#they're like little aliens instead of actual people

[shoechoe]

man i am glad i didn't get the tumblr layout update

[stelashe]

There's something so unbelievably broken and vaste between me and gen z I swear like a whole giant moon canyon and tbh I'm glad we can't reach each others

[whereserpentswalk]

Reblog to meet your date! Like to give them a little gift! Tag your freinds to make sure that every monster has somebody to love them! Look under the cut to see what meeting them for the first time is like!

The fallen angel: You see them for the first time, a sexless humanoid with a muscular physique with eyes that reflect broken stars, and wings permanently stained with blood. They wear all black, clothing that looks like they could barely manage to place upon themself. They seem shy at first, like they're worried they'll hurt you just by being there, slowly you extend a hand for them to hold, and cautiously they gently take it, for what's probably the first time in a long time their face shows a smile.

Computer: Slowly the creature is wheeled out by an attendant in a gas mask, an ancient looking monitor surrounded by wires, placed in a wheelchair to make up for the fact that such a creature lacks any limbs. For a few momments you wonder if the stories are true, and if such a being could truly be alive. Then the screen lights up and displays a single red eye, and you understand...

Cyborg: You see them sitting there, nothing to eat, nothing to drink, they didn't even bother wearing clothing. You can see their old flesh and hair on their upper face but everything else looks so very skeletal, even the lower part of their face is like a gas mask, with no mouth or nose. You sit next to them, looking at the parts that hold together their silver body, looking almost like restraints more then they do body parts. You're about to ask them something but a noise reminds them of something and they start to break down, you hold them and tell them they're safe, and you can feel their oddly warm body start to become calm.

Sun and Moon: Two glowing shapes stand before you, each floating and ethereal. One is in the shape of a crescent moon, while the other is in the shape of a sun with rays. You're not sure if it's alive or not or one being or two. Slowly both of them start saying things, wondering what you are and what they're supposed to do to you, sounding more like someone talking tho themself then two beings arguing. Eventually they decide that you're theirs.

Werewolf: for a moment they look entirely human, a slightly chubby grad student with glasses and messy hair looking at you with eyes that aren't a color that human eyes ever are. They looked for a moment to see if you're safe to let their form shift in front of. You can see them change for a moment, cycling through forms, first a humanoid with a few lupine features on their body, then a creature that could pass entirely for an actual wolf, then a mess of fur and claws and jaws and sharp teeth, then a bipedal creature with a wolflike head and fur all over their body. The final form seems to be the one they're most comfortable with, at least around you, at least for this moment.

Fae: They look over you, sitting on the back of their chair instead of sitting on its seat. Their body looks almost human but there is something off about it, like they possess a beauty so perfect its entirely inhuman, almost creepy. They flash you a quick smile, the molecules in the air around their body seemingly terrified by their presence. For a few moments they shift your body, changing your age, your sex, your species, and then putting you back as they were before. They magically remove the worn denims and leathers they were wearing, for a split second showing their naked salmacian body, then they drape themself in a costume of opulent gold and blood red rubies, as they prepare to hold court with you.

Alien: They're massive, like a mantis, with an exoskeleton that shimmers with a thousand colors like bismuth or like starling's feathers. Their crested head looks down at your big golden eyes, that seem weirdly happy. They extend a scythe like arm to touch you with, and you think they're going to attack you, but all they do is gently pet your head. You're very aware of how easily they could hurt you, but they don't, and with them next to you, you feel so safe.

Goblin: The creature walks around you in circles, a blood-stained hoodie on their body, they're far shorter than you but you're very sure that they're stronger, their body skinny not slender but still looking like it could pounce so quickly, like a serpent stalking its prey. Their eyes are so red, like a mouse's, their fangs so sharp, their skin pale white but with thick black veins throughout it. They sniff you for a moment, and then identify you as something safe, and hug you, holding you very tight, as something that's theirs.

Vampire: They're just sitting there, looking at you with their big golden eyes, their inhumanly pale skin contrasted with their long black hair, their completely sexless body wrapped in fancy clothing from hundreds of years prior. Their most inhuman feature is their mouth, massive, snake like, with exposed fangs, and mandibles to help them latch on to prey. You'd expect the sounds they'd make to be like screeches, but they're singing the most beautiful song that you've ever heard, like the sirens of the Odessey. You let them gently pet your head for a few moments, as you do the same for them, then you take out a knife to draw blood from the palm of your hand, and they lap it up so very gently, like a creature eating treats out of your naked hand.

Demon lord: they stand before you, tall and proud, their head many horned and covered in shimmering red scales, their arms muscular and their belly fat, their bottom half quadrupled and reptilian. They look down at you and places something into your hand, it's a food of some sort but it doesn't match the profile of anything you've ever eaten or even seen before in your life, each ingredient entirely alien to your senses. When you take a bite of it they smile and ask if you like it. It tastes better then anything that you've ever eaten before, your tongue filling with eldirch and unknowable things, as your ambitions begin to completely melt away.

Ghost: slowly you walk closer to the spirt, ignoring the others warnings, knowing that you're walking into danger. Eventually you can see them, contrasted with the night, their bloodied form ethereal yet very very present. You can see the broken windows around you, you know that it would be very easy for them to take your life if they wanted to. But they don't, at least not for now, and slowly you extend a hand, and watch them slowly come down twords you to take it.

Dragon: You watch as the sea slowly boils with your spell. You wonder if they can really be summoned like this, you worry that you did something wrong, or that you're not far enough out at sea. Then you see the start of their head rise up from the water, larger then any natural beast, they rush up, rearing their head and neck alone as high up as a skyscraper, their body covered in black-green scales as solid as steel but as light as a feather, their neck serpentine but their massive jaws like that of a crocodile, bright red eyes shining agaisnt the sky as bioluminescent patches glow across their body. They look down at you and smile...

[munsster]

hey girl!! so i was rewatching season 3 and saw the part where max and eleven are playing the spin the bottle and spying on people and had an idea! what if the reader is babysitting them and the girls drag her in to play and they spin in on steve, so she’s like “alright that’s enough” bc she doesn’t want to invade on her friends privacy but she sits through it anyway, and she hears him talking to robin about how much he likes her and wants to ask her out. IDK i thought that was cute :))

don’t hate the game

A/N: UR SO RIGHT THIS IS SO CUTE. I’m so glad i FINALLYYY found motivation to tackle it <3 (gif creds: @buckysbarnes)

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Fem!Reader

Summary: The girls convince you to play an embarrassing party game from your past. It’s nothing like you remember. 2.4k words

Warnings: pet names (sweetheart, honey), ‘like’, overthinking, implied bullying, stupid pining, insecurity

It's a Friday night in the middle of summer, and you're wondering how you got here. Well, actually you're in your living room, so it's not that great of a mystery, but more confusing than that, you're letting two adolescent girls teach you how to play spin the bottle. If someone had told you at graduation that this is where you'd end up, you'd laugh right in their face.

Who's laughing now.

"But!" Max says, "if you hadn't noticed, none of these people are in the room, so how would we kiss them?"

