#you go fuse your soul with that dragon

[yugioh-polls-because-yes]

POLL RESULTS

ALL 👏 JADENS 👏 ARE 👏 BEST 👏JADEN 👏 !!

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk...

Best Jaden Yuki Poll

Today's my birthday!! so I'm making a poll of my favourite character, and the fandom's favourite protagonist (See the first poll on this blog): Jaden/Judai Yuki

[haniebnie]

And I can hear her sing And I know she's giving up And I don't know what to do, how to help her How to bring her home And I can hear him break And he doesn't understand And I wish that I could take his hand But where I'm going is for me and me alone [ inkpot gods by the amazing devil ]

i think a lot abt mythal and what is left of her. what we get in datv is NOT mythal, not actually her — merely her fragments, parts of her that were there but are NOT her. i think calling the 2 fragments we've got in datv the whole and completeness of mythal is too definitive and declaratory.

it's as if only your anger or passivity was remembered abt you after you. the tragedy of mythal — and the whole dragon age i'd even say — is of history. and what history remembers abt you cuz it's based in who writes abt you and who reads it. every codex is biased, not objective, but biased and political, made with agenda in mind. who mythal actually was is nowhere to be found as she is dead and nothing can be done abt it, nothing can fix it (but maybe time travel ig lol). we as the audience and players do make assumptions of her either that she was a heartless tyrant or a proactive player in the arlathan Game or that she was just passive and subjected to the command of elgar'nan. it shows our bias I'd say or more adequately our focus.

the fragment of mythal we got to know with knowing flemeth is not mythal as it's a fragment of her that flemeth found while angered, hurt, and vengeful after being betrayed. fragment of mythal is a spirit — a manifestation made out of the shattering of mythal's soul when the evanuris killed her (which accuracy should also be questioned cuz we're told she was killed and what if something else happened — we're told she was killed by people and spirits who were not there or who want it to be what is remembered) AND flemeth's anger and hurt. i think it was said in game that it was the hurt and anger that beaconed that fragment. and that's it — a fragment of what mythal was and felt ever. of course a part of her must've been angry and vengeful after being killed and/or dead, of course that part responded to feelings of anger and betrayal and all that might come from such a situation as being killed by assumed loved one. this fragment responded to the parallels of anger and betrayal. it is the most similar to what we have with anders and justice and that is so important to me as anders enjoyer and supporter. whatever you prefer to call it — the derogatory abomination or the neutral fusion of spirit and a mortal (or half-mortal cuz i don't remember if it was confirmed who made flemythal live that long, almost or fully immortal). so they fused and connected due to the shared values and of embracing them literally and more metaphorically as part of themselves. just that acceptance by Anders of his need for reaching justice and flemeth's acceptance of anger and hurt (or all the other possibilities that might've connected that spirit fragment of mythal and flemeth, there's so many things and i don't want to definitely say it was anger or vengeance or even empathy cuz it could've still be benevolence or something more trickstery or just that the point was that both flemeth and mythal were difficult to read as 100% one thing. i personally have not made my mind what feelings connected flemythal). i think what happens then with morrigan is the passing of the fragment that was with flemeth for all those years and flemeth's memories and feelings but not flemeth, i think flemeth died when solas took her powers.

recalling the all faded for her mission from dai — Solas says that spirit killed doesn't stop existing but basically returns, reseted, a blank, a tabula rasa of a spirit. i think it's not definitively said that they do have to return as the spirit of the same value as they died embodying. i'll return to this thought later on or in another post.

i personally believe that what is offered in the well of sorrows choice both is and is not a fragment of Mythal. similarly as we don't exactly know what is time exactly, we just created measures and ways to achieve a repeated motion that appears in that exact repeated measurement we've created for time, in the literal sense what we have in well of sorrows is not mythal nor a true fragment of her soul, her spirit. depending on how much of magical impact does faith have in the dragon age universe (is it like for instance of the jester & traveller situation from c2 of critical role or even the anime noragami — if the believers believe then you've gathered more power and if they stop believing in you, you loose power?) well of sorrows could be more metaphorical but made tangible or it could literally impact mythal and offer her power or even the faith of the followers had an actual impact on how she was and changed her with their power of communal manifestation. they literally made her be how they wanted and assumed her to be. i really loved the idea in the dimension20 fantasy high of the moon goddess who literally was altered due to the faith of the elven country that wished her to be ephemeral and soft, a perfect epitome of an elf, when she appeared first as chaos and wolflike and the two opposite sides of her fought inside her constantly. if they had such power over mythal with their faith and the shared manifestation they literally could've made her change herself as to reflect their strongest feelings, needs, and wants as the spirit she both was and wasn't at that point. and in dai it was said and i personally focus on this fragment that well of sorrows was the collective of mythal's most devoted priestesses and the power lies in that — in that they were so devoted and felt their emotions so strongly that it actually transcended and offered the power, not exactly the connection to mythal. maybe she felt responsible or devoted back to them to repay their credit of trust they gave her, that they believed, maybe she felt indebted to them as they offered her her power, maybe she literally cared for all of them or she wished to make them feel so strongly and to the extent of what a material being can and could ever possibly mean. maybe feeling every emotion to it's full extent and with layers and complications truly was what gave her magical power (cuz of the manifestation and nonexistence of veil back then tempering the power of magic and thus manifestation) or maybe it just motived her to act in their name, as their representative, just a political figure. or maybe she didn't know herself as she was both a spirit and material, maybe it was both, maybe it was all of it at the same time. all that to say, well of sorrows both was and wasn't mythal's fragment (imo).

The fragment we get in the crossroads also is not mythal. righteous and with short-temper, bitter and resentful, cold but slightly separated from the past. i have little to say here, i think we've got little of her in the game and i only played datv once so i might return to this fragment later on if i play through datv once more.

even if these 3 parts of mythal were to be connected into one like we've got in that one ending in datv with the 2 parts of her, we would've not gotten back mythal as she was. we'd get a spirit made of 3 other spirits, they could've created a fusion of the three of them (creating further questions of what is needed to create a fusion of spirits and what it'd offer etc) with some parts of mythal but the tragedy still stands — mythal is dead and nothing can be done about it. thus why i don't think the ending hits for me as solas would actually know that that isn't her. still he could've reacted very emotionally seeing her say that to him but at the end of the day he'd know mythal is dead and nothing can be done abt that.

this reminds me so much of the ending of c2 of critical role. spoilers ahead but when they defeated the threats of somnovem and the cougnoza and retrieved the body of lucien whom they knew as mollymauk tealeaf to return their friend to them — it all failed and they got another fragment of what once was the soul of the tiefling they knew who also just was a fragment of what was once a complete thing. unreturnable, irreversible, unable to make whole or get what they wanted. the tragedy of mollymauk was that they were never whole and nothing could be done abt it, i think even a wish could not return him but maybe it'd have made him whole but that'd be somebody they didn't know. who they got was kingsley. and i think this same thing happens to the fragments of mythal we've got. we should've been offered a new name for these fragments but maybe we already know it as morrigan — the 2 (or 3 if she was the well drinker) fragments and the soul of morrigan. just as we know anders as Anders which also isn't his actual name but it works for him and justice now.

