#this is the first project we've seen her have fun with

[thundergrace]

#megan thee stallion #she's such a dork lol #i feel like since the Tory shit and easing herself back fully on social media #this is the first project we've seen her have fun with #missed her #missed her just being smiley and goofy #renee rapp #rachel mcadams

[vidavalor]

I think you're the fifth blogger I've seen mention Shax's thing for Crowley... I still can't see it even though I really want to 'cause I think it's hilarious... send help... 🤣🥲😔

I can try lol. Chocolate cake? *slices*

More fun with Shax and Crowley under the cut. We're also going to look at part of Gabriel & Sandalphon's visit to the bookshop in S1 for some bonus fun since it fit in here as it's a parallel scene.

TW: Brief mention of Sandalphon and his homophobia.

For the most part, Shax isn't really in love with Crowley... she's just got a Mr. Brown-level pash on the Crowley that Crowley projects. While Aziraphale hides that he's an angel from the human world so Mr. Brown only believes him to be human, Crowley hides the extent to which he's human and living like one from the demons in Hell. As a result, the demon pursuing him has got exactly one thing correct about Crowley-- that he's hot lol-- but Shax's opinions as to why only partially overlap with ours and Aziraphale's because Shax believes Crowley's big reputation. She doesn't know what we know about him or see him the way we do. Like Mr. Brown with Aziraphale, she exists in part to highlight how insular Crowley & Aziraphale's world of their life together is and how much they have to playact in their respective worlds to keep that secret life they have with one another private and intact.

Shax is a demon who loves being a demon. That's what makes her crazy to us. Most of the other demons we've met are just miserable, even if they're playing along, but Shax is a real go-getter. She's ambitious and she lives to serve their master Satan. She wants to be good at being a demon and she's in love with *Crowley* lol. To us, this seems bananas because ain't no demon ever hated being a demon more than Anthony Jemimah Crowley... but it's proof positive of how decent a job Crowley has been doing at projecting an air of general demonicness for the last six thousand years.

Crowley has been a prince of Hell forever. He's gotten the top jobs-- the stuff of Shax's dreams, really-- and was a particular favorite of Satan, whom Shax worships. He was basically Hell's resident rock star, breezing in every few months to give a demonic presentation and shoot the shit in Lord Beezlebub's office for a half-hour before taking off for Earth again. If you were Shax, spending literally *thousands of years* in that overstuffed, dark, actual hell hole, Crowley showing up must have been like a visit from sexy Santa Claus. Shax is one of those Effort-making demons and most of the demons in Hell are more terrifying than attractive, ok?... even if you find terrifying attractive, like Shax sorta does or at least thinks she ought to.

Who's going to light your fire down there? Hastur? He'd *literally* light you on fire....

We've seen Shax have to deal with misogyny in the workplace (ugh Demon Josh) and you know she never got any of that shit from Crowley. She probably mostly got a "Shaaaaax! How's it hangin'?" from Disco Tony, who was thrilled to have remembered her name this time. Shax was playing it evil demon lady cool on the surface but girl just wants to be first string for the finest demon in Hell and she was swooning internally every time Crowley swooped in to grace Hell with his presence for a hot minute.

There has been suggestion in the series that several demons that we know of from Bible lore are, in Good Omens, all actually Crowley, which furthers this idea of Crowley and his big reputation a bit. The show has actually already done this with a Biblical figure, in that Bildad the Shuite is an actual Biblical character that the show just made be actually the demon Crowley under a different name, so it would make sense that the reason why we haven't seen other famous demons from The Bible in the series are because they're actually Crowley.

One is canon, basically, which is Astaroth/Astoreth, since Crowley was Nanny Astoreth in S1 and I doubt he stole the name from another demon who exists in the GO universe. When Crowley tells Aziraphale he changed his name when they are watching Jesus' crucifixion, Aziraphale first posits two other demons' names and neither of them exist in GO universe to date but both are, lore-wise, powerful: Mephistopheles and Asmodeus. A lot of other great meta has been written about these choices-- in particular, how well Mephistopheles fits Crowley to a tee, which I really, really agree with. You could assume then that the reasons why more audience-known demons like Astoreth and Asmodeus have never shown up in GO-- and we've met the highest-ranking demons already-- is because they actually *have* and they're all just really Crowley.

In demon lore, Astaroth is part of the "evil trinity" with Beezlebub and Lucifer and is a high-ranking demon in Hell... as well as is basically a genderbent serpent goddess with Crowley traits... so safe to say that's one of Crowley's aliases. Crowley has also had his name of "Crowley" for thousands of years by S1 but when he's rolling up in The Bentley in 1.01, Ligur and Hastur clarify what Crowley's "calling himself up here these days", indicating that he might have gone by more names than we might have realized.

Asmodeus, as we all probably know by now, is the demon of lust. A French novel from the 18th century also popularized the idea of Asmodeus as a sort of Cupid, which also goes along with Crowley, who loves love and got genuine joy out of trying to set up Maggie and Nina. So... from Shax's perspective, why *wouldn't* you want Crowley? He's the fine as fuck, Serpent of Eden, legendary prince of fucking lust here lol.

Shax showed up to reclaim his apartment for Hell and you know she expected a scene the likes of which have not been seen on Earth since a post-concert hotel suite occupied by Led Zeppelin lol. She was expecting (fantasizing lol) about having to wade through a rock music blasting, orgiastic drug den to find Asmodeus in his sex dungeon of a bedroom, somewhere in the black silk sheets beneath three playthings.

You know she actually found Crowley, alone, having just finished vacuuming the most fastidiously clean flat this side of Heaven, fully dressed and watching Barefoot Contessa on his massive plasma screen while the only drugs being mixed were special-blend fertilizer for his houseplants. Ina was making Jeffrey red-wine braised short ribs and Crowley didn't say so to Shax, of course, but he's always on the lookout for something his angel might like for dinner. Hang on a second, Shax, gotta save this recipe to my favorites...

At least the black silk sheets were accurate? lol

What probably confuses Shax a little is that she's been meeting up with Crowley and she still wants him and badly, even as it's becoming increasingly clear that he's a bit more complicated than she thought he was. Technically, she should consider him a traitor because of how he betrayed their Master but he's hot, ok, and maybe it's a little sexy to be so bad that you'd defy Satan? (Aziraphale agrees lol.)

Shax has Mr. Brown-level fantasies about where this could go. Crowley was a favorite of Satan's and she can bring him back into the fold. She can heal him. Yeah, this lady demon has gone and got herself one of those 'I can fix him' disaster scenarios. She hates this for her too but she can't help it. He's so sexy. She's been in Hell for a long time. She's sleeping in the bed and showering in the tropical rainforest paradise dream shower of Asmodeus himself, ok?

She's undoubtedly tried to get him to stay. She's so offered for him to live with her in secret and Crowley nearly choked on the air he doesn't need to breathe trying not to laugh at the irony of that one. It's not Shax's fault that he's just not that into her. She's a bad bitch and everything. That's just not his thing. He's just the lonely GI who basically fell asleep during a performance of The Ladies of Camelot. He has always given off the impression that he's into everything there is to sell the whole 'demon of lust' thing but he's really not. Shax doesn't know that, though, because to know that is to know Crowley well and Shax does not.

Does Crowley know that Shax is into him? Yeah, he does.

Shax's thing for him is basically the same thing as when Crowley tries to make a phone call after having taken out the mobile phone network for miles. It's the oh, shit, right, that thing I did that's now fucking up my day in the present... He didn't lead her on specifically as much as he just gave off the vibe in general that he's this debauched, wild, so very wicked demon and, well... if your name is Aziraphale, that's not terribly inaccurate lol... but if it's not, then it's actually not true at all...

...and this is why Shax cannot for the fucking life of her figure out what the deal is with Crowley and this angel.

Yes, Shax is trying to goad Aziraphale into confirming that he has Gabriel in this scene but this scene also comes off as Shax so incredibly done with how jealous she is over this, in her eyes, ridiculous being, and she's bitchy as all fuck about it. There were other ways to crack at Aziraphale than over his relationship with Crowley and she goes at that hard. She calls The Bentley an old piece of junk when she's really clearly calling Aziraphale that and saying that she doesn't know why Crowley hasn't gotten "an upgrade" since, implying that she considers herself just the upgrade Crowley needs. She brings up 1941 via the rumors that she heard "80, 90 years ago" that Crowley and Aziraphale were "an item", which we know are at least partially derived from what happened with Furfur, who his Shax's closest friend and totally has tried to tell her that this thing she has for Crowley is hopeless because he's doing that angel, Shax. (Poor, pining Furfur lol.)

Shax knows somewhere that Furfur is probably correct but she's decided to pretend that it's Furfur's thing for her that could have caused him to misconstrue at least part of it, right, because the demon of lust only having eyes for one being, let alone that being being this angel, is absurd to her (even if she thinks she can tame him lol.)

Aziraphale is an angel, for one thing. The bastards who did this to The Fallen and who cast their Master to Hell. Their sworn, hereditary enemy. It was one thing when maybe the angel was a dalliance. Asmodeus, lonely and bored on Earth, tired of all the sex with the mortals, and so very bad that he could corrupt an angel. That's a little hot, actually, if you're Shax, but it's the fact that that... does not appear to be what this relationship is... that unsettles her.

During S2, Shax learns that Crowley has a permanent invite into and keys to the bookshop and that Aziraphale can drive Crowley's car to an extent that Shax even has to trick him to allow her to enter it. The angel really seems like he might be Crowley's partner, which would mean that this wasn't Crowley fucking an angel on a whim in 1941 but that Hell's wild prince of lust has actually secretly been in a romantic relationship with Aziraphale for at least, to Shax's knowledge, almost a century.

The purported baddest demon that ever demoned, shy of the literal devil, is apparently mad for this fusty angel and Shax just cannot get it, ok?

Crowley is a a broody, black-clad rock star and Aziraphale is this twee little bookselling angel to her. Shax thinks maybe this was all part of Crowley's breakdown or something and she's Mr. Brown so she hasn't given up hope here, not for most of S2, but she's mostly been trying to figure out how to get Crowley's attention and that's the funniest part of her whole pash, imo.

Shax has no idea what Crowley is into. She can't figure this out to save her life.

She has no idea that it's over before it started because she is just not what primes the engine of Crowley's star factory over here. It's not personal. He just doesn't have a shred of sexual interest in her. Gabriel is getting more action from Crowley this season and he tried to murder him lol. Crowley's spent millennia cultivating a persona of a sex god and now he's got to live with it and he's just praying he never finds out anything she's fantasizing about him because he shudders at the thought of whatever she envisions them getting up to.

Look at what Shax is wearing when she comes to Earth to meet with Crowley, for one of the more hilarious things...

