#the name was always supposed to be a placeholder anyway

[cityofmeliora]

You get tons of anons because you give great, clear answers (at least I think you do).

I guess, in a way, you kind of are teaching a class since so many people (such as myself) are learning so much about the Ghost lore and the history of the band thanks to you.

But anyway, are the female ghouls a new thing or have they always been there? Also, do you know the canon and fanon names of all of the ghouls?

Oh, and isn't it unknown for now how Sister Imperator and Papa Nihil feel about Papa V and vice versa?

And speaking of Papa V, has there ever been any character interviews for him? Does the group still do those?

Also, did every Papa start off as a cardinal?

aww thank u for the kind words! 🫶

1: But anyway, are the female ghouls a new thing or have they always been there?

the band was all men when it debuted in 2010 and stayed that way for many years.

the first time a woman played in the band was in 2016, at the beginning of the Popestar Tour. she played bass guitar. she's commonly called "Mist" by fans. she wore the same uniform as the rest of the band, but people were able to find out her real identity and realized she was a woman. she was only part of the band for a few months (September 2016 - November 2016). after she left, the band was all men again throughout 2017.

women didn't become a regular feature of the band until the new keyboard Ghoulettes (nicknamed "Cumulus" and "Cirrus" by fans) were introduced in Prequelle Era (2018-2020). they had a unique mask design with longer hair.

IMPERA Era (2022-2023) introduced a third ghoulette part, doing backing vocals and percussion. this part was first played by the ghoul nicknamed "Sunshine", who only played in 2022 before being replaced by the ghoul nicknamed "Aurora" in 2023.

as of Skeletá Era (2025), Cumulus has left the band. her spot as keyboard + backing vocals combo has been filled in by Aurora, and Aurora's backing vocals + percussion part has been filled in by a new ghoulette most commonly nicknamed "Haze". she's new, so she's still called a bunch of different names, but the name "Haze" was the winning result of a poll tournament here on tumblr. (that's also the name used for her on the fanfiction site AO3.)

so the women who are currently in the band are Cirrus, Aurora, and Haze.

of the 24 total ghouls who have played in the band, only 6 are women.

though the band was actually all men at the time, the music video for 'Year Zero' depicts the nameless ghouls as all women instead.

2: Also, do you know the canon and fanon names of all of the ghouls?

i know the fanon names of the ghouls from Prequelle Era (2018) forward. i don't know most of the ghouls from before that, except for a few.

they're supposed to be "Nameless" Ghouls, so they don't really have canon names. but in Eras 1, 2, and 3, they had placeholder names, which were the classical elements. "Air" for keyboard, "Earth" for drums, "Water" for bass, "Fire" for lead guitar, and "Aether" / "Quintessence" (used interchangeably) for rhythm guitar. officially, those are the only names that originated from within Ghost itself.

Papa III used to talk about how they originally wanted the ghouls to be totally nameless, but the element idea was introduced so the ghouls could be distinguished from each other and so they could sign autographs.

PAPA EMERITUS III: We figured that if we were nameless, all would be okay. Then rose a problem: what the fuck are we gonna do for autographs? Not sign it? Heh. It's a funny idea, but it didn't really translate very well. So we figured that, well, all the members are like cornerstones, like elements. A-ha! Elements! We can use the elements and they can sign it with elements. Oh, what a fucking brilliant idea! That is perfect. Herford, Germany (February 20, 2016)

historically, the band has been Aware of the fan-made nicknames for the Ghouls, and began using the fan-made names as well.

Papa III talked about how the ghoul originally called Aether/Quintessence got the nickname "Omega" because of the omega symbol sticker on his guitar. and the ghoul originally called Fire got the nickname "Alpha" because he was the counterpart of Omega. (though the symbol on Alpha's guitar is actually a triangle, the symbol for Fire, not the letter alpha.)

PAPA EMERITUS III: But see, on their spare time, they also decorated guitars with other signs, very similar to the ones that we already used for them. So one night, when my predecessor was standing around here in the middle, he was thrusting singing and dancing and throwing kisses all over the place, there was a sound over at stage left. Confusing, eh? Stage left? Do you know what that sound was, over here? It was ladies’ voices –and I guess a few guys, too– that said “Alpha… I want you, Alpha… I want to be your Ghoulette, Alpha.” Eh? You talking about Fire? So Mister Fire had a new name un-christened by the girls in our audience. So please, give it up for a Nameless Ghoul called Alpha! Huntington, New York, USA (April 15, 2016)

and in the present, GTV / Ghoulbangers' Ball presenter Vanessa Warwick has said on her instagram that the band is aware of the fan-made names for the ghouls and uses them as well. when asked about the new ghoulette, she said she'd give her the nickname "Sunflower".

3: Oh, and isn't it unknown for now how Sister Imperator and Papa Nihil feel about Papa V and vice versa?

yeah. we haven't seen them interacting, and we also haven't really heard them talking about each other. Papa V has said in his shows that he thinks Papa Nihil made good music. that's all we know, for now.

PAPA V PERPETUA: Oh wait! Wait, wait, wait! We have one good song actually left. [...] It's an old number my daddy used to sing, actually. Amsterdam, Netherlands (May 8, 2025)

4: And speaking of Papa V, has there ever been any character interviews for him? Does the group still do those?

no, sadly, there are no character interviews for Papa V. the last time ghost did character interviews with Papa was way back with Papa II, and TF stopped doing character interviews as a Nameless Ghoul in Era 3.

5: Also, did every Papa start off as a cardinal?

as far as we know, the only Papas who were cardinals before becoming Papa were Papa III and Cardinal Copia / Papa IV.

Cardi was still a cardinal when he became leader of the band, and then he became Papa IV.

for Papa III, his time as a cardinal was talked about by Bishop Necropolitus Cracoviensis II, the character who represents the artist who does the album art for Ghost. Papa III served as a cardinal in Kraków, Poland.

Bp. Necropolitus Cracoviensis remembers: “…our relationship goes a long way back to the times before his papacy, that is when he was still a cardinal in my hometown, in Cracovia…(…) Although we had our share of juvenile recklessness - be it indulging his beloved cream pies - allegedly verging on six hundred sixty six portions a year but that must be a rumor I believe, or wild parties at the attic of seminary school (laughs) - even in his formative years, he remained a focused man of vision, looking far into the future, always addressing his people’s needs and longings to keep our church together in those turbulent, rapidly changing times (…) there were so many temptations to syndicate among our good people (…) (…) We would sit down to studying exciting Futurist manifestos, sketched the blueprints of utopian metropoles, spiked with shiny skyscrapers stabbing at the heavens belly… Wantonly swollen zeppelins would to carry our gospel of indulgence to the farthest corners of the globe to summon and enslave. (…) Forged in nostalgia of steam and fire, this brave new world of ambition, vice, lust and greed - all so inherent to the enlightened modernity, was always with him through all these years. And it is now - when our church continues to grow stronger and wealthier under wise reign of Papa Emeritus III - that these visions may finally be witnessed and embraced in the preachings of ‘Meliora’ - his most contemporary and humane Encyclical.” Zbigniew M. Bielak / the band Ghost official Facebook

[hmshermitcraft]

So.

When the hero Angel (or, one Skizz Leman) loses his job, he doesn't really expect much. A return to normal civilian life, a normal job, an escape from the shitty workplace environment that he really should've left years ago but by then it was all he knew how to do, and anyways it paid enough to live, and at that, live... well. He'd say live comfortably, but actually, he's pretty sure said shitty workplace environment was making that impossible.

So, really, he should've been glad when he yelled at an invasive reporter on live television (they were being rude! and nosy! and quite frankly crossing a lot of boundaries! not to mention he'd had a long day, and had already been heading home when they just... stopped him in the middle of the street) and then, about half an hour later, was fired.

But he wasn't. Instead he was stressed out of his mind in the safety of his own home, wondering what the hell he was supposed to do now. He hadn't had a normal job in five years! And he couldn't exactly have that random gap in his resume that came from the secrecy of being a "professional" hero.

Not that he'd ever kept that secret very well. From the beginning of his career, one person knew of his identity as Angel; the known vigilante Geoshock, AKA his best friend Impulse St. Valentine. They'd pretty much always known each other's identities. And pretty soon, that spread to most of the small, organized group of vigilantes Impulse was part of, known by the media as the "Lifers". None of them are really sure why they're called that, but they are, and anyways it's probably better than the names any of them could come up with ("Scar, no, we are not calling this group that name"), so they kept it.

Anyways, point is, they all eventually learned each others' civilian identities, and Skizz ended up as kind of an... honorary member, of sorts. They had a mutual agreement to avoid fights with each other.

So when Skizz got fired, he should've expected Impulse to invite him to join the group in their little, to quote Grian, "illegal heroism". But he didn't expect it-- of course, he was still overjoyed, and did, in fact, join the group, but he didn't expect it.

Their first step was to get Skizz a new name for those non-aveage-civilian activities. He'd never really liked "Angel", anyways-- it's what the hero organization chose for him. Something something, "his shapeshifting and main form with the feathery white wings and bright blue halo of eyes, combined with his selfless personality, is truly befitting of an angel", something something.

Well, Skizz thinks he deserves to be a little selfish, doesn't he? It's what the others tell him every day; Geoshock with his little gifts, and King with his words of praise, and Corpse Flower with their snarky but affectionate jabs, and... well, the list goes on, really. If he wanted to talk about everyone, he'd be here all night!

First step in learning to be selfish, he guesses, is choosing his own name (he's known that for a while, ever since he was seventeen years old, going from Ally to Skizz with the help of his older sister, but he doesn't think he's felt that freedom in a long time). He decides to go with Ender. It's not permanent; he'll probably change it when he finds something better, but that's the beauty of it, isn't it? Having the ability to change it? It's what he's always liked about his shapeshifting; it's what the hero organization tried to stifle, keeping him bound through fear of consequences to one form while on the job (and off it, too). He'd almost forgotten how to change to anything else.

But, slowly, surely, the other Lifers are helping him gain that back.

(this is just my lil hero au that I'm writing a fic for, except I made it poly lifers (except for Lizzie because she and Skizz are siblings in this au). also all non-civilian names except for skizz's are placeholders, this au is a wip)

He never realised how trapped he was in that hero role. It even dictated who he could speak to, it's part of why he was amazed Impulse reached out. Skizz hadn't been the best friend since becoming a hero, wouldn't be good to be seen with a vigilante...

Impulse's forgiveness feels like more than he deserves. He's determined to make it up to him (whether Skizz manages before Impulse makes him realise all the abuses of power he suffered... That's another matter.)

But joining the Lifers? Man, they live up to their name. Skizz has never felt so alive before! He feels like- like a kid in a playground. He's having fun again! He's helping people because he wants to, not just 'cause they pay for it.

All this... It feels like a family. He had no idea how he survived without them for so long.

[annahala]

mind games

michael olise x reader x jamal musiala

chapter i / ii / iii / iv

! work of fiction. all characters, events, and scenarios depicted are entirely imaginary. portrayals of michael olise and jamal musiala do not reflect their real personalities, behaviours, or actions.