[anthurak]

So I’ve finally read up/through the Abyss/Albaz/Branded/White Yu-Gi-Oh Card Lore series in preparation for the anime mini-series coming out in April.

And HOLY SHIT, it is so fucking FUNNY what they do with story ‘protagonist’, Fallen of Albaz.

Like on paper, Albaz looks like your pretty standard fantasy-hero-protagonist. A cool-looking, brooding dragon boy with amnesia who meets a cute girl and the pair go off on this big, grand adventure together.

Plus he’s got a really cool, special and very ‘main-character’ power in that he can transform into a number of awesome, badass dragon forms. Again, pretty standard ‘fantasy-hero’ with a sides of ‘self-insert power-fantasy’ stuff.

Except that in practice, this whole setup turns out to have a bit of a wrinkle in that Albaz just CANNOT win a fight to save his life. As in, this guy is just CONSTANTLY needing help from others to win fights, or just getting his shit wrecked.

Seriously, across all of the Abyss Lore we’ve gotten so far, EVERY fight Albaz is involved in has him getting/needing a powerup/help from friends and allies, and then getting a brutal ass-kicking.

Note that I didn’t use ‘or’ there. Because even with powerups from allies, Albaz still just CANNOT actually win a fight himself and is constantly getting his shit wrecked, generally smacked around, losing his girlfriend, and/or getting all his power stolen by his evil theater-kid clone/brother/possible ex-boyfriend.

It’s fucking HILARIOUS.

Like the only real, actual ‘win’ Albaz gets across the entire story is when he’s able to save his corrupted, mind-controlled girlfriend Ecclesia via their mutual bond and fusing into their new ultimate dragon form and go off to fight the final boss of the arc together. Which you know is actually legitimately pretty interesting, poignant and cute.

That for as much as Albaz might get smacked around and just generally can’t win ‘traditional’ fights, the actual victory that is truly his is when he SAVES someone he cares about.

It’s still REALLY fucking funny looking at it through the hypothetical lens of anyone going in hoping for some standard power-fantasy shonen-protag and getting someone who just constantly gets their ass handed to them.

In fact, it gets even funnier when considering anyone expecting Albaz to be some standard shonen-protag self-insert power-fantasy guy, because he’s also kind of being constantly upstaged by some seriously BADASS ladies in both plot relevance or just generally ‘doing awesome shit’.

For example, this is Fleurdelis, aka The Iris Swordsoul, the mentor and older-sister-figure of Ecclesia, the other main character of the story and Albaz’s partner.

This is her kicking Albaz’s ass in his first dragon form at the start of the story.

This is her utterly OBLITERATING a city-sized sandworm and also smacking Albaz around again in the crossfire. For reference, that little winged-guy in the lower left getting zapped by one of the smaller lightning bolts is Albaz in one of his dragon forms.

This is her and two of her buddies taking on the entire evil cult/religion that she and Ecclesia used to serve and 1v1ing the evil pope and utterly wrecking his shit. Though sadly it didn’t stick and she ended up getting captured, corrupted, mind-controlled and implanted with the 663 souls of her and Ecclesia’s predecessor ‘saints’ of this cult.

This is Fleur after overpowering that corruption and mind-control through sheer willpower and drive to protect her sister.

And then wresting control from all 663 of those souls and channeling their power along with her own in order to absolutely annihilate the evil pope in his new godlike, dimension-warping dragon form.

Yeah, Fleur is kind of the biggest badass in the entire setting XD

And this is Tri-brigade/Springans Kitt, who ends up being kind of the real hero of the story thanks to spending the entire B-plot of the narrative assembling and recruiting an army of various technology and explosive-possessing fae and mecha space gladiators and a shitload of magitek weaponry before showing up to save the day at the final battle.

So yeah, all in all Albaz actually feels like this fun little subversive take on the typical ‘fantasy-hero self-insert power-fantasy shonen-protagonist’ mold where the hero actually loses all the fights he takes on alone and has to get help from others and all the real victories are won through teamwork and the power of love and friendship and also there are some seriously badass ladies kicking ass.

And I am REALLY looking forward to seeing it all animated XD

[shitpostingkats]

*SHAKES YOU AGGRESSIVELY*

TELL ME ABOUT YOUR “Zarc is an incarnation of The Supreme King” THEORY I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THIS YOU HAVE GOT ME HOOKED I AM OBSESSED WITH THESE FIRE TAKES YOU ARE SPITTING OP

Jaden and Yuya are now my favorite dynamic of all time, and now that I’m being shown the similarities I’m wondering if it’s really just a coincidence GX and Arc-V are my absolute favorites out of all the Yugioh series this is insane 👀

Hehe. Gladly <3

(Uh. This got long so it's going beneath the cut for the sake of people's dashboards)

Well, first off, there's just a lot of similarities between Zarc (the original Zarc, before he split into the Yu-bois) and Jaden. Both can talk to duel spirits, both start out chipper and are driven to the edge by grief, both split into various personas/people (Jaden with himself and the supreme king, Zarc obviously into the Yu-bois), both fuse with their ace monster(s), and both carry the title of "Supreme King". Most interesting, to me at least, is how both shape a lot of their identities around what they think people want from them.

Zarc was content to be an amazing duelist, but felt pressured to put on a good show, to be more brutal. Jaden, more subtly, constructs most of his personality off being easygoing, chill, and carefree, because he internalized that his emotions are dangerous, and people would rather deal with happy Jaden than the emotional disregulation mess that he actually is.

And both of them, when they get overwhelmed, adopt a mentality of "Well, the world might as well burn with me."

Jaden, rather than feel his grief, locks off his own trauma behind a brick wall and goes on smiling. Yuya, rather than deal with his dads disappearance, does the same.

I'd also like it noted that supreme king Jaden and supreme king Yuya have yellow eyes.

And some teal/orange eye asymmetry

Honestly, even dragon form Yuya and the Supreme Kings armor have similar silhouettes.

Mostly its in the spikes on the shoulders and elbows, and the fact that Zarc Yuya forms a weird chestplate (and that this is the same art team and visual style)

Another thing I get hung up on is that both Jaden and Yuri have super poly. In GX, Jaden had to go through an entire arc of misery to get that card, and Yuri just? Has it?

So my little headcanon, is that in the original timeline, before the dimensions were split, Zarc had the spirit of The Supreme King, able to command duel monsters and wield The Gentle Dark. Unfortunately for everyone, he got a teensy bit traumatized before he could enact his destiny of defeating The Light Of Destruction. Using his powers, he fused with his dragons, nearly destroyed the world, etc, etc. When he split, the Supreme King couldn't just split into four the same way the rest of his soul could, and so while the dimensions split, the past was rewritten to attach the power to a different soul, with a different guardian to boot. Similar to how the timeline got all borked to set everything back to a late nineties world of duel monsters.

