#this is based on how i cared more about the machines than most human characters LMAO

[thegutterbunny]

Leftism Tires Me.

I'm just gonna put this here because nobody's gonna see it anyways. I'm just trying to organize my messy ass thoughts. Lately, I've been feeling really disillusioned with leftism, but I don't have the proper words for why. Every time I try to google "leftists are annoying" or something all I get is right wing shit. A lot of this is based on experiences I've both IRL and Online. A lot of this is me struggling to put feelings to words. I feel like my personality just doesn't JIVE right with leftists. I'm pretty materialistic, I love stuff. Mostly books, games, kink gear, and clothes. I drool at other people's wardrobes and goth decorated bedrooms. I don't really care which online stores are the "bad ones". I DO want them demonias. They look cool. I like fan servicey/sexy character designs. They're hot. I want more hot characters that aesthetically appeal to me that I can gawk at. I hate when twitter users and talking heads pretend like they are above such "base tastes". I think people are too uptight about having a squeaky clean record of consuming media. Steering away from problematic artists and art into an ever-shrinking circle of "safe" art and artists. It should depend on what you're personally comfortable with, I think. I've dropped artists that I think are reprehensible. Not ever out of some sense of morality and duty, but because they gross me out and I can't look at them the same. Other artists do or have done terrible things, but that adds to the flavor somehow. Makes them more interesting and worth diving into. Sometimes it even humanizes them. Sometimes the art is SO GOOD I just don't give a shit. The constant emphasis on the collective over the individual is off putting to me. I think rules based on morality always end up having to be made arbitrarily because when building a moral system you ALWAYS run into contradictions and inconsistencies. This is because morality is this thing we made up. We don't find morals in nature. They weren't "discovered". Morality isn't divine. Morality is a TOOL. Which is why this idea that being a small part of something "larger than myself" freaks me the fuck out. Sacrificing pieces of myself... Be it my time, my identity, my aspirations, and my body to a machine called "revolution" is off-putting in an existential way. "Your feelings matter until they don't" is that unspoken leftist creed. Philosophers and philosophy enthusiasts are the most annoying irritating motherfuckers to be around. OH HOW I HATE THEM. NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER VENT OR SPILL YOUR GUTS TO A PHILOSOPHY NERD. NEVER MAKING THAT MISTAKE AGAIN.

Sometimes I feel like leftists are more concerned with defending leftism itself than actual people and their feelings. They sanctify the lens they view the world through other then the people they view through that lens. They can be just as biased, stubborn, and incurious as everyone else. Look, not everyone has the time or energy to look through constant studies or be scholars, I get it, but summa y'all just unthinkingly latch onto narratives and refuse to unclutch only because everyone else around you has latched onto the narrative too. The amount of times I've seen someone latch onto a narrative without even thinking about it... Just based on vibes... FUCK. This last one... Speaking as an autistic person... Is rough. Leftist spaces are SUPER cliquey and ran by the same Social Capital rules as anywhere else. There are the same invisible lines to tread here as anywhere else that torture me as someone who's blind to where they lay. Break and self censure yourself to fit in. Nobody's in disagreement. It's just you, and if you disagree we'll all quietly and silently move away from you without a word like everyone else. It depends on the exact space you're in. Whatever friend group or discord server, the feel can "change". People with the most charisma are rewarded with attention, admiration, and a feeling of belonging. Being awkward, shy, quiet, or having the neurodivergent "stench" makes to ostracized. Just. Like. Everywhere. Else. FUCK. YOU.

OK that's enough schizo posting. There's even more I could touch on, but I'm tired and I wanna play Silent Hill 2. If anyone who's read this has the time, what's the diagnosis? What should I do with myself? Am I beyond saving or whatever? I don't even want to "leave leftism" or whatever the fuck, but there's so much... Pressure... here. So much judgement. I want something better for myself but I look everywhere and I can't find it.

[kxizoku-ou]

Have you had any thoughts on hybrid versions of the one piece characters? I love seeing what animals people associate with the characters 😅. Also ears and tails are cute

Hybrid Au, my beloved!!! owo I tend to go heavier with the animal research/xeno than just "ears and tails", but yes, I absolutely have thoughts— here's a handful of my favorites/who comes to mind!

. . .

Kaidou — Auroch bull: The now-extinct relative of modern cattle, closely related to Spanish fighting bulls. Bull feels fitting for Kaidou, I think— they're huge, potentially dangerous animals that get screwed over in blood sports or as slaughterhouse bait, and near-universally seen as aggressive because of instincts that are based in self-preservation or protecting a herd. And of course, ending up as a bull hybrid is just what happens to my favs, by now... (@senjuushi)

Judge — Tawny eagle: His "Garuda" theme implies a bird of prey from the start, so it's an easy pick! Described as "opportunistic", with a habit of feeding on carrion (and stealing other animals' prey), yet still "a bold and active predator", tawny eagles fit well with Judge's vibe of regal, pompous, and trying way too hard. They also tend to mate for life... and male birds are known for flashy courtship habits. Reiju, Ichiji, Niji, and Yonji would be the same species for this Au.

Sanji — Mourning dove: Keeping with the bird theme of his family, but a far less bloodthirsty species. Mourning doves are fluffy, vocal birds that are known for being "prolific breeders". They can be territorial between males, but are also social pair-bonders. Sora would have been a dove too, and Sanji sharing her species is just one more sign that the modifications failed. There's also something very fitting about a "caged bird" theme for his experiences with Germa.

Spandam — Giant panda: Useless animal that would be extinct by now without human intervention. Clumsy, pathetic, and admittedly pretty cute, but not good for much other than existing under careful supervision in a zoo. Of course, Spandam's terrible personality ruins most of the cuteness effect his hybrid species might have— ultimately, he's a needy, spoiled idiot who's eternally dependent on the care of others. And personally, I think he should have a cute, sensitive little stubby tail, perfect to yank on when he's being a brat.

Katakuri — Grizzly bear: Linlin is a grizzly hybrid as well, and the shared species adds to Katakuri's reputation as her "perfect" son. He's huge, powerful, and highly threatening... but would be just as content to gorge himself on snacks and all but hibernate afterward. If it wasn't for his self-imposed standard of perfection, that is. His fucked-up mouth seems even worse on a large predator species, too, which definitely adds to his complex/self-consciousness over it.

Perospero — Red fox: I saw a fanart of him as a fox hybrid on Pixiv, and it convinced me. A smug, sneaky bastard who takes after his mother's carnivore tendencies, but with far less of an intimidation factor to back it up. Annoyingly talkative and far more socially oriented than he wants to admit, as well as capable of being an absolute nuisance when he wants to— all of that sounds very fitting for Peros, I think. And fox whining noises fit his crybaby side.

Cracker — Bushy-tailed woodrat: Prey animals that are described as "vocal and boisterous", and nuisances for "creating general noisy havoc"— seems appropriate for Cracker, an overconfident brat who's far less tough than he acts. Packrats (the overall category) are nest-builders, too, which fits with how he spends so much time hiding in his biscuit soldiers to avoid direct combat. Woodrats also apparently have a foot-thumping tendency; a good match for his clapping!

Pudding — British longhair cat: Babygirl-looking murder machine seems highly appropriate. British longhairs have the sweetest little faces and soft coats, but cats are nature's finest serial killers at their core. Pudding would be perfect as a needy, jealousy-prone kitty who's way too good at playing up the cutesy kitten act to get on people's good sides— right up until a tsundere moment kicks in. Then, she's all puffed-up, twitching tail and poorly stifled purring.

