#the minions had characters of their own and it was fun!

[mirtifero]

WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME THE NEW MINIONS MOVIE IS ACTUALLY UNIRONICALLY PRETTY FUCKING AMAZING????? AKAJQKSJ LIKE ITS A GENUINELY ENJOYABLE MOVIE.

#like it’s not a great masterpiece or whatever #but it’s funny and the characters are genuinely easy to enjoy #it does treat the audience a little bit dumb in the whole ‘you can’t do things alone!’ bit but it is a heart warming moment #and it has nice little messages #besides it shows that it’s important to have patience with your peers and such #it’s a nice little message about dreams and somewhat power of friendship stuff #and did I say that the characters are enjoyable? Like woah I wanted to hug Gru so badly #the minions had characters of their own and it was fun! #even the characters that didn’t appear for a long time had pretty darn nice little characters #not incredibly fleshed out or whatever but STILL very nice simple fun characters #and the visuals had a little fun with themselves too #like it’s still your classic illumination bs but there were some funky momentd #moments* #and I liked how they used the whole 70s 80s aesthetic #like the places where quite… real yk #now I’ll shut up sorry no one wants to listen to me talking about fucking MINIONS #AND ALSO idk the characters felt kinda real? Like Gru specially and his whole thing with his mother #SORRY SORRY ILL SHUT UP

[drawnfamiliarfaces]

If Chase Yuong and the First Ninja start a fight, who will win in your opinion? Either way, it's going to be epic.

anon ANON thank you. I've been dying to think more about those two in the same context, ever since i realized the similarities of these two idiots i like (greenish hair? martial artist? magical? kinda lived long???) But i've shoved those crossover-ish ideas away since i am busy with other stuff lol. but this gives me an excuse >;)

Ok, if we do NOT take canons in consideration (because lets be truthful, cartoons rarely can give a full scope of a character to our satisfactions lol) so I have 2-3 vague scenarios in which they clash (IMO either of them can win??? (because i like them both, even if i am more of First fan, so I cant decide who of them winning would be more entertaining lol)):

If First Ninja in his prime (sometime after imprisoning Sorcerer but before the Ultimate Lesson) clashed with 700 yo Chase Young (since this fucker is canonically 1500 yo) who would probably try to defeat First in order to make him part of his Jungle Cats harem:

Chase is ridiculously, stupidly overpowered but one could argue that at 700 he hasn't yet reached the height of all his powers, so First would certainly have a fighting chance. First is supposedly uniquely trained since (probably) his birth by his Ninja Clan and continuous battles with the Sorcerer (and most likely other creatures, like Sorceress and Tengu and etc.) throughout his teenage-young adult life to take on enemies like Chase - overpowered magical beings/soulless monsters - with the help of Ninja Mask and all its powers.

Admittingly, in this case the win will most likely go to Chase, if only because of his experience and overwhelming array of powers at his disposal. Though considering we do not know the full scope of Ninja Mask's powers, First has like maybe 15-25% chance to win (and at least 30-45% in my mind if i consider my own hc about the mask lol), but not 0%.

If First Ninja's 800 yo. spirit somehow was released from/embodied by Ninjanomicon to clash with 1500 yo Chase Young in the Modern Present:

Here a lot of my hc come in play. I fully believe that if First - with all the developed abilities, experiences, memories, power (and possibly spirits) acquired during his stay/merge within the Ninjanomicon and from over like 200 people who ever used the mask over 800 years - fought 1500 yo Chase - who spent at least a century or 2 or 3?? hidden away in his Fortress, growing just a bit complacent, since he clearly became too strong and thus bored of the world when it couldn't offer him decent opponents anymore, at least not until current Monks - the fight could go either way.

Chase is still stupidly OP, but its clear that he was deprived of good opponents for a loooooong time, since he resorted to fight against/taunt teenagers and Omi, who is basically a kid still. And they frequently managed to outmanoeuvre him in their confrontations, if not in an actual hand-to-hand fight then at least in common sense lol.

Meanwhile First trained and learned with his each of his successors years in and out, and while we dont know exactly what sort of things happened, we can say for sure that the fighting was continuous. Ninja barely had any rest, for the Sorcerer probably attracted chaos inclined allies and minions and thus a never ending stream of enemies for Ninja to battle.

If basic bitches clash aka OG Good Chase and First Ninja before he was First Ninja:

This is just for fun and because I fully believe that pre-Ninja Mask First will trounce Good Chase. xD

We do not know Chase's past, and there are various headcanons on how he came to be a Xiaolin Monk, but let's just say that judging by his apperance and XS voice, he is probably a very young adult-ish before he drunk his Soup, so he most likely was a Monk since at least his pre-teen/teen years. He appears to be insecure in his Monk-ness and in his abilities to become the greatest warrior despite his competence, since he was swayed/manipulated/convinced? to sell his soul to a demon for more power and freedom from Monk values.

If we judge First's appearance and voice, he would be perhaps a slight bit older than Chase when he became The Ninja, and not to mention since he was born into the Ninja Clan, he was likely trained since he was very young. His personality appears to be very studious and there is certainly a great deal of strength in his character since he not only managed to continue on with his duty even after loosing his brothers but also not succumbing to the overwhelming Power of the Mask that can corrupt those of weak belief and hold the title of the Ninja longer than anyone else.

(Not to mention I am of very biased opinion that Ninjas are cooler than Monks. lol. Also we can assume they all have magic of some sort. Like think Naruto like Ninjas and Xiaolin Elemental Dragons/Monks.)

ALSO in case 1, obviously if they fought with the agreement that if Chase wins he would ABSOLUTELY add First into his Jungle Cat harem. First will most likely add/request a stipulation that Ninja Mask was not taken with First and I can see Chase honoring that agreement, so the Ninja legacy will continue on and Chase still gets an incredible warrior to his ranks, and perhaps more warriors if the future ex-Ninjas would decide to try and fight him later on. ;)

(first's animal form would be either a leopard or iriomote cat (both native to Japan) or a crow because tengu connection/associations ;D )

And if First wins, he certainly would figure out how to contain Chase, (perhaps even in the Ninjanomicon itself hohoho) since he somehow managed to contain a sorcerer that controls chaos with some binding, magic from a mythical beast and in a deep hole that perhaps connected to some dark realm, like??

;)

#que? #rc9gn first ninja #first ninja #chase young #xiaolin showdown #rc9gn #crossover #ninja showdown #long post #i am so sorry for the length but i got so passionate about this i think im creating an au in my head now lol #also i think i accidentally mentally added gay tension between those two im going INSANE #im sick and i keep giggling about it so now my throat is sore and i probably have a fever but alkfa;skd

[squishpies]

Bonten Headcannons

(no NSFW, just character hcs)

-Ran Haitani-

•definitely wears makeup

•probably watched James charles

•learned how to braid his hair from practicing on Rindou

•doesn’t like dating

•definitely a-sexual

•likes to hum to music

•doesn’t have a lot of friends (he considers his brother a friend)

•Halloween is his favorite holiday

•I feel like he’s straight (but maybe likes men idk)

•definitely a flirt

•blocked sanzu because he kept spamming him porn links while ran was in a meeting

-Rindou Haitani-

•doesn’t like to wear his glasses

•somewhat smart in mathematics

•plays Minecraft

•probably a model at some point

•calls ran “Wednesday Adams”

•favorite holiday is Christmas

•listens to Christmas music in July

•scams little kids on roblox

•definitely has tinder

•bi

-Sanzu-

•mf is a MENACE

•has a weird obsession with minions

•scared Rindou once by crawling on all fours and chasing him down a hallway. (He got his ass beat)

•likes sweets, (like cake, cupcakes, candy, etc..)

•plays fortnite religiously and rages. (Then gets yelled at by Mikey)

•has Mikey under the name ‘bae’ on his phone.