୨ৎ

olise doesn’t raise his voice. he never does.

instead, it’s the way he lingers on every words you said with his half-lidded gaze, as if he already knows what you’re going to say. depicting as if you’re predictable. boring. and when you laughs, really laughs, the kind of laughter that makes your eyes crinkle, he just blinks, unmoved.

“you laugh like that with jamal too?”

the question comes quiet, tucked between spoonfuls of late-night ice cream and background music in your apartment. he was helping you fixing your kitchen faucets.

you blinks. “what?”

“just wondering,” he shrugs. “you only ever seem that happy when you talk about him.”

you swallows hard, the taste turning bitter.

it was supposed to be harmless. it always is, with olise.

୨ৎ

jamal is warmth. he listens with his whole body. when you speaks, he turns to you like the world goes silent. he remembers the name of your favorite candle scent. the fact that you sleeps better on the right side. the way you gets overwhelmed in crowds, how you hates being touched when you’re anxious. he holds space for you to exist.

but jamal is busy. lately, too busy.

and olise? he’s always there.

offering rides home. walking beside you in silence when you don’t want to talk. he doesn’t pressure. he doesn’t pry. he just is, always one step behind, always ready to catch you when you trips.

“jamal doesn’t really see you anymore, does he?”

you stiffens. “don’t do that.”

“do what?”

“make it seem like he doesn’t care.”

he looks at you, slow and soft. “i’m not making it seem like anything. you said it yourself. he almost missed your birthday. he forgot you don’t like red velvet cake.”

you did. you remembered saying that in frustration, offhanded. you didn’t think it mattered.

but olise remembers. he always remembers.

୨ৎ

one day, he caught you crying in the stairwell as he was going down to the apartment lobby to go to the near café. he lives in the 3rd floor, while you’re on the 2nd.

jamal had missed the date again.

a small thing, really. traffic. he said he’s not gonna make it on time and he thinks it’s better to meet tomorrow instead. you told yourself it wasn’t his fault.

but the tears came anyway.

olise doesn’t hug you. he just sits beside you, silent, waiting until your sobs shrink into sniffles. then:

“you know, you’d never cry like this if it were me.”

you don’t answer. doesn’t even look at him.

he leans in, voice like silk.

“because if it were me, i’d never forget what makes you feel unloved.”

you were about to say something but he suddenly stands up and grab your hand,

“come, i’m about to grab some coffee. can’t let your pretty dress and dolled up face go unseen right?”

you smacked his arm as a small laugh left your lips.

୨ৎ

olise plants doubts like seeds.

not lies. never lies.

just carefully placed truths, watered with silence, fed with implication.

“do you ever wonder if you’re just a placeholder for jamal? someone he loves because he’s supposed to, not because he really sees you?”

“you tell him everything, and yet he forgets the small things. do you think you’d forget if it were him?”

each time, you shake your head. tries to argue. tries to remember how jamal held you after your breakdown last winter. how he cried when you got sick and passed out in his arms. how he kissed you like you were his oxygen.

but those memories feel far away now.

blurred. softened. worn down by whispers.

olise never pushes. he doesn’t have to.

he just waits.

and you?

you starts to slip.

[inhurtandincomfort]

Hi Zero!!!

I saw you mention sts again so, I have a question! How do you come up with names for Things™, characters, lore stuff, or even fic and chapter titles?

So, for character names I'm really boring and use fantasynamegenerators.com. Back when I first started making OCs I tried to find good names with meanings, and when I started leaning into the fantasy I tried to do the thing of finding old words with suitable meanings... But finding names that I like, that fit the culture and timeline, and suit the character, AND have a suitable meaning... It was an impossible task. So I stopped caring about name meanings and I became a lot happier lol. As long as it fits the setting I'm happy.

For lore stuff and items, honestly, I just let words pop into my head. I have no special technique stuff, I tried the keysmashing method some people like but the things I just randomly come up are better imo. Sometimes I take a word and tweak it a bit, other times it's just something entirely random. As long as it's legible and after a quick google search to make sure it doesn't mean anything terrible or is copyrighted, I go with it!

Going back to fantasynamegenerators is really good too. Unless I'm choosing a common name, I try to tweak the fantasy ones to make them more unique - and sometimes in the process I end up with a new word entirely. It's all just like, vibes man.

Fic and chapter titles! These are honestly the hardest part for me, because a title is important! "Welcome Home, Angel" was easy, because of course Angel is Lukas' nickname for Kieran, and Lukas is obsessed with having him back "home" so like, that was really obvious. "Forsaken" was only ever a working title, because I needed a title. After a lot of thinking and frustration and writing out the bio which consisted of the line, "He who forsakes the divine shall be forsaken by the world." And I decided, that works. It's quick, it's easy, it fits the story and does a good job as a placeholder, it's fine. I don't know what I'll publish as, but I think it's a good title for now. Now chapter titles! These are interesting to me. I like coming up with them, but that doesn't mean it's easy for me!

I like to take a more light-hearted approach with Eldwin's, because his story is already a miseryfest and also because, I haven't had the chance to show off his personality much because most things I've written so far is him with people he can't talk to back to, not without repercussion. In early days he still did that a lot - but most of these about a year or two before the main story is supposed to begin, he's pretty worn down at that point.

So I like when I can do a less serious title for his fics. Like "Oh sure, take my aether, I didn't need it anyway" - to me is him just being really snarky and sarcastic. It's not something he'd necessarily ever say, I just think it suits his vibes. Just because he's behaving doesn't mean he's not thinking people are idiots lol.

But a good title is a good title, like "Sweet Aconite" is just a normal title, but it fit the fic, and I never want to force something to work. If it ain't broke why fix it?

I try to pick more serious ones for very important moments for the character though. "A Soul Condemned, A Fate Be Changed" isn't a super stiff title, but to me at least it holds some weight to it, like it sounds like an important moment, and it is. That's the moment Eldwin met Vor'gol and made the pact, that is a crucial moment in his life and we would not have the story without it. So I didn't want to do a joke-y one for that one.

How I come up with these titles is, again, I just let them come to me. I'm a chronic daydreamer, even though I didn't start making ocs until I was a teen I always was off in my world world playing pretend in some way or another (My fairy-chef cooking show was a hit! :P) Some of them I have a title right off the bat, like The Black Syndicate Survival Guide. Other times though I'm left desperately trying to find something so I can publish a completed fic 😓

[yansimstorythatiwillnotworkon]

Megami Saikou

Name: Megami Saikou

Gender: Female

Class: 2-2

Club: Student Council

Persona: Lovestruck (Devoted)

Reputation:

Overall: +100

Liked: +100

Respected: +100

Feared: +100

Crush: ???

Strength: Invincible

__

I'm not entirely sure about how I feel about Megami. I think she might be kind of dull, but that's only via the fan content. She's widely known as the most beautiful rival, but that's all the art about her is. Either that or changing her race and whatnot (which I never understood, personally). I feel like too many people focus on how Megami looks and what they want her personality to be, instead of her general lore that makes up her character.

This is probably why, despite consuming so much YanSim content, I never knew much about Megami. I think that despite YanSim being such a dark story, the majority of the fandom being built up of minors keeps the interesting fan content to an unrealistically vanilla standard.

Enough about the fandom, though. Regarding game play, I think that during Megami's week, the Student Council will really be justified to be as threatening with everyone as they are with Ayano. Possibly even leaving them vulnerable to bullying, rumours, humiliation, and being fired. Much more beneath the cut.

I feel as though everyone knows that Megami and the Student Council could be on close terms, but I also feel like people constantly forget about how dark their relationship with her could be as well. As much as I'd like to touch up on that, I didn't add the student council up above due to having limited space and having the ability to touch up on them in their own post.

I think that each rival should have a different relationship with their suitor, and it shouldn't copy the whole "guy in love who will not talk to his crush without the help of the main character" schmuck that placeholds the matchmaking system currently. With this in mind and considering that Kaga (supposedly?) is already in contact with Megami's father, I think that it isn't too far off to believe that he's also in contact with Megami herself and is aware of her goals once she arrives in school. How he goes about his actions while knowing this information is a complete enigma to me, though. I feel like if I were to look at Kaga and Megami in a more romantic light, I'd say that the two of them are completely compatible, but only other vastly different circumstances. Without all the Ayano-loathing madness, Megami would probably come to terms with the fact that, psychotic or not, a smart guy is a smart guy, and a smart guy is her type. Additionally, considering Kaga's overall madness, I'm sure in his mind "a future as the head of Saikou Corp" has always been "a future with Megami", regardless if at first it was a romantic attraction or not.

Regarding Taro, I'm sure that regardless of his mental stability in the future game play, Megami's approach in this week would not be giving him a lunch, borrowing his book, or going on a date with him. If anything, her entire week might just be her standing buy him until club time, where she and the student council can have a meeting. Taro himself, after the events of the past nine weeks, feels obligated to some degree to comply with her. Hell, if not to assist in the capturing of a supposed psychopath, then at least to become the hero he couldn't be for any of the past victims. If Megami were to gain feelings for Taro, then she likely wouldn't act on them unless Taro was in a more stable mindset. But if that were the case, I feel like Taro would grow - if not suspicious, then confused of Megami's intentions after she went completely overkill just to confess to him in the end anyway. If he wasn't in a stable mindset, Megami would likely transfer him to a safe and stable school and environment in order for him to continue the rest of his life like normal. Or at least, as normal as a traumatized boy can get.

Ayano will be "assigned" a trusted member of the school (most likely a student council member or female) to watch her at all times. This could essentially force Ayano to kill her chaperone or force her to do a 100% friendly route- which might not even be available in Megami's week all things considered. Several other students (like surviving rivals and close friends of Ayano) will likely be followed for the sake of believability of Megami not targeting Ayano as well as wanting to keep others safe and away from suspicious material. I imagine that if Ayano has kept to a peaceful and friendly route throughout the whole game, even befriending everyone (maybe the SC included), Megami will be forced to tolerate Ayano and not treat her harshly since at that point all her feelings would have just been due to judging her ancestors' actions. This would work far better than Ryoba's game (good and bad ending included) because Ayano has never canonically killed anyone, and can 100% make a change in order to normalize herself and her kids for the sake of Taro. I also think that the only way to peacefully defeat Megami if the peaceful and friendly route was taken would be to snatch Taro's heart before she can.

Raibaru's case could possibly just be an oc-implemented case since regarding her canon information, her being attached to Megami wouldn't make any sense, but I'll still explain a tad bit to you lot anyway. In the story, a reason why Raibaru is so attached to Osana is because of a loss in middle school. Due to this and an oc, she's become suspicious of Ayano and still thinks that Osana's life is possibly at risk. Hence why she partners with Megami.

[domoz]

Go write 100 words of Unnamed 4/Political Hostage Hikaku and Trust in Reverse

Political Hostage Hikaku

...I've really got to name this... even the placehold title is not quite accurate...

The guards on them are always more jumpy than usual when the rest of the Senju go to battle, but they seem to be especially so, today. Hikaku is careful not to move too quickly as he pushes himself to stand. He would be able to handle himself if someone decided to treat his movements as a threat, but the others who are sitting huddled together on the stairs beneath him will not. It's not as though he's in a hurry anyways -- once he got everyone onto the other side of the river, the rest was taken out of his hands.

