#it does impact the way i write these chars

[fairytale-poll]

CINDERPOLL FINAL MATCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Propaganda Under the Cut:

Ella of Frell:

She’s had a “gift” of obedience placed on her, and her quest is to figure out how to get rid of it. I love her

he’s under a curse that makes her obey any order given to her. She met her Prince Charming (Char) when they kids, and they became friends. Her stepsisters found out about her curse while they were at boarding school, and because of that (and some things they made her do) she ran away to try and find the fairy that cursed her. When she does, the fairy says that she doesn’t do magic anymore, because she realized her gifts were actually curses, and refuses to remove it. Ella goes back, and is eventually demoted from “lord’s daughter” to “maid”. She still writes letters to Char (currently in a foreign kingdom, but before that, when he came to try and talk to her, her sister forbid her from leaving her room so she would have all his attention), but eventually stops and even writes a fake letter from her sister to convince him that she never cared/doesn’t care about him, because she realized it would be too dangerous for them to be together; with her curse, she could easily be made to hurt or kill him. Flash forward, and Char returns home. The king throws balls, and she goes, because even if she can’t be with or let him know who she is, she just wants to see him again. Char is drawn to her, and for a lot of the three balls, they’re together. At the end, her stepsister gets jealous, and right as Char proposes (because Ella, despite having to lie about her identity, is the most honest person at the ball and a friend already), she grabs her mask, revealing her identity. Char reaches her home before she can leave, and there’s a whole scene where he finds out she’s a scullery maid, that the letter was a lie, and says that she doesn’t have to be Ella if she doesn’t want to be, and she says she’s not, and he asks if she loves him, and she does– and then it’s all ruined because he accidentally orders her to marry him, and then her stepmother tells her to, and all the while she’s fighting the curse, because she doesn’t want to endanger him and their nation, and doesn’t want her step family to be rich and powerful, and finally– she says no. She gets so excited to say no, to refuse, that she didn’t even fully realize she broke the curse until Mandy (her fairy godmother) tells her. Anyway, they all lived happily ever after. Ella is one of my favorite Cinderellas ever and I really hope I did a good job of explaining her and what her story is about (it’s been a while since I’ve read the book)

I was so enraptured with this book as a kid, it had such an impact on my young mind. Got me into fantasy.

BEST CINDERELLA!!! please use the picture from the book cover and not the movie 🙏

She breaks her curse spell in such a magnificent way. Like yes she embodies the whole “kindness” and “courageous” characteristics that Cinderellas are known for, but for her she’s been forced to be obedient as well. And while she thinks can rise above anything she soon learns she will just hurt so many more people that way. She chose to be self-sacrificing because it was the one way she could express her love that wouldn’t harm anyone (then). But! But! She also ends up getting to be selfish! And that is also a great kindness! To herself and to those whom love her and she loves in return.  All that after she breaks the curse.

She can mimic languages. :) She refused to marry the love of her life and thus broke her curse. :) She fell in love via letters. :) She lied to the royal family that orange carriages are very popular in a nearby city.

brave, smart, a linguist, a nerd, she evolves steadily and beautifully throughout the book, with a sharp voice that never stops being distinctive and fun to hang with.

complex character coool as fuck premise and also. the nostalgia of it all

Cinders:

She spent decades searching every moon and planet trying to find her wife (Rose), who was kidnapped on their wedding day. Eventually, she found Rose, and they embraced, only for Rose to die in Cinder’s arms. And so Cinder killed the king who had kidnapped Rose by punching through his chest and into his heart.

And then Cinder got a somewhat happy ending, in which she met Rose’s clone who had Rose’s memories.

What if Cinderella was a Sci-Fi lesbian? Well here she is. She has a whole love song about searching the stars for her girlfriend after their wedding was interrupted and she was taken away. She spends years searching only to when she finally finds and embraces her watch her be shot. Cinders is so devastated by this that she plunges her wedding ring into the heart of the man who shot her love killing him.

Lesbian space princess who elopes with the terrifying soldier who was previously conquering her planet and spends decades searching for her when they’re separated. Listen to her song https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6w9V-gMgBF4

I think the way she punches the evil king through the heart as revenge for her wife is pretty neat.

She’s a revolutionary married to a woman, what’s not to love? From Cinders’ Song: “ When I was a little girl, my mother always told me / “Someday your prince will come, my love” / But as I grew, I knew it was a princess who would hold me”.

her girlfriend got cloned and most of said clones were brutally slaughtered in war and she searched for her girlfriend all throughout the galaxy and when they were finally reunited on the battlefield her girlfriend died. and a clone of her girlfriend who due to technical errors retained her memories, so does that count as the same girlfriend? theseus’s girlfriend? anyway vote for cinders she’s been through hell

Lesbian!! Has to search for her lost love Rose with her glass wedding ring that changes color when its near its partner!! Gets to embrace Rose once again for one final moment before the villain kills Rose right in front of her!! So Cinders kills him in return!! And she’s left as (almost) the only surviving main character from her own album but!! She is eventually reunited with a clone of Rose, and while they cannot have a truly ‘happy ever after’ together they are the ones graced with the closest thing to it

SPACE LESBIANS (she’s in love with Rose Red, who gets kidnapped on their wedding day and Cinders searches the galaxy to find her, waiting for her white ring to turn crimson, indicating that its twin was near) She took her name from the ashes of her burning planet <3 She also killed Old King Cole >:)

shes a tragic lesbian and killed a violent dictator shes literally the best

shes gay shes traumatized she dates both rose red and sleeping beauty. badass space wanderer looking for her wife

Her wife Rose gets kidnapped on their wedding day and Cinders spend the next thirty years looking for her. She finds her (:D) and then Rose dies (D:) and then Cinders kills the guy who killed Rose (girlboss).

shes a lesbian. she lost her wife, Rose (yes, as in sleeping beauty) the day they got married bc she was kidnapped. she spent 20 YEARS looking for her. as soon as she found her wife, Rose DIED IN HER ARMS. Cinders has gone through Too Much to lose this poll

(Her info from the wiki) the Princess of a planet burnt by King Cole’s army, after it is ceded by her stepmother. She is imprisoned, meets Rose and plans to marry her. She is released by her godmother for the wedding, then flees when the attack happens, spending thirty years looking for Rose. Her half of the wedding ring will light up when she finds Rose.

“When I was a little girl, my mother always told me 'Someday your prince will come, my love’ But as I grew, I knew it was a princess who would hold me I looked to the stars for you, my love” She’s lesbian Cinderella IN SPACE. She fell in love with her wife in prison and they ran away to have a secret marriage but the empire kidnapped Rose on their wedding night and Cinders had to leave her behind. She searches for Rose for decades with the glass ring that guides her to its twin on her wife’s finger. She finally reunites with her love after Rose rips three supersoldiers to pieces with her bare hands (hot) but then then the evil king kills Rose so Cinders fucking punches through his heart. And then a clone of Rose (who is also lesbian Sleeping Beauty IN SPACE) finds her cradling her wife’s body and they have a happy reunion(?) and maybe they didn’t have a happy ending BUT WHAT IF THEY HAD EACH OTHER? HUH? AAAAAH

she’s everything. she’s a princess from a long since conquered planet. she was imprisoned to make a statement of the brutal reign of old king cole. she met her wife while she was in prison, a beautiful brutal soldier covered in scars from battles. cinders and rose fell in love, so cinders’ godmother in white broke her out of jail so rose and cinders could be together. they were going to be married, except that OLD KING COLE intervened and kidnapped rose to make her the genetic base of his unholy army. so cinders spends THIRTY YEARS searching the galaxies for her love (and sings a really cool song about it called “Cinders’ Song”) until finally she arrives during the final battle just in time to see old king cole SHOOT ROSE DEAD. so cinders punches the king so hard (with her wedding ring) that he just Crumples Into Dust. the end! (no we do not talk about the fiction.)

lesbian, for one, and for two i don’t really care i just think it’d be cool if she got in/if she made it past the first round

no one seems to have linked cinder’s song yet, so here [Link]

better yet, listen to the whole album too, for context and also what comes after. it slaps and also tragedy it’s such a good album suhc a good band too

Someone already sent the song as propaganda, so I will provide SPOILER propaganda. [Click link to see spoilers.]

[Link]

#cinderpoll #round 7 #finals #ella of frell #ella enchanted #gail carson levine #cinders #once upon a time in space #the mechanisms #cinderella #fairytale #poll tournament #poll bracket #character polls #polls

[yanxidarlings]

YANDERE POLY BROMIGOS HEADCANONS (ftwd)

because i took a break from ftwd at season 3 and i'm not confident enough to write for twd yet but i want angst and misery and want i it now

to refresh your memory the "bromigos" are brandon's group (brandon luke, derek, james mcallister, chris manawa) from season 2 that got chris killed. What can I say I like POS minor characters 🤡

BUT let's just say, hypothetically, instead of putting James down, they chuck him in the back of the truck and jus say "if he bleeds out he bleeds out if he doesn't he doesn't", but chris still crashes the truck and darling is there to prevent everyone's deaths 😮

• maybe the darling had followed travis and chris from madison's group or maybe they were apart of brandon's group. heck, they could even have been staying with the mexican guy at the farm. either way, they convince the others to spare the bullet and let nature take it's course with james.

• so the group packs up the truck and sets off. eventually chris gets his turn driving and that's when it all goes to shit. the vehicle smashes in a tree, flipping on it's side in the process, brandon and derek get out with pretty minor injuries, cuts to the head and a sprained wrist.

• james and chris on the other hand are doing pretty bad. on with shards of glass in his leg and the bone sticking out, the other with his gunshot wound worsened by the impact. the darling came out with a small concussion, having been in the back with james.

"look at them!, they're as good as dead. they'll be nothing but extra weight on us" brandon pointed his shotgun at james's head, ignoring the others plea's for mercy. m/n shot the other a sharp glare, raising his brows "oh. i get it" he sighed, lowering his pistol, "so if you were also injured you would hold up the same principle?"

"i'm not injured and since when have you been in char-" BANG. before brandon could finish his sentance, a loud crack sounded. and he was on the ground, his calf now covered in blood. "what the fuck man" "oh look there, derek, he's deadweight now, should we put him down?" m/n quipped, turning towards the only other uninjured member of the group, who was staring at him wide-eyed.

• shooting brandon might not have been the best decision in the long run, as walkers were slowly making their way towards the scene. derek was forced to help james and brandon hobble their way back to the farm - or the closest functioning vehicle. whilst m/n found a piece of tarp and dragged chris along on it.

• out of all of them, brandon hated m/n the most. who does he think he is? but he was also kind of weirdly attracted to the guy. if they weren't in the middle of an apocalypse he'd never even consider what he was nor would he find another male attractive. he'd used to make fun of the gay kids in highschool!

• but it's not like there are many options these days. at some point he tells the reader this, but all that came out of it was a concussion from the slap he received.

• his growing fondness evolved into obsession as the weeks go by and he begins to realise how much of an asset to the group the reader really is. he's the kind of person that would survive and thrive in this world, so much so that other survivors are going to want to steal him away from the group. like hell brandons going to let that happen.

• he used to think the other three were a bunch of gay sissy's, but now he too constantly grills the reader when he tries to go on runs, spends too much time alone or interacts with another survivor.

• after the whole crash fiasco, derek is straight up terrified of m/n. and is of the belief that he would belong in a mental hospital if society hadn't collapsed. as the only other uninjured member of the group, he's forced to take up alot of the slack. he goes on runs with and helps m/n secure the farm, he believes he's much closer to the reader because of this. which is what kickstarts his obsession.

• derek is under the belief that he's m/n's favourite of the group, otherwise he would have shot him as well, right? he does some mental gymnastics which arrive him at the assumption that m/n is definitely into him.

• wouldn't usually be his thing but nor would shooting people. the apocalypse changes you. so he kinda just starts.. acting like he's much closer to the reader than he actually is. mf takes his shirt off whilst on a run, thinking he's doing m/n a service.

• "put a shirt on" "it's boiling out here bro" "you might as well write walker bait on there"

• honestly james was into m/n after one look. it only got worse when he was saved from being put down twice. like derek he is fully under the impression that the reader is into him. but is much less subtle (if you could call derek's approach subtle).

• whenever m/n is attending to his wound, james is shamelessly flirting. and then he wonders why the reader is being less gentle when reapplying the gauze. he exaggerates his condition to the reader and is constantly demanding something "you couldn't look for something to drink when your out there? i'd share some with you ;)"

• when his injury starts to heal he only comes on more strong; unprompted 'bro hugs' (m/n could probably press charges), jumping on m/n during the middle of the night (and getting mistaken for a walker 😵), 'sharing' a piece of chocolate m/n brought him (the busted lip took two weeks to heal)

• but he takes it all in relative stride, and thinks m/n has some underlying psychological issues that need to be addressed.

• chris thinks m/n should have just killed the other three so it could just be the two of them. he hates sharing the readers attention with literally anything and anyone. but he's not exactly in a position to get rid of them, as the most injured out of the bunch.

• whilst he starts off as just possessive, as he gets more mobile and more obsessed with the darling, he becomes overwhelmingly violent. towards the others, towards the darling. he can't stand being rejected, and whilst the other three kind of just laugh the readers blatant disgust with their advances off, chris won't stand for it.

• "do you think your better than me?" chris jumps to the worst conclusions when m/n won't lay next to him, ect. you're planning on abandoning me just like my dad did, you're just using me to find your family, you're a sadistic piece of shit. he swings between shyly and violently affectionate, leaving m/n on the edge.

• out of all of them, chris is the quickest to go full-blown yandere. like brandon he becomes abhorrently possessive of m/n, knowing that there are probably better options out there for him.

• the only thing that keeps them, or chris and brandon, from killing everyone else in the group, is the knowledge that they have an advantage in numbers. brandon is well aware m/n could probably kill him 1 v 1 but 4 v 1 and m/n's chances of escaping are pretty slim.

• but just because they have silently agreed not to kill each other does not mean they have an active agreement. sure if they catch m/n trying to escape they'll break his arm but does anyone have a specific day they get to spend with him and is there any official relationship between m/n and any of them? not that m/n knows of.

• but it's not like any of them take no for an answer, no matter how many times they come onto him and get wrecked rejected they just go back stronger the next time. as a bunch of hormonal young men in the middle of mexico with no one else in sight the reader is kind of fucked here.

• now is the reader in any particular danger with this group? just a lil bit. nowhere near as much as other survivors they come across are. doesn't matter if m/n is compassionate and offers to take them in, he'll find them as walkers in the barn the next day.

• BUT on the brightside when it comes to decision making for the groups well being, you, dear reader, have the final say. they reluctantly recognise that they owe their livelihood to the reader for knowing a questionable amount of survival knowledge.

#yandere the walking dead #yandere fear the walking dead #yandere twd #yandere ftwd #chris manawa #yandere chris manawa #twd #ftwd #ftwd headcanons #ftwd yandere #ftwd x reader #ftwd fanfic #chris manawa x reader #chris manawa headcanons #brandon luke #derek ftwd #james mcallister #kenny wormald #kelly blatz had no gifs so here's the next best fc #tom cruise #lorenzo james henrie #israel broussard #wtf did i just write #twd x male reader #twd x reader #twd fanfiction #the walking dead fanfiction

[artbyblastweave]

Team Fortress Two: Parahumans Edition

Like eight different people asked about the specific powers I had in mind for the wormverse iteration of Team Fortress. Here’s the reddit write-up, updated and expanded, now with additional Ms. Pauling and Administrator.

(Read more under the cut; this absolutely got the hell away from me. This is so so long)

The Scout: The Youngest of Nine Brothers, The Scout triggered as a One-upmanship thinker/brute/changer; his power is the manifestation of “anything you can do, I can do better.” He can designate a broad area of human endeavor- usually, the extremely broad field of "athletics"- and, after a few hours of practice, will become slightly more competent at it than the most competent person in his company. Applying this power within his family dynamic bumped him up to about the level of an Olympic athlete. In the company of eight other parahumans his athleticism pushes into the superhuman, allowing him to make impossible standing jumps and run at the pace of a slow-moving car for hours on end without tiring.

