#so. about to repurpose that :) for my own evil ends :)

[rearranging-deck-chairs]

yeah that sums it up

[thestargayzingheroine]

Why A Better World is my favourite "Evil Superman" Story

So in the last two decades or so, there's been a notable amount of dark and edgy stories around superheroes turning evil and whatnot and most of them really love to do their own expies of Superman. I've never been the biggest fans of these kinds of stories.

And then there's the actual stories of Superman and other heroes being outright villains or at least just massive assholes. In recent years, this has been largely thanks to the influence of media like the Injustice Games or the Synderverse DC movies. It's... honestly become a trope I am tired of.

Because you know the damnest thing? There is a story that does all these ideas really damn well and arguably better. It is the two-parter from the Justice League cartoon "A Better World".

Now, I am aware how most people favouring the DCAU has become a bit of toxic nostalgia at times and it's something I myself am trying to work through a bit. But in this case, I do think it's the best idea of doing an evil DC story, much better and more interesting than the Crime Syndicate, who if you ask me are not very interesting, though I do remember liking the Crisis On Two Earths movie a lot, which funny enough, was originally going to be this two parter before various things led to it being canned and then later repurposed as a direct to DVD movie.

Anyway, my main crux of why I love this story is simple... The entire Justice League turns evil... and the reasons are very much in-character for all of them. You look at the scene with Justice Lord Batman for example.

As fucking evil as the Justice Lords are... Batman can't quite fully hate his alternate self for his reason for taking part in all this being basically one-step further than his own mission, that no child should ever go through what he did. Hell, I recall reading that the reason the writers had Batman drop his batarang at the end of this scene... was because he genuinely wouldn't be able to come up with an argument to that.

Superman likewise kills Lex Luthor because yeah, Luthor literally exploited the flaws in Democracy and became president of the US, threatening to kinda basically start world war 3. It's obviously horrible... but Superman is a character whose main motivation is making the world a better place. And if people who abuse the systems of power of the world are hurting people, why shouldn't Superman put a stop to that?

And yeah, Superman should obviously never kill, he's the most paragon of paragons of the DC universe, a man committed to always being better than the villains he fights... but this is him pushed to his most logical extreme. Hell, the main Superman knows this and its why Lex used his knowledge of this alternate universe as part of his plan in the season after this, to goad our Superman into crossing the line because yeah, there's a part of him that could go this far.

But right as Superman is about to apparently finish him, the big guy says this.

"I'm not the man who killed President Luthor. I wish to heaven that I were but I'm not."

Because Superman like everyone else, obviously would have those same thoughts and same urges. He's human.

I've kinda gone off Injustice a bit because to be honest... the injustice games were kinda just this but a bit too edgelordy. Hell, in A Better World, Lois Lane still lives and the whole genesis of it doesn't revolve around her getting fridged.

So yeah, A Better World is probably one of my favourite mirror universe stories because of the fact that well... it really is like looking in a mirror and seeing just how easy the greatest heroes can become evil and how they wouldn't be massively out of character doing so. But also it reminds us that as much as this darkness can tempt some of our finest, the ones who don't go down this dark path are stronger in heart than anyone else. Because when the world becomes a dark and horrible place, it becomes very easy to be just as dark. But even though it can be hard to still try and be a good person even in dark times, it's ultimately worth it. Because good always triumphs over evil.

[astarionancuntnin]

Taming a Tempest

summary: oh, to be the Vampire Ascendant's dark consort. to have eternity and enhanced powers right at her finger tips - only to be denied. but two could play this game, and Malva would make Astarion regret witholding anything from her.

rating: E

word count: 3.5k

pairing: ascended astarion x consort malva (oc, evil!sorcerer!tav)

cw: 18+. post-game setting with an "evil" ending, mention of violence/murder, smut, hate sex, vampire sex (blood/bites), bdsm (Master/Pet, teasing, choking, slapping, degradation and praise), semi-public sex, overstimulation, p in v, possessive sex, creampie. full list on ao3

a/n: song inspo was BURY YOU by ari abdul

read on ao3

my masterlist

or keep reading down below~

Love.

It was such an alien concept to her. 

A weakness, something to take advantage of, to manipulate. 

A weapon.

Charming people, luring them away, leading them to their demise — for business or for fun, although the two coincided more often than not in her case.

So when Astarion first flirted with Malva, she saw right through his little games, but instead of giving him a taste of what she could do, she decided to play along. After all, he could be a distraction, but one she could afford.

Until it turned out to be more, and she realised she had fallen harder for him than she anticipated, and soon enough he was offering her eternity by his side, as his consort. Obviously, as the promise of everlasting life and uncontested power were all that she desired and more, her choice was clear.

However, after a few years of this, life became dull, and Malva found herself wanting — no, needing, more. She had had as much fun as she desired, killing, torturing, draining, now too. She had risen to the top of the city’s hierarchy, along with Astarion, while the city itself became a shadow of its once glorious self. But it had all become dull, and she wanted more, always more power. 

A routine had settled, and with the rules her Master established to keep a minimum of decency around the palace, she couldn't indulge as much as she would've preferred, and recently, it had become an itch that she urged to scratch. If she was already bored after a measly few years, eternity would be dreary.

“Kill only the targets I assign you, and no matter what, you are forbidden from bedding them.” He had ordered her. “You can seduce them, tease them, even, but I won’t allow anyone to lay their tainted lips on your body. You are mine, and mine only.”

Following this command was simple enough; next to her Master and herself, all her victims were considered lowly people, insignificant. 

Tonight, her Lord organised a soiree of debauchery to share a part of his ever growing army of spawns; those who specialised in pleasures of the flesh. He had repurposed the mansion’s rooms to turn it into a luxurious whorehouse, inviting the remaining power figures in the city — all more corrupt than the last — to establish an alliance.

That’s what he made it out to be, but really, everyone knew this was only meant as a show of power from the Vampire Ascendant. To show everyone else who owned this city, and exactly what their fates could be if they accepted his reign, and make an example of those who were to challenge his authority.

Just like this pretentious Lord who dared to gossip about him and his consort, questioning their position, but it didn't matter; he would be dealt with, just like the others.

Malva was well known across town; the Ascendant’s whore, she had heard, being passed around by the visitors that the vampire Lord deemed worthy. How ignorant of them, how perfectly blind they were to reality.

Her shoulder-length, light purple hair was let down for the night, and she wore a simple eyeliner and mascara, emphasising her soulless, black eyes. Her natural features hid her vampiric nature perfectly, blending in as nothing more than a mean-looking high elf, and Astarion made sure to keep this a secret. The only piece from her ensemble to hide the one proof of her immortality being her neck piece: a dark, thick choker, that hid the otherwise evident bite marks depicting her ownership, with a conveniently placed silver ring in the back of it, barely hidden by her hair.

She made sure to wear one of her most revealing dresses to fit the occasion, one that fit Astarion’s ensemble; a dark, see-through dress, with vines of bright red oleander flowers embroidered onto the long sleeves and bleeding over her chest, barely covering her nipples, knowing anyone who looked at her for too long would get their eyes gouged out by her Lord. A smile crossed her dark lips at the thought.

As Malva scanned the ball room, sitting in display over her Lord’s lap, she found her target: Lord Azarzi. 

He might’ve been considered handsome by mortal standards; with his deep brown eyes, short, wavy hair and a full moustache of the same colour, a bright smile and tanned skin. Faerûn would lose yet another soul tonight.

How tragic. How exquisite.

Through their bond, Astarion felt her delicious hunger for blood.

“Now, now, pet, no need to be hasty.” he purred close to her ear. “Remember what’s at stake; I'll reward you if you're good,” he let go of her waist, pushing her towards the open floor, where the remaining guests waited for an available room. “Now go on, make me proud.”

She always did; seeing her work her way around their enemies was a delightful sight to him, she was his most precious possession, and he loved to see her in action. 

Although Astarion’s rewards were nothing short of delightful, she was dying to know what a punishment would look like.

She had to have her fun one way or the other, and if he wasn’t going to allow it, she would show him that she never asked for permission in the first place.

