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bestutfanonpoll · 9 months

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The forms have closed, which means it is time...

To meet the Contestants!

(which is happening this year for reasons)

Prunsel

Submissions: 2

Prunsel was born 27th of February 2021 from the dream of a Tumblr user then named tammycat, who now goes by @nyanoraptor . They dreamt they were playing Undertale, but when they reached Snowdin, Papyrus was replaced by an enormous, high contrast, photorealistic eyeball that looked directly at the viewer. This eyeball was, according to the dream, named Prunsel. Whenever Prunsel spoke, the music completely cut out and instead of text, a red glow would emanate from the text box. Since then, Prunsel has developed quite the fanbase for a character that came from a dream, and some even joke that it may be the brother Sans talks about in Deltarune.

Why it should win:

"Sans needs another sibling. For no reason except that having a giant hovering eyeball around would either greatly increase or decrease the quality of his life, and I think he would be willing to take that chance."

"All seeing eye"

Everyone is Neurodivergent

Submissions: 2 (indirectly)

Returning from the first season after being eliminated by Everyone is LGBTQIA+ in Round One (much sad). Many characters in Undertale (and secondarily, Deltarune) are headcanoned as being neurodivergent. Almost every character can be read as autistic (or anything else if you look hard enough, really), Frisk and Chara's fanon dynamic mimics DID (so I've heard, I do not have DID nor am I familiar with it, it's just what I've been told), and characters such as Alphys, Sans, Toriel, Kris and Flowey show signs of mental illnesses like depression or PTSD. Not to mention I'm pretty sure a lot of the fandom is neurodivergent themselves. Overall, headcanons like this are very common. (If I got something wrong or said something weird, please tell me so I can correct it, I'm not professionally diagnosed with anything and am mostly basing this off of what I've heard secondhand.)

Why it should win:

"I think it's cool and fits their character" (in reference to a submission of Kris being autistic)

Fanfiction

Returning from Season One after being eliminated by Fangames in Round One. Fanfiction is a pillar of every fandom and though there are, of course, the good, the bad and the ugly, fanfiction is one of my favourite things about this fandom and has even led me to some conclusions about myself (ask me for fanfiction recommendations I have some good ones!)

Cosplay

Returning from Season One after being eliminated by Headcanons in Round One. Cosplay is seriously underappreciated. Speaking as someone who's first ever cosplay was Undertale, that's hard work, and cosplayers turn out with some amazing stuff.

Shipping

Submissions: 3 (indirectly)

Ah, the best and worst part of any fandom, the shipping. Shipping is both beautiful and a warzone, romantic or horrifying. I personally am not a big shipper (I like Alphyne and don't have strong opinions on almost anything else) and hold the opinion of like what you like, and if I don't like it I can block people. Popular ships in the fandom include Alphyne (Alphys x Undyne), Papyton (Papyrus x Mettaton), Soriel (Sans x Toriel), Sansby (Sans x Grillby), Suselle (Susie x Noelle), Krusie (Kris x Susie), Kerdly (Kris x Berdly), Kralsei (Kris x Ralsei) and Queen x Rouxls (I don't know their ship name lmao). As you can see, many of them are gay.

Why it should win:

"Lancer parent silly" (In reference to a submission of Queen and Rouxls being T4T)

"I love it Very Very much. I think that the silly gamers should have Minecrap dates together and stick it to the player" (In reference to a submission of Kerdly)

Theories

Submissions: 1

With such a lore-heavy game in Undertale and an unfinished game like Deltarune, theories are rampant in the UTDR fandom. Ranging from iconic meme theories (Steven After Not Surviving, Sans is Ness) to more recent theorising on future Deltarune developments, it truly is the lifeblood of our fandom.

Why it should win:

"I am way too tired to type a full answer but they are so interesting and even the 'bad' ones are interesting. There are so many and it's entertaining to watch people piece together these things."

Papertrail

Submissions: 1

Papertrail is a Deltarune AU comic made before the release of Chapter 2 by lynxgriffin. It features original lore and most likely other amazing things I don't know about (I haven't read this one either).

Why it should win:

"It's a Deltarune fan comic that was started pre chapter 2 which is surprising, the creator expanded upon the little info we had and made their own interpretation of the story, having such emotional moments and amazing art. The ending to the comic was absolutely fantastic and I love it soooo much!!! I love the designs and ideas of the dark worlds, they're all so unique! Also all the different Ralsei-like creatures are each fun in their own ways and don't end up being the exact same characters, they also align with Undertale's soul colours! Also Lancer calls each Ralsei-like creature a different flavour of toothpaste and that's very funny. (Did I mention how well they handled Kris and their being controlled arc???)"

Animations

Submissions: 1 (indirectly)

Speaking as someone who's dabbled (made a three minute PMV once) in animation, it is really hard, which makes all the amazing animations this fandom creates all the more excellent. With creators such as Lupucs, who makes stunning Deltarune 3D animation, and long-running series like Inverted Fate (featured in season one), the creations of this fandom deserve all the love.

Why it should win:

"The animations take a lot of time and work, all the models being made by Lupucs themself. The shading and textures and smooth animation is also just so stunning, there's one animation where they have a giant crystal statue of Susie and it is so well made for just a 5 second clip, it's insane." (In reference to a submission of Lupucs)

The Other Puppet

The Other Puppet is an AU in which the secret bosses are swapped with the main characters- Spamton and Kris, Jevil and Susie and Seam and Noelle all swap, while Ralsei is replaced by a being known as Dinsoda. It also is intended to have an adult show tone, according to the creator.

Deltarune: Chapter Rewritten

Submissions: 1

Yet another AU I know next to nothing about. It was created by The Winterer, and is a role-swap AU that swaps Darkeners around.

Why it should win:

"Really cool AU with great music, recently got a fangame, definitely the best Deltarune fan content" (a note that this was submitted for season one)

Undertale Red

Submissions: 1

Undertale Red is a fangame created by Taxiderby, featuring an OC of theirs called Red.

