#<- for posts that i think are especially rambley

[knight-of-thyme]

hey welcome to my blog im dave or dana or whatever uh i use she/he pronouns

i like men

dave strider fictive in a polyfrag system, main blog is @aspen-washere

no strict dni just like idk fuck off if youre a bigot or a zionist or whatever and i dont wanna see incest stuff ill block you if i have an issue

[demodraws0606]

Okay so I have made a really bad post trying to descredit Eden taking the tape as something super important so I'm just gonna drop the actual post I was preparing instead of trying to catch Eden!Culprit theories with a half baked post.

The main issue I'm having with Eden!Culprit theories right now is mostly because of stubborness that since Eden took the tape then she HAS to have done it even though if she was the culprit it would make 0 sense as to why she wouldn't just take the tape after Teruko and Ace left the room ? Like someone could've easily told her to take the tape, it's not that hard and it just makes more sense with the other evidence layed out for us.

The main reason I accepted Eden as the culprit before is because there were no possible culprits since Levi was pretty much confirmed innocent and there was still a likelyhood of Eden working for someone. However, this pretty much now rendered null and void. I swear all of this makes it sound like I have some grudge against this theory but I really need to put this subject to rest before the answer is probably revealed to us on friday. I want to make sure this theory is dead in the ground even if it's just for me personally, because it just has too many holes for me.

Also sorry if this seems mainly just a repeat of stuff I've already said, I'm not really good at structuring my posts :')

I've seen the argument that Arei actually wasn't knocked out with the turpentine because why would they bind her wrist then. However, we know she had to have been knocked because there is no struggle shown, either on her body or the floor of the playground. Weither she was suffocated or knocked out, the tape was still used on her wrist so this can't be something to be used against the idea of turpentine knocking her out. This means there is high likelyhood that it was used because it would make no sense for the culprit to just suffocate Arei before killing her (and again suffocating would show more signs of struggle than what we see on the crime scene).

There's also no other items that Arei could've been suffocated with other than the rope which would've left marks, the ball of starch clearly is stuck together most likely by turpentine which means it would've been used to knock out someone.

This would mean the culprit had to have used the turpentine to knock out Arei as well, meaning the culprit had to have gotten their hands on the turpentine.

I also refuse the idea of Eden trying to kill Ace, not only because I just find it ridiculous from a character standpoint but mainly because we know it was Hu's murder weapon that was used against Ace (the wire) considering there is no evidence of any other wire existing in this killing game that would be sharp enough to slice someone's throat. Hu's wire is part of the weapons which is evidence alone that it would be sharp enough to harm Ace bc otherwise what purpose does a wire serve. I don't believe for a second that Hu would just have her weapon lying around for anyone to yoink, unlike the turpentine which we know had to have been used by Nico and Rose when they were painting together.

In fact the story has made it clear how complicated taking someone weapon's is by having Arei's weapon only being available after she discarded it. The same can be said of the turpentine which was used out in the open and would make it easy to take with Rose's absent mindedness. If taking someone's weapon was just as easy as that, they wouldn't have given us the scene of Arei throwing out her rope like that in the first place.

Eden also has no reason to want to replicate Ace's murder onto Arei, there's basically no logical motivation behind that. In fact the progression between Ace's attempted and Arei's succesful murder proves alone that it's the same culprit (if the turpentine's existence wasn't enough). We can see the progression of the culprit trying to avoid the same mistakes they committed with Ace's failed murder (trying to snap Arei's neck to avoid the possibility of her getting saved last minute like Ace, bounding her hands potentially to make her more stable to lift upwards).

We don't even know if she figured out how the murder even worked considering it was completely undone when Teruko and Eden saw it.

Even the timing of when Eden knew about the clothing is off. We know the ball of clothing is probably sticky due to the turpentine because there is no other leads to explain why this ball of clothing is even a thing in this murder case. Turpentine is both clear and sticky, which would explain how the ball of clothing is both clear of stains and sticking together like that. Considering also that we know for a fact Ace was knocked out, and I don't think the culprit straight just shoved a jar of turpentine on his face, they most likely used some sort of tissue to smother them with (meaning it couldn't have been used to asphexiate Arei). This means the ball of clothes was used in Ace's attempted murder.

Eden only knew about the clothing change from Hu, we can only assume the same day that Ace's was murdered and probably not long before the attempt. This both clears Eden going to the changing room as the ""ball of starch"" was most likely already created before that, the only arguemnt it could be used for is that she was trying to retrieve it but it barely makes sense.

In terms of the timing of when Eden knew about the clothes and Ace's murder, if Hu only told her the same night that Ace was almost murdered it makes the timing insanely more difficult to justify. Unlike Hu who would have the pieces ready way more in advance.

