#I had a vague idea about this

[reginrokkr]

𝐗𝐗𝐈𝐈𝐈. Sapphire, spiritual veins that connect souls of defunct and alive alike: on telepathy.

Amongst the many denominations and functions Irminsul has, its Ley Lines are also known as spiritual veins that carry the souls of the defunct in a physical manner, albeit their remain in this world in a spiritual way until a ritual is done to relieve the Ley Lines and with it, release the souls to the afterlife that corresponds them. These souls not only belong to those who have passed away, but to everyone who was registered by Irminsul as the way it has to reproduce memories via Ley Lines is to project something that matches with what they absorbed at the time, while at the same time they are no mere projections: they can interact with the environment within the memory in itself and with people from differing timespans.

While telepathy is reserved to the divine (two of which connected to Irminsul, one of them no longer in godhood) and it stands to reason that this couldn't be of any other way, there is a detail in the way that Wanderer uses telepathy that serves as key in order to make it happen: a connection. During 3.1 we see Haypasia excited over the fact that she thinks that she has achieved Paripurna Life, the epitome of true insight and allegedly the state of mind that can gather any knowledge, when in truth what she did was connect with Scaramouche at the time and she was able to see his memories and hear his thoughts and feelings.

This lets on the fact that there is a need for a link or a connection for individuals that weren't born divine while those who are can let their words be heard by those who they wish at will (Nahida and the mysterious female who talks to Traveler at the end of Wanderer's AQ), or communicate with others via dreams (once again, Nahida and Greater Lord Rhukkadevata before her, but also Zhongli). Back to Wanderer who achieved godhood earlier on in his life, one of the things that characterize him is his brief connection to Irminsul and the possibility to establish a telepathic connection with Traveler even by bypassing Nahida's supervision. It could be because of the manner his godhood was achieved, it could be because of his connection to Irminsul.

For Dain in specific, I want to focus on his connection to Irminsul to build a path to feasibility that he can establish telepathic communications too. Starting from the fact that Ley Lines permeate the entirety of the world, this would make for a good starter in order to find the soul of who he wants to communicate with. Nevertheless, it is not as simple given the fact that he is no god, thus while the possibility is there, it isn't without its restrictions. I want to stress on the importance of a connection. As in Scaramouche's case a good lead to connect with Traveler telepathically for the first time could've been Haypasia who connected to him first and was able to envision his memories and hear his thoughts and feelings, so does Dain need a lead in order to establish this communication.

This can happen via three methods: 1) to permeate beforehand the individual of desire in question with Ether, 2) to establish a thread of connection with someone who he gave an Inteyvat or 3) to make the individual imagine a specific landscape that Dain described to them previously.

In the first case, given how rare Ether as an element can be to find, were he feel something that isn't the Ley Lines or Irminsul that has Ether within them, it will make it easy for him to discern what that thing actually is, even more so if it is a living being.

The second case scenario can apply with the Inteyvat as they're rare flowers and only as many living people are in their possession— by connection to the Ley Lines of the very location said person is in, Dain will be able to know who is this person without reaching out to a different person by mistake, there will be no mistake in this.

In the last case, the landscape in question that has to be imagined is nothing less than the appearance of Dain's realm of consciousness: an enormous field of Inteyvats atop an ocean of stars, with the celestial dome cracked (like Fischl's dreamscape) and an infinite nocturne sky with glimmering stars and the moonlight shining through and, at the center, the Irminsul tree. The second method is more intimate, as it is not a mere telepathic communication but a communion of souls in Dain's realm of consciousness where they can see each other.

Suffice to say, in order for this to happen Dain must have a strong bond with the individual in question. When this happens his voice will suffer a distortion that makes it sound ethereal and otherworldly— seraphic, in tune with his roots as a celestial being. In the case of the latter case in which the individual is brought to his realm of consciousness, they may be sentient that something is amiss with Dain while it's still the same as he is, something amiss new to them or that they already felt from him before, but that this would serve as a confirmation. It will not be the same case scenario as Haypasia with Scaramouche when she was able to envision his memories and hear / feel his thoughts and feelings, but something far more muted yet still telling.

