Nightmare causes a surplus of negativity and despair almost to achieve a sense of revenge for not being as appreciated as Dream, and he pretty much refuses to let himself heal from his trauma as a child. Error is, however much people try and act like FGoD is canon to his story (it isn’t), a psychotic manchild with the vibes of a god complex and the power to back it up, who pretty much loathes everything that isn’t exactly as he wants it, and has been horrendously affected by his extensive isolation in the antivoid and his past issues (whether people think he remembers them or not) as Geno. Reaper and Life, meanwhile, while not always happy with their roles, also notably ARE NOT making it anyone else’s problem- There’s none of the “I can fix them” allure, I think, because, well, there’s nothing to fix. By all accounts, they’re incredibly stable for their situation and have long since adapted to any of the disadvantages coming from it. There’s nothing about how what Nightmare’s Gang and Error get up to would affect the Balance of Life and Death because there isn’t a perceived need to justify horrific actions taken by the Life Cycle duo, because they don’t commit horrific acts- Hell, Reaper resigns himself to an eternity of being touch starved to avoid the possibility of that!

Uuuhhh that got long sorry for the rant but basically- People aren’t as invested in Life and Reaper because they’re aren’t Edgy Enough for them, and also don’t have a need to have their lifestyles justified because they’re ultimately reasonable, stable people. Or something, haha.

Yes! Yes yes yes!!! People are sooo quick to jump on the Stars for “not acknowledging the necessity of negativity and destruction” enough or whatever, but only until it’s convenient for their favs- Then, it becomes a show of how Evil and Awful Ink must be, creating such horrible AUs that have deeply hurt the poor, innocent Bad Guys! Never mind that creating AUs has never once been shown to be something Ink does, and never mind that he only encourages Creators to do exactly that- Create. He doesn’t realistically have any control over what they do with the inspiration he gives them, but nooo, it’s definitely all Ink’s fault. It also definitely can’t be a result of them having free will and making their own choices, and it can’t be their fault that the consequences of their actions have caught up to them. Like, at least make up your mind people! Does Ink force the AUs to stay on a certain path to get “his desired results” or something (no, he doesn’t, that goes against who he is as a concept)? Because last I checked, he isn’t holding a fucking gun to Dust’s head and forcing him to kill his brother. That’s all on Dust himself. Does he somehow write “his desired results” into the codes and scripts of the AUs (no, because he doesn’t make the AUs)? Because if that’s the case and he did create the AUs and their scripts, why make it a possibility for them to hate him for that at all- Why give them the free will to do that, if he cares so much for “his scripts,” and why give them the ability to leave and cause problems in other AUs, disrupting those scripts? And that’s not even getting into how, if they make Dream the bad guy with Ink, they’ll be willing to just conveniently shuffle that aside whenever needed to hate on him for being “too positivity oriented” and not admitted how necessary negativity is… You know. The negativity they just condemned Ink for “creating.” I’m not sure if I’m making sense, I feel like I’m getting too frustrated to be truly coherent, but I definitely agree with you either way-

Don’t worry, I forget about them too (they feel like a very restrictive concept to me and don’t provide a lot of wiggle room, haha), but when I do remember them it’s always because people are vilifying Ink for being “Fate’s Favorite Child,” never mind that, even if an abuser’s favorite isn’t being physically abused and are, in a twisted way, loved, they can still be mentally and emotionally abused- What if Ink’s being infantilized and Fate never lets him make his own choices, removing his ability to truly be his own person and meet his own needs (that she might refuse to acknowledge)? What if she’s highly unstable and prone to emotionally tearing him apart if he does something she doesn’t like, leaving his self esteem in shreds? What if he’s always feeling like he’s walking on egg shells whenever she’s near because he never knows what could set her off, and what she could do when it inevitably happens? What if he never feels safe to express himself? What if she’s engaging in love bombing and guilt tripping and gaslighting, leaving him feeling uneven and unsure of reality? Even if he’s the favorite without being physically hurt, that doesn’t translate to good things, people! His state of being soulless doesn’t (or shouldn’t) diminish the horror that can stem from that position. Hell, if anything, it gives her something to hold over his head- Who’s to say she wouldn’t point out how freakish his soullessness and paints make him, only to, in the same breath, assure him that she won’t judge him like everyone else does? Just… Aaauuuggghhh, it annoys me! It annoys me so much!!!

Also what the FUCK since when has ERROR been a green flag? The hell???

Buddy if you’re bitchy then I’m Mega Bitchy, this stuff just. Gets to me. I’m with you, though, it’s the reason I largely prefer FGoC content- Usually, everyone is (relatively) in character, and Ink gets to keep his genuinely kindhearted bestie who cares about him and his well-being (AKA Dream). Like! Let my boys be friends who care for each other!!!

Long live the paintbrush! And yeah, that would definitely make this even more hellish for poor Ink… A constant reminder of what he sees as him at his worst, with no way to escape and no method of even going to that state himself to avoid processing all of this. He’s definitely overthinking it all and wondering if he was meant to get his paints in the first place- Was he meant to be as statue still as them, once? Was he meant to remain with them, standing silently? Just. He’s suffering so much, and every little feeling is magnified because he’s in the worst possible place he can be in.

Nightmare is sipping a martini and watching the Multiverse go to hell like he’s on vacation- Which, really, he kind of is! And he has Dream to thank for it! Sure, he might’ve wanted to rule the Multiverse, but seeing his do-no-harm, goody-two-shoes, holier-than-thou brother completely betray everything he stands for makes up for not being able to do that anymore very nicely.

