#yes the song is playable

[gummybugg]

Trick or treat!

Treat this time! I dug up an old comic I made starring my ocs Blair (the one with a mullet) and Elijah (the guy with the undercut)! The prompt was "prison":

Here's to me hoping the quality comes out ok because I've never drawn a webcomic before!

...

Taglist for those interested in my wip Crater City: @writeouswriter @lyra-brie @digitalsatyr23 @talesfromtheunknowable (<-which is you!)

[theladyfae]

nothing to me will ever be more iconic than my beloved mutual managing to get me so invested in a (rarepair) ship for a media i had no previous interaction with that i was actively making my own headcanons abt their potential relationship dynamic and making song associations and engaging in others’ brainrot for months before i ever even considered getting in to said media. and now a year later i’m finally writing fic for them but still know next to nothing abt what they’re like in canon cause i still haven’t made it to that part of the story, the memories of the shared delusion are genuinely the only thing keeping me going.

[phaedinphaedout]

If I may add: Medicine Pocket is the head of the Biological Pharmaceuticals (this screenshot is from some event a few patches ago)

Idr X having any kind of specific position in Laplace (besides being a researcher) or in Institutum Lorentz (I checked the fanwiki, but there wasn't anything there other than him being a member, tho the fanwiki's info can be a little outdated, but my memory is telling me this is also all we got so far (this could be wrong ofc)) If I had to guess, Medicine Pocket's research is probably related to creating and studying drugs for arcanists, considering how they only seem to ever be conducting experiments on themselves (I could be wrong on this) and how they also created Picrasma candy (this can be found on their profile on the fanwiki in their Story section) I'm not sure if Regulus was assigned to Laplace (I was under the impression she was just there for the tour while they were convincing her to join, but my memories of the start of the story are a little vague). As to why she was there, could be anything. I think there is smth wrong with her tho

St. Pavlov Foundation

By 1999, the Foundation has branches in more than 89 countries and regions. The St Pavlov Foundation is one of the biggest alongside what’s referred to as The Chicago Branch in Book 4.

I think the head of the St Pavlov Foundation might be a metahuman or a machine.

School of Discipline

The School of Discipline is best shown within Book 3, “Nouvelles et Textes Pour Rien”, as well as within [A Nightmare at Greenlake].

While Book 3 goes through Vertin’s experience as a child going through The School of Discipline, [The Old One Flew Over the House] is the player being able to go through the school as Jessica so that she can become a registered Arcanist albeit on the accelerated course.

Laplace Scientific Computing Center

Referred to as Laplace within the storyline.

There are multiple branches of The Laplace Scientific Computing Center itself but the one in the game is the only one affiliated with The Foundation through The St Pavlov location. (1.10)

Medicine Pocket is the leader of the Scientific Computing Center (however not involved with Institutum Lorentz), and X is their vice head (Source : I think I remember it). 

Medicine Pocket is studying biology and is in charge of biological testing in Laplace. The exact study of what and why is unconfirmed (check voice lines later).

I think Medicine Pocket’s study would be related to making Foundation Staff resistant to attacks from enemies or making enemies more susceptible to attacks from staff. (One of their skills is debuff which is a resistance control)

Between the Prologue “This is Tomorrow” and the first book “In Our Time”, Regulus is sent to the Foundation to be registered as an Arcanist. She implies she's been assigned to the Scientific Computing Center (Unclear whether Madam Z assigned her there or she was by the system). When they get there she’s scouted by X to join a secretive group of researchers within Laplace investigating the Storm separate from the Foundation, Institutum Lorentz. (1.10)

[doyoulikethissong-poll]

Ozzy Osbourne - Mr. Crowley 1980

"Mr. Crowley" is a song by English heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne, about English occultist Aleister Crowley. Written by Osbourne, guitarist Randy Rhoads and bass guitarist/lyricist Bob Daisley, it was released on Osbourne's debut solo album Blizzard of Ozz in September 1980 in the UK. A live version was released as a UK single in November 1980. In North America, the studio version was released as a single in 1981.

The first guitar solo by Randy Rhoads became one of the best known in heavy metal. It was ranked on 28th place in the list of the best guitar solos by the readers of Guitar World. The song was ranked the 23rd greatest heavy metal song of all time, according to a readers' preferences poll held by Gibson.

The official guide to the video game Fallout 3 uses the lyrics to the song in its walkthrough of You Gotta Shoot 'em in the Head. The game also features a ghoul character named "Mister Crowley". The song was featured in the game Brütal Legend. It was included in Guitar Hero World Tour, along with "Crazy Train" and an in-game avatar of Ozzy himself, who becomes unlocked as a playable character upon completing both songs in the vocalist career. It was made available to download for play in the Rock Band 3 music gaming platform in both Basic rhythm, and PRO mode.

"Mr. Crowley" received a total of 73,3% yes votes!

[correctproseka]

Ensekai really really fumbled the bag in Mizuki's storyline by using they/them pronouns and i can prove it

Ok so, ill start this by saying this does NOT mean that Mizuki's gender can't be "nonbinary" or that they cant use they/them. In the end it'll just mean that most of the characters would not know that at this point in the story and all views on mizuki, trans girl or nonbinary are objectively correct so far.

That ensekai fumbles translations is something we all know, the event names for example, a huge one is going on as i write this. Why the fuck is it not pandemonium like everywhere else??

Other fumbles we can't really blame ensekai for, song translations, as weird as they can seem, are chosen by the voca-p themselves

(even if they make it sound way more aggressive)

But on the stories? I complain a lot, they make the characters not look as gay, sometimes change their personality slightly and.

Sometimes. It kind of nearly ruins the story, which is Mizuki's case.

So, WHY did ensekai do that, and why is it different on jp?

Well, for starters, japanese does not have pronouns in the same way english does, they DO need to use pronouns instead of . "Mizuki said mizuki wanted this" every single time, so no pronouns, for a rhythm game is out of the question.

And they thought that they/them was a second best choice.

In japanese games and anime, people tend to see a gender funky character and immediately go for they/them, for one. But also not really the only reason.

The reason might have been the two usages of pronouns in japanese.

Introduction and character reference.

So, to introduce themselves, Japan uses a few pronouns such as atashi, watashi, ore, boku... Boku is a masculine leaning pronoun, and the one Mizuki uses. Its not the most masculine (from the ones i said, that would be ore) and in cases can be considered gender neutral, and sometimes, rarely, girls use it. Mizuki is one of these girls.

Another one is Rui, who's the only one to know Mizuki from middle school, calls them "Mizuki-kun". -Kun is ALSO male aligned but can be used gender neutrally, but there's also a difference here. Rui calls EVERYONE -kun, Shizuku, Saki, Emu. You name it. He uses -kun for everyone. So thats not a valid reason.

Another question you can have is: did ensekai ever use a different pronoun for Mizuki?

And the answer, surprisingly, is yes. Before niigo knew mizuki irl there's two times they use she/her.

Which really sucks, because that would mean Mizuki uses she/her online, but ws soon as they meet her, its now a they/them? Without any conversation about it? And if we assume there WAS a conversation about it...

Then WHY THE HELL is Mizuki scared of telling their secret, when they have already done it in this scenario?

Thats not the case, niigo clearly thinks Mizuki is a girl- a cis one at that- currently.

In a way, the only people who would make sense knowing Mizuki's pronouns is the Kamiyama people (not Ena), they're the ones that know how Mizuki is at school, they're the ones that know her secret.

And yet, if Mizuki uses they/them, even the bullies respect it. And if she doesn't use they/them, then that means An and Rui of all people misgender them. Its a mess.

So not only does it breaks the immersion, it can also mean that either the bullies are not transphobic (really, if they didnt want to LOOK like they're transphobic is it that hard to avoid pronouns?? They're paid for that come on), or that the PLAYABLE CHARACTERS are.

Mizuki being so scared of saying her secret when everyone uses they/them for her is honestly. Fucking bad story telling. If they wanted to have made Mizuki's gender a secret there's a lot more ways they could've done instead of they/theying Mizuki in the story. Such as marking the gender as "unknown" or just. Leaving the story as is, people would be dumbasses and make them think mizuki is cis? So??? Let them be wrong when the time comes. This way it pretty much ruins her events.

And thats not saying Mizuki cant use they/them, but at thid point the characters would NOT know, the point that Mizuki tells the secret is the point they should know.

And.. in the end. That makes the fandom worse.

Jp does not have fights on which gender Mizuki is, they do not care. Its Mizuki and they like Mizuki for who [Mizuki] is as a person.

Meanwhile the en fandom gets called transphobic if the headcanon is a transgirl and also if the headcanon is a nonbinary transfem. It makes no sense and is only worth to make fights happen.

[mondaymelon]

⸝⸝⸝ 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝕓𝕣𝕖𝕖𝕫𝕖. ༄ 6reeze x gn!reader - click here for blog navigation + other masterlists

( UPDATE : THIS HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED )

apps i use:

✿ 𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨 || - idol yn has just debuted into the expansive entertainment industry, leading into them finding some new friends… or maybe lovers?? it's strange, really, since yn can be sure they've met them before, but for some reason, they can't remember...

✿ 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕦𝕤 || - 04/3/23, ongoing, updates at least once a week, resumed from hiatus!!

✿ 𝕘𝕖𝕟𝕣𝕖 || - social media au, modern au, idol au

✿ 𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕒𝕕𝕕𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕟𝕠𝕥𝕖𝕤 || - fluff, angst, love... hexagon??, suggestive at times, mentions of amnesia, wonky navigation (send help), they/them pronouns... will update the warnings as i write!!

TAGLIST OPEN!! send an ask, comment, or reblog ^^ please let me know if you've changed your username! thank you ♡

✿ 𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕤 ||

ꜰᴀᴠᴏɴɪᴜꜱ ᴜɴɪᴛᴇ - official - private

ᴀɴ(ᴇᴍᴏ) - official - private

𝔸ℂ𝕋 𝕀 - "𝐚𝐡! 𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲?"

01. the aftermath of a chaotic debut

02. responsible, for once?

03. wait, what??

04. well, this is awkward...

05. unknown number

06. to my past lover

07. new songs (and suspicion)

08. meetup plans?? yes, please!

09. oh dear, is it panic time??

10. praying for you

11. new phone, who this?

12. tba...

𝔸ℂ𝕋 𝕀𝕀 - "𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲, 𝐝𝐨 𝐢 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮?"

𝔸ℂ𝕋 𝕀𝕀𝕀 - "𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫?"

