#why are they built like that????

[m00nz-writes]

Sally Face x DBD concept (The Plague of Shadows)

The Addison Apartments have a long and sad history. Every person who dies in the apartments is condemned to wander the place where they died for eternity. The demon who calls itself God tortures every poor soul trapped within the walls, using them as a means to gain enough power to kill the entire world.

In 1991, Sal Fisher moves to Nockfell with his father for one reason or another, inadvertently thwarting the Red-Eyed Demon's plans. The young man befriends some of the spirits and learns more about the possibility of what happened from a young girl named Megan. He gets fully involved when he goes to room 504 and finds a strange hole, crawls inside and meets Red-Eyes for the first time.

Sal, Larry, Ashley and Todd become involved with the cult that worships the Red-Eyes. They find the temple underneath the apartments and realize that the reason why everyone in town is strange is because of the cult. They also find that the bologna for school is made from human flesh and that the math teacher, Mrs. Packerton, is a part of the cult, as are many others.

After disappearing for years, the red-eyed demon returns, and before he can continue his reign of terror, the demon, Sal, and Larry are taken into the Fog by The Entity to play its sick game… and the Red-Eyed Demon is all too happy to play.

Characters: Sal Fisher and Larry Johnson

Killer: Red-Eyed Demon / The Plague of Shadows

Sal's overview:

Character Bio: Sal Fisher has always been adventurous and kind, but time has made him jaded and distrustful of others. Still, he lends a helping hand to his friends and ghosts alike.

Years after the Red-Eyed Demon's disappearance, it seemed as if things were finally starting to calm down, only for things to suddenly heat up. With the sudden return of the Red-Eyed Demon and the return of the Devourers of God cult, Sal believed that Larry had killed himself after sending some terrifying messages. Sal ran back to the apartments, searching for Larry and desperately hoping he was joking.

Unaware that Larry was no longer in their realm, Sal found Larry's note and assumed he was dead. However, Rosenberg was able to reach into the Fog and pull Larry out just long enough to help Sal stop the cult. During the battle with the Endless One, Sal was engulfed by the fog and pulled into the Entity's realm.

When he awoke, he found himself near a strange cabin. He heard someone calling his name, apparently searching for him. When he finally makes his way to the voice, he's reunited with Larry, who reveals that the Entity took him before he could commit suicide. Now Sal finds himself with new people and a strange new mystery on his hands. With the help of Larry and his new team, Sal plans to uncover the secrets of the Entity and the reason the Black Veil exists. It almost feels normal.

Sal's perks allow him to trick and confuse the killer, as well as help his team wherever he can.

Role: The Spiritual Empath

Unique Perks:

The Forgotten Ballad - When a survivor is downed within 5/10/15 meters of you, you gain a 10/15/20% haste effect. Only after reviving the survivor does the effect persist for 10/15/20 seconds for both you and your teammate. Once it's over, the Exhaustion effect activates for 20 seconds. "I can't believe this is real. I can't believe you're really gone." - Sal Fisher

Shadow - After years of dealing with the supernatural, you've learned to work with the other side. When Shadow is active, you gain a 20/30/40% chance of not being detected by a killer's sense ability (if the killer has one), and crows are less likely to fly away in your presence. Shadow will not activate if you are wounded, affected by the Broken status, or if you are the last survivor. "Leave me and my five teeth alone." - Sal Fisher

Spiritual Empath - You have a unique connection to the supernatural and have learned how to hone it and use it to your advantage. When a generator reaches 40%, Spiritual Empath activates and you have the ability to call upon a spirit from the other side to create an audio and visual distraction. Spiritual Empath can only be used twice in a single trial. "It's okay, Mrs. Sanderson. Go hide." - Sal Fisher

Larry's overview:

Character Bio: Larry Johnson has always been known for his rebellious nature. He loved to cause chaos and do whatever he wanted, whether it was considered legal or not. Stealing, graffiti, and pranks were just a few of his favorite things to do.

But he wasn't always so rebellious. Since his father disappeared, Larry found it difficult to live a normal life. He assumed that his father had been taken by some kind of curse, but he later found out that his father had legitimately disappeared.