•stalks his co-workers (especially the haitani brothers to scare them)

•owns a collection of katanas

•definitely a model

•blocked senju on Twitter because she tried to contact him once

•his favorite holiday is probably Easter 😭

•DEFINITELY still believes in Santa, and Mikey has to put an elf on the shelf around the base.

•likes to listen to lady Gaga and Rihanna

-Mikey-

•angsty mf

•listens to Mindless Self Indulgence

•sick of Bonten’s shit (especially sanzu’s)

•has blocked sanzu on multiple occasions, just for sanzu to steal his phone and unblock himself..

•paints his nails black

•probably had a slight crush on takemichi

•rants about things on Twitter on an alt account

•when he’s bored he eats

•is literally the grinch

•fucking HATES Christmas

•but he secretly likes it just because he gets presents

•listens to Mariah Carey

•collects jordans (shoes)

•gets bitches (literally whenever he’s in public he gets hit on)

-Koko-

•literal wallet

•definitely a sugar daddy

•has been called an ‘old hag’ because of his white hair

•been compared to a snake

•probably a vegan (vegan power)

•wears designer clothing since he’s rich

•is lactose intolerant

•has been diagnosed with OCD and he replies “mental illness isn’t real” 😭

•listens to country

•doesn’t have a favorite holiday

•likes to paint

-Kakucho-

•used to get buzzcuts religiously until he got made fun of for it by Ran and Sanzu and he just decided to let it grow

•still isn’t over Izana

•drowns himself in cologne

•HATES country music

•has gotten into a fist fight with koko once because he played Taylor swift

•listens to katy Perry

•wears highlighter

•needs glasses

•likes to sew clothes

•favorite food is probably something bland like rice

•loves it when it snows

•likes cold weather

#tokyo revengers #hcs #headcanon #tokrev #bonten #tokyo manji gang #mikey tokyo revengers #haitani brothers #ran haitani #rindou haitani #tokyo rev x reader #tokyo revengers headcanons #tokrev sanzu #sanzu haruchiyo #kokonoi hajime #tokyo revengers kokonoi #kakucho #kakucho hitto

[cheeseanonioncrisps]

So, fun detail I just noticed about Megamind:

Famously, throughout the film Megamind mispronounces certain words, most notably: "hello" ("olo"), "Metro City" ("Metrocity") and "school" ("shool").

Like many fans, I'd attributed this and other oddities— like not knowing what a window is— to his unconventional upbringing and general social isolation. His speech sounds a lot like the way people pronounce words that they've only seen written down, so maybe he just hasn't had enough practice talking to other people out loud.

Lovely theory, very angsty, makes sense that this would be what the film-makers intended.

Except…

You know who doesn't seem to have this problem with pronunciation? And who in fact attempts to correct Megamind's pronunciation of various words more than any other character?

Fucking Minion.

Minion was there for literally every step of Megamind's childhood. They were raised on Earth together and went through seemingly the exact same experiences. Yet somehow Minion came out the other end knowing how to answer the phone and what a window is and why people use codes, while Megamind didn't.

And I am just so fascinated as to why.

Top three theories:

1. Megamind isn't actually mispronouncing words due to lack of practice, but rather for some other reason.

Maybe there's something up with his ability to hear certain sounds, or his alien anatomy makes it harder to pronounce them. Maybe he's neurodivergent (I mean, he definitely is, but maybe that fact is affecting his speech).

2. Megamind is mispronouncing things due to lack of practice, but there's something about Minion that makes him need less practice to pick up new languages.

Possibly as part of their protective role, his species has advanced language acquisition programmed in so they can act as translators. Else, while Minion and Megamind landed on Earth together, it's not 100% clear whether they were actually at the same age/developmental stage when that happened. If Minion was an adult (or older child) when he became fluent in English, he might have consciously focused more on accurate pronunciation than Megamind did.

3. Megamind is mispronouncing things due to lack of practice, but Minion is getting more practice than him.

This is… honestly the theory with the most evidence behind it. Like, we know that Minion isn't in jail at the start of the film, so he's clearly mot spending the same amount of time in solitary confinement that Megamind is.

He also appears to be in charge of providing Megamind with the resources needed to carry out his plans, which would presumably require him to communicate with scrap merchants, crocodile breeders and Romanian outlet store owners (among others) on the regular.

And like… if he's not getting thrown in jail whenever Megamind does, and Megamind is spending a fair amount of time on the inside, then Minion has to be doing something to pass the time. He's clearly a bit of an extrovert, and seems to take more pleasure in interacting with people than Megamind does.

It seems unlikely that he'd spend all his time sitting in the Evil Lair waiting for Megamind contact him or escape. So what does he do?

I find it both sweet and hilarious to imagine that Minion actually does have his own social circle outside of Megamind.

Minion goes to DnD on the second Tuesday of every month.

Minion gets advice on making costumes for Megamind from his weekly sewing circle.

Minion has been going to university online for the past eight years and is currently working towards his PhD in Marine Biology.

Minion is a semi-regular at Metrocity Night Clubs.

Minion does volunteer work sometimes with kids at the Metrocity hospital.

Megamind has barely any idea about any of this. Like, he knows Minion goes places at various times.

He knows that when he's rampaging through the streets Minion will sometimes stop to wave hello to various people that Megamind has never met. He's seen the half-orc paladin costume that Minion made for DnD.

But he's never really asked about it, and Minion has never seen the need to tell him. So long as Minion's happy, Megamind's happy, and so long as Megamind's happy, Minion is happy.

Meanwhile Roxanna, post-movie, has to grapple with the fact that sometimes she'll go to visit her boyfriend only for him to ask if they can go out for dinner instead because Minion's book club is meeting in the Evil Lair, and he's been gently encouraged not to come back after what he said to Helen about her (wrong) opinions on To Kill A Mockingbird.

#megamind #minion #roxanne ritchi #megamind headcanons #megamind meta

[bonefall]

It feels like one of those riddles. How do you seat the dark forest demons at the dinner party where they’re all happy? Yes, you must include all of them. No, there is only one table. Leopardfoot wont do sitting near her father or Pinestar. Ryewhisker and Cloudberry must be sat together. Darkstripe is cooking.

Sounds like a fun logic puzzle lmao. I have to be quiet for the next couple days because I'm studying for some exams so, here, I'll give you 12 dramatic Dark Forest demons and you can play around with it.

(Elder Bones rolling out the CRT TV on the big-metal-rolly thing and bonus credit worksheet because he has to be his own substitute teacher that day)

Maximize happiness by scoring yourself with this; Seating next to a requested cat is +1. Seating next to a disliked cat is -1. Penalties and bonuses stack.

Givens;

The layout is a circle

There are 10 seats, and every seat must be filled.

Darkstripe is cooking next to Seat 1, he does not occupy any of the 10 seats but cannot be moved.

Cats; (Closest political ideology next to name. TL = Thistle Law. FA = Fire Alone. O = Other)

Darkstripe HT (Tigerstar's bumbling ex-minion, finally finding himself in death) He will only interact with the cat in Seat 1. Ideally, he would like to be next to Leopardfoot or Ryewhisker. He dislikes any Thistle Law supporter that is not Leopardfoot.

Cloudberry FA (An ancient conscientious objector who was forced to witness her love become illegal after her mate died defending her) Must be seated with Ryewhisker. Likes Pinestar, Morningstar, and Houndleap. Will fight any cat who doesn't like Morningstar.

Ryewhisker FA (Ancient conscientious objector who died defending his lover) Must be seated with Cloudberry. Likes Pinestar, Morningstar, and Darkstripe. Doesn't want Houndleap seated next to Coudberry. Can talk about collecting blood syrup.