You fight the urge to sink into your seat, blithely nodding and avoiding anything that might alienate you from your younger counterparts. You're almost sorry you surrendered your night to babysit two capable teens, but you promised El's dad who promised to pay you handsomely. Plus, they seem to like you enough to find you cool. Enough to tell you teenage secrets and complain about their boyfriends.

As they're explaining the rules, a memory creeps in of the first time you ever played this godforsaken party game. On Steve Harrington's floor in eighth grade. The cheers dying off as the mouth of the bottle slowed to a stop in your direction. No one expected him to actually lean over and kiss you. Or that you'd stay good friends despite his high school career soaring into stardom while yours sort of... didn't.

"We don't kiss them!" El chirps with an excited glint in her eye. The girls lean in like it's the first time they're hearing the rules but you're almost certain they made them up.

"Right. Instead, El here becomes our spy. I'm not exactly sure how it works, but she can see into their conversations or something. It's wicked." Max looks to El with something like admiration.

Intrigued, you glance down at the post-it notes arranged in a circle, scribbled with assorted names from yearbooks and yellow pages. A few you recognize: Mike and Lucas, one of the Hawkins Middle math teachers, even Will’s mom wasn’t safe from their antics.

But among the many names, you're most drawn to Steve. The way the letters loop and curl into his name, you go a little dizzy imagining that you really were playing the game. That he was seated across from you now. That he might lean over like he did the first time while your mind raced with a thousand possibilities. It's a prank or a dare or his wholehearted commitment to the game, anything other than his own free will.

You blink out of your silly, nostalgia-fueled trance when Max presses the cold glass bottle to your palm.

"You first."

They giggle and fall into each other when you half-twist the bottle. You're still in disbelief that you agreed to this as you watch the bottle spin, ticking off names as it loses momentum.

"Who is that?" you ask, leaning closer as if you'd read the yellow post-it wrong.

"Oh," El says. She cringes away from the board and crosses her arms over her chest in defiance.

"That bitch from P.E.," Max grumbles, and you have half a mind to scold her if you hand’t found universal bitch-aversion endlessly amusing. "You can spin again, she's not worth the trouble anyway."

You imagine your dream game once again. The bottle flies in the other direction at your fingertips, haywire and picking up a new gravity. It draws a wild, fiery line beneath your stare as you consider the possibility of Steve. It slows and slows until it's spinning almost at the same pace as Earth from a distance. Listening to the roaring sound of the universe as the bottle turns. Turns and turns and turns. Your eyes light up.

The girls giggle.

"No," you say sternly, regretting all your daydreams and fantasies in the face of cold, hard reality. "No, not Steve."

"Please!" they whine.

"Ladies, that's enough. He's a good friend, we're not spying on him."

They act like kicked puppies, though you know they're tricking you as they pout and bat their eyes. You know they know more than they should. About you. You and your feelings towards Steve Harrington. Something they discovered through a quiz in some teeny bopper magazine or other. Those magazines that somehow hold the secrets of the universe and the answers to every haircare question.

“Come on, I’ll make us popcorn and we can start a movie. A horror, if you really want.”

They seem satisfied enough, springing to the couch and settling into the cushions there.

The stove heats slowly. You fish through your cabinet for the last pan of Jiffy Pop, peeling back the thin cardboard cover when you hear snickering from the other room.

“What’s he saying?” Max whispers. You strain to hear her with your back pressed to the wall, just out of sight.

You shouldn’t be eavesdropping. You know better. You’re not a prepubescent girl anymore, you’re the babysitter with responsibilities. Like a job. Yet, you can’t seem to pull yourself away from the doorway. Every time you hear his name, your heart soars with what-ifs. You feel your eyes slip closed as El speaks.

“Steve is speaking to someone. I see her”—Your heart sinks—“Robin!”

You selfishly let out a breath. You’re mostly thankful he’s not spending his evening alone, but you also knew his friendship with Robin was strictly platonic. Robin had sworn by it without you even having to raise the question. You didn’t have to, she said, she could see it in your face. You wondered if Steve found you that transparent.

“He’s talking about… A girl. Her eyes. A smile. And he’s smiling, too. Oh, wait, now he’s frowning because Robin flicked him,” she says with a playful lilt.

She gasps.

“What?” Max yelps, shifting closer on the squeaky couch.

“Steve wants to confess his feelings. Big feelings, he says. Like-like.”

You not sure if that’s El’s paraphrase of Steve’s so-called big feelings or if the term like-like came from his own mouth. Neither option would surprise you. What does surprise you is that you’d never heard any of this from Steve before. You liked to think you were friends, even one of his best friends. He was surely one of yours. You told each other almost everything because you can’t exactly discuss complex relationships and sex with middle schoolers.

But you’d never heard of Steve’s seemingly new, mystery like-liker lover.

“He’s thinking of asking her out. Robin told him he might as well, it’s obvious that the girl he’s talking about likes him back. He doesn’t agree,” El says, her brows furrowed beneath the thick black blindfold, “Robin’s shouting. Steve looks sad.”

“What’s she saying?” Max whispers.

“Shh! ‘You like her so much, you might as well tell her and let her react. But I’ll say this, she’s going to say yes. That girl has been in love with you since the eighth grade’. He’s thinking.”

“Think faster, hair-brain!”

El giggles, her face suddenly falling serious. “‘Really?’” You stifle a laugh at the deeper voice she affects.

“‘She’s never said anything to me about it’. Robin looks angry. ‘Obviously, dingus! Do you go around telling people you’re in love with them?’”

“She has a point,” Max says. “Who’s he talking about?”

“I don’t know—Oh! Here we go,” El huffs, fists clenched eagerly, “He’s making a plan to ask her out, he’s going to call her. He’s getting up—”

Just then, the popcorn bursts from its aluminum confines with a bang. You let out a strangled noise between a yelp and a grumble, annoyed at the rude and very loud interruption. As you set the burner knob in place, you consider the fact that Steve has very real feelings for someone else. Someone who’s just not you. And as you shake the popcorn into a ceramic bowl, the landline rings.

“Will someone get that?” you call, grabbing a few small packages of sweets stashed in the cabinet. You hear the girls spring from the couch, and you shuffle into the living room to a giddy scene huddled around the receiver.

“Yes, she’s here!” El squeals. There’s a muffled response from the other line, and they share a conspiratorial glance.

“It’s for you,” Max says, handing you the phone with a smirk.

“Thank you. Go pick a movie while the popcorn’s hot.” You clear your throat, preparing yourself for the worst. Maybe your boss firing you or a repo man taking your TV. “Hello?”

“Hi, sweetheart, I didn’t mean to interrupt girl’s night, I can call back later,” Steve’s gentle voice filters clear through the speaker. In the silence, static hums, and you press the phone closer to your ear.

Trying to listen for what he might be thinking. He sounds like rain. Like Sunday and a lack of pressure. He sounds inviting and warm like that big green sweater he’s always wearing. If only you knew he wears it because you adore it. You tell him every time; why would he ever stop.

“No!” you chirp, “no, perfect timing actually, we were just about to start a movie.”

“Oh! That sounds fun,” he says. You fidget with the springy cord, facing away from the living room and from the attention of the two flittering girls.

“Yeah,” you say, hoping he doesn’t recognize the disappointment coloring your tone. “So, how’d it go?”