As he grew older, he stopped getting involved in petty crime and instead began to focus on what he wanted. After living in the Addison Apartments for most of his life, he thought it was time to move on and move in with his best friend and brother, Sal… but all of that came to a halt when the Red-Eyed Demon began trying to connect with him. Scared of what would happen, and feeling that he wasn't as strong as Sal, he decided to try to take his own life to prevent the demon from taking him as a host.

But when he woke up, he wasn't a ghost and he definitely wasn't dead. He was in the woods, but it didn't look or feel like the woods around Wendigo Lake… it was darker, unwelcoming, and cold. He started walking and found the glow of a campfire. As he made his way toward the welcoming light, he found others like him, trapped. Now, with a second chance at life, he's determined to help his new team escape this strange new realm.

Larry's powers will help him protect his team at all costs and fight back against the evil that surrounds him.

Role: The Delinquent

Unique Perks:

Delinquency - You're known for your criminal record, and you're not afraid to get your hands dirty. After being hooked once, Delinquency will activate and the next time the killer comes near you, a skill check will appear and you can stun them for a few seconds by throwing a rock at them. Delinquency can only be used once per trial. "I tried to talk to that detective, but he wouldn't listen to me without evidence. As if my word isn't enough." - Larry Johnson

The Other Side - You may not be dead, but your connection to the Other Side is uncanny. You can see the aura of your allies within 7/13/20 meters of you, and if the Obsession is injured, you will see their aura no matter what. The Other Side will not activate if you are the Obsession in the trail. "Let's put an end to these fuckers." - Larry Johnson

Time To Go - You sacrifice yourself for those you love. When taking a protection hit after unhooking a survivor, you will not be affected. The next time you are hit, you will be put into the dying state. "It can't rain all the time." - Larry Johnson

Plague of Shadows overview:

Character Bio: A creature of unknown origin, the Red-Eyes is a creature that preys on the weak and fearful in order to feed… something. The reason why it does what it does is unknown, but one thing is certain; it wants to destroy all life.

The Red-Eyed Demon had destroyed Jim Johnson's planet with little to no regard, seeing them as simply in its way. The demon has also proven to be very cunning, manipulative, and obviously sadistic. The demon goes after weak people, people it can mold and use to get its way and cause more and more destruction.

The help of the Devourers of God had made it even stronger, but it quickly grew impatient and disgusted with humans, claiming that flesh "irritated" it. The demon is thwarted by Alyson Rosenburg, Stacy Holmes, Greg Montague, and Sandy Sanderson. In retaliation, the Red-Eyes take over another vessel to kill Mrs. Sanderson.

Sal and Henry Fisher move into the apartments, and the Red-Eyes becomes irritated with Sal's interference with the spirits in the Addison Apartments, using them as its vessel. When the teenager finds the ghost of Luke Holmes, the Red-Eyes reveals itself, but is banished by Larry Johnson. After regaining its strength, the Red-Eyed Demon is made an offer it can't refuse: an endless supply of victims to torture and terrorize in the world created by The Entity.

Now the Red-Eye is preying on a whole new collection of poor fools who can't escape, growing stronger and more restless as time goes on. It will achieve its goal of destruction. It will.

Title: The Plague of Shadows

Unique Perks:

Power - Spiritual Infection You have the ability to grasp what is beyond the reach of others. The more you wound the survivors, the greater your hold on them becomes. Spiritual Infection begins at the start of the trial and continues to grow with each hit you make on a survivor, filling the gauge 5% each time a basic attack lands.

Special Attack - Possession Possession allows the Plague of Shadows to temporarily take control of a ghost on the map to scout the map or deal extra damage to survivors. Possession initially lasts 10 seconds, but increases by an additional 3 seconds with each successful attack.

Healing Alters Survivors can cure themselves of the infection by healing alters scattered around the map. The alters will reset the infection to 0%.

Flesh and Blood - Your hatred of humanity drives you and teaches you things others cannot see. When activated, Flesh and Blood allows you to receive a visual and audio cue from one survivor within 3/8/15 yards of your Terror radius. Flesh and Blood has a 120 second cooldown.

Sick Tricks - You are cunning, manipulative, and all around twisted. You thrive on the discomfort and terror of others. When Sick Tricks is active, you can create a visual hallucination for the survivor of one of your victims, causing them to scream and reveal their location. Sick Tricks can only be activated 3 times per trial.

