xt1me

In Black Hood Desmond has a shield uniform with a hood (of course).

I've been playing Marvel Puzzle Quest (which is a free match 3 game) and one of the characters in it is a SHIELD agent in a hood to I tried to see if I could make some fanart in Photoshop.

I used that free online photoshop, photopea, just to see how it works.

I remember the days before AO3.
I have a steady job now so I don't mind giving some money to them every time they have there drives. I'm fairly sure I still paying less them I would at the library & I used to go through about 10 books a week when I was younger.

So I was reading sit back and watch the world go by and thought about doing my own version of the humans-are-space-orcs story with other YouTubers.

I did read the Spaceiplier AU and while I took some inspiration from it, this should be obviously different.

As usual I don’t feel up to actually writing a proper fic for this.

( In SPACE!!! )

Ok this thing is over 5,000 words now; I think I’ll end it here.

They all managed to track down the others and may or may not be able to get home but I don’t have a plot so that’s it.

(Things for aliens to freak out about: Jack & Nate’s tattoos & ear gauges. The fact that Ethan can backflip. MatPat finding some diet coke being used as a high-grade acid and chugs the whole thing. Them finding out that Mark’s foot thing isn’t a human thing but just a him thing.)

Technically this takes place any time after ep: 110 but while I allude to stuff that happened in 109 – 111 I don’t think I actually mention anything that happens after ep 59. 

♪

( Dream Alone )

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I like how the 2 times Paultin has guest stared in another game (other than the 'C' team or Nate DMing) it’s been some sort of astral shenanigans. I know it's really because of how it’s the easiest way to just drop a player in a random game but it gives me some interesting ideas for headcanons. Like how Vistani usually travel around but Paultin’s now stuck in Waterdeep so his mind is doing it instead. Either that or rescuing Evelyn from the Soulmonger with that Nate20 had lasting consciences.

So of course I started to think what the Weapons & Semblances Darkiplier, AntiSepticeye, MadPat & Natemare would have.

Now weapons in the RWBYverse tend to be able to switch from a ranged weapon to a melee one. One of these guys actually has one of these thanks to the FnaF musical so let’s start with MadPat.

He has a Chainsaw/Flamethrower. Ok, it was more like a hedgetrimmer in the musical but a chainsaw sounds cooler. Although maybe a flamethrower isn’t enough range, maybe it should also be a rocket launcher.
I like the idea of scientist character being more meticulous & precise but let’s face it, He’s a mad scientist. He makes a mess.

I don’t know what his semblance should be. I’m tempted to go with the more predictable Technokinesis so he can manipulate technology with his mind. But I also kind of like the idea of taking inspiration from the musical again & give him some sort of Geokinesis (earthbending) so he can knock down walls.

The next person to have a canon weapon is Anti with his knife. I don’t know if he should have pair of them in an automatic pistol/dagger combo kind of like Ren’s from RWBY (But obviously looking different) or go one oversized knife that turns into a gun. I like the idea of the gun being an automatic because it kind of matched the staticky way Anti talks (if you stretch the metaphor a bit).

Of course his semblance would be the way he glitches about. I’d guess some sort of teleport ability. I like the idea of making it some sort of destructive type of teleport where he can chose to damage things he moves though, maybe if he uses dust or maybe not.

For Dark, I don't think he’s ever had a weapon but he has had a cane. So I immediately though ‘sword cane’. Not so much a sword that comes out of a cane as a cane that turns into a sword. He’s seems the type to want an elegant weapon so a thin blade like a rapier would suit him. He also loses his temper so I like the idea of his range weapon being something less controlled, like a shotgun. I was thinking something less like Torchwick’s weapon and something more like Weiss’ with shotgun shells instead of dust. Or maybe if we go back to the sword coming out of the cane idea the sheath/stick can turn into his shotgun.

His semblance would have to be shadow powers of some sort. I like the idea of both him and Anti have teleport powers of some sort, so he could move around in darkness. It could be something they both argue about. Anti may be more destructive but he can’t teleport other people & Dark can.

As for Natemare, I know the joke for anyone who can play guitar is to give them an axe but I don’t know. Maybe it just felt too obvious. In the Mangled vid the only other thing he holds is a microphone, there had to be a way to make that a weapon. And then I though, a whip. The more I thought about it the more I liked the idea because the whip is the first man-made object ever made to break the sound barrier & Natemare would defiantly have sound powers of some sort. I don’t have a good idea for the range weapon though, maybe just a pistol (insert lame pistol whip joke here). Especially if his semblance could be ranged.

I don’t know if going for a siren song thing or going for something like a banshee scream would be better. Maybe some sort of frequency manipulation thing that allows him to do both?

I’m up to ep 118 now on Dice, Camera, Action.

I still haven’t caught up but I couldn’t resist looking up fic though I am trying to avoid spoilers.

It’s kind of hilarious that the payers have written fanfic for their own characters.

Not just back story either, Anna wrote a High School AU.

