#I'm super excited when this comes out.

[l0ganberry]

Where he drinks from the coffee pot, I think he thought that was HIS own coffee cup.

Look at the way if fits perfectly with his gloved hands. He probably never had a perfectly sized "cup" to himself that can even fit his big hands!

[leonardburton]

the thing is. juno & nureyev's relationship has been such a major guiding thread throughout the podcast and the major drive of season 5, and the fandom has built itself so much (as fandoms often do) around shipping the two of them.

and yet nureyev doesn't show up at all in the last episode! or, he does, but it's only implied (for all we know it could be like. alessandra strong)(i know it's not but it would be really funny) and we don't hear his voice.

and it's so important to me that despite the room that their romance has taken in the plot and in our hearts, his absence reinforces that the point of juno steel's story wasn't a lady getting his man, it was about learning to grow as person for himself and for his friends (and not just his love interest), and it was about finding his footing in life and being at peace with himself and his place in the world. and he did! his growth and relative serenity is so apparent and just. a balm to the soul

and the fact that his man is back is just a nice add-on, not a necessity for his happiness

[deoidesign]

Someone killed my boss last night and he sent me this I'm so fired

god I can't wait to make this comic.

[zhongrin]

I FINALLY MOVED OUT TO A NEW PLACE!!!

i'm absolutely exhausted and i still need to unpack so many things and i still need to buy a proper desk and restock my groceries & supplies and a do a whole lot of other things BUT i'm hoping to get settled in soon so i can get back to the creative endeavors™️✨

love yall, stay safe, take care, and good vibes 🫶🏻

[2hoothoots]

i was having a chuckle to myself last night about Gristol, and how his plans are basically:

Restore Ford Cruller's memory

Find Maligula

???

Profit

but then... of course they are, right? this is Gristol we're talking about. Fatherland Follies drives home again and again that he's still operating on a child's logic, a warped and reductive version of the world that he never bothered to grow out of. both of his memory vaults center on the images of his childhood, this idealized version of the past that he clings to no matter what. and that's still how he remembers Maligula, too - as this saviour figure, who rushes in to help him when he's in trouble.

[ID: Two slides from Gristol's memory vault, Glory to Grulovia! Left: Gristol clings to Maligula's back as she summons waves to sweep away his assailants. Right: Gristol and Maligula waving from a balcony as the people cheer. Gzar Theodore brandishes a dagger in the background.]

like so much else, Maligula represents a return to this idyllic childhood - to the peace and simplicity of his youth, when he was free from worries and responsibilities. in his mind, he doesn't need to make any further plans - once Maligula's back, everything will go back to normal. Maligula will make everything better.

...is what i thought, but then i remembered this line:

[Screenshot source. ID: Gristol, in Truman's body, bows on his hands and knees in front of the newly-awaked Maligula. The caption reads: "Yes, High Priestess! I am here to correct the mistakes made by my father!"]

and that's kind of interesting, right?

to be clear: this happens directly after Maligula sees Helmut-in-Gristol's-body, and recognises him. her line before this is:

"Little Gzesaravich! Have you come to pay for your father's sins?"

my first thought was that Gristol hadn't expected to still be in Truman's body by the time he managed to find Maligula, and this was him trying to placate her and buy some time until he could explain the situation. but watching the cutscene back, that's clearly not what's happening here. Gristol is answering as himself, and his response of throwing himself to his knees before her is, as far as i can tell, genuine.

so what is going on here?

in Fatherland Follies, there's this line in the ride narration that stuck out to me:

"Why didn't the Gzar help Maligula in her time of need? No one knows, but historians agree - it is Gzar Theodore's biggest failure."

other lines mention Gzar Theodore's "mistake", and it's wording Gristol himself echoes in the screencap above. evidently, he believes that his father abandoned Maligula, leaving her to her fate at the hands of the Psychonauts, and it was that mistake that lead to them being driven out of the country - that mistake which he seeks to correct. maybe he even feels like he has a debt to repay to her for his family turning their backs on her all those years ago.

the 'High Priestess' thing, though - that's kinda weird, and threw me for a loop the first time i played the game. it took me until my second playthrough to connect the dots, and remember how the room in the Lady Luctopus - Gristol's room - was full of Delugionist scribblings and symbols.

[Screenshot source. ID: left, the walls of the hidden backroom in Gristol's hotel suite, covered in scrawlings of eyeballs and Maligula's name. Right, the pinboard from the hidden backroom. On its surface are photographs and newspaper clippings connected by pieces of string.]

i mean, look at this stuff! he had a whole conspiracy board and everything!

we learn very little about the Delugionists and their beliefs as a whole during the game, but i think drawing the connection here suggests two important things. one: that Gristol was in deep with this stuff. i don't know how he linked up with them - maybe via old family connections, or just good old-fashioned digging (we know he's skilled at worming his way into peoples' good graces, after all) - but it seems likely that he's begun to internalise their ideas, maybe even warping his own memories of events. and two: the Delugionists themselves are, if you'll pardon the pun, pretty far off the deep end.