🌧️ Rainy Anon 🌧️

RAINY WE'RE BACK IN BUSINESS, OH MY GOD- this is such a delayed response, I'm so sorry. Given how long it's been my responses might be like, complete garbage. But it's gonna be okay, it's fine.

Lol, don't worry Rainy, I forget about Reaper in most of my larger scale AUs too. I don't really focus much on him in general, like in Balanceswap, but I usually explain his absence with "He's busy doing Reaper things". I think it counts as a legitimate explanation. After all, death never stops, right? Maybe Reaper can get involved when the AUs get mass destroyed? Does that still happen in this AU? Like I said, it's been a while- I don't really remember what things were established and what things weren't. But if it does, I think something of that scale would be way too big for him to push off for later.

I can definitely see Error's attempts to cheer Ink up as a double intention, he's trying to cheer himself up and distract himself from the fact that someone's doing his job better than he is. To be fair, I imagine Ink would do something similar if someone were to, say, doa better job at protecting the AUs than him. Ink's just like "Don't think about being replaced, don't think about being replaced"

I feel like a way to make an FGOD story more interesting, while keeping some of the common elements people use, is having Ink be aware of the Balance... but so desensitized to it (and the ways of the Multiverse) that he just can't... sympathize with Error's inner conflict. He knows the Balance exists and how it works, he knows that destruction is a necessary counterpart to creation. The problem comes in the fact that, rather than him being soulless (I really do think people need to be a bit more creative with their reasons as to why Ink's a villain in these stories, aside from being soulless. I think I said this before, but using a condition he has no control over to villainize him seems... icky), he's been around long enough and has witnessed so many things concerning the Balance that he doesn't react to it anymore. Maybe there was a God of Destruction before Error, or a different God filling a different role (for example: Nim was the Guardian of both Positivity AND Negativity prior to creating the Twins), and they did something that essentially made the Balance turn against them and label them as a threat. Something I tend to use a lot for Ink is that, aside from being the Protector, he's kinda like the Balance's vessel. He enacts its will, so to speak. And being the Protector, he has to eliminate threats to the AUs (or the Multiverse), right? And if a fellow God becomes a threat, well... you see where that's going. Instead of making Ink's villainy come solely from a condition that affects how he thinks and behaves, I would have his negative character be a twisted way of trying to PROTECT Error from the inevitable consequences of trying to abandon his role.

Break-up for the wall of text.

Ink's soulless state can still be relevant! I'm not saying we should ignore that entirely. But like I said, being soulless affects how a person thinks and behaves, as seen with Flowey. That being said, being soulless is kinda like an equivalent to mental and/or personality disorders, and we know those don't just automatically make someone a bad person. Experiences have a big impact, too. So we can have his soulless state be influential in how he thinks and acts, but there needs to be MORE to his motives than something so... well, not to get controversial or sound self-righteous, but... stereotypical. If Ink's soulless state was replaced with something else, like an established disorder or condition, I think people would have a bigger issue with so many using that to villainize him.

So! Ink's soulless state makes it difficult for him to sympathize with Error's turmoil because, even with the paints, he still feels emotions differently. In terms of how he thinks, experiences, people. Experiences. Ink's mindset and way of thinking aren't set in stone, just the same as any other character. Using the idea that Ink's been around longer than everyone else has, he's experienced more than they have. Rather than him somehow not knowing the Balance exists, have him know something about the Balance that Error and the others DON'T. And if you wanna use the whole "Staying on script" thing, then give him a reason for it! Sure, maybe it's for his own amusement, but what if... and hear me out, I might sound a little crazy... there are consequences if an AU strays too far from the script?

Oh wait. That would give Ink some rationality and a considerable argument. And we can't have that! He's supposed to be evil incarnate to counter our precious little saint.

I don't want to dominate this ask with FGOD rambles, so I'll just leave it there. Also because I'm getting bored talking about my concept for an FGOD story, and for the record, I have no intention on writing it. It's just a concept for if I did write one while keeping some of the more iconic traditions (is that what they'd be called?) in the fanfics I have read.

I kinda have to disagree with you on this part, Rainy. I get where you're coming from, but out of the Star Sanses, Blue's the only one who doesn't have a tragic backstory. I mean, Ink's backstory is really nothing BUT tragedy. And that tragedy leads to his soulless state (which people villainize to hell and back), which shapes his personality. As for Dream, they're literally pulling the "His trauma was worse than yours" card. Dream's life wasn't perfect either, people. He was overworked by the villagers and emotionally manipulated by them to keep serving them. The twins experienced different forms of abuse and suffering, but they both suffered significantly. And remind you, they were 6. 6 YEARS OLD. And these people expect Dream to respond to the situation with perfect, flawless, god-level rationality and be able to resolve every single problem to have appeared in the world. Like... do you people even hear yourselves? Why are you putting all of the blame for Nightmare's suffering on a 6 YEAR OLD CHILD who was ALSO A VICTIM instead of the ACTUAL VILLAINS, aka the VILLAGERS? The ones who are actually adults and should be thinking rationally and know better? It's like... they're treating Nightmare and Error as these helpless, innocent victims who need to be coddled and can't get so much as a slap on the wrist for their trauma, and then use that same trauma to villainize the other two and give them the death sentence on account of simply existing.

I will agree with you about Reaper and Life, though. I don't know what happens with them tbh.