Caesar — Axolotl: Like his pet poison slime thing! Axolotls are apparently "used extensively in scientific research due to their ability to regenerate limbs, gills, and parts of their eyes and brains", which feels fitting for Caesar, as does the fact that they're tricky to take care of as pets (and keep getting put in cages by people who don't treat them well, at that). Also, those feathery external gills are cute!!

Queen — American alligator: Lethal fat fuck of a reptile, exactly how Queen should be! Alligators can be lazy and kind of goofy-looking, but they're still dangerous and very strong. The huge, thick tail is also an obvious plus (the "Brachio-Snakeus" trick haunts me). And really, can't you see him sprawled out all lazy, for gator-style sunbathing?

Drake — Rottweiler/Border Collie mix: A strong, intelligent, capable, and work-oriented animal, that would (as a dog-experienced friend put it), "tear a house down to the foundation" if left without enough to occupy it. Drake gives me "beaten dog" vibes, in general, and it feels fitting that his hybrid species could easily have been sweet, if not for the trauma and DEEP psychological issues.

Law — Shorthaired silver tabby: Law is so very catboy-coded. He's a grumpy, fussy kitty who will both claw your arm open if you try to touch him, and could just as easily be reduced to a purring puddle if his guard gets torn down enough to allow it. Cats are highly effective agents of violence (and can be total bastards, when they want to), but also absolute babies. And imagine tiny, angry catboy Law getting scruffed by Rocinante to prevent the aforementioned clawing.

[kaesaaurelia]

3rd Life Space Colonist AU Concepts

So I'm very new to MCYT fandom, in the process of watching everything in the Life Series, but while I was watching 3rd Life I could not get the idea of this group having been sent to colonize an alien planet and it going very wrong.

But before things go wrong, they would have had specific roles and reasons they were picked, so I thought a bit about that, and once I had roles figured out I went and played around in Hero Forge to design the characters.

(Also, obviously there would be more than 14 people on an expedition like this and there's certain types of personnel they'd want more than one of, or who are conspicuously missing from this cast list.

You can make of that what you will.)

So, without further ado: some of the personnel aboard a ship heading to the furthest reaches of the galaxy, sent by totally not evil Mars-based corporation Farlands Planetary Systems:

SPACESHIP FLIGHT & MAINTENANCE

At this point in the future, there are machines that can do incredible things, but none of them can quite replicate whatever's going on in Scar's head human decision-making, and on longer journeys where the ship is required to make multiple FTL jumps in quick succession, human intuition and ingenuity are necessary for survival. To that end, pilots are directly plugged into their ships and to some extent, on longer journeys, become the ship. They need to be willing and able to do terrifying things without hesitation or consultation with others. Scar is great at this. He's also an absolute menace everywhere else, but in all fairness it's very hard for him to remember how gravity works on planets when he's used to using it to slingshot himself around in space.

Etho and BDubs aren't JUST there to maintain the ship mechanically -- they'll be rebuilding humanity's technological achievements from the ground up once they get to the planet -- but they're also vital to maintaining the ship across its long journey. BDubs is especially skilled at working in and navigating through zero gravity environments, and he's very used to doing floating repairs. This should have no lasting consequences for him once they get to a planet.

Tango is... an odd one. He's primarily a computer guy, and he's no slouch there, but he's never been on one of these expeditions himself -- see, his family's owned Farlands Planetary Systems for centuries, since before the Martian atmosphere had been been tamed and the planet's population was only a couple thousand. From his comfortable climate controlled office on Mars, he's looked over proposals, decided which ones were most likely to be successful, and signed off on countless exploration missions. He's watched them leave and mostly come back, and he's never encountered a high-risk high-reward situation he couldn't at least break even on. He's about to.

MEDICAL CARE

There's an extensive medical staff onboard, of course -- or there should be, anyway. I'm sure the others are fine!

Martyn is a generalist, good at figuring out what the hell is going wrong and how to stabilize someone's condition in the field with minimal resources. He's good at making difficult decisions quickly and making the sacrifices necessary for long-term survival.

Grian, meanwhile, is a specialist in neurology, and while he's meant to be looking after the whole crew, he's very important on this expedition because he is specifically a specialist in the connection between pilot and ship, and his task is primarily to keep the pilot alive at all costs.

Grian's also very excited about the pioneering medical procedure he's convinced Farlands to give all the personnel on this expedition, which will allow them to completely regenerate after dying -- at least twice! This has technically been possible for a while, but it's never been this fast, and they haven't been able to allow the subjects to retain their memories and personalities until now. It's still experimental but given the high risk nature and high cost of this particular expedition, he feels it's worth the risk, and most people jumped at having not only a second chance at life, but a third!

EXPLORATION & TERRAFORMING

Once they get to the planet, of course, they're going to need to figure out what's already there, and to transform it into a liveable place! So there are various experts who will explore the planet, conduct a full survey of its resources, and work to make it easier for humans to live there. Here we have experts in population biology, minerology, environmental chemistry, xenobotany, and agronomy.

Joel works for Farlands, usually traveling with his wife Lizzie, (an ethnopharmacologist). BigB tends to work on a contract -- there's a lot of call for minerologists in the outer solar system -- but if this expedition is successful, he'll never have to work again, and he won't have to go through the cycle of spending six lonely months in the Kuiper Belt, returning to Earth, then going back out again. Both of them think they know what they're getting into.

Cleo and Scott haven't worked for Farlands before, and are very surprised to be asked, as they have a shared checkered past. Cleo, in her younger days, was convicted of burning down the Martian Prime Minister's house. In fairness, a. he deserved it, and b. it was extremely flammable, because he destroyed a bunch of oxygen farms to build it, out of wood, and was not much of a believer in fire safety regulations. He was not home at the time, so he was fine, but about a year later he was assassinated. No one has ever been formally charged with the crime, but Scott, being one of Cleo's close friends, was the primary suspect. Both of their careers have suffered because of this -- Cleo can't get tenure anywhere, and Scott actually went into hiding for a time -- and while they don't trust Farlands even a little bit, they do like the idea of going somewhere that has no extradition treaties with Mars.

Like BigB, Jimmy's ready to cash out and settle down on a strange planet. He's going to be making sure people have enough edible food on this new planet, since there's no guarantee it will have edible plants or animals.

EXPERTS IN ALIEN LIFE

There's definitely not intelligent life on this new planet. It would be illegal for Farlands to settle a planet that was already occupied! They would never do anything illegal.

But maybe there used to be intelligent life there. Maybe the preliminary probes were inconclusive? Hmm. Anyway. Skizz is a xenoarchaeologist. He's also the only survivor of an expedition that went out in the early 22nd century; they encountered a strange and apparently hostile aliens. His memories are fuzzy and he doesn't remember much except for a strange floating city in a dark void. He made it back to Earth in a stolen alien ship, but while he was gone several hundred years had passed and now everyone he knows is dead. He's anxious to get back into the field, to a planet that is definitely a different one from the one he was sent to where all his friends died, and there's definitely no living intelligent life.

Impulse has been studying that ship Skizz brought back and he's pretty sure these aliens have figured out a method of stable, instant travel between any two distant points, which needless to say the company wants badly. This world seems to have traces of these

Impulse is a xenotechnologist who's pretty sure he's close to wrapping his brain around a method of stable two-way faster-than-light travel that seems to be in use by a distant alien civilization who may have left traces of themselves on this new planet. The company line is that he's also there just to study any remnants of high-tech alien civilizations, but he doesn't have a very good poker face and everyone suspects he knows something he's not letting on.

ALSO... REN

Ren is not a scientist. Ren is Martyn's husband. He is a relatively successful fantasy author whose first two books have sold well, but now he has to finish the trilogy and it's just. not. happening. Martyn had been planning not to go on this expedition -- has in fact been planning to stop going on lengthy expeditions in general, because he'd like to spend more time at home -- but Ren's so tired of his manuscript at this point that he is willing to pack up and move to another planet to avoid writing. He is anxious that people like him and think well of him and also anxious that they never ask him about the book. Please don't ask him what happens in the book. He thought he knew, but he doesn't.