All of these contradictions cannot be debunked by saying "well Eden took the tape", as it could easily be explained by the culprit asking her to take the tape from the gym or her just taking it without purpose and then the culprit getting their hands on it later.

The Eden!Culprit theory is barely hanging onto one piece of shakey evidence that can easily be broken by one justification.

If Nico can't be the culprit despite having the turpentine (well I don't think they do but 99 pourcent of Eden!culprit theories rely on Eden not really committing the attempted murder of Ace) then Eden doesn't have to be the culprit taking the tape.

The only way you can argue Eden is the culprit is if she tried to kill Ace, however this is impossible because of Hu's weapon. This is basically the summary of my main issue with the whole Eden!Culprit theory.

[99naive]

was listening to a video earlier about what killers are most & least likely to wind up in the void & the fact that they predicted that joey or suzie would wind up there first , only to be soon followed by frank & julie just gets me so !!!!! cause like , suzie & joey are ABSOLUTELY most likely to wind up burnt out & just , so broken & sapped of all emotion & everything after long enough bc neither of them ever wanted any of this , they just wanted to be together & feel safe & be with the group that made them FINALLY feel like they were seen & heard . i personally imagine that my suzie is dangerously close to that inevitable moment of being cast into the void bc she no longer feeds the entity enough with her emotions bc she's never ever making the entity pleased enough with her trial performances bc she rarely ever gets more than one kill unless the entity just takes full control of her . though i do have this thought , a wee feeling that the entity putting the legion in the void together??? or even just joey & suzie together in there may be bad news for her . . . i def wouldn't put a blight style escape from the void past the four of them all together if they all wound up down there with eachother .

[rambleyrambles]

Hey buddies!

Just wanted to drop in real quick to share something I realized while writing a big long post about Mollie ideas!

During the Rambley's Railroad darkride, we end up skipping Salem's introduction because the ride breaks down, but after we finish the ride, Rambley only singles out Lloyd as separate from "his friends" when he mentions you enjoying the ride. Is he aware Salem was skipped, or does he count them among his friends?

I just think it adds an interesting potential layer to the dynamic between the two given the glimpse we get in the arcade cabinet. That feels pretty antagonistic for a friendship, especially since Salem seems against the idea of friendship?

I dunno, just food for thought!

[dreamwreaver]

I was curious about the playbill and checked out a few pages people posted about it and... Wow. They had barely made any efforts to make Vaggie actually interesting. Yet again. Like, her bio is just about her job and her duty to Charlie and... That's pretty much it. No hobbies, no interests, not even a favorite food. It might as well be blank because the bio didn't give me anything I didn't already know about her. Charlie had also referred Vaggie as her girlfriend, making it twice now that she calls her that (once in the show and another in the playbill) which is just what Vaggie is reduced to and it's not even obvious to like most of the viewers. Even as much as the bio likes to say she's proud of her job, where's her direct involvement of it? The poster Charlie and Alastor made didn't even include her at all and it's so goddamn sad she's a third wheel at her own workplace when it comes to those two. The playbill just confirmed my suspicions that she's mostly left out in handling the hotel. She's in a higher position than Alastor and that man is shown doing more than what his job description entails and he's also out doodling with her girlfriend. And in those doodles, Alastor and Charlie had more chemistry than Vaggie and Charlie ever did in the entire course of their relationship in the show and that's depressing.

Not sure if this is my rambley or not but you're preaching to the choir either way Nonnie. While I don't think she would do this legit because the entire internet would cancel her for it (again) it would be the absolute funniest thing if Viv planned to make Charlastor endgame and part of how they set out to narratively accomplish their destined fate was to make the current relationship kind of lackluster by comparison.

I mean, we do know in an attempt to showcase Charlie's bisexuality she was going to have crushes on men AND women before ultimately ending up with a woman. And given the rampant biphobia not just in Hazbin but fandom overall she could want to establish a queer ship that does pass for straight. I'll say this once and I'll say it a million times. Charlastor invalidates neither Charlie's bisexuality, nor Alastor's asexuality. And given how much chemistry the two already have, it's kind of... irritating? I guess, how little Charlie and Vaggie's relationship seems to matter to the narrative. Especially when it feels like Charlie and Alastor's does, more so than the "they're the main main characters of course their dynamic is important" element.