Her bloodlust naturally guided her next movements, fluidly passing through the crowd as she made her way to her victim of the night.

“Lord Azarzi,” she greeted him, his name gracefully rolling on her tongue. “I'm pleased to see you have accepted our invitation.” 

“Ah, Lady Tavaler,” he reached for her hand, lifting it to give it a light kiss before letting it go. “Of course, I could never refuse an invitation from the mighty Vampire Lord.”

She despised the use of her name, but tried to shrug off its mention, along with the vivid images she had of how long and painful would this man's torturing be. All in due time.

“Call me Malva, please. I don't believe titles are quite necessary for this kind of occasion, don't you think?” She moved closer towards him, her hands finding the front of his shirt, tracing her way down his chest. “Have you had the chance to enjoy our exquisite company yet?”

He shivered under her touch, her sharp, dark nails digging through his shirt, “I'm afraid I haven't yet, no. Your rooms are quite busy, as it turns out.”

She clicked her tongue, “That simply won't do.” She took a hold of his hands, guiding them over her waist where they now laid, and pressed herself into him. “You're our guest of honour, you deserve the best treatment.”

His eyes peered down her dress, where her breast squeezed against his chest, with his hands lowering towards her ass, fully bare under her dress. “Do I now?”

She would enjoy killing him.

Her lips ghosted over the shell of his ear as she whispered, “Absolutely.” 

Her eyes darted towards Astarion, and she smiled wickedly when she noticed the way his hands dug into the armrests at his side, fighting to contain the seething fury within him. 

“Why don’t you follow me into one of our classier suites, reserved for the richest of our guests?” She continued, with her hand dancing around the back of his neck, guiding him into her, “I’ll personally take care of you tonight, if you will have me. Consider it a gift from the Vampire Ascendant, for accepting his invitation.”

He smiled, his brown moustache lifting along his lips, “Well then, who am I to deny the Vampire Lord himself?”

Her dark smile reached her cheeks, keeping her lips closed to hide her fangs, “I was hoping you would say that.”

As she grabbed his hand to carry him away to her special chambers where she guided all her victims, she felt the reach of Astarion’s mind.

“Careful, pet, wouldn’t want me to be jealous, would you?”

“Jealous? Of this meek mortal? My Lord, that doesn’t sound very highly of you,” she answered back through her mind.

“You know how I feel about people touching you, Malva. This is my last warning.”

“And here I thought you were the most powerful being of this city. I wasn’t planning on bedding this man, but maybe I should now. Maybe he’ll show me how a real man fucks and he’ll make me come in ways you never could.”

Oh, she could feel Astarion’s anger even from this distance. Good.

She didn’t make it to the room before she felt the Lord at her back pinning her to the nearest wall, his body pressing against her, rubbing his bulge between the curves of her ass.

“So the rumours were true; the vampire Lord has a whore as a wife…” He chuckled deeply, his hands roaming at the front of her dress, groping her breasts through her dress. “I have to admit, I always wondered how the Ascendant’s witch would feel stretched around my cock.” He breathed hard down her neck, his tongue tracing just below her ear, “Do you wanna find out, doll?”

She tilted her head as an invitation, “I believe I can please you in more interesting ways, my Lord.”

“That so?”

She smiled a toothy grin, “Ways you could only ever dream of.”

He scoffed, pulling back to free her from his hold on her, “Fine, I’ll bite, show me what you can do.”

The irony of his choice of words wasn’t lost on her, as she turned back to face him, unbuttoning his shirt to expose his muscled chest. A shame he had to die really, he had at least some potential.

Pulling back on his rolled down shirt, she guided her head into his neck where she breathed in his essence; pine and charcoal, with hints of citrus. Not the most displeasing, but would he taste the same?

She closed her eyes as she licked along the vein popping from his neck, her next feeding point, and he groaned, “You’ll have to try harder than that to please me, sweetie.”

Just as her tongue licked over her threatening teeth, about to dive her fangs into the delicious vein put on display just for her, she felt him being pushed into her, and when she opened her eyes, she was met with the very face of her Creator.

He twisted the blade into his back before pulling it out to slam it back into him countless times, blinded by his anger, as Malva was sprayed of his coughed up blood, adding a nice shade of red onto her pale, tattooed face and staining her skin through her dress. 

Lord Azarzi, now nothing but a lifeless corpse, sank to his knees before collapsing on the wooden, waxed floor.

“Really? That was a waste of perfectly fine blood,” She grunted as she crossed her arms, dismissing the body at her feet. “Now how am I going to feed tonight? This is as good as rotten.”

“Oh, you don’t get to give me that attitude,” He growled, grabbing her by her throat and pushing her against the same wall she was pinned to moments ago. “Not after teasing me like you did.”

She smiled, flashing her fangs, “I don’t see what you’re talking about.”

“You insolent, little brat,” He tightened his grasp on her neck and her mouth opened up with a gasp. “I’m a lenient Master, giving you liberties and letting you practice your art in the comfort of our own home, and yet here you are, spitting on my generosity.”

“I just followed your orders, Master.”

“Oh no, no, no,” he clicked his tongue. “I ordered you to kill this man, and I had to do it myself, because you decided to play with your food.”

“It’s not my fault you’re an impatient bastard,” she spat out, defying his gaze.

His eyes turned a darker shade of red and Malva knew she had pushed him to his limit.

“That’s it. I’ve had it with you.”

He reached into his back pocket, pulling out a leash he clipped to the back of her collar before yanking on it, sending her to the floor. 

“I think you’re long overdue for a corrective measure, don’t you think, my dear?”

She pulled back against it, pointing towards the remains of the lord she had lured away, “What about my drink? Are you really gonna make me starve?”

“I don’t think you deserve it, frankly,” he sneered.

“Gods, I hate you.”

“Now, now, where are you manners, dear? This isn’t how I trained you, is it?” He pulled her up, grabbing her by her throat. “Is it?”

She hissed through her teeth, “I’m not yours to tame.”

“Let’s see about that.”

He walked her to the nearest chair and bent her over his lap, keeping a tight hold on his leash to have her stand upright.

“Now,” he lifted her dress to reveal her bare ass, “I will give you a slap for each victim you have claimed within these walls.”

As she opened her mouth to speak up he gave another yank on her leash, silencing her. “Don’t you worry, I am a merciful Master; we’ll keep it to the number of souls you’ve claimed just this year. Twenty, was it?”

She tried to turn around to contest his claim, only to be met with a first slap on her ass.

“However, any other words you utter will count as an additional slap, understood?”

“Fuck you.”

Another slap, stronger this time, made her yelp.

“Twenty two, then.”

She gritted her teeth, debating on her next comment.

Slap. “Cat got your tongue, my sweet?” Slap. “Please, I would love to know what you think of me now—” Slap.

She cried, the sting spreading to her thighs.

“Do you still hate me?” Slap. “Do you fucking loathe me?” Slap. “Answer.” Slap.

“Yes!” She shouted. “Yes I do, fuck!”

“In that case, let’s make this more interesting; any sound coming from you will warrant an additional gift from my hand, hm?” Slap. “How’s that sound, darling?” Slap.

She yelped once more, the burning sensation of his palm against her taking her by surprise.

“One more, then.” Slap.

She bit her lip, silencing her moans. 

“That’s better.” Slap. “See how pretty you look on my lap?” Slap. “With your cheeks all red and your pussy all wet?” Slap. “Wet from me punishing you—” Slap. “ — like the little brat you are?” Slap.

“Would this be as fun if I didn’t have control over you, pup?” Slap. “Do you see how silly of you it is to desire anything more than I already have offered you?” Slap. “Don’t you love to be my little whore to put on display?” Slap.

Tears swelled to the corner of her eyes and her fists balled up, nails digging into the soft of her flesh as she held back the cries stuck in her throat.

“You’re doing so good for me, so incredibly well, my love.” Slap. “And look at you, not making any sound at all.” Slap. “Such an obedient little consort, all mine.” Slap.