In Hell, Shax wears modern clothes. When she comes to Earth to meet Crowley in the year 2023, she wears a vintage-inspired outfit that is spanning the mid-1930s through WW2 in style (the era she knows he was involved with Aziraphale, who is her main point of reference for what attracts Asmodeus over here lol)... and the dress has the biggest damn bow ever seen. You could see that bow from space. It's like she's trying desperately to figure out what turns Crowley on and so far she's come up with well, he drives an old car and he's rolled that angel so he likes... old things... vintage clothes, like the angel's. She's trying to out-bow-tie Aziraphale.

Now that Shax can spend time with Crowley alone and the possibility of seducing him is ever-present (lolololol), she's spending time trying to figure out what turns on the prince of lust. She's trying to get Crowley's demonically lustful attention and she's reduced to bow ties, okay, take pity on her... she's just like I don't know what his deal with these are, exactly, as it seems kind of specific... but he can unwrap me anytime if that's his thing...

Then, there's that she's sitting too close to him on the park bench and raking her eyes over him while he's sprawling on it. He's not sprawling in a way meant to be enticing. He's actually mid-existential crisis here but that's fine by Shax. She likes 'em a little dark.

My favorite, though, is a scene that actually parallels S1 in a hilarious way and that's from the hot water boiler scene in the other meta that prompted the ask here but isn't a bit that I mentioned in that one.

As Crowley goes back into the bookshop (and he'd never been happier to be on the other side of that threshold in his life lol), Shax is then as physically close to him as she's ever been. If you notice, she actually inhales twice. The first is a regular breath-- which demons don't technically need to take but yeah lol-- and her expression is all oh Satan, he smells amazing and then she straight up sniffs the air as he opens the door. Girl is huffing her fill over here for those shower fantasies for months to come lol. Crowley knows it as his eyebrows are in his hair as he's turning back around like he's all did she seriously just *sniff* me? ugh...

Shax knows Crowley saw her (honestly, probably also *heard* her... Shax, love, a little subtlety wouldn't kill you...) so she covers it up by pretending like she smelled Gabriel in the bookshop. You smelled the archangel in there, huh, Shax? When you can't get through the door? When Gabriel is the same species as Aziraphale, whose bookshop this is, so this can't be some kind of angel-scent you're claiming you noticed here? lol This then parallels and adds to this Sandalphon scene in S1:

I know there's some debate about if there's such thing as an angelic or a demonic smell but I've actually always taken it to be that there isn't. It would seem to me that it would be hard for them to blend in on Earth if there was and if the demonic one was something off-putting to humans, at least. I think most of us, though, do believe that the "evil" Sandalphon is smelling in the backroom is Crowley but considering that the comment comes from Sandalphon, who is introduced to us with reference to his smiting of people in Sodom and Gomorrah, it honestly just comes off that Sandalphon is a raging homophobe and I've actually always taken that as the reason why Gabriel is here in this scene in the first place.

Absolutely nothing happens in this scene. It's a routine checkup. What is the Supreme Archangel of Heaven doing there? Why is he blowing so much smoke up Sandalphon's ass the whole time? It's kind of like he saw that Michael or someone had assigned Sandalphon to do a checkup of sorts on Aziraphale-- or Sandalphon had assigned himself-- and Gabriel pretended that he wanted to see in person how "the great Sandalphon" worked so that he could tag along and make sure that Sandalphon didn't bother Aziraphale. We also learn that Aziraphale hasn't seen Sandalphon in a long time and I'd bet that Gabriel is responsible for that. Gabriel's 'whatever, idgaf' response to Aziraphale's Jeffrey Archer books comment is so... Gabriel hadn't the first clue who Jeffrey Archer is or why his books would be evil lol. He could have easily further encouraged Sandalphon's pursuit of the "evil" scent. He didn't because he could care less what Aziraphale does in the backroom of his bookshop. If anything, he's jealous of him for having found a way to have some freedom and privacy. Gabriel is queer-- he is like Aziraphale. He's just closeted in S1. He's looking out for Aziraphale here by using his power to shut down Sandalphon and then "you can't have a war without war omg wow you are a poet!" him out of there as fast as is possible. If there truly was an 'evil'/'demonic' smell, Gabriel should have been able to smell it, too, and he doesn't. If he did, he wouldn't have been able to subtly shut down Sandalphon the way he did.

So, Sandalphon isn't smelling a demon. He's smelling another man. The "evil" is that Sandalphon can smell remnants of another cologne that isn't Aziraphale's in the backroom of Aziraphale's bookshop and Sandalphon is a homophobe, so he's implying that Aziraphale having sex and with a man is 'evil', even if there's no direct evidence here of that, just the implication of it.

This then would mean that Shax can't actually smell Gabriel in the bookshop in S2. Like Sandalphon, she's pretending to have a supernatural sense of scent but she's really just smelling Crowley. While Sandalphon was repulsed by the idea of Aziraphale's bookshop backroom having the scent of a man, Shax is just inhaling that same being's scent because omfg. so. good....

...something she can't stand that she has in common with that bastard angel, Aziraphale, who is actually allowed to breathe Crowley in anytime he wants... it's just ridiculous to her. Why the fuck does that beige bookseller get to have the sex god of Shax's dreams in his bed and she doesn't? What could Crowley possibly find attractive about him? That she doesn't know and can't really figure it out shows how little she really knows Crowley and also how little imagination she really has.

#ineffable husbands #good omens #crowley #aziraphale #good omens 2 #good omens meta #aziracrow #good omens shax #shax good omens #shax #archangel fucking gabriel #sandalphon #mr brown #of brown's world of carpets

[crazyonepiecefan]

Alastor's relationship with Lilith

Ok, here's a theory about Alastor. I think he and Husk are in the same situation. Like, I think that Alastor sold his soul to Lilith to save himself seven years ago or maybe even when he first arrived in Hell. Who knows.

But I think that Lilith made him help Charlie and he actually HAS to do whatever Charlie wants to help the hotel.

In episode 1, he makes a whole commercial by himself for the hotel when he has stated multiple times he HATES video, why? If he's really just doing this for fun, why does he bother, he could just refuse or leave it to Charlie and Vaggie to figure out. (also he looked actually annoyed that they didn't like it? Why? Because he actually worked hard on it? Because it meant he would have to do it again??)

Then, near the end of the episode, when Vaggie is struggling he makes a deal with her. Not for her soul, but an agreement that he will help so long as she promises never to ask him to deal with cameras and making videos again.

But why?

Why go through all the effort of first making a commercial then extracting that promise then making a new commercial? Unless, maybe, he knows he can't actually disobey a direct order from them, and getting this promise gets him out of making any more videos indefinitely??

Then we get to episode 2, just a small note that I thought was interesting. When Alastor leaves to get his coat fixed, Vaggie tells him he needs to help with the hotel and Angel comments that he has to fix the wall. Which he does immediately. I just think its interesting, since everything we've seen of Alastor so far has pointed to the fact that he's chaotic, does what he likes, when he likes and seems to like people being scared of him.

Then why does he allow Vaggie and Angel to essentially order him to fix the wall when he has to fix his coat (something that is clearly important to him by his response when Sir Pentious ripped it)? I have a feeling he wasn't actually worried what 'the papers' would say.

In episode 3, all I can say are: The EggBois. He clearly seemed excited to kill them in the beginning, until Vaggie told him he couldn't. Then he took them out with him to his meeting. Where they were CLEARLY annoying him. And he still didn't kill them?? Not even maim them?? Why?

I just think its so strange, because on one hand we know Alastor to be a character that is chaotic, mysterious, enjoys violence , making people fear him, and hates all things to do with TV. And yet he has done so many things that go against that, with only the excuse that he wouldn't want people saying his 'project' was a failure so soon and that the hotel is only a source of 'entertainment'. It just doesn't seem like enough of a reason for him to do these things.

I could be totally wrong, but......

I'm watching you Alastor.

#hazbin hotel #hazbin alastor #theory #hazbin charlie #hazbin vaggie #hazbin angel dust #egg bois

[piastree]

Take a Chance with Me | OP81

oscar piastri x reader (fc: huh yunjin)

— Part 4

Previous Part

Summary: When things aren't going well, Y/N takes a break for a while and redirects her focus to other things, spending more time with Oscar and her friends. Y/N's friends and Oscar consistently support her, ensuring Y/N is okay, even though she often insists she's fine. Disclamer: This is a story created for fun without any hate towards anyone. This work exists in a realm separate from the original canon. Characters may be divergent from their established personas. So, just enjoy the rollercoaster ride.

oscarpiastri added a story

landonorris are u proposing mate? oscarpiastri yeah mate, proposing to decide who pays the bill

yourbff

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yourbff Through thick and thin, we've been laughing side by side for ten fantastic years. Wishing you endless happiness❤️

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user friendship goalsss

user they are so PRETTYYYY

user both of you are not only stunning but also funny😂

oscarpiastri reserving my spot for the next decade😁

yourbff you're claiming to be one of my best friend spot now? i'll ask y/n first for the approval

lilymhe

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lilymhe nature therapy🍃💖

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user lily with y/n?????

user lol y/n just casually third-wheeling Lily and Alex😂

user mother, father and their daughter

user isn't y/n outfit too fancy for hiking??😂

lilymhe she thought we were just joking about going hiking😭

alexalbon y/n seemed a bit lost without oscar

oscarpiastri well, she loves being a dork

user MOTHER SLAYING AS USUAL😍

user Y/N is literally everywhere but not on her own Instagram :(

user yeah but we love seeing how people around her being so supportive

f1updates

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f1updates oscar was seen at a karting track with the young karteers yesterday

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user finally we got new pics of oscar!!

user it's cute seeing the interaction between the kids and oscar

user AH OSCAR I MISS U POOKIE

user this is so lovely<3

user no y/n?

user i guess y/n isn't kind of wags who sticks to her partner all the time🤷‍♀️

user agreed, i've seen her at races only a few times

user when she doesn't need him anymore, she throws him under the bus

user lol wdym she just know what she should prioritize. Even oscar himself said she has her own life

imessage

f1wags

liked by user, user, and 10,901 others

f1wags After a brief hiatus from social media, y/n makes a cameo on her friend's IG Live today! In today's live, she spilled the beans on some questions about her christmas holiday in Australia and the short getaway in Japan with Oscar. She couldn't help but gush about the incredible experience—her first time in Australia. Oscar played the perfect tour guide, showing her around his hometown and introducing her to his family. He also told us about their short getaway in Japan. Y/N explained that they haven't seen each other for more than two weeks as Oscar is already back to work—busy with meetings, simulator sessions, and prepping for the upcoming F1 season at the McLaren Technology Centre, and she have to return to her work and projects too.

And can we just say, we're glad the couple is still in good terms after the recent not-so-great rumors?

