#I’m sure the tldr made it obvious but

[zuthecomcat]

This was my commission! Very thankful for Wafel and how they put up with my overly specific requests. This pic is done for a Star Wars: Old Republic AU that I’m writing (character info and lore dump below)

This AU explores an alternate scenario of what happened in the centuries after the fall of the Reconstituted Sith Empire (This particular story takes place a few hundred years after the Empire’s dissolution.) (also the AU is kinda furry oriented: I know, I know, shame me)

These pics are showing two important characters, Levka (first pic, Unknown Big Cat Hybrid) and Marya (second pic, Canadian Lynx), who were both Jedi Padawans on the rebuilt Dantooine Jedi Enclave.

Levka and Marya were both taken by the Jedi Order as infants, and became friends when they were both still Jedi Younglings. Eventually, they were both put under the tutelage of the same Jedi Master, becoming Padawans. The two were practically inseparable, getting along well despite the many differences between them. Marya was a model student, both talented in the Force and very attuned to Jedi philosophy. Her close adherence to Jedi protocol endeared her to the Jedi Council, and even though her introverted personality kept her from being too outgoing, she still was admired by her fellow Padawans for both her skill and pleasant disposition.

Levka was a different story. While she showed great aptitude in the Force and in lightsaber training, she was not nearly as obedient or as devoted to the Jedi Order’s ideals as Marya was. She was unenthusiastic about listening to her Master and even less willing to endure reprimands and lectures, having the nerve to talk back to her instructors on numerous occasions. The council was unsure of what to make of her. Her history of personal conflict with other Padawans was worrying; her occasional impassioned outbursts were even more so. But despite these flaws, Levka was still a talented student, and eventually managed to minimize her infractions of the rules, though this was mostly because she got better at hiding them.

Regardless of the contrast between them, Marya and Levka were as close as friends could be. Whether they were reading from holobooks in the library or taking a walk through the forests next to the Jedi Enclave, they were almost always seen together. This relationship was slightly controversial among Dantooine’s Jedi Council however, as some hardliners voiced concerns that this could be defined as an emotional attachment. Any relationship, even a particularly close friendship, had the potential to lead to attachment, therefore causing imbalance within a Jedi. This would be unacceptable; a Jedi should have no attachments, being concerned only with serving the Will of the Force. But this was dismissed, as the majority felt that the bond between the two Padawans didn’t have any noticeable impact.

But as the girls grew older and approached young adulthood, their relationship started to change. The two began to draw closer, with Levka being the first to realize her feelings for Marya had taken on a new tone. As both Padwans came to terms with their relationship and the attachment they had to one another, they slowly began to draw away from the ways of the Jedi Order and seek a different path. If attachment would interfere with Jedi techniques, they needed to find a new way to channel the Force.

They got their wish when they discovered a strange holocron hidden in the forest next to the Enclave. The holocron provided them with a wealth of knowledge, and showed them teachings that seemed to contradict those of the Jedi. It showed how one could use their passion as a source of power, that emotions and attachments could strengthen their connection to the Force. Though they were cautious about trusting this unfamiliar artifact, they eventually resolved to study it and verify its claims, to see if these new teachings would truly help them. Together, they pledged themselves to learning the secrets of the holocron.

Somewhere, their new master sensed this and smiled. The Padawans had found his gift.

Soon, they would no longer be Padawans; they would be his apprentices.

Soon, they would grow stronger than any Jedi.

Soon, the Jedi Order would burn.

TL;DR: Who would win, almost two decades of Jedi training or the urge to kiss your best friend

Wowee first commission!!! I absolutely love how it turned out lol

[autisticlenaluthor]

i'm a firm believer that nat would've made jackie come back inside the cabin if she had been there. we know she wasn't there during the argument, but the next morning, when the girls find jackie, she's there with them. she and travis must have come back late at night, after the snow had already covered jackie. since there was no fire or light, they clearly didn't see her and missed her. the question of the hour - do we think nat might feel guilty about accidentally missing jackie in the snow?

100% agree with all of this. imo, nat definitely feels guilty about missing jackie.

despite her exterior, teen nat is easily the most empathetic (dare i say soft?) of all the girls. she cares so much - even when she’s at odds with one of them, or straight up hating them (like how she tries to level with lottie in the most recent ep about going home. and the way that she gives up the tub when she likely had frostbite for her, at the peak of their conflict. and even with travis - when he hates her in s1, nat still tries so hard to be there for him and support him)

so yes, jackie was a bitch to nat before she died. but any anger nat had towards her was coming from a place of hurt. nat never hated her and never would’ve wanted her dead. and i think the fact that she was right there, so close to being able to save her, even if unknowingly, is something that would keep her up at night. because nat tries to save everyone - it’s what’s ultimately her downfall as a leader; she just isn’t as vicious as the others and they know it

i think the guilt that nat feels is also unique to the guilt the others might feel. when nat apologizes to jackie’s bones she says “i’m sorry for what we did to you”

i know this means the obvious - “i’m sorry we ate you” but i think it goes deeper than that.

the girls terrorized jackie at doomcoming. they humiliated her and degraded her and lottie locked her in a closet. in the days following, it’s easy to assume they would’ve treated her pretty badly, if the dinner scene before her fight with shauna is anything to go off of. if nat saw what was happening and didn’t intervene, i’m sure that, combined with the fact that she missed jackie in the snow weighs on her pretty heavily. especially since we know from the pilot when she stands up for allie - nat always had the backs of the others, even if they weren’t particularly close.

so tldr: i do think nat feels guilty. and “i’m sorry for what we did to you” likely goes so much deeper than just the obvious interpretation

[vantablackdraws]

What got you shipping anbai? I’m new here and they seem cute ^^ /gen

Oh god-

where do I even begin....