Of slightly more importance to me, however, is the fact that the playbill confirms Lucifer is STILL hung up on Lilith. He misses his wife, and I am just petty enough to take major satisfaction from it

[takethistoyourstardust]

okay, so, my theory based off the limited information we have. i think the mascots are hyper intelligent (IN UNIVERSE) AI systems, with our Rambley assistant being kinda an overseer AI, NOT a suit AI. i think salem is a relatively new member of the cast. assuming indigo park was made in the 60’s, i think salem was introduced somewhere around the 90’s, just based off their punk look. i think the ai’s were trying to balance their character traits with being good meet-and-greet characters, and somewhere along the till line salem’s ai… not necessarily went haywire, but rather it did the job of aligning to their character traits (being antagonistic, especially towards rambley) too well. something horrible happened as a result, causing the park to be shut down (and like i said in a previous post, probably hastily evacuated).

i don’t fully think salem is our MAIN-main antagonist, i think there’s something a tiny bit bigger going on, especially with rambley saying he was “confined to the entrance for so long”, but it wouldn’t surprise me if a bulk of our problems could be traced back to salem.

(this STILL does not explain why Mascot Have Blood In It but you know we’ll figure this shit out as we go)

[starsfic]

Summaries under cut

Long Xiaojiao teams up with several other streamers, including speed painter Marcy Wu, conspiracy theorist Todoroki Shoto, and figurine maker Gangle, to play Mario Party for charity. Shenanigans happen, including magic outbursts, old bullies popping up in chat, and general chaos.

While working on marketing and such for the park, Ed finds Indigo Park’s long list of lawsuits. The biggest one happened when Rambley’s animatronic body glitched and murdered a young employee. Weirdness abounded with the lawsuit of Indigo Park vs Playtime Co.

To boost morale for the anniversary of Elliot Ludwig’s death, Playtime Co. sponsors a happy hour at a nearby bar for the workers. However, the phrase “loose lips sink ships” rings true, especially when those lips are loosened by alcohol enough to share stories of several weird occurrences. The toys and children alike aren’t sure what to think when, the next day, they’re set free.

After learning about his parentage, Mikey sneaks inside an art auction of Hamato Yoshi’s art, learning both about his father and Draxum.

College AU: Cole's life is going to shit. Nya and Jay have been acting weird around him since that carnival game decided that he was Nya's soulmate. Hoping to ease the tension, he asks the cute waiter at his favorite restaurant to act as his fake date on a double date with Nya and Jay. The waiter's only stipulation? That his boyfriend watch the drama from another table.

Red Son gets turned on by Qi Xiaotian's hero speeches. Xiaotian notices. Smut.

That one fic I mentioned to @twinklecupcake: AU of Pignapped where Tang and the kids instead land in the capture where Zhu Bajie joins the journey and must work with Sun Wukong and Tripitaka to wrangle the pig. What Tang also finds is a rival over his husband- Blue Orchid.

Based on this post, the gang is hired to investigate the rumors of a bunny animatronic ghost overnight. The truth is a little more tricky.

In an AU where Dipper decides to stay with Ford, Mabel's parents aren't happy when their daughter turns up sans brother, especially when they learn who he's with.

A year after her husband is sealed, Princess Iron Fan stumbles across the god of marriage Yue Lao and decides to ask who her son will marry. The answer enrages her.

AU: The costar of famed actor Red Son is terrified of his true form...which is an issue considering they're doing an erotic version of Beauty and the Beast. However, one of the caterers doesn't mind beef. Smut.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for staying friends with someone my best friend hates?

Okay, so this might be resolved by the time this posts, but this will probably be cathartic to send.

Anyways: I've (18transM) got two friends. I'm going to call one Sophie (18NB, she/they), and the other one Mikey (17/18NB, he/they) (for clarity I will be using she for Sophie and he for Mikey). Sophie heavily dislikes Mikey. And it's for good reason!

See, Mikey (this color thing is getting annoying but I started it and I saw people saying it helped people with other AITAs, and I want this to be clear. I'm a rambley guy) has done a lot of annoying things. My main point is bringing up 9/11 in a weird and unfounded point in one of my classes. Sophie's main gripe is him yelling at a girl for not understanding something in one of her classes.

I befriended Mikey before either of these things happened, because we were in the same class and sat near each other. He's also friends with other friends of mine. He's annoying sometimes, but I like hanging around him. However, Sophie has told me before that she doesn't like him and doesn't want to be around him. Given how he's been around her, which is rude and annoying, I understand this.

The problem is that Sophie doesn't want me to be friends with Mikey either. Now that we're in a class together, I've found myself hanging out with Mikey a lot more than her, because she's got a lot of other friends in the class, and I... don't. Plus, Mikey and I have a previous class together, where everyone is getting close because there are only like 6 people in it together.

I explained this to Sophie, but she doesn't seem to get it. She says I can just stop talking to him but 1) I like the guy and 2) that's not feasible in such a small class.

Now here's my quandary: I've been friends with Sophie for a really long time, and I really love her. I don't wanna put strain on our relationship. But I feel like it would be way more of an asshole move to just cut Mikey off without anything, especially since he thinks we're friends.