Trust in Reverse

"Well I'm trying to work out the best deal on quarried stone." Madara answers on reflex. When he glances up to actually look at Izuna, the teasing look falls from his face, "Why, is something wrong?" "No, I'm fine." He denies easily. There's nothing wrong about today that wasn't wrong yesterday. "I guess I just don't see how this is supposed to work. You really think it's possible to live next to the Senju and not kill each other?" Madara's lips curl up in a sardonic smile. "I think we're well beyond possible. It's already happening now -- we just need to force it to keep happening." …That's exactly what Izuna had been afraid of hearing. He grimaces.

Ask Meme/WIP List

[24-guy]

Right I've put too much thought into even making this post to not do it anymore.

(A very crude)

Explanation on how every romance in Good Omens has connections to Ineffable husbands.

God I'm out of practice at this thing.

This will contain spoilers for Season 2 of Good Omens. Everything is below the cut.

Anyway. This is because I've seen some people pointing out how it's Maggie and Nina and Ineffable Beuraucracy in season 2 but it's not just them who we can look at for the husbands. And it's going to be really scuffed because I have no notes to pull off of, and because I'm relying on my memory.

First, we have Anathema and Newt in season 1.

They both come from descendants who are supposed to be enemies, a witch hunter and a Witch, and they follow in those footsteps - however crudely - and that is how they find one another. And once they do, they instantly seem to click. Anathema doesn't stop dating Newt as soon as she burns the second prophecy book (presumably). And Newt also doesn't return to London.

So what does this say about Aziraphale and Crowley? They come from opposing sides and find each other because of that (focusing on the garden of Eden, rather than Before the Beginning) and, once they meet, they always come back together again. And it's only after... Everything... Do they really part ways. The main reason I decided they were worth mentioning in this is because they are hereditary enemies. Demon and Angel, Witch hunter and Witch.

Our next relationship to look far too deeply into is, of course, Nina and Maggie. I'm a firm believer in Nina being a placeholder for Aziraphale, and Crowley is Maggie, and so I'll mainly focus on that but I will also go into the other option at the end of this section.

Maggie spends this season pining for Nina even though she is aware of her partner. And Maggie always goes to see Nina in her shop, not the other way around. And we see, in the last episode, that Maggie is willing to wait for Nina to be ready. She knows that she might have to wait a while, but she will always be there. Which just sounds a whole lot like Crowley. He is the one who goes to visit Aziraphale in the bookshop, he has been waiting (even if it's unknowingly) for 6000 years for something to happen, he's the one who ends up trying to move the relationship forward at the end, and even after "I forgive you", he still waits by the car to see if Aziraphale will change his mind.

On the other side of the coin. Nina is the one who stays in her place of comfort; the coffee shop, and entertains talking to Maggie as she walks in. She's the one who has doubts about herself ("I'm not your type") and pushes Maggie away both because of those and because of her toxic relationship she's in. I think it's incredibly important that we never see Nina's partner (who's name I have forgotten), because it only adds to the parallel that it creates. Aziraphale is always in his bookshop, unless he needs to be elsewhere. He entertains talking to Crowley, even though we all know he enjoys it just as much, and his relationship with Heaven is toxic as all. We watch as Aziraphale denies Crowley's proposition to run away in favour of changing Heaven, he wants to change heaven and he wants to do it knowing that Crowley is beside him but he is willing to do it by himself if he needs to.

The other reading is more personality based. Nina is sarcastic and snide but clearly has a heart, like Crowley. Is also probably insecure due to aforementioned toxic relationship. And Maggie is sweet and has a similar brightly colored - slightly dated - outfit range to Aziraphale. Also Nina calling Maggie "Angel".

Finally.

Ineffable Beuraucracy. They are successful because they affectively communicated and found common ground with opposing the Apocalypse. They also, you know, acknowledged being friends. And this is just an example of what Crowley and Aziraphale should have been doing from the beginning. It's all about the communication.

And that's ignoring the obvious angel and demon form an unlikely friendship which eventually becomes more through extended time together. :)

I have more thoughts but I've been typing this for about half an hour just trying to get my thoughts to be put to words but it was like trying to push grains of sand through paper.

As I said at the beginning. I'm very out of practice.

[thekimspoblog]

FotD will probably be the wedding from S1E4 of SK. It's awkward because neither Jimmy nor Kim felt like the ceremony was actually about them. They sort of got pressured into it because Dawson had already done so much for them. Like they did want to get remarried, but the dress, the venue? All of this was selected for them.

I wish I could like texts in the chats

And of course later they realized Dawson was just trying to establish an alibi for Mary and Peter. Because I'm going for "quirky" in the same way BCS was quirky, there's a whole symbolism thing going on with a fire damaged Audrey II puppet in the church basement. But I'm not sure I can really explain what I'm going for with that one.

Lololol I’m excited to see where you go with it

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If you've followed my blog for long enough, you might have noticed a running joke I occasionally dredge up, where I write "KIM...

Ok first of all for context I wrote this one a while ago...

Mary and Peter (I'm referring to their last name as "Brown" but that's a placeholder) are originally introduced in S1E3 as members sitting on the parole board which will determine whether Jimmy can be released on house arrest. Later in the episode, it's revealed they are friends/followers of Dawson's and he got them this job specifically so they would release any convicts they could to RUIC's community. I don't remember if you've said you've seen Season 2 of "YOU" but I'm picturing Victoria Pedretti as Mary, and in some ways I want to continue the dynamic Love and Forty had in that show. Dawson took the pair in after fracking made their previous home unlivable. But Peter is a very shy and sensitive playwright and Mary feels like she has to always look out for him...

The church relies heavily on pop culture to communicate its message. For the past several years, each Easter they would put on a production of "Jesus Christ Superstar" or "Prince of Egypt", but Peter had this passion project where he adapted "Little Shop of Horrors" to fit more with the religion's themes of sacrifice and prosperity. Dawson dragged his feet (mostly to make Peter want his validation) but eventually was convinced to perform it in spring of 2016. The play was odd but appreciated among its audience, but the pyrotechnics caused the playhouse to catch fire. When Kim joins the organization the following November, Dawson is in the process of building it back "bigger and better". In episode 3, as Kim is speculating on the damage in the basement, she's startled to discover the monster living down there, until she realizes it's just a puppet. Tying together this recurring theme of "the magic was fake but the emotions were real"...

Anyway, so in episode 4 titled "Golden Rings, Golden Watches" the episode mostly cuts back and forth between Kim and Jimmy getting married, and Mary and Peter preparing to assassinate a politician. And the point is there's supposed to be a clear parallel of the way Peter's codependence with Mary is leading him into a situation which will ultimately kill him, and Jimmy's loyalty to Kim in the face of all the red flags of this faction she's joined. And the burned puppet just provides something distinct for the background of the production design for the Mary/Peter scenes. I'm trying to do that traditional "Breaking Bad" thing where we see elements of a plan being prepared but we don't understand the design until we see the plan executed... but I'm not necessarily as good at it. I want to keep the details of what Mary and Peter are preparing to do vague, just focus on the emotions so when the victim dies it's a surprising twist, but it's hard to balance the tone of a scheme being lateral without being convoluted. Basically as it stands now, the plan is to do that plan from that one Simpsons episode: Mary and Peter fill the Senator's house with natural gas and then ignite it when he gets home. It was supposed to look like an accident, but Mary and Peter were caught fleeing the scene.

And of course Kim and Mary's conflict comes to a head in Episode 7. But today I'm mostly thinking about 4.

Any questions?

@seashellsandteacups @klitzxting85 @pinkmanapologist

[quibbs126]

So I redesigned this old character of mine this morning, named 97. There might have been more to her name, I don’t remember

I drew her because of a Game Jam thing I’m a part of, since our brainstorming reminded me of her. We might use her, we might not, but regardless I liked this, so I wanted to post it. Though note, I’ll just be talking about her old story rather than whatever we’re working on right now. Because I’m not sure about how confidentiality of information on this subject works

Anyways, the picture in the top left is my only digital drawing of her, from winter of probably about 2020-2021? It’s a number of years old, I know that

I might have made other drawings of her, but it would have been on my sketchbook back then instead of here. So this is all I have to work with here

It’s on a page of other random story ideas, if you’re curious as to what the other stuff is. I only remember the one on the right though

My new attempts at drawing Transformers inspired by Mega Man designs has helped me greatly. And also my attempts to learn anatomy a bit better last semester. It still isn’t the best though, and it was so weird to try and draw a human at this point

But yeah, this is 97. In my head, she’s always had an association with pink, particularly in her hair. At some point I think I associated it with her armor as well, and so I made her armor pink here, with black/dark purple to go with it

She was also supposed to have a color for light in this new design. I just inverted one of the pinks to get that cyan, and while it was just supposed to be a placeholder, I ended up liking it, so that’s what I’m sticking with

Her eyes are green like her original, and I’m not sure if I should change it? I think it looks fine, but I wonder if I should change it to fit the other colors more

I think both of her arms were supposed to turn into cannons, and I think in the original, her fingers look like that because they’re turning into a blaster, but I changed it here to just be one arm, and that arm’s fingers to be more different, having only three fingers. Now she’s got more of a Mega Man and also my Megatron design going on. I think it looks good, I just need to figure out her other arm more now

But also things to probably note about 97: she’s a cyborg, with only her human head and torso remaining (I think down to her waist), the rest being cybernetics. She’s also supposed to be somewhere in her 30s or so

In her story, there’s supposed to be this organization making robots/cyborgs for some reason I don’t think I ever fully fleshed out. They were also very much shady. 97’s name here comes from being the 97th of their creations

Before becoming 97, she was some sort of military officer, fighting whatever same threat the organization is, until some sort of horrible accident led to her losing half of her body, and being repurposed into 97

Her story was supposed to be a hypothetical video game, and the main thing was that it had two branching paths depending on your actions, though both were equally pretty bad

In the route where you listen to the organization you’re now working for, you end up facing 96, the cyborg before you who went rogue and is causing problems, rounding up other old projects to do so. 96 isn’t that bad of a person, and he was also like, fresh out of high school, 18-20 when he got turned into 96. His chaos is mostly centered around the organization you work for, whom he’s come to realize is completely rotten, and is fighting back alongside other projects they’ve mistreated and abandoned. You are very much the bad guy here. 96 originally isn’t that mad at 97, because she just got here and probably doesn’t get it yet, but by the end of the game he hates you for killing his friends (the other projects), and for sticking with the horrible organization despite 97 having to know they aren’t benevolent by this point

However, in the alternate route where you forego the organization and instead help 96, you have another threat to face in the form of the newly made 98. 98 was a new military recruit, possibly in the same group as 97 prior to their recreation, around her early 20s. However, 98 differs from 96 and 97 in her lack of free will. 97 was the organization’s last attempt at letting one of their projects keep their free will, after previous attempts like 96 have proven to go astray and do things the organization doesn’t like, even turning against them. But they’ve had proof that their projects work better with human brains as opposed to machine intelligence, which ultimately cannot adapt to circumstances like humans. So with 98, she keeps her brain and mind, but she’s basically being controlled by the organization rather than her own self. So she’s in a living hell, and fighting 98 is pretty much just putting her out of her misery. Though she wouldn’t exist at all if 97 didn’t decide to rebel against the organization, and 98 won’t be the last project they make

So basically you’re either the organization’s attack dog, fighting a young man who genuinely wants to make things better (even if he’s a bit destructive), and taking away the remaining things he loves, or you choose to fight against these horrible people, but you fate innocent people to a living hell and eternal misery until you kill them, including a young woman who was supposed to depend on you in your past life, and there’s no way of knowing how many more will suffer before you can stop this once and for all

Also one more note about the three, they’re all missing different amounts of their bodies, replaced with machinery. 96 is missing his lower half, but he still has his arms. 97 is missing all of her limbs and a bit of her lower body. 98 meanwhile only has her head left. I think also they didn’t actually lose all of those body parts in the accidents that led to them becoming cyborgs (they did lose some, but not all, especially 98), the organization just decided to replace more of their body for their own purposes

96 and 98 never got designs, maybe I’ll give them some, but I don’t know. I know vaguely that 96 has brown hair while 98 has blonde. Though 97 has pink so maybe I should change theirs up a bit more

But yeah, that was 97’s story. The idea was that with her two routes, there was no “true” ending like how other games have, they’re supposed to be sort of equal in how bad they are, so that there’s a genuine choice in which to go through. It depends on which you consider more important, because there is no happy ending, especially when you’re dealing with a corrupt group like the one here, someone always suffers

But like, maybe it’s a bit too much of a downer. I don’t really know

But it’ll probably never get used anyways, because I almost certainly won’t make a proper video game at this rate, even if I think it’d be neat

So yeah, just know this was an idea I had, and I just wanted to show you her new design, because I like it

[plubos]

I’ve just been using Pluto as my courier’s name as like a placeholder. Anyway on to more bits between them and yes man.

