#can't believe I initially tried to make this post short and then it ends up being 2759 words long...

[fiepige]

Hobie Brown variant OC:

I finally decided to make Symbiote!Hobie (nicknamed SH by Hobie, which over time turned into Sage) his own thing, cause I've made so many changes to him that I've decided he's just gonna be another version of Hobie from another dimension.

I basically came up with him when thinking about what it would take for Hobie to truly bond with a symbiote and this is what I came up with.

While he's technically Hobie too I'm gonna refer to him as Sage in this post to avoid confusion <3

Gonna start with his appearance and then move on to his origins and how he got involved with the Spider-Society:

Disclaimer: I cannot draw so I haven't even attempted at drawing his face cause I know I'd never be able to draw him in a way I'd like- So I did the next best thing:

(He has a normal face I just tried to find a way for me to draw him without drawing his face lol)

Pictured above is Sage and his symbiote K.A.T (and their symbiote form- yeah it's the same as Venom!Hobie cause I like the design lol)

He looks like Hobie but younger- he's around 11 when he's bitten by the spider and fused with K.A.T - he's around 12 when he gets introduced to the Spider-Society

He's got short hair as it was completely shaved off when he got caught by Oscorp - more about this under his origins - he wants to let it grow out after meeting Hobie and being inspired by his approach to his looks (he really looks up to Hobie but don't tell anyone I said that!)

His left iris is white as a result of the symbiote DNA being fused to him. He can make it match his right eye if he concentrates but only really bothers to do so if he feels it draws too much attention

After meeting Hobie he helps Sage get a few piercings of his own

He usually wears a hoodie and/or a mask to hide his face - he's super paranoid and does his best to hide himself from others

Never goes anywhere without his noice cancelling earmuffs - he's got enhanced senses due to his spider powers but they can be a bit of a nuisance since he's also sensitive to loud noises due to his symbiote...

He also usually wears sunglasses to shield himself from sensory overload as he was subjected to it a lot as part of the experiments he was put through at Oscorp - and thus getting his senses overstimulated can result in panic attacks, so he does what he can to avoid it + it hides his eyes as well

K.A.T (Killing Authority-opposing Targets) is Sage's symbiote

It usually stays hidden unless they're alone or around people they trust/already knows about its presence.

If it does show itself it'll usually stay on Sage's shoulder or sit in his lap, it's still tethered to him so it can't go that far without him - not that it really wants to anyways

The reason K.A.T takes this form is that Sage is a cat person and it used it as a method to make him like it more when they first "met" + petting it helped Sage calm down and still does

K.A.T is still made of the same goo as regular symbiotes so it does not feel like petting a cat at all- Sage doesn't mind but most other people get suprised when they first touch it

If it likes someone it'll rub itself against their legs and mimic purring noises - if it dislikes someone it'll hiss and arch its back at them

K.A.T is a more animalistic symbiote and mainly communicates with Sage by letting him feel its emotions instead of speaking to him

To avoid making the post even longer than it's already gonna be I'll link to this post where I go into more detail about the design of thier Symbiote form instead of describing it here too ^^'.

This was originally supposed to be a short summary but I've realised I'm incapable of making short posts when it comes to stuff like this:

Origin:

Sage is a younger version of Hobie Brown. (11 years old when bitten by the spider and fused with his symbiote)

Sage and K.A.T "met" at one of Oscorp's labs

He was living as a homeless kid (having escaped an abusive household a few months prior)

He was bitten by a radioactive spider while looking for a place to spend the night.

He got very sick from the bite and was easily captured by Oscorp goons looking for new test subjects in the streets

Despite his young age Sage is a more ruthless Hobie variant, in part due to his upbringing and due to his symbiote (and the trauma they both go through at the hands of Oscorp)

K.A.T was a new kind of experimental symbiote that was set to be terminated due to it killing all its previous hosts - Sage was their last attempt at fusing it with someone

They decide to fuse it with Sage as he was deemed indisposable due to him seeming more dead than alive - suffering from the venom of spider bite at the time - and thus it wouldn't be a problem if the symbiote killed him too

Since the spider bite was still changing his DNA as he got fused with K.A.T some of its DNA got fused with him as well as a "side effect" during the process

Due to this it's incredibly hard (if not impossible) to seperate the symbiote from Sage without severely hurting them both

His body develops organic web shooters when it fuses with K.A.T - the webs are black and can be shot from either of his 4 arms when in his symbiote form (they can also be shot regularly while in his human form)

Sage develops enhanced senses and a taste for human flesh after being fused with K.A.T - he also has enhanced senses from the spider bite - making it easy to overstimulate his senses and overwhelm him before he learns to get it more under control

Since Sage's gotten powers from both the spider bite and the symbiote they quickly become the subjects for many inhumane and painful experiments as the scientists futilely try to figure out how to replicate the symbiote (as they're unaware of the spider bite, thinking the symbiote alone is behind Sage's new powers)

The main scientist behind the experiments is this dimension's version of Peter Parker!

Sage eventually manages to escape the lab during one of their many tests- killing as many guards and scientists on his way out as possible - and eating some of them as well

As a result of their treatment at the lab + his past with his abusive foster family, both Sage and K.A.T have developed a deep distrust to other people - at this point they both consider the other their only friend

Sage goes back to living as a homeless kid, avoiding people as best as he can, but he's also got an insatiable taste for human flesh as well!

He will usually target anyone associated with Oscorp when he's hungry (if none are available cops are the next best thing- his dimension is just as corrupt as -138 Hobie's dimension)

He doesn't feel bad about killing but will still try not to harm civilians (emphasis on try- sometimes the hunger gets the best of him)

Due to his senses being extra sensitive + his paranoia from his experiences at the lab and his foster homes, he tries to avoid crowded and noisy places - This all leads to him being more active at night while he usually tries to lay low and hide during the day.

He lived like this for months until a certain event changed that:

First encounter with the Spider-Society

Sage's dimension is blacklisted meaning people from the Spider-Society aren't allowed to go there (cause a spider-person who's embracing their symbiote instead of resisting it is deemed unsafe by Miguel and thus best to be avoided)

Sage does still get introduced to the spider-society albeit through a rather unconventional way:

- One day a portal opens up and pulls Sage through it, sending him to another dimension as an anomaly

Having no idea about what's going on, and being scared and confused about the whole situation, he does his best to lay low and avoid other people.

Because of this he spends a lot of time in the other dimension before the society discovers signs of an anormaly - glitched objects like seen when Kingpen uses the collider in itsv, or the museum that the Vulture appears in in atsv

Sage eventually has his first run in with other spider people when his hunger gets the best of him and he becomes more careless as he turns into his symbiote form to go look for prey

Here he encounters Gwen and Peter B as they're looking for the anomaly causing things to glitch out in the dimension

Not knowing he's a spider person and an actual child, Peter and Gwen attack him as they always do with anomalies - it also doesn't help that Sage doesn't exactly look friendly when in his symbiote form.

He fights back cause these masked people attacked him for no reason so they must be bad guys and of course he's gonna defend himself - it also doesn't help that he's starving and thus not thinking clearly at this point.

Unfortunately for him, these guys have high frequency equipment to deal with symbiotes and thus they manage to subdue him, but not before he manages to fight back, revealing his organic webbing which tips Gwen and Peter off to him having spider powers as well

He's subdued and forced into an electric cage (which brings back a lot of unpleasant memories from his time at Oscorp) and sent to the Spider-Society afterwards

When he arrives at the Society he quickly gets overstimulated and has a panic attack and lashes out in a desperate attempt at escaping his electric cage - also seeing the face of the scientist who tortured him for months everywhere certainly didn't help

Gwen then uses a high-frequency device made to combat symbiotes to force him to revert back to his human form

She immediately recognises him as a young version of -138 Hobie

Her and Peter both panic cause 1. They realise they basically beat up a kid and locked him up. 2. That kid has a symbiote! 3. That kid is a younger version of another spider-person they both know (and who they both know has a very long and strained history with symbiotes!)

Miguel gets involved and a discussion begins about whether they should try and seperate Hobie (Sage) and his symbiote

- The other spiders mean well by this but Sage and K.A.T both panic at the thought of being separated - at this point they really view the other as their only friend as it's been them against the world ever since they fused

Sage, still panicking, tries to protest but they won't listen as they view him as a kid who doesn't know what's best for him

Sage is taken to the room with all the villains while they discuss what to do with him

Here Margo sees Sage and K.A.T comforting each other, K.A.T manifesting physically in Sage's lap, being hugged tightly by Sage as he promises it he'll never let anyone separate them

Seeing this, Margo takes pity on them and 'accidentally' sends them home before the other spiders get a chance to try and remove K.A.T from Sage.

Relationships with other spider-people

Some time later Sage has an encounter with Hobie who found out about the whole mess - despite Miguel ordering Gwen and Peter not to tell him

While Hobie isn't exactly a fan of symbiotes he first and foremost sees Sage as a traumatised homeless kid in need of safety and stability

Hobie offers Sage to stay at his boat whenever he wants (as long as he promises not to eat anyone while he's there), he also gives him one of his bootleg watches so he can come and go as he pleases (and explains that he can also use it to get home to his own dimension if he's ever unwillingly sent to another dimension again)

Sage declines at first but over time he slowly opens up to Hobie and begins to trust him

(He also secretly looks up to Hobie once he trusts him, cause who doesn't? He's an older version of himself who's got a place to call his home, one that he opens up to strangers in need such as himself, he uses his powers for good and not just to survive. He's not afraid to be who he is and draw attention to himself - something Sage has been too afraid to do ever since his time at Oscorp. He's got friends and people he trusts. - all things that Sage wants too but doesn't believe he'll ever have) Also he'll never admit that he looks up to Hobie but he can tell anyways

Hobie's the one that gives Sage his nickname, it started as SH but over time it turned into Sage instead, though he doen't mind being called Hobie as well, it's just easier to go by Sage when both he and Hobie are present.

He still doesn't trust people, especially not the Spider-Society after their first meeting, which made it very awkward when Gwen showed up to visit Hobie while Sage was there - luckily Hobie managed to interfere before they beat each other up too much...

(He trusts Margo a bit as well since she 'saved' him from the Spider-Society - also it's nice to be around someone who doesn't smell like food since she's an avatar and not made of flesh and blood)

He currently lives at Hobie's boat, switching between it and his own dimension as he pleases

Hobie did his best to hide it but he was rather freaked out by K.A.T's presence in the beginning, he did his best to supress it cause he genuinely wants to help Sage

Hobie mentors him in how to use his Spider Powers and tries to give him a moral compass to at least prevent him from eating civilians when he gets too hungry - He usually targets cops or people working for Oscorp but the hungrier he gets the less picky he is

Another reason Hobie took him in is because he knows ostracising someone won't make them a better person and while Hobie doesn't believe in deciding what's best for others he still knows life will be a bit easier for Sage if he doesn't just kill whoever he wants whenever he wants - impulse control is important when you have a cannibalistic symbiote in your body.

- Hobie still dislikes symbiotes but he respects Sage's choice to keep his and does his best to help him control some of the more violent urges that come with a symbiote.

Hobie introduces Sage to his punk ideologies and slowly introduces him to the punk community

Hobie also introduces him to some of his friends but it's a slow process due to Sage having a hard time trusting people - especially spider-people after his Spider-Society encounter

Some of the spider-people also have a hard time opening up to him because of his symbiote

But Hobie's good at making a safe space for Sage to feel like he can slowly start to open up to others

For the first time in years Sage feels like he has someone (besides K.A.T) he can trust and over time he starts to view Hobie as his older brother

And that's that folks! (at least for now)

To the one person who actually bothered to read all of this - know that I'm infinitely grateful that you took your time to read about my boy <3

- I initially tried to keep this short but I gave up cause Sage has been living rent free in my head for weeks and it feels so nice to finally flesh him out and write about him!

You know I couldn't resist making my first oc angsty - but at least he ends up doing better than where he started.

