#this isn't about any Specific incident but it has happened more than once

[demonwebs]

i'm just gonna say this because it's gonna bother me if i don't, so, small disclaimer: while i understand my muse is very flirty and sexual by nature (partly because, depending on the verse, he's either hooked on his newfound freedom, or using it as a manipulation tactic. i could delve further into the reasoning for this, but i dont want to rn), please try to remember that me !! as the mun !! am none of these things !! i don't know if things get lost in translation sometimes, because i know i can be very affectionate and very brazilian and very playful, but i am a super shy girlie behind the screen, i am not my muse, i do not condone his bullshit (and god knows my tags in every other post should make that clear) and i, in any way shape or form, want ic to be mistaken for ooc

[slttygeto]

MY PUNISHMENT, AN ETERNITY WITHOUT YOU--GETO. S

synopsis: you were never there for suguru, and he isn't scared of saying it to you.

c.w: gn! reader, angst, hurt/no comfort, reader is a terrible friend, insinuations on suguru and reader possibly liking each other, suguru feels terribly left out, confronation, there is a dialogue here from an old movie so that's where the inspiration came from!

word count: 1,1k

note: very quick drabble before I head to bed. sorry for choosing violence so late at night.

Everything happens for a reason. What a lame way to comfort yourself through the horrifying realization that you’ve been betrayed by one of the closest people to your heart. You stand in front of Yaga and Satoru with a broken heart and a body that is so cold you could be mistaken for a corpse and you breathe in—you try to inhale through what you’ve been told.

“Suguru killed those people, he also killed his parents and—“

Enough. You’ve heard more than enough for today. You squeeze your eyes shut and your hands find your face, covering it whole. You’re not sure what the gesture is supposed to do, you believe that you simply did not want to see the people that have delivered those news for you and it’s a little unfair to them. But then again, if they hadn’t known how poorly you’d handle it, why’d they look so apologetic when they asked you to wait for them outside of the classroom? They knew how you’d feel and they still went through with it.

You don’t realize that a week had passed since the incident with Suguru until you’re receiving a text Shoko and Satoru telling you about his whereabouts, and you don’t think you’ve ever ran so fast in your life just to see a person—to see him, for what felt like it was going to be the last time in a while.

Suguru stands in front of a flower shop owned by an elderly couple and his face seems to be empty of any emotion as he stares at the many flowers displayed by the old woman tending to her plants. Yet his eyes seem to be fixated on a specific flower—a bouquet of pink Cyclamens that looked as though it was freshly picked and put together, placed neatly on the tiny green table outside of the shop. His hand reaches down towards it and traces the pink wrapping paper with the same fingers that once held your chin as he tended to your wounds after missions.

“Suguru,” you sound out of breath, your hands are trembling and you feel as though you’re about to faint very soon. “What are you doing?” A part of you hopes that Suguru comes up with a good answer, something that justifies what he’s done, what he is about to do now that he has the entire Jujutsu society turning against him. You want answers, you want to be comforted by this abrupt and sudden decision of his. But when he stands there silently, doesn’t even bother to look up from the bouquet he seemingly bought prior to your arrival, your heart sinks. So, you ask again.

“Sugu-“ your throat closes up and you can’t muster up the courage to pronounce his name properly. “Answer me.”

“What do you think I’m doing, hm?” the nonchalance in his voice feels like a dozen of needles poking through your skin, each one injecting you with a different poison and only Suguru’s warmth can heal you.

“You lied to me, you deceived me.” You say quietly and when you hear his chuckle—the first sign of emotion in very long, your heart sinks to your stomach. Why does he find this amusing? It shouldn’t be funny, you were seriously suffering and he was being so… different.

“I’ve deceived you?” he finally looks up and it’s so difficult not to run away and hide when he was eyeing you so dangerously, daring you to repeat what you have just said.

“You’ve deceived me,” he continues and approaches you with the bouquet in hand.

“I am tired of trying to listen to you—“

“You have never listened, you never tried to listen,” he presses on every word and his looming figure towers over you with so much ease. You cower under his gaze, try to stutter a few words out and the confusion evident on your face irks Suguru even more.

“I did try to listen! What are you-“

“Then where were you when I needed you?” he tilts his head to the side, and the action is mocking as he lets out a pensive hum. “On missions… with Satoru… out with Shoko smoking—that’s right, I stopped being fun to hang out with, didn’t I?”

“You stopped needing me because I stopped being useful.” He spits it out like venom and your blood runs cold. You try to blink the tears coating your lashes and back away from him.

“That is not true,” the whimper that escapes your lips is pathetic, but it does nothing to the tall man standing in front of you.

“Then where were you when I needed you?” he asks again, and he knows that you don’t have an answer—or it was simply clear that Suguru wasn’t worth the additional baggage on your shoulders. You never wanted to be there for him as simple as that. Your friendship with him was only fun when he was the sweet, soft and flirty Suguru. Hanging out with him was only fun because he paid for the food and pushed you on the swing, it stopped being fun when his thoughts got darker and it was harder for him to smile when you apologized for the umpteenth time because you forgot to check on him.

Suguru simply had enough.

“You gave me your heart, you know?” The taller male suddenly speaks up after a minute of awkward and painful silence and your head shoots up. “You’d like me to hand it back whole, but I won’t.” He takes a step closer and strangely, you don’t flinch nor move away.

“You live a long life, an eternity without me. You will look at the faces of passersby hoping for something that will bring me back to you, you will find stargazing on the rooftop and summer nights strangely empty—your heart will long for something, anything that would make calling out for my name worth it and would somehow bring me back.” Suguru is seemingly calm through it all, like the sight of the fat tears cascading your cheeks doesn’t move him and for the first time ever—it truly doesn’t reach his heart, and doesn’t try to pull at its strings.

“Your heart will always ache for me, and your mind will give you the doubtful consolation that this—“ he points at the both of you, referring to you confronting him. “Was the brave thing to do.”

And through gritted teeth, you manage to find your voice again.

“You dare talk about bravery?”

“What else do we have to talk about, hm?”

—in case anyone needed to know, “Cyclamen flowers can also represent love, affection, and admiration. They are sometimes used to display affection and romantic feelings towards someone.”

do with that whatever you want.

2023 ; all works belong to @ slttygeto. do not repost my works on any other platofrm.

[blueteller]

Hi, dear cool person! Do you happen to know if all magic circles in lcf are drawn on the ground or if some types can be done in the air? Do they need a physical surface for them to work? I got a little confused by that and couldn't find an explanation yet (⁠╥⁠﹏⁠╥⁠)

Hello, "dear cool person"! 😊 I admit, no one ever brought up that kind of question to me, and I think it's worth investigating!

First of all, to make things clear: TCF/LCF uses what we call "Soft Magic System". In other word, the rules concerning magic are vague, without much elaboration from the narrative – which I have to add, does NOT equal poor world-building.

People often toss around Fullmetal Alchemist as an example of good world-building (which everybody who knows me is probably aware, is one of my favorite series of all time), without understanding that FMA uses "Hard Magic System" as it plays a vital role in the story. How alchemy works is very important to the plot and its themes. While my inner nerd absolutely loves it, I must remind myself that it's not a required element for a story to be well crafted. There are many series which go into great detail about their magic systems, but that doesn't actually guarantee it will be successful in making the story enjoyable.

"Soft" or "Hard" magical world-building, what actually matters is how it's used.

So, in TCF we are dealing with "Soft Magic System", because how magic works is never actually important to the story itself; what the characters are doing matters far more than what exact tools and powers they're using. The "what" of their capabilities is always more emphasized over the "how".