TAGLIST ⋆｡°✩ (open! send an ask or comment ♡)

@cynoifyy, @papiliotao, @venusflwers, @snobwaffles, @iamdedinside, @theblueblub, @yukiipc, @dreamsofminnie, @kaoyamamegami, @manjiros-wifey, @rinduos, @mitskyuuu, @kyiangell, @iamlowkeycrying, @chuu-19, @screechingxiaolover, @myaaones, @bryai003, @issy-lol, @cuterima, @neigesprincess, @venyan, @meigalaxy, @rifran, @bajifairyy, @advxz, @kitanablades, @joachim-but-slowly, @raingoesboomboom, @optivsior, @rizakari, @ghostlysyntaxed, @aemiko, @swivy123, @milkwithspiceyicecubes, @achlysis, @serenareiss, @ophore21, @cold-burns, @dainsleif-when-playable, @d4y-dr3am3r, @banyuew, @ilyuu, @vennnnn-diagram, @urlocalheizousimp, @lxry-chxn, @aludicpoet, @leenthepanda, @yukiichuuvt, @tunaa-luvchrm, @cianalikesbeans, @zukaniscr, @lemontum, @starz222, @meekei, @orionicchaos, @kokurooo, @notmaryy1234, @angelkazusstuff, @powersha1rpin, @strawberry1894, @celestair, @0rah-s, @itz-luna, @rustybucketofghosts, @ezra-musica, @hotgirlshit5, @kyon-cherri, @ukinya, @kenma-izhu, @akuri-shinsou, @feverish-dove, @asat84, @sakurapeach, @solis-sunmoons, @sukunasrealgf, @ynverse, @livelaughlovekuni, @yukii-1

[dracobrooklyn]

Durge x Reader Part 2

When you really like the design of the Cannon DragonBorn and his voice is like butter making you melt. I was sad you can't romance him and your the playable character instead. So Here I am going to write Headcannons of what if he was a romanceable NPC that was in your party.These are my thoughts taking bits and pieces from the Cannon and putting my thoughts and ideas into Durge.

|| MDNI || 18+ this will contain Themes of Language, Violence, and of course Sexual Content. DO NOT READ!!

Cannon!Durge x Tav!Fem!Reader

This will be in a Fem!Reader POV!!

Word count: 1,237

Part 2: Getting Closer.

TW: Death, the Mention of killing, fantasizing murder, nudity, Smut, and Oral sex.

Durge being in a party after slaying the Goblins and saving the Teifling folk and saving them from the Druids grove (He honestly wish he would have burn their tree down, cause fuck those guys). Everyone seem to be having a good time... well he really didn't have a good time. Shall we list those reasons? Well for one thing, he tried so hard to distract himself trying to block out those images of his nightmare. But the wine wasn't doing anything for him, guess Durge would have to drink at least 6 barrels of wine... but that wasn't happening, the other thing he wasn't a huge fan of being with so many people. People cheering him as a hero! It was nice for at least 2 seconds... but then it got more annoying that each drunk teifling came up to him "You are a hero mate, cheers!". He was trying to find you in all this madness. Some sort of familiarity and safety. But finding you, he saw you talking to Astarion. He was about to step up a little, but he noticed that he was flirting with you, and you seem to like it a lot. Kinda broke his little dark heart.

Deep down Durge wanted to grab Astarion. He wanted to choke him, he wanted to rip him apart, just to see his head fall of his shoulders, just to see him dead onto the ground and rip his intestines out feasting onto him... Durge felt sick all of a sudden, what was that? Why was he thinking that way? He had to get away, he needed air. He needed distraction. He then bumped into a teifling. Pretty little thing, Durge found out her name was Alfira, she talked with him, telling him how brave he was against the Goblins. Asking on what Lyrics she should use for her song... oh she was a bard. fantastic. Durge also noticed you were staring... he looked back at Alfira and even tried at his hand on flirting, just to maybe... maybe make you a little jealous? Even offered to have a one night stand with Alfira. Of course she took it. Leading her away from prying eyes into the forest.

Durge didn't take his time with stripping off his clothes, getting on top of Alfira kissing her, marking her with hickey's and bite marks from his teeth. Gods this was a perfect distraction. A good ol fuck to pass the night. Durge has a pretty good size for his cock and yes, Durge has a knot. He is pretty good in sex, so Alfira did sound like she was enjoying it. How he trailed his nips, and licking towards her breast, to her navel and finally to her core. Tasting her nectar that was glistening on her folds. She did taste divine... but he couldn't help but replace Alfira's face with yours. What would you sound like if he went down on you... what would you taste like? How soft and warm you would be in his claws, how he would made you came into his mouth, into his jaws to taste your sweet release. "jacida nhee kiabil". It was a blur though... he was so lost in the pleasure he became so feral... and once out of his haze he smelled... blood. He shook his head and looked down seeing was the once alive Alfira... dead, with her intestines ripped out all over the place. Durge standing back and even looked down at his hands... oh gods it's on him... did he do that? Panic coursed through his body. What has he done?!! He has to hide the body quick! He did so throwing her down the river watching it float away feeling sick... dirty... fucked up. He wash's himself in the river to get rid of the blood on his face and hands. God he felt sick, he needed to get back to camp, he needed sleep.

Durge of course not being able to sleep, he of course goes to walk out into the night, away from the party. The Nightmares were not helping either. He didn't want to wake you either. He was too busy trying to piece together the images from his images. He did write into the Journal you gave him but it still wasn't making any sense. Until he see's a random stranger appear-- oh god it's ugly! Was it a Goblin? The creature claimed to be your servant. A servant? Wait... was he a prince? Oh no the joke was biting him in the ass now. The creature called himself Sceleritas, a one hell of a butler he puts it. He must know you. He kept calling you by your name Durge. It was nice... he guessed? He had so many questions, he asked a few. Learning where he came from, and was made to guide him and help... murder people? Wait kill people? "That's how I found you, I could smell the Bards dead stench from across the sea!". Oh gods Durge felt sick. He wanted nothing to do with him. Sceleritas was a little sad to see his faithful master dismiss him so soon. But he wanted away... he needed you. You felt someone shaking you awake, looking up from your sleep gaze, you could see Durge's face that was filled with dredge and fear. You asked him what was wrong. He asked if you both could be in his tent to talk... just to help him fall asleep. You agreed of course. Anything for your friend Durge. You guys did talk almost all night, he seemed to calm down. That was good. "So are you and Alfira together?" you asked Durge "What? No we uh... we just uh... had a one night stand is all." Durge replied feeling nervous all of a sudden. "Oh... I was hoping to spend more time in the party but you were gone for me to find you." you said to him. "...I thought you wanted to be with Astarion?" Durge asked "didn't he... offer to give you a good time?" "Oh he did, but I declined him." you said to him "He's not my type." "Oh." Durge was relieved. Thought you didn't need to know that... no. Besides you wouldn't want to be with a... memory loss murderer. No he can't let you find out about what he did no... it would be awful. He lose you in an instant. "Did you want to try and get some sleep?' You asked Durge tilting your head to the side. Durge definitely did blush, the way you looked at him made him feel butterflies in his stomach. Boiling within his very core. He was smitten with you. You rejected the pale elf and you wanted to be with Durge instead. Pride was welling inside him. Maybe he did have a chance... maybe... praying to the gods. "Thank you for the talk." He says to you "I feel more... refreshed, please get some sleep itov." "itov?" you asked him "Was that draconic?" Oh shit "uh yes, it means friend." he lied of course... and you fell for it thank goodness. You left Durge to rest telling him goodnight as you walk back to your bed roll. And Durge watching you leave as he says softly "mel'thurkear." as he curls up to sleep... to try and hope no more nightmares would plague his mind tonight.

Draconic Translation: jacida nhee kiabil- His Sweet Companion. itov-Love mel'thurkear- Goodnight.

[red-tea-lover]

TF2 HATSUNE MIKU IS REAL ?)

text and translation under the separator [ru/eng]

В последнее время у меня был сильный гиперфиксон на двух вещах . TF2 и Микуша . Я видела много мемов но не смогла удержаться от создания небольших редизайнов и идей. Изначально было много вариантов дизайна в том числе и брюки , комбинезоны и прочие штуки но я поняла что там Мику не похожа на Мику и прошлось просто немного поменять её оригинальный дизайн (который я невероятно люблю боже у меня около 5 постеров с Мику в комнате и ещё около 5 брелков, значков тоже дофига как и наклеек ааааа).

В итоге ещё я вспомнила что у красной команды глаза такие же как и у синей ,то есть их менять не надо ну и просто поигралась с цветами думая о том что Тето больше бы подошла красной команде нежели Мику . Да мы потеряли бы прекрасный чуть пурпурный и бирюзовый оттенки но что есть то есть .Я долго думала о том что и как нужно было бы Мику в качестве играбельного персонажа и набросала пару деталей что делают её смесью из нескольких классов ( самые заметные это Скаут и Инжинер ) . Предназначение было сделано в коопе с моим другом ,который играет в TF2 достаточно много времени и я благодарна ему за помощь с механиками

Гитара : просто ближнебойное оружие , по предложению моего друга разные гитары имели бы разные баффы в обмен на другие характеристики, к примеру скорость в обмен на временное увеличение здоровья напарников или же обмен возможности мини-критов на скорость передвижения

Микрофон : спой немного песен или ударь кого нибудь, дело твое

Колонки : маленькая это портативная ,носи при себе пой песни создавай маленькую территорию для таких же мини-критов , большая же нужна скорее как аналог турели что пару раз взрывается когда в её радиусе проходят

Громкоговоритель : поскольку Мику скорее была бы классом поддержки ,то эта штука помогла бы ей небольшим аирбластом отталкивать от себя врагов дабы не получать урона

В целом концепт как класса поддержки чьё предназначение меняется от разных вариантов "оружия" с высокой скоростью но высокой уязвимостью по причине того что ты либо следуешь за кем-то либо остаёшься на месте . Буду рада услышать ваши предложения в комментариях и послушать какие нибудь идеи )

Lately I've had a strong hyperfixation on two things. TF2 and Hatsune Miku. I've seen a lot of memes but I couldn't resist creating small redesigns and ideas. Initially there were many design options including pants, overalls and other things but I realized that Miku doesn't look like Miku there and I just had to change her original design a little (which I love incredibly, God, I have about 5 posters with Miku in my room and about 5 more keychains, badges too, and a lot of stickers aaaaa).

In the end, I also remembered that the red team has the same eyes as the blue team, that is, they do not need to be changed, and I just played with the colors, thinking that Teto would suit the red team more than Miku (okay, we'll implement this later). Yes, we would lose the beautiful slightly purple and turquoise shades because we should at least try to stay in canonical colors. I thought for a long time about what and how Miku would need to be as a playable character and sketched out a couple of details that make her a mixture of several classes (the most noticeable are Scout and Engineer ???) The design was made in co-op with my friend, who plays TF2 for quite a long time and I am grateful to him for his help with the mechanics.

Guitar : just a melee weapon, my friend suggested that different guitars would have different buffs in exchange for other stats, like speed in exchange for a temporary increase in teammates' health, or the ability to hit mini-crits in exchange for movement speed.

Microphone : sing some songs or hit someone, it's up to you

Speakers : small is portable, carry it with you, sing songs, create a small territory for the same mini-crits, but a large one is needed more as an analogue of a turret that explodes a couple of times when people pass within its radius

Loudspeaker: Since Miku would rather be a support class, this thing would help her push enemies away from herself with a small airblast so as not to take damage.