I projected my autism onto the courier and got Pluto.

So before getting shot by Benny I like to think that Pluto took on the job of courier cause it was a simple delivery job taking stuff from point a to b. It doesn’t involve talking much either! So what was supposed to be an easy to understand gig for someone who has a difficult time with regular jobs and social interaction.

I also like to think they weren’t selectively mute before getting shot but just was so bad at social interaction that they didn’t have many people to talk to. But I’m sure if they did find someone to talk to they yapped as much as they could before continuing with a delivery.

Post-Benny though, I have it so the damage they gained actually made it difficult for them to formulate sentences properly and so talking took a lot of effort and was exhausting at first. So for most of the storyline they remained mute and only spoke with one word responses.

After getting Boone at Novac to join them on the revenge quest they began practicing how to do small signals with Boone as another way of communication. ED-E was the next companion and Pluto spent their alone time with ED-E practicing sentences and responses. Mostly cause they get embarrassed when trying to talk to others so practicing with someone who doesn’t have any opinions on their speech was a welcome addition.

When they got to the strip they had already accumulated a fair bit of caps and payed for fake passports in freeside. But once in the strip it was already a bit overwhelming with all the lights and sounds.

Making their way to the tops casino was easy with help from Boone. The only out of the ordinary decision Pluto made when confronting Benny was using the black widow perk and making short but effective charms to lure Benny away. After the whole sleeping together and shooting him after bit there was a fair bit of regret in the choice as instead of feeling satisfied with Benny being dead it just felt kinda hollow.

But after a bit of snooping and wearing Benny’s suit, they come across the guy to answer all their problems.

See interacting with robots is so much easier than humans. And that’s cause they aren’t mean or judgmental, well at least all the ones Pluto’s met.

Talking came easy after all the practice with ED-E with a handful of a few mistakes hear and there.

Yes man at the time being forced to be very very nice and unable to say no didn’t go unnoticed but with the couriers help they used some loopholes to help yes man give honest answers.

Having someone wanting his honest opinion was a welcome change for yes man and having a friend that explained stuff in the simplest way possible was always welcome for Pluto.

And so a close friendship began and a plan to take over the Mojave for the better was set in motion.

Of course with the little bit of tech knowledge the courier had they helped Yes man with more then an assertive upgrade and was able to make him his own independent person.

I’ll go into more details on it some other time but for now I think these are enough thoughts. :3

[the-girl-who-didnt-smile]

Baron de la Mort

Here is my take on a “Baron Samedi”-type Hazbin Hotel character (take two)

His name is often shortened to “The Baron” or simply “Baron”. In terms of character design, this is just a rough draft.

This doesn’t even begin to look like the art style of the show! Jesus Christ…

The previous, scrapped concept was deeply offensive, on many different levels. In a nutshell, I erred in taking Denise Alvarado, Randy P. Conner, and Wikipedia as reliable sources for Haitian Vodou. I’m that fucking stupid! It was also a mistake for me to include a reference to Sosyete Nago, given the recent controversy. The reason I have not just deleted it is because it illustrates exactly what not to do, and mistakes are a learning experience.

Baron Samedi is one of the most misrepresented lwa in popular media, which I previously discussed here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54861145/chapters/150245212 

To correct past mistakes, I attempted to style him after Andre D. Pierre’s portrayal of Baron Samedi, with some deliberate changes. This is why he smokes cigars, and in his human form he wears sunglasses (although, his sunglasses are styled after Gustavo Fring)

Andre Pierre painted this incredible mural of the lwa, and I genuinely think Baron Samedi is the single most stylish man in this entire pantheon. I’m a little sad that his immaculate, anime-esque facial hair never made it into the public consciousness… 

In all seriousness, I actually think one of the coolest things about Pierre’s rendition is how he depicts Baron Samedi carrying scales, because he’s the Supreme Judge over the human soul. That’s so fucking cool!

My brain is so rotten on One Piece, I just immediately connect him to the Holy Knights and Peak Stylish One Piece Man: Impel Down Crocoboy

This is how this man dressed in prison!

Funny story… Baron is actually supposed to be Donquixote Doflamingo. 

Because I am insane, I genuinely think Doflamingo is the only One Piece man who has better drip than Crocoboy.

His drip is so horrible, ugly, and evil, just like everything else about Sir D. Onquixote D. Oflamingo

He is the most evil drag king who will ever fucking live.

This guy is not nearly as evil as Doffyboy, but this is why he always wears sunglasses… he for sure has a second pair of sunglasses underneath his sunglasses… Lanmò is supposed to be Bellamy… Lavi is supposed to be Monet...

At that, this is actually the reason for the inclusion of Lanmò and Lavi. TAKE ONE PIECE FOR EXA– So you know how Baroque Works was introduced before Crocoboy, and Bellamy was introduced before Tanjiahdo Lofulamingo Sama. If you put a ‘boss’ character into a story, you have to give him henchmen and introduce the henchmen, otherwise the bossman doesn’t seem cool… There’s a sequence to things. Lanmò and Lavi demo ‘henchmen’ types characters you would give this guy.

Anyways, you know how Doflamingo - ugliest man in all of One Piece - is WAY stronger than Crocodile (the Suna Suna no Mi is complete dogwater) but plagiarizes the shit out of his look… This other guy is stealing Doflamingo’s look. This is why elements of Dofla D. Mingo and Croco D. Boy are both present in his design.

So “Baron of the Dead” was just a placeholder name. That name sounds so bad. I decided to give him the name “Baron de la Mort”, which is also kind of a stupid name. He and “Maman de la Vie” break the Jojo-ass naming scheme to signify their unique importance, as the gods of the dead.

He is not actually Baron Samedi, but a human from another universe. In the universe he comes from, there exists something like Baron Samedi. In fact, this is actually how you reveal the identities of THE GODS themselves, through the backstory of THE GOD OF DEATH! The added element of them being from another universe just makes it more fun, because you can make them human souls from any time period and alternate history imaginable - including the future!

The backstory for “Baron de la Mort” is described here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/55065466/chapters/151062802  

Here, it is crucial not to collapse his moral complexity. He cannot be described as “pure evil” or “a hero”; for his extraordinary ruthlessness and moral neutrality, he was the perfect candidate to become Mortality itself.

I genuinely think this makes for a very interesting fictional character; however, the subject matter must be handled with the utmost maturity. Hazbin Hotel is not exactly a show known for its maturity… If he were ever to appear in a show like Hazbin Hotel, this aspect of his backstory should only be implied, and not addressed directly. If a flashback is shown, it should not involve his criminal history, but his relationship with his son, who came out as homosexual to him.

This is a key part of his past human life. He is designed to contrast with Moxxie and Angel Dust’s fathers, in that he did not reject his son and loved him unconditionally. Unlike his wife, his son’s soul was not used to create a god. He doesn’t remember him, but on some level he misses him.

Recently, I watched the documentary Des Hommes et Dieux (2002) [Vimeo] [Kanopy]. One of the things that really moved me was the parents in this documentary, who didn’t reject their children. This is in part because of their religious beliefs - that they were born that way to serve the lwa. It’s remarkable… Haiti - the nation that did the right thing, and paid the price for it - is one of the most impoverished places on the Earth, and yet there’s this side that’s accepting of this. The culture I grew up in is WAY more affluent, but there’s no equivalent to Vodou; homosexuals and transgender people were just hated, “better off dead”... 

In terms of media representation, it is important not just to show characters who are themselves LGBT, but the parents of those characters. Importantly, this representation cannot just be superficial (e.g., the “lesbian” or “gay parent” background characters, who have no speaking lines and are easily censored) You have to actually show how did these parents grapple with this reveal? How did they handle the shock of it, and why didn’t they reject their children? This matters because it might be able to change the minds of some parents in the real world. Family rejection has a huge, negative impact on LGBT children, and several minority communities are disproportionately affected by this trend. Intersectional representation is scarce, and often feels inauthentic - especially when a creator takes characters who were clearly originally planned to be white, racebends them, and doesn’t account for cultural differences. This would be a unique opportunity to show this side of Haitian culture, in an authentic way.

What I had actually envisioned for this character is a darker spin-off of Hazbin Hotel - a story that takes place in its world and expands on Earth and the afterlife. He is best utilized there. Barring this, he still makes for a fun character as the “grim patriarch” over a motley crew of henchmen / “capricious children”. In terms of personality, he’s supposed to be a cross between Gomez Addams and Gustavo Fring.

This aspect of his character was inspired by Donald Cosentino’s Sacred Arts, in which he characterizes Baron Samedi like so: 

“Bawon Samdi is a family man, presiding over a whole clan of related spirits who bear a startling collective resemblance to the Addams family…There is, for instance, Bawon Lakwa, the imbecilic brother who keeps the cemetery grounds, and Gran Brijit, the ghoulish, red-eyed wife, and the wise Bawon Simitye. But it is their capricious children, known collectively as the Gedes, who are the truly beloved of the Bawon’s family. As sacred children, the Gedes merge with the other dead, and the other lwa, to form the holy trinity of Vodou. Everyone seems to love the Gedes, for in linking the cemetery to the phallus, they celebrate our common sexual victory over death.”

SOURCE: Cosentino, Donald. Sacred Arts of Haitian Vodou. United States, UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, 1995. p. 405 https://archive.org/details/sacredartsofhait0000unse/page/404/mode/2up? 