“Last one now, are you ready? You can speak.”

She breathed hard, taking a moment to utter an answer, “Yes.”

He landed the last slap, harder than all the previous ones, and leaned in to whisper into her ear.

“Say ‘thank you Sir for my punishment’,” he rubbed her ass, bright red from his abuse.

Her mascara ran down her face, mixing in with the dry blood from the corpse laying not too far away.

“Thank you, Sir… for my punishment,” her voice was small and quiet, tamed.

“Now,” he easily dipped two fingers into her drenched pussy. “Do you think you’re ready for your reward, pup?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Good. Get up, and remove my pants.”

Her shaky legs made it hard to stand up, but she followed his orders nonetheless. Removing his trousers, she set his raging erection free, veins popping out and already leaking from his arousal; the sight was both terrifying and incredibly exciting.

“Lift your dress back up and sit on my cock. You’re going to take all my come inside of you, and then we’ll go back to the party, understand? I want everyone to smell me on you. We can’t have people doubting my ownership after seeing you walk away with another man, can we?”

She nodded and did as he asked, straddling him with her hips lowering themselves onto his shaft with ease, and finally allowing herself to moan as she felt his length filling her up.

“Fuuuuuck,” he sank his nails into her hips, pushing her deeper. “You’re perfect my love, so perfect. Keep going for me, you’re doing amazing.”

The echo of their thighs slapping against each other faded with the sounds of pleasure from the neighbouring rooms, and Astarion wanted theirs to be louder.

His thumb found its way over her clit, pushing her closer to the edge as he rubbed circles around it, striking every nerve in her. Her hands grabbed onto the armrests, holding on for dear life as the stimulation became too much and her moans grew louder with each thrust.

“Come on, pet. If you come around my cock I’ll give you a little treat. You love treats, don’t you?” She nodded, words failing her. “Good, now make your Master proud, come for me, and scream as loud as you can.”

When she cried out from her earth shattering climax, it's as if the rest of the world paused around them, and it was only her and him, lost in one another. Every touch, every thrust, was all too much, pleasure blending in with pain as Astarion kept pounding into her.

The sight of Malva losing herself on his lap was almost enough for him to implode, she was only missing a single thing.

“Are you thirsty, my dear?”

She nodded, tears rolling down her defiled cheeks.

“Come here,” he pulled the collar of his shirt aside, giving her an opening. “Drink.”

Without losing another second, she bit down into his exposed neck, and she drank. She drank like he was the oasis in the middle of a desert; parched and ravenous from her stolen meal from earlier, exhausted by how he had used her body.

He grabbed the base of her scalp and pulled her away from him, making sure she didn’t drink too much. He could only allow enough that would satiate her thirst without freeing her from him.

With his forehead pressing against hers, he groaned, ”Say that you're mine. Say that you love me.” 

“I… love you,” her voice trembled.

“Mhmh, that’s right, my sweet. That’s right.”

Whether she knew it or not, ever since he made her his, he guided this dance. Everything she did was carefully thought through by him, knowing exactly how she would react every step of the way. He was the one pulling her in, like a pet on a leash. His pet.

And no matter how much she wanted more power, she couldn’t deny that the pull of his control felt delicious against her neck.

“Now, let's try this again, pup. Who owns you?”

“Y- You.”

He pulled the leash backwards, “Who?”

“You, Master.”

“That's right little love, you're all mine. Even if your dark, stubborn heart thinks it hates me, even if you don't see it, even if you try to deny it, deep down, you love me, because you know I am everything you need.” He breathed hard into her ear, “I’m the only one who understands you, the only one who could truly love you the way you deserve it.”

With one last push of his hips, he came roaring inside of her, filling her to the brim with his thick ropes of warm come. His hands over her waist held her tightly around him, making sure her womb would take every drop of him.

He enraptured her lips with his, kissing her fervently to taste himself on her mouth. When he finally pulled back, they were both panting, “Was I too harsh, love?”

She shook her head, her eyes half-lidded still dizzy from her unbecoming, “No, you were perfect, Astarion.”

It was rare that she used his name, but he allowed it in moments of intimacy like this one. The sound of his name rolled deliciously on her tongue, it was as much a reward for her to say it as it was for him to hear it.

He lifted her to her feet, pulling down her dress to give her a minimum of decency before putting his pants back up, straightening his jacket, and replacing his hair to appear as graceful as he was before taming his consort.

She smiled, linking her arm with his as they walked back to the ballroom, completely enamoured, “I love you, my Lord.”

He smiled back, giving her a quick peck on her cheek, “I love you too, my sweet.”

Was it love? She doesn't know for sure. Maybe some twisted version of it.

Was it passion, in its most depraved and unhinged state, an obsession for one another that would leave this city in ruins? 

Most definitely.

Thank you for reading! Comments, reblogs, and likes are very much appreciated <3

tag list (comment or message me if you want to be added!): @grimistheangerinmystares @silverfangmarks @roguishcat @nyx-knox @anacdoce @jwera @annnagennnie @angeldarkness95 @marlowethebard @hellethil @frankie-mercury @ariajc79 @ladycroft5245 @lets-just-daydream @pursuitseternal

[sol-st1ce]

I would love to know everything about this au

for now I want to know if you’ll allow fanarts.. if you do.. do you have refs? (Give me your favorite character.)

cough cough.

as a gift for making such a scrumptious meal of an AU

HEHAUAHHAA HI 🥹🥹

1) I’D LOVE TO SAY EVERYTHING buuutttt the evils won’t let me (I wanna have a reason to make future animations/animatics to get better) BUT. HT BYT I’ll tell you some not spoilery stuff + share some old lore art I made of it a few years back!!

Also yes ID LOVE ID LOVE ID LOVE FANART I don’t have any super current coloured references of any of the chars (except Epiales) so here’s a scuffed one of Nox 😔 he’s my favourite freak of them all

EternalNight!Verse is directly after the events of Underverse 0.6, with the diverging event being the deal between Epiales(Nightmare) and another third party I won’t disclose that ended up WRECKING the multiverse in an event called The Darkening where the sun was pretty much blipped out of EVERY universe. This caused some collateral damage where many AUs/Timelines bugged the fuck out and/or were straight up erased/mysteriously got repurposed for another thing.

So Epiales pretty much reigns supreme HOWEVER there are a few people that officially rule over their own little sections of the multiverse!! These areas can vary in aesthetics greatly and aren’t super limited. Theres no official names I’ve thought of for these sections but I just organise them by the people who rule them; the Ambassadors.

They meet up one every other full moon to discuss things regarding the multiverse.

There’s the man himself, Imperial Epiales, who represents the Empire. The Empire is the main military power, and is the most populated of the sectors. They also are in the most control of the other sections by proxy, mostly for the military reason and for the fact no one wants to fuck with the man who destroyed the sun. Sometimes, especially when Nox was younger he’d be brought to spectate the ambassador meetings >> The Empire generally pulls from Greek/Roman aspects in its architecture, culture, and fashion. The AUs within the Empire are anything that the other sectors don’t claim (I.E; Something New, Horrortale, Dust!Tale, etc) with an exception or two like Swapfell for personal reasons.

There’s (Core) Frisk who is the main ambassador for the Omega Timeline, but because they’re blind and also A CHILD they are also assisted by two others in organising the Omega Timeline. These two being; (a) Science!Sans & X!Alphys

The Omega Timeline mostly consists of people who have lost their AUs and are refugees, or are rebelling against the Empire so there’s no set theme for it.

Then there’s the Fell District which is supposed to be co-managed by both Fell!Papyrus and Fell!Undyne but more often than not, Fell!Sans has to substitute for her in the ambassador meetings. The Fell District is the main economic power, consisting of most if not all Fell/Fell-Adjacent AUs. 70-80’s New York is the main aesthetic drawn from the Fell District, mostly mirroring mafia-esque activities and attire. It’s the only district with actual working electricity, and the brightest you’ll come across. But also horrible to get into without getting popped with a few shells first if you don’t know anyone.