Why it should win:

"It's a genuinely nice fangame with a good OC that isn't another AU Sans. It's well tought through with good looking sprites and I believe it deserves a place in the good things of the fandom." (a note that this was submitted for season one)

Deltarune: Neglected Oversight

Neglected Oversight is a Deltarune AU created by @boredgrace23. It's basically Deltarune on Hard Mode; it follows the plot of Deltarune but everyone who steps into a Dark World, including Darkeners who live there, forget who they were and become lifeless shells. Kris and Susie are the only ones who remember and it is their jobs to save everyone by closing the fountains.

And those are our contestants! Once again, may the best UTDR fanon thing win!

#bestutfanonpoll #undertale #deltarune #not a poll #announcement #season 2 #prunsel #papertrail #the other puppet #deltarune chapter rewritten #neglected oversight

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chalkxtabletxtowers · 1 year

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If you come by my blog these days, and you read my posts and especially my tags, you might think to yourself "Huh, Leo doesn't really like the lore right now"

And you'd be correct with that assumption. I don't hate it, because frankly, I could never hate anything that is Gorillaz, but there's a lot of things bothering me about it.

First of all, Noodle and Russel are underutilised to the point where it feels like they aren't even existing anymore. It has become so incredibly 2-D Murdoc centric, and though I do like the two, they aren't the only ones. All Russel has done before the Rupture was first mentioned was sit in front of a TV and drool (possibly). That's not a lot to work with. And Noodle has been researching other Cults and Rituals which sounds really cool on the surface but has been mentioned like, what, twice? And one time only because she had found something. Great. Amazing. I feel so sorry for every Person who's favorite characters are these two.

Then, the general Idea of making a Cult is pretty good. Intriguing, even, because Murdoc already is a satanist and corrupted enough to turn this into a really, really bad direction. And then- they turn it into a love triangle? That's it? 2-D falling in love with a woman that Murdoc has also fallen in love with is- a disappointing Plot to say the least. AND I KNOW that the rupture will come but we don't even know what the rupture is as of right now and no one seems to take it really seriously either, so, eh.

The really interesting stuff, stuff that happens in actual cults and would make the cult dynamic so much more interesting, like the Brainwashing I mentioned, are implications shoved into the Podcast or, in the case of the Sacrifice of 2-D, have to be theorised by fans because the lore isn't giving anything AND I KNOW that we still have until February but I doubt this will get much better.

What are your thoughts on this?

#gorillaz #gorillaz phase 7 #tw cult #cracker island #leo...rambles?

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zeta-in-de-walls · 2 years

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I’m glad Dream sent that voice message earlier as it addressed some concerns, chiefly for me I guess, that the streamers are currently interested and hyped for the server and it’s future. It shows that they’re giving stuff thought and have been active in planning stuff.

Beyond that though, it’s obviously still another example of vague promises and an unclear plan. It’s not gonna be a reboot in that it’ll keep the map and history but it is gonna shake things up significantly. In theory it would be the best of both worlds.

And it feels like they’ve tried stuff like this before, namely the portal to another world which barely got used. Additionally Dream loosened the server rules on farms and added exclusive items like an elytra and shulker boxes but it still didn’t really get people to play. I am hopeful but nevertheless somewhat sceptical that this change will succeed in revitalising the server. Still I’m happy to be proven wrong.

Also concerning is that he said the dynamics and relationships are going to be different. This could be good if its done organically of course. If not, it’s going to destroy my interest in the server if characters are suddenly wildly out of character for the sake of change. Fresh content is fine and characters being tested leading to changing relationships is more than welcome but well it’ll be easy to get the wrong. My friends theorised it could be amnesia and that I would seriously dread.

He mentioned a world altering event. If it could indeed provoke change I am all for it. It could be amazing. It could also be disappointing if it happens and then the server continues to be inactive because plans fall through and nothing happens. Like with how Dream’s prison escape failed to generate much content when it ought to have. The reasons it failed were not that it was not significant but that Tommy’s plans in response fell through for what sounds like organisational reasons and none of the other streamers built on it very much save for perhaps Sam’s prison arc. If however they can keep to streaming regularly and their not so disorganised that they’re constantly rescheduling lore we might get somewhere.

At this point though, we must acknowledge we’re working from a tough spot. I feel like if this conversation happened a year ago, revitalising the lore would be practical but now its been inactive and plotlines have been left to rot and fester, making them difficult to work with. Basically they’re starting from a position of disadvantage and the fans have had a year to grow more disillusioned over the server and they will be harder to win back as we’ve had a lot of broken promises.

I worry I guess, because I don’t know if Dream’s really tackling the actual problems with the SMP which are partly that the series feels like it’s been dragged on and many plots would be best served with a proper conclusion (I’m thinking chiefly of the Tommy + Dream plotline myself) and partly that there’s been huge organisational problems. I don’t know how much the fact that people have netherite and have built what they want to build plays into it. It might be a factor but I don’t feel like its the main one. Maybe I’m wrong. George’s problem isn’t that everyone’s in netherite so he can’t just log and kill someone. It’s that no one else is on except for maybe a heavily planned lore stream so he can’t just log in and kill someone.

I want to love it, I guess. I do.

But if they all care so much about the Dream SMP, then why did they all let it die, rather than play on it? Why aren’t any of them on it now?

...I know big things are planned. But one thing Dream’s escape from prison might’ve benefited from was if people had been on the server a bit in the week leading up to it. To actually get us hyped up. Instead we’re drawing our hype from a 5 minute voice message left on twitter that only dedicated fans will even see.