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user OMG, missed seeing you around, Y/N!

user she's talking about christmas in australia and their japan getaway? I need all the details!!

user she said they went to kyoto, disneyland, tried some street foods and traditional tea ceremony🥺

user i'm so happy y/n and oscar are still going strong and just ignore the haters and rumour

user their holiday stories are giving me major FOMO

user you radiate beauty and glow when you are unproblematic<3

twitter

yourusername

liked by oscarpiastri, landonorris, yourbff and 102,999 others

yourusername in 2023, my journey went from ginger to black, mirroring the different stages of my life. It's like a colorful map of my growth and transformation, representing the beautiful journey i've had. Grateful for the lessons, the love, and the incredible people i met along the way❤️

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yourbff always proud of you!!❤️

user you're the sweetest, y/n! please always be happy❤️

landonorris what's wrong with the last photo?

yourusername my reaction when u got pole in Brazil

landonorris really?

yourusername whatever makes u happy🤗

user wish you nothing but the best, y/n❤️

user caption on point💯

yourusername

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yourusername same with me again next year?

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user would be funny if oscar reacted with no

yourusername DON'T GIVE HIM IDEA

oscarpiastri i'll take that as reference thankyou😁

user adopt me

user the second pic is adorable😭

user this is the cutest photodump ever omfg

lilymhe ❤️❤️

yourusername love u mother, xo

oscarpiastri ready for another journey with me?

yourusername 💑💯

notes: honestly, i really want to put some conflict but i dunnoooo i can't bring myself to do it because i love them so much<///3 i dont want to mess with their lovey-dovey bickering dynamic:((( Maybe in the next part, I'll toss in some drama to keep things interesting hahaha lol. Thankyou for reading this chapter and hope u like it. Anyways, what do you think so far? Share your thoughts and let's have a chitchat with me<3

taglist: @fall-bambi @minkyungseokie @neoivy1

#oscar piastri #oscar piastri imagine #oscar piastri x reader #oscar piastri fanfic #oscar piastri au #f1 fluff #f1 fanfic #oscar piastri x you #oscar piastri fluff #f1 smau #f1 imagine #f1 x reader #oscar piastri smau

[iisasarcasticlittleshite]

We've created a Monster Pt.II

Diavolo laughed at the screen of his DDD, hurriedly gesturing for Barbatos to join him.

'Come see this, Barbatos, Lucifer just shared the most delightful video!'

'I'm sure it must be of great importance for you to neglect your paperwork, my lord.'

Sheepishly, Diavolo turned to screen toward him, presenting the still image of an envy demon dwarfing their powerless exchange student.

'Oh my, lord this image is far from amusing.'

'Trust me, just press play.'

So he did, and was very much not expecting what came next. 'I see, it seems MC has grown rather more capable than I gave them credit for.'

'According to Lucifer they were rather unbothered by the threat, he even called a family meeting to address the event and MC just...laughed them off?'

Barbatos couldn't help but smile. 'How remarkable, expected though. MC has seen demons far more frightening than a lesser envy demon.'

'That's what they said to the brothers, though Lucifer seems to find it far less amusing than we do.'

'I imagine, it is not the sort of scenario he would find at all pleasant. Threat to our young human cause him a great deal of unrest.'

Diavolo grinned a conspirator's smile. 'Just him?'

'...fair point.'

'Why are the incantations so long? I'm trying to light a candle not summon a hurricane.' MC huffed, slouching into the armchair with the grimoire laid open across her thighs. 'It's like a religious text.'

'Magic's way of making sure you mean to get what you're asking for.' Solomon's smile was beguiling, almost sweet, but not.

He's a menace, and no one knows that better than MC, who's been taking magical instruction for him for months.

The sorcerer crossed his legs, flipping through a new spell book MC brought over from Satan. 'So, I hear you had some fun at RAD this morning.'

MC rolled their eyes, reluctantly going back to memorising incantations. 'You too? Does the entire Devildom know about that by now?'

'I'd say so, everyone who matters at least. We haven't told Luke, poor thing would loose his mind if he had actual proof of how dangerous the devildom really is for you.'

'I'm not in any danger, you're starting to sound like Lucifer.' MC huffed. 'Next thing I know you'll be off on a lecture about my lack of self preservation and needing to be careful.'

'I would never, watching you get in trouble is my favourite pass time.' He winked teasingly, kicking his shows up on the coffee table. 'I am curious though, what was going through your head when he threatened you? I remember being a little intimidated the first time a demon tried to kill me.'

'I'm honestly surprised you remember your first anything anymore.'

'Don't change the subject.' Tutted Solomon with that congenial smile of his that was neither friendly nor threatening. 'What were you thinking?'

MC sighed, closing the grimoire and turning their attention to the plate of cookies Luke left for them. 'It was annoying, I went into RAD early to get ahead on a project I was supposed to be working on with Simeon. Could have expected that reaction when I told him Levi wears envy way better. That time he tried to kill me gave me nightmares for days.'

'...MC, how many times have those lunatics nearly killed you?'

'Pfft, you think I keep count? Between Beel's tantrums, Mammon's schemes and just existing in Lucifer's radius I nearly die at least twice a week. It was way more when I first met them though.'

Solomon had to resist the urge to gape. His sense of normal may be a few thousand years past twisted, but this is... odd even for him. A human this young should not be this comfortable with domestic danger, let alone love those who put them there.

Several, times, a week.

MC carries on eating their cookies happily, reaching for another one when their eye catches something on the table, half hidden behind a book, but that beastly silhouette is unmistakeable, and they immediately curl into the chair as though they've been burned.

Pitching a whine to alert the house, their wide eyes fixate on the eight legged monstrosity, arms coiled tight around themselves as their skin immediately begins to crawl and twitch as though being assaulted by hundreds of the tiny beasts.

'What?! What is...oh, hello there.'

Solomon is almost left a aghast all over again. Here sits the most desensitised human he's ever met (besides himself), curled up in a ball, over a spider.

Fair be it a decent sized spider, probably the size of his thumb, but a mere spider nonetheless.

'You looked a 20-foot snake in the eye, you take Cerberus for evening walks with Lucifer...' he trailed off, carefully nudging the arachnid into an empty glass and caging it with a book '...and you're afraid of a spider?'

'Fuckin' right I am! And I'm not going to justify it to you so get rid of it before I set you on fire!'

Solomon laughed, and laughed until he couldn't hold himself upright anymore, wiping a tear from his eye, but when next he looked up, MC was still staring at the spider, eyes so full of genuine terror and brimming with tears, he felt guilt strike him.

'This...genuinely frightens you, doesn't it?'

MC nodded, lip jutted in an involuntary pout, skin raised in goose bumps. 'I wish it didn't.'

'Alright, I'm sorry. I'll get rid of it.'

And he did, and made a point of making sure everyone knew about MC's phobia, and didn't make fun of them for it.

Was it ironic that someone who looked death in the eye and waved was afraid of spiders? Absolutely, but no one chooses fear over comfort, and MC has chosen to be brave one too many times for anyone to begrudge them one or two irrational fears.

#obey me x reader #obey me diavolo #obey me barbatos #obey me solomon #obey me undateables

[eufezco]

YOU'RE TOO DRUNK FOR THIS – S. H. x FEM!READER

IN WHICH you're too drunk to have that conversation.

This was your first Halloween party.

Every October 31 you'd go out with Jonathan to take care of the kids while they trick-or-treated. It was fun, but you couldn't deny you wished you were in one of those big parties with loud music, people dancing and wearing the coolest costumes, and liters of alcohol. No one ever invited you to one of those, no one except Steve. You started hanging out with him last year when you were paired up for a group project together. You wouldn't tell him that this was your first Halloween party but he perfectly knew you've never been to a party before. People in those places were nothing like you and even though his friends didn't like you at all, it's been so long since the last time he cared about what his friends had to say and Steve wanted you to be there. Plus, he wouldn't have gone to the party either if you hadn't accepted his invitation.

Steve drove to your house and introduced himself to your parents, reassuring them that you'd be okay. After what happened to Barb they've been pretty paranoid and you going out with someone new creeped them out. Then, he drove to the party making fun of the look your parents gave the two of you before leaving and you couldn't be more embarrassed. You stood outside the house, colorful lights coming out of the windows and the music rumbling down the street. "You've never seen a house before?" You rolled your eyes and hit him with your elbow. The house was crowded, but no one paid attention to you, just Steve, and that made you feel more comfortable. Everyone was minding their own business; dancing, drinking, trying to hold a conversation over the music, there were even a few making out. Steve guided you to the kitchen where the music wasn't too loud. "Steve!" You heard a girl calling the boy. Steve said hi back to Carol and after her, Tommy appeared. You tried to hide behind him, but the disgusted faces of his friends made their way to you.

"Seriously, Steve? Her? Come one, man."

"Shut up, Tommy."

They didn't like you, and that was okay because you didn't like them either. "Okay, y/n, what do you want to drink? We've got beer, rum, vodka, punch..." He served himself a cup of beer and waited for your answer. "Well, I've never- I've never tried any of these." You laughed nervously and Steve raised his eyebrows. "Try my beer." He handed you his cup, you took it between your fingers and you let the liquid go through your lips. "Ew." You mumbled wrinkling your nose, Steve laughed at how cute you looked. "No beer for you since you've got no taste." He took a cup for you and decided to pour you punch. "I think you might like this one." And so you did, it tasted like cherry, and at one point of the night, you lost count of how many cups of punch you drank. After you two got your drinks, Steve grabbed your hand and walked you to the living room where the people were dancing.

He didn't let go of your hand, still holding it while dancing, spinning you around now and then and making you giggle.

You followed Carol to the kitchen where the table was full of alcohol bottles. "Hey! No, no, no. She's had enough." Steve tried to take your cup off Carol's hands as she was about to handed it to you after refilling it with punch. "Carol come on. It's her first time drinking, she's had enough." The girl rolled her eyes and let go of the cup all of a sudden, Steve spilling all the punch on your dress. "Shit y/n, I'm sorry." You shook your head. "It's okay. I'll- I'm going to the bathroom." Steve followed you and closed the door of the bathroom behind him. You tried to clean the red stain on your dress using a towel and water. "I'm sorry y/n. That's not coming off."

"It's coming." Steve shook his head. "Look, take my jacket and let me drive you home, okay?" His voice was so soft and his deep brown eyes looked for yours as your eyes were focused on cleaning your dress. Steve's hand landed on top of yours making you stop. You gave up and suddenly started crying. "I'm truly sorry y/n. You can have my jacket and I'm gonna drive you home and everything's gonna be okay. You can even keep my jacket forever if you like it." Steve took it off immediately and he placed it over your shoulders, the smell of his cologne and the warmth of it making you cry even harder. Steve felt so bad for ruining your dress and making you cry because you seemed to be enjoying the party so much. And you looked so pretty with your dress, he felt so bad.

