#he was inspired by. an interesting amalgamation of characters

[thatsthewrongwallcraig]

I know you wrote for Kappa/Euro. Hear me out.. could you write for Euro/Dead from lords of chaos? No one writes for jack kilmer and it drives me insane‼️😭

Pure Fucking Armaggedon

Summary: In the midst of a heavy night of partying with the Black Circle, you crave your boyfriend's attention but just like so often lately, he's very much not interested, leading you to meet your needs somewhere else…

Pairing: Dead x fem!Reader x Euronymous

Word Count: ~3.7k

Content Warnings: Trve Kvlt Smvt 18+!, Talk About Depression/Mental Illness, Talk About Self-Harm, Very Angsty, Hurt/Comfort...ish, Alcohol, Smoking, Cheating…But With A Twist, Fingering, Unprotected P In V, Creampie, Pet Names

A/N: Hi, anonnie! Thank you very much for this ask <3 Before everybody jumps into my inbox about Jack Kilmer: Please don’t, okay? He’s not tickling my brain like Rory does and I’d hate to let y’all down by having requests sitting in my inbox collecting dust 🖤 However, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't having a lot of fun writing this chaos!

Massive thanks to @spookyorchid for endlessly entertaining my rambles and inspiring me!

Disclaimer: This is solely based on the characters depicted in Lords Of Chaos!

Tagging the horny horde:

@crypticsewerslut @quicksilversg1rl @cc-luvr @icarus-star @milaeth @roryculkinsgf @spookyorchid @arch1viste @whoareyoi @angelsanarchy @blueberrypancakesworld @rocketqueen-world @lifelessvessel @doddernix @svgarcaine @amayalul @basementgrl222 @kristennero-wallacewellsver @iiheartsai @fan-goddess @shady-the-simp

Could you stomach it anymore

Could you stand to be a breath away

Can you feel the way your face distorts

Did you think that it could be this way

- Stomach It By Crywolf

Your upper lip twitched a little as your gaze darted right into your boyfriend's chestnut-coloured eyes. In a rather stark contrast to yours, Pelle's expression was indifferent whilst he stared back at you, face smeared with a now gray amalgamation of once black and white corpse paint.

"Sorry…" He muttered, his voice lacking the depth and sympathy to really sell his point.

"No…it's, it's okay, really. It makes no sense to pressure yourself when you're not in the mood, no." You shrugged your shoulders at him, very much meaning what you said whilst you still felt that massive rock of repeated disappointment settling down in your stomach.

"I'm gonna go grab another beer then…can I get you something?" Pelle shook his head lightly.

"No, but thanks. I think I should just go to sleep now." The Swede with the long blonde hair allowed himself to slump deeper down into the old, worn out sofa, crossing his arms in front of his chest and with that not just verbally but also physically blocking you out.

"Nighty then…" You mumbled, turning away from your boyfriend to hide just how hard you fought to keep your composure.

Neither the heavy leather jacket, the edgy metal studs and spikes all over nor your trusty Darkthrone shirt hugging your torso were able to shield you from the emotional hurt raging inside of you. It's been months since Pelle last touched or so much as kissed you on the mouth. You knew just fine that something wasn't alright with him, that he was going through an episode again and the last thing you intended on doing was putting any blame for that on him but fuck was it challenging you this time. It didn't go past you how the I love you's had become more and more scarce, how he turned his back to you at night whilst you stared at the ceiling hoping for the oncoming episode to wash over him in a few, swift weeks but his current black hole of depression was unlike anything before. You hardly recognised your boyfriend anymore and felt like nothing but an accessory to the whole band persona he'd put up to cover up how much he was actually hurting on the inside.

To not come off as a soft, little crybaby to everybody else, you stifled your breath and wiped the emerging gush of tears from your lower lash line as fast as you could before making your way out to the densely crowded yard again. Empty bottles of beer lined the way whilst partially smoked-up cigarettes laid scattered all over, the heavy smell of a raging bonfire filled the crisp night breeze. Whilst almost violently looking to the ground to avoid anybody seeing you being about to burst into tears, you rushed to one of the cooling boxes to grab a beer or preferably something stronger. A sense of recklessness washed through you as you dug a deeply green, still halfway full glass bottle from the cooler. Jägermeister would serve you just fine right now.

Armed with the strong booze, you went right back into the house, hiding yourself away from all the action to simply get drunk in peace and solitude.

"Ugh…" Your whole body quivered as the herbal liquor shot down your throat, drenching your mouth in its bitter taste.

Right after the sensation eased up a little, you chased the first swig with a second, deeper one, the alcohol burning its way through your stomach before you'd even reached the corner of the house that could be described as a guest room to slump down on an array of dusty mattresses. With the intense warmth of heavy liquor washing through your body, you curled yourself up, shoving an old pillow underneath your head and before you really realized it, vagrant, quiet tears trickled from the corners of your eyes, pooling at the tear duct to eventually swap over the bridge of your nose. If you were honest with yourself, you felt sick of it, sick of being ignored and pushed away but at the same time you just couldn't bring yourself to point the finger at Per. He simply didn't choose this way of being and feeling yet it felt like he wasn't even trying anymore…which, again, would just be another symptom. You sighed in defeat before treating yourself to another numbing mouthful of booze.

Allowing the tears to just run down your face at their very own pace, you simply wanted to get drunk as fast as possible but even that wouldn't be granted to you, a gentle knock on the slightly ajar door pulling you from your thoughts.

"Huh?" You muttered, sitting up straight again and wiping the wetness from your cheeks.

"Hey…are you okay?" The familiar voice belonging to Øystein asked.

His head peaked through the open door, a messy bunch of black hair framing his face in wavy strands.

"Saw you rushing through the yard and thought checking up on you wouldn't hurt…" He slid his lean statue through the small opening, stepping towards you before crouching down to meet your gaze.

"See? That's part of the problem…you, you care and Pelle just…he just sits there." The words blubbered out of you in an uncontrolled rush accompanied by a new surge of hot tears.

"Hey now…", Euronymous quickly sat down, tucking the frizzy hair behind his ears, "What's going on, hm?"

"I'm so sick of this shit, Øystein… I can't help him, I can't fix him and he just pushes me away time and time again. I'm so done with this bullshit." It practically gushed out of your mouth in a poorly choked-back wail.

"There's a whole horde of people out there, Euro, yet I feel so terribly fucking lonely all the time. Everybody's cheering for Mayhem and for Dead, going on about how fucking cool and true he is for what he's doing to himself on stage but you know what?", You tried to stifle your shaky breaths, "It's not cool. None of it. It's actually fucking terrifying…and it's me who's got to stitch him back to gether every damn time."

With every one of your words, Øystein's eyes widened a little more, partly in understanding about just how much his friend was dragging you through but also in plain sympathy for you.

"Come'ere, yeah? C'mon…if it helps you can squeeze me as hard as you want to, okay?" Euronymous spread both his arms, inviting you in for a tight hug.

Not wasting a second thought on it, you leaned in, wrapping your shaking hands around his shoulders to squeeze and press as tightly as you could.

"There you go…that's it, right there." Euronymous encouraged you, the palms of his broad hands resting at the back of your head to soothe you with gentle pets and strokes.

"I wish I could help you but none of us really gets through to him anymore…I'm so sorry." Øystein sighed into the curve of your neck, the tip of his nose almost touching the cold, black leather of your jacket.

"I don't even know what's going on with him anymore. Everything is just so terribly wrong and I don't know how much longer I can do this shit, Euro, I really don't." You sniffled, inevitably having the vastly different scent of Euronymous right in front of you sneaking up into your nostrils.

Unlike Pelle, he smelled like stale cigarette smoke, cheap aftershave and beer…maybe not exactly a crowd pleaser but you found comfort in it.

"It's okay. I don't judge you." He whispered to you in a soft tone and it threatened to break you apart from the inside.

"Thank you…", You croaked into his hair, your voice getting weaker with every letter, "I feel so shitty for thinking about it like that but…but I'm so goddamn tired. I-...I just wanna feel loved again."

"To remind you…there's a whole horde of people out there who love you." He tried to cheer you up but ultimately missed the point.

"Not…not like that. Ugh, I sound stupid…" You felt the need to take the words straight back and to just go with Øystein's attempt of calming you.

"No, you don't, seriously.", Euronymous led his fingers to get lost in your hair, fingertips softly stroking across your scalp down to the nape of your neck, "I can't imagine how you came up with enough energy to stay this long in the first place. We both know it's not his fault, neither is it yours or mine but we've all been watching you breaking away because of him. You're not smiling anymore, not screaming your lungs out at the gigs, you're barely even here anymore…he's eating you up."

"I can't just leave, Øystein…" You gradually loosened your death grip around his torso to lean back, your face wet with slowly subsiding tears.

"I know…all I'm saying is that it might be time to think about yourself a little more. It won't help anybody if you get lost in his chaos, too." Before you could raise your own hand to wipe the sleeve of your jacket across your face, Euronymous was already on it, his thumb brushing over your cheek.

Whilst taking a deep breath to steady yourself a bit more, the two of you just stared at each other for a moment. You followed how he slightly grinded his teeth together, jaws clenching, withholding something you couldn't quite decipher.

"Øystein?" You furrowed your brows a little, the feeling of something being violently off ebbing through your chest.

"I'm sorry…" That's all he offered to you before cupping your face with the full length of his palm and leaning in to press an anything but timid kiss to your trembling lips.

A part of you, the voice of reason within, practically screamed at you to pull away, to scurry back and to let this go down as nothing but an awkward, boozy, little slip-up, but you didn't move by just an inch as the pungent taste of smoked cigarettes and cheap beer swept into your mouth alongside Euronymous' daring tongue. You simply let it happen, allowed him to slip his tongue into your mouth and intoxicate you with the dangerously addictive feeling of being wanted, desired by someone.

"Fuck…" You groaned into the nearly bruising kiss, hands reaching out to claw at his utterly worn out Venom shirt to pull him closer to you.

Catching the notion that he had dared to make the right move at the right time, Øystein's palm left your face, both hands roaming over your back down to your ass to simply scoop you into his lap, your legs wrapping themselves around the cold of his bullet-shell belt as the hem of your washed-out, gray denim skirt rode up generously over your fishnet-stocking covered thighs.

"I got you…just hold on to me." Euronymous muttered, trying to catch his breath a little whilst his fingers dug themselves into the curve of your behind, causing you to whine out as you arched your hips impossibly close towards his crotch.

The aching need to feel just something again practically pulsed through every nerve ending and every muscle, pulling you into his tight grasp and for your hands to slip under the soft fabric of his shirt, skin against skin leaving you to crave more. Whilst one of his hands left it's place cupping your ass to hurry down between your bodies, awkwardly fumbling with the buckle of his belt before almost violently pulling down the zipper, a short but heavy pang of guilt jolted through your ribcage, nearly causing you to flinch on the spot. Nothing about this situation at hand was right or somehow, in some crooked way, justifiable to you and yet you made not a single move to stop any of it from happening. You didn’t grasp for Øystein's hand as it hushed from his unzipped pants amidst your legs, the sound of your tights tearing and ripping thundering in your ears, right before curious fingertips brushed over thin lace panties, no. The only reaction it pulled from your body was a needy moan.

"Right there, yeah?" You heard the smirk in his tone without even needing to see it.