#dream smp #ramble #i love the dream smp #i love this community #and yet i can't bring myself to believe this will fix things #not when in my heart i believe it would truly need a good conclusion #i don't want to see it become something else #id rather theyd end this and then start again #discourse #long post

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bolasrojas · 11 months

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I’m no longer taking lore as seriously as I did in my inniter day, I love theorising and character analysis but I’m going to defend q!cellbit

Murder is hot, he was doing it for his groom

#he’s obsessed with qroier and I love that for him

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gaylotusthatexists · 2 years

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cannot believe that i am nineteen years of age and now is the time that my brain decides to go through a fnaf phase. like wasn’t this supposed to happen when i was like twelve. i’m really sat here watching fucking matpat’s streams of the new game so i can find out the lore this is bullshit.

#seriously i’m considering going back and watching all of matpat’s theory videos as well what the fuck happened to me #i mean. this is 100% ranboo’s fault. he’s why this is happening to me.#but still hhhhhh #literally i know fuck all about fnaf lore so i’m watching matpat’s streams very confused since he keeps references old bits of lore #he’s like yeah we’ve been theorising that vanny is vanessa for years and i’m like?????? you wanna explain who the fuck vanny is maybe??????#or he’s like oh that lil easter egg is a reference to *insert book here* and i’m like thERE’S BOOKS?#idk i’ve only ever played one fnaf game on someone else’s ipad or smt and i was fucking terrified so i never got into it lol #i watched dnp’s videos on it back in the day i think #idk something about dead children in robots #*screams*#yo if anyone feels like explaining the fnaf timeline to me now would be the perfect time i love listening to people infodump #which might actually be way i’m enjoying watching matpat play fnaf

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benisasoftboi · 2 years

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This isn't intended to be hate or judgemental, but why is your icon Ruby the Red Fairy?

It’s a bit of a long story.

So shortly before March 2020, my mum and I were chatting about her job - she’s a librarian - and how kids still love Rainbow Magic as much as I did when I was very little. We somehow came on to the idea of a Rainbow Magic parody series for adults, where Kirsty and Rachel have grown up and are now meeting fairies who deal with grown up things. We settled on university as a setting, and thought up a bunch of different fairies (a Freshers Flu fairy, a Hangover fairy, a UCU Strikes fairy, etc), and she insisted I write it. I ended up writing a short first ‘book’ in my spare time, which received a positive reception from both her and the couple of friends I showed it to, so I decided to continue the project, just as a fun, nostalgic bit of writing practice. I ended up sticking the first two on AO3 so that it would be easier to send to my mum than a big word document, as we were living in different cities and we both had slow computers.

Then March 2020 happened and I ended up moving back in with my parents. I didn’t need to upload the stories anymore, but someone randomly found them on AO3 and told me they liked them and wanted to read more. So I kept putting them up, and because I suddenly had so much free time I made them a lot longer and more complex. I ended up spending a year and half on the project - in total, the story finished up at just over 167,000 words, with a small readership who had followed it all the way through. I linked this tumblr at the end for anyone who wanted to come and keep following me afterwards, and changed my icon to Ruby to welcome them, as she was pretty important to the story (…sort of, it’s hard to explain). I’ve since kept it as Ruby because I like it. The laser eyes are because I thought that was funny.

Here’s a link to the project, if you’re interested: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23027782

I now think the beginning is a bit rough, and I may have been too self indulgent at points, but people did seem to like it, I’ve received some very nice comments and reviews. If you like coming of age stories and/or extensive theorising about the lore of children’s stories that were not meant to be taken all that seriously, it may just be for you!

#ask #rainbow magic

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terrificblanket · 3 years

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Puppet history thoughts (lore-less)

Okay so a lot was happening in the ep today!!

I feel like the puppet pop in confirms my suspicions that Ryan is possessed by the Genie. I think if Ryan was consciously planning the Professor’s demise, he would be zoning out less and look a little more devious?? We’ll have to wait and see and with only two episodes left - things are really heating up!

The Professor is ‘restocking’ his jellybeans, which makes me think the satchel hasn’t been stolen. Maybe he’s preparing to fight the genie!! Anyway, I think the hell horse was attempting to warn the Professor or trying to break Ryan out of his trance in order to save the Professor??

I think next episode will include some more lore tidbits, maybe some more glitches and most definitely a cliffhanger to bring audiences in for the season finale. The season finale - being about loudon - is gonna be a BANGER. I’m seriously considering staying up to watch it premiere at 4am! I hope they add a live chat. I think Ryan will win the episode, the genie will appear, and we will hopefully get some answers about what’s going on.

I’m going to be completely honest, I hope the lore stays in this season. It has been so fun to watch and theorise and pick out little details, but it definitely detracts a bit from the actual episode. I LOVE THE GENIE LORE, don’t get me wrong, but I think it might get tired if it all continues for longer than the season finale. I would like to see it all concluded neatly in episode 6, which will make it really fun to rewatch this season, and pick out all the genie bits. I also miss Ryan’s jabs at the Professor!! I think they were very funny lowkey hating each other and I’d like to see it come back.

Despite all that, I always love the thought and care that goes into watchers lore. Even with the AYS arg, it’s clear they are planned and also very committed to the story. That immersive storytelling is something I love so much to watch unfold. I’m super excited for the next two episodes of puppet history and OMG I HOPE WE GET AN ANSWER TO ALL THIS!!

#puppet history #blanket thinks #watcher #ryan begara #shane madej #the professor

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araminakilla · 4 years

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Huey and D'jinn possible parallels

As we know, Huey is the center of this season and even if he wasn't present in all the episodes, the ones in which he appears are excelent and contribute for some character development. I bet we are going to see paralels between him and other characters. Dewey has Della, Jormungandr in the neutral side and Don Karnage in the villain side, Louie has Goldie and Gladstone. Huey has Fenton, maybe Gyro, Donald and definetly Fethry Duck, Boyd and Violet Sabrewing. But what if he had parallels with someone who isn't science-related? Someone who has more common grounds in terms of liking history other than Violet (who is now a recurring character)? I have a feeling that it's a side character who is going to return not that soon but in the last episodes.

I'm talking about Faris D'jinn and in this (long) post I'm going to explain why.