"I don't care about the stoop- the stupid dress." You babbled. You just needed to let it all out. "I just- I like you so much, Steve. And you're my friend and I've never felt this way before and I don't know what to do because I don't wanna lose you." If you weren't drunk you'd never have said such a thing and even now you felt the embarrassment hit you like a truck. Your cute doe and red eyes contemplating him. Steve placed his hands on your cheeks and connected his lips to yours. A cute little peck that didn't last long but it was enough to have you asking yourself if that really happened or if you were too drunk. Now you were the one that kissed him, you just needed to be sure that that happened, that he kissed you, that Steve Harrington kissed you. His back was against the bathroom door, his big hands never leaving the soft touch on your cheeks as he kissed you back. Steve has kissed a lot of people. Was he proud? No, not exactly because in the long run, they'd be creating fake scenarios with him. He wasn't proud either because at some point he lost the feeling of excitement before kissing someone. But now, being in that small bathroom with you, he almost got scared when he felt the tickling sensation in the lower part of his stomach and he thought about how much he has missed that feeling. "Mmm, y/n-" He said against your lips. "Y/n, I-" He called your name again and squeezed your cheeks making you stop kissing him. He giggled as your cheeks grew hot under his touch.

"I like you too, but you're too drunk for this." Your eyes went wide. You were drunk but you were still able to understand what those four words meant. You didn't know what to say next since the only person that has ever reciprocated your feelings was Jonathan when you both were 7. "What does- What do you mean with 'I like you too'?" You licked your lips tasting the beer from Steve's, it tasted better now since you got it from his lips. And Steve could feel the punch taking over the taste of beer in his mouth. "What do you think I mean?" You thought about it, biting your lower lip as you looked for an answer. "We're not having this conversation now anyways." Steve said interrupting your thoughts and you internally thanked him because you didn't know how to reply to his question. The truth was that he wasn't looking for a specific answer, he knew exactly what he meant, he just wanted to tease your drunk self. "I'm taking you home, let's go." Steve smiled at you and threw his arm over your shoulders, opening the door of the bathroom and getting you both out of your first party ever.

"We're talking about this tomorrow, Steve." You babbled.

"Of course we are."

#stranger things #stranger things fluff #stranger things angst #steve harrington fluff #steve harrington angst #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington smut #steve harrington x reader #stranger things imagine #steve harrington headcanon #stranger things smut #stranger things x reader

[cristalthenarwhalpotato]

Introducing Marnal Corezz! My Star Wars Jedi OC or Jedisona

She's a Jedi Padawan during the Clone Wars. Hope nothing traumatic happens hehehehe

Marnal is obviously a Nautolan as anyone with Star Wars lore knowledge can tell. (Although technically we've never seen a pink Nautolan we have seen red and purple according to Wookiepedia so that means pink is possible fuck you)

She's the Padawan of Jedi Knight Riven Merai, who i plan on making a finished artwork for later but for now have this shitty doodle of how I imagine their dynamic.

(He's a great influence totally)

Marnal Corezz is, pretty chipper and easily excited. Often a beam of endless talking once she opens her mouth. (The adhd and tism is strong) She also enjoys reading up on lore, history and overall knowledge, and is good at adapting to a situation. Improv is something of a specialty.

However in stressful situations she can sometimes freeze up, getting caught overthinking or even panicking. In these moments all she needs is a nudge or reminder to stay on focus- and then she's back on track with little issue.

Since she's ultimately a bit of a self insert I've added several of my own traits. But she's still very distinctly different from me imo- not just counting her being a space wizard.

Also she's a bit of an empath because 1. I am very empathetic 2. Nautolans can apparently feel the vibes of other people's feelings and 3. Jedi bullshit.

-

Marnal practices Niman and Shii Cho mainly, but thanks to Niman's customizable nature she's implemented Ataru as well to make up for her size. She's below average for a Nautolan. (I'm not self projecting shut up)

Here's her Lightsaber and Padawan braid from my doodles. I decided on a yellow-orange leaning color since they're associated with Jedi Sentinels but also with Jedi who are between Consular and Guardian. But also that it typically symbolizes a strong connection to the Light. Also it looks the best on her lol

I found that Padawan beads mean different studies or accomplishments. She has white and yellow, symbolizing healing and weaponry of all kinds. Marnal begins to study force healing after healing an ally during one of her first missions. But it's part of the Healing corps. Her force healing is rudimentary at best, and typically she can only do minor things and not fully heal or close wounds. (Fuck the sequels) plus it drains her a lot, so she's encouraged to avoid using it...

Her weaponry bead is due to her lightsaber skills, but also due to her learning how to tinker and master other weapons. In fact she is a good shot with a blaster. After order 66 she even starts using one a lot more. Because like- nobody suspects a Jedi with a g u n

Anyways yeah that's enough rambles for now. I've made a lot of lore and I am having so much fun making Star wars ocs etc.

Also some of the lore was made alongside @hoodedalchemist who I've dragged down into my oldest fandom obsession. In fact we gpt shared oc lore going on. Dunno if Alchemist will ever post it tho but I am tagging them because they deserve appreciation.

#cristal art #cris talks #marnal corezz #drawing #character art #oc art #art #traditional art #star wars oc #star wars clone wars #clone wars oc #sw clone wars #sw tcw #tcw #star wars tcw #star wars #star wars the clone wars #sw oc #sw ocs #tcw ocs #jedisona #jedi oc #jedi #artwork

[sarcasticgaypotato]

tell me about chell, that potato hauling criminal

Chell is such a fascinating character to talk about because she, even more so than Caroline, isn't a character... but she absolutely is, at the same time.

On the surface, Chell is simply a player stand-in. She's silent, her actions are decided by the player, and we never get the game telling us outright how she feels or what she thinks. The closest we get to a backstory comes from an Easter Egg (which I've already said I don't necessarily consider canon) and insults made at the player's expense. Insults that, for all we know, are completely baseless.

Chell can reasonably be whatever the player decides she is. (If she's like me, she's actually terrible at tests and fails at puzzles repeatedly before giving up and googling the answers.) Your Chell could be compassionate towards the robots— trusting Wheatley right off the bat and being torn up by his betrayal, forgiving PotaDOS and working together easily— or your Chell could be a silent, bitter, furious killing machine, craving robotic blood and hating every second she's stuck in this hellhole. Neither Chell is technically wrong, but neither is right either.

There's a lot that could be said about the personal projecting that people often do to their favorite characters in fandom, especially with characters as open-ended as Chell, but that's an entirely different can of worms. TL;DR If it makes you happy to picture a character as being like you, go for it. It might not be my cup of tea, but you're not asking me to drink it, so who cares?

All that rambling out of the way, who do I think Chell is?

I think Chell has more character than first glance would give her credit for. We can learn a lot from what actions the game's story forces her to complete and how other characters react to her, ultimately giving us a lot more to work with than Caroline.

Chell is intelligent. If you complete the games (even if you're terrible like I am), you've completed complicated tests and outsmarted a robot that nobody else has survived before. She has a logical brain for solving puzzles as well as a quick wit for thinking on her feet and getting through life or death situations. Chell might have some internal damage from her time in stasis, but she's not slow.

Chell is tenacious and stubborn as all hell. Canon material tells us this outright, I don't need to elaborate much. Chell refuses to be kept in Aperture against her will, she refuses to stay down, and she was willing to risk dying in space just to beat Wheatley. Our girl can hold a grudge if she wants to.

Chell is a little bit of a shit. There's an achievement for breaking all of Wheatley's monitors. Chell doesn't have to do that... but she can, and I think she does. Her jumping when told to say certain words? She's playing dumb knowing Wheatley's not going to get that she's making fun of him.

Chell is fair. She held up her end of the deal with Wheatley, he didn't hold up his, so he learned his lesson. GLaDOS saves her life, even when she didn't have to, and held up her end of the deal? Chell leaves Aperture without a fuss. She doesn't try to kill GLaDOS again or wreck shit on her way out. I believe that Chell's respect is hard to win back once you've lost it, but with the events of Portal 2, GLaDOS succeeded. Chell is perfectly willing to work alongside a partner, and in fact she does so quite well as we've seen, but only if they give her the respect she deserves. If you cheat her you are going to regret it.

Finally, concerning the 'mute' part of our favorite dangerous mute lunatic; I personally am in the camp of 'Chell can speak, she just doesn't want to give the robots the satisfaction.'

There are out-of-universe reasons for Chell not talking. Erik Wolpaw actually talks about the decision to keep her silent in the Kotaku article "Why Chell Doesn't Speak" and I'd recommend hearing what he had to say on the matter. However, that explanation doesn't necessarily need to dictate in-universe ones. I think Chell can speak because frankly, it checks out with the other observations I've made here.

She's a bit of a shit, so yeah, if she noticed it bothers the robots that she's not talking, of course she'd keep it up to annoy them, and she's stubborn enough to keep at it even when she's allied with one of them. Further, she's smart, so she would know that she has very little control in a place like Aperture. This is one thing she has complete control over, this is one card she can hold over everyone else, and she's going to keep it.

All that combines to become my Chell. She's probably different from your Chell, and that's okay, but I think I've made a pretty good case for why I see her the way I do.

I could spin potential backstories for her, but they'd all be very headcanon and speculative, so I'll save that for another time.

#chell #portal 2 #portal #I'm so sorry this took so long #nanowrimo was a lot

[worksby-d]

𝐄𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐥𝐲

An Everyone Thinks It Oneshot

Pairing: Chris Evans x fem!Reader

Summary: Chris can't help but gush over you during his appearance on a talk show.

Warnings: None

Word count: ~1,100

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The sudden applause and whistling from the audience tells them both the commercial break is about over. Seth effortlessly snaps back into host mode before the countdown ends. 

“We’re back with Chris Evans!”

He's slower at pulling himself back together though, sitting up straighter again. “Back already?” He jokes to give himself another moment to situate himself in the chair.

“We are,” he laughs, taking a quick glance at his cards. “And we're talking about your new movie.” 

“Yes…”

“That's what you're in town for. Last night was the premiere.” 

Chris nods, repeating, “Yes.” But the word comes out more skeptical this time. 

“What are you acting nervous for?” Seth chuckles, reaching across his desk for some photos. 

“Last time I was here, you had me confessing about when I lost my virginity,” he scoffs. “Excuse me for being a little on edge this time.” 

“That's right, that's right. Well, I don't think it can get any worse than that, so don't worry.” 

Chris flashes a doubtful look toward the camera right before they zoom in on the photos Seth props up on his desk. 

“These are just some pictures from the red carpet last night that we want to show everyone.” The first photo is Chris alone, garnering a few scattered whistles from the back of the audience. The second is of him with the whole cast. “Everyone looked great.” 

“Yeah, it was–” 

Before Chris can finish his thought, he drops the second photo to reveal the last one – Photographers had caught the split second Chris forgot where he was. He had pulled you closer for photos and planted a kiss on you without thinking. 

You didn't mean to out your relationship that way, but he couldn't help himself in that moment. It was the first event you’ve attended with him in a few years. You had taken a step back when everyone found out you were who he had a baby with, never wanting to be the reason for any negative energy surrounding him or his projects if you could help it. He was ecstatic to have you with him again though and determined to help ward your nerves off, hence an instinctive, innocent kiss. 