Nodding softly, you placed your mouth back onto his, teeth teasingly grazing over his bottom lip.

"Bet that feels even better, babe." At first you didn't know what struck you harder, the endearing pet name or Euronymous' fingers snaking past your slip, dipping right into your soaked folds to draw achingly slow circles around your entrance.

"Please…" You hummed into the kiss, your forehead leaning against his.

"Please, what?", He inquired, fingertips prodding and nudging against your cunt, "Want me to fill you up, no? Such a greedy little thing."

You choked back a whine as Øystein withdrew his hand from your slip to shove the fabric to the side, fingers freeing his rock-hard cock from the confines of his shorts right before thrusting into you with a precise rock of his hips against yours.

"Oh, fuck…" Your moan got lost in his mouth, the delicious feeling of being stretched out so harshly rippling through you.

"How long has it been, huh?" He pushed, drilling himself into you until it threatened to hurt.

"I dunno…four months, maybe five." You couldn't stop your eyes from fluttering shut, the burning heat of arousal and shame creeping into your face in equal parts.

"Yeesh, couldn't leave a girl like you untouched for that long." Euronymous huffed, his other hand steadying your posture with his palm flat against your back as he started rolling his hips, practically bouncing you on his cock.

With your entire body flush with the sensation of Øystein spearheading into you in a firm pace, the last bit of your coherent brain busy muffling and holding back desperate mewls and whimpers, you rendered completely oblivious to what was happening around you…unlike the black-haired guitarist. From the very corner of his eyes, Øystein's attention got pulled towards the semi-open door, the old, wooden floor in front of it creaking treacherously. Just by the way a well familiar pair of thoroughly worn out combat boots barely peaked across the lines of the door frame, he knew that the both of you had been caught right in the act but he didn't so much as even bother to stop from guiding you up and down his throbbing hard on.

"You at least got yourself off here and there, no?" You shook your head.

"Didn't feel right. I- I just hoped things would get back to normal…" You groaned, the sensation of Euronymous' cock stroking over that extra sensitive spot inside of you sending cold, little shivers down your spine.

"Oh, love, then I better make sure to give it to you better than Per ever could…lazy fucker." Øystein scoffed more to his friend and singer hiding next to the door frame than to you but you didn't take any notice of that, your senses way too busy with just keeping it together.

For a moment, Øystein felt actual and very real rage gushing through him. Anger towards his friend for being such an oblivious prick regarding the suffering and all-round neglect he was dragging you through. It was a terribly self-righteous emotion, that he knew for sure, however, he couldn't help himself but to let it fuel the way he rutted into you, burying himself as deep as possible inside of your wet pussy.

The rather morbid thing both of you failed to take notice of was what Dead was doing hidden away in the shadows of the hallway, the crushing humiliation not only going straight to his heart but to his awfully throbbing cock as well, the bitter-sweet masochistic rush leading him to palm himself through his trousers whilst biting down on his fist to not let just one singular sound escape from his twitching lips. The Swede was shamelessly jerking himself off to you getting railed by his closest friend.

"Gonna take good care of you, babe." Øystein groaned in a lust-riddled tone, both of his hands now closing down around your hips to hammer your form onto his cock with every jut and snap of his hips.

It had you bashfully nuzzling your face into the crook of his neck, the cigarette smoke soaked leather of his jacked cold against your cheek, whilst you still clawed at his sides underneath his shirt.

Your fingers dug into his skin as you felt your walls starting to flutter and contract around Øystein's hard on, the first crushing jolts of your pent-up orgasm rippling through your body, senses being sent into blissful overdrive.

"Good girl…fuck, pulling me in so hard now, huh?" Euronymous' voice cracked and eventually faltered just like the rolls of his lap against yours.

"Issok…", He talked you through your release, shoving himself balls deep into your spasming cunt before flooding your insides with white-hot ropes of his seed, a guttural groan ripping itself free from the depths of his lungs, "Just let yourself go. I gotchu."

The earth-shattering sensation of all the pent-up sexual desperation mixed in with shame and crushing guilt washing through your system had you biting down on his leather-clad shoulder, a fresh surge of tears threatening to swap over your lower lash line at any second.

"Aw, shit." A sore croak from outside the room led both of you to turn your heads so suddenly that it nearly gave you whiplash.

"The fuck?!" You shrieked out, practically jumping from Øystein's lap whilst he was equally busy with tucking himself back in and getting off the mattress.

"I got this!" Euronymous tried to calm you, awkwardly stumbling away from you before tearing the door open and vanishing into the dark hallway.

For a split second your overworked synapses tried to get a vague grasp on what was going down. Feet were hammering down stairs, noisy commotion erupted from inside the house before the sound of shattering glass and incomprehensible screaming and shouting filled the yard.

"Oh fuck no…" You huffed under your breath, wobbly legs nearly giving out as you tried to pull yourself from the mattress.

As soon as you stood upright again, you felt Øystein's load oozing out of you, soaking the flimsy fabric of your slip with every step you took. You dreaded the scenario that was unfolding outside because the yelling didn't seem to die down but much rather escalate further.

"You fucking traitor!" Pelle's raspy voice cut through the night air, hitting you as soon as you slid out the front door.

"Fucking traitor?!", Øystein spat right back whilst your eyes scanned the scenery anxiously, "You're the spineless loser, Per!"

"You fucked my girlfriend, Øystein!" Dead yelled and with his words you noticed Metallion and Jan Axel staring right at you, nothing but drunk confusion washing over their faces.

"And you pathetic fuck got off to it!" Euronymous had to duck down to dodge an empty beer bottle being sent his way.

"You what?!" You directed the question right at your boyfriend before you noticed a tell-tale damp and soaked-through spot right around his zipper.

"Yes, please tell her how you stood outside the room jerking off to your girl breaking down in front of me, Per!" Your bewildered stare rushed towards Øystein now.

"Huh? You…you saw him or what now?!?" The guitarist shrugged his shoulders and nodded.

"What the fuck is going on in here?" Jan Axel tried to intervene but both Per and Øystein shushed him almost simultaneously.

"You shut the fuck up!" Pelle sneered, looking like he was about ready to throw one of the plenty empty bottles of beer after his drummer too.

"No.", You huffed, wrapping your leather jacket around your torso to shield you from the creeping cold, "He actually got a point, because…what the hell?!"

"Pumpkin, I can explain, I promise." Per raised his hands in a soothing manner but you didn't feel like having any of it.

"Don't you dare sweet-talk me now, Pelle! You've been pushing me away for months but…you get off to, well, this?" You indirectly confirmed all that had been happening between Øystein and you.

"No. Just no. You know what? Fuck you. Fuck this shit. I'm not even remotely drunk enough to deal with this shitshow right now." To undoubtedly cement your point, you took a few swift steps toward Øystein who was looking at you with wide eyes as you fished for the pack of cigarettes in his pocket, drawing one for yourself before deliberately putting it to your lips.

"Yes, I fucked Øystein.", You threw your hands into the air after lighting the cigarette, "Maybe I should've done that much sooner, who knows?"

The last sentence was solely aimed to hurt Per as much as he had hurt you.

"Fucking hell, I'm so sick of all this dysfunctional shit…", You just shook your head before heading back inside, "Better none of you disrupt the date I have with a piss-warm bottle of Jägermeister now or you fucking bet I'll cut your dick off!"

#tam rambles #asks are appreciated #asks are always open #rory culkin #rory culkin lords of chaos #lords of chaos #jack kilmer #euronymous x reader #euronymous smut #euronymous #dead lords of chaos #euronymous x fem!reader #dead x fem!reader #jack kilmer smut #jack kilmer x fem!reader #mayhem fic #mayhem

[tree-obsession]

Aventurine, the Waste Land, the black hole, and luck- analysis on aventurine's possible fate

possible spoilers for 2.1 trailblaze mission

possible tws for suicide/suicidal idealization, mentions of slavery, and a massacre

ok there is. a lot to unpack for this mission but I would like to focus on the references to The Waste Land (by T.S. Elliot, fucking amazing poem btw) that were in Aventurine's parts?

First of all the achievements- the "Sibyl, what do you wish for?" and "She answers, I wish to die" or something like that. That is the very first thing in the poem we see- to put a long story short, it's a reference to how there was this oracle named Sibyl in Greek Mythology, blessed to live forever by Apollo. Apollo got angry after she refused to have sex with him and cursed her so that while she would live forever, her body would slowly waste away, eventually becoming dust kept in a jar. A couple of boys one day come up to this prison jar and ask her "Sibyl, what do you wish for?" and then she answers that she wants to die. This could be a reference to Aventurine, who is always so lucky but at that moment truly didn't wish to be lucky, and really did want to die. Yet he was stuck, unable to live- considering he is something of a "chosen" of Gaiathra Triclops, she could be the one who cursed him, in disguise of a "blessing" of good luck.

second, the maze scene. there were two references here, both from the fifth(fourth? it's been a hot minute since I read this poem, the details aren't all clear) part of the poem. it talks about a deserted waste land, where rain never falls, there is only lightning and rocks/sand. this matches up with descriptions of sigonia, as a desert planet that's referred to as "the unclaimed desolation", and also some of those lines are directly said in the white text that floated around the maze(which i'll be referring to as floating text from now on). the second reference was also in the floating text, which talks about how "there is another presence/person beside us", or something very similar. I don't have the direct quotation, but this is also a direct reference- within the poem, there are two travelers in this "waste land", and the narrator mentions feeling a presence that wasn't truly there. According to Elliot himself, his inspiration for this part of the poem was from an account of an Antarctic journey, where the person who wrote the account said he and his men were so out of it due to exhaustion they had begun to hallucinate another presence who wasn't actually there. this is probably referencing how mini-aventurine and present-aventurine both exist, and have existed, but the future-aventurine technically does not exist yet and literally is just popping up, clearly not "real" in the physical sense but definitely there. within the poem, there are a lot of speculations between scholars about why Eliiot decided to add this hallucinated dude in but one popular theory is that it's Christ, in disguise, which is really interesting considering The Family's Christian imagery. something to watch out for when Aventurine returns to the story (he def isn't dead, but as to when he's returning... :( i can't get my hopes up) or if anyone else analyzes this more deeply.

now, why the waste land? it's universally considered a pretty depressing poem, about how the world after World War I was torn apart and collapsing in on itself, and portrays a lot of characters who aren't living life to their fullest at all. it references many famous texts and literary works, pointing at literature as an amalgamation of all other literature and also acting as a metaphor for how everything builds off each other, so one thing collapsing could result in everything collapsing. there are a lot of references to different religions as well. perhaps the best way to put it is that Elliot was portraying a world under threat of total collapse, and asks the reader if there is anything humanity can do to save it, or if we must simply salvage what we can. the ending also implies peace is a far-off, perhaps unreachable thing since everything is so discordant. but you get the idea at this point- the poem is about decay and rotting over time. I don't have the greatest grasp on either this poem or aventurine's psyche, but the 2.1 quest revealed a lot- he is an incredibly lucky person who is in a lot of bad situations but gets out every time, and has never lost a bet (despite his life otherwise being absolutely terrible). the waste land itself could simply be sigonia, and then perhaps aventurine himself is a representation of the characters within the poem. practically all scholars agree that in this poem, all the female characters coalesce into one character, and the male characters do so too, and then there is one uniting character between the "male" and "female"- tiresias, who according to Elliot has "foreseen and foresuffered all". he is described as the most important figure in the poem by Elliot himself. Tiresias is an androgynous figure, but is referred to with he/his. he also is the only one to say "I" in the poem, and despite the fact he is blind he can see all, even the future- in mythology, he was a prophet like the Sibyl. "what Tiresias sees is, in fact, the substance of the poem", as Elliot says- in other words, what he sees seems to be the closest thing to the truth you will get.

