#there’s simply not time to have the little details that expand on these characters

[dashiellqvverty]

at the end of the day the stage version of newsies is just a more fun experience because the dancing is so BIG the singing is better the songs themselves are better (the difference in Once and For All…. oh my god) but i am definitely coming around on the movie having its merits! watching it again so soon after the last time i saw it i’m especially thinking about how much more fully realized so many of the characters are (except sarah but. well.) and ultimately i think that’s just the nature of the kind of show that newsies is, but in paticular i’m really starting to prefer how crutchie (or i guess crutchy) is done in the movie. don’t get me wrong i love that he has a more significant role in the musical and i am jackcrutchie shipper #1 but he feels like much more of an individual person and overall rascal in the movie as opposed to a sweet and sympathetic prop for jack’s story 😬

[gentlemanjuniper]

If I could inject just a little positivity to the news...

Season 2 has a lot of filler and stretches out a pretty simple mystery to six episodes. That's the appeal to some, I get it. But tightness and focus was not its strong suit. I remember feeling like it wasted a ton of time on side characters and it's possible shaving the story down to 90 minutes will skim things down to its most essential beats and be stronger for it. Basically, S2 got a lot of time given to it, and this is obviously my personal opinion but I don't think it used all of it well. I think S2 itself could have been half the length simply by employing more efficient storytelling and we'd not mourn too much.

A lot of S2's weaker plotlines feel built around people that Neil wanted to work with again, with so many recurring actors (I'm thinking of the zombies specifically, when that minisode could have easily been tighter without them). A lot of s2 to me feels like Neil just making work for the people he likes and wants to work with and a movie has to be more accountable to things like that.

Lots of entire fandoms exist around single movies. 90 minutes is not nothing. It's enough for many, many films to tell a complete story with cute character interactions and satisfying emotional arcs, especially when A&C are the only real significant connecting threads between both seasons thus far.

I don't think there are as many loose threads that absolutely need resolving as people may be thinking. Would I like to know why Aziraphale did the '40s apology dance? Would I like to see his bookshop gun? Sure. Are either of those necessarily essential to closing out the story? I don't think so. Really, what needs resolving is the second coming and, directly connected to that, Aziraphale and Crowley's rift. To me, not knowing the story obviously, that seems super reasonable to do in 90 minutes?

I don't think anyone involved in the final season can possibly be blind to the appeal of the show being Aziraphale and Crowley over anything else. That's certainly the reason why their roles were expanded to begin with from the book and why the second season was, nominally, all about them. They also now have to pay MS and DT for appearing in a movie rather than an ensemble show, there's no way they won't be front and center. Amazon wants a show that will make money and market itself; there's a reason why all the promo material for S2 was of Crowley and Aziraphale, because people engage with that stuff, reblog it, make art that promotes the show, etc. It makes no artistic or financial sense to make a movie that sidelines them.

GO is at its best when it has Terry's voice most strongly in it. That's why to me, S2 was a weaker, more meandering season overall (that, and I think the minisodes, while fun, just make the season feel comprised of different voices not always working in tandem towards a common goal). If I was a writer hired to condense a season into a film, and one of the authors had been rightfully disgraced, I would go out of my way to ensure the clearly Terry stuff is most significantly emphasized. It's telling to me that the Pratchett estate is producing and it's possible that the end result will result in more Terry, less Neil.

Think of it this way: everything we've gotten after S1 has always been extra. Imagine telling a fan of the book in the 90s that not only will you get a six episode adaptation, you also get a totally new second season, AND a movie?

Basically: I know this is disappointing but I think a lot of the pleasure of the Good Omens fandom was ALWAYS people picking up on and expanding on details, and y'all managed to do that just fine when A&C were only ensemble members in S1. You can and will do that with a movie too. And this solution both a) ensures first and foremost that Neil won't be involved or the allegations swept under the rug, and b) gives an opportunity for the heart of the story to be emphasized with greater focus, clarity and less filler.

Will we lose good stuff? Probably. But it's also possible we will get a tighter, more condensed, focused version of the best bits, the Terry Pratchett-est bits. I can easily see a 90 minute movie that, knowing they HAVE to focus on the important stuff now, is more Crowley and Aziraphale centric than ever.

[ambrosiagourmet]

Rin Masterpost

Rin! Rinsha Fana! Beloved side character I think about far too much (or maybe not enough?)

I decided that it might be nice to put together an informational post about Rin, since she has some of my favorite background details of any character in Dungeon Meshi. This is partly as reference for myself, and partly for anyone else who might be interested in her but not know where to chase down the tidbits we we get of her, both in canon & extra materials. There’s also a little bit of theorizing and analysis sprinkled in for fun.

If anyone spots something I missed, please let me know and I will add it in!

Alright. Time for ultimate #rinposting

History and Timeline:

We don't have an official timeline for Rin (even in the expanded Adventurer's Bible, sadly), but we can put a lot of pieces together based on Kabru's timeline & their respective ages.

Rin is 2 years older than Kabru, and they met when he was 9. Assuming that he met her soon after she was taken to the elven capital, that means that the elves took her when she was 11.

Before that, she lived on the Northern Continent. Interestingly, when Mickbell asks about Shuro, Rin says she was born "here."

Since "here" doesn't mean the actual Island itself, it must mean simply "not the east." She is described in the Adventurer's Bible as having "no real knowledge of or attachment to the East," so maybe that's why she draws a "there" verses "here" line.

I'd also like to add a note here that the elves don't seem uh... they don't seem great about respecting the value of other cultures, especially those of short-life species. Milsiril seems to have discouraged Kabru from eating or remembering food from his hometown, at least, and that's even as an adoptive parent who cares (at least in some way) for her child. As I will touch on later, the "care" that Rin was under probably had even less respect for her history or ties to either Eastern or Northern culture.

That is all to say, considering that Rin spent many years with the elves, I'd take her having "[no] attachment to the East" as more of a comment on how she feels now, and less as a definite choice she made. She may genuinely have chosen that approach and opinion for herself, she may have been pushed towards it by the elves, and she may have had little choice at all in the matter - all are valid interpretations, though I personally lean towards the thought that it's unlikely the elves didn't have at least some hand in it.

Anyway, Rin does seem to know at least a bit about her heritage - she can presumably name and identify the specific island her parents are from, and she recognizes that "Shuro" isn't a name used there. She also knows that different places from the Eastern archipelago speak different languages, so she knows at least a little about the other islands as well.

Some additional extrapolations I'll make based on these facts: she never mentions, and probably isn't in contact with, any family from her island. This may be because her extended family died, because her parents didn't (or weren't able to) maintain contact, or because she lost contact when she was taken by the elves. Somewhat relatedly, she also prooobably doesn't speak the language, at least not fluently, though her being able to comment on the state of language in the archipelago makes me think that she at least learned a little as a kid.

Anyway, Rin's parents were refugees from the archipelago, though we don't know what specifically caused them to leave. There is this little tidbit of info we get (from the cover of chapter 48, of all places), though:

So yeah, that seems like it would be the backdrop of Rin's parents fleeing. As I said earlier, it's unclear if Rin might have any living family left back on her island. The listing she has for “family” in the Adventurer's Bible is just a dash, but so is Izutsumi's, for instance, and we know that she was taken from her family with no knowledge of who might still be out there. It's possible everyone else was killed, it's possible they were separated... it's possible that Rin's parents didn't even know.

As an additional note, and this is speculation on my part, but I think there is an argument to be made, with this tidbit from the cover as well as the Nakamoto clan's specialty in espionage and use of ninjas, that the politics of the archipelago are partially based on Sengoku era Japan. Not necessarily super relevant here, but I think it's interesting context for all... of the archipelago characters, honestly.

(Especially considering it seems like the Nakamoto clan is in a relatively comfortable position, and yet clearly are involved, or at least prepared to be involved in larger conflict. How stable is their position, really? How is Shuro's father viewed by the wider region and archipelago as a whole? What about his lord? NOT THE POINT THIS IS A POST ABOUT RIN. BUT IT'S VERY INTERESTING TO THINK ABOUT.)

Okay, back to Rin's parents.

Whatever caused them to leave, they made their way to the north, where they made their living with their magic for a time. There are no specifics about what kind of magic they used, but we know at least some examples of jobs that magic can get you, based on the flashback to Laios and Falin's childhood in chapter 26. Laios proposes that Fain could use her magic to be a priest, gravekeeper, or wandering exorcist. Though these are specific to Falin's affinity with spirits, they give some idea of the shape of the work that might be available. It's important, but it is also on the outskirts of society - not necessarily admired or appreciated by the average person.

And Rin’s parents were killed by vigilantes for that magic. It's not entirely news that superstitious villages in the area would sometimes kill magic users - we see a small drawing of people being burned at the stake in a panel towards the end of the manga:

Nonetheless, Rin is the only person in the main cast who has experienced this brutality firsthand. And she did experience it firsthand, having been found by the elves as the sole survivor within the burnt ruins of her home.

It is unknown exactly how she survived, or what happened to her parents before and during the fire. Rin lived, and they did not.

The elves came some time after the fire, intending to investigate reports of ancient magic. They (and we) don't know if Rin's parents actually did use ancient magic, or if the reports and murders were simply spurred by general fear and superstition. Rin was the only piece of "evidence" that remained, and so she was taken back to the west with the elves when they left.

We don't know much about her time on the Northern Central Continent (where the elves/Canaries are based), but it doesn't seem like she was adopted or taken in by anyone the way that Kabru was. According to the Adventurer's Bible, after being taken into custody, "under their care she was treated as a captive animal would be." I would guess that means very basic food and shelter, little to no education. Probably the most social contact she got was from Kabru, as well as maybe, occasionally, from elves treating her as a curiosity, such as in this bit in the Adventurer’s Bible:

Assuming she left with Kabru (which seems like it is the case, there's no info about them having separated during that time), she spent 9 years with the elves, and has been with Kabru on the Island in the 4 years since then.

She also stays in the Golden Country after the end of the story, apparently working as an apothecary.

Additional Details (& Speculation):

What does she remember of her family and home?

I'd like to take a moment here to explore a little of what Rin might remember of her parents and home.

For reference, we can look at Kabru. The canaries came to Utaya when Kabru was 6, and he arrived in the capital when he was 7. He remembers the events of the tragedy in his home, and has some memories of his mother and life in Utaya, including memories of local dishes.

Rin lost her parents and home at 11, so she presumably has much clearer memories of the events that lead to her being taken by the elves... or she might, assuming that they haven't been completely blocked by her trauma from the event.

Yeah, I am fairly damn sure that she's got some memory issues from trauma and PTSD. For one, this is the state she was found in:

As already mentioned, she was also treated like something of an animal by the elves. She probably didn't have a lot of contact with other people, which would further perpetuate that sense of isolation and dehumanization. What I'm getting at here is that Rin probably didn't have much to help pull her out of this place, or heal these wounds. She had Kabru, who was also a kid and even younger than her, and she had herself.

Obviously trauma leaves different scars on everyone, and everyone responds and copes in different ways. But I do think it is interesting that we never hear anything about Rin's parents or life before the elves, and there are no real details about it given in the Adventurer's Bible the way we have for Kabru. What's presented is more surface level facts: they were refugees, they made a living with magic, they were killed.

I'm inclined to believe that things are laid out this way because that's how Rin holds on to these things. She knows things about them, but possibly remembers them more as things she was told/knows to be true, rather than actual memories she can picture herself experiencing.

Rin's Magic

In an interesting counterpoint to her potentially spotty memory, I do actually think Rin may have learned magic from her parents (or started learning, and was self-taught from there). She never attended a magic academy, and actually has a bit of grudge against people who did - owing to the social protection afforded to "upper-class mages," which her parents did not have. She also almost certainly wouldn't have been taught by the elves, who not only treated her as an animal but also knew her parents may have been involved with ancient magic.

Falin began to show signs of magical talent at 8, and was sent to the Magic Academy at 10, and that was as someone who had absolutely no guidance about or exposure to magic in her home town. Raised by two mage parents, I think Rin absolutely could have been learning some things by the time she was 11.

In terms of continued learning, I'll add that Rin is able to identify Marcille's magic as being A) from an Academy student, and B) cast by an elf:

This makes me think that she continued to study magic on her own while held by the elves, and probably even more so after leaving with Kabru. They didn't form the party until two years after they left the elves, which would give Rin plenty of time to try and learn from other adventurers on the Island, or to study up on her own. She'd probably be able to pick up some dungeon-crawling basics (like the water walk spell), as well as become familiar with the skill level and expression of skill common in different people with different backgrounds (hence why she is able to comment on the "textbook" academy wards).

Much like Marcille, Rin also seems to rely on a 'one size fits all' Big Boom method of dealing with monsters: lightning. We see the best example of its power in the fight with Chimera Falin:

But we also see her cast it pretty recklessly in a few other places, including the end credits of the new anime ED, which I think provides a good example of the downsides to such an approach...

Yeah, it is very much a 'get out of the way or get zapped' spell.

Especially since Marcille's offensive magic is self-taught and works very similarly, this definitely reinforces the idea that Rin figured most of this stuff out herself.

Outfit and Character Design

Dear sweet Rin of the Red And Black... how I love her design.

First of all, her clothes are damaged. Despite the fact that Rin looks relatively well put together overall, her outfit is worn out. I have some theories on why this is that I'll get to in a bit, but for now I'll just touch on what this design communicates in general about it.

I think, just like with Kabru's horribly messy room, it creates a sense that there is something more complicated underneath the surface. Something that isn't being addressed or seen to, just as the dress hasn't been mended or replaced.

It also reflects her not caring a ton about her appearance. She's neat, but she's not concerned about being pretty, so she doesn't bother with fixing up her outfit after her dungeon crawls. This also fits with her perpetual scowl (which I will talk more about in a bit), and slightly disheveled hair.

Next: the gloves. At first I thought they might be a sort of uncomfortable-with-touch thing, but after skimming through the manga and some bonus content, I have another theory. Rin takes the gloves off to eat, as well as a few other instances, such as when working on a spell with Holm and Marcille in chapter 36

This one is especially interesting because she has them on in the next chapter, during the fight with Falin. Since she also isn't wearing gloves during some of the Daydream Hour art of her outside of the dungeon, that leads me to believe that they are specifically for combat.

What does she need them for, though? Most other casters we see don't wear gloves. Well... just look at the other half of the page where she attacks Falin with lightning:

She is enveloped by this spell. I said it before was pretty reckless magic, but maybe its not just a problem for her teammates, but for her as well.

So here's my theory: maybe the gloves are rubber, or some other electricity-resistant material? They might help protect her from her own magic. I don't know why a caster would need gloves for combat otherwise.

I also think this might be why her dress is tattered at the bottom, by the way. Especially since the Daydream Hour genderswap design doesn't have a similar problem with his outfit, since the tunic isn't as long.

I will admit this is a bit of stretch/guess, but I think it's a fun one, and I wanted to share. I do think I'm right about the gloves being for dungeons/fighting specifically, at least. That seems pretty consistent throughout all of her appearances.

I also mentioned her scowl, so I'll touch on that briefly as well. The (fairly confirmed) explanation for Rin's expression is that she intentionally wears a frown to prevent her other expressions from showing through. I think it's important to emphasize that it's not just smiling that she is trying to suppress here - it's any strong emotion:

Anyway, because I can, here is the art of Rin smiling.

Rin and Kabru

I have talked a bit about Rin and Kabru's history, but I think it deserves its own section.

I think it's very interesting that Rin is pretty much the ONLY character in all of Dungeon Meshi that has explicit canonical romantic interesting in someone. It's literally part of the main summary sentence in her character profile.

This could be sort of reductive as a way to describe a female character (and in some ways it still is), but I think in part the simplicity and directness of it actually is part of what makes it so interesting. Especially when on the very next page we see the comic about her backstory. "This mage is in love with Kabru" -> one page of a horribly traumatic event and a child frozen in shock with no one to comfort her. What does that do?

Well, in my opinion, it shows how much Rin focuses on Kabru as something to keep her in the present. In contrast with the immense loss she has experienced, her love for Kabru is current and alive. He has presumably been her anchor for years, and I think that her love is part of that anchor.

Adding to this, in contrast with how explicit her feelings are, she never seems to actively pursue Kabru. She complains about his potential interest in other women, but she doesn't really flirt. She doesn't let herself smile around him any more than anyone else, and she doesn't hide her bitterness or anger from him to present a more appealing persona.

As much as she craves Kabru's attention, and has stayed by his side for years, I don't know that she really wants to possess him. He seems to know about her feelings, more or less, and she seems to know that he knows. Maybe she believes he doesn't reciprocate and is respecting that, maybe she's afraid of what she could lose if she tried to change things, or maybe the change itself frightens her. In any case, though she's not exactly happy with the way things are between them, she doesn't seem to be trying to change that status quo.

A specific thing I'd also like to talk about with their relationship, beyond Rin's love for him, is her fear for him. As the Adventurer's Bible puts it, "she worries that his knack for dealing with whatever life throws at him might lead him to get too full of himself and end up in serious trouble."

Rin is an interesting mix of restrained and explosive, herself. Her magic is destructive, her temper seems to run hot (she gets annoyed easily, at least), and her feelings for Kabru are apparent. At the same time, she doesn't let her emotions show on her face, she is the one who bluntly states that the group has hit the limit of their abilities, and she doesn't act on those obvious feelings for Kabru. It's interesting, then, that what she fears for Kabru is that he won't restrain himself.

And a small personal idea about that as well: I wonder if she somewhat blames her parents for getting killed. Again, this is very speculative, but I think it's interesting that her fear for Kabru is that he will get too full of himself. Take up too much space. It's never really stated what Rin thinks of her parents, but it can be easy in grief to search for control, and control often means blame. If they hadn't been so confident, so flashy, would they still be alive...?

I don't know if she's ever thought like that, and it could well be that her fears for Kabru come from a totally different place. But it's an interesting connective thread between her past and present - the idea of "getting in trouble" for taking up too much space and being too confident in one's own abilities.

Miscellaneous Tidbits:

On that note, I'd like to wrap up the main part of this post, and move on to a few extra things that I couldn't find another place for.

Rin plays with her hair when she's stressed

Using stressed as a pretty big umbrella here, because I think it's hard to perfectly pin down all the emotions at play, but it is a habit of hers. Best displayed in chapter 32, but it shows up in other places, too.

Her design contrasts with Marcille

This is a small thing, but I just love how much they are visual opposites.

Rin wears red and black and has dark hair, Marcille wears blue and white and has light hair. Marcille cares a great deal for her hair and puts it up in elaborate hairstyles, and Rin's is mostly loose and a bit messy. Marcille was even educated at the Magic Academy, which Rin dislikes. They both have little capelets. Also they both look very cute in each other's clothes.

Rin knows Flamela (and they meet again in canon)

Nothing much is done with this in canon, but I think it’s super interesting that Flamela's squad are the ones that find Rin as a child and take her away to the west, and then they end up stuck in the dungeon together for a bit.

Two days??? I'm so very curious what things were like between these three.

Aaaand I think that's all I have to say about Rin! For the time being at least. There's a lot more analysis that could be done about her and Kabru especially, but for this post I wanted to keep things at least somewhat anchored to canon facts, with only a layer or two of speculation on top.

If it isn't already obvious, I think Rin is a super interesting character with a ton of potential depth to explore. She mostly interacts with Kabru in canon, but has ties to a bunch of other characters: she and Marcille fill similar roles in their parties but have differing personalities and histories, she and Falin (and Laios) have been tremendously shaped by xenophobia and fear of magic common in the Northern Continent, her parents fled from conflict in the same region Shuro and his retainers are from, and she has history with Flamela and some of the second canary squad.

Her temper, her fear, her love... her repression and passion - they all inform her character, even in small ways, even with as little time as she spends on the page.