There’s the Swap District, which is led by Queen Toriel (from Underswap!!) It is the main provider of produce throughout the multiverse. Having been the first ones to figure out how to cultivate plants in the harsh environment, and also being gifted electricity by the Fell District (although it’s heavily privatised) for extra food for cheaper prices. AUs that reside in this sector are; Underswap Storyshift, Storyspin, and any AU relating to a shift in cast and what not. Some exceptions apply, such as Farmtale. The main aesthetic it draws from is Post-Apocalyptic Brutalist, probably being the most lively sector of the five.

And then there’s X!Tale.

No one knows what they’re doing in there, but they’ve heard it’s grown quite a bit since The Darkening came around. No one questions it, X!Gaster himself hardly comes to the meetings, in fact, he’s only been talking to Epiales since this nightmare began.

OO YEAH HEHEH 😈 there IS still a day-night cycle it’s just that when it’s day time that’s when most people sleep because it’s both the darkest and coldest part of night. Esp in places like the Empire & Swap District

I like to think instead of saying things like “Good Morning” ppl say stuff like “Early Evening” and “Merry Midnight”

Holidays like Christmas/Hanukkah and Halloween are called “Winter Solstice” and “Hallows Eve” respectively, and their traditions vary from district to district but retain most of the same attributes.

I THINK there was an event called the Lunar Eclipse Festival where the moon was eclipsed a week of the year in place of the Summer Solstice, and there would be a whole festival with moon-themed shops and stuff … it’d mostly be hosted & celebrated in the Empire ofc but still

OO YEAH THERE’S ALSO THE WCP aka the Wayward Child Program. This was enacted on the third ambassador meeting to relocate any children who may have lost their home into a healthy and nurturing environment. UNFORTUNATELY it was the Empire that would be the supervisors of the WCP so it was not a nurturing or healthy environment. The kids were often made to shadow supervisors (usually Mors & X!Frisk) on their missions and even participate in them. Most of the ones that made it to adulthood were assimilated into the Empire’s military or relocated. Nox is actually from the WCP!!

Some misc stuff too; Crash (Error) is under house arrest for fucking up the multiverse too and has to supervise Graphite (Ink) as well 💀 (Core) Frisk visits them though to tell them things that are going on in the outside world and ask for advice much to the dismay of ANYONE ELSE

Morpheus (Dream) has NO ARMS, lost an eye, and is forced to pretty much torture his friends and anyone unlucky enough to be put in Epiales’ collection room (THE FUCKING DUNGEONS) w/ his positive energy it’s bad 😞 also everyone thinks he, Swap Sans, and anyone else from their rebellion are dead because of the CRAZY PROPAGANDA + no way 🙅 Epiales would let that slide (he had other ideas)

Thanatos (Reaper) and Life are a thing, and even had a child on the way!!

UNTIL EPIALES FUCKED IT UP BECAUSE EHE GOT JEALOUS OF THANATOS AND KILLED LIFE so people can’t respawn anymore save for.. special means…

Oh and Thanatos has it out for anyone Epiales cares about whether or not they did anything wrong 💀 he just fucking hates Epiales like that

There have been ~50 iterations of Plutus, 32 of Avernus, 3 of Mors (not including the OG) and 1 of Nox (current)

The stuff I’ve shown of EN!Verse isn’t actually present day, it’s the past !! Woah!! 😦 so that’s why some characters pop up when they aren’t supposed to/have different designs

Cross has been doing fuck all and is one of the few people who escaped the massive siege on Morpheus’ rebellion

The Bad Time Trio are in the same boat but they’re being actively pursued cus Epiales needs the three OGs to complete his set 😍

OLD ART BELOW!!!

[bbeeohazardd]

i finally actually fully lined and colored(most of) my Sleepless doodles, but they're only au stuff yeah sorry got nothing in the back :/

anyway (almost) all of my Sleepless au stuff from @merklins and i's chitterings, shout out Merk i love chittering the mad scientists with you, i've been having so so much fun :)

now, under the cut, small details on what au is what, for some important context beforehand, these aus hinge off of our own interpretation of MST stuff and how Sleepless met the MST so yeah pff

First Page(with bonus regular Sleepless doodle)

"Villain" AU (Insomnia) - Sleepless never meets the MST and ends up getting trapped and experimented on by Black Mesa for a time before managing to escape and takes on a life of evil mad science

Mermaid AU - Just a mermaid au, this Black Mesa facility is a marine biology branch that repurposed an old oil rig for their facility, Sleepless ends up as a Luna Lionfish :)

Color Swap AU (Sleepwalk) - Basically generally the same as normal MST, but Sleepless and Doc have different reactions to events and Doc is the one that ends up exiled, it's that one au Mothra made that's technically not an au anymore lmao

Second Page(with bonus Monster AU Benrey):

Monster AU - Sleepless is unknowingly a Bogeyman and ends up moving to a town with other monsters only to end up realizing what he is, and he ends up living a life that is much happier and fuller with the MST :)

Swap AU (Elektro) - The actual swap au, everyone is swapped so Sleepless fell in goop and Doc ends up joining later, Doc ends up later getting cryogenics powers,,,also Sleepless is short because i need just this one thing /silly

Page Three:

Worldstop AU - Hohkay, so, basically, it's Worldstop with the MST BUT, only Doc and Sleepless are the ones with people controlling them, Emmett and Punz respectively, MST are trying to get through the ResCas and Sleepless is a soldier who, for reasons unknown to him, isn't getting any of the orders from the rest of his squad, and he takes it upon himself to travel with the MST to keep them safe(lol lmao) because he thinks they're just regular scientists who need help, and he ends up pretty close with them, but now he and Doc are going through the shared agony of being the avatars for two nerds with a strained friendship playing Half-Life Co-Op while still dealing with the ResCas and the dawning realization that they're in a video game, ngl i don't know a ton about regular Worldstop au so sorry if this isn't completely accurate to that

In Your Dreams Bad End AU (Vigilia) - :) Sleepless fucked up, and now he has to pay the price by working for G-Man

[diabolic-wave]

You said you have Parallel Canon ramblings that couldn't fit in the tags. Ramble away, fellow human.

Also, let me know if you find that post you mentioned being reminded of.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS yeah it was a more generalized thing (i saw it cropped and had to go find the image + search the exact phrasing but it's since been reblogged) the sentiment of being the 'evil' clone is up for debate i suppose. perhaps in a literal sense - yknow, antivirus that's been infected with malware; a copy and paste of code that was supposed to be 4 tweaked and repurposed into hostility. but it feels a little wrong to call them evil anyway. (there's also definitely a horror in that it's still your "friend" even while it's "evil" they jump to you they tell you they will they cry out when you kill them and you can hear it and isn't that just awful? they're all still someone that was supposed to be on your side. it's not just the voice clip it's not just a super jump indicator it's an 'ouch' ping it's a 'hey i am super jumping to you, my teammate, specifically' audio cue. this was supposed to be your friend.) and what if it still was! what if you ran with the same sort of angst as if it was genuinely 4 at first? what if eight saw that, remembered sanitized agent 3, and knocked/tore the mask off to save them and it worked? what's it like for everyone then? we know pearl is filling the role she's intended to be, so in that same sense people use that to bring 4 in you could use it to make a dawning horror sort of story. the slow realization that it's not. you could well have it still more directly attached to 4 through the palette too - i think this works well for most things and not just this specifically, like i do think it can play a pretty significant part in pcanon feeling so strongly that it is agent 4 even if it's not quite identical or doesn't remember everything or whatever - but ultimately it never really was. and so what then? for parallel and for everyone else? would it be cruel to acknowledge it? i would think it'd be a little uncomfortable for everyone involved no matter what. in contrast to never being treated like 4 in the first place, instead it is but only for a little bit. and then suddenly everyone starts getting a little... distant. uneasy. even if they never actually say anything about it there's still that nasty anxious feeling when it seems like everyone else knows something you don't and especially if you can tell it's something about you.