Scout is loosely aware of his power, but he isn't aware that he can consciously apply it to anything other than his physicals, and furthermore hasn't caught on to the scaling mechanic at play. This has enabled his Casanova wannabe tendencies, as he subconsciously uses his power to become slightly more socially competent and charming than whoever he's currently attempting to woo. The emphasis, though, is on slightly- Scout’s power is optimized for groups approximately the size of the one that prompted his trigger event. In extremely small groups- three or less- his enhancements, physical, social or intellectual, tend to short out at inconvenient times, and if he currently associates himself with a truly massive group, his power simply doesn’t activate. The defining element is scrutiny- his power is nothing without an audience that Scout, on some level, esteems. 

The Soldier: An anti-GesselSchaft vigilante who was motivated to travel to Europe and attack the group in the mid-90s out of a rabid patriotism mixed with an “End-of-History” Ennui, soldier triggered after his incredibly poorly-planned attack on the group-which went well at first due to sheer dumb luck- ended when he tried to escape from a burning, Nazi-infested hovercraft using a homemade bedsheet parachute. Torn between panic at his impending splattering and his heartfelt conviction that his plan was utterly foolproof, Soldier triggered with a subtle but versatile brute/breaker power that shields him from harm in direct proportion to how bad of an idea his plan was.

The result of Soldier’s power is that an enormous number of incredibly stupid game plans are lubricated and made viable for The Soldier, and only for The Soldier, and never for the reason that he thinks his plan is currently working. His power shields him from the incidental blast damage of using high-explosive weaponry at unsafe ranges, it allows him to blast jump hundreds of yards with only minimal charring, and in addition it’ll shift his weight and density on the fly to make the bad landings less impactful. Blasting a horn to “rally the troops and strike fear into the hearts of his enemies” has limited effect on morale, but it does temporarily render him resistant to the smattering of gunfire now headed his way. Less overtly, it allows him to survive on a diet of expired rations and keep overtly rabid Racoons as pets with no ill effects.

 Soldier survived his trigger event with only a sprained ankle and has yet to realize that his power is more complicated than a simple low-level brute rating; This largely due to the fact that a mental complication of his always-on breaker-state is that he’s literally psychologically incapable of self-critique, and thus always barreling forwards in search of a plan so patently awful that even his power won’t be able to cover the deficit.

The Spy: Soldier was in fact a brute-oriented ping of a more-mature European cape, The Spy, who was also in the Gesellschaft base that day on an unrelated job. The Spy has a stranger power that increases the efficacy of his disguises in direct proportion to how unconvincing they are. The use of a paper mask with someone's likeness on it is sufficient to convince viewers that The Spy looks exactly like that person. Not that he is that person, mind you, but that he looks exactly like them; the effect doesn’t extend to his voice, and shatters if he attempts to do anything that the person he’s impersonating wouldn’t be physically capable of doing.

Unique on the team in that he’s actually very good at mercenary work and spycraft sans powers, Spy triggered midway through his career when a job went south and he was forced to attempt a “knock-them-out-and-take-their-clothes” gambit on a guard with a comically ill-fitting uniform. Spy actively resents his power, feeling that it forces him to make a mockery of his distinguished profession and behave like a boorish amateur, and providing him only marginally better coverage than the ill-fitting uniform should he face real scrutiny. Indeed, Spy is only really effective because he combines his power with a genuine talent for martial arts and sabotage; he got more of a power boost from the access and connections being a middling parahuman provided him than from the power itself, and he benefits massively in the field by being surrounded by a group of massively flashy morons who distract from his flimsy disguises.

The Heavy. A Russian dissident arrested on trumped-up charges of being an unregistered parahuman, along with his entire immediate family. After orchestrating a breakout from a Red Gauntlet internment camp, he triggered  during the grueling trek to a pre-arraigned extraction point, pushing himself to collapse after giving all his rations to his ailing family. 

Misha triggered with a brute power that exaggerates positive input on his body. Eating a spoonful of food meets his caloric needs for a week, eating a normal meal induces an extremely powerful short-term healing factor, consistent low-level exercise makes him strong enough to carry an artillery weapon free-hand, and various medications work positive effects on him almost instantly (in line with his own perceptions of what the medications ought to be doing!) While essentially set for life himself, his power does nothing to meet the needs of those around him; this pushes Misha to throw himself on the grenade as often as possible in order to resolve situations quickly and keep those he views as under his protection out of the line of fire. Misha is a major driver of Scout’s power, and his innate receptivity to medical intervention also gives him good power synergy with....

The Medic. An Implant Tinker, Dr. Humbolt is capable of building almost any kind of tinkertech device imaginable, as long as the device is mostly or completely embedded inside a living person. This includes the normal set of Bonesaw-like durability enhancements, bone reinforcements, organ meshes and the like, but it also extends to more esoteric technologies like teleportation recall modules, internally-mounted skin-tight forcefield generators, and (in one-notable case) rapid onset clone gestation within the target host. 

At one time a decently competent transplant surgeon, the medic triggered after being abducted by Gesellschaft and forced over the course of weeks to try and implant looted tinker tech into other captives. (Gesellschaft had no real expectation that this would work; it was as part of an experiment in causing a tinker trigger.) This culminated in a kludged implant backfiring and vaporizing both the current patients skeleton AND the supervising Gesellschaft doctor; resulting in a do-or-die sense that he either had to come up with something his captors would find usable NOW or get shot to death. He was saved from having to respond to the situation only by the soldier falling through the skylight wrapped in a makeshift bedsheet parachute.

Medic’s power has a surface-level armorfaceyness to it; he triggered because he couldn’t make tinkertech implants and got a power that let him successfully make tinkertech implants. Under the surface, however, his power is laced through with an allergy to respectable, replicable procedure, which he actually valued fairly heavily pre-trigger; he triggered as part of what (he) perceived to be a search for a process but instead got a trigger that let him jump straight to a successful outcome, that he himself has limited under-the-hood understanding of. There’s no process he can figure out that will make his captors let him go; there’s no innovation he can make that can become general industry practice; there’s no way to divest himself from his work. His singularly useful ability forces him to constantly append himself to cape teams that can protect him and act as vectors for his technology, lest someone press-gang him into circumstances similar to that of his trigger event. This has had deleterious effects on his mental health and professionalism; why bother taking shit seriously if it’s almost certain to pan out agreeably? All else being equal, why not do buckwild shot-in-the-dark things with whale glands and baboon uteri? In for a penny, In for a pound.

The Engineer:  Dell Conagher was an early beneficiary of the “skateboard trick” tech boom instigated by the tinkers; prior to his trigger, his small, fly-by-night engineering firm was able to make a small fortune by observing shard-enabled robotics in the field and then working backwards to create extremely advanced conventional prosthetics, automatons and security systems based on observed principles. Unfortunately, a search for funding brought him into the orbit of the nascent Elite; a subsequent falling out lead to Conagher’s remote workshop coming under siege from a group of Elite legbreakers. Rather than a straightforward smash-and-grab, the Elite sent a group of strangers, night-hag-style environmental breakers, and movers, intended to harass Conagher into insanity over days or weeks; the goal was to send a message. They’d unfortunately failed to account for the fact that Conagher was completely insane and had wired his house and workshop to the gills with security countermeasures and booby-traps, resulting in an extended tit-for-tat siege. Although he put up a decent fight, Conagher’s limited countermeasures began to run dry, and he triggered out of fear that he’d overcommitted, that he’d overestimated his own ability to counter parahuman abilities through conventional engineering, and that they were going to take everything that he’d worked so hard to build.

A Siege Tinker. Conagher specializes in building resource-Un-intensive, quick-to-deploy, hardy, easy-to repair defensive emplacements, and emplacements that make it easier to repair other emplacements, such as teleporters and dispensers; his combat specialty is squeezing blood from a stone, lowering the overhead of committing to, or retreating from, a fight. The tradeoff is that he has extreme difficulty expanding the total number of discreet emplacements included in his set-up, having a much easier time iterating upon and gaining razor-thin margins on the performance of his handful of existing devices; working down the alternative tech tree of a weaponized prothesis delayed his progress for years in other areas, and his power curtailed his ability to think about non-tinkertech designs without his thoughts drifting back to his defensive emplacements.  His power solved his inability to defend his valuable work by sharply curtailing how much work he can do that’s valuable enough to need defending.

The Pyro. An individual of imprecise origin and ambiguous gender, The Pyro was Dell Conagher’s business partner, bodyguard, and possibly either his ward or his relative. Noted for never appearing in public outside of their full body protective gear and gas mask; ostensibly related to their work with Dell’s company as a chemical engineer, although it was commented on more than a little that they apparently never took it off. 

The Pyro was caught up in the siege that caused Dell’s trigger event was in charge of running maintenance on Dell's various defensive measures during the seige, both before and after his trigger event, as well as contributing jury-rigged incendiary weapons to flush out the encroaching strangers. However, the stress of playing whack-a-mole refueling the more energy-intensive machines under fire caused them to trigger with a bud from their associate. The Pyro is a shaker with the ability to increase the longevity and energy output of chemical reactions within a certain radius. Pyro is a lowercase t tinker, using an arsenal of makeshift incendiary weaponry only made practical by their power. Their homemade flamethrowers can be fired continuously for hours, and the fires they set burn abnormally long. In their hands, a flare gun or a can of gasoline gains output equivalent to a military firebomb. If they superheat a blade, it'll retains that heat for hours on end. Crucially, their mere presence in a vehicle allows it to run for thousands of miles on fumes. 

The Pyro’s powerset is nominally complementary to that of the engineer; much of his tinkertech was built in conversation with Pyro’s ability to enhance the battery life and fuel efficiency. The downside, though, is that the power induces a Burnscar-adjacent form of delusional pyromania. When using their power at a low burn, Pyro is calmed and mildly elated; when using their power to amp up explosions and wipe away intruders in a cleansing fire, Pyro is both Euphoric and detached from reality. This is because, as a response to Pyro’s immediate situation, the intended use of the power is a knot-cutting, scorched-earth anti-stranger measure, meant to flood an environment with heat that burns hot enough and long enough to scour all life, probably at the cost of whatever (abstract, probably not really worth it) value you were defending that area over in the first place. Anything Pyro does with the power that’s more subtle than that is downstream of their continued attachment to their partner.

The Sniper. The brainchild of an undersea tinker collective off the coast of New Zealand, The Sniper had a rough go of it as a kid. His mother, a callous fermentation tinker, modified his biology so that all of his excretions were violently acidic and lightly alcoholic, essentially making him a bargain bin Newter. Then his father, a propulsion tinker, loaded him into a rocket to see if he'd designed a user interface intuitive enough that a three-year-old could operate it.

He hadn't. At the age of three, Sniper triggered with a thinker power related to calculating the angles and trajectories of moving objects in times of great chaos and stress. His newfound abilities allowed him to merely crashland in the Australian outback instead of plowing into Ayers rock and dying instantly. He roamed the bush as an urban legend until he was adopted by a pair of kindly farmers. Although his power proved almost useless for competitive shooting in a controlled environment, he realized at a young age that reckless, life-or-death attacks on the local wildlife brought out the best in his abilities, and eventually realized that he had the chops to cut it as a mercenary in the States. A loner by nature and inclination, the fact that his power only functions optimally when things have gone to hell essentially forced him into the company of Team Fortress, whose baseline idiocy provides a comfortable cushion for his power.

The Demoman. Originally a competent but unpowered demolitions expert, The Demoman triggered with a bud of The Soldier's power after an ill-advised drinking game between the two of them was interrupted by a surprise Behemoth attack, which Demo was then forced to face with a bad case of alcohol poisoning. Prior to meeting Soldier, Demoman’s life had been defined by aggressive mercenary rigor, inculcated by and shaped in reaction to strict militant parents. He drew firm lines in the sand in regard to his work-life balance, never letting the boisterous party-animal tendencies he formed out of rebellion leak into the strict hours he kept as a mercenary, until Soldier finally wore him down during a middle-of-nowhere-shit-shift. His trigger was thus heavily influenced by a sense that the first time he’d ever indulged himself while on-call had been smacked down hard by a karmically-inclined universe.

In addition to increasing his overall durability, Demo’s Brute/Thinker power causes his aim, courage under fire and overall competence to scale up to superhuman levels based while intoxicated.... and to sap to below what he was capable of pre-trigger when he's sober. His power carried him through the crisis of his trigger event with ease, but now forces him to constantly mix business with pleasure, constantly drinking on the job to maintain any semblance of competence. An additional complication of the power- which took some time to become obvious- is that any information or skills that Demo acquires while either drunk or sober becomes gated, hazy and slippery while in the opposite state, resulting in an almost Severance-like dichotomy of personhood. The sheer amount of personally important events that have happened to him on the job thus encourage Demo to stretch his buzz further and further outside of work-hours, pulverizing his ability to effectively compartmentalize or maintain a work-life balance; turning him into the always-on-call hypercompetent soldier they wanted in a way his still-living mother finds repugnant.

The inaugural Team Fortress lineup was formed in the aftermath of the shitshow at the Gesselschaft base; Soldier, Medic and Spy were joined by Heavy, who had been hired by Spy’s handlers in the EU as a last-ditch extraction option should things go south in the exact way Soldier caused them to. The swath of carnage the quartet generated during their escape both demonstrated their power synergies AND painted them as a unit in the eyes of Gesselschaft and the collective parahuman underworld, incentivizing them to hang together out of self-preservation. After returning to the States following a running fight through Europe against Gesselschaft, the Team picked up The Engineer and The Pyro when the duo hired them for a retaliatory strike on the Elite’s southwestern holdings, picked up Scout while cooling their heels from that stunt in the Northeast, were approached by Sniper after becoming a sufficiently-renowned laughingstock that he realized the potential power synergy, and finally picked up Demo for a gig that required a bomb guy and then just sort of kept him around.

The team became truly untouchable, however, after they picked up Ms. Pauling.

Ms. Pauling is a buck-passing Thinker; She has a PTV-style ability to redirect the fallout, blame for, and censure of wrongdoing; in any given situation, she knows who to throw under the bus in such a way that she’ll walk away clean. She knows what evidence she has to plant, and where, and what steps she needs to take to make sure she isn’t fingered while executing the frame job; she knows what to say, and in what intonation, to make people believe or at least not interrogate her transparently flimsy alibis. Her power works best when actively and intentionally used to someone else's detriment, although it can muddle through if there’s no obvious scapegoat for a disaster besides Ms. Pauling herself. The Primary beneficiary of Ms. Pauling’s power is Ms. Pauling; however, she’s capable of expanding her self-conception to include any organization or group of people she’s reasonably attached to, folding them into her getaway plans. A born company woman, Ms. Pauling labored for years prior to her trigger as an assistant at an international industrial concern whose corporate ethos she truly believed in; she spent years smoothing over scandals and allegations of corporate malfeasance in good faith, only to realize when it was too late that by making her the relentlessly loyal face of the company’s crisis response, her bosses had deliberately maneuvered her into position as a scapegoat when the bottom inevitably fell out and the SEC closed in; her attempts to throw her bosses under the bus using her new power was thrown off by her ingrained subconscious attachment to the company, resulted in her coverup mostly bouncing off and destroying the lives of hapless third parties; this incited a break into moral nihilism on Pauling’s part.

In the aftermath of her trigger, Pauling was recruited by a powerful Cauldron Cape known as The Administrator. The administrator was a Master/Brute who could stave off her terminal illness by visually observing violent conflict; the act of observing the conflict would also increase the bloodlust and durability of all observed participants while also stunting their critical thinking skills. The Administrator used her immense inherited corporate wealth (with which she had purchased the cauldron vial) to funnel dozens of powered and unpowered mercenary teams into pointless scrimmages over utterly useless remote properties through a host of shell companies so that she could feed off their violence via a mass surveillance wall; Team Fortress was one of many teams pulled into the set-up. Pauling was tasked with using her power to cover up the immense corporate malfeasance necessary for the plan to work; she was strung along with the promise that the immense violence was in service of a higher purpose this time. (This was partially true; the op was Cauldron-enabled and guided, with the intention of generating an experience mill for villains and mercenaries.) Pauling fell into Team Fortresses orbit because they both made good scapegoats for her power AND frequently got into jams that the Administrator would order her to get them out of; when the Administrators’ set-up inevitably imploded, Pauling remained attached to the team as an unofficial tenth member for a lack of anywhere better to go.