First of all, their (brief) interactions. Huey was the first member of the Duck family to meet D'jinn and he was the one who asked if him and Amunet were ok in Moonvasion!

Now this may be very brief but I theorise Huey is going to have more conversations with Faris the next time he appears. They have many things in common after all.

What are those things you may ask? Apart of wearing red in their clothes.

Well, that is the second point. Both like order and things going their way because it makes them easy and in Huey's case, secure.

D'jinn had one thing in mind in all the Treasure of the Found Lamp! episode: To find the lamp of his ancestors in his birthday or devastating consequences would happen aka he's going to be sad. This could count as hyperfocusing on something, that would be the lamp and the story behind it.

He was so concentrated on that matter that he involved the duck family in a quest that some of them (Scrooge and Louie) didn't want to be part of, but felt they have no choice.

This reminds me of the episode where it was Scrooge's birthday and Huey wanted to prove that he could be a better party planner than Duckworth (the already deceased buttler) to the point of only for one second to transform into "the Duke", you know, that facet of Huey that cames to life when a great injustice was made like when Mark Beaks made Dewey the superior of Huey despite the fact that the Blue One didn't put as much effort as the Red One or when a boss character ruins his carefully cultivated farm plot in Legends of Legendquest and the older sibling went mad.

Well, D'jinn had moments that from his point of view count as injustices too. First the lamp was stolen centuries ago, then he finds where it is and goes to Scrooge to have it back, then the old duck tells him the lamp was misplaced. Since Faris had a schedule that he must complete before it's too late, he proposes to find the lamp in a rather...intense way that ends up scaring the ducks. Then he goes to Itaquack and spends maybe hours solving riddles and he knows they are stalling him and gets more impatient. THEN he discovers the lamp was stolen AGAIN under his nose by Ma Beagle and that he was SO close to obtain it right there. These last things of course couldn't happen as the quest was fake but Faris didn't know that.

While I don't think D'jinn has a whole "Duke" persona, he has little moments of intensity that instead of helping him only makes things worse.

It's because these moments of intensity and misunderstandings that the ducks had to make a false quest to obtain more time and stop D'jinn for...wanting to kill them.

No, seriously, the family thought they were death duck meat if they didn't find the lamp which again it's a big misunderstanding, as we found out Faris isn't the kind of guy who is violent just because and he wouldn't kill enemies.

Look, D'jinn is my favorite side character in all Ducktales and I even made a big analysis of why he is a great character a year ago. But... guy has poor communication skills. Let's admit it, many of you wouldn't stay in the same room as someone who not only is very (very) dramatic but also has weapons at their disposition.

Anyway going back to Huey...the Red Bean also has problems with communication. For example, as @pholux-twg pointed out, many things could have been resolved if only Huey had the time to explain his insecurities and point of view in The Trickening!, something he didn't do well in Scrooge's birthday.

And talking about that episode again, he was pushing his siblings to do the perfect birthday for Scrooge, something that Scrooge himself didn't want to. Huey had good intentions when trying to organize the party but his actions and considerations of other people's feelings were not productive, just like D'jinn had good intentions at getting the lamp back but the way he tried to obtain it just scared everybody.

Also to me it is very amusing that D'jinn is a warrior who trusts everybody so much (I mean, he didn't stop to consider if Ma Beagle was lying about the lamp, he believed her inmediatly) and falls for simple jokes as the "got your nose" joke. It is possible that he's not that naive but simply he doesn't really know when somebody is lying or not even if it's very obvious. Just like Huey is Mister "I'm not good at imagination stuff" D'jinn could be "I'm not good at detecting lies and metaphorical jokes"

Then we have the scroll that D'jinn owns and it has the story of his family, his quest for the perfect birthday gift and maybe more information, he writes on it what he has accomplished and that reminds me of the Junior Woodchuck Guidebook that Huey has for guidance. We don't know what could happen if Faris lost the scroll because it seems that he also uses it for guidance in his quests (or in the quest of his life)

Gif belong to @pholux-twg , @stevenfallsvs and @greatgamedota

Also I would like to point out that Huey had moments of stimming in Season 3 and I think D'jinn had moments of this in his debut episode...if spinning his sword many times counts as stimming, because maybe is a cool thing that he does when trying to impresionte those around him but maybe...just maybe he spins his sword when experiencing strong emotions like:

Anger

Determination

Hapiness

But wait you would say, that doesn't make sense as he has the same stoic face in the three gifs.

Yeah, but the thing is, and this is one of the theories that I have...he's masking.

During all the journey he's excited but mostly reserved and it's only when he understood that everyone thought there was a genie in the lamp and said object was now at his disposition that he broke his stoic and serious presence and began to show more than just one emotion.

But from a brief moment before the battle with the Beagle Boys we see the moment he discovers all his quest was a charade to stop him from getting angry, we get this:

He's confused, sad, hurt and angry again when facing the ducks. Then as he questions if everything was fake he seems sad again.

This is of course justified in that he's a tough warrior. Heavens forbid if he shows emotions that could be perceived as weak in front of his allies and enemies.

But we have to consider this: D'jinn lives for epic and little quests. It's his hobbie, his favorite activity, he sees life as a big quest and him as just another player and he takes that very seriously.

The thing is... the others don't. They only pay attention to him for fear of their lives. This is just a guy who you can't ignore. Like I said before Scrooge and Louie only want to escape the problem they got into and even Huey is amazed at how much dedication the warrior puts on the lamp and the quest.

Huey (to Louie): D'jinn monologued about this lamp and the Ifrit's Dawn for ten minutes without blinking!

Taking into account that, let's go back to Faris realizing the ducks lied to him. They used his favorite hobby and interest as a joke. Without saying it, the ducks practicaly said: "You know, we don't care about being part of your quest or your lamp or listening to your dramatic stories. We just don't want to get destroyed. We want you to leave us alone as soon as possible"

And all I have to say is...ouch. OUCH

I mean, of course that supposition is not true because Dewey enjoyed the adventure and Webby was living the dream! But D'jinn didn't know that.