In general, the concept is as a support class whose purpose changes from different "weapon" options with high speed but high vulnerability due to the fact that you either follow someone or stay in place. I will be glad to hear your suggestions in the comments and listen to some ideas)

[obsidianary]

Watching as everyone on socmed loses their mind over the monument leak .... guys, can we please be serious for a moment? Cap obviously isn't going to die. (Leaks mentioned below).

First off, we have no clue what the monument is for. At all. But based on the information on it, we know that it's dedicated to the fallen soldiers of both Natlan and clearly Khaenri'ah, given that it has the nation's symbol on it and the statement of "Children of Pride, sing your final song". Khaenri'ah was called the pride of humanity, and the second part is rather obvious. It depicts six Saurians, Capitano, and a soldier (who we can presume to be Gunthred, or just a general representation).

Either way, thinking realistically on lore history and motivation. Yes, the Captain is on this memorial. No, not because he will die, but because he was involved in the conflict and it was his platoon that passed away; He's the only one alive to remember them anymore. If it were dedicated to Capitano passing, I'd like to point out that it would make no sense to not include the Fatui soldiers that would pass along with him, nor the Traveler. I saw some people questioning why he's clearly dressed the same on the mural as his present in-game style, and I'd like to point out a few things: First off, he's clearly trying very hard to avoid being recognized. Second, the memorial is very basic in design and the only unique features on him are the gauntlet and helmet, both of which likely came from Khaenri'ah in the first place and are of Khaenri'an design (and I don't see how it wouldn't make sense that he kept a piece of his history this long, nevermind the fact that I doubt the Fatui would be able to replicate Khaenri'an military gear to begin with). As for motivation to put this up? Capitano stated pretty clearly that he loves Natlan and treasures it, for obvious reason, and we're all aware of how much he values honor and respect. Having the opportunity to put up a memorial for his fallen comrades isn't out of character.

Last chunk here, can we just think about his importance lore-wise? Being blunt here and glazing a little, probably, but this is the FIRST Harbringer. He's a Khaenri'an survivor, a gentleman, military figure, and on good terms with the traveler and an Archon. Let's be real for a moment. In the case they kill him off at any point in the story, it clearly won't be permanently; the scenario in that case would be a self sacrifice to pay a debt or save someone he cares for and either way it would result in him being revived. That's likely how we'll be getting a face reveal to begin with, they're obviously going to find a way to cleanse the rot away first (unfortunately). Character importance aside, and turning to leaks, he has a playable sword model. He has the square character icon and card, alongside the circular icon. There's character lines about him. There's empty spots in the Natlan lineup roster. For God's sake, he was in the Naltan trailer, and it's a fact that Hoyo puts playable characters in their trailers in every single nation.

So please, let's take a breath.

[blossomwithsunshine]

Why Tsubaki Yayoi is the Best and Most Interesting Character in Blazblue and Everyone is Wrong About Her

Alternate Title: Tsubaki is a Good, Interesting, Tragic, and Misunderstood Character so You're Wrong, Actually

I have noticed during my time in the fandom that this girl is demonized and gets A LOT of hate from the BB community, mainly calling her a "bitch", "stupid", "annoying''', "incestous simp," etc. At best, she's a very divisive character who does have some fans who correctly say she's overhated, but besides either of those, she'll be largely ignored despite her being a pretty major character. (I guess because she's not a "waifu" or "fanservicey" like most of the other girls. I side-eye anyone who doesn't like her outfit.) Literally the only thing not divisive or hated about her is her theme song.

I quite frankly think the hate is for misogynistic and crappy reasons from people who don't pay attention and has gone on for long enough, so here's my big defense post about Tsubaki Yayoi that I've been wanting to write for a while now where I explain why her character works in the story as best as I can. Strap in, folks. This is gonna take a while.

(Warnings: Mentions of incest, inbreeding, and grooming. Spoilers for Blazblue in general, mainly the parts revolving around Tsubaki. Also long af.)

Let's start with her beginnings because where else is a better place to start off? Talking about her backstory is VERY important when discussing Tsubaki since she has went through plenty of trauma. The Yayoi family is a family that places a lot of importance on their lineage and bloodline. However, they placed so much importance on their own bloodline that in trying to birth strong children, they resorted to incest and inbreeding, meaning that Tsubaki is a product of incest. All the children that were born, expect for one, would end up dying. The one child that survived was Tsubaki. Thus, she ended up being the heiress to the Yayoi family.

Her family is pretty much a cult, especially since the Imperator is basically a God. The family basically raised Tsubaki to serve and have full faith in the Imperator, no matter what. In gameplay, she mentions God in a few of her attacks so even in that, the cult-like philosophy she grew to have is showcased.

Does all this sound insane and messed up? That's because it is. Keep in mind of all of this since it gives plenty more context into her character. It's worth noting that this is the first big thing we learn about her in her arcade mode in Continuum Shift, the game she's first playable in.

So from the get go, it's already clear Tsubaki had a rough childhood, having a family resorting to incest, being the only child to survive, and she's essentially raised in a cult. This is when she meets Jin Kisaragi, a boy who is similar in age to her (probably just around a month older if I had to guess). Tsubaki is happy at the prospect of meeting someone who is similar in age to her, befriending him, and even calls him her brother as a result. Keep in mind, all of her siblings died, and she only knew her parents, teachers & relatives. She basically has a sheltered life and hasn't spoken to any other children her age, besides maybe her relatives (if they were close in age to her). Is it any wonder that she's overjoyed at the prospect at finally meeting another child. And yes, while it does seem weird she calls him "Jin nii-sama", I find it hard to blame her since not only was she calling him that since she was a child and thus that's what she's used to, it's also that incest has been so normalized in her family

I'll talk about her relationship with Jin later, so for now, I'll talk about how she's like at NOL Academy. It is here that she becomes roommates with Noel Vermillion and Makoto Nanaya, but they weren't exactly friends at first sight. In fact, Makoto distrusted the two at first due to her being bullied for being a beastkin. Later, a few students start to bully Makoto for being exactly that and Noel for her status and family. Thankfully, Tsubaki stops the bullying and sets the mean girls straight.

Tsubaki: I can't even stand the sight of your deformed mouths from all the foul language and your sunken eyes from looking down at others... I truly feel sorry for your so-called "family name."

And yet, people call Tsubaki a bitch. SMH. Of course, Tsubaki becomes best friends with Noel and Makoto after this and she's very kind to the two, helping them whenever they need it and only chastising them when they're being silly, like any other 'straight man' in a comedy.

It's after this that she becomes part of the NOL so that brings me to my next talking point, her arc in Continuum Shift.

In Continuum Shift, she is tasked by Hazama to kill Jin and Noel for deflecting from the NOL. Tsubaki's entire life has been based around NOL propaganda and she's basically been indoctrinated to be the perfect soldier for the NOL so she has grown to be very dependent on them. Is it really a surprise that she's not going to act logically? In her point of view, she's making the most rational choices of what's been given to her. Even smart people like Tsubaki can get indoctrinated and groomed.

The reason I even put the term "groomed" is because while yes, being groomed sexually is the most common way to be groomed, grooming can happen in other ways, even when you're an adult. In Tsubaki's case, she was groomed from a religious standpoint.

I think another thing that gets ignored is that Tsubaki is not completely for the idea. She even thinks that Jin and Noel have reasons for turning their backs on the NOL and just wanted to talk to them at first. However, since she's been groomed to never doubt the NOL, she has to go through with it anyway. It's plain to see in her arcade mode that she has plenty of concerns about it. In fact, when she sees Jin, she doesn't want to fight him and just tries to tell him to go back to the NOL. It's only when Jin refuses and takes out his sword that Tsubaki fights back.

Even after she beats him, she doesn't take the opportunity to execute him like she was tasked to do and again, just tells him to return to the NOL. She didn't even think she would beat him! She also would've probably done the same thing if she fought Noel and if Hazama hadn't come to manipulate her again.

Oh yeah, speaking of Hazama, Tsubaki is hated for letting Hazama manipulating her and she's called a stupid bitch as a result, but let's bring up a scene in his route, showing how he manipulates her, shall we?

When he talks to her, he does so at first, by giving her praises, as manipulators are prone to do, and it really feels that this is what Tsubaki wanted to hear for quite some time now, even with her confusion at first. He says she's kind, graceful, intelligent, beautiful, etc., even calling her the heroine, basically smooth-talking her. He even points out how it's rather unfair that someone like Tsubaki could be put in a low-ranking position like the Wings of Justice, even calling it the garbage disposal like how some of the other characters call it.

Of course, he doesn't genuinely feel that way. It's all so he can make Tsubaki more comfortable around him more and that she'll believe anything he tells her.

After this, he basically tells her there's another timeline where Noel doesn't exist and Tsubaki is Jin's secretary instead. The sad thing is that Hazama isn't even entirely wrong when he says this.

There actually is a timeline where Tsubaki is Jin's secretary, and this is explored in a drama CD called The Wheel of Fortune. However, Hazama leaves out one important detail...Tsubaki ends up getting killed in that timeline, which he is more than aware of. However, this is not something Tsubaki herself would have any way of knowing. The only time she technically does find out is through Izayoi's arcade mode in Central Fiction, which is a few games ahead.

Tsubaki did see this vision of her working alongside Jin when first wielding the Izayoi. She does try to hide that she saw this vision from Hazama, but he reads her like a book and calls her out for lying, even saying before that he can't stand liars. Again, not much reason for Tsubaki to think he’s the one lying. He's an important figure of the NOL, so why should she doubt him?

Also, if she's told there's a world where she can be with the man she loves, why wouldn't she want that and be angry she can't now? And especially when Hazama leaves out the fact that would end with her DEAD?? Would she be mad at Noel if she knew that part? I highly doubt it.

Tsubaki finally shows the jealousy, hate, and anger that she's been bottling up for a while since she basically got robbed. Hazama tells her it's not wrong for her to feel that way and that none of this is her fault, basically motivating her to kill Noel.

One of the main reasons Tsubaki gets hate is for her hating Noel and trying to kill her since she "took her place" as Jin's secretary in the NOL. This’ll explain more of her contempt.

One important thing to realize is that Tsubaki was basically raised to be an "ideal woman." (Or Yamato Nadeshiko for those who know what that is). She's calm and level-headed, she's a heiress to an important family, she's a Straight A student, and she's the closest to Jin out of anyone. It seems like the role would be given to her on a silver platter (and it WAS in the first timeline, actually!) But then comes Noel, who seemingly is not as talented, her family is not of high status, she's not close to Jin at all, and is basically not seen as deserving of it as Tsubaki is.

Tsubaki is instead put in a lower position than Noel, the Wings of Justice, something that is infamous and basically hated from everyone who has heard of it since they're basically the military police. Which, I know "Lol she's a cop"...she's not the only character that's a cop, 'K? Let's move on.

Another noteworthy detail to note is that Tsubaki just hid her resentment about this for a long time and didn't blow up at Noel until she is told she could've HAD that opportunity if Noel didn't exist. Tsubaki didn’t want to feel that way since she knew it was wrong for her to do so, but now you have Hazama telling her it’s not wrong for her to feel that way.

