#ALSO I JUST REALIZED HE HAS POINTY EARS IN THIS ART WTF

[wikitpowers]

this art is the reason i breathe

artist: @toka-sketch

[eulaties]

reasons why i think mimi (jing yuan’s lion) is still alive

first of all, qingzu (the npc in the exalting sanctum) seems like she’s just lying about random things. for example, each of the following secrets she tells us can be easily debunked.

1) she lies about jing yuan’s master (jingliu) being a master comedian

Qingzu: Lots of folks know Jing Yuan had a mentor. But most people get it wrong and think the mentor was some swordmaster. Nah, only a few people know the real deal — the mentor was actually a great crosstalk comedian.

Qingzu: Jing Yuan spent the first 500 years of his life as a crosstalk comedian. His comedy mentor was also his perfect partner on stage.

Qingzu: And now, the sword prodigy, Yanqing, only stayed by Jing Yuan's side to learn the art of crosstalk.

Qingzu: We have this annual arts and culture show where Jing Yuan and Yanqing do a crosstalk skit together. Last year's The Cowardly Escort was really awesome...If you get a chance, you should come and check it out too!

2) she lies about yanqing being old and secretly being a vidyadhara. if you read yanqing’s lore then you know that he’s actually a xianzhou native

Qingzu: According to the public records at the Seat of Divine Foresight, Yanqing is still young. But word on the street is that Yanqing ain't as young as he seems. In reality, he's already of advanced years. Some of us Vidyadhara folks are like that too, where we stop aging when we hit adolescence.

Qingzu: Yanqing used to have a pair of beautiful pointy ears...but one day, a rat infestation broke out at the Seat of Divine Foresight during Yanqing's afternoon nap. That was when a giant rat nibbled his ears' pointy ends away...

Qingzu: Poor Yanqing, he's been afraid of rats since then. To protect his own image, he kept his true lineage a secret, claiming to be a young Xianzhou native.

3) she lies about the luofu guards; im simply assuming that she’s lying because this is just so outlandish lmaoo

Qingzu: Those guards over there at the entrance, we call their leader Yutie...But the truth is, they're all Yutie. Yutie is not a person's name, but an organization.

Qingzu: This organization is well-hidden and powerful, protecting the safety of the Seat of Divine Foresight for generations.

Qingzu: The Yutie standing there changes every day, but you'd never know it. They're all trained to act the same and assume the same personality.

Qingzu: If you catch a glimpse of a Yutie's face, all the other' faces will simply disappear. They just fade away, like they were never even there.

qingzu choosing to lie makes sense because if you ask her “Have you got any secrets you can share about the Seat of Divine Foresight?” she literally has no reason, at this point, to share any classified secrets. we haven’t even “saved” the luofu yet. so of course she’s going to mess with us. she also has an established personality of being...sassy?? kinda rude ig? since this is one of her first dialogues to us:

Qingzu: If you've really got nothing better to do, I think the Petrichor Inn is looking for cleaners...I know the proprietress there and can introduce you. It might just help you shake the stereotype of being a lazybones.

like wtf why would she say this 😭

finally, the last secret that she shares is the one that we are all familiar with: the one about snowmoon.

i find it pretty interesting that after she finishes talking about his lion, the mc has the choice to say “I’m afraid that doesn’t sound real to me.”

MC: Is this just a fable that you use to trick kids? Qingzu: At your age, you don't consider yourself a child?

MC: Which of these stone lions here is Snow Lion the Third? Qingzu: ...They're all pretty similar. Let me think, is it that one to the east? MC: Are you just making this up?

i think this dialogue branch was supposed to clue us into realizing that she was just BSing her way through the story, but i don’t think this was obvious enough in v1.0 (since the lion story was the only one she told back then), SO my theory is that the devs added the other 3 stories about jingliu, yanqing, & yutie in v1.1 in order to make it more obvious that she is just a deeply unserious person. i mean, it would come off as different if those additional stories were unlocked after a certain quest, but if they were added as is then we can assume that they were always meant to be there.

also, if snowmoon and mimi WERE the same and snowmoon died centuries ago, i think it’d be kinda weird if jing yuan just had his diary about his lion lying around?? like it’s literally just here on his chair

although i do want to say, it’s not impossible for him to want to take out this journal and reminisce on his past entries IF his lion is dead. so this point alone does not do enough to debunk the “mimi is dead” theory, and we also have to consider just how much qingzu lies to us.

so tldr MIMI IS ALIVE!!!!!!!!!! i think?

anyways take all of this with a massive grain of salt <3 if mimi turns out to be canonically dead FOR REAL then i may actually wither away.

and if you made it this far thank you so much for reading all of my ramblings :)

[kariachi]

Next up, the episode I actually need to watch, Hairier and Scarier. Werewolf action is in, guys.