Watching his reaction on the monitors in front of you as you stand offstage, yours mirrors his–dropping your face in your hands to hide your laughter. 

“There it is.” Chris rolls his eyes jokingly, looking back up. He can't help but smile at the photo though, it's a good one. “I knew you had something up your sleeve.” 

“Yeah, now this one…” He has to pause, waiting for the audience’s cheers to die down. “...Is peculiar. We know her.” 

“You do,” Chris nods. 

“That’s Y/N.” 

“Correct,” he smiles, glancing toward where he knows you're watching. 

“We've seen pictures of the two of you before, but you've never been doing this.” 

With a wide grin he's failing to suppress, Chris just shakes his head. “I don't know what you want me to say right now.”

“I mean, I don't want you to say anything,” Seth shrugs. “I'm just giving you the opportunity to if you want to.” 

“I think it's very obvious–” He starts, but takes a second to think before he speaks for once. “Listen. It's exactly what it looks like and exactly what everyone's thinking, okay?” 

The loud applause puts a pause on the conversation one more time. 

“I want to respect her– She's obviously a lot more private than I am. But I could talk about her endlessly. She means the world to me. I'm always so happy to have her by my side. It definitely makes those things a lot more bearable than when I'm on my own.” 

You get a kick out of his rambling. And he knows you well enough to know you're standing there laughing without even seeing you. 

“She's going to make fun of me after this for being such a sap, by the way.” 

“Well, that's very sweet. We're happy for you. You guys have been friends for a really long time, haven't you?” 

“Oh, yeah,” he exhales a deep breath, not even able to do the math on the spot, realizing how long it's been. “Forever. I don't remember a time when I haven't loved her. Whether that was platonically for most of our lives, or as more the past couple months. I hit the jackpot when it comes to a friend and a partner. And who I get to raise my children with. She’s just the best.” 

Out of everything he could focus on in his outpouring of love for you, Seth smirks and Chris knows something came out wrong. 

“Children?” 

“No, oh, God– See. I gotta…” He gestures zipping his mouth shut. “They're really gonna run with that. No, we only have one child right now. Singular.”

“You just kept going,” the host laughs. “I did not coax you into saying any of that. You can't blame me this time.” 

“I know,” Chris sighs, feigning defeat. “I know.” 

He wraps up by reminding everyone when the new movie comes out and gives him a final handshake. “Chris Evans, everybody.” 

       ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ ••• ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ ••• ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿

Once he's off stage and de-mic’d, you're the first person he gravitates toward, pulling you in for a tight hug. 

You can feel some tension leave his body as he holds you. As often as he does these things and as good as he is at hiding it, he always has nerves. 

“I'm not gonna make fun of you,” you promise. He lets out a laugh as he pulls away just enough to look at you, catching your wink. “Not yet anyway. That was really nice.” 

You can't have too much of a moment with everyone beginning to herd you out of the way. He's great at switching places and taking his turn to keep your mind off the fast pace of everything though, grabbing your hand in his as you get guided–pushed–toward his dressing room. 

“Sorry, I know it’s crazy back here.” 

“It’s okay.” You breathe out slowly, stepping closer to his side so he can shield you from bumping into anyone. “Tell me more about how you hit the jackpot with me.” 

Taking his hand out of yours so he can rest his arm around you, he laughs knowing you’re poking fun already. But he can shout about it from the rooftops now, so he absolutely will. 

“Gladly,” he whispers, pressing a kiss to the side of your face.

       ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ ••• ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ ••• ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿

Tag list: @chris-butt @patzammit @denisemarieangelina @thummbelina @pppsssyyyccchhhiiiccc @princess-evans-addict @chris-evans-indian-fanfic @la-cey @turtoix @katiew1973 @harrysthiccthighss @tvckerlance @bluemusickid @rocketrhap3000 @mrspeacem1nusone @murdcox @geminievans1 @doozywoozy @americasass91 @dwights-new-plague @wwwmarissa92 @redhairedfeistynerd @whxre4cevans @aubreeskailynn @white-wolf1940 @melchills-j @xoxabs88xox @just-one-ordinary-fangirl @before-we-get-started @chrissquares @christowhore @ice-dtae @mariestark @justile @rogersdrysdalebarber @dilfbarber @livstilinski @payperhearts @vintagestarlight @gitasor @chaeycunty @miss-ariella @bemysugarbean @t-stark35 @seitmai @reginaphalange2403

#i think this contradicts a previous ask i answered about them not announcing their relationship lmfao so ignore that 🤪 #chris evans x reader #chris evans fanfiction #chris evans imagine #chris evans fanfic #chris evans x you #everyone thinks it series

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

Game Garage: Lancer

Hello! Welcome to what I hope to be the first instance of a series about Game design and clever usages thereof in Tabletop games! We'll be talking about lancer, it was the first post on this blog so I felt it was fitting, we'll be going through standard character creations from License Level 0 til License Level 3, and showing how our mech, and pilot, grows during that time while playing out a theoretical game. Is this just like the example of plays in the actual books? Yes! But I wish to go for some more mechanical depths than those often do, and try to theorize around certain decisions made in a specific game.

I'll be using Comp/Con as a visual for this guide, I'm aware there's other ways to do mech building but basically everyone agrees you should just use Compcon for it, also while I'll avoid using expansions too much, I'll still assume you at minimum have KTB as it adds some pilot-side customization

LL0: Beginnings

You are immediately prompted to give a portrait, name, Callsign, and a background to your character, already just giving your character a callsign adds that little bit of personality to them! Lancer is primarily focused on the tactics side, rather than the roleplay side, but these little things do really help in fleshing out a character's personality, as that's still a factor.

I'll also give a quick shout out to Comp/Con for having the sickest UI of any webapp for a ttrpg i've seen, intuitive and strangely immersive, I really like it

Thracia was a project by a shadowy, now defunct, corporation to create a spokesperson for their gene editing services, the company went defunct before she turned 3, so she was just thrown away into some bin somewhere. She was eventually picked up by a gang of mercs who brought her back to base where she was effectively communally raised before joining the corps proper at age 20.

Now that we've filled out some simple flavor, lets move on to proper stat creation

We're brought to a stat creation screen, these don't matter too much in combat, but outside of them they're what your character specializes in, their role outside of the mechs. Don't sweat these too much, you can respect at any level up in lancer, and this won't matter too much outside of on the floor missions, which barely happen

For now, Thracia's good at fighting, investigating, and leading and inspiring, its what she was built for after all!

Now we get to talents, these are vaguely intimidating at first glance, but don't worry, you can respec at any time RAW, and they're pretty easy to decode once you get the hang of the system. For now, just think of what your role within the party will be, I want Thracia to be an artillery Pilot with a side of support, so we'll be taking Crack shot (which lets me give up my movement to become better at aiming each turn) , Leadership (which lets me add leadership dice dice to allied rolls as long as my fellow party member is within range) and Technophile (which gives me a Servant-Class NHP, a form of AI that controls my mech if I'm away, not too useful right now, but gets better benefits later on)

Now we get to the part I don't like, Mech Skills. Mech Skills are... theoretically really fun, but practically speaking you always want at least one level in Hull, and the other level in whatever your main stat is, in this case we'll be taking Engineering, you'll see why later.

Now we have our full pilot card! but there's still a little bit left to do before we Level Up for our first time.

First lets pick out our equipment, this is basically purely flavor so just pick what you think your character would logically have

NOW! we finally get to the fun part: Building your Mech... kinda

see right now, you're stuck with default configurations, you're not licensed for anything more complex than GMS mechs, the Great Value store brand of Lancer. So we carry on with an Everest, a basic if not a bit underwhelming mech, its reliable, customizable, and handy, if not a bit underwhelming and a lot less flashy and optimized than later mechs you get, I'd still keep an everest in your backpocket though, never know when you might need it

Someone playing with all official products would have a choice of 3 different GMS mechs, but I still recommend just picking the Everest, its the handiest option. though for reference: the Chomolungma is a Hacking frame, and the Sagamartha is a tank

You're prompted to name your mech, Thracia's gonna name it A farewell to Arms, after an ancient book she read once

Booting into your mech screen, it may feel a bit overwhelming at first but don't worry, these all aren't too complex to understand Traits are just that, what your mech has that makes it special from other mechs, its just that genesequouis that makes them cooler than other mechs.

Attributes are derivative stats that take your skills, Grit, and base mech stats into account, in our case the Everest is pretty middling in everything, but has a decent heat capacity due to our investment into Engineering.

and now for the fun bits, Core System and Mounts

Core Systems contain two things: your ultimate move, your signature play, that special power that you use once per duel and spare only for the most dire moments! the other thing is your Core System itself, Everest doesn't have any, but for future reference these are what your build is entirely based around, your core gimmick

Mounts are what you put your weapons into, and Systems are non directly attacking abilities that you use to gain advantage during battles, we once again only have GMS tools to go with for now. Something clever about the mount system is that it adds an inherent balance to mechs, a mech could have incredibly powerful abilities, but lack specific mounts that could make it overbearing, as an example the Gorgon lacks a heavy weapon mount, and Heavy weapon mounts are in general sparsely distributed, as giving them to the wrong mech could break the balance, this is a problem I see a lot of lancer GMs and homebrewers run into, underestimating the power of a heavy slot, even some who were contracted by Massif themselves!

For now, we'll give ourselves a shotgun, to dispatch enemies at close range, a Mortar, to deal with large clusters of enemies, and an Anti-Materiel Rifle to be our primary weapon.

Now for the systems, you have a budget of SP to use on buying systems for your mech from the ones you've unlocked, the GMS systems, outside of some standouts like the Flight System are... underwhelming mostly, you'll usually dumpster these pretty quick, but we might as well pick them because hey, its just free advantage, right?

We'll be mounting our free NHP we got from our talents of course, as well as a shield, a turret drone as we're not doing much with our reactions right now and they allow you to expend a reaction to deal some extra damage, Personalizations and a Custom Paintjob, these are basically just flavor but they both have to do with adding some extra bulk to your mech, in our case the Personalization is a built-in winch, adding a +1 to relevant Hull skill checks, and the Paintjob is a tasteful pin-up of an older looking woman, a fling from a past mission.

And that's it for LL0! It might feel like a lot, but I promise its a breeze in actual play. Now onto: LL1: Your First Taste of TRUE power

Thracia Schrader Came back to home base, sweaty and tired after a long mission, nothing big, just dispatching some pirates, but it was her first truly serious one, only to receive a ping on her terminal: she'd gotten a promotion, she'd be given budget to buy new parts for her mech, a raised paycheck, and some free time to work on new skills, she was over the moon, finally she'd be getting recognized!

Now onto LL1, so far your mech has had decently high customization, but from here on out? the world's your oyster honey, pull it open and devour its flesh, show the world that it's gotta be scared of you!... I think I lost my train of thought there, sorry about that.