I also have to wonder if him not getting into drama over the lie was because he was very focused in obtaining the lamp or maybe he's just used to it. And for "it" I mean having to deal with many lies made to get rid of him and his dramatic actitude, and that actitude is not wrong or bad but some persons just don't have time or patience for that and we don't know how many people encountered the warrior in the past.

We don't know if his family is as interested and passionate about their history as D'jinn, or if he still has a brother or more siblings but (theory) if he turns out to be the only member of his family to have that passion for history and adventures then he would have another thing in common with Huey. Both love their families deeply but they feel they don't understand them.

At least we have one thing clear for sure and it is that in his last birthday, D'jinn wasn't alone.

I hope he continues to make more friends or how he puts it "allies" and please let him interact with Huey! It's the Red One's season after all.

Also as a sidenote it is interesting that in the last picture Webby, Beakly and Huey (who are confirmed to have more presence and lore in this season) were in one group together. Foreshadowing?

#ducktales #ducktales 2017 #ducktales theory #huey duck #faris djinn #the red colored boys #neurodivergent huey #look #with all the comparisons I did between those two #i headcanon this #Neurodivergent D'jinn #maybe it's unlikely #but possible #time will tell

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the-darklings · 4 years

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—𝗖𝗢𝗔 𝗙𝗔𝗤;

Hello, everyone! So with COA being such a long-running series and new readers finding it constantly, I have come to realise that a lot of questions I get often repeat. So to keep everything easy and clear and friendly for everyone regardless of whether you started COA at the very beginning of the story or just recently found it, I have spent the day relaxing, eating junk food, and compiling this FAQ. Please read through it because chances are the answers are here somewhere. I have sectioned the guide into following: general, story, ships, original squad (OCs), AUS, OC!V and tips/advice. If the answer to your question is not here, please feel free to send me a message and have a wonderful day! <33 - kat.

GENERAL:

when does this story update?

I try to keep a bi-weekly schedule (now usually Sunday updates). But I always let you know when the chapter is done by making a final word count post (pre edits).

do you have a masterlist?

yes, you can find it here.

do you have a tag list?

not for COA. they’re very time consuming and I’m already really busy sorry :(

are your requests open?

I rarely open my inbox for requests. the only exception being the monthly blurb nights. then I reblog a prompt list and let people send some requests in for any fandom/ship. however, usually due to how many I get, it only happens every few months. that being said, you can still send me ideas/suggestions and if it inspires me, I will write it. that’s how the majority of the AUs have come about. but i’m also a very busy person so sorry if I can’t.

can I make X or Y for COA and tag you?

yes. yes. yes. please, please, feel free to create whatever for COA (no matter how small or silly) because I consider it a great honour that I’ve been able to inspire someone else. whatever it is, please tag me. I wanna see.

okay, I made a thing and tagged you but you didn’t respond :(

Tumblr is notorious for eating my notifs. whatever it is (art/post/etc) if I don’t respond to it in a day or two, please give me a nudge. you’re not being annoying, I promise. chances are I missed it/tumblr ate it.

I wanna scream/discuss/theorise about COA with others, is there any way for me to do that?

my amazing readers have set up this reddit page that is full of lovely people, theories, and memes etc. I check it often and interact on there, too, so feel free to drop by.

STORY:

how many chapters will COA be?

25. the last one being a very long epilogue.

have you decided on the ending yet?

yes. from as early as part 2. it's barely changed since.

will we ever see more of Prague/Naples? hoe, please say yes.

yes. I plan to write both as COA bonus stories after the main story-line concludes.

will there be a sequel?

depends. on two things: 1) if anyone will even care by that point 2) time. this story has consumed 5 months of my life entirely. i’ve been incredibly strict with myself when it comes to writing it (in a good way) but at best it won’t be finished till the end of august/beginning of september. so likely even if I do, there will be a break for a few months at least. I do have ideas though.

you promised us smut. where is it?

patience is a virtue. ;)

happy ending or tragedy? (please don’t say tragedy, you monster)

I would describe it more as “bittersweet” but whether it leans more towards bitter or sweet you’ll have to see.

SHIPS:

any endgame hints?

you know more about the ending than you probably realise

can v/s finally go to Paris? for the love of GOD? pLEASE?

hector + v? powerful. will there be more of them in the future?

agreed & yes. hector and v have their own arc to go on. it’s actually one of my favourites in this story. I don’t want to say more than that right now because I have plans for their dynamic so no spoilers. :)

please stop bullying john. give us some j/v content please?

i, for one, adore john. it’s team S that’s bullying him lol. but wait till parabellum. i’ve always referred to that portion of the story as the second coming of j/v.

does lucien actually have a thing for v or is it a creepy obsession?

it’s both.

I ship v with everyone :/ is that bad?

the sky is the limit. ship all the things proudly (but seriously, no, it isn’t. I ship all the ships, too, and that’s the fun of it)

v/elder tho? 👀

🔫🤡

j/v or s/v? be honest.

you fool,,,, you buffoon. ot3 j/v/s is where it’s really at. imagine their POWER.

ORIGINAL SQUAD:

what do the Elites/Lovers look like/how old are they?

please refer to this

will there be more step??

of course. he’s my baby. :)

will we see more of camorra/learn more about the elite’s and their backstories?

while I would love to take the time and flesh them all out with full backstories, only hector will be getting his backstory explored in the main canon because plot.

does lucien care for mika anymore or has he replaced her with v?

lucien is a messy hoe. mika is his subject of “affection” but v is his foil and equal. he recognises the same hurt in her that he has gone through himself so it’s more of a fixation. with time, lucien would likely destroy v so no bueno.

I ship our OCs.

I do, too.

can we write about your OCs/V?

so you would have to come to me and discuss this more in private but I’m fine with this sort of thing usually. in fact, a prequel hector story already exists so you’re likely good but please contact me first.