Which would make Yuya 1/4 of an alternate universe version of Jaden. And I think there's a lot of fun to be had with that idea :)

[plotandelegy]

Unleashing Creativity: Top Ways to Generate Unique Fantasy Story Ideas

Photo: Standard License- Adobe Stock

Welcome back,

There's no denying that fantasy has been at the core of some of the most enchanting, daring, and downright unforgettable tales (for one reason or another) that have shaped the literary landscape. Who doesn't love the thrill of journeying to some new adventurous place with otherworldly creatures and epic battles between the forces of dark and light? Personally, I'm all about the dark side. Even for the most seasoned writers sparking the imagination can be difficult. Things like inspiration seem elusive as a dragon hiding in a mist-covered mountain. Today, I will cover a few ideas to find your muse. My muse sometimes hides in a dumpster...so let's find better ways to do this, shall we?

People Watching, with a Twist: Observing people in everyday situations can be a great source of inspiration. Now, add a layer of 'What If?'. What if the barista at your local coffee shop could control elements? What if the older woman feeding pigeons in the park was a retired warrior queen? This exercise allows you to create complex characters with intriguing backstories, ripe for the world of fantasy.

Travel Through Time: History is brimming with periods that, with a little twist, can become fantastic settings for your story. Victorian England's social hierarchies, the Renaissance's scientific innovations, and the fierce battles of Feudal Japan offer fertile ground for fantastical tales. Weave in elements of magic or mythical creatures, and you have an intoxicating cocktail of historical fact and enticing fantasy.

Bioinspiration – Fantasize with Flora and Fauna: The natural world is a veritable treasure trove of inspiration. Let's call this approach 'bioinspiration.' Start by exploring Earth's biodiversity's peculiar traits, behaviors, and survival mechanisms. Why not envision a species that communicates like whales but hunts like a pack of wolves? Or perhaps a plant that blooms under the moonlight and has the power to manipulate time? The possibilities are endless when you fuse the wonder of our world with a dash of fantasy.

Take a Hike (Literally!): When was the last time you truly engaged with the wilderness, the mountains, or the sea? Natural landscapes are rife with potential for fantasy storytelling. As you walk through a dense forest, consider the creatures that might inhabit such a place in a fantasy realm. That murmuring stream could be a water nymph's dwelling, and the wind howling through the canyon might be a dragon's call. Try to visualize your surroundings through the lens of fantasy — you may be surprised at what your imagination conjures up!

Harness the Power of Music: Like music, few things can stir the soul and spark the imagination. A piece of music can evoke many emotions and images depending on its rhythm, melody, and harmony. Try listening to music without lyrics (like classical, orchestral, or ambient music) and let your mind wander. Picture the scenes that the music evokes. Is that tranquil harp melody the song of a peaceful elven village? Does the tumultuous symphony represent the climax of an epic battle? Use these mental images as a springboard for your fantasy narrative.

So there it is, everyone. Five unique ways to draw up some inspiration. Go find your muse!! Probably shouldn't have said mine hides in a dumpster. I'm all about being superstitious, so I'm sure she'll never speak to me again.

Happy Writing,

Indigo Everly 

P.S. Need more? Check out this post!

[agenericplaceholdername]

Dragons Rising E16-20 Thoughts

Here’s some thoughts on the final episodes of Dragons Rising, Season 1:

Land of Lost Things:

So how’d the Dragon Core end up in the Land of Lost Things? Nya says, “Someone lost it” but who?

The Land of Lost Things in this ep is permanently at sunset/rise and looks beautiful

The land itself is screaming? Seems kinda important

Couldn’t Geo just fuse the Hoarder to the ground

Bonzle! Never expected how much they’d do with her after this ep

Sora ngl powering a machine off of another person’s energy does sound like Imperium

Who built this machine anyway

Poor Geo :( 

Cole is just so lost lol. “What Empress?!”

Okay but he’s also super cool

“Bones. Extremely useful.”

“Broken things can be repaired, and made stronger!” Thanks Geo - not only is your relationship w/ Cole super cute but you’ve helped Sora

Dr. LaRow is exactly the type of person who would “erm actually” an insult

IT FORMED A HEART

Wow it’s a cute blue blob

Wyldfyre growth

Very good episode - Cole is characterized great, Geo is fun, we get both Sora and Wyldfyre growth, the Land of Lost Things is beautiful. Certainly could go into more detail but these bullets are just what I think as I watch, not in depth analysis

The Administration:

Arin nearly hits Lloyd in the face with his grappling hook

I wish I had a line to wait in

The Kai and Wyldfyre stuff this episode is great for both characters

The Administration as an agency is so fascinating. Reminds me of the TVA from Loki

“We have to fill out ‘Tricked by fake forms’ forms first”

Blue Frohicky

Is that a new species? The guys who look like Munce? Or are they Munce?

Zane says that the Administration has no real authority, which is true, but it’s also the case that their teleportation technology is very powerful

The Administrator… hmmm

“The lands formerly known as the Cursed Realm” so the body of the Preeminent in Hollow’s Trench? The soul of the Preeminent in the Departed Realm? Something else?

JAY!

Of course the Administration had a car specifically designed around Zane (I choose to believe this was Zane’s car at one point and the Administration confiscated it)

So what else qualifies as a Class B artifact? Is there a hierarchy — would Class A be something like the Golden Armor?

And of course the Administration has a mech designed for Arin and Lloyd

Love the Zane death note scene. “You’re a form genius.”

Really fun episode on the Administration side, and heartfelt one on the Kai & Wyldfyre side

Absolute Power:

I wonder if Ras got revenge on those guards later

Ras has seen a Source Dragon with his own eyes…hmmm

Interesting choice to make Levo a jerk. It makes sense why Beatrix would be so resentful

Beatrix using adults in green suits to represent children I can’t even

This fake dragon core thing is slightly confusing but pretty understandable once explained

“Sora’s Armor for Geo” is a great soundtrack

“[Time] is running out everywhere” because the ground is screaming. Cole what are you talking about? Your journey here is still unaddressed, at least a year in universe later

This Nya Cole exchange is really nice

Was Beatrix just waiting under the Throne Room for them to arrive?

“Obviously they have different energies, they’re different Cores” it’s funny that the sets color the cores differently, but in show they’re all identical lol

Bye Rapton

Excellent manipulation by Ras, but the following scene in prison shows Ras’ fatal flaw: he thinks he’s smarter than everyone else, so he can’t see that Beatrix has (or at least thinks she has) grown beyond him

Love the Imperium coup scene

The hoverboard one take is also great

One of the Imperium Teen Protection/Resistance Force members has changed

LaRow finally grows a spine— only for Jordana to fill in!

We Are All Dragons:

So Percival didn’t know Arin’s name— but did he still think he was a doctor?

