#this became true-pacifist orientated but

[the-great-papyru]

i feel like undertale would go a lot differently if flowey remembered to sleep. like you think "how could flowey possibly confuse chara with frisk" but obviously you have never been on 0 hours of sleep for several years. i'd assume normal processing goes out the window in that scenario.

[chibivesicle]

Trigun directly informs the character designs for Kekkai Sensen/Blood Blockade Battlefront

I’ve been thinking about a fun little meta for awhile about how much of the vibes and character style from Trigun translated over to Kekkai Sensen/Blood Blockade Battlefront.  Taking my brain off of hardcore Trigun for a bit let’s have some fun with Yasuhiro Nightow’s character design and how he likes to recycle and reform them.

The Japanese DVD box set volume 3 shows my three favorite charas in a  Norman Rockwell The Saturday Evening Post parody.  Steven drives a car while Chain snacks and K.K. screams excitedly.

The fact that the animation creative team went in this direction meant they were really having fun with the anime, but let’s dig into how Trigun translated more to Blood Blockade Battlefront.

Characters from Trigun and how they relate to Blood Blockade Battlefront

Vash the Stampede = K. K.

That’s right, our pacifist gunslinger is re imagined as the Bratatat Mom, code name K. K.

The character design has the same red duster jacket with tight black clothing underneath.  K.K. even has some finger less gloves for her ease of operating either her sniper rifle or her handgun.  She can also use two handguns at the same time while fighting.  They are tall and lanky, have blonde hair and both can be bubbly at times to cover up how they are really feeling.  Vash’s unique sunglasses became an eye patch for K. K. and she will also cover her eyes with sunglasses to not attract attention to the right eye as well.  Unlike Vash, K.K. is willing to kill a target if necessary and has the most awesome husband ever and two sons.  I very much like her character and wish she were a more involved member of the B3 cast but by her nature, is a bit more of a loner but seen as quite powerful.  She is critical of the patriarchy and has a real axe to grind with Steven who is closest to her and still different from her; this is due to the fact that they are the two senior members of the team over thirty and made different choices in their personal/private lives.

Meryl Stryfe = Leonardo Watch

The very detail oriented and short fused insurance adjuster Meryl is now Leonardo a budding journalist who by sheer luck joins Libra. Considering that Meryl ended the manga as a reporter it makes sense for this to be Leo’s starting place.

Both characters can be quick to snap out a remark of shock or annoyance, are the shortest adult member of the cast and have short dark hair.  Meryl’s hair was black with a purple undertone and so is Leo’s with more purple.  By B3 Back 2 Back, Leo’s hair picks up a more red tone which eventually translates into the anime adaption.  These characters frequently point out how absurd the events around them are while the rest of the cast calmly accepts things at face value.  Unlike Meryl in the manga, Leo is the reader’s entry point into the city and plays a role very similar to the anime version of her.  Like Vash, Leo is not the type of character to take a life and instead serves as support for the rest of the team early on in his time with Libra.  Both respect life and even though we know that Meryl has shot individuals in the manga and implied to have in the anime, she takes it very seriously and treats it with due respect.

Milly Thompson = Klaus V. Reinherz

The somewhat ditzy, honest and emotionally mature Milly is now seen in the character of Klaus; a true gentleman and total tank of a character.  Klaus towers over Leo, the same way as Milly is considerably taller than Meryl.

Klaus, gives zero fucks what others think about him, has no bias based on gender, species, affiliation, race etc etc.  He’s one of the most genuine characters who could crush opponents and enjoys a fine cup of tea just like Milly.  They both have more casual looks with ties, suspenders/vest and dark pants.  At first, Klaus was a decent character in my opinion but as the anime progressed, he grew on me and grew on me until realizing that I really do like him and his well balanced approach to life.  He enjoys simple pleasures in life like taking the subway, playing chess and/or prosfair and watering all the plants at the Libra main office.  Klaus is always there to accept Leo and encourage him along the way.  He never takes his strength for granted and can’t say no to others.

Also like Milly, Klaus is emotionally mature and works to help others calm down in sticky situations or encourage them when stuck.  He is frequently paired with Leo who greatly respects him and learns from him.  He also does not appear to have a driver’s license meaning he either ends up in the same car as Leo or trying to fit himself on Leo’s small motorbike.

Nicholas D. Wolfwood = Chain Sumeragi

The amazing werewolf of Libra, Chain is the first version of Wolfwood in B3.  Her character design is female Wolfwood other than her black vs tan shoes.

She occasionally has a small firearm, but was a terrible shot to not become an elite assassin and instead wanted to remain in intelligence.  Chain has the some of Wolfwood’s more juvenile pranks or remarks especially when Zapp is involved with her.  Chain is sarcastic, but it is targeted at one individual - Zapp Renfro and only Zapp.  It appears since Zapp and Leo are frequently together along with Zed, she’ll tease Leo a little but does not hurt him when she lands on him or sits on his head, instead only giving out pain to Zapp.  She has a high alcohol tolerance and will help out characters but doesn’t like for them to realize it at the time.  Like when Leo’s wallet got stolen from him in ‘Day In Day Out’ but she sticks it in his shirt collar as opposed to giving it back to him.  Chain is the sort of character who doesn’t want to be recognized and instead hang back and do things quietly.

Nicholas D. Wolfwood = Steven A. Starphase

The names alone show that these two characters are directly related.  Yet, Steven has a real middle name, Alan, as opposed to the D being whatever Yasuhiro Nightow felt it should be when interviewed in the moment.

Early on in the first volume of the manga, Steven also goes without his characteristic yellow tie with a dark blue dress shirt making him look even more like Wolfwood.  They both frequently are shown with a hand or two in their pockets and can be quite charismatic and friendly.  They have foodie tastes and respect well prepared meals.  Both men also have to deal with darker situations which their partner[Vash]/boss [Klaus] would not deal with.  Wolfwood did not hesitate to kill opponents of Vash to prevent further damage while, Steven will make sure that certain problems disappear before they reach the rest of Libra.  One could say they move in the shadows, but Wolfwood is more of a character who deals with things directly, while Steven has the right person or party on speed dial.    Wolfwood worked within the system of the Eye of Michael making him somewhat legit while Steven is the direct contact to the HLPD, FBI, governmental bodies, and likely organizations that straddle grey areas.  The fact that Steven will go through proper channels indicates a greater respect for the rule of law and civil society only moving into shady areas when absolutely necessary.

Therefore, with the basic character design and personalities it is pretty logical that we get certain pairings to generate enjoyable dynamics.

Meryl & Milly - Leo & Klaus.  The small hardworking realist with a quick temper is teamed up with the honest, occasionally ditzy giant.  Neither character looks down on the other and they are able to learn about themselves and others through their interactions.  Without Leo, Klaus would be unable to seal Blood Breeds.  Without Klaus, Leo would not learn to accept his guilt and gain confidence in himself and helping others.  Leo frequently doesn’t see his own strength since it is through his relationships and not physical force like Klaus demonstrates.

The size difference alone is exactly like Meryl and Milly here!  Leo is the one who is more than aware of what Zapp is planning to do quickly as events unfold but Klaus never even realizes that he’d been played by Zapp.  The two have genuine hearts and respect of all life (that isn’t trying to kill them at least).

One color panel for the manga which really captures B3 well and how close Klaus and Leo are is the following.  They are likely relaxing or killing time at the office enjoying the quiet.  Leo and Klaus are playing video games while Sonic watches next to them.  Meanwhile, the Luddite that he is, Steven loosens his tie while reading the daily paper.

Steven isn’t even paying attention to what they are doing. But Sonic is.  It is clear that Leo and Klaus are having fun and building on their relationship with each other.

Vash & Wolfwood = K.K. & Steven.  The two senior members of Libra frequently are teamed up together even though K.K. is annoyed by Steven (likely because he never lets her take time off to be with her family).  Steven frequently tries to play it cool with his calm demeanor while K. K. likes to tease him due to his rather academic approach to things ‘Dr. Steven-sensei’.  Despite their vocal bickering, the two work quite well together.

In Trigun, it is Wolfwood who is annoyed that he’s assigned to deal with Vash.  In B3 it is K. K. who always scoffs at her partner Steven.  It sort of makes sense, Steven with his Esmeralda Blood Freeze is cold and calculating in his actions but frequently must get relatively close to his opponent.

In contrast, K. K. literally shoots electrified bullets and will do support for Steven.  Their tension also likely comes from the fact that K. K. has a ‘typical’ family life with her husband and two sons to protect and take care of.  The opposite is the bachelor life of Steven in his lonely loft apartment with a great kitchen, stylish decor and no actual friends outside of work besides his housekeeper.  However, they are incredibly similar, angry at themselves for enjoying things in a brief instant related to their family or friends which ended poorly.

Wolfwood & Milly = Steven & Klaus

The Trigun anime really makes this a more important aspect of their character than the manga; Wolfwood and Milly work together more than once to help people out of a tight spot, think of the episode ‘Escape from Pain’ or the entire manga battle between Wolfwood and Midvalley when Milly steps in to help Wolfwood out.  However, the partnership between Steven & Klaus is much deeper than Wolfwood & Milly.  Klaus 100% trusts Steven to get all their ducks in a row and to make sure all of the logistics of Libra are working.  At the same time Steven understands the pressure that Klaus puts on himself and tries to lighten his load even if Klaus is oblivious to it.

The two play chess when Steven is first introduced and Klaus listens to Steven’s concerns about having Leo join Libra.

When Leo is kidnapped, it is Steven who immediately is worried about Klaus.

I like how these two characters have such great rapport and trust between each other.  Steven comments on how Klaus made a joke, something he’d likely say with his quick wit and dry sense of humor.

We seen in ‘Bloodline Fever’ that Steven completely trusts that Klaus will arrive on time to seal the Elder Blood Breed that he and K. K. only had to hold for four minutes.  It also shows that K. K. trusts Klaus as she was his escort to meet the Alterworld mafia don and based on her comments, she’s done this many times for Klaus. 

Steven trusts that Klaus can hold out against the one vampire from the missing hospital long enough for Leo to determine his name and result in his sealing.

The fact that the two of them can communicate when all they need is a single quip from Steven in reply to Leo’s answer and demolish an opponent is incredible.

What I find most refreshing about their relationship is that Steven, the older individual does not mind to be the second in command.  He’s a social enough person with ample skills to network and manage people effectively and does have more experience in the matter.  However, he also knows that he is not the right leader for Libra and finds purpose in his role on the team.  Klaus is too likely to be led on or lied to by others and Steven is streetwise enough to avoid or to use those people for their own benefit.  Klaus is the all to trusting Dad while Steven is the Mom making sure the kids don’t fight at dinner.

I also like the fact that when their main office needed security upgrades, the two of them accidentally invaded, Leo, Zapp (and Zed’s) sacred diner space.

Nothing like finding your bosses in your home away from home Leo!

Honestly, I could go on about this for way longer but I’ll stop it here.  Klaus and Steven are great and I love them.

Wolfwood & Wolfwood = Chain & Zapp? & unrequited crush on Steven

The one character who I have a harder time pairing in a sort of Trigun fashion is Chain Sumeragi.  Even though she is female Wolfwood, the character who she has the most dynamics with is Zapp Renfro.  Which would make her a sort of positive Wolfwood traits meets all negative Wolfwood traits plus manwhore.  Zapp smokes, drinks, gambles and fucks as much as possible.  He has the vices that Wolfwood had (save for the sex) and definitely exists to be a foil with Leo, Zed and well, most of the cast.  Yes, she has a crush on Steven, but the man is absolutely out to lunch on the matter.  In the anime, he’s oblivious to the entire protocol to undilute Chain and how it relates to him.  Then again, if someone screamed and threw a chair at you resulting in injury, it would be hard to call that attraction or affection.  Terrifying would be the most accurate word.  I’ve only read the first two volumes of the manga in English and it is clear that she has eyes for him, but again, he gives off the vibes that work comes first.