Hopefully you guys like him too! If you have any questions please let me know, I could talk about him forever <3

#help I think I have a condition where I need to make all my new posts longer than the previous one! #can't believe I initially tried to make this post short and then it ends up being 2759 words long... #wasn't sure about his name but I wanted it to be something else than Hobie #so Sage it is! #Also I really wanted the symbiote to be called cat or kat - due to the form of its physical manifestation #so I had to come up with an abbreviation to make it fit lol #also evey time I've tagged a post Symbiote!Hobie this is who I've been thinking of! #I just didn't have a name for him back then #just to reiterate - Symbiote!Hobie and Venom!Hobie are two different people #their symbiote form looks the same but that's it #Venom!Hobie is -138 hobie with a symbiote but everything else about him is still hobie #Symbiote!Hobie is Sage who's another version of hobie from his own dimension #hope there aren't too many spelling errors but it's 1 am here and I've read through it once already so sorry if I missed something! #gonna post this and then go to bed lol #I'm addicted to that angst but I tried to give him a somewhat happy “ending” #though there's still a lot of room for improvement lol #also this is my fist oc which is very exciting!!! #idk if you can call it an oc when he's based on an existing character #but I've made so many changes to him that I feel like I can allow myself to call him an oc <3 #Symbiote!Hobie #Sage #hobie brown #spider punk #symbiote oc #symbiote hobie #gwen stacy #peter b parker #miguel o'hara #margo kess #across the spider verse

[pomefioredove]

now I'm actually invested in this idea. maybe I'll write a full length fic someday idk... for now I have short hcs

parts 1 | 2 | 3 | kalim | bad ending

summary: crowley decides to "give away" yuu to the highest "donation" for financial reasons type of post: headcanons characters: all nrc students additional info: can be read as platonic or romantic, except malleus is pretty romantic, second person pov, yuu is gender neutral, maybe a little ooc I wrote this as soon as I got up

crowley has had his fair share of "what the fuck" moments from you but this was really taking the cake

he acts so... casual about it?

swaggers into ramshackle one morning and says times are tough and your personal expenses are straining the budget so he's decided to "put you in someone else's care"

"The screening process will be vigorous to make sure you end up in good hands!" like you're a cat or something "Your expenses will be covered and you'll have somewhere to go during break!"

okay great. pretty obvious you have no say in this, so you don't even argue. what's the worst that could happen?

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

Ace, Deuce, Jack, and Epel find you the next day to say they're pooling their money to buy you

"To what?"

Epel shrugs. "Oh, well Crowley said we need to offer a donation to prove we're capable of supporting you..."

(you think that if not for the laws of this land you would have slaughtered that old fart)

Jack goes on a really long tirade about how shady and underhanded this is, making sure to reaffirm that he believes you should be free to make your own choices

"So you'll let me go once you get me?"

"Uhhh..."

Ace thinks once they buy you you'll have no choice but to do all of his homework for him

Deuce says that's not really how it works- and even if he tried, Riddle would kill him

(they've already gone over this twice before finding you)

Epel happily volunteers to take you home with him over breaks, probably the only positive in this mess

even if he thinks the whole thing is kind of funny

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

incapable of keeping his mouth shut, Ace accidentally spills the plan to Riddle, who is understandably aghast

you can't just give away a person under your care like a toy!

of all the irresponsible things...

of course, he'll have to put up his offer, too

purely for your sake! with a nicer room and a brand new copy of the dorm rules, maybe you'll stop getting yourself into trouble

he's got some family money (doctors, naturally) and considers this a worthwhile purchase, for his sanity and yours

of course, Trey and Cater overhear and may or may not be pooling their own cash for a chance, too

going behind Riddle's back on this is a risky venture, but hey, someone's gotta be on your side, here, right?

I mean, between a bunch of sixteen year old boys, the housewarden, and them, who would you choose?

actually don't answer that

...not that it's much of a secret, anyway. Cater's already got their gofundme equivalent link in bio

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

Leona initially plans to have you become a live-in lackey like Ruggie

but then he really starts thinking- and, hey, the possibilities are endless, right?

for one, you'd make a really good pillow

he might have to kick Grim out for your full attention, but you could learn to live with that

and malleus would hate it

...that's reason enough for him

plus, he's got money to burn, so why not?

either way, he sets his bid at a reasonable (maybe too confident) price and sits back to watch the chaos unfold as everyone scrambles for a piece of the pie

news travels fast around school, after all

then Ruggie finds out that you could dethrone him as Leona's #2 and is understandably a little annoyed

that's his cushy post-grad job gig, thank you! he's worked hard for that!

besides, why should Leona get to hoard you? the guy can barely take care of himself!

so, Ruggie ends up outsourcing to a few dozen classmates for the necessary funds at a steep I-owe-you price

he's gonna be eating nothing but dandelions for a while...

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

now, Azul is annoyed

once the news goes school-wide, it's all anyone can talk about

talk about good marketing...

why didn't he think of such a brilliant scam? he could have negotiated with Crowley to have a café brand deal tie-in!

of course, he's already set his bid, with Jade and Floyd offering to pitch in as necessary

it's a risky investment, sure, but a worthwhile one

Azul tells everyone that with the prefect's "obvious" popularity, having them at the café a few nights a week would drive sales through the roof

though that's really just what he says to shirk suspicion

a likely excuse coming from him, though, really, it would just be nice having you around

and if not for his own affections, Floyd's incessant begging and Jade's subtly manipulative comments about "how nice" it would be having a new face around would be enough for him to cave eventually

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

"Kalim, no," is the first thing that Jamil says

"I strongly advise against this. It's another one of Crowley's silly scams and you could end up a target bec- are you even listening?"

hint: he is not

the second Kalim found out that he could get to take in his favorite magicless student like one of his treasures, he was all over it

(AKA infinite sleepovers)

and for what? a little optional donation to prove he's got the funds? he's got cash to spare!

he's already got your new room in Scarabia set up before he even puts his bid in

right next to his of course :)

and despite what Jamil insists, he himself might be working behind the curtain just a little to ensure he's the one who ends up with you

after all, why should Kalim get everything? this might be a valuable learning opportunity for him

You don't always get what you want

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

as much as Epel tries to keep the rest of his dorm from finding out, it's inevitable

he's actually a little surprised that the news didn't get to Vil sooner

with Rook around campus, surely he must have said something...

when Vil does find out, though, he just sighs

oh, of course. what next, will everyone meet each other in the arena and fight to the death over the prefect?

of all the silly, immature things...

oh? what's that? he's bidding anyway? of course he is, silly potato. he can't have some unwashed miscreant making you sleep on polyester bedding

(really, he's the only person on campus worthy of your time)

Rook has also been mysteriously absent from the dorm lately, though his initials on a poem and a strangely large sum of money end up in the donation pile

but really, that could be anyone... Rook would never dare betray Vil again, right?

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

Ortho finds out directly from the other first years and sends Idia the details immediately

with a little note of encouragement, of course: "could be excellent for improving your social skills!"

Idia understandably freaks out

"WTF!!!! nooo way! this is a person, not a chatbot we're talking about here! I can barely keep virtual pets alive!!!!"

(liar)

(...but this is still different)

the conversation ends there, but semi-anonymous bid from someone named "gloomurai" gets cashapp'd directly to crowley

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

everyone in the room immediately turns to Malleus

"For the record, I think it's wrong to be bargaining over a human being," Silver says first. "But if anyone could handle it with grace, it's you."

Lilia laughs. "Oh, you're just saying that because you like the prefect so much!"

"Father, you're the one who likes the prefect so much,"

"Oh, right! carry on then. After all, I'm sure we could share,"

Sebek is the only one relatively against the idea, though Lilia luckily manages to get him to lower his voice after his third speech about how you aren't good enough for his liege

Malleus is rather quiet through the whole evening, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with any of the points made

he disappears for a short while, and when he comes back he seems a little more confident

though, of course, he goes to you first

seeing him at Ramshackle in the middle of the night is a familiar and welcoming sight after all of the chaos of your week

and he's in a great mood!

"Child of man! I've come with news," he says. "I have heard of your predicament and have come up with a solution!"

you immediately sulk. "Oh, no. You know I think this whole thing is terrible, right?"

"Yes, Silver mentioned you might not like the idea of being bought and sold like a trinket. But worry not, I do not plan on paying for you in money,"

you pause, at a loss for words, and then tentatively continue. "You're not...?"

"Of course not. What a primitive idea, I was baffled to hear it myself. My proposal will be more traditional: a modest sum of treasure, and a generous amount of livestock and the finest crop Briar Valley can offer,"

certainly he's not this naive, you think

"You really think Crowley is going to accept that over money? I'm pretty sure Kalim just bid away an entire country's worth,"

he laughs. "You speak as if this is some kind of business deal! I'm quite confident that my dowry will be best,"

huh. that was a strange way of putting it

but then again, you still didn't really understand how things work here, so you go along with it

and you allow yourself to relax. he seems confident in his offer, and he doesn't even see you as some kind of prize to win!

"Oh, well, alright. Thanks! I'm glad you're on it,"

he smiles. "Rest assured, child of man, you're in good hands. My dowry will far outshine the others, and the wedding will be even better,"

"I was honestly getting a little nervous for a momen- wait- wedding!?"

#twst x reader #shall I tag everyone even though this is pretty short... idk might as well #ace trappola x reader #deuce spade x reader #jack howl x reader #epel felmier x reader #riddle rosehearts x reader #trey clover x reader #cater diamond x reader #leona kingscholar x reader #ruggie bucchi x reader #azul ashengrotto x reader #floyd leech x reader #jade leech x reader #kalim al asim x reader #jamil viper x reader #vil schoenheit x reader #rook hunt x reader #idia shroud x reader #lilia vanrouge x reader #malleus draconia x reader #idk if I should tag silver and sebek they're barely in it 😔 #that's enough tags anyway

[olderthannetfic]

With all this talk about AI, the one perspective that appears missing from the discussion is that of someone who actually uses AI writing tools in production of their fanfic. So here I am, stepping in to provide my (anonymous) two cents.

I've been using a generative AI program especially made for creative writers for several months now. Initially, I had a lot of the same reservations I'm hearing form others, but I was curious about the tech and wanted to try it for myself. I quickly discovered that it's insanely useful, and I truly believe it has improved my writing. 

I also believe these tools will become commonplace among creative writers in the near future. In fact, I've heard that generative AI is coming to a writing software near you (MS Word to be exact), and I suspect that that once more people have actually tried it, use of AI will begin to seem no more remarkable than the use of spelling or grammar checkers does now. 

In the meantime, as you can see, I am staying anon, and there is absolutely no way I would tag my fanfic as AI assisted given the current environment. People are very quick to make assumptions about what a statement like that means, and are all too hasty in reaching for their pitchforks.

As far as I can tell, the main concern seems to be that Ao3 will be flooded with 'bad' fanfic as a result of AI use. But 'bad' fanfic has been a thing for as long as I've been in fandom (decades, at this point), and in my experience, human beings are perfectly capable of writing poorly without any help from machines. Readers are, as always, advised to curate their own reading experience. The 'back' button works the same as it always did, and someone's possible use of AI changes nothing about that. 

But the general assumption that AI input automatically leads to 'bad' writing seems rather short-sighted. Yes, obviously if someone were to go to ChatGPT and tell it to write them a fanfic in 'x' fandon about 'x' pairing, the output would be bland, generic and probably a bit rambling. AIs are not great storytellers; they can't maintain narrative logic. 

If this hypothetical person then copy-pasted the unedited output directly onto Ao3 and called it a story, the result would most likely qualify as 'bad' fanfic. Whether it would be worse than a story the same person might have written on their own is debatable. Our hypothetical protagonist obviously decided that the output was good enough as it was, and chose to post it without bothering to edit, which suggests (at least to me) that they would have similar standards about a story they'd written without an AI.

Since the above seems to be the scenario everyone has in mind when talking about "AI fic," I would like to point out that what I just described is not the only way to use AI in one's writing. My own use is more akin to using an online thesaurus; a very powerful thesaurus that can make suggestions for things like phrasings, descriptions, dialogue, and so on. The key there is that it makes suggestions. 

My AI assistant is smart enough to 'read' the scene I'm working on and tailor its suggestions to the mood, style and context of what I'm writing. But it's still my story. The AI doesn't write it for me. I'm the one who sifts through those suggestions, takes the bits that work, and shapes them into useful text. Sometimes the AI comes up with amazing things. I wasn't kidding when I said it's improved my writing - and my rewriting. It knocks me out of those mental ruts we writers tend to get into, coming up with descriptions and turns of phrase that I wouldn't have thought of on my own. 

