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dailyadventureprompts · 3 months

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Dm Tip: Playing the Villain/ Guidelines for "Evil" Campaigns

I've never liked the idea of running an evil game, despite how often I've had people in my inbox asking how I'd go about it. I'm all about that zero-to-hero heroic fantasy not only because I'm a goodie twoshoes IRL but because the narrative-gameplay premise that d&d is built around falls apart if the party is a bunch of killhappy murder hobos. Not only would I get bored narrating such a game and indulging the sort of players who demands the freedom to kill and torture at will (I've had those before and they don't get invited back to my table), but the whole conceit of a party falls through when the obviously villainous player characters face their first real decision point and attempt to kill eachother because cooperation is a thing that goodguys do.

Then I realized I was going about it all wrong.

The problem was I had started out playing d&d with assholes, those "murder and torture" clowns who wanted to play grand-theft-auto in the worlds I'd created and ignore the story in favour of seeing how much unchallenged chaos they could create. They set my expectations for what an evil campaign was, and I spent the rest of my time developing as a dungeonmaster thinking " I Don't want any part of that"

But what would an evil campaign look like for my playgroup of emotionally healthy friends who understand character nuance? What would I need to change about the fundamental conceit of d&d adventures to refocus the game on the badguys while still following a similar enough narrative-gameplay premise to a hero game? How do we make that sort of game relatable? What sort of power/play fantasy can we indulge in without going off the deepend?

TLDR: In an evil campaign your players aren't playing the villains, they're the MINIONS, they're mooks, henchmen, goons, lackeys. They're the disposable underlings of uncaring overseers who have nothing but ill intent towards them and the world at large.

Where as in a hero game the party is given the freedom to challenge and overthrow corrupt systems, in an evil game the party is suck as part of that corrupt system, forced to bend and compromise and sacrifice in order to survive. The fantasy is one of escaping that corrupt system, of biding your time just long enough to find an opening, find the right leverage, then tossing a molitov behind you on the way out.

Fundamentally it's the fantasy of escaping a shitty job by bringing the whole company down and punching your asshole boss in the face for good measure.

Below the cut I'm going to get into more nuance about how to build these kinds of narratives, also feel free to check out my evil party tag for campaigns and adventures that fit with the theme.

Designing a campaign made to be played from the perspective of the badguys requires you to take a different angle on quest and narrative design. It’s not so simple as swapping out the traditionally good team for the traditionally bad team and vis versa, having your party cut through a dungeon filled with against angel worshiping holyfolk in place of demon worshipping cultists etc.

Instead, the primary villain of the first arc of the campaign should be your party’s boss. Not their direct overseer mind you, more CEO compared to the middle managers your party will be dealing with for the first leg of their journey. We should know a bit about that boss villain’s goals and a few hints at their motivation, enough for the party to understand that their actions are directly contributing to that inevitable doom.

“Gee, everyone knows lord Heldred swore revenge after being banished from the king’s council for dabbling in dark magic. I don’t know WHY he has us searching for these buried ancient tablets, but I bet it’s not good”

Next, you need a manager, someone who’s a part of the evil organization that the party directly interfaces with. The manager should have something over the party, whether it be threats of force, blackmail, economic dependency… anything that keeps the antiheroes on the manager’s leash. Whether you make your manager an obvious asshole or manipulative charmer, its important to maintain this power imbalance: The party arn’t going to be rewarded when the boss-villain’s plan goes off, the manager is, but the manager’s usefulness to the boss-villain is contingent on the work they’re getting the party to do. This tension puts us on a collison course to our first big narrative beat: do the party get tired of the manager’s abuse and run away? Do they kill the manager and get the attention of the upper ranks of the villainous organization? Do they work really hard at their jobs despite the obvious warning signs and outlive their usefulness? Do they upstage their manager and end up getting promoted, becoming rivals for the boss-villain’s favor?

Building this tension up and then seeing how it breaks makes for a great first arc, as it lets your party determine among themselves when enough is enough, and set their goals for what bettering the situation looks like.

As for designing those adventures, you’ll doubtlessly realize that since the party arn’t playing heroes you’ll need to change how the setup, conflict, and payoff work. They’re still protagonists, we want them to succeed after all, but we want to hammer home that they’re doing bad things without expecting them to jump directly to warcrimes.

Up to no good: The basic building block of any evil campaign, our party need to do something skullduggerous without alerting the authorities. This of course is going to be easier said than done, especially when the task spins out of control or proves far more daunting than first expected. The best the party can hope for is to make a distraction and then escape in the chaos, but it will very likely end with them being pursued in some manner (bounties, hunters, vengeful npcs and the like). Use this setup early in a campaign so you have an external force gunning for your party during the remainder of their adventures.

Dog eat dog: It’s sort of cheating to excuse your party’s villainous actions by having them go up against another villain who happens to be worse than they are. The trick is that we’re not going after this secondary group of outlaws because they’re bad, we’re doing it because they’ve either got something the boss wants, or they’re edging in on the boss’s turf. This sort of plotline sees the party disrupting or taking advantage of a rival’s operation, then taking over that operation and risking becoming just as villainous as that rival happened to be. This can also be combined with an “Up to no good” plot where both groups of miscreants need to step carefully without alerting an outside threat.

The lesser evil: This kind of plot sees your party sent out to deal with an antagonistic force that’s a threat not only to the boss’s plans but to everyone in general. In doing so they might end up fighting alongside some heroes, or accidentally doing good in the long run. This not only gives your party a taste of heroism, but gives them something in their back pocket that could be used to challenge the boss-villain in the future.

The double cross: In order to get what they want, the party need to “play along” with a traditional heroic narrative long enough to get their goal and then ditch. You have them play along specifically so they can get a taste of what life would be like if they weren't bastards, as well as to make friends with the NPCs inevitably going to betray. This is to make it hurt when you have the manager yank the leash and force the party to decide between finishing the job , or risk striking out on their own and playing hero in the short term while having just made a long term enemy. This is sort of plot is best used an adventure or two into the campaign, as the party will have already committed some villainous deeds that one good act can’t blot out.

Next, lets talk about the sort of scenarios you should be looking to avoid when writing an evil campaign:

Around the time I started playing d&d there was this trend of obtusely binary morality systems in videogames which claimed to offer choice but really only existed to let the player chose between the power fantasy of being traditionally virtuous or the power fantasy of being an edgy rebel. Early examples included:

Do you want to steal food from disaster victims? in Infamous

Do you as a space cop assault a reporter who’s being kind of annoying to you? in Mass Effect

Do you blow up an entire town of innocent people for the lols? in Fallout (no seriously check out hbomberguy’s teardowm on fallout 3’s morality system and how critics at the time ate it up)

I think these games, along with the generational backwash of 90s “edge” and 00s “grit” coloured a lot of people's expectations ( including mine) about what a "villain as protagonist" sort of narrative might look like. They're childish exaggerations, devoid of substance, made even worse by how blithely their narratives treat them.

Burn down an inn full of people is not a good quest objective for an evil party, because it forces the characters to reach cartoonish levels of villainy which dissociates them from their players. Force all the villagers into the inn so we can lock them inside and do our job uninterrupted lets the party be bad, but in a way that the players can see the reason behind it and stay synced up with their characters. The latter option also provides a great setup for when the party's actually monstrous overseer sets the inn on fire to get rid of any witnesses after the job is done. Now the party (and their players) are faced with a moral quandary, will they let themselves be accessories to a massacre or risk incurring their manager's wrath? Rather than jumping face first into cackling cruelty, these sorts of quandaries have them dance along the knife's edge between grim practicality and dangerous uncertainly; It brings the player and character closer together.

