#when you are mostly immortal then you can be reckless like this

[quitealotofsodapop]

Did Tripitaka ever experience the heat of a tiger? It sure was confusing for him. Humans do not have mating seasons (we look for love when we want but this is not the case with animals).

It must have been difficult for him, especially around Azure. Did Tripitaka come to consider Azure as a potential mate during a time of mating?

OK this is nsft territory so be warned!

Tripitaka is an interesting character to analyze since he's supposed to represent The Ideal™ buddhist monk for his adhereance to the rules... but he's never known anything else really. He was raised in a monastery, and very soon after becoming a priest (and solving his dad's murder + losing his mom), got sent on the mission for the scriptures. Would he be as dilligently a buddhist if his parents had not undergone such tragedies?

Tripitaka never approaches sexuality in Jttw (his own or others) because in Buddhist belief; sexuality is considered a "worldly attraction" like vanity or pride. Same reason the book never has him eat meat, whether for survival or unintentional (like in the Spider Sisters arc). It blemishes his perfect record.

But since the Tiger Monk au has Tripitaka in a situation where he honestly can't uphold the very human standards of buddhism...

Our boy fighting some biological demons rn.

My idea of Tripitaka is that he's mostly on the aro-ace spectrum, but seriously questions his sexuality over the course of the Journey. Seeing hot demons and celestials of many genders does that to a sheltered religious guy.

Combine that with a tiger's seasonal heat, and you got a monk frothing at the mouth, trying to keep himself from acting reckless.

Tigers go into seasonal "heat" every 3-9 weeks depending on the individual. Anyone whos met an unfixed cat or heard a cougar sounding like someone being murdered will know that these mfs make sure that you know about it. Tigers in particular have a deep "Meow" sound they broadcast to find mates. They even have "first dates" to get to know each other. Example.

Tripitaka feels weird one day and subconsciously makes a deep meow sound - scaring the whole gang. Wukong is immediately is putting a bicycle lock on that cassock!

I feel even when pushed to the brink of his urges, Tripitaka wouldn't be comfortable "going all the way" unless its literally someone he wants to stay with for the rest of their near-immortal lives.

Also his disciples are off-limits; the mentor-disciple bond is too precious to him to risk over a selfish urge.

But, Azure Lion offers an opportunity. He's a fellow feline demon with a similar Buddhist background who understands Tripitaka's moral conflict weighing his desires over his faith. He isn't the monk's superior or inferior, so no issue of power imbalances.

Tripitaka needs a moment to think. And to draft a diagram of pros and cons.

If these two ever did do "The Deed" (or just 3rd base)...

Macaque would be the first to know. And he'd be howling with laughter. XD At least until Azure threatens to tell the others why Macaque was in Wukong's room that very same night. Mutual glaring ensues.

And ofc Azure would be seconds away from being skinned alive by a quartet of the tiger's super-protective pilgrim brothers the very second of the them sniffs Tripitaka the next morning.

Peng would still brag in Azure's place as you can imagine - lion done pulled a baddie on insane difficulty. Yellow Tusk would shake his head in disapproval, but would also be a little impressed.

[scimitar-and-longsword]

I love your headcanons. What's your favorite one about Nicky ? And/or your favorite character trait of him?

Oh my goodness, thank you!

Nicky Nicky Nicky 💕💕💕

My FAVORITE??? That's a tall order cause there are so many things I love about him. Luca did such a stellar job of taking this character who doesn't have as much screentime as some of the other characters and bringing him to life in the most subtle ways. (I have an entire meta about subtle face acting from him and Marwan lol which side note, is flagged for sexual content, and I was sitting here reading it like "what why?? This is just about facial expressions?" And then I got halfway through and went "oop- that'll do it 😅")

I wrote a meta about this back in the old days, but I think about it every time I rewatch the movie so I'm saying it again: I love that Nicky is fiercely physical with his love.

We certainly get to see Joe be more vocal about is love, (and it's a violent movie they all are physical lol) but every bit of Nicky's physicality and fight chreo is about protecting people.

He is constantly protecting those around him with his body (and to be fair, they all do this at some point. Perks of being immortal is that you can use your body as a shield) but Nicky just KEEPS doing it.

There's a subtle moment after Joe gets stabbed by Merrick where TO ME it looks like he's trying to get between Joe and Merrick. The guy holding back Nicky is like GRIPPING his shoulder.

Nicky is constantly going from the front of the group to the rear and back again. Like he needs to be the first line of defense against wherever the most unknowns are.

He does it when they first exit the lab they were being held in. He's second out of the door, following Nile's lead, but then immediately covers the rear (after executing a completely unnecessary slide move that you can only see in behind the scenes footage and always makes me laugh.) to then turn around and cover everyone else as they exit.

Then again when he takes the bullet for Andy, he's at the rear of the group with Joe, takes the bullet, and then runs through the ENTIRE group, while healing from said bullet, past the door they are going to go into (and presumably check that it's clear) to cover the other end of the hall. And look at that he's at the rear of the group again... Over the course of not even half a minute. Ping pong ball Nicky over here.

When Joe and Nicky are fighting Keane after the explosion Nicky is fucking reckless with how he fights, and mostly cause Joe is kind of getting his ass kicked. 😅 He throws himself onto Keane not once but twice! Both times when Joe is about to get absolutely bodied.

In a similar fashion, Nicky often acts like a battering ram, taking people down for Joe to take out just after him. (If you go back up to that behind the scenes gif of Nicky sliding you can see he does this there too. Shoots a guy in the knee who Joe then shoots in the head.)

Idk if this was at all coherent because I'm writing this on my phone while watching a Tinkerbell movie with my daughter 😂 so I'm sure I'm missing so many more examples of it. But Nicky is often quiet with his words, but he is not quite with his actions and I love that about him!!

[the-s1lly-corner]

Creepypastas of your choice with a mysterious reader that has been with slender man the longest/was the first creepypasta

eyeless jack, laughing jack, slenderman, and jeff x reader who was the first creepypasta/has been with slenderman the longest!

NOTE that jeffs part is written as platonic since im still not comfortable writing romance for him, but the other two can be seen as either or! eyeless jack was chosen thanks to the admin personally hcing that eyeless jack and slenderman have beef over living in the same woods, laughing jack was picked because haha funny clown who is also old as shit reader is implied to be nonhuman, to explain how theyve been around for so long so! admin headcannons that zalgo was the one who made all the non-human creepypastas and they may or may not come into play here that aside, hope you enjoy!

EYELESS JACK:

now he doesnt want to control who you hang out and who you dont hang out with... however ej isnt all the keen on the fact that you sometimes hang out with the tall lanky forest demon.. but he holds his tongue. their basic beef is that they mostly fight over space; slenderman is possessive over his woods, and ej fled to the woods after he started eating flesh to live as a hermit... is a little suspicious on how you seem to know so much about the curse-thing that turned from from a human to a man eating monster.. though lets up if you open up about things (cough cough zalgos role in everything cough cough) soooo.... as for actual relationship stuff? honestly as long as you dont bring slenderman around you guys have a pretty solid relationship! especially since you know so much of whats going on you kind of fill him in on a bunch of stuff.. like how people fill in the new guy at work about the drama and lore of the workplace, you know? is a relieved that youre not exactly human, so a lot of his worry of accidentally attacking you while in one of his feral blood frenzy things is minimal... sits.. tension in the beginning that melts as time passes and explanations are given, you know?