Since Zapp hangs out with Leo frequently, Chain ends up in their mischief as well, wanting to help them out but seeming too cool for school.  I don’t know if the anime upped the petty fights between Chain and Zapp more, but it def has that enemies to friends (?) dynamic going on.  I’m curious to see how things unfold in the manga as I read it.

 The fact that B3 Back 2 Back has the following covers seems to indicate a stronger Klaus & Steven, Chain & Zapp, and K. K. & Steven dynamics.

Furthermore, there is only the B3 volume 10 cover where Chain and Steven are next to each other, but Steven’s back is to her.  It seems any potential Chain and Steven relationship is likely not in the cards.  In group covers, Steven and K. K. are next to each other most frequently based on their skills as a two person team.

All in all, I love how elements of Trigun made their way into B3.  It is fun to look at all the angles, from the physical character design, to their personalities and their relationships with each other.  I’ve been a fan of Trigun for over twenty years, so it is hard to say if B3 is better than it - but, I do appreciate the realistic adult relationships, doubts, fears and goals of it more so that Trigun.  The sitcom feel to B3 really feels relaxing and I enjoy the rambling stroll through the city with this quirky cast of characters.

With my disappointment in Stampede, I can at least laugh and cry at how the B3 anime and manga really capture the elements that made Trigun so likable to me in the first place.  And that is all I can ask for - another zany series with lovable characters that you can’t help but root for.

[cyberneticatoms]

no way is that NEPTUNE JONES..they’re a 36-year-old SYNTH notoriously known for being CODEPENDENT & DISTURBED but there are some people who have seen them being FAMILY-ORIENTED & OPEN-MINDED. if you ask me, they remind me a lot of clothing speckled in paint stains, metallic fence under your fingers, and blasting music late at night, but that could just be because they’re considered the TECHNICAL PACIFIST around town. just keep an eye on them  &  see if their true colors shine through..

↳ 𝚀𝚄𝙸𝙲𝙺 𝙵𝙰𝙲𝚃𝚂

NAME: Neptune Lane Jones NICKNAMES: Po, Poseidon, Broseidon DATE OF BIRTH: October 14th (36) HEIGHT: 5'11 AFFILIATION: Citizen Uprising OCCUPATION: Private Investigator at Jones and Jones Investigations FACECLAIM: Max Thieriot

TW: death, murder, kidnapping, mental manipulation, abuse

↳ 𝙱𝙰𝙲𝙺𝙶𝚁𝙾𝚄𝙽𝙳

❖ Neptune's parents were murdered when he was around 8 years old, after which the murdered kidnapped him. During which he was constantly reprogrammed to love his captor. There are blanks in his memory due to this, and at the time frequent parts of his body would become dead weight due to his captors lack of skills. ❖ Eventually he was rescued by police one of which adopted him. He was in therapy to work out what memories were false and which were real, due to this he still struggles with dissociating. While they were able to repair much of the damage done to his physical body, he still needs frequent check ups as his nerves occasionally shut down. Not enough to make his limbs go dead like they had, but where he stops feeling touch all together, regardless of it's pain or pleasure. ❖ He later bonded with a runaway named Clara, who eventually was also adopted by his parents. Her becoming his older sister and helping him through his therapy. ❖ Later he joined the NAVY when he was unsure what else to do for work and wanting to make his parents proud. He eventually became a NAVY seal. ❖ Once when coming home to his apartment, he found a 15 year old Karma hiding out. After letting her spend the night, he brought her home to his parents, the family fully adopting her not long after. ❖ Neptune is incredibly protective of both his sisters, idolizing Clara and seeing Karma is his person. Which is why once he finished his service he joined the investigation agency wanting to support his older sister.

↳ 𝙼𝙸𝚂𝙲

• Actively dislikes going to the doctor and strangers touching him, however he's very affectionate with people he considers to be his people. • Currently has two tattoos, one on his left arm of a chameleon in multiple colors when Karma couldn't pick one. On his right arm is an arrow that tapers off into flames for his other sister Clara.

[frisiunia]

Valentine's Special

So, as the title says it's special on St. Valentine's day. I'll just tell ya about my top 3 favorite ships in Undertale, judge them and tell something about this ship but in Undermourning. I already made post about relationships but it's something different.

Anyway, I had this post prepared on the former year but I didn't wrote it in time so... here you have it now.

Undyne x Alphys

So this ship at start has two things that make me like this. First, It's ship with my favorite character from Undertale, Undyne. Second, it's ship of two girls. Honestly, lesbian ships are my favorite. Gender is not everything in ship, but it gives some extra points at start. I just dunno, I enjoy seeing to girls in love with each other.

I like this ship dynamic. Undyne is daring and lively while Alphys is shy liar with lack of self-confident. Both has strong feelings for each other. Alphys was lying to Undyne because she wanted to impress her, while what Undyne really like about Alphys is her passion (that's exactly what she said). + I love this scene when we're rolepaying with Alphys and Undyne just come in the best moment XD

I really like this ship. It was my most favorite ship from Undertale. I still love it! Maybe not that much but still. The fact that Alphys was lying to Undyne to impress her and couldn't get closer to her in result was adding my favourite thing - drama.

About Undermourning... Before Alphys' accident, Alphys and Undyne were a couple. They became lovers when Alphys became more self-confident. They spent a lot of time and probably that is why Undyne feels lack of something. Of course, she can't remember Alphys but Undyne can tell she misses something. It's frustrating for her. When she does something connected to Alphys she feels like she was near, but when she finishes doing that, she feels the lack of something even worse. And Undyne can't even date with anyone. If she would, she would feel like she betrays someone.

Sans x Toriel

So, their relationship in Undertale, it's friendship. But it's kinda funny that before meeting at True Pacifist Route they didn't even know each other name. They were just telling bad puns. That's all. But I like vision of Sans and Toriel as laid-back couple. I mean, they are going on dates and act romantic but there always are jokes and making fun, looking more like a couple of friends than lovers. It's not canon so we can't know how would it look like but I really believe it would look like what I've said. I love this vision :) + Toriel is my second favorite character

About Undermourning... "door-friends". That's all. If ya don't understand... here.

Chara x Asriel

I say that I see Chara and Asriel relationship in many ways. Sometimes as sibling, friendship, couple. I like every of them but as a romantic ship I can call it my favorite ship from Undertale. I want to tell I usually see Chara as a girl (a little outdated info now). Though I like to show Chara in a lot of ways because it's very universal character.

And well... incest. It may be quite controversial opinion but hey! It is not incest! Asriel never calls Chara sibling, only best friend. Asgore doesn't even call Chara their child! The fact that Chara was treated like their child/sibling was just observation of other monsters.

I see them as sibling sometime, sometime I see them as best friend and sometimes as couple. Just depends on what I want currently. But in canon they aren't confirmed to be sibling to each other.

And about Undermourning, this ship is impossible. :') But okay, if they would survive maybe they would develop some feelings but in my AU they actually see each other as sibblings. + Their sexual orientation is unkown for them and for me aswell :'> Too little time to uncover it.

[cepheusgalaxy]

The War Of The Human Throne - tag: twotht

Genre: Fantasy adventure (you can tell I love this genre)

What is it about: There are lots of races in this world; each one is fighting the other in a centuries-long war for the title of “true human”. One of my oldest and favorites.

Who is in it:

Zai (he/him) - Main traits: Skeptical, pacifist, ethical, solution oriented mindset so learns quickly. Zaire is a hybrid; a part of the world’s percentage who lives away from the war, in a utopian-ish nation called Itarja, where lots of different people from different races could live in peace and harmony… until the fire nation attacked. A nearby nation wanted to invade Itarja and erradicate all the “unpure” other-raced and hybrids who were not “pure humans”. Zai and some others managed to escape and flee to another country… who sheltered them, but in exchange, the refugee Itarjans would have to “serve the country”: The people who were of other races would work as labor for the government, and the ones who had some human blood (according to their standards) would serve in the military. Zaire, having some of their preferred genetics, was sent to a militar academy, where he met Miriam.

Miriam (she/her) - Main traits: Idealistic, focused, gentle. Miriam is one of the top-students at the academy and she fully believes in the War going on. She thinks that they, the true humans, once have won the war, would inflict no suffering upon the conquered and would rule as the superior race with mercy (she’s a little brainwashed). She met Zaire when he was being bullied by some pure-blooded students and using of her fame and authority sent them away. Since then, she and Zaire became friends. Zaire would often conftont her about her beliefs and how could she think this was right, why did she support the war, and she would be a little shaken up but ultimately stay true to her beliefs. She didn’t hate the other races; she hated that there was war in the first place, but since there was once, she was the one that was going to win. “You can’t assure that the winner is a well-meaning one unless you are the winner” (not true btw). One day, her class, including her and Zai, went to a field training and both of them got captured by an enemy surprise attack.

Polaris (he/they/it/she? not sure, he/him for now) - Main traits: Complacent, empathetic, stoic, selfless, skilled. Polaris is a super-soldier created in laboratory to serve his country. Basically a “living weapon”. He has a lot of different races mixed on him so the State doesn’t consider him a proper “human” and there is no legal or ethical barrier to anything that’s done to him. He is kept in a watched facility with people responsible for him whenever nobody needs him, and he hates, hates his job. Making people die, making people suffer, and whenever he refused to follow orders, there would always be consequences. He learned not to defy his superiors times ago. One day, he is in this military base deep into enemy territorry coz they needed him there, and someone got prisioners. Zaire and Miriam. At some point he is chosen to watch them, and they kind of convince him to free them. He is drowning in guilt and when Miriam and Zai are free, they manage to make Polaris go with them. I don’t know much about this part, but after this unexpected rescue, the three come to the conclusion that they are going to stop the war.

Aalyah (he/it) - Main traits: Focused, hateful, somewhat gentle,tho. Aalyah is Miriam's younger brother. Some years ago, when their family received the message that she was deas, he decided he'd be the one to end the war--by winning it. And inflicting his revenge on every "non-human" he finds in his way.

Note: No magic system

[dwellordream]

“..In a sense, Mary’s attitude towards those who would not accept her ideas on religion is the central question of her whole life. She was blamed at the time, and sometimes still is, for not producing a child after she had wickedly married a ‘Spaniard’, but the real damage to her reputation comes from the burning of nearly 300 Protestants during her short reign. To being too old and increasingly ugly is added the charge that she was a religious fanatic and bigot, and in thrall to two foreign powers, Spain and Rome, which did not have the ‘true’, Protestant, interests of the English at heart. But even leaving these common stereotypes aside, a real problem remains. How did Mary come to back a campaign against individuals which led to their publicly enduring a horrible death? Mary had, after all, been known in her youth not only as beautiful to look at but also as possessed of an idealistic and ‘pure’ Christian humanist, religious nature. These ideas were strongly opposed to the religious and secular violence which was then tearing Europe apart. 

At the centre of her religious life, Mary had a deep devotion to Christ both in His personal sufferings, as recorded in the Bible, and as He was present to her in the consecrated bread of the Eucharist, which she kept constantly by her as a focus for prayer and contemplation, in the form of the reserved or exposed sacrament. She fully shared the intense attachment to the saving sufferings of Jesus, in particular His trial and Crucifixion, which had been a central theme of Christian belief and practice all over western and central Europe up to and including her own lifetime. This core belief and attachment affected people who ended up on both sides of the Catholic–Protestant divide which was hardening during her reign. 

There was in fact no real conflict among Europe’s rulers and religious leaders over the centrality of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. His sufferings were described in agonizing detail in the Gospels, interpreted in the rest of the New Testament, and re-enacted in the traditional liturgies of the Church, especially during Holy Week, which had flourished in England, as elsewhere, up to Henry VIII’s reign, and which had been gradually restored when Mary became Queen. One might suppose that this form of religious devotion, together with ideas from predominantly pacifist Christian humanism with its intimate involvement in Christ’s suffering, would have led to compassion, rather than violence, in royal policy towards those who had followed Thomas Cranmer and his allies in their interpretation of the Gospel, and of what Christ did on the cross. Why was this not the case? 