Finally, lets talk about ending the villain arc:

I don't think you can play a whole evil campaign. Both because the escalation required is narratively unsustainable, but also because the most interesting aspect of playing badguys is the breaking point. Just like heroes inevitably having doubts about whether or not they're doing the right thing, there's only so long that a group of antiheroes can go along KNOWING they're doing the wrong thing before they put their feet down and say "I'm out". I think you plan a evil campaign up until a specific "there's no coming back from this" storybeat, IE letting the Inn burn... whether or not the party allows it to happen, it's the lowest point the narrative will allow them to reach before they either fight back or allow themselves to be subsumed. If they rebel, you play out the rest of the arc dismantling the machine they helped to build, taking joy in its righteous destruction. If they keep going along, show them what they get for being cogs: inevitably betrayed, sacrificed, or used as canon fodder when the real heroes step in to do their jobs for them.

Art

#dm tip #dm tips #writing advice #evil party #drafting the adventure #dnd #d&d #dungeons and dragons #blades in the dark #ttprg #pathfinder

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creepling · 2 months

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˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗ dating digger harkness headcanons

this is a very specific reader because i love the idea of this grimy hobo having a cute, smart girly partner that is the candy floss to his raccoon energy OKAYYY. also tcm shenanigans will be back shortly, i just had to give some love to a dc rogue like the old times<33

tags: feminine reader (wears dress, skirt, heels, mild makeup and has breasts and v) but gn pronouns. sugar daddy digger if you squint. reader is a jailbird. cuddling. pet name: birdie. smut under the cut - minors dni. polaroid nudes. (m) masturbation. thoughts of: oral (m receiving) and cowgirl.

If you were to ask Digger the first thing he noticed about you, his caveman mind would be objectifying. But your ass did look very flattering in your skirt and the smile you shot his way was the cherry on top. He likes them sweet and innocent, you like them rugged and dangerous. It was a match made in hell heaven.

After a few dates spent in dingy pubs and lover’s lanes, he was enamoured by you. He’s never had someone look at him the way you do. Eyes full of light, glistening at the sight of him. You always welcomed him with open arms, practically throwing yourself at him. He liked how easy you were to pick up, and the way you wrapped your limbs around him. How your soft skin blushes red against his scruffy neck. No matter the setting, you sat so close to him that you were more or less on his lap. He wraps his arms around you, or has a hand on your thigh, letting nearby acquaintances know you belong together. Digger thinks to himself, “I got so fucking lucky.”

His love languages are primarily gift-giving and physical touch. More times than you can count, Digger has fallen asleep on top of you. Either on the couch, while watching a movie or he found a way to snake between your legs while sleeping, he has a habit of using you like a pillow. You developed a kinship in moments like this where you play with his hair, massaging your fingers into the nape of his neck or twirling the strands that curtain his temples. You muse at his sleep-full hums, watching this rogue unwind under your touch, satisfied like a dog receiving pets. The gift-giving is when his rogue side is on high voltage. He wants to give you the world, shower you with jewels, let you wear the best of gear. “You want diamonds? Yeah, I’ll get you diamonds,” He’ll muse, mixing his pleasures with yours. When he robs a bank, the majority of his stolen dollars has been spent on you since you met him. Did your car get towed? He bought you a new one, along with the insurance. Need a new dress for the weekend? He’s got you sorted, along with heels and a bag to match. “Can’t have my bird in peasant clothes!” He protests, “Not with that cracken’ bod.” Queue the wink.

He loves showing you off, chuffed that he proved his doubters wrong that he could settle down and have a gorgeous significant other. “What they see in you, I don’t know . . .” They say, whether that be Deadshot, King Shark, heck even Amanda is amazed by it. He keeps candid polaroids of you in his pocket on the job, looking at them when he misses you. He squeezes the unicorn plushie you gifted him when he is stressed, anything to feel your presence when you’re half the world away. A shit-eating grin on his face when people tease him about his love for you, using it to embarrass him. “Awh, it’s puppy love,” Harley cooes, and Digger nods, all chuffed with himself.

Digger gave you the nickname “Birdie” because well . . . You’re a jailbird. He is in prison for heinous crimes, after all! Oh, is he touched-starved when you’re standing there, pretty face to the phone, separated by glass and talking in your voice that melts him like butter. His eyes are eating you up, desperate to have his hands on you. He’ll do all the suicide missions going to shred off the jail time, to get closer to the day his lips are kissing yours. Blackmailing Amanda to get you the best of the best, pay off college debt, holidays abroad, and spoil you when he cannot. “Oh, Birdie, when I get out of here I’m not letting you out of my sight, you’re stuck with me.” He groans, drunk on love. All you do is smile, sliding a pack of Polaroids under the screen when the guards aren’t looking. “Have these to tide you over in the meantime,” you tease. Digger rushes back to his cell, flipping through the photos. First were of you in dresses that were his favourites, the type of ones that are flowy and floral, framing you so delicately. They get more desirable as he flips them over, and his eyes lull in lust.

Digger loves the dirty photos you send him, it drives him fucking insane. It’s good to keep you fresh in his mind, but it borders on teasing just having you to look at. He didn’t have the brightest imagination, but this was good practice. Imagine how soft your thighs are under his callous hands, what your lips taste like with the lipgloss you have on. Your delicate hands trace his bulge, your touch replacing his heavy-handed grasp. Bucking into your hands as he sucks your breasts, teasing your nipples, muttering how perfect you are. His sweet little birdie, all belonging to him. Your eagerness proves your devotion. You take his infamous size so well, your spit coating his cock as your tongue swirls around his pulsing tip. As he wanks himself off, muffling his groans, he has the faintest memory of your cunt. How wet you always were for him, how eager you bounced on his cock. His eyes closed as he pumped his cock faster, edging to the echoes of past moans you chanted in his ear.

#digger harkness x reader #captain boomerang x reader #ssktjl #ktjl #kill the justice league #arkhamverse #fanfic #smut

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chrolloluvr · 2 months

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May I request Mammon angst HCs please? Like the reader is possibly breaking up with him or something? (i love your HCs for mammon<3)

Mammon Breaking Up Hcs

note: Thank you i'm so glad you like them pookie!! also yes i love this idea ❤️❤️

warnings: Cursing, creepy behavior, unbalanced power dynamic, killing. Not proofread!

Female!Reader, (no specific gender, so can be GenderNeutral!Reader)

It would be best to tell him over text, since he is guaranteed to throw a toddler like temper tantrum if you ever told him in person.

So you text him over text, what happens? He 100% thinks you're joking at first. He thinks you aren't being serious at all, and that wow babe, you might even be a bigger clown than I am.

But when he realized that you were being serious, he gets angry. How dare you? Why would you ever break up with him? He is the king of greed, he has trillions of dollars in the bank, so why don't you want to stay by his side? Did he do something? Did he hurt you? What happened? Baby, we can sort this out-

In a way, still doesn't think you are being serious, which is what he tries to tell himself. So he will let you leave, and will act like he doesn't need you.

Another author said this already, but he will 100% go through the stages of grief, (he will never go through acceptance, because in his mind, you will always come crawling back to him.)

He will be in denial for a very long time. Let's say you move out, and even start residing in another ring. He will send you texts. All. The. Time.

Your phone will mods likely have 103 Missed Calls, 986 Messages, and 37 Voicemails. He is crazy, and especially crazy for you. So when you don't respond to him, he does not understand why. He likes to think that you were just going on vacation for a while. He genuinely thinks you two are still together.

Anger- Once he sees that you have indeed moved on, and that he is no longer living in fantasy land, he gets extremely angry. His general mood spikes, he lashes out (wayyy more than he used to), and a-lot of his servants are scared to talk to him. Will absolutely keep bombarding you with texts every day. He will even get his servants to start texting you on his 100's of extra HellPhones.

Mamm 🕸️💚 11:34

Come hone ygu little cungt

Mamm 🕸️💚 11:35

ANSWERF ME.