Before I read that I was actually thinking what a collage AU would be like.

Strix would be someone who didn’t pay go to college but was sitting in the back of classes & taking advantage of student stuff. She would be squatting with Diath, who she knew before, as she was technically homeless.

Diath would be a scholarship kid. Overly serious because he knew what was at stake. He’s always working so hard no one would ever expect him to be hiding/covering for Strix.

Paultain would be the dunk that goes to all the parties. Everyone always assumes someone else invited him & all the frat boys think he’s part of someone other frat. He comes across as such a uncaring ass no one realises he’s actually studying music pretty seriously.

Evelyn would be the student who, until now, had only ever gone to religious schools. Trying to find her place in the world, slightly naive but not as weak as she looked.

I then thought further how, as these are the waffle crew, their back stories would actually be much more darker then that.

( Spoilers for the parts of their back stories found out by ep 118 I guess )

Wow these guys’ pasts are dark.
My original idea for this AU was it to be something light-hearted.

Opps.

So I was trawling though marksandrec & I started thinking about an AU idea w/ Marks & Jacks ego’s.

What if all the characters were part of a circus?
A creepy circus of course. And they’d still have freaky powers or whatever, but they’d still have to deal with putting on a show (I’ve worked enough back stage to know the types of shenanigans that pop up so this is something I’d love to read myself). I figure this would be set in the past at the height of the freak show craze just because of the complete lack of safety regulations. And then I thought that, well, I know I’m probably never going to write this but if I did I’d need a POV character. And I’ve been listening to a lot of songs from Natewantstobattle recently & he even has a song with a kind of barker exchange that would fit (I know it’s a FNaF song, but whatever). & fans treat the characters in his music vids like egos so I figured it would fit. Even though I really know absolutely nothing about the guy.

And then I ended up spending more time thinking of how the prologue w/ him would go then the original AU idea and acutlly ended up writing a fic:

( Dance with the Devil )

( ı o  }===::

So that works as a standalone I think but the rest of the circus idea was basically Natemare is wondering about trying figure out his shiny new powers when someone tries to rob him. He scares the guy so much he faints. This is how he discovers he needs fear and the nervousness of performers before an act isn’t going to cut it.

Maybe an info broker (MattPat) says he heard of a place looking for workers. Or maybe he hears someone yelling out to advertise a new show. A horror carnival. Called ‘Darks Dreadful Delight’s’ or something. The guy a has good voice for yelling (It’s Jacksepticeye) & has a patter down of all the acts guaranteed to thrill and terrify & all that stuff.

So Nate decides to go.

I’m not sure if I’d have Markiplier be the owner & have Dark the ringmaster or if I’d drop Mark & Jack altogether & just have their characters. If I did the latter the Jack would be Anti alias. If I did the former I properly have Anti possessing Jack or something. Idk.

Anyway, Natemare goes to see the show.

There’s preshow carnival stuff. Ed Edgar runs some of them. Chase Brody probably runs a ring toss. Bim Trimmer might run one of those rope ladder things. Since those are practically impossible.

There also a cabinet of curios kind of thing, which you pay to go in. It’s run by the Host. It’s got weird things like a green eyeball that swims in a tank and a tiny dancing little box. It’s got a ton of fakes like the stuffed Jackalope & the unicorn horn that’s actually from a narwhal. But it’s also got actual cursed items there as well. (One of them’s totally Nate’s old guitar he got when he was a kid. He doesn’t find that out until later though since he doesn’t go in, saving his money for the show itself.)

The show starts off w/ a warning from Dark that it not for the faint of heart. They take no responsibly of anyone dying of fright & such.

Since I’d say this fic would be set sometime around the early 1900s they’d have electric lighting by then, so they would have some sort or red & blue lights on him to (hide) give him his weird aura.

Wilford Warfstache who have some sort of gun/shooting performance. They defiantly get a volunteer from the audience for the finale & pop balloons around them. The crew always make sure that they the supply the guns for the act since they’re filled with blanks because if left to his own devises he would pull his own and his aim is sometimes not all that great (The balloons are actually popped by hidden pins that are pulled in place by someone backstage.) This doesn’t exactly help with Warfstache’s delusion that getting shot can’t kill you but he’s crazy anyway. There’s totally a bit at the end where he fires wildly & hits the band.

Jake/Anti is on the drums, (I think I’d get Jack to introduce himself as ‘a’ Jack since he’s a jack of all trades, filling in were needed in the circus. That’s where he’d get his name.)

Anti would make a big deal about almost being shot & swing over w/ a conveniently placed rope & chase after Warfstache all acrobatic like until getting his throat cut.

The audience would be left wondering a bit if that was part of the act.

The stage hands/clowns would be the Googles. They would be look like (actually be) machines. Elektro the was a robot on display in the 1939’s world fair so it’s not out of the possibility for acts to have something purporting to be similar around that time.

They would have a small act with the strict Googleplier ordering the others to set up between acts & Bingiplier would be the one messing up all the time & getting into trouble.