now obviously that's pretty valuable, considering literally everyone is lying in penacony (in the livestream they said the entire guest list is filled with question marks in place of names, implying everyone's identities there were fake- other than Sparkle's, but she's a Masked Fool and will trick people just for the hell of it, so not exactly the best ally). however (this is where speculation starts) I think this could be possibly very subtle foreshadowing for Aven's return! and I know this may sound delusional but. it's established he's not dead. his stone is out, but that's quite possibly because he's next to a fricking black hole and also Acheron possibly had "freed" him, in some sense? that conversation he had with her obviously changed a lot of things for him as a character, and she said she could break the harmony's bonds on him... also, clearly if he wasn't dead while waking up next to a black hole, that's certainly a surefire way to tell his luck hasn't run out yet. the entire mission was spent establishing his luck is perfect, given by the goddess of his planet, and will never fail him. this is like near emanator-level shit- obviously not quite in terms of any special power, but he was specifically chosen by this goddess, was born on a special day, and due to sheer luck is the last one standing of his clan (apparently). literally everything was set up against him and he's only still alive due to a literal goddess-given power, which is absolutely nuts and almost overpowered if it weren't for the fact that he also seems to be in many scenarios where luck and gambling is the only way to get out at all. the massacre, the enslavement, killing his old master, the weird warlord thing that got brought up, penacony... his luck is purely for getting out of bad situations, it seems.

that was kind of a tangent. anyway! the whole mission was establishing how good his luck was. he got into this situation where the only solution is to walk into a black hole and see the other side of penacony- that is a classic example of "there is an extremely, extremely narrow chance of getting out alive". acheron did it, or something similar, so clearly it's possible- but luck and chance would be the only way. this is the cycle of his life- he's in an absolutely shitty situation, but he will get out due to luck. imo it's a terrible idea writing-wise to keep him explicitly alive up to the very end and going into a situation- alive- which he can survive in due to his luck, right after giving him fulfilling conversation with both acheron and his past self and seeing the uplifting note from Ratio... just to offscreen him, or kill him for some reason related to this "other side of penacony". it wouldn't line up with all that we know about him now. granted, I can't imagine it'll be pleasant and his mental state will be even worse at the end of it... but he'll be alive, and he's made it through a lot of hellish situations. he might not like his luck all the time, and it can be either a blessing or a curse given the scenario, but he's kind of stuck with it- until he withers away, just like Sibyl. Death does seem to be inevitable, but as of right now it's not knocking on his door.

tldr: for now, our boy isn't dead and his luck might be a curse to him but it's clearly going to keep him alive for quite a bit longer :)

tysm for reading and have a nice day!

#honkai star rail #hsr #aventurine #hsr spoilers #my fav poem and my fav character #whoo!!! #acheron #(mentioned) #hsr theory #honkai star rail theory #kakavasha #my beloved <<<333 #i wanted to squish mini-aventurine's cheeks SO BADLY whenever he came onscreen

[shepscapades]

I have two minds to answer this, because part of me is going 'WE GOT EM!!! WE GOT EM!!' While the other part of me is like 'oh god how do I tell them. Who’s going to tell them.' The easiest way I can explain: Tom, Ben, and Harry are not in a minecraft series together, and the lore that I have for them is not based in any actual series. HOWEVER. DON’T LET THE TRAGIC TRUTH MAKE YOU CLICK AWAY /silly so I can explain properly LMAO

Here’s a TLDR for anyone who likes these guys and is a lil interested in them!!

Most of the lore for these three is based on an amalgamation of inside jokes, non-minecraft character trends, and general yogs minecraft world lore!

Tom was an editor (now has a YouTube channel, AngoryTom) and did behind-the-scenes minecraft prep for the Yogscast for so long that he was never really interested in any actual "main channel" series besides [Dig Site - 10 episodes] with Simon, Lewis, and Ben, and [Skyblock - 2 episodes] with Ben! Although he’s also played several npcs throughout various main channel series since he was helping run the show lol. My take on his character is that he’s a former yoglabs employee due to [YOGLABS CLASSIFIED INFORMATION] and now lives his laziest life ever in an undisclosed remote location. He’s also the demigod of death but he’ll never tell

Ben started doing main series mc content a few years ago, but hasn’t done anything mc with Tom and Harry until recently (see below)! His character is a Shark Hybrid due to [YOGLABS CLASSIFIED INFORMATION] who now lives with Tom at the same undisclosed remote location.

Harry has been an insane speedrunning minecraft legend for ages, but was never in any main series content bc he’s actually a graphic designer for the yogs. But he was part of Iskall’s twitch vault hunter event back in November, and he’s now in the [Vault Hunter Series - Ongoing] with Ben and Duncan on YouTube! <3 so there’s plenty of mc content of Harry and Ben, but not so much Tom. c!Harry has lived remote for as long as he can remember, locked in Hardcore, until…?

But again, I base their backstories on a bunch of kinda loosely connected lore dots that are half based on jokes <3

Below the read more includes: links to clips, compilations, and very brief lore explanations (though you can check my other lore drawings in Tom’s tag (#Angory Tom), Ben’s tag (#bedgar), Harry’s tag (#brryhrry) or posts that have any of them, which should be under the (#the outcast trio) tag)!

BEN AND TOM

I’ve been in love with Ben and Tom as a duo forever, since the TTT (modded Trouble in Terrorist Town) days, where Ben’s player model was Left Shark, and Tom’s model was Emperor Palpatine (yes from Star Wars. I can’t stand them). But Ben and Tom have been yogs editors and Behind The Scenes guys forever, so it wasn’t until more recently that they became known personalities in the main yogscast circle (4-5 years is pretty recent in the 10+ years of yogs content timeline LMAO).

Through Warhammer streams and behind the scenes stuff, I kinda fell in love with their chemistry and idiocy, and they worked so well with the “main cast” that I just had to put them in the yogs minecraft universe, somewhere. Turns out, Tom had actually done a majority of the "behind the scenes" work for the Yoglabs series (he built a majority of the main building, did mod research and testing, was present during recordings to make sure things went well, stuff like that) so it only made sense to have his character be the Right Hand Man/ Behind The Scenes Assistant to Xephos (Lewis), the Morally Questionable Head of Yoglabs.

For anyone who’s unfamiliar with Yoglabs, it’s one of the yogs’ more famous series featuring Simon (Honeydew) and Lewis (Xephos) where they tested mods! more info can be found here!

c!Tom also ended up as a Lumian (the fanon alien space species for the yogs fandom, vaguely inspired by Star Trek Vulcans) because of a one-off joke where one of the Yogs artists drew him as a star trek commander, and I really didn’t need any further reason to make him a weird little guy LDKFJG

As far as the “demigod of death” thing goes, it felt right to give him a lore thing that vaguely coordinated with the whole “Emporer Palpatine” vibe, since that’s kinda the mc skin he’s used most recently. There’s another reason there that I don’t think I’ve properly explained, so I’ll leave the rest of that be for now ;]

Ben, on the other hand, plays a shark character in pretty much every video game he ever participates in, so shark hybrid was a pretty obvious way to go. And of course, since the duo had to be in the same place… involving Ben’s shark Hybrid-ness with yoglabs experimentation made good sense and good angst. What can I say :]

Here are the bigger lore posts I’ve made so far (in the order i posted them i believe!), explaining in a little more detail plus art to go with! :] [x] [x] [x]

HARRY

Harry is kinda known as the yogscast’s token memelord? But in the ironic way. He somehow makes it genuinely hilarious idk man. His humor is very dry, witty, and sarcastic, but he’s a sweetheart and kind of a god at minecraft. I’ve been arguing since day one that this man should be in mcc but we won’t go there

There aren't many solo harry compilations, so here's a link to a Harry and Ben compilation hehe

Regarding his minecraft lore, pretty much all of it is based around the idea that he’s a god at speedrunning and hardcore Minecraft. A common consensus in yogscast minecraft lore is that respawning is actually a Yoglabs-based mechanic tied to clones and clone making. I thought it would be interesting if Harry could be tied to a hardcore element in the yogs lore purely by having Somehow slid under yoglabs’ radar. And since he was never in any main channel (aka modded) series, i usually associate him with Vanilla mechanics, and since i also view mods as a Yoglabs-related lore element, it made sense! So basically— no clones, no respawns, no mods!

except that he’s in a main channel series now. So I’ll need to find a new lore reason around that DTBJDFGHK

And his design, well… this man’s skin is straight up Mr Mime, and there’s only so much I can do with that /silly But he’s a HUGE Pokémon fan! He’s played a couple of Disaster Nuzlockes with Lydia from the yogs a year or so ago, if that’s something you’re interested in! Was a huge comfort series for me for the longest time and rly good background noise, theyre soooo good at Pokémon I promise <3

Harry does more twitch stuff (hrry on twitch) than youtube stuff, so twitch is the best place to check him out if you're interested in his solo content!

Last thing I'll say about him is that he designed and ran an original minecraft minigame called "Capture the Wool" and he and Martyn are the hosts for a few episodes i think! i dont think there's any way to explain how entertaining it is to listen to him announce the chaos of yogs members trying to play competitive minecraft LOL

Um, so. TLDR…2, These guys are basically my ocs and now I get Actual minecraft content from them which is crazy. I love them as content creators and cool guys so so much though, so! Definitely recommend listening to these idiots (affectionate) babble and ramble to each other, mc or not <3

#yogscast #bedgar #angory tom #BrryHrry #hrry #ben #tom #the outcast trio #art escapades #sorry that's so long but my love for them is showing hehe #i haven't completed decided if i want the “the outcast trio” tag to be for posts with ANY of them or just ALL of them so -- #if you have a preference feel free to lmk <3 #also feel free to lmk if you check them out :3 they are everything to the me!

[seek--rest]

Inspired by this because @missamyshay is a menace

MJ is exhausted.

She’s not sure what she expected about becoming the lead— the grueling rehearsals and back and forth and back again from fickle directors is something MJ’s been more than aware of ever since she started auditioning.

She’s worked her way up from the chorus to the secondary, never really getting the chance to be front and center until her last play Turtle Drive became a runaway hit— surprising everyone, least of all herself, with how well people responded to it.

Critics were divided, as to be expected from a biopic of a forgotten 90s singer but audiences were engrossed— the one bright spot consistently done in reviews being that of MJ’s performance as the stereotypically sassy Black best friend, having a song that felt on the nose in its satire despite how much MJ tried to sell it.

And sell it she did, with every ounce of her being— determined to prove that she had the chops to make it and move above the bit parts she’s always been relegated to.

Tuttle Drive’s success paved the way for her role now as Edith in Taking Flight, a monstrous beast of a thing that sought to combine all of Shakespeare’s works together in a fictional town out of New England.