In recent years it has been suggested that the hermetically sealed denominational narratives – Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed, Anabaptist – of those who died for their faith in the sixteenth century need to be treated as equivalent, without ignoring or downgrading the particular religious feeling and emphasis which underlay their suffering and death. Henry VIII had over thirty English men and women, some with a Catholic and some a Protestant orientation, executed for religious offences, the former category, with the exception of Friar John Forest, being convicted of treason, and the latter burned as lapsed heretics. Mary in effect added adherents of Cranmer’s reforms to the list of potential victims, which seems to be the right word to use in this context. 

In her time, religious knowledge among the general population, and not just the educated elite, whether lay or clerical, was amazingly extensive and sophisticated by twenty-first-century standards. People generally thought they knew very well how a good person should die, and what the death of a bad Christian or ‘heretic’ should be like. Yet there is ample evidence, not least from foreign ambassadors’ reports and from John Foxe’s Actes and monuments (‘Book of martyrs’), that people in the crowds which witnessed the burnings of heretics in Mary’s reign were also very sure who was a martyr and who was not, though they might differ in their views of each individual case. Words like ‘martyr’ and ‘heretic’ are slippery, though, and need to be looked at more closely

Put simply, ‘martyr’ is a version of the Greek for ‘witness’. In the first three or four Christian centuries, when followers of Jesus’s ‘Way’, as members of the Church, had been persecuted by ‘pagan’ authorities, ‘martyr’ was used to describe those brave or foolhardy individuals who died a horrible death for their faith, often in public arenas. Both concepts – witnessing for one’s faith, even to death, and the violent and cruel form of that death – had become fully part of the religious life and the procedures of the Church long before Mary’s time. ‘Heresy’, also a Greek word by origin, meant ‘choice’, but had come to mean, in the religious context, ‘wrong choice’. To it had become attached a set of unsavoury concepts involving anti-social behaviour and disease. ‘Wrong’ religion was thus an infection which had to be cauterized or cut out of the individual and of society. Those among sixteenth-century scholars who, like their medieval predecessors, engaged in the generally harmful and misleading practice of dredging for appealing texts in the Bible and taking them out of their contexts, could easily develop ideas about ‘sheep’ (Christians) who became diseased and infected the rest of the flock (the Church). 

By Philip and Mary’s time, such people were commonly dealt with by an ‘Inquisition’. This word, from the Latin inquisitio, was used to mean a legal inquiry, and from the thirteenth century it began to be applied to heresy. Specalized tribunals of churchmen, with papal authority, operated in some parts of Europe, notably Spain and, from 1542, Rome, to identify and try heretics. By 1500, a complex set of laws and procedures had evolved to deal with such cases and it was accepted that although the Church itself, through its clergy and lay officers, could not shed blood, lapsed heretics, in particular, could and should be handed over to secular authorities, who would administer the death penalty, usually by means of fire. This would purge church and society of their sin and, according to the prevailing Augustinian theology, send their souls to eternal damnation, as indicated by Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel (25: 46).

Without awareness of all this, it is impossible to explain Mary’s readiness to adopt such methods in 1554–5, and persist with them until her death. In the summer of 1553, she had at least appeared to outsiders to be willing to allow the reformed services of the 1552 Book of Common Prayer to continue, if only for a time, alongside the beginnings of the restoration of Catholic worship. It is commonly understood that, to begin with, she and her closest advisers, especially Gardiner and Bonner, thought that if they took the reforming leaders out of circulation, notably Bishops Cranmer, Latimer, Ridley and Hooper, their followers would quickly return to the old faith. It soon emerged, however, that this approach would not work, and even though the kingdom was still technically in schism from Rome, the Queen and her advisers chose the traditional remedy of an Inquisition. The problem was that the old English heresy laws, which were part of statute not canon law, had been removed in the previous reign.”

- John Edwards, “Battle for England’s Soul.” in Mary I

[mortimer-writes-sometimes]

A Warm Feeling

Chapter One: Let Me Walk You Home

Summary: Here's the start to a Sans x Grillby fic you didn't know you needed.

Warnings so far: Nightmares

Chapter Two

Read this on Archive of Our Own or Wattpad!

Sans was… anxious. It had been three days since the last complete reset, and the kid still hadn’t left the Ruins. This happened sometimes, of course. Sometimes Frisk liked to take their time. They liked to spend a few days relaxing and living with Toriel before rushing out into the cold sometimes. Those runs were usually Pacifist runs, and they were good ones. Frisk would hang out in Snowdin for awhile, visit Undyne more than once, and watch anime with Alphys before finally moving on to face Asgore. Once Frisk even stayed around in Hotland long enough for Mettaton to be repaired and recharged, wanting to do another (less deadly) game show with him. Yeah, those were the runs Sans preferred over all.

However, the last run… hadn’t been like that.

On Frisk’s last run, they came out of the Ruins shuffling along, covered in dust. Sans was surprised for the first time in a long time. They’d spent a whole week in the Ruins, and that usually meant that they wanted to do a Pacifist run and spend time with everyone. Surely Frisk didn’t think they could get away with spending time with the others and still pick Genocide? Frisk laughed at the whoopie cushion, but… it didn’t feel right.

Frisk played along in Snowdin. They didn’t kill anyone, did all of Papyrus’s puzzles, and took their time in town. Still, Sans couldn’t let his guard down. Just when he thought that maybe this was another messed-up neutral run… Frisk fought Papyrus. Papyrus died… and so many others did as well.

Frisk took their time, playing with them, luring them into a false sense of security before striking. There was no time to try to evacuate everyone. Sans was lucky he’d gone to watch the fight, because he managed to get ahead of Frisk and stop by all the local hot spots, screaming at everyone to get out. People left everything, rushing to get to sneak out behind Frisk and start evacuating towards Waterfall. Of course, Sans knew it was pointless.

Frisk came to Grillby’s first, blocking the exit. Even fighting multiple people at a time, they showed no mercy, and the room began to fill with dust. Sans watched, feeling helpless as Frisk advanced towards the bar, smiling as they locked eyes with Grillby. Sans could have sworn the kid mumbled, “I’ve always wanted the chance to fight you.”

Sans couldn’t move. He screamed at Grillby to run, but the bartender didn’t acknowledge him, preparing his magic. Frisk dodged the fire easily, and Sans watched as they raised their stupid toy knife and--

“SANS.”

Sans woke up with a gasp, tears streaming down his face. He had to look around and orient himself for a moment. He was at Grillby’s, sitting at the bar. There was no dust, and most of the lights were off, casting the room in a dim, comfortable glow. The brightest source of light in the room was the fiery bartender in front of him, completely unharmed and wearing a look of heavy concern. Grillby had his hands on Sans’s shoulders, the comforting warmth seeping through the skeleton’s hoodie. He sighed in relief when Sans finally focused on him, tilting his head. “Just breathe, Sans. Are you alright? That was… quite a nightmare.”

Sans wiped at his tears, huffing out a hollow chuckle. “Yeah, I’m alright. Nightmares happen, you know?”

Grillby let go of Sans, and Sans immediately missed the warmth. The bartender adjusted his glasses and fixed Sans with a look that seemed to pierce right through the skeleton’s facade. “You woke up screaming, Sans,” Grillby pointed out, firm but not unkind. “It’s alright if you don’t want to talk about it, but don’t try to tell me that was just an ordinary nightmare.”

“Alright,” the skeleton conceded, “You got me. It was… a little intense, but I don’t really feel like talking about it. I already barely remember it anyway.” He woke up screaming more often than not these days, especially since Frisk had started to try new things again. Even the little comfort Sans could take in Frisk taking their time in the Ruins was now stripped away. Although, come to think of it, this had been the first time he’d woken up screaming at Grillby’s before. Taking another look around, he finally realized that he and Grillby were completely alone. Was the bar closed?

Catching Grillby’s expression, the bartender answered Sans’s silent question. “Yes, I’m closed for the evening. You’ve just been… well, more exhausted than usual. Your brother hadn’t come barging in looking for you yet, so I decided to just let you rest for a little while.”

Sans rubbed the back of his neck. Had he really been that obvious lately? “Thanks for that, Grillbz. I’ll go ahead and get out of your hair so you don’t have to burn the midnight oil for too long.”

Grillby rolled his eyes at the skeleton. “Let’s see,” he mused, “I think that’s twenty-eight now? No, twenty-nine.”

Sans laughed at that. “Lemme guess, keeping count of how many times I’ve made that joke? If I get to a hundred, do I win a prize?” His smile became a bit more genuine at Grillby’s eye-roll. “Come on, you know you love me.”

“And it’s infuriating,” Grillby responded. “And… it’s also exactly the reason I’m walking you home tonight.”

“Huh?” Sans sat up a bit straighter. “Grillbz, you don’t have to do that… It’s late, and my house is like, just down the road.”

“So it’s no trouble to walk a little ways and make sure you get home safely.” Grillby grabbed his coat from under the bar, shrugging it on. “I’m not taking no for an answer,” he continued. His tone softened as he looked at Sans again. “You look… well, for as long as you slept today, you still look so tired. If you won’t let me walk you home for your sake, do it for mine. You’ve trailed off in the middle of eating sometimes. I would feel horrible if I came to open up tomorrow morning and found you asleep out in the snow.”

Well, there wasn’t really any arguing with that. “Alright,” Sans conceded, “You win, but just so you know, if Paps gets on to me about making you stay late, I’m holding you accountable.”

“I’ll take it off your tab,” the bartender joked. He came around the bar and pulled out his keys, unlocking the door and holding it open for Sans. He turned off the last of the lights, locked up, and then started walking in the direction of Sans’s house.

The silence was… comfortable, as the two walked side-by-side. Sans had to admit, it was nice to have Grillby’s light illuminating the snow, compared to stumbling through it in the dark. He glanced up at the bartender again, thinking.

Grillby caught him staring and smiled a bit. “What is it? Is there something on my glasses?”

Sans blushed and looked away, chuckling. “No, sorry. I was just… thinking. You’re too kind to me, you know that? I guess I could say that you’ve got a warm personality.”

Grillby rolled his eyes. “You know that isn’t always true. You should see me when I get… ‘fired’ up.”

Sans tried and failed to choke back a laugh. “Oh my god, did you just make a fire pun? You didn’t. I’m still asleep.”

“I take it back. I should have let you pass out in the snow,” Grillby grumbled. Even as he fussed, however, there was amusement hiding in his voice. “Anyway… You’re welcome, I suppose. That’s just what friends do.”

“...yeah,” Sans mumbled, caught a little off guard. “Still, thanks.” He considered Grillby a friend, for sure, but it had always been sort of an unspoken thing. To hear Grillby admit, out loud, that they were more than just friendly acquaintances felt like stepping over some kind of line, but… in a good way. Like they pushed past some kind of barrier. Yeah, they were friends. Good friends, even.

When they arrived at Sans’s house, sure enough, Papyrus swung open the door. “SANS!” he cried, “I was about to come out and look for you myself! Of course, the one evening I come home late from training, and you aren’t even home! And look, you made Grillby stay up with you!”

Sans chuckled and looked up at Grillby. “Again- this lecture’s on you.”

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Chapter Two is out now!

[bucky-smiles]

An Unfortunate Convenience: 2

This is my entry for @stanclub‘s 2.5k Writing Challenge! My prompt was ‘when a great one night stand turns into an awkward meeting with my new boss the following day’. 

Pairing: CEO!Bucky x Reader 

Word Count: 1.2K

Warnings: fluff, confusion, office affair 

It’d been nearly 5 months since the reveal that Bucky from the bar was no one other than the CEO of the company you worked for. Your boss.

