#(for lack of a better tag)

[joycrispy]

"I'm a little bemused as to why Crowley should risk destruction for you..."

As angelic methods of communication go, the bitchy raise of eyebrows is quite versatile. For example, Aziraphale's meant:

"Where the hell have you been? He's pined for me since Eden, and here's you sitting in our car --somehow unaware types were invented the moment he laid eyes on me --he burns his feet on church floors for me-- talking shit."

[mothertkachuker]

[laurasimonsdaughter]

“Why a temple? Why now?”

She is only a voice, barely a presence, but her notice shakes the mortal beneath her. The reply comes slowly, fearfully:

“Because you are needed. By me. By so many others.”

A goddess can smile even in the silent, sightless nothing. “I have learned to love the little altars, the songs, the stories. But you no longer celebrate your harvests. There is no need for a temple to beg my presence.”

“I am not here for the harvest,” the exhausted mortal speaks. Her voice is painfully familiar, like every human voice, but more so.

“Then why are you here? Why am I here?”

“Because I cannot find my child.”

The goddess opens her eyes. The mortal before her is shaking in her worn down shoes.

“Because you lost your daughter once. Because you did everything to get her back.”

Her gaze is endless, and the silence gaping. But when she replies there is less of divinity and more of hesitance in her voice.

“There are many versions of that story.”

The parent’s eyes are bloodshot, wide awake and stubborn. “But you find her in every single one.”

The goddess lifts her head and looks around. It is a poor excuse for a temple. There are no columns, no statues, no sheaf of wheat, no offerings. Just empty chairs, and coffee cups, marker stained maps, and missing posters lining the walls.

And in the midst of it all, a woman who looks almost too familiar.

A plastic clock ticks to one past one, and the goddess Demeter seats herself under the roof of her new temple, a ripple of blind perseverance and unflinching hope rushing into the night.

[howlsofbloodhounds]

speaking of thiiisss, get ✨✨rats✨✨

KITHES TGWYV LITTLE HEADS 😘 😘 😘 😘

and also why was there surprise fish vore 💀

{ @th3-r4t-48 }

[legitimatesatanspawn]

You know, from an objective standpoint the Pokecenters from Black & White and Pokemon X & Y are the best in terms of in-setting user-friendliness even if I hate the design of XY's Center (too "modern").

There's plenty of seats for weary travelers and people waiting in the center for whatever reason. B&W has what look like a big ol' stack of pamphlets for tourists to look over. There's the Wondertrade and everything at the upper floor, the Pokemart is to the right.

With X&Y you have even more seating on both sides of the building. There's a whole wall of books that could be on anything or be a public library donation thing. Pokemart in the back with a full image display of their goods - presumably this is to show off whatever's on sale or a limited time item. In the back to the left is a dressing room which even setting aside the whole character customization is actually a really good thing in-universe as you have no idea who might've gotten hit by a stray attack or got caught up in an avalanche or something. An area where you can change clothes and maybe clean off a bit is a great idea!

Now we can assume all day long that there's a public access bathroom in any of the Pokecenters, especially in the ones that outright sell drinks beyond the marts (I'm looking at you Sun Moon and Sword Shield), but past XY it looks like they're just doing away with seating. Especially in the case of Scarlet Violet where it's a full on drive-in setup. I'm sure there's all kinds of reasons but I'd love to see more seating and character conveniences.

[supreme-leader-stoat]

This is mostly a tangent but I do think it's kind of interesting how two of the three examples here immediately cause ideas of cosmic horror to spring to my mind, despite the Holmes canon being a generally pretty grounded setting. The boat I can rationalize as just having sunk, but the idea of someone ducking through their front door for a second and disappearing forever or going mad with only a weird worm as evidence to the cause, while not especially gruesome fates, just gives me the chills.

I guess it comes down to that thesis that cosmic horror is ultimately horror that plays on our fear of unknowns.

[mimbotomy]

Chapter 29 of The Children of Kephallonia, Assumed Fatherhood, is now up! As you can probably imagine from the above drawing, this chapter is all about Kassandra and Barnabas. What you might not have guessed is that he spends most of the chapter calling her an idiot - albeit with good reason.

As always, more fic details below!

The Children of Kephallonia is an Assassin’s Creed Odyssey fic that starts at the beginning of the Korinth storyline, when Kassandra learns that Aspasia sent Phoibe to Monger ruled Korinth and decides she’s never letting her girl be put in danger like that again. And while bringing Phoibe on the Adrestia puts her in a whole new kind of danger, well... at least Kassandra can keep an eye on her.