i also often find myself especially fascinated with what they are just in general tbh. that one i could touch on in the tags at least though. yknow, series of progressively more distorted photocopies. the first is almost pristine, just a little off from the book itself thanks to things like the weird seam copies get from the way the pages crease at the spine. and then when easy access to the book is lost and the copies start being copies of other copies it gets further and further away. burns. fading. other weird random marks. if the intro is anything to go by, they've all got their quirks. a hall of mirrors reflecting the reflection of the same person. ants that've gotten themselves confused, following each other's trail ever onward and onward into the death spiral because they don't know how to do anything but follow orders and march together. they're not quite like ants in that they're individuals, sure. with their own egos. but they're all still made from the same copy and pasted code, recopied, repasted, corrupted further by the virus hijacking them. and they all still act in harmony to do what they were supposed to do from the beginning. follow the directive, follow the pheromones, even if you've been trapped in a path you weren't supposed to take. (truthfully, i got in on the spiral of ants association just because of 'intensifying harmony' -> 'the overwhelming harmony (consuming the colony)' but since then i've ended up latching onto it more and making other connections lmao. You Are One Ant is something that's also stuck for a long time alongside the harmony connection which i've thought about drawing something for occasionally but honestly the whole pre-chorus at this point i think about a lot. the first one especially [you can't remember where you came from. you can't remember where you're going. you can't remember knowing.] but the now you remember/you have to keep it flowing also hits in its own way i think)

also like no matter how you interpret it, how much you think the main parallel can actually remember of "being 4", there's always going to be that light so bright it's blinding as soon as it gets a window into that, right? as soon as it gets to look in that mirror and see that life it doesn't have. the light none of them will ever reach.

in contrast to no matter how happy-go-lucky your 4 is this sort of thing would be crushing, it's also no matter how angsty your 4 is they still have more going for them than the parallels. they're living some sort of life and not just the hollow facsimile of one in a little anthill of a tower in a barren virtual reality. they do have friends even if they've felt neglected, right? but all the parallels really have is each other (and maybe order/smollusk) unless 8 or the others decide to reach out despite how weird that has to be for them.

it's just you and yourself and yourself and yourself and yourself and yourself and yourself and yourself and yourself and yourself (etc if you figure there's more than the ten we see on the floor 20 bossfight) living in the cold white dark. mere imitations of someone who did something meaningful. who was impressive enough for you to be created in the first place.

but then also, how many of them even care? at what point is that copy so distorted from those burns and fadings that it's still identical in text but completely unrecognizable from the book it came from? and what's it like to know there's a you that doesn't care that it's not you? what's it like to be one that doesn't care when however many do? i'd think it'd be a little offputting even if it's a perfect divide and they don't fight about it or anything. but it'd definitely be isolating if it was only a few of them on either side, too.

none of them are their own person but also they are. none of them are 4 but also they all are. it doesn't matter which way any of them look at it because they can never really be either.

NOT TO MENTION what happens when there isn't anything left to defend from? what happens between the time eight is there and marina making use of the memverse the way she intended to originally? let alone when it just isn't needed anymore in general! what happens to the memverse in general then, to both the parallels and to smollusk? what do they do when they're alone in there. unattended. when they're not following their directive and acting as security. i would think they'd just be interacting amongst themselves which is definitely fine between periods of eight going in with the different palettes but how well does it hold up in those sorts of long term situations?

btw looping back to the link to 4's palette imagine that and then when the palette is completed/cleared just... having that ripped away. you know. being so sure that they're someone else only to suddenly be forced to realize they're not. not just because of the way people are treating them but because all of a sudden there's just... something that's torn out of them and put inside of someone else. having a soul only to realize it's not yours when the real owner takes it back.

anyway yeah that's mostly what i've got off the top of my head but yknow. ultimately as much as i do like the [it actually is 4 au] stuff too i think the actual situation is soooo cool and also super underutilized tbh it's kind of a shame

[robotnik-mun]

Alrighty, so I juust watched the documentary of the unmade Fourth DIC Show, and my God... I feel like I may actually be losing my mind.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-cp0dtX27I

Instinct tells me this isn’t real. This CAN’T be real. BUT IT IS.

And since I’m a generous soul I’m gonna recap, but trust me when I say you need to see it to believe it.

To start with we learn some details about what could’ve happened with Adventures and Underground!

-In AoStH, there were plans to include another main character... and in the mother of all coincidences it was going to be a sorceress named Merlina, who would be a descendant of Merlin and generally serve as a foil to Sonic! YEP, THAT’S RIGHT! WE ALMOST GOT A MERLINA BEFORE MERLINA!

-I find it interesting to note that SatAM also toyed with the idea of there being a magical hero, namely the original conception of Nate Morgan.

But anyway, while that was a bit weird, its not especially weird given what AoStH was like. Underground on the other hand... oh boy, Underground. You thought it was weird as it is? That’s nothing compared to what COULD have been.

-Sonia was initially going to be the only sibling Sonic had, and described as a ‘sexy, Jessica Rabbit’ like character while having an attitude like Sonic’s own.

-Sonic would have also had a Porcupine sidekick called ‘Quilley’, who would have a crush on Sonia. Am I having a stroke? I think I’m having a stroke.

-Instead of Sleet and Dingo, the bounty hunters in the show? Were going to be Scratch and Grounder! Okay, that’s actually kind of a neat idea, I admit it.

-Less neat though was that they would have been lead by Robotnik’s evil-er twin brother, Grotty. Yeah, you read that right. Evil-er twin brother. Named ‘Grotty’. I swear to God there was something in the water at DIC’s facilities...

-Aleena was originally going to be called “Rachel”, and Manic had the prototype name of “Edsel”.

-And evidently they were actually going to make the father of the royal hedgehogs a secondary subplot. Admittedly it would have been nice to see that one addressed, but otherwise yeah... we dodged some pretty significantly sized bullets. How insane is it that we are LUCKY to have gotten the Underground that we got?

And then there’s the unmade fourth show itself... Super Sonic Sisters. Oh, where do we even BEGIN?

-Well, we begin with the fact that they are not Sonic’s sisters. They’re his cousins. Who are twin sisters, Monica and Isabelle, who have an Odd Couple-esque dynamic going on. They live in space, on an Australia-esque asteroid. Yes, you are reading all of that correctly. No one has spiked your water. This was planned as a Sonic spinoff.

-The pair attend a high school, IN SPACE. There they are part of the school news program, IN SPACE. They also solve mysteries. IN SPACE!!!

-Their parents run a kind of interstellar truck stop/malt shop, with their mom being the mechanic and their dad being the chef.

-In addition to solving mysteries, they would also deal with Robotnik’s young nephew, Obnotnik. Obnotnik would attend the same school as them and is described as a ‘delinquent with pull’, who is their rival in the school news game.

So. Yeah. I think I finally know what it feels like to take mind altering drugs. Without taking mind altering drugs. I am having an out of body experience right now. How could anyone have thought this was a good idea. HOW? The fact that this ORIGINATED as a Sonic show rather than being repurposed from elsewhere is madness on a level I am not ready to acknowledge. I feel my eyes bleeding. I hear the call the Cthulhu.

.... I’m totally plundering at least some of this stuff for my own ends, but point of order! The DIC portion of things nearly went in a weird-ass direction that defies rational thought.

[odericevertz]

back!!!! (well, kind of, not really, etc etc.) how is everyone are you well!!! taking a short break from writing this essay due at 9am tomorrow to say i miss rpf [smoking blunt] pass the yaoi…….some arsenal / rpf thoughts under the cut!

- studied tennyson’s ulysses in class the other day and this part of it reminded me SO MUCH of the current arsenal team i was like oughh.

“We are not now that strength which in old days

Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;

One equal temper of heroic hearts,

Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”

LIKE HELLO………Ohhhh my god. i don’t even need to explain it.

- some british guy on the college football team was telling me about the crazy things they made him do for his initiation and i have repurposed it for my own evil evil ends (calarice blokecore jocks in uni doing homoerotic intricate rituals wip.) thank you uni for giving me rpf ideas

>> “Captain’s watching,” Riccardo murmurs against his mouth.

