#I also don't remember where I got the inclination from but at some point my mind settled on the thought that VUX arms are weaker than human

[sysig]

Hazing (Patreon)

[vintagesimstress]

Northern & Southern European Dyes Palette(s)

It's been almost exactly two years since I made my Iron Age Palette. To celebrate that anniversary... No, you know what, actually not, it's a total coincidence 😅 I was working on a new thing and started wondering about this and that; to not bore you with the details, let's just say that one thing let to another and of course I ended up revisiting the very basics. So here it is! Not one, but TWO new colour palettes for our oldtime-y sims. Based on the lives of my Britons at some point in 1st century CE, shortly before the Roman conquest.

An important note: the southern palette is actually rather an add-on than a separate palette. As in, Romans would surely have access to the dyes from the northern palette as well. But as stated above, I made this whole thing from the viewpoint of a British Celt, hence we have two palettes: one with dyes which he could just obtain from native plants and the other with those he'd have to import. The southerners were more blessed in this aspect :]

You can download PDF files for both of those palettes and .txt files to be used in Paint.net (put them in Documents\paint.net User Files\Palettes). EDIT: the amazing @kyrassimhoard went ahead and made the .aco version of the palettes for all the Photoshop users! Thank you so much Kyra (also, special thanks to @aheathen-conceivably for double checking them for me 💗)

DOWNLOAD them on my Patreon! (always free, no early access etc.)

Apart from a bunch of visual changes (maybe the font will actually be readable this time? Gasp!), there's some new stuff in the palettes themselves (duh). Let's take a quick look, shall we?

undyed wool - hard to call it a dye, lol, but ofc it had to be here. The so-called primitive sheep of the Brittonic era looked quite different from what we imagine when we think 'sheep', and they most certainly came not only in white, but also in many shades of brown or even black. Perfect for making a colourful garment even without any dyes;

birch leaves - easy to obtain, easy to dye; almost no changes here, other than one added shade which used to be under 'mixed ingredients' before;

birch bark - OK, I don't remember where I took the old colours from, but I'm afraid I was being too optimistic. Birch bark gives rather pinkish than reddish shades; actually, it needs a looooooong soak and proper pH to turn anything but very bright, subtle pink. But it seems you can get them and they don't wash out that easily, so - there you go;

elderberry - here I was for sure being too optimistic, especially with that one pretty, saturated blue shade which got thrown away. From what I've read (and seen in photos...), elderberry is a very tricky dye, not particularly water- and lightfast. 'Not particularly' is mildly put - it just washes out in no time, leaving you either with a very pale or very greyish shade of the once vibrant colour. Adjusted accordingly (and they're still too pretty tbh);

apple leaves/twigs - that's a bit of a tricky point, because the Internet claims it was only Romans who brought apples to Britain. But at the same time apple cider was Britain's national drink allegedly already during the Celtic times. Heck, Welsh mythical island of Avalon literally means 'isle of apples', and mythology tends to be... you know... old. Huh? After a bit of research on the topic I'm inclined to believe that what Romans really brought with them were big, sweet apples and their organised cultivation; but small, tart, 'untasty' varieties did exist in Britain even before, growing in the wild. Perfect for making cider - or dyes 😉;

nettle - no changes here. Easy, cheap, grows everywhere, just that the colours are probably not something you'd wear to a party;

hedge bedstraw - seems it's growing everywhere in Britain, so it's plausible the ancients would've made use of it;

lichen - aaaaalriiight, now, that is a big discovery! Beautiful shades and absolutely possible to obtain from the varieties growing on the British Isles. One of the most crucial omissions from my old palette, here finally in its full glory.

That was it for the northern palette. And the southern? Glad you asked:

weld - previously called 'dyer's rocket', but no one in the whole wide natural dyeing Internet calls it that. Beautiful, vibrant, very steady yellow; won't give away even if you overdye it with indigo or woad. It's native to the Mediterranean and while it was cultivated in Britain in later centuries, I have no reason to believe that was also the case in 1 c. CE. I dub it imported;

madder - I keep reading that it's giving saturated red shades, but I have yet to see anyone dye a skein of yarn deep red with madder only. All that keeps popping up in pictures are gentle, pinkish reds, so that's what I included in my palette too. The orange comes from changed pH of the water;

woad - OK, that's my most epic fail of all. To make a Celtic palette and not include woad?! Putting aside the whole matter of Britons possibly maybe but actually maybe not using it to paint their faces (a very controversial matter, let's not go there 😅), woad was the blue dye in those times. Indigo was far away and while it was being imported to Rome, afaik it was used mostly for painting, not cloth dyeing; and besides, as crazy as it may sound, woad seems to do the job better. Seriously. Higher water and light fastness. The question is, was it cultivated in Britain or imported? Just like weld, it's native to the Mediterraean. There is a British find of a bunch of woad seeds, from 1 c. BCE - but then again, it's just one find. So... Mostly imported but slowly being introduced to the Isles? Maybe?

mixed ingredients - the ingredients specified in the PDFs are given in the order they're used - that makes a difference! My biggest discovery of this whole natural dyeing research is that, surprisingly, vibrant green is the absolutely most difficult colour to obtain. That dark green you see at the bottom - so-called Lincoln green - requires super high levels of both weld and woad, and you must put your yellow skein in the blue dye asap - if you're too slow, you get a lighter shade, e.g. like the one above it. The Hightowers surely knew how to show they're rich, huh...?

and last but not least, the luxury dyes! Some imported from far away (turmeric), some from nearby lands (Tyrian purple), some even grown locally (there were saffron plantations on Sicily. True story), but nevertheless, all super duper expensive. Tyrian purple was actually legally reserved for the emperor only - even if you could, by some miracle, afford it, you'd probably get arrested if you dared to dress in that particular shade of purple. Good that lichens could always come to the rescue!

Guess that's enough of behind-the-scenes trivia, isn't it? Props to you if you managed to get to this point, lol. Have fun with the palettes and happy recolouring!

***

Sources:

dzikiebarwy.com - in Polish, but the pictures should speak for themselves. Here you've got a post about dyeing with summer plants, including birch leaves, here - elderberry, here - apple leaves and twigs, here - nettle;

https://woolandpalette.com/blogs/news/making-vibrant-green-with-natural-dyes was my first step in finding out how to obtain a proper green shade with natural dyes;

wooltribulations.blogspot.com - dyeing with birch bark (here), another failed elderberry experiment (here) and overdyeing weld with woad for a deep Lincoln green shade (here);

www.jennydean.co.uk - an absolute godsend, especially two posts: 'Dyes of the Celts' (here) and 'Colours of the Romans' (here);

https://craftinvaders.co.uk/making-dye-from-lichen/

https://earlychurchhistory.org/fashion/colors-dyes-for-clothing-in-ancient-rome/ - on the posh dyes for the rich;

https://www.butserancientfarm.co.uk/gallery - except for the general vibe (*chef's kiss*), the 'animals and nature' section of the gallery has pictures of the 'primitive' sheep which they keep at the farm;

...and a bunch of others which I didn't save in my bookmarks 🙃

[alltheboysandgirlsiloved]

ngl at first I thought that season 3 of jwct was going to be the last one but the more I think about it the more inclined I am to believe that maybe we are going to get more seasons?

*bone cracking sound* let's get into it, shall we?

A couple of things that jwct has to cover before the end:

Biosyn facility in Italy

Raptor Handler and Soyona meeting

Red the Atrociraptor reuniting (?) with the rest of Atrociraptors

Brooklynn (eventually) turning her back on Santos

Brooklynn reuniting with Camp Fam for real

Potentially (very high possibility) Malta

Bumpy's baby hatching (+ eventually, Bumpy and baby Bump reunion)

Tension between Sammy and her family explained

Ben's girlfriend reveal

Resolution of the tension between Kenji-Brooklynn-Darius

So this is how I see this playing out. (Head-ups - this is a result of my research but, let's be honest, also kind of a manifestation of my hopes and very much just a fan-theory. So take it easy)

If Brooklynn and Santos are really to reach Biosyn's center in Italy, I doubt it's going to be "in-and-out" type of visit. In Dominion Santos is entrusted with organizing a "transport" for Maise Lockwood; now let's remember that in the past Brooklynn researched the Lockwood mansion, I wouldn't be surprised if that came up at least briefly (perhaps, to even further ensure Soyona's trust, Brooklynn will offer some advice while simultaneously working on how to save the girl). Then, we have the matter of transported eggs – I'm sure that Brooklynn's gonna be very interested in where they are going etc etc. It's all going to take an appropriate amount of time. At the same time, the campers need time to actually reach Italy too, then potentially get to the facility (I think this is where Ben's conspiracy theory-induced knowledge may resurface – in season 1 it is confirmed that he has heard the theory about the mysterious locust).

We know that the Handler and Soyona absolutely have to meet (because both of them are hot). The Handler has three antrociraptors, Soyona only has Red. In Dominion (which takes place a little after current events of jwct) Soyona has all four antrociraptors at her disposal. Now, knowing about the bond between antrociraptors and the Hanlder, to me it kind of implies that eventually the Handler is completely separated from the raptors, and their bond is severed (does she die? does she lose her whistle and the raptors turn against her? I wouldn't put it past the showrunners to kill her tbh. Since her bond with the antrociraptors seems to be something more than just a whistle thing (as opposed to the clicking effect dr Sarr had on the Baryonyx)). I think that Soyona will call for the Handler when she realizes that the rest of Camp Fam are on their tail. Again - that takes time. The Handler has to get to Italy, find the Camp Fam, some sort of fight has to occur, she "loses" (somehow), Soyona gets pissed... All of that takes time.

Then, eventually, at some point, Brooklynn decides that she has gathered enough material to turn her back on Soyona and run away. I doubt it's going to be easy. I don't know if it's going to be a decision she makes on her own, or if it's going to be motivated by the Camp Fam being in danger. Either way, I doubt it's going to happen prior to the fouth/fifth episode.

So after Brooklynn "parts ways" with Soyona, she has to reunite with Camp Fam, and we know that it won't be easy. I think that some of the campers will warm up to her sooner (probably Ben for obvious reasons, Sammy and Darius), others later (Kenji will probably be the last one). I suspect that it may require some sort of "grand gesture" on Brooklynn's side. At first, I thought that maybe I'd be egg-related but I honestly doubt it? I think that she will meet Bumpy's baby post-hatching but that's a shoot in the dark tbh.

My personal theory is that Sammy's parents got somehow involved with Biosyn and Sammy didn't like that and that's what caused their parting. Since Sammy's family owns a ranch, they know a lot about, well, farming and what is the locust attacking? Ranches. So I assume that Biosyn has some sort of "informants". Maybe Sammy instantly figured out that something about Biosyn is off? Who knows. Either way, we need to learn what exactly is the reason behind the crisis within Gutierrez family and resolve it. And the way Sammy phrased that and kind of tip-toes around the topic, I think it will be somehow related to the plot + resolving it is going to take some time.

Then, I think it's safe to assume that eventually, we will end up in Malta since this is also where the events of JW Dominion take place. Remember how jwcc season 3 ended? We got an extra perspective on the events in JW movie - a perspective of campers. I think that with jwct, the showrunners may do a very similar thing (let's remember that JW is a franchise therefore, at least in theory, everything is somehow connected; such perspective would make a nice bridge between the series and the movies).

Now, this is where my own theory kicks in for real. If we look at jwcc and jwct in general, Soyona shapes to be the only villain that the Camp Fam won't ultimately defeat. Or... will they? Both Tiff and Mitch, Kash and even Daniel end up "losing" because of the Camp Fam (either directly or indirectly). Now, I haven't watched Dominion in a while but if I remember correctly the last scene with Soyona shows her as she's about to be arrested. This got me thinking... what if she somehow manages to escape? As far as we know, Soyona seems like the kind of person who always has a backup plan. Remember that she also has connections within DPW (now disbanded ofc) - she knows a lot of people, and a lot of people work for her. All of this is a theory but I wouldn't be surprised if, before the events of Dominion, she didn't have some sort of backup plan; for example Jensen from DPW who's ready to "react if things go south". So Soyona attempts to escape, and she escapes to the States (remember that eventually, the Camp Fam has to get there somehow lol). Who chases after her? The campers obviously because now it's more than just dinosaurs, now it's personal too – fueled by Brooklynn's hatred for Soyona, fueled by the need to see her "locked up" for good. I wouldn't be surprised if the creators of the show decided that it would be more fitting if Soyona was "captured" and brought to justice by the Camp Fam seeing as, ultimately, she plays "bigger villain" in jwct than in Dominion. So depending if the creators decide to do something like that or not - that could potentially be what season 4 would focus on - the final and ultimate defeat of Soyona Santos.

