#sick and twisted… yada yada yada

[filmcel]

Good afternoon graham nation.

[mazzystar24]

There is this one storyline somewhere that I think either I watched somewhere, read somewhere, or just dreamt or thought abt but it’s stuck in my head lately and it’s soooo perfect for buddie, that I must share because I can’t write fanfics but I can tell you guys the ideas my silly little brain comes up with:

Three words

Buck car crash

Bonus points if Chris is in the backseat (we are sick and twisted for the fact that ik yall will agree)

Okay but to the actual idea

So Buck’s car crashes but in the end all of them are fine and obviously the jeep has a lot of sentimental value so when he sees the ruins of it it hits him hard and the mechanic or whoever is like cos it’s an old car and had some problems and the damage is so bad it’s better easier and cheaper for you to just get a new one

Now this part is specifically from the storyline with ambiguous origins not just cos of my hatred toward a certain Thomas but in that story the girl’s (?) bf is like a secret subtle asshole in the dismissive way like he kinda just says like oh the crash could’ve been worse, you should be thankful, it’s just a car, you can buy a new one that’s the same make, all that jazz - so imma honestly say that that reaction tracks for tommy ngl

Okay as I’m writing this I’m realising that storyline may 88% be from a dream so maybe we DO know the origins of it (yes I dream in stories sometimes)

Anyways so buck is like it wouldn’t be the same it wouldn’t have this sentimental thing or this idk sharpie writing or this nail polish stain or this blah blah blah

but ultimately he’s like you know what? okay yeah you’re right and says goodbye to the jeep

And the best friend- Eddie- knows or is there for all this and goes behind Buck’s back and buys the damaged car from the place (I’m just a girl 🎀 is it called a junkyard or do they take it to like a mechanic lot or what?) and fixes up the car in secret and keeps as much of the original pieces as possible and keeps the pieces he can’t salvage to turn into some sort of keepsake like idk cutting parts of the metal and turning it into some sort of trinket (realistic car restoration? Not round here partner not round here🤠)

Bonus points for emotional moment when he has to fix the interior of the car and sees the blood remnants from the crash

Skip forward to a big celebration like Christmas or a birthday or something (birthday is my preference for this plot but Christmas does canonically make buddie gayer so 🤷🏽‍♀️) and the actual boyfriend got a good but generic present like idk a nice sweater (idk what you get boyfriends?) and ofc the bestie has the secret restored car

BUT

The bestie SWAPS WITH THE BOYFRIEND

Big sentimental reaction toward having the car back, thanks exchanged, Eddie looking on yada yada

After the party or maybe just a quiet moment at the party Eddie is chilling outside or whatever and then buck approaches and is like *meaningful look* “thank you” and Eddie is like tryna play it off and be like ah yes ik how much you love sweaters *mental facepalm* and then buck is like🤨 unimpressed cut the bullshit face and he’s like no Thank you™️ (in bold and italics and tm to communicate to you guys the tone) and eddie drops the act and is just like “fuck how did you know?” and then buck is like “I’ve never mentioned half those minor details or their sentimental value to him before” and then Eddie once again tries to play it off and be like “well I helped but it was him” and then cue unimpressed cut the bs look no2 and Eddie gives up and is like you’re welcome (do I need to tell you guys why I’m putting this in bold and italics or can you envision the cow eyes that go with this line?)

*soft smiles from both*

Then the scene literally ends with them sat next to eachother on a bench or wherever they are and chatting abt none sense or maybe over the semantics of actually fixing the car while they do the little head leaning on the shoulder thing

[owlphibiaisthebest15]

Hi guys! I want to talk about a minor problem I have with Amphibia and how they could've been done better. I will not be talking about any of the big problems that people have already complained about, like Sasha and Marcy's lack of screentime, their character arcs, parents, nobody talking about Marcy after "True Colors", yada yada yada, because we don't need another post like that, and I want to keep this overdue rant as short as possible. This is based on my personal opinions along with a few others, but feel free to disagree with me if you want. But with further, let us begin...

Anne almost always gets way too easily forgiven for f*cking up.

Okay! This one may be a hot take because I have never seen another person complain about this. But this has been eating me away for MONTHS, and if no one else is going to say it, then I will. While this occasionally extends to some other characters depending on the episode. The one I want to talk about most is Anne. Now, at the start of the series, Anne was pretty much a jerk with a heart of gold. She was selfish, bratty, lazy, and irresponsible, but she did learn from the mistakes that she made and became a true hero by the end of the series. While some of these flaws and mistakes are not worth talking about, there are still others that are actually worse than what the show's narrative portrays them to be.

They may not be as bad as leading a toad army to invade the capital city, burying the only thing that could get Anne home, or sending your friends to another world on purpose. Anne has still made some pretty questionable decisions, even to the point where they often cross the line.

Here's a list of some of the worst things Anne Boonchuy has ever done from Season 1 and 2:

Breaking Hop Pop's favorite cane that also happens to be a keepsake of his father and grandfather all while making fun of him.

Manipulating Sprig into taking Bessie the family Snail on a Joyride without reading. Which is like someone taking a car out for a spin without a driver's permit.

Forcing Sprig to marry Maddie despite his obvious discomfort for Pizza Dough and later forces him to date Ivy while he's still engaged to Maddie.

Faking being sick to get out of farm duty, which led the Plantars getting sick themselves and even thought they were all going to die from red leg.

Slacking off while she was supposed to be protecting the frozen townsfolk, while aware of what happens to one of them while they're frozen. Which, of course, led to Polly almost getting eaten by a giant weasel.

Causes massive property damage with Polly while on the streets of Newtopia, and later breaks into Newtopia University in hopes of finding a rad college party. The second one was Polly's idea, but Anne had no problem going along with it.

A team effort along with her frog family. Sending a giant chicken to attack Wartwood. Which BTW can create tornadoes, breathe fire, and even turned their loved ones into stone, all because they forgot to buy everyone gifts. Sure, Anne was against the idea, but she still went along with it.

What do characters usually respond with when Anne admits her mess ups?! "It's okay! You're good! What you did was serious, but it doesn't matter that we almost died, as long as you learned your lesson."

Though Anne still at least got a lot better, as the worst things she's done in Season 3 were covering up some major plot points from her parents, robbing a museum to get a clue on how to find a way back to Amphibia, and tricking Blair the Balloonist into flying a hot air balloon. Though, the first one is still a little f*cked up, but she did have selfless reasons for doing these, and she came clean for 2/3 of these.

But still, 90% of this show is just a lighthearted slice of life cartoon, but when it shifts to its dark story driven and plot twisting side, this is where the narrative (and by some extent Anne herself) gets pretty hypocritical. It's pretty much when Anne messes up and lies to other characters. It's a simple error in judgment. But when other main characters such as Sasha, Marcy, and even Hop Pop do the same to her, first they gotta face hell for it, and then they get their redemption arc.

Yes! They did do some serious sh*t, and Anne had a right to be mad at them. But it seems that other characters are just not allowed to even stay mad at Anne when she does pretty similar sh*t. I mean, yes, she does try to make up for it, and yes, she admits what she's done most of the time, and eventually, she does become a better person from them. But so have Hop Pop, Sasha, and Marcy. But again, they didn't get the protagonists treatment. They got hurt and thrown around like ragdolls because of one or two big mistakes, and even that wasn't enough.

While Anne sometimes faces some consequences for her actions, like breaking Hop Pop's heirloom cane with HP giving her dish duty for a month (Cmon man! You should've given her way more than that!), gets banned from an arcade because she threatened to eat newt kids for cutting in line (which is not important), and most importantly, gets stranded in Amphibia after being peer pressured by her friends to shoplift it, all on her 13th birthday. Which I guess was enough for karma itself to feel so bad for her that she will hardly ever worry about facing any lasting consequences for her misdeeds ever again. While karma beats the cr*p out of others who would dare lie and betray our precious protagonists, even when they have sympathetic reasons for doing so.

Speaking of, this leads to me to clarify something that some fans have misinterpreted since the beginning of the series. The flashback scene in the second episode, "Best Fronds," was intended to show where Anne's distorted views on friendship and some of her toxic traits come from. Not to justify every single bad decision Anne has ever made, like what some fans think.