“I forgot there’s two of them now” Kai and Wyldfyre work so well together

“There’s no talking to [my parents]” we’ll see about that Sora

Genuinely curious what Arin thinks about the fact that Wyldfyre thinks her powers make her superior 

Nya that joke was “Mediocre-at-best”

Hey it’s the dumpster Arin hid Riyu in

Why did Beatrix film herself admitting her lies

“I’ve always got your back, Sora” thanks Arin, good to know for reference

NO JIRO!!!! (yeah he’s fine but the implication)

The return of Melvin, the greatest Imperium guard

Yet another perfect Kai and Wyldfyre scene. Not the shoulder pad storage!

Get him Riyu, he deserves it

The Beatrix dramatic entrance and then immediately Dorama

Another great one take

LaRow loves nothing but taunting people she doesn’t like - both Sora and Jordana. If they ever end up reconciling, they already have a mutual enemy

They show a clip of Beatrix admitting the dragons didn’t escape, but it’s a different one from when she does the same thing with LaRow in E11

Sora’s dad shakes his head as Sora speaks

Excellent speech from Sora, following in her Master’s footsteps

Kai and Wyldfyre are so cool

Why would you throw one of your own loyalists?

We are all dragons!

Oh shoot

The Power Within:

Finally, Dorama sees the bigger picture

Extremely cool shot (the MergeQuake over the entire city of Imperium)

I agree, the Empress *has* lost it

Excellent shot of the Ninja

Wyldfyre!

Kai gets sliced with a giant mech sword and is basically fine— what sort of armor is under those Ninja outfits

Percival!

Riyu!

Arin can only do Object Spinjitzu when Sora’s in danger (or when he thinks about Sora being in danger)

Oh no not Rapton ah well

LET’S GO SORA WOOOO

See ya Beatrix

Oh no not the Bounty (again)

Zanth randomly grows in size and then never does again lol

I would never forget you Lobbo

I think Arin’s parents are proud of him

Sora’s parents were swallowed by a MergeQuake

Is the Sora scene a culmination of a whole season of character development executed really well? Yes. That being said, I had an even bigger smile when Frohicky appeared driving Zane’s car with the dragon core

Yet another awesome Lloyd vision scene

Dragon hugs :)

The Source Dragon scenes are always cool

“Who was right?” Good question

What’s special about Riyu, Mr. Energy?

“This cycle” what do you mean?

Good advice Lloyd, suppressing your emotions is bad

So we now know that Wyldfyre has Heat, not Fire, but how does that differ besides burning vs melting aluminum cans? (there are plenty of ways but I’m interested to see what they go with)

Kai how’d you drop your pie immediately

Ras stop manipulating teenagers challenge level: impossible

So Ras has a “true” Master, wants to unlock forbidden secrets, and is now working with Jordana. Great setup for Season 2

Closing (brief) thoughts on Dragons Rising Season 1: It’s really good. Good blend of the more episodic stuff and serialized content. Arin and Sora are a blast, Lloyd is great, and I forgot just how good the Wyldfyre stuff is this season. There’s a lot of hanging threads, but Season 1 also does feel like a complete story. It’s not perfect by any means, but certainly at the higher end of Ninjago seasons.

Next up, the start of Dragons Rising Season 2!

[spot-of-tea]

Breaking curses.

Okay so I was recently thinking about some of my past au's and I was specifically thinking about all the way I'd come up with to break or alter Zeref's curse. So let's take a look shall we.

Obligatory putting in a line break because this will be long

Okay so first off we have the only version (so far) that I've actually written down.

Death.

So essentially Zeref still dies like he does in canon which breaks his curse, except he doesn't stay dead. The version of this your most likely familiar with is tswwid were Zeref comes back to life through a failed reincarnation leading to his soul becoming entwined with his nephew (an even earlier incarnation of this fic was much darker and his soul became fused with Luna's and Iggy didn't initially exist).

An alternative to this version was instead of him coming back, somewhat, naturally, a cult managed to successfully revive him thinking he would bring about a new order. Only for him to massacre the group in anger that he'd been denied the one thing he's sought after for hundreds of years. Only for him to not realise that he's now human and treks all the way back to Magnolia to beg Natsu to kill him a second time. he is obviously denied and goes on a journey of learning to accept his new life.

The next one we have is...

The Dragon Scale Coat.

So this version was originally a papalogia au that I thought up. If you're unfamiliar with papalogia essentially Acnologia becomes an, almost, good guy and begrudgingly raises the five dragon slayers (seven if you include Laxus and Erik too). This version happens either after the Tenrou arc or earlier if somehow Natsu and Zeref encounter each other and Natsu learns that his scarf can protect him from Zeref's curse. With this knowledge in mind Acnologia decides to bodily drag Zeref from his own pity party and creates a dragon scale coat made from his own shed scales.

In some instances the coat is reinforced to negate as much of his curse as possible in others it does it naturally. either way the effect is the same. While wearing the coat, Zeref's curse is locked away and can no longer hurt anyone. The problem arises is that it also significantly reduces his regenerative abilities and means that he cannot take the coat off without realising his curse. inevitably leading to some precarious situations.

Then finally we have...

A Deal Gone Wrong.

I am not going to go too much into this one because it does give away spoilers for a future project. But the idea boils down to the thought that someone wanting to help Zeref finds a way to summon Ankhselam and bargains for his curse to be broken. It doesn't necessarily go well. In this version Ankhselam is a cruel and callous god that enjoys toying with humans, so in order to make a bad situation worse grants their request a la monkey paw style.

The end result doesn't break Zeref's curse but it does lessen it to the point that it can no longer hurt the people around him. He retains his immortality and agelessness but he retains the death magic that has plagued him, just a more controllable version.

So yes, Here are the main ideas I had so far... if you've got further questions or want to expand on anything have at it my friends :3

[chaotic-theatrical-weaver]

Ready set go rank your top ten TØP songs and why (purely audio)

Have them featuring images I’ve drawn where applicable! (This is totally not me wanting to be asked about the characters.)

“Polarize”: I’m super morality-oriented, and oh, if that pull isn’t something that resonates in my soul. “I wanted to be a better brother, better son…” YEAH. Go listen to Abbey Glover’s and Tessa Violet’s versions.

“Fall Away”: Same reasons as above. Also has a super pretty piano part (even if rapping while arpeggiating is not feasible)! “ ‘Cause I will save face for name’s sake, abuse grace, take aim to obtain a new name in a newer place, but my name is lame, I can’t walk and I ain’t the same, and my name became a new destiny to the grave.”

“Doubt”: It’s the perfect companion track for “Polarize”!

“Trapdoor”: I can actually play this one on piano, and lyrically, it sounds like if you took a bunch of Arthur Miller characters (specifically, Reverend Hale, Joe Keller, and Willy Loman) and made them fuse with each other. (Fun fact: All My Sons was baby’s first Miller play!)

“Goner”: This one is more hopeful than many would think. I love the bridge and the ending’s implication of a resolution! Even if Blurryface doesn’t disappear fully, it’s the assertion of control over him that matters.