Obviously, we know some of what magic can do, as we get many example throughout the series. We also know that there are multiple other powers in that world aside from mana-based magic. For example, regular magic can be used to create fire, cast illusions, teleport, levitate objects, and even for telepathic communication. Dead mana magic can be also used in similar ways, like casting illusions or creating light. There are also powers of Nature, Beast People abilities, Earth Abilities, Divine Powers, and quite a few of others.

But the question is about arrays specifically. Let's try to find a couple of examples to work with.

We know that circles CAN be drawn, at the very least. The earliest instance of an array being used was way back during the Plaza Terror Incident, when blood-crazy mage Redika tore up a teleportation scroll to escape the plaza. So we see that certain spells can be pre-made and are one-use only, which makes sense. Not everyone seems capable of teleportation, especially long-distance. Remember, Dragons are super rare and the fact that Cale has basically unlimited access to instant teleportation through Raon is basically cheating lol. I assume it's both difficult and expensive to create even a single scroll like that. It requires lots of effort and preparation, not to mention it's set for a given location – the word "coordinates" is often dropped throughout the story.

We also know that circles can be created through magic in an instance, as that's basically what Raon and Eruhaben do every time they teleport. But once again, they're Dragons, so I assume you have to be Arch Mage level to do that type of stuff without literally drawing the array. Definitely not something Redika was capable of. I also suspect Rosalyn could do that, but that's because she's a rare talent of her own – not to mention how Eruhaben taught her on top of it.

I struggle to find any example of array-based magic that ISN'T about teleportation, however. Perhaps all arrays ARE meant exclusively for transportation in TCF? Feel free to correct me if you find any evidence to the contrary. Another example that comes to my mind is when they were teleporting the Castle of Light, later re-named Black Castle, into the Forest of Darkness. We know it required a huge amount of power, which was why Eruhaben asked Cale for magic stones. We didn't actually SEE them cast the array, however, so we don't know if they literally needed to draw one around the castle, or if they used their Dragon powers again to simply make it with magic.

There are several conclusions I draw from all of this.

First, most if not all examples of array-based magic in TCF are teleportation-related. So either all arrays are about teleportation, or teleportation is a very complex brand of magic (which would make sense) and arrays are exactly for that type complex magic, so they could be also used for other things.

Second, it seems that drawing arrays is a "human method", but it is unnecessary for Dragons, as they can use magical shortcuts. So naturally, I don't think they need a solid surface to work with when they're casting spells.

Third, arrays can be either instantly used and created – if you're powerful enough that is – or they can be pre-made and "loaded", then used for emergencies via deliberate disruption. I also assume you don't need to be a mage to use a teleportation scroll, if it already contains all the magic needed.

And that's basically all I have to say about magic circles in TCF! I hope this was helpful 💖

[cdroloisms]

yeah hi me again with another question SO if cpunz knew the contents of the revive book the whole time cdream was in the prison, why was cdream so terrified of being killed while imprisoned? couldnt cpunz just revive him?

good question :D

i mean, dying is still kind of catastrophic, tbh -- being revived makes it really obvious that c!Dream isn't the only one with the book, which could destroy all the effort they put into staged finale (which is exactly what happened in the genuine finale, as the reveal of c!Punz and the book is what jeopardizes both his and c!Dream's lives with the nuke plan), for one. the terror of dying is something that's necessary to emphasize that He Is The Book You Need To Keep Him Alive, which is what's expected from a scenario where he's the only one with the book which is what everyone else thinks is the truth ... so there's no good reason for him not to act terrified, ykwim? Additionally, revivals are obviously causing problems (though it's unclear if he and punz knew about this by the time the prison began -- I'm inclined to say yes, but it's not hard confirmed in canon afaik) and keeping unnecessary ones to a minimum is a good play, regardless. plus, there's a lot of fucked up things you can do to someone when you can kill and revive them, and the necessity of not killing dream was very much what was protecting him in canon from shit like quackity, bc of sam's commitment to keeping him alive, etc. keeping people from ever knowing that that's a possibility protects him from Those Horrors (which have been explored already by quite a few people in quite a few AUs, at this point, LOL) -- not dying is for sure the safest choice for him, and the consequences of being killed range from "pretty bad" to "outright horrific" for c!dream no matter how you cut it -- plenty of reason to be afraid besides just death, imo.

for a much more hypothetical side of this answer, c!dream's dying to tommy and tubbo in the genuine finale really kicks off a lot -- which ends up leading to the Incident, not that it's super clear what specifically happened to trigger it (considering the planned fight against XD, the egg hatching, and the nuke literally all happened at the same time.) it's still unclear what c!Dream's specific connection to the supernatural, especially XD, is in particular, so it's hard to make any definitive judgements -- and it doesn't seem likely for c!Dream's death to be Specifically meaningful considering how many times he possibly died in death/revival experiments with c!Punz (which we. obviously still don't have a specific number, but c!Dream does say that he's been to Limbo more than once very intentionally and c!Schlatt makes a point of saying that he saw c!Dream, not Mexican Dream, in Limbo with his book of moon runes a few times as far back as march 16th) -- but that being said, could c!Dream's death be part of the Event Hullabaloo that might've played some kind of role in the everything that has to do with the server reset? I mean, possibly? He's always been someone related to the supernatural stuff on this server, so it's hard to say for sure. This latter point isn't definitive in the slightest and I think "because being terrified of death still makes sense/was the smart act to play into" is more than enough explanation for why he was acting so terrified, but it's an interesting thought experiment, I guess.

[incubationformadness]

I just finished the latest chapter and I’m absolutely obsessed with Effie and Corisande’s relationship. Her confession about what happened to her went so badly but I think I am becoming a Corisande defender because it’s clear she’s just as stunted by the trauma she endured as Effie is and while their experience is different they both firmly believe that the other is the one that got away/ had it easier and neither one of them is willing to let go of that perspective. Im very hopeful for a Trinket sister reunification in the future of this fic because it’s clear they’re not ready yet but maybe once they’ve had time to process what’s happened to them they will gain the mental capacity to feel empathy for the other. I don’t really know why, but Corisande is so fascinating to me, despite the fact that we only ever see her from Effie’s perspective so I was wondering if you have any headcanons about her character that you can disclose 🤍

Thank you so much!! Corisande (brief as her appearances have been) is such a polarising character because she's very much 'the abused becomes the abuser' while also being such a tortured soul under all that rage. I have a lot of empathy for her - for all that she wants to escape her childhood and remove herself from the past, she arguably clings to it even more than Effie. So, here are some thoughts I have about her:

•Corisande's occupation as a nurse comes from her desire to have complete control over other people. She probably would have become a doctor if the Trinkets had the money for the University - she's much smarter than Effie gives her credit for. I imagine that she abuses her power over patients who she takes a personal dislike to (i.e. denying them pain meds or pretending to be too busy for the call bell). Nonetheless, when dealing with a patient who she likes or feels neutrally about, she is genuinely good at what she does, and definitely has her softer moments. She specifically works with the elderly because she is less likely to face physical threats from them, and she is uncomfortable around children because they remind her of her younger, defenceless self.

•She is generally disliked by her co-workers - she's abrasive and domineering and does not like being told what to do.

•She has difficulties with impulse control - she has been a kleptomaniac from a young age (yes, she does steal from her patients and their families), and went through a period of fire-starting in early adolescence (aged about 13 or so). She received some psychiatric treatment for her self-harm as a teenager, which took the form of head-banging and burning herself, but she was combative with the doctors and so her behaviour was labelled as 'attention-seeking'. As an adult, she's mostly stopped her self-harm (she's still a kleptomaniac though).