Declan tugs at his hair, not unkindly. “Fucking voyeur,” he says, and Riccardo laughs, a huff of breath that Declan swallows. He tastes like ash and copper. The mud is cold where they’re sitting in it, where it’s getting between his fucking toes, where it’s soaking into his boxers because all their pants are still strewn across the motherfucking field. This fucking club. <<

anyway i miss watching martin interacting with the team and i miss being on here and i miss being crazy about these guys and i miss having the time to WRITE……arghhhh. hopefully things will clear up soon!!

[russica]

My three Tav's I draw consistently 💜🖤💙 I just wanted to draw tongues and this was fun lol

Fun Facts! I have several playthroughs but these 3 are my fave Tav's!

Rax (He/They) is an old OC repurposed. He is a Tiefling Sorceror, played him as an all good run. Rax i calm and collected, a usually laid back guy with an electric temper underneath. He has his own traumas in his past, a history of SA and alcoholism. He's worked very hard to come as far as he has. He is gay and polyamorous, he romanced Astarion and Halsin and I see him going after Rolan and Zevlor as well 💜 He has so much love to give and we stan the Tiefling tail wraps!

Ryth (He/Him) was my first Durge run! He is a Dragonborn fighter and resists the Urge. He is bisexual and monogamous and romanced Gale. Despite his large and gruff, scarred exterior, he's a big sweetheart. Kinda like a cat, he chirps, chitters, and likes head scritches. Touch is his love language, and you can bet your ass he cuddle puddles with everyone and gives hugs and head smooches. He also does platonic cleaning via licking his friends' faces. After the initial confusion/culture shock, he does learn to ask permission first.

Naerym (It/Its) is my first and only Evil Durge run. It is a high elf monk. It is ambiamorous and slept around before canonically settling with Ascended Astarion. It's a cheerful little thing, always smiling and laughing while committing the worst atrocities. It's NOT a good person. Despite being THE WORST, it still cares for its friends (in the way a scientist might care about a long-running experiment). Naerym would've also snatched Kar'niss up in a heartbeat and would've refused to give him up when Astarion inevitably demanded it. (It would've been a bloody fight, but Naerym is a lethal weapon and would've eventually won either with sheer strength or by threatening dirty tactics). They're a toxic power couple lol

Rax and Ryth would be best friends. Rax would be smitten with the tall Dragonborn because Rax is usually the tallest in a room (6'2 v 6'6). Ryth being mono, they'd end up being the two quiet friends discussing their partners over a good meal. Very domestic. They act like they've known each other forever. Rax loves the pillow nest Ryth has and they constantly hug, hold hands, and cuddle.

Ryth and Naerym would be terrible for each other. Ryth is a resist (mostly), and Naerym is an embrace, so... Ryth would commit more crimes, and Naerym would get better at hiding theirs. They would bond over their love of blood and exotic meats, and battles would be bloodier than necessary, and Ryth would listen attentively as Naerym waxxed poetic about its pet spiders. Theor cuddle puddles would be a big production of a fight until Ryth pinned Naerym down (6'6 v 5'6) by flopping his massive frame on top of him.

Rax and Naerym are like fire and ice. Rax does NOT like Naerym. Naerym is touchy but doesn't ask permission. It just latches on, and Rax has electrocuted the thing more than once for it... (Naerym is into it 👀). Rax is a diplomat, believing you should talk it out unless they're slavers or abusing kids/animals, while Naerym is a kill em if they're boring kinda person. Rax would be exhausted trying to keep Naerym in line and Naerym would be having a hell of a time being the biggest nuisance possible. Naerym likes Rax a lot lol. Despite fighting constantly, Rax would still bandage up the dumbass after a battle and would still accept occasional cuddles because he's weak.

[straightyuri]

I would like to hear about your Kitty cat ocs NOW!! Are they warrior cats? What’s their whole deal? They’re a buncha cuties :)

YES they're warrior cats ocs ^_^ I have a lot of wc ocs actually I feel like they are so easy to make. uhmmmm I will just talk about Honeystar with mentions of others cuz it's a whole thing. 1ST context. Honeystar's story is repurposed from an rp that was set during the first arc and it shares a lot of similarities cuz of this (although they might mostly be noticeably to me). No more context.

When Honeystar was an apprentice she was visited by a dark forest cat (dark forest cats aren't always evil in my version) named Rainwatcher, who tried to explain to her how unfair everything was in the clans. She kind of shook it off at first as just a weird dream, especially after talking to her med cat apprentice brother who dismissed it, but she it made her look around and realize how a lot of clan rules are very stupid and nonsensical. The leader personally apprenticed her and she started noticing that he was getting more and more unreasonable over time. She mostly tried to ignore it, but was eventually visited by rainwatcher again who encouraged her to say something. This accumulated into her snapping at him during a clan meeting and she was threatened with exile. uhmmm. She didn't want to take this laying down so she was like. okay. anyone who thinks this is bullshit come with me and we'll make our own clan. And then left with her brother (nectarsong), and 3 friends (gooseleaf, duckclaw and finchrunner)

The stories is kind of blurry around this part but they find territory a bit above the other clans near the ocean. The ocean is appointed their holy place since they do not want to walk over their old clan to get to the original one (it's a windclan moonstone situation) and Honeystar gives herself the Star suffix (the ocean very much connects to starclan but Honeystar does not receive 9 lives as she does not want to). Some cats from the other clans hear that they're making a new one and join uhmmm some nearby loners and kittypets and such also join. Uh oh! There's a group of cats nearby who start antagonizing them. Collie (name pending) is their leader and has some sort of vendetta towards honey (I have not. decided this part of the story yet, but I think it has something to do with Honey's apprentice years). Duckclaw is appointed deputy at some point. Other stuff happens such as Honeystar gets an apprentice named Spiderpaw. Who dies horribly as an apprentice in battle. Finchrunner also dies in this battle. <- I think it's a battle between one of the other clans and while Finchrunner dies from wounds, Spiderpaw's death makes everyone pause cuz it was very purposeful.

Eventually uhmmm after some downtime they get into a really really big battle with the antagonistic group, which ends up near the ocean. I haven't really decided how it goes much except near the end where Collie attacks Nectarsong and his apprentice Cherrypaw. Honeystar comes in to protect them and starts dragging Collie into the ocean where they have a big fight. Collie manages to land a killing blow and kind of gloats about it. While Honeystar doesn't have 9 lives, a mix of an adrenaline rush and dying in what they use to connect to starclan she manages to get up and live long enough to kill Collie. :thumb up:

If this was like a written thing the story would shift over to Nectarsong and how he deals with his sisters death and such.

[gauntletqueen]

So if you were a boss what would be the kind?? Like a rival or Riku Vergil Jeanne? Optional? Superboss? Gimmick boss? Tutorial Boss? Player character as a boss or boss that can be unlocked as a player character? Any adds in the fight?

I've explained this before but I (Gauntlet Queen, not any of the other alts, they have their own stories n gameplay) was a secondary antagonist pestering the player as me and my gang of rebels fought with the player over who'd get to defeat the main antagonist (an evil CEO with delusions of grandeur) and take the macguffin he possessed (a terribly powerful energy source.) I'm hoping to use the macguffin the establish my own, better, more FAIR leadership, according to MY rules and values (a slippery slope, obviously), but as the game goes on begin to warm up to the player character and perhaps even question my own goal. At the end of the second act, which happened about halfway through the game cause the third act kinda dragged on, the player'd confront me in a one-on-one dual after fighting their way through my castle (repurposed warehouse.) It's a simple type of fight of just taking shots at me while avoiding my various melee moves and big jumps n such, while the gang watches and cheers. After the fight, I admit defeat and agree to join forces with the player to destroy the power source rather than harness it ourselves. In the third act, me and my gang become allies!