“The Craving”: This is where you’d be seeing more art of the four/two/it's complicated people above if I had more time. "Say enough, say enough / Did I let her know, let her know / If I found my body in chains / I'd lay down and wait / 'Cause it's the fear of the unknown / That cripples every step we take / And I'd just hate to put this on her / But I swear that I will give / More than I take away / Mmm, the craving / Now I see intentions don't mean much"?! IT'S SO THEM. I can also play that on my ukulele!

"The Judge": "I don't know if this one is about me or the devil." As our beloved @artist-issues put it, Tyler's admission that he's as worthy of condemnation there is just...really vulnerable and honest and it flies in the face of everything the world teaches us. To me, it's like reading "I'm not the dragon. I'm not the princess either" and then getting later to "Okay, so I'm the dragon." Plenty of little girls dream of being princesses. All of us dream of being "good people," or at least "good enough" that we're basically the same. Not only are we not what we dreamed, we're the antithesis to that, but there is thankfully God's grace so that we don't always have to be. This song is the grasp for that. And you know I would be drawing the four/two/it's complicated people again for this one.

"Car Radio": I love those second-verse lines about faith and sleep and choosing our sides in this battle for our souls. Do I need to say any more?

"The Line": STRINGS! PIANO! My best friend got into TØP because of this one after quite some time of me being wild about it on my own. She had to bug me (affectionate) for a few days about hearing it and when I finally did? OH THE EDITS I WOULD MAKE TO THE FOUR/TWO/IT'S COMPLICATED PEOPLE I DREW.

"Mulberry Street": It's so Little Fires Everywhere-coded. "Keep your bliss / There's nothing wrong with this"? "Move out of our way / We're pushing sideways / Keep sidewalk under your feet"? Okay, Elena Richardson, pakialamera extraordinare. And the plinkity plink plink of the piano. How could I ignore that?

[millenniumdueled]

The Day of Judgement: part 2

The bridge creaks under each step, but the Other Yugi doesn't waver or flinch as he walks to the mesa where Raphael waits, an island towering over the desert floor below.

"What've you done with Professor Hawkins?!" he demands.

Raphael smirks. "Oh, I left that old man somewhere in the desert. He served his purpose already. But since you've come all this way... You might as well stay a while.

As soon as Yugi reaches the stone platform, the man across from him draws two large throwing knives from his coat, hurling them simultaneously in Yugi's direction. But he doesn't flinch as the blades wizz past either side of his head, nor as he hears the taught rope supports snap, not even as the bridge crashes against the cliff far across the chasm from the mesa where they stand.

As he readies his Duel Disk, Raphael speaks of a dark and lonely world, poisoned by mankind. How his God and Guardians have promised a new world, free from the people who've ruined it. That it starts by defeating the Nameless Pharaoh. That it's an honor to do so.

"What do you know of Honor?" the Other Yugi growls, drawing his first hand. "You think killing all of these innocent people is justice? Don'tyou see the God you're following is a God of evil?"

Raphael scoffs, but the looks he gives his opponent is pity.

"We each walk on the road we believe in, with our own justice in mind. Which direction does Doma go? Justice or evil? Only history will tell. And all we can do at this moment is bet on our own justice."

The Other Yugi narrows his eyes, and their Duel begins.

As they play, Raphael explains his past. That his family was lost at sea after their luxury cruise was caught in a storm. That Raphael was the only survivor, that he was protected by Guardians of the island on which he found himself. That when he returned to society, he found it cold and uncivilized. That Dartz had promised to save the world by starting it anew.

The cards he plays keep him drawing cards, keep his monsters from the graveyard at all costs. The Other Yugi tries to play fast and hard, to end this thing before his opponent can draw that cursed card. Maybe no one has to lose their soul here, if he can just win quickly enough--!

Raphael plays Purity of the Cemetery, a card that deals both players damage for every monster in their graveyard. But he's been careful, keeping his own monsters from the grave by any means necessary, speaking of the Guardians who had protected him before. But Yugi grits his teeth, glancing at his own discard pile, filling up fast as he tries to rush through this game before the stakes are raised.

The odds are against him, but he summons the great dragon Timaeus to fuse with Dark Magician Girl. This has to be it!

And that's when the tables turn. Raphael actiaves the magic card Exchange, demanding both players choose a card from their opponent's hand. The Other Yugi feels his chest tighten. There's only one card in both their hands.

He swallows down the lump in his throat, the nervous way that Yugi addresses them inside their heart. Head held high, he walks across the mesa to meet Raphael in the middle. As the other man towers over them, their eyes meet, and there's that look of pity again. The Other Yugi says nothing as he exchanges his Necromancy, and he doesn't even need to look at the card he receives.

"you can't play that, other me," Yugi gasps.

"I know, Partner."

But the stone around his neck glows, burning against his collar bone.

But as the Duel resumes, he draws, and his lifepoints drop again for every monster in his graveyard, while Raphael's hold steady. He orders Dark Magician Girl the Dragon knight to attack, but Raphael activates a trap that leaves her encased in crystal and useless.

Behind Raphael, the first rays of dawn break from the horizon.

"I know you want to use that Seal," Raphael muses. "I can see it in your eyes. You know that's the only way to win, Nameless Pharaoh."

The Other Yugi curses under his breath, sets a monster in defense and ends his turn. Raphael attacks both Yugi's set monster and his lifepoints too.

That stone burns the Other Yugi's skin again.

"other me you can't. if you don't play it, nobody has to lose their soul, please--" Yugi begs. But the sound makes his Other Self's head throb. He stares down at the card in his hand. "we might lose, but we can all just walk away and--"

"I can't lose," the Other Yugi gasps, out loud but under his breath. For a moment, he remembers the last time his Partner begged him like this, pleaded with him as Kaiba stood precariously at the edge of Pegasus's castle. He remembers the fear in Kaiba's eyes then. The desperation in Yugi's voice now. The humiliation as his attack was called off as his lifepoints dropped to zero. He can't do that again. He can't fucking lose again!!!!

He feels Yugi tug at the reins, try to take control of their body.

He feels that stone burning like fire against his skin.

"other me, don't do this! don't do this don't do this!!!" Yugi screams, but his voice is already drowned out, pushed aside as his Other Self locks the door of his soul room and plays his only option.

As the Seal of Orichalcos disappears into the Field Card tray of his Duel Disk, a rush of heat and power washes over him, feeling like his skin is burning away as the glowing Seal appears on his forehead. He screams, falling to his knees as the Circle spreads below them, trapping both Duelists inside their cruel fate.

All Yugi can do now is watch helplessly as he gasps, "what have you done?"

[and-a-pidgey-in-a-wepear-tree]

good [insert time of day here] i realised i never thought to ask you amid my delight of you being the most interactive follower i have that isnt an irl friend do YOU have ocs or blorbos. i wish to know. for reasons.