•Unlike Effie, who was inclined towards promiscuity in her teenage years, Corisande is actually very sexually inexperienced. This comes from both her belief that she is fundamentally undesirable, and her dislike of the vulnerability which comes with sexual situations. She has instead hired sex workers in the past, which enables her to have control.

•I mention in the notes at the bottom of Chapter 14 that Corisande was subject to a grooming attempt by her father, Thyestes Trinket, which went extremely badly - I believe that due to Effie's confession, Corisande will begin re-evaluating that incident. Prior to Effie's revelation, Corisande simply saw it as an incident of love bombing. It will also help her pinpoint the onset of Effie's sexual abuse, seeing as Effie did not manage to tell her how old she was when it started.

•She does love Effie, in her own way, but she does not know how to deal with her. Her resentment of her younger sister has always overpowered their interactions in the past.

•Kind of random, but she likes to feed pigeons lol. She feels strongly about people giving them stuff that isn't bird food. She also likes raccoons. I think that she feels a certain comradeship with animals which her father would have considered 'vermin'.

•She's athletic and was a competitive speed climber when she was in high school. As an adult she still does climbing, and swims. She liked to draw when she was a teenager as a method of venting, but it was very dark stuff which she never showed to anyone.

•She was naturally a tomboy as a child, but I think that she has grown to dislike femininity as both her sister and mother are traditionally feminine and, in Corisande's view, 'allowed' Thyestes to dominate them (internalised misogyny is a helluva drug). In addition, Thyestes mocked Corisande for her interests, as he considered them 'unladylike'. For Corisande, whatever her father does not like is a win on her behalf.

I don't think that this will be the last we see of Corisande - there's too much emotion tangled up between her and Effie for them to just let go of each other after that. But you're right in saying that they're not ready to reunite just yet...both of them are stunted people, and they can't help but fall back into their childhood rivalry when they are around each other. I think that one of the biggest tragedies of their childhoods is that not only did Thyestes abuse them both, in different ways, but he also drove them apart from each other. Had they been given a healthy upbringing, Corisande would have probably just been the 'older-sister-who-is-sometimes-mean-but-looks-out-for-you', rather than the aggressive, vindictive character we know her as.

Corisande is a character I have considered for a POV chapter (her and Alseid are the biggest candidates)...I don't know if that will ever happen but the possibility is there.

[moonshinemusings]

General John "Soap" MacTavish headcanons (Pt.1)

Warnings: slight mentions of canon typical violence, mentions of PTSD, anxiety and sensory issues

A/N: My head is full with so many dumb ideas but I kept it mostly serious here lol

• He flirts with everyone when he's drunk, and yes, that includes his teammates (once Price wanted to count how many times he hit on Ghost during the night, but eventually gave up)

• His favorite color is green

• Would totally own a motorcycle that he takes good care of. He has a knack for mechanical stuff and often repairs vehicles they use on missions

• Has a sweet tooth and others often tease him about it. If they let him, he could probably eat a whole cake by himself (and whine how bad his stomach hurts afterwards)

• Most of the time he's dealing well and he keeps himself together, but sometimes his emotions break through the surface. He rarely cries, but when a wave of PTSD or lethargy hits him, the tears flow without resistance. He powers through his emotions though, and he knows his teammates are always there to support him if he needs them

• His anxiety isn't as bad as some others, but from time to time he struggles with staying calm and rational. These incidents usually happen when he overthinks missions or panics when someone gets injured, but someone is always there to help him calm down

• Most likely he has some sensory issues too, but only with very specific things that he fortunately doesn't often counter every day

• Often takes pictures while working out. Mirror selfies are his go-to, but videos of him doing push ups or lifting weights is also in order

• He was never that good at school, that's partly why he chose to serve in the military

• His music taste is really inconsistent. He listens to rock most of the time, but then he suddenly switches to pop songs and country out of nowhere. The worst part? He knows a bunch of country songs and will sing along loudly. Ghost thinks it's atrocious, especially with his accent

• Hug lover, an enthusiast if you will. He's a touchy-feely guy to begin with, but he loves hugs more than any other kind of touching (bet he has the warmest and most comfy ones)

• He's afraid of spiders. He likes to say he's not afraid of mundane things like animals, but spiders send shivers down his spine (once Price had to take one out from his bag because he was too afraid to touch it. No, they don't talk about it.)

• In his younger years he experimented with different hairstyles and colors. For a while he rocked a mullet, then came the idea of the mohawk that stayed ever since. He's had green, red and blue hair once, but never kept them longer than a few weeks

• As much as he acts like it annoys him, he likes dad jokes and those really bad ones Ghost usually comes up with

• No musical talent whatsoever, but that won't stop him from singing when he's drunk or when his favourite songs come up

• Has thought about getting more tattoos, but couldn't decide what to ask for so he never got them

• His favourite meal of the day is breakfast. Don't know why, don't ask, I just feel like he would be a breakfast "I stuff my face with calories in the morning" type of guy

• A morning bird, which used to annoy the shit out of Ghost because he was too cheery for someone who was awake at like 5 AM

• He's a deep sleeper, once he's safe and asleep even a bomb won't wake him up. He can fall asleep anywhere too. Once he conked out on the plane on the way to a checkpoint and Ghost has never let him live it down ever since

• We know that he used to play football, but he was also good at every other sport (except maybe gymnastics). He loved basketball, but he was always teased about being too short to reach the nets. That didn't stop him from scoring though

• He used to go to a lot of concerts with his friends. He's totally the type of guy to have a girl on his shoulders so she can see better

• He's not a womanizer by any means; he's only ever had one serious relationship and that didn't last too long either. He had a few one night stands, but he doesn't really seek any relations outside of his work related ones

• As a kid he used to have those sticky glow in the dark stars on his ceiling/wall

• He can't keep plants alive for the life of him

• His favourite season is spring because he's not too cold but not too hot either. The weather is perfect for his morning jogs

• He might seem egotistical sometimes, but in reality he just loves basking in the attention he gets. And he knows he looks good, so why wouldn't he talk about it

• It's not easy to rile him up and he's good at keeping his cool, but when he's frustrated or downright angry you better hope he doesn't attempt to fix the situation with fists instead of words

• Others might tease him for being stupid sometimes, but he's actually smart. Not academically smart, but street-smart if you know what I'm talking about

• In the future, he wants to have children of his own. In the present he focuses on his job and takes it very seriously, since it's the most important in his life next to his family. But he doesn't shy away from the thoughts of retiring and settling down with his children and a wife

• He enjoys cartoons in some situations. He knows they are dumb and not even funny, but after difficult missions he likes to have them as a background noise or something that can take his mind off the things that happened

• He has two older sisters, so has a lot of experience living with women. Once they waxed his arms as a joke, but he kind of liked it. They settled on an agreement after that: whenever they were all home and had the time, they would do it for him again if he wanted

• Also, because of that his room is also one of the cleanest out of everyone. He keeps everything organized and tidy, and doesn't like when his stuff is out of order

[9haharharley1]

For the new post I'm really interested in your stuff for Vlad for 002. I love seeing stuff about this stinky man/hj

How I feel about this character:

I love him (no one should be surprised)! More specifically, I remember watching the show back in the day and thinking, "Wow, he's really fuckin creepy, I'm getting Slade vibes." By the end of Bitter Reunions he had unironocally become my favorite character and I'd get excited any time a Vlad episode came on. I almost always wind up loving the villains more than the MC. He's creepy, he's scary, he's pathetic, and sad, and scared, and everything in between! How can I not love him?

All the people I ship romantically with this character:

Almost exclusively Danny, but also a little bit of Jack, and with Valerie and Danny in a polyship.

