#the power to make more people fall for my blorbos

[aka-indulgence]

You've done it. I like the dealer now, I have officially joined the cult lol

you guys are giving me a confidence boost and making the dealer blush fkjgdkflg

[fuckyeahisawthat]

I’ve seen a few metas now that describe Crowley as self-loathing and…that’s not quite it to me.

Crowley for sure has Issues. He has a lot of anger and doesn’t always deal with it in constructive ways. He is hypervigilant as all fuck, and the fact that he is almost always correct about the amount of danger he and Aziraphale are in at a given moment just reinforces that hypervigilance feedback loop.

He has the hair-trigger flight response of someone who has spent millennia dodging oppressive forces that are more powerful than him, and this makes him default to RUN even when on some level he knows that is not the right response to a situation. He’s very aware that there are a lot of people out there who can hurt him, and there is no one coming to protect him. The only option is to try to avoid the blow.

And he is absolutely terrified of rejection, for very understandable reasons. This also encourages him to have one foot out the door of a situation, to pretend he doesn’t care, because if you leave first and actually never cared at all then you can’t be hurt. He is painfully aware that good things can be taken away from him without warning, that love that looks absolute can turn out to be conditional, because that already happened to him.

But. As much as I love a self-loathing blorbo, I don’t think Crowley hates himself.

Sure he talks a good game about how he’s not nice. But I don’t think, for example, that he thinks he is unworthy of Aziraphale’s love, that he is not good enough for Aziraphale because he is a demon or for any other reason. Because as far as Crowley is concerned, angels and demons are the same! All that good and evil stuff is just names for sides. I think he is afraid, because he’s still not sure, after all this time, if Aziraphale feels the same way he does, and broaching that topic is an enormous risk compared to just staying in the ambiguously-defined status quo they have now. (And then he works up the courage to do it anyway, and seems to have his worst fears confirmed.)

FWIW, I don’t think Aziraphale thinks that Crowley is not good enough for him either. Not at all. But I think Crowley might think that Aziraphale thinks that after the end of s2. And that really stings, because as much as they both gave lip service to the idea of “I’m good, you’re evil,” I think Crowley always assumed that Aziraphale saw through that when it came to him as a person, that it was just something Azirphale said and not something he really believed about Crowley, and now he’s not so sure.

I also think Crowley believes he did not deserve his fall (hot take: none of them did) not because he is extra-special Good, but because that’s a fucked-up thing for someone who said they loved you to do. While he is clearly still dealing with the trauma of it, I think he knows by now: I shouldn’t have been hurt like that. I didn’t deserve it, and it wasn’t my fault.

And so the horror of Aziraphale accepting the offer of going back to Heaven is partially I thought we both understood how this system works; I thought we were on our own side together and partially I can’t believe you’re going back to the people who hurt you and at least a little bit I can’t believe you’re going back to the people who hurt me. Do you think they were right?

(And Aziraphale doesn’t! He doesn’t think that! He thinks they were wrong, but he thinks they were wrong about Crowley, that it was an individual mistake and not a feature of a system that squashes questioning and nonconformity of any kind.)

I wrote a whole meta about “I won’t be forgiven, not ever” and “unforgivable, that’s what I am” in 2019 that I won’t rehash here, but tl;dr, I don’t think Crowley is saying that as a statement of his self-worth. I think he is saying, Heaven would never let me back in, and if they did, I wouldn’t go. Because I don’t want or trust the “acceptance” of people who don’t value me as I am.

And it’s part of the cruel dramatic irony of the Final Fifteen that one of the things that breaks them apart is that Crowley values himself enough not to go back to Heaven. Crowley, who we’ve seen will do almost anything for Aziraphale, says, No. I am not putting myself back in that abusive situation. You shouldn’t either; I really wish you wouldn’t; but if you do, I am still not going back there. Not even for you.

[chrysalis-the-butterfly]

Hazbin Hotel Shipping Meme

(Credit to SaucyMist on Twitter for the template.)

OTP

Angel Dust and Husk (Huskerdust) - My favourite Hazbin Hotel ship. A blorbo who's been abused finally finding a guy who genuinely cares for him, while both are also learning to overcome their mistakes and be better people? Yes, please!

Charlie and Vaggie (Chaggie) - They're just so cute together! And I enjoy seeing a grumpy cynic paired with a ray of sunshine.

Emily and Lute (Emilute) - They're both angels, but very different kinds. Emily would think she can fix Lute; Lute would think she can make Emily worse. Can Emily persuade Lute to change her mind about sinners through the Power of Love? I'd enjoy seeing her try!

Sir Pentious and Cherri Bomb (CherriSnake) - A classic enemies-to-lovers pairing that's really grown on me over time.

Lucifer and Lilith (Lucilith) - I'm interested to see more of them and to find out more about Lilith.

Cute

Charlie, Vaggie, Emily and Lute (Charlie's Angels) - Yeah, I want to put all my favourite ladies together and see what happens!

Secretly Ships

Alastor and Vox (StaricMoth) - How did they meet? Does Vox love Alastor, or is it just an obsession? Does Alastor hate Vox, or does he secretly miss him? There's fanfic potential there!

Vaggie and Lute (FallenWings) - I wonder if they dated briefly when Vaggie was still an Exorcist? I wonder if Lute was a little messed up after Vaggie's Fall? I wonder if Lute doubled down on her homophobia as a coping mechanism?

Molly and Cherri Bomb (MollyBomb) - I just think it would be funny if Cherri started dating her best friend's sister! Angel would find it weird at first, but he'd know he can trust Cherri to treat his twin sister right.

Sera and Lucifer (Lucera?) - The Head Seraphim and the King of Hell? What a pairing that would be! I like this ship because it would be interesting to see an alliance between Heaven and Hell, and to make Charlie and Emily stepsisters. That, and the extreme height difference between the towering Sera and the short king Lucifer would be hilarious.

Maybe? Neutral

Vox and Valentino (VoxVal), Vox and Velvette (VoxVel), Valentino and Velvette (ValVel), and Poly Vees - I do like VoxVal as a toxic messed-up villainous power couple. But I honestly find it hard to ship Valentino with anybody. And I don't know if Velvette is compatible romantically with either of those men.

Adam and Lute (Guitarspear) - I can't decide if I prefer Adam and Lute as a couple, Lute as Adam's favourite of his many concubines, or a Burns-and-Smithers thing where Lute is obedient to the point of infatuation and Adam is clueless.

Carmilla and Zestial (ZestMilla) - They're just ... there. I don't love them, I don't hate them.

Friends / Family

Charlie, Lucifer and Lilith (Morningstar Family) - I like imagining what the family was like when Charlie was younger.

Angel Dust and Molly (Spider Twins) - One twin in Hell, the other in Heaven ... ooh, I love that angst potential!

Sera and Emily (Seraphim Angels) - I see them as a caring but overprotective mother and a curious but naïve daughter.

Husk and Niffty (CasinoSweep) - Since they're both tied to Alastor, I think they'd get to know each other pretty well. I like the idea of Husk looking out for Niffty and keeping her in check.

Emily, Sir Pentious and Molly (Emtious, Emolly and MollySnake) - I really hope they're an official trio in Season 2! They'd be awesome! Emily could help Sir Pentious adjust to an afterlife in Heaven, and Molly could get behind Charlie's cause and try to see her brother again (assuming she remembers him...).

Alastor, Mimzy and Rosie (Alzy and RadioRose) - The idea of the aroace icon Alastor building a gaggle of gal pals around him will never not be funny to me.

Charlie and Angel Dust (CharlieDust) - Caring little sister and protective big brother.

Vaggie and Angel Dust (SpiderMoth) - Bossy big sister and bratty little brother.

Emily and Angel Dust (HaloDust) - Adoring little sister and bemused big brother.

Not For Me

Carmilla and Velvette (Velmilla) - I can see why others would ship them, but I don't. They're more like business rivals than lovers to me.

Adam and Lucifer (AdamsApple) - Again, I see the appeal of shipping the First Man with the Devil. But I don't think they'd work out long-term. A tough boastful dude and the softer shortie who keeps stealing his wives? It's a recipe for disaster!