OH hello yes thank you for asking!!! I have several OCs but most of the time I simply Do Not Explain on here; I have lots of ideas and doodles but I make it mostly for myself and don't think to share — doesn't mean I don't want to tho! exhibit A: this absolutely massive post I'm about to make lmao. putting it under a read more bc Oh Boy, the floodgates have been opened

most of my OCs are for two different projects I have: The Visitors and my D&D Dark Star Campaign.

The Visitors is just a lil worldbuilding project I've been chewing on for.... oh wow, over a decade at this point??? I love all the OCs I have in there very very much, but they're definitely never intended to go in an actual story, I just enjoy the speculative biology and character / world building process.

Val is one of my oldest OCs, and she's changed SO MUCH over the years! nowadays, she's a sort of insect/dinosaur mashup alien who uses gravity warping magic and a very large axe to hunt demons. a huge issue for magic users of her species is keeping cool, as magic generates heat and can literally cook you from the inside out, so you'll notice the multiple vent-like spiracles across her body for this purpose. she was born blind and so relies heavily on her best friend, Django, to be her eyes and keep her safe. fortunately, Django has Too Many Eyes. he's a dragon genetically engineered by those in Val's species to be the perfect vessel for storing and releasing massive amounts of mirror-based magic. this kind of magic gives him many abilities, including seeing around corners, creating illusions, or multiplying attacks when applied in different ways, and he acts as Val's seeing-eye dragon. in battle, she likes to get up in the action while he holds back and gives her cues on what's happening, only jumping in himself if she's in major trouble. she's very friendly and excitable, and loves to get into the culture of whatever planet they're visiting, while he's more interested in observing and snooping. there's a lot of espionage and hijinks.

these are some of my most recent sketches of them, tho I'm sure the designs will changes in the future. specific colors don't matter at all, it's all about vibes! not pictured in the halfway colored one is Val's big iridescent black cape thing that has a slit down the middle for her rigid tail, nor her weird arms since I wanted to figure out where the torso vents could go.

Duke is another Visitor who visits planets and solves problems, but his path to get there was a whole lot different! I made him up as a coping mechanism when I was 12, and I'm still very fond of him.

he started life as a human video game speedrunner and modder prodigy. in a "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" situation, a devil (very distinct from demons!) struck a deal with him, challenging his gaming abilities with his soul as the stakes. he won despite the devil's cheating, but that's where the resemblance to the song ends. in this world, a devil winning your soul allows them to fuse with you and gain total control over your body, mind, and actions; but if YOU win, the control is reversed! and like any 14 year old who suddenly has the power to rival minor gods and a chaotic creature living in their head.... he goes off the rails for a while. Val and Django eventually find him and help him cope. his powers include electricity, glitching reality, flailing his glaive around, and being a menace to evil overlords.

you can't see it very well in this picture, but his eyes and the segments between his tail glow lime green! I'm not a fan of drawing clothes, but in my head he's relatively fashionable for a teenager and refuses to wear anything other than black. also, he decided to tell me he was trans a couple years ago, thanks for letting me know buddy 😂

my other project does actually get to see the light of day, if very slowly — I'm running a homebrew D&D campaign for my irl friends called the Dark Star Campaign! none of em use tumblr so WHEEEE I get to post all the spoilers I want! there's a kinda staggering amount of lore behind it and a ton of minor OCs, but the two I rotate in my head the most are Anya the Timekeeper and The Master, aka Armageddon.

Anya the Timekeeper is a chronomancy lich from an alternate universe! she used to help Armageddon travel the multiverse and gain power, but she's decided she's tired of being evil, and now hides in a mansion on a tropical island where she breeds dinosaurs for fun. though she's now very determined to help the party, they'll eventually have to kill her past self to prevent a paradox. her familiar is a little archaeopteryx named Trix who steals hats!

(I commissioned this art from @/goodlouse a while ago! highly recommend checking out his blog!!)

Armageddon is the BBEG and he's SO EVIL and SO MUCH FUN. he's an ancient amethyst dragon who, up until a while before the campaign's beginning, was steadily finding alternate universe versions of himself, killing them, and eating their souls to gain Unlimited Power™. unfortunately, his partner in time (hah) Anya told him to fuck off, so the quest for Unlimited Power™ has been kinda slow lately. fortunately, a D&D campaign started, and he cheated his way into existing at the players' table as The Master! my players can ask to talk to him sometimes, and I'll put on a mask of his head I made specifically for this purpose — very useful for not breaking character when the character is supposed to literally be the one sitting at the table talking to the players. I don't try to hide the fact that he's evil and they all know it, the fun is in giving them little hints and tidbits of lore to munch on. right now he's being very docile and helpful but things will get very very interesting eventually as more of his nature and plan is revealed..... =)

I'm still playing around with what he looks like as The Master, but I really like this recent design I did. his eye glows dark and menacing. I haven't found a design for his dragon form I'm really pleased with yet tho :/

okay wow thanks again for the ask, I have many many ideas in my head and it felt pretty nice to get em out!!

[zhauric]

If your OC(s) could fuse with feral souls for battle at the Arcadion, what kind of beast would they join with?

Well I can't say I have ventured into Arcadion yet as adulting has kept me tied up. As I asked a friend I wouldn't mind going but to being a Toys R Us Kid, heh. I know I could google I like surprises so I'll answer without that knowledge.

For Asande it'll be a dragon if you count that in the feral beast department. It's rare you won't find her with her dragon hatchling companion flying by her on her shoulder. Her love, respect admiration for what they symbolize resonates in her so that would be the pirate queen's choice.

For Kaelivh though his companion is a hunting hawk he'd probably resonate more with the tiger. A silent stalker who prefers to roam in solitude than with a group of others when he can. A feral tenaciousness settled within waiting for the moment to erupt and find it's release.

My thanks to you for the random question. Inquiries are always welcomed and appreciate. Sorry I don't know much of a darn thing about Arcadion just yet but I'll get there at some point....I'm sure, heh.

Until next time.

[lilylovesfoxs]

Star and solar have a talk

Solar:"I don't understand why isn't it working I managed to get the human souls from a different timeline and yet somehow my dragon isn't powering on-"

Star:"... If you can travel to different timelines then what's so special about this one?"

Solar:

Star:"you can easily find a timeline where you won you could find a timeline where you find a cure... Yet you're here... Wanting to find a cure that doesn't exist"

Solar:"...I don't know"

Star:"come on solar you have to make a decision now"

Solar:

Star:"you can either stay in this timeline and go to therapy or you'll go to a different timeline... One that you won"

Solar:..."fine you win"

*-solar put echo soul back in echo and make them fuse*-

Galaxy:"now... You have to apologize to your sister"

*-meanwhile*-

Lily:"I'm sorry what do you mean he's dead?!"

Lunar:"he's been dead for the past year it's just his soul is unable to move on so he's unable to do anything he didn't even realize it"

Red:"wait wait wait hang on then how is she interacting with things Chara and clover can't and they're dead victim had the same problem"

Lunar:"that's because their souls have already passed on they are just a guide"

Clover:... So my clover ghost friend is my guide...