But it's still just a tool, and at the end of the day, I'm still the writer. The words that end up on the page do so because I chose them. Those writerly choices are what make the story mine, regardless of where the words might have originated from. And whether they came from my brain or the AI, they are still subject to the same standards of rewriting, editing and proofing.

So no, I don't think I'm going to be tagging my fic with an AI disclosure statement any time soon. Not until the current moral panic dies down to the point where people don't read that and automatically assume it means 'copy-pasted from ChatGPT.' And for anyone who's curious about AI... I suggest you try it for yourself. Play around a little and find out what it's about before making judgments. I think you'll find it's a tool like any other - and just like any tool, it can be used well or it can be used badly. That's entirely in the hands of the human being using it - which is one thing that hasn't changed, and never should.

--

Yeah, I fail to see any major issue with more sucky fanfic getting posted. That's just the default for big fic archives.

The actual problem problems we're seeing are with paid markets with open submissions that get flooded beyond what staff can handle and big corporations replacing humans they already try not to pay.

The main potential issue I see with other uses of AI is that it may end up with samey suggestions, but it's hard to know how much that's 1. a thing and 2. an actual issue when writing genre stuff that often sounds samey on purpose and where that's a desirable characteristic.

[blusical]

The Adam Johnson tragedy: What you can do to help support his family, Matt Petgrave and how to protect yourself as well.

(PT: Adam Johnson: What you can do to support his family, Matt Petgrave and how to protect yourself as well. End PT) Trigger warning: Death, slightly detailed description of fatal injury, depictions of racism. Reader discretion heavily advised. Who's Adam Johnson and what's going on? Adam Johnson was an ice hockey player who originally played for the Pittsburgh Penguins and their minor league team, and last played for the Nottingham Panthers of the Britain-based EIHL. His life was tragically cut short recently, as during a game against the Sheffield Steelers, opposing player Matt Petgrave collided with Johnson, which led to Petgrave's skate striking Johnson's throat. Initially, Johnson appeared to be fine and tried to skate off, but he soon collapsed, and it was eventually clear that his neck had been cut by the skate. Despite medical efforts, he did not survive. The game was eventually left unfinished and fans were told to leave. Who is Matt Petgrave? Matt Petgrave is an ice hockey player on the Sheffield Steelers. He was the other player involved in the incident. Recently, he has been receiving hate and threats from other individuals. While it was expected, some people have taken it to the next level. Some people have used this tragedy to be racist towards Petgrave, who is black. Some of the tweets included (All but the third one were taken directly from PuckEmpire's Instragram page, so apologies if some of them look weird). Notice the references to race.

(And no. I'm not showing the tweet from the End Wokeness account. That asshole already has a big enough audience and I'm not giving that fucker the satisfaction). And that's not even the worst of it. Petgrave's Instagram page is being bombarded with hate comments, none of which I am showing. While I can't say for certain of what Petgrave did was intentional or not, I think we need to make something clear: There is NO excuse to be harassing people over a tragedy, and there is especially NO excuse to be racist. What you can do to help and how to protect yourself. Unfortunately, people have also been spreading videos of the incident. So I'll start with that first. If you see a video with any of these thumbnails or something similar, scroll as quick as you can and do not watch the video. Report it and block the poster immediately.

If you have autoplay on, turn it off if you have the option to. If you are Black, I heavily advise avoiding any posts related to Petgrave at this time. Additionally, do not engage with any posts calling Petgrave a murderer. Block any person who uses this tragedy as an excuse to be racist or otherwise antiblack. If you were at the game or you've already seen video of the incident, and is struggling with what happened, I advise looking at some of these resources. I will add more in the future. NHS England's help and support page. NIMH's page on Coping with Traumatic Events. NAMI Massachusetts Resources page. As for how you can help, I advise donating to this GoFundMe page a fan set up. There is also a Meal Train set up for his family that is also taking donations. The Nottingham Panthers are also in the process of setting up a GoFundMe of their own, which I will also add once the fundraiser is set up. UPDATE: The Panthers' fundraiser is now up and running. I also advise showing support for Matt Petgrave in any way possible, whether it be signs at games, simple social media posts, etc. I'm sure this is rough for him too, and I believe he could use the support. Lastly, I recommend contacting the NHL and other hockey leagues to demand that neckguards be mandatory. This death was something that could've easily been prevented, and neckguards can prevent any tragedy like this from happening again.

Lastly, I leave you with something else to watch instead of the video of the incident:

Rest in peace, Adam Johnson (1994-2023)

#long post #adam johnson #death tw #racism #injury tw #nhl #eihl #nottingham panthers #pittsburgh penguins #matt petgrave #hockey #ice hockey #rest in peace #no id #Youtube

[ariparri]

The Ship of DieRuca

DieRuca is a ship between Diego Caplan, a Hufflepuff who is passionate about dancing and duelling, and Veruca McQuaid, a Slytherin who takes pride in both her duelling and flying skills.

In this post, you'll get to know how Veruca and Diego are within the AUs I ship them in. To find more DieRuca content, you can look through the #dieruca tag.

It took quite a while to write out since there was a lot I wanted to add in here. But I thought it was best to keep the main AUs I like to hyper-fixate on and imagine about. Also, I used DeepL for the translations for the quote. If I’m wrong, please let me know and I'll fix it.

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"You are the music of my heart"

A phrase often shared between the two in place of 'I love you.' Usually said in their native languages.

CANON

The two meet during their first year but aren’t officially acquainted until they both join the dueling club. Veruca mostly ignored Diego’s attempts in making conversation due to his constant flirting both during duels and outside of the club. After many duels ending in draws, Diego became part of Veruca’s circle and joined their adventures.

Throughout their last three years of Hogwarts, the two have gotten close to one another since the dancing competition hosted by Madam Rosmerta.

In 1993, Diego and Veruca officially started dating. The lead up to their relationship was slow with Diego taking the initiative in breaking Veruca out of her shell. Most of their dates involve picnics under the stars or walks in the parks. In 1995 they had their first child, Marisol, out of wedlock and got married some time after. In 1997, they had their second child, Carina.

Both Diego and Veruca take part in the Battle at Hogwarts alongside their friends and former professors while their children are at the McQuaid family home with their grandparents.

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GENDERBENT

Veren McQuaid, the strong and silent, intimidating boy has a soft spot for the flirty, and flamboyant girl, Doria Caplan.

Unlike his female counterpart, Veren appears to be much more intimidating. He's a boy of a few words as he struggles to express himself vocally, he believes his actions will speak for him. He is self conscious of his stoic visage since it often frightens others and causes unwarranted misconceptions of his integrity. His moments of poignant silence and his tall stature scares many away from him, causing him to suffer from loneliness. The closest he has to a friend is Carly (female Carson) since they grew up together. While he doesn't mind Carly's company, Veren gets grumpy when the girl tries to make him bond with others or try to speak for him. When he can't verbally express himself on most occasions, he usually shows simple hand gestures. When he does have the courage to speak, it's usually in the form of short one liners.

Doria would be described as flamboyant, farsighted, a bit egotistical and dramatic. In smaller doses though, those traits are often spoiled by habits of being crude and impatient. A little worse than her male counterpart. She entertains people with 'high-class' etiquette and shameless flattery. While she openly expresses romantic interest, she appears to be oblivious of her own romantic feelings towards Veren. She was completely unphased by his intimidating aura. She constantly showered him with compliments and sometimes even considered him to be her 'bodyguard' due to how easily he can scare people away.

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FLIPPED!

Flipped!DieRuca is a ship you might want to be worried about for Diego because Veruca is very clingy when it comes to her friends and lover.

While original Diego is a flirt, an excellent dueller and great at dancing, Flipped!Diego is quite the opposite. Flipped!Diego typically lacks self confidence. He's not as charming or flirty as the original, he is shy and sensitive and not much of a strong dueller. Flipped!Diego is always caught off guard whenever Flipped!Veruca shows up randomly. His affection for her might be questionable as he does care for her but sometimes finds her to be a bit exhausting to handle. Despite that, he appreciates how she treats him, with so much love and affection even if he's shy to openly be affectionate with her.

Flipped!Veruca is openly friendly, overly energetic, and bubbly until someone disturbs her happiness and triggers the creepier side to her happy personality. She can be extremely clingy, giving lots of hugs and holding hands. While Veruca is perfectly fine with her small circle of friends, Flipped!Veruca appears to be obsessed with making plenty of friends. A bit of an unhealthy obsession as she will force herself to be their friend by clinging onto them till they submit. She once locked herself in her room for a few days to make friendship sweaters for her and Carson. When she became close with Diego, she did the exact same thing but instead of five sweaters she made fifteen matching sweaters for the both of them.

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CARDVERSE

Veruca as the Acting Queen of Spades is no damsel in distress, and is in fact a strong and independent woman. She puts her duties as a queen before anything else and has no time fooling around with trivial matters. As a dominant ruler, romance is the last thing that comes to mind for her, if not ever. Her country and her people come before her and anyone else.

Diego as the King of Hearts retains most of his original counterpart's personality. Loyal, charming, passionate and understanding. He finds Veruca's high walls as a challenge to break down, and he often interacts with her more than the rest of the officials within the other regions. He likes to tease the Queen of Spades whenever he gets the chance, and enjoys the progress of seeing her open up more to him.

Veruca at first found his antics as a nuisance more so than anything. He was always distracting her from her duties and seemed to never take his position as the King of Hearts seriously. She started warming up to him after he showed concern when she was overworking herself. Her feelings for him started showing but since they were from different regions, she tried to deny any thought of being together. She does eventually enjoy his company more openly, and a misunderstanding involving a hand crafted gift starts a few rumors within the Kingdom of Hearts. Their relationship, though starting off as a secret, is easily noticeable by the public.

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MAFIA

In this AU, Diego and Veruca’s personalities are kind of changed. While Diego still retains his charming personality, it is mostly reserved for Veruca, his children and younger siblings. Around others, Diego is more serious, looking at everyone with a cold gaze as if he was staring right through them. When it's necessary, he can resort to ruthless violent acts. With Veruca, she keeps her witty remarks and plays off Diego's advances in the beginning of their relationship. When they get together, Veruca shows her more sentimental side. She's also aware of what Diego's family business truly is and turns a blind eye towards it, after all her family didn’t gain their wealth and fortune through legal ways either.

Veruca and Diego first met at a banquet at the Caplan residence when they were younger. Diego and Veruca’s fathers were friends so they were always invited to parties and other gatherings. Though they met when they were young, they didn't see each other again until adulthood. While Diego is slowly taking on the ropes of the family business, Veruca is a ballet instructor/administrator for a performing arts school. The two meet when Diego was late to pick up his younger sister, Mireya, after a lesson. Diego is aware that Veruca has no involvement in her family’s business and tries to keep her out of it when he’s with her. Unfortunately Veruca gets attacked by a rival gang and she’s in Diego’s care and protection.

The two reminisce about their past and enjoy they’re times together, however Veruca is often left confused and frustrated with Diego constantly switching between being sweet to distant with her. Their relationship deals with a lot of hurdles testing their trust and loyalties, but in the end they both overcome the obstacles.

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QUOTES

Veruca: "Would you stop me, if I ever tried to leave again?"

Diego: "I would. But if you truly want to leave this place behind, then I'll follow you wherever you go."

Diego: "I think peridots have become my favorite gem."

Veruca: "Oh? What makes you say that?"

Diego: "Your eyes, love. They remind me of your eyes."

Veruca: "Goodness, you can be so corny sometimes."

Veruca: "I'm sorry, how many kids did you say you want?"

Diego: "Aha, as many as we possibly can!"

Veruca: "Yeah, we're not competing with the Weasleys. I'll settle for three, but no more than that!"

Diego: "Three is fine by me!"

Veruca: "This is the fourteenth scarf you've gotten. Are you starting a collection?"

Diego: "Oh absolutely! I'm collecting scarves made with great material and style. Here, feel this one sweetheart. The fabric used for this is quite soft and the color would look great with your skintone."

Diego: "You're as gorgeous as ever, Ruca."

Veruca: "Oh stop it—, you spoil me too much. I don’t need all these jewelry."

Diego: "You should get used to it. I plan to spoil you for as long as I live. Nothing but the best for you."