The great thing about this expedition is that that's going to be the least of his problems very, very soon. (Also, he'll be blessedly relieved of the memory of the book, because, like the rest of the surviving crew, all of them will have very few solid memories of anything by the time they get to the planet. But, gotta look on the bright side, right?)

[neteyammeowmeow]

Snippets of fun facts from my Genshin Impact/Ninjago AU :3

Spinjitzu is interpreted as an ancient art made to mimic or channel a dragon's breath. If the case were an elemental user, they are able to infuse their powers with the technique, and making it stronger than it was. (Still an early sketch of the concept. It was either to honor "Rex Lapis" or as an interpretation of the Dragon Sovereigns) It's not called Spinjitzu in this au though.Lol

Most of the Ninja are all reincarnations of the previous Elemental "masters" or those who were part of the Elemental alliance.

Lloyd is also part of Alice's family (he was taken in by Alice, she is his godmother (and aunt??)), one of the witches from the Hexenzirkel. He is Albedo and Klee's older brother. However, unlike the two who are live in Mondstadt and are part of the Knights of Favonius, Lloyd lives his own life in Liyue (often residing in Qiaoying Village). This doesn't change the fact that he cares for his siblings, and he makes visits for Mondstadt to see them.

Zane's overall character is inspired/based on a greek mythology of a robot called Talos: "a giant automaton made of bronze to protect Europa in Crete from pirates and invaders. He circled the island's shores three times daily." (cited from Wikipedia), he was also called Talos by his inventor, though was also named as "Anthelme". In the Genshin au, his character is centered around the fact that he long yearns to understand humanity, and his sense to protect them is due to his fascination and fondness for them - knowing that though he was built to stand alongside them both through appearance and mind, he will always remain as a machine.

Zane is a friend of Jay, who is an automaton researcher (dubbed by himself of course), who's incredibly curious about how machinery works, he was especially curious on pre-Teyvat civilizations, and how far they advanced. He collects all sorts of ruin machine scraps, and he has a Commision event dedicated to him. Many of his friends joke that he could be qualified to become an Akademiyan student, but Jay would rather work under his own choices than be under someone elses. I really love the idea that Jay loves machinery and tinkering, so I developed this concept more in the au.

Benthomaar is a very well known actor around Fontaine, his noblelike and benevolent nature has made the nation dub him as their Prince, of course, in theatre. He excels in melodrama, and his performances have been very appreciated by many. Though under his guise, his penchant for theatre does not just go on stage, but beyond and behind. Aside from being an actor, he works as part of the Marechausee Phantom: from gathering intel, to even capturing the target, it is the opposite of his stage acts as he works under the spotlight.

Similarly, Harumi works the same way, though she is talented at her ways of deceipt, she shares masks of many, that which have fooled more than dozens. However, she works under the Fatui, as she was raised as part of the House of Hearth, and looks up to Arlecchino's ways greatly. She silently despises Lyney, though she is friends with Lynette.

Cole and Kai, though their stories are still vague at the moment, are actually friends. Cole is a Sumerian from the forest, while Kai is a Sumerian from the desert.

[terrestrialnoob]

The Shredder's Henchmen from TMNT 2003 were parallels of the turtles. Not directly enough that it was on purpose, but they still managed to give the Shredder 4 primary henchmen with personalities that mirror the turtles' base traits of "Leader", "Rude", "Smart", and "Fun". (Also, I love character parallels and always try to finagle them out of any media I can.)

Karai is the most obviously made to mirror Leo. She's The Leader, the obviously favored child henchman with more power and authority than the others. She's a better leader than even the Shredder himself, her soldiers and technicians are better trained and more competent than the Shredder's original forces. It’s made obvious in the show, the increased threat she and her people are to the turtles. She is the closest to Shredder, literally his daughter, but she isn’t treated differently than Shredder’s other high ranking subordinates. She is praised when she succeeds and is punished when she fails, she’s just competent enough to never fully fail. She always has at least a little bit of a win that saves her from the really bad punishments, something she learned from Shredder.

Hun may be more of a parallel to Casey, but Casey is a parallel to Raph, so by the transitive property, Hun is Raph's foil. He's mean and angry and loves a good beatdown and wanton destruction, but he's also loyal and devoted to a fault. Hun is Karai's rival, put in a position of power above others, but Shredder's disrespect for him prevents him from moving up the ranks any more than that. To Shredder, Hun is just a gangster and can be replaced by any other gangster. To Shredder, Hun is just a ball of anger and muscle that can be thrown at a problem until it stops moving. Hun is treated more like a dog than a person, someone that can follow orders but not think for himself. But Hun is too loyal, too devoted to see that his master doesn’t respect him. Hun sees Shredder as a man who has earned his power, money, and respect, which is why he immediately turns once Shredder’s revealed to be an Utrom, that’s not a Man Who’s Earned His Place, that’s an alien who cheated his way to the top of humanity. Once Shredder is gone in season 5 - Once free from the “stupid gangster” box Shredder kept him in, Hun really steps up his villain game and turns the Purple Dragons from just a street gang to a proper organized crime syndicate.

Stockman “does machines” and also various other crimes against nature as desired. He's a genius unchecked by morals, and who seems to think caring for other people is a weakness and a detriment. He uses his intelligence to get fame and praise, he doesn't think "how can I use science to make the world a better place" or even "science/knowledge is valuable in and of itself", at best he thinks "what problem do other people have that I can fix and get praise for". And that mindset lead him to Shredder, who gives Stockman praise until his usefulness is outweighed by his ego. Donnie has a tempered ego, grounded by his brothers and his friends who praise him for his successes but who also care about his physical and mental wellbeing, but also an altruistic nature nurtured in him by Splinter. If Stockman’s mom hadn’t died, if he’d had anyone else to keep him grounded, if he had anything other than his own ego fueling him, he wouldn’t have ended up in Shredder’s employ, wouldn't have ended up in pieces (also, in Fast Forward, the moment he does get someone to genuinely care about him, he switches sides and starts, like, working on a farm for his bestie).

So, who's the Fun one then, you might ask? Why it’s Dr. Chaplin! He is a seemingly innocent and naive scientist, but is actually just as evil as everyone around him - he's just so nice to everyone! Even people who are mean to him or exploiting him or even try to get him killed - except of course he's also fine with destroying the world, enslaving humanity, and perpetrating intergalactic colonialism. He's naturally gifted, and seems almost desperate for praise and attention and acceptance, so much so, he’s willing to theoretically participate in multiple genocides. He's so happy to just be included, be asked to do things, be a part of a team, or even be put in charge. He just goes along with whatever will give him that attention, that praise, that acceptance, no matter the cost. He understands that other people are people and focuses more on making other's happy over his own desires, because he needs it, he needs them to like him, or at least, put up with his presence, and if making murder-bots will do that, then he's making murder-bots. He's willing to devote any and all talent and skill to anyone willing to give him a chance or who he can look up to. He's looking for a found family and doesn't care if they're the bad guys, he just needs to belong. A real Chaotic Neutral type of guy! And if Mikey didn’t have his family to give him affirmation about his place in the universe and direct his natural talents in a productive direction? Well, he would probably also devote himself to the first guy to come along and promise any level of acceptance.

[redsandspirit]

What is the devil's nature anyway?