[welcometogrouchland]

Extremely bad batgirls comic I made featuring Steph's sex life and Cass' ability to read everything but the room

[lazylittledragon]

ok i swear i'm not going to talk about my breakup forever but the thing that just keeps bothering me:

i know that not getting what you need in a relationship is a COMPLETELY valid reason to end it but also. i feel like having a very vulnerable moment where i opened up about my struggles with intimacy and being relieved that i didn't have to keep doing things i wasn't comfortable with, then being dumped a YEAR later because of my lack of intimacy. is something i should be allowed to be very hurt by???

[allyriadayne]

Jace's anger

[radiance1]

Bringing back an OLD au where Plasmius and Phantom are demons, Vlad is Plasmius' vessel via contract to not die in the hospital and Danny is Phantom's (unwilling) vessel who was bound to him by Plasmius so his son (Phantom) could get outta hell.

***

Plasmius stared, very intensely. An intensity that would cause others unease and subconsciously try to escape his gaze.

Vlad however, was long since used to this and didn't even look up from his data pad. Plasmius stared down at the board between them, tapping a cla-finger, yes. Tapping a finger against the table as he stared at the many pieces decorating the surface.

It was a quaint thing, this game. Oh so very different than the ones the demon was used too and yet far more enthralling all the same.

The tiniest things that humanity came up with never ceased to amaze him.

He reached out a cla- finger (referring to it as such always seemed to give him the slip), to push a singular piece into a position that would surely give him an advantage. The demon looked, resting at his seat as he snapped his fingers, then making a gesture to the board once he drew his vessel's attention.

Vlad did a light sweep of the board with his eyes, before casually nudging a piece that somehow managed to reverse his careful planning and gave tipped the scales in the human's favor. He then returned to whatever little thing he did on that pad of his, most likely more and more work.

Despite himself, the demon couldn't help but chuckle as he stared down their little game. To think so much careful planning could be reversed so easily....

Human games truly are so fascinating.

***

Unnoticed to the demon sitting across from him, Vlad's eyes narrowed just a tiny bit. He ran a command on his tablet, opening up multiple views from cameras laid out through his 'base' and nearly frowned.

Someone else was working their way through.

He swiped off the cameras to run another command.

Good. The firewalls and security systems were still up.

Then who...?

His attention was drawn away by the snap of fingers and he looked up, then looked to the board. He did another light sweep of the bored, picking out various cracks before idly nudging another piece forward to give himself a small advantage to keep the game going and looked back down to his tablet.

He switched back to his cameras, picking up the familiar sight of a boy with glowing white hair and... Danny? Odd. Usually he doesn't accompany Phantom in his little game of superhero.

His camera glitched.

It was just for a second, something that shouldn't be of concern. But his cameras never glitched, certainly not after developing them to withstand either one of the demons' tantrums and especially what these ones were used for.

He returned to his firewalls.

Someone was trying to get in.

He ran a few other commands, calling upon a few defense protocols and a few AIs to keep whoever was trying to get in out.

He went back to his cameras, flicking through multiple until-

There.

He ran a small command, slamming the door shut on the small team of intruders. He then ran another, the security system in their area turning just a tad more lethal while shutting a door before Phantom and Danny arrived to it.

Good. The boys and these intruders wouldn't meet anytime soon.

He looked up at the cough from the other side of the table, coming to face Plasmius' questioning face. "Something wrong?" The demon asked, eyes glancing at the band around his neck.

Vlad calmed his heart and shook his head, moving another piece before going back to his tablet. "No, just something unexpected came up."

It wasn't a lie.

***

"Another locked door!?" Phantom growled in outrage as he stared at the door before him, claws (hands, hands his father said) held out as if he could physically threaten it to open.

"Yelling isn't going to open it, you know." Danny commented lightly, scratching the back of his neck. "I know that!" Phantom yelled out, looking at Danny as if he was the dumb one.