Scourge Hook: The Dark - You're not the only one who can cause harm. Four random hooks will become Scourge Hooks. When a survivor is unhooked from a Scourge Hook, the following effects apply: The survivor is affected by the Blindness and Broken status effects for 15/20/25 seconds. When healed, the survivor suffers from Exhaustion and Hindered for 7/10/13 seconds.

Weapon - The Hand of Infection

[chloesimaginationthings]

How did Bonnie get so fucking tall in FNAF 2…

[sopping-beast]

Dykes that are built like industrial equipment. You agree.

[spiribia]

[drenched-in-sunlight]

i love the DLC man

[saltsourz]

Goober, eldritch squid/octo guy. The guy ever omg!! Doom morph haters DNI!!! /lh

Bro has 2 sides

[dovalore]

fuck it, parkour god

[nickkcha]

I hate when a Leosagi fanart looks like this:

LET THEM BOTH BE THE BIG ASS HAND AND MUSCULAR MEN🫵🫵

[inkydiamonds]

I HAVE REALIZED SOMETHING.

So. For people who are not Ethoslab watchers, in his most recent episode he showed off these beautiful statues Joel supposedly made of Etho in front of his house.

I figured Joel built them, and it seems Etho did too, because he sent Joel a message via mail about them.

This note... honestly surprised me a bit? I didn't think much of it at first, but the tone of it felt out of place. Obviously these two have this ongoing bit of being obsessed with each other, and they've done nothing recently but yes-and to the sun about it. This note seems to almost shut this bit down, saying "this bit hasn't gone too far yet, because I'm showing this on camera, but it's getting there." Which is a possible explanation for this note! But considering all they've done recently it feels very sudden.

And then. Joel claimed to not have built the statues. "Oh," I thought. "Joel is claiming not to have built the statues because he doesn't want to seem obsessed." Makes sense. Or maybe he *didn't* build the statues and someone is pranking them. That also makes sense.

But it was only when watching Joel talk about it on Impulse's stream, when I heard Joel say "honestly, I think Etho might have done it," that it clicked.

Oh.

This motherfucker.

He 100% did. That's why the message is so weird. Ethoslab built statues of himself outside Joel's base, messaged him via mail saying "that's kinda weird bro" and then DIDN'T EVER REVEAL THAT HE BUILT THEM. Oh my god THIS MAN...

From Etho's audience's perspective it just looks like Joel was continuing being obsessed with Etho, as usual, just another example in a long list. But *Joel* knows he didn't do that and *Etho* knows Joel will figure out who did. This mischievous motherfucker. Oh my godddd I hate them. Listening to him read back the note with that little smile in his voice. I am unwell. Why are they LIKE this

[artistcerr]

God Brads waist is gonna make me ascend

[afurtivecake]

if andrew was a bit swayed by kevin, i cannot blame him in THE SLIGHTEST. kevin is like, specifically engineered to appeal to all of andrew's protective instincts:

fleeing horrific abuse from a grade-A asshole

thinks about going back to the abusive situation sometimes

needs him all the time

hot.

and on top of that, kevin tells him he's worth something and that he'll give him something to live for.

like idk what else andrew could have done. the man is not made of stone.

[thereweredragonshere]

Wdym Stoick died no he didn’t

[moongothic]

Crocodad AU where immidiately after having left Dragon and his baby boy Crocodile finds an 11 year old Robin. And while he's 100% only recruiting her so they can make a beeline for the Poneglyph and Pluton in Alabasta by the two of them... Crocodile accidentally sorta kinda adopts Robin.

At this point Robin's been running for her life from the Government for three years so her deep trust issues and fear of betrayal are starting to take root in her little heart. Like perhaps they haven't taken fully over yet, and being still a child I'm sure Robin might've still had that genuine hope that she could find a safe place to stay in. But I'm sure the though of "what'll he'll do with me once he gets what he wants?" would be nagging at her at the back of her mind. Meanwhile Crocodile's struggling between the pain and hurt he's already gone through and given him his trademark trust issues, as well as the aftermath of The Dragodile Divorce. But he also has his Fresh Paternal Instincts and probably misses his baby. So when given a small, scared child who is running for her life, being chased by the very same Government that'll want his son dead if they ever find out about him... Yeah that might fuck with your brain a little

You know this post was supposed to be just that first paragraph and just a few footnotes from the following two paragraphs. And then I kept on Having Thoughts. And I kept on writing them down. And oh no what happened when did this post get so long (Look I was going to either kept on writing my Additional Thoughts in the tags or I just put them in the actual fucking post)

Like considder this: based on this one SBS, we can kinda tell that if Crocodile was given a chance to raise a child, that child would be a spoiled little shit, right

So in this scenario, where Crocodile's looking after lil Robin, would he be kind of torn? Unsure how to feel about her?