AUs:

when/how often do you update the vampire!au?

whenever I have time/inspo. mainly time. so this means you can get it daily or not get it for several weeks because COA is priority. I keep you all updated on when I have something cooking tho.

what is the actual pairing for vamp!au?

undecided as of yet. i’m leaning more towards ot3 right now but we shall see.

how often do you update flowing in me?

same as the above. whenever I have the time but I will keep you updated.

how many parts will flowing in me be?

I have 5 parts(ish) planned.

do you have a tag list for flowing in me?

I will. please leave a comment on the story if you want to be tagged in future parts!

will flowing in me feature other characters (john, winston etc.)?

this story is mainly camorra-centric but I do plan for John to appear at some point.

how did you come up with your lore in vamp!au?

to be completely honest....I just wrote a bunch of stuff down and used what stuck. mostly the ideas were pulled out of thin air while still trying to keep within the spirit of the canon material (the high priest, the holy church, the twelve priests, john being the boogeyman etc). camorra as the natural enemy seemed fitting and santino as a vampire prince even more so.

can we send you new au ideas/expand on old ones (manager!V etc)?

yes, always. I always try my hardest to reply but ofc I can’t promise I’ll be able to use them all but thank you in advance.

OC!V:

who is the face claim for OC!V?

weronika spyrka

what is her real name?

clara

how old is she at the beginning of the story and now?

23 beginning of chapter 1, 30 beginning of chapter 4 (current timeline)

will/would you ever write an original story about her?

I have considered creating something original out of COA itself or one of its sister series/concepts (like FIM). since I really started working on COA during last year’s NaNo, that might be the time I create something original this year.

TIPS & ADVICE:

how do you write so much, so quickly?

I don’t think that word count is really reflective of the quality work itself. I don’t think you should worry how much you write, either. 100 words can be just as valuable as 1k. most of them time I have a deadline breathing down my neck and I do work well under pressure so that inspires me to force the chapters out. I also do very long days because despite what it might look like I’m not a fast writer.

how can I improve my writing?

read and practice. I know it’s dumb and overused advice but it’s how I learned english and found my style (still a mess and WIP) but still this advice does help.

how do you keep motivated?

spite, your support, genuine adoration for these characters/word, a lot of spite.

do you plan? outline?

I have a vague story outline with specific scenes in mind as I go along (helps to set up foreshadowing, twists, and those ‘full circle’ moments). I also plan each chapter scene by scene and know what each chapter is meant to accomplish. So yeah in a sense.

#i will add more in the future if it comes to mind #with this future parts coming up i imagine more questions will repeat lol #faq post #fic: children of ares

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booksandwords · 4 years

Text

Realms and Rebels: A Paranormal and Fantasy Reverse Harem Collection

Read time: 102 Days (Intermittent) Rating: 4/5

Contains Stories By: C.M. Stunich, Elizabeth Briggs, Margo Bond Collins, Laura Greenwood & Arizona Tape, L.C. Hibbett & N.M. Howell, Lena Mae Hill, Eva Chase, Julia Clarke, Bea Paige & Skye MacKinnon, Amy Sumida, Chloe Adler, AJ Anders & Amanda Perry, Angelique Armae, Joely Sue Burkhart, Caia Daniels, May Dawson, LA Kirk & Lyn Forester, Jackie May, Cecilia Randell, Erin Bedford, Catherine Banks and A.E. Kirk

Overall It took me a while reading this to figure out what was frustrating about it, primarily the stories are first stories or prequels. I would have preferred more stand-alone stories. It is not impossible to create a world in this shorter space but it seems that authors have used it to provide fanservice and some background they wanted but had not written previously. I really hope most of these get published as individually, especially the 1st stories. This is a reasonable collection if you like reverse harem and want something to break up your other reading, none of the stories are taxing. And there is something for all tastes.

See No Devils by C.M. Stunich Disclosure: See No Devils is why I bought Realms and Rebels. I have written a full review which I will post when and if C.M Stunich publishes the story individually. I'm glad I bought it See No Devils is a fast-paced fun ride with brilliant characters that engaged me and made me theorise the significance of characters, of situations. Any story that can do that in 10 chapters is impressive. I loved the characters and the writing, both are amusing and intelligent. This is definitely a series I will be keeping an eye out for. 4.5 stars.

Light the Fire by Elizabeth Briggs Light the Fire is a prequel in the Her Elemental Dragons series (1st book Stroke the Flame). It's not a series I have read but this does make me want to read it, as any entry in an anthology should. The lore is brilliant, there are reverse harems woven into the world, the mythology and I like the fate angle that was used. What really struck me reading Light the Fire is the feeling of fan service, Calla and her men appear in Her Elemental Dragons as supporting characters this feels like something that fans wanted, had asked Ms Briggs for. (Full review is available here.) 4 stars.

Her Big Bad Wolves by Margo Bond Collins Another story with editing issues. Days and names were wrong sometimes. Liam was originally Seth I think and there is one instance where that wasn't changed. And there are continuity issues in the timeline. It is a helluva into a world with decent lore. I would love to spend some time getting to know, James, the pack historian. He is the brains trust and after the alpha the best person to introduce a reader to the world. Has the feel of a prequel if or when the series continues I don't think this will be a necessary read just a pleasant addition. But it did it the nail on the head to a degree S's options are a complete, balanced man. This is common in a reverse harem. (Full review is available here.) 3 stars (.5 loss due to bad editing)

Fifth Soul by Laura Greenwood & Arizona Tape Fifth Soul feels like a lost opportunity. The harem is 3 men and 1 woman centring on a bisexual protagonist. It is a situation I had thought of but never seen in a stand-alone. Given the authors have a series for this universe (Dragon Soul, Torn Soul protagonist Holly makes an appearance) it could have been published left on its own and done very well because that is a situation that is a fantasy for some. It is lost in here this anthology. It's also odd, the lore isn't explained well, the writing isn't consistent and there is too much focus on a single relationship. It's rushed and disappointing because of that. I can't even make this 2 stars. 1.75 stars

A Nightmarish Mystery by L.C. Hibbett & N.M. Howell I have never read any of the Cats, Ghosts and Avocado Toast series, that put me at a distinct disadvantage reading A Nightmarish Mystery. This story fits between A Vet Vanishes (book #2) and A Devilish Disappearance (book #3) and is admitted fan service, though not the kind of fluff one expects from fan service, this is heavy and dark. It can be read as a stand-alone though that is not its intention. I give props to the authors for creating a situation that allowed for fans to get what they wanted but didn't mess with the continuity of the series. I know from the authors note that A Nightmarish Mystery is different to the series but reading this first does not endear me to the series, does not make me curious to read it. Might that defeat at least part of the purpose of the story? 2 stars.