[lovesickeros]

☆ choir of the faithless

{☆} characters venti, kaeya, the abyss {☆} notes cult au, imposter au, drabble, gender neutral reader {☆} warnings violence (minor) {☆} word count 2.7k

One moment, you lay wistlessly in your bed, head full of fleeting thoughts and ideas you bounced around internally. You were moment away from falling asleep, the draw of exhaustion unraveling the threads of your mind, pulling you apart and weaving your thoughts into the fathomless depths of a boundless dream.

The next you conclude that is exactly where you must be – blinking rapidly against the bright sun that bears down upon you through the massive branches and array of thousands of leaves swaying above you. It can only be a dream because you know those roots, those winding branches and the soothing song of wind chimes as leaves rustle and sway in the invisible path of the wind. It feels too real, but don't many dreams? You reach your hand sluggishly skyward, imagining the feeling of touching those leaves so high above, admiring the way light fractures as it passes through the tree so massive it blots out the sky above you. You'd have to crane your neck just to catch a proper glimpse of solemn blue past the swaying ocean of vivid greens.

It's beautiful.

It's familiar in the way home is. That warmth that settles in your chest, the solemn, quiet moments between. You've spent hours staring up at this tree, both your first steps and your last, simply admiring it all for what fleeting moments you can cling to.

You've played the game long enough – strayed towards its familiar branches at they reach towards the heavens – to recognize Windrise at even a passing glance. The perfect portrait of Mondstadt – the massive oak at the center, the statue of the seven with its hands outstretched and its wings curled protectively around itself..a memory of something you've seen a hundred thousand times, lingering like a ghost amongst its branches and roots, clinging to its familiarity. Maybe Mondstadt isn't the most complex, or gorgeous, or detailed..but it was the first stepping stone to the world of Teyvat you knew. It was the beginning of the Travelers journey and your own – the first, hesitant step into a game you'd learned to love.

You might as well enjoy it might it lasts, right?

This tumultuous, fragile dream of yours.

You sit up with no small amount of hesitancy, taking in the rolling, distant hills and far away cliffs. Mondstadt isn't that far – far enough that it bleeds into the scenery, but you feel that pang of fragile familiarity seeing it in the distance anyway. In contrast to its nation, Mondstadt stood like a towering beacon of stability, stark grey against the ever expanding hues of green and blue, a symbol of tranquility among the monster-laden lands beyond its walls. You still come by once and a while, whether or not it's your favorite place to linger – if only to reminisce and ponder the countless hours you've sunk into the game. To take a moment and admire the nation that had slowly dragged you into loving the world you've become so familiar with, to truly take a moment and process your endless journey further, deeper, into the mystery of Teyvat as it slowly unraveled like a spool of thread.

It felt almost real. The grass beneath you, the wind rustling the leaves and swirling around you, the warmth of the distant sun as it stood unwavering at its peak – but it was a dream. Vivid, maybe, but still a dream.

You didn't want to wake up from it, though.

It'd be nice to stay here for a little longer, to be able to wander past these fragile barriers of the world around you – but would you wake if you longed to see those distant horizons? Would you even remember this dream? Maybe not.

But the endless urge to explore – to see and truly experience that distant, familiar visage for yourself – was calling. A craving to run your hand along towering stone walls, to trace the intricate lines of the alchemy table you'd used hundreds of times, to get lost in the endless books tucked away in the library..a longing that you could never fulfill.

But you'd try anyway, wouldn't you?

You'd make the most of this fleeting dream – stumbling like a newborn fawn after seelies, watching from hidden perches as the occasional cart rolled by on dirt roads, observing the distant hilichurl with a look of solemn understanding. Re-familiarizing yourself with the paths you'd traveled hundreds of times, treading along the same, curious line you'd taken the Traveler.

Maybe it was just an aspect of the dream, but the wildlife didn't run away like it did in the game – the wild boars startled when you approached, but they'd settle down and continue their idle grazing before long. The occasional crystalfly fluttered to your outstretched hands like a moth to flame, the cool, subtle touch of anemo against your skin like a soft breeze, ephemeral and fleeting.

Even the squirrels did not flee at your boundless curiosity – it is as if you are a ghost, perhaps, wandering these wide spanning plains in search of..well, you aren't sure. You let your feet guide you, just like you used to. There is charm in the aimless exploration, a sort of comfort in wandering and observing the world through new eyes.

Perhaps you should've taken more caution when you reached Mondstadt itself – a dream was a fragile thing, after all..there was no telling when a dream could meld into a nightmare. But you were in the nation of freedom, who could blame you for throwing caution to the wind?

Uncertain as your steps across the bridge were, it was tranquil – ducks skimmed beneath the bridge, fish dotted the serene surface, clear waters rippling with their movements. There was something about it all that felt more alive. It felt more real, for a moment, but what an absurd thought that must be.

A dream is no more real than Teyvat.

And at the gates of the city, at last, you feel relief – the eyes of NPCs glide over you like water over the back of a swan, allowing you to simply step past them without even an utterance of a question. Up close, with your own eyes to guide you, Mondstadt is more alive than it's ever been. The people converse and laugh and breathe – the small details you'd miss looking through the limited frame of the Traveler peek through, now.

You get so lost in admiring it all you almost trip over a cat that strays near your feet, rubbing against your ankles. Your hand twitches, as if to reach down and pet it, to feel it's fur beneath your palm – but the small voice that flows from the tavern stalls you in your tracks. You don't have to turn around to know who it is, you've heard her voice enough times to recognize it – and, really, you'd rather not get caught up in the logistics of interacting with the characters in a dream at the moment. It's not like they can see you, besides. Everyone else didn't even seem to know you were there at all.

And you were here to explore, first. You could test the limits of the dream later, once you're satisfied you've seen it all.

You sidestep the cat – as much as it pains you to ignore it, you really don't know how much time you're afforded in this dream – and take up wandering undeterred. Maybe you'll check out the library, next..you only read a measly fraction of the books there, after all, and the wonder of something new is a tempting lure. Maybe if you get the chance, you'll seek out your favorite character – even if the dream ends there, it'll at least dampen the disappointment when you awake in your own bed again.

Mondstadt is still relatively small, despite seeming so much bigger – by the time you're slinking into the Knights of Favonius Headquarters, your legs are aching from all the walking. Even if you don't find anything too interesting here, well, you'll take sitting down for a moment to catch your breath at least.

The game made it seem so easy to get from Windrise to the city, but your legs practically putty when you peered into the library with a healthy amount of caution – it's not like anyone has even glanced your way since you woke up in this dream, but you knew not to test it around Lisa and her books..

Even if it was a dream, waking up because you got electrocuted by a pissed off librarian didn't sound very appealing.

Especially because, along the way, you'd become the perch for a handful of anemo crystalflies. You'd almost forgotten some linger on the rooftops until now..well, they seemed content to just rest on your limbs, and it's not like they weighed much if anything. It'd probably be fine – how much harm could a crystalfly cause?

The steps down into the lower level of the library creaked slightly as you slowly took in the grandiose room, trying to glimpse some semblance of familiarity amongst the hundreds of book covers nestled into the shelves. Maybe having a reference of just ten or twenty books wasn't exactly the most extensive list – you could barely even remember what books you mindlessly picked up chasing glittering spots like a moth chases the flickering flame.

Maybe you'll see Venti's statue, next – it was impressive enough in game, you could only imagine how it looks in person, how the smooth stone feels beneath your fingertips.

For now, you scour the rows and rows of book, gleaning the contents of the books from the assorted covers and titles so foreign to you. You recognize a scarce few, those you picked up on your first, brisk walk through the library scouring for treasure just to be disappointed at the lack of it. These days you're just happy to bask in the atmosphere and reminisce here – unless you're dragging your feet to do your Theater for the month. Not a lot of room for reminiscing when you're busy fighting for your life to finish on time.

Still, you're almost half disappointed there hasn't been many playable characters around..sure, maybe they'd just ignore you like the other NPCs, but it'd still be nice to see them. If Dawn Winery wasn't so far away, you'd consider dropping by, just to see, but..well, you've hiked long enough, personally.

Though as much as you'd like to busy yourself in the library, you do want to make the most of your time, too. You don't pay much attention to the patter of footsteps as you ascend the stairs and awkwardly step past the guard outside the library, the brief blur of reds and blues in the corner of your eyes gone before you can truly see its source. Well, there's more to see anyway – the cathedral was impressive enough when you first saw it in game, you can only imagine it's magnificence now.

All the stairs definitely feels worse now that you can't just haul yourself up a wall like in game, though. Maybe it would've been better to rest a bit more in the library, but you really didn't want to waste this chance..how often did you really have this much control over a dream, anyway? You feel lucky it hadn't turned into a nightmare.

And it was more than worth it when you crested the top of the stairs, the wind rushing past you for a brief moment and almost making you stumble as your eyes flit towards the towering stone you'd known so well. Hands outstretched and draped in robes, looking all the Archon they are..well, it was a lot more detailed like this. The lull of music doesn't escape you, either – because of course they'd be strumming that lyre beneath their own statue. Playing to an audience who knows not the bard that plays a melody of their own triumphs. The same bard who commands the wind as if an extension of themself, their voice the chimes that sing in tune with its winding paths, free and true.

Even if you've never heard the song they play before, it leaves a warm feeling in your chest – a homesickness, maybe, for a place you've never even been to. A longing for the world made up of lines of code and pixels on a screen. Endless yearning for a world not your own – a place you don't belong.

Poetic, isn't it?

Fitting, seeing as your audience is a bard who loves to tempt another into a riddle of their own, their silver tongue used for mischief rather than malice.

It wouldn't be so bad if you woke up now, you think. Lulled back to reality by the gentle strum of a lyre and the sweeping winds.

A reality all your own.

The harsh twang of a lyre brings you out of your aimless reverie, eyes of the teal ocean meeting your own in a moment of startling clarity. You are almost tempted to look behind you, for they must be perceiving another – but the empty, hollow thud of the lyre hitting the cobbled ground is like a bullet to the chest.

Beneath the shrouded eyes of an Archon, the wind coils into a tightly wound bolt that sings with danger, the draw of a string making your blood run cold and your instincts flare up.

Before you could even process the fact they'd just drawn a bow – the bow you had given them – the pillar of the corridor shattered like glass beneath the force of an elemental arrow, rubble dusting the cobblestone and dragging you out of your horrified stupor. If it hadn't been between the two of you, you can only dread to imagine what an arrow that pulverized rock would do to you.

There's a knot in your stomach as you turn to pace right back down the stairs, but you stutter at the sharp glint of metal and familiar blue hair that stands frozen mid-step – for a moment you can't even register any of this, your mind refuses to accept the stark, bleeding truth right in front of you, but the shrill sound of anemo forces you to make a choice. You only hesitate for a moment before throwing yourself over the edge of the wall, nearly choking on your saliva when you hit the ground – it was farther than you remember, but when your other choice is a blade and an arrow, you're thankful you haven't broken anything yet as you stumble to your feet.

Why haven't you waken up yet? You don't want to be in this dream anymore – you don't want anything to do with the nightmare it's become. Just seeing their faces, familiar and once so calm and warm, contrasted with the sharp edge of danger made you want to be sick.

Water – water will wake you up, right? That always works. Your feet slip on the dirt, struggling to gain purchase, forcing yourself to rush towards the cliffs edge – you have to repeat that it's just a dream like a mantra just to keep yourself calm when you look down, the lapping waves and jagged rocks making you almost reconsider. Not that you get the chance, really, when the wood of the tree beside you is splintered so violently you can feel them digging into your skin.

You don't even realize you've lost your footing until the edge of the cliff gives beneath your heel, air rushing around you and forcing what little breath was left in your lungs out violently. Your vision blurs into a collage of blue and grey, the sky above and the side of the cliff you find yourself falling from flooding your vision – you have to trust you'll simply wake up in your bed once you hit the water. You have to.

You don't want to imagine what it would mean if you didn't.

It's just a dream – all of it is just a dream, no. a nightmare.

And as the water parts from the impact of your body against the surface, it drags you down like an anchor weighed against your chest. Your vision bleeds into white, a chill enveloping your limbs until you feel numb – dead, probably. You must be dead. You died and you plead that you wake up back at home, exhaling whatever breath you had left, cold stinging your throat like shards of glass.

Anchored weightlessly in frigid cold, blinded by stark white, your fleeting thoughts are silenced as your consciousness flickers in and out, lingering long enough only to hear the murmur of a raspy, unearthly voice.

"I believe the experiment can be considered a success, Princess."

[oobbbear]

This rant has 1 target audience and it’s me sorry I like to talk about my unfinished/abandoned stories like they’re successful tv shows and I’m the director getting interviewed about the little details of said show

I love afterland postal so so so much you don’t know how hard it was for me to cut it, but it got to the point that it’s effecting my mental health so I had to stop it. His story in the afterlife is a healing journey, so for that healing journey to be effective I have to make the downfall in his past life hurt, like, HURT hurt, and I went a bit too far that and focused on it a bit too much that I was not working on the healing part anymore. Everyday I regret the making of water angel cause it ended being my fav instead of the protagonists and it being the physical manifestation of death made me focus on the downfall of the story too much, until it literally just crumbled to the ground. If I pick back up Dolus’s story one day I will cut out water angel entirely and maybe most part of his past life, focusing mainly on the afterlife part and how he recovers/deal with his past traumas and rid of bad habits. I want to draw this gremlin again so so bad.

Afterland Postal is a story about learning to love life through death. I like to draw Dolus with CT moon and Callisto sitting together because all three of their stories are about “learning to love life again through the death”. In Dolus’s case is his literal death. For CT moon is him fantasizing death. And for Callisto is through the death of her old life.

After the “death” all three of learned to love themselves again by traveling. They see the world in different perspectives, goes out of their bubbles and get a taste of the wild possibilities of what life has to offer.

For Dolus, I specifically placed him in this post office that delivers mails to the living plane so he can run around experiencing the world but doesn’t have to deal with life? One of his big thing is that he enjoys simply existing, he likes observing the world, feel his surroundings, I had an entire chapter that’s describing how he sees the world through his 5 senses. The feelings are the only thing he enjoyed about life, now he’s a ghost life doesn’t have effect on him anymore, he can really slow down sit down and look at the world he didn’t have the time to look at before, see what he missed and what he may have never be able to see.

For CT moon is basically all described in that If my world goes Bang comic.

Callisto is a different case cause she doesn’t die, strongest fucking character in my stories she survived and very passionate about living. In the original plan after her finding Hester and having Hester’s soul freed, she’s gonna go and travel the world. She has been living in this little house in the middle of nowhere for good half of her life, having her burned down her past and moving on to a new one is good for her. I had a lot a lot of sketches that is just her traveling, I used this as a chance to expand on this weird magical world she lives in, so many cool places and concept. (Also she started dating people again wohoo) I really wish I didn’t burn myself out after that animatic this story would have been so fun to work on.

SPEAKING OF TRAVELING AS A HEALING MECHANISM☝️I m gonna go on a mad Orange Knife spoiler rant since I don’t think there’s a single soul still reading this thing. In Moondust & Natto plot, Moondust really really wanted to see the world with Natto, she loved the world she loved life, in her eyes the outside world is a struggle but one she would fight for because the sunset is beautiful and the grass is soft and for that the hardship is worth it, she loved the world so so much and she wanted to have Natto experience it too. Freedom was a large part of her soul and being add to OK’s collection permanently took that away. She never got to see it again not even the part of her that got added to worm made it out, her soul is killed long ago and body died with the fire that led to Worm and the remaining crew’s freedom, which honestly I think she would be happy knowing that her death freed Natto in the end. She would be mad knowing the person who killed her is freed too but she would understand if she knows Worm’s situation better. After Natto is free I’d like to think he carries a piece of Moondust with him so in his heart he completed their dream, and they can finally experience the world together.

It’s 2am and nothing is making sense sent post to tumblr.com go

[averageallogene]

Lyney ♡⊹˚ His lucky charm [NSFW]

✧˖°. Summary: Before his most recent shows, Lyney seems to have some nervousness regarding his abilities as a magician. Thankfully, his lovely girlfriend is always there to ease his mind beforehand, providing him with the luck her magician boyfriend needs.

fem. reader (3rd person) ; this is basically smut with little more than an intro to it, so beware. Also SPOILERS for ACT I of the first Fontaine Archon Quest. 

5k words.

notes. Hi yes hello I am back, I have played the two Archon Quests, and after working a little for my thesis I decided to write something by my own volition <3. I’m not sure if Lyney here might be portrayed accurately but nonetheless I really wanted to write a smaller piece for him before doing it for other characters! He’s adorable :( ♡ Enjoy ✧˖°

By clicking on the “expand”, you are hereby agreeing to view NSFW content. PLEASE if you are under 18, DO NOT INTERACT. 

PLEASE do not report, as this is my warning to those who do not wish to view NSFW. I, like most writers, work hard on each piece we choose to publish, and reporting it will decrease the number of readers it reaches... Thank you for understanding ✧˖°

Magicians have no need for something many folk cling onto - luck. After all, every trick they perform is something they study, polish, rearrange, rehearse. Everything is staged to the finest of details, leaving no room for unpredictable variables to enter the equation. Every performance is acted out accordingly, a mental checklist going on inside the performer's mind as each prop is placed and moved about, each line is repeated from the rehearsals, each movement in one’s body is carefully played out. Everything is a carefully crafted performance, and what need do they have for luck? None.

To Lyney, such is the truth. Well, at least this philosophy held itself rock solid, up until the incident that nearly landed him a guilty verdict. Despite his confidence in his abilities to wow the crowds, even before there would always be a small but ever present pitter patter to his heart, a quiet reminder of his own nervousness before the show would begin. He would usually handle himself most well, though through the eyes of those closest to them, the normal feeling of “performance jitters” wasn’t all that well hidden. Well, and if that were the case, more so after things went back to normal.

His breathing would be a little more unstable, his fingers would fidget with one of his cards as his eyes darted about his changing room. He would fiddle with his exquisite hat, rebraid his hair while trying to ease himself. Things had gone back to normal, their scheduled shows were once more popular and always fully booked. Yet still, there always was this sense of anxiety deep in his stomach, never truly going away as he quietly wondered if the show would go as planned. 

Well, thankfully he had someone to help ease his mind each time. And as if right on que as he brooded over the upcoming performance, a knock to his dressing room was heard, the door opening to reveal the loveliest of sights. At the door stood [F/N], his lovely girlfriend who would always visit him before he went on stage. 

“Hi Lyney! Hope I’m not intruding?” She asked sweetly, smiling his way which only helped to ease his worries.

“You never are, my love. Come in!” He breathes out, the eagerness to have her close not quite passing unnoticed to her. He extends his arms before fully taking her in his embrace, sighing deeply as he inhales the familiar perfume she would always wear. His favorite. 

“How are you feeling?” [F/N]’s voice grows softer, her arms resting around his lower back as she smiles his way. The silence that follows is enough of an answer, her magician simply distracting himself with playing with the tips of her hair. “...Nervous?”

“...Hah, why it seems nothing really blinks past you. I may have taught you… Too well…” He jests, the smile on his face betraying him before it drops slightly. It reveals some of his vulnerability for her, his violet eyes locking with her own before he speaks up again. “I suppose it’s just some performance jitters again, nothing new...”

“It’s okay Lyney. You’ll do great, I know so.” Her smile shone brighter than the very sun, beaming with warmth that was only cast to him. It comforted his very being, filling his conflicted heart with sugary sweetness that only soothed him in a way no one else could. And if that wasn’t enough, the next few sentences were the ones that would always, always seal the deal for him. “Everything will go well, and everyone will be wowed by your hard work. I’m proud of you.”

It was as though his heart was struck, pierced with cupid’s arrow as he couldn’t keep up the calm and confident act. Lyney’s body visibly relaxed, a content snicker escaping his lips as his arms brought her closer. His lips were quicker than his words, filling her face with brief yet lovely kisses, watching with glee as she giggled as a response. Amidst each kiss he whispered words of gratitude for her support, his hands roaming throughout her lower back as he yearned to feel her closer and closer. 