My non-romantic OTP for this character:

Jack Fenton! Vlad will never escape Jack's unconditional love and friendship.

My unpopular opinion about this character:

I'm just gonna quietly admit here that I hate hate hate the babygirl thing people do with characters, and that extends to my villains, but especially Vlad. To each their own and all that, but it annoys me to no end.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this:

I wish Danny had actually become legitimately scared of Vlad at some point. I know it's a kids' show, and I know that Danny is supposed to be the snappy hero who triumphs every episode, but one of the reasons I like The Ultimate Enemy episode so much is because Danny technically fails. Had Clockwork not had a soft spot for him, Danny wpuld have lost everything in that episode and only "wins" on a technicality. Up til then, he develops a legit fear of his future self, and we see more of this in the GN.

Vlad is someone who has had nothing but time to hone his skills, and Danny struggles to fight him multiple times throughout the show, and it can be inferred that Vlad is going easy on him, especially when Kindred Spirits rolls around and he punches through solid concrete trying to capture Danny. "Funny, ha-ha Vlad isn't here today" - that is a horrifying line. Danny would have failed in this episode, too, if not for Danielle having a change of heart when Vlad reveals his true colors, and I would have loved for this to be the time when Danny actually starts to realize that, "oh wait! Vlad's scary as fuck, and I still have a long way to go to reach his level!"

But once again, snappy/quippy kids show, hero's gotta win.

my OTP:

Pompous Pep, aka Vlad/Danny

my cross over ship:

None

a headcanon fact:

I don't know how much of a headcanon it is, especially since we get hints of it in canon and now in the GN, but Vlad is possessive af. Of items, of people - once he's claimed them, they're his, and he won't let them go for any reason, and he lives in constant fear of losing them. Maybe it's a result of losing his best friends after the portal incident. Maybe it has something to do with being half-ghost, but this man has a constant undercurrent of fear lying just below the surface, and when threatened, he responds with anger, claws and fangs bared to the world, ready to lash out and blame everyone for everything but never himself.

[yourfriendmonki]

On The State of Comic Books

Comic books should be way bigger than they are. Not the characters or the stories mind you, but the actual medium of comic books. While Manga and Manwha are arguably the most popular they've ever been, American comics are lackluster by comparison. Specifically the two giants of the comic industry (Marvel and DC).

Marvel and DC comics have been on a downward slope recently, events aren't as exciting, and new characters are introduced only to immediately be either forgotten about or used so often the novelty wears off (Looking at you, batman who laughs). There's also this issue of characters who were made to carry on a legacy that they'll never inherit. All of this on top of the confusing timeline, no solid entry point to the story, and the fact that timeline resets have become more and more common.

The way to fix this (in my opinion) is one more reset of the timeline, redo the origin stories and whatnot, and then LET THE STORY PROGRESS. Let characters age, let them die (permanently), and let new heroes rise into the roles they were meant for. Instead of resetting the timeline to explain Spiderman's origin story to the new generation, just let someone else be Spiderman. Let Peter Parker take some time off, get his life together, and let Miles be Spiderman. for the next ten years. Then once Miles gets older, he gets a protege and we see Miles fill the Mentorship role with the next generation's Spiderman (Maybe a young Miguel O'hara?). This idea can be applied to numerous characters within comic books.

Now I understand that this is a pretty radical change to the comic book landscape, but I think it will work. Any of the old people salty that they have to say goodbye to their hero have at least ten years' worth of story to engage with, on top of gettting to see an actual character grow and change with a solid beginning, middle, and end. The new generation doesn't have to sort through opinions online of where to start if they want to get into Green Lantern, and they get their own identity instead of continually having to live around their parent's media icons.

Allowing time to move forward in comics will eliminate some of the major issues within the medium. One of the biggest issues is character age, as time continues certain characters defined by events in the real world become harder and harder to adapt. This is seen specifically in Marvel Comics because their solution to the timeline is that everything in Marvel Comics has happened over ten years and they're just sliding the dates to fit.

The Punisher used to be a Vietnam War Veteran and that played into his disillusionment with the system and into his tactics for crime-fighting (brutal efficient murder), as the timeline progressed The Punisher became a Gulf War veteran, then an Iraq War veteran, and now he's a veteran of the fictional Siancong War. Changing what war Frank Castle participated in changed the context of his crusade. Being a Vietnam Veteran puts Frank Castle at a time when Veterans were despised, chemical warfare was used regularly, and The Government had just been exposed for the liars they were. These are real-life events that Veterans could relate to. Instead of introducing a new Punisher Character to tackle the effects of the Iraq war and reckon with the lies the US government told there, they decided to use the same character to go through the same thing. Making a new character gives you the freedom to explore the way that the same types of incidents affect different people.

The sliding timeline obviously isn't going to fix the massive issues present within the medium, but I believe it's a perfect foundation for major positive changes.

[ravingsockmonkey]

Somewhere in Sulani... (cont)

Later, Dennis called Meghan to check in on her. He was thrilled to find out that she was catching a loading screen to come visit and meet Bo, but was sad to hear that the conversation with Eileen didn't go well. He considered telling Bo that she would be arriving, but he also wanted it to be a surprise.

Dennis: I'm so glad you could make it!!

Meghan Spurlock: There's no way I wouldn't have after what you told me! I'm nervous though.

Dennis: Don't be. You might be different, but I'm confident you'll get along.

Dennis called Bo outside and made the introductions. Once he got them talking, he went inside to let them have time together.

The two shared jokes, stories, and pictures. Bo told Meghan both about his adventures on the show and his life with their Uncle Dennis.

Meghan: I know that it probably isn't easy to talk about, but what was your life like with Mom before she kicked you out? She wouldn't tell me any specifics other than to go on and on about her career.

Bo: Oh trust me, I got earfuls about her precious career whenever she bothered to pay me any attention.

Bo proceeded to recount how she did the bare minimum at best and took out all of her frustrations on him at worst. She constantly called him a mistake, and for the longest time he had no idea why. He had managed to find her private journal one time and discovered an entry mentioning the drunken incident that sired him. Bo didn't know his other parent or even know if the sim knew he existed.

Bo: I know that I was a little terror when I was a kid, but it was the only way I could get her to acknowledge me. After a while of that and her yelling at me, it just stuck. She finally kicked me out whenever she knew she wouldn't get in trouble for it. I don't know why she didn't just put me up for adoption whenever I was born.

Meghan: Maybe it's selfish of me to say so, but I'm glad that she didn't. I understand why it must have been so hurtful to see me all of those years ago.

Bo: It was, but a lot has happened since then. I died! I was brought back by a handsome spell caster! I might have a date with him! And more importantly, I have a second chance at life.

Bo: There's something I want to give you.

Bo hands over a key to the house.

Bo: You're always welcome to come visit Uncle Dennis and I at any time. Just don't bring Eileen please.

Meghan: Deal.

The two went inside where Dennis was waiting on them, and they spent more time catching up. Bo realized that a lot of his hatred of children had less to do with actual kids and more to do with his own mom's awful treatment of him. Maybe family could be just the three of them. Bo had been told to surround himself with people that love him, and now he had one more person to add to that list.

[krikeymate]

Hello lovely person :) I’m not sure if someone asked this before but I don’t think I’ve seen anything like it. I was wondering about what if we’ve gotten a younger Tara while everything else stayed the same? So similar to your 5 years late AU, but it’s not quite 5 years because that might be a bit much to keep things like they play out in canon.

Let’s say Tara is 16 when the first attack happens. Sam still used to babysit Mindy, Chad, Wes etc. even if they’re a bit older than Tara and that’s why she’s friends with them. They’re not in the same grade but the friendship stuck.