He chokes a little. “How’d… what? Go?” There’s a soft snicker from the other line at his incidental voice crack.

“Your… I mean, did you have something you wanted to tell me?”

The line dips, but you hadn’t heard the telltale plastic clatter of a hang up. Just soft shuffling and a curse from under his breath. You curdle at the near silence.

“What did Robin tell you?” he grumbles.

“What? Nothing. Was she supposed to?”

“Well, no! I just called to tell you—”

He goes silent, and this time you’re actually convinced he hung up. There’s no sound at all, and you double check your receiver to make sure the problem’s not on your end.

“Stevie?”

“Yep, sorry. Just… feel silly.”

“Okay, you’re starting to scare me a little,” you hum, clutching onto the handheld.

“No! Sorry, not trying to scare you, honey, I just need to get something off my chest. But it’s not scary. Or, well, I guess it could be taken that way, and that would be okay. A little sad, but yeah, no hard feelings—”

At this point, you’re sure he’s talking about his prospective date. He knows you have a stupid, obvious crush on him, and he’s trying to soften the blow of new romantic conquest. Of course, introducing his new girlfriend to you would be terrifying, but you’d always put on a brave face for Steve. He knows that. He’d do the same for you.

“Steve?”

“Yeah.”

“Just get it over with,” you sigh, leaning your head against the wall and bracing for heartache.

“Right. Not trying to waste your time. Here goes.”

I’ve got a new, smoking hot girlfriend who just agreed to go on a date with me. And she’s got beautiful eyes and a gorgeous smile, and I’ve been in love with her since I can remember, and we’re gonna run away together forever and get married and have perfect babies.

“I like you,” he huffs.

“Well, duh, I like you, too, you’re only my closest friend,” you say. You’re tense, waiting for the other shoe to come hurling through the skylight. “Now, tell me.”

“No, sweetheart, I like-like you. Have since I was nine. Miss Boyd’s class, if I’m not mistaken.” There’s a soft thud like his forehead colliding with the wall beside his phone.

You inhale a shaky breath. He’s kidding, and it’s a prank. Your heart races, and you want to curse him out for picking on you. He should know better. Right?

“Steve,” you warble, “please tell me you’re joking.”

There’s more shuffling, muffled voices, and you think you’ve just exposed one long drawn out joke. You’re about to hang up with what’s left of your dignity when he says:

“Are you rejecting me?”

He sounds almost mad. Hair ruffled, skin on edge. How you imagine his father might sound just before one of his awful fits. But there’s something much softer to Steve, more understanding. Hurt like a child.

Still, you can’t help your suspicion.

“Quit it. I know it’s a joke, don’t drag it out.”

“Hey, wait a second,” he urges, “It’s not a joke. I like you. A lot.” He says it so softly, your heart just might believe him. As if all the stars have aligned, and he’s actually confessing his feelings for you. You didn’t think the stars did that. Not really, anyway.

There’s a new tune to his voice you’d almost name teasing, “c’mon, don’t leave me hangin’.”

And just like that, he’s back in school again, fawning over you from a distance, finding any excuse to tag you during recess only to avoid you in class so you wouldn’t see him blush. He’s back to whispered secrets through the phone at midnight so his parents wouldn’t catch him. He only ever told you what wouldn’t give him away. He’s back to not letting you pay for your ice cream and shrugging it off with a smile. He’s back, and he might just be yours.

“I—Sorry, you like me? Like like-like, like enough to ask me on a real date?” you huff. He chuckles.

“Well, that last part kinda depends on whether or not you like me back. But yes, I like-like like like-like you.”

You spin to face the living room only to be confronted by an empty popcorn bowl and two fidgety, blushing, wide-eyed teens. They urge you for answers, gesturing wildly and wiggling towards you across the floor.

“Of course, I like you. I thought you knew.”

“Everyone keeps saying that. I guess I was too distracted,” he admits.

“I guess we both were,” you say, unable to keep a grin from your face, succumbing to joy as your fingers dance along the telephone cord.

“So, how about that date?” It escapes him barely above a whisper. He can’t believe he’s actually saying it after all this time. The only thing that convinces him it even came out is your soft laughter.

“Sounds wonderful!”

“Good!” he coos.

“I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

“Great, yeah. That’s… I can’t wait.” He’s earnest until his cheeks hurt, and Robin teases him for it.

“Tomorrow, it is,” you purr, nearly in tune with the low hum of the receiver, “I’ll call you later.”

“Bye, sweetheart. Don’t forget: I like-like you.”

You smile, slotting the phone back into its place. A chorus of giggles erupts at your feet. Spin the bottle had been a good idea, after all.

stranger things masterlist

[a-dauntless-daffodil]

“Nani had to learn to be a better guardian bc she's a foil of Jumba and too controlling of Lilo-” NO

NO!!?!?!?!?

SHE LEARNS THAT ALIENS HAVE BEEN DIRECTLY SECRETLY SABOTAGING HER AND LILO'S ALREADY STRUGGLIG LIFE TOGETHR, AND SHE CAN AND IS WHAT LILO NEEDS

IF ONLY ACTUAL POWERS FROM ANOTHER WORLD WOULD STOP FUCKING WITH THEM! IF ONLY THE POWERS THAT BE WOULD GIVE THEM A CHANCE EVEN THO THEY'RE A SMALL BROKEN FAMILY!

WHEN SHE GETS EVEN THE SMALLEST HELP SHE CAN DO THIS!!!

STITCH IS THE REASON SHE LOST HER JOB, WHY SHE COULDN'T GET ANOTHER ONE, WHY HER HOUSE BURNT DOWN, WHY LILO WAS TAKEN- BOTH BY THE U.S. GOVERNMENT AND AGAIN BY ACTUAL FucKING ALIENS!

AND THE POINT OF NANI IS!!! SHE LETS HIM STAY!

EVEN AFTER GETTNG FIRED EVEN WHILE HER SISTER'S NEW 'DOG' RUINS HER CHANCES OF BEING HIRED

HE

IS THEIR

FAMLILY NOW!!

AND NANI NEVER /EVER/ GIVES UP OR ABANDONDS HER FAMILY

THATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WHY SHE'S RAISING LILO!!!!!!

SHE'S NOT A FOIL FOR JUMBA IN THE “both need to learn to be better more understanding and responsible guardians way” SHE IS WHAT HE REALIZES HE WANTS TO BE

when Stitch askes him for help Jumba yells at him but then he’s like “fine!”. the most important thing to Jumba has been STITCH. he starts being a GOOD part of Stitch’s life when he chooses the Nani route! by NOT trying to control this “problem” or get his old life back but be THERE for Stitch any way he can! LIKE NANI HAS BEEN FOR LILO

NANI SAYS LILO NEEDS HER BC NANI SPENDS THE WHOOOOOLE MOVIE TRYING NOT TO LET LILO FEEL BAD OR GT GROUND DOWN FOR THE THINGS SHE LIKES AND DOES

IN A WORLD WHERE PPL CALL LILO WEIRD AND CRAZY TO HER FACE AND PUSH HER AWAY FOR IT-

NANI, HER BIG SISTER, INVENTS VAMPIRES RATHER THAN LET LILO TAKE ANY BLAME FOR NANI’S LOST JOB! YES LILO’S NEW DOG GOT NANI FIRED, YES NANI DOES SEE HOW HAPPY LILO IS WITH A FRIEND AND WILL TRY TO MAKE THIS WORK ANYWAY! SHE HAS LILO’S PHOTOS DEVELOPED EVEN THROUGH SHE DOESN’T GET OR LIKE THEM!