BUT YES PREACH IT RAINY! PREACH IT! In these AUs, they only care about Destruction and Negativity being able to freely exist until it can't be used to cater to their precious, untouchable favs. And maybe I'm starting to come across as condescending, but if you're going to put these double standards, then CALL THEM OUT ON THEM! From what I've seen, Ink and Dream and co. are always getting called out and criticized for double standards, but they're suddenly okay when Error or Nightmare has them? Also, I brought this up during the other asks about the False FGOD AU, but where's the proof? What's the argument they're using to convince everyone? Because without actual proof, it's all a game of He Said vs She Said. You can't just say "I'm actually the good guy and they're evil!" and expect everyone to just believe you instantly. That's... that's not how it works. They shame Blue and co. for blindly believing Ink, but if they don't blindly believe in Error and co., they're the bad guys for expressing doubt and being wary. Again, double standards. Also, loving how the Murder Trio can literally choose to murder people of their own free will (there are other ways to cause negative feelings), but god forbid Dream raises his voice at Nightmare even slightly, when Dream has completely justified reasons to be pissed with him too.

AGAIN, I DON'T HATE FGOD. I hate how it's frequently executed in this black-and-white vision, waters all the characters down to "Saint" or "Most Evil Person To Ever Be Conceptualized", and hardly has any logic to anyone's actions other than "This person is good and this one's evil". FGOD has so, so, SO much potential that keeps getting wasted because people just won't... branch off from the bare bones! It's an AU, it's a fanfic! Get creative! Get your hands messy! Try out different things!

Also, never ask me about Fate or Destiny. This goes for everyone. I don't know those two, I only know the Creators/Voices. And that's it. They basically fill the same roles regardless. But those are also good points about how Fate is also the real villain in this case, and how she influences and molds Ink into becoming a villain as well. Having Ink as a victim of abuse could be relatable for many people and provide more understanding as to why he acts the way he does. But noo, Ink's Evil Incarnate, he's allowed to have any sympathetic or relatable qualities, and if you do sympathize with him or see his points, you're a villain too!

LMFAO Error's such a red flag it even shows in his eyes. I'm- I'm actually writing a oneshot based on the "Red Flags" song for Errorink.

I gotta agree with you. Maybe I sound biased because Ink is my kin and comfort character, but I feel like FGOC content fleshes out the characters more and gives them dynamics. I actually need to start reading FGOC stuff again, does anyone have any recommendations? Also, Dream is one of the sweetest, genuinely nicest characters in the AU canon. Is it such a crime to let this angel be an angel. Why can't both twins be good, acknowledge that neither of them are perfect, and reconcile. Why do people insist on turning victims of the same abusers against each other.

I like how the conversation about the actual AU gets cleaved in half by our rants about how people portray characters, that's great. So much so that when I get to the part about the actual AU, I'm like "Oh yeah, that's what we're talking about". At least, if Ink was just teleported back to his unfinished AU but didn't get his soul back, he'd eventually be able to just... shut down.

Fucking Nightmare. I love this pompous asshole so damn much.

#anonymous asks #underverse au #utmv au

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lookbluesoup · 2 years

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Look! A Potato!!!

I've been thinking a lot about Lyrha's story post-Endwalker, and how she and X'rhun might proceed in the time after all the canon job quests. And especially about the kid I want them to have some years down the line!

Predictably, Lyrha's got a pretty complicated relationship with the idea of motherhood and being pregnant is a big deal. And of course there is some angsty tension folded into the ordeal

So here's a bunch of rambles about that under the cut.

When she realizes she's pregnant, she's going to be uneasy. Her only significant reference point for this stuff is how the sort of men she was with before X'rhun who definitely did not want to be "saddled" with a kid. She probably saw other girls try and how attempting to involve the dad at all did NOT make them want to stay, did NOT inspire fatherly instincts, it got those girls dumped cold, called whores, etc. Kids did not help you survive in her world

And even though X'rhun is nothing like those men, he and Lyrha prooobably had talked about kids before, and agreed having one on the road wouldn't be a good idea, so she still doesn't anticipate a pleasant reaction to an oops baby and doesn't see any good reason to risk involving him

It is difficult if not impossible for her to imagine herself as a mother. Her history literally kidnapping and selling children into slavery sort of sours the whole idea of her being on the other end of that, having a kid and trying to raise it

Rhun will know she's pregnant because he'll be able to smell the change (kitty cat nose is good for such things!) But she won't… say anything to him. Because she's afraid to risk telling him. When HE brings it up, because, my love why haven't you stated the obvious yet?? do YOU realize you're pregnant??? She will sort of brush over it in a mild panic, tell him 'he doesn't need to worry, she'll deal with it'

Leading him to be like ' :D …. D: Deal with it? So… you don't plan on keeping the baby?'

So Lyrha's gonna be ….. ????? And then they'll actually get to talk about this like adults

And it turns out he wants the baby! He doesn't plan to ditch her over this! Lyrha gets to be floored all over again by how Good Rhun is to her but now suddenly there's a lot of options in front of her and stuff she's not sure she's prepared for

Throughout the pregnancy I don't think she'll be able to see it as her kid. They're very separate from her. It's just Rhun's baby, and she's… proud? to carry something like this for him that he clearly wants, to be able to give him something. That's easier than trying to examine and deal with all of her very complicated feelings about motherhood, her own childhood growing up on slave ships, etc.