Because on one hand, this strange child would have the potential to not only ruin his plans, strip him of his Shichibukai Privileges by outing him and his plans to the World Government, but also put his son in grave danger by extension (if she found out about him having been involved with the Revolutionaries and/or having a child). But on the other hand, his paternal instincts could make him want to spoil this poor little girl rotten. But only because he needs to (perhaps literally) buy her trust so she'll behave. No other reason, he doesn't feel sorry for her one bit, no sirree. (But maybe he did feel sorry for her, since his son could very well end up exactly like her. Poor little thing) (Which is why he needs to nuke Marijoa out of orbit as soon as possible, no matter the cost, and this child can't get in the way of Crocodile protecting his son) (But also this is a child. Like how bad could she be. Besides all he really needs to do to win her trust is be nice and make her feel safe, right?)

Of course, while I'm suggesting Crocodile could have some parental instincts, realistically, he hasn't actually spent any time being, you know, a father to a child (looking after his newborn for an unknown though short amount of time aside), so it's possible he wouldn't even know how to parent Robin even if he wanted to, would he? (Like taking care of a newborn and an 11 year old kid aren't the same either) So if he was kind of just emotionally flipflopping between No Trusting Ever and It's Just A Kid for God's Sake, Crocodile trying to be nice to Robin to make her feel safe and then telling himself to stop being so soft and vunerable... Yeah that would make for an absolute mess of a relationship. (Not to mention, let's be real, dude's a scary motherfucker too, and a bloody giant compared to itty bitty baby Robin. He could keep on accidentally scaring the shit out of Robin (who would be On Fucking Edge To Begin With) by just Being Himself. Like for example, can you fucking imagine if he caught Robin trying to cheer herself up with a little "dereshishishi" only to tell her to stop because "it was stupid"? 'Cause I can imagine him doing that, and boy howdy would that make Robin feel bad)

Or who knows, maybe Crocodile was just Born To Be A Dad, maybe he just Fucking Gets It. Like Crocodile is canonically pretty good at manipulating people to do what he wants them to do (see: how he played Vivi like a fiddle), so knowing Robin's position and understanding how she feels, maybe he COULD completely nail how she needed to be treated. Not being too familiar but still making her feel safe and happy, knowing exactly when to be stern and when to spoil her, etc. Dude just goes off and wins the Dad of the Year Award while being a deadbeat dad himself. The only thing Crocodile would have to worry about then would be making sure HE doesn't get too fond of her. And certainly that could never happen, he's so in-touch with his own feelings and so grounded, he's not a softie, get outta here. Or maybe he does but never realizes until it's too late and good luck backpedalling on those emotions now dumbass

Alright so, the reason I went on that whole rmble is just that like. I'm so interested in the relationship Robin and Crocodile already have in canon. I'm so facinated and curious about how the two feel about each other, considdering they did spend 4 whole years of their lives together as criminal business partners, though neither ever trusted the other. A partnership that was only ended because Robin betrayed Crocodile, out of her own trauma. (God, I want to see these two "reunite" so bad, I want to know how they feel about each other now after the timeskip and Robin joining the idiot in flipflops who foiled Croc's plans)

My question here is just that... if they had met 13 years earlier, would things have been different? Especially if Crocodad Real? Because as I mentioned in the begining, Robin would've been on the run for only 3 years by this point, as opposed to 16 years before running into Crocodile. Simultaneously, this would be before Crocodile went onto spend an entire decade all alone, slowly losing his marbles in his emotional solitude. They'd both be emotionally traumatized, yes, but would it have been as bad in this scenario? Like I did start this post kind of joking about Crocodile adopting Robin, and for clarity's sake I don't think they'd have like a father-daughter relationship nececarily. But it would be a strange relationship still, because we'd have two broken people, both struggling to trust anyone. One who had lost her mother and her only friends, leaving her all alone and afraid while running for her life. The other a father who had just given up his son whom he probably missed dearly. Both having these holes in their hearts from loss of family, holes that could not be filled with replacements. But could they find comfort in each other anyway, because they still as people occupy similar roles to their respective loved ones? If they both could just get over those trust issues?