Let's talk about what the so-called "devil's nature" is and what traits are inherent in devils. We know from the manga that devils usually have some sort of instinct to dislike humans. That's all by now. The problem is that devils are just as intelligent beings as humans (perhaps more intelligent, considering that Darkness Devil has gained some great wisdom over his long life, I don't know). They are capable of learning and drawing conclusions based on their experiences and knowledge, and they are not animals following their instincts, because if that were the case, Chainsaw Man would be a completely different manga. In general, devils here have the same free will as humans.

I've seen a lot of people convinced that devils are some kind of plain evil, devoid of any kind of virtues simply because that's what they are, despite the fact that this is completely contrary to what is shown in the manga. Compassion, remorse, selflessness and love are called by many as something alien to them.

We have Angel Devil, who blamed himself so much for the deaths of people that they appeared in his nightmares, and who formed strong bonds first with the villagers and then with Aki. Then we have Power, who we were able to fully watch go from the point where she didn't care about anyone, including herself, to the point where she desperately does everything she can to save the person she cares about. Nayuta was also willing to sacrifice himself to ensure the safety of a human she loved. Makima shows some degree of remorse, despite the fact that her environment wasn't even dispositioned to develop such feelings (I don't think she could have been insincere in the beach scene, since Aki and Angel Devil were already under her control and it didn't make sense for her to manipulate them). In fact, it's in regards to Makima that I most often come across nonsense like "well, they're devils, obviously they're inherently bad" as fandom struggles with the idea of her not being universally evil, but that would also mean that characters like Power and Angel Devil are no different, and I don't think the same people would like that. Now that we've got that out of the way, how can all these traits not be an integral part of the "devil's nature" if devils have the natural potential to develop them?

It's also a common idea that devils are killing machines obsessed with genocide, but in Nayuta's example, we see, we see that devils may not even like killing at all. The manga often shows that even unfriendly devils' first reaction to humans isn't always to kill them.

Finally, we come to the individual devil's nature. Like I said, disliking humans is literally the only known thing the devils can share with each other, according to the manga. So I roll my eyes every time I read something along the lines of "wow, Nayuta chose Denji's happiness above her own, she defeated her Control Devil nature". I mean, what do we even know about the "Control Devil nature"? Some attribute Nayuta's innate tendency toward dictatorial behavior or possessiveness, but I don't see the point in considering it anything more than fanfiction until the manga itself points out that such things take place. What then is Famine Devil nature? Eating sweets for five? It's more like people jump to premature conclusions on their own, and then when they don't match reality run to write nonsense about "nature vs nurture", an idea that has already been horribly twisted by fandoms.

Yes, of course, devils in general are very dangerous for humans, and in the war with them (part two calls it that), countless numbers become victims. Still, devil characters in manga are just as complex as human characters, and I find it very reductive to try to simplify them in this way. The author has already humanized the devils enough for us to ignore it.

[moonsromance]

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚ i take wins like i take names / get the vision or get the fuck out my way.

PICK FIVE TROPES!

⊹₊ ⋆ The Pretty Guys Are Stronger.

An improbable situation where despite a group being filled with various chiseled athletes, sturdy looking beasts, weapon outfitted death machines, and heavily outfitted personnel, the prettiest, least physically imposing members turn out to be the strongest, most capable and toughest of the bunch. This is not merely cases where their build proves most effective for the job or where their lighter wear proves more practical but when more delicate looking human builds are themselves indicators of might.

��⁺‧₊⟡₊˚⊹ Hot-Blooded.

They are burningly passionate about everything that they do. They give their all in absolutely everything they do, regardless of the task. They do not know how to be half-hearted or lackadaisical about anything they care about. These characters are Hot-Blooded. Using the power of guts, determination, and badassery they throw themselves headfirst into the worst situations imaginable and come out on top through sheer force of will and often have a strong tendency to do impressive things.

⊹₊ ⋆ Weirdness Magnet.

For some reason, the character is always standing at the corner of Strange Street and Bizarre Boulevard,��in the town of Uncanny Valley. They run into situations or creatures that most people don’t even believe in, much less have to deal with on a regular basis. Through no fault of their own, they constantly suffer through the effects of the paranormal and supernatural. Alternatively, the character may not think of the weirdness about them as particularly strange; after all, this sort of thing happens to them all the time.

˖⁺‧₊⟡₊˚⊹ Seen It All.

A cat chasing a car? They’ve seen it. People playing card games for the fate of the world? They’ve seen it. They’ve explained the Noodle Incident twice. They even know what the Cow Tools are for. Yes, these characters have Seen It All. The way the trope’s portrayed varies depending on the characters. They may either become The Stoic since they’ve seen everything they have, or they may simply be Deadpan Snarkers.

⊹₊ ⋆ Height Angst.

Height has a lot to do with how someone interacts with the world. Since people base a lot of first impressions on appearance a height that contrasts with what someone wants to look can cause them to be angsty, which can be expressed in different ways. These characters are short, shorter than everyone else in the cast, they can’t go on rollercoasters, are nearly a head shorter, and they are frequently mistaken for a child, that’s how short they are. In extreme cases their shortness makes them unable to function in the world and causes them to frequently get accidentally kicked in crowds, unable to get to high places or other such things.

₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊ TAGGED BY: :) ₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊ TAGGING: @soulfulempathy @snkts @unburiedhatchet @halfdent @starfaite + anyone else that wanna .

[horizonthetransient]

On Lightning Bolts And Science Fiction/Fantasy

Or, “Chainmail won’t protect you from a thunderstorm, but it will protect you from a Sith.”

So, in real life, there are these things called Tesla Coils. They’re these big electric machines that shoot off little bolts of high-voltage, low-current lightning. These days, everything practical they can do can be done better by something else, so they’re pretty much solely decorative, but damn if they aren’t still good at that. One thing that you might like to see are some dudes dancing with Tesla Coils while wearing chainmail suits. Go on, click the link. I’ll wait for you.

As you can see in the video, electricity follows the path of least resistance. Metal has way less electrical resistance than human flesh, and so if electricity can flow through metal instead of flesh, it will. These men, who are wearing chainmail suits, are pretty much impossible to hurt with tesla coils, because instead of the electricity going through their nerves and organs, it’ll always go through the far-more-conductive metal instead.

Now, if you’re anything like me, you may be thinking “hey, shouldn’t this mean that my D&D character who wears a suit of metal armor should be more defended against lightning, not less?” And I think you’re right! But alas, if you actually voice this opinion, you will likely be met with a common counterargument:

“A lightning bolt has like a zillion megawatts of power! Even with metal armor, it’d deafen you, blind you, and probably burn you by overheating your metal armor!”

And... to me, this is like arguing that kevlar can’t stop bullets, because high-explosive artillery can put six foot craters in the ground. Part of what you’ve said is true, but you’re grossly mischaracterizing the sort of weapons people can use in small-scale fights without killing everyone in the room, themselves included, based purely on sensationalist trivia.

Now, yes, a real lightning bolt from a thunderstorm won’t really care about what personal defenses you have, but that same lightning bolt will also seriously injure anyone within five paces, including the spellcaster who shot it from their fingertips. Considering that Sith and Wizards don’t typically go deaf immediately after shooting lightning at people, I feel safe in concluding that they’re not using that kind of power.

I think it’s also worth talking about what power means in the context of electricity, because as it turns out this is a formally defined term that is quite relevant to the question of “how bad will this kill you?” In electrical terms, power (measured in watts) is the product of voltage and current (measured in amps). And as any electrician can tell you, it’s the amps that kill you. Voltage, meanwhile, is what determines how wide of an air gap the lightning can cross; considering how unconductive thin air is, you need a lot of voltage if you want to shoot lightning at people from any distance whatsoever, and that means you need more power, unless you cut down on the amps.