TLDR/Short version of it: Friend talked about Guilty Gear, I found out about Baiken, watched Another Story and some arcade mode interactions and song breakdowns and read some comments and it got me wondering "what is going on with these two~", I go on ao3, there is a little over 20 fics. I got really frustrated, made content of them myself, fell further down the rabbit hole, now I'm here.

The long and very rambly version of why I ship them that you can read under the cut if you wanna ↓

Firstly, a few things that I really enjoy about them (to get this out of the way-) is that they contrast and compliment each other really, really well if you think about it. Which I have. A lot.

I know I've said some of these before but like; the Sun and Moon motifs and how it literally shows up in their Overdrives (and Anji's command...grab...thingy(? idk strive terminology) also has a moon briefly appear hmmmmmwhatsupwiththat-), the Butterfly and Flower symbolism associated with them respectively and how in a sense, one helps the other grow, the classic red oni blue oni dynamic, cat and dog, Anji's graceful elegance and calm demeanor to go with Baiken's rugged toughness and fiery temper, blah blah blah the list goes on you get the idea. They're opposites, but they match each other and balance each other out, like yin and yang.

There's also their (strive) songs! Rock Parade is...extremely obvious lmao. I know folks like to joke about it but, dude. Single footstep carries two hearts? The promise he made to her? (Whatever that was I wanna knOW-) It really does feel like more than just a song about a crush he has on her, this man is dedicated. And with Mirror of the World it basically encapsulates Baiken's whole journey, going from someone who's resigned herself to a life of revenge to ultimately breaking out of her self imposed "exile" in the end. Also the line "If I had a comrade, I wonder what I would tell them." and I'm over here yelling "YOU HAVE ONE! HE IS RIGHT THERE-" (I actually think the song is also about Delilah, but still kinda about him too, it's about both of them they're both the comrade how about that)

But to get to the heart of it all (and to also get extremely corny here), there's this sort of earnestness to their relationship that I really admire. Every now and then, there's a pairing that comes around and makes me go Ooga Booga for the better part of a year because it's just got a lot of good stuff to chew on. Angst? Drama? Some form of love that isn't just inherently romantic but something more? I'm eating it up and annoying my friends to death with it. And I think to me that really shows in their XX arcade mode endings, (BOTH of their "canon" ones btw THEY GET TWO ENDINGS TOGETHER) where Anji gives up what he was doing so he can follow Baiken and make sure she's actually living instead of just wandering by herself. This one thing he's been chasing for a while now, probably even his dream job of learning the secrets of the universe (or whatever Asuka was teaching him), and he just gives it up because he can't stand to see someone he loves dedicate her life to something that will inevitably destroy her in the end. "I don't want you to die." I think about this so often it's not even funny.

(And y'know, he also gives her the choice to just get rid of him if she doesn't want him around anymore, and idk about you, but I think that's very sexy of him and also very telling of her that she hasn't done it yet but moving on-)

Delilah ultimately ties it all together because at the end of Another Story, Baiken becomes to Delilah what Anji was to her all those years ago. A friend, a companion, someone to lean on. There's the line "She won't die well unless she finds a better way to live." before May mentions that's what Anji had said about her, and suddenly she gets it now. (I think) It's the final push that gets her to save Delilah from winding up in the same situation she's been stuck in for years and in the end, finally let go of her revenge.

No that does not have to be inherently romantic in the slightest, you can do whatever you want with that information or interpret it however you want and I encourage that, but also it's driving me insane whenever I think about it. He cares about her SO much, even if he has a weird way of showing it. I don't even think I can begin to do it justice trying to describe how it makes me feel but hopefully that can give you (and maybe some other folks who have made it this far hello) some insight into why I like this ship so much.

Also their strive in-game interactions are really flirty.

[physalian]

Saw the Minecraft Movie.

Should have seen Looney Toons instead.

You know how there’s movies like Sharknado that are so bad some people think they’re good? And they know they’re bad and lean totally into it?

This movie, which took five people to write, feels a whole lot like Minecraft Legends, first of all, with the piglin antagonist. It’s insane, and it knows it’s insane, but acknowledgment in this case doesn’t mean jack squat.

It’s like they were embarrassed by their own creation, determined to make fun of it before anyone else could.

I remember years ago, people were making absolutely beautiful rendered animatics, and everyone loved them. Slamacow’s in particular come to mind. There’s no reason for all this song and dance with potato chip factories and the lady from the Discover commercials.