If Milo Marcelin’s Mythologie Vodou, Vol. II is to be believed, Baron Samedi really does have this band of “capricious children” following him around. This is a scary ass lwa, described as The Supreme Judge over the Earth and The Lord over the Dead, who bewitches people and turns them into zombies, also has a bunch of kids with these hilariously clashing personalities, who sing funny songs where they call Baron Samedi “papa”... Not to mention that several of them may or may not be gender non-conforming / non-heterosexual… I think that’s fun!

Didn’t you love Baroque Works?

Baroque Works was so fun… it was literally just:

The Donquixote pirates were even better. 

Just:

Several aspects of Baron are actually inspired by Don Corleone, but it’s a mistake to make him visually resemble the Godfather, as it makes him look too much like Francois Duvalier. This is why I think he should adopt a Victorian era-esque style - to make it obvious he is not “Papa Doc”. It is also why he should not speak in a nasally voice; I was picturing him with a super deep voice, or an effect layered over his voice. He needs to have a distinct and intimidating voice. Ideally, he is voiced by a Haitian voice actor.

(in the Japanese dub I was totally picturing him sounding like Ryūzaburō Ōtomo)

To summarize his powers (his stats are not changed):

He is the Grim Reaper of Hazbin Hotel; he is tasked with escorting human souls to Heaven or Hell (your ass probably didn’t get into Heaven…you’re probably going to Hell)

He exerts pure Death Anxiety on humans, making him appear Scarier than is visually conveyed… (I know my art is bad! LEAVE ME ALONE!!!)

Like all other Loa, he can possess humans and communicate with them through their dreams; he can be petitioned to bewitch another human and/or give them horrifying nightmares.

He alone has the power to create zombies; all zombies are created through him, in some way.

His black-colored magic is Death itself; a human does not die until he kills them; he can be petitioned to postpone a human’s death.

His signature move is where he rips apart a human soul but slows down time while he’s doing it, so the person experiences torture forever (this attack looks WAY COOL but it’s not very strong… four-dimensional confetti is a lot stronger than this…) This is extremely easy for him to do; he can make millions of these without breaking a sweat.

He has the highest Attack Power of any god; this means he can kill everything in a given universe, in an instant.

When he fuses with his wife, she basically gives him infinite Healing. They become the most powerful thing underneath uppercase God.

If somehow figure out a way to kill his unkillable wife, he goes BERSERK where he gains the power to do things that are completely impossible, at the cost of all his Battle IQ

Although he is forced to assume a human form, he shapeshifts to look like a skeleton when carrying out his duties as the undertaker. When he does this, his sunglasses become his eye sockets, the skull painted on his face becomes an actual skull, and the rings on his fingers become bones. He wears a small black cross, which is not inverted, and black gloves to hide his Scary Skeleton Hands. 

To be honest, there are a lot of Scary Skeleton Men who look Scarier than this, but I think his powers are Scary as fuck. If this was something you could encounter in the real world, I would just about shit my pants!

In two regards, I may or may have massively played myself. 

Firstly, I previously assumed that God (Hazin Hotel) exists, but it dawned on me that we’ve never actually seen God. Walk with me here, but what if God doesn’t actually exist, and it’s just a conspiracy made up by the angels in Heaven? In which case… Bon Dieu isn’t actually God. He’s just this horrifying Eldritch Abomination who created The Boys, then fucked off into hyperspace (or, hyper-hyperspace) I guess! …Can you see why it’s a problem to call them “Baron Samedi” “Papa Legba” etc…?

Actually, this is not that big of a deal. It’s kind of funny if “Bon Dieu” is this just Bill Cipher-ass, super-powered Abomination.

But secondly, I think it is likely that “Double Hell” exists. EXPLAIN YOURSELF. Well, I think it is likely that there’s some other zone(s) outside of Heaven and Hell, because of the existence of Roo. They’ve shown the various Rings of Hell in Helluva Boss, but Roo does not seem to be in any of them. So where is she? In Dante’s Inferno, there are actually more than seven Circles to Hell; perhaps there are secret levels to Hell, and Roo is in one of the secret levels. Another possibility is that she dwells in a zone outside of Hell proper! Then you have to consider the fate of the souls destroyed by the Exterminators. What happens to those souls? What happens to souls that have been ripped apart? I think it’s doubtful that they merely cease to exist. Otherwise, there would probably be many people seeking out this “exit” from whatever horrors they are experiencing under a Soul Deal with a Demon Overlord. The more likely answer seems to be “Double Hell”... which probably isn’t called “Double Hell”, but it’s existence is implied in the pilot. Basically, instead of respawning in the Pride Ring, you respawn here, and this is just torture for eternity. Something like every cell in your body burns forever… Real Hell, if you will. If I had to guess, I think this might be where Roo dwells, and she somehow feeds off of torturing these souls forever… that would be SICK!

If this turns out to be even partially true, I think this ROCKS I’m down, but it does completely undermine the concept of the Real Hell attack... The Real Hell is way less cool if Double Hell exists. However, I still think it’s a little cool in that it’s more ancient than even Double Hell. Charlie is such a sweet girl that if Double Hell exists, she might make it her mission (and succeed) to free all the souls from “Double Hell”.  So I guess a cool thing about Real Hell is that nobody ever gets out of it. Baron is the only thing that can free a human soul from this torture, and he never does. He never goes back on his decision.

I thought about changing his powerset, but no… the mental image of Gustavo D. Fring going BERSERK is so goddamn funny to me. This guy is so fucking smart too! But no… Santa Claus and Nina Simone are smarter than him… 

In the Santa Claus v. Gomez Addams/Morticia Addams showdown, it is actually a very close fight. So you’re thinking to yourself “How does Santa Claus kill the Dyad with INFINITE ATTACK and INFINITE HEALS?” Basically, if he blows up the entire multiverse, there is no more space for anything to exist but himself. This is how he fucking wins… there is a 50% chance Mr. and Mrs. Corleone win, but a 49% chance Louis Armstrong (underdog) wins instead… 

The one thing I did tweak is the impossible battle scenario between him and his wife. I think it’s kind of pointless for purple-colored magic to destroy black-colored magic; rather, it’s that the two cannot harm each other. Life cannot kill Death; Death cannot kill Life. So basically they are just locked in an infinite stalemate. But if he was fighting someone other than his wife who somehow has purple-colored magic, he does win solely because he has the Berserk mode. He’s a bit of a Stu in this regard… It takes him forever to figure out the condition that triggers it, making this one of the most boring fights imaginable.

He is sometimes seen carrying a staff, which was visually inspired by the In Extremis display at the UCLA Fowler Museum. The staff would look unsettling if it existed in real life. As it is not made out of materials that exist in the real world, it falls into the uncanny valley of “organic vs. inorganic”. The black portion of the staff is supposed to resemble a human aorta.  

Also inspired the In Extremis display, “Baron de la Mort” and “Maman de la Vie” are figured as skeletons, while “Lanmò” and “Lavi” (demons who sold their souls to them) are rotten flesh. It should be immediately visually obvious that former pair are “the boss” and the latter pair are “the underlings”. 

In addition to Baron Samedi, “Baron de la Mort” is also inspired by a “Devil” figure who appears in American folklore. There is a very fun theory that this “Devil” is actually Baron Samedi. I do not know if it is true (it could turn out to be bullshit), but I think it makes for a fun story in a fictional setting. This is why he has a minor black cat motif, as this “Devil” is associated with black cats. He is occasionally seen holding a black cat Godfather-style, to contrast with “Big Papa”’s dog motif.

See also: Jacobsen, K. (Nov. 1, 2002). The Society for the Study of Southern Literature, Volume 36, Issue 1: https://southernlit.org/volume-36-issue-one-fall-2002/ 

Selling your soul to “The Devil” is a big thing in American folklore, which is why a human can sell their soul to “Baron de la Mort”. Unlike “Big Papa”, Baron is not much of a Dealmaker. He does not seek out humans to make contracts with; they seek out him. This is very rare, as only the most desperate humans (living or dead) ever seek him out. His soul deals are extremely brutal - some of the worst to enter. Unlike “Big Papa” he also makes deals with souls in the afterlife, as he moves freely between the realms of the living and dead. (Papa is powerful enough to do this too, he’s just not interested in it)

Baron is also sometimes seen carrying scales, but he’s technically not the Judge. He does not decide who goes to Heaven or Hell, but he is the Supreme Executive Authority. Because he wields Executive Power, he can override the decision on a human’s final destination. For this reason, he is extremely powerful, outranking the Archangels in Heaven and the Seven Deadly Sins.

He rarely exercises this power, as he has so little regard for human lives.  If he abused his Executive Authority, he would have been removed from his post. On rare occasion, he overrides the decision and adopts human souls into his personal domain - a third option outside of Heaven or Hell, called “The Underworld”. 

Previously, I defined a set of criteria to join the Underworld. Baron de la Mort is a lot more elusive about his criteria. It seems to be something he does on a whim, and appears to happen pretty randomly. 

The real reason for this is because, in his past human life, he had a large family of several children and grandchildren. Upon becoming a god, he lost his memories of his past human life, but he occasionally gets glimpses of it in a process similar to dreaming. He cannot clearly remember this, but on some level he misses his children. 

The irony here, is that unlike SOME OTHER PEOPLE IN THE ROOM this guy is actually a good father figure. This serves to humanize him, and make him more fun (Don’t you love Gomez Addams??)

He is designed to contrast with “Big Papa”. “Big Papa” is inspired by Papa Legba of New Orleans Voodoo; “Baron de la Mort” is inspired by Baron Samedi of Haitian Vodou. In spite of his name, “Big Papa” is not a good father figure; “Baron de la Mort” actually is. “Big Papa” is the only one who doesn’t have a spouse/ex-spouse; “Baron de la Mort” and “Maman de la Vie” are the only two who were married, not just in their present lives as gods, but their past lives as humans. They are also the only two who have children (adopted, as they are not allowed to conceive another Loa). 

On the subject of “Port-au-Prince”... this is a character I designed to be the adoptive son of Baron de la Mort (I need to rewrite his bio at some point…). He was originally designed to resemble Guede Nibo, as portrayed by Andre Pierre. However, this was a misguided decision, as Andre Pierre himself took offense to the notion that Guede Nibo is gay.

Having pondered this, I think the most respectful course of action is to eliminate the association between “Port-au-Prince” and Guede Nibo. If you look at his character design, “Port-au-Prince” really doesn’t look like Guede Nibo. Sure, they both wear purple, but he just looks like a cartoon twink version of Prince, the singer. “Port-au-Prince” is so early in development, I didn’t even draw a full body image of him. I’ve decided to scrap any association between him and Guede Nibo, to avoid making him physically resemble Guede Nibo, or equate the two on any level.

Rather than being a tribute to Andre Pierre’s artwork, he is now a tribute to Milo Marcelin’s Mythologie Vodou, in which Marcelin describes how Baron Samedi has many “children”. “Port-au-Prince” is just one of these children. In fact, he is actually the youngest one, as he is the one who was adopted most recently. For this reason, he is the least powerful one, but he is still a lot more powerful than the average angel or demon. The Hazbin Hotel version of Guede Nibo would be his older brother - the most powerful of his siblings. However, this character would not receive as much focus as “Port-au-Prince” himself, who receives the spotlight because he has some sort of connection to Angel Dust. 