LAUGHING JACK:

honestly hes just happy to have someone whos not super young compared to him/was there to see what was going on at least a century ago.. or more (fandom wiki says origin story takes place in 1800s, jack is OOOOOOOLLLD) so its nice having someone he can talk to about stuff from the past. and to joke about stuff from the past... and to have someone actually. GET IT. you know? really strengthens your bond, as well as reassures him that youre likely not going to die anytime soon due to your mortality... i always think about that stuff for immortal characters/characters who can technically outlive everyone, especially for jack since i feel he has abandonment issues... shrugs... you guys probably exchange tips and tricks for loads of things. just two old people in love but they both act like reckless young adults (assuming reader matches his energy). has no huge thoughts or opinions on slenderman since i dont think they would interact often :0

SLENDERMAN:

i mean i think it would be a given that you guys, against all odds, have stuck together and grown close. slenderman is reclusive, very much so. i mention that eyeless jack is a hermit, so naturally ej doesnt connect with many people. but slenderman takes that to a whole new level. i mean he barely even interacts with his proxies (still dont know how im going to write toby, masky, and hoodie. esp masky n hoodie since... theres the creepypasta/marble hornets thing.. shrugs... thats a problem for future admin)

so consider this a huge victory that he hasnt gotten rid of you in some way and has instead let you into his.. well i was about to say heart but i dont think zalgo considered giving him one when it was creating him.. though.. it is nice to have someone just as ancient as him, makes it easier to relate to people AND youre also a creature like him, made from zalgo? even more ability to relate to you.. though its a very quiet dynamic, slenderman isnt much of a talker so i hope you dont mind carrying conversations!

JEFF THE KILLER:

pushing once again that this segment is strictly platonic since admin isnt comfy with writing romantic for jeff so they just had an interesting idea for him!

very similar to eyeless jacks bit where you fill him in one a bunch of lore and how things work, as well as filling him in on the teeny tiny detail that demons and monsters exist. jeff is a little different in admins au/hc, since he kind of just. exists rather than being created explicitly to cause issues + hes new to the being a creepypasta thing (if you can call being on the run and being off the grid for the past decade or so new, admin is working on timeline stuff </3) (new in comparison to the other characters hush hush) so a lot of your dynamic is filling him in on things as well as perhaps even offering some sort of guidance in how to actually go about interacting with these creatures that he know.. just has access to.. torn between dad slenderman because hes not TOTALLY evil and cold in admins interpretation, but also that one jeff the killer vs slenderman fall out boy video lives rent free in his head. the beef would be insane, honestly... jeff doesnt have much of a sound idea outside of you being more of a guidance figure for him... person with their nonhuman guide my favorite trope that needs to be in more stuff especially in horror media where the characters are antagonists and shit

[centaurianthropology]

A thing which occurs when I become mildly drunk on an inappropriate evening (when I have work tomorrow, but this is how we're rolling tonight): I once again revert to my teenage self and begin lusting after ladies who front metal bands.

Tatiana Shmaylyuk - Jinjur

Bassiest growl in metal right now, rivalling the lead singer of Lamb of God, and hot damn but does she make me feel things. The combination of late '90s cleans with deep bass growls is the sexiest thing in metal right now without doubt.

Courney LePlante - Spiritbox

Alt metal queen, capable of a solid growl, though she tends toward screaming more than growling. But I am in love with her cleans. She has a real Shirley Manson from Garbage quality to her vocals, and "Rule of Nines" is such a good song. Also "Holy Roller" is deeply sexy when I'm in that mood.

Taylor Momsen - The Pretty Reckless

Definitely leans more rock than metal, but Taylor has a great rock voice, and the lyrics are excellent. Honestly, if I'm leaning toward classic rock, I will generally go with the Pretty Reckless. And I cannot deny that the lady is gorgeous, has a hell of a voice, and occasionally hates clothing (which, you know what? Respect.).

Brittney Slayes - Unleash the Archers

What can be said for the queen of power metal? If you like 80s power metal, and really wanted an operatic soprano take it all on and own it, or even if you mostly like rock but like to dip your toe into metal just a little, Unleash the Archers is the joyful, gleeful metal band for you. They sing about BATTLE, and IMMORTALS IN BATTLE, and FREEDOM THROUGH BATTLE. They are ridiculous and so much fun, and Brittney has the most gorgeous powerhouse of a voice in the business right now.

As an operatically trained soprano, hearing someone with similar training go into metal and fucking kill it is so inspiring, and she is so sexy for it.

Anyway, that is my current mildly drunk ramblings about sexy ladies singing metal music. Please enjoy.

[webfics]

Hurt

f!reader x natasha romanoff 

genre: mostly angst and also some fluff I guess 

warnings: mentions of blood/injuries, mentions of death 

word count: 778 

A/N: Haven't written in a while so please let me know if there are any mistakes.

You dragged into the infirmary, clutching the gash on your side. Not only were you bleeding profusely from your lateral, but you had also managed to sprain your ankle during the mission. Nat rushed in after you, focussing on grabbing any medical equipment that would be required and then ushering you to climb up onto the cot. The silence between the two of you was becoming deafening and you didn’t know if you could take it anymore.  

“You looked pretty hot out there” you state trying to lighten the mood, but Nat just ignored you and continued searching for the bandages. She was also injured but no where near as badly as you. She had a small cut above her eyebrow and most likely a few bruises from the hits she had taken but overall, she was fine. Well, physically at least. You could tell by the look in her face that she was pissed off, so you decided to stay silent for a little while. 

Once Nat had readied everything she needed, she got to work on your scarily deep wound. You knew it would scar but you didn’t really care, you were practically made of scar tissue at this point. Nat started by cleaning the opening of the wound and you winced as the alcohol-soaked cloth met your laceration. Natasha looked up instantly and that’s when you noticed the obvious pain in her eyes. 

“Nat..” you started but she looked away, grabbing the needle and beginning her stitches. You watched as her hands intricately sowed your skin shut. It only took her a couple minutes as she had experience in first aid, but it felt like an eternity. “Natasha please…”  you pleaded, hoping she’d answer. She sighed and looked up at you, removing her gloves. “What do you want me to say, Y/N?” She paused, running her hand through her hair. 

“Once again you put yourself in danger and for what? To show off in front of the enemy?” she said in a harsh tone. You scoffed, sitting up on the cot and reaching for a new shirt to put on. “If it wasn’t for me ‘showing off’ you never would’ve been able to get the files” you practically shouted, and Nat couldn’t believe you were saying this. “Oh please...” she started but you carried on. “If I hadn’t distracted those guards with my super cool fighting skills you would’ve been hurt just as badly, we completed our mission and stayed alive, it’s a win-win”  

“You were supposed to stick to the plan, Y/N, but instead you were reckless and acted on impulse” she countered, and you rolled your eyes. “I’m perfectly capable of making my own decisions, Natasha, and look, I’m not dead so I don’t get what your problem is”. You’re fully aware that you could have died today, in fact if it wasn’t for Natasha practically bashing the dudes head in you probably would be dead right now, but there’s no way you’re going to admit that to her.  

“My problem is you, Y/N. You think you can do whatever you want and have no consequences, but guess what, you’re not immortal.”. She ranted and your annoyance increased. “God Natasha, stop treating me like some idiot who doesn’t know how to look after themselves, I’m your girlfriend not some kid you need to babysit.” She laughed and you couldn’t believe her audacity. “Stop doing stupid shit and I won’t have to treat you like an imbecile.” she mocked, and now you were pissed. “I don’t need you to protect me Nat, I was perfectly fine before I met you and I’m perfectly fine now.” You spat at her angrily. You noticed a hint of guilt in her eyes but she’s quick to hide it.  