Every time I thought she was gone they kept cutting back to her in another dimension like she had contractually-obligated screen time.

I would have happily sat for 2 hours watching Jack Black just voice animated Steve going on the craziest speedrun imaginable. He clearly had a lot of fun making this movie. But he couldn’t save it from the choices that were made.

I knew I wasn’t the target demo, but I don’t know who is? This feels like the chaos of Fortnite, and those are two games with very different atmospheres and goals.

The credits to the game are 10 straight minutes of some profound bit of introspective poetry. And it felt like Minecraft in the first 30 seconds of loading chunks, and then it suddenly didn’t, in the opening shot of not-Minecraft.

I’m not mad I’m just so confused as to how we got here. There’s not even excess shameless easter eggs to impress the older gamers. One of the minions goes “sorry but I’m gonna have to un-alive you”. Who is this movie for??

Just. Animate it. Faithful to the game. They already had proof of concept from 14 years of fanworks that it could be amazing. The Mario movie is like the Godfather compared to this thing, and it also knew it was ridiculous.

Normally in adaptations like this you’d have people (myself included I’ll admit) poking at all the lore inaccuracies that were too easy to get wrong. In this case game mechanic inaccuracies. And there were some, but to point them out given the state of everything else would be useless. (But they did get some mechanics wrong, nonetheless)

***The animators who worked on this did a fantastic job with what they were given. My complaints are with those concepts, not what they produced.***

About the only thing this movie does right, besides the sound effects pulled from the game, is making me appreciate the game so much more.

And about the best thing it got accurate was younger gamers screaming the whole time. Jason Momoa and Jack Black sure had fun, but they were screaming for probably half their script.

I’d discussed the plot, characters, themes, and villains… but they were just kinda there (well the plot wasn’t there but you know). I hope the actors had fun, that’s all I have to say about it.

However there were kids in the audience who seemed to be enjoying themselves, and good for them.

Also I appreciated the practical props and sets when they were there. But because there was such an obvious disparity between practical and CGI, it was really distracting.

I think I heard music by C418 only once. Mario made orchestral versions of the famous 8-bit tracks, and the whole audience was cheering. So that was disappointing as well.

TLDR: Go see Looney Toons, if you’ve only got the funds for one ticket. Jack Black looks like he had so much fun it’s impossible to hate this dumpster fire, and it’s making money.

Hating it just isn’t worth the effort.

[heroictoonz]

Okay so like a week or so ago I made a post about my thoughts on the “Sonic is Maria reincarnated” theory the TLDR is I don’t subscribe to the theory but I do think that they are clearly parallels but then it got me thinking

I think Tails and Shadow are parallels in this too.

LIKE hear me out. I don’t know if I think this is on purpose by sega I’m not even sure if I believe that Sonic and Maria being parallels is on purpose by sega but look at the evidence here

We have seen what happens to Tails if Sonic isn’t around in Sonic Prime. Now can you imagine what Tails would become if Sonic was murdered right before his eyes?

Similar to how Maria gave Shadow kindness and a love for life, Sonic gave Tails confidence and companionship when he was completely alone. Both Tails and Shadow look up to Sonic and Maria in almost an older sibling like fashion (obvious for Tails and more just how I personally read it for Shadow but still)

Sonic gave Tails the same freedom that Shadow thought he’d lost when he lost Maria. A freedom that he only got back when he realized his love for Maria was stronger than his grief.

We can also see a parallel from the two in Forces in a way. Much like how when Maria died Shadow lost kindness in his heart, when Tails thought Sonic was dead he lost all his confidence in Forces resorting back to acting like a scared and helpless child

Like the parallel isn’t nearly perfect nor is it as good as Sonic and Maria but it’s still there I think and I just find it interesting and have been exploring the idea lately

[a-mess-of-a-nerd]

This is a rant that I’m not sure whether or not to post but I just need to get my thoughts out of my head.

Fandoms are so disgustingly toxic now! It is such a shame, especially as someone who has interacted with fan content since the early 2010s where people were having fun and just being creative and kind. Yes, there was flaws back then, I’m not saying there wasn’t, but ever since covid lockdowns in 2020, more and more toxicity is flooding fandom spaces. I have been through many fandoms but slowly they’ve all been ruined by toxicity. There are obvious ones like marvel fans being horrible to any non white cishet males, but then even in fandoms like the stardew valley fandom is toxic as they hate on anything that they don’t view as canon like shipping and crazy headcanons or even just not liking certain characters. I’m constantly losing my love for so many things because of how fandoms are now days. There’s no creativity, no etiquette, no kindness, no love. It’s so heart breaking to witness places that used to be full of kind and creative people turn into places full of gatekeeping, hatred and cruel people.

Not everyone in fandoms are toxic, I have met some kind and lovely people through fandoms, but I am generalising because there has been such an increase in toxicity that it feels 90% of people in fandoms are. People in fandoms now don’t know the etiquette that was so important to the spaces that were carved out. It’s as if the dude bro fan mindset has spread like a parasite. Fandoms used to be an escape to discuss and create based on mutual interests and not feel judged or made fun of for their interests, but now that escape is disintegrating and it’s hard to find fandom safe spaces anymore.