“Lyney… You didn’t even let me finish!” She laughed, her words being cut off with a deeper kiss as his lips found her own. She could feel his smile against her lips, the magician quite literally stealing her breath away before finally pulling away. 

“Oh, I’m sorry dear. I just can’t contain myself, you’re just too adorable for me to!” He sighed, the flamboyant hum in which he spoke glittering the otherwise full truth she very well knew. “To think a professional magician would be wowed in such a way, you’ll be the death of me…”

“You almost make it sound like I’m such a bad thing.” [F/N] rolled her eyes playfully, her fingers carefully adjusting his hair before inspecting to see if his braid was well done. 

It was in small moments like so that Lyney would cease to speak, allowing his beloved to do as she pleased. His eyes would focus solely on her, watching how her expression would shift, her eyes roaming about to ensure he looked his absolute best. He could feel his heart beating hard against his ribcage, no longer solely because of the nervousness he would feel before each one of his shows. The mere sight of his girlfriend was enough to blow away the growing blaze of anxiety, leaving it only in embers that with time would cease. Her mere care, her mere nature, her beauty inside out… 

It was enough to leave Lyney riddled into little more than a lovesick puppy, the loopy smile upon his pretty face being reserved only for her. 

“Lyney?” [F/N] called for him once more, watching as he finally seemed to come back to. His hands were roaming around her hips, carefully circling around her figure as he finally let out a soft hum for her to continue. “You’re a little too quiet… Everything okay?”

“I’m so lucky to have you, [F/N]...”

It was her turn to be left speechless, her face morphing to surprise as their gazes locked. He watched as the loveliest shade of red adorned her cheeks, the flusteredness he’d often cause on her never failing to amuse him. Still, despite so, he hoped she knew just how sincere he was with his words. 

“Oh Archons… What’s gotten into you?” Her voice whined a little lower, her eyes turning away to avoid him for a mere instance in which her flusteredness was still far too raw. She could feel how his lips chased after her skin, peppering her with light and soft kisses by the corner of her mouth. 

“Nothing.” He responded, his usual flair dropping to soft whispers as he carefully turned her around, helping her have a seat on his vanity. Between fleeting kisses, Lyney took the opportunity to bring himself between her legs, his hands never letting her stray far from himself. “I just wish to remind you more often, because it’s the truth.”

“Well I think it’s the other way around, you know… I’m the one that’s lucky here.” [F/N] smiled softly, her hands finding rest on his shoulders before gently massaging his tense muscles. Her boyfriend leaned back, his eyes gleaming with a twinkle that seemed familiar, one of challenge and mischievousness that would often leave her questioning before finally realizing what he’d plotted. 

“My my, is that so?” He hummed, head tilting to the side while his grip on her tightened ever so slightly. “If that’s the case, how come each time you visit me beforehand, every show I perform runs far better than what I expect?”

“Oh, you’re really running with that?” She giggled, music to his ears. “Only because I kissed you that one time, telling you it would bring you good luck?”

“And did that show not go beyond amazing? In fact, I do believe that was the peak in my career thus far.” He reasoned with a nod to his head, kissing her deeply before resting his forehead against her own. “Therefore, I’m the lucky one here, and you my dear [F/N], are my lucky charm.”

“Oh Lyney…” She sighed softly, stroking her hand through his blond locks slowly. “I didn’t know that tonight my magician was planning to turn me into putty in his hands.”

It was his turn to laugh, quietly, yet full of warmth and endearment. “It’s what you get for stealing this magician’s heart long ago.”

“Ah! I’m gone. Goodbye Fontaine, I am melting from my boyfriend’s words!” [F/N] leaned back dramatically, Lyney catching her before she would fall too far and hit her head against the large mirror of his vanity. The pair laughed in unison, fingers interlacing as he brought her close to himself once more.

“You’ve definitely gotten that dramatic flair from me.” He pointed out, his free hand now resting firmly on her thigh. He watched with hearts in his eyes as she giggled at his comment, shrugging her shoulders before bringing him closer with her legs. 

“I love you.” [F/N] whispered, leaning forward before it being her turn to steal a few kisses for herself. 

It never stopped after that though, one going after the other, kisses lingering longer before them turning into a longer makeout session. The way her lips were always so soft, so warm, the faint taste of her favorite chapstick melting against his own, it never failed to leave Lyney yearning for more, his whole being focusing solely on his lover whilst everything else blurred around them. His tongue carefully peeked through his own lips before swiping across her own, the grin being felt against her mouth as he felt her jolt slightly from the antic. Giving him permission to continue, Lyney carefully led the dance, his tongue meeting her own as they both ignored the need of air, muffled breaths fanning one another as their hands held the other closer, tighter. Before he knew it he was leaning himself forward and her backwards, a little more, his body pressing against her own before they were practically bent with her head touching the mirror behind them. Her legs were pressed against his sides, never letting him stray too far, her hands stroking through his back and hair, sending shivers down his spine as sparks ignited deep within him. 

“L…Lyn-ney…” She murmured between breaths, him finally tilting his head so the two of them could breathe. The way her tongue stuck out of her mouth as she breathed heavily seemed to only entice something further deep within him. “W…What about your show?”

“Worried about that?” He inquired, the clear endearment for her concern being evident in his tone of voice. He leaned closer, voice whispering as he slowly licked the strand of saliva that had dropped down her chin. “We still have time, if that’s what’s troubling you dear.”

“H-Hah…” The words seemed to get stuck on her throat as his hands maneuvered around her frame, carefully parting her legs a little more to give him better access. His fingers quickly grabbed a hold of the hem of her dress, lifting it up slightly before resting his palm on her warm thigh, his lips still remaining close to her own as his very being craved more of her.

“Do you want me to stop?” Lyney softly asked, leaning back as his own breath grew uneven. His face too displayed a lovely shade of pink, his lips redder after the relentless kisses she’d given him. His eyes were glittering with excitement, half-lidded with pure love as he waited for her response. His thumb was caressing her skin softly, the circular motion he did easing her more than arousing her as he searched for her honest answer.

It was embarrassing to admit, but [F/N] absolutely did not want to stop. Her body felt far too hot for her to go back on it now. “I… N-No.”

“Are you certain, dear?” He leaned closer, eyes squinting softly as his breath fanned her face. His hands slithered a little more upwards, giving her goosebumps as they traveled up to her hips. “I don’t want to put you in any situation that might be even a little uncomfortable… I will understand if this is-”

“N-No Lyney, I’m okay.” She nodded her head to reassure him, her hands gripping his clothing tighter as if not wanting him to move an inch away. “I admit, it’s… A bit nerve wracking, given the place but… I still don’t want you to stop.”

He bit his lip, smiling with both excitement and apology. “I’m sorry love, I always seem to get carried away when it’s about you.”

It definitely was the truth, especially given with the way his hands moved around her body. There was always a certain kind of care in each movement, his grip upon her skin tight and loving, as if reassuring himself she was there, with him. Lyney was both selfish and giving when it came to his beloved [F/N], always wanting more for himself, yet always wanting to reassure her she felt properly adored.  

“We’ll have to be-” He kissed her again, followed by another, her lips trying to keep up with his own as he gave her fleeting kisses. “Very quiet- Okay?”

“M-Mhm.” She nodded her head, her face blushing a deeper shade of red as his fingers finally lifted her skirt up. Her own hands helped him hold it up for him, watching him as it finally dawned on her, his figure getting nice and cozy in between her legs before he kneeled down. “L-Lyney?”

The grin he gave her was enough to make her lower region throb. 

“I’m craving a taste of you, baby. Could you please indulge me?” He whispered, his hands parting her legs before resting securely against them. His head turned to her left thigh, leaving a trail of small bites and kisses as he came closer, delighting himself in every reaction she offered him, every gasp and jump, every attempt at caging his head in between her legs. 

“J-Just- Don’t tease me, please.” [F/N] outright pleaded, earning herself an honest nod of his head as his eyes sparkled in anticipation. 

Carefully, her eyes jumped back at the closed door before going back to him, her breath trembling as she breathed out from her parted lips. Whilst one hand held her dress up, the other slowly lowered, helping him to remove the lacey underwear that hid his most wanted prize away. And with a lift of her hips, they were off easily, hanging by her ankle as Lyney’s gaze focused solely on the erotic view before him. His [F/N], holding her dress up for him, sat on his vanity as her chest rose and lowered irregularly, her pussy in full display for him alone. It was enough to get him aroused, the fabric of his own clothes becoming far too constricting as he felt his boner raging to be freed.

His experienced hands crept closer, thumbs slowly hovering her juicy lips before deliciously parting them. He could feel his mouth go dry in an instance, the view of her leaking pussy outright hypnotizing him as she let out a quiet moan. He couldn’t help himself but play around with her pussy lips a little, after all, how could he not? The way her pretty hole would throb in want, leaking out her nectar only for him, dripping down her skin and onto his table, the squelching sounds being nearly enough for him to lose all sense of control. He couldn’t help himself but stare, watch in lust before her soft moans and whines became a little too loud, all the while still arousing him even further.

“Lyney!” She pleaded in a whisper, the pout she offered him sending his heart racing. 

“Yes, you’re right baby… I’m sorry.” He hummed, leaning forth before finally giving her heat a long, slow and deep lick. The vibrations from his hum resonated with her pussy, sending pleasant shockwaves throughout her body as she shut her lips right before moaning. “We’re gonna have to be quieter, love. Can you do that for me?” 

It was difficult to hear him when he was practically squishing his face against her pussy, yet from the mere fact he’d stopped, [F/N] had been able to deduct what he wanted from her quickly enough. She nodded her head eagerly, blushing even deeper as she bit her lip.

“Mhm… ‘M sorry…”

It truly divided Lyney’s heart in two, for he absolutely adored hearing every sound [F/N] would bless him with. Her voice already was pure melody for his ears, all the more when she would be moaning due to his administrations. However, the pure excitement of their ordeal, having a chance of being caught, it was enough to keep him going, to entice him to lick more, to lap around her clit again, to suckle on it whilst plunging one of his fingers deep inside. The way his beloved would instead jolt more often, writhe above him, attempt to suffocate him as her legs tried to close around him, all to not be as vocal, it all had him entranced. 

"You taste so good…" He groaned against her folds, his tongue practically spelling out his love for her as he ate her out with such passion. The groans and sighs that would escape him would only please her further, sending [F/N] closer and closer to her own release as she practically bit down her tongue to quiet out her own moans. Lyney simply couldn't have enough of her taste, lapping every last drop to his greedy tongue as he yearned for more, fingering and licking it out of her as he could feel her gummy walls throb against his fingers. "You're so wet, too… So dirty, my angel."

"L-Lyney…" She mumbled, her erotic whine finally pulling him out of his trance to look her way. By that point she'd already held her fingers around his hair, him not even noticing up until that very moment. 

His light eyes glanced up, for a moment the magician forgetting how to even breathe. It felt as though the wind was knocked out of him, staring up to see his beloved gazing down at him with such a needy look. Her cheeks were flushed, the thin layer of sweat visible on her forehead as her grip on his hair tightened softly. Her teeth were by that point gritting tightly against the hem of her dress, it being her faint attempt at keeping her noises down to a minimum as he ate her out to his heart's content. The view was dirty, marvelous. The dress was lifted to such a way he could now see part of her tummy as well, her body lined with sweat as it reacted to every little touch he gave her. 

It drove Lyney over the edge. He couldn't wait any longer. The breath finally left his mouth in a shaky notion, her thighs shaking like jello as it hit her bare pussy before he got up. 

"Gods, you're so gorgeous [F/N]." He outright moaned, his fingers carefully taking the fabric out of her mouth. He watched how she heaved deeply, her lips tempting him to latch onto them. And who was he to refuse, but a poor magician whose heart had been stolen by the woman before him?

He leaned in quickly, capturing her lips against his own as they both moaned against one another. Their hands couldn't let go of the other, fiddling with their clothes as they attempted to find the best position to finally get what they both wanted. [F/N] leaned herself to the edge of the table, her legs still apart for him as her fingers now fiddled with his belt, unbuckling it before finally freeing him of his leather shorts. Lyney could feel his cock throbbing already, eager to finally plunge inside of her spongy walls and ease the yearning he so deeply felt. He groaned against her lips as she finally freed his hard length, pumping it for him slowly as it was now her turn to suck on his tongue with her own lips. 

"I need you, Lyney…" [F/N] moaned, helping him to part her legs further as he kept his face closer to her own. 

"I know, baby, I know. It's only fair I indulge you after you've treated me so well, right?" He hummed with a smile, all the while his face indicating just how excited he was. 

He grunted quietly as he carefully rubbed his cock against her leaking folds, the two of them attempting to quiet their moans down to the best of their abilities. [F/N] could feel how the particularly protruding vein on the side of his cock rubbed against her pussy, sending tears to the corners of her eyes as she felt herself closer and closer to her release after being so well tended to by her lover. Lyney in turn kissed her tears away, his lips never leaving her face as he practically gulped down her moans to himself. After coating both her pussy with his pre and his cock with her bountiful juices he stopped, lining himself with her entrance before, with a glance shared, he carefully thrusted himself inside.

His hands gripped onto her knees, his lips shutting themselves tightly so as to not moan out as he often would. The way his eyebrows furrowed as he attempted to not voice much of the obvious pleasure he was feeling was a delightful view, [F/N]'s face blushing madly as she brought him closer. Her arms wrapped around him tightly as she hid her face against his neck, her lips pressing against his skin as she quietly whimpered in pleasure. 

"Ah, Lyney!" She moaned quietly, her nails digging into his shoulders as his own sighs of pleasure hit her ear. 

"You're so tight, baby-" He in turn hissed gently, feeling how her spongy walls swallowed him whole as he finally bottomed out. His own hands were gripping harshly against her skin, the two of them sharing moans between one another even as his tip hit her deepest part. "Fuck, you're so wet. It feels so good."

"Please Lyney, give me more…" [F/N] pleaded to him, her eyes wide and glistening with pleasure as she leaned back for an instance. At that point she was once more leaning back against the rest of his vanity, granting him access to pound as deeply as his heart desired. The mere sight of her in such a way was enough for him to derail. 

"Archons, anything for you [F/N]." The magician grunted, his hands leaving her knees as his lips latched onto her own. 

By her own she was able to open her legs as widely as possible, the hem of her dress covering everything from the mid-thigh up as her hands were far too busy around his body. They wrapped around him tightly, effectively caging Lyney in between her much to his contentment. His own hands were busy holding her as close as possible, resting on her hips securely as to not knock her or anything else out, the items on his furniture tumbling slightly with every thrust he pounded into her needy core. With each time he bottomed out Lyney reached deeper, the tip of his cock effectively kissing her cervix as he molded her walls to his shape. He drank her every moan as if he worshiped all sounds she offered, his lips sucking on her tongue in such a lewd manner that he couldn't help but grin over how she squeezed him harder over it. 

"Hyaahhhh, Hinhey…" [F/N] attempted to moan his name out, her puffy lips parted as his own toyed with her tongue to his pleasure. 

He could feel the way she was milking him dry, her juices thoroughly coating his cock generously as her pussy practically praised and outright worshiped him. Her walls throbbed deliriously, sending him closer and closer to his edge as he fucked her through what he very well knew was her approaching orgasm. 

"Is my baby- Close?" He leaned back to speak, humming quietly while licking his own lips eagerly. He watched as she nodded her head quickly, her fingers combing through his hair slowly, deeply. Just how he loved it. "Here, cum for me will you? You can take me like this as you do, right baby?"

[F/N] bit her lip, nodding her head again. She watched how one of his hands left her hips, holding it up for her to take it. His girlfriend took it without thinking twice, their fingers lacing together before Lyney held them against his mirror, his pace quickening up. Once more he glued his lips to hers, never quite truly satisfied with her kisses just as much as he never quite got enough of her pussy. Her breath against him grew ragged, her moans growing ever louder, all while trying to suppress them in what he could only find the cutest whines. He bent her more, held her tighter, he pounded deeper into her. He could feel her moans vibrate against his mouth before she finally gasped, a high pitched sob being all she could muster before her inner walls violently spasmed around him, creaming his cock bountifully as she rode her high. Even still, just as he'd asked her to, Lyney continued to thrust, still as deeply albeit slower, letting her savor her release just as he quickly followed with his closing one. 

"Gyah, L-Lyney-!" [F/N] moaned against him, he in turn shushed her in understanding. "Mmm, t-to much!"

"I'm so close baby, so close…" He whispered, his thrusts a little less rhythmic as he tried to focus. His eyes opened to gaze deeply into hers, the sight of her red cheeks and unfocused eyes only edging him further deep into the abyss of pleasure. "Can you please take it just a little more? Just like this…”

“Mhm…” She eagerly nodded her head, the tears of overstimulation streaming down her face sending a long shiver down his spine. His free hand came to rest upon the side of her face, thumb clearing the tears away as his grip on her other hand tightened. “I-Inside, please.”

He bit his tongue gently as he smiled, nodding his head before pulling her head closer for a deep kiss. “Anything for my lovely lady.”

Against him she moaned, him in unison as he felt the knot deep inside himself finally snap. Lyney felt his eyes shut, a deep low grunt leaving his throat before he finally felt his release wash over him. He thrusted deeper still, his pace finally slowing down as thick ropes of seed flooded over [F/N]’s inner walls. Her womb was eager to receive the abundant load, being painted white from inside out as it overflowed whilst he still remained sheathed inside. Whilst their fingers were still locked she brought him closer, holding him tightly as her body shivered with the overstimulation. Lyney could feel his breath finally begin to slow down, a few final slow thrusts of his hips following as he moaned quietly, ensuring he was milked for all he was worth. He held his [F/N] close, as close as possible, their bodies finally relaxing as they rested atop his vanity, her body welcoming him closer as his seed leaked down and dropped onto the ground.

Even as she still regulated her breath, lips puffy and red and mascara slightly smudged from the sweat and tears, Lyney lunged forward, capturing her lips for the millionth time. Never satiated, like the greedy man he was at heart, he smiled against her as he enveloped her closer, relishing a moment longer. The silence that followed felt comforting, the two of them sighing in bliss as he felt her arms around his figure. 

“Sorry… It must’ve been uncomfortable to sit like that, on such a surface.” He stated, eyebrows furrowing softly as his thumbs cleared her smudged makeup as much as he could. Lyney dared not move, still not even wanting to pull out. It wasn’t as though he could anyway, for the way [F/N]’s legs captured him definitely sent a message for him to stay a little longer.

“Mhm, it’s fine… I enjoyed it all the same.” She smiled sheepishly, relishing in his soft touches as she in turn rearranged his side swept bangs. 

“I’m glad.” He sighed in relief, the pair too engrossed into one another to even notice how some bottles had tumbled over amidst their frolicking. “Still, next time I’ll be sure to make up for it, for all of it.”

“Lyney, truly it’s fine!” [F/N] laughed softly, finally opening her legs for him to move more freely. She watched in amusement how her boyfriend coughed softly upon noticing how heavy she leaked, rummaging through the room to find a towel he could dampen to help clean up. “Sorry… We might’ve taken too long, no?”

“Hey, if anything it’s my fault… It’s what I get for being so greedy.” He reassured her with a sincere smile, carefully helping her to clean up before dressing her back up. [F/N] watched as he fanned his face with his hand, the blush on his face still evident as she helped him dress up as well, a snicker escaping her pretty lips at the sight. 

“Well… I still… Very much enjoyed it.” [F/N] reiterated, her voice low as she helped him button up his undershirt. His smile was difficult to ignore, especially so as she helped him retrace the tear he would always paint on his right cheek. 