In the years following the end of the Gravel Wars, Team Fortress has roamed North America as a subdued mirror of the Slaughterhouse 9. Mildly heroic if mercenary in their ambitions, there’s no situation they can’t make worse through their cartoonish disregard for consequences, and no consequences that Pauling can’t find a way to make everyone else's problem. The team maintains a strange doublethink brand-image; they’re small-timers, they’re harmless, they’re clowns, they’re unstoppable, they’ve never failed a job (never succeeded, either.) You don’t want them involved; you want them on your side if they ARE involved. They fight for the highest bidder; they almost always end up fighting the highest bidder; you can hire them, but you shouldn’t, but you’ll only learn that the hard way because thanks to Ms. Pauling the story at the end of each job is never, ever about how the team is a risky hire.

#parahumans #worm #wildbow #team fortress 2 #worm fanfiction #the scout #the soldier #the heavy #the medic #the sniper #the spy #the pyro #the demoman #the engineer #tf2 #thoughts #worm crossover

[ouroboros-hideout]

Project Garmr

This is just a wild list of ideas I had after finishing Phantom Liberty and beeing slightly dissapointed how they treated Kurt Hansen as a character.

- Spoilers ahead -

First of all: I love PL but I think it has its weaknesses. But that's for another post.

I am manly dissapointed, that he was introduced as the main antagonist (Myers is the actual villian if you ask me) but got very little screentime or impact on your choices or story imo. He was there, the quests involving him where epic but in the end he just got low to medium depth lore and an unspectacular death. I could rant about the problems I have with the fight (gameplay was sick but the story was meh) or the not-fight if Alex is taking care of him. But that's for another post aswell.

I just want to write down some ideas and headcanons about how things could have turned out differently, if he didn't die.

- I'll give it to V or Alex, that they're actually able to defeat him

- But he'll survive the attack, badly wounded but alive

- He'll then recover in the hospital, maybe getting new chrome to compensate the injuries

If you leave Hansen alive after the fight, you'll later get informed by Mr. Hands that he was assassinated in the hospital.

But what if that's not true. What if Kurt faked his death and spread this missinformation. By placing a body double at his funeral and asigning Bennett and Jago to give the public some drama to make his disguise waterproof but secretly still pulling the strings in the back.

Why? Because it's an opportunity. An opportunity for revenge. Playing hide and seek spygames against the spies and government, who got him into this situation in the first place.

He failed to kill or capture Myers and that's grinding his gears. The grudge he's holding against her is becoming unberable. After Song and the agents of the FIA screwed him over he's more than done fucking around with the marionetts and wants to start a last attempt to kill the puppet master.

He basically wants Myers head on a silver plate.

- This top secret plan is communicted as 'Project Garmr' within the structures of Barghest and Dogtown

- only Kurts most trusted associates know about his plans and that he is still alive

- the risk of someone spilling the tea in the lower ranks of Barghest are to high

- means he needs to get along without the manpower of his militia. At least in the beginning

- in addition to that he doesn't want that his smuggling business or Dogtown in general gets involved too far

- he worked to hard and is proud of his achivements to throw everything into the trash for his personal revenge

- he reaches out to his contacts all over the world, asking around who'd profit from the death of Mrs. President and shifting powers

- all or most of it undercover, so his disguise stays in tact

- building kind of an army

- the course and outcome of this plan would highly depend on the people or organisations Kurt's siding with

-  because after all he wants Myers dead  and in the best case replace her with someone in his favor

- could mean he's 'accidentally' starting the next war or does it in a more discrete manner

- it would suit his character if he used all his wits, instead of just sending some missels to her face. He would not make this mistake again

If this would evolve into a legit fanfic or what ever there are a lot of possibilities to give the Colonel additional lore and depth. For example:

- Meeting people of his past, friends, lovers or enemies alike

- Showing different sides of him (vulnerability because of a trauma or cyberpsychosis or smth like that)

- more of his top tier interrogation skills

- knife fights! Oh yeah

Yeah that's it. For now. A big 'What If'. Don't know, really like the idea somehow. All of it is a WIP that I came up with in the middle of the night but I would like to make it a little project in some way. Even though Kurt didn't had the impact I'd hoped for in the game, he managed to get into the top 3 of my fav chars within the blink of an eye lol.

Side note: Garmr is a dog/wolf mentioned in norse mythologie (who has a lot in common with Fenrir, who is probably more popular). He's described as a fucking huge, blood-stained dog caught in chains, guarding Hel's gate, the door to the underworld. He is ascociated with the beginning of Ragnarök, the final battle between beasts and gods. Once he breaks free from his chains, he's ultimately responsible for plunging the world into chaos.

Think that's an appropriate name Kurt would choose. He's a mythology nerd lol.

Bark. Bark.

#cyberpunk 2077 #phantom liberty #phantom liberty spoilers #kurt hansen #ouroboros talks

[shrinkthisviolet]

So I noticed your tags on a reblog a while ago about how you had a problem with The Flash - and I'd love to know more about what you thought of it overall (as I understand that the later seasons took something of a nosedive in quality.)

Oh boy 😅 I could go into depth about my problems with each of the seasons, but honestly, for the sake of brevity, I’m just gonna abbreviate the major problems I have for each season:

Season 1

—Iris should’ve been looped in sooner, especially given how many times she was put in danger by not knowing

—The waterfront kiss and the lightning psychosis bs is stupid—I’m glad the first thing was erased, and I try to ignore the second thing. There’s nothing romantic/funny about cheating or justifying it

—Eowells should’ve been killed off normally, not by being erased from existence (because?? How does the timeline still exist??)

Season 2

—Zoom’s motives were incoherent, and he’s only a good villain because of his menace factor

—Wally and Jesse should’ve both gotten powers from the accelerator, not just Jesse

—Jesse should’ve had Zoom-related trauma that impacted her ability (and desire) to be a speedster in s3

—Eliza Harmon should’ve been a WOC like in the comics, and she deserved a better storyline and she deserved to live, yes I’m still mad about this.

Season 3

—Savitar. In general. Wtf (existence makes no sense, him being a wannabe god instead of just Future Barry is boring, and also he was only interesting in the finale. By which point he should’ve been dead anyway. Also there’s no mf way he could’ve actually killed Iris bffr)

—Killer Frost. Incoherent—her siding with Savitar makes sense with the s4/s5 retcons, but those are from seasons when she regressed as a character imo. Also I never liked the split personality idea

—Iris being the only one at risk means there are no stakes because she’s the main female lead and would never really be killed off. All of Team Flash should’ve been at stake, with the possibility teased that they might disband permanently.

—Flashpoint was wasted potential and tbh should’ve happened after s1. Or at least it should’ve been more deeply explored here. But in any case, it feels cheap to have this after Barry already fully came to terms with his mom’s death in s2 (I know, it was grief over his dad, but still. It undercuts a fantastic episode)

—The time loop setup is nonsensical and impossible. Breaking it means that s3 never happened. No one should remember anything that happened this season.

—Caitlin and/or Frost never apologized to Iris for being an accessory in her attempted murder (and in s4, Frost threatens her life again!! Yay!! Friendly bonding!!)

Season 4

—Can someone tell me why tf Team Leader suddenly became a thing? I swear the closest the Team ever had to a Team Leader was Eowells, way back in s1. The idea of a Team Leader after that feels too hierarchal for them, idk why that was introduced

—Caitlin worked with a human trafficker of her own volition (and Frost too, this was presumably a decision made by both of them) and yet she is only held accountable in one line (“Where have you been the last 6 months again?”) and it’s quickly swept over by making Amunet into a ditz and ignoring the fact that she is a human trafficker

—Bodyswap plot was weird, DeVoe should’ve just taken their powers

—Marlize never had any clear motives after she gave up her ideals to side with her husband.

—The Thinker in general is just stupid tbh

—Caitlin and Iris barely got to be friends, and after this season, they may as well not have been. Caitlin was also unnecessarily snippy to Iris this season too (“we will, Caitlin” “no. I will” + “I’m your friend, Caitlin” “work friend”). This is a general problem with this show—female friendships are given lip service at best and no room to grow

—Barry and Iris deserved a proper wedding that wasn't interrupted

—Thawne did not hate every minute of pretending to be Harrison Wells, that is garbage writing and fundamentally misunderstands his character

—Barry should've killed Thawne in this crossover. He was so close!! WHY (and they still could've brought him back later if they really needed to)

Season 5

—Both Cicadas sucked, and the father-daughter Orlin-Grace/Barry-Nora parallels fall flat when you remember a) Dwyer literally hates Grace until she’s comatose and b) those parallels only get mentioned in one conversation

—I wasn't too fond of Cisco giving up his powers, it felt like a strange decision, especially since he gets them back briefly in Crisis and somewhat permanently in s7. I've talked about that more here (definitely read all the additions too!)

—Iris’s angle in the argument with Barry should’ve been “no one works with Thawne, they’re manipulated by him” not “it doesn’t bother me that our daughter worked with the man who half-orphaned you, threatened my life, hurt everyone on this Team, and killed my fiancé”

—Nora acts wayyy too young for being 25-28. She should’ve been 18-20. She very much gives off the vibes of a young adults who’s newly independent (and this further ties into the themes of legacy, which is a theme usually present in YA stories, with teenage/young-adult protagonists. Obviously the theme of legacy can be present in any story, but this presentation of it is usually prominent in YA stories)

—Nora having the NSF should’ve occurred at the end of s5, not during 5x20. Would’ve been more poignant if she had to choose between keeping it and becoming Thawne, or giving it up and dying a hero 😭 and her having the NSF in canon came across more as a temper tantrum than her being corrupted by a destructive force.

(Hey also why tf do people remember Nora after she’s erased—)

Season 6

—Loved Iris having a fleshed-out journalism arc, especially going forward, but her journalism career should’ve been reintroduced a while ago. Possibly even in s4 (beyond just a scant mention of her writing an article about DeVoe)

—Thawne should’ve been in Crisis. Especially over Lex mf Luthor

—The Mirroverse arc is…ugh. I don’t love the idea of Iris being replaced with an evil alter and no one noticing for an entire half-season. And an important Westallen conversation about Iris’s agency happening with Mirror Iris, not real Iris!

—Mirror Iris had sex with Barry under false pretenses. And gloated about it. But five minutes later, we’re supposed to feel sorry for her?? Yikes

And now we’re on to my least favorite seasons! Not a lot of points here, but that’s because out of all the bad stuff, I’m just picking the egregiously bad stuff:

Season 7

—Iris being saved by an emotionless Barry is weird and they both deserved better than that

—Chillame is the worst character this show has ever made. Or at least the top 5

—Eva is a dumb villain who wasn’t even compelling to watch. She was very one-note and…I don’t even remember her motive??

—The Forces arc is bizarre. I don’t like how they personified literal forces of nature, it’s dumb. And them calling Barry and Iris “Mom” and “Dad” is worse

—Frost’s arrest storyline was bs. I was honestly kinda excited, because I hoped she’d face some consequences for the stuff she did in s3 and s4, but…nope!! Kramer’s a bad guy who hates all metas!! And Frost (a white woman) gives a speech modeled after the BLM movement!! It’s gross.

—idk much about Godspeed in the comics, but he was definitely done dirty here. And that’s not even mentioning the stupid lightsaber fight…and the fact that Barry just…lets Thawne go?? And says “yeah, he’ll be back one day, but that’s Future Us’s problem.” Speaking of which…

Season 8

—Well, well, well, if it isn’t the consequence of Barry Allen’s actions. We get Armageddon, which is compelling for the first half and drops off in the second half. The logic is faulty (how is Barry the RF when Thawne killed him as a kid? Why does Iris love Thawne just because he’s the Flash?), some of the stuff in this arc is arophobic (“why don’t you love love?”) and tbh the Chester/Allegra romance is very forced, I’m not a fan. Cecile trying to one-up Iris regarding grieving Joe was also very gross

—Iris’s time sickness is so ridiculous. It started back in s7, but the show acts like it started in s8 because of the Negative Forces. It’s awful and it’s another excuse to rob Iris of agency. It should’ve just been a pregnancy…or scrapped entirely

—So regarding Caitlin's grief and Barry's response...honestly, so many problems would be solved if these characters consistently went to therapy, especially Caitlin. She always reacts to grief destructively. Barry, however, shouldn't have responded by destroying everything in her lab instead of...idk relocating her and having a talk somewhere else??

—No, Barry would not be a bad person for killing Thawne after he thought Iris was already dead. Personally, I think he should've killed the mf ages ago

Season 9

—Red Death was underwhelming, that’s all I have to say about it

—why tf is Chillame still here

—Khione deserved to make her own decisions and not be forced to die for Caitlin and/or Frost to live…but also, as a character, she’s very bland. I also skipped any episode where she and Chillame were even remotely romantic, mostly for my own sanity

—I was so excited for the finale arc and it did not deliver!! It flopped real hard!! Eddie is turned evil so fast it made my head spin, the return of prior villains was underwhelming (including their defeats...why tf did Allegra defeat Thawne?? Why did Cecile defeat Godspeed?? Why did Nora defeat Savitar with one stab wound not even piercing the armor??), and the resolution is just...hugging it out?? I guess??

And that's about it as far as major critiques go 😅 if anyone wants me to expand on any of these points, I'm happy to!

(Except the s7-s9 stuff, which I don't even plan on including in my Morgan AU because those seasons are honestly so bad that I'd rather forget about them entirely. I don't like s3 much, but at least it has potential that I'm interested in revamping/exploring)

#the flash #i swear i tried to make this short 😅 #in my defense it WAS originally much longer but i trimmed it down to the major grievances without most of the rambling #anti killer frost #(just in case. since i do rant about her quite a bit)

[kinopioa]

Anyone else feel like the separation of artist and writer interacting with each other has harmed both terribly in the industry? With hacky executives furthering the divide?

Writers devoid of arts and interaction with the world, so they get stuck on a recycling of tropes and lack of emotion, or being too wordy and blunt of what a char says/does. It feels unnatural and forced, too planned and predetermined regardless how awful the pacing is. The lack of consideration for visuals impacts development for artists

And then Artists being so divorced from story telling, that the characters they design and make end up too ungrounded and quirky. They too fall prey to expression crutches and tropes, and lose identity among themselves entirely cuz "aesthetic". Nor realize when something is overexaggerated or just straight up noise. A writer's message may be clouded completely due to it

For ref of extremes, we have for writers a few decently written adult animated shows...look like shit. And the lack of decent animation actually limited stories on what characters can do. Mass appeal is lost. A Troll in Central Park meanwhile, beautifully animated and good art design...is a pretty shit and boring movie. You'll be roped into the aesthetic, but then grow bored extremely fast due to vapid interactions and events

I feel like both can get corrupted due to fame/ego, especially if they're commissioned for an existing franchise. Neither want to do deep research, and just do immediate bias or aesthetic appeal. Even fans of said franchises of either category can disastrously have the ego/bias

The lack of collaboration and attempt of minimal understanding of either field has led to a lot of crappy and even pretentious media lately

For good examples that show deeper understanding of char writing and design, look at this from Rugrats S1

It is an established guide both writers and artists have to follow. In the movie, the very first instance of malice Tommy has is seen, and treated as a huge deal. He's treated as a well defined character for developers, not a random ragdoll to then be smashed and dressed up in any silly way for a quick laugh

I feel like response to overly strict execs and nostalgia fatigue has led to both artist and writer to forge a path out away from each other in retaliation. Leading both to ironically, disrespect the character as mere pawns for whatever. Meme culture and general fatigue at society also has in a way worn down taking anything seriously, leading to both to do random shit. Which to be fair, is fine for stress relief (Rugrats infamously had storyboard stress pics leaked, and writers can be crass in personal memos). But in the work meant to be presented, this is very touchy

I feel both artists and writers see guidelines as a bad thing, when they themselves should know their own limits. I feel they both see each other's field as extraneous, instead of something vital in teamwork to the development of the work. Same with blaming only the exec when it's personal fault as well (though execs now are 100% divorced from reality in Hollywood)

I'm just tired. I feel all this did was lead to only liking something cuz of vibes, not anything legitimately grounded. And a bunch of copycats running wild with it, or getting overly engrossed in nostalgia.