Danny rolled his eyes. "Let's just go another way then." He turned around and started walking before Phantom could speak. Said demon ran forward to walk in front of the Danny and had the gall to look offended. "Hey! You can't order me about! You're the sidekick!"

"You literally forced me into this." Danny pointed out.

"Details, details!" Phantom waved it off, pointing down the hall as he (tried) to strike a heroic pose. "Now off we go to defeat the dastardly Doctor!"

Danny just continued walking forward.

Phantom huffed and ran to catch up. "Don't just ignore me!"

Danny just shrugged.

***

"Sooo," He began. "Is it just me or is everything like, a lot more lethal?" Pointing out the obvious.

"Yep." A member of his team chimed. "But it isn't that bad! At least there's no giant robots-"

The ground shook as a giant robot stepped through a previously sealed door.

"I can't tell if that's just coincidence or you jixed us." Another member said.

"Well it could be worse-"

Another robot stepped through another door as lazers pointed at them from the ceiling.

"You jinxed us." He deadpanned.

[luinquesse]

Heyyyyyooo I haven't drawn anything rote related in ages! I'm feeling rusty.

[cuntylestat]

IN YOUR EYES LOUIS & LESTAT

(youtube)

[insufferablemod]

top 10 worst celebrities ever

[ganondoodle]

struggeling to draw anything for the totk rewrite bc i know the most popular stuff is some cool cutscenes or something and me working on detailed mechanics is mostly a waste of time :/

like i have alot of stuff worked out by now but it would take ages to draw concepts for all those new menus and mechanics when few people are interested in that- and while making a giant text post about it would be more efficient ... who the hell would read all that ._.

[tswwwit]

How would bill feel if dipper reincarnated as an incubus?

Thrilled. Delighted. Tickled pink! Partly because hey! That's a great look for him! Inhuman and demonic and oh-so-cute. Another part because of all the demonic subtypes he could end up as, this one has to be the most ironic, a bit of him thrilled just because it's good to see him again -

And of course, a Big Ol' Chunk of delight for the other obvious reason.

[cant-get-no-worse]

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@swaggypsyduck As my main Ramos expert mutual I wanted to send you an ask but couldnt upload the file. Anyways here is my ask: what the fuck is up with these 2

[monotone-artist]

[pls dont tag as ship]

i think amy is one of the few people shadow would actually tolerate being near him, let alone touching him

[id: digital drawing of shadow the hedgehog and amy rose. shadow is wearing an open leather jacket with a maroon shirt and jeans torn at the knees. he has a square-shaped notch in one ear. amy is wearing a dress with a striped skirt colored cream-white-black-blue-red, a blue shirt, and a striped blue shawl with a red ribbon on it. she also has an eyebrow piercing, a couple earrings, and an industrial piercing.

shadow is sitting cross-legged on the floor, a phone with a red case in his hand. however, even as he's facing forward his attention is on amy, who's sitting on a stool behind him, braiding his quills. he's got an eyebrow raised and is trying really hard to not smile as she animatedly talks, gesticulating with her free hand. text pointing to her reads, "gossiping about Sonic." end id]

[kiivg]

.Fashion.

[sea-buns]

Forgive me if I'm a bit nervous about Gorgug this season. It's just that the last Zac Oyama pc was Colin Provolone, who was arguably one of his greatest D20 performances, if not the greatest.

Zac always does great with every pc he plays, but Colin was something else. He came out swinging with actions and words that were teeming with unspoken emotional baggage. The way Colin's presence affected the other pcs; there was this level of depth that I don't think I've seen in any of his other characters. It was understated and quiet in that signature "just a guy" way that he tends to be, while still captivating everyone instantly with just how raw it was.

Not to say we haven't seen emotional depth in Gorgug. It's just that, compared to the other Bad Kids, Gorgug's journey and progression as a character has been very... impersonal? Like, yes, he found his birth parents, and he found friends who appreciate him, and he faced his insecurities about his intelligence, and he navigated relationship troubles, and his trial through the claustrophobic bug-tunnels was a horrifically-uncanny parallel to how he's spent his entire life trying to make himself as small as possible.