SHE DOESN’T PUT BLAME ON LILO FOR THE JOB FINDING DISASTER EITHER! SHE’S JUST SCARED OF NOT BEING THERE FOR LILO! OF LOSING HER LITTLE SISTER BC THE U.S. GOVERNMENT WOULD RATHER TEAR THEM APART THAN HELP THEM

SHE ADOPTS STITCH IN THE FIRST PLACE EVEN THO HE’S WEIRD AF AND CLEARY GONNA MAKE MORE PROBLEMS FOR HER BECAUSE LILO! PICKS HIM!!!!

LILO WAS LONELY AND SAD AND HURTNING AND NANI /DID/ REALIZE SHE HERSELF WASN'T ENOUGH TO HELP WITH THAT

SO SHE HELPED LILO FIND STITCH INSTEAD!! AND KEEP HIM!

Nani IS the family Lilo needs! OTHER PEOPLE just have to realize that!

THAT’S THE POInT THATS THE Whole POINT

THIS FAMILY IS LITTLE, AND BROKEN, BUT STILL GOOD! STILL!! GOOD!!!!!!!!!!

[sha-brytols]

you see in my mind palace where da2 was written by smart people with sexy brains the justanders merge would have been a slow burn you know. act 1 anders has that outgoing charmer persona he had in awakening and thats why he gets on so well with varric and isabela you know. i mean it makes sense as to why he's so well liked in darktown the refugees feel comfortable around him he comes across as warm and friendly. lirene all but calling him kind and disarming and sexy seems more appropriate instead of mildly offputting. but also you know there's still Something Different about him. he's more insightful. selfless. the way he talks is just a Little More formal. he's less flirtatious and more earnest and tender and he's notably far more respectful with the way he discusses his feelings on spiritual matters than you'd expect from the What If Andraste Was Actually An Ugly Hag guy.

then the justice reveal happens and you come to realize theres two separate forces at work here and you get to know each of them as individuals. the merge is still fresh and they're just so fundamentally different there's still a clear divide which means justice actually has the opportunity to be a character. you get to speak to justice and he's still that passionate, inquisitive spirit who finds value in the mundane and romanticizes humanity as the embodiment of freedom. he's blunt and direct to fault and feels almost alien to the people around him and his interactions with other characters are stiff at best and downright hostile at worst because like can you blame them. that's a demon possessing a mortal host. its the very essence of everything the chantry has conditioned people to hate and fear. but as the player you have this innate special insight to who he is. he's changed too. he's more light-hearted. he has a far better grasp of humor and social cues. he loves animals and theres a running gag where characters find him trying to befriend feral cats. he's oddly charming and is the one that actually hits hawke with those initial anders flirt lines from act 1.

then act 2 rolls around and its subtle at first but theres this undeniable blurred line forming between justice and anders. maybe justice fronts less but anders is still picking up his habits and speaking more and more like him. maybe there's just much more "inbetween" moments where the two bleed into one another than there was before. either way its become clear that the possession is becoming something of a fusion and man maybe THATS where the rivalry conflict is truly born because hawke sees what's happening and is alarmed for the both of them and the major source of conflict is actually that hawke believes they're both losing their identity to this new unnatural being.

idk just SOMETHING that respects justice and anders' characters while still exploring what was objectively an insanely interesting story concept like do you see what im trying to get at here. do you understand my vision.

[assassin-artist]

okay, I'll post what I've got for Sindra now. Plus an alternate version for if she were a Viltrumite herself (: lore rambling below the cut

Calling her species 'Vottan'. They're a healer-based society of people with hollow bones, it makes them very fast but also very fragile. Big culture based around worshipping life and birth, which is why being a healer is such a high position of authority. Most Vottan become healers, but only a rare percentage of the people are born with healing magic. Sindra, having been born with the gift, was raised in something like a monastery to become a healer from a young age. They take a vow of silence when they reach adulthood, which is the same time they get their markings that deign them a full-fledged healer (the diamond on Sindra's forehead).

Their healer culture is very judgment free, i think. They believe that it's not their place to judge whether an individual 'deserves' to live or die for what they've done, only that if they are capable of healing, then they will heal. Their fragile physiology combined with their willingness to medically aid anyone who comes their way made it very easy for Viltrum to take their home planet and subjugate the people. Most healers are left to their own devices, but the rare few that are born with the gift of magic in their veins are taken to be personal Viltrumite healers on the Viltrum warships. Vottan lifespans on average are longer than humans, roughly expecting to live to ~150 years before dying of complications due to old age. However, those born with magic have a significantly increased life expectancy, expected to live somewhere around ~2,000 years before old age.

Taking inspiration from hummingbirds here when I say that I don't think they sleep at all - instead they go into a state of dormancy every few hours where their heart rate and metabolism is slowed significantly to conserve energy for a while.

hm.... that's all the lore for her species i've thought up at this point. Let me know if you have any questions (: Now I talk a little bit about her personal story..

I made her mainly to be a Conquest ship, because I like the idea of the big scary strong man having a fragile partner. Her people being subjugated by Viltrum was just the convenient excuse so I could say Sindra and Conquest have known each other for years before the events of Invincible even happen. I don't have a set age for her but I'm thinking at least over a century by now, so they've been buddies for around 50 years or so. Maybe. I'll do the math some other time, I'm just vibing rn. Conquest still doesn't get someone to talk to because his companion is silent, but, despite her inherent fragility and Conquest's inherent overwhelming strength, she has never been all that afraid of him. I think a species that worships life would have a more accepting view of death as well - it's to be avoided if possible, but not something you should fear and dread. Plus, I've talked before on my blog about how I don't think Conquest would actually struggle to be gentle, so I think it wouldn't be that difficult for them to become close. In fact, I dare say I think Conquest would be gentler with her than any of the other Viltrumites would be... i rotate them in my head. my silly aliens

I like the idea that she eventually finds her way to Earth before season 1 begins, but I don't really have a reason for why she left the Viltrumites just yet. Maaaaybe someone lost their cool and attacked her for whatever reason and she just flew away, never looking back? I'm not sure, I'll have to think more on that. I just like imagining her on Earth trying to learn how to get along with humans and interacting with the main cast of the show.. She really just goes where she's told to go and heals anyone she comes across, so she would be a great find for the GDA. I think she would really like Damien Darkblood (:

I think she would eventually break her vow of silence and begin speaking again, but I'm just not sure if it's while with the Viltrumites (her first words would be to Conquest for sure) or while she's on Earth...

that's all the rambling i have off the top of my head. im sure i'll have more soon enough o7

[verloonati]

Thoughts on the Interstellar song contest:

Okay this was beat for beat a very predictable story, but enjoyable enough with plenty of side characters that actually feel pretty fleshed out in a few lines with the exception of the hellions, more on that later, but for an episode that was supposed to have a lot of cool alien design it's a bit of a shame that they were mostly in the background. I would have loved a bit more songs as well.