Okay I've been going off on the Emotional Side Of Things for this AU Concept, THERE'S PLOT TOO

So if Crocodile did pick Robin up like 19 years ago, that should be before he set up base in Alabasta, long before he had built is homebase and financial empire etc.

Now the thing is, while we don't know when, where and how Crocodile learned about the Ancient Weapons, Pluton specifically and how the lead on it would be in Alabasta... Considdering Crocodile did once upon a time aim to become Pirate King, it would make perfect sense if he had learned about Poneglyphs during his past adventures, as he would have needed to get the Road Poneglyphs to find One Piece. And while the World Government did bury the truth about why Ohara had been burned down and why Robin had been given her bounty (remember, the WG claimed it was because she had sunken a fleet of battleships, which she had not, it was because she could read the Poneglyphs), considdering this is a Crocodad AU specifically, you could totally make an argument Crocodile could've learned about what actually happened to Ohara from Dragon and co. So, just to make this AU work, you could just assume Crocodile learned about the concept of the Ancient Weapons from Dragon. And who knows, maybe he overheard the truth about why Robin had been given her bounty from Dragon too (maybe Dragon was able to get intel from Garp in secret) or while going to Marijoa himself to attend a Shichibukai meeting or something IDK.

Maybe he learned about Pluton being in Alabasta before finding Robin by accident, and maybe they made a beeline for Alabasta the second Croc recruited Robin. Travelling takes time and the guy would've most likely had to find an Eternal Pose to Alabasta just to get there (also canonically Robin didn't enter the Grand Line until her 20s so they should've met in West Blue probably, since that's where Ohara was) Or maybe Crocodile had to haul Robin around for a few months while looking for That Missing Piece of Information that would lead him to Alabasta. (Imagine the two travelling from like island to island, library to library, Crocodile trying to find that leads while Robin's just so excited about ALL THESE BOOKS (she's helping too with the research) (but to her, research is playtime, so she's just having the time of her life) (Also, notice how Crocodile's Theoretical Child is a fucking loser ass nerd? Yeah Crocodile would encourage Robin reading and studying, surely. And that would be fucking cute))

But like, once they set sail to Alabasta...

Sure, Crocodile could try to do it The Slow Way that we know he tried in canon, building trust and creating his little empire etc. But also, in canon, Crocodile couldn't have jumped into action head first because without Robin, even if he had found the Poneglyph he couldn't have read it and found the location of Pluton. Crocodile choosing to do it the slow way may have been partially because he didn't have much of a choise and it could've felt like the smarter move long-term.

But in this scenario, he already has Robin. Yes, he could do it the slow, secure way.

But what'd be there stopping him from infiltrating Cobra's palace and kidnapping him (in the night, when nobody suspects a thing), demanding Cobra to spill the beans lest Crocodile kills him and/or his pregnant wife* (*Vivi was born 10 months after Luffy so depending on how long it's been between Crocodad leaving Luffy behind and this scenario... Yeah either the wife is there, still pregnant, or there's a newborn Baby Vivi)

Like it'd be a risky move but depending on how ballsy Croc's feeling and how confident he feels in being able to kidnap the king without being noticed... Yeah he could probably do it. And I'm sure he'd have no problem killing Cobra either, if anything it'd be required if he didn't want the Government to find out he was out to find Pluton, and god knows Cobra would tell on Crocodile if left alive. I could see Crocodad being maybe a little iffy about killing Baby Vivi though (it's not like the newborn baby could report him to the WG anyways), but if nothing else, he just needs to be able to pull off the bluff of his life to convince Cobra to do as he's told. And we all know Crocodile's good at convincing people.

The only question is, how would Robin take that?