Diego: "Mi cielo, I know you wanted to teach them young… but did you really have to blow up the wall?"

Veruca: "Our daughters are naturals! But, I guess I can start training them outside by using those old trees as training targets."

Diego: “Eres la música de mi corazón”

Veruca: “Is ceol mo chroí thú”

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FUN FACTS

❧ Their song is Stand By Me covered by Seal.

❧ Diego and Veruca get married on November 23rd 1995.

❧ They had their first child, Marisol on June 26, 1995. Their second child, Carina was born on July 28, 1997. Their third child, Ruairí was born February 4, 2003.

❧ Diego and Veruca enjoy slow dancing in their kitchen or garden after dinner.

❧ When Diego was traveling for dueling competitions, he would send Veruca souvenirs from the places he's been to.

❧ In both the Cardverse and Mafia AUs, Veruca is more passionate about dancing and pursuing a career in it rather than law or politics.

❧ Diego has a scarf for every occasion. His collection is big, he and his children often have little fashion shows with them. Veruca would join in by providing her brooch and pins collection.

❧ Diego had given Veruca a carnation that was enchanted to never wilt.

❧ Veruca's necklace she wears after their marriage has Diego’s initial, while Diego has a bracelet with Veruca's initial.

#dieruca #veruca mcquaid #diego caplan #about my ship #hogwarts mystery #hphm #harry potter hogwarts mystery #hphm mc #hogwarts mystery mc #diego caplan x mc

[vodoriga-art]

And the sun rises in Barovia.

A few people were curious, so I wrote down the 6 hour fight and condensed it as much as I could. The ending was not what I expected at all and I don’t think I’ll ever have a campaign like this one or character like Kaspar again. Many thanks to everyone who during these two long years and 22 sessions entertained me with tags on all the art of my poor guy 🖤

✨🦇 !! EDIT: if you're reading this now , I made a page with super condensed OC info with no campaign spoilers and links to longer posts such as this one, in case you want to read about the whole situation. 🦇✨

Major CoS spoilers below!

(The way DMs did Strahd is they made him a two phase fight, first lvl 20 battlemaster fighter in full plate + greatsword and later lvl 20 wizard)  

The party went into the crypts to find the tome and the Sunsword. They fight some zombies and two of the brides in Strahd’s crypt. They find the items in his coffin, Ireena reads everyone the whole tome (8 pages that the DM wrote) and gets a headache as her memories come flooding back, fighter picks up the Sunsword because Ireena can’t handle the emotions coming from it. They go over to Sergei's tomb where Ireena prays and they finally head to the chapel.

Meanwhile Kaspar has collected Rahadin's corpse from his office (sewn his head back on and put his guts back inside etc.) and brought him to the chapel. Strahd is there in gorgeous dazzling gothic full plate minus helmet. They have a funeral. During this Strahd is crying tears of blood and is so angry, furious, but mostly keeping it in. Facial muscles twitching. Short replies through gritted teeth. It's becoming clear to Kaspar that he has little chance of getting Strahd to care for him now that Rahadin is dead but he accepts that he deserves it. Just a few hours before his demeanor and talking to Kaspar was completely different and made him feel understood and comforted and safer than he felt anywhere in a while, and this was a total flip of mood.

Strahd wants the whole party, including Ireena, dead. Kaspar feels like shit because he did everything he could to please Strahd (murdered the party wizard earlier) but this wasn't enough (losing Rahadin tilted Strahd too much for him to be the sweet caring kind of manipulative that would 200% work on Kaspar), and Kaspar is terrified and also realizes he can't back out of this even if he wanted to, believing that Strahd is now the source of his cleric powers, and he needs Strahd in order to look for a vampirism cure.

The party, including Ireena and Ez, finally all arrive to the chapel through the main door and find Strahd and Kaspar standing over Rahadin's cold body on the altar. There's incense smoke everywhere and the two of them turn to the party at the same time.

The party tries one more time to try get Kaspar to ditch Strahd. The artificer gives him a syringe full of his blood that he prepared before for Kaspar to drink if he needs to feed. He makes a little slideshow projection of all the not completely horrible times they've had in Barovia together. Warlock and wizard are still convinced Strahd has done this to him and it’s not just Kaspar’s selfish choices that led him to this point.

But Kaspar doesn't trust them not to kill him and he's deluded enough to think Strahd actually values him a little, or at least more than the party does, and that he would let him look for a cure if he pleased him tonight. Ireena and Strahd are having a staring contest inches away from each other.

Every door slams shut, all of the stained glass windows shatter inwards, glass shards rain down around us, mist begins to seep inside replacing the incense smoke Kaspar was burning for the funeral, and we roll initiative.

During the first or second turn Kaspar when called a traitor and questioned why he did this says he "is doing this for love." And Ireena is furious "You think Strahd loves you??" and Kaspar says "I'm not talking about him!" and the whole party is like ????? then who??? (he meant Kelemvor ofc)

Ludmila shows up to try and redeem herself after she failed to protect the heart. Kaspar actually gets teleported outside because the artificer thought the windows overlooked an abyss and not a courtyard but it's actually convenient for Kaspar to be out of everyone’s melee reach.

The fighter crit fails on a swing and the Sunsword flickers out completely as Strahd parries the sunlight with his pure black blade. He can't get it to turn back on even on his next turn (DM treated the Sunsword's sunlight blade as a dragon’s breath recharge when it goes out).

Strahd then charms the warlock who spends two turns doing nothing, except unsuccessfully casting Banishment on Kaspar to temporarily put him somewhere safe. Kaspar, even though he still intends to kill everyone, feels some sorrow for the warlock because he has just minutes ago felt the the first inkling if pure cold dread of being in Strahd's clutches against one's will.

Kaspar commands the fighter to toss him the Sunsword hilt while standing on the edge of one of the shattered windows, instead of catchin it he moves his hand and thr sword lands way outside in the courtyard. Soon after this, Strahd isn't happy with what the artificer is casting and completely slaughters him in one turn. Ludmila scurries up to drink blood and it costs the guy a death save. Strahd finishes him off. Artificer is dead.

Ireena, in full plate, does a cool running jump and gets up to the window to demand from Kaspar the diamonds he was given by Ez before as the remains of the shattered stained glass cut into the one hand she’s using to hang from the window. He left them in Strahd's study and tells her as much. No one is casting any revivifies this time. Fighter also shows up to retrieve the Sunsword.

Now the fighter and Ireena are both armed and close to Kaspar basically deciding which one of them wants to obliterate the traitor.

(at this point a symphonic metal cover of Hopes and Dreams is playing)

Eventually Strahd runs out of superiority dice and rips all the armor off as Bucephalus appears and Strahd goes into caster mode. Across the room in the window, a flying Mordenkainen finally shows up and looks down at Kaspar all disappointed like "Really lad?" (Scottish accent, very important)

Ludmila is vaporized by Ez. Then Ez goes down. Artificer has been fully dead for over a minute.

Right now Kaspar is back inside the chapel and the wizard is actually trying to talk to him instead of swinging weapons and spells like everyone else because of the earlier exchange about love that left everyone puzzled. But especially her because she’s all about love 💗 He tells her he is selfish and not ready to die because he wants to keep loving Kelemvor even if he isn’t loved back. Tries to convince the wizard that she, being a clever wizard and great alchemist, could help him find a cure for everyone with this curse. If faith and magic aren't enough, then science and medicine might be the answer. But he has to survive this for that to be possible. With 9 CHA he is not very persuasive, mostly pathetic and pitiful.

Ireena is fully yelling at Kaspar now that “there IS NO CURE for vampirism except death and that it's the best they can do to free him from Strahd and from being this thing he’s become” and he's like "NO, I CAN DO IT OR I'LL DIE TRYING, just because van Richten couldn't find one doesn't mean it's impossible, get away from me, I have no choice anymore" etc.

And of course everyone in the vicinity is like BUT YOU DO HAVE A CHOICE!!!

And he's explaining to them he refuses to die before he can find a cure and die outside of Barovia where his soul can go to Kelemvor’s plane and he doesn't trust them not to kill him, because unlike Strahd none of them could understand what he is (deranged blood drinking human meat eating monster) and they've looked at him as a feral monster since the moment he got turned even though he never asked for it.

Ireena says "Do you think that he (Kelemvor) would love you now?"

And by now Kaspar is baring his fangs, eyes glinting red in despair, "No, but I still want to stand before him so he can tell me that himself," through gritted teeth.

Anyways Strahd almost Finger of Deaths Mordenkainen. Level 7, 8, 9 spells are flying.

Ireena, the wizard and the warlock are now surrounding Kaspar, Ireena's hand firm on his shoulder, weapon ready in her other hand, trying to convince him to help them and to snap out of it, that he can have Strahd's whole library and everything else he needs to look for a cure, but to please help them. Freaking Ghost Love Score starts playing as he stands there speechless for a while and they're all just exchanging desperate looks while the music plays. And he just disengages out of Ireena’s grip, and backs off against the nearest wall to spend his turn sobbing and nothing else.

The wizard and Ireena actually did really good irl persuasion here, I was SO conflicted as was Kaspar I thought I was about to start crying fr bc Kaspar was so scared and torn like I don't want to be in this prison but I don't want to leave either I don't know what to do I'm just an awful human being and a traitor either way. Had Strahd not been so cold and threatening earlier this would not have worked. But seeing as his anger made Kaspar feel nothing but rejected and useless despite his best, cruelest, unforgivable efforts, he considers the people he spent the last few weeks with, and all they did together. And what Kelemvor would want him to do even if he is undead now.

NEXT ROUND Kaspar, scared as shit that it might kill him instead, shuffles a few steps and feeling like throwing up casts flame strike on Strahd to get that radiant damage in. The pillar of holy fire descends on Strahd, scorching him along with the wizard’s wall of fire.

Ireena, now with the Sunsword, and Ez who got healed in the meantime, both run up to Strahd, and both whiff horribly. The sword completely flickers out AGAIN. Strahd is looking a little worse for wear but still disarms Ez.

Mordenkainen is nearly dead as a shadow keeps draining his strength (he was down to 3 STR). The fighter just can't make his CON save to end Strahd’s Power Word Pain 4 rounds in a row. Strahd gets caught by Bigby’s Hand, but breaks out soon after, casts Maddening Darkness which fills the whole chapel. Nobody can see anything and we're all taking tons of damage, and Strahd vanishes without a trace.

When Strahd finally appears again, only Mordenkainen can see him (with Truesight). He appears directly behind Kaspar. Leans in and whispers "You were always a traitor," grapples him and drags him back a few feet like a meat shield. Pretty much nothing happens until Strahd's next turn bc everyone is stumbling around the dark and chugging potions casting magic missile into the darkness because even the Sunsword is struggling to make more than a few feet of visibility. Strahd again leans down to Kaspar’s ear and whispers "Why am I letting you cast all those spells?" (insight check 21, why indeed??) and he casts silence around Kaspar’s head.

Kaspar's turn now. Crying. The deafening silence feels horrible. He's freaking out bc he knows Strahd could just rip him in half, and he can't cast anything. So he does the only thing he can do well, apparently. Twists around and bites into Strahd's neck, hard.

(Fear Not This Night playing as the following is happening)

The darkness and mad cackles filling the room begin to quiet and dissipate. Finally, everyone can see Strahd, Kaspar's fangs in his neck, as they’re both in a grapple, wisps of mist pouring in from the windows above them.

Strahd, with the hint of a grin in his voice whispers "Even without me, you won't ever be able to resist biting…", then slowly fades into mist and vanishes. Complete silence. Kaspar slides onto the floor w Strahd's blood dripping from his mouth. The fighter FINALLY snaps out of the pain. Everyone, except Strahd and the artificer, is alive even if just barely.

Ireena is actually the first person to go up to Kaspar and pick him up. She offers a formal handshake which he hesitantly accepts, and then just pulls him into a tight hug (both Kaspar and me irl trying to not start bawling).

We all hug and cry it out (also irl) and we march to Strahd's study to get the diamonds we need for Raise Dead. In Strahd's study we also find the holy symbol of Kelemvor that Strahd made Kaspar hand over earlier. Ashamed to look at it or hold it, Kaspar shoves it in a pocket, but not before reviving our sweet tortle artificer (muttering really quietly ”My Lord, Great Guide... I pray you guide this soul back to us, as it was not yet his time. I love you. I am so sorry.”).