If you don’t like it scroll, you don’t need to start fights if you don’t agree or have a differing opinion. If you don’t like it, don’t interact. I try and uphold this when I interact and view fandom content, but it’s clear not many people do anymore. It’s just so upsetting to me to see places that I used to be excited to go and talk about headcanons and my favourite ships and any new content by fans or otherwise has now become a place I dread since no matter what fandom I always know there will be hate or arguments or plain old bullying.

If you write fanfics or create art and have received hate for no reason other than someone don’t like it, I am truly sorry, you are all so talented and brave, putting yourself out there is hard but you do it. Don’t let anyone make you feel bad for your work, keep writing fanfic for your crack!ship, keep drawing your favs cosplaying your other favs. Even if you don’t post things, your headcanons, opinions and ships are all valid. Keep enjoying fandoms despite how toxic they’ve become because your ships, headcanons, opinions are so valid and no matter how you want to interact with fandoms it’s okay, just don’t spread hate and everything will be okay.

Please, for the sake of fandoms, be kind, let everyone enjoy their experiences even if it’s different to your own, we are better than the hate, better than what we’ve become. Sending love to all you beautiful souls out their enjoying your fandom experiences 🩷

Tldr: please be kind fandom goers 🩷

[psychology-department]

ayin is so fucking syscoded and it’s like. so fucking obvious but we want to ramble just how blatant it is anywayyyyy spoilers under cut

aside from the existence of Abel, Abram, Adam, and X, it’s made even more apparent when you lose to their fights

if you lose to abram, a facet of ayin, he refers to him and you as “us”, as do the rest of the facets. however, at the defeated cutscene, only Abram could be seen. i’m pretty sure this cutscene was written in the game files as “ayin” too. i wonder what happened to X then? unless… (insert implied switch over there)

Same applies for Adam if Abram’s rule is to be followed, it’s implied that he took control from the player and enacted his unfinished seed of light.

Hell, Abel even gatekeeps X away from really traumatic memories, and you have to overcome him to pass, which is very reminiscent of how a certain type of system gatekeeper usually functions: holding memories until they deem it safe enough. Days 47-50 are also just A just giving himselves therapy sessions so that they can go on with the project so do with that what you will .

The amnesia with X in the mix also adds a little bit on the side of this theory as well, purposefully forgetting traumatic memories and then repressing them so that X can function for a bit, and designating facets to hold certain, very traumatizing memories can be read in a system type of way.

(scs from TeeQueue’s LP)

tldr: Ayin from Lobotomy Corporation reportedly forgot to log his front in Simplyplural, head now in hands /anecdote

[lemon-natalia]

Gideon the Ninth Reaction - Review

some final thoughts:

i have some (very) minor nitpicks that i want to get out the way first, simply because the rest of my opinions are really positive: i felt like there were some minor pacing issues, particularly near the beginning where the actual main plot took a pretty long time to get going - but overall it was a real whirlwind of a book and Muir is very good at dramatic cliffhangers that kept the energy up and made me want to read more. the big fight in the final chapter also felt a little repetitive at points, i think it could have been shortened down just a tad?

that out the way, overall i really loved it!! i’d heard good things and had high expectations to be fair, but it definitely lived up to them, this is probably one of my favourite books i’ve read in a while. it managed to be macabre and hilarious and heartbreaking all at once, and balanced the humour & horror elements well. the mystery aspects and plot twists also felt pretty well written, having both plenty of foreshadowing while not being immediately obvious.

another big strength is the remarkably compelling characters. despite there being a pretty large cast, and obviously some characters being more major than others, all of the Houses felt fleshed out and unique and had their own moments to shine. i also mentioned before reading I wasn’t sure how I felt about the idea of Gideon & Harrow’s relationship, but i ended up absolutely loving their complicated dynamic - it developed very naturally, and even when they came into conflict later in the book, it never felt contrived.

tldr; i cried a lot. amazing! 10/10. i think reading this has fundamentally altered my brain chemistry

(Fun fact: not including this post, i’ve written approximately 12,400 words about Gideon the Ninth in these liveblogs. that’s longer than the undergrad dissertation that I was supposed to be doing instead of this)

also thank you so much to everyone who's expressed interest and encouraged me in this liveblog - it was very unexpected but i’m glad people liked it! given i already have a copy of Harrow the Ninth, would people be interested in me continuing these liveblogs for that book?

[warblogs17282]

It’s been a while since Mastermind aired but there’s something that always kinda confused me about it.

Andrealphus took a massive gamble not only not putting Stolas on trial but also not inviting him to the trial. Because…he had no guarantee Stolas would have shown up to save Blitz in time.

Had Stolas not been near a TV, there is a high chance that Stolas wouldn’t have known about the trial until it had already ended, and Andralphus’s plan would have failed.

I can’t help but feel like Andrealphus acted insanely recklessly because not waiting to build evidence against Stolas to put him on trial or in this case, not having Stolas at Blitz’s trial in the first place increased the risk of his plans failing.