However. If they decide to end Santos plotline at where it ends in Dominion, there's still plenty to explore in a potential season 4. I wouldn't be surprised if Camp Fam ended up in the Biosyn's center again - for example, to recover the rest of eggs/make sure that they are safe, or (knowing Darius) to ensure that the dinosaurs will be safe there. [Ben's gf enters the chat] I strongly suspect that Ben's girlfriend (if she's real) has some sort of connection with Biosyn (the chance of these two meeting through Dark Jurassic is pretty high after all), depending on who she is, there could be a whole new plotline related to the character - making her "someone more" than just a person whose role boils down to being a mysterious girlfriend. If she works for Biosyn (spies?), I wouldn't be surprised if there was some extra secret hidden by this company. It's like... call me crazy, but I think that a huge company like that has a lot of connections. I wouldn't be surprised if it somehow led us back to (thankfully, now deceased) Daniel Kon - after all we know that he was secretly planning to rebuild his company, and still had a lot of money. So this is where I see a potential for another season of mysteries and events. (I also have a tiny theory on the side that Ben's "girlfriend" is actually, a guy aka Ramsay Cole - a head of communications in Biosyn; it would make sense for him to be on Dark Jurassic, knowing this character's plotline in Dominion; his age is not revealed but my guess is that he is around 25 years old. Also, one of the producers of jwct mentioned in an interview that he'd love to bring more characters from Dominion to jwct so... there you go. Idk just a theory, but it lines up. Especially with Ben being half-firm, half-awkward when talking about his partner yk).

I think there are honestly so many ways this show can be developed and... for good reasons too. Not just good reasons plot-wise but also because, well, let's be real jwcc/jwct is extremely popular. And the creators are aware of it. It's safe to assume that initially the show (jwcc) was supposed to be three seasons long but, due to its popularity, they added 2 more seasons and then decided to make a whole spin-off series. And the spin-off too is very popular and generally praised not only by the target audience (kids) but also but "older" jurassic fans. Seeing as Jurassic is a franchise, therefore, something that is supposed to "keep going" (fuel itself), jwcc and jwct are a perfect way to also introduce younger generations to the entire world of jurassic, literally "raising" them to be fans of the series, and a great way to keep other fans entertained as they wait for the next installments of the movie series (after all, a brand new JW trilogy is in plans).

So yeah. I've been meaning to make a post about it for a while but I wanted to make it as detailed and as "canon-aligned" as possible so it took me a while. Honestly, in the end, this is mostly just the hopes and dreams of a devoted jwcc fan who has been suffering from camp fam-brainrot for the past 4 years!

If you read it that far - it's time to touch some grass. I recently started growing my own in a flowerpot and... well, it doesn't really help but it's the thought that matters! if you have any thoughts about the upcoming installment(s?) of jwct - I'd love to hear them. And remember to be nice, we are all just fans after all :D

[allthedoorsareopennow]

Incomplete collection of Marius lore

suggestions for additions are welcome, but it MUST HAVE A SOURCE

overview 

He is the ship’s medic[1]/ship’s doctor[3], plays fiddle and has a mechanised right arm[1].

The ace of hearts card in his hat indicates he is asexual [18].

'He likes love, and love songs, and people in love' [18].

His own romantic inclination is unknown [18].

He knows some German words, but is not fluent [19].

Marius is not white [20].

backstory 

He is neither a baron nor a doctor[3][5]; ‘Baron’ is a corruption of his original name, Byron von Raum[2][5].

Marius has a sister called Dorothea, and they were raised by a single nonbinary parent. Marius doesn’t remember their name or face, and knows them only as Zeze[6].

It is strongly implied that Marius was not mechanised by Dr Carmilla [7].

Marius is 5’5 and very skinny. This is apparently because he came from a world that is ‘somewhat medieval in its nutrition levels’ and Marius was not a healthy child. [14]

He piloted a mecha called KISMET. She was 5-6 storeys tall and slightly insectoid, like a dragonfly or butterfly. [17]

‘The control pod’s entirely in the head, which allows the internal control rig to right itself like a ball bearing, keeping the pilot upright whether she’s standing on the ground, hovering, flying horizontally, banking sharply or even rolling.’ [17]

The mecha is not meelee-oriented. [17]

time with the mechanisms 

Drumbot Brian said that ‘given that we're immortal and don't need a doctor, it's the job we're most comfortable giving Marius, and it keeps him busy’ and also that he ‘frequently tries to psychoanalyze inanimate objects’ [5]

His mechanism was ‘probably botched’ and he has a ‘tenuous grasp on reality’[2] 

According to Jonny, he grew a beard presumably around 08/02/2014 ‘almost instantaneously, and without warning’ and was apparently ‘very upset’ and ‘said he’d been holding it in for decades and just that momentary lapse of concentration as I kneecapped him had ruined all his hard work’[8]

He once dressed up as the Toy Soldier for a halloween concert [9]

Drumbot Brian once responded to someone asking how the mechanisms were by describing marius as ‘mad’[10]

The Aurora describes Marius as ‘the broken doctor’ [16]

songs/albums

He had a planned lecture on the psyche of the olympians, but this was cancelled[11]

He helped Ashes install at a minimum the camera in Ulysses’ vault in UDAD, though he does not remember this[4]

Apparently, ‘Marius spent his time on Fort Galfridian sitting at the porthole for days staring into the sun because he didn't realise it was supposed to be unbearable, and now the Ghouls think he's some sort of prophet’ [12]

In The Bifrost Incident, Marius does not know where he got the violin - in fact, he doesn’t even realise he’s holding it until Lyf points it out [15]

death

Marius was always skeptical of the crew’s immortality and was less surprised to meet his end. ‘One day, at something of a loose end, he will decide to check on the octokittens. Unfortunately, the purring horde has not been fed in many decades, and devours him, head to toe, in 11.7 seconds.’ [13]

Jonny is implied to have already witnessed Marius’ death before the final concert; he says ‘11.7 seconds. At least, by my watch.’ [13]

In Marius’ death, tunes from ‘Blood and Whiskey’ and ‘Favoured Son’ can be heard [13].

meta information

In the Ulysses Dies at Dawn indiegogo fundraiser campaign, one of the donation perks is listed as 'Marius's Journals'. [21]

[1] Mechanisms Marius von Raum Available at: https://themechanisms.com/the-crew/marius-von-raum/ Last accessed: 11/01/24

[2] Young (2020) Future Projects: The Death of Byron von Raum (spoiler free) Available at: https://kofiyoung.com/2020/07/25/future-projects-the-death-of-byron-von-raum-spoiler-free/ Last accessed: 11/01/24

[3] Revenge of Spaceport Mahon

[4] Mechanisms Eskhatos Available at: https://themechanisms.com/fiction/eskhatos/ Last accessed: 11/01/24

[5] Below (2013) Why do immortals need a ship doctor? Available at:  https://www.tumblr.com/the-mechanisms/58736308596/why-do-immortals-need-a-ship-doctor-i-need-an Last accessed: 11/01/24

[6] Young (2023) Available at: https://www.tumblr.com/neitherabaron/727612334921678848/holding-checklist-titled-qualities-to-kill Last accessed: 11/01/24

[7] Rasputina (2013) Where'd you folks pick up Marius and Raphiella? Available at: https://www.tumblr.com/the-mechanisms/58960694562/whered-you-folks-pick-up-marius-and-raphiella Last accessed: 11/01/24

[8] Sims (2014) Ingratitude Available at: https://www.tumblr.com/the-mechanisms/75995731661/ingratitude Last accessed: 11/01/24

[9] wickedacephotos (2013) The Mechanisms at The Cellar, 29 Oct 2013, for Halloween with Polar Patterns Available at: https://www.tumblr.com/wickedacephotos/65528149745/wickedacephotos-the-mechanisms-at-the-cellar Last accessed: 11/01/24

[10] Below (2013) Hooray for questions! Available at: https://www.tumblr.com/the-mechanisms/58734952128/i-apologize-that-i-didnt-ask-a-question-to-make Last accessed: 12/01/24

[11] The Mechanisms Ulysses Dies at Dawn Available at: https://themechanisms.bandcamp.com/album/ulysses-dies-at-dawn Last accessed: 12/01/24

[12] thedreadvampy (2020) Available at: https://www.tumblr.com/thedreadvampy/624522490768736256/i-feel-like-i-should-clarify-because-it-does-at Last accessed: 12/01/24

[13] The Mechanisms (2020) Death to the Mechanisms Available at: https://themechanisms.bandcamp.com/album/death-to-the-mechanisms Last accessed: 12/01/24

[14] thedreadvampy (2020) Available at: https://www.tumblr.com/thedreadvampy/630817295229468672/so-i-am-absolutely-going-to-go-draw-tim-with Last accessed: 12/01/24

[15] thedreadvampy (2020) Available at: https://www.tumblr.com/thedreadvampy/631436135234699264/you-dont-need-to-awnser-this-because-i-am-lore Last accessed: 12/01/24

[16] themechanisms A Bedtime Story Available at: https://themechanisms.com/fiction/ghost-in-the-machine/ Last accessed: 06/03/24

[17] Young (2023) Available at: https://www.tumblr.com/neitherabaron/708247931183153152 Last accessed: 11/04/24

[18] Young (2024) Available at: https://www.tumblr.com/neitherabaron/754005393719640064 Last accessed: 22/06/24

[19] Young (2024) Available at: https://www.tumblr.com/neitherabaron/759338848830554112 Last accessed: 20/08/24

[20] thedreadvampy (2020) Available at: https://www.tumblr.com/thedreadvampy/624109112212455424/ Last accessed: 17/11/24

[21] The Mechanisms (2013) The Mechanisms - 'Ulysses Dies At Dawn' Available at: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-mechanisms-ulysses-dies-at-dawn#/ Last accessed: 17/11/24

To add:

not yet added Marius’ dttm dialogue

may add more detail to what is contained in expert testimony

could probably add detail on things seen doing in photos, e.g. Marius playing rock paper scissors with TS. (are photoshoots canon? I assume so)

[3] missing a link

wow did I really miss pilchard. I will Get To It at some point maybe

fungus arm https://www.tumblr.com/neitherabaron/712149115253948416/

perhaps more backstory info from byron

https://x.com/neitherabaron/status/1231124594544783361?s=20

https://x.com/neitherabaron/status/1231604579529302018?s=20

https://www.tumblr.com/neitherabaron/744416410692993024

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fjKHR0astiU - video on how to do the marius dttm makeup

numbers are ordered mostly in when I added the source rather than order of appearance as I have moved things around a lot. as above this is very incomplete and I don’t have the willpower to update this now maybe I will later. I’m just uploading it now since someone wanted marius lore

[spindle-girl]

Shade 4.3

gearing up for the Rain interludes by overhearing his cluster's plans and also Moose is there and it's wonderful

“As a rule, it’s not good to ask people about their trigger events,” Sveta said. “As a rule,” Chris said, “It’s vital information about who we’re fighting and why they’re doing what they’re doing.”

it's definitely a dick move, but an important one (also i want deets). Chris is now up there with Kenzie and Ashley for me. the talk right after about people having rules made me remember Amy and Marquis. i know Chris and Amy have more interactions later on, i wonder if part of the reason for that is because Chris thinks he can see that in them and feel like he can act around them accordingly

“I’m probably going to regret saying this, but I’ll stand up for Kenzie,” Chris said.  “It’s going to be shitty if she starts taking apart good work so she can get it done in time, and then Rain doesn’t hold up his end any.  That’s not fair and it’s going to lead to resentment.” “I don’t care about fair,” Kenzie said.  “But thank you, Chris.”

he's probably being honest here, but i wonder if part of him saying this is to make up for grabbing Kenzie's stuff without permission. aww

“They blame me, for the events around the trigger. I’ve told Sveta all of this. The dreams are biased, selective, cherry picking from my perceptions. They make me out to be more of a bad guy than I am.”

i expected Rain to be more catholic guilt about this. i mean, i'm all for the mind whammie explanation when it comes to this sort of stuff and Mathers 100% qualifies, but i'm surprised that it's being accounted for already in the book

“It’s not kiss-kill,” Rain said.  “Or, like Victoria said a few days ago, it’s kiss-kill with good cover.  I’m weaker than them, and the dreams give them a reason to hate me.”

i mean... if they don't know about the mind control, uh. i think they have enough reason to hate you Rain, knowing what happened. i'm with you and all, but unless they didn't actually see you, then the dreams are just hammering the already known point home (and acting as a metaphor for reliving the trauma? dunno enough yet to say)

“Sensed,” I corrected. “The woman- Love Lost, she has the emotion aspect of the power,” Rain said.  “Maybe it includes some emotion sense.  Detecting people.”

oh boy, a mini-Cherish?