NOTP

Angel Dust and Valentino (Valangel) - I don't think this one needs much explanation. I can't ship Valentino with anyone, let alone Angel.

Adam and Lilith (Adalith) - If he was so misogynistic that she fled the Garden of Eden to get away from him, I can't imagine they're very compatible.

Charlie and Alastor (Charlastor) - I prefer them as a twisted mentor and trusting mentee, not a romantic couple.

Blank version below:

[utilitycaster]

I'm a little confused. A lot of critters say that the gods have it out for Laudna specifically, and I can't find where that idea comes from? Like the closest thing I found is that she's a Hollow One and things that affect undead are usually holy/divine. But that doesn't mean that the gods hate Laudna or that Laudna's suffering is because of the gods, right? (I'm a little scared of those Laudna stans tbh)

If I had to guess where it comes from, it, like the similarly inaccurate statements people make about Ruidusborn, comes from the longstanding tendency by the uncreative, dull, and whiny to make their blorbo the most wronged little lamb who ever lived.

Clerics mechanically get Turn Undead as an ability, which affects Laudna, because she is undead. I do want to point out that Marisha specifically chose to make Laudna more undead than Hollow Ones typically are mechanically, ie, our boy Jumanji Costco would be fine in the face of Turn Undead; and that area of effect abilities such as turn undead are not what I'd consider "targeted", ie, if Imogen were to cast Reverse Gravity in an area containing other members of Bells Hells, and they became affected by the spell, I would not say this was Predathos having it out for Bells Hells specifically. I'd also note that a spell that literally creates undead, Animate Dead, is a general cleric spell. A loyal level 5 cleric of the Dawnfather has the capacity to have a pet zombie. Is this the greatest use of their abilities, probably not, and will their god provide them with consequences, possibly, but it sure is a thing they can do, so I think the gods on the whole are really up in the air re the whole undead thing. I also think that we need to acknowledge that within the text, at this point Laudna's met four divine champions, two of them have quite literally contributed to her continued undeath in significant ways, and the other two of whom have been like "yeah we are on the same side, politics, strange bedfellows, etc, etc, I'm frankly way more interested in Fearne."

One can argue Laudna's suffering is because of the god Vecna, though as a point of order the main portions of her initial suffering occurred prior to him achieving godhood, so really, it was the lich (undead) Vecna and the necromancer (currently undead) Delilah Briarwood who seem to be largely at fault. Undead are merely a classification of entity. Just as using Turn Undead against a horde of undead may result in Laudna being turned as well, if one were to cast Moonbeam on some hostile shapeshifter, Chetney would also be affected. As Gilmore as played by Aabria said, power is simply power; intent comes from the wielder. Someone could use Turn Undead specifically against Laudna; someone could also use powers from the gods to heal, buff, or resurrect her. I doubt the Raven Queen is like, jazzed and hype about Laudna, but her specific tenet is "Undeath is an atrocity. Death is too good a punishment for those who pervert the rightful transition of the soul" and Delilah seems to be the one causing the soul transition perversions.

I suppose one could argue Laudna's suffering is the result of the gods in the same way that if I were injured by a window box air conditioner falling five stories onto my foot, while both gravity and the fact my parents decided to have children contributed significantly to this moment, no one who was not embarrassingly unserious and extremely fucking stupid would put these things forth as the culprit in this hypothetical.

Do not be afraid of the Laudna stans. Either they're lovely people who just really like Laudna and are talking about her character arc or making art or something and agree this is a terrible take, or they are, as said, embarassingly unserious, extremely fucking stupid, uncreative, dull, and whiny. I can provide tips to avoid them or to annoy them as you wish but like, is it even worth bothering with the latter.

[stepswordsen]

【大海原 AU：暗黒星の冠】 イダ竜

【WATGBS AU: COTDS】 IdaTatsu

Idate and Tatsumiya 🖤🤍❤️💙

WATGBS AU: COTDS

WATGBS AU: COTDS is an Idate and IdaTatsu centric AU between me and my friends 💞 COTDS stands for Crown of the Dark Stars 👑💫 Its other name is Ankokusei no Kanmuri.

I just wanted to post some rough sketches/WIPs of my magical oarfish wife, and my homicidal oreo, my cat cot son 🤗 Magical oarfish MILF x Buff chaotic demon DILF.

I'm planning to give Tatsumiya matching Star and Moon earrings to match with Idate's Black Sun and Star ones...

Read more under the cut if you're interested in our IdaTatsu AU!

Our WATGBS AU is named Crown of the Dark Stars (暗黒星の冠, Ankokusei no Kanmuri) 💫👑 It's an AU with its own story, separate from the original WATGBS.

WATGBS AU: COTDS is an Idate and IdaTatsu centric AU between me and my friends 💞 COTDS stands for Crown of the Dark Stars 👑💫 Its other name is Ankokusei no Kanmuri.

WATGBS AU: COTDS, which stands for Crown of the Dark Stars, or Ankokusei no Kanmuri, is an Idate centric and IdaTatsu AU between me and my friends that's a complete revamp and rewrite of WATGBS.

WATGBS AU: COTDS is an AU between me and my friends! We all contribute to it whenever we have time to draw and write for it 😌🙏

Summary of WATGBS AU: COTDS would literally just be: (Yoinks characters and the settings, makes an original story)

It's just us writing our own stories and exploring our ideas with the characters, mainly focused on him and his dynamics with other charas. We made up our own lore and revamped the characters' writing and designs. It's just us playing with our revamped and rewritten blorbo OCs in our sandbox 💞

WATGBS AU: COTDS is centered around Idate, a chaotic evil demon orca man who originally wanted to unleash the apocalypse, but became too mellow after meeting Tatsumiya.

It's an Idate centric AU that heavily focuses on IdaTatsu (Idate/Tatsumiya), and the platonic familial dynamic between the orca brothers, Idate and his older twin brother, Takama. And it has a heavier emphasis on fantasy elements. And we have our own OCs we created for it too, like our IdaTatsu fankids 🤭

Idate: The Star Eater and Grand Demon

Idate (伊達 (イダテ)) is the evil protagonist of WATGBS AU: COTDS 🖤🤍💙 He is Tatsumiya's husband and Takama's younger twin brother.

Idate is the "Star Eater" and Lord of the Underworld. Idate drinks peoples' blood and eats their souls as nourishment. He and his older twin brothers are Demons. They're secretly Grand Demons (大魔王, Dai Maou), who have much more powerful magic than other Demons. They originally lived in Iceberg Isle, but Idate ends up convincing Takama to move to the Blue Sea Kingdom with him so he can live with Tatsumiya.

He's a chaotic evil demon orca and the evil protag of our AU, which makes him very fun for me to write! 🐬💞 I love writing for IdaTatsu and the others, and coming up with and adding onto each everyones' ideas whenever we discuss.

He's extremely chaotic and the world's most insufferable wifeguy /endearing that falls devastatingly in love with and eventually gets married to Tatsumiya. They feel drawn to each other, someone who's the complete opposite of the other, someone who represents what the other has never known, and tries to figure each other out.

Idate's character theme is "Void" 🖤

Idate eating and stealing souls also plays up to his whole void theme.

He's the Lord of Space and the Underworld, whose void world that contains the dead souls of all the people he ate for power.

Idate's powers represent the concept of "Void."

Idate can access a different dimension (the void between worlds), to create darkness and call it from within himself. Infinite darkness. An infinite void. Idate can create and access voids, and can call upon and manipulate darkness.

Idate's leitmotif is the Black Sun. His void is a black hole.

Idate can make makeshift weapons from dark energy. It's a black demon aura that can be controlled at will and slash into things.

Stardust is the source of all magic in the sea in our AU. Idate can make makeshift weapons from dark energy (black stardust).