Here's why I feel I might be TA: Because this is obviously something Sophie feels very strongly about, and Mikey definitely has his detractions. I don't want to ruin things with Sophie over a guy I'm not that close with.

Here's why I'm pretty sure I'm NTA: It would be really mean to just... cut someone off because my friend doesn't like him? And I don't want to upset him.

Anyways, AITA? I probably won't cut they guy off either way but still... I wanna know.

What are these acronyms?

[jesncin]

i just want to say thank you for your posts about the possibilities of asian lois lane.

as a white person, and even as someone who is transmasc and is still figuring out his orientation, i have not experienced xenophobia in the same way many marginalized groups have. i’m making a comic, and plan for my cast to be diverse, as the story is about being other and the many communities that are othered by society. i’ve realized i need to reevaluate how i plan to portray some of my characters, and how i plan to use in universe worldbuilding to further the characters. i have always been too nervous to ask about xenophobia towards any of my friends, as i try to create a safe space where all of that can be forgotten, but i need to find a healthy balance between acknowledging the biases of others with how they affect/have affected by friends and appreciating the fact that most people i surround myself with would never think of being discriminatory, even if it is a hidden bias that we need to work on. i have a lot to learn.

thank you.

Oh wow thank you so much for reading through my Asian Lois Lane essay(s?)! I'm always so happy when people take the time to consider my perspective, especially when my writing can be long and rambley. And indeed, as marginalized people we've still got to actively listen to other voices- in the end we all experience the world differently.

You never know what internalized biases you can accidentally write- especially in fantasy settings where people don't often think to check their own biases that play into escapism. It's a depressingly common trend nowadays where we recognize "more diversity" is needed, but only do the most superficial application of identities possible and call it a day. That's where we get all our Wednesdays, and My Adventures with Supermans from. But let's try to fight against that :)

[trans-androgyne]

i think as an intersex trans person who has felt really left put of the conversations around tme/tma and transandrophobia, I think my problem with transandro stuff is how much of it is just transphobia, and how often it genuinely ends up being a shield from transmisogyny. If the term tma was expanded to include everyone who feels it applies to them, that wouldn't change any of the points made about the transmisogyny problem of the wider trans community. Any validity transandrophobia has is kinda drowned out by the obvious resentment towards transfems a lot of people posting have. The way systematic issues faced by transfems will be responded to by anecdotal examples of bad things happened to transmascs sometimes. And despite the fact the transandrophobia people (or people who dislike tma/tme more broadly) often being up intersex people while still not especially caring about us and it's frustrating. tme/tma would bug me less if people could agree if it were camab exclusive or not, because as much as they say it is at least one semi popular transfem tma sex worker isn't and nobody seems to care so the inconsistency would be nice to get clarity on, and transandrophobia people would just have to use their term while still getting called out on transmisogyny and not pulling out their shield of "while actually transandro-" Because that's what feels so mraish to me. idk long rambley mess from an intersex person who's been mad at the wider trans community for a while. (for the record though, I hate the idea that being tme/tma reveals your asab anymore then calling yourself transfem or transmasc does. both are really frustrating binaries for intersex trans people, but only one is criticized commonly. It seems like interssx excluding binaries are fine sometimes)

I appreciate you wanting to share your perspectives but this was frustrating to read. You don’t seem to have enough familiarity with the broader transandrophobia conversation to comment on it like this, because I have been checking the tags daily for months and have yet to see one singular example of a transmasc shielding themself from transmisogyny accusations by pointing out the existence of transandrophobia. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, but I’m saying it isn’t a pervasive issue like you’re making it out to be. This reads like someone who has mostly seen the conversation through screenshots of the worst actors. Meanwhile, we get called transmisogynistic for using the word itself and obviously defend ourselves; I do not doubt these are the conversations you’re seeing. If you think calling it “just transphobia” is acceptable, again, you should not be speaking on this. Is most of the transmisogyny tag “just transphobia” as well or does it matter that it’s directed at transfems?

“Any validity transandrophobia has is kinda drowned out by the obvious resentment towards transfems a lot of people posting have.” No, it isn’t. Does transmisogyny become less real because some transfems are transandrophobic? If there is open transmisogyny going on that doesn’t get addressed, that’s one thing. But how could you expect zero transmascs to hold any resentment towards transandrophobic transfems who tell us we don’t deserve to talk about the way they’re transphobic to us? It’s not a good situation but it’s the reality—you don’t seem to be free of resentment towards any part of the trans community yourself. Tensions are high in the community right now. Are transfems also not allowed to talk about transmisogyny until they clear all resentment towards transmascs? Because half the transmisogyny tag would have to go away if so. It is abundantly clear that transmisogyny being a more established term is biasing your viewpoint here and I hope you’ll work to overcome that before trying to reflect on the conversation further.