Now the Hellia plot is really fucking tacky, especially in the context of it being an eurovision episode and the eurovision being, in reality, one of the biggest zionist propaganda outfit towards its european allies. Making the Hellia thing a direct parallel to the palestinian genocide makes it really gross that the story's resolution is 'if your getting genocided you shouldn't take arms about it, you should instead sing a good song to an impossibly global audience and gain their sympathy'. Which also makes the Hellion's plot of wanting to kill everybody in the audience really disenginuous. It's a typical case of the 'rebel for a just cause is taken by extremism' trope and ESPECIALLY within the context of an actual real life genocide it puts itself against as direct comparison, ESPECIALLY on the very day that genocidal state is pushing yet another of their deadlier offensive yet, it just makes it a really liberal take that has no bearing with how the world works.

the hellion design also feels really weird because 'human (or human adjacent since earth blew up) with horns' are victim of the worst discrimination is a RWBY 'no but anime girl with animal ears are the one being discriminated against'. Also plays into that trope of a black man being the most space racist character, but fret not he learns the error of his ways after hearing a sad song.

Freddie fox's performance as Kid is the one thing that kind of save his character despite the writing and implications of his character. He just oozes that maneskin cringy Bisexual Mick Jaeggery emo adjacent asshole persona, it's awesome. i bet he reeks of cold tobacco as well.

Belinda change of heart on warming up to the doctor do feel a little bit sudden, we only had her for four episode and that only just started in story and the engine. Another gap to fix for big finish with an ellipse or something

The songs were awesome i do wish they were more

Dugga doo Dugga doo Dugga doo Dugga dugga dugga doo

I have no idea who the fuck rylan is. But his inclusion as actual real life tv host Rylan Clark is so stupid it cycles back to awesome. So does Graham Norton's inclusion. The implication of Earth being gone since 2025 at this point is hilarious cause it means that Rylan is gonna get cryogenically frozen and smuggled out of Earth to eternally host the space eurovision within the current real life week.

The visuals of the actual terror attack are awesome. Like genuinely horrifying and haunting. there's that one shot with a mass of people getting sucked out in the void, it's one of dw's most beautiful visuals ever imo.

On that note, i really wish people would have stayed dead. I understand that would maybe be a little too far, but come the fuck on. it gives the doctor's crash out a lot less impact, because like. He just told us that 'they can survive' which like. we know how a dw episode goes, if we're told they're actually still alive, we know they're gonna get revived at the end. The optics of the doctor beating the shit out of a desperate guy trying to do something about his people's genocide is yeah. not great. tho love the character detail of him doing all he can to not bloody his actual hands.

I'll wait until the finale to give my thoughts on susan.

wish they would stop calling him last of the time lords. The Second Gallifrey destruction killed a lot of people sure but like. This wasn't during the war, there was a LOT of exiles and renegades. Where are those. The master is out there, rassillon is out there, the sisterhood is out there. Tecteun made it out until flux. like why does he keep saying that, it's good branding but it makes no sense

RANI TRUTHER KEEP WINNING, mrs flood cameos were really fucking annoying but yeah she is the one and only, hate that she does get bigenerated it's supposed to be a rare almost unheard of thing, i do hope it's the last one we get, but god do i love Flood getting immediately subservient to her new self.

[shittalkerxox]

The only way I can rationalise people accepting literal children going out and fighting crime as Robin is if they don't think Robin is a real child.

I think it would be fun to see how Bruce would use that to his advantage in protecting his kids. Like, if people think Robin isn't human, if they instead think he's a spirit or a ghost, they are less likely to shoot at him, less likely to try and physically attack Robin because they think it would be no use.

The fun part would be deciding HOW they would do this. I like to think that Robin's domino mask doesn't have a hole for his eyes but instead is glazed over so that he can see out of it, but you can't see in. Maybe they install small lights in it so it looks like his eyes glow in the dark, because can you image how fucking scary it would be to just see these two sentient light-like eyes and just know the Batman must be lurking somewhere close by?

Maybe Bruce installs super strong magnets in their gloves because on the chance that someone does pull a gun on his kid close range, it would be a lot easier for them to grab the gun away if they had the force of magnetism on their side. Also, grabbing onto poles and other metal materials would make all the scaling on tall buildings a little safer. Obviously, they'd need a way to turn it on and off, but still. Can you imagine, you're in a warehouse and there are steel frames fucking everywhere and you look up and suddenly there's a child gripping onto one effortlessly? Horrifying.

Maybe they have a voice box. Want to scare people? Play this really ominous recording of a child's laughter that echoes just a bit too loud to be normal. Play this ominous screaming that seems too silent to be real. Play this ticking that seems to never end that induces stress and increases the chance of them messing up.

What would be even funnier is keeping this act up with the Justice League and other teams.

Batman doesn't bring Robin to these meetings at the beginning because he sees no need to involve a preteen in such matters, but at some point the subject does come up and it's sort of like; So, Bats, what exactly is the kid? Like...is he yours?

And Bruce (paranoid as fuck) doesn't want to admit to these people that yes, Robin is my son because hello? That's gotta be his biggest weakness, he would do anything to keep that kid safe and fuck them if they ever tried to hurt him to get to Bruce.

So, he tells them that he's a spirit sent to haunt him and remind the city of it'd failures and the Justice League just... believe him?? Because this is Batman, and why would Batman ever lie about something so, frankly, strange? And it's not a huge deal, like they're a team comprised of metas and aliens and literal godesses, so what if the one normal human guy has a weird little ghost child? Who cares if he cares about it like it's a real boy? Maybe the baby spirit has rights, too!! They don't know!

So, when the JLA gets more popular and becomes an actual, legal part of the American government, they're required to list all of their members. And they class Batman as a human, because that's obvious but next to Robin, they don't really know what to say or how to ask Batman about it, ao they just put "Unknown Child Spirit - TBD"

And then just... never change it?

So, they don't question why a few years later Robin seems to look entirely different, or why after that he changes again, or why Robin is suddenly a girl for a while before going back to a little boy. That's obviously just some weird spirit thing they don't understand, and it's not like Batman is going to explain it!

[sparrowlucero]

Instead of discourse about showrunners and lesbians and whatever, I'm gonna bring a different type of discourse...whats ur fav and least Dr Whomst monsters. Hard mode: only the practical ones.

ok so I do like all the obvious ones, I like the angels, I like the vashta nerada, I like the not-things, I like the eternals. Here's a few deeper cuts (focusing on the tv show specifically):

they peaked with these maggots. they rock. pretty sure they're made with taxidermy? really great puppetry. I really like this thing:

what a cool design for this kind of forgotten midseason episode.

this is such a fun design for a langolier-type monster. I love how their crest and tail gives them the silhouette of a grim reaper

The 60s cybermen rock. I feel like they're hesitant to use them often in the modern show because they do look very 1960s but I think there's something really uncomfortable and evocative about the cloth faces that's lost when they're cool metallic robots. The mix between looking like an old diving suit and the implication of there being a chopped up person inside is gnarly and I love it. Simple, creepy, iconic design.