“Look… I’m sorry okay, I-” she starts, and you watch her intently, scanning her face for any hint of anger but its melted away. “I can’t watch anyone else I care about die, especially not you” she looks up at you, her eyes fixed on yours. You don’t respond, encouraging Nat to go on. “You may not realise it, but you are everything to me, Y/N. If anything, ever happens to you on my watch, I wouldn’t be able to cope.”  

You grab her hand and look at her in her now slightly tear-filled eyes. “I’ll be more careful, I promise.” You reassure her and squeeze her hand tighter. “You’re not getting rid of me any time soon, Nat.” She smiled and leaned her forehead to rest against yours. “I’m sorry” she whispered, and you smiled. “I love you, Nat” you said. “I love you, Y/N” 

[tillywunderwing]

IEYTD - Hardcore Mode

AKA an AU with no real plot yet but that’s pinging around in my brain anyway

So I’m an avid believer in the ‘literal game overs’ — Phoenix as a character who cannot be permanently killed is really fun to explore in fic, cause you get some interesting characterisation there for their general bravado or recklessness knowing they never stay dead long. I make this true by default for most to all of the IEYTD fics I write, because it’s fun to me!

However. I have considered an alternate version of this.

AU where every time Agent Phoenix dies, they do get a chance to start over — but when they do, they’re sent all the way back to the very first mission of the very first game. They have to live the entire ensuing year/s over and over again, making only the slightest bit of further progress each time before something inevitably cuts them all the way back.

I think it’s an interesting thought experiment to wonder how they’d behave here. On the one hand, they’d have to keep some of that flippancy that comes free with immortality, but they also would have to be a lot more careful because their mistakes do have a cost here. Nothing they can’t ever technically recover, but at a certain point it’s about the repetition, the emotional strain of it all. How many times can a person hard-knuckle through the same two years, dying over and over again at the same end point because too much time passes between rehearsals for the hard earned lessons to really stick? How many times before they start to lose hope?

It would also give a fun narrative spin in the sense that they can go back and change things at the root, now. Like… they would never have been able to save John Juniper in the current timeline, regular resets on or not, it was too late and he was too far out of reach. But if they go back to before he ever joined with Zoraxis, could they have stopped him? Would they have thought to try, even for the sake of doing one thing different this time? Same goes for Prism — maybe they could save her from losing her robots, maybe they could alter the course of events from the stem.

Would they treat it like a blessing or a curse? If one first and the other later, where — when — does that shift start to come through?

Like I said, this is mostly an interesting thought experiment for the moment, might get a fic to itself one day but I need first a plot and time lol. Feel free 2 talk at me if you have any thoughts or ideas abt this! :]

[ckret2]

So yeah, about the ask you had unclear what I was refering: yes I meant what kind of personalities is bill attracted to.

Had to wait a couple days to answer this until I had time to dig up and review the original post about what he's attracted to; and honestly, I think it already covers almost everything. Take out the physical traits and you get:

Weirdos. Being weird, in and of itself, is attractive to him. Gotta be a high quantity of weirdness though.

"Brooding artist" types (his description). Mostly if they make art of him, but even that aside he likes people who view the world around them like an artist. Brooding optional but "thinking deeply & romantically about the world" mandatory.

People who have fun by Bill's definition of "fun": party hard and live to tell the tale. Reckless eagerness to jump headlong into danger a plus.

Similarity to him. This might mean a similar history but it could mean similar personalities. Bill's personality is shaped by his history, so why wouldn't someone else's be.

Extravagance with material possessions. That might mean their love language is gift-giving, or it might mean they go broke spending everything they have on luxury and thrilling experiences. Live loudly, enthusiastically, generously, and with little heed for future consequences.

Nerds, provided they have something else going for them besides just being nerdy. More broadly: intellectual curiosity and a functioning brain.

I think that one's worth elaborating on, since it gets into Bill's psychology. Bill's a trillion years old; knows more about practically anything than practically anybody; has seen whole worlds rise and fall, along with all their civilizations, cultures, discoveries, inventions, and people, over and over again; and by now, he passes vast swathes of eternity by partying/dissociating for longer than the human species has even existed. Even though he never really quite grew up, he's still old and tired and bored.

But there's still wonder out in the multiverse—wonder in things he's seen billions of times, wonder in things that are just slightly different from the other billion he's already seen, wonder in looking at something he's seen before in a brand new way. He knows it's there, he's just gotten too depressed and lazy to go looking for it.

Merely knowing stuff doesn't impress him—he can "know stuff" in circles around any mortal and most immortals—but excitement and enthusiasm for knowing stuff gets him to wake up a little to the world around him, which is something he sorely needs.

But again: they've gotta have other things going for them. If he runs into a nerd who's just nerdy and doesn't otherwise bring anything else to the table that Bill's into, he's just like "ugh what's this geek droning on about this time, go away."

And these other traits off the original list aren't quite things he's "attracted" to, but that makes him more likely to pursue someone anyway:

If somebody's an emotional doormat who'll do anything he says and let him take the lead in all matters, he's more likely to date them. And also, exploit them, use them, abuse them, and leave them. He's not actually attracted to doormats, though—it's kind of a turn-off, really, he finds people with a spine more interesting—but people with a spine are more likely to stand up for themselves, which makes it harder for Bill to get away with all the shit he wants to pull; so ultimately he's more likely to pursue somebody he likes less but can control more.

I don't think he's really "attracted" to people who worship him—the more of a zealous follower someone is, the less likely they are to be an interesting person all by themself, really. But like. It's an insane turn on. Biggest turn on. Call him your god and his brain shuts off and he gets a little light headed as all his whatever-he-has-instead-of-blood immediately rushes to his wherever-the-hell-blood-gets-redirected-to-in-his-species. When he's that into being worshiped, I think the fact that he isn't technically into the person doing the worshiping is kind of a moot point. So he's not exactly attracted to people with a tendency toward obsessive devotion; but he's had a disproportionate number of partners who have that personality trait, since that makes them more likely to be obsessively devoted to him.

All of the above is off of the original "stuff he's attracted to" list. I can't think of many personality traits he's drawn to that aren't already covered. Extroversion, optimism, maybe similar "screw the laws of physics" political opinions, maybe a tendency to re-sculpt the truth in the same way he does... Yeah, that's all I got, I already hit most of the points in the initial ask.

I realize these are "personality traits he's attracted to" instead of "personalities he's attracted to," but a personality is just a soup made up of various traits. I'm not gonna go like "oh yeah he's attracted to ESTJs" or something. Grab multiple of the above traits and slap them on the same person and that's appealing to him.