So everything still plays out like it did in 5, with maybe a bit more of a focus on why Christina isn’t showing up as Tara’s still a minor here.

How do you think things would continue after the movie? Would Sam stay in Woodsboro with Tara for years, until she finishes school? Would she try to gain custody for Tara so she can take her out of that town earlier, or maybe even just to get her away from Christina’s obvious neglect? Would she manage to get custody? Would Tara even want that?

I’ve been playing around with this idea in my head for a while now and I might actually start writing a fiction in this setting one day (probably not, I still have too many unfinished (Wednesday) stories on ao3 -.-), but you’re my favorite „scream fandom person“ so I’m curious to see if you have any thoughts on this. If you don’t, that’s fine, too :) Please don’t feel pressured to reply!

Hope you had or are having a good day! <3

Man I had the hardest time working out a timeline for this, so the friend group are born in 2004 which makes them 18 when the attack happens. I had to decide whether to make Tara 16 nearly 17, or 15 nearly 16. I decided to keep 16 nearly 17 even though I felt a year younger would be more appropriate, because baby. Tara's born late 2005. God, me and my compulsive need to be very specific about timelines.

In the five years late AU, Tara is 14 when their version of 5 happens, but there's a lot of focus on explaining why Sam wouldn't leave.

So let's look at why she still would. Christina's not the absolute worst to Tara here. She's not the best, and she's got her problems, but she's not actively awful. Sam's 8 when Tara is born. She's 5 when Sam finds the diary at 13. She's 10 when Sam leaves at 18. Sam loves her little sister so much, but she can't get her mother's words out of her head. The fear that she'll hurt her baby sister is too much, she has to get out of there. Tara's still so young, she'll forget about her, she tells herself. In a few years, she won't ever remember she had a sister. That would be for the best, Sam tells herself.

The twins + Wes start babysitting Tara instead, after all, Sam was younger than them when she babysat them. Despite the couple of years age difference between them, they stay friends and they all look out for Tara once she starts high school. (You'd think having cool senior friends would make her more popular, it doesn't.)

Sam's pretty horrified when she comes back and finds out that their mother isn't even here, doesn't intend to be here, and that she disappears frequently. It's ok, Tara tells her, I stay with my friends a lot. Sam's screaming that's not okay!!! in her head, but maintains a straight face and just leaves a lingering kiss on her sister's head.

Sam tries to get custody over Tara, she fights for it - she wants to take her away, get her out of this place - but the courts say no. They declare that Tara was old enough to be left alone at the time of the incident, that there's no evidence of neglect or abuse, they ignore the testimony of the Meeks-Martins that it's been going on for years (well why didn't you report it years ago, they chime back). She's almost 18 anyway, they say, then she'll be free to go where she pleases.

The twins go off to college. They wanted to stay local, to keep an eye on Tara, she convinces them to go, that she'll be fine. Sam promises them that she's not going anywhere, never again. Sam stays.

Her mother won't let her into her home, but her mother is rarely there. Sam rents somewhere dirt cheap and barely stays there.

Tara has a hard time knowing how to be around her sister again. She still remembers her so clearly, unlike her father who she doesn't remember at all. Sam's a little harder, she doesn't smile or laugh as freely, but she still feels the same. Tara doesn't feel the same at all. There's a part of her that's scared that Sam will leave again once she realises her sister is just a stranger to her now. She doesn't know how to bridge that gap.

But that's ok, because Sam keeps trying to anyway. She holds her through her breakdowns, and tells her she loves her, and apologises at night when she thinks Tara's asleep.

You should totally work on this idea, it's a really cool one!! And hey, you don't have to upload anything until you're ready to upload it. Work on things in your own time, the people who want to read it (me) will still be there ready and waiting for when you do.

[kokorowoutsu]

-- RP: @skullboneandunown

skullboneandunown:

Wade gives Ashe a deadpan expression, and rolls his eyes. "Well, duh. Pretty sure her godfather wouldn't appreciate us tossing Willow at vampires, demons, or whatever the monster of the week is. As for you, Donnie shut down Strange for those exact reasons. I don't know what all you went through in your life, but this line of work would stress you out even more than you are." He scratches his chin. "Leon....nah. Don't know Kianga.... Don't know Night...Yeah, those guys are gonna probably be in the 'maybe' pile." "Ah...I uh, don't think it's a great idea to have your mom on the team. Donnie still is a bit on edge due to the 'Area Zero Incident' as he calls it. Won't tell us what happened specifically. And I ain't gonna ask. I've seen him pissed off, and I and gonna poke that beedrill hive." Comically, Wade puts on a pair of reading glasses and looks at the skate park on Ashe's RotomPhone. "Interesting. Interesting. While Ultron pretty much has the Sanctums security system in his head, an extra set of hands wouldn't hurt." He takes his glasses of and stores them... somewhere. They just disappeared like in a cartoon. "Is the team an organization? I don't think it counts. Maybe? Questions for later. Anywho, can I get his number?"

The look on her face could only be described as sour at the mention of Strange, but as Wade went on listing various people she had listed... well, she stopped at her Mother, gaze shifting to look at him, utterly clueless on what he meant. Her RotomPhone popped up a sly grin emoji as Ashe, calmly, asked Wade something; "Hold up. What's this about this 'Area Zero' incident?" Being Wade didn't seem to know anything else, her features became notably frustrated.

Even Lucky's fur was bristling, his eyes narrowing a bit.

"-- Grusha isn't apart of any organization. He simply lives there watching people do what he cared about doing once." There was a sigh from her as her RotomPhone popped up the number for Wade to write down. "... Listen, do me a solid when you get back, yeah? Tell Donovan I want to talk about this 'Area Zero Incident', and emphasize 'talk'. He'll get the gist of it."

Despite how calmly she presented herself, it was clear she was agitated by it all as was Lucky. 'I don't like this one bit. If it's a misunderstanding, let's hope it clears up fast.'

[rabbiteclair]

Hello again!

Wanted to ask your opinion (and if it exists, the canon explanation), on how flying works in touhou, and who is/isn't capable of it.

Can literally every youkai fly with magic? I'm guessing not since at least Nitori has a backpack copter, and I don't recall any Kappa flying in the mangas either. Which indicates that character sprites floating in the mainline games don't necessarily imply flight. Which means everyone is sus.

(And could Sanae fly before coming to Gensokyo? Is ignoring gravity a Shrine Maiden thing or does her and Reimu's flight differ?)

This is one that's bugged the hell out of me for years, because for all that we joke that the series is about girls flying around shooting lasers, people rarely fly in the manga. Like it happens, but mostly seems to be in emergency sort of situations, or when there isn't a good alternative. There are some exceptions, especially if you count people just kinda hovering, but in general I get the vibe that most of Gensokyo doesn't really fly unless they've got good reason to.

... and sometimes not even then, considering Marisa free-climbed up fucking Youkai Mountain.

This also seems to vary a bit from manga to manga. I haven't exactly done a full survey of them, but I think SSiB shows a lot more + more casual flight than the others. (If I had to guess completely offhand going on nothing but my memories, for amount of flight Sangetsusei > SSiB > WaHH > FS. I'm way behind on the ongoing ones so couldn't tell you there.)

Some of this can probably be chalked up to SSiB being a bit more action-oriented than the others. Beyond that, maybe ZUN's thoughts on the matter have changed over the years, or maybe he just tells the artist to draw 'Marisa heading up the mountain' or something and leaves it open to their interpretation. Maybe I'll do an actual numeric analysis if I get bored and have about 15 spare hours sometime.

... but that rant's only tangentially related.