We all go down, Kaspar hanging back, looking at the floor in shame, and find Rictavio / van Richten (???? bruh??) just about to stake Strahd. He and Ez hug it out. Everyone’s hand on the stake, we finish Strahd together.

Kaspar’s epilogue:

Kaspar doesn’t feel like he can go back. And he likes Barovia without the mist. He wants to help those who haven’t left the land and sets up in the abbey in Krezk, with Vasilka and Pidlwick II. He offers medicinal and healing services free of charge while also researching a cure and such with Ez and van Richten who also stay in Barovia. Van Richten takes a while to get used to the huge fangs on Kaspar especially when the guy can’t hold back and be a fanboy (he read all of Rudolph’s books of course). Occasionally he gets letters from the others who all left separate ways soon after Strahd's death.

He definitely does surgical experiments on himself since he has the benefit of regeneration. Convinces himself it's for research and not a horrible, elaborate form of self harm for his crippling guilt. Healing and all other cleric spells cause him discomfort and best and severe pain at worst, as does spending time at the abbey. Casts Commune often just to have some contact w Kelemvor (if it even is him responding...). Mental health in shambles but he's surviving. I wouldn’t call him redeemed, or a good person, but he’s trying to do some good because what other choice does he have?

He also travels to Ravenloft to cast Gentle Repose on Rahadin's remains, as he promised (to Strahd) he would. At some point he starts talking to the corpse and looking forward to these "meetings" just because he starts going bonkers from the isolation and fruitless cure research.

Secret Extra Saucy Actual Ending which the DMs last second decided to not tell everyone because our epilogues were so wholesome it might have soured the mood if we were all present, but I assume it to be canon because of course it is and my lord the sweet, sweet grimdarkness of it:

Barovia. About two decades later. It’s a cold, foggy night. The mist is thick. Familiar, you could say. Kaspar is at the abbey, maybe cleaning up in the surgery room, or praying, when he hears a door creak. Hears footsteps, approaching. And finally hears a familiar voice behind him.

"Did you really think you could kill your deity?"

Kaspar proceeds to have a miserable, painful remainder of his long, long unlife fit for someone who betrays Strahd after swearing loyalty. Maybe eventually a new group of adventurers finds their way into Ravenloft and finds him either an obedient, mindbroken servant, or a feral creature begging for death. But at least Ireena and the rest of the victorious party will never hear of the fate that eventually caught up with him.

extra: final battle playlist

extra extra: kaspar's corruption arc playlist

#curse of strahd #dnd #strahd von zarovich #ocs #kaspar #strahd squad #cos

[panzershrike-pretz]

SIRIUS SERPENS

Source: x x x | x x x | x x x -> song: Rule #9 - Child of the Stars

You were a wanderer Back when you were young I remember your eyes were clear Brighter than the sun With hands so soft Delicate and sweet You learned to fall And balance on your own two feet I could only lead you so far I believe in who you are Take the world by storm Muster all your strength Embrace the forces that surround you Bend gravity and space You are a child of the stars Shout what has been unsung Open all the doors around you Use the power in your lungs

- About;

- Sirius Serpens

It's probably easy to giess that his name comes, indeed, from Sorius Black, the Harry Potter character. When my Sirius came to be, I was indeed very into HP, but as time passed and I grew, I decided to take on a new perspective on his name. Sirius is the name of the brightest star that can be seen from Earth (well, at least if Google isn't lying to me xD), and I feel like that reflects his personality. Sirius is one of my brightest characters, based on his demeanor and actions, so the name fits; that and the fact that the Sirius star is located on the Canis Major constellation - and my boy is the God of Dogs, which is a factor that also came from Harry Potyer but I made enough adjustments to fit what I needed him to fit.

As stated in Hydra's post, the Serpens surname comes from the Constellation and, in Fantasia, it's an old name full of history.

- Navigator

In a pirate ship, the role of navigator was/is extremelly important; those guys are able to determine the ship's location using the stars and it felt fitting to have Sirius, the God of Stars, as Blithe's Navigator.

He initially joined the crew only as a cabin boy, but Athena quickly got a hold of his capacities and changed his rank completely.

Being a Navigator makes Sirius one of the most important members of the crew; without someone capable of maping out where the ship is or needs to go, a pirate crew is well and truly fucked. Especially when hunting.

- God of the Night, of Stars, of Secrets and of Dogs

Sirius is not the best God, but he sure is one of the most famous ones. He's considered a symbol of resistance and protector of those that don't fit the norm - same as he never exactly did. His fame and connection to dogs, as well as role in the Pantheon of Fantasia made him a famous character in many stories and rituals, passed around between families at night.

Even tho he is pretty loved by the mortals, he ended up with the short end of the stick in terms of powers, which gave him the edge to actually learn hand-in-hand combat - which makes him one of the best fighters between the Gods, given his agility and ability.

Sirius is capable of turning into a white borzoi at will, being able to speak to other dogs when in that form. When normal, he can catch on to some thoughs but not much context (he looks at Peggy and cries internally tbh).

Besides that, he can do some minor teleports, tho never too far or it'll end up draining too much energy and causing pain/disconfort. Same as a very dmall telekinesis but it's too much of a fuss and always leaves some headache behind, so he prefers not to even try.

- Personality

Sirius is a loud man, almost too full of himself - tho he tries his best not to sound too narcisistic, he still has his slips. He makes friendships easily and, being the God of Secrets, has a way of getting people to spill the beans whenever needed (which adds up to him having lots of contacts of people who owe him favors).

His energetic maners make him one of the biggest sources of life to Blithe; he can't stay still for much long and definetely can't shut up most of the time - he's able to bring happiness to his friends just by being who he is.

That doesn't come without a cost, tho, and Sirius has many troubles with trying to be open about his bad feelings. He spent too long being forced to "suck it up" and, even now, still has dificulties about them. Even with the help and support of his friends and family, he still finds it hard to be completely open and it's a flaw that he hates about himself.

Sirius doesn't do well with orders and hates to follow rules, so he is indeed a useless bitch when it comes to duties and responsibilities placed on him by his higher ups. His problem is: he knows that he can't be replaced, so he lets himself have it pretty easy in comparision to others. He doesn't fsar the consequences and pretty much never thinks ahead, so what happens, happens.

- Funfact: dogs are considered sacred creatures in Fantasia's general culture. It's believed that when dogs bark and howl at night, it's to tell secrets to the stars so they can be safely guarded by the God. This is definetely not me being a dog person. Nah. Never. 🤡 don't worry there is a cat Goddess too

- Relationship: Michael and Jeremy

Have the long boy! I love him so much 😭😭 def one of my favorite babies (do not tell the others or I'll be publicly executed)

#pretz oc #🥨🪶

[hattrickprincess]

thoughts on neykyl?

the short answer is that i love her.

the long answer is veeery sappy probably, but let's do it. she's someone i value and appreciate so, so much, and i might be a little writer but i can't find the words to thank her enough for what she's doing. the funny thing is, before i had this tumblr acc i had another one where i posted nothing at all, but i followed her and i thought she was sooo cool and smart and eloquent and everything (i still think that now) but i was a little (read: very) intimidated by her because she's opinionated and very fierce and protective and i truly admire that. and when i saw her reply to one of the asks where she said she reads my stories, my heart stopped. because she's someone i have a lot of respect for, and the way she talks about kylian on here played a huge part in the way i initially wrote him (and still does now but he's more of my own character now compared to the beginning) and i was kinda scared she wouldn't like it so i kept thinking about that for a few days before i was like 'oh fuck it it's still my story' but i loooove validation so in a way it did matter to me. and then at some point i decided to tell her that she kind of inspired my kylian (and i fucked that up but oh nevermind (still sorry about that!!) it worked out in the end) and when i read her response i died. in a good way, because it was so positive and sweet and like everything you as a writer dream of.

well, i made this account, and she was the first person to say hi to me on here, and then came to my dms with the most amazing ideas ever, and it's been like this ever since. i say it a lot but i truly believe that without her most of my recent stories wouldn't work. because she gives me ideas but she also lets me brainstorm my own ideas and spins them off a little and it's like constantly pushing each other towards more ideas which more or less all end up in the fics. i absolutely love it. makes my days a million times better.

someone called her my knight after the anon fiasco, and well, it's kind of true. i don't think i would've managed this without her, because i'm good at bitching back at people but they did hit where it hurts worst so letting me deal with this on my own would've ended in a disaster. so, seriously, i can't find enough words to express how grateful i am for her.

i should probably stop this here because you asked for my thoughts and not a whole ass essay, but you can't get the writer out of me if you tried and i'm really good at showering people in my appreciation, so i'm cutting this short here.

long story short, she's amazing. she's the queen. someone should wife her tf up like right now because damn. they're missing out

#neykyl #i'm such a sap i'm sorry

[i-am-megalodonna]

So for the collector’s curse AU, how does he feel during hollow mind? Or maybe during the Titan trapper thing? Or even during the time they visited the island king was on? :0 like how does he deal with those events? Especially because he might see imagery of himself everywhere ?

I can't talk about the island yet because at the moment we don't know that there's really any connection with the Collector, and I will talk about the Titan Trappers in the future when I organize my thoughts, but I can talk about Hollow Mind right now. I have a whole page prepared, in fact. I was going to make a post about it soon, but I might as well dump it all here! So here you go, here are all my Hollow Mind thoughts (as of right now, anyway).

The events of Hollow Mind happen pretty much the same, with some things to be determined (could the Collector be seen in the mindscape for whatever reason, how do they respond, stuff like that), but what happens for certain is that in addition to seeing the Collector flashback they see in canon, Luz also sees a memory that involves the Collector telling Belos how to do the draining spell. Everything goes downhill from there (as if it wasn't already lol).

Luz already knew that the Collector and Belos were friends, and while it’s definitely hard to see them acting so cruel, none of that was really a revelation to her. What was a revelation was the fact that they weren't just complicit in Belos’ plan, they're the entire reason it exists.

If you saw that one comic I posted a little earlier, that was a concept for an interaction that would lead up to that revelation. I haven't quite decided whether that interaction happens, marking a clear checkpoint of character development for the Collector, or if he pulls an Amity and tries to avoid such memories for the sake of saving face. Which is also a sign of character development, but like, in a sad way (hes changed enough to be ashamed of his past self and doesn't want someone he cares about to see it).

And then there’s the stuff that happens after they get out and Hunter runs off, which sucks just as much.

First of all, neither of them want to talk about what they saw.  I played around with one of them trying to talk while the other gives them the silent treatment (either by means of elixirs or literal ghosting), but Luz basically goes into shock after the events of the episode and the Collector really doesn’t strike me as one who would initiate difficult conversations.  And having someone you like see you at your absolute worst in 1080p?  That’s pretty difficult.

Especially when your worst amounts to instructing a man on the ins and outs of mass murder.  Even if they’d matured in the thousands of years they’ve been alive, it wouldn’t make that any easier.

Luz ends up initiating the dialogue before she talks to the others.  She doesn’t want to, but she can avoid the others.  She can’t avoid him.  She knows he’s just sitting there, watching her so she rips the bandaid off while they still have some space to talk alone.

There isn’t really that much to say on her end except to recite what she learned.  The Collector wasn’t just involved with Belos; they caused all of this.  They’re the reason all of this is happening.  They’re the reason everyone’s life is now at risk.

She asks them why they’re even doing all this.  Do they really care about saving anyone, about undoing all of the damage they’ve done?  Or is all of this just to settle a score?  Forgive her for finding it a bit hard to believe that someone could go from yes genocide to no genocide in such a relatively short amount of time.  Especially when the Day of Unity could give them their own body back, something that she knows they want.

It mostly hurts because she thought they were friends.  The possibility that he may have purely been using her to get back at Belos kind of stings.