Edith was a difficult character, an impossible amalgamation of Juliet, Ophelia, Katharina, and Beatrice that made MJ’s head spin. When she first read the script, she had thought it was daring and inventive— interesting and so very different.

Now, after weeks of rehearsal on a spinning turn table and going over numbers that felt less innovative and more confounding— MJ was beginning to wonder if she had made a mistake.

It’s what she’s thinking of, amongst other things like what she’ll finally get to eat today when she sees a shadow pass over her— glancing up and seeing a familiar rush of red and blue.

“How you doing tonight, ma’am?” Spider-Man asks, MJ smirking as she glances up and then keeps walking.

“Just fine, spidey,” she says, imagining the look on Peter’s face underneath the mask. He has a habit of doing this, finding her on his patrol in what the calls an attempt to make sure she’s okay.

What MJ isn’t so fond off are the Daily Bugle reports later, hating the idea that her new play might get even more press in all the wrong ways as she hears him snort.

“What’s the hold up, lady?” He says, his voice shifting until it’s that odd mix of a Transatlantic newscaster and old-school New Yorker. “You got somewhere to be?”

“I do actually,” she says, glancing up as he hops from one branch to another. “My husband’s waiting for me.”

“Is he now?” Peter asks, MJ seeing some tourists out of the corner of her eye. “Must not be a good one then.”

“Excuse me?” She asks, glancing up only for Peter to make his presence known in the weirdest way possible.

He knows that she loves him entirely but the more spidery parts of him were her least favorite.

Which is why Peter— hanging upside down right in front of her— was all but an act of war as she frowns.

“Pretty lady like you, walking the streets all by yourself?” He clicks his tongue in disapproval. “What kinda man is that?”

“Are you saying I can’t walk home by myself?” She asks teasingly, watching as he tilts his head.

“I think you can do anything you set your mind to Miz Watson,” he says, his tone still joking even if MJ can still hear the sincerity in it. He knows how much she’s been worried about the play and while he can’t say as much here and now— with a family of tourists staring at the two of them intently. “Why, you’re a famous Broadway star.”

“Not that famous.”

“Famous enough that it can be dangerous, walking here all by your lonesome,” he says, hearing the laugh in his voice.

MJ glares at him, the white eyes of the mask staring back at her.

“Well, miz Watson?” He asks, MJ holding back the urge to laugh from his dumb accent. “What do you say?”

“I guess,” she says with a laugh.

“Trust me, ma’am. No sirree, you won’t regret it,” he says, seeing the bystanders around them turn.

This will definitely end up trending somewhere, seeing the phone angled in her direction.

Never have, she thinks to herself as Spider-Man loops his arms with hers and leads them forward— trusting him to take her home.

#seek speaks #petermj #spideychelle #petermjane #peter parker #mj watson

[i-guess-im-into-this-now]

Brave Bang Bravern

Friends.

I've finished watching Bravern and I have some thoughts and questions.

First of all, I love parody. In fact, I love commentary and analysis of stories in many forms, but parody is fun. Mecha anime is very far outside my wheelhouse so I'm coming into this show purely as someone who enjoys unhinged stories.

Also, I love gay shit.

If it's gay + 🍌🍌🍌 now we are where I like to be. I was told Bravern is both.

And it is.

I should preface any of my analysis of queer content with the fact that I am not well educated in queer or gender studies and am in fact just some person on the internet with uninformed opinions. I often struggle to understand and explain how I think and feel about media. So please feel free to share other analysis with me, I love to learn.

Okay.

There may be spoilers ahead.

Bravern is gay. The show, the robot, Smith and Isami. It's gay. I watched it on Crunchyroll and to my bafflement, some people in the comments disagree. An argument can be made that the homosexuality in the show is overt at times, but even if you take the stance that it's subtext or metaphor, it's still prevalent.

Some of that has to do with the fact that Bravern is a parody of Mecha anime. Pilots riding inside a combat robot becomes a metaphor for sex. And in Bravern that comparison is pushed about as far as it can go without becoming tiresome. I'm on the fence about whether this joke about the homoeroticism of it is made with fun wink to the gay community or whether it is at their expense. I'd love some other opinions on this.

Also going to take a moment to insert that I'm also not Japanese so I don't have a perspective that is informed about how culture may play into this topic.

Overall Bravern is really fun. It pokes fun at ideas like the power of friendship and the roll of bravery in anime.

The robot is called Bravern and is an amalgamation of a robot of lust and the spirit of a fallen solider, Smith. Smith has an interesting relationship with Isami. Smith is inspired by Isami's bravery and envious that he is able to "ride" Bravern. They are also friends who have complicated feelings towards one another. Smith's lifelong dream was to become a hero and he tries repeatedly to merge with one of the sentient robots so he can be like Isami and Bravern, but fails. Eventually he dies, bravely I might add, and is able to fuse with a dead robot to become Bravern and travel back in time. Back in the past as Bravern he was able to have Isami ride in him and feels a sense of deep fulfillment. The plot is convoluted which is probably also parody, but plot is also not the point.

Bravery comes up constantly in this show. It's the name of the robot. It's Smith's motivation. It's Isami's character arc. It's a mystical power that can empower Bravern/Isami (by the end I'm not sure what the difference is between the two) to evolve into his most powerful form and defeat his opponent. The roll of Bravery in this show is deliberately over-the-top.

Another theme that is poked fun of it the power of friendship. The bromance between Smith and Isami is made homoerotic, and the friendships of everyone else are used as way to empower Isami/Bravern, sometimes psychologicaly, other times quite literally as a magical power source.

There are plenty of laugh out loud moments and a lot of action, which make it fun to watch even if you just want to enjoy it casually without trying to analyze it. The deadpan looks of the people who witness Braven and Isami's absurdity are hilarious. Also, some of the one liners are just 💋🤌

I'm sure I'm missing some key themes because I haven't even mentioned Lulu or Superbia. But that's my two cents for this show. I would love to hear someone else's take on it.

#bang brave bang bravern #bravern spoilers #bravern #brave bang bravern #ao isami #isami x smith #isami x lewis #isami x bravern #lewis smith

[blueberrybladelemonade]

Colors of Expression

Inspired by this little comic by @pervertedindividual

💜While I usually don't write for other PizzaTower characters, this was fun to do a short fic on. Apologies if there's any errors, there was no drafts or planning as I wrote this 💜

Pepperman x Reader

Contains: Enemies to lovers (kinda?), Questionable art, Bullying an anthropomorphic pepper, kinda crack-ish/crack fic. 

You stared out from the window, concentrating. Rain was still gently falling. You watched as the water in some spots cascaded from the awnings below. It had been raining on and off like this for almost two hours now, not that you were complaining, and didn't show signs of stopping. Your head dipped down again and in a fluid motion a pencil scraped across paper. 

Music from the studio played overhead, light notes from the piano added a cliche but relaxing atmosphere while you worked. Your pencil flicked across a few select areas, following the contour of the other lines. 

Humming in approval, you raise your arms and stretch, deciding you might as well stand up.  As you sigh contently you feel the pressure from your back ease up. Maybe you'll go downstairs and treat yourself to a nice coffee. Or maybe you'll try a tea today.

You pause. Should you take a break now? It's not like anyone else was here in the room. While you didn't mind others in the studio (it was a public space, anyways) you did enjoy the feeling of having the entire place to yourself.

You cast another glance down at your piece. With the groundwork mostly done, you can finally begin the "point of no return" as you dubbed it. Once you begun adding colors you wouldn't be able to erase them. 

You shrug, you'll paint a little bit before you go downstairs. Every drop of paint and color had to be carefully calculated. One placement gone wrong and it'd be difficult to correct it, if it even could be. 

* * * * 

You wince, feeling a streak of paint fall onto your pant leg. At least you weren't wearing your nice clothes today. You jump at the voice that was suddenly beside you. 

"Oh my, not only is that a poor rendition of a Chinese brush painting, those colors weren't even used then".

You glance to the side, looking at the giant pepper that was standing nearby. What. 

"This style of painting is a tragic amalgam of a brush painting and what ever this style is you're also using. Might I suggest-

"I'll have you know that art is a form of personal expression!" You snap, rising to your feet. How rude. 

"Just because you don't like it doesn't mean it's not art!"

You take a step closer. Throwing a hand up. "Someone taped a banana to a wall and as ridiculous as I think that is, that's still art!

You pause. I think. That counts right?

"Hell I put a cup of coffee on the floor in an art gallery to take a closer picture and when I got back, people were standing over it taking pictures of my coffee. It wasn't even part of the gallery! People are just weird! But they seen that as art"! 

The pepper seeming to shrink as you inch closer. Literally. 

"Art is a personal expression so if I want to paint with purple and paint an aurora sky with a cherry blossom tree, on a damn mountain, you can sit down and shut up"! You stare down at the Pepper, small and only coming up to your hips in height.  

"So you better respect my art you pompous jerk"!

With that you spin back around and lift your canvas. With a sharp click you folded up your tools and began marching towards the door. You'll just have your coffee now. 

Pepperman stood motionless, flinching as the door slammed shut. Staring vacantly at the space, he felt a sudden heat rush to his face. 

Why was that hot?

* * * * 

Days later you returned to the studio. As you swing the door open you groan. 

Not this pepper bitch again you curse. Whatever. You were here to paint, so you were going to paint. If he wanted to try you today you were going to demand to see what he dubs "real art". 

You shoot a sideways glance at him before your attention falls onto his painting, and the one set on the counter nearby. You snort, "Dude you're painting yourself"?

He turns to you, giving you a questioning look. "And, pray tell, what is the problem"?

You move to hover over his shoulder as you get a better look at his current illustration.

"You trash talk my art but your art is just drawings of yourself"! 

"I have illustrated myself in dozens of styles. Cubism, Fauvism, Nouveau, Neocla- Why are you laughing?" the Pepper snaps. 

You had doubled over, arms wrapped around your stomach as you laughed. Of course. Of course this pompous ass pepper would only draw himself. You notice his name signed in the corner. 

You heard it here folks, your art pales in comparison to the pinnacle of true art. Behold, Phil Pepperman. Historians shall one day sing praises of enlightenment as Pepperman bestows his talent those in this mortal coil. 

His art wasn't bad though, you'd admit. You wave him off before regaining your composure. Instead you suck in a breath and simply grin. "Sorry. Just expected someone that was so high and mighty about how bad my art was to not just draw themselves".

"I did not say your art was bad! I simply called it a tragic amalgam." he retorts. 

You roll your eyes in response. Instead you set your canvas and tools up.

* * * * 

You were seated across from Pepperman, two large canvases separating you both. Weeks had went by and you had grown accustomed to your interactions. While you both would make sarcastic remarks and shoot back insults to each other, there was an edge of playfulness to it now. 

Though you'd swear Pepperman would insult you on occasion just to watch your expression turn indignant. You recall the incident last week. 

You had shown Pepperman your finished painting, this time a lake with mountains. He eyed the piece quietly before looking up at you, in a deadpan voice "My dear, your trees look like broccoli".

He laughed as you made a face before demanding to see how great his art was in comparison. 

After shuffling around a few papers, he showed you the newest drawing of himself. 

"Why did you draw yourself as an apple"? You asked. 

Huh. Now that you thought about it, he kept being more secretive with what he had been working on for the last two weeks. Any time you would get up to stretch Pepperman eyed you carefully. If you were to walk past, he'd scramble to hide or put another drawing over it. 