Mamm 🕸️💚 11:35

Do ygu knoe how easily i can replaece yu

Mamm🕸️💚 11:36

Fine go shack uo with sorm dirty hoboes you little slut

Mamm 🕸️💚 11:36

I dont kneed u and youir mediocar holes

So yeah... thats just one example. He has so many spelling mistakes because he is typing so fast, and practically brekaing his phone from how angry he is.

But in reality he does need you. You are. the one thing that keeps him running. However he will never, over his dead body, ever admit that.

Bargaining- He will send things to your... new home... in gift baskets. Fizzarolli plushies, flowers, tickets to his live events, expensive jewelry, the list goes on. It gets to a point where (if you live in an apartment complex) People start stealing his gifts and start putting them up online to sell. (And they go for 10s of thousands of dollars.)

He send these to you so that you can hopefully come crawling back into his life, so that he can control you again.

At this point, you have most likely made it public about your distance between you and the sin. Your relationship was extremely public, and known by everybody.

He refuses to speak publicly, because he wants people to think he still controls you. And when i say your relationship was big, it was definitely the most talked about relationship in all of Hell. People will go nuts about you two breaking up. Another author said this as well, but people will go crazy with the comments.

"L Mammon fumbled so bad its actually wild."

"Bros got plenty other options 💀"

"Why tf would she/they break up w/ HIM???🤰"

"Now that hes single I call dibs 🙌"

You try your best to ignore the comments, but eventually you cant, its not just online, but in real life you feel cornered as well. You might even start to reconsider your departure with him. Which is exactly where he wants you.

Depression- He spirals into somewhat of an insecure man. He strives to be better. He ups his game for his big pageants, soon to be bigger, just to impress you.

He maaaay or may not have killed people in your favor. This is known, obviously, but his obsession along with his newfound insecurity has left him no choice but to show that if you dont want to come home, he will show you its safer than anywhere else.

Overall, if you do end up coming back to him, he is overjoyed with happiness, and will take extra precautions to ensure you wont ever walk out on him and his warm embrace again.

However if you end up never wanting anything to do with him, he will be devastated, but he will force himself to get over it. He is Mammon, he truly does not need you. In reality, you were somebody he felt an unexplainable feeling to protect. He absolutely can live without you, but for some reason, he feels like he cant. If somebody were to ever bring you up, he would lash out, and make his anger everybody's problem. He may get over you after a while, but he will never fully accept the fact that you left him.

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inazumaclown · 7 months

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idk if i already said it here but i think level-5 is a monument for character design. their characters are memorable in any games or series they produce, even when they're a little too much, their designs have a peculiar, lovable charm, i really really like them.

anyway here's me rating the GO designs of the OG characters :

endou is the fucking favorite. you can tell the studio really did their best for him. even without watching GO, you can tell he's still his old passionate self but in a cool and matured way. you can tell he's coaching kids and you can tell the kids love him and he loves them in return. 10/10.

kidou is great. of course he would be wearing a suit to coach middle schoolers, this is what being kidou is about !

i do think the new goggles are a little goofy, but haruna gave them to him, so of course he would wear them without hesitation. you can tell he's still awfully serious, but also no longer ashamed to monologue about his (occasionally stupid) special interest of the week if asked.

i would have advocated for longer dreads rather than, idk sorta untangled dreads ? but you know what, this is great. 9/10

i'm in love with kazemaru. always has been. his hair is perfect.

i just don't get why he got the coraline's yellow raincoat drip. it tells me nothing about him. i can't guess if he is an athlete, a hairdresser, a mangaka, a drag queen, a military sergeant, a carpenter or a sugarbaby. i'm left alone with my headcannons, and no clue how to prove they make sense. 5/10

i love that fubuki shirou, canonically the prettiest boy in the world, decided by himself to dress like sheldon cooper.

i like that when he put his coat on, he looks like a hobo. he didn't even had to try the hot snowboarder style, he already knew he'll be a good-looking hobo. i like that for him. choose for yourself king, you don't need anything. 8/10

my man looks so good in this. he doesn't realize he looks like the lovechild of yakuza and a mafioso. he doesn't realize why the grandmas are scared of him at the supermarket, but it's okay. i know he's well paid, he's still hardworking and professional, he's stable in all aspects, and he smells like a very masculine, expensive perfume. 11/10

of course, fubuki and him are happy and in love, and nobody gets how it could have happened when they walk side by side.

ah, fudou. some would say his new style is a glowdown, but i almost disagree.

true, he doesn't look punk and alt anymore, but i can tell that now, he's a true leftist. he looks like he doesn't have a job. he always smells like *spicy* cigarettes. everybody in his neighborhood knows and likes him. he owns almost nothing, yet everybody owes him something. he's an anarchist but he still votes, because he wants to do his part for a more peaceful future. he does throw rocks at cops during social movements. 8/10

kidou and him are also happy and in love. they fight all the time for petty things, but it's their way to say 'i love you'.

kabeyama almost didn't change, and that's good. he looks nice and polite and like a wonderful freehugger. i trust him. i could give him my firstborn, i know the kid would be well-fed and in bed at a reasonable hour. 10/10

i don't remember why kogure was in GO. it had to do with haruna i think, which is good, i like haruna. whatever he's just taller. 4/10

sakuma looks nice. the longer hair looks good. he would look better if genda was with him though. 6/10

tobitaka. my boy. he found his place. giving him the rai rai ken was such a good idea. it's not about the looks for him. it's about happiness, and he looks happier now. 10/10

tsunami ! the last member of the B4. he didn't change that much, which saddens me a little, but maybe it was because his design was always good. 7/10

toramaru. same boy but taller. they made an effort with his hair, i'll give them that. he looks like a lost management firm intern. i hope he finds the printer next to the coffee machine. i also don't remember what he does in the series. 5/10

glasses suit hiroto. he looks serious enough to do a serious job well, and still weird enough to say some deranged stoner shit without anyone asking after one (1) sip of unalcoholic beer. good for him. 7/10

midorikawa lost a bit of his theater kid charm, but i guess this is what happens when you work in foster care. he looks like a great mom though. 6/10

i'm disappointed. aphrodi deserves better than a boring ass suit. i mean come on, that man doesn't NEED to look professional, he is literally named after the goddess of beauty, he deserved better than that.

the side ponytail looks good. so sad for the little bleaching accident. he should cut that. 4/10

i can't clown megane. i look like that man. i wish him well. 7/10

WELL THAT'S THE END, I HOPE I DIDN'T FORGOT ANYBODY :D

(gouenji will have his own post.)

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fictionadventurer · 10 months

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Fairy Tale Retelling I'll Never Write: King Thrushbeard as 1930s screwball comedy

The "princess" is the daughter of a business magnate who has managed to hang onto his wealth in the midst of the Depression.

Girl has some kind of "coming-out" ball where she insults all the men with the best '30s zingers available.

Including our young, handsome, witty hero (son of an even richer business magnate) who can go toe-to-toe with her in arguments, until she slaps him with a Thrushbeard nickname that sticks.

Her outraged father declares he'll marry her off to the first tramp who shows up at their door.

Thrushbeard, who's really attracted to this difficult girl, learns of this from his cynical, sharp-tongued, somewhat-socialist journalist friend, and makes some remark about how he'd be willing to live as a hobo to have her. Journalist friend retorts that Thrushbeard couldn't last a day outside his life of luxury.

Because this is a rom-com, this leads to A Bet. If Thrushbeard can successfully wed this girl in the guise of a hobo, he has to live like one for a certain amount of time, without drawing on his father's resources or letting her on to his true identity.

Thrushbeard shows up in disguise, there is Witty Sparring between him and the princess, and the princess winds up marrying him mostly to spite her father--if he thought this threat would make her apologize for her behavior, he had another think coming. Now his family legacy's tied to a hobo and he's got to live with that.