The Collector doesn’t really know how to respond to any of that, at least not coherently.  Because most of it is true.  Obviously what they saw was the truth, and the idea that he was using her to get back at Belos isn’t that far off.  There’s nothing he can say that could possibly make any of it better, and it doesn’t help that he barely understands his own rapidly changing feelings.  For being an agent of utter chaos, he’s been his own constant for much of his existence.  But through the verbal equivalent of clumsily stumbling down a flight of stairs, he manages to get out that when he was working with Belos, he thought that they were going to do the whole thing together, and that after the ordeal they would remain that way for however long they had left.  He wasn’t really one to think beyond the immediate moment.  He really did think of Belos as a friend, as much as something like him could, and it was a cold slap to the face when it all fell apart.

If they turned their back on Luz at the last second and went through with the draining spell somehow, they would get their body back, which would be cool, but then what?  Despite themself, they’ve grown very… involved with the life of the Isles.  Enough so that the idea of destroying it all has become far less appealing.  And they’ve become irrevocably attached to Luz.  If they did all of that she would be pretty upset, and that’s enough for them to care a little.

I don’t want to woobify him too much lmao.  Point is, seeing everything go to hell in a handbasket would be fun in the moment, but it wouldn’t last.  And without a partner in crime to share the chaos with, it would ultimately feel empty.

He tries hugging her for the first time.  It’s kind of hard when you’re basically a ghost, but the sentiment is there.

She’s still not happy with what she’s learned and his explanation doesn’t fix things right up, but there’s nothing more that can be said.  The only option both of them have is to pick up the pieces and try to move on as best they can. If they want to fix this, they're going to do it together - it’s not like they have much say in the matter.

And then Edge of the World happens and whoopsie daisy there’s another rough conversation.

#collector's curse au #toh #the owl house #the collector #luz noceda #megalodonanswers

[decamarks]

ok so i'm going through stuff and starting to get a better grasp on some of the things that i missed in Petscop. i'm curious, what's your take on Belle/Tiara? i don't remember if you talked about them in that big essay you posted in feburary because essays like that kind of turn to mush in my brain.

OH BOY belle... yeah i didn't talk about her much (or at all?) in that essay, since it was more broadly about petscop as a series than any individual characters. i might someday write something exploring specific story elements/characters because good god there's a LOT to talk about there, and hopefully i'd be able to write it in a way that isn't as much indefinite word mush to the mind </3 BUT for now i can offer you a short summation of my thoughts.

like all the other characters in petscop, it's honestly kinda hard for me to pin down a singular 'take' on belle, especially considering how the series framing seems intent on kinda... keeping her locked up, so to speak. she's confined to the quitter's room, which directly reflects amber's room as they both bear the same symbol—she's behind some perceptual bars, and you have to blur your eyes to see between them. belle isn't often allowed the spotlight: she talks to paul on the phone, but we can't hear what she says; she has 153,822 hours in the game, practically none of which we get to see... it's important to remember that belle isn't part of the 'family', and the petscop footage we see is being curated by that exact family. what we see certainly isn't the full story.

name/identity alteration being as central to the story as it is, it's probably important to clarify why i'm only referring to 'belle' and not 'tiara'. basically, tiara is not a fully formed identity—she's merely an entity that belle attempted to be reborn into when she was a child, out of external pressure from the family. belle was adopted but unaccepted as herself, so the 'tiara' identity was born out of a need to assimilate, desiring acceptance. rainer is the person who initially attempted to aid in this process, probably the one who suggested it to her due his familiarity with rebirth, but that obviously didn't turn out well. hence the infamous FUCK-FUCK-FUCK save file.

upon realizing how over his head he was, rainer tried to reverse the damage, though his control over the situation was a lot more limited than he wanted it to be. there wasn't anything he could do to make the family accept her, and there wasn't anything he could do to 'fix' her. he definitely seemed frustrated by it—with belle, with himself, with everything else happening around him, really—hence how everything he says in petscop 12 is written with a strange, almost singsong sort of derision towards belle, and, though less directly, himself. this is basically rainer at his lowest, right before his suicide, with many allusions to his forthcoming death written in the same mocking tone.

after rainer's death, belle was left in a sort of liminal state of existence—transitory purgatory. she failed to become tiara because she couldn't finish the process; half-formed, unable to emerge from her 'egg', she sort of became... softlocked. she was clearly still attached to attaining this identity in some way, hence her absurd time spent running petscop starting around 2000, after rainer's death. the game is the last remnant of tiara, and of rainer, so she keeps it close to keep both alive.

while paul and rainer's transformations are sorta linear (care -> paul / daniel -> rainer), belle's process is more like belle -> tiara -> belle. her pressure to assimilate definitely parallels care's story, in which care rejects the identity forced on her (with marvin believing/wanting her to be the reincarnation of lina) and instead becomes paul. but unlike paul, belle never becomes someone else; in the end, she's still belle. comparatively, it almost looks like stagnation—or worse, regression. on further inspection, however, that is anything but the case. as a child, belle sought to become tiara only out of a need to be accepted by her (frankly awful) family. though as we see her in the present, as an adult, she seems quite distant from this identity. paul definitely doesn't refer to belle as tiara; if my memory isn't failing me, i believe paul initially doesn't even make a connection between tiara and belle? if he's unfamiliar with the name, it serves to show that 'tiara' as a concept is very much trapped within the world of the game, stuck in 1996, no longer truly representative of the present in which paul plays the game. belle seems much happier to be part of the 'family' that paul proposes at the end of the soundtrack video, where she's his sister simply because paul loves her no matter who she is—same with the contents of the 'new life letter' written by lina. it's that unconditional acceptance that allows her to be belle, and not tiara. so her process was more like belle -> tiara -> BELLE.

honestly though i don't think i could summarize belle's situation nearly as well as this really good analysis of her. it examines her as a character and her circumstances pretty much exactly how i see it, so i highly recommend reading that if you want to get a better understanding of her.

that being said, if you want MY personal opinion on belle... i simply think she's the best. the fact that paul calls her a puzzle genius and her extensive knowledge of petscop's abstruse features like the phonetic writing system just delights me. i think she'd be insane at tetris. also i think her sprites with the eyes are completely hilarious and the entire scene of her aggressively signaling paul to look right is just like, the best scene in the entire series actually. in conclusion: petscop kid VERY epic.

^ look at her. looking.

#i'm honestly due for another rewatch or something... a few details are definitely slipping my mind here D=< #regardless i'm pretty sure this is all accurate albeit kinda surface level. didn't want to get TOO deep into all the details #mostly for the sake of not exhausting myself LOL. either way i hope this is at least a little elucidating!

[avitus-ostrander]

A question about your fic (or two): a) What about the state of Knives' hair color in the au? b) I wonder what Vash doing the entire time, it feels like he would have tried to track Knives fown but- I suppose it's a spoiler, right? c) I cannot wait for Legato to have the revelation that Knives' brand of issues is actually bit more specific than what he has in mind which is not a question but still should be included.

Hello and thank you for your question! a) The hair question will be somewhat answered in chapter 3 (which I believe I should be able to post later today or tomorrow) b) This is a spoiler, so I can't give many details, but there is a reason and it will be revealed in chapter 4! c) This realization will come eventually! Thank you for your interest! I really appreciate it! I've never gotten an ask about something like this before!

Hello! Good to hear! The hair color question came up because of how Reily seemed to be split between 'horribly exploitative and abusive and pretty explicit about his intent to drain fully Knives one day' and 'kinda appreciating Knives' appearance insomuch as he mentioned hair color not darkening specifically'

That makes sense! I can definitely see why you’d be curious about where that leaves Knives. I admit that I was a bit torn on how to handle this myself, because of the reasons you’ve mentioned.

Hopefully your questions will all be answered in a satisfactory manner in the not-too-distant future! Sorry that I can’t do more at this time!

Will we have Legato pov in the fic?

There will be at least two scenes from his POV. Maybe more, depending on a few things.

I had initially planned to alternate POV every chapter, but it didn’t quite end up working out that way.

It is interesting how au Legato seems to grow progressively more distressed over struggling to help Knives, to figure out helping Knives in spite of clearly having experience on what someone in similar situation would need (i mean, it was pretty good in that regard, a contrast between Legato being 'competent' in such situation and how some things still were not exactly something he knew how to deal with without actually diminishing on the first front) - he clearly seems to see himself, at least to a degree in Knives, but also I suppose Knives is more… well… he seems to have things to live for? Even if right now his spirit is a thing that was trampled over again and again. But back to Legato. I especially liked the moment where it must have looked as if Knives was starving himself - not on purpose - but still.

Yes. He has an idea of what he thinks he should do, but it’s difficult to figure out exactly how to handle someone like Knives, especially since he doesn’t have all the information he needs.

I can’t comment too much on some of this, since it could potentially get into spoiler territory, but I appreciate the extra comments!

Took me a while to get to this because I was finishing up editing chapter 3, which is up now. Thank you again for your comments and interest!

Having read the new chapter, I find it almost precious how Knives is afraid of Legato's powers not because of Legato but because humans terrify him due to shitton of trauma. Their interactions in general are awkward but oddly compelling Another thing is, the moment it starts dawning on Legato what exactly is wrong with the collar- and once he learns that it actually does serve to 'control' Knives! I really would have liked to know what exactly went through his head at this moment. And he doesn't yet know about the draining! Finally, uh. Knives' thought processes regarding Rem in all chapters. The fact the betrayal, the implication of guilt, he misses her, he cannot forgive, he is so so not okay about his mother figure.

Thank you! Hopefully you liked the new chapter. I need to take a short sanity break, but then I will get to work on the next one.

I really wish it was easier to give both characters’ thoughts during a scene. There are definitely some things going on in Legato’s head there. Maybe at some point I can compile a series of alternate POV scenes or something. I’ll see how that goes. Legato is harder for me to write at this point in the story, because his behaviors are pushing the narrative along in a lot more subtle ways compared to Knives.

Knives is definitely not okay about Rem. In so many ways.

Sorry to keep you waiting on a response - I had to get some sleep!

Hope it is not spam, pretty funny how Legato seems to... gradually accept (resign to the fact) that Knives just doesn't eat much at all. Probably still internally suffering but at least he doesn't seem to have anything like that reaction in the tank room any longer.

No worries - I’m very flattered!

Legato definitely realizes something is up and he doesn’t love it, but he’s doing his best not to push Knives too much and make him pull away.

Wait during the collar scene Legato remembers how the collar flared up when he brought Knives to the plants for the first time doesn't he

The way it acted up didn’t sound the same to Legato as it did to Knives, because it was specifically trying to interfere with Knives’ ability to communicate. I may make that a little more clear in a future chapter when they learn more about how it works.

This was vaguely alluded to in chapter 1, but their plant died from overuse, so they needed a new one. They don’t necessarily have a plant engineer living there because they need one. Reilly lives there to avoid drawing attention to himself and travels for work as needed.

What Legato knew or didn’t know about this will be brought up later though!

I mean, of course the old plant has died but it is implied that Knives was stuck there for a while, right? He was still used for plant purposes, despite the tank being generally left empty. If Legato wiped everyone out, it is not impossible to assume he considered finding the local plant and then just assumed she died some time before (i am not the most observant person tbh)

No worries! You are correct. Knives was their primary power source during the time he was there.

You will get to learn more about what Legato thought about the local plant (or lack of one) later on.

Do you think it would have been harder for au Knives to trust Legato if Legato discovered Knives' planthood from the get-go? (idk how, maybe when Legato came to do mass-murder, he found Kni stuck in the Plant Exploitation Jar). (though idk the sight of the five plants doing okay in their collective jar would have still likely helped a lot)

I think it might have been, since part of his fear of humans stems from what happened with Tesla. Even if he felt pretty certain that Legato respected plants in general, he might worry that being an independent plant would change things.

I think he might have worried that Legato could see him as a threat or just for some reason thought less of him. Considering that there are people (in Trigun Stampede at least) who had no problem with regular plants but found the independent plants repulsive.

#ins answers / asks

[maureen-corpse]

So, I'm going to confess to having tried looking at YouTube shorts several times recently. It gives me what I assume to be something like the Tiktok experience without the ordeal of having to actually be on Tiktok. Here's what I have observed so far:

So few people have any comedic timing. These videos are like forty-five seconds long and I wait for all of that time for the joke and it's not funny. When Vine died society lost.

The loops don't work most of the time. I assume people are making perfect loops on Tiktok or something and then uploading the same video to YouTube and it's just not working. Looping isn't important. Stop trying it.