[artemissoftstepper]

heavy spoliers for Hell Followed With Us and The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

tw for discussion of various types of abuse, sexual assault, rape, self harm, mental illness, and suicide (i think that’s everything i mention sorry if i missed something)

so yesterday i read The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White (which is probably the fastest i’ve finished a book in a long time) i tried to sleep first to try and make me a bit less rambley (which i technically did but i don’t think staying up till 4am rambling about other things before falling asleep until 10am is proper enough sleep to reduce rambling and indicated by this rambling) any ways i really need to talk about this book and Hell Followed With Us because i didn’t use tumblr when i first read it also i will be referring to Andrew Joseph White as AJ throughout this because it’s quicker to write and he specifically mentions it as one of the acceptable ways to refer to him in his websites Q&A section

first of all these books are so good no book has impacted me the way Hell Follower With Us did and with the way i feel after reading The Spirit Bares Its Teeth it’s likely to have the same long term impact on me

AJ excellently captures the feeling of meeting other trans and autistic people and no longer feeling like there’s something wrong with me for the way i think and feel i also strongly relate to Silas’ level of self awareness being able to identify behaviours and thought patterns but not fully understanding why and how his brain works the way it does something that i’ve only really noticed for myself in AJs writing is how i can see different parts of myself in several different characters whereas most media i strongly relate to one and maybe two characters taking i relate very strongly with Silas and Daphne being both autistic and transfem and the feeling of betrayal by people who i thought supported and cared about me along with how i feel about my gender and prevention as well as feelings of anxiety and nearly collapsing from the strain of hiding emotions and masking and desire to and attempts to harm myself and remove the “wrong” parts of myself and contemplation of suicide but i also see myself in most of the girls at Braxton’s in more minor ways for example being a lesbian (probably sexuality is hard), feeling like i need to harm others in order to protect myself, cowardice, sometimes wanting to believe that i actually am just crazy so i don’t have to keep fighting to survive, wanting the safety of conformity, fear of being harmed in various ways by people (especially men in positions of power over me) and outrage at the abuse i and people around me have experienced

i will probably make a few other posts about these books as i think about them more i have a whole bunch of stuff about the parallels between Hell Followed With Us and The Spirit Bares Its Teeth that hasn’t quite solidified in my mind

for those who sharpen their teeth and bite and for those with open wounds they’re still learning to stitch close

[rhythmicjester]

💜💜🥳🥳🥳🥳 HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIDGET!!!!!! 🥳🥳🥳🥳💜💜

(this was meant to post yesterday actually during their bday but tumblr shat itself ARRRGHHHH… alas..)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY FAVOURITE OUR WONDERLAND CHARACTER WHOM I LOVE WITH ALL MY HEART 🥹🥹💜 featuring my lovely friends who enable my insanity

edited floaty gidget and me being stupidly sappy n rambley under the cut..

okay so I started playing our wonderland like a year ago now and safe to say its like totally taken over my life 🥹 and gidget. aagh. gidget. aagh. aaagh!!!!

im really bad at articulating stuff (probably on account of my mental impairment but… YKNWO… XD) and there is lots of feelings and thoughts and agh gidget. GIDGETTT!!!! i will try my best to word

our wonderland as a whole has grown to mean a shit ton to me (but ill talk more abt that at length in a later post) and i love all the characters so so fucking much and especially gidget and iggy. especially gidget, oh gidget has thieved away with this aching heart of mine. or something.

im always extremely drawn to n obsessed w characters and storylines around like… a self suppression, muting, coiling up into some unreal ideal and reality so deeply it becomes some 'new reality', until you can barely see yourself anymore…. im crazy abt that shit. it rules. and gidget is all that. and also just a silly illy billy booly looly who i want to put in my mouth and chew up like a wad of paper. uh

i think about them like all the time 24/7 366 (cause its a leap year!) and im always like. thinking on new angles and perspectives and little intricacies and probably a solid 80% of it is just all in my head but god. i love them sm they are so awesome n well written n silly n WAAAAAAAAAAAGH

i love gidget so much. i love our wonderland so much. thankyou carrot so much for your wonderful phenomenal storytelling, characters and art, im like consistently entranced and blown away by it istg.

again, HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIDGET!!!!!!!!! 🥳🥳🥳💜💜💜🥹 and i hope all of you have very fantastic days. i luv this game n fandom n gidget so much. life may be very stormy and dark and scary but oh it truly is joyous i think. but maybe thats a little too sappy even for me

i eep now

goodnight !

(oh and heres the floaty gidget. im really proud of how it turned out. i keep on flying around the print out of it and saying 'look they have smelled some delicious pie…' i am a very predictable and simple person.)

[rambleyrambles]

Hey buddies!

What's up with Mollie in Chapter 1?