Unfortunately, so does she. The newlyweds are out in the street within moments of the wedding.

There is Comedy about how the princess haa no clue how to function outside her clean and glamorous world, and Thrushbeard's not much better.

With some assist from Journalist Friend (who is not about to let the story of the century slip out of his grasp) they manage to hop a freight car and settle down in a shanty town.

More Comedy about her total inability to complete domestic tasks. So it's not Totally Sexist, she gets the upper hand when her husband also proves unable to complete these tasks he claims were child's play.

There are various attempts to Find Jobs and Make Money, which are all humorously thwarted by Comedy Shenanigans. Journalist Friend has his work cut out for him just to keep these two idiots alive. (He wants to win the bet, but he also doesn't want to be responsible for his buddy's death.)

At one point, the couple winds up in a boxcar again and share a heart-to-heart where they finally see each other as people instead of sparring partners.

Princess finally starts a sidewalk stand where she starts to make a bit of money. In an Unfortunate Coincidence, Thrushbeard's dad shows up in the area, and Thrushbeard has to meet him as himself to keep him from finding out about this cockamamie scheme. During this confrontation (with his father who thinks he's shirking his responsibilities), Thrushbeard is inadvertently responsible for destroying his wife's stand.

To Thrushbeard's horror, his wife responds by demanding a new job to replace the one she lost, and his father gives her a job working in one of his houses.

Now Thrushbeard has to live a double life as himself and as the hobo husband his wife knows.

At a Glittering Party, Thrushbeard as Wealthy Heir is the center of attention while his wife is working as a servant and frugally trying to swipe scraps for his supper.

He tries to avoid her, but Tangled Comedy Mishaps lead him to stumble over her, sending her scraps flying and causing her major embarrassment as some members of the press recognize her.

In trying to help her, he acts too much like her husband, and the secret slips.

His wife slaps him silly.

She subjects him to a scathing tirade about what a heartless nutcase he is, and how the worst part is that she had fallen in love with her hobo of a husband, but he's not even real, and you can die in a ditch for all I care.

She tries to storm out, but he catches her by the wrists and tries to explain that he did it all out of Love for Her, and he did everything wrong and she can have her divorce if she wants, but he loves her more than ever and he'll love her until the day he dies.

She just stares at him, and finally she's like, "You're worse than a nut. You're a sap. And I'm the nut who's falling for it."

(It's a screwball comedy rom-com. Emotional realism has no place here).

Kisses, reconciliation, big proper society wedding. Journalist Friend wins big with his inside scoop (which Mr. and Mrs. Thrushbeard allow him to publish because he did keep them alive (even though this is all his fault) and the story's public anyway so they may as well get the facts from a friendly source.)

Thrushbeard and his wife both take steps to improve their fathers' business practices and help out their hobo friends.

Journalist friend gives them a wedding present of an unpublished photo of them standing in front of their shanty looking all gooey-eyed at each other. The couple hangs it in a place of honor in their fancy house, and the story ends on that image.

#fairy tale retellings #king thrushbeard #adventures in writing #this is my compromise because i can't decide which of my many ideas to work on #so i'll just publish the one i'm only interested in sharing in summary form #(i hope you're envisioning this in black-and-white because that's its true format)

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gracegrove · 10 months

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I need college freshman Steve and Billy to follow the same trajectory that a lot of the boys in my graduating high school class did.

In that, Steve lives on campus and goes absolutely hog wild nuts his first year. Some of the King Steve tendencies are definitely back. Partying whenever, especially by the time Friday hits. Wearing sunglasses in class because he's hungover af. Hanging out with some decent people but also with a handful of obnoxious types because they're the ones with all the access. Also, Steve has let go. His hair is messy, clean but an absolute shag. Practically to his shoulders until a buddy in the dorms gives him a a decent cut in exchange for a keg run. And the beard! It's coming in, Steve's pretty proud of it honestly, even if it is scraggly. He dresses down compared to how he used to look in high school. So much so that when Billy walks past him one day and Steve was going to bum a cigarette off him, Billy thought he was gonna ask for money.

Billy has gone the opposite direction. He dresses more carefully. Puts even more effort and care into his look than he had previously. His curls look amazing. So much so that he's had to yell at a couple girls for touching them... Billy lives off campus with two roommates near the more artsy part of town. He parties some, but not nearly what he had in highschool. He attends his classes regularly and is surprised when that guy he thought a moment ago was a hobo follows him into class and takes a seat.

He kinda looks familiar Billy thinks to himself as the other scratches his beard lazily. Then Billy's eyes go wide. "Steve?"

#billy #harringrove

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hugoballsack · 6 days

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they should let me write for fallout season 2. here are my ideas

hank arrives in new vegas and is immediately jumped by a local gang. specifically the kings. i just want to know what it would look like for kyle maclachlan to have the shit beat out of him by a dozen elvis impersonators

dj carl is revealed to be the current president of the enclave. and also sergeant arch dornan's son. and a ghoul fucker.

we continue the trend of cooper howard pre-war scenes. keith mckinney from fallout 4 far harbor makes an appearance. he is played by billy eichner. i will accept no other casting decision.

we learn the reason cooper howard kept talking to his dog is because he can actually communicate with dogs. this is mentioned only in passing and never elaborated on.

a flashback scene to hank still being in moldaver's captivity. i just want to see the moment he realizes she fucked his wife

i don't know which ending of new vegas should be canon, but i do think the canon ending of the lonesome road dlc should be that ulysses lives. i just feel like he would hate all the protagonists and i love that for him

return of fev super mutants. specifically the one that sells tumbleweeds

tom waits as a ghoul hobo. it's a natural choice. he keeps showing up and demanding lucy answer his riddles

brotherhood squires are given coconuts so the knights can pretend they are riding horses. squires who do not clip-clop for their knights are executed.

norm escapes vault 31 by making a finger gun at bud and threatening him. he convinces bud it is a real gun. the whole standoff takes about 10 minutes

thaddeus is welcomed into the vault 4 community. he and overseer benjamin fall in love. they have a beautiful wedding

we are graced with an appearance by fallout 4 fan favorite companion john hancock. he has an hour-long knife fight with walton ghoulggins that ends in a draw. it is then that they kiss-

#fallout #fotv #fallout prime #fallout spoilers #there is no way the joke about the squires clip-clopping hasnt been made before. the whole dynamic had monty python vibes to me #hb

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prince-kallisto · 3 months

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Hi, love your twst theories! And while I adore the idea that Meleanor's trapped inside the Magic Mirror (as she could still be alive) do you think it's possible that it's actually Levan who is trapped there - as well as being Crowley simultaneously?

When I read that OB!Malleus's voice sounds like Levan I thought that of the ones we've heard so far he sounds most like the Magic Mirror but higher or Crowley when he speaks seriously but lower. What we have seen so far is that when a person Overblots, their voice becames this multilayered cagophony (expect for Malleus). Could it be that Crowley and the entity inside the Magic Mirror are both parts of Levan and his soul has been fractured into two through Overblot, and his real voice is somewhere in the middle of the frequency of these spectrums?

It could work as a way to reference how Diablo was turned to stone (but didn't die, as in the book "Maleficent's revenge" he is able to break from his petrification) in the Sleeping Beauty. If Levan was able to trap his Shadow in the Mirror (or himself and allowing his Shadow to stay on the outside) it could be that this is why he is associated with STYX.