I don't feel the urge to subscribe to any of these people. If I do see a video that seems like the person might make content I might want to see more of, YouTube makes it way more difficult than it should be for me to simply go to that person's channel and find their content. I'm not going to follow someone based on one or two shorts, and I'm also not writing down names. Since I go to YouTube to watch videos by the people I subscribe to, if I followed a dedicated Shorts creator I would end up adding a bunch of Shorts to my watch later list and then...watching them later, which is a little nuts. I already do that with the Shorts from the channels I already watch, though I sometimes move all the Shorts in my WL list around so I watch several at once.

Another issue, though, is that Shorts, being up to a minute long, can be a time investment, even if they are short! The titles don't always tell you much (like "Should I even bother to watch this?") and you'd think it's easier to just watch this thirty-second video and move on, but...well, if you have five of those in your subscriptions, that's two and a half minutes, which is the length of a video I would have simply saved for later.

I feel like I have some criticism for short-form educational videos but also I feel like I haven't seen enough of them. I think usually they start off in a very annoying way that doesn't grab me so I scroll past them, and even then, I've only seen a few, aside from the ones associated with the educational channels I already follow, which I'm more inclined to watch because the hosts have built up some trust with me.

What is up with the transphobia? I don't interact with transphobic content. My initial theory was that some of channels I subscribe to for things like woodworking are also viewed by people who love Traditional Gender Roles and Power Tools and Masculinity or whatever (I just think it's fun to watch people make stuff but everyone is different! Some people suck!) but a little searching has shown that other people have found an unusual amount of transphobia shown to them by the YouTube Shorts algorithm, and it sounds like even more than I've seen. I tell it not to recommend these channels to me, but I wish there was something more forceful that would make me believe I was actually going to be avoiding this channel. A dislike is still engagement, so you can't put one of those on a bad video. And dislikes are no longer visible, anyway.

Actually, the UI on Shorts is annoying. What do those icons mean. What is the name of the video. Who is this. I remember rotary phones (there's a rotary phone in my house (it's not plugged in though)) and I am entitled to financial compensation for this I think.

People who don't know what "POV" means are on YouTube now.

It's so easy to scroll. If you see a video that doesn't grab you, it's so easy to keep on moving. Try the next one, then the next one, then the next one. And at the same time, most of the content is unappealing!

People who post two-parters are my enemy. I'm not going to subscribe to your channel just to see the result of your experiment or to see you cut the soap you made. Even if I did, how am I supposed to find part two? The short I'm viewing could be from last week and you might have posted part two at any point between then and now among all your other stupid little videos. Do you Tiktok people really live like this? Hoping you see part twos on your for you page? Or something? Does YouTube have a subscription page specifically for shorts so you can see part five of someone's boring story about what if your soulmate's name started appearing on your chin one letter at a time for every time you robbed a bank?

#long post #youtube shorts #sorry guys i just wanted to complain

[samueljkim]

Penumbra

The short album seems to be the platform of choice as of late. This collection of songs is admittedly not familiar territory for me. In some ways it feels really different, but in other ways it sounds like me more than ever. I think that's the balance I'm trying to work at: diverging far out and exploring new worlds, but also converging deeper into an identity as an artist.

This project all started with a song that was birthed by reading an Instagram post by a friend about trying to find a place where we can accept both the shadow and light sides of ourselves. The idea of knowing both your light and your shadow was so compelling I felt I needed to make a song out of it right away. The opening song was made almost in a day (but of course, a whole lot of editing came later). It sparked a lot of ideas of trying to listen to the world around us. Rather than choosing a side, where we can we sit where we experience some of the light and some of the shadow: the penumbra. I think the world I'm living in right now has a lot of extremes up against each other. Tension, dissatisfaction, confusion, and maybe catharsis even. It's all there living together.

I had been sitting on these songs for over a year. I thought I was going to get it out much sooner but I just kept holding on to them. It got to the point that I felt that I needed to release it soon or it would no longer be relevant to who I was. I actually have perhaps two more EPs in the pipeline and I couldn't work on the other ones until these had gone out into the world. I realize not many people would listen to this and some may overlook this EP because it doesn't quite fit with previous releases, but I knew that it still had something to say. I wanted the vocals to be choppy and robotic but fused with something somewhat soulful. I wanted it to be heartfelt but also cold and distant. I wanted it to feel like heavy machinery with a beat but also beating to an internal heart-like rhythm.

I learned some new things about production and mixing. I wanted to keep developing this new workflow where I get things out sooner and move on to new projects rather than obsessing over them for long periods and then lose that initial spark of energy. If it means that it's a bit rough around the edges and less polished, so be it. I've given up trying to serve perfectionist leanings because I don't think it's worth it in the end. I found new tricks and maybe learned some bad habits. I'm learning and evolving as I go.

"Your Light Your Shadow"

This song had this weird slow tempo funk to it. When that bassline comes in at the end, I knew I found something I liked. It's unusual but that weird sci-fi swagger was what I was looking for.

"Before or After"

A song about wrestling with the reality that we and the world around us seem to be in this repeating spiral. We want to be what we were before or dream of something after... it's hard to accept the present reality, but maybe once we do, we can actually learn to change right now. I loved Herbert's album, "Bodily Functions" and I wanted to capture some of that house flavor with some of my unique flavors on it.

"The Centre"

Note the Canadian spelling just to piss off this country I live in. The song didn't intend to sound like Phil Collins but here we are. I wanted it to be more like Drake and James Blake, but oh no, I get Phil. A lot of this song is about my observations of where are our fragmentations are taking us. I see splintering at every level of society and not sure where we go from here. The song offers no answers, just observations.

"Without You" (with Enereph)

I was working on a collaboration with Enerph, a great local artist in Seattle, and she showed a rough sketch she did for a song with a vocal and some noodling with an Arturia Polybrute. I recall her saying, "It would be cool if someone could rap on this".... and so I tried! haha. Honestly, I can't believe I did it. I just tried to record it as fast as possible before I became self-conscious. I had been listening to a lot of early Drum n' Bass with all of the lovely Amen breaks and wanted to bring that in to this as well. I couldn't have made this without Enereph. After finishing that song with her, I realized it really fit into the character of this EP and she graciously let me release it with the other songs. Check out her work. It's amazing.

"Crooked Lines"

I felt like I wanted something pulsing and more upbeat to balance the other downtempo songs. I wanted it to be a bit funky, a bit disco even. I wanted to capture some feeling of protest and dissatisfaction -- pushback for the ways that we keep making these unnecessary crooked lines of demarcation. I wanted soul but steeled by a song that had technology at the forefront. The robots of the machine are waking up and they want to stop taking the shit from idiots. Something like that.

"Dramatis Personae"

I'm guessing very few have read this far. This song was inspired by a fellow musician who was very naked about the pain they went through. It was sometimes painful to watch, or sometimes I would have to resist it like resisting watching a car crash on the side of the road. So much honesty, but in some ways, so much pretension and attention seeking. Isn't that all artists? People of drama. "Actors acting". We need those plays as part of humanity but in some ways, are they just mechanisms justifying our profound selfishness? I can't say. I can't fully explain why I wanted it to end with these expansive and cascading sounds at the end, but it just felt like the best way to end this EP. A washy glacier of sound taking us out into the darkness of unknown.

Streaming everywhere online.

Some more albums are on the way. I think there's one more electronic thing coming that's going to be pretty pop and finishes off the Kindness EP that almost nobody heard. I'm also thinking of making some kind of post-wave indie pop something or other with a lot of angular guitars. And then, I'll get around to this EP finally that was pretty dark and despairing... because those are always fun in their own way. On the other side of things, I want to keep developing my ability to do electronic music on hardware and software. So much sound and so little time. Thanks for your love if you ever sent it. If you didn't, I don't blame you.

#music #samuel joseph kim

[virtual-luvr]

Tease

Pairing: Hanako x Reader

Pronouns: he/him; male reader

Content: ur the same age as Kou, Nene, and Hanako(before he died so around 14), Hanako teasing, shy reader

Description: Hanako just cant stop teasing you, especially since you're so shy

Note: its short so im hoping i can post another fic today as well to make up for it- im sorry😓 ty for requesting @akira627 !!

------------------

"Darling!~"

The loud voice of Hanako ran through out the whole hallway as you sat near the end of it with Nene and Kou.

You became tense at the nickname, not dure if it was directed at you or at Nene or maybe even Kou.

If it was Kou though, Hanako would die a second time at the hands of him.

"..who is he calling darling?" you say with a bit of a blush.

"You of course!" His voice was loud, if you were in the courtyard you might have even heard it, he says this while peaking out from behind the wall, grabbing at your shoulder slightly before pulling you into a hug.

Effectively make your back hit the wall and almost making you lose your breath.

As you choke out he notices his actions and pulls away from you. He ohases through the wall and the rest of his body is finally shown, he kicks his feet off the wall and then falls in front of you and lays on top of you.

Head in your lap he looks up at you with a teasing stare, smirk etched on his face.

Kou and Nene dont react, already used to these types of actions once you joined the group.

Hanako excitedly grabs your face, pinching your blushing cheeks and laughing.

You grumble as he keeps on teasing you, comments being thrown at you once and once again.

You didnt know why but Hanako loved teasing you all he said that he saw how shy you got, it made him want to see that side of you more.

"Hanako, you know he doesnt like when you tease him, stop that" Nene tries to swat his hand away but Hanako gasps dramatically before clinging on to you even more.

Now he say beside you and hugging your waist, pouting as he looks at Nene and Kou.

"Kou can you believe this, Nene is trying to take him away from me!"

You only shove your head in to your hands as Hanako hugs you closer and argued with Kou and Nene.

At one point Kou tries to grab you and pull you over to his side but Hanako gasps even louder then the last time.

They both pull at your arms and you just sit there, why is this your life.

Nene tried comforting you but it was awfully painful, everything was too chaotic for any type comforting in that moment.

In the end Kou gave up and Hanako held onto you so tightly that at this point that you could barely breathe.

"He's mine!" Hanako yells out before grabbing your face and placing a, not so, soft kiss on your cheek.

And with that you basically pass out, he had never initiated anything like that, just light teasing whenever he could.

So it came as a shock for everyone, you couldnt take the teasing anymore and that kiss just took it too far.

"YOU CAN'T OWN A PERSON" Kou yells as you sat there, red faced and trying to form a sentence.

[580 words; mar/6/21]

#virtual luvr is typing #male reader #x reader #x male reader #anime x male reader #anime x reader #reader insert #jibaku shonen hanako kun x reader #toilet bound hanako kun imagines #toilet bound hanako kun oneshots #hanako kun x reader #hanako kun x male reader #hanako kun oneshot #hanako kun imagines

[just-like-playing-tag]

Personal highlights from the fifth chapter of the fanbook!!! You can read the entire chapter translation here :)

Thank you so much @/1000sunnygo for the translation!!!!!!

Forgive me for this got so long, but really there was pretty much nothing not interesting in this chapter ;;;;;;

The comparision between Shirai's draft and Demizu's finished piece pfftt- they make such a great team.

Shirai confirmed when meeting Norman again was the first time Emma cried since the first chapter: “Emma tried her best not to cry all along for the promise she made in chapter 1 ("I won't cry anymore") but ended up crying when she met Norman.” ;;;;;;

T/N: The last sentence wasn't present in the final version of the chapter: “I let you go away, it was me. To a place where you won't return from.”

This omitted sentence left me?? Shocked????????? I always thought it was Norman's choice to let himself be shipped, so I never put much thought into what it could have meant for Emma (beyond the feeling of betrayal). But to think that she kept blaming herself for his death is so heartbreaking... Besides, her never bringing it up again, refusing to look back at what's done and can't be changed but still keeping blaming herself for it is also very Emma pffft. This girl is too good for the world!!!!!!

The “1000 years ago” setting was inspired by the fact that about 1000 years ago people used to believe in demons; the existence of demon-like creatures makes a parallel between TPN's world and the real world. I find it nice, it's like Shirai is giving his own in-world explanation to way 1000 years ago demons disappeared from the human world.