While I'm not gonna say that Anne was just as bad as Sasha before Amphibia, as it does show that Anne had her own personal flaws that she had to get through without depending on her friends. Who were more enabling her flaws than causing them.

However, while the show does try to show that Anne wasn't exactly much better in their friend dynamic than they were. For the reasons I mentioned earlier, it instead paints Anne as the least toxic one or not being toxic at all. With them only making a handful of moments that show that even after their betrayals, Anne still isn't much better than them. But the usual wacky slice of life narrative in her character development episodes downplays the severity of her actions, with Anne only just getting an emotional lesson after nearly getting everyone killed, and some of the said lessons being brought up in a few episodes to test her character or as examples to show others how much she has grown.

Now, I'm going to do some comparisons between Amphibia and The Owl House. While there are several things that Amphibia did better than TOH and about an equal amount of things TOH did better than Amphibia. One of those things that The Owl House did better than Amphibia was the writers treating each and every character fairly. The characters make mistakes and learn from them without the narrative downplaying the seriousness of their mistakes, and it isn't always "Okay! You're forgiven! What you did was serious, but it doesn't matter that we almost died. You learned your lesson, and that's what matters." While it doesn't give other characters the short end of the forgiveness stick for doing similar sh*t. With that, it also makes the character arcs a little bit better, in my opinion.

However, I'm not saying that Anne's character development was bad or that Matt Braly is treating Anne like how some see Alex Hirsch did with Mabel. The show did alright with changing a bratty teenager with flawed views of friendship into a true and selfless hero. All of what I described seems to what TV Tropes would call "Protagonist Centered Morality," and if I'm being honest, but because of that reason, I don't find Anne to be the most appealing character to me. I'm sorry! I know that a lot of you love her, and she's the second most popular character in the show; with the first being Marcy (my favorite), but I don't even dislike her either. I just feel that the narrative could've done better in treating the characters more fairly, like how TOH did with their characters. I really want to like Anne more than I do now, but for what I described, it makes it kinda hard for me to.

That's it for my opinions on this. This was longer than I thought, so if you read it this far or read it at all. You either think that I have a point and should do more of this or my analysis stinks, and I should never speak my dumb mind again. I'll probably see how this goes either way. If anybody else here still cares about this show.

[posttexasstressdisorder]

Nah, their little shitstorm stirrer "incident" smells bad bad bad.

There is MASSIVE behind-the-scenes weapons-grade Fuckery goin' on. Insert Redneck Galadriel speech here. (I can feel it in the yada yada).

Past outrage. Burnt out on outrage. Now it's just a grim smile of smoldering hatred that will not change until this shitshow is over for good.

These motherfuckers want a "holy war" and would be happy to kill us all for their twisted up religious cult's glory. Make no mistake. It's sick. The kind of sick that can only be put down. Completely. So it doesn't spread, and doesn't happen again.

This is what we are up against between now and November. There is an entire week's worth of shit we just went through and another shitshow forecast for the coming week, astrologically speaking.

If you follow and understand what's happening astrologically, all this shit happening makes perfect sense for what's going on in the sky. Shit peaks on Monday and again on Friday. It's gonna be a shitshow.

[sbtorms]

Y'all know how Sunsetter is, like... my Underswap take of sorts? Well, I've recently been working on ideas for an Underfell take of sorts as well, with my own little twists.

Well, it's... kinda an Underfell take. Just a bit different in... a lot of ways.

I made up the name as I'm typing this, because I didn't have a name beforehand.

RED HAZE: Tale Of The Fallen

(or just "Red Haze")

This take has a lot of differences from the usual interpretation, including changing appearances... more than just details and clothing.

(Do note that the main cast would have different names from their Undertale counterparts. But since I can't think of any ideas for now, and also to prevent confusion, I'm just using the original names.)

Unlike in Undertale, there is no barrier keeping monsterkind from going to the surface. Hell, there isn't a mountain at all. Instead, monsterkind resides in a magically imbued forest, with only one way to leave, while entering gets one endlessly lost.

Asgore simply is biding his time, getting the souls of seven humans, to become godlike, and to wipe out humanity. No monster tries to go after Asgore, or even question his methods. Some act this way out of fear of what he could do, others that are for him and for his plan, and then the few that don't care either way.

The "routes" are named somewhat differently from what people usually call Undertale's

Path of Solace - ("Pacifist" Route) Path of Choices - ("Neutral" Routes) Path of Exploit - ("Genocide" Route)

“* You brush aside the agony.”

- this take's replacement for being "filled with determination"

AGONY is a haze that leaks from broken souls, with more of it depending how much negative energy one has when they die. It mentally and physically affects those who breathe it in. Naturally, it opposes the power of Determination, as that power does to it, destroying each other until one remains or there's nothing left. But, with enough focus, perhaps one could use both as one. Such a concept would be a focus of the Path of Exploit, specifically regarding both Undyne and Frisk.

Time for the cast!

Frisk and Chara

Admittedly, I didn't think much besides design-wise for these goobers. It's probably just that Frisk is more tired than usual and Chara was used as a sacrifice to the monsters in a failed attempt at a peace offering by humanity, actually got sick instead of it being planned, and yada-yada Asriel soul absorption and death. ...okay, maybe I thought a little for Chara. But not too much for Frisk.

The shirt patterns here are probably obviously Yumi Nikki inspired, despite the fact that I know nothing about the game itself besides some characters, lol.

The Dreemurrs (Toriel, Asgore, and Asriel)

Similar to canon Underfell, Toriel is what started this entire take concept to begin with. The idea stemmed from "what if the dreemurr family had biblically accurate angel imagery (eyes and wheels) instead of devil imagery (goats, fire, trident, y'know)?" And then I added "black sheep" into that, so that's what I ended up with.

Toriel is very fearful of humans, instead of a caretaker, running away and attacking when cornered. She uses what power she has to keep herself alone, not wanting to be emotionally tied and hurt again. (She's my favorite in the cast :3)

Asgore has been particularly affected by the AGONY of the many fallen children that died by his hand, becoming almost a tyrant, with only some of his original personality fading in and out.

Asriel is... actually not too different from canon Asriel, considering he died before everything really kicked off.

Flowey is a small mass/hivemind of bundled flowers, tied together like a "rat king". Each flower has only small snippets of past memories as Asriel, as well its own "personality", splitting Undertale Flowey’s personality into six pieces. They try to help Frisk get through the area, due to how unsafe it is. Whether they have their own goals remains to be seen.

The Blooks are shadow spirits instead of simple ghosts.

Napstablook is somewhat the same as in Undertale, other than the visual changes. Though, due to the circumstances, they’d have a bit more of an issue with their emotional state, bottling up their feelings, usually until such bursts when they can’t take it anymore.

Mettaton possesses many types of machinery, instead of just his singular body. In a way, this is due to the fact that he cannot decide on a single one.

The Ruins Dummy ghost is instead possessing a box and works as how items travel between boxes throughout the areas.

Maddie (aka "Mad Dummy" or "Mad Mew Mew" in Undertale, Maddie is sorta just a fandom nickname i think) basically acts like canon, but also a Mimic in a way, also possessing a box.

There would also be a secret boss fight against both Mettaton and Maddie, replacing Undertale's "Mad Mew Mew" one, with one where the two are trying to share the same body. The goal is to get the two to get along and work together… or just straight up destroy the body.

The Skelebros are instead lost spirits, seemingly of their original counterparts in some way...

Papyrus's goal is the same as his original, but instead in hopes of finally passing on, instead of joining a "Royal Guard". In reality, he knows he's never gonna pass on, but is in constant denial of such.

Sans, however, seems to have accepted and adapted to his “life”, and just wants to follow after his brother with whatever happens to him. He also likes dark humor, because of course he does.

The "Royal Guard" replacement is instead a cult that Undyne leads (and used to be led by Gerson), with a focus on a so-called prophecy, and using AGONY for what they see as a good thing. While they seem to be against King Asgore, it's more or less that they want him back to how he was before everything happened.

Undyne is a hooded guide throughout Waterfall (or whatever it'd be called in the take). She'd still be a fishlike monster, perhaps siren-like or anglerfish-like... or both. She protects the harmless from a gang of young monsters, led by Monster Kid.

Alphys is still the Royal Scientist, but also some form of background security in a way. She has an abundance of hidden cameras all throughout the Underground. She uses her vision across the areas for many reasons. Blackmail, catching traitors in the act, sometimes just... watching. Some monsters, especially many in the cult, have become evasive enough to miraculously avoid her gaze.