Featuring:

Phoibe being the Atreus to Kassandra’s Kratos, as we deserved

a hopefully fun new interpretation of Kassandra and Ikaros’ bond

a less fun but arguably more accurate look at Kassandra and Myrrine’s relationship

Kassandra, Barnabas, and Herodotos taking turns with their shared braincell

Lots of references to Kassandra and Phoibe’s life on Kephallonia

Additional backstories for Deimos, Barnabas, Markos, etc.

Kassandra being an legitimate demigod (fuck the Isu) and a slight reinterpretation of the Cult’s MO to match

Lots of ships

fun little notes at the end of each chapter

And most importantly

Kassandra being the very best mom she can be to her beloved baby bird Phoibe

Rating: M

Warnings: Canon Typical Depictions of Violence, Mild Sexual Content, and the occasional vague reference to attempted or threatened sexual assault

Romantic Relationships: Kassandra/Brasidas, Kassandra/Daphnae, Kassandra/Alkibiades, Kassandra/Kyra/Thaletas, and Kassandra/Anais

[beevean]

Rewriting Castlevania

To be more specific, Castlevania post-Season 2. The first few seasons shall serve as the launchpads from which to build upon and iron out the kinks for later stories.

I don’t have an exact vision of how rewritten versions of Season 3 and 4 (or Nocturne, but that isn’t the focus here), but I know, for starters, they could’ve used a more compact cast.

First: remove Trevor and Sypha. They may have been major protagonists in Seasons 1 and 2, but their story was over. Alucard, as well. His story was also done… for now (because he’s too iconic in the franchise as a whole not to bring back in a sequel series).

Next: they could’ve easily cut out Morana and Striga (whose names escaped my memory until I just looked them up) without substantially affecting anything in Carmilla’s whole story. Lenore can stay (maybe as the show’s equivalent to Laura), but she should not get a “redemption”. Instead, develop the idea of how weak others see her and how her devious intellect helps her overcome her perceived weakness. Write the woman a Starscream arc, even (“I am Lenore of Styria, and fuq you, Carmilla! I win!”), with mistress Carmilla as her Megatron! Give her lots of ambition!

For Isaac, I would love for his chat with that Captain to be preserved (I rewatched it recently and loved the vibe of it), but a couple other events in his journey need adjustments so that he doesn’t go through the “I had an nice talk with a human, so my mind about humanity is changing, but these guys are blocking me and I can’t reason with them, therefore I’m stupid for trying to be civil and hate humans again, now they die!” bit twice. With a little streamlining, his screentime in Season 3 could be devoted to building him up as a threat, and then set up Season 4 with his role as a co-antagonist (with Carmilla) to Hector fully set up when they reunite. No sanitizing “I’m going to live!” revelations here.

Then there’s Hector. I still think we didn’t need to see the immediate aftermath of his imprisonment. In this hypothetical rewritten story, I would suggest having a 1 or 2 year timeskip, so he’s been slaving away in Carmilla’s dungeon for quite a while, forced to build her an army with his Devil Forgemaster powers, and Lenore’s been keeping watch and giving him plenty of incentives not to betray the sisters. Maybe for his first appearance in this version of Season 3, he could have this intimidating reveal where it dramatically shows the scrawny boy from Season 2 has become a buff, scarred son of a gun, clearly having worked out a lot during his year(s)-long stay.

The story following the Castlevania 3 adaptation would not have to be a Curse of Darkness adaptation, but the pieces were in place to pass the main protagonist torch over to Hector anyway. By making Season 3 all about his eventual escape, and having Season 4 follow him on the run, eventually overcoming his oppressor (Carmilla) and former partner (Isaac), we have ourselves a cohesive story that blends everything it establishes into one, airtight package, rather than feeling like a convoluted animation anthology.

Also, maybe Saint Germain’s Infinite Corridor quest can be worked into Hector’s adventure to freedom in some kind of creative way, without Saint Germain having to sacrifice his morals or gain info from a shady 3rd (or 4th) party.

Reply: I like your ideas!

Hard agree on removing Trevor and Sypha because they are effectively done, and Morana and Striga because they add absolutely nothing of importance. Ellis said that he created the council to explain who ran the kingdom while Carmilla was in Wallachia, but Lenore could do the job herself.  I’m not sure about Alucard because his story is also over, but I do see the potential of him grappling with his grief, and fearing he might become like Dracula. It’s just, the way it was done was skull-crushingly boring, and for now I have no better ideas.