The ability, at least, seems pretty ubiquitous. Putting aside the stuff in the games, GoU in particular implies that basically everyone involved is flying. Even Wakasagihime. If you wanna get technical Sanae says she's 'swimming through the rain' but that's flight as far as I'm concerned. I'm gonna say if the mermaid can fly, basically everyone past a specific level of supernatural prowess can, and Nitori's backpack helicopter is the flight equivalent of a bicycle.

So at 'congratulations you are now strong enough to participate in Incidents' level 1 everybody unlocks Fly and Shoot Bullets, I guess. Are these just really easy tricks to master if you've got supernatural power, or does something about Gensokyo make them a lot easier to do? idk, and the only support I can think of for either side is that nobody seems to struggle with it once they get into the outside world in ULiL. I default to the former interpretation, but the latter could be fun to mess around with.

But, going off of the stuff above about people choosing not to fly in the manga, I'm gonna guess that flying is a lot easier for some people than others. Aya in particular seems to do it rather more often than everyone else, and it'd make sense for it to come more naturally to her. Kasen shows up flying on her pets quite a bit in WaHH. So maybe flying everywhere would just be like someone who runs everywhere. Like, yeah, you could, but very few people would willingly do that to themselves without a good reason, even if it's a killer time savings on paper. Plus there are social aspects to consider too--flying through the middle of the village seems like it'd raise a bit of a ruckus, and completely break cover for any of the stealth youkai.

Finally, for Sanae--I've always figured she could fly before Gensokyo, just because it's fun to think about. But then I am a known enjoyer of the 'Sanae had miracle powers, could fly, and talked to goddesses every day starting around middle school, and it led to problems' interpretation.

(And, in general when I'm writing the setting I throw in a good bit more casual flight, both because it's cool and narratively convenient.)

[cryptidpandas]

here's my ramblings about the Hamato ninpo, specifically Leo's ninpo, and how it all relates to trust

spoilers for my fic, up to chapter 18

(Skip to the " ~~~~ " for the main point of my rambling)

When I first started writing the ideas I had for my fic, I knew from the start I didn't want Leo to have the ability to use his ninpo/portals. It's basically a road trip/adventure fic, so being able to use portals would kinda make everything too easy. Not much character growth if you can just teleport away from all your problems. (there's probably a deeper analysis there about Leo's signature ability being portals and how he deflects negative emotions and some sort of connection, but that's a different topic for a different day)

So, the next question was if Leo couldn't use his portals, how did he lose them in relation to the story?

The easy answer would be an incident with the Krang, just like in the movie. But, I also wanted Mikey and Donnie to be able to use their own ninpo, so it had to all be on Leo. ALSO, I didn't want too much focus to be on the Krang, since one of the main plot points is that the invasion didn't last very long, and wasn't too traumatic. (also that the government is actually the true villain)

I went back and rewatched the last few episodes of season 2, as well as the movie several times.

When the brothers unlock their ninpo, it's because Raph learns how to trust in his family. The line is literally "trust us, like we trust you". So, the basis of ninpo itself is the trust they have with each other.

In the movie, their ninpos become 'blocked', which could be seen as a metaphor for them losing trust in each other (Raph vs Leo, Donnie and Mikey not agreeing with Leo, but following along anyway, Leo not trusting in his brothers, etc. I could go WAY deeper into the movie analysis, but again, different topic for a different day). And while it's not directly stated in the movie, they all unlock their ninpo by Leo learning to listen, and trust, essentially, his brothers, and himself.

In the fic...they don't have the same situation with the Krang. Instead, they're put into a broken world with a more complex political situation.

When you're in an environment with constant trauma and no positive resources, you start to lose trust in yourself. Finding hope becomes harder and harder, especially when you're supposed to take care of others or be in charge/a leader.

The Krang apocalypse is basically the worst-case scenario: the world is literally being destroyed, and all life is being wiped out or Krang-ified. You either hold onto hope and keep fighting, or you die.

In an apocalypse like The Last of Us, or any zombie media (The Walking Dead, Z Nation, World War Z[the book], etc), most of the conflict is on a more intimate level. The zombies caused the collapse of comfortable, normal society, but it doesn't happen all at once, or on an even playing field. Some areas survive better than others, some pieces of society (like the government) sacrifice others to stay alive.

It's kinda the main difference between alien invasion movies and zombie movies. Aliens, while very bad, can unify everyone against them. Zombies, typically, bring out the worst in human nature/society.

~~~~~~~~~

By putting the Hamatos in a zombie infested world, they have to face the breakdown of society in a way that is the antithesis to TRUST.

You can't trust the government, you can't trust humans, who in turn can't trust mutants/yokai, and you can't trust that the person standing next to you isn't Infected and hiding it.

So, Leo loses his trust in himself, the world, and his family. And that breaks his ninpo. He can't trust anyone, so it's better to be alone and trust no one.

But, then he ends up taking care of Casey, and the two of them together, they being to heal. Leo has no choice but to start trusting in himself so he can protect and train Casey.

And then, he has to save Casey, and he needs his ninpo to do it.

When it comes to forgiveness and learning how to trust yourself again, it's not just saying "I'm sorry" over and over and over again, taking all of the blame for yourself. Guilt is not black and white. Yes, there are things that can be directly cause and effect, and apologizing for mistakes is important.

But living beings are full of mistakes, and make them constantly. The kindest, most genuinely good person you know, has made mistakes that they could be blamed for, and they will make mistakes again.

You will make mistakes that are technically your fault, and learning to live with that is just part of life.

Leo takes every mistake he's ever made and lets them drown him in guilt and shame, then creating a cycle where his lack of trust, care, and forgiveness for himself leads him to making more mistakes/poorer decisions.

The only way he's able to unlock/fix his ninpo is by acknowledging the fact that he can't just keeping saying "I'm sorry" or hold onto the guilt because he thinks he deserves it. The only way out is through, and part of it is accepting that mistakes will happen, and he will fuck up. But what matters is that he keeps trying to be better, and trust in himself that he can do it, and also trust in those around him who he cares for, and who care for him in return.

I almost did write a Good Will Hunting-ish scene of Leo nonstop apologizing, and Raph saying "it's not your fault", but....it's not that simple. Because there were things Leo could have done differently, but also........he was hurting...mentally, emotionally, and physically.

But, that also doesn't mean he's supposed to just let himself rot in the guilt of it all. There are ways to make amends, there's ways to be better, but also....he's a person, and people make mistakes.

Leo is, ultimately, a good person, and a hero. But he's flawed, because literally everyone else is, and being a good person/hero doesn't mean he won't make mistakes, and also shouldn't be held (or hold himself) to that standard.

There's a difference between knowingly hurting others and causing harm, and lashing out because you yourself are hurting.

~~~~~~~~

That's........pretty much everything in my head about that. I apologize for the repeated/redundant or scatterbrain arguments/ramblings, but also, my ADHD is strangling me and I don't have time to go through and edit this. Hopefully, it makes enough sense (just like Leo, I'm trying not to hold myself to impossible perfectionist standards akdsfdfsf. Practicing what I preach and all that)

Anyway, if you read this, ily and I hope you have a wonderful day <3

[rahleeyah]

“I have always felt that Amanda sees Liv as weak but that is another post”

Wow I never thought of that. I would love to read your thoughts on that IF you ever make a post about it.

I am wondering tho: do you think there is a real possibility of either a kiss or love confession (both?) in these finales between EO?