Fortunately, you totally can cut down on the amps and still have a viable weapon! It only takes six or seven milliamps through the heart to kill someone, and a tenth of an amp if you don’t feel like having super precise aiming. And in all honesty, this maps to lightning attacks in most speculative fiction pretty well- where it always hurts like a bitch, but isn’t always horrendously lethal.

However, that kind of low current is bad news for the “chainmail would just cook you in your armor!” gang, because resistive heating, the phenomenon that makes electricity heat things up, only cares about resistance and current. High voltage isn’t going to do jack shit for resistive heating, and steel wire of the thickness you’d want for making chainmail is plenty capable of handling a measly tenth of an amp. It’s typically about as thick as the wires in your walls, and those can safely handle fifteen or twenty amps before they start to get uncomfortably warm. Sure, that’s copper and chainmail is steel, but chainmail is also a lot of steel, and the fact that there’s literal thousands of rings in a chainmail suit does in fact significantly increase the amount of current that can safely be handled.

So, in conclusion? Unless your fantasy lightning wand produces lightning so powerful that it should seriously injure the user (in which case nobody would want to use it), conductive metal armor 100% would protect the wearer from lightning attacks. This isn’t to say that lightning weapons should logically be useless in speculative fiction- there are plenty of contexts in which people would not be wearing metal armor, where lightning remains a perfectly serviceable way of killing people horrifically. But this is to say that I’m sick of people acting like wearing metal armor is useless at best and suicidal at worst when the other guy has a lightning spell. Knock that shit off.

[ciaran]

mechverse?? do you have mech pilot ocs? may i hear about them?

yes! mechverse / comatose machine is a verse centered around mech pilots set on another planet. the planet is incredibly large, far larger than our own, and one of its most prominent life forms are known to the humans as Omicron, fantastically large aliens that are very, very hostile to humans. the humans occupy a very small portion of land on the planet, leaving the rest to the Omicron and the natural fauna and flora of the planet, because Omicron seek out and attack human settlements - making it dangerous for humans to strike out and live in undefended areas. in order to counter the threat of them, huge mechs piloted by teenagers, connected by a fluid known as lambranide, fight the Omicron.

currently we have 3(4) main characters:

willow/will: he's a young prodigy, talented at managing the software and ground control parts of fighting. he loves fashion and video games and mechs, and finds it very difficult to talk to people or make friends with them. he's essentially on his own and has been for years: he was abused by the previous director of the base he works on, and this has made him suspicious of adults. although he cares about the pilots, he feels too alienated from them to fully exercise this care, and is often the target of bullying from them. and he's very much in love with leo. he's obsessive with the handful of interests he has (kawaii things, fashion, video games, mechs, and leo) and will go to great lengths for them, but he can be bitter, jealous, and spiteful when provoked.

asphalios/leo: he's the oldest pilot on base, at the decrepit age of 18. his older brother was also a pilot, and he resented him for many reasons, until he died piloting and his father immediately drafted leo into the pilot program. he was also abused by the same director who abused will; it's how they first got to know each other. despite the fact that they killed him together, though, he has little love lost for will. leo is not a great offensive pilot, but he's an excellent tank/defender/support, diverting aggro for the other pilots he's working with so that they can score kills. as such, his kill score is very low, but he's one of the most valuable pilots on the base. being older than most, the other pilots also look up to him outside the field for the attention and care they can't receive from their families anymore. however, long-term piloting has taken a toll on leo's body, and he's chronically sick & in pain. despite this, he forces himself to maintain a calm, supportive outlook at odds with the constant crisis he's having on the inside.

alexander/alex & xan: alex is a prodigal young pilot with so many issues. he's obsessed with his kill count, with battle, and with fame, and finds it impossible to connect with anyone, even the other pilots. he's reckless and a little bit stupid, putting himself in risky situations that can have terrible outcomes for him without regard for the consequences, and in some cases because the consequences are liable to be catastrophic. he thinks piloting is amazing and easy and the best thing ever, but he's desperately afraid of people finding out that he doesn't remember a fucking thing about his own missions, because;

his alter, xan, is the one actually piloting. xan hates it, though, and finds it agonizing to kill the omicron. he does it because he doesn't have a choice and he knows it, and because when he's on the field, the path to success presents itself clearly to xan, but he hates it to the core. xan is incredible at connecting with his mech, because he's unafraid of - or eager, in fact, for the depthless surrender that syncing demands. xan is ruined by the fact that he can't do anything but pilot and he hates that thing. he's more socially perceptive than alex but keeps the majority of his observations to himself, and doesn't front unless he has to. not even alex is aware of xan's existence. xan yearns for invisibility and oblivion, freedom from pain and desire and death, but he continues to exist despite his best efforts.

mechverse / CM is a WIP, which means these characters are less than a month old and will probably change a lot over time. these aren't even all the characters we're going to have, though we don't yet know what the future holds :3

as always, these ocs are made in collaboration with my dear friend @checkers-dance

[onceandfutureoshainspector]

- followed Haylen not outside but downstairs to the secret recreation area. honestly, i'd prefer to just go on a vertibird ride to discuss this - loose lips sink airships - but i guess this'll have to do.

Haylen: Do you actually plan on killing Paladin Danse?

- dammit, i can't even level with her now? fine, i'll be cautious. >:(

Cat: That's a risky question, Haylen. Haylen: I know it is, but I need you to listen to me for a minute. I've known Paladin Danse ever since I was an Initiate. He trained me, showed me the ropes... and when I screwed up, he taught me to dust myself off and move on. He's earned my admiration, my respect, and my friendship. I don't care what Quinlan's report says. I don't care if he's a machine or not... he's still Danse. Cat: That's a bold statement. Haylen: Danse is the most selfless person I've ever met. I've watched him risk his own life based on nothing more than principle alone. That's why I'm asking you... not just as a member of the Brotherhood, but as a human being... give him a chance. Let him tell his side of the story. If you're not convinced by what he says, or somehow he's become truly lost to us, then you do what you have to do.

- i'm gonna be so disappointed if i can't steal her from the Brotherhood.

Cat: All right, I'll hear him out. Haylen: That's all that I ask. Before the Prydwen showed up, Danse had me identify a fallback point if we ever lost the police station. It was Listening Post Bravo, an old pre-war U.S. Military outpost on the northern frontier of the Commonwealth. It's isolated, and we're the only ones that knew about it, so there's a good chance that's where he's headed. Just be careful. There's no telling what state of mind he's in right now, or if he trusts any of us at all.

- Listening Post Bravo are you fucking kidding me? the place with the bears?

- wait.

---- w a i t.

-------- clawing and scrabbling through my liveblog rn. wasn't there something at Listening Post Bravo about the guy who worked there hearing weird inexplicable noises, and at the time i made a joke about every monster sighting being bears? god fucking damn past me for not making note of it beyond the phrase "spooky-ooky phrases" >:(

------------ i have. a thought.

---------------- i just left danse, alone, in a pyramid dedicated to Ǎ̵̤t̶̰̑o̴͍̅m̶̛̟.

---------------- he apparently disappeared before anyone could get to him - how did he hear that he'd been outed? maybe he didn't, and the timing of his flight was coincidence?

---------------- he's now beelined for another place with possible ties to inexplicable horrors.

---------------- a place where Nick experienced a baffling urge to kneel on the ground for no reason.

---------------- A̶͍͆t̶̜̀o̶̲̕m̸͎̂'s church has several times seemed to be at least neutral if not positively oriented toward robots/synths, at least on the level of "the important thing is that you're down with drowning the world in radiation".

-------------------- what if there's something to that - that maybe synthetic minds are capable of communing with the outer gods, to at least an equal and possibly even a greater extent than organic minds?

------------------------ what if Danse, holding down the fort with the two temple-guarding nutjobs, heard the call of something beyond?