And even within those 5 months, you couldn’t help but let your mind drift off to just how amazing Bucky was to nearly everyone around him.  

He was truly benevolent, coming by your floor on occasion and exchanging casual conversation with many of the employees working. As your job led you to directly report to him, you’d also be one of the people talking to him. Bucky was kind for the most part, only putting on the demeanor of a stiff businessman when absolutely needed.

The awkwardness of having slept with him was only prevalent for the first couple of weeks as you constantly had to remind yourself that he was Mr. Barnes and not Bucky anymore. You also had to remind yourself to not ogle him every time he walked by. But could you blame yourself? He was just.. Beautiful.

After the first couple of weeks of awkwardness settled the professional relationship between the two of you. He was Mr. Barnes, you were Miss Y/L/N, and the most small talk that’d be made had to do with how you were feeling. All talk was business oriented and life was good.

That relationship lasted for nearly two months and after 3 weeks worth of late nights, your relationship with Bucky turned into a strange friendship. As he was your boss, it wasn’t surprising that he was working late nights as well. The first couple of times the two of you merely acknowledged one another, small understanding smiles and nods. However after that, as the quantity of late nights increased, the solidarity amongst the two of you switched into a bonding experience.  

It started off with Bucky knocking at your door during one of your late nights. He’d brought you food as a thank you for your hard work and you’d invited him to eat with you. From there, the cycle was set. He brought you food every other day and you brought him food on the other days as a compromise. The two of you would share 30 minute exchanges of your personal lives, hopes, dreams, and thoughts. That’s how you found out about his best friend (Steve), the fact that he’s one of 4 kids, and that this job was the most stressful one he’s ever had. In exchange, he found out about you being raised with one younger sibling while always being under the pressure to always be the best.

These exchanges had a whole different intimacy that seemed to be completely separate from the work life. During these impromptu dinners, he’d be Bucky and you’d be Y/N, the two of you ready to listen, learn, and laugh. Outside of all of that, it’d be Mr. Barnes and Miss Y/L/N, talking about business, product management, and every other thing you did that pertained to the business.

It was comfortable, familiar, and quickly became the only event you looked forward to the most when working a late night.

What you didn’t realize was how quickly you developed feelings for Bucky. His stare made you blush subconsciously, his voice made you swoon, and his jokes made you laugh. He was everything good in the world and you couldn’t help but wonder, on occasion, how it’d be to merely kiss him again, if his lips really were as soft as they were that night all that time ago or if your drunk self had merely imagined that.

You caught yourself in your imagination one night, only to be brought out of your thoughts by the sound of a knock at your door. It was 7:30 in the evening and the office was nearly empty meaning it was Bucky there with food. You got up and moved to the door, a bright smile making its way onto your face as your assumptions proved true. There he was, in all his beautiful glory with a dapper suit, a soft smile, bright eyes, and a box on pizza with him.

Was this heaven?

You let him in and of course, like usual, your evening went on like it normally did, talking, eating, and laughing.

However the atmosphere completely changed as Bucky looked to you, speaking out of the blue as you took a bite from the pizza slice in your hands, “You know I didn’t have to stay for the late night today.”

You paused mid chew at his statement, eyebrows raising ever so slightly at his confession. After finishing the bite in your mouth, you cleared your throat before speaking, “Then why’re you here with me?”

His statement was simple and your heart did a backflip, “I wanted to be here with you.. I’ll be going after we’re done eating.”

You couldn’t help but blush, the crimson dust spreading over your cheeks and neck. You merely offered a small smile before going back to your pizza.

As he said, he left after the two of you were finished, but not before pressing a soft kiss to your cheek and bidding you goodnight.

The random bursts of affection slowly became more and more common amongst the two of you. First it’d only be Bucky initiating it. He’d take your hand on occasion, press a kiss to your cheek or forehead when leaving, or give you a tight hug. But as it became more and more common, the affection began coming from you as well, beating him to it by kissing him on the cheek first or simply resting your head on his thigh after eating. Of course, this all only happened when it was the two of you working late nights. It was quiet, unspoken, and everything you ever wanted.

Kisses on the cheek were swapped for the lips by accident after one night. You were just about to leave his office for your own, a soft smile resting on your lips. Like routine, you were at the door with Bucky right in front of you. The two of you just happened to lean in for the chaste cheek kiss at the same time when your lips joined together. It was quick and a gasp quickly escaped your lips as you pulled away, eyes wide.

His reaction was somewhat similar to yours and it only took a few moments for the both of you to lean in once more to kiss again. It was soft and warm yet passionate and needy as well. Your lips moved together in tandem and Bucky was quick to have his hands at your waist tugging you closer to him until your hands were on his chest. There were butterflies in your stomach and your face felt warm as you pulled away after a few moments. There was an awestruck look in his eyes as they ran over your face.

The sound of a horn honking from the street caused the two of you to jump apart, the moment filled with tension and emotion disappearing almost immediately. You cleared your throat ever so slightly before speaking, “Bye Bucky, have a good night,” You throw a gentle smile his way before leaving, this time not giving way for him to stop you and sidetrack even more.

When you reached your office, you closed the door and let out your sigh. Your best dream and worst nightmare came true. Yes, you kissed the man you’d been oh so infatuated with these past few days but he was your boss. If anyone found out both your job and his would be at stake.

What had you gotten yourself into?

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[tartutation]

Venus de Milo (TMNT AU Profile)

A/N: English is not my native language. Therefore, any advice on any grammatical errors is very welcome! Thank you and enjoy your reading <3

Warnings: None

The TMNT AU summary: This is an alternate universe of teenage mutant ninja turtles (mostly inspired by the 2003 series and Bayverse movies) that was inspired by the structure of a "coming-of-age" novel. After losing their beloved father and incomparable master and defeating Shreder, the enemy they have been chasing since the age of 15, Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo must learn to accept the grief and move on with their lives. None of it will be easy, now that the transition from adolescence to adulthood will be strongly impacted by an unexpected reunion with two women from their past and the new friends who have joined them.

Introducing Venus de Milo

You can see Venus aparence HERE

In this universe the boys met Venus because she spent 9 months being trained by Mestre Splinter when they were only 10 years old. It is a consensus among them that they share the same mutation, but all the genetic tests that Donatello made were inconclusive (yes, that does strasses him out).

During this period when Venus spent 9 months in New York studying the old history and secrets of the biggest and most famous ninja clans with Mestre Splinter (Hamato Yoshi's only living heir) her relationship with the turtle brothers was somewhat troubled. At the time, they were all children and the tension of having a girl in the group made it very difficult for them to interact normally. Raphael and Michelangelo used to exclude her from the games and playdates with the excuse that it was "for boys only!" and Leonardo felt very jealous of his master (and father), who seemed to pay special attention to this lost konuichi. Of all of them, however, the one who made the most hell of Venus's life was (who knew!) Donatello. Even with his gentle and pacifist spirit, Donnie did not like this new guest who claimed to be (ABSURD!) high priestest of a lost lineage of magical Konuichi. They were doomed to disagreement: after all, a little prodigy of science and a child with magical powers are two existences that contradict each other. But as soon as she came, Venus left, after finishing her intensive course with "Master Hamato" (which is how she referred to Splinter) she returned to Japan and spent the next 11 years training extensively every day to be able to become the best guardian of the Secret of Kunoichi Magic that had ever existed. Without the distraction of other brothers or  any friends close by, Venus became the most dangerous and disciplined warrior who had ever set foot on this Earth.

Now a young woman, Venus reencounters her former hashi colleagues. What does the future await?

Name: Venus de Milo

Age: 21

Species: Mutant Tortoise

Favorite color: Blue

Moral alingment: Lawfull Good

Sign: Libra

Sexual orientation: Demisexual

Characteristics:

Because of her disciplined and restricted upbringing, Venus has a very difficult time socializing with other people (or mutants!) her age. She doesn't know what a "meme" is, how twitter works, what's the fun of a 6-second video with a cat sppining to the sound of "sweet dreams are made of this". Having grown up in a temple and spent her entire life studying, she has a different concept of what "fun" is.

Her favorite hobbies include reading, meditating, studying ancient history documents, doing push-ups, kneading healing herbs, studying new types of incense and their calming propreities, etc ... All things that she also does as part of her daily work as the Keeper of the Kunochi Secret, so... The boundaries between fun and work are very thin.

She is an excellent reader and can read fluently in three languages: English, Japanese and Cantonese. She loves to read, it's her favorite activity, especially out loud, as she considers herself an excellent announcer.

She can defeat any of the Hamato brothers in combat (including Leonardo). Although neither bigger nor stronger, Venus uses the weight of the enemy's and their strength against them. In addition, her physical speed and strategic ability together makes her literally unbeatable.

Despite her advanced combat skills, Venus is extremely shy and anything makes her blush. Especially conversations that involve sexual pleasure and explicit language. Unfortunately for her, Michelangelo will discover this very quickly and will be able to defeat her in a fight whispering "What's up, hot stuff?" during combat. None of the other brothers will understand how he did it and he will never tell.

Despite being aware that her appearance isn't considered neither normal nor attractive to humans, Venus has no problems with self-esteem. She is very proud of her origins and to be the heir to a lineage of magical warriors is enough to make her one of the most beautiful people in the world in her mind.

Despite having a limited social skill, she is a very valuable friend and after she becomes attached to you, she will do everything to guarantee your safety and comfort.

She is very elegant and graceful. She was taught during her upbringing that each movement must be calculated and rehearsed strictly, what makes some of her very commom and daily actions, such as putting on a shoe or pouring tea look like choreography of a soft dance.

Venus believes deeply in soul mates. So she never worried much about learning the art of seduction or how to flirt with other people, since she always knew that one day the right person would cross her path and she wouldn't have to change who she is to win their heart (spoiler: she was right!)

It might not look like it, but she is very easily irritated. The fact is that she can disguise her stress and impatience just as easily. Never loses her temper.

Even with all these characteristics, she is not the leader of the group. This role was given to Mona Lisa (you will be able to read about Mona Lisa from this alternative universe very soon) through an election between the four friends (description of the twins May and June coming soon!). Venus has no grudge against her friend, as she knows that despite her physical abilities, herself lacks the charisma that a leader needs.

She is not very good at comforting others, nor is she a big fan of physical contact.

She was educated to never feel hatred towards anything but despite this she cannot control her contempt for lies. Trust is the most important thing in the world.

Summary of relationship with each of the turtles:

Leonardo: Venus and Leo are kindred spirits. They have, all jokes aside, everything in common. Therefore, when they met each other for the second time, they developed a friendship that made them absolutely inseparable. She likes how he doesn't underestimate her and how he respects her discipline and life doctrine and he likes having a partner to meditate and train. Their union allowed Leonardo to finally have someone with the same dedication (and obsession, honestly) as he, someone with whom he could complain about the neglect of his brothers and someone to train his japanese with, which also guaranteed them a certain privacy and intimacy that Leonardo had not yet experienced with anyone.