Darko:"it made sense now the real reason why clover was following clover around it's because clover is blind"

Delto:..."I should have named my kid better"

To be continued

[itsbenedict]

From the beginning | Previously | Coin standings | 37 | 19

Right, okay. This person thinks MELODY IS TOO IMPATIENT. You've met her, right? She's a terror! Not a fan of being told she's wrong, especially if being wrong means she has to do all kinds of questioning and paperwork. Confronting her directly would be an unnecessary risk, when they could instead just make her think someone did her chores for her and she can go off and do whatever she wants. That... basically makes sense. Even if this person were SEQUEL INJECTION, which they're definitely not, that might be a reason they'd decide to do this for you. It's completely plausible.

Okay.

You're just about done, now. All you have to do is execute on the plan.

And you do. MONDAY'S MORGUE SOME RANDOM GUY happens to have some DRAGON BITES CLUES BOGUS CREDENTIALS that can elevate your Arma access level, allowing you to use the "Mirrors" ability and create an illusory duplicate of yourself. They take you to the SPECIMEN STORAGE, find an empty cage, and deploy PRINCE TONY to act as a decoy.

[ed: And that's... enough. Our hypothetical whoever can let Walter and Adea out, or secretly work to cure them, or whatever. In the normal ending, we can say the cure failed, and something bad happened to drive them feral, and they got locked up in the cage for real and then deployed by Melody as a weapon... but there's another possible sequence of offscreen events from the start of the game that means they survived. You want to know how to get that to happen in your copy of the game? Well, I'm going to find out, and then I'm going to tell you. And if you were paying close attention, you already know where I'm going to tell you.]

DING! FICTION'S ANNALS:

A DEMOCRAT: 33/122 Coin

MER-MYSTIC: 52/83 Coin

HYENAS RETREATED: 43/74 Coin

LEAD A HORSE TO WATER: 0/20 Coin

MELT RICH, XD: 9/9 Coin

WAVED O'ER: 9/9 Coin

NATAL HEN FARMER: 8/8 Coin

VIZOR RUSE: 7/7 Coin

AN AESTHETIC PURE TROLLOP: 4/4 Coin

1:1 TYPO-SAN: 3/3 Coin

CLAP, ELECT PIP!: 2/2 Coin

MIKE’S GRAPHICS SHTICK: 1/1 Coin

[ed: ...What? You thought there'd be more? This was supposed to end as soon as you all collected the letters. But you went and decided to STARVE TO DEATH early, so I had to go with the backup Adea location just to bail you out. And then it was supposed to end when the DATA VALIDATOR ripped Walter apart and forced Adea to fuse their souls to replace his missing heart, but you ruined that plan, too. You were never supposed to reach the POISON SWAMP or VAMPIRE CASTLE, but since you finagled your way in there anyway, I thought maybe I could have MELODY REMAKE do her job and put you away in the cage. You know how the game ends. You weren't supposed to try and survive. I just wanted to see if I could write the backstory for something that never got explored in-game. But you people just had to relentlessly thread every needle, didn't you? Had to chase some impossible golden ending. It was never going to happen. The experiment was supposed to be limited in scope. A little game, to test the waters. But, hey. You got greedy. I let you get greedy, because I wanted to see how far you'd take it. And now look where we are! Everything's going to be so much more complicated now. I've gotta keep these idiots alive, on top of everything else. Do you know what a pain in the ass that's going to be? It's not easy! But you know what? It's fine. I'll make it work. I'm Doc7or Coolhaxx. I'm going to make this stupid game cry uncle if it's the last thing I do.]

[maestro04yayyy]

OK, so you asked ab9out my world building and here is the main gist of it, regarding the Kwami at least.

Firstly, I divide the Kwami up into epochs relating the the creation of natural forces or concepts that tend to come grouped in trios.

Secondly, each trio has their own 'EPIC MAGIC' when combined, but nothing quite as big of a deal as the Wish rewriting all of reality.

Thirdly, I basically fuse the Butterfly and Peacock, Sentimonsters are now familiars & the alternative use to making Akuma, they can become "Manifested" if kept around long enough but it takes time, not just energy.

Fourthly, this allows the Senti-plot if one wants because Emilie using it to make Adrien is like giving fifty times the amount of blood that is safely recommended, it didn't kill her right away, but she basically destroyed a lot of integral "Veins" manifesting Adrien right away.

Fifth, I reduce the number of Kwami by fusing them with others who have similar ideas, creating more expanded power sets with less clutter. Bull & Turtle are just variations on a theme for example, so I fuse them.

Sixth, I tend to make it that all Kwami have two domains & two powers, or at least, interpretations of their powers, Migration for example can teleport, or open portals, or sort of just fling the user around, Also one can use more minor versions of the powers more than once, single teleport takes less than a big portal, but the overall rules remain limiting. This is also why the Eldest trio have both a lot of power but also fairly simplistic abilities.

With that in mind, the Kwami!

Creation (Planck) Ladybug - Creation & Purification Cat - Destruction & Mutation Snake - Ouroboros & Time

Elemental (Matter) Tiger - Combustion & Chaos Bee - Order & Subjugation Dragon - Storm & Power

Life (Abiogenesis) Peacock - Evocation & Transmutation Mouse - Multiplication & Duplication Turtle - Protection & Resilience

Animal (Caveasphaera) Horse - Action & Migration Fox - Mirage & Materialization Butterfly - Emotion & Transmission

Prodigious I also fiddle with the Prodigous some, though I never can settle on the Renlings, I have a solid take on Mei-Shi, namely:

Incarnation & Transmigration!

IE, manifesting incorporeal beings into physical form & the movement of your own or someone else's soul. Hence Mei-Shi possessing the statue but also having a Kwami form. They even have a Miraculous tool, the ball, which is fun. I tend to regard them as a Lion Dog or Shishi.

The Renlings are harder & sometimes I ignore them entirely, other times I tinker with them being like:

A butchered pseudo Miraculous using animals spirits. Or ther concepts are tied to none cenrtain ideas so they can't embody the whole concept of justice cos all justice is different, ETC.

Or something like Kwami, namely Predation & Prey, but cos of the making process they don't have a binding command like the Kwami & or they indirectly effect the user to become animalistic.

Older versions also had Mei-Shi as Fission & Fusion (Nuclear energy!) Or Magma & Melting for Renlings (Earth counterpart to Longg)

Notes:

I added mutation to give the Cat something to balance then, out with Tikki without majorly disrupting anything. Whether mutation or Purification cancel the other out is a coin flip as is the result of mutation so it can be either obscenely OP or useless. Hence not seeing much use but being a potential game changer.

The Peacock's power is to emphasize existing traits. Like re-organizing a metal into its strongest or weakest state; or to change the elemental composition of its target into another state. Its era represent multi-cellular life, plants, metamorphosis, & generally how things became competitive hence defense being there too.