Tatsumiya: The Dragon Flower and Grand Sorcerer of the Blue Sea

Tatsumiya (竜宮) is the Grand Sorcerer of the Blue Sea Kingdom 🤍❤️ She's the Lord of Creation, and Idate's wife. And also my wifey wife wife <3 🥰😘 She's a magical oarfish that serves the Blue Sea Kingdom's Princess, Lucinda, our Blue Sea Princess (BSP) OC. Her specialties are healing and star magic. 🌠

She's known as the Dragon Flower (龍花, Ryuuka) because her reputation with the sword spread across the Blue Sea. She has soul restoration and soothing properties with her powers to calm souls.

Tatsumiya is the Messenger/Aide to the Blue Sea Kingdom's Princess 💞 Her title is Grand Sorcerer (大魔導士, Dai-Madoushi). In our WATGBS AU, she took on the role after Meikai's disappearance.

Tatsumiya's leitmotif is the Moon.

As the complete opposite of Idate, her main powers are controlling flowing water, star magic (creation magic), and healing. Her royal duties as the Blue Sea's Messenger, are similar to a shrine maiden's.

Tatsumiya is so wifey to me 🤭

In WATGBS AU: COTDS, she is Idate's wife!

IdaTatsu: The Two Messengers, the Sun and the Moon

Tatsumiya is the Blue Sea Kingdom's Grand Sorcerer. Idate is one of the Grand Demons that came from elsewhere. The two Messengers of their opposing Gods.

Idate and Tatsumiya are opposites in terms of their powers, personalities, and roles. Both Idate and Tatsu are Messengers of their opposing "Gods" and queens. Our own OCs, Algol and Lucinda, are the Red Sea Princess (BSP) and Blue Sea Princess (BSP) respectively.

Tatsumiya, one of the brightest stars in the sea, and Idate the Star Eater 💞

WATGBS AU: COTDS' headcanon versions of the characters' designs

In our WATGBS AU's revamped versions of the charas (our headcanon designs), Idate is buff and has scars.

He wears blue eyeliner, and black sun and star earrings to match with Tatsumiya's red eyeliner and star and moon earrings 🌠☀️🌕

(I'll add Tatsu's earrings in the future!)

Idate wears blue eyeliner, which is the same as Tatsumiya's favourite colour, ultramarine blue (群青色, gunjyou iro) 💙

At first this was coincidental, I added it to his design cuz I thought he looked nice with eyeliner and so it'd have great visual contrast with Tatsu's design, but then I found out that Tatsu's favourite colour was ultramarine blue. So the colour I chose for Idate's eyeliner coincidentally, ended up being the same as Tatsu's fave colour…

Unintentional big brain play from me 😌

I want to give them matching couple eyeliner and earrings! Idate wears black sun and star earrings, and Tatsu wears moon and star ones ☀️🌙🌠

Ofc these are still WIPs, so I'm planning to add them eventually.

IdaTatsu are the Sun/Moon, Yin/Yang, Light/Darkness themed couple in our AU <3 The Black Sun and the Moon ☀️🖤🌙

IdaTatsu's leitmotifs have a lot of narrative significance in COTDS, which ties back to our AU's central themes 🙏 I've given a lot of focus to their relationship ☺️

Name Meanings

Idate (伊達) 伊達 = Meaning “elegance; gallantry; sophistication; showy; having style”, or “putting on airs; showing off”

I chose the kanji reading Idate (伊達) cuz both meanings fit him very well! 🖤🤗

Idate (伊達) is my headcanon kanji reading of Idate's name. Since I wanted to pick a reading with a fitting name meaning for him!

My son. My homicidal oreo… 🐬 Oreorcat

I'll eventually turn these WIPs into concept art reference sheets! Though I might format them differently.

Tatsumiya (竜宮) 竜宮 = Meaning “Dragon Palace”

It's an alternate reading of Ryuuguu 🐉🏯 The Undersea Dragon Palace from the story of Urashima Tarou in Japanese folklore.

It comes from 竜宮の使い (Ryuuguu no tsukai), a giant deep-sea oarfish, known as "The Messenger/Envoy of the Undersea God's Palace" which is exactly what Tatsumiya represents as a character!

I chose kanji readings of Idate and his older twin brother Takama's names, as well for our other OCs in WATGBS AU: COTDS, like our IdaTatsu fankids. I'm excited to show them in the future 🤗💞

[the-irken-pony]

Compilation of disorganized facts (and derived headcanons) about The Henry Stickmin Collection's "narrator"

First thing’s first, since I typed more than I should’ve for a single bullet point.

Who is this “narrator” anyways?

In this post I’m talking about the implied source of the fail screens, bios, and certain other interactions in the game (which I’ll get into as we go. It’s implied that this character is the same across these different sources of meta interactions.

It is possible that this character is a self-insert of PuffballsUnited, but for the sake of this post we'll assume that this isn't Actually Puff. I feel weird tying my blorbo detail-plucking thoughts to an actual person and don’t want anyone making assumptions about Puff based on anything listed here, plus certain things may be added, exaggerated, omitted, etc. to the character for comedic effect in a way that further delineates the two. (tl;dr narrator ≠ author)

The wiki (derogatory) notes a theory that this character could be Wilson Stone. Granted, it’s not an entirely groundless theory: there is no message on the fail screen for D.E.B., which could be seen as a result of Wilson dying. I disagree with this for a couple of reasons: Wilson is referred to in the third person in his bio, the narrator makes a disdainful comment about the CCC having a surplus of nukes in CtM (there’s little reason for Wilson to be opposed to nukes but not a dark energy bomb), and Wilson’s voice is different from the narrator’s (I’ll get to that later).

The general fandom consensus that I've seen uses "the narrator", but this character/being/whatever isn't known by any name officially, nor any pronouns. For simplicity's sake, I'll refer to this character as "the meta" or “the meta voice” and use they/them and it/its interchangeably for them (partly to distinguish from the large surplus of male characters). I prefer “meta” over “narrator” and “commentator” because it doesn’t really narrate anything, it gives more than just commentary, and just because it rolls off the tongue better.

More on the meta

It comments frequently on Henry’s stupidity, but it’s hard to truly baffle them. Not that Henry hasn’t managed to before in fails such as Cheese and Distract.

Getting the obvious out of the way, they’re known to crack jokes of all sorts, including memes, wordplay, references, & callbacks.

Lots of these jokes are at the expense of Henry, the player, or someone else. It frequently makes disparaging comments about the player or Henry in general; more common jabs include fatphobic comments toward Henry or making fun of the player’s poor skill.

Speaking of Henry and the player, it typically uses “you” for both you (the player) and Henry himself, but it does also differentiate between us and Henry, such as in the Duplicatorange fail and Toppy fails, even noting you to not be a stick figure

Not only are they aware of the player and Henry as separate, but they’re also aware that you’re playing a game.

The meta seems to have the most control over the timeline, including what counts as a “fail” and when a fail cuts off, as shown in the duplicatorange and invisibility pill fails.

It has a certain amount of control over the nature of the game itself. The slingshot fail in FtC has them creating various popups that the player must click through to get an achievement. This power isn’t limitless though: the CorrupTick fail in particular shows that things can fall out of their control.

They’re capable of summoning objects (this is implied in Dance Off v4 and outright confirmed in the Lockpick fail).

The free transform option also shows that it has the ability to directly alter people in-universe. The mind control fail implies that it may also be able to outright control people to an extent, but finds this difficult and thus avoids doing so.

They seem to exist in a flux state between being “the game master” and simply being a bystander. It knows at least a little bit about nearly every character in the game and has some control over the environment, but it also reacts to events as though it’s just a spectator and seeing things for the first time.

On a related note, they seem to be in a state between being “in” the game and existing outside of it. Things that would wipe out everyone in the vicinity have no effect on it, but things that alter things on a meta level (such as the corrupted disk, Goodball, and CorrupTick fails) do affect them in various ways.

They aren’t omniscient. They have info on nearly everyone, but they don’t know everything. A lot of their comments in fails seem to be guesswork, and their bios for some people, notably Ellie, are very lacking.

It can feel pain. They complain about their ears hurting from the high pitched sound of the sonic pulse. At the same time, it isn’t nearly as sensitive as Henry or other stick figures and can survive the subsonic wave with little consequence.

It can, supposedly, use the bathroom.