Since two of y'all asked for this I'm gonna do this first and then circle back to your second question lmao

It's the eye rolling, the exasperated sighs. Mocking Liv's dinner parties with Nick and rushing to get away - never seeing what those parties were about, only resenting the way it intruded on her life. She can't wait to leave Liv's ceremony when she makes Sergeant; she doesn't care about Liv in that moment, or what that moment means to Liv or how few people she has to share it with (admittedly that particular incident is at the height of Amanda's gambling problem). "I don't have to pay people to listen to me talk about my problems." The whole thing in part 33, where she is exasperated by Liv's internal struggle - where she is once again blaming an abuse victim for what she's suffered, refusing to see things from the victim's perspective, insisting that the whole thing is black and white and frustrated that Liv has any doubts. And she only backs down bc Liv throws Lewis in her teeth - crucially it isn't that Liv has made such a strong argument that Amanda now has changed her perspective. Instead Liv is now emotional and has essentially pulled a trump card Amanda can't argue against. The way she hides things from Liv, acts like Liv's attempts to check in on her/care for her are so annoying that she goes out of her way to avoid Liv's care for her. There is a dismissiveness to her responses; she doesn't agree with Liv and she doesn't really hear her. There are times, of course, where they comfort one another, and she knows that Liv survived Lewis, but the therapy line in particular smacks of like...she thinks Liv should have survived it better.

She does respect Liv, but it's a respect with caveats. She respects Liv, but she doesn't like it when Liv gets touchy-feely; that's soft, and Amanda doesn't respect soft. Doesn't like it when Liv comes to a different conclusion, like she doesn't think Liv is hard enough/realistic enough to see things as they really are (to see them Amanda's way). She looks uncomfortable nearly every time Liv is warm/kind to her.

And I'm not saying like "this is bad character work", bc it all fits neatly within Amanda's known character. Amanda is a lil mean and standoffish and self destructive and fucked up over her childhood - as are they all, really, fucked up over their childhoods, and Liv can be a lil mean and standoffish and self destructive, and Amanda has seen some of that but she had more of the 2.0 hand-on-heart retconned Liv than anything else, and she didn't react positively to that a lot of the time.

I could probably come up with more specific examples given more time, but I am observing Sammy/Henry time rn and this is what I have off the top of my head

As to the first anon's second question - I do think that both a kiss or an I love you are very possible, but I won't say likely mostly bc I don't wanna jinx anything 🤣🤣🤣 anything could happen anon life is chaos!!!

[julie-su]

"#considering constable Garek pulled a gun on Steppenwolf in the middle of an Echidnapolis court room. the high court is in shambles." you said that like we would all understand but I'm so lost. What the fuck goes on in those comics and what does this have to do with Knuckles

Teehee.

So, this is relatively early on in the Archie run, and practically in the first throes of the echidna lore in the series. There's about.. Ten? Lore-filled sub-stories in the main comic and specials, three issues of a Knuckles-specific Mini-series, then this incident takes place in issue 2 of the Knuckles the Echidna series, so we've got over 200 pages of content to condense on the fly.. No biggie. (No, seriously - there are around 525 issues in total of this comic including specials, and we're about 70 issues in. No. Biggie.)

So, Steppenwolf and Counciler Garek's dispute takes place approximately 400 years before the main events of the current comic arc.

What lead UP to Councilor Garek pulling a gun on dear Steppenwolf here is a series of Echidna politcs and drama. To start from the bottom up, many years prior, the Floating Island (not yet named Angel Island, this moniker would come in much later in the series) was lifted to the sky using the power of twelve chaos emeralds, and the help of the fire ants, to avoid a large comet that was on course to hit the city of the Echidna (Echidnapolis) directly. Yes, that's twelve chaos emeralds - this story, STH #35 "A Sense of History", was published in 1996. This was before there was any concrete lore surrounding the total number of chaos emeralds, so the comics were in the right to play it fast and loose here.

(Putting a cut here for the sanity of my dear followers, but I'm nowhere near started. Let us just hope that I do not hit word limit)

So, the island is floating, Kayla-La the great echidna scientist was able to make it float! They avoid the comet, that's great! But... Echidna society is now stuck in the sky, isolated from a once great trading system, and cut off from communications. Worse than that, they've accidentally taken Dingoes hostage in the meantime - they didn't converse with them beforehand, nor were the Dingoes on the path of convergence. But that's not important right now. How does this take us to Steppenwolf and Garek in court?! Calm down, we're getting there! Slowly, slowly... Kayla-La, see, is the great-great-great grandmother of Steppenwolf. So, in Steppenwolf's time, we've had a few decades of isolation from society, and things are really starting to reach boiling point. BUT, we have to step back a little more once again. Why are things so dire?

This is intrinsically linked to Kayla-La, and the island floating. See, brothers Edmund and Dimitri, the Great-great grandsons of Kayla-La and Jordann, are both great scientists, following in the footsteps of their family. They've dedicated much of their life to finding a way to reunite the Floating Isle with the planet once more - after all, it was never meant to be a permanent solution, and isn't it their birthright to right what has been wronged? They propose to the council of Echidnapolis the Chaos Siphon - a device which would slowly redirect the power of the chaos emeralds, gently floating the island back into the ground, and hopefully back into the crater left in Downunda, where it used to rest. The council, however, refuse the concept, not willing to put the inhabitants of the island in danger - it would be too much of a risk. This enrages Dimitri, who storms out, taking the siphon with him, pursued by his brother and half of the council. In the Chaos Chamber, Dimitri fires off the siphon, but it is accidentally set much too high. In an instant, he absorbs the full power of eleven of the twelve chaos emeralds, becoming a 'living chaos emerald' - tinged in green. A few things happen here - but to sum it up, Dimitri ends up presumed dead as the tower he had constructed using this Chaos Energy, Mt. Fate, collapses in on itself and crushes him, due to the Fire Ants stepping in and destroying the foundation. Having just escaped the wreckage, Edmund consoles Dimitri's only son, Menniker, as Edmund's own son, Steppenwolf (!!!) is relieved to see his father is alive and well.

Edmund and the Chancellor, after witnessing the death of Dimitri at the hands of Technology, mutter something about 'hubris', and decide to renounce technology. Edmund, becoming the first Echidna Guardian, had himself and the two boys travel around the city, collecting up all of the technology, preserving it under the ruins of Mt. Fate. Echidna society is split - many of them are for this renouncement of technology, but many more would not wish to give it all up. This escalates quickly - soon enough, civil war is due to break out, as a mysterious figure in the shadows is rallying up all of the Echidna who wish to keep technology in their lives, forming an underground organisation - the Dark Legion. Steppenwolf takes it upon himself to investigate, which worries his father to hear - Edmund tries to follow his son, only to get shot in the head by a Dark Legion footsoldier.

Steppenwolf finds his fathers' body, and inherets the Fire Ant stationed to guide him, Christopheles. (that's a whole other story. The Fire Ants are basically omniscent, story for another day, another anon.) Now fuelled with being 'The Guy Who Has To Sort This Out Now', and impassioned by the death of his father, Steppenwolf travels onwards, facing the Head Honcho of this Dark Legion.

This guy has PROBLEMS with Steppenwolf, PERSONAL problems.. Why ever would he- GASP.

IT WAS HIS COUSIN, MENNIKER! THE WHOLE TIME.

Menniker wants to see the end of the both of them, he wants revenge. He wants the 'guardians' to go away, it wasn't fair - he believed them to have betrayed his father, which lead to his death. Menniker has stirred up all of this trouble to get payback, and he won't stop until Steppenwolf is down.

So, HOW. DOES. THIS. RELATE. TO. GAREK. I hear you! Garek, and the rest of the council, know that the Dark Legion wants Steppenwolf dead. Councilor Garek, in a moment of haste, during a meeting in court to decide what is to be done to stop outright Civil War breaking in the streets, threaten Steppenwolf's life himself, stating plans to barter Steppenwolf's head to satiate the Dark Legion. Steppenwolf agrees that he'd give his life, causing my personal favourite panel, and having Garek step down.