My favorite design in the show is probably this:

The 456 from the spinoff series torchwood. They didn't need the puppet to emote or move a ton since it spends the entire season in a little tank obscured in mist, so they just went crazy with the design and made it really bizarre looking. Extremely top tier alien. Anyways, negative. I really don't like this satan. the satan kind of sucks. the impossible planet is great atmospheric sci fi horror; every image of build up in it is haunting and leagues ahead of the climactic scene where he meets the satan. It singlehandedly kind of kills the vibe.

Personally I would have just kept the actual appearance off screen, just have it be eyes in the dark or something. Apparently they also tossed around the idea that it would end up being a normal little girl who was chained up in the cave and I think that would have visually fit the rest of the episode better.

I'm really not big on the modern design for the sea devils (the green one on the right). I think the classic ones clearly took a lot of direct influence from real animals and generally is a pretty thoughtfully realized design, the modern ones seem like they were first and foremost using the classic ones for reference and didn't quite capture the nuance of the design. Sad, as I would really like to see design for these guys with modern puppetry.

I think this is actually a pretty contentious opinion but the work of the specific studio who headed this redesign generally wasn't my favorite. Apparently there was some sort of major, semi public falling out between the fx studio that had been working on the show since 2005 and the people who started running the show in 2018, and they were briefly replaced with a much less experienced studio. No hate to them of course (I think this was actually their first job like, ever, and a lot of the work was done in crunch time?) but the difference did stand out to me:

[ladyshinga]

I don't know what TV or movie writers need to hear this, but your main characters don't need to hate each other and be constantly bickering and snarky and shitty to each other for "drama" when you got things going on like a literal apocalypse, ghosts, demons, what-have-you. Speaking personally here? I am WAY more interested in characters who LIKE each other and treat each other well and the conflict coming from the ACTUAL ANTAGONIST ELEMENTS IN THE STORY. It makes me actually CARE when some one dies or gets in peril in general. When they're just cranky little shits the whole time I feel NOTHING when something happens to them. When your characters have been shitty to each other the whole time and one dies, I do NOT buy it when the others are all sad like "oh no 🙁" like really? Maybe show me first that they liked each other at ALL and that loss should mean ANYTHING to them. Or to the viewer!

It just feels lazy to me. You NEED conflict and drama and stuff for your story but instead of using the ACTUAL setting/villain/etc you just… have all your protagonists be assholes. It's BORING. Show me people who like each other and then also have to face off against some aliens or something.

[cybertron-smash-or-pass]

I know you made that post a while ago but actually imagining myself from an alien perspective makes me feel more confident about my body. Bots who hate humans probably wouldn't care, we're all same for them and they'd think we're complicating ourselves with this. But those fascinated with humanity wouldn't think anyone is ugly and instead be amazed at how differently developed we are. Looking at myself from a perspective of a big excited cybertronian scientist is much better than looking at myself through the prism what people want me to look like. I am human and that's amazing, this is the most important thing

Oh fucking absolutely.

I generally like to think Cybertronians would see us the way we see snails: small, fragile, disconcertingly sticky and soft, with hard structures in weird places, and it leaves them divided on whether we're cute or just kinda gross.

But even if you DO think they're gross, like. You ever seen an ugly snail? Of course not. Because we don't look at them like that, we aren't paying attention to if theyre too fat or too scrawny or if their eyestalks are too short or if their shell's not a good color. They just look like snails. None of it looks "wrong" unless they're, like, injured or something.

And to those that think us cute, they're not going to see the inherent variation in our species as anything but beautiful. How wonderful it is to be a soft little creature with traits that are uniquely mine, and how wonderful it'd be for an alien to study every variation I have with nothing but love in their spark.

[spider-jaysart]

For the Supersons week 2023 bonus prompt: In another life

@super-sons-week

(Click for better quality)

This is an au of mines called Species swap where Damian's an alien and Jon's a human instead. Besides my apocalypse one, this one is also one of my most faves! And for fun, I also named it Earth 59

(More under the cut)

Damian and the Batfamily, plus the Al Ghul's, are hero aliens instead of humans (though, the Al Ghul's are more like warriors here like Tamaraneans are for example) and Jon and the Superfamily are the humans in this au who save people on earth with their highly trained combat skills and helpful gadgets.

The Al Ghuls live on a far away planet called "Lazarus planet" and Damian grew up there with them (just like in his origin). All aliens there were trained to fight very skillfully. Damian too while growing up there was trained to fight very skillfully as well, since he's going to be the ruler of that planet one day when he grows up.

But then Talia had no choice but to send Damian to his Father's planet on his 10th birthday, since some vicious aliens from another planet had came to invade their home and wanted to assassinate all of their people during that day, so she had to do it to keep him safe until the war was over. She quickly leaves their planet and uses one of the mini traveling spaceships to drive Damian to Bruce's planet, which is Gotham. After landing there and finding Bruce, she leaves Damian there with him to be taken care of while she's gone.

So for the mean time while Damian has to stay on Bruce's planet, he begins to finally get to know his Father and finally learns about the rest of his unknown Batfamily members for the first time as well. And while all of that's happening, after some time, the Al Ghul's later win the war on their planet and Talia goes back to go get Damian. Though, Damian has already become attached and didn't want to just leave his Father and his other family so soon after getting to finally know them for only just such a short time, so Talia lets him stay a little longer because of that. After that, her and Bruce both later decide on an agreement about sharing equal time with him, letting him usually spend one week on Lazarus planet with the Al Ghul's and the next one on Gotham planet with the Batfamily so that it'll be fair

With the Superfamily, Jon, Clark, Lois, Kara, Kon, and Chris live on earth as humans and fight crime protecting people (just like the Batfamily as humans). They train a lot to stay strong and also own a lot of gadgets. And just like how the Batfamily would, they have things like a Superrang, Supermobile, and etc. They also all wear masks to hide their identities

Damian's never been to earth before, not even his Mother. Though, he's always heard stories from his Father, brothers, and Grandfather about earth and it's humans, since they're the ones who have actually been there before. He was always curious about what it was like over there but he never dared to visit it, especially since he was always told by his family that he wasn't ever allowed to because of certain reasons that could possibly endanger him

One day though, during a mission in space with his brothers when he was 12 years old, which involved a bunch of dangerous aliens who owned powerful electric, laser guns, he fell down to earth after being severely shocked and knocked out by a strong laser blast. He fell down in planet earth's direction, later crashing into a video game store while Jon and his family were nearby, busy dealing with a mission of their own. Jon, after hearing the crash, went to go take a look at where and what the loud sound was caused by and saw Damian just laying there knocked out in the store with the ceiling rocks on top of him, since he had destroyed the stores roof during his crash into the place

After the rest of the Superfamily found out about it, they took Damian with them to the Fortress of solitude to find out who he was (he was still knocked out), since they knew he wasn't from earth after looking at his unique outfit and long unusual sharp, large sword. As soon as Damian woke up, he tried to fight them and escape, feeling endangered since he didn't know them, but they calmed him down and then kept him inside of a clear cube that he couldn't break through at all with his super strength so that he could stop, which just got him upset again but even more than before