Anyways, when leveling up you'll be given the down-low on what you're getting, an improvement to your skill triggers, more talents, more skills, more grit, your first license unlock, extra sauce on your eggs, and a complementary chocolate bar... OK those last two aren't there, but I'm sure most merc companies add them in

Skills don't matter too much so we'll skip over that, but for reference I took a boost in Leadership

You get an improvement in one talent, in my case I'll take the second tier of Technophile, which lets me reroll one roll per scene, very useful. You can also take a 4th talent at this point, but I recommend holding out a bit before doing that, your build is too weak to really afford big moves like that right now. You could also actually delevel one of your talents and level another to level 3, if you have a talent that you don't really need or want, but again, not recommended unless you know what you're doing

Now onto mech skills, you just get a flat +1 to any skill, right now I'd advise taking whatever you picked as your second skill after Hull, but if you wanna boost hull even further because you don't wanna get hurt too bad, I don't blame you, but we'll be getting that engineering boost for now

NOW to the fun part, the part we're all looking forward to (I think), getting more mech parts! now, people familiar with the system knows that the Engineering boosts and Artillery focus probably means we'll be taking a Harrison license, the 4 licenses in the game correspond roughly to the 4 mech skills in how they're built, they do end up mattering for something called Core Bonuses, but that's for much later, for now just treat them like a way to split playstyles. IPS-N likes Hull, Smith-Shimano Corp likes Agility, HORUS likes Systems, and Harrison Armory likes Engineering, choose accordingly.

We'll be unlocking the Sherman first, its a cool mech that I think often gets overlooked in this game's cluster fucks of eldritch mecha nightmares and othersuch things. You don't get the mech itself until LL2, so for now just slap on the parts you got into an Everest

The first level up is always kinda underwhelming in lancer, but trust me it'll get better from here! for now, we'll just replace our shotgun with a Sol-Pattern Laser Rifle, and our Personalizations and Custom Paint Job with a Reactor Stabilizer, a useful tool for keeping us nice and healthy when melting down

That's about it for LL1, yeah as I said its kinda boring, but it only gets better with LL2: You know what they say: Find what your niche is, that leads to riches!

Thracia Schrader comes back home, tattered, bruised and beaten, the promotion obviously meant more dangerous missions, this she knew, but she didn't expect to deal with enemies of that caliber just yet, turns out the pirates were more equipped than she thought at first, they seem too organized to be pirates actually... Well, she's being paid to dispatch rabblerousers, not think, she goes back to sleep in her cot, while browsing mech licenses for sale, she got a big bonus, she can splurge a little bit

While you get the same benefits as from LL1, this is where the fun really begins because if you take a second level from your frame you obtain:

A frame! You can finally get out of that dinky everest and get into something COOL! Frames in lancer essentially serve as your classes, they're what you mount your other obtained abilities into to create your unique playstyle, but overall they're probably the most important aspect of your character. Frames can have different sizes, HP thresholds, armor, and so on. the Frame system leads to your creativity being effectively limitless, while I'm doing a fairly basic artillery build, I'm sure a melee Sherman build could be fully possible! anyways, if you're using this as a build guide for some reason, I took Crack shot and an extra point in Hull alongside the Sherman frame

Now lets build our new puppy shall we? Our new mech will be called... how about Mr. Blue Sky? its Thracia's favorite childhood song

Now you'll have to rebuild your mech, but with a few considerations in mind 1: Your mounts are all different now, you can't rely on the weapons you did previously most of the time, Sherman's actually an exception to this, it has largely the same mounts as an everest, with the main difference being a built-in laser gun which charges while stabilizing, hm, maybe taking some stabilization talents could be worth the time... 2: Your new mech has new traits! the traits in the everest were pretty simple, just some bonus actions once per scene, "More of what's good" is the unofficial GMS Motto

The sherman's a bit more complex, it can keep you in the danger zone (which benefits not just the sherman but most Harrison Armory mechs really), give you soft cover by throwing steam at your enemy's face, and makes it better at engineering (handy, since you'll be trying your best to not take too much unintended heat)

For equipment, we'll be using some old tools and the new ones we just got

Sherman just got the incredibly powerful Andromeda-Pattern heavy laser rifle, but don't worry kids, this isn't the peak of laser power, oh no no, that comes a bit later. We're also using our handy shotgun, she needs to defend herself from nearby enemies somehow.

For systems, we're dumping the reactor stabilizer, its served its purpose but we can manage our heat better now, and we're picking up a deployable cover, useful for long drawn out gun fights, personalizations (a huge library of ancient and modern texts, useful for SYSTEMS checks), and turret drones, we're still not doing much with that reaction and our sensor range's pretty dang strong. Now a word of advice, at LL2 is where your build will branch most, you're comitting to an entirely new mech after all! but always remember: you can respec at any time

LL3: True Power!

Thracia comes back home and brews herself a cup of tea, so it turns out that the pirates she was dispatching were just locals defending themselves against the corporate agency paying her, she was offered a contract by them, lower price, but less price on the conscience, she urged her boss to take it, and she did take it in the end, she thanked Christ the Buddha she didn't need to betray the closest thing she had to a family. Tomorrow, Thracia would dispatch a corporate HQ, the locals were calling the Union for aid, and they promised aid would come in the form of supplies, but they'd need to fend for themselves, and supplies did come, she took some of the mech weapon supplies for herself, she was fighting for them now, might as well right?

LL3 is where your chosen frame's power peaks, many people actually skip the third level of a license, the items given are usually fairly niche, we won't be doing that, this is a pretty standard build so i don't think its worth it

you know the drill for skills

Talents, I'll actually do something a bit weird here, if anything to demonstrate one of the more interesting RAW decisions of Lancer, I'll take away crackshot. Most of the laser rifles of the sherman are AOEs, and Crackshot assumes one target. Instead we'll be taking two levels of Grease Monkey, they make our stabilizations stronger, and give us some nice bonuses during rests, and we'll also be capping off Technophile, you'll see why soon.

We'll be leveling up Engineering for this level and taking the final level of sherman, but more on that later because now, we have the first sight of our Core Bonuses

the 5 companies of lancer like to reward brand loyalty, so if you stick with one company for 3 levels, you unlock their "Core Bonuses". what are these? these are powerful abilities that you only get every 3 levels, and you need to have 3 levels in a company to unlock their respective core powers, GMS powers are unlocked by default of course. We'll be taking Superior by Design, the premiere Harrison Armory ability

the boost to heat cap is what we're looking for, anything that makes us less punished for taking too much heat is a good thing. the Impaired immunity is a good bonus

Now at this point, your mech should have unlocked their most powerful weapon and system, these are often "Super Heavy" weapons, which means they take up two slots to mount, but sometimes they just may be a powerful control ability, for example the Kidd unlocks their ability to build misc structures at that level.

We'll be installing our brand new and shiny Tachyon Lance, a massive motherfucker of a weapon that just emits a line of destruction and a cone of destruction behind you

we'll also keep the shotgun, its a handy weapon

for systems, we'll be equipping our brand new Asura-Class NHP, what does it do?

well, once per scene, it just lets you take another turn! No caveats, and the only real cost is a bit of heat on your end, but other than that? you just have two turns that turn, incredibly valuable in a build that often wants to stabilize, wasting precious actions

Oh, as for the third level of technophile? I can't have 2 NHPs in a mech at once unless I take that level, its just not possible, NHPs are incredibly powerful resources so I understand wanting to limit them like that.

That's about it for LL3, its your peak of power... for now, but soon enough your mech might be having some... foreign intrusions

LL4: The Crossover nobody wanted

Thracia was broken. She wished she'd never signed up for this mission in the first place. Children and women running from corporate mechs way better equipped than them, farms being abandoned by people who lived there for generations, good people sacrificing themselves to keep their loved ones safe. Terrakis had gone from a quick buck by dispatching pirates, to a nightmare. She was always told it was a dirty business, making money from blood, but she never expected it to be this bad. Looking to calm down, she calls up a friend, a warehouse worker from IPS-N, and wonders if she could maybe hook her up with something

You know the drill by now, the only thing of note is I'm going to dump Leader to take 2 levels in Siege Specialist (lets me take down structures more easily and lets me knock down adjacent enemies), we're picking up another level of Hull, and now, for the interesting bit: your 4th license

At this point, you've found your niche and made your mech plenty strong... but it could always be better, right?

Thracia picks up a level of the Drake, giving her the powerful Assault Cannon, a handy, if not low ranged, weapon that can grow in strength by spinning its barrels before launching, as a bonus its also a cannon allowing for our Siege Specialist to trigger. She throws away her nostalgic shotgun for this weapon

Thracia had also been feeling protective of her fellow backliner, a clumsy goblin pilot named Lika whom she borderline had a crush on, while Thracia's mech isn't bulky by any means, its bulkier than xer goblin, so she gives up her redundant systems to pick up the Argonaut Shield, a tool that lets her take half the damage her fellow pilot would take instead.

Conclusion: You got your tools now! Thracia was tired of seeing people dying, she was tired of the war, of the bastards in suits puppeteering it, she wanted it done and she wanted it done now. Talking to the leaders of the locals they decide on a final plan of attack: destroying the HQ of the corporate settlers

SimpleCorp must fall

Terrakis must be free

From here on out, you have your own tools to make your own builds, remember to focus on your roles, pick up abilities that complement your allies' playstyles and positionings, and most of all: have fun! a bad build in lancer isn't a huge deal, you can always try and try again until you get it right.

Oh, you wanna know how Thracia's story ended? Alright then, here you go

Mr. Blue Sky stood atop the ruins of SimpleCo's elite pilot: Fear, Thracia was no longer afraid, she was no longer broken, she was now only filled with pride, and joy. Terrakis was free, and she had been a part of its liberation. She hoped this would send a message to any bastard trying to take it over, she looks upon the pictures hanging inside her cockpit, complimentary drawings given to her by small children, of her mech as a hero of legend, of SimpleCo goons being burnt by her Tachyon Lance. That day, Thracia knew she had for once in her life done the right thing. After all of this, she decided to stay, War was not her business, and the locals of Terrakis wished for her to stay to help with any future intrusions.

She and Lika lived a peaceful life together, no one wanted to fuck with Terrakis after SimpleCo's downfall

Too cheesy? well, sometimes that's just how careers end, in the duty of a lancer, you either leave before you die, or you die before you leave. Go play your own stories! I'm sure there's some GM out there struggling to find new players who'd love to have you in their group

oh fuck i completely forgot to talk about bond-

#ttrpg #ttrpg community #indie ttrpg #misc indie #ttrpg design #lancer rpg

[nanomooselet]

So I was writing a dream sequence, and I wrote a line for Knives. Then I was suddenly struck with a horrible suspicion and went to the right issue of TriMax to check if I was remembering right.

I was. So now you all get to know it too. It regards Tesla, so you know it'll be a fun one.

Here it is: The scientists didn't intend to harm Tesla.