[flooficandii]

thats got me thinking actually . i havent rly had the energy nor the interest to update nuniq's doc to include interactions w/ the newest agents . including harbor and tjats literally her boyfriend lmao 😭😭😭😭 but anyway lemme make some poorly drawn depictions of what nuniq thinks of the newer agents (starting from clove to gekko)

clove

honestly. nuniq wasnt too jazzed about the idea of hiring a kid (grown adult but theyre a kid to her), especially an untrained one . she understands they might have a link to omen going rogue but is still iffy about the whole situation

also oof. the whole immortality thing? yeah it must be a lot to bear for clove, theyre just very good at hiding it. but like with a lot of the young radiants, nuniq lets them know they can approach her about this stuff bc shes been through it too

she can admit she gets pissed at clove bc their immortality causes them to make more reckless decisions on the field . she wants to get it in their head that you still have to be smart about these things no matter how much power you have

but! she thinks clove is very nice. very silly very sweet guy who is an excellent storyteller. storytelling is very intertwined in both nuniq and clove's cultures so she loves listening to whatever clove can whip up

clove has probably dragged her into dnd at least once

she took a while to grasp it but thats ok shes trying her best

anyway yeah clove talks a lot and sometimes nuniq cant understand them so she has to ask them to slow down

iso

valorant hired him because he was a kingdom killer and nuniq was ALL FOR THAT !!!!

she can tolerate the cocky smug little shit thing bc hes professional at least

hes not very hard to work with and is very cunning and calculating. nuniq likes that

iso has most definitely heard about nuniq before and was surprised to see her alive bc a lot of media made it seem she was dead to quell the uprisings against kingdom

nuniq is fascinated by iso's radiance but it definitely makes her think about how fast and how complex the concept of radiance itself is evolving . to think he could create his own pocket dimension with prismatic energy

besides that i feel like they mostly mind their own business

theres a mutual respect for eachothers skill and grit and they just *nods*

deadlock

like the thing says. theres currently some weird tension between deadlock and nuniq rn (and its surprisingly not gay)

theyre both so cold its kinda hard for either of them to approach eachother

deadlock is. working on her relationship with gekkos creatures! which nuniq appreciates

but idk nuniq never forgets anything and its hard for her to get over the fact she almost killed wingman multiple times

+ proposed awful countermeasures to keep the radivores in check

yk that one headcanon someone made about gekkos friendliness and critters winning over a lot of the protocol?

and how they immediately had beef w deadlock because of it?

yeah thats the situation with nuniq

things have simmered down with the creature situation but nuniq mostly ignores deadlock outside of work

and frankly i think deadlock's scared of nuniq too so

gekko

last but not least GEKKO !!!!

nuniq loves gekko!!! hes so silly

hes fun and lighthearted while still being a good fighter

being around gekko makes nuniq feel. Friendlier idk how else to describe it

also his critters have 100% stolen her heart sometimes she asks to babysit wingman when gekkos busy

she has had to apologize for aput using dizzy as a chew toy though

gekko has dyed nuniqs hair temporarily; it was northern lights-colored streaks that looked really cool when braided, she kept it for about a month until it washed out

overall she thinks hes very sweet and she and reyna can get along over being protective of him

anyway yeah i think thats every agent so far after harbor! wow !!! i cant believe we've already made it this far to agent 25 .. and agent 8 still hasnt been revealed yet i love valorant lore (tired

[mackmp3]

3, 5 and 9 for both your OCs!

YAYYYYY thank you :]

3- What is your OC's fatal flaw? Are they aware of this flaw?

strangeways' is probably thinking that the correct solution to a situation she doesnt like is to just. do nothing about it and believe it will either go away, or be fine, or blow up in such a way that it all gets dealt with really quickly. avoidance? like if she has a big argument with someone she'll just avoid them for as long as possible. having an Alien Problem? her first instinct is that its probably not thatttttt bad right? surely this will be fine and there's no need to do anything tooooo drastic to try to fix it right?? it will all sort itself out???????? i think she is aware of it but possibly not the magnitude of how That Is Actually Not Ideal - when she realised she ages slower she more or less never saw her family again - she'd rather send them the occasional letter than have to see them age & explain why she isnt. like she'd rather not see her sisters or parents again (she wasnt super close with them but yknow, its her family) than have to explain any of what happened to her. but this is combined with being really bad at letting things go so she'll be doing nothing to change a situation while also being devoured by thinking about it. like a fear of change sort of thing

for mihangel..... in a sort of inverse of strangeways, mihangel sort of thinks that nothing too bad will ever happen to him - like yeah he died but that wasnt too bad was it? like he came back its literally fine. he can do xyz kind of dangerous thing because she'll probably be fine right? yeah she was distraught for months before he met strangeways because the doctor had left him back on earth without barely explaining anything but like she's mostly over that now so like its totally okay. this is a normal way to think about things 👍 like she doesnt believe she's indestructable or anything but has the potential to become very reckless, or impulsive, because she's either a) lived through worse & has convinced herself it wasnt that bad or b) just doesnt think anything could possibly go wrong. like she knows that dangers of, say, going swimming alone in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere in a whim, but just does it anyways cos he doesnt think anything bad will happen to Her. does this make sense

5- How far is your OC willing to go to get what they want?

ooh this is a good question because i uh. am not super sure what either of their base character motivations are lol

i think strangeways and mihangel both are likely to end up in a situation where they're both so in deep with a situation that they Cant just stop whatever it is & go back to their normal lives. b/c strangeways doenst know when / if she'll die she'd probably let herself get, ah, a wee bit closer to finding out than most people if its in pursuit of something she wants - though i think mostly she wants to feel normal again. the time vortex changed stuff within her & she doenst know what & has been living with it for so long thats she's not sure what she was like before, who she could have grown up to be. she'd think well, if i'm going to die then at least i know that i can & i'm doomed to be immortal, and if i dont die then i'll find out later. she's about 75ish but still looks in the mid/early twenties range so she think shes lived a normal lifespan and wouldnt... mind? if she doesnt live for far longer even though she technically could. damn thats dark uhm sorry. she does want those extra decades for her hobbies though :)

mihangel i think would be driven to one (1) act of violence and then be so horrifically guilty about it for the rest of her life, like anxiety-spiral guilt over one thing, that she's do anything & everything to never do it again. he would think of it like that too

9- Do you have a specific lyric or quote which you associate with your OC?

not at the moment no :( i havent made playlists for them or anything though i might in the future. strangeways esp. listens to english trad folk & like nico, and mihangel to post punk & goth of a specifically 80s variety and im sure theres lots of stuff in there thats very Them but i dont have anything at the moment. however while writing this i did think of that bob dylan quote about joan baez 'she looked like a religious icon, like someone you would sacrifice yourself for' both of them have defintely had that thought at somepoint about someone

[decimal86]

Ranking The Incident's members from "normal-ish straightman" to "interesting weirdo (affectionate)" based on their personalities. I am sorry if you disagree, but I respect your opinions on this matter.

1. Shrimp. Despite her admittedly off-putting smile, she's also just a very kindhearted young girl with a love for music. Consistently seems to fill the role as a younger sibling for other members to defend. Shrimp just wants to make others happy and seems like a relatively normal shark girl idol.

2. Big Bill. Surprisingly, for a buff, humanoid duck, he actually seems pretty chill. Don't have much to say about him, so he gets this by default.

3. Orion. Probably the closest to the "traditional" heroic archetype, being a strong and devoted family man with plenty of skill as a swordsman. He loves his daughter, plays both classes to the best of his ability, and is probably the voice of reason a lot of the time. The only thing keeping him down a bit is his odd attempts at giving presents and seeing an immortal chef with a thousand-yard stare and massive eyebrows as the best pick for a partner.

4. Erica. In a way, I see her and Orion as two sides of the same coin, being dedicated warriors who changed classes with a strong urge to keep their team safe. However, her Season 2 development led to her throwing much of her caution to the wind, so her temper and violent streak knock her placement down a bit. Still, I definitely could see her being the type to call others on their crap and forcing herself back into the straightwoman role if really needed. Very much a case of "only functional by comparison."

5. Failboat. The man, the myth, the definitely (maybe) not a furry, he's... gone through a lot since the first season. While it's difficult to say where the creator ends and the character's personality begins, I personally see C!Fail as a pretty nice guy, just world-weary and desperate for a break after his experience of the world. (TBF, makes sense given his relationship with Chat). Also, any man who eats spaghetti with cat paws on cannot be labeled as normal.