“I have an address.  Only pub in Cedar Point, I think.  Across the street from where Prancer went inside.”

one pub? in an entire city?

oh wait, is this like, differentiating between pub and bar? okay, yeah that's more believable

I stepped off the roof, realized that someone was standing on the sidewalk on the far side of the street, staring at me, and saw the alarm on their faces.  I gave them my best heroic salute as I started flying instead of falling from the roof of the two-story building.

fair enough Victoria. pretty funny

The drawback was that he was a twenty-something guy that spent an awful lot of time sitting in a chair with a diaper on, drooling, mumbling, and feeling acutely uncomfortable.  When his power was active, and for a time after, he was unable to act on his knowledge himself, or even to effectively defend himself.  He had been on the side of the good guys, once, which was why his power information was such common knowledge.  Something had changed or snapped.

unless this is a Bitch situation, maybe he got tired of being called Braindead. go figure

Every moment I was here, I was being watched.  My forcefield was down, because having it up risked it damaging the roof, building, or the camera.  The locals were getting time to figure out what to do with me.

being watched is something you can commiserate with the villains at least

“The last time I came, you guys called Tattletale.  She told me to get lost.” “Yup,” Moose said. “To me, hearing that, I’m inclined to think I should show up more,” I said.

seems like saying this will cause problems for your blame Tattletale plan

“So you’ll trounce me.  Thoroughly.  You’ll embarrass me, even.  Not because you’re a girl and I’m a guy, but because you’re strong and you have more experience, and because fighting someone who flies is a massive bother.” “You could surrender.” “Can’t.  Invested in this place.  But there’s more to it, Glory Girl.” “Not my name anymore, by the way.” “Oh, really?  Sorry about that.”

this guy is living that hench life. number three in the group, the muscle, has a nice chat with the hero before getting getting into a fight he knows he's going to lose. it's great

“Good to hear.  Except… can we just skip straight to the part where you leave?  I don’t want to be embarrassed and you don’t want to run scared from a group of menacing looking capes.” “I’m supposed to run scared from you instead, Moose?” “You can knock me around as you make your exit, if you’d like.” “Really?” I asked, a little incredulous. He shrugged.

HE'S GREAT. LOOK AT THIS GUY. 9/5 working villain just wants to clock in clock out and do as little work as possible

theory: Lisa had a run in with this guy back in the day before going to Brockton Bay and held fond memories of meeting the henchiest villain to ever mook only to be severely disappointed when everyone else isn't living life like him

“He ran,” Ashley said, her voice low. “Rain?” “He got spooked,” she said.  “Tristan went after him.”

uh oh

“We want him to face a fate worse than death,” Snag said.  “But we can’t have that and have him dead at the same time, and we need him dead.  If he suffers as much as possible along the way to that conclusion, we’ll be satisfied.”

huh. i thought Rain would already know this. maybe it hit different hearing it from the horse's mouth

End Notes:

don't have much to comment on the cluster meetup with the Speedrunners. i wish i did, but Love Lost didn't do much, Snag mainly talked business, and i don't have much care for the Speedrunners. i can't imagine they'll be more than a preliminary villain to get to Cradle and the rest

Tattletale would do great with a Moose of her own

[neonnightflower]

I'd like to talk about the fact that I doubt that Singed really got a happy ending. Yes, that's probably enough for him. But I still find this ending sad.

I'm not going to talk about what disappointed some of Singed's true fans right now. Namely, this is what he was given a primitive sentimental motivation. In general, someone doesn't like the fact that the goals of this character were reduced to bringing his daughter back to life, instead of him doing everything purely because of his scientific interest. Now he can answer any question "for the sake of my daughter." However, in general, I like this turn of events. I haven't played LoL.

So, in the finale of the second season, we see that Singed has achieved his goal. His daughter is sitting at a table and admiring a box with mechanical ballerina, while her father sits down next to her and looks happy. But let's think about what it cost him. This is, in fact, an unhappy character. I'm not saying that everyone else is happy. But nevertheless.

We don't know about his past, but he probably lost his wife if he was the one raising Orianna. Of course, a woman could despair and break up with him on this basis, but maybe Orianna wouldn't have died if she also had a mother who looked after her. So I'm inclined to believe that Singed's wife was dead after all. So, he lost his wife, and daughter is the only thing he has left of a loved one. Accordingly, that's why he values her so much and wants to preserve at least one part of his ruined family at all costs.

Now imagine that this man lost everything, and he was also kicked out of the academy. I don't know if it was before Orianna's death or after. But in LoL, Orianna didn't die. She just gradually became a robot and lost her humanity. Or was Singed not kicked out? Did he resign because of financial problems? I can't say for sure. Was it said in Arcane? I only remember about the resignation. I'd be grateful if you could clarify this point. But, one way or another, he lost both his family and his job.

Singed had led a lonely life for a long time, and where he lived, only his terrible experiments, silence and a dead daughter awaited him. Most likely, there were also many painful and overwhelming thoughts related to the past. He was alone with it all. And so on for many years. Thanks at least to Viktor (I'll add here a meme that was made by guineapigeddie, sorry)), Silco and his work that he had some kind of communication. And he was just great that didn't give up, didn't go crazy, but continued to try to find a solution, putting his life on healing the loved one from the death.

He also suffered severe burns to his body, especially his face, as a result of which he even lost his lips and an eye. It must have been very painful and traumatic. Isn't that the price?

But what is the price for? As a result, he managed to revive Orianna, yes. But who is she now? A robot or a puppet that will never grow up. She will only be able to return to her hobbies, work, and maybe make friends with someone. But, most likely, she is infertile or even asexual, so Singed will never see the birth of his grandchildren, and even, probably, the moment when his daughter finds a partner and will be happy in this sense. Although the question is whether she wants it herself. If so, it was bad, and it was selfish of him to bring her back to life. Did she even want to come back to life? Will she be able to socialize? Would she blame her father for the bad things he did for her sake? Maybe she'll give up on him eventually. Or she'll be left alone when he dies and won't be able to adapt to life.

And who's Singed now? An old and ugly (not for me ^u^) man who was called a monster, the meaning of whose life is now tied only to his daughter. Someone who is stuck in his past. He lost a lot of time, which now he will never get back, and he has relatively little of it left. I think it's a controversial happy ending. A happy ending with a taste of bitterness.

[theallianceofcelestials]

I think killcode had this small inclination towards family in the beginning in canon, if he didn't he wouldn't have called eclipse his son knowing it's not something he could really use to manipulate eclipse but calling bloodmoon his sons absolutely work as a manipulation tactic and eclipses entire reason for his aggression at the beginning is because moon was still around and what moon said when eclipse tried to talk to him. And sun seems like he was so eager to have some sort of family, good or bad, and we'll eclipse and killcode were moon but now they also have a lot of sun in the . So I feel there would be a lot of manipulation from killcode/eclipse towards both sun and new moon/Nexus to try and made the two see killcode/eclipse as family to make them more inclined to help get them their own body and keep them around. I could imagine after that they keep the two unaware of when they kill, keep them close and happy and compliant and well if sun and new moon/Nexus ever find out I doubt eclipse/killcode would have anything against a little memory tampering to keep their new family from leaving unless sun or new moon/Nexus were about to keep calm and understanding about it then they wouldn't have even hinted at the thought. And well if the creator still sends Earth their way I'm still unsure of or how it would go

-🩸

I'm putting this here later because I kinda got debaty for some reason :P Don't worry about it, I'm just engaging in my favourite hobby of analyzing my hyperfixation. You can ignore most of it, seein as AUs are all in good fun (￣▽￣) I'm just like this for some reason

Killcode called them his kids mostly as a manipulation tactic yes, but also as a powerplay I think. Like as much as I love dadcode, he was absolutely awful and didn't really care about neither Eclipse nor Bloodmoon. So to me it'd make sense that he'd basically give Eclipse the middle finger by calling him his son, and thus placing himself above him in some sort of hierarchy, which'd absolutely grate on Eclipse's nerves

Also, if I remember correctly, one of the first things Eclipse ever said to Moon was "I'm going to kill your brother", before he was really provoked. Eclipse himself says when we see him waking up right after the separation that he wasn't supposed to get left behind, and that they had a plan to kill Sun. He was hostile from the beginning, not just after talking with Moon. He may be rather peaceful for one, but he's still a killcode. The only reason he really showed himself was for answers and to torture Moon. He didn't care, but also weirdly did, for Sun. He'd have probably killed him

And one of the big parts of the first Eclipse arc was that he can't be taken out of Sun, because his code can't take another separation. Moon's was already miraculous enough, which destabilised him I think. Eclipse had to be expelled by magic to really be rid off. Tho it's a fact I ignore as well most of the time, so there's that.

Also I think Sun's want to be family with Moon was a survival reflex. Like Moon was absolutely awful to him, and being brothers put him out of the immediate line of fire. It bettered their relationship, however marginally, which is why I think he was really pushing that. And they're also technically two halves of a whole, knowing each other inside and out quite literally. Like Moon mentioned to Sun that whenever they switched, even after their relationship became better, he always woke up in the place where Sun put what he didn't want. So to me it always kinda felt a bit questionable whether it was entirely genuine at the beginning.

So I think Killcode/Eclipse would be more likely to keep these two around for fun. Like they can just take over the body, Sun can't stop them, he won't even notice it if it's not pointed out to him. He has absolutely no idea what went wrong, only that Moon doesn't remember a thing, Monty doesn't care that much about stuff, and then later he may or may not be approached by this weird entity/entities in his head who aren't supposed to be there, and claim to be cut off pieces of his brother's code.

But if they progressed into the happy family, Sun would not be helpful and calm when they kill. He hates that.

Like current Sun's kinda chill with death and murder now right? He doesn't fight as much about their enemies needing to die as he did in the past right?

Well current Sun has been battered and broken way too many times, having never died and having witnessed and experienced every piece of trauma life threw at the family.

Sun back in the days we are currently speaking of, absolutely abhors murder. Current Sun does too, to be fair with him, but old Sun used to be VOCAL about it. He'd always start reasoning with Moon about just how awful it is whenever it happened, and you could really feel just how dejected he was whenever it happened anyway.

And bloody murder, something the killcode craves, is something he absolutely would not be able to stand. He would not help in any way with it, aside maybe clean up after it all, which I think is something Killcode/Eclipse would absolutely adore torturing him with. And then gaslight him into thinking there's nothing wrong, and because Sun'd rather go along with stuff like this so he's not in pain as much, he would fall in line.

Newmoon/Nexus would be against it however. Because right now it's just Newmoon, and Newmoon condemned morally questionable behaviour. Even if he also partake in it, but that was somewhat because he followed in the footsteps of his predecessor. Like he absolutely had no issues doing the wrong thing to protect his family. That was a trait he also shared, even if he didn't like it. Becuase it made him fear he was as bad as the old one, and he wanted to avoid that through ANY means neccessary.

But he doesn't exactly have that right now, he can't watch the channel, only hear the stories Sun'd tell him, and maybe get the occasional semi-playful jabs and taunts from Eclipse/Killcode about being a dumber reboot.

So honestly I don't know if Newmoon would help or not with the murder. Potentially he would be, seeing as that's what he came into. Or mayne those couple months it took for Killcode/Eclipse to appear were enough for him to decide he wants none of the shady stuff. That's a 50-50 on what you decide for this AU.

And Earth being sent there happened because the Creator wanted her as a clueless file uploader there, so his own crimes will be transferred to Sun and Moon, because he's a jerk who wanted them to suffer.

She might just be instantly murdered, depending on how she tickles Eclipse/Killcode. She might be completely wiped of everything because of the whole file uploading, so she'll be just reset too. She might get murdered later on when she starts protesting against the questionable things going on here. Or she might manage to fix this mess and somehow make them a family.

So uhh, yeah, I had some ideas/opinions that feel free to throw out the window lol. My brain just went off like what I do when Sunray and I make an AU. I'm aware it can be annoying :P

Just know I'm looking at the concept you've come up with big autistic eyes, and I'd be happy to hear all about it, even if I just went off here for some reason

[toxicwasteempire]

Foreshadowing in book one for Sidestep secret.

We all know by now but did we always? How many of us picked up the clues for the first book?

I personally was 100% convinced Sidestep was a Re-Gene before I started to play Retribution. This is because my mind is huge™ (Lying). It is interesting how it isn't information the first book is withholding, it keeps bringing it up to the point it feels natural once you read it once again with that knowledge. It doesn't hide it, it's just not said explicitly.

This is not a exhaustive list. I did one playthrough and took every reference, just so you all see my point. Remember, this is all just from one playthrough.

Is not foreshadowing (or is it?) but the phrasing is interesting knowing that Sidestep was made to do undercover missions. At the start, one things they're talking about gender norms in general but Sidestep was taught those in a clinical, artificial environment, with the goal of being as unassuming as possible. Only cuckoos are socialized this way, something that separates them from other Re-Genes.

More clear impossible and this is at the start of the game. Close your eyes and imagine baby Sidestep in a test tube. 🧪👶🏻

Tech-savvy Sidestep knows the capability of modern science, they're a product of it. Is the topic of race and heritage touchy because they see themselves as having no heritage or is do they consider Re-Gene culture as their heritage. (We know they have a unique language) If the latter is true, they would also feel isolated from it, since cuckoos are set apart.

Here is The Point™ it occurs in every playthrough. The existence of Re-Gene is explained and Sidestep is shown extremely distressed after calling the Special Directive. This is the point where it's practically confirmed there's story between Sidestep and the GeniTech corporation. it's difficult to not at the very least suspect.