There's a couple different things I wanna cover, so bear with me as I ramble on a little bit to figure out where to start. Like, I've got something I haven't seen others mention, a few theories tied to it, and other speculation. So I guess I should start with that appearance?

Also note: I'm not going to be going over the mascots as a whole here. They definitely need something all to themselves, so maybe I'll ramble about that some other time.

And just so we don't get too long and clog anyone's dash~💜✨

So! A Mollie thing I haven't seen anyone else talk about!

Well, the other day I saw this post, and as you can see by my tags (under the little "info" tab at the top) I was planning on playing again to see it for myself. I can confirm that exists, and I'll get back around to that in a little bit.

Having played through the game a few times, I've been slowly getting accustomed to the sound of Mollie's voice and I've been trying to make out the words she says. So imagine my surprise when I heard her in the section before where I thought she first appeared in the queue to Rambley's Railroad! You can hear her very faintly in the background repeating the words "set up" after Rambley directs you to the gift shop for your Critter Cuff. (Can be heard here. I've linked to Rambley's last line so you can hear how she mimics it.)

To me, this sorta brings into question how long Mollie was watching Ed. I mean, before it seemed like she happened to be in the railroad's area and was sneakily watching you after you stumbled into the area she was occupying, but now? Now we know she was outside in that starting area. Granted, she sounds kind of distant unlike when we hear her "Closed for repairs" after Rambley and Finley's interaction, but that doesn't mean too much because the little "Hey buddy" she lets out in Lloyd's Mane Stage when she leans around the door to storage. (As demonstrated in the video I linked, you can turn on your way to storage and see her right away once you hear her.)

Now that I've written all those mimicry bits down, it feels a little weird that she mimics only Rambley, especially given she's not directly repeating him when she appears at the end of the hallway in the Mane Stage. Rambley does say it in that area, but it's not in that same call and response manner like the other two. Something to think about.

With all this in mind, I think it's plausible that Mollie could have seen Ed before the first encounter in Rambley's Railroad.

How soon does Mollie know Ed's there?

This is more speculation on my part, as the earliest I can definitively say is the Critter Cuff mimicry being around when she likely notices him. That being said, we do have a gear that falls at a suspicious timing.

That being said, if you've seen David Baron's video on his beta test footage, you'll notice the gear was already there from the start. He makes the suggestion that the gear be out of the way and fall from somewhere above when it's needed so it doesn't confuse the player. It could be argued that that's all that is, but I'd like to point out the whole suggestion was for the gear to fall when Rambley tried and failed to open the door, thus causing the building to shake due to failing equipment just enough for the gear to fall. The timing we see in the final game does not match that. (Whole video can be found here.)

I think it's not out of the realm of possibility that Mollie could have known about Ed's presence the whole time, and could be the reason the gear falls in the first place. It's suspicious enough timing, and I'm not sure what Rambley himself could do to make it fall unless you want to argue something about having a mechanism up there, but this is a pretty specific situation he'd have machinery to deal with considering there's not supposed to be a hole in the ceiling there to begin with.

What Mollie's motivation for helping would be... I'm less sure about that. Especially as it related to my next point.

Did Mollie sabotage the mechanisms we needed to fix?

This is in reference to the Indigo Violet Generator from getting in the front gate, and the machine backstage that we needed to fix in lieu of getting an introduction to Salem. Before realizing Mollie was in the beginning area, only one of them was anywhere near her, so pulling any lines to correlate her and them just didn't make sense. With her being heard in that first area now though...

I think it's possible that she could've been the cause of the gears being out of place. She's present in and around where both are and we don't see any others like it in the chapter.

It's especially interesting because one is in the backstage area for Rambley's Railroad, where we see her pop in and out of while we're on the ride. One could even argue that she could have sabotaged that area while we were already on the ride, though that's between hard and impossible to prove at this point in time.

What makes Mollie aggressive?

While not exactly tying into my previous points perfectly well, I do think the fact that she's so passive and just follows you around until the very end is strange. When she shows up in Lloyd's part of the train ride, Mollie is quite literally within grabbing range of you. If she wished you ill will, surely she could have done something then?

If you want to argue that Rambley was right there at that point, might I raise her appearance in the Mane Stage. As far as we're aware, Rambley might not have been able to see her there, so there's no reason for her to hold back. Lloyd was fended off with a high pitched noise from the Critter Cuff, but it's long stopped doing that by the time you potentially see her after you leave, and that's only if you see her after you leave.

Mollie doesn't get aggressive until you're far into her area, and about to head further in. It's only then that she properly gets in your way with the intent to rip Ed's throat out. So is there something in there?

(It can be argued that Lloyd is similar. Even when it'd potentially be easier for him to attack, he moves away. That's a post for another day though.)