Morningstar FA (Pacifist leader of ThunderClan, violently overthrown by his Cleric) Just wants to talk to Pinestar, comforted by Ryewhisker, appreciates Cloudberry but her aggression gives him anxiety so he will get a -1 if seated next to her.

Thistleclaw TL (Father of a hateful ideology, left StarClan in protest of Bluestar's acceptance) HATES any cat who is not from ThunderClan and also Morningstar, AND anyone who does not support Thistle Law. Likes Adderfang and Leopardfoot.

Adderfang TL (Mentor of Thistleclaw. Left StarClan with him.) Easily annoyed by "weakness," including non-violent cats. Does not want to talk about cooking.

Leopardfoot O (Mother of Tigerstar who followed Thistleclaw into the Dark Forest after Bluestar's trail) Doesn't want to be seated next to Thistleclaw, Pinestar, or Adderfang. Likes to talk about food.

Pinestar FA (Condemned for leaving his Clan to become a kittypet.) Does not want to be seated with anyone who was part of ThunderClan in his lifetime.

Snowtuft TL (Damned self willingly after killing children in the Crusades, from ShadowClan) Will discomfort any cat who had children. Does not like talking about politics. Has a good pudding recipe.

Houndleap FA (Damned for siring a ton of HalfClan kits) Will inevitably flirt with a cat on either side of him, "neutralizing" a character of your choice, but causing no impact on the character on the other side as if the seat is unfilled.

Leopardstar O (Bludgeoned to death by Mistystar after encouraging the second rise of Thistle Law in RiverClan.) Disavowed TL and doesn't want to hear anything about it. Also hates FA cats. Dislikes any cat who was damned for a non-violent crime. Likes to talk about carp recipes.

Fenneldust O (A girlie from ThunderClan with a penchant for dying, walked into the Dark Forest willingly with her friend Batear) Brings up whatever politics will piss you off the most, unless you have something food-related to talk about. Will die halfway through the night and be replaced by the cat of your choice. Every point of annoyance she wracks up will become a positive point when this happens. Any positive points she wracks up will remain, unchanged.

#BB!Dark Forest #Fennelposting #Logic puzzle #Better bones AU

[stem-sister-scuffle]

STEM SISTER SCUFFLE: ROUND 1 MASHUP 5

Dr. Olivia Octavius (Spider-Man Into The Spiderverse) vs Ms. Frizzle (The Magic School Bus)

Dr. Olivia Octavius is a Quantum Physicist and Roboticist!

Ms. Frizzle is a Science Teacher!

Why you should vote for each contestant:

Dr. Olivia Octavius:

""If you stay in this dimension too long, your body’s going to disintegrate. Do you know how painful that would be, Peter Parker? You can’t imagine. And I, for one, can’t wait to watch." I love deranged evil women she is the character of all time to me"

"Dr. Olivia Octavius, also known as Doctor Octopus, is the secondary antagonist of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. She's also known as 'Liz' by her friends, one of them being Peter Parker's aunt May. She is an evil scientist, CEO of the science research & development company known as Alchemax. She's the scientific advisor for The Kingpin's inventions to open up portals to other dimensions. She's an evil woman in STEM girlboss."

"feral :)"

"Oh I heard you like mad scientist girlies???"

"I know she’s evil but I love her shes so cool. Have you seen her. I support womens wrongs <3"

"MILF. Evil. What more does she need? wowza"

"shes not the best shes the worst and she owns it. milf i mean. who said that"

"I mean. just look at her. she has the robo arms, the awesome hair. also if I recall, she's also been in science educational videos for kids"

"Proves herself as a competent fighter able to take on multiple spider-men at once, plus rocks the mad scientist look"

"Successfully works as a kids' science show presenter while also being a supervillain and working on sketchy projects. Is an absolute dork about her work and about cool phenomena in a way that's really endearing right up until she threatens to lock someone up to slowly die so she can study the phenomenon that's killing them. Probably put bugs in the microwave as a kid to see what happens.

Yes she did get hit by a truck in the fight and disappear but I fully believe she lived and ended up in some other universe.

1. She's a supervillain, she's definitely been hit by a truck before. 2. Out of everyone fighting in there she's had the most experience with this sorr of thing. While missteps are possible she would be going into it with some idea of what the risks are and how to deal with them. 3. Isekai truck trope 4. If she did end up in another universe she would totally find a way to keep herself stable there. She's got science knowledge and robotic limbs built for crime. 5. I like her and I think it would be really funny.

Why did I make this part mostly ""no she isn't dead"". It'd still be funny even if she was dead tbh.

I cosplayed her once and that is irrelevant to the poll but idk. She's fun."

"it's so rare to have female mad scientists in media like her, she's a role model to girls who want to commit crimes against the spacetime continuum everywhere. she's very important"

"She's really cute, too bad about all the murder and stuff :/ Women's wrongs, amirite?👍"

"She has a "For Science!" attitude that makes most male mad scientist look sane and safety minded. I would gladly be her intern/minion. <3"

"is only here to do science for Nefarious Purposes. science without any regard for moral cost. idk i love that this character type gets to be a milf for once. we love to see an evilgirl winning"

"mad scientist lady. cool as hell hair. evil girlboss."

"She's evil. She's evil and I love her"

"Evil milf with giant robot arms that loves chaos."

"Mastered multiple disciplines, managed to break barriers between dimensions, which even in superhero realms is a bit impressive. STEM girlies should be allowed to go a little evil/feral/unhinged. as a treat."

"She is evil! She is sexy! She employs usage of soft robotics into her prosthetic tentacles, is the head scientist at Alchemax, and quite literally built a machine that creates a portal to alternate dimensions! Get you a girl that can both make educational science videos and also rip open a portal to alternate dimensions under dubious moral conditions."

"she's sooooooo cool"

"She is a girlboss she tried to make a portal and while she’s a villain she isn’t the Evillest out there… babygirl head scientist Her glasses are shaped like octagons :3"

Ms. Frizzle:

"*gestures at entire magic school bus series*"

"Embodies the true spirit of scientific discovery: barely-contained chaos."

"She is very knowledgeable about a wide variety of sciences, and uses that knowledge to further the educations of many people. Teachers deserve the world; they do so much for so little in return. (shout out to Mrs. Goates)"

"She loves science and loves teaching kids about science. I love her. Idk I saw she only had one submission and that made me sad so now im here submitting her"

"She is an icon and has cool earrings"

"SHE'S SO COOL!!! She's so smart and so fun and genuinely just an icon. ALSO she has a little lizard on her shoulder. I saw an ask abt the submissions for Ms. Frizzle and the sender was the only person who submitted her.. I couldn't let this go. ALSO one of my professors irl called herself the irl Frizzle and she's a doctor of biology so make of that what you will"

#stem sister scuffle #round 1 #dr olivia octavius #olivia octavius #spiderman itsv #itsv #into the spider verse #spiderverse #spiderman into the spiderverse #ms frizzle #the magic school bus

[dampfur]

I finally finished designing all the voices for my Redlico Slay The Princess AU so here they all are ✨

This was all pretty fun to make and figure out for Licorice

Maybe I’ll at some point do legitimate interpretations of the voices in canon but no promises

Under the cut I’ll be explaining the design process of these guys and I’m sure the inspiration for most of them are pretty obvious

The Hero: Since he’s basically the default or standard voice you have in the game due to being the first voice and the voice that’s always with you, his design is based on the standard look of the licorice servants as well as a bit of Licorice himself with the cloak and eye color. (the gold lining comes from my own design of Lico that has those bits on his robe) He also gets the privilege of carrying the pristine blade

The Smitten: He’s the most flashy of the voices so the ZZSkull costume/minion design is what I went with since the red fits with the theme of love and with the whole K-Pop band thing going on with this costume I’m sure you could sweep the Prince off his feet with a musical performance~ 🎶

The Cold: I mostly chose the Pale Reaper costume/minion design for the color palette as it’s well- cold. But I did look at the costume description and it describes the Pale Reaper minions as “a ruthless army of obedient servants knowing no fear or pain.” Which did remind me of the Cold with the whole lack of feeling.