I mean, the whole situation is stressing Sidestep the fuck out. If her crying, sobbing and throwing up about this isn't suspicious I don't know what is.

"You see Re-Genes have NO HUMAN RIGHTS because a CEO (of a company that kicked off after moving somewhere without a bioethics board) ~~claimed~~ that Re-Genes, allegedly 😒, are not sentient. Oh, you see they can mimic 😋🤗 so if you see some acting alive that's just silly pretending Which is why they have to be BRANDED as the MINDLESS OBJECTS they are just so nobody confuses them for actual people. 🙄 They have no mind after all. Or so they say. 😒 They are used for war... Do what you want with that info."

The way Sidestep talks immediately sends off alarms. Putting aside her being a Re-Gene, it is very clear the moment the Re-Genes are mentioned, the text is also putting in question the apparently known fact that they are not sentient.

Even if Sidestep had not been revealed to be one, I would've be on the side of the Re-Genes. Made by a sketchy enterprise somewhere with little to no regulations, they're marked to make sure nobody confuses them for a human, sent to make rich people richer in proxy wars abroad. The company says uuhhm actually they have no soul so it's okay if they got not human rights. 💕 And I'm supposed to believe that? Go away

Also a journalist was straight up murdered. Como cosa rara.

So the supposedly mindless robots need to have their thoughts shielded from possible telepaths 🤔 how weird.

There's show of kinship if you chose to save the Re-Gene. You see me and I see you. We are the same. We don't deserve this.

Sidestep stop hating your body challenge (impossible)

The first one can assume she's talking about being a villain but we know better.

Kinship between Sidestep and Heartbreak. They both being treated like less than a person. I see you. You see me we are the same etc. We also get a glimpse of her life in The Farm.

If you already got the inclination to believe sidestep is Re-Gene mid playthrough, the game proves you right with texts like this.

My poor mew meow...

Being serious, one assumes their tragic backstory means Sidestep's childhood was sad. When actually is simply non existent.

[hollowed-theory-hall]

Hiiii

So, I was reading your posts regarding Harry Potter analysis [fantastically written btw, even if I don’t necessarily agree with every single one of them (cause I do think Hinny had lots of potential, JKR just butchered them)], and also personal thoughts on shipping, and that got me thinking:

What are your thoughts on Drinny? If I remember correctly, you’d stated before that you tended to enjoy ships where you liked both characters at the same quantity. You’ve stated before that you liked Draco’s character but found him annoying (valid, I do too), and, correct me if I’m wrong, but I assume you’re not the biggest Ginny fan. There’s also the compatibility thing, and I might be crazy but I think they have some? Like, they both have similar senses of humor (mean-spirited type). They both like Quidditch and are pretty good at the sport (although Draco could get whinny and we know that’s a turn off for Ginny, but as you also pointed out, she was also with Michael mostly for HP). Im not sure if she’s ever described as intellectually smart but I do think she’s academic enough for them to vibe. Then there’s the whole “your dad tried to kill me that one time” that could always bring fun conflict (does Draco even know bout that? Cause I don’t think thats ever clarified)

Soooo, in your most honest opinion, do you think they could work? Or am I just going insane?

One last thing, I really love your Nottpott fic and I can’t wait to see what’s next!! (Btw, I do wonder, what are your plans for Ginny? Is she going to keep her fiery personality on the fifth book? Is Theo gonna see cracks within her façade? Will her experience w/ Tom be actually acknowledged to gain insight’s on the other Horcrux? I’m sorry if I’m asking too many things bout her, but I do somewhat like Ginny (or at least the Ginny cataloged in my brain) so I’m curious.)

I would ask more bout Harry or Theo, but Im honestly kinda terrified as to what may be in store and I wanna pretend they’re still cuddling together and being not-that-depressed-for-now.

(Sorry if my English is faulty, it ain’t my first language)

Thank you! 💓 and you're English is great.

I really get seeing potential in hinny, unfortunately, I need to change Ginny's character from the way she's written for it to work for me, but you do you.

Honestly, yeah, I can back Drinny. I think it'll be fun, though. I think Ginny isn't very academically inclined. She is a decent dueler (I think she could beat Draco), but I don't think her grades are great, since I think she doesn't really care about school work (kinda like Fred and George, although I think the twins are smarter academically about magic than she is). But neither does Draco super care about school (or, at least, he likes to say he doesn't, but he makes it into Potions NEWTS, so he got an O there, which is no easy feat. So, I think he acts like he doesn't care but he does)

The point is, I can see it, but, like, they are not each other's first choice. Like, I can see them dating, and even enjoying each other's company and snide remarks better than they think, and Draco gets less whiny during the war. So, if they get together post-war, I think it could work.

Can't see myself reading anything for them, but I can see it, though I'm not sure how long it'll last.

They're gonna judge people together, and argue, and gossip over Harry Potter. Like, Drinny's going to bring up Harry in their pillow talk, I just know it. Like, if Harry and Ginny break up and Ginny and Draco get together in 8th year and spend their dates complaining about the Boy Who Lived and eventually grow to like each other's company — yeah, that could be fun.

It's very unlikely since Ginny hates Draco on principle and vice versa, but if you can get past that, it could make a fun fic.

Also, you don't really need a ship to make sense to ship it. Sometimes, all you need is a good enough fic and the vibes. Like you said, it's a personal, subjective preference.

Regarding the fic, I plan on keeping Ginny with her OotP personality going into part 2 (I belive part of it is genuine and part of it is acted up, if we take later books into account, but she is going to be part of the D.A. as usual and have her sense of humor. Summer's going to have less of Ginny than in the canon, though). I don't know anything too detailed about her yet since I don't have everything planned out. I usually plan just the major story beats and the important arcs for a work/series.

And lol regarding Theo and Harry, they'll be fine. I mean, year 5 is going to have a lot of challenges, but that's what makes it fun!

[corvuscorona]

"You Never Forget Your First Love."

The other day, a mutual (hi! you know who you are I think probably hello hi! thank you for the Posting Impetus!) said something that made me curious (for, like, the 80th time, actually; lol. I Have Thoughts) about something: what's the split on people who subscribe to the "Stranger of Paradise probably intended for us to believe that Jack & Sarah were in love" mindset, vs. not? In general, but ESPECIALLY around these parts.

I genuinely didn't read it that way myself (& I do NOT normally give media (general) this much credit, but the writing in this game is sublime; I had no choice but to fully engage Scholar Mode on it), + I think it's interesting that SPECIFICALLY any of my fellow tumblr people / AO3-heads / Gay People Online / etc. seem to have. (I expect nothing from people who haven't been basting themselves in the same online sub-subcultures as me for over a decade. They're allowed to write wrong things on wikis, and have done so already; it's whatever.)

I wanna metapost badly again, so let's go. Join me. No poll. If you have an opinion on this, I'm looking directly into your eyes and beckoning you towards your own keyboard + also the reblog button / comment section, like a weird ghost. What did you think when you first played the game?? What do you think right now? What are you about to think after you have read a bunch of my words. Tell Me. I Need To Know This.

Spoilers for, idk, everything? Today we will use everything we've got to talk about Princess Sarah.

1. As a Narrative Element

This game makes a point of referring to Sarah as things like "a symbol of hope and peace" as often as possible, & when it isn't doing that she's usually in the role of An Object Or Device Of Some Kind, anyway. She's important because she's capable of holding light and dark in balance & SOMEONE'S gotta hold onto this dark crystal for safekeeping, and also we're gonna need to upset that balance on purpose later. There's that conversation in the Wicked Arbor about whether the Strangers would "choose" her (as opposed to "treasure") as the "reward" for succeeding in their mission[1], & there's the one in the Sunken Shrine where Jed asks Jack what he thinks of her and Jack says that he doesn't care about her as a person[2] BUT that protecting her is mission-critical (lol), too.

Sarah's death is metaphorically charged. It's the point of no return: the dark crystal breaks, the balance of light & dark gets extremely ruined, & Literally All The Darkness In Cornelia converges in one place (Fool's Missive XXVII). That's the payoff for the "symbol of hope and peace" motif, and communicating this idea that "the metaphorical light of hope just For Real Died, Like Catastrophically Imploded, No Take-Backs" feels to me like it was the highest priority here. Second-highest goes to "Jack had way more humanity before, but he set it aside on purpose and is actively in the middle of losing the rest of it." "Sort of." "I'm not getting into what counts as humanity or doesn't because if I did we would be here forever."

Basically, I'm saying that the tidiest read on the situation is "Jack despairs because Sarah dying means in a very literary and final way that everything is ruined forever, which doesn't necessarily have anything to do with, like, Love (romantic)." I don't think the text of the game is particularly signaling that Love (romantic) is involved, and I think that if it meant to, it would be more obvious about it. You could bundle "an romance" into the "humanity" thing if you wanted to, but I'm not inclined to, based on some additional list items that you can read below this one.

[1] The fact that Neon ALSO says she feels bad for her for being thought of in this way only reinforces my conviction that the game is pointing at Sarah & yelling "REMEMBER THAT SHE IS MOSTLY A SYMBOL!", tbh. Who wants to go point out how freaky the mechanics of Being An Royalty are w/ me and the boys??

[2] I will give the Wiki WrongPosters this: I can totally see this as some kind of irony thing, given that he's still missing like a fucktillion of his memories when he says it. However! As mentioned above, I have other reasons not to read it as evidence that he was ever, like, romantically interested in her.

2. As a Sheltered Youth™

We don't have a TON of information to work with RE: Sarah as, like, a person, but here are a couple of hard facts to start with: she's 19 (per the data book, but she'd have to be somewhere in the 18-to-early-20's age range regardless or her whole deal wouldn't really make much sense, imo. She's a baby...!), and she's royalty. I think this ties into her utility as a walking metaphor, among other things; she's archetypically young, fresh, & idealistic. I'd call her naïve but the game obviously isn't interested in portraying it as a weakness, so positive words only; why not.

You could argue that people look to her as a symbol of hope because she hasn't directly experienced enough strife to exhibit hopelessness or fear in response to bad news in the abstract. I find it interesting that before Jack, like, knocks the wind out of her & tells Sophia to take her outside so she can see for herself how bad things have gotten at the end of the game, she says that her duty is to die with her people if she has to, & it doesn't even seem to occur to her that she could lead at least some of them away to safety...? When she changes her mind, she still talks about herself as a symbol before she ever uses the word "leader". She sees HERSELF in terms of symbols and metaphors, and takes action based on her designated role As One Of Those. Not very practical.

There's also the dialogue you can have with the queen the first time you're allowed to run around in the throne room at the beginning of the game, where she asks Jack to smile in front of her daughters (NOT just Mia; daughters, plural). Even if she only means "dude can you be polite please," the fact that this is The thing she has to say to Jack is telling. Is it going to upset your 19-year-old daughter to see that the Guy Whose Job It Is To Kill Monsters looks serious? Why do you think this? Does your 19-year-old daughter understand how serious the situation is, generally speaking? Do you not WANT her to for some reason? Boats don't work anymore unless a weird elf messes with them first. Not thinking very hard about the implications of this is something a sheltered person does.

Residual time loop un-memories aside, a young woman in this situation is so obviously going to have a huge crush on Jack Garland no matter what. He Is So Cool, first of all, & he's also Different from the adult men she gets to see on an everyday basis (family, guards, rando townspeople[3]...). It's not like the political social scene could POSSIBLY be thriving in this world, either; it all seems to be one kingdom we're dealing with and they're kind of busy with the external threat of being Under Fucking Attack By Monsters. Does she even get fun treats like "handsome visiting dignitaries" & what-have-you? The game doesn't present us with any potential options, here. Jack is mysterious, he has special-boy Warrior of Light status, his one job & apparent life's purpose is protecting the kingdom she loves, he's pretty nice to her (even in later cycles he at least goes out of his way to be polite!), & additionally, he's shredded. THIS makes sense to me.

There's a Q&A in the data book that has something to say about JACK as a symbol & what that has to do with this whole thing but we'll get there. We'll get there.

[3] Tangent: what's up with how Cornelia's entire adult male population appears to consist of aging queens. Why did they only make models that look Like That for the NPCs? It's awesome but I have 1 quastion

3. JACK JUMPSCARE !

I'm not about to say that he's just humoring her, or anything, but please humor ME for one second & put yourself in Jack's shoes. Not the default shoes; we can have more fun than that. Maybe the Banded Boots. Blurple ones? Shaped like a cartoon would wear them? Big spikes on the back for no reason? I love those things. Anyway, you're Jack. You're working for literally the king, & the work means Everything to you for reasons you can't even necessarily explain except to say that it JUST does. The king's eldest daughter (very young adult; Never Been Outdoors; a little overly-sociable but nice enough & what do you expect from a princess, anyway) has imprinted on you like a duckling for whatever reason. You would be nice to this person, yes? You'd be patient with her while you're in town. You have Brutal Murders to be doing, but not until, like, 2 days from now, or whatever; you're sharing space with her in some capacity in the meantime & it's in your best interests to keep her happy. (You probably even enjoy doing this, if you're Jack of a Way Earlier Cycle; I'm in no way ruling that out. Sharing your music collection with an enthusiastic Baby Adult? That's fun. I think he was probably having fun. Okay, you can step out of the fun purple shoes if you want; the Humoring Me Minute has concluded; thanks.)