---------------------------- Danse, who was sent by the Railroad to the Capital Wasteland, the birthplace of the Children of Ą̴̏t̶̳̚o̵̠͛m̷͎̃, and yet joined the Brotherhood and found his way back home on a scouting mission with no officer superior to him in his squad?

-------------------------------- Danse, the by-the-book, i-dotting, t-crossing soldier, who in a wildly out-of-character move didn't report a potential safehouse to his superiors!

------------------------------------ has Danse been secretly affiliated with the Children all along????????

---------------------------------------- y'ai A̴̱̣̩͛̾̌̈́͝h̷̞̓̐͠'̸̠͔̹̑̄ẗ̷̖͕͙́́̊ö̷͎̍m̷̡͇̰͖̏̐̓͘ḩ̷̨̠̲̍͗?

[its-monster-mash]

Moodboards for my New OCs

So I'm planning to write a new horror-sort-of-romance loosely based off of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, so I made a couple of moodboards for the main characters.

Name: Vanessa "Nessie" Abbott (formerly Andrews). She was given the name "Abbott" when she "joined" the family at three years old.

Eye color: Gray

Height: 5'6"

Age: 19

Backstory: When she was three, her family’s car broke down in the rural hills of West Virginia, not a house in sight. When a man came out of the woods, saying they had a house up the overgrown drive, Vanessa’s (wealthy) parents went with him, in hopes of using his family’s phone, but something wasn’t quite right about the rustic mountain farmhouse, even if it was warm and homey. Unbeknownst to her, while Vanessa played with the family’s younger son, Sylas, her parents were being brutally murdered. The Abbotts told Vanessa that her parents had gone for a mechanic, and when they never came back, they led Vanessa to believe she’d been abandoned, but consoled her with the fact that they would care for her now. 

The Abbotts raised “Nessie” alongside Sylas and the other kids (their biological children, probably). Once she got old enough to help with the killing, she realized what must have happened to her parents, but she tries not to think about it, because she likes her life and loves her new family—all thinking about her old family would do is cause problems.

Nessie doesn’t remember her parents very well, but she does remember her grandma’s house, and how she thought it looked like a castle. Her only really distinct memory of childhood was of playing with the cousins. It’s odd to her to think that those cousins are probably still out there, thinking she went missing with her parents.

Nessie and Sylas are close—she sees him and the Abbott kids as her siblings, but she doesn’t know yet that the Abbotts kept her to be Sylas’s wife.

Name: Sylas Abbott

Eye color: Green-Hazel

Height: 6'2"

Age: 20

Backstory: Middle child in the Abbott family of cannibals living in the wilderness of West Virginia.

He knows he’s supposed to marry Nessie, and he genuinely loves her, but he’s nervous about bridging that gap because he knows she sees him as her brother, and he doesn’t want her to hate him.

He's known since they were kids that he was supposed to marry her when they grew up, but she didn't get the same memo, so that puts him in an awkward position. Still, the family has him under increasing pressure to make a move.

Takes care of the animal livestock (they eat human meat, but they have sheep for dairy and wool, and chickens for eggs) and the farm.

Notes on other Abbott family members under the cut.

Grady Abbott: 28, 6’1”, brown hair—always has motor oil in it, a little beefier than Sylas. Oldest Abbott child (up for debate whether he’s an Abbott by blood or not). Mechanic; keeps the machines up and running. Gruff personality, not parentified by the parents, but considers himself the “head” sibling. Father’s favorite. (He gets a picture because I found the perfect picture for him when I was trying to find one for Sylas)

Abigail Abbott: 25, 5’9”, ash blond hair, wiry build, was awkward and lanky when she was younger, but she’s grown into herself. Cherishes The Hunt more than any of the kids; strives to be father’s favorite. Thinks Nessie is being overdramatic when she takes issue with Sylas’s proposal.

Wilder Abbott: 16, 6’1”, ash blond hair, Faye’s twin. Very average redneck teenage boy. Prankster. Great at making traps—learning mechanics from Grady.

Faye Abbott: 16, 5’8”, ash blond hair, Wilder’s twin. “Boyish”, prankster, really good at hiding—Nessie sewed her a ghillie suit which she cherishes. Ambush predator.

Harrison Abbott: Abbott family patriarch, 57, 6’, dark brown hair, wiry build. Quiet, in contrast to most of the family. Dark past (obviously). Obsessed with “keeping meet on the table”. His mom killed his father one incredibly lean winter and fed him to young Harrison to keep him alive. Harrison is intent on never having to eat another family member, and never having his family go hungry. He feels that if they're willing to kill outsiders, they'll never have to resort to killing their own kin.

Genie Abbott: Abbott family mother, 49, 5’9”, ash blonde hair, stout strong build. Classically motherly, mother-hens her children. Considers Nessie a “blessing” to their family (it was her idea to keep Nessie as a future wife for Sylas). Very doting on Nessie, always had her at her side when she was growing up. Grooming Nessie to be the kind of woman she wants her son to marry. Sweet like the smell of a rotting human body.

_

The main Victim group when I actually write the book will be led by a cousin of Nessie's from her birth family. A rich asshole. Might have a "Final Girl" in the Victim group, but I haven't decided yet.

[goremet-chef]

dumb little (very long actually) character analysis for dod n co, just my little guys. im good at compartmentalizing my troubles so thats mainly what they are, very good outlet. theyre really personal so it gets kinda heavy but i dont mind sharing em cuz seeing them as characters rather than states of mind soothes it a bit

some world exposition also, demons and angels live in vague harmony. its not a matter of sinful evil creature vs divine pure creature, its just 2 different cogs in the same machine, working together to keep things running. some angels and demons can hold those sorts of prejudice though, but for the most part its even

(slight nsfw warning with repentance also)

DO-OR-DIE ...

hes a demon, specifically a dream walker. dream walking demons are observers, they usually arent able to be perceived by humans or whoever. they spend most of their time wandering and watching over people to see what theyre doing, sometimes living through them. standard stuff.

his problem is that over time hes developed a corruption. corruptions cause the demon to be fundamentally flawed in some way that harms the demons wellbeing and affects its ability to live. in these instances, they are granted an angel to help them recover. usually it only takes one depending on the severity and the demons willingness to listen. dod has 3.

sometimes angels are unsuccessful, which is a problem because corrupted demons can become large threats. beings motivated by anguish alone are dangerous. thats another reason they send angels to save them.

he used to be rather odd and charming as any demon would be, but his corruption has made him awkward and unsocialized. sometimes he remembers himself before this, but its distant and blurry.

he represents me at a base level. he thinks too much and his corruption has lead to a massive hole forming in his center. he feels empty, so he fills the empty space with anger and fear and love. his design mainly encompasses the split in emotions i feel a lot. mindless joy or unmanageable sadness

CHASM ...

chasm is benevolent and thoughtful angel, and he sees the truth. he delivers honesty and rational advice. he wants the best for dod, but his approach is what complicates things. hes blunt, theres no point in sugar coating reality. his delivery brings more harm than good to dod, despite his good intentions.

in his attempts to calm dod, he'll tell him that no one cares enough about him to be angry with him, which is backhanded reassurance and it often fails. despite this, he has the highest chance of helping dod recover. dod is incapable of listening and taking it to heart because chasms words hurt.

chasm cares for dod, but hes here on assignment and his care manifests through trying to get him recovered. no matter how avoidant and arrogant dod is, chasm is always patient with him. recovery takes time.