As you stood up, you decided to test that theory. Sure enough, the moment you began to walk past, Pepperman started to cover something up.

"Man, what ever your drawing must be hideous if you're not showing it off." you comment, studying his expression. Oddly enough, no wise crack comes from his mouth. Confirming your suspicion, you go to sit back down. 

Minutes pass by before you decide to poke your head out to the side. 

"So uh...what ARE you drawing anyways?" you ask. 

Silence.

"The most beautiful piece I've done yet". Pepperman finally speaks up. He tilts off to the side to meet your gaze. You scoff. "A tad narcissistic don't ya think"?

"Perhaps. Perhaps not. Would you mind offering your critique"?

"The great 'Phil Pepperman' is asking for the opinion of Y/N? My, I didn't know you'd trust a mere peasant with such a task!" You chuckle as you make your way around to his side of the work station. 

As your eyes fixed on the painting he had been working on, the laugher died in your throat. No sound came from you as your mouth simply hung open. 

"How hideous is it, that even the sharp tongued Y/N has been rendered silent". he said, although it lacked the usual edge you were familiar with.

"Nnn..?"

The illustration was of you. The colors and shading were vibrant, as if the sun was reflecting off you. You had your eyes half closed in contentment. As you looked farther down at the painting of you, one hand had a cup of what looked like tea while the other had a pencil. In the painting it looked like you were sitting outside, the sky behind containing various hues.

It was beautiful. 

"I..."

Pepperman leaned in slightly, tentatively. As if what you were about to say would physically sting. 

"It's beautiful". 

#Pepperman x reader #pizza tower x reader #pizza tower #pizza tower fanfic #🫐bladezfics #pepperman

[faffreux]

First I just wanna say that you and fawfulydoo and my inspo to keep going and improving on my art, it really helps me when I’m feeling down or stuck in a rut. Secondly, I wanna know if this hasn’t been asked before but where did you get the inspiration for jolligig? I’m curious hehe ૮₍˃̵֊ ˂̵ ₎ა

AWW THANK YOU SO MUCH I sent this to them too and we both appreciate it!!!

Jolligig is basically an amalgamation of many things I love infused with myself?? It's hard to fully explain but like I've had a ton of different interests over the years and he fuses a lot of them! Coffee, witchcraft, Celtic faery lore, comic book supervillains, 90s and early 2000s cartoons, etc.

Taking all of those things and more together, I studied many existing Mario characters & enemies to get a good idea of what was possible in universe and came up with his visual design from there. It was really very important to me that he not look out of place!!

Honestly, I'm just really, genuinely so in love with his design and I'm glad others enjoy it too!!! Y'all don't know how much it means to me. <3

#asks #jolligig

[endlich-allein]

You seem to have an eclectic knowledge of all things Till, so I pose to you a question: has Till spoken or suggested any influences upon his performance style specifically?

I much admire his performance skills and I often wonder at his process for there has to be one given how consistent he is. Unfortunately, most interviews I read focus on him as provocateur only, and if I'm lucky, as a writer, but I'm curious about him as an actor!

If you've got any off-hand knowledge, interviews or even just some plain old assumptions, I'd be interested to hear them!

Thank you!

Hi ! Alas no Till has never talked about his acting. However, I would very much like to hear him talk about it, it must be very interesting to know his way of working on his character.

He's never mentioned a single artist as an example, or even talked about any kind of influence. I don't think he's inspired by anyone. On stage, he plays a character he's built up over time, and the bigger the scenes, the more grotesque and grandiloquent that character becomes. He reminds me a little of a puppet whose strings are manipulated by an invisible hand. Last year, after the Los Angeles concert, a very fine review compared Till's character to an amalgam of several influences : "The genius charisma of Till Lindemann is in a class all his own, infusing the bleak darkness of German cinema with the baroque drama of Bertolt Brecht, the slapstick of Buster Keaton, the android likeness of Kraftwerk and finally the subtle yet vulgar humor that is original to Rammstein." (jankysmooth.com). I think that's very fair. But he didn't create his character from nothing, he worked for it, he had to think about it, work on his gestures, his voice, his mimics, his outfits and his accessories. Some gestures must have taken him years, while others took only thirty seconds. Let's not forget that for Till, a Rammstein concert is like an opera : everyone has their role to play, and their precise place on stage. Till is largely responsible for Rammstein's scenography : he can visualize the slightest detail, the slightest pyros, the slightest feeling in the audience, and adapts his character accordingly : sometimes sad, sometimes awkward, sometimes disturbing, sometimes funny, sometimes provocative. In the end, he gives us his own version of a ringmaster, both conductor and actor.

#anon asks

[moongothic]

So what are your thoughts on the potential Sandman/Dreams connection between Crocodile and Joy Boy/Nika/Luffy?

I remembered how the Sandman is a character associated with dreams/sleep and suddenly my mind ran wild with the idea.

You know we all like to speculate about Logia Awakenings but could you imagine if Sand Sand Awakening gave Crocodile the ability to put people to sleep or some shit

You know it's funny, despite people calling Crocodile "sandman" pretty often in the fandom I never even thought about that. Whether the fairytale character could actually reflect in Crocodile somehow

I guess it kind of depends on which version of the fairytale you go with though? Like growing up the version I knew of the character was just the cutesy version of a silly little guy who blows magic dust/sand into your eyes that puts you to sleep (the German stopmotion version in specific), and like, if Crocodad Real I'm sure you could get a cute twist out of that (something about Crocodile wanting to protect his son's dreams by any means nececary)

But there's also like, less wholesome versions of the Sandman character, where instead of helping kids sleep, the Sandman punishes children for not going to bed like they're supposed to by stealing their eyes with the sand. And. Well ain't that fucked up. And while it's not quite the same, you could see this in Crocodile too althought in reverse; instead of punishing a child for not dreaming, he attempted to punish a "dreaming child" by "waking him up" into a harsh, cold reality where dreams don't come true.

I'm not sure if Crocodile was meant to be like, intentionally partially inspired by the Sandman- like it's possible considdering he's already like, such an amalgam of characters/etc to begin with (like you got Wagnas from Romancing SaGa 2, Sobek from Egyptian mythology, I'm sure Captain Hook is in there somewhere, Toyotama Hime from Japanese mythology could be there too if Crocodad Real, so like. Sure we could throw the Sandman into the mix too, why the fuck not), but it's definitely not a huge part of the character, at least right now. Like depending on where the plot goes, it could become like a part of his character, who knows, time will tell But in that same sense, I don't quite see how that would tie into/pay off of the God of Liberation. Which also depends on if it's Good Sandman or Bad Sandman- like if it's the Bad Sandman then Luffy liberated people from someone who was stealing/ruining people's dreams (of rain and prosperity, freedom). If it's the Good Sandman then... IDK the Protector of Dreams brought the God of Liberation into the world? I'm sure that's symbolic of something

I dunno, I think it could be an interesting connection but it doesn't put my brain into overdrive with ideas unfortunately

#Moon posting #Asks #OP Meta #Sorry I took so long to get to these I had such a sudden influx of asks and some of them were only gonna be relevant for so long #(Like the most recent asks about chapter 1106. Usually don't skip asks in line but y'know. I only had a week before those became moot) #And then I had to stop procrastinating on work and I can so easily get super lost in thought while replying to these #But point is! I'm gonna try to get through the asks in my inbox finally! Aaaaa

[twistedtummies2]

Year of the Bat - Honorable Mentions

Welcome to Year of the Bat! In memory of Kevin Conroy, Arleen Sorkin, and Richard Moll, I will be counting down my Top 31 Favorite Episodes of “Batman: The Animated Series” throughout this January Before we get to that, though, I decided to take today to present a few Honorable Mentions. These were Twelve Terrific Episodes that ALMOST made the Top 31, but didn’t quite cut it for me.

A Bullet for Bullock.

One of the more unsung things the Animated Series did was bring the character of Harvey Bullock to the spotlight. Bullock is, in my opinion, one of the more underrated characters in Gotham City; he’s not exactly one that’s a household name, and only a few adaptations of comics utilize him to any great degree, if at all. The Animated Series was among them. In this episode – based on a comic of the same name – Bullock becomes the main character, as he is forced to get Batman’s help in order to find out who has been making frequent attempts on his life. The episode sort of riffs on the ideas of film noir, and rides a fine line between dark comedy and mystery thriller. Seeing Batman and Bullock – two constant rivals throughout the show – work together, however begrudgingly, is also quite interesting.

2. Beware the Creeper.

The first episode to be mentioned from “The New Batman Adventures,” and another inspired by a comic. (In this case, the story is very, VERY loosely inspired by “The Last Ha-Ha,” from the Joker’s nine-part miniseries from the 1970s…yes, that was a thing.) “Beware the Creeper” gives us the origins of a new vigilante in Gotham City, the Creeper: a journalist named Jack Ryder, who goes completely insane after being thrown into a vat of chemicals by the Joker himself. Ryder – his skin dyed yellow and hair dyed green by the chemical bath – goes on a rampage of chaos and revenge, seeking to get back at the Clown Prince of Crime, while also becoming smitten with Harley Quinn. The episode starts off honestly pretty dark, but then goes into something that feels more like an episode of “Freakazoid” than your typical Batman adventure. (The fact he’s voiced by “Freakazoid” alumni, Jeff Bennett, probably isn’t a coincidence...although the fact Bennett would, himself, later play the Joker probably is.) It’s easily one of the funniest episodes of the entire series.

3. Deep Freeze.

Ever wanted to see Batman battle Walt Disney? Well, tough luck, I don’t think that ever happened…but this episode KIND OF scratches that itch. “Deep Freeze” was the second appearance of Mr. Freeze, a villain who was truly revolutionized by the incarnation found in the Animated Series. While the stuff with Freeze is, of course, really fantastic – tapping into the gray areas of the character’s morality in a very interesting way – I personally find this more interesting because of the ACTUAL main villain of the story: Grant Walker, a corrupt theme park mogul. Walker is a very direct and obvious parody of Walt Disney himself: the character is an amalgamation of urban legends and rumors about Walt’s life (and even Disney’s death), with a philosophy to his villainy that is essentially a twisted and warped version of Walt’s own ideals. His evil lair is a straight-faced parody of Disneyland! Being the Disney fanboy I am (and also being someone who will concede that, for as great a man as he was, the real Walt was not exactly a flawless person), it’s really cool to see a character like that in a Batman cartoon, and spot all the references and homages. Even if you don’t get all of it, Walker is just a great villain, and makes a fantastic foil for both Batman AND Mr. Freeze. I feel this episode often gets overlooked, but it’s definitely one worth checking out.

4. Double Talk.

This was the final episode to feature two of my favorite, more underrated villains from the Caped Crusader’s Rogues Gallery, the Ventriloquist and Scarface. While I will come right out and say their designs in “The New Batman Adventures” are a bit…odd (which, to be fair, permeates many of the redesigns here), the actual story is so good, it almost doesn’t matter. For those who don’t know, the Ventriloquist – Arnold Wesker – is seemingly mild-manner gentleman whose dark alter ego, Scarface, is expressed through his ventriloquist dummy. In this story, Arnold is seemingly cured of his dual identity crisis, and tries to go back into society to live a normal life. However, after a while, he starts seeing Scarface everywhere, and hearing his voice when he shouldn’t. No longer sure what is real and what is not, Wesker struggles to find a way to escape his darker half once and for all. The twist of who’s behind all this, while admittedly somewhat expected, was still pretty neat, and seeing poor Arnold fight to keep his sanity and stay on the straight and narrow was naturally an engaging setup, and led to some creepy and intriguing visuals. The series did a lot of “Villain Reform Episodes,” which have all become famous in their own right. I personally think this is one of the best.