But how much of that has actually changed him from the Gorgug we started with? I would agree that he's definitely happier with his life, given all the loving and supportive people that have been added to it when it used to be just him and his parents. And he's certainly grown into himself and become more self-assured in his abilities, even if he's still, and always will be, our anxious little guy. And there's nothing wrong with that. I've always liked how Gorgug was a representation of all the little things. The subtle acts and kindnesses that don't seem like much to most, but to some are everything.

We don't need another Bad Kid living in fear that their mouth could be shit-in at any moment. We've already got one-too-many.

All that being said, I just feel like Gorgug's personal story beats are much easier to sweep under the rug than everyone else's. He has the same soft and understated quality that Colin held, but they lack that extra oomph that pushed Colin over the edge from being just another guy in a series of dudes, to a character that the vast majority of us could not get out of our heads. He took someone who was anxious and softspoken, who ultimately never wanted to be violent— someone who is remarkably similar to Gorgug in many ways— and maintained that demeanor and core in Colin's character while still hitting us in the feels with character development at max velocity at every turn.

I think Zac gets better and better at this with every season that goes by. With each new character, there is always something that leaves me stunned in awe. And it's been, what, three? Four years since we last saw Gorgug?

I'm just,,, I'm cautiously optimistic but also going into a bit of a worry about what violence this man may inflict upon us

[koddlet]

hey uh do you have any advice for getting into zine making? especially like the kind of multimedia/collage ones? idk i think they're cool and i maybe want to start making some but i dont know how to start

start with scraps! receipts, tickets, offcuts, etc. takes the pressure off a bit. my first collage zine was put together with receipts and packaging cutouts! it was just about my groceries

you could do something like that. orrr collect some bits and bobs to cut/tear some shapes and stick them onto the pages. very simple but it could be a way to try out different ways of securing them, like using stitch, staples, tape. most of the time its to get a fun effect, but also glue isn't always enough. like i had to sew the netting in the 2nd image ^

tbh i find it kinda hard to give advice with multimedia/collage because for me, it's very much just jumping straight into it. if i think about it too much i get Extremely caught up in details and it's not fun, but you might work better with more planning! also don't be scared to rip or cover something if it's not working. done that many times 👍

[blitz0hno]

This got long so TL;DR: Mikoto acts on autopilot ~%90 of the time, but I believe he planned (most of) his crimes. He has straightforward reasons that align with his actions, but appears purely unreasonable because of his mental state. Kotoko is very deliberate, but acts her most violent out of raw emotion. She appears calculating, but feels completely out-of-control despite her strong "heroic" front.

y'know it SEEMS cliche that John screams like a madman every time he fronts but gee horror tropes aside has Es considered that switching can HURT?? like a lot???? Like idk maybe feeling your body flood with adrenaline and being made to handle that shit the moment someone "pisses him off" is a little bit agonizing? Maybe having no idea what's going on until he can process the emotional flooding adds fear which really doesn't help???

Fuck mannnnn when you read between the lines, John and Mikoto are a REALLY good deconstruction.

... especially since he is contrasted mainly with Kotoko. I say this because I was just struck with an idea.

ESSAY TIME LITERALLY A WHOLE ESSAY CAME OF THIS RANDOM THOUGHT no sources tho pure opinion~

So KOTOKO, despite saving the girl being her primary objective, kicked her victim to death out of anger. At her core, despite all her ideals, she was not acting out of reason or necessity, however reasonable the actual action seems.

Given that prisoner pairs are meant to starkly contrast, that gives me my best reasoning as to why I defend Mikoto's innocent vote while also praying John DOESN'T disappear:

Despite how unreasonable and irrational John acts at first, there's a reason he reacts the way he does. And deep down, somewhere in his mind, MIKOTO knows the reason he did what he did. His motives are real, even if he doesn't remember carrying out such a "dream." This leads me to believe there were REALLY big reasons, and likely good reasons, for killing who he did.