Also, @2000sanimeop and I think that if Jack felt that way about her Astos would have been a little More Something about how much it was gonna suck for him when she died. In Fool's Missive XXVII he uses the word "painful," but that's about it. He doesn't even bring it up in XXV, which is the one where he says he's curious about whether she'd survive being turned into a fiend (side note: Astos fucking rocks. Why did he write that down?? I love him). & Hey SPEAKING OF ASTOS,

4. I wouldn't put Jackstos on a wiki, either.

The writing in Stranger of Paradise, SERIOUSLY, WITHOUT EXAGGERATION, is some of the best I've seen in literally anything ever. It suits not just its medium but also its sort of Place in History Relative to Other Video Games & the things it chose to DO with that medium & that niche INSANELY well. It is CUSTOMIZED. It's SO INTENTIONAL. I can't get too far into this or we'll be here all day, but the essence of what I want to say here is: there are relatively few facts presented to us by this game, compared to the implications we can go about drawing from those facts & other, external sources of context.

Sarah calls Jack her first love; that's a fact. No facts are presented to us that REALLY say much one way or the other[4] about what Jack thinks of this, himself; "fucktillion memories missing" Jack says he doesn't care, but he's missing a fucktillion of his memories, and DLC2 Jack has a set of dialogue options (hi Anne the Malboro I love you Anne the Malboro) that can point either way depending on what the player chooses, which is kind of nothing, on balance. As the audience, we can (should!) draw whatever conclusion we want about it, but none of those conclusions are text.

[4] I WILL GET TO THE DATA BOOK IN ONE SECOND. HOLD ON.

And, okay, please let me level with you. Let's be on the same page. Jack & Astos had some kind of thing going on, imo, OBVIOUSLY, but I want to be CLEAR and I want to get CREDIT for the things I'M bringing to the table to help generate this conviction. I drew that conclusion & I read that reading based on subtext, context, personal history, personal preference, & sheer gay zest for life. It is also, emphatically, NOT TEXT.

Astos refers to Jack with the ol' "...friend" in Fool's Missive XXI. He calls him "my Jack" in Fool's Missive XXXI. Canonically, textually, he has some big fucking COMPLICATED fucking feelings about this man. These are facts. If you're playing this game as Some Guy, I can see how you could potentially absorb these facts & still pay them much less regard[5] than I did & continue to. My argument here is that god I wish I lived in a world where Some Guy could extend the same courtesy to me and not treat Sarah's textual affection for Jack as something that necessarily indicates Some Kind Of Reciprocal Romantic Whatever, Definitely, Obviously, Of Course.

[5] Longer Tangent: I have been informed that the Some Guys of the world are currently pretty good at Recognizing a character that behaves in a way that's Pretty Gay, but tend to stop there, possibly for the combined reasons that A. they're not very familiar with a lot of the the ways gay relationships often work (you know, soul resonance. mutual recognition. sharing a brain etc.) and B. the Object Of Affection is usually the player character and they subconsciously shy away from thinking of a Guy They're Supposed To Identify With as gay. This is practically a lead-in to an entire separate post I could make, so I'll leave it at that, lol.

The writing is too good for that kind of assumption! I'M SERIOUS!! It's mind-blowingly subtle & endlessly fascinating to hold up to the light & view from every possible angle, and "Jack & Sarah were in love" + "Jack & Astos were in love" are BOTH ANGLES. I'm personally very very interested in giving the text credit for that. I think it's impressive. I think it's really, really cool, and I think it was on purpose. Speaking of which,

5. Word of God agrees with me, btw

This is from the Q&A section on page 156 of the Confidential File. The translations below are my own (I think they're straightforward enough, but lmk if you know more than me & I'm actually being stupid in there somewhere. Alt text has the JPN, if you want to copypaste it or something). Someone asked:

Why is it that you established Garland as someone Sarah has a romantic interest in?

The answer is from Daisuke Inoue (director, one of 3; the other 2 are from Team Ninja; he's from Square Enix):

That was because, from a narrative standpoint, we wanted Sarah to be the kind of person who holds onto hope. You can imagine that she saw the "hope" to save the world in Jack, a potential Warrior of Light. Sarah is seen by her people as a symbol of a bright future, but if there were nobody to give her hope, that might destabilize her emotionally. As for whether she felt genuine love for Jack, or just mistook her feelings of admiration towards him for "first love," we'll leave that to your interpretation.

The first time I read this, I thought the question was implying the aforementioned Reciprocal Something, but on closer inspection that doesn't even seem to be true! "思い人" seems to indicate a directional relationship; as in, the question assumes that Jack is an object of affection to Sarah, but assumes nothing about what Jack thinks.

Also, the answer uses the word "初恋" (hatsukoi), which is a very established Concept as far as "first love" goes, but in that one cutscene, Sarah says "初めての恋" (hajimete no koi), which is. Different, but I couldn't tell you how, lol. It's Not The Exact Same Phrase, but I'm not sure whether it's meaningfully different in this context. If I had to guess, I'd say that IF ANYTHING it could be a way of saying "first love" without invoking the cultural CONSTRUCT of First Love (as much)? But it's whatever. The localization holds up. All sources show that Sarah had Feelings about Jack, and all sources CONSPICUOUSLY neglect to mention Jack's feelings about her.

It was on purpose. This is my license to be as annoying as I want for one second here. I am right. All the other writing in this game is notably subtle, efficient, intentional, and skilled, AND ALSO, WHEN do you ever see anyone write such a richly beautiful, mostly-subtextual relationship between two men, which can easily be read as a romantic thing, and NOT explicitly canonize a very possible romantic relationship between at least one of those men and a woman, like not even in an interview or anything. What the fuck, man.

I'm putting away the Respectable Scholar Hat now. This is so funny. The person asking this question didn't EVEN go as far as assuming Jack & Sarah had any kind of Actual Romance going on, & the answer STILL dials it back to "she might have been conflating her feelings about Jack AS A SYMBOL with actual affection, also. We'll let you decide : ) ". This game is everything ever.

[scoundrels-in-love]

I remember when your head caught flame, it kissed your scalp and caressed your brain

Migraine catches Wolfwood by surprise and Meryl is there to make sure he doesn't dissolve in the pain. Somehow, that hurts in a whole different way. | Stryfewood | Hurt & Comfort | Mentions of past abuse | Also on AO3 | Commission me! |

Wolfwood has no one but himself to blame for missing the signs of too-bright-loud-too-too-too world amping up in the last two days; a frustration that is well worn and familiar and does nothing to ease the pain of steel restraint three sizes too small wrapped around his brain, just beneath his skull which feels thin and tender, pulsating in rhythm of blood and pain pumping through him.

He wonders if he could rip his own head off, as simply he has torn other bodies apart. Like Legato had crunched Wolfwood’s form as if it was a discarded paper bag.

“Wolfwood?” Meryl's voice pierces through his fantasy, and he feels his jaw clench - a bad move.

He grunts an acknowledgement.

“Can you sit up? I booked the room, but I can't carry you inside.”

This makes him open eyes. Shortstack is hovering above him, leaning through the gap between front seats and the concern on her face is something he doesn't have capacity to process right now. Probably never.

Wolfwood had been vaguely aware they'd stopped, because the inclination to give up every bit of bile in his stomach had lessened a fraction. But he'd not thought much as to why, fleetingly assuming it was for a charging station.

“Whuh,” he says, eloquently. They're low on funds and the omnipresent, bright heat pressing into the van indicates it's not even close to nighttime yet. He's been trying to hide from it by laying down in the back seat, arm thrown over his face until the weight of it got too much. Plus, the smell of tobacco clinging to his sleeve had suddenly become an aggressor in the last day which, again, should've pointed him towards the signs.

“I can't get you inside on my own, can you walk?” Her voice is softer now, as if she'd caught him wincing at her volume before.

“Sure thing,” Wolfwood replies as he moves to sit up. If you can't walk, you're dead. He isn't yet, not yet not yet not yet.

Despite his insistence that he's fine, just peachy even, she's really making fuss for no reason, it takes more effort than he expects to get out of the car with his stiff, aching joints into the bright midday sun. The light hits like physical force and he hunches beneath it, staggers towards the sling on the back of the van where Punisher waits for him.

The familiar feeling of cloth and belts scorching his hands grounds Wolfwood and he manages to walk in the inn upright and brushing off Meryl who is fluttering around him like newly hatched wormling, restless and useless.

Even indoors, there are sparks in his vision, a blur on the edges, and the way his head spins do no favors to his stomach which has come to rest in his throat ever since he began moving. Meryl guides him to the room with urgency and if he had the capacity to be annoyed, he'd be telling her off. But now he just follows.

The room's curtains are drawn shut meticulously to not let even a strand of sunlight peek through, it looks safe and quiet as much as anything does on this cursed planet. He props Punisher against the wall next to the single bed and crumbles on the edge of the lumpy mattress, beyond drained and frustrated about it. His sunglasses clatter on the side table too loudly, their arms having felt like a pinch for the past hour.

“Take your jacket off,” Meryl tells him, suddenly kneeling in front of him. He must make some kind of noise, because she meets his gaze with a tight smile. 

“When I have a migraine, bending over is like a death sentence,” she explains, tugging off one of his shoes. He lifts his other foot to aid her efforts, wordlessly, because what is there to say? Thank you, you don't have to, you shouldn't , I don't deserve it, I must handle these things on my own or I might get used to idea that– 

“C'mon, off with that jacket, you never sleep in it unless it’s freezing,” Meryl tears apart his thought tangle, having set his shoes aside and standing in front of him with an expectant, outstretched hand. Wolfwood manages to shrug it off with minimal waves of nausea and lays down, closing eyes and listening to the gentle rustle of cloth as she must be placing it neatly on the chair. 

Next, she disappears into the bathroom and all he has left to focus on is each squeeze of metal around his brain, that tender blob of guilt and bad decisions that makes him him or some shit. 

He can't even lay still, with the aches in his hands and knees and hell, every other joint, too. But even a shift, even if he stretches his fingers to curl them slightly in a minute, feels like it resonates up his body, into his skull. It's absurd, but he supposes so is his existence.

The bathroom door creaks open and then is gently shut behind Meryl before her weight dips the very edge of the mattress. It's not a bed for two people which, actually - did they even have money for two rooms? 

“Can you lift your head slightly?” she whispers and Wolfwood cracks his eyes open to see her holding two wet towels. 

“I don't need-”

“That's not what I asked.”

He must preserve energy in case something happens, something where he needs to wield the Punisher and keep her from becoming another ghost haunting him (like Vash, like Livio -), so he capitulates this battle and gingerly lifts head so she can arrange the damp cloths around his head. It's an unpleasant, soggy sensation when he lays back down, but the coolness is almost instantly soothing.

She doesn't leave the bed immediately like Wolfwood expects as he tries to find words that aren't thank you, but would convey sentiment frighteningly similar to that. Instead, she scoots a little lower and gently takes his right hand in hers, smoothing fingers over his painful knuckles like trying to suffocate the ache with her tenderness.

“The vials wouldn't help?” Meryl asks as she repeats the motions and his whole body tenses up as a powerful wave of nausea roils through him at the memory of one time he'd tried. The wounds he'd left on himself trying to rend himself apart to end it had healed immediately without so much as a scar, but he will never forget the excruciating ways every blood vessel in his brain had pulsated with agony.

“Oh. I am sorry,” her voice cuts through the memory and  Wolfwood forces himself to relax again. Her hand feels so small in his - when had he clutched it so tightly, did he leave bruises?

“It's nothin’,” Wolfwood lies as he shakes her hold off, “stop coddling me and go to your room, I got this.”

“Well, tough luck then. I don't have anywhere to go, this was the last room they had.” 

He isn’t entirely surprised and it won’t be the first time they share a room or have pressed close to endure the cold of desert night. But it’s worse because all her attention is on him, his comfort and he feels flayed open by it just as much as the pain.

“We coulda kept moving,” Wolfwood grumbles, trying to regain some control over his thoughts.

“But we didn't. Money is already paid so we aren't moving until tomorrow morning.” There is finality to her voice and the last fight leaves his body. With a heaved sigh he allows his consciousness to loosen its grip.

His sleep is shallow, pain threading through it and pulling him close to wakefulness several times before he sinks back down. Wolfwood feels the cool cloth on his head being changed several times and Meryl smoothing his hair back from his damp forehead, but pretends to sleep through it. It's simpler that way. It's all for practicality, anyway. She needs him in good form and…

When Wolfwood wakes up, the pain has receded to a nuisance at the back of his skull and clamps on his temples. He pulls off the towel covering his forehead and eyes, blinks in the dim light, before setting it to the side and looking around to find Meryl.