Beyond any narrative design decisions for how to get the player to Oceanic Odyssey after getting spooked by a lurking threat; I have to wonder if there's an in-universe reason for why Mollie stalks along so passively before turning into a threat in that spot.

Is there something beyond the door she came through that is important to her? Is she trying to protect something? Is that just an area she considered private/safe/hers so this is something territorial? Is there something she wants to protect? Is there someone?

The last one is unlikely, but it's interesting to think about, if nothing else.

Final Thoughts 💜

While this isn't an exhaustive list of everything about Mollie, I feel this is a solid base for discussion or to at least think about. I mean, I barely touched on her mimicry as a whole. There's a whole box of interesting lines with all sorts of interesting implications! Unfortunately, I don't really know how to dig through game files to find them all and listen to them on loop until I understand them, so I'm stuck trying to understand them over the loud - but absolutely a banger - chase music.

All in all, I hope I gave you all something to think about!

Bye for now, buddies!~

[commander-rahrah]

I'm so glad that you have my ask & that you're going to slowly explodre in your Astarion x Reader fanfic! I love how Astarion realises that Reader is seeing through his facade!

1. How it makes him nervous & questions their intentions. Then he would wonder how they think about what they see 🥺

2. He would ask them as a way to tease them but desperately wants to know why they're doing this. When they explained it, he told them how puzzling they are

3. Just how much Reader insists that his consent matters & how he can change his mind even if he suggested it is something I definitely want for him!

4. He would mask it well but it does something for him every time they thank him 🥹

5. Reader would apologise even though they only did it to save him while Astarion is reassuring them that it's fine 😭

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts because I love it so much :)

Here's my idea that I would love to hear your opinion! Just to let you know this is quite self-indulgent XD How would Astarion react to GN!Reader explaining to him the reason they always try to help others is because not only do they know how it felt to be helpless, they also know how much it meant to them when they got help when they need it the most?

What do you think of it? I'm curious :3

Fuck, this is gonna be long and rambley and I apologize but god do I love the concept of this, and its something I have been putting little bits into my Astarion series (especially chapter 2 and 4). So first, I feel like I need to talk about Astarion not liking it when you help people when you first start out.

I love all of the posts and art that is made of Astarion admitting that he asked all the gods for help and none of them did, and about how he hates heroes since none ever came for him (including the post about the quote from The Last Unicorn - god it kills me).

And I feel like this makes for such an interesting dynamic when Tav/Reader is a bit of a do-gooder, since it exasperates and bewilders him so much. Maybe even angers him a bit -- especially in the case of a God worshipping, or blessed (like in the case for my series) Tav/Reader. At first his thoughts and opinions are entirely selfish, no one ever came for him, no God or Hero answered, where were you 200 years ago when he was crying and begging? No where. But here now, you were pouring your heart out and risking your neck for vulnerable idiots but he is right there - help him, focus on his tasks like the damn tadpole in your brains and the master vampire that could be lurking around any corner!

But as he falls more and more in love, I like to think that Astarion starts to realize how kismet it is that he met you when he did. That if you were alive 200 years ago and offered him a sliver of kindness he would have seen it as a weakness and seized the opportunity to drop you off back at the castle as another sacrificial lamb. He realizes that if your God never answered your prayer, or blessed you, etc. you may not even have ever been here. And what would his life be like if he hadn't met you? For a time I think he would worry about others taking advantage of your kindness and desire to always help (especially since he did that himself) and would definitely voice it to you. You would just shrug and agree, stating that people have and they probably would continue too. But that wouldn't ever stop you from doing the right thing.

Eventually, I like to believe that for a Tav/Reader of this nature and a non-ascended Astarion, your own kindness and desire to help is one of the things he loves most about you. So much so, that it starts to seep into him, re-igniting the long extinguished flame for such acts in his heart and soul. It definitely wouldn't make him completely change and flip his personality, he wouldn't start just giving things out and running a charity or something -- but I think he would start seeing the world a little brighter and he would want to be a slightly better participant in it as your partner.

In regards to Tav/Reader explaining why they help people the way they do, I feel like specific reasoning would have to lay in the hands of the reader or player - especially because everyone comes up with such creative, wonderful ideas for their characters. Like my Selune blessed Tav from the Talking to the Moon series (aka my tiefling bard Olympia) is this weird combination of just genuinely wanting to be seen as helpful and good for once, recognizing their privilege as a noble and wanting to use it for good, wanting to rebel from the expectations placed on them a bit and also they have this innate purpose that drives them, which is a big part of their blessing from Selune. But I feel like for a good general theme for this ask would be that saying of "The gentleness that comes, not from the absence of violence, but despite the abundance of it." That even if Reader/Tav had experienced a world that was not kind to you, that you found something good and kind and gentle and clung to it, something or someone else or maybe just yourself. And what an example you would be for Astarion.