Watching Crocodile go into Full Murder Mode, hearing him say he'd kill a pregnant woman/a newborn baby if he didn't get what he wanted? Like yeah, I'm sure 11 year old Robin would be fine with that, that wouldn't make any alarm bells go off in her head at all, it'd be fiiiine. IT WOULD NOT BE FINE, SHE'D BE SCARED SHITLESS. That fear of "what will he do with me when he gets what he wants"? Well, Robin may not have found the answer to that question in particular, but she certainly found the answer to the opposite question, and it's not good

So say Cobra, kidnapped (perhaps with Baby Vivi) by Crocodile in the night, guides the two to the Poneglyph under the tombs. Crocodile puts Cobra out of his misery because he's not needed anymore. And he asks Robin to read the Poneglyph for him.

Robin, who has spent the last little while, be it weeks or months with Crocodile, him having become her "guardian", the thing keeping her safe. Crocodile, who has now shown how cold blooded and cruel he can be. Robin, who might be scared out of her mind. Of him.

And the Poneglyph says Pluton, the thing Crocodile wants, isn't there. It's in Wano.

What's she going to do?

EDIT: I wrote a sequel post, enjoy

[anghraine]

It's interesting (if often frustrating) to see the renewed Orc Discourse after the last few episodes of ROP. I've seen arguments that orcs have to be personifications of evil rather than people as such or else the ethics of our heroes' approach to them becomes much more fraught. Tolkien's work, as written, seems an odd choice to me for not wrangling with difficult questions, and of course, more diehard fans are going to immediately bring up Shagrat and Gorbag.

If you haven't read LOTR recently, Shagrat and Gorbag are two orcs who briefly have a conversation about how they're being screwed over by Sauron but have no other real options, about their opinions of mistakes that have been made, that they think Sauron himself has made one, but it's not safe to discuss because Sauron has spies in their own ranks. They reminisce about better times when they had more freedom and fantasize about a future when they can go elsewhere and set up a small-scale banditry operation rather than being involved in this huge-scale war. Eventually, however, they end up turning on each other.

Basically any time that someone brings up the "humanity" of this conversation, someone else will point out that they're still bad people. They're not at all guilty about what they're part of. They just resent the dangers to themselves, the pressure from above, failures of competence, the surveillance they're under, and their lack of realistic alternative options. The dream of another life mentioned in the conversation is still one of preying on innocent people, just on a much smaller and more immediate scale, etc.

I think this misses the reason it keeps getting brought up, though. The point is not that Shagrat and Gorbag are good people. The point is that they are people.

There's something very normal and recognizable about their resentment of their superiors, their fears of reprisal and betrayal that ultimately are realized, their dislike of this kind of industrial war machine that erases their individual work and contributions, the tinge of wistfulness in their hope of escape into a different kind of life. Their dialect is deliberately "common"—and there's a lot more to say about that and the fact that it's another commoner, Sam, who outwits them—but one of the main effects is to make them sound familiar and ordinary. And it's interesting that one of the points they specifically raise is that they're not going to get better treatment from "the good guys" so they can't defect, either.

This is self-interested, yes, but it's not the self-interest of some mystical being or spirit or whatnot, but of people.

Tolkien's later remarks tend to back this up. He said that female orcs do exist, but are rarely seen in the story because the characters only interact with the all-male warrior class of orcs. Whatever female orcs "do," it isn't going to war. Maybe they do a lot of the agricultural work that is apparently happening in distant parts of Mordor, maybe they are chiefly responsible for young orcs, maybe both and/or something else, we don't know. But we know they're out there and we know that they reproduce sexually and we know that they're not part of the orcish warrior class.

Regardless of all the problems with this, the idea that orcs have a gender-restricted warrior class at all and we're just not seeing any of their other classes because of where the story is set doesn't sound like automatons of evil. It sounds like an actual culture of people that we only see along the fringes.

And this whole matter of "but if they're people, we have to think about ethics, so they can't be people" is a weird circular argument that cannot account for what's in LOTR or for much of what Tolkien said afterwards. Yes, he struggled with The Problem of Orcs and how to reconcile it with his world building and his ethical system, but "maybe they're not people" is ultimately not a workable solution as far as LOTR goes and can't even account for much of the later evolution of his ideas, including explicit statements in his letters.

And in the end, the real response that comes to mind to that circular argument is "maybe you should think about ethics more."

[egophiliac]

oh no, I love them

(super quick doodles done between other stuff, there will be better things later I promise :')

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

thinkin' about Bardaby and his illusion smoke...