The duplicatorange and invisibility pill both imply that the meta voice has some sentimental attachment to Henry, triggering a fail screen whenever they lose track of Henry.

Related to the above, it seems to have a vested interest in keeping Henry alive, despite having killed Henry themself. Revenged is notable as an ending for the fact that Henry dies in every outcome, and The Betrayed isn’t much better in this regard.

It also shows mild concern for Henry’s wellbeing in RPE/RBH, asking him if his head is okay.

While it’s unknown if they know all languages, they do at least seem to know German, specifically commenting on Friedrich Spielen’s nonsensical German.

They can sleep and even dream; in the G-inverter fail they comment that they “had a nightmare like this”. It’s unknown whether they need sleep or if sleep is simply recreational for them.

I don’t know if the above indicates that they used to be affected by gravity or if they simply had a dream about being affected by gravity, but given their ability to simply hover at a point in the air or even outer space, they probably aren’t affected by gravity at any point that we know them.

The meta is aware of other timelines, making a reference to Charles during the helicopter fail in Toppat King.

While it doesn’t have a known physical appearance, it does occasionally emote with hand-drawn “emoticons”, some of which are even animated.

On rare occasions, it can conjure Twitch emotes or even a full animation of a stick figure.

Feel free to add if you think of anything!

[kheprriverse]

So Ko'jin is worshipped as a moon god, right?

What kind of stories do people come up with? Like do they say the craters are his beds? Do they say his power is weaker on the new moon? That he can't protect you on cloudy night (because he can't see you)?

My brain is craving mythology and the blorbos. I must know!

(if this makes no sense, please be aware I'm half asleep typing this)

Ty for the ask! I will do my best to answer this but it’ll probably only be like… half answering your questions here and mostly me yapping about Ko’jin’s overall role.

Ko’jin’s whole gist as a deity is protection of spirits and Termina as a whole more than anything. Often times if you hear stories of Ko’jin, you’re only really hearing about the Moon Serpent. It’s the most common form the people of Termina ever see of him. Rarely do they ever see the actual deity.

Most people who tend to openly talk about the serpent and spread stories are soldiers (in and out of Termina). While he protects Termina, its widely believed he primarily protects spirits or is at least a guide for them. So many soldiers often give him offerings when/after they’re drafted in hopes that, if they do die on the field, then the serpent will guide them to a good afterlife.

(His deal with spirits is one half of his “judgement” title, the other being his role of a bounty hunter of sorts.)

Stories that are usually given to children or general public are usually legends of his grand battles with other deities done in the protection of Termina. Or stories to explain meteor showers. This also relates to Moon’s Tears which is often believed to be from the serpent falling. So the stone itself is highly sought after because its often thought it would protect them. (It wouldn’t be completely wrong to assume this either since he does technically have an odd effect on those rocks and they have a strong magic.)

Also I wanted to poke the “power is weaker on new moons” thing because its mostly true. His followers mostly give him offerings/pray to him at shrines and whatnot during full moons (the festival dedicated to his return is usually on a super moon, which happens over termina yearly). The fuller the moon the more he’s able to channel his powers and the faster he can regenerate magic, which is why the Moon Serpent primarily appears on full moons (and why it’s a common belief that he’s weaker on new moons).

Also his “job” that he has regarding spirits and protecting or guiding them. After his return he has a lot of catching up to do, like a lot. He travels the world in the form of the Moon Serpent to collect spirits (and poes) and bring safely them to an “afterlife”. I really want to get into this bit more eventually as it plays into the rest of the au a lot and how it works. But I’m unsure if I should atm. Ig that’d depend if anyone wants to hear me yap about that too.

^ basically theres no way any of his followers would even know whats actually happening outside of speculation. They take what they do see (the serpent guiding spirits, the serpent protecting termina, the serpent descending from the full moon) and base their stories and faith off that (as well as any historical records and artifacts, which I think a lot of legends would have come from).

[scribble-dee-vee]

Writeblr Intro circa 2024

Hi writeblr!! Sooo, I've been around here since about 2014. (Yes, I am ancient.) However, I've been dormant for the past 4-5 years. Blame college and a brief stint on Twitter. Now that I'm active again, I thought I should make an updated writeblr intro so ppl know my Deal. Basically, I want to engage with other folks who write fiction (esp original SF), and that's a little easier if I have a clear post that outlines what I do. Here to make connections and hear about your blorbos :)

About me

Hi, I'm Vee! They/them, 23, 💖 🤍 🧡

I do journalism/comms in western New York

My literary jam is feminist/adult SF and gothic lit (OG or modern) 🥀 ⚔️ 🌙

Enthusiastic about gay people, body horror, and sociopolitical allegories

I cook, run, play tabletop games, and occasionally draw. Other than that, I'm mostly writing (for work and for fun)

If you were on pre-2020 writeblr, you likely know me from my eight billion daily tag games. (I still like tag games and appreciate u for tagging me. I have also gained adult responsibilities and better mental health, so I respond very slowly now. <3)

Always happy to get asks or dms, tho as I've noted: I may reply slowly.

Sometimes open to beta read! I only read one longer project at a time, but it's always super fun :)

I tag very consistently – happy to tag triggers for followers/moots

Fun fact: I love mushroom hunting and worked as a mycology TA. #cottagecoreera 🍄 🧚‍♀️ 🌱

About my creative writing

I write,,,, feminist/adult SF with gothic leanings (surprise!)

Longform and short! Trying to do more short writing this year, and I'll likely share a bit on Tumblr. It's easier to clip a short story than a 150k novel, god bless.

The Aesthetic: moral g(r)ays, Victoriana, androids/cyborgs, Women™, monstrous femininity, incessant Hamlet/Frankenstein motifs, extremely boring socioeconomic worldbuilding, evil queens and/or dilfs, psychosexual witchcraft, probably a cat. Also, an ominous, plot-relevant letter laced with anthrax from your unhinged and brilliant ex-wife. Open if you dare.

Major projects

I'm going to be writing some short work this year, but these are the longer projects that I have going in the background. If I reblog blorbo-related text posts, they probably have something to do with these.

Let me know if you want to be added to any project-specific taglists 😎

Heart of Lead – Series

The big one

Perpetually evolving

Never ceasing

Pls send help I can't stop adding shit

5-book gothic fantasy epic that I'll definitely publish one day but probably no time soon! My bastard child, my wicked firstborn, my greatest love <3

Character-oriented political drama set in a pseudo-Victorian, dystopian oligarchy where everyone's heart is made out of metal. It's about coming of age and discovering queer identity in a world that is absolutely fucked. God is an extraterrestrial lesbian who gives ppl very traumatizing magic powers. There are cyborgs, shapeshifters, and morally gray women in STEM. It's tight as fuck idk what else what to tell u.

Book 1 is about achillean monarchists, and book 2 is about sapphic anarchists. There are only two genders, I guess.

At this point, I've drafted most of the books at least once. Working to refine a lot of raw material atm!

Tag: "heart of lead tag" or "hol tag"

Lost Letters – Book

Aka the current active HoL WIP, and book one in the revised series structure

Length: 80k as of now; around 120-140k when the first draft is finished, I presume.

Genre: adult fantasy, gothic, noir detective drama?? um?? If you want me to frame it in BookTok terms (why?) it's a dark academia villain x villain tragic romantasy. Hrgh.

Summary: Cyborg soldier goes to college, joins a shady socialite frat, and falls in love with the jilted heir-apparent to the throne. Hilarity ensues.

(By "hilarity," I mean a militant revolutionary faction and a tragedy of Greek proportions.)

POV characters: Charles (the cyborg), Dale (the heir), and Cecelia (Charles' sister, a junior detective, the love of my life and potentially the Chosen One???)

This book is twisty and dark and immensely fun to write.

I'm about halfway through the first full draft! Hoping to share snippets and vaguepost about my children here.

Tag: "lost letters tag" (also "hol tag," tho that one's less specific)

The Last of Mortal Tourists – Book

The next longform project on the docket!

Length: a standalone work that will hopefully fall on the shorter novel/novella spectrum.