The 3rd important thing is that during their fight, Tsubaki....can't bring herself to kill Noel. Even when she's angry, hates Noel for taking her place, and has the advantage over her, she STILL cannot find it in herself to kill Noel. Even through this, she values their friendship too much for that to happen. Then Hazama comes and fucks it all up, because he's Hazama.

The next thing I'll mention is the Izayoi. The Izayoi is basically the biggest indicator of Tsubaki's character, as it's heavily showcased in her lore and gameplay. The Izayoi is a weapon that has the ability to steal light so that its user can utilize it in someway, mostly in battle. However, its biggest downside is that it can also steal light from its user, and if used too much, can blind and even kill them (which happens to Tsubaki in her bad ending). The Izayoi causes physical and mental harm to Tsubaki throughout the game, blinding her and causing her mental torment in who and what she should fight for to achieve true justice. The term "blind justice" is in full effect here.

It's through this game that we see Tsubaki as a woman who is full of doubts of who she is, what her place is in the world, who she should fight for, why should she fight, and is struggling with her ideas of what true justice is. She becomes so isolated that the only person she has on her side is a manipulative coworker who subjects her to further conditioning. The main question in her mind throughout is this: Should she follow the organization she's been groomed to follow her whole life or should she follow her friends, the two people she's been closest to her whole life? By the time she figures out the truth about Hazama, it's already too late and she is subjected to further brainwashing, leading her to "choose" the latter. This leads us into Chronophantasma.

There's not much to talk about with that game in comparison but it'll be more straightforward because of one important detail: She gets hate for her Chronophantasma depiction because she's a villain and is trying to kill Jin, Noel, and Makoto, but this completely ignores that Tsubaki....isn't herself for the majority of the game??? The Imperator is fucking up her head and Tsubaki at that point is completely brainwashed by the Mind Eater. PSST, I think the black outfit and red eyes she has should be a sign that she's brainwashed. Also, the "Mind Eater" name should give it away too.

Jin, Noel, and Makoto work together to save Tsubaki from the Mind Eater, but this is when Izanami has completely taken over her mind and is talking through her. It's pretty clear during the fight that Tsubaki is struggling and trying to break free from the Imperator's control, which, thanks to the three's help, does happen!

One aspect I love and that I feel is not talked about is a small scene where Tsubaki is in the inner depths in her mind, and coming to terms that she has darkness in her heart. From there, she wants to atone for every bad thing she did to Jin, Noel, and Makoto, and wants to return how they feel towards her. From there, she breaks free of the Imperator's curse and now wants to fight for the people she loves, since that's how she can achieve true justice.

Real talk, her fight against these three, awakening as Izayoi, and breaking out of the Imperator's control is one of the best moments in the entire franchise. Don't @ me.

Now, let's talk about her relationship with Jin. There's plenty of claims about their relationship being a toxic mess that would never work out and while I can't deny it's not entirely healthy, I don't think it's as much of a mess as people say it is. People say she has no reason to love him since he's just an asshole which, while fair, is not how I personally see it. I actually think it's rather reasonable why she would love him, so I'll explain why from her point of view.

I heard stuff like how Jin doesn't care about Tsubaki, which is...not even true?? Jin is the only person besides her family and teachers that Tsubaki knew her whole life and he's been quite decent to her. Yes, Jin is a huge jerk...but the person he's nicest to is Tsubaki. Back at the Academy, Jin, while still rather aloof, is pretty kind and attentive towards Tsubaki. He checks up on her and her friends regularly, gives her advice on what she can do, and they're able to hold a conversation with without her getting insulted. Also, in the present, there's a sword that's screwing with his head and basically has a shoulder devil AND angel telling him to kill Ragna, so there's that too.

In Chronophantasma, Jin does his best to put his fight against Ragna to the wayside since to him, Tsubaki comes first. He even works alongside Noel, someone who he deeply hates, to save Tsubaki. During their fight, he wholeheartedly believes that her will to fight through is stronger than the Imperator's curse. Now, it's debatable whether he feels the exact same way towards Tsubaki, but you can't deny his soft spot is usually only reserved for her. It's the regular "jerk/villain having that one special person they care about" trope.

One misconception is that she has nothing but blind love towards him, but I personally think if she did have blind love towards him, she would think he has done nothing wrong, which isn't the case as I'll explain in two instances.

One is regarding Jin's hatred towards Noel. Tsubaki doesn't really like how cold he is towards her. Back at the Academy, she did notice this, and she told him to be nicer towards Noel. According to Jin, Tsubaki has told him this several times. As Tsubaki says here, they've been close since they were children, but Noel has been a great friend too. All she wants is her two dearest friends to get along. It's a classic case of a person's close friends fighting with each other and that person being stuck in the middle. I've been in this situation a few times cough- Hell, I think she's one of the only characters who says to Jin to be nicer to Noel. Though since Tsubaki mainly appears in flashback scenes and isn't playable in Calamity Trigger, I can see how that gets lost.

To me, the biggest instance where this is showcased is her arcade mode in Central Fiction. In that, Tsubaki is given the opportunity to mold the world into what she wants (be by Jin's side) and Jin is targeting Noel for...reasons. So, like a yandere, she'll take Jin's side and target Noel too, right? No. Tsubaki actually protects Noel from Jin and fights him, even putting her life in the line for Noel.

That, to me, showcases how she doesn't see EVERYTHING Jin does is okay & just and won't side with him on everything, especially if he's trying to harm her other friends. It also shows she has put her jealousy and resentment for Noel aside, treasuring her as one of her best friends and it shows she has developed beyond that point since Continuum Shift.

Now, the last big reason she gets hate...her hatred towards Ragna. Now, I can see why that's annoying since for all her development, she never really gets past that point. BUT, I feel like this is mainly blamed with how we follow Ragna the most out of anyone, since well, he's the protagonist. Therefore, we have a much better idea on what happened from his point of view and we, as the players, know that Ragna is not a bad guy. We don't look at Tsubaki's point of view that much in comparison. So, I'll try to explain it from her perspective.

From how Tsubaki sees it, Ragna hasn't done much to get on her good side. She, at first, already doesn't like him because not only is he seen as a criminal to the world, but Noel and Jin, two of the people she cares the most about, also deflected from the NOL, an organization she has devoted her entire life to, due to his arrival. He hurts Jin, the guy she loves, to the point he has to stay in a bed to heal from his injuries, and Noel, her best friend (both also just broke her out of her brainwashing), at the end of Chronophantasma. Another essential thing to know is that Ragna is basically her antithesis. Tsubaki is calm, reserved, polite, and follows authority to a T, while Ragna is brash, foul-mouthed, hot-tempered and doesn't listen to authority. Is this petty and short-sighted? Yes, but it's not like she exactly hates him for no reason. Plus, her grudge against him is hilarious, especially when she thinks of the idea of him as her brother-in-law at one scene in Central Fiction. Sorry not sorry.

At the beginning of Central Fiction, Jin tells Tsubaki his backstory with Ragna and Saya and why he and Ragna have such a huge rivalry now. Tsubaki is actually shocked that Jin would almost kill Ragna, his own brother, like that. In fact, she finds it sad that brothers have to fight with each other like that. Maybe it could just be because Tsubaki places plenty of importance in family relations because of how her own family is like, but I felt this also was her realizing the conflict between Jin and Ragna isn't so black & white as she thought it was. Of course, not long after this, the timeline resets so it can't really be explored more. Blazblue timelines are such a mess, lol

I do think more could'e been done with Ragna & Tsubaki's relationship and it would've been nice to see her at least get a better understanding of him and see he's not as bad as she painted him to be, but it is what it is, sadly.

PHEW, this was long af. I unfortunately think the hate is not just rooted in misogyny, but also that she's a lore-heavy character, and Blazblue lore is infamously really difficult to follow. Not to mention, BB is a fighting game and plenty of people are just in it for the fighting. So if the lore is hard to understand, that would mean Tsubaki is not easy to get by extension. I think how long this essay was is proof enough there was plenty to unpack with Tsubaki, and I didn’t even talk about everything she’s involved with. She's not the easiest character to love at first glance, unfortunately.

BUT even with that, Tsubaki is another sad case of a female character getting demonized for far less than what a male character would do; just needlessly giving her higher standards. "We want morally grey female characters!" Bitch, a lot of ya'll couldn't even handle Tsubaki Yayoi. I have noticed the BB fandom, for the most part, is not welcoming towards female characters unless if they're sexually consumable enough for them, and Tsubaki, of course, is the most modest of all of them. With that being said, enen Noel and Celica of ALL characters get hate, for heaven's sake. There's really no winning with the girls in this series.

There's probably more I could've talked about, but this essay is long enough as it is. Hopefully, I made a good case study on Tsubaki's character and that there'll be a better understanding of her for now on, at the very least. Tsubaki Yayoi deserves more love than she gets, both from the game and fandom.

[keresnotceres]

MW2 CHARACTERS: as Lovers (explained through songs)

[sfw] cw(s): lyrics/themes of death, mentions of abuse/ghost's past, brief mentions of sex

i spent an embarrassing amount of time on this, so enjoy it lol.

Ghost is disastrously Everlong (Foo Fighters). The genuine emotion that song manages to evoke in me is painful and refreshing at the same time — that’s the type of feeling Simon “Ghost” Riley exudes.

As a lover; he’s very distant at first. He refuses to become more attached to you than he already is — convinced he’s going to lose you too (or, worse, become his father). It very likely takes him years to truly open up to you about everything, and when you don’t stop loving him, he never want to leave your side. Ghost likely feels like he is never going to do enough for you until the two of you finally have that unbreakable connection, and then he finds himself to be everything you could ever need through your actions/words.

The instrumental sections, especially the part that emulates the opening of the song after the second chorus. The change from strong drums and electric guitar to the simple bass line and indistinguishable radio chatter that slowly ramp up into the loudness again is so goddamn emotional. If that isn’t Ghost then I don’t know what else is.

Ghost is one of the most tragic characters in MW2, Everlong has an incredibly emotional tone that perfectly captures the feeling of tragedy, something Ghost has been through countless times. This heavily reflects in his romantic relationships.

Lyrics such as “Come down and waste away with me” and “If everything could ever be this real forever / If anything could ever be this good again” are so Ghost coded, especially when it would come to your relationship.

Gaz has intense Die For You (The Weeknd) energy. Do I really have to explain? (Yes the fuck I do) Gaz is absolutely smitten with you, there's no damn doubt, and he will express it to you in any possible way he can, even if the two of you are in a rough patch.

Gaz is likely very in tune to his emotions, but that doesn't mean he can express them that easily. That being said, the one thing he can express without a hitch is his devotion and love for you. It doesn't matter how long he spends away from you, how long it's been since he last spoke to you, the first words out of his mouth upon seeing you are "I love you." There is nothing in the mortal plane that could stop him from loving you, he would do fucking anything to be able to be yours and have you be his. However, he finds issue in communicating issues he has, whether it be ones to do with the relationship or outside of it.

He has a need to be in control of the emotional state he's in, which makes a relationship with him a bit difficult. He'll do his best to change how you feel about something just to make it match his, or he'll try to mold a situation into something it's not so that he can find a way through it without making himself vulnerable.