Raphael: If asked, Raph will say that he thinks Venus "is ok". Deep down, meeting her for a second time left a bitter taste in his mouth. He is very jealous of his brother and wonders if Venus would not be the true sister that Leo always wanted - besides (of course) the fact that her discipline and posture are literally the combination of all the things he doesn't like in Leonardo multiplied by 10. Despite all this, the thing that he hates the most is her absence of anger: there are few things in the world that Raphael likes more than stressing his perfect big brother and watching him lose his temper, but it seems IMPOSSIBLE to get the same reaction with Venus . No matter how much he teases her, ridicules her or bullies her ... she never breaks! And THAT is unforgivable. (As they will get to know each other better, Raphael will be able to see Venus for what she is: not the incarnation of perfection on Earth, but a very shy young woman with very basics communication skills )

Donatello: Donnie, now a 21-year-old man, is ashamed to face the ghosts of his childhood that Venus brings with her. He remembers very well how he treated her when they were young and is very ashamed of how bad he was to her. Age made him realize that despite not sharing the same beliefs he didn't had the right to mistreat her. Because of this, upon their reunion, Donatello can't even look her in the eye... The situation gets so much worse when he realizes that she is kind, peaceful and strategic and that the obsession and discipline she exercises in her spiritual rituals are equivalent to those himself repets with his inventions, experiments and research. In silence, he starts to admire her more and more, and the more he admires her the more shame he feels for how he treated her. For a long time, he fantasies with the day when he will be forgiven and accepted, who knows, maybe she will admire him in the same way ... Poor Donnie, he doesn't even imagine that Venus does not hold a single drop of resentment and that she ends up interpreting him distancing himself of her as a form of showing contempt. (Agsnt is my fucking life)

Michelangelo: Mikey finds Venus so.fucking.intimidating. He remmembered her as a very small and shy crybaby, but now? Now she is the greatest warrior he have ever seen. If Leonardo tries to be the authority figure and ends up rejected by his younger brother, Venus does not have the same intention, but ends up winning the respect and trust of the youngest of the group. She ends up being the only figure that Michelangelo really respects and obeys blindly after Master Splinter. He adores her  just as a troubled student adores the patient and empathetic vice director. Their friendship ends up becoming so sincere and pure that he starts playing video games on mute just to hear the stories she reads aloud.

_________________________________________________________

Well.. That’s it for Venus BIO! Please tell me what do you think! Every comment and opinion is welcome. My ask box is also open for any questions about this AU! Thank you so much for reading till the end. 

[itmeansvictory]

❝ She did not need much, wanted very little. A kind word, sincerity, fresh air, clean water, a garden, kisses, books to read, sheltering arms, a cozy bed, and to love and be loved in return. ❞

BRIE LARSON? No, that’s actually VICTOIRE WEASLEY. Only TWENTY SIX years old, this HUFFLEPUFF alumni works as an CURSE-BREAKER and is sided with THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX. SHE identifies as CIS FEMALE and is a HALFBLOOD ( ONE EIGTH VEELA ) who is known to be OVERPROTECTIVE, STUBBORN, and SELF-DEPRECATING but also CONSCIENTIOUS, NURTURING, and PRAGMATIC. { r, 27, mst, she/her/hers }

GENERAL

FULL NAME: Victoire Apolline Weasley NICKNAME(S): Vic, V, Tori, Tor AGE/DATE OF BIRTH: 26, 05/02/1997 OCCUPATION: Independently Contracted Curse-Breaker GENDER: Cis Female PRONOUNS: She/Her HOMETOWN: Tinworth, Cornwall, England CURRENT RESIDENCE: London, England POSITIVE TRAITS: Conscientious, Nurturing, Pragmatic, Loyal NEGATIVE TRAITS: Stubborn, Self-Deprecating, Overprotective, Moody

BIOGRAPHY

victoire apolline weasley - though you may know her as a number of monikers: blonde weasley, curse-breaking milf, mom friend™, whatever. she’s the eldest weasley cousin, part-veela, a mother, and yes she is a natural blonde. these are often the defining characteristics she is known by, but there’s a lot more than meets the eye.

born on may 2nd, 1997, almost two years after the fateful tri-wizard tournament where voldemort was defeated “once and for all”, she is the first child born to bill weasley and beauxbatons champion fleur delacour. the first of her generation; hers was a charmed childhood, only made more exciting by the arrival of two siblings and many cousins. seeing as she was older than most of them by a handful of years, victoire became somewhat of a “babysitter” for the family. she spent most of her formative years running after younger weasley-potters, patching up scrapes and kissing bruises as well as diffusing tense situations. from an early age she just naturally took on the role of “mom” among her social groups, the nurturing tendencies carry on even to her hogwarts years where her friends often teased her for being so overprotective of them and “babying” them.

at hogwarts she was sorted into hufflepuff - the first of her family to not be a gryffindor much to the changrin of several of her family members. while the hat had debated between the two houses, it was ultimately the pragmatic and sensible nature of the girl that lead her to being placed among the badgers. this turned out to be best suited to her traits. victoire’s easy going youth lead to her being soft and gentle but also incredibly empathetic and warm. aside from being the aforementioned “mom friend”, she was basically the poster child for hufflepuff - being dutiful, hard-working, trustworthy, loyal and fair. the one “weasley trait” that followed her was a deep love for quidditch, being a beater for the house team for a few years. but her true loves had been herbology, history of magic and charms; the girl spending most of her days studying old textbooks, hanging around the greenhouse, or learning new charms to advance her abilities.

due to a studious nature, she was usually in the favor of her professors and hadn’t found herself in detention like many of her family members might have. it was for this reason she was chosen as a prefect during her latter years, and head girl her seventh. she was responsible and organized in comparison to most of her peers, and actually took pride in being a role model. a side effect of being the oldest in her family - there were always eyes on her and victoire wanted to live up to their expectations.

following school, it was of little surprise when she announced she would be a curse-breaker in training under her father’s tutelage. she possessed much of her father’s qualities - she was an academic achiever as well as laid back in nature, while still managing to be serious when necessary. as a child she was a daddy’s girl and had a very keen interest in bill’s occupation. she used to pretend she was a curse-breaker, "disabling” curses and jinxes on teddy bears and various odd objects throughout the house. so when it came time to take her NEWT level classes, she made sure to structure her schedule around what classes would help her become a successful curse-breaker. it was a thrilling and adventure-filled career path, but her time with gringott’s would only last a few years before she opted to be an “independently contracted curse-breaker” - a choice made in order to continue the work she loved while being a single parent with full custody of her child.

before she began her apprenticeship, victoire spent the summer holiday after her seventh year in france with relatives. despite her claims she would come back “still very much the same victoire” the girl had returned from holiday a very different woman - a married one, actually. hardly one to make rash decisions, it was a shock to hear that after just four weeks of courtship victoire had married a beauxbatons alum she’d met while touring the french riviera. much of the family was opposed to the union, but victoire swore that she was happy and it was meant to be - and for a while that was true.

it turned into a tumultuous affair and would last all of four years before the ill-suited pair would inevitably call it quits - an embarrassing fact considering how adamant she had been that their love was “real” and that it would “work out just fine”. it turned out over time that the two were not exactly suitable and wanted very different things. for one, he wanted to live in france while victoire wanted to stay near her family in england. the only complication left after the marriage was a child that neither had originally planned for - a little girl named amélie whom victoire has full custody of. now her trips to france - via portkey every other weekend - are begrudgingly made in order to allow their daughter time to stay with her father, with whom she has remained (or has tried to remain) amicable and civil despite how poorly the relationship ended.

these days victoire is hardly around. contracted with many independent buyers and sellers of magical antiques and the like, the woman travels across the wizarding world in order to acquire such objects and to reverse whatever hexes have been placed on them as security measures. it’s become harder to balance this job with raising a child, and as such has made her home base in the UK in order to receive the support from her family. she was away on such trips when things began to escalate back home and has since taken on less jobs and has been spending more time in london and close to her relatives during what feels like the return of dark times.

joining the reinstated order of phoenix, victoire is at war with the impending fight. the young woman isn’t too eager to be part of another wizarding war. a little bit of a pacifist, victoire just wants to see a happy future again. having a young child, and seeing the aftereffects of her uncle’s death on his family, makes her worried to put herself in a position where she will no longer be able to take care of amelie. but she also knows that it is up to the order to put an end to the death eaters once and for all - choosing to ultimate put herself in harms way in order to make sure her daughter gets to grow in a safe and happy world like she herself did.

tbh i’ll probably be editing this as i go along.

MISC

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Demisexual ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: Heteromantic LANGUAGES: English, French, Gobbledegook, Some German, Spanish and Chinese FAMILY: Bill Weasley (father), Fleur Weasley née Delacour (mother), Dominique Weasley (sister), Louis Weasley (brother), Amélie Weasley-Dufour (daughter), Bastien Dufour (ex-husband) PETS: Barn Owl named Athena, Kneazle named Pyewacket ZODIAC SIGN: Taurus MBTI: ISFJ AESTHETIC: black coffee forgotten and cooled to room temperature; books and files piled up on every surface; scuffed up doc marten’s, cracked brown leather jackets, vintage band tees; makeup-less face and messy buns; chipped black nail polish; teeth marks running along her wand; reading glasses sitting on the button of her nose, a finger shaped smudge on the right lens; world map with assorted pins and thread connecting cities across the globe; bleached shells, creased postcards, and faded photographs in a trinket box long forgotten in the far corner of the closet; freckles that only come out with the sun, sideways smirks and a mischievous twinkle in dark chocolate eyes; the cry of seagulls and the salty sea breeze; pressed flowers in leather bound notebooks lying e v e r y w h e r e, blue ink stains on hands; trinkets and odd little souvenirs from various countries and cities on every desk; finger paintings and crayon drawings with ‘i love mummy’ in the corners; bottomless bag with everything a mom ever needs; nights spent alone and welcoming the solitude

WANTED CONNECTIONS

THE SCHOOL FRIENDS (2) - a couple fellow hogwarts alums who would have attended at the same time as victoire, they have remained close friends since leaving school and regularly meet up for drinks and to catch up and reminisce. they are hufflepuffs and have their own trio kind of like harry/ron/hermione. bonus points if one is a death eater, 1/2 taken

THE RIVAL - a fellow curse-breaker or someone from victoire’s youth who she has never seen eye to eye with. perhaps its because of opposing ideals, a dislike for the weasley-potter family or whatever petty reason - these two just don’t get along and are constantly butting heads. bonus points for being rivals in the curse-breaking field, open

THE EX - self explanatory; victoire’s ex-husband and the father of her daughter. this is not meant to be a romantic connection. they weren’t very well suited for each other and instead insist upon being civil and amiable for the sake of their daughter. is french/a beauxbatons alumni and would be newly arrived in britain should you take up this role, npc

tbh i’m really bad at these; just hmu and we can brainstorm afheahpfieaihfeiafpieafea

[prodigil]

CHARACTER STATS FRAMEWORK. please repost don’t reblog !

stats.

full name:  samuel henry winchester

nickname(s):  sam, sammy (dean only), moose

age:  22-27, generally

birthday:  may 2nd, 1983

species:  demon blooded human

nationality:  american 

gender:  transgender male

preferred pronoun(s):  he/him/his

romantic orientation:  panromantic

sexual orientation:  pansexual

religion:  belief in a higher power

occupation:  hunter, occasional bartender

status:  active

fandom:  supernatural based but very much cross/multi fandom, i trust like 6 people in this fandom

face claim(s):  colin ford, jared padalecki

relationships

parents:  john winchester, father, deceased; mary winchester nee campbell, mother, deceased

siblings:  dean winchester, brother; adam milligan, brother, deceased

family:  sam and deanna campbell, grandfather and grandmother, deceased; emma, niece, deceased; an unnamed uncle on mary’s side, deceased

significant other(s):  dependent on time period. known love interests include jess, madi, brady, max, and ruby

children:  none by birth, later adopts magda peterson

closest friends:  castiel

rivals:  sam doesn’t really maintain rivalries 

enemies: above

physical traits

eye color(s):  hazel

hair color(s):  brown

height:  6 ft 5

body build:  athletic,  muscular but not incredibly muscular, bony, slim. sorta gangly. very lanky in youth

notable physical traits:  sam doesn’t think theres anything very special about him physically. his height is often pointed out. he also has very emotive eyes

phobias and diseases

phobia(s):  clowns, literally anything regarding lucifer

mental disease(s):  diseases?? disorders. he has ptsd, social and general anxiety, depression, and possible avpd 

when and how was this diagnosed?  none of them have been diagnosed professionally

physical disease(s):  permanent brain damage,  possibly type 2 diabetes 

when was this diagnosed and/or how did it happen?  brain damage has been a result of repetitive constant physical trauma on the job, type 2 diabetes is congenital 

personality

usual mood/expression:  calm, slightly flat, a little anxious maybe

moral alignment:  between neutral good and true neutral

jung:  infj, the advocate. 