Presently, I figured “Port-au-Prince” as a Haitian American. He was born to a Haitian mother - a sex worker - in New York. Because he physically resembled his father - who abused and abandoned his mother - she was cruel to him from the earliest age. She and her boyfriends abused him throughout his childhood. Their relationship was so sour, that he ran away from home during high school. He was taken in by a gang, who got him hooked on crack. As he experienced homophobic bullying as a small child, he was closeted his entire life. He died violently, at a young age. 

He was supposed to go to Hell, where he would have become Angel Dust 2.0, but Baron de la Mort decides to adopt him instead. For this reason, he is far more well-adjusted than Angel Dust. Because these two have very similar interests and personalities, they would get along swimmingly, but Angel Dust would probably feel intense jealousy and grief upon seeing his loving family.

This is the direction I decided to go in, but I can see how this could still be taken the wrong way, especially given my track record… If deemed controversial, another option is to remove his drag persona (or, make her a different character from him) and leave his sexuality open to interpretation. In terms of media representation, it is also important to show cisgender heterosexuals who are not traditionally masculine / feminine, and have gay or trans friends. In this alternate scenario, he would have several friends in the LGBT community, but his own sexual orientation would be unconfirmed. 

I might change his backstory to make him Haitian - not Haitian American. The reason he is Haitian American is to establish a parallel between him and Angel Dust, who is also from New York. I think it also makes for an interesting contrast with him and Lanmò, who was born in Haiti, but grew up on the West Coast. These make for interesting settings, but I might make changes to his (and possibly Lanmò and/or Lavi’s) place of birth / growing up.

Baron de la Mort’s special move is still The Black Hole of Torture, but the attack is called Judgment now. It’s the same attack, but he’s classy about it. 

I associate him with black holes because I FUCKING LOVE THE BLACK HOLE MULTIVERSE THEORY!!!

…It’s actually called Schwarzschild cosmology.

I just love that this is a real theory that scientists genuinely think might be our reality. Our universe is inside a black hole and the black holes inside our universe are portals to other universes. That would be SO NUTS!!!

Imagine this: You fall into a Black Hole, get spaghettified, wind up in the fictional One Punch Man universe, millimeters away from Saitama’s fist. That would suck balls…

So I put this into my fanfiction, but I implemented it in the dumbest most pop science way ever. This is an aspect I am probably going to change, as it places an unnecessary constraint on the creativity of this story. I’m probably going to revise this so it just conforms to Michio Kaku’s conceptualization of the multiverse.

Doesn’t this piss you off, though?

On top of everything else about Big Papa, he’s the character you introduce multiverse bullshit through.

BOOOOO!!!!! 🍅 🍅 🍅 🍅 🍅 🍅 🍅 MULTIVERSE PEAKED WITH MILES MORALES!!!!!!

��I imagine Vivziepop has zero plans to canonize the Hazbin Hotel multiverse. At this point, the world at large is experiencing Multiverse fatigue. But because I am terrible, I genuinely think this would be a fun way to implement the multiverse.

CANON ALASTORIA

CANON ALASTOR 2P

THINK IT OVER VIVIENNE!!!!!!

…And now to address a serious topic. MAN is this Wikipedia article bad: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_Vodou_and_sexual_orientation 

Zora Neale Hurston was correct in identifying the Gede spirits with the Black peasantry of Haiti, but she was incorrect in describing Gede as the only lwa indigenous to Haiti, and assuming that he has no African counterpart. The name Gede is derived from “Gede”, a vodún from the Dahomean pantheon.

See: Herskovits, Melville Jean, and Frances Shapiro Herskovits. Dahomean narrative: a cross-cultural analysis. Vol. 1. Northwestern University Press, 1998, p. 124

https://archive.org/details/hersokovits-dahomean/page/n189/mode/2up?q=gede

The Gedevi were the original inhabitants of the Abomey plateau who were imperialized by the Aja-Fon kingdom of Dahomey. They became something akin to an “untouchable” class, subjugated at the bottom of the social hierarchy, and enslaved circa 1625-1724:

“The Gede reflect the abject in that their experience reflects the worst of the Dahomian conquest, capture, and sale; the Middle Passage; and the stigma and torture of Saint-Domingue. The Gede Rite is suited to the traumas of economic globalization, including the plight of boat people and disposable migrants, separation from family in diasporas, and the ordeals of sex work in the sexual economy.”

SOURCE: Hebblethwaite, Benjamin. A transatlantic history of Haitian Vodou: rasin figuier, rasin Bwa Kayiman, and the Rada and Gede Rites. Univ. Press of Mississippi, 2021.

In other words, the Gede are so closely associated with the oppressed race/class of Haiti, their history can be traced back to the original oppressed ethnic group from before the Transatlantic slave trade.  

It’s really fucked up that this category of spirits has been twisted by white people to fit into the international LGBT agenda. The Wikipedia article is a prime example of this. I’m saying this, as someone who is both queer and transgender. I already said this, but shit like this fuels animosity against the LGBT community. It doesn’t help but harms “the LGBT community” native to Haiti - which is not called that, but “La Communauté M”. 

I have previously misrepresented “LGBT inclusion” in Haitian Vodou. Normally when this subject comes up, it’s about the inclusion of white people, not Haitians themselves (see: Randy P. Conner). It’s fucked up! I have attempted to correct this by focusing my research on “La Communauté M” - not the white LGBT community - but it is possible misrepresentations are still present.

This is why you have to be very careful in attempting to work LGBT themes that involve Haitian Vodou. DON’T DO WHAT I DID!!! It is also why this concept still might be misguided. The best approach might be to eliminate these characters entirely.

Haitian Vodou - sacred to the Haitian people - has been appropriated to Hell and back, to the point that a bastardized version of it is frequently passed off as “New Orleans Voodoo”. Popular media influences what people do in the real world. Images from American Horror Story still pop up when you search Google for “Papa Legba”. Hazbin Hotel has fans of all races, but it still has a majority white audience. If the lwa are haphazardly put into this story, it could directly contribute to people appropriating and disrespecting the culture. 

The purpose of Baron de la Mort’s backstory is to deal with a mature subject matter - the historical factors that led to the current crisis in Haiti. Why is Haiti - the first nation to permanently ban slavery - on the brink of government collapse? It says a lot about the world at large, doesn’t it? This is something that could be addressed in a darker, more mature spin-off series (one that does necessarily have to be a cartoon). Even in a light-hearted series, this character could be used as part of a donation effort to Haiti and/or Haitian refugees. On the other hand, it might be a mistake to include this character at all. Unless you radically change his appearance, people are inevitably going to think he’s supposed to be Francois Duvalier… it’s just so easy to slip and make this guy offensive.

Another option is to replace ‘Baron de le Mort’ with a character inspired by Grand Zombi. Grand Zombi was associated with death (“Li grand Zombi qui fé muri”) and was one of the most important Spirits of Louisiana Voudou. The lyrics of a song sung for him went:

“L’appe vini, li grand Zombi, pou fé mouri, pou fé gri-gri!” 

SOURCE: Anderson, Jeffrey E.. Voodoo: An African American Religion. United States, LSU Press, 2024.

These are all factors to consider. 

(as a daily reminder, I am in fact crazy enough to think about “what if my ORIGINAL CHARACTER DO NOT STEALS were in the canon of Hazbin Hotel”... it’s just a really fun hypothetical, I SAID LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!)

[hinderr]

It's 12 am so I'm only gonna do the first chapter but. Nature/nurture reread time. As always;

starting this off with the WARNINGS. This fic will have RECURRING themes of CHILD ABUSE, UNETHICAL MEDICAL EXPERIMENTATION, and MANIPULATION. There will be DRUGS involved. There will be VIOLENCE. There will be HEAVY WHUMP. GROGU DJARIN will be the victim of MOST of these.

Ok? Ok. Let's go. Chapter 1; the monster of a man

For once, the second Wren comes face to face with a blaster nozzle, he knows it’s all over.

WAAAGGHHH first Wren moment literally Ever. His ass was not supposed to be called Wren btw it was a placeholder name that I just forgot to change. Mf chose his own name fr fr

Anyway shortest Wren pov in the entire work. We immediately cut to the boy who's Doing Totally Fine-

Asset wakes up with a soreness in his back.

I miss him ngl. Shame I can't bring him back without Dire Consequences

But the warmth of the bread is a slippery slope to be on, so he forces himself to dip the bread into the soup first, before he eats it.

How's the saying go- One must imagine Sisyphus happy?

He tries his best to be brave, and he tries his best to be strong, but Moving always scares him, just a little bit. He can’t help but hold his breath. Their footsteps sound very loud.

Ough. Not sure what about this passage made me think - oh, he's just a boy

His lips are pursed into an unhappy frown, and for a moment Asset remembers to be afraid.

And then the drug rests on his brain, like a heavy woolly blanket, and he forgets.

Raarrrghhh the way these sentences flow is so gratifying to meeee

Once, Asset had fallen asleep so many times, that the Doctor had no choice but to call Buir over to keep him awake. And Buir had been so upset with him, that-

Well. He’s gotten a lot better at keeping his eyes open, now. He tries really, really hard.

Me when I can do the 'That- Well.' in passages 💥💥💥

The Asset’s ears twitch. He straightens his spine, eyebrows furrowing — for a moment, his sleepiness and dizziness forgotten. He can hear…

…yelling.

A few steps later, the stormtroopers hear it too.

Btw the detail of Asset hearing things first is intentional!!! When him ears too big for him body.....when acute hearing.....waaaggh

It is here does the Asset see. The monster is a person. The monster is a man.

ME WHEN MONSTER MOTIF IN NATURE !!!! WARGHH me when little boys and their monsters......RAARGGHH

And Asset doesn’t want to die.

I feel like I write characters with passive suicidal ideation so often that like, this one feels so much more special. Asset lives through hell every single day. He doesn't want to die. He's just a boy. He doesn't want to die. Asset doesn't want to die.

It's a small thing. Not meant for anything other than air. It's a small thing.

Then again, Asset is small too.

More nature meta!! The phrase 'Asset is small too' is because originally the plan was to make Asset crawl through the vents to and fro the cells. I ended up not implementing that though- felt like the non-visual communication that went on worked way better. Less wonky

Okay that's it for chapter 1!! Tomorrow maaayybe i'll go on to chapter 2!! It's longer and more packed w stuff. More Wren too!! Yayayay

[lilythecaattt]

🟠Cango’s Intro (Corrupt Worlds Roblox AU)

Roblox Hackerkid OC guy :D

“Chaos is my middle name!” -C4ngo

“…I thought your middle-name was ‘loud’? ” -Kidd (half-joking)

“Uh- You can have two middle-names!!” -C4ngo

Rest of the C00lSquad’s Intro’s

...

NOTE: Changed his name, because I worried the person I took inspiration from wouldn’t be happy with me taking too much inspiration or something… So I altered Cango’s lore. I mean, I did need to work through it more anyway…

(My sibling worried one of their friends took too much inspiration from their oc once… I don’t want to make anyone feel that way.)

/Ooc Facts:

Kidd’s secret brother /j

He can be just as—and sometimes more—excitable than Kidd.

One of the reasons I put ‘🍊C4-” as a placeholder for Cango’s intro!