Is there something I’m missing about this because Andrealphus’s plan had a million and one ways where things could have gone wrong for him had the chips not fallen into place perfectly?

I've discussed his plan before, and I feel like the post I've made before discussing his plan is very much relevant to this ask:

I highly recommend you read this post, as it goes into a bit more depth of the specifics of Andrealphus' plan. (Ignore the part about the 'final step' in said linked post)

To tldr that post, Andrealphus was basically manipulating everyone in that trial.

As for the first paragraph, I go into that in the linked post above, but Stolas being there for the start of the trial would've been a massive problem in his plan, because two of the accusations against Blitz was that 'Blitz forced himself on Stolas' and Striker's false testimony of Blitz hiring him to cover up the grimoire thing, with both of these accusations Stolas could easily contest without having to take the drastic measures he did in the episode, which already blowing a massive hole in his plan, as the court turning into a 'he said, she said' type of situation would be the last thing Andrealphus would want to happen.

Basically, Andrealphus used Blitz like a pawn to draw Stolas out, as the higher-ups can basically just accuse imps and shit of basically any crime with very little or even no evidence of them actually committing said crime and actually getting them convicted of it as well, since they're the royal and the imp is not.

Meaning that if they accused Stolas directly, they'd need actual solid evidence of the crime happening, which as far as I know, they only have a few witness testimonies at most, so unless they forged some evidence, I honestly don't think they'd even be able to accuse and convict Stolas directly regarding the grimoire deal in the first place, making accusing Blitz the obvious (and probably only) option here.

I'm sure that given enough time they could form another plan in case accusing Blitz fell through, but accusing Blitz was the easiest and quickest plan they had at their disposal.

And yes, you're right, it was a gamble, as if Stolas wasn't watching the TV at that time, the plan would've fallen through, but it was a calculated risk he took.

As I have said in the start of this post, Andrealphus manipulated everyone in the trial, even including Satan himself if you ask me.

The accusations against Blitz were quite severe, and he probably knows that Satan is very much the authoritarian type, meaning that he probably also knew that Satan would broadcast the execution to everyone in hell, just to make an example out of Blitz because of how severe the crimes were.

And even in spite of the 'breakup' that Stolitz had in s2 e9, I believe Andrealphus knew that Stolas wouldn't let Blitz take the fall for the grimoire arrangement, especially considering that Stolas was also equally as responsible for it happening in the first place, cause I mean, just look at him, that's the face of a mastermind if I've ever seen one.

Which brings me back to why Andrealphus didn't invite Stolas at all, the entire point of not inviting Stolas was to deprive him of vital context surrounding the trial, Stolas went into that trial with only the context of 'Blitz is getting executed for the grimoire arrangement', which was exactly part of Andrealphus' plan, because Stolas not having the full context forces Stolas to do something drastic to save Blitz, which in this case is just admitting that he's guilty of everything, because let's be real, why would Stolas even think that Blitz got accused and convicted of anything else outside of the grimoire arrangement.

What I'm getting at here is simple, the only part of Andrealphus' plan that was really up to chance thanks to his cunning and manipulation was Stolas seeing the execution be broadcast.

I know what you might be thinking, that being 'but wait, Stolas' song makes the other accusations against Blitz make zero sense, even to the court', and to that I say, the court was very clearly just looking for a scapegoat at that point to make an example out of, mainly because they never gave a shit about a fair trial in the first place, and because it was past lunch time at that point, and they were hungry (which I suppose also helps to explain why Vassago's protests to summon Stolas were just mostly ignored), and who better than the guy that is literally admitting that he is the 'Mastermind' right in front of everyone?

With the final step of the plan being one last bit of manipulation, to take advantage of the fact no one knows how to punish Stolas for the crime, to suggest a punishment he's been aiming towards the entire time.

So honestly, if you ask me, the plan was a lot more carefully laid out than you might expect, with the tldr being that, the only real part that was left up to chance for him was Stolas seeing the broadcast of Blitz's execution in time, as imo, basically everything else leading up to that was practically guaranteed to happen by Andrealphus' cunning and manipulation of the situation at hand.

[simplestoryteller]

One thing about epic the musical that I’ve not really seem mentioned is that in suffering it’s almost obvious in hindsight it’s not really Penelope in her delivery.

It’s too perfect.

Every note is hit beautifully in as a sweet and perfect manner that it comes off artificial and not human, this isn’t me dissing the singer (far from it), I think this is intentional

In earlier Penelope cameos her delivery is still beautiful but in a more human way, does this make sense?, it doesn’t sound like she’s trying to make each note beautiful and instead making it beautiful in other aspects

In her other cameos the pretty delivery is still there but the notes are more impactful because she feels more human and doesn’t strive for the artificial perfection of a siren.

This probably can be seen easier if you compare the chorus of suffering to the Penelope cameo in thunder bringer, their deliveries are different which help differentiate the artificial Penelope (the siren) for the real one (technically not actually her but hopefully you get what I mean).