It would also give this sort of duality that could bridge Diablo from the og animated movie and Diaval from the live action film (both starting with "Dia", as in "ディア・クロウリーDia Kurourī"), Miyamoto-san's role as adult Simba in the Japanese dub of the Lion King, as both the Noble King of the Pride Rock and the weirdo hobo living in selfimposed exile (probably not relevant but I thought it's funny that he did not reprise the role in the sequel film in which Simba is seen in the role of the overprotective father of the Main Character Kiara, but does return for the animated show the Lion Guard, in which Simba is portrayed as a much more hands off parent) and both the upright and reversed meanings of the Magician in the Tarot deck.

It could be that Crowley doesn't even know/remember who he is, if we take in to account that in Jungian psychology Shadow represents the parts of your psyche that you wish to repress, and only by accepting it can you start to heal and solve the crisis in your identity (as has been the case for the Overblots so far) and by keeping these parts of himself separate and Levan is unable recognize and reconcile his past.

Hello!! Ahh, thank you so much, I’m happy you like my theories! \(//∇//)\ This is such an interesting ask- and a bit of a tangent haha, but I enjoy the theorist side of TWST so much because of how theories are always growing and fluctuating. One core theory can branch off and create so many different ideas, so there’s always inspiration to go around and new ideas to explore.

The idea of Levan’s Overblot breaking his soul into two is such an fascinating idea ahhh!!! \(//∇//)\ This would be an amazing way to explain all these differing aspects of him. For a long time now, I’ve been a believer of the theory that Crowley is in a very unique state of Overblot, just barely teetering over the edge while also managing to survive this long. I wouldn’t be surprised if it meant that being in a catastrophic Overblot state for centuries on end has indeed meddled with his soul in this manner.

Levan being trapped in the Dark Mirror is also such a good reference to the live action Maleficent, when Maleficent’s wings are stolen. Meleanor considers Levan to be her eyes and limbs, which could also mean her wings. Maleficent’s wings are seen in this glass cage, but are still very well alive on their own. Levan being Meleanor’s wings means he could be the one trapped behind the glass of the Dark Mirror 👀 If this part of Levan is trapped, I think it could also explain how Crowley keeps referring to his “wings” as if they were a physical part of his body, while also simultaneously not seeming to have them.

It reminds me of the line in Maleficent when she says to Aurora that “I had wings once. They were strong, but then they were stolen from me.” Levan was a top general and a diplomat. He was a strong and capable man, and is rumored to have even faced the Dawn Knight himself and survived, whereas Meleanor perished. It makes me wonder that when Levan left Meleanor, Eggleus (lol), and Lilia to battle at the fort, if something akin to an Overblot happened. Parts of him being fractured and “stolen.” 🤔

I’d also like to point out that the manga specifically shows Crowley in the prologue speaking to the Dark Mirror…without his mask. His voice is the prologue is one of the very few times where his voice deepens, and has no hint of his typical flamboyant personality. Perhaps Crowley not having his mask is a representation of these fragments of his soul coming back together? :0 There’s also a very interesting TWST trailer that has Miyamoto speaking, presumably as Crowley, but his voice is deeper than we’ve ever heard Crowley’s character speak before. Perhaps this is his “true” voice as Levan, and thrus similar as Malleus? For anyone else who wants to know more about the upright/reversed tarot card for Crowley, I made a post explaining it all here! ^_^ that’s such a good point of how Crowley can be both the upright and reversed when you consider him being Levan as well!!!

Also AHHH the Jungian psychology!! 😭💖💖💖 this is such an amazing point, especially regarding the Overblots. I’d like to think that primary part of who Levan is the one trapped in the mirror, while his shadow, Crowley, is the one who exists on the outside. Overblots amplify the negative or surpressed traits of a person’s personality, to the point of nearly killing other characters from how caught up they get in their own negative emotions. Crowley is always criticized for his own ego regarding his “kindness,” of how he can be unreliable and a very fleeting presence.

Levan has been referred to as “kind” (with the same word in Japanese that Crowley uses), and Lilia claims that Levan gets constantly praised for the simplest of things that don’t really deserve it, primarily by Meleanor. I wouldn’t be surprised that through Crowley, these traits of Levan were amplified, giving Crowley an ego for things he didn’t really earn, and praising himself for his kindness. Like a remnant of how Lilia and Meleanor excessively praised him.

You make such an amazing point about how if the shadow and the person is separated, that Levan/Crowley cannot recognize and reconcile with his past!! Absjxjs I was a bit of a persona 4 fan back in the day, but it essentially feels like that, of having to confront this shadow of yourself to reconcile your misgivings. It’s the same thing in TWST, where this harsh but necessary confrontation with this darker side of themselves is what saves them from succumbing to their Overblot.

Also andjxjsbdbs the point of Miyamoto’s role as Simba!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣 It’s…quite fitting, actually! 🤣 we gotta love Levan’s self imposed exile through a weird birb man like Crowley 🫡💖

This was an amazing ask, thank you so much for putting this into my brain! 🤣💖💖💖💖🐦‍⬛🐦‍⬛🐦‍⬛ I adore this idea so much, and I feel like your points helped me explain some of my visions for the whole Crowley and Levan situation haha \(//∇//)\ I’d like to make fanart illustrating this idea, I just love it so much. Thank you so much for the wait in answering this ask, and for taking the time to write this! Have a good day! ^_^ 🫶🐦‍⬛

#kallistopost #ask kallisto #twst theory #twst levan #twst dire crowley

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oceanlipgloss · 4 months

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8.1.2023

The other post couldn't fit any more images but I still wanted to add a bunch lol anyways, I'll continue stuffing extra screenshots just 'cause :D

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ´ˎ˗

intro: he is such a good king. also, this power is really admirable (hot imagery too)

update I: aaaah you go, you two <3

update II: I'm gonna melt I'M MELTINGGG I love himmmmm I love him so much

update III: aw lol he's adorable

update IV: excuse you, but Satan is MINE, not yours. MINE MINE MINE <3

update V: pls don't hinder him, let him collect money stop him at once

update VI: go ahead, sweetie how come Jjyu is being so quiet and not roasting your butt

update VII: 'thick eyebrows' they say that to my face when his eyebrows are thinner than mine tf u mean thick eyebrows what does that make my eyebrows then, bushes? I like them

update VIII: omg Mammon calls Beelzebub 'Bell' noooo that's so cute shut up shut up shut up aaaah they talk about Beelzebub and my heart + interest both go STONKS➚

update IX: goddamn, punching an unconscious Leamas, are we? Mammon doesn't seem to be the violent type though, and he seems to have something in mind, so I'll see where this goes

update X: BIMET'S IN THE CHAT WITH PPYONG, SITRI AND MC NOW TOO YESSSS

update XI: because I love you for educational purposes, honey

update XII: who's gonna tell him that MC is a hobo too? But be gentle about it, pls you don't want him to faint from shock, do you?

update XIII: kwksnjsjs eeeeee but how did he change his attitude and mind so quickly

update XIV: so Mammon doesn't trust Leamas due to a gut feeling, and it's said that Mammon's intuition is always right. And there's something about Nina...

update XV: no, it's not! Not at all! Gimme some

update XVI: someone is really romantic <3 By the looks of it, he seems to really, really like MC, so I'm going to go ahead and say that he's the type who falls in love first, and falls in love fast. SO CUTE

update XVII: "let me enjoy my date" his smile is so cute, it's almost contagious <3 and HE? IS SO, SO LOVABLE Also! There's an upcoming H-scene let's hope I can make it there first which means that MC leaving with Mammon is going to be followed with MC feeling unwell again (and logically, Mammon should be the next one to have some fun *inkling boy voice* WHOOPEEEE)It's strange that Satan didn't interject this time though TAKE YOUR LADY BACK

update XVIII: SCREECHING ANGELS INCOMING ONCE AGAIN Now close your eyes and answer me this: CAN YOU HEAR ME SCREECHING??? On the inside, of course. This poker face doesn't melt off that easily (edit 3: man, there are 36 angels, but that would've been totally fine if it weren't for how ¾ of them were of the red screaming type + there's such little space so there's no actual way to distribute your team properly besides a horizontal line. Having the demons so close to each other is the only possible 'distribution,' which means that they die like flies one after the other and ughhhh)

update XIX: this is horrid. Putrid. Vile. Grotesque. Those screaming monstrosities won't stop coming the H-scene must really be something, huh? Whatchu gonna do, Mammon?