enneagram:   6 9 2 / the loyalist, the peacemaker, the helper

four temperaments:  a mix of melancholic and phlegmatic 

hogwarts house:  ravenclaw with a touch of all the other houses

top five tropes:  oh do i have some fucking tropes for you my dude.  action dad, action survivor, adorkable, all loving hero, all of the other raindeer, always second best, and i must scream, anti anti christ, apocalypse maiden, apologizes a lot, the atoner, badass adorable, badass bookworm, badass pacifist, badass gay, bad dreams, bad powers good people, bash brothers, became their own antithesis, because destiny says so,  being good sucks, berserk button, beware the nice ones, big little brother, black sheep, brains and brawn, bratty teenage son, broken bird, brutal honesty, can’t stay normal, cartwright curse, the chewtoy, child prodigy, the chosen one, cosmic plaything, crouching scholar hidden badass, daddy had a good reason to abandon you, deadpan snarker, defeating the undefeatable, demonic possession, death seeker, despair event horizon, determined defeatist, doom magnet, driven to suicide, face death with dignity, fanboy, friend to all children, generation xerox, good is not soft,  he who fights monsters, heroism wont pay the bills, hot blooded, i am a monster, i am not left handed, i can still fight!, i just want to be normal, in the blood, knight templar little brother, little miss badass, living emotional crutch, love martyr, nerves of steel, the only one, parental abandonment, puppy dog eyes,  rape as drama,  red oni blue oni, refusal of the call, reassigned to the call, screw destiny, shell shocked veteran, submissive badass, survivor guilt, teens are short, thicker than water, thousand yard stare, tragic hero, undying loyalty,

five prominent traits:   adaptable, defiant, adventurous, clever, creative, daring, energetic, free-thinking, open, observant, skillful,  deceptive, neutral, sarcastic,  blunt, stubborn, compassionate, tough, (self)-destructive, addictive, protective, good-natured, independent, enthusiastic, brutal, calculating, criminal, clean, sensitive, gentle, considerate, meddlesome, neurotic, moody.

misc

skills:  most of this is related to hunting. excellent shot, can hotwire cars, can create makeshift EMFS. good at lockpicking, computer hacking. intelligent, academically learned. also capable of exorcising demons with his mind at certain points in his life.

hobbies:  used to enjoy playing soccer, attending community theater (both as an actor and as audience),

element:  both fire and earth.

animal:  everyone calls sam ‘moose’, but i associate him with a work ox.  yknow. steady, reliable, big.

plant: i don’t know enough about plants to answer this.

anything else you want to add:  sam is a demon blooded human, and as a result, developed demon-aligned abilities as he aged. this is mostly limited to visions and minor telekinesis, but has the capability to expand tremendously. 

stats

compassion:  7/10.

empathy:  9/10.

creativity:  6/10.

mental flexibility:  7/10 .

passion / motivation:  8/10.

education:  8/10.

stamina:  8/10.

physical strength:  7/10.

battle skill:  9/10.

initiative:  7/10.

restraint:  5/10.

agility:  6/10.

strategy:��  7/10.

teamwork:  6/10.

musical-rhythmic intelligence:  0/10.

visual-spatial intelligence:  8/10.

verbal-linguistic intelligence:  6/10.

logical-mathematical intelligence:  9/10.

bodily-kinesthetic intelligence:  7/10.

interpersonal intelligence:  8/10.

intrapersonal intelligence:  6/10.

existential intelligence:  6/10.

naturalistic intelligence: 4/10.

[dem0nsiget]

Pride Month OC Random Crap

I’m bored and wanna post something for Pride Month before it’s over, so imma just talk about my OCs and what orientation they are, yay!

Some may not be OCs, but characters I love and wanna talk about.

Will be separated by universe and RP series they’re in (RPs are mostly all with @utopium , unless stated otherwise.)

Bayverse: Hide RP AU

Denarius: Ironhide’s older brother, a weapons engineer, was dead, but now he’s Back In Black™️. Very sassy, loves to annoy the fuck out of his brother. Aromantic, partner is Telum.

Telum: Denarius’s partner, aromantic as well, a ‘computer programmer’ (he’s a hacker, he just claims all he does is ‘creative programming). Very sarcastic, can be cold at times. His and Denarius’s relationship is always changing. They can act like boyfriends one day and like acquaintances the next, but they still care about each other (they do love each other, but it’s more a platonic thing, it’s rather hard to describe).

Bayverse: JazzXProwl, CarmenXCade RP AU

Barricade: (Not technically an OC, but he’s very different from his true Bayverse self) Prowl’s step-brother, bisexual. Had a MAJOR crush on Knockout when they were friends early on in the Decepticon ranks.

Bluestreak: Prowl and Barricade’s younger half brother (born after Prowl’s mother and Barricade’s father became sparkmates). Queer, though he hasn’t put a label on what, as he doesn’t know. All he knows is that he’s not straight. Very innocent.

Leann: Prowl and Jazz’s daughter, very very gay.

Bayverse: Jolt And Soul RP

Jolt: (again, I count him as an OC cause he was barely in Bayverse) @utopium Going to be bisexual, then all the gay jokes will be somewhat true, XD

(For those that don’t know, which is everyone but me and J, there’s a running joke in RPs with Jolt that people think he’s gay. Don’t remember how it started, but we continue the tradition)

TFP RP: (with @utopium )

Oceanstorm: Megatron’s son, was a pacifist, till shit went down and he vowe revenge on TonicShock, his old friend, and afterwards his father. Bisexual, though he leans more towards femmes.

Mircalla: HELLA FUCKING GAY. Based off Carmilla from the YouTube show of the same name. Beastformer, turns into a black panther and a black Jaguar (the car). Very much in love with Stratos.

Velox and Fortem: Gay, and I’ll leave it at that ( @utopium let’s just leave it at that, shall we?)

TFP RP: (with my other RP partner who I used to RP with)

Stormfront: bisexual and polyamourous, sparkbonded to Knockout and Breakdown. Seeker. Has 8 kids (2 singles and 3 sets of twins. Help this poor mother)

Cornu: Stormfront’s oldest son, father is Starscream. Very very gay, sparkbonded to Polaroid (Megatron’s son).

Thunderstrike: Stormfront and Breakdown’s oldest kid. Hella gay, dating Oliver, an old football teammate from high school.

(I don’t remember Thunder’s twin sisters name, but she was bisexual and Stormfront and Knockout’s daughter)

MTMTE RP: (ALMOST FORGOT THIS ONE SOMEHOW)

Nightstar: Drift’s ex-partner from back with the Decepticons, extremely sassy and sarcastic, a huge flirt, pansexual.

Frostbite: (technically not my creation, but I play her.) Seeker femme, don’t know if she’s gay or bi, but dating Resonance, a very sassy Minicon femme.

Random RPs: (either can’t remember the RP or they’ve been smattered in)

Theo: (not my OC, but including him) Hide and another of one of my friend’s OCs kids (Theo also belongs to her). Not sure if he’s gay or bi, but dating Xander.

X4ND3R/Xander: A Vehicon soldier, appointed to Vehicon Commander. Very sarcastic, very kind. Doesn’t enjoy being cannon fodder. Dating Theo, they have one kid Peony.

Duskshadow: Seeker femme, programmer, pansexual, one of Slipstream’s trinemates, sparkbonded to LongShot.

LongShot: (not my OC but including them) Agender? (Not quite sure the technical title @utopium uses for them). Uses they/them, met Duskshadow getting the codes to unlock both sets of interfacing hardware. Sniper, hence the name. Very protective of their sparkmate/trinemate.

Voltron RP

Kalia Kogane: Keith’s younger sister, hella fucking gay, dating Pidge.

Voltron RP: Voltron/TF Crossover

Kassandra Anne Tide: Kaylah and Hide’s daughter, very bisexual, dating Julie. Sarcastic and trigger happy like her father.

@utopium if I forgot any, let me know, and if you wanna reblog and add yours, that’d be great, I also kinda want a list of everyone, XD.

[ofauroradreams]

MUSE

BASICS:

Name: Liana Carmen Morales [née Travers]. Age: 17+ years. Nicknames: Lily or Li. Possibly Ana. Aliases: Desdemona White. The Wild Rose. Carmenita. Birthday: August 5th. Zodiac: Leo. Gender: Female (she/her). Orientation: Pansexual. Nationality: American. Occupation: Self-Employed. Languages: Spanish; English; Japanese. Beliefs: Wicca/Paganism. Personality: ESFJ – The Provider. Morality: Chaotic Good. Element: Fire. Animal: Dolphin.

BIOGRAPHY:

     A bright personality, Liana radiates warmth and friendliness. Always with a kind word to share, she’s a very sociable person; craving interaction with other people as a way to fulfil her desire for affection. She harbors a deep-seated fear of loneliness and thus aims to have as many friends as possible; although she will always hold a select few in higher regard. She seeks pleasure from the simple things in life, like rain, because laughter is important to her and joy should come easy. She’s the type of person who’ll start dancing to music in the middle of the street, with no mind to anyone else.

     For all that she wears her emotions on her sleeve, however, Liana holds herself quite close to the chest. Diagnosed with a number of mental health issues, she struggles to let people see her true self for fear of rejection. She tends to let her own achievements or issues slip under the radar as she doesn’t consider them important. The most important thing in Liana’s life tends to be the people she cares about: she’s very loyal and borders on self-sacrificing when their safety is at risk. Due to long-term trauma, she believes everyone will leave her in the end, so she makes sure to relish the time she spends with them.

     A Chaotic Good, Liana’s morals are guided by her own principles above all else. Although her intentions generally align with those of the world around her, she’s not afraid to break rules or expectations to achieve her goals: which usually revolve around helping others. She generally tries to resolve confrontations with minimal violence; but don’t mistake her for a pacifist: she is very much capable, and willing, of killing in defense of the people she cares about. Her main fear is becoming too much like her father as a killer, and thus she’ll tend to feel each and every kill as deeply as the last; but she is built to carry such weight. Liana has, and always will, bear these burdens so no one else has to.

     Anger is Liana’s biggest flaw. You might wonder how this is when she never seems to get angry; but that’s because Liana knows anger is her biggest flaw and thus, she attempts to avoid it. But Liana carries an anger deep in her very bones, an anger at the world and life and her childhood; and thus, it is an inevitable emotion. While hot and volatile on the surface, this deep anger can become cold and dangerous: when truly angry, Liana has no compassion or morals or mercy. This anger desires pain and suffering; and a truly furious Liana has no qualms about delivering such. This is why Liana works so hard to be kind and compassionate in life: to counter the weight of her anger.

     A potentially dangerous enemy, she makes a better ally; but to truly know Liana at her best is to be her friend.

HISTORY:

     LIANA WAS BORN AT SUNSET ON A TUESDAY. Loved by her mother and hated by her father, she grew up in a volatile household. Belittled and bullied, her father became increasingly violent after the birth of her younger brother when she was two. Rejected by her only father, she sought his approval over the years, often allowing herself to be abused if only to receive his attention. In equal measures, she sought to escape him and thus a lifelong love of art and music developed. However, shortly after she turned eleven, she became victim to her father’s most violent attack yet; and when she attempted to defend herself, she ended up killing her mother instead.

     IN THE AFTERMATH, LIANA BECAME DISTANT AND AGGRESSIVE. Suffering from PTSD among other issues, she often lashed out, trying to hurt people; and even experienced increasingly frequent blackouts and memory lapses. Unable to contain or control her emotions, she turned them inwards instead, and started hurting herself. Rejecting therapy and even medication, her father locked her away in a children’s psychiatric hospital after she attacked one of her teachers. When even that failed, Liana’s last chance came in the shape of a mental health hospital designed for patients like her: located in Japan. With no other choice, Liana agreed.