“...I did, too.” He pulled her closer by the waist, smiling in a devilish, albeit inoffensive manner. He pulled her closer, stealing a deeper kiss as he relished on the taste of her lips, hoping to steal some of her chapstick for himself so he could taste it all throughout his performance. As he pulled away, he whispered quietly to her, fingers playing with the end of her hair. “...Maybe next time we do this, I can have you turned to my mirror. The faces you make are simply delicious, my dear.”

The way [F/N]’s face turned to utter surprise was enough of a reaction, the magician following with a sneaky laugh as he pinched her behind as the cherry on top. In turn, his girlfriend gently slapped his arm, huffing as her cheeks turned bright red, his laughter becoming louder as a result.

“Lyney!” She groaned, nearly turning around from him in embarrassment.

“Alright, alright, I’m sorry baby! Mostly.” He chuckled, embracing her before kissing her cheek with the usual level of endearment that was solely reserved for her. 

“Hmph…” She pouted, though both knew it wasn’t something to last long. “...Good luck on your show, honey.”

“After this? It’ll be the best show yet…” He in turn whispered, his forehead resting against her head as they quieted down. “I’ll see you after?”

“I’ll be waiting here.” [F/N] smiled softly, them embracing one another before finally deciding to part.

Well, Lyney had always been energetic in his performances, yet there seemed to be an improvement on that particular one. True to his word, that performance definitely did do amazingly well, becoming the talk of the following weeks.

All thanks to his lucky charm.

[ego-osbourne]

I wanted to expand on my last post. Eventually I’ll do one about Glarthir, but I feel like he’s an easier case to understand. For now, I want to talk about why

Mankar Camoran was right.

To preface: I think an extremely important part about understanding this position is reading Oblivion’s writing from a Doylist perspective, not a Watsonian one. Oblivion as a game provides a very biased narrative for the player, feeling almost as if the Empire itself made a game about the events of the Oblivion Crisis, erasing most things that make the Empire look wholly evil while offering just enough grey area to keep it from looking squeaky clean, and thus keeping most suspicions of true intent away. So much of TES’s lore and story is supplemented through propaganda that fans have to sift through and interpret. Here’s my interpretation.

On surface level, Mankar Camoran is a very forgettable villain. Beyond surface level, though… he’s still rather forgettable. In-game, we only see him two times throughout the whole main quest, once to establish that he even exists, and twice to kill him. He’s very mortal, and most players will see him as nothing more than a blabbering old man with very little credibility or motivation beyond “mwahaha I’m evil.” In Paradise, his speech to the player strays a bit far from the Dagonite sermon we hear in the Lake Arrius Caverns, dropping proper nouns that were never pre-established before then. Reading his Commentaries won’t help with understanding, either, as it’s filled will inane jargon that can hardly stay on topic between paragraphs, let alone between books, speaking of “heaven” and “angels” and spelling Nirn like NRN as if it was ripped straight from ancient Hebrew Christian scriptures. It’s all very esoteric, but in the way that it feels like you’re talking to someone with only a baseline understanding of occultism, and it completely rips you from your immersion in the game. Even without the Commentaries or the out-of-place mentions of Lorkhan and the motivations that come with that, Mankar stupid enough to even get the names of the Daedric Prince’s realms wrong! What is happening?

MK. MK is what is happening.

To be fair, this is not all Michael Kirkbride’s fault—in fact, I’d argue that MK had little-to-nothing to do with the finalizing of Mankar’s character and motivations; however, he was clearly involved. The Commentaries are rife with his writing style, and we have posts by MK confirming his involvement with writing Mankar. I’d more accurately (but less punchily) say that what is actually happening is developer meddling and a lack of proofreading.

DEVELOPER MEDDLING

Developer meddling can be intentional (in-world propaganda) or unintentional (narrative-pushing biases). These oftentimes overlap, and the case is especially apparent in Mankar.

Fantasy has always had an oddly charged stance against elves, and TES is no exception. Aside from Daggerfall, no mainline TES game has had a mq villain be something other than a Daedra or an elf. Daedra are self-explanatory candidates for villains, being TES’s stand-in for demons, and (whether lore accurate or not) are seen as inherently evil. However, elves are a whole different story. They are simply another people group within the realm of Nirn, and yet if a villain needs to be presented, that villain is more often than not going to be an elf. It wasn’t until Skyrim that we saw non-elven and non-Daedric villains; though, none are quite human either. Alduin is a dragon, obviously; Harkon is a Nord, but he’s also a vampire, and his vampiric nature supersedes his human nature; Miraak is an… Atmoran? a Nord? but, again, only hardly such, posing more like a Daedric-dragon-manthing than something solely human. In Oblivion, there is only one primary human enemy—Mathieu Bellamont of the DBH quest line, but even he is only just human. He’s a Breton, a human-elf mix, a “manmer” (yes, Bretons do count as mannish races, but I still find it to be a slightly damning detail). Every other villain is an elf (Mankar, Mannimarco, Umaril*) or a Daedra (Dagon, Jyggalag).

*Umarill is described to be a “half-elf;” his mother is an Ayleid, but his father is “divine” (see, 1).

Already we see a strange lean towards non-humans—especially elves—being villains. This is contrasted with humans largely being seen as the good guys. Uriel, Martin, Baurus, they’re all humans against the elven villain, Mankar. Pelinal Whitestrake isn’t classified as a specific human race, but is certainly human enough to be named Shezarrine, the “God of Man,” and notably genocides an entire race of elves… and this is celebrated in game. The player is meant to emulate Pelinal during the Knights of the Nine DLC, and his genocide is supported by the Divines and generally seen as a good thing.

Meanwhile, any anti-human sentiments are treated much more seriously in lore, framed either as a severe threat or pure evil. For example, Tiber Septim’s complete takeover of Tamriel is a good thing, despite his multiple war crimes against elves and his general hatred for them, but the Thalmor’s shadow over Tamriel is a world-ending threat that paints all elves (or at least all Altmer) as villains conspiring against humans. As another example, looking back at Oblivion, the Ayleid’s enslavement of humans is purely evil, but Pelinal’s complete and successful genocide of the entire Ayleid race is something to be celebrated. There is an obvious double-standard regarding elves and men in TES, and even when there are exceptions to this rule, the majority of the series is woven with this prejudice.

We can see this very clearly with the Camorans, particularly with Haymon (the Camoran Usurper) and Mankar. I read most “historical” documentation of Haymon and Mankar to be Imperial propaganda, though I am surprised by the fandom tendency to read these documents as the full-faced truth, especially when considering these documents’ biases. I’ll break down a few examples.

Haymon Camoran rose to the Valenwood throne during a time of great strife within the country, particularly in regard to Imperial control (see, History: Third Era, ¶1). He sought to free Valenwood of Imperial rule, and did so through means of war. In any other scenario, this would read as a story of heroism, where one person is able to assemble enough hope to stand against the shadow of an oppressive empire and free their country. However, TES offers us no such narrative, only giving us retellings of this history through Imperial lenses (Pocket Guide to the Empire, 3rd Edition; The Refugees; The Fall of the Usurper; etc.). In these retellings, Haymon is demonized as a cruel warmonger, with the only one to stand up against him being Kaltos Camoran, who held the throne before Haymon (see, Invasion of Tamriel, ¶1). Kaltos’s positive image in these accounts hints that he was an Empire sympathizer, and this is magnified by the fact that Valenwood was in a state of unrest due to Imperial rule while Kaltos was on the throne. Kaltos was likely allowing Imperial forces to remain within Valenwood, and we can speculate as to why (greed, status, etc.). No wonder these Imperial retellings categorize him in a good light, he was on their side and effectively a traitor to his own country. If we had Valenwood retellings of this history, I would wager that they’d regard Kaltos in a negative light and Haymon in a positive light, for the most part.

Additionally, Haymon is further demonized, reported to have led an army of undead and Daedra (see, Invasion of Tamriel, ¶1). This is a blatantly odd and impractical choice for an army, especially when other evidence points to Haymon having great enough of an influence in Valenwood to not be assassinated or stopped when he took the throne from Kaltos; thus, he would surely have enough influence to lead an army of Bosmer. To me, this reads like Imperial reports meddling with history, choosing to paint Haymon as a lich-like villain who can only convince the undead and Daedra to follow his reign rather than allow their readers to believe that actual flesh-and-blood intelligent people would follow Haymon. This is a common tactic of propaganda: dehumanizing the opposition’s support so that it seems foolish for anyone in the present time to support the opposition as well. Furthermore, rumors of Haymon being the son of Molag Bal are apparently rampant throughout the Empire, which is so amusingly outlandish that it reads like the real-world counterpart of someone calling a political leader the Antichrist in protest (see, Notes, *1).

As for Mankar, propaganda exists for him, too, most notably in the book The Refugees. This book is rather deceiving, however. My first read of it had me fully believing it at face-value because it presents itself as a mere documentation of true events. The Refugees details Haymon’s last attack in Dwynnen, High Rock, and focuses on a small group of survivors: some civilians, some detractors from Haymon’s cause. The book leads the reader to believe that the main characters are these various refugees, with the plot being a simple sharing of conversations about the goings-on of the attack. But, it sneaks in little things that we would see in pro-Imperial accounts of the event, like Kaltos being framed as the Good Guy while Haymon is a cruel warmonger, again (see, ¶34). Additionally, it “so happens” to serve as an origin story for Mankar, who in the book is reported to have been born among the refugees. This birth is far from ordinary, though.

Mankar’s mother, Kaalys, is reported to be the runaway mistress of Haymon, hiding with the refugees in Dwynnen after abandoning Haymon’s cause. The refugees believe she is sick and going mad from stress, as she keeps yelling, “Mankar is coming!” repeatedly. By the end of the book, though, we learn that she was not simply sick, but was going through labor, and this “Mankar” is the very child she birthed. She reports that Mankar “will bring death. He will destroy all,” (see, ¶62). She then runs off immediately after labor with Mankar in tow.

There’s a lot to criticize here. What seems like a strange, crazed mother prophesying the incoming Crisis that Mankar will bring actually reads very much like propaganda against Mankar, written in his later years of life, possibly in response to his growing popularity to “prove” that he was born of malicious origins that even his own mother could sense. This is all hidden under the veil of The Refugees being a simple retelling of events, shifting the focus away from Kaalys and Mankar just enough to make readers unsuspicious of its propagandist intentions. Attempting to read into the details brings up a lot of issues.

First: If Kaalys was in labor during the sacking of Dwynnen, that means she had to have been very pregnant for a couple months up until that point. How in the world was she traveling with Haymon across the continent (from Valenwood to High Rock) while being that pregnant? It seems like an oversight by an author who simply wanted to tell a specific narrative of Haymon’s allies turning against him. Second: How did the refugees mistake her for being sick instead of recognizing that she was pregnant and in labor? Those seem like two very different things, with the latter being very obvious and recognizable. It seems like another oversight by an author who was not too worried about the details of their story, and who only wished to tell a specific narrative about Mankar’s origins. Third: How was she able to up and run away with Mankar immediately after giving birth? And while injured (see, ¶55)? Even if technically possible, that is highly improbable, if not next to impossible. It seems like a cheap tactic to work her out of the picture rather than follow her journey after the fact, as if the author only meant to tell one specific narrative. Are we seeing a pattern?

Oh, and fourth: Who talks about their child like that? It’s almost like the author wanted to paint a specific narrative about Mankar being born evil. The Refugees stands as one big anti-Haymon, pro-Empire propaganda piece written under the guise of sympathetic characters and calling any remaining supporters of Haymon foolish, because look! All of Haymon’s closest followers abandoned him (note that this is the only report we have of any of Haymon’s followers abandoning him)! And also, look! His son is evil! Even his mother knew it! And before he was born, no less! (/speech in-character)

My theory is that this book was written in response to Mankar’s growing influence within the Empire. He was charismatic enough to win the minds and hearts of many of the Empire’s citizens, and The Refugees sought to prevent further damage as much as it could by pretending to be a simple report from the Dwynnen sacking that just so happened to have Mankar’s evil origins scribed within it. Tsk tsk tsk.

A LACK OF PROOFREADING

So, that was all Mankar’s background, but what about the man himself? He’s obviously a raving idiot who can’t keep his thoughts straight to save his life. He seems to not be well-grounded in Daedric affairs at all, showing a mix of Dagonite worship, Lorkhan sympathy, and Ayleid appreciation all while attributing the wrong Prince to the wrong realm. This is where MK comes in.

By 2006, it seems MK was no longer directly involved with Bethesda Game Studios after his work on Morrowind. However, he still had a lot of contact with the employees and developers over at BGS, and would answer them in emails about any questions they had, especially regarding inspiration for writing Oblivion. It seems the devs, in attempting to get a feel for Mankar’s character, asked MK to write a speech by Mankar. MK writes something up, seemingly semi-flippantly according to his desire to want to “*really* [go] nuts with it” after learning “Terrance Freakin Stamp” would be voicing Mankar (see, 2006, ¶14).

Unbeknownst to MK, his emails would be used word-for-word as in-game dialogue (Mankar’s speech) and books (the Commentaries). Quoted from MK, “That whole speech came from a section of said email where I attempted to get inside [Mankar’s] head so I could understand how he might think, and how that thought would translate to his writing. Turns out, [Mankar] writes like me. Ah, well,” (see, 2006, ¶12–13).

These emails were not altered when translated to game according to MK (“Turns out, Mankar writes like me.”). Additionally, these emails were not fact-checked, either. The speeches and books seem to be a complete rip, a copy-and-paste from MK’s email, with flaws and all, including the mistake of attributing the wrong Prince to the wrong realm that everyone likes to clown on Mankar for. Mankar was never intended to be written as a raving idiot, his dialogue was simply never fact-checked against TES’s own lore, and his character suffered the consequences.

On the topic of MK’s involvement with writing Mankar, it explains why Mankar’s motivations seem to flip from pure Dagonism to Lorkhan sympathy. MK is writing to BGS with a Morrowind brain, where Lorkhan and his lore plays a major part in the plot of TESIII. But, in TESIV, Lorkhan is never mentioned outside of Mankar’s own speech/writings. If the devs of Oblivion had taken more careful consideration of Mankar’s character instead of ripping straight from MK’s emails, I believe they could have narrowed down Mankar’s motivations and made him a much better villain. I would argue that Lorkhan’s story does not need to be told in Oblivion’s plot, and the plot would have benefited a great deal from focusing on, oh, I don’t know, the Prince actually behind it all, Mehrunes Dagon! Dagon, too, is clowned on for being a thoughtless, stupid, barbaric tank who only knows destruction. It’s no wonder that the fandom often forgets he is also the Prince of Hope, because the devs forget that detail themselves!

MK and Todd Howard both even say that Mankar was right to some degree—or, at least, he was meant to be! MK says, “Canon or not, my two cents is that [Mankar] is completely right … but don’t quote me…I didn’t write this in-character,” (sorry MK, gotta quote!) (see, 2006, ¶15). Todd Howard even claims that he wanted Mankar to be a morally grey villain! Quote: “You know, he’s not a cackling maniac. We like to have our bad guys be a little grayer. We want that moment where the player goes like… Maybe he’s right,” (see, Notes, *5).

Crazy! Todd Howard wanted Mankar to be seen as grey, as competent, as right! And yet, because of a total lack of care for fact-checking, a disregard for the necessities of cutting away excess plot, and a general apathy for Mankar, the Mythic Dawn, and Dagon as driving forces in the story, Oblivion’s main plot suffers for it. Todd Howard’s intentions to make Mankar a grey villain flopped so severely that it requires many leaps and bounds to see Mankar the way Todd might have wanted him to be.

LEAPS AND BOUNDS

However, I would argue there is hope for Mankar’s character as it stands. The execution was horrible, but the pieces of a grey villain do still exist! Many of my ideas were first sparked by this video, so I would recommend giving it a watch if you’re able!

For this formula to work, we have to look at Mankar from a very objective perspective. We must consider that most/all of the information given on Mankar in-game is propaganda. Even in-game events that the player sees with their own eyes must be understood as manufactured to create a caricature of a villain rather than a true villain with understandable motivations. Essentially, we must have a very critical eye about everything.

Mankar Camoran was born to Haymon Camoran and Kaalys Camoran. In Valenwood, Haymon was regarded as a felled hero, his life ended too soon to completely free and secure Valenwood from Imperial rule, allowing it to be overtaken by Summerset and Elsywer after his death (see, History: Third Era, ¶2). Valenwood is then overrun by sympathizers of various political entities, leaving the to-be prince Mankar unsafe in his own country. Perhaps he and his mother flee to Cyrodiil and hide under different aliases for a while, or perhaps Kaalys swears loyalty to the Empire in exchange for protection from the overpowering forces back in Valenwood. However it happens, Mankar eventually ends up in Cyrodiil, and he has complaints about the religious-political system.

The Empire, reportedly inspired by the real-world Roman Empire, fittingly reflects the Roman Empire’s facade of order and peace while perpetuating unrest beneath the surface. Racial tensions against elves persist from age to age, with the Empire constantly undercutting their elven enemies and making them the face of the opposition, from Alessia to Tiber Septim. This anti-elf sentiment is perpetuated by the Divines themselves, who hypocritically promote peace and unity while celebrating figures such as Pelinal Whitestrake and allowing the likes of Tiber Septim into their ranks. Homelessness and poverty are also rampant in the Empire despite the Imperial Cult’s vast wealth. Again, the Divines are hypocritical, offering words of peace and prosperity through their priests, but they ultimately do nothing to help with the economic crisis.

Mankar sees this and is rightfully appalled. How can both the Empire and the Divines do nothing about all of this suffering coming from the hands of their own hypocrisy? Mankar, the son of Haymon Camoran, the almost-liberator of Valenwood, finds it fitting to speak out against the Empire, and does so on their own terms—as a minister. Seeing as the Divines do not care for his people (elves), and seeing that the Daedra are much more effective in responding, Mankar seeks the help of Mehrunes Dagon, the Prince of Revolution, Destruction, and Hope—Revolution against the stagnant and hypocritical ways of the Imperial Cult, the Destruction of the corrupt Empire, and Hope for a better future to come. Mankar becomes a priest of sorts, writing sermons on the state of the Empire and the Imperial Cult.

He reaches the hearts and minds of the poor, impoverished, and down-trodden of society. With Dagon’s help, he is able to create a pocket-realm of Oblivion, Paradise, as a refuge* for his new followers. As his influence grows, so does his ability to do something about the Empire’s hypocrisy, and so he begins to act.

*I genuinely do not know why Paradise turns out to be a surprise torture realm. This just feels like the devs wanting to point and Mankar and go “Look! Evil elf!” This is especially damning considering that Paradise looks like an Ayleid city, and that most (maybe all?) of the victims of this torture-realm are humans. So, Paradise is a representation of human Tamriel under Ayleid rule? Okay, Todd.

Mankar is working with Dagon to bring about the New Dawn: an age free of the Empire, perhaps a restart of the kalpa itself, so that Tamriel will be free from the choking grasp of the Divines and their mortal rulers. Mankar is willing to kill for this, perhaps because he knows everyone will reawaken in a better Era, or perhaps because he is aware that none of it will matter with the New Dawn, or perhaps because he has stopped having sympathy for anyone still supporting the Empire and the Imperial Cult. However you want to string it, he knows he has to get the Daedra on the field to make anything happen, and so he collects his followers and makes an attack against the throne. They kill every Septim (or so they think), and with Uriel’s death, they are now able to open Oblivion Gates across Tamriel. The Revolution part of the plan is complete, and now Dagon and his forces can bring about the Destruction of the Empire. Those who understand the Empire’s corruption will join Mankar in Paradise, and those who don’t will be killed—whether this is a mercy or a punishment is up to further interpretation.

And so exists Mankar Camoran, finding it unjust to simply sit aside and allow the Divines-backed Empire to kill the world slowly with its corruption. If it’s going down, it might as well go down with some hope of a brighter future. Mankar Camoran, the son of a failed liberator, a prince never-to-be, sees fit to eliminate a future of lies, corruption, and death by the Empire and create a new world—a better world.