And I think she regresses a bit into seeing her body as kind of a tool to maintain affection. Not that she doesn't think she has a choice, or really believes Rhun would hold it against her if she didn't want kids, but this is New and Scary and she'll fall back a bit on the old pattern because that's more familiar. It feels safer, even if she knows she doesn't need to be afraid of losing him

Rhun, on the other hand, will be delighted. Being a dad wasn't something he planned on but this is their child, it's an adventure he's excited to undertake with Lyrha. It's not that he doesn't have his own anxieties about it. But he loves her. And they've been together for years at this point, by now the Ziggurat has been reclaimed as a training ground for red mages, they're very established as a team, and have a rhythm together so the change itself comes at a stable time.

But then... the baby comes much too early. There's complications. Lyrha's probably never going to be good at showing pain because it's just so ingrained in her that revealing you're injured is more dangerous than the injury itself. But this is bad news, her labor has lasted too long without progress, she's bleeding, and Rhun knows her tells. Something's very wrong.

Cue the frantic Linkshell calls to the Scions, and Nahte getting his mother and sisters, including White Mage Tsimh, on the scene. They try to usher Rhun out the room but ofc you could not get him out of there with an army, he's staying by Lyrha's side.

Nahte's clan are very experienced midwives. They end up saving Lyrha and the baby - but only just,

In the immediate aftermath, it's still not clear if either will pull through. They warn Rhun the kid is much too small and frail - as premature as it is, he should be prepared for this to end badly. They have to keep the kid in a little barrier bubble, use aero magic to help keep it breathing.

Rhun is adamant that his son is a fighter, like his mother, he'll pull through. While he waits for Lyrha to wake up, he's holding the kid almost constantly. Talking to him, singing for him.

For Lyrha, it's not until Rhun places that little white-furred potato in her arms for the first time that she understands. Every motherly instinct maxes out at once and suddenly she gets it. This is HER child. She will do anything to protect him. Even hisses when one of her healers comes in to check on things, no you can't touch him

This will be a lot for her. It'll be another moment where Lyrha really feels, on a different level, the weight of her past cruelties because now she can understand what losing something like this might mean, too.

I sort of wonder if this might ultimately also lead to her being brave enough to make a visit to her home tribe, the one she was taken from as a little kid. Maybe actually see her own mother again for the first time since Lyrha was... like seven.

But I think Lyrha will ultimately be a pretty good mom. Not perfect, but she'll have a support system of a lot of genuine friends, a partner she trusts, and she's been through a whole heckofalot in life so she's got a lot of perspective and (hopefully) wisdom to help raise a kid that can navigate a wide and changing world

Some other notes rolling around in my mind about it:

It will be their only child. Lyrha is informed that injuries she's sustained over the years are what caused such complications the first time (and the many miscarriages she's had in the past), and it would be dangerous for her to try again.

Being... a breeding male with his own territory (the Ziggurat) this probably also makes X'rhun Tia into X'rhun Nunh...

Nahte's mother has an uncanny knack for knowing the gender of an unborn child. She tells Lyrha and X'rhun during the pregnancy that it'll be a girl. A male is born and everyone kind of shrugs, well, she can't be right all the time! Twelve years later the kid comes out as transfem.

Lyrha and Rhun are very supportive of their daughter.

The kid is all white-haired like her dad, with silky long fur like Lyrha. She's deaf in one ear, and physically quite frail. Training in Red Magic helps her build strength, but using her body as a catalyst and the swordsmanship aspect of the art have to be undertaken carefully. As a result, most of her studies are more academic than physical in nature.

#wyn gabs #ffxiv #art #my art #x'rhun tia #lyrha #verheart #text #long post

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gorgeousgalatea · 2 years

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There was a YA book I skimmed 7-10 years ago that I can’t for the life of me remember the title or author of, which is a shame because even just skimming it really stayed with me.

It was the blackest of black comedies and the author had a lot of Opinions on performative ethics, particularly elitist rich people who got into green energy and veganism not out of altruism but so they could lord one over on everyone else they continued to treat terribly. And it was not afraid to get brutally mean about it, but that was admittedly what made it so memorable.

So as YA goes, it was about a teenage girl, who is new in town, considering rebelling against her family, and Not Like Other Girls.

Because she comes from a family of cannibals.

I'm fairly certain they didn’t exclusively eat people, between the attention it would draw and the need for a balanced diet. It was a tradition started by her great-grandparents, who had initially reluctantly undertaken it to keep from starving in the slums (and initially feeding on neighbors that had starved to death themselves), but they kept up and refined the practice through the generations and I think mostly saved it for big occasions? It’s definitely the reason they moved. Also her younger brother is prooobably a budding serial killer.

Anyway she falls for the coolest boy in school, who drives a hybrid and is vegetarian, and tries her hand at becoming vegetarian as well in order to impress him, scandalizing her family. But it turns out this boy, who I will call Green Douche not least because I remember none of the names in this book, does these things not out of altruism but in order to get laid, with our heroine being his latest interest because she’s new and mysterious.

And I wish I remember more of how that turned out, I’m sure she grew as a person and learned to love herself (...and cannibalism) but the part I never got over is Green Douche eventually decides she’s too much of a challenge for a girl who’s merely cute and turns his sights to a much hotter, militantly vegan girl who hasn’t fallen for his performative charms yet.

Unlike Green Douche, Militant Vegan’s interest is not performative; it’s not even that she hates meat. She is passionately vegan out of a staunch belief that there is no ethical meat source with the way humanity exploits animals. It’s the cruelty of human consumption that upsets her. She would absolutely eat meat if you could find her a meat source that deserved it but at best meat is the death of an innocent animal and that’s without bringing the industry’s business practices into it! She might even kind of...hate people? Also passionately even? Even Green Douche starts going “wow she’s still really hot but I hope bagging her is worth all this.”