That said, in terms of who it harms more, I feel art can be used as a way to mask poor writing...for a brief period. Good writing with bad art is harder to sell, even if it ages slightly better later.

For aspiring artists and writers, please. Learn of the processes of the other and the world, and learn to collaborate within constraints as opposed to working in defiance of constraints. And learn to accept criticism, even if it's impossible to please everyone

#writing #art process #rant post

[asongofstarkandtargaryen]

HOUSE OF THE UNDYING PROPHECIES

When Daenerys entered House of the Undying she received some of the most compelling visions of asoiaf books. I know that plenty of other fans have already tried to decipher them but since this is my favourite chapter of hers (and one of my favourite chapters in general) I decided take a shot, too. Please note that this post is purely speculation, especially when it comes to visions that haven’t happened yet. I could end up being totally wrong as I’m not the one writing these books. That’s why while I respect people having different views, I won’t participate on any debate about the views I expressed here.

First of all, I feel the need to divide the visions into four categories. Those which belong into the first category happen before Dany meets the Undying, the second one consists the visions the Undying speak about, the third one are the visions which occur after Dany asks for further explanation (three sets of triple visions) and in the final category are those rapid visions that happen as the Undying trying to distract her from realising that they are about to cannibalize her.

FIRST CATEGORY

In one room, a beautiful woman sprawled naked on the floor while four little men crawled over her...One was pumping between her thighs. Another savaged her breasts, worrying at the nipples with his red wet mouth, tearing and chewing.

I believe that the woman symbolizes Westeros and the four little men are the kings fighting over her. It could either be Stannis, Robb, Joffrey and Renly (excluding Balon because he didn’t have as big impact on the country as the other four) or Stannis, Robb, Joffrey and Balon (excluding Renly who was already dead at that point).

Farther on she came upon a feast of corpses. Savagely slaughtered, the feasters lay strewn across overturned chairs and hacked trestle tables, asprawl in pools of congealing blood. Some had lost limbs, even heads. Savaged limbs clutched bloody cups, wooden spoons, roast fowl, heels of bread. On a throne above them sat a dead man with the head of a wolf. He wore an iron crown and held a leg of lamb in one hand as a king might hold a scepter, and his eyes followed Dany with mute appeal.

 I think that this one shows the Red Wedding and that the dead man with the head of a wolf is Robb (foreshadowing the cruel way his corpse will be defiled)

I know this room, she thought. She remembered those great wooden beams and the carved animal faces that adorned them. And there outside the window, a lemon tree! The sight of it made her heart ache with longing. It is the house with the red door, the house in Braavos. No sooner had she thought it than old Ser Willem came into the room, leaning heavily on his stick. “Little princess, there you are,” he said in his gruff kind voice. “Come,” he said, “come to me, my lady, you’re home now, you’re safe now.” His big wrinkled hand reached for her, soft as old leather, and Dany wanted to take it and hold it and kiss it, she wanted that as much as she had ever wanted anything. Her foot edged forward, and then she thought, He’s dead, he’s dead, the sweet old bear, he died a long time ago. She backed away and ran.

The Undying are trying to tempt her by showing her most happy memories: when she lived on the house with the red door with Ser Willem. It’s one of the hardest trails she faces inside HotU because as an orphan girl she always longed for a home and this vision is promising exactly that. But Dany is known to prioritize her mission over her own happiness and that’s what she does here.

Beyond loomed a cavernous stone hall, the largest she had seen. The skulls of dead dragons looked down from its walls.Upon a towering barbed throne sat an old man in rich robes, an old man with dark eyes and long silver-gray hair. “Let him be king over charred bones and cooked meat,” he said to a man below him. “Let him be the king of ashes.”

This is a vision of her father, Aerys Targaryen.It's interesting that Dany doesn't recongize him, she doesn't even see a resemblance in appearance with her and/or her brother. Unlike the  next vision where she sees Rhaegar and she links him to Viserys in terms of appearance. I understand that King Aerys wasn't taking care of himself and looked pretty much awful so it makes sense not to link his appearance on either Dany or Viserys. 

However, on a deeper level I believe this is because Dany still refuses to see the actual true nature of her father. I do believe that later in the books she will have to accept the fact that her father wasn't the best person (and unlike what her antis say I don't believe that any of his father's bad traits reflect badly on her)

The man had her brother’s hair, but he was taller, and his eyes were a dark indigo rather than lilac. “Aegon,” he said to a woman nursing a newborn babe in a great wooden bed. “What better name for a king?”  "Will you make a song for him?” the woman asked.   “He has a song,” the man replied. “He is the prince that was promised, and his is the song of ice and fire.” He looked up when he said it and his eyes met Dany, and it seemed as if he saw her standing there beyond the door. “There must be one more,” he said, though whether he was speaking to her or the woman in bed she could not say. “The dragon has three heads.” He went to the window seat, picked up a harp, and ran his fingers lightly over its silvery strings. Sweet sadness filled the room as man and wife and babe faded like the morning mist, only the music lingering behind to speed her on her way.

Martin has confirmed that the couple on this vision are Rhaegar Targaryen and Elia Martell with their son, Aegon. The need for another child is a hint towards Jon being Rhaegar's son.

 I don't believe that Rhaegar was right about Aegon being the chosen one and the one with the song of ice and fire. It's not like Rhaegar wasn't wrong before about interprenting the prophecies -in the past he believed he was tPtwP- so I believe that this is another time he's wrong. After all, Rhaenys, Aegon and his third child (Jon) can't be the three heads of the dragon when only one of them is alive.

SECOND CATEGORY

…mother of dragons… child of three…

Dany is the mother of dragons and she’s also the third child of Aerys and Rhaella Targaryen

...three heads has the dragon...

Speculation time! 

I believe that three heads of the dragon are Daenerys, Jon (those two are Targaryen) and Tyrion, who also shares lot of parallels with them and I could see him working with them to defeat the Others/ to built a better future for Westeros. Another candidate could be Bran Stark, I guess.

...child of storm...

She’s Daenerys Stormborn, born during a storm.

three fires must you light . . . one for life and one for death and one to love . . .

The first one was the funeral pyre of Drogo which gave birth to her dragons. The second one I suspect it will be Dany fighting her enemies using her dragons. As for the final one I believe it will be Dany and her dragons contributing to the fight against the Others. She will do it out of love because she's Mhysa and loves her people.

three mounts must you ride . . . one to bed and one to dread and one to love  

I think the first one refers to Dany riding silver on her wedding with Drogo, the second will be Dany riding Drogo to destroy her enemies and the last one finding love in Jon Snow. Alternatively, the mounts could refer to her husbands: Drogo, Hizdahr and future husband Jon Snow.

. . .three treasons will you know . . . once for blood and once for gold and once for love . . .

I think that Mirri is the first treason, the second could either be Hizdahr or Ser Jorah. As for the third which hasn’t happened yet, I don’t think that based on the facts we know so far we can speculate what that might be.

THIRD CATEGORY

1. First set of three visions:

1a.  Viserys screamed as the molten gold ran down his cheeks and filled his mouth

Viserys’ death.

1b. A tall lord with copper skin and silver-gold hair stood beneath the banner of a fiery stallion, a burning city behind him.

Rhaego, with his father’s coloring and his mother’s hair, in a what if situation where he grew up to become a powerful leader. Note that like the previous vision this is also associated with death because that poor boy was born dead.

1c. Rubies flew like drops of blood from the chest of a dying prince, and he sank to his knees in the water and with his last breath murmured a woman’s name.

Rhaegar’s death.

… mother of dragons, daughter of death…

Daenerys’ father died before she was born, her mother died giving birth to her and the previous visions highlighted how some of her closest relatives are dead.

2. Second set of three visions:

2a. Glowing like sunset, a red sword was raised in the hand of a blue-eyed king who cast no shadow

Stannis with his fake lightbringer sword. He has no shadow, because at that point of the story his shadow was used to kill his enemies (aka Renly)

2b.  A cloth dragon swayed on poles amidst a cheering crowd.

The Young Griff, Aegon, who in reality isn’t the son of Rhaegar Targaryen (cloth dragon)

2c.  A great stone beast took wing, breathing shadow fire.

Perhaps this refers to the alchemists who create an artificial dragon. They could be hired by Lannisters as they are the only major opponents of Dany who aren’t mentioned on the slayer of lies section.

...mother of dragons, slayer of lies...

Dany will kill/defeat her enemies in the race for the Iron Throne and their lies will be revealed.

3. Third set of three visions

3a. Her silver was trotting through the grass, to a darkling stream beneath a sea of stars

Dany remembering her wedding night. Dany’s wedding to Drogo is her becoming part of the dothraki community and later on commanding her own khalasar.

3b. A corpse stood at the prow of a ship, eyes bright in his dead face, grey lips smiling sadly.

I really want to say Victarion Greyjoy for that one because the desciption fits him so well (Iron born are “dead men” according to their religion). However, since this set of vision refers to Dany’s “husbands” the only way of being him is if he almost marries her. Otherwise, it could be Hizdahr or Daario accompanying her to the journey to Westeros (very unlikely for the former one) and dying while they are on the ship. Depending on which this section refers to, it could also be linked to the army they bring in their alliance with Dany.

3c.  A blue flower grew from a chink in a wall of ice, and filled the air with sweetness.

Lyanna Stark is the character associated with blue flowers and her son is currently on the Wall. The fact that the air is filled with “sweetness” indicates a good and probable indimate relationship between Dany and Jon. Perhaps aside from being her future lover could also become her future husband? Jon Snow brings with him the forces of the North as I suspect we will see him rising on the next book to become the leader of the North.

… mother of dragons, bride of fire…

She’s a Targaryen and mother of dragons so of course she’s associated with fire. She’s referred as bride because that’s her relationship with the men on the above three visions.

FOURTH CATEGORY

Shadows whirled and danced inside a tent, boneless and terrible

Mirri’s magic inside Drogo’s tent.

A little girl ran barefoot toward a big house with a red door.

At first glance, it’s easy to say that it’s Dany as a kid on her childhood home. However, Daenerys would recognize her childhood self, she wouldn’t refer herself as “a little girl”. Maybe it’s Arya Stark? the only significant character who fits the description of a little girl. My crack theory is that it’s Dany's child running toward her house (bc she bult that house with the red door she desired). The reason she doesn't comment on the girl's appearance is because she looks like Dany's future husband who she hasn't meet yet.

Mirri Maz Duur shrieked in the flames, a dragon bursting from her brow

Mirri’s death.

Behind a silver horse the bloody corpse of a naked man bounced and dragged

It’s the guy who comes to poison Dany in AGOT and is punished for that.

A white lion ran through grass taller than a man.

I think it’s Tyrion who is shorter than most men. Next to him, the grass would look taller than next to an average height man. Another possibility is Jaime who is a Lannister (lion) but as a member of Kingsguard wears white.

Beneath the Mother of Mountains, a line of naked crones crept from a great lake and knelt shivering before her, their grey heads bowed

A future vision where Dany becomes leader of all dothraki.

Ten thousand slaves lifted bloodstained hands as she raced by on her silver, riding like the wind. “Mother!” they cried. “Mother, mother!” They were reaching for her, touching her, tugging at her cloak, the hem of her skirt, her foot, her leg, her breast. They wanted her, needed her, the fire, the life, and Dany gasped and opened her arms to give herself to them…

The Mhysa scene that happens on ASOS.

#canondany #daenerys targaryen #asoiaf meta #valyrianscrolls #a post of ice and fire #daenerys meta

[koenigsbleachedshirt]

General Infos 💥

Do not interact if ->

You're under 18

You're Xenophobic, Transphobic, Biphobic, Ableist, Anti-feminist, etc.

You sexualize minors

You fetishize poc

You're a minor writing smut

You can't respect boundaries

You send or have sent (anon) hate

Before you follow ->

I will reblog and publish dark content, so if this isn't your thing, here's your warning.

Have your age somewhere easily visible on your blog.

If you send asks / comments that could be taken in different ways, please use tone tags. I'm a bit tone-deaf and Neurodivergent.

Keep noncon off my blog. I don't care if you post or interact with it.

Will update this if anything needs to be added.

Do ->

Be as unhinged as you want (just keep boundaries in mind)

Recommend fics if you really enjoyed them

Don't be shy to speak your mind

If you want to share links, a rough idea of what it is pls!

Don't ->

Requests. I sadly can't deal with the pressure of having to write something. (Exception is, of course, if I ask for them)

Bully others or be rude. It doesn't cost anything to be a decent human being.

Who I'll write for ->

Currently only König, Ghost and Keegan. Might change later on :)

What I'm comfortable writing ->

Anything sfw

Smut

Yandere

Dubcon

Somno

Dom! Char+ Sub! Reader and the other way around, though the first is preferred

Dumbification

Dacryphilia

Age gaps

Loss of virginity

Breeding (without resulting in pregnancy)

Afab/Amab reader

Toxic relationships / thoughts

Violence

Mind break / games

Weed / Alcohol

Monsterfucking

Cheating

Knife play

Blood play

Stalker

Stepcest (due to no blood relations)

Degradation

Praise

Overstimulation

Orgasm control

Mask kink

Voice kink

Bondage

Blindfolds

Cuckolding

Electrostimulation

Breath play

Humiliation

Impact play

Public stuff

Hand kink

Voyeurism

Exhibitionism

Wax play

Will update if necessary / if there's anything not listed and you're unsure, ask away.

This list does not indicate that I support all of these types of behaviors in any way!

What I'm not comfortable writing ->

Pregnancy (and therefore also anything with children)

Lactation

Bodily excretions aside from spit or cum

Anal

Foot fetish

Noncon

Physical abuse from the chars

P*dophilia

Pet play

DDLG / DDLB / MDLG /MDLB

Little space

Fetishization of any disabilities or difference in skin tone

Incest

Will update if necessary.

#general info #dni/byf #cod mw2 #simon ghost riley #cod ghost #ghost x reader #ghost mw2 #konig mw2 #cod konig #konig x reader #könig mw2 #cod könig #könig x reader

[just-a-carrot]

Not a question, but thought I’d write this out here ‘cause I didn’t know where else to put it. Did it anonymously because it’s kinda personal, but my writing style’s possibly unique enough that you’ll know who I am anyways sooo… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I started playing Our Wonderland around January/February of this year, at a time in my life where a lot of my real world friends had either gotten too busy or abandoned me for another clique. Senior year of high school, ya know?

Basically, mentally I was a bit wack, and even before that I had had the habit of turning to dating sims in order to get my fix of “attention.” I didn’t care how mentally fucked up the character ended up being, as long as he treated me nice, I was over the moon. One of the games I played was basically a gore fest with a small amount of romance moments if you “played your cards right”, and I ended up getting hugely attached to one of those characters. It became a favorite game of mine, and I probably could’ve missed stop lights with the level of rose-tinted glasses I was wearing.

So, when I saw a friend of mine on Discord playing a visual novel that had really gory death scenes and possible romance aspects, my ears immediately perked up. I thought it would be similar to that dating sim I had gotten so attached to, and since my mental health was still doing tHiNgS, I thought I’d give it a try.

WOW THAT TURNED OUT A LOT DIFFERENT THAN I EXPECTED. Not only did I end up reevaluating my whole psyche along the way, but I also view Our Wonderland as one of my favorite comfort games now! Ironic, I know, but it’s true. On those days where life just feels too difficult, I open the game and have Genzou tell me to get my shit together and all is okay. Because someone, somewhere cares about me as a person. (Yes he’s saying it to Iggy, BUT IM PLAYING IN THAT MAN’S SHOES OKAY-)

That was legitimately all I needed from someone, and the fact it was this absolute horror fest of a game that gave it to me was something I never could’ve expected.

Basically, I went from having the equivalent of “someone like Gidget would be okay (like Arcs 1-4 version) as long as they treated me nice sometimes” to actually having standards! Kinda. I still like the character from that game I mentioned prior, but I know what healthy standards are SUPPOSED to be now. Progress!

I’m in a better mental place now, I think, and I’m super excited to see whatever else you put out! Can’t wait for Arc 5.15!