[vacantgodling]

🐐

lmao thank you :’) i did mention owen and helios before but i suppose i’ll give more context to them ->

owen & helios used to be the main characters of a long abandoned and repurposed fantasy story, parts of which are actually the basis for my wip nondisclosure (of which nyseah, alona and the moving parts of their storylines are actually still from)

however, i dropped owen and helios’s parts of the story because i just couldn’t make it make sense with the way i wanted to focus on nyssie lol.

tl;dr owen was the reincarnation of the goddess who created a dimension alternate to earth. she grew up in a dysfunctional family that became even more fractured when she was diagnosed with a form of cancer in one of her legs, and had that leg amputated to save her life. her family didn’t want to help her with her disability and she got made fun of relentlessly at school. however, she ends up getting yanked into the alternate dimension by her Actual biological father, a dude named christopher yhuuates with his fucking ??? cats that can create dimensional rifts dude idk.

anyway once she arrives in this new world, she’s basically told that an evil company (the same one from nondisclosure but i’ve changed their goals for that wip) wants to collide the alternate dimension with the earth dimension because it has better resources ever since the goddess abandoned this dimension. so owen needs to figure out her powers and ascend so she can stop the company from doing this and restore the dimension to its former state. to protect her on this journey, christopher recruits a spurned half-dragon prince who was ousted by his purist dragon stepmother, helios, to protect her.

owen and helios had that typical “we don’t get along at first but we’re good for each other” energy that like what, every fucking anime relationship is? helios was big and protective of owen and owen was the softer edge to helios that helped him process his trauma and hurt from being ousted from his people as she can relate from her own home life.

i think that’s around where i stopped planning their story because nyseah has always been infinitely interesting to me and i got attached to the angst that was alona and 12 so i kinda explored those parts of the story super hard and then a few years ago finally decided that i should give them their own wip. owen and helios (and some other characters from that wip) have sat in limbo since then, but all the relevant characters have ended up in nondisclosure.

yeeee.

send me an emoji and i’ll tell u about some long abandoned or shelved ocs

[myrfing]

like I GET people were and are weird about garleans not reacting in a 100% gratifying way and i also think the garlean reaction is realistic. but none of these questions are i think relevant to the core of the issue with the writing this is just baseline…yes the theme is trauma and they want to address trauma. the question is if/how/why. and who does this grace come from and why is it framed the way it is. i know im being like Well I Didnt to some guy who legit cant read my posts or whatever but i dont even see these questions as the crux of the general argument and only see them in sort of playthrough eyeroll mostly rhetorical frustrated sentiments in response to how the player is made to deal with them in a certain prescribed way. also these self-congratulatory takes are so quick to be like There is no referencing off of real historical events they intend to only deal with a single enclosed subject in a bubble. i do actually agree to an extent in that they don’t intend to directly, but disagree because I think they cannot escape their own influences and their own lens in which they see the world. that’s why you’re getting a What if the world was made of pudding type of writing with garlemald because biased writers (as are all writers) are attempting to write a near universally appealing storyline taken from a thread that has oscillated wildly over the years in terms of political commitment by picking up and repurposing what they have observed about real life and transforming them into disjointed elements in a fantasy story to write a Pain Begets Pain narrative that takes events that DO NOT WORK outside their real historical context and twists them and omits large parts of them to fit a fantasy. yes this will rub people the wrong way and come off as dishonest. it is dishonest to cling to a fantasy that something that at least resembles a fascist state was made that way by the people it then retaliated against. regardless of authorial intent this is a fucking weird and deluded and self-assuaging narrative that gets dropped with absurd conviction in a lot of media and serves people in no real way because it has no basis in reality, except to exonerate yourself as a member of an imperial power to say well, we were just unlucky and got traumatized first. we were like this because an outsider fucked us up first. especially when you then have to omit a canon statement that, while from a biased subject (fourchenault) correctly observes the most solid tidbit about the situation that the garlean fantasy of a national fatherland Of Garleans and in an innate nation was false. plenty of nations believe and push the idea that their nation is ancient and sanctified by its apparent immortal nature or mandated by the divine but they are not. yes it was far more likely that the land the garleans believe themselves entitled to was not their god given holy land and just a geographical area filled with myriad peoples who did not even have an idea of the definition of “Garlemald” at the time some were exiled northwards. and also frankly i think throwing down “it’s trauma and radicalization” says nothing that nobody already knows on some level nor do i think it paints the entire picture. aaand also you can’t so cleanly seperate the state from its people and especially when you in the other breath prescribe national trauma as the end be all explanation for Why things got so fucked. Which in this game it’s evil wizard by the way so why am I even talking about this. alright I just peeled a tangerine and there was a moldy side.

[unpleasant-ghoul]

Oh, hey, look! A post by me that's not about some video game!

I don't normally post shit that's still in progress. But I like the creature and i want to share because I might never finish it (kinda complex for my current skill. Might get too frustrated by the idea/ability difference and drop. happens often)

So, here. Here is it and the whole process of how such things came to be.

This is a pseudocentaur. Those things started for me a long time ago, and it's gonna be a lot to read, so I, ever-merciful, will hide the rest under a spoiler. Here:

So. A few years ago i was reading about Nuckelavee, started sketching, ended up with this:

You can tell from the human-for-scale interacting with it, that even then it had some vague shadow of being more than just a random monster. Not quite a character, but has a potential of getting there. You can also see that that version involved no actual horses, merely a vaguely equine thing that was truly the part of the pseudocentaur. And it was fucking massive.

For a few years it remained forgotten. Then a couple months ago I found it again and decided that I like it! It's neat! But it needs some love and also some actual thought put into it.

And so I started thinking on how's and why's and also on the matter of "does this have to be so big, when my love of things that are fucking ginormous has already led me to an ever-growing number of dragon OC's with absolute MINIMUM height at shoulders being 5. Fucking. Meters?"

So after thinking for some time and drawing for some time I got this page:

(as you can see, size of the creature reduced. Greatly. Also, has actual horse now)

And a much better idea of what the fuck we even have here. And I will share that idea with you whether you want it or not. I'm in a sharing mood. Suffer.

So!

Pseudocentaurs as they are now are parasitic creatures! They infect horses (other animals of similar size can be used, but results vary. Smaller beings can be infected, but don't survive full transformation. It can be used as a way of healing in a pinch, as long as the larva is killed just as the body finished repairing the pre-existing damage before going through the whole "neck splitting open" thing). But they're sapient and generally not evil, so they tend to have standards.

Most, unless there's no choice, prefer dying or even freshly dead hosts, since a dying one gets to continue living, even if it looks gruesome, and a dead one is, well, dead. So nobody's robbed of a whole potential life of Being A Normal Horse. In the case with dead hosts, pseudocentaur takes full control over the body, while with a living host it's usually basically an idealized, fairytale version of riding... Except without ever separating again. I say usually because they're as varied as humans. Some, despite it being frowned upon, take over perfectly healthy animals and essentially pilot them around without any regard for their own wishes.

On the matter of anatomy: the host's original mouth essentially disappears. You can see that: it's just an upper jaw, no tongue, no nothing. The head is not for eating anymore, just breathing (that mass on the horse head's close-up? Extended trachea!) and providing most of the auditory information, as the parasite's hearing is not all that great. And keeping an eye out for danger. Four is better than two! Especially with, again, a living host that can spot things on its own rather than being a fancy horse-shaped periscope.

Now, how does this thing EAT? Not with the parasite's mouth! That one's just for speaking. Not all even choose to have it at all. Instead, there is a circular, fanged, maw at the joint of the host and parasite's bodies. Food (and the body is repurposed for an omnivorous diet during the transformation) has to be shoved in there with the parasite's own hands (or with someone else's. It's not rude to scrape leftovers off your plate and right into your pseudocentaur friend's waiting maw). It's not the most convenient way to eat, but it is how it is. Do it or starve.

Beyond the splitting neck, the loss of jaw, the development of the maw, and the whole "you're an omnivore, Harry" thing, there can sometimes be no changes at all, or there can be some relatively subtle (compared to everything else) stuff: keratinous plating growing on legs, sometimes lengthening of the tail. Might lose some/all fur, might not.