The background music of Die For You manages to be something playable in a club, but emotional at the same time, which is rather conflicting when it comes to trying describe it. But that makes it utterly perfect to describe Gaz with.

"The distance and the time between us / It'll never change my mind" has major Gaz vibes due to the obvious divide between the two of you whenever he's deployed, but also because there's sometimes going to be an emotional distance between the two of you if he finds he can't communicate his.

Soap is so RUNNING OUT OF TIME (Tyler, The Creator) coded you gotta believe me here. I find Soap to be subdued when it comes to you; the military aggression he can be so capable of slips away when it comes to love you. This is why I chose this song instead of the other IGOR songs.

I see Soap as someone who gets into a relationship quickly so that they don't get bored of being in a "talking stage." Soap often feels that you'll get bored of him, especially when his thoughts slip to you when he's deployed. He's not home as often as another man could be, he can't spend all the time in the world with you -- he's always so scared that he'll come home to any empty flat after you left, too bored of being alone. Due to this fear, Soap tries him damn best to show off just how much he loves you any time he can, he becomes so involved with you he almost has nothing else in his life happening except for you.

Very much intense in his loving, would probably do anything you asked of him, and years of reliance on others in the military has left him needing that energy reciprocated. There's a sense of security he feels knowing that you would do what he would do for you.

I feel like the instrumental sections of the song are reminiscent of Soap's personality when he's with you. He doesn't have to be calm and militaristic, but he doesn't have to play up the energetic part of him. With you, he's able to be genuinely happy and has a somewhat bubbly go-with-the-flow disposition . The electric synth-y sounds of the outro and breaks between verses showcase this type of feeling very fell.

"Your waves wash over me / I drift to the deep end" is a really representative pair of lyrics for Soap, he's just in love with you that he's willing to go to the farthest lengths for you.

Price probably looks like he should be some 80s love song, and he does, but I am a firm believer that he is a Florence + The Machine song, specifically her cover of Stand By Me (a song from 1962). Price is likely more emotional around you than his boys, so you get to see a softer, probably sadder version of him.

Emotionally matured in his years of military service, and it shows in the way he loves you. He adores being domestic with and for you; just waking up in bed to you sound asleep next to him is enough for to make him happy. Likes to be by your side, holding you. It's comforting to him to know that you're there, to know he's there with you, and that he's surviving for you. Price lives for you because he knows that his death would be a devastation to you, the same way your death would hurt him irreversibly. To Price, you are home and you are safety. Coming back to you after being gone for months is one of the best feelings he has ever felt.

He's very work-oriented, almost to the point that, if he's exhausted enough, he might treat you as if you were one of his soldiers. It doesn't take him long to realize what he's doing, and he'll feel extremely guilty after it (even if you assure him it's alright). He'll let you take care of him after this, you can convince him to rest because he feels too bad to say no to you.

Florence's version of the song is much more orchestral than the original version, a harp is one of the first things you hear, along with other string instruments. It's flowy, almost water-like, and most of all, calming; it feels like a falling asleep with the window open on an autumn night, which fits Price immaculately well. The swell in the music is even calming to some degree. The amount of emotion in the song makes it all the more loving.

"I won't be afraid / Just as long as you stand, stand by me," demonstrates the comfort that he feels with you, how you are the one thing that he can rely on to be safe.

Alejandro would've been Lorde coded, but you guys have to hear me out on this one. This man is the epitome of That's All (Kris Jonathon). Alejandro is devoted to you in every sense of the word, he is so utterly in love with you that he is yours.

Alejandro is, and always has been, a lover at his core. He's charming and affectionate to everyone; but god, when he has you in his arms, it's like you're the only thing that has ever existed. His love for you runs deeper than the oceans, it's sometimes so intense it's overwhelming, but you always know that Alejandro loves you. He always finds a way to make you feel seen, feel loved. Alejandro makes an effort for you, even if he's tired and overwhelmed. His job inhibits his ability to see and live with you all the time, so he often finds himself thinking about a future with you, when he's retired from the military, and can be by your side far into old age.

Despite his openness in loving you, Alejandro is likely another person who despises being vulnerable in other states. Sure, he can tell you how much he loves you with ease, but he couldn't tell you how tired or depressed he was. But sometimes, Alejandro will let you in a little further and whisper to you how much he wants to be by your side always, and that leaving you behind with the possibility of leaving you behind is harrowing to him.

That's All is slow, it's a ballad, it's about wanting a fairy tale love story, and god does the slow background music with the overpowering hi-tat give me major Alejandro vibes. It's passionate, the instruments and the lyrics that accompany them, and it makes for a loving sounding song that encapsulates Alejandro's style of loving you.

"I want a tale, a giddy after with you," Alejandro wants a life with you, he wants to live with you by his side until he no longer can, which the lyric, "Till death's kiss, I'll promise you this," shows. Alejandro will always be with you until death takes parts the two of you forever.

Rudy is easily Fantasy (Kali Uchis, Don Toliver) and I will not be taking any comments, complaints, or concerns. If you think for a second that Rudy is not an intense and loving partner, you are so so so wrong and I am here to prove it to you.

Rudy is one to love you like no one can touch you ever again, he knows full well that you are his. He wouldn't go so far as to say he owns you, but he knows that you wouldn't say a word against it if he said you belonged to him. This possessive part of him is usually choked down and he's often much more passive to you and everybody around. He's honestly rather sweet, often calling you a nickname or a pet name instead of your name, but you can always see something a bit more passionate in his eyes when he looks at you. He has eyes for no one else, he loves you too much to even think about someone else in the ways he thinks of you.

He tends to idly enjoy your presence, his thoughts stray quite a bit when you aren't there, oddly enough. When you're there, he just wants to be with you, not an imaginative version of you. Holding you close is something he treasures, sexually or otherwise, he likes having you near him and often never wants to let go.

The background music begins with a rather calm piano, which is basically the impression you get upon looking at Rudy for the first time, but the upbeat rhythm that follows it is more representative of Rudy's way of loving you and what it's often like with him.

"I belong to you / Know you're all mine too," is the only lyric I need to pull from the song to push my agenda onto you. Your relationship is built off of knowing that the two of you are each others, Rudy relishes in this knowledge.

Valeria is literally the embodiment of Summertime Sadness (Lana Del Rey). You can scream and cry but Valeria is so LDR coded and I will die on this hill. The nature of her work really makes it unpredictable to know if she'll come home to you, so the two of you live your lives like you're about to break up but god do the two of you love each other.

It took her so damn long to admit it and understand that she loves you, but once she did, everything was for you. She lives for you, she breathes for you, because you're all the good the world has left for her, and she'll keep an iron grip on you until you're ripped away from her. Valeria knows that one day, she likely will leave you on your own, so she lives every single day with you as if its the last. Even if it's a small day, where you just live with one another, there's always a feeling of longing between you two.

Something hat Valeria will likely never get to have is a wedding with you. She knows, deep down, that marrying you is putting an even larger target on your back, but that won't ever stop her from wanting you to be more than just her lover, wanting to be more than simply dating you.

The slow drums in the background accompanied by the soft strings and guitar during the verses and choruses have a longing feelings attached to them, which gives way to the way Valeria feels about your relationship. There's always longing between you even if she's right by your side.

Lyrics that particularly scream Valeria and your relationship with her include, "I know if I go, I'll die happy tonight," "I just wanted you to know / that baby, you the best," and "Like the stars miss the sun in the morning sky." All of these have a feeling that any of the above paragraphs explained, but they're also pretty self explanatory.

[freaktorium]

OKAY I KNOW THE POLL ISN'T DONE YET BUT I FINISHED EARLY LET'S FUCKING GO BRO!

So like I said, the band name is Mother Nightshade. The group contains a fish demon (Piper), imp demon (Jazzy), succubus (Wendell), sinner (Lucyle {yes she has debuted on this acct before, and yes I deleted all previous posts of her bc I repurposed her}), and a hellhound (Arlo)

{Picture featured below is the crew in a Vivziepop esc style}

Now here they are in my style, plus their human versions!

I even made a fake pin for each of them, including their LGBTQIA identities and pronouns

I feel like it'd be worth it to go through each character individually, ya know? Get to know them! Let's start with Piper!

Piper Eela plays lead guitar in the band. She's often known as the "Big Sister" and musical prodigy. She comes from the Envy Ring, and she found her love for music when she was in her early teens. She listened to everything from pop to goth, and loved it all! Piper can also play acoustic guitar, and it was actually the first instrument she learned how to play. She is also one of the first members, as the band started off with herself and her close friend, Arlo. They even made matching jackets that they wear every day.

{VC - Scarlett Johansson}

Jazzy Rivers is the imp of the band. She's a pack of dynamite in quite the small package. She can play any form of bowed string (violin, viola, cello, etc) and even some woodwinds. She grew up around music, and often played instruments at different festivals for public entertainment. Arlo attended one of these festivals that Jazzy was playing at, and noticed her talent. After talking with Piper, they agreed to give Jazzy an opportunity to play with the band. Up to that point, Jazzy had only played country music, and quickly learned to expand her playable genres. She's feisty, she might bite you, but you can't deny she has talent!

{VC - Andrea Libman}

Wendell Starlight is the drummer, a succubus from the Lust Ring. He grew up listening to rock and heavy metal, and learned how to drum thanks to his dad. Wendell finds the rhythm of a song to be one of the most important aspects; without it, the song sounds empty and off-putting. Wendell would do gigs at Ozzie's and would also often fill in during performances, being the backtrack to whoever soloed that night. It was at one of these gigs that Piper went to where she noticed him. Having guitar, strings, and bass was nice, but they were missing something. A solid beat! It didn't take long before Wendell accepted being a permanent drummer for Mother Nightshade, expanding their music even more.

{VC - Jack Black}

Lucyle Thorn is the odd one out when it comes to the band. She's a sinner (and autistic). They can't go to other rings like the rest of the band can, which makes tours rather difficult. Mother Nightshade was doing really well when it came to performance, but they still felt like they needed more. In response, they hosted an audition in the Pride Ring. Many other demons and sinners came, and many left. Lucyle had been raised around piano, she loved it with her soul. In her audition, she played bluesy pieces, something slow and jazz-like, overall expressive. This caught the band's attention, and quickly offered Lucyle entrance, which they accepted. Now when it comes to yours, often Lucyle would record her parts in advance and send them with the rest of the group. They'd rather not do the tours anyways, as she finds them overstimulating.

{VC - Alecia Beth Moore / P!nk}

Arlo Hayes is the hellhound of the band, originating from the Gluttony Ring. He's a disabled ambulatory wheelchair user, so he can be seen on wheels, in crutches, or even sometimes without any mobility aids at all! Arlo and Piper grew up together after he was adopted by her family, and have been joined at the hip ever since. As to why he wears bright ass orange pants, it's, in his words, "So people won't make me a trip hazard when I don't have to be." While Piper learned guitar, Alro learned bass. He liked how he could feel it when he played, and how full a song felt with it. When Piper and Alro got older, they did online videos together, covering popular songs with their instruments. One thing led to another, and they started a band, Mother Nightshade. The goal overall was to be non-conforming. Why play only one genre when you can play them all? The band was a success, with their first few albums focusing on pop, goth, and punk music. As they gained performers, they gained genres. After Jazzy joined, they did a country album, a heavy metal one with Wendell, and a jazz album with Lucyle. Nowadays they alternate between what the consensus is; what do they want to play?