6. Bo. Certainly not the most unhinged even after her vampire transformation, but her generally seeming on edge a lot of the time makes me feel she deserves this position. Honestly, I'd just say her position fluctuates as much as Failboat's and Erica's.

7. Friend. While we likely can't truly judge a maybe-divine entity with human norms, I do think them being fairly serene and forgiving, yet also casting Righteous Anger with zero hesitancy and a stone cold smile, can speak for itself.

8. Mar. While his stoicism and apathy towards the zany nature of his party do make him appear normal at first, I'd argue it also makes him nearly as unhinged as the two members below him. Except, instead of being the "blast the door off the hinges" unhinged, he's the "saw it down and let it fall over" kind of unhinged. An odd mix of blank mindedness, Italian plumber cosplay, and top-notch leadership. To quote one of the memes @gnomey22 posted, Mar is "queer as in gay, yes, but also queer as in really very peculiar." He sees recklessness but willingly chooses to just watch it happen.

9. Chi. This, THIS is a character that I feel like could actually break everything in her body, survive and get healed, and immediately repeat whatever it is she just did—either for science, her love of fire, or just because it's fun. Sometimes for her friends, yeah, but mostly one of the above things. She sees everything from gender norms and to the laws of chemistry and just goes, "Hmm... nah, not really up for that," and defies them openly and instantaneously. Honestly, though, I vibe with it. Can definitely see why a lot of people like her!

10. Chat. I mean, what did you expect? They're a loose cannon both literally and figuratively. They spread mayonnaise on Failboat's head when he was ill. Proclaimed their friendship with their team before firing them at the enemy. They're a bundle of untamed voices, like a nest of fire ants who lost a pheromone trail.

...Well, that took longer than I thought. Hope anyone who sees this enjoyed it, though!

[sadboytournament]

ROUND ONE

Propaganda

Adriane Tepes/Alucard: Bro's mom got murdered and his dad went insane and tried to wipe out humanity, and Adrian had to kill him to save everyone. AND THEN he had to deal with people trying to revive his dad to cause even more deaths! Also he's immortal so he's outlived everyone he's ever cared about 😭

Jason Todd: (tw: sexual assault mention) the second robin, gets taken in by bruce after his abusive dad walks out and his mum dies of an overdose (and he also steals the wheels of the batmobile, king). bruce trains him to be robin and for his original run he was a pretty cute kid (with the occasional Angst Arcs that are pretty common w robin - special shoutout to jason finding out his dad was actually killed by two face and he just didnt know, and an arc where a woman that reminds him of his mum gets raped by a guy that iirc has diplomatic immunity i think?? or enough power to get away with it? anyway jason fucking kills him so not that immune ig) then death in the family happened and jason found out his mum isnt his biological mum so he sets off trying to find his bio mum, and eventually he meets her, but shes working for the joker and sells jason out to him. the joker then proceeds to beat jason with a crowbar and blows the building hes in up with his mum also inside it, killing them both. dc then does a fun thing for the next 20 years where they start treating jason like the '"""troubled""" """angry""" robin who was too reckless and was always going to end up dead. eventually dc brings jason back (as dc is wont to do), by having him wake up inside his coffin years after dying, dig his way out with his bare hands, and walk half-dead in the general direction of wayne manor until he's hit by a car and taken to the hospital (where all his says is 'bruce' over and over, and when asked who bruce is he responds 'my dad' and passes out) eventually he ends up in talia al ghul's care and is dunked in a lazarus pit to revive him completely, and he finds out not only is the joker still alive, but batmans also replaced him as robin. jason returns to gotham as red hood and has an honestly pretty slay arc where he taunts bruce by doing a better job of cleaning up gotham than him ngl. eventually it all culminates with him luring batman to a building where hes keeping the joker and telling b that his no kill rule is bullshit, and he shouldve killed the joker for taking jason away from him. he gives bruce an ultimatum thats basically if you dont kill me ill kill the joker, you gotta pick' and bruce chooses to instead disarm jason and save them both, and jason escapes. what follows is a lot of ups and downs for red hood comics (mostly due to the "angry robin" narrative dc writers have spun, making a lot of jasons appearances wildly ooc fights, lots of weird (tragically in character) cringefail behaviour, and this odd period where hes a natural redhead and his helmet is this ugly dome). itd be too long to list every jason todd sadboy moment from the last 20 years here but i do want to give a special shoutout to a currect story arc where bruce (who thinks hes being controlled by a 'perfect batman' hes got in his head) gets sick of jason's """reckless behaviour""" and fucking alters jasons brain chemistry so that whenever his adrenaline rises, he'll have a panic attack so severe hes basically incapacitated and can barely speak through his fear (the instant he escapes bruce's captivity he jumps into a burning building to save a little girl im SOFT for him!!). also second special shoutout to the jason todd in the arkham games who didnt even have the luxury of dying at the jokers hand, and was instead tortured for like 3 years, branded, beaten by p much everyone in batmans rogues gallery (and some of jokers goons dressed as batman), eventually jason breaks himself out only to find out that NOT ONLY has bruce replaced him, but it took the man like. a month. like jason wouldnt be thought dead for a long time, he was missing and bruce just went 'ill let this new kid adopt himself' ig? also theres a vr game in the arkham series where you can go into arkham asylum and hear jason screaming 🙃

[metalandmagi]

Hi again....Do you mind if I ask your top 10 favorite characters (can be male or female) from all of the media that you loved (can be anime/manga, books, movies or tv series)? And why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before.....Thanks....

I'm going to split them up between my favorite male and female characters, because there's just too many!

I'll start with the boys:

Laurent from Captive Prince- Laurent is my favorite character of all time. Everything about him just comes together in a perfect storm. His humor. His cast iron bitch attitude. The way he puts up armor to protect himself but lowers it when he's surrounded by people who actually care about him. The way his trauma is handled. And I'm fully aware the reason I love him so much is because we see him through Damen's eyes. We start out seeing a spoiled brat, and we learn the truth of him slowly. I can't even find the words to describe how much I love him and why.

The rest aren't in any particular order:

L from Death Note- The first anime character I was obsessed with, because he was one of the weirdest characters I'd ever encountered but somehow he shared all my habits. He sits like I do. He eats tons of sugar, like me. He's bad at social interaction, like me. And (spoilers!) he was one of the first characters with a death that truly impacted me emotionally. I'm totally showing my age, but I will always love this ridiculous trash panda.

Xie Lian from Heaven Official's Blessing- It might be recency bias, but he has skyrocketed to my top favorite characters list. I have a weakness for characters who have gone through hardship and come out smiling no matter what, and damn if that isn't Xie Lian. He really shows the highest of the highs and the lowest of the lows in humanity, but he still believes everyone deserves to be cared for. He's also absolutely hilarious, and I love the dichotomy of having this (formerly) insanely strong martial god be so mild mannered and polite (most times).

Izaya Orihara from Durarara- And so begins my love of absolute shitheads. I don't have an explanation for this. I just love the idea of an information broker in a big city who knows everything about everyone and uses it to stir up trouble. And of course I love his flippant attitude that can change on a dime (and his extremely homoerotic relationship with Shizuo). I appreciate characters who always have something up their sleeves.