They let Damian out once they found out that he wasn't a threat and tried apologizing to him. Jon excitedly then tries to become his friend and tries showing him around Metropolis during that same day until they can get him back home. Damian's clueless about earth things and only knows a little bit about the things that his family has told him about it before, so Damian ends up curiously asking Jon a lot of questions about everything around earth and in Metropolis, while Jon tries to answer them all for him (he thinks that Jon is a very smart person cause he knows all the answers to his every question lol). So they both get to bond a little and know eachother better that same day (they also fight some crime together while walking around the city)

Meanwhile, the Batfamily and the Al Ghul family are both panicking very much and are trying to find Damian as fast as they can since he's still missing. So once the Batfamily and the Al Ghul's got to earth, they got into a mini fight with the Superfamily, thinking that Damian's in danger with them. But then Bruce remembers Clark being the same exact boy he had met as a kid when he himself accidentally crashed onto earth many years ago in the past and got his help to go back home, so it all gets figured out in the end and peace is quickly made between them both and all is finally understood

Both of Damian's family finally found him after that and tried to take him safely back home, but he refused and didn't want to leave since he found everything so interesting on earth, plus he was also just starting to like Jon too. After arguing back and forth, they decided that he could visit sometimes, but only with supervision from whoever is available to go along with him during those times to make sure he's okay. Damian was pleased with that decision.

So after everything and as time went on, Damian and Jon later became the duo team named Supersons and also best friends in the end too (with crushes on eachother)

Some facts:

Damian and the Al Ghul's are the ones who rule Lazarus planet since they're the royal family there

Those from Lazarus planet are called "Lazarens" and those from Gotham planet are "Gothamites", so that makes Damian a mixed alien who is considered a "Lazamite"

Most characters who are aliens in canon are now humans in this au instead

All planets like Tamaran and Krypton don't exist in space in this au and are instead just big cities on earth. Tamaran city is corrupted under Blackfire's control over it and Krypton is a city that was destroyed many years ago, so it is now abandoned and no one ever visits it

Damian is pretty reckless on earth while fighting and using his powers on humans who are criminals, since he's used to being that way when defeating enemies who are very strong like him back in space. So Jon has to sometimes remind him to be more careful about what he's doing and how he has to be more calmer when handling humans and certain other things

Just like how Damian always visits Jon on earth for patrol together or just hangout or have sleepovers at the Kent farm, Jon also visits Damian's planets sometimes too and they get to do many of those things together there as well

Damian wanted to find a way to be around Jon more though after becoming his friend, so after hearing that Jon goes to school in the early day, he immediately wanted to be registered in too (it's also because they don't have many schools in space for alien kids and he was homeschooled for years by Talia, so he wanted to know the experience too). Talia and Bruce didn't want to do it since they were afraid that he could get caught as an alien if he were to make any kind of mistakes around the civilians over there, but after being constantly asked over and over by their son and seeing how much he wanted it, they finally did it for him. The Superfamily decided to help him out by making him a holographic bracelet that makes him look human (which makes him look like how he always does in canon)

Damian doesn't have his canon pets with him in space in the beginning (only Goliath and Batcow who have some type of alien DNA in them) and has no idea what earth pets are like either because of this, but he does meet them on earth later on. After escaping their everyday cages, they all unexpectedly run out of a nearby pet shop while Jon is showing Damian around the city and they happily run towards the Boy Wonder. Damian prepares to defend himself since he isn't very trusting of them at first, thinking they are going to try and challenge him with an attack like other creatures he's fought before, but he was immediately met with the complete opposite after getting pushed down to the ground by them, getting a bunch of doggy and cat kisses to the face instead. This unexpected love from them quickly made him change his whole view on them, causing him to fall in love with their lovable, fluffy cuteness. The pet store owner tried to take them back inside, but Damian threatened him with his large sword so that he can leave them alone. It scared the poor guy away and Damian happily left with his new pets. After seeing that, Jon had to quickly go after Damian to tell him that's not how things are done on earth and that he has to actually go back and adopt them first for real instead of just leaving with them. After all of that, Damian later puts special collars on them (made by the Batfamily) that help them breathe properly in space so that he can take them home with him

When Jon gets married to Damian in the future when they're both adults, he also becomes a king on Lazarus planet too like Damian

In this au, Damian and the Batfamily destroyed Eberos (the creature from Dceased who was made by Darksied to start the apocalypse) before he could even do anything to earth

For abilities and other little things:

Damian has flight, Superstrength, Superspeed, laser vision, laser beams, and flame blasts that he can throw from his hands. And also, while it may be a learned skill for him in canon, it's actually a natural born ability of his to be able to imitate many voices in this au

Whenever he gets really mad, Damian's hair turns into flames until he calms down again

Lazarens have Lazarus blood in them, so whenever they get cuts or are severely injured, their wounds just close back up (after an hour) and they regenrate whatever part of their body they lost (which usually takes almost a month). They can also live up to 2000 years or even longer because of this. There are also multiple Lazarus pits on Lazarus planet

Damian's big sword is way too heavy to actually be held by humans, so only those with super strength like him can hold it. He can also transfer his abilities to the weapon while holding it during battle and make it light up in green fire, which helps him create bigger damage against enemies and make fast clean cuts through anything too

Not one of them, but Damian is allergic to these giant "shrimp" like creatures in space and will grow a big headache and will also be sneezing out whole fire breath sneezes as if he's a dragon if he's too close to them for too long. He can even take out almost a whole battle field with it too, that's how bad it is (inspired by my friend @paladin-of-nerd-fandom65 's headcanon where Damian is allergic to shrimp). After finding out about this allergy, Jon created an antidote for him that makes it go away faster whenever they bump into these creatures

Lazarens only fall in love once with someone and aren't able to go through it again with other people

Bruce is a Gothamite who is born with a lot of rare abilities that many other Gothamites don't have, so some of them were passed onto Damian too. They're: Super high intelligence, the super clear ability to observe things much better than a human as if they're like robots, astounding quick memory, and the ability to move any shadows with them when they need to stay hidden

Damian's system allows him to eat whatever he wants, especially weird stuff, without any kind of problems. He's still a vegetarian though and even tries to be one with earth food too (sometimes he doesn't understand what any of the meals actually are though and needs help from others to tell him if they involve meat or not)

[thydungeongal]

Are there any horror ttrpgs you’d reccomend? I’m fairly new in ttrpgs, and I wanna try out some stuff that isn’t just pathfinder or d&d and horror has been calling me

I wouldn't recommend horror RPGs because they're scary

But serious answer: I haven't played a lot of straight horror RPGs, but one of my fondest gaming moments involves playing the Delta Green scenario Music from a Darkened Room in my late teens. Having since re-examined the scenario I can now see that our GM was actually doing a lot of the heavy lifting, because while the scenario is actually extremely atmospheric and a good haunted house scenario, as an investigation and mystery it largely falls flat because of something of a lack of good mystery structure and issues with the system of Delta Green itself.

But I have since run the scenario in Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy by @anim-ttrpgs and it honestly feels like the best way to run it, because Eureka actually has good systemic support for investigative gameplay while also having the mechanical heft to carry the horror elements. If what you want in a horror scenario is "a bunch of regular people getting in too deep into a supernatural mystery," I heartily recommend Eureka.