And I think this was done on purpose by Jorge cause it feels like the subtle details he’s done before (see Athena following Odysseus in chords in warrior of the mind then breaking away in my goodbye)

I hope I’ve explained this well but I think this is a great effect and it makes me even more in awe with Penelope’s va than I was before cause that is so impressive!!!!

But no one seems to be talking about this so part of me wonders if it’s all in my head, or maybe sooo obvious that there was no need to mention it and I’m just dumb

What are ur thoughts?

Cause I’ve been stewing ever since the release but kept chickening out from saying anything.

You know what imma poll yah cause I’m curious now

TLDR it feels like Penelope’s delivery in suffering was made too perfect to subtly show it was not actually Penelope but I’m not sure if it’s all in my head or not.

[catcas22]

Hey guys, remember this theory?

tldr: Hyetta was Vyke's maiden who died by the hand of a Roundtable assassin wielding the Briars of Sin.

Can't believe I didn't realize this before, but we have a suspect.

Alberich's Pointed Hat Description

Mad Tongue Alberich's pointed hat, a sign of a heretical practitioner. 

Set with red glintstones said to be formed by the blood of sacrifices. Strengthens thorn sorcery. 

Alberich was an aloof yet disturbed heretical sorcerer said to have been driven mad by jeering tongues during his service to the Roundtable Hold long ago.

Not only was he an assassin of the Roundtable Hold, but he's the only enemy I'm aware of aside from the Thorn Sorcerers who uses the Briars of Sin.

While the Thorn Sorcerers are currently in Liurnia, they appear to congregate at lower elevations near the lake, closer to where Adan is imprisoned. Unless I'm mistaken, there aren't any Fire Monk garrisons as far inland as the Church of Inhibition. In any case, hunting down Vyke would have fallen far outside of their purview -- he was very specifically not trying to interfere with the Flame of Ruin.

Alberich, on the other hand, was a Roundtable agent.

Crepus Vial Description

Small mysterious bottle with a dark mist sealed within.

Eliminates all sound made by the wearer during movement.

A ritual implement used by Roundtable Hold assassins. There was a time when Tarnished who had strayed from guidance feared nothing more than utter silence.

Hunting down heretical Tarnished would have been his priority. There's also a less than zero chance that Alberich is Gideon's son -- who better to send after a Tarnished as dangerous as Vyke?

While this certainly doesn't prove the original theory, it does offer some support.

[seireitonin]

Yall do realize Nina and Toby are both adults right?? Like? You realize that right? That’s not a hc or opinion. I’m just saying this to make sure everyone understands that I and my mutuals in this fandom would never “age up” a minor to put them w an adult. That shits revolting. I even did my research before getting into this ship to make 100% sure! As an adult in this fandom I want to be responsible with my platform and I would never encourage or support a minor being with an adult even if it’s fiction. I’ve always been against that and always will be. I’m not sure if I popularized it or not, but this ship wasn’t my idea! I saw artists on here shipping them like creek-ink and I thought it was so cute and Nina and Toby actually have more in common than I thought! So my brain did the rest! Anyway evidence/ research under the cut! Just so we’re all on the same page!

Here’s Nina’s creator herself saying she ships/ shipped/ was okay with Nina being shipped with Eyeless Jack. EJ was an adult man in college. (And also she says Nina was never in love w Jeff and I just think it’s funny that the fandom thinks that. The fandom is so silly I luv us.) But anyway the most popular EJ story is him in college and occult stuff and blah blah. And EJ has always been drawn/presented as an adult man because of that. So if Nina’s creator herself shipped him w Nina then it makes sense that they’re both grown ups.

Unless I’m misunderstanding she’s saying Nina has no cannon age and she can be written as an adult or teenager! Not strictly teen! And the creator herself draws Nina new and old as an adult.

Unless I’m misunderstanding again(English isn’t her first language and this was translated!!) here’s Nina’s creator saying not only does she ship OG Nina and EJ together but she gave them a kid together named Eyeless Alice. Or she’s saying she’s cool with it. And if Nina and EJ have a kid together then they both have to be adults. I don’t think Nina’s creator would let a 17 year old be with a 20 year old. That would be so nasty. Even if we’re going off her and Jeff they would both have to be adults too.

This confirmed Nina is an adult for me. Revamped Nina is an adult and if she’s saying they’re both the same age then OG Nina is an adult too! Unless I’m misunderstanding again but I don’t think I am.

Anyway TLDR Nina’s creator herself has literally put Nina with Jeff and EJ who are both adult characters. Ppl who wanna say Jeff is 13 and still put him with a 17 year old Nina…that’s still bad. So I thought it would be obvious that they’re both adults who grow up. Forgive me if I’m misunderstanding some things. (Again might be shit translations!) but one thing for sure is that she herself ships EJ and Nina. And I don’t think she would do something gross like put a minor with an adult. (Especially if she gave them a kid together/ is okay with them having a fan made kid together) She seems really sweet! So yeah Nina is an adult canon :3 Toby too but I don’t have to explain that.