A deliberate, maybe even carefully premeditated act would undeniably lead to the death sentence. His brain knows this even if Mikoto himself isn't consciously thinking of it. But a defense of randomly "losing control?" MAYBE he can keep surviving. Because all he was doing was surviving.

I believe that when one protects themselves, they protect others as well. Perhaps I am biased, but no, abusive people should not go unaddressed and uninterrupted. It's very very very implied that John and Mikoto went after people he felt endangered by. I went over this in my first "Double" analysis, but TL;DR I think the red herring John gave (which is funny cuz that phrase comes from tactics to throw DOGS off their trail) goes SO much farther thematically than I've seen talk about.

John has reasons that he does what he does, as does Mikoto. Systems are wired for survival. The lucky ones do well in academics and even many job environments because they are ALWAYS processing what to do next. Burnout is SEVERE because the brain is basically always "on alert," even when we're checked out. I can find clinically documented sources for this claim and I will if I make a video or something about this, but yeah it sure is an EXPERIENCE when it all comes crashing down. Trying to end a cycle.

As for Kotoko? She is literally portrayed to have a one-track mind. Her ideals and justice. But ironically? She killed out of raw anger and emotion, which is what the wolf at the end of Deep Cover represents. Despite having a very "normal" life overall, SHE is the one who truly loses all control of herself. SHE beats up the people who annoy her. Because it's grating, as she said in Deep Cover, to face the ugliness of humanity and NOT be able to escape your brain's response to it. SHE cannot "disappear" and forget her rage at injustice like Mikoto can. She is at the mercy of this uncontrolled rage and the resulting violence she allows herself to perpetrate. Repeating a cycle.

it's so brilliant. It's SO brilliant. They are the same. They couldn't be more different. Neither is a hero nor a monster. But they are heroes in SOMEONE'S, or arguably MANY people's eyes. And yet in both 009 and 010's cases, when we see their truest and most raw colors, we question EVERYTHING we assumed before.

Mikoto is not telling the whole truth when he says he doesn't get angry or remember anything. John straight-up lied to cover Mikoto's motives for doing so, and possibly out of his own genuine confusion. He is acting on instinct drilled in by traumatic events that the brain is using as reference; however, with how DID works, John is not going to know that. It's not his "job," the protection role he plays in the system , to know that. Yet there are reasons all the same. His BIG reason, which he calls out to Mikoto in "Double," over and over, was to SAVE Mikoto. Meanwhile, Mikoto is afraid of his actions, but presumably carried them out in order to stay alive. Whatever his "dream," he still wishes he could be seen as a good man despite what he presumably felt he had to do to survive. DID is the "sink or swim" disorder; it's literally about saving yourself and being protected from the emotions that come with it. Whether or not his reasons truly make sense is yet to be seen, but either way, Mikoto feels he cannot trust himself. He is cut off from emotions that would make him believe his reasons were "bad enough" to ACTUALLY warrant murder. That is why he split; to forget how bad it truly got. He has NO idea how protected he truly is.

Kotoko firmly believes that she is COMPLETELY honest about what she wants and what she wishes to do about it. She believes her anger is justified completely, and thus her actions must be justified as well. This reasoning allows her to be completely convinced that she is aware of and comfortable with her every choice. Her reaction to her own anger, leaving Lucky behind in that rage, and her reaction to the wolf in "Deep Cover" revealed her awareness and comfort to be a self-imposed illusion of strength. Her ideals are real and she fights for them, yet she's crossed so many lines that she's actually very afraid of what she's become. It's right behind her, isn't it? Something she cannot run from before it swallows her. And having picked apart every other person there? She is alone; but this fear isn't "strong," so she hides it away for the extraction machine to reveal to us as the audience.

Both are driven by larger-than-life emotions that can only come from raw existential anguish; emotions repressed until they explode. Neither are anywhere near what they seem to be on the surface. Both are unknowingly dishonest. Neither knows what to do about it.

I wanna say there's hope for them but you know. Superhell.