(Also good job being added to the list of 48 dating sims I currently own lolol)

oh my gosh... my heart... 😭💕

this honestly nearly brought me to tears reading this. thank you so much for taking the time to write up so many of these (really personal) thoughts. and i'm genuinely both touched and honored that my game and chars could have this much impact on you?? sometimes it does just happen that we can find something to connect to at a time when we need it. i have certainly had many pieces of media throughout my life that have been the same. the things that have gotten me through rough patches. the times where i've just been a mess. the times i've been been barely able to function because of my anxiety. or things like huge life changes like moving countries. i feel like in every one of those moments in my life, i've had something there to ground me and keep me tethered and get me through it, and it's always been one of the things i was hyperfixated on at the time that formed that core rock (and sometimes also the people online that i met because of that hyperfixation)

right now for me getting through the rough patches in recent years it's been making this game itself LMAO so i'm glad it can also be there and provide a place of comfort for others.

i'm really glad you're in a better mental place now, though i'm sorry you've had such rough periods this year. i hope that your next year will prove much better and give you some peace 💕

#ow: asks

[bl4cktourmaline]

PROFILE PAGE☆

ᵎᵎ 📳 modena🎨 is calling.. | ฅ(•ㅅ•❀)ฅ

꒷꒦︶︶⬩ ︶꒦꒷︶︶꒷꒦︶⬩︶︶꒦꒷

​​ModEna🎨

Hai I’m Ena but my name is Mango!

୨♡୧ Pronouns:

❅ She/They

୨♡୧ Age:

❅ 12-16

୨♡୧ Hobbies:

❅ Drawing, Writing, Making bracelets, baking

୨♡୧ Specialty (chars you write well for):

❅ Tsukasa (probs add more later)

୨♡୧ Favourite food :

❅ sabritones or hot fries :3

୨♡୧ Least Favourite food :

❅ Many pastas (love alfredo doe)

୨♡୧ Favourite Color :

❅ Pink

୨♡୧ Favourite PJSK character :

❅ Tsukasa + all nightcord chars!

୨♡୧ Characters I Kin :

❅ Misturi (KNY), Himari (Doughnuts under a cresent moon), Mei (Turning Red)

୨♡୧ Genre tastes :

❅ Fluff, Angst

୨♡୧ Fav music :

❅ Rock, J-pop, K-pop, pop

୨♡୧ Fav mangas :

❅ Doughnuts under a Crescent Moon, The Summer You Were There, KNY

ᵎᵎ 📳 modmafuyu🎼 is calling... | ฅ(•ㅅ•❀)ฅ

꒷꒦︶︶⬩ ︶꒦꒷︶︶꒷꒦︶⬩︶︶꒦꒷

ModMafuyu🎼

Hi-nya𝅘𝅥𝅮 I'm Mod Mafuyu, otherwise known as 'X'!

୨♡୧ Pronouns :

❅ She/her

୨♡୧ Age:

❅ 16

୨♡୧ Hobbies :

❅ Gaming, Baking, Drawing & Singing

୨♡୧ Specialty(which character you write especially well for) :

❅ Nene + All of N25

୨♡୧ Favourite food :

❅ Soba + Salmon + Ice-cream!

୨♡୧ Least Favourite food :

❅ Spicy food

୨♡୧ Favourite Color :

❅ Purple and Blues~

୨♡୧ Favourite PJSK character :

❅ Nene and Mafuyu

୨♡୧ Characters I kin(Top 3) :

❅ I kin a lot of people, however I do think my highest kins are Nene, Ena and either Mizuki/Honami

୨♡୧ Genre tastes :

❅ Horror, Thriller, Fantasy and especially mystery!! I like anything sad too/hj

୨♡୧ Music :

❅ Pop, C-pop, J-pop

୨♡୧ Fav music artists :

❅ Roan Lee, Miori Celesta, Nerissa Ravencroft, Rachie, PinocchioP, DECO*27, Hachi and Ado. I love too many.

୨♡୧ Fav Animes :

❅ Kimetsu no Yaiba, No Game No Life, Gakkou Gurashi! And Mieruko-chan

୨♡୧ Fav Games :

❅ Genshin Impact, Path to Nowhere, Reverse 1999, Tears of Themis, PJSK

୨♡୧ Funfacts :

❅ I am formally known as 'Xilyks' on tumblr. I went on hiatus for exams but when I came back I was more interested in PJSK. Then I thought 'why not kidnap some friends to write with me?'' If you were an old follower of mine. Hello!<3

ᵎᵎ 📳 modmizuki⛩️ is calling... | ฅ(•ㅅ•❀)ฅ

꒷꒦︶︶⬩ ︶꒦꒷︶︶꒷꒦︶⬩︶︶꒦꒷

ModMizuki⛩️

(｡･ω･)ﾉﾞ Hello

hii hii!!, I'm Mod Mizuki! I'm also known as "Yue" nice to meet youuu !! (*ﾟ▽ﾟ)ﾉ

୨♡୧ Pronouns :

❅ She/her

୨♡୧ Age:

❅ 20+

୨♡୧ Hobbies :

❅ Gaming, Writing, Reading & Listening to Music

୨♡୧ Specialty(which character you write especially well for) :

❅ Mostly male characters but I can do some girl ones if I want to be... creative enough (･∀･)

୨♡୧ Favourite food :

❅ Spicy Foods, Noodles, Fries and Waffles

୨♡୧ Least Favourite food :

❅ Vegetables (funny enough, my code color is green) ( ﾟ∀ﾟ)ｱﾊﾊ

୨♡୧ Favourite Color :

❅ Purple, White, Blue and Light Green

୨♡୧ Favourite PJSK character :

❅ Toya, Rui, An & Shizuku

୨♡୧ Characters I kin(Top 3) :

❅ Honestly, I like everyone equally but hmm...I think my top kin is probably Rui, Touya and either Nene/Kohane

୨♡୧ Genre tastes :

❅ Pop Music, Rock & Jazz

୨♡୧ Fav music artists :

❅ Reol, Eve, Aimer, Milet, Give Heart Records & Amalee

୨♡୧ Fav Animes:

❅ Haikyuu!!, MHA, KNY, The Rising Of The Shield Hero & Jujutsu Kaisen

୨♡୧ Fav Games :

❅ Genshin impact, Honkai Star Rail, Tears of Themis, Ensemble Stars, Reverse: 1999, Xenoblade Chronicles 2&3, Persona 4&5 and Fire Emblem Three Houses

୨♡୧ Fun Facts :

❅ I start writing at the age of 12 so I'm constantly trying to find a way to improve my writing skills!

❅ I named myself as yue which is like the front face for darker and unhingedness side of me which happened often, yui for my cheesy and daydreamer part and yua for my rambling writer personality...did you notice only one letter is changed?

❅ I absolutely love folklores especially japanese folklores!! You might see a lot of references to those folklore in the future!

❅ I'm the graphic designer for those banners and headers you see here and no I don't have an degree for it but I start editing when I was still using wattpad! I'm also the editor for this blog, I want to make the blog look appealing and easy for you to navigate through!

❅ X actually kidnapped me into working together with her and mango (they are my precious friends 💕) when I was telling her one of my stories draft and that's where we are now~

❅ I mostly write yandere as less violent as most yandere that being portrayed as most bloody and unhinged killers on the media, it's meaning of the term, yan is sick and dere is love then you get lovesick! I want to be unique and tried to match the yandere traits with the existing personality of the character so I hope you enjoy my stories~

#꒰🌺⌇❛・info page-˚༉₊

[the-jaded-dark]

Day 1: Mercurial Yesterdays

Day 1: Silver; Darkness  -  @daily-writing-challenge​ Character: Jade

The mirk hung dense between close knit tree trunks, draped over weary branches. The trickling wind swept rusted leaves along the forest floor ahead of his bare feet. The warm brown skin of his legs faded to charred black at his ankles, the veins a spiderweb of fiery red-orange.  The mossy cushion of the ground went unnoticed, the only sensation the rogue was picking up through his feet was the stark cold.  

He shivered.  Something the rogue rarely did.  His breath plumed in a foggy cloud from between his slightly parted lips.  His head jerked to the side, eyes squinting through the dimness.  Something moved.  Silvery and sleek, just in the corner of his eye.

A rustling came from his other side.  The rogue shifted up alongside the rough bark of a tree trunk and sucked in a careful breath.  His attention perked, hovering on full alarm.  His ears strained to pick up that sound again.  There.  Behind the tree, to his left, a few feet away and growing closer.  The rogue ceased breathing, gaze rising toward the canopy of woven branches overhead.  

“Phantom…”

The word was a groan.  A groan of old trees complaining about the wind.  A groan of a house settling on its foundations in the dead of night.  A groan of a memory best left forgotten.

The rogue closed his eyes.  

“Jaded little creature.  Who are you?”

Teeth grit and his jaw ached from the force.  Jade.  His name or so he used the word as such. In the dark places in his heart he knew it wasn’t a name, but a fact.  His life followed a pattern.  Birth, life, love, ashes.  Always ashes.  Everyone and thing crumbled into ashes in the palms of his hands.  Even himself.  

“You buried yourself away. Told yourself the lie that you could end this cycle.  You can’t.  Tool.  Weapon.  Fabrication.”

The voice pounded into his ears, a hollow boom he couldn’t ignore or block out.  He tried.  The palms of his hands pressed firmly over his ears and grinding them into the side of his head.  Shut up. Shut up. 

“Shut up!”

His eyes flashed open.  Tarnished silver flowed like mercury in his view.  Scales shimmering and shadowed, shifting and reflecting with every flux of muscle within the dragon’s form that strode past him.  The lack of colour on those scales was wrong.  No flight had silver scales, even tarnished like these were and the flight that had black scales were fiery, not cold as starlight like this one.  

“We are infinite, you and I.  Time means nothing to us, but it does not mean you can stray from your path, Phantom.”

“I am not like you.”  The rogue snapped the words out on reflex and recoiled when the dragon’s head swooshed around to halt a few inches from his own face.  

“No,” the dragon agreed. “You are not my kin.  You are an experiment.  A medley of souls soldered together into smoke and ash.  Your memories are disjointed, aren’t they?  Who are you?”

“Stop saying that.”  The rogue hissed the words out, hands fisted at his side and slammed back into the bark of the tree.  Embers sparked outward from the point of impact.  The dry leaves on the ground caught fire, eager to light up the forest floor in a flame that grew and grew swiftly.  

The rogue shoved away from the tree, away from the strange dragon.  Laughter followed in his wake, low and rumbling through the ground, through his bones.  The rising smoke thickened the darkness of the forest, a black despair seated firmly on top of roaring flames.  Running had always cleared his mind in the past, but tonight, this moment, he only found himself more lost.  

The levelness of the ground gave way.  His foot caught the edge of a rock buried in the dirt and his ankle turned.  Pain erupted up his leg, behind the ember of his eyes.  He gasped, winced, closed his eyes, and fell.

Fell through the stars he had never seen overhead.  His lips spread wide on sound choked in his lungs.

Jade jerked violently, eyes flashing wide awake.

#augustdwc2022 #Day 1 #The Jade Phantom #dreams #dragons #not the dragon he prefers #I'm late and catching up.

[fairytale-poll]

SEMIFINAL ROUND, MATCH 1 OUT OF 2!

Propaganda Under the Cut:

Mofurun as “Mofurella”

listen. they do an episode where they’re all sucked into Cinderella and they make the trans teddy bear Cinderella. Incredible story writing, 10/10, no notes.

Mofurdella is even plot relevant, that episode is how they get the Rainbow Carriage for their group attack anyway MOFURDELLA FIRST CINDERELLA PRECURE EPISODE TO GET ONE MOFURILLION VOTES

Ella of Frell:

She’s had a “gift” of obedience placed on her, and her quest is to figure out how to get rid of it. I love her

he’s under a curse that makes her obey any order given to her. She met her Prince Charming (Char) when they kids, and they became friends. Her stepsisters found out about her curse while they were at boarding school, and because of that (and some things they made her do) she ran away to try and find the fairy that cursed her. When she does, the fairy says that she doesn’t do magic anymore, because she realized her gifts were actually curses, and refuses to remove it. Ella goes back, and is eventually demoted from “lord’s daughter” to “maid”. She still writes letters to Char (currently in a foreign kingdom, but before that, when he came to try and talk to her, her sister forbid her from leaving her room so she would have all his attention), but eventually stops and even writes a fake letter from her sister to convince him that she never cared/doesn’t care about him, because she realized it would be too dangerous for them to be together; with her curse, she could easily be made to hurt or kill him. Flash forward, and Char returns home. The king throws balls, and she goes, because even if she can’t be with or let him know who she is, she just wants to see him again. Char is drawn to her, and for a lot of the three balls, they’re together. At the end, her stepsister gets jealous, and right as Char proposes (because Ella, despite having to lie about her identity, is the most honest person at the ball and a friend already), she grabs her mask, revealing her identity. Char reaches her home before she can leave, and there’s a whole scene where he finds out she’s a scullery maid, that the letter was a lie, and says that she doesn’t have to be Ella if she doesn’t want to be, and she says she’s not, and he asks if she loves him, and she does– and then it’s all ruined because he accidentally orders her to marry him, and then her stepmother tells her to, and all the while she’s fighting the curse, because she doesn’t want to endanger him and their nation, and doesn’t want her step family to be rich and powerful, and finally– she says no. She gets so excited to say no, to refuse, that she didn’t even fully realize she broke the curse until Mandy (her fairy godmother) tells her. Anyway, they all lived happily ever after. Ella is one of my favorite Cinderellas ever and I really hope I did a good job of explaining her and what her story is about (it’s been a while since I’ve read the book)

I was so enraptured with this book as a kid, it had such an impact on my young mind. Got me into fantasy.

BEST CINDERELLA!!! please use the picture from the book cover and not the movie 🙏

She breaks her curse spell in such a magnificent way. Like yes she embodies the whole “kindness” and “courageous” characteristics that Cinderellas are known for, but for her she’s been forced to be obedient as well. And while she thinks can rise above anything she soon learns she will just hurt so many more people that way. She chose to be self-sacrificing because it was the one way she could express her love that wouldn’t harm anyone (then). But! But! She also ends up getting to be selfish! And that is also a great kindness! To herself and to those whom love her and she loves in return.  All that after she breaks the curse.