The Stubborn: Based on the bomber minion Licorice has in his OB ability. It’s an angry little guy and what better way to win a fight than to literally just explode I guess.

The Cheated: Based on the Parfaedia school uniform. Even tho it’s not confirmed Licorice went to that school it’s a good enough placeholder for what the Cheated represents for him. A time in his life where he studied magic and got no recognition out of it. Much like the name, he felt cheated out of success.

The Contrarian: His Grumpy Shroom Fairy costume felt a bit difficult to place on any of the voices but ultimately I went with this one. I basically chose this costume because Licorice dislikes it. And the Contrarian is certainly known for pushing peoples buttons and wanting to make choices that usually oppose what most of the characters want and more usually at the Narrators expense. So he wears this costume in opposition to how Licorice generally feels about it as it doesn’t paint him in any intimidating light. It’s a silly goofy outfit for a silly goofy voice

The Paranoid: Based on the Licorice Oozlings. Licorice himself expresses disgust over having to see the Licorice Sea again and the citizens of the Dark Cacao Kingdom have stated how much effort they put into making sure the monsters never get past the wall. The Oozlings make a great representation of the sense of fear and paranoia the cookies from there have felt over having to deal with them and Licorice probably felt a similar way when he had once lived there. And of course Licorice did use them as minions within the chapter 13 story so there’s another heavy association he with them.

The Opportunist: Based on the Aberrant Conjurer costume. Aside from the clear upgrade in outfit, this costume seems also like an upgrade in power. Licorice himself is much like the Opportunist always wanting to come out on top. In this costume it definitely feels like he’s gotten what he wanted. Although he can never outshine the powerful Dark Enchantress Cookie who he continues to be devoted and loyal to, and certainly would be to his benefit to be loyal so he can continue getting stronger with his magic and to not get caught in the crossfire of DE and her spreading of darkness and destruction. I’m basically comparing the Opportunist and the Wraith Princess to Licorice and DE since Licorice joining her is highly beneficial to him in his pursuit of power (of course in his case he’s doing it out of actual willingness not survival but the point still stands given how being on her bad side would be very dangerous)

The Hunted: This is the only voice not based on anything related to Licorice aside from the bones. He leans more into the animal appearance with the bird look and being the only voice to have pointy hands. There’s a few reasons for the bird motif specifically. One, the Hunted acts like prey always trying to run, hide and survive hence looking like an animal that can be easy prey. Two it’s a reference to the Long Quite being a bird so might as well stick that in here. And three, my personal Licorice design has bird skulls instead of human(?) skulls so it really was just preference.

The Broken: Based on the potion minion Licorice has in his OB ability. This minion I thought just had a sad looking face so I thought that’d fit him. This potion minion of course carries a potion around and it has a heart inside it. I thought to incorporate that into the design with the cracked heart as a sign of his broken spirit.

The Skeptic: The most difficult and bizarre design choice out of everyone as he’s based on Rocky, the rock that Licorice finds in Last Cookie Standing. I initially thought of this as a joke cuz I ran out of ideas and was just like “I’ll put Rocky here and call it a day” but I actually ended up making this make sense. Rocky comes a series that’s a Survival/Total Drama Island parody. Which of course is filled with characters using their wits and other skills to get through the challenges. Part of the appeal is watching the contestants build and destroy trust with one another. It is important you choose your allies wisely and think things through if you wanna win. So ya Rocky’s association with Last Cookie Standing made my decision with the Skeptic make sense.

#I really put all this effort to essentially expose the CR fandom to a cool horror game #this is also kinda just an elaborate way for me to infodump about Licorice Cookie while also advertising a whole other game #my art #cookie run #cookierun au #licorice cookie #Cookierun STP

[twistedtalking]

Can I request a s/o | GN reader who is an oddball and likes to invite Azul to join them in silly things.

Such as collecting seashells, pretty rocks, whatever items they found in his Octavinelle dormitory.

And he lets them do what they want since they already asked him for his approval in doing so.

He didn't know why he went along with it, though it could also be because of his curiosity about them.

Then at the end of the day, they gave him a drawing that they did it as thanks for spending time together.

The art was amateurish.. yet he enjoyed it anyway.

Maybe he did have a bit of a crush on them.

Author's pain notes in the reblog

Luckily though, after using all my thinking capabilities, I have a letter for y(o)uu from the Sea Merchant, himself(and his lovely minions)! Hope this is worth the wait.

Tw:: fluctuating text style, colored text

September 25, 20xx

Dear prefect,

My apologies, but I must decline your invitation. As interesting as that seems, my schedule is currently full. Please enjoy it without me.

Good wishes,

Ashengrotto

September 26, 20xx

Dear prefect,

My apologies, but I am unfortunately busy again. I truly wish I could join, but my schedule is packed.

I bid you farewell,

Ashengrotto

September 27, 20xx

Dear Prefect,

My schedule is packed until the next month. Please do not send any letters to me at this given period.

Ashengrotto

September 28, 20xx

Dearest prefect,

I enjoyed our activity. It was quite refreshing. I do not mind doing it again when both our schedules are free. Actually, if you have nothing to do next Monday, please join me in the mostro lounge

With hope,

Ashengrotto

P.s: Dear barnacle, Azul framed your drawing lol. Jade's using it as blackmail. It's funny. Here's a drawing.

October 5, 20xx

Dear prefect,

The Mostro Lounge has already been prepared for our next meeting. Feel free to bring your cat. And please do not bring your wallet this time.

Your dear friend,

Ashengrotto

October 12, 20xx

Dear prefect,

Our time was quite enjoyable. Though I was quite disappointed that you did not let me treat you. As glad as I am for the unpaid labor Help with the dishes, our purpose there was to treat you, and I feel quite irritated to not be able to pay you back. So for my sake, please let me treat you to the mostro lounge next week.

With perseverance,

Azul

October 19, 20xx

Dear prefect,

I was quite worried when you did not arrive at our meeting. I was so worried that I asked my dear friends, Jade and Floyd, to find out what happened to you. In the package with this letter is quick and effective medicine and notes for the classes you missed today. Please take it as an adequate replacement for not being able to treat you out.

See you soon,

Azul

P.s. Floyd here. Azul threatened crabby until he fessed up lol. It was funny. Also, you owe me for the meds. My tail hurts. Azul had prepared the mostro lounge for the meeting. And when he heard his dear prefect was sick, he requested to use the alchemy class's cauldron, which was quite out of character for him. And he made me and Jade read so many books on human health. 27, to be exact. Jade, get your own pen. No. Anyways, get better quickly, shrimpy.

October 26, 20xx

Dear prefect,

It was a pleasure to see you again. Our time was quite enjoyable. Though you did not have to give me a drawing of yourself appreciating the notes I gave you ...and a stressed octopus next to a cauldron.

Floyd told you that, didn't he. As glad as I am for your art letters, I wish you gave this to me instead so I could make the twins fess up thank you in person.

Your friend,

Azul

Barnacle-chan helppppp Azul scolding me againnnnn. Why ain't jade being scolded. This is unfairrrrr. Also, get ready. Imma squeeze you for this.

November 2, 20xx

Dear prefect,

I've heard you went on an expedition with Jade. I do hope you had fun. Hopefully, you did not do it because you thought I was too busy with preparations. you are never a bother to me. On that note, let's move our meeting to tomorrow.

Your dearest,

Azul Ashengrotto

azul's jelly lol. He making a weird face, like a scrunched up sea sponge. Hey, Wanna go for a takoyaki break later, so we can make him even more jelly? It would be quite enjoyable. Jade's paying! So please attend.