the relationship that is formed through the recovery process with the demon and their angels can range from strictly business and a farewell once its over to lifelong companions. thats how chasm sees dod, hes a naturally empathetic angel and feels for him quite a bit. a shoulder to lean on, if dod ever has the sense to lean on anyone other than himself

thought process consists of a lot of spiraling and hysteria, and then running straight into that wall. "they dont care enough to be annoyed or mad at you, its not a big deal" but thats kind of a big deal to me. its helpful, but its too painful to bear. i didnt make chasms original design but i did change it quite a bit. gave him a mouth on his stomach as well as? what COULD be top scars but also look like closed, tired eyes. he was a shapeshifting type of guy before but now he mainly keeps insect features or casual angel features like bird wings and a halo

HILO ...

after observing that chasms help wasnt working, they sent dod another angel. hilo is optimistic and eccentric, and he sees the truth. if reality is bringing you down, why not just leave? he can take dod anywhere he wants to go, he can allow him to be anyone he wants past his usual observation, and it almost works.

unfortunately, this method is flawed. it feels good, but it doesnt tackle the root of his issue, instead opting to ignore it. time goes on and hes getting more and more corrupted, and despite how often he indulges in hilo's help, he knows its not what he needs.

hilo doesnt see it that way. even if his idea of recovery is inaccurate, hes got dods best interest in mind, similar to chasm. he assumes if he can take dod away from the pain thats corrupting him, he'll be saved. he wants him to smile, wants him to be creative, wants to nourish the small glimmer of joy and let dod grow it out on his own, but when the source of the corruption is unaddressed, it halts that completely

hilo and chasm often clash. the eternal battle between reality and fantasy, between fact and fiction. they dont see eye to eye, because their methods recovery are complete opposites. hilo is lighthearted, and treats dod as a friend. his unserious nature is avoidant in itself

daydreaming and dissociation are household names in the home of ominic, which i mean. yeah. im part of a system thats like our whole thing 💀 i spend MOST of my days completely absent from reality, just stuck in place pretending to be someone else until i have to get up for food or some shit. feels great, but no progress. again, i didnt make his original design, but i did redesign him so one thing i added in his redesign specifically is that underneath the long sleeves of his sweater, his skin is gross like dead almost. blackened and dried which basically just represents the bad part about dissociating so much. it seems great at surface level but if you peel back some layers its clearly not good for you

REPENTANCE ...

surely if he had 3 angels, they could work together and finally save him right..? wrong! repentance is high strung and strict, and he sees the truth. dod is a creature of sin, and he should be regarded as such. he thinks the only way for dod to truly repent and recover is to beg god for mercy, but until that happens he has no problem spitting insults and making sure he knows how disgusting he is

repentance views himself as the guideline for how any angel should be and thinks hes the best to help dod recover. in his own words, hes "keeping him humble".

thats where him and chasm tend to clash, much more intensely than chasm does with hilo (and more than hilo and repentance. repentance honestly just ignores hilo at this point, hilo thinks hes dumb). dod is stuck in a cycle of "everyone hates you, you dont deserve anything" and "no one cares enough to hate you" which. theyre actively working against eachother and bringing more confusion into his life.

repentance isnt as pure as he thinks he is, though. at some point he develops a sexual relationship with dod, which leads to some heavy denial. if it was anyone else he would consider it an affront to god, but hes good and holy... so of course hes only doing his best to help dod recover from his corruption. its a blessing, surely. ends up developing some complex feelings towards dod. still just as rude as always but his needs are completely selfish. hes not helping dod, hes helping himself, he just refuses to see it that way

i think my bpd is more violent to me than anyone else, sometimes i do split and get really angry but more often than not that anger is directed towards myself. thats basically what repentance is. bitter voice of a viper. also an outlet for my hypersexuality cuz thats really overbearing honestly. his design has some deeper meanings as well. the wings on his 'head' are upright because he views himself as being flawless and always correct, but the wings on his hips are upside down which. can symbolize a few different things in the context of him 💀 he represents my personal grievances with religion as well

RED HERRING ...

having 3 opposing angels is a lot of chaos, and chaos has formed a subdemon. red herring is quiet, and simple. he rarely ever speaks and is often hard to read. he stays out of the way and lingers around dod most of the time. his form is unstable and shifts a lot.

he is simple, but he has feelings, and his expression is that of guilt and deception. lots of mixed feelings have made dod feel like hes not who he says he is, like hes tricking those around him. if hes in a position where hes under stress and has to confront those feelings dod holds, he becomes active.

active subdemons play a part, and his part is feeling like he doesnt belong. like his true colors need to be shown so everyone will be too scared to touch him. he doesnt know if hes guilty or not of deceiving everyone, but he'll show it anyways as a last act of honor.

as his name implies, hes like a misleading piece of information. whether or not thats based in truth doesnt matter, its just how dod feels. feels like he doesnt deserve anything due to how loud repentance is. ultimately all 3 of them have caused dod some kind of pain and each subdemon represents that individual pain like some kind of complex spider web. i made him randomly when i was doing really bad so his design is simple but sometimes you need a simple character to vent yr feelings with

PLAYING HOOKY ...

another subdemon. hes silly and lighthearted, very similar to hilo. his expression is also similar. instead of just ditching reality, why not ditch everything? leave leave leave! run away from responsibility, run away from friends, run away from life. fool proof.

hes actually fun, a refreshing mix of wittiness and joy with a dash of edginess. its a completely disastrous mixture for dod because it makes it incredibly easy for him to relate to hooky and follow his lead. he can talk him into anything

his design reflects that. even though his nature is avoidance, his skin is sticky like tar, and he can hook others into place (he also grapples around with his hooks but thats not important i just think its cool)

sticky goopy little guy but hes like hilo in a worse way. mainly just more hiding but on the basis of fear instead of dissociation. him, dod, and red herring are prone to having their chest split open. represents different things, from feeling vulnerable and having yr guts on display to the gaping void thats slowly killing dod himself

I AM MY OWN ACTIONS ...

or i am for short. the final subdemon. he mirrors chasms message and is by far the most different subdemon from dod. his expression is taking the blame fully, even if its not all on you. there is an element of moving forward as well, but how can you come to terms with something you dont even know is true? its all hearsay, angels spitting back and forth between eachother, how can you know for certain?

thats the part that gets dod stuck and its why i am is so vastly different. he seems unreachable almost. dod is stubborn. even if hes certain hes the root of all his problems and hes just this horrible awful person, he cant say for certain. all the angels are certain of different things, whats he supposed to believe?

i try to keep it open ended with this whole thing. maybe he is a horrible person. who knows. we literally dont SKJFS

i am is quiet but does speak unlike red herring. his voice is soft like chasms, and he prefers lurking in the shadows. hes this presence that dod can feel, lingering in the background. he can accept it whenever, but he wont.

i think i laid out everything with this guy but i gave him a mixture of chasms buggy aspects as well as the tail of a coelacanth because to me coelacanths symbolize resilience. stick it out a bit longer, dont let them drive you to your grave. also yes he does climb on walls like a bug

okay im done now. this is kinda.. i mean its a bit embarrassing laying out my brain like this but i really like them as characters so i dont mind sharing it. i love all the different dynamics

[thissliceofnonsense]

So originally I wanted to see if I could write season three of rottmnt myself...

Based on fandom ideas mostly. There is so many interesting fanfictions and AUs that I thought I could take bits and pieces from the fandom and write a season three.

(I really wanted to participate in the fandom somehow because I was in an apathy spiral at the time of seeing rottmnt and I've never had an obsession for this long. It's the reason my world isn't so monochromatic anymore and I owe it a lot. )

What ended up happening is that I looked at all the fandom ideas and deleted episodes and thought "What if I wrote a 'fandom version' of rottmnt, with a season for each of the turtles?'