Twisted: A Fairy Tale Mash-up by Lena Mae Hill Another 1st book in a new series unlike the others though this one is explicitly aimed at the YA market. From the time I read it's intended audience I questioned its place in this anthology, Realms and Rebels seems to be aiming at a more mature audience. But Twisted had more sexual intimacy than a few of the others and some seriously dicey consent. Twisted has a well-executed setup Little Red Riding Hood meets Three Little Pigs. Having the leading man be not particularly likeable was a good thing in the scheme of things but Cayenne frustrated me a combination of her Red Riding Hood nature and her attempted modernity, it rubbed me the wrong way. My biggest issue was the questionable consent she sort of assented to their actions but not strongly enough for my conscience. (My full review of Twisted) 3 stars.

Raven’s Fall by Eva Chase Raven's Fall plays with Odin's raven Muninn, the raven of memory and the idea of shapeshifting. When Muninn transforms she appears as standard with a gorgeous black dress. What I really like is the use of the phrase "what in Hel's name" this is possibly the origins of the curse used now, Hel guardian of Helheim the Norse equivalent of the underworld. The language in Raven's Fall is fantastic, it is beautifully descriptive. The raven, the rogue, the healer and the charmer. They are an intoxicating combination. Muninn's innocence/ naivety is endearing because it is understood, she isn't human she is an immortal who has never experienced humanity's joys. Her men share easily, but their stories broke my heart. Mythology is always a whole lot of fun, make it Norse and it becomes even more bloody and vindictive. Reading Raven's Fall certainly made me interested in reading more of the Their Dark Valkyrie series.

Charms of Attraction by Julia Clarke Fantastic characters. Charms of Attraction focuses on the relationships the protagonist has with not only the men in her life but her sister. The portrayal of the sibling relationship between protagonist Katerina and sister Ana is particularly good. I really liked one date in particular. There is potential in the series, as with so many in the anthology though polyandry in the norm in the society. I will say though this story does really need a warning for those sensitive to domestic or psychological violence situations, violence plays a major role in Katerina's past and is discussed in some detail. 3.5 stars

Hell’s Calling by Bea Paige & Skye MacKinnon The first book in the Infernal Descent series re-imagining Dante's Inferno. I enjoyed the characters and the plot definitely looking forward to reading more. This story establishes the word, the characters, some of the internal relationships but stops short of anything drastic physically. Hell's Calling does for me what an entry in an anthology needs to do It makes me want to read more in the series. I want to know what happens to Ciera, Maro, (Cer)Beres, Plutus & Tris. 4.5 stars

Twisted by Amy Sumida What a brilliant take on the Wizard of Oz. It just works for me, nothing feels out of place. The origins are obvious and the twists are so clean and logical. My full review of twisted

Inconceivable Origin by Chloe Adler I read two chapters and stopped. I found the protagonist insufferable, she rubbed me completely the wrong way. Also, I have major issues with rape, I'm sure that there the author finds a way to write her way out of it (we are talking about magic here) but I can't do it.

On The Edge Of Forever by AJ Anders & Amanda Perry WTH just happened? So much promise, so much build. It was so rushed at the end I got head spin. Actually, the story felt incomplete, there is nothing confirming the status of the story as a first or a prequel, it just ends. I was so happy reading the start of this. It has an interesting lore that the authors did their best to explain as briefly as possible. The men having a pre-existing relationship helped for succinct writing as they could talk among themselves rather than just to her. The protagonist is badass and her familial relationships are brilliant. but their end is disconcerting. It's still a 3.5/4 star story.

Eclipse by Angelique Armae Bastet is a fave deity. I had to attempt to put aside some of my own issues to read this, I try to stay away from titles with any BDSM elements, even light ones. Spanking is part of the makeup of Eclipse. So this is an alright read if you don't mind your mythology being butchered. I liked the characters, to a degree I liked the lore but I cringed at the use of Egyptian mythology it just wasn't working for me. The truly appealing aspect of this story was the relationships, the reader meets the immortal daughter of Egyptian Goddess Bastet, Marcus the Lion, Lucius the Tiger and Horatio the Panther in present-day Manhattan but their relationship has existed since 30 B.C. It is an established, happy relationship. There are intimate moments with two of the three men but not the 3rd that was disappointing. 2.5

Queen Takes Jaguars by Joely Sue Burkhart Absolutely gorgeous. So much sex-positivity. I really loved the confidence and the owning of womanhood. I definitely made want to read more of the series (despite it having a different perspective). There is a whole scene in a hotel which is both hot as hell and emotionally devastating. I really liked the characters and the lore. (Full review is available here.) 4 stars.

Sovereign of Soul by Caia Daniels 3 chapters in I gave up. it didn't grab me and had done an awful job of explaining the lore and wtf was going on. Essentially it felt like a combination prequel and fanservice piece, despite only being a prequel. The series does have an interesting basis for the harem creation though.

Ugly Magic by May Dawson This is one of the stories I skipped for no real valid reason. I stopped 4 chapters in one day and didn't pick it up for about 5 weeks. By which point I was completely lost and it just made more sense to skip it.