Thank you for the ask anon!! As you can tell I still love talking about Astarion x Tav ahaha, even months later. Sorry about the delay in answering it, lots happening in my personal life that has taken time away from my writing! If anyone reading this is looking for updates on Talking to the Moon, please know I am working on it and doing my best to get it out for January! xxx

[gabessquishytum]

Hello Friend,

With US Thanksgiving coming up I’m feeling really very thankful and feel the need to tell you. You, without fail, make my day better everyday. I read your blog like some people might their newspapers and it can often help me relax after a long day. Even when I am not your target audience I can always see how your writing is so thoughtful, excited, and well-rounded. You just care so much and I know it must take so much effort to reply to all these asks but you do it with such compassion and vigor that I read things I never thought I would. I have discovered new tropes and kinks I enjoy and it’s even helped me get desensitized to some of my previous icks which I am grateful for. But it has also brought me countless smiles and expanded my imagination in so few words. I think sometimes we internalize that horny writings™️ are LESS than others but you have helped me truly get over that internalized superiority complex I had.

You have genuinely brought me so much joy that I sometimes think I love you in the way only a fan can love a creator. I love you in the way a stranger can never express to another stranger on the internet but longs to. Please let me know if you ever get a Patreon or a Kofi or a Paypal even because I feel such guilt in never being able to repay you for the joy you have brought me. Truly, you are one of my favorite fandom creators ever like top 3 (Aria is in there with you fyi).

I’m sorry if this is creepy but you have truly made me unhinged and I am grateful for it. You compel me to think of my own words for fandom which has never happened to me before. You compel me to think more and to love more (and be more of a horndog lol) and you are so special for that.

I hope you have an amazing holiday season and know that you are loved and appreciated (hopefully by friends and family) but especially by strangers on this hellsite.

All the best,

🧶

P.S. I am sorry this got weirdly rambley and maybe borderline creepy - I am just like this lol.

Beloved 🧶 anon please know I am having a little cry over your message. I am feeling so so under the weather and sick at the moment and this is just the nicest thing i could have received.

It makes me so happy and proud to know that my blog helps you relax and makes you feel good. I do love making my silly posts and collaborating with you guys, it really does mean the world to me. I try not to talk about it a lot but I am currently very disabled and as a result I can't work, so I've kinda started seeing this blog as my fun little job that brings enrichment into my life. It makes me happy and gives me a sense of accomplishment and community and I'm so grateful for that.

Every time someone writes to me with a kink they enjoy or a prompt or anything really, I DO feel so much enthusiasm and care for each one and I'm so glad that you guys can feel that in the posts.

I'm so thankful to all of you and especially you 🧶 anon, it means the world to get such lovely feedback on my weird little beloved horny passion project. Love you all.

[sagethegremlin]

ok so this is kinda rambley and a tad venty but uh yeah long post about my mental state lately ig? idk tldr im gonna get sillier c:

ok so this is weird but i think getting all my thoughts out on a post will help me out through this but anyway i think ive had like really bad anxiety i think? about my fics lately. ive found myself being way too scared about what other people might think of them (way more than the usual voice in the back of my head at least) and i think ive been really scared of i guess no one caring, like the only way someone would care about one of my fics is if its this huge professional thing that means something. ive found myself overhyping or underhyping my wips when i shared them with friends, losing confidence in them entirely even if my friends said something nice, like it was always gonna look stupid so long as it wasnt in my head anymore.

i think the reason these feelings are so frustrating is because something as simple as writing fanfic shouldnt give me this much anxiety, to the point where im losing sleep and procrastinating important things over however good i am at writing something silly thats supposed to be for fun. and it hasnt just been about fanfic either, ive been so scared of how people perceive me online, feeling like i always have to type like im some big blog and constantly being scared of what other people think of me, which is the wrong attitude to have in a fandom space. this is supposed to be fun, and it hasnt been, and i want to change that.

ive really been wanting to say something for i think a few months now. ive noticed how much ive felt like i needed to overhype myself, and just how bad my confidence has been destroyed. theres been a person in my life for a while now that i havent been distancing myself from as much as i should have been, but now i want to try and work on finding ways to enjoy fandom spaces again. im tired of being scared of being expressive and enjoying myself.

im going to start writing more fics that i just enjoy, fucking around and just having fun, and I’ve been starting to doodle a little bit too c: i dont mean to make a post to like say anything big i guess i just kinda wanted to air out my thoughts a little bit (and i do have to admit it feels amazing to just get this all off my chest) but i guess if you read all this i wanna say i love you and i want you to do something good for your mental health today because its so hard to recognize when something is hurting you and even harder to try and fix it especially when it feels impossible but I believe in you and I love you :3