November 4

Oi shrimpy,

Look. I got them floppy frog slippers. I'd give u a drawing, but azul took my skills. He's a simp. The slippers are awesome though. Wanna see? Imma wear it om our basketball meet next week. Ask crabby when.

November 9, 20xx

My boon companion,

If I may request, please attend the chess-monopoly tournament semi-finals in the board game club. Its at Thursday 4 pm exact.

See you there,

Azul

Azul got crazy jealous when I told him I invited you to my basketball game lol. He was whining louder than a seagull. Now he all hyped and wants you to cheer you on or smth. So he made a game lol. Here is your cheer uniform. Made speci Jade stop yanking my pen. No. Yes. No. Yes. Oh Azul's here oki bye!

November 16

Oi shrimpy, Yo. Did u see him blushing when he saw u in the outfit? He redder than a sea coral. Yeah thats all. Might squeeze you later if he gets too loud.

Romans 14:3

The one who eats must not despise the one who abstains, and the one who abstains must not pass judgment on the one who eats; for God has welcomed him.

#Brooooo #I cried so long while trying to write this #Hello and welcome to what made me quit writing for months #After finally getting inspired It was pretty easy #Yay #It is finished #Yes I quoted jesus #azul ashengrotto x reader #twst azul ashengrotto x reader #twst azul x reader #azul #twst azul ashengrotto #azul ashengrotto #Character development #Letters #Jade Leech #Floyd Leech #tweels #jade leech fluff #Twst jade #twst floyd leech #Twst Floyd #octavinelle #I love this

[graygiantess]

Top 10 favorite fics at the moment. Ready? Go!

OMG, a top ten?! Okay, this was tough, but actually a really fun list to compile! Thank you for asking! ❤

Also, this is so revealing RE: what kind of sicko I am, lol. 😅

1) Practical Ethics by @prouvaireafterdark I am not normal about this fic. I love Armand and Daniel’s relationship in it so much, and seeing Loustat from Armand’s perspective is so fascinating. It will punch you in the feels repeatedly.

2) I must here be confined by you by @faerywhimsy Human Daniel and Armand navigate (starting) a D/s relationship. You can see me being very normal about this fic in its comment section.

3) His rightful home by @louisredsuit I'm not normally a Loustat girly, but this fic has me feral. It's very sexy but what I love most is actually how deeply it goes into Louis’s personality and motivations. The way it explores his relationship with himself and with his family is 😘👌

4) The Fledgling by @akinmablog One of the few fics on this list that actually has the characters as vampires. Set in the 70s and has Armand, Loustat and Claudia all living together when a fledgling vampire Daniel is literally dumped on their doorstep.

5) Home for Christmas by @bandedbulbussnarfblat Daniel needs a place to stay and once again ends up on Armand’s doorstep. Armand agrees to let him stay on the condition that Daniel pretends to be his boyfriend for the holidays. I love fake dating and am very eagerly awaiting the next chapter (she hints extremely subtly 👀).

6) Where in the world is Daniel Molloy? By Moonlightwhispers. Daniel goes missing and Armand isn’t worried about it. He's not, okay? He is NOT WORRIED! Devil’s Minion deliciousness. There's long pauses between updates but I squeal every time I get the update notification.

7) Good Luck, Daniel Molloy by Sunshineramblings. This has book!Armand and show Old Maniel. I'm very hesitant about fics that mix show and book versions of characters, but I love how tender these two are together.

8) General shout out to Cherhorowitz8's romcom AUs. They're so much fun and she never misses. Her fic Eligible had the group chat in such a chokehold.

9) None of Them Your True Nature by Anonymouswords123 A murder mystery starring Loustat. Has me on the edge of my seat, hyperventilating and pulling out the big whiteboard for all my theories (most of which were WRONG, a certain plottwist gagged me so hard).

10) Wolfsbane by @brightfelon Armandstat in a medieval setting. The few chapters that are out so far had me gnawing my own arm. 🤞🙏for an update after RIL and Twelve Nights wrap.

These are all longer fics that are still in progress. Life has been kicking my ass lately so I'm sure I've missed some great fics. If anyone knows any fics they think should be on this list, I'd love to hear your recs!

#iwtv fic #asks #fic rec #also I will show hole for more Armandiago fics #who said that

[archaiclumina]

FFXIV Fauxlore Mini Bang - The Final Update!

Hail well, pray tell, and might you know? How so, the woe of a prince from Nagxia was solved by temple cats? Not rats or bats, they hunted ghosts and hosts, who boast of wicked curse, and worse. Dispersed, by cats, now small; back then, they were large as couerl, born all in halls of Nagxian Kings.

— A translation of the opening stanza of the Nagxian folk tale, the Legend of Phra Malee and the Temple Cat, as traditionally sung by Nagxian bards. 

Concept sketch by mythiclings

Another little fauxlore update from me as we approach the final date for the release of all the amazing projects by other pairs and solo participants involved in the Fantastic Fauxlore FFXIV Mini Bang!

I am very excited to share the full piece of Fauxlore I've been working on — The Legend of Phra Malee and the Temple Cat, on March 11, alongside the final pieces of wonderful art provided by my artist partner, @mythiclings.

It has been so lovely to work with them, above you can see one of the fantastic concept sketches of the character, Phra Rakana and his two temple cats they kindly let me share with you all!

In the spirit of sharing and talking about the ins and outs of the creative process, and just for those interested, here's a little story about how I decided to write a whole lore bent folk story just from the Nagxian cat minion's description, and the challenges faced during such a random little undertaking, under the cut c:

It all started when I was first drabbling about Ren’s childhood — way back in April of 2023! I wanted a story or a fairy tale which Ren’s father and uncle both read to her when she was very young. At this stage the story itself wasn’t very important, but it needed a title because something important was going to be hidden in that book when Ren’s father disappeared. After settling on a type of folk tale (one with an animal), I decided to make it a cat for fun. Because, I love cats, and my husband’s OC, Cal, has a Nagxian cat minion which he won in a game of Triple Triad. Looking at the Nagxian Cat minion’s description, I decided to give the titular character in the story a Thai name: The legend of Phra Malee and the Temple Cat. (You can read the very first tumblr mention of it here in one of the few drabbles I’ve shared c’: )

Shortly after finishing that drabble, I encountered the fauxlore mini bang project! Once I saw it, I was determined to turn the imaginary book into real-ish book. Or at least a short story c':

Of course, I'm not Thai, although living down under, I am lucky we have a vibrant community of Thai diaspora. So, in my spare time I started researching about Thai folk lore; reading the stories that were easily accessible to me via online and my local library, researching the meter of a Klon, speaking to folks about their experience with Thai culture, and gathering material to hopefully create a folk tale that would echo the themes and spirit of Thailand’s own folk traditions, while also feel distinctly "Hydaelyn" and also borrow from the themes and characters we've all come to love while playing the game.

All this posed a challenge! It's been tough at times. I've had plenty of anxiety about offending folks of Thai heritage. Throughout the story, I've tried my absolute best to be respectful to the history and culture I've learned about over the past six months. I've endeavored to correctly use real Thai words, and also use what I've learned of Thai language to create original Nagxian names that feel like they'd fit in the world the Warrior of Light inhabits.

Although every character in the story is original, their journey's and arcs are also inspired by characters from the MSQ. Keeping them as their own unique characters, and trying to mirror the character arcs we follow through our gameplay was a totally different challenge that taught me a lot about writing the kinds of characters I'm not used to! Malee herself is even based on a character from the MSQ who I myself am not particularly fond of c': but I am happy to admit, telling the story of that character arc in a new way gave me a new found appreciation for them in the WoLs story!