     FOR THE NEXT THREE YEARS, LIANA WAS OFFERED THE HELP AND SUPPORT SHE NEEDED to manage her PTSD and anger. Although she resisted the aid at first, her mentor was patient and slowly she started to open up. Taught a mix of martial arts, meditation and music, she began to heal from her father’s abuse and the death of her mother; eventually picking up guitar and photography to supplement her therapy. When her mentor, with whom she was close, fell terminally ill and her progress started to regress, she was prescribed medication and it was a testament to her improvement that she willingly took it. Shortly after her mentor died, Liana was grief-stricken but managed to finish her program and sought to return to America.

     AGED 15, SHE RETURNED HOME. Unable to locate her father or her brother, she was placed in the care system temporarily, being fostered by a family with another teenage boy. She returned to her dance and art classes, where she met a boy by the name of Damien, with whom she developed her first relationship. At the age of 16, Liana applied for emancipation from her father but was able to stay with her foster family through this process. During this time, her father was arrested for a number of violent crimes committed through the city, and Liana was eventually outed by the media as his daughter. Subjected to cruel trolling, both online and off, this all came to a head when her foster family’s house was set on fire. Although, no one was injured, except the family cat, Liana decided to move away to protect her family.

     AFTER CHANGING HER NAME TO HER MOTHER’S MAIDEN NAME, Liana attempted to rebuild her life, while dealing with her father’s court case, and her brother’s involvement with a gang. Using her skills unconventionally, she tried to bring down this gang and free her brother before he went too far; despite his rejection of their relationship. However, she was forced to give up her endeavour when her proximity to gang activity ended with her getting shot in the shoulder. After recovering from her injury, she decided to move back to the city in which she was born and try to build a brand new life for herself. And this is where our story begins…

[monochromerose]

Undertale Ramblings/Headcanons

this will be extremely spoiler-heavy for all runs of the game, mostly pacifist and no mercy: DON’T READ UNLESS YOU’RE WILLING TO HAVE THE GAME SPOILER OR HAVE BEATEN MOST RUNS

Okay so. starting with souls. based on the in-game information abt the souls carrying different qualities (patience, bravery, integrity, etc.) it seems like there are only seven traits associated with different souls and, to break the barrier, one soul of each trait would need to be collected by the monsters. at least, HUMAN souls only have seven traits- monster souls seem to be the wildcards, seeing as Asriel was able to use the six human souls and all of the monster souls to break the barrier 

All the monsters who turn the player's soul different colors seem to be lacking in that quality. papyrus and sans turn frisk's soul dark blue: integrity, and that relates to honesty and moral character. papyrus exaggerates parts of himself in hopes of being liked, going against honesty, and sans doesn't do anything abt the player killing anyone until he and asgore are literally THE ONLY monsters left

Papyrus is very,,, out there? he isn't very true to himself and is (sort of) willing to lie to get ppl to like him. Sans is kind of a mess. he's only willing to step up and do smth abt the player's no mercy route until, as said, he is one of two monsters left in the entire underground (with the exception of ppl u don't see during no mercy like alphys and the amalgamates). he knows more than he lets on and acts like he has strong morals but only seems to care about the safety of his brother and himself, which is understandable, but the player can literally murder him even in a neutral route and he won't do anything abt it at all 

tl;dr papyrus and sans both need to learn the lesson of integrity but sans more than papyrus, in some ways

However! both of them have another SOUL quality that they fit: patience and kindness. Sans is p much known for procrastinating and not caring, but he's willing to wait and see what the player does on a no mercy route in hopes that they'll give up. his fight at the end is ridiculously difficult because he's willing to wait until the player gets bored or infuriated enough that they reset and start the game over again, hopefully for a better ending. his downfall was the fact that he cheated the fight system (which would be against the themes of integrity he needs to learn/lacks) to "attack" twice in one turn, giving the player that opportunity as well

Papyrus is more simple. he seems self-absorbed, but he's extremely kind and good-hearted. notice how even on pacifist, when all the other bosses can kill you (and will, with the semi-exception of toriel, who takes some skill to die to) papyrus literally stops the fight when you have one HP left? thus giving you an opportunity to prepare and try again. even undyne talks about how he's too kind on the player's ""date" with her: "he'd get ripped to smiling shreds" is a quote that comes to mind

And even still, on no mercy, he dies smiling and tries to convince the player that they can still change and become "a better person" (fun fact: i have stopped many a no mercy run here bc i didn't have the heart to kill papyrus). his downfall is the result of both his integrity (which, while he has more of it than sans, still needs to learn its lessons) and kindness. on a neutral run, when you're trying to kill him (if you are), once he reaches a certain amount of health he'll give you the option to spare him willingly. 

In no mercy, as mentioned, he dies trying to make the player a better person and sparing them from the start- he was kind to someone who took advantage of it, and wasn't willing to fight back in a way that would injure or kill the player because it went against his values

Okay this got long so i'll just talk about the nature of souls and save files now. human souls on their own are quite powerful: the defining trait that their soul represents has no influence on the actual power of the soul, just how the human in question uses it. monster souls are jack of all trades- they're magically oriented and adaptable to the natures of others, but weaker. human souls are the only thing powerful enough to create a save file, with only one exception, flowey. 

Alphys gave flowey not a soul, but the will to live, and that will became stronger than the magic of all the monster souls in the underground, even the souls of boss monsters. flowey's will to live, being stronger than monster souls in the fact that alphys literally extracted determination from the human souls and gave it to him, allowed him to create a type of save file. monster souls don't have 'determination' on their own, only humans do, so no 'true-born' monster, without the help of a human soul, could create a save.

The power to save is based on what being has the strongest SOUL power, and seeing as determination is the essence of human souls, Flowey would have the most. while Flowey doesn’t have a soul, human souls are stronger than monster souls. his will to live is made up of the determination that allows human souls to persist after death, leaving him with the most and strongest SOUL power.

However, human souls are stronger than just their “determination”. thus, even though flowey could create a save, as soon as a human fell down, he would lose his power to save and reset. 

At least one human had to have fallen down and died in the underground for flowey to exist. When Chara died and Asriel absorbed their soul, he went out into the human world with the combined power of his and Chara’s souls. The humans wounded him enough that when he returned underground, he died almost immediately, and his dust spread through the palace garden. Chara’s SOUL died with Asriel, so Alphys could not have extracted the determination from their soul.

It is believed in-game that the essence of a monster will live on through their dust, so a monster’s dust is spread on whatever said monster loved most so they can be one with it. When Asriel died, and his dust ended up on the flowers (including the first flower that bloomed, which Alphys used to create flowey), his essence was kept on through them. This is why, when given the power of seven human souls, Flowey returns back to Asriel’s form. The power of that many souls returns a soulless being to a form which the soulless form only contains some of the essence of. That’s also why it takes so many souls in the first place.

Back to Flowey’s save- a human soul is more than determination. It also contains the trait that the human is strongest in, and the general power of the soul that monsters have less of. In Frisk’s case, as their SOUL trait is determination, their determination is stronger than the rest of the human souls’. So although Flowey has the determination of human souls and is stronger in terms of soul power because of it, the soul power is still outweighed by a human’s. As soon as a human falls into the underground, Flowey would lose his power to save and reset. When said human dies, their soul doesn’t have a form to harness its power, giving Flowey back the power to save.

SAVE files, like SOULs, are a magical portion of the world in Undertale. However, they only exist in the underground. Because the underground was sealed away from the human world, the latter advanced and moved away from the power of SOULs and magic at least somewhat, while monsters didn’t and couldn’t. SAVE files are a physical manifestation of a being’s SOUL power. The power of a human soul, called by Alphys “the resolve to change fate”, creates a literal point in time that the human can return to by the power of their SOUL.

Whoever is in possession of a SAVE file can also choose to reset it. With strong enough SOUL power, one can literally move themselves to another timeline where the contents of their SAVE hadn’t happened yet. This does not fully erase the memories of those affected unless a TRUE RESET is performed. When the ultimate goal of a human is reached (leaving the underground, for example), they can choose to carry out a TRUE RESET. Unlike a normal reset, which can be done at any point of a human’s journey as long as they have a SAVE file, TRUE RESETs can only happen once a human has achieved their ultimate goal.

The difference between a normal reset and a TRUE RESET, besides the fact that the latter can only occur under specific conditions, is that a TRUE RESET erases everything. Every save that a human has reset ceases to exist, along with the memories of all those in said saves. Beings without strong enough SOUL power (that is to say Flowey) cannot ever perform a TRUE RESET.

[scrollingdown]

Alphys Meta

Iirc the commonly accepted reason as to why Alphys took so long to finish Mettaton’s body was that because if she did, he’d leave, and some details have me thinking that while this was true, and Mettaton definitely picked up on it, it wasn’t the whole story. First some odd details. This isn’t required for the upcoming theory to work, but it lays a good groundwork for it. Warning: long and image heavy, also blatant metaphysicsery.

This is shortly before Frisk’s soul inverts in orientation, from that of human souls to that of monster ones (as exemplified by Asgore and Toriel’s) and becomes able to shoot bullets. It’s obvious the phone is responsible for this but- Resonating with Mettaton’s presence? What? Okay so the phone is designed to work in the presence of Mettaton, that’s fair.

Or… not? There is no indication the phone is used here. There’s no indication it isn’t, either, but it’s odd that no text or option for it pops up if it is. Frisk’s soul seems to be turned yellow as part of the initiation of the encounter. And yet the phone was definitely doing something last battle. A lot of Alphys’s “rescues” were shams, but it seems to be genuine, like the jetpack. It’s weird. Here’s more weird – it doesn’t happen in the battle with NEO.

(We’re assuming there’s no retroactive change in history between genocide and the other timelines here for the sake of avoiding a headache.)

Dialling back a bit, resonating is mentioned again in Undertale. From the rawr:

10754: * You feel something slightly&  resonating within ASRIEL.

10755: * You feel something weakly&  resonating within ASRIEL.

10756: * Strangely^1, as your friends&  remembered you.../

10757: * Something else began resonating&  within the SOUL^1, stronger&  and stronger./

-

10818: * You called out to your&  friends with all your&  heart./

10819: * From somewhere^1, you felt&  their support.../^

10820: * You reached out to ASRIEL's&  SOUL and called out to your&  friends./

10821: * They're in there somewhere^1,&  aren't they?/

10822: * Within the depths of ASRIEL's&  SOUL^1, something's resonating..!/%%

These are the only other places resonating is mentioned, and it’s in the context of SOULs. It seems like Alphys’s phone set up a resonance between Frisk and Mettaton’s SOULS, and that later this resonance happened without it’s assistance. A boss battle is supposed to be an exam of everything you’ve learned so far and Undertale’s not one to shy from mixing meta in-universe - for Frisk do these events act as the training wheels for this aspect of the Asriel fight? But that’s getting into conjecture.

The resonance with Mettaton (temporarily) changed the orientation and colour of Frisk’s SOUL. Could it have had a similar effect on Mettaton’s? The NEO form has something that appears to be a SOUL in it, in monster orientation. In the same area on the EX form, it’s in the human orientation. If Alphys built the containers for the six human souls (a big if, as we have no evidence of this) or had access to the requisite knowledge, then it’s highly likely this is Mettaton’s, safely contained.

And then he un-contains it, the numpty, but it can leave that form and survive in open air, just like a human soul can. And while monster battle sprites are monochromised:

ZOOM, ENHANCE.

It’s pink. (Red + White, but that might be reading too much into it). Not monster-white. There’s an assumption made here – that in NEO form the monster orientation also means monster colour. So a little grain of salt for that particular property is required.