Genre: literary SF, cyberqueer, psychological space quest

Summary: The consciousness of a dead coding genius, trapped inside a spaceship, seeks a new planet to sustain their sister, the last surviving human, after the destruction of Earth.

If you're here to get wildly philosophical about gender and the myth of essential self, this is the story for you! That's why I'm writing it, lol. 🏳️‍⚧️ 🚀 🤖

This one started out as a short story (100% finished) which I want to expand.

POV: Archer Alto, the coder. Spaceship? Human? Soul?

Supporting Cast: Pandora, the last human, and Abby, a holographic impression of Archer's childhood consciousness

Tag: "the last of mortal tourists tag" or "tlomt tag"

If you read all this way, you get a whole bouquet of flowers that are certainly NOT poisonous: 🌸 🌹 💐 🥀 🌺

<3

[relatableblorbopoll]

Round 1 of preliminaries, group 14

The first two places get a place on the bracket

Little reminder: there will be 2 more rounds of preliminaries, the losing blorbos of this poll still have 2 chances of getting in the official bracket

Propaganda under the cut

Oz Vessalius (Pandora Hearts)

"Struggles with self-worth, adores books, ADHD (though that’s not canon—but he fits the diagnostic criteria), his strongest/most important relationships are platonic"

Sound (My School President)

"Lonely gay teenager who tries to be cool and sauve but gets adopted against his will by a group of losers and then falls for one of the losers who gets on his nerves a lot because he was nice to him once and then he gets all awkward and flustered around the boy and tries to avoid him and antagonize him but the boy sees through it and they eventually end up together and he becomes the most annoying person in love ever"

Luz Noceda (The Owl House)

"adhd. possibly some autism too. a weird girl who got outcasted by being herself and sure has some WACK coping mechanisms to deal with it. self worth is IN THE DRAIN. gnc and not straight. writes fanfic. artist. goes through a depression era when at her moms house. loves her mom also. this is canon stuff i'm saying"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA she is so ASDHSUJD. Okay I started watching the owl house because I knew there was a WLW couple, so obviously I had to check it out. But upon watching the show, I got so emotionally connected to it, or moreso the protagonist, Luz, that it could go beyond some people's understandings... I remember that almost any scene showing her neurodivergent traits would hit SO. CLOSE. HOME. It would be unbelievable. I literally rewatched the show more than seventeen times one summer. She is just so goshdarn relatable man. She's the weird kid, has no friends, loves making anime edits, is OBSESSED with a book series, loves witches and magic and stuff, has ADHD, an attention span that is so high when she's engaging with something she likes doing and so low when she's bored. She's just so lovely. I know a lot of people found her annoying in season one but she hit close home to me. Season two was amazing as well and she started getting even MORE relatable!! She started showing her people pleasing, how much she blames herself, it was so sad but I was glad to see a character I could relate to so much on screen. I mean i personally didn't experience the loss of my father and I personally do have one friend whom I'm able to share my life with, but she's still super relatable. She can be so silly and so cool. And her impulsivity and the way she realized she doesn't know what she wants to do when she grows up also hit close home. Mwah"

Gundham Tanaka (Super Danganronpa 2)

"Goth autistic theater kid"

Saiki Kusuo (Saiki Kusuo no Psi Nan/The Disastrous Life of Saiki K)

"He's very dead inside, especially in the English Dub, and introverted. But even so, he cares a lot for his friends, even if he never says it to them and he finds them annoying most of the times. He also be nosey and just insert himself into others' situations that don't involve him (obviously, he makes it so that nobody knows he's there and, obviously, he's also complaining about this all the time). He's canonically aroace, or at least aroace spec He's canonically trans. He was born as a girl but he didn't like it so he immediately turned himself into a boy with his psychic powers. An argument could be made about him being on the autism spectrum."

Drew (The Music Freaks)

"I don't like him actually I hate him and love him st the same time in fact but. This man is so real and such a horrible jerkwad to everyone around him. I mean I can't relate to THAT but I should mention he also gets jelous easily, he is in love with his best friend who does not like him back, he's all moody and grouchy and bratty. And so am I and I hate it lol."

[choccy-zefirka]

We previously had a whole Discourse Session about x reader fic on this blog, but I just saw this in visual form on my dashboard (Blorbo hugging/kissing a greyed-out silhouette instead of the artist's OC), and I am back to thinking how being expected to insert my OC into the author-prepared slot is not my thing (and makes me a bit sad, actually) because... all my OCs fall for their love interest, even if it's the same person, for different reasons.

Isk and Wyll are childhood friends who keep being torn apart by circumstances but inevitably find each other. Mariposa and Wyll are gender-swapped Beauty and the Beast; he is the radiant guiding light that inspires her to rise above her Dark Urge. Wilhelm is a classic sad dad, so his partners Wyll and Karlach help him find joy and whimsy in life again. Or, for example, Alyrr stirs Halsin's heart because she is kind to him, while Cinder falls for Halsin because he is kind to *her*; same goes for Niamh and Zevlor vs Dee and Zevlor.

Likewise, in other fandoms, Azelma Cadash and Blackwall initially despise each other because she thinks he's a boring straight-laced fuddy duddy, and he thinks she's a spoiled princess luxuriating in her father's crime spoils and wearing a Stop Being Poor T-shirt, but as their friendship progresses, each discovers that the other is a more nuanced person than their first impressions might suggest. While Naali Adaar teams up with him as Protector of the Small, and Adiba Adaar turns his head with her incredible Nerd Powers (Nana Lavellan is somewhere at the intersection of that, because she is both a nerd and a professional babysitter in her clan). Thraer Aeducan bonds with Morrigan like a golden retriever excitedly following her around; and Revas Mahariel sits across the room from her like they are a cat and she is also a cat, slowly getting accustomed to each other. Nella Amell gets to Zevran with her sweetness and faith in people, and Zevran gets to Brianna Cousland with his roguish charms, even as she appears to have hidden herself behind a wall of ice and grief.

Alisa Shepard is a neurotic perfectionist, Natalie Shepard is an enthusiastic, confident space adventurer; Garrus loves each of them. And in my newest obsession, Cyberpunk, my current rough and tough but secretly artistic street kid V is going to employ different tactics when convincing Takemura to ditch Arasaka through the power of love (shhh, let me have my headcanon) compared to a hyper-stressed, disillusioned corpo V and a happy-go-lucky nomad V I also have planned. And so on and so on and so on.

Can all these different love stories truly be expressed through x reader fics? Even if x reader is mostly focused on smut, I am not sure how much maneuvering you can do while leaving it generic. Again, going back to my own OCs, Arryn Lavellan, a hot-headed 20-something Dalish First, is a virgin who pretends to be sexually experienced to win Respect Points, and then learns the lesson that he did not have to do that; while Elgara Lavellan, a Circle mage and ex-Tranquil, is also a virgin due to her life circumstances, and her lesson is that there's no shame in having a "first time" after 40. Cinder the Tav is a half-Orc, half-Tiefling, used to being fetishized by intimate partners because of her appearance, so she gets her mind blown when Halsin worships her body as a great gift of nature. Laulu the Tav is a half-Orc, half-Halfling, a humble farm girl with dreams of someone who will love her for her, not her glamorous elf bard persona (courtesy of Disguise Self), so she gets *her* mind blown when Gale takes her, the real her, on a journey through the stars. But Amaya, a full Halfling this time, is a vengeful paladin who used to be married to an evil wizard that entrapped her in illusions of love and bliss in order to manipulate her to do his bidding, so she opts for the humble tryst in the woods, blowing *Gale's* mind this time as he realizes that he can be wanted for more than his magic. So for all of them, even smut will flow differently.

Some anons I got argued that inserting your OC into a love story focused on a canon character is too self-centered; you have to give other people a chance to imagine *their* OCs in this blank spot! And I guess it works for some people (a lot of people, in fact), but I would rather write stories and make art about specific OCs and read stories and admire art with *your* specific OCs and all the endless ways they can kiss that Blorbo.