Wylan Van Eck from Six of Crows- Similarly to Xie Lian, I love Wylan because of the dichotomy of his character. He can be so mild mannered and shy one moment, and the next he's making bombs and threatening to drown his romantic rival in a river. He's also the only YA character I can think of with dyslexia (aside from Percy Jackson characters, who are technically middle grade), and I'm glad that it never gets associated with him being "stupid." Wylan is smart as hell while also being sensitive and creative.

Magnus Bane from the Shadowhunters series- Probably the funniest character I've ever encountered. A chaotic bisexual warlock who insists he doesn't want to help but ends up helping anyway while complaining the whole time? Sign me up. He's fashionable. He's powerful. He's a father of two and a crazy uncle to everyone else. He's everything. Alec is just Ken 😆.

Jim Hawkins from Treasure Planet- My forever boy. The protagonist that aided in my asexual awakening. I loved having a main character in a children's movie that was dealing with his angsty teenage years in a realistic way AND DIDN'T END UP WITH A ROMANTIC INTEREST WHO SOLVED ALL HIS PROBLEMS. He's reckless, but he's also very smart and cares about doing things right.

Fushi from To Your Eternity- (technically more like nonbinary or even gender fluid, but he mostly identifies as male so I use he/him a lot). Another take on an immortal character that I love! I love that we see him learn how to become human from scratch and how he forges relationships with people throughout hundreds of years. I was debating about whether to put Bon or Kohaku on here instead, but I think Fushi and his journey will stick with me longer.

Nico di Angelo from the Percy Jackson series- This is a character I feel like I've grown up with. He was one of the first canonically gay book characters I'd ever seen (this was back when queer characters in YA were almost unheard of, let alone in middle grade books). But Nico was one of my favorites even before the reveal. I loved seeing how he went from a nerdy, hyperactive kid to a brooding pre-teen to mellowing out the way he is now. I'm a sucker for the mysterious side characters that show up every now and then to make the audience wonder if they're really on our side (especially ones with really dry humor).

Now the girls!

(Uh...spoiler alert I guess) Akito Sohma from Fruits Basket- My favorite anime villain of all time. Part of why I love her is because of the build up. For a long time, we only hear about Akito, and we don't know what to think about her. Then we meet her, and she seems...off, but the characters all have different reactions to her. And then we learn how fucked up she is. She's a great example of a character who does awful things, gets a tragic backstory and a slight hint of a redemption arc, but it doesn't change how the audience views her. Her backstory helps you understand her, but you never really forgive her for the shit she's done. She's manipulative, abusive (in every way you can think of), creepy as hell, and yet I still love her because she's insanely entertaining whenever she's around.

Daria Morgendorffer from Daria- This character was basically me in high school, in both looks and mannerisms. I molded my entire personality after her. I love characters with dry humor and I still quote this show relentlessly to this day. Daria was for all the girls who felt like total outcasts because they spent their time reading instead of making friends, but she also showed that you kind of need other people to...well...not be depressed. Also, it might not be explicitly canon that she's asexual, but there is an entire episode revolving around how she's doesn't want to have sex with her boyfriend...so do with that what you will.

Emma from The Promised Neverland- READ THE MANGA I'M BEGGING YOU! My insanely smart, redheaded mastermind of a daughter is such a great main character. I love having a young girl who is cheerful and optimistic while also kicking ass the same way shounen protagonists do. She's so friendly and hopeful that even though the story is super grim, we want to believe she can find a solution to every problem even when it seems impossible. Such a shame we never got a season two...wonder what that would have been like....ha...ha...ha................

Inej Ghafa from Six of Crows- I was trying to keep myself from using characters in the same series, but I couldn't help it. She's just so well written. She's badass. She's vulnerable. She's smart. She puts so much stock in faith but it doesn't make her weak or evil. She ties the group together so well, and she and Kaz are so ace coded it hurts!

Yona from Akatsuki no Yona- I haven't finished the manga yet, but she's another great example of a perfect character arc. Yona starts out as a typical teenage princess. She was never mean or a bad person, but she was selfish in the way most spoiled teenagers are selfish in that she didn't think about the world outside her palace walls or anyone besides the guy she liked. But when she's forced to run for her life, she sobers up and sees the world for what it is very quickly. And instead of relying on others to do things for her, she learns to fight and helps the people of her country the best she can. She's a character who we learn with and grow to love over time.

Kino from Kino's Journey- Definitely one of the most interesting characters I've ever seen, and I mean that in the sense that we don't know much about her at all (until the end of the 2017 anime at least). She is a great example of a solitary character who still loves interacting with people. She's not insanely smart. She's not a badass bitch (she can defend herself and fight because she has to, but she's not a fighter). She's not magical or the chosen one. She's just an average person who wants to experience as much of the world as possible.

Yuuko from xxxHolic- idk what to say about her, she's just the best. She's got chaotic wine aunt energy for days, but she's also got this hidden Dumbledore-esque wisdom and tragedy under her fabulous outfits. I feel like her and Magnus Bane would be best friends.

Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games- People who've only watched the movies will never understand. Her dry humor and rough around the edges personality are just so well written, but so many people relegate her as a stereotypical "girlboss" YA protagonist in a love triangle. She's brave. She's funny in subtle ways. She's kind of an asshole but not in an off-putting way. I like Katniss because everything about her feels so genuine. Her love for her family and the way she deals with the world around her are so...real. And I think that's why so many people connected to the series. READ THE BOOKS!

Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter- I don't care if it's cringe, I was fucking obsessed with her in middle school. Again, I'm drawn to characters that have experienced trauma but still come out smiling. I think Luna helped a lot of people who didn't fit in feel more at home in the world. She's fun, she's kind to the people who need it the most, and she's a great friend who helped save the world!

Linda Belcher from Bob's Burgers- This might seem like a silly pick, but I just love her spirit! She's the ultimate mother figure and supportive wife who also has a distinct personality with wants and dreams of her own. So often, moms in cartoons (or anything really) are relegated to being support or a background character for their husbands or kids, but Linda demands a starring role. She loves her kids and her husband and will go to the ends of the earth for them, but they also frustrate her in a very human way. Episode 1 of the new season shows her breaking down in tears because she just doesn't know how to manage the kids, and I think that's something a lot of parents probably go through. I'm not a parent or a spouse, but her struggles and general mom energy feel so real.

There you have it. I really wanted to put a Vinland Saga character on the list, but Thorfinn, Canute, and Askeladd are all so well written I couldn't decide on one, so I had to leave them out 😅

[dailycharacteroption]

Roleplaying Races 13: Vanara

(art by Stonr87 on DeviantArt)

 We’re back to another mythologically-inspired ancestry, this time from Hindu myth!

Indeed, today we are looking at the vanara, the playful and mischievous monkey people from Vudra and the Impossible Lands!

In Hindu legends, the vanara are described as either “belonging to the forest” or a “forest man”, depending on how you read the word. Regardless, they are described as being monkey-like, with tails, fur, and simian features, though it is unclear how literal these ancient accounts were being, as they might have, if there is any historical grain of truth to these myths, been a civilization of people living in the wilds. Either way, the vanara were described as being playful and childish, but wise and kind, and on several occasions, aided humanity and Rama himself against Ravana and the asura.