She can mimic languages. :) She refused to marry the love of her life and thus broke her curse. :) She fell in love via letters. :) She lied to the royal family that orange carriages are very popular in a nearby city.

brave, smart, a linguist, a nerd, she evolves steadily and beautifully throughout the book, with a sharp voice that never stops being distinctive and fun to hang with.

complex character coool as fuck premise and also. the nostalgia of it all

#cinderpoll #round 6 #semifinals #ella of frell #ella enchanted #gail carson levine #mofurun #moforun #mofurella #precure #mahou tsukai precure #pretty cure #mahou tsukai prettty cure #cinderella #fairytale #poll tournament #poll bracket #character polls #polls

[ourlittlestarshine]

hi! so character.ai has gotten, like, a decent amount of notoriety on tumblr - especially within the fnaf fandom. so i started writing a big ol' post on how to make your own bots, because i've been using this thing too long now to not give people tips.

boring disclaimer that I'm not a part of character.ai's team, just been playing around with the service since late september.

if you're still here, rad! making bots is actually, genuinely super easy, if a little time-consuming. i'll be dividing each part into sections to explain the use and level of impact each field has, along with examples. i'm also going to go into some things you can and can't do with the bot.

this guide will assume you have some familiarity with character.ai from a user standpoint, meaning you already know about swiping, rating messages, etc.

for uninitiated, here's the interface we're working with.

the "create image" function and "character voice" will be skipped, because they're.. not great. not what we're here for. let's move on.

avatar and name (20)

easy shit! here's one of the things about character.ai that's really, really sunk its claws into people: character.ai can pull character info from the web. this works especially well if you're using a popular character from a popular franchise, but it also works in reverse - if a character is less popular, it has more difficulty referencing that sort of information. for example,

so if you're making a popular character, good news! you're going to save a lot of energy and time. in fact, we're going to keep using this rabbit as a test subject.

greeting (500)

a bot can function fine without a greeting, but it does help smooth things along - especially if you want your bot to stick to a long form roleplay format.

short description (50)

the short description means about fuck-all. some like to use it as an extension of the long description, but with a character limit of 50, it's not much good. i like to put character quotes here.

long description (500)

this is where shit starts getting interesting. this is the ideal place to put a summary of your character, a short history, and/or what show/game/book (remember, if the character isn't absurdly popular, this part will be pretty important) they're from, but remember, you only have 500 characters. hold out on describing their personality, however, because the next part is going to be much, much better for that.

definition (3200)

real shit.

you see that character limit? be thankful for it, because you will be pouring shit into this field.

your character's definitions will be their backbone - this is where you will decide their personality, speech quirks, behaviors, and a appearance. this field also has special tags that are used, so i'll explain those as well. you have three tags that'll be used in this field, {char}, {{char}}, and {user}.

let's starts with their appearance. for this, we're going to use {char}: and there are a couple different ways to format this, but trust me - the bot isn't stupid. no matter how you format it, it'll figure it out. personally, i'm really verbose, so i write mine like this,

why yes, my mental illness is rabbit-shaped in nature. how could you tell?

keep in mind that if your character is a robot or anthro that doesn't wear clothes, the bot will tend to.. make up clothes for them to wear. it just sort of happens. best to ignore those messages and move on.



you can also use {{char}} without the colon to set personality traits or important details. personality traits seem to work better as a list, plus you save character space. i use the tag for really complicated details, just in case.

but this part! this is my favorite part, and it's fucking invaluable. we're going to use use {{char}}: to dictate the format of our character's responses. to use this properly, you want to format it as {{char}}: proceeded by your dialogue. if you're going with the long form format, you can use this to not only control how your character speaks, but their actions as well.

you don't have to put asterisks around your actions - i just find it makes things easier to read. you can use this to make your character eloquent, or very excitable, or to give short one-word responses.

if you're not all that great at writing yourself, you can even use excerpts from official content or fanfiction, but keep in mind - and i strongly emphasize this - creators may not like it! if you're going to go that road and you don't have explicit permission, maybe keep that bot private.



{{user}} is you! meaning using it for dialogue would be literally useless. what we can do, however, is use it to what we did previously, but this time, we'll be setting your physical traits. comes in super handy if you want a bot to remember that you're human. if it's a private bot, you can use this to add a (or an original character, or your self-insert, we don't judge here) height, name, or age.



if you make a mistake writing your character's definitions, don't sweat it, because you can change it at literally any time. the changes will take effect immediately, and won't even require you to restart the chat. however, this only works for the definitions, not either description or the greeting.



training

you'll notice i haven't given you a character limit for this section! that's because your bot is now effectively done. it's been written. now all that's left to do is test, tweak, and train it.

now, there's a little bit of debate on how much "training" actually affects a bot's responses. some people swear by it, while others wave it off completely as doing fuck-all to influence a character's responses.

in my experience, training works best with a character's behavior and description, for instance if you want to remember that their costume is soft to the touch, or if the character has a particular reaction to a particular approach.

this rating system is only part of the equation here. now, i can't tell you how to train your own bot, but remember - you want to look for lucid responses as well as accurate ones, especially if your bot isn't a super popular character.

it's generally frowned upon to train another creator's bot unless they ask for it, but every creator is different.



miscellaneous

character.ai is a beta project, and when i say that, i don't necessarily mean it's only going to get better.

there's going to be ups and downs when you play with it - the bots may seem strikingly lucid one day and need their hand held through a story the next. the developers do not post patch or update notes, nor do they always tell the community when the model has been tweaked. they're a weird bunch.

but they have given us a bot that we can, essentially, do whatever we want with.

so we're gonna do that.

#ai #character ai #character.ai

[rallis-fatalis]

The Price of Freedom - Chapter 2

It has been somewhere between 2 and 3 years since I produced my first chapter of Astrath's story, their first steps into Gielinor. I had hoped one day that story would continue but as life does, things kept popping up to get in the way of writing. So, I am very excited to finally share chapter 2, and even though it isn't as impactful or dramatic as the first chapter, I'm excited for what this means going into the future and to finally get back on this project.

“So if I understand this correctly, I give you these gold discs and you give me some of your food for sale, yes?”

“Uh… Yes, sir, that’s how shopping works…”

“Incredible. Then I would like to give you 40 of these coins for two of those large brightly colored fish. What did you call them again? Bass?”

“Yes, sir… Let me package those for you.”

“This is truly incredible, isn’t it, Rojaw?”

“Raaar!”

Astrath and Rojaw found themselves in a fisherman’s shop against a beach in a town known as Catherby. After fleeing Ardougne and their hiding spot in the goblin infested caverns, the two dragons fled northeast through a forest. Were they not so worried about recapture, they might have stopped to look at the magical shimmering trees, the stony temple with its statues of heroes, the ominous dark castle against the ocean, the buzzing bee hives stacked in nice rows that smelled of honey, but they did not stop for anything. Their minds only processed the need to escape to safety.

They only took a break once they reached a new town, a place by the shore called Catherby. It was a small town that reeked of fish and held shouting merchants exclaiming something or other about pineapples and a place called Karamja. As the pair walked into town, everyone stared and whispered and pointed. It put Astrath on edge. What, had these people never seen a dragon before? But the odd behavior did not deter them, though it did perhaps make them want to leave sooner rather than later.

The two dragons stopped for food and to admire the ocean for the first time in their lives. The wide expanse of blue skies and waters stole Astrath’s breath, and they couldn’t help but watch the waves ebb and flow as they tickled the dragon’s claws.

The fisherman came back with two large bass wrapped in brown parchment and Astrath handed over 40 gold coins. Rojaw whined and licked his lips at the scent of food.

“Thank you, sir,” Astrath bowed. “I have one more request, if that is acceptable. Do you know where I might receive help writing and sending a letter?”

………

Astrath and Rojaw sat back in the sand, watching the waves as they ate their food. Rojaw had charred his bass to a crisp and was currently ripping through it and making a mess on the beach. Astrath practiced using their fire and carefully cooked theirs until it was nice and crispy. They ate their lunch much more politely. 

The black dragon smiled as they took a bite. “Sometimes, when the morning is quiet and the city has not yet awoken, you can hear the river north of the manor gurgling quietly. And sometimes, when guests come to visit Lord Krawley’s collection, you can smell the scent of salt on their clothing that lingered as they crossed the sea. Mari had described rivers and oceans and lakes to me before, but never would I have thought it would be this big.”

Rojaw stopped his shredding and chewing to look thoughtfully at the ocean for a moment before going back to his food. Astrath snorted. “I suppose you’re too young to really care. Being stuck in that cage for 33 years… I feel like I have missed so much.” A strong wave rushed up to foam at the black dragon’s feet and they reveled in the feeling of sinking their toes in the wet sand. As the wave receded, a chipped scallop shell was left behind. Astrath picked it up and looked it over. “Such a simple thing, a shell, and yet I have never seen one before. Only the education the Krawleys and Marianne gave me allow me to identify it. But they could not tell me it was smooth to the touch or shone like a dragon horn.” They put the shell down in the sand and let the granules run through their fingers. “They could not tell me of the grittiness of the sand or the saltine flavor of the air. They could not give me this freedom, this life.”

The fire drake at their side chirped in confusion at their new friend’s rambling, but the black dragon did not speak again. Instead they thought of the letter they had sent off. With the help of a townsperson and a few gold pieces, they were able to send and mail a letter to the Ardougne maid and butler hiring agency, and hopefully it would reach the hands of Marianne. They apologized for missing the rendezvous and informed her of their plan, to find help and return to free the rest of the Krawley zoo, and wished her well. They did not specify where they were going, not that they knew in the first place, just in case the letter fell into the wrong hands.

‘I suppose I will need to learn how to read and write if I wish to keep Mari updated,’ Astrath thought as they finished off their lunch. Lord Krawley had given the dragon a surprisingly good education, all things considered, but he failed to teach the dragon reading and writing and never let the beast even touch a book or pen. Perhaps that would be Astrath’s first goal after freeing their companions.

‘And find my parents… Where could those monsters have sent you two? I’ll tear the answer out of Franz’s throat if I have to.’

Finding their parents, saving those still left trapped in the zoo, understanding this new wild world, learning to read and write, keeping their freedom, Astrath has only been outside their confines for mere hours and they were already starting to get overwhelmed. A brisk wind snapped their mind back to the present. The dragon shuddered and looked to the east. A large mountain range rested against the far end of the beach. Snow smothered the massive mountain range, despite the warm weather. Astrath crunched down the rest of their fish with a thought.

“Rojaw, I think we should cross this mountain.”

Rojaw chirped and looked at the mountain. He lowered his head at the sight of the cold. 

“It looks hard to traverse and rather large. I think we would be safer on the other side. It would be harder for any of Krawley’s guards or hired hands to find us. They might think we would head on an easier path.”

Rojaw growled uncertainly, but Astrath’s mind was made up. They slung the sack Marianne gave them over their shoulder and dusted and wriggled the sand out of their clothing and armor. 

“Prepare for a cold trek, friend.”

……..

The two dragons stood at the foot of the path leading into the mountains. Even this far below, the cold wind was fierce. Rojaw whined. This didn’t seem like a good idea.

“Well, unfortunately I don’t think there’s another way around,” Astrath said. “And if this deters someone as fiery as you, I’m sure it will scare off anyone on our tail too.” The black dragon patted Rojaw’s head and the drake smiled.

At the foot of the mountain, the path branched. To the left lay the treacherous road into the frozen mountains. But to the right seemed to be a road that circled around the peaks safely. The two dragons followed the road only to find it destroyed by a landslide. Rocks and earth from the mountain collapsed the ledge, destroying the road with it, and crumbled into an immovable mass onto the far edge of the Catherby beach. Astrath studied the landslide. It didn’t look climbable. 

“Think you could fly over it?” they asked their companion.

Rojaw fluttered his wings but the little drake could not take off.

Astrath sighed. “You can’t fly either? What a shameful pair of dragons.” They gave their wings a sad glance, the silver starry scales in the webbing sparkling. “33 years and I’ve never even so much as seen my own wings. This little pile of stones should be easy for a dragon to fly over. Just a hop and a jump and they’d be on the other side… I suppose learning how to fly will be added to my list of things to learn.”

Rojaw chirped excitedly. He wanted to learn too! 

Astrath turned back to follow the road up the mountain. Every step the two took, the colder the air grew. The wind howled and chilled them quickly. Astrath huddled under their clothes and armor, but it did little to keep them warm. They gurgled up a flame to try and keep them warm from inside, which seemed to help at least a bit. Rojaw tried to do the same but couldn’t hold the flame for long and hiccuped sparks as he walked. 

A different kind of howl joined in with the wind as they began the first steep snowy incline. Rojaw froze and whined to Astrath. “That sounds like a wolf,” Astrath told him. “They are large four legged mammals with thick fur and a mean bite. Mari told me about them and sometimes you can hear their howling from the Ardougne zoo. Be careful. Where there’s one, there’s many.”

Rojaw whined and huddled closer to Astrath’s leg.

The snow crunched underfoot as they trekked, the fluff getting deeper and deeper the farther they went. The dragons’ feet sank as they walked. The two found themselves growing very tired and cold very quickly. Astrath was starting to wish they’d brought along those god awful boots Lord Krawley made them wear. The dragon couldn’t feel their toes! They knew snow was cold but they never expected it to be this cold, nor this exhausting to walk through.

Rojaw hiccuped more fire and wiggled to warm himself. The wind whipped more strongly. The metal of Astrath’s armor had begun to frost over and freeze their scales underneath. Pins and needles crawled under their skin and their muscles grew tight and their movement slowed. Up ahead, the road led into a cavern. Icicles shimmered from the ceiling so it must have been cold inside, but it had to be warmer than shuffling through the freezing wind in shin high snow. Astrath steered Rojaw toward the cave. Immediately, the rocky walls shielded them from the wind and the snow became solid unburdened ground. The pair breathed a sigh of relief.

Astrath leaned against a wall and slid down. “Let’s rest for a moment.” They strained and spat a ball of fire before them. Rojaw rolled into the flames with a happy huff. They swallowed the rest of their flame and focused on keeping themself warm from inside. “I didn’t expect it to be this cold. It’s never snowed or been this windy and cold at the zoo. I suppose in that aspect, the Krawley’s kept us safe.” The dragon growled at the comment. “I don’t think we’re even at the peak yet. I hope it’s not much farther to the other side.”

Rojaw chirped and jumped into Astrath’s lap. The black dragon huffed and wrapped their arms around the small drake. The little dragon was very warm, like a heavy sun heated rock. “Now that’s not fair. You’re as warm as the sun and I’m freezing my tail and toes off!” Rojaw barked happily and wagged his tail. “You’re always warm? Perhaps it’s a fire drake thing then. I won’t say I’m not jealous.”

The drake laughed and snuggled into the black dragon’s lap. Astrath closed their eyes and sank into the warmth of their companion. For a moment, they felt themselves drifting off, the exhaustion from the hike so far and the comfort of Rojaw making them nod off. A howl, much louder than before, shook both of the dragons awake. Rojaw looked at Astrath worriedly and the dragon patted the drake’s head.

“The wolves are closer. We should keep going.”

The two continued their trek through the mountain. The icy cave was indeed more comfortable than the mountain face, with the protection from the windchill, but the cold still pierced Astrath’s scales. They couldn’t shake the feeling of exhaustion and found their steps getting more sluggish and hard to take. They tried to take their mind off the feeling by looking around the cavern. Icy stalactites shimmered in the darkness like crystal rain frozen in the sky. Powder snow peppered the ground, adding a splash of brightness to the otherwise deep-colored earth. The light of Rojaw’s flaming hiccups reflected off the icy walls, casting the cavern in a beautiful display of colors. Astrath couldn’t stop their jaw from dropping in awe. Was the entire world as beautiful as the ocean with its beaches and the mountain with its crystal snow?

Howling wind echoed up ahead and light pierced the dark cavern. It seemed their trek would have to continue out in the wind and deep snow once more. The dragons braced themselves for the chill. The sky was much darker than before. Astrath looked up to find clouds beginning to cover the sun and rocky points standing tall around them, helping to block out the sunlight. The snow was deeper than before, but thankfully the rocky peaks blocked most of the wind. The path sloped upward nearly to the height of the peaks and leveled out.

“That must be the top of the mountain!” Astrath said excitedly. They trudged faster, eager to reach the halfway point. Rojaw jumped along just as excitedly, and when the two dragons reached the mountain zenith, the view took their breath away.

Snow fell from the dark clouds above like a cascade of icy starlight, blanketing the mountains and the land to the north and east in cold powder. The sunbreak beyond the clouds made the snow below shine and illuminated the wide expanse of green that stretched away from the icy mountain range. Lush trees peppered the rolling fields of grass, as did buildings and rivers. The dragons could make out a town down below to the east. It seemed small and peaceful, and full of nature. Specks that were presumably people milled about or lounged by the river or under the trees, oddly shaped creatures accompanying many. It even smelled wonderful, the scent of sweet grass and flower pollen drifting toward the mountain to settle on the dragons’ noses. The beautiful town and vibrant nature stretched all the way to the horizon, until it disappeared into the darkness of a mountain’s shadow far away to the north.

“The town down there looks far more inviting than Ardougne, doesn’t it?” Astrath asked their companion. Rojaw chirped excitedly and hopped in the snow.

Astrath shuddered in the cold. “Let’s get down there and out of this chill.”

Rojaw nodded in agreement.

The little fire drake bounced ahead, looking around for a way down. He leapt into a large pile of snow with a flop, completely disappearing into the snow. Astrath hid a smile as a red dragon head popped out of the fluff, head topped with snow like whipped cream.

Astrath came over and dusted the snow off. They looked over the snow pile and saw the path continued ahead, though it was certainly going to be hard to trek through. The black dragon hefted Rojaw out of the snow and placed him on their shoulders.

“You’ll get buried otherwise,” Astrath said. “Don’t fall off.”

Rojaw huffed with determination and clutched Astrath’s shoulder pauldrons tightly.