5. Harley’s Holiday.

Another villain reform episode, and quite possibly the funniest of them all! This was the only appearance Harley Quinn had in the Animated Series where she did NOT get backup from other major villains, like the Joker or Poison Ivy. Her only solo starring role, and it’s definitely a memorable and delightfully zany experience. In the story, Harley is released from Arkham with a clean bill of health, but she very quickly grows frustrated with the real world and turns back to crime, her sanity slipping away once more. This culminates in her taking wealthy socialite, Veronica Vreeland – a friend of Bruce Wayne’s – on a wild joyride, which sees both of them pursued by not only Batman, but also a group of gangsters, Harvey Bullock, and an overzealous army commander IN A TANK. The episode is something of a superhero sitcom, and it’s got a lot of funny moments and lines. The only reason it isn’t in the Top 31 is that I sort of wish this one had been a two-parter. I feel it could have gone even further with both the comedy and Harley’s return to lunacy if it had been given more time. But for what we got, it’s still a fun story that shows why Harley is so well-loved today.

6. Joker’s Millions.

So, fun fact: this episode is based on the very first Batman comic I ever read. Seriously. The first Batman story I ever read was the late Golden/early Silver Age comic, “Joker’s Millions,” in which the Clown Prince of Crime inherits an apparent fortune from a recently deceased gangster who was one of his rivals in crimedom. With all the money in the world at his fingertips, the Joker abandons crime in favor of just living the good life…but it eventually turns out that the gangster has pulled a joke on the Joker from beyond the grave. Most of the money, you see, is actually phony, and with so little of the real stuff now left to his name, the Joker has to figure out a way to gain more, or else he’ll be in trouble with the one foe even HE won’t dare take on head-to-head: the IRS. The episode follows this basic premise, but takes several new detours of its own that makes it really its own beast, such as bringing Harley into the mix and spending more time with the Joker as an apparent millionaire (most of the original comic focuses on the Joker’s attempts to salvage his reputation and fortune after realizing he’s been hoodwinked). I know a few people who feel this episode is almost out of character for the Joker, especially in light of so many recent versions that REALLY push the “who cares about money?” angle, but considering the Joker is canonically strapped for cash at the start of this story, and throughout Season 4 in general, I think it holds up. Plus, being based on a comic so near and dear to my heart definitely gives it a big boost.

7. Judgment Day.

This is one of two episodes in the Honorable Mentions I feel particularly bad for not including in the main list. One of the final episodes of the show, “Judgment Day” focuses on a new, deadly vigilante who comes to Gotham, the Judge. The Judge is hellbent on destroying the lives of all of Gotham’s supercriminals, using much nastier means than Batman ever would. Several famous villains, including Penguin, Riddler, and Killer Croc are all severely injured and nearly killed by this new menace. Batman must figure out who is behind the Judge’s cloak and wig, and stop this deadly threat to his own rogues gallery; the irony abounds. I think part of the reason I don’t like this episode AS much as other people is simply because I’ve seen this idea done before and since in ways that I personally enjoyed more, with some new enemy coming to Gotham to threaten the criminals rather than the innocents. It was, however, interesting to see which specific villains got targeted and how, and the twist ending behind who is truly the Judge – widely considered one of the best twists in the entire series – definitely made the whole journey worthwhile.

8. Mudslide.

This is often considered one of the more gut-wrenching episodes of the show…and since it involves Clayface, that’s saying quite a lot, since he honestly had a LOT of really messed-up and emotional stories throughout the series. In this one, Clayface’s nasty condition worsens, as he is finding it difficult to keep his clay-like form together in one piece. At best for him, this makes him sluggish and more vulnerable; however, the worse it gets, the more likely it is that Clayface will just melt away into a formless mass of goo, and thus perish. Desperate to regain his humanity, or at least keep himself alive, Clayface infiltrates a Wayne Enterprises Biomedical branch to try and find the cure he needs. I’ve always had mixed feelings about this episode, personally: on the one hand, it’s a very gripping story, and has some great visuals in it…but on the other hand, by virtue of the story focusing on a slower, less powerful, more pathetic Clayface, it feels like the character loses some of his punch. Then again, I suppose that WAS the point, and he still does manage to prove a threat in several necessary places. Of course, there’s one particular moment that’s ESPECIALLY notable, and if you’re a Clayface fan (I’m talking kinks here, so you know), you’ll know what it is…but I digress. Regardless, it’s still a great episode.

9. Paging the Crime Doctor.

This episode introduces us to Matthew Thorne: the brother of nefarious gangster Rupert Thorne, who was a recurring antagonist throughout BTAS. Matthew is a former surgeon, who was disgraced due to his connections to his black sheep of a brother; he now works underground as "The Crime Doctor," the finest underground physician any hitman or thug with an injury can go to. Matthew hates the work, but he has no choice, he feels, other than to keep doing this, serving under his brother's thumb. When Rupert requires a very dangerous life-saving operation, Matthew is forced to turn to an old friend for help. The events that transpire reveal secrets about Bruce's family history he never expected, and the story ends on a surprisingly sweet and hearfelt note. This is a more down-to-Earth story than many others in the show, and the Crime Doctor is a great character: it's a pity that he never really showed up again, because between his own issues and his connections to Bruce and the Waynes' past, he could have made an amazing recurring figure in the series.

10. Second Chance.

This episode is both a bit disturbing and yet also weirdly uplifting at the same time. It's an episode that provides a rare spot of hope and friendship in the dark world of Gotham City. The plot focuses on Harvey Dent - a.k.a. Two-Face - getting ready to undergo a surgery, which will hopefully give him the normal, handsome features he once had, and help his therapy along as he tries to become a sane and wholly good human being again. Bruce Wayne, of course, is eager to see this done, but Dick Grayson is less sure things will go the way Bruce hopes. Sure enough, Two-Face gets kidnapped from the hospital, and Batman and Robin both take separate paths to try and figure out what's really going on. The twist on who arranged Harvey's abduction is one of my favorites in the show, and a sign of what made Two-Face episodes so great. I love how the relationships between Bruce and Harvey AND Batman and Robin both get a lot of spotlight here, as both sides learn the value of never giving up hope and listening to those you trust. For all the dark moments in the show and the episode, that's a surprisingly heartwarming message.

11. See No Evil.

Not all of the best episodes of “Batman: The Animated Series” focused on him facing his famous rogues or going on grand, epic adventures. Sometimes, smaller adventures with smaller enemies and smaller problems could be just as interesting. “See No Evil” is a great example of this. Inspired by the H.G. Wells classic “The Invisible Man,” Batman is brought into a case of a seemingly invisible jewel thief. It turns out the thief is a man called Ventrix, who has stolen some of an experimental material that renders him invisible. Why is he doing this? Well, Ventrix is the estranged father of a young girl named Kimberly, and he’s using the invisibility suit to give himself a way to see his daughter, masquerading as her “imaginary friend,” known as Mojo. The problem is that the material is not fully tested, and is steadily eating away at the man’s sanity. With both father and daughter in danger for different reasons, Batman must find a way to stop Ventrix and end the invisible man’s reign of terror. While the gimmick of invisibility makes for some great moments, it’s really the core struggle of the episode that makes this story so haunting and so powerful. Ventrix is probably one of the more complicated villains in the series, since all he really wants is to be with his daughter again. However, the methods he uses to try and be with her make him the antagonist, and his attitude ranges from borderline sweet and pitiful…to genuinely REALLY freaking creepy, which makes his exact intentions more ambiguous. It’s a story that blends real world problems and gray areas with a more fantastical side befitting of superhero fiction, and makes for one of the most unsettling and memorable one-off stories of the show.

12. The Worry Men.

This episode mostly gets into the Honorable Mentions because of its villain of choice: Jervis Tetch, a.k.a. The Mad Hatter. Anybody who knows me knows that I love the Batman version of the Mad Hatter, and that I’ve always considered the version from B:TAS to be the very best imagining of that character. In “The Worry Men,” the Hatter decides to retire from crime…ironically, by committing crimes to fund said retirement. A bit backwards, but hey, they don’t call him the MAD Hatter for nothing, you know. Anyway, to achieve this, the Hatter kidnaps an African Shaman and has him create a bunch of “Worry Men” – small dolls that supposedly remove a person’s worries and help them have good dreams at night. In reality, the dolls are filled with the Hatter’s patented mind control technology, which causes anybody who gets one to deliver their most prized possessions to the madman’s henchmen. When Bruce Wayne gets victimized by accident as a result, he is put on the Hatter’s trail, which leads to probably one of the most wild showdowns of the program, in terms of imagery. I won’t go into details on what happens, but suffice it to say, it’s more than worth a watch. While by no means one of the most complex stories in the series – it’s a fairly straightforward action/adventure superhero tale – it’s one of the best animated and one of the most visually memorable. Top that off with the villain being a character I enjoy so much, and it’s more than worthy of an Honorable Mention. Tomorrow, the countdown begins with earnest with Number 31! I’ve decided that, for hints in this event, I’ll be providing quotes from each episode featured. With that said… Hint: “I am the cat who walks by herself.”

#list #countdown #best #favorites #new year's special #year of the bat #top 31 btas episodes #btas #batman: the animated series #dcau #dc #batman #animation #tv #honorable mentions

[lepoppeta]

Is there a ship or song you've been wanting to talk about? If so, share it! (I can't think of a ship other than the ones I've already asked about...)

current fandom interest would be hazbin hotel (unfortunately) so... i guess ill be talking about that.

out of all of the rarepairs ive concocted for that questionable amalgamation of a cartoon, my favourite has to be alastiel, or alstor and zestial (i saw one person refer to it as "victorianradio" but as far as i know zestial died during the rule of the tudors). i was inspired by the fact that zestial is the only male character, let alone the only person, that alastor treats with an iota of respect. zestial is so powerful and long-lived that he even makes alastor visibly nervous, which is saying something. zestial, despite his lofty rank, seems to admire alastor for his air of mystery (he calls him an "enigma", almost fondly) and alastor takes this as "quite the compliment". theyre both terribly old fashioned and i think theyd at least get along very well.

as far as songs go, ive only found one - their vibe is really hard for me to pin down because im essentially working from scratch. i dont have any prior songs that really fit them.

the song in question is valentine (laufey), and it would be from alastors point of view.

ive rejected affection for years and years, now i have it and damnit its kind of weird. he tells me im pretty, dont know how to respond. i tell him that hes pretty too - can i say that? dont have a clue.

i love the idea of alastor being the bashful party for once - in most, if not all, of his popular ships (radiostatic, radiobelle, radiohusk, radiodust) hes either got a cryptic upper hand by way of riddles and his magic, or hes dissolved into a flustered rage by a bombardment of sexual innuendo. zestial is old as the hills and patient as death and in my opinion not terribly into the whole sex thing either, so hes perfectly happy to wait until alastor stops fumbling and figures himself out.

if im to be frank, its a bit of a projection on my part too - alastor is canonically somewhere on the aroace spectrum, and i also consider myself as such, and considering a potential romance with zestial is kind of me thinking about a sort-of personal fantasy of mine and how i approach love and intimacy, both in fiction and in real life. id love to write it for the public one day, and maybe someone else who feels the same way as i do will be comforted.