The final four have some of the broadest powers, but also the hardest to control as they embody a lot of chaotic, thinking, feeling entities.

Kaalki has it easiest, being variations on moving from one locale to another, but there's a lot of ways it can go wrong. Fox can get into the minds of others, hence mirage, or materialize thoughts, illusions, which can get messy. This also means most people are using it wrong, amusingly.

The Butterfly can tap into a great many things but as we've seen with Akuma, but not strictly 'control' them, merely guide. Hence being able to create such powerful Akuma, but not really control the specifics. IE, Noroo is one of the most powerful, but also has the least direct control over their power, while the creation trio have some of the most simplistic powers, but have near total control.

Not sure what the epic magic for each trio would be. But adding a fourth or substituting a different Miraculous doesn't work. You can unify two different eras fine, and be a powerful holder. But you can't jury-rig EPIC MAGIC.

Also using it tends to be ah... Bad?

Like, if you use the second trio to make a sun, you also have a black hole on your hands, they're in many ways kind of useless apocalypse magic. Or will do stuff like, weaken the boundaries between the living and dead worlds. So great, now we're all haunted by the narrative, thanks Gabriel! XD

Sorry for the ramble!

Don't be sorry!!! I asked after all!!!! And I love reading/hearing people ramble!!!!!

Also that's some good worldbulding!!!!

And yeah the kwami are a lot and probably too many, so merging some toghter is the right choice.

Also giving wach kwami more aspects and power is always nice!!!

I usually make that all kwami have at least a swcond power like the ladybug but maybe even more, and unlocking them depend on training amd affinity with their concept!!!

Also I espand on their concept a little(like plagg represent darkness too)

Also the idea that all trios have a super apocalittic magic power is awesome!!!!!! And yeah it has some very bad conseguences!!!

(Really thanks gabriel!!!)

[http-caedis]

I’m realizing my last ask might’ve sent before I had the chance to actually write out any questions. Uh whoops. But anyways

I’m curious about how the rituals themselves work. Like are they done willingly or by some nefarious organization?

Are they able to defuse themselves from the monsters or is it like a permanent thing?

Also I think I saw you mention a special fusion card. Where did it come from? Cause super polymerization from Gx took like ten thousand souls to power it and I think it’d be intresting to see how a more toned down version of something like that works.

I’m kinda blanking on most ace monsters right now so I don’t really have any suggestions but I think there could be some really interesting design stuff done with characters like Trey, Quinton, or Anna whose ace monsters are more like objects.

Anyways this is a super fun and cool au and I can’t wait to see what you make with it cause I checked out ur art and it’s really good :) it is also motivating me to work on my own au where I make characters magical girls based on their aces

THANK YOUU AAAA I feel like I can do this au more justice now that I’m actually not.. what.. 12?? 13?? Years old LOL ALSO OMG good luck on ur own au that sounds so cute n cool id love to see your stuff for that 🫶

ANYWAYS finally answering the ask, so the rituals are done willingly. In my mind it falls into a cultural aspect, like about when a character reaches their teenage years (since most ygo characters aRe teens with a few adult and kid exceptions) it would be the time where they would fuse with their ace or most bonded monster. Bc yknow how some cultures celebrate children reaching their teenage years, think of it like that. It’s a lovely thing that lots of kids look forward to and adults look back fondly on 🫶 the specific age of doing the ritual varies from character to character, but they should be merged with some ace by the time they’re 20, iF they choose to merge.

It is permanent. You can not defuse, the monster you choose is the monster you get. No take backs and if for whatever reason there’s a mistake (say ur persuaded into choosing a monster when you have a better bond with another, etc) you can’t undo it and ur stuck with it. The fusing varies in pain level, as it all depends on the ace you fuse with. Naturally, humanoid monsters would be less painful, while the more monster looking ones, the more painful it’d be. So let’s say Joey chooses Red Eyes to merge with, it would be pretty fukkin painful bc it’s adding oN to his current anatomy. Humans already have a tailbone, but with the ritual, that tailbone would extend and extend until it becomes a dragon tail. Ykwim?

I did mention a special card! Thing is, I barely remember GX and am currently rewatching it, tho I’m not far at aLL, so I can’t remember how super polymerization worked in full, but the card for this au is a similar card, something that’s more suited for constant use as I thinkkkkk super polymerization is a kinda sacred card??? I don’t remember 😭 but I’m not really sure how to go about this ritual card, I just know that there iS one and it’s needed to fuse. WHEW,, this au got my brain working overtime 😭😭

[dmagedgoods]

👾? (one for each, or whoever volunteers 💕)

Each ... the main 3, I assume? 😁 Salvadore: Then I'm going to pick his "theme song" this time: Natural by Imagine Dragons. "Nothing ever comes without a consequence or cost, tell me Will the stars align? Will heaven step in? Will it save us from our sin, will it? 'Cause this house of mine stands strong" Struggling with mistakes he made and still staying true to what he believes in. "That's the price you pay Leave behind your heart and cast away Just another product of today Rather be the hunter than the prey" Eneas teachings, and, Salvadore definitely is a hunter, hunting his goals, hunting power, and sometimes people if they are worth it. "'Cause you're a natural A beating heart of stone You gotta be so cold To make it in this world Yeah, you're a natural [...] Took an oath by the blood on my hand, won't break it I can taste it, the end is upon us, I swear Gonna make it I'm gonna make it" Not accepting any fate but changing the world. ~ Eneas:

If I burn by Emilie Autumn It perfectly fits Eneas' teenage years, when the abused, tortured, powerless boy swore revenge while still not being able to free himself from his situation yet. "I could beg a thousand times I could explain I could use rhymes And rhythms meant to catch your eye But I know you won't see I could cry a thousand tears I could appease your secret fears But the louder that I scream The harder your machines close over me [...] I could bargain but I'd lose You'll sell the parts that you don't use Yes, I could beg you to be merciful and set me free I could threaten you with Hell Or I could promise not to tell But the softer I become The harder your machines close over me But I don't care Maybe I'm afraid, but still I swear You could take my life with conscience clear But you should still hear That if I burn You will see the fire in your mind when you sleep And if I rise up in smoke around your eyes you'll know it's me And the rain won't wash away the ashes underneath your nails today Doesn't matter where you go or what you do Cause if I burn, so will you" ~ Rowley: Guns for Hire by Woodkid Especially fitting in my original universe but I don't want to say too much. "Resting on a knife, you heavy souls With all this weight buckling down on you now Don't you drown and float away Not a good time to lose control Right as your marionettes cut their strings and run away You're out of time, make your move Live or die while the fuse is lit and there's no turning back Kiss your perfect day goodbye Because the world is on fire Tuck your innocence goodnight You sold your friends like guns for hire Go play with your blocks And now you'll pay when these walls come tumbling down Oh, they're tumbling down" But it strongly fits his views in any case, his cynicism and bitterness after he lost his brother and how he makes those pay who are responsible and sets their world on fire.