Militant Vegan hears about the girl he quit on and thinks she sounds kind of suspicious (and technically isn’t wrong, our heroine’s family is getting ready for their Big Dinner and her younger brother has been waaaay too enthusiastic about tracking down a prospective victim to the point of attracting a very hapless detective), and he’s still mad she turned him down so he agrees to see if our heroine and her family are up to anything untoward. Many shenanigans happen which I only dimly recall but it ends with our heroine’s younger brother finally cornering that poor detective just as Militant Vegan and Green Douche are getting ready to collect their evidence. Militant Vegan sends Green Douche inside the house to get their proof, and tells him to act quickly and cautiously.

Having found a guy trussed up on this cannibal family’s kitchen table, Green Douche does not manage to be quick or cautious. I’m pretty sure he’s enough of an asshole that he doesn’t actually free the detective or try to help him in any way, but his panic causes enough of a commotion that the detective escapes as the family comes to investigate. And, well, they need a replacement for their main course...

Militant Vegan eventually starts wondering what’s taking him so long and goes into investigate herself, stumbling upon the same twisted tableau of dinner prep now with her would-be boyfriend trussed up to be prepared as the main course.

She is stunned. She is incredulous.

She is absolutely awed.

Because here, finally, she’s found people who were able to realize the one ethically sound meat source.

Anyway the family has to move again after that and Militant Vegan disappears with them and there’s a heavy-handed bit at the end with the heroine at her new school about vegetarian cheat days but mostly what stayed with me was that punchline. Because goddamn if I don’t think about that every time I run across a vegan zealot post on this hellsite.

#don't mind me just nattering on about stuff #cannibalism #books #I said I'd finish the cannibal vegan satire post and unfortunately now I have #idk I just remember this from time to time and had to share it since I don't remember the title :(#if by chance someone does please let me know

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sweetfirebird · 3 years

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To the people who asked if my house was haunted.

Allegedly, sort of.

So. It's old, for the area, but not a fancy house (and the landlord's cheap updates have not helped but anyway.) It's old enough that it was built first, with electricity added in later. Prooobably, from the 1910s, I would say. Possibly earlier but I don't think too much earlier.

This area was a vacation spot for a lot of people then. It was also, in addition to being just a place where people lived, a place on the way to a somewhat infamous campsite where a bunch of wealthy and powerful white men would go (and still go) to "relax" with just each other around. (It's so exhausting having all the power, you guys. So exhausting.) Anyway. Supposedly it's boring there, at least today, but there is a story about one of the early wealthy white powerful dudes being Catholic and feeling SO GUILTY about whatever he did there that he paid for the first church in the area to be built. So.

Anyway, I mention that only because it gives you an idea of the area at the time. There was a railway connecting things from up here in the hills, but it was logging camps, and wealthy people looking for a good time away from 'civilization.'

Allegedly.

Also allegedly. This house was either the town's red light district (or in its small red light district), or "loose women" lived here, or one did, or it was just a little party house, I don't know. But the older locals think of it and refer to it as a house with a reputation for that reason. Ill repute and all that. Maybe that's why it was built, I don't know. (But it is verrry close to the old resort spots so, make of that what you will.)

The other thing people sometimes say about this house is that it's haunted, or magical. (Two separate drunk people informed me of the magic, so also make of that what you will.) My former brother-in-law who is a witch announced it was haunted as well.

It's an old house, with creaky stairs and faulty wiring. So, if you are looking for a rational or scientific explanation, there is one. Yes, there is a stair on the staircase (which has thirteen steps, you are welcome) where if you step on it in just the right way, it sounds like someone is on the step behind you. I don't know why and yes it was terrifying at first and sometimes still is if I've been watching horror movies.)

It's an old house, raised up from the ground because of flooding, and it's not positioned as it should be from years of traffic shaking the ground. It's an old house, and the landlord does/did cheap repairs. So upstairs, the doors will swing closed on their own, very The Haunting of Hill House style.

I have woken once or twice to what sounds like the downstairs closet door being opened and closed rapidly several times. I have also woken to scratching sounds--that were the ravens on the roof.

Oh yeah, there are ravens. It's a town full of ravens. And fog. Atmospheric as fuck.

Things sometimes will start to go slightly wrong, weird plumbing stuff, lights going out, and I will realize the house needs some attention and I will give it some and things calm down. (But it's an old house, and the landlord does cheap repairs.) Sometimes, you smell cigars or cigarettes, but humidity does that in old houses, bringing out smells trapped in the wood.

So is there a ghost, or several ghosts? I don't really believe in them and cannot say, but I am sure to be very polite, or try to be, and honestly, if there are, I am sure they find me very boring.

(And no, oddly enough, I wrote A Little Familiar before moving here. So this was not the inspiration for Elysia)

#personal #and one possible ghost #r. cooper

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space-b33 · 3 years

Note

Listen I HAVE to know, is blushy Tech okay? Is he blushy because he's done something wrong and been shamed? Or because he's been teased? Caught red-handed eating Wrecker's cookies and is embarrassed? Realizing how much he loves somebody. I've been thinking about this piece since I first saw it a couple of hours ago. It's just so expressive! His eyes are so big and expressive and almost scared... Like, I need to know the *story*. Because I've been writing a story in my head. Listen, this piece is great because it evokes emotion and thought abd story. Thank you for sharing it! I've made it my background.