#ask game #answered ask #hazbin hotel #alastor #zestial #alastiel #laufey #aromantic #asexual

[stromuprisahat]

Expectations were low, but Oh My God!

I intended to write down the dialogues that don't make much sense, but then I figured it's no use to copy/paste all the subtitles. There's rarely anything that isn't plain stupid. The Witcher: Blood Origins is amalgam of badly used tropes I've seen thousand times before. 

The Elves

Forget the beautiful, graceful humanoids with equally stunning culture. The elves here are dirty, rude and equally pathetic as humans. The only difference is pointy ears. Their architecture is massive and angular, their blades, proverbial elven blades, often look like a total amateur with zero skill forged them out of scraps.

Elves are also morally corrupt. Colonization is a huge issue we won’t learn much about, except they’re just as bad as humans will become in future. Given the context the point seems to be they had it coming... in case you were starting to feel for their race in present time.

REPRESENTATION!!!

Recently I’ve read a post about how little representation is in “source” material. Shocking, isn’t it? Slavic fantasy, heavily inspired by mediaeval Poland doesn’t include POCs (read: Blacks and East-Asians, because I’ve never seen anyone complaining about lack of Native Americans... in pseudoEurope...). The show creators obviously decided to fix that by ticking off the proper boxes.

You’ve got Black elves, East-Asian, gay gay, chubby deaf-mute... well, at least this time the different colours came from distinct nations. If only the stereotypes were avoided.

Tropes and patterns

Soft, slightly feminine gay, gullible disabled, wise older East-Asian mentor,  washed out hippie healer, abused genius, forbidden love between protector and his charge, soldier who was done killing untill the enemy wiped out his home, redemption = sacrifice = suicide, two characters arguing about who’s gonna do the sacrificing only for the one, who “lost” to go behind the other one’s back and do it...

... sprinkle some well-known terms and names: chaotic power, Xin'trea, Eredin, Avallac’h... aaand done! Brand new tale from a widely-loved universe is done!

Perhaps try writing less of what could people find cool, and focus on a good story.

Rah, rah-ah-ah-ah!

Four episodes don’t offer much space to develop many characters. Seven good guys, at least four antagonists... personalities, interactions, needless romance... it’s interesting how much can actors express in only so many interactions.

Zacaré and Brother Death are believable. 

Meldof and Gwen's story's tragic, but rather sweet in a way. (Tho they could’ve refrained from that rape aspect.)

Éile and Fjall, flat and boring. One of the unsurprising, disappointing turns of events. Zero chemistry. Made to fuck with the sole purpose of making a baby to artificially connect them to Ciri, one of the MCs in the “original” series.

The WITCHER: Blood Origin

You're telling me that the first version of a witcher was a badass elf? This is really gonna piss Geralt off.

One would hope for something different, after all this fuss, but no. First “witcher" is just another butch guy, only with pointy ears.

How do we know the turning potion's ew? It's black!

How do we know he's really WITCHER 1.0? Yellow eyes!

How do we know he’s not quite himself? Black eyes and veins on his face!

I'm sure this improvised ritual had the same effects as carefully honed procedure sorcerers spent decades perfecting...

Fuck the Coup, free The People!

The story starts with a coup, killing off three monarchs with their bodyguards. Corrupt, elitist leadership’s gone, the new rulers- army, magicians and overlooked princess- plan to invade new worlds to gain resources their world’s lacking. Sounds like a decent idea? Our heroes would disagree. The empress needs to be destroyed, because people suffer.

You changed nothing. You're just another boot looking for more necks.

... reproaches the great Éile new empress. When was she supposed to do that? In a week? Change takes time and resources, Merwyn had none. Am I supposed to cheer, because now it's faceless "people" in charge? Do they have knowledge to rule? The skill? Anything? Or are they expected to wing it? Rule isn't about putting new people to the wheel and hope it will all work out. Talk about freedom won't feed you, run trade, economy, agriculture etc..

The worst thing's we know the Empire is crumbling. We know there's no food to redistribute, even the leadership has barely anything and you can't let the head starve if you want to fix anything. Merwyn's unforgivable sin was being born into the ruling class.

- You've no idea what elfkind even is. You're just another spoiled princess.

~ I am Empress!

- You are a child ~given~ the reins of a warhorse. You don't speak for elfkind.

... the writers try to gaslight us. We’re introduced clever, idealistic, inquisitive princess, who wants to help her people. When she’s confronted with reality, she tries to learn more. She goes from her family’s pawn to schemer, who makes allies and plans, frees herself from role of figurehead and reminds others the most important task is to feed their people. That’s a character I’d love to watch. Not a dumb singer, who rallies a mob, destroys government, helps to cause cataclysm and fucks off to countryside.

The Story of the Seven

What did those fame-deserving Seven achieve? Did they solve famine? Did they end war? Did they offer better way to rule? No, no and no.

But they (unintentionally) caused the Conjunction, brought the monsters and humans into weak, starving, disorganized society. The rightfully forgotten Seven effectively crippled their own race and destroyed any chance for defense they might have had.

I don’t know who is Jaskier’s song about, but it’s not about these Seven.

#The Witcher: Blood Origin #anti Blood Origin #TWN critical #The Story of THE SEVEN #Éile the Lark #Aen Seidhe #Scían of Ghost Tribe #Zacaré #Syndril Cullwyn #Fjall of Dog Clan #Merwyn of Xin'trea #Callan 'Brother Death' #Meldof #Gwen the Fair #Eredin #Avallac'h #Elder Blood #Conjunction of the Spheres #V #I dislike that stupid bitch #because she reminds me of Alina 'Fuck Grisha' Starkov.

[opineonion]

Chae Yul: He had it coming... Or did he?

Warning: mild spoilers, disorganized thoughts, a bit of a rant-ish, flowery essay because I can only speak in metaphors, talks on who deserves redemption and who doesn’t.

--

Just finished Secret Alliance, and as someone who needs conversation after a satisfying, cathartic read, I decided to head to the manwha’s trailer to look at the comments, and, to no one’s surprise, saw a crowd of readers with divisive opinions (I always love this. It means the story was provoking enough to inspire different insights.) Of course, when you have a tragic, pretty boy with a murderous streak, you’d get an interesting crowd, and I found it quite easily. This crowd was divided between two factions— one that sympathized and exonerated Chae Yul from his actions, and the one who believed that he had everything coming to him. 

Personally, I’m part of the latter. 

Legally speaking, he committed criminal acts against Eun that deserved to be penalized. In fact, he was extremely lucky that she didn’t press any charges at all, that much I can agree with. The fate he received in the end was much more benign than what he was setting himself up for; but, at the same time, I’m happy that he was given that chance for redemption. To carry the burden of guilt, regret, and remorse is the punishment of those who sobered from delusion, as they will carry sins of their former selves with them for the rest of their lives.

Obviously, I sympathized a lot with Yul, but to sympathize doesn’t mean to exonerate one from their actions. As I read through the story, I wasn’t hoping for a happy ending. In fact, I felt dread each time he dug a deeper hole for himself. (You could even say that he was already deep inside it before the story even began.) I was half-expecting that he’d end up behind bars, or dead. It’s how a lot of yandere stories would end, as if stamping the message on our heads that people who are this far gone do not deserve to carry on as they are. How would you even hope to redeem a character like Chae Yul? Sad backstory aside, does his character deserve to be redeemed? 

I think that a chance for redemption comes when a character could have chosen the path that their circumstances molded them to be, but instead chose the one that allowed the first step to break away from that mold. (Arguably, Chae Yul was halfway down the first path, but sobered by Eun’s harsh reality check where he no longer had a place in her life, he was allowed a glimpse of the other path through the brambles, and he chose to tear his way through to get on the other side.) The more his past was divulged, the more I wished that he had a better “everything” before his nosedive in the story. Chae Yul was just a product of his circumstances. Mocked and objectified for his beauty (Why is conventional feminine beauty somehow always objectified... deserves another mini essay methinks), resented by his father who likely mistreated him because he lacked the masculinity he expected from a son he sired, he turned up bitter and resentful without a single ounce of faith in the world that had done nothing but consume what it desired of him only to spit him out right after.

It came as no surprise that he clung onto the first person who saw him as a human being, something other than an amalgamation. It also came as no surprise that without anyone to derive any form of healthy attachment from (My god, everyone either mocked him, or wanted to get rid of him or defile him), all he knew was that he’d be hard-pressed to release who he thought was the only person who could ever see him for who he could be behind his face. 

Cue the stalking, gaslighting, and blackmailing, and the terrible, no good, terrorizing of Eun. 

And yet, two years later, he was able to let go. Even though his heart “shattered to a million pieces, the sun still rose the next morning and he was still breathing.” When he realized that he no longer had a place in Eun’s life, the one person who his life revolved around, he pieced himself back together, perhaps alone, perhaps slightly cushioned by his tentative reconciliation with his sister. Drifting in space with nothing but the sobering pain of his heartbreak, he chose to honor Eun’s wishes and made himself scarce in her life, living the life she decided to spare instead of end in court trial that Yul would have lost. It’s true that he was a cruel, selfish, delusional egomaniac who terrorized Eun for most of her adolescent and young adult years with the sad hope of keeping her in his life. But, in time, he accepted the grave error of his ways—carrying with this the pain of knowing that he had hurt the only person he would ever love, the pain that he was a monster—and he would wear this truth around his neck as he presses forward. 

Did he deserve this ending? I believe he does. Does he deserve something worse? I believe he does so as well. What made the difference is that he chose to end it before it got worse. He chose to own up to his mistakes, and he so he lived by its consequences. He chose to carry his love for Eun as penance, afraid to ever forget her, and enacting it by leaving it unrealized. Perhaps without even knowing it, he’s performed his first pure act of love, a feat given that he was never spared some of it for even just a bit. 

#secret alliance #the secret alliance #chae yul #spoilers #cw spoilers #tw spoilers #if you disagree i'd love to hear your insights first before you call me names

[moccahobi]

Affection, Not Attention

Writing is seen as a solitary hobby. Yet almost every day there is a post asking for more engagement, how come? 

For whatever reason a writer has posted (for growth, interaction, or just because), writing is transformed. Through writing communities and sharing our writing online, our brainchildren become part of a conversation between writers and readers that I find is often underplayed or overlooked in conversations about engagement.

A commonality of many writers on tumblr is the want for engagement… and distress when there isn’t engagement… no matter how hard we try not to focus on engagement. It becomes a tiring cycle. One that I’ve been struggling with for years. 

When I interviewed Mars, @joheunsaram, she pointed out that this struggle for engagement can be very unique for hobby writers whose writing is often a brainchild of ours. By that logic, I have a lot of kids and I’m ace. 

They are pieces of ourselves that we are showing off to the world. As hobby writers, our works often go through much less polishing and have fewer people to polish and influence them. They are often raw parts of ourselves in this way.