[coffeesleep-ooc]

For your last anon, I have 2 things to say:

1. I think the lack of stress on the early days can be inferred to say something about SQQ, something about how SQQ is doesn’t find these moments as important because he’s planning/worrying/etc over the post-IAC events. Though I see it more as he saw those days as just an everyday thing, doting on LBH. He’s really sweet bc that’s his blorbo!! Ofc being nice to him is so easy even outside of the golden thighs part!! And!!! LBH, an easily impressionable teen is going to care a lot more about this when he’s not used to getting this kind of treatment- not just form SQQ- but from the peak. I mean even with NingNing, she’s seen to make the bullying worse- not on purpose though I still love her <3- so even the “kind” person he knows, kindness backfires.

2. I do think the “first person to show kindness” thing is so not true bc literally the first scene we see with ningning and lbh he’s snarky! And that may be after meeting the qi deviated SQQ but iirc it was immediately after so there’s no real interference. And the rest of the scene played out without SQQ doubting the plot events. Also OG!LBH had a harem of any women just because he wanted to prove himself, it’s a power fantasy not a romance. Imo if it was the “first person to shwo kindness” argument it kinda falls flat since ogLBH didn’t care about his wives the way a loving person would. He literally just married any woman to prove his power lol. (Though some could argue that’s because he reached a point of no return, but this isn’t my post to rant lol)

Hello again!!! It’s really nice to keep hearing your thoughts! And honestly i agree with most of what you say!

I believe that og!LBH may at some point thought to himself that he loved them all, but in the way you love shiny stuff that you collect and put on a shelf and sometimes play with? There is indeed power in keeping so many women and taking so many women from their houses, tribes, even husbands or sweethearts. I believe this is not bc LBH forces them to, but we all know that his presence attracts women according to the laws of the universe Airplane created. I believe these power fantasies are sometimes reflections of men that have been taught that having many women surrounding you and wanting you (to be a protector or just for your looks or body or whatever) makes you powerful and superior, this is also reflected on LBH having the heavenly sky pillar like SQQ calls it…bc we have been taught that erm…bigger makes you more proud or stuff like this.

I think I’m deviating to talking about toxic masculinity ksjdkskdjd but anyways! The point in sv is precisely that this absolute character of a man in SQQ’s eyes suddenly (not really suddenly though) turns around and becomes a person with wants and needs and what he wants is actually his old teacher. SQQ does not take this well lmao

But its also true that SQQ treats LBH’s disciple days like a calm period…i mean who wouldn’t! Imagine that you have transmigrated into the character with probably the worst death at the hands of your fav chara…i’d cry XD

I believe that dissociating a bit was normal in this scenario, but SQQ took it to the extreme, he thought that canon was written in stone, without taking into account that his presence and actions could make ripple changes to everyone including the protagonist, he thought his influence extended just to make his death less graphic, and maybe make the protagonist treat people a bit better, in short, he was too humble at first and too oblivious at the end (i mean pre IAC)

He also is trying to play his obsession with a character (first) and with his disciple (later) as something that is completely normal and cool. Cool as a cucumber. Jokes on you SY.

At least we recognize how into a character we are you silly man. Though i also understand him bc LBH post abyss is scary and powerful af even if inside he is still a crybaby wife that pines hard lmao

Brain just conjured the image of LBH meeting SQQ for the first time after the abyss while internally being: I JUST WANT TO MARRY SHIZUN IS THAT SO HARD QAQ

again, thanks for sending me your thoughts! Im happy to answer what i think or have observed from sv and fics~ brainrot for sv is too strong anyways

[splinnters]

YOUVE READ SPIRIT ANIMALS??? BRO I FUCKING LOVE SPIRIT ANIMALS THATS MY SHIT AGHHH.

Conor's my favourite too I love him sm he is literally so sweet. Tell me everything you think about it and if you made a spirit animal for yourself

SOBBING SOMEBODY ELSE KNOWS ABOUT SPIRIT ANIMALS ITS A MIRACLE I own the two main series in hard cover they are all lined up on my little bookshelf they have such shiny spines and I treasure them beyond compare

overall I think the whole series is amazing and there’s genuinely not many like,,, corrections or whatever that I have for it. while I adore the first series I actually like fall of the beasts better ESPECIALLY BECAUSE OF HOW OVER POWERED CONOR GETS I LIVE FOR THAT SHIT SO BAD

Conor has always been my favorite of the four main characters mostly because his character arc in terms of personality is a copy of my life. he had so many important moments for himself and for the team and overall I think it’s so interesting how he becomes the leader-figure of the group, ie the others pack bonded so hard to him. in reality I see Meilin as the inner-group leader but people outside the four of them see Conor as the leader. puts a lot of pressure on him as well as the pressure from being the wielder of the Staff of Cycles and the fact that he’s basically an oracle/prophet by the time the second series ends AND how he was the only one infected by the Wyrm. he’s one of my special blorbos I love him so much

also he’s genuinely one of the most powerful warriors to ever walk that planet. no I don’t take constructive criticism on that

BONUS THOUGHT I don’t care if nobody else on the planet thinks this but the four heroes are in a polyamorous relationship no doubts about it. despite Rollan and Meilin being the only ones in an actual canon relationship, they all act the same to each other like. once the characters who are dating are acting the same way with the two other friends you just. Know. they all love each other so much

in terms of making my own spirit animal, I did play the spirit animals game while it was still alive (?) and I usually picked a very large black panther/leopard/whatever I think?? or a tiger sometimes but I don’t think I ever claimed an “official” spirit animal. I always just wanted to be Conor, so I guess a wolf would be my official spirit animal

to be fair though I was biased toward having no spirit animal because I was obsessed with the redcloaks more than the greencloaks. I adored Worthy to death and I created multiple redcloak OCs despite never making a greencloak one. they are just so cool omfg

this makes me wanna do stuff with spirit animals on this blog ahajdjfhdhdhdh. maybe I’ll draw them or something that would be nice. I did write some stuff for it but it was all on paper so I’d have to dig it up. also I don’t think any of the stories were very serious like most of my fanfics end up being lmao

[lovefrombegonia]

A Jinx of my mind and an Ekko of my soul

This is going to be a long post about how one Jinx and one Ekko from the Netflix's Arcane made me feel, and basically gave me an existential crisis for a couple of days. This isn't an in-depth analysis, let me warn you. This is much more personal, this is deep in emotions...this is projection of another level. This is my excercise of self-discovery through fiction. It's an introspective excercise I love doing...and sometimes, when the writing is omega-level great...it shows me my darkest fears, and my greatest dreams.

THESE ARE ALL PERSONAL OPINIONS. Fair warning. Also, Spoiler Alerts.

Those who are familiar with my blog, knows that, typically, I would have deeply, deeply fallen in love with a character like Jinx. That's what happens with me and my problematic blorbos. Mad and psychotic killers with great character design is almost always a win-win for me. This is what I thought too, initially, as I started Arcane's first episode. She was a little girl who was physically not strong but was a mad genius who could make deadly bombs out of scraps. An engineer of chaos! And someone with family issues...boi oh boi, I was ready, willing and able to fall for her... But then gradually something unexpected started to happen. I started...disliking her. And you know, that should have started after she killed a bunch of people indiscriminately, right? But no...I think it started much earlier. I think it started with a break down that hit too close to home. It started when Powder was crying and screaming out of desperation and pain when she thought of herself as useless. Someone who couldn't even help save her sister and her friends. Her adoptive father. During that scene, I didn't hate Power. No...let me not be a coward with my feelings here. This is me, raw, vile, and naked. I did hate Powder during that scene. I hated her because that scene hit too close to home. I hated her because how many times, it was me who would cry hysterical, alone in my room, cursing myself, my incompetence, my weakness, I can't even count. It really speaks to the brilliance of Arcane's cast and crew that it just sparked those memories of my despair so cleanly. Then she tries to help her sister and gang with monkey bomb, and it turns out to just make things from bad to worse. The rational side of me sees this and understands that she could not have any idea that things would turn out like this. She was just a child and even an adult could have made those same mistakes. But the emotional side of me watched in horror and hopelessness as her decisions made with intentions to help her family, in the end hurt them so badly and irreversibly. This, too, hit too close to home. Reminding me of when my own decisions had hurt my family in the long run. The guilt and trauma of my failure never went away. Even if my family doesn't blame me, I blame myself. And then...things just went downhill with the rest of the episodes. Visually, Jinx is one of the coolest characters on the show. Her fighting style, her gadgetry, even her mania is shown with so much style and brilliance, it just scratches the aesthetic itch of mine perfectly. Technically, the character writing is fucking superb imo. None of her moments are wasted. Every drop of her tears and every smile, every gesture counts. None of it is wasted. Emotionally, I felt like I was watching a nightmare version of me on-screen. Everything that happened to her is what I fear happening to me. The psychosis. The break-downs. Choosing to follow the wrong person. Choosing validation over people who love me. It's why all her triumphs and victories felt so hollow. Even her most brilliant moment, when she unleashed the missile over the council...felt incredibly painful to me. In my eyes, this was the moment of Jinx's destruction. When Silco called her "perfect", it should have felt like finally getting the validation she needed but instead it felt like getting a stamp of approval to be self-destructive.