like... i understand why PN2 didn't go heavy on the "mass-murderer cult worship" aspect of things, in the end, but man this is such a tantalising glimpse into the wider mythos around Maligula. Gristol is proud and haughty and thinks himself above everyone else; the fact that his first reaction seeing Maligula is to throw himself to the ground at her feet says so much about the way he's come to see her. he's not just trying to bring back Maligula, his childhood bodyguard. he's trying to bring back Maligula, the High Priestess of the deluge, the semi-mythical figure whose supporters believe even death couldn't stop. he doesn't even flinch at the way she confronts him, and maybe it's because he's bought in so completely to this deified figurehead, this idea of Maligula; more a living force of nature than a person. and it all comes back to the same place: an abdication of responsibility, not just to the person who protected him when he was little but to this avatar of floods and destruction. Maligula will make everything better.

i'd write more about my thoughts on the Delugionists but that'd be taking a hard turn into speculation, and this is already kind of long and rambling so i'd better end it here. but what an unexpected and evocative line, right? it's some of the only stuff we have to go off of regarding the Delugionists as a whole, but i think it does such a good job of hinting at the wider story - at teasing another layer to the mythos surrounding Maligula, one whose ripples we see throughout the game but which never quite breaches the surface.

[chloecherrysip]

Mario watching his and Luigi's commercial in Punch-Out Pizzeria

[pinktinselmonstrosity]

had a job interview today at a record shop and it went so well, he basically gave me the job, and then i checked my phone afterwards and i have an interview next week for an internship i really want!!

[mekanikaltrifle]

Making a few writeups for my new hunter shit while I wait for this stupid flat inspection (I don't technically need one, but there was an admin changeover and now they want to 'get to know the flat'). Juniper's still Juniper but I am trying to go for a slightly different feel... do lemme know if any of her enjoyers have thoughts :3 (i love you immediately if you enjoy a Juniper, and that's a guarantee)

[seekingthestars]

little floof has the best possible time at con, proceeds to spend the next month crying about it

[chronosbled]

If they had a kid meme for Felix and sylvain on @spookyxbabes :3

send me a ship and I’ll tell you their:

Name: Ivanna Athena Fraldarius-Gautier

Gender: Female

General Appearance: Ivanna has her papa's (Felix's) dark blue hair and amber eyes. Her facial features are much more slender and sleek compared to her younger sister, Ideya's.

Personality: To most, Ivanna's personality seems to be that of a kind and compassionate young girl. She is very polite towards those that she knows and holds dear, never showing even the slightest hint of malice... that is until someone triggers her temper. In truth, Ivanna is exactly like Felix in every possible way — from the sassy remarks to the fiery attitude, her desire to train and do things for herself — of which often causing her and Felix to bud heads.

Special Talents: Much like Felix, Ivanna excels in swordplay and can use the perks of the Crest of Fraldarius. She is both swift and strong when using a sword, but she also possesses the ability to use magic.

Who they like better: Sylvain. Without a doubt, Ivanna's favored parent is Sylvain. After all, he lets her get away with things much easier than her papa does, not to mention he spoils her rotten due to the fact he calls her his little princess (it also helps that she looks exactly like Felix).

Who they take after more: Felix. Ivanna is 100% the spitting image of Felix in both looks and in personality.

Personal Headcanon: Ivanna is the next in line for the role of Duke within Fraldarius territory, just like Ideya is the next in line to become the new Margrave within Gautier territory, but Ivanna knows that this means she will eventually have to be without her younger sister and this scares her because she knows Ideya needs her.

Face Claim: Elizabeth von Wettin

Name: Ideya Artemis Fraldarius-Gautier

Gender: Female

General Appearance: Much like Ivanna, Ideya looks exactly like her father (Sylvain) with the same matching red-orange hair and eyes. Her facial features are much rounder than her sister's and this is due to the fact she is much younger than Ivanna.

Personality: Ideya is a very shy and quiet girl who causes everyone to wonder where she got her personality from (many believe it to be Sylvain's mother). She has a tendency to follow her papa (Felix) around compared to her father (Sylvain) because she often finds his antics too loud for her liking (not in a bad way, she simply had sound sensitivity). Additionally, Ideya is often found hiding behind her older sister, Ivanna, whenever present at large social gatherings.

Special Talents: Much like Sylvain, Ideya is well-trained with a lance and can use the perks of the Crest of Gautier. Though despite being well-trained in the ways of the lance, she has a hard time swinging it without hitting the ground due to the fact she isn't tall enough to properly wield it yet.

Who they like better: Felix. Despite Felix's very aggressive personality, Ideya is extremely close to her papa because his personality completely changes when he's with her — becoming extremely soft-spoken and patient to the point most don't believe it.

Who they take after more: Truthfully, Ideya doesn't take after Sylvain nor Felix, but instead takes after Sylvain's mother, Syvette. This is due to the fact that when Ideya was born, Sylvain and Felix often had to leave her with Sylvain's mother, and this caused her to pick up on many of her grandmother's habits and personality traits.