Her appearance is a bit more more based on that one beta design by Tuyoki.

[jasminelee324]

GEGE WHEN I CATCH YOU!!!!!!

jjk rant

biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-

ALERT POSSSIBLE JJK SPOILERS/SPECULATIONS AHEAD!!!!!!!!!

i am nooooot okay. Gege is an actual villain. I have been listening to nothing but deathbed by powfu, some song by Laufey with froyo edits on tiktok (song is Promise, aka "it hurts to be something, it's worse to be nothing with youuuuu), and Mr. Loverman ON REPEAT for THE WHOLLLLLLLLLE MORNING. i HAVENT EVEN HAD MY HEARTBROKEN (recently). FELL ASLEEP AT LIKe 4 am to fluff after the chp spoilers found on tumblr and even awoke to try to write some comforting fluff myself. like fr I don't even fw Gojo that heavy -nananim stans- but this stuff that mangakas are pulling is getting out of freaking hand. the day Yuuji dies I don't want anyone to talk to me bc if I'm not okay right now I have no idea what state I will be in. i have literally been snuggling with my teddies for 1/2 the morning trying not to cry. like seriously eyes were almost getting blurry as I type this and Loverman plays in the background. this is NOT okay. they are fictitious characters so why the actual fudge am I so sad.

and to make matters worse I saw a glimpse of a rumor on tumblr that satorou is dead but there going to put yuuta, who is also apparently dead, in his body to use him as a weapon to fight sukuna who has POSSESSED MEGUMI!!!!!!! And then someone had THE SHEER AUDACITY to create a post with Gojo, Yuuji, and Yuuta smiling on top, and Poor little Megumi curled up in a ball in some domain all by himself. And it read top: "and tell your 'babies' bottom: that I'm your 'baby' too" and after that I had to go to bed bc this is not alright. idk what type of pain Gege is getting off to but this has got to be sick twisted and ILLLEEEEEEEEEGAL. AND MIND YOU I'M NOT EVEN WATCHING THE ANIMEEEEEEEEEEE! Virtually everything Ik ik ik against my will thx to edits and genreal content floating around online and yes ik "the algorithm yada yada" but RIGHT NOW I DO NOT CARE bc this level of international cruelty should not exist. yes ik there are really issues going on and I cry myself to sleep about those other days of the week but rn the wave of grief I'm feeling over all of this screams to be attended to.

literally got a call today and will have to call them back bc if I picked up the phone my voice was gonna sound sore as if I were crying and how THE HEY HEY HEY am I supposed to explain to him that I've been in bed rotting for hours and watching edits of heartbroken lovers that met tragic ends, on the brink of bawling my eyes out over people THAT AREN'T REALLLLL!!! Yeah, I'm in no mood for a psychiatric visit, so yeah no<3

Gege when I Catch you. No bc AOT was one thing. That beach was sad af. but this is a whole other story. in the aot verse there were so. many. characters. There were nations at war, factions, squadrons. they were AT WAR. there were hundreds, thousands, millions, but this is just sick and twisted bc I feel like the jjk storyline is slightly less character dense and so you truly have an opportunity to find a sense of intimacy in the relationships that you have the opportunity of viewing and getting to know and EVERY TIME GEGE BEARS THE DEPTHS OF A CHARACTER'S HEART, WILL, AND SOUL TO THE AUDIENDICE THEY WIND UP DEAD !!!!!! this is no longer ok. call help. SOMEBODY PLS GET HELP. Gege has to be held accountable bc this is getting out of handddddd😭😭😭😭(yes I am aware that I am griping and moaning and that realistically speaking artist reserve every single right to do whatever the heck they want with their art and don't owe anyone ship. A girl is simply in her feelings and will continue to do so until further notice.)

[melishade]

Hi again! I have a spoiler question for Attack on Prime! Maybe you've already answered this, or explained in your AO3 notes, but I wanted to ask this just in case.

SPOILER ALERT!!!!!

So what made you want Eren to still go through with the Rumbling in AoP? I'll admit, I was expecting Unicron to be the big bad. But having it be Eren was a pretty big twist for me, and I was impressed by how you went about that aspect of the original story.

So you are new to this channel, and you probably think that this story started in 2022. It did not. Attack on Prime's official start date was around April 2013, when the first season of the anime came out and the manga was still in the Clash of the Titans arc. I started working on this story over ten years ago on FF.net before going dark in 2019 and remerging in 2022.

And during this time, I decided to go ahead in the manga in order to continue writing the fanfic. I didn't want to remain stagnant for four years waiting for season 2 to drop. And as I continued writing ahead, I got to the major plot twist of humanity not being extinct, the outside world, yada yada. I was curious as to how AOT was going to end, and how I would end the story...

Until we got to chapter 105 after Sasha's death and Eren started laughing like a maniac that I realized that Eren was going to activate the Rumbling, and I was already making my plans of Optimus and the Survey Corps going against the Rumbling, the Autobots arriving in the nick of time, and then Optimus killing Eren. I had a sinking feeling that Isayama was going to have Eren activate the Rumbling, but I just didn't know when. I had the rough ideas for my ending back in 2019 because of chapter 105 in the manga. It was just the middle that was hard to figure out because I didn't know how AOT was going to end.

I've made a bunch of tweeks since then, from scraping the idea that Eren pulled a Lelouch due to the poor delivery Isayama did. It later evolved into providing a more detailed response on why Eren descended into madness. I was also originally keeping the Rumbling to Paradis and not have it hit the mainland to having it wipe out 50% of the population. Primus being able to come into play didn't occur until the Paths got involved (genuinely happy about that one). I also changed Megatron being aware of Eren's plans because Eren told him and trying to stop it because that just would have fucked with Megatron's whole character arc. There were a lot of edits and revisions from the rough draft. Magath was originally supposed to survive and I never thought that I would have Lara play such an integral role in the story.

Also, on top of all of that, I've been so sick and tired of Unicron in TFP. Like I was genuinely annoyed when they brought him back in the Predacons Rising movie in the most convoluted way possible instead of just making Predaking the antagonist of the movie. And since Unicron's physical form is stuck on Earth and his spiritual form is stuck in a lava lamp, I'm not making another asspull when it comes to him. The deity stays where he is. And it's been shown in TFP that dark energon can still bring back the dead without Unicron being directly involved.

I also did explain some of this in the author's notes of AOP at one point, but I don't mind explaining it again

[twis-world]

I have the most weirdly specific crossover I want to do for Twisted Wonderland that has just been rotting in my brain for weeks but I still have no clue how to execute it yet so Imma just blurb

I M A G I N E

Twisted Wonderland x Black Butler

Silver x Phantomhive Bodyguard

NOW HEAR ME OUT

Instead of Yuu our resident Earl of Phantomhive got transported to the magical realm of Twisted Wonderland. Along with him Sebastian and our wonderful reader were dragged, the latter who is also bound by contract (which WILL be explained once I get this shit sorted but I can't just give you all the details just yet). During their time there they deal with overblots, give closure to the different dorms, yada yada yada

BUT WAIT, THERES MORE

Silver and reader who eventually meet and bond over their life long assigned roles, though notice the explicit differences. Silver, who if he ever wanted, is free to defect from his role of a Knight. He doesnt, though, he does it not because he has to but because he wants to. The reader, on the other hand, is completely and utterly bound. There is no free will nor autonomy in their line of work, everything they live and breath for is for the protection of Ciel Phantomhive.

Deciding that this just wont do, Silver decides to show that they are not just their title. There is joy to be found outside of risking their very life for the protection of another. Even Papa Lilia tags along, seeing the obvious fondness his beloved son holds for the outsider.

However, despite what the fairytales may have told, there will not always be a happy ending. Ciel is determined to get home and a certain butler will ensure that his protégé will follow through with their duty when the time comes to return.

YALL SEE THE IDEA???

Idk, once I get my shit together I think it would be pretty sick.

And by god do I need to branch away from this fucking silly little mobile game DAMMIT (I still have so many more ideas...)

[phoenix-downer]

Where I Belong Chapter 4

Styx and Stones: ~2685 words. Kairi, Donald, and Goofy descend to the Underworld to search for Hades in the hopes he’ll know how to find Sora.