This absolutely doesn't absolve them of culpability in her fate, to be clear. It was a horrible thing they did to her, and she continues to be an open wound in any version of Trigun that has her in it. She couldn't consent to any medical procedure, she was a child - and it also makes Knives in Maximum strapping Vash down in July to measure his Gate against his will extra specially hypocritical. (My man's always trying to outdo himself on that front.)

But they didn't mean to hurt her; they didn't vivisect her in the process of examination. They only scanned her to examine her, that was all. They did it a lot, and the equipment was very crude - unlikely to have been designed for the purpose they used it for. I imagine her rapid rate of growth and maturation exacerbated the issue. But they did have concern for her life. She seemed fine, at first.

It was just that they were so excited by this discovery they forgot that damage can be cumulative: because she was scanned so many times and the equipment wasn't built for the job, she developed multiple tumours - as well as, judging by the symptoms, radiation sickness. They began to operate, trying to save her. They failed.

Project is closed.

She was in pieces because... well, she'd ceased regenerating. They couldn't put Humpty Dumpty together again. Again, this was a cruel and terrible thing. I bring it up mostly because it has an interesting implication/resonance regarding Knives in Stampede. (Apart from that I very much doubt we've seen the whole of that story just yet.)

Knives tells Vash that he's sick, and he'll cure him. I have to wonder if the scientists told Tesla something similar. Because after he says that, Knives starts cutting into Vash, pulling out the stuff he thinks is "bad", and ultimately leaves his brother a silently floating husk that's... technically alive.

But he has no intention of harming Vash. No, sir.

And he's done it again, folks. The gold medal in the Hypocrisy Olympics goes to: Millions Knives!

#trigun stampede #trigun meta #tw medical abuse #the line was “something else killing you. i'll cut it out” #if you're curious

[amageish]

So, Nico Minoru's in Spider-Man Freshman Year... Let's talk about it.

About a year ago, Marvel spilled some details about the upcoming animated Spider-Man series, Spider-Man Freshman Year. There was a lot of discussion about it, what it was, what it wasn't, and whether what it is is better or worse then what people wanted it to be.

A couple weeks ago, a trademark filing indicated that the show was scheduled for Winter 2024. In an era where companies are killing announced and nearly-finished projects, I was honestly thinking the show was on thin ice... but since it seems to still exist, I want to talk about something that I feel has gotten surprisingly little discussion in all the discourse about the show: the inclusion of Nico Minoru, of the Runaways, as Peter Parker's best friend.

Now, from a Peter-centered perspective, I think this choice makes sense in a very specific way? If you flash back to the original 60s Spider-Man comics, which the show seems to be trying to invoke aesthetically from the little we've seen, Peter Parker had a female close friend who was representative of 1960s youth counter-culture: Mary Jane.

The degree to which Stan Lee's own values undercut MJ's counter-culturism is something that people could/do entire academic essays about, but suffice it to say that she was meant to appeal to the zeitgeist of the era and the character's spirit certainly got through to viewers. Like, there is a reason that she the OTP for Peter for so many people, even if Lee at the time had intended to keep the focus on Peter's more traditionally conservative romance with Gwen Stacy.

Nico Minoru slots into this classic pre-MJ-as-the-love-interest MJ role very well, in my opinion at least? In her 2000s comics, she was cast as a edgy goth social outcast who made her own clothes and did her own thing... In her 2010s MCU show, she was cast again as an outcast, but with a certain amount of doomerpilled depression that she outgrows as the show goes on... In the 2020s game Midnight Suns, Nico is still a devoted goth, but also draws from queer youth culture and has a certain semi-ironic peppiness to her (she calls the player "friendo" constantly - she's just like me fr).

So, honestly, I think picking Nico Minoru for Spider-Man's best friend is a really clever move that slots her into this historical role of the foil to Peter Parker - fun choice!

However, from a Nico-centered perspective, I have a lot of questions about what this version of the character will be like practically... The biggest one being: Why is Nico in New York? One of the core concepts of the Runaways as a team is that they are a response to the oft-asked question "Why is New York always under threat? Why are there no superheroes having to save LA?". While the West Coast Avengers do, y'know, exist, the Runaways introduces another answer to this question: Supervillains cannot operate in LA without permission of the Pride, a LA-based supervillain mafia who made a pact with a demon from Limbo and require a cut of all crime committed in the city. The titular Runaways are the children of these villains, who choose to reject their parent's lifestyle and go on the run rather then be complicit in their villainy.

So... How did Nico get in New York and end up enrolling in a New York high school? That's a big change for her and I hope the explanation is satisfying.

Nico and her team also don't usually appear as traditional costumed heroes with secret identities, at least not for prolonged periods of time. They've used several codenames and several costumes, but it's always bit a touch comedic - Nico goes by "Sister Grimm" because they decide they need nicknames to be superheroes as somewhat-cringy-teens while she later uses "The Gloom" partially at the encouragement of her girlfriend, but she's still largely just... Nico. It's worth noting that both Midnight Suns and Marvel Snap break naming conventions to call her by her first/last name instead of an alias - something Snap mostly does with big-deal characters like Jean Grey and Kitty Pryde, with even other characters more known by their real name like Emma Frost and Danielle Moonstar being called by their hero names instead...

So, I'm curious if Nico will be using her powers to fight crime and, if she is, what codename/costume she has... On top of that, I wonder if Peter Parker will know that Nico is a blood witch and if Nico will know that Peter Parker is Spider-Man - or if they mutually uncover that across the events of the series... Doctor Strange is also set to be in this show - will he be a mentor for her as a budding witch, perhaps even more then he is a mentor for Peter? There's a lot of possibilities there too.

Finally, there's the big question of Nico Minoru's queerness. Now, there's basically two lists of Marvel queers - the characters written as queer by the writers and artists at Marvel and the characters Marvel corporate have actually approved as being queer and stamped with a big rainbow stamp of approval. This is what separates your "did a gay kiss once" characters from your "paraded out every June" characters...

Nico is in the latter category and is potentially one of the most corporate-approved queer characters there are. This girl is BISEXUAL and Marvel is uncharacteristically interested in making sure you know it. She got a Pride variant cover kissing her girlfriend when Pearlmutter was still at the company. Her MCU show is full of gay kisses and has not one but TWO fantasy gay wedding sequences (it also got removed from Disney+ earlier this year, funny that).

Now, uh, America Chavez is basically the face of Sapphic Marvel in the comics and her queerness got reduced to a Pride pin in her movie, so I'm not sure if Nico's bisexuality will be acknowledged in the show given that precedent... but I sure hope it does!!! It'd be cute if Karolina pops in too, helping her girlfriend out with whatever antics she gets into... She wasn't in the initial revealed character line-up, but I could also see them waiting to reveal her and hoping to get hype specifically from shippers who haven't thought about the pairing in a few years since the Runaways TV show ended.

ANYWAY. That was a lot of thoughts, but I'm just very curious what's going to happen here... I love Nico and am eager to see her in this show, but it also just feels like such an unconventional choice... to the point where I am apparently thinking about it this hard a year later.

#spiderman freshman year #nico minoru #deanoru #the runaways

[crackedegotheories]

soooo.......

thoughts on the poppy playtime pt. 3?

I'm so proud that Mark is learning to read. It's tough to struggle through words you don't know, but the more you try the more you learn and the more you know...something about half the battle I think?

Sorry, couldn't help it. I'm guessing this is a follow-up on the last ask about the ego hints, in which case: I thought it was interesting.

I guess the big thing was about 7 minutes into the video, where Mark tells Ollie/Gregory "Things are just happening a little out of order for me at the moment, I'm kind of experiencing multiple realities all overlapping." (Sounds like a typical Thursday to me.)

More under the cut which I had to move up to here because Tumblr keeps rearranging all the photos and putting them one by one instead of a cluster like in the draft. It also keeps moving the read more link around, so who knows if it'll actually be here.

And then we get several cuts, each about a frame each, all from ISWM:

In order, we've got the guy in the woods from the Hee Hoo universe, Cecil H. H. Mills, Cryptid!Mark from the timeline where you mocked him for crying (how could you, Captain?), Abe, Chef, Old Man Mark at the restaurant at the end of the universe, Dorene Whitacre in the void, the campfire scene, Lady aiming a gun in your face, and the Invincible II seen from the outside.

I think the reasonable response would be to assume this is one of the editors slipping in a bunch of ISWM references after an off-the-cuff remark. After all, the second year anniversary is coming up in a little over a month, and Mark's been known to drop hints to go back and watch his larger projects before ("When's the last time you visited Yancy? He misses you, you know" or something similar.)

But eh, let's have fun with it and keep going.

Because I think we could tease out some more (very probably unplanned) references to ego stuff.

Take the very beginning of the video, during the elevator bug that started Mark's spin off into other realities. While Poppy and Kissy Missy have trouble with gravity, Poppy continues to speak to Mark--her voice seemingly coming out of nowhere as he gets farther and farther away. Cue Mark begging her to "Get out of my head!"

A similar scenario actually happens in Wilford Motherlovin' Warfstache, where Abe is monologuing to himself while driving and Wilford, in the backseat, intrudes on his thoughts. Abe tells Wilford to get out of his head and Wilford tells him to stop shouting without either one actually saying a word out loud, then Abe almost runs into a truck. During a series of red gas induced hallucinations about 11 minutes in, Mark responds to "Poppy's" question and says, "I don't know, how am I alive?"--something Abe also questions during WMLW, until Wilford snaps him out of it.

During the multiple realities reference, Mark mentions not being able to separate fact from fiction, something that comes up again later during a second round of hallucinations when "Poppy" asks, "Do you even know what's real?"

Difficulty separating fact from fiction is a recurring problem for Wilford, and even makes up a central theme when the WAIA is speaking to the viewer during The Warfstache Automated Interview Automaton video.

About an hour and a half into the video, after Mark, eh, successfully defeats Catnap, he says, "Remind me why I was doing this in the first place, because I don't recall," slipping into the Warfstache voice as he does so. Wilford doesn't exactly have the greatest memory, or really know why he does most things it seems like.

(He also slips into the Warfstache voice after he gets the finger gun, but that's par for the course every time Mark gets a surprise gun in a video game and starts getting shooty.)

Back to ISWM, we have the Catnap fight. Or more specifically, Mark's unfortunate choice of words, "And I wait to do it all over again." Cue it becoming the recurring phrase during a montage of Mark's failed attempts to beat the boss until, after an unknown number of retries, finally succeeding.

What is that, if not the exact same thing that the Captain goes through In Space? Whether it's the ultimately futile attempts to save the ship in Part 1, or your choice in the warp core that sends you all the way back to the beginning to try again?

When Mark is greeted by Ollie/Gregory who has the audacity to say things like, "Wow...you did it," "You must feel pretty good," and "This win is yours," he immediately breaks out into a storm of cursing.

Very much the same reaction we see in the Captain after failing and being sent back early in Part 1, but especially after obtaining an "ending" only to go into the light and find themselves right back in the cryopod again.