Personal Headcanon: Due to how large Dimitri is compared to her, Ideya often hides within Dimitri's king robes (along with Ivanna) whenever Felix wants the two of them to prepare for social events, leading for Felix to grow frustrated to the point he makes Sylvain look for the girls with him. This has become a game of sorts in Ideya's mind.

Face Claim: Duchess

[it-came-autumnally]

In retrospect it's really funny that the one thing I really honed in on during the first time I went through the Sky arc was Joshua's appearance (characters love to point out his mop of dark hair and amber eyes and I really really thought that it would relate to some important plot point somehow) but while replaying SC I found there's this one scene where it almost pays off (albeit, in a very silly way):

During the infiltration of the Ouroboros Lab, Anelace informs the party of how Joshua is also in the lab. If a player has been paying attention, they can probably guess that something about this feels off because Anelace mentions how she "recognized his clothes" but she has no reason to be familiar with the new look that he dons in this game yet (and there's no reason for Joshua to have switched back to his old outfit either).

But, if you're me, then you instead notice that she does not take the chance to mention his amber eyes. And, as we find out, there's a good reason for that!

...After all, this Joshua is fake, and has no amber eyes. Of course Anelace didn't see them; she couldn't have.

[suna1suna1]

Saying goodbye to 2023 with a tribute to the game that I fell in love with this year.

2023 was full of new things for me to fall in love with, most notable of those things being Lackadaisy, Murder Drones, and Hollow Knight.

Hollow Knight has become one of my favorite video games, even despite wanting to scream at the difficulty and how many times I've gotten stuck (currently stuck again rn btw lmao). But I wasn't expecting to fall head over heels for a game about magic bugs.

But it was these things that kind of helped me deal with all the other stuff in my life that wasn't going right.

I lost a friend early in the year

I fell out of love with one of my favorite Sonic ships

My school stopped offering the online classes I need to get my bachelor's

And there was a lot more besides. I spent a lot of this year burnt out and frustrated.

I'm hoping 2024 will be a little better, but I want to thank Team Cherry, who made my 2023 a little more fun. So here's Hornet, my favorite character (despite how many times I wanted to throw the controller at her lmao)

[joyfcll]

"No, I'm taking care of you today. No arguing."

talking to the caretaker ! / accepting !

𖤓°⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ oh ! well—! ... huh. it was almost sheepish, the way joy's smile instinctively curled across her features. with blue hair tousled in every which direction and her pajama sleeves rolled up to her forearms , clearly the emotion hadn't gotten much sleep. or any sleep. how could she ? there had been SO MANY EXCITING THINGS that happened during riley's road trip ! joy was practically still buzzing with excitement about all of it! and everybody knew that exciting things were meant to be thoroughly enjoyed and more importantly : SHARED ! especially with friends ! so joy had taken upon herself the task of figuring out how best to regale their friends with the trip's activities. after all , riley was going to head back to school right after the weekend after the trip ended , so that meant non-stop planning , feeling , experiencing , and , of course , smiling. you name it , joy had made certain they did it ! riley couldn't just go on a week long vacation and not have the most fun time of her whole life ! nuh uh. NO WAY ! all of riley's emotions had been in agreement about that , and so OPERATION GOOD TIMES AND SUNSHINE was put in play , and altogether a resounding success !

. . . BUT in all of the commotion , joy might have , possibly , just maybe overextended herself. just a bit . even now that the adventure was virtually over , it was still enough to make joy's fingers glitter with a deftly disguised jitter as she rifled through her doodles about their trip , each tacked onto a corkboard with shimmery string connecting the BEST ONES. ( evidently joy had meant to use her little display as a surprise presentation for the others come morning ... BUT NOW it was a surprise for one less of the crew. )

not that she was especially inclined to admit it.

❝ a w e , disgust ! you know , that is so sweet , really , but i'm good , i promise ! ❞ joy chimed , turning back to the corkboard ( that she had so hastily tried to cover up with herself ) and pinning another doodle in place. it took a couple of tries for her to pin it in the right spot. ❝ why don't you get back to dream duty instead? i'll be so quiet you won't even know i'm awake ! ❞

[mars-ipan]

visual of my dangan infodumps (i am going to talk about one scene for 30 minutes)

[swashbucklery]

Hey question, if I, a grouchy lesbian with extremely specific tastes, have almost zero interest in male characters unless they’re 1) sensitive gay artistes or 2) very tender and gentle unproblematic nerds, will I actually like playing God of War?

I’m curious about Ragnarok because I’m craving a big open world that doesn’t have SKITTERING HORRORS in it (see: Elden Ring, Bloodborne) and a lot of reviews recommend playing the original God of War first but also the reviewers are all clearly men who are deeply moved by a story about being a shitty father and then learning to be a good one (?) and I think I. . .don’t care?

[tracybirds]

not to project too hard onto a fictional character but at what point did it just become so standard for John to get high grades in academics that his family stopped acknowledging it because that was the norm