Story Info: Sora/Kairi. Starts during the end of KH3/during ReMind and moves into KH4. Kairi POV. Angst, Romance, Fluff.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5

The descent into the Underworld was a series of jagged, zig-zagging steps leading lower and lower into the depths of darkness. Kairi followed behind Donald and Goofy as they carefully wound their way down, and she kept glancing behind them. The light was getting dimmer and dimmer, and she was beginning to wonder if it was such a good idea coming here after all. 

This place was wrong. There was so much pain and suffering and regret here, she could sense it in her bones. The souls of the dead who resided here were not happy, and she hoped they would soon escape their prison.

At long last they reached the final stair and passed through a tall gray door. Her legs were tired and she desperately wanted to rest, like this place was sapping her strength and energy. Before them yawned an enormous cavern hewn out of blue-black stones. The shape of the stones made Kairi sick—they looked like giant twisted mushrooms mixed with swollen boils ready to burst. 

Death, rot, disease, decay. This entire place was opposed to everything she stood for. Up ahead was a dark, spooky river undulating with otherworldly light. Kairi gasped and put a hand over her mouth when she realized the strange light was coming from the souls of the dead. They floated along with the current and wore vacant, glassy expressions on their faces. 

Goofy gulped and raised his shield, and Donald took his staff out, shaking all over. If they were this spooked when they’d already been here before…

“What’s wrong?��� she asked. 

“Things feel different from last time,” Goofy explained. “Gawrsh, I don’t know what it is, but it’s like somethin’ wrong’s in the air.” 

“Yeah,” Donald said. “This place gives me the creeps.” 

“That’s because all of you should be dead,” said a voice from behind them, and the three of them whirled around. A man with ashy skin and flaming blue hair towered above them. His eyes were yellow, and he was dressed in gray and black robes with a pin in the shape of a skull holding his chiton in place. Black smoke emanated off of the hem of his robes, and his mouth full of pointy, sharp teeth was twisted into a hideous smile.

“Hades?” Kairi guessed, and she felt Donald and Goofy flanking her.

“Ding ding ding we have a winner! What’ll it be, Door #1 or Door #2?” he said, dramatically gesturing to two large, sealed circular doors behind him. “Here’s a spoiler: they both lead to your timely demise.”

“None of us will be dying today,” Kairi said through gritted teeth. “We’re looking for someone who’s already dead.” 

“Yeah, where’s Sora?” Donald quacked. 

“You mean the runt? Little shorty? That brat with the Keyblade? Spike? The little half-pint punk himself?”

The three of them nodded. Hades was not fond of Sora given the slew of derogatory nicknames about his height, that much was clear.

“You’re right, he’s dead as a doornail,” Hades said. “Gave up the ghost. Cashed in his chips, bit the dust, kicked the bucket, shuffled off this mortal coil, took his final bow, crossed the River Styx, yada yada yada. What’s it matter to you, huh?” 

Kairi glared at him. It was so tacky to talk about Sora’s death like that. But something about his words stirred a faint memory in her mind. The River Styx, the River Styx…where had she heard about that before?

An unsettling smirk spread across Hades’ face. “Oh, I see how it is. The little pipsqueak had a pipsqueeze, and that would be you.” 

She bristled. Hades was right, but his fast-talking, slick salesman manner was really starting to get on her nerves. 

“Let me guess: you want to bring your little boyfriend back from the dead.”

She hesitated, then nodded. That was what they wanted to do, right? 

“Not gonna happen unless you give me something in return,” he said, then started counting off different options on his long, pointy fingers. “My favorite brand of souvlaki, Wonderboy’s head on a platter, your freedom for all eternity, your soul for the runt’s, front row seats to the sporting event of my choice for the rest of all time, you know, the usual stuff.”

“Kairi, don’t,” Donald said, shaking his head. 

“Remember what Herc and Meg said,” Goofy said. “You can’t trust him.” 

“Hello, standing right here,” Hades said with a chuckle. “Look, do you want my help or not?”

“What’s it going to cost me?”

“Geez Louise, are you deaf or are you dumb? A soul for a soul, do you think I’m running a charity here?” Hades made a small, smokey version of Sora and herself appear. Sora was clearly dead, and then Hades snapped his fingers and Sora revived while she collapsed to the ground. “Say the word, and the deal’s as good as yours.”

“Kairi, no!” Donald and Goofy said in unison. 

She shook her head. “I can’t. Sora wouldn’t want me to be your prisoner for all eternity.” 

Hades waved his hand irritably. “Then find some other hapless god to pester. Your little boyfriend broke a nature taboo, and I would really be sticking a cork in things by resurrecting him. Not saying that I couldn’t do it, but it had better be worth my while, if you catch my drift.” 

“I’m a Princess of Heart, what if I gave you my abilities?”

Hades scratched his chin. “Princess of Heart, now that’s a phrase I haven’t heard in a Peloponnesian Minute. If I recall, I’d need your six other pals as well for it to do me any good.” He looked at her with a gleam in his eye. “Not saying it’s a bad deal, just that it might not be quite enough to bring back Mr. Knight-in-Squeaky Armor. Not unless you rounded up all your little princess friends.” 

Kairi shook her head. “I can’t do that either.” It was one thing to risk her safety and security; it was another to ask the other members of the New Seven Hearts to—

“Then quit wasting my time!” Hades shouted, the blue flame on his head turning yellow as his entire face transformed into a brilliant red. Kairi winced and stumbled back, and Donald and Goofy clung to her on either side and shook like autumn leaves about to fall off a tree.

If Hades wouldn’t help them, then what could they do? His terms just weren’t acceptable, no matter how badly the three of them wanted to see Sora again. Surely there was another way, something, anything—

She glanced at the river behind Hades. What was it about that river…Earlier, he’d said something about how Sora had crossed the River Styx…was that this river?

“I’m cool, I’m fine,” Hades muttered as he smoothed a hand over his head, pacing back and forth.

“Lord Hades?” she asked, trying a different tactic. “That river behind you, is it the Styx?” 

“Hmmm, let’s see,” he said, making a big show of pretending to think. “A river full of dead people, and Little Miss Princess isn’t sure what it is.” He sneered at her. “Of course it’s the Styx, what else would it be?” 

“So once you cross the river, you move from the realm of the living to the realm of the dead?” 

“Yes! Geez Louise, are they teaching the mortals anything about the afterlife these days?” Hades complained as he gave them all a disappointed look, and the tips of his hair were looking a little orange again. 

“We’ve forgotten our roots,” Kairi said, putting on a serious expression. She looked at Donald and Goofy, and they followed her lead. 

“People really don’t respect you or this here Underworld like they should,” Goofy said, taking off his hat and placing it over his heart. “It’s a cryin’ shame, Your Majesty.” 

“They really don’t,” Donald agreed. “I didn’t even know there was a…Sticks River till I came down here.” 

“Yeah, yeah, butter me up why don’t ya,” Hades said, but he seemed calmer now. The flames on his hair were completely back to blue. Kairi’s gaze flickered to the Styx. Its waters were dark and murky, the only light coming from the souls of the dead. Strange objects floated by—an abandoned toy horse, a broken amphora, the haunted, bloodless face of a dead man silently wailing for help. He didn’t look any older than about eighteen. Their eyes met, and Kairi got the sense that this was a trick, that if she tried to help, she’d get pulled in and trapped forever. 

He continued his slow, creepy float past them, staring at her the entire time and wordlessly calling for help. Shivers went down her spine, but she refused to look away until at last he’d disappeared downstream. She couldn’t get his face out of her head. Maybe it wasn’t a trap and she’d just let an innocent man get dragged down to the depths of the Underworld.

“They’re not a very lively crowd, are they?” Hades said, breaking through her thoughts. “But you’ll be a good little girlfriend and save Keyboy’s soul, right?”

Of course saving Sora was the right thing to do. She couldn’t stop thinking about him. Worrying and wondering about where he was. His face, did it look like the dead man’s face now? Was his skin ashy, his eyes dull, his hair a reddish color instead of rich brown? Were his hands cracked, his lips blue, his nails brittle, his joints cold and stiff? He’d been gone for a year and a half. Was he no better than a walking corpse at this point? 

Tears burned in her eyes at the thought. She sensed his heart still existed somewhere, otherwise he wouldn’t have come to her rescue in that dream, but his poor body—what had happened to it?