Let me be clear: I AM NOT SAYING THIS IS WHAT THE SHOW IS TRYING TO SAY. THIS POST IS ALL ABOUT HOW I FELT THROUGH JINX AS A CHARACTER. I don't want her stans to think that I am slandering her moments of victory and character arc. When I was watching Arcane, Jinx's journey didn't feel like her growing from Powder to Jinx FOR ME, even though I know that's what the writing is about. It felt like Jinx was showing how I could devolve because of my own manic thoughts, insecurities, painful memories and just my fucking depressing af mind that feels like it's trying to eat me away. I cannot express how similar it looked when I saw Jinx losing her mind in isolation. Cooking up scenarios that didn't happen. Or degrading all the memories of the past while catastrophizing. Her shooting the girl who looked like Vi. Her, being petrified by Vi abandoning her. Her, being as a birder by Silco or being abandoned/betrayed by him. Even though, I am an adult now, and I get why people that I love might walk away from me, the fear of it all still eats me from inside. I am afraid. I am despairing. It feels like I can't move on. What scares me even more is one day, meeting a Silco who might or might not genuinely love me but also validates my wish to just destroy everything and everyone around me. To watch the world burn. Because, yes, the thought of letting it all go, and fuck things up feel "cool" and "liberating" and "awesome" but the truth is...the ugly, painful truth is...even then. EVEN FUCKING THEN. INSIDE. I would still me the same miserable lonely fuck... Except this time, I would because the scared miserable lonely fuck who hurts others. It's a nightmare cycle. Jinx is that nightmare cycle. Jinx...Powder...this charming, exhilarating, dynamic character. She is truly an enigma of her own, isn't she. I love her because I can empathize with her suffering and choices. I hate her because I fear that I might end up like her. Jinx is my mirror that I want to look away from but I can't.

This experience of mine with a character is not unique to Jinx. What differs, is the INTENSITY of it all. She stays in my mind. I watch video analysis of her character but I couldn't bring myself to write much about her. It feels too close. Too... familiar. I have talked about the mirror but what about the echo of my conscience? Somehow still keeping me from turning downright mean and unkind?

A very special episode happened in the second half of Arcane. An episode called "Boy Savior". It started with one of the coolest music video intros I have ever seen. I think most of us, who aren't familiar with LoL lore, could still guess this was the return of the little boy, Ekko. He was bound to return, and he was going to be involved with the Fireflies. It wasn't the focus of the episodes but it was clear from a few scenes that, like Jinx, Ekko was also great with gadgetry. His little periscope and audio system he made? So smart and cute, might I add. What I wasn't expecting, is to strangely...be envious of this character. It's natural to admire someone like him. Who, even being in the worst situations, rose as a hero and inspiration for his people. To help the ones left behind in the grand scheme of main characters. But I was already become very attached to him. Not in a blorbos kind of way. Another third secret thing LOL OK, but seriously, I was starting to feel even protective of this character. And no, it isn't just because Ekko has the cool character design, and cool hover board thingie, or even the coolest animation style in the series...those helped! But weren't the key reason. It started with the final fight between Ekko and Jinx. It was highly stylized and paired with great bgm. The animation was popping off!! Damn! Did they deliver with this part of episode. Amidst of all that, my mind all of a sudden went: 'I will never forgive Jinx if she kills Ekko.' After I finished the episode, and was done with the rest of my daily routine, I wondered why I felt so strongly for him. Mind you, I didn't feel the same way when she came close to killing any of the other main characters. Not even Vi, even though, being an eldest sibling myself, I should have felt more kinship with her. But no...it was Ekko. But why? Why him? Why even feel envious of this character who got so much burden on his young shoulders, and he is not even a main character?! It all CLICKED right into place after I watched this video analysis of his character. I understood my envy and my protectiveness for him. It's because Ekko is the kind of character I want to be. This person who can help my family and loved ones in the present. Someone who uses whatever resources they have and the courage, skills and endurance they have to push forward, to bring to the ones they care about. This person who acknowledges their painful past but won't let that stop from becoming someone kind and brave. Someone who works through their loss and shortcomings to bring a brighter light home. He is not a perfect person. He isn't physically strong like Vi or has agency like Jayce or has the strongest morality like Caitlyn but he is still ENOUGH. He still helps in a way that truly matters, his existence matters. He is the strong, sturdy, life-giving tree in the midst of undercity's thick, suffocating atmosphere. He is...Ekko is just...simply beautiful. Just BEAUTIFUL and immaculate in a way no other character in Arcane season 1 is. He is a side character with much lesser screen time but he leaves me with such a deep impression. To me, Ekko is the character that reminds me of the echo of my own conscience soul, pushing me to be a better person than I was yesterday. He is the dream version of myself. And this is why it was hurting me to think of Jinx killing Ekko. Because my emotional side was interpreting it as my nightmare version killing the dream version of myself. My sub-conscious made the connection between Powder/Jinx and Ekko before I even realised.

I cannot praise the writers of Arcane enough to bring out such strong emotions in me. To invoke something so raw and visceral in me. To make me look into myself, to realise my fears and hopes. Almost all the characters in Arcane season 1 are amazing, nuanced, thought-provoking, and simply brilliant. And even among all these diamonds, Jinx and Ekko are so bright to stand out so uniquely... Ah...such beauty in fiction is rare. Be it hate or love. Fear or envy. I cherish them both very dearly.

[utilitycaster]

if you're looking for any reason to write and/or procrastinate, i'd love to hear your alluded-to thoughts on people trying to shove already-extant blorbos into a ttrpg space? it's something i've tried to Strongly Discourage (if not outright ban) at my table and i've struggled putting into words why i dislike it so much. like obviously as a dm doing homebrew world stuff it's super discouraging to feel like your players don't want to engage with it, but even beyond that it feels like it doesn't Work and i'd love to hear if you have thoughts on Why That Is

Absolutely! The biggest reason is in fact the one you say: it's really discouraging as a DM, who is doing a lot more work than anyone else, to have someone not want to build a character informed by your world. This is collaborative storytelling, and they are not collaborating. Which isn't to say that player's preferences for the type of story shouldn't be considered, but there is something very different between, for example, Erika Ishii saying "hey Brennan, I would love to play a witch" in a setting everyone in the cast committed to building collaboratively, vs. coming to your table as a DM saying "hey, this is a world I've created, it is inspired by Norse mythology" and saying "cool this is my weird west cowboy OC, why isn't there a cowboy class."

I think the other reason, and here's where I might be guessing, but I think people can get uniquely rigid and protective of pre-existing OCs. I mean...I had a vague set of OCs inspired by a lot of the fantasy stories I read as a kid for literal years, and setting aside that they don't fit in neatly to a D&D system anyway, the thought of playing one and having them die at level 2 against some will-o-the-wisps is really not something I'm open to! When it comes to a lot of the games that have character progression and start relatively weak, like D&D, most people are thinking of a cool powerful mage, not a squishy L1 wizard with 2 spell slots! I think people are precious and impatient and rigid about a lot of their OCs, so they won't take the big swings that you need to make in order to have a good time in a TTRPG because they're too afraid of losing the character before they reach their final form - and, they have a final form in mind that they might be reluctant to deviate from. Sure, some people can get past this; but many people can't. They already have too much of a story in mind and aren't open to the one being told together at the table. They won't kill their darlings and so they're going to freak out every time Darling has to make a death save.