Mothership is another indie horror RPG I would recommend: it's sci-fi horror in the style of Alien, Dead Space, and Event Horizon, and I think it does a great job of emulating that genre. It is a very straightforward d100 roll under engine with a few interesting twists, and it does a lot with a little. Very much the sort of game to run for your friends where you describe their characters getting killed by spooky space ghosts inside an abandoned space hulk.

However, there's an underrated horror RPG out there: Dungeons & Dragons. Specifically the older editions of the game.

As @cavegirlpoems has also stated, old-school D&D almost plays like a survival horror game: it's largely a game about survival while navigating a hostile space, trying to make use of what little resources are available. If you want fantasy horror you can do a lot worse than just having your friends create a bunch of level 1 characters and putting them inside a dungeon, with the objective being to escape the dungeon. (For an urban fantasy twist on that: run it in Cavegirl's urban fantasy old-school D&D-inspired Esoteric Enterprises.)

Now to move away from the trad games and into the avant garde: Dread is a game that I have wanted to play for a long time. It is a horror game that specifically seeks to emulate the plot beats and structure of a slasher or creature feature through the use of a Jenga tower. Instead of a randomizer like dice or cards the game uses a Jenga set and pulling blocks out of the tower to simulate the danger that characters find themselves in, meaning that as the tower gets more unstable the more tension there is, and with the tower falling meaning character death (followed by the tower being reassembled) to emulate the tension and release of a horror film. It sounds seriously fun and I would love to try it.

[forsaken-headcanons]

Hii Koolkiller's 1# fan anon here with my Unnamed Forsaken au where the guys are their skins by default :) There are some tweaks to personality and lore. This is a LONG ONE!!!

Survivalists

Noob - Inverted, everyone's learned how to understand their backwards speech. They'd never say this, but they're incredibly greatful. Before meeting Guest, they were very shy and when they left, they became really prickly and harsh. It's a way they try and seem stronger and more emotionally intact than they really are. Deep down, they're still the Noob that we know.

007n7 - Windows. Made in area 51. Escaped due to the less than stellar treatment of the subjects. Met and adopted a very C00L kidd, and was a surprisingly good parent. The survivors are wary of him due to his.. "Origins". C00lkidd was taken away by the admins due to 007n7s status as a fugitive Experiment. 007n7 loathes them for this.

Two Time - Phoenix. The cult that normal TT is apart of is like the one that Phoenix is a part of, but worshipping "The Fire/Fire Ring" instead of "The Spawn" Two Time had to sacrifice themself instead of Azure. (Azure because the creature that they did in this au because of their grief.) They're a little more adjusted in this AU because the time they spent living as an actual bird, but they're still a little odd and eccentric.

Sentinels

Shedletsky - yksteldehS. To be fair it's kinda obvious. He acts like he doesn't care about anyone and anything apart from himself, but deep down, he's all mushy and warm inside for them. He'd gladly lay down his life if it meant for his friends, especially the admins, to be safe. Even 7n7. Hates fried chicken because he likes tacos waaaay more. (Also in this au because 1x was made by a part of all of yksteldehS' emotions, she's the ugly little roundy head thing and is normal yay good for her)

Chance - Avian Sight. Chance in this AU is an assassin. For a large sum of money, he can make someone "fly the nest." The mask covers their face, which is all kinds of scarred and damaged due to an accident they were in a long time ago. Still a gambler, but way spookier. He was saving up to get the surgeries he needed to "look normal again". They were miserable when they first arrived because of this.

Guest 1337 - Matt. What happened in that one scene of The Last Guest but Matt saved Guest I guess erm idk how to write Matt bro 😭

Support

Elliot - Alien. Crash-landed in Robloxia after accidentally being caught in an astroid belt. Even though they're confused, and not sure of what many of the strange people around them are saying, they know they have a job. To serve pizza. Sometimes, they yearn for the place where they come from, especially when the cold of the lobby seeps into them, as they come from a very hot planet. (They also miss a close friend of theirs deeply..)

Dusekkar - Dumsekkah. (Another obvious pick but whateva...) Dumsekkah is a travelling wizard, never staying in one place. Mostly because the odd happenings that plague the towns near where they stay, but Robloxia is filled with weird things so why tf are they doing that Dumsekkah found himself living near the HQ of Roblox when yksteldehS found him, and after some time, he was hired as one of Roblox's admins, and with how strong their magic is, they were the boost in strength that they needed. He isn't the brightest, but he'll keep those nasty killers at bay with a smile.

Builderman - Classic. (01001001 00100111 01101101 00100000 01110011 01101111 00100000 01110011 01101111 01110010 01110010 01111001 00100000 01000100 01100001 01110110 01101001 01100100 00101110 00100000)

Taph - The Dark Reaper. Taph, in this au, is a kind of Robloxian Cryptid. Some say Taph a malevolent being from the fourth dimension here to destroy Robloxia, others say Taph is simply just a creature that us angered by buildings being made over places where they shouldn't be, and thus are destroyed. The true reason Taph does it is because it can, and it gets bored. (Taph's speech in this au is wingdings lalala and it's translated like how Gaster talks in hand plates comic if anyone knows what I'm talking about tee hee)

And done!!! I have a bunch of ideas for lore fore this au so yay yippee

This AU seems so investing. I'm sensing that they're the opposite of their original personalities? I'd love to see some expansion on the world for this and how everyone feels about one another in this AU. This is interesting!

[paincest]

ultimately, i think that warrior penelope au and other such variants where they change penelope to be some girlboss who likes to fight is harmless and just a silly little thing people like to see but the reason i don't subscribe to the idea is because it seems this happens every single time a female character shows a bit of backbone and it's pretty annoying

when a female character is independent or able to hold things down, it's as if people can't accept that that in itself is a strength worth praising. she has to be able to be physically fight too. she has to be able to scare people with her power. screw the dress, put her in some pants. her partner is nothing but a malewife accessory while she's this girlboss fantasy who gets him pregnant or whatever and it sometimes reaches a point where she becomes a caricature so far off from what she truly was like. and if a character is canonically that, it still isn't enough. if a female character is a fighter in the canon, she too has to abandon any girly interest she has like makeup or dressing up. (*) she has to have some "masculine" traits for her to be truly cool and strong.

i understand that it's quite rare to see female characters who are depicted to be in violently strong positions and i love them just as much as the next person but it's kind of sad when strengths (that is, not being able to fight with their fists but instead have a mental and emotional fortitude like no other and/or a heart that remains kind despite the Lore) are so common with women, fictional or otherwise, but are constantly brushed off and even seen as a weakness/stupidity and it sometimes feels as though when people push ideas of Strong Warrior Woman on characters that aren't that, it's just a repackaging of that undermining but the wrapping was bought from the feminist store

louisa may alcott does a better job in telling my point with the character of meg march (for those unfamiliar, she's the sweetheart that said "just because my dreams are different than yours, it doesn't mean they're unimportant" because her dreams were to get married and have a family while her sister thought those dreams were dumb and oppressive) but basically, i wish people were able to appreciate how strong women are regardless of whether or not they could throw a punch.

(my god, don't even get me started on how much worse this is when the character is even slightly darker skinned. people will disregard any ounce of feminine interests they have and call it ooc when someone actually leans into it. see hyuna from alien stage, *dehya from genshin impact, etc.)