This is the hand gesture of someone (silently) cursing their existence.

Mark slowly turning to stare into the camera while going through the vents (twice) and suggesting he could come crawling out of the screen is just normal Mark behavior though, not sure what else to say about that.

#markiplier #cracked theory #iswm #poppy playtime chapter 3 #if you were actually asking about my opinion on the game itself #i uh #haven't actually played it for myself #so i'm in no place to speak one way or the other #dog day seems cool though

[eisforeidolon]

Question: So in something that you guys spent the last 15 years in, you were hunting things. Have you had any supernatural experiences yourself?

Jared: I was just, oh - [hits Jensen's shoulder] I don't know if I told you this yet. Gen and I just went to Edenborough a couple weeks back. We get to this hotel that's like a refashioned castle as goes in the UK. And our room is haunted. And Gen - we're unpacking, we're jetlagged - and Gen goes, hey I think our room is haunted. And I just go, I know. We go out to dinner or something, come back and our curtains are opening and closing, our lights are turning on and off, our bathroom light starts leaking water even though we're on, like, the first floor of seven or something? So there's no reason -

Questioner: That's not good!

Jared: Yeah. And so legit, legit, we're in bed and I just, we're laying down, and I just say out loud, I'm like, hey, we see you, we hear you, we know you're here, can we talk tomorrow? It all stops. Until the next day. Sorry?

Question: They just wanted a little attention.

Jared: They wanted attention, yeah, so I was just like, hey, I like, channeled my inner SWs and was like hey we gotcha, we're paying attention, but we're jetlagged. Like, we're all about listening, hearing you, but can we do this tomorrow? And calm. Curtains stopped moving, the rain like stops - it was ridiculous. It was honestly ridiculous.

Jensen: [laughs] Sure you weren't talking to God?

Jared: Maybe, maybe. Maybe, I think he has better things to do. Chuck, leave us alone for tonight. We can address this tomorrow.

Jensen: Um, our house in Austin, uh, is a - it's, it was built in 1910. And we've been doing some refurbishing remodeling and stuff with it. And some of the workers quit on the job. And they didn't say why. And the project manager said that they had to go do another job or something like that. We then found out that they had seen some things in - on the third floor. The house used to be, I think in the 50s it used to be a multi-unit, uh, place?

Jared: Multi-unit torture chamber! [laughs]

Jensen: Yeah, and apparently there was a, a, like an apartment on the third floor of the attic, it'd been done like that, so. They had reportedly seen something or someone up there. So Danneel - and of course she knows somebody that deals with this - gets, has this woman come over who is like a medium, clairvoyant, y'know - like straight out of Poltergeist. Like [does voice] this house is clear. Like she found this woman who came over and they went up to the third floor - I was out of town at this time. I was like, go ahead, have fun, knock yourself out. And they went up there and she was like oh yeah, this is where he hurt her. She's like, nobody died, but this is definitely, the energy in here is, is, is bad. So the drywall was off, so you could see like, y'know, the wall and the studs and everything, it was down to the studs and - don't [Jared starts to interrupt, Jensen talks over him] don't say it! Don't - Stop! Stop!

Jared: Down to me?

Jensen: I was trying to avoid the word, and I'm like I gotta say it, that's what it is and I knew that dumbdumb here was gonna jump on it like a grenade.

Jared: You called me again?

Jensen: [cracks up] How often do you take the stud finder and go -

J2: [simultaneously run imaginary beeping stud finders across themselves]

Jared: Every time.

Jensen: Every time.

Jared: [does it again] Gen doesn't think it's funny.

Jensen: No, no. It's hilarious. So this woman and Danneel, they go up to the third floor and she makes this concoction, this mixture of, like, like a five pound bag of rice and then some other things and trinkets and stuff and she starts doing some incantations and then they go out to the porch. And they put all of the mixture, the rice on the porch. And Danneel's like, okay, now what. And she's like, well, they'll use this mixture to leave the house, effectively. The spirits or whatever. And so she's like, okay, thinking well now I'm gonna have to come back tomorrow and clean all this up. She gets a call from our project manager, because we weren't there at the time. And he's like, and she's like or - he was asking her a question and she's like hey sorry about all the rice and stuff on the front porch, you can just clean that up. And he's like, what rice? And she's like, what? And we were just - she was just down the street and so she whipped over there and it was all gone. And she was like, you didn't have anybody clean this up? And he's like, I don't know what you're talking about. It was all gone.

Audience member: Seagulls!

Jensen: Yeah, it was actually 14 seagulls that came in. Good callback, good callback [previous questioner asked about seagulls] that's good comedy right there. So I dunno, we're probably still dealing with - I have another story, too, but for another time.

#jaxcon 2023 #j2 gold panel #long post

[steampunkforever]

Y'know Art Spiegelman? The guy who wrote Maus? What if I told you he was indirectly responsible for one of the worst films I've ever seen hands down?

Often some of the best films come from unexpected places. Cult favorite Boondock Saints was never supposed to be made and yet some how a no budget Boston masterpiece captured the hearts and minds of college dorm rooms everywhere. Spaghetti Westerns were low budget castoffs of a genre no longer en vogue, and yet produced hands down some of the best cowboy films we've ever seen. My point is that often movies that come from unexpected sources have that spark that conventional productions don't. The Garbage Pail Kids Movie, on the other hand, may come from an unexpected source, but is an exception to this rule.

It started when Topps, a chewing gum/collector card company created their own twisted parody of the Cabbage Patch Kids out of spite after a licensing agreement went sour. Speigelman was one of the first designers on the project, and he and his team (including James Warhola, nephew of Andy Warhol) put out a series of wacky collector cards depicting what were basically softcore ratfink reimaginings of the Cabbage Patch line that proved to be so popular as to be banned in schools. The cards did so well that just a couple years later Topps produced the live action disaster that was the Garbage Pail Kids Movie.

This is a film completely irredeemable in almost every way. Part of my distaste for it comes from the fact that rather than pull a Gremlins and have these walking aberrations actually cause chaos, the film tries to somehow soften them into something that could deliver a moral to the story. Not that there's much story. The plot is paper thin, to the point that the motivator for the Garbage Pail Kids (lost Garbage Pail Comrades) is hastily wrapped up with an "I guess they're dead!" (???????) and we're whisked away to an equally uninspiring plot point where the Garbage Pail Kids do more stuff we don't care about.

Obviously I don't think we should be demanding prestige writing from the series known for figureheads like Messy Tessie and Greaser Greg, but dear lord not a single character in this film is even narrowly sympathetic. The bully/antagonist force in this sucks, and yet frankly you sort of root for them to end these creeps. The main character (played by Sean Astins brother apparently?) is written as a peeping tom who wholly deserves the sewer dunking he gets, and none of the other characters are much better. The Garbage Pail Kids aren't even fun in their mischief, just awful to look at and listen to. There's a segment where the main love interest (who is grooming Astin's character, by the way) has a block of dialog dedicated to how horrible the Garbage Pail Kids are, and though its certainly cast as an unfeeling villain speech, she's 100% correct in her assessment. Nobody in this movie has positive traits. I would kill Foul Phil with a ball peen hammer.

One of the most jarring parts of this film for me was--in a fairly innocuous scene--the presence of a MACVSOG patch the costumers stuck on Astin's jacket. What sort of secret messaging is there in the Garbage Pail Kids Movie that they're alluding to the CIA's special operations group that was tied to the Gulf of Tonkin incident and US operations in Laos?

Don't watch this film. If I ever see Foul Phil again it's on sight.

#filmposting #film #the garbage pail kids movie #garbage pail kids #art spiegelman

[ut-versotale]

Update Time, Update Time

Welcome back, everyone. Hope you all had a very happy New Years! I come bearing a late present for you all: A Versotale update!

Game Progress

As I anticipated, I needed to take a break around the middle of November so I could focus on schoolwork. Now that we've been on break for a little while again and will continue to be for the better part of January, I've already gotten a sizable chunk of stuff done. Still not as much as I would've LIKED to have completed - There are still like only three fully-completed rooms at the moment, and even then they have a ton of WIP assets and first-pass dialogue and all - but, that is the way of coding a game solo, mostly from scratch, and with the occasional glances at Undertale's code, isn't it?

Unfortunately, while I really want to share stuff with you guys, it's all in some way a spoiler that I don't want to spoil for the people who'd rather experience everything fresh for themselves.

...

So, if you DO wanna experience everything fresh for yourself, feel free to bow out of this post here. If you're sticking around, enjoy some mild spoiler-y content, some character designs, and some fun vague allusions to things I still really wanna talk about! I need to give you guys SOMETHING after this long wait, right?

Game Progress: Slightly Spoiler-y Edition

The OPENING CUTSCENE you saw a while back has been tweaked slightly to make Hercine more likable, and so the dialogue can flow a bit more naturally.

Two new cutscenes have been added to the beginning, albeit with some rough visuals. These three all flow into each other, and if you're speaking through each line of dialogue, they only take up about six minutes total. Still, it is a TAD bit too long for my liking without any gameplay behind it, so there's a chance I might cut a cutscene or switch the order of things around so there's a brief gameplay section before the last one. Who knows.

Undyne has been redesigned. Undyne now sports some less bulky armor that combines aspects of her canon casual and armored forms. If she's gonna be there the entire game, she may as well have a visually-interesting design rather than the blob of bluish-grey her armor used to be. I'm sure some people will consider this a downgrade, which is always the risk you run when you redesign a character you've already shown off... but I personally just can't stand working with that old design any longer. The colors barely pop, it looks messy, the armor's boring and flat-colored and almost even blends into her scales, etc.

You didn't get to see the outdated Frisk design I had for this iteration of the project, and I'm glad you didn't, because upon writing more of their scenes and reconfiguring their personality, I HAD to redesign them again. I don't anticipate this one changing ANY time soon, but, as with Undyne, no promises.

Next up, some important human characters in the first area that AREN'T Frisk! You'll meet them later on, and I really hope you all end up liking them and the story behind them! In the meantime, here, have their designs. Again, they might change, but I'm comfortable with these for now.

That's all I feel comfortable showing off for the first area at the moment! I'm hoping to record everything up until the first save point and post it on YouTube at some point before the end of January (Again, as I must reiterate, in its very unfinished form), but no promises!

While that's all for the first area, I have been poking around with redesigning some of the later characters you guys have not even seen yet. Particularly, the primary antagonist of the new Cold West. I have to admit, I was a little worried that, if I didn't switch up his design, people would start comparing him to Clover since Undertale Yellow is still fresh in a lot of our memories right now, but... I think you guys will really like "The long scarf of the law." He's a fun character.

Alright, that's all from me! I hope you guys enjoyed this brief little peek at some mild spoiler-y content! I hope to be back soon with some neat stuff for y'all to see in action!

#undertale #undertale au #versotale #frisk #undyne #update #fangame