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Age: About 14

Gender/Pronouns: Male, He/Him

Nicknames: Cango, Mango, CangMang, Cangy, Orange Guy…

Personality - An excitable, VERY curious, and even reckless guy. Isn’t afraid to get a little messy while ‘adventuring’. Likes to think of himself as the leader-type, even though he’s.. not exactly that, to say the least. Can also be quite naïve…

Likes having fun, exploring, and finding new things!

Friends:

C00lkidd - Definitely worthy of the title, he is really c00l!

Feather - She’s nice! And knowledgeable about things!!

Ruz - Admired her braincells…

Jinx - Has so many cool ideas! Has taught him so many things!! He even knows how to pick locks that are suspicious to know how to pick now!!

Band Memberz! (They’re also his Friends):

WIP 1

WIP 2

Etc:

Wip (his Parent goes here) -

Seven - He’s a nice guy. Unsure why Seven keeps giving him weird glances though… Also seems to flinch when he opens his mouth to speak. (*Cango doesn’t realize they have no concept of an inside-voice)

Bluudud - Think’s he’s chill, plays Online Games with him sometimes! (Has even snuck into some of his Livestreams)

Pr3ttypriincess - Scared of her. She told him he looked like “his fashion-sense literally crawled out of a dumpster”… :(

-Has learned many things from C00lkidd… But, whether that’s for better or worse?…

-Often calls Kidd C00lkidd, rather than going with “Kidd” like most of the others.

-Sometimes plays along with any lies pranks Ruz does.

-Completely oblivious to how much of a hazard some of Jinx’s antics are

-Will yap about literally anything… Probably isn’t the best at keeping secrets.

-Sounds like a dying-cat when singing (Bluudud would be amazed)

-Is so loud, that Microphones often just completely break when he uses them (Yes this was a problem on stream—but he knew beforehand that microphones are scared of him, so he was prepared)

Misc:

-Has a Band! He is the Guitarist, and is quite skilled at it! (Though he likes the drums, he is not the drummer)

-Thinks Mango’s are mid, but thinks the name is interesting!!

-Has a Parent… Not revealing their name just yet though :)

-Whenever he has ice cream, he’s so used to getting brain freezes, he assumes people always get one from eating it…

-He is also unaware; you aren’t supposed to be able to drink a whole waterbottle in the span of 5 seconds.

[herebyhalfpint]

I KNOW you're probably not supposed to share WIP text when writing a novel but idek if this thing will ever make it to the query stage, let alone any scenes making it to the first draft. I'm not sure what I'm doing with it other than ripping it out of my noggin so I understand what's happening for the game and comic

And I'm probably going to delete this or edit the post to redact lmao

Everyone except Theo got a name change because that's my power move baby. They were all placeholders, especially with Reia's being a clunky heavy-handed 90s reference. I did a bunch of research to figure out the most popular 70/80s baby names per character background and figured it out from there. It takes place in 96 so

Reia -> Mai

Haru -> Makoto

Lera -> Sonya

Also we're at 42k and counting hell yeah

Aaand I've been writing spicy scenes. I DID NOT MEAN TO with these two but I CANNOT stop shipping Makoto and Sonya and I was telling my partner if everything goes as expected then where's the tension in the story? The first circle of Hell they step into after getting acquainted with Limbo is Lust so we're speed running this romance

I MAY wind up removing all of the romance between them because Makoto is at least demi or gray-sexual and I'm not sure I want them to be together bc I really like Theo and Sonya as a couple in love and Theo def cannot handle there being anything between those two.

I would lose so much of the written novel. That's ok, honestly maybe I just need to get this out of my system, I already pulled out like 3 pages of spice and replaced it with what's nearly the opposite outcome. lmao

anyway perhaps I will draw this scene but it'll be a while before it actually pops up. This is literally page 70 in the novel draft

YOU KNOW WHAT I'M EDITING IT NOW because I did not include the whole reason I wrote the line

another edit: I should say that initially a lot of the story was a romance before I started putting the site together, and it was more grounded. No Hell, very little spooky. Makoto (Haru) always had a fascination with Sonya (Lera) and Theo was a very jealous ex. The two kept dancing around the idea, yada yada.

But then Theo became more complex and the kindness and vulnerability that grew from that made them seem like a really nice couple that I wanted to protect ultimately

BAM, REMOVED!

[randomsloredrops]

Random's Lore Drops - Thee Who Munches Thy Chocolate

wow i'm writing this at 11:41 pm and NOT three in the fucking morning REAALALLLLAllALaL?!/1/ anyways yeah so basically this is the last MAJOR character, and i'll explain why I always refer to them as 'The First Fallen Human' instead of the name that's basically become canon at this point. yup, that's right, we're talking about a canon character whose name starts with C and has so much importance yet so little at the same time due to not being in the story for basically all of the neutral, until the end of Geno, and only in recordings in true lab in paci.

oh damn this image is a lot bigger than i thought it was. oh well idgaf. anyways this is uhhhh according to the wiki 'Chara', or according to the tarot cards, 'Fallen' but like REALLY distorted. anyways cue cut off

aw yeah this is happening. anyways, since i'm more awake, had a hot chocolate, and am now blaring a megalo strike back remix into my ears (and occasionally the recently released MOTI's lyrical cover of A Mother's Love just cause it's a banger). anyways, this is the first fallen. YES I WILL KEEP REFERRING TO THEM AS THE FALLEN HUMAN, THE FALLEN, OR THE FIRST FALLEN STFU I HAVE A REASON YOU'LL FIND OUT. anyways, i'm sure that yall know this one kid. if you only know them as the evil something something, uh... Cowabummer! Anyways, time to use proper capitalization. The Fallen Human is the human we see in the introduction sequence, who runs up the mountain and falls in. As it's probably known, they get adopted by King Asgore, Queen Toriel, and Asriel (it doesn't fit to call him Prince Asriel for me for some reason), and become the first human to ever fall into the underground. If you didn't play Undertale and you're reading this, uh... get spoiled lmao you came here you get this. The Fallen has a super similar style to the 'eighth fallen', Frisk, who ACTUALLY HAS A CANON NAME. Their SOUL is IDENTICAL to the player's, or rather, Frisk's, and their coffin (yes THEIR coffin, not Frisk's) is empty, seeing as the body was taken elsewhere (despite being taken back into the Underground by Asriel, leaving only one person to do so). The Fallen is, 'not exactly the greatest person', a misanthrope, my source being that Asriel literally confirms that they HATE humanity, canonically capable of making scary face, and, uhhhhh lemme see... right i have to make another paragraph, too many words. Anyways, apparently really secretive, and persuasive (wiki's words, not mines), never stating their plans on camera. There's SOME evidence that proves that the Fallen does occasionally narrate the story, but aren't always red (technically hinting to the narrachara (or rather, narrafallen) hypothesis (i dont say theory just yet)). I'm sure you know, but (uhhh tw ig??) the Fallen had poisoned themselves to die so that Asriel could take the SOUL, cross the barrier, and... well... kill a bunch of humans. Apparently control is split between the SOUL and the Monster (i assume the human has more control than the Monster when SOUL absorbed) and uhh Asriel went and nuh uh-ed Chara, leading to the double kill of Chara's SOUL and asri dremr. Now, before we continue, just to let you know, the Fallen only got the name Chara because of the fact that, all the files for the character sprites (including unused) are called Chara, with the Fallen's being called TrueChara, and the pick-a-name saying that Chara is the true name (as a supposed-to-be reference to the sprite names), and is also the replacement name when the files have the player name erased (once again proving it was just a placeholder name/name to the sprites, not the fallen's name) now then onto geno In Genocide, we actually get to MEET the Fallen in person, who takes the name that you typed in at the beginning of the game. They reveal that Frisk's SOUL and Determination are what brought them back from the dead (yes Frisk's SOUL not ours). They state that they are the 'embodiment' of the feeling gained when LV (read STATS) increases, before saying to just erase the world and move onto the next. You get the chance to say Yah or Nah, but either way, it leads to Chara going byebye to the world and you and decking you in the schnoz with a knife. Fun fact! There's code in the game that actually reveals that Toby Fox intended to make the application erase itself once the geno route finished, but it never worked, leading to just the application closing. Afterwards, opening the game and waiting TEN FUCKING MINUTES. TEN. GODDAMN. MINUTES. will lead to the Fallen getting the confusion and choosing to make a deal. Frisk's SOUL, for the world back. ya say nah? they dip. literally. you have to OPEN the game again and wait another 10 minutes. ya say yah? well, the world gets restored, but paci route changes.

[thatrandyalexfroma03]

The draft start:

Evan grabbed Tommy’s arm as they stepped out into the cool night air, his grip gentle but urgent. The door to the restaurant swung shut behind them with a soft clink, cutting off the warm chatter and the clatter of cutlery inside.

“Tommy, I’m sorry,” Evan said, voice low, his face stricken and it broke Tommy even more than the dinner, seeing Evan look so guilty for something he didn't do.

Tommy paused, took a breath, and forced a smile. Not a sarcastic one. Not bitter. Just… a plain old smile. Something he knew Evan would recognize. One that hid the pain.

“You have nothing to apologise for,” Tommy said, and he meant it. Evan had been amazing. He’d stood his ground, spoken clearly, pushed back even when his voice had trembled. It was the most forceful Tommy had ever seen him in front of his family.

But the sting? That came from the moment they had walked in.

He’d known, sensed that something was off. The look Margaret gave him wasn’t disgust, exactly. It was worse. It was disappointment. The kind that says you should’ve outgrown this by now. Phillip hadn’t even offered a handshake, just a stiff nod, eyes skimming over Tommy like he was a placeholder in a seat meant for someone else.

Still, it had been fine. The first ten minutes, at least. Surface-level chatter, polite inquiries about work. Margaret commented on the wine list, Phillip cracked a weak joke about parking in the city. And then…

“Well then,” Margaret had said, setting her napkin beside her plate casually, as if she wasn't about to drop a nuclear bomb on tea. “I guess it wasn’t just a phase, your fling with this man.”

The words had landed like a slap in the middle of the table.

Tommy hadn’t moved. Just sat there, trying to keep his expression neutral while Evan fumbled beside him, given Evan’s hand a gentle squeeze.

“Uh, I don’t understand what you meant,” Evan said, blinking.

“Oh, Evan,” Margaret replied, in the tone of someone who’d been disappointed for years and simply gotten used to it. “You’ve always done stupid things for attention. We just thought, well…”

Phillip had picked up from there, as if they had rehearsed it in the car. “We thought this thing…”

“You mean my relationship?” Evan cut in, voice threatening to rise.

Phillip gave a half-shrug at the outburst, while Margaret sipped her wine like she hadn’t heard the interruption.

“If you want to call it that,” she said, voice light and dismissive.

Tommy’s stomach had twisted. He felt like an accessory. Something Evan had brought along as proof of rebellion, like Evan was still a teenager. 

“Well, uh, Mom and Dad, I do call it that,” Evan said, more firmly. “It’s my relationship. And honestly? One of the most serious ones I’ve ever had.”

Margaret didn’t even blink. “We were just hoping it was a passing thing.”

“And you know,” Phillip added, tone stiff, “with your sister taking Chimney’s last name, and you deciding that, what, you’re gay now?”

“I’m bi, Dad. I… uh ...I lean both ways.”