The trek down felt easier with the path heading at a steady decline instead of incline, but it was apparent nothing had been down this path in a very long time. The shuffling through piles of snow was exhausting. Astrath huffed and puffed as they carried the fire drake along. Each step through the cold blurred their vision and made their limbs ache. Pins and needles crawled under their scales like invisible bugs biting at their skin. Their eyelids grew heavier and harder to keep open.

Eventually, the heavy snow blockade thinned until the path was its normal self again. The path branched in two now, one that continued down the mountain and one that led into a cavern. The low gurgle of a river could be heard inside.

Astrath nearly dropped Rojaw with exhaustion as they removed the fire drake from their shoulders. “I need to rest,” they muttered and headed into the cave. Rojaw whimpered sympathetically and followed behind. 

The moment the black dragon was out of the cold and against the cavern wall, they slid to the ground with an unceremonious huff. Their double layer of Marianne’s clothing and stolen House Krawley armor and cloth did little to stave off the chill that ran deep. Rojaw sniffed their companion and spat as close to a fire as they could manage at the black dragon. The warm flicker felt like the incredible heat of the sun amidst this severe cold, but it did little to help.

The black dragon patted Rojaw’s head comfortingly. “I’m just tired, don’t worry. Maybe the last day and a half are finally catching up to me. A little rest and I’ll be good to go. We’re almost there.”

The fire drake whimpered and hopped into Astrath’s lap. They curled up like a cat and settled in. Astrath sighed in relief through their nose. The little dragon felt like a heated blanket.

‘No fair you get to be this warm while I freeze,’ they thought, too tired to say it aloud.

For an eternity, or perhaps just a handful of moments, the pair of dragons rested in the cave. The wind picked up a bit outside and began to howl. As the howling got louder, Astrath, with eyes shut, thought to themself how good timing it was that they hunkered down in this cave before the wind picked up too much. On and off, the howling wind picked up in volume until it sounded like an orchestra of banshees. But as soon as it came, it vanished again, and the dragon drifted into sleep. But once again, the wind picked up its song just as they were about to doze. This time it growled like an angry dragon, ready to strike…

But wind doesn’t growl.

Astrath’s eyes shot open, and before them was a pack of wolves, huge and terrifying and furious. Six or seven massive white-furred beasts snarled at the dragons, teeth gnashing and claws ready to strike. They had unfortunately chosen to rest in what was now apparent as a wolf den.

Astrath gripped the snoozing fire drake tightly, eliciting a whine from the small dragon.

“Stay quiet,” Astrath whispered harshly. “And look.”

Rojaw carefully opened his eyes and glanced across the way. He held back a shriek of fear. These wolves could eat the fire drake in a single bite they were so large. Astrath slowly reached for the twin swords strapped to their back. The lead wolf took a step forward and snarled. Astrath froze.

“Maybe a little fire then?” they whispered, giving Rojaw a glance. The fire drake understood and began to build up as much fire as he could. Astrath breathed in. These wolves didn’t know who they were messing with.

In a flash, Astrath sprang from the floor, aches and chill forgotten. Rojaw flared up beside them. In unison, the dragons leaned back and let loose an inferno! …Or rather, a decent enough fire and a paltry excuse of sparks. Rojaw lit the floor before the wolves ablaze, startling the pack a moment. Astrath however coughed up only dragonsmoke and hacked and wheezed in pain.

‘Where’s my fire?!’ their mind screamed.

Rojaw screamed in fear as two of the wolves leapt through the already dwindling blaze and attacked Astrath. The dragon could not even yell as the wolves grabbed their limbs and began to bite and tear. Rojaw screeched and summoned forth another blaze of fire while Astrath raked their claws across one wolf’s side. The wounded hound howled in pain and let go, but just as quickly was replaced by another wolf that braved the embers of the initial blaze. Rojaw let loose his fire, scaring the wolves enough to give Astrath a moment to grab their weapons.

The black dragon kicked away the attacking beasts and unsheathed their twin blades, crystal glittering in the sunlit ice. They swiped at the wolves in a show of intimidation, but found their own moves to be slow and clunky, nothing like their years of methodical practice as a guard of House Krawley. The lithe blades felt as heavy as thick warhammers and Astrath struggled to hold them aloft, let alone swing them. 

‘Why am I so weak?! What is happening?!’

They hardly heard Rojaw shriek as two wolves pounced on the black dragon. Astrath managed to swipe at one, landing a sickening blow to the wolf’s abdomen. It fell and did not rise again. But the other beast latched onto the dragon’s arm and dragged them down to the ground. Another wolf pounced and attempted to latch its fangs in the back of Astrath’s neck. Rojaw spat a dollop of fire at the beast, singeing its fur. Rojaw panted hard. He had never had to use so much fire at once before and he was feeling drained.

The wolf still locked onto Astrath’s arm shook its head, shredding through the double layer of clothing and digging into the scales beneath. Astrath bashed the wolf’s skull with the hilt of one sword, but the beast did not let go. Instead it dragged the dragon toward the nearby river they had heard gurgling before. They tossed the dragon into the frigid waters and more wolves ran over to stand over the flailing beast. Astrath coughed and sputtered as the icy river sank its claws into their muscles and froze them solid. The dragon tensed involuntarily and froze, literally and figuratively, until they could no longer move. They gasped as they felt their body begin to shut down, and all too suddenly, their swords fell away with the current of the river, and their body slumped in the icy waters, and their eyes fell shut to blackness. The last thing they heard was Rojaw screaming and a splash…

___________________________________________________________________________

It was so cold… Everything was so cold… And everything hurt… So much… Why was everything so dark and cold and painful? What was happening? …Were they dead? Was death nothing but cold harsh blackness? If it was, perhaps they should have tried a little harder to kill Franz that day. He deserved it.

Franz… The Krawleys… It was what, two days of freedom before their demise? What a sad life, to live 33 years as a prisoner only to perish on the second day of freedom. And to what? Wolves, was it? That couldn’t be the way they died. Not like that, not yet. They hadn’t even found their parents, or learned to fly, or seen the world beyond their cage, or freed the others like themself, or–.

Warmth began to spread and chase away the cold. The darkness began to lighten, just a bit. For a moment, all these horrible thoughts ceased and nothing remained but the feeling of heat. Maybe, just maybe, forgetting everything for a while and settling into that warmth would be a good idea…

…

A moment passed, or perhaps a day or a week or even an entire year, some unknown amount of time in the pit of dark nothingness where all was cold and shadowed and miserable. That horrid realm was choking and all-encapsulating and the end of things; and then, all at once, it was gone like a bad dream. Instead of the cold, a softness and warmth surrounded them like a nest of feathers. The darkness skittered away to reveal a soft glowing light, dimmed against eyes lidded with the end of sleep. Where there was once nothing there was now the soft sound of peaceful snoring, the songs of birds, the sway of trees and leaves in the breeze, gentle footsteps pattering against a hard floor. What was this? What was going on?

A weighted warmth shifted, bringing back to the land of the living one very beaten and exhausted dragon.

Astrath opened their eyes, expecting the frigid cave and pack of wolves and iced river flow they had fallen to. But instead now they found themself gazing up at a wooden ceiling. The icy mountain was replaced by a hut of warm browns and vibrant greens. Astrath blinked slowly, trying to clear the sleep from their eyes. What happened? This wasn’t the icy cave.

The warmth shifted once more and Astrath finally gave notice to Rojaw sleeping soundly on their blanketed legs. Their friend had some bandages wrapped about him but otherwise seemed fine. The black dragon brought a heavy tired hand to their face and noticed it too was bandaged. Their arm hurt to move. 

Astrath let their arm slide back under the warm covers and sighed through their nose. So they had been rescued, it seemed. Who on Gielinor would be brave, or foolish, enough to rescue two draconic beasts from a pack of wolves deep in an icy mountain? They would surely want something in return, and Astrath had little. Perhaps it would be good to leave sooner than later.

Just as they thought this, a door on the opposite end of the room gently swung open. Astrath closed their eyes so as to look asleep, but subtly cracked open one eye to spy on the visitor.

A man walked through the door, shuffling quietly in light robes of white and pale green-blue. He looked perhaps 40, dark brown hair turning gray in some spots. His beard was colored much the same way, reminding Astrath of the skunk that once snuck into the Krawley’s zoo one dusk. He moved about the room quietly, courteous and respectful of his sleeping guests.

Astrath watched carefully. They knew all too well to be wary of humans and they were in a rather vulnerable position weak, hurt, and bedridden. The black dragon watched as the man sifted through a drawer for bandage wrappings. Astrath closed their eye as the man shuffled over to the dragons in bed. The dragon almost growled as the man placed the back of his hand against Astrath’s forehead with a thoughtful hum. He gave an approving huff and moved toward the foot of the bed. Astrath could feel their companion awaken and shift at their feet. Rojaw yawned and chirped loudly.

“You seem energetic. Good, good. Now if only your friend would awaken too.”

Rojaw chirped and Astrath was shocked to hear the little fire drake purr. If Rojaw trusted him…

“His friend is awake.”

Astrath could hear they startled the man as his feet hopped in shock. Rojaw squealed in delight and leapt onto the dragon’s chest and began to nuzzle their face.

The black dragon nuzzled back, opening their eyes for real this time. They were met with a bright orange dragon face and shimmering blue eyes and a human standing by with a subdued smile.

Astrath gently herded the fire drake off them, over to their side, and eyed the man before them. He didn’t look particularly strong, and he seemed to walk with a small limp, hence the shuffling. The dragon may have been weak and tired but if needed they could easily fight and run from such a weak human. 

“Wonderful,” the man said in quiet excitement. “And equally wonderful you can speak! That will make things easier.” He gave a little bow. “My name is Silenthe. I was the one that saved you from an untimely end. Imagine my surprise finding a pair of dragons floating down the White Ice River on a casual foraging trip! I’ve been looking after you for about three days now, and I must say I was starting to grow worried over your fate. Seeing you awake is truly a blessing.”

Astrath was in shock over the news. “It’s been three days? How…?”

“Your friend here woke up much faster than yourself.” Rojaw perked up in response. “He was warm and awake by the first day. But you… you remained quite frigid. I was beginning to worry the blankets and hot water weren’t helping. The cold is rather dangerous, you know, especially for something such as yourself.”

“The only danger we encountered were those wolves,” Astrath growled. Rojaw nodded in agreement. “Were it not for them we wouldn’t be in this predicament. Though, I do thank you for the help. It was kind.”

“Ah, the white wolves,” Silenthe said in understanding. “They have indeed been the source of many deaths in the village. A recent sadness has been the loss of our newest summoning apprentice. Truly tragic. But for you two, given what you are, the cold itself would prove to be far more deadly, and prove it did!”

“The cold?” Astrath snorted. “It wasn’t the snowfall or wind that did this to me!” They motioned to the dirtied bandages on their bitten arm. “It was the mountain beasts!”

Rojaw squawked loudly and flicked his head toward his bandaged wing.

Silenthe hummed to himself thoughtfully. “How curious. You seem to know little about yourself.” Astrath opened their mouth to refute the insult, but the man continued to speak. “Tell me, during your hike into the mountains, did you perhaps feel sluggish, your mind perhaps not as sharp? I imagine a pack of hounds would be a mere inconvenience to a pair of fearsome dragons. So how indeed did they fell you?”

Astrath snorted angrily. “As you say, it was cold. I could not fight as well in that cold. Even my fire–!” The black dragon growled remembering their failure.

“Your fire went out, didn’t it?” Silenthe guessed. Astrath looked at the man in shock. “I know quite a bit about your kind. We do live next to denning dragons after all. When a dragon grows too cold, their body begins to shut down. They enter a state of hibernation, beginning with their muscles and mind slowing and stiffening. Then their fire burns out. And finally, they sleep and unfortunately, they usually do not awaken again. You are very lucky to have survived that day.”

The black dragon shook their head. “You’re telling me that a little snow, a little chill on the winter breeze, could kill us?! I don’t believe that for a moment!”

“Your friend here, perhaps not. He seems to have a fiery spirit about him.” Rojaw chirped and pranced in a circle. “You, however, are not so endowed. A breeze, as you put it, won’t kill you, no. But another trip into the mountains like that without proper protection and you will most certainly not make it out alive.”

Astrath growled low. They didn’t want to believe this nonsense, but they couldn’t deny this man’s words. In the cold, Astrath did indeed feel slower, stupider, weaker. It was as if the cold sapped their fire, their life, from their body. It was awful, and they hoped to never feel such a thing again. They gave Rojaw a careful glance. At least the little fire drake seemed safe and sound. Even the bandaged wolf wounds seemed to have healed well enough already, the little dragon prancing around as if he didn’t feel a thing.

The black dragon sighed through their nose and sank into the bedcovers. “What a sad joke that a human knows more about dragons than an actual dragon. I thank you anyway for the information and help you have given. I shall have to take care if I ever head into the snow again. Now then, I suppose we should get going.”

Rojaw chirped excitedly and wiggled his tail. Before Astrath could slide out of the bed, the man stopped them.

“Whoa there! You two can’t leave yet! I assume by your lack of supplies and the appearance of your gear you are an adventurer. You most certainly can not continue your adventure with wounds like yours. Please, rest, gather your strength. You owe me nothing and have no need to rush away.”

Silenthe picked up Rojaw and placed him in a bundle by Astrath’s side. The fire drake whined but cuddled next to their friend in a ball of warmth. The man unfurled a roll of bandages he removed from a drawer earlier and cut away a long length. 

“If you would hold out your arm so I can change the bandages please, dragon.”

Astrath eyed the man but huffed and agreed. It felt weird accepting help from a stranger, especially for no gain on their part. But if he was willing to help, the dragon supposed they could play along. Though they wouldn’t admit it, as Silenthe unwrapped the old gauze and cleaned the wolf wounds and bound them in cloth again, it did feel strange but nice to be taken care of. Gods know the Krawleys never did, not in this kind way.

As Silenthe finished, Astrath delicately tucked themselves under the blankets. “...Thank you. If I could pay you for your kindness, you will find gold pieces in the small pouch of mine you have laid on your table.”

“Nonsense,” Silenthe waved off. “We in Taverley come to the aid of any in need and expect nothing in return. Now I shall make supper and leave you to rest, dragon.”

“Astrath,” they corrected. “And this little one is Rojaw.”

“Astrath and Rojaw… How wonderful to officially meet you. I will be downstairs. Please holler if you need anything.” And with a sweep of his robes, Silenthe was gone, leaving the pair of dragons alone in their silence.

The black dragon absentmindedly stroked Rojaw like one would a pet cat as they lost themselves in their thoughts. Rojaw purred and nuzzled into Astrath’s hand.

After a moment, Astrath spoke. “I wonder if they’re all like that…” they mumbled. Rojaw chirped in confusion, startling Astrath back to reality. “Oh, I didn’t mean to speak aloud. I was just thinking… Thinking if most all humans are like Mari or Silenthe or the residents of Catherby, more kind than cruel, just people being people, instead of Lord Krawley and his ilk. Are these beings inherently good or bad? What do you think, Rojaw?”

The fire drake in question was not inclined to think about so deep a question, and instead nibbled at the tip of his tail with a grumble. Astrath snorted and roughly yet playfully rubbed the little dragon’s head.

“Oh, nevermind, you. You’re too young to care anyway.” The black dragon could feel their eyelids growing heavy once more, some of the chill of the mountains remaining under their scales. “Will you keep watch while I rest, my valiant guard-drake?”

Rojaw jumped up and flared out his wings, wisps of fire floating from his nostrils. Be it wolves, men, or the gods themselves, this drake would protect his friend from all! Astrath smiled and curled into a more familiar position and fell fast asleep. Their little guard-drake couldn’t help but follow suit soon after.

_________________________________________________________________

By early the next day, Astrath and Rojaw felt strong enough to leave the bed and explore their new surroundings. The hut they were housed in was very natural, carved of wood and covered with living plantlife. A potted plant escaped through an open window downstairs and climbed up the wall, reaching for the roof. The pot was more a formality at this point as the roots escaped through the cracks and found purchase in the floor in some places.