Nervous-Nelly-Blushy-Techy is indeed okay. I didn’t have a specific scenario in mind, but the vibe I had in my head was “he doesn’t know how to proceed and he’s unsure of himself”. The commissioner for this asked for a blushy Tech, and I figured he would only ever do that when logic and reasoning escapes him, when text book definitions don’t necessarily bring him ease and statistics don’t help emotionally even if they make sense logically, and likewise those would be the times he’d be the most afraid too. Obviously this is a more light hearted piece and not a life-and-death scenario, but maybe for him it feels that way. Maybe there is something on his data pad that he read, or maybe he’s desperately trying to find information to help him through whatever he’s going through and that this prooobably has to do with a love-interest. Maybe he’s looked up from his data pad and sees y/n, and goes blank, filling with self-doubt and nervousness. Or maybe it’s something entirely different ;) I’m glad you liked this piece! I love seeing people fill in the blanks!

#tbb tech #thoughts #tech headcanon #tbb #I like to think crosshair is probably watching him and even if he won’t admit it he feels for his brother and starts giving him advice #starts to be a subtle wingman for poor tech

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shut-up-danny-kun · 2 years

Text

Magnus Archives - theoretical film adaptation

Okay, let me begin by admitting that it's probably a bad idea. MAG was made specifically for a podcast format - some things wouldn't even work if we could see what's happening. For example, it would've been practically impossible not to notice that Sasha has been replaced.

But let's say, *Ben Shapiro voice* let's say, for the sake of argument, that Magnus Archives became as popular as Harry Potter and people were demanding a film adaptation. How should one even approach the task?

I’d say the two most crucial elements of the podcast are its horror and its characters (yeah, there’s pretty much nothing else). The characters, if cast well, would not suffer from the visual format at all, so we’re fine on that front. The horror, however...

See, MAG is based on “cosmic horror” or “Lovecraftian horror” - fear of the unknowable, incomprehensible, something that contradicts reality itself. Sure, some of the episodes are about beetle sex, but those aren’t the most plot-relevant or impactful ones. When giving statements, people often struggle to describe what they experienced, resorting to metaphors or analogies, because language doesn’t even have the terms needed to explain the Dread Powers.

The question is - how do you film something you can’t understand by definition? Like, “the sky ate my son”. Sure, CGI is amazing, but don’t you think it would be kind of underwhelming if, like, a giant mouth opened in the sky and ate a dude? Okay, actually, it would be kind of hilarious ngl.

But you get it. No visual tool is better than imagination, and Jonny Sims knows that very well - that’s why he made a podcast, not a show.

If the whole event was shown using special effects, it would be disturbing - but not as scary as the podcast. Remember, the fear comes from not knowing how it could possibly be. Cutting away at the most important moment would not only be disappointing, but also undermine the whole purpose of a film adaptation.

I have two potential solutions to this problem (I have no idea what I’m doing I'm trying to have fun please don’t harass me):

Go full arthouse.

Lighten the tone.

By the first point I mean reject all cinematic norms. I think that in that case, the visuals should only be used to enhance the effect of the narration, sort of like a music video instead of a film. I think it would work if normal life was animated and supernatural stuff would be live action, stop motion or something like that, just to enhance how wrong it all is. A good director could make it really scary, and it would preserve the vibe of the source material, however, most people don't like arthouse - there's a reason why it's not mainstream.

The other option would certainly be more popular. I say if we can see the monster, we can fight the monster! Then we don't need the supernatural elements to be so scary and incomprehensible. MAG could be something more akin to...well, uh, Scooby Doo, where there's an option to actually do something instead of just hoping you get lucky. Yeah, that would kind of undermine one of the main themes of the podcast, but consider how fun it would be. Also, it doesn't mean that it wouldn't be scary, and the beloved characters would still be there.

So, once again - MAG is a podcast and should prooobably stay that way, but we could turn into arthouse or make a monster hunting show)))

Anyway I'm not a director or anything

#tma #the magnus archives #do not archive #takes

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hyenahunt · 3 years

Text

Secret Service: TERRORISM - 4

Writer: Akira

Season: Winter

Characters: Madara, Ibara, Nagisa

Proofreading: bakemonoremy (JP) & Skyress (ENG)

Translation: haranami

Ibara: Correct. Although we may be weak on our own, we can overcome even the greatest of evils once we band together! How wonderful! Long live democracy! Hahaha ☆

Location: A café in Shikoku

Madara: Alllrighty. Now that we’ve got a good grasp on our respective situations, why don’t we start talking about our “enemy”?

Or maybe we should call him “evil itself.” The whole reason why we joined forces was ‘cause we needed to square off against an opponent that we couldn’t take down alone, right?

Ibara: Correct. Although we may be weak on our own, we can overcome even the greatest of evils once we band together! How wonderful! Long live democracy! Hahaha ☆

Nagisa: …From an outsider’s perspective, it seems like you two are the ones who are up to no good.

Madara: Hahaha. You’re acting like this has got nothing to do with you, but I’m preeetty sure this is a conversation you can’t turn a blind eye to. Ain’t that right, Nagisa-san?

Nagisa: ……

Madara: That’s ‘cause the big bad final boss we’re trying to take down is the legendary idol that you look up to like a father…

The man known as the Godfather.

Nagisa: …He’s been on everyone’s lips lately.

…Lately, people have been using “Godfather” far more often than his true name.

…That’s likely because it’s a perfectly fitting nickname. It feels as though my late father is seen as more of a conceptual existence than a human who once had a corporeal body.

…As his son, I can’t help but feel conflicted, though it’s likely that he wished for this to happen.

…If one becomes an abstraction, a god… their existence becomes eternal.