This can then branch into more interpretations. The player can decide if Mankar is making a leap in logic, or if he’s doing the wrong thing for the right reason, or if he just straight up is doing the best thing possible for the situation. There could also be a lot more done about Dagon’s own motivations for this: does he feel sympathy for elves, and thus backs Mankar’s cause? Does he want to stick it to the Divines? Is there something else he wants to obtain from Nirn’s destruction? Explanations could go anywhere, and it’s sad that the game offers us nothing.

Either way, I feel like a lot of players would be able to sympathize more with Mankar if he was truly presented as a grey villain like this. As he’s presented in game, he’s simply a stupid cult leader with no sense of focus for the subject at hand. With a little more polish, though, he could be a revolutionary gone too far, or not far enough depending on how you play your character.

To me, Mankar is a representation of how the perfect blend of in-lore propaganda, real-world bias, and developer oversight created the most forgettable and laughable villain in TES, yet so full of untapped potential. Mankar is uncared for because of his apparent “stupidity,” but too much of the fandom fails to recognize that he was not intentionally written this way, and his presentation in game is a broken mirror of who the devs, creator, and supporters of Oblivion wanted him to be.

Mankar Camoran, objectively, is a revolutionary, the son of a revolutionary, and seeks freedom from the corruption of the Empire—an empire that advocates for genocide, winks at hypocrisy, and allows poverty to flourish. Who wouldn’t want to try and overturn a system like that?

Mankar Camoran was right.

[gynandromorph]

In the comic with the censor bars shiloh talked about it as if censorbars are something that just like happens sometimes i kinda want to know if that has some lore background or anything?

Additionally since everyone is specifically in a printed comic does this mean people technically read eachothers speech.

And are there any other silly details related around the fact that the comic is a printed comic.

absolutely no background, just thought it would be funny if censor bars were a thing the characters actually saw and interacted with, and if they treated something absurd like that as if it's completely normal and chill. the fact that it doesn't make sense and doesn't have an explanation is part of the joke.

also, yes, characters read each others' speech bubbles. sound is a specific visual stimulus to them processed as a separate sense much in the same way smell and taste are different to you despite the fact that they are both just chemoreception. reading something and hearing something are virtually identical to them... the actual container of the text dictates whether it's received as sound or written word, imo. Jessie's Commandments read like written word when she says them even though she is saying them out loud because they're in a square container. A book cut into a rounder shape would probably actually seem to produce sound to them. My opinion on this is largely informed by the fact that pictographs can also be used to communicate sound -- meaning that the letters themselves are not the only component of sound. Pictures sound like something to them if they're surrounded by a "sound circle." color and size mediate the qualities of the sound. color probably informs characters of both timbre and pitch based on saturation and luminosity.

Facts about their book world... stuff is made of ink drops for them. they know this as a scientific fact. I believe I called them tinctures... yes, i did.

atoms to them are probably called inklings, made up of various tinctures, and yes they're both shortened to inks--

their world is 2d, but top quantum scientists have observed at least that their world may be 3d in a Z-direction, because chasms resembling paper's microscropic texture has been documented.

there are 2 competing theories about how the universe will end called "the big rip" (the paper fabric of the universe will rip apart under the ever-increasing weight of more inks) and "the printer running out of ink" (things stop existing altogether as ink erodes from the fabric of the universe over time, and isn't replaced). unlike our universe, theirs isn't expanding, so they don't have a solid understanding of what's happening to matter in their universe. big rippers believe inks must be continuously added to the universe, because there had to be spontaneously generated inks at the start of the universe; it agrees with the theory of spontaneous generation of the universe, which the majority of scientists accept as a proven theory. the accepted explanation amongst rippers for a lack of observation of growing ink is that it's happening in deep space, which is completely saturated black. the fabric of their own universe can only actually absorb so much ink leading to pure black -- after that, adding more ink is possible, but you can't observe that more ink has been added, because saturation has already been achieved. adding more ink then warps and weakens fabric of the universe, unobservable to them. it's like their version of dark matter. printer theorists believe that ink is slowly, spontaneously disappearing from the universe, because they can observe the process of ink degradation on the real actual paper they're printed on. this does not necessarily disagree with spontaneous generation, because there was a "nothing" which the universe may return to for them, but it offers little explanation for why ink would be disappearing. opposition to the theory generally argues that the ink observed to be "disappearing" could simply be displaced. to note: they don't see the universe as a story book, they simply refer to the fabric of it as paper due to its resemblance to the texture of paper, from their perspective. it's just like how we call the stuff our universe is made of "fabric" even though we don't generally believe we live on a tapestry.

elements in their universe are named after different hex values instead of typical chemical elements. there is, in one single panel, a small portion of old high school notes in Jessie's notebook shown

a periodic table with unrecognizable chemical symbols.

their world is flat because they live on flat paper. you could probably fall off the edge. the stars are Literally shaped like stars and the moon literally changes shape over the course of its cycles. uuuhhhh. i'll write more if i remember anything else--

[pussyydestroyer]

“First date”

Pairing: Sam Carpenter x fem!reader

Summary: Tara and you work at a store in New York, having to restock some things on a weekend as punishment.

Warning: None. Y/n is just a little awkward and nervous around Sam, plus alcohol and all that stuff.

Word count: 6.3k

A/n: It's basically the story of Usnavi and Vanessa (played by Melissa Barrera) in In the heights but these are F!reader and Sam with some details changed and different from the musical so that Sam's character in Scream fits better 😋

I was inspired by The Club but wanted to expand it further to get to that part

“Stop being a jerk and come help me!” You shout as soon as you walk through the door with a large box in your hands, and you see Tara standing at the register doing absolutely nothing.

Completely bewildered, she raises her head and reluctantly puts her phone aside when she sees you giving her a withering, amused look. “Okay, okay. I’m coming.”

She gets up from where she was and walks with slow, unmotivated steps until she reaches you, walks around you, and enters the warehouse, where the other boxes are to refill the shelves with food.

“Thanks,” you say sarcastically with a knowing smile, only for her to shake her head mockingly in response, making you chuckle.

Tara and you are friends from college, you being the oldest by two years. You’ve both been working at a store for a couple of months, hoping to earn some money for yourselves.

One day, she showed you a post she found online about a small shop looking for staff. At first, you were skeptical of the place because of the reviews, but the next day they were both hired since the owner was desperate for workers.

The job was relatively easy; they just had to serve the few customers who showed up and restock the shelves and vending machines whenever the food ran out or expired.

They spent so much time together in college and at work that they got to the point where they became very close.

"Why are we doing this?" she exclaims tiredly as she carries a box to the other side of the room, even though she hasn't moved from her seat since the day began. "I mean, it's Saturday. We shouldn't be doing this."

Tara was right. Her contract had a set schedule that meant she didn't work weekends. But it was both of their punishments for doing so.

You laugh and roll your eyes as you pull some candy that had expired a few days ago off the shelf. "Maybe it's because someone was caught idling and eating the store's merchandise?"

A few days ago, both of them were literally lying on the counter watching some silly YouTube video since there hadn't been any customers for a couple of hours. So they decided to eat a snack or two to pass the time.

Only when you open a can of soda does the owner appear and see them not doing their homework and with empty wrappers in plain sight.

They make up terribly lame excuses so that in the end, he decides to check the cameras and discover that they haven't moved from their spot for about four hours.

With amusement and feigned annoyance, she tidies up the shelf across from yours. "Speak for yourself. I only ate one potato chip."

“Liar. You also had three wrappers of chocolates on the counter,” you exclaim, squinting at her expectantly through the small slits.

You feel her shifting in place as she giggles and continues tidying.

“It was exam week, okay? I was anxious about the results.” You roll your eyes and nod in mock understanding at her perfectly valid excuse. She laughs with you before adding, “And don’t act like a saint, you ate things from here too.”

You feign hurt, placing a hand on your chest, then speak more calmly. “And I totally accept the blame.”

You simply laugh, glancing at each other as you finish arranging the things on the shelf for when the door opens, ringing a small bell that signals when someone enters or leaves.

You peer at Tara through the cracks and tilt your head in a quick motion toward the counter.

"I know," she sighs before dropping what she was doing and heading behind the counter to wait for the woman who just entered to pay.

You smile sarcastically at her for a few moments before placing the last few treats.

You take a quick look around the store to check if anything else needed restocking until the completely empty refrigerator behind you catches your attention.

You pick up the box you just emptied and walk toward the storage area to get the drinks to restock.

You go back inside, humming a song with a carefree expression on your face, heading toward the previously empty refrigerator.

You turn slightly when the bell rings again, noticing Tara engrossed in her phone and the woman gone.

You smile to yourself before returning your attention to your task.

You wanted to get this done as soon as possible without distractions so you could enjoy your weekend. Even though you didn't have any plans, the best thing you could do was stay locked in your place watching TV shows until late.

The place fell silent for a few minutes, with only your low humming heard, until that small bell rang again.

The silence was instantly interrupted by murmurs of happiness in the distance.

You listened briefly to the conversation, wondering if all the happiness was due to the fact that it was a friend of Tara's, as you took out some energy drinks.

"Hey y/n, look who's here." Tara's enthusiastic voice pulled you out of your thoughts, but you continued on with your own business, never taking your eyes off the drinks.

“What’s up?” Crouching down, you gesture with your hand, oblivious to what was happening, thinking it might be Mindy, who regularly passed by.

You hear laughter from the other corner and a mock clearly coming from Tara.

You add a few cans to the fridge, ignoring her words and managing to hear footsteps coming toward you.

You hum again, your attention fixed on the fridge.

The cool air hitting your face was refreshing and satisfying in the sweltering heat.

You were so wrapped up in your thoughts, along with the task at hand, that it took you a good couple of seconds to realize someone was standing next to you.

You turned around calmly, but upon seeing the person next to you, your heart raced, taking all your strength not to drop the can from your hands.

The basic skills of any human being faded from your system. You hadn’t expected Sam to be in the store, much less standing in front of you. Her expression was calm and stern.

From the close range, you managed to capture her slightly messy hair and her skin glistening with sweat, assuming she'd just worked out or left the gym.

Still, that didn't take away from how beautiful she looked.

The time it took you to examine her seemed like an eternity, internally cursing yourself as you felt your face heat up and simultaneously praying that she wouldn't notice your slight blush.

From the moment Sam entered your life, you had a small crush on her.

Tara had talked to you about her a couple of times before, even shown you pictures, but nothing compared to the time Sam arrived to pick Tara up from college.

When you first saw her get out of her car, her hair blowing in the wind. Watching her like a kid yearning from afar for something in a toy store.

From then on, you knew your life wasn't going to be so easy with her on your mind.

There had been times before where you'd run into each other by chance or because your connection was through knowing Tara, but it never went beyond a friendly greeting with a few exchanges.

Sometimes it could be a little awkward because you got so nervous around her, and Tara seemed to pick up on the tension between you two from all the times she teased you about her sister.

"Hi" you finally managed, a goofy smile tugging at your lips.

"Hi" she reciprocated in a soft, cheerful voice. Everything around you stopped the instant your gazes met.

The glances and smiles lasted longer than you expected. Honestly, you didn't know what else to do after that.

Sam felt the same way, but her face didn't change to discomfort or embarrassment. However, she moved her hand forward toward you.

At first, you didn't know what she wanted to do since her movements were hesitant, until you realized Sam wanted a drink from the refrigerator.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry." Embarrassed, scratching the back of your neck, you took a step back, then bumped into the open refrigerator door.

A blush spread across your face, hating yourself for acting so awkwardly in front of her.

It was always the same. Every time you tried to impress a girl, you ended up acting completely different from your normal self. And Sam was no exception to your clumsiness.

She simply chuckled and waited for you to walk away so she could get an energy drink. “Thank you.”

Her voice sent a chill through your body, making your heart beat faster. “You’re welcome.”

The words came out in a stuttering whisper as you were once again mesmerized by her brown eyes.

The two of you remained in a slightly awkward silence. Neither of you dared to move away or say a word; you just stared at each other with a hint of something neither of you could decipher.

Tara, who had been watching this whole scene from afar with regret and shame etched on her face, decided to interrupt. “Hey, Sam.” She waited for Sam to turn around before she could continue. “Y/n wants to ask you out, did you know that?”

Your breath stopped at that same instant as you broke out in a cold sweat upon hearing Tara’s words.

Your head swiveled sharply to look at Tara, who was wearing a wicked smile.

It never crossed your mind that she would do something like this, but this definitely caught you off guard, causing you to freeze completely, along with your stomach tightening in your abdomen.

Tara smiles triumphantly at seeing you in this state, knowing she had you in her grasp.

“I-…” You tried to excuse yourself, to say anything, but Sam was quicker, turning to you again with an anxious expression and genuine happiness.

“Oh, really?”

“I…” You’d never been in a bind like this before. You didn’t know what to do or say to dont make her feel bad. “I mean-”

“Yeah. That's what we were talking about this morning, wasn't it, Y/N?” Tara interrupts again, making Sam's smile grow at her.

Every time Tara opens her mouth, you think she's going to save you from this predicament, but she only makes it worse and worse, turning you into a nervous, clumsy mess.

You stutter for a moment, looking from Sam to Tara repeatedly, as if that would get you out of this dilemma.

“Yup, well…” you stuttered longer than you meant to, unsure of what to say next until Sam interrupts you with moderate excitement.

“Where do you want to take me?” she says mischievously, her interest piquing further with each of Tara's words to help you with the mess she started.

“To the club a few blocks from the subway,” Tara adds playfully, mockingly, before looking at you and continuing. “She’s really eager to take you there. Really.”

Sam seems more and more convinced about the idea of going out with you, which makes you even more nervous when you see her expression. “I heard it’s a good place.”

“Yeah, it is,” you smile, scratching the back of your neck, desperately trying to say something more. “We can go this afternoon… if you want, of course.”

You bite the inside of your cheek for speaking too quickly, thinking you’ve ruined everything with the way Sam stares at you without any response.

Finally, she nods in approval, and a genuine smile appears on her face as she reaches for her phone in her pockets.

“Here. Here’s my number so we can clarify the details further.”

She extends her hand toward you, her phone number flashing on the screen.

At first, you stare at it in bewilderment, not understanding what she’s doing until your mind clicks.

“Oh, yes,” you fumble in your clothing pockets to find your phone. You take it out and quickly write down her phone number.

She laughs and waits for you to do so before putting her phone back in the same place she had it before.

"Nos vemos" she says in a low, mischievous voice, then turns and leaves, not before saying goodbye to her sister.

Your heart pounded loudly in your ears, feeling like you could faint at any moment.

Your mind replayed what had just happened, unable to truly believe that you had a date with Sam.

She was already gone, but you were still trying to come back to earth as you held onto the fridge.

Little by little, Tara's laughter crept back into your ears.

"Why the fuck did you do all that?" You spat out in embarrassment and annoyance as your senses returned to normal.

She was almost out of breath, tears in her eyes from the fit of laughter at the situation she'd gotten you into.

You turned around and banged your forehead against the glass door of the refrigerator, waiting for Tara to finish teasing you and for your blush to fade.

Finally, she stopped laughing and spoke breathlessly, "No. I saved you from making a complete fool of yourself in front of her. You're welcome."

She was partly right, but you weren't going to admit it after how stupid and useless you'd acted because of Tara and her interventions.

You tapped the glass

with your forehead repeatedly, trying to gather your racing, anxious thoughts. "What am I going to do now?"

"Go on a date with my sister, maybe?"

You groan softly as you tap it once more, then press your forehead against the cold glass, knowing full well that she finds your condition amusing. “Did you see how I just acted? I look like a complete idiot in front of her. I won't even last five minutes before I ruin everything.”

Tara's expression softens at hearing you speak about yourself like that. She wanted to continue teasing you, but she took pity this time. “Relax, everything will be okay, don't worry.”

She waited for your reaction to her gentle words, but seeing that you weren't reacting the way she wanted, she decided to add, “You have a point in your favor. She likes you.”

Your heart pounded again. You turned around quickly to see any hint of a joke or a lie in her expression, but all you could see was sincerity. “Really?”

She smiled at you, hearing your yearning and decided to continue encouraging you. “Of course. She wouldn't have agreed if she didn't.”

A little confidence returned to you, hoping everything that happened later would be perfect.

You took out your phone with a glimmer of hope in your eyes as you saw Sam's profile on the screen. “I'll try not to screw this up.”

Hours passed, and as if in the blink of an eye, you were standing on the subway, staring at your nervous expression through the reflection of the doors.

After closing up shop a few hours earlier, you texted Sam to arrange a time and place where the two of you would meet.

When Sam finally answered, clearing things up, you immediately changed into something more comfortable and casual, but not too elegant to distinguish the fact that you were going to a club.

Your reflection vanished in an instant when the doors opened, allowing you to get off the train.

You walked with a knot in your stomach as you wiped your sweaty hands on your clothes until you reached the meeting point where the two of you had decided to meet.

Not seeing her anywhere, you decided to wait for some sign of her.

You straightened your clothes over and over again, hoping to look good for her, only to look up and find her walking toward you.

She shakes her hand, and you can't help but watch her every move.

"Shall we go?" Her sweet voice hits you, bringing you back to reality when she's close enough to you.

You shake your head slightly with an almost shy smile, "Let's go."

The night was cool and refreshing, with a silence that at first felt a bit awkward as you walked side by side.

Their arms occasionally brushed against each other, making you even more nervous than you already were, until Sam broke the silence by asking a couple of questions.

You sighed in relief at no longer being burdened by your racing thoughts and readily answered her little interrogation.

Gradually, you became less nervous as you spent more time with her.

Walking and talking with Sam, letting go more and more, you realized that longing for her from afar was a complete and total waste of time.

She's so sweet and so funny that every time she made you laugh with little jokes, you blushed, admiring her beauty at the same time.

If you weren't so shy and dumb, you could have enjoyed this a long time ago.

They continued walking and chatting for a bit longer before loud music and flashy lights caught both of their attention.

Despite being a few steps away from the club, you couldn't stop paying attention to the lights Sam had told you about earlier during your walk here.

“Damn, this is nice…” You say with a hint of admiration as you look at the enormous place. “I really like what they've done with the lights.”

She laughs, rolling her eyes and gently nudging you, thinking you were making fun of her for previously exaggerating about the venue's extravagant lights.

The thick air of the place hits them along with the loud music as they barely step foot inside.

In one corner, there was a group of people gathered at the bar, and another group of people dancing on the dance floor to their own beat.

“You might be right, this music's tight.” You look at her with complicity and amusement, having to raise your voice so she could hear you over all the noise.

You follow Sam through the crowd to explore the place a bit, watching her laugh again, making your heart beat faster. “I told you!”

None of them had been here before. You could say Sam knew the place better than you did, based on the experiences her friends told her.

You followed Sam, who walked deeper into the place, piquing both of your interest and curiosity with every step you took.

The fact that you hadn't said anything in a while, along with the music pounding your eardrums, made you feel even more nervous and restless.

You didn't want to ruin a beautiful evening that was starting off really well.

You felt the urge to say something, anything to calm down a little.

"Did I mention that you look great tonight?"

Sam stops and turns slightly, noticing a smile from something you couldn't quite understand on her face.

Their eyes meet, causing you to scratch the back of your neck and continue speaking quickly. "Because you do, you really—"

"Hey, relax," she interrupts, gently taking your hand in hers, noticing that you're back to being as nervous as you were at the beginning.

Behind all the noise, you managed to hear the softness of her voice, as if it were just the two of you in the vast space.

You sighed with relief, feeling calmer with the comfort of her words. “Yeah, alright.” She smiled at you, squeezing your hand once more before letting go. “I’m relaxed.”

You didn’t know how, but from one moment to the next, you were both dancing across from each other on the dance floor.