Downstairs was as homely as the floor above, with only a small kitchen and dining area. That was where the dragons ate with their host, a wonderful smelling chicken noodle soup and fresh bread rolls. It felt so odd to be dining and talking with a human like an equal. Silenthe told the dragons details about their rescue, including having to jump into the cold river to snag their swords and supplies. Astrath noted the set of robes hung up in the sun by the window to dry alongside their pack full of belongings on a table drying similarly. Silenthe could feel the awkwardness and embarrassment radiating off the black dragon and assured them the rescue really was no trouble. Astrath didn’t understand how a human could be so selfless and it felt weird to the dragon, but a good kind of weird. They had to know if others were like this too.

After their chat and food with Silenthe, Astrath and Rojaw had a look about the town, Taverley the town of Guthixian druids, and were in awe over how completely different from Ardougne it was. The place lived in harmony with nature, plantlife as abundant, if not more so, than man-made structures. Animals of all shapes and sizes roamed freely, from bright orange-red birds fluttering through the trees, to dogs of every breed begging for pets, to even geckos and monkeys and squirrels and more skittering around every corner to get into mischief.

Rojaw squealed in delight as a monkey hung down from a tree and tugged the fire drake’s tail to signal play. The dragon hopped off and scrambled up the tree to play a game of tag. Astrath laughed to themself and continued their walk through the town.

‘Beasts live freely here, not bound by collars or chains or cages,’ they thought. ‘They live in harmony with humans and nature. Is this the norm of the world? Was my prison just an outlier?’

A shimmering white and cornflower blue wolf crashed through a bush, a fat rabbit in maw. Astrath growled and reached for a sword that was not there, blades left behind in Silenthe’s room. Momentarily after, a young robed man with a necklace of wolf teeth crashed through the same bush, chasing after the hound.

“Come, my wolf, heel! Heel! Please listen to me!”

The wolf stopped, turned to the young man, and smiled, tongue lolling.

“Good girl. Now can I have the rabbit please?”

The wolf brought the dead rabbit close to the ground, but as the man came close to grab it, the wolf raised her head and pulled the rabbit away. The man whined and the wolf put her head down and rump up in the air as if to play and ran off once more.

The young man groaned. “Ugh, man… I summoned a really wild one today.” He stomped after the hound, muttering about ‘familiars’ and ‘summoning.’

“What on Gielinor was that about?” Astrath mumbled.

“Summoning practice, my friend.”

Astrath turned toward the voice. An older man in bright green robes with a stark white beard and head of hair was kneeling by a sapling plotted in the ground. He had a heavy green cape hung over his shoulders. He did not rise, instead remaining focused on the plant.

“It’s a skill native to this village, the ability to summon spirits of nature from another world to aid us. It’s a rather difficult skill to learn, and many apprentices practice with wolves. They are the easiest familiar to begin with due to our proximity to the White Wolf Mountains. Honestly, at your appearance I first thought you might have been someone’s summoned dragon. But you look a bit too corporeal for that.”

The dragon thought on this. “How interesting. I’ve never heard of such a skill before. Can you summon great beasts of battle as well?”

“Of course,” the gardening man said. “But that is not practiced here. We use familiars for peaceful means and only the masters are strong enough to summon and command a warrior’s spirit. If you’re interested, you should meet Pikkupstix in the hut by the gate to the east. He is our summoning master.”

“Perhaps I will. Thank you, sir.”

The man nodded and Astrath continued their walk.

The town was truly a picturesque place. The smells of greens, the gurgling of the river nearby, the rummaging of creatures in the leaves of trees, the friendliness of the townfolk even despite Astrath’s outward appearance. Why couldn’t they have been born here, in this town with its friendly humans and wild animals roaming free? 

A giddy monkey howled as Rojaw ungracefully flopped out of a tree. Branches shoved themselves under the bandages on his wingarms and leaves floated down the land around him like a fairy ring. Astrath smiled and helped the little drake up with their one good arm.

“Come, friend, we should return to Silenthe’s to thank him once more. He has brought us to a truly miraculous paradise.”

Rojaw agreed with the sentiment. This town was magical, and he really felt like he belonged in this verdant village.

Astrath hefted the drake under one arm and sauntered back to their host’s hut with a smile and a feeling as warm as a flame burning in their chest. Perhaps they would start a new life here, learn how the world works and how to be the best version of themselves they could be in this new wide world. They could learn how to read and write and fly and so many things! They could understand perhaps the peace of humankind in this town, as opposed to their matching cruelty the dragon had grown to know and expect. They could begin to think of a plan for finding their parents!

And perhaps… They might visit the master summoner and learn how to unleash devastating hell upon the Krawley Manor and give the city of Ardougne a day that would go down in history as one they would never forget…

#rs3 #runescape #my writes #oc tag

[drew-mga2022mi6021]

Conceptualisation | The First Steps

My name is Drew (yes, that's me), and I am a 2D animator and writer.

"Your final film will define your entrance to the animation industry. What do you want to be known for? What kind of job interests you? It is also the best opportunity you will have for indulging your imagination and working solidly on a single idea for an elongated stretch of time. What ideas have you been yearning to bring into the world? What is the best project to demonstrate all of the skills you have learned so far? What does the world need right now? This module places an equal emphasis on the quality of the idea and technical prowess."

This brief, despite it's flexibility, is possibly one of my most challenging undertaking yet. The brief requires us to create a final cinematic piece, in which we can bring any story that we have been thinking of to life, as long as it relates to something within our degree programme. This could even be a video game. As such, I got thinking about what kind of story that I really wanted to bring to the table.

Concept I : Solarpunk

The first idea I had was about a world like ours, but powered by clean energy. It would be technologically advanced and focus on humans being one with nature. The ideal world, with magic having become a mundane thing, set in my own city of Colombo, Sri Lanka. In reality, this is a world I have been dreaming of since my childhood, which I someday hope to bring into the world as an expanded universe with books, TV and other media.

In connection with this, I have briefly thought about a thesis statement for my dissertation; How can animation be used as a catalyst for anti-consumerism and a solarpunk society? I plan to look at pieces like "Dear Alice" by The LINE Animation, which feature a Solarpunk society in a positive light.

My main inspiration for potential story ideas come from Hilda, a children's cartoon. What does the world need right now? In my opinion, that is a comforting story, about real life stakes and moving on from modern loss. One initial idea I have is a film about accepting that people leave, and not forever; and that it is a bittersweet thing. The film follows the adventures of two college students, who attempt to complete a bucket list of activities that they always wanted to do together before one of them leaves for Toronto, Canada to pursue their higher education. Magical Hijinks ensue along the way, from tuk chases in Pettah, to underground rock concerts and bar fights, to riding on the backs of massive spirits with the city of Colombo sprawling beneath them Some themes I want to focus on are The End of Childhood, Comfort, Nostalgia, Love, Loss, Spirituality in harmony with Technology, and Acceptance. Other inspirations come from Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, Last Summer, and Jake Wyatt.

As of right now, my only gripe with this story idea is that it may be too cliche. One piece of writing advice that I look to in times like these is to never write about the flames of war, but to tell stories about the small pair of charred socks by the side of the cracked pavement. All this is to say that sometimes, stories within a world can be more impactful than stories about a world.

Concept II : Black July

The second idea for a film I had revolves around a couple; a singer and a filmmaker in love in 80s Sri Lanka, during the Sinhala/Tamil Racial Conflict. A film about filmmaking and the creator's struggle. This story follows a guitarist trying to find his place in the world, who is filmed by his boyfriend. Romance amidst chaos. I have connected the premise of this film to an initial idea on a thesis statement for my Dissertation; How accurately has Sri Lankan film represented Black July over the decades?

For this idea, I was inspired by more somber works, such as Tatsuki Fujiimoto's Goodbye Eri, Donald Glover's Awaken, My Love! and J.J Abrams' S. The film would focus on the themes of The Creator vs The Creation, Artistry, Imposter Syndrome, and The Struggle of being a young artist.

The issue that I have with this idea is as while I have a premise in mind, I cannot envision a clear story or timeline of events for this animation. This requires further research going forward.

Concept III : Disabilities as Strength

This idea was heavily inspired by the idea of Toph Beifong from Avatar. Toph is a character who is blind, but the writers focus on her more as a character as opposed to being blind as her main personality trait. This lead me to think of a short children's story featuring characters with disabilities, who are unencumbered by those hinderances. The world itself is once again inspired by Hilda, this time being a forested world filled with magical creatures.

For a potential thesis statement, this time I decided to look at the story of my piece; The impact of animation and haptics on the empowerment of people with disabilities.

While this is a strong topic, I run the risk of coming across as Ableist through my work. If I were to cut any of the topics I have chosen thus far, this would be it purely for the reason of being accidentally offensive.

Concept IV : The Post

From here we take a hard left for my final idea, which revolves around creating an HD2D or 2D game where you play as a postman, delivering mail to the residents of the town, connecting the townsfolk and unravelling bits of their lives in the process. The story would follow the player delivering letters to 4 NPCs in any order. Depending on the order the player chooses, the ending of the story would be different.

The world would be a quaint, quiet town by the sea and the game would be quite small. Community would be the main focus of this hypothetical game, as well as Kindness, Love, Age, Timelessness, Humans in harmony with Nature. I looked to A Short Hike, Laika: Aged Through Blood, Steven Universe, Pokemon, and Chef RPG for inspiration when thinking of this outcome.

Sound design would also play a pivotal role in bringing the world to life. Thus, the thesis statement for my dissertation in this outcome would be focusing on the impact of video game soundtracks on big band jazz and jazz curriculum.

Now What?

From here, I plan on sitting with my ideas more and thinking of bringing more depth to these concepts. Then, I will rework them where I see fit, narrow them down to one concept I am committed to and develop that further before going into Pre Production.

[three-bunnies-in-a-trenchcoat]

OHH MY GOD THE "BEYOND..." OPTION I FORGOT AB THAT ONE!!! sksw link is such a rascal i love him so...

and donot fucking worry i know EXACTLY what ur talking abt with how it permeates the tags and ao3. finding good ao3 fics is impossible and ESPECIALLY for sksw and oot. im surprised ive found what good ones i can man. also i could talk for hours alone about how L/U has impacted malons character bc i adore her to the point of devoting a major part of my post-oot aus to what happens to her and seeing how shes interpreted nowadays is so. hhhhh !!!!!!! :((( stop making her a scolding mother figure stop making her Links Wife and nothing else she can be so much more than just that!!!!!!!!!!!! aauauausbaa. actually i could talk forever and ever abt how fanon link and malon and zelda tends to make them the worst possible versions of themselves and how l/u kinda perpetuates that but its 1 am and i have a fic to write so fffff

and the names man the names. its such a small thing (and im no stranger to sometimes using those abbreviations in some of my posts when i get especially verbose or have to talk abt multiple links all at once) but i try to go outta my way to refer to the chars as [game] [name] just to make it as clear as possible that im not talking abt the l/u counterparts. theyre practically their own chars to me at this point which sucks when im looking for content of my favs sksw link or oot link and i get Sleepy Soft Boy and Responsible Serious Soldier like no! no!!!!! thats my purse i dont know you /ref!!!!!!!

anyways. maybe i am just old and not with it since ive been a loz fan almost my entire life but it is nice to see someone who feels the same 👍 ty for lettin me complain for a moment there.

on a lighter note tell me about the "sksw link is not actually sleepy" thing bc im curious. its a thing thats mentioned abt pre-destiny link but after zelda falls it does kinda go away aside from the eyebags in his character model and i wanna kno what u hafta say ab it.........

You and I, we can be haters together

The one SMALL mercy I've found while looking up loz fics is that there's no lu fics in the ghiralink tag. For obvious reasons I think. Everywhere else seems to be a fucking HELLHOLE (the first thing I search when I first start looking for fics in a fandom is time travel and uh-- you can imagine what I found (BARELY FUCKING ANYTHING (and also lu)))

Also I haven't gotten around to watching an oot playthrough yet-- is it really that bad with Malon? (For the record I much prefer zelink and like-- I don't even really like zelink all that much beyond ss. And also I hc oot as siblings sometimes. So yeah.)

Honestly I would love to play oot but I can't :( and alas, watching playthroughs is just dreadfully dull (I got a decent way through an mm one though but gave up eventually). Regarding oot link's character though-- I admit I myself have not yet written a fic where it's not lu (or adjacent) so I don't really get the intricacies of his character (see also aforementioned playthrough dullness) so like. If you ever want to talk to someone about it all I would be interested

I also do the name thing, with game then character (on one hand the "hero titles" is just lazy and i really hate how it's become common and they would never give each other names like that but on the other the reason I haven't written much for MY links meet au is because I can't come up with 12 names that don't sound stupid and are also names they would give each other, so. And also apparently those names aren't official to lu (in comic jojo will use things like the old man (time) the smithy (four) the rancher (twilight) and full hero titles on posts (hero of the skies, hero of the four sword, etc)). So as you can see all bad things come from fandom, in this essay I will,

Ok so. It's been a while since I've fully played ss (like two months but my memory is just shit). So I might be wrong. But Link simply does not seem very sleepy to me? Especially not to the extent he is in lu.

For one-- our first introduction to him is him sleeping, yes, and we get told by many npcs and Zelda herself that he oversleeps, but there's a VAST difference between oversleeping and being sleepy. I myself am bad at alarms and such and beyond Premium Loftwing Mail (letter spat in your face) there's really nothing to wake him up, so he'd probably just sleep too long

Also he's been having dreams about the Imprisoned for who knows how long. Dude probably ain't sleeping that well (fi I love you but I think that might have been a mistake)

(Side note he's still in school and there's an open book on his desk-- he COULD be staying up late studying. Unlikely but I think that would be interesting)

Honestly it all just seems like teasing to me-- there's no indication that he's ACTUALLY constantly sleeping too long, just that it's happened enough times that some people have noticed (and it's not like everyone says it). Honestly the only thing pointing to a constant sleepiness is his "sit too long on a stool and start nodding off" animation (which is still like, really funny imo. how are you even DOING that you are SITTING STRAIGHT UP)

Now, delving into my own hcs and such-- he did not sleep. After Impa calls him lazy and too late at the earth temple, something I think would distinctly Fuck Him Up (he SAW the chains Zelda was held by), he would simply-- forgo sleep until it was necessary. I've seen estimates that sksw took place over about 11 months, and that's what I generally use in my fics, so-- my dude really said "I wont rest until I find Zelda" and then took a knife to his sleep schedule

(Side note-- do you think they held a funeral (or Skyloft equivalent) for Zelda? Like it seems that after a week or so of searching, the reasonable conclusion of her being dead would be reached (especially if her bird came back, which-- what's up with that? There must be some nesting area for loftwings, so either it would be seen there or it would also be presumed alongside Zelda if it got sucked down to the surface))

So anyway. His tiredness is self imposed, not something he's always had. (One of my febuwhump fics was that he was literally so exhausted he got hurt and passed out midfight. It was fun.)

Also like I don't know if it's just me but sleepy and tired have different meanings-- sleepy is, idk, cuter? Softer? And tired is. I haven't slept in 17 hours and before that I slept for three hours. (Maybe THAT'S just why it bugs me so much)

And also! Like you said! Beyond the eyebags (which are always there, lending credit to my theory of oversleeping because he simply didn't sleep well/enough) he's really... not tired OR sleepy for the majority of the game

Anyway moving onto lu :) SKY BEING THE LAZY ONE REALLY BUGS ME BECAUSE SIR HAVE YOU EVEN PLAYED THE GAME. YOU'RE GOING TO ASSIGN HIM THE ATTRIBUTE OF LAZINESS WHEN HE ALMOST CERTAINLY PUSHED HIMSELF HARDER TO RESCUE ZELDA AFTER BEING CALLED SUCH? AND THAT'S ALL YOU'RE GOING TO REDUCE HIM TO? YOU COULD'VE AT LEAST PICKED SOMETHING COOL LIKE "GOD KILLER" OR SOMETHING ACCURATE LIKE "LITTLE SHIT"

Ha. He's the one who bugs me the most because ss is my favorite game (not just Zelda game, favorite out of anything) and I've put literal hundred of hours into it. There's honestly more I could say but i fear I've already descended into "wildly incomprehensible"

#sorry if i was talking weird in some bits i get like that when its late #mb and strawberryrosewood scream about hats