 This inspiration holds true into Pathfinder, as the vanara were born from the ambitious folly of their patron deity, Ragdya, who set them up to spread his ways and perform his will as spreaders of mischief and thieves of the riches of mortal and immortal tyrants alike. This has earned them the enmity of rakshasa and naga alike, and made them allies among many Vudrani folk, and others as their people have spread from that land. Their greatest legendary trick was in sabotaging the bridge Ravana, master of the Rakshasa had enslaved them to build. Each brick was meant to be carved with the suffering face of the slave that carved it as a symbol of their submission and the demigod’s total domination over them. However, the enslaved vanara coordinated with each other so that each brick would be mouthing a syllable of prayer to various gods. When Ravana strode over the completed bridge, the shifting bricks echoed those prayers, attracting the attention of the gods, who threw down the blaspheming Rakshasa, freeing the vanara and human laborers alike.

Since then, vanara are mostly found in Vudra and Jalmeray, but they do wander the world in enclaves, and for the most part promote goodness and playfulness, as well as making fools of the wicked.

 Vanaras appear to be human-sized monkeys, sporting brown, tan, or golden goats of fur, with the thickest hair growing atop their heads, letting them style it in much the same way as other humanoids might. They possess hand-like feet, as well as tails. They possess blunt teeth with pointed incisors similar to some monkey, and have large, expressive eyes.

 The monkey-people seek balance and comfort, willing to dare to pursue different ideals and desires without going too far overboard. They can be mischievous, but not cruel, devout, but not zealous, and so on. In this way, they seek growth, change, and enlightenment, and many find purpose in bringing the wicked to shame, though they also seek not to burden themselves or others with strife brought about by recklessness.

As for their culture and society, the vanara typically are ruled by a holy person of some kind, though they themselves often feel estranged from their creator deity and others due to how immutable said deities seem in comparison to their own impermanence. Regardless, they have a deep regard for that which is sacred.

 Vanaras are agile and introspective, but their antics cause them to grate on others at times.

Being monkey-like, they also are agile climbers as well.

This also gives them good night-vision, though they still rely on light.

They are also light on the feet, making them agile and stealthy.

Their tail is also not just for show, being a fully prehensile limb capable of grasping objects.

 Of course, plenty of vanara are born differently. Some focus more on flexibility than stealth, while some have the supernatural ability to shrink when needed. Others who live among other raises are less practiced in climbing, but make up for it with knowledge in broad areas. Some emulate the risk-taking of various monkey divinities, gaining a knack for activating unfamiliar magic items as a result. And some are born as “whitecaps”, vanara with shorter tails, more baboon-like features, and scalps and manes of white fur, their stooping gait making them more stable as a result.

 A vanara’s agility and wisdom makes monk a natural choice, but that also applies to ranged hunters and rangers as well. The prehensile tail combined with dexterity and buffs to acrobatics also makes them highly appealing to sneaky classes like rogue, slayer, swashbuckler, and even investigators. Also, given that devotion to the divine is a common theme with them, wisdom-based divine classes also have good appeal. Their one weakness is the charisma reduction, making charisma casters and social types more difficult to play. However, it’s a very minor weakness, one that you can build around quite easily. (side note, it’s nice to see a charisma penalty from being a bit too friendly and casual with others to the point of annoyance, instead of the typical antisocial tendencies towards other ancestries that we usually see)

 That’s it for today, but we still have two more days of fun ancestries to explore. Tune in tomorrow for a playable option inspired by, of all things, an art form!

[tryan-a-bex]

20 questions for fic writers!

Thank you @bazzybelle and @hardly-an-escape for the tags!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

32

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

38,639 (I started writing March 2023, so this is happy.)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Sandman primarily, lots of crossovers, and one for DND Honor Among Thieves which is not a crossover (The Ring Bear). I also have several done for Fuckboi Dream, but I'm waiting to post them until it is finished (if you ask nicely I might let you see them).

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

King of Night and Prince of Day (based on Nathanwonderwolf's amazing art)

Five Guesses Why Hob is Immortal and One Broken Plate (this is a Scooby Doo crossover; yes, you heard that right.)

Social Media (Delirium delivers a preteen to Dream to raise; it's his counterpart, the personification of the collective consciousness. This was supposed to be pure crack idk why people like it?)

Well... Why Not? (400 words of Hob and Crowley egging each other on to ever greater heights of recklessness.)

Heavenly Hijinks (Hob, Dream and Calliope are stuck in the elevator to Heaven, a Good Omens crossover.)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes! Because I don't get very many and I love them! Thank you to everyone who comments and gives kudos, it means so much! I write for myself, but it helps a lot to know I'm not shouting into the void.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I write sweetness and fluff -- there may be a little bit of angst in the beginning or middle, but certainly not in the end. Maybe you'd like the one that ends in consensual punishment (bdsm fade to black)? The Dragon's Tongue

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

May I bring to your attention The Dragon Rider? All my endings are happy, but this one makes me particularly happy because Dragon!

8. Do you get hate on fics?

No. I don't really write anything controversial I think? And I'm not well known. And Sandman fans are kind.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I have attempted but I end up fading to black mostly. My smuttiest ones... Fucking Helm Fucking (Hob and Dream discuss "protection"), The Dragon's Tongue (bdsm scene fade to black), Naga No-Go ("awkward sexual situations" tag), and that one chapter of A World where children won't cry (a Hob and Dream scene in a Spy x Family crossover).

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Apparently I love crossovers! Space Buns is the first one in my Sandman x Spy x Family crossover series. Five Guesses Why Hob is Immortal and One Broken Plate is the first of my Scooby Doo crossovers. Well... why not? is the most Good Omens of my Good Omens crossovers.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I know of!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Two of my fics came from a tumblr post discussion/based off someone's tags with permission -- Ring Bear with @witheringfears and Well... why not? with Avelera. Several of them are based on other people's art -- King of Night, Space Buns, Butterflies, Halloween, Well... why not? Comic/show character switch, Karaoke, and June 7th, 2389. A couple I commissioned art for: Sometimes when you fall, you fly and Fireflies and a Missing Person! Dinner and a Play I wrote so @carnelianmeluha could cook to it, including several of her requested favourite food items! I've also done art for other people's fics a few times!

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

I'm not sure I can answer all time, but I love Gaulcienne (Gault x Lucienne from The Sandman) a lot!

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I want to write a Sandman x InCryptids (Seanan McGuire) crossover, but I'm not sure it will happen. Just in the mulling ideas stage still.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I enjoy writing dialogue. Sometimes I do a good job making people laugh, or finding just the right words, or characterizing a blorbo just right.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I can't seem to get the smut to carry on (yet?) and I don't write much description. I'm not sure if I just don't like it, or if I don't do it because I can't/am bad at it? Anyway, I'm not going to worry about it, it will come eventually perhaps.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Go for it! Making it clear from context or including a translation is considerate, but really. Doesn't hurt us English speakers to realize there are other languages in the world.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

The Sandman: Pottery (a post-Wake Destruction and Dreamling fic)

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

I love all my children! How can I choose? No really. A Quiet Love with Wings is my Gaulcienne series, and I really love it. It gets less attention than the other fics, I think because people sort for Dreamling. Give it some love for me?

[tarnishedinquirer]

Case: Limgrave Tunnels

During my visit to Roundtable Hold, I asked Master Hewg about upgrading my weapons. I was short on smithing stones, but what I did have was a map of Limgrave. I figured they wouldn't mark caves, since they're natural features. They wouldn't mark catacombs, since they're meant to be secret. But if there's any mining tunnels, they'd probably be the only "dungeons" marked on the map.

And there it was, just south of the Gatefront Ruins, on the big lake.

On the way there I was accosted by crustaceans, but I also found some strange flowers growing in the water and shade. Not sure who this "St. Trina" is or if she even exists, but she definitely has the good stuff. If I find a recipe, I could use these to put my enemies to sleep.