Interestingly, while Frisk’s soul changes back after, this change (of orientation at least) seems to be more lingering for Mettaton. How come? This is the return trip towards the headcanon-country Alphys bit.

These are the blueprints that concern Mettaton, esp considering his presence on them post-pacifist. An injector of some kind lies next to an illustration of a monster soul being being inverted before being placed into a lying form. Alphys is in one person very reminiscent of the multiple times in history that, on discovery of a new wonder-substance, people started using it in absolutely e v e r y t h i n g, it being so new that the dangers haven’t been determined yet (i.e., asbestos, radiation).

I’m not the only person to have thought along these lines.

The blueprint is dusty, meaning she hasn’t touched it in some time. If NEO’s soul is any indication, she never put it into practice.

She was going to inject Determination into Mettaton.

There was nothing to indicate it wasn’t safe. The legend of Asriel absorbing a human soul was well known, and it wasn’t that which killed him by the account – and it was known that monsters that did this became stronger. With what was known at the time, taking the substance that made a human soul strong and using it to make a monster soul strong was a reasonable hypothesis.

ENTRY 3: If only I could make a monster's SOUL last... ENTRY 4: I believe this is what gives their SOULs the strength to persist after death. (…) Let's call this power... "Determination." ENTRY 6: Soon, they'll all turn into dust. But what happens if I inject "determination" into them? If their SOULS persist after they perish, then...

What’s interesting is why she thought injecting determination into a flower might make it a suitable vessel for souls. The entries don’t show her thought process as clearly on this one. ENTRY 7: We'll need a vessel to wield the monster SOULs when the time comes. (…) What about something that's neither human nor monster? ENTRY 8: What happens when something without a SOUL gains the will to live?

Your mad scientist is showing there, Alphys.

ENTRY 10: experiments on the vessel are a failure

This is where the shaky parts of this theory start happening but – I believe she made some connection between Determination and human physicality (or physicality in general) at some point during this process. Judging from NEO, she could have made Mettaton his body just fine without it, so what problem was she trying to solve by involving determination?

They were both fans of humans – making him more human? I think, however, it was about helping him to bond to his body (although it probably wouldn’t have worked if he didn’t already have an attachment). Either way, it doesn’t matter; she was planning it.

ENTRY 11 (in its entirety): now that mettaton's made it big, he never talks to me anymore. ... except to ask when i'm going to finish his body. but i'm afraid if i finish his body, he won't need me anymore... then we'll never be friends ever again. ... not to mention, every time i try to work on it, i just get really sweaty... ENTRY 12 (in its entirety): nothing is happening. i don't know what to do. i'll just keep injecting everything with "determination." i want this to work.

Her procrastination probably saved Mettaton’s life, because…

ENTRY 16: no No NO NO NO NO

If it’s on her workbench when Frisk finds it, that means it was the last thing she was working on before that happened, because after the amalgamation incident, its dust and the dust on the labcoats speak very much to an Alphys that didn’t do much science after (beyond messing around with seagrass).

Both Alphys and Mettaton know about the EX form prior to Frisk’s arrival (which means Alphys did complete it at some point), but Mettaton doesn’t use it, at the very least in public. Why? Stigma against humans? NEO seems to be either a prototype or a hasty upgrade.

Was whatever Alphys planned to inject determination for, the final hurdle? Grain of salt again, because there other possible in character explanations for this.

But it is very in-character for Alphys to promise someone something, only for something to go horribly wrong which makes it impossible, and then for her to lie and avoid telling the promised about it out of fear of what they’d think or do. The still-strained friendship Frisk arrives to see does fit in with something like that happening. Tl;dr; The resonance performed the final step the blueprint depicted. Determination was safely transferred, like it is in a human-monster fusion, and then being the persistent thing it is, stuck around.

But this is just a theory.

[EDIT: Senshi76 just pointed out to me that this may be at least part of why the EX form is so much stronger than NEO, as well as why Mettaton can briefly  rewind time in the EX battle!]

 (Where I Got Things:

Resonance - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3lH_jRkQ9o

EX Battle - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbVBzyZk75k

NEO Battle - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axZ1r_duW0w

Fuzzy Mettaton EX Overworld Sprite - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogNHObCZjwU

Mettaton EX Overworld Sprites - http://undertale-resources.tumblr.com/post/136160533443/mettaton-ex-overworld-sprites

Pre-pacifist Alphys Desk - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4wXK2q5lug

Post-pacifist Alphys Desk - https://www.reddit.com/r/Undertale/comments/4jyn77/monster_souls_human_souls/

Entry Excerpts - http://undertale.wikia.com/wiki/True_Lab)

[elliepassmore]

Resistant review

3.5/5 stars Recommended for people who like: dystopia, multiple POVs, mystery, viral apocalypse I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review TW rape, kidnapping This book was a bit of a mixed bag. I really liked the beginning, but then it got dark in a way I don't think was necessary and also added in some new POVs halfway through. It was also extremely predictable and written in an early-YA style, which I'm not sure I like. To begin, I think the concept was an interesting one, even if the 'inside community' vs. 'outside ravaged wasteland' is fairly commonplace. I liked Cat more than Wren in the beginning, but both of them offered up interesting POVs and had their own, albeit similar, mysteries. I liked that the mystery of the virus--sorry, Virus...why doesn't this thing have a name?--was carried through the entire book rather than dropped in favor of the personal mysteries the characters dealt with. However, as mentioned, the book reads like an early-YA novel (and not The Hunger Games type of early either). For one, both Cat and Wren have a boy from their community, Abel and Ryder, respectively, who is madly in love with them and who they're madly in love with as well. Abel makes sense, but I never really got on to liking Ryder, who kind of falls into the stereotypical hotshot asshole (though at least he's never an ass to Wren). Both Cat and Wren have fairly immature voices, though Cat's is a little better than Wren's. Their voices are also pretty similar as well and there were times, even at the very end of the book, where I wasn't sure whose perspective I was reading in. Also, about 1/3 of the way through the book, Modrak introduces Ryder's and Abel's POVs, first by going back in the narrative timeline a bit, then going forward. I did like the addition of their perspectives to the story, but I think it should've been done from the very beginning and that the narrative timeline should not have backtracked in order for their POVs to be included. As for the characters...why are both the main girls named after animals? Wren and Cat, really?! I digress, Cat, properly Catherine, was the first POV in the book and she introduces us to a world inside the Community/Dome, which is focused on looking forward and finding a cure to the Virus that wiped most of the world out. Cat reads younger than she actually is. She's definitely written as an older teen, but her voice just does not convey that, particularly at the beginning, though she does get better as the book goes on. She's also just straight up willfully naive, choosing the Community and her self-admitted terrifying father over the potential uncertainty of being free...as if her father wouldn't do terrible things just because she's his daughter. That being said, I liked how Cat evolved during the book and became someone who subtly fought back and investigated what was going on behind the scenes of the Community. She clearly has a big heart and is actually pretty good with other people, be it calming them down and being kind or manipulating them to helping her out. Wren comes next and also comes across as super immature at first, though like Cat her voice gets stronger and older as the book goes on. More so than Cat, Wren seems like someone who was naive about the world and preferred to look at the sunny side of things...though that switches around fairly quickly. Props to her, Wren takes action almost immediately and isn't afraid of sticking up for herself or others. Wren definitely gets the short end of the stick in this book and a lot of it just feels icky. *SPOILER, SKIP TO NEXT PARAGRAPH* Wren gets kidnapped and is raped multiple times, though these scenes are not described it is very obvious what has happened. Also, while Wren exhibits trauma from this while in the situation, it's kind of brushed over afterward *SPOILER END*. Abel comes across as pretty pushy at first, pressuring Cat to leave the Community even though her mother is dying, but he relaxes about it a lot and it's clear he just wants what's best for Cat and for her to be safe from her psycho father. He's a fairly pacifist character and, like Cat, cares for and wants to help other people. He's definitely more open to the sinister nature of the Community, though he also doesn't quite grasp the depth of what's going on until much later in the book. Interestingly, despite Abel's fire in the beginning of the book, I feel he then later on comes off as almost too passive later on, though admittedly he can hold his own against Ryder. As for Ryder, he also comes off as pushy in the beginning of the book but clearly cares for Wren. He's about the polar opposite of Abel in that he's far more of a hotshot and tends to be more aggressive. I'm not sure how much I like Ryder's character. When I'm reading his POV I think he's fine, just like how I like him if I'm reading him from Wren's POV, but if I see him from anyone else's viewpoint I don't like him as much. He's impulsive, led by his emotions, doesn't seem to care much for others aside from Wren and maybe Claire, and is very conflict-oriented. It's just not a good look on a character. However, I do appreciate how the difference between his and Wren's POVs vs Abel and Cat's POVs allow you to see narrative bias. In terms of other characters, Dr. Grayson, Cat's father and the leader of the Community/Dome, is an absolute psychopath. He's kind of predictable in some ways, but not nearly as much as the plot is. I do genuinely wonder how anyone could ever like him enough to create kids (or simply to work with him) is beyond me. Claire, who is Wren's mother, obviously loves her daughter very much...but I also don't think she's winning any parent of the year awards. She's not a psychopath, at least, but she does hide a lot from the people around her even when they have a right to know the things she's hiding. Sienne, Cat's mother, actually might win that parent the year award, particularly if she's only competing against the other two parents. That being said, she's only in the book for a small period of time but seems like a decent enough person. Alice, a friend of Wren's, is... also a psychopath and I feel is going to continue to be a major problem. Bob, Claire's boyfriend, is 'eh.' I can't really get a good feel for him since his character seems to vacillate wildly between different things. Don is also 'eh.' He does the right thing when it comes down to it and he's consistently good to Cat and her mom throughout the book. However, I wouldn't say he was a good guy either. Overall, I liked a lot of aspects of the book but there were some things that annoyed me, such as the immature voices from Cat and Wren, and there were a couple of major things that I straight up did not like, so 3.5 stars seems appropriate. I have some very strong opinions that I also want to mention, but they’re very spoilery and some have to do with the TW, so they’re below the cut if anyone wants to read.

MAJOR CHARACTER SPOILERS AHEAD!

Non-TW Spoiler:

The plot and revelations were pretty obvious in this book. I was writing notes while I wrote and I have a note from ~25% in where I ask 'are Wren and Cat sisters?' Then further in I settled on them being twins or clones, which turned out to be true (twins). TW Spoilers: I had some major issues with Wren's plot. I don't think the rape was necessary to the book at all, nor is her being pregnant from said rape. Based on the technology available outside the Community/Dome and on Dr. Grayson's desire to have her keep the kid even if she were to be inside, I feel like she's going to be forced to continue the pregnancy, which just doesn't sit right with me. I get what Modrak is doing here with the 'next generation is immune' type of shit, but couldn't she have had sex with Ryder? Beta by Rachel Cohn was published in 2012 and pulls some very similar shit w/ the MC being raped, then becoming pregnant as a result, and then not being allowed to abort despite explicitly wanting to b/c the baby is 'too special' or some shit, and I just...I don't know if that's the same route Modrak is going with this, but I worry it is. I also worry it's going to be put in a way where carrying the baby to term is 'for the good of humanity' and Wren agrees to do it b/c she'd feel guilty otherwise, which, spoiler is still fucking coercive and is an unwanted pregnancy. I'm particularly inclined to feel this is the route Modrak is going because the epilogue involves a character going absolutely apeshit because she feels guilty for using embryonic stem cells (and also incorrect science, but whatever). This character goes on and on abt the loss of life and how she murdered two 'perfect' embryos...which at that stage of development aren't even embryos but zygotes, (for reference, monozygotic twins split sometime 2-6 days after the ovum is fertilized, and the researcher was using embryos/zygotes that had, in her words just split). At this stage in development, zygotes and embryos can and do still self-abort. Also, if you're using embryonic stem cells in research, the embryos/zygotes are already not going to turn into babies. Like, their fate has already been decided. Chill.