You watched with awe and amusement as Sam moved with grace and rhythm, her hips and arms swaying to the beat of the music.

Her eyes sparkled with amusement as she danced in front of you as you did the same.

Her body moved freely and passionately, creating an exciting spectacle.

Time seemed to stand still when you were with her.

The more you watched her eyes, her hair moving with every movement, her smile, a warm feeling welled up in your chest.

Despite all the hardships and self-sabotage you inflicted on yourself, you enjoyed being with her far more than you ever would with anyone else.

“Maybe you and I should hang out some more…” You say without giving your words a second thought. She looks at you skeptically when you begin to slow down, realizing what you’d said out loud.

“I’m such a dork, but I-” You apologize, a little embarrassed, but before you could ruin it again, she interrupts you, pulling you closer so you could hear her. “Let’s go get a drink.”

You were completely grateful to whatever it was that Sam interrupted you every time you messed up.

Her slightly agitated voice sent light shivers down your spine.

You tried to put that thought behind you, accepting and walking with her again to the bar, which wasn’t that far away. “Something sweet.”

Sam seemed to like your suggestion, nodding and looking at you knowingly, as if you were both connected. “You know me, a little cinnamon.”

You walked peacefully, interrupted only by the din of music and people, to the bar.

Upon reaching the small space, Sam silently gestured that she would get the drinks. You nodded, knowing she would bring the same thing for both of you.

You couldn’t help but watch her figure as she slowly walked away and disappeared from your sight a moment later.

You didn't believe in love at first sight, but after this date, you'd openly admit that you were completely in love with her.

You headed off to find a table so you and Sam could rest and be more comfortable after dancing earlier.

"yo, be more careful," you heard a familiar voice as you clumsily backed away and bumped into a table.

You turned around to find Mindy sitting there with a smile, a bit dazed from the alcohol, you assumed, and a drink in her hand.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" You looked at her in amusement as you reached out to shake her hand in a friendly gesture.

Mindy laughs, squeezing your hand, then lets go and takes a sip before answering. “I came with my girl to have a good time,” she says playfully before turning her head from side to side as if she's looking for someone. “But apparently she went to get more alcohol or something.”

You laugh, thinking that her girlfriend, Anika, and Sam might be meet at the bar, but you didn't want to bring it up yet.

Mindy was a fun and witty person. You met her through Tara a while ago and immediately liked her personality.

You and her don't hang out much, but when the opportunity arises, you talk for hours on end.

She looks at you, sizing you up and down inquisitively.

“So what are you doing here? I don't think you came alone,” she says curiously, raising an eyebrow.

You just laugh and roll your eyes, sitting in the seat across from Mindy while her girlfriend was gone. “Well…” you stammered, not wanting to say who you came with, but knowing you would have to say it eventually. “Yes. I came with someone.”

“So? Who’s the lucky one?”

You ran your fingers along the edge of the table briefly, not wanting to brag, but the way you smiled let Mindy know she was someone special to you. “I came with Sam.”

Her jaw almost dropped at the information.

She didn’t think you’d ever be able to hang out with Sam, which took her by surprise. “No way… really?”

You nodded, blushing slightly at her slightly drunken and exaggerated expression. “Yup.”

She took a deep sip of her drink, which you didn’t know what it was, to process it properly. “I never thought it was possible. Congratulations.”

You continued to play with the edge of the table, your smile lingering. “Thank you, I guess?”

She shook her head, closing her eyes for a brief moment. “No. I mean it. Congratulations.”

Your expression softened at her supportive words, even though you clearly thought this was impossible. But thankfully, it happened.

“Ever since Tara told me you were madly in love with her sister, I never thought you could date her…”

Your eyes widened, your blush deepening at the exaggeration in her words. “I’m not—” You tried to interrupt her to clarify that you’d only had a minor, non-obsessive crush for some time now, but she wasn’t listening.

“After all these years.”

You smiled warmly at her constant exaggeration, appreciating the sincerity beneath all the alcohol in her system.

Just as you were about to express your gratitude, Mindy stopped a waitress who was passing by, taking two shots, which, judging by the color, were probably tequila.

She placed one in front of you while extending her hand with the other tequila, wanting to make a toast. “To finally getting Samantha.”

You grabbed the tequila, laughing at all this before raising your hand and clinking the small glasses together.

“Cheers!” You said in unison and then drank.

Between laughter and the bitter taste of the drink going down your throat, Sam arrived with two glasses in each hand.

Your body temperature rose again when you saw her, slightly disheveled, placing the glass on the table.

A completely silly smile appeared on your face, but Sam didn't notice it as she greeted Mindy.

She stayed by your side the whole time, watching as she made small talk with Mindy while you sipped.

The pleasant atmosphere didn't last long when a guy arrived at the table out of nowhere, standing right behind Sam. "Hey, you!"

His arrogantly smug voice would almost irritate you if it weren't for the fact that Sam turned around reluctantly, knowing full well that she was being spoken to.

"Who?" The expression of disinterest when talking to him was very noticeable.

"You!"

"Who, me?"

Sam pretended not to understand, responding sharply to the other guy. Deep down, she knew what would happen if she continued talking to him, and she didn't want to.

"You wanna dance?"

She continued her arrogant little game, avoiding contact with him as much as possible.

The guy seemed like a hateful person, and if she could, she would tell him so. "Nah, man."

The guy simply laughed at his defeat, taking a step back and stopping his insistence, understanding that Sam was absolutely against being with him. “Okay, I took my chance.”

Watching the small conversation between the two of them from the silence, you somehow felt bad for the poor guy who was immediately rejected by Sam, even though you could tell she had the same feelings for him.

“It’s cool, it’s cool… hey if you want to.”

You absolutely didn't want Sam to go with someone else. It was your date with her, and you wanted to spend the rest of it with her, but your mouth betrayed you as always.

She looks at you expectantly, surprised that you'd let her be with some random on her own on a night that should have been between you two.

Her smile, once one of happiness, vanished completely from her face.

"You don't mind?" You recognized that look of anger and betrayal anywhere, even though it was the first time you'd seen it on her.

You bite the inside of your cheek, wanting to avoid any eye contact from her, but her eyes bore deeply into you.

You swallow hard, holding your breath as you feel Sam's irritated gaze and the other guy's triumphant one. "I'm fine, I'm fine."

She stares at you for a while longer, waiting for you to say something to fix the mess you just made, but nothing comes out.

You watch as she walks away, heading for the dance floor with someone other than you.

When she's completely out of your sight, you breathe normally again.

Your mind spins with flashbacks of how stupid you just were, along with Sam's cold stare.

You grab the glass Sam had brought for the two of you to share and take a deep sip, scrunching your face.

Mindy, who was completely oblivious to what was happening at the table, sees Sam leave with someone else, surprising her more than you expected. "Who's Sam talking to?"

"Some dude..." you say listlessly, sprawled across the table as you watch the alcohol swirl as the glass rolls in your hands.

She raises her eyebrows as her drunken mind connects the dots of something she didn't fully witness. “That’s messed up, she’s trying to make you jealous.”

You raise your head from your spite and look at her as if you were talking to someone completely sane.

Was Sam trying to make you jealous? Why would she do that?

That’s why Sam immediately left with him without objecting or mentioning that you and her were together in the first place. You think about your naiveté.

“Jealous? I ain’t jealous, I can take this fella, whatever.”

It was clear you couldn’t.

The minutes passed, and you were already tired of being the third wheel between Mindy and Anika

You kept glancing at the dance floor in case you could spot Sam anywhere. But there was no sign of her.

You were starting to worry, but deep down, you knew she could handle any idiot who crossed her path.

You felt bad for letting her go dancing with a stranger.

You just wanted to be with her, but you'd already ruined that.

You sighed heavily, banging your head against the table, making a small noise that no one heard.

Turning your head, raising your gaze after a brief moment of cursing yourself, you saw a head of red hair that was easily recognizable anywhere.

If Sam wanted to make you jealous, you can make it happen too. You told yourself, remembering Mindy's drunken words.

Probably the effects of the alcohol were also starting to kick in, which is why you were working up the nerve to go talk to Quinn, who was selflessly chatting with a guy.

Ever since you've known Quinn, she's always flirted with you, making double entendre, or complimenting you on everything.

You just avoid her, dodging her constant suggestives by pretending not to understand.

You knew she had a bad reputation for hooking up with anyone who caught her eye, and to your misfortune, you had caught hers.

But that didn't matter at this point; you just wanted to piss Sam off a little.

The boy immediately gets up from his seat, leaving Quinn alone and relieved for a moment until her eyes sparkle with desire as she sees you approaching.

"Hey..." Quinn says slyly as you sit across from her, where the other boy had previously been.

You don't want to have a social interaction with her, much less end up in a situation you'd regret later. So you interrupt her, starting to speak rapidly.

“Look, I know you do this with everyone, and the truth is, I'm not interested in you. I just want to make someone jealous, and you probably don't give a fuck about that, but this will be the closest thing to having my full attention. So let's go to the bar or something to satisfy your self-absorbed facade once and for all.”

She remains silent for a few seconds, staring at you with amusement, as if she were holding back a laugh.

This awkward silence, coupled with her intense gaze, made your hair stand on end. But she finally responds with a curt nod

“Yeah. Whatever.”

Before grabbing your wrist, forcing you to abruptly get up to go to the bar.

Between her leading you to take another drink and the increasing number of people, it made your curiosity and concern for Sam grow.

You looked everywhere for her, but there was no sign of her dancing with anyone or drinking.

Your concentration shifted elsewhere as Quinn flirtatiously asked the bartender for drinks.

Being with her felt like a punishment.

You just nodded or fake laughed whenever she spoke or said something supposedly funny.

Every now and then you looked up to see if Sam was around, but you were already considering the idea that she was gone.

Sadly, you continued your performance in front of Quinn, taking a big sip of something you weren't used to drinking.

Just as you were losing all hope, you saw Sam alone in the distance, heading through the door they'd entered a few hours ago.

You apologize to Quinn before hastily getting up to follow Sam.

Your heart was pounding as you pushed through the crush of people.

You'd made a huge difference with her today, and the thought of losing her in an instant was more suffocating than when you'd tried to talk to Sam this morning.

"Sam! Hold on, hold on!" you shout from outside the club, seeing her in the distance.

She turns around irritably, and you put the hands on your knees to catch your breath from running.

You lift your head to meet her upset gaze. "Why are you leaving? I mean, we're having a good time, aren't we?" you say agitatedly.

Her eyes widen in disbelief.

“If having a good time means leaving me with an idiot so you can flirt with someone else, then yes. I had a great time.”

You gritted your teeth at the venom in her sarcasm.

You felt a little happy that your plan to make her jealous with Quinn had worked, but this wasn't the time to celebrate.

You fell silent for a moment, considering your next words.

“I- I wasn't flirting with anyone…” You admit, your tone lower as you regain your composure. Sam notices your meek behavior, softening her features just a bit. “I was just hanging out with someone else because I thought you were having fun with another one.”

“Of course I wasn't having fun with him!” “I came here to be with you, ¡no con un completo idiota!” she yells again, but this time she takes a few steps toward you. Seeing this, you do the same.

“Look. I'm sorry, okay?” Your words are more confident now as you move forward, staring at her with determination. “When you're around me, I act like a fool, and I admit it.”

Sam was perplexed by your confession. She'd noticed your behavior, but didn't believe you'd admit it so openly.

She quickly examined you without moving from her spot.

There was still a wide gap between you, giving you the confidence to clarify your feelings.

"I never know what to do or say when you talk to me or look at me. I become a total mess and you know it."

She avoids smiling to maintain her angry facade; instead, she just nods.

You were no longer embarrassed or anxious. You'd spent so much time with Sam that you'd grown accustomed to her intense but pleasant gaze.

"Even Tara had to help me ask you out when I wasn't even thinking about it right now."

You both laughed at the memory of what had happened, unaware that Sam was laughing and taking a few steps forward.

You took a deep breath, mentally preparing yourself, with the constant fear that Sam wouldn't want to see you ever again.

"And yes, I know that I screw up by not intervening when the guy came over and flirted with you, and I feel bad about it.”

The brief silence that fills the space is almost deafening.

There's no more music, no more loud people; it's just you and her, along with the constant pounding of your heart in your ears as you stare directly into her beautiful brown eyes.

“I had a great time tonight, and I just want you to forgive me—” Her soft lips capture yours, forcing you to stop talking.

You hadn't realized she was so close to you, the kiss taking you by surprise.

When your mind finally clicked, you melted in that instant, parting your lips and allowing her tongue to slide past.

You raised your hands, not knowing where to put them.

Sam noticed this and guided one of them to her lower back, making you gasp against her.

You were always curious to know what it was like to feel Sam so close to you, and you couldn't believe this was finally happening.

The kiss slowly grew more intense, heating your bodies more and more.

You had to admit that the way she gently tugged at your hair with her hand tangled in it drove you crazy, but not now.

The lack of air ruined the moment, and you reluctantly pulled away so you could catch it.

She looked at you panting with her eyes half-closed, while you stood with your gaze wide open, shocked by all of this.

"Yes... I forgive you."

At first, you couldn't understand what she meant, but slowly your mind came out of the lustful haze. "Right."

She rolled her eyes before leaning closer to you and laughing, resting her forehead against your shoulder.

You were still coming down from the intensity of things, so you simply placed a hand on the back of her head, completely distracted and out of it.

She breathed deeply, feeling her body press against yours.

She moved away slightly to take your hand in hers and resume her walk. "Let's go."

You intertwined your fingers as she did so as you began walking.

The peace and tranquility of your mind was interrupted when you turned to look at the club, which was now further away than you thought. "I thought we'd go inside again."

She nodded with feigned reasoning, then gave you a quick, playful glance. "Yeah, well, I'd rather finish this at my place."

The mischievous way she said it made you not doubt her other intentions at all, causing a smile to spread across your face due to the shiver she gave you. "Alright”

[acourtofthought]

Inspired by a conversation with @acourtdelaluna

It seems significant that we only learned more about Az's personality after Gwyn was introduced to the series.

In ACOWAR we learned that Elain, along with her love of gardening and the outdoors, began to show interest in baking which Sarah expanded on in the other books what with her helping cook dinners and making Solstice cookies.

In ACOWAR we were told of Lucien's ability to fish, where he also cleaned and cooked them. Of Lucien looking as if he were part of nature, of how he had his own campsites.

Sarah created compatibility in their personalities, something she did even in ACOMAF.

But it was only in SF that we learned that Az's shadows were sentient. Prior to that they seemed to have no real personality outside of Az himself, they were simply his power. But in SF and in HOFAS, we see that the shadows have their own fears, likes, curiosities outside of the times when they aren't "working" for Az.

It was only in SF we learned of Az's ability to sing.

It was only in HOFAS that we learned of the kind of music Az likes.

Multiple books of Az yet these personality traits only came about with the introduction of a certain priestess who also loves music and shows attention to Az's shadows in a way that no other character has done before.

I truly think that if Sarah had known the direction she was taking Az in ACOWAR and known who his endgame was she would have expanded on Az's personality traits in ACOWAR, in the same way she did Lucien. Yet all we really knew of Az during that time was that he was brave, had a difficult childhood and didn't feel like he was truly Illyrian. We were not given "frivolous" traits about him, little details that gave us insight as to who he was when he was by himself, away from his NC duties and I think the reason we're finally starting to see those things for Az is because Sarah now knows who his endgame person is and who he is as a result. I think knowing his endgame person has given her more insight into Az as a character in exactly the same way we got a lot of insight into both Lucien and Elain in the book where she mated them and the books following.

[kraangdroidz]

TMNT AU thought of by me, WONDERFUL artwork done by @haylysgay !! For FREE, can you guys believe that?? ٩>ᴗ<)و

!! NOTE: they do not do commissions for money. They did this because they wanted to, and they're my friend. Thank you !!

Lys is a very good online friend of mine who had to listen to way too many of my rambles over Discord about my TMNT AU. If I had to create a TMNT show, what would they look like, and what would their story be?

They very, very generously drew these for me, and I could not be thankful enough. So please keep in mind that while the AU was thought of by me, it was my friend who drew these, and I wouldn't be posting about this AU without her.

Also, please remember that they are doing this out of their own kindness, I ask you not to expect lots of posts about this AU or for it to be widely expanded upon - art takes time, and I in no way expect my friend to make lots and lots of drawings just for me to post. I'm already so thankful for these two goobs, and Raph and Donnie may come later, but again, please do not expect these drawings to immediately come soon after these ones, or even at all, if my friend is busy or simply chooses not to draw them, which would be absolutely fine by me.

- Some details about their designs and my AU -

If you notice in the image, they aren't wearing their masks around their face like they normally do. I like to think that, as teens, they start to explore self-expression more. Teenagers in particular often start to find their sense of style in regards to clothing, and with the lack of clothes, my versions of the turtles started to style pieces of coloured fabric differently as opposed to masks. A little bit of diversity to the one piece of material they consistently wear.

If you look, you see Leo has a piece of fabric tied around his waist, and in Mikey's drawing, he has pieces of orange cloth tied around both of his wrists with fairly long mask tails. I really wanted to choose this for Mikey as I imagine the pieces of long cloth flowing and moving really beautifully in battle (and when he does a bit of break-dancing) alike.

Donnie would have his mask rested around his neck almost like a scarf, I chose this as I really liked how in the IDW continuity, the Turtles would often have their masks rested around their necks when in more relaxed settings - and I wish the shows would utilise this idea more!

Raph wears his mask normally, and while I know that sounds boring compared to his brothers, wearing it on his face is now considered unique to him because his other brother's aren't wearing their masks normally.

You can also thank Lys for backing this idea up AHAHA

I was torn at the time between giving them their normal masks, but the length of the mask tails indicated how powerful/far they were into their Ninja skills, or doing this idea, I asked Lys about it and they very excitedly responded that I should do the latter.

- Details about my Leo's personality and his design -

When Lys was asking me for references as she wanted to draw them, I pulled up images of the species I imagined them to be, told them the Turtle's personalities and age orders, some events that would have happened to them in the hypothetical timeline of this show, and probably some other stuff.

Leo is the youngest in my AU because my God, I love youngest Leo AU's. A really smart visual idea that Lys came up with is that Leo's shell looks a bit larger than his body does. It looks like he has more to grow into, like when your mum buys you a big sweater/jumper because 'you'll grow into it'. I thought it was a super cute detail.

Lys also said they were feeling a bit worried that the youngest boy Leo was looking a bit too mature and rough, considering in my AU he's meant to be 13. I said I thought it was OK, I liked it even, young people can look rough too - and I love when designs in shows go against what you would expect them to look like (like a younger character not being all cute and free of scars, bruises, etc.)

My Leo is a False Map Turtle, which is explanation for all his stripes (it really reminds me of Rise Leo concept art when he looked like a watermelon ❤️ /aff) his almost heart-shaped patterns on his plastron, and slightly spiky shell.

You also may notice our favourite blue boy is missing an eye :(( Yes, not just blinded. That eye is GONE out of that socket, boi!!

In the hypothetical show timeline, my Leo ends up meeting a stunning girl named Lotus Blossom of a similar age to him, graceful, polite, but also insanely skilled at martial arts. The kiddo is head over heels in young love, guys, and they start to secretly date. Unbeknownst to Leo, his first girlfriend is in the Foot Clan, and at some point in their relationship, ambushes him while backed up by Bebop and Rocksteady - Leo gets badly beaten and loses an eye in the fight.

Betrayed and filled with anger at himself and how naive he was, Leo now struggles to form close connections to people and even spiralled into thinking his family might betray him after the incident, only for a short time though.

Karai is not a part of my iteration, sorry Karai-fans, but Karai has had her place in several TMNT media now. Lotus Blossom was a character who appeared in the episode 'Beware the Lotus' of the original 1987 series and has not had a major role or even reference appearance in other shows. She was introduced in the episode as a potential love interest for Leo, hence why I brought these two back together in my AU. Even if that love wasn't really true.