At Water’s Edge by LA Kirk & Lyn Forester To me At Water's Edge is more a journey of self-discovery than a typical reverse harem, it feels like it's more about her than her relationship with them. The ending is just gorgeous. The story is quite self-contained. There is a lack of explanation that didn't detract from the enjoyability, I get the feeling there is some serious lore in play. I really like the portrayal of the neriads is perfect, they are quite bratty, teenage girl. 4 stars

My Soul To Keep by Jackie May A nicely written, pleasant story with lovable characters in an interesting setting. The protagonist is window-able, she is quite easy for you to see yourself in. Fairy-tale but in the best possible way. A shared trait to Her Big Bad Wolves by Margo Bond Collins with day by day dating to try and choose a man. 4 stars

Blinded Beauty by Cecilia Randell Odd, not bad just odd, it wasn't gripping for me. Blinded Beauty makes decent use of fantasy themes. it doesn't get bogged down in the lore it just gives you tid bits. Polyandry relationship is a non-issue is just happens, which works well. I quite like the characters though. 3 stars

Indebted to the Vampires by Erin Bedford I skipped this one. I just couldn't. it's short the synopsis just didn't appeal. I can see a way to make it not dangerous but it would be difficult.

Moon Academy by Catherine Banks Again the skipped because the premise really didn't appeal. It is possible it might have worked but by the time I got to Moon Academy I was done. I might come back to the 4 (?) I missed but I don't know.

Demon In Distress by A. E Kirk Demon in Distress is a definite book one, or possibly the working base for a book one. It just comes to a dead stop. After reading it I felt like it shouldn't be in here, I really hope they publish it stand alone. It is a dissatisfying end to the collection. It isn't awful but it does just stop with a clear indication of the future direction. I didn't enjoy it, I did enjoy See No Evil which faces the same issues. 2 stars.

#anthology #realms and rebels #reverse harem #book review #read 2018 #ktreviews

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itsbrindleybinch · 5 years

Text

Happy TE Traitor Day!

Time to theorise instead of revise!

So basically I don't think we have a traitor so much as a Mirror Dimension Wanderer. I don't think that whoever's been wandering around the mirror realm is evil or in league with Raife or out to get MC or whatever. I think there's going to be a sympathetic reason, whether that's blackmail, mind control or coincidence or whatever. There will be redemption and forgiveness, but hopefully plenty of tension before we get to that point!

So now we get onto the “who?”. Let's make an evidence list because I don't have a corkboard and string I love lists. A lot this will end up being red herrings and meaningless and I'll have missed even more but...

Zeph

Latched onto MC at first glance.

Makes friends very easily and finds it very easy to get people to trust him, including MC.

Dismissed the first shadow monster as a prank.

Has generally been the one to get distracted when the gang are researching, or be less keen to investigate.

The rainbow book. Zeph gets distracted in the library with an unrelated book. This was specifically drawn and shown to us, so I'm placing significance on it. The book shows two people linked by a rainbow.

We know from the book Beckett checked out for us that Raife was rumoured to belooking at refractionary magick of Attuned lore, so there's a link there to the rainbow (rainbows being refracted sunlight).

After Thief tryouts, he says something like “I don't know why I'm surprised I didn't make it, it's not as if -” but he cuts himself off. No idea what he was going to say, but it struck me at the time as one of those weird throwaway lines that make more sense later in the story.

Knows about the mirror dimension, from the sentinel scene. The mirror dimension doesn't appear to be part of the usual mirror-travel experience, otherwise it would be full of people (Did anyone pick the option mentioning it in the sentinel scene? I’m kicking myself for not now. How do the others react?)

Has the option of saying MC is probably dead in the sentinel scene. Plays it off as gallows humour, but unconvincingly. That doesn't really seem Zeph's style.

Beckett

The smartest and most magickally able of the group is the one most likely to be able to lower the wards.

The most likely to pick up in MC talking about their reflection and work out what the mirror dimension is, how to get there and then go there.

Has been learning advanced magick to try and help MC and thinks he could have stopped them vanishing to the mirror dimension.

Talked about reading a book about shield and ward magick in the library chapter.

But does have a very Hermione-esque approach to rules, shown in Dean Goeffe's office and if MC asks him to do their homework. That might make him less likely to remove the school's protection and go wandering, even if he could.

Says it's very impressive magick to lower the wards and would definitely stroke his own ego like that.

Has had a lot of screentime recently, which could be to make it more impactful when the MDW is revealed to be him.

But has had a lot of screentime recently and revealing the MDW to be him would mean a lot more screentime to come. Because I think there's going to be redemption, we'll be investing time and emotional energy into our MDW.

Shreya

We meet her when she's stuck in the Hall of Mirrors, which had to be unusual for someone so familiar with the magickal world.

Very keen to research the first shadow creature, and stayed up to, despite having only just met MC. Beckett acts as our obvious Hermione, but Shreya is also from an old magickal family and is very smart, so she could be flying under the radar.

That's all I've got. I don't think it's her.

Griffin

Spots MC very quickly in the lake, even though no one would expect someone to be there.

When everyone except Griffin is leaving the Roost, MC glimpses a shadow moving for a split second.

That's it. Griffin is too pure, it's not him.

Atlas

We can't rule out Atlas lying. They don't want MC's friends involved and sowing distrust in MC's mind would do that.

How did they see the bracelet, but not the person? It's not as though MC's friends all look alike.

It would have less of an impact for a character we've known for 1½ chapters to be lying than for one we've known since Chapter 1 to be. I think it's more interesting plot-wise if Atlas is being honest.

To sum up, I think Zeph's the most likely with Beckett close behind, although I'd actually slightly prefer it to be Beckett for the angst. I can't see it being Shreya or Griffin, but would be seriously happy if PB managed to pull that off. And I don't think Atlas is lying because that's a less interesting plot route, but that's definitely still possible.

But we'll see in a few hours and because I always get these wrong it'll turn out that Shreya was evil the whole time

#playchoices #the elementalists #zeph hernandez #beckett harrington #shreya mistry #griffin langley #te atlas

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