Also just looking through Nina’s info has been so fun and cool!! Another thing Nina and Toby have in common is they both hallucinate their dead siblings. Morbid. I’m gonna do an in depth video on my TikTok bc this info is so interesting! Nina is much more interesting than I originally thought!!!

[ottiliere]

hello! ur posts on the vagus nerve and its connections to digestions have encouraged me to do a lil mini dissertation thingy kinda focused on it/around it, ur big thread on PVT and everything really piqued my interest when i read it and i just held onto it for like a year or smthing until like last week when i started the project. Ik u said recently in one of ur posts i believe that ur not going to post the big dirk PVT post and im not here to be like yo post it because i also think u said that ur kinda moving away from like hs/dirky stuff rn ?? (im forgetting if i saw that sorry) but yeah i just wanted to say thank u etc etc, like ive never done an ask before so sorry if this is phrased weirdly but ur blog is just like one of those blogs that fundamentally changed how i view certain things in life for the better lol, like whether its ur beautiful representations / depictions of mental health in like just beautifully painted art (seriously the way u make it look like idk how to word it cartoony/really 2d but then it stands out against the background + if u zoom in and see the tiny pixel details == it makes me mad) or just like the huggeee long form posts that i like to chew on and save cuz theres so many details that AFFAAT like the way you talk abt the topics u portray has made me concious of how i would want to do so in the same way ig u get me. anyway this got really long and idk if i come across coherently, but ur just a random person on the internet whos art and written thoughts that u decide to share makes me happy when i see it == makes me pace around my room and distract me from this fat essay lmao so tldr: i really appreciate what u do + i hope like that ur doing well and that u keep arting and thoughting no matter what it is that u choose to focus on

(uve made me comitted to reading jthm, playing psychonauts and giving jjba w/ dio another go lmao) 🫶🫶

Hello! I’m sorry this reply is coming so late, this ask in particular is very sweet and has stuck out to me.

I’m really happy to have introduced you to PVT, this is something I’ve heard from a few different people on here and it’s very sweet… I did my thesis on it in college and the time really flew by while working on it, things you don't think could possibly attributed to "nerve issues" being nerve issues is always an eye-opener, isn't it? being able to research things that interest you & access information in general really is a privilege in this day and age.

“The topics [I] portray” are very important to me, so it’s heartening when others take interest in spite of the obvious deterrents. A lot of what I love making art about is unpalatable to most, and while I do understand the reasons for that on principle, it can make things feel a little insular. I genuinely believe there’s a lot of value in depicting tableaus of misery.

The last year has brought a lot of very unforeseen changes, and my life is quite different from when I initially made this blog to post about him! That’s also part of why I’ve been so sparse here…though I’m working to change that quite soon. I love sharing my work, and I’ve had the privilege of meeting some truly wonderful people through this website. That said…with where I’m at now, I’m not sure I’ll be posting the Dirk essay anytime soon, I’m afraid.

I’ve undertaken a few ongoing projects, one of which in particular is an original project I plan on sharing publicly here hopefully within the next month or so. I hope it’s something you & anyone else who’s stuck around with me here will enjoy, but failing that, I’ve really enjoyed working on it thus far.

Thank you for the sweet ask, take care, and good luck with your project!

[physalian]

I think I make my stance on “liars’ revealed” characters pretty clear, but I remember… I think it was an OSP vid discussing the trope of the secret identity and how the superhero genre has always been the odd one out concerning this trope, and there was a debate as to why.

Still on this because I found a fantastic webcomic yesterday that does exactly this so these tropes are fresh on my mind but I think the distinction is pretty obvious?

Usually A love interest falls for B’s super-powered alter ego and overlooks B’s normal civilian persona. But with that comes the territory of inherent risk and mystery. A goes into this knowing that B is not fully who they say they are and that air of mystery is surely part of the appeal.

Totally different from joe shmoe wooing somebody on the pretense of his charming alter ego encompassing all he is. Here, he’s boldface lying and he's instigating all this to court the girl who has likely already made it clear she's uninterested, or is far out of his league. Heroes are more lying by omission—we know they have secret identities, it goes unsaid. Also goes unsaid that they’re celebrities and people in positions of power, obviously they’re going to keep things close to the chest and lie a little bit. Hero also usually tends to stay professional. It’s the love interest inciting all their interactions.

So no, never had a problem with this kind of drama, especially since 9 times out of 10, the hero regrets instantly their role here in lying once they realize they’re in too deep, but their reasons for continuing the ruse tend to include “if I tell them, I put them at risk of harm or murder”.

Instead of joe shmoe only risking being rightfully shunned for being a creep.

Once the hero figures out that they can build themselves up with their hero persona to manipulate their love interest to fall for their other half, then it gets squicky. I’m not an avid comics connoisseur but that doesn’t seem to happen very often…?

So yeah. TLDR: I found a cool hero/vigilante comic and I want to gush about it but also fandom makes me nervous so we end up with indirect takes like this.