{VC - Ian Cardoni}

Aaaannnnd that's all, folks! Thank you for getting this far! Please consider interacting with this post. It took weeks to get all of these pieces out, and getting the start of a story out there. Of course, if there are any questions, my ask box is always open!

[lunastars21]

Welp, today is one year since Sonic superstars came out,

so for this special day I’ll finally put all my thoughts in this blog, so I can finally put this gosh darn game behind me! XD, so read if you like and enjoy the ride!

My (Hopefully) last Superstars Rant:

Well, this is it. Today is Sonic superstars first anniversary, and unlike the two classic games before it, this one doesn't come with a plus version at all. To say I'm not surprised is an understatement.

Now before we start let me get some things out of the way, First of all: This is MY OPINION on the game, if you like it that's fine, if you hate it that's fine too! I just want to get my thoughts out now and finally bury this game into the ground where it can stay there, alright! Second of all, I have no hatred for Trip, I may sound like I hate her, but I do think she is really neat and fun to play as and I hope she returns in future classic titles.

Now with that out the way let's begin:

I became obsessed with Fang the Sniper/Hunter on August 15, 2022 (yes, I remember the exact date), and when I finished reading all the information, one thing was clear to me.

Okay, I'm NEVER seeing him again

Pretty simple mindset I gave myself because of a few reasons!

1. He's a classic character, so he isn't allowed in modern with cool cutscenes nor voice acting

2. He hasn't had a big appearance since sonic the fighters and only had a cameo in mania

3. What kept him relevant was Archie, and that got canceled in 2017, so his only hope was idw. But they only do classic for anniversary specials, so once again, nothing for a good while anyway

All of it was clear to me that Sega wasn't going to use him, nor Bean or Bark. So I immediately adopted them as any fan who has been waiting for their return for over 20 years would, I gave them headcanons and their own story, Because if sega wouldn't, I will!

..and then Jun 8, 2023 arrived during a direct. Sonic superstars was revealed, and Fang would return in it. A coincidence I got into him a year before his return!? I dunno! But I thought it was a blessing in disguise! I was excited about it! October 17th was gonna be the best day of my life, I thought.

I was there for the comic short, I was there for the trio of trouble animation, and I was planning to buy his miniseries books once they were READY in January! I was prepared to give my full support so Fang could have more appearances just like Mighty and Ray! Hell, even hearing that Sonic Superstars takes place BEFORE Sonic Adventure gave me hope that if this game does well! They'll finally put classic characters in modern, this is where the barrier was and if Fang could break it! That would be awesome! I had my hopes way too high, and that was my mistake.

October 17th finally arrives and I buy the digital deluxe version, giving sega 70 smackeroons for the art book mostly and to support my jerboa in his career.

And then I played the game. It took probably 3 to 4 days to finish all the stories. My pros about it! Mostly great stages and atmosphere, I love the little cutscenes that were in, the controls were okay, and Trip as a playable character was fun to play as! Basically, being a better knuckles and Amy combined, the emerald powers could use work, but overall, I thought it was a neat idea to have these gems show they weren't useless on their own! This game has a ton of potential with all the ideas they were cooking with!

And uh

That's about it

Now for why you're probably here and why I'm writing this to begin with

The cons..

First off,

WHY DOES THE MUSIC SWITCH BETWEEN GOOD AND DOG SHIT!?

I WAS ABSOLUTELY EXCITED TO HEAR FANG'S THEME REMIXED AFTER ALL THESE YEARS AND YOU GAVE THAT TO THE OTHER GUY INSTEAD OF TEE LOPES!? YOU DIDN'T PICK THE COMPOSER WHO MADE THE FIRE SONIC MANIA SOUNDTRACK YOU GIVE IT TO THE GUY THAT USES THE SONIC 4 SOUNDFONT!?(No offense to them)

I have mixed feelings about Fang's theme in this game, it's groovy at first but then when we get to the part the song usually drops and goes into an absolute banger, it LOOPS early and doesn't play the part! My favorite part of his theme is CUT OFF from the song! Making it shorter and more annoying! And I can only listen to it maybe 2 times before I get sick of it!

Listen to the srb2 version that is more of a banger.

Another Con is the lack of story! I KINDA get the idea of what's going on, but where is this STUPID EGG FROM, HOW DID IT GET UNLEASHED? There's no cutscene that shows Eggman or Fang opening it up! It just spawns on its own and then gets sealed away, fucker doesn't even have a name it's just DARK DRAGON. Also the animation in this game that's 2D went down in quality compared to its trio of trouble short! What happened!? And why does Fang have SHREK EARS, just remove the tube's, don't give him earholes its fine! It's not supposed to make sense anyway!

Also, Trip's story is the same as knuckles, she's the last of her kind in an isolated island because her people fucked with the emeralds, she's now it's quote on quote guardian and she gets tricked (more like forced) by Eggman and Fang to be their tour guide through the islands untill she meets sonic and defeats them together, Lack of FIGHTING sonic because despite the game calling her an antagonist she doesn't really do shit against the heroes at all. But she's BASICALLY knuckles but a shy girl. We got this story before man, come on.

Okay, got the small points out the way, now for the spotlight of the hour..

Why the fuck does this game market Fang when he RARELY SHOWS UP!

This game went full force on marketing for Fang when it was announced, he got a mini comic explaining why he's there, he got an animated short, he got a miniseries announcement, HE FINALLY GOT A MINI FIGURE! He had comics in super fast friends that were going on at the time! And other official art from the main account!

But when you play the game, yes he shows up in cutscenes, but you only face him off 3 times and TWO OF EM ARE OPTIONAL, you have no choice but to play level sonic to run away from him, but the golden capital Boss fight (which is really time consuming) can be skipped via a glitch, and you DON'T have to fight him In trip's story if ya don’t want too, ya could just play and finish the main story and put it on the shelf bam boom ya done!

“But I wanna fight the dragon”

Not worth it, it's a pain in the ass like the other boss fights. So in reality if you skip golden capital and never play trip's story, you fight Fang

ONCE

And it's not even a fight you just run away from him!

This game was fully marketed for him, and he only made ONE ACTUAL SHOWING, and that's it! He doesn't have an ending cutscene. He doesn't show up at all during or after the dark dragon fight. He just vanishes. The End.

When I finished the game, I was absolutely pissed about it. I gave Sega 70 dollars to show my support, and he only showed up for a few minutes, and then he peace sign vanished. Ya wanna stay with him for 2 hours? Play his final boss fight because that's how long it took me to beat him.

Speaking of, I actually had a more annoying time with the Eggman final boss than Fang's. The second phase of eggmans was always buggy with me and kept killing me, at least with Fang my deaths were more of my mistake than a bug and his ending blow with his nose made me actually laugh because I didn't expect it and found it funny, and his boss theme is a banger too. (So that's a plus)

Another fault with Fang is the scene after his golden capital fight, where Trip stands up to him after he kicks Her in which the whole Fandom started calling him an abuser (even tho she has armor on so it shouldn't even do much) and now it's all over his god damn wiki, doesn't help his miniseries supports that now more too. And I know, people will love a genuine asshole character, but what bothers me is that

He is just EGGMAN 2.0 IN THIS GAME

Who else mistreats their allies, eggman

Who else builds a giant robot of themselves, eggman

Who else runs away when things get dire, EGGMAN

The only difference between them is that Fang is still greedy, but they are basically the SAME CHARACTER HERE.

I thought this game would go a different direction for him because the animated short and Fang's big break have the same morals.

Learning from your mistakes.

In both stories, Fang struggles against a giant animal ( the giant flicky and giant snake), but once he calms himself down or remembers a past experience, he focuses and defeats the foe! Both stories show how smart Fang can be if he puts his mind to it, and he is not called a hunter for nothing!

So I thought superstars would do the same thing in that scene in golden capital Zone, Fang would realize he is out numbered, his robot isn't done and Trip moved to the hero side, taking all the emeralds he had. at that point, it wouldn't be worth it, especially if Eggman already paid him in advance, and team up with the heroes instead to save his own hide. At the start of the game, Fang ALREADY got what he wanted. He could leave if he wanted to. Those stories showed Fang was smarter than he seemed, but instead in this FUCKING GAME he doesn't do that! He still goes in the UNFINISHED ROBOT and gets one shot by Trip.

I get that at the end of the day he's still an antagonist, BUT PREVIOUS STORIES SHOWED ME HE WASN'T THIS STUPID, SO FUCKING WHY.

This continues in his miniseries! Doesn't wanna go back for Bark, wastes TWO ISSUES searching for an 8th Emerald and getting nothing, and the 4th he separates from bark and bean because of his stupidity Not learning at all to be grateful or show any remorse, which is fine if people like him that way it's cool, but once again that just makes him EGGGGMMMMAAAAAN.

What I found cool about Fang is that he could be NEUTRAL! he'd be an enemy of sonic in triple trouble, but then the next beats up eggman and saves the world in sonic the fighters, and even fights THEN TEAMS UP with sonic at the end of the season of chaos special.

It was clear to me that fang can be a bad or good person as long as it benefits HIM. So him jumping in that Mech and kicking Trip DIDN'T benefit him at all, and losing Bean and bark didn't either because them not being there leads to his fate in superstars.

You can like the hooligans being together or not, but the whole thing stands, these boys were last seen in archie together, which got canceled and didn't show up again till season of chaos. At this point, specifically archie fans, WE GOT ATTACHED TO THEM as a team, we saw them up there with the other teams! And I got an entire discord server to prove it!

So, just splitting them up like that is a stab in the gut. That despite all of the waiting, sega decided to listen To fucking 2, 3, or more people (no offense to you) who hated team hooligan to seperate them and blame it all on fang.

Which by the way Bean ANNOYED me in the miniseries, and not in a good way, him and Fang arguing EACH issue was getting on my nerves, issue 3 being the best of the whole thing because they RARELY argued in that one. That issue showed the potential of the Hooligans and how good they worked as a team. AND SEGA THREW IT OUT THE WINDOW!!!! FUCKING GENIUSES HERE.

Plus they could've EASILY left In issue 2 if they could separate the side cars from the Queen since they could already LATER ON in issue 4. (Bean and Bark ya both fuckin stupid ya not escaping my wrath either I'm ANGY

I Still love yall tho)

I'm fine with Fang being a jerk, But there should be a limit and getting him to “abusive Level” isn't it, despite issue 3, I wasn't happy or laughing as I thought I would for the game or miniseries, Because the hooligans are like looney tunes for me, when I see them, I wana laugh and have a good time. Not be depressed. And I know people like when Fang is cool and serious, I do too, but he was also made to be funny. If you want a 100% serious character, Shadow is RIGHT THERE.