Considering Lotus was a one time-appearance, she wasn't a well-established character and therefore left a lot of freedom for what I might be able to do with her. I know I want her to be I affiliated with The Foot, but as far as things go right now, I'm not that in-depth with what I want to do with her.

Despite being the youngest, Leo is insanely skilled at ninjutsu, while his other brothers are a half and half mix of actually being interested in ninjutsu while also feeling like it's just an obligation and chore - Leo fully loves ninjutsu and finds its history to be extremely fascinating. (His brothers can't even watch a martial arts movie with this guy. He will whine about inaccuracies the whole time.)

His Master also knows he is well beyond his years in the arts of stealth and several fighting styles, as well as showing promise in tactical skills.

Despite Leo thinking he has potential, he takes the back-seat, accepting from essentially day one that he will never be the leader because he is the youngest, why would his older brothers want his tiny self barking orders at them? So he rarely tries to prove his true potential. He's scared of his brothers becoming competitive, angry, or thinking he is a suck-up to Dad.

Leo thinks his brothers would be embarrassed or give up on ninjutsu altogether if their 13 year old brother was noticeably better than them, so Leo will even downplay his fighting skills when in training to seem a bit weaker than he truly is.

Also, the little doodle of Leo with his middle fingers up came from my own crappy scribbles AAHAH

Also, bonus crappy doodle from me

so do you want it back or nah? (holding out of socket eyeball)

fuck no Lotus just fak off will ye

(Also that's blood in the doodle he is not crying without an eyeball.)

Leo's favourite pizza? Plain cheese.

Leo's second favourite food aside from that? Seafood boil.

- Mikey and his personality -

Mikey is a pignosed turtle, which explains his little snoot on the drawing. I also talked to Lys about how I imagined Mikey with his snoot stuffed into a bag of Cheetos or something similar, and she very graciously drew a doodle of this bigback stuffing his face into a jar of Cheeseballs.

Mikey also has a Walkman, popular in the 80's-90's, as this is the time in which my Turtle's are living!

Mikey is the very loud one of the team. He's brazen and dramatic and ... wait for it... LOVES POLKA!!

(sorry 2012 mikey, who hates polka :c I thought it'd be a funny nod to that fact)

But just because Mikey can be a bit much at times, it doesn't mean he doesn't know when to be serious. He absolutely does, and if he can see one of his brothers aren't having a good day, he'll scarily be able to guess what they need at that moment (a hug, advice, time alone, etc)

I actually wanted Mikey to share a similar tech interest with Donnie, I hated the 'dumb luck' thing in 2012, where Mikey would suddenly be able to figure things out, but at all other times, MAJORITY of the time, was made out to be an idiot by both the show writers and his brothers. Considering PB&J duo is a well established and considered 'best' duo in the TMNT franchise, I thought it'd be cool for Mikey to have some aspect of Donnie's smarts that's still true to his personality.

Mikey loves video games, I feel like he'd really enjoy the Mortal Kombat arcade machine. Many young kids that like video games grow up wanting to make one some day or be involved with games as a career without realising the full extent of what it takes to get to that point. It doesn't deter mikey, though, and he becomes aspired to build an arcade machine one day and produce a game himself with coding and technological skills. So Mikey enjoys those things, but in regards to making video games, whereas Donnie enjoys tech and science as a whole, but they still manage to bond over what they know with each other.

My Mikey adopted a stray black kitty off of the streets of NYC, much to Raph's horror (who's allergic to cats) and named him Mr. Miyagi.

Mikey's biggest fear is growing up. He wants to live each day to its fullest and be young forever without the fear of dying. He doesn't want to grow old and have to slow down when he loves adrenaline, skateboarding, and a bunch of other stuff he can't do if he's some old person! For that reason, Mikey never seems all too happy during birthdays, much to the bewilderment of his brothers.

It's only when the brothers meet Renet (an elderly timestress, WHO MIKEY WILL HAVE NO ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP WITH!!! who keeps time travelling just a few years back, as she is afraid to die, time travelling back so she's still elderly - but at her actual age, she says she can feel herself dying and slowing down and hates that feeling, and keeps going back. Just a tiny bit.)

Mikey feels God awful and struggles and slowly realises that more often than not, old age is the best way to go, though bitter-sweet. He'd have people to say bye to him, he'd have lived a full life and, as I said, he wants to live every day to the fullest, he should want to do that for as long as possible, right?

Mikey comes to terms with the fact that old age isn't inherently associated with death. He could die tomorrow, any day, still young without having done anything.

He thinks now growing old is something to hopefully look forward to. He helps Renet to show that death and being old isn't scary and that it's time to let go. In the end, with Mikey by her side, he says goodbye to her because he has the time to. He has time because her death is natural. Her death isn't sudden. Renet is able to find peace and move on to the afterlife.

Mikey's favourite pizza? Cheeseburger pizza.

Second favourite food? Spaghetti and meatballs.

[dekusleftsock]

Hey, so you said in your tags about how katsuki is a freak in his own way, could you please expand on this idea a little and when it comes to Izuku?

Sure!

I actually made a post about this very concept semi recently but that post also didn’t really have organization lmao

The main reason I’ve always thought Katsuki as “a freak” as I dub him is for the very foundations of his personality. I think the main reason why no one in the western fandom looks at him and sees him for his (kinda) socially inept aspects is because of a combination between cultural differences and the nuances that hero society throws into Japan specifically.

It’s well known that Horikoshi’s story/world is heavily influenced by American super hero comics. Superman, Spider-Man, Harley, Poison Ivy, Bat-man, Captain America, ant man, etc. are all very obvious influences throughout the story, with characters like Allmight often feeling like a combination of Superman and Captain America.

The reason I bring this up is because the very aspects of these super hero comics is kind of in direct contradiction with Japanese society, especially as those heroics within the world affect the society around them.

Heroes are this curve ball thrown into a society that teaches its citizens to be polite, complicit, and quiet. That’s not to say that this is necessarily a “wrong” way to have a society, but I think it’s with this context that Katsuki’s character (and therefore the intentions behind it) become clearer.

Heroes are bright, loud, and powerful. But long before Katsuki was a hero he already was these things; how does that affect his social life? How do the people around him treat him in the context that he is both not a hero nor having of a quirk? If heroes are the “exceptions” to the society around them, and Katsuki is not yet an exception, then he is an outcast, right?

It’s this context that I feel most people forget. Katsuki understands the people around him, he’s very observant and nosy, but he also just doesn’t care. He is unabashedly himself at all times. Those jokes Aizawa made about keeping him out of the spotlight showcase this perfectly, Japanese society expects a certain standard for the social context around him—which he actively ignores.

It’s a very ironic aspect to his character given that most people admire and/or envy him. It puts a whole new light on izuku saying that he was the one “actually in his life”, that Izuku may have admired him before his quirk for simply being himself. Not to mention how it makes sense that he would believe izuku was looking down on him for admiring him before his quirk, because Katsuki was bullied! I think that’s an often overlooked detail given that he only became “acceptable” to most kids around him when he gained his quirk. The memory this is showcased in is entirely Izuku’s pov, which is heavily biased in the sense that he admired Katsuki. Getting jumped by kids two years older than you though is so weird, and I can’t help but wonder if the perspective might’ve changed were it in Katsuki’s pov.

To me, the idea that Izuku’s memories of Katsuki being this social god come from blind childlike envy and admiration, especially as the contextual things happening (Katsuki is a REALLY big hero fan, he’s rude, he doesn’t remember people’s names, actively terrible at making friends at UA for a good couple weeks, getting bullied to even a minimal extent) in comparison to the words being told. You are told by Izuku that Katsuki is amazing, brilliant, talented, energetic, crass, and in reality (especially when they enter UA), to most people Katsuki is annoying, loud, mean, a little intimidating, and not nearly as cool as he thinks he is. His friends spend the entirety of the beginning of their first year actively making fun of him for thinking he’s tough shit when he so obviously isn’t.

And I think the biggest most important part to this “Katsuki is a bit of a social outcast” discussion, is that the villains thought he was like them! They thought he would hurt people because he screamed “die” and didn’t like winning when he felt he didn’t earn it.

The only reason Katsuki is not as much of an outcast as, say, Izuku, is simply because he won the lottery. He earned that extra point. He caught that curve ball to Japanese society and honed it into something greater.

And, see, Izuku can’t really know/comprehend that Katsuki would be, I don’t know, unpopular to any extent (shown in the beginning of the series when he’s freaking out on the bus that HES being complimented and Katsuki is being insulted), because to him Katsuki always acted like a hero. And in a way, he does! But it’s in the way that hero society throws that curve ball, contradictory to social norms, and of course it makes sense why they still happened at all; the past was dangerous! It was life changing! Disparity and violence and death, desperation fueled this huge monumental change. And what is izuku “I don’t know how to make people like me” Midoriya going to do when this kid, Bakugou Katsuki, acts like one of the heroes on TV? He’s not gonna call the Geneva convention and ask why the hell this child isn’t acting like a normal citizen—he’ll admire him to such a visceral degree because it’s almost like he was born a hero.

I like the concept that, because heroes and villain are cut from the same cloth, relatively similar in concept and strength and past hurts in their history, that this also affects how they are socially. You are outcasted by society: you want to oppose societal norms to live freely as yourself and others as theirselves, you want to make sure everyone can smile at the end of the day because sometimes you or your parents couldn’t, you want to be the best because someone told you that you couldn’t, you want to be just like the hero on your TV, who inspired the hero in your life.

Also you need to be at least a little bit of a freak to be listening in on people’s business all the time because it involves your childhood friend/rival to literally any degree. Like bro what is wrong with you come HERE BBG LET ME PICK YOUR BRAIN APART PIECE BY PIECE

More side note: idfk where I got the Geneva convention thing. I was just thinking about how mha has genuinely had violations against the Geneva convention

[blood-darkened-moon]

Alexia Ashford CV vs DSC

I wrote this character comparison almost an eternity ago and revised it from time to time but never posted it. In fact, the character comparisons were one of the first things I ever wrote about the Ashfords. I had finished Alexander and Veronica some time ago. Alexia and Alfred are still missing. Now, I’ve used the time to rewrite everything again and add a few points to Alexia’s character comparison.

Advantages of Code Veronica

Let’s start with Alexia herself. Probably the most notable change to Alexia’s character in DSC compared to the original is her relationship with her brother. However, since I already elaborated on this in more detail in other posts, I’ll mainly focus on the narrative impact of this change.

In the original, the twins’ relationship is characterized by mutual, possibly asymmetrical, affection. Alfred’s death and Alexia’s desire to revenge it are the cause of everything that happens afterward. Removing this aspect by having Alexia kill Alfred herself was not a particularly wise decision in DSC. Alexia’s part was not rewritten on a larger scale either to justify this decision. Given the playtime of the CV section in DSC and the greater focus on action, I understand why they didn’t do it, too much effort for no appreciable gain. However, Alexia’s revenge was a simple yet effective motive for her actions in CV. Why did they have to remove it if they didn’t have a better idea for the character anyway?

Alexia has very little screen time, and apart from what you can gather from text documents, a large part of her characterization is based on her affection for her brother. However, as both are omitted in DCS (text documents have to be unlocked first, so they are completely optional), all that’s left is a shallow character whose motivations and actions make little to no sense.

The affection for Alfred also gives Alexia humanity in CV. She may otherwise be cold and calculating, but Alfred’s death ultimately makes her act emotionally. This humanity also makes it clear once again that the twins’ story is a tragedy. Alexia (and Alfred) were not evil from birth but simply victims of circumstance. DSC-Alexia, however, has nothing human about her. She is evil for the sake of being evil. She has been stripped of any complexity. From that point of view, a tyrant could have easily replaced her as the final boss.

Besides, the trope of the supervillain who doesn’t care about anyone but themselves and gets rid of their subordinates when they are no longer of any use is quite common in fictional stories. A villain who cares about at least certain other people, on the other hand, is relatively rare. That’s why I think it’s particularly unfortunate that they’ve changed this point and turned DSC-Alexia into an overused cliché.

However, the change has further consequences. With the revenge for Alfred removed, they had to give her something else as a motive for her actions after his death. In this case, they focused more on her world domination plans without thinking them through first. The plans weren’t worked out in the original either. But since they ultimately didn’t play a role there in terms of the plot, it didn’t matter. In DSC, they have been superficially expanded to some extent, but this addition only raises more questions than it answers.

DSC-Alexia wants to use her world domination to turn all humans into her lab rats and carry out unspecified experiments on them. What is the point of this? This woman sacrificed 15 years(!) of her life just for a little “fuck around, find out”. Really? That’s all she wants? She already works for Umbrella, who obviously have no problem with human experimentation. As long as she delivers results anyway, they probably don’t care if she uses a few test subjects for private purposes. And if that’s not enough, there’s always Rockfort Island, where Alfred could also act like a dictator and torture people at will. There, Alexia could simply do whatever she wanted, including human experiments. If DSC-Alexia had been successful, she wouldn’t have gotten anything she couldn’t already have without the t-Veronica virus and a 15-year wait. So why all the effort?

What does she want to do with billions of people anyway? She can’t even carry out that many experiments. Here’s a bit of math. If Alexia were to conduct a billion experiments, each lasting just one second, it would take her 31.7 years (not including sleeping, eating, etc.).

Also, in DSC, it’s questionable why Alexia starts experimenting on Steve as soon as she wakes up. First of all, shouldn’t she already know how controlling people through her virus works? Did she go into cryogenic sleep for 15 years only to possibly realize, “Oops, doesn’t work like I thought it would”? That would be pretty stupid, especially since she’s supposed to be exceptionally intelligent. Besides, she should have other things to worry about at this point than any experiments. The situation in the Antarctic facility is rather suboptimal, to say the least. Everyone is dead, the facility is damaged, and it is surely only a matter of time before the supply systems collapse. She probably can’t fly a plane herself and Alfred, who could, is dead. Also, very intelligent to eliminate the only ally and thus the only escape option before using it and then be left without one.

It would be logical for DSC-Alexia to try to escape from Antarctica first instead of running around the facility as if the situation there was none of her business. After all, she is supposed to be a genius. I would expect a logical analysis of the situation from a genius followed by reasonable measures. DCS-Alexia, however, seems to have absolutely no idea about anything and just acts completely randomly and irrationally.

In CV, Alexia’s actions are understandable. Because of Alfred’s death, Alexia has a reason to act illogically and just give in to her emotions. She wants revenge and is obviously trying to save her brother. Otherwise, she would hardly have put him in the tank. That’s more important to her at that moment than anything else. Escape and the state of the base are secondary.

Throwing away the comprehensible revenge plot and delving into Alexia’s world domination plans instead, without even a remotely reasonable idea for it, is absolutely wild to me. This change was completely unnecessary. Her desire for revenge for Alfred was neither too complex to fit into the more limited playtime nor would it have been incomprehensible due to the quasi-missing text documents. It’s a simple yet effective plot. But no, instead they had to let Alexia’s storyline drift into complete nonsense. I like the original storyline better anyway, but it’s not that I wouldn’t accept an alternative version if it was done well, but it isn’t. If you remove dramaturgically critical elements, you have to replace them in an adequate way. In that case, it would involve rewriting Alexia’s story segment on a large scale. If Capcom didn’t want to do this, keep the original plot, ffs.

Alexia’s Personality

As for Alexia’s personality, I’m not satisfied either. I understand what they wanted to do, but once again, it’s not well realized. Alexia was 12 years old when she started her cryosleep. In the 15 years, she has aged physically but not mentally. So Alexia shouldn’t behave any more maturely than she did before that time.

I think the idea of adapting her a little in this respect is a good one. But the question is, how childish was Alexia anyway? Alexia was definitely not a normal child at the age of 12. She had a university degree by the age of 10, which, despite her superhuman intellect, would only have been possible in terms of time if she had worked on it from a very early age. In other words, Alexia never had an actual childhood. Moreover, she worked for Umbrella for two years in a position that normally involves personnel responsibility. Therefore, Alexia would likely have behaved much more maturely than an average 12-year-old would.

What we do know about 12-year-old Alexia is that she is patient. She was willing to submit to the long cryogenic sleep in order to achieve her goals. She also seems to weigh up situations rather than immediately giving in to emotional impulses. After Alfred learned the truth about his and Alexia’s origins, he wanted to kill his father. However, Alexia decided not to kill Alexander but to use him for her own purposes. You wouldn’t expect something like that from an infantile girl.

DSC-Alexia seems far too childish compared to what we know. Actually, childish isn’t even the right word here. She appears much more like a complete idiot who has no idea what she’s actually doing. As described above, her actions are not guided by any kind of logic. Everything she does seems to be the result of a spontaneous idea. She acts irrationally and at random. She kills Alfred, even though he would be more useful while still alive. She plays around with her virus, even though she has other problems in her situation. She is also very easily distracted. The video with Alexander is enough to stop her from immediately attacking Chris and Claire instead of taking advantage of their moment of carelessness. Then there’s the weird talk about Veronica, where she means her virus, only she’s personifying it for some reason. This is also something that I wouldn’t describe as childish but bizarre.

If you want to give Alexia a more childish side, that’s perfectly fine and would suit the character. But it shouldn’t be overdone, and especially Alexia shouldn’t come across as an idiot, completely contrary to how the character is intended. I think a personality comparable to Natalia Korda’s would be the best fit in this respect. Natalia also behaved more maturely than would be expected for a child her age, but every now and then, you can see her childish side. This is also what you might expect from Alexia.

Advantages of Darkside Chronicles

Initially, I only wanted to rant in these posts about how DSC messed up the Ashfords. I especially didn’t like the implementation of Alexia, and other than Alfred, I didn’t have anything positive to say about her. But the longer I think about it, the more I notice some positive aspects. In addition to some plot holes that DSC has eliminated (see below), I also think that the way Alexia is incorporated into the games is much better handled in DSC than in CV.

In both games, she is built up as the main antagonist for a long time. The whole time, she hovers over the player like a sword of Damocles. In CV, she appears personally for the first time at the end of Claire’s part, which accounts for about two-thirds to three-quarters of the total playtime. In DSC, she appears at the end of chapter 6 of 7, so in principle, the time she could actively participate in the story is even shorter. However, they made significantly better use of it.

After the long wait for her appearance in CV, Alexia wakes up, attacks Claire and Steve, and immediately disappears into oblivion again until almost the very end of the game. Instead of focusing on the character the game should be about, it is named after the project that led to her creation and her virus, after all, the focus suddenly switches to Wesker. However, Wesker is practically irrelevant to the overall plot of this game. Even if his scenes are entertaining, they often disrupt the narrative. Apart from the fact that Wesker attacked Rockfort Island and took Steve’s body at the end, the two things he does off-screen(!), you can remove everything that happens with him without the plot changing much. He’s just a side character in this game. There isn’t even a real boss fight with him. Nevertheless, he completely dominates Chris’ section, while Alexia is only sort of there.

The only attention Alexia is granted until shortly before the end of the game are relatively pointless brief appearances, which seem to be more like a reminder to the player that Alexia still exists. These appearances include two scenes in which she appears on screens on Rockfort Island. Both scenes don’t make any logical sense (see below). Then she appears again when Chris finds Alexander’s body. The appearances that follow are at least plot-relevant.

After the game has reached the final phase in CV, Alexia’s story unfortunately comes to a very unspectacular and unsatisfying conclusion, mainly due to some not particularly great gameplay decisions. First of all, it’s annoying that regular gameplay, including puzzles and a lot of running back and forth, still makes up quite a large part of this section, like the puzzle to open Steve’s room (which was really unnecessary) and everything that has to be done after the first boss fight in the mansion. Stretching the playtime, that’s all it was. Alexia isn’t given a coherent ending, and the pacing problems ruin the little bit of tension built up.