(btw yes, Carmilla and Lenore could be wives at this point lmao, their personalities are strong enough that it wouldn’t come off as The Lesbians For Brownie Points. Maybe Carmilla turned Lenore so she’s her dame and superior, and this would cause frustration in Lenore who feels like Carmilla sees her more as her pet than a lover... frustration that she channels on Hector, in some sort of cycle of abuse way :) I still like the idea of her falling in love with Hector, but it’s an unhealthy, possessive love typical of a vampire, that Hector doesn’t reciprocate or grows out of.)

For Isaac, I mentioned the other day that he could use as a springboard the realization that Dracula cast him away like a broken tool, and from there, his affirmation that he’s worth more than what Dracula told him. ... yes, this is still Hector’s arc, but whatever at this point. Absolutely, S3 should avoid that stupid pattern of “oh maybe humans aren’t so bad-- nvm y’all rude, die”. Maybe he avoids people instead of barging through cities, and makes his army from the corpses he finds in abandoned towns? But he still can’t avoid everyone, hence, the scene with the captain.

Mhh. Hector’s story spanning so long would also influence Isaac’s, and it feels like too much? If Isaac had one year of time to build an army, dude would lead a small country basically. He’s already OP af, even if we nerf him by making him weak in physical combat. Same with Carmilla, she would definitely do some damage in one year.

I’m torn. Hector’s story in S3 could be tweaked a bit by making it less fetishistic and still treating Hector like a person: as in, someone with goals and principles and was not hired as General only because he’s pretty, that Lenore has to whittle down to convince him to work for him (the idea that Hector cannot be physically forced to work and his master needs to earn his trust is actually really good for a conflict). The two should butt heads and have more intriguing conversations, make the job harder for Lenore, let’s see if she keeps with the diplomacy or gets frustrated and needs to resort to the ring (which only makes sense in the scenario where Hector is deemed too dangerous to be allowed to work freely, since its only shown function is to bequeath control of the Creatures). I actually jotted some ideas down, if you’re interested :P

(oh, and no rape. obviously. she really didn’t need to do that.)

And S4 can kind of stay the same, but with the difference that Hector trapping Lenore is a form of cruel mercy, he does not crawl back to her because he too realized he does not need to cling to people to earn love, and he actually leaves the castle, ready to explore the world (with the implication that he might meet the equivalent of Rosaly, but it’s not necessary)

To clarify, what is your idea of Hector’s story in S4? Does he flee from Isaac on the chase? Will he eventually fight him and Carmilla? Will he meet Rosaly in the finale, and in this timeline they stay together without Isaac interfering? (please say yes 🥺)

But yeah. I still think the prequels could have been adapted, but if we need Carmilla as a spanner in the works tweaking the timeline, this feels much better. Trevor and Sypha alone not bogging down screentime would solve so many issues with the rushed pace.

[joycrispy]

If I am nothing else to any of you, let me be a living reminder that recovery is worth sticking it out for.

I can't even talk about how bad it got without having to add goddamn content warnings to my post. But now all that is just...over. It ended. And now I'm happy and at peace EVERY DAY, and working on things that felt literally impossible this time last year.

I promise you, it's going to be worth it! Keep going!! Keep going!!

[forthegothicheroine]

'I take damage every time I hear this character's name'

Israel is a name. It was a name before 1946. It's usually a Jewish name. I'm sorry it makes you take damage. Don't subscribe if I set up Israel Rank Weekly, I guess.

[ajeckaea]

genuinely unsure if i was asleep or awake at the time but sometime last night i had the epiphany "GARFIELD IS AN ORANGE CAT OF COURSE HE IS THIS EXPLAINS EVERYTHING ABOUT THE COMIC STRIP"

[lizadale]

[p5x-theories]

A brief video of calling cards falling that plays before transitioning into the calling card one. The cards appear to say "IMPORTANT INFORMATION 4/12", with some Chinese text underneath, with the logo on the other side.

[mellowwhumps]

mello’s dubious camera quality art dump #1

HELLO @whumpbug WAVES AT YOU. LEANS ON TABLE THEN SLIPS AND FALLS DRAMATICALLY. YOUR SILLIES TOO SILLY.

happy waking up to this i guess

first up!!!!!!! they!!! all of they!!!!!