Superstars was marketed for Fang fans. Everything related to it was, it was SUPPOSED to be his grand return. But no, it's a lie. This game was made so you could feel bad for Trip and like her. Fang was just a tool used to lure people to the game and love this lizard. That's all it was. He was just bait, so once Trip got the fans sega wanted, they would throw him away into the vault again, but this time with no Bean, no Bark, not even a bloody popgun, they just left him there to suffer.

That's how I view sonic superstars, a game baited to classic sonic fans, making it seem like an old character's return, when in reality, it's to get people to like Trip, a new character. Who won't even fucking show up till a new classic sonic game comes out or a new anniversary special.

That's why I find it so frustrating, and no matter how much I try, I won't be able to fully like this game because of this information, HELL SHE GOT A FULL SUPER FORM! NOT EVEN AMY, TAILS, NOR KNUCKLES GOT THAT SHIT.

They just got “Super powers” ooOoOo

Bullshit, and the fact your friends can't play as the same character in their levels sucks, Kirby easily did it for magolor, but nope! Ya gotta play level sonic with one player as your friends watch.

Anyway, I think that's everything. Thanks for reading this far. Once again this is just my opinion, I wanted to finally let that all out as for certain there's no plus adaptation for this, and that I want to finally forget this game, I already made a fanfic chapter doing it my way to satisfy how this story actually ends while being consistent. And maybe Fang will get another chance in another 20 years. But until then, I'll enjoy the small moments that did make me smile in that game and his miniseries, like him using an ice sword or having a big mech, and if you actually Enjoyed the game and everything it came with, and still love Fang despite it all, good for you! I'm glad you still like fang, whether he's good, bad, or neutral in your book! All I care about is that you like him, so thank you. :] but I'm fairly certain. Rarely any Sonic fans will celebrate its anniversary. If anything, mostly Trip fans will as it's her birthday.

…

ALSO BRING BACK HIS POPGUN YOU COWARDS! WHY DIDN'T HE USE IT DURING THE MINISERIES HE DIDN'T BREAK IT YET BY THEN AAAGGHGG

Cough if you want a better 2D game with more playable characters and a good story with great music.

Play Mario Wonder

Or play the new mario party! That's out today! ^^

Okay, have a nice day <333

[doyoulikethissong-poll]

Gorillaz - Stylo 2010

"Stylo" is the first single from British virtual band Gorillaz's third studio album Plastic Beach. The song features guest vocals from rapper Mos Def (who played Ford Prefect in the 2005 film Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy) and Bobby Womack. Bobby Womack knew nothing about Gorillaz and was initially unsure about the collaboration; however, his granddaughter liked Gorillaz and convinced him to do it. Womack was told to sing whatever was on his mind during the recording of "Stylo". "I was in there for an hour going crazy about love and politics, getting it off my chest", said Womack. "Stylo" is a playable song in DJ Hero 2. The music video features Bruce Willis and was nominated at the 53rd Grammy Awards in the category of Short Form Music Video, but lost to Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance". :'( "Stylo" recieved a total of 64,6% yes votes! 💖

[wolfhednn]

Celebrating TOA and the people who contribute to make our group what it is. Repost, don't reblog. Only fill in what you feel comfortable sharing! Happy anniversary, TOA! Here's to many more years spent together.

Name: rai

Pronouns: it's complicated so she/he take ur pick

Birthday (no year): may 17

Where are you from? What is your time zone? the states, east coast beast coast. (not rly its swampy here)

How long is your roleplay experience? i regularly lose count. 17 years now i think?

How were you introduced to roleplaying as a whole? neopets, p sure. at least i can't remember rping before that. warrior cats and gifteds rps on neopets were the one-night stands of my heart

How were you introduced to TOA? according to legend, ree was reported famously to have said "we could do it tho" and then i answered "yeah ig we could huh"

Do you have any pets? nah i've come to realize that im not very good at taking care of living things (including myself) and no lifeform should be subjected to that

What is your favorite time of year and why? i'm an autumn girlie, complete with the pumpkin spice. november specifically is my favorite time of year

What is your IRL occupation? i work at a community college writing center ob it's really rewarding to make a direct impact on other people's experiences

Some interests and things you like/enjoy? gacha games, reading, poetry, hearing the dank beat drop in a song and imagining some dramatic rp scene to go along with it

What non-Fire Emblem games do you play? honkai: star rail, granblue fantasy, pokemon, jrpgs, otomes, vn's in general, whatever games my friends want to stream for me while i grind granblue fantasy

Favorite Pokemon type & Pokemon: raichu, and flying types

Tell us some fun facts and trivia about yourself! 3 stuffed animals have pride of place on my bed and they are a fennec fox named luhan, a red panda named shizi (persimmon in mandarin), and whale tartaglia

How did you get into Fire Emblem? was browsing the nearby gamestop in college shortly after fates came out, decided to pick it up on a whim because it looked up my alley. got hooked and blasted through the rest of the series in short order afterward

What Fire Emblem games have you played? everything except jugdral, but i've studied jugdral like i did ff7 back in the day in order to rp it

First & Favorite Fire Emblem games: fates as mentioned above. favorite depends on the metric jsdjgsk but, simplified, binding blade remains near and dear to my heart

List your 5 favorite Fire Emblem characters across the series! i cannot do this i do not hold enough characters in my working memory at a time

Who was the first character ever to make you go “ooh I like this one in particular” and why? Can be any context and reason! i think tsubaki. he was pretty and a pegasus knight, and i only liked him more as i actually saw more of his character HAHA

Any Fire Emblem crushes? huh. surprisingly, not really? was definitely expecting to have some for this one

If you’ve played (or are familiar with) the following games, who was your first S support? Who would you S support nowadays? 　　Awakening: lucina. and yes. always always 　　Fates: tsubaki, nishiki, and leo. and yes. 　　Three Houses: felix bc i liked his character and i always tend to s-support my faves just to see their lines. ambivalent now tbh im kinda roulette w 3h s-supports 　　Engage: gregory, mostly bc i'm also roulette w engage s-supports rather than any overt favoritism for gregory. maybe fogado?

Favorite Fire Emblem class? nomad ranger / bow knight

If you were a Fire Emblem character, what would be your class and stats? Would you be playable? i've been told i'd be mage into mage knight but wielding dark magic. magic nuke but kind of whatever everything else. lysithea but mounted i guess. if i'm somehow playable the circumstances must be EXTRAORDINARY because good luck peeling me away from my nice quiet life for your continental justice war no thanks

If you were a Three Houses character, what would be your affiliation? black eagles probably and i'd cringe abt it

If you were an Officers Academy student, what would be your boons, banes and potential budding talent? reason and authority boon. gauntlet, heavy armor, flying bane. i don't rly think i'd have a budding talent in any of the rest

If you were an Engage character, which nation would you originate from? tbh i'd probably be from elusia

How do you pronounce TOA? individual letters

Current TOA muses: felix, caeldori, rosado

Past TOA muses? too fucking many yall. ugh lemme see. volug, sety, idunn, leif, yuri, kurthnaga, ephraim, lucius, etzel, nel, citrinne, nishiki

Who was your first TOA muse? If you no longer have them, can you see yourself picking them up again? will smith gestures at the grumpycat

Do you believe you have a type of character you gravitate towards writing? reckless boys with hearts of gold (felix, leif, zeiss, ephraim); perfectionistic dreamers (caeldori), charismatic cunning extroverts concealing a boatload of issues, somber cerebral sages (sety, etzel, kurthnaga arguably)

Do you have characters or types of characters you don’t think you can handle writing, but wish you could? there's plenty of archetypes i don't gravitate toward, but i don't really wish i did either. so not really

What kind of scenes, situations etc do you believe you enjoy writing the most? i like dramatic, fast-paced action scenes. i also like anything that explores complex topics and reveals how subjective the world really is, situations that challenge a character's views and beliefs and force them to reflect on what makes right or wrong

Do you have any scenario in mind for your muse(s) that gets you thinking “man I hope I get to write this one day”? not really right now. i don't usually have rp wishlists like this because my enjoyment of a scene depends more on how effectively i feel it's being executed rather than just getting to do the specific scene by itself

Favorite TOA-related memories? probably running team mercy in lock&key? that was a really fulfilling experience

Present or past tense? present tense

Normal size text, small text, no preference? small text but idc what my partner uses

Got any potential muse delusions to share? i have muses falling out my pockets. lately i've been fistfighting the ilios in my head constantly. sometimes you just want to play a loser

[stormbreaker101]

Music(ology) headcanons! Part 2

My friend @klaraflamez and I have been writing a shared story based upon the wizard101 AUs we made independently. Things go somewhat off the rails, and so these headcanons that we made for Music absolutely do not work for canon, which is part of why I'm making this post separate.

An overview of our AUs:

In both Corrupted Spiral (my AU) and the Cleaved AU (Klara's), the Spiral learned so heavily on its dependency upon its Wizard that it led to the Wizards' demises. In CS, before Arc 4 could properly begin, Nora lashed out in fury, sick of being Nothing but a title and weapon, and abandons the Spiral. In Cleaved, Scarlet was killed in the final fight of Lemuria, a 1v8, abandoned and alone because the Spiral assumed she would have handled it.

The main characters of the next generation after the two Wizards (~0-5 years after Nora's departure and 25 years after Scarlet's death) each realize that even though they're not The Wizard, they still have a duty to serve the good of the Spiral.

Overall there's a major theme of destiny and responsibility not falling on just one person's shoulders. The Wizard is not the only Paradox, and the primordial magics of Light, Shadow, and Music are no longer reserved for the Wizard and the gods. They become proper schools, integrated with the other ten (7 playable schools + 3 Astrals).

I've written and come up with spells for the Music school, as one of the characters I'm writing ends up as the Scion of Music, while Klara's writing the revamped Shadow and Light schools because her OCs become the Scions for those.

More details on Music as its own school in CCSAU (both lorewise and mechanicswise because i am gamerpilled), and all the spells themselves plus their explanations (where I derived inspiration from) are under the cut!

Music is the magic of creation. 'Outgoing' mechanics are the name of the game. It is a major hitter like Fire and Storm, but also has access to heals like the more defensive Life magic that came from the Song of Creation. Music's greatest weakness is that it is a major glass cannon, with no spells in its repertoire able to mitigate incoming damage.

The reason Music is tied to Fire and Storm alongside Life lorewise is because the Scion of Music first studied Fire and Storm magic alongside Musicology, before Music was its own school. Our Scion shaped Music as much as Music shaped him.

Now onto the spells themselves!

MAINLINE (primarily ATTACKING) SPELLS:

1 pip - Lyrebird - 90-130 damage. Based on the lyre instrument, and also a nod to Lyra, the fanon Music school tree in the Cleaved AU.

2 pip - Trombun - 220-260 damage. A pun on trombone and bunny.

3 pip - Earworm - 500 damage over 3 turns. Colloquially, earworms are catchy bits of song that just stay in your head and WON'T GET OUT, which is the inspiration for making this spell a pesky overtime. Also, taken from the Earworm/Brainworm mobs in Empyrea.