Finally, this story is a folk story. It's written like old folk tales, in a way where it should be easy for someone to speak it aloud. Finding ways to preserve the oral traditions of folk tales meant sometimes that oft mentioned advice "show don't tell" had to go out the window. Reminding myself, regularly, that all advice about writing is contextual, and none of it will ever apply to every situation, is a reminder I think all writers need from time to time c:

It’s been an absolute blast working on this little lore bent project, and I hope these little updates help inspire others to jump into different areas of creative writing, to engage with folk lore from other countries and to keep sharing their own work and experiences too! (Even if like me, you’re not usually brave enough to!)

#ffxiv fauxlore minibang #lorebending #my writing #others art #art by mythiclings

[celestialpaperhaze]

Dimentio Analysis

My thoughts on this Dimentio post, recently shared with me by @iukasylvie! The post: https://altermentality.wordpress.com/2016/02/10/flair-for-the-dramatic/.

! CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR SUPER PAPER MARIO !

Okay before I address the article, I should establish my own Dimentio headcanons. I see our silly jester as a sociopath, in that he can't feel love in the same way as other people. Like Bleck, he has a void inside of him, but Dimentio fills it by feeding off of others. Basically, he likes playing around and taunting people because of how emotionally reactive they are, it's how he fills himself up. Mimi's his favorite to mess around with because she's VERY reactive. As for why he wants his own world: he wants to put on a show. The whole of existence, dedicated to entertaining him. The only characters I can liken this to are the Celestial Toymaker (DW) and the Collector (TOH).

Now first off, the article references SPM in the context of "commedia dell'arte", which was a form of theater in Italy during the Renaissance. This form of theater had three types of characters: innamorati (the star-crossed lovers), vecchi (the powerful elders of society), and zanni (the clowns). The common plot of these plays? Two young lovers, hindered by the elders, who end up turning to the zanni to reach a happy ending.

Of course, Dimentio is a zanni character type. He may not help the Count reach his happy ending directly, but his actions do lead to the wedding with Tippi so, in a sense, this does fit the archetype. And of course, I don't have to tell you who the innamorati characters are. Anyone who knows a lick about Shakespeare probably already knows the love story of Blumiere and Timpani uses a pretty strong "forbidden love" trope, but it's interesting to see this somewhat supported by other forms of theater arts! To say Nintendo and Intelligent Systems had commedia dell'arte in mind when writing SPM's story would be a stretch, but it's always cool to see some elements match across different eras and types of storytelling.

Moving on, does Dimentio care about the other minions? The article eventually concludes that yes, he must, because how could you live in a castle with four other people and not grow to love them? My headcanon lines up with this pretty well--after all, Dimentio words the Count's lie about creating a new world as a "betrayal", and a betrayal facilitates caring enough to trust someone in the first place (points at Olly's entire arc with Olivia in The New Void). But Dimentio doesn't know *how* to love, and his version of "care" is different. He likes having the others around, but as players in his game, as entertainment. That's how he sees it. He fixates on them specifically for a reason he'd never care to explain.

New Void Spoilers Below.

You could say he fixates on Luigi, too, which might seem strange when they had far less time together. Shipping aside, I think canonically Dimentio fixes on Luigi because he's the key to everything, he's a highly valuable asset and Dimentio knows it. In the New Void, this isn't exactly the case. Dimentio doesn't have anything to gain by making Luigi suffer, it's just pure fun. Sure, he COULD torment some Shaydes or D-Men instead, but they're dead and they're boring. Dimentio's also been in the Underwhere for...awhile, and Luigi is a familiar face. In his own way, Dimentio's been a little lonely. It's just that, his way of acting on this feeling is to turn it into a game of psychological warfare...

New Void Spoilers End.

Overall, the strongest part of the article is the description of Dimentio's ideal world. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of darkmarxsoul's Chaos Trilogy, but this depiction of Dimentio's universe might be the best I've ever seen. “Dimentio’s goal is to maximize the amount of drama in the universe…a world with the dials of mortal anguish and despair and even joy set to maximum volume, and the banishment of the mundane. A world where he pulls all the strings to ensure this happens. The Ultimate Show.” Chilling! It's like Bill Cipher's whole Weirdmageddon deal, except rather than maximizing weirdness, DImentio would be maximizing drama, flair, and theatrics. All the world's a stage, and whatnot.

I LOVE this idea for a world of his so much that it's a wonder I haven't started writing fics centered around it already! All these new people living what they think are just ordinary lives, not knowing that it's all being orchestrated by a being that craves mere entertainment. Life as a musical, maybe a comedy tomorrow, or maybe a tragedy next week--all because Dimentio wants it to be. I mean, that's absolutely horrifying when you think about it! Enough for a brief existential crisis maybe! But it's also very cool >:)

In summary: what do we think about Dimentio? I think he's a sociopath who doesn't understand love but desperately wants to be entertained. The article's description of Dimentio's ideal world is scarily accurate and also has a LOT of fanfic potential. Dimentio himself is fun and silly, but also dangerous and probably not someone you'd want to interact with in real life.

As this is my opinion/interpretation, I'm too biased to say whether or not this aligns well with canon. But what do you think? Do you think this all fits Dimentio perfectly, or do you have other thoughts?

#paper mario #super paper mario #dimentio super paper mario #dimentio spm #headcanon #fanfic ideas #character analysis

[sgiandubh]

Hey, Miss Marple

You posted this "lesson" (your words) roughly three hours ago:

...when you probably already knew I posted also this, by the time you were wasting precious energy that could surely be better used towards compiling new timelines:

How do I know you couldn't help but still go for it?

Precedents exist. And your army of terracotta sock accounts, too. You used it before: last winter, to be exact, the last time somebody (SHW) challenged you openly. Since she does not take asks and submissions, you or your minions had to send DMs. Too bad.

The same thing happened to me ever since I dared blocking you. At least 5 to 10 sock accounts are blocked on a daily basis. Particular Anons: very telegraphic, quite nasty and different from the usual Mediterranean circus. Most never make it in here.

You then proceeded with velvet poisoning. A slow enterprise, very satisfactory, I think. You first compared me to Emily and almost called me a lunatic, with a sort of cold violence that speaks volumes. Afterwards, you managed to mention me, always in a faintly derogatory way (fair's fair, I suppose), but always altering the truth.

You did it again today:

Just a reminder, geachte mevrouw. I wrote this a while ago and it pissed off many, many people on your side of the trenches:

Yes, that pretzel logic post:

Where I did not analyze anything, let alone a video I never watched. What I did, is expressing an opinion and (isn't it ironic?) pleading for decency. That yes, I very much did and I hope you realize that writing down what you think about something is not punishable by law in a democratic country.

You also manage to call me arrogant, hungry for clicks, stupid and intolerant. All in one post that, objectively speaking, gathers less notes and reblogs than a Scottish ballad being shared on this blog. But this is not a pissing contest, madam and I will stop here with this kind of arguments.

You do you. I do me.

I always own my actions and I always edit my posts or amend my judgements when proven wrong. Always. It is a matter of morality.

Do you?

Thank God I am not always right. Thank God I have a wonderful job and a formidable family. Thank God I have many friends and a very rich life and past, already. And thank God for all the kind people on this side, who are not 'my sheep' (I think you might know very well what I am talking about) and whom I very rapidly grew fond of. All of them and despite our clear differences in understanding the mechanics of SS SamCait.

And if I can do something good for this terrible place, so be it. Your very deep, very ugly, gratuitous hatred will not stop me.

Your obsession with S is not my problem anymore. Cynically speaking, it was fun to watch for a while. I now have the full map of your character and I am very sorry to say: the thing that always bothers me the most is a lie.

I do not guarantee I will not mention you anymore. That would be an empty promise. But I now know more about the person behind the page and will stick to very cursory reference. Not a pretty picture and I am very sorry to say that: I never do it lightly.