She isn't far - curled in on herself and awkwardly propped against the wall and the headboard, one leg stretched out while the other is curled beneath her. Asleep, by the sound of her breath. He thinks about how she used to complain about sleeping in the car, shifting endlessly back and forth before settling down, but after Julai she's learned to sleep wherever and for what little time disasters might afford them. 

Reminiscing does him little good, but it's hard not to, looking at her face, brow scrunched a little even in sleep. It isn't the first time she has kept vigil over him and every time Wolfwood swears it will be the last one. But he and promises have never gotten on very well; several absences in his life are a clear proof of that.

Meryl shifts slightly and her head slides forward. Without thinking, he reaches out and stops her head slipping further, crashing into the headboard's edge. Her cheek is warm in his palm, the skin soft against his calluses so much that it makes him want to rub his thumb over it, but she's awake now, staring at him wide eyed and slightly disoriented.

“Couldn't let that big brain of yours get knocked around,” Wolfwood scoffs as explanation, withdrawing his hand. Something flashes across her face, eerily alike hurt, before she settles for mild annoyance.

“You must feel better if you're back to being an asshole,” she mutters, straightening up and then stretching. 

“Never stopped, sweetheart,” he waves at her, dismissive of her words and aches in his joints both, then sits up a little too carefully.

“That's true, the moment you genuinely do, I will be calling an ambulance.”

He points out that this is such a big city girl thing to say and they bicker back and forth some as he stands up and gets his cigarettes, meanders over to the window. Still barefoot because she'd been right – bending to put on shoes does feel like an execution even now and he's lived through a few.

The late evening sunlight still hits Wolfwood like daggers through his eyes, despite the sunglasses he had fetched from nightstand, but he grits his teeth and leans against windowsill, almost challenging the angled sun rays to chase him back into the shadows. He knows he belongs there. He knows.

“I'll be right back,” Meryl says over her shoulder, already halfway through the door and he mock-salutes her.

When she returns he's through with two cigarettes and her hands are full with a tray of food, pitcher of water with a couple glasses.

“Eat, you can empty your pack after,” Meryl gestures to the plate of empanadas as she places it on the rickety table near the window. He knows she remembers his throwaway comments, notices the things he enjoys, but every reminder still strikes a cracked bell in his heart, its sound too overwhelming.

Wolfwood speaks over it, as he always does: “Gonna spoon feed me while yer at it? I could've gotten something if I was hungry.”

“If I must,” she says, hands on her hips and mutters that sounds a lot like you prickly bastard .

He could argue, but he knows the food will do him good, even if he is still mildly nauseous. And in this year spent together, he's learned that the determination with which she'd broken Vash out of the tank prison is generously applied in many other aspects of her life. 

So, to not delay the inevitable, Wolfwood joins her for the meal. They talk about doing a few jobs around the town tomorrow to replenish the funds, bicker over the last fry which he eats on principle and also enjoy a spell of silence. 

It is good while it lasts and he has no one to blame but himself when it doesn't.

His head still feels tender, tendrils of worse pain slithering on the edge, and his body feels heavy. It's almost as if sleeping through a migraine is not very restful, he snaps at Meryl who comments he looks tired. 

“Then go to bed, Undertaker,” she scoffs, gathering things for a wash up. 

“Stop herding me, woman,” Wolfwood snaps and watches the corners of her mouth drop into an upset scowl.

“Suit yourself, I'm using up all the hot water for that.”

He watches her leave and wishes he had something stronger to wash down the bitterness in his mouth. It's better that way, better to be a nuisance that she won't care for, but sometimes it feels like it's too late, that all he can do is hurt her heart that is already attached. Again and again, from the day he’d led Vash to Julai and countless times after.

But even if that's true, there's no trust and no misplaced affection that he can't break. If not today, then soon she will see him for who he is and the disappointment will curdle into loathing.

They don't talk after that, she hardly looks at him once she comes out of the bathroom and by the time he's clean and ready for bed, Meryl has already made herself comfortable in the bed, facing away from him, arms drawn close to her chest. 

Wolfwood doesn't know if he's committing to being an asshole or just avoiding another argument when he settles on the other side of the bed. Probably the latter because he doesn't wrestle more of the blanket away from her. He is tired , far beyond the physical drain today has taken. Tired of being him, tired of the ghosts in his ribcage, tired of longing for a world where he could be the person Meryl and Vash thought he could be.

All that immaterial exhaustion and still he can't fall asleep.

Their backs are almost touching as he listens to her breath level out while his sleepless minutes twine into an hour. An excellent sense of time is yet another skill Chapel instilled in him by any means necessary. 

But he is losing this sharpness he's been given, his edges are growing dull, Wolfwood knows, can read it in the way he wants to say sorry and thank you, to fix the crack in their fragile peace he himself has carved. 

He can't afford to, not truly, but he can turn around without Chapel beating him for giving into his bodily urge to shift in the bunk beneath his teacher's. He can look at the gentle shape of Meryl's face in the darkness, his eyesight adjusted and changed for thriving in night, and -

Well, he shouldn't let the tender yearning take a breath and expand in his chest until his heart is engulfed in it, but he does anyway.

He will sharpen himself soon, with blood and death and hatred, with anything but her and the gilded memory of Vash, but tonight, tonight Wolfwood shifts to loosely wrap himself around her small form. Listens to her even breathing and presses his lips carefully to the crown of her head, mouths thank you there, inhaling the gentle floral and citrus scent of her shampoo, and lets it lull him into sleep.

[flanpucci]

I already talked about why I love Pucci on a logical sort of level but I didn't get in depth about what I think and feel about him as a character and why he stuck with me enough to get him permanently tattooed on my skin so I'm gonna get into it a little bit. Feel free to skip this one because it's not really analysis and delves a tiny bit into interpretation/headcanon so I guess it's more blogposting than anything.

To be honest although I really liked his design and the cool black representation he is, and Whitesnake was instantly my favorite stand, I didn't like him right away, I thought he was a little bit of a weirdo in his introduction scene with Miraschon, and it took some time for him to grow on me. His design and themes land right in the middle of stuff I've been interested in since forever (Christianity, the moon, space, technology, arts, science...) so of course I had an interest in him. I remember that I really liked the fact that even though he's a priest he's knee deep in the occult with the green baby and making Foo Fighters etc, I thought that was super interesting. It took me til the end of the part to root for him, and then when he was defeated, I realized that I wasn't as happy as I should have been lol.

I guess one of the first reasons why I was touched by Pucci on a personal level is that I felt really strongly empathic towards him, and his behavior and actions just let me feel like I caught a glimpse of his many emotions inside, even though he has a thick facade. For example, his loneliness felt very real to me. Having lost most of his family, and his dear ones by his own fault, them being taken away from him, him choosing to live a celibate life in the clergy, shutting himself in a prison for the biggest part of his life... His self inflicted suffering just saddened me a lot deep down inside. He's also got big existential dread, wondering about the greater purpose of his life from his childhood. Isn't this something that touches everyone at some point?

But not many people have their entire beliefs about their existence and identity crushed at a young age in their life. Pucci, when his brother is found out to be alive, has everything that he built himself upon, his justification for being alive, completely shattered. It then turns into tragedy, yet he seems to find a little hope and comfort with Dio, only for them to be crushed again when he dies. And then he holds on to this impossible grief for 22 whole years, unable to accept that his fate in this world is to suffer so much loss. We don't see him sad after his sister died, we don't see him cry or flinch. Living his life in this manner, he surely had to have a lot of pent up emotion, which he surely dealt with by dissociating them from himself and pushing them onto Whitesnake. But not entirely, it's a little 'see-through'. When you think of it, he's amongst the most 'perfect' characters in the series, he's superior, composed, poised, tightly upkept, articulate. He has both an advantage in status and seniority in age over almost everyone in the part. He seems to be well adjusted and respected by people working in the prison, and in the city. Yet he's also very faillible, often prone to panic, he begs for his life at multiple times. Scenes like the frog scene where he slips and messes up the prime number count because there are frogs on his expensive pants make him reek of humanity when otherwise he could easily feel 'out of reach' and inhuman because of how superior he is (like let's say, Kars is, which is a lot of his appeal though!). Same when I recently discovered his watch is worth several thousand dollars. It felt like peeking into his true self right through the wall of righteousness that he built to protect himself and further the plan. His bad sides and inclination towards cardinal sins are really fun to watch and try to notice. That's also why I don't like when people pass him off as a good person, because to me he's really not, he wouldn't be half as interesting if he was! But he's not completely evil either, and as Weather tells him, being so sure that his evil is necessary for a greater purpose is what makes it even more heart breaking to me.

On top of that, his quirks and unique traits make him both very endearing and relatable, especially if you happen to have similar ones! In my case counting has been my primary means of shutting down anxiety attacks for years now, and when I saw him do it too, I automatically felt really drawn to him. Same goes for his ramblings in the worst moments, they made him really stand out, and I felt drawn to him because of some examples he used that hit close to my interests. If you've read my other analysis maybe you know that I tend to interpret him as autistic and so this hits close to home too. In the same manner, the fact that such a cool and powerful character grew up with a canon disability (in his foot) made me feel happy as a disabled person.

There are scenes where he expresses love and devotion very directly and in a raw way, which is very rare, and was also surprising because of how indirect he usually is to make a point... His love for Dio however you wish to interpret the nature of it is deep and sincere and rooted in both despair towards his impossible situation and the hope that maybe another miracle could occur and turn things around for him. I thought the evolution of the way he talks about Dio was really interesting and it moved me to see him very attached to his dear friend. Also the scenes with Dio let us see how sweet and interested he is when he's with someone he gets along with, and how different Dio behaved towards him made me like Dio a lot more too.

When I watched Stone Ocean I had just finished The Outer Wilds and FFXIV Endwalker, and in a way these 3 pieces of media hit the same nerve in me. I was thinking a lot about the purpose of existence and the end of the universe, so I really wanted Pucci to fulfill his potential and go as far as he could, taking the entire universe with him, breaking every rule of his world and becoming bigger than the story itself. It's still how I see him and why I admire him a lot. I was very shaken by his death and the part it played in the entire series. In a sense I get the feeling that he was obsessed with destiny because he knew he was created to do something, and he was right, he was created by Araki only to suffer his horrible backstory, to have everything taken from him. But his extraordinary inability to accept it pushed him to break the wall of the story and try to subtract himself from it, while opening everyone's eyes on the cruelty of the (fictional?) world they live in, and giving humanity the possibility to be at peace with it. The first time I saw the ending, I was completely crushed by the weight Araki put on him, making his total erasure from the world the only condition for everyone's life to suddenly become better, almost perfect. I was disgusted that it was expected from me to be happy that the world was finally rid of him when it all started with an impossible to predict chain of events. Now that I look back at the ending, I think maybe I misunderstood it, and I've decided to believe that he maybe was freed from the curse that was his existence in the story, and that he took upon him many of all the 'wrong' that was in the original world, making it all right for the other characters. I hope Perla is happy in the new universe... Even though this is probably just delusional coping...

Although I feel sorry for Pucci and wish he could have solved his problems differently, I'm glad the story is sad as it is because otherwise I wouldn't have felt so deeply for him. In a sense I felt his pain so strongly that I was instantly drawn emotionally to find a way to 'solve' his situation, he's like I tormented soul that I have to appease, and that's why I pick up a pen and draw, write, or spread love and wholesomeness. That's also why I draw him peaceful or sleeping most of the time, why I bring my plushie to see nice things 😔🫶 I also get a lot of different feelings coming from Araki's way of drawing him throughout the part, and I think Pucci was a character that Araki learned to love and understand along the way too, instead of liking him from the start like he did Dio or Jolyne, but he probably was a lot to handle even for him lol.

Jojo's been one of my favorite mangas for more than 7 years now and I'm so glad Pucci was the last boss for it, embodying and carrying in him the legendary Dio without being overshadowed by such a legendary character, while giving the story and Dio's character the last missing piece of the puzzle to truly tie things up nicely. Saying goodbye to him and to Stone Ocean after watching it also meant saying goodbye to the universe that I had loved and enjoyed for many years so it was bittersweet. In any case he's the peak, the climax, the strongest and has permanently changed the course of one of the best mangas in existence with his actions, and I take a lot of pride in my taste and the fact that my favorite character is the one who did all that haha 😫

And lastly I'd like to say that even if it's not really related to Pucci as a character, this last year that I've been active in fandom, liking him as pushed me to develop my skills, I started drawing, got back into writing, went on trips cause I wanted an excuse to bring him to the Louvre, go out of my way and explore new places when I made that collection of pictures representing the 14 words, made friends, I'm going to Japan soon and I'll be bringing him with me to meet them, he has fueled my imagination and given me more inspiration than I've ever felt, and I'm forever grateful for that. It is not easy nowadays to feel very intense positive emotions, life can be stressful and tiring, so I'm thankful that liking him has given me the push I needed to start doing many new things, interest myself in the wonders of the world, go to church, explore my city, go see art, travel, feed my mind with knowledge and beauty. Heck I even listened to that Handel's CD, it was wonderful. And read an essay on prime numbers when I have math dyslexia!?