That being said, engagement was not the primary way people characterized their writing in my interviews. Through the wide diversity in their writing interests, we are all united by an internal drive, a want to share ideas (JJ). 

Writing is a beautiful amalgamation of concepts, theories, and ideas that all get wrapped up to create something magical. In interviewing authors, a common theme was how their writing helps them process “[their] thoughts, [their] fantasies and [their] emotions” (@mlkydrms) This sentiment of writing was echoed in conversations I had with Kas (@voiceswithoutlips), Kiki (@chryblossomjjk), Cath (@magicshopaholic), and Rid (@taegularities). Writing is also done with a focus on sharing ideas and a love for the medium (JJ (@m-yg93), Courtney (@casuallyimagining)).

Engagement was often talked about in relation to how people thought of and characterized their readers though. Community, understanding, connections were all things talked about in relation to readers as well. The want for people talking about and relating to characters and themes in their writing is a common theme I found. While likes and reblogs show a level of enjoyment and appreciation, comments are innately human and in turn, have a deep level of intimacy. Engagement is about growing bonds and it “adds an aspect of connection” (Ru (@btsmosphere)). 

Reader engagement was also brought up when talking about coping with the stresses of writing. As we all know, writing can be tiring and challenging, and engagement soothes the challenges that can come with writing, comments specifically have the power to “stifle the negative thoughts” (Kiki). They encourage and motivate us to keep exploring our worlds in addition to sharing affection. 

A great example of this: Courtney mentioned getting inspiration to write a new fic after someone read a lot of their pieces for a specific member. 

Our fics are like opening our arms up into a crowd of people and saying, “I would love a hug”...  We “spend so much time writing [our fics] and then putting [them] out” so when there is no engagement, no hug, it can be disheartening (Rid). It feels like everyone in the crowd is staring at us and thinking, “What the hell are you doing?” 

Looking back at posts asking for engagement from readers, I don’t think they’re generally asking for attention. What many writers want is affection. We want to have these intimate things that we're sharing to be acknowledged. Nep phrased it wonderfully when he said that our posts are like sharing a piece of media related to a topic we like to our friends and hoping a friend will get engaged. 

Cath gave a wonderful example, highlighting About You that has fewer notes than other fics of hers but the comments are very deep and insightful and mean the world to her. Those comments hold a special place in her heart.

I think this framing of engagement also explains why constructive criticism may not be wanted by authors. Many of us write as a hobby, and while we post to share these intimate thoughts, and to have a conversation about them, we don't necessarily do it to grow. While growth is a goal of some writers, there are writers who aren’t looking for feedback or wanting to grow intentionally, that’s valid and we should respect that boundary. 

If community and affection is the primary goal of many writers when posting and we are opening our arms out into the crowd, getting unsolicited feedback or criticism from someone we've not seen before (i.e. our first time seeing a reader or an anonymous ask) is like a back hug when we were expecting a front hug and you don't know who is hugging you because you weren't looking in their direction. It's very disorienting. 

This isn’t always the case, especially if writers do want criticism. They may be prepared for a hug in any direction! Checking with them and making sure that hug is still enjoyable for them is important though. 

As readers it is valid to feel close with writers as they share intimate aspects of themselves, but unless readers reach out and make a connection, writers may not have a feeling of reciprocity or affection. Furthermore, if writers don’t know a reader, jumping into criticism can be disorienting. In these situations, connections and affection are still very useful when giving constructive criticism (and are something that can be built over time or through a single comment). 

If you want to give constructive feedback, I recommend building a relationship with the writer and checking to make sure that they are ok with constructive feedback, and make sure to also point out what you enjoyed. Receiving only negative feedback or critiques doesn’t feel good and doesn’t help affirm the intimacy a writer is asking for. Additionally, if you didn't enjoy anything about a fic, and can't think of a single thing to say that's positive, maybe that's not the best time to comment. 

If you're an anonymous person, or don't have a Tumblr blog, I encourage you to make an anonymous identity. Writers would love to have anonymous people engage with and talk about their stuff and that relationship being built is also really good. We will remember you. 

We notice who comments, likes, and reblogs. Our blogs and fics become a “little symbiotic network” and it’s pretty magical (Kiki).

For writers, I also encourage you to think about what engagement means to you. It is totally valid to want attention in posting, especially when you put a lot of work into it (Kas gave a great analogy of cooking dinner for friends, praise is wonderful when you do). Not caring about attention is also totally valid (Cherry referred to their writing as art they hang up in their home). We all want different things from posting but a commonality I found in my interviews and generally with conversations between writers was a want for connection, community, and intimacy. 

Reframing my thoughts has helped me better understand why I get upset at a lack of engagement, and reflecting may help to better understand why and if you want engagement.

»»————-　✼　————-««

I want to give a big big big thanks to the writers I interviewed! @mlkydrms, @m-yg93, @joheunsaram, @chryblossomjjk, @magicshopaholic, @cherrysoulth, @taegularities, @btsmosphere, @casuallyimagining. All of them are wonderful authors and great people and I highly encourage you check them out! 

Thank you for reading! I appreciate any thought or ideas you have on my little piece! 

#writing #bts fanfic #bts fan fic #bts fanfiction #bts fan fiction #bts writing #lillia opines

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Oooooo Miss Raven, what are your thoughts on Ortho possibly using Pinnochio as one of his bases? A puppet (robot) built by a lonely old man (introverted student) to keep him company. I think that either Idia or Ortho have a personal story that also kind of goes along with the whole "I wish I was a real boy" thing Pinocchio has going on. I think it was the gym clothes card but I'm not completely sure

There’s definitely been a lot of theories and discussion about what Disney character Ortho is twisted from, but I think that Ortho’s really more like an amalgamation of many characters, motifs, and ideas. A lot of the other TWST boys also have a fluidity to their characters, even if their concepts are more strongly grounded in obvious inspirations.

I don’t think Ortho has ever explicitly stated that he wishes he were a “real boy”, but he has certainly mentioned that he wishes he could experience things that more readily come to organic beings than robots. Wishing you can do something or that you had something is not the same as wishing you were something, so I don’t believe wanting legs or feet is the same as Ortho saying he wishes he were human.

In Ortho’s Athletic Gear vignette, he mentions wanting legs or feet so he can run instead of fly, similar to Ariel wishing for legs so she can walk, run, and dance on land instead of swim. The Little Mermaid parallel runs even stronger when it turns out to be the Tweels (aka Flotsam and Jetsam parallels) that help Ortho get the legs he wants (by coercing Idia to build them for him). As far as I am aware, this is the only instance in which Ortho implies anything remotely close to wanting to be “human”, and even then I think it’s more like he wants the experience of running more than actually being flesh and bone.

Ortho has parallels with Hercules as well, in part due to his superhuman strength (as a robot) and in part due to his willingness to “go the distance” to save his brother. (I already rambled about this topic in this post, so I’d recommend reading it if you’re interested in my thoughts!)

I think the Wish Upon a Star/Dance of Wishes event probably provides the strongest Pinocchio references in TWST. The history of the Star Sending itself calls back to the story of Pinocchio, plus we see the whale (Monstro) as a storm cloud that Ortho blasts through to clear the skies. In terms of concept alone, he is probably closest to Pinocchio as an non-human character built by a lonely, older one. Even Rook’s nickname for Ortho (Monsieur Doll, sometimes fan translated as Monsieur Puppet) may be an allusion to this.

It’s interesting that Ortho doesn’t express a wish to be human, but instead wishes for Idia’s happiness 🤔 Combined with everything else in the lore, I think that Ortho is well aware of what he is (a magical AI built to replace a lost sibling) and what his limitations are, but I also think he doesn’t wish beyond those limitations because he knows deep down it’s impossible, or maybe he’s told himself that he’s content with this current status. This might have changed as of chapter 6, as Ortho tells Idia that his AI is now so advanced that he can act beyond his initial programming... and then Ortho goes and does uh... a bunch of things in an effort to defy the destiny that Idia has already accepted... And everything is one big hot mess 😔 which makes for some delicious angst 👌

#Idia Shroud #Jade Leech #Floyd Leech #Tweels #Ortho Shroud #twisted wonderland analysis #twst analysis #spoilers #Rook Hunt #notes from the writing raven

[laplacemail]

🌼🌸 anon here to make your day a bit sweeter !! you're an amazing person and i hope you've had an amazing start of the week. now, onto some nosy questions: where do you get your inspiration for your character(s) from? are there specific types of medias that have influenced the way you write or maybe even specific writers (maybe even from the rpc)? anyways, i hope your week continues to be sweet and amazing because the best of the best is what you deserve, dear friend !!

Hi nonnieee! Thank you for such a sweet message. I'm starting to get better, so hopefully I can go back to writing more often...! Hopefully next week 😭 ... want to chill with my husband for my birthday in a few days and then I can pay attention here and do some much needed cleaning (threads/asks/followers/what have u) and hopefully that will keep me on track! I hope you are having a super duper awesome day too! And that you're eating something yummy!!

And, hmmm. Good question! I kind of take inspiration from characters I'm currently vibing with, or shows/things I like. When I make OCs I just think of a like. Vague concept or personality trait I'd like to explore and then I just go off from there and add things to complement it.

Examples I can think about: Adonia was made was I was very into CRK and Pure Vanilla was a guy I was obsessing over! So I made somebody who would fit my current likes and what I was into at the time. And he just turned into his own person, completely different but still having some hints of my original inspiration. Aeron takes inspiration from Karna (FGO) and Siegfried (GBF), but he isn't quite exactly like that? But the fierce knight who is a bit awkward at talking to people normally / charitable hero traits are things you can see in him. Luc takes inspiration from Phantom (Arknights) and. well. POTO. And the funny thing is that Arknights just stole back from my guy so I find that horribly funny. But my method is just 'what are interesting themes I want to explore' and it just goes off from that. Or even a song sometimes, one of my oldest OCs I just kind of took a lot of inspiration from a song from my favorite band. This is more of my character creation process than my inspiration, but I feel like they go hand in hand.

For actual book authors I get inspiration from, I feel like once you read something you start to assimilate some parts of their writing/how they do stuff. That goes for your RP partners, too. So for book authors I cannot really give you a list of things that inspire me, since your brain likes to absorb these mannerisms like a sponge! And in the end you're left with an amalgamation of things you like that... makes you a better person and writing more comfortably at the end of the day.

But I'd like to reserve this space to give a shoutout to some writers in the RP community that amaze me and inspire me to do better, and 500% of my will to write is really like. 'This starter/reply/ask was amazing and I want to give it the attention and love it deserves'.

Which means I probably read their replies over and over, even if it is not directly addressed at me. Thank you for inspiring me to be better, and for sharing your writing (which can be such an incredibly personal thing, sometimes) with the world! It ain't easy and it ain't much!! But it's honest work!!

Here's some amazing people that inspire me (and just some otherwise this list would be WAY TOO LONG LMAO) :

@thronelessking / @aaternum / @derjaegermond / @xamassed / @kesil / @voiceofduality / @stagsworn / @saintsdawn / @lunaetis / @tenkoseiensei / @ofhope

Tumblr is gonna break some of these but I'm going to eat both of its hands right as I publish this ask. (noms)

Thank you for this btw!! I hope you have a great great great great week and weekend!

#ooc