…So long as even a single person continues to remember the idea of them, that is.

Ibara: Yes. However, the generations that follow tend to distort such ideas as they please. The more time passes, the harder it is to ascertain what the person was truly like.

Nagisa: …That’s precisely what happened to the Buddha, Confucius and Jesus Christ.

Madara: Hahaha! You’re making it sound like you actually knew those historical, holy figures. You should prooobably cut that out, unless you want people to think you’ve got a case of chuunibyou!

Nagisa: ……

Madara: It’s true. Everybody who lives on after those famous figures comes up with their own interpretation of ‘em; they conflate reality with their own fantasies. They twist and warp everything till it turns into a myth…

Those famous figures are six feet under now, but they were once flesh and blood just like us — it should be easy to see 'em for who they really were, and yet we make it harder and harder for ourselves.

Ibara: Precisely. That’s what makes it all so troublesome.

My ultimate objective is to extricate the veritable root of all evil — the Godfather — from the idol industry, ridding it of his influence.

Nagisa: …”The root of all evil”? Fufu. Yes, you could call him that.

Ibara: I’d loathe to see someone who’s already long dead continue to have such a strong hold over us. Even if this industry was built by that great man who could even be likened to a god...

At this very moment, in this reality wherein we live, the world around us is changing at a dizzyingly fast pace.

And yet, for how long must we adhere to the ways of the past? At this rate, we won’t be able to keep up with the times.

To put it frankly, the Godfather is a hindrance; his very existence is troublesome. Although we ought to be free, we continue to find ourselves trapped by his legacy from bygone times.

Nagisa: ...Fufu. I believe your personal grudge is one of the main reasons why you feel that way, however.

Ibara: Yes, and what’s wrong with that? I hate him. He’s unpleasant and an eyesore, and that is why I shall destroy him: the person which I consider my “enemy” — “evil itself”!

In order for that to happen, I’m even going so far as to enlist the help of the formidable pawn known as Mikejima-shi.

Madara: Hahaha. “Pawn,” huh? If you want people to be happy about working under you, you miiight wanna watch your language.

You could try “friend” or “family” or “ally” — something like that. That sounds a lot nicer, doesn’t it? Those’re my recommendations.

I hardly see you being this open, though. Maybe you just hate the Godfather so much, you can’t even be bothered to talk all politely anymore?

Nagisa: …Considering Ibara’s position, I think that’s only natural.

Ibara: Oh, I’m terribly sorry for being so foul-mouthed. I simply wasn’t taught my manners. However, don’t you also prefer it when people are frank with you, Mikejima-shi?

Madara: I sure do! If you had tried to manipulate me with that silver tongue of yours instead of opening up…

I would’ve kicked you out by the ass or something and told you to scram!

I’m no soldier. Money or ideology isn’t enough to motivate me, and I don’t want it to be enough either.

Ibara: That’s right. You’re fueled by your feelings of duty and humanity, just like the mobsters of the past.

Madara: Hahaha. I wish you could’ve called me a hero instead.

✦✦✦✦✦

← prev ✦ all ✦ next →

#enstars #enstars translation #ensemble stars #s: secret service #hyenahunttl #era: !!#type: event #ibara saegusa #nagisa ran #madara mikejima

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mallowstep · 3 years

Note

Human Misty AU Reed AU

Feather, you have a tiny defender! I mean I know you have tons of defenders, but Reed really loves you too.

hell yeah she does!

she's obviously got a lot of defenders...but not everyone. i mean there's (grocery store), but tigerstar also had a lot of political support. like, there's...a very good subset of the town that thinks...

okay so it's really hard to argue "tigerstar was right" because well. feathertail is pretty much indisputable evidence. combine that with leopardstar's testimony, and the case for feathertail is pretty much sealed.

mistyfoot on the other hand is a much more polarizing topic. sorry babe. there's a reason they move into the city right after tigerstar. well, okay, part of why is because featherpaw is still going to the hospital a lot for follow-ups and etc., but part of it is because she doesn't want to be around that.

but.

pretty much everyone who knows feathertail is in support of her. for better or for worse, she makes a sympathetic picture. young, disabled, single mother of triplets? hard for people to hate.

anyway, more focused to the family:

yeah! reedpaw adores her. no one is going to talk shit about her around him. that's just mean and rude and wrong.

plus she gives good cuddles.

he's six years old, which means he's a big boy, which means he definitely doesn't sometimes have nightmares that means he wants to sleep with his mom.

(oh! also. so there's a lot of bedrooms in the house. sorry i can't do my uh. sorry i can't do ids rn. also sorry these are for my sake if you have qs let me know. not to scale, obviously.

the house is an open floor plan so some walls aren't actually walls sorry. again this was made so i didn't have to live with this in my head.

sorry most of them don't have bedroom designs. the nursery has a design but frogheart's room doesn't.

this is how i visualize it but i think the angle is wrong. like it should be flipped. also there's an unfinished portion to the basement. there's a door to it from the living room.)

anyway, i think what would happen is that either frogpaw and hawkpaw would share a bedroom or reedpaw would get either stonefur's office or bedroom.

admittedly, stonefur has an office because he works from home. it's not for nothing. also yes his couch has a pillow on it because that's where feathertail takes naps.

um. hold on a sec let me remember where i was going.

oh yeah reedpaw totally ends up in a lil pile between him and feathertail and mistyfoot.

right he adores feathertail and i don't know what tigerstar says but it's pretty damn cruel. prooobably well yeah. probably ableist comment.