Even if he was alive and well somewhere in that unreality place, would he be dead if he came back here? Hades hadn’t said anything about his body, just his soul. Maybe Hades could only bring his soul back but his body would either be forever stuck in Quadratum or rot the moment he set foot back here. 

She wiped her eyes. Well, if he couldn’t come back here, then she would go to him. If he was dead in their universe, then she would die to be with him. And together they’d figure out a way to make it home, she was sure of it. 

“Life isn’t fair, is it?” Hades said, putting an arm around her shoulder. She flinched but pasted a smile on her face, and Donald and Goofy scowled at Hades’ complete lack of regard for her personal space. “The little runt is gone before his sixteenth birthday, leaving you, his little chickie-poo, his precious Kairi-cakes, to pick up the pieces. Your story’s a real Greek tragedy, you know that? But it doesn’t have to be if you make a deal with me.”

She thought about his words. Considered them carefully. There was a lot about life and fate she couldn’t control, but this, this she could. “You’re right,” she finally replied. “My story doesn’t have to end in tragedy, and neither does Sora’s. I won’t let that happen.” 

Hades perked up and offered his hand, and she reached towards him as if to shake it. But at the last second, she summoned her Keyblade and cast a powerful Waterga spell that sent him shrieking backwards. His hair was completely doused and his clothes were soaking wet as he ranted and cursed and raged at her.

“Sorry Donald, Goofy,” she called, “but this is the only way to save Sora. Thank you, for everything.” She smiled sadly at them, then took off running.

“Kairi, no!” they shouted, but she had a head start on them. She sprinted to the river with them right at her tail, then took a flying leap. Time seemed to slow down as the waters of the Styx loomed closer and closer. The souls of the dead stared emptily up at her, and she closed her eyes and braced herself for the impact. 

She expected the water to be cold and clammy. She expected the river to make her shiver and freeze the longer she was in it. Instead, the moment she made contact with the water, her entire body felt like it was on fire. A muffled scream escaped her throat, but that just made the burning so much worse. Gasping, she struggled to the surface, but just as she was about to break through, she felt something grab onto her leg. She screamed again and kicked, hard. Panicking, she kicked some more. She couldn’t die here, she couldn’t, she had to make it across. 

Her head broke above the surface, and she gasped for breath, her lungs burning.

“Guess you’re not the brightest lamp in the Agora after all,” Hades called. “You’ll be dead before you can make it to the other side.” 

“Kairi, no!” Donald cried. 

“Hang on,” came Goofy’s voice, “we’ll—”

The souls of the dead grabbed her and dragged her down with them once more. She thrashed and screamed as they pulled her deeper and deeper. Hades was right. She was gonna die here before she got anywhere close to the opposite shore.

No. She couldn’t die here. She just couldn’t. She summoned her Keyblade and called on the light deep within her heart. She thought of Sora, thought of his smiling face as they sat on the paopu tree together just moments before he’d disappeared. The light burst forth from her so powerfully that it pushed back the poor dead souls trying to cling to her. Only one remained, and she made one more strong, firm kick downward to shake it. Free at last, she swam towards the opposite bank like her life depended on it, and indeed her death to save Sora’s life did. 

But a strange thing was happening. The more she swam, the foggier her thoughts became. Her memories floated aimlessly through her mind, disjointed, the people important to her flickering. Panicking, she swam faster, but that just made it worse.

“Kairi, the chains of your memories are coming undone!” came Naminé’s worried voice in her mind. 

I know, Kairi wanted to say. I know, but Sora’s worth it—

A girl with dark hair and blue eyes that looked like Kairi appeared too. “Your connection to us is fading, Kairi, we’re losing you!” 

I’m losing you too, she thought to herself, her throat tightening. But to find Sora she had to lose it all. She kept swimming with strong, firm strokes. 

“Careful, Red, you can’t carry on like this much longer!” a man with fiery red hair cried. But she had to.

“Kairi, come back and finish your training,” a woman with short blue hair and stern but caring eyes commanded, and for a moment Kairi almost listened. But reaching Sora was more important. 

“Kairi! Kairi!” she faintly heard two voices call from the shore she’d jumped off of. 

I’m sorry…I’m sorry…

Green eyes and silver hair flashed through her head. “Kairi, what are you doing? You were supposed to stay safe at home, I promised you’d be okay! What’s Sora gonna say when he—” 

But who was Sora? She couldn’t remember. Why was she in this river anyway? She was tired, she was so tired, everything hurt and her entire body burned and all she wanted to do was sink to the bottom and rest—

“KAIRI!”

Her eyes flew open. That voice, she knew that voice. 

“Don’t you dare die on me, not again, please not again,” the voice begged. “I didn’t die so you would die, I want you to live, you have to live!” 

She smiled faintly. Oh Sora, don’t you see? If I die, then we’ll both have a shot at living again. 

At long last she felt the ground beneath her feet. The river was getting more and more shallow, she was almost free of it, she was almost to the other side—

With the last of her energy, she stepped onto dry ground and collapsed.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Thank you to everyone who liked and reblogged the previous chapter, I really appreciate it! Writing Hades’ dialogue and interactions with the other characters was a lot of fun and provided some levity from the heavier moments in the chapter. 

Aquafolia requested Kairi cross the River Styx to search for Sora to parallel his sacrifice for her, and I also drew on a previous story I’d written to describe Kairi’s experiences (but in that case it was Sora who took a plunge in the river), Lifeline. Shoutout to Liv as well for proofreading this chapter ❤️ 

Thank you for reading! Next week I’ll post the final chapter. 

[possuminnit]

tell me about,, ur,,, OCS!!!!

SORRY I TOOK AGES GETTING TO THIS i wanted to answer it on my pc for typing reasons. umm i know i havent really talked about any of them but since i went on a dive into looking into my neph lore yesterday ill tell you about her!!! (link is art of her lolz)

so baseline info about the mc server i was going to do with irls because thats where she started; we were all making silly characters to play over i think it was summer break just because we could. basic thing is a lot of things would happen to our character, then something very major, then the next day they would wake up in the mc world. so everyone was from a different universe basically. i think each lineup was like... two were aliens/alien-esk but each from different little worlds <- not super sure, one was more from a modern world, one was from a pjo universe, then neph was from a old time-y royal thang. (100% chose that because i had techno;s crown on my skin and wanted an excuse to keep it also because i was very into royal aus when i made her)

OK so basically her story is like. any royal au you'd ever read inthe world. she grew up with her parents heavily disinterested in her, leaving her teachers to deal with her bc they were like who care we just need you to wear the crown one day and rule so we can chill forever. acted decently the same with her brother who is like 4 years younger than her or something. who cares this is not about him !!

her story is a lot of just being ignored and being both understanding and vaguely spiteful over it whatever, she deals, does her school yada yada. one day she ends up getting pissed off after her birthday is ignored once again so he goes to the royal guard and is like hiii! train me :3 and her being prince he was like. yeah ok ? sure. whatever. uerrmm she trains, shes like awesome really, she gets better than the guard over the time its cool its whatever shes just cool like that. Whhile she's training she meets one of the guards, also in training, her name was evelyn . You already know they fall in love 🔥 but its secret they cant really tell about it because of a lot of reasons ehhh whatever. years pass its pretty cool they also get caught a few times but dont Amen. changes on neph's 21st birthday though, her fuckass dad catches them kissing, drags both of them to the court in front of the queen and is like GUESSS WAHT.!

the king and queen order for evelyn to be beheaded. and she is, in that moment, and neph has to watch it. neph is ordered to be exiled but shes like you literally just killed the love of my life <- does some cool quick thang and yanks a sword from a guards hand and starts demolishing the court room. she doesnt get away unscathed obviously, shes a little fucked up and bloody but she does not care she keeps going 🔥anyways she kills her mum and dad, steals her dads crown, then dips. and then yay wow she wakes up in the mc world !!!!!

theres some other things in-between there, and even more about her after the whole dropping into the mc world but ehhh... u get her baseline lore thats ok. i willll say she does fall in love again and is so sick and twisted over it ❤️Sorry neph

[silvermags]

A fic that will probably not be written for quite a while.

So, in honor of yesterday's finale, here's a fanfic idea I had ages ago that actually works better with the new context provided by said finale.