Okay, 1) be careful security peeps that this is dangerous, and 2) why would you put a frickin’ picture of the article about how this werewolf was captured by one Martin Mystery in the werewolf’s cell? That’s just asking for trouble.

~~

Okay I know I’m supposed to think Martin is using Center tech to gather information on various girls around Torrington (which, Martin please) but half of this shit wouldn’t be on any sort’ve official file, so I have to believe that he gathered this information himself and is using his Center computer to store it so he doesn’t have to keep a filing cabinet for this shit.

It might not be canon, but it’s going in the fic.

Also Martin that shirt is questionable.

“It’s not like anybody’s gonna find out” is immediately found out.

~~

Those are some filthy-ass cages, who is in charge of this shit? That cannot be ethically sound.

Poor Martin, seeing an ‘empty’ cage and choosing it just to make for an easier start. Also did he not notice his picture in the damn cage? How?

Phantom Werewolves, also able to walk on ceilings apparently. What is this a fucking Ossy? Spider-Wolf?

And after a brief struggle Martin has escaped, but gotten scratched by a werewolf. Something that has a long (modern) history of turning someone into a werewolf. There is no way Martin ‘King of the Paranormal and also Vampires’ Mystery does not know something is bound to happen here.

~~

I am gonna have to do something with this werewolf wound, because Martin as he’s being written in this fic would not be just bandaging it and going.

Also can we appreciate the fact he knows fucking everybody at this school? I’ve been to smaller schools and not known more than four people by name and he is familiar with every single person on this campus I swear to fuck. Martin Mystery, social moth.

Oh Becky is just not having it today.

Sign #1 Something is Off With Martin: Is distracted from a cute girl by cafeteria chicken. (the fact Diana doesn’t see this and immediately go “who is this person wearing my brother’s skin” is shocking)

Diana here to save her brother’s life, while Luke is here to save his girlfriend’s lunch. Both are wonderful signs of dedication.

Ooo, I’m already gonna be giving the Psi Psi Psi girls decent roles in this, and probs Tonio too I’ll see what I can do there, but I can probably get one or the other in here, notice and lure Martin from danger with a piece of meatloaf or something.

Diana, watching her brother dive-tackle some poor girl over a plate of wings: Hm, something seems odd here...

~~

Oh Martin, trying to an art model for the sake of getting a girl.

Martin pls

Martin don’t go for the taken girls, for your own sake. Also, dude, it’s Martin, he couldn’t catch a date in a trap, couldn’t attract a girlfriend with a diamond necklace on a string, back off with the territorial air.

Diana, done with his shit

Oh yeah, tempt him Diana. He’s a sibling, you know he will take any opportunity to embarrass you you give him

Diana be nice, he’s suffering enough with the itching in public.

Also how the fuck is this more embarrassing than dive-tackling somebody for their lunch?

~~

Martin pls

This boy is a disaster why do we keep him?

When you look so weird in fuchsia that cheerleaders laugh at you. And I can’t even blame them because holy shit have you looked in a mirror boy. Stay away from pinks and purples.

You know neither of these other boyfriends hold a candle to Luke. Luke was coming up all “hey, mind your manners around my girl and her lunch”, demanding politeness towards his woman, meanwhile these other two keep coming up being all territorial. Their girls deserve better. Maybe Becky’ll agree to share.

Martin’s not bad at dribbling at least, let’s see ya shoot.

Dude being rude again, like seriously pal learn to fucking chill.

Also I can understand Martin’s panic here, as he must have grown all that hair since he got dressed. He’s fuzzier than Java.

Martin panics, poor child. Just skip gym, darling, it’s fine, nobody cares, move on.

Martin’s reaction time has been shot by oncoming wolfiness

And he’s chasing after balls on all fours, snatching them up in his mouth, shaking shit. He is puddy mutt.

Really dude? That’s your response? Goddamn forget becoming a werewolf I hope the damn thing eats you. Fucking rude-ass territorial thinks he’s some shit nobody-

Damn, there’s some fucking load of jerks in Martin’s gym class. We’ll be removing some of them for reasons of fic and because really people? Nobody thinking maybe, just maybe, something is fucking off about this situation? Like this is fucking weird behavior even from Martin? Nobody is concerned? Not even on a very basic “somebody appears to be in pain, that is sad” empathy level? Nobody? Yeah, fixing that, at least one of those cheerleaders is gonna be a Psi Psi Psi girl, concerned for her brother.

Martin running around outside on four limbs, being very weird, ver dog.

Poor baby is dealing with sensory overload

Martin no. Just dive tackle the pizza guy, Martin.