#fandom

[schafpudel]

Epidemiology of the Raven's Blood

Part 0: Prologue

Realistically, the blood does things because it's convenient to the plot of the anime, and no deeper thought needs to be put in than that. However, while it does explain inconsistencies in its writing, it's boring and not fun to my pattern-seeking brain. I like to piece together coherent internal logic to stuff in fiction, even if I know the authors themselves didn't think that hard about it. It's fun to me!

At the same time, Princess Tutu's meta-fictional conceit does give us some wiggle room to borrow the Doylist understanding and smuggle it back into a Watsonian explanation. So...

In-universe, I think, the purpose of the Raven’s Blood can be understood as a plot device to easily convert a separate “character” and their body into a narrative extension of the Raven; that this is why Drosselmeyer would write it into the logic of his story. Bored of a character you introduced previously and want to heighten the stakes? They're a toadie of the Raven now. And when we go a level down in fictionality...

To the Raven, other living things exist to be exploited. The only use you can have, beyond being a meal, is being a pawn who can get it what it wants – and what it wants is to consume. Like some ancient castle-bound vampire or wicked dragon, its power and intelligence are ultimately in service of a simple predatory desire. If you are neither edible nor manipulable, you are simply a nuisance.

Diseases and parasites will manipulate pain and pleasure, fear and love, the body and the brain. But while a real disease or parasite’s goal in psychological and physiological manipulation is to reproduce, to turn the infected into a means by which to spread itself to new hosts... the Raven's curse is uninterested in this. What matters, to the Raven, is that the cursed becomes a minion and a pawn, who can bring its prey closer to its own mouth.

Part 1: Lay All Your Love On Me

Part 2: Serving Your Heart On A Platter

I’m sure you’ve heard of a sickness that feeds predators their prey. Toxoplasmosis, for example makes male rats as horny and lovesick over the smell of cat urine as they are at the scent of female rats, switching the pathways of fear and desire, to lure them into being devoured. The pathways between the two run parallel, you see. For the infected, every cat becomes a succubus, a siren, a beautiful creature calling its prey to their willing doom. And, if the parasite gets what it wants, this is how the rat dies.

       Why am I talking about this? Because Mytho starts talking about feeding himself to birds literally the day that his symptoms start presenting, in episode 14.

It’s true he’s saying this while antagonizing Fakir, so one could also brush it off as him just Saying Shit to make his roommate as uncomfortable as possible. But also – we know what the Raven wants, in the end.

For most of season 2, however, Raven!Mytho doesn’t continue to talk about feeding himself to crows. He’s mostly focused on seducing sacrifices, manipulating public opinion, having meltdowns about not being loved enough, and being petty to Fakir and Kraehe. His sense of self-preservation (in as much as Mytho has ever had one, cough) seems genuinely intact for episodes 15 through 21. If Mytho is feeling weirdly giggly about getting eaten during that timespan, he’s doing an awfully good job of hiding it.

And then Mytho starts molting into a crow monster at the end of episode 21, and the rat toxoplasmosis symptoms kicks back in.

(We're not told what he's smiling about here in episode 22, but the next episode, episode 23, makes it obvious:)

This does seem likely to be a Mytho-specific symptom; Rue shows no sign of this. The Raven has been particularly invested in eating Mytho’s heart for a long time, after all; Mytho’s job as the Raven’s doordash delivery guy was always going to be temporary even if he hadn’t beeninterrupted every time. It’s entirely possible that other people could end up with this “symptom” too, but we never see it.

The fact that Raven!Mytho proceeds to acts so strangely cuddly after telling Kraehe she’s an ugly fuck (but also that he needs her love) feels somehow related to this enthusiasm for getting eaten by crows. His voice delivery in the Japanese audio for the heart/lips/blood line sounds…  …I hate to say this.

It sounds like he thinks a crow girl ripping out his heart and touching it onto her mouth is really hot.

(Yea, of course she's shaped like an uggo human (and he's in the process of moulting into a majestic raven and he's sosososo excited for that) - but hey, she's technically a crow as far as he knows, and she has black feathers....)

(And while regular!Mytho seems negative to neutral about that in season 1, Raven!Mytho only ever complimented Kraehe for having crow-like qualities.)

Anyways! In Mytho's final state under the Raven's Blood, he immediately obeys the Raven's orders to be devoured, completely ignoring Rue and Tutu's pleas.

...You know, until the Fairytale Confession of Love, because this is a magical curse and it is a fairytale.

Part 3 and Part 4 are not ready yet but are in the works. See you soon.

#princess tutu

[thysia]

So, for the non-WoW people in the audience, who's Whitemane aside from some sort of sorceress more averse to pants than an MtG angel

High Inquisitor of the Scarlet Crusade, which was light-wielding enemy faction in the game notable for extreme xenophobia and fanatical religious nationalism. Their country got massively fucked up by the undead and associated plague, and they wage continuous war against them but they won't accept help from the UN because they don't trust the other races or nations after the collapse of the old UN. They were also doing pretty well on that front, since wielding the light is a matter of conviction (or kidnapping an angel) instead of moral goodness in WoW Many of them had to put down family members who turned and have watched their homeland basically collapse because of the undead, so they have strong paladins and even stronger healers. They are also notable lovers of torture, scorched earth tactics, and murdering civilians on suspicion of infection or being too foreign.

That brings us to Whitemane, who to my knowledge is still the canonically strongest light priest in the game on account of being able to revive the soldiers of her outmatched and greatly outnumbered organization without any impediment, and also able to resurrect herself following her own death without limitation. Until she was murdered with a pair of holy swords in an act that would end up corrupting the weapons into profane mirrors of their former incarnations.

And then she never showed up again for any reason.

Anyways, I've never been hugely into WoW itself, but a friend got me to play Heroes of the Storm with him at one point and she was some of the most fun I've ever had as a healer on account of being a lifesteal for your team sustained damage mage. That game is also what gave her a lot more of her associated noblewoman-priestess-dominatrix personality.

Appeals to me on a lot of levels from just being an enjoyable villain character, to tickling my love of religious fanatics and longstanding interest in witch hunters/inquisitors, to being a horrible nightmare version of a healer whose ability to throw her minions into the meat grinder and just drag them back from the jaws of death as well her capacity to just get back up when killed make her essentially a holy lich (which I find incredibly entertaining was sicked on the Forsaken, the undead who broke away from all the good parts of being undead for 'free will' and thusly do not, to my knowledge, have liches around to turn them into an unstoppable army), to having a duo boss fight with her childhood friend turned boyfriend that she used to play the classic game Killing Small Animals with, to just having a really good design.

[imminent-danger-came]

tbh you are so real for talking about the misogyny targeted to mei & other women in the lmk fandom. in general its like people only value mei as: a: the wingman to some basic mlm ship or b: macaque 2.0. its honestly crazy how so many male side characters overshadow her in the fanbase despite not even having a FRACTION of her screen time. idk chat i feel like the reason people dont care about mei but care about some random male side/background character is less because they're inherently more likeable but because some of you view women as inherently less likable. and everyone is always like "mei is so girlboss pussy cunt slay shes the only reason theyre still alive because she keeps them safe from their silly boy shennanigans shes their ultimate wingman shes so badass shes their lesbian best friend i totally paid attention to her when i watched this show LOL" and even ignoring the obvious misogyny here (ie. how people reduce her to being the male characters babysitter) its like... okay... i know mei is cool & badass already... could you name literally ANY other character trait she has. like people just value her as being "the braincell" who can get red son and mk together or something stupid and its like are we having fun still is this still fun. literally every day i go into the mei tag its like "look at mei shes red sons wifey and shes vaguely in the background of this drawing of red son and mk staring into each others eyes #trafficlighttrio am i right oh look shes macaques niece now this post is about ao lie why is it in the mei tag"

and thats literally JUST talking about mei and it doesnt even begin to cover the other female characters. chang'e constantly gets reduced to being red sons aunt/mom/big sister despite them like. not having any actual interactions in the show. lady bone demon constantly gets overshadowed by her minion who has like 2 seconds of screen time, or she gets made into a cartoonishly abusive madwoman who people call lady bitch demon. just in general people act like shes a horrible person for like. being a villain. liks yeah the trying to destroy everything was bad but also she was an antagonist and thats what antagonists do LOL. spider queen gets completely ignored. princess iron fan gets made into a cartoonishly abusive mother so that way red son can have a poor angsty backstory and some male character (usually nezha, macaque, swk) can take care of him.