It’s serves as a distraction for the audience between acts for setting things up.

The slapstick would get harsher & harsher as the show would go on with the final set change ending w/ Goolgle ripping off Bings head.

Dr. Iplier & Dr. Schneeplestein would have some sort of mad scientist act w/ electricity. The tesla coil was made in 1891 so that could have sparks flying every were. The final of their act could be ‘bringing Anti back to life’. So he’d spend the rest of the night running after Warfstache. The finale of the whole show might be some fight that Dark interrupts or something.

Jackieboy Man & Silver Shepherd would have a high-wire trapezes act. There would be lots of bits where they almost fall but the finale would have a rope ‘break’ with some sort of last minute save. This would be yet another moment where the audience wasn’t sure if it was real or not. (It’s not, Silver Shepherd & Jackieboy Man are superheros from another dimension trapped here until someone from their home can come & get them. Jackieboy Man can fly & Silver Shepherd is invulnerable.)

Jameson Jackson has a mime act, maybe also sword swallowing & juggling, King of Squirrels has an animal (squirrel of course) act, Marvin The Magnificent has a magic act.

I don’t know if the Jims are conjoined twins or have some sort of acrobatic act.

Robbie would be a contortionist.

Maybe Bim could do double duty & have one of those acts where he eats nails & glass and stuff.

The Host has a mentalist act where he reads the audience & spills their secrets. The really bad secures he would just allude to enough for them to get really nervous about. It might be similar how mediums & spiritualist acts go. (In some shows in the past he scared people with deep dark secrets so much that they’d come back after the show to try and silence him forever. All of those people ‘mysteriously’ disappeared.)

The whole show would get more & more violent & disturbing throughout the night. The audience would be left guessing how much of it was real or not. The performers would all tread a thin line between scaring the living daylights out of everyone & not actually starting a mob, so they don’t get chased out of town.

The end of the night when they all take their bow is usually enough for the audience to feel like it was all just a good show but they all secretly be leave with an uneasy doubt about it.

As usual I don’t have a plot for this. Nate comes back the next day & gets hired as a musician. Dark & Anti realise he’s practically a baby w/ his demon powers.

The rest would be just everyone introducing themselves & what their deals are & all the acts & stuff.

Maybe other youtubers are there.

 If I was to throw the Sanders Side in there it's probably as a bunch of ghost that hunt the 'Sanders Theater', one of the place they preform in, or something.

Even the best show is like a swan, gliding along for the audience but back stage everyone’s furiously paddling to stay afloat.

I like the idea that demonic powers really don’t help w/ that as much as you’d think.

There’s a thing going around on tumblr right now about bringing back the citrus system.
I’m old enough to remember lemons & limes.
I remember the reason behind disclaimers.
I remember writers arguing w/ their characters in authors notes.
And while I’m not old enough to have been part of Usenet & fanzines I do remember webrings.

Make of that what you will.

And all these trips down memory lane reminded me of an old fandom thing I think may be coming back as well.

There was a type of fic that was set in a place, usually a bar or a pub or even a café where characters from all types of fandoms would meet up.

The fic was usually an excuse to do an easy crossover. The tavern could be set up on a multidimensional gateway or on the 4^th wall or just exist. The characters could know they were in a story & complain to each other about fics & author abuse or they could just stumble about the place & it would be played straight.

Off the top of my head I can think of one good example that I can find right now but here were many things like this done back in the day.

It’s a lot like ItsJustSomeRandomGuy’s series or HISHE’s villain’s pub & super hero café just expanded to include whatever character you want, or even multiple versions of the same character.

I’ve been reading a bunch of YouTuber fics lately and the thing that struck me was a lot of them had the same vibe as some of those old fics. I’m guessing because YouTube is so good for collaboration, writing fics where one creator’s character just know about another’s without having to explain just make’s sense.

This fic was inspired by this pic and a random comment under one of NateWantsToBattle’s music vids. 

I have since read Confusion Aside by The_WritersBlock &, though I had the idea for this beforehand, it did inspire me to finish writing it up.

( YouTube Villian Meet Up )

So I wanted to have a bunch or characters from all over youtube not just letplayers & stuff. So the guy in the swirly goggles is Dr. Linksano from Atop the Fourth Wall (or, since I don’t mention what he’s wearing it could be Dr. Insano from the Spoony Experiment). The grey man is Darkiplier & the green guy w/ the throat wound is, of course, Anti Septiceye. The Loki mention is actually from Parle Productions' Some Assembly Required. The gargoyle is from the Zombie Orpheus series JourneyQuest. The guy with the cane is Pantom from the music vid I mentioned earlier. I have no idea who Deceit pissed off at the end there so it could be any villain from any youtube channel. It doesn’t matter.

(I did make Deceit more chaotic annoying rather than evil for this. And I mention Sleep even though I know he’s not & probably never will be a canon side. Also I just found out Virgil’s demon voice is called Tempest Tongue.)

I wish I could think of a better ending for this