+ two sketch dumps of varying quality (finished the first in a hour and the second in like. two. i am on a roll) (should i tag the second image as spoilers because uhhhhhh. hm)

(cw extremely mild gore 2nd image)

first one completely unplanned i just had to 😭 and the second one is just. a whole load of ooc dialogue probably. i was so obsessed with the prompts you gave for zel i just ‘fuck it we ball’-ed through this sdkhfkjdsh. hope you like it i guess

annnnnddd that’s all for today-night hope you slept well :3 (watch out /j)

[mimbotomy]

New chapter of the Children of Kephallonia, The Invasion of Paros, is now up! And the above sums things up better than anything else I could say 😂

More fic details below!

The Children of Kephallonia is an Assassin’s Creed Odyssey fic that starts at the beginning of the Korinth storyline, when Kassandra learns that Aspasia sent Phoibe to Monger ruled Korinth and decides she’s never letting her girl be put in danger like that again. And while bringing Phoibe on the Adrestia puts her in a whole new kind of danger, well... at least Kassandra can keep an eye on her.

Featuring:

Phoibe being the Atreus to Kassandra’s Kratos, as we deserved

a hopefully fun new interpretation of Kassandra and Ikaros’ bond

a less fun but arguably more accurate look at Kassandra and Myrrine’s relationship

Kassandra, Barnabas, and Herodotos taking turns with their shared braincell

Lots of references to Kassandra and Phoibe’s life on Kephallonia

Additional backstories for Deimos, Barnabas, Markos, etc.

Kassandra being an legitimate demigod (fuck the Isu) and a slight reinterpretation of the Cult’s MO to match

Lots of ships

fun little notes at the end of each chapter

And most importantly

Kassandra being the very best mom she can be to her beloved baby bird Phoibe

Rating: M

Warnings: Canon Typical Depictions of Violence, Mild Sexual Content, and the occasional vague reference to attempted or threatened sexual assault

Romantic Relationships: Kassandra/Brasidas, Kassandra/Daphnae, Kassandra/Alkibiades, Kassandra/Kyra/Thaletas, and Kassandra/Anais

[beevean]

See, I'm not attacking this person. I'm not saying who they are, and ultimately, their identity doesn't matter to me. I'm not making fun of them or what they like - enjoy Nocturne all you want.

I only want to bring attention to their arguments, which I think are flawed, and I have every right to criticize.

It's very noticeable, to me, that this person (who again is not the only one, they just happened to be an example) reacted to us criticizing Nocturne with a variation of "well the games are bad too!". When I mentioned them, it was only to joke that even when the shows are faithful in designs and don't create OCs pretending to be canon characters, the changes in context create more plot holes than needed. And yes, the context matters, because when the games break historical accuracy, it's usually for small matters like edible items (Alucard eating hamburgers), collectibles (Juste finding a radio) or joke weapons (Hector forging an electric guitar), all minor things played for laughs; but Nocturne wants to be taken seriously and more or less attempts to be realistic despite its fantasy elements, so it feels less like a deliberate breaking of accuracy and more like lack of research. Again, it's hard to believe Tera is that poor when Maria looks so frilly and they waste bread: this cheapens my investment in the characters and backdrop.

Also "the games never dealt with the French Revolution" because Rondo of Blood (and I assume its remake as well) takes place in Transylvania, if we take into consideration that the first level is Aljiba Town which is the same as the one in Simon's Quest :P Nocturne was deliberately set in France precisely because the writers wanted to tackle that topic. Hence, I expect said topic to be tackled with care.

But yes, the point is, why was that the first counterargument? "well the games did it too"? "The anime is an interpretation", almost implying that these flaws are due to Nocturne being allegedly inspired by the games and not due to its own flaws in writing?

A similar thing happened to me on this blog when I criticized the show's tendency to fridge characters and I got a response that was roughly "well the games kill off a lot of characters too", which one, I have also pointed out in other instances and criticized as a flawed writing choice of its time, two, Nocturne somehow manages to be worse as it fridged more people in one season than the games have done in a decade, and three, why should it absolve a much more modern product that hails itself to be progressive? And more importantly, why was again the first reaction to put down the games as if that alone elevates the show?

I have all the right to point out the fallacies in these arguments. It's not mocking anyone or wanting to make them feel bad for what they like. I just think it's a flawed way to engage in a discussion, and especially on my blog, I can do so without harming anyone directly.