(also theres just a great deal of ethnocentrism in the lmk fanbase? like im white so take what İ say here with a grain of salt but so many people will misconstrue aspects of chinese culture for their own personal hcs. people will say male characters are transfem or nonbinary while completely ignoring the time period/culture their from where thats the norm. like yippee youve implied that an east asian man is feminine/emasculine because he has long hair. how do you not see the negative connotations with this. people also turn pif (& lbd to an extent) into a dragon lady which obviously has negative racial connotations lol.)

anyway this is where my unhinged rambling ends have a good day have a good night İ had more to say here but İ reached the text limit. İ dont see a lot of people talk about the misogyny thats prevalent in the lmk fanbase so İm glad youre pointing it out lol.

Yeah, I totally hear you. The lmk fandom has plenty of issues with misogyny and, like you said, ethnocentrism. It's definitely something worth having a discussion about, along with these issues in fandom as a whole.

#you seriously hit the nail on the head anon #(feel free to rant more! I appreciated reading yer thoughts) #tbh I think it's the purity culture like #If LBD and SQ were men. They'd be so popular it's not even funny #But because they're women. And women can't be flawed #(or their flaws are harder to justify- unlike a male character like Wukong. So they're a ''bitch'') #But don't worry! There's one girl character we can girlbossify and ignore all of those pesky flaws and characteristics!!! #I'm so sorry Mei #You're not a support character for spicynoodles to me #you're literally so insane about MK it's not even funny #she's going to become my fav character out of spite on god #when she was like ''what's the point of having power if you won't use it?'' #and azure was like ''i did not sacrifice everything to be an idle deity'' #And 1x03 was about her using her family sword (her power) to protect her house #And Azure used his sword (his power) to protect the world #And when Mei modeled her sword after Azure's (and now he's dead) #and when- *gets shot* #also Mei doesn't even have the fucking braincell #None of them have the braincell #They're all dummies. They're all scrambling around doing their god damn best #A main theme is the fact that no one knows what they're doing. Like #idk #lmk #lego monkie kid #torment nexus #asks #anon #lmk Mei

[shuttershocky]

How does Samurai Remnant compare to the Extella games? I just did the prologue (where you fight Rider, her minions, then Jalter), and so far its pretty fun!

I didn't play Extella Link and I like Samurai Remnant's gameplay much better, but really FSR and Extella are very different games.

While Extella was way more faithful to the standard musou format in that you didn't play as one character the majority of the time and it featured sprawling battle maps that you ran through and completed various objectives on rather than FSR's mini arenas for combat sections, it also had far less depth where no enemy posed a threat to you beyond the final boss of a route. Even enemy servants were simply tankier punching bags than the usual digital mook army, and an optional superboss that you were supposed to defang rather than face head-on like Sunlit Gawain was just way beefier but could be mauled the same as anything else.

Here's how Extella worked: You picked a character from the main menu to then play their route. The main story routes were Nero, Tamamo, Altera, then Nero again, but every character from Karna to Medusa also had mini routes you could play through. The game split the entire cast into 3 factions and 1 rogue: Nero's faction, Tamamo's, Altera's, and the secret character: Artoria, then these factions would determine your forces on a level.

A level would be a fairly expansive map (something like the size of a town on Samurai Remnant) littered with both enemy forces and your own. Your allied Servants would be all across the battlefield attempting to push into territory controlled by the enemy, or defend your parts of the map from invasion. While you usually just wanted to control the entire map, certain levels often gave you other objectives, such as defeating Gawain (the adviser/ battle leader of Nero's forces) who would be able to easily overpower all of your allies on his own.

This kind of faction-based combat was both the highlight of Extella and easily its biggest difference from FSR. When fighting Gawain for example as Tamamo's faction, Karna (the battle leader of Tamamo's forces) would task Lu Bu with delaying the solar-powered gawain for as long as possible while Tamamo would try to cut off all access to sunlight. You could come across them battling when travelling the map and Karna would push you to keep going and not let Lu Bu's sacrifice be in vain. When Lu Bu would inevitably fall, Medusa would travel to his location and take his place to buy you more time, until you were ready to face the depowered Gawain yourself.

This faction system allowed for some great and exciting variety to clearing levels. Fighting Tamamo's faction as Altera for example, would sometimes cause Karna himself to appear. Gilgamesh (the leader of Altera's forces) then yells in Altera's ear to get the fuck out, as even he would struggle against an enemy of that level, and the objective turns to escaping instead.

Additionally, playing as Nero and Tamamo, you could also access a transformation power through their wedding rings with Hakuno, in case you weren't plowing through enough enemies already. Noble Phantasms could also be used by collecting Noble Phantasm chips hidden throughout a level, where collecting 3 of them let you activate an NP.

Unfortunately Extella's puddle-depth combat really dragged down the setup. You can face sunlit Gawain yourself without depowering him, as he's just very tanky but not really dangerous as long as you keep mashing attack buttons. Same thing with Karna. You could go the whole game without ever activating a noble phantasm because these didn't do that much damage compared to simply facerolling the enemy with attacks they didn't defend themselves very well against. While it was really cool to have a map open all the time showing how the battle was progressing throughout the stage, the locations of all your servant allies, and seeing multiple servant battles occur at once, you were always a wrecking ball that had no issues fighting anything so stakes never felt as intense as they could be.

If there's anything Extella's combat actually did well though, it was making the original Saber feel like a badass again. Unlockable only via a secret method and the only character without a faction, Artoria's route was that she was summoned to end the three-way war all on her own, so you would spawn into stages with the entire map against you, but you were an unstoppable force of nature expected to take on multiple servants at once without any backup. There was even a funny level where Saber would take revenge for Fate/Zero, ambushing both Gilgamesh and Iskandar to take out two of Altera's generals at once.

Fate/Samurai Remnant is a much different game with only the same musou foundation built on it. Unlike Extella, you mostly play as a human Iori with multiple fighting styles and an expanded moveset, with servants being the (much more powerful) tag-in allies. Saber is your constant companion that follows you everywhere, and much of the game's combat revolves around Iori as a weak human fighting enemies much stronger than himself, only evening the odds by Saber's aid from combined attacks, commanding Saber to do certain techniques, or swapping to controlling Saber when their gauge is full. The game lets you play as other servants, but these are in short missions or side quests that act as pacebreakers from playing as Iori, and combat is focused on mini-arenas throughout an environment where you only need to take down everything onscreen, rather than accomplishing a set of objectives.

BECAUSE FSR is dedicated to the power differential between Iori and his enemies, FSR ends up with much more complex and interactive combat than Extella. While you shouldn't go expecting DMC or Soulslike combat (Nasu I know I'm not Shibusawa Kou but I think a Sekiro style game with Ryougi Shiki will be a cool idea trust me on this), you are expected to actually read enemy movements and dodge their attacks, and you don't have the power to suppress enemies forever under endless blows because of your limited physical strength. While Iori does grow in strength over the course of the game, a lot of Iori's upgrades involve actually increasing his options, allowing him to learn parries, crowd control, joint attacks with Saber, more efficient dodges, extra effects on his attacks etc that let him more fluidly take on dangerous enemies rather than let him overpower them with brute force.

#Fate Samurai Remnant