4 pip - Melodeer -  465-525, + 20% heal OR damage blade to self. Melody + deer. Here we begin to see some utility and niche poke its way into spells so that they're not plain and pure damage. Also, just to balance Music against the other 'hitter' schools a little bit more, it doesn't get a 4-pip AoE.

5 pip - Volta Bracken - 400 damage AND 400 health to self. A reference to volta brackets (an element in musical notation), with language nodding at Storm and Life magic (volt as in electricity, bracken as in a kind of plant). Yes this spell is an objectively better version of Beary Surprise. I hate Beary Surprise so much why is the bear both anthro and nude. why does he fucking smile like that. why can i see the whites of his eyes. WHY THE HUG?

6 pip - Resonance - 525-610 damage + remove all blades on 1 target. A single-target version of Myth's dreaded Earthquake.

7 pip - Horschestra - 700 damage to all enemies. Your classic 7-pip AOE. Horse + Orchestra, taken from a song in the Homestuck OST because it made me laugh tbh.

8 pip - Revivace - 1200 Heal to all allies. Name derived from Revive (synonym of Rebirth) and Vivace (musical mood). Meant to be a parallel to Life’s Rebirth spell, since Bartleby is the closest thing to a Music school tree in CS. However Rebirth gives an absorb-shield, which counts as temporary HP even if the spell heals someone to full, while Revivace has no extra defense.

9 pip - Crescendo! -  100 damage turn 1, then a DoT for 200, 300, then 400 damage, to all enemies. Crescendo is a musical term for "get gradually louder"

10 pip (Azteca) - Ceramic Drake - 1000 damage to 1 target, then 625 damage to all enemies over 3 rounds. The first of Music's spells that take on aesthetics derived from the world they're learned in. It takes inspiration from the tlapitzalli, an Aztec flute-like instrument made of ceramic.

5 pip + Shadow (Darkmoor) - Rehubution - 810 damage + 25% Music trap to all enemies. The spell's name comes from the word Retribution and the rehu, an instrument made by the Māori of Aotearoa. All of the canon Darkmoor spells are actually Khrysalis themed, and @chrono101 (now deactivated) made a really cool post about how the Hoppers had Aotearoan references that I remembered while coming up with this post. The effect in combat is derived from Fire from Above before it was nerfed and then slaughtered.

6 pip + Shadow (Polaris) - Luphilymn - 1260 damage, +1 turn to Damage over Times (DoTs) on enemy and +1 turn to Heal over Times (HoTs) on self. Luphilim + Hymn.

4 pip + Shadow (Mirage) - Spirit of the Groove - 900 damage, divided between targets (like all other Mirage spells). This spell is less a reference to something Miragian, and more a nod to a character who had a major impact on the Scion of Music's development. Ceramic Drake, Luphilhymn, and the upcoming spells of Ramalong and Jungle Drum Jam also are nods to characters that the Scion of Music was greatly supported by.

X-pip + Shadow (Karamelle) - Ramalong - 220 damage per pip. A blend of sing-along and the candy rams. This spell is an X-pip because there are a handful of songs/lullabies about counting sheep. Count your pips up!

6 pip + Shadow (Lemuria) - Jungle Drum Jam - 850 damage to all enemies, +40% Music blade AND +40% heal blade to self. Taken from this once-off moment in Lemuria where Bantam says that he and the Koolakamba just casually use advanced musicology for the sake of boogieing.

The effect is taken DIRECTLY from the far superior path of the Life Lemuria spell, Lord of the Jungle, before KI nerfed it to bits. I am so fucking mad about the nerf. I fucking liked having a decent shadow AoE on my Life and now it's useless again. <- had to get my gamer rage out sorry.

1 pip + Fire pip + Storm pip (Novus) - Tempo Inferno - 800 damage, gambit 1 blade into a DoT for 500 over 4 turns, gambit 1 trap into a HoT for 500 HP over 4 turns. Tempo refers to the speed of a musical piece, and both pieces of this spell's name are nods to Storm and Fire as well (Temp- for tempest, Storm's most iconic spell, Inferno for fire). This spell would also hold visual reference to that one sidequest about how clocks don't work on Novus.

1 pip + Death pip + Myth pip (Wallaru) - Crab Grave - 575 damage to all enemies. A reference to the extinct Juggernaut crabs of Wallaru, the still living Tasmanian giant crab, and the legendary Crab Rave meme. Given that all of the Wallaru spells' archmastery pips are the ones backwards from the Novus spells' pips, it made sense to make Crab Grave's pips the roshambo opposite to Tempo Inferno's. Myth is the roshambo opposite of Storm, and Death is the roshambo opposite of Fire. Don't believe me on Death and Fire? Look at how Balance's Novus gear has 3 variants that pair Ice-Life, Storm-Myth, and Fire-Death as its archschools. No I don't know why the Balance Wallaru spell is Death-Storm instead of Death-Fire I don't get it <- gamer raging again.

UTILITY SPELLS:

There are some utility spells that every school gets access to, simply changed per school: the basic Blade and Trap and Shield are simply named Music Blade, Music Trap, and Music Shield, because they're standardized for all the schools (Except Ice Shield, which is actually Snow Shield, for whatever reason?). Though, to put a wrinkle into things and keep with Music's theming as hyper-outgoing, Music Trap is the only ward spell (a spell that affects incoming damage rather than outgoing) that Music gets permanent access to. Music Shield would be TC only. Traps get special treatment because of Maulwurf von Trap existing. I like the guy don't @ me.

Then there's the utility spells that are just about the same for each school but with unique names. These include:

the 2 pip damage bubble - Circle of Fifths, after an important element in music theory. +25% damage to all outgoing Music spells AND +25% to all outgoing Music heals (the boost to healing alongside damage is unique to Music. Life gets Circle of Thorns (+25% damage) and Sanctuary (+60% healing) as two different bubbles.)

the 4-pip critical and pierce bubble - Acoustic Arena, +15% Music critical and +20% Music pierce.

the dispel - Mute

the Taunt/Pacify - Soloist, Taunts the enemy for 2 turns, making you the only target they can hit. Yes, having a glass cannon school gain taunt is a bit poor in game design, typically you want your glass cannons to have some form of Pacify so that they're not killed as quickly, but thematically Music becoming a loud center of attention makes more sense to me.

the complementary triad shield - Eclipse Shield, -70% incoming Light and Shadow damage. The parallel to Storm's Thermic Shield (-70% Fire and Ice) or Death's Dream Shield (-70% Life and Myth). Like Music Shield, because this spell is both a staple piece of utility that every school should have access to and a defensive ward that goes against Music's school identity, it would only exist as a treasure card.

The level 75 minion from The Professor - Baronness Webberfeld - 5 pips, summon a minion of Music. She is a reference to Baronness Elberfeld, a minor character from the Sound of Music. Because I had to get a reference to that in. Because I am normal about Maulwurf von Trap and his source media.

And then we get to the unique utility spells, the gimmicks that gives Music its identity in-game or give it thematic support.

Tune Up - 0 pips, +20% accuracy to the next outgoing Music spell. A parallel to Storm's Lightning Strike (which back in my day only gave +10% accuracy, not +25%). Music spells have a base accuracy of 70% like Storm, so the accuracy buff would be greatly needed at lower levels.

Bangsnap! - 2 pips, Confuse or stun each enemy for 1 turn.

Gurdy-hurdy - 3 pips, Confuse or stun each enemy for 2 turns.

Bangsnap and Gurdyhurdy go together, I'm thinking of them being from the Grizzleheim and Wintertusk spell quests at level 35 and 55. Bang snaps are small explosives that only release a loud sound but do no damage. Gurdy-hurdy is a reference to another in-game moment.

(The hurdy-gurdy, un-reversed, is a kind of musical instrument.)

And, yep! Myth is no longer the only school with the Confusion mechanic! Yippee! (I can hear the gamerbro players scream.) This is because before Music became a standalone school in CCSAU, Klara had the idea that, the way some Wizard101 spells are musicological despite not being in the school of Music, some Pirate101 abilities are inherently musicological as well, namely Blast of Discord.

And this is an ability that our Scion of Music was able to learn before Music became an independent school, so rather than take that ability away from him, we decided to incorporate it into Music's entire repertoire.

Leitmotif - 2 pips, 305 HP to 1 target, then 305 more HP 3 turns later. A leitmotif is a snippet of a musical melody that comes back later in a piece or in another piece (Toby Fox, one of my favorite composers, uses leitmotifs to the MAX.)

Sonatyr - 4 pip, 650 Health + 30% Healing Blade to all. Satyr + Sonata. Does less health than Life's Satyr because I don't want to completely upstage Life, but giving an extra blade to everyone is useful. It buffs every healer, and would count for any blade-based gambits/secondary effects.

Adagio - 1 pip, +1 turn to a HoT on an ally or to a DoT on an enemy. Adagio means for a piece of music to slow down.

Allegro - 1 pip, -1 turn to a HoT on an enemy or to a DoT on an ally. Allegro means for a piece of music to speed up.

Adagio and Allegro are spells that go together. If they were to be implemented in-game, I'd have them be learned at the same time. Having a spell that does different things depending on whether it's on an ally or enemy is really interesting to me, though it would be a pain in the ass to code.

Encore - 5 pips, force your target to cast the same spell for the next 2 turns. Encore, of course, means "to play again". Taken directly from Pokemon because why not?

Baton Pass - X pips, give your blades to an ally, universal and at half-value, (1 pip per blade). Also derived from Pokemon because why not? The half-value gimmick comes from Bantam's cheat of "I'll be taking that, thanks!" Where he replaces a blade you cast on someone else with a universal blade of half value. The devs intended that cheat to be annoying and discourage buffing one player to the max, but it's actually a REALLY HANDY mechanic when used correctly. The half-value blade would count as a unique blade that therefore stacks with whatever other blades your ally has.

Perfect Pitch - 1 pip, +20% accuracy to all allies. Perfect pitch is defined as the ability to tell exactly what note(s) a sound is without any reference. This spell would be copy-pasted over from Life, and also derived from the Pirate101 abilities Call to Arms and Esprit de Corps, which both boost your team's accuracy. (Esprit also gives dodge, a stat that I cannot find any way to translate into Wizard101 that wouldn't be a defensive ward, which Music does not do). The animations for those two powers feature musical instruments (a drum and a trumpet), which makes it feel very musicological to me and therefore fitting for Music itself.

Fortissimo! - 2 pips, +15% Critical chance to all allies. Fortissimo is music speak for "BE FUCKING LOUD!" This spell is derived from the Pirate101 abilities Discipline and Enduring Discipline, which (are supposed to) give +5% and +10% critical chance to all allies. (I have heard that the abilities that purely increase critical chance rather than another stat simply don't work because Pirate101's code is made out of silly string, but that's besides the point). There are very few spells that affect critical, so it's a niche that Music could fill in if it wanted to.

This probably isn't even enough utility, Wizard101 has a SURPRISING amount of spells it throws at you. It's such an in-depth game. I love it. I am normal about Wizard101.

Also, Klara was absolutely AMAZING and drew some of the spells!