It would start like a run of the mill reacting to the show fic, with the main twist being that it's Ozma and Salem, pre-Ozma's first death. There is of course a certain amount of fun to be had with the two of them going "what the heck is this? Was that my voice? What happened to the magic? What the heck happened to me?" in the earlier volumes, and of course the "No, no no no, please no," when they get to The Lost Fable. The second weirdest thing would be how short it is, with one chapter per volume, maybe less. After they see V9, the mysterious person showing them this comes out, yada yada yada, standard "reacting to the show" fodder.

Except.

The person doing this isn't an author insert.

This is secretly a canon divergence fic! It turns out that the brothers, in order to avoid having to deal with the kinds of consequences they had before leaving the Ever After, made themselves one more creation getting to work on the planet that would one day become Remnant. Someone who can see the future, who can tell them what they should avoid. They called her their little sister, the goddess of fate.

And she showed them the future as we know it, RWBY in all its glory, and they decided that was fine, and went about their lives content with the trajectory of their creations.

Little sister was not happy about this, and so picked out two of the more important mortals, in the hopes that they would pick a future that was slightly less... depressing. I mean, it seems like everything is going to work out fine, but there's a lot of needless suffering that she can prevent with their help, you know?

So Ozma and Salem agree to help prevent that future, namely by making a pact to NOT deal with the gods if they can at all avoid it, try to get Ozma's sickness cured, and be content in the knowledge of an afterlife they will be together in. And maybe track down a door to the Ever After and talk to the cat.

Then the brothers show up, and they are not happy with their sister. At all. They told her to leave the future alone.

"Oh, since when has anyone in this family ever listened and done what they're supposed to?" And little sis flexes her powers that they gave her and makes Oz and Salem's memories tamper-proof.

So the brothers decided they need to get the future back on track. They throw little sis off of Remnant, perform the canon genocide, lay their canon curses on Oz and Salem plus a couple extra to keep the future going the way they say it's supposed to, and make their canon exits.

From here I might continue with some of their time dealing with this, or I might cut to canon timeline. The two of them have been desperately struggling to prevent as much harm as possible while under of the constraints of the compulsions that the brothers left on them. (I'm thinking that Oz is physically incapable of telling anyone about this that doesn't already know, Salem can't leave the grimmlands unless "fate" dictates she must, and anytime "fate" goes too far off script they both feel great pain.) They've been working together whilst putting on the appearance of a bitter war, keeping as many people alive as possible, and waiting for canon timeline to happen, in the hopes that either they can use the portals to reach the ever after and get the tree to take the compulsions off or else that running out of timeline will free them.

They decided not to have their daughters, even though it hurts, compulsion pain and emotional pain both, but they couldn't justify bringing those beautiful, precious girls into the world knowing that the compulsions would force them to kill them.

None of the good guys know about this until The Lost Fable, when Jinn gleefully spills the beans.

(At some point she also says something along the lines of "And although they could never have the daughters fate promised them, they found solace in their students and followers, who they loved just as ardently." while showing visions of Salem and Oz with various canon characters including all of team RWBY, Cinder, both the Rainarts, Qrow, etc, etc. Salem is a great mom who became a serial kidnapper to avoid becoming a serial killer in this continuity.)

Volumes 7 and 8 appear to go more or less as canon on the surface, but underneath it's a carefully calculated dance, following the strictures of "fate" as closely as needed while avoiding loss of life wherever possible. RWBYJN go into the void, and so do Oz and Salem.

They arrive in the Ever After to discover that Tree Mom rescued Little Sister when she got thrown into the void, Little Sis and Curious Cat are besties, and Little Sis is very on board with cleaning up her big brothers' messes.

And that's all I had. Heh.

[pleasantspark]

To make it clear, the ARG is NOT like Welcome Home, I'm sick and tired of people saying I stole the concept or whatever, NO, I did not get bullied out of the fandom, and NO its not because of the Fangame. People keep assuming I was profiting of the work, when there was NO signs of me asking for money for the fangame in the first place. I asked for money to pay any coders willing to code with me, I abandoned the Game after Clown said no, they were in fact nice in their response, and wasn't too harsh with me, and said they didn't make it clear, as for the ARG itself, I made it clear I didn't copy Welcome Home. it was a previous project of a game I plan to have but I repurposed into this ARG. Right now, I'm not in the correct headspace and I will be taking a time to learn from my stupid mistakes, it's clear I can't really listen to directions and I need time to myself.

A lot of things is going on currently which caused me to make stupid decisions. it's all on me yes, but sometimes my brain can't catch up to what I'm doing before it's too late, and it ends up with me making stupid decisions that gets me reprimanded, I don't do well under pressure and its clear I can't even be in certain spaces if I keep acting out like this. Shit like the Earn it Act, Worrying about where I am going to live and all that is preventing me from doing what's right. I am not saying it as an excuse its just shitty things are happening behind the scenes and I need to sort all that out.

Steampunkochi was an ARG supposed to keep the game project I had in mind alive but... It ended up with people linking it to Welcome Home, accusing me of abhorrent shit, and making a big fat fuss about it when all I wanted is to keep an old project from 2022 alive.

And about the happiness of others. You all say I don't do shit for other people, when I fucking did I had to deal with someone's ex harassing them because they were scared to speak up, I had given people advice time and time again, and all I get is unwarrented asks telling me how pathetic and mentally ill I am, yes, I am mentally ill, yes I do all sorts of bad shit. But just because I do doesn't make me a fucking terrible person.

I'm tired of this, all I wanted to do is help others and develop a space and fandom where people can be themselves, and it appears that I can't because my ARG is too similar to Welcome Home, if anything unlike Welcome Home, the ARG I have isn't a TV Show, It isn't a puppet show, it's a FUCKING CANNED game that is supposed to be a farming simulator that had some weird shit going on.

But NO, people have to say "MUH MUH ITS JUST LIKE WELCOME HOME, YOU FUCKING COPYCAT!!!!1111!!!!!11!11!111!!!!!" What part of IT'S NOT FUCKING WELCOME HOME DO YOU UNDERSTAND? THESE ARE THE SAME FANBRATS THAT HARASSED CLOWN INTO MAKING IT AN ARG!

I'm sick of people telling me what to do with my OWN creations, I work hard on shit, I take the critcism on the nose BECAUSE IT'S WHAT I AM SUPPOSED TO DO! I can't defend myself without it seeming like I'm playing the victim, I can't explain my actions because I. AM. ALWAYS. LIKE. THIS.

OH GET BETTER, OH DO THIS, OH DO THAT, TAKE A BREAK!

HOW THE FUCK CAN I TAKE A FUCKING BREAK!? I HAVE NO PLACE TO GO, I HAVE NO FUCKING LIFE OUTSIDE THE INTERNET, WHO ARE YOU TO DICTATE WHAT I DO?

In fact, all you mfers who say "Well I have yada yada yada and I don't do yada yada yada. And I am fine., what makes YOU different, if I can change, you can too!"

WELL THATS EASY FOR YOU TO SAY, WHEN YOU CHANGE, YOU CHANGE FOR THE BETTER, WHEN I CHANGE... I CHANGE FOR THE WORSE.

I KEEP GETTING ASSHOLES IN MY DMS AND INBOXES TELLING ME I DESERVE TO BE RAPED AND ABUSED, ALL BECAUSE OF MY SHITTY BEHAVIOR I CAN'T SEEM TO HANDLE, I'M A HUMAN BEING A MAKE TONS OF MISTAKES I EXPECT PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND THAT, BUT NO, I MAKE SO MANY MISTAKES THAT PEOPLE ASSUME I'M DOING SHIT ON PURPOSE.

Here's what we're NOT going to do.

Do not twist my words, I did not ask for donations for the GAME, I specifically stated it was to PAY for coders.

Do NOT equate my work to Clown's I take inspirations from all sources, do whatever, compare it to DDLC, compare it to If You See This Shut Off The Game, ANYTHING, but not Welcome Home.

I stopped developing the game via CLOWN'S wish, just because I stopped doesn't mean I was bullied out of it, I respect others wishes unlike most of you.