(the scale of the kitchen is the most off because the table doesn't even go there but knowing where people sit was more importan to me. rotate it 90 degrees...counterclockwise. yeah. but anyway the whole house is built to b accessible. obvious it's two stories + finished basement which is pretty limiting for feathertail purposes, but if she's having a bad enough day she can't make it up stairs with help, it's probably best if she takes a day off from serious childcare.)

right so reedpaw is enraged. no one talks shit about feathertail.

(naturally feathertail's kids are pissed. they're just older, and have a better understanding of the situation. that said, if tigerstar ever looked like he was going to hurt reedpaw, none of them would hesitate to intervene.)

#mine #human misty au #reed au #ask #anon #reedwhisker #feathertail #no id #sorry

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twinfoxtails · 4 years

Text

“Well, that’s the end of everything! Grats to @nekofantasia for being able to identify Boss, or say, Eri over this past week! For those who missed it, Eri was, in fact, Hatate! @windsofjournalism! Now, let’s take a look at the clues one by one again!”

“… Of course, keep in mind that some of these clues may be useless or just plain wrong. I’m a fairy, remember?~”

“Two are useless, but I’m actually telling the truth for all of it. It’s just so you’d second-guess yourself. Eheheh. Now then.”

#1: The person he’s impersonating is female

“Let’s be real. It’ll be really surprising if he wasn’t, because, you know, kitsunes? Him of all people especially?”

#2: The person smells nice

“This is pretty much the only useless clue in the list. All of them smells fine in their own way, and it’s not like they don’t bath, except some of them-”

#3: The person is actually pretty well-known!

“She writes the KSN, or the Kakashi Spirit News! She’s definitely well-known!”

#4: The person is pro

“And this is where the red herring of Chen being Eri is! All these accusations thrown to her is pretty funny, haha! But no, there’s definitely more than one pro in the area!”

#5: The person has something white in her clothes

“Kind of useless, but not as useless as #2. Most people in Gensokyo have a white theme on their clothes, after all. Sakuya, Reimu, Mokou, even Eirin.”

#6: It isn’t a NSFW blog, your pants are safe

“I can’t exactly give a roadblock to people who don’t do those things, eh?-”

#7: Look not for their writing style, but for their behavior on certain topics!

“Come now, Eri’s a really, REALLY good shapeshifter. Surely you don’t think it’ll be that easy identifying him?”

#8: The person he’s impersonating is good in interrogation as well! Be sure to ask around!

“‘Hatate’ ran around asking around for Valentines questions, didn’t she?~”

#9: The person he’s impersonating is sociable.

“Exactly what it says on the tin!”

#10: That person is right under your nose this entire time!

“Exactly this too! Also, this ALSO deeply further gives Chen the red herring status. Thanks, Chen!”

#11: Try throwing a potato to the person you suspect. That might work. Maybe.

“The most useful advice, change my mind.”

#12: One of the people who has been accused of being Eri is actually right!

“There’s a few people actually going around accusing one another, and I had to hint that someone actually got it right!”

#13: It’s definitely not Sakuya.

“After that knifework, it’s safe to say it really isn’t. Eri can’t ever do that.”

#14: It’s prooobably not Reimu. Probably.

“It’s not Reimu with how emo she is, but I always like making people second guess!”

#15: It might not be Chen either.

“My little red herring, go!”

#16: She has most likely approached you at least once!

“Once again, thanks Chen, for actually approaching multiple people on it! But no, it was, in fact, Hatate!”

#17: It’s probably not Cirno. Don’t worry, Cirno.

“I had to save a fellow fairy from a meltdown.”

#18: He can stand the smell of tofu, but doesn’t hurt to try.

“You wouldn’t go crazy over your favourite food in front of you, right? Eri’s the same. It wouldn’t affect him at all, I’m sure.”

#19: The person he’s impersonating is not a child.

“This is where I drop the ‘red herring’ act on Chen and just say that it’s not her, haha! Then again, Chen being a child is debatable, though...”

#20: Chen is not Eri. She was a red herring. Trust her. In fact, one of the people she has already interrogated is, in fact, Eri.

“This is when I just said it out loud, pretty much!”

#21: It is highly likely this person has already approached you.

“And this is a giant emphasis on Clue #16, to make it REALLY hit home.”

“And there we have it! The entire event! Now I’ll pass the mic over to the mun of the event, Amber! Ba dum tsh-...”

---

((I have to fix your thing about the fourth wall...

But yes, that’s the end of the event. For those who did get themselves involved with the event, thank you so much for the interest. I always wanted to do an event with Eri, and this is what I came up with.

This event is also kind of meant to be an ‘ice-breaker’ kind of event, where even if you get the culprit wrong, you can still make threads and interactions from that, which is why Crescent says ‘no penalty for guessing wrong’.

With emphasis on Clue #7, the reason why I said not to look for writing style, is because Ruler is REALLY NICE in helping me refine my words into something suited for Hatate for the newspaper, with Eri’s intentions intact. I don’t have the password and ID to Ruler’s Hatate blog nor do I plan to ask for it, so he was the one sending asks on my behalf as Eri.

In fact, Ruler deserves equal, if not, more credit because he’s done ALOT into helping with my shenanigans, even tossing ideas here and there.

But yes, THANK YOU FOR PLAYING

P.S: The event’s first draft was actually Crescent sending everyone on a wild goose chase, but I HEAVILY decided against it in the end, and contacted Ruler about whether Eri can loan Hatate for a moment. SO AGAIN, THANKS RULER

#AUTHOR COMMENTARY INVOLVED YES #THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING

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