Might profile her if I find any actual evidence she exists.

Now a key skill in this line of work is situational awareness, which is how I noticed this ledge down below the elevator. Being immortal can make you a little reckless, so I figured I'd just jump down there and see what I can find.

All I found was a dead long-neck with some runes on him. Useful, but not especially impressive. At the same time, it got me questioning how he got here. I checked, and there were a series of ledges below that should take me down safely. He wasn't stuck here, could've come down at any time. That is, unless there's a reason not to go any lower in the cave.

Better off on judgement until I go lower.

Found some miners still working, but they were none too happy to see me. They look like the long-necks I've seen (mostly dead), but as I learned when I tried to use my estoc on them, their skin is hard as rock. Lacking anything that could smash through armor like that, I was forced to rely entirely on spells. Fortunate for me then that my Glintblade summons had no such difficulty. In fact, they seem more vulnerable to magic than most, which is something to keep in mind.

While I was exploring, I got accosted by giant rats. Following them back to the source, all I found was another dead long-neck clutching a smithing stone. The rats were feasting on the corpse before I interrupted, so I have to assume it was relatively fresh, and probably a fair bit easier on the teeth than the stony miners. Who had killed it?

Heading deeper in, I found another elevator, and realized that just like the previous one, there was a series of ledges leading around the side. Probably how they dug down here to begin with, or a safety feature in case the elevator gets stuck.

On the lowest level, I found a wooden store shelter, with one last dead long-neck, being eaten by a starving dog. This one held a glintstone scrap. The same stuff that tips my staff, but clearly of much lower quality. Could probably throw it and do some damage, but that's it. Could he have been trying to defend himself, maybe from the miners?

I'd explored the whole cave, but things felt unfinished. Typically, a place like this has some big guy in charge, and I hadn't found the boss yet. Time to get searching.

So much for situational awareness. I'd completely missed it during my previous climb down, a whole 'nother tunnel, midway between elevator stops. Took me a few tries to get to it, but here I found the largest collection of miners, and also the largest miners. These guys were a cut above the rest and used some pretty dangerous weapons too. No match for my spells, but the difference was noteworthy.

Now, before I went any further, I took a moment to go over what I'd uncovered. The way the miners would just ignore me sometimes, like they were in their own little world. The strange alteration of their skin, like they'd been fused with the rock. The long-necks tucked away in tiny, out of the way rooms, trying to defend themselves or flee.

It all reminded me of something. Maybe a story I read, or a place I'd visited, or maybe even a past life. A tunnel full of miners, where demons took advantage of their avarice to turn them into mindless servants, abandoning their very humanity to take on the traits of a dragon. This wasn't the same thing, but it was similar enough.

Maybe the final chamber would hold answers.

One more elevator down, and I found an answer.

One of those giants—or trolls, I guess—crouched down, staring at a massive, glittering rock. He seemed less enthralled than some, as he immediately stood up and began to attack.

I'd gotten a tip from Kalé about "Stonedigger Trolls" and how they have an old wound on their heads. Might've been a useful tip, if I was a warrior or an archer. Instead, I just turned to my trusty spell, the only spell I know, and made short work of the monster. It dropped a medallion to enhance roar attacks, that said giants like this were originally enemies of the Erdtree.

Before I left I took a moment to really look at the glittering rock. It seemed metallic and run through with flecks of gold that glittered like stars. I felt a gravitational shift staring at it, and was forced to look away. I think I can figure out what happened from here.

Conclusion: This rock is what mutated the miners and troll. The fact it didn't affect dogs and rats tells me the mutation is as much of the mind as it is the body. Those who come into its thrall are changed, made into stone servants enslaved to dig out more and more of the rock. Only a troll took up residence here, and didn't take to kindly to the other thralls.

A bunch of long-necks came in here and it didn't go well for them. Revising a previous comment, I don't think they were fighting the miners. They were sitting too placidly, and only the ones sitting down carried rocks. They were meditating, but didn't survive the transformation. Only one of them escaped, but whatever was out in the lake was too scary, so he just sat between a rock and a hard place before he too perished.

So, that's a wrap. Time for lingering questions:

What about the lake is so scary?

What about the glittering stone is so enthralling?

At any rate, I got enough upgrade materials for a while. Maybe it's time to do something about my limited spell repertoire.

[proudfreakmetarusonikku]

oh my god just had the coolest idea.

c!tommy as a pheonix. so when he dies he comes back to life, but the catch is he always goes back to being an egg and has to slowly age back into adulthood (which he rarely reaches being so reckless).

c!dream kills him in the final control room and takes egg!tommy hostage and he’s what gives him the initial idea to study revival. so when c!tommy hatches he’s had all these tests run on him before even being “born” and he grows up with an endless battery of tests as he grows to figure out how to harness and use his own form of immortality. this doesn’t involve the revive book even after c!dream gets it he’s not involving that until he’s documented everything to do with c!tommy naturally. he uses boomerville for that.

the thing is, c!tommy keeps his memories and personality, but his maturity resets when he dies, because that’s physically part of the brain. he’s wise, he knows a ton of shit bc he’s like really a million years old or whatever but bc he’s a very small child now he’s got the maturity and trust of a small child. so c!dream raises him into seeing him as a guardian and mentor and the often painful and damaging experiments he goes under as him being brave and helping save the world.

and obviously since he’s basically single handedly raising a toddler c!dream grows incredibly attached right? like he’s an abusive pos to c!tommy physically and mentally to keep him in line and forces him into invasive and difficult tests that most adults wouldn’t do constantly, don’t get me wrong, but he genuinely sees c!tommy as his little brother (he’s not mature enough to be a father figure alas). and like this isn’t like in canon where he blatantly wants c!tommy as part of his friend group but has very complicated feelings he’s just very much a proud big brother here just in as messed up and possessive a way his friendship with c!tommy was in canon.

initially things go a lot more peacefully than in canon for quite a while! c!tommy grows up in relative freedom for the first few years of his life, actually. he’s allowed in l’manberg under supervision, he’s generally allowed as much free range of the greater smp as you’d let a young child in a death world, he lives a pretty normal life. but instead of the plots c!dream does in canon he’s solely focused on research to the point of neglecting politics and his big happy family goal (bc he has a family just not a big one lol) and he starts withdrawing and isolating himself out of paranoia too and this effects c!tommy as well. it’s gradual, but by the time c!tommy’s around 7-8 he’s basically imprisoned in a gilded cage as far away from everyone as possible for “his own safety”, with c!punz’s occasional visits his only source of knowledge on the outside world.

and c!dream grows crueller, too. without the overlooking eyes of l’manberg, he no longer has any sort of ethics in his experimentation. he’s vicious with both mind games and physical harm whenever he’s convinced c!tommy’s trying to escape- which due to his ever growing paranoia is often. he forces c!tommy to participate in the other revival experiments- not as a subject, obviously, but to help him with the subjects. he’s still trying to be a good brother, but that mostly leads to him alternating between extreme lovebombing and extreme abuse.

and while c!tommy’s very knowledgeable he’s still mentally a child so he inherently trusts the person raising him, so even though he’s deeply traumatised and mentally scarred by the whole thing he adores his big brother. but he wants to leave. and c!punz sorta pities him, y’know? when your rare contact with your employer and his kid brother very obviously has that kid brother showing signs of abuse you wanna help. so c!tommy has c!Punz subtly ferry info back to the smp and l’manberg, so they can find and rescue him.

idk where tid go from there. that was kinda when the pain kicked in an I couldn’t think much anymore :(