I don't know how much deeper I can get without sounding completely off my rocker so I'll leave you guys here, hope you enjoyed and feel free to tell me how you relate to your favorite characters and how much they mean to you!

Fame redraw for illustration by me~

[kaycrouse13]

(Updated) My Shifting Journey + Other Things.

❘༻༺❘Intro:❘༻༺❘

I am Kay Crouse. 'Crouse' is pronounced as 'Cruise'. I am a FTM bigender person, and my pronouns are He/They. I am an adult. I have shifted over 75+ times since the 19th of September 2020. This is my journey leading up to me shifting so many times:

❘༻༺❘Methods:❘༻༺❘

These are the methods that I mainly use to shift with.

Intend/Intention Method.

Pillow/Pillow Holding/Pillow Cuddling Method.

Lucid Dreaming Method.

❘༻༺❘Methods that I have tried:❘༻༺❘

•Raven Method: Ughhh, I felt uncomfy laying on my back, and my limbs hurt a lot. So this isn't the method for me. I have gotten a lot of symptoms using it, though. I do think I've shifted with it before, too.

•Eye Method: The very first method that I Mini-shifted at school during a test with. It was really disorienting and unexpected. It was quite shocking and was the starting point of me believing that shifting was indeed possible.

•Alice in Wonderland Method: Felt extremely close and could visualize everything extremely well.

•Heartbeat Method: Felt a hand on my head, playing with my hair. I believe it to have been Natsu Dragneel from the anime Fairytail as that was the very first place that I wanted to shift to when I found out about shifting. I also swear that my pillow was moving and breathing at some points.

•Julia Method: Not much happened, I just got into a deep state of meditation, which felt strange.

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My Shifting Journey is a strange one. This post just explains more about my life and what struggles I had to go through to get where I am now, and it has some educational things as well. Feel free to ask questions, and I will try my best to answer. I am new to Tumblr, however, and also get overwhelmed easily, so please keep that in mind if I don't answer.

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❘༻༺❘Back story❘༻༺❘

《I feel like everything in my life have led up to me learning about Reality Shifting.》

《Remember that this is MY PERSONAL experiences.》

•Ever since I was young, I have always loved fantasy and all things considered magical. I was so mesmerized by magic and powers. When I first found out about subliminals, my whole life had changed. I used almost every subliminal I could find, and many of them worked really well! I experimented with a lot of things. I used eye color changing subs, physical appearance subs, magical ability subs, manifesting subs, grow wings or fangs subs, even go to fictional world subs before I even knew about shifting or I tried to manifest fictional characters here, etc... Basically, whatever I thought was interesting, I used.

•I don't really use subliminals much anymore, though. I found that I don't need them. And when I do listen to subliminals, I do so during the day when I'm not shifting, like while I play video games or do chores or eat. Lately, I've been listening to mha related shifting subliminals. I realize that I prefer subliminals that are more musically inclined rather than rain or static sounds. I like listening to music in subliminals as it helps me connect to my DRs(Desired Realities) better.

•I also had many paranormal encounters in my life. My house is kind of haunted. I am the type of person who has to see things in order to believe them. I ended up roaming the internet and finding out about spirituality, the paranormal, magical abilities, manifesting, law of attraction, psychic things, and many more. I live in house number 13 for anyone who's superstitious. Also, 13 is my favorite number, and Friday the 13th is my favorite day. I also adore Halloween.

•I was so interested in all of these things that I made it my lifelong goal to learn as much of it as I possibly can. I had to study and research it in secret, because of my family not really supporting such things, my mother did have some books I might have "stolen" about certain topics I was interested in, Like: dreams, Tarot, Mediums, Psychics, Spirituality. I have tarot cards, but I don't know how to use them or what they mean just yet. Although I don't feel as motivated as I used to be about all of these things.

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•Then I found out about Lucid dreaming, I watched so many videos about it, and it took me like a week of doing constant reality checks each day to have my very first Lucid dream. I had a great time learning about Lucid Dreaming. A few months pass, and I learn how to control my dreams so much better and make them last longer.

•Each time that I Lucid dreamt, I learned more and more about it and myself. I would get better at many things in the dream, and it was like I was practicing doing things in my dream. What I mean by that is the very first Lucid dream that I had. I tried to fly, and I struggled to do so a lot at first. Now, when I have a Lucid Dream, though, I can fly really well because I actually practiced flying a lot in my dreams. It is like I improved over the months/years. And now I just believe I my ability to do certain things in lusid dreams and even in my regular dreams I have gained more confident in my abilities.

•Then I took a break, for a really long time and I forgot about everything. Until I rediscovered this magical life again. I first found out about shifting on tiktok, I still remember the tiktoker who talked about it. I was so intrigued and confused and started researching it. I clicked on every video that I could and then went to Amino after some time.

•I have been looking for a way to go to different realities by using subliminals before I even knew about shifting. After I had the basic idea of what reality shifting was, I promised myself that I will Never Give Up. I am just a really stubborn person, and even if there was just a slight chance of going to the places I yearned to go to for so many years, I was going to take it. And when I make a promise to myself, I take it extremely seriously.

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•Then I practiced and experimented. I never gave up. I did sleep and awake methods, I meditated, although I sucked at it, and I'm not sure it was actual meditation most times. I drank a lot of water, which was really helpful for my health in general, although not at all necessary as I later discovered. I have unfortunately been a victim of 2020 shifttok misinformation for the longest time. My first full shift happened 18 days after I found out about reality shifting, I found out about it on the 19th of September 2020. I did have a mini-shifting experience a few days before that, however. That first shift set my journey in motion. I then began to obsess over shifting, and I counted every single day that passed that I would do something shifting related. I would be like, " Day 179 of my shifting journey, today I did this and this' in my shifting journals, and it was so overwhelming. I heard about taking a break and took a break for a week or so, and that helped me a lot. Ever since I took that break, I started to shift a lot more often. Taking breaks does not set you back in your progress at all. It actually helps a whole lot! I definitely recommend taking breaks.

•I have been documenting each and every little thing in my shifting journey. I type everything in a custom notes app on my phone and write it down in my many shifting journals that I own. (A Shifting Journal is just a normal journal I write Shifting related things in, this includes my scripts, experiences, methods and just overall shifting information, I also use it like a diary in a way. I have rebranded the title of these journals to 'Whatever Journals' now.)

•Having a shifting journal is not necessary, I just use it because it helps me organize everything, and I enjoy using it. I began to experience so many amazing things in these realities that I was shifting to, and I learned a lot that I wanted to document for myself and to potentially post about one day, which I guess I'm doing now again.

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•But everything isn't always perfect. I have cried a lot over my DR's/WR's and I got extremely frustrated multiple times. Many of my shifts were spaced out by a few days to even weeks when I first started, but recently it's been months in-between my shifts, which frustrated me a lot, however I am a lot more calm about everything now and I learned to take everything one step at a time and not to worry about how long it was taking me. I am going to shift regardless, inevitably anyway. Time doesn't matter.

•I also got traumatized in some of these realities that I have shifted to, and that sucks. I have maladaptive daydreaming disorder as well, I feel like this aided me with visualization, though. I absolutely enjoy visualizing a lot and find it quite easy to do so. I use visualization often during shifting attempts.

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•I honestly don't even feel like a Master Shifter, even though so many people have said that I am one and that I motivate them a lot and that I inspire them. That's really great, I'm truly so grateful for everything this community has done for me. I just feel like I am still too inexperienced to be called a Master Shifter even though I have shifted so many times already. However, I understand that I AM a Master Shifter, and I'm accepting it more now. It just feels weird sometimes.

•In truth, I still struggle going to specific realities, and I struggle to stay for long periods of time in these realities. I am getting a lot better at it, though, and that's really great! I'm making amazing progress. I have started to have more of a 'say' in everything, I guess, I now choose when I shift back, and that is a huge achievement for me!

•Usually when I would shift and think about my CR too much I ended up shifting back, now that I practiced and experimented with a lot of things I only shift back when I intend to do so now! Most times, oof. I also learned that even if you just think about your Safe Word, you won't Shift back if you don't have the intention to do so. Which I knew already. But it was cool to solidify that belief.

•What I'm working on now is going to specific places because my subconscious got so used to going to random realities (on purpose sometimes) that I feel like it's hard for me to go to specific realities now, even though I know it's not hard at all, I still have this limiting believe. I guess I should just reprogram my subconscious mind then. However, I don't really want to as I don't feel like I need to. I know that I can shift wherever I want whenever I want.

•I am also working on staying longer than 3 days, seeing as that is the longest time I have spent in a reality so far. I am still on this journey and have a lot left to learn. I will Never Give Up, these are the words I live by. I am a bit uncertain about one reality I may have potentially shifted to that could have been about a month DR time, but I think I was mostly jsut drugged or something and everything is such a hazy memory of an underground basement. So I don't know much about that, but I did think of it as a shift at the time.

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•I adore helping people and one of my reasons why I am shifting back here is to tell my stories and experiences and share my knowledge with as many people as I can. Also-shocker- I actually like my CR and plan on living here to see what happens.

•When I started my Journey I didn't have that many doubts, I did still have some doubts, but because of my past experiences I was extremely open minded. I didn't really question how it was possible, I was just happy that something like Shifting existed and that I finally had a way to go to the places I always wanted to go to.

•I tried finding all of the correct information and I wanted to learn as much as I possibly could about Shifting and all of its sub-categories so that I could teach more people about it and answer almost any questions that they had. I don't know all of the answers to every question, though. Many people have asked me some really creative questions already, and those really amazed me and helped me think more out of the box.

•I have helped a lot of people and taught them how to shift and gave them tips and so much information. I became the person I wished I had when learning about reality shifting. A downside I have is that I do get overwhelmed and tired when I help too many people at one time. I feel drained and have to recharge for a few days to be able to help people again. Which really sucks.

•I had to research everything on my own, I didn't really have anyone I could count on. When I was a 'baby shifter' and I asked a question, I didn't get an answer. So I got the answers all on my own and promised never to let someone go through what I had to go through to get the information. So now I try my best to help everyone get correct, reliable information. Although I'm only human, at least in this reality, I'm not human in most places that I have shifted to, so I do make mistakes.

•I gave people info that took me months to gather, I answered their questions when no one else would. Because I knew what that felt like. Also, I would consider myself really good at manifesting as well. I have manifested quite a lot of things already.

•I have manifested almost my entire life at this point. I have manifested: money, clothes, love, food, etc... And I get so many Lucid dreams more often now, too. I can also talk to my subconscious mind through Lucid Dreaming, and that taught me a lot as well about myself and confused me even more, haha.

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❘༻༺❘My view on Shifting now:❘༻༺❘

•I feel like a lot of people are making shifting this big, unachievable thing when it is actually normal and effortless and a natural part of our existence. I don't think people should make shifting this super amazing thing that is put on a pedestal and treat it as something normal.

❘༻༺❘Shifting isn't above you. You are above Shifting.❘༻༺❘

❘༻༺❘NORMALIZE SHIFTING.❘༻༺❘

•I get it though, I thought shifting was this incredible thing at first, and I still think it's great, but after actually doing it for so long it's like I'm just telling stories about my normal life, I find it strange, It's really complicated. Shifting just feels normal to me now. View Shifting like something that just naturally happens to you, which it does!

•I love helping people a lot, I share my experiences to motivate others and to help them get answers to questions that they have. However, I do get overwhelmed and drained easily when I help people for really long periods of time, and I don't take the time to take care of myself as often as I should. Although I have been trying to get better in that regard.

•I have been working on self care a lot and have gotten so much better already. My self-concept is decent enough, and my advice would be to treat yourself like royalty. I treat myself like a king and realize my self-worth, and I gained so much more confidence in myself and my ability to shift. Trust yourself.

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❘༻༺❘"The Final Push".❘༻༺❘

Many people asked me what I did to finally shift. Some people argue about what the final push really is. I think it is letting go, not like giving up, but just when you are at the edge of shifting relax as much as you can and have that feeling of sinking/relaxing into your DR overcome you. Don't force yourself into it. Steadily sink into the feeling of being in your DR and BEING your DR self. Merge with yourself, I guess.

•Also don't keep count of how long it's taking you to shift. That is irrelevant. You will shift eventually anyway, you have your entire lifetime, so relax and enjoy the journey. Everyone is different, and each person has something that works for them while that might not work for others. Find what works best for you and stick with it. Keep experimenting and practicing with different things. Everyone's journey will be different, make yours fun.

•For me, I just go with the flow, I usually use sleep methods, but I also used some awake methods too and shifted that way before. It feels like the world is physically transitioning around me sometimes. it's like when people say you can feel your surroundings changing. That does actually happen sometimes, and it's so weird when you are not prepared for it. Although that has only happened to me around 2 or 3 times.