“What does that even mean?” Margaret asked, like she was genuinely perplexed. Like Evan had just said he was a toaster.

Tommy hadn’t spoken. Not once. He had just sat there, letting it all roll over him, quiet and still, because if he’d said anything, he wasn’t sure he could’ve kept it together.

And now, standing under the city streetlight, Evan’s hand still on his arm, Tommy kept his voice steady despite himself, despite the pain. “It’s alright Evan, I’m a big boy, I can handle…”

“But, you shouldn’t.. Have to I mean, uh, you shouldn’t be be treated like by the people who are suppose to love me anyway, and accept me, accept you, it’s… it’s just not right.”

But Evan wasn’t buying it. “You shouldn’t have to,” he said, frustrated. “That’s the thing. You shouldn’t have to sit through that bullshit. Be treated like that. By the people who are supposed to love me. Accept me. Accept you.” His voice wavered. “It’s just not right.”

Tommy’s chest ached, but he pushed the feeling down. He smiled, gently, like it didn’t sting. “It’s not your fault.”

Evan turned, already reaching for his phone. “I’m calling in. I’ll tell Chim I can’t make it.”

“Evan, no.”

“I mean it,” Evan insisted. “We’ll go home. Put on a movie. I’ll make popcorn…”

Tommy couldn’t let Evan do that, even if it did sound amazing. 

“Evan,” Tommy said firmly, stepping in closer, hands settling on Evan’s shoulders. “Listen to me. It’s okay. I’m okay. You have a shift. Your team needs you. You can’t let them down over this.”

“But...”

“I’m not gonna fall apart, alright? There’s a pub a block away playing the game I meant to catch up on anyway. I’ll grab a drink, sit in the back, decompress. You’ll go do your job. And when you're off shift, come home to me.”

Evan searched his face, jaw tight, eyes pleading. But Tommy kept his expression calm despite the internal pain, steady in that way he knew Evan would trust, even if it wasn’t the whole truth.

“Please,” Tommy added softly. “Let’s not make this into more than it already was.”

Evan nodded slowly, reluctantly. “You’ll text me when you get there?”

Tommy gave a faint grin. “Mmm, well, I mean it is literally around the corner so you’ll get that text in like thiry seconds anyway.”

That got the smallest huff of a laugh out of Evan.

Tommy leaned in, pressed a quick kiss to his cheek, and whispered, “Go save the world.”

Evan thought about it for a moment, his blue eyes scanning Tommy’s face before he relented and gave him a beautiful, if slightly bashful smile that almost healed Tommy’s heart. It was stupid to let Evan’s parents eat away at his self esteem, to prey on his insecurities but here he was, trying not to let on so his boyfriend didn’t blame himself anymore than he already did. 

It wasn’t Evan’s fault. 

And as Evan walked off toward his truck, glancing back three times, Tommy turned and headed toward the pub with his shoulders square, head high.

After meeting the parents - Tommy wants to be alone.

I don't know if this is AO3 ready. Or if it flows. Or it manages to keep Zach on the right side of being an absolute douchebag with no boundaires. Feedback welcome Tommy sat at the far table at his favourite local with a cold beer sitting half drunk on a coaster, half an eye on the TV overhead playing a game he barely registered. After a day from hell, watching replays of last week game was what he needed.

That is, until the shadow slid into the corner of his vision and even if it was from the Axe body spray that assaulted his nose, or the fact that the guy was wearing sunglasses inside, Tommy would of known who it was.

Tommy shot a look at Zach. “And pray tell, how exactly did you know where I was?”

On his phone screen were a couple of unopened texts, a Snapchat, and a missed call, all from Zach. He had more messages from Zach than from Evan.

Zach shrugged as if the answer were obvious. “I called Buck. Duh.”

Tommy chewed his bottom lip before replying. “So you're saying that you called Buck. While he was on shift. To ask where I was? Is that what you’re telling me, Zach?”

“Damn man, what age do people start getting dementia or whatever, yeah, obviously. You were full-on ghosting me. No shade though, I figured it’s ‘cause you’re old and probably didn’t hear your phone ding.” Zach replied, as if it was no big deal. "Like, at least Daddy-T didn't leave me on read, but still answer ya phone you big teddy."

Tommy narrowed his eyes. “Did it occur to you that maybe I wanted to be alone?”

Zach nodded, far too earnestly given he made no attempt to leave Tommy in peace. “Don’t worry bro, I totally understand, alone time is like super important ae. Vital, even. So... whatcha watching?”

Tommy stared at him, silent for a moment before: “Zach.”

“Yeah?”

“I am two minutes away from faking my own death.”

Zach stretched out like he’d moved in. “Oh bro, ya can’t, Buck is like totz terrible at lying. Imagine the stress you’d put that man under… although…. When he stresses he makes those delish choc chip cookies, so there is always a silver…. Silver…”

“Lining.” Tommy supplied.

“You too? That's mad crazy bro, what are the odds” Zach replied, shocked, which confused Tommy.

“Yo, the lining in my running shorts went and I legit almost got arrested on my run this morning." Zach continued, as Tommy realized the idiot had not realized what Tommy was trying to say. "Like, let’s just say the weapon was not concealed.” And then the bastard winked at him.

“What… no, you idiot, there is always a silver lining.”

“Huh, T-bone, listen to me, no one and I legit mean no one is running around with silver short linings like can…”

“Zach.” Tommy tried to interrupt, and failed...

“No, I mean it T-Bone, it’s not even a fancy thing, it’s just not practical.” Zach insisted.

“Zach.” Tommy tried again, in vain of course.

“Maybe a silver necklace, although gold is cooler man. Gold gets the pussy, I’m telling you, black shirt, gold band… oh!”

Zach’s eyes went wide in realisation, and Tommy just knew it was going to be terrible.

“Are silver necklaces what gay guys wear to tell other guys they’re gay?”

Tommy wished the ground would open and swallow one of them up. He honestly didn’t care who, just as long as it wasn’t both of them.

“How did we get here?” He asked out loud, which was his own fault. Honest to go, he should of kept that question to himself.

Zach paused for a second, looking puzzled before answering with full confidence, “Bro, I took an Uber here because I’m gonna get so fucking drunk tonight, I assume you did as well?”

Right, well, that wasn’t what Tommy had meant in the slightest, but he wasn’t going to risk correcting Zach because his head hurt enough already.

“Zach…” Tommy cringed before letting the word slip out, “Bud, look, I had a rough day and I just want to sit here alone and watch this replay and drink my beer.”

Zach stood up, and Tommy couldn’t believe his luck.

“Honestly, it’s nothing personal.” Tommy added in a hurry.

Now, Tommy was sitting at a Table under the TV, with four chairs around it.

“Nah man, I gotcha, I totz understand,” Zach answered as he pulled one of the chairs away from the table and then the other before walking away, leaving Tommy and an empty chair.

An empty chair that made him nervous.

He was right to be nervous.

Zach returned not two minutes later, proudly carrying a fresh beer and a glass of Jim Beam, his grin wide as he slinked back into the booth like Tommy had not just asked to be left alone.

“There we go, Daddy-T, a beer, the game, and you’re alone. Perfect.”

Tommy just sighed, reached for the beer, and took a long, regretful sip.

Zach watched him with that lazy, persistent grin of someone who absolutely was going to keep talking.

“So, wanna talk about that shit day?”

“No.”

“Fair bro, fair,” Zach said, settling in comfortably and knocking back the Jim Beam like it was water. “Besides, you’re like a manly man, right? You probably don’t even think twice about it, probably already forgotten." "I don't want to talk about it." Tommy repeated. "Nah man, I hear ya loud and clear, probably nothing to even talk about right? Like, Buck was a little worried that maybe you were upset about his parents comments about you being just a phase for Buck, but Tommy wouldn't let that affect him." Tommy said nothing. The muscle in his jaw twitched.

Zach reached into his jacket pocket, fished out a stick of gum, unwrapped it with one hand, and shoved it in his mouth. “I mean, yeah, it was kinda brutal. Like, 'he’s just a phase', who even says that shit in 2025 ya know, but if there's one thing I know about old T-Bone, he won't stew on it..." Zach chewed on the gum, lips smacking just slightly. “I mean, it’s giving bi-phobic as well, isn’t it? Diabolical stuff, truly. Because home boy is down bad for you. He gets those lil puppy dog eyes when he looks at you.”

Tommy set his beer down a little too hard. The glass thudded on the table, not quite a slam but it was close. Closer than he have liked it to be.

"You think I don’t stew on it?” His voice wasn’t raised, but it was sharp, like the edge of something that had been held in too long. “You think I didn’t hear every word they said? That I don’t see it every time Buck tries to smooth it over, like it didn’t matter, like I’m supposed to pretend I didn’t watch his parents sit across from me and decide I was temporary?”

Zach blinked, suddenly very still, not even chewing on his gum.

“They didn’t just call me a phase,” Tommy said. “They dismissed everything we are. Everything I am. I walked into that dinner thinking, ‘Maybe this is it. Maybe this time I’m not just the training wheels this time, not just the one he picked because he didn’t know better yet.’ Maybe I don't have to worry about him not wanting to date a man and go back to chicks. And they confirmed it. In less than ten minutes.”

“Yeah, they’re sad, but wrong…”

“Zach, don’t”

“Dude, I’ve heard that all my life 'Zach don't do that, Zach don't touch that, Zach don't lick that' and let me tell you something mister, it has never stopped me before. They were totz wrong and so were you, mopey ass moody bastard. Honestly, that scary Sal dude said you don’t like broody dudes but you’re mad moody.” Zach frowned for a second, "No, but for real, your mate Sal is intense."

Tommy sighed and started to rise, done with the conversation, the night, maybe even Zach’s entire existence until he felt a hand land on his shoulder.

Zach had the audacity to put a hand on his shoulder.

“Buck’s parents were wrong,” Zach said, gentler now, almost like he could tell he was pushing his luck, “and you’re wrong too.”

Tommy looked at him, eyes narrowing slightly.

“Not for being upset, like bro that’s super valid and healthy and I am super proud of you for that.” Zach said, far to heartfelt for the cringy speech he was giving. “But T-Bone they didn’t confirm shit, okay. Think abouta it, bro. Buck introduced you as his boyfriend. To their faces. And then he left when they wouldn’t stop trying to play matchmaker with some random chick. Like, he walked out on his parents. That’s not someone keeping you a secret. That’s someone choosing you.”

Tommy didn’t say anything. He just sat there, letting the words sink in, trying to pick apart the knot of hurt and doubt and anger that had been sitting in his chest since that dinner.

Zach grinned, a little too smug now. “Plus, I’m pretty sure you’re legally required to hate your partner’s mom anyway. It’s like, a rite of passage.”

Tommy turned slowly to face him. “Didn’t you sleep with not one, not two, but three of your girlfriends’ mothers?”

“And one’s father, but we were both totally drunk, I’m not sure what your point is here through.”

“Never mind.” Tommy answered, he was not willing to get into another ‘silver linings/ short linings’ rabbit hole with Zach. 

Zach pointed at his beer. “Have you had too much to drink, because you haven’t been making a lot of sense?”

Tommy reached for the beer and muttered under his breath, “Neither does the fact that we’re friends.”