update XX: several very, very fruitless attempts and team deaths later... Well...I have materials, and I have keys. So what do I do? FUCK IT, WE BALL *shudder* DO ONE 10-PULL, that's what! This hurts my heart knowing my luck, I'm not going to get even one L card lmao But I'm curious about something and want to confirm whether it's going to happen or not. All this time, my intution has told me that I'd get Andrealphus on my first ever 10-pull with lesser keys. Am I right or wrong? Stay tuned! (it wounds me to take this risk and spend 30 of my precious keys, but here goes nothing sob sob PLEASE let this be worth the sacrifice)

update XXI: UHHHH???? HEHEHEHEHEHEHE broooo lol omfg I AM GIDDY I WAS RIGHT LOL I can't even bring myself to feel salty about not getting an L card that's a fucking lie, yet it's also the truth BUT OMGGGGGG

update XXII: okay, I calmed down some I think Anyways, I got Marbas and Buer too (I'm holding all of Lucifer's guys hostage now. Is this a sign that I will pull Lucifer himself once his card is launched? God do I hope it is but it probably isn't) And I also sob pulled another Ppyong and another Gusion (you're so damn hot, Gusion, but WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME??? I WAS HOPING FOR AN L CARD BEELZEBUB GODDAMMIT let's be honest tho, I knew I wasn't gonna get ANY L card) does this mean that Gusion likes me as much as I like him? Is my admiration so powerful it transcends screens and reaches the virtual world? Because boy...<3 but if that were the case I should have also pulled Satan and Beelzebub BUT I GOT ANDRE OH GOD THIS FEELS LIKE A DREAM I CAN'T BELIEVE IT AND I CAN'T BELIEVE I WAS RIGHT I SHOULD REALLY TRUST MY GUT MKRE OMG SJDBKLSJS I also have this illogical, intense desire to care for him binge-upgrade him, but I want to save materials for L cards I might never get...still, I have a feeling he won't disappoint despite being close-range, so I'm going to upgrade him to level 20, try him out and see how he does

update XXIII: "the devil who eternally gazes at his lover with blind eyes" is such a tragic and romantic sentiment, so much so that I suddenly actually FEEL inspired to write and give him more emotional anguish but will I actually find the energy to do so? Nobody knows

update XXIV: THAT'S THE FIRST THING HE SAID I KNEW IT FROM HIS INTRO QUOTE BUT HE SEEMS SO ROMANTIC AND GENTLE AND HE'S MAKING ME SAD I LOVE HIM ALREADY back to lowercase now

update XXV: So! I just tried him out in Dark Sanctuary for jello pudding that looks like jello and WHAT. THE. FUCK. HE'S AMAZING. HIS ULTIMATE ATTACK??? YOU GET A PROMOTION BBY and his chibi and its animation are so cuteeeee (edit 1: aaand I promoted him, he earned it) I haven't forgotten about Marbas either! HE'S A HERO <3 I kind of did forget about Buer though so I'll try him out tomorrow (edit 2: I lumped Buer and all my new guys into the gang and sent them out to THAT battle. And honestly? I was surprised at the improvement. I can make it to 15 angels left with people actually alive now lol Buer's not too bad, I'm using him to heal Satan but those screeching abominations won't let Satan live much. And this is kind of dark but it's funny how Andre sounds like he's having a mental breakdown when he's defeated lol)

update XXVI: he's intent on breaking my heart. I don't want MC to sleep with him, I want her to hug him and stroke his head and kiss his eyelids until he falls asleep or at the very least do all these things for him in the H-scene

update XXVII: I know the drill by now. If I don't manage to pass this hellhole of a battle by day 3 of being stuck on it, that means desperate measures a long ass wait, but I'll put up with that because no more lesser keys will be spent for now I swear it upon my honor

Wow though, is this the high you people who regularly do lesser key pulls feel? I feel powerful and I didn't even pull an L card lol because Andre may be an S in-game, but to me he's an L and because my gut was right

9.1.2024

update XXVIII: I like how 3-77 actually has the nerve to say 'lv. 49 required' when I'm sitting here with barbecue sauce on my titties a LEVEL 89 Satan and still getting obliterated to no end. 'Lv. 49 required' must be code for '2+ lvl 49 L cards needed to save your life'

update XXIX: I made it to 6 remaining angels and lost lol but I'm not really THAT pissed about it because when I first tried my hand at this battle I would constantly go down with 20+ angels out of 36 remaining, then it got better with 15 angels left, and I eventually managed to make it alive *gasp* to the final 6! That's great improvement and it hopefully means that there's a chance of getting past this woooo but I hope that if I do succeed, 3-78 would be kinder, and by kinder I mean—for the love of God, for the love of all that is holy—NO. SCREAMING. ANGELS. At least, not batches upon batches of them because my God man, they just keep on coming

update XXX: I finally passeddddd God bless each member of my team for making this possible, but I extend special blessings to Marbas, Astaroth, Andrealphus and Satan lol Now onto the next battleeee

update XXXI: PASSED! THE H-SCENE IS SO CLOSE OH MY GOD sknfdbksk it's going to get it's own post, because I always have a LOT to say and a bunch of screenshots to share, more so when it comes to H-scenes, so...IT'S GONNA BE MAMMON ISN'T IT

update XXXII: angels are in the sky and the girl is busy being horny greedy how surprising

update XXXIII: yup it makes perfect sense that he would react to her thinking 'I hope that's mine' but fuck he's so cool

update XXXIV: excuse me, but...'your muscles'?

update XXXV: oh man that's kinda soft I love that he's so happy he fell silent

update XXXVI: dude he's so happy and he wants to hear her say that she wants him again that's so adorable wtf Mammonnnn

update XXXVII: sir! Be careful with my heart

update XXXVIII: ROFL BRUH NO I CANNOT And to make it even funnier? SQUISH SQUISH

update XXXIX: the H-scene is up next! I have no doubt about it now—it's Mammon this time. But Lord, I feel sort of nervous lmao my heart is acting weird and my stomach is going *knot knot* inspired by squish squish all this and I haven't even seen the intro screen to the scene for a hint yet lol ANYWAYS, LET ME GET TO IT IN ANOTHER POST BECAUSE I PROMISE, I WILL HAVE A LOT TO BLAB ABOUT SAY

update XXXX: Mammon was right about Leamas, apparently. Thought so...but I have a bunch of battles to beat before I can see what Leamas has to say, so good luck to me lol Because wow, now that I'm almost finished with Chapter 3, even the 'normal' battles have gotten considerably harder pls be nice, I have but one L card there's constantly 30+ angels, and many of them are usually the ones that shit spikes release spikes (honestly though, anything is better than the screaming ones which I'm sure are coming soon) and they're spawning fast, making up masses and hoards lmao it's hard depending on one character to save everyone else's asses, man so I'm sometimes having to repeat more than once to get by

10.1.2024

update XXXXI: so Leamas's real name is Samael and he and Nina love each other, and I'm assuming he was punished for that. I know angels have rules to abide by, but talk about unjust...