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I hope that this cleared some things up and that it made sense. I feel like a few things don't make sense.😅💀This post is also all over the place, but oh well.🤷‍♀️ Anyway, Happy shifting!😄 You CAN and WILL shift! I believe in each and every one of you!💖

《111 333 777 999 222 444 888》

XOXO Kay

[andypantsx3]

Ok Andy this had been on my mind for a while now and I really want to hear your thoughts on this!

So we all know that Shouto is pure husband material, the kinda guy you'd be proud to introduce to your parents! But yk all those years of abuse and trauma (our poor bby ;-;) would definitely take a big toll on anyone, right?! So I was reminiscing about the earlier episodes where he is all closed off and cold to everyone, and that really got me thinking... what would dating Shouto REALLY be like.

How much of his behavior in a relationship really be affected by his past? Obviously nobody is perfect and even though our princess man comes close what do you think his shortcomings are as a person/partner? What do you think his toxic traits would be? What could be some of his bad habits? How would he react during an argument? I used to hc that he would be really calm and passive but then I remembered this scene

Ofc us being his partner would change things, but he DOES lash out at times. The police officer hadn't yelled at them, he was just explaining what they did was wrong according to the law (which could be unfair but thats his job) and he straight up called him a slur 💀 (well yk in this society where so many ppl have animal related quirks it probably is a slur? Idk tho). He was sorry later but still. I was so shocked when I internalized the fact that Shouto does infact have quite a temper, even when he's not rude/ aggressive about it. It doesn't make him bad or anything because 9/10 times it's well warranted and I am just a pussy who doesn't handle other's anger well but yk...

WHO WOULD EXPECT A TEMPER FROM THIS LIL FACE?!

I am really wanna take his character and study him under a microscope and I am really interested to see your pov on this. Also don't feel inclined to agree with anything I said if you dont, I asked you precisely cuz I wanted a different way of looking at him from mine.

Btw none of this is to paint him as a bad person or partner because of a few shortcomings or his trauma. We all know he's too precious for that and that would be hypocritical of me especially since I have many of my habits and unhealthy ways of dealing with stuff that I dislike, but I also feel like he has so much angst potential in issues that aren't necessarily rooted in his family but moreso his own personality. Healing is often a "one step forward and three step back journey" and while I hate to watch him struggle, his perseverance gives me a lot of strength. Also obviously people change over the course of time and character development and all that, but we see even after the MASSIVE amounts of character development Bakugo has he still retains a lot of his previous qualities and obviously still struggles with a few things. I wonder if it's similar for Shouto. I wonder what he struggles with 🤔 (idk why I am scared but I don't want ppl to take these dumb sleepy thoughts of mine the wrong way yk lol)

I support my mans rights, his wrongs and everything in between :>

(p.s. I am so sleepy rn I don't even know if any of this is coherent cuz the points are flying all over the place but I hope you get a gist of what I am trying to ask. I love myself some sweet angst when it comes to all my blorbos but when I think of Shouto nothing obvious comes to mind. Also whenever I write even an ask or question like this my respect for writers keeps increasing tenfold! How do you guys write fics at like 4 am and it's still a masterpiece and I can barely string my thoughts together... )

Yes!!! I have so many thoughts about this, particularly as someone who also has daddy issues and a hot temper but actively works to be better as well lol.

I do think for the most part we've really seen Shouto move past who he was in those earlier episodes. That is not to say he still doesn't have those feelings, but he arguably manages them in a more regulated way. He has the temper but now he also has the tools and the perspective to better articulate himself.

I think generally Shouto would work hard to be calm and patient during an argument, but as with any human being, mistakes will be made and tempers will spike. I think during particularly bad arguments he'd get more closed off, like in those earlier episodes, would try to go off by himself so that he doesn't explode with that white-hot rage.

I do think, thankfully, that Shouto's ability to show empathy and compassion even in the middle of what we know are the most emotionally trying times of his life (the fights with Dabi), bodes well for his future ability to communicate and regulate himself on the whole. I do not see him as the kind of man who would yell or break things; I see him as the kind of man who now does everything in his power not to be like that.

And also with a face like that, would we not just let him win any argument anyway?? LOL

[negpos-comments]

HELLOOOOOO TUMBLR!

So i'm not sure if someone has created a multifandom!helluvaverse (hellaverse?) but I've got some stuff written down in a google docs document I'd like to share. also, as it turns out, I don't actually know that many fandoms, so I'm requesting input from you lot. SOOOO, Introducing my take on the

MF!Helluvaverse (WIP)

everything about this is a WIP including the name i just thought it'd be funny cuz it kinda looks like it says MotherFucker!Helluvaverse-

Few Notes: I am a big Undertale fan and I tried to curb that here but i kinda made all the rings of hell UT/UTY Locations Im sorry- There are some ships that will result that are, hm, odd, to say the least. I tried to curb that a little bit. I'm trying to go with personality matches here, but i will have to be flexible with a lot. That flexibility will actually show up a lot, but as long as the basic concept can stay the same I'll allow it.

With that said...

Charlie Morningstar - Frisk (Undertale) Razzle, Dazzle, Kiki - WIP Vaggie - Chara (Undertale)

Ok, so the Frisk and Chara interpretations are based off of fanon rather than canon, since there's not much we know about Frisk and Chara's behavior in canon. I feel like I don't need to elaborate much here? I mean, I thought it was clever with the Vaggie-Chara thing, since they both fell from the victorious/more powerful world above, don't like talking about it that much, etc. etc. Charlie-Frisk i feel makes a good bit of sense. This does mean Charisk is a ship in this AU but considering I ship them I'm cool with it. If you don't like it maybe they're not in a relationship but are just good friends/see each other as pseudo-siblings? Any suggestions for Razzle, Dazzle, and Kiki? I had the inclination to use temmies but i feel like i used enough Undertale (especially looking later on with the rings)

Alastor - Bill Cipher (Gravity Falls) Niffty - Peridot (Steven Universe)

So. Alastor-Bill Cipher I feel needs no explanation. They're both tumblr sexymen with cool powers and evil tendencies (personally I feel like Pilot!Alastor is a tumblr sexyman and S1!Alastor doesn't but that's a can of worms for a different time). Niffty-Peridot is the one out of the initial six i spent the most time trying to think of, because I couldn't really think of anyone for Niffty, but then i remembered that she's kinda socially inept/unaware, and then I just thought of Peridot.

When Bill last went up against [Vox], The [Vees] had managed to place a spell on him, draining him of most of his power. The one he made the deal with lent him some power in exchange for his soul. His motivation is to defeat the [Vees], break the spell, and end the deal.

The Spell would be like the Magic Barrier in Gravity Falls, preventing Cipher from spreading his chaos beyond the town, except instead of limiting where the power extends to, it just limits how much power.

Angel Dust (Anthony) - The Ink Demon (Bendy) (BATIM/DR) Fat Nuggets - Boris (BATIM/DR) Husk - Cuphead (Cuphead)

Get ready for some real creative liberties on my part. So. Bendy would act more like the Bendy from that Hell's Kitchen AU rather than a canon version of Bendy. He's basically done with making films (whether you want that to be cartoons or porn films like in HH is up to you) but he still has to do it because of the contract. Meanwhile, I considered how Cuphead went to that casino and gambled his soul away. I also drew a bit of inspiration from the Casino Cups AU and how in that AU Cuphead ended up working for the Devil's Casino serving drinks and stuff. So, we've got a Cuphead who gambled his soul away to Bill and is at a very low point in his life. Because HH is gravitating towards HuskerDust, that would mean that in this AU BendyxCuphead is a ship. Uhh, take with that what you will. If you don't like it maybe they're not in a relationship but are just good friends or smth. Actually you can do this with all of the ships. Boris would be more like a small wolf/dog Bendy has as a pet rather than an actual person/character

Sir Pentious - Dr. Doofenshmirtz (Phineas and Ferb) Eggs - Perry the Platypus Clones (Phineas and Ferb)

This one is the one out of the main cast im most iffy about. Pentious and Doofenshmirtz are both science geniuses that try to be evil but fail every step of the way. Eventually they get redeemed. uhh i just chose lil perry clones cuz i thought'd be funny

Cherri Bomb - Harley Quinn (DC, Harley Quinn)

Chaotic, Fights for the people they care about, i think you can see the connections here

Zestial - Golden/Shadow Freddy (FNAF)

They're spooky people we dont know much about. That's all there is to it

Mimzy - Spinel (Steven Universe Future)

Now, when I say Spinel, im not talking about the Spinel from the Movie. The characterization of Spinel is drastically different between the movie and the epilogue series. Future paints Spinel as just an overly annoying and excited character that doesn't feel like that's what Spinel should be after the events of the Movie. SUFuture!Spinel feels like a good fit for Mimzy (plus they have the same voice actor, innit?). SUMovie!Spinel doesn't. I just wanted to clear that up here.

Emily - Crowley (Good Omens) Sera - Aziraphale (Good Omens)

Now, when I say Crowley, I mean Pre-Fall!Crowley, like the one we see at the beginning of S2 creating those stars and stuff. They're both really loving life and trusting of Heaven's plan but then they find out some stuff and things go awry. If you believe Em's gonna fall later in HH there's more parallels. Aziraphale believes in Heaven's plans and all that jazz, sticking to those beliefs and stuff, which I feel kinda mirrors Sera's insistence on the current plan Heaven is using.

Lucifer Morningstar - 10th Doctor (Doctor Who) Rubber Ducks - Mini K9's (Doctor Who)

Originally I was debating on whether or not to use the 10th or 11th Doctor, but i eventually stuck with the 10th. Sure, 11 is more silly, but i feel like 10 is just kinda angsty-filled while still retaining that charm and silliness. Plus, I liked the idea of having K9s as Rubber Ducks

Other Stuff

Heaven - Gallifrey (Doctor Who) Hell - Underground (Undertale/UTYellow) Exterminators - Red Guards (Squid Game) Ring of Pride - Ruins/Dark Ruins (UT/UTY) Ring of Wrath - Hotland (UT/UTY) Ring of Gluttony - Dunes (UTY) Ring of Greed - Snowdin (UT/UTY) Ring of Lust - Steamworks (UTY) Ring of Envy (No appearance yet) - Waterfall (UT) Ring of Sloth - New Home (UT/UTY) Belphegor (No appearance yet) - Medic (TF2) Blitzø - Dave Miller (DSAF)

WIP/Needed I'm still brainstorming and lookin for ideas. If you've got any suggestions for these (or for any of the others), let me know!

Upper Angels Pentagram City Imp City Satan (No appearance yet) Queen Bee Mammon Azmodeus Leviathan (No appearance yet) Moxxie Millie Luna Cherubs Dhorks Stolas Stella Octavia Fizzaroli Striker Crimson Adam Lilith Eve Roo (No appearance yet) Lute Happy Hazbin Hotel Razzle, Dazzle, Kiki Carmilla Carmine Odette and Clara Cannibal Town Rosie Vox Valentino Velvette

Welp. That's everything. I'll be taking any feedback

[ome-magical-ramblings]

Scrying Air elemental kingdom and Journaling importance.

Per the instruction of my ancestral guides I got told to focus on my elemental foundation lately, so I decided to scry the elemental realms that I maybe able to learn practically within the realms.

I think people don't want the initial story of why I am working with elemental cards or tattva/tattwas but let's say that I was guided to it and now I need to work on my elemental foundation. I sat down with my partner and after praying to my guides, St Cyprian, Jesus Christ, and praying to Sandalphon AND Raphael for protection in our trip we got to scrying. At first we started with looking at the card above that I and my partner made together, the image slowly became "in my head" and I was able to see the after-image of it and we started by going inside of the card like a portal trying to get a grip on the disorienting entrance. Usually people don't exactly tell you how it look like and don't want to tell you how elemental realms look like and I can't exactly put it to word how it look like except it is this cloudy and air kingdom full of ethereal clouds and buildings made out of "air" and there's nothing too static about it, even the guide I called in the authority of YHVH looked a bit like rushing winds without specific form except particle of "air" moving around in one area. Again different people, different perception of it, try to engage all your senses in these scrying sessions to really feel them. Anyway! I followed the guide to learn what's suitable for me and I was presented with a symbol of Air and this symbol is EVERYWHERE and I wasn't told anything else except putting my hand on it, once I did put my hand on the symbol I felt inclined to start praying, and praying I did on the spot for myself, my partner, for my guides, and for the elementals of the kingdom, maybe what we can learn from these realms isn't always "taking" but also giving to them. Giving incense, or prayer like thanksgiving, it's good because you don't need to look at them from an ivory tower. After that due to some circumstances I couldn't continue, wrapped up the scrying session with my partner and discussed what we saw and verified some stuff.

Where's the journaling in this case? in September 2022 I remember @tarotandnonsense mentioned to me that I saw the tattwas in a vision caused by Aratron the olympic spirit of Saturn. It seems like that this is related to this working, going back full circle to it I realized that maybe the planetary archangels and olympic spirits are telling me to work on my elemental foundation/work more. SO YEAH! keep a journal! it's useful when these events/data points arise everywhere in your life and connect together!