This bit: “The reason why Norman admired Emma caused their ways to diverge at the same time”. It's at the same time sweet and tragic you know- the reasons why Norman admired Emma, like her determination in wanting to save all the children or her confidence for being able to change the world, ended up setting Norman down a path Emma herself would have never chosen 🥺🥺🥺

Shirai notes that Norman had a short lifespan and couldn't build the world Emma desired without killing the demons. Norman wanted to ensure a safe world for Emma and everyone. Shirai thinks Norman might have chosen a slightly different method if he wasn't running out of time.

I feel like we shouldn't overlook this??? I've seen so many people arguing that it was ooc for kind and good-hearted Norman to choose such a bloody way; however, Shirai himself said Norman would have probably gone for another way given more time. Norman prioritized ensuring a safe world for his family while he still could, and I think we should give him credit for at least that?

In the initial concept, Shirai wanted Norman to reappear as a different person and gave him a slightly different design. But Norman in Posuka's arts seemed to follow a natural growth of his younger self, so Shirai discarded the idea. The storyboards had some leftovers of the old design. [...] [Rephrased] traces of the old design are still visible, such as the longest bangs through chapters 119-124.

... Maybe this explains why Norman looks so different post time skip? (“Natural growth??????” lmao Shirai)

Shirai and Sugita praising Ray's growth, so true besties 🤧🤧🤧

Sugita notices how the trio ended up saving each other in rotation: Ray was saved by Norman and Emma in the first arc; Norman was saved by Ray and Emma in the Royal Capital arc; Emma was saved (more like, found again?) by Norman and Ray in the last arc. I love how it all came to full circle :')

Hayato, Jin, Cislo and Barbara were all modeled after Bartolomeo from One Piece to add comedic elements

(About chapter 124) “Shirai wished they [Barbara, Cislo and Vincent] could interact with Emma's side more.” MH-MH TELL ME ABOUT IT BRO

“Unlike most demons who wear dark-colored clothes, Geelan wore white”. I never noticed before, but I think it's s a very cool detail! Somehow foreshadows his past of a just and morally noble demon, different from the other black and corrupted regent houses and royalty.

Geelan's old (pre-decaying) design had yet to be set at the time of his first appearance. Shirai says that if Geelan's royal and elegant past appearance had been decided from the very beginning, he would have made Geelan's speaking in chapter 125 “a little cooler” pfffttt-

Shirai says it was particularly hard to write Emma and Norman's confrontation because Norman was correct. However, reading back Shirai says that “Emma didn't lose the argument at all and had her own way of being correct” which warms my heart :')

THIS WHOLE PARAGRAPH THAT LEGIT MADE ME CRY WHEN I FIRST READ IT:

Norman was capable of doing various things, so his weakness was his tendency to fight alone. In the old stories, boys carried certain responsibilities on their backs. Saying something soft was considered as a weakness. From all TPN characters, Shirai thinks Norman's mindset was the closest to such beliefs - “mustn't be uncool in front of a girl”, “never whine or complain”, and “must be strong”. To save Norman was to save him from these self-imposed principles. Even before starting TPN serialization, Shirai decided to make him say “help me” as a part of his growth.

It's so true that TPN is a Shonen manga like no others.

Shirai says he requested the 'god or devil' panel because everything becomes cool when drawn by Posuka.

THIS PART IS SO HILARIOUS TO ME BECAUSE LIKE

Anime Norman: Edgy, overdramatic, uncool

Manga Norman: Cool, stunning, iconic

Lambda's seizures where inspired by Shirai's own experience, who started suffering from severe headaches daily. It says that “Following Sugita's suggestion, he had to tone down the depiction of pain in the storyboard” like bruh king you ok????? (The Lambda seizures seem already painful enough????????)

Additional details on the five regents houses leads personalities!!!:

Dozza was an arrogant upstart. Yverk was an aristocrat who had been around for a long time. Bayon Jr. was Bayon's serious natured son. Pupo had the image of a harmless old man; Shirai and Sugita wanted to make him flashy and dumb like the World Nobles from One Piece. Noum had the image of a young, serious and excellent Patriarch (like a character from Game of Thrones).

And on the queen:

Leglavalima was Leuvis's sister. She's the strong, fearsome and charismatic queen who held dignity and beauty. Her design was a mixture of royalties from Europe and China.

Legravalima my beloved ☺️☺️💕💕✨✨❤️❤️

The first concept was having a king rather than a queen, but apparently “ "Leuvis's older sister" gives off a scarier image than "Leuvis's older brother" ” (??). Legravalima was set to be female also to tie, as one of the final enemies of the story, with Isabella, who was the first.

Chapter 134 had only 11 pages. Shirai had a cold for 4 months that worsened even after taking care of his health, so he had to take a week's break. Mangaka who draw their manga themselves can take a week's suspension if they fail to complete their manuscript due to sickness. Author-onlies have to submit a leave application. Shirai admits that he cried in frustration, as it was hard for him to make his own decision and ask "please let me rest."

Bruh I had no idea they overworked authors so badly, this is?????? Horrible???????? I'm upset authors have to go through this and severaly angry at SJ too- no author deserves such treatment.

Apparently writing Ayshe's side centric chapters was “healing” for Shirai :')

Ayshe's first design was drafted right after the first arc. At first, she was supposed to have the appearance of an older woman; the design was then changed to the one of a wild girl with furry arms. Although she had a scar on her face in all versions, how she got the scar was unknown.

The amount of times during the serialization Sugita intervened asking to "make it pretty" is quite funny pfftt. (He did it for Geelan's old design, Ayshe's wild design, Leslie's design... )

Ayshe was thought to mirror both Norman and Ray: Norman, as someone who was similarly raised by demons, yet didn't hate them; Ray, as someone who had a “monster” as a parent.

Shirai considered Ayshe to be a partner for Ray, but then thought that was unfair because apparently Ayshe is too pretty for Ray PFFFFTT

There isn't any specific story behind Ayshe's dad's scar; the deformed face is an accidental abnormality. Ayshe's dad was a former aristocrat, and that's why he knew the demon language ("former aristocrat who fell in disgrace" feels like a recurring trope for Shirai lmao). Once his face structure collapsed, he couldn't stay at home anymore and started living an hidden life.

The firstborn child of the Bayon family is a girl. As reported in the exhibition booklet interview, Demizu told that the most shocking request she faced was learning that the Bayon children were going to die too soon. It seems like Demizu drew a girl while imagining various things, like her becoming friends with Emma. But then the girl died in a second. “How cruel was that? If I heard it beforehand, maybe I would've made her appear more” (Shirai). This was so cute and wholesome, Demizu is such an angel I swear (╥﹏╥)

About the fancy suit Vincent wore in chapter 137, Shirai says that Vincent is “fashionable and picky with his clothes”

The Seven Walls' cube was supposed to be a 4-D hypercube, how cool is that!!!! Seeing it in motion makes me appreciate Demizu's depiction even more.

Demon god's appearance transforming when Emma reached the Seven Walls was a remnant of Shirai's unused setting according to which Scribbles' appearance changes based on the time of day (looking like a child in the morning, a young person in the daytime and an old person in the evening).

Shirai doesn't think Julius was a bad person, but rather a pure and serious man who hadn't been able to rest in a long time.

(Pretty obviously), the ancestors were designed with a rebirth-like theme.

Lewis looking so old and Sonju looking so much younger is because Lewis received many wounds and regenerated too much: the more of a warrior-like a demon was, the faster they would age. An early concept had a note that Lewis was a “combat enthusiast”, and didn't eat as much as Legravalima. Shirai says that “contrasting to Lewis, Legravalima was like “a beautiful witch who would do anything to keep her beautiful appearance” 🥰🥰🥰

Sonju's chapter 144 quote “I'll turn you into meatballs" was a line Shirai had wanted him to say even from before the series began.

About the matter of Yverk and Julius reaching the Day and Night so smoothly, Shirai reports that a secret passage exists, but only the queen and Yverk know about it. Shirai answering my 2019 old questions :')

Barbara and Cislo were random picks for Lambda

Like Hayato, Jin's ability is his superhuman speed

Norman made Zazie's paperbag. Since Zazie grew up in a dark room, he hates lights / electricity.

Like Norman, Vincent was brought to Lambda because his test scores were exceptionally good. Once at Lambda, he was forced to undergo brain surgery to determine if he could be pushed further to Norman's level (that’s the reason behind the scars on his head). Though his scores improved after the surgery, he never managed to reach Norman.

Ray's “huh / what?” in chapter 117 was because of him seeing the farm's mass produced children- seems like once again Shirai asked “is anyone else going to add trauma to this kid” and didn't wait for an answer (个_个)

#Fun drinking game! #Drink a glass of water every time Shirai says something in the lines of “I had to cut this plotline to keep the focus on the main plot” #Will never be dehydrated again #tpn #the promised neverland #tpn manga spoilers #tpn fanbook #tpn ayshe #tpn norman #tpn emma #noremma #tpn ray #Dunnot there's so much to unpack here akdheksbskbs #tpn demons #tpn analysis #mine #I was this 👌 close to make a bad six the musical joke but I spares you lol

[tuiyla]

what are your favorite things about pezberry?

Sorry it took long Anon but here we go, Pezberry! I'll list five to keep it consistent with other favourite things lists.

The first thing that comes to mind is how unlikely it is. While we had the seeds of a Faberry friendship (/something more, cough queerbait cough) planted early on, much of early seasons Pezberry is hostility. I first heard Kurtcheltana would end up as roommates when I was watching, gosh I don't know, early season 2? Could not believe it, what an unlikely combo. But I love that, against all the odds, it works. There's just something about the oddity of it that appeals to me.

Second point, the fact that it does work. There was the feud and all and we'll get to that but I think people who don't like Pezberry are a bit too quick to dismiss the almost an entire season's worth where they were working very well together. Santana brought a much-needed freshness to the loft and she and Rachel burned so brightly for the short time (or not so short, all relative) that they were allowed to. Santana tries so hard in season 4 and I think she tries the most with Rachel, whom she recognizes she's hurt so much. And Rachel is reluctant, at first, but then she really grows to appreciate having a girl friend (and girlfriend) and their moments in season 4B/5A are sooo cute. It just works.

No, actually, going off on that, it doesn't just work because it's effort. And that I think is my main point of fascination for Pezberry, that they show how human connection can be hard work that's ultimately worth it. Because they have so much baggage going into it and burn so brightly, they initially fail to take a step back and realize that they can't do this their usual, "awesome or not at all" way. Friendship and all other relationships are active work, not instincts and just magically knowing what the other needs. So in that way I don't mind the feud in concept because they were bound explode and I'm just happy that we do have season 5B. Will forever hate it when people say the feud ruined them because some of my favourite Pezberry moments are in season 5B, when they're no longer in such close physical proximity but consciously make the choice to make their dynamic work. Rachel has to trust Santana, Santana has to learn to be kind. It's work, but isn't it worth the effort?

Kinda relating to that, I love the reason why it is work and it is worth it. I've already mentioned that it's unlikely yet still works but I also just like the mesh of their personalities. Rachel, with her big dramatics and loud opinions hiding someone who just wants to be loved, and Santana with her bitchiness and everything she grew up with telling her to torture Rachel. And yet Santana still wants to make it work so bad and that stuff is fascinating. They're both larger than life and get caught up in the drama and are idiots, but apart from being a comedic duo they also have the capability of really challenging each other. Rachel can't pull her usual shtick with Santana because Santana will double down on worst expectations, and Santana can't get away with her bitchiness because Rachel will call her out and hit back where it hurts. It has the potential to be dysfunctional, sure, but it also has the potential to be for their benefit. I'd like to think that post-season 5 they figure that out.

As the last point I'll bring it back to post-feud and say, as much as I like their fire and gasoline all or nothing full send attitude, I like that they get more chill. This is more of a headcanon because season 5B was so good but so brief and then season 6 was, you know. But I headcanon that they learned how to stay friends without feeling like they need to burn at 100%. That's what doomed them pre-Funny Girl, that they were so close but neither knew how to half-ass things and went in head first. So in my ideal Glee future not being roommates does wonders for them and they learn to take the best things from their relationship without burning each other in the process.

That was barely five separate points and more one long tangent lol but you get what I mean, I hope. I need to talk more about Pezberry so thank you for enabling that Anon.

#pezberry #i need to talk about this points in a less messy way #santana lopez #rachel berry #i need to get started on pezberry thought of the week because much like they do i just *feel* too much #glee asks #pezberry asks #anon #favourite things about