4. What I do in my spare business doesn't involve you, if I say stop or leave me alone, then that's final.

5. I don't have to stand for this shit, if I say, "Don't do that" then that's that.

6. For you fanbrats - Just because something LOOKS similar to Welcome Home, no, no its not. It's fucking not. I told each and every one of you, most of my inspirations are from other medias. And yet, you all insist, "FONT, AND CHARACTERS? STEALING FROM CLOWN OH! OH! JAIL FOR PLEASENTSPARK! JAIL FOR 1000 YEARS!" ALL OF YOU HAVE FAILED TO GIVE ME ONE THING THAT RESEMBLES IT. BEFORE WELCOME HOME, I WAS INTERESTED IN MAKING ARGS, I JUST HAD BAD TIMING.

7. If you're here just to start shit, go fuck yourselves, I had enough of this shit, and I'm at my breaking point.

Okay, that's all, Steampunkochi will be worked on soon.

[lovedabishiga]

Rambles About From the Seeds of the Heart

Extra Notes of the DabiShiga - From the Seeds of the Heart fic. Read (but please see warnings/tags first) here

1. What the fuck did I just read?

A romantic story of a sorcerer courting a demon c: well just kidding, it’s more complicated than that!

The story is just a snippet of Tomura’s road to becoming the next demon King and squashing the Nine Kingdoms protected by All Might - the Hero of Light, wielding the power from the Angels.

It’s set when Overhaul killed Magne, and so Tomura is going to en-act his revenge, not knowing it is going to be reveal his true identity, which is - dun, dun, dun - he actually isn’t really a demon. He’s more like a Kurogiri, a demon made of artificial circumstances. But instead of being turned into a demon from a corpse, Tomura turned into a demon by eating a piece of All For One’s heart!

2. So, what’s up with Tomura?

Tomura is basically a human-turned-demon. An artificial demon, except he isn’t really dead. I have a backstory planned for him where he actually summoned All For One, thinking he had summoned the soul of Shimura Nana instead, to request that his father stopped abusing him. But All For One twisted this innocent wish and made Tomura kill his entire family, yada, yada, and All For One forcefed a piece of his heart to Tomura. The end!

It’s all hinted (well, I tried to) in the contradictions laid out by All For One in his story. He says that demons cannot be ‘killed,’ that they will return as dust in the Underworld only to be reformed again. But this does not make sense when All For One tells how Tomura is ‘born’ or ‘reborn’ from All For One’s heart.

I also hinted it in the way Tomura expresses the same ‘flaws’ as Kurogiri, which is basically the human traits they both share: basically wanting to be surrounded by people, being selfless, being protecting of their loved ones, etc. etc. There honestly was a snippet in the story where Tomura, after eating Overhaul’s soul, got sick, and the League were all scrambling to help him, already used to his passing sickness, but I cut it ‘cause it was getting too much of a lore dump. I had to tell myself multiple times that this story is basically an excuse to show Dabi’s breeding kink, not some exposition to a convoluted AU.

3. What’s up with Dabi?

Since this is Tomura’s story, I didn’t really dabble much into the backstory that I have planned for Dabi. Not that I have a solid backstory for him. Basically, he is actually the first-born prince of the one of the 9 kingdoms, and he is well, basically a zombie.

An accident happened which caused Dabi’s death, and so, Rei, who can’t bear losing her son, brings him back to life with necromancy in the expense of her sanity and well, Dabi’s, ‘cause it’s traumatic when he learns that father basically will skip him in the line of succession so that the ‘better’ son, Shouto, will inherit the throne.

Dabi wants to have a kid with Tomura for the only reason that he wants to have a legacy better than Shouto taken in a literal sense. But Dabi also wants Tomura for himself.

I wanted to express that more in Dabi’s small part of the story, but I was running out of time, and I felt like it would derail the focus of the story on Tomura’s identity.

I did enjoy writing the twist about Kurogiri. Where Tomura thinks Kurogiri was being overprotective cause Dabi cannot be trusted, etc. etc. and Tomura is looking at Dabi with rose-tinted glasses. But with Dabi’s side of the story, Kurogiri is desperate to keep Dabi away from Tomura because Dabi knows the truth behind Tomura, and Kurogiri just wants to protect Tomura as much as he can.

4. Is this an Eri fic?

Yes and no. Yes, because I want to write an Eri fic so bad. No, because Eri only appears for like 4 paragraphs.

Eri is basically like Tomura. She is a human-turned-demon. I don’t have anything much planned for her besides that, and that she’ll bond with Tomura over them being human-turned-demons and were forced into the role. But I do like thinking of them snacking on pomegranates together, and they make Dabi fetch them pomegranates while they laze about like cats in the sun.

5. There is a lot of pomegranates in the story

Yeah! Basically, to demons, human flesh tastes like fruit. But since Tomura is an artificial demon, he tastes the how humans taste blood first - iron, copper, something metal - before it slowly turns to the flavor of how demons would taste it - fruits.

I like the symbolism of pomegranates because they look like a heart, it’s portrayed in a similar fashion in many famous paintings too.

Though I actually have never tasted a pomegranate before. Have I seen one in real life? Yes. They actually look very messy to eat.

6. You know that the “Law of Equivalent Exchange” comes from FMA, right?

Yeah lol. I thought it was like one of the three laws of force or something then when I looked it up, it was like, oh it’s from FMA. I can’t believe that quote from FMA sticks in my head far longer than any of my Physics classes (this is why I did not take science as my uni degree)

7. I sense that you want to ramble about Yoichi

I actually have a quote that I really like but it never appeared in the story cause it felt out of touch and it was:

“Demons don’t have souls,” All For One explains when Tomura asked about it. “There is only the Underworld for us. We do not have the concept of ‘death’ that humans do. We merely return to the depths when we are destroyed, steadily taking shape and reformed. That is what separates true demons from Ujiko’s creations.”

Tomura nods but does not fully understand. “What about angels, then?”

Tomura doesn’t miss the way Kurogiri instantly warps himself to Tomura’s side, a tight hand clasped on the boy’s shoulder, as his Master suddenly turns somber, answering in a silence of a wisp. “They get stolen.”

It’s basically a hint of what happened to Yoichi XD like demons, angels don’t die. They just return to the heavens as dust, get reformed, and bam! good as new. But that’s not what happened to Yoichi. He basically sacrificed himself and turned to an anti-demon power - One For All - which is what All Might and the previous holders use against AFO.

AFO calls it ‘stealing’ because he thinks that Yoichi was taken and used by humans to defeat him. He calls All Might an ‘angel posing human’ because All Might is used Yoichi’s power.

Yoichi isn’t dead dead per se. He is still there, just not reformed. So he is just a bundle of energy within All Might (to be transferred to Izuku). AFO hopes that he can ‘free’ Yoichi and reform him into his original form so that they would be together again.

8. Why did AFO turn himself to a demon then?

I don’t know. Man does what he wants, I guess.

9. Will you continue this story?

Maybe. Right now I’m doing oneshots because I know it is what I can finish. And I have more ideas that I want to write for the existing TouShiga AUs that I wrote plus this TouTen AU with side one-sided Shigahawks that I really really want to write. But we shall see!!

10. What will you be writing next?

Who wants to see some TouTen?

[cherishedhope]

Can I request relationship headcanons for Sebek from twisted wonderland? Love him.

A/N: Ofc!! Thank you for the request~! You have good taste. He’s so- ajanshdh 😭❤️ (esp w his hair down) Genre: Fluff! Disclaimers: Potential ooc, not proofread. I’m not too good at writing Sebek despite how much I love him so apologies in advance 😊

— Wow, no one saw this coming. No one. He actually managed to score someone gorgeous. (aka you)

— He's still extremely loud, but if he ever sees you cover your ears or wince because of how obnoxious he is, he’ll lower his voice by just a bit. Does he realize he’s doing that? No. No he doesn’t. Or does he? You’ll never know. Just don’t call him out on it or he’ll start yelling and calling you delusional.

— It took about a week before he could ask you out on a date. Every time he approached you with the intent of inviting you out, he immediately changed the subject and instead about how wonderful his Wakasama is!! When he does finally get the courage to ask you to go somewhere with him, it comes out as more of a demand rather than an invitation. But as time goes on, he eventually learns how to properly ask you out.

— Not into pda. At all. The most he’s going to do in public is hold hands with you, and even doing that is going to take loads of persuading. He does NOT want Malleus to see him goofing off. But if you manage to catch him off guard and ambush him with affection, he can’t exactly do much about it. (other than lecture you but it is SO worth it.)