Pseudocentaurs reproduce through two methods: true reproduction, making a whole NEW pseudocentaur is, well. You probably guessed. Two pseuds with living hosts of opposite sexes... Yea. Results in what at first is a normal foal, but bears the pseudocentaur larva in it and transforms after the horse is more or less adult. Those born pseuds are much more in tune with their hosts and, as I've said already, are fully NEW beings. New personality, no experience, they learn as they go. Like children! Except much cuter.

The other, and more common way, is releasing a "fly" made of one's own flesh to seek a new host. The resulting "new" pseudocentaur will have the original's exact personality and same memories up to the point of separation. It can be done voluntarily, or happen on its own if the current body is too damaged. If done voluntarily, the original continues to exist, so it's basically two separate instances of the same dude, just using different hosts and being in different places.

So, there ya have it. Pseudocentaurs. Base inspiration, as mentioned at the start, is the Nuckelavee, additional inspirations for the recent changes were Necromorphs and Illithids.

[bcbdrums]

What are your thoughts on good Shego?

I think is an interesting concept but good Shego always felt different than the other characters who also got their morality swapped.

Shego’s brothers were still silly and useless and didn’t know what they were doing, they weren’t that different from their good selfs, Ron has always had a dramatic flair and he has hidden depths in terms of ability he still seemed in-character and Drakken has always been a goofball so him getting along with Rufus and helping Kim isn’t that far fetched.

All of them still felt like the same character

The exception being Good! Shego, how can I described it?

lt seemed fake? Manufactured? She was too nice? And we know Shego was never like that Hego remarks how she has always been snarky even when she used to be part of team go.

There’s a few people who liked her as good, but it always bothered me that unlike the other characters, Shego didn’t felt like Shego at all. Do you get what I’m saying?

you're going to get a lot of how my brain works in this answer, lol...

first, we have to remember that the devices used in Bad Boy and Stop Team Go (and seen being tossed out of Drakken's closet in Dimension Twist) are two different devices.

the device in Bad Boy is Jack Hench's Attitudinator. it works by removing the wearer's good and bad energies, and putting back just the bad. or rebalancing, as he says in his commercial. what happened to Drakken and Ron was that Drakken's good and bad energies were extracted and split between them. also worth noting in the same ep, is when Drakken tested his badness level he ranked pretty low. i personally headcanon that he'd psyched himself out a bit and ranked a little lower as a result. also of note is that when Shego tested her badness level, she maxed out the scale. we'll come back to this later...

the Attitudinator caused Drakken and Ron to gradually change their good/evil bend, once again based on Drakken's good/evil parts. how much Ron's own evil side was adding to the influence of Drakken's evil, who knows... but Drakken was then purely good and it was his own goodness. i like to think Ron kept some of Drakken's influence after the incident was over... but to your point: their personalities still felt like THEM. maybe that's just how the device works? maybe because Ron still had his own good/evil along with Drakken's evil, and Drakken because it was specifically his goodness? (also, note the continuity error at the end of the episode when Drakken's badness goes back, it shows his goodness going to Ron. it should have only been the badness returning to Drakken and nothing going to Ron, but i'm sure they were just trying to visibly show that Ron is good again.)

anyway, this brings us to the Reverse Polarizer. it....reverses what the person already has, as is indicated in the name. and yes, this is a repurposing of Jack Hench's device, but Electronique changed how it worked. so theoretically if it directly reverses the target's goodness/badness... if a person is extremely bad, like Shego (evidenced by the badness scale) then when her polarity is reversed she'll then be...extremely good. so in terms of how the tech worked and how she presented...it does in fact make perfect sense to me. and that says a lot about Team Go and Ron, and the nature of how good and evil present... we could get into how Mego is egotistical and yet still inherently good, to be directly reversed like that. but even among Team Go, their personalities stay the same. all of their memories are intact. and when it happens again to Ron, he seems to be basically the same as when he was influenced by the Attitudinator.

so based both on the tech itself, how it works, and evidence of the other characters and Shego's own "good" behavior... i think it's perfectly in character. because this is Shego with her good/evil totally reversed. this is NOT who Shego was as a member of Team Go. because that Shego is the Shego we know.... she willfully chose evil over good. and if we take the badness scale as canon...that means Shego is pretty supremely evil (see what i did there, lol) and Drakken and theoretically the others...not so much. it might be that Drakken, Ron, and Team Go have a better balance of good/evil within themselves (Drakken's badness scale... he also willfully behaves in an evil way, even if the scale doesn't show much) while Shego has no balance at all, lol. now i do personally think she has some hints of good in her, but...yeah. all of this said...i think what they did on the show makes perfect sense.

the Shego who we know in the show IS the Shego who used to fight for good on Team Go. so the reverse polarized Shego...yeah it was her, but it was a totally altered version. not how she would actually be if "good." artificially manufactured good, since that's never been her.... while the others were probably much more accurate to their good/evil balance within themselves.

now....you CAN totally ignore the badness scale. and this explanation still holds up, since Shego has always been evil. but everyone else used to be good. as you said, Hego said she was always snarky and liked evil the more they fought it... but Drakken used to be good. Ron and Team Go are good. i think Drakken, if persuaded with enough fame and recognition, would consider going good... it fits with his personality and reason for going evil to begin with.

i think it all hinges on that Shego is inherently a bad guy. the rest were turned by the device. so they seem more themselves because...they aren't really changed all that much. but Shego was altered drastically because she's the most inherently evil of them all.

man i could go on and on about this, but i feel like my explanation is already too scattered. i hope this makes sense. thanks for the ask!

[mountainashfae]

I’m in a DnD brainworms mood (misdirected as I try to prep a session) and honestly I’m kinda mad that some really fun character concepts I’ve had were squandered on a group where one game just halted itself into hiatus and the other game is the one where I got unceremoniously blocked for reasons that I still don’t entirely know.

They were both so COOL to play around with even with the characters not having a ton of motives on their own. Sometimes it’s fine to have a character go with the flow of the party until they have a big moment and know what they want for themselves. Putting this under a cut because it got a lil long and ranty

Victor was a really fun concept for me of a dullahan with amnesia, dropped into an unfamiliar landscape and time and having to slowly relearn things about himself. He was a Neutral Evil Oath of Treachery Paladin. His top priority at all times was his own self-preservation at the expense of others if need be, but not actively malevolent. He technically had broken the paladin oath from his life that he doesn’t remember, by betraying his comrades with the intent of saving himself. He was in the middle of Barovia tossed in with the party and nobody trusted him because he was SO accidentally shady. There was another dullahan who was missing his head and CONVINCED that Victor’s was his own. Victor didn’t even know if his head belonged to him or not. We never got past the village of Barovia because the progress was at a crawl for some reason despite playing for months and by the time we got to Ireena and Ismark we learned that nobody trusted the non-human and magic using PCs so it was like the narrative was punishing us. Victor could’ve been so cool to explore. He could’ve had a cool arc about realizing the things he did in the past and seeing if the interactions he had with the party up to that point would make him regret the past or not.

Lucio was a backstory NPC turned into a PC just for fun. The entire idea was that the True Neutral Draconic Heritage Sorcerer (who tHAT DM messed up the original concept of by making him half-dragon and then teased me for not making him a dragonborn. Like come on. You did this. I’m keeping him an elf) was only in the city because of a bet he made with his brother. He didn’t CARE about everything else going on. He just wanted to keep his young son safe and make progress on that bet and the party was a means to an end. They knew from the beginning that he was not interested in anything else, that he was not good at socializing, that his father murdered a large group of paladins that one of the other party members belonged to. And yet? It was my fault for seeming disinterested in the group antics in a campaign that I was told was supposed to be more dungeon delving? For involving my son in a lot of interactions because otherwise Lucio would not participate? For showing interest in fighting the antagonist group (even if we knew they would kick our ass) because they badly injured my brother? He was true neutral raised by lawful evil, I’m always fascinated by how a character of that alignment could have their actions influenced by those around them.

well that turned into a rant and I’m so glad I’m not in that group anymore because I really did stop having fun. I want so badly to find a way to repurpose Victor and Lucio without being reminded of that group.