[mochiwrites]

hiii!!! im not even anon posting today ur getting my real account

i LOVEEEE your scarian fic (and like an arrow, you broke me down) like u don’t understand. i read it pretty much in one sitting and it made me SO UNBELIEVABLY SICK.

u write grian and scars dynamic PERFECTLY!!! you dont have them fall into the protecter/baby 🥺archetypes a lot of hurt/comfort fics seem to dub them as. they’re both people with their own issues and they both help and rely one one another LIKE RELATIONSHIPS USUALLY DO!!!!! its perfect i love it so much i cannot wait until the next chapter drops 🩷🩷

grian falling in love with scar in every universe makes me so sick😭😭

^ speaking of which, if its not spoilers, are you ever gonna explore the conflicts that come with grian falling in love with both LL and TL scar?? cuz oh boy… the angst…….. if u need any ideas hmu dawg i can yap ab all the thoughts this fic gave me

anyway tldr I LOVE UR WRITING WHAAHAHSH IM EATING THAT SHIT UPPPPP

UWAHHHH THANKIE 🥹💕💕💕 it’s a very beloved fic to me and I enjoy writing it so much — it also drives me absolutely INSANE while writing it (for. Obvious reasons LMAO)

but ueueueue ty!!! I try to specifically avoid the whole “protector/baby” thing because that just isn’t them… and they’ve both got their own issues going on and ;A; they gotta lean on each otherrrr (something grian will learn Soon) and hehe I just started chapter 18 today :3c

grian falling in love with scar in every world is just so,,,, ;w; and it’s the same with scar as well. it ties back to a theme I’ve got threaded through the fic that’ll make itself known very soon hehe :3

in response to your question though !!! there is an angle that I do want to look at with 3l!grian and ll!scar having feelings. it’s certainly inevitable but other than that I’m not too sure !! I haven’t mapped out much of their romance yet considering uh. Everything. but I’m not sure how angsty I’ll really get with their romance since I’ve set it up with the idea that no matter the universe, scar is scar and grian is grian. it’s still them

but hehehe thankie!!!! 🥺

[thehotgrandparent]

Writing prompt for my TNMN Doppelganger Doorman undercut 💪 + an authors note at the end :3

It was weird.

The Doorman wasn’t used to this feeling.

What was the feeling called?

It’s didn’t teach him feelings. Just the needed things.

Like killing. Though that was in it’s blood, in it. Given to be used.

And used.

And used.

Why did the man in front of them, Steven, treat it like a person?

It was weird.

It could see his hesitation, his fear.

So why didn’t he run away and scream like the rest of them? Even through the obvious fear and hesitation.

Steven was a smart guy. He should know better. Does he have no survival instincts? Maybe. The Doorman wasn’t sure why, but it just had to protect, for some reason.

It couldn’t tell if it was a good thing or not.

It couldn’t tell because it didn’t know.

How could it not know if it was not taught?

Did its creator decide it wasn’t important? It felt like it was important.

Why did Steven call it ‘Berry’?

Oh right. It gave itself a name. Berry. It didn’t know exactly why it named itself Berry.

Whatever. It supposed that its creator would want it to protect and fortify humans. It wasn’t sure.

It had differing instructions. Do what its creator was told, but also fortify the place. Keep it safe from… itself, in a way.

Siblings, in a way.

Created for the same purpose. Not exactly the same as the others.

It was the first. It’s instincts so, so different from the rest. Not as strong. By accident, of course.

After all, it was a mistake that its containment cell was open.

It wasn’t ready. Though what it made up in its lack of instincts, mostly with the killing unless hungry, which was a lot, though was it still killer. It was willing to admit that. The Doorman, as its creator now called it, or Berry by the residents, it made up for in its sense or smell, it’s claws.

Though it’s still deadly. Just because some instants were lacking didn’t mean I was fully gone.

After all, the word ‘lacking’ meant not available or in short supply.

In its case, it was in a short supply of its instants. At least, compared to the others.

The Doorman was still a dangerous being. Steven knew that.

It could still see the hesitation sometimes.

But for some reason, Steven accepted that it was just how the Doorman was.

Even after its upgrade with more abilities, it’s instincts and senses now better than the average doppelganger, or whatever the humans called it.

But it supposed that it would be ok.

Even if its creator seemed satisfied with what it has done so far, it had Steven and the residents. Which it liked for some odd reason.

When before, it was just an urge.

Now it’s so obvious that they were willing to make it obvious.

————

A/N:

TNMN stuff! Amazing. I’m proud of myself. Did this at 1 in the morning, but I think I did good. This isn’t necessarily canon, but I do like to think that Berry’s instants weren’t as strong :3

While I’m typing this, I would like to mention that I’m not that interested in TNMN as I was before. I, of course, will try and continue to make fics, though with a lack of motivation, waiting for my beta reader, etc. it will likely be slow! But I won’t be fully abandoning the series. It’s fun to write about it.

Literally the readers (aka a lot of you guys here) are my motivation! I don’t want to leave anyone on a cliffhanger, nor do I want to have an unfinished fic, but do know that I am thankful for everyone who has read my fic!

TLDR: I’m not giving up on this series, though I’m not interested in TNMN than before. Updates will be slow, but I’m thankful to everyone who has stuck by and decided to give it a read!