update XXXXII: guilty gems get an honorable mention today

update XXXXIII: Satan about to threaten Mammon if he were going to say that MC is his, followed by Mammon saying that he changed his mind since he decided to be MC's, and then MC being like 'that's new. Anyways, moving on'? lol

update XXXXIV: I. LOVE. SATAN <3

update XXXXV: Leamas took MC with him. Damn, I wonder what's going to happen now and where he's going to take her and Nina. Everyone is going to come to MC's rescue, there's no doubt about it, but what's gonna happen BEFORE THEY DO? I'm so excited though, I'm gonna start Chapter 4 in a few! At least, I hope I can then again, logically, the boss fights are always a lot easier than normal battles, so I should be good! (edit: DONE! Those human-looking angels are so cute lol they look like soft little dolls. I want one)

TIME FOR CHAPTER FOURRRRRR

edit: WHAT. THE??? AN H-SCENE. RIGHT AT THE BEGINNING OF CHAPTER 4. I CAN'T BELIEVE IT. IT HAS TO BE BIMET'S BECAUSE BELIAL IS STILL IN THE HOSPITAL OMFG AAAAAH SKNZBKDB

#whb #what in hell is bad #what in “hell” is bad #what in hell is bad diaries

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suffarustuffaru · 11 days

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What's your thoughts on Wish Upon a Sin by HoboWizard

like all the other times people have asked me for my opinions on fics, im gonna link the author/fic and explain the fic’s plot really quick - so the link to hobowizard's ao3 profile is here if youre interested in reading his stuff!!

so wish upon a sin, for those who dont know, is a fic where every time subaru dies, he goes back in time (like canon, yes) only - his save point never updates. it's stuck at when he first got isekaied into the fantasy world, meaning that every time he dies he loses a Shit Ton Of Progress. which is an Extremely fascinating plot and hobowizard is one of if not the most qualified writer for an idea That Ambitious HAH.

and that being said. i really really recommend reading hobo's fics in general for sure. ive read the first couple chapters for wish upon a sin Ages ago and 1. i dont have much time for everything anymore rip :< and 2. i struggle with focusing on things sometimes so i often dont read or finish longfics, so thats just the case for me with wish upon a sin and hobo's other longfic (so maybe im not 100% the target audience), but yes ive read the first couple chapters for each of those longfics a while back!! and i cannot recommend them enough.

wish upon a sin is absolutely gonna be the fic for you if you want a Very long fic thats plotty and centered around subaru that Really explores all the different avenues he can take - like this fic has a very strong premise and then explores it to the Absolute fullest!! i cannot praise it enough hah. its really good!!! and ill always be impressed with hobo's work.

i think my only real criticism (and like all the criticism i give for fics i mean it very Lightly, and also hobo's work is really good already so HAH) is that hobo's biggest strength is plot. he's really really good at complex plot and writing very plotty fics!! but there were a few times in the first chapters of wish upon a sin where i personally wished that the story got to slow down a bit and explore subaru's feelings more in depth. its touched on over and over in the story of course, which is great!! but for my own personal taste i couldnt Feel the full emotional impact bc the plot had to keep moving and moving, if that makes sense? :o and this is a pretty small criticism imo too haaah bc hobo's grammar, writing style, plot beats, general characterization, etc are all very solid. and im sure that, as with a lot of long fics, hobo's writing improves even more with every chapter of wish upon a sin so <3 and i can definitely attest to that given hobo's recent fic!!

anyway i know this ask is mainly about wish upon a sin but id like to also shoutout hobo's recent fic, which is a collab with rajvir - people who've been Around on rezero ao3 mightve seen rajvir a bit (he's commented on several fics in the past!) but yeah their fic return of the lion king is a long fic centered on the fourier, felix, crusch trio. which is a rarity in terms of english fic!! its also been updating pretty regularly so if youve liked hobo's work before and you find this fic interesting id recommend checking that out too :o theres soo so many characters in rezero and id love to keep seeing more in depth fic for more of the cast, so this fic is great to see!! :o

#in conclusion wish upon a sin is a great fic pls do look at hobo's other works :D #ask #rezero #re:zero

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daniel-profeta · 1 year

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top 10 songs of all time?

Changes everyday, but in no particular order some of my more consistent favorites are:

The front bottoms - Twin Sized Mattress

Car Seat headrest - Kimochi Warui *so many options here, but to pick one from this band...*

Tool - Lateralus

The Mountain Goats - Best Ever Death Metal Band Out of Denton

Phoebe Bridgers - I Know the End

Elliott Smith - King's Crossing

AJJ - People II The Reckoning

At this point I started to think harder about the songs that have meant the most to me throughout my life and as I've gotten older. For example, I like a lot of Bright Eyes songs more than First day, but that song has had way more impact on me. I play it all the time, the lyrics are permanently imprinted in my mind, and to me it's one of the most beautiful and vulnerable love songs ever written. With that in mind more and more "important" songs started coming to mind.

8. Alex G - Forever 9. Bright Eyes - First Day of My Life 10. Johnny Hobo - New Mexico Song

Now I have ten, that was easy.

Except...

I remembered that one Demarco song that makes me cry everytime I hear it. Got to include that. How many times have I listened to the Glow pt 2 during the summer? How could I leave off something from Porcupine Tree, the band that I once considered my favorite band of all time? So I kept going, through names and bands that I collect like emotional trophies, not wanting to leave anything out. They all mean so much, it's honestly pathetic. I used to hyperfixate on things like Zelda and Star Wars, then I found this shit and my brain chemistry has been altered ever since.

11. Mac Demarco - Moonlight on the River 12. Mitski - Texas Reznikoff 13. The Microphones - I Want the Wind to Blow 14. Pigeon Pit - Nights like These 15. Radiohead - Exit Music 16. The Crane Wives - Never Love an Anchor

Funny how quickly a song can feel like home. That Crane Wives song technically shouldn't even be here, I only heard it for the first time a few weeks ago. Yet maybe listening to it 30 times since qualifies it for consideration. Phoebe Bridgers has a lyric in one of her songs about wishing she had written something instead of the original artist, but she can't cause they said it first. So instead she'll learn their song and sing until the feverish inspired feeling fades away in a voyeuristic catharsis.

I think about that line constantly. Also quickly want to mention here that I'm more of an album guy. I try to listen to full records to try an experience the full piece of art the creator made. So while no song off The Downward Spiral is on my list of favorite songs, that was and is one of the most impactful albums to me as a teenager.

17. Porcupine Tree - Arriving Somewhere but not Here 18. XTC - Dear God 19. Wilco _ I am trying to break your heart 20. NIN - Burn 21. Lucy Dacus - Night Shift 22. Haley Heynderickx - Oom Sha La La 23. Swans - New Mind

Swans was hard, because there were a few songs that meant a lot to me. But ultimately there wasn't one more visceral or frankly more evil sounding than New Mind. Love the themes, love the singing style, love the backing yells, love the industrial outro, love the faint organ, love everything about that damn song.

The list kept getting longer, and for each song I was writing a paragraph to explain my choice lol. After the first like 15 I decided to stop doing that for the sake of your eyes and for risk of sounding redundant. But a major thing I love about some of these songs are how inspirational they are. Twin Sized Mattress, Denton Metal Band, Story of an Artist, they all paint a picture of the type of person I want to be. The type of art I will always support. The thing I hope to one day inspire in other people.

When you punish a person for dreaming their dream don't expect them to thank or forgive you. The best ever death metal band out of Denton, will in time both outpace and outlive you.

Those words could honestly save someone's life, it's crazy.

24. A Perfect Circle - Three Libras 25. Deftones - Rosemary 26. Frank Ocean - Ivy 27. November Suite - The Tower 28. Daniel Johnston - Story of an Artist 29. Sloppy Jane - Jesus and Your Living Room Floor 30. Big Thief - Not 31. Tyler the Creator - Boredom 32. Duster - The Landing 33. The Velvet Underground - Sunday Morning 34. The Voidz - Human Sadness 35 - 108. System of a Down - (every song) 109. Death Grips - Beware

Okay, threw these and now dozens more names are crowding my brain, and this incredibly pretentious post must come to an end. Long story short, I only have one song left to share, but each of these song has a very personal connection to me. Certain ones (like that tool song) actually changed the way I look at the world and helped me through dark periods of my life.