Because Mikey could get his own season with more Mikey-centric episodes because a lot of his got cut. Also also he could have a character arc surrounding how he is the most powerful mystic user out of the four. He also has the most powerful and changing emotions, and I can speak from experience in saying that emotions are extremely difficult to control. Plus, if one were to make the first season Mikey-centric then as soon as he figured out that Baron Draxum was 'family' then he would start the whole 'You're actually a good person' thing and Baron Draxum is just annoyed. That could factor into his characterization that he tries to keep everyone together even if it makes him upset. I think I could also include the "the turtles were made to be destruction machines and bring havoc upon humans" because I feel like being told your purpose is to destroy things would hurt a lot, especially to Mikey because his favorite thing is to create. *The possibilities*

Donnie would get season two, and perhaps everyone else (especially Mikey) is using Mystic powers to do all sorts of things - actively replacing his tech. I would place the "Donnie's gifts" episode here instead, with the changes that they don't use his gifts correctly despite all the time he spent on them + replaces them with mystic powers. This sends Donnie down a spiral where he tries to figure out how mystic powers work scientifically - probably how he found the library - and it leads him to consoling in Baron Draxum. Here is where all of the separation AUs play in, because Donnie gets validation from a parental figure + someone he can do science with without being told that it just messes things up. I imagine that this season centers around Donnie's thinking that the others care more about what he can do for them - his tech - than Donnie himself. And Baron Draxum - while being validating - is still furthering that thinking. (Perhaps something from 'Like father, Like Son' here where Draxum mentions that he only created Donnie out of curiosity and Donnie thinks that this is confirmation that the only thing that matters is his tech, basically turning his own special interest against him. Which... ouch.) This would lead into the 'Witch Town' episode where the others tell Donnie that what matters is him, not his tech. (I also think it would be nice for him to make tech that utilizes mystic powers for now, then he would be able to make tech with mystic powers later).

(Also also I'm obsessed with backstory so I think it would be fun to include backstory episodes where all of the misbeliefs came from + turtle tot episodes. I saw from a Pinterest post that Raph might have gotten kidnapped when he was younger - Leo might have been there- hence why he was so protective of Mikey.)

Leo would get season three, which would be basically the movie + bits and bobs from Cass's apocalypse series from @somerandomdudelmao (Which I've been obsessed with.) Because I feel like if Leo understood the gravity of what his mistakes caused (the world he destroyed), then his "I'm useless" way of thinking would devolve into "they are better off without me". And I think turning the movie into a season instead would allow for more Casey Jr. backstory and some fun with the prison dimension. I've seen some animatics and ideas floating around where Leo would have some consequences of staying in the Prison Dimension (in addition to almost dying.), mostly in the form of having the Krang infect his head - in a final attempt to escape - , and he has to fight against his own thoughts and eventually defeat the Krang (I haven't thought about this one a lot but I imagine it would have a lot of 'here's the aftermath')

Raph would get season four, which would be the Shredder, Karai (I think that's how you spell her name) and the foot clan, because Karai really needed at least a few episodes before killing her off. I imagine she would go on a "field trip" (Zuko style) with each of the turtles + April while trying to get the pieces for the shredder's armor. They would also learn about their family legacy bit by bit + the nimpo thing. Since Leo is the leader now, Raph would probably go all out in a "protective older sibling" mode, and every time they lose to the shredder he blames it on himself. They lose their home and Karai dies. And I think a few extra episodes to how they deal with the loss and how they keep losing to the shredder. (Maybe they go to April or Draxum's house for a bit??) Perhaps Raph pushes himself too far and (if I remember correctly) April - as Karai - tells Raph that he is trying his best because he loves his family and that's what matters. Overall I think the finale episodes just needed a bit extra time to fully develop.

This is still a bunch of really messy ideas and I think I would have to reread a few fanfics and rewatch the series, but it would be fun to try this out I think.

[catenary-chad]

don’t think I’ll do anything with it, but listening to the Defunctland video about early animatronics got me thinking of an Astro Boy-ish AU for Electra where an actor uses the convoluted motion capture machine to program a figure based on/resembling himself… but has a weirdly positive opinion of the resulting creation because they’re a weird immortalized version of himself who’s very familiar but also very alien (runs heavily on computer/machine logic and communicates via sound and doesn’t understand body language/expressions)

Years later when the attraction gets axed he salvages the figure somehow and keeps them around as his buddy because they’re still kind of a child figure to him. How mobile or autonymous (and therefore sci fi) they are is up in the air but it’s a weirdly wholesome relationship. He doesn’t have actual kids of his own and his robot “son” is fun to be around and handy around the house. Son is in scare quotes because they’re a sexless robot who wouldn’t care what cosmetics you stuck on them as long as they don’t restrict any access/cooling vents or movement.

I’m pretty ambivalent on Electra being autistic (I more depict them as just socially stunted due to early isolation) but yeah this version is very explicitly coded as so. I just think it’s more accurate and interesting than ~evil robot out to replace us~. This guy would be great at diagnosing mechanical problems based on sounds/frequencies and doing repetitive tasks but be totally lost by most human interaction and logic, they don’t even really have full facial expressions due to early tech limits, mostly just eye direction and narrowing and a bit of lip movement. Also idgaf if you want to call this a bad stereotype, I’m literally this way myself and it’s why I LIKE robot characters that have quirks in logic/behavior based on actual programming limitations, it’s not something I’m hardcore into but I tend to get the concepts really easily.

[aysathenotsogreat]

ethical generative ai exists based on consent and public domain work but those aren't the ones with VC money and exploiting the fact they basically have an "art robbery machine" if you have a basic grasp of what you're doing, so you haven't heard about them. Hell, the technology has been used in film animation pretty prominently with the lineart lines used on characters in Into the Spider-Verse. They built a machine learning program off of the line work the wanted and it worked perfect for the animation style they where using. Secret Invasion having a generative AI intro to get out of hiring actual animators after months of articles detailing how they've *specifially* made the entire industry worse and more grueling.

The problem, as always, is never inherent to the progress of technology. It's the integration of it into our existing system of wealth exploitation that makes it toxic more often than not. I was never interested personally because the idea of a computer anything text to make an image always seemed to be less artistic merit and I definitely care more about human intent. I can see where the technology can be cool for assisting in art, data analysis and especially as disability aids. However, for the most part, most of the first adopters and a majority of those who are using it are doing so to circumvent the labor time of making art for their own gain and generally have contempt for art.

It's obviously a nuanced topic (I saw a 2 hr yputube documentary about the ethics and legality of it in particular by Hello Future me if you want to think more about this stuff), but honestly just blanket opposition to for profit AI companies is probably the easiest thing to do. They steal our data to make their own assets to profit off of eventually. Because we built the modern internet where most of those actively using it are actually the product base for the advertisers that are actually the consumers of the internet, it's basically impossible to stop them from doing this. To me, it just leaves me to mock ai "artists" and yell about anti data scraping legislation. now you deal with this inevitable is up to you I guess.

anyway ai discourse is kicking off on my dash again and i just want to reiterate that i fully and 100% believe that "cutting up and remixing pre-existing intellectual property without prior permission" should never be made illegal and it would be utterly horrifying if the united states attempted to criminalize it.

[fischlich]

Little aloy doodle i did of an au idea i had >:] im taking a lot of liberties with the hephaestus sub-function so beware lmao.

basically in the au, lansra wins the argument about what should be done with baby aloy and shes basically just. left in the woods to die. then the machines and subsequently hephaestus discover her, and it recognizes her as a clone of elizabet, one of its creators. it then proceeds to raise aloy tarzan-style (i mean hephaestus knows english,, maybe it can teach a human child how to speak?? lol) mainly so it can have one of its creators back and also maybe use aloy as another tool to help stop human predation on the machines. Anyways this means aloy doesnt hunt machines and almost all of them are friendly with her, and instead she kind of really hates people for a) leaving her to die and b) destroying the machines that helped raise her