— I can’t see him giving that much physical affection (privately) in the beginning of your relationship. When you hug him, he is as stiff as a board. If you kiss him, well, he has no experience so have fun. But it gets better later on down the road.

— Okay, so, while he does see Malleus as his number one priority, you are a very VERY close second. If someone dares to spoil your name in front of him he is ripping a new one into the not-so-very-poor soul. How DARE they insult [name]! Don’t you know that they….!! yada yada yada yada. He is defending you as if someone insulted his master.

— Similarly to how he’ll make random comments about how great Malleus is, Sebek will do the same with you. He will, with nothing but absolute pride, unintentionally boast about how much better of a mortal you are than everyone else and that you are superior to them in every way! The first years are sick of it as are the other students.

— Dating him requires a lot of patience. But all that hard work will pay off. He truly does love you, and he tries to show that he does with acts of service. If something looks too heavy for you to carry, he is snatching whatever you’re holding and handling it very carefully as not to drop it and disappoint you.

— He is so grateful to have someone like you as his significant other. He may not express it as often to you directly as he should, but Sebek truly does cherish you.

[definitelyimportantpost]

Now, you might be thinking:

"Dip that's not a Troubadour why does she look like that??"

(Warning: Large amounts of text below, abandon all hope ye who enter here, yada yada yada)

That's because she's not a Troubadour! I lied! Lyris is actually a Hexer! And a Runemaster! But more than that, she's an experienced artist unlike a certain somebody.

So what exactly does this mean?

Well, although within the confines of the EOU's class selection, her gameplay role of supporting the party with buffs is that of a Troubadour, Lyris, rather than using the inspiring power of song and dance, uses a mixture of Cursemaking, Runemastery, and, indeed, her own art to empower her allies. Thus, I've taken to calling her a Pictomancer.

Now what exactly does that mean?

To explain, I ought to use an example. Take the humble Warrior Song, an emboldening bop which bolsters the abilities of a Troubadour's fellow battlers. While Lyris may use a skill of the same name, my sick and twisted cranium envisions vastly different goings-on than an especially strengthening song being sung.

See, the book Lyris holds in the image above is one of her sketchbooks. Within this specific textbook are various depictions of various monsters which reside within Etria's own Yggdrasil labyrinth (you're gonna have to use your imagination because I sure as hell am not drawing them). The particular drawing which concerns Lyris' recreation of Warrior Song's effects is her drawing of the Forest Wolf.

The Forest Wolf has a skill called Evil Cry, which raises the attack strength of all of its allies. Rather similar to Warrior Song, eh?

Though Lyris could hardly hope to muster a howl with such a helpful effect, she doesn't need to.

Though her Cursemaking abilities, Lyris can conjure up an illusory image of this Forest Wolf from her sketchbook, which will use its own Evil Cry to empower her comrades. But that's not the end of it—though the illusions she creates can mimic the use of a skill, its her manipulation of runic energies through Runemastery while the small spectacle occurs that bears most of the true supportive effect.

Does this mean that the illusions Lyris creates are near useless? Yes! Yes it does! But she's a sucker for theatrics (watch her summon an illusory double of one of dragon trio for Flame/Frost/Shock Fantasia), so she insists on their presence.

This combination of Cursemaking, Runemastery, and her own artworks is what forms the crux of Lyris' role in battle.

And it also explains why she looks like that! I did my best to incorporate aspects of both Runemasters and Hexers into Lyris' design. See the dress she's wearing? The same kind that Runemasters wear.

(Transparent, high-res EO4 character portraits are about as easy to come by as... something really hard to come by, so I ripped this one straight from the game. What can ya do? Incidentally, this specific portrait is another one of my EOCs. Everybody say "hi Libby!" I'll get to her someday.)

That chain and string around her waist? Quite similar to that which Hexers bind themselves up with. And that eye-shaped emblem on her sketchbook? The same one that Hexers wear above their bells.

(This is also the portrait Lyris uses in-game. You can sorta see where she got the hair from.)

And though it's easy to overlook, she wears a Hexer-style leg-cuff on her left leg.

(This portrait just so happens to be the one used by Isabell, my EO2U "Hexer!" Her class is a similar deal to Lyris'. I'll get to her in time.)

Only the one, though, not both. She can't levitate like full-time Hexers, and is thus hardly of the mind to bind both her legs together like one.

Lastly, Lyris has a sword! That sword in particular is my take on the Vorpal, which is the sword you get from the Reaping Shade's conditional drop (kill while arms bound) in the Emerald Grove. While the sword sees little use, Lyris keeps it on her person, per the insistence of her twin sister Katris—the EOU party's Protector—that she have something to defend herself with in any scenario wherein Katris is unable to.

Why'd I choose the Vorpal specifically?

No real reason, besides it being what she has equipped right now. It comes with +20 HP and +3 Agility! It's a damn good stat stick, if nothing else.

Okay I think that's all. Bye bye.

Now THIS is more like it! My Etrian Odyssey Untold Troubadour, Lyris Harper.

[cirusthecitrus]

I had to go back to s4 finale (i was looking for some art references) and rewatch Hordak's "reunion" with Prime for the 100th time

And now I once again can't stop thinking about this one little thing HP does in this scene, and then does it again but to Glimmer in s5

He got down on one knee beside them, looking into their eyes and touching them in some way. It's such a minor insignificant detail, but I still want to talk about it

Horde Prime always tries to appear bigger, above everyone else. He’s above in the sky, he’s above on his throne, he’s towering and looming over people when he wants to intimidate his opponents and yada yada.

But here he instead gets “on their level”  to appear more welcoming and unthreatening, to make them let their guard down. But it is also a power move, a humiliating and mocking gesture even. HP talks down to them, as if he was talking to a child

And speaking of children - you see, this move he does is a legit parenting technique and it makes me SICK

This trick can be used in many situations, but it is particularly useful when a child is not listening to what you're saying (and not because they're being naughty or smth, they just can't focus) and therefore doesn’t understand what you want from them. So instead of repeating and shouting the same thing over and over again and only making everyone stressed a parent/caretaker sits down before them (so their eyes are leveled with the eyes of the child) and sometimes touches their shoulder or holds their hand. This way the child fully focuses on you and it helps them to actually listen, since now they only see, hear and feel you

And here Prime is trying to do the same thing - to make people focus on him, listen to him and do as he says. It’s more obvious with Glimmer - he wants to persuade her to help him find She-Ra and activate the Heart without outright threatening or forcing her (cause it's not in his style). Plus he literally sees her as a dumb lost child, and she kinda is (a lost child, not dumb!) especially compared to this ancient mummy

But with Hordak it’s more... subtle. HP tries to take up as much space as possible, so for Hordak there’s nothing else in the room - no pain, no distracting thoughts, no Glimmer, no Etheria, no Hordak - just Prime, his voice and touch. HP’s goal here is to make Hordak listen and focus solely on his brother, to make it easier to get into his head and read his thoughts

And in Hordak's case this move is also so SO cruel. Because it's so personal. Because to Hordak Horde Prime is a brother, his creator/god AND the closest thing Hordak had to a father figure. He’s basically Prime’s child, even though he popped up from the tank, already in an adult body with a fully developed brain*

And it was so unnecessary for HP to even get out of his chair, he could order other clones to bring Hordak to him and then order Hordak to stand up despite his pain and get closer (basically yell until "the child" does what he wants). And yet he does this. He gets closer, he kneels down, he cups Hordak's face very so gently, he looks him in the eyes as if he's actually looking at him and not through him. And the fact that in this moment HP literally does what parents do is just-

Look at this face. Right before and after Prime reads his mind. Look at this baby

Yeah he's very confused and scared but he never breaks the eye contact, he's fully focused on Prime, he listens to him so so carefully. He looks at his brother like nothing else exists, like Horde Prime is the center of his universe. And in that moment, he was. HP made sure of that. He wanted for Hordak to not only remember his place, but also remember where Prime's place should always be in his mind and heart

It's so sick and twisted it's been over 2 years and I still can't get over it and i wanna throw up aaaAAAaaaAAA

*yes i'm too very tired of Hordak antis dismissing his trauma and downplaying it to "daddy issues", but like... daddy issues are in fact still there, they just go as a bonus to everything else lol