Many of them inspire me, some of them are just beautiful in a broken and real sorta way, and all of them feel human. The art represents something bigger than itself and the ambition knows no bounds. These songs changed my world for the better, and if you read this you are now obligated to listen to all of them.

I could ramble about music till the end of time:)

finally 110. 100 Gecs - Money Machine

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guttersniper · 6 days

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LIST 5 SONGS THAT INSPIRE YOU TO WRITE YOUR MUSE.

trouble's braids, tom waits

nature boy, nat king cole

running kind, merle haggard & the strangers

old man, neil young

the city of new orleans, arlo guthrie

bonus songs: the partisan, leonard cohen; hot and dirty in the city by labi siffre; you should've seen the other guy, nathaniel rateliff; hobo's lullaby, pete seeger + playlist

LIST 10 QUOTES THAT INSPIRE YOU TO WRITE YOUR MUSE.

try explaining a life bundled with episodes of this -- swallowing mud, swallowing glass, the smell of blood on the first four knuckles. -- richard siken

those years gaze up at me like a hound. the centuries watch as we walk off the sheer cliff of them. my eyes adjust to the dark, but my heart never. -- hua xi

one of the things i try to do: memorize the smallest, most mundane and ordinary, unprepossessing, and virtually invisible of physical moments: the look and feel of a certain wall at a certain time on a certain day. those walls, those little shacks, those cats in the sun: all that is lacking in self-consciousness i seek to hold in vision, memory. (simple composition, color tints, a wash of light, crumbled brick, cold shadow, stillness, rose-color dirt, a twitching whisker.) -- michelle anderson-binczak

people talk of "social outcasts." the words apparently denote the miserable losers of the world, the vicious ones, but i feel as though i have been a "social outcast" from the moment i was born. if ever i meet someone society has designated as an outcast, i invariably feel affection for him, an emotion which carries me away in melting tenderness. -- osamu dazai

he knew french and german. he knew the periodic table. he knew--as much as he didn't care to--large parts of the bible almost by memory. he knew how to help birth a calf and rewire a lamp and unclog a drain and the most efficient way to harvest a walnut tree and which mushrooms were poisonous and which were not and how to bale hay and how to test a watermelon, an apple, a squash, a muskmelon for freshness by thunking it in the right spot. (and then he knew things he wished he didn't, things he hoped never to have to use again, things that, when he thought of them or dreamed of them at night, made him curl into himself with hatred and shame.) -- hanya yanagihara

the girl fits her body into the space between the bed and the wall. she is a stalk, exhausted. she will do something with this. she will surround these bones with flesh. she will cultivate night vision. she will train her tongue to lie still in her mouth and listen. the girl slips into sleep. her dream is red and raging. she will remember to build something human with it. -- lucille clifton

what voice is this cut in the air as though a wound itself had speech / give her small hands / give her dark hair / give her a wound no word can reach -- christian wiman

what does it feel like to be lonely? it feels like being hungry: like being hungry when everyone around you is readying for a feast. it feels shameful and alarming, and over time these feelings radiate outwards, making the lonely person increasingly isolated, increasingly estranged. it hurts, in the way that feelings do, and it also has physical consequences that take place invisibly, inside the closed compartments of the body. it advances, is what i'm trying to say, cold as ice and clear as glass, enclosing and engulfing. -- olivia liang

maybe it’s better to have the terrible times first. i don’t know. maybe then, you can have, if you live, a better life, a real life, because you had to fight so hard to get it away--you know?--from the mad dog who held it in his teeth. but then your life has all those tooth marks, too, all those tatters and all that blood. -- james baldwin

out there where small things scratched and sometimes touched. where words could be spoken that would close your ears shut. where, if you were alone, feeling could overtake you and stick to you like a shadow. out there where there were places in which things so bad had happened that when you went near them it would happen again. -- toni morrison

bonus quotes: there is nothing in this story that’s not a dagger. (hieu minh nguyen); this may be unpleasant to consider, may even be a bad place to begin, but if there were a nicer way to tell this story it wouldn’t be this story. (catherine lacey); most of it happened without music, the clink of a spoon from the kitchen. / someone talking. silence. / someone sleeping. someone watching somebody sleep. (marie howe); look now: my heart is a fist of barbed wire. (analicia sotelo); now you wear your skin like iron and your breath as hard as kerosene. (townes van zandt); i seize on little things / you can tell a lot about people / by the way they comb their hair / or the way they don't look you in the eye. (nikki giovanni)

#i could write sooooo much more #but i stopped myself #guys!! do this! do this guys! you guys!#hc.

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fourseasonsfigs · 11 months

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The Old King is Dead, Long Live the King

We're finishing up what has turned into a Wen Kexing week with bang. A bit of a gore warning on this post, both for fig blood and movie-scene blood. There's also some disturbing subtext here, depending on how you read this scene.

The scene that inspired this fig is from Episode 21, when some of the 10 Devils are recounting how Lunatic Wen deposed the previous Ghost Valley Master to become the new Ghost Valley master. And by "deposed", they mean, "skinned the old Ghost Valley Master alive". We're treated to a short flashback of this event through Changing Ghost's eyes:

The director's approach to this scene is pretty intense. This is no kingmaker power scene - from this perspective, it's not even a scene of revenge. Instead of some overpowered, unstoppably triumphant, bloody conqueror, we see a young, dirty, barely dressed man, covered in patches of blood, with the glassy, thousand-yard stare of someone living through their own personal nightmare.

Below are some photos of some of the scene that was cut from the final version. I'm assuming the bloody corpse of the old Ghost Valley Master was too gory for TV.

He looks traumatized and exhausted. He's got like one and a half layers on. His belt is just a strip of fabric and knotted in a tie so plain and utilitarian it's like I tied it. Hobo-Xu wore more clothes than this. The only thing that's in any way actually publically presentable is his hair, which you can see was originally neatly arranged (there's actually a braid in the front) and adorned with his hairpin. This is about as stark and non-glamorous as a scene as I could possibly imagine for someone taking both revenge and a throne. Full kudos to the directors and Gong Jun.

Our young Wen Kexing arrived safely in his protective box. Which is good, since for sure this poor guy doesn't need any more damage.

The fig arrived with the heads of his enemies, but not in his hands.

At his feet, where they belong. We have our choice here of two corpses.

Canonically, I had to have him hold the old Ghost Valley Master, of course. I'll leave the other corpse at this fig's feet on my display shelf.

The hair knot of the old Ghost Valley Master looks like it should fit tightly in Wen Kexing's hand, but it does not. It fits well, shape wise, but it's so loose it doesn't hold at all. I tried using some museum putty, but the putty isn't sticky enough and the cream/white of it shows through. I was going to glue it, but then decided there was enough room to try a sliver of a fig sticker instead, so that's what you see here. This seemed to work perfectly - the fig sticker filled in the loose gap.

The fig maker sure captured that thousand-yard stare. This fig looks as traumatized as Wen Kexing looked in the show.

No printed box for this one, but we do have a box card:

I like the blood red background of Ghost Valley the fig maker has here.

Speaking of the Ghost Valley, the background to my header picture actually is Ghost Valley. It's from the official art book / photo book from the show. I wanted to take a pic against the burning tree, but the photo in the book was too small.

We'll have a happier fig post tomorrow, I promise!

Material: Resin and the bodies and blood of his enemies

Fig Count: 392

Scene Count: 27

Rating: Sometimes karma comes in the form of Wen Kexing

[link back to Master Fig Index for more posts]

#wen kexing #ghost valley master #word of honor #word of honor merch #gong jun #figthusiast #episode 21

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