Alexia’s actual boss fight was also designed to be extremely boring. While the fight with her first form is still quite good in terms of challenge and difficulty, her other two forms are disappointing. Shouldn’t they be an upgrade and not a downgrade? You defeat her second form by simply standing around, shooting with large-caliber weapons, and healing yourself from time to time. Apart from the poison, the damage is limited. Otherwise, no strategy is necessary. The third phase only depends on luck. You have to hit her once with the Linear Launcher. If you’re lucky, you’ll hit it with the first shot. If you’re unlucky, time will run out. Once again, a strategic approach is not required.

And as if that wasn’t enough, Alexia isn’t even allowed to end the game with her fight. No. They had to add the pseudo-boss fight with Wesker, which is once again irrelevant to the story and logically questionable. During Alexia’s boss fight, time is limited before the facility blows up, but afterward, there is apparently enough time to deal with Wesker extensively.

DSC has improved the narrative around Alexia tremendously by cutting Wesker almost completely out of the plot. Even though she only really appears in one chapter, she plays an important role there and doesn’t feel like she’s been relegated to a side character in her own game. Every scene in which she appears is relevant to the story. She has several appearances before the boss fight. The boss fight takes up a good part of the chapter, and Wesker’s appearance after she is defeated is short enough that he doesn’t steal the show.

All three phases of the boss fight are well implemented. Each one requires a certain strategic approach, with the requirements also changing for each form. Additionally, Alexia can take a good amount of damage without feeling like a bullet sponge, which gives the fights a good length. Overall, it is a worthy conclusion to the chapter.

Note: Don’t get me wrong, I like Wesker, but just putting him in a game as often as possible, even if he barely contributes to the plot, is not good storytelling. I don’t think Wesker’s scenes should be almost completely removed in a remake, as DSC did. However, Capcom should think about which ones are actually necessary for the main game. I like some of the scenes quite a lot and would like to have them included. Nevertheless, it would certainly make more sense to put most of Wesker’s story in a DLC or an extra chapter than to include all of it in the main game. That way, the game can focus on Alexia without losing Wesker’s content. Alternatively, Alexia could get additional and more meaningful scenes to balance out Wesker’s appearances. Well, as the main antagonist, she should get more content anyway.

Plot Holes in CV

Now, let us get to the above-mentioned plot holes in CV. These mainly involve strangely placed cameras that shouldn’t exist. That happens three times in total. But while two scenes could at least be explained somehow, albeit far-fetched, the first time is particularly nonsensical.

The first of these cameras appears directly after Alexia’s awakening. Claire and Steve leave the base in a snowmobile and are attacked by the tentacles during their journey. Even though they may not have gotten very far, they have definitely already left the facility. But Alexia can still follow everything on a screen. So, where did the camera come from? Was it just installed there by chance? Did Alexia equip one of the tentacles with a camera? Can Alexia project an image onto a screen using only the power of her mind, contrary to the laws of physics? Nothing really makes sense here. In DSC, Alexia personally attacks Claire and Steve before they can leave the base, which completely eliminates this plot hole.

The other two times Alexia appears on screens on Rockfort Island. But from Alexia’s perspective, this makes no sense whatsoever. These scenes only seem to be a reminder of her existence.

First of all, the UBCS training center was built in the early 90s. Alexia shouldn’t have known it existed since she was asleep during that time. Even assuming Claire or Steve told her (Alfred is already dead), why would she livestream herself to Rockfort Island while mourning Alfred? Alexia doesn’t even know who is watching, whether anyone is there at all, or whether a transmission is possible. After all, she must have heard from Claire or Steve as well that the facility exploded earlier.

Why is there even a connection to the training center on Rockfort Island? Did Alexia set it up herself? With her ancient early-80s computer and no knowledge of the latest technical developments? Even as a genius, knowledge doesn’t just transfer to the brain.

Did Alfred set up the connection? That would make sense if there was a connection to his private residence, but to the surveillance room of the training center, where lots of people come and go and could discover Alexia? That doesn’t make sense either. The fact that Alexia is still alive should be a secret.

Besides, after Alfred’s death, with Steve and Claire and the overall situation in the facility, Alexia probably has other things to do than look for a camera that she can connect to the ancient computer and then film herself holding her dead brother in her arms like a total attention whore.

What is she actually trying to achieve with her performances? Is she trying to lure Chris to Antarctica? But she doesn’t talk to him. She doesn’t say a single word, and nothing in the videos indicates where she currently is. Chris gets the information from Wesker, who just happens to be running around the buildings at the time. Without Wesker, Chris wouldn’t know anything, neither who the strange woman on the screen is nor where Claire is. (Technically, the confrontation between Chris and Wesker is also relevant for this specific reason. However, since it’s just based on too many coincidences, I think this shouldn’t be how Chris finds out about Claire’s whereabouts.) Alexia would have to wait who knows how many extra hours until Chris figured out where to go. Also, She doesn’t even know what Chris looks like. The best she has is a verbal description from Claire, but Chris doesn’t look that special, and the man walking around could still be some UBCS mercenary, looter, or someone else entirely.

Does she even know if there’s someone there? She would need cameras that transmit the images to her location. It’s a miracle that the technology still works so well after the explosion on Rockfort Island anyway. Or is she just switching to various monitors on the off chance that someone is watching? That actually seems to be the case. In her first appearance, in which she holds Alfred in her arms, Chris has entered the surveillance room but is outside the field of vision of the screens, i.e., where a camera would most likely be located. Alexia can’t know he’s there. Wesker can also see her transmission, and he’s somewhere else entirely at the time. So apparently, she live-streams herself to random ass monitors for whatever.

Her second appearance is even more pointless. What was that about? Again, she doesn’t talk. Alexia just watches (or not) Wesker and Chris, then she laughs and is gone again. This appearance makes even less sense than the previous one. It’s just another reminder of her existence, plus her appearance stops Wesker from killing Chris for whatever reason. Why actually? Alexia isn’t on Rockfort Island, and Wesker already wasted a lot of time there anyway, despite knowing her location. He surely still has an additional minute to spare. I mean, if killing Chris is his priority, just kill him right then and there. And if Alexia is his priority, why is he still running around Rockfort Island? This entire scene makes so little sense if you think about it.

There’s also a plot hole regarding one of Wesker’s lines. He says during Alexia’s first appearance on screen, she is fully awake again. How did he know she was asleep? He attacked Rockfort Island because Alfred was dressing up as Alexia, right? That was the “Alexia” he was looking for. He shouldn’t know anything about Alexia’s 15-year sleep, and according to what he knows, she’s awake at the time anyway. The texts on Alexia’s experiments are all located in Antarctica. So if he knows by then where Alexia and the virus are, what is he still doing on Rockfort Island at least 10 hours after the attack? If Alexia had told Wesker and Chris where she was at this time, that would have been a different story, but as I said, she doesn’t talk.

DSC cleverly avoids all these plot holes by removing the part with Chris. Due to the changed gameplay, it wouldn’t have fit into the game anyway. Nevertheless, this decision has had a very positive effect on the narrative, both dramaturgically and in terms of logic.

Conclusion

DSC-Alexia could have worked if Capcom had put more effort into rewriting her. Since they didn’t do that we only get a villain without any depth. DSC-Alexia doesn’t convey how tragic the twins’ background was, and above all, her motivation and actions make almost no sense. As a character, she is inferior to CV-Alexia.

CV-Alexia isn’t perfect either. While her characterization is more thought through, she isn’t utilized well in the game. She is basically just a side character despite being the main villain. Still, I like her much better, especially her relationship with Alfred, and I hope a remake is based on her not on DCS-Alexia. I would welcome a few changes, though, for example, she should appear in more scenes and these should actually be story-relevant contributions instead of random pointless reminders of her existence. The second part of the game should focus on Alexia instead of putting Wesker in the foreground. In general, rewriting and restructuring Chris’ part would help a lot in this regard.

[aihoshiino]

I noticed you’ve talked a lot about the Goro and Sarina chapter in Spica, but I was wondering what do you think about Ai’s chapter and how she was written there?

so even tho I am Spica's Biggest Hater, I actually kind of like Ai's chapter even though I do think it's ultimately less than the sum of its parts. I think a lot of the things that Tanaka does kind of seemingly just out of habit as a writer are things that coincidentally just work for Ai as a POV character in ways they don't for Sarina.

Like, for example, something I really hated about Sarina's chapter was the way Tanaka was just like... idk, it's hard to explain it exactly but it felt like every other paragraph there was some random aside inventing some Spica-original fact about Sarina's life seemingly for the sole purpose of making it even more bleak and miserable than it already was in the main story while also completely failing to have Sarina herself actually be characterized in relation to or really emotionally engage with it. Which, in the context of Sarina's story, just felt excessive and kind of hamfisted.

By contrast, not only does Tanaka do this less with Ai but when he does do it, I feel it works a lot better for her? Not only is it already established to be in character for Ai to be casual/understated about the cruelty other people subject her to in a way it is very much not for Sarina but the persistence of this cruelty and the broader systemic failures to champion her that it represents are some of the most important structural themes of Ai's arc and subsequent tragedy.

I also think it helps that while ch1 of Spica does fall into the same trap of softening and simplifying Ai & Saitou's relationship in the process of focusing on it as it does with Sarina and Gorou's, this is less of an issue just because their relationship isn't quite as loadbearing for the series. After a certain point... idk how else to say it other than the series was really getting diminishing returns on the Gorou & Sarina relationship because it wasn't really doing anything to expand it beyond "sarina is sad, gorou does a nice thing, yey sensei kekkon shite!" whenever we went back to it. So a whole novel that is basically just... more of that stuff over and over without any real expansion on it was just doomed to feel tired.

By contrast, not only do we have a lot less of Ai and Saitou's relationship in the manga, so any extra time with them feels like a bonus, but again it's not really as foundational a relationship to the whole series. So Spica's take on it being a little shallow isn't like a crushing blow or anything.

I guess my feeling at the end of the day is that Sarina's (& Gorou's lol) parts of the story feel a lot less than the sum of their parts bc of the general jank of Tanaka's prose, that jank kind of accidentally suits Ai as a POV character very well in a way I think genuinely enhances her chapter. The result is that her chapter is a lot more than the sum of its parts by comparison and works better in broad strokes even if the zoomed in details still have a lot of issues.

OH, something I will say I just think is straightforwardly good - it's a little on the nose at times but I think Spica's depiction of Ai as an undiagnosed and non-masking neurodivergent person and the struggles she has with understanding, communicating with and navigating other people and their feelings is genuinely really effective and aside from a few flubs here and there, it gets her characterization pretty on-point. One of my fave Ai moments in the series actually comes from Spica; that beat where, when she hits an emotional lowpoint while confronted by her bullies, she begins to cry and immediately freaks the fuck out internally that it's happening because she had "already decided" that she wasn't affected by their words and is stunned by her own inability to simply tell her own feelings what to do <3 THAT'S my little freak!!!

[whattraintracks]

Hi it's me again 🤗

I noticed that you're the only (afaik) blog posting about HPI and its US remake High Potential, so I was very curious to hear your thoughts on comparing both versions? Have you noticed impactful differences (could be either plot, characterization, dynamics...) or is the second one a copycat of the first? Is there one more enjoyable to watch than the other? Also is the US version good? I'm considering watching it, mostly because I miss HPI's early seasons' spirit SO BAD, but also to me Daniel Sunjata = Paul Briggs, which would make an, um... interesting Karadec young!era but wait that's not the point! 😂

Anyway, thoughts? 👀👀

Hello!!

Not me aggressively hunting down HPI and High Potential posts to feed my new obsession 🤣

Yessssss, I would love to share my thoughts on this, let's go!

Let me first say, I only recently watched both of these shows. I first saw the pilot and second episode of High Potential, then I binged S1-3 of HPI, and I've now rewatched High Potential and am keeping up with the new episodes.

Obviously, the setting is one of the most significant differences, but as far as I understand, Major Crimes is a fair equivalent to the DIPJ. It's nice to watch a US crime procedural not set in New York lol. I'll be interested to see how High Potential plays with the geographical aspects of some of the HPI cases.

The pilots are almost exact copies, with one significant difference. The second episode is an entirely different case! Then, the third episode is a remake of HPI 1.02. It sounds like High Potential S1 will have somewhere around 13 episodes, so I'm hopeful it'll continue this back-and-forth of new and copied cases.

I'm thrilled that they've already used this extra episode to expand the plot and characters, and I hope that continues. Minor points that were glossed over in HPI, like Morgane getting her car back, are given a little more time, and we're getting to see more of the footwork done to investigate Roman's disappearance. High Potential is also taking more time to explore Morgan's dynamic with her family, and I love the little ways Roman's absence haunts her.

HPI does a decent job of not presenting the rest of the team as stupid to emphasise Morgane's intelligence, and High Potential is leaning into that. There are some great scenes of Daphne, Oz (Gilles), and Karadec picking up on tiny details, especially ones Morgan misses! Morgan is undoubtedly an asset to the team, but these are seasoned career detectives who're never more than a couple of steps behind her.

I do have a few complaints about the characterisations. First, the show seems to have already lost track of Karadec's cleanliness/hand sanitiser compulsion. Second, Olson's Morgan is not quite as silly goofy as Fleurot's Morgane. I miss my over-the-top ridiculous, no-respect-for-social-conventions lady. Third, Sunjata's portrayal of Karadec comes across as much bolder and—idk how to say it—larger than Nebbou's. He takes up more space, and I miss my dorky, unassuming guy. These are pretty nitpicky, though. Naturally, all of the US actors play their characters a little differently than the original actors. I don't hate it, but I'm still deciding which interpretations I do or don't love. Even so, I'm very much enjoying Morgan's dynamic with Karadec and the other detectives/cops.

I miss the spirit of the early seasons, too 😭 So far, I think it's balancing copycat and reinvention/expansion very well. I'm excited for the rest of it!

At the end of the day, this is a genre I love, and I enjoy watching adaptations simply for the fun of comparing and contrasting them with the original media. But even before I watched HPI, I got drawn into High Potential, so I do recommend checking it out.

Thanks for sticking around for this whole thing! Of course, all of this is based on my reading of HPI and High Potential. If you get around to watching the remake, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

[taxes-evasion]

OMG HIII im so excited for a creepypasta writer :3 may i please request you write for hoodie nd masky, reader also being a proxy!!!! it could be general hcs or whatevs, up to you!! if you dont want to do this req, its ok, if u want me to req smthn else u can always pm me

HIII and thank you so much! I hope I complied with your request (sorry if I didn't).

Characters included: Reader (as proxy), Slenderman (named sometimes as Boss), Masky and Hoodie + mention of other proxies.

Small Warnings: mention of kidnapping, mention of dizziness, actions of light bullying, mention of broken bones, deep cuts, bruises, killing and curse words. Proxies are not kind toward newbie at all :(

⚠️Writer's Notices⚠️: I think I expanded the request without intending to? I'm not sure about that. I just like to give a lot of informations about the characters, so I also put a very light backstory of the Reader. I hope this doesn't bother you and, of course, if you wish, you can skip everything and go to the part that interests you the most. I'm not judging. Please enjoy!

𝑀𝐴𝑆𝐾𝑌 𝐴𝑁𝐷 𝐻𝑂𝑂𝐷𝐼𝐸 𝑊𝐼𝑇𝐻 𝐴 𝑃𝑅𝑂𝑋𝑌 𝑅𝐸𝐴𝐷𝐸𝑅

HOW DID YOU BECOME A PROXY?

You are probably in contact with kids/young adults who saw Slenderman;

Maybe a babysitter or a psychiatrist;

The fact is that you will never encounter proxies initially;

It is very important for Slenderman to decide for himself his servants;

Toby had once brought a girl into the mansion unbeknownst to Boss... Let's say she stayed for a short time;

Of course, Toby doesn't remember her anymore;

One day someone tells you about this strange, tall and thin man who appears in their dreams and in the woods;

However, one day you were normally on your way home when you started to feel dizzy;

And... surprise! Shortly afterwards you were in a dark office without any kind of light, forced to listen to a faceless man;

You don't remember much about how you get there but your attention, of course, is not centered on that small detail;

BUT WHY WERE YOU RECRUITED BY SLENDERMAN?

Most likely because you have a very good intellect and you reason efficiently;

The Big Boss really needs proxies like that;

Not an athletic person? DON'T WORRY! Slenderman already knows everything about you and what type of training you need, he already comes up with a training program just for you!

(Be grateful and don't try to run away, this tired old man ain't got no time to come and haunt you) :(

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

One surprise after another, apparently! (actually, you could easily imagine what is about to happen);

You are entrusted to some proxies who will take you under their "protective" wing;

These proxies are: Masky, Hoodie, and Toby!

But mainly Masky and Hoodie since they are the only ones who have actually done any training when they arrived at the mansion;

Toby isn't very present because he doesn't care much and would still struggle to have an initial relationship given his Antisocial Personality Disorder;

But don't worry! He'll get used to you soon!

HOW DO MASKY AND HOODIE BEHAVE TOWARDS YOU?

They are slightly heartless bitches :(

(they're actually "somehow" nice to you but not too much);

I mean they would help you with training but make fun of you whenever they can;

This mainly Masky;

Hoodie simply giggles meanly and nods;

DON'T LET THESE "INSTRUCTORS" OF YOURS FIND OUT THAT YOU'RE SENSITIVE OR THAT YOU CRY EASILY!

(This is honestly me);

I say this for your own good, really;

If Masky notices a sniffling or shining eyes from tears that would like to fall... you will find out what hell is;

You will no longer know what dignity is...

"Awwww, don't tell me our little newbie is going to cry, right?" it may be the phrase you'll hear the most;

Masky will basically yell it in the presence of ALL the residents of the mansion just to give you a reason to cry more;

"Come on Masky, can't you see that the frail little thing here is shaking? Give them some personal space."

Another reality revealed, but this time it's Hoodie's fault;

He probably won't yell it like Masky, but he'll still say it in a higher-than-average tone of voice;

BUT WHAT IF YOU'RE ACTUALLY VERY BADASS?

If they notice that you are actually very neutral and don't care about their nasty comments, they will simply stop;

After all, it's no fun if there are no reactions;

Basically, they will just give you the advice you need to improve;

However, you may also have a short fuse!

Maybe you shouldn't point it out, you might unintentionally push yourself further, and since Masky also has a short fuse, you could start a fight with him;

If there's Hoodie nearby he'll stop Masky before killing you (but you'll have some deep cuts, bruises and, at worst, broken bones);

However, in the absence of Hoodie/other proxies, you will be killed without much scruples;

Butttt... consider yourself lucky because usually Hoodie and Masky are together all the time, either for tasks and because they have established a good relationship and don't spend much time with the other residents;

Above all they are good instructors;

They know when you've reached your limit and will stop you if they see you're going too far;

They will give you advice and plan a diet if they see that it is necessary;

It could have been worse, couldn't it?

WHAT DO THEY LOOK LIKE DURING TRAINING?

As said before, they would certainly help you a lot;

Both with advice and by encouraging you to keep going;

(they will become more and more familiar with this as time goes on);

However, I like to imagine that Hoodie does the exercises with you, both to keep fit and to be an example for you;

Masky observes the two of you, smoking his cigarettes;

In some cases he will join you;

(he made a bet on who does the most running laps with Hoodie);

"You know, Y/N, Masky has never been able to beat me in a running challenge", Hoodie usually makes fun of Masky;

"For fuck's sake, just shut up!" and Masky responds in a bad way;

While they may seem quite calm while training you, don't forget that they are professional assassins;

You don't really want to see them when they have to torture/kill someone;

But one day, for sure, you're going to see that because, ops!, from now on you are a proxy;

Good luck with that!

Okay, that's all about our two favorite proxies!

I really have to write headcanons about their backstories because I've honestly always wanted to do that.

I hope you enjoyed this!

♡