People at this school, I swear.

~~

Full moon on campus and Jerkhat McGee is out and about alone...

And attacked by a fucking werewolf, joy.

~~

Martin wakes up to a lot more hair, claws, pointy ears, muddy clothes, tiny fangs, and a room even more trashed than usual.

Has realized something is up, intends to complain to MOM once he figures out what.

I refuse to believe Martin wouldn’t know what. I mean really. It’s Martin Mystery. Like he’s just going to not know the signs he’s becoming a werewolf. Like he’s not going to have had a clue what was going on from the start.

I have to admit, for a moment I thought Martin was going to jump out a window to avoid Diana seeing him all wolfy. The fact he instead jumped directly to “quick! trim the nails! shave the everything!” amuses me.

Louise, honey, I don’t mean to minimize your loss, but you’re better off without Chip. He was a jerk. You can do better. Come with me I’ll find you a nice girl, or if you aren’t that way we’ll talk to Betty about you getting a piece of Luke.

Martin having a crisis upon the reveal of Chip’s shredded jacket. Personally all I can think is that quote from Rock-A-Doodle “If I kill my nephew- would that be murder, or charity?”

Damn Martin it hasn’t been ten minutes and your nails are back to claw form

Also now he apparently stops and thinks “oh, yeah, werewolves are a thing”.

That werewolf has been moving fast, snatching up teenagers.

(one of the potential topics thrown at me was “wtf is the werewolf up to” so, I gotta figure out some sort’ve reason for this thing to be starting this particular brand of shit. I mean if it were out to start shit with Martin that’d make sense but... We’ll see. Gotta finish the episode sometime this year.)

Wolfy!Martin has a temper.

And Diana still only seems to think something is odd and not ‘something is fucking wrong here’

~~

Thankfully in this fic Martin will have back-up of the “have you met yourself? we’d believe the shrubbery were offing people before you, werewolf or no” variety. Tonio and the sorority girls are gonna be trying to figure out what size dog beds they should be investing in. (“Do we get him a flea collar?” “Maybe? Probably.” “He could’ve used one before he got fuzzy.”)

Martin running away and tying himself up so he won’t be a danger to others, because he’s a lot of things but at heart he’s a good person.

Oh now Diana is concerned. Took you long enough.

Really? Using a flashlight to investigate Martin’s room? Does the boy not own a lightswitch, what?

Werewolf Vision. And also a fourth victim.

Poor Martin is still itchy, even as a wereling. (Actually that’s another subject. It’s weird that there’s apparently a difference between being bit by and being scratched by phantom werewolves, despite that not being a thing with other varieties. Wondering if Martin not turning fully has less to do with that and more to do with his being genetically predisposed to vampirism. I mean, we saw Simone become a giant bat monster, and vampires are also associated with transformations into wolves... I don’t know, I’ll work something out, got about 12 billion thoughts)

In this Diana will not get a chance to be indignant about Martin not telling anyone he got scratched by a werewolf because she and Java will be the last to know about it, but I’ll think of something for her to say to him once she finds out.

Known he was a werewolf 24 hours and already that boy is using those athletic skills to his advantage, jumping over 7 ft walls with ease so he can run away and not hurt anyone.

*screams internally about logics and things surrounding werewolves*

(do I, or do I not, during this conversation with MOM, have Eva in the background screaming about “I was gone for two weeks!!”)

I wonder if the ‘phantom’ portion of the phantom werewolfness is passed on? Like, can werewolves made by the phantom werewolf also turn invisible? Was that shown this episode? Why am I asking, I’m gonna find out eventually. 8 minutes left so, another hour maybe?

Or, ya know, he noticed you put a tracker on his shoes and ditched them to stop you from following him.

Or at least some kinda beastie... Look more like bear tracks than wolf tracks if you ask me. Even werewolf.

The phantom wolf’s timing is amazing. Also poor Martin refusing to trust his people because he’s that worried he’s gonna end up in one of those cages. Can’t blame him either. (It’s okay, fic!Martin will not have these problems because he will have more people looking out for him)

Bitch did you not just say he wasn’t a werewolf, make up your mind. Also I think we can all agree that the idea of Martin being an ‘alpha male’ is hilarious.

Instant werewolf, just remove light

“Java help!” “No Java! If you get bitten you’ll just be another enemy!” Immediately goes to help. Werewolves are not a male-only species, Diana! Back the fuck up! Toss Martin the weapon if you wanna!

Wait so baby!werewolf Martin can jump high enough to grab the outside of the pit, while the other werewolf can’t even jump high enough to touch the bars? Is this a ‘Martin has training’ thing for a ‘Martin is better at being a supernatural creature’ thing?