Finally: I personally think character creation is necessarily collaborative, in that party composition is important. To give an example: I have an idea of an Eldritch Knight who learned her magic from the eccentric wizard she guarded, who then died in a locked room mystery, and she was exonerated but considered suspect (and also felt guilty) and so is in need of employment and could easily fall into adventuring. This is a pretty flexible concept in most D&D settings because a lot of the specifics aren't at all filled in. However: let's say my friend says "hey, um, one of our players had a family emergency and needs to leave our game long-term. Do you want to join?" and I say "yes, absolutely" and they say "great, they were playing a bard and were our only healer, though we do have a warlock who can be the party face," I should not play the eldritch knight with no healing! It is in fact my responsibility to roll up with, say, a cleric!

So that's really why: you can and should bring vague concepts you want to explore to a table, but you really shouldn't pick from a fully fleshed out OC because that doesn't engage with the setting nor what the party needs.

[oddmawd]

For the 35 questions, can I ask you about numbers 8, 9, 12, 19, 21 and 25? Thanks! *sends hugs*

8. Which character(s) do you find easiest to write?

i don't find Doffy or Smoker to be particularly difficult? once i outlined each story and determined their motivations, it's been easy enough to keep them on track in terms of characterization and development (though i was intimidated by doffy early on)

also Brook in The HΩuse on Rumbar Boulevard has been a joy to write, he's a breeze and SO MUCH FUN

9. Which character(s) do you find most difficult to write?

i've been poking at a Marco (One Piece) fic and tbh he's tough, it's hard to nail his demeanor and speaking voice (i refuse to add 'yoi' all over the damn place when writing in english LMAO)

also Kurama (YYH), but not because i personally have trouble writing him per se...i just have a very specific characterization of him in mind and it's pissed people off before (like bro people are SO PRECIOUS ABOUT HIM!??? wtfffff)...i have felt self-conscious about my plans for him in The Sight Unseen as a result...also the OC i've paired with him isn't the fandom's normal OC archetype for a kurama fic and i've gotten the rudest fucking comments about it saying Rei is not "special enough" for him LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOO.........it's wild what people find acceptable for this fictional blorbo (like they think they can somehow dictate which OCs are 'allowed' or not) but you do you booboo, live your truth, LMAO

12. Tell us about a WIP you’re excited about.

oh god how long we got? LMAO

i've been posting lately about The Art of Queen Sacrifice, my upcoming Doffy/OC fic...it takes place in an AU setting that's more in line with a historical pirate setting, with no Devil Fruit powers, and i'm really eager to show it to you all....OBLIGATORY MOODBOARD REPOST:

i also have a ton of OCCULT PIECE stories to share...i have fics planned for Marco, Katakuri, Shanks, Mihawk, Pedro, Crocodile, Buggy, Sabo, and many more...i just love exploring the lore of that gigantic AU, and every story is a new opportunity to map out new connections and the history of the modern, urban fantasy AU setting

19. Do you prefer canon-compliant, AUs, or something in-between?

it's one or the other and NO in-between at all

i love writing canon compliant shit...There's Fire and The Grasp of Gilded Strings are both as canon compliant as they can be considering One Piece is unfinished, and i designed both stories to fit seamlessly with canon without disrupting it...i want them to read as additional side-stories that complement the canon, and for both of them, i'm achieved that (though of course future Smoker or Doffy developments during or post-Egghead, which is where we are now in canon, could derail my plans)

tbh, setting things post-canon for complete series is my overall preference when remaining canon compliant...canon can never "unmake" anything i write when the series is complete, and i used to write exclusively for completed series before falling in love with One Piece

on the opposite side of the spectrum, OCCULT PIECE is a clear indicator of how much i love completely AU settings...i love making my own playground within the bounds of fandom <3

21. Favorite pairing to write for? (platonic or romantic!)

i don't write pairings of canon characters, so OC/CC is my preferred pairing to write (and read)

25. Have you ever daydreamed about side adventures/spin-offs from your fic? Tell us about them!

SO MANY OMFGGGGGG

the entire OCCULT PIECE world is alive in my head and i daydream about it constantly...i think Sanji is at work in the Baratie restaurant in the OCCULT PIECE world and he occasionally serves meals to the couples in the OccP universe, so it's funny to think about him serving Zoro and the Witch on a date

i think about Rei and Kurama going dancing a lot...also i headcanon that she's the OC in The Hunt sometimes, and if that story is their married life, i can't help but think about what she and Kurama got up to on their honeymoon LMAOOOOOO...planning on writing that one down someday because it's gonna be 🔥

also i daydream the conclusions of There's Fire, Beyond the Fracture and Gilded ALL THE TIME, i've basically lived out those stories a million times already LMAO

FIND THE "35 Questions for Fanfiction Writers" LIST HERE

[crazylittlejester]

DAILY BRAINROT

Since color-coding was a success, it shall continue. :)

I'm back on my Four Swords nonsense because I was struck with inspiration earlier today and wrote out about half of Shadow's chapter of my disability AU. In the book, his physical body is powered by the dark mirror, so I figured it would make the most sense if the cause of his problems was that there just isn't enough magic to power every single part of his body correctly.

Having a body took a lot more work than it did in the past. He was tired all the time, even after he'd managed to sleep through the entire night or day. Eating and drinking were harder than he remembered them being because he had little to no appetite and couldn't remember to do those things without reminders. And the worst part, in his opinion, was that he got sick much more easily than the others. Consequences of having a magically-constructed immune system, Vio had said. Something about how people weren't really meant to be made out of magic.

Changing topics. I read a fic the other day about Sky and I had the realization that technically, if Sky dies, there's nothing preventing Sun from establishing her bloodline. The royal family is descended from the first Zelda, as far as I know, there's nothing that says Sky actually had anything to do with it.

I don't think this is something that would necessarily be obvious, especially to the Chain, but they're not that stupid, so I think they could figure it out. To be fair, most of them aren't important enough to the timeline that anything drastic would occur if they died, but my point still stands.

So now I have this horribly angsty idea that perhaps Sky has some dreams that reassure him that he isn't required for history to remain functional, so when they're in a tight spot he throws caution into the wind because it's either him or someone else going down, and he doesn't think the other person will survive.

Adding on to that, I want to do some fact-checking and figure out if anyone else in the Chain has prophetic abilities because I could make the situation so much worse by giving the someone else dreams about Sky sacrificing himself.

Maybe someone needs to take the angst stick away from me, so I don't accidentally kill more blorbos than I should. /joking

There was this other fic I read about Legend being able to go inside people's dreams, and it was very cool. But the point is that Sky has somewhat... gross... prophetic dreams in it, but they range from "oh no, this person is going to die" to "the milk on the kitchen table is spoiled." This is now my new favorite Sky headcanon.

Sorry I didn’t answer this one last night, I was really exhausted and I wanted to make sure I had enough energy to read all of it!!

Ooooh that does make sense! That’s also really cool and I like it a lot

I was thinkin about that the other day too. I think literally any of them can die at this point with zero consequence except for maybe Time, because Twilight’s existence kinda depends on him and Malon (if Jojo kills any of them I will fall to my knees and scream at the sky and weep)

OW???? I could be so wrong but I think Time also has prophetic dreams…? I think I remember someone saying that somewhere. I’m only halfway through oot and had to stop playing for a bit so I’ve forgotten if he does or not

ALSKDDK SKY GETTING SOME PROPHETIC DREAM BUT ITS JUST “an acorn will fall on your head. you will be powerless to stop it.”

i love messing around with Sky’s dreams, I one time wrote a fic where he saw the future but like, the future of HYRULE (the kingdom) and so he saw the calamity and he watched Wild die. It was Wild’s past but literally everything is the future for Sky since he’s first on the timeline. It’s just fun to fuck around with prophetic shit >:)

THANK YOU FOR THE DAILY BRAINROT!!!!!