And THAT is who, what, and why Councillor Garek pulled a gun on Steppenwolf.

"What does this have to do with Knuckles?!" -- This is the start of the lineage of guardians, and why they guard the emerald, of course! That's what it has to do with Knuckles.

... Wow, that was actually shorter than I thought it'd be! Well, enjoy the curse of knowledge.

[the-inkwell-variable]

oc deep dive tag ✧･ﾟ

Thank you for tagging me, @theink-stainedfolk!

This will be about Amara and Hendryk from From Matcha to Murder!

Do they have any pet peeves:

AMARA has so many. She's not a fan of gossiping. Stop chewing so loud. Please don't drag your feet, you're scuffing my nice floors. She spends her life in a perpetual state of mild annoyance.

HENDRYK doesn't really have any pet peeves - save one. Loud conversations in public, especially if they are clearly private conversations. He doesn't want to know about the strange wart on your backside, thank you.

What uncommon fears/ phobias do they have:

AMARA isn't a fan of heights. She lives near a cliffside overlooking the ocean. Amara has nightmares about walking out her front door only to find the cliff has moved in next door.

HENDRYK is absolutely terrified of anything happening to his sister. He's saved her life twice now - once after the incident in the Underdark and once after Luc decided to blame her for the money he stole. Both were close calls, too close. He's terrified that next time, he won't be able to save her.

What are three items you can find in their bedroom:

A penny novel of some kind. Not really romance, though she does enjoy the occasional smoochfest story.

A forgotten teacup.

A woodburn picture of her and Hendryk standing outside the Witch's Brew on the day before it opened.

A knife. A big one, with a curved blade and a little nick at the tip because he keeps using it to carve things out of wood rather than stab people.

A flannel shirt with a tear in it that he keeps meaning to give to Amara to fix but keeps forgetting.

A small box filled with bandages because he keeps cutting open his thumb during his wood carving sessions

What do they notice first in people:

AMARA notices their general appearance - what race are they, how tall are they compared to her, what colors are they wearing. If they have noticeably strange behavior, she takes note of that as well.

HENDRYK pays attention to their walk. Where do they distribute their weight. Do they look like they have something heavy on their back or their hip - like a weapon.

What is their pain tolerance on a scale from 1 to 10:

About a 4. Amara doesn't do discomfort or pain. She deserves better than that.

8. Hendryk can handle pain. Always has handled pain. It's no big deal to him. Probably why he keeps not noticing that he's cut his thumb again while woodcarving.

Do they go into fight or flight mode under pressure:

Her general instinct is to FIGHT, but being an illusion mage without many muscles to speak of, she's usually forced to flee instead, which irritates her so much.

HENDRYK, on the other hand, is the opposite. He prefers to flee, but he won't back down from a fight if Amara is involved.

What animal represents them best:

A crow. She's very shrewd and cunning, and willing to trick people to get what she wants.

Rottweiler! He's extremely loyal and protective of his family (Amara), but once you've earned his trust, he's willing to include you in his family! For now. Until you break that trust. Then he bites.

What is a smell they dislike and like:

LIKES: All the smells of the tea shop and the baking she does for it. Wet trees in the nearby forest. Old pages in an old book. The bitter smell of burning wood in the cold of winter.

DISLIKES: Breath, in general. Old socks, Hendryk. Burnt bread. Fish.

LIKES: The salt of the sea. Freshly cooked ham. A brand new bar of soap, straight from the lye barrel.

DISLIKES: Pigs. Wet hair, specifically dog hair. Vinegar. Sealing wax (that's why Amara writes all the letters - that, and her handwriting is better than his)

Have they broken any bones:

AMARA has broken exactly one bone - her left wrist. As her left hand is her dominant hand, she spent six weeks in absolute misery, unable to do a single thing but mope until the cast came off and she was free again.

HENDRYK is constantly breaking bones. It's more common to see him IN a cast than OUT of it. Now that he's in Lochmallow, he has yet to break anything, but Amara's got a bet going that he'll break something by the end of the month, guaranteed.

How would a stranger describe them:

"Quiet, polite, not very good at small talk. More happy to listen to a group conversation than take part."

"Chipper and cheerful, always ready with a happy word and a quick smile. Eager to take the spotlight."

What is a flavor they hate and a flavor they love:

LIKES: Iced chai tea with milk and a fruit of some sort - ideally raspberries or strawberries.

DISLIKES: Mint. Th smell is fine. The taste is not.

LIKES: Freshly fried eggs and ham.

DISLIKES: Boiled or popped corn. It sticks between his teeth and squishes when he bites and comes out unscathed when he... ANYWAY. Gross. Corn is gross.

Do they have any favorite hobbies:

AMARA has tried multiple hobbies. Embroidery. Knitting. Potions. Scented candle-making. In the end, she has settled for curling up in a chair with a penny novel and reading about other people's adventures.

HENDRYK is surprisingly good at potions. On a quiet day, you can find him puttering around the kitchen, tossing ingredients into a pot (Amara won't let him get a cauldron, despite her reputation as being the town's witch).

Boom! Surprise birthday party! How do they react to surprises:

AMARA doesn't handle surprises well, but she's reserved enough that most people wouldn't notice. She'd feel obligated to be a good host, since it would most likely be held in her tea shop, and would spend the entire time serving tea and pastries to the guests, despite being the guest of honor.

HENDRYK loves parties! He'd get riproaring drunk and dance with anyone that asked - and by himself, if no one asked. He'd drag Amara out of the kitchen and force a drink into her hands, though he'd be too drunk to notice that she doesn't drink any of it. He'd sing with the music and dance to the beat and have a jolly old time.

Do they like to wear Jewelry:

AMARA doesn't really like jewelry. She suspects she's allergic to copper - every time the silver plating wears off of a ring or a necklace, she gets a nasty rash in that spot. She has one ring, a small amethyst stud on a silver ring (real silver, thank you), with magical properties - she can use it to teleport a small distance once a day. She rarely uses it.

HENDRYK, however, has several piercings. Four rings, each smaller than the last, trailing up the shell curve of his ears. An eyebrow piercing and a nose piercing, each sadly without their rings at the moment. Don't tell Amara, but he got his belly button pierced as well.

Do they have neat or messy handwriting:

AMARA has very neat handwriting. She takes her time with writing to be sure that every word on the page is legible and controlled. If she's in a hurry, however, her writing is a long scrawl.

HENDRYK doesn't care, he just wants the words on the page. If you can't read it, that's your problem.

What are two emotions they feel the most:

Absolutely determination. She's GOING to make this tea shop work. She's GOING to have a successful occultery. Sometimes she allows herself to succumb to self pity - it was never meant to be like this, after all. But those moments are few and far between, and she doesn't let them linger. Not while she has work to do.

HENDRYK feels protectiveness over his sister and cheerfulness. He whistles while he works, he skips down the road, he sings to the birds. When Hendryk's not smiling, that's when you know you've got a real problem on your hands.

Do they have any Favorite Fabric:

Flannel - it's soft and warm and thick and comforting.

Cotton - but he's also partial to flannel. Where's his flannel? Did Amara take his flannel again? She's always taking his flannel. That's why he has to settle for cotton.

What kind of accent do they have:

They, being twins who were both raised in the Underdark together, both have the same accent. A rich lilting voice, their R's rolling off the tongue like a growl, their vowels clearly defined. Consonants click off their teeth. It's hard to misunderstand them, since they enunciate every word. Their